The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-02 00:00:00

LORD ELGIN IN-JAPAN,

(From .an Occasional Correspondent of the Tines.)
SHANGHAI, SEPT. 3.
Lord Elgin has returned to Shanghai after an
absence of exactly one month. This short interval,
however, has sufteed to enable him to conclude a
treaty with Japan, which, if it does not equal in
commercial importance the one recently signed at
Tien-tsin, is invested with even a higher character
of historical interest and political significance.
After the complicated and harassing work in
which the allies have been engaged in China for the
last year, it is matter of congratulation to them
that a political revolution as startling to the
Japanese themselves as it was unexpected by
the world at large should have been. wrought by
the application of moral force alone in this singular
and hitherto jealously exclusive empire. Various
causes have conspired to produce this result. The
contact into which they were constantly brought
with both English and Russians during the late
war, the expedition of Commodore Perry, and the
establishment at Simoda of an. American Consul,
together with the indefatigable exertions of Mr.
Harris, the gentleman who filled this post, doubt-
less operated largely in preparing the Japanese
mind for the change which their own sound com-
mon sense and quickness of observation showed
them was inevitable. It was not, however, until
the intelligence reached Jeddo of the treaty of
Tien-sin, accompanied by an exaggerated report
of the naval force with which the allies intended
visiting Japan, and the uncompromising attitude
they would assume when they arrived there, that
the Plenipotentiaries appointed to treat with Mr.
Harris put their signature to the treaty, which had
already been for some months before them. The
arrival almost immediately afterwards of both the
Russians and ourselves confirmed to some extent
the rumours they heard, and Plenipotentiaries were
without delay appointed to treat upon the same
base as that which had already been adopted in the
American -treaty. It is not to be supposed,' how-
'ver, that the Japanese Government succumbed
feebly to the pressure from without, as though re-
signing itself in despair to an inevitable destiny.
So far from such being the case, Lord Elgin upon
his arrival at Jeddo found the late Liberal Go-
vernment, with whom the Americans had treated,
had been turned out' of office only two or three
days previously. The Conservative or aristocratic
party had replaced the enlightened Prime Minister
with whom we expected' to treat by men of anti-
progressive tendencies, and it was evident that, so
far from yielding to further pressure, there was a
strong disposition manifested on the part of the
hereditary nobility to break rather than bend fur-
ther. This was the public opinion which the six
Plenipotentiaries appointed to treat with Lord
Elgin, though of sufficiently enlightened views
themselves, were compelled constantly to consider
in their discussion of those points in which any
advance was desired upon the treaty already
signed. So determined, indeed, was the resistance
made to any further innovation, and so keen
their investigation of our demands, that the work
of negotiation, though it proceeded rapidly, was
not unattended with difficulty, and afforded no
prospect of a more liberal tendency than that
already manifested.
Having thug briefly adverted to the peculiar
conditions under which the treaty of Jeddo was
negotiated, I shall proceed to a general narrative of
the principal events which marked this most in-
teresting episode in the•diplomacy of Great Britain
in the far East.

