In what cases the power of the States is so restrained by the United
States Constitution is left an open question, precisely as the same
question, as to the restraint on the power of the Territories, was left
open in the Nebraska Act. Put this and that together, and we have
another nice little niche, which we may, ere long, see filled with
another Supreme Court decision, declaring that the Constitution of the
United States does not permit a _State_ to exclude slavery from its
limits. And this may especially be expected if the doctrine of "care not
whether slavery be voted down or voted up" shall gain upon the public
mind sufficiently to give promise that such a decision can be maintained
when made.

Such a decision is all that slavery now lacks of being alike lawful in
all the States. Welcome or unwelcome, such decision is probably coming,
and will soon be upon us, unless the power of the present political
dynasty shall be met and overthrown. We shall lie down pleasantly
dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their
State free, and we shall awake to the reality instead that the Supreme
Court has made Illinois a slave State. To meet and overthrow the power
of that dynasty is the work now before all who would prevent that
consummation. That is what we have to do. How can we best do it?

There are those who denounce us openly to their own friends, and yet
whisper us softly that Senator Douglas is the aptest instrument there is
with which to effect that object. They wish us to _infer_ all, from the
fact that he now has a little quarrel with the present head of the
dynasty, and that he has regularly voted with us on a single point, upon
which he and we have never differed. They remind us that he is a great
man, and that the largest of us are very small ones. Let this be
granted. But "a living dog is better than a dead lion." Judge Douglas,
if not a dead lion, for this work is at least a caged and toothless one.
How can he oppose the advances of slavery? He don't care anything about
it. His avowed mission is impressing the "public heart" to _care nothing
about it_. A leading Douglas Democratic newspaper thinks Douglas's
superior talent will be needed to resist the revival of the African
slave-trade. Does Douglas believe an effort to revive that trade is
approaching? He has not said so. Does he really think so? But if it is,
how can he resist it? For years he has labored to prove it a sacred
right of white men to take negro slaves into the new Territories. Can he
possibly show that it is less a sacred right to buy them where they can
be bought cheapest? And unquestionably they can be bought cheaper in
Africa than in Virginia. He has done all in his power to reduce the
whole question of slavery to one of a mere right of property; and, as
such, how can he oppose the foreign slave-trade--how can he refuse that
trade in that "property" shall be "perfectly free"--unless he does it as
a protection to the home production? And as the home producers will
probably not ask the protection, he will be wholly without a ground of
opposition.

Senator Douglas holds, we know, that a man may rightfully be wiser
to-day than he was yesterday; that he may rightfully change when he
finds himself wrong. But can we, for that reason, run ahead, and infer
that he will make any particular change, of which he himself has given
no intimation? Can we safely base our action upon any such vague
inference? Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas's
position, question his motives, or do aught that can be personally
offensive to him. Whenever, if ever, he and we can come together on
principle so that our cause may have assistance from his great ability,
I hope to have interposed no adventitious obstacle. But clearly he is
not now with us; he does not pretend to be--he does not promise ever to
be.

Our cause, then, must be intrusted to and conducted by its own undoubted
friends--those whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the work, who
_do care_ for the result. Two years ago the Republicans of the nation
mustered over thirteen hundred thousand strong. We did this under the
single impulse of resistance to a common danger, with every external
circumstance against us. Of strange, discordant, and even hostile
elements we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought the
battle through, under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud, and
pampered enemy. Did we brave all then, to falter now---now, when that
same enemy is wavering, dissevered, and belligerent? The result is not
doubtful. We shall not fail; if we stand firm, we _shall not fail_. Wise
counsels may accelerate or mistakes delay it, but sooner or later the
victory is sure to come.




(1854) THE OPENING OF JAPAN, Matthew C. Perry


In view of the events that have followed, the ending of Japan's
self-isolation and the opening of that country, first to American
commerce, and later to world-wide intercourse, must now be regarded as
an achievement of momentous consequence, far exceeding in importance all
that even the most prophetic statesmanship of the time could foresee.

Under the shoguns (or military chiefs) who after the seventh century
overshadowed the hereditary rulers, the Mikados, there grew up in Japan
a feudal system whereby the generals, recognized as overlords, increased
and perpetuated their power. The attempts in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries to introduce Christianity were met with resistance
and persecution, and ended in failure. In the same centuries Japan
traded with the Portuguese, but excluded them in 1638. After this the
Japanese isolation was complete, except for restricted trade with the
Dutch, until the conclusion of Commodore Perry's treaty.

