many commercial nations on the globe; and that if they wished to have a
treaty they should do as we had done, visit Japan and seek to make one.
That our late President (Mr. Fillmore) should have been wanting in the
courtly proprieties of diplomatic etiquette, and prove himself ignorant of the
dignified language in which it became him to address a sovereign, is certainly
very lamentable. But we are comforted by the reflection that his Japanese
majesty was not offended by the manly, yet respectful, frankness of our republican
chief; that the Emperor seems perfectly to have understood what
he said, (which is something unusual in diplomacy;) and that, through his
commissioners, he responded in a very friendly and cordial manner to the
propositions made by our President.- At all events, we made a treaty with
Japan satisfactory to both governments. Our rude ignorance of propriety
was thus kindly overlooked; and we, therefore, hope that M. Von Siebold,
the self-constituted court chamberlain of Japan, will henceforth generously
forbear to speak of the shortcomings of such a semi-civilized people and government
as ours. I t may indicate our barbarism, but we would rather be
clowns than calumniators.
We plead guilty, too, to the charge that Commodore Perry went to the
bay of Yedo and refused to go to Nagasaki; and that he added to this enormity
the very plain declaration that “ the Americans will never submit to
the restrictions which have been imposed upon the Dutch and Chinese, and
any further allusion to such restraints will be considered offensive; ” to
which we will add that the Japanese commissioners put in writing, as one
of the points agreed upon between them and Commodore Perry, that “ the
citizens of the United States will not submit to degradations like those imposed
upon the Dutch and Chinese.71 And Commodore Perry7s countrymen
expected him to say precisely what he did say, and are quite satisfied with
the result.
I t only remains to be added that, until since the return of our expedition,
neither the Dutch nor Russians were able to effect a treaty. England and
the United States alone succeeded; and England readily admits that, in point
of time, ours was the first. This is all we have ever said; and we conclude
with the wish that all the powers of Europe, seeking commercial treaties with
Japan, may succeed as well as England and ourselves, and that most interesting
Empire thus be opened to, and enriched by, free communication with
the civilized world.