CHAPTER XI

THE HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE CONTINUED

The history of Japan, during the two and a half centuries after the death of Iyeyas, presents a continuous narrative of tranquillity and peace when contrasted with the stormy times which preceded that era. The laws which Iyeyas made, and the steps which he took, seem to have brought about the end which he had in view; namely, establishing his own family as _de facto_ rulers of the empire, and placing them upon a seat which should be too strong for any rival to overthrow.

The peace which was so happily granted to the empire was so perfect and of such duration that in the year 1806 a great national festival was held, when the nobles and people congratulated the Emperor upon what was an unprecedented fact in the history of Japan, and indeed it may be said of any nation, an unbroken peace of nearly two hundred years.

The only subject of discord left behind him by Iyeyas at his death was the question of the treatment of the foreigner in his twofold capacity of trader and missionary. The foreigner, as a trader, Iyeyas wished to retain at his ports, in order that he himself might enjoy the benefits of trade, and keep himself acquainted with what was going on in the world around him. The foreigners, as proselytizing missionaries, bringing professions of peace and goodwill, but who seemed to be in reality preachers of sedition and organizers of rebellion, were not to be tolerated; and he came to the conclusion, that if any real peace was to be obtained for the country, it must be at the expense of the former. “Perish trade,” he said, “that my country may have the greater blessing of peace.” With the view of carrying out his plans, another edict was, in the year 1616, promulgated against the Roman Catholic religion, about which time the evidence of these fathers would lead to the belief that, “from Taikosama’s death, 1598, to the year 1614, the fathers of the Society baptized upward of 104,000; and what is more, in the first three years of the persecution, when the very pillars themselves began to shake, they converted 15,000 more. By this time the Jesuits had traversed the whole empire, and claimed converts, not only in Yedo, but in Oshiu (or Mootz) and Dewa to the extreme north. The province of Oshiu is separated from Dewa by a long chain of high mountains all covered with snow, and here it was that the poor exiled Christians lived, destitute of all human assistance. One of the Jesuits, moved with compassion at their misfortune, took a journey into that country, climbing up the hills over hideous precipices in deep snow. He visited privately the Christians that wrought in the mines, and confessed and communicated them. The same he did at the hospital of lepers, which happened to be at that time full of Christians.” This was, as we are told, done quietly, and by the assistance of converts; but, as heretofore, while some of the different orders of the Roman Church were disposed to keep quiet till better times should dawn, and carry on their ministrations in secret, as it were, others were still inclined to show a zeal without knowledge, and thus kept up the ardor of their enemies about the court. During the year 1626 Midzu no and Take naka were sent down to Nagasaki to examine into and report upon the state of the Christian religion; and the government, knowing that the Cross was the symbol of the faith, and an object of the highest reverence among the Christians, resolved to make the question of such reverence the shibboleth or test of the individual strength of faith. In 1636 orders were issued by government that every one in Nagasaki was to assemble each month for the purpose of standing upon, with the object of desecrating, a copper “ita,” or plate, with an engraven representation of the Christian criminal God--_i.e._, of our Saviour. This order was strictly carried out at Nagasaki, while another such plate was (and is) kept at Osaka for the purpose of testing suspected persons. This act of desecration is known as “Yayboomi,” and was carried out till the recent conclusion of treaties with Christian nations.

This last device of the government appears to have been successful in separating the Christian element from the heathen; but it terminated in a way which was, perhaps, not expected by the authorities; namely, in driving the poor Christians of the island of Kiusiu to band together, and ultimately in desperation to take up arms in their own defense. Had the Christians resorted to this _ultima ratio_ at first, instead of leaving it as the last card they had to play, the result of the game might have been different from what it turned out to be. Refusing to perform such an act of irreverence and desecration, they were obliged to fly to the hills and band together for the common object of protection. The numbers increased until they amounted to upward of 40,000 men. The most prominent leader among them appears to have been Massida shiro, fourth son of Jimbe, in Kobemura, in Hizen province; and he was assisted by two brothers, Oyano Kozayaymon and O. Kemmootz. These are probably the two brothers to whom Tavernier, the great Eastern traveler, alludes in an appendix to his work, when he mentions, on the authority of one Father Barr, who seems to have been in Japan at the time, that “none were more zealous or faithful to the Christians than the two lords of Ximo, Francis and Charles, sons of the lord of Buzen.”

The Roman Catholics who had been recently forced out of the city of Nagasaki and the town adjacent gathered themselves together under the command of Massida, and resolved to make a final stand in the island of Amacusa, at that time belonging to Terasawa, formerly governor of Nagasaki, and under the charge of his retainer Miako tobe. The first move of this Christian army was to seize the castle of Tomioka. This put them in possession of the island, after which the army crossed over to occupy the castle of Simabara, situated about twenty miles from Nagasaki, and meditated an attack upon that town. The movements of both parties seem to have been slow, as, after a delay of twelve months, the government issued orders to the Daimios of the island of Kiusiu to collect, equip and send forward an army under the command of Itakura Suwo no kami to besiege the castle and town of Simabara. Itakura, probably acting upon the advice of his augurs, the Buddhist priesthood, attacked the city upon the first day of the year, and was killed in the attempt, when the command devolved upon Matzdaira Idzu no kami, with Toda san mong and Matzdaira Sin saburo. After sustaining a siege of two months, and repelling several attacks, the Christians were at last overcome and the castle was taken. The whole of the persons found in the city--men, women, and children--were massacred, to the number of 31,000. The three leaders were taken, together with a woman, beheaded, and the heads put up on the gate of the Dutch factor’s house at Hirado. After the affair was over, the native accounts say that “the guns from Nagasaki were of great use, therefore he presented money.” The factor at the time appears to have been named Koekkebekker, and the statement that money was presented implies in the native account that it was given to the Dutch for the assistance derived from their cannon, which are said to have fired from a ship and a battery on shore 426 balls. A great deal has been made of this against the Dutch, as using their influence to extirpate Christianity from the empire; but when the guns were demanded by the Japanese, the Dutch factor was powerless to refuse.

A few native vessels were at this time permitted to trade with China, Hainan, Formosa, and Tonquin; and there must have been a considerable number of Japanese collected in Macao and its neighborhood, some probably traders or runaway sailors, others as refugees on account of religion, or as being educated for the priesthood. Up to a recent period the remains of a large building with a garden-wall were visible on the Lappa, opposite Macao, which was known to the Chinese as the “Yut pone lao,” or Japanese hall, now better known as the “Fan kwei lao,” or hall of the outer devils.

According to native history, in the year 1640 some of the “Jashiu mong” (one of the names by which the Roman Catholic sect was known in Japan) came to Kagosima in Satsuma. Orders were given to the inhabitants not to speak to and not to listen to these foreigners. Two officers, Kangatsume from Miako and Baba saburo from Nagasaki, were ordered to investigate and communicate the result. They found that “there were in one ship seventy-three men of this sect; of this number sixty were beheaded, and the remainder were sent to the islands.” This is the way in which native authors put the arrival and treatment of four Portuguese gentlemen who were sent as embassadors to Japan from Macao in order to endeavor if possible by a last stroke to reopen the trade which had been lost. The four gentlemen, with their suite and the crews of the vessels to the number of sixty men, were beheaded at Nagasaki, while the remaining thirteen were sent back to Macao to inform the authorities there of the treatment they had received. In the Cathedral of Macao may be seen a painting of the execution of these embassadors.

Deeply regretting the loss of the trade of Japan, and nothing daunted by the fate of these envoys, King John, upon ascending the throne of Portugal after the separation of the kingdom from the dominion of Spain, thought it a good opportunity to attempt to reopen negotiations; and with this view Don Gonzalo de Sequeyra was dispatched with two vessels and numerous presents to pave the way. He was, though more fortunate, not more successful than those envoys sent from Macao. By the accounts of native historians, “two black ships came to the island of Iwoga sima, south of Satsuma. They said they were all Nanbang men, and that there was not one Roman Catholic [priest?] among them. The captain said, ‘My country’s king is now changed. I have a dispatch from the new king, and I wish it to be forwarded as soon as convenient to Yedo.’” Inooyay and Yamagaki were sent from Yedo to make inquiries. They demanded that the powder and guns should first of all be given up, and then they would hear what the envoys had to say. The captain replied, “‘Trading is a matter which concerns all countries. If Japan does not choose to trade with us, that is her affair, but the guns and powder cannot be given up.’ Thereupon all the Daimios in the island of Kiusiu were ordered to hold themselves in readiness with men and boats. The name of the envoy was Kom sa aru,” etc., in which an attempt was made to write his name in Japanese sounds. He said he was a relative of the King of Portugal. Answer was sent down from Yedo to the effect that these ships had committed a serious offense, but that they should be dealt leniently with, and were to be ordered to leave the shores and not to return. After staying in all forty-three days, the two vessels departed. They had two captains and 400 men. The one was 156 feet long by 42 broad; the other was 144 feet long by 36 broad. Each vessel had 20 large guns. After this visit orders were given to the Kiusiu Daimios to have always in readiness a force of 55,000 men and 997 guard-boats for the protection of the coasts. In the year 1666 another edict was issued against the Roman Catholics, so that it would appear that some sparks of the faith were still lingering here and there, which the government feared might at any moment be fanned into flame.

In the year 1709, Abbé Sidotti, an Italian priest of good family, determined to devote himself to the cause, and to make another attempt to regain Japan to the Church of Rome. With difficulty he found a captain of a vessel trading at Manila, who agreed to put him ashore on some point of the coast, and there to leave him to his own resources. When off the coast of Satsuma a boat was lowered, and the abbé, with a few small coins in his pocket, was put on shore. The boat returned, and the ship sailed away. After a long interval, a report reached the Dutch factory, through Chinese, that the abbé had been taken and immured between two walls, and allowed to perish of hunger. But this has lately been disproved by the discovery of a full account of his arrest and examination, and detention about Yedo until his death, which does not appear to have taken place for many years. This was the last effort made by the Church of Rome to regain the footing she had lost.

Hidetada, the son and successor of Iyeyas, would seem not to have possessed the talents or firmness of his father, but he had the advantage of his father’s advice and assistance during the greater part of his rule. His son, Iyaymitz, when he was capable of ruling, and had come to the office of Shiogoon, found that the spirit of the Daimios had been softened by the long peace. The yoke of the Tokungawa family did not gall their necks, and they preferred peace and ease in the assured possession of their estates, to the risk and violence of wars and constant disturbance in the empire. Iyaymitz on more than one occasion visited the Emperor in Miako with great pomp, but a real or suspected attempt to assassinate him seems to have put a stop to these visits.

The year 1634 is given as the date at which the custom of the Daimios visiting Yedo on alternate years commenced. The Daimios coming to Yedo and returning from it are spoken of as Sankin and Kotai. The custom seems to have been long in use in Miako, but in a more temporary way, and simply as being a duty of each lord to visit and pay his respects at the imperial court once a year when they offered presents. This visit was by Iyeyas transferred to his court at Yedo and Soonpu; but it appears to have fallen into desuetude and irregularity during the life of Hidetada. But Iyaymitz, who was an able, proud, and precise ruler, found that his father had not been much respected by the Daimios, who still retained the recollection of the wars and prowess of Iyeyas; but in course of time these men were succeeded by their sons, who were of a more effeminate spirit, and had no such associations. Iyaymitz, taking advantage of this change, invited all the Daimios to visit him at Yedo, when he proposed rules for their visiting and residing at his court, to which they all agreed, swearing fealty, and signing the deed each with his own blood drawn from above the nail of the finger. A hall had been built on the Goteng yama, a rising-ground near Yedo, in which the Shiogoon was to meet the Daimios on their arrival; but under Iyaymitz the custom was discontinued and the ground made public.

During the same year, the “Court of Deliberation,” the Hio jo sho, was established in Yedo, with the view at the outset of investigating charges brought against Daimios. The Mayassu hako, or box for complaints, now standing in front of the Hio jo sho, was not placed there till the year 1721.

One Shiogoon after another succeeded to the throne, not always without suspicion of unfair means being used to hasten the conclusion of the reign. It is generally believed that Tsuna yoshi was killed by his wife when he was on the eve of proclaiming the son of Yanangi sawa, one of his ministers, his successor. The heir was Iyay nobuko, the son of the eldest son of Iyaymitz; the father, when a young man, having been sent to the castle of Kofoo under arrest on account of irregularity of conduct. In the year 1716, on the death of the infant Shiogoon, Iyay tsoongu, a difficulty occurred as to the succession, when Yoshi mone, who was of the royal house of Kii shiu, was selected by the Kokushu, on the recommendation of Eeyee kamong no kami, then Regent. Having abdicated in 1745, he died in 1751, and is reputed as one of the ablest and wisest of the Shiogoons of the dynasty. The next Shiogoon was Iyay hige; and during the rule of his successor, Iyay haru, about 1765, a common foot-soldier, Tanuma, rose to be chief minister, a position and power which he used not only to gratify his own evil propensities, but to disseminate the same corruption over the empire. Preventing all communications with the Shiogoon, he did what was right in his own eyes; forbade all persons to study; changed the laws; and devoted himself and the empire to debauchery. He was made a Daimio, and placed at the head of the Cabinet. A conspiracy formed against him failed, and the principal conspirators were beheaded; but he was at length put down by Matzdaira Etsjiu no kami, who published at this time the “Tenka hatto, mikka hatto,” or three days’ proclamation over the empire.

The Japanese are proud of and delight in the beautiful scenery of their country; and every one who has opportunity, including nearly all the inhabitants, male and female, makes a walking tour at some period of his life over the country, visiting the more remarkable temples, which are generally placed in favorable sites amid woods, and surrounded by fine forest-trees, the immediate precincts being kept with the most scrupulous care and nicety of gardening. Nowhere are the temples more magnificent or the scenery finer than about Miako; and it had been for long the custom for the Emperor to go out and visit some one of the temples in the neighborhood of Miako, and offer worship. In the year 1722 a day was set apart in spring, and again in autumn, on which the whole court should annually go out on a sort of gigantic picnic--the Emperor drawn in a car by oxen, and accompanied by all the Koongays--when they visit some of the temples most renowned for their sanctity or for the beauty of the grounds. This procession is called Miyuki or Gokowo. There are two gardens adjoining the palace in Miako, Shoongakuji and Katsura, which are said to be most exquisitely laid out and kept in beautiful order. The gardeners who have the charge of these gardens belong to a class or sect known as Gayra, a people who live apart by themselves in a few villages in the neighborhood of the capital. They are said to have kept themselves apart in customs and religion for many generations. In religion, they say there is but one God, and that all men below the Emperor are equal. They, as Quakers with us, will not use terms of respect to other men, such as “kudasare,” or call men by titles, as “sama,” similar to “esquire”; saying that they only adhere to old customs in so doing. They are themselves respected as being of old and pure descent, and their children are often selected by Koongays for adoption. They principally follow the occupation of gardeners, or that of breeders of horses.

