If the prints are indeed the result of such a motive, that is, to encourage young Japanese to take up the mantle of such Western luminaries, then the fact that many of the figures in the pictures seem to be somewhat under siege from various foe might seem at first to be a bit of a mystery. The great naturalist John James Audubon battles with a mischievous rat who has eaten his work; the dog of historian and poet Thomas Carlyle has upset a lamp burning his papers; the wife of Richard Arkwright, inventor of the spinning-frame, smashes his creation; the developer of the Watt steam engine James Watt suffers the wrath of his impatient Aunt; pottery impresario Bernard Palissy has to burn his family's furniture to keep his kiln's fire going. The only subject portrayed in any kind of half-way happy state is John Heathcoat who is pictured presenting his wife with the first successful results of his knitting machine. Although things appear to be going wrong for our Western celebrities, the text that accompanies each image paints a slightly more positive picture, revealing the moral, something akin to "If at first you don't succeed then try again", or "Perseverance prospers". Perhaps, if seen in the context of Wakon-yōsai - "Japanese spirit and Western techniques", as mentioned in Yoshikawa Tadayasu's Questions and Themes on Progress (1867) - the illustrations might be hinting that the nation of Japan in particular has the qualities of patience, will-power, and tenacity to succeed in such fields.