554 



JAPAN. 



At the beginning of the year 1863, a British 

 fleet, under the command of Admiral Kuper, 

 arrived in the bay of Yeddo, not far from the 

 capital of the tycoon, in order to support by 

 force, if necessary, the demand which Colonel 

 Neale was to make for a reparation of the crimes 

 committed against British subjects. Col. Neale 

 was instructed to demand the execution of the 

 murderers of Mr. Lenox Richardson ; also, that 

 the Government of Yeddo should formally ex- 

 press a regret at not having prevented the crime 

 of which Mr. Richardson had been the innocent 

 victim, and pay a sum of 100,000 as the ex- 

 penses of the expedition to Japan, and 35,000 

 for the persons or heirs of persons who had 

 been wounded or killed at the English legation 

 in Yeddo, and on the high road from Yokohama 

 to Yeddo. The commander of the French squad- 

 ron in the Japanese seas, Admiral Jaures, in 

 accordance with the instructions received from 

 his Government, was to join Admiral Kuper in 

 supporting the demands to be made by Colonel 

 Neale. The Government of Yeddo tried to dodge 

 a definite reply to the English demands. They 

 asked for a delay until the return of the ty- 

 coon from the interview with the mikado ; they 

 pretended that the tycoon had no authority 

 over the murderers of Mr. Richardson, as they 

 were the subjects of the Prince of Satsuma, 

 and finally they maintained that the tycoon, 

 while defending the foreigners in his vicinity, 

 had neither the right nor the power to protect 

 them against the hatred of the national party. 



Col. Neale twice granted the demanded delay, 

 but being at length convinced that the Japa- 

 nese Government did not act toward him in 

 good faith, he left the matter in the hands of 

 Admiral Kuper, who made at once the neces- 

 sary preparations, and announced to the Gov- 

 ernment of Yeddo that, unless within a specified 

 time they would comply with the demands of 

 the British Government, he would have re- 

 course to coercive measures. This language 

 had in so far the desired result, that the Govern- 

 ment of Yeddo consented to place in the hands 

 of Col. Neale a sum of 2,500,000 francs. 



The relations of the minister of the United 

 States, Mr. Pruyn, to the Government of the 

 tycoon were for a long time more friendly 

 than those of other treaty Powers. Mr. Pruyn 

 remained at Yeddo, when all the other ambas- 

 sadors had left, and more than once the Japa- 

 nese Government invoked his interposition in 

 the progress of their negotiations with England 

 and France. Still he was desired, as well as 

 the other ministers, to withdraw from Yeddo 

 and remove to Yokohama. On May 24th, the 

 buildings occupied by the American legation in 

 Yeddo were totally destroyed by fire, and Mr. 

 Pruyn succeeded, with difficulty, in saving 

 the books and archives of the legation. Mr. 

 Pruyn received at once several visits of con- 

 dolence from various governors of foreign 

 affairs by order of the Gorogio (council of 

 state), at all of which it seemed to be taken 

 for granted that he would at once leave for 



Yokohama. He was assured, however, of pro- 

 tection while in Yeddo. Mr. Pruyn declined to 

 leave, and demanded that other quarters should 

 be assigned to him. On May 31st, he was 

 informed by one of the governors of foreign 

 affairs, that a conspiracy to attack the Amer- 

 ican legation that night had been discovered ; 

 that ample provision for his protection had 

 been made, but that his withdrawal to Yoko- 

 hama would relieve the Government from great 

 anxiety. Mr. Pruyn, whose intention had been 

 to leav.e on the next morning, now consented 

 to leave immediately. 



The mikado, in the meantime, ordered the 

 tycoon to expel the barbarians, and accord- 

 ingly the ambassadors of all the treaty powers 

 were informed, on June 24th, that the opened 

 ports were to be closed, and the foreigners to 

 be removed, as the Japanese could have no 

 intercourse with them. Mr. Pruyn replied to 

 this intimation, that he would insist on the 

 maintenance of the treaty, and that the citizens 

 of the United States would remain in Japan, 

 protected by the U. S. naval forces. In a let- 

 ter, addressed to Mr. Seward, dated Yokohama, 

 June 27th, Mr. Pruyn expressed his opinion 

 that the public mind in Japan would not be 

 quieted until the treaties could be ratified by 

 the mikado, and proposed to that end a naval 

 demonstration upon Osacca (20 miles from 

 Kioto), backed, if necessary, by a land force to 

 move upon Kioto. 



On the 26th of June, the American mer- 

 chant steamer Pembroke was attacked in the 

 Straits of Simonosaki, which separate the island 

 of Kiusiu and Niphon, by a Japanese armed 

 bark and the brig Laurie, both belonging to 

 the Prince of Nagato. It being quite dark, the 

 steamer fortunately escaped. Mr. Pruyn at 

 once informed the Japanese Government that 

 full satisfaction and indemnity would be de- 

 manded for this outrage. He at the same time 

 sent to the scene of the outrage the U. S. 

 steamer Wyoming, which, on July 16th, after 

 a brief engagement blew up the Japanese 

 steamer, sunk the brig, and silenced six land 

 batteries, with the loss of four killed and seven 

 wounded. 



On the 8th of July, the French steam-gunboat 

 Keshchang, of four guns, had been fired into 

 by the same ships, and by batteries on shore, 

 and reached Nagasaki almost in a sinking 

 condition. When this intelligence reached 

 Yokohama, Admiral Jaures, with the Semir 

 amis, a steam frigate of 35 gnns, and tin 

 Tancrede, of four gans, was at once des- 

 patched to punish the outrage. When just out; 

 of the harbor, he spoke the Dutch steamship 

 Medusa, of 16 guns, which had been fired inti 

 on the llth in the same straits, and receiver 

 from her captain charts, showing the positior 

 of the vessels and the batteries. On the 20th 

 of July, Admiral Jaures reached the strait? 

 landed a force of 150 men, under the cover of 

 his guns, seized and destroyed one of the bat- 

 teries, blew up a powder magazine and daimio'n 



