in making my meaning entirely clear, and I am conscious of having failed to present my observations in the most pleasing form; for these and other short-comings I must crave indulgence since I have been obliged to speak in a foreign tongue.
I have attempted to show, that while the framers of the Japanese Code were guided in their labors by a spirit of wise and prudent eclecticism, they were not, in any case, mere copyists, for in many instances they introduced new legal conceptions, and in all instances they endeavored to make the law responsive to the requirements of the country, qualifying theory by a thoughtful regard for practical considerations. But, in any event, if I have, in the language of Lord Coke, been able to “move the diligent student to doubt,” and consequently to inquire what the law and the reason of the law are, I shall deem my efforts abundantly rewarded.
Kazuo Hatoyama.
