Dear Mrs. Wetmore,— ... I am getting quite strong, and hope soon to be strong, or nearly as strong, as before. The bleeding was from a bronchial tube,—so I have to be careful about getting cold. But my lungs are quite sound. For the sake of the lectures, it is better that I should wait a little longer in Japan. Most of them have been written twice; but I must write them all once more—to polish them. They will form a book, explaining Japan from the standpoint of ancestor-worship. They are suited only to a cultivated audience. If never delivered, they will still make a good book. The whole study is based upon the ancient religion. I have also something to say about your proposed “Juvenilia.”
I think this would be possible:—
To include in one volume under the title of “Juvenilia”—(1) the translations from Théophile Gautier, revised; (2) “Some Chinese Ghosts;” (3) miscellaneous essays and sketches upon Oriental subjects, formerly contributed to the T.-D.; (4) miscellaneous sketches on Southern subjects, two or three, and fantasies,—with a few verses thrown in.
For this I should need to have the French texts to revise, etc. Perhaps I shall be able to make the arrangement, and so please you. But I badly need help in the direction of good opinion among people of power. The prospect of “nothing” in America is frightening. I should be glad to try England; but scholars are there plentiful as little fleas in Florida;—and the power of convention has the force of an earthquake. When one’s own adopted country goes back on one—there is small chance at the age of fifty-three.
Ever most gratefully,
L. H.
I tried to join the Masons here—but it appears that no Japanese citizen is allowed to become a Mason—at least not in Japan. The Japanese Minister in London could do it; but he could not have done it here.