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    Untitled Article

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    THE rAltLIAMEXX OF THE FUTUHE.

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    Untitled Article

    TJfa recent paper , we made the venture 6 t JDrvdkn s doubt , — . JL " Uncertain wjiose Uie narrower epan , The uhrcftd clown , or hiilf-rcu « l gentleman . " Though , since his day , there is the difference that the gentleman lias , perhaps , move right to retain the title to "half-read " than the clown to " unread ; " and that , in purely-political-knowledge many a mechanic now has a juster view of economical educations than the « gentleman " pf qi ^ yUty or a hundred yours ' agio j nor would it bo a bad result of this inference if the gentlemen-educators of gentlemen directed , as Arnoid did , the attention of , tlxoir pupils , to what Dacon culls the more solid awd ' osseous parts of knowledge , " especially tho historical , than has been hitherto their wont . ' Thus inuc . U in passing , with the caution that , iu despair of the elegances for which the gentleman has time , tho poor and inorq self-educating- aspirant to knowledge will apply himself totho more ( substantial parts of it ; and consequently , that , however distasteful , It will bo well for the gentleman to lead rather than to follow , taking his hint ' from ft few more lines from the jpoom of Dityujsw jusfc referred to . 1 ' 1 » Q panther , full of inward discontent , '{¦ iiniHt t / ict / would // it , before thorn wisely wont , $ ui > ptyh > ' R want . oi ' power bjj ( li ' hihliiyJti'iiL Wo are convinced Unit the higher classes in England need not begin so posar on tricthno " before the lower ones . 1 hero are certain plants—the rice plant among them—which , let the Hoods nso never so -high , always manage to keep their flowers above the surface , elongating thoimclvos in proportion to tho need , bo it 1 a with the upper classes in England , which wo thoroughly behove nothing but an almost impossible revolution do prc ^ anchs—ix . breaking up ^ ol the fountains of the great deep—could really endanger , und Hint uo gradual vising of tho classes below them could duwtroy , though tlioy nitty have to concede , and concede almost f «

