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THE KINGDOM OF SLENDER SWORDS
BY HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES (MRS. POST WHEELER)
SATAN SANDERSON Illustrated by A. B. Wenzell
TALES FROM DICKENS Illustrated by Reginald B. Birch
THE CASTAWAY Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy
HEARTS COURAGEOUS Illustrated by A. B. Wenzell
A FURNACE OF EARTH
THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS
THE KINGDOM OF SLENDER SWORDS
BY HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES (MRS. POST WHEELER)
_With a Foreword by His Excellency Baron Makino_
ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. B. WENZELL
INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT 1910 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS BROOKLYN, N.Y.
TO CAROLYN FOSTER STICKNEY
FOREWORD
It has been my happy fortune to have made the acquaintance of the giftedauthor of this book. From time to time she was kind enough to confide tome its progress. When the manuscript was completed I was privileged togo over it, and the hours so spent were of unbroken interest andpleasure.
What especially touched and concerned me was, of course, the Japanesecharacters depicted, the motives of these actors in their respectiveroles, and other Japanese incidents connected with the story. I am mostagreeably impressed with the remarkable insight into, and the justappreciation of, the Japanese spirit displayed by the author.
While the story itself is her creation, the local coloring, the moralatmosphere called in to weave the thread of the tale, are mattersbelonging to the domain of facts, and constitute an amount of useful andauthentic information. Indeed, she has taken unusual pains to becorrectly informed about the people of the country and their customs,and in this she has succeeded to a very eminent degree.
I may mention one or two of the striking characteristics of the work.The sacrifice of the girl Haru may seem unreal, but such is the dominantidea of duty and sacrifice with the Japanese, that in certainemergencies it is not at all unlikely that we should behold her realprototype in life. The description of the Imperial Review at Tokyo andits patriotic significance vividly recalls my own impression of thisspectacle.
It gives me great satisfaction to know that by perusing these pages, thevast reading public, who, after all, have the decisive voice in thenational government of the greatest republic of the world, and whosegood will and friendship we Japanese prize in no uncommon degree, shouldbe correctly informed about ourselves, as far as the scope of this bookgoes. We attach great importance to a thorough mutual understanding oftwo foremost peoples on the Pacific, in whose direction and cooperationthe future of the East must largely depend. It is, therefore, incumbentupon us all to do our utmost to cultivate such good understanding, notonly for those immediately concerned, but for the welfare of the wholehuman race.
In the chapters of this novel the author seems always to have had suchhigh ideals before her, and the result is that, besides being anexciting and agreeable reading, the book contains elements of seriousand instructive consideration, which can not but contribute towardestablishing better and healthier knowledge between the East and West ofthe Pacific.
N. MAKINO.
Sendagaya, Tokyo, 9th of August, 1909.