, 1884-02-28
JAPAN'S REVOLUTION.
A Country Which HAS Kept a seou-
lar Record for T~wenty.six
Centuries
I"eath's Interview in The Enquirer

["Gath's Interview in The Enquircr.l
@Who rules JapanT'
"a young emperor "a years old, who be-
longs to a dynasty claimed to be 1900 years
old, or starting 100 years before Christ His
name is Mutchilo, and his father died in 1857,
after %reigning twenty years. Immediately
after his fathers death the tycoon or chief
d~enagogue OF the people, abdicated. and thai
made the Japanese revolution"
els this country really oldf'
YES You cannot go as far back as its
origin or that Of its people. They keep a
secular record Of events since the seventh
century before Christ. A man named Jimmu
Is said to have colouized the country and laid
the basis of It's institutions, and he was both
a priest anda king. Hence the dual charac-
ter OF the Japanese emperors, Of whom there
have been 126 in an unbroken line, called
mikados, who for COZ years allowed yiceroys,
or military bosses, who were called tyccons,
to exercise their power. Only seventeen years
ago the emperor took back this power aud
exercised it himself"
"Why did the tycoons lose this powerf'
Because the people blamed them for mis-
takes in foreign intercourse. They allowed
some ports to be opened to foreigners without
asking the consent of the emperor. The Jap
anese national spirit arose, the emperor sum-
moned the last tycoon and his chief daimios
or MOBILES, and the tycoon laid down his
power, making a bloodless revolution,
although the power had been exercised hun
dreds of years. This, however, sprung from
a general conviction in Japan that tycoon
ism was played out"
Yet was there not a war soon after that"
~There was. Those daimioS who had de-
rived their power from the tycoons could
not give IL up without a struggle, and about
thfFfy fbpraanI pf thar, raNnItaI Ia voJ1n
TIL emperor's army, much smaller, whipped
them. The emperor was crowned at the age
Of 10, and Immediately granted an audience
to the foreign ministers This filled the
japanese with wonder. Then the en-
peror knocked the spiritual charac-
ter Of his government TO pieces
and made 1t more material. He
moved himself to Yeddo, the tycoon's
own capital, and gave 1t the name OF Toxic,
or tho eastern capital. He married. and
whipped the remaining rebels, who were
differed by Frenchmen. The rebels were
well treated, and many of their chiess given
good offices. The old tycoon, whose heart
was almost broken, was asked to come into
the new government, but he would not. The
new emperor showed a democratic spirit,
broke down many OF the restraints OF rank,
and finally his mobiles, sympathizing with his
youthful spirit, rendered up to him all their
feudal rights in 1859. Thus eighty years
after the French mobiles laid down their
feudal rights, the Japanese mobiles did the
same on the opposite side of the globe. In
stautly Japan was transformed into a mod
ern state, with ~telegIaphs, lighthouses, Euro
pean clothes. The young men were sent
abroad to be educated, justice was made
general, and Mutchilo is one Of the great
rulers on the globe. Two years ago he de
clared in favor of n national constitution.
The emperor is a man OF good height aud
good health, active, a student, methodical,
and he takes hold of talent and makes it help
him from all classes. He stands among
rulers like Henry ~ to France, and Freder-
lex the Great or Peter the Great to Prussia
and Russia