CHAPTER VI

HISTORY TO THE EXPULSION OF CHRISTIANITY

This termination of the sixteenth century was in Japan one of the most notable time-marks in the history of the empire. It was an era at which a long series of intestine broils and of civil war came to an end, and gave way to an unexampled period of peace and happiness. Indirectly, Japan was affected by changes of greater ultimate results which had commenced long before at the opposite side of the world.

Portugal, in the zenith of its maritime glory and power, had hitherto retained in her own hands the navigation and the trade of the East. Bold as these early navigators were, the accounts given of their proceedings show them to have conjoined, in strange recklessness, religion with war, trade with piracy--“the sweet yoke” of their own ideas of government with ferocious cruelty to every one opposed to them. Perhaps this was to some extent necessary, when the health and prowess of a few men, not easily replaced in case of loss, were opposed to the climate and weight of numbers whose losses could easily be recruited by others equally useless and contemptible as foes. Grotius says of Englishmen of that time, that they obey like slaves and govern like tyrants. Toward the latter part of the century, the bigotry of Philip II. was raising powers against him in Europe, before which the then colossal but unwieldy empire under his rule was destined to crumble to pieces. The same intolerant policy which his emissaries in Japan were pursuing was being carried out by the old man, in the conscientious belief that he was furthering and hastening the kingdom of heaven, by fierce persecution and diabolical atrocities. The dreams which led men to undertake long voyages to America in the pursuit of a Utopia, infused a new spirit of boldness and adventure into the navigators of maritime countries. At the same time, the Reformation and the changes in the religious ideas among the people of Europe, and especially in Holland, England, and for a time in France, tended to throw contempt on the concessions and grants and privileges given by the Pope to Portugal, and by which their trade to the East was up to that time hedged in.

In 1577 Sir Francis Drake broke in upon this monopoly; and the Spaniards complained of the English infringing their rights, granted by the Pope, by sailing in the Eastern seas.

The Portuguese vessels which traded with the East had hitherto carried their produce to Lisbon or Cadiz, and thence it was carried to the coasts of Europe by the Dutch and English. But when war broke out between these countries, Philip, thinking to clip the wings of his enemies, interdicted this trade. This compelled them to take a longer flight and seek Eastern commodities at the fountain-head. The navies of the Dutch and Portuguese came into collision on the Eastern seas, and the former were victorious, and one after another of the large Portuguese carracks fell to the English and Dutch privateers.

In 1599 the East India Company of England was set on foot, and commenced operations, after being nearly arrested by the English government to please the Spaniards, by acknowledging their rights in the Eastern seas; and in 1598 the Dutch fleet sailed, of which William Adams of Gillingham was pilot.

According to native accounts, in the sixth year of Kay cho English vessels came to Ike no oora; but one of these was wrecked during a gale in the Sea of Segami. A message was dispatched from Yedo to order the crew to be sent there. Among them was Adams. He remained in Yedo, but the others returned.

The vessels belonging to the East India Company sailed from England upon the eighth voyage, under the command of Captain Saris, in 1611, with the intention of opening a trade with Japan. There seemed at this time every prospect of the Portuguese monopoly being broken up, and of the trade of this distant country being thrown open to the Western world. Amid the broils and quarrels with which Japan was torn, whether among the lords, or between the Buddhists and Roman Catholics, or the natives and Portuguese merchants, or the Portuguese and Dutch and English, it is curious to see the practical and sound good sense of one man, putting him into a position of eminence and trust, when all around him was deceit and jealousy. Rising, after five years of obscurity and hardship, on the ground of his simple strength of character and practical training, William Adams seems to have become the trusted confidant and referee of Iyeyas on foreign questions. Residing in Yedo, at the southwest corner of the Nihon bashi, or bridge of Japan, the street where he lived retains to this day the distinguishing name of “The Pilot’s,” or Anjin. He seems to have afterward removed to the street Yaiyossu, in close proximity to the castle moat.--Both Anjin and Yaiyossu may be corruptions of the name Adams. In Cantonese dialect, an cham is a word for a compass, and “Adams” might be written with these characters.--Here his knowledge of geometry, navigation and mathematics, with some acquaintance with shipbuilding, brought him under the notice of Iyeyas, by whom he seems to have been employed as interpreter, shipbuilder, and general confidant on foreign affairs. He was ultimately raised to the position of a small Hattamoto, or lesser baron, with ground equal to the support of eighty or ninety families, besides his own rental. This estate is said, in one of the letters from Japan, to be in Segami, and to have been named Fibi, and situated in the neighborhood of Ooraga, the port of Yedo, and must certainly be known to the Japanese government as having belonged to the English officer.