In the year 1639, the Portuguese and Spaniards having been expelled, and the Dutch factory alone left at Hirado, the commissioner was ordered to remove his people and offices to the small factory on Desima, “the Outer Island,” at the head of the inlet of Nagasaki, and trade was prohibited at all other places in Japan, and to any other nation, with the exception of the Chinese.

In connection with the Dutch and their position on these seas, the pirate commonly known as Coxinga is worthy of notice. Koku seng ya, as he is known in Japanese history, was the son of a Chinese, Ching tsing lung (Tayshi rio in Japanese), by a Japanese woman. The father was for many years, as pirate and admiral, the terror of the Chinese seas. His son succeeded him in his former capacity, and reduced the coasts of China to such a state of terror and devastation, that an order was given, as a desperate remedy, that every person should remove into the interior to a distance of twelve miles from the shore, leaving the cities to decay and the fields to waste. In 1647 Coxinga went over to Japan, and offered his services to, or asked the assistance of, the government in an attack he meditated upon China; but his application was refused. He seems to have again applied to the government in 1658, when he turned his attention to the island of Formosa. A large number of Japanese converts had fled to this island, and the Dutch had built one or two forts with the view of protecting a trade which they hoped might grow up with China. In 1662 Coxinga attacked and captured the fort Zelandia, putting to death nearly all the Dutch soldiers, missionaries, and their wives and families. Only a few men and some of the young women were not killed. A curious but melancholy sigh is wafted over from this long-forgotten remnant of Dutch Christianity and civilization in a letter which was brought to Japan about the year 1711 by the captain of an English vessel who had touched at Formosa on his way out; and as the letter comes through a Japanese channel, there is no reason to doubt its authenticity. The captain, in answer to interrogations, says, “There is no war in Tonay [Formosa] now, and we have no trade there. The Dutch head man asked me to give the following letter to the Dutch commissioners in Nagasaki: ‘Please ask Japan to help us; we are now shut up as in a prison, and every day we weep. The names of the Dutch in Tonay are [here the names are given in Japanese]. I hear that this English vessel is going hence to Japan; therefore we take the opportunity of sending this letter to you. The Tonay country was seized many years ago; but we are still alive, but we are in a most miserable state. Please help us to return to our country. We pray you to speak to the Kogee [Kubosama].

“‘Signed by the head man Yohang Hoorohooro, and two others.

“‘There are ten women and several children here.’”

Nicolas Verburgh seems to have been the name of the officer in command of the fort at the time of its capture in 1662, and the signature, as written by a Japanese, closely corresponds to the pronunciation of the name, and Yohang may have been his son John. From the tenor of the letter it seems hardly possible to doubt but that these were some of the survivors of the Dutch captured in 1662; and if so, it is curious to have such a fact coming to light through Japanese informants, and melancholy to think of such a tedious captivity lightened up after fifty years by the hope of once more revisiting their home, and being redeemed from their never-ending misery.

The name of this English ship is not given, but native history tells us that the captain brought with him an exact copy of the treaty or letter signed by Iyeyas, traced upon paper, and expressed a wish to communicate with the Shiogoon at Yedo. A Dutch interpreter was sent to see if there were any Portuguese on board. The guns and muskets were taken ashore. There were eighty-four of a crew on board. The captain’s name was Sayemon Terohoo (Simon Drew?). The ship was 114 feet long by 27 broad. Then follows a list of articles on board--ammunition, which was taken charge of by the Japanese: Gunpowder, 35 tubs; balls, 660; leaden bullets, 2 tubs; iron bullets, 1 tub; small stone bullets, 8 tubs; matchlocks, 47; flint muskets, 23; spears, 24; swords, 339.

There were on board, as presents for the Shiogoon, “one fine English musket, double-barreled, 3 feet 3 inches in length; four muskets with very intricate and finely-made locks, besides eight others which cannot be used, but are very well made; and four molds for making balls.”

The cargo consisted of cotton, woolen and cotton cloth, furs, fragrant wood, chintz, scented water, quicksilver, looking glasses, tin, silk, crape, etc. The captain was interrogated as to his religion, as to the Portuguese, and as to a change he had made in the national flag which he sailed under, which he explained by saying that he was told the Japanese did not like the cross.

The Dutch had carried on their trade at the island of Hirado, where an extensive land-locked bay is pointed out as the harbor. They were ordered in 1639 to leave that port, and in future to resort to Nagasaki, where a small island, which was afterward connected by a bridge with the town, was appointed them as a place of residence and for trade, being about the same size as the factories at Canton occupied by foreigners till 1856.

Several attempts were made by other nations, at long intervals, to reopen a trade with the country; but it was thought by the Dutch to be their interest to oppose any such competition, and the Japanese themselves dreaded, with good cause, any renewal of the former state of things.

The national annals during the period which elapsed between the era of Iyeyas and the reopening of the country advert to a number of occurrences of temporary and local importance only. The comparatively trivial nature of these tends to bring out into relief the continued quiet and rest which the country has enjoyed under the form of government established by Iyeyas, and after all complications arising from dealings with other nations were forcibly put an end to by the expulsion of foreigners.

The Daimio Fkushima Massanori was banished in 1619 to the island of Hatchi jo for a series of cruelties practiced upon his family, his servants, and his people, which show that he was deranged; and his extensive territories, occupying three provinces, were confiscated.

In 1621 the Emperor married the daughter of the Shiogoon.

The temple of To yay zan was built in Yedo for the occupation of the high-priest, who is alluded to in the laws of Iyeyas as being appointed to fill that position as a near relative of the Emperor, and one whom the Shiogoon may place on the throne in case of rebels siding with the Emperor in opposition to the Shiogoon. He is the most illustrious personage in Yedo. The grounds are very beautiful, and formerly belonged to the family of Todo.

In the year 1631, about the month of November, it is curious to observe that the annals take notice of a prodigious number of ironstones having fallen from heaven, showing that the meteoric orbit has been crossing that of the earth as visibly two hundred years ago as it does now. This occurrence probably took place during the day, as at other times these meteors are spoken of as falling stars.

The aqueduct by which water is led from the Tamangawa to Yedo, and thence discharged into the castle and town by wooden pipes, was constructed in 1653. Proposals have been made at different times to substitute iron pipes, but the wooden ones still remain--a cause of constant expense to the government.

The burning of the palace at Miako, or of that at Yedo, is one of the most common occurrences in these annals. Titsingh gives a vivid description of a conflagration which occurred in 1788 in Miako, during which the attendants of the Emperor killed more than a thousand persons before he could be carried out of danger.

The government in Japan reserves the privilege of selling weights and scales guaranteed by mark and certified as correct. The weights as now used were settled in 1662.

In 1666 a new edict was issued against the Roman Catholic religion; and in 1668 an order was promulgated prohibiting any new Buddhist temples being erected. In all probability the Buddhist priesthood had been exalted by their victory over the Roman priesthood, and had again acquired so much power as to be once more threatening to disturb the equilibrium of the state. The zeal of individuals had perhaps been again endowing new and enriching old establishments, actuated by feelings with which the state powers did not wish to sympathize. Only four years before this edict, the enormous copper idol of Buddha at Miako had been melted down and coined into copper “cash,” and a wooden figure was substituted. If it be true, as is asserted, that it was three or four times the size of the figure of Dai boods, near Kamakura (at present existing in copper, and upward of forty-five feet in height), it must have been of considerable value in coin.

This edict against the erection of new temples is still in force in Japan, and while it is aided by a growing want of zeal in the hearts of the people, with a contempt for the priesthood, it may be broken through by the permission given to repair, or restore, or enlarge any temple already existing, however small it may be; and as a temple or shrine is standing upon nearly every knoll or eminence in Japan, there can be no difficulty, were the funds forthcoming, of raising such edifices as were raised of old by the zeal of fervent worshipers.

The Buddhist priesthood in 1720, by a great religious festival all over the empire, commemorated the eleventh centenary of the establishment of Buddhism.

The Japanese claim the discovery and settlement of the Bonin or Monin Islands in the year 1683. The name means “no men,” or uninhabited. Attempts were made to colonize the islands, but they seem to have failed; and some English and Americans, with Sandwich Islanders, male and female, succeeded them. But in 1862 the Japanese government fitted out a vessel and carried away all these adventurers, bringing them to Yokohama, and it seems to find the islands a convenient distance to which they can send vessels to train officers and men.

A work was commenced in 1786 which was expected to have proved of great advantage to Yedo. This was the cutting of a canal, and thereby joining several already existing channels, by which a through communication would have been opened up between Yedo, or the Bay of Yedo, and the Pacific Ocean on the east coast. The part of the province of Simosa between Yedo and the east coast is very low land, and it is generally believed that at one time the sea cut off the three provinces of Simosa, Kadsusa, and Awa, which then constituted a separate island; and that the detritus brought down, after a course of nearly two hundred miles, by the largest river in Japan, the Tonay, has filled up with alluvium the sea channel, leaving now only the passage for the fresh water of the river. In the course of the filling up, however, a large lake was left, the Een bang numa. About twenty miles above Yedo, the Tonay, coming down as one river from the Tonay district, divides into two. The one branch, receiving affluents from Hitatsi and the northern provinces, runs due east as the Bando taro, or “eldest son of Bando,” and enters the sea between Choshi and Itaku on the east coast. The other branch, running south, enters the sea to the east of the city of Yedo. The Okawa, or Great River, runs parallel with the Tonay, and passes through Yedo spanned by five bridges. Between the Okawa and Tonay, and running parallel to, and communicating by canals with both, is the Nakagawa or Middle River. By these cross canal communications the passage may be made from Yedo to the Pacific on the east, or to the northern provinces by running up to Seki Yedo, where the bifurcation takes place. It was proposed to deepen the lake, and cut through a passage from it into the Bay of Yedo.--The lower part of Yedo is so low that it is liable to be overflowed should the Tonay rise above its banks. To avert this danger, a large and important embankment, the Gongen do, has been made at Koori hashi. Should this give way, the whole of the lower parts of Yedo would be submerged, as happened, it is said, in 1844.

The town of Sakura first started the project, and commenced a canal, but did not finish the work. The Shiogoon, seeing the advantages of the proposed cut, ordered the Daimios to cut the remainder of this canal (of about fourteen miles in length), each cutting as his share about 360 feet. The work, which was immediately commenced, was in six months half completed, when orders were given to cease working at it. In 1843 the work was recommenced by orders of government, but when it was within three thousand yards of being finished it was again stopped, and it continues in that position to this day.

The river and canal communications in Japan are more ramified than the mountainous nature of the country would lead one to expect. It is said that Yedo might, by short canals, be put into water relations with Mito on the east coast and Negata on the north, as boats can go up the Tonay to Shimidzu, within eight miles of the navigable part of the Negata waters; while Miako might be joined by water to Tsurunga on the north and Owarri on the south. By private enterprise, in the year 1832, the Yodo ngawa between Miako and Osaka was deepened and improved by the removal of some rocks. It is said that the Katsura gawa, or Hozu kawa, now a large affluent of the Yodo gawa, formerly ran to the north through the province of Wakasa; but a private individual, Yodo yo, cut a channel by which this river now flows southward into the Osaka River. His family is permitted to levy tolls upon the new channel.

The occurrence of fearful convulsions of nature is one of the most remarkable circumstances in these annals; and it may be presumed that only the most severe are noticed. But recent observations go to show that almost every day there is an observable motion of the earth at Yokohama from subterranean causes. The native accounts of these, with drawings, give an appalling idea of the suddenness and the severity of earthquakes. In the year 1707 a very severe earthquake shook the whole of the southern part of the island of Nippon, and simultaneously from the side of the mountain Fusiyama [Fusi--literally “not two,” or none such] issued an eruption of volcanic matter. This eruption continued for fifteen days; and at Yedo, a distance of seventy miles, dust fell to the depth of two feet. Fusiyama had not given any appearance of volcanic action for centuries. The projection on the smooth outline of the hill on the northwestern side marks the place where this action took place, and is known as Ho yay zan. At the same time the volcano Assama yama, in Sinano, broke out into violent action, by which the two adjacent provinces were laid under lava or dust. The same mountain broke out again in 1783, and of the destruction done at that time Titsingh gives a fearful account. He gives details of an earthquake which occurred in 1793 at Simabara, during which a large portion of the mountain was swallowed up; and the boiling sulphurous springs of Onzen, memorable during the persecutions of the Christians, were dried up. The fear of the inhabitants was quickened by the recollection of the eruption of Assama yama, in Sinano, only ten years before. The inhabitants, with their houses, were engulfed in the openings of the earth; they were carried away by boiling water issuing from the hill; they were killed by falling stones and enormous rocks; they were surrounded and burned by streams of fiery lava; they were drowned by the stoppage of rivers. Some were found suspended from trees, some on their knees, some on their heads in mud, the streets strewed with dead bodies. The falling houses immediately took fire, and the unfortunate inmates were burned, or were confined prisoners. The outline of the coast was completely altered, and the country converted into a desert. A number of vessels were sunk at their anchors, and those which tried to get away could hardly do so from dead bodies and floating wood. Fifty-three thousand are known to have perished in this earthquake in a comparatively thinly populated district.

In 1828 a tremendous earthquake and volcanic eruption took place in the province of Etsingo, during which, at Nadatchi, a large mountain was engulfed and disappeared. This province seems to be entirely undermined by fire. The volcano Taka yama is called the entrance to hell. Oil springs from the ground. Combustible gas issues in such quantity as to be used for cooking and lighting, by simply inserting pipes in the ground. Phosphorescent appearances are seen in many parts. Soda is found in the province in large quantities. Here many flint arrow and spear heads have been found, exactly similar in shape to those found in Europe.

The frequency of these earthquakes is a reason for nearly all the habitations of man being built of wood; and by long experience builders have arrived at certain modes of building, by which the great danger of a house coming down upon the inmates is in many cases obviated. They seem to depend upon the roof for weight; and the piles upon which this heavy roof rests are not fixed firmly into the ground, but some of them are fixed slightly into a square framework of wood, laid on stone, while the others stand simply each upon the surface of a large, round, hard, water-rolled stone, which has been firmly imbedded in broken-down sandstone. By this means the snap of a sudden shock is avoided, and some slight motion is allowed. Whatever be the principle upon which these houses are erected, it is wonderful to see buildings, which seem to be put up in a shape the most ready to topple over upon the least motion, withstand the shocks of earthquakes for ages. There are pagodas in many parts of the country of seven and even nine stories high. At Kamakura is a temple with a narrow circular neck, above which the eaves of a square roof project to about ten feet on every side, resembling the projection of a Chinaman’s hat. If it could withstand the wind, it could never be expected to resist an earthquake; and yet it is said to be two hundred years old, and seems as sound as when it was built.

The annals do not disdain to mention the visits of the Emperor to witness theatrical exhibitions, or proceedings of the Shiogoon in quest of sport.

