The Portland daily press., 1884-02-04

The lecture in the First Parish course. Sat-
urdsy afternoon by Prof. E. S. Morse, on jap
an, drew large audience who went away
mucn aehghted with the information SO inter-
estingly impaired by the professor. 1t was
more OF social chat than lecture and We do
not believe there is anyone before the public
who can SO thoroughly satisfy their hearers as
Mr.. Morse. 1t is much to be desired that he
should be induced to give a regular course of
lectures on the remarkable people whose conn
try was the subject of Saturdays talk.
The lecture began by referring to the gener-
al mistake made by people in confusing the
Japanese and Chinese because they both had
the Monaghan characteristics, both drank tea
and used like characters in writing. And vet
the Chinese resemble Americans mora chan
they do the Japanese. Like Americans they
live to mako money, and can be brutal in their
actions. The Japanese are gentle, courteous,
kind to their children and high minded Their
food is entirely different from that OF the Chi
nese. The Japanese table an American can
learn to live upon, although he does not thank
err after 1t, on account of its odd flavor like
varnlsh for instance. The Chinese, however, live
like our people; they have rich gravies, chick
ems nicely cooked with rice, agreeable iellies.
although they do look upon an egg that
is twenty years old as delicacy which has the
appearance OF green marble and an aroma
that Is overpowering.
The Japanese write in Chinese, but use an
alphabet with 4S letters. The men are stu
dents from childhood till death, bnt the wom-
i en- and girls don't make much progress Each
hieroglyph is an Telegraph, or portrait of the
idea in the writer's mind. There are about 4O,-
ooO OF these hieroglyphs in the language. A
student commands some II, 600 of them cul-
tivated man COCOA savan 10000. So old is the
language 1t is not uncommon for party of-ed-
ncated Japanese, seeing a row of hieroglyphs
over an antique gateway, to be unable to trans-
late some Of tnem. The language was introduced
ABOUT the NTH century, is OF a primitive cnar-
aeter apparently arrested in its development
Where 1t came from no one knows The IAN
aDese while they have such difficulty in ae-
curing their own language, are very quick in
learning foreign tongues. In their colleges
| they tske English, French and German notes
at the Lectures with wonderful fapidity. They
ara race of scholars. The school children
have vacation of only fifteen days in the
| year.
Two things strike the resident in japan for
| chilly; the politeness of the people aud their
love of art. 1t is rude to disagree with the per
son you are talking with. Conse quently a mar
may show you fine picture-or one he claims
10 so-Rnd you necessarily agree. That pict
tuEe has high valuation till 1t is put in the
market; then realizing knowledge Of its
| faults are sometimes unpleasantly asesrtained
People are never introduced, they in
troduce themselves, consequently, as il
IS the effort OF two people getting acquainted
Tor each TO induce the other to give his name
| hrSt, IL is ludicrous to see the ruses adopted
| by each to secure the others name. The one
| who gives his name first is considered infer,
| or to the other. In transacting business man
| Will go to another's house and talk fol
| hall an hour about everything besides the bus
mess IN hand until just as he is about to take
his leave he will introduce it as sort Of post
| CRYPT. In writing on business, an immense
| roll OF paper will be written over which the re-
celVer runs through with rapid eye until he
| gets at the few lines that give the gist of the
matter at issue. Parents no IA alter how rich
| dress their children when attending school ia
| cheap and simple garments so that the chill
| oren OF poor parents may not feel envious OF
| note any distinctions.
Japanese art has done much good. It has
broken up old set lines and made distractions
| 1t is cultivated by high and low and even In
the poorest household will be found elega nj
| little bronzes. The workman takes the best
models Ii he cannot originate he COPIES
known masters. Japanese art is proving til al
| perspective belongs TO the civil engineer moi
| to the artist. In gentlemen's back wards In
Japan you will find potteres where poem i.
enshrined 10 clay. Think of Longfelow Of
Emerson putting their Thoughts into earthen
WareY They, the Japenese, dislike the idea OF
our exposing statues OF men like Washington
Grant and Garfield to the rain, snow and dust
1t detraits, in their opinion, from a prone,
reverence. They would have them carefully
enclosed in temples where they should be an
preached with all due respect and solemnity
They think the practice dreadful one q
putting great mans head on piece of paper
and then giving it lick and stamp. You
can't get the gentry of Japan to be photo
graphed because they think it uudignified,
Therefore only pictures of the common peo.
pie are taken in that way. In parties and at
receptions the wives and daughters of the
hosts do not appear. There is a class Of
talented women, many of them very bright
and pretty and all highly educated who are
hired to come in and entertain the guests,
very amusing description was given OF
learning to sing in the Japanese style Their
vocal method is to depress the diaphragm and
initiate the abdomen, The lecturer said he
used to be good singer in the Salem oratorio
society but he found himself "knooked out of
time" by the staid and grave professor in
Japan. BE did learn to sing two Japanese
tunes. We think Japanese music horrid and
they reciprocate the compliment.
The lecturer showed how cheap crem alton
was in Japan, ranging from S140 to 81 sub
ject. He also illustrated falconry as practced
there. The lecture was illustrated on the
black board in Mr.. Morse's inimitable manner,
and the hour devoted to the talk was all too
short.