Considering that but few of the men engaged had ever been under fire before, that a great many of them were armed with breech-loading rifles of the latest invention, both American and European, that they were well provided with rifled artillery, and used it, if not with great skill, certainly with much courage, as their trains of wounded one sees every day on the road to Yedo abundantly show. It is now well proved that the Japanese differ greatly from the Chinese, and that those two nations cannot be measured by the same standard. The Tycoon's government remaining the de facto government, with whom I am instructed to transact the current business of the legation, informed me that my communication had been received by the Tycoon with much pleasure. This government had quite as many troops and a much stronger treasury than his enemies, the southern Daimios. "It was at the invitation of the Mikado that he intended to go to Kioto; his advance guard was suddenly attacked by Satsuma, and no battle was expected. The Mikado, a very young man and a child almost, had been perfectly ignorant of the true state of things; he was not even aware, perhaps, that the officers of his court had been changed by the Prince of Satsuma, who acted in a most outrageous manner, and styling his acts as being in the name of the Mikado without any authority whatever but his own." This, however, is a political matter, with which Mr. Van Valkenburgh is much better able to deal at Hiogo, where the statement of the other side can also be received for comparison. On the 11th instant, by invitation of the minister for foreign affairs, I visited him at his official residence, on which occasion he tendered me the Tycoon's thanks for the offer of the Monocacy in case he should have valuables, such as archives, &c., to place in safety. He further informed me that the suggestion in regard to issuing a notice to secure the inviolability of the port of Kanagawa within the treaty limits had been accepted, and we then agreed upon a notice in the English and Japanese languages, a copy of which, printed at the government office in Yedo, I herewith have the honor to transmit. Inclosure No. 1. The minister further informed me, that in order to compensate the American merchants for the absence of trade at Hiogo and Osaka under the present circumstances, it was intended to open Yedo at an earlier day than the first of April; and he at once accepted the suggestion 1 made, that before proceeding with that measure he would address a letter to Mr. Van Valkenburgh on the subject for the information of himself and his colleagues. Mr. Van Valkenburgh, who has approved of all my proceedings, will be furnished by the first opportunity with printed copies of the notice, and if it be in harmony with the policy in effect at the time of their receipt, I hope that the principle of inviolability of a treaty port within the stipulated limits may also be recognized by those who now oppose the Tycoon's government. I returned to this place to-day, and trust soon to receive more detailed information for transmission to the department and Mr. Van Valkenburgh. During his eventful residence at Osaka and Hiogo, Mr. Van Valkenburgh has undergone much privation and great hardship, and I hope he will soon be able to return. It is still believed by many that eventually the war may come this way again. I do not share those anticipations. Yedo is still a place with about five times the population and the wealth of Osaka, as it was before the recent conflagrations, and of much more importance than the whole province of Satsuma. The most perfect tranquillity apparently prevails now in Yedo, and the government of the present Tycoon is deservedly popular. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, A. L. C. PORTMAN. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Notification. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES IN JAPAN, As on the 19th January last, the port of Kanagawa was closed by a naval engagement being fought within its treaty limits, and with the view of preventing a repetition of similar infringements of the treaty between the United States and Japan, notice is hereby given to whom it may concern, and for the better observance of strict neutrality by the United States, that any hostile encounter, or even attempt to that effect, within the ten ri treaty limits of Kanagawa, on the sea or on land, by the forces of either party to the civil war now existing in Japan, will be considered a deliberate infringement of the said treaty, and as such must expect to meet with a decided expres sion of the displeasure of the United States. A. L. C. PORTMAN. No. 9.] Mr. Van Valkenburgh to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Immediately after the attack by the troops of Bezen on the foreigners in this place on the 4th instant, as I have communicated to you in my No. 8, I took measures to procure statements in writing from such of the American citizens as were present and saw the occurrence. The same course was pursued by some of my colleagues, and I have now the honor to transmit to you copies of the same. Inclosure No. 1 is made by W. H. Morse, esq., our consular agent at Osaka, who was residing here, and being upon the tocaido, or main street, had a good opportunity to observe all that took place. As I crossed the sand-flats, or concession grounds, with the marines in pursuit of the Japanese, I met him and Mr. Blake bringing in the wounded man. Inclosed No. 2 is by Mr. F. Blake, an intelligent American merchant, who also had excellent opportunities for knowing what actually took place. Inclosure No. 3 is made by three American gentlemen by the name of Marks, brothers, and merchants also on the main