ed, but his enlightenment
bore some fruit, for immediately afterwards the Bakufu prime minister
made a journey along the coasts of the empire to select points for
the erection of fortifications, and to encourage the feudatories to
take steps for guarding these important positions.

FOREIGN LITERATURE

It has already been stated that in the days of the shogun Yoshimune
(1716-1745) the veto against studying foreign books was removed. But
for some time this liberal measure produced no practical effect,
since there did not exist even a Dutch-Japanese vocabulary to open
the pages of foreign literature for Japanese study. Indeed, very few
books were procurable from the Dutch at Deshima. The most accessible
were treatises on medicine and anatomy, and the illustrations in
these volumes served as a guide for interpreting their contents.
Earnestness well-nigh incredible was shown by Japanese students in
deciphering the strange terms, and presently the country was placed
in possession of The History of Russia, Notes on the Northern
Islands, Universal Geography, A Compendium of Dutch Literature,
Treatises on the Art of Translation, a Dutch-Japanese Dictionary and
so forth, the immediate result being a nascent public conviction of
the necessity of opening the country,--a conviction which, though not
widely held, contributed materially to the ultimate fall of the
Bakufu.

The Yedo Court, however, clung tenaciously to its hereditary
conservatism. Thus, in 1825, the Bakufu issued a general order that
any foreign vessel coming within range of the coast batteries should
at once be fired upon, and not until 1842 was this harsh command
modified in the sense that a ship driven into a Japanese port by
stress of weather might be given food, water, and provisions, but
should be warned to resume her voyage immediately. Meanwhile,
strenuous efforts were made to strengthen the littoral defences, and
a very active revival of the study of the military art took place
throughout the empire, though, at the same time, the number of
patriots sufficiently brave and clear-sighted to condemn the policy
of seclusion grew steadily.

ENGRAVING: "OHARAME" (A FEMALE LABOURER IN THE SUBURBS OF KYOTO)

ENGRAVING: TWO DRUMS AND TSUZUMI--A and D are Drums; B and C are
Tsuzumi.

CHAPTER XLV

FOREIGN RELATIONS AND THE DECLINE OF THE TOKUGAWA: (Continued)

THE TWELFTH SHOGUN, IEYOSHI (1838-1853)

FROM the period of this shogun the strength of the Baku