ou can go for days without seeing one
cry. Another, in the graceful dignity and rich yet severe colouring of
its costume, tells of that faithful spirit of loyalty and pride that has
always marked the lives of the Japanese. One tiny baby, in the dainty
sombreness of colour and quiet arrangement of the folds of its little
kimono, suggests the thoughtful consideration and sweet seriousness of
the women of Japan; and another child, dressed in a wonderful
combination of red and bronze relieved by glimpses of white, expresses
in its rich glowing colour, and the purity of the white within, the fire
of Japanese patriotism.

[Illustration: BABY AND BABY]

But come with me for a walk on any day, in sun or in rain, whether on a
gala day or on an ordinary day, and we shall meet little units in the
decorative whole, every one of them a colour picture bringing to the
mind some characteristic of the people. We shall find one little one
who, to the eye of the artist, flashes like a gem, her white kimono,
decorated, or rather made vivid, as by the hand of a master, with only
three or four great black crosses, each formed of the crisp dexterous
drags across the surface of the cloth. Again the black is repeated in
the carefully-arranged hair, and the white in the little wooden shoes;
but all is toned and touched by just a little old rose in the ribbon
that ties her head-dress and the fastening of the thongs at her feet.

Such an art in a people is living; it has its root in national spirit
and national character, and must continue to foster and strengthen the
national ideals.

The clothing of her children is a matter of great and serious
consideration to the Japanese mother. When a baby is born she gathers
together all her friends, and they discuss a scheme of decoration for
the set of miniature dresses that the little one is to wear. More care
is taken with these baby dresses than with those of any grown person,
and if the parents are rich the sums that are spent on silk crepe are
sometimes such as would shock any English mother. So much has to be
taken into consideration with regard to the design of a child's dress:
it might be cherry-blossom or a landscape, according to the month and
the circumstances amid which the infant was born. The colouring of the
costume is generally suggestive of the ideas and sentiments of the
mother. She does not say, "I will take this bough of apple-blossom, and
it shall be the dress of my child," or "I