Nevertheless it is certain that with the introduction of Western civilization wrought by the American fleet the Japanese standards of Liberty and Justice have been immeasurably raised. And that is to say that the Japanese people have gained in happiness more than greedy Western traders have gained in material profits, while the result of spreading the knowledge of Japanese art over the rest of the civilized world needs nothing more than mere mention here. It is with good reason that the American people recall the work under Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry with hearty pride. It is a matter of interest to note that Perry was advocating an expedition to peacefully open the ports of Japan to American commerce, when so wise a statesman as Webster viewed the matter with indifference, for that was not the only occasion in the history of the country when the people might well have given a quick ear to the advice of naval officers in the matter of the nation’s foreign policy. As a matter of fact, the officers of the Navy, with their knowledge of the world and their sturdy patriotism, are the safest and in every way the best judges of what the foreign policy of the nation should be. [Illustration: The _Mississippi_ in a Cyclone on Her Japan Cruise. _From a wood-cut in Perry’s “Narrative” of this trip._] The advance upon Japan was slow. President Jackson sent a man to the East in 1831 with that project, among others, in view. In 1845 Commodore Biddle was sent with the big ship-of-the-line _Columbus_ and the _Vincennes_ to negotiate a treaty, but he was hampered by orders “not to do anything to excite” either hostile feelings toward or distrust of the United States, and nothing was accomplished. Another expedition planned in 1851 failed even to reach the Japanese coast because the commander, Captain James Aulick, of the _Susquehanna_, was recalled, when _en route_, to face a charge based on a false report regarding his conduct as a gentleman and an officer. [Illustration: The _Mississippi_ at Jamestown, St. Helena. _From a lithograph in Perry’s “Narrative.”_] Finally, on March 24, 1852, Commodore Perry having been appointed to the mission, he sailed from Norfolk in the steamer _Mississippi_, and after touching at the Madeiras, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and elsewhere _en route_ he arrived at Hong Kong, on the southeast corner of China, on April 6, 1853. The American squadron on the China station included the steamer _Susquehanna_ and the sailing-ships _Saratoga_ and the _Plymouth_. These were added to the expedition, with the _Susquehanna_ as flagship, and on July 8th the squadron was in the Bay of Yeddo and at anchor off Uraga.