About the middle of the nineteenth century a large amount of American
capital was invested in the whaling industry in Japanese and Chinese
waters, and one motive for the sending of Perry's expedition to Japan
was the protection of the whalers. Other things leading to that step
were: the discovery of gold in California; the growth of industrial and
commercial centres on the Pacific Coast of the United States; increasing
trade with China; and the development of steam-navigation, necessitating
coaling-stations and ports for shelter in the Orient. At the same time
progressive minds in Japan were advancing in knowledge of Western
science and political affairs; thus the East and the West were almost
prepared for a change in their mutual relations.

In 1851 the United States Government empowered Commodore John H. Aulick
to negotiate and sign commercial treaties with Japan. On the eve of his
intended departure he was prevented from sailing, and in the following
year Commodore Matthew C. Perry, brother of Oliver Hazard Perry, the
hero of Lake Erie, succeeded to his mission. He was invested with
extraordinary naval and diplomatic powers, his immediate object being to
establish a coaling-station in Japan. On November 24, 1852, he sailed
from Norfolk with the Mississippi, leaving other ships to follow as soon
as ready. With his squadron he entered the Bay of Tokio (then called
Yedo) in July, 1853, causing great commotion among the inhabitants of
the Japanese capital, who mistook his appearance for a hostile approach.
It required both firmness and tact on Perry's part to open friendly
communication and present his proposals; but he succeeded in doing so
much, and then, saying that in the following spring he would come for an
answer, he withdrew to China. In February, 1854, he returned to Tokio
with a fleet of eight vessels. After some parley, the Japanese
authorities agreed to a conference at Kanagawa, a seaport adjoining
Yokohama. Of the negotiations that followed and the treaty in which they
resulted, the following pages tell, and Commodore Perry's own account is
the best record of his distinguished service not only to his own country
and Japan, but likewise to the civilized world.

After concessions made by the Japanese, the greatest good feeling
prevailed on both sides, and there seemed every prospect of establishing
those national relations which had been the purpose of Commodore Perry's
mission. In accordance with the harmony and friendship that existed,
there was an interchange of those courtesies by which mutual good
feeling seeks an outward expression. The Japanese had acknowledged with
courtly thanks the presents that had been bestowed in behalf of the
Government, and now, on March 24th, invited the Commodore to receive the
various gifts that had been ordered by the Emperor in return, as a
public recognition of the courtesy of the United States.

The Commodore, accordingly, landed at Yokohama, with a suite of officers
and his interpreters, and was received at the treaty-house with the
usual ceremonies by the high commissioners. The large reception-room was
crowded with the presents. The objects were of Japanese manufacture, and
consisted of specimens of rich brocades and silks; of their famous
lacquered ware, such as _chow-chow_ boxes, tables, trays, and goblets,
all skilfully wrought and finished with an exquisite polish; of
porcelain cups of wonderful lightness and transparency, adorned with
figures and flowers in gold and variegated colors, and exhibiting a
workmanship that surpassed even that of the ware for which the Chinese
are remarkable. Fans, pipe-cases, and articles of apparel in ordinary
use, of no great value but of exceeding interest, were scattered among
the more luxurious and costly objects.

With the usual order and neatness that seem almost instinctive with the
Japanese, the various presents had been arranged in lots, and classified
in accordance with the rank of those for whom they were respectively
intended. The commissioners took their positions at the farther end of
the room, and when the Commodore and his suite entered, the ordinary
compliments having been interchanged, the Prince Hayashi read aloud, in
Japanese, the list of presents and the names of the persons to whom they
were to be given. This was then translated by Yenoske into Dutch, and by
Mr. Portman into English. This ceremony being over, the Commodore was
invited by the commissioners into the inner room, where he was presented
with two complete sets of Japanese coins, three matchlocks, and two
swords. These gifts, though of no great intrinsic value, were
significant evidences of the desire of the Japanese to express their
respect for the representative of the United States. The mere bestowal
of the coins, in direct opposition to the Japanese laws which absolutely
forbid all issue of their money beyond the Kingdom, was an act of marked
favor.

As the Commodore prepared to depart, the commissioners said there was
one article intended for the President, which had not yet been
exhibited. They accordingly conducted the Commodore and his officers to
the beach, where one or two hundred sacks of rice were pointed out,
heaped up in readiness to be sent on board the ships. As that immense
supply of substantial food seemed to excite some wonder on the part of
the Americans, Yenoske the interpreter remarked that it was always
customary with the Japanese, when bestowing royal presents, to include a
certain quantity of rice, although he did not say whether the quantity
always amounted, as on the present occasion, to hundreds of sacks.

