Imperial Guard; M. Messelot, sub-lieutenant in the 20th Regiment of Foot-Chasseurs; M. Descharmes, sub-lieutenant in the Empress's Regiment of Dragoons; and M. Dubousquet, holding the same rank in the 31st Regiment of the Line. The members of this military mission embarked at Marseilles in December 1866. Their duty will be to organize the Tycoon's army, both as respects the matériel and the persons.

A civil war grew, in August 1866, out of the punishment which the United States. England, and France, conjointly inflicted on the Prince Negato, for his attacks on foreign vessels that passed through the Inland Sea, as the channel between the main island is styled. In the settlement of the case between the Tycoon and the foreigners, an indemnity was exacted from that ruler, who mulcted the Prince, who resisted the claim, and hence the war. Choshiu, Prince of Negato, being well provided with foreign implements of war, and having an army drilled on the European model, was enabled to gain many advantages over the Tycoon, who had failed to avail himself of the instruction of foreigners. On August 4th intelligence reached Yokohama from Osaca, to the effect that in three engagements the troops of the Tycoon had prevailed against those of Choshiu. The scene of the action was Oshimangoori, in the province of Soowo, one of the two provinces comprising the estate of Mori. The troops engaged on the side of the Tycoon were 5,000 or 6,000 men, under the command of Matsdaira Okino-kami, and some infantry and artillery (about 1,200) drilled in the European style. It appears that Simonosaki was occupied by the Tycoon's troops before the war began. Subsequent advices confirmed this news, and added that the Tycoon's troops occupied Oosima, and Choshiu's forces made an attack on the side of the Straits. They were, however, repulsed, but not before they had destroyed several towns. In the operations Choshiu lost two ships. The new Tycoon gained important advantages over Choshiu, and in December it was reported that the war had been stopped for the present by the Mikado, and that Choshiu obeyed the order, declaring that he had never fought against the Mikado, but against a party unjustly opposed to him.

In the latter months of the year the country was suffering from a deficiency in the rice crop, aggravated by the war, which caused that staff of Japanese life to rise in price to nearly threefold its ordinary value. Considerable discontent prevailed, and many rice riots occurred, in one of which the American minister, General Van Valkenburg, was stoned, and the British Consulate was also attacked with the same missives. No importance, however, was at tached to the émeute by the General, or the British authorities. The Japanese officials were in nowise accountable for this last attack on foreigners, and the outrage was the work of a few ignorant and hungry people.

According to reports from Japan received in December, the Prince of Satsuma had sent a very large collection of curiosities and specimens of the produce of his province to the World's Fair at Paris. One of the firm of Glover & Co. had left Yokohama for Nangasaki, there to take charge of the prince's younger brothers on an expedition to Europe. Fourteen young Japanese gentlemen, in charge of the Rev. Mr. Lloyd, were to leave Yokohama, also bound to see the Paris Exhibition. Rev. Mr. Brown, American Missionary in Japan, also sent a number of Japanese youth to the United States, to be educated. They expect to remain in this country five or six years, that they may acquire a knowledge of our religion, institutions, arts, sciences, and laws. They are all men of official rank, belonging to the department of Statsuma. Their names are, Captains Shimada and Hisamats, and Lieutenants Chara, Kudo and Yostuda. Three of them are young men, and the other two are men in middle life.

On November 26th a great fire occurred at Yokohama, causing a loss of over $5,000,000. The town of Yokohama was almost entirely unknown by name to the outside world previous to the negotiations of the treaty between the United States and Japan-after the mission of the late Commodore Perry in 1853-existing only as a scattered commercial and export suburb of the great imperial capital, Jeddo. Sinco that time it has grown rapidly into notice, and at the moment of the great conflagration it maintained the same relation to Jeddo as the ports of Amoy and Hong-Kong do to the more inland industrial centre of China. Indeed, it may be said that Yokohama was built up for Japan within a dozen years by foreigners, particularly by Americans and English. The town is situated about twenty-three miles south of Jeddo, on the Gulf of Jeddo and the southeast coast of the island of Niphon. The course of trade and communication outward runs from Jeddo to Nangasaki and thence to Yokohama, the travel being reversed, from Yokohama inward, to persons coming from abroad. Its public buildings, temples, parks, and gardens are constructed and ornamented in the usual Japanese style; but considerably modernized by the introduction of improvements from abroad. The population of the city fluctuates to a very great extent, being made up at certain seasons, almost entirely by that portion of the seven hundred thousand citizens of Jeddo who are called down by the demands of trade and finance to meet the hundreds-sometimes thousands of foreigners who make it their temporary residence. It is estimated that the resident population of the town and the adjacent villas does not exceed ninety thousand persons. Yokohama is the residence of the United Sates and other foreign Consuls to the empire. Its stores and warehouses always contain a heavy stock of very expensive goods, the contents of the principal "shops" being roughly valued quite lately at £600,000, on which insurances to the extent of

