Japan, an account geographical and historical, from the earliest period at which the Islands composing this Empire were known to Europæans down to the present time ... With illustrations from designs by A. Allom

Front matter

JAPAN; AN ACCOUNT, GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL, §c. JAPANESE LADY. JAPAN; AN ACCOUNT 5 GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD AT WHICH THE ISLANDS COMPOSING THIS EMPIRE WERE KNOWN TO EUROPEANS, DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME AND THE EXPEDITION FITTED OUT IN THE UNITED STATES, ETC. BY CHARLES MAC FARLANE, AUTHOR OF "BRITISH INDIA," " LIFE OF WELLINGTON," ETC. BTC. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, FROM DESIGNS BY ARTHUR A.LLOM. ■ LONDON: GEORGE EOUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET. 1852. to THE HONOURABLE BROWNLOW C. BERTIE, OF THE 2nd LIFE GUARDS. My Dear Sir, I inscribe this volume to you for two good and valid reasons, — 1st. You take a greater interest in the country and people, of which the work treats, than any one in England with whom I have the pleasure of being acquainted. 2nd. You have, in the kindest and readiest manner, rendered very valuable assistance while I have been engaged in the compilation. I am, my dear Sir, With all respect and thankfulness, Your devoted Servant, CHARLES MAC FARLANE. Canterbury, Aug. 1, 1852. b n

Preface

. It appears to me erroneous to say — though it very commonly is said — that we know next to nothing of Japan and the Japanese. "We possess, in books, old and new — but mostly old and voluminous — the means of knowing quite as much of them as we know of any other Eastern nation. I have now before me (chiefly through acts of kindness presently to be acknowledged) what might almost be called a Japanese library, or a library about Japan, and its interesting inhabi tants. These books are in Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, German, and English. They vary in date from 1560 to 1850. The contributions furnished by the Dutch, or by the German medical officers in their ser vice, are, perhaps, the best, as weU as the most numerous. It is therefore very unfair to state (and this too is frequently done) that the Dutch, b

PREFACE.

. in order to preserve their commercial monopoly, invariably endeavoured to keep the rest of the world in ignorance as to the extraordinary empire of Japan. Taking all these works as a fund of information, we may safely be said to know more ofthe Japanese than we knew of the Turks a hundred years ago. This arises out of the sociable disposition and habits of the Japanese, the great freedom enjoyed by the gentler sex in their country, and various other causes, which will be made apparent in the course of this volume. My attention was first drawn to these subjects, twenty years since, by a dear and excellent old friend— the late James Drummond, Esq., Commissary-General, Commissioner for settling English claims at Paris, after our crowning victory at Waterloo, etc. In early life Mr. Drummond was engaged in trade, and, passing for a Dutchman, he resided several years in Japan.

Oui' acquaintance commenced at Brighton, where, in a wellstored, choice library, he had collected every work that had, up to that period, been published about the country. Besides lending me aU these books, he gave me, in many a pleasant fireside conversation, a great deal of information derived from his own observation and experience. Of all this I

PREFACE.

. IX took notes and memoranda, with the intention of producing some such work as the present ; but I was called away from the subject by other literary occupations, and never seriously returned to it until the American movement rendered it one of the foremost and most interesting topics of the day. My dear old friend, with strong literary tastes, was well mated. Mrs. Drummond was a grand niece of Smollett, and as fond of books and of quiet, unpretending literary society, as was her husband. He died at Tunbridge Wells, full of years, and honoured by the respect of all who knew him, 'in the year 1844 : his lady died within a week after him, and was buried in the same grave with him. The expression of my praise or gratitude cannot reach their ears, but I feel a melancholy pleasure in thus recording them.

In compiling this volume, I have carefully consulted all the best authorities. These I have named in my foot-notes and Appendix, so that those who wish to follow up the study may find therein a tolerably complete Index. I have purposely avoided minutiæ ; my present purpose being to give a broad, general view of the subject. I trust (but I may be mistaken) that I am too old a traveller, and too constant a

PREFACE.

