The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-14 00:00:00

LIFE IN JAPAN.

The Courier, a Japanese paper, gives the following
attractive account of life in Japan. It is dated Nagasaki,
April 9, and says :—" We have had two instances here,
lately, of the hostile feeling of the native officials towards
foreigners, and the hourly danger the latter are in from
armed Yaconins. An English naval officer was walking
in the native town, a few evenings ago, and got jostled
by a Yaconin that was passing him by, who imme-
diately drew his sword, but before he had time to
use it he was knocked down by the gentleman and dis-
armed ; and yesterday as a Mr. Botilens, a Dutch mer-
chant, was walking near his own office in Desima, he got
jostled by a Yaconin, who drew his sword on him, and
pursued him for some distance ; this occurred in
the middle of day, in the foreign settlement.
Another fatal affray occurred between two officers of
the Prince of Satzuma, on the following day. After some
altercation of words the one -(a high officer) struck off the
other's head with his sword and then went home and
committed Hari-Kiri, by disembowelling himself ! This
seems quite a Japanese amusement."

THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR
SERVICE.

The parliamentary committee on this service resumed
its sittings yesterday—Mr. Bouverie in the chair.
The Hon. Mr. Thurlow, the British representative at
the Hague, who is now on leave, was examined at consi-
derable length, and he stated the views of a very large class
of the juniors in the service in a very forcible way.
He said it was his intention shortly to leave the
service on account of the very small chance he had of pro-
motion, for at the present rate of advancement it would
take 10 years before he would become Secretary of Lega
tion. The feeling was universal in the service among the
juniors that they had made a mistake in entering
it. He attributed the present block in the pro-
motion to the reduction of some of the small missions
without a corresponding reduction in the number of sub-
ordinates. If there were an equal number of first, second,
and third secretaries, the promotion would be more satis-
factory. With reference to those who had attained the
highest grade, he would adopt the French system
of superannuation, though not at so early an age.
He thought that first-class secretaries should receive £7OO
a year ; second-class, £4OO ; and third-class, £250 per
annum. To an ambassador he would give £1.0,000 a year
with a house, the possession of a house being of great im-
portance, and giving much greater weight to his position.
A first-class secretaryto an embassyshould have £l,OOO, the
sscond £5OO, and the third £250 a year. He was in
favour of promotion by routine. He did not consider that
it would be advantageous to the service to amalgamate the
Foreign Office with the Diplomatic Service. The members
of the service were growing more and more discontented every
day, and discontented service could not be conducive to the
public interest. It was impossible for an ambassador to
get on without a private secretary. It was highly neces-
sary for a diplomatist to speak French. The use of cypher
in telegrams, as a general rule, diminished the responsi-
bility of the Minister.
The committee then adjourned.