The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-25 00:00:00

THE ASSASSINATION 1N JAPAN.

A series of despatches from Mr. Aleock, the Eng-
lish representative in Japan, were issued on Satur-
day from the Foreign-office. The first three or four
refer to the murder of the Japanese interpreter,
whose death and funeral were lately described by
our correspondent at Yedo. Another of later date,
however, describes the attempted assassination of
the Regent.

MR. ALCOCK TO LORD J. RUSSELL (RECEIVED JUNE 6).
Yedo, April 2, 1860.
My Lord,On the morning of the 24th March,
as the Geetai-ro, or Regent, was on his way to the
Tycoon's castle, surrounded by his retinue, a band
of 17 men made a sudden attack on the cortege, in-
tending to slay him in his norrimon. They did not
succeed, it appears; but there is something so illus-
trative of the state of the country, the times, and
people in the whole affair, that a short account of
the details will not be without interest.
None but the most determined men, willing to
sacrifice Their lives (had the largest number given
been doubled), could have ventured on such a des-
perate enterprise. They do not seem, however, to
have omitted anything calculated either to ensure
success in their object, or their own escape after-
wards. As regards the plan of attack, the choice of
time, place, &c., some strategic skill was shown.
The morning selected was wet and black, alter-
nately snowing and raining heavily, from which
they derived a double advantage. Their adversaries
were all hampered by rain-coats and waterproofs,
ill prepared to use their Arms, while they them-
selves were enabled to conceal beneath the same
vestments their equipment and coats of mail, and
approach close without giving rise to suspicion.
The distance to be traversed was so short, they
were limited as to choice of place—for the Go-
tai-ro's mansion stands on a gentle acclivity, 500
paces from the bridge and gate leading to the
Tycoon's palace, and a broad road between the house
and the bridge lies along the edge of the great
moat. A wider space is formed by a broad road
which debouches on the bridge coming from the
city, at the angle where the two roads meat, and
here they made their attack, one of their number
pretending to thrust himself between the advancel
guards and the norrimon which bore the Regent.
Those immediately about his person on each side
rushed to the front, where the rest of the conspira-
tors, profiting by the confusion, and throwing off
theirrain-cloaks,discovered themselves armed to the
teeth in coats of mail, and made a dash at the nor-
rimon, severing the hands of some of the bearers
at a blow, and making desperate thrusts through
the sides of the vehicle in which the Go-tai-ro was
seated. Several of the attendants were cut down ;
two of the assailants also were killed on the spot
While the melee continued some officers from the
adjoining Damio's house, seeing the danger of the
Go-tai-ro, rushed out, and snatching the norrimon
up in their arms bore it away, and thus rescued its
occupant from his perilous position ; not, however,
before he had received several wounds.
The attacking party, seeing all was lost, and over-
powered by, numbers, took to flight. One being too
badly wounded to make good his escape, after a short
effort, his companions instantly struck off his head,
and one of them ran off with it, so that, living or
dead, its owner might tell no tales. This man was
only arrested at some distance, and after he had
dashed through a gateway across the road. His
flight cost the officer in charge of the gate his life,
as he was ordered the next day to perform the
." hari-kiri," and despatch himself, as the penalty of
his inefficient guard. The Damio, also, whose
office it is to guard the bridge and gate which lead
to the Tycoon's, and whose house is situated just at
the angle, has been imprisoned within his own walls ;
and to-day, aslrode past,l saw his gateway boarded
up. He is not even allowed to cook any food ; but,
under cover of the night, his people are said to be
allowed to find means of saving him and his family
from dying of starvation.
From this rapid history of the affair in its leading
circumstances, it will be seen that such an event is
well calculated to give rise to serious reflections as
to the state of the country. So far as I have the
means of judging, it has created a profound sensa-
tion among the ruling powers. All the gates of the
city were closed last night ; a large increase to the
number of police and officers attached to each
of the legations was instantly made, with a brief
verbal intimation that they were anxious for our
safety. I had only just arrived from Yokohama the
morning of the attack, having left both my col-
leagues there after our consultations on the spot as
to the distribution of land. Since then, new gates,
fences, and guard-houses have sprung up in various
directions, about the legations, and in the city. On
the third clay after the event the Minister of Foreign
Affairs sent two of the governors to give me official
information of the scantiest kind, and that in some
degree extorted, to the purport that an attack had
been made. Several of the assailants had been seized,
and they were in hot pursuit after the remainder,
who certainly could not long escape, since in their
hands they held the means (by torture was implied,
but not expressed) of gaining all needful informa-
tion. Two of those oho fled, it is reported, finding
their pursuers gaining upon them, deliberately
stopped, and laying bare the abdomen, performed
the " hari-kiri," it being a point of honour never to
interrupt or interfere, even for the ends of justice,
with a man so honourably engaged.
Here, then, is the highest personage in the em-
pire, after the Milkado and the Tycoon, close to his
own residence, on the great highway of the official
and moated quarter, surrounded by his own retinue
(always a large one), preceded by a brother of the
Tycoon with his retinue still in sight, and followed
by another high Damio and his escort, all of whom,
it appears, were mute spectators, attacked by a
small armed band, variously represented as 10 and
17 in number, with a desperation which shows they
must have deliberately consented to the sacrifice of
their lives to obtain the end. They were the Prince
of Mite's men, one of the " Go-san-kay," as the
three brothers of the Tycoon are styled, a disaffected
pretender to the succession. His territories lie some
70 miles from Yedo, behind the head of the bay,
and it is said they are a prey to insurrection among
the followers. The old prince, soon after the death
of the late Tycoon, was deposed for plotting against
the young Tycoon, and his son, a man about 40, was
installed in his place, such being the usual practice
when the head of a house falls into disgrace.
We appear in the Isles of Japan, then, to be
transported back to Europe in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, or still earlier, when feudal
princes and nobles lived surrounded by armed re-
tainers, raised their own levies, and waged war on
each other, or their suzerain, as passion or interest
might suggest—chiefs who had settled their own
feuds by a guet-apens for the assassination by their
followers of an obnoxious rival—the times of our
Richards and Henrys—of 12 rancis 1., the Charles
and Henrys of France, or the Guelphs and Ghibe-
lines of Italy.
The question which first suggests itself on a re •
view of the facts is one of grave importance. Is
this a commencement of a civil war for the succes-

