letter from kawamura sumiyoshi to the satsuma army, July 14, 1877
letter from kawamura sumiyoshi to the satsuma army.
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 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.