Doubtless, by all these changes, the position of the Portuguese and of the Roman Catholic priests was changed in Japan. The converts of Nagasaki would see foreigners coming who paid no respect to the priests and bishops whom they had been taught to reverence. The powers in the country would begin to see that the profits of the trade could be enjoyed without winking at the coercion of their own people to a foreign religion, and which placed them at the disposal of a power exterior to the state. The English and Dutch tried to loosen the hold which their rivals had in the good opinion of their customers; and the eyes of the Japanese were thus opened to the evils of admitting to their shores foreigners who were likely to prove centers of disaffection and to instill ideas of freedom and lawlessness among the subjects of the empire.

The letters of the Jesuits throw their own light upon the state of the Roman Catholic Church in Japan at the different points where churches or seminaries had been erected, and it may thence be gathered in what manner they treated their neighbors, or those over whom they could pretend to assume any power. On the other hand, from the narratives given by Cocks and Saris, some idea of the position of the seafaring communities at Firado and Nagasaki, and other ports, may be obtained. These seaports seem to have been too often the resorts of the lowest class of adventurers. The result was uproars, broils and murders among the foreigners, requiring ever and anon the intervention of the native authorities.

Iyeyas was in all probability ignorant of all these circumstances, which were effecting an indirect change upon those resorting to the country. At the Roman Catholic party he had aimed an effectual blow by putting the leading man of the party, Don Austin, out of the way on grounds totally unconnected with his religion. And the foreign priests do not seem to have given him personally much concern at this time. In the neighborhood of Miako they did not dare of late to make any public displays. In 1604 there were of the Jesuits 120 in Japan. They flattered themselves that “as for religion, it flourished everywhere, and made vast progress through all the kingdoms under so easy and peaceable a government. Notwithstanding, two obstacles still existed--the one Taikosama’s edict, and the other the vices of the people. But what gave our religion most reputation was the gracious reception the Cubo himself [Iyeyas] was pleased to give the fathers of the Society.” The Jesuits had recently extended their mission to the extreme north of Japan, and even into the islands of Yezo and Sado.

During this and the previous year the Jesuits were unfortunate, inasmuch as the vessels bringing the yearly supplies, as well as the large annual carrack from Macao to Japan, were taken by the Dutch privateers; but Iyeyas, hearing of their loss, presented a donation to the Society, by which means they “made a tolerable shift for the rest of this year.”

Terasawa, Sima no kami, who had been governor of Nagasaki, irritated by the influence brought to bear against him by the Roman Catholic party at Miako, turned the weapons they had taught him to use against themselves, and tried to force his subjects to renounce the new doctrines. Part of the estates of Don Austin had fallen to his share. Another part had fallen under the rule of Toronosuqui, who in the year 1602 “ravaged the vineyard of the Lord like a wild boar that thirsts after nothing but blood. He began like a fox and ended like a lion.” Thus it was in the part of the empire in which most intolerance had been shown by Don Austin (under the instruction of foreign priests) to his countrymen, and where they were obliged either to adopt the Roman Catholic doctrines or leave the country, that the plan was retaliated upon themselves.

Native accounts tell: “In 1608 a Dutch ship came to Hirado and asked that Adams might be sent down from Yedo. He was sent. Iyeyas wrote under the red seal that the English and Dutch might trade in any part of Japan. Hide tada also allowed them to trade; but the padre sect were not allowed to come to Japan. But the English traders said that there was no profit to be made out of the trade as it was obliged to be conducted, and said they could not come back; therefore the Dutch only remained.”

About this time Iyeyas directed his attention to the internal economy of the empire--improving the public roads, placing inns upon them, and strengthening his castles at Yedo, Suraga, Miako, Osaka, and Kofu. He was aided in this by the discovery of valuable gold-deposits in the island of Sado, and the coin the koban was for the first time put into circulation. During the year 1609 Shimadzu yoshi hissa, a relative of the Prince of Satsuma, set out from Satsuma with a force of vessels and troops to bring the King of the Liookioo Islands more completely under the power of Japan, and succeeded in his object, receiving the islands he had conquered as a gift from the hands of Iyeyas.

The designs of Iyeyas against Hideyori began to develop themselves. Upon the occasion of the investiture of his son with the title of Shiogoon, he expressed the thought that Hideyori ought to pay him a visit to compliment him; but his mother refused to allow Hideyori to do so, protesting she would rather cut his belly open with her own hand than allow him to go, thus showing the extreme suspicion she had of the intentions of Iyeyas.