sion, or merely a.feud between the Prince of Mito
and I-kamonokami, the hereditary regent of a
minor, or was it merely an attack of " loonings,"
as the government would have us believe—dis-
banded soldiers and ruffians ?

Whatever may be the true answer, a country
where seventeen men can be found, at the bidding

of any master, to devote themselves with a sort of
heroic contempt for death, almost without a chance
of escape, and to that which is more terrible still,
torture such as the Japanese employ with truly
Oriental refinement, can offer little security either
to individuals or governments. And to this con-
clusion the ministers and councils of state would
appear to have arrived, if one mighttrust their own
acts and speech.
As regards the foreign representatives here and
the consuls at Kanagawa, either the Japanese offi-
cials designedly exaggerate their sense of alarm (too
ready as they are to turn everything to account in
order to curtail our liberty and make us virtually
prisoners in their keeping), or they have seen cause
for great anxiety. They have certainly displayed
no ordinary diligence in providing ostensible means
of protection. I say ostensible, for if it were in-
deed a part of the-designs of any Damio, as it has
been said to be that of the deposed Prince of Milto
and others, to have us massacred in order to embroil
the actual government with the western powers, I
cannot say I have any faith in our two-swordcd
officials; I doubt if they would be the slightest
safeguard against such determined assailants as
those who recently undertook to kill the Go-tai ro
in the midst of his escort; and where these came
from more, doubtless, are to be found of the same
stamp. When the ministers, then, send two gover-
nors of Foreign Affairs, as they have done to-day,
with instructions to urge on me and my colleagues
the extreme danger of stirring, outside our gates,
there being so many of these same "loonings"
abroad, and requesting that we would consent to
imprison ourselves within our respective legations,
or take the risk and peril of anything that might
happen on ourselves, it is difficult to say what are
the propbrtions of truth and of statcci aft which
enter into such representations. I could only en-
:
swer that under no circumstances could I conse..t
to this virtual imprisonment, or release them from
their responsibility to afford efficient
protection
and finally, that such danger as they hinted at
would reach me just as certainly Within the gatts
of
Allthe legation
speculation a s without.on
such
possiblef contingia
must, on the other hand, be idle, er the simple
enc
reason that nothing the foreign representatives
can do, short of abandoning their post, could ma-
terially influence the issue, or afford that security

