Letter

Proclamation of Prince Arisugawa-no-Miya to Kagoshima Ken (Satsuma), April 27, 1877

Author

Proclamation of Prince Arisugawa-no-Miya

Recipient

Kagoshima Ken (Satsuma)

Date

April 27, 1877

Type

Letter

Language

English

[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).

Topics

19th Century Diplomacy Reconstruction

Sources

FRUS u2014 Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the P View original source ↗

U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the P.