While contemplating these substantial evidences of Japanese generosity,
the attention of all was suddenly riveted upon twenty-five monstrous
fellows who tramped down the beach like so many huge elephants. They
were professional wrestlers and formed part of the retinue of the
princes, who kept them for their private amusement and for public
entertainment. They were enormously tall, and tremendously heavy. Their
scant costume, which was merely a colored cloth about the loins, adorned
with fringes and emblazoned with the armorial bearings of the prince to
whom each belonged, revealed their gigantic proportions in all the
bloated fulness of fat and extent of muscle.

Two or three of these huge monsters were the most famous wrestlers in
Japan and ranked as the champion Tom Cribbs and Sayers of the country.
Koyanagi, the reputed bully of the capital, was one of them, and paraded
himself with the conscious pride of superior size and strength. He was
especially brought to the Commodore that he might examine his massive
form. The commissioners insisted that the monstrous fellow should be
minutely inspected, that the hardness of his well-rounded muscle should
be felt, and that the fatness of his cushioned frame should be tested by
the touch. The Commodore accordingly attempted to grasp his arm, which
he found as solid as it was huge, and then passed his hand over the
monstrous neck, which fell in folds of massive flesh, like the dewlap of
a prize ox. As some surprise was naturally expressed at this wondrous
exhibition of animal development the monster himself gave a grunt
expressive of his flattered vanity.

They were so enormously big that they appeared to have lost their
distinctive features, and seemed to be only twenty-five masses of fat.
Their eyes were barely visible through a long perspective of socket, the
prominence of their noses was lost in the puffiness of their bloated
cheeks, and their heads were set almost directly on their bodies with
merely folds of flesh where the neck and chin are usually found. Their
great size, however, was more owing to development of muscle than to
deposition of fat; for, although they were evidently well fed, they were
not less well exercised, and capable of great feats of strength.

As a preliminary exhibition of the power of these men, the princes set
them to removing the sacks of rice to a convenient place on the shore
for shipping. Each of the sacks weighed not less than one hundred
twenty-five pounds, and there were only two of the wrestlers who did not
carry each two sacks at a time. They bore the sacks on the right
shoulder, lifting the first from the ground and adjusting it without
help, but obtaining aid for the raising of the second. One man carried a
sack suspended by his teeth, and another, taking one in his arms, turned
repeated somersaults as he held it, apparently with as much ease as if
his weight of flesh had been only so much gossamer and his load a
feather.

After this preliminary display, the commissioners proposed that the
Commodore and his party should retire to the treaty-house, where they
would have an opportunity of seeing the wrestlers exhibit their
professional feats. From the brutal performance of these wrestlers, the
Americans turned with pride to the exhibition--to which the Japanese
commissioners were now in their turn invited--of the telegraph and the
railroad. It was a happy contrast, which a higher civilization
presented, to the disgusting display on the part of the Japanese
officials. In place of the show of brute animal force there was a
triumphant revelation, to a partially enlightened people, of the success
of science and enterprise.

The Japanese took great delight in seeing the rapid movement of the
Liliputian locomotive; and one of the scribes of the commissioners took
his seat upon the car, while the engineer stood upon the tender, feeding
the furnace with one hand, and directing the diminutive engine with the
other. Crowds of the Japanese gathered round and looked on the repeated
circlings of the train with unabated pleasure and surprise, unable to
repress a shout of delight at each blast of the steam-whistle. The
telegraph, with its wonders, though before witnessed, still created
renewed interest, and all the beholders were unceasing in their
expressions of curiosity and astonishment. The agricultural instruments
having been explained to the commissioners by Doctor Morrow, a formal
delivery of the telegraph, the railway, and other articles, which made
up the list of American presents, ensued.

The Prince of Mamasaki had been delegated by his coadjutors
ceremoniously to accept, and Captain Adams was appointed by the
Commodore to deliver, the gifts; and each performed his functions by an
interchange of compliments and a half-dozen stately bows.

After this, a detachment of marines from the squadron were put through
their various evolutions, while the bands furnished martial music. The
Japanese commissioners seemed to take a very great interest in this
military display, and expressed themselves much gratified at the
soldierly air and excellent discipline of the men. This closed the
performances of the day.