At this time the Christians enjoyed a profound peace, which was attributed in the Jesuit letters rather to the fear of this party joining Hideyori than to any love for the doctrines promulgated. But at the same time there were men in power not unfavorable to them, and they were always able to keep anything obnoxious out of view. Such were Kowotsuki no kami, the favorite of Iyeyas (called by the letters Coxuquendono), and Itakura, governor of Miako.

In the year 1606 the Portuguese bishop, Cerqueria, visited Iyeyas at Miako, and was received by him with the honors given to one of their own bishops of royal blood. However, this favor did not seem to last long. The mother of Hideyori, incensed at some of her ladies having declared themselves Christians, appealed to Iyeyas. This was an opportunity of pleasing her not to be missed, and he issued forthwith the following proclamation:

“The Cubosama hearing that several of his subjects, contrary to the late edict, have embraced the Christian religion, is highly offended. Wherefore let all officers of his court be careful to see his orders observed. Moreover, he thinks it necessary, for the good of the state, that none should embrace that new doctrine; and for such as have already done so, let them change immediately upon notice hereof.--24th of the 4th moon” (1606).

No immediate action appears to have been taken upon this proclamation.

In the year 1607, Iyeyas expressed a desire to see the Father Provincial. He accordingly set out for Kofu, a castle in the province of Kahi, where Iyeyas was residing, and here he was received with much kindness. In their notice of Yedo the fathers say that Iyeyas employed during the previous year above 300,000 hands in the works about the castle of Yedo. The towers of the castle were nine stories high and gilt at the top, together with delicious gardens, terraces, galleries, courts, and magnificent works. By these fathers the mountain Fusiyama is mentioned as an active volcano, “a mountain of fire, famed for its beauty, height, and whirling flames.” Even at this time it is to be noticed that all the “kings of Japan” had their palaces there.

In this tour a slight notice is given to Kamakura (Cumamura, as it is called by the fathers), “where the Cubos and Xogoones formerly kept their courts. It is currently reported that there were upward of 200,000 houses in that town alone; but when these fathers went that way they were reduced to near 500.”

Notwithstanding these slight appearances of returning favor to the Jesuit fathers, the opposition to conversion increased as the profits from trade decreased. The ruling powers in the island of Kiusiu were now more or less against the Romish priests, who inculcated a line of conduct which was incompatible with living at peace with a neighbor, if holding a different view of religion. Nagasaki was in 1607 said to be entirely converted to the Christian religion. It was divided into five parishes. “There were two confraternities--a house of mercy and a hospital--which diffused a sweet odor of sanctity all over Japan.” But this odor did not extend to the Portuguese who frequented the port, and, in consequence of some act of misconduct, Iyeyas ordered Arima (Don Protase, as he is called by the Roman Catholic writers) to burn a large Portuguese vessel then lying in the harbor. The consequence was that the captain left the place. He was pursued by an overwhelming force, and, overtaken during a calm, was forced to blow up his ship.

During the year 1611, Iyeyas seems to have made up his mind that, to settle the country upon a sure basis, some definite understanding must be come to with Hideyori and his mother. Of what his designs really were there are probably no proofs, as he was not generally communicative before action. He marched from Soonpu to Miako at the head of upward of 70,000 men. The general suspicions of his countrymen pointed to Hideyori as the cause of a movement on so large a scale. Arrived at Miako, he insisted upon an interview with the young man, then twenty-three years of age. After much delay and show of suspicion, this was agreed to, and he arrived at the capital with a splendid retinue. Here he was received with the utmost deference and kindness by Iyeyas, who shed tears over the remembrance of his father’s kindness. The visit was returned in a few days, presents were interchanged, and the prince returned to his mother at Osaka overjoyed with his reception.

The Jesuit writers notice that during the same year died Canzugedono, King of Fingo (Toronosuqui), the persecutor of the Christians; “and, as Heaven would have it, he was seized with an apoplexy on the very day he was intending to renew the persecution against the faithful.” Native accounts attribute his death to poison administered by order of Iyeyas at Fusimi. He had thrown out some seditious and rebellions threats against Iyeyas. Among other things stated against him, he refused, when ordered, to shave off his whiskers at court. He was, as has been stated above, canonized in the Japanese calendar by the title of Say sho go sama--probably on account of his opposition to foreigners, and the zeal with which he tried to root out Christianity. To this day the mark of his hand upon paper is used as a charm placed over the door to drive away evil spirits. Since the admission of foreigners in 1858, his character as a saint worthy of worship has risen in national estimation, and his temples have been rebuilt. One in Yokohama is more largely patronized than any other temple in the place. Processions in his honor are among the most prominent indications of religious feeling, and the sect to which he belonged, the Nitchi ren shioo, has profited largely by excitement and enthusiasm.

