s, the women of the samurai class fulfilled most nobly the
duties that fell to their lot. As wives and mothers in time of peace,
they performed their work faithfully in the quiet of their homes; and,
their time filled with household cares, they busied themselves with the
smaller duties of life. As the wives and mothers of soldiers, they
cultivated the heroic spirit befitting their position, fearing no danger
save such as involved disgrace. As the home-guard in time of need, they
stood ready to defend their master's possessions with their own lives;
as gentlewomen and ladies-in-waiting at the court of the daimi[=o] or the
Sh[=o]gun, they cultivated the arts and accomplishments required for their
position, and veiled the martial spirit that dwelt within them under an
exterior as feminine, as gracious, as cultivated and charming, as that
of any ladies of Europe or America. To-day in the new Japan, where the
samurai have no longer their yearly allowance from their lords and their
feudal duties, but, scattered through the whole nation, are engaged in
all the arts and trades, and are infusing the old spirit into the new
life, what are the women doing? As the government of the land to-day
lies in the hands of the samurai men under the Emperor, so the progress
of the women, the new ideas of work for women, are in the hands of the
samurai women, led by the Empress. Wherever there is progress among the
women, wherever they are looking about for new opportunities, entering
new occupations, elevating the home, opening hospitals, industrial
schools, asylums, there you will find the leading spirits always of the
samurai class. In the recent changes, some of this class have risen
above their former state and joined the ranks of the nobility; and
there the presence of the samurai spirit infuses new life into the
aristocracy. So, too, the changes that have raised some have lowered
others, and the samurai is now to be found in the formerly despised
occupations of trade and industry, among the merchants, the farmers, the
fishermen, the artisans, and the domestic servants. But wherever his lot
is cast, the old training, the old ideals, the old pride of family,
still keep him separate from his present rank, and, instead of pulling
him down to the level of those about him, tend to raise that level by
the example of honor and intelligence that he sets. The changed fortunes
were not met without a murmur. Most of the outrages, the reactionary
mov