The next day (March 25th), Yenoske, accompanied by Kenzeiro, his
fellow-interpreter, came on board the Powhatan to acknowledge formally,
in behalf of the commissioners, their gratitude for the exhibition of
the marines, the locomotive, and the telegraph, with all which they
declared themselves highly delighted. Yenoske and his coadjutor were
invited to seat themselves in the cabin of the Commodore, and, after
some expressions of courtesy which the Japanese officials were careful
never to intermit, proposed to talk over some points in connection with
the projected treaty. The Commodore said he had no objections to the
discussion of the matters informally; but he protested against
considering the interpreters as the official representatives of the
commissioners, with the latter of whom only, he declared, could he treat
authoritatively.

Monday, March 27th, was the day appointed for the entertainment to which
the Commodore had invited the commissioners and their attendants.
Accordingly, great arrangements were made in the flagship preparatory to
the occasion. The quarterdeck was adorned with a great variety of flags,
and all parts of the steamer were in perfect order, while the officers,
marines, and men dressed themselves in their uniforms and prepared to do
honor in every respect to their expected visitors. As it was known that
the strictness of Japanese etiquette would not allow the high
commissioners to sit at the same table with their subordinates, the
Commodore ordered two banquets, one to be spread in his cabin for the
chief dignitaries, and another on the quarter-deck.

Previous to coming on board the Powhatan, the commissioners visited the
sloop-of-war Macedonian, being saluted as they stepped on her deck by
seventeen guns from the Mississippi lying near. The great guns and
boarders having been exercised for their entertainment, the
commissioners, with their numerous attendants, left for the Powhatan,
the Macedonian firing a salvo in their honor as they took their
departure. On arriving on board the flagship, they were first conducted
through the different departments of the steamer, and examined with
minute interest the guns and the machinery. A boat was lowered, with a
howitzer in its bows, and this was repeatedly discharged, much to their
amusement, for they evidently had a great fondness for martial exercise
and display. The engines were next put in motion, and they evinced the
usual intelligence of the higher class of Japanese in their inquiries
and remarks.

The Commodore had invited the four captains of the squadron, his
interpreter, Mr. Williams, and his secretary, to join the commissioners
at his table. Yenoske, the Japanese interpreter, was allowed the
privilege, as a special condescension on the part of his superiors, to
sit at a side-table in the cabin, where his humble position did not seem
to disturb either his equanimity or his appetite. Hayashi, who always
preserved his grave and dignified bearing, ate and drank sparingly, but
tasted of every dish, and sipped of every kind of wine. He was the only
one, in fact, whose sobriety was proof against the unrestrained
conviviality that prevailed among his bacchanalian coadjutors.

The Japanese party upon deck, who were entertained by a large body of
officers from the various ships, became quite uproarious under the
influence of overflowing supplies of champagne, Madeira, and punch,
which they seemed greatly to relish. The Japanese took the lead in
proposing healths and toasts, and were by no means the most backward in
drinking them. They kept shouting at the top of their voices, and were
heard far above the music of the bands that enlivened the entertainment
by a succession of brisk and cheerful tunes. In the eagerness of the
Japanese appetite there was but little discrimination in the choice of
dishes and in the order of courses, and the most startling heterodoxy
was exhibited in the confused commingling of fish, flesh, and fowl,
soups and syrups, fruits, fricassees, roast and boiled, pickles and
preserves. As a most generous supply had been provided, there were still
some remnants of the feast left after the guests had satisfied their
voracity, which most of these Japanese, in accordance with their custom,
stowed away about their persons to carry off. The Japanese always have
an abundant supply of paper within the left bosom of their loose robes,
in a capacious pocket. This is used for various purposes; one species,
as soft as our cotton cloth, and withal exceedingly tough, is used for a
handkerchief; another furnishes the material for taking notes, or for
wrapping up what is left after a feast. On the present occasion, when
the dinner was over, all the Japanese guests simultaneously spread out
their long folds of paper, and gathering what scraps they could lay
their hands on, without regard to the kind of food, made up an envelope
of conglomerate eatables in which there was such a confusion of the sour
and sweet, the albuminous, oleaginous, and saccharine, that the
chemistry of Liebig or the practised taste of the Commodore's Parisian
cook would never have reached a satisfactory analysis. They not only
always followed this practice themselves, but insisted that their
American guests, when entertained at a Japanese feast, should adopt it
also.