The Japanese appear to be very partial to the theater, and there seems in the nation an innate aptitude for such representation. But while the government regulates this, as it does every other branch of the amusements as well as the education of the people, actors as a class are looked upon as the lowest in the scale of society. The female parts are generally taken by boys.

Some companies go about the country composed entirely of boys or young children, none of whom are apparently upward of ten or twelve years of age. The people enjoy these very much, and will take their meals and sit all day watching the different acts, applauding vigorously at whatever they appreciate in acting, or what may amuse them in the play. Nothing seems to excite their feelings and evoke their applause more than a well-acted suicide by stabbing the abdomen. During the evenings many minor places of amusement are open, such as jugglers, marionettes, and tellers of stories. Wrestling by professionals is another spectacle which always draws a very large concourse of spectators, generally male; but women are on occasions to be seen viewing the maneuvers of the contest with the greatest interest. These spectacles have been well, though perhaps over, described by Commodore Perry. Besides these full-grown wrestlers, companies go about, having under tuition boys of from eight to twelve years of age, who wrestle with all the pomp and circumstance of their full-grown compeers. The same laws regulate the game under the formal umpire. A successful wrestler is hailed with loud applause; and under the influence of the excitement of the moment, money is frequently thrown to the conqueror, or for want of it men will throw their coats or napkins, which they afterward redeem.

The long peace subsequent to the time of Iyeyas, though unbroken by any national disturbance, was not wholly free from local events, which might, had they been fanned, have broken out in serious trouble. In 1837, Osaka and the neighborhood were disturbed by a rising which was instigated by an officer, Oshiwo, who, by the distribution of money and by placards, excited the people of the city against the authorities. During the riot, which may be said to have lasted only one day, nearly all the principal shops in Osaka were pillaged and burned. The ringleader escaped, but was afterward discovered, though he blew up the house in which he was hiding before he could be arrested. Notwithstanding that the government exercises such surveillance over the people, and that one-fourth of the community seem to be spies upon the remainder, risings of the people do occasionally take place. These riots are especially frequent in the provinces of Oomi, Sinano, and Kahi. In the latter, during 1838, a rebellion broke out which threatened to be somewhat more formidable than usual. Several high officers and many men on both sides were killed. In truth, in the province of Kahi (or Koshiu) the people are great politicians and unruly, and at the same time under some sort of volunteer organization. Officers are in general somewhat afraid of an appointment to the province, as the farmers are wealthy, and keep their servants well supplied with arms, which they teach them how to use. A strong force is always kept at Hatchioji, twenty-five miles from Yokohama on the road to Koshiu, as a protection to Yedo.

In the year 1701 an occurrence took place which terminated in a tragedy, and has ever since been one of the national tales of revenge, which, though it was confined to a few individuals, has conferred on them immortality, and the admiration of their countrymen as heroes. Assano, a Daimio from Ako, in the province of Harima, while within the precincts of the Shiogoon’s palace, was insulted by a Kokay of the name of Kira, when a quarrel and scuffle took place, during which Assano drew his sword. This was looked upon as such a heinous offense that he was ordered to kill himself, when the government confiscated his property, reducing his family and retainers to poverty. The retainers (known as Geeshi), exasperated by this severity, banded together for revenge, and forty-seven proceeded to the house of Kira, when a fight commenced, which was carried on during the whole night till the morning, by which time they were able to penetrate to his apartment and kill him. The whole forty-seven then proceeded in a regular and methodical manner to commit suicide. They are all buried at the temple of Sengakuji, near the temple first occupied by the British Legation.

In 1672 the powerful Lord of Sendai was put to death by his own servants. He also is memorable in Japanese story, but more on account of his baseness and cruelty, which he showed by a trait of character often chosen as a subject by native artists. Being a man given up to debauchery and the gratification of his passions, he became enamored of Takawo, the most beautiful courtesan of Yedo at the time. He wished her to accompany him to his castle in the north, but she refused. She had an aversion to him, but the offer of her weight in gold probably prevailed with her, or with those in whose possession she was, to give consent. He took her with him, and on the way to his castle, upon asking her if she was not happy, she replied that she was not, when in a rage he drew his sword and cut off her head.

The occasions upon which European vessels communicated with Japan during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries seem to have been few, and at long intervals. About 1637, Lord Waddell, with some ships, called in at Nagasaki, but was not allowed to communicate with the Dutch.

In 1673, 1768, 1791, 1793, 1796 and 1803, notices occur in the native annals of the visits of foreign vessels.

In 1808, the “Phaeton” frigate, under Captain Pellew, paid a visit to Nagasaki during the time when Holland was at war with England. According to native accounts, the captain wished to carry off the Dutch commissioner. For that purpose he landed his men (in a boat made of leather?), who displayed the usual playful habits of English sailors in a foreign town, “striking everybody, and breaking everything they could.” The Prince of Hizen was not on the spot; the governor of Nagasaki was quite unprepared; the Prince’s lieutenant proposed to burn the frigate by means of fire-boats, but the frigate sailed before any steps could be taken. The governor of the town, the Prince of Hizen, his lieutenant and the guards, are all said, by native accounts, to have committed suicide.

In 1813, during the time when Holland was absorbed by France, Sir Stamford Raffles sent a vessel from Java with a Dutch officer to take the place of the representative of Holland then at Nagasaki; but the man in possession was able to prevent his opponent landing, and held the place till he was relieved in 1817.

In 1829, the “Cyprus,” a vessel containing some convicts who had risen and murdered the crew, touched at Tanega. The “Morrison,” which communicated with Japan shortly after, heard of some foreigners who had landed on the island of Tanega and forcibly carried off cattle.

In 1846, American vessels came to Nagasaki to beg permission to trade, and in 1849 some English vessels touched at Uranga.

The native record of events concludes by stating that in 1858 treaties were concluded with five nations--American, English, Dutch, Russian, and Portuguese--and that silver boos were exchanged for dollars. That in 1859 the Regent, Ee Kamong no kami, was assassinated; and the following year was that year in the cycle in which, recurring once in sixty years, it is permitted to women to ascend Fusiyama.

The history of the empire is now brought down to a very important era, when relations with European nations are about to be reopened, but, in comparison with her past experience, at a great disadvantage to Japan, in so far as she had to meet foes greatly in advance of herself in the practical application of scientific investigation to the art of war, and when she allowed herself further to be outwitted in the diplomacy of treaty-making. The wars and animosities of European powers had for a long time drawn them away from the East and concentrated their attention nearer home; and the history of their withdrawal from the Eastern Seas is that of the struggle among European nations for the supremacy of the sea.

The English retired from Japan as a field of trade about the year 1623. The hatred of Holland to Spain and Portugal gave vigor to her efforts, and she drove their ships from the East, and remained in possession of the field, such as it was. By driving away competitors, however, the Dutch undermined their own position, and deprived themselves of support, moral as well as physical, and fell gradually into a position of contemptible dependence for the retention of a worthless trade.

France appears to have made a feeble attempt, at the time when Colbert was Minister, to open up a trade with Japan, under the advice probably of Francis Caron, who had been Dutch commissioner at Nagasaki. In Chardin’s Travels may be seen a letter addressed to the envoy, giving most minute instructions as to his conduct and treatment of the Japanese. Some of these might even be read with benefit by envoys of the present day. “You shall keep your finest clothes, and which you have never wore in Japan, as shall likewise those of your retainers, till you are brought to court, and till the day of your audience. As soon as you shall arrive there, you shall cause your retinue to provide themselves with little leather pumps and slippers. The floors of the houses are covered with tapestry in Japan, for which reason you must put off your shoes when you enter them, and have some without quarters that you may quit them with greater ease.”

The United States of America came late into the field in Japan, but it may be said that the national action toward Japan has had a wider cosmopolitan influence than any other act since the Declaration of Independence.

The opening up of China, and the enormous trade which followed in opium, silk, and treasure, caused by steam on the one hand and the discovery of gold in California on the other, together with the rapid advance in steam itself, all combined to force a traffic around Japan, and to place these islands on the very highway of commerce. It became every day more obvious that from one side or other, either from the English on the side of China, from the Russians on the north, or from America on the east, some attempt must be made before long to insist at least upon some measures of civil behavior, if not of genuine hospitality, being shown to vessels which required assistance, or which might be wrecked upon the coasts of Japan.

In 1846 an attempt was made by the United States government to endeavor to break down, if possible, the system of exclusion kept up by Japan by the dispatch of two vessels of war, under Commodore Biddle, with the view of feeling the way toward a better acquaintance with the country. The result was not satisfactory, the commodore having been grossly and perhaps intentionally insulted.

Mr. Fillmore, the President of the United States, determined to make another effort to break down the barrier, and to make such a display as should show the Japanese that he was to a certain extent in earnest, and at the same time prevent any recurrence of such conduct toward his envoy. It is needless to discuss whether the Dutch or the Russians had any claim to priority of action in the matter. Commodore Perry has endeavored to overthrow any such claims; but such great political steps are seldom the result of a sudden outburst of vigor--it was gradually approached from all sides. It was, as has been said, one of the effects of the great innovator, steam, with other concurring circumstances, such as the opening of China and California, and the conversion of the Pacific Ocean into a highway of commerce. The breaking-up by British troops of the sham of the Chinese as a military nation, no doubt opened the eyes of Western nations. Japan lay in the way. No nation had a better claim to ask it to relax its restrictions upon friendly grounds than America. No nation was, perhaps, better suited to carry out the diplomatic part of such a proposal, whether the character of its officers as individuals, or the generally peaceful professions on the part of the government, be looked at. There can, further, be little doubt but that the United States government was exceedingly fortunate or prudent in its choice of the man for the work. He had some acquaintance with Orientals learned in the school of China, and he brought this to bear practically upon his present work. He says he was convinced that, if he receded from any point which he had once gained, such would be considered as an advantage gained against him--that first-formed impressions among such people carry most weight--that with people of forms it is necessary to out-Herod Herod in assumed personal ostentation and personal consequence--that a diplomatist ought with such persons never to recognize any personal superiority, and ought always to keep aloof from conversation or intercourse with inferiors, and yet cultivate as far as possible a friendly disposition toward the people.

Commodore Perry left the President’s letter on July 8, 1863, for the consideration of the Japanese government. He returned in February, 1854, when the Japanese government returned for answer that they had decided to accede to the propositions of the President, and appointed five commissioners to treat with Perry. The treaty was signed at Yokohama, and ratifications were exchanged in February, 1855. Although the treaty was signed and the negotiations brought to a successful termination, this was not accomplished without difficulty and even danger, as, according to native accounts, a large force was collected on the hills overlooking Yokohama, under the command of different Daimios. These forces occupied about fifteen miles of ground between Fusisawa and Kawasaki to the number of a million of men (but numbers are indefinite in the East). They seem to have suffered a good deal from sickness while lying there, and were afterward the subjects of many jokes and caricatures. It was arranged that if any serious hitch took place, or any appearance of force was exhibited on the part of the Americans, a large bell was to sound, and other bells were to take up the signal, and a general combined attack was to be made. Idzu no Daikang volunteered to kill Perry with his own hand, so deeply does personal feeling enter into national questions in Japan; but this he was ordered not to attempt.

In 1854, during the Crimean war, Sir James Stirling, then admiral on the China station, with H.M.S. “Winchester” and a squadron, anchored in Nagasaki with the object of concluding a treaty with Japan. The last article of the treaty was to the effect that “no high officer coming after to Japan should ever have power to alter this treaty.” For this treaty the admiral received the thanks of the nation through the House of Commons. It may by some be thought a mistake not to have stood upon the old treaty given to England by Iyeyas in the seventeenth century, which would have been considered more binding upon the government and upon the empire than a treaty made when the position of the Shiogoon was once more being questioned.

These treaties were a step forward, but had this step not been followed up they would soon have become inoperative.

Mr. Townsend Harris was appointed consul for America at Simoda, and arrived there in 1856; and being in constant intercourse with the Japanese authorities, he concluded a convention by which further advantages were gained by the Americans. The Japanese government thought that if the further concessions brought no more trouble than what had resulted from the little opening already made, they might, without much danger, open the sluices a little more; and in 1858, Mr. Harris, after much negotiation, arranged the articles of a commercial treaty (based upon the treaties with China), which was signed by him and the Japanese commissioners upon July 29, 1858. After this was settled, Holland, Britain, Russia, and France concluded similar treaties.

The sound of the trumpets which had been blown to herald the approach of the American squadron to the shores of Japan had reached those shores long before the vessels themselves. The government was informed through the Dutch of the coming mission. The American government does not seem to have intended anything further than ostentatious display in the number and size of the vessels sent. They did not propose to follow up a refusal to open their doors, on the part of the Japanese, by any warlike operations. But the Japanese government does not appear to have been aware of this, and at the time they may have felt some doubts as to whether their late treatment of foreigners did not call for some display of power on the part of European nations. Commodore Biddle had been grossly insulted on board a vessel of war. The crew of one vessel had been very unkindly treated, and, according to native report, more than one vessel had recently been wrecked on the coasts of Japan, and the crews treated with severity until they died out. Until the squadron should arrive, the Japanese could take little or no action. But they waited with much anxiety the arrival of the expedition. It was considered as a most important event, fraught with much either of good or evil to the country--which was it to be?

There is a pamphlet, published in Yedo, which professes to give some account of the doings in Japan at this time, and which is interesting as showing the internal state of Japan at this most critical time in her history, and the feelings with which the proposed opening of the country was viewed by different political parties. The views of the Emperor are set forth; the daring acts of the Regent in support of his own position; the intrigues set on foot against him, ending in his assassination, and the subsequent train of events which followed thereon, and which have led to the overthrow of the Shiogoon’s position and the restoration of the Emperor to the power originally held in the imperial hands. The letters may appear to be tedious, but they show the working of the government more clearly perhaps than a simple description would do. The country was threatened with internal disturbance, and there were two parties divided upon the point of a successor to the Shiogoon, who was weakly in mind and body--worn out and epileptic. As leader of the one party was Ee Kamong no kami, the head of the Fudai Daimios, and having a certain right to be appointed Regent in case of necessity. He seems to have been a clever, bold man, to Western ideas unscrupulous in the means by which he attained his ends. At the head of the other party was Mito, one of the “three families,” hereditary vice-Shiogoon in Yedo, and connected by marriage with the families of the Emperor and the highest Koongays in Miako, and with the wealthiest Daimios--a shrewd, clever, scheming old man. What follows must be considered a mere imperfect sketch of what the pamphlet contains.

The name of the pamphlet is a play upon the name Mito, meaning Water-door--Midzu Kara Kori. “Water machines make,” or “A machine made at Mito.” The Regent (whose name, Ee, means “a well”) wished to take out, as with a bucket, the water in the well and divide it--_i.e._, to break down the power of Mito.

