respect to the second portion of its subject, namely, the indirect agencies which are now in operation tending to the spread among the Japanese of the ideas which influence the conduct of western nations; it will, I think, be sufficient if I merely specify those which I conceive to be the more prominent among them.

It will be supposed that the introduction of steam as a motive-power is exercising the same great influence on the habits and ideas of the people of Japan that it has exercised on those of all countries into which the steam-engine has found its way. There is now a line of railway of eighteen miles in length in operation between Yedo and Yokohama, and the average number of persons who travel upon it each day is about 4,000. Another line of about twenty-three miles will be opened in the course of a few weeks, which will connect Hiogo with Osaka, and the preliminary surveys have been undertaken with the view of prolonging the latter line to Kioto. The habit of punctuality and a greater regard for the value of time cannot fail to be the results in the case of a large portion of the population of the introduction of railways into Japan. The line now in operation has so far been worked with complete success, and its advantages are thoroughly appreciated by the Japanese of all classes.

Steam-vessels, too, now ply in the Japanese waters in many directions. Not to mention he various foreign lines whose vessels touch at the Japanese ports, and by which the Japanese have the opportunity of traveling, a considerable native steam-mercantile fleet, speaking, of course, comparatively, has already sprung up. Native companies have recently been formed in various parts of Japan with the object of organizing a steamer-coasting-service, and there is, likewise, a steamer-service on Lake Biwa. As the companies above referred to are chiefly of this year's formation, it is not within my power at the present time to state to what precise extent this marine has been developed ; but so far as it has been so, I believe it is chiefly, though not entirely, conducted by the Japanese themselves, even the engineers on board of a number of vessels being Japanese.

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Another proof of the progress of new ideas in this country is the astonishing extent to which, in the course of the last three years, the use of wheeled conveyance has become general. Not only in the cities, but also along the whole length of the high roads, where the nature of the country admits of the use of wheels, the "jinrikisha," or wheeled chair drawn by one man, has been introduced, and the saving of power which is implied by the substitution of this vehicle for the old kago," or litter borne on two men's shoulders, may be thus estimated. It requires, on an average, the labor of two men to convey a traveler in a "kago" over thirty miles in a day, whereas one man is capable of drawing a light weight after him in a "jinrikisha' over thirty-five miles in like circumstances in the same time. One man with a "jinrikisha" can, therefore, do 24 times as much as could be done by one man with a "kago."

The cost of a day's traveling for a Japanese in a "kago " is, I am informed, 5 bus, (shillings ;) that of a day's journey in a "jinrikisha," 3 bus. The original cost of a "jinrikisha" is about $15.

Another influence which may be expected to make itself felt in the course of time in Japan is the introduction of telegraphs, but up to the present time the introduction of the telegraph has by no means been attended with success similar to that which has followed the introduction of the railway, owing, I believe, partly to the absence of the sense on the part of the Japanese clerks of the necessity of punctual attendance to their duties, and partly, also, to the confidence in their own powers, which induces them so often to take to pieces instruments which they as often find themselves incapable of reconstructing.

Foreign machinery has, to a certain extent, though not to a large extent, been introduced into Japan, as well by private persons as to be used in mines and other establishments belonging to the government.

The demand for foreign machinery would be greatly increased, and the consequent production of wealth in Japan greatly augmented, but for the reluctance of the Japanese to permit foreigners to carry on industrial operations on their own account in the interior of Japan. The Japanese are anxious to exclude foreigners as far as possible from competing with them, while at the same time they are, as yet, incapable of successfully con

ducting many branches of industry without foreign aid. I have shown in a previous report how, for instance, in the case of the island of Yezo, immense facilities for the production of wealth are being utterly wasted, owing to the palpable mismanagement of the Japanese officials and the narrow-minded commercial policy of the government.

