JAPAN.
[From the " Batorday Eeview."]
It was proper that the alleged destruction of Kagosima should be discussed in the House of Commons, but the debate threw no additional light on the subject. It is the business of Parliament to sum up every important political controversy, aad the greatest advantage of the process consists in the juxtaposition of conflicting arguments ; but the press had, as usual, anticipated and exhausted the discussion. Mr Buxtons resolution attributed the blame of the untoward transaction exclusively to Admiral Kuper, and although it is proper on all occasions, to use the mildest terms in which a proposition can be expressed, there is little difference between a charge of misconception of orders and an imputation of deliberate cruelty. Mr Buxton was of course aware that Admiral Kuper had not, in Colonel Neale's opinion, misconceived in the smallest degree the orders which were transmitted by Lord Russell through the English Minister, who, during the bombardmeht, stood by the side of the Admiral. Every shot which was fired was virtually sanctioned by the agent of the Foreign Office, and the conduct of the squadron and its commanding officer was warmly approved in his report. If at any moment Colonel Neale had declared that the objects of the expedition were accomplished, the fire would immediately have ceased. If, therefore, it was the duty of the Admiral to obey the Minister's directions, the responsibility must in the first instance he transferred to Colonel Neale. Lordßus!} sell's original despatch admits of a double interpretation, and perhaps it was not Admiral Kuper's imperative duty to shell the Prince of Satsuma's palace unless he could abstain from inflicting incidental injury on the innocent inhabitants of the town. Yet it a a maxim of common sense, as well as of law, that official approval has a retrospective operation which makes it equivalent to a command. After receiving all the information which has up to this time been laid before Parliament, Lord Russell conferred the Companionship of the Bath on Colonel Neal, as a reward for his recent services. It is true that the decoration was not expressly awarded in consideration of the attack on Kagosima, but the destruction cf the town was discussed in the same despatch, and it is impossible to doubt that the Home Government considers that the expedition against the Prince of Satsuma, with its results, was on the whole not deserving of censure. The House of Commons, having expunged from the resolution the words which reflected on Adraira Kuper's character, and ultimately rejected the. motion itself, is now practically committed to at least a negative sanction of the entire transaction. All parties regret that a large town has been burnt, but if
the Government is not to be blamed, its subordinate agents must be supposed to have done their duty. Scrupulous consciences would gladly accept the statements of Mr Layard and Sir J. Elphinatone, that over the wide regions of the East, from Turkey to China and Japan, conflagrations are considered the most ordinary and harmless of occurrences. According to Mr Layard, a fire as large as that of Kagosima breaks out at Constantinople once a month, without serious danger to life. Sir J. Elphinstone witnessed a similar event during the bombardment of Canton, and. he satisfied himself that the residents not only moved away in safety, but carried their property with them. It is to be hoped that the population of Kagosima took proper precautions when they saw the English squadron, but it is difficult to believe that even their houses ot bamboo and paper j were destroyed without serious inconvenience. Admiral Kuper apparently thought that his measures would not be altogether agreeable, as he informed the Japanese envoys that the town would be destroyed if the English demands were not conceded. The accomplishment of the threat has probably not been without effect in persuading the Prince of Satsuma to pay the required indemnity. It must be owned that L 125,000 seems an unusually large compensation' for a single murder; but the amount has, in fact, never formed the subject of serious dispute. The excuse or justification of Colonel Neaie's policy is to be found in the curiously complicated relations of the Tycoon's Government to the Treaty Powers. The correspondence which has recently been published shows that firmness and the ready display of force are absolutely indispensable if commerce with Japan is to continue. The American Minister, in conformity with the habitual policy of his Government, endeavored to separate himself from the counsels and measures of his European colleagues. Even when his residence was burnt and his Secretary of Legation murdered, Mr Pruyn still thought that silence and submission would conciliate the Japanese, and perplex the more vigorous Treaty Powers. The English residents in Japan are probably mistaken in their belief that the Japanese purchases of arms in the United States are managed by the American Minister; but hitherto it has been understood that England, France, Russia, and Holland, would receive no assistance from America in their support of civilization against the astute and polished barbarism of Japan. Mr Pruyn has happily at last discovered that he is indebted to the presence of the English squadron for the partial immunity of his countrymen from native outrages. An American man-of-war has failed in an attempt to punish a Daimio who had fired on a merchant vessel, and henceforth all the representatives of commercial States will probably concert the measures which they may adopt for self-defence. Shortly before the attack on Kagosima, the Government of Jeddo had more than once announced to the foreign Ministers and Consuls that the ports which are frequented in accordance with the treaty would forthwith be closed. Colonel Neal properly refused even to listen to a communication which he justly represented as an act of war ; but it is evident that the appearance of Admiral Kuper at Yokohama, and his subsequent punishment of the Prince of Satsuma, ex- , plains a later declaration that the policy of , the Government is changed, and that the notice to quit is withdrawn. As far as it j is possible to understand the obscure politics of Japan, the Tycoon and his Ministers are probably strengthened by every demonstration of European power and resolution. The admission of foreigners will, according to its results, be regarded as the triumph or disgrace of the actual Government. Whenever the Minieters are exposed to severe pressure, they attempt to violate the covenants of the treaty, not perhaps without a hope that vigorous resistance may give them a pretext for persisting ia their own more liberal policy. The double Government of Japan, which has always been a mystery, is b««oming partially intelligible, perhaps on the eve of a profound modification. There is reason to believe that the Mikado or spiritual Sovereign, while he retained his titular pre-eminence, had, to a great extent, sub • sided into a fiction. The Tycoon, with the aid, or in spite of the opposition, of the feudal chiefs, has absorbed the principal powers of Government, and it was in virtue of an undisputed prerogative that he concluded the treaties with the United States and witn*the European Powers. In Europe, as well as in Asia, there have been many analogous caees of secondary dynasties which had reduced the nominal supremacy of a rival to a cypher. Pepin and his successors before a similar relation to the last Merovingian Kings, and the Peishwah or Prime Minister ot the Mahrattas had similarly superseded the degenerate descendants of Sivajee. It is possible that a still more apposite illus- ■' tration might be supplied by the political