The pamphlet commences by stating by way of “contents” that the Regent sent Manabay Simosa no kami to Miako to seize Takatskasa, the highest officer of the empire, the Kwanbakku and his son Daifu dono, and Awata, a young relative of the Emperor, and at the time the head of the Buddhists--and that these high officers were all put into confinement, and that all this trouble had its origin at Mito. The source of the Tokungawa--_i.e._, the line of Iyeyas, or the government by the family of Iyeyas--is very clear, but this work will show how Mito tried to make it impure. The book was published in the spring of 1860. The name of the author is “Every one drunk.”

The anticipated arrival of the United States squadron was agitating the rulers of Japan, and parties were divided as to the reception which should be given it. There was probably some political source of discord besides this, connected more or less with the office of Shiogoon, which had fallen into the hands of an epileptic imbecile. It would appear that in 1854 letters were sent to all the Daimios and Ometskis, requiring them to give their opinions as to the reception which should be given to the squadron, and whether the Americans should be repelled by force, or whether a trial should be made of a limited intercourse with foreigners, under the impression that if it was not found to work satisfactorily the ports might again be closed, and the country might return to its old state of seclusion. The answers sent showed that they were divided into a large majority for repelling them, by force of arms if necessary, and a small minority who were for admitting foreigners to trade. All agreed that it was a question of peace or war, but many thought that whether it was to be the one or the other, no answer should be sent until time was obtained to put the shores and batteries into a state of defense. At present, they alleged, the coasts were weak and defenseless, and “if Japan does not conquer it will be a great disgrace, and the country will be defiled. But, high and low, all must be unanimous.” In the first place, it must be ascertained how many men each Daimio can muster, and the strength of each in guns, ammunition, etc. In 1854, in the tenth month, the Ometskis sent letters to all the Daimios to obtain information on this head.

In 1855, in the 9th month, the Shiogoon sent a commission to Mito, ordering him to put all the coasts of the country into a defensible condition. The care of the forts along the shore was to be committed to Mito. The forts and guns were to be examined. The Shiogoon wrote--“You have hitherto come to me three times every month, now I wish you to report to me every second day what is doing.”

From published documents, it appears by the Emperor’s own letter, 22d day of the 2d month, 1858, in corroboration of what is stated in the pamphlet quoted, “that this matter was discussed before him by the Kwanbakku (Koozio dono), the Taiko, or previous Kwanbakku (Takatskasa),[9] and the Tenso. It appears that the old Taiko pleaded as an excuse that he was unwell, but as the Mikado sent several times to command his attendance, he was obliged to come. At the conference the Taiko expressed an opinion contrary to that of the others, which had been given in favor of the course advocated by the Shiogoon. The Mikado was very angry” (with these others), “and it was with difficulty the Kwanbakku succeeded in pacifying him. On the 23d a document bearing the refusal of the Mikado to the treaty was written out. Then three officers went to the residence of Hotta, the Shiogoon’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs and Envoy to Miako, to obtain the Mikado’s consent to the American treaty, and informed him of the document hereunder. The messengers sent by (to?) the Mikado were afflicted, and shed tears because they did not succeed.”

The Mikado wrote to the Shiogoon: “23d, 2d mo., 1858.--It is difficult for us to grant you the approval you ask” (to the treaties). “For the honor of the name of the first Mikado it is impossible to agree to it.

“It is our duty to take care to tranquilize the minds of our people.

“The Shiogoon should gather every one’s opinion, from the three great houses to the humblest subject, and give me the result in writing.

“If it is necessary to ... conclude these treaties” (_i.e._, if it is impossible to go back from what has been done), “exception must be made of the country in the neighborhood of my imperial city, as we have already directed in our letter, 24th of the 12th month. [The opening of] Hiogo in Sitsu must be excepted if possible.

“The Mikado often considers that he is not safe in his palace at Miako, and he directs the Shiogoon to appoint some powerful Daimios to protect the imperial palace.

“You have thought it well to open the ports to foreigners, but you did not think that foreigners would entangle you with difficulties.

“We would know your opinion in this respect.”

This was evidently considered a refusal on the part of the Emperor to accede to the conclusion of a treaty. There is not much appearance of what is by a commentator called “puppetism” in the position of the Emperor when he, standing here almost alone in his council of bribed and intriguing officers, who were all in the pay of the Regent at Yedo, still manfully keeps them all at bay, and, assisted only by his faithful old minister the Taiko, whose attendance he is obliged to command, refuses to accede to the course of expediency pressed upon him by such meanness. He not only refuses, but he warns them from his lofty position of the pit which he foresees they are digging for themselves. The Taiko, probably for his conduct and words at this meeting, was put by the Regent in confinement in his own house, and was only released after the fall of this minister.

Then follows a document, a “Circular from the Shiogoon, the 6th month of 1858, by Kooze yamato no kami.

“The Mikado having been consulted by the Shiogoon’s government about the making of treaties with foreigners, he answered that the conclusion of that matter would distress him very much.

“Thereupon the Shiogoon requested all to send their written opinion upon the subject. Only a short time was required to gather every one’s opinion; but, in the meantime, some Russian and American men-of-war came here, bringing the news that in a short time English and French men-of-war would arrive here; that these two nations had fought and won many battles in China; that they would come here in the same warlike spirit, and it would be difficult for us to negotiate with them. The American embassador offered to us, that if we would make a temporary treaty with him, as soon as we should have signed and given him that treaty he would act as mediator between us and the French and English, and could save us from all difficulties.

“It was impossible for us to comply with this without consultation with the Mikado. However, Inoe Sinano no kami, fearing the immediate assault (or breaking out of a war), the results of which might be the same as in China, signed themselves, as men authorized to sign [this expression is somewhat suspicious], the American treaty at Kanagawa, which treaty was given up to the American embassador.

“Necessity compelled the Japanese to do this.

“The Mikado, on hearing of this, was much troubled, but to reassure him we told him we would fortify our shores.”

Then further follows a document written by several of the Koongays in Miako:

“At this time there are great changes taking place in our holy country in respect to foreigners. However, it is not for us ignorant people to judge, and for that reason we lately wrote twice to the Mikado. We hoped that he would consider the subject.

“We write to him once more. Since the time of Tensio dai jin the country has been to the present time sublime and flourishing; but friendship with foreigners will be a stain upon it, and an insult to the first Mikado (Zinmu). It will be an everlasting shame for the country to be afraid of those foreigners, and for us to bear patiently their arbitrary and rough manners; and the time will come when we shall be subservient to them. This is the fault of the dynasty of the Shiogoon. It is reported that the Shiogoon has sent to Miako to consult the Mikado about the treaties, but it is impossible to believe it. Hotta will return to Yedo and say that the Mikado has consented to give him a secret authorization, and he will thus induce the other Daimios to follow the party of the Shiogoon. The Shiogoon thus disturbs peace. If foreigners come to our country they will loudly proclaim the mutual benefits that trade will produce, but at home they will think only of vile profit; and when we shall refuse to comply with all their wishes, they will threaten us with their artillery and men-of-war. They intend to take Japan, and to effect this will resort to any kind of deep scheme in their negotiations. It is earnestly wished that the Mikado order that the Daimios from the ‘three families’ to the lowest give their vote upon the subject.” The Daimios gave their vote, and they were generally in favor of exclusion of foreign nations, and of adhering to their old way.

In 1857, on the 28th day of the 12th month, Hino came to Yedo from Miako, as bearer of a letter from the Emperor addressed to the Shiogoon.

“Your duty is to act as Shiogoon; and yet you, being Se i dai Shiogoon [barbarian-quelling commander-in-chief], are unable to perform your duties. You ought to know what the duties of that office are, and yet our foreign enemies (eeteki) you are unable to punish. You have many high officers with you, and this matter is one of the utmost importance; therefore I wish you to come as soon as you can to Miako. If you are unable to come on account of the business of the empire, then you must dispatch some able and experienced officers, that I may hear myself what is doing. At the present moment all Daimio, Shomio and Shonin (people) are in perplexity. Why is this? It is because the business of the Shiogoon office does not go straight. On this account I have every day great trouble, and therefore I have commanded Koojio Kwanbakku to send Hino, and to communicate orally with you.”

(This letter is supposed by some not to have been written by the Emperor, but to have been a forgery by the Koku shiu and higher Daimios.)

Mito, in 1855, had been very active and serviceable in telling the other Daimios that it was all very well to talk of fighting, but that they must first know what means they had. He had been appointed to look after the defenses of the empire. It may be presumed that the more powerful of the opposite party were annoyed with his obtaining this appointment, and with showing them their weaknesses, and had cabaled against him under the headship of Ee Kamong no kami.

On the 29th day of the 12th month of 1857, the letter was given by Hino to the Shiogoon; and the same night a meeting of all Daimios was held in the Siro jo in, a large hall in the castle of Yedo. The deliberations were not over till two o’clock in the morning of the 30th.

In 1858, on the 23d day of the 4th month, Ee Kamong no kami was appointed Regent (Gotairo). He was a Sho sho or major-general, and had been brought up while a boy as a Buddhist priest. Probably by this time the Shiogoon was become quite imbecile, and it became necessary to appoint a regent. Ee, being of an age and capacity fit for the situation, had the first claim. He seems to have all along taken a course opposed to Mito, probably arising out of attempts to obtain this office; and as Mito was strenuously opposed to the admission of foreigners, Ee took the opposite side, and declared for the new state of things.

On the 6th day of the 7th month a communication was made to Owarri, the first of the “three families,” to the effect that “the Shiogoon regrets to have to notice the conduct of Owarri, and that he cannot longer hold friendly communication with him. It is the will of the Shiogoon that Owarri in future shall confine himself to his house at Toyama in Yedo, and abstain from official business, and that he shall not speak to any one. That, further, all his territories shall be confiscated, and they are handed over to his relative, Matzdaira Setsu no kami,” who was then a child.

To Mito a somewhat similar communication was made, and ordering him to confine himself in his house at Koma (ngome near Oji).

These commands, dictated by the Regent, were forthwith carried into execution. The smaller Ometski were appointed to see that such sentences were carried out. One result was that a great number of the poorer retainers of these chiefs were thrown on the country as “floating men,” or Ronins, with their two swords to gain themselves a livelihood.

To Hongo Tango no kami, member of the Wakatoshi yori, a similar letter was sent, and he was deprived of the half of his territory and confined to his house.

In addition to these, Ishikawa Tosa no kami was fined the half of his territory, and a doctor to the Shiogoon, Hoka Riki, was turned out of his office and all his property taken from him. But his son was presented with 250 piculs of rice per annum, as he had shown himself on the side of the Regent.

(There is no mention in this work of similar treatment being shown to the great lords, Satsuma, Tosa and Etsizen.)

On the 8th day of the 8th month, the name of Harutaka, son of Kii dainagoon, was changed to Iyay mutchi. This is the boy whom the Regent and his party had put into the place of power, the Shiogoon having been dead for some time. It was given out that he was unwell, and the Regent had been taking means to strengthen his position against Mito. Mito claimed the place for his own son, who had been adopted by Stotsbashi, who was the third son of the ninth Shiogoon. The youth who succeeded was the nearest heir, according to European ideas; and Mito’s claim had the defect, that if adoption carried the full consequences which he wished it should, it militated against himself.

The 9th day of the 9th month was the day chosen for the nominal death of the Shiogoon. Ee Kamong no kami was much with the late Shiogoon before his death, and gave out that he had ordered him to act as Regent during the young man’s minority.

Manabay Simosa no kami, one of the Cabinet, was sent by the Regent to carry out his schemes in Miako. He returned in the 12th month, and a few days after his return abdicated his honors and his territory.

Hotta, who had acted as envoy from the Regent to Miako, was degraded. On the 26th day of the 11th month, the two highest officers, Koo jio dono the Kwanbakku, and Ni jio dono Nai dai jin, came to Yedo as envoys from the Emperor.

On the 1st day of the 12th month the title of “Se i dai Shiogoon” was conferred on Se i sho sama Iyaymutchi by the Emperor, by the hands of two chokushi or envoys. The Empress also sent an envoy to the Shiogoon to compliment him upon his obtaining the title, and perhaps also to lay the first proposal as to his marrying the Emperor’s younger sister Kadsumia.

During the 12th month, Manabay went down to Miako with orders to Ishigaya Inaba no kami, one of the governors of Miako, to seize the following persons: Ee kai kitchi, the gentleman in charge of Mito’s house in Miako, and his son; three gentlemen, retainers in the service of the Kwanbakku Takatskasa dono, and the son of one of them, and a teacher of Chinese in Miako; Matzdaira Tanba no kami, a Daimio, related by marriage to Satsuma. His territory was taken from him and given to a child (Matzdaira Toki no skay). This child’s followers were, after the Regent’s death, put in charge of the British Legation at Tozenji; also a retainer of this Daimio and his secretary. These were all seized by order of the Regent, and sent to Yedo for trial before the Jeesha boonyo, the judges in the Hio jo sho.

In the 1st month of the following year--_i.e._, about March, 1859--several of the gentlemen about the court in the service of the members of the imperial family and others of very high rank were arrested. Three of these were retainers of Sanjio dono, of Arisungawa mia, and of Saiwonji dono respectively. Two retainers of the nephew of the Emperor, the Buddhist high-priest and the secretary of the Kwanbakku, were ordered to be sent up to Yedo. Within two months after this, seven high Koongays and four ladies, with seventeen more of the persons about the court, were all sent to Yedo by orders of Ee Kamong no kami.

In 1859, on the 2d day, 2d month, Itakura Suwo no kami, one of the Jeesha boonyo (temple lords acting as judges) was degraded. His crime was, that, being judge in rotation in the Hio jo sho in Yedo when these prisoners were brought before him, he would not bring them in guilty of anything, as he did not fear the Regent, and he had been requested secretly by the Emperor not to gratify him. At the same time Tsuchiya, governor of Osaka, was degraded and removed. He was an illegitimate son of Mito.

In the year 1858, before these strong measures had been taken by the Regent, Mito had written to the Emperor in the 8th month to the following effect: “Your revenue is not large enough, which is the cause of much sorrow to me. Permit me to present you with a few kobangs; and if it is in your power, please give to the Kwanbakku Koozio dono some additional land, and all the Koongays and those about the court who have titles [I give?] 20,000 kobangs among them; and as Hirohashi is very diligent and able, I present him with silver.”

It may be presumed that with the system of espionage so perfected as it is in Japan, the Regent would soon find out that Mito was intriguing at Miako, and probably got a copy of this letter before he gave orders to seize the persons above named, who were all implicated in these intrigues against him.