As this jealous policy is no doubt in part based on the conviction that, were foreigners admitted into the interior of Japan and to take part in industrial operations, the gains of Japanese merchants would be curtailed, I fear a long time will elapse ere the policy in question is likely to be reversed. It is defended by the government on the ground of their dislike to extend the extra-territorial jurisdiction which now prevails over foreigners within the treaty-limits. The judicial system of Japan and the ways of thinking of its people are so entirely different from those of western nations that, even were the code of laws set in force which is now in course of preparation under the superintendence of some French and other lawyers, it must, I think, be expected that many years will elapse before the Japa. nese as a nation will have acquired the power of understanding law and administering justice which would be accepted as such by the citizens of western nations, and consequently before the latter would be inclined to renounce extra-territorial jurisdiction in Japan. In the mean time it is gratifying to know that one result of the intercourse of western nations with Japan has been a very marked tendency to mitigate the severity of the penal laws of the latter country. Many modes of punishment which Christian nations look upon as being barbarous have either been entirely abrogated or are now only applicable in a much smaller number of cases than it was formerly the law that they should be. This tendency to milder legislation applies equally to religious toleration. The edict forbidding the profession of Christianity, which formerly was posted throughout this empire, ought now not to be seen. Such would be in accordance with the decree of the imperial government; and if, in point of fact, the edict in question may still be found standing in a great many localities, although the fact subjects the government to the imputation of neglecting to enforce its own orders, yet the liberal intention of the government with respect to religious toleration can scarcely be called in question, since some 1,900 banished Christians (all that remained of those driven from Urakami in 1869) were, in the spring of this year, sent back by the government to their homes, and since numbers of Japanese are now permitted to attend churches regularly and without molestation at Yedo, Yokohama, Hakodaté, and elsewhere. Another proof of enlightened legislation is to be found in the recently-promulgated enactments prohibiting compulsory servitude of every description and annulling all immoral contracts for service of this nature, such as those by which in many thousands of instances girls were bound down by their parents or guardians to serve for a stated number of years in brothels.

Another educational influence which is now actively at work in Japan, and the power of which may be expected to extend itself from day to day, is the native press that has sprung up throughout the country.

There are in Yedo the following journals, namely, 18 newspapers, some of them published daily, others every fifth day.

The three with the greatest circulation are the Nishinshinjishi, a daily paper of which on an average 1,500 copies are sold; the Tokionichinichi Shimbun, a daily paper, with a sale of about 860 copies; and the Shinbunsashi, a daily paper, with a sale of 860 copies. Of the other 15 journals some appear daily, and the sale of each is about 200 copies. There is likewise a provincial press.

A postal system has likewise been organized throughout the country.

I need only refer to one or two more indications of the progress which western civilization has already made in Japan.

A system of light-houses has been established under European direction, which is being extended along the entire circuit of the coasts of these seas.

Quays have here and there been constructed.

Lock-hospitals have been introduced at several of the treaty-ports.

A mint is in operation at Osaka, under the admirable management of Major Kinder, at which the total number of pieces passed for issue last year was 26,151,206, and the real or

nominal value $29,154,683, showing an increase on the previous year of 10,647,228 in the number of coins, and the increase, in value, $8,076,022. And while, on the one hand, the custom of wearing arms on the part of the two-sworded class has so far been discontinued that, in the course of a long walk in Yedo or in that of a long drive in at least many, if not in all, parts of the country, only about two persons wearing the sword are generally to be met with, on the other hand, the social consideration of the merchant, in comparison with that of the formerly-privileged classes, has been raised to an extent which those who were conversant with the former social hierarchy of Japan would be almost unable to realize. In bringing to a conclusion a report on education in Japan, I think I ought to point out that, while very many educational influences are at work, such as I have endeavored to specify, yet it cannot reasonably be expected that the progress of newly-introduced western customs and ideas should work a revolution throughout an entire race in the course of even a few years. According to all experience a sufficient length of time must be allowed for at least one freshly-educated generation to arise before any radical, general, and lasting change may be expected to take place in the ideas and habits of the mass of a people.

The introduction of foreign manners, as that of foreign costume, which has come about in Japan, is as yet mainly confined to members of the court or of the official classes; the domestic and industrial habits of the bulk of the people remain as they were in former years.

In the articles descriptive of the educational institutions of the Japanese capital which have lately appeared in the columns of this journal, we confined ourselves to plain statements of facts, refraining from comment or criticism, so far as it was possible to do so. We shall in this and future numbers point out what we believe to be defects in the system of education in Japan and shall endeavor to show how they may be remedied. The statement will not, we think, be challenged by any one competent to judge it, that, in a system of education, the most important instruments are the teachers.

