226 The National Geographic Magazine 



THE MARTYRDOM OF LORD II 



Heavy as they felt the foreign 

 pressure on one hand, the Tokugawa 

 government could not ratify the Amer- 

 ican treaty on account of the strong 

 internal opposition. There appeared a 

 martyr in the person of li Kamon-no- 

 Kami, who assumed the portfolio of the 

 premier of the Tokugawa government 

 at this critical moment, and who, in de- 

 fiance of the Imperial order and the 

 public opinion, ratified that American 

 treaty. He was a real martyr, because 

 soon after he fell by the hands of assas- 

 sins, being regarded by the opposition 

 as a traitor to the country. Whatever 

 might have been the popular verdict 

 upon his conduct at the time, it is clear 

 now that he acted in that spirit, as is 

 explained in the following poem of his 

 own : 



"As beats the ceaseless wave 

 On Omi's strand 



So breaks my heart for my beloved land." 



Agitation was intensified by this dar- 

 ing act of Lord Ii. A revolution fol- 

 lowed, and the Tokugawa shogunate, 

 which prospered during two centuries 

 and a half, and under whose wise and 

 peaceful administration the arts of peace 

 made such advances as to have surprised 

 the world, finally came to an end, and 

 the present Emperor, Mutsuhito, was 

 proclaimed on the 27th of March 1867, 

 as the sole and absolute ruler of Japan. 

 At the same time the feudal system, 

 which was originated seven centuries 

 ago, was blotted out from the pages of 

 Japanese history by the voluntary sur- 

 render by the shogun and Daimios of 

 all the rights, privileges, and properties 

 descended from their illustrious ances- 

 tors or earned by their own distinguished 

 exploits. This noble deed, which in- 

 volved such an enormous sacrifice, was 

 entirely due to the public spirit of the 

 men who had been convinced by the 

 turn of events that the only way of de- 

 fending the country against the external 



aggression was to bring about the unifi- 

 cation of the administration and cen- 

 tralization of power — a condition which 

 was possible only on the absolute aboli- 

 tion of the regime then existent. 



THE OATH OF ACCESSION 



The Emperor, on his accession to the 

 throne, proclaimed the following articles 

 of oath, thus solemnly laying the foun- 

 dation for the grand policy of new 

 Japan : 



" 1. A broadly based deliberative as- 

 sembly should be convened for the pur- 

 pose of conducting state affairs in con- 

 formity with public opinion. 



"2. High and low should unite their 

 minds and vigorously carry out the 

 grand affairs of the state. 



"3. Civilians and military, as well as 

 common people, should be allowed to 

 freely carry out their minds' aspira- 

 tions, and their spirit of progress should 

 not be suffered to be hampered. 



"4. Cast off the uncivilized customs 

 of the past and let us found our princi- 

 ples on the laws of nature. 



"5. Seek knowledge in the world 

 and strengthen the foundation of the 

 Empire. 



1 ' Desiring to introduce the reforms 

 unparalleled in the history we, ahead of 

 all our subjects, took the oath before 

 the gods of heaven and earth and sol- 

 emnly established the fundamental pol- 

 icy for the Empire and endeavor to lay 

 the foundation for the way of promot- 

 ing the happiness and prosperity of the 

 people. You should likewise share the 

 same principle and cooperate with us." 



CHAOS FOR A TIME 



The tasks attendant to the consum- 

 mation of this grand revolution, which 

 shook to the heart the political and social 

 organizations of the country, taxed the 

 wisdom, energy, forbearance, and self- 

 sacrifice of the patriots of Japan in a 

 manner almost unknown in the history 

 of mankind. An anti-foreign, con- 



