Paoli: the last of the missionaries; a picture of the overthrow of the Christians in Japan in the seventeenth century

Front matter

• Pao Li- •Ti e Missionaries

BY W. C . KITCHIN

, n.rj.'if

Preface

HE title-page sets forth the character of this book. It is an historical picture, in which truth outweighs fiction. Nirado Shiro, Ashizuka, Chijiwa and Oyano ; their foes, Nabeshima, Itakura and Yamada, — all wrere actual personages, prominent in the stirring events that attended the overthrow of Christianity, and the achievements ascribed to them in the following pages are substantially those which manuscript-chronicle and tradition have connected with their names. Francesco Paoli and Lord Mori are types : the former of that courageous but intolerant zeal which, in the name of religion, strove to establish, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an European sovereignty over Japan ; the latter of that spirit of protest against priestly intrigue and corruption, which, in the persons of a few independent thinkers among the native converts, lifted up its voice in denunciation of the claims of an imperious church and in behalf of a purer faith.

IO

Preface.

From October, 1882, until August, 1885, the author’s home was in the picturesque city of Nagasaki, on the crest of Higashi-yama, the hill so frequently mentioned in the earlier part of the narrative ; and it was while he was standing, one of the summer evenings of 1883, upon the summit of the rocky islet Takaboka, with its awful memories vividly before him, that the idea of telling the story of the fall of the Christians, in the form of an historical novel, first took shape in his mind. Henceforward, his leisure time was spent in visiting the various places associated with the last desperate struggle of the doomed church ; in the study of what had already been written upon the subject ; and in gathering from the lips of the people legendary accounts of “ the great rebellion of the jashiu-mon which have been handed down from father to son for more than two and a half centuries. During the course of his investigation, two hitherto unknown manuscripts, written by eye-witnesses of the war concerning which they gave a minutely detailed account, were brought to light. Upon these the present volume is mainly based, and where the author has deviated from them, it has been to follow what he is convinced is a more truthful account ; or, where unessential particulars are concerned, to give the novelist an opportunity for reproducing, by the creation of imaginary incidents and characters, the social physiognomy of the age in which the historical personages lived and moved.

Boston, August, 1890.

* Corrupt-sect.

Contents

Page

Preface 9

Introduction 17 %

Book First. — Two Men of Destiny

I. Captain Van Neist’s Passengers . . 25

II. Nirado Shiro makes a Startling Declaration -3°

III. Further disclosures . . . . .38

IV Anjiro, alias Paoli . . . . -43

V. The Bishop of Japan ..... 46

VI. A Vision of War 57

Book Second. — Takaboka

I. Captain Van Neist receives a Letter . . 58

II. The Governor’s Deputy loses his sword . 62

IIP The First Officer makes an Explanation. 69

IV. A Conference ...... 72

V. The Battle . ...... 77

VI. Ine Tanaka. ...... 83

Book Third. — Bishop Paoli and Nirado Shiro begin their Labors

I. In the Storm among the Dead . . .88

II. The Story of a Church Militant . . 93

III. “Takaboka and Vengeance, in the Name

IV. Among Friends . ..... 104

V. The Cave-Chapel of Kayaki . . . 108

[ii]

Contents.

Book Fourth. — The Strange Adventures of Marmion Beaumont

I. Mynheer Van Sylt has something to say .

II. The Plot of Kanshin, the Deputy

III. Ten Thousand Ryo Reward, Dead or

Alive .

IV. An English Rapier encounters a Japanese

V. The Story of a Martyrdom

• VI. The Bishop of Japan appears in a New

Role

VII. Marmion Beaumont Falls into another

Adventure

VIII. The Ordeal of the Cross ....

Book Fifth. — The Hour of the Christians’ Woe

I. Ine Tanaka’s Strange Lover

II. Lord Oda’s Place of Entertainment .

III. Ando the Hunchback ....

IV. The Warrior-Pilgrim Recounts a Family

History

V. A Climax of Perils

Book Sixth. — The Household of Mori

I. Una the Eurasian .

II. The Protestant of Unzen . . . .

III. The Story of the Rescue . . . .

IV. Hopes and Fears . . . . .

V. The Hermitage

VI. A Dream and a Portrait . . . .

VII. The Host of the Kwassui-ya has a Tale to

Tell

VIII. Old Foes in New Surroundings.

Book Seventh. — Friends and Foes Strangely Meet

I. An Incident by the Way .

Page

”7

I 2 I

*35

*53

*59

200 204 2 1 2 218 221 224

. 240

Contents.

