Evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1907-1913, 1912-09-09


nected, or associated, with virtue to
make not virtue"
Those, of course, are Enthusiastically
TRANSACTIONS" l agreed.
And so are the concluding SEN
fences of the third, the autograph,
letter." he assured me "'Say not
Heaven is high above! Heaven
ascends and descends about our deeds,
daily inspecting US, wheresoeVer We
are I find it in one Of the sacrlficial
odes Of Kau, and It is the best rem
dered of all the excerpts"
SO your conclusion as to the au-
thorship is" l queried
Chinese, undoubtedly" he an
swered. These were written, should
say by a Chinaman, educated, prob
ably, in this country. His English is
the English of the educated Oriental,
but tho quotations from Confucius and
his commentators are characteristic.
With the average Chinaman, to know
Confucius is to know all; what he
said is all-sufiicient; what he did not
say is not worth saying. Another
Identifying feature Is the effort to
make afraid. Their religion is fear"
Having concluded his exposition,
Professor Griffin was disposed to en-
ter upon a more or less lengthy dis
course on Chinese character and lit
erature in general. However illumi-
native this might have been under
ordinary conditions, I was assuredly
in no mood to listen to it at this time.
The information he had given me,
while it merely verified suspicious
which l had held from the first, set
me to specializing on the individual
source of the letters; and with so
modern an instance at hand | was nat
urally disinclined to consider the au-
thorship of writings dating back often
thousand years and more beyond
the Christian era.
With what grace l could therefore,
discouraged continuance of the
theme, and having thanked him most
heartily, pocketed the notes with
which he was good enough to furnish
me, and prepared to depart But as
l stood at his study door, his lean,
scholarly hand resting in mine, he de-
tanned me for final word.
The symbol" he exclaimed, his
pale eyes lighting at the recollection.
I'VE forget the symbol"
7
revived, that silhouette at the bot
TOM"
st 10 Enthusiastically Chinese" he
said. "a am not very familiar with
the symbolism of the East, not as IA
miliar as l should be, possibly; but
Chinese writing, you know, in it's or
igin, is picture writing with the addi-
ton Of limited number OF symbolical
and conventional designs. This figure,
should say, represents lorcha, or
small Chinese coasting junk, and you
can rest assured that the threats con.
tanned in the letters We're with view
to reparation for some crime or injury
connected in some way with such
vessel. That is as near as | can in.
terpret it. But If you would like to
know more-if you would like to get
something more nearly definite-I can
refer you to one who can, I think, give
you the information.
by all means" l implored, Il shall
appreciate 1t greatly"
AN authority on this subject is liy-
ing not very far from here. He spent
many years in China, is something Of
an artist himself, and made, I under
stand, q study OF Oriental symbolism.
He lives at Cos Cob, and his name
is"
"Murphy!" I interrupted, as a food
of illumination swept over me.
"Philetus Murphy. Yes, Do you
know him."
q have met him." I returned short.
ly.
And thanking the professor once
more, I hurried away, with course OF
action already shaping in my mind.