To him common sense is the crown of all faculties. Exercised vigilantly,
it leads to progress and prosperity, therefore, says he "enthusiasm is as
brittle as crystal, but common sense is durable as brass."

THE PUBLISHERS.




PREFACE


Why should I hesitate to express the pleasure I felt on learning that the
public, already deeply interested in the teachings of Yoritomo-Tashi,
desired to be made familiar with them in a new form?

This knowledge meant many interesting and pleasant hours of work in
prospect for me, recalling the time passed in an atmosphere of that peace
which gives birth to vibrations of healthful thoughts whose radiance
vitalizes the soul.

It was also with a zeal, intensified by memories of the little deserted
room in the provincial museum, where silence alone could lend rhythm to
meditation, that I turned over again and again the leaves of those
precious manuscripts, translating the opinions of him whose keen and
ornate psychology we have so often enjoyed together.

It was with the enthusiastic attention of the disciple that once more I
scanned the pages, where the broadest and most humane compassion allies