Page

II. Fortune favors Yamada the Ronin . . 246

III. Back to Life 248

IV. Una meets her Hero 252

V. Exultation 255

VI. Him whom we would Shun we Meet. . 260

VII. Nabeshimi meets a Fair Foe and is Conquered 262

VIII. Enemies and Rivals 266

IX. The very Wonderful Exploit of Bishop

X. Her Foe and Lover 276

Book Eighth. — How they Kept Christmas at Arima

I. A Surprise that was no Surprise . . 283

II. Takaboka is Revenged .... 289

III. The Rivals meet ...... 293

IV. Yamada the Ronin again .... 300 Book Ninth. — How Nirado Shiro kept his Vow.

I. Gathering Shadows ..... 307

II. A Woman’s Battle and Victory . . .310

III. At the Hermitage ..... 317

IV. The Komamonoya’s Wooing meets with

an Interruption ..... 324

V. A Discovery that came none too soon . 329

VI. The Return of the Chief .... 331

Book Tenth — Friends Become Foes

I. Another Midnight Conflict. . . . 335

II. Death before Disgrace .... 341

III. Bearding the Foe ..... 344

IV. Sword or Famine, Which ? ... 347

V. An Awakening ...... 352

VI. The Eve of Battle ..... 355

VII. Nirado Shiro makes his Fate . . . 360

H

Contents.

Page

VIII. The Servant becomes the Master . . 364

IX. A remarkable re-conquest .... 373 Book Eleventh. — Death hath many Doors to let out Life.

Joyful Tidings

. 440

Book Twelfth. — The Light goes out in Darkness

I. A Victory that was almost Defeat . . 445

II. The Prince of Kai astonishes Marmion

Beaumont 447

III. The Day Decreed by Destiny . . .451

IV. The Prince of Kai becomes a Prophet . 457

V. The Church of Christ in Japan . . 462

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page

1. The Englishman’s rapier pierced li is adver-

sary’s wrist ..... Frontispiece

2. Head-piece to Preface ...... 9

3. Head-piece to Introduction . . . . .17

4. The Spuyten Duyvil ...... 25

5. Shiro makes a startling declaration . . -33

6. The islands in Nagasaki Bay . . . -49

7. Captain Van Neist watching the approach of the

factory boat 58

8. The boat bringing the Governor’s deputy . . 65

9. They were on the extreme edge of a ledge of

10. The boat of the three Christians . . . .88

11. A confused clamor of voices arose in the govern-

12. Shiro was now standing by the side of Paoli . 113

14. The three men were seated on the mats . .129

15. The old man bent his head over the English-

man’s shoulder ....... 145

16. She knelt reverently beside the cross . . . 161

17. Page putting on a warrior’s armor . . . 168

List of Illustrations.

