en the enclosures are filled up
with handsome houses, &c. We passed over the first moat, and rode up
to the second. When we came up to the second we discovered a spectacle
which was really very grand. The moat was some forty or fifty yards
wide; beyond it a high bank of grass nicely kept, with trees rather
like yews every here and there dropped upon it. The crest of the bank
seemed to be crowned by a temple, surrounded by trees. The stone wall
was on a grand scale, and well finished. In short, the whole thing
would have been considered magnificent anywhere. After China, where
everything is _mesquin_, and apparently _en decadence_, it produces a
great effect. I did not see a single beggar in the streets; and as in
this ride of yesterday we took our own way, without giving any notice,
we must have seen the streets in their usual guise.

My poor, dear friends, the Japanese, object to everything and always
give way.[1] It is a bad plan, because it forces one to be very
peremptory and overbearing. Nothing can be milder than their
objections, but they lose time. I have told them that I must see the
Foreign Minister to-day, and that I must have another house, as the
situation of this one is not sufficiently aristocratic. I do not know,
however, whether I shall press the latter point, as it will put myself
to much inconvenience.

_August 19th._--In the evening, I visited the Foreign Minister, or
rather, the two Foreign Ministers (I believe there are three, but one
is unwell). I took my whole staff, but only my secretary and
interpreter remained in the room when we came to talk of business.
There has been a change of Government, and the present Foreign
Secretaries seem stupid enough. The Government seems to be a sort of
oligarchy in the hands of the hereditary princes. Count Putiatine, who
has just been with me, tells me that he does not consider the
officers, with whom we are negotiating, princes at all. They have the
title of _Kami_, but it is not hereditary, and they are altogether
inferior to the others. Both have the title of _Kami_, but the
hereditary princes are also called _Daimios_.

[Sidenote: Conference.]
[Sidenote: A country ride.]

_August 21st._--On the 19th, the Plenipotentiaries appointed to treat
with me came. They are six in number. We exchanged our full powers,
and I m