New-York tribune., 1905-11-22
Tales oF OLD JAPAN.

-,,,cz Arthur OF Connaught will be accom-
,.n,e5 by an imposing mission when he goes
t.v weeks hence out to Japan commissioned
- Eine Edward TO invest the Mikado with the
o-5a- If the Garter. The two most notable
-,s~,be-s OF the special embassy will be Sir Ed
,s-5 Seymour. Admiral of the Fleet, who is at
he nresent moment in this country and return
-, n England Immediately. and who, as
rointed out the other day. is the only British
oe1cer who has had a force Of United States
soldiers and sailors under his command. namely
m the occasion of the attempt made from Ilen-
Ts,n n relieve the besieged legations at Peking
five years age.
The other is Lord Redesdale, better known
by his former name of BERTHE Milford ana
celebrated as the author of that standard work
and charming book entitled Tales OF old
Japan," which. although published thirty-nVe
wears ago. remains 10 this day one OF the truest
sppreciative and artistic portraits Of LIE and
conditions In the Land Of the Rising sun lhaI
has ever been seen in print. Lord Redesdale
was one Of the British Legation at Toxic away
bsck In the SOS. when attacks by the nallVes
unon foreigners were of frequent occurrence
and when even the British Legation was the
.yh,ect of encounters between the diplomats
and fanatics bent upon taking their lives.
# was after an outrage of this character thst
,ts ns--,efrstors natives Of noble birth, were
sentenced to death. but allowed TO COMMIT
sepuku or harikari-that is TO say. the olse'i'-
bowelling process-in the presence OF LoIu
Redesdale and the other members or the brllisl
mission Redesdale gives most interesting &C
ooun+ as an eyewitness of the manner in which
the closest friend of each of the condemned men
stepped forward from behind screens and with
D-a cii off
heads OF the would be assassins as they squatted
OF the aoor just after each of the prisoners hao
thrust the paper enveIoped blade of his short
sword in the left side of his barred abdomen and
was drawing it across his stomach. ripping him
self open in the most approved Japanese style
ofcial harikari has been abolished in Japan
since the days when Lord Redesdale was at
tached to the British Legation there as BERTHE
Milford But that this form of self destruction is
stiD in vogue in the Land of the Rising Sun and
continues TO form a most important feature Of
the social ethics Of all those with sny pTetensions
10 blue blood and to ancient lineage is shown
BY the large number OF japanese officers OF hlgh
and low degree who disembowelled themselves
during the war with Russia rather than sur
render and also in cases where they had either
been unable 10 fulfil orders which they had
received or else had rendered themselves in
sdvertently guilty of mistakes.
Lord Redesdale may be said to owe his entire
success in life to Japan, and il must certainly
be agreeable TO him 10 return thither after SO
many years as one of the chief members Of a
royal embassy to invest the Mikado with the
Order Of the Garter, for it was his Tales of Old
Japan" published ar an epoch when little OF
nothing was known about Dai Nippon. that
first brought him fame. When he returned TO
England he was at once lionized. and won the
friendship and good viii Of the then Prince Of
Wales. who a year later secured for him the
agreeable and well paid post of secretary of the
government Public Works Department. For a
Tine BERTHE Mitford's sun underwent a period of
eclipse owing to the fact that the prince. as well
as others. ended by getting tired Of hearing
aoout Japan, and that Milford was wont to talk
aoout nothing else. But he made a brilliant
marriage, inherited fortune and q charming
country place. where he devoted himself to
landscape gardening. Possessed Of pronounced
artls1c sense, and having made a thorough
STUDY OF every phase Of the science OF the lano-
hoape gardening Of Japan. he carried 1t to such
perfection at Batsford Park that the latter
became celebrated in connection tnerewitn
throughout Europe The King visited II as
Frlnee Of Wales. and as soon as he had sue
0eeded to the throne the first thing that he dlo
mas to intrust to Bertie Milford the complete re-
o'sanization in an artistic sense OF the groundS
ana gardens of Windsor Castle. OF buckingham
Fslace and Sandringham and Of Balthoral. MT
1ofd di6 his work well BY means of the con-
ul'snces Of which the Japanese landscape
gardeners have rendered themselves such pas
masters he has completely transformed the gar
oehs at Windsor and at Buckingham Palace II
such fashion as to convey the idea that they
are al least ten times the actual size, besides
eoolng enormously TO their beauty and charm
ihe reward followed in due course in the shape
Of peerage
LIAR" PACHA