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Notification by the Gorogio.

As the Kaigi (hall of assembly) will be opened, all superior officers and nobles who have an opinion to express, though they may not be in the service of the government, are hereby invited to come to the castle at Obirma, on the 29th day, at 10 o'clock a. m. The 27th day of the 1st month, (the 20th February, 1868.)

Notification.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES IN JAPAN,

Yedo, February 11, 1868.

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 expression of the displeasure of the United States.

No. 4.

Mr. Portman to the Gorojin.

A. L. C. PORTMAN.

No. 21.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES IN JAPAN,
Yokohama, February 24, 1868.

I have this day learned that by a recent proclamation his Majesty the Tycoon has announced his intention to abdicate, and to nominate Kee Tshunangong, Dono Prince of Kishu, as his successor. Firmly believing that his Majesty Stotsbashi is the first sovereign of Japan who has adopted a fixed foreign policy-that of promoting friendly intercourse with the treaty powers-and of judiciously encouraging foreign trade so as to render it an active agent in furthering the interests of his people, I do not hesitate to assure your excellencies, as the consistency and wisdom of your government have been fully appreciated, no less than the great difficulties by which your sound and liberal policy has been surrounded, that the abdication of his Majesty the Tycoon, should it unfortunately take effect, will be sincerely regretted by the government of the United States. And I can only hope that your excellencies will soon have it in your power to announce that his Majesty has been able to reconsider his intention, and will remain the chief of the government of Japan.

With respect and esteem,

Their Excellencies the GOROJIN, &c., &c., &c., Yedo.

A. L. C. PORTMAN.

No. 24.]

Mr. Van Valkenburgh to Mr. Seward.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Hiogo, March 4, 1868.

SIR: In my No. 14, under date of March 1st, I had the honor to inform you that Taki Tensaboro, the officer who ordered the fire upon the foreigners at Hiogo on the 4th February, had been found guilty, and his execution was directed to take place on the next day (March 2) at Hiogo. The culprit was an officer of rank, and in accordance with the laws of Japan was permitted to commit hara-kiri.

On that day two Japanese officers, in accordance with what is under

stood to be the custom in this country, called upon the representatives unofficially to ask if the man's life could not be spared, and whether we would not request the Mikado to reprieve him. In all cases of sentence of death I am informed this custom prevails throughout the land. We held a conference at once, lasting about four hours, desiring, if possible, to comply with the request of these gentlemen, and ask for a reprieve; but the conclusion arrived at was, that the safety of foreigners in the future would prevent the exercise of such clemency, and we declined to accede to the request. The representatives severally wrote out their conclusions, copies of which I transmit, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

We were then informed that the execution of the sentence would take place that evening at a temple in Hiogo, and were asked to designate each representative a witness. I accordingly appointed Commander J. Blakely Creighton, of the United States steamship Oneida, the senior naval officer at this port, as such witness from this legation. The exe cution took place about half past 10 o'clock in the evening, witnessed only by seven foreigners and about an equal number of Japanese officials. It is said to have been a very solemn and impressive scene. I enclose No. 7, copy of Commander Creighton's official report to me of the execution.

We entertain the belief that the punishment of this man will have a salutary effect in preventing similar acts in the future, to some extent at all events, while it satisfies us of the good intentions and power of the Mikado. On the following day (March 3) we received the apology of the government for the outrage, in accordance with our demand, copy of which I inclose, marked No. 8. Inclosed in this communication was the sentence of Taki Tensaboro and also that of Hiki Tatewaki, who seems to have been the chief officer, and who, from not properly enforcing his orders, is placed in arrest. I inclose copy of these sentences marked No. 9.

This difficult question now having been satisfactorily arranged, we propose to reopen for a brief period our legations at Osaka, and then return to Yokohama, where our duties now seem to call us, inasmuch as large bodies of troops are moving in that direction.

Trusting that my action in this matter will be approved, I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, R. B. VAN VALKENBURGH.

