Arena magazine - Volume 04 . c nations. doubtfulness as to their adaptability to the representa-tive form of government. We shall try to answer theseobjections in the above order. I. If it be argued that the Asiatic people are conspicu-ously characterized by the conservative spirit, that they seemwell satisfied with their present social and political organi-zations, such as they are, it must be remembered at the sametime, that this was also the appearance which the Frenchpeople presented, before their attention was called to thepolitical superiority of England. In general, says Lecky,
Arena magazine - Volume 04 . c nations. doubtfulness as to their adaptability to the representa-tive form of government. We shall try to answer theseobjections in the above order. I. If it be argued that the Asiatic people are conspicu-ously characterized by the conservative spirit, that they seemwell satisfied with their present social and political organi-zations, such as they are, it must be remembered at the sametime, that this was also the appearance which the Frenchpeople presented, before their attention was called to thepolitical superiority of England. In general, says Lecky, there runs through the great French literature of the seven-teenth century a profound content with the existing order inChurch and State, an entire absence of the spirit of disquiet,scepticism, and innovation that leads to organic change. * That the conservative spirit and the seeming contentmentof some of the Asiatic nations are not in themselves forces * Leckys History of England, Vol. V., p. 301. 440 Digitized by VjiOOQlC. Digitized by VjOOQIC Digitized by VjOOQIC CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT IN JAPAN. 441 strong enough, when the tiriie comes, to dispel the charm,as it were, possessed by the theory of representative govern-ment, that in short, conservatism is no match for progress,as such a movement is popularly called, can be illustratedby the history, not of the European , but ofsome Asiatic nations themselves. To the general conserva-tive tendency of Asia, Japan was no exception until abouttwenty-five years ago. No rational being would have then•believed that in the course of a few years, Japan wouldbecome one of the most progressive nations on the face ofthe earth. The revolution of 1867, from which the birth ofNew Japan is dated, was originally a dispute between theMikado and the Shogun for the de facto sovereignty, andnot the struggle of the lower classes to rise to political emi-nence. The tottering dynasty of the Shoguns came to anend, not because they we
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