has his minions about the Mikado, and the grand council have theirs about the Tiogoon. And the cowardice engendered by such ceaseless distrust necessarily leads to cruelty in penalties. Take, as an illustration, the case of a measure submitted by the grand council to the Tiogoon; to which, contrary to his usual custom, he does not at once assent without examination. Suppose he should disapprove: the measure is referred immediately to the arbitration of the three princes of the blood who are the nearest kinsmen of the Tiogoon, and their decision is final. If they do not agree in opinion with the monarch, he must instantly relinquish the throne to his son or some other heir. He is not allowed even the poor privilege of revising or retracting an opinion. Should the three princes concur in the Tiogoon's opinion, then the councillor who proposed the obnoxious measure must die; and those who voted with him are often required to die also. Sometimes the whole council, with the "Governor of the Empire" at their head, have in this way been obliged to atone for a mere mistake in national policy by putting themselves to death.

4. As to the government of lordships, which are only smaller principalities, the rule is the same; a duality of governors, an alternation in the discharge of official duties, and a separation every other year from all domestic enjoyment.

5. In the imperial provinces and imperial cities the Tiogoon, or, rather, the vizier and grand council for him, select two governors from the nobility, and surround them with the usual apparatus of secretaries and under secretaries, police officers, spies, and all other officials.

As to the spies themselves, they are of every rank in life below that of the hereditary princes. The highest nobility dare not shrink from the occupation, and even stoop to disguise themselves, the more effectually to perform the degrading office. The fact is, if directed to act as spies, they must either do it or adopt the alternative, death! Doubtless many of those who perform this dishonourable work would gladly, were it possible, escape from the degradation; while there are some, ambitious of succeeding to those whom they denounce, to whom the occupation is congenial enough.

A story is told by the writers of Japan which illustrates this.— Complaints were sent to the grand council of the governor of the town of Matsmai; the council resorted to its usual plan of employing a spy. In a little while the offending governor was removed. To the amazement of the people, they recognized in his successor a man whom they had known as a journeyman tobacco-cutter in the town, who, a short time before the displacement of the old governor, had suddenly disappeared from his master's shop. The journeyman was a disguised nobleman, who had acted the part of a spy by order of the Court.

A very singular custom of self-punishment, even unto death, prevails among all the officials of Japan. When one has offended, or even when in his department there has been any violation of the law, although beyond his power of prevention, so sure is he of the punishment of death that he anticipates it by ripping up his own body, dis

embowelling himself, rather than to be delivered over to the execu tioner. In fact he is encouraged to do so, inasmuch as by his selfdestruction he saves his property from forfeiture and his family from death with him. With many of the high officials it is a point of honour thus to kill themselves on any failure in their department; it is construed into an acknowledgement that they deserve to be put to death by the Emperor, and their sons are often promoted to high positions, as a sort of reward for the father's ingenuous acknowledgement of guilt.

It is easy to see, from what has been said, why the laws and customs of Japan are so obstinately unalterable. Every man is afraid of proposing an innovation, however wise or necessary, because the penalty is so fearful should it not be approved. He who in the grand council offers a measure which is disapproved by the tribunal of final resort, pays for his act with his life. A governor, or lord, or prince, knows that if he attempts any alteration, no matter how salutary, he will be instantly denounced by his colleague or secretary, a spy on his conduct, as a violator of the established usages of the empire and the certain consequence is death. So, too, with the common people; broken up into their little sections of five families, they dare not depart in the slightest degree from what is prescribed, for they are quite sure that the authorities will be informed of it, and the penalty inevitably follows. There cannot, under such a system, be anything like judicious legislation, founded on inquiry, and adapted to the ever varying circumstances of life. All must proceed exactly as it has done for centuries; progress is rendered impossible, and hence, in some degree, the difficulty, so long experienced in all Christendom, of bringing the Japanese into communication with other nations. As a remedy for an existing evil, they saw fit, centuries ago, to interdict entirely all such communication; and though the fact admits of proof that many of their wisest men would gladly have seen the interdict removed or modified, as being no longer necessary in their altered circumstances, yet no man dared to propose any alteration.

