at least they fear, as seems, too, to be the case in China, that protection or toleration of the Roman Catholic form of it may give them trouble; for as late as 1871 the French and English charges d'affaires were compelled to protest against what one of them, Mr. Adams, calls a further persecution of the Christians.' Of the Protestant missionaries, though unfriendly to them, they are less suspicious; and least of all, apparently, of the clergy of the RussoGreek Church, who are believed to have made a large, and still increasing, number of converts. The tragic fate of the early Christian converts, and the new efforts being made by Protestant missionaries to evangelize the people, give to the religious history of Japan an unusual interest. To the civil history of the country, except that of later times, when it deals to a great extent with other nations and with ourselves, we can hardly expect the same interest to belong. The materials of which to construct it, and the Western scholars fitted for the work, are as yet too few. Mr. Griffis, in his chapter, The Materials of History,' gives a sketch of the native authorities on whom his own historical survey has been based. The body of Japanese histories forms the largest and most important division of their voluminous literature. Prior to the eighth century of the Christian era it is meagre, the Japanese having possessed no writing until the sixth. Attention has already been called to the mythology, and in it is enveloped much of what an ordinary Japanese takes to be the early history of his country. The following is a sketch of this Eastern cosmogony. In the beginning heaven and earth were not separated. The female principle, me, was still undetached from the male, 6. Chaos in the form of an. egg was agitated on troubled waves. Subtle and perfect matter formed, ether: heavy and thick, it hardened and became compact. The former rose up and formed heaven; the latter fell and produced earth. A Kami, a divine being, was born in the midst. This event is regarded as the beginning of creation. He was the first of the seven celestial spirits, and reigned a hundred thousand millions of years. At length arose Izanagi and Izanami, representing the male and female principles which, according to the Chinese mythology, pervade all creation. From their union, mountains, rivers, in fact all the earth, which to the Japanese was Japan, came into existence.' The first child was the SunGoddess, from whom it is asserted the present emperor is descended without a single break. The fifth in descent from the Sun Goddess was Jimmu (B.c. 667), the first mortal ruler, with whom history and chronology begin. From the traditions of the time we may infer that only the south-western part of the main island owned his sway: the Ainos still held the northern, but were continually being pushed farther back by the Japanese. The early form of government was a pure monarchy. But in time. came intestine broils, which make up the history of Japan for centuries. The supreme power gradually fell into the hands of the Fujiwara family, sprung from the imperial house. Its members, that the usual course of Oriental history might not be diverted, sunk into slothful luxury, and gave way to military commanders, who raised themselves to a pre-eminence by personal talent and warlike qualities. Thus one house fell and another rose upon its ruins. The divine descent of the Mikado had become a cardinal article of faith, and had given rise to a thoroughly theocratic government. The further progress of the country resembles that of Europe during the middle ages. Above all, highly honoured but without real power, stood the Mikado. Under him was a nobility, great and small, fighting for possession and power. In the contest the families which fell made room for others who came after. Money had to be obtained by robbery and contribution, or from the rich merchant, who, like the middle-age Jews of the West, lent it at high interest and rewards in land. The lower classes were plundered and oppressed. To the Church, too,' says a German writer,* was reserved to play a part in the wars of the Japanese middle ages not very different from that which she played in Germany. Notwithstanding much bloody persecution, Buddhism had succeeded in obtaining a firm footing in Japan, and although its doctrines were never able to excite the people to a religious war, still its priests acquired power and lands, and were not enemies or allies to be despised. Many a Buddhist abbot rode armed and equipped at the head of his men, and the monks of the convent on Hiyeizan have more than once taken a decisive part in the political wars of these times.' The effete Fujiwara, delegating their military influence to other families, allowed the chief commands to fall into the hands of the Taira and Minamoto (in Chinese, Hei and Gen †). The struggles of these houses Quoted by Adams (vol. i. p. 13), who is in general followed by Mr. Griffis. The names in general used in literature. supply material for most of the historical | been held. Their position bore much reromances of the country. Members of them semblance to that of the medieval European were from time to time appointed shoguns, monarchs, overshadowed by the Pope and or generals,' against the barbarians. From restrained by powerful feudatories, with their incessant rivalries and combats arose whose history men of the West in the sevthe military aristocracy which formed the enteenth century were most familiar. basis of the later fendal baronage. At the fall of the Taira, Yoritomo of Minamoto rose to power, and he and his brother utterly destroyed the rival clan. From the Mikado he received the title of Tai Shogun, Great Shogun, and is usually considered the first of what were once called the secular rulers. He founded a city at Kamakura, and established his court there. His line was short, and power fell into the grasp of another family, the Hojo, who were to the Minamoto Shoguns what the Fujiwara had been to the imperial house. Their rule lasted for seven generations, and then passed to the family