On the 3d of August Her Majesty's ships Furious,
Retribution Lee (gunboat), and steam-yacht
Emperor, destined, as a present for his Majesty
the Tycoon of Japan, entered the port of Nagasaki,
and steaming past the point at which a line of junks
have heretofore been moored to bar the ingress of
foreign ships, cast anchor immediately off the city
and Dutch factory of Decima. On the following
day the Calcutta, having on board the Admiral,
accompaniedby the Inflexible, joined the squadron.
Nothing can exceed in picturesque beauty the
bay of Nagasaki and the situation of the city at
its extremity : swelling hills covered with the
most luxuriant verdure rise from the water's
edge. The steep thatched roofs of snug cot-
tages peep from out the dense foliage amid
which they are nestled; white temples perched
upon overhanging points contrast brilliantly
with their dark green setting. In some places
precipitous walls of rock are mirrored in the azure
blue of the water at their base ; in others, drooping
branches kiss its calm surface. Green batteries
guard projecting points, and rock-cut steps ascend
the steep hill sides, clothed with heavy forest or
terraced with rice fields. Boats of quaint construc-
tion, with sharp-pointed prows and broad sterns,
above -which flutter two black and -white flags—the
Imperial colours—glance across the harbour, pro-
' pelted by stalwart naked figures, who scull to the
tune of a measured chant. The fore part of the boat
is covered by a roof, and contains a posse of two-
sworded officials, who incontinently board each
ship as it anchors, speak very fair Dutch, are ex-
tremely inquisitive but very gentlemanlike and
goodnatured, and who,-after official curiosity lias
been satisfied, proceed to make their reports, and
return, in all probability, to circumnavigate the
ship as a guardboat during the rest of its stay in
the harbour. A Dutch merchant ship and a Japanese
man-of-war screw steamer were the only vessels in
harbour when we arrived and anchored about half a
mile from th• shore. Toe city of Nagasaki covers a
plain at the end of the harbour, but it has outgrown
its area, and the houses cluster up the spurs of the
hills that sink into it, and the streets are in places
so steep as to render steps necessary. Formerly
foreigners were not allowed to enter the town, and
the Dutch were only permitted to leave their prison
of Decima under a strong escort of officials, and
when permission had been formally asked and ob-
tained. Now the barriers had been so far broken'
down that we explored at pleasure the shops and
streets of the town—not, as in China, an offensive
and disgusting operation, but a charming and agree-
able amusement. The streets are broad' clean, and
free from foul odours ; the people civil and cour-
teous, and if the shops in the town do not afford
many interesting objects of speculation, the bazaars,
which are stocked with lacquer, china, &c., for the
express benefit of foreigners, are so tempting that
few can leave them without experiencing a consider-
able drain upon their resources. Fortunately this
was a temptation to which we were not exposed
for any great length of time. Immediately on the
Admiral's arrival it became necessary to decide upon
the steps which should be taken for the presenta-
tion of the yacht. The distance of Nagasaki from
the capital of the empire, and the comparative in-
significance of the principal authority, rendered it
very undesirable that so important an act should be
performed there. As Mr. Ward, who commanded
the yacht, had been instructed to deliver it over if
possible at Jeddo, it was therefore determined that
he should proceed at once to that place. Lord Elgin
determined by accompanying the yacht to avail
himself of the opportunity which would thus be
presented of gaining access to the capital, as by
these means additional facilities would doubtless
be afforded for carrying out the object he had in
view.

No sooner was it decided that the presentation of
the yacht should take place at Jeddo than the
Furious, Retribution, Lee, and Emperor started for
Simoda. Heavy gales obliged all four ships to run
in for shelter at the bay of Nagasaki, and it was
not until the morning of the 10th that they sighted
the lofty volcanic mountain of Fusiyama. Towering
like Etna to a perfect cone, with an elevation of
about 11,000 feet above the level of the sea, it was
first visible at a distance of upwards of 100 miles
its beautiful outline defined sharp and clear, with
the first grey tints of morning. This celebrated
mountain, so dear to the Japanese, has been created
by him into a household god. Fusiyanaa is painted
at the bottom of the delicate china cup from which
he sips his tea ; it is represented on the lacquer
bowl from which he eats his rice. He fans himself
with Fusiyama—he hands things to you on
Fusiyama. It is on the back of his looking-glass,
it is embroidered on the skirts of his garments, and
is the background of every Japanese work f art
or imagination. Simoda is a lovely but dangerous
haihour. Its apparently sheltered nooks and se-
cluded coves woo you into their embraces, and when
the south wind blows fiercely you are dashed to
atoms upon their ribs of iron. The earthquake
which wrecked the Russian frigate Diana changed
the surface of the bottom, and there is now no good
holding ground, but it is a fairy land to look upon,
and in calm weather the picture of repose and se-
curity. Here, too, there is a Goyoshi or Bazaar,
and a better display of lacquer and china than at
Nagasaki, but it is a town of no local importance,'ill
containing some 3,000 or 4,000 inhabitants, andw
when under the new treaty the port is shut up
sink into its normal condition of a fishing
At the head -of the bay the American flag flaun
proudly ; for two years it has waved
*n. solitary
magnificence over the exiles who during thatt.eriod
g remote
period
have represented American interests in munion
corner of the globe. Cut off from all.
c,
()h
from their fellow-men, and sacrificing
inthe inte-
rests of civilisation and commerce
the
blessings of
at last been
all social intercourse, their efforts had village.ts
freroonawnemdrw.
Hitharsruisectehssa,t ahnedittande
Ambassadoronly
days from Jeddo,where he had concluded his treaty,
Nagasaki,mleofmt en
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tly failed altogether
uen
Mr. Donkey Curtius, had also been for some time
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