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Opinion of the minister of France on the question whether the foreign representatives shall apply for mercy in favor of Taki Tensaboro, officer of Bizen, who has been sentenced to death by the Mikado for the order given by him to his soldiers to fire on the foreigners at Kobé, on the 4th of February, 1868.

Sentence having in due form been passed on the officer guilty of the assault of the 4th of February, 1868, it appears to me that the question whether mercy would answer a better purpose than justice was virtually settled by the foreign representatives when, unanimously, they officially demanded, not the trial, but the capital punishment of the criminal.

They all signed this demand. They did not act hastily, nor should they permit a belief to be entertained that they acted hastily. They were not the judges, neither were they personally wounded or offended; but from a political point of view, they clearly appreciated the assault and the absolute necessity for reparation, being convinced, that sound feelings of humanity prescribed the duty to offer to Japan the means

of avoiding the consequences of retaliation, which would have been much more serions. If reparation had been refused, the ministers would certainly not in any measure have held themselves responsible for the consequences of repression by force of arms. Can they, therefore, now hold back from the criminal the capital punishment, which they expressly demanded?

The assault was political and national, inasmuch as it had its origin in popular prejudices or national hatred, and applied to all foreigners indiscriminately. To recede now from their judgment by applying for mercy, would render the ministers responsible for such other acts of violence and assaults which may occur in future and be prompted by the same prejudices, and the ministers would be unable to meet such responsibility from public opinion or their own, because having had it in their power to act when the opportunity was presented they would have failed to do so.

Even if these reasons, which in my opinion are conclusive, did not exist, in view of clemency having been advocated by the government themselves, by whom the crimi nal has been sentenced in proper form, the foreign ministers, by permitting themselves to be induced to apply for mercy would become liable to the suspicion, which would be little to their honor, of having countenanced a machination agreed upon beforehand, and of having contented themselves with reparation in name only. In a country like this and in the circumstances under which the assault took place, clemency cannot produce the same effect as stern justice. It is, therefore, justice only which can make the dignity of the foreign representatives, and, at the same time, the safety of their countrymen, respected.

Before the duty of protecting those interests every consideration of feeling should vanish, and compared to this duty the life of one man, who moreover was found guilty and has been sentenced by his own sovereign, must be of no account.

LEON ROCHER.

Memorandum by Sir Harry Parkes on the considerations which prompted him to rote an appeal to mercy should be made in favor of the offender in the Bizen outrage.

The offender in this case, an officer of rank in the service of the Prince of Bizen, was condemned to death for having ordered an attack to be made upon foreigners generally, as he passed through Kobě at the head of a train of armed men on the 4th ultimo.

The immediate cause of this violence appears to have been that a foreigner crossed the procession through an opening between the bodies of men. The men before whom the foreigner passed used their spears, not only against the latter, whom they stabbed, but also against all the foreigners standing by, whom they pursued into their houses. Not satisfied with this retaliation, the above mentioned officer ordered the leading company of his men, who were armed with revolving rifles, to open fire upon all foreigners then in sight, and who were much exposed to such an attack by being scattered about on the open ground of the foreign concession. As an instance of the unmerciful character of the attack, it may be mentioned, that when two or three of the foreigners, who were flying from the bullets, stopped for a moment to aid an American sailor as he fell, the Japanese riflemen directed their fire upon the party, while engaged in carrying off the wounded man.

In atonement for this outrage the life of the officer who gave the order to fire was demanded by the foreign representatives. With marked promptitude the Mikado's government admitted that the demand was perfectly reasonable, and at once engaged to inflict the punishment named. The officer was arrested, process against him was completed by the 24th February, and on the 29th he arrived at Hiogo in order that the sentence of death might be carried out at the place where the outrage had been committed. The details as to the place and time of execution were communicated to the foreign representatives, who were satisfied of the good faith and the equitable spirit which had animated the action of the Mikado's government in this matter.

