y into the bay of Yedo.

As soon as it was known that a diplomatic expedition was to be despatched
to Japan under the command of Commodore Perry he was deluged with
applications, both from England and America, to be permitted to join it.

But Perry resolutely declined all these enterprising offers. In his long
career as a naval officer he had seen the danger of admitting on board
men-of-war persons who were not under the authority of the commander. From
such dangers he meant to be free. He therefore refused to take on board
the ships of his squadron any but regularly accredited officers and men
over whom he exercised legitimate control. He even made it a rule that if
any of the officers kept diaries during the progress of the expedition,
they should be the property of the Navy Department and could not be
published without its permission and authority.

Commodore Perry carried with him a friendly letter from the President of
the United States to the Emperor of Japan,(263) who is therein addressed
as "Great and Good Friend." The letter pointed out the contiguity of the
two countries and the importance of their friendship and commercial
intercourse; it announced that Commodore Perry had been sent to give
assurance of the friendly sentiment of the President, and to arrange for
privileges of trade, for the care of shipwrecked sailors, and for the
appointment of a convenient port where coal and other supplies might be
obtained by the vessels of the United States.

After some provoking delays and disappointments the expedition sailed from
Norfolk on the 24th of November, 1852,(264) proceeding by the way of the
cape of Good Hope to the China sea. There taking on board Dr. S. Wells
Williams as interpreter, and visiting several ports in China, the Bonin
islands, and the Ryukyu islands, they sailed to Japan. The squadron, led
by the _Susquehanna_ and followed by the _Mississippi_, the _Plymouth_,
and the _Saratoga_, entered Yedo bay, July 8, 1853.(265)

[Illustration]

Commodore M. C. Perry.

The Japanese government had been warned of the preparation and coming of
this expedition by the Dutch. Eager to maintain their position with the
government the King of the Netherlands addressed to the Shogun a letter in
1844 suggesting the relaxation of the laws excluding foreign nations from
trade. But in the following year he received an answer declining to make
any changes.