The Literature, History, and Civilization of the Japanese [pp. 306-329]

1872.] OF THE JAPANESE. 319
nothing to Semiramis, for warlike valor and audacity; Bonrets (military impetuosity) was not surpassed by Nero in the
refinement of his cruelties and his debaucheries; the empress Cen-syo, at once protectress of letters and legisL%nx,
was for the Archipelago another Catherine IL, the Syo-goun
(`generallssimo) Tat7~o, thrice conqueror of the king of Corea,
and of the Son of lleaven himself, who had sent the forces
of China to the aid of the Coreans, recalls, in more than one
respect, the first Napoleon; and his victories, which might
have led to the conquest of the entire Chinese empire, if
Tai-ko, when dying, had not recalled his troops to Japan,
are the more remarkable in that the famous Mongolian Emperor, Koubilu~kk~n, succeeded in exterminating his troops
only when, with several hundreds of thousands of men and
innumerable vessels, he attempted the annexahon of Japan.
I will not prolong this enumeration of the great reigns in
the history of Niphon. It would lead me too far. I will
confine myself to the remark that the Japanese are perhaps the only people in the world who have never met with
defeat, and no part of whose national territory has ever fallen
`inder foreign domination.
YL
You will see, I hope, as I do, in this particular as in others,
to which I had the pleasure last year of directing your attention, a proof of the astonishing energy and progressive
instincts of a people placed by Providence in a geographical
sitiation whieh, while it explains a part of its past history,
gives us the presage of its grand destinies in the future.
Those of you who propose living in Japan for a longer or
shorter time, will recognize the rare aptitudes of this people
for all that relates to the material and moral development
of humanity. They will see how eagerly the Japanese seize
all opportunities for even the slightest instruction, and how
ready they will be, when their daimios shall at length have
acknowledged the military superiority of Europe, and ceased
their political strifes, to take part in all our projects, not
only in regard to their own country, but for all the rest of the