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    EMPIRES AND EMPERORS
    OF RUSSIA, CHINA,
    KOREA, AND JAPAN




    EMPIRES AND EMPERORS
    OF RUSSIA, CHINA,
    KOREA, AND JAPAN

    NOTES AND RECOLLECTIONS
    BY MONSIGNOR
    COUNT VAY DE VAYA AND LUSKOD

    _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_

    NEW YORK
    E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY
    1906

[Illustration: _Monsignor The Count Vay de Vaya and Luskod._]




PREFACE


As the name of the author of this book may not be so well known to some
English readers as it is on the Continent, I have, at his request,
undertaken to write a few lines of introduction and preface.

Count Vay de Vaya and Luskod is a member of one of the oldest and most
distinguished families of Hungary. Ever since his ancestor took part
with King Stephen in the foundation of the Hungarian Kingdom, nine
hundred years ago, the members of his family, in succeeding generations,
have been eminent in the service of that state.

The Count studied at various European universities, and was destined for
the diplomatic service, but early in life he decided to take Holy Orders
and devote himself to the work of the Church.

In this capacity he attended the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in
1897 as one of the envoys of Pope Leo XIII.

The chief enterprise of his life, however, has been to study the work of
the Roman Catholic Church in all parts of the world--her missions,
charitable institutions, schools, and organizations of all kinds.

Few men have travelled so far and into such remote quarters as the Count
Vay de Vaya has, with this object. His position has secured for him
access to the leading and most accomplished circles wherever he has
been, and his linguistic attainments, as well as his wide personal
experience of men and affairs in every quarter of the globe, give him an
almost unique opportunity of describing and commenting on the countries
which he has visited--their people, rulers, and institutions.

Seldom has any region been subjected to such complete and revolutionary
changes as have the countries which he describes in the following pages.

Russia has been compelled to relax that grip on the Far East which
seemed to be permanently tightening and closing: at home she has been
subjected to a social upheaval which at one time threatened the existing
form of government and the throne itself. And for the first time we have
witnessed the triumph of an Asiatic race over one of the leading Powers
of Europe.

The substance of this volume was written in 1902 and the following year,
before any of these events had occurred, or were dreamed of, and this
may cause some of the details of the record to be a little out of date
historically; but the change, far from diminishing, has, on the whole,
probably increased its value to all thoughtful readers.

A few passages of comment and forecast have been added since the
occurrence of the war, but in the main the narrative remains as it was
originally written.

Japan, Korea, Manchuria, and the Siberian Railway have been described
over and over again, both during and since the war, but descriptions of
them on the eve of the outbreak may come with some freshness and enable
readers to compare what was yesterday with what is today.

And what has been changed in the "Unchanging East" bears but a very
small proportion to what remains the same in spite of wars and
revolutions.

I hope, therefore, that these first impressions of countries which, in
name at any rate, are far more familiar to the British public than they
were four or five years ago, may prove of great interest to many readers
in England and America.

The chapters on _The Tsar of all the Russias_, _The Reception at the
Summer Palace_, _The Audience of the Emperor of Korea_, and _The Mikado
and the Empress_, appeared in "Pearson's Magazine," and thanks are due
to the Editor for kind permission to reprint them. The chapters on
_Manchuria under Russian Rule_ first appeared in the "Revue des deux
Mondes," and those on _Japan and China in the Twentieth Century_ in the
"Deutsche Rundschau