of Ashikaga. Meanwhile the line of fainéant sovereigns was being continued at Kiyoto. Emperors would abdicate and turn monk, leaving children on the throne, and would then, without any sense of responsibility, exercise a trivial authority which aggravated the confusion of their realm. The Ashikaga had risen to eminence in a struggle between the adherents of two emperors, to which, as in our War of the Roses, was given the name of the War of the Chrysanthemums. Their line lasted for two centuries and a half (A.D. 1335 to 1573), and during it the power of the Shogunate and the depression of the Mikado were established. The recent revolution which put an end to this long-established power is too near our own times to enable us to judge with full accuracy of its effects. That it was due in great measure to the jealousy cherished in many powerful households of the Tokugawa's influence, and to a revival of the old loyalty to the Mikados, too long obscured by their powerful vassal, is very probable. But the contact with foreigners unquestionably forced matters on. It has certainly been one of the most complete and astonishing known in history. The only parallel to it, and that falls far short of it in every particular, is the emergence from Oriental obscurity of Kussia under Peter the Great. In 1864 vassals and retainers of the Tokugawa had marched to Kiyoto and held the Mikado in their power. The Lord of ChosinNagato- our opponent at Shimonosekiand the men of the south attempted to oust them, and were defeated. The bakufu, the Shogunal government, tried to destroy them, and raised the suspicions of other clans, who left Chosia and Tokugawa to fight it out almost alone. The end brought about the fall of the dual government, though not without long fighting and much bloodshed. The final defeat at Fushimi, near Kiyoto, in 1868, of the Shogun's vassals and allies by the Satsuma, Toza, and other clans, once more converted the Mikado into a ruler de facto. In the revolution, by the side of many men of old family, there came to the front some whose only recommendation was a knowledge of foreign countries and an ardent desire for change. The consequence was that the hotter heads got the best of it in argument as to the future government of the country, and foreign institutions were taken over wholesale. The Mikado emerged from his seclusion, moved abroad like a mortal of the earth, received envoys, presided in council. Two attempts at parlia The mere fact of one great house so often succeeding another in the real government shows how powerful the great families had become. As the authority of the court declined, so that of the baronage increased. The Daimios maintained armies of retain ers, built castles, and made themselves sovereign in their territories. The military class naturally came to the front in the frequent and protracted wars. Allegiance to the lord became the first of all duties. In 1574 the great leader Nobunaga, of whom we have already heard as the persecutor of the Buddhists and the friend of the Christians, deposed the Ashikaga, and there was an interregnum at Kamakura till, at the begin-mentary government were made and failed. ning of the seventeenth century, Iyéyasů founded the line of Tokugawa Shoguns which ruled at Yedo, to which place he transferred his court from Kamakura, till 1868. To lyéyasu, who was a legislator as well as a warrior, is attributed the perfecting of the dual system of government and feudalism. The old appellation of secular emperor, given him and his successors by the Dutch, is not so improper as has of late In municipal affairs, which the inhabitants of cities have long been in some sort accustomed to manage themselves, it is to be hoped the success has been more assured. At first the great nobles had been turned from princes of semi-independent territories into governors of the same on behalf of the Mikado, but in 1871 feudalism was finally and formally abolished. That the present form of centralized government is better for (6.) The Land and the Book. By Rev. WM. THOMSON, D.D., New York and London. Various editions. (7) Forty Years in the Turkish Empire. A (8.) Bible Lands: their Modern Customs and (9.) The Women of the Arabs. By H. II. (11.) The Romance of Missions; or, Inside the country at the present day, connected | as it is with foreign nations in the bonds of diplomacy and commerce, no one can doubt. But no revolution so vast can have been carried out in so short a time, as has been this in Japan, without causing an amount of suffering which a slower movement would have spared the people. The flourishing aspect of the country, the roads, the temples, the busy commerce on the inland waters and streams, the vast area of cultivated land, prove beyond a doubt that under the late government the nation must have enjoyed a long period of profound tranquillity. In some districts, at least, it has not been so since. Yet the reformers deserve much credit for what they have accomplished in spite of the mistakes of the more sanguine among them. They have introduced railway communication, steam navigation, and electric telegraphs. The efficiency of their (12.) Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Edupost office is shown by its carrying twenty millions of letters in a year. Every dangerous headland is marked by a lighthouse or beacon; the wastes are being surveyed, and the resources of the land developed. Earnest attempts are being made to introduce a system of jurisprudence worthy of the new position assumed by the empire; and to the honour of the new government, be it said, it has covered the country with schools, and has provided for the wants of many thousand scholars. We may smile at its at tempts to become all at once a constitutional monarchy of the European type, and a great naval and military power, but we cannot help wishing that the beautiful country of Japan may have a destiny as fortunate as its climate is bright and its geographical position happy. 