nt or insist upon
equality. Whatever her private opinion may be, she is helpless, and she
must treat her conquerors with deference as superiors. But Japan has
never been conquered by the foreigner. She is the only nation among all
the nations of the Orient that has never been trodden underfoot by the
European. She has never been subjugated and never been drugged. And,
curious coincidence, she has reached a level with the foremost powers of
the world, and holds the rank of a first-class nation. All this without
having had the blessings of European civilization conferred upon her by
a conqueror! She has snatched here and there, has imitated, even
excelled, certain qualities and propensities of the white man, but has
never been blighted by having Western civilization forced upon her.
That's the rub. Japan is a striking example to the rest of Asia; her
success is a striking commentary on the value of independence. She has
attained eminence without the assistance of the great powers. And of the
value of this assistance, conferred by the great powers upon the other
nations of Asia--enough said.

V

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

We are beginning to know a lot of people in Peking, for we were launched
upon Peking society the other night when we dined at the American
legation. It was the first dinner party we have been to in several
years, as we have been living quietly in Paris since the beginning of
the war, and there are no such things as dinners or parties in Paris in
these distressful days. However, knowing that we were coming to the
Orient, and having shrewd ideas that possibly we might be invited out,
and therefore would need a proper dress, E---- and I each had one made,
a good one. Strange and unusual sensation to get into them; neither of
us could tell the back from the front! They looked alike from both
aspects, and felt equally uncomfortable either way. We tried them on
both ways and got no light from the experience, and then laid them on
the bed and looked at them ruminatively, all the while the clock moving
toward eight and no decision reached.

Finally, we concluded that if there was as little difference between
back and front as that, it couldn't matter much. Which shows you how
little we have been wearing evening clothes in the last two years, and
how unaccustomed to them we are. So, as I say, we dined at the legation
the other night, with our dresses on hind-side before, for all we knew,
and neither of us