* * * * *

The passage in the tale which speaks of rank being purchased for the
foxes at the court of the Mikado is, of course, a piece of nonsense.
"The saints who are worshipped in Japan," writes a native authority,
"are men who, in the remote ages, when the country was developing
itself, were sages, and by their great and virtuous deeds having earned
the gratitude of future generations, received divine honours after their
death. How can the Son of Heaven, who is the father and mother of his
people, turn dealer in ranks and honours? If rank were a matter of
barter, it would cease to be a reward to the virtuous."

All matters connected with the shrines of the Shintô, or indigenous
religion, are confided to the superintendence of the families of Yoshida
and Fushimi, Kugés or nobles of the Mikado's court at Kiyôto. The
affairs of the Buddhist or imported religion are under the care of the
family of Kanjuji. As it is necessary that those who as priests perform
the honourable office of serving the gods should be persons of some
standing, a certain small rank is procured for them through the
intervention of the representatives of the above noble families, who, on
the issuing of the required patent, receive as their perquisite a fee,
which, although insignificant in itself, is yet of importance to the
poor Kugés, whose penniless condition forms a great contrast to the
wealth of their inferiors in rank, the Daimios. I believe that this is
the only case in which rank can be bought or sold in Japan. In China, on
the contrary, in spite of what has been written by Meadows and other
admirers of the examination system, a man can be what he pleases by
paying for it; and the coveted button, which is nominally the reward of
learning and ability, is more often the prize of wealthy ignorance.