--'Certainly it was so. But we were very fortunate. Patriotism and loyalty went far to do the greater part of the work. Suppose the different princes and their clans had been more selfish, and had begun to quarrel among themselves, perhaps with some latent intention of placing themselves in the position of the Shogunate, the country would have indeed fared very badly, and great hindrance would have been placed in the path of reform. In that respect, however, the two most powerful clans, Satsuma and Chosiu, who had the best rights to covet the Shogunate, if such a right were permissible at all, were determined above all others not to embark on such an enterprise. Their princes and statesmen all directed their whole energies to the revivification and consolidation of the Imperial authority. Satsuma and Chosiu being so disposed, all others had to follow their examples. Indeed, they had no thought of doing otherwise.' --'It was the general spirit of the time,' said one, 'but in what way was the new Imperial government organised, and how did it begin to work? Surely the spirit of the time cannot work itself out alone; political wisdom must have played a great part in leading that spirit to the right goal.' --'When the last Shogun resigned his authority,' I continued, 'the Imperial government on a new and firmer basis was immediately organised. In it were gathered the ablest men of the empire from all sources. Able court nobles, able feudal lords, and able Samurai of different clans, were all given suitable places side by side. There were many court nobles, with Sanjio and Iwakura at their head, who had done much in bringing about the great change. The Imperial court before the change had no military power, as you know, but the court, including the nobles, always stood in high social estimation. For that reason, as well as for their personal distinction, they were given high places in different branches of the government. Side by side with them, several feudal lords, who were endowed with personal ability, were also given high positions. After them came distinguished Samurai of different clans, to whom various positions, high and low, were assigned, according to their fame and ability. At that time there existed two appellations designating those Samurai who became officials of the Imperial government: Choshi (summoned Samurai) and Koshi (tributed Samurai)--the former meaning those Samurai who were specially summoned by the emperor to serve in his government; the latter meaning those who were taken into the Imperial service at the recommendation of the feudal lord, whose retainers they had been. Thus you can see the intelligence and ability of the different clans were gathered together around the Imperial throne, beneath which all of them, court nobles, feudal lords, and ordinary Samurai, worked together for the common good of the empire, a sight never seen before. Such disinterestedness and such avidity for