We may venture to hope that, even in the partial communication with strangers allowed to the Japanese by the late treaty with our country, the first step has been taken in breaking down their long prevalent system of unalterable laws and unchangeable customs. But among a people so sensitive and suspicious, considerable time must elapse before much progress is made in a better direction. And, in the first exercise of our rights under the treaty, it is to be hoped that the greatest care will be taken by our countrymen to avoid everything which can alarm the sleepless Japanese jealousy of strangers; if these be not, there is danger lest in their apprehensions, or perchance in mere caprice, they may seek to undo all that they have thus far done. It is obvious that a great deal depends now on the fairness, good sense, and good temper of our consular representatives. One rash man may overturn all that has been accomplished. The spirit of espionage to which we have alluded explains also what

NO. 2.-VOL. XXVIII.

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all the writers on Japan, and all the officers of our late expedition, represent as a prominent characteristic. We allude to the systematic falsehood and duplicity exhibited, and often without shame, by the high Japanese officials and public functionaries in their negociations and intercourse with strangers. We do not mean to say that these bad traits belong to the people generally. On the contrary, almost every writer describes them as naturally frank in manner, communicative and open in speech on ordinary topics, and possessed of a high sense of honour. They are a people of very ingenious and lively minds, possessed of shrewdness, of great personal bravery, as their history shows, and far superior (at least in our opinion) to any other civilized eastern nation. But the officials are placed in a false position by the wretched system of spies, and dare not act openly and frankly. As government functionaries, they lie and practice artifice to save themselves from condemnation by the higher powers; it is their vocation; as private gentlemen, they are frank, truthful, and hospitable. Mac Farlane, who speaks of this official deception, says, he has observed precisely the same thing among the Turks. Nearly every Turk unconnected with government, may be described as being in his private intercourse a frank, truth-loving, honourable man; while nearly every one holding a government office may be considered exactly the reverse. These facts present a seeming anomaly, and yet we are not sure that something very like it and differing in degree only, may not be found nearer to home than Japan.

The severity of the Japanese laws is excessive. The code is probably the bloodiest in the world. Death is the prescribed punishment for most offences. The Japanese seem to proceed on the principle that he who will violate one law will violate another, and that the wilful violator is unworthy to live; he cannot be trusted in society. Their laws are very short and intelligible, and are duly made public in more modes than one, so that no man can truly plead ignorance; and the proceedings under them are as simple as the laws themselves. There are no professional lawyers in the kingdom; every man is deemed competent to be his own pleader. If a party is aggrieved, he immediately appeals to the magistrate, before whom the other party is soon made to appear. The case is stated by the complainant in his own way, and the accused is heard in reply. The magistrate examines the witnesses, and it is said that this officer generally displays great acuteness in detecting falsehood. He passes sentence, and it is carried into execution instanter; and so ends an ordinary lawsuit. If the matter in controversy be of great importance, the magistrate may refer it to the Emperor in council; but if he sees fit to decide himself there is no appeal. Sometimes, in trifling cases, he orders the parties to go and settle the matter privately with the aid of friends, and it is well understood that it must be thus settled or unpleasant consequences will result. Sometimes, when both plaintiff and defendant are in fault, he awards censure to both, as they may deserve it, and sends them about their business. We have said their code is

bloody is principle, and very often it is sanguinary in practice. Still the relentings of humanity have forced the administrators of justice to some modification of the theory which prescribes indiscriminate severity.

