178 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



cannot expect to be free from the ambitious longings for increased power, which are the natural 

 concomitants of national success. The annexation of one country or province, whether by 

 conquest or purchase, will only tend to increase the desire to add another and another, and we, 

 as a nation would have no right to claim exemption from this universal vice, and in this view 

 we should be prepared to meet the inevitable consequences of our own ambitious tendencies. 



But, after all, these events in the history and fate of nations are doubtless directed by an 

 overruling Providence, and probably we could not, if we would, change their course, or rvert 

 our ultimate destiny. It only belongs to us to endeavor to act justly and honorably in all our 

 foreign relations, and I cannot but believe that we should be just to ourselves and to the world, 

 to enourage whatever practical measures might be suggested to change for the better the politi- 

 cal and civil condition of China and Japan, and the countries more to the south ; and especially 

 with respect to Formosa. The United States alone should assume the initiative. This magni- 

 ficent island, though nominally a province of China, is practically independent. The imperial 

 authorities maintaining a feeble and precarious footing only in isolated parts of the island ; a 

 large portion being in possession of independent tribes, and yet such is its productiveness in 

 minerals, drugs, and the more valuable products of those genial regions, that at this time a 

 revenue, estimated at a million of dollars, is collected, though little or none of it goes into the 

 imperial treasury. 



The inhabitants of the island may be divided into two classes : the first composed of those 

 at present submitting to the authority of China, whether of native or Chinese blood ; and the 

 other, and probably the more numerous portion, of natives, yet in their unconquered and primi- 

 tive state. The whole population has been estimated at two, and by some, as high as three 

 millions ; and looking to the peculiar abstemiousness of the people of the east, who rarely 

 indulge in any other than vegetable food, it may reasonably be supposed that an island of the 

 extent of Formosa, and of such fertility, could subsist even a larger number. 



It may, I think, be safely assumed that an American settlement at Kelung would be looked 

 upon with favor by the Chinese, for reason of the advantages of protection that would be secured 

 to them by the presence and co-operation of the more warlike settlers, in the defence of the 

 port and its neighborhood from the depredations of the numerous rebels and pirates who infest 

 the whole island and its coasts. 



Grants of land and important privileges, including the advantages of working the coal mines, 

 could, doubtless, be obtained by purchase at nominal cost, and without looking to any other 

 protection from the government at Washington than that which would be rendered by the 

 occasional presence of one or more of the vessels of the China and Japan squadron, a flourish- 

 ing community of Americans might soon be established, which would contribute greatly to the 

 convenience and advantages of our commerce in those seas. 



Kelung would become a port of general resort for vessels of all nations. The settlers might 

 not only direct the working of the mines, already fully described in this volume, but the pro- 

 ducts of the land could be largely increased by the introduction of those improvements in agri- 

 culture and the mechanic arts which have been hitherto unknown to the Chinese, who are 

 deficient neither in sagacity, ingenuity, or industry, or incapable of profiting by foreign instruc- 

 tion. Indeed, they may be looked upon as remarkable for their industrious habits ; and conse- 

 quently there would be no want of laborers, at very moderate compensation. In fact, we find 

 the Chinese established at most of the European settlements in the east, not far remote from 

 their native country, where they form themselves into communities and practice their own 



