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Mr. Pruyn to Mr. Seward.

No. 21.]

LEGATION of the United STATES IN JAPAN, Yedo, May 24, 1862. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith No. 1 original, and No. 1 transla. tion, of a letter addressed to you by the Japanese ministers for foreign affairs, which was handed to me on the occasion of my interview with them in company with Mr. Harris on the 5th instant.

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, ROBERT H. PRUYN, Minister Resident in Japan.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington.

To his excellency the Secretary of State for foreign affairs of the United States

of America.

We have to state to your excellency that we learned that in compliance with the request of Townsend Harris, esquire, leave had been granted him by your government to return to his country. During a period of more than five years, since we entered into treaty relations, Townsend Harris, esquire, resided at our court as a diplomatic agent. He has a perfect knowledge of the state of affairs in our empire, and he has always been friendly, and made suitable arrangements without cold feeling. By so doing, our friendly relations, not only with your empire, but also with the other treaty powers, have been drawn more closely; this, in fact, is to be attributed to the efforts and the exertion of Mr. Harris, for which we are most grateful. And for this reason we expressed a desire to your excellency that he might continue to reside here for some years.

But this desire does not appear to have reached your government, as his suecessor has been selected, and Mr. Harris has been instructed to return, which we consider as a necessity to be regretted; and it is desirable that he may come back here.

However, as his successor has also been selected and sent by your government, there may be no difference between the former and the present minister; and we trust, therefore, that the present minister will also arrange everything in a friendly manner, as has been the case heretofore.

Stated with respect and esteem on the 7th day of the 4th month of the 2d year of Runkin (the 5th May, 1862.)

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SIR: I have the honor to inform you that this day I had an audience of his Majesty the Tycoon, for the purpose of delivering my letters of credence, on which occasion I addressed his Majesty as follows:

"SIRE: In presenting my letters of credence, I am directed to assure your Majesty of the sincere wishes of the President of the United States for the health and happiness of your Majesty, for the splendor of your reign, and for the increased prosperity and power of your empire.

"I am specially charged to assure your Majesty of the desire of my government to continue the amicable relations now existing between the two governments, and to cement more closely the ties of friendship which have been so auspiciously formed and so happily preserved.

"Where mutual respect and confidence, a disposition to adhere rigidly and honorably to every obligation, to ask nothing which is wrong, and to grant whatever is just, characterize the conduct of nations, nothing will occur to interrupt their harmonious intercourse.

"I assure your Majesty that it shall ever be my desire to promote the existing relations of friendship, which I trust may be perpetual, and I solicit for myself the confidence which your Majesty's government has so generously and justly extended to my predecessor."

To which his Majesty replied as follows:

"Have learned what you stated on delivering the letter. The friendship between the two countries shall be increased more and more.

great a distance must have been wearisome to you."

To come so

I was received by the high officers of the government in the most cordial manner, and the ceremonies attending my audience were of the most honorable kind, and in every respect satisfactory.

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

ROBERT H. PRUYN,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington.

No. 17.]

Minister Resident in Japan.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Harris.

Department of STATE,

Washington, July 23, 1861. SIR: Your despatch of May 8 (No. 20) has been received, together with the letter mentioned therein, written by the Tycoon of Japan to the President, and the letter from the ministers of foreign affairs addressed to myself.

All these papers relate to a proposition of the Japanese government that the opening of the cities of Yedo and Osacca and the harbors of Hiogo and Neë gata, as stipulated in our existing treaty, shall be postponed. Your own counsel, as given in your despatch, is that discretionary power be given to the diplomatic agent of the United States to act in concert with his colleagues, the representa tives of other powers standing in relations towards Japan similar to those of the United States.

The course suggested is, as you doubtless were aware, different from what has been contemplated by the President. He holds, however, your ability and discretion in high consideration, and therefore care will be taken to review the subject fully, upon consultation, if possible, with the representatives here of the other powers concerned. As soon as the subject shall have been thus considered you will receive a definitive communication in relation to it.

