His attitude to try to move with the times at the end of Edo Period was criticized by the supporters of the nobles and jested that he was 'pro-Imperial when drunken but pro-shognate when sober.'
幕末の時流に上手く乗ろうとした態度は、当時の志士達から、「酔えば勤皇、覚めれば佐幕」と揶揄された。