. X reader of the voyages and travels of others, to be a gobe-mouche, or a credulous recipient of every tale that is told in such books. In using the facts collected by others, from the middle of the sixteenth century down to our own day, wherever there is anything which startles belief, or which is not confirmed and supported by several autho rities, I have spoken of it doubtingly. I cannot conclude this brief preface without some further expressions of gratitude. I have been indebted to my very old, learned, most ingenious, invaluable friend, Edwin Norris, Esq., of the Foreign Office and Royal Asiatic Society, for many hints and much information. To the Royal Asiatic Society I have been indebted for the use of many books and other materials. I am under the same obligation to Sir James Weir Hogg, to Professor Horace Hayman Wilson, and to the gentlemen employed in the Library of the East-India House. My thanks to the Hon. Brownlow C. Bertie, for services of the like nature, appear on another page. C. M. F. CONTENTS.

Book I. European Intercourse

A Portuguese ship, in 1542, driven by a storm on the coast of Japan, 1. Antonio Mota and Francesco Zeimoto, the first who set foot on this terra incognita, 2. A Portuguese merchant vessel sent once a year to the island of Kiusju, 3. Father Francisco Xavier sent as a missionary to convert the Japanese, ib. The Portuguese well received, 4, 5. The Japanese religion, 5. The first missionaries, 6. Fifty Christian churches founded, 7. A Portuguese settlement formed at Nagasaki, 9. Difficulties of the missionaries, ib. The Japanese Christians send an embassy to Rome, 10. Converts to Christianity, 11. Civilization of the Portuguese, 12. The first access of the Dutch to Japan, 13. Account of their voyage, by William Adams, the pilot, ib. Arrival ofthe Dutch at Bungo in 1600, 19. Their reception, ib.

Restrictive commercial policy of the Spaniards and Portuguese, 20. Enmity ofthe Portuguese to the Dutch and English, 22. Adams brought before the Emperor at Osacca, 23. His interesting account of the interview, and also of his subsequent treatment, 23 et seq. He is committed to prison, 25. Released, 27. The Emperor's kind treatment to the Dutch, ib. Adams is received into great favour, 29. Departure of the Dutch crew, and death of the captain, 30. Adams builds a ship for the Emperor, and makes a voyage to Jeddo, 32. Two Dutch ships arrive at Japan in 1609, and are favourably received, 33. Death of Adams, 35. The Dutch interest firmly secured, ib. Notices of Japan and CONTENTS. its inhabitants, 37. The first Dutch factory established at Firando, ib. Quarrels between the Dutch and the Portu guese, 38.

Friars and missionaries interdicted, 39. Inso lence of the Portuguese priesthood, 41. Execution of Christians in 1597, 42. Persecutions of the Romanists, 43. Declining power of the Portuguese in the East, 44. In creasing monopolies of the Dutch, 45. A Portuguese ship captured by the Dutch, and treasonable letters against the Japanese empire discovered, 46. Captain Moro, a Ja panese Christian, arrested and burnt alive, 47. Imperial proclamation decreeing the eternal banishment of the Portu guese, and prohibiting all relations with foreigners, 47, 48. The Japanese assisted by the Dutch in expelling the Portuguese, 50 — 52. The Dutch colonists confined to the little islet of Desima, 54, 55. Severe restrictions under which they labour, 56 et seq. Dutch mission to Jeddo in 1822, and its favourable reception, 60, 61.

Communi cations of the English with Japan, 62 et seq. Factory of Firando, 68. Failure ofthe English commercial project, 69. The English prohibited, 70, 71. Failure of all European attempts to open commercial relations with Japan, 72 et seq. Great efforts made by Eussia, 73 et seq. Visit of Captain Gordon to Jeddo in 1818, 99. Eapid growth of the whale-fishery in the Pacific, 101. Collision between the American whalers and the Japanese government, ib. The rising trade between California and Hong Kong, the results ofthe British war in China, the Protestantism of the English, the Americans, and the Dutch, and other important circum stances, all favourable to the opening of commercial inter course with Japan, 101 et seq. Captain Belcher's visit in the " Samarang " to Nagasaki, in 1845, 102 et seq.

