to make the imperial dignity respected abroad, it is necessary to make
a firm resolution, and to get rid of the narrow-minded ideas which
have prevailed hitherto. We pray that the important personages of
the court will open their eyes and unite with those below them in
establishing relations of amity in a single-minded manner, and that
our deficiencies being supplied with what foreigners are superior
in, an enduring government be established for future ages. Assist
the Emperor in forming his decision wisely and in understanding the
condition of the empire; let the foolish argument which has hitherto
styled foreigners dogs and goats and barbarians be abandoned; let the
court ceremonies, hitherto imitated from the Chinese, be reformed,
and the foreign representatives be bidden to court in the manner
prescribed by the rules current amongst all nations; and let this be
publicly notified throughout the country, so that the countless people
may be taught what is the light in which they are to regard this
subject. This is our most earnest prayer, presented with all reverence
and humility.

"ECHIZEN SAISHO,
TOSA SAKIO NO SHOSHO,
NAGATO SHOSHO,
SATSUMA SHOSHO,
AKI SHOSHO,
HOSO KAWA UKIO DAIBU."

The advice of these notables was well received. A formal invitation to
an audience with the Emperor was extended to the foreign ambassadors.
They soon accepted the invitation. Their appearance in the old
anti-foreign city of Kioto, before the personage who was considered
by the masses as divine, was significant. It put an end to the
all-absorbing, all-perplexing theme of the day. The question of
foreign policy was settled.

The next act of the statesmen of the Restoration was to sweep away
the abuses of the court, and to establish the basis of a firm internal
administration. The most effectual means of accomplishing this, it
seemed to the sagacious statesmen, was to move the court from the
place where those abuses had their roots. Ichizo Okubo,[6] a guiding
spirit of the Restoration, presented the following memorial to the
Emperor:

"The most pressing of your Majesty's pressing duties at the present
moment is not to look at the empire alone and judge carelessly by
appearances, but to consider carefully the actual state of the whole
world; to reform the inveterate and slothful habits induced during
several hundred years, and to give union to the nation....

"Hitherto the person whom we designate the sovereign has liv