cent, blown whithersoever the
wind listeth, and, shedding a puff of perfume, ready to vanish forever,
is this flower the type of the Yamato spirit? Is the Soul of Japan so
frailly mortal?

IS BUSHIDO STILL ALIVE?

Or has Western civilization, in its march through the land, already
wiped out every trace of its ancient discipline?

It were a sad thing if a nation's soul could die so fast. That were a
poor soul that could succumb so easily to extraneous influences. The
aggregate of psychological elements which constitute a national
character, is as tenacious as the "irreducible elements of species, of
the fins of fish, of the beak of the bird, of the tooth of the
carnivorous animal." In his recent book, full of shallow asseverations
and brilliant generalizations, M. LeBon[29] says, "The discoveries due
to the intelligence are the common patrimony of humanity; qualities or
defects of character constitute the exclusive patrimony of each people:
they are the firm rock which the waters must wash day by day for
centuries, before they can wear away even its external asperities."
These are strong words and would be highly worth pondering over,
provided there were qualities and defects of character which _constitute
the exclusive patrimony_ of each people. Schematizing theories of this
sort had been advanced long before LeBon began to write his book, and
they were exploded long ago by Theodor Waitz and Hugh Murray. In
studying the various virtues instilled by Bushido, we have drawn upon
European sources for comparison and illustrations, and we have seen that
no one quality of character was its _exclusive_ patrimony. It is true
the aggregate of moral qualities presents a quite unique aspect. It is
this aggregate which Emerson names a "compound result into which every
great force enters as an ingredient." But, instead of making it, as
LeBon does, an exclusive patrimony of a race or people, the Concord
philosopher calls it "an element which unites the most forcible persons
of every country; makes them intelligible and agreeable to each other;
and is somewhat so precise that it is at once felt if an individual lack
the Masonic sign."

[Footnote 29: _The Psychology of Peoples_, p. 33.]

The character which Bushido stamped on our nation and on the samurai in
particular, cannot be said to form "an irreducible element of species,"
but nevertheless as to the vitality which it retains there is no doubt.
Were Bushido a mere physica