1825-1875. (3.) History of the Missions of the A.B.C.F. M. to the Oriental Churches. By RUFUS ANDERSON, D.D., late Foreign Secretary of the Board. Two Vols. 1873. (4.) Travels in little-known parts of Asia Minor. With Illustrations of Biblical Lit erature and Researches in Archæology. By H. J. VAN LENNEP, D.D. Two Vols. New York and London. 1870. (5.) Biblical Researches in Palestine. By Rev. EDWARD ROBINSON, D.D., and Rev. ELI SMITH, D.D., Various editions. cation. Article, Education in Turkey.' 1876. IN the following article we shall leave out of view the work of religious reformation, and confine ourselves to some of the incidental and secular results of the labours in which the Americans in Turkey have been engaged for the past half century. We make this omission not because we do not appreciate the importance of the religious reformation, but because the public is somewhat well informed in regard to that reformation, while these more secular and incidental results are not so well known. Fortunately for our purpose, in the various works mentioned at the head of this article, we have abundant and reliable sources of information. Above all others we place The Annual Reports of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,' and the volumes of the Missionary Herald' from 1825 to 1875, a period of just fifty years. The Reports have evidently been prepared by men. of marked ability, and with a severe scrutiny of the facts. It may be questioned whether the Turkish Government itself can present so complete and truthful a record of the material, social, and moral progress of the empire during the period under review, as is found in these Reports and the accompanying volumes of the Herald.' The record is all the more valuable because it comes to us simply as the testimony of those who were labouring in the country for other than material ends. The work of Dr. Anderson is a history of the operations of the American Board of Missions in Turkey since 1820. It contains a great amount of information in regard to the strictly missionary work; the style is clear but never impassioned; the facts are cal geography of Asiatic Turkey; while Part II. relates to the ethnology of the country, embracing] a clear account of the languages of the people, their manners and customs, their form and modes of government, almost everything, in short, that relates to their religious, social, and political life. Far from being prolix, the author seems desirous, in this volume, to give the greatest possible amount of information in the fewest possible words. We are confident that no work on this subject has ap peared for many years that will compare with this in the breadth of its view and in the thoroughness and clearness with which the details are worked out. We are aware that this is high praise, but we are sure we shall be sustained by those who critically examine the work. The volume, which is a single imperial octavo of 832 pages, is handsomely printed, and elaborately and elegantly illustrated. arranged in a methodical order, and the au- | termed an exhaustive treatise on the physithor evidently omits a great deal more than he inserts, and a great deal too that would be interesting to the general reader. There is, however, no attempt to sketch the history, character, or even the religious systems of those among whom the missionaries have laboured. Had there been even brief statements in regard to the special characteristics of the various nationalities mentioned, the value of the work would have been greatly increased. Little is said of the physical geography of the country, almost nothing of the Turkish political system. Had the author devoted fifty pages to these and kindred topics as an introduction to his work, his readers would have been greatly aided in understanding what the Americans are doing in Turkey. Notwithstanding this omission, the work is one of profound interest. We confess our indebtedness to it for much of the information contained in the present article. The number who read these volumes of Secretary Anderson through will not be large, but it will be made up of those who are studying with deep interest the social and moral movements of modern times. Some of the deficiencies of the work of Dr. Anderson are supplied in great measure by those of Drs. Van Lennep and Thomson. Dr. Van Lennep informs us that he was born in Smyrna, but removed to America at an early age. Knowing many languages, and gifted moreover with an Oriental fondness for detail in telling a story, he has given us many a carefully-drawn picture of Oriental life and scenery. In the work entitled Travels in little-known parts of Asia Minor,' the manners and customs of the people, comments on the natural history and geology of the country, the private affairs of the author, and many other subjects, are introduced with a somewhat tedious monotony. If the two volumes couid be compressed into one, the improvement would be great. The most valuable portions of this work of Dr. Van Lennep are those which relate to ancient monuments which he visited His accurate description of these monuments is greatly aided by excellent woodcuts, the sketches for which were made by the author on the spot. We know of scarcely anything of its kind more interesting than the pen and pencil picture of Niobé at the end of the second volume. The work by the same author, entitled 'Bible Lands; their Modern Customs and Manners, illustrative of Scripture,' is a far more elaborate contribution to the literature illustrating the East, and is worthy of unqualified praise. Part I. may fairly be The Land and the Book,' by Wm. Thomson, D.D., is the most popular contribution yet made by Americans to a knowledge of Eastern life and manners. Dr. Thomson has spent most of a long life in exploring Palestine and the adjacent countries, in noting places, antiquities, plants, animals, the manners and customs of the people, historical allusions, ancient sites, in fact, everything of interest in that portion of the world. Apart from his labours as a missionary, these volumes appear to have been the great work of his life. The style is rather monotonous, and is not relieved. by the conversational form