Mexico Missouri message., 1913-02-06

are many. On the righteous he show
crs blessings; on the evil he pours
forth misery This is from the Book
~ History. or 'shu King In which are
the documents edited by CoufuciuA
himself. It usually has been rendered
ia this way. The ways Of God are
not invariable. On the good doer he
sends down all blessings, and on the
evil doer he sends down all miser-
les. That is the more exact render
ing. And again, In the second letter
We find He paused a moment, TAX
ing up the second sheet, and focusing
his dim eyes upon the lines. We
ma he went on, Fine words and
o smiling Countenance make not yir
Ne, which Is from the Lunhu, or
Analects' Of Confucius, in which the
lows and maXims Of the sage are
etailed by his disciples. Smiling
ountcnance is hardly the best trans
alton. Insinuating appearance is
more nearly the English equivalent,
nd | should prefer are rarely con-
uocted, or associated. with virtue to
make not virtue"
Those, of course, are Enthusiastically
,ranslations," l agreed
And so are the concluding SEN
fences Of the third, the autograph,
.etter," he assured me. "Say not
Heaven is high above! Heaven
ascends and descends about our deeds,
daily inspecting us, wheresoever we
are l find 1t 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" / querled.
Chinese. undoubtedly" he an
swered. These were written. I should
say by q Chinaman, educated, prob
ably, in this country. His English is
the English OF the educated Oriental.
but the quotations from Confucius and
his commentators are characteristic
With the average Chinaman, to know
Confucius is to know all; what he
said is allsutiicient; 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 more or less lengthy dis.
course on Chinese character and lit
erature IN general. However illumi-
native this might have been under
ordinary conditions, | was assuredly
in no mood TO listen to il at this time.
The information he had given me,
while It merely verified suspicious
which I 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 10 consider the au-
thorship Of writings dating back often
a thousand years and more beyond
the Christian era.
With what grace ! could, therefore.
! discouraged d continuance Of the
theme, and having thanked him most
heartily, pocketed the notes with
which be was good enough to furnish
me, and prepared 10 depart But as
! stood at his study door, his lean,
scholarly hand resting in nine, he de-
tanned me for q final word.
The symbol" he exclaimed, his
pale eyes lighting at the recollection.
We forget the symbol"
oh, yes returned, my interest
revived, that silhouette at the bot
tom"
1T is Enthusiastically Chinese" he
said. Il am not very familiar with
the symbolism Of the East, not as "a
miliar as ! should be, possibly; but
Chinese writing, you know, in its or
igin, is picture writing with the addi-
ton Of limited number Of symbolical
and conventional designs. This figure,
! should say, represents a lorcha. or
small Chinese coasting junk, and you
can rest assured that the threats con
tanned in the letters were with a view
10 reparation for some crime or injury
connected in some way with such a
vessel. That is as near as ! can IN.
terpret It. But II you would like TO
know more-if you would Ike TO get
something more nearly defnite-I can
refer you 10 one who can. l think, give
you the information"
by all means implored, = shall
appreciate it 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, under.
stand, a study Of Oriental symbolism.
| He lives at Cos Cob, and his name
/ is"
Murphy" ! interrupted, as a food
Of illumination gwept over me.
"Phuetus Murphy Yes. Do Won
know him?"
q have met him." returned short,
/ ly.
And thanking the professor once
more, | hurried away, with a course Of
action already shaping in my mind
CHAPTER Xl.
The Chineee Merchant.
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