In the meantime you will inform the Tycoon and the ministers for foreign affairs that their letters have been received and taken into consideration, with a

due desire to establish the intercourse between the United States and Japan on the best and surest foundations.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

TOWNSEND HARRIS, Esq, &c., &c., Yedo.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

No. 18.1

Mr. Seward to Mr. Harris.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, August 1, 1861.

SIR: I recur again to your despatch of the 1st of August, 1860, (No. 26.) In that paper you recommended a postponement for another year of the exer cise of the right of American citizens to reside in the city of Yedo for the purpose of trade after the 1st of January next, saved to the United States by a clause in the third article of the treaty of July 29, 1858.

In my despatch to you of the 16th May last (No. 15) I stated that I had then addressed a note in relation thereto to the minister of Prussia in the United States, of which a copy was sent to you, and also that a similar note had been addressed to the ministers of Great Britain, France, Russia, and Holland, and that when replies to those communications should have been received by the department, no time would be lost in acquainting you with their contents.

The burden of the circular note thus addressed to the ministers of Great Britain, France, Prussia, Russia, and Holland, was that the President might, perhaps, have yielded to your suggestion if the circumstances which surround the subject had remained unchanged; but we had learned by recent despatches that Mr. Heusken, secretary of the American legation at Yedo, was, on the night of the 15th of January last, waylaid and assassinated in the streets of that city without any other cause or provocation than the fact that he was a foreigner.

The Japanese government had made no satisfactory explanation of this great violation of the rights of the United States, and, on the other hand, had virtually confessed its inability to bring the offenders to punishment.

It was argued by me in the aforesaid notes that the Japanese government would infer that we are unwilling or unable to vindicate our rights, if, leaving that transaction unpunished and unexplained, we should frustrate the effect of the treaty stipulation for the opening of the city of Yedo.

The President was, for this reason, of opinion that no postponement of the opening of the city of Yedo ought to be conceded. He thought, however, that some demonstration, which would render the residence of foreigners in Yedo safe, ought to be made, and that the other powers consulted would probably be induced to co-operate in such a demonstration, because their representatives are equally exposed there with our own. The President therefore proposed that those powers should announce to the government of Japan their willingness and their purpose to make common cause and co-operate with this government in exacting satisfaction, if the Japanese government should not at once put forth all possible effort to secure the punishment of the assassins of Mr. Heusken, and also in making requisitions with signal vigor if any insult or injury should be committed against any foreigner residing in Yedo, after the opening of the city in January next, according to the treaty.

The ministers addressed, as I have reason to know, promptly submitted these suggestions to their respective governments, together with a form of a convention for carrying them into effect. This projected convention. contemplated the despatch of a fleet of steamers adequate to impress the Japanese government with the ability and the determination of the states engaged, to secure a performance of its treaty stipulations.

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Subsequently to these proceedings, and while no answers had yet been re ceived from the governments consulted, your despatch (No. 20) of the date of May 8, 1861, was received, accompanied by a letter addressed by his Majesty the Tycoon to the President of the United States, and also a letter to myself, written by the Japanese ministers of foreign affairs.

Those letters expressed the desire of the government of Japan that the opening of the cities of Yedo and Osacca, and the harbors of Hiogo and Neëgata, should be postponed for the reasons more specifically set forth in the latter communication. These reasons are, in substance, that the opening of the commerce of Japan to the western nations has had immediate results very different from what were anticipated. The prices of articles of general consumption are daily advancing, owing to the extensive exportation, while but little is imported, and the people of the humble class, not being able to supply their wants, as heretofore, attribute this to foreign trade. Even higher and wealthier classes, we are told, are generally not favorably disposed towards commerce, so that soon there may be those who will condemn the abrogation of the prohibition of former times and desire the re-establishment of the ancient law. We are informed, also, that these results, following immediately upon the radical change of policy of the government, have produced a very general uneasiness, which is increased by referring to the stipulations in the treaties for the opening of the ports of Hiogo and Necgata and the freedom of trade at Yedo and Osacca, in view of the approach of the time when those franchises will be due by the effect of the treaties with the United States, Great Britain, France, Prussia, Russia, and Holland. We are informed that it would be a matter of great difficulty for the government to exert its power and authority for the purpose of demonstrating the benefits to be realized at some future day, and thus causing its subjects to submit to the present uneasiness for some time longer. In reviewing the subject in your despatch (No. 20) you observe that you have seen no reason to change your own view of the expediency of consenting to a postponement of the opening of the city of Yedo.

