two members of the cabinet were there. The Countess
is the mother of eight children, and looks about thirty and very pretty
for thirty. Three or four of the little girls were about before and
after dinner, and, like several of the little girls of the new
generation, are as spontaneous and natural as you would wish. Acquired
characteristics are certainly hereditary in Japan, for even the most
lively and spontaneous children are civilized. Whatever else you think
about the Japanese they are about the most highly civilized people on
earth, perhaps overcultivated. I asked Mamma when these girls would
undergo the clammifying process and have all their life taken out of
them, and she said never for these girls.

President Naruse died this morning; as he had cancer, it was fortunate
he did not linger longer. He was one of the most remarkable men in
Japan. Two days before he died the Empress sent him a present of five
thousand dollars for his school--a very great tribute and one which will
help the cause of woman's education. Speaking of this family where we
dined, you can judge of the high aristocracy of our hosts of the evening
by the fact that when they showed us the dolls' festival, there were
some fine ones which had been sent the Countess by the Imperial
Princesses. The dolls by the way are never played with--they are works
of art and history to look at. These children got out their American
dolls, of which they had ten, to show Mamma.

March 5.

I have now given three lectures. They are a patient race; there is still
a good-sized audience, probably five hundred. We are gradually getting a
superficial acquaintance with a good many people, and if I could get two
or three weeks free from lectures to prepare I could make a business of
finding things out, but as it is I only accumulate certain impressions.
There is no doubt a great change is going on; how permanent it will be
depends a good deal upon how the rest of the world behaves. If it
doesn't live up to its peaceful and democratic professions, the
conservative bureaucrats and militarists, who of course are still very
strong, will say we told you so and there will be a backset. But if
other countries, and especially our own, behave decently, the
democratizing here will go on as steadily and as rapidly as is
desirable.

TOKYO, Monday, March 10.

Yesterday we had our first taste of the Noh drama. We got there before
nine in the morning, and I left bef