426 



JANIN, JULES G. 



JAPAN. 



died at Ms chalet in Passy (Paris), June 19, 

 1874. He was of Hebrew parentage, and the 

 son of a lawyer. His early education was ob- 

 tained at the College of St.-Etienne, from 

 which he proceeded to the College of Louis 

 the Great, in Paris. He distinguished himself 

 there by his strong opposition to the system 

 of instruction adopted at the Restoration. 

 Having graduated, and not desiring to study 

 a profession, he took up his quarters in a gar- 

 ret in the Rue du Dragon with an octogena- 

 rian, and as a private tutor for students. But 

 his penchant for journalism was too strong to 

 be suppressed, and he soon obtained some em- 

 ployment on a theatrical sheet, and, his abili- 

 ties attracting notice, he was called to a better 

 position on Figaro, and was also sub-editor of 

 a royalist paper, the Quotidienne, until the ac- 

 cession of the Polignac ministry in August, 

 1829, when he quitted the latter and cast in 

 his lot with the moderate liberal journals. 

 Soon after, he founded, in company w'ith some 

 writers of mark, the Revue de Paris and the 

 Journal des Enfants. Shortly afterward he 

 published his first romance, "L'Ane Mort et 

 la Femme Guillotinee " (" The Dead Ass and 

 the Guillotined Wife "), a quaint work, which 

 was soon followed by his " Confession," a po- 

 litical and religious romance, noted for the 

 novelty of its style. M. Janin bitterly assailed 

 King Louis Philippe, and in 1831 published a 

 work entitled " Barnave," wherein he narrated 

 the recreancy of Philippe Egalit6, and violently 

 attacked the Orleans family. This work pro- 

 voked an able rejoinder, but M. Janin closed 

 the contest by making peace with the King 

 and accepting the Cross of the Legion of Honor 

 in 1836. He now became dramatic critic of 

 the Journal des Debats, and in that capacity 

 attained his greatest fame. His wonderful 

 piquancy of style, his airy grace of sentiment 

 and wit, and his dashing paradoxes of criticism, 

 rendered his writings extremely popular, and 

 enabled him, without fear of ridicule, to dub 

 himself le Prince de la Critique. For many 

 years he made and destroyed literary reputa- 

 tions, and was the leading authority of French 

 criticism. M. Janin continued, meanwhile, 

 writing books, and gradually produced that 

 wonderful series of works, embracing travels, 

 history, and romance, which display the great- 

 est versatility, and place him in the first rank 

 of French authors. Despite his brilliant lit- 

 erary career, his life was not untroubled. In 

 1841 he married a young and handsome heir- 

 ess, and had the imprudence to give in the 

 Journal des Debats, in place of the literary re- 

 view, a singular article, minutely detailing his 

 good fortune. This provoked sharp criticism, 

 and gained him for a long time in the public 

 journals the name of the "Married Critic." 

 Again, in 1844, he attacked the principles and 

 men of the Revolution, and was sharply as- 

 sailed 'in turn by his friend, M. Felix Pyat, 

 then editor of La Reforme. So irritated was the 

 critic by this attack, that, instead of replying 



in his paper to M. Pyat, he had that writer 

 and the publisher of La Reforme cited before 

 the police-court and fined for libel. After the 

 Revolution of 1848, M. Janin withdrew from 

 politics and devoted his attention exclusively 

 to literary pursuits. He sought admission to 

 the Academy, but, despite the most persistent 

 efforts, the doors remained closed against him 

 until 1870, when he was elected, and immedi- 

 ately resigned his connection with the Journal 

 des Debats. He inherited shortly before his 

 death a large fortune, and with an air of levity 

 deplored that it came when he could no longer 

 enjoy it. M. Janin's principal works, besides 

 those already named, were: "Fantastic Sto- 

 ries," 4 vols. (1832) ; " New Stories," 4 vols. 

 (1833) ; " Voyage of Victor Ogier in the East, 

 etc.," 3 vols. (1834) ; " A Heart for Two 

 Loves" (1837); "The Catacombs," a collec- 

 tion of romances, tales, etc., 6 vols. (1839) ; 

 "The Nun of Toulouse," 2 vols. (1850). Of 

 historical and descriptive works the list was 

 larger; it embraced: " Anecdotic Tableaux of 

 French Situations since Francis I." (1829); a 

 cheap and popular "History of the Theatre" 

 (1832) ; " A Course of Lectures on the History 

 of Journalism in France," delivered at the 

 Athenaaum (1834); " Fontainebleau, Versailles, 

 and Paris" (1837); "History of France," the 

 explanatory text accompanying the " Galleries 

 of Versailles" (1837-1843); "Versailles and 

 its Historical Museum " (1838) ; " A Voyage to 

 Italy" (1839); "The Prince Royal" (1842); 

 " Historic, Picturesque, and Monumental Nor- 

 mandy" (1842-'43); "Historic Brittany," etc. 

 (1844); "A Journey from Paris to the Sea" 

 (1847) ; "The Symphonies of Winter " (1857) ; 

 "A Prose Translation of Horace" (I860); 

 "Stories from the Chalet" (1859); "A Histo- 

 ry of Dramatic Literature," 6 vols., really an 

 analysis of his principal feuilletons (1858) ; a 

 new edition, almost entirely rewritten, of 

 "Barnave" (1860); "The End of a World, 

 and a Nephew of Rameau" (1861); "The 

 Little Blessings " (1861) ; " The Week of Three 

 Thursdays" (1861); "Stories not stamped" 

 (1862); "Blue Stories " (1863) ; "Poetry and 

 Eloquence at Rome" (1863); "Beranger and 

 his Times" (1866); "The Love of Books" 

 (1866). He had also translated and abridged 

 Richardson's " Clarissa Harlowe " (1846) ; edit- 

 ed with Chasles and Gautier "The Beauties 

 of the Opera" (1844) ; and contributed some 

 fragments concerning Manon Lescaut to Hous- 

 saye and Sainte-Beuve's "History of Manon 

 Lescaut." 



JAPAN, an empire in Eastern Asia. The 

 appellation by which the Emperor is generally 

 known in foreign countries is the ancient title 

 of Mikado, or the Venerable. Present Mikado, 

 Mutsu Hito, born at Yeddo, September 22, 1852, 

 succeeded his father, Komei Tenno, 1867; mar- 

 ried, December 28, 1868, to Princess Haruko, 

 born April 17, 1850, daughter of Prince Itch- 

 idgo. The first child of the Emperor was born 

 in 1873, but died soon after. There is no reg- 



