Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-09-28

the story the quality of being told by ar
eyewitness. To read the book straight
through. as one would a novel, is some
what irksome. but to read one or two
stories at a time Is refreshing.
THE SYSTEM OF THE VEDANTA. BY
Paul Deussen. professor of philos-
ophy. kiel University. Translated
by Charles Johnston. Bengal civil
service, retired. Chicago: The
Open Court Publishing Company.
Expositor and translator make partner
ship upon this occasion to bring the es-
sentials Of the doctrine of Brahminism
within range of western apprehension.
Using for the most part the Vedic COM
mentaries Of Cankara. master OF south
ern India as the source of this investi-
cation. DR.. Deussen builds from these a
condensed summary of the system of
the Vedanta, the dogmatics of Brahmin-
ism. Oriental psychology. or the func-
tioning of the mind in an oriental en-
vironment, lies at the root of this de-
velopment defining the nature and spe-
cial feature of East Indian philosophy
and theology. This scholarly study. wide
Of scope and clear of statement. makes
an available body Of information highly
important to students of comparative
civilizations and to the increasing number
of occidentals that cast back to the east
through UNREASONABLE affinities for an in
depreciation of mortal existence in its
deepest significance.
THE ROMANCE or LEONARDO DA
WINCH. BY Dmitri Merejkowskf
author of 1.-The Death of the Gods. .
Authorized translation from the
Russian by Herbert Trench. In two
volumes. Illustrated. New York:
G. P. Putnam's Sons.
THE long, fair beard and curling and
luxuriant hair gave him an air of maj
esty. He was tall and powerful in build
yet his face had subtle charm which
was almost feminine"
Leonardo da Vinci lived his life -four
centuries ago. Italy was his cradle and
his grave. Art accords immortality to the
master, but the man himself would be
lost In the night of bygone ages were II
not for such literary explorers as the
author of this Romance He has rein
carnated for us wildly human da Vinci:
painter, sculptor. mathematician. archl-
tect and dreamer-a man who did all
things and finished nothing, because he
was forever seeking the impossible" This
particular criticism was from Mona Lisa
Of the flesh. whose own portrait was
never completed. To Giovanni. his pupil
Leonardo knew everything and believed
in nothing, and superstitious folk consid-
cred him witch-tainted because of his at
tempts to fly Seen in the sunlight of his
biographer's interpretation Leonardo da
Vinci, like the Baptist, was one who went
before. On his life study was built the
fame of his youthful rivals. Raphael and
him before Fulton was. and when he
voiced the cry Man shall conquer the
air. was not da Einci a prophet?
History weaves it's light and shadows
into the masters rOmance-a romance In
which no woman had a share. unless it be
too xha icfn If
glimpses in turn the splendor of church
and court, pagan gods and the Christ at
His last supper: Borgia on a throne
and Savanarola at the stake; royalty,
rags, saints and courtesans; the crafty
smile of a Machiavelli. the echo of Co
lumbus' discovery, and the clamorous
upbuilding of the cathedral at Milan.
The two volumes arc enriched with many
reproductions from the galleries and ca
thedrals of Italy, with frontispiece por-
traits of da Vinci and of the Mona Lisa,
which he considered his greatest work.
HERITAGE; a Novel. BY Valentino
Hawtrey. New York: Duffield & Co.
A gloomy story. a tale of tyrannical
manhood and suffering womanhood, with
the tyranny Of the man handed along
from one generation to another. culminat-
ing in a selfishness almost grotesque and
get diabolical in it's intensity. The novel
deals largely with the passionate love of
a landed Engishman for his estate and
his determination to hold it intact and to
pass it on from his own hands to that of
his heir with reverence for its traditions.
To him the woman who is to provide the
heir is but means to this end. y well
written, interesting, but not uplifting
story that ends in sacrifice and sorrow.
PENELOPE INTRUDES. BY Katharine
Newln. With four color plates by
w. Reynolds. New York: Cassell &
Co.
This is a joyously natural story of
girls and gooseberry jam. Penelope
daughter of an American who has lost
his fortune, invites herself to spend
the summer with English relatives
whom she has never seen. The Carew
family accept this announcement ac-
cording to the temperament. of it's
various members. The mother, with a
tender memory for the sister who mar
ried a Yankee and died in a strange
land. is glad to welcome that sisters
child. Lettuce. the eldest daughter
openly resents the invasion of a posi-
BILE loud-voiced cowgirl who will wear
diamonds to breakfast; Honore. the
gentle. and Sybil, The tomboy, take up
individual lines in behalf of the COM
ing visitor, and Harold. the crippled