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DECEMBER, 1898.]
IN MEMORIAM GEORGE BÜHLER.
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master all the different branches of Indology, and the period of specialisation (which by a sad necessity must come in every branch of knowledge) has set in. Bühler fully recognised the necessity of specialising, but he also saw the danger of carrying specialisation too far, and he often warned his pupils against limiting themselves too much to one special branch of research. He himself never forgot and often took Occasion to point out, how the various branches of Indology, and the different periods in the bistory of Indian civilization are most intimately connected,
Nor did he ever lose sight of the relations existing between the various nations of the East and the different branches of Oriental studies in general. Although he limited himself, in his writings, as much as possible to those departments of knowledge which were his particular domain, yet his view reached far beyond the limits of India, and the history of Indian civilisation was to him but an act in the great drama of the History of Mankind.
Bühler's clear-sightedness in questions of detail, his far-sightedness in dealing with great historical problems will be missed for years to come. We shall miss again and again his noble character, his great and influential personality, his inspiration, his advice and his help. And all that he might still bave produced, is lost, - irretrievably lost! He who has been a leader of men, a trusty guide, has been taken from us! He is gone, and it merely remains for us to cherish his memory by continuing the work which he had so much at heart, to the best of our power and by building on the solid foundations which be bas laid ; for, though he is no longer with us, his lifo-work will remain for ever,-na hi karma kahiyate.
: GEORG BÜHLER, 1837-98.
BY THE RIGHT HON. F. MAX MÜLLER It is not often that the death of a scholar starties and grieves his fellow-workers as the death of my old friend, Dr. Bühler, has startled and grieved us all, whether in Germany England, France, or India. Sanskřit scholarship has indeed been unfortunate : we have often lost young and most promising scholars in the very midst of their career; and though, Dr. Bühler was sixty-one years of age when he died, he was still so young and vigorous in body and mind that he made us forget his age, holding his place valliantly among the wrópaxou of the small army of genuine Indian students, and confidently looking forward to many victories and conquests that were still in store for him. By many of us he was considered almost indispensable for the successful progress of Sanskrit scholarship - but who is indispensable in this world ? - and great hopes were centred on him as likely to spread new light on some of the darkest corners in the history of Sanskțit literature.
On the 8th of April last, while enjoying alone in a small boat a beautiful evening on the Lake of Constance, he seems to have lost an oar, and in trying to recover it, to have overbalanced himself. As we think of the cold waves closing over our dear friend, we feel stunned and speechless before so great and cruel a calamity. It seems to disturb the regular and harmonious working of the world in which we live, and which each man arranges for himself and interprets in his own way. It makes us feel the littleness and uncertainty of all our earthly plans, however important and safe they may seem in our own eyes. He who for so many years was the very life of Sanskrit scholarship, who helped us, guided us, corrected us, in our different researches, is gone; and yet we must go on as well as we can, and try to honour his memory in the best way in which it may be honoured - not by idle tears, but by honest work.
Non hoo praecipuum amicorum munus est, prosequi defunctum ignavo questu, sed quae voluerit meminisse, quae mandaverit exsequi.
1 Reprinted from J. R. 4. 8., 1898.
