Page:Men of Kent and Kentishmen.djvu/17

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AND KENTISHMEN.
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with eighty or ninety husbandmen for slaves and servants. In this position he continued five years, when he sought leave to return to England, but was refused. In 1611 he heard that Englishmen were trading to the East, and he contrived to send a letter to the English factory at Bantam. In 1613 an English ship arrived in Japan, under the command of Captain John Saris, and Adams obtained leave to return. At the last moment, however, he refused to do so, on account of some disagreement with Saris, and determined to remain in Japan, where, although he had left a wife and daughter in England, he had a Japanese wife and two children. On the death of the Emperor Iyégasu, who had befriended him, his influence at Court declined. He died on the 16th May, 1620, and was buried on the site of his estate at Hemi-mura. His memory is still preserved in Japan, where an annual celebration is held in his honour.

The chief particulars of Adams's life are from his Letters, printed in "Purchas his Pilgrimes" and in the "Diary of Richard Cocks," (the head of the English Factory at Friando,) published by the Hakluyt Society. See also "Rundall's Memorials of Japan," published by the same Society.


Cuthbert Aket (or Hacket),

Lord Mayor of London,

Was born, according to Fuller, at Dartford, though according to Stowe, it was his father Thomas who came from there. He was a member of the Drapers' Com-