Evening star., 1926-06-05
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BoOkloper.

tiful scenery interest Count Herman
Keyserling only, or almost only, be-
cause of the philosophical significance
which he reads into them. His
"Travel Diary of Philosopher" Is n
unique book, disappointing to one who
looks for a popular work of travel,
but full of suggestion and stimula-
ton for the amateur who enjoys phil
osophic speculation. Count Keyser
ling, born in 1880 in Esthonia, and
educated until he was Is at home on
his fathers estate of Raykull, later
attended the universities of Heidelberg
and Vienna. He early discovered in
himself a bent for philosophy and was
fortunately able to devote himself to
this unlucrative vocation. In 1911 he
coinmepced his journey around the
world which resulted in 1.-THE Travel
Diary of a Philosopher" the latter
part of which was written during the
World War. Count Keyserling had
by this time inherited his fathers
estates, which, being on Russian soil,
were cut off during 1914-1918 from
communication with Germany. The
outbreak of war found some of the
proofs of the Travel Diary in the
hands of Count keyserlins and some
in the hands of his German publisher.
The war seems to have made little
impression on the thought of this
singular man. He secluded himself
at Raykull and gave himself up to
mediation and self-culture. In 1918,
however the Russian revolution de-
prived him of his estates and fortune,
and since then he has lived as a refu
gee in Germany. In 1919 he married
a granddaughter Of Bismarck. In 1920
he opened the School of Wisdom at
Darmstadt.
The central idea of Count Key
serling's philosophy is personal perfec-
ton as opposed to professional eff
cheney. The different ways in which
various races and nationalities strive
for this personal perfection form the
subject of study in the Travel Diary"
Among the ruins of Anuradhapura in
Ceylon he comes upon a hut occupied
by a young Englishman who dwells
there in the midst of hundreds Of ser
pents, which he charms into harmless
ness by something in his personality
and understanding. Count Keyserling
reflects that mental atmosphere deter
mines conduct. or "expediency condi
tionS moral behavior" "A contented
man is seldom malicious" Worship
Of creative natural force in the East
ern religions impresses him. while
was in CeylOn, / spent a great deal
of my observation in noting the vege-
tative character of mental creations
in the tropics, and l expressed the as
sumption that Hinduism also, in it's
unlimited wealth. should be under
stood as Il VegetatiVe process"
Oriental philosophy fascinates him as
it has many others. He says: The
nf ~ 1,a;s cob
of my receptive soul more and more
l accept, as matter of course, all
forces within and without me as be-
ing substantial, and my pantheon be-
comes richer from hour to hour" The
passing of all personality, of all
achievement, seems to him as natural
and as desirable az it does TO the Hindu.
"Transitoriness is the safeguard
of eternity. The ending OF
nothing has never hurt me in my
heart of hearts, but how often have ]
suffered on rediscovering conditions
which should have been buried long
ago. He is in harmony with the
spirit of the Bhagavat-Git Toll day
and night, but sacrifice beforehand the
results of thy work.
Part VIII of the Travel Diary" on
America. tells of Count Keyserling's
visits to San Francisco. the Yosemite,
the Grand Canon, the Yellowstone.
Salt Lake City. Chicago and New
York. On reaching San Francisco he
notices in himself q metamorphosis.
THE consciousness of being reCedes;
that of becoming increases He de-
cides that ''for this world the West
has chosen the better part. Leaving
l. ~
of Liberty, he reflects that the new
world lis not really more free than
the old one" and that "arbitrariness
not of one, as in Asatic despotisn. but
of every individual, which is not
better His conclusion about de-
mocracy is that the will of the peo-
pie expresses itself on the whole as
the rule of incompetence"
x X
Three stories of average interest,
with settings in Europe and Africa,
and three other rather unusual stories
of New England characters make up
Edith Wharton's last valume, Here
and Beyond" The first three stories
in the volume, Miss Mary Pask,"
THE Young Gentlemen" and BE
witched." are of the type of her master
piece, Ethan Frome," that story of
Puritan fataliSm. morbid New Eng
land characters. and q mental atmos-
phere as chill as the New England
Winter in which the tragedy takes
place. Though the scene of Miss
Mary Pask" is Brittany, yet Miss
Mary herself is a New England old
maid living abroad in self-appointed
exile, like hundreds of other dowdy
old maids, cheerful derelicts content
with their innumerable little substi-
tuteS for living" Her lonely villa
close to the sea, on the Bay Of the
Dead. is the scene of most startling
occurrence on a foggy night-one
which rivals the events which took
place in fog on the Cornish coast in
Hugh Walpole's romance, Portrait of
a Man With Red Hair The Young
Gentlemen" is Il story of family de-
generacy, successfully concealed for
over 80 years, but suddenly exposed
to the view of all the community
through the curiosity of q Boston
architect who comes prowling about
the dead little town of Harpledon.
This story suggests Mrs. Wharton's
novel Summer" with it's colony Of
degenerates in the Berkshires. Be
Witched,' most of all suggestive of
Ethan Frome," is an unexplained
ghost story, though one may guess the
solution. 1t takes place on the snow
bound slopes of Lonetop. where Saul
Rutledge, the bewitched man, lives.
1t is not surprising that remnants of
the witchcraft superstition should
linger in this desolate place, where "a
funeral offered an opportunity for an
outing that was not to be missed"
Mrs. Wharton's power of creating at
mosphere by few careful sentences
is illustrated by the following al
fusion to Rutledges house. "He
glanced through the thickening fan of
snow at the desolate front of the Rut-
ledge house, the more melancholy, in
its present neglected state hacanSa