insignificance of the. Popes under the* great German Emperors, or during the preponderance of Louis XIV. on the Continent. It was not until the nobles became discontented with the presence of foreigners that they seem to have invented the Mikado as an instrument for controlling the Tycoon. The venerable head of religion, like ecclesiastics in many parts of the world, is easily persuaded to denounce improvement and liberality. He has consequently issued repeated man' dates to the Tycoon to expel the foreigners ; and when the acting Government is alarmed, or ill-disposed to the strangers, it always pleads the necessity of obeying superior orders. In the course of last year the Tycoon was persuaded to visit the Mikado at Kioto, and during his absence Colonel Neale found the Government unusually refractory and impracticable. It seems that the malconteat Daimios -> intended to detain the Tycoon at the spiritual capital; and that he was only enabled to depart after calling out bis guard. On his return to Jeddo, the indemnity was immediately paid, and, amles* some secret understanding exists with the hostile faction, his Government appear* for the present to he well disposed. The Daimios have probably been frightened by the blow inflicted on the Prince of Satsuma, and by the preparations of the French and Americans to resent the misconduct .of one of the Daimios 1 principal allies, the Prince ofNagato. Some curious letters from the great nobles to the Tycoon's Council have fallen, into the hands of the English Minister. The Prince of Nagato dwells on the necessity of concord between the Tycoon and the Mikado, with many sententious truisme about the force of unity and the- weakness of discord. At another time he reminds the Government that foreigners have once before been driven from Japan, although they had then, aa now, ships, discipline, and artillery. There is no difference, he says, except that steam is substituted for sails, so that the intruders, as he facetiously suggests, will be able to take themselves off the sooner. The Mikado, as becomes a Japanese Pope, writes in a more pompous and antiquated'style. Pius IX. himself might adopt the statement that "from ancient times till now the heart of the Mikado has not at all changed. He accordingly commands the " Willow Palace," or Tycoon, "to determine that the foreign barbarians shall be swept out of the country," and "to fix upon a period for cutting off the ugly barbarians." As in all similar allocutions, it is thought unnecessary to consider whether the divine command is likely to be obeyed or capable of being enforced. It is quite certain that no English Government will propose to retire from the Japanese ports, especially as the French, the Russians, and the Americans would not follow the selt-denying example. On the other hand, Foreign Ministers and Admirals will do well, if possible, to abstain from burning towns when they have occasion to bombard castles or to silence batteries. It is highly desirable to preserve all the restrictions 1 which have been imposed on the licence of war, and no exception ought to be made to the detriment of a race with which it is impossible to feel serious moral indignation.
A Frlbnd;s Memoir 07 Thacksrat.— Mr Haunay thus concludes his brief memoir of Thackeray :—♦♦ Well, indeed, might his passing bell make itself heard through all the myriad joy* bells of the English Christmas ! It is long since Eateland has lost Baoh a son— it will he long before she has such another to lose. Ho was indeed emphatically English— English as distinct from. Scotch -as well aa English as distinct from Continental - a different type of great man from Scott, and a different type of great man from Balzao The highest purely Knglish novelist since Fielding : lie combined Addison's love of i virtue with Johnson's hatred of cant— Horace Walpole'a lynx-like eye for the mean and the ridiculous, with the gentleness and wide chartej for mankind, as a whole t> of Goldsmith. ■ No* oninis morintua eat. He will be remembered in his due succession with those men for ages to come, as long as the hymn of praise rises in ther old Abbey of Westminster, and wherever the English tongue is native to men," from thai 'banks of the Ganges to thoseof the Mississippi;. This humble tribute to his illustrious and beloved memory eoues from one whom lie loaded with, benefits, and to whom it will always throw something of saduees over the' great city where, be - first knew him, that it contains his too earlygrave." . . ' 111 1 Coumao, Watjgh. -The case of Colonel Wangk was again before the Bankruptcy Court on the 21at, when Mr Commissioner Gouldburn said he did not think he had the power to entertain the question of releasing the bankrupt on a less bond than was at first fienvmdec, the counsel for Colonel Waugh having suggested that if ' the bail were reduced from L4OOO to L2OOO the amount would be forthcoming. He expressed an opinioa however, that the bankrupt's incarceration had lasted quite long' enough.' He recommended an application on the subject to the superior courts. " . , L , , . There is a wonderful Hindoo chess player at present in London. He plays-three games blindfolded, and wins. At the same time h& plays a game of cards, and wins ; During the > t gan\e^» bell is touched every one or two seconds, andhs gives the number of times it has Been touched; A. man stands behind 7 and throws little 'pobblw ■one by one against his back ; these* too he counts; an 3 after the games are told he recites a poem lit perfect rhyme which he has composed during the. a'tting.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 652, 28 May 1864, Page 2
Word Count
2,212JAPAN. Otago Witness, Issue 652, 28 May 1864, Page 2
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