A GREAT MAN.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 345, 20 February 1902, Page 4

A GREAT MAN.

MARQUIS ITO

Marquis Ito is a constructive statesman, the man who, more than any other, has made Japan what she is io-aay. He i- the introducer of Wes-

tern civilization into Japan, and the di .ughtsinan of its constitution, the elector of its constitutional governiunt. His held of activity is wide, and to form an estimate of him we

would have to compare him, not with any one statesman, hut with several—\Htli (favour, with Bismarei:, with Jciietson. Perhaps these three men sail, up .Marquis Ito. As it always seems to us afterwards

tne hour and the man came together. There were thousands of able men in Japan, but wl en the great crisis came ito alone fully recognised the signilicaiicn of the hour, lie knew, first of

an men, when the old Japan (tied, and e.'.actly when the time laid come for the birth of a new Japan. This is his peculiar honor. Marquis Ito was a samuri, or huslli, of the famous Fujiwaru clan of Suwo arid received the education and military training of that hand of knights. This gave him ability to read the-Chi-nese classics, to defend himsell and .kill his enemies with his two swords, the distinguihing mark of the bushi. He had, of course, accepted the teach-

ings of that most marvellous code of . lofty morality, patriotism, loyalty, and virtue, bushido, or the way of the samuri. In his youth he was a pupil of flic famous scholar, Shoiu Yoshita. At (lie age of seventeen 110 went to Nagasaki, and learned military science froVi the Dutch, who were then predominant in that sole open port of Japan. At that period, less than tilly years ago Japan was still in the darkness of feudalism. Hut she was near the dawn of the modern era, the age ol nadji, or brightness, as the Japanese fittingly call the reign of Mutsuhito, the present Kmperor. Keeling was hitter against all foreigners, and the revolution, which was to redeem the nation and open its doors to light and civilization Isom the West, was really begun for the purpose of “ sweeping the foreigners from the soil of the Empire.” . ■ I shall here let Marquis Ito tell his own life history, as he told it 1o my friend, the late Mr Otoba, a Japanese author. Ho had resolved to go to Emope to learn all that lie could about the wonderful civilisation of which he had beard so much. II When J started for Europe,” said the Marquis, “ I began at once the study of the English language. .At that time we had only one English,Japanese dictionary, the one prepared o- Tatsunosukc 1-lori. It was full of enors, but I plunged into it voraciously. The dictionary and the Japanese Political History by Sanyo were the only hooks that I carried on my travels. “That was thirty-lime years ago and Japan was then much disturbed ny the visits of foreigners. f i here were two factions and two policies. Some proposed the open-door policy, wmle o'hers favored that of the shut door. The faction that adopted the policy of exclusion was the more uowerml, and dominated the empire. Us suppilfers were ignorant of foreign conditions, but blindly insisted upon closing the doors of the country xo the outside world, thereby menacing our lr ‘" d \Ve asked them, 1 How can you shut the door? ’ „ . , “ They replied, ‘By fortifying the shores of the empire-’ , “ ‘ How will you obtain so many guns l we asked. ~ , , ... .. , <i i By melting the bells in the Buddhist temples, they answered, seemingly oblivious to the impossibility or impracticability of such a proposition. “If anyouo publicly expressed Ins opinion in favor of the ‘open door’ at that time , he stood in peril of assassination. But I determined that, if it should become necessary, I would sacrifice my life for my country. I found it expedient to go to Europe to study its ideas and institutions. Leaving Tokyo with Count Inouye, Katsu Inouye,'Yoz.oYamao, and Klnosuke Endo, I went to Yokohama, and appealed for assistance to the English merchant, Mr Keswick. Ho finally consented to aid us, although it was against the law lor a Japanese to leave Ins country. Wo hid in the outer yard while Mr Keswick completed arrangements for us, and there \vc disguised ourselves by cutting ot! our queues .and putting on coarse clothes, such as sailors wcai. Unco Mr Keswick became alarmed, and told us he could not pub us aboard too ship contrary to law. We threatened to commit seppuku, (vulgarly called hara-kiri,) and he tOon consented to get us aboard. ■ “We reached London, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, in four months. In that city we were taken in charge by Hr Williamson, a professor in London University. We studied hard, learning everything we could, —English, mathematics, electricity, manufacturing, industry, economies, gun-making, and ship-building. “ To our groat surprise we heard, one day, that Ghoshu province, Japan, was ■ fighting the foreigners, that a foreign fleet of warships was threatening to bombard Bhimoncseki. We resolved to return at once and do what we could to avert the disaster that menaced Japan. Count Inouye and 1 left London, and hurried to Yokohama.”

■Marquis Ito lias always modestly refused to discuss this dramatic period of his Jifo. Ho and his lifelong friend, Count luou.ye, went immediately to the Daimyo of Choslni and endeavored to make him understand the futility of opposing the western barbarians. Hut this great man thought nothing of the foreign guns, until fourteen war-vessels opened lire on his capital of Shimonoseki, and destroyed it, scattering his most gallant samurai to the four winds.

Nothing daunted, Marquis Tto and Count luduyo continued to advocate the “open-door” policy. They were maltreated, and many times narrowly escaped with their lives. Inouye was once cut down in the street and left for dead, and Ito had frequently to secrete himself from bloodthirsty enemies. But Bo finally accomplished his mis sion. His counsels of prudonce, conciliation and progress prevailed. The foreigners were admitted, and took their civilisation with them into Japan. Ito

espoused the cause of the “ Mikado,” and saw him transformed from the secluded priest into a modern progressive emperor. He returned to Europe and studied constitutional government, then went back to Japan and wrote its constitution, and organised its governmental institutions on the basis of the broadest and moi t advanced ideas of freedom.

Marquis Ito did not limit the exercise of his constructive genius to administra tive affairs. In IHOB, with Count Okuma.

he built the government railroad between Tokyo and Yokohama. The following year ho went to America to study economics. After returning to Japan, he established a mint in Osaka.

Marquis Ito has held the highest posts

in the gift of his emperor and countrymen. He has been Prime Minister four times, and has risen through all grades of nobility, until now his “ decoration,” as it is known

in Japan, is the highest in rank. The Marquis, like so many distinguished Japanese and Chinese, is a famous writer. He draws the Chinese characters so beautifully that his writing, in the form of kakemonos, adorns many walls in the empire. He is a good scholar, speaking and writing English, German, French, Chinese, and his own language, the latter being the most perplexing tongue, perhaps, in the range of human speech. He is expert in the composition of Chinese poetry, —a very difficult art. I give below, in an inadequate English prose version, a selection from one of his short Chinese poems:— Accumulate books, and bequeath them to posterity ; Posterity, perhaps, will not be able to read them. Hoard money, and bequeath it to posterity : Posterity, perhaps, may not know how to use it properly. It is much better to acquire virtue Than to lay up treasure for the benefit of posterity.

Marquis Ito is still a poor man. While in office in Tokyo, he lived in humbler stylo than many of his secretaries. He

now give- most of hi« income to young men in order that they may educate themselves for canyiiig on ii.e great work of keeping Japan in the forefront of the nations of the world.