£233,000 were effected-£163,000 of which was taken in London, and £70,000 in China. A treaty of commerce and navigation between Italy and Japan was signed on the 25th of August, and was to go into operation on January 1, 1867. On June 25th the Japanese Government made the following commercial convention with the governments of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Holland:

The representatives of Great Britain, France, the United States of America, and Holland, having received from their respective governments identical instructions for the modification of the tariff of import and export duties, contained in the trade regulations, annexed to the treaties concluded by the aforesaid powers with the Japanese Government in 1858, which modification is provided for by the 7th of those regulations:

And the Japanese Government having given the said representatives, during their visit to Osaka in November, 1865, a written engagement to proceed immediately to the revision of the tariff in question on the general basis of a duty of five per cent. on the value of all articles imported or exported:

And the Government of Japan being desirous of affording a fresh proof of their wish to promote trade and to cement the friendly relations which exist between their country and foreign nations:

His Excellency Midzuno Idzumi no Kami, a member of the Gorojiu and a Minister of Foreign Affairs, had been furnished by the Government of Japan with the necessary powers to conclude with the representatives of the above-named four powers, that is to say: of Great Britain, Sir Harry S. Parkes, Knight Commander of the most honorable Order of the Bath, her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in Japan; of France, Monsieur Leon Roches, commander of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor, minister plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of the French in Japan; of the United States of America, A. L. C. Portman, Esq., chargé d'affaires, ad interim; and of Holland, Monsieur Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, political agent and consul-general of his Majesty the King of the Netherlands. The following convention comprising twelve articles:

ART. 1. The contracting parties declare in the names of their respective governments that they accept, and they hereby do formally accept as binding on the citizens of their respective countries, and on the subjects of their respective sovereigns the tariff hereby established and annexed to the present convention. This tariff is substituted not only for the origi nal tariff attached to the treaties concluded with the above-named four powers, but also for the special convention and arrangements relative to the same tariff which has been entered into at different dates up to this time between the Governments of Great Britain, France, the United States, and Holland on one side, and the Japanese Government on the other. The new tariff shall come into effect in the port of Kanagawa (Yokohama) on the 1st day of July next, and in the ports of Nangasika and Hakodate on the first day of the following month.

ART. 2. The tariff attached to this convention, being incorporated from the date of its signature in the treaties concluded between Japan and the abovenamed four powers, is subject to revision on the 1st day of July, 1872. Two years, however, after the signing of the present convention any of the contracting parties, on giving six months' notice to the others, may claim a readjustment of the duties on tea and silk on the basis of five per cent. on the average value of those articles during the three years last preceding. On the demand, also, of any of the contracting parties, the duty on timber may be

changed from an ad valorem to a specific rate six months after the signature of this convention. sixth regulation attached to the above-named treatART. 3. The permit fee, hitherto levied under the ies, is hereby abolished. Permits for the lading or shipment of cargo will be required as formerly, but will hereafter be issued free of charge.

ART. 4. On and from the 1st day of July next, at the port of Kanagawa (Yokohama), and on and from the 1st day of October next, at the ports of Nangasaki, and Hakodate, the Japanese Government will be prepared to warehouse imported goods, on the application of the importer or owner, without payment of duty. The Japanese Government will be responsible for the safe custody of the goods, so long as they re main in their charge, and will adopt all the precautions necessary to render them insurable against fire. When the importer or the owner wishes to remove the goods from the warehouse, he must pay the duties fixed by the tariff; but if he should wish to reexport them he may do so without payment of duty. Storage charges will in either case be paid on delivery of the goods. The amount of these charges, together with the regulations necessary for the management of said warehouses, will be established by the common consent of the contracting parties.

