The Washington herald., 1907-04-28

the reader who lies under no other obligations TO
do me Justice than those ~ religion and morality
Il calls me IDIOT or a plagiary, have
no remedy since bg selling him The book admit
bis privilege Of judging and declaring his Judgment
ana can appeal ony TO other readers if 1 think my
johnson.
There has been so much laudation Of
the late Lafcadio -extravagant,
most of it-that it was perhaps inevitable
that there should come a reaction, and
signs of it are not wanting. Men Of lit
erary training who have known Japan AZ
all have often maintained that there was
Il subtle something about the country
and its people which make 1t quite i'm
possible for any Occidental thoroughly 70
absorb IFS meaning. and set it down for
the world to read. There have been
host of writer's on Japan, whose work Is
easily recognized as meretriciOusi pretty
enough. perhaps. but with little zeal
truth in it, But it has been often said
that Lafeadio Hearn, by reason of his
long residence, and because of a curious
mystic strain in his temperament, had
entered the shrine of complete knowledge
which had been denied TO others. Now
the Japan Weekly Mail, published in
Yokohama. comes out with an article IN
which the view is advanced that the i'm
preston made by Mr. Hearns writings is
more or less fictitious. The writer refers
to a review OF Hearn's works publish
ed IN England in which the reviewer says
that if any man of European birth could
possibly have entered into the heart Of
Japan it surely was Lafcadio Hearn
The writer in Yokohama asks;
Way sos What special qualifications had Lat
esdlo Hean To make such an snalyssE We have
never heard that be spoke the japanese language
with any degree % hGeuCy. and We greatly d9dul
whether he possessed such knowledge o. It as would
have enabled him 20 exchange Thought With me el.i
Gated people Of the country cn ans recondlte sub
ject- Could he read JsIanese b0akst IhaL TOO Is
very spocr3pnal Without ACCESS thens 10 me IDEAS
Of the people through Che Medium OF either Eu-
EuaEe or Literature, how Is he 20 be declared pes-
sou supremacy qualified % enter into the heart q
IaT1n. Besides. die man himself was essentially
mysticist. Nothing had an attraction Tor nm IN
less II was mysterious. II De loved anything the
law Of his nature compelled him 20 surround It with
rainbow mists Of his cHn imagining, aud his spieI-
sd gift 0f speech quickly rendered INTO most al
tlctiye dcJiu these products OF his profoundly
subtle canc- ptiaHs He was, IN short an eIllneALi}
C0mTttcnt painter q beautiful pictures, but whether
DE could adapt himself 60 the prcsaic feat Of max
Ing a portrait is q question
1t is interesting. while on the subject,
TO realize that if we Of the Occident ind
many barriers in the way of cur deter
mination to get at the heart OF Japan,
our Oriental neighbors are sparins 100
pains thoroughly 10 understand us, not
only through our life. but through our
literature. Forty years ago Japan was
Hrglst H.ras
and il was through the Dutch that she
got her introduction 10 the life Of the
West Now there is in Tokyo a school in
which English German French. Span
ish. italian. Chinese. and Korean are
taught English is the most common
among the people. while French anc
German are most in favor among tht
scholars and physicians.
The most widely read English author
in Japan is Carlyle, and all students OF
English literature read his works Mex
TO him comes Macaulay, and the new STYLE
in Japan called the Hanyaku, or trans
Iation style. was created through th'
borrowing from MacauIay. Emerson
much admired by a branch of japanese
scholars. and Mil and Herbert Spence
have both made a profound impression OF
Japanese thought. In poetry the Jap
anese like best TennysOn. Byron, an'
Milton. and in fiction Washington Irving
Thackeray. and Dickens. lrving's "Sketci
Book heads the list of popular readin.
in Japan. but Gray, with his "Elegy.
and Goldsmith with The Deserted VII
lage" run 1t hard A long time ago Mrs
IwamOto translated part of David Cop
perfield." and this has become a classi
in Japan. Tennysons ''Enoch Arden
and IIingsley's Three Fishermen be
came familiar to the japanese about ls8
and have remained popular since Mrs
Stoves Uncle Toms Cabin" Bellamy.
Looking Backward" Henry George
Progress and Poverty, and Andrey
Carnegie's Empire OF Business ar
among the most popular works in Japa
to-day.
The German language is highly regard
ed in Japan. and no one who does nc
know German is regarded as q scholar
The "Shigarami Band has made trans
lations of Goethe's 'Werther's Leiden.
Lessing's Nathan der Weise." and
part Of Faust" In certain literary cir
cles the philosophy of Neitzsche has bee
taken up, and Ibsen, Bjornson, Jokai. an
Sienklwicz have been subjects Of stud