Ui;\ IBW8 OF BEOBNT BOOKS 



upon the abdication of the Shogun. This took place in 



temple arranged for the purpose, the Osaka palace having 



,,,„,! in the civil war. The simplicity of the setting was 



,mund that the Mikado was in the field conducting 



mill us. 



The last of the Shogun's adherents having been overcome in the 



bj the imperial forces, the Mikado entered Tokyo on November 



26th, The procession was observed by the legation's staff. The 



black lacquered palanquin was surrounded by retainers and 



tin- was followed by his Prime Minister, Date, well known 



3a1 . . and then in a closed chair the Mikado himself. On 

 January 5th 1869 the Mikado gave audience to the British minister 

 and In':, staff in Tokyo. They were ushered into a dark room where 

 the Mikado sat under a canopy. His dress could hardly be dis- 



liahed, but his face artifically whitened shone out brightly from 

 the obscurity. The Prime Minister stood below on the right and read 

 tin- .Mikado's speech. Shortly after this audience Satow returned to 

 England for his first home leave. 



There are catalogues of the names of men whom the author met, 

 that mean little to the reader, except as he recognizes now and again 

 our who became known later in the public life of Japan. There are 

 details of feasts and drinking that weary the reader. There is some- 

 times obscurity of sequence; but one feels that Sir Ernest Satow 

 arned the right to tell us, in any way that he wishes, of this 

 interesting period of Japanese history, and that he has presented 

 rather modestly his part in the forming of official opinion that led 

 Japan to her present form of government. 



Shanghai, August 1, 1922. 



H. A. W. 



Hinduism and Buddhism. An Historical Sketch. By Sir Charles 



Eliot, H. M. Ambassador at Tokyo. 3 vols. London, Edward 



Arnold & Co. 1921. pp. civ. 343, 322, 513. £4 4s. 



To call a learned three volume work of this sort a mere "historical 



sketch" seems a trifle absurd, until one thinks of the vast area, in 



me and space, that is to be covered; so that it is impossible to give 



■'.on- than a sketch for any one country or period. For example, 



the mighty movement of Chinese Buddhism is described in some 



13 pages (about 40,000 words). Buddhism, in one form or another 



i made itself a home in all the countries of Central and Eastern 



I is a living religion after a history of 2,500 years. Hinduism, 



while more confirned in space, has an even longer historv. This 