ART. 5. All articles of Japanese production may be conveyed from any place in Japan to any of the ports open to foreign trade, free of any tax or transit duty other than the usual tolls, levied equally on all traffic, for the maintenance of roads or navigation.

ART. 6. In conformity with those articles of the treaties concluded between Japan and foreign powers, which stipulate for the circulation of foreign coin at its corresponding weight in native coin of the same description, dollars have hitherto been received at the Japanese custom-house in payment of duties at their weight in boos (commonly called Itchiboos), that is to say, at a rate of 311 boos per 100 dollars. The Japanese government being, however, desirous to alter this practice and to abstain from all interference in the exchange of native for foreign coin, and being also anxious to meet the wants both of native and foreign commerce, by securing an adequate issue of native coin, have already determined to enlarge the Japanese mint so as to admit of the Japanese government exchanging into native coin of the same intrinsic value, less only the cost of coin. age, at the places named for this purpose, all foreign coin or bullion in gold or silver that may at any time be tendered to them by foreigners or Japanese. It being essential, however, to the execution of this measure, that the various powers with whom Japan has concluded treaties should first consent to modify the stipulations in those treaties which relate to the currency, the Japanese government will at once propose to those powers the adoption of the necessary modification in the said stipulations, and on receiv ing their concurrence, will be prepared from the 1st of January, 1868, to carry the above measure into effect. The rates to be charged as the cost of coinage shall be determined hereafter, by the common consent of the contracting parties.

ART. 7. In order to put a stop to certain abuses and inconveniences complained of at open ports relative to the transaction of business at the customhouse, the landing and shipping of cargoes, and the hiring of boats, coolies, servants, etc., the contracting parties have agreed that the governor at each open port shall at once enter into negotiations with the foreign consuls, with a view to the establishment, by mutual consent, of such regulations as shall effectually put an end to those abuses and inconveniences, and afford all possible facility and security both to the operations of trade and to the transactions of individuals. It is hereby stipulated, that, in order to protect merchandise from exposure to weather, these regulations shall include the covering in at each port of one or more of the landing places used by foreigners for landing or shipping cargo.

ART. 8. Any Japanese subject shall be free to purchase, either in the open ports of Japan or abroad, every description of sailing or steam vessel intended to carry either passengers or cargo; but ships of war may only be obtained under the authorization of the Japanese Government. All foreign vessels purchased by Japanese subjects shall be registered as Japanese vessels, on payment of a fixed duty of three boos per ton for steamers, and one boo per ton for sailing vessels. The tonnage of each vessel shall be proved by the foreign register of the ship, which shall be exhibited through the consul of the party interested, on the demand of the Japanese authorities, and shall be certified by the consul as authentic.

ART. 9. In conformity with the treaties concluded between Japan and the aforesaid powers and with the special arrangements made by the envoys of the Japanese government, in their note to the British government of the 6th of June, 1862, and in their note to the French government of the 6th of October of the same year, all the restrictions on trade and intercourse between foreigners and Japanese alluded to in the said notes, have been entirely removed, and proclamations to this effect have been published by the government of Japan. The latter, however, do not hesitate to declare that Japanese merchants and traders of all classes are at liberty to trade directly, and without the interference of government officers, with foreign merchants, not only at the open ports of Japan, but also in all foreign countries, on being authorized to leave their country in the manner provided for in Article 10 of the present convention, without being subject to higher taxation by the Japanese government than that levied on the native trading classes of Japan in their ordinary transac tions with each other. And they further declare that all Daimios, or persons in the employ of Daimios, are free to visit, on the same condition, any foreign country, as well as all the open ports of Japan, and to trade there with foreigners as they please, without the interference of any Japanese officer, provided always they submit to the existing police regulations and to the payment of the established duties.