During the year, at Nagasaki, notwithstanding the proclamations which had been issued by government against such exhibitions, upon the beatification of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Society of Jesuits made a solemn procession through the streets, when forty priests assisted in copes, besides religious of St. Francis, St. Dominic, and St. Austin, who then resided in the town. The next day the bishop officiated _in pontificalibus_, and the ceremony concluded with illuminations of joy. The same order was observed at Arima.

During the following year the Shiogoon Hide tada, the son of Iyeyas, married the sister of Kita Mandocoro, wife of Taikosama, mother of Hideyori, and niece of Nobu nanga.

Hideyori had still many adherents, who were attached to him and to his father’s memory. Iyeyas had been afraid of acting against the Christians so severely as to compel them to throw their weight into the opposite scale; but he began to see that he could keep all the advantages of trade through the Dutch, and get rid of the political dangers which threatened Japan through the foreign priesthood. The Jesuits allege that the Dutch encouraged him in these views, explaining how the Society had been driven out of their countries by the princes of Germany and Holland as disturbers of the public peace.

In 1612 he determined to get rid of these ever-disquieting agents, the more excited thereto by finding himself in the meshes of a net out of which he could only break his way by force. He found that the Prince of Arima, one of the warmest and most devoted to the cause of Christianity (whose son had married the granddaughter of Iyeyas), had been intriguing with the officers at court, to win their good offices by bribery, in gaining for him large additions to his territory. He now, for the first time, acted with severity against some of the native Christians about the court. Fourteen were condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to perpetual banishment and confiscation of their estates. This action on the part of Iyeyas himself at once brought out into bolder relief the two parties. Those officers who had hitherto winked at the Christians, and had permitted them to carry on their worship and preaching undisturbed, now saw which way the wind was blowing, and acted accordingly. This severity was carried into the heart of the court--one of the concubines of Iyeyas being confined and banished to the island of Oshima, and thence to the smaller island of Nishima, and thence to a rock, Cozu shima, upon which seven or eight fishermen lived in straw huts, subsisting on what they caught; and these men were ordered to keep this lady.

Shortly after this, Don Protase of Arima suffered. His son Michael, who had been brought up as a Christian, fearing to lose possession of his father’s dominions, informed against him, accusing him of crimes, and suborning witnesses against him. Upon the proof offered he was beheaded. This Christian’s son Michael, who had divorced a Christian lady to marry the granddaughter of Iyeyas, then turned apostate, and began a persecution within his territories of all who professed Christianity. He began, in order to please Iyeyas, by putting to death two boys, his own nephews. Here again, where the Jesuits had been most intolerant, the tables were turned upon them. In the province of Boongo, at one time the stronghold of the Roman Catholics, the same action was being taken; and about this time, in Yedo, the Shiogoon, on the representation of informers, put to death some natives who had built a new church, and banished the father out of the country.

In 1613, Don Michael of Arima was pressed by his wife and others to renew his severities, and eight Christians were burned near his castle by slow fires.

In 1614, Iyeyas was stimulated by the opponents of Christianity to take action against those who professed it. With the advice of his council he issued orders that all religious, European and Japanese, should be sent out of the country, that the churches should be pulled down, and the Christian members be forced to renounce their faith. To carry out these orders, all foreign priests and natives, members of the Jesuit Society, were ordered to leave Miako, Osaka and Fusimi, and retire to Nagasaki. Hojo Segami no kami was ordered to see that this order was executed; but he was chosen, perhaps, from a desire to remove him out of the way, as well as to take the opportunity of seizing his estate. Accordingly, while he was so engaged, he was accused of some crime, and his estates confiscated. The native Christians were banished to Tsoongaru, at the northern extremity of the island. At Kanesawa, in Kanga, Justo Ookon dono Takayama was ordered to leave with the others. Still further to make sure of the success of his projects, Iyeyas dispatched to the island of Kiusiu upward of 10,000 men, under three leaders, for the purpose of overawing the Christians and putting down any attempts to rise in that quarter. In Kiusiu the new doctrines had first taken root, and had flourished with greater luxuriance than on the main island of Nippon. The lordships were smaller, and therefore the advantages of trade were proportionably greater in the eyes of the proprietors. But as in the outset these lesser lords had favored what seemed to them a source of revenue, when things turned against the religion they distinguished themselves by zeal in putting down what in the end threatened to deprive them of everything. In them the government found the most active and zealous assistants. Many of these lords or their parents had been baptized. The Jesuits had there most sway, and had used it with the most intolerance; and Iyeyas determined, before striking a blow at Hideyori in Osaka, to remove any chance of a diversion being made in his favor on the part of the Christians in this distant part of the empire. But if we believe the letters of the fathers, the fortitude and courage with which martyrdom was endured by professing natives must be looked on with admiration. The better classes lost everything--lands, position, comforts, in many cases their wives and children, and, last of all, their lives--in the cause of their faith. The poorer gave up their lives, all they had to give, with zeal, fortitude, and even joy.