The shipwrecked Japanese, 104. Visit of the "Morrison," an American merchantman, to Jeddo, 105. Negotiations with the Japanese, 106, 107. The Japanese sailors not allowed to return to their own country, 109. The United States attempt, in 1846, to open negotiations with Japan ; visit of the "Columbus" and the "Vincennes," 110. Letter of the President of the United States to the Emperor, 111. Japan visited, but without success, by Admiral Cecille, in CONTENTS. XIII 1845, 112. American seamen wrecked on the coast ; visit of the United States' ship " Preble " to obtain their re lease, 113. Considerations whether the policy of Japan does not constitute a casus belli, 114 et seq. Degrading ceremonial of reception at the court of Japan, 116, 117. Necessity of enforcing a civilized course of policy in their relations with the commercial world, 118.

The opinions of Sir J. F. Davis, 118 — 120. The present American expedition to Japan, 121. Visit of the "Mariner" sloop of war in 1849, under Commander Matheson, ib. Official report of his visit, 122 — 124. Attention of the civilized world fixed on the American expedition, 125. Opinion of Baron Humboldt, ib. The various circumstances which must con tribute to effect an important change, 126 — 129. The various routes across central America to the Eastern Seas, 129 et seq. The different distances to California, as re ported by Mr. J. J. "Williams, 132. Mr. Allen M'Donnell's project for forming a railway from Lake Superior to the Pacific, 133.

Book II. Geographical Sketch Of Japan

The country of Japan unknown to the Greeks and Romans of the ancient world, 135. First noticed in modern times by Marco Polo, ib. His description of Japan, 136. Its geographical position, 138. Consists of three islands, Kioosioo, Sitkokf, and Niphon, 139, 145, 147. Dependencies and settlements of Japan, 140 et seq. Rivers, 143. Climate, 144. Population and towns, 144, 145. The principal towns, Nagasaki, Sanga, and Kokoora, 145, 146. The towns along the southern side, Simonoseki, Muru, Osacca, Miaco, Kwano, and Mia, 147—150. Jeddo, the capital of the empire, 150. The island of Yeso, 151. Trade and commerce of Japan, 152. Its population, 153. Description of Nagasaki by an old Dutch voyager, 154. The climate of Japan, by a Russian resident, 156 — 159. Its productions> 159. Its irrigation, 160. CONTENTS. XIV

Book III

RACE— PROBABLE COURSE OF MIGRATION— SUMMARY OF HISTORY. The Japanese, their pretended descent from the gods, 161. Belong to the Mongol race, 162—164. Japanese and Chinese languages, ib. The Japanese not descended from the Chinese, 163. Their peculiar religion, ib. Physical conformation, 164. Their institutions, &c, all different from the Chinese, 165. Kampfer's hypothesis of their origin and ancestry, 166. Great antiquity of the monarchy, 170. General history of Japan from the remotest ages to the period ofthe Portuguese settlement, 170 — 202.

Book IV. Religion

Numerous religious sects in Japan, 203. Sinsyn the original national religion, 204. The cosmogony, 204 — 206. Religious dogmas of the Sintoos, or professors of the national faith, 207. Religious observances, 209. Pilgrimages to the holy shrines, 211. Anchorites and hermits, 215. Orders of the blind Bussets, and of the blind Fekis, 217. Mendicant nuns, 219. Buddhism, the prevalent faith of Japan, 221 — 226. Suto, or "the way of philosophers," 226 — 230. All sects tolerated and placed on a footing of equality, 231 — 234.

Book V. Go

VERNMENT— LEG ISLATION— POLICE. The government of Japan, an absolute despotism existing in the law and custom of the land, 235, 236. Two co-existing CONTENTS. XV sovereigns, spiritual and political, 236. The grand council of state, 237. Vassal princes of the empire, 240 — 242. Government of the lordships, 243. The spy system, 245. The Japanese divided into eight hereditary classes — the vassal princes, the nobility, the priests, the military, professional class, merchants, traders, and peasantry, 247 — 251. The Pariahs, or despised caste, 251, 252. The army, 252, 253. Arms and military discipline, 254, 255. Severity of the criminal laws, 256. They consist of edicts issued by the emperor, 257. Law proceedings, 258. Death generally the punishment for all offences, 260. The laws greatly modified in practice, 261.