street. Enclosure No. 4 is the statement of Walter G. Clark, apprentice boy on the Oneida, who was wounded; and No. 5 is the report of Surgeon Suddard, of the Oneida, forwarded to me at my request by Commander Creighton. No. 6 is the statement made by F. Rougement, senior lieutenant of her Majesty's ship Ocean, and only shows the ugly disposition of the troops before entering the concession, where the outrage was committed. He saw them some two miles before they reached the sand-flats, at that time estimating their number at seven hundred or eight hundred. If there were so many they could not have all passed through the settlement at the time of the firing, as I saw them, and I estimated them at one hundred and fifty or two hundred. This statement is corroborated by two Ameri can naval officers, and one other English officer, who were with him. Inclosure No. 7 is that of Joseph Colins, an English gentleman, who seems to have been rudely treated by them before they fired. Inclosures No. 8 are statements of five Prussian subjects, kindly furnished me by the Prussian chargé d'affaires. No. 9 is made by the three French non-commissioned officers, and. upon whom the attack was first made with lances. No. 10 is a rough plan of the settlement, showing the custom-house occupied as legations, the sand-flat or open space, prepared to be sold in lots to the foreigners, the tocaido, or main street, leading from Hiogo to Osaka, and the Japanese residences and places of business of the several persons making the statements. I have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, No. 8.] Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. No. 1. Mr. Morse to Mr. Van Valkenburgh. HIOGO KOBÉ, February 5, 1868. SIR: As per your request, I hasten to lay before you a few facts connected with the late attack upon our settlement made by the Prince of Bezen. On the 4th instant, I observed during the forenoon, at different times, baggage carriers and straggling soldiers going in the direction of Osaka. About 24 o'clock p. m. I was looking from the window of my house in the Otay Cho street, when I observed an official of rank pass by mounted on horseback. He was surrounded by a number of men armed with matchlocks, rifles, and spears. A few moments after he had passed there was a great commotion in the train; baggage carriers and spearsmen dropped what they were carrying in the road, and rushed for the houses and side lanes, evidently in a great state of alarm. Thinking that an attack had been made, I went immediately for my revolver, and while leaving my house met Mr. F. Blake, who remarked, "come along, an attack has been made upon us." I accompanied Mr. Blake as far as the sand-flat, saw a number of Japanese firing in the direction of the legations, and attempted to cross over, with several others, whereupon we were fired at. We retreated for a moment, when Mr. Blake espied a foreigner stretched upon the ground apparently dead. We at once directed our course towards the body, and were fired upon again, but managed to secure the person of the wounded man, whom we found to be a sailor belonging to one of the American men-of-war in port. After carrying the wounded man for a short distance we were relieved, when I met your excellency. I was afterwards informed by one Reitcher (a Prussian subject) that the mounted official referred to got down from his horse, spoke to his body-guard, who immediately said "Teppo oasi," and at once commenced to fire, as stated above. I have the honor to remain your obedient servant, W. H. MORSE, United States Consular Agent for Osaka, now at Hiogo. His Excellency General R. B. VAN VALKENBURGH, Minister Resident of the United States in Japan. No. 2. Mr. Blake to Mr. Van Valkenburgh. KOBÉ, TREATY PORT OF HIOGO, February 6, 1868. DEAR SIR: In accordance with your request, I herewith beg to lay before you the facts which came under my own personal observation in connection with the unfortunate occurrence which took place within the foreign concession limits on the day before yesterday. On the day above mentioned, say Tuesday, February 4, at about half-past two o'clock p. m., while standing in front of the house occupied by myself on the main street of the town, witnessing the passage by of a train of Daimio's retainers coming from the direction of Hiogo, and going towards Osaka, I heard the discharge of firearms in quick succession from the direction of the foreign concession close by, and looking up the street saw a two-sworded officer quickly dismount from his horse, and the baggage carriers along the street, in both directions, in a state of great confusion. I immediately ran up the street to the boundary of the concession, to learn the cause of the disturbance, calling out to Mr. W. H. Morse, United States consular agent for Osacca, whose house I passed on the way, to follow; and on gaining the head of the street saw the armed men of the train, with rifles, or firearms of some description, scattered along in the vicinity of the road, firing (apparently as fast as they could load) towards the English consulate and custom-house, occupied by the ministers of the foreign legation, and at all foreigners in sight. Seeing this open attack, I made at once with all speed across the open space towards the buildings above mentioned, but had not proceeded far when I saw the body of a man lying off to the left, about one hundred and fifty yards from the road and the firing party, which appeared to be again marching; noticing the man move, as if endeavoring to rise, I ran towards him, and had got within about twenty yards of him, when I saw two of the Japanese step forward from their ranks, take deliberate aim, and fire at me a few seconds after the other, the