cease and were all the prohibitions against Christianity revoked.[1]
The overthrow of the Shogun, the assumption of full power by the Mikado, thenceforth known only as Emperor, the abolition of feudalism, the removal of the capital to Tokio (Yedo), and the establishment of unqualified diplomatic relations with the Western countries, secured for Japan a recognized place among the powers of the world; but it had a long and weary journey to travel before it could take its place as an equal in the family of nations. After much hesitation and civil commotion, it had turned its back upon the past, but there was before it the task of reorganizing the administration of government, the judiciary, the social system, and commerce. A generation was yet to pass before the reorganization was to be complete in the estimation of the foreign powers.
True to his "charter oath," the emperor was to seek for wisdom in all quarters of the world. The leading nations of the earth were to have their share in advancing or retarding the development of the country, and in enabling it to attain the goal of the patriotic ambition of its people. The United States had been foremost in leading Japan out of its seclusion. The part which it was to play in the development of the new order of affairs will form the subject of a later chapter.
What the country had already accomplished commanded the respect of mankind. The people of the Western world especially were prepared to welcome the
- ↑ U. S. Dip. Cor. 1867, pp. 56, 63; 1868, pp. 749, 757, 796; 1870, 453-486; Murray's Japan, 379.