Whenever the Commodore and his officers were feasted on shore, paper
parcels of the remnants were thrust into their hands on leaving. After
the banquet the Japanese were entertained by an exhibition of negro
minstrelsy, got up by some of the sailors. The gravity of the saturnine
Hayashi was not proof against the grotesque exhibition, and even he
joined in the general hilarity. It was now sunset and the Japanese
prepared to depart, with quite as much wine in them as they could well
bear. The jovial Matsusaki threw his arms about the Commodore's neck,
crushing in his tipsy embrace a pair of new epaulettes, and repeating,
in Japanese, with maudlin affection, these words, as interpreted into
English: "Nippon and America, all the same heart." He then went toddling
into his boat, supported by some of his more steady companions, and soon
all the happy party had left the ships and were making rapidly for the
shore. The Saratoga fired the salute of seventeen guns as the last boat
pulled off from the Powhatan, and the squadron was once more left in the
usual quiet of ordinary ship's duty.

The following day the Commodore landed to have a conference in regard to
the remaining points of the treaty, previous to signing. He was met at
the treaty-house by the commissioners. As soon as the Commodore had
taken his seat, a letter was handed to him, which the Japanese said they
had just received from Simoda. It was from Commander Pope, and had been
transmitted through the authorities overland. Its contents gave a
satisfactory report of Simoda, and the Commodore at once said he
accepted that port, but declared that it must be opened without delay.
Hakodate, he added, would do for the other, and Napha, in Riu Kiu [Loo
Choo Islands], could be retained for the third. In regard to the other
two he was willing, he said, to postpone their consideration to some
other time.

The Commodore now proposed to sign the agreement in regard to the three
ports, and directed his interpreter to read it in Dutch. When the
document had been thus read and afterward carefully perused by the
Japanese, they said they were prepared to concur in everything except as
to the _immediate_ opening of Simoda. After discussion, it was finally
settled that, though the port might be opened, the Japanese would
address a note to the Commodore, saying that not everything which might
be wanting by ships would be furnished there before the expiration of
ten months, but that wood and water and whatever else the place
possessed would be supplied immediately; and to this note the Commodore
promised to reply and express his satisfaction with such an arrangement.

The question now came up with respect to the extent of privileges to be
granted to Americans who might visit Simoda, in the discussion of which
it was plain that the Japanese meant to be distinctly understood as
prohibiting absolutely, at least for the present, the permanent
residence of Americans, with their families, in Japan. The distance,
also, to which Americans might extend their excursions into the country
around the ports of Simoda and Hakodate was settled; and it is
observable that, at the special request of the Japanese, the Commodore
named the distance, they assenting at once to that which he mentioned.

The proposition to have consular agents residing in Japan evidently gave
great anxiety to the commissioners. The Commodore was firm in saying
there must be such agents, for the sake of the Japanese themselves as
well as for that of his own countrymen, and it was finally conceded that
there should be one, to live at Simoda, and that he should not be
appointed until a year and eighteen months from the date of the treaty.

Two more articles, including the new points that had been discussed,
were now added to the transcript of the proposed treaty; the Japanese
promised to bring on board the Powhatan next day a copy in Dutch of
their understanding of the agreement as far as concurred in, and the
Commodore departed.

In the next two days several notes passed between the Commodore and the
Japanese commissioners, in the course of which various questions that
had been already considered were definitely settled; and the American
interpreters were occupied, in cooperation with the Japanese, in drawing
up the treaty in the Chinese, Dutch, and Japanese languages. On the 29th
the ships Vandalia and Southampton arrived from Simoda with the
confirmation of what Commander Pope had already said in his
despatch--which had been transmitted by the Japanese authorities,
overland, to the Commodore--namely, that the harbor and town of Simoda
had been found, on examination, suitable in every respect for the
purposes of the Americans. All was now in readiness for the final
signing of the treaty.

Accordingly, on Friday, March 31, 1854, the Commodore went to the
treaty-house with his usual attendants, and immediately on his arrival
signed three several drafts of the treaty written in the English
language, and delivered them to the commissioners, together with three
copies of the same in the Dutch and Chinese languages, certified by the
interpreters, Messrs. Williams and Portman, for the United States. At
the same time the Japanese commissioners, in behalf of their Government,
handed to the Commodore three drafts of the treaty written respectively
in the Japanese, Chinese, and Dutch languages, and signed by the four of
their body delegated by the Emperor for that purpose.