which the Regent himself vainly hoped he enjoyed
in the capital, surrounded by his own people. It
is reported that he sent a despatch off instantly,
to be sent on at the rate of ten miles an hour to his
dominions, a distance of some 220 miles, with
orders to muster ail his armed retainers, and join
him without delay.
I thought it right, on receiving the official intelli-
gence, to address a few lines of condolence to the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and congratulation
also, at the escape of the Go-tai-ro out of the hands
of the assassins. I added, that possessing some
surgical experience, my services should be at the
disposal of the Regent; but I have little idea that
they will be accepted, nor have I much reason
desire it, under all the circumstances. Yet, looking
at the low state of their medical and surgical know-
ledge, it seemed but an act of common humanity, as
well as of courtesy, to make the offer, and I trust
your lordship will approve of my having taken this
course.—l have, &c.,
(Signed) RUTHERFORD ALCOCK.

DIRS. CIIIBIIOEM TO JOHN BRIGHT,
ESQ.,

(LETTER II.)
Sir,—ln my last letter to you I referred to the
successful working of the ballot in these colonies,
and to the opposition which the Times, in his num-
ber of the 13th of April last, gives to its passing in
England. That paper, it is well known, is the
organ of a powerful political body; I cannot, how-
ever, avoid saying that I consider the opposition of
the Times the very strongest argument that can be
brought in recommendation of passing the ballot in
England. The question itself is momentous. There
are such vast and varied interests involved in it,
that it is of paramount importance that you in Eng-
land should know something of the working of the
ballot in this hemisphere. The objectors to it in
England ground their arguments upon mere hypo-
thesis, nothing tangible, while we in Australia,
have to offer, in contradiction to these baseless con-
jectures, a great and palpable fact : we have the
ballot—we have tested it, and proved it, and we
find it working to our satisfaction beyond the most
s an guineexpectations.

The Times thinks proper to compare the voters
to " rats and mice," to designate them as "cowards,
knaves, and poltroons," and to give them other
opprobrious epithets. He must surely have for-
gotten that the ballot•voters in Australia are of
the same blood and race as those around him ;
that they have their relatives in Eng-
land, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and lct
him feel assured that they have not degene•
rated either mentally or physically from what
they were ; on the contrary, as the people have ad-
vinced in their social improvement by the change
of country and circumstances, so they have risen in
the scale of humanity, and feel a proud conscious-
ness that they now stand as independent men when
they can give their vote by ballot. They feel that
landlords or employers cannot rightly presume to
ask for their votes, or to inquire for whom they
are going to vote. It is, therefore, a glorious
privilege which the humblest ballot voter now pos-
sesses in Australia ; on this point he stands on a
par with the wealthiest man in the land. The
Times, in the article under notice, asks one or two
questions, for which we cannot give him credit on
the score of simplicity. It is self-evident that the
object sought is to keep down and sink one class,
and at their cost to uphold the interests of a fa-
voured few. He asks," Why is an exception to be
made in favour of some supposed class of voters
specially, on account of their low, weak, and con-
temptible character ? 'Why are the small fry to
be allowed to give votes as good as that of a mil-
lionaire ?" How indignantly does nature respond
to these aspersions ! Does she not ask, "Is not the
intelligent mechanic, the hard-working and frugal
labourer, made up of the same stuff and endued
with the same mind as the millionaire ?" If justice
were to weigh, some of the millionaires, and some
of the superfluously rich, by the same standard
with this despised class, it can hardly be ques-
tioned but some of the former would be found, both
in the eyes of God and man, far more" contemptible
characters" than the latter ; some of whom obtained
their wealth by bribery, some by extortion, some
by oppression, and some by other unjustifiable
means.
It would be well if the Times were to send to the
colonies one of his " special correspondents" to
watch and report on the working of the ballot. He
would find that Mr. Berkeley judged rightly as to
what would be the result, should the ballot be car-
ried in England, The Times says, " Mr. Berkeley
assumes that all bribery and intimidation, all
seduction and oppression, all treating, feasting, and
drunkenness, all that now disgraces a British elec-
tion, would necessarily be extinguished by the
ballot." Ms correspondent would find these de-
ductions fully verified in Victoria and New South
Wales, and that the opposite assumptions of the
Times are entirely at fault, when he affirms that,
" It would not make the least difference in these

