cessful commander into the great officer of State termed the Tycoon.. The Spiritual Emperor remained the supreme head of the Church, the fountain of honour, the high-priest of the nation, the defender of the faith; but the government of the army, the control of the finances, and the regulation of the external relations of the empire were vested in the Tycoon.

The political attributes of this great functionary have been often misconceived. He is frequently styled the temporal, as contrasted with the spiritual Emperor. The Japanese acknowledge but one Emperor, namely, the Mikado. The term Emperor, as applied to the Tycoon, is one to which the Japanese strongly object, although they do not deny that in him the temporal power is constitutionally lodged. His title is not always the same. In peace he is called the Tycoon; on the breaking out of war he assumes the title of the Ziogoon. Whether this change of name is connected with any great addition to his authority we have been unable to ascertain; but it is not improbable that it may imply a temporary dictatorship, called into existence by the necessity of strengthening the executive power, on the occasion of any great public danger or national crisis.

of

The Mikado combines the dignity of a Sovereign with the infallibility of a Pope, and his spiritual councillors may be compared to a College of Cardinals. He has no army, however, to consume his revenues and to coerce his flock. The expenses his Court are defrayed from the resources of a small principality, and from emoluments derived from indulgences,* benevolences, and fees. He canonizes great and holy men after death; decides, without appeal, all theological questions, and issues irrevocable 'bulls.' Shrouded in mystery, and seen by no mortal eyes but by those of his wives or occasionally by the Tycoon, many extravagant stories obtained currency respecting his peculiar establishment and mode of life. It was said that the Japanese not only revered him as a god, but considered themselves as unworthy to approach him even in thought. The great Solar Goddess was believed to be incarnate in his person. passed, it was said, a certain number of hours every day seated on his throne in a state of perfect immobility, whereby the stability of the Japanese empire was maintained and its peace insured. He was pronounced too holy to be allowed to touch the ground with his feet. His hair, beard, and nails were cut only while he was asleep; and no article of dress, and no utensil to which he had once imparted a sanctity, could ever be used again. He was supposed never to die, but to dis

* Indulgences are sold at Miaco, as they once were in Rome.

2 G 2

He

appear;

appear; and his successor was enthroned before the apotheosis was announced. We cannot undertake to say how much of this representation is true. The Japanese themselves profess to know little about their Spiritual Emperor or his mode of life. We suspect it to be much more sublunary than spiritual, and that the attributes with which he is supposed to be invested do not disqualify him for discussing the interests of his kingdom and enjoying the pleasures of earth.

The relations between this great spiritual Potentate and the Tycoon are said to be very delicate, and often somewhat embarrassing. The hereditary Temporal Governor of Japan formerly paid an annual visit of ceremony to the Mikado, but it is now paid only once in seven years. Embassies and presents are now resorted to as substitutes for journeys which occupied an inconvenient portion of the Tycoon's time. There is an antagonism between these two powers which reveals itself even to the people. The Tycoon and the Mikado, who conjointly rule the Empire of Japan, are not always on the best of terms with each other, and they have their respective parties in the State. One of our consuls observed that caricatures of the Tycoon were freely exhibited in the shop-windows and on the walls of Miaco, while at Yeddo equal liberties were taken with the Mikado; and the pictorial representations at both places seemed to afford as much entertainment to the populace as 'Punch' and ‘Charivari’ do in London and Paris.

Much misconception exists respecting the nature of the Tycoon's authority; indeed, the system of the Japanese government is very little understood even by the Ministers of the foreign Powers who have been brought most frequently into contact with the high functionaries of State. These officers, when questioned respecting the constitutional limits of the Tycoon's power, have generally either answered evasively or purposely deceived their inquirers. There is, it is certain, but one Emperor of Japan, namely, the Mikado. The Tycoon is only the Lord Lieutenant or Vicegerent of the kingdom and hereditary Commander-in-Chief. He is not possessed of any of the attributes of sovereignty except within the five imperial or reserved provinces which constitute his own domains. In the treaties conceding permission to Europeans to trade, he could only declare those ports open which were situated within his own territory; and the foreign ministers were repeatedly informed that the Tycoon might be constitutionally resisted if he ventured to order ports belonging to any of the great Daimios to be opened against their will. In the embassy despatched from Japan to Rome in the year 1577, the envoys were not the representatives

representatives either of the Mikado or of the Tycoon, but of the three independent princes of Bongo, Arima, and Oruma. There are clear indications that the Tycoon has been gradually deprived by the nobles of much of his originally usurped authority, and the Government is practically a powerful oligarchy under an Imperial head. The power of the State has for a considerable period been concentrated in a council of independent princes. The first military usurper Taiko Sama ruled Japan, while Tycoon, during his life as one State; but the numerous princes must have gradually regained a considerable portion of their original independence. Of the two hundred and sixty-four Daimios, the greater number exercise the power of petty princes in their respective domains (for the transgressions of a land many are the princes thereof!'); they possess the power of inflicting capital punishment, and owe only a nominal allegiance even to the Mikado. Eighteen are virtually independent sovereigns, who, if united, can direct the policy and councils of the Tycoon. Japan, therefore, seems to have nearly reverted to its early political condition, and the national unity is maintained by a phantom Emperor who possesses little practical control over the policy of the State. The Government is, in short, a confederation of independent princes; and the sovereign power-although nominally vested conjointly in the Mikado and the Tycoon-is really lodged in a great Council of State consisting of five great Daimios, and in a subordinate council appointed for the arrangement of administrative details. It does not appear to be ascertained whether the members of the Tycoon's Cabinet are chosen by himself, or whether he is obliged to accept nominees of the great Daimios as his councillors. Japan, therefore, is now practically ruled by an aristocracy of two hundred and sixty-four hereditary Daimios, or territorial princes, represented by a council which dictates the policy of the Tycoon. These nobles derive their immense power from long-established privileges, great territorial possessions, and recognised hereditary right. The seat of this oligarchical government is Yeddo.

