Princes of Japan, and to the nation by signing the Perry treaty at all, but especially by signing it without authority from the Mikado or Emperor, and for ten years a policy of assassination and deadly hatred to foreigners-whom the Government could not protectwas carried out by the Daimios and their retainers. This resulted in the two bombardments of Kagoshima and Chioskiu, by the English and combined fleets, which opened the eyes of the Japanese to the power of the Western nations, and awakened in their minds. an intense desire to raise their country to an equality with them. A remarkable reaction in favour of the hitherto despised foreigners set in; and "the unification of the nation in the hands of the Mikado" (and the suppression of the Shiogunate) was urgently demanded by the most powerful of the Daimios. This policywhich involved, however, a short but sharp civil war of six months' duration was accomplished in the winter of 1867-8, when the Shiogun and his partisans were defeated, and the Shiogunate became a thing of the past. The Japanese Government was then organised upon the French Imperial system, and at the same time "Two hundred and seventy-eight military princes, possessing regal powers, vast wealth, and separate armies, abdicated, from purely patriotic motives, the stations which their families had held for twenty centuries!" Thus the feudalism of Japan-which resembled that of England under the Plantagenets-was given up, and the aristocratic caste of a few hundred nobles (who then ruled large provinces with despotic and almost independent authority, and incomes, in some instances, of 800,000l.) voluntarily resigned their power into the hands of the Emperor. It was desired to replace the clan feeling by a purely national sentiment. "This object," said a correspondent of the Times, writing from Yokohama, February 25, has, to a great extent, been accomplished. The Choskiu, Josa, Hizen, Kaga or Bizen men have gradually come to regard themselves as before all things Japanese, afterwards as men of these clans. Not so the Satsuma men. The pride of clan is with them an obstinate and almost indestructible feeling;" and, said another writer," the Satsuma men have, since the revolution of 1868, been the spoilt children of Japan. Their obstinate isolation prostrates all the endeavours of the Government to produce real unity throughout the Empire ;" and so the Imperial Government sent a large military force and nearly the whole of the fleet to the seat of rebellion. Space will not allow of further details. Suffice it to say that, according to information published in England at the end of November, the insurrection in Satsuma was entirely suppressed. Saigo, the Commander-in-Chief of the Satsuma army and the idol of the clan, had killed himself. The correspondent-a very intelligent native of Japan, lately a student in Englandadded, however: "He (Saigo) was one of our best, bravest and most patriotic generals, and his death is universally regretted by his countrymen, notwithstanding he was a rebel. He was declared a rebel and forced to arms, only after he had attempted to proceed

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to Tokio to protest against the policy of some of the present Ministers."

There are, it seems evident, just causes of complaint against the Imperial Government, which is entirely despotic, and, at present, unchecked by any representative assembly. These grievances were referred to in a weighty memorial from the Risshisha of Josa, to which reference was made by a correspondent in the North China Herald, writing under date of August 11, 1877. "When the Daimios," said this writer, "yielded up their territorial rights, and their provinces were placed under a Central Government, they were promised certain definite compensations. The hopes that were raised when the change was made were referred to (in the memorial from the Risshisha of Josa), and the fact was stated broadly and clearly that these hopes have been disappointed. We read, and there is a sad confirmation of the truth of the statement, 'internal strife and disaffection among the agricultural classes and the Samurai keep the country in a state of constant uneasiness, while we cannot claim to exercise an external influence equal to foreign Powers. Neither the Government nor the people are freed from anxiety for a single day.' Then comes the real trouble, and there is no doubt that the memorialists have hit the true blot. It is our opinion that all these evils arise from the fact that your Majesty's Ministers exercise a power solely despotic, the administration being carried on entirely without reference to the opinion of the nation.' This is extremely bold writing; and when we reflect how few years have passed since Japan was using the abject forms of Oriental subjection, we are struck by the courage of the change. What follows is still more to the purpose. It is clear, then, that the oath of the Emperor should be strictly observed, and a representative assembly established, in order that people may have a voice in the affairs of the nation, and that they may aid the Ministry in promoting the welfare of their country.' This demand is striking at the root of the matter, and shows that the people have learned lessons of the highest importance from their intercourse with foreign nations. If we could only get a House of Representatives in Japan we should have some hope of the removal or abatement of the evils under which the country is groaning. These evils are patent enough, and the memorial sets them forth under eight heads. The first grievance is the action of the Cabinet in imposing its own oppressive measures without in any way respecting the will of the Mikado. The second is the random and confused manner' in which the Government is conducted. The third evil is that the power of the country has been too largely concentrated in the Central Government. The fourth grievance is the general conscription."

The Budget estimates, for the financial year 1876-77, calculate the total revenue as 62,995,643 yen or 12,599,128/., and the total expenditure at 62,993,347 yen or 12,598,6697.

The Imperial army does not exceed 80,000. The navy of Japan

at the end of June 1877 comprised one iron-clad frigate, two ironclad corvettes, two wooden corvettes, three schooners, one gunboat, one transport, one yacht. The iron-clad frigate-the "Foo-soo"-was built in England by Samuda Brothers; and the second largest ship-the iron corvette, called the "Kon-go" (designed by Edward J. Reed)-is likewise British-built. The armament consists of twelve Krupp guns. The Japanese navy was manned, at the same date, by 1,200 sailors, including 67 artillerymen and 260 marines. English officers were employed to give naval instruction.

