A treaty, closing the Chino-Japanese War, signed April 10, 1895. China agreed to cede to Japan Formosa, the Pescadores and the Liao-Tung Peninsula, including Port Arthur, and to pay an indemnity of 200 million taels. However, Russia, France and Germany intervened and forced Japan to surrender the Liao-Tung peninsula, receiving as compensation an additional 30 million taels. Shinto. The ancient and also the State religion of Japan. It is in its origin a form of ancestor and hero worship, but has been much corrupted by the interweaving of many of the grosser Buddhistic superstitions. Ship-money. A tax imposed by Charles I in 1634, first on the maritime counties, but later on the whole kingdom, ostensibly to protect the country from the incursions of the Algerine pirates and from Dutch aggression, but in reality to provide himself with funds without having recourse to Parliament. It was in resisting the payment of this tax that Hampden first became prominent. The House of Commons declared it illegal in 1641, and at the same time impeached the six judges who had pronounced in favour of the right of the Crown to impose it. Shôgun. The _de facto_ ruler of Japan prior to the Revolution of 1868. The title signifies Commander-in-Chief, and his relations with the Tenno or Mikado, the legitimate sovereign of Japan, were analogous to those of the Maire du Palais and the Merovingian Rois Fainéants. The title of Tycoon or Great Prince was assumed by the Shôgun to impress the Western nations with his dignity when diplomatic relations were first opened with Japan. The title of Shôgun was first borne by Minamoto-no-Yoritomo in 1192. Short Parliament. A Parliament summoned by Charles I in 1640 in the hope of obtaining supplies to meet the threatened renewal of hostilities with Scotland. The Parliament met on April 13, but finding it more intent on the redress of grievances than on the grant of supplies, Charles dissolved it on May 5 following. Short-lived Administration. The name given to the Ministry formed by William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, in February, 1746. It held office for two days only. Sicilian Vespers. A rising in Sicily in 1282, when the adherents of Don Pedro of Aragon, a claimant to the Sicilian throne, annihilated the French garrison of his rival Charles of Anjou. The first outbreak took place at Palermo, and the insurrection spread rapidly through the island till not a Frenchman was left alive in Sicily. Sick Man of the East. A phrase commonly applied to the Turkish Empire. It was first used in its present form by Nicholas I of Russia in 1854, but Montesquieu (1689-1755) in the _Lettres Persanes_ speaks of the Ottoman Empire as “Ce corps malade” (This sickly body). Siebenkonkordat. _See_ Seven Cantons. Siete Partidas. The famous code of laws compiled by Alfonso (surnamed the Wise), of Leon and Castille (1252-82). The code became the basis of the law of Spain. Sieve Oultagh.