In the year 1858, in the 8th month, the Shiogoon (or the Regent more truly) sent three Daimios as envoys to Mito, with a letter to the following effect:

“You, Mito, formerly were anxious to assist Japan in her troubles, and your reasons for so doing were very good. But the Shiogoon does not approve of your recent conduct.” (Mito had written to the Emperor, with whom he was connected by marriage, to complain of the boy from the Kii family having been made Shiogoon, on the ground of his being too young for the office, but in reality to get his own son appointed by the Emperor to the place.) “You have spoken to the Emperor too much about the adopted son of Kii. Further, you have sent letters to the Koongays and members of the imperial family to gain them over to your views; and you, a man of rank, have not scrupled to use low men [Ronins] to carry letters to Miako, inveighing against the government of Yedo. From these acts of yours great confusion has arisen. The Emperor has written a letter to the Shiogoon, and low men have been used as the bearers [? to insult the Yedo government]. You have tried to stir up a quarrel between the Emperor and the Kubosama, and have excited discord among the Koongays. It is a most improper thing for you thus to be acting behind our back, and in the dark.” (Mito had sent many letters to the Fudai Daimios and Yakonins to gain them over to the side of Stotsbashi.) “You must suffer a severe punishment. But as it is now the time of Hoji” (_i.e._, the canonization of the late Shiogoon), “we are willing to view your crime with leniency. Your punishment is, that you be henceforth imprisoned in your room [cheekio]. This letter I intrust to the care of your son, to be delivered to you.”

At the same time a letter was sent to Mito’s son and heir, of tenor as follows:

“Your father has been carrying on secret intrigues at Miako. He has sent many of his servants there upon highly important missions. But all his intrigues have been against the Shiogoon secretly, and, as it were, behind his back. The ways of father and son” (_i.e._, the son cannot help what his father does) “are different, but I think you may follow a better way than your father. If you have no better way, you must send guards to keep your father, and prevent his carrying on these intrigues. The crime of putting himself in opposition to the Shiogoon is very great, and merits severe punishment. But you side with your father, and it is natural for you to do so from filial obedience. But for this crime your father must be removed from his position and territory.”

On the 27th day of the 8th month a letter was sent to the principal one of the retainers, the Karo, or minister of Mito. “Your master has been engaged in very dangerous schemes and intrigues, of which you were ignorant.” (Mito had written a letter to say that all the Daimios gave themselves up to trifling and debauchery.) “You were very foolish if you did not know of this business, and you ought on that account to be severely punished. But as Mito, your master, said that this business in which he was engaged was entirely for the good of the empire of Japan, and of the greatest consequence, your punishment shall be mitigated. In future you will take care to look into what your master is doing, and not cause the government of the Shiogoon so much trouble.

“In future, if you do cause trouble, you shall be severely punished.”

It appeared that both parties were trying to gain over the Kwanbakku by bribes--the Regent on the one hand, and Mito on the other. This high officer was perplexed which to side with, but he concealed all from the Emperor.

The Shiogoon commanded a letter to be written to Mito, to inform him that government was aware that many men had come secretly to Yedo from Mito, and warning him of what would be the consequence if any trouble should arise; and at the same time eight Daimios were appointed to guard the approaches to the city.

At this time the Regent was maturing his plans, and having arrested many of the agents of Mito, brought them before the Hio jo sho and judges of Yedo. The personal enmity of the two was working for the opening up of the country to foreign trade.

Many persons, some of whom were connected with the highest officers in Miako and Yedo, were arrested as being engaged with Mito in intrigues. The head retainer of Mito was kept in confinement, and was commanded to kill himself in prison:[10] Eekai, the gentleman in charge of Mito’s house in Miako, with his third son, the head chamberlain of Mito’s establishment, the gentleman in the service of the late Kwanbakku, the Chinese teacher, and a lady about the establishment of Konoyay dono, in Miako, were brought before the judges in the Hio jio sho Hoki no kami, and the two city magistrates, Ishingaya and Ikeda.[11] Of the prisoners, the first three were beheaded.

On the 8th month, 20th day, the following letter was sent to Nakayama Bizen no kami, who was a Hattamoto in the service of government, resident at Mito’s castle to assist him (or to watch him). Officers with the same duties reside at the castles of the other two Sankay, Owarri and Kii:

“Your house is a very honorable one, and you are a man of talent and experience. You ought to attend more correctly to do your duty. Now you have been neglecting your duty, while Mito the elder has been intriguing at Miako against me. You are ignorant of what is going on, and show yourself to be very indolent. This is a harsh mode of speaking, but you are still very young. You are hereby ordered to consider yourself under arrest, and remain a prisoner in your own room.”

Toki, a colonel of the Household Guards, was degraded from his rank, and his territory confiscated.

To the Sakuji boonyo, Iwase, and to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Nangai, it was ordered that their salaries were to be stopped from that date.

The same punishment was inflicted upon Kawadsi, the keeper of the West Castle. To the Kosho, his eldest grandson, it was written:

“Your grandfather has been guilty of opposing the government, and has been degraded and deprived of his territory, and ordered to confine himself to his room. Therefore it is our will that you take possession of his territory, and also of his office.”

It seems to have been the Regent’s policy always to put children in place of those men whom he displaced.

The other keeper of the West Castle was degraded, and deprived both of his territory and office.

To Tayki no skay, commander of the vanguard of the army, son of Oodo, it was written: “Having examined into the offense of your father, I have degraded him; but you are his adopted son, and therefore I give to you his territory and house.”

Of other high officers some were beheaded, while others were ordered not to enter a town (Chu tsui ho); others were imprisoned in their own houses (Oshi kome), or in prison; others were put in irons; others confined to one room for life (ay chikio); others were banished to small islands.

All the above, who were themselves persons of some rank, and connected with the highest in the empire, were brought to the Hio jo sho, in Yedo, and received their sentences from the temple lords sitting there.

To Hongo Tango no kami, at that time in the Lower Cabinet, the Shiogoon wrote:

“Your conduct recently has been very improper. The Shiogoon has heard of this, and you deserve to be severely punished; but I will be lenient, and only deprive you of 5,000 koku of revenue, and degrade you.” (He had been made a Daimio, with 10,000 koku of revenue, by the previous Shiogoon.) To his son the Shiogoon wrote as above, but added: “I will now take the ground I took from your father, reducing him from a Daimio to a Hattamoto. Your father must stay in his house, and retire from public life, and give over his lands and rank to you.”

To Ishikawa Tosa no kami a similar letter was written, depriving him of his honors and territory, which were given to his son.

The head of the Treasury, Sassaki Sinano no kami, was degraded.

Iyo no ske, a gentleman in the service of Mito, was transported to Hatchi jio. His son, being only three years of age, is to be kept till he is fifteen, and then transported also.

Two boys, aged four and two years, sons of Mito’s chamberlain, are to be expelled from towns when they arrive at fifteen years of age.

The Regent, after thus disposing of his enemies, proceeded, in the name of the Shiogoon, to reward his friends.

He wrote to Matzdaira Idzumi no kami, then the head of the Cabinet: “I approve of what you have done, and in testimony I give you twenty-five obangs. [An obang is a large gold coin worth about thirty-five dollars.] You have been very diligent in a most difficult and important business. I am very much satisfied, and will change your territory; and as that you now possess is very poor, I will give you better.” (He also sent him a sword.)

To the temple lord, Matzdaira Hoki no kami, were given a saddle and six dresses.

To the Owo metski Kowongai were given seven obangs and four dresses.

To the street governor of Yedo, Ikeda, were given seven obangs and five dresses.

To the second street governor, Ishi ngaya, ten obangs and five dresses.

To the treasurer, five obangs and three dresses.

These men had acted as the judges in the Hio jo sho, and had awarded the punishments to the accused. Itakura was degraded because he would not act as the tool of the Regent in executing his vengeance.

In a letter to these officers the Shiogoon expresses satisfaction with the diligence shown by them, and on that account rewards them, at the same time rewarding smaller officers who have been similarly engaged, but without specifying them by name.

To Manabay, who had been formerly Prime Minister, and lately much engaged in ferreting out these intrigues for the Regent, the Shiogoon wrote: “You are now not very strong, and it will be perhaps better that you retire from the weight of public duty.”

The Regent and he had a difference as to whether he was right in, or had the power of, punishing these men. The Regent was anxious to get rid of him, but his arguments were strong, and, besides, he was cognizant of all the secrets of the late _coup d’etat_, so that the Regent dared not take a stronger step than simply advise him to withdraw.

The Regent must have been well aware that in acting as he was doing he was playing a dangerous game. He had not been afraid to enter the family of the Emperor himself. The servants of the highest Koongays had been arrested, and themselves insulted and degraded. He had degraded five of the highest Daimios--Owarri, Mito, Satsuma, Tosa, and Etsizen--and had severely punished all of lower rank who had in any way countenanced or assisted those opposed to him. He had put his own protégé on the seat of the Shiogoon, in opposition to Stotsbashi, the nominee of Mito. He now felt that he must retain the reins of power in his own hands, as, if he yielded a jot, his enemies would overthrow him, and take away his place and name. The only thing he had now to fear was secret enemies, who might wreak their vengeance by poison or assassination.

The 3d day of the 3d month is a day when a great levee is held at the castle in Yedo, all the Daimios on duty appearing in court dresses, with large retinues. At such times it is common for strangers to gather on the broad road or esplanade by the side of the castle moat, to watch the trains of the Daimios going to and returning from court. They often carry with them the small monthly list of officials in which the armorial bearings are given, by which the train of each Daimio may be at once recognized. In the Daimios’ quarter of the city the guards of the streets and cross streets are the retainers of Daimios. The guard-houses are sometimes divided into two when the guard is divided between two neighboring Daimios. Upon days of levee such as this strangers are allowed to loiter about, and are not so readily noticed as at other times.

At the south side of the castle of Yedo is the Soto Sakurada, or outer Cherry gate, opening from that part of the inclosure in which the residences of the Gorochiu are situated. At this gate the moat is crossed by a bridge which opens upon a wide graveled road--the Tatsu no kutchi--bounded on the one side by the moat, on the other by Daimios’ residences, and leading by a gentle ascent to the residence of the Regent, Ee Kamong no kami.

On the 3d day of the 3d month the Shiogoon was to hold this levee, at which the Regent, now that he had put down his enemies, would appear in the plenitude of his power as the real ruler of Japan. He set out in his norimono toward the Sakurada gate, which was at a short distance, and seen from the door of his own residence. He was surrounded by his own retinue in white dresses. Suddenly a rush of men was made at the train. The bearers set down the norimono. Men with drawn swords ordered him to come out. He expostulated. One fired a pistol through the chair, wounding him in the back. He tried to crawl out, but his head was immediately cut off and carried away by the assassins.

The investigation which follows will show what took place.

On the 3d day of the 3d month (March 24, 1860) the Gorochiu wrote to the commander of the guard kept by Matzdaira Segami no kami: “Why did you allow men in disguise, with small sleeves and drawn swords, to pass your guard and loiter about the Tatsu no kutchi?” To this a reply was given: “There was a heavy fall of snow at the time. I noticed the men once, and they disappeared; but I acknowledge my fault--I am much to blame in the matter. But what shall I do now? Shall I cut off my men’s heads?”

The same question was put to Matzdaira Daizen no daibu’s (Choshiu) guard, who kept the Sakurada gate. He answered: “This morning at nine o’clock many men passed, but whether they were porters or soldiers I cannot tell. Several passed with blood-stained swords in their hands. I was on the point of arresting them, but as there was much snow falling I could not see them distinctly, or where they went to.”

The principal gentleman in the late Regent’s service, Kimatta Watari, wrote to the Gorochiu as follows: “This morning, while my master was on his way to the shiro to pay his respects to the Shiogoon, an attack was made upon his train. In the scuffle one man was killed, and the servants of Ee brought the body to the house here.”

It is a general impression in Yedo that the servants, or some of them, as well as the guards about, and even some of the Daimios living in the neighborhood, were cognizant of the attack about to be made. Some of them gave no assistance to their master.

The same day the Shiogoon sent two Katchi metsuki to Ee Kamong no kami’s house to make inquiries.

The servants of Sakkai oota no kami, guards of the Owo tay, a large gate of the castle, wrote a similar letter to the above. It is a common plan in Japan, even among Daimios, when an investigation is to be made in which many are concerned, for all to write similar letters, to prevent the government seizing one. They added: “One Ronin, between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age, cut his throat. He only had his sword-sheath when found, and no sword. We found one wounded by a shot, and seized him.”

At Tatsu no kutchi, the men at the cross-street guard-house, occupied by Tajima no kami and Sakkai oota no kami, said to the Gorochiu: “At about eight o’clock this morning a man shot himself through the neck while holding a man’s head in his hand. Immediately one of the guard said, ‘I will ask the man where he came from.’ He said he was a servant of Satsuma. We sent for a surgeon, and he is now under treatment.”

Ee Kamong no kami writes himself to the Shiogoon (notwithstanding his having had his head removed several hours previous): “I proposed going to the levee at the palace, and was on my way there, when near the Sakurada gate, and in front of the joint guard of Matzdaira Osumi no kami and Ooyay Soongi, about twenty men were collected. They began to fire pistols, and afterward with swords attacked me in my norimono. My servants thereupon resisted, and killed one of the men--the others ran off and escaped. I having received several wounds, could not pay my intended visit to the Shiogoon, and was obliged to return to my house, and now I send the names of such of my servants as were wounded.”

Of these there were in all nineteen, of which number several died.

Upon receiving intelligence of this attack, the Shiogoon sent to the Regent a present of ginseng root, and to inquire more particularly as to his health and condition.

Upon the coats which were left by the assassins pieces of poetry had been worked with the needle; such as, “Let us take and hoist the silken standard of Japan, and first go and fight the battles of the Emperor.” Upon another was the following: “My corpse may dry up with the flowers of the cherry, but how can the spirit of Japan relax?”

The names of eighteen men are given who were engaged in the assassination of the Regent. Of these--

Arimura Jesayay mong, who is said to have been the actual perpetrator of the deed, was head servant of Satsuma.--His brother is probably the man who assassinated Mr. Richardson in 1862.

Sanno take no ske, a servant of Mito.

Seito Kemmootz.

These three, with two others, are said to have died of the wounds received, on the 7th day of the 3d month, or four days after his death. Sakkai and Yakushuri, on the part of the Shiogoon, sent a letter to Ee Kamong no kami, to ask how he was, and to bestow upon him a present of fish and sugar, as a mark of regard.

The Cabinet was in difficulty how to act. They were of the party of the Regent, but were now afraid that the opposite views would prevail, and that power would fall into the hands of Mito.

On the part of the Gorochiu, Neito Kii no kami wrote to the servants of Ee Kamong no kami:

“As a severe misfortune has befallen Ee Kamong no kami, all his servants and relations are liable to be implicated in the trouble.[12] If you, in revenge, should raise disturbance with the followers of Mito, it will occasion much trouble. I will endeavor to arrange matters for you, and keep things quiet.”

For some time after the assassination, the gates of the Shiogoon’s castle, known as the Sakurada, Babasaki, and Watakura, were shut. The Tayass gate at Take bashi, the Hanzo and Saymidzu gates, were open during the day and shut at night.

The members of the Cabinet were allowed a guard of sixty men, and those of the lower Cabinet fifty men.

