The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-11-16
THE hpANESE.
Professor Morse's Lecture at
Brown University.

lectures in the Brown University course
year ago needed 20 argument 20 pcrsuhue
them that the present two talks on Japan
would be highly entertaining as wen
as instructive. Prof. Morse has a
most happy faculty OF holding the
! attention OF his listeners III the
very close, and in this he is aided by ms
ready ability 10 produce sketcn, at
few seconds notice, OF amy thng ne wisles
| TO illustrate. This fact was fAectualiy
demonstrated last evening IN the Arst two
lectures on Japan.
The lecturer was introduced by Prof.
Bumpus, " ho spoke briefly cl ne MOODS
Holl school OF Zoology ard Biology IN
aid of which thcso Two lectures are giveR.
| The proceeds are 10 be devoted 10 the
establishment oi a desk in G. Ia school, 10
be occupied during the summer by some
Provio.. &c teacher or f'uysnt OF Brown
University
II wish" said Prof. Morse, "thst had
time TO speak OF the remarkable school at
Woods Holl, wAich in its line Is second
| only TO he famous laboratory OF Naples.
But it sadly needs endowments, and,
while every little helps, the proceeds OF
these lectures wIll bo only drop ia the
| bucket.
81 chose Japan for my subject because
our attention has been 80 recently called
10 that country by he way she ia thrash
| ing her immense noighbOr, China; ana
| the comparative case with which his is
being accomplished, affords an excellent
| illustration OF me effect OF japanese char
aeter and training. They are an intensely
| patriotic people. Love OF country Is with
| them stronger han family ties.
For upward OF 1000 years they have re-
PEELED every invasion which threatened
them and IL is no wonder that they are
| meeting with tbs same success in war on
a foreign field which has attended them
at home. For 80 years they have drilled a
| standing amy in modern methods OF
| warfare, eagerly welcoming any new Idea
which improved on the ola order OF
things. as a surer means OF maintaining
| their country's honor.
"With regard TO the origin OF the Jap
anese il Is difficult to obtain any accurate
| information, inasmuch as they have been
| a mixed race as far back as history throws
| any light upon them. Their tradition
is that their ancestors came from
| the sun, and many other equally
| improbable theories have been advanced,
including even the supposition that they
are the descendants of the lost tribes OF
Israel. The probabilities are that their
| blood is mostly Corean, mingled with
| Malay Chinese--and numerous other peo-
| pies. The strong ocean current which runs
up from the South has been distributor
OF human as we'll as animal and plant life,
and is in G large meat uIe respDn9lbic for
this mixture OF races. The ehec,s
of this intermingling OK different charac-
|
| us, in the elasticity, so TO speak, OF the
people. They are progressive, ready TO
| adopt new ideas, moi hsmpered by the con-
servatism which shows In such q marked
degree in their ncighbor and enemy China.
Among other things which exhibit this
tendency in japan may be mentioned the
| remarkable growth oI tbo post Office sys-
TEN, the institution 81 libraries and coll
| leges, the adoption OF advanced ideas in
medicine and surgery"
The speaker gave a detailed account of
the japanese Language as lt y spoken
| and written. "lt seems curl cus "Sbo sslo,
"to take up a Japanese book aud begin at
what we would call the beck 10 read
| it. The page lines run critically, too,
instead OF horizontally, and this is per-
haps even more confusing. One fact
which seems at first thought more sur
| prisiDg than any other concern
Ing the language, is that
japanese, though polysylla-
bic tongue bearing no re-
lation whatever to Chinese,
| is yet written entirely in Chinese charac-
ters. And, furthermore, they give the
| Chinepe name to the written character,
though in thought IL represents
word in japanese. So that learn
ing to write Is an enormous task
for youth in that country.
The reason for this is that Buddhist
| priests. in the third and Fourth centuries
OF lncfthDOuNH, CTOcbtl over 70 japan ana
taught them, who as yet had no written
characters, TO write by means of the
method they themselves employed.
"The result is that oil the books, records,
political documents, everything in fact
written or printed, has been in the Chi
nese character for some 1900 years, tili
now, progressive as the people are, IL
would be almost an impossibility to
change.
"The first impression one gets on enter
ing the country is that il is entirely dis
similar 10 any place one has ever seen
before And so it is. From the smallest
part of the japanese life TO he land itself,
everything is novel. The sounds which
greet the car, the sights which
present themselves TO the eye, the odors
which reach the nostrils, al have the
charm of new sensations. Instead of u
crowd of noisy hack-drvers clamoring
for your patronage, You ind a number OF
quiet iinrikisha men who draw lots 20 see
which one is TO take you as a passenger.
And speaking OF the method OF
transportation reminds me how exceed
ingly humiliating IL seems, until one be-
comes used 90 IL, TO be pulled along for
miles aud miles by another man, even
though he doesn't show the least symp-
toms OF firing. / have covered over sixty
miles in one day and 40 the next with the
same jinrikisha man and he showed not
I the least evidence OF fatigue.
nc tioAuADt, anu - llttlatlN tnt hnpts ol
the people, received considerable atten-
tion from the lecturer, who remarked in a
humorous way OF the advantage OF the
japanese footwear over the European.
lie then went on TO speak ol the style
in which the houses arc built--low and
capable (when the shutters which are used
at night are not on) OF being entered on
all sides.
"Sliding removable screens separate the
rooms, so that by sliding the screens an
opening, say feet wide, can be made te-
tween any two rooms, while by removing
the screens entirely, two rooms can be
made into one The people sleep on
their mats with a pillow OF wood,
cushioned on top, and, as with every
thing else 10 this curious country one
must get used TO them before anything
like rest Is possible. Behind all the shops,
wherever aud OF whatever nature they are,
are gardens, which form a most delight
ful contrast TO the ordinary rear of the
shop i'm America.
"The care taken OF children Is decidedly
amusing, and at the same time rather