WATTS’S LITERARY GUIDE: B E I N G A M O N T H L Y R E C O R D O F L I B E R A L A N D A D V A N C E D P U B L I C A T I O N S .

No. 87.]

F E B R U A R Y 15 , 1S93.

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N E W P U B L I C A T IO N S .

O U R L I B R A R Y S H E L V E S .

As briefly announced in our last issue, Messrs. Watts & Co. will publish on the 25th of next month the first number of a new quarterly magazine, devoted to the defence of freedom and of the right of property. It will be entitled The L ib erty R ev iew , and among those who will contribute articles to the first number will be Mons. Yves Guyot (D epute), Wordsworth Donisthorpe, M.A., George Candy, Q.C., the Rev. Henry Hayman, I).D., and E. Stanley Robertson, M.A. Under the editorship of Mr. Frederick Millar, and published at the popular price of sixpence, the venture should prove a success. A specimen title-page, giving a full list of contributors, together with a subscription form, is enclosed in our present issue, in the hope that many of our readers may give the new magazine their support.

M e s s r s . W. S t ew a rt & Co. have published an artistically-designed Portrait Group of the contributors to the Agnostic J o u r n a l { i s . 6d.). The group, which is of cabinet size, consists of portraits of Saladin, F. J . Gould, Amos Waters, Frederick Millar, Ellis Thurtell, E. Douglas Fawcett, and Agnosco.

Mr. Charles C. Cattell, following the lead of other Freethinkers, is about to issue his autobiography. The first part will be entitled “ Fifty Years in Birmingham” (2d.).

Mr. S t a n l e y J ones, formerly Secretary of the National Secular Society, has issued the first number of a new monthly liberal magazine. It is entitled Science a n d R e l i gion (2d.). The venture promises well.

A r e v i s e d and extended edition is issued of Mr. Homersham Cox’s “ The First Century of Christianity.”

T he new number of the Monist will be eagerly perused, if only for Mr. Moncure D. Conway’s admirable discourse on “ Renan.” The estimate of the great heterodox thinker is highly appreciative, but, at the same time, commendably discriminative. Dr. Paul Carus’s contribution, and also that of Mr. Charles S. Peirce, appeal more particularly to philosophic students, a large and increasing circle in this country, and to whom the papers will be delightful reading.

Mr. F r e d e r ic k M i l l a r has completed his introduction to “ A Rationalist Bibliography ” (3d.), and it will be issued in a week or two.

M e s s r s . Watts & Co. have published in pamphlet form the Marquis of Queensberry’s recent remarkable address on “ Marriage and the Relation of the Sexes ” (6d.).

A second edition is announced of Mr. Robert Buchanan’s “ Wandering Je w ” (6s.), which, on account of its bold heresy, has provoked fierce controversy in the press,___

A n y scripture which is regarded as precious by multitudes of pious souls is worthy of reverent study. While this saying applies to the Bible, it is not less applicable to

“ t h e song c e l e s t ia l ,”

or Bhagavad-gita. Translated from the Sanskrit text by Sir Edwin Arnold (Triibner; second edition, 1885; 173 pp.; 5s.). The song forms an episode in the great Hindu epic of the Mahabharata, into which it may have been inserted by an unknown writer about the third century after Christ. Cherished by thoughtful Hindus as one of the gems of their literature, it equally deserves a place of honour in the libraries of Europe. The swart hand which penned its noble lines drew music from the same lyre as Dante and Milton. It will speak well for the liberation of thought from the bonds of Christian dogma when the Bhagavad-gita shall be as much read and esteemed in our Western lands as is “ Paradise Lost ” or the “ Divina Commedia.”

Perhaps no other poem of such depth and dignity was ever based on so simple a plot as this. Two armies are face to face. Prince Arjuna surveys the enemy, whose captains are of kindred blood with his own; and, valiant though he is, his heart dreads the coming strife and slaughter. He turns anxiously to his charioteer, who is none other than the divine Krishna in human guise, and reveals to the god his foreboding and compunction. This leads to an extended dialogue on destiny and duty, and the profoundest doctrines of Hindu theism.

One might expect that Krishna would bid Arjuna put up his sword into its sheath. On the contrary, he appeals to his military honour. Arjuna, being a warrior of renown, and the chosen leader of his people, is bound to fight. As to the foes whom the Prince pities, their approaching fall on the battle-field will not bring any real cessation of life, for—

“ Life cannot slay. Life is not slain.

Never the spirit was born ; the spirit shall cease to be never.” Man’s part is to act, and so work into his career the fine qualities of his inner being. Even God chooses action rather than rest. Yet the mere wielding of a weapon or using of a tool brings no salvation. Work must be linked with devout meditation and uplifting of the mind to things celestial. By virtuous deed, and by inward communion with the central essence of the universe, man mounts to the vision of light and eternal peace.

“ 11is life is merged

In Brahma’s life ; he doth Nirvana touch.” By such expansion and elevation man becomes a Yogi, rapt companion of gods, and victor over lust and care. The ideal, in effect, is that same excellence which Confucius portrayed in his Sage, which the Stoics held up as the supreme aim, which the Christian embodies in “ Heavenly Mindedness,” which Wordsworth depicts in the “ Happy Warrior,” and with which the Rationalist may feel a subtle sympathy even while he rejects the theologic diction of the Hindu poet. Singular it is to hear this Prince, sitting in his fightingcar, debate with troubled heart the question which Christian