--'I am afraid not,' I answered; 'it would be difficult for me to explain it to you, and you would not appreciate it if I did. Look! the last ray of the sun is glittering in the foliage. Time has flown wonderfully quick: I must say _au revoir_'
Some observations on peace prospects--Discussion on Anglo-French-Russo-Japanese _entente_--Russian views of the Japanese--Discussion on religion and Japan--Japan and the International Conventions--The meaning of religion--General Nogi--A high-priest on Japan and Russia--The Japanese conception of death--A quotation from an old book on Bushido--The notion of the name--Further remarks on the Russian views of the Japanese--England and America--The outbreak of the war--A wanton project of the Russian admiral restrained by the French admiral--Discussion on the Yellow Peril and Pan-Asiatic ambition--Japan not a small country--French poor in the caves--Paris by night--Sir Stamford Raffles and his appreciation of Japan ninety years ago --Patriotism and France--_La France, c'est le pays de mon cœur_--A romantic and tragical story--Discussion on Socialism and Japan--England and America--Discussion on the word 'Revolution'--The Great Change of Japan in 1867--Its political and social effects--A comparison with the French Revolution--Discussion on unity and continuity of authority--An anonymous pamphlet--Discussion on the relative position of the French Nationalists and Socialists with regard to Japan--French thrift
I was once more partaking of tea _en famille_ in the Duchess of Fairfield's garden. She, like myself, prefers to be unceremonious, as there is then so much more possibility of a quiet conversation.
--'What do you think of the prospect of peace?' said the duke. 'The war must surely now cease.'
--'Yes, I should think so too,' I replied. 'Enough blood has already been shed; but, you know, our opponents are such that they do not see things in the same light as other people.'
--'But they must do so now,' was the reply. 'Every one has known for a long time that it is of no use for them to carry on the war. The issue is clear.'
--'The justice of the cause and the singleness of the aim of Japan are now widely recognised by the thinking people of the whole world,' said the duchess, 'and the part you have played in it is not small.'