Satisfaction with the Country 163 



play the part of the daimios of Japan, the 

 feudal lords who were fathers to their 

 people, and whose interest, rather than 

 authority, brought the old art of that 

 nation to so fine a pass. Suppose the 

 case of a Japanese potter. His mind was 

 free to put upon his work, for his daimio 

 would see that he and his family suffered 

 no privation. He had only to prove him- 

 self trustworthy to make his time his own, 

 and he could experiment with pastes, 

 shapes, decorations, and glazes as much as 

 he pleased, destroying every failure and 

 working on and on until he had gained the 

 form and color that he wished. It is this 

 patience which comes of security, this 

 abolition of all sense of pressure and pass- 

 ing of time, that made the lacquers, swords, 

 embroideries, carvings, and bronzes of 

 Japan most perfect of their kind. Japan 

 has changed ; it is civilized ; and its arts 

 are falling to a Birmingham level. Only 

 in quiet, remoteness, leisure, and assurance 

 of material sufficiency can they be kept 

 from decay. Things will come right some 

 day, for the race is plodding forward ; but 



