of politeness which have fundamentally
affected the structure of the language, by preventing the development
of personal pronouns.

Now what is the cause of this characteristic of the Japanese? It is
commonly attributed by writers of the impersonal school to the
"impersonality" of the Oriental mind. "Impersonality" is not only the
occasion, it is the cause of the politeness of the Japanese people.
"Self is suppressed, and an ever-present regard for others is
substituted in its stead." "Impersonality, by lessening the interest
in one's self, induces one to take interest in others."[CO] Politeness
is, in these passages, attributed to the impersonal nature of the
Japanese mind. The following quotations show that this characteristic
is conceived of as inherent in race and mind structure, not in the
social order, as is here maintained. "The nation grew up to man's
estate, keeping the mind of its childhood."[CP] "In race
characteristics, he is yet essentially the same.... Of these traits
... perhaps the most important is the great quality of
impersonality."[CQ] "The peoples inhabiting it [the earth's temperate
zone] grow steadily more personal as we go West. So unmistakable is
this gradation that one is almost tempted to ascribe it to cosmical
rather than human causes.... The essence of the soul of the Far East
may be said to be impersonality."[CR]

In his chapter on "Imagination," Mr. Lowell seeks to explain the cause
of the "impersonality" of the Orient. He attributes it to their marked
lack of the faculty of "imagination"--the faculty of forming new and
original ideas. Lacking this faculty, there has been relatively little
stimulus to growth, and hence no possibility of differentiation and
thus of individualization.

If politeness were due to the "impersonal" nature of the race mind, it
would be impossible to account for the rise and decline of Japanese
etiquette, for it should have existed from the beginning, and
continued through all time, nor could we account for the gross
impoliteness that is often met with in recent years. The Japanese
themselves deplore the changes that have taken place. They testify
that the older forms of politeness were an integral element of the
feudal system and were too often a thin veneer of manner by no means
expressive of heart interest. None can be so absolutely rude as they
who are masters of the forms of politeness, but have not the kindly
heart. The theory of "impersonality" does not