The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

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THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
were a proud, lianghty race who resented an insult to their prince, and
punished it according to Jaj^anese law and custom. On the other, the
foreigners had tlie technical right, in accordance with tlie treaty, to go
Tipon the Tokaido ;
but they offered a direct insult to the j^uople in whose
country they were, and openly showed their contempt for them. A little
forbearance, and a willingness to avoid trouble by refraining from visiting
the Tohaido, as requested by the Japanese anthorities, would have pre-
vented the sad occurrence.
As a resnlt of this affair, the Japanese government was compelled to
pay a hundred thousand pounds sterling to tlie family of Mr. Richardson,
or submit to the alternative of a war with England. In addition to this,
the city of Kagoshima, the residence of the Prince of Satsuma, was bom-
barded, tlie place reduced to ashes, forts, palaces, factories, thrown into
ruins, and thousands of luiildings set on hre by the shells from the British
fleet. Three steamers belonging to the Prince of Satsuma wore captured,
and the prince was further compelled to pay an additional indemnity of
twenty-five thousand pounds. The loss of life in the affair has never been
made known by the Japanese, but it is certain to have been very great.
It would not be surprising if the Japanese should entertain curious no-
tions of the exact character of the Chri.stian religion, when such acts are
j^erpetrated by the nations that profess it. The blessings of civilization
have been wafted to them in large proportion from the muzzles of can-
non ; and the light of Western diplomacy has been, all too frequently, from
the torch of the incendiary.
But we must not forget our boys in our dissertation on the history of
foreign intervention in Japan. In fact, they were not forgotten in it, as
they heard the story from the Doctor's lips, and heard a great deal more
l)esides. The Doctor summarized his opinion of the way the Japanese
had been treated by foreigners somewhat as follows :
" The Japanese had been exclusive for a long time, and wished to con-
tinue so. Tlie}^ had had an experience of foreign relations two hundred
years ago, and the )-esult had well-nigh cost them their independence. It
was unsatisfactory, and they chose to shut themselves up and live alone.
If we wanted to shnt up the United States, and admit no foreigners
among us, we should consider it a matter of great rudeness if they forced
themselves in, and tlireatened to bombard us when we refused them ad-
mittance. We were the first to poke our noses into Japan, wlien we sent
Commodore Perry here with a fleet. The Japanese tried their best to
induce us to go away and let them alone, Init we M'ouldn't go. We stood
there with the copy of the treaty in one hand, and had tlie other resting