Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/213

 the leaders of the opposition, confining them to their mansions or forbidding their attendance at Court. The die was now irrevocably cast, and the radical section of the anti-foreign party thenceforth looked to the Prince of Mito as their leader.

While these events were happening behind the scenes, the Foreign Representatives entertained great doubts of the Yedo Government's good faith. They imagined that the abiding desire of the Shōgun's ministers was either to avoid making treaties or to evade them when made. Such doubts, though not unnatural under the circumstances of the time, are now known to have been without solid basis. In the written communication addressed to the Throne by the Yedo statesmen after the conclusion of the Harris treaty, there is plain evidence that they intended to observe their new obligations loyally. The only questionable point is a suggestion that after the strengthening of the army and the navy the problem of peace or war might be solved. "If peaceful relations be maintained until the time appointed for ratifying the treaty, the avaricious aliens will definitely see that there is not much wealth in the country, and thus, abandoning the idea of gain, they will approach us with friendly feelings only, and ultimately will pass under the influence of our Emperor's grace. We may even hope that they will be induced to make grateful offerings to the Emperor, and then it