Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, & Co. had put them in the way of study: till fresh orders were received, they could not reship them for any port. This was a serious rebuff. But the two young Japanese had grown accustomed to rebuffs, and had already formed a habit of disregarding them. Their beloved prince was in peril, their country was in danger; they had but one duty to perform, which was with the least possible delay to return to their rescue. Since there were no other means of obtaining a passage, they, profiting by their experience on the Pegasus, shipped before the mast as common seamen, and, making the long voyage by the Cape of Good Hope, reached Shanghai in safety.

The next thing was to get to Japan, an enterprise even more difficult than the journey from Europe to Asia. They shrewdly suspected that the British Minister at Pekin would gladly accept their good offices in furthering the settlement of the difficulties their hot-headed prince had created. They appealed personally and directly to Sir Rutherford Alcock; told him of their conviction of the utter uselessness of the Prince of Chosiu's kicking against the pricks, and of their urgent desire to come face to face with him, and report the result of their observations in England.

The British Minister, touched by this mixture of simplicity and shrewdness, ordered Admiral Keppel, then in command of the British fleet in the Chinese seas, to land them as near the camp of the prince their master as was practicable. As soon as they got ashore they hastened to the prince, earnestly besought him to desist from a hopeless conflict, and in part succeeded in stopping him in his mad career. But they were more truly representatives of Japanese opinion when, eight months earlier, they had left the country in search of means to trample on the foreigner. The prince himself was helpless to stem the course events were taking. He had raised a spectre which he could not lay at will. As for the new and unexpected emissaries of peace, it fared hardly with them. Ito had to hide himself from popular indignation; Inouyé, falling into the hands of the angered samurai, was slashed, hacked, and left for dead by the roadside. He had just sufficient strength to crawl to his mother's house, where he was nursed back to life and carefully hidden. But to this day he bears on his face a memento of the terrible night.

Within four years of these events the inevitable end had come. The power of the Tycoon had crumbled to pieces. The

Mikado was restored to actual authority; the feudal system which had brought about this result in its turn miraculously melted away; and after a transformation scene the like of which has never before been enacted in the history of the world, Japan found itself under something approaching to constitutional government. In the growth of popular liberty, and, concomitantly, of national prosperity, which has since invigorated Japan, the hapless sailor apprentices have borne the principal share. The lessons they learned in Gower Street in 1864 have not faded from

their memory. Abandoning all notions of conquering England, they determined as far as possible to imitate her. They have introduced into Japan railways, telegraphs, a postal service, and a thorough system of education. The dream of their early youth has been realized to the extent that Japan now has a navy of first-class ships, though their guns are not loaded to keep off foreigners. On the contrary, foreigners are welcomed throughout Japan, and foreign trade flourishes at half a dozen open ports.

The policy of the present Government, of which Mr. Ito and Mr. Inouyé are the founders and the sustaining forces, is deliberately and persistently directed towards extending this

VOL. II.

22

chase of a loaf of bread would not be impeded by his ignorance of the language. He need not speak a word. He had only to enter the shop, take up a loaf, put down the money, and the transaction was closed. He took up a loaf, when it occurred to him that he did not know how much to pay for it. He had never bought a quartern loaf before, and could not even guess at its price. It might be one dollar, or less; it might be two dollars, or even three. He did not like to offer too little. Of course if he gave too much the man would give him the change. So he put down the three dollars. I am sorry and ashamed to say say that the baker, after looking at him and clinking the coins to test the goodness of the silver, swept them all into the till, and Inouyé, with a sinking heart, left the shop. He had got a loaf of bread, but in the heart of this big and pitiless city he and his comrade were penniless.

A new trouble beset him when he left the shop. He had taken the bearings of the ship as carefully as he could, but he had not walked far before he discovered that he had lost his way. For hours he walked about, faint with hunger, fatigue, and fear. Ito was hungry too, and till he came to him he would not break bread. At last, when it was growing

dusk, he happened to turn into the dock, and found Ito almost in a state of desperation on his account. The two sat down in the empty forecastle, and ate their bread with a mighty content. The next day a messenger from Jardine, Matheson, & Co.'s rescued them. Lodgings were provided for them in Gower Street, and they had plenty of money at their command. This they used in prosecuting those inquiries which were the object of their expedition. They were keen-eyed young men, and were not long in discovering how ludicrously slight was the foundation on which they had built their lofty hopes. The invincible power of England, which had dawned upon them during their voyage up the Thames, grew with every day's residence in the country.

At the end of three months news came from Japan which greatly added to their trouble. The Prince of Chosiu - perhaps incited by the knowledge that he had five secret emissaries in the enemy's camp, who would presently possess themselves of the talisman of England's power- had kicked over the traces. He had closed the Straits of Shimonoseki against British ships, and had threatened to fire upon any that came within range of his guns. The Tycoon had solemnly rebuked him, and he had defied the Tycoon.