It is an error common to most of the writers on Japan to describe the political state of that country as being an exact counterpart of the feudalism of the Middle Ages. In many of its external aspects it does certainly resemble it; but feudality, in the strict sense of the term, can scarcely be said to exist in Japan. The armed retinues, armorial bearings, and lofty pretensions of the great princes, naturally carry the imagination back to the age of the Barons of Europe; but there is no trace in the history of Japan of any political cause which could have given rise to such an institution as feudalism. Japan frequently

frequently entered upon wars of aggression upon the neighbouring mainland under the direction of its powerful chiefs. The Corea was thus conquered and held for a time in subjection. The fleets of Japan ravaged the coasts of China; a band of Japanese even became the body-guard of a foreign prince in the Island of Luzon, and acquired an authority not unlike that of the Prætorian Guards in Rome or of the Mamelukes in Egypt. The estates of the great Daimios are not fiefs held of the Mikado by burdensome duties and services, but are essentially independent principalities. The troops raised by the Daimios form independent armies, and they are maintained out of the revenues of the territories to which they belong, although, in the event of foreign war, a contingent from the principality of every Daimio would doubtless take the field for the general defence of the empire. The Prince of Kanga is said to possess not less than 40,000 men-at-arms, a great portion of whom were, until lately, quartered for half the year in Yeddo. Although some of the nobles may hold their estates direct from the Emperor, the great Daimios were never invested, either by the Mikado or by the Tycoon, with their principalities. These princes recognise the spiritual supremacy of the Mikado and the constitutional authority of the Tycoon; but the tribute they pay is almost nominal, and is chiefly in the form of presents, which are acknowledged simply as complimentary and are returned. It has been the policy of successive Tycoons, when possessed of sufficient power, to partition the territories of these princes, and thus weaken their influence in the state. Out of the sixty-eight original territorial sovereignties, only eighteen now remain undivided. By what precise means this disintegration of great masses of landed property was brought about in Japan we know not, but it must have given rise to frequent contests between the Tycoons and the Daimios, and a struggle has doubtless long existed in Japan between the principles of centralisation and of provincial independence. Some of these princes are more powerful than the sovereign of a moderate German state. The Prince of Satsuma, the second grandee of the empire, rules his dominions as an absolute sovereign. Until recently no Japanese belonging. to another province was permitted to enter that territory; and there is a tradition that a former Prince of Satsuma threatened that even if the Tycoon himself should dare to present himself in his principality uninvited, he would order him to be decapitated for the offence.

The working of a double government like that of Japan gives

* Sir John Bowring's History of Siam.'

rise to an immense 'amount of suspicion and mistrust; the Mikado and the Tycoon are, in effect, rival powers. The Mikado has his spies in the court of the Tycoon; and the emissaries of the Tycoon swarm in the capital of the Mikado. The interests and views of these two personages seem far from being identical: the Mikado and his court represent the traditionary restrictive policy of the empire, while the Tycoon is supposed to incline to a more liberal policy in favour of progress and trade. There is a section-although perhaps a small one -of the aristocracy which also advocates progress, and is desirous that the country should be thrown open to foreigners. The party which was opposed to the conclusion of the treaties maintains that the assent of the Spiritual Emperor is absolutely necessary to the validity of any engagement with a foreign Power, and this assent, they say, has never been given.

In any great national contest involving a fundamental change in the policy of the State, one party in Japan would probably strive to restore the Mikado to his original authority, while the other might endeavour to build a new political fabric on the ruin of the ancient theocracy. The regal Government, as it is now constituted, is hopelessly effete, and seems to be used chiefly as a political instrument by the ambitious Daimios and the priesthood. Of all the anomalies which are found in this extraordinary country, one of the greatest consists in the social restrictions which have been long acquiesced in by the nobles, although they have constituted, in effect, the ruling power of the state. Notwithstanding their vast possessions and overwhelming political influence, they have submitted for centuries to the most galling and humiliating limitations of their freedom. For six months of the year these great princes were compelled to reside at Yeddo, and, on leaving the capital for their estates, they left their wives and families as hostages for their loyalty. Immured for one half of his life in his provincial castle, cut off from all social intercourse with his equals, a Japanese noble passed his time amidst his armed dependents, revelling in the licentiousness and epicurism of a Sardanapalus, and surrounded only by flatterers and slaves. In conformity with state precautions and the rules of a conventional etiquette, only blood relations are permitted to associate with each other. If one Daimio should visit another, it would be a recognition of his superiority; pride, therefore, alone keeps them apart. These unhappy noblemen find no resource in the improvement of their estates, nor they addicted to field sports. Habits of intoxication, originating in seclusion and want of occupation, are said to be prevalent, and other vicious indulgences are freely resorted to for relieving

are

the