Immediately on the signing and exchange of the copies of the treaty, the
Commodore presented the first commissioner, Prince Hayashi, with an
American flag, remarking that he considered it the highest expression of
national courtesy and friendship he could offer. The Prince was
evidently deeply impressed with this significant mark of amity, and
returned his thanks for it with indications of great feeling. The
Commodore then presented the other dignitaries with the various gifts he
had especially reserved for them. All formal business being now
concluded, to the satisfaction of both parties, the Japanese
commissioners invited the Commodore and his officers to partake of an
entertainment prepared for the occasion.

The tables were spread in the large reception hall. These were wide
divans, such as were used for seats, and of the same height. They were
covered with a red-colored crape, and arranged in order according to the
rank of the guests and their hosts, an upper table raised somewhat above
the rest being appropriated to the Commodore, his superior officers, and
the commissioners. When all were seated the servitors brought in a rapid
succession of courses, consisting chiefly of thick soups, or rather
stews, in most of which fresh fish was a component part. These were
served in small earthen bowls or cups, and were brought in upon
lacquered stands, about fourteen inches square and ten inches high, and
placed, one before each guest, upon the tables. Together with each dish
was a supply of soy or some other condiment, while throughout there was
an abundant quantity, served in peculiar vessels, of the Japanese
national liquor, the _sake_, a sort of whiskey distilled from rice.
Various sweetened confections and a multiplicity of cakes were liberally
interspersed among the other articles on the tables. Toward the close of
the feast, a plate containing a broiled crawfish, a piece of fried fish
of some kind, two or three boiled shrimps, and a small square pudding
with something of the consistence of blancmange, was placed before each,
with a hint that they were to follow the guests on their return to the
ships, and they were accordingly sent and duly received afterward.

After the feast, which passed pleasantly and convivially, compliments
being freely exchanged, and healths drunk in Liliputian cups of sake,
the commissioners expressed great anxiety about the proposed visit of
the Commodore to Yedo. They earnestly urged him not to take his ships
any farther up the bay, as they said it would lead to trouble by which
the populace might be disturbed and their own lives perhaps jeoparded.
The Commodore argued the matter with them for some time, and, as they
still pertinaciously urged their objections to his visit to the capital,
it was agreed that the subject should be further discussed by an
interchange of notes. The meeting then broke up.

When it was determined by our Government to send an expedition to Japan,
those in authority were not unmindful of the peculiar characteristics of
that singular nation. Unlike all other civilized peoples, it was in a
state of voluntary, long-continued, and determined isolation. It neither
desired nor sought communication with the rest of the world, but, on the
contrary, strove to the uttermost to prevent it. It was comparatively an
easy task to propose, to any Power the ports of which were freely
visited by ships from every part of the world, the terms of a commercial
treaty. But not so when, by any Power, commerce itself was interdicted.
Before general conditions of commerce could be proposed to such a Power,
it was necessary to settle the great preliminary that commerce would be
allowed at all. Again, if that preliminary was settled affirmatively, a
second point of great moment remained to be discussed, viz., to what
degree shall intercourse for trading be extended? Among nations
accustomed to the usages of Christendom, the principles and extent of
national comity in the interchanges of commercial transactions have been
so long and so well defined and understood that, as between them, the
term "commercial treaty" needs no explanation; its meaning is
comprehended alike by all, and in its stipulations it may cover the very
broad extent that includes everything involved in the operations of
commerce between two maritime nations. But in a kingdom which, in its
polity, expressly ignored commerce and repudiated it as an evil instead
of a good, it was necessary to lay the very foundation as well as to
adjust the terms.

Hence the instructions to Commodore Perry covered broad ground, and his
letters of credence conformed to his instructions. If he found the
Japanese disposed to abandon, at once and forever, their deliberately
adopted plan of non-intercourse with foreigners (an event most
unlikely), his powers were ample to make with them a commercial treaty
as wide and general as any we have with the nations of Europe. If they
were disposed to relax but in part their jealous and suspicious system,
formally to profess relations of friendship, and, opening some only of
their ports to our vessels, to allow a trade in those ports between
their people and ours, he was authorized to negotiate for this purpose,
and secure for his country such privileges as he could, not inconsistent
with the self-respect which, as a nation, we owed to ourselves. It must
not be forgotten, in the contemplation of what was accomplished, that
our representative went to a people who, at the time of his arrival
among them, had, both by positive law and usage of more than two hundred
years, allowed but one of their harbors, Nagasaki, to be opened to
foreigners at all; had permitted no trade with such foreigners when they
did come, except, under stringent regulations, with the Dutch and the
Chinese; were in the habit of communicating with the world outside of
them at second-hand only, through the medium of the Dutch who were
imprisoned at Dezima; and a people who, as far as we know, never made a
formal treaty with a civilized nation in the whole course of their
history.

