e and the same thing; therefore
the people could not long tolerate this state of affairs. They needed
only an occasion to deprive the Shogun of his political power, and to
restore it to the Emperor. At last the occasion came. The demand of
the Western nations to open certain seaports of the country,
accompanied by the threats of armed force, compelled the Shogun to
yield. But this step proved fatal to him. If the people were opposed
to the Shogun's usurpation, they were still more opposed to his new
policy, simply because it was new. They were blind to the innumerable
advantages that could be derived from international commerce and
communication. As a hermit nation, the people looked down upon the
foreigners with mingled distrust and disdain. Knowing nothing of the
Western civilization they were determined that no "savage strangers"
should step upon the "sacred land of gods." To them the admission of
the foreigners signified nothing less than unprecedented disgrace and
possibly more--a prey to the ambition and treachery of the "foreign
devils." The conservative spirit of the people carried them to a pitch
of excitement as high as the exactly opposite principle carried the
French people during the revolution. The Emperor became doubly dear
to them, because he was a sovereign _de jure_, and because he was
opposed to the new policy. Thus the revolution which followed owes its
triumph to the conservatism of the people. Even with their zealous
attachment to the Emperor, and their deep hatred of the Shogun, it is
an open question whether events would have taken the same course, if
the Mikado had advocated and the Shogun opposed the new policy, so
strong was prejudice of the people. No more unfavorable condition and
time could have been chosen for the introduction of the European
civilization. However, in spite of their abhorrence of the Western
people, the Western ideas and customs, in spite of all their efforts
to shut them out, the appearance of some formidable men-of-war,
floating the flags of different nations, compelled Japan to enter into
the terms of treaty with them. Twenty years have passed since then,
and within that short period, the nation has undergone a marvellous
transformation under the magic touch of progress. It would be telling
an old story to enumerate the series of innovations that have been
written socially and politically, until the promulgation of the new
constitution, in which culminated the national p