y
fully done when this notice was given. No serious steps were ever taken to
carry out these expulsive measures, unless the obstruction of navigation
of the Shimonoseki straits by the daimyo of Choshu be regarded of this
character.

In 1863 a plot was alleged to have been formed by the Choshu men to seize
the emperor and carry him off to their own territory. The object aimed at
by this plot was of course to get the court out of the hands of the
shogun's friends, and surround it by influences favorable to the plans of
the southern daimyos. The court, however, became alarmed by the reports in
circulation, and steps were taken to forbid the Choshu troops, who guarded
Sakaimachi gate, access to the grounds of the imperial palace. Offended by
this action they retired to their own territory. Seven of the most
prominent court nobles (_kuges_)(301) who sympathized with Choshu in his
aims and purposes accompanied them, and were thereupon deprived of their
rank and revenue.

The departure of the Choshu clansmen and the triumph of the shogun's party
seemed to have put an end to the anti-foreign policy. The emperor and his
court had been forced to the conclusion that the effort to expel the
treaty powers was far beyond the powers of Japan, even if it were united
and its exertions directed from one centre. From this time may be
estimated to begin a new phase in the contest which was to end in the
restoration of the original form of government.

The territory of Choshu had become the rendezvous for all the disaffected
elements of the empire. The daimyo was looked upon as the patriotic leader
of the country, and _ronins_ from all parts hastened to enroll themselves
under his banner. In the summer of 1864 the Choshu forces, to the number
of several thousand, composed not only of the _samurai_ of the province,
but also of the disaffected _ronins_ who had gathered there, and of the
"irregular troops," _kiheitai_, which had been organized, started to
re-enter Kyoto in order to regain the position they had previously
occupied. The contest which followed has been described with lurid
distinctness by native annalists. They were encountered by Hitotsubashi in
command of the troops of Aizu, Echizen, Hikone, and other loyal clans.
After a battle which lasted several days, and which raged chiefly about
the imperial palace, the Choshu troops were completely defeated and forced
to retire. It gives us an idea of the terrible earnestness of these