You will observe that Admiral Kawamura states that when it was reported that
Saigo had revolted, “His Majesty the Mikado became very angry,” and ordered
an expedition to punish the rebels. The admiral adds that it “is quite
against reason that wrong should prevail against right,” or that “servants
should oppose their masters,” and that when “our country (Japan)is occupied
with foreign treaties, the people ought to be diligent in serving their
country.” This letter concludes with the words, “if you will repent of your
errors * * * I (he) will intercede with the government and ask for your
pardon,” * * * and “if in future * * * you prove your patriotism * ** your
good fame will be as high above your present shame as the sky is above the
sea.”
[Inclosure.]
[From the Japan Daily Herald, July 14,
1877.]
letter from kawamura sumiyoshi to the satsuma
army.
[Translation from the Hochi
Shimbun.]
[From the Japan
Daily Herald, July 14,
1877.]
When it was reported at Kiôto that Saigo Takamori, at the head of a large
army, had revolted and forced his way into Kumamoto, His Majesty the
Mikado became very angry, and ordered a great military and naval
expedition to punish the rebels. For a long time victory alternated with
defeat, but at last wrong must give way to right, and now the rebel
forces have become weakened, they can neither advance nor retreat, but
must perish in the mountains and wildernesses. In this their extremity
they are anxiously looking for assistance from outside, but both gods
and men have become vexed with their evil doings, and there is not a
single man who will come to their assistance. Beppu and Hemmi tried to
raise new levies in Kagoshima, and to accomplish their purpose they had
recourse to force and spread mendacious reports throughout the
province.
When I heard of this I was very much grieved, and I wrote a letter on the
present state of things, which I wanted to send to Kagoshima, but press
of other business prevented me. However, I have now been informed that
Commander Yamasaki, of the Hosho-kuwan, has written twice to you,
stating just what I wanted to say. This has gratified me very much, and
I will now add a few words to express my own idea.
Now, nobody disputes that it is quite against reason that wrong should
prevail against right, or that servants should successfully oppose their
masters. At present, when our country is occupied with foreign treaties,
the people ought to be diligent in serving their country. But you in
your resentment have taken up arms and greatly injured your country.
However, although you have gone astray and opposed the imperial army,
you are not the originators of this confusion. I know exactly how
matters stand, and if you will repent of your errors and return to your
duty, I will intercede with the government and ask for your pardon. If
you in future devote yourselves to the service of your country and prove
your patriotism, then such conduct will not only bring your guilt into
oblivion, but your good fame will be as high above your present shame as
the sky is above the sea. This is what I wanted to tell you, and now you
may ponder over my words and test their value.
answer to the above letter.
Translation from the Hochi
Shimbun.
We have received a letter from your excellency Kawamura Sumiyoshi, acting
minister of the navy, and we have opened and perused it. In your letter
you often make use of the words, “wrong against right,” but your opinion
is a one-sided one; it is like looking at the leaves and boughs of a
tree without taking any notice of its trunk and roots. Who is the cause
of this present shower of cannon and musket balls, if it is not ____
____? When Saigo Takamori was in Kagoshima, he was shosami (3d rank) and marshal of the imperial army; he was a
high officer of the Mikado, and nevertheless ________ commissioned
reckless men to go and assassinate that high officer. If these men were
not traitors, what else were they? And that was the origin of the
present trouble. It must be admitted that the criminal code is a mockery
and the law powerless, if the government does not punish such
malefactors. But when the criminal code has become a mockery and the law
powerless, then “wrong” and “right” lose their proper meaning and become
confused, and how then can they rule the country and the people? Saigo
Takamori was grieved at this occurrence, and intended to ask the
government some questions about it, and for that purpose he left
Kagoshima. When he entered Kumamoto, Higo, he was attacked by the troops
and not allowed to pass. The government without any reason deprived him
of his rank and office and branded him with the name of traitor. But
this is not His Majesty’s doing; his treacherous servants deceived him
for their own selfish ends, and slanderously attributed to Saigo the act
of rebellion. This is the reason why we all have become excited, and, as
we love right and justice, we want to punish the treacherous servants of
the country, restore the reign of justice and right throughout the
empire, and dissipate the cloud that now obscures the glory of the
Mikado.
In your letter you say that we are opposing the imperial army, but that
army is not the imperial army; they are in reality rebels, employed by
the treacherous servants to prevent our establishing right and justice,
and therefore it is our duty to punish
[Page 360]
them. You also say that you will ask for our
pardon; this raises our anger, because we all know how to die for a just
cause, and are not moved in our purpose hy any regard for life or death.
Nor can we understand you when you speak of our returning to our duty.
We have from the first done our duty and are doing it now. How can we,
then, return to it? Again you say that our forces are weakened; what is
the meaning of these words? The longer the Kumamoto war continues the
more we become accustomed to war. Kumamoto castle was very near its
fall, and the circumstances of Yashiro are very much the same. When you
say that our army can neither advance nor retreat, hut must die in the
wilderness, then you state what is contrary to the fact. All this reads
as if your excellency had been speaking in a midsummer night’s dream,
and we find it very ridiculous. Your excellency ought to come and ask
our pardon, but we shall refuse to receive any more of your letters.