System of imprisonment, ib. Corporal punishment and torture, 263. Interesting case of magisterial proceedings, 263 — 265. Public executions, 266, 267. Civil jurisprudence, 268. The law of primo geniture established, ib. Polygamy not tolerated, ib. The position of the women better than in any other Asiatic country, 269.

Book VI. Mineral

WEALTH— PEARLS— PRECIOUS STONES. The Japanese islands rich in gold, silver, and copper, 270. The gold-mines, 271. Silver and copper mines, 272. Lead, quicksilver, tin, and iron, in abundance, 273. Coal in common use, 274. Pearls, 275. Volcanic islands, 276. Sulphur, ib. Agates, cornelians, jaspers, marble, and precious stones abound, 277. Tavernier's testimony as to the size and value of the pearls of Japan, ib.

Book VII

SYLVA— FOREST TREES— FRUIT-TREES— PLANTS- FLOWERS. The islands of Japan well wooded ; firs and cypresses the most common trees, 279. Cultivation of forest-trees, 280. CONTENTS. Cedars of great size and beauty, 281. The sylvan scenery, ib. The oak, the mulberry, the varnish-tree, the camphor-tree, the tea-plant, the pepper-tree, the fig-tree, the chesnut-tree, the walnut-tree, the kaja, nuts, lemons, oranges, plums, cherries, and apricots, all cultivated, 282 — 284. Various trees peculiar to Japan, 285. The bamboo and the jusnoki, 286. Flowers and shrubs abundant ; as the subacki, the Satsuki, the nomidsi, &c, 287. Their love of flowers, 287 — 289. Industry and skill of the Japanese as agriculturists, 289. Their various edible productions, 291. Hemp, flax, and tobacco produced in great quantities, ib.

Book VIII

ANIMALS— BIRDS— REPTILES— FISHES. Quadrupeds not abundant, 293. Horses, oxen, cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats, and swine, 294. Number of dogs, and superstition connected with, 295 — 297. Cats of a peculiar kind, deer, boars, hares, monkeys, foxes, &c, 298. The white ant, 299. Japan comparatively free from insects and noxious reptiles, ib. Number of birds, cranes, herons, storks, geese, ducks, singing-birds, &c, 300, 301. Fish abundant, 302. The whale-fishery, 303. Turtles, salmon, soles, turbot, cod, smelts, and various kinds of sea fish, 304.

Book IX

ARTS— MANUFACTURES— SHIPPING— NAVIGATION, &c. Industry, ingenuity, and manual dexterity ofthe Japanese, 306. Arts and manufactures extensively carried on, and with great perfection, 307. Manufactures of iron, copper, silk, cotton, glass, wood-lacquering, steel, paper, &c, ib. The Morus papyrifera, and its uses, 308. Lacquered woodwork of Japan, and the method of preparing it, ib. Strength and solidity of Japanese workmanship, and its superiority over CONTENTS. XVII the Chinese, 311. Their steel manufactures, 312. Skill in carving and die-sinking, 313. Their dress, 314. Their furniture, 315. Lacquered cups, 316. The principal manu factories in the cities of Miako, Jeddo, and Osacca, ib. State of navigation, 317. Visit of the ship "Morrison," and sketch of the Japanese shipping, by an American seaman, 317 et seq. Activity of trade and commerce, 322. Absence of theft or robbery, 324.

Book X. Popular

AMUSEMENTS— DOMESTIC MANNERS— GENERAL CHARACTER. The Japanese a pleasure-seeking people — music, dancing, theatres, mummers, and tumblers, their favourite amusements, 326, 327. The mendicants, 327. Theatrical entertainment, 328. The fair «ex, and their social pursuits and amusements, 329 et seq. Japanese festivals ; the " Feast of Lamps," the feast of "Matsuri," and the festival of " Sanguatz Sannitz," and account of its origin, 333 — 340. Various minor amusements and social entertainments, 341 et seq. The Japanese houses, 346. Domestic manners and customs, 347 et seq. The women, 351. Anecdotes of female honour, 353 — 355. Obedience of children to parents, 356. Passion of revenge, ib. Anecdotes of, 357, 358. High character of the Japanese, 359 et seq.

