Chew Islands,—which, it will be remembered, Commodore Perry in 1854 had recommended should be occupied by the United States. There was great danger of hostilities between the two oriental empires over the question, and General Grant actively interested himself in preserving peace. Both nations cherish his visit with grateful remembrance.[1]
The task of regeneration to which the emperor of Japan had summoned his people was pushed forward with commendable zeal. He promptly set the example by inviting the diplomatic corps in 1872 to a New Year's audience, as in Western courts, with the absence of all Asiatic ceremonials; and a few years later the empress stood beside him in these audiences, which Minister Bingham noted "as an evidence of the advancing civilization of the empire." In 1875 an imperial decree was issued convoking provincial assemblies, in order, as it stated, that the emperor might "govern in harmony with public opinion." In the same year the British and French troops were withdrawn from Yokohama, where they had been stationed since the opening of that port, on the ground of protecting foreign residents,—the first manifestation of a disposition on the part of the European powers to respect the sovereignty of Japan. Edicts followed in quick succession adopting the European calendar, proclaiming Sunday as a day of rest, enacting and putting in force penal and other codes, for the compilation of a constitution
- ↑ U. S. For. Rel. 1879, pp. 636, 643, 685; 1881, p. 231; 2 Around the World with General Grant, by J. R. Young, New York, 1879, pp. 410, 545, 581; Nitobe's Intercourse, etc. 140.