In the other parts of Kiusiu, in Tsikuzen and Figo, and in the remote islands of Xequi or Kossiki, the same spirit was shown toward the Christians; and upon October 25, 1614, three hundred persons--in a word, all the Jesuits, except eighteen fathers and nine brothers, with a few cathechists (who lay hid in the country for the help of the faithful)--were shipped off out of the country by a Portuguese vessel. This mode of dealing with persons in the position assumed by these foreigners and their adherents seems to have been at once lenient, yet determined, and mercenary without being severe. The party had assumed a political aspect threatening to the state. The very ladies of his household had been supported by these foreigners in opposition to the Kubosama himself. And as it was intended to be a final political step, and not a religious persecution, any foreigner found thereafter spreading such intolerant doctrines would be treated as a political partisan. Justo was put on board a Chinese vessel with some Spanish priests and some Japonian clerks, and set sail for Manila, where he died shortly after his arrival.

The step of removing from the capital and its neighborhood all the foreign fathers was, in its results, of the utmost importance to the cause of religion. During the rule of Nobu nanga and Taikosama, Father Rodriguez, the interpreter, a man evidently well acquainted with the language and with the court, was invited or allowed to remain in the capital. From the accounts sent thence it is evident that by tact and judgment Father Rodriguez had maintained his place, that he was in communication with the highest officers at court, and exercised an unseen but potent power in behalf of his brethren. With such a person at court, opposition cannot so easily gain head. Evil reports are warded off, occasional words in favor can be thrown in; but with the withdrawal of such a power from the court the foreign cause becomes powerless. Every one is ready to abuse, and to chime in to please his superior. There is no possibility of warding off the blows aimed. It is impossible to know whether the highest power knows anything of the edicts put out in his name. The Buddhists, a powerful body, would be ready to press down upon and thrust out opponents who had borne themselves so proudly in the day of their prosperity. Their own tactics recoiled upon the fathers; and when they were turned out of court, without friends or advocates, their cause became hopeless, and with their downfall the position of all other foreigners in the country was involved.

It is, perhaps, not a good defense of the policy adopted in Japan, to remember that it was nearly identical with that which England was compelled to adopt at the same time, and under similar circumstances. In both countries the change was conducted by the government, and in both the spirit of the people rose against the interference of a foreign priesthood with the national concerns. The truth is, that the doctrine of the Papal supremacy is an “exterritoriality clause” of itself, which, operating in a country professing another faith, creates an _imperium in imperio_, which becomes very embarrassing to a government, whether it be Japan or England. The confiscation of abbey-lands in England may be compared with, or was analogous to, the confiscation of the lands of the lords of Japan, while informers in each were rewarded by a gift of the property belonging to offenders of less note. The difficulty with which Japan had to cope was, that there was no mode of escape from persecution by going into exile into other countries until the storm had blown over.

