Richard Hildreth

“ Full of confidence in the grace of the supreme and almighty God, I write, with all possible submission, to your Holiness. The Lord, who governs heaven and earth, who holds under his empire the sun and all the celestial host, has made his light to shine upon one who was plunged in ignorance and buried in deep darkness. It is more than thirty years since this sovereign Master of nature, displaying all the treasures of his pity in favor of the inhabitants of these countries, sent thither the fathers of the Company of Jesus, who have sowed the seed of the divine Word in these kingdoms of Japan ”

“ Nevertheless, so many guards, corporations, societies, with their numerous attendants, all upon oath, and themselves jealous and mistrustful one of another, are set to guard and narrowly to watch us, [Pg 315] as if we were the greatest malefactors, traitors, spies—in a word, the worst and most dangerous set of people; or, to make use of a very significant expression of the Japanese, as if we were, what I think we really are, Hitodichi, that is, the emperor’s hostages. ”

“ Thus we live all the year round little better than prisoners, confined within the compass of a small island, under the perpetual and narrow inspection of our keepers. ’Tis true, indeed, we are now and then allowed a small escape, an indulgence which, without flattering ourselves, we can by no means suppose to be an effect of their love and friendship, for as much as it is never granted to us, unless it be to pay our respects to some great men, or for some other business, necessary on our side and advantageous for the natives. ”

“ We give free license to the subjects of the king of Great Britain, namely, Sir Thomas Smith, governor, and the company of the East India merchants and adventurers, forever, safely to come into any of the ports of our empire of Japan, with their ships and merchandises, without any hindrance to them or their goods, and to abide, buy, sell and barter, according to their own manner, with all nations: to tarry here as long as they think good, and to depart at their pleasures. ”

“ What satisfaction for them to see the most generous and valiant kings of the East, conquered by the arms of the faith and by the preaching of the gospel, submitting themselves to the empire of Jesus Christ, and, as they cannot, from their avocations, come in person to take the oath of obedience and fidelity to the holy see, acquitting themselves of this duty by ambassadors so nearly related to them, and whom they so tenderly love! ”

“ It is certain, nevertheless, most holy Father, that there are several Japanese islands, of a vast extent, and in these islands numerous fine cities, the inhabitants of which have a keen understanding, noble and courageous hearts, and obliging dispositions, politeness of manners, and inclinations disposed towards that which is good. Those who have known them have decidedly preferred them to all the other people of Asia, and it is only their lack of the true religion which prevents them from competing with the nations of Europe. ”

“ We may trace a still further resemblance between the position of the Dairi of Japan and the Queen of England, in the circumstance that all public acts are dated by the years of his reign, and that all titles of honor nominally emanate from him, though of course obliged, as to this matter, to follow the suggestions of the Kubō-Sama. Even the Kubō-Sama himself condescends, like a British prime minister, to accept such decorations at the hands of the Dairi, affecting to feel extremely honored and flattered at titles which had been, in fact, dictated by himself. ”

“ The emperor, now at the height of his power and glory, was making great preparations to receive an embassy from China, when Japan was visited by a frightful earthquake, which almost ruined his new city of Fushimi. The sea rose to an extraordinary height, especially in the strait between Nippon and Shikoku, attended with a terrible destruction of life and property. Nor did the mission from China at all answer the expectation of the emperor, since the ambassadors demanded nothing less than the entire evacuation of Corea,—a demand which speedily led to a renewal of the war. ”

“ These temples are sacred not only to devotion and worship, but serve also for recreation and diversion, being for this purpose curiously adorned with pleasant gardens, elegant walks, and fine apartments, and by much the best buildings of the town. The Buddhist temples are not so much to be commended for their largeness or splendor as for their pleasant and agreeable situations, being moreover adorned within with fine raised altars, gilt images as big as life, lackered columns, gates and pillars, the whole very neat and pretty rather than magnificent. ”

“ From Melchior Santvoort, an old Dutchman, one of the companions of Adams in the first Dutch voyage to Japan, and a resident at Nagasaki, the authorities were indeed satisfied to take instead a declaration that he was a Hollander,—a circumstance which gave occasion to the scandal at which Kämpfer is so indignant, that the Hollanders were accustomed to report themselves to the Japanese authorities as not Christians, but Dutchmen. All who refused to conform to the national worship were deprived of their employments, and driven out to live as they could among the barren mountains. ”

“ The officers, selecting those least damaged, themselves returned, leaving behind them in that island more than a hundred thousand men. The soldiers, finding themselves thus abandoned, chose a leader, and set themselves to work to cut down trees to build new vessels, in which to escape. But the Japanese, apprised of their shipwreck, made a descent upon the island with a powerful army, and put them to the sword. They spared only ten or twelve thousand Chinese soldiers, of whom they made slaves; and, of the whole formidable invading army, hardly three persons returned to China. ”

“ As to what regards religion, Japan is the realm of the Kami, that is, of Shin, the beginning of all things; and the good order of the government depends upon the exact observance of the ancient laws of which the Kami are the authors. They cannot be departed from without overturning the subordination which ought to exist, of subjects to their sovereign, wives to their husbands, children to their parents, vassals to their lords, and servants to their masters. ”

“ His Holiness earnestly desires and prays to God that all the kings and princes of Japan, and all those who rule in other parts of the world, may imitate so good an example, may renounce their idols and all their errors, may adore in spirit and in truth the sovereign Lord who has created this universe, and his only son, Jesus Christ, whom he has sent into the world ”

