New-York tribune., 1906-11-24

fed BY remark made to the latter by the sis
ter of the former. Mr.. Conway writes:
her boundless devotion 10 her brother, coaSdsd
to me that she had remarked that "every public
come to bad end" No doubt this LADY, Very
mind some chain Of cause and effect in the e phs
n9mena-of which she mentioned several examples
Peine's comrades that his many escapes from i'm
minent death were somehow Providential!
In Ceylon the author first encountered the real
East, and he found the island delightful enough
to give warrant to the legend that IL was thither
that Adam and Eve were transported after hav-
ing been driven from the Garden: God IN his
compassion having sent them to the next best
place to Eden. Mr.. Conway pleased also
with the unworldlness of the Buddhists whom
he met there ITO find philosophers living in
thatched cottages with earthen floors An
establishment"
Sitting with one such man, talking Of Emerson.
Carlyle and Max Mtller-he knew their works BY
Of even weII-to-do Buddhists with the villas OF
their English and Hindu neishbors. We were not
mounted escort entering the palace court on
IN the paSs Of that oanan WITH IL, you Tsd cas
cap and steedT' NO" answered. well. that IS
the way we look upon these planters and officials
the least We glad to, be quite. out of their
70 our See psy
ing on the grass; and to read think, converse on
great subjects, and content to let the world
pranctng on its way while We go on ours"
In such conpanionshIp Mr. Conway was able
to discover little Justification for the missionary
hymns description Of Ceyion as a land where
And only man IS vile
A Moslem jeweller told him that ct was per-
fectly well known there how Bishop Heber came
TO write those lines: Eurasian Christian jew
eller IN Colombo sold Heber big emerald that
when he got home, turned out to be glass, so he
sat down and wrote that man in Ceylon is vileP'
While at Madras the author congruously made a
little side pilgrimage to St Thore, where tradi-
ton has It. the Doubling Disciple lived during
his apostolate IN India. Mr.. Conway dearly loves
to hunt down legends and traditions. whether
Christian or pagan. to their sources. His meth
DDS are keenIy analytical. and he is quick TO
detect a humbug be It in the hocus pocus Of
native oonturers or In the fantastic mumnery
OF imported theosophists. The far famed mango
trick" failed TO impress him, and the fakir was
glad to show his properties and TO reveal his
methods for fee of five rupees 1t is not the
mango that is so wonderful" the author con-
cludes, ''but the growth OF the narrative about
IT between Bombay and London" Nine. Blavat-
sky on whom he called in Adyar was even more
liberal in her disclosures than the Hindu ma
gician To be sure. the Mahatras were on
holiday during his visit, but the High Priestess
entertained him Hospitality and accorded him an
interview.
She asked what was my particular proposal or
desire / said: 7 wish find something about
the strange performances attributed TO you
chair taking brooches our Of flowers and Of other
miracles II such things really occur desire 20
onGon nnT in nna favor I Of What Does it ali
meau?' She said, with serene smile: I will tell
you ought 10 know the truth. It is all glamour
people think they what they do not see-that
is tho whole OF il"
Mr. Conway notes with amused resignation
the fatality that seemed TO pursue him in the
matter of supernatural manifestations: "wher-
ever n miracle occurs I am always too soon or
too late TO see IT My experience was like that OF
Alice in The Looking Glass-Jam yesterday,
Jam tomorrow. but never jam to-day" Many
readers will be more ready to follow the author
n tracing the story OF Dick Wilmington and
his cat to an ancient Buddhist parable-"the
moral OF which was the base tngratitude OF man
to the animals that befrtended hinn"-than in
his analysis Of the Gospels, which leads him TO
the conclusion that Jesus was not "a sort OF
peasant surrounded by peasant disciples" but
"a gentleman Of local distinction, enjoying the
friendship of high personages. including Plate
and his wife" who gathered around him a
number of anti-sa crifce reformers large enough
to protect him in driving the animals out of the
tenlple" Yet his purpose is so serious. his de-
sire to uncover the essential spiritual truth
underlying all religions is so obvious. and his
cheerful optimism is so infectious that he Is
not likely TO shock the sensibities even Of those
whom he fails TO convince By his ingenious lit
erary dissections There is enough OF purely
personal and anecdotal matter in the volume TO
repay the reader who is inclined TO antagonIsm
by the more argumentative passages.