Chap. XV. ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION. 245 
Parliament, I cannot do better than give an ex- 
tract from it to the reader in Mr. Alcock’s own 
words : — 
“ Yedo, July 6, 1861. — Before another night 
closes in, with its contingencies, which may well 
prevent my addressing your Lordship again, I am 
anxious to submit a simple statement of the events 
which have marked the last ; for, whether I sur- 
vive or not, it is essential that Her Majesty's 
Government should be well and duly informed 
of all that has taken place. We have escaped a. 
massacre, but, seemingly, by the merest chance. 
“ I had only returned from Kanagawa four-and- 
twenty hours, bringing Mr. Morrison and another 
gentleman with me, on a visit to Yedo — the Lega- 
tion being further augmented by Mr. Oliphant 
and Mr. Bussell — when the long-threatened on- 
slaught roused us all from our beds a little before 
midnight. Frequently as I had been warned that 
such a deed was actually in contemplation, I con- 
fess I felt incredulous when Mr. Robertson, who, 
previous to his retiring to rest, always takes the 
duty of going through the premises, came to tell 
me that there was a conflict going on outside, 
and that men were forcing their way through the 
gates. I had barely time to seize my revolver 
and advance a few steps, when I heard blows and 
cries, and the report of a pistol in the passage 
which runs at the end of my apartment. The next 
moment both Mr. Oliphant and Mr. Morrison 
staggered forward, exclaiming that they were 
