ss is regarded as far below the Emperor
is, that she is not of royal blood, but one of the subjects of the
Empire. In the old times, the daughters of the Emperor could never
marry, as all men were far beneath them in rank. These usually devoted
their lives to religion, and as Shint[=o] priestesses or Buddhist nuns
dwelt in the retirement of temple courts or the seclusion of cloisters.

[30] Tokugawa Sh[=o]guns were the military rulers of the Tokugawa
family, who held the power in Japan for a period of two hundred and
fifty years. They are better known to Americans, perhaps, under the
title of _Tycoon_ (Great Prince), a name assumed, or rather revived, to
impress the foreigners when Commodore Perry was negotiating in regard to
treaties. The Sh[=o]gun held the daimi[=o]s in forced subjection,--a
subjection that was shaken in 1862, and broken at last in the year 1868,
when, by the fall of the Sh[=o]gunate, the Emperor was restored to
direct power over his people.

Some years ago, when the castle in T[=o]ky[=o] was burned, and the
Emperor and Empress were obliged to take refuge in an old daimi[=o]'s
house, a place entirely lacking in luxuries and considerably out of
repair, some one expressed to her the grief that all her people felt,
that she should have to put up with so many inconveniences. Her response
was a graceful little poem, in which she said that the narrowness of her
abode would not limit her love for her people, and that for them she
would endeavor to explore wisely the unlimited fields of knowledge.

Upon another occasion, when Prince Iwakura, one of the leaders of Japan
in the early days of the crisis through which the country is still
passing, lay dying at his home, the Empress sent him word that she was
coming to visit him. The prince, afraid that he could not do honor to
such a guest, sent her word back that he was very ill, and unable to
make proper preparation to entertain an Empress. To this the Empress
replied that he need make no preparations for her, for she was coming,
not as an Empress, but as the daughter of Ichij[=o], his old friend and
colleague, and as such he could receive her. And then, setting aside
imperial state and etiquette, she visited the dying statesman, and
brightened his last hours with the thought of how lovely a woman stood
as an example before the women of his beloved country.

Many of the charities and schools of new Japan are under the Empress's
special patronage; and this do