of day. The feats accomplished during the late war with
Russia show that the simple ideal which it offers is capable
of inspiring great deeds. From a certain point of view the
nation may be congratulated on its new possession.

* * *

The new Japanese religion consists, in its present early
stage, of worship of the sacrosanct Imperial Person and of His
Divine Ancestors, of implicit obedience to Him as head of the
army (a position, by the way, opposed to all former Japanese
ideas, according to which the Court was essentially civilian);
furthermore, of a corresponding belief that Japan is as far
superior to the common ruck of nations as the Mikado is
divinely superior to the common ruck of kings and emperors.
Do not the early history-books record the fact that Japan was
created first, while all other countries resulted merely from
the drops that fell from the creator's spear when he had
finished his main work? And do not the later annals prove
that true valour belongs to the Japanese knight alone, whereas
foreign countries--China and Europe alike--are sunk in a
degrading commercialism? For the inhabitants of "the Land of
the Gods" to take any notice of such creatures by adopting a
few of their trifling mechanical inventions is an act of
gracious condescension.

To quote but one official utterance out of a hundred, Baron
Oura, minister of agriculture and commerce, writes thus in
February of last year:--