At a second questioning, he said: “I had an accomplice, one Hayashida, I forget his other name.[8] He is the son of a village doctor, not belonging to the Samurai class, from Katsura Mura, a village near Kiōto. He is a Rōnin. He belonged to the first regiment of Guards. I heard last night from the servants that foreigners were going to Court. I waited to see them pass. I did not know to what nation they belonged. It was the first time that I had seen foreigners. I repent of my crime. It was a sudden thought on the part of both of us. I had no previous hatred to foreigners.” On being shown the head of the man who had been decapitated in the street, of whose death up to this time he was unaware, he added: “This is the head of Hayashida. Since he is dead I wish to live no longer. Please cut off my head as soon as possible. We had been drinking together at a wine-shop. I forget the name of the shop.” To this second statement the wounded man adhered through a strict cross-examination, and he solemnly stated that there was no other person in league with him. Naturally enough this outrage excited the greatest consternation at the Court of the Mikado, and in the evening his Majesty sent Tokudaiji Dainagon, and several of his highest officers of State, dressed in their court robes, to present his condolences and the expression of his deep regret at what had occurred. They inquired with great sympathy as to the state of the wounded men. This, taken in conjunction with the gallant behaviour of Gotō and Nakai, and with the prompt punishment meted out for recent attacks, could leave no doubt as to the sincerity of the horror which was expressed. Nearly forty years later—in 1906—when I was sent with Prince Arthur on the Garter Mission, it fell to my lot to take the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order to the Marquis Tokudaiji, Lord Great Chamberlain as he then was, and he reminded me of the ghastly circumstances of our first meeting on that memorable evening in Kiōto. Our people, savage at the treatment which their comrades had received, were none too keen to minister to the wants of the prisoner. I could not but feel some compassion for the poor wretch, and so I took him tea and rice and soup, and filled his pipe with tobacco; after a while he became quite tame and confidential. It is a curious sensation that of talking with one’s would-be murderer. The poor fellow was very grateful and said over and over again that if he had known what kind folk the foreigners were, he never would have embarked upon an enterprise which he now deeply regretted. He said that he felt ashamed when he thought of the care and attention which he was receiving. Now, since Hayashida was dead, his only wish was to die too. He had heard of the fame of Satow as a scholar, but did not know to what nation he belonged. As for me, I was beginning to feel towards him as one might towards a dangerous wild beast beginning to show signs of willingness to feed out of one’s hand.