There were but two points on which the Commodore's instructions did not
allow him a large discretion to be exercised according to circumstances.
These were, first, that if happily any arrangements for trade, either
general or special, were made, it was to be distinctly stipulated that,
under no circumstances and in no degree, would the Americans submit to
the humiliating treatment so long borne by the Dutch in carrying on
their trade. The citizens of our country must be dealt with as freemen,
or there should be no dealings at all. The second point was that, in the
event of any of our countrymen being cast, in God's providence, as
shipwrecked men on the coast of Japan, they should not be treated as
prisoners, confined in cages, or subjected to inhuman treatment, but
should be received with kindness and hospitably cared for until they
could leave the country.

The nearest approach to a precedent was to be found in our treaty with
China, made in 1844. This therefore was carefully studied by the
Commodore. Its purport was "a treaty or general convention of peace,
amity, and commerce," and to settle the rules to "be mutually observed
in the intercourse of the respective countries." So far as "commerce" is
concerned, it permitted "the citizens of the United States to frequent"
five ports in China "and to reside with their families and trade there,
and to proceed at pleasure with their vessels and merchandise to or from
any foreign port, and from either of the said five ports to enter any
other of them." As to duties on articles imported, they were to pay
according to a tariff that was made part of the treaty, and in no case
were to be subjected to higher duties than those paid, under similar
circumstances, by the people of other nations. Consuls were provided
for, to reside at the five open ports, and those trading there were
"permitted to import from their own or any other ports into China, and
sell there and purchase therein, and export to their own or any other
ports, all manner of merchandise of which the importation or exportation
was not prohibited by the treaty." In short, so far as the five ports
were concerned, there existed between us and China a general treaty of
commerce.

The Commodore caused to be prepared, in the Chinese characters, a
transcript of the treaty, with such verbal alterations as would make it
applicable to Japan, with the view of exhibiting it to the Imperial
commissioners of that country should he be so successful as to open
negotiations. He was not sanguine enough to hope that he could procure
an entire adoption of the Chinese treaty by the Japanese. He was not
ignorant of the difference in national characteristics between the
inhabitants of China and the more independent, self-reliant, and sturdy
natives of the Japanese islands. He knew that the latter held the former
in some degree of contempt and treated them in the matter of trade very
much as they treated the Dutch. He was also aware that the Chinese, when
they made their treaty, did know something of the advantages that might
result from intercourse with the rest of the world; while as to the
Japanese, in their long-continued isolation, either they neither knew
nor desired such advantages, or, if they knew them, feared they might be
purchased at too high a price in the introduction of foreigners, who, as
in the case of the Portuguese, centuries before, might seek to overturn
the empire. It was too much, therefore, to expect that the Japanese
would in all the particulars of a treaty imitate the Chinese.

Of the difficulties encountered, even after the Japanese had consented
to negotiate, the best account may be given from the conferences and
discussions between the negotiators, of all which most accurate reports
were kept on both sides, in the form of dialogue. At the first meeting
of the Commodore with the Imperial commissioners, on March 8th, he acted
on the plan he had proposed to himself with respect to the treaty with
China, and thus addressed them:

_Commodore Perry_. I think it would be better for the two nations that a
treaty similar to the one between my country and the Chinese should be
made between us. I have prepared the draft of one almost identical with
our treaty with China. I have been sent here by my Government to make a
treaty with yours; if I do not succeed now, my Government will probably
send more ships here; but I hope we shall soon settle matters amicably.

_Japanese_. We wish for time to have the document translated into the
Japanese language.

This was but one among a hundred proofs of their extreme suspicion and
caution; for there was not one of the Imperial commissioners, probably,
who could not have read, without the least difficulty, the document as
furnished by the Commodore; and certain it is that their interpreters
could have read it off into Japanese at once.

The Commodore, who wished to do as far as possible everything that might
conciliate, of course made no objection to a request so seemingly
reasonable, though he knew it to be needless, and was content to wait
patiently for their reply. In one week that reply came in writing, and
was very explicit: "As to opening a trade, such as is now carried on by
China with your country, we certainly cannot yet bring it about. The
feelings and manners of our people are very unlike those of other
nations, and it will be exceedingly difficult, even if you wish it, to
change immediately the old regulations for those of other countries.
Moreover, the Chinese have long had intercourse with Western nations,
while we have had dealings at Nagasaki with only the people of Holland
and China."

