[106] Three accounts of this voyage have been published: one by Williams (“Chinese Repository,” Nov. and Dec. 1837); a second by Parker, London, 1838, and a third by King, New York, 1839. It is possible that outrages by whaling vessels, which had begun to frequent the seas of Japan in considerable numbers, might have somewhat increased the antipathy of the Japanese towards foreigners. Of transactions of that kind we should be little likely to hear, but that they did sometimes occur seems to be proved by a paragraph in the “Sidney Gazette” of February, 1842, warning mariners to be cautious how they landed on Japan, as a Japanese village on the east coast of the islands, somewhere near 43° north latitude, had been recently destroyed by the crew of the Lady Rowena, then in the harbor of Sidney, and whose captain openly boasted of the fact.
[107] Had the Japanese been readers of the London newspapers, they might have found in the following paragraph, which appeared in the “Examiner” of January 21, 1843, fresh motives for persisting in their exclusive policy: “Missionaries to China.—One of the largest meetings, perhaps, ever held in Exeter Hall was held on Tuesday evening, convened by the London Missionary Society, to consider the means of extending and promoting in China the objects of the society. Wm. T. Blair, Esq., of Bath, presided. Dr. Liefchild moved the first resolution, expressive of thanksgiving to God for the war between China and Great Britain (the infamous opium war), and for the greatly enlarged facilities secured by the treaty of peace for the introduction of Christianity into that empire. This resolution was seconded by the Rev. Dr. Adler, and was carried unanimously.” I have met with nothing in the letters of the Jesuit missionaries, nor in the Jesuit missions, that can be compared with this specimen of Protestant zeal.
[108] His instructions cautioned him not to do anything “to excite a hostile feeling, or distrust of the United States.” The official papers relating to this expedition, and to the subsequent one of the “Preble,” will be found in “Senate Documents,” 1851-1852, vol. ix (Ex. Doc. No. 59).
[109] Dr. Bettelheim is at this moment in this country, anxious to be employed as a missionary to Japan, for which his experience, derived from a nine years’ residence in Lew Chew, gives him peculiar qualifications. His treatment there was characteristic. The authorities were anxious to get rid of him, but afraid to send him away by force, while he was determined not to go. The inhabitants were ordered to keep away from his house, to sell him nothing beyond a supply of food, and to avoid him whenever he came near; while officers were appointed to watch and to follow him wherever he went. See “Glyn’s Letter” in Senate Documents, 1851-1852, vol. ix No. 59. There are also two curious pamphlets on the subject, written by Dr. Bettelheim, and printed at Canton.
[110] The same officers probably, designated by Kämpfer as deputies of the governor, called by Thunberg, Banjoshū, and by the more recent Dutch writers, Gobanjoshū.
[111] See also “America in the East” (Griffis) and “The Intercourse between the United States and Japan” (Nitobe).—Edr.
[112] By Siebold, in “Moniteur des Indes,” vol. ii, p. 346, in his “Essay on the Commerce of Japan.”
[113] The official documents relating to this expedition were printed by order of U. S. Senate, 33d Cong., 2d Sess. Ex. Doc. No. 34.
[114] Japan, p. 197. Perry, to judge by his letters (Dec. 14, 1852, May 6, 1853), did not place much reliance on the aid of the Dutch. The British Admiralty showed their good will by furnishing the latest charts and sailing directions for the Eastern seas.
[115] As some persons may feel a curiosity to see Mr. Webster’s original letter, and as it is not to be found in the edition of Mr. Webster’s writings edited by Mr. Everett, I have copied it from the Senate Documents 1851-1852, vol. ix. The expansion given to it in the letter actually sent was not according to Japanese taste, which greatly affects brevity.