With the failure of the embassy nothing was left for the rulers of Japan but, first, to bring their country up to the standard of administration fixed by the European powers before they would relinquish the practice of exterritoriality; and second, to make the power of the country so great as to command the respect of the Western nations, and thereby secure a recognition of the right to regulate its own system of taxation.
This course had been already marked out by the emperor. In a banquet which he gave his nobles just before the departure of the embassy in 1871, he foreshadowed his policy for the reorganization of the government, and appealed to them to lead and encourage the people "to move forward in paths of progress. … With diligent and united efforts we may attain successively the highest degree of civilization within our reach, and shall experience no serious difficulty in maintaining power, independence, and respect among nations."[1]
To attain this "highest degree of civilization," measures were instituted to reform the system of jurisprudence and education in conformity with Western methods, and to reorganize the departments especially of finance, military affairs, and internal improvements. To this end Japanese of intelligence and capacity were sent abroad to study the systems of other countries, and foreigners were called to Japan to instruct and take direction in the reforms to be established.
In the accomplishment of this work it was natural,
- ↑ U. S. For. Rel. 1871, p. 597; 1874, p. 646; 1883, p. 607; The Japanese in America, by C. Lanman, New York, 1872, pt. i.; Nitobe, 162.
