The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-03-17
LETTER FROM REV. M. H. HOUSTON.
HANCHow, CHINA.

superior to the Chinese. The first person
we heard express different opinion was the
Captain of the Great Republic, the steamer
on which we crossed the Pacific. Heis a man
of intelligence, and, as his steamer touches
at both countries, he has had opportunities
of comparing the Chinese and Japanese
He gave it as his decided opinion that the
former are the superior race. On reaching
Japan, DIR. Hepburn expressed to us an
equally decided opinion to the same effect;
and as far as we have had opportunities OF
comparing the two nations, the opinion seems
to us undoubtedly correct. The japanese are
much inferior in point of physique. They
are puny race. In the country about 70
kohama, the average stature of the men Is
five feet two inches, and farther south it is
probably not so great. They have also less
strength of mind and tenacity of purpose
than the Chinese, and education is not SO
common among them. The Chinese have
have also much the advantage in regard to
mercantile reputation. They are regarded
in the East as equal in business capacity to
the best merchants of foreign countries. In
California, they compete so successfully with
American merchants as to have some branch
es of trade entirely in their own hands,
The Japanese merchants, on the other hand,
do not stand high in this respect. Yet the
Japanese are quick to take up new ideas,
they have considerable mechanical talent,
and are people of sensibility and polite
ness. One great point of excellence, In
deed, which they have, and which gives them
great advantage over the Chinese, is their
readiness to confess their own inferiority
and to become learners. AS an evidence Of
this, it is not uncommon to meet Japanese
who have adopted the foreign style of dress
but the Cinnamon, though he may have done
business in California for years, returns to
his own country still with his queue and
loose robe One of the missionaries in ia
pan told us he did not think that the style
of humility used by the Japanese was al
ways mere form, but that some of them,
at least since the troubles which have come
on their country, really feel the humility
which they express. Such disposition, OF
course, where it really exists, must be most
favorable to the reception of the gospel
With the lowly is wisdom.
POLITICAL CONDITION OF JAPAN.
We had been told before reaching japan
that the real issue in the civil war now going
on there, was whether the ports should be
open to foreigners or not. Put, from the
information we gathered while there, VIC
Judge that this question has had but little,
if anything, to do with the war, except in
directly. All the men holding power in
Japan have been opposed to foreign inter
course. The social system of japan, as you
no doubt know, has been for centuries like
that of Europe in the Middle Ages-a feu'
dial system. The Daimios, or feudal lords
of the empire, number about two hundred.
They hold their own territory, have their
own troops and their own revenues, and ex-
ercise their power of life and death among
their subjects. These princes know that
when foreign influence is diffused through
their country, their political power must, in a
great measure, end. Hence their aversion to
foreigners. The nature of the present contest
seems to be much like that of the war Of
the Roses-a struggle among rival barons
for political power. The account We re-
ceived in Japan of the origin of the war is
about this: The rightful emperor of Japan,
known as the Mikado, has been for long
number of years only ruler in name. He
has no army, no territories, no revenue
The ruling power had been usurped by a
family of the Daimois, one of whom, the
Tycoon, though nominally only vicegerent
or generalissimo of the Mikado, really was
the head of the government. In order to
keep the Daimois in subsection, the Tycoon
required them to spend half of the year at
his capital, Jeddo, each one with large
body of his retainers; and when they re
turned to their own territory, their wives
and children were retained by the Tycoon
as hostages. Extensive quarters around the
palace of the Tycoon were occupied by the
crowds that were thus brought to the CAPT
tai. The Daimios, being thus compelled to
spend half of their time away from their
estates, while they supported a large body
of idle retainers, were hindered from becom
ing so wealthy and powerful as to overshadow
the Tycoon. But this, of course, diminished
the general strength of the empire; and
few years ago, in order to strengthen the
country against foreign influence, this COM
pulsory attendance OF the Daimois at the
capital was discontinued. These feudal
lords, with their liberty thus enlarged, soon
showed their jealousy of the Tycoon, and
thus the war spraug up. The main springs
of the war seem to be animosity among the
DaimOis against each other, and desire for
personal ACCOMPLISHMENT. The war has re-
suited thus far in the adjustment of the
Tycoonate-the Tycoon being now a simple
Daimio. The southern princes, who are the
most powerful, are now arrayed against three
of the northern princes. Both sides assert
their loyalty to the Mikado, as the rightful