not be another Corea; we
must wait until we are strong, and look to other hands to help us in
our struggle.

We hope much from America, that country which has so wonderful an
influence upon us, which appeals to our imagination because it is
great and strong and prosperous. The suave and humorous American,
with his easy ways, is most popular with our people, although he
cannot always be trusted nor is his word a bond. He is different from
the man of England, who is not fond of people not of his own colour
and will not try to disguise the fact. He is cold and shows no
sympathy to those of an alien race, although we must admit he
always acts with a certain amount of justice. America is
contemptuous of China and her people, but it is a kindly contempt,
not tinged with the bitterness of the other Powers, and we hope,
because of that kindliness and also because of trade interests (the
American is noted for finding and holding the place that yields him
dollars), she will play the part of a kindly friend and save China from
her enemies who are now watching each other with such jealous
eyes. There is another reason why we like America: she does not
seem to covet our land. There is no Shang-tung nor Wei-hai-wei for
her. I would that she and England might form a bond of brotherhood
for our protection; because all the world knows that where Germany,
Russia, or Japan has power, all people from other lands are barred by
close-shut doors.

Since hearing my husband talk I see those babies with other eyes,
with eyes of knowledge and dislike. I see them becoming one of the
two great classes in Japan-- merchants with grasping hands to hold
fast all they touch, or men of war. There is no other class. And, too,
they have no religion to restrict them, irreverence already marks their
attitude toward their gods. They will imitate and steal what they want
from other countries, even as their ancestors took their religion, their
art, their code of ethics, even their writing, from other peoples. Their
past is a copy of the East; their present is an attempt to be a copy of
the West. They cannot originate or make a thing from within
them-selves.

Their lives are coarse and sordid when stripped of the elaborate
courtesy and sham politeness that marks their dealings with the
outside world. Their courtesy, what is it? This thin veneer of politeness
is like their polished lacquer that covers the crumbling wood within.
But we have a proverb, "Even a