The men now feared by the government, the partisans of Mito, were lurking about Yedo in numbers. It was known that the head of the Regent had been carried off to the city of Mito and put up on a pole, with much abusive writing attached to it.

The Shiogoon gave orders to five Daimios to arrest all suspicious persons from Mito, and to seize the leaders of the movement.

Mito had said, tauntingly, “How can I, a poor Daimio, arrest these men, when you, the Shiogoon, are not able to do so? If you wish to seize these men, send your officers and do it. From Tatsuno kootchi a head was brought, and Ee Kamong no kami’s servants are very anxious to get possession of it.”

The head of the Cabinet, Neito, wrote to Matzdaira Osumi no kami: “Three days ago a high officer was assassinated before your door. You did not go to his assistance, or prevent the outrage. You were very negligent of your duty, and you are to be punished by the door of your residence being shut for one week, and you are not to go out during that time, but to confine yourself to your own house.”

A similar message was sent to Katagiri Iwami no kami, keeper of the Heebiyah gate; and also to Toda stchi no ske (a child), keeper of the Babasaki gate.

At this time the streets of Yedo were placarded with squibs against the party of the late Regent and those in favor of foreigners. One of these accused the late Gotairo of enriching himself by foreign trade at the expense of the people of Japan, and others were obscure allusions to the founder of the family. Another, by turning the characters of his name upside down, makes of it, “A gentleman’s head swept away is very good.”

(Some of these squibs were what is called “Yabatai” writing. This name is founded on the following: Abe no naka maro in old times was sent as embassador to China. The Chinese Emperor was angry with him, and said that if he could not read a certain piece of writing he would kill him. He failed, and was put to death. Another embassador succeeded, to whom the same alternative was given. While he was musing upon it, and praying to Ten sho go dai jin, a spider dropped from the ceiling upon the paper, and went from word to word showing him how it was to be read. This is called Yabatai, wild-horse writing, now converted into Yaotai, wild-fool writing.)

The following information as to the assassins appears to have been given to the Gorochiu by Hossokawa, the Daimio to whose residence several of the assassins fled, saying that they were men from Mito, and wished to place themselves under his protection. He is supposed to have known all about the affair from the first.

One of the assassins, Mori, said that, about three months before, he had attempted to kill the Regent by shooting him with a pistol. The ball passed through the norimono, and he made his escape. The day they came to Hossokawa’s house was very cold, so they were provided with food and wine. There was much snow falling, which furthered the designs of the assassins, as they thought it was assistance given them from heaven. They were all very tired and sleepy. Upon the 18th day of the 2d month they all went to Mito, afterward returning to Yedo; and they met in the morning of the 3d day of the 3d month at Atango yama. They did not sleep there; but the Buddhist priest was cognizant of what was going on.

The government in Yedo had doubtless good cause for alarm at the present crisis, as Mito, on the one hand, and the young Ee, son of the Regent, on the other, were making preparations for a fight. The policy of Iyeyas in compelling the lords to be personally in Yedo with few followers, while their strength in men remained at their provincial seats, prevented any outbreak. Mito was gradually filling his houses in Yedo with men.

On the other side, the family retainers of the Ee Kamong no kami, the lad who had succeeded to his father, fearing what might be the result of the present crisis, brought up ten cannon from his shta yashiki in the suburbs of Yedo, to his kami yashiki. [Every Daimio of any wealth has three houses in Yedo: his own residence, kami yashiki, where his wife and family reside, near the castle; naka yashiki, where concubines, servants, etc., reside; and shta yashiki, where he has a garden, and retainers, servants, and their families reside.] From his lands at Sano, in the province of Simotsuki, he brought up 400 men.

On the same day on which the Regent was killed, an attempt was made by Ronins of Mito to kill Matzdaira Sanuki no kami, who was a near relative of Mito, but a friend and son-in-law of Ee Kamong no kami. He had some suspicion, and was unwell on the day of the levee, and sent his son in his place. The norimono was attacked, but when the son was dragged out, and they discovered their mistake, the assassins let him go. The father did not long escape, however. He had taken as a concubine a girl from Mito, who, during the next month, stabbed him while in bed, and cut off his head, sending it to Mito. Matzdaira Koonai no tayu, another friend of the Regent’s, and also a relative of Mito, hearing in the palace of the murder of the Regent, escaped by a back way.

The Daimio Hossokawa Etshiu no kami wrote to the government as follows:

“Yesterday morning some men came to my guards at the main gate, and said they were servants of Mito and had killed the Regent, and it was right that they should go to the Gorochiu; but as it is the first time they have come to Yedo, and do not know where the Gorochiu live, they requested me to go with them. I asked them who they were and what they wanted. They answered, that they had been this morning fighting with the Regent at the Sakurada gate; and having first wounded him with a pistol, they pulled him by the right hand out of the kango and cut off his head. There came at first only nine men, but these were followed by a number of others: whence they came I do not know.”

Hossokawa accompanied these men to the Hio jo sho, where the judges on duty asked them to give in writing their reasons for killing the Regent. The answer was: “We have good reasons. From the time of Zin mu tenwo to the present day the Japanese nation has never received any insult from a foreign nation; now five foreign nations have made treaties, and all through the empire the people are angry and sorry and vexed, and the Regent did not care. If he does not care for this, he makes himself an enemy to the nation, and therefore we killed him. We have no other reason.”

The officers at the Hio jo sho were afraid to ask any more questions.

Mito sent the following letter to the Shiogoon:

“I am told that some men who were formerly in my service, but who were dismissed, have gone this morning to the Sakurada gate and killed Ee Kamong no kami. They appear to have gone to Hossokawa, wishing that he should take them into his employ. A messenger from Hossokawa has brought me this information. I am very sorry for it, and it has caused me much distress. I could not employ so many servants, and therefore was obliged to reduce my establishment, while some men who would not obey me went away of their own accord. On this account I am unable to arrest or punish such men, and must trust to the servants of the Shiogoon doing so, while I must try to find those who have absconded; but the Shiogoon is powerful while I am comparatively powerless; I therefore beg the assistance of the Shiogoon.”

The Shiogoon wrote to Mito on the 4th day of the 3d month:

“Yesterday your servants killed the Gotairo, and now I fear they may attack and kill some of the Gorochiu. It is ordered that your servants from morning to night, all day and all night, are not to move out of the house.”

Otta, Hiobu sho, wrote to the Shiogoon:

“This morning about 8 A.M. the men of my guard informed me that two soldiers had passed them wounded and covered with blood. They, when very near my cross guard, committed suicide. I thereupon sent an Ometski to investigate the case. I asked the men standing near whence they had come. They said from the direction of the Heebiyah gate, and that on account of a severe wound of the shoulder one of them was faint and could not walk. He said to his companion, ‘I cannot kill myself, as I cannot move my right hand’; the other said, ‘If you are weak I will do it for you,’ and cut off his head, and immediately after doing so he cut his own throat. We found that one of the swords of these men was bent round like a bow, and on examining the pockets, one had seven boos [coins], and the other seven boos and a half; and besides the money was a crest similar to that used by the Shiogoon [Mito uses the same crest--the awoyee, or three leaves], which had been cut from his coat; and a receipt from the Yebi ya [_i.e._, lobster inn], a tea-house at the Yosiwarra [the government brothel]--viz., two boos for Tamanyoshi and two for Chittosay, two girls; one boo for a singing-girl; one boo for drink, two boos for fish, and ten tenpos for rice, with half a boo as a present to the servants of the house, with the date, 2d month, 27th day.”

The street governor came and examined the corpses, and took them away on the 4th day of the 3d month.

On the 4th day of the 3d month--_i.e._, the day after the assassination--Satsuma wrote to the Shiogoon:

“A servant of mine, Arimura Yooske, yesterday absconded and has not yet returned. I find that a man who committed suicide yesterday, near the residence of Endo Tajima no kami, was his elder brother. As I am ignorant of what he has been doing, please to order him to be arrested.”

On the 3d day of the 3d month the Ronins in the service of Mito who had assisted in the murder wrote out the following statement and gave it to Hossokawa:

“We left our province of Hitatsi on the 18th day of last month; we did not meet together, but stopped at different parts of the town during our stay in Yedo. This morning we all met at the temple on Atango Hill [in the middle of Yedo], and thence we went to the Cherry gate, and waited between the guard-house of Osumi no kami and the Cherry gate. The Gotairo came along with his retinue. All at once we surrounded the kango on both sides. For some time we argued with the Gotairo. We told him that he was a bad man. We spoke to him about foreigners coming to the country, about the export of gold, about his receiving money as bribes from foreigners. He answered, and his men tried to prevent any attack being made upon him. One of our men fired a pistol into the kango (by which shot he was wounded in the back). He crawled out of the kango, but could not rise off his hands and knees quickly. His servants ran away, and one man cut off his head; six or seven others hacked at his body.”

In the pocket of Arimura, the servant of Satsuma, who had been killed, was found a “sakiburay,” or permit to travel for the Prince of Satsuma, who was at this time a child--“My master to-morrow sets out for Satsuma, and wants at each station coolies and horses.” There was also found a piece of poetry:

“This is my body, which belongs to my master; I will wait in the ground till my name is made greater.”

The following is given as information with reference apparently to the men who had banded themselves together to free their country from the presence of foreigners:

“There are sixty honorable men in the service of Mito who are very hard and iron-willed. Why are they so iron-willed? To drive away foreigners according to the wish of the Emperor expressed in his letter of the 28th day of the 12th month. Mito has received a letter from the Emperor. Hikonay [_i.e._, the Regent, from the name of his castle] gave it to him to tell him he must go to Miako. We have got the Emperor’s letter and know his wishes [that foreigners should be driven out of Japan], and if we do not obey him we are rebels. The will of the Emperor we are determined to accomplish.”

As further information the following is given: Hotta Bitshiu no kami went to Miako on the part of the Gotairo to speak to the Emperor about the foreign treaties with Japan. The Emperor said to him: “You have made your treaties first, and afterward come to me to tell me of what you have done. I know nothing about it. I know nothing about the business transacted in Kwanto--_i.e._, in Yedo.” Hotta could not answer the Emperor.

The Regent then sent Manabay to Miako to speak to the Emperor. He had an audience of the Emperor, and advised him to wipe out the treaty made at Yedo, and to make an entirely new and proper one. The Emperor replied: “You have fouled my face, and consider me as of no use. From the beginning there was always an Emperor in Japan; but if now the people do not wish it, I will give up my position. But you are trying to sow divisions between the Emperor and the Shiogoon.”

Manabay said: “It will be better for us to make their interests one [alluding to the proposal that the Shiogoon should marry the sister of the Emperor]. If we do so, we can afterward unite to brush out foreigners.”

The Emperor replied: “Now, at three or four audiences you have brought forward the business of Kwanto, but each time it has been false. Now you speak truth. If you think it right, put out these foreigners now. But my honor has been fouled and broken.”

Manabay said: “At present the government of Japan is difficult and in a critical position, but let us be quiet and delay.”

Manabay had, for the Regent, given large sums of money to the high Koongays, the Kwanbakku, and others, to bring over the Emperor to his side. The Emperor was then standing alone, the Kwanbakku having been bought over. Manabay, on his return, retired from the Gorochiu to his provincial residence in Etsizen, but he got the credit of having saved Japan at this critical period from a civil war. It was only postponed for a little.

The Gorochiu were in great alarm at this time, and issued orders to all the guards around and in Yedo to be on the watch for disturbances.

At the Hio jo sho the following evidence was elicited from one of the guards:

“I am a Gay zammi.[13] In the open space in front of the gate there were eight or nine men standing--some with raincoats on, and some holding umbrellas--and looking at the Sode bookang.[14] I heard a pistol-shot in the open space in front, and several shots were fired at the kango. The bearers ran away. Some men then seized Ee Kamong no kami by the mangay [_i.e._, the stiff tuft of hair on the top of the head], and dragged him out of the kango. After that I heard loud speaking, quarreling and scolding; and soon after they cut off Ee’s head. While the quarreling was going on he was not dead, because I saw him moving his hands. Afterward many of the assassins stamped upon the body, and all kicked it; and they afterward hacked the body all over. They then all ran away.”

The Gorochiu immediately sent a letter to the Emperor: “This morning (3d day of 3d month), on the Soto Sakurada, twenty servants of Mito assassinated Kamong no kami. We fear that Mito may have a design of sending men down to Miako to seize the Emperor, and gain over the Koongays. Therefore his Majesty’s government would do well to keep a strict watch round Miako, and in the six roads leading to the capital.”

Matzdaira Higo no kami wrote to the Gorochiu: “This morning there was a serious disturbance at Soto Sakurada. My soldiers are at your disposal to guard any spot where you may please to order them.”

The Gorochiu answered, by the usual way of attaching a small slip of paper to the letter: “We do not require any more soldiers.”

The Shiogoon ordered Sakkai Sayay mon no jo, who was now, by the death of the Regent, head of the Tay kan no ma, or room of the Fudai Daimios, as follows:

“This morning there was a great disturbance in Soto Sakurada; and afterward there was fighting close to the Shiogoon’s residence. You must keep all the soldiers under your command in readiness within your house.”

The Shiogoon also wrote to Higo no kami: “You say you have your soldiers all ready for any duty they may be called to. Your loyalty has given me much satisfaction.”

On the 4th day of the 3d month, Okamoto and Soma, the two principal officers in the late Regent’s service, went to the Gorochiu with the following letter: “Our master, Kamong no kami, went out yesterday to go to the castle to pay his respects. When about half-way between his house and the gate of the castle, several miscreants fell upon him and killed him. We have certain information that these assassins were servants of Mito and Satsuma. Yesterday all the officers say to us, ‘Wait a little.’ But this business cannot wait. We wish to know for what reason these men killed our master. There are, at the present moment, some of these men secreted in the houses of Wakisaka and Hossokawa--two Daimios. We wish to see them, and ascertain from themselves why they killed our master. We desire that these men may be delivered up to us. All the people of Hikonay [the Regent’s territory] wish this, and we trust you will take pity on them and grant their desire.”

To this letter the Gorochiu affixed as answer: “Cannot do so.”

The following letter was addressed to the Shiogoon by the son and servants of the late Regent on the day of the murder. It was written to ascertain whether the law of Japan would be acted upon in their case, by which the territory of any officer who had been assassinated is confiscated. “3d day, 3d month.--Ee Kamong no kami, when going to the castle to-day, and when near the Sakurada gate, was attacked by a number of villains. At the time, so much snow was falling as to make it impossible to see a yard before one. All the servants of Ee are enraged. There were but few Ronins and many servants, and they ought to have overpowered the Ronins. The servants are deeply shamed when they think of Ee nawo massa (the first of the family in the time of Iyeyas). Whatever is to become of us we care not; but the retainers and friends of Ee wish to know whether the house is, according to the old laws of the empire, to be reduced in rank and impoverished, or if it is to be entirely degraded and removed from the territory. We wish to understand clearly.” This was written in the name of the young Ee; and was probably written with the view of preparing to defend themselves and party by an appeal to arms rather than by submission.

