It must
not be forgotten, in the contemplation of what was accomplished, that
our representative went to a people who, at the time of his arrival
among them, had, both by positive law and usage of more than two hundred
years, allowed but one of their harbors, Nagasaki, to be opened to
foreigners at all; had permitted no trade with such foreigners when they
did come, except, under stringent regulations, with the Dutch and the
Chinese; were in the habit of communicating with the world outside of
them at second-hand only, through the medium of the Dutch who were
imprisoned at Dezima; and a people who, as far as we know, never made a
formal treaty with a civilized nation in the whole course of their
history.
There were but two points on which the Commodore's instructions did not
allow him a large discretion to be exercised according to circumstances.
These were, first, that if happily any arrangements for trade, either
general or special, were made, it was to be distinctly stipulated that,
under no circumstances and in no degree, would the Americans submit to
the humiliating treatment so long borne by the Dutch in carrying on
their trade.
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