You remark, also, that Osacea, being in the Tien or Heavenly district, where the Mikado or spiritual ruler of Japan resides, it is probable a residence of foreigners there would be regarded with dislike by a portion of the Japanese people; that Hiogo is simply the seaport of Osacca, and its opening naturally depends on that of the city, while Neegata is a place of minor consideration. Your argument on the subject concludes that the opening of the Japanese commerce has temporarily produced a great increase in the cost of subsistence of official persons enjoying fixed and limited incomes, while their salaries have not yet been correspondingly increased. Upon the whole, you suggest that discretionary power be given to you to act in concert with the ministers of the other powers interested, in such manner as shall be most advisable for the welfare of both countries.

We are sensible of the very great perplexity of dealing with a government whose constitution is so different from our own, and whose subjects have fixed sentiments and habits so very peculiar. Moreover, we have the utmost confidence in your ability and discretion, while we know that it might be hazardous to every interest already secured to substitute a policy of our own, adopted at this distance, for one which you find necessary on the spot.

The President has, therefore, concluded to confer upon you the discretion solicited by you. To make your way casier, this determination has not been adopted without previous consultation here with the ministers before consulted, who will, of course, communicate the result of the conference to their respective governments. This proceeding will, for the present, suspend the plan of a naval demonstration, before proposed by the United States. I must, however, urgently insist that, except in the extremest necessity, you do not consent to any postponement of any covenant in the existing treaty, without first receiving satisfac

tion of some marked kind for the great crime of the assassination of Mr. Heusken while in the diplomatic service of the United States.

We leave the form and mode of that satisfaction to your own discretion. It would be best, if possible, to secure the punishment of the assassins. But circumstances unknown to us must enter into the question and will modify your action. The principle, however, seems to us too important to be abandoned. If the western states can keep their representatives safely in Japan, they can, perhaps, wait for the facilities stipulated; but if their ministers shall be obliged by force or terror to withdraw, all will be lost that has, at such great cost, been gained. The President acknowledges the letter of the Tycoon, and I reply briefly to the ministers for foreign affairs. Those replies accompany this despatch.

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SIR: Your despatch of June 7 (No. 21) has been received. It affords the President sincere pleasure to know that the government of the Tycoon has exerted so much diligence to bring the assassins of Mr. Heusken to punishment, and that you are satisfied that those exertions have been made with good faith. It is expected that the government will not abate its efforts until the end so important to a good understanding between the two countries shall have been attained.

The punishment of the delinquent Yakonines, who were in attendance on the deceased when the crime was committed, is regarded by this government with high approbation.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

TOWNSEND HARRIS, Esq., &c., &c., &c., Yedo.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

No. 24.]

Mr. Seward to Mr. Harris.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, October 21, 1861.

SIR: Your despatch of July 10 (No. 29) has been received. You perhaps are informed now for the first time that your appointment as the first commissioner to Japan was made by President Pierce upon the joint recommendation of Commodore Perry and myself.

You will do me the justice, therefore, to believe that I sincerely sympathize with you in your suffering from ill health, and that I regard your retirement from the important post you have filled with such distinguished ability and success, as a subject of grave anxiety, not only for this country, but for all the

western nations.

The President instructs me to say that he accepts your resignation with profound regret, and to present to you an assurance of his entire satisfaction with the manner in which the responsibilities of your mission have been discharged.

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