land has exercised over the European? To this, three great
objections may be raised. I. The pervading conservatism of Asia. II.
The prevailing ignorance among the Asiatic nations. III. The
doubtfulness as to their adaptability to the representative form of
government. We shall try to answer these objections in the above
order.

I. If it be argued that the Asiatic people are conspicuously
characterized by the conservative spirit, that they seem well
satisfied with their present social and political organizations, such
as they are, it must be remembered at the same time, that this was
also the appearance which the French people presented, before their
attention was called to the political superiority of England. "In
general," says Lecky, "there runs through the great French literature
of the seventeenth century a profound content with the existing order
in Church and State, an entire absence of the spirit of disquiet,
scepticism, and innovation that leads to organic change."[7]

[7] Lecky's History of England, Vol. V., p. 301.

[Illustration: Kuma Oishi (signed "Cordially yours, Kuma Oishi")]

That the conservative spirit and the seeming contentment of some of
the Asiatic nations are not in themselves forces strong enough,
when the time comes, to dispel the charm, as it were, possessed by the
theory of representative government, that in short, conservatism is no
match for "progress," as such a movement is popularly called, can be
illustrated by the history, not of the European nations alone, but of
some Asiatic nations themselves. To the general conservative tendency
of Asia, Japan was no exception until about twenty-five years ago. No
rational being would have then believed that in the course of a few
years, Japan would become one of the most progressive nations on the
face of the earth. The revolution of 1867, from which the birth of New
Japan is dated, was originally a dispute between the Mikado and the
Shogun for the _de facto_ sovereignty, and not the struggle of the
lower classes to rise to political eminence. The tottering dynasty of
the Shoguns came to an end, not because they were tyrannical, not
because the people felt the special need of social amelioration, but
because they saw that the Shogunate had been the instrumentality of
usurping the imperial authority, while the nominal Emperor was shut up
in his palace, and closely watched by the agents of the Shogun. In
Japan loyalty and patriotism meant on