“The Government of his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, in examining the conditions of peace which Japan has imposed on China, finds that the possession of the peninsula of Liao-tung, claimed by Japan, would be a constant menace to the capital of China, would at the same time render illusory the independence of Korea, and would henceforth be a perpetual obstacle to the permanent peace of the Far East. Consequently, the Government of his Majesty the Emperor would give a new proof of their sincere friendship for the Government of his Majesty the Emperor of Japan by advising them to renounce the definitive possession of the peninsula of Liao-tung.” As Minister-President of State it fell to the lot of Count Ito, on the receipt of this historic document, to advise his Japanese Majesty to comply with the recommendation therein set forth, and to incur all the odium that attached in Japan itself to what was looked upon by the less thoughtful of the population as an abject surrender to the aggressive European Powers which were leagued in an unholy intrigue to deprive Japan of the legitimate fruits of her victory over China. For a time Count Ito went in danger of his life, for there are not rarely to be found those in Japan who are willing to regard themselves as the appointed agents of the gods for the punishment of what they deem to be an indignity brought upon the nation, no matter what the circumstances may have been. But that the Minister went well guarded at the express command of his sovereign in these days of uncommon excitement he might have shared the fate of other true patriots whose history is briefly recorded in this volume. By his imperial master the Minister-president of the day, however, was throughout praised for the part which he took in respect of the war and of the settlement reached on its conclusion, and a signal mark of his Majesty’s favour was given in the statesman’s elevation to the rank of Marquis in connection with these notable events. In 1897 Marquis Ito visited Great Britain for the fourth time, the occasion being the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The representative of the Ten-shi was Admiral his Royal Highness the Prince Arisugawa, so well known in the British Navy, he having served his apprenticeship to the sea in H.M.S. _Iron Duke_, after a course of education at Greenwich Naval College. Marquis Ito was for some weeks in London in the summer of that year, and paid a fifth visit to this country in 1900, to which reference will be made later on. In the year 1898 the Marquis headed a ministry which included:— Count Inouye: Finance Minister. Baron Nishi: Foreign do. Viscount Yoshikawa: Home do. General Katsura: War do. Marquis Saionji: Education do. and the late Marquis Saigo: Minister for the Navy.