We were sent to this country by the President, who desires to promote the welfare of Japan, and are quite different from the ambassadors of other countries.

The nations of the West hope that by means of steam communication all the world will become as one family.

The President of the United States thinks that for the Japanese opium is more dangerous than war.

By means of steam one can go from California to Japan in eighteen days.

The President regards the Japanese as a brave people; but courage, though useful in time of war, is subordinate to knowledge of arts; hence, courage without such knowledge is not to be highly esteemed.

If war should break out between England and Japan, the latter would suffer much more than the former.

Japan and China are isolated and without intercourse with other countries; hence the President directed me to attend to or watch the state of affairs in China also.