organism--received no impetus for self-development. But as soon as a
formidable people, either as allies or foes, appeared on the scene in
1853, we immediately see the remarkable change in the state system of
regulation in Japan. It became necessary to consult public opinion.
Councils of Kuges and Daimios and meetings of Samurai sprung forth
spontaneously.

I believe, with Guizot, that the germ of representative government was
not necessarily "in the woods of Germany," as Montesquieu asserts,
or in the Witenagemot of England; that the glory of having a free
government is not necessarily confined to the Aryan family or to its
more favored branch, the Anglo-Saxons. I believe that the seed of
representative government is implanted in the very nature of human
society and of the human mind. When the human mind and the social
organism reach a certain stage of development, when they are placed in
such an environment as to call forth a united and harmonious action
of the body politic, when education is diffused among the masses
and every member of the community attains a certain degree of his
individuality and importance, when the military form of society
transforms itself into the industrial, then the representative idea of
government springs forth naturally and irresistibly. And no tyrant, no
despot, can obstruct the triumphal march of liberty.

Whatever may be said about the soundness of the above speculation, it
is certain that in the great councils of Kuges and Daimios and in the
discussions of the Samurai, which the advent of the foreigners called
into being, lay the germ of the future constitutional parliament of
Japan.