276 Prince Hotta was at this time president of the Council of State (_Gorōjiu_) and had charge of this first audience. I have seen in the possession of his descendant, the present occupant of the beautiful family _yashiki_ in Tōkyō, the original of the memorandum showing the arrangement of the rooms through which Mr. Harris was to pass, and the position where he was to stand during the delivery of his congratulatory remarks. 277 In a despatch to the Secretary of State, dated November 25, 1856, Mr. Harris explains the condition of the negotiations in reference to a commercial treaty. He narrates his interview at Hongkong with Sir John Bowring, who told him that he was empowered to negotiate a commercial treaty. Mr. Harris shrewdly observes: “I shall call their (the Japanese government’s) attention to the fact that by making a treaty with me they would save the point of honor that must arise from their apparently yielding to the force that backs the plenipotentiary and not to the justice of their demands.” 278 Although Kanagawa was made an open port for trade by these treaties, the adjoining village of Yokohama was found practically better suited for the purpose. The very proximity of Kanagawa to the _Tōkaidō_, which led foreigners to prefer it when the treaties were made, proved to be an objection in the disordered times that followed. On this account Yokohama rapidly rose to the importance which it still holds. 279 The word means Curtain Government, in reference to the curtain with which the camp of a general was surrounded. The term is equivalent to Military Government, and is used to designate the shōgun’s as distinguished from the emperor’s court. 280 See _The Life of Ii Naosuke_, by Shimada Saburo, Tōkyō, 1888; also the _Constitutional Development of Japan_, by Toyokichi Iyenaga, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1891, p. 15. 281 Mr. Heusken who had gone to Japan with Mr. Townsend Harris in 1858 was a Hollander by birth. The Dutch language at that time was almost the only medium through which communication could be had with the Japanese. A native interpreter turned the sentiment into Dutch, and then a person who understood both Dutch and English translated it into the latter tongue. This circuitous system of interpretation was, however, soon remedied by native scholars learning English, and by English and American scholars learning Japanese. 282 See _American Diplomatic Correspondence_, November 27, 1861. 283 A full account of this affair may be found in Alcock’s _Capital of the Tycoon_, and in the _Life of Laurence Oliphant_. 284 A translation of this paper cited from the correspondence presented to Parliament is given in Adams’ _History of Japan_, vol. i., p. 138.