The Shiogoon answered to this: “All your father’s territory I restore to you his son.”

Here terminates the native account of the assassination. It gives some insight into the working of the government, and the unscrupulous means to which the highest magnates of the land will resort to attain their ends. From the general tenor of the statements, the extreme hatred of one party in Japan to foreign intercourse is brought out, and the slight which the Emperor considered to have been put upon him by the conclusion of the treaty without his consent and against his expressed opinion.

Assassination is the _ultima ratio_ of the desperation of party weakness. The act implies that the party which has sanctioned it has no one competent to cope with the individual removed, or to fill the place which it has made vacant.

The position of the government upon the death of the Regent was that of helpless inactivity. The sudden removal of the foremost man of the empire was as the removal of the fly-wheel from a piece of complicated machinery. The whole empire stood aghast, expecting and fearing some great political convulsion. The whole country knew who had been the active agents in the deed; and perhaps there were at heart very few who did not feel more or less satisfaction at the blow given to the party which was responsible for, and instrumental in, bringing foreigners into the country; and a civil war or revolution would certainly have followed, had not every one felt that they were, for the first time in their history, face to face with an enemy, fear of whom concentrated all minor feelings, and consolidated them into one great national determination to rid the land of the hated foreigners. This was the one policy which the Emperor demanded of the Shiogoon, which the people looked to the government to effect, and which the lords and military classes burned to carry into execution. Were the foreigners not a mere handful of men, and were such to be allowed to beard and insult the highest personages in the land with perfect impunity? Now, when the head of the party, who was or pretended to be in favor of such a change of the laws, is struck down, if some representative of the national feelings would only arise and lead them on, they would follow to the death in such a glorious cause. But no such leader appeared. Where was Mito, the rival of the late Regent? and why did he not come forward to carry out his own policy at this juncture? The son of the late Regent was too young and inexperienced to claim his father’s office, or to assume the leadership of the party. It was the personal hatred of the two men which had been the moving spring in the daring action of the Regent, and in the underhand plotting of Mito. In all probability the feelings of hostility with which each regarded the foreigner were equally strong. Mito said you must admit foreigners, because you cannot keep them out. He thought we can admit foreigners, and, if we see fit, afterward turn them out. But Mito was disliked by the other Daimios, and his name was not sufficient to rally a strong party, while he[15] and the lately degraded Daimios were now in arrest in their own houses, in territories which had been transferred to the hands of infants. They had thus no opportunity for intriguing, having no common place of meeting out of Yedo, as by law they were prohibited from going to Miako, and could only come to Yedo as Daimios, when called there on duty by the government.

In this crisis the only course for the Cabinet to pursue was to go on quietly, managing the routine of affairs until time should open up some line of action. The Gorochiu, therefore, with Neito at its head, and nominally under Tayass as Regent, continued to carry on the ordinary duties of government.

Events have shown that the Regent was right in his judgment of the men whom he sought to remove from his path as obstacles--Mito, Etsizen, Satsuma, Owarri--as these have all since his death reappeared as leaders of the party opposed to his policy in the Obiroma or council of the Kokushu. Etsizen, afterward known by his retired title Shoongaku, was the first among these magnates who attempted to take a lead in the government of Yedo. He had been removed from his position as Daimio and placed in arrest; but, having subsequently been released, was able to move about and obtain an influence in high places. He obtained from the Emperor a letter [afterward considered a forgery], appointing him and Awa to fill the place of co-regents, under the name of Sosai Shoku or Sodangeite. But the fermentation of revolution had already begun to work, and at such a time the first actors upon the stage seldom play the prominent parts they deem themselves fitted to fill. They generally fail to see the causes of the boiling going on around. Such a man is like an atom in a pot of boiling water, and knows and sees nothing of the fire which is causing all the upturning around him. To even a superficial looker-on at the state of things in Japan, it was evident that such a dual condition of government as that then existing could not long continue to carry on foreign relations. The discord and weakness arising from the permission of an _imperium in imperio_ by the exterritoriality clause was greatly increased by the government attempting to carry on foreign relations without the consent or against the will of the higher power in Miako. The two powers must work harmoniously; and so long as the internal affairs of the empire are the only possible cause of rupture, the weaker, though more exalted, will find it to be its interest to be on good terms with the lower but more powerful, the executive. So soon as the latter begins to act as supreme power toward other nations, it places itself in a wrong position, and foreign nations will not treat with such a pretense. The opposition finds a head in the Emperor, and the only way to avert a rupture is for the lower power to give way and to act only as the representative of the head of the empire. If he fails to see this, he sets himself against the Emperor, who is then supported, not only by his own nobility, but also by those powers with whom he has entered into relations. The party of the Shiogoon deserts him, and his only _rôle_ is to work with and under the Emperor; or, if he refuses to do this, civil war ensues, and he falls.

After the removal of the Gotairo, the Cabinet was able or permitted to carry on the affairs of State. But while everything seemed smooth, smoldering powers were at work preparing for volcanic action. The Kokushu, and especially those who came to Yedo from the west, were becoming very much irritated about the question of foreigners in the country, and foreign ministers in Yedo. The latter assumed a position of superiority to which these lords were quite unaccustomed. They were occupying temples belonging to great families, situated in cemeteries consecrated by the burial of their ancestors and relatives, but now polluted by intruders hateful to the spirits of the country. The foreign merchants were able to beard these princes on the highroad, and to treat with nonchalance dignitaries who looked for the utmost deference, and who were authorized by law to punish at their own hands any real or supposed insolence or insult. On the other hand, they saw trade pushing its way in the country; silk which had been sold for 100 dollars was now bringing 1,000, and Emperor and lord longed to share in such advantages and participate in the profits. The first object which the more powerful of the Kokushu set themselves to accomplish was to break down this intolerable subjection to the Yedo government. This was not difficult to do, as the power of the empire was in the hands of a delicate lad, and the Emperor, through whom the end was brought about, was promised and hoped that the power would revert to him. The agents in this act were Shoongaku, Shimadzu saburo, Choshiu, and a Koongay Ohara--a distant relative and the unexpected successor of a Koongay, and who had spent his early life hanging about the offices of Yedo. After the boy-Shiogoon had been married to Kadsu mia, sister of the Emperor, Shoongaku, who was always full of the most economical if not parsimonious views, reduced the retinue and court of the Shiogoon till it was brought into contempt with the populace. In October, 1862, these potentates produced a letter (forged, as is generally believed) from the Emperor, putting an end to the routine of the Yedo court; and having the power in their own hands, they immediately proclaimed the edict and carried it into execution. The order was to the effect that the higher Daimios were to visit Yedo only once in seven years, and that the wives and families of all the Daimios were to live at their own provincial seats. This removed from Yedo all the luster of the court. At the same time these lords filled up the complement of their design by inducing the Emperor to call most of the higher Daimios who were of their own views to Miako. The Mikado was swayed hither and thither as the one party or the other gained the power in the capital; and so at one time Kanso, the retired lord of Hizen, had the ear of the Emperor in the interest of the Shiogoon, while Choshiu appeared to have taken up arms against his sovereign. But he seems all along to have acted loyally and patriotically in showing an intense hatred to the foreigners who were by force of arms thrusting themselves and their regiments into the country. This act was the great blow which broke up the power and brought to a termination the dynasty of Iyeyas. He had foreseen and made provision for intestine war and revolution, but had not been able to provide for a treaty with foreign nations and an exterritoriality clause.

In 1861 the foreign ministers, up to that time resident in Yedo, retired to Yokohama, and pressed one demand after another upon the Japanese government, already sufficiently occupied with complications arising from intestine difficulties. The Cabinet was worried by requests for interviews upon questions of land, of residences, of money exchanges, of matters of etiquette in interviews with the Shiogoon, and other matters which might seem trivial in comparison with the crisis through which the country was passing in the face of an internal revolution. These foreign ministers were now, somewhat unreasonably, all demanding that residences should be built for them by the Japanese government, and insisting that these residences should (in the face of an article of the treaty to the contrary) be fortified and furnished with guns. The recreation ground of the people of Yedo, Go teng yama, was demanded and given up for this purpose by Ando, then Prime Minister, and a large building was erected by the Japanese government upon this site; but the feelings of the people at this unjust appropriation of a piece of ground which had been set apart for their use were so much excited that another local _émeute_ was threatened at Yedo. This was allayed by the burning of the new building, and by the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister, who narrowly escaped with the loss of an ear.

By these annoyances occurring in the neighborhood of Yedo, and through the presence of foreigners, a strong party was drawn over to the views of the Emperor, and the nation began to see that he had all along been in the right in opposing the admission of foreigners as detrimental to the quiet of the country. Satsuma and Choshiu built each a large new residence in Miako. The Emperor called on twelve of the wealthiest among the Daimios to keep each a sufficient body of troops in the city for his protection. The young Shiogoon was invited or called upon to pay a visit to Miako when Stotsbashi was intriguing against him. He accordingly went with Kanso, the retired prince of Hizen, while Higo was appointed Shugo shoku, or guardian of the palace. This meeting of the Emperor and the Shiogoon seems to have opened the eyes of both to the power and intelligence of foreigners, of which the Emperor and his court seem to have been ignorant. Some of the Miako nobility went out on a trip with the Shiogoon in his steamer, and were astonished and converted; and Anega Koji was assassinated for expressing too plainly and openly his opinions as to the power and energy of foreigners.

The intercourse between the two heads of the empire seems to have consolidated the power of the government, and promised to bring forth fruit in a mutual good understanding and co-operation. Stotsbashi sneaked away to Yedo in disgrace, and had to run the gantlet of an attack on his way back, when his chief secretary was assassinated on the highroad at Saka no shta. Shimadzu and Choshiu retired from Miako in disgrace to their respective provincial residences, where they brooded over their own position and that of the empire. They could not but feel that it was the loyalty of their views which had entailed on them their present disgrace, and the prime cause of this was the foreigners. They knew well that the feeling of every one of their countrymen was with them, and they seem to have at last determined to throw themselves into the breach by bringing about a quarrel between the government and some foreign nation. Shimadzu, the father of the Daimio, then a minor, determined to carry out the laws of the country irrespective of any exterritoriality clauses. On leaving Yedo, on September 14, 1862, he gave out that he would cut down any foreigners he might chance to meet upon the road; when, as he approached Kanagawa, meeting three gentlemen and a lady, he ordered his retainers to cut them down, and Mr. Richardson, wounded and unable to ride away more than two hundred yards, was set upon, fainting from loss of blood, and brutally murdered. Justice was asked from the Shiogoon’s government and the punishment of the offender, who was well known to all Japan. The murder of a merchant by a lord like Satsuma was treated with contempt, and the matter was referred by the British Minister to H.M. government. The subsequent necessary delay of many months, before instructions came out to demand an indemnity and the punishment of the offender, raised the courage of the party opposed to foreigners, and Choshiu determined on his part to carry out the laws of the country according to his instructions. He held a commission from the Emperor as guardian of the Straits of Simo no seki, the narrow western entrance to the “inner sea.” He had thereby a right to overhaul all vessels passing through this strait. There is no other sea quite analogous: it resembles, but is much narrower than, the Dardanelles, the Sound, the Straits of Dover, or Tarifa, at all of which places some recognition of the power of the nation to defend a vulnerable point of her territories has been allowed in the exercise of certain surveillance over passing vessels. Choshiu fired upon some foreign vessels passing through this strait. The consequence of this was a combined attack by English, French and Dutch, by which he or one of his relatives (by error) suffered severely in men, ammunition and prestige. The Shiogoon disavowed his proceedings, and to satisfy foreign demands proposed to punish the rebel This, however, he found to be no easy matter, as the whole troops and populace were in favor of Choshiu and his patriotic attempt, and the Shiogoon was at last obliged to make terms with the Daimio.

Choshiu had presented the following memorial to the government upon the position of Japan in its internal and external relations at this juncture:

“Allow me, notwithstanding your political discussions [with the Mikado’s envoys], to give you my opinion respecting the troubles which foreigners have given us of late years in asking all kinds of concessions, in addition to the unexpected troubles which exist in our own country. This combination of difficulties within and without, occurring at the same time, and bringing us to a point when our prosperity or misfortune is decided, keeps my heart day and night in anxiety, and induces me to give you in confidence my own feelings upon these subjects.

“I have long thought that union and concord between the Shiogoon and Mikado, and obedience to the Mikado’s orders, are highly necessary in keeping up an intercourse with foreign nations, as I have already said very often.

“But every one knows that since the great council of officers, the Shiogoon and Mikado are disunited, which has occasioned a conflict of parties, and brought with it discord and trouble.

“I think the reason of this is, that although the signing of the treaties was forced upon us by urgent circumstances and pressing events, there are some who maintain that the reopening of relations with foreigners has occasioned a degradation of the people, who were so brave and constant ten years ago, to the state of quiescence and cowardice to which they are now reduced by their fear of war and of the foreign powers. These persons who are of this opinion are therefore in opposition to the acts of the Shiogoon, and say that they will themselves undertake to set aside the treaties and prepare the country for war, declaring that the Mikado still maintains the old laws of our country, which direct the expulsion of foreigners.

“Other persons accept, on the contrary, the reopening of the country, and praise the foreigners, and thus destroy all confidence in ourselves. They say that the foreigners have large forces, and that they have great knowledge of arts and sciences.

“These conflicting opinions trouble the minds of the people. Unity is force and strength, and discord is weakness; therefore it would be imprudent to go to war against powerful and brave enemies with discord in our minds.

“The closing or opening of Japan is a matter of the greatest moment. That which cannot be shut again should not have been opened, and that which cannot be opened should not have been shut.

“The closing of Japan will never be a real closing, and the opening will never be a real opening, so long as our country is not restored to its independence, and as long as it is menaced and despised by foreign countries. Therefore the opening or closing of Japan is dependent upon the restoration of our own powers; if that is effected, then war or peace can be declared.

“The condition upon which this power can be restored to us is the enlightening of the people, and their union.

“I think the only way to bring about national union is by solid union between the Shiogoon and Mikado, acting together as in one body. Should there be war, it can be brought to an end very easily.

“A time is now come very different from the barbarous ages, and arising out of the long peace which has prevailed. Every little child knows the respect it owes to its parents and masters.

“It will therefore rejoice everybody in this advanced age to see the Shiogoon hold the Mikado in great respect; and the whole nation would honor the Shiogoon, and all troubles would cease, and then only we can be restored to our independence and power.

“After our independence is restored, it is urgent and pressing that we reform our military institutions, the naval sciences, as well as all branches of industry. We should find out the great advancements and developments of arts and sciences in other countries. The whole nation must devote life and soul to the benefit of our state, and we must learn and study the interior arrangements of foreign lands, in order that the commerce of our country may flourish in this important age. I think all this ought to have been done long since; but nothing of the kind is to be found in the edicts which have appeared so often during the last seven years.