1 6

Page

20. “ I beheld the Jesuit’s terrible form towering over

Lord Nebeshima ”...... 209

21. Sanji before the Lord of Kai .... 240

22. The girl stood regarding the outlaws with a ter-

23. The Ronin dashed himself against the English-

24. Straight to the place where Shiro was sitting he

25. Paoli on the wall ....... 283

26. Full on the forehead of the Prince of Kai fell the

bolt 305

28. “In Heaven’s name, what means this? Nirado

Shiro !” 321

29. Ready for the foe 335

30. The stranger turned and disappeared within the

gate 337

31. He looked down into the eyes of Ine Tanaka . 369

32. Discharging fire-arrows upon the camp of Nabe-

33. “ Ho, men of Kai, we are saved !” . . .401

34. She swung the lantern above her head . . 417

35. Paoli, reeling in his saddle, fell heavily to the

earth 433

36. After the last conflict .... . 445

37. “Who are you ?” he calls out wildly . . . 465

Introduction

IXTEEN years from the time that Ignatius Loyola and his associates founded the Society of Jesus, Francis Xavier, one of the most illustrious members of the new brotherhood, organized the first Christian church in Japan. During the next twenty years, the number of converts to the foreign faith, through special circumstances furthering the work of propagandism, increased to upwards of thirty thousand ; and, at the close of the sixteenth century, according to the official reports of the missionaries, there were six hundred thousand Japanese Christians. Another score of years, and this number had dwindled down to less than half, and in 1637, the year that witnessed the beginning of that unhappy struggle, the story of which is to be told in these pages, there could not have been more than sixty thousand both secret and openly avowed believers. What were the causes of the marvellous success which i8

Introduction.

attended the labors of the Jesuit missionaries in Japan? What were the causes of the astonishingly rapid decline and the final extirpation of the native church ?

When Xavier landed in Japan, the time was ripe for a religious revolution. For centuries civil war, anarchy and misrule had oppressed the country, and the people groaned beneath a burden of ever increasing misery. In their utter wretchedness, they looked to Buddhism for consolation, but an ignorant and morally depraved priesthood had neither ear to listen to nor heart to pity the cry of distress that rose to them throughout the length and breadth of the land. The Jesuit missionary came ; and his holy earnestness, his thrilling story of the sacrifice of the cross, and his doctrine of patient endurance in this life and immediate entrance after death into the joys of an eternal paradise, melted the hearts of thousands and won them to his faith. Nor did the convert, in his change of religion, find the transition a difficult one. The church of the Christians, he discovered, was but little different from the temple of the Buddhists, and, with proper sprinkling and blessing, the images, pictures, bells, beads, incense, candles and vestments of his old faith could serve the purposes of the new.

Another powerful motive for the friendly reception of the foreigner’s religion — a motive operating mainly among the ruling class — is to be found in the material interests which were thus promoted. The Japanese princes were quick to perceive the intimate relation that existed between commerce and Christianity, and that to welcome the missionary was to attract the merchant. It was this, which, more than anything else, brought about the wonderful success that attended the labors of the Jesuits. The native princes, vying with one another for the emoluments of the Portuguese trade, became Chris-

Introduction.

tians themselves and compelled their subjects to follow their example. Christianity became popular and was eagerly embraced by thousands ignorant of its doctrines and indifferent to the purity of life it enjoins. Thousands, too, forced to submit to its baptism, at heart hated it, and were little less than an army of spies and conspirators in the secret service of the heathen party.

Thus it happened that one of the principal causes contributing to the spread of Christianity in Japan, was, at the same time, a cause of its approaching decline and ultimate overthrow. The church became powerful ; and with power came pride and arrogance. The humble missionary grew into the haughty prelate, assuming for himself the authority and regalia of a nobleman. Expediency, conciliation, respect for rulers not Christian, and tenderness toward harmless manners and customs dear to the hearts of the Japanese people, were forgotten when once the triumph of the church seemed to be assured. A strict ecclesiastical espionage was established over the native converts, and the supremacy of the church over the government and the duty of the Christians to acknowledge an unquestioning allegiance to the Pope were clearly taught. A persecution of the Buddhists, as cruel and unprovoked as it was impolitic, was begun and carried on for the space of twenty years. The priests were either banished or put to death, the idols and temples were destroyed, and the believers were compelled to choose between exile and submission to Christian baptism. The Jesuit historian, Charlevoix, extols the zeal of the Christian princes, who, in obedience to the solicitations of Spanish and Portuguese priests, conducted this crusade against the ancient religion. “In the year 1577,” he says, “the lord of Amakusa issued a proclamation, by which his subjects were required either to turn

Introduction.

