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in Kyoto exclusively out of the late anti-foreign and anti-Shogun party, and their decision that the late Shogun should at once give back to the Emperor all his lands and revenues, exasperated the Shogun party; and as both parties were in full arms, Keiki Tokugawa, till then in Kyoto, had now to retire to Osaka, in order to avoid collision. This was on the 12th of December. On the 16th the representatives of the United States, France, England, Prussia, and Holland, presented themselves to the late Shogun, and read to him the following collective note:
‘The Government of Japan has undergone a great change; but the representatives of the treaty Powers have no concern with the question as to whom the governing power should belong, provided there be a government commanding the obedience of the whole people and ready to fulfil international obligations. We have not yet been officially informed as to whom we should in the future address ourselves for the affairs concerning the nations we represent, and wish that your Highness will inform us at the earliest opportunity.’
To this, Keiki Tokugawa replied with a long note, in which he explained why he had given back the governing power to the Emperor, and why he had to retire from Kyoto, although the actual management of affairs was still entrusted to him, until the form of the new Imperial Government should have been decided upon by the assembly of all the Daimyos. The note concluded with the following words:
‘The Powers that have entered into treaty relations with us need not concern themselves with internal affairs of Japan, but should guide themselves only by reason. I have already put the treaties into execution, and will further endeavour to promote the interests of the treaty Powers. I wish it to be understood that I regard it my duty to execute the things already promised by treaty, and preserve good relations with the Powers, pending the definite organization of the Imperial Government by the public opinion of the whole nation.’
Immediately after this the army of the Tokugawa party marched against Kyoto with the avowed purpose of presenting a petition to the Emperor, and fighting ensued between it and the Imperial army at Fushimi. The Shogun forces being defeated, Keiki Tokugawa fled to Yedo. Here he returned to his dutiful submission, left his own castle, and retired to a Buddhist temple to wait for deserved punishment. He enjoined the Daimyos under him likewise to disarm, but they refused to obey him, and marched north in order to defend themselves in their feudal possessions.
On the 15th of January, 1868, Lord Higashikuje, Chief of the newly instituted Board of Foreign Affairs in the Imperial Government, forwarded to the representatives of the five Powers assembled in Hyogo the important document dated