This is the first official announcement received of the formation of this
confederation, and is the more interesting as it reveals their policy of
acting strictly on the defensive and in resistance of the policy of
wholesale confiscation which appears to form the basis of the operations
carried on by the Daimios under the (Kioto) Mikado’s flag.
I enclose No. 2, copy of my reply, of which I hope you will be pleased to
approve.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
[Translation.]
The military commanders-in-chief of the Daimios of Mutsu, Dewa, and
Itshingo, to the American representative respectively state:
Since the establishment of relations of amity and commerce with
foreign nations, the stormy ocean of ten thousand miles has been
crossed in every direction like a common road, and your country has
been prominent in this movement.
Not only has trade been introduced but hundreds of ingenious engines
and contrivances can arrive in the country on a fixed day. This
indeed is a great benefit to our country.
The Daimios of Mutsu, Dewa, and Itshingo, have a respectful
communication to make.
Tokugawa surrendered to the Mikado’s court the governmental power
which had been handed down from generation to generation. The Mikado
is young, and his government inchoate and imperfect, and very
unscrupulous subjects, taking advantage of this, rudely seized the
governmental power and freely use it as they please.
There is no reliance to be placed on the orders that are issued;
sympathy and fellow-feeling are banished, and indulgence in cruel
and murderous deeds reign instead.
The Daimios startled at this sudden conflagration hasten to yield,
but eight or nine out of every ten of them do not submit with
sincerity.
The spirits of the ancestors are watching this movement and the
myriads of Japan oppose it.
Before long the principal criminals will be punished, and
righteousness will burst through the clouds, and peace between
brothers, and kindly relations between masters and servants will be
restored.
It will naturally come to this, otherwise there is no justice and
human feeling under heaven, and such can never be the case.
The people of the Daimios of Mutsu, Dewa, and Itshingo, from the
highest to the lowest, have after careful reflection in public
council, and with absolute unanimity, entered into an union with the
view of upholding righteousness in the empire.
Those who came to assault them will be repulsed and dispersed and
those who leave will not be molested. Ruin will be warded off, and
peace will be waited for from a virtuous Mikado.
It is supposed that the representatives of foreign countries have
observed the state of affairs and clearly comprehend it, though it
is difficult to convey in writing the true meaning of this
confederation of Daimios, as it is sometimes to distinguish between
right and wrong. Honesty and perverseness may not be apparent.
Criminals may pretend to issue the orders of the Mikado, and in this
manner be enabled to confuse order with disorder.
It is from apprehension of this that the liberty is taken to submit
the foregoing with respect.
The undersigned now appeal to the representative’s love of truth to
credit them with the sincerity of the announcement. They simply wish
to clearly define their position, being aware, also, that this may
have an important influence on the future intercourse between the
two countries.
The undersigned, in conclusion, beg to express the hope that the
representative will be pleased to overlook whatever impropriety
there may be in the sudden presentation of the present
communication.
ASHINA ZUKIE, (Morikange Sendai.)
IROBE NAGATO, (Hisanaga Yonesawa.)
KADJIMARA HEIMA, (Kagemasa Aidzu.)
ISHIWARA SOYEMON, (Shingetomo Shonai.)
KAWAI KEINOSKÉ, (Akiyosi Nagaoka.)
Legation of the United States in
Japan, Yokohama, September 10,
1868.
The American legation has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the
dispatch dated this 7th (Japanese) month, from the officers
commanding-in-chief the military forces of the Daimios of
Mutsu-Dewa, and Itshirtgo, conveying the important intelligence of
the formation of the nothern coalition.
This legation has witnessed with profound regret the withdrawal of a
government under which Japan enjoyed the blessings of peace during
an uninterrupted period of nearly three hundred years, and at a time
when liberal efforts were made to bring that government in closer
harmony with the enlightened spirit of the age, and to insure for
Japan an era of constant and healthy progress.
While during the present unfortunate strife neutrality on behalf of
the United States of America will be strictly maintained, this
legation sincerely hopes that peace, without which there can be no
happiness or prosperity, will soon be restored, and that Japan may
thus be able to initiate a policy having for object to secure for
herself the high rank among nations to which her important
geographical position and the character of her people justly entitle
her.
Their Excellencies Ashina Zukie, (Morikange
Sendai,) Irobe Nagato, (Hisanaga
Yonesawa,) Kadjimara Heima, (Kagemasa
Aidzu,) Ishiwara Soyemon, (Shingetomo
Shonai,) Kawai KeinoskÉ, (Akiyosi
Nagaoka,) &c., &c., &c.