At this stage of the proceedings the foreign representatives, influenced chiefly by an intimation that an appeal to the mercy of the Mikado in favor of the prisoner would be gratefully viewed by the Mikado's government, and also in some degree by the views of two of their number, met on the 2d instant to consider whether the case was one in which clemency might advisedly be invoked. After discussion and consideration of the case, which gave all the representatives an opportunity of exchanging opinions and comparing their respective impressions, the question of whether an appeal to mercy should be made was put to the vote, and Sir Harry Parkes gave his voice for the appeal on the following grounds:

"The good faith of the proceedings of the Mikado's government had been established to the satisfaction of the foreign representatives. The offender had been sentenced to death, not upon the demand of the foreign representatives, but because, as stated by the Japanese authorities in communication with the representatives, he had incurred

that penalty according to Japanese law. His offense was probably more attributable to the system of hostility towards foreigners still existing in Japan, than to particular malice on his own part. The manner in which the case had been dealt with, by the authorities gave the representatives reason to hope that the efforts of the new government would be directed towards the eradication of this system, which is known to have been fostered by political animosity. To effect this, the unlawfulness of violence towards foreigners, and the certainty of punishment attaching to it, must be made patent to the mind of the two-sworded class throughout Japan. Was the death of this officer, however, indispensable for this purpose, or might not the same effect be produced by some commutation of his punishment and by the publication throughout the country in a durable and conspicuous form of the original sentence, which clearly describes the capital nature of the offense, and its important bearing upon foreign relations, supplemented by the declaration, that in this particular instance life had been granted on an appeal for mercy in favor of the offender being made by the foreign representatives?"

Such a measure, Sir Harry Parkes believed, could be as widely promulgated as the man's death. And in the present state of affairs, at the commencement of a new administration, and of new relations with a party who had hitherto been debarred from communication with foreigners, was calculated, he thought, to have as good an effect in the promotion of the object which all the representatives had in view, as the sterner execution of the law. That object was the security of their countrymen in Japan; but this was to be obtained not only by the terror of punishment, unless the moral sensibilities of the Japanese were placed at a very low ebb, but also by judicious appeal to the friendly sympathies of the people. The present case appeared to be one in which the good effects of clemency might be gained in addition to those that would be secured by the vindication of the law.

In determining whether an appeal in favor of the condemned officer should be made by the foreign representatives, having been put to the vote, two of the foreign representatives expressed themselves for and four against the appeal.

In deference to the views of the majority, and in order to preserve unity in the action of the foreign representatives throughout this case, Sir Harry Parkes acquiesced in the decision which was then taken, to abstain from making any appeal in favor of the condemned, and it was agreed that the representatives should exchange statements of the grounds upon which their respective votes had been formed.

HIOGO, March 3, 1868.

HARRY S. PARKES.

The undersigned, taking into consideration whether, after the respective representatives of the treaty powers having obtained of his Majesty, the Mikado, the condemnation to death of the Kerai of the Prince of Bizen, for the attack committed by that officer on the foreign residents in this place, it would be opportune to address themselves to his Majesty, the Mikado, for obtaining that the sentence of death shall not be executed, but that the culpable shall be punished in another manner.

The undersigned has the honor to observe that the principal reasons which have pushed him to demand the execution of the culpable have been, to prove to the Japanese princes and their officers that they could not, without being punished, attack the lives of the foreigners residing in Japan, and to try whether the government of his Majesty, the Mikado, was strong enough to execute an officer of a prince, who was guilty of such an attack.

The Prince of Bizen having been forced by his Majesty, the Mikado, to deliver up the officer who has committed this violent act, and this officer having been sentenced to death, which sentence will take place this evening in Hiogo, in presence of the secretaries of the respective legations, it has be n sufficiently proved to the princes of Japan that every attack on the foreigners residing in Japan will be punished with capital punishment, and to the respective representatives that the government of his Majesty, the Mikado, is strong enough to pass this sentence on every Japanese official without exception. The undersigned is of opinion that the respective representatives could, without any risk that a similar attack be repeated in future, address themselves to his Majesty, the Mikado, in order that he may grant a reprieve and that such an act of clemency on their part should procure a favorable impression, not only on the government of his Majesty, the Mikado, but on the whole Japanese nation.

