The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-25

but with acquaintance one comes to
appreciate the flow Of its lines, the Va.
riety Of its forms:
And then. the color. Ny own experiences
has been that when a thing was Just RIM
I have often failed at first TO rccognizo II.
I have had to grow to 1t. I used to long
for saris without borders. That little line.
+ neanderlng up and down the figure. seemed
useless interruption OF the composition,
| Earring element In the picture; to- daY
II Is like the brush lne OF a great n,astsn
defining and emphasizing the whole. .
Who ever knew Hindu make n mistake
/ In color2 Dark blue is never blue. but
purple. Green Is like grass lying In sum
| light. or shot with rose. Gray Is not alto
gether silver. there is n suggestion Of the
blue rock pigeon In 1t too. A check or q
| dazzling combination of black and white
Is an outrage impossible to pcrpetrate.
But this enthusiasm reacts to a pas.
sion for the radiant purity Of the
! Widows plain white cloth; q passion
rather religious than artistic. for from
II the sister proceeds to rapturously
sympathetic exposition of the religious
status Of widowhood in India.
The delight Of the eye is strong again
In paper on 1.-THE Kashmir Shawl:
Indian taste demands three things OF
the decorator. fineness OF detail, brill.
lance of effect and profuseness." AL
ways Analysing, Miss Noble accounts
for this taste by reference to "a climate
which produces the beautiful in splendid
masses without relief or pause" Tho
shawl making industry reflects the
hover jewelled vale. and the hands that
built the TAI Mahal were mated with
eyes adjusted to the luxuriance Of tho
jungle. She recognizes the difficulties
that beset the modern craftsman, ex.
posed to the corrupting influences Of
European commercial intercourse, and
seems To have foreseen the changes that
have indeed come to pass OF recent
years, tho cheapening into q most I'M
romantic and inartistic Industry of what
was in simpler days a splendid art.
Testimonial to the literary quality
OF these papers Is the difficulty Of cata-
loguing what the writer really has to
say about India. There Is no central
theme worked out in orderly process,
1t Is not with tho march Of a moving
picture film that Sister NIvedita's pen
proceeds; she picks out one picture
here and another there. but q subtly
realized homogenelty OF effect Is at
tained that, whether It DO duo to luck
or to art, will leave the reader with a
sense OF having seen the real India
more intimately than travellers reports
show IL: not the news section, but n
supplement. The paper on the plaque
Is typical OF one department Of the
collection; without vivid word painting
and without dull cataloguing the hor-
rors OF the situation are made real in
report and the monstrous neglect OF
conditions Is made plain. In
tho same department is The Land OF
the Waterways: and on the other
hand. equally typical OF the speculative
researches Of this remarkable woman,
Is chapter on Tho Indian Ash, or
Tree Of Healing:
How fun OF mystic antiquity are tho
names OF the lotus. tho olivs and the ashl
Ancient Egypt, Greece and Scandinavia
'pring TO our minds as the words are heard
There was time when nature
'eemed TO man but as the garment of some
arge sweet presence that liyod and breathed
within II. Irish elder and quicken
till point TO the neigh borhood of the n.o-
ithic doorsill. but no longer are they held
% guard the village with their mys,e-iou,
'enedictions. Tho olive yields as OF old
he sacred berries and the oil. but Athena
las ned from the hearts where she made her
lome. Only In India the ancient thought
ives on. Here stIll the women hush their
'oces and bow their heads as they pass
'.fcre the tfee Of healing called the noem.
And what must this eager minded
Woman do but hitch India to Scundina-
ia 10y means of the Indian ash and
abled iggdrasil. Why did the Morse
non choose for their tree Of eternity
his one. far from the cummonest in
heir surroundings? Is It rooted In
'eltic and Morse mythology because
through the ages of migration memories
we're carried of tree whose kin was
ccoenzed in the new homeland?