This answer was not entirely unexpected, and put an end to all prospect
of negotiating a "commercial treaty" in the European sense of that
phrase. It only remained therefore to secure, for the present, admission
into the kingdom, and so much of trade as Japanese jealousy could be
brought to concede. At length, after much and oft-repeated discussion,
the point was yielded that certain ports might be opened to our vessels;
and then, in the interview of March 25th, came up the subject of
consuls.

_Japanese_. About the appointment of consuls or agents, the
commissioners desire a delay of four or five years, to see how the
intercourse works. The governor of the town and the official interpreter
will be able to carry on all the business of supplying provisions, coal,
and needed articles, with the captain, without the intervention of a
consul.

_Perry_. The duties of a consul are to report all difficulties that
arise between American citizens and Japanese to his Government in an
authentic manner, assist the Japanese in carrying out their laws and the
provisions of the treaty and recovering debts made by the Americans; and
also communicating to the Government at Washington whatever the Japanese
wish, as no letters can be received after this through the Dutch; and if
no consuls are received, then a ship-of-war must remain in Japan
constantly, and her captain must do the duties of a consul.

_Japanese_. If we had not felt great confidence in you, we should not
have consented to open our ports at all. Consuls may be accepted by and
by, after experience has shown their need; and we hope that all American
citizens obey the laws of their country and behave properly.

_Perry_. True, and I hope no difficulty will arise; and this appointment
of consuls in Japan, as they are in China, Hawaii, and everywhere else,
is to prevent and provide for difficulties. No American will report his
own misdeeds to his own Government, nor can the Japanese bring them to
our notice except through a government agent. This provision must be in
the treaty, though I will stipulate for only one, to reside at Simoda,
and he will not be sent probably for a year or two from this time.

And thus it was that the Commodore had to explain everything and feel
his way, step by step, in the progress of the whole negotiation.

_Japanese_. The commissioners wish every point desired by the Admiral to
be stated clearly, for the Japanese are not equal to the Americans, and
have not much to give in exchange.

_Perry_. I have already stated all my views as regards our intercourse,
in the draft of the treaty you have. [This was one prepared by the
Commodore after the rejection of the transcript of the Chinese treaty.]
Let the commissioners state their objections to it. This treaty now to
be made is only a beginning; and as the nations know each other, the
Japanese will permit Americans to go anywhere, to Fujiyama--all over the
country.

_Japanese_. We have found restrictions necessary against the Portuguese
and the English.

Then followed observations by the Japanese on Pellew's entry into
Nagasaki harbor, which showed how much dislike of the English that event
had occasioned. A strong proof of their remarkable caution was furnished
by the Japanese at the conference held on March 28th when most of the
terms of the treaty had been agreed upon.

_Perry_. I am prepared now to sign the treaty about these three harbors.

Mr. Portman, interpreter, then read in Dutch that portion of the treaty
which contained such points as had been already agreed upon.

_Japanese_. It is all correct except that we have objection to opening
the port of Simoda immediately; if any vessels were to go there in
distress, we should be glad to furnish them with provisions, wood, and
water.

_Perry_. You have already consented, in one of your letters to me, to
open that port immediately. I am very desirous of settling that matter
now, as I wish to despatch the Saratoga home to inform the Government,
before Congress adjourns, how matters are advancing; that will take some
time, and there is no probability that any ships will come here before
ten or twelve months have expired; so that it will make no difference to
you whether you put it in the treaty to be opened now or in ten months.

_Japanese_. We are willing to put it in the treaty "to be opened now,"
if you will give us a letter or promise that no ships will come here
before the President gives his permission.

_Perry_. I cannot do that very well, but I am willing to put it off
ninety days; that will be about the time I shall return from Hakodate;
it was your own proposition, yesterday, to open that port immediately. I
consent to this, however, to show you how desirous I am to do what I can
to please you. I cannot consent to a longer time.

_Japanese_. If we put it in the treaty to be opened now, we would like
you to give us an order that no ships shall enter that port before ten
months.

_Perry_. I cannot do that. But there is no probability that any ships
will come here before that time, as I shall not leave here for three
months, and they will not hear of it before that time; and when they do
hear of it, it will take several months for ships to make the voyage
here. If you choose I will keep one of the ships at Simoda for several
months.