RETROSPECT

OF

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART IN 1877.

LITERATURE.

THE third volume of the "Life of the Prince Consort," by Theodore Martin, appeared at the close of the year. It begins with the negotiations and preparations on the eve of the Crimean War, and is mainly engrossed with the Eastern Question of two-and-twenty years ago and the relations of Russia with Europe. We see the Prince Consort playing his part as an Englishman and a statesman, while the Queen is keenly alive to the complicated difficulties of the situation and the grave responsibilities that devolve on her as the head of a Constitutional Government. At the same time nothing in the former volumes represented her in a more amiable light than the sympathy we see her showing to her subjects and servants who had been the victims of the war in one way or another; while among the more rare domestic incidents we have the betrothal of her eldest daughter to the future heir of the Empire of Germany. At that time Prussia stood lower in the consideration of Europe than she had done at any time since she trafficked for Hanover and saw her armies shattered at Jena. The King and the Court party were the complacent dependants of the Czar, and content to sacrifice the national interests and aspirations to the policy Nicholas was urging with all the force of his character. But even then our ambassador at Berlin recognised that their humiliating subserviency was partly dictated by the definite ambitions which have since been realised. Lord Bloomfield wrote to Lord Clarendon, in February 1854 :—

"It is impossible to make these people understand the duties and responsibilities of a great Power, and their chief thought in this question appears to be the chance of playing a great card hereafter in Germany, when the war shall have lasted a few years."

We advert to this not only on account of the important influence that the attitude of Prussia exercised on political events, but because it shows how thoroughly Prince Albert had formed himself to his position as the first subject of the British Empire. His sympathies were always in great measure with the great Northern German Power, but although he always seems to judge its action dispassionately, he judges it from a distinctly English point of view.

It was a strong sense of these grave public obligations which first inclined the Queen and her Consort to respond to the advances of the Emperor of the French. While Austria was vacillating from day to day, and Prussia had subsided into the creature of the Czar, a cordial understanding between the Western Powers was absolutely essential to English interests. The chief of the "conspirators of the Elysée" was ostensibly the

choice of the French people, and at all events he actually controlled its policy and vast military resources. His desire for an alliance of the countries was no doubt largely due to his anxiety to form close personal relations with the English Court; and, in compliance with his desire, Prince Albert went early in September 1854 for three days to pay a visit of inspection to the army at St. Omer.

In the early spring of 1855 her Majesty and the Government were threatened from abroad with a grave embarrassment. The Emperor of the French had taken it into his head that he could serve himself or further the common cause by placing himself in chief command of the allied armies in the field. Lord Clarendon, under the guise of a friendly visit, undertook a mission to the camp at Bologne, and succeeded in dissuading Napoleon from a project which had never been approved either at Paris or by his army; but, as it was desirable to soothe the susceptibilies of the master of so many legions, it became matter of policy, as well as hospitality, to encourage his proposition of a visit to England. Her Majesty, in her diary, describing the reception at Windsor, owns to some sense of the same emotions which had agitated the Emperor when he had done the honours of Boulogne to the Prince. "I cannot say what indescribable emotions filled me-how much all seemed like a wonderful dream. These great meetings of sovereigns, surrounded by very exciting accompaniments, are always very agitating." Then a little later in the diary comes a charmingly natural domestic touch. "We presented the princes and our children (Vicky, with very alarmed eyes, making very low curtsies)." The Queen took a fancy to her guest from the first. She remarks, after having sat by him at dinner, "he is so very quiet; his voice is low and soft; and il ne fait pas des phrases." He remarked on the all-engrossing topic of the war and the siege, "J'avoue que je crains un grand désastre, et c'est pour celà que je voudrais y aller," as he thought that our "Generals would take nothing on themselves." The next day her Majesty found him as before, “very quiet and amiable, and easy to get on with. . . . Nothing can be more civil or amiable than the Emperor's manner," so full of tact. "The Empress was as eager as himself that he should go to the Crimea. . . . She takes the warmest interest in the war, and is all for the Emperor's going. She sees no greater danger for him there than elsewhere-in fact, than in Paris. . . . She said she was seldom alarmed for him except when he set out quite alone of a morning. . . . She is full of courage and spirit, and yet so gentle, with such innocence and engouement, that the ensemble is quite charming. With all her great liveliness, she has the prettiest and most modest manner." When the Queen and her Consort had taken the opportunity of the Paris Exhibition to pay a return visit of ceremony to their French Majesties in their capital, these favourable impressions were only confirmed.

The volume will be found to contain a good deal of graphic and pleasant incident. There is a charming account of the bonfire at Balmoral, lit up by the Prince's own hands on the taking of Sebastopol; and there are also very pleasant extracts from the Queen's diary concerning the Emperor's visit here and her own visit to Paris. The following extract from the Queen's diary contains one of the most picturesque touches in the book. It is the account of the arrival of the Emperor and Empress at Windsor in 1855 :

"News arrived that the Emperor had reached London at ten minutes to five. I hurried to be ready... and went over to the other side of the