BOOK XL

LANGUAGE— LITERATURE— SCIENCE— MUSIC- PAINTING. Difficulties of the Japanese language and letters, 362. The Japanese language and characters, 363 et seq. Their general literature, 372 et seq. Japanese printers, 374. Specimens of poetry, 376—382. Dramas and theatres, CONTENTS. et seq. Cultivation of the sciences — medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, 385. Acu-puncture and ./-.ora-burning, ib. Medicinal preparations, 386. Dosia powder, 386 — 389. Chemistry, botany, and astronomy, 390. Almanacs, 391. Mechanic arts, ib. Music and painting, 392, 393. Mongul affinities, 394. The fine arts, 395. _>

Appendix

. Historical disquisition on European intercourse with Japan, 397 et seq. Fernam Mendez Pinto, 397. Xavier, 400. Journal of Captain Gordon, of the brig "Brothers," 401. Chinese intercourse with Japan, 408. Geography, 410. The chief cities, ib. Mountains, 411. Volcanoes, 412, 413. Climate, 414. State of Japan on the first arrival of the Dutch, 415. Japanese cycle, ib. Great conflagration at Jeddo, 417. Tea, 418. Dog superstition, ib. Civilization — Von Siebold — Japanese character, 419. The military, 420, 421. Slavery — Diffusion of education — Curriers, 422. Varnish, 423. Tobacco-smoking, 424. Commerce — Manner in which the Dutch are treated — Smuggling, &c, 425 et seq. Literature — List of curious books, 433 — 435. LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS. View of the Port of Firando, or Fiaango Page 1 The Fudsi-Jamma 135 Crater of the Fudsi-Jamma 160 Japanese Divinities 161 View of a part of Jeddo 202 Representation of a Buddhist Temple 203 Picture of Family Worship 234 A Vassal Prince of Japan 235 View of the Port of Simoneseke 269 The Kirisima Jamma 270 A Japanese Garden 279 Representation of the Camphor-tree 292 Sketch of a Japanese Fishing Family 293 Japanese Fishermen 305 Group of Ornamental Vases 306 Ornamental Candlesticks 311 Flower-baskets and Vases 316 A Japanese Merchant 325 Group of Jugglers or Tumblers 326 A Japanese Lady Painting 329 A Tea-Party 342 View of a Country House 346 An Equestrian Party 351 Japanese "Wrestlers 361 Japanese Artists Engraving Blocks for Printing 362 Group of Musical Instruments 392 Instruments of War G.Houtledge & C° Farringdou Street , London, Angutl t* 'aj-wick CT Holborn THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN. IIEANDO OE FIAANGO

Book I. European Intercourse

In the year 1542, a Portuguese ship, bound for Macao in China, was driven from her course, and forced by a storm upon one of the islands of Japan, which were as yet unknown to the B European world.* After great dangers and suf ferings, she came safely to anchor in the harbour of Bungo, on the island of Kiusjii. Though vigilant and circumspect, the native government was not then adverse to intercourse with foreign nations : the Portuguese were received with cour tesy and kindness, and freely allowed to traffic with the inhabitants. They were much struck with the beauty, fertility, and high state of cultivation and populousness of the empire, and by the evident abundance of gold, silver, and copper. The honour of the first discovery of Japan, by the way of the Indies, is thus unquestionably due to the Portuguese, though it happened accidentally.

The first two of them who set foot on shore on this terra incognita were named Antonio Mota and Prancesco Zeimoto. The Japanese have pre served portraits of them, which are said to be very curious and characteristic specimens of native art. It is quite evident that their memory must have been cherished with affection, and that the first impression they made on the Japanese must have been highly favourable to their own nation. Prom this time, by an arrangement with the prince or viceroy of Bungo, a Portuguese ship, * Strictly, we ought to say, with the exception of the brief mention of the country made by the old Venetian traveller Marco Polo. But the correctness of that illustrious Venetian was very much doubted in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen turies. Modern research has fully established his reputation as a traveller and accurate observer. laden with woollen cloths, furs, manufactured silks, taffetas, and other commodities in request, was sent once a year to the same island.

