lar
results, as in France, according to Millet's famous painting, "The Man
with the Hoe."

It is an interesting fact, however, that this stolidity of stupidity
can be easily removed. I have often heard comments on the marked
change in the facial expression of those adults who learn to read the
Bible. Their minds are awakened; a new light is seen in their eyes as
new ideas are started in their minds.

The impression of stolidity made on the foreigner is, due less,
however, to stupidity than to a stoical education. For centuries the
people have been taught to repress all expression of their emotions.
It has been required of the inferior to listen quietly to his superior
and to obey implicitly. The relations of superior and inferior have
been drilled into the people for ages. The code of a military camp has
been taught and enforced in all the homes. Talking in the presence of
a superior, or laughter, or curious questions, or expressions of
surprise, anything revealing the slightest emotion on the part of the
inferior was considered a discourtesy.

Education in these matters was not confined to oral instruction;
infringements were punished with great rigor. Whenever a daimyo
traveled to Yedo, the capital, he was treated almost as a god by the
people. They were required to fall on their knees and bow their faces
to the ground, and the death penalty was freely awarded to those who
failed to make such expressions of respect.

One source, then, of the systematic repression of emotional expression
is the character of the feudal order of society that so long
prevailed. The warrior who had best control of his facial expression,
who could least expose to his foe or even to his ordinary friends the
real state of his feelings, other things being equal, would come off
the victor. In further explanation of this repression is the religion
of Buddha. For 1200 years it has helped to mold the middle and the
lower classes of the people. According to its doctrine, desire is the
great evil; from it all other evils spring. For this reason, the aim
of the religious life is to suppress all desire, and the most natural
way to accomplish this is to suppress the manifestation of desire; to
maintain passive features under all circumstances. The images of
Buddha and of Buddhist saints are utterly devoid of expression. They
indicate as nearly as possible the attainment of their desire, namely,
freedom from all desire. This is the ambition of ever