ks that "the supreme beauty of Greek art is
rather male than female," and Lecky adds that it was true in the moral
conception of the Greeks as in their art. Bushido similarly praised
those women most "who emancipated themselves from the frailty of their
sex and displayed an heroic fortitude worthy of the strongest and the
bravest of men."[24] Young girls therefore, were trained to repress
their feelings, to indurate their nerves, to manipulate
weapons,--especially the long-handled sword called _nagi-nata_, so as to
be able to hold their own against unexpected odds. Yet the primary
motive for exercises of this martial character was not for use in the
field; it was twofold--personal and domestic. Woman owning no suzerain
of her own, formed her own bodyguard. With her weapon she guarded her
personal sanctity with as much zeal as her husband did his master's. The
domestic utility of her warlike training was in the education of her
sons, as we shall see later.

[Footnote 24: Lecky, _History of European Morals_ II, p. 383.]

Fencing and similar exercises, if rarely of practical use, were a
wholesome counterbalance to the otherwise sedentary habits of woman. But
these exercises were not followed only for hygienic purposes. They could
be turned into use in times of need. Girls, when they reached womanhood,
were presented with dirks (_kai-ken_, pocket poniards), which might be
directed to the bosom of their assailants, or, if advisable, to their
own. The latter was very often the case: and yet I will not judge them
severely. Even the Christian conscience with its horror of
self-immolation, will not be harsh with them, seeing Pelagia and
Domnina, two suicides, were canonized for their purity and piety. When a
Japanese Virginia saw her chastity menaced, she did not wait for her
father's dagger. Her own weapon lay always in her bosom. It was a
disgrace to her not to know the proper way in which she had to
perpetrate self-destruction. For example, little as she was taught in
anatomy, she must know the exact spot to cut in her throat: she must
know how to tie her lower limbs together with a belt so that, whatever
the agonies of death might be, her corpse be found in utmost modesty
with the limbs properly composed. Is not a caution like this worthy of
the Christian Perpetua or the Vestal Cornelia? I would not put such an
abrupt interrogation, were it not for a misconception, based on our
bathing customs and other trifles, that chasti