94 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath 



trol that all great forces, working harmoniously to 

 a given end, come out of the silence ; just as Admiral 

 Togo's fleet sailed out of the silent mist on that 

 memorable May morning in the Tsushima Straits, 

 and gave such an exhibition of conserved power 

 as the world never before witnessed. All that 

 this wonderful self-contained nation, Dai Nippon, 

 has accomplished is an object-lesson of superbly 

 controlled force. She is unlikely to fulfill any of 

 the dire Western prophecies of " yellow peril " 

 fear of which exists only in the strenuous imagin- 

 ations that picture the possibilities of power mis- 

 used for Nippon's samurai spirit is not preda- 

 tory. 



Those who understand how deeply bushido in- 

 fluences the national life realize that Japan has in 

 this word not merely enlarged the universal vocab- 

 ulary of expressive, high-thought symbols, but 

 that she has given to the world an exalted, ethical 

 standard of character. Bushido, " the Soul of 

 Nippon," implies the spirit of discipline and sacri- 

 fice, of gentleness and firmness, of honor and in- 

 tegrity, of heroic endurance and chivalry. All 

 that the Western world can teach Japan of ma- 

 terial progress is elevated and transmuted through 

 bushido into something which the average West- 

 ern mind the commercial, How-much-can-you- 

 get-f or-it ? mind cannot comprehend ; in which, 

 therefore, danger is scented. 



