United States Steam Frigate Susquehanna,
Off the Coast of Japan.
THE
undersigned, commander-in-chief of all the naval forces of the United States of
America stationed in the East India, China and Japan seas, has been sent by his
government of this country, on a friendly mission, with ample powers to
negotiate with the government of Japan, touching certain matters which have been
fully set forth in the letter of the President of the United States, copies of
which, together with copies of the letter of credence of the undersigned, in the
English, Dutch, and Chinese languages, are herewith transmitted.
The original of the President's letter, and of the letter of credence, prepared
in a manner suited to the exalted station of your imperial majesty, will be
presented by the undersigned in person, when it may please your majesty to
appoint a day for his reception.
The undersigned has been commanded to state that the President entertains the
most friendly feelings towards Japan, but has been surprised and grieved to
learn that when any of the people of the United States go, of their own accord,
or are thrown by the perils of the sea, within the dominations of your imperial
majesty, they are treated as if they were your worst enemies.
The undersigned refers to the cases of the American ships Morrison, Lagoda, and
Lawrence.
With the Americans, as indeed with all Christian people, it is considered a
sacred duty to receive with kindness, and to succor and protect all, of whatever
nation, who may be cast upon their shores, and such has been the course of the
Americans with respect to all Japanese subjects who have fallen under their
protection.
The government of the United States desires to obtain from that of Japan some
positive assurance that persons who may hereafter be shipwrecked on the coast of
Japan, or driven by stress of weather into her ports, shall be treated with
humanity.
The undersigned is commanded to explain to the Japanese that the United States
are connected with no government in Europe, and that their laws do not interfere
with the religion of their own citizens, much less with that of other nations.
That they inhabit a great country which lies directly between Japan and Europe,
and which was discovered by the nations of Europe about the same time that Japan
herself was first visited by Europeans; that the portion of the American
continent lying nearest to Europe was first settled by emigrants from that part
of the world; that its population has rapidly spread through the country, until
it has reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean; that we have now large cities,
from which, with the aid of steam vessels, we can reach Japan in eighteen or
twenty days; that our commerce with all this region of the globe is rapidly
increasing, and the Japan seas will soon be covered with our vessels.
Therefore, as the United States and Japan are becoming every day nearer and
nearer to each other, the President desires to live in peace and friendship with
your imperial majesty, but no friendship can long exist, unless Japan ceases to
act towards Americans as if they were her enemies.
However wise this policy may originally have been, it is unwise and
impracticable now that the intercourse between the two countries is so much more
easy and rapid than it formerly was.
The undersigned holds out all these arguments in the hope that the Japanese
government will see the necessity of averting unfriendly collision between the
two nations, by responding favorably to the propositions of amity, which are now
made in all sincerity.
Many of the large ships-of-war destined to visit Japan have not yet arrived in
these seas, though they are hourly expected; and the undersigned, as an evidence
of his friendly intentions, has brought but four of the smaller ones, designing,
should it become necessary, to return to Edo in the ensuing spring with a much
larger force.
But it is expected that the government of your imperial majesty will render such
return unnecessary, by acceding at once to the very reasonable and pacific
overtures contained in the President's letter, and which will be further
explained by the undersigned on the first fitting occasion.
With the most profound respect for your imperial majesty, and entertaining a
sincere hope that you may long live to enjoy health and happiness, the
undersigned subscribes himself,
M.
C. Perry,
Commander-in-chef
of the United States Naval Forces in the East India, China, and Japan seas.
To
His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Japan