3 182202465 1721 s$J%*mf- m^W Jfe*'^^*^ *'* WWW;: -'W

A NEW NATION. 371
The verbal form of the " charter-oath of five arti-
cles " solemnly sworn to by the Mikado, in the castle
of Nijo, before the court nobles and daimios, and made
the basis of the new government, called the Consti-
tution of 1868, was the work of Mr. Rai Goro.
These five articles were :
I. All the affairs of state shall be guided by
public opinion.
II. The upper and the lower (all) classes of the
people shall be united for common good, and the
right principles of social and political economy
studied by all.
III. The fountains of honor and power (Throne
and Camp) shall be united for the purpose of as-
sisting every subject to carry out his will for good
purposes.
IV. The artificial and absurd customs of former
times shall be abolished, and all measures shall be
framed according to the right way between heaven
and earth.
V. Intellect and ability shall be sought for from
all parts of the world to establish the foundations
of the empire.
On this basis the government of Japan was, as it
has proved, to be administered for twenty-two years,
or until the new and more glorious Constitution of
February 11, 1889. Following out the purpose of
the fifth clause, the men of Echizen promptly bestirred
themselves to obtain from Europe and Amer-
ica a physician, a military "instructor, a mining en-
gineer, a teacher of English, and an organizer of