at, before his entry into the
fatal hall, Taki Zenzaburo called round him all those of his own clan
who were present, many of whom had carried out his order to fire, and,
addressing them in a short speech, acknowledged the heinousness of his
crime and the justice of his sentence, and warned them solemnly to
avoid any repetition of attacks upon foreigners. They were also
addressed by the officers of the Mikado, who urged them to bear no
ill-will against us on account of the fate of their fellow-clansman.
They declared that they entertained no such feeling.

The opinion has been expressed that it would have been politic for the
foreign representatives at the last moment to have interceded for the
life of Taki Zenzaburo. The question is believed to have been debated
among the representatives themselves. My own belief is that mercy,
although it might have produced the desired effect among the more
civilized clans, would have been mistaken for weakness and fear by
those wilder people who have not yet a personal knowledge of
foreigners. The offence--an attack upon the flags and subjects of all
the Treaty Powers, which lack of skill, not of will, alone prevented
from ending in a universal massacre--was the gravest that has been
committed upon foreigners since their residence in Japan. Death was
undoubtedly deserved, and the form chosen was in Japanese eyes
merciful and yet judicial. The crime might have involved a war and
cost hundreds of lives; it was wiped out by one death. I believe that,
in the interest of Japan as well as in our own, the course pursued was
wise, and it was very satisfactory to me to find that one of the
ablest Japanese ministers, with whom I had a discussion upon the
subject, was quite of my opinion.

The ceremonies observed at the _hara-kiri_ appear to vary slightly in
detail in different parts of Japan; but the following memorandum upon
the subject of the rite, as it used to be practised at Yedo during the
rule of the Tycoon, clearly establishes its judicial character. I
translated it from a paper drawn up for me by a Japanese who was able
to speak of what he had seen himself. Three different ceremonies are
described:--

1st. _Ceremonies observed at the "hara-kiri" of a Hatamoto (petty
noble of the Tycoon's court) in prison._--This is conducted with great
secrecy. Six mats are spread in a large courtyard of the prison; an
_ometsuke_ (officer whose duties appear to consist in the surveillance
of othe