For two hundred years that important nation had preserved its exclusiveness, and had become almost as unknown to the western nations as an undiscovered continent. Almost every commercial nation had, from time to time, attempted to secure a footing for a trading-post or a harbor for their vessels. In every instance they had failed, and the civilized world had looked upon Japan as a country sealed beyond hope of breaking. It must have appeared to every one, including the Commodore himself, that the undertaking in which he was engaged was an especially difficult enterprise. How could he hope to succeed where England, Portugal, Holland. Italy, and Russia had failed? Yet he succeeded beyond anything the most hopeful had desired; and as a result of his expedition a mighty nation and a fertile country were restored to the family of nations. [Illustration: PAGAN TEMPLE IN JAPAN.] In that expedition Mr. Taylor took a deep interest, and with great enthusiasm wrote letters to his home descriptive of Fusiyama, Kanagawa, and the scenery around Yeddo Bay. During the long delay made by the Japanese authorities, to impress the Commodore with their dignity, he was engaged with eye and ear and pen in the service of his country. With the devotion which marked all his undertakings, he noted everything which passed under his scrutiny, in order that the Commodore might be informed of every detail. Many travellers pass months at Yokohama, Yeddo, or Nagasaki, making investigations and excursions, without finding out so much of interest as Mr. Taylor saw in a single day. That natural and acquired acuteness of observation, and that intuitive comprehension which made him so conspicuous, are well worthy of study and imitation by all persons who are ambitious to excel, whether engaged in travelling or in any other occupation. So thoroughly had he disciplined himself in the inspection of all that surrounded him, that when he arrived in Japan, the ships, the junks, the people, their dress, their customs, their food, their language, the vegetation, the minerals, the animals, the birds, the landscapes, the bays, the promontories, the islands, the sea, the air, the sky, the stars, the wind, and the sunlight were each and all full of suggestions and valuable instruction. One could not follow Mr. Taylor’s writings in the closing years of his travels without becoming conscious of ignorance and short-sightedness concerning the commonest things of life. It made his readers feel, oftentimes, when they discovered how much he had noticed which they had overlooked, as boys feel when a playmate finds a silver dollar on a spot which they have passed and repassed without his good luck; with the difference, however, that Mr. Taylor’s good fortune in that respect was the result of hard work and careful culture.