The Portland daily press., 1885-12-24
JAPANESE POTTERY.
Professor Edward s. Morse's Won
derfuI Collection.
lCorr. of Providence Journal.

CCorr. of Providence Journal.1
| 1t was beautiful Sunday morning in Sep
TENDER when we landed in the quaint old city
| of Salem, intent upon visiting the splendid
| collection of Japanese pottery brought to
| this Country by Prof. Edward S. Morse. and
| in many respects unequalled outside of that
marvellous little nation. A wonderful quiet
hung over the town, a more than Sabbath
stiffness; profound air of conviction that
whatever was worth exertion belonged to the
| dear old place already, and it was therefore
| happily exempt from all need to share in the
| hurry and restlessness of modern life. So
complete, indeed, was the serenity of Salem
| on that autumn morning. that there was no
carriage of any sort to be found at the depot,
and we were fain to go out into the crooked,
memory-haunted streets, in search of a con-
veyance. Even then there seemed far more
of association in the streets than of enter
prise, and it was with some difficulty that we
were able to persuade one of the passers, on
decorous way to the sanctuary, to indicate
the whereabouts of a livery stable and
when we at last produced a carriage, both it
and the horse that drew it seemed older than
the witch records preserved in the old court
house.
However, all things totique seem in keep
ing with so historic town, even a horse
that has personal "reminiscences of the fall,
and goes about oppressed by vain regrets for
the Garden of Eden and since the beast
kindly refrained from fulfilling our expecta-
tions by dying upon the road to South Sa-
lem, the rest was no matter. 1t is true that
we were greeted with opprobrious inquiry
whether our equ1page came from Marble
head, but one learns sooner or later to be
above all care for trifies of this sort, and we
saw the antediluvlan turnout rattle slowly
away with no feelings at all akin to bitter
ness.
Indeed, one could hardly be forgiven the
cherishmg of aught of bitterness in the
come to visit Good taste, l believe, de-
mands that should in the publicity of print
make no especial mention of the virtues of
man whose salt have eaten, although the
general sentiment would find little to shock
it in ever SO long a list of shortcomings, so be
l could produce it. Since then custom de-
mands that his domestic virtues and person
al traits go unrecorded until his biography is
invented. When he is beyond the power of
contradicting it, am manifestly cut off from
saying even what everybody knows, that he
is the prince of good fellows; while to tell
the truth of his delightful Inequalities would
be an objectionable breach of decorum. All
of which is pity since it would help to ex-
pldlu WHY lilo DUUk VII OdpdncSc I1UlilCo,
just out, is so uniquely attractive with an If
resistable spirit of frankness and good-fel-
lowship.
Itmay not be wholly amiss to allude to
Professor MOrse'S scientific methods and
work, since when man has had part in so
many important scientific discussions and
discoveries, his career becomes pretty thor
oughly public property. | am too well aware
of the danger of meddling in matters which
/ do not understand to attempt catalogue
of his md IL 10 ou1r IN hin, fbo Of
l should ever think of making the faintest
pretence that l have read the original pam
phlet he so generously gives me upon such
light and pleasing subjects as the hyoid bone
crinkle in the shell of the very-long-name,
indeed something or-other -unintelligible. l
only look impressed when he shows me the
long scale upon table in his cellar wherein
he takes the average dimensions of hun
dred clam shells and compares them with
the average dimensions of great many other
hundred clam shells, thus proving something
or other about the decrease or increase or
the .permanency of the dimensions of clam
shells since the dawn of time. One incident
in connection with his miscellaneous scien-
tific knowledge, however, may be told here
since it has been in print already. Among
other things he has made drawing of every
known way in which archers, have in any
age held the bowstring in discharging the ar
row. Once when he was in Copenhagen, he
was shown highly priced antique statue of
a Grecian bowman, which he at once pro-
nounced modern. On being asked upon what |
he based so startling an opinion, he pointed |
out the fact that the hand holding the bow
string had the fingers in such position that |
it would be impossible to let the arrow fly
1T is absurd to suppose" he continued, |
''that sculptor born and bred in a nation of |
bOwmen like the Greeks could make so eyre |
gious blunder; especially when there are |
so many statues of thatage which are correct |
in this particular"
He was then informed by the curator of |
the museum that the figure was indeed |
genuine antique, but that the hand had |
been restored by Thorwaldsen, who had |
made the blunder Professor Morse was APP |
parently the first to detect.
| may seem to have wandered far enough |
from the pottery we had come to Salem to |
see, but started out with the intention of |
leading logically up to the two facts that |
Professor Morse has applied to his collec-
tons, both OF pottery and of information |
concerning Japan, the scientific method and |
that he is gifted with that rare and irreSista-
BILE bon homie which enables man to make |
his way into places inaccessible to ordinary
mortals and to get hold of all sorts of de-
sirable things and facts which elude most
collectors and most observers.
The pottery is arranged In an addition
which has been built on to the house to re-
ceive it, and is one of the most bewilderingly
enchanting collections it could enter into the