Christians or to leave the country the very next day. They almost all submitted and received baptism, so that in a short time there were more than twenty churches in his domain.” Again, in speaking of the Prince of Takatsuki, the same writer tells us how he “labored with a zeal truly apostolic to extirpate the idolators out of his state.” Thus were sown by the missionaries and their followers the seeds of bitterness, jealousy and revenge that were to grow up and to ripen into a harvest of ferocious hatred and merciless persecution against themselves.

In 1587 Hideyoshi, successor in the Shogunate to Nobunagathe enemy of the Buddhists and the patron of Christianity, issued an edict commanding all foreign priests to leave Japan within twenty days. The Jesuit missionaries, to the number of sixty-five, assembled at Hirado, but after a consultation together, they decided to remain in the country, and, at the invitation of the Christian princes, they distributed themselves throughout their dominions. Even then, had the missionaries been conciliatory and careful not to give further offense, the storm of persecution, the first warning blast of which had already fallen upon the church, might have been averted. But their zeal for what they, doubtless, conscientiously conceived to be their duty, outweighed their discretion; and, though they were permitted for a time to go unmolested save by repeated injunctions to quit the country, they at last paid the price of their temerity. February 5, 1597, just ten years after the promulgation of Ilideyoshi’s edict of expulsion, three Portuguese Jesuits, six Spanish Franciscans, and seventeen native Christians were crucified at Nagasaki. The martyrs met their fate steadfastly and joyfully. In 1862 they were canonized by Pope Pius IX.

Introduction.

The government now became alarmed for the nation’s safety. The story is told how a Spanish sea-captain was showing some Japanese officials a map of the Spanish dominions, and being asked by what method his king had acquired such enormous possessions, answered that the usual way was first to send out missionaries to convert the people to Christianity, then to send soldiers to protect the priests and their converts, and with these to subdue the country. The heathen princes, remembering the sort of instruction in statecraft, which their Christian countrymen were receiving from their foreign teachers, and hearing the inflammatory denunciations of the government, with which the Jesuit missionaries spiced their spiritual ministrations to their converts, had sufficient cause for apprehensions without the revelations which the Spanish captain made ; and it is to be borne in mind that it was not opposition to Christianity as a religion but as a cloak for political conquest which led Hideyoshi and his successors first to check and then to extirpate it.

It was not, however, until 1614 that the threatened storm broke with all its long pent up fury upon the heads of the devoted adherents of the new religion. In that year Iyeyasu Tokugawa, first Shogun of his family, issued his famous edict which declared Christianity to be an evil calling for extirpation from the soil of Japan.*

The persecution that followed was appalling. The government, through its fear for the independence of the country, was maddened into wanton cruelty ; the Buddhists were eager to revenge the persecution the Christians had inflicted upon them ; and the lawless portion of society hailed with savage delight this opportunity to

* For quotation from this celebrated proclamation, see page facing preface.

Introduction.

revel in outrage and slaughter. The large number of persons who had become Christians, either from policy or by compulsion, had already abandoned the church ; and, of those that remained, few renounced their faith. Thousands fled to Formosa, China, and the Philippines ; thousands more died upon the cross, were burned at the stake, beheaded, or buried alive. Never in the history of Christian martyrdom have greater constancy, more unflinching courage, and more joyful and triumphant faith been displayed than that witnesssed during the first half of the seventeenth century upon the execution grounds of Japan.

Nor had the missionaries taught their converts a doctrine, from an application of the consequences of which to their own lives, they themselves shrank. As they had instructed the native believers to live a life of obedience to the church, so, in the hour of trial and suffering, they taught them by example how to endure and how to die for her glory. In various disguises and at the peril of their lives, they lived among their suffering Japanese brethren, exhorting them to endure with uncomplaining patience and gladness the persecution of their foes. He most gravely errs who permits his prejudice to withhold the tribute of praise and admiration which the Jesuit missionaries, laboring in the Japan of the seventeenth century, so richly deserve. Despite their bigotry, their intolerance, their political scheming and intriguing, the deathless devotion, which they manifested toward their church and their converts, may well claim our profoundest reverence.

