124 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



in 1789. It then consisted exclusively of the 

 members of the States General, all more or less 

 liberal or revolutionary, but of very different 

 shades of opinion. On the removal of the court 

 and national assembly to Paris this club began 

 to acquire importance. It now met in a hall of 

 the former Jacobin Convent in Paris, whence it 

 received the name of the Jacobin Club, which 

 was first given to it by its enemies, the name 

 which it adopted being that of the Society of ; 

 Friends of the Constitution. It now also ad- 

 mitted members who were not members of the 

 National Assembly, and held regular and public 

 sittings. It exercised a great influence over the j 

 agitation, of which the chief seat and focus was j 

 in the capital, and this influence was extended 

 over the whole country by affiliated societies. 

 Its power increased, until it became greater 

 than that of the National Assembly. It reached 

 the zenith of its power when the National Con- 

 vention met in September, 1792. The agitation 

 for the death of the king, the storm which de- 

 stroyed the Girondists, the excitement of the 

 lowest classes against the bourgeoisie or middle 

 classes, and the reign of terror over all France 

 were the work of the Jacobins. But the over- i 

 throw of Robespierre on the 9th Thermidor, 

 1794, gave also the death blow to the Jacobin j 

 Club; and on November 9, 1794, the Jacobin 

 Club closed. The term Jacobin is often em- 

 ployed to designate persons of extreme revolu- 

 tionary sentiments. 



Janizaries (Turkish, Jeni-tcheri, new 

 soldiers), an Ottoman infantry force, somewhat 

 analogous to the Roman praetorians, part of 

 them forming the guard of the sultan. They j 

 were originally organized about 1330, and sub- 

 sequently obtained special privileges, which in 

 time became dangerously great. The regular 

 janizaries once amounted to 60,000, but their 

 numbers were afterwards reduced to 25,000. 

 The irregular troops amounted to 300,000 or 

 400,000. Their power became so dangerous and 

 their insurrections so frequent that several unsuc- 

 cessful attempts were made to reform or disband j 

 them. At various times sultans had been de- ; 

 posed, insulted, and murdered by the insurgent 

 janizaries. At last, in June, 1826, they rebelled 

 on account of a proposal to form a new militia, 

 when the sultan, Mahmoud II. , having displayed j 

 the flag of the prophet, and being supported by ! 

 their aga or commander-in-chief, defeated the 

 rebels and burned their barracks, when 8,000 of 

 them perished in the flames. The corps was 

 abolished, and a curse laid upon the name. As j 

 many as 15,000 were executed, and fully 20,000 

 were banished. 



Japan. Although Japan has passed through 

 the successive eras of tribal government, pure 

 monarchy, feudalism, anarchy, and modem 

 empire, its ruling dynasty boasts of forty-six 

 centuries of unbroken succession, and claims 

 descent from Jimmu Ten no, first mikado, a \ 

 fabulous warrior, whose descent from the sun 

 goddess is a matter of faith with the Japanese, 

 who base upon it their claim of the mikado's 

 divinity. The empire claims to have had a 

 previous existence of 2,479 years; but its history 

 dates from Jimmu 667 B. C., and from his death 

 until 571 A. D. thirty-one mikados ruled; the, 



famous Yamato Dake and Sujin the Civilizer 

 belong to this period. Jingu Kogo, Empress of 

 Japan. L'70 A. 1)., conquered Corea in person. 

 In .").")L ) A. 1). Buddhism was introduced into 

 Japan, and thenceforth became a potent influ- 

 ence in the formation of character. About this 

 time a succession of infant mikados contributed 

 to loss of power in the mikadoate, and to the 

 formation of noble families, who, one by one, 

 gained ascendency, and ruled the mikados; the 

 feudal system began its existence, and feuds 

 between the rival families were constant. The 

 Fuji warm family were opposed by the Suga- 

 wara, and succeeded by the Tairas and Mina- 

 motos. In 1 184, Yoritomo became first shogun, 

 (a term meaning general), the dual system of 

 government, which ended only in 1867, began, 

 and the shogunate monopolized the real power 

 of the nation, of which the mikado was nominal 

 and spiritual head. From 1199 to 1333 both 

 the mikadoate and the shogunate were under 

 the power of the Hojo family, who set up and 

 removed rulers at their own pleasure; but they 

 promoted the arts, and defeated an invasion of 

 the Mongol Tartars. The Ashi-Kaga family 

 next came into power, and occasioned a fifty-six 

 years' war between the northern and southern 

 dynasties, and strengthened feudalism at the 

 time when all Europe was throwing off its 

 chains. In 1536, Hideyoshi conquered the 

 Coreans, and brought marine architecture to a 

 higher state of perfection; he became taiko, 

 and this period is called the age of taiko. In 

 1542, Europeans landed on Tanigashima; fire- 

 arms were introduced, Portuguese merchants 

 were attracted, and in 1549, Francis Xavier 

 landed, and with an interpreter preached Chris- 

 tianity in various parts of the empire ; he paved 

 the way for the success of others, and priests 

 and Jesuits flocked to Japan, when a total of 

 600,000 converts was recorded. Wabunaga 

 protected the Christians, as the latter persecuted 

 the Buddhists, whom he hated; but by intrigues 

 and quarrels among themselves the priests 

 alienated the support of the shogun, who perse- 

 cuted the native Christians. The Jesuits stirred 

 them up to resistance, and after a brief battle 

 between Hede"yori, leader of the Christians, and 

 lyesayu; during which 100,000 men perished, 

 the priests were exiled from Japan, 1615. In 

 1624 all foreigners except the Dutch and Chinese 

 were banished from Japan, the Japanese were 

 forbidden to leave the country, and all larger 

 vessels were destroyed. In 1637 the great mas- 

 sacre of Christians began, the twenty or less 

 Dutch traders were confined to the island of 

 Deshima, and 100 years' intercourse with Chris- 

 tian nations resulted only in the adoption of 

 gunpowder, fire-arms, and tobacco. For two 

 centuries and a half after Iye"sayii, Japan had 

 peace; feudalism and anarchy were perfected, 

 and the Tokugawa was the most prominent of a 

 number of families who divided Japan; the 

 power of the shogun increased, the last four 

 rulers of the shogunate being known to Euro- 

 peans under the title of "Tycoon." In 1853, 

 Commodore Perry, with a fleet of American 

 vessels, arrived at Yeddo, and the Perry treaty 

 with the United States was concluded by him 

 with the supreme ruler of Japan. This usurpa- 