    Untitled Article

    Soon after his arrival , Mr . Atcock received congratulatory visits from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs . These " affairs " are in the liands of a Minister and five Governors . The minister is one of the highest ; members of the Council of State , and according to Japanese custom is provided with a " double , " " sits on all public occasions by his side , and takes part in the business , " A well-behaved crowd witnessed the landing and procession of the Envoy ; officials ran before , jingling iron rings at the end of long staves , and this , with slight cords drawn across intersecting streets , kept the passage clear ; a handsome custom-house , and two " really imposing- and beautifully constructed landing-places , with flights of well laid granite steps of great extent , " constituted the preparations made for foreign trade ; A temple was assigned to our Envoy as _ a residence , = and the people seemed < ' well pleased and interested in the novel spectacle of a foreign representative going in state to pay his flrsfc visit to the Tycoon ' s ministers far iii the imperial quarter . " Thus far the diplomatic heavens seem sOrehei but it is not civilized Europe alone that possesses a breed of reactionary tories , men of other * times , who catch an ague at the name of progress , and regard improvement as a mortal foe . The Protectionists of Japan succeeded an getting a bad locality Offered for pur merchants , and Envoy Plenipotentiary AtcoCK " considers that the settlement improvised by the Japanese authorities resembles , in all its main features , the humiliating position made for the Dutch at Decima twohundred years ago ; " : All this was contrary to treaty ; and so , On the 12 th July , 1859 j we were iit possession of a casus belli in a flourishing state of babyhood , if not full grown . By July 13 another grievance was in . full feather . The Japanese Government had agreed tofurnish British subjects " with Japanese coin in exchange for theirs , equal weight being given , and ho discount taken for recoihage . " Japanese silver cun-ency was in itzebous , half itzebous , and quarteiv itzebous- —three itzebpu being equal in weight to a dollar ; but after the sti pulation just mentioned , the Japanese authorities made a he \ v kind of half itzebou , two of which were equal to a dollar in weight ; If the silver were of equal fineness we do not see wljat this could matter , except that reckoning would be more complicated , through the existence oftwo coins bearing the same name , although differing in value ; but Mr . Ai ^ ock complains that , by calling the hew coin a half itzebou , it will only exchange for the Original half itzebou , _ or its equivalent in produce . We should have doubted this action , taking place , and it seems incredible that theT Japanese Government , should have , as Mr , Alcoctv supposes , " such absolute authority over ¦ their subjects " as to cornpel them to deal with foreigners , as if the large half itzcboii were worth no more than the small one , and then take the big coin to the treasury and accept a little one in its stead . But , however this , may be , it seems thatj within a month of our " Envoy Plenipotentiary and Minister Extraordinary ' ¦ ' : meeting the -Governor of Nagasaki , lie had a location difficitlty and a coinage difficulty on his handstogether . Whilethese quarrelswere brewing , the state processions and upholstery part of the business went on . bravely ; the treaty , written in Japanese arid in Dutch , was carried through the city of Yeddo , resting on a silk cushion , under a canopy decorated with flags and evergreens , guarded by -artillery and miarines , and followed by " fifty of the crew of Her Majesty * ship Samson , " while the officers of the Consulate-General and Captain Hance , with his officers , " were all on horseback . '' It was a bright July morning ; four miles had to be traversed , " through a populous quarter of the commercial city . " The " steadiness ; and good ¦ conduct of the men was exemplary , " and our Extraordinary Envoy noticed " that all eyes were fixed upon ' the canopy , and were evidently drawing each other ' s attention to it . " . ¦ . - While all organs of vision were thus calling ench other s attention , to the treaty , we are hot informed whether Mr . Alcock struck up the welMcnown strain of , " Drink to me only with thine Eyes , which might have been appropriate to the occasion , but wo have ( lie satisfaction of learning that Ota . Bingono . Kami and Monabe Simoosano Kumi , 'Councillors of State for Foreign Afluirs of the Empire of Japan , exchanged ratifications of the treaty with JUr .. Aicock . By the 38 . 1 h June Consul Hodgson grows weary ot official visits at Nagasaki , a :: d declines receiving any more , dcnianuintr written replies to his communications , " since nothing came out off these tedious visits . " Accordingly h o succeeds in getting _ seven Jotters ) , more or less satisfactory . On the 11 th July , Envoy Extras ordinary Awock writes another epistle to Lord MALaiKSBuux , which looks as if the little mercantile world which had migrated to Japan did not altogether appreciate his benevolent intentions to afford them a dry-nurse sort of aid . He tells his Lovdship that the Dutch merchants had routed houses and stores at the settlement lie objected to , wlii « h confirms his impression that the Dutch Comanissioner , Mr . JDpnkek Cuatritrs , " took no exception to the proposed Bit « , »' ud ftrrangemonta . " This was a blow to Mr . Alqock s location quarrel , but he comforted himself with tho reflection that " no net of the representative of another Power could bind him . But the conduct of Mr . Dunkku Cuimpe and the Dutch was not tho only griof to which Mr . Ai . cock was exposed . " M ^ r . Keswick , a repreeentntivo of thq bouso of Jakdikb Matiikson and Co ., line seen lit , notwithstniiding a notification warning British merchants of tho danger of defeating ofl ' orts iiiade in their interest for a nttuig location , and a , bolter und ' orHtanding with thq authont » cs on . that and other subjects immudiately connected with the opening-ot the port , to tako n house in tho Japanese settlement . ' f lljo Amencnn traders are equally intniotablo , i > nd nil began to dp business ns well as they could , " in despite of the adverrto view ontcrtainod by the Britisli and American diplomatic agents . " Mr ,. Ai . cocjc . rcKroU that he cannot punifih the people Who thus prefer then- own interest to . diplomatic equubblcs 5 and , 113 he can do nothing with the

