The Washington times., 1901-07-07

preceded the commodore. bearing in an
| envelope Of scarlet cloth the boxes which
contained his credentials and. the Presi-
! dents letter These documents of folio
size, were beautifully written on vellum
/ and not folded. but bound in blue silk vel
/ vet. Each seal, attached by cords of in
terwoven gold and silk with pendent gold
I tassels. was encased in circular box six
inches in diameter and three inches in
depth, wrought of pure gold. Each OF
the documents, together with its seal. was
placed in box of rosewood about foot
long. with lock, hinges, and nountings ali
! OF gold. On either side of the commodore
marched tall, weIl-formed negro. armed
to the teeth. acting as his personal guard
All this, of course, was for effect
The commodore having been escorted
to the deer Of the house OF reception. en-
tered with his suite AS the commodore
and his suite ascended to the reception
room the two diguitares who were seated
on the left arose and bowed. and the COM
modore and suite were conducted to the
armchairs which had been provided for
them on the right. The interpreters an
nounced the names and titles of the high
japanese functionaries as Toda-Idzu-no-
kami. Toda, Prince of Idzu. and IdO-
Iwani-no-kami, lido. Prince of Iwani. They
were both men advanced in years, the
former apparently about fifty and the lat
ter some ten or fifteen years Older. They
were both very richly dressed. their gar
ments being heavy silk brocade inter-
woven with eiaborately wrogsnr~agures
in gold and silver.
From the beginning the two princes
had assumed an air of statuesque for
ma urbf 2 ~
whole Interview. as they never spoke a
word, and rose from their seats only at
the entrance and exit OF the commodore,
when they made grave and formal bow.
For some time after the commodore ard
his suite had taken their seats there was
a pause of some minutes, not a word he
ing uttered on either side. Tatznoske,
the principal interpreter. was the first To
break silence, which he did by asking
Mr.. Portman, the Dutch interpreter,
whether the letters were ready for deliv-
cry, stating that the Prince Toda was
prepared to receive them, and that a
scarlet box at the upper end of the room
was prepared as their receptacle.
THE PRESIDENTS LETTER.
''The Commodore, upon this being COM
municated to him, beckoned to the boys
who stood in the lower hall to advance,
when they Immediately obeyed his sum-
mons and came forward bearing the
handsome boxes containing the Presi-
dents letter and other documents. The
two stalwart negroes followed immed-
ately in rear of the boys. and marching
up to the scarlet receptacle, received the
boxes from the hands OF the bearers.
opened them, took out the letters, and.
displaying the writings and seals, laid
them upon the lid of the japanese box
all in perfect silence.
After the documents had been 50
placed. Mr.. Portman, Dutch interpreter,
by the commodore's direction, indicated
to Tatznoske, the Japanese Interpreter,
the character OF the various documents
upon which Tatzneske and the Governor
Of Uraga, kneeling. both bowed their
heads. The latter, now rising. approached
the Prince Of Iwani, and prostrating
himself on his knees before him, re-
ceived from his hands a roll OF papers
with which he crossed over to the COM
modore, and again falling upon his
knees. delivered it to him. The Dutch
Interpreter now asked what those pa
pers We're, to which it was answered:
They are the imperial rescript
In part it said: Many times il has
been communicated that business reiat-
ing to foreign countries cannot be trans
acted here in Uraga, but in Ndga1aki
Now it has been observed that the. adj
miral, in his quality of Ambassador Of
the President, would be insulted by it;
the justice of this has been acknowledged; !;
consequently. the above mentioned letter
is hereby received, in opposition to the
japanese law. Because the place is not
designed to treat of anything from for
eiSners, so neither can conference nor
entertainment take place. The letter be-
ing received you will leave here.
After a silence of some minutes, the
commodore directed his interpreters to
inform the japanese that he would leave
with the squadron, for Loo Choo and Can
ton in two or three days, and to offer TO
the Government his services, if it wished
to send any dispatches or messages to
those places. The commodore also stated
that it was his intention to return to
Japan in the approaching spring, perhaps
in April or May.
to the Mississippi and steamed up TO
within sight of the shipping Of Yeddo, and
the next day was given over TO surveying
and the hospitable reception of Japanese
visitors. On Sunday morning, the I7th
Perry and his squadron steamed away,
after having made possible his reception
the year following, when he returned with
a larger squadron and the wonder work
ing gifts of this nation