ART. 10. All Japanese subjects may ship goods to or from any open port in Japan, or to and from the ports of any foreign power, either in vessels owned by Japanese, or in the vessels of any nation having a treaty with Japan. Furthermore, on being provided with passports through the proper department of the government, in the manner specified in the proclamation of the Japanese government dated the 23d day of May, 1866, all Japanese subjects may travel to any foreign country for purposes of study or trade. They may also accept employment in any capacity on board the vessels of any nation having a treaty

with Japan.

ART. 11. The government of Japan will provide all the ports open to foreign trade with such lights, buoys, and beacons as may be necessary to render secure the navigation of the approaches to the said

ports.

ART. 12. The undersigned being of opinion that it is unnecessary that this convention should be submitted to their respective governments for ratification before it comes into operation, it will take effect on and from the 1st day of July, 1866. Each of the contracting parties having obtained the approval of his governinent to this convention shall make known the same to the others, and the communication in writing of this approval shall take the place of a formal exchange of ratifications. In witless whereof the above-named plenipotentiaries have signed the present convention, and have affixed thereto their

seals.

man, Chargé d'Affaires a. i. of the United States, in Japan; De Graeff van Polsbroek, Politick Agent en Consul Generaal der Nederlanden, in Japan; Midzuno Idzumi no Kami.

JAMAICA, ISLAND OF. The occurrences of the latter part of the year 1865-the riot of the blacks at Morant Bay, and the killing of a number of white men by the rioters, followed by the proclamation of martial law by Governor Eyre, and an indiscriminate slaughter of the blacks, awakened such an excitement throughout England, that the British Government was compelled to take steps for an immediate and searching inquiry into the conduct of the Jamaica authorities. Accordingly, a royal_commission was appointed, composed of Sir Henry Storks, Governor of Malta, Mr. Russell Gurney, M. P., the Recorder of London, and Mr. J. B. Maule, the Recorder of Leeds, to whom was intrusted the task of conducting the investigation. It was at the same time arranged that, pending the inquiry, Sir Henry Storks should act as Governor of Jamaica, in the stead of Governor Eyre, who was suspended from office. The commission was charged to inquire into the origin of the outbreak of October, 1865, and the circumstances attending its suppression, and at the same time to ascertain, if possible, whether there was any ground for the statement made by Governor Eyre that a disloyal and rebellious spirit existed among the blacks throughout the island. The commissioners arrived in Jamaica in the month of January, and commenced their labors at Spanish Town, on the 25th February; the delay being occasioned by the necessity for a special session of the island Legislature to pass a law compelling the attendance of witnesses to give evidence before the commission. They sat day by day for forty-eight days, during which time they examined several hundreds of witnesses-among them, Governor Eyre, and all the principal civil and military authorities who took an active part in the suppression of the disturbances. On the conclusion of their labors, Messrs. Gurney and Maule returned to England, and shortly after their arrival there, the report of the commissioners, which was quite a lengthy document, was presented to Parliament. From the report it appeared that during the disturbances 439 persons were put to death, either by hanging or shooting, 1,000 cottages of the peasantry burned down by the soldiers, and 600 persons flogged, many of whom were women. The conclusions arrived at by the commissioners were briefly: that the disturbances were owing to a planned resistance to lawful authority; that the causes leading to it were manifold, but principally a desire to obtain land without rent, want of condence in the legal tribunals in disputes affecting the negroes, personal hostility, and a wish on the part of some of the blacks for the death or expulsion of the whites; that although the original design was conceived in the parish of St. Thomas in the east, it spread with singular rapidity over the island, so that had more than a momentary suc

cess been obtained by the insurgents, a fearful loss of life and property would have attended their suppression; that praise was due to Governor Eyre for the skill, promptitude, and vigor which he manifested during the early stages of the insurrection, to the exercise of which qualities its speedy termination was in a great measure attributable; that the naval and military operations were prompt and judicious; but that the continuance of martial law was longer than necessary; that the punishment inflicted was excessive; that the punishment of death was unnecessarily frequent; that the floggings were reckless, and in some instances positively barbarous; and that the burning of 1,000 houses was wanton and cruel. Considerable space was given in the report to the case of Mr. G. W. Gordon, and his relations with the leader of the revolt and the other negroes concerned in it, and the opinion of the commissioners is summed up in the following passage:

