Mr. Harris to Mr.
Seward.
No. 28.]
Legation of the United
States in Japan,
Yedo,
July 9, 1861.
Sir: It is my unpleasant duty to inform you
that a daring and murderous attack was made on the British legation in
this city on the night of the 5th instant.
Mr. Alcock providentially escaped uninjured, but Mr. Oliphant, secretary
of legation, and Mr. Morrison, consul for Nagasaki, were wounded. Four
of the assailants were killed, and two wounded were made prisoners. Of
the Japanese defenders of Mr. Alcock three were killed and fifteen
wounded.
For full details of this bloody affair I beg to refer you to the
following enclosures:
- No. 1, Mr. Alcock to Mr. Harris, July 6.
- No. 2, Mr. Harris to the ministers for foreign affairs, July
8.
- No. 3, Mr. Harris to Mr. Alcock, July 8.
- No. 4, Mr. Alcock to Mr. Harris, July 8.
The Japanese were evidently taken by surprise, but they soon recovered
from it and fought with great bravery, and at last beat off the
assailants.
This is the first instance in which a blow has been struck in defence of
a foreigner in this country, and may be considered as proof of the
desire of this government to give us protection.
I consider the present as a crisis in the foreign affairs of Japan, for
if the government is too weak to punish the instigators and agents of
this nefarious affair, it may be believed that it will lead to some very
decided action on the part of the English government, for the outrage
was too great to be overlooked.
There is a party in this country who are opposed to the presence of any
foreigners in Japan, and, in addition to this, there is a very strong
dislike to the English in particular, which feeling seems to attach
especially to Mr. Alcock. He was absent from this city for some three
months, during which time the utmost quiet prevailed; yet within
thirty-six hours after his return the attack in question was made on
him.
I am happy to say that these prejudices do not extend to our citizens in
this country, and I think that I am personally popular among all classes
of the Japanese. Yet it must not be concealed from you that I am, in
common with my colleagues, subject to the same unpopularity, that
attaches to the presence of all foreigners in Japan
I have requested the ministers for foreign affairs to give me an
interview on the 11th instant, and I shall then endeavor to place before
them, in a forcible manner, the great danger that will arise from any
want of firm action on their part at this juncture.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
TOWNSEND HARRIS,
Minister
Resident.
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, Washington.
[Page 438]
Mr. Alcock to
Mr. Harris.
Her Majesty’s
Legation,
Yedo,
July 6, 1861.
Sir: Last night between eleven and twelve
o’clock the British legation was suddenly attacked, and an entrance
effected at several points simultaneously by armed bands of
Japanese, said to be Loonins, and by others, Prince of Mito’s men.
Two of the members of the establishment, Mr. Oliphant and Mr.
Morrison, were met in a passage and both wounded; the first, I am
sorry to say, very severely, when a momentary diverson was effected
by a shot from Mr. Morrison’s revolver, which appears to have taken
effect. A few minutes later the same or another division of the
assassins sought to effect an entrance to the apartments occupied by
myself, by breaking through and hacking in pieces some glass doors
opening into another suite, having mistaken their way. To this
alone, under Providence, we probably owe our lives, for several
minutes were thus lost to them; at the end of which the Yaconins or
Dainios guards appeared to have come to the spot, and the assailants
were finally driven out of the house, after having penetrated into
nearly every room except my own, leaving traces of their presence by
slashing at all the beds and furniture. Marks of blood-were found in
various directions, and a prolonged conflict took place outside, in
the avenue and approaches to the legation, with the officers and men
on service.
Such a deed of atrocity, perpetrated in the capital of a government
to which foreign representatives are accredited by the western
powers, needs no comment. I only feel it a duty to communicate to my
colleagues the facts for their guidance and information, and to
acquaint them that, as a temporary measure, I have ordered up her
Majesty’s ship “Ringdove,” and caused a guard of men to be landed.
What measures it may be expedient to adopt for future security of
this and the other legations in Yedo, and the maintenance of those
international rights and immunities so grievously attacked, becomes
a serious consideration, and one the pressing importance of which
cannot well be overlooked. But on this part of the subject I shall
be glad to enter into further communication with you and the rest of
my colleagues, should you feel disposed to favor me with your
views.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient humble servant,
RUTHERFORD ALCOCK,
Her
Britannic Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary in Japan.
Townsend Harris, Esq.,
Resident Minister of the United States in
Japan.
Mr. T. Harris
to the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of
Japan.
No. 70.]
Legation of the
United States in Japan,
Yedo,
July 8, 1861.
I am informed by Mr. Alcock, the British envoy, that an attempt was
made on the night of the 5th instant to assassinate him and the
persons attached to the British legation in this city. I am further
informed that the house was broken into at the same moment of time
in three different places;
[Page 439]
and that, during the contest, two persons in her Britannic Majesty’s
service were wounded.
This makes the seventh attack on foreigners within the period of two
years; and in five of the attempts murder was committed. Up to this
day not one person has been punished for these atrocious crimes. You
have frequently assured me that you were making constant efforts to
arrest these criminals, but that you were unable to discover
them.
