i.l,\ N.ws OF RECENT BOOKS 



bj v l,i,l, the feudal barons of Japan came to power, 



ive conflicts between them the Shogunate arose. 



withdrawal of governmental power from the imperial 



mtil the Mikado became the spiritual head and the Shogun 



Europeans "Tycoon"), became the political head of 



bate, this has been presented at length by other authors and 



iriefly summarized by Sir Ernest Satow. 



The treaties had been negotiated by the Shogun. No foreigner 



,. to see, much less to negotiate, with the divine head of 



the state, the Mikado. These treaties, secured first by the United 



ben 1>\ England and France, and a little later by Holland 



and Russia, were strongly opposed by the imperial party and by many 



of the provincial chiefs,— the daimios. This fact led to divergent 



policies of the British and French legations. The French took the 



position that the Shogun's rule must be strengthened. The treaties 



been made with him. The Mikado and daimios were strongly 



seclusion ; they wanted the foreigners to be expelled. The British 



legation, however, held that the Shogun had acted only for the 



Mikado, that the Mikado would certainly be restored some day 



I that anything which might properly be done by the legations 



to hasten the restoration would make foreign intercourse more secure 



and would bring uniform stable government more speedily. Much 



ot' Sir Ernest Satow's narrative is concerned with the process of 



bringing the legation's view favorably before those Japanese officials 



and men of influence with whom members of the legation staff were 



thrown, either officially or socially. 



Herein we have recounted the early experiences of the author 

 and the dangers encountered by foreign residents from the anti- 

 foreign Bpirit that existed in the country resulting in the murder 

 ttchardson by the followers of Satsuma and the attempt by the 

 Choshiu clan to close the Straits of Shimonosheki, resulting in the 

 iction of the forts by the allied ships of England and France. 

 Sir Rutherford Alcock, the British Minister, having left Japan 

 succeeded by Sir Harry Parkes, July, 1865. With him Satow 

 served intimately through the succeeding years and came to have 

 -id for his integrity and courage. In this period the rati- 

 fication of the treaties by the Mikado was secured. This required 

 long, rigorous negotiation because it was opposed by the Tycoon and 

 bis pai 



Prom (his time Satow carried out a number of commissions for 



, to bear messages to various parts of the country or to 



Becure information on important political tendencies. Thus occurred 



