in the United States, taking refuge in Japan. His arrest could not be demanded in the absence of an extradition treaty, but the Japanese government as an act of comity caused his delivery for trial in the United States, and in friendly reciprocity the convention was signed. The British government, on the other hand, claimed that, under the principle of exterritoriality, it had the right without such a convention to follow a British fugitive from justice into any part of Japanese territory, arrest, and carry him back to England for trial. Such a claim was only equaled by the disregard of the government quarantine regulations in the treaty ports.
Count Inouye's conferences having been broken up because of the indignation of the Japanese people, Count Okuma, his successor in the foreign office, sought to take advantage of a difference of views existing among the European representatives, and to revise the treaties with each nation separately. He reached a basis of agreement with Germany, France, and Russia, but Great Britain still held out, and, while laboring to secure an adjustment with that power, an attempt on his life was made by a fanatic, who had been wrought up by an excessive patriotic fervor to believe the minister was about to betray his country. Being severely wounded, Okuma likewise abandoned his efforts and gave up his office. The attitude of the European powers had created a conservative reaction, and the public sentiment was such at the time that an unwillingness was manifested to allow the country to be thrown open to foreigners, even in exchange for the
