My Dear Viscount:
I am in receipt of your most highly appreciated letter of March 23d, for which I cordially thank you; and I am daily expecting to be honored by receiving the Imperial Decoration which you state is to be conveyed by Ambassador Takahira. Upon its receipt I will formally express my gratification to his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, for the great honor conferred.
If Japan were nearer to New York I might be able to promise that our next meeting would be in your own country—the Land of the Rising Sun—but as you have achieved so much good for Japan, in the United States, I doubt not that business, or international diplomacy, of which you are one of the masters, will bring you here again, when, I assure you, you will be received with the honor and respect which your distinguished services and your high personal character entitle you to expect.
With assurances of the highest regard and friendship for you and your countrymen, I have the honor to remain,
Very sincerely yours,
HENRY CLEWS.
Viscount Kentaro Kaneko,
Tokyo, Japan.
CONSULATE GENERAL OF JAPAN.
60 Wall Street, New York City,