Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1853-11-12
'hE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH THE JAP
ANESE

sends home long account Of the yis't TO The
"aroor of Jeddo The rst interview in the
eao'n OF the American vessel with the Japan
eSe authorities is mno,ely described:
Alter being seated moment, Mr. Mazda.
Ia" arose, made sdiaom a la japanese, and
'ue" extending his hand, we shook hands ;
'"e'' seated ourselves, using Mr. Pos,man as
interpreter, as the Japanese interpreter
spoke Dutch 0uently. ,hus opened -
TEL the Lieutenant Goeernof ifor such
was The mandarin) lha, am The aid of
our Chief, the Admiral, and am instructed TO
speak for him. We have come here on
'Iiendiy mission, with friendly intentions, 10
oeiiver letter from the President of the
onied States TO your sovereign, the Empc-
'o' OF Japan; that the letter is ready for de-
hvery by nine O'Clock tomorrow, to any
mandarin sufficiently high 10 receive it," To
'hls was replied: at must be referred 10
h'gher power 10 know who can receive the
teller" then asked: elbow long will il,
lake 10 give us an answer? ~ "Thry conld
mol tell | said 81 think the sooner the
beiter, as we are anxious 10 be of - The
reply was: H do not think it will take long, >,
and it was then understood that in the morn :
ing maHdarin would be of 10 receive the
letter.
then emphatcally said :-"This ship has
aboard the chief-there is his pennant. All
messages from shore must come here BY a
high mandarin. No boats must 90 10 the
other ships; their commanders have orders
not to permit intercourse they have no
right 10 think, and mus, obey. We insist
that no boats shall hang around our vessels
10 watch them" This was not palaable
They said :-"lt is Japanese custom, law,
and we must carry them out" Says L.
"Tell him, sir that we too have our customs
and with men of war one of the laws u.s.
that no boat is allowed TO come within a
certain range" There was no positive con-
sent given Just then as TO what they would
do; they evaded it by asking questions
"Where are you from ~ "From the United
States of America" ayes; but what part,
Washington, New York; Boston 7" My sur
prise was so great that smiled and told
him, "some from Washington, some from
New York, all parts; that the President Of
the United States lived in Washngton."-
"What is the name Of the ship how many
people, guns, SO ?' "Tell him, sir, that we
are not traders we seek no trade; we are
armed ships, and our custom is never 10 an
swer such questions"
The questions were again repeated in pret-
iy much the same way, when told Mr. p.
10 make the same reply, and 10 add that
have no curiosity TO know how many men
are either in the emperOr's army or navy ;
and also tina, he could see for himself that
We had four ships; tha, we had others in
those waters. "When will The others come 2"
81 don't know, it depends upon the answer
to the letier.n "What are the contents of
the letter 2" "Tell him, sir, that the letter is
from the President 10 the Emperor Of Japan,
and it would be most indelicate in me TO
inquire into its conten,s.n This rebuke was
received in an apologeiic manner, and this
questioning dropped. then again alluded
10 the boats which were still clustering
around our ship and the other ships told
them that it was absolutely necessary thai
they should be kept of, that this must be
done. awe shall be sorry, with our kind
and friendly feelings TO you, 10 do you any
harm, or 10 come into collision with you
but, if you do not order your boats of, we
shall fire into them and drive them off Our
boats are now armed and ready, and we
cannot allow you more than fifteen minutes
TO give your orders and 10 keep them Off
A, the end of lha! time you must suffer-"
MIR. Mandarin went out, told this to the
boats, sent word 10 the other boats, and came
in. "Now, must have an answer What
have you decided about the boats ?" III have
ordered them of from all the ships, and with
orders only 10 communicate with hisn-
ayes, from all the ships and, if any come
around you, send word TO the Governor, and
he will punish them" Thus was this point,
never before yielded, conceded. After a
few more remarks, bowed MIR. Mandarin
oH) dHV away Hc NeHl Un sNOle ldhll1 Inc
boats off with him.
Al subsequent interview the Mandarin
again excused himself from taking The letter,
aud ii was only on threat of the Awerican
commander 10 SO 10 the town of Oroganon,
and deliver The letter himself, that his wish
es were conceded 10 and an interview on
shore with commissioners from the Emreror
took place. The writer says:
"My opinion is, that FOR these thir,y-six
honrs land more particularly for these .ix)
the japanese hesitated whether or not they
should at once resist, and try with us the
fortunes of war. But so steady was our de-
termination, both in council, and in conduct,
so utterly careless Of any action on their pari,
so perfectly confident of our own resource.
and power, aud SO regardless of all danger
that they were paralysed, and prudent and
friendly measures were decided.n
The letter is beautifully done up in a case
and The seal enclosed in gold box, coslrg
$1,000.
The AFRIcANIzATIoN OF CUBA. ter
T.ble conspiracy discovered by lha Wash.