profession of honor; and (3) that a very strong sense of shame was developed among them.  It is plainly unfair to take an abnormal case to cast blame upon the Precepts, any more than to judge of the true teaching of Christ from the fruits of religious fanaticism and extravagance—­inquisitions and hypocrisy.  But, as in religious monomania there is something touchingly noble, as compared with the delirium tremens of a drunkard, so in that extreme sensitiveness of the samurai about their honor do we not recognize the substratum of a genuine virtue?

The morbid excess into which the delicate code of honor was inclined to run was strongly counterbalanced by preaching magnanimity and patience.  To take offense at slight provocation was ridiculed as “short-tempered.”  The popular adage said:  “To bear what you think you cannot bear is really to bear.”  The great Iyeyasu left to posterity a few maxims, among which are the following:—­“The life of man is like going a long distance with a heavy load upon the shoulders.  Haste not. * * * * Reproach none, but be forever watchful of thine own short-comings. * * * Forbearance is the basis of length of days.”  He proved in his life what he preached.  A literary wit put a characteristic epigram into the mouths of three well-known personages in our history:  to Nobunaga he attributed, “I will kill her, if the nightingale sings not in time;” to Hideyoshi, “I will force her to sing for me;” and to Iyeyasu, “I will wait till she opens her lips.”

Patience and long suffering were also highly commended by Mencius.  In one place he writes to this effect:  “Though you denude yourself and insult me, what is that to me?  You cannot defile my soul by your outrage.”  Elsewhere he teaches that anger at a petty offense is unworthy a superior man, but indignation for a great cause is righteous wrath.

To what height of unmartial and unresisting meekness Bushido could reach in some of its votaries, may be seen in their utterances.  Take, for instance, this saying of Ogawa:  “When others speak all manner of evil things against thee, return not evil for evil, but rather reflect that thou wast not more faithful in the discharge of thy duties.”  Take another of Kumazawa:—­“When others blame thee, blame them not; when others are angry at thee, return not anger.  Joy cometh only as Passion and Desire part.”  Still another instance I may cite from Saigo, upon whose overhanging brows “shame is ashamed to sit;”—­“The Way is the way of Heaven and Earth:  Man’s place is to follow it:  therefore make it the object of thy life to reverence Heaven.  Heaven loves me and others with equal love; therefore with the love wherewith thou lovest thyself, love others.  Make not Man thy partner but Heaven, and making Heaven thy partner do thy best.  Never condemn others; but see to it that thou comest not short of thine own mark.”  Some of those sayings remind us of Christian expostulations and show us how far in practical morality natural religion can approach the revealed.  Not only did these sayings remain as utterances, but they were really embodied in acts.