The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-11 00:00:00

DEATH OF A JAPANESE AMBASSADOR.

" Naonobon Sameshima, Minister Plenipontiary of
Japan in Paris, died in that city on Saturday morning,
at the age of 36. Sameshima had been nine years in
France. In noticing his death, the Paris correspondent
of The Times writes :—" He was sent here as Charge
d'Affaires in 1871, was later on appointed Minister
Plenipotentiary, returned to Japan for two years as
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, married there, and
came back with his wife to France. Sameshima was
also accredited to the Courts of Madrid and Lisbon,
and he was on the point of proceeding thither to present
his credentials when he was taken ill with pleurisy,
which carried him off after a fortnight's illness. His
death, which has painfully affected all who knew
him, has taken nobody by surprise. He was in extremely
delicate health, and his weak chest obliged him to
seek in the south of France refuge from the rigours of
the northern climate. He belonged to a family of
military nobility, of the Sazonma ; came early in life
to Europe, and completed his studies in England.
He wrote English with remarkable purity, and at the
beginning of his sojourn in Paris could only make use
of that lanomage. But he set ardently to work and wa
soon able to express himself in French, and thence-
forth in official circles 'his high political capacities were
appreciated. He studied European civilization with
indefatigable perseverance, and he certainly has greatly
contributed to the friendly relations of Japan with
Europe. He distinguished himself from most of his
fellow-countrymen, and even from most Orientals, in
not entertaining for Europeans the obstinate distrust
that characterizes them, and he succeeded in winning
sincere and constant friendships because he did not
suspect them of concealing some selfish interest. He
had great weight in all that regarded his intervention
in the relations of Japan with France, and his loss is
the greater for his country inasmuch as it has come
at a time when thanks to his perseverance, the new o
tiations are about to be opened for the revision of the
commercial treaties between Japan and those Euro-
pean Powers that have entered into them. He was
generally reproached with not speaking enough, but
he had so faultless a bearing and such a dignified
appearance that his presence • always ended by
making up for a rather persistent taciturnity.
Moreover, he made inquiries which were always to the
purpose, listened with attention, and constantly pre-
occupied about his country, sought instruction on
every hand. He had been appointed Envoy Extra-
ordinary at the second marriage of Alfonso XII. and
it was on a similar occasion that he repaired to
Brussels. Both there and at Madrid he won. general
esteem by his noble manners and affable character,
and in connexion with these two missions obtained the
Grand Ribands of Charles 111. of Spain and of Leopold
of Belgium. He was officer of the Legion of Honour,
officer of Public Instruction, and grand officer of the
Order of the Rising Sun of Japan. Of late he had
been a little anxious about the course of affairs in his
country, where his political friends had been deprived
of the management of affairs, and he was working with
redoubled zeal to counterbalance here the mistakes he
feared would be committed there. He cherished, by
the natural tendency of his enlightened spirit, the
doctrines of Confucius, and, without openly expressing
himself on that subject, seemed more and more to leave
Buddhism, which is the form of worship preferred by
the zealots of his country."

The funeral of M. Sameshima took place on Tuesday
under circumstances peculiarly touching. At a very early
hour a sort of religious ceremony was performed in the
mortuary chamber, attended only by Japanese. each present
reciting a prayer at the foot of the coffin. At ten o'clock
it was brought down into the court-yard, which, by
means of an enormous black tent, had been converted
into a " chapelle ardente." The sable velvet that
covered the coffin was almost entirely hidden by
masses of bouquets, while at the foot were exhibited, on
cushions, the various decorations of the deceased. The
chief peculiarity of this impromptu chapel was the enor-
mous quantity of rare and splendid plants, the chrysan-
themums being especially conspicuous. The reception
rooms were absolutely crowded with the principal per-
sonages of Paris, and it was sad for the visitors to meet each
other, under these melancholy circumstances, in the arti-
ficially lighted rooms where they had so often met at the
pleasantest fetes that have been given in Paris of late years.
The funeral procession, as it left the house, was headed by
a detachment of soldiers, who immediately preceded and
surrounded the heaNe, beside which walked the brother of the
deceased; General Pittie, in full uniform, representing the
President ofthe Republic. Four members of the Corps Diplo-
matique acted as pall-bearers, their place being afterwards
taken by attaches of the Japanese Legation. The cortege was
nearly an hour in accomplishing its sad journey
and a considerable crowd had assembled in the neigh-
bourhood of the Avenue Marceau to see it pass. The
streets in the uninteresting quarter of Montparnasse, lead-
ing up to the cemetery of that name, were sparsely lined.
with sightseers, who hoped to catch a glimpse of the
cortege with its miscellaneous following of Europeans,
Japanese and Chinese officers and Diplomatists. The
Japanese officers present were attired in uniforms very
similar to those of the French army, while diplomatic uni-
forms were worn by very few of the followers. Some time
before the procession arrived the police had taken pos-
session of the cemetery and formed a line from the
gates to the tomb. which is only a few steps from the
entrance. A handsome black canopy had been erected over
the grave which was surrounded with a profuse collection
of green plants devoid of flowers. As soon as the hearse
stopped in front of the tomb the detachment of the 78th
Regiment of the line, rendering honour to the deceased as
an officer cf the Legion of Honour, saluted, and the coffin
was lifted from the car to a catafalque immediately over
the grave, a group of Japanese and other officials forming
a semi-circle round. A master of the ceremonies was
sta.ioned on each side of the funeral tent, handing branches
to each of the mourners, who passed in single file
in front of the coffin, and deposited them on a
table placed there for the purpose. M. Mori Sameshima, the
brother of the deceased, delivered a speech in English, and
the First Secretary, M. Suziki, spoke in French, both eulo-
gising the virtues of the deceased, and deploring his death
in a foreign land, far from home. After several speeches
in Japanese, the mourners each read a prayer, the
coffin was lowered into the grave, and the simple ceremony
came to an end. The body will remain in its present rest,
jug place until a permanent tomb has been erected for its
reception.