236 
WHY THEY SIGNED THE TREATY. 
“Japanese like Commodore Perry very much,” re- 
plied Tatz-nosky, “ but not understand him all. Japanese 
will do what Commodore Perry speak,” &c. &c. 
And yet, while thus invariably protesting their willing- 
ness to fulfil the requirements of the treaty, they scarcely 
ever did so. They are certainly — politically speaking, at 
any rate — the most dishonest and untrustworthy people 
in the world; and, in my opinion, a good flibustiers’ 
drubbing is the only thing that will ever introduce them 
to honesty. The great bugbear of the Government is 
the fear of a foreign Avar. They arc well aware of the 
one Avhich the English Avaged so successfully against 
their neighbours the Chinese, and are nerA’ously afraid 
of experiencing similar treatment at the hands of any 
nation they may be so unfortunate as to oflfend. There is 
no manner of doubt in my mind that this fear Avas a 
powerful, though unacknoAvledged, auxiliary in bringing 
them to the signing of any treaty at all. I firmly be- 
lieve that they signed it as the lesser of two evils; that they 
kneAv at the time exactly ichat it meant, and that there Avas 
a “mental reservation” on their part to respect its pro- 
visions only so far as they should be forced to to keep 
out of trouble. And this is not my opinion alone, but 
that also of all Avith whom I haA'e conversed who were 
there Avith me, and AA^ho, like me, suffered from their 
unfaithfulness. And now let us turn to the stalls onc§ 
more. 
One of the objects most worthy of admiration was an 
artificial bird, — an ordinary chicken-haAV'k ; audit was de- 
cidedly the most naturally-executed thing that I ever saw. 
No feather-Avork specimen of Rio Janeiro, Madeira, or any 
