attired; the flags, and the noise of barbaric music. The Emperor in state opens the tournay, and receives the papal present—a chair of state. Then there are courses, jousts, tournaments, and fights, in which the Emperor Nobananga carries off many prizes. The scene winds up with gladiatorial displays, in which there is a regular fray and shout as of battle, “their gorgeous armours and shining weapons glittering under a bright sun, and forming a noble picture of war,” only marred, says the priestly chronicler, by the savage expenditure of human blood by the combatants in the heat of battle.
Taiko-Sama, the Commander-in-Chief of the murdered Nobananga’s armies, was no ordinary man. On the death of his patron, he fell upon the rebellious native priesthood and nobility, and either destroyed them, or caused them to submit to his power. In a short time he assumed the imperial authority, and took care to make it be felt in the most remote portions of the empire, where his former master had had little, if any, power. He appears early to have suspected the disinterestedness of his foreign visitors, and to have decided on adhering to the old faith of Japan, taking care, however, to still farther reduce the temporal authority of his spiritual coadjutor the Mikado. It was now that the Christians began to reap the fruits of the cupidity of the mercantile fraternity, and the thoughtless conduct of religious fanatics. There are some curious documents extant upon the native view of the conduct of Europeans in those days, which it would be well for our politicians and others of the present day to peruse; for assuredly we are, by the inconsiderate conduct of Europeans, tending again in the present day to awaken similar feelings of hostility.[1] We there read that a Minister of State thus addresses Taiko: “Be wary, oh, my Liege! of these Christians; mistrust the union that exists amongst them. * * * Bethink thee what destruction there hath been of our temples and holy establishments, so that our provinces seem as if they had been laid waste by fire and sword. These priests proclaim that they have come from afar to save us from perdition; but may not some dangerous project lurk beneath this fair pretext. Have you not an example in the recent revolt of the bonzes of Osaca? Now treachery may be hid under the cloak of religion. The Europeans are not less traitorous, be assured. They have in Nangasaki a perfect fortress; by it they can obtain foreign aid. Not a moment should be lost if you consult the safety of the State!” Others called attention to the drain of gold and silver, and to the deficiency of the currency in the State; and whilst Taiko was hesitating how to act—for, though severe, he does not appear to have been a cruel man—the conduct of the Portuguese and Spaniards, lay and clerical, was most rash and intemperate, and all calculated to bring on a crisis. There had been local risings in many parts of the empire; the church at Miaco had been destroyed, the fathers escaping with difficulty. Christianity had been early uprooted from the island of Sikok, and death in many shapes began to threaten the native converts in Kiu-siu. The doubts and misgivings of these converts are exemplified in an original Japanese letter, happily preserved amongst Jesuit archives. The writer, a native nobleman, writes as follows to his spiritual father:
“Aware that your reverence intends to return, I hasten to inform you of the state of affairs here. Subsequent to your departure hence, I became desirous of baptism, and unwilling to await for your return, I sought the rite at the hands of the priest at Funay, and an opportunity soon after occurring, I had the good fortune to recover all my states except the city of Fata, whither retired my enemy, Tosaquami, with some six hundred followers, but with very little prospect of being long able to hold out. Mindful of my vows to God for the benefits thus accruing, I immediately ordered a church to be built, as well as an abode for the holy fathers, and assigned them revenues in perpetuity. Furthermore, I caused similar houses to be constructed elsewhere in my kingdom, and all my subjects, seeing I was thus powerfully aided of the Lord, were on the point of becoming Christians likewise, when most suddenly the whole kingdom revolted against me, and I had to flee to my present retreat, Nangaxima. To this hour I cease not to lament my fate before the Lord; and I own some doubts have arisen in my mind at the success of these rebels, seeing that they are pagans, or whether their good fortune is to be attributed to the multitude of my sins. I therefore beg your reverence to recommend me in your prayers, and to send some one to resolve my doubts,” &c. &c.
This curious confession of a half-converted mind bears date about 1576, and comes from a prince of Tosa. We hardly need a better proof of how weak was the foundation upon which the Christian faith rested, the material advantages of the aid of Providence being evidently those upon which the worthy Prince placed most importance.
In the year 1587 Taiko sent two commissioners to the head of the Jesuit church in Bongo, calling for categorical answers to the following questions: Why do you and your associates use force in the promulgation of your creed? Why do you invite my people to the destruction of the public temples and persecution of native priesthood? Why do your countrymen consume cattle, so useful to man and needful for agricultural purposes? Finally, Why do your traders kidnap my subjects, and carry them off as slaves. The replies, couched in terms of no great humility, denied the employment of force in conversion, but pleaded holy zeal as the cause of the destruction of the false gods, and that the bonzes brought ridicule upon themselves by the absurdities they upheld; they regretted the slaying of oxen, and promised to check it; and, without denying the charge of a traffic in human beings being carried on, they said it was in the power of the native authorities to check it if they pleased. Full of wrath at this unsatisfactory explanation, the Emperor launched an edict against farther promulgation of Christianity, and ordered professors of it to quit his realms. Of course, the authorities at the Portuguese and- ↑ Some of these may be found in the “Memorials of Japan,” edited by Thos. Rundall, Esq., and published by the Hakluyt Society.
