Modern Hyderabad (Deccan)/end matter
INDIAN SNAPSHOTS.
Third Edition.
"A most fair, impartial and most interesting book."—The Daily News.
"The author of this book has not, like some others, been led about by Congress-Baboos, seditious editors, disaffected lawyers or discontented students. It would take pages to refer to the sound and sane things said, and the excellent judgment given in this little volume. In short, this is one of the best books on India published for some time."—The Pall Mall Gazette.
"There is much that may be studied from this book, especially by Englishman, to whom indeed, it reveals 'Hidden India in a fair and faithful manner.' "—The Indian Patriot.
"This little volume by Mr. Law gives us in an easy, simple style, many a valuable insight into the character of the natives of India and also into the barriers which separate the sympathies of the Indians and of their British rulers. Mr. Law did not merely wander idly through the regular tourist tracts, but lived among the people of whom he writes, visited them in their homes and made many friendships among them. He was able to appreciate their aspirations, and he seeks above all to give the readers of his book a picture of the position from the view of the subject races."—The Age.
"Looking as he did beneath the surface, it is no wonder that Mr. John Law's impressions of India should be of a more abiding interest and differ considerably from those of the ordinary Englishman. He is free from all affectation and employs a crisp diction to write what he feels. The result is a singularly lively volume."—The Parsi.
THE HOROSCOPE.
In this book it is shown how the horoscopes of two brothers; Banda and Tikri Delgama, who were descended from the royal line of Kandy, worked out. The author gives us an admirable account of Ceylon, its people, its physical beauties, and its religion. Clearly he has studied the Buddhist faith deeply, and in "the little monk" (Tikri) he has created a most lovable character, setting forth that religion in a most attractive light. The end of the two brothers, who died together, is most affecting. Banda has been bitten by a mad dog, and is going distraught. The younger brother, regardless of self, tends him to the last, and then, worn out with his exertions, expires, fully sustained by the faith that was in him. The little monk cried in his soul, "I come," "I give myself up," "I trust." — The Literary World.
The scene of this novel is entirely laid in Ceylon. Ceylon stories, with which it might be compared, are few, if any exist. There is plenty of local colouring : the writer shows a knowledge of at least some portion of the colony's history, of its chief products, of the manner of life, and, above all, of the dominant Buddhism and its practical operation. So far we might have been describing a Gazetteer. But the book is a story full of human developments. A Sinhalese gentleman, descended from the deposed Kandyan dynasty, proprietor of an encumbered estate, loses his wife, is left with two little boys, and devotes himself to their welfare. The story turns on the evolution of the horoscope of the elder son: a superstitious regard attaches to horoscopes in Eastern countries. This elder boy is, contrary to an English planter's advice, sent to a Christian College, and eventually, after his father's death, becomes a Christian. The younger becomes a Buddhist monk. Their mutual devotion is touching. Their characters and careers are well drawn. The life of the elder is hardly a success : the moral is that he would have done 'better by adhering to Sinhalese ways. His Sinhalese wife is amusing in her ambitions. The younger brother is the stronger character. His trust in his faith is unshaken : his attachment to his stricken brother is most pathetic. The interest is well sustained to the end. The Buddhism is proprominent, but not overdone. How many understand what Nirvâna means? It is "taught that Desire leads men to be born again and again, and that by killing Desire a man can escape from re-births and enter Nirvana"—the deathless state.—The Academy.