don.
But before we proceed to the description of the nature and working of
the Kogisho it is necessary to state that this plan had been already
suggested by the Shogunate. A proclamation of the Shogun Keiki,
issued on February 20, 1868, says: "As it is proper to determine the
principle of the constitution of Japan with due regard to the wishes
of the majority, I have resigned the supreme power to the Emperor's
court, and advised that the opinions of all the Daimios should be
taken.... On examination of my household affairs (the administration
of Shogun's territories), many irregularities may exist which may
dissatisfy the people, and which I therefore greatly deplore. Hence
I intend to establish a Kogijio and to accept the opinion of the
majority. Any one, therefore, who has an opinion to express may do so
at that place and be free of apprehension."[8]

But this attempt of the Shogun to establish a sort of Parliament came
to an end with his fall. This idea, however, was transmitted through
the Shogunate officials to the government of the Restoration. In fact,
this idea of consulting public opinion was, as I have repeatedly said,
in the air. The leaders of the new government all felt, as one of them
said to Messrs. F.O. Adams and Ernest Satow, that "the only way to
allay the jealousies hitherto existing between several of the most
powerful clans, and to ensure a solid and lasting union of conflicting
interests, was to search for the nearest approach to an ideal
constitution among those of Western countries ... that the opinion of
the majority was the only criterion of a public measure."[9]

Sir Harry Parkes was right when he told the Earl of Clarendon that
"the establishment of such an institution (the Kogisho) formed one of
the first objects of the promoters of the recent revolution."[10]

The Kogisho was opened on the 18th of April, 1869,[11] and the
following message[12] from the throne was then delivered:

"Being on the point of visiting our eastern capital, we have convened
the nobles of our court and the various princes in order to consult
them upon the means of establishing the foundations of peaceful
government. The laws and institutions are the basis of government.
The petitions of the people at large cannot be lightly decided. It has
been reported to us that brief rules and regulations have been fixed
upon for the Parliament, and it seems good to us that the House should
be opened at once. We exhort you to