were manufactured in Japan, only the heavy castings, the rails and the engines being brought from Great Britain. The telephone and the electric light were now seen in the large cities, and four cables connected the island empire with the Asiatic mainland. Already the Japan Mail Shipping Company employed a large fleet of steamships and sailing vessels in their coasting trade and passenger lines. We add that, in 1885, the Postal Department forwarded nearly 100,000,000 letters and packages. The Japanese had, for some time, recognized that education is the basis of progress, and that their efforts for intellectual advancement were seriously impeded by their use of the Chinese graphic system. They perceived that what they needed most of all was an alphabet. In 1884, the Roma-ji-Kai, or Roman Letter Association, was formed in Tokio, and, within two years, had 6,000 members, native and foreign. As their name implies, their purpose was to supplant the Chinese character and native syllabary by the Roman alphabet, as the vehicle of Japanese thought. It was demonstrated that all possible sounds and vocal combinations could be expressed by using twenty-two Roman letters. It was further proved that, by means of the Roman alphabet, a child could learn to read the colloquial and book language in one-tenth of the time formerly required. Scarcely was the Roman Letter Association under way than it printed a newspaper, edited text-books, and transliterated popular and classic texts in the appropriate characters of the Roman alphabet. By an imperial decree, issued in November, 1884, the English language was made part of the order of study in the common schools. Meanwhile, the progress of Christianity acquired considerable momentum. Not only were many converts made by Catholic missionaries, but, by the end of 1885, there were 200 Protestant churches, with a membership of over 13,000. In December, 1885, the Mikado’s Cabinet was reorganized, and, during the next four years, Ito and Inouye were the principal molders of the national policy. In April, 1888, a new body called the Privy Council was created, of which Ito became President, while Kuroda filled the position of Prime Minister. In this body, active debate upon the forthcoming Constitution began in May of the year last-named, and proceeded until February 11, 1889, when the long-awaited instrument was proclaimed. Exactly thirty-five years after the American treaty-ships appeared in sight of Idzu, the Mikado, Mutsuhito, took oath to maintain the government according to the Constitution, the documents defining which he, before an audience of nobles, officials and foreign envoys, handed to Kuroda, the principal Minister of State. On this occasion, for the first time in Japan’s history, the Emperor rode beside the Empress in public. The one blot upon the record of the day was the assassination of the Minister of Education, Arinori Mori, by a Shintoist fanatic.