Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/211

 events in this troubled epoch. It is unnecessary to depict his character; his deeds are sufficiently eloquent. Without a moment's hesitation he reverted to the autocratic principles of the Shōgun's administration; caused the young prince of Kii to be nominated heir, and concluded the Harris treaty, which had hitherto been awaiting signature. A majority of the powerful feudatories now joined the opposition. The Prince of Mito protested in writing. He insisted that the sanction of the Imperial Court must be sought before concluding the treaty; that various restrictions should be imposed on foreign intercourse—among them being a drastic interdict against the building of Christian places of worship—and that if foreigners were unwilling to accept these conditions, they must be asked to defer the treaty for fifteen or twenty years. It is thus apparent that even the leader of the anti-foreign party, as the Prince of Mito subsequently became, concurred with the leader of the liberals concerning the impossibility of rejecting foreign advances altogether. The difference was that one side wanted to impose conditions and obtain delay by seeking the sovereign's sanction; the other wished to conclude the treaty forthwith so as to avoid national disaster.

The events that ensued throw a vivid light on the nature of Japanese politics and the character of the men that had to deal with them. Death