The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-01-17
FIGHIING QUALITIES OF WAKING NATIONS
1aps cauabt to ylabt IObsn Youna.

every endeavor to persuade him. and
falling, make the last supreme appeal
Of his own life's blond. IL was this duty
Of utter Loyalty which involved the
duty Of revenge Revenge was justice
Justice executed on the wTongdoer:
and 10 man might shrink from carry
ing out justice on those who had
wronged his lord His own wrongs, in
Guiding injuries to his wife and chill
dren. he was taught to forgive. but sins
against loyalty demanded justice, not
forgiveness.
II a Samurai was taught to forgive
his own injuries. he was also taught TO
defend his own hanor. at all times and
at all hazards; and as this, to q warlike
race, was the easier commandment Of
the TWO, ne naturally gave il preced-
enee. To protect his na fname) from
all a4spersions was his continual care:
and the most powerful appeal that
could be addressed to him, whether as
boy or man, was the one: Are you
not ashamed" It was customary for
a Samurai 20 pledge his honor in a
manner more literal than our term i'm
plies. The form of agreement would
run thus: In default of repayment OF
the sum lent me. / shall say nothing
To be ridiculed ia public" or, s'in case
] fail TO pay you back. you may call
me foofs lbaka.-tIle one term of in
suit in Japan; and such pledges are
considered the sureet Of guarantees.
Honor was the pearl Of great price TO
the Samurai. the prize Of his earthly
existence. And SO to Shun shame or to
win for himself name among men. the
Samurai boy was readyttO undergo any
suffering or privation. It was fame.
not wealth, not knowledge. for which
they strove. Life WAS lightly laid down
fer honor's sake. II was the over-esti-
NATION of this honor. or rather the con-
founding of the apparent with the real,
which produced most of the excuses
Of the SRmurai. For their code was not
without its teaching of patience and
long suffering. as the sayings Of OgaTa,
the great Tye'yasu. and many others
can testify Kamazawa taught: When
others blame thee. blame them not;
when others are angry with thee, re-
turn not anger. Joy cometh only as
passion and desire part" And the term
bushi no nasske, the Tenderness Of a
Warrior was living phrase to the
grim old Samurai.
That this teaching was not merely
theoretical but was carried into daily
ffA@EtiGts ktft ttAE u tikE tdle 1ouAk tNett-
su can testify cunt Katsu lived
through one Of the most turbulent
times in Japanese history. when as
sassinations and suicides were of daily
Many attempts We're made
on his life. and though he was himself
at one time possessed OF almost a bSo-
lutte power, he never taruished his
sword with blood. He said in his own
quaint way;
i've a great dislike to killing people,
so [ never killed q single man. I don't
ike ehOpping off heads. L release the
men instead. A friend Of mine said TO
me one day: You don't kill enough
Don't you eat pepper and egg plants?'
That man was killed himself. Now,
had the hilt of my sword fastened so
firmly TO the scahbard that ] couldn't
draw it without difficulty. I made up
my mind people might cut at me. /
wouldn't cut at them. Yes. yes, some
people truly are like mosquitoes and
neas-they bite, but what's that? It
just itches bit, that's all. 1t doesn't
kill"
Most Samurai. it is true. did not rise
to the maEnanimity of a Count Kat
su: they erred more on the side Of kill
ing too much than Of killing too little.
but the killing did not come from q
thirst for blOOa. but from a sense Of
versenzitiveness at times
from the darling Of courage and from
the sternest sense Of duty and loyalty.
The whole training Of the Samurai
went 10 the building up of his char
acter-not to the cultivation Of his In
teliiEence, or his tastes as such. Re
ligion and theology were left to the
priests. Science was outside his sphere.
Literature was to him a pastinle. while
philosophy he regarded only as a prae-
teal aid Ia the formation OF character.
The Samurai vas a man OF action, and
so his training was chiefly in fencing.
archery, iujitsu. horsemanship. and the
use Of the spear. He learned CALI
graphy, ethics. literature and history.
But a mind stored with information
was not greatly admired. The Samurai
valued decision of character, not SUI
periority Of intelligence; and all their
education snd training had this prac-
teal end so much in view that the
Samurai became the best fighting unit
Of the Orient. if not of the world. His
code might almost be summed up in
the words Of one of them. for it was,
indeed. to know how TO die when it
was right to die, how To strike when
It was right TO strike, for which the
Samurai strove. This is the spirit
which. handed down through genera
tiOns OF dead warriors, forms today the
training at the back of the japanese
officer C hipg 90 Tribune