The National tribune., 1908-01-23

passionate, imaginative little boy
speaking his pretty broken English, un.
loved and unloving, finding his only
happiness in the world of nature and
of books. and in his own beautiful and
| fantastic fancies. Not much is known
of his education except that it was
conducted entirely under the direction
of priests, who took away from him ali
his beautiful books filled with pictures
of the lovely Greek gods and goddesses
and the stories he loved so WELL II
| was while he was at the Roman Catho-
| lie College at Durham that he met
with the accident that deprived him of
the use of one of his eyes, which to
his sensitive. 'beahty-loving nature
was an affliction to be regretted al
most as much for its disagreement as
for the actual loss of sight. Generally,
all thru his life when talking to peo-
pie, especially women, he covered his
sightless eye with one hand. When he
was about 16 years old, which must
have been when he, was in college, a
rupture occurred between his grand
aunt and himself which resulted finally
in his finding himself, sometime about
the year 1869, in New York, 19 years
old, penniless. delicate, half-bIind, and
without a friend. For two years he
knocked around New York doing what
ever came to hand, eating when he had
money to buy food and going without
when he hadn't sleeping on the shaw
ings in a friendly Irish carpenters shop.
Then he drifted to Cincinnati, and af-
ter many vicissitudes finally got en-
ployment as reporter on the Cincinnati
Inquirer. From this time on he was
able to earn fairly comfortable liv-
ing, which grew more comfortable as
his talents were discovered and he was
given more important newspaper work
to do. Then a longing for the South
drew him to New Orleans, where he
found work more congenial than any
he had previously had in his duties
as one of the staff of the New Orleans
Times-Democrat. During all this time
he had been reading, studying, and
writing continuously and the American
public now began to know him thru
an occasional magazine article and
few small books, his unusual style at
tracing the attention at once of the
literati of the country, who recognized
in him talents of very remarkable
and unusual character. In 1890 the
Harpers sent him to Japan to write
a series of articles for them, and altho
on account of misunderstanding he
never wrote the articles he remained
in the country till his death in 1904.
In the Flowery Kingdom he found just
what his artistic nature craved and he
SdNC iiHlSCll UP cutIEcly u d peTltCt
understanding of its people. He be-
came teacher, first in what would
correspond to our grammar school, and
finally in the Imperial University of
Toxic as Professor of English. The
year after his arrival in Japan he mar
ried lady of high Samurai rank
whose family fortunes had been greatly
reduced by the revolution which re-
stored the Mikado to power. After his
a ~ ncva N hno mn 11Ny To
He renounced his English allegiance
and became subject of the Mikado.
took the name Of his wife's family and
assumed the support of it's 13 members,
according to the Japanese custom. He
insisted upon living in every respect as
much as possible like old Japan,
adopted the japanese dress, learned to
sit on his mat on the soles of his feet
in true Japanese fashion, and even
ate with chopsticks. He had no SYM
pathy with the adoption of European
dress and manners by young Japan,
and what few friends he had were
those who clung to the old ideals. He
had three children, all sons, of whom
he seemed to be very fond as well as
Of his wife. His married life was ap-
parently very happy, but he was always
worrying about the future of his family,
as he was never very well and had
been unable to lay up any money. His
one poor eye was continually giving
out, and he had several serious and pro-
tracted illnesses. OF his books, Japan,
An Interpretation" and "Glimpses of
Unfamiliar Japan are the most i'm
portant, the former being the most re-
markable account Of the life and soul
Of a great nation ever attempted. 1t
was his ambition to create a style of
writing which would have the warmth,
color, and richness of imagery of the
Latin literature. as contrasted with the
dull-toned, chilly style Of English or
American romance. That he succeeded
in forming a very beautiful style, clear
cut as a cameo, and highly finished, is
conceded by all, and that his books,
not many, unfortunately, have distinct
ly enriched our literature, is beyond
ouestiOn