In order to impress the people, both at home and abroad, the first fact of the young Emperor' of sixteen years of age was to give audience to all foreign embassies as the sole urce of power of the country. Secondly, he was advised to remove the capital from Kyoto, which, up to that time, was known as" Yedo, whence the Tokugawas held sway over the islands. Then he issued the now famous five articles of Imperial ath, some of which are as follo to that time, were known, rightly oF wrongly, only as aggressors and conquerors, had a unifying effect upon the Island Nation, goes without saying. While the net result might have Deen desirable, the procedure would have been fraught with the dangers of anti.forelgn manifesto tions had it not been-for the tactful and resolute leadership on the part of the yet inexperienced captains in the unchartered sea.
There were those who even proposed to unity the nation by using these disgruntled Samurai to invade Korea—by creating a common foe. These are no new tactics in the history of nations to those who are familiar with the background of the Spanish-American War or the Boer War. Then came the crucial test of Japan as a nation. Fortunately wise counsels prevailed and the unscrupulous plan was discarded from the serious programme of the country. At last these dissatietied ex-soldiers entrenched themselves in Satsuma and a rebellion ensued. But they were soon overcome by the national army of new and liberated common-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.