The persecution, which Iyeyasu’s edict had begun, was continued by his son and by his grandson, Ilidetada and lyemitsu. In 1621 Japanese subjects were forbidden to leave the country, and three years later Japan was closed

Introduction.

against all foreigners, with the exception of the Chinese and the Dutch. Iyemitsu, furthermore, ordered the destruction of all Japanese ships, and thereafter only small junks were allowed to be built. Having thus taken every precaution that his countrymen should no longer come in contact with the forbidden nations, the young Shogun turned his attention to the extermination of the native Christian church ; and it was in the fourteenth year of his rule that the events narrated in the following pages took place.

PAOLI;

THE LAST OF THE MISSIONARIES.

Book First. Two Men Of Destiny

I.

CAPTAIN VAN NEIST’S PASSENGERS.

WARD the close of a warm September day in the year 1637, a large Dutch merchantman, the Spuyten Duyvil, Jansen Van Neist, master, shook out her sails to the wind, and gliding slowly out of the harbor of Manila, turned her prow northward toward the island-empire of Japan. Nearly a year had passed by since the good ship had sailed from Amsterdam laden with a cargo of merchandise for the factory of the Dutch East India Company at Hirado and a pri-

Paoli ; the Last of the Missionaries.

vate trading station at Nagasaki ; but storms and calms had conspired together, it had seemed, to oppose her progress, until her hot-tempered captain had sworn that of the many voyages of his twenty-five years of seafaring life, this one had been the most unsatisfactory and annoying. As the voyage dragged its wearisome course along, this observation of Captain Van Neist’s, uttered with daily increasing vehemence, gradually took the place of his ordinary morning greeting to the sole European passenger aboard the Spuyten Duyvil. This passenger, Marmion Beaumont, a young Englishman, had come aboard at Amsterdam as the representative of a company of London merchants who, from 1614 to 1624, had conducted a factory at Hirado on the west coast of the island of Kiushiu, and who now was sending an agent to collect, if possible, some outstanding debts from the Japanese traders.

In addition to Beaumont there were two other passengers aboard, bound for Japan. While the Spuyten Duyvil lay in the harbor of Manila, where she had put in for repairs, Van Neist and the Englishman, whom the associations of the long voyage had made fast friends, formed the acquaintance of a young Japanese named Nirado Shiro, who had come to the Philippines from his native land, in the company of a missionary some ten years before. He had spent these years in study at the Jesuit college in Manila, and spoke Spanish very fluently. Shiro asked passage to Nagasaki for himself and a friend who was wishing to return to Japan. Van Neist cheerfully consented to take them, and the following evening the young Japanese and his friend, who gave his name as Anjiro, came aboard, both dressed in the fashion peculiar to their country.

At first but little attention was paid to Anjiro, who

Pa oil ; the Post of the Missionaries.

2 7 seemed to be a silent and reserved sort of a person, never speaking except to answer some question addressed to him, and then always, if possible, in monosyllables and with a decided Japanese accent. Whenever any communication of difficult meaning or of great length was made, Anjiro would call upon his friend to interpret for him, his knowledge of Spanish extending, it seemed, no further than the understanding of easy sentences and common-place remarks. He was tall and well built; Van Neist on one occasion remarking to Shiro, who was extremely slight of figure, that his friend Anjiro was the largest and strongest looking Japanese he had ever seen ; but Shiro assured him that much heavier built and taller men were quite common in the extreme south of his country.

Among the crew of the Spuyten Duyvil , Anjiro soon came to be regarded with feelings of mingled respect and fear. One sailor declared that he Lelieved that the big Japanese, as Anjiro was called by the seamen, was either a snake-charmer or a sorcerer. Another affirmed that he had seen him one night standing in the bow of the ship swinging his arms and uttering strange ejaculations, and that, in less than an hour afterwards the wind was blowing a heavy gale. He was convinced that he was a magician. A third believed that he had dealings with the devil, and would not be surprised to find that some misfortune befell everything on which his evil eye had looked.

One evening, about a week after the Spuyten Duyvil had left the Philippines, Anjiro was standing alone in the bow of the vessel, above where