to the meanest retainer. The ignoble quality of deception became to a large extent a national characteristic, which still clings to Japanese officials. Every Japanese head of a family was personally responsible for the conduct of his wife, children, servants, and guests. The whole population was divided into groups of five families, every member of which was responsible for the conduct of the others. No one of the common people could change his residence without obtaining a certificate of good conduct from the neighbors he was about to leave. Every one of the lower classes must also be registered at some temple, and have a wooden tablet or card officially certifying his name, occupation, residence, and temple. The result of this organization, which in a great measure still continues, is that a criminal has almost no hiding place, and robberies and other heinous crimes are reduced to a minimum. The Japanese people were formerly divided into eight classes: 1, the kuge, or Kioto nobility; 2, the daimios, or Yedo nobility; 3, the hatamoto, or lower daimio class, including the military literati, under the general name of samurai; 4, the priests, inferior officials, physicians, &c.; 5, the farmers and untitled landholders; 6, artisans; 7, merchants; 8, actors, beggars, &c. Beneath these were the eta, or tanners, skinners, and all workers in leather, who were the pariahs of Japan, and were obliged to live in quarters separate from the towns or villages; they were never allowed to touch any citizen, and had to execute and bury criminals. No samurai could be prosecuted or punished for killing one, nor would any help be offered to a drowning or starving eta. By a decree of the present emperor, published in 1871, all the social disabilities of these people were removed, and they are now citizens of the empire. Prostitutes and brothel-keepers were considered to be on the same social level as beggars. The first four classes had the privilege of wearing two swords, the others but one. About nine tenths of the population of Japan are included within the four lower classes. The chief causes for the recent changes in the government of Japan, and the social revolution among the whole people, are, first, the reverence of the people for the imperial throne and the true sovereign authority of the mikado; and second, the influence of western civilization.—In 1852 the United States government, in consequence of complaints made to it that American sailors wrecked on the coast of Japan had been harshly treated by the authorities of that country, despatched an expedition under the command of Commodore M. C. Perry, who was instructed to demand protection for American seamen wrecked on the coast, and if possible to effect a treaty by which American vessels should be allowed to enter one or more ports to obtain supplies and for purposes of trade. In February, 1854, Com. Perry, with a squadron of seven ships of war, entered the bay of Yedo, and anchored within a few miles of the city. During the previous year he had entered the same bay, and delivered to the Japanese a letter to the shogun from the president of the United States. The proceedings of Com. Perry were characterized, throughout the difficult task of dealing properly with the Japanese, by consummate tact and diplomatic skill, and were finally crowned with success. By a treaty dated at Kanagawa, the nearest large town, though really signed at Yokohama, then a mere fishing village, March 31, 1854, the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate (usually written Hakodadi) were opened as harbors of refuge, supply, trade, and consular residence. In September a British squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral Sir James Stirling, entered the harbor of Nagasaki, and concluded a treaty with Japan, by which Hakodate and Nagasaki were opened to foreign commerce. The Russians made a similar treaty and obtained similar privileges, and were followed by the Dutch. On June 17, 1857, a new treaty was negotiated at Shimoda with the Japanese government by Mr. Townsend Harris, United States consul general to Japan, by which the port of Nagasaki was also opened to American trade. In 1858, in spite of all opposition, Mr. Harris succeeded in reaching Yedo, where he concluded a still more favorable treaty. During the same year a British squadron conveyed Lord Elgin to Yedo, where on Aug. 26 a new treaty was concluded between Great Britain and Japan, by which the ports of Hakodate, Kanagawa, and Nagasaki were to be opened to British subjects after July 1, 1859; Niigata, or some other convenient port on the W. coast of the main island, after Jan. 1, 1860; and Hiogo after Jan. 1, 1863; and various other commercial privileges were granted to British merchants. At the present date, 1874, Japan has treaties with the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Holland, Prussia, Portugal, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Greece, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Hawaii, Peru, and China, which are similar in most respects. In 1860 a Japanese embassy, the first ever sent from the country, visited the United States, and another embassy visited Europe in 1861. The signing of the treaties by the shogun, who was wholly unprepared for the advent of the American commodore, caused an intense excitement throughout the country, general dissatisfaction, and deep indignation at the imperial court in Kioto. The sympathy of many daimios was excited and developed in behalf of the emperor, and the tide of power and influence began to set toward Kioto and away from Yedo. The shogun having died in 1858, the premier and regent at this time, an insolent and haughty man, disregarding the popular choice, selected the infant daimio of the province of Kii, and by execution and imprisonment suppressed all the leaders of the party who opposed his will. On March 23, 1860, the regent, who had despatched the embassy to the United States, was