We need spend no platitudes in this article to prove the vast influence of a teacher upon his pupils. We presume all our readers to be familiar with the significance of the teacher's position in England and America. The very mention of such names as Ascham, Arnold, Temple and Nott, Wayland and Hopkins, will do more to serve our purpose of magnifying the teacher's calling than columns of argument. The simile of the bended twig becoming the inclined tree is photographed on the memory of all whose speech is English. When, however, the teacher and the pupil are of different civilizations, the tremendous significanc of the position of an instructor of the young is manyfold enhanced. If a people living under & state of national life which is fixed and not liable to change need the best of teachers, what shall we say of the Japanese? We see a people busy above all else in destroying their past. We see their old ties broken, their old sanctions weakened, and their old virtues defamed. To their foreign teachers more than to any other men, they look for help and guid ance. Upon them may depend the future of this nation; whether of sound growth and fruitful maturity, or of reaction, stagnation, and decay. We must be pardoned for attempting to sketch an ideal of the true teacher, such a one as should be charged with the wellnigh sacred office of assisting to lead the rising generation of Japan into a new life.

Among the qualifications of a teacher of Japanese youth, that of a sound moral characte r should be the first. Among a people who put etiquette above morality, the foreign teacher, as a representative of a different, and, as he believes, a better, civilization, should put morals before etiquette, and be himself a moral man. In truth, honor, devotion to

duty, purity of life and personal chastity, temperance in eating and drinking, loyalty to his country, to her principles and best traditions, the spurning of all shams, the refusal of all bribes, detestation of flattery, and disdain to pander to the vanity of his employers, the foreign teacher should be firmly established. He should have a sensitive pride in his profession; he should magnify his calling; he should have thorough command of his tongue and temper; he should conscientiously perform his work, shirking no disagreeable parts of it and never allowing his enthusiasm to flag under the monotony of daily and often very prosaic toil in the class-room. Though these virtues should be cultivated and exemplified more than etiquette, yet in this the teacher should not be found wanting and should be as polite as his scholars. The interchange of daily courtesies, patience with halting pupils, when the spirit is willing but the brain is weak; the avoidance of all personal epithets and coarse language and attention to the amenities of dress, posture, and conduct, are absolutely necessary and help to make the teacher what he ought to be. Besides having these moral and social virtues the teacher should be a real teacher. He should be trained to his business or at least have a natural fitness for it. He should know and understand his subjects and should use the best methods of imparting knowledge, of disciplining the minds of his pupils, and of arousing in them that thirst after and enthusiasm for learning which is worth vastly more than a loaded memory or any number of acquirements. The teacher should be a student of human nature and should suit his ministrations to the varied characters, dispositions, infirmities, or excellences of his pupils. A teacher of such an eager and inquisitive people as the Japanese should have no narrow mind, but should be well read and should keep abreast of the general knowledge of the day.

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All this a teacher can be and a large part of it he ought to be. If the Japanese can understand what manner of man our ideal teacher is, (which we doubt very much,) they can get men like him; but not with money alone. [A statement is made that in the eagerness of the Japanese to secure teachers of foreign languages they took persons who could speak a language as teachers without regard to their previous training or personal character.]

We wish to show that the teacher's profession is a high and honorable one, and the Japanese are in duty bound to respect it. If they wish to prove that their educational "system" is not a sham and that all their grandiloquent assertions abroad that they believe "education is the basis of all progress," let them do as civilized nations do and put the proper man in every place in their schools now occupied by an improper person. Let them cease to dishonor the teacher's calling by hiring men who in mind and morals are unworthy of their post; let them learn to value a good instructor more than they value jewels; let them cease from the wretched economy that prompts them to pay niggardly salaries which must of necessity deter the right men from their class-rooms: let them offer such contracts as do not make a true teacher blush to sign; let them cease to make regulations which no man with any self-respect can or will obey; let them put competent officers in charge of their schools. If such are not to be found let them confess their ignorance and ask help from men whom they can trust. Until they do these things their system of education, now so admired by those who remain in benevolent ignorance abroad, will not cease to merit the contempt of those who know the facts.