In 1615, after getting rid of these politically dangerous persons, Iyeyas seemed to think that he might push things to extremities with Hideyori and his mother. He ordered up all the troops in Kiusiu to Osaka, and thither he repaired with a large force. He had endeavored for some time to make Hideyori spend his revenues so freely as to impoverish his exchequer. He had induced him to rebuild the large temple of Buddha in Miako, and the day was fixed for the consecration; but the suspicions of the mother were roused, and the solemnity was postponed. The young man had presented a large bell to the temple, upon which, it is said, that a wish was engraved that Yedo might be destroyed. This bell is never struck. This was made a pretext for a quarrel, and as the deserters from the castle reported that it was unprovided, it was forthwith invested, and war entered upon. There were many able commanders in the party of Hideyori, and the castle of Osaka was defended so well that after some time Iyeyas was obliged to retire and raise the siege, as he was losing prestige by delay, and men by desertion. An armistice was agreed upon at the desire of Iyeyas; but it seems to have been demanded only to give time. The surrounding country was desolated, and before long hostilities were renewed; and as a part of the army of Hideyori was encamped outside, a general battle ensued on June 3, 1615. In the account of the Jesuits, two of whom were present, the army of Iyeyas was on the point of defeat, when, probably through treachery, the castle was set on fire, the troops of Hideyori became panic-struck, and a total rout and general slaughter ensued. In the relation by Trigautius it is stated that in no battle in Japanese history did so much slaughter take place as in this. The populous neighborhood, the density of the city, the lawlessness of the troops, all combined to produce a fearful carnage. No certain information was ever got of the death of Hideyori or his mother. In all probability they committed suicide, and their bodies were destroyed in the conflagration. Reports were circulated of their having fled--some said to Koya, others to Satsuma; but as diligent search was made for six months after, and no trace of them was discovered with certainty either then or in after years, the common report is likely to be correct. His natural son was taken and beheaded. After this decisive battle, Iyeyas, having satisfied himself that he had made all things sure about Miako and Osaka, returned to Soonpu, and his son to Yedo. However, Iyeyas did not live long to gather the fruits of his sowing, or witness the success of his schemes in the working of his laws. He died on March 8, 1616, at Soonpu, advising his sons to be kind to the nobles, and, above all, to govern their subjects in the spirit of tenderness and affection. He died not without suspicion of his having been poisoned by his second son, Hideyas, the elder brother of Hidetada, the Shiogoon. He was buried in the hills of Nikko, a short distance north of Yedo, with great splendor. His posthumous title or name and rank is To sho, Dai Gongen mia (Tung chau, Ta K’iuen hien kung) d’zo jo itchi-i, Dai jo dai jin--The Eastern Light, the Illustrious Gem (a Buddhist title for a deified being) of the first rank, Prime Minister. He is often spoken of as To sho goo and Gongen sama, but this latter is a generic term, and not specially applicable to any individual.

The East India Company endeavored, shortly before the death of Iyeyas, to open a trade with Japan, and the letters of Captain Saris, Cocks, and others, give an interesting account of the country at the time. In answer to a letter from the King of Great Britain, Iyeyas granted to his majesty’s subjects certain privileges of trade, and the settling of a factory in Japan, and confirmed these under his broad seal for the better determining thereof. This document, a fac-simile of the original, is to be seen in Purchas. For sufficient reasons, the factory was in no long time withdrawn, and the trade entirely ceased in 1621.

In 1619 some notice of the persecutions carried on against Christians is given in Mr. Cocks’ letter, which corroborates the accounts received through the Roman Catholic channels, and is worthy of note as being written by one who evidently bore no great goodwill to that form of the Christian religion, and will render it unnecessary to allude further to the fearful particulars detailed by Trigautius and others:

“The persecution in this country, which before proceeded no further than banishment and loss of civil and religious liberties, has since (as this letter tells us) run up to all the severities of corporal punishment. The Christians suffered as many sorts of deaths and torments as those in the primitive persecutions; and such was their constancy that their adversaries were sooner weary of inflicting punishments than they of enduring the effects of their rage. Very few, if any at all, renounced their profession; the most hideous forms in which death appeared (by the contrivance of their adversaries) would not scare them, nor all the terrors of a solemn execution overpower that strength of mind with which they seemed to go through their sufferings. They made their very children martyrs with them, and carried them in their arms to the stake, choosing rather to resign them to the flames than leave them to the bonzes to be educated in the pagan religion. All the churches which the last storm left standing this had entirely blown down and demolished, and heathen pagodas were erected upon their ruins.”

Edict after edict emanated, or at least were said to emanate, from the Shiogoon, ordering more and more severe action to be taken against the Christians. There remained no power of verifying these edicts, no one to speak a word at court for the unfortunate creatures; while they were surrounded by hungry wolves, who might invent edicts in order to profit by the confiscation of property, whose interest it was that the infant heir should be destroyed with his father, and who were further incited by the priests, or bozangs, who gnashed their teeth in the hour of victory over enemies who had lorded it so proudly over them in the short days of their prosperity. By such ferocity, combined with a strict watch kept up on foreign vessels, the Christian religion was nearly extirpated; but in the district of Arima, nearly the whole of the inhabitants, having all their lives professed Christianity, at last in desperation resolved rather to fight than submit to such a system of persecution.