“Inventions and improvements pass on with rapidity, and the time is now come to make all these changes and improvements; but if our attachment to old customs causes us to postpone these measures of such great importance, if these changes are later suddenly forced by circumstances upon the inhabitants, a very bad impression will be produced, creating disorder and confusion. These are reasons why they should be effected now calmly and gradually. I think that the Mikado will not be disinclined to this, and therefore I wish that the Shiogoon should act under the orders of the Mikado, and not conclude matters by his own authority. He ought to let these designs be known to all the Daimios in the name of the Mikado; then there will be a general quiet restored; then the dormant soul of the whole nation will awake, and will be united in power and in independence; and then it will display its force and strength to the other five portions of the universe without anxiety and fear for our own country.

“I do not write these my sentiments to aid you in your negotiations, as they may be of little or no use to you, and only like a drop of water falling into the ocean; but to show my gratitude for the favors of the Shiogoon, which my ancestors have enjoyed during centuries.”

The aim of the party opposed to the policy of the Shiogoon and the admission of foreigners seems to have been to poison the mind of the Emperor against the young Shiogoon, and to embroil the country in a war, by setting the one against the other. The letters from the Emperor which have been obtained prove this.

The following letter was conveyed by Shimadzu Saburo from the Emperor to the Shiogoon about October, 1862:

“I think that the power of the foreigners [Ee jin, wild men] at the present time in the country is improper; and the officers of the Kwanto seem to have lost all knowledge of the right way, and of all plans of action, causing disturbance all over the empire. All my people [Ban nin, 10,000 men] seem about to fall down into mud as black as charcoal. On this account I, standing between Ten sho go dai jin and my people, am very deeply distressed. The Bakuri [Shiogoon’s officers] have spoken to me, saying, ‘All our people are agitated, and the Shiogoon has no power to hold up his arm. Therefore please give us your sister in marriage [to the Shiogoon]. If you can do this, Miako and Yedo will be at concord, and the whole power of Japan can join together, and we can then brush away the Yee teki’ [_i.e._, foreigners, wild enemies].

“In answer, I said, ‘This is right, and I will give my sister.’

“At that time the Bakuri said to me, ‘In ten years the foreigners must be brushed away.’ This gave me great pleasure; and I pray to the spirits every day to help Japan.

“I have now been waiting for a long time for your brushing away. Why are you so slow?

“With my sister Kadsumia I sent Tchikusa shosho and Iwakura chiujo, and at the same time granted a general amnesty;[16] and all the business of the government I gave, as in former times, to the Shiogoon. But this business about foreigners [Gway-Ee] is of the first importance to the country. Therefore I said, ‘Let all this foreign business come under my care, and I will settle it.’ At the time, all the Yedo officials answered to me that the Emperor’s proposal was very important and serious, but a speedy answer cannot be given, and that we must wait a little.

“After this time, several Daimios proposed several different stratagems for driving away foreigners. But of all the Daimios only two--viz., Satsuma and Choshiu--came in person to speak to me; and all the loyal people from San yodo [west of Miako], Nan kaido [island of Sikok], and Sai kaido [island of Kiusiu], came to Miako like bees, and addressed me secretly. All these tell me that the officers of Yedo are all bad, and that they are becoming worse from day to day; and that justice and truth are fallen to the ground; and that they do not hold the Emperor in respect; and they are friends of the foreigners, giving them everything they want--silk, tea, and other things--while the whole country loses. All the people are much vexed about this; and they feel that they are becoming the same as servants of the foreigners, and now their habits cannot change. On this account, these people of San yodo, Nan kaido, and Sai kaido, and Satsuma and Mowori [Choshiu], wish to raise the Emperor’s flag. And they say, that if the Emperor with the flag goes to Hakonay, the Bakufu [Shiogoon’s office] officers, if bad, must all be punished.

“Some men say that, Japan having been at peace for a long time, the spirits of the people are very lazy and slow; therefore they suggest that a letter should be given to the Daimios and people of the Go ki stchi do [_i.e._, the districts lying upon the seven roads], ordering that foreigners must be brushed out of the country.

“The Emperor says: ‘Throughout the empire there are many loyal and patriotic men, therefore I will speak to Satsuma and Nagato to desire the people to have patience.’

“I gave a letter to Koozay Yamato no kami, requesting an answer, and yet none ever came; and last year I wrote and proclaimed an amnesty, and to this I received no answer. Why has the Shiogoon thus lost the way? I believe it is not he, but his officers. All the Gorochiu do not care. The Ty jiu [great tree] is but young; but I fear that if I delay but an instant [till I can stand up], all the empire will be broken up. Therefore I am every day troubled and weeping. All the officers of the Kwanto [the Shiogoon, Daimios, etc.] think only of the happiness of a day, and forget the misery of a hundred years. The holy books thus speak, and you ought to study them. You ought to keep these virtuous ideas in your minds, and be ready with your military preparations, and then you will clearly see your way out, and brush away the power of the foreign enemies. But while all Japan is in a state of excitement, I will hold to the medium course [_i.e._, between brushing away immediately and waiting indefinitely]. Since the Tokungawa family began [_i.e._, since Iyeyas], there has not arisen a question of so much difficulty. I have three plans to propose: The first is, that I will gradually bring the Shiogoon and Daimios and Hattamoto to Miako, and will hold a council about the government of the country and the brushing away of foreigners. If we can do this, the anger of heaven and the gods will be averted. They will rejoice, and the good minds of the lower classes will return. Then all people will stand on a strong foundation, and the empire be as strong as a large mountain.

“My second plan is, you must lean upon the old laws of Ho taiko [_i.e._, Taikosama], and give the laws of the country and the settlement of the question into the hands of the Tai hang [_i.e._, large fence, or the Kokushiu] and the Gotairo [_i.e._, five elders]. If we do this, the country can keep out or push back the pressure of foreigners. All round the coasts military preparations must be made; and so the country will be strong, and foreigners can be brushed away.

“My third plan is, to order Stotsbashi to assist the Ty jiu on all internal business, and to give the office of Regent to Shoongaku, to take charge of the outer relations of the office at Yedo. In that case both the internal and external business will be well conducted, and we shall not blush to think that we are servants to foreigners, and that they have obliged us to cross our coats the right over the left side.[17] For all men fear that in a very little time these foreigners will seize all Japan.

“I think that these three plans should now be considered and settled, and to that end I send an envoy to Kwanto; but if they cannot all three be carried out, I wish the officers of the Shiogoon to examine them and determine on one that can be carried out. All my servants must be very busy going round and round, and there is to be no secrecy about it; but every one is to be diligent, and all must give me a faithful report.”

At the time this letter was written both Stotsbashi and Shoongaku were in Miako, whither they had hurried down before the arrival of the Shiogoon. The letter bears some internal evidence of being written at their dictation, especially from the proposal made to appoint the two as Lieutenants and Regent to or over the Shiogoon; and corroborates the advice which Kanso had given the young Shiogoon; viz., that he should repair at once to Miako, where the enemies of his power were trying to subvert him.

Not long after this, four Koongays of Miako having been discovered plotting against the Emperor were degraded and obliged to shave their heads and retire to monasteries. Koonga and his son, and the Empress herself, with two concubines, were said to be implicated in these intrigues. The following reasons of punishment were published: “During the last five years intrigues have been carrying on against the Emperor by the late Gotairo and Sakkye Wakasa no kami. The object of these intrigues has been to get possession of the Emperor’s person and banish him to one of the islands (as formerly several were sent by Ashikanga and Hojio). Sakkye was very false, and tarnished the bright name of the Emperor, which is a very foul crime. Now their devices have been discovered, and the Emperor has ordered the Sisshay [another name of the Kwanbakku] thus to punish them.”

The punishment inflicted by the British government upon Satsuma at Kagosima, on account of the murder of Mr. Richardson, was severe but deserved, and, in a political view, was completely successful. The two most powerful lords in the empire had each tried a fall with foreigners and been worsted. They could no longer press on the government to brush out these intruders, as they knew now by experience how far behind the country was in military and naval tactics and means of warfare. The natural result now followed--they began to quarrel among themselves. Seeing their own weakness, however, they instantly began to take what steps they could to bring themselves up to a higher standing by the education of their people, and they began by seeking to acquire a knowledge of steam and steam-vessels. Choshiu and Satsuma sent young men to England, arms and ammunition were purchased, steam-factories were erected for working in iron, military tactics were studied, professors were appointed in their colleges, and officers were obtained to drill their young men and teach the use of the rifle.

The fruit expected from the intercourse of the Emperor and Shiogoon unfortunately did not ripen. The latter returned to Yedo despoiled of much of the former splendor of his position. His court was broken up. The greater lords paid now no deference to him, and the lesser Daimios began to side with the greater. His party consisted chiefly of the Kamong Daimios, the relatives of the family of Tokungawa. Yedo itself was falling into the position of a fading capital, and, as a place of commercial importance, was dwindling with the departure of its political greatness. A feeble attempt was made to recall the edict and re-establish the old order of things in Yedo; but events rolled on, and things are shaping themselves in totally different order from that proposed by the ruling powers.

The defeat of Satsuma by the English navy at Kagosima separated that Daimio from the party of Choshiu and others, and his counsels to the Emperor were those of peace. Shimadzu Saburo paid the indemnity demanded of him, and gave assurances that the offender should be given up when discovered, which was perhaps as much as could be expected from one who, while a murder was being committed by his orders, was quietly sitting within ten feet of his victim.

The Shiogoon Iyay mutchi had found nothing but trouble and anxiety from his elevation to the seat of power in the year 1859. In 1866 his health began to give way, and he shortly after died, leaving no children, and the way became open to his rival, Stotsbashi. The period was critical, and the ablest man would have found difficulty in steering through the dangers surrounding the vessel of state. The Daimios would now have little hesitation in withholding their allegiance to another Kubosama until it should be settled who was to be the _de facto_ ruler of the empire--the Emperor or the Shiogoon. Many would see that some change must take place in the internal constitution of the empire now when the government must deal as one body with foreign nations. The necessity for dual government was at an end. The mouthpiece of the nation must be one, and give no uncertain sound. The internal resources must be gathered into one treasury. The police, the taxes, must be recognized as national, and not as belonging to one petty chief here and there. The army and navy required reconstruction; and the power of the feudal lords would have to be broken down in order to be reconstituted into one strong state under one head.

The new Shiogoon, Yoshi hisa, attempted to assume the power with the position held by his ancestors, but he was too late. His only true policy was to stand beside and support the Emperor while the lower chiefs impoverished themselves by fighting. He attempted to take a side against the Emperor, but not being aided by a strong party, he was forced in 1867 to give way, and by abdicating retire into temporary obscurity.

To add still more to the critical position of affairs in Japan at this time, the Emperor died, being about thirty-eight years of age, and leaving a young boy as his heir and successor. It does not clearly appear who has been pulling the strings of political action on the part of the boy-Emperor; but there can be little doubt but that the two Daimios to whom Yedo was the most grievous offense, and whose ancestors had smarted from the rise of the Tokungawa family under Iyeyas, Satsuma and Choshiu, have not been idle. On the other hand, the wealthy Daimios from the north--Sendai, and other Kamong or relatives of that family--seemed determined to uphold the position of the family, and carry out the principles of Iyeyas at all hazards. Between these parties the Shiogoon, who is said to be an able man, tried to steer a neutral course until he saw what would turn up. At length he came to think that submission to the Emperor was the true policy for himself and for the empire, and he humbly placed himself at the disposal of the Emperor rather than involve the country in another civil war. His submission was accepted by the Emperor in the following terms:

“The conduct of Tokungawa Yoshi hisa having proceeded to such an extreme as to be properly called an insult to the whole empire, and having caused the deepest pain to the mind of the Emperor, both sea and land forces were sent to punish him. Hearing, however, that he is sincerely penitent, and lives in retirement, the excess of the imperial compassion shall be exhausted, and the following commands be enjoined upon him. Let him be respectfully obedient to them. A period of eleven days is granted him in which to comply with all these orders.

“1st, Yoshi hisa having, on the 12th month of the last year, and afterward, insulted the Emperor, attacked the imperial city, and fired upon the imperial flag, was guilty of a most heinous crime. The army was accordingly sent out to pursue and punish him. But as he has manifested sincere contrition and obedience, has shut himself up in retirement, and begs that his crime may be pardoned: in consideration of the no small merit of his family, which, since the time of his ancestors, for more than two hundred years has administered the affairs of government, and more especially of the accumulated meritorious services of Mito zo Dainagoon [the father of Yoshi hisa, and rival of the Regent]; for these various considerations, of which we are most profoundly sensible, we give him the following commands, which if he obeys we will deal leniently with him, grant that the house of Tokungawa be established [_i.e._, not destroyed from the list of Daimios], remit the capital punishment his crimes deserve, but command him to go to the castle of Mito, and there live shut up in retirement.

“2d, The castle [of the Shiogoon in Yedo] to be vacated, and delivered over to the Prince of Owarri.

“3d, All the ships of war, cannon and small arms to be delivered up; when a proper proportion shall be returned [to the head of the house of Tokungawa, which is reduced to the rank of an ordinary Daimio].

“4th, The retainers living in the castle shall move out and go into retirement.

“5th, To all those who have aided Yoshi hisa, although their crimes are worthy of the severest punishment, the sentence of death shall be remitted, but they are to receive such other punishment as you shall decide on. Let this be reported to the imperial government. This, however, does not include those persons who have an income of more than 10,000 koku--_i.e._, Daimios; the imperial government alone will punish such.”

An important political step has been taken within the last few months, during the present year 1869. The Daimios appear to have become aware of the weakness which inevitably accompanies division, and of the strength which would be gained to the country by consolidation and unification under one head. The threatening position taken up by some or all of the foreign nations with whom treaties of friendship had been concluded brought up the subject at some of the recent great councils. The crushing defeats which had fallen upon Satsuma and Choshiu warned individual Daimios of their weakness as units in carrying on operations of war; the enormous expense entailed upon them in procuring munitions of war, and in exercise, and in the purchase of steamers, alarmed these lords in the prospect of annihilation from exhaustion, and they came to the conclusion that such expenses could only be borne by the empire as a whole, and that to gain such an advantage the privileges of the class must in some degree be given up. The removal of the Shiogoon presented a favorable opportunity for carrying out the proposal, and they agreed heartily to restore all their fiefs into the hands of the Emperor, and to give up the exclusive privileges which each held in his own state, that these might all be thrown into one government, with one exchequer, one army, and one navy. The latest accounts confirm this cession of their independent rights--in which cession Satsuma, the most powerful, but the Daimio who suffered most from the independent system in the very severe punishment which he received in loss of men, destruction of steamers, and payment of indemnity, with total loss of prestige and position as a military power, has been foremost. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that henceforth there will be only one responsible ruling power in Japan.