the youngest of virtues"--in other
words, it is the foster-child of industry, of modern industry. Without
this mother, Veracity was like a blue-blood orphan whom only the most
cultivated mind could adopt and nourish. Such minds were general among
the samurai, but, for want of a more democratic and utilitarian
foster-mother, the tender child failed to thrive. Industries advancing,
Veracity will prove an easy, nay, a profitable, virtue to practice. Just
think, as late as November 1880, Bismarck sent a circular to the
professional consuls of the German Empire, warning them of "a lamentable
lack of reliability with regard to German shipments _inter alia_,
apparent both as to quality and quantity;" now-a-days we hear
comparatively little of German carelessness and dishonesty in trade. In
twenty years her merchants learned that in the end honesty pays. Already
our merchants are finding that out. For the rest I recommend the reader
to two recent writers for well-weighed judgment on this point.[15] It is
interesting to remark in this connection that integrity and honor were
the surest guaranties which even a merchant debtor could present in the
form of promissory notes. It was quite a usual thing to insert such
clauses as these: "In default of the repayment of the sum lent to me, I
shall say nothing against being ridiculed in public;" or, "In case I
fail to pay you back, you may call me a fool," and the like.

[Footnote 15: Knapp, _Feudal and Modern Japan_, Vol. I, Ch. IV. Ransome,
_Japan in Transition_, Ch. VIII.]

Often have I wondered whether the Veracity of Bushido had any motive
higher than courage. In the absence of any positive commandment against
bearing false witness, lying was not condemned as sin, but simply
denounced as weakness, and, as such, highly dishonorable. As a matter of
fact, the idea of honesty is so intimately blended, and its Latin and
its German etymology so identified with

HONOR,

that it is high time I should pause a few moments for the consideration
of this feature of the Precepts of Knighthood.

The sense of honor, implying a vivid consciousness of personal dignity
and worth, could not fail to characterize the samurai, born and bred to
value the duties and privileges of their profession. Though the word
ordinarily given now-a-days as the translation of Honor was not used
freely, yet the idea was conveyed by such terms as _na_ (name)
_men-moku_ (countenance), _guai-bun_ (outside hearing), r