s
rescripts. Thus his Majesty was induced to issue an edict which
conveyed a reprimand to the shogun for concluding a treaty without
previously referring it to the feudatories, and which suggested that
the Mito and Owari feudatories should be released from the sentence
of confinement passed on them by Ii Kamon no Kami. This edict
startled the Bakufu. They at once sent from Yedo envoys to
remonstrate with the conservatives, and after a controversy lasting
four months, a compromise was effected by which the sovereign
postponed any action for the expulsion of foreigners and the shogun
declared that his tolerance of international commerce was only
temporary. This was regarded as a victory for the shogunate. But the
Yedo envoys, during their stay in Kyoto, discovered evidences of a
plot to overthrow the Bakufu. Great severity was shown in dealing
with this conspiracy. The leaders were beheaded, banished, or ordered
to commit suicide; the Mito feudatory being sentenced to perpetual
confinement in his fief; the daimyo of Owari, to permanent
retirement; and Keiki, former candidate for the succession to the
shogunate, being deprived of office and directed to live in
seclusion. Many other notable men were subjected to various
penalties, and this "Great Judgment of Ansei"--the name of the
era--caused a profound sensation throughout the empire. The nation
mourned for many sincere patriots who had been sentenced on the
flimsiest evidence, and the whole incident tended to accentuate the
unpopularity of foreign intercourse.

ENGRAVING: II NAOSUKE

THE SECRET EDICT

The compromise mentioned above as having been effected between Yedo
and Kyoto had the effect of stultifying the previously drafted edict
which condemned the shogun for concluding a treaty without consulting
the feudatories. The edict had not been publicly promulgated, but it
had come into the possession of the Mito feudatory, and by his orders
had been enclosed in the family tomb, where it was guarded night and
day by a strong troop of samurai. The Bakufu insisted that to convey
such a document direct from the Throne to a feudatory was a plain
trespass upon the shogun's authority. Mito, however, refused to
surrender it. The most uncompromising conservatives of the fief
issued a manifesto justifying their refusal, and, as evidence of
their sincerity, committed suicide.

ASSASSINATION OF II

Nariaki, the Mito baron, now instructed his vassals to surrender the
edict.