1845.] OF THE JAPANESE. 35 



' Samarang ' by storm the preceding night ! What busi- 

 ness had they with recently constructed scaling ladders ? 

 guns concealed by mats, &c. ? All this is absurd. It 

 would be high time to ask their reasons when we were 

 satisfied of the intention, but it would really be placing 

 the Japanese too low in the scale of civilized nations to 

 imagine that they would risk, not only the inevitable 

 defeat, which they must have been fully aware would have 

 been the result of any attempt to court hostilities with 

 Great Britain by such an unprincipled unwarrantable 

 insult ; at a moment, too, when, from their own admis- 

 sions, they anticipated, with satisfaction, an official visit 

 from our country, attended with overtures for the renewal 

 of friendly intercourse. 



On the other hand, let us look at this nation with the 

 same clear-sighted vision that we would judge one of 

 either a timid, or intriguing, disposition. In either case 

 we must, to a certain degree, admit weakness, or cowardice, 

 and this being the case, would they, entertaining such 

 machinations, have so fearlessly trusted themselves in 

 our power until so late an hour at night, as in the case 

 of the Mandarin and the Secretary, or Interpreter ? Or, 

 giving us credit for a degree of weakness, or stupidity, 

 (which was not very apparent) would they have acted 

 with such madness as to have risked their frail Gun 

 boats immediately under the bows of the ' Samarang ' 

 under canvas, with a commanding breeze, and liable to 

 speedy annihilation. No ! treachery results only from 

 cowardice, and we saw nothing of this complexion ; more- 

 over, there were not more than ten men in each boat, 

 merely sufficient to take charge of the ordnance, muni- 



