e in the affairs of the government could have little weight. They
resolved, therefore, to take measures which would definitely ensure the
termination of the shogun's power, and secure for themselves the result
for which they had been so long laboring.

On January 3, 1868, by a so-called order of the emperor,(312) but really
by the agreement of the allied daimyos, the troops of the Aizu clan, who
were in charge of the palace gates, were dismissed from their duty, and
their place assumed by troops of the clans of Satsuma, Tosa, Aki, Owari,
and Echizen. The _kuges_ who surrounded the court and who were favorable
to the Tokugawa party were discharged and forbidden to enter its
precincts. The vacant places were filled by adherents of the new order of
things. The offices of _kwambaku_ and _shogun_ were by imperial edict
abolished. A provisional plan of administration was adopted and persons of
adequate rank appointed to conduct the several departments. "A decree was
issued announcing that the government of the country was henceforth solely
in the hands of the imperial court."(313)

One of the first acts of the new government was to recall the daimyo of
Choshu, who had been expelled from Kyoto, in 1863, and to invite back the
_kuges_ who had been exiled and deprived of their revenues and honors. The
sentence of confiscation which had been pronounced upon them was abrogated
and they were restored to their former privileges. One of them, Sanjo
Saneyoshi, as prime minister spent the remainder of his life in reviving
the ancient and original form of government. The Choshu troops who had
been driven out of the capital in 1863, were recalled and given a share
with the loyal clans in guarding the palace of the emperor.

This powerful clan,(314) which had suffered such a varied experience, was
destined to take and maintain a leading position in the future development
of the restored empire.

The Aizu and other clans which had been devoted friends of the Tokugawa
shoguns were especially outraged by this conciliatory spirit shown to the
Choshu troops. They claimed that this clan by resisting the imperial
commands had merited the opprobrious title of rebels (_chotoki_), and were
no longer fit for the association of loyal clans. But the Choshu daimyo
had been restored to the favor of his emperor, and moreover was allied
with the clans whose power was paramount at Kyoto, so that the
disapprobation of the Tokugawa adherents had little ter