THERE is a country whose written history stretches in an uninterrupted tale over 2532 years; whose sovereigns have formed one unbroken dynasty since 660 B.C.; whose first ruler, of the still reigning family, was contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar and Tullus Hostilius; whose present Emperor is the 122d of his race; whose principles of action have remained virtually unchanged for five-and-twenty centuries. That country is Japan. Even if it possessed no other merit than this extraordinary antiquity, such a country would deserve to be looked at with attention; but the manners and the character of its people are almost more striking than its ancient lineage; while the interest of the subject is still further increased by the strange fact that, after resolutely shutting itself out from all contact with the world, this country is now suddenly abandoning its traditions, is seeking to change its whole condition, is striving to adopt NEW SERIES.-VOL XVI., No. 5 European laws and habits, and to take a place amongst the nations. A great Embassy, including some of the most illustrious of its nobles, has just landed in England, with the object of studying the elements of Western civilization, and ot applying them on its return. A sketch of the present condition of Japan may therefore be somewhat useful at this moment. But in order to understand the situation as it now is, it is essential to trace its growth, and to indicate the causes which have produced it; for that purpose the main features of the history of this curious nation must be roughly recalled to memory. The Empire of Japan was definitely established more than six hundred years before the Christian era by Zen Mou, who, as is shown by his first title of "Lord of the Narrow Country," was originally the petty chieftain of a mountain valley. It was he who founded the dynasty of the Mikados, and who invented the ingenious system of their deification after death, 33 |