into which most of the narrative is thrown. The work differs entirely from that of Dr. Van Lennep last mentioned in its method of treating the same topics. Perhaps we can say that this is the more practical, the other the more scientific: the two together well nigh exhaust the subjects of which they treat. Mr. Wheeler's Ten Years on the Euphrates' is a small volume, which is mainly taken up with an account of the work of evangelization as conducted by the missionaries at Kharpoot. There are, however, many incidental references to the manners and customs of the people, to the productions of the country, and occasional hints on questions of geography. Some of these questions are more distinctly mentioned in a small volume by the same author, entitled 'Letters from Eden' (Boston, 1868). Both these volumes were evidently written amid the rush of daily work, and show a lack of careful research, yet they are valuable for the purpose for which they were prepared. We took up the work of Dr. Jessup, The Women of the Arabs,' with the expectation of finding much information in it in regard to Arab women: we were disappointed. The volume relates almost exclusively to the women of Christian and other races in Syria who have no Arab blood in them. The title of the book, therefore, is misleading; it should have been The Women of Syria.' The work itself is rather disjointed and unequal in its different parts. We cannot help feeling that the author has made the dark ground of his picture too dark, and has painted the results of the efforts for the improvement of women in Syria in colours considerably too bright. Dr. Jessup writes like an enthusiast; many interesting facts are told in a graphic way, but the details are somewhat heavy, and you lay down the book with a rather dissatisfied feeling. A good dinner requires something more than pies, cakes, ice-creams, and champagne. We trust Dr. Jessup will rewrite this book: the subject is one of the deepest interest, and there is no work at present that satisfies the public demand for accurate information in regard to it. the Physical Geography and Ethnology of the Country. 2. Literature and Education. 3. Medical Practice; and 4. The Improved Condition of Woman. No one can fail to notice, at the outset, the sharp contrast between the American and the Oriental. The Oriental is sluggish almost to indifference; he dreads change, he easily submits to the decrees of fate; he has a profound regard for authority, and is disposed to allow all things to take their own course. To him time is of little value, success is not essential. Abundance of sleep, plenty of food, pipes, coffee, narcotics, long stories, formality, dignity, all these enter largely into the daily life of the dweller in the East. How strangely different the American. Nervous, impatient, short and sharp in speech, always in a hurry, despising formality, careless of his dress,' unwilling to sleep till exhausted by overwork, ready to put his dissecting knife into everything, determined to make every undertaking a success, self-confident, filled with the conviction that American ideas are destined to lead the world, working always We are sure our readers will thank us for definite results, and adapting his means for calling their attention to the volume of to the end in a most positive way, who can Dr. Prime, entitled, Forty Years in the predict the result of bringing this restless Turkish Empire: a Memoir of William New Englander face to face with the slow Goodell, D.D.' The volume is principally and dignified Oriental? Strange as it may made up of the letters and reminiscences of seem, we believe that the very sharpness of Dr. Goodell. The letters are full of genial this contrast has been one of the main elehumour, and written in a singularly purements in the success of the Americans in and simple style. Dr. Goodell has sometimes been called the prince of missionary writers. Few who begin to read this volune will lay it aside until it is finished. | Dr. Prime has collected and placed at the end of his work all the official declarations made of late years by the Turkish Government in regard to religious liberty. dealing with the people of Turkey. The Oriental needed something bold and positive to arouse him, and this he has found in the Americans; for it must be confessed that whatever may be the short-comings of the citizens of the great Republic, a want of positiveness and self-confidence is not one of them. Turning now to the actual work done by the Americans in Turkey, we call attention first of all to what they have accomplished as explorers of the country. On a careful examination of the authorities, we have noted the following facts. Two Americans, Messrs. Fisk and Parsons, examined the Other works besides those mentioned above have been on our table while studying the subject we have in hand, some of them by English and some by American authors. Our sources of information, therefore, have been ample and of the best kind. What then are some of the results of this effort of the men of the New World to in-country embracing the Seven Churches as troduce modern ideas and modern civilization into the very heart of the Old? We say the heart of the Old World,' for when we speak of Turkey we mean the country which contains the sites and the old cities of Ur, Nineveh, Babylon, Damascus, Thebes, Troy, Baalbeck, Palmyra, and Jerusalem. We shall endeavour to answer this question by giving some account of what the Americans have accomplished in the Turkish Empire in respect to the following particulars: -1. Exploration; including some notice of early as 1820. In 1823 Messrs. Fisk and King ascended the Nile as far as Thebes, making and publishing copious notes of the journey. Between 1821 and 1827 Messrs. Parsons, Fisk, King, Goodell, and Smith had explored nearly the whole of Palestine. In 1827 Mr. Gridley travelled through Cappadocia. In 1830 Messrs. Smith and Dwight started on a tour through Asia Minor to Persia. As this journey was an extended one, and led to important results, it is worthy of more particular mention. These |