he father of the present emperor,
occupied the imperial throne. He had succeeded to this dignity in 1847 at
the age of eighteen, and he died in 1866 at the age of thirty-seven. The
shogun was Iemochi, who in 1858 had been chosen from the family of Kii,
because of the failure of an heir in the regular line. At the time of his
election he was a boy of twelve years of age, and was placed under the
guardianship of the prime minister Ii Kamon-no-kami. After the
assassination of the prime minister in 1861, Hitotsubashi Gyobukyo, a son
of the daimyo of Mito, was appointed guardian, and served in this capacity
until the shogun's death.

Around the court of the emperor were gathered many discordant elements.
The party of the shogun was always represented, and the daimyo of Aizu,
its ardent friend and champion, had the honorable distinction of guarding
the imperial palace. By invitation many other daimyos were at Kyoto with
retinues of officers and attendants, and with guards of troops. The
southern and western daimyos were present in imposing numbers, and
although they did not always agree among themselves, they were in harmony
in the general purpose to discredit the government at Yedo and to promote
the imperial authority.

The expulsion of foreigners was the common subject of discussion and
agitation. Although again and again it had been assured that it was
impossible to dislodge the treaty powers from their position in the
country, the court still continued to direct its efforts to this object.
For the first time in two hundred and thirty years,(298) when Iemitsu went
up to the imperial court, the Shogun Iemochi visited Kyoto in 1863 in
order to consult about the affairs of the country. In accordance with the
precedent set by Iemitsu, the shogun distributed on this occasion rich
presents to the emperor and the officers of his court. He also scattered
among the townspeople his largesses, until "the whole populace, moistened
in the bath of his mercy and goodness, were greatly pleased and
gratified."(299)

Conferences(300) were held between the daimyos who were present in Kyoto
and the officials of the court, and in spite of the objections and
remonstrances of the Yedo official, an imperial edict was issued and
entrusted to the shogun for execution, to expel from the country the hated
foreigners. This edict was notified to the representatives of the treaty
powers by the Yedo officials. They seemed, however, to regard their dut