whistle of both balls sounding in close proximity. I retreated a few paces, and the train appearing to be again on the move, I reached the man, who appeared seriously wounded about the chest by a rifle ball, and lifting him as much as possible from off the ground, commenced dragging him out of reach of further danger, when, being joined by Mr. Morse and another gentleman, whose name is at present unknown to me, we lifted and carried him towards the custom-house. The wounded man, I have subsequently learned, was one of the crew belonging to the United States steamer Oneida, now lying in this harbor. I remain, dear sir, your obedient servant, His Excellency General R. B. VAN VALKENBURGH, United States Minister to Japan. F. BLAKE. CONSULAR AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, On this seventh day of February, A. D. 1868, before me, Paul Frank, consular agent of the United States of America for Hiogo and the dependencies thereof, duly appointed and sworn, personally appeared Mr. F. Blake, to me personally known to be the person described in and who executed the foregoing statement, and who acknowledged to me that he executed the same freely and voluntarily to and for the uses and purposes therin named. Given under my hand and the seal of this consular agency, the day and year in this certificate first above written. [SEAL.] PAUL FRANK, United States Consular Agent. No. 3. Messrs. Marks to Mr. Van Valkenburgh. HIOGO, February 7, 1868. SIR: We have the honor to report to you the following facts, which came under our personal observation during a certain time of February 4, 1868: On the above mentioned date, at about 2.30 p. m., we were all in our house, which was located on Main street facing the foreign concession, when we were startled by a report of musketry in close proximity to our house. We were called out to see what the Japanese were doing, and at once saw an armed body of them, which we should judge to be from one hundred and fifty to two hundred, armed with rifles and spears, who immediately opened a deadly fire on all foreigners that were near them. We saw our danger and made for the custom-house under a continuous firing of musketry. Our escape was only through the mercy of God. The sailor boy of the United States sloop-of-war Oneida fell wounded close to us. We were under fire about five minutes. We saw her Britannic Majesty's minister, Sir Harry Parkes, running some distance from us, and also other foreigners. We gave no cause or provocation in any way to those armed Japanese to fire on us; we were in place of business, and knew nothing of the whole affair until we were called. In consequence of this our firm has been serious losers. We are, sir, your obedient, humble servants, His Excellency General R. B. VAN VALKENBURGH, A. MARKS. H. MARKS. United States Minister, &c. CONSULAR AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, On this eighth day of February, A. D. 1868, before me, Paul Frank, consular agent of the United States of America for Hiogo and the dependencies thereof, duly appointed, personally appeared A. Marks, H. Marks, and L. Marks, to me personally known to be the persons described in and who executed this statement, and who acknowledged to me that they executed the same freely and voluntarily to and for the uses and purposes therein named. Given under my hand and the seal of this consular agency the day and year in this certificate first above written. [SEAL.] PAUL FRANK, United States Consular Agent. No. 4. Oneida. Statement of Walter G. Clark, Second-class apprentice belonging to the United States steamer I was in company with two or three of the gig's crew going across the concession towards the main street, and I saw these Japanese marching along, but took no particular notice of them, as I had been among similar ones before, and took them to be only a procession. When I was within about twenty-five yards of the main street, and opposite the Oneida house, the leader dismounted, and they commenced firing. I then turned and ran towards the legation, but had not got more than four or five yards when I was shot. I saw nothing that caused them to fire. They seemed to fire only at the Europeans on the concessions. Witness: H. WALTON GRINNELL, WALTER G. CLARK, A. V. Lieutenant United States Navy. No. 5. Mr. Suddard to Commander Creighton. UNITED STATES STEAMER ONEIDA, (3d rate,) Hiogo, Japan, February 15, 1868. SIR: In accordance with your request of this day, I have the honor to inform you that Walter G. Clark, second-class apprentice, was brought on board of this ship about 2 p. m. of Tuesday, the 4th instant, with a gunshot wound of the right shoulder. The ball, supposed to have been discharged from a musket, entered near the top of the shoulder and penetrated inwards towards the scapular region. The shoulder joint seems to have escaped injury. Neither at the time of injury, nor since, has the position of the ball been ascertained. He has not had a bad symptom, and seems to-day to be proceeding rapidly to a state of convalescence. From present appearances, I am of opinion that the injury is not likely to result in permanent inconvenience. Very respectfully, &c., your obedient servant, Commander J. B. CREIGHTON, U. S. N., JAMES SUDDARD, Commanding United States steamer Oneida. Surgeon United States Navy. No. 6. Mr. Rougement to Mr. Parkes. HIOGO, February 7, 1868. SIR: In compliance with your request, I beg to forward a statement concerning the appearance and strength of the troops who fired at the foreign residents on the afternoon of the 4th instant. On the day in question I was walking with three other officers towards the upper end of the town of Kobé, when I observed a body of troops coming down the street |