II.-NATIVE OFFICIALS.

The idea of a system of education presupposes a teacher, corps of instructors or faculty, and a governing body of trustees, directors, or council of regents. The names of the two bodies may vary in different countries, but, for the successful administration of a large school or university, a body of directors is needed. The functions of instruction and government must be distinguished, even though in small private schools; for instance, they may be united in the same persons.

That the office of governor or director is a very important one; that a competent person in that office is a co-worker with both teacher and pupil, and an indispensable instrument in a system of education, we need not here argue to prove. We suppose our readers to be familiar with the educational systems of their various countries.

It would be an anomaly as strange as it is happily rare were a school of any reputation in Europe or the United States to have a board totally unfit for and inexperienced in their duties.

To state the case a little more strongly, suppose these directors were profoundly ignorant of what ought to be studied and of what the studies proposed really were; suppose them ignorant of the language in which they were taught, and that for any glimmerings of light they could catch they were dependent upon very poor interpreters; and, finally, that, not withstanding these apparent drawbacks, these directors aspire to make all the rules for teachers and scholars, to choose all the studies, to direct all the operations of the school, and to have all the teachers obedient to their will and pleasure; if our readers can grasp such a monstrous conception as this, then they can understand the educational system in Japan. We have not drawn upon our imaginations. We are stating simple facts. We refer not to one institution alone. From Nagasaki to Hakodaté, and from Kanagawa to Tokei, our conception and the reality are the same.

There is a great gulf of difference between the sentimental ideas with which people at home regard their fellow-countrymen who have been called to Japan to be teachers and professors and the actual facts. The gentlemen in the educational service of Japan, when at home, were informed by their polite Japanese friends that if they would come to Japan they would be treated with the highest honor. "No position is more honorable than the teacher's," and "if our teacher dies we mourn for him as for our father," &c., were the honeyed words which the Japanese, eager to attract an instructor from his honored post to their own "college" or "university," used. The teachers came from many countries, and great was the honor which Japan received. The American and the English newspapers were full of her glory. Every one, including the happy dupes themselves, believed all the fair promises of the flatterers. "The teacher's position is an honorable one in such highlycivilized nations as England and the United States. How much more so in Japan ?" But Japan is the land of surprises. Strange to say, the Japanese official does not like the professional teachers, the college-bred men, the professors. He thinks they are obstinate, rebellious, excessively troublesome. Foolish men that they are, they expect to have a voice in the government of the school and even want to regulate the studies. Worse than that, they sometimes ignore the "rules" and trample under foot the first instincts of a "yakunin." It is a fact, but not a wonder, that the native official has a chronic antipathy to a genuine teacher, and prefers the man whom he can pick up and whom he can rule, for does he not hold in his hands the power even to grant contracts?

We need not criticise. The statement of fact is sufficient for our purpose, which is to prevail on the education-department to reform a state of affairs which has become a byword and a reproach to those who wish them well and the target for the jests and scorn of the unconcerned. Of all the strange chapters in the history of education, the attempts of native Japanese officials to conceive and carry out a scheme of foreign education form one of the most curious and comic chapters. Indeed, our greatest fear is that our statements will not be believed. However, if the Scotch proverb says truly, "seein's believin', but feelin's the naked truth," we are but setting it forth.

We shall speak of the schools of the capital, not merely because they have been the most conspicuous victims of the empiricism of native officials, but because that unique phase of human nature called " yakuninerie" has there received its highest development and brought forth its choicest fruits. We shall take comfort in the thought that, in spite of its baneful effects, nay, under its very shade, the thirst for education among the youth of this land is still unquenched.

Since the first beginning of foreign education in Tokei, the native officials placed over the foreign teachers by the education-department have been utterly unfit for their post as directors of schools of foreign education. Refusing to put any powers in the hands of their foreign servants, they spent their time chiefly in hampering their efforts, impeding progress, and apparently endeavoring to stamp all hope and energy out of the pupils. The typical "yakunin" sat in the chair of ruler of the highest educational institutions in the land, and sits there still.