The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-10-18

raise the most taxes, squeeze the most
money out of the people to salts
fly tine pressing needs of the govern
ment, and to put by something hand
some for themselves"
eff I mistake not, among other
natural curiusit:es, you have seen the
Emperor Of China 7"
"There is no Emperor in China
now /; that is to say, the Emperor,
who is a boy of fourteen, is a minor,
and the government is governed by q
regency. But / have conferred with
his uncle and the members of the min
istry, and they were very solicitous in
caring that my journey through China
should be as pleasant as possible
"Your interview with the Mikado
of Japan must have been very inter-
esting; how was it brought about {"
"The Prime Minister of Japan ask
ed me to name the day and hour when
I wished to see the Mikado. As a
higher mark of distinction / was grant
ed a private audience favor which
had never before been conferred upon
any foreign representative. 1 a ac-
companied by our Minister, Mr. De-
Long. We FIRST called on the Prime
Minister, who conducted us to a sum-
mel house, where We were sumptuous
ly entertained. Then we walked thro'
several gardens, past several Williams,
to the last summer house, where the
Mikado, as a special honor, had come
to receive us, for he never leaves his
palace for such a purpose. He was
dressed with dazzling splendor and
surrounded by his court. The Mika-
do is a young man of twenty-five
He does not appear to be an extraor-
binary genius, nor does he look in
significant He is intelligent and
seems to be perfectly conscious of the
dignity of his position. The presen-
tation wes in this manner:-The Prime
Minister took a sheet of paper, wrote
something on it and presented it to
the Mikado, who touched it with his
wand or sceptre. The interpreter
thefeupon translated it--'Salutation
to the Minister of the United States
Mr.. De Long then introduced me to
the Mikado, and his words were trans
lated by the same interpreter, written
on another sheet of paper and han.led
to the Emperor. The ~rest.of the con.
versation was carried on in the same
manner. The Mikado made some
hattePing remarks about the American
nation, and told the Minister to con-
fer with me, as who had great ex-
perience of government and would
give them valuable information in
many things. And I did have ever
al conferences with the Prime Minis
ter, whom I found to be a man of lib
eral ideas"
els the japanese Government as
corrupt as the ChineseF"
"Oh, no; it is, on the contrary,
very honest. There is an ~aristocracy
in Japan and it has full control of the
government"
1--WE have read a great deal of your
brilliant reception by the Khedive of
Egypt"
Eyes. I am under great obligations
uo the Khediye. On my arrival at
Suez there was a special train in wait
ing to take me to Cairo and a palace
was placed at my disposal. Yes, in
deed, the Khevive is a mar of modern
ideas. 1 think he is the richest man
in the world"
"Did he not speak to you, sir, Of
his quarrel with tt Sultan"
"The Khedive never spoke to me in
terms of disrespect or ~disloyalty of
the Sultan, and ] had several long in
terviews with him. While in Egypt
l heard not a word against the Sultan,
but in Constantinople there was moth
ing but abuse against the Khedive.-
1 am sorry to say l was the of
some i'll feeling between the Sultan
and the Khedive. In the month of
December last, before my arrival in
Egypt, the Sultan issued a firman &c
claring me the guest of the empire
and ordering that royal hospitalities
should be extended to me, in his name,
throughout his dominions, including
Egypt. On my arrival at Suez was,
however, welcomed as the guest of the
Khedive, which gave oHense to the i'm
perial government of Constantinople.
To the Khedive l expressed a desire
to 90 up to the Nile and he generous
ly placed a steamer at my disposal,
but he advised me strongly not to
the journey, it being the
month of May, when the hot season
had set in, saying that tie heat might
be fatal to me and that it was past the
for going up the Nile; but l
that l had been so often guard
ed against such n danger and Away S
got over it so well that / should risk
it, because I shall never again have
the opportunity to make the trip. He
told me that the steamer would be
ready in two days to take us aboard.
And he kept his word. But it was a
p%erilous trip. OF all the tropical
this is the hottest, in the month
of May. Still We bravely went up as
far as the first cataract of the Nile"
81 suppose, MI. Seward, your in
with the Sultan was equally
interesting? Did he have anything
to say against the Khedive 2"
"No, the Sultan is not given to
personalities. He is conscientious and
well-intentioned. He was very anna,
BILE to me. OF course he is not far
in his ideas as the Khedive. But in
there is a personal government.
1t is the Khedive who rules absolutely,
in Turkey it is the Ministry of
the Sultan that is the ruling power"
"What is your opinion of Presi
dent Theirs, whom We heard that you
at Versailles ?"
ssT think that M Theirs is q man If