No. 199.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Evarts.
United
States Legation,
Tokei,
Japan, May 23, 1877. (Received June
18.)
No. 571.]
Sir: I regret to say that the insurrection in this
empire, which should not have begun, is not yet closed. Unhappily this
people have not yet learned the great lesson of ages, that an appeal to arms
is never to be resorted to until the conditions of peace and submission to
law become more dangerous to life and property than the conditions of
war.
It seems altogether probable that the insurgents must yield to the superior
forces of the Emperor within the next thirty days. Unless there shall be new
uprisings in other provinces, this must be so. Acting upon what I suppose to
be the spirit of the age, and especially of our own people and country, I
have informally and unofficially suggested that his Majesty the Emperor
should, in the event of his triumph, season justice with mercy. My
suggestion was well received, when I said that nothing more became a
sovereign, and that humanity governs the moral forces of this century in all
lands and under all forms of government.
I beg leave to inclose the proclamation of Prince Arisugawa-no-Miya, of the
imperial house, the commander in-chief of His Imperial Majesty’s army.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure.]
Proclamation of Prince Arisugawa-no-Miya to Kagoshima
Ken (Satsuma)
To Kagoshima Ken:
Since the rebels of the above Ken forced their way into Kumamoto Ken in a
great multitude, the people of Kagoshima Ken have been in a condition of
great excitement, and have been allied with the rebels one after the
other, and not a few of them have met with an untimely death, at which
His Majesty the Mikado was greatly distressed, and sent out an imperial
envoy to restore peace. But the people did not in the least understand
his meaning, and wanted to act with still greater violence. However, at
last they were beaten and came to their present defeated condition, and
now they have left Kumamoto Ken, and it is very uncertain whether they
will return to their own Ken, passing through the province of Hiuga, and
whether fear may not arise that they will injure quiet people. Now,
therefore, His Majesty the Mikado intends at present to dispatch
soldiers of the army specially to protect the people and to enable them
to live in peace and quietness.
You, the Kocho, are requested to notify all the people under your
jurisdiction to labor at their callings without suspicion, and to
refrain from all insurrectionary movements.
April 27, 1877 (4th
month, 10th year of Meiji).
