254 WEAKNESS OF GOVERNMENT. Chap. XV. 
wink — or whether he did or no, if they thought 
it a thing that would please him when it was 
dune.” 
In a country like Japan, where every one acts 
as a spy upon his neighbour, it seems absurd to 
suppose that the Government was unable to find 
out the instigator of the attack on H. B. Majesty’s 
Legation. Whether it durst denounce and punish 
was a very different matter, and extremely doubt- 
ful. Instead of being at once united and power- 
ful, as it was at one time supposed to he, it 
resembles that of the Scottish kings in the feudal 
ages, when a combination of the powerful clans 
could always embarrass or overturn the Govern- 
ment. In addition to this, some of the Daimios 
would seem to derive their honours and offices 
direct from the Mikado, or Spiritual Emperor, and 
to be, to a certain extent, independent of the Ty- 
coon. These, by way of fomenting troubles, ply 
the Mikado’s court with disturbing rumours to the 
disadvantage of the rival but confessedly subordi- 
nate court at Yedo ; and keep up the smouldering 
embers of a still possible explosion in the renewal 
of the old struggles between the true sovereign 
and the usurping General-in-chief, each backed by 
their partizans amongst the Daimios.* This, 
therefore, is another element of weakness in the 
Government of Japan. We may, therefore, easily 
suppose that the Government well knew the insti- 