- - -
respects ; there would be drinking, mobbing, and,
all the rest of it." Such correspondent would, in
Australia, see none of these badges, orange, red, or
green ribbons, until, I believe, lately used in Eng-
land at elections, or any of those distinguishing flags
carried by the contending parties. He would be-
hold none of those violent mobs marshalled under
their respective bullying leaders, and meet perhaps
in the middle of a street in contentious strife, and.
which, as the Times truly observes, now disgrace
a British election." It was only last year when one
of your candidates, and an esteemed friend of mine,
the Right Hon. R. Lowe, nearly losthis life through
the outrageous violence of one of those mobs ;
and I observed by a late mail from England,
that three men were killed, and.three more wounded,
in the streets of Limerick at one of the late elec-
tions. Truly, such disgraceful scenes as these,
such bare-faced bribery, are an iniquitous scandal
to a civilised nation. The only remedy for it is
the Ballot.

have, both in Victoria and New South Wales,
questioned several of the ballot voters, and they in-
variably stated that they proceeded to the polling-
booth with a strong feeling of the responsibility of
their act. Everything connected with it is con-
ducted in such a quiet, orderly, and systematical
way ; some have remarked thit the proceedings
carried with them something of the solemnity of a
Court of Justice, so totally different from the
violent and uproarious scenes which they had been
accustomed to see on like occasions in England.
Even'the Catholic clergy looked amazed a the
sudden development of the Irish mind; men who
had been so tenacious of their influence, and had
been accustomed to proclaim to their people from
their altars what men they should vote for, now
hardly venture to acknowledge they know the day
of poll. The ballot has given the people the
legitimate power to free themselves from every
species of political thraldom, whether such were
imposed upon them by the landlord, the employer,
or the clergy. Well might the times have said,
"with the Ballot there will not be a vote in the
market." The occupation of the Carlton Club will
be gone. The political sway of every religious
denomination will be gone. Religion will be tested
by its own merits, and viewed as the saving, not
the political, power.
In this colony the working of the ballot was
singularly tested. The Prime Minister, Mr. Cow-
per, stood at the head of the poll, and the Rev. Dr.
Lang also took his stand where here he deserved
to be placed, for his untiring efforts to secure the
political rights of the people. Again, the proprietor
of the Sydney Morning _Herald, a bank director, a
favourite, an old colonist, a conservative, and one
who had a large share of the commercial interest
of the city within the grasp of his hand, lost his
election through the instrumentality of the ballot,
not only in
voting,afterwards i3ndtnheey cionutne
rt re ys
t.
If
wouitldhhaadvbeebeellen brought to bear on local interest,
until the gentlemen s election would not have been
problematical, but certain, The gentleman in
question is deservedly much esteemed, but some of
his opinions clashed with some of the popular ques-
tions of the day.
As an illustration of our political position, I may
mentisonpittaoifiyeoludtsh, asot ai‘siLelobnoduornnehahsaistsitpsoßliiteihcaml
onnudr:
annrdy'Sydney its Redfern. It is in this last locality
I reside, where men have been forced by circum-
stances to become thinkers.
The great battle, the severest contest, was that of
Sir Daniel Cooper, the millionaire of New South
Wales, the late speaker of the House of Assembly,
the most influential merchant in the colony, and
chairman of the bank of New South Wales, and yet
with all these powerful appliances, with a well
regulated machinery in the way of committees,
placards, letters in the public press, &c., his elec-
tion was only gained by a hard contest, inch by
inch, almost vote by vote.—l remain, Sir, yours
faithfully,

CAROLINE CHISHOLM.
Redfern, New South Wales,
April 14, 1860.

Lord Stratheden's motion for appointing a new
consul at Mozambique, on the east coast of Africa, having
been twice postponed, is fixed to come on %to •night in the
House of Loris.

MR. RAREY AT THE ALHAMBRA.--We particu-
larly recommend a visit to Mr. Rarey's exhibition on Wed-
nesday morning, Juno 27, at two, which he believes will
prove one of most intense interest and excitement, arrange-
ments having been made to bring from the Rawcliffe Pad-
docks, York, for that occasion, the redoub'able horse
"Idle Boy," (by Ilarkaway, dam Tole by Sir Hercules
and siro of Mary, Pretty Boy, and many of the greatest
racers), who will probably prove to be the most notorious
subject, which Mr. Rarey will ever encounter Wore the
public, requiring the exercise of all the cool intrepidity
which resulted in the subjugation of the celebrated
" Cruiser."

ill
La-
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yes
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