In 1549, only seven years after the discovery, a young Japanese fled to the Portuguese settlement at Goa, on the Malabar coast, and there meeting with some missionaries of the Church of Pome, he was converted to the Christian faith, and baptized. Like many of the Japanese, he was shrewd, intelligent, and enterprising. He showed the Portuguese merchants the great gains they might make by extending their com merce in Japan, and by supplying other provinces with their manufactures ; and he discoursed with the Jesuits as to the facility or possibility of Christianizing his countrymen. The Portuguese proceeded at once to act upon these double con siderations, and to devise means for erecting a factory in Japan. The young Japanese was sent back to his native country on board a ship loaded with goods and presents, and some Jesuit fathers went with him to undertake the labours of spiritual conversion.

In the latter number was Pather Prancisco Xavier, a joint founder, with Loyola, of the order of Jesuits, and who was subsequently canonized by his church. This high born Spaniard had all the accomplishments and qualities most calculated to command success as a missionary among a people like the Japanese ; and his zeal and courage were never surpassed b by mortal man. Some of his friends at Goa endeavoured to turn him from his project, by representing the great length of the voyage — good thirteen hundred leagues — the great risk of falling among Malay pirates, who piti lessly massacred all the prisoners they took ; the dangers of the rocky coasts of Japan, which had not been surveyed by any mariner ; the dangers of whirlpools which were known to exist there ; and the perils of those tremendous hurricanes called typhons, which prevail at certain seasons on the ocean between Japan and China.

But the ardent propagandist said it were a shame that he should be afraid to venture for the sake of religion where sailors and merchants went for the mere love of worldly gain; that missionaries ought to have as much courage as they ; and that he felt it was the will of God that he should go.* He went, and truly wondrous was the success which attended him. The Portuguese, — mariners, merchants, padres, and all, — were received with open arms, not only * Pere Bouhours, " Vie de Saint Francois Xavier, Apotre des Indes et du Japon." Other interesting notices of the first proceedings of the Christian missionaries in Japan will be found in the following works :— Padre G. Marini, "Delle Missioni del Giapone, etc." 4to. Koma, 1663; F. Luigi Frois, "Avvisi Nuovi del Giapone, etc." Venezia, 1586 ; and C. W. King, " Claims of Japan and Malaysia upon Christendom, exhibited in Notes of Voyages made in 1837." 2 vols. 8vo.

New York, 1839. at Bungo, but at whatsoever other part of the empire they chose to repair unto. The local governments and the minor princes, who then enjoyed a considerable degree of independence, vied with each other in inviting them to their ports and towns. They went wherever they pleased, from one extremity of the empire to the other, and by land as well as by sea. The merchants found a ready and a most profitable market for their goods ; the missionaries, an intellectual, tolerant people, very willing to listen to the lessons which they had to teach them. There was no one established, dominant religion in the country ; the most ancient faith was split into sects ; and there were at least three other religions imported from foreign countries, and tolerated in the most perfect manner. Moreover, a faith, said to be of Brahminical origin, and which had been imported from India, was, at the time, widely spread among the people.* This faith bore so near a resemblance to the doctrines introduced by the Portuguese, that it must have greatly favoured their reception.

It appears to have comprised the existence, death, and resurrection of a Saviour born of a virgin, with almost every other essen tial dogma of Christianity, including the belief in the Trinity. If this be a true statement and correct description, and if we then add to it the tradition, that this form of religion was * At one time it appears to have been universal. introduced under the reign of the Chinese emperor Mimti, who ascended the throne in about the fiftieth year of the Christian era, can we avoid admitting the conclusion, that some early apostle reached the eastern extremity of Asia, if not the islands themselves of Japan ?* Then the pomp and impressive ceremonials of the Roman church, and the frequency of its services, delighted the impressionable Japanese, who, in all probability, would have paid far less attention to a simpler form of worship.

