528 



JAPAN. 



as it must have appeared eighteen hundred 

 years ago, and referred to the account of the 

 destruction of the city and Herculaneuin given 

 by the younger Pliny in his famous letter to 

 Tacitus narrating the death of his uncle, the 

 elder Pliny. Count Guanciali and Mgr. Mira- 

 belli then declaimed Latin verses commemora- 

 tive of the event. After a visit to the ruins, 

 excavations were begun under Signer Kug- 

 gieri's superintendence. A large number of 



vases, articles of jewelry, kitchen utensils, and 

 coins were found, which were presented to the 

 museums of Naples and Pompeii. 



Giovanni Passanante, the man who attempt- 

 ed to assassinate King Humbert in 1878, was 

 sentenced to death. At the instance of the 

 King, however, a decree was signed by the 

 Ministry commuting the sentence of death to 

 one of penal servitude for life, and Passanante 

 was then sent to the Island of Elba. 



JAPAN", an empire in eastern Asia. The 

 sovereign bears the title of "Tenno" or "Mi- 

 kado." The reigning Mikado, Muts-Hito, was 

 born at Tokio, September 22, 1852, and suc- 

 ceeded his father, Komei-Tenno, in 1867. He 

 was married on December 28, 1868, to Prin- 

 cess Haruko, born April 17, 1850, daughter of 

 Prince Idchidgo. There is no regular law of 

 succession, and, in case of the death or abdica- 

 tion of the Mikado, the crown does not gen- 

 erally devolve upon his son, but upon either 

 the eldest or most distinguished member of the 

 Shi Shinn6, the four imperial families of Japan. 

 These families are the Katzura, Arisugawa, 

 Fushimi, and Kannin. The power of the Mika- 

 do is unlimited in temporal as well as spiritual 

 affairs. He acts through an executive ministry 

 divided into nine departments, viz., of the Im- 

 perial House, Foreign Affairs, "War, Navy, Fi- 

 nance, Interior, Public Instruction, and Ec- 

 clestiastical Affairs. At the side of the Minis- 

 try stand the "Sain" or Senate, composed 

 of thirty members, and the " Shoui " or Coun- 

 cil of State, of an unlimited number of mem- 

 bers, both nominated by the Mikado, and con- 

 sulted by him at his pleasure. 



The area, according to an official publication 

 in 1877, is 146,613 square miles. The popu- 

 lation on January 1, 1876, was 34,838,404, of 

 whom 17,419,785 were males and 16,918,619 

 females. The population of the principal cities 

 was as follows : Tokio (1872), 595,905 ; Tokio 

 with suburbs (1876), 1,036,771; Kumamoto, 

 300,000; Kioto or Miako (1872), 238,6&3; 

 Osaka (1877), 281,119; Kajosima, 200,000; 

 Yokohama (1872), 61,553 ; Kanasawa, 60,000 ; 

 Nagasaki (1876), 47,412 ; Niigata(1872), 33,772. 



The budget for 1879-'80 was as follows (in 

 yens 1 yen = 99*7 cents): 



REVENUE. 



1. Customs 



2. Ground-tax 



8. Mining dues 



4. Tax on the salaries of officials 



6. Taxes on the products of the northern provinces 



6. Tax on alcoholic liquors 



7. Tobacco-tax 



8. Stamp dues, patent dues, etc 



9. Receipts from mines 



10. Eailroads 



11. Mint 



12. Other receipts from public works 



18. Public lands 



14. Miscellaneous receipts 



15. Reimbursements 



Total..., 



2,181,810 



41,000,950 



11,587 



81,992 



863,971 



4,507,272 



848,674 



2,787,128 



218,960 



891,100 



606,000 



78,880 



712,560 



1,647,746 



813,804 



65,651,379 



EXPENDITURES. 



1. Public debt 21,200,281 



2. Civil list and appanages 877,000 



3. Pensions 1,059,404 



4. Council of State 800,860 



5. Senate 142,480 



6. Ministry of Foreign Affairs 170.960 



7. " ofthe Interior 1,275,500 



8. " ofFinance 1,505,300 



9. " ofWar 7,190,100 



10. " of the Navy 2,636,800 



11. " of Public Instruction 1,139,970 



12. " of Public Works 691.300 



18. " ofJustice 1,814,800 



14. " of the Imperial House 808,700 



15. Colonization 1,518,174 



16. Land-tax reform 970,000 



17. Provincial administration 8,786.700 



18. Postal administration 1,050,000 



19. Funds to promote industry 1,005,084 



20. Police 2,486,452 



21. Priests, temples 135,000 



22. Public buildings, canals, etc 1,987,200 



23. Ambassadors and consuls 500,000 



24. Miscellaneous ,.. 1,877,814 



25. Unforeseen expenses 1,500,000 



Total 55,651,879 



851,498,854 

 2. Foreign debt : 



Bearing interest at 7 per cent. . 10,865,120 ) 11 Q1)Q 10rt 

 ' 9 " .. 1,464.000) n ' 829 . 120 



Total. 863,827,974 



From this amount should be deducted : 



Reserve fund 50,898,872 



Outstanding loans 7,495,220 



Total. 



Debt not provided for 804,933,883 



The Japanese army in 1878 was composed 

 as follows : 