"Although, therefore, it appears exceedingly probable that Mr. Gordon, by his words and writings, produced a material effect on the minds of Bogle and his followers, and did much to produce that state of excitement and discontent in different parts of the island which rendered the spread of the insurrection exceedingly probable, yet we cannot see in the evidence which has been adduced, any sufficient proof either of his complicity in the outbreak at Morant Bay, or of his having been a party to a general conspiracy against the government. On the assumption that if there was in fact a wide-spread conspiracy, Mr. G. W. Gordon must have been a party to it, the conclusion at which we have arrived in his case is decisive as to the non-existence of such a conspiracy." Mr. Cardwell, the colonial secretary, in his dispatch, acknowledging receipt of the report, expressed the general concurrence of her majesty's government with the conclusions at which the commissioners had arrived, and of Gordon's case especially, said that her majesty's government agreed in the opinion that "the evidence on which he was convicted was wholly insufficient to establish the charge on which he took his trial." The dispatch concluded with the following refcrence to the position of Mr. Eyre: "It will be evident, from what I have already said, that her majesty's government, while giving to Mr. Eyre full credit for those portions of his conduct to which credit is justly due, are compelled by the result of your inquiry, to disapprove other portions of that conduct. They do not feel, therefore, that they should discharge their duty by advising the crown to replace Mr. Eyre in his former government; and they cannot doubt that by placing the new form of government in new hands, they are taking the course best calculated to allay animosities, to conciliate general confidence, and to establish, on firm and solid grounds, the future welfare of Jamaica." It is but right to state here, that great dissatisfaction was expressed by the English press with the report, which was pro

nounced to be most unsatisfactory on account of the vague character of the conclusions at which the commissioners had arrived, and the absence of any explicit condemnation of the principal actors in the bloody tragedy by which the lives of so many hundreds of innocent people had been ruthlessly sacrificed, and so much property destroyed.

Shortly after the suppression of the outbreak, and before the English Government had had time to move in the matter, the Legislature was opened by Governor Eyre, with a speech in which, referring to recent events, and to the unsettled state of things on the island, he urged the necessity of remodelling the political constitution of the colony, with a view to the establishment of what he called "a strong government; " in other words, to the investing of the executive with greater power. To this both the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council immediately responded that they were willing and ready to cooperate with his excellency for such an end; and accordingly without loss of time a bill was introduced abolishing the two Chambers, and substituting for them a single legislative body. According to the bill, the new body was to be composed exclusively of nominees of the crown, to hold their seats during the pleasure of the Governor; but the bill was subsequently modified so as to make the single Chamber partly elective; and in this form it passed the House and the Council. The qualifications for an elective seat, as well as the electoral qualifications, under the bill, were fixed at so high a standard, that nono but individuals of the planter class would have been eligible for seats in the Chamber, while the whole of the black population would have been at once disfranchised. Before the Governor could give his assent to the bill, however, a dispatch from the colonial secretary was rereceived intimating that her majesty's Government were convinced that the time had arrived for taking the affairs of the colony under their own control; in other words, for governing Jamaica as a crown colony; and the Legislature, making a grace of necessity, at once signified its willingness to agree to such an arrangement, Accordingly a bill was introduced into Parlia ment for the future government of the colony by the crown, and speedily became a law. Its provisions will be hereafter described. Jamaica Legislature, previous to its final dissolutions passed several measures of a most oppressive tendency, ostensibly with the view of bringing parties concerned in the late outbreak to justice, but really for the purpose of wreaking vengeance upon the blacks and their friends. Among these measures was one appointing a special commission for the trial of persons charged with political offences, and under this act many individuals, whose known sentiments had made them obnoxious to the planters and the executive were tried for the use of alleged seditious language prior to the outbreak. In two or three instances the prosecutions failed,

The

but in several others convictions followed, and Mr. Sidney Levien, the editor and proprietor of the County Union, a journal published on the north side of the island, was found guilty, and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment, for certain strictures on the Government which had appeared in his newspaper weeks before the riot at Morant Bay. This gentleman has since been released by the new Governor, one of the first of whose acts was to cause him to be set at liberty.