The magistrate may sentence to death, but he is not obliged to do so, except in cases of murder. He may, therefore, exercise a large discretion. He may imprison in raya or cage. In this case the prisoner is allowed a fair proportion of wholesome food, and provision is made for cleanliness and ventilation. But there is another prison, namely, a dungeon in the governor's house, known by the significant name of gokuya, hell. Into this more are thrust than it will conveniently hold; the door is never opened, except to admit or release a prisoner; the food is dassed within through a hole in the wall, and there is neither light nor ventilation except through a small grated hole or window at the top. Books, pipes, and every species of recreation is prohibited; no beds are allowed, and the prisoner is subjected to what he considers the deep degradation of being made to wear a rope of straw around his waist, instead of the usual silk or linen girdle. The diet is limited and very poor; but if a rich man is confined, he may buy better food, on condition that he will share it equally with all his fellow prisoners. The Japanese doctrine is, that if a man of wealth or influence is a criminal, he has no right to fare any better than the poorest man in the kingdom who commits a crime, therefore all shall be treated alike.

We have already alluded to the well known yet remarkable feature of Japanese polity, which has for so long a time induced the government rigorously to interdict all communications between its subjects and foreigners with the single exception of the Dutch and Chinese. This exclusive system did not always prevail. We shall have occasion presently to give the history of its origin, and to place before the reader a statement of the means whereby the Dutch succeeded in the establishment of their commercial factory at Dezima, in the port of Nagasaki. It is only necessary now to remark that, prior to the visit of the United States expedition, no other port but Nagasaki was open to a European ship, and, except at that spot, no Japanese was permitted to buy from or sell to a western stranger. The Chinese had some few privileges of trade, but these were hedged round with jealous restrictions that hampered their commercial relations and intercourse quite as much as those of the Europeans. With this general, and generally brief, view of the leading features of the Japanese government and policy, we pass on to another topic.

THE CLIMATE OF PONAPE OR ASCENSION ISLAND, of the Pacific Ocean.-By L. H. Gulick, M.D.

The island of Ponape, probably first seen by civilized voyagers by Quirosa in 1595, but first made known by the Russian Admiral Lutke in 1828, is in lat. 6° 55′ N., long. 158° 25' E. It is a member of that long range once called the New Philippines, but now known as the Caroline Islands, after the royal consort of Charles II. of Spain. It is difficult to say when or how the name "Ascension Island" was given it. It is inhabited by about 5,000 copper-coloured natives, members of a race that is traced to the East India Islands, and that is probably the progenitor of the Polynesian. The American Board of Foreign Missions established a Mission on it in 1852; and it has since then become an important resort for American whale ships, about forty recruiting there each year.

No island of the whole range, not even of Micronesia, (which includes the Kings Mill, Marshall, Caroline, and Ladrone Islands,) unless it be Guam, of the Ladrone Archipelago, has yet been made a point for accurate meteorological observations, which will enhance the value of records on Ponape.

The following meteorological table, deduced by Mrs. Gulick from her daily observations, extended through a period of three years, will speak for itself of the more important topics connected with climate. It is to be regretted that the want of necessary appliances has rendered these observations much less extensive through the whole field of meteorology than we would gladly have made them. And the present is an appropriate opportunity for making the remark, that missionaries would be glad to serve the cause of science, in an incidental way, much oftener than they do, particularly in meteorology, could they bo supplied with those instruments that are much too expensive for them generally to procure. May it not, with due modesty, be suggested to those having the custody of such instruments for the cause of science, that it might be well to entrust her implements to missionaries to a much greater extent than is done, if, indeed, it is at all done. Why call upon them to prepare scientific "bricks" for the master workmen, without granting the requisite "straw," particularly when they are more than willing to labour to their utmost ability consistent with the still higher interests they have in keeping. It is in place to quote a remark made by the Rev. Mr. Mills, of the Navigator Islands, from an article in the Samoan Reporter, on Hurricanes in the South Pacific:-"Had Col. Reid, when he furnished, through Lord Palmerston and the American Minister, Mr. Abbot Lawrence, instructions to the various consuls for observing the course of storms, at the same time forwarded the like directions to the missionaries of the various societies, I am sure that a large additional amount of information would have been furnished."