“ Surely such a small number of people, and those, too, deprived of arms and ammunition (the very first thing which the Japanese take into their custody upon the arrival of our ships) , would never take it into their heads to make any attempt against the peace and tranquillity of the empire. As to smuggling, they have too well prevented any attempts of that kind, by taking not only an exact inventory of all our goods and commodities, but by locking them up under their own locks and seals. ”

“ In places so distant from the holy see, where the name of Jesus had never been heard, nor his gospel ever preached, as soon as the true faith shed there the first rays of the truth, men of temperaments quite different from ours, kings illustrious by their nobility, redoubtable for their power, happy in the abundance of their possessions, conquerors and warriors signalized by their victories, acknowledge the greatness and dignity of the Roman church, and hold it a great honor to kiss the feet of the church’s [Pg 111] head by the lips of persons infinitely dear to them ”

“ The same religious men, who are, for the most part, natural-born subjects of the great prince whom the Indies obey, and who go through the earth with a truly heroical courage to teach men to know and to adore the Author of nature, have also informed me of the distinguished favors with which your majesty has uniformly honored them, and have begged me to convey to you their thanks, which I willingly do, conjointly with my own; and that, indeed, is the particular object of this embassy, with which I have charged the Father Alexander Valignani, who has the honor to be already known to you. ”

“ The two chief gates, where people go in and out, are no better than the ordinary gates which stand at the end of every street, and are shut at night. Sometimes there is part of a wall built contiguous to them on each side, merely for ornament’s sake. In larger towns, where some prince resides, these two gates are a little handsomer, and kept in better repair, and there is commonly a strong guard mounted, all out of respect for the residing prince. The rest of the town generally lies open to the fields, and is but seldom enclosed even with a common hedge or ditch. ”

“ The Japanese, like us, use holy, or rather unholy, water, and chaplets consecrated to their false gods, Shaka [Buddha] and Nido [Amida] , which are not the only ones that they worship, for there are no less than thirty-five different sects or religions in Japan. Some deny the immortality of the soul, others adore [Pg 195] divers gods, and others yet the elements. All are tolerated. The bonzes of all the sects having concurred in a request to the emperor that he would expel our monks, the prince, troubled with their importunities, inquired how many different religions there were in Japan. ”

“ When all the homeward-bound ships are joined, they proceed on their voyage and after they have gotten to the main sea, to a pretty considerable distance from the harbor, the Japanese ship-guard, which never quitted them from their first arrival till then, leave them and return home. If the wind proves contrary to the ship’s going out, a good number of Japanese rowing boats, fastened to a rope, tow them out by force one after another. For the emperor’s orders must be executed in spite of wind and weather, should even afterwards all the ships run the hazard of being wrecked. ”

“ The chief and most extensive company or corporation of the officers of our island, is that of the Interpreters, or, in the literal sense, through-mouths. Those of the first order, called true Interpreters, are eight in number. By virtue of their office they are obliged to assist and attend us whenever there is occasion; and so far, indeed, they execute their duty with great preciseness, that we can scarce ever one moment get rid of their importunate presence; for as they are made answerable for our conduct, so they spare no pains nor trouble to have a watchful eye over us. ”

“ Christians to feel, and especially the Roman people, at seeing the ambassadors of such great princes come from the ends of the earth to prostrate themselves at the feet of your Holiness, through a pure motive of religion,—a thing which has never happened in any age! ”

“ In many parts of Japan the Catholic worship was carried on as openly as ever. Many new laborers, both Jesuits and other, had come into the field, and conversion still continued to be made among persons of the highest rank. There was scarcely any part of the empire in which converts were not to be found, and the missionaries occasionally penetrated into the most remote provinces. The general of the Jesuits had been encouraged to raise Japan to the dignity of a province, of which China and the neighboring regions had been made a part, and of which Father Valentine Carvilho was made provincial. ”

“ In this heathen country fewer capital crimes are tried before the courts of justice, and less criminal blood shed by the hands of public executioners, than perhaps in any part of Christendom. So powerfully works the fear of an inevitable, shameful death upon the minds of a nation, otherwise so stubborn as the Japanese, and so regardless of their lives, that nothing else but such strictness would be able to keep them within due bounds. ’Tis true, indeed, Nagasaki cannot boast of that scarcity of executions ”

“ At Nambu they were splendidly entertained, and in their twenty days’ journey thence to Yedo, in which they passed through a hundred well-built villages, they had nothing to complain of except the inconvenience of the crowds that flocked to see them. In every village they saw rewards posted up for the discovery of Christians. Not being willing to reveal the true object of their voyage, they stated themselves to have been driven to the north in an attempt to reach Nagasaki. ”

“ The Japanese, a very reasonable and sensible people, and themselves great lovers of plants, look upon botany as a study both useful and innocent, which, pursuant to the very dictates of reason and the law of nature, ought to be encouraged by everybody. ”

“ Some other things, also, which they do not approve of, as, for instance, arms, stuff, and cloth wrought with gold and silver, as also all contraband goods, are taken into custody by the Otona, who returns them to the owner upon his departure.
“No European, nor any other foreign money, and, in general, nothing that hath the figure of a cross, saint, or beads, upon it, is suffered to pass. If any such thing should be found upon any of our people, it would occasion such a confusion and fright among the Japanese as if the whole empire had been betrayed. ”

“ Enemies even more dangerous were found among their own countrymen in Japan, many of whom had ceased to exhibit that zeal for the faith, at first so universal. The irregular conduct of certain Portuguese merchants, in frequenting ports where there were no missionaries, and where they could freely follow their own devices, had greatly troubled the Jesuit fathers. A Japanese adventurer, by name Harada Kiyemon, having gone to the Philippines to trade, had taken it into his head to suggest to the emperor of Japan to require the Spanish governor of those islands to acknowledge him as sovereign. ”