of profound regret to me that Heusken fell under the hand of lawless men, for a long work still lay before him to promote peace between Japanese and foreigners by making the latter acquainted with the truth about the former. I fear that his death means not only failure on our part to protect foreigners, but also the loss of one who was a connecting link between Japan and America. It is not his misfortune alone: it is Japan's misfortune. My sorrow is not less than yours." The sincerity of this speech was beyond all doubt. Heusken's death pained the chief officials of the Shōgun's Government as much as it shocked the Foreign Representatives. Yet the latter subsequently recorded their suspicion that the assassination had been contrived by the Shōgun's Government as part of a system of terrorism and intimidation planned with the object of driving foreigners out of Yedo.[1]
As a page of history read now without any of the emotions or prejudices that distorted its text at the time, this record assumes an almost comical character. The foreigner, having forced his companionship upon the unwilling Japanese, found it an insult that they should seek to protect him against the perilous consequences of his own obtrusiveness; the Yedo statesmen, grappling desperately with difficulties which seemed likely to produce a political revolution involving their
- ↑ See Appendix, note 38.
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