The undersigned therefore has the honor to propose to his honorable colleagues that the secretaries of the respective legations shall render themselves to the temple when the execution must take place, and that in presence of the Japanese authorities, who have to be witnesses, they should inform to the culpable that his life is in the hands of the respective representatives, but that they do not desire to take it, and that in consequence thereof they have the intention to address themselves to his Majesty, the

Mikado, in order that he may grant a reprieve of the sentence of death, to which the culpable has been condemned for his unjustifiable attack on the foreign residents in this port. D. DE GRAEFF VON POLSBROEK,

HIOGO, March 2, 1868.

H. N. M.'s Political Agent, Consul General.

[Translation.]

Opinion of the Count de la Tour, Minister of Italy, at the conference of the 2d of March, 1868.

LEGATION OF ITALY IN JAPAN, HIOGO, KOBÉ.

The demand for reparation for the assault committed on the 4th February was made after mature deliberation. In my opinion, it was based upon the conviction that a sentence to capital punishment of the officer who gave the order to fire was the just consequence of that aggression, and at the same time the only means to put a stop to the series of assassinations dictated by political motives since the opening of Japan. and which, with rare exceptions, have remained unpunished. The punishment of Taki Tensaboro should show us to what extent it is the intention of the government of the Mikado to insure respect of foreigners, and at the same time make known that the government possess the power to carry out what has been resolved upon.

The Japanese commissioners have asked us whether there was no way to save the life of this man.

They observe that in Europe sometimes manslaughter is not followed by capital punishment; in special reference they mention the case of the Polish student, who fired in the Bois de Boulogne on the Emperor of Russia, and who was not executed. They further say that no foreigner having been killed on the 4th February, public feeling in this country might feel hurt by capital punishment in this case. The first remark requires no further notice. This is a question of legislation, with which the customs and the laws of Japan are unconcerned. The second consideration has already been dimly perceived before sentence was passed, and in my opinion is inadmissible. Though it is true that no one was killed, yet the circumstances under which the assault took place upon peaceable people, unarmed, suddenly attacked, and which attack was kept up against those who with all speed ran away, or those who stopped to carry off the wounded American sailor-those circumstances were such, that all the foreigners who were there might, and it was intended should, have been killed.

I shall not pause to consider the painful impression which this step of the Japanese commissioners at this late hour has caused me, and which might lead to suppose that this sentence was only intended as satisfaction of the demand of the representatives, with the conviction underlying it that the sentence would not be carried out.

I think there is only one point to be considered, and that is, whether clemency or capital punishment will insure the most favorable result.

It is my deliberate opinion that clemency would not be comprehended or appreciated at its proper value, but would be considered as an admission of weakness, perhaps of fear, and induce every samurai (two-sworded man) to believe that the life of a foreigner can be taken with impunity; while on the other hand, even if the death of Taki Tensaboro should be followed by any act of special revenge, the exemplary punishment of this officer of rank, and one belonging to a family of distinction, would show to the Daimios the respect to which foreigners are entitled, and the means they possess of obtaining justice.

If the life of man is sacred, and if personally concerned, I should prefer to consult my better feelings; as minister of Italy in Japan, and under circumstances of such importance, I can only look to the safety of Italian subjects and the protection of their persons.

For these reasons, and convinced that clemency would be injurions, I vote for the execution of the sentence as rendered by the Mikado, and admitted by him to be just and according to law.

DE LA TOUR.

[Translation.]

Opinion expressed by the Chargé d'Affaires of Prussia at the conference of the 2d March, 1868.

The arguments of the Japanese commissioners have been of a twofold character. They first attempted to establish, that no one having been killed during the attack on

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