Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-27

! New York: Charles Scribners Sons. Washing
ton: Brentenos.
| Max Muller's "reminiscences cover wide
| range for his life has been long and active
and his studies and labors have carried him
| into contact with many minds and modes of
| thought One of his most notable achieve
| ments was the study of Sanskrit and the
| translation of the Rig-Veda of the Hindus.
| This work was undertaken in spirit of
! pathological research, but it inevitably car
| ried Prof. Muller into relationship with the
| people and the thought of India. 1t is
| somewhat of anomaly that he is enabled
! to write so freely of representative Indians,
! with whom he has formed personal ac-
auantance either by contact or by CORE
spondence, without having ever visited In
da in person 1t was one of his boy
dreams to go there, and yet never realized.
And so he writes of an India of literature,
of religion, of traditions, observed by
him through the medium of the intelligent
representatives who have visited Europe.
The author confesses that perhaps his
ideal of India and the Indians is higher
than practical, because he has observed
only the most favorable example of Hindu
enlightenment. Yet he urges that what he
has observed has proved the degree of Gull
ture of which the Indians are capable In
the course of his "reminiscences of the
friendship he has formed with various
educated and advanced HinduS Prof. Null
Ter treats at length of the character and in
fiuence of the Veda and the gradual obliter-
alton of unref1ned customs which prospered
under the supposed influence of that sacred
work Among these the burning of
widows and the practice of child-marriages.
The former has been abolished by the in
PREVENTION of the English government, the
latter is being gradually undermined by the
force of an enlightened public sentiment.
1t is a remarkable Illustration of the iso-
lation of some of the Indian methods to
note that Prof Mullers translation of the
Rig-Neda, prepared at Oxford without the
translator ever having seen India, was the
first printed edition of the sacred book ever
to reach India. For centuries untold this
great work has been transmitted from gen.
GRAFTON to generation by memory, although
of stupendous length. Children We're used,
as the author says, as mere blank pieces Of
paper. on which were Transcribed the pre-
else words of the Veda. Later in life COM
petent teachers explained the meaning of
the words thus mechanically remembered.
Thus the process went on through the ages,
and with remarkable fidelity, in all likeli-
hood. Suddenly out Of the west came a
printed book, the Veda, at first tabooed by
the conservative Brahmins as having been
prepared by a barbarian and printed lin
cows blood" an unutterable abasement of
the sanctified Gradually, however. the
early prejudices were overcome and finally
the Oxford edition Of the Rig-Neda was
read to collections of Brahmins by one not
a Brahmin, and those who possessed the
rare manuscript copies corrected their YER
sions from this barbarian rendition.
The work Is filled with interesting com
mentaries upon the Indian life, religion.
poetry, music and morals. From the pen of
one who has, proba bly, as far any living
person, penetrated into the origin of lam
guage it is of exceptional interest, partic-
ulary 1t Is written in mastery style.
THE ROMANCE OF LUDWIG II OF BAVARIA
Fish Besuftes .sPi.ture soue Dublin etc
hod ndo2 Mead HEehinson
William Baantyne & Sons.
Thirteen years ago there was enacted in
the waters of Starnburg lake. in Bavaria,
the last scene Of one of the saddest TRACE
dies which the world has ever witnessed,
the death of king whose life was a deep
disappointment, whose promise when he as
cended the throne was unusually bright,
whose opportunities were broad, but whose
life was wrecked by morbid temperament
and unfortunate environment. Ludwigs
fate has been studied somewhat philOsoph-
fcally by many writers, but not more
Closely than its significance deserves. The
present writer has read deeply in an effort
to obtain the clue to the exact causes which
led to the failures of the kings career.
That clue is composed of many elements,
the tendency of his ancestors to inter-
marry, the failure of his parents to ~appre-
ciate the true nature of the boys DISPOSE
ton, the nadequacy of the methods of ed
ucation then in existence to cure mean-
choly tendencies, the lack CT any spark of
real human affection in the kings breast,
his celbacy, his exaggerated fOndness for
the myths of Germany and perhaps more
potent than all others, the peculiar infiu-
ence Of Richard Wagner upon the royal
mind. That the king mad the author
does not dispute. The evidences of Ludwig's
insanity We're too marked to be misinter-
preted Nor is there any attempt to criti-
else his deposition, although the author be-
ieVes that the manner in which the news
was broken to the afflicted monarch was in
discreet and perhaps had an Immediately
evil effect. The portrait Of Ludwig which
Is presented Is excellent, being clear and
distinct 1t does not gloss over his faults
or exaggerate his kingly qualities In fact
the author has apparently chosen well in
the mass of somewhat hazy materials
which gossip created in consequence of the
kings strong personality and his absurd
eccentricities. His passion for building
castles at the expense of the states credit
Is here judiciously criticised, although it
has been defended by some of the king
partiSans In Bavaria ard elsewhere. One
Of the most interesting portions of the
work Is that which details Ludwig's re-
markable fCndneSS for the memory of Louis
AIV and Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette
or France. The story of Ludwig reads in
places like fairy tale, and 1t is difficult
always to bear in mind the fact that these
strange doings occurred within reach of
present memory. Probably the secret of
the unhappy fate of Ludwig was that he
mad medieval mind which failed to ad-
JN'e i'scii " TIC IIneleSnln century.
FUN AND FIGHTING OF THE ROUGH RIDERS
BE Iom Hall, author of Where Hearts are
Ifumps, when Love is Lord etc New
YORK: Frederick a Stokes Company. Wash
fngton: Brentano's.
There have been many books on the war
with Spain and several on the unique regI-
ment known as the rough riders" Each
one. OF course. has its point of view Mr.
Halls Is that of the earnest, though hui
mOrOuS ri
thor carried with him into the regiment
which he served as quartermaster, and for
time as adjutant, determination to do
all the hard work coming and to do it in
the best possible spirit. The result is a
book that reflects that part of the Ameri-
can temperament which has led some
europeans enormously to regard US as
f1ppant nation. AT the same time it is an
excellent record Of the doings of this
unique regiment, which theIauthor believes
Is the prototype of the coming military
organization Of greatest effectiveness in
such country as this.
THE YARN OF A Bucko NATE; His Adyen-
Hamblen. author Of &On M,ny Seas 1.-The