Mr. Seward to Mr. Van Valkenburgh.
Sir: Your dispatch of the 17th of September, No. 94, has been received. I thank you for the interesting details of Japanese affairs which that paper presents. It seems extraordinary that the Mikado’s government should attach importance to the written renunciation of the government by Tokugawa Kamenoske, who, it appears by your account, is an infant of six years. The pacific attitude of the Mia Sama, or northern Mikado, is most singular. It is not easy, at this distance, to conceive how a belligerent party can be maintained by the northern Daimios without any civil head or general acquiescence under one military direction.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
R. B. Van Vankenburgh, Esq., &c., &c., &c.