Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-07-11
FANCY PORTRAITS.
A Chinese Paper Resents American Adu.
Iatiou OF Japanese Civilization.


latiou OF japanese Civilization.
Tho following "side light" on Japanese
civilization Is taken from n recent number
of tho North China Herald, published at
Shanghai, and may bo interesting TO the
many people in America who aru busy in
pic.uring Japan rs the home par excellence
of virtue, culture, ART and romance:
"Tle days OF travellers tales are passed,
or supposed to be, and we generally credit
Ourselves with being superior to the un-
questioning acceptance Of descriptions OF
lands beyond the seas Of which our grand
fathers have been declared guilty. But 1t
is open to dispute whether we have after
oil 50 entirely discarded the love of the
aud become devoted to the truth, the whsle
truth and nothing but the truth. Is it not
true that we cultivate our lying friend
though we know that he lies, Just becauc,.
his sprightly conversation and fund of an
ecdotes amuscs usf We do not believe half
he says, but we listen to and laugh with
him unrcscrvcdly.
$50, in like manner, we read and dc
light in the descriptions of people and
places which offer the most striking con
trast to our everyday experiences and this
even against our better Judgment, perhaps
The same love of the extraordinary which
led our forefathers to listen with batctj
breath to the narratives of the returned
wanderer from many lands leads people In
the present day to pcruse with the greatest
avidity those descriptions of distant scenes
which paint the picture in the most artis
tic and fascinating colors, which reflect, as
it were, tho imaginings of the readers
brain, rather than the bare facts Of thC
writer's experience.
Realizing if not acknowledging thi:
fact, certain class of writers has arisen
In the present day to cater to this public
weakness, writer's who make but little Of
| fort to conceal the fact that their first OBJ
| ject is to be interesting, their second to b,
correct. In Japan this class of scribbers
| with Sir Edwin Arnold at their head
have found mino of wealth. That coun
try more than any other lends itself in
| peculiar degree to the art Of fancy portrai
ture. In the first place, the outward and su
perficial Japan which visitors have acces
| to abounds in artistic contradictions of on
own prosaic existence in the west, and OF
fers abundant material for tho construc
tion Of romance; secondly, the volcani
formation Of the country, aided by OK
traordlnary atmospheric conditions tend
to foster q sense of fascination which ar
! pcals to us all tho moro strongly whc
compared with our own foggy and be
grimcd climate"
After presenting its compliments on thi
score to Mr.. John Russell Young erst
while American minister to China, the pa
pc continues: "But in the case of Japan
where popular fancy is only too ready t
be fired by romantic suggestion, and wher
grave issues may be influenced by til
press, the clever espousal of her cause b
subsidized journals may result in a grei
deal of mischief 1t Is noticeable fax
that the utterances of organs paid to sin
.Japan'S praise to the world all betray
plausibility and force of argument whic
involuntarily carries weight and disguis,
the want of intrinsic value in their sp
cial pleading. They naturally often stat
what is perfectly true for we are not d
nying that Japan has her full share of vi
tues, but fancy is SO doftly interviewer wit
fact that tho outcome of years writir
still partakcs largely of the attributes Of
fancy portrait"