The times., 1897-08-22
A GREAT KOREAN.


A GREAT KOREAN.
Owing to the political situa ton In Korea
at the present time, & peculiar interest at
taches To the life and character OF Pom
Kwang Sob, the distinguishes Korean " hose
funeral services We're held last Sun
day. Mr.. Soh belonged 10 the hereditary
nobility of Korea, and bis sister married
member of the royal family, while he
himself was one of the most trusted ana
valued friends of the present King, and
at the time of his death the two princes
were his guests. Korea is country so
little known that the world has hardly real
lied its aw Weakening, bat ii looks very much
as If the Hermit Kingdom might at 10 dis
tant day bc considerable factor In ORR
entail affairs, and If Mr. Sob had lived for
thirty years longer he would surely have
played an Important part in the progress
Of his native land
he saw, however, that the time was not
ripe for the rying out OF reforms which
be knew must come, and he remained i'll
this country partly for that reason and
partly because his health, lately very frail,
would not allow him to discharge the ar
duous duties OF u reforiner in an old and
conservative country.
He WAS most upassuming and reserved
In his personal friendships, but those who
knew HIM here came 10 regard him with
warm affection and the highest esteem.
He was 4 thinker OF o high and rare type.
and Cf vide knowledge in the literature
Of many lands. His experience in this
country while an exile was very much what
that of The greatest nan of Europe or OF
America might toe il lie were suddenly
banished from Occidental society and
placed, without friends or money, in the
middle OF the kingdom of Korea. When
the revolution III Korea brorght Mr.. soh's
party into power and placed him ia The
position Of minister of justice, and later
sent him back To this country as minister,
ne was exactly tie same serene and gentle
and high-souled man that he had been III
the days of his adversely. What he was
in life and thought is best told in the
words OF one OF lis friends, who delivered
tie following address at the funeral ser
vices:
POM KWANG s0H.
The custom OF speaking at the funeral
ceremony of a dead friend is as old as
recorded history, and doubtless much
older. \ S old, perhaps, as the birth of
friendship aud the first stirring of wonder
in the mind as to where the breath had
gone where were the thoughts, the
emotions, the habits are that made this
Ierishable form my friend? This inquiry
that man makes ill relation TO the think
ing principle that formerly animated this
rerishing form has had many answers
since thought had life, but the inquiry'h ad
birth in thought, and all the answers have
Come from the realm OF thought 1t is
We'll to come to know this, because knowing
it, we have thus the nobest element of our
life asthe ally OF hope andnot ottheantagonist
viz., Reasou; the Divine Reason that came
and dwelt among men and men perceived
Il not
SO We follow the old, old custom, know
ing in this age scientifically what lie who
died at Azan saw:
what We lift upon the bier
Is not worth wistfal tear
'Tis an empty sea shell-one
Out of which the pearl has gone.
The shell is broken; il lies there.
The pearl, the an, the soul, is here;
it was mine, bis not 1;
Cease your tears, anG let Ii lie
''or, as the old astronomer poet OF Persia
said, many centuries ago:
80 "Iis bnt tent where takes his one
days rest
A Sultan, to the realm OF Death addressed
The Sultan rises, and the dark Ferrash
Strikes, and prepares it for another guest
The dark servant, Death, struck this
tent lying before rs very lightly and kindly
1t was = very frail tenement. The owner
for years had had lao confidence in ite
power TO withstand any but the reguia I
gentle brcezes- He knew that any rising
blast of tie wind of conditions would be
for 1t the end, the signal for the services
of this universal servant. And when Death
knocked, the tenant, the Sultan, the ruler
over the territory of his own world Of
conscious 4heing, was not even startled
He YEARLY and with unruffled heart asked
q friend, What do you think of me?
That friend said. / think it is good by
for you. You have fought a good fight
and by any and all it will be known
that you are fully entitled to that which
is now for ycu-rest rest from the ever
present consciousness OF the WEAKNESS ui
so long and SO uncomplainingly.' After
that he gave a few directions, among which =
In fact. the first of which was the posi-
| tive request for the old god Agni, Fire, to
hasten the return 10 the elements of this
| old tent, so shaken by the exigencies o
| birth and time. Then it was only good
| by to all, and the calmness of waiting
| for the locsing of the last rope that hat
held the tent 10 earth.
! And this is the end: Some think thel
! believe this is the end of sill work ant
| effort. Others try to believe. 1t i
! given to this generation to know as it ha.
| been given to no other since recorded his
! tory that there is no end mot grain o
| matter lost, not a breath of force lost
| since themorning stars sang together Form
| changes eternally. Force remains: ant
| reason tells us that thought lies behint
and is the life of all applied force Th,
| atom known to scientific reasonin
/ about what we call matter, is now though
/ of as center of force, and as such i
| eternal. So the life that has gone out wa
| a thought center, center of force, passin!
beyond its present limitations, as TIL,
chemist, by some new combination of at
| oms, sets free some gas hidden until ther
| in one of the forms. In all things are ele
| mcnts, forms. essences. A fragrance fill
| the room. Whence is it? Some little wa f
OF the essence, the life of roses that grew
years ago on the far plains of Kashmir
The long train rushes through the valle,
against wind and grade. Whence the tire
| mendous force necessary for such an over
coming Of the common laws of nature
| The force is only earth, air, water and sur
| and the e,arnent greater than all wb;c