JACOBS, MELANCIITHON. 



JAPAN. 



421 



Rome. The French envoy withdrew until 

 June 20th, and did not go to Rome. The hopes 

 raised by this act in the Catholic world were, 

 however, not fulfilled ; and, though Thiers re- 

 peatedly admitted that he disliked the national 

 unity of Italy, he finally deemed it the best 

 policy to appoint one ambassador to the lung 

 of Italy, and another to the Pope. The journey 

 of the King of Italy from Naples to Eome, 

 where he arrived on July 2d, was attended 

 with great demonstrations. During the month 



of August several riots occurred in Eome, 

 called forth by the opposition of the adherents 

 of the temporal power to the new Government, 

 and by counter-demonstrations of the National 

 party. On September 17th the opening of 

 the Mont-Cenis Tunnel was celebrated, an event 

 of great importance for Italy. The financial 

 condition of the kingdom, on the other hand, 

 continued to be of a most embarrassing nature, 

 and the new budget submitted by Minister 

 Bella again showed a considerable deficit. 



JACOBS, Eev. MELANcnrnoN-, D. D., a 

 learned Lutheran clergyman, professor, and 

 author, born in Southern Pennsylvania, about 

 1806 ; died in Gettysburg, Pa., July 22, 1871. 

 He was educated at Washington College (Penn- 

 sylvania), and entered the Lutheran Theologi- 

 cal Seminary at Gettysburg about 1826. Af- 

 ter completing his theological course, he taught 

 for a time in the Academy at Gettysburg, and 

 when Pennsylvania College was organized 

 there, in 1832, he was one of its first profess- 

 ors, and held his professorship until his death. 

 He had, throughout these nearly forty years, 

 preached almost constantly, and had a high 

 reputation as a preacher. He was also a con- 

 stant correspondent of the periodicals of the 

 Lutheran Church, and with his colleague, the 

 late Prof. Stoever, was for some years an ed- 

 itor of the Quarterly Eeview of that Church. 

 He was an accomplished belles-lettres scholar, 

 and one of the most refined and polished gen- 

 tlemen of his time. After the battle of Get- 

 tysburg, Dr. Jacobs was very active in minis- 

 tering to the wounded, and prepared subse- 

 quently a narrative of the battle, with map, 

 plan, and topographical descriptions, which is 

 regarded by all who have read it as the best 

 description of that battle ever attempted. His 

 other works were mostly theological. 



JAPAN, an empire in Eastern Asia. The 

 administration and the supreme executive 

 power of the country are vested in the Mikado, 

 or Tenno, as he is more properly called. The 

 United States Government was represented at 

 the imperial court, in 1871, by 0. E. De Long, 

 minister resident at Yeddo. The area of the 

 country, comprising Japan proper, and 3,850 

 islands, which are its dependencies, is reported 

 as follows : 



An educated Japanese, named Santo, has 

 opened in Yeddo a school for the education of 

 his countrymen in the German language. He 

 is the owner of a printing establishment, and 

 also keeps a book-store for the sale of cheap 

 publications in the English and German lan- 

 guages, many of which are republished by 

 himself. English, French, and German, are 

 taught in schools managed entirely by Japan- 

 ese, English having rather the preference. 

 Altogether, the avidity of the people for 

 knowledge is extreme, and the attainments 

 already made are considerable. It is asserted 

 by one of the Yeddo papers that about five hun- 

 dred of the more advanced and promising pu- 

 pils at the Yeddo Government School have been 

 sent to America, from time to time, to complete 

 their studies in that country, and that the Gov- 

 ernment has made an annual allowance to pay 

 their expenses. In December, 1871, twenty- 

 one young ladies, the daughters of Daimios, 

 were sent to the United States to be edu- 

 cated. 



The Government of the Tenno is in favor of 

 the Sintoo form of religion, of which little is 

 known by foreigners and less understood, 

 while the late Government was Buddhist ; the 

 people, however, seem at present but little de- 

 voted to either. The gorgeous Buddhist tem- 

 ples are fast going to decay ; but few worship- 

 pers are to be seen at the shrines, but few of 

 their priests in the streets, and the magnificent 

 suites of chambers attached to almost every 

 temple are utilized by the Government accord- 

 ing to its necessities, many being occupied as 

 barracks, others as schools. It seems to be 

 universally acknowledged by the more intel- 

 ligent natives that the days of Buddhism are 

 numbered. According to reports from Yeddo, 

 in December, 1871, the Buddhist priests in the 

 country were informed that their temples 

 would be closed, and that they must enter the 

 army as soldiers, or earn their living in me- 

 chanical occupations. 



According to official sources, the population 

 of Japan amounted, in 1870, to 34,786,321 ; 

 the imperial family had 20 members ; the 

 families of the Daimios, 3,186 ; the Samurai, 

 officers, scholars, and warriors, represented a 

 population of 1,872,959 ; the Buddhist priests, 



