PAST AND PRESENT. 211 



that took place a few years ago did not add to the com- 

 fort, happiness, or well-being of the poorer classes, the 

 small farmer, or the great mass of fishermen. Formerly, 

 although the numerous princes were really absolute in 

 their own territory, yet they were not harsh on their 

 people. Taxing was in kind, and regulated by the amount 

 of crop. Now it is fixed, and in money. For example, 

 as to the amount. A small cluster of houses I knew, 

 situated on a wild mountain side, and numbering 

 twenty men and three women — a very unusual propor- 

 tion of the sexes amongst the Japanese, — paid forty 

 doUars a year. Few more extraordinary things of the 

 kind have ever happened than the sudden change 

 in the constitution which took place in this country. 

 It was certainly very like taking a plunge in the dark. 

 It is equally wonderful how well it has answered. The 

 great nobles whose dignities had been handed down to 

 them from unknown generations at once gave up every- 

 thing — their territories, their position, their unbounded 

 power, their wealth, and consented to become pensioners, 

 many of them taking to semi-detached European houses 

 about the skirts of Yedo, and there living contentedly, 

 dressing in European clothes, driving pony carriages 

 about the streets, smoking wretchedly cheap cigars, and 

 giving croquet parties and five o'clock tea. Some of 