    European merchants , he declares it urgent thafc " something more satisfactory should , be obtained without delay , and no time lost , therefore , in bringing the- Japanese Government to a sense of the impossibility of maintaining their present position in respect to the trade and iocation of foreigners at the new port . " Thus ^ Extraordinary Envoy turns but to be an apparatus for quarrelling , and acts in opposition to the merchants who are chiefly concerned . < On the 7 th October , Lord Johk jRussELt " entirely approves " of Mr . Alcock ' s " various steps , " although , in the next sentence , he . points , out the probability of the Japanese ; succeeding in hlakihg Yokuau ^ a the business station . Qn the 28 th July , Mr . Alcock : writes ; fhat the Bbuce and Hope manufactured disasters in China had produced a bad irepression in Japan , that the liberal party had been' Overthrown ! at Yeddo , and the tories installed m office and power . Even the lives of the liberal ministers had been in danger from the violence ^;" of the protectionist nobles . With such a state of . affairs , it was not to be expected that European residents would enjoy mueh peace , and accordingly we soon hear of personal outrages committed by Japanese officers , who had the countenance of the Damios , or nobles , in their misdeeds . Moreover , the merchants were compelled to be idle , as the Japanese traders were afraid ot taking dollars , and the Treasury made no satisfactory arrangeriients for their exchange . Presently , matters are made worse by a -murder of three Russians , and the unwillingness of the local authorities to discover the assassins ; After much recrimination the Japanese ministers write amicably and make concessions . Count MduBA-ViEFF is satisfied tliat efforts will be inade to discover the murderers , and the police endeavour to protect foreigners in the streets . But notwithstanding occasional gleams of sunslu ' , affairs do nofi aclvdnee : The i ) amios , or hereditary feudal nobles , hold three-fourths of the soil of Japan , and cohstitufce a Great Council of the nation , determined to obstruct intercourse with foreigners , while the European - -merchants - contribute to the difficulty by violating the local laws ^ r and doing their utmost to smuggle the gold currency , out of the coiintry .. - : It may happen thafc the more liberal portion of the JDaiiiios may regain power , or that the others may be alarmed , if oqr pinnese \ yar is successfully lilanaged ; but it is hnpossibie not to foresee a Japanese war" looming in the distance , " and we may imagine the delights of : residin £ r at Yeddo by reading two extracts from , Mr . Alcock ' s epistles . Iii . the first he thits sums up his case : — - ' ¦ It comes to this , theu- ^ if we could , as the Japanese , live on rice and iish , with Japanese cookery and saki to aid a bad digestion , in houses with a few htcquei * trays for furniture , and a ^ ressihg- ^ own and girdle for all clothing , Japan might form a very , cheap , if not a lively or pleasant place of residence . " ¦ ' . - . ¦ ; ' ¦ ' ,- .- ' . - ¦¦ : ¦ . ¦ . - ' ' . ¦;¦¦ . ¦ At the beginning of the present year our envoy was not quite disheartened , although drunken officers made it dangerous to walk abroad , and the commonest sounds in Yeddo were those occasioned by musket and . artiliery practice , while rumours of aii intended massacre of all foreigners were afloat . Mr . Alcogic observes : " / JVf th , a perpetual ¦ ' menace : of assassination on one hand , and of incendiarism on the other , wlVile " . earth < j . u . akes almost every week shake the . houses to their foundation , I cannot say the post of a diplomatic agent in . Yeddo is to be recommended for nervous people . think not , and shall be truly glad if this dangeroiis and incavitious cflort to open Japan does not lend to serious calamity and loss of life . ,

    Untitled Article

    April 14 , 1860 . J The JLeader and iSatxirday Analyst . 349

    The Raltliamexx Of The Futuhe.

    ¦ THE l > AltLIA ^ EXX OF THE ' . FUTUKE .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 349, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2342/page/9/