In conferring upon you, Mr. Clews, that high mark of honor which I have just had the pleasure to present, His Majesty is reflecting the friendly feeling and unfeigned affection that fifty millions of His faithful subjects entertain toward the people of this great Republic for their kind guidance and unshaken sympathy shown to Japan and her people from the time when your great Commodore knocked at the door of our Island Empire to invite its secluded people to the comity of nations down to the present day, not to speak of the most trying time Japan passed through a few years ago, and their gratitude for the most valuable service rendered by American people to effect the termination of hostilities and restoration of peace through the far-sighted, active, and able good offices of your great President, whose toast I beg to propose.
My acknowledgment by letter of the honor conferred upon me:
May 2, 1908.
Dear Sir:
Please convey to his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, my sincere thanks for bestowing upon me, as a token of his good will, the Imperial decoration of Commandeur of the most distinguished order of the Rising Sun. No words of mine can fitly express my high appreciation of this honor, and I shall always value the distinction as one of the greatest that it has been my good fortune to achieve. I consider it a symbol of the friendly relations existing between Japan and the United States—a friendship which, I assure you, I shall endeavor to foster and promote to the best of my ability.
With many thanks to his Imperial Majesty for the honor conferred upon me, of which I am justly proud, and to your Excellency for your kind offices in my behalf, I have the honor to remain,
Most sincerely yours,
(Signed) HENRY CLEWS.
His Excellency Count Tadasu Hayashi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan.
The following letter from Prince, then Marquis, Ito is interesting as a part of the world’s history, and shows the feeling and friendship of that great statesman: