Identifier: williamhsewardst01sewa (find matches)
Title: William H. Seward's travels around the world
Year: 1873 (1870s)
Authors: Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872 Seward, Olive Risley, 1844-1906
Subjects: Voyages around the world
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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He appointed ten oclock, to-morrow. Before we go to the foreign office, it may be well to recallsome points of history, in order to make our observations on Yeddointelligible. The people of Japan, whether indigenous here or derived fromSiberia, assumed political organization, according to their ownrecords, about twenty-four hundred years ago, in the two islandsof Niphon and Kiusiu. They were governed by an emperor, who,being descended from the gods, was divine and absolute on earth,and when he died was worshipped. Not only was his person toosacred to be looked upon by a stranger, but even the sun must notshine on his head. It was sacrilegious to touch the dishes fromwhich he ate. At his death, his twelve wives and all their attend-ants committed hari-hari. These attributes are still popularly con-ceded to him. As vicegerent of Heaven, he wears the title ofTenno; as sovereign in temporal affairs, he is the Mikado orEmperor. Miako, some thirty miles inland, was his ancient capital, and
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THE TYCOON AND MIKADO. 53 Osaka its seaport. Tlie Emperor by divine right owned the landsin the empire, and in time graciously divided them into provinces;retaining five or more of these for himself, he parcelled out theothers among great lords or princes, called daimios. In the thir-teenth century, a rebellion arose in the empire, and the Mikado,remaining at Miako, committed the defence of the state to therichest and strongest one of these daimios, who wore the title of Tycoon. This military commander, after a short time, absorbedthe temporal sovereignty and reigned absolutely. Yeddo thus be-came a third capital of the empire. The Tycoon, nevertheless, paid homage to the Mikado, who re-tained his titular rank, and unquestioned spiritual authority andpreeminence. Besides the proper revenues of his own five prov-inces, the Mikado enjoyed, for the support of his dignity, an annualallowance made by the Tycoon, out of the general revenues of theempire. As he cultivated religion and such s

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