Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-12
SPIRITS oOF JAPAN
Their Worship the 'Soul of
the Race"
ABEAUTTrULCEREM
fas-
TRIBUTE PAID no THE MEMORY
OF a DEPAhTED ARTIST.
Efforts to Learn the Origin Of Famous
Phrase Attributed to
Lincoln.
A BEAUTTrULCER CEREMONY
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

i
| Port Arthur feet illustrates Shintosm the
Japanese national religion, Many theo-
! logians insist that it Is not a religion be-
| cause there Is no theology in 1t: that 1t is
| only manifestation of certain supersti-
! tons in which the entire Japanese nation
| believes; but, as Hearn has said it is 1.-The
| soul of the race''a
| All Japanese are spirituaIists. so to
! speak. and they are taught that the spirits
| OF the dead in large measure control the
| actions of the living They do not believe
| in ghosts; they do not have mediums OF
| communication with their dead, and they
| do not receive messages from the other
world. But this world is full of friendly
! Invisible beings, encourag ing protecting
and comforting them, and the handsome is
1 dotted with shrines that have been erected
| for the purpose of worshiping good and
| influential men.
| before the shrine of some great soldier: IL
| he is preparing for a journey he goes to
| the shrine of great traveller; if he is a
| party to lawsuit he prays for the aid and
| guidance of some famous jurist: before he
| lays out his garden he prays to the spirit
| of some great landscape architect, and so
| on in every duty, pleasure and labor of life
| he consuits the spirits Of his ancestoNs and
| those of other wise and good men, and.
| without expecting any direct answer has
| faith that they VIII give him their encour-
| agement, protect him from errors and lead
him in the right way. This, the theo-
| practical, actual. everyday thing, and il
Illustrates the japanese character more
| strongly than any other act or word.
Hindu Spirits Contrast.
There rs a striking contrast between the
| japanese and Hindus in this respect The
| latter are surrounded by spirits in a SINH
| lar manner, and their fate Is controlled in
| a similar way, but the gods of the Hindu
| are wicked, cruel, yindictive and malicious.
| and in his prayers and sacrifices he does
| not ask for light tornaid, for he has been
| taught that they will not give it to him.
| He begs for mercy; be makes sacrifices and
| brings offerings from his scanty store in
| the hope of making the gods good-natured,
| and in that ways perhaps. his misery may
| be lessened. HIS load lightened and Inn
pending misfortnnes, averted- On the
other hand. the japanese gods are all kind
| and generous and helpful. and the faith
| of the people meyer fails.
In 1884 was tnyited to witness beau
| tiful ceremony In Kyoto. of which Admiral
Togo.s address 70 the spirits reminds me-.
| Iesuko, one of the most famous of ceramic
artists: had accidentally produced a re-
! markabie example of "a texture known as
| Chinese crackles. on the surface of jar.
| potters in the Interior of China thousand
4earS ago, but has been a lost artIfar sew
eraI centuries. and Jars and vases with that
rnish are very rare and valuable. 1t Is the
ambition of every potter In the east to re-
! produce that particular effect but all ex-
periments have been, unsuccessful. and
| Iesuko was amazed to find 1t upon a Jar
which he took from his kiln one morning
for time he was unable to realize what
| had happened. Then he tried to recall
| everything that had been done to the vase
| from the hour when the clay had come to
/ he Ghny, t1v,fi 40 7.
| repeated the process over and over again;
| he did nothing else for the rest Of his life
he neglected his ordinary business: he re-
fused profitable commissioners he shut him
| self up like a hermit and denied himself
| food, rest sleep and exercise. and actually
! became insane in his anxiety to repeat the
accident that he could not explain.
In the meantime the jar was sent to the
| Chicago exposition and was one OF the OBJ
| Jects most admired by the connOisseurs.
| FABULOUS prices were offered for 1t, but Mr..
| Te1fma, the japanese commissioner. was
not authorized to sell. 1t, and could not get
| a reply from Iesuko. who was buried in his
| experiments and would not even read his
| mail. The jury Of awards gave him a gold
| medal and big diploma, upon which his
| triumph was inscribed; but before these tes-
timonials reached Japan poor Iesuko had
committed slow suicide and his ashes had
| been placed in an urn on the hillside over
looking Kyoto. back OF the Yaami Hotel.
Address to Artists Spirit.
| One day a friend invited me to attend
| what he promised would be a novel cere-
mony. We went together to the little hill
| side cemetery. where thirty or forty OF the
most famous artists In Japan were gath
cred. A learned Buddhist. in gorgeous
robes. delivered what you might call an
| explanatory address. He recited briefly the
| story have told you. Then one of the
Oldest friends of Iesuko stepped forward
nod ftro cr,frf nf fDp doo6 tot
] just as We would address person to whom
| a testimonial was to be rendered He de-
| scrfbed the Columbian exposition at Chi
| cago, explained John Boyd TEACHERS sys-
tenn of awards, gave q detailed review Of
the work of the jury, and finally concluded
with minute description Of the medal and
/ the diploma which he held In his hand
| When he had finished the medal was sealed
up In q cavity which had been carved out
| of the stone, andsthe diploma was burned
over the grave with incense and fitting GER
emonies conducted by the priest. which. OF
| course, l could not understand. But the
significance of the.cerernony was very clear
| The medal, being Andestructibie and of MAJ
terial substance, could not be transported
| to the other world. But the diploma was
| carried there by the flames. Several Of the
gentlemen presentimade brief addresses and
placed flowers upon the tomb.
A Famous Phrase Of Lincoln's.
Does anybody know where and when
| President Lincolp used his famous cpl
gram. "You can nfo6i some Of the people
all of the time ana all Of the people some
OF the time. buttyou' can't fool all the peo-
pie all OF the tin1e7sf Secretary Hay, who
was his private secretary and biographer.
says: yteI
Part of my datlyo task ID to answer that
| question. I don't know what has set the
whole world asking IL. MY answer Is most
| lame and impoteps: j don't know anything
about It, To the best of my knowledge, It
time" 10 sDs
Judge Weldon IL the United States Court
of Claims. who swassan intimate friend OF
Mr.. Lincoln and 80 regarded as an authority
upon incidents ihjhis life, said:
Il have been Urging to locate the time
and place. whenl and where Mr.. Lincoln
used the words about which you inquire.
! don't believe they are In any published
speech of his. / say this because do not
recall 1t myself. and take 1t for granted
that IL the words have not been seen either
by You or Mr.. Hay they do not appear In
any of hts speeches. / have been recalling
as we'll as can some Of the many speeches
heard him make when therewwas no re-
porter present. but ] am unable to recall