In the present case evidence is in your possession to enable you to
arrest the persons concerned in the last atrocious attempt at
murder, for you have made a prisoner of one of the men, and you have
a pocket-book found on the ground which contains a list of the names
of fourteen of the party; and these two sources of evidence will
enable you to arrest and bring to condign punishment the whole of
the gang. I feel it my duty to say to you that, in my opinion, your
failure to arrest and punish the perpetrators of previous criminal
acts has encouraged the present horrible attempt to take the life of
Mr. Alcock.
I have given you too many evidences of my friendship for you to doubt
my good will; and as your friend, who earnestly wishes to see Japan
peaceful, prosperous, and happy, I now say to you, that if you do
not promptly arrest and punish the authors of this last deed of
blood, that the most lamentable consequences to your country will
inevitably ensue; for if you do not punish these men, it will show
that you do not wish to do so. I urge you earnestly to consider this
friendly and serious warning.
I propose to have an interview with you in a few days, at which time
I will enter more largely into details than I can do in a
letter.
Stated with respect and courtesy.
TOWNSEND HARRIS,
Minister
Resident of the United States in Japan.
Their Excellencies Kudsi Yamato Nokami
and Ando Fusima Nokami,
Ministers for Foreign Affairs, &c.,
&c., &c., Yedo.
Mr. Harris to
Mr. Alcock.
No. 71.]
Legation of the
United States in Japan,
Yedo,
July 8, 1861.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, giving me the particulars
of an attack made the previous night, by a band of Japanese
assassins, on her Britannic Majesty’s legation, and informing me
that Mr. Oliphant, secretary of her Britannic Majesty’s legation,
and Mr. Morrison, consul for Nagasaki, were wounded in the melee
which ensued, and adding the gratifying intelligence that you had,
providentially, escaped any bodily injury.
I cannot conceal from you the horror and indignation which the
atrocious attempt on your life excites in my mind, exceeding, as it
does, in the boldness of its design and in the extent of its
intended slaughter, all previous essays of the kind.
In the nineteen months that followed the residence of the foreign
representatives in this city, six distinct outrages were perpetrated
on the persons of foreigners. Yet, up to this day, not one of the
persons engaged in those criminal acts has been made to answer for
his crime. The Japanese ministers have reiterated the assurance of
their anxious desire to arrest and punish the
[Page 440]
offenders in question, but have
declared their inability to identify them. In the present case no
such plea can be set up, for two of your assailants are prisoners,
and a pocket-book found on the ground near your legation contains a
list of fourteen of the gang. With these two sources of information
in their possession, there cannot be any difficulty in ascertaining
the names of the whole band, and their consequent arrest and
punishment.
Should this government fail in its duty in the present case, it will
be almost conclusive that it is either unable or unwilling to give
us that protection which the punishment of crime would secure by the
repression of criminal designs, and it will then become a matter of
serious consideration what line of conduct should be adopted to
secure to us those rights which we have guaranteed to us by our
solemn treaty stipulations.
I have addressed a letter to the Japanese ministers for foreign
affairs in the sense of the foregoing, and I have pointedly shown
them that any failure on their part at the present crisis will
greatly endanger the peace of their country.
I propose to have an interview with the ministers in this behalf,
when I intend to urge upon them the necessity that exists for their
action in this matter.
In this connexion I beg to say that if you intend to have an
interview with the ministers shortly, I will defer mine until after
yours has taken place.
I renew to you my cordial congratulations on your truly providential
escape from a daring and almost successful attempt on your life.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient humble servant,
TOWNSEND HARRIS,
Minister
resident of the United States in Japan.
Rutherford Alcock, Esq., C. B.,
Her Britannic Majesty’s Envoy Ext’y and
Minister Plen’y in Yedo.
Mr. Alcock to
Mr. Harris.
No. 37.]
Her Majesty’s
Legation,
Yedo,
July 8, 1861.
Sir: I have to thank you for the
congratulations of escape from the assassins, conveyed in your
letter of this date, and the expression of your views upon the
present conjuncture, in which I am glad to say there is a general
accordance with my own.
If there be any divergence, it is in the absence of all hope on my
part that the Japanese government will behave otherwise on this than
on every former occasion of the like nature. They have shown great
supineness and indifference hitherto, and appear wholly unconscious
of the gravity of the circumstances and the atrocious nature of the
outrage offered to the flag.
I had proposed seeing the ministers to-morrow, but since the event of
the 5th I have thought it better to wait an answer to a letter which
I addressed them, urging them to give such full satisfaction as
should relieve them of all charge of complicity or indifference.
I expect Admiral Hope here also in a few days, which may further
induce me to postpone an interview. If you wish to see the
ministers, therefore, I beg I may not be a cause of delay.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient humble servant,
RUTHERFORD ALCOCK,
Her
Britannic Majesty’s Envoy Ext’y and Minister Plent’y in
Japan.
Townsend Harris, Esq., &c., &c., &c.,
United States Legation, Yedo.
