The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-20

for what he was in life to the young
nation nils us, but We do not look
&c him as still originating benefit 10 us
from the other world save through his
example and majesty of character.
Before Lincoln's tomb we shed tears
Tor his fate and our love OF him burns
bright in our hearts. Before the tomb
or Grant we get a reflex OF his iron
will in war and the broad view Of the
great warrior who yet loved peace
better than strife.
1t is u fashion to express these
things concreteiy and secularly by put
ting up monumental statuary to our
heroes, our teachers. u statesmen in
public places with more or ~less-often
less-evidence OF taste. The East
additionally has avoided that. but
Japan in the last score OF years has
adopted II to some extent and with
generally dep,orahle results.
The native attempts AT portrait
statuary in bronze as seen on the
squares of Toxic In a score or more Of
effigies clad in terrible frock coats or
implacably stiffened. long skirted un'-
forms are disccuraging. The nne
monument to Toyotomi Hideyoshi
with its powerful equestrian figure of
the Japanese Hannibal is a striking
exception. How much finer. because
In line with the genius Of the people.
were h votive temples 10 those
whom Japan or it's rulers loved to
honor in ths past!
Our present business. however. Is
not with the modern but
in considering the exciting causes
which in Japan to-day are gradually
Inducing certain C,eat souls into the
higher ranks OF the national gods.
The most pointed example. the most
obvious. may say. Of the century IL
the Emperor Mutsuhito. now known
ny his celestial rame as Meiji (Which
means "~Erlightened Government"),
the monarch Of the Restoration, whose
hand was on the helm Of state on It's
passage through all the archipelago OF
revolution until she anchored after
W great foreign wars victorious and
secure behind the great brsakwater OF
the Constitution in the wide harbor Of
peace and progress.
II was indeed a new. n great ,Ja3an.
from which he vis!hly departed some
TWO years ago Tall Of frame. men
tally virile, kind of heart. ~considsrate.
helpful. he stood morally worthy Of
his human destiny making. ever a
predominant figure where a frurehead
might have been expected. His long
reign of forty-four years endea-ed him
more and more to his people and has
formed that deep and massive rever-
ence on which his name IS surely being
lifted among the Powers that men ~
his nation will pray to and invoke for
centuries to come.
' 1t will ne recognized that over and
beyond the ceremonies which the
court, the hierarchy. the Government.
may bestow on such a monarch and
such a notable man. II Is by tire
subtle assent Of a whole people that
the enduring honors Of a m
must come. In this IL may wei, he
held that the Emperor Nell rests
secure.
In Catholic countries a titular
saintship is bestowed by the Roman
church at the end If a long lapse Of
time after death. in which the man
or woman of distinctively cody life
has passed under sharp scrutiny by
the Church through the respective
stages of being named the venerable
and the blessed before entering the
high honor Of the holy. In Japan, it
IL safe to say. all the powers OF
State and nation c%onjoin in the one
thought. and the signs one meets on
every hand in Japan are that this
will endure.
To his burial mound flock the pill
grims from the remotest villages. A
great fame will there he reared, The
poets lay their choicest wreaths Of
sons there. and the throb hat comes
from oft the mystica, soul Of Japan
reaches you when YOU hear his name on
the lips OF the gentle and simple. No
name among the shoguns comes with
the same mystic force: 1yeasu and
lyemitsu, whom the temples Of Nikko
honor ho,d no such claim. nor ever
did. One must indeed go back over
the centuries and enter the region OF
Jimmu and the semi-historical en-
perors to fnd the like in esteem Of the
Emperor Neil.
Above all. il must be remembered
that the late Emperor stands as the
protagonist and type Of an era OF
rejuvenation and construction un-
] DdTdl.'.ta " ] :" N''' "'
mails Of the world.
In a lesser degree the late Empress
Dowager will share this cody emf
hence She will walk the world OF
spirit and shadows hand in hand with
Me!ji. The popular signs point all
that way. The lady so much beloved
so genuinely mourned. will be a splen-
did satellite and complementing COM
panion to the Emperor in the abode OF
Sh!nto.
From these imperial figures. at oncn
and easily obvious to the Western
mind. as we'll as to the japanese, one
comes 10 a process OF god making now
surely in operation; namely, the max
,nr OF gods out OF national heroes
the battling heroes of the Meij!. II
is a purely selective process. II does
not follow the lines Of promotion oi
Of rank. but II seizes instinct!vel>
upon It's exemplars and marks then
apart for dedication. We shall ex'
anime the three soldier figures OF The
Meiji era, who. by all signs, will enter
the ranks Of the legendary heroes o'
Japan for all time.
First and greatest and most APP
pealing of these is Gen. Count Klter
Nogi.
lie was a shining warrior figure
identified with victory in the Russo
Japanese and Carbohydrates wars, c
samurai of the Choshu clan. two
.,on, o,bio,apnopts arn m his prpllt-