The British Government having decided upon superseding Mr. Eyre, that gentleman left the island for England on the 24th July, his friends in the colony giving him quite an ovation on his departure. It was at the same time proposed that the sum of one thousand guineas should be raised in Jamaica, and presented to him as a testimonial in acknowledgment of the valuable services which his admirers said he had rendered to the island, in the prompt suppression of the "rebellion "-as the planter party persisted in calling the outbreak. On the 5th of August his successor, Sir John Peter Grant, arrived at Kingston, and was sworn in as Governor on the 7th; and on the 9th Sir Henry Storks, whose brief administration had been marked by the strictest impartiality, and the most sedulous, painstaking attention to the duties of his office, left for England, followed by the good wishes and prayers of the whole colored population.

The new Governor was selected with special reference to the peculiar and trying circumstances in which the colony had been placed. He had some years before been Lieutenant-Governor of the province of Bengal, in which capacity he had displayed remarkable administrative ability, and had honorably distinguished. himself for the courage and firmness with which he protected the natives from attempted oppression at the hands of their European masters. It now devolved upon him to inaugurate the new constitution for Jamaica, as the first step toward restoring the affairs of the colony to something like order. That constitution provides that the legislative body shall consist of a council of thirteen members, including the Governor, six of whom are to be government officials of high position, and six non-official, appointed by the Governor. The Governor is to be president of the council, and all measures of legislation must originate with him, or obtain his sanction previous to being brought forward. In the month of November the new council met, for the first time, at Spanish Town, the seat of government, and its proceedings were opened by Sir J. P. Grant, in a businessike speech, remarkable for the out-spoken expression of his opinion that under the then existing system of local laws justice was practically denied to the blacks. The council forthwith proceeded with the work of legislation, and up to the end of the year it had passed several measures for the improvement of the affairs of the colony. Among other reforms,

the old parochial vestries have been abolished, and new boards for the management of local affairs appointed by the Government in their stead. Provision has been made for a stipendiary magistracy, who are to be selected from the English, Scotch, and Irish bars. For purposes of economy a reduction in the number of parishes in the island from twenty-two to fourteen has been determined upon; all lands on which the quit-rents and land-tax have not been paid are to be declared forfeited to the crown; a new police force is forthwith to be organized; and with a view to meeting the deficit in the revenue, the excise tax on rum has been increased. The elective principle having been entirely abrogated in Jamaica, the executive administration of the affairs of the island is now solely in the hands of the Governor, who exercises a direct supervision and control over all the public officers and institutions, and is responsible to the Imperial Government alone for his official acts. So great a change as all this involves, could not possibly be made without creating some discontent. For over two hundred years Jamaica had enjoyed representative institutions, of which she has all of a sudden been deprived. But such is the confidence reposed in the new Governor by the blacks, and such has been the rigid impartiality that has so far marked his rule, that there has not been the slightest disturbance of the public tranquillity from any quarter, and the strongest hopes are entertained that under his judicious administration this old colony will succeed in retrieving its fortunes, and resume its place among the most valuable possessions of the English crown. Where there is complaint as to the new order of things, it is among the planters.

Meanwhile steps have been taken in England to bring to trial the principal actors in the massacre of October, 1865. An association, known as the Jamaica Committee, and including such names in its list of members as John Bright, John Stuart Mill, and Goldwin Smith, has been formed with the view of vindicating humanity and justice. By this body it has been determined to put Mr. Eyre on his trial for having illegally caused George William Gordon to be put to death, and the military and naval officers who took part in the trial and execution of that unfortunate individual are also to be arraigned on the same grounds. For the purposes of the prosecution a large amount of money has been raised by subscription, and the steps preliminary to the trial have been already taken. Public opinion in England is divided as to the criminality of these parties, some insisting that the serious character of the outbreak demanded and justified the bloody measures that were adopted, while others contend that the danger was grossly exaggerated, and that the very extreme proceedings of the ex-Governor and his subordinates were wholly unwarranted. The forthcoming trials, independent of the intrinsic interest of the details they will bring forth, will be of the highest importance