III.  Another cause which led to the overthrow of the Shogunate was the jealousy and cupidity of the Southern Daimios.  Notably among them were the Daimios of Satsuma, Choshiu, Tosa, and Hizen.  Their ancestors “had of old held equal rank and power with Iyeyasu, until the fortunes of war turned against them.  They had been overcome by force, or had sullenly surrendered in face of overwhelming odds.  Their adherence to the Tokugawas was but nominal, and only the strong pressure of superior power was able to wring from them a haughty semblance of obedience.  They chafed perpetually under the rule of one who was in reality a vassal like themselves."[1] They now saw in the rising tide of public sentiment against the Tokugawa Shogunate a rare opportunity of accomplishing their cherished aim.  They lent their arms and money for the support of the patriots in carrying out their plan.  Satsuma and Choshiu became the rendezvous of eminent scholars and zealous patriots.  And in the council-halls of Satsuma and Choshiu were hatched the plots which were soon to overthrow the effete Shogunate.

Thus everything was ready for the revolution of 1868 before Perry came.  We saw the Shogun, under the bombastic title of Tycoon, in spite of the remonstrance of the Emperor and his court, conclude a treaty with Perry at Kanagawa in 1854.  Here at last was found a pretext for the Imperialists to raise arms against the Shogun.  The Shogun or his ministers had no right to make treaties with foreigners.  Such an act was, in the eyes of the patriots, heinous treason.  The cry of “Destroy the Shogunate and raise the Emperor to his proper throne!” rang from one end of the empire to the other.  The constant disturbance of the country, the difficulty of foreign intercourse, the sense of necessity of a single and undoubted authority over the land, and the outcry of the Samurai thus raised against the Shogun, finally led to his resignation on November 19, 1867.  His letter of resignation, in the form of a manifesto to the Daimios, runs thus: 

“A retrospect of the various changes through which the empire has passed shows us that after the decadence of the monarchical authority, power passed into the hands of the Minister of State; that by the wars of 1156 to 1159 the governmental power came into the hands of the military class.  My ancestor received greater marks of confidence than any before him, and his descendants have succeeded him for more than two hundred years.  Though I perform the same duties, the objects of government and the penal laws have not been attained, and it is with feelings of greatest humiliation that I find myself obliged to ackowledge my own want of virtue as the cause of the present state of things.  Moreover, our intercourse with foreign powers becomes daily more extensive, and our foreign policy cannot be pursued unless directed by the whole power of the country.

“If, therefore, the old regime be changed and the governmental authority be restored to the imperial court, if the councils of the whole empire be collected and the wise decisions received, and if we unite with all our heart and with all our strength to protect and maintain the empire, it will be able to range itself with the nations of the earth.  This comprises our whole duty towards our country.