The first missionaries, moreover, were men of exemplary lives — modest, virtuous, disinterested, and most tender and charitable to the poor and afflicted. They sought out cases of distress ; they attended the sick ; and some know ledge they possessed of the superior science of medicine, as practised by the most advanced nations of Europe, was frequently of great benefit to the natives, and another means of facilitating their conversion. Xavier quitted Japan for China in 1551, and died on the second of December of the following year, at Shan-Shan, on the Canton river, not far from Macao ; f but he left able and * Meylan's Japan. " Quarterly Eeview," vol. Iii. We believe that there is other evidence to show that the doctrines of Christianity were conveyed to India in the first century after the death of our Saviour. t It is worthy of notice that poor Fernam Mendez Pinto, who by no means merits the very hard names bestowed upon him by a Spanish writer of romances, and an English writer of plays, performed several voyages with the fearless missionary enthusiastic missionaries behind him, and others soon repaired to the country.

It is said that the immediate successor of Xavier (he died in 1570) founded fifty churches, and baptized, with his own hands, more than 30,000 converts. These early missionaries are unanimous in their praise of the good, docile, kindly disposition of the natives ; and speak of them as eminently a grateful people. In one of his letters, the sainted Xavier says, " I know not when to have done when I speak of the Japanese. They are truly the delight of my heart." The current of conversion, however, was not always smooth and unimpeded ; for, at this period of greatest success, we hear occasionally of a persecution, and, though less frequently, of an apostasy. It was so much the more easy to the Portuguese to bring their trade into a flourishing condition, and at the same time to advance and support the conversion of the Japanese to the faith of our Saviour, as the neighbouring city of Macao, in Xavier.

He records, with great reverence, many of the learned father's deeds and disputations with the Bonzes, or native priests. It was not his fortune to be present at Xavier's death. Not for the sake of my own humble performance, but for the sake of rescuing the fame of a brave, adventurous, and rnuck traduced sailor, I would recommend the reader to a short account of his life and adventures contained in my little book called tbe "Romance of Travel," vol. ii. p. 104 to p. 192. China, which they were then already possessed of, could furnish them at command with a sufficient stock of European and Indian commodities, and a competent number of priests. Their co-religionists the Spaniards, established at the city of Manilla, in the Philippine Islands, not very remote from Japan, were likewise at hand to assist them in case of need ; and the city of Goa itself, as the Pome of India, and the metropolis of all the Portuguese dominions in the East, though at a greater distance, yet could easily, and without prejudice to its own inhabitants, send over fresh recruits of ecclesiastics.

Hence it is not matter of wonder that the Portuguese should, in a short time, attain to a high pitch of fortune in this insular empire.* These local advantages and facilities of the Portuguese for any enterprise on the country were in themselves enough r;to awaken the jealousy of that Asiatic government ; but many years passed ere any such feeling disturbed the intercourse. Perhaps, however, the comparative weakness of the central government, and insub ordination and almost independence of many of the provinces, promoted the interests of the strangers as much as any other circumstance or cause then in operation. It is evident, from some of the early missionaries, that several of * Kampfer, "History of Japan." the princes or Viceroys paid no attention to the edicts of the emperor.* About the year 1566, the Portuguese first pointed out to the prince of Omura the great advantages of the harbour of Nagasaki over the ports they had been accustomed to frequent.

Their suggestions led to the formation of a settlement, which, ere long, became an important city, and which retains a somewhat unhappy celebrity down to our own day.t The traders brought their cloths, silks, Euro pean stuffs, wines, drugs, medicines, and a great variety of other goods, and in return became possessed of " the golden marrow of the coun try." The missionaries had to struggle for some time with the difficulties of the language. "At first, the fathers, being unacquainted with the policy, customs, manners, and language of the Japanese, were obliged to get then' sermons and lessons to the people translated into Ja panese by not overskilful interpreters, and the Japanese words written in Latin characters, which being done, they read out of these papers what they did not understand themselves, and in a manner, as may be easily imagined, which * Fernam Mendez Pinto says that the emperor was recently dead, and that the Japanese were for some time engaged in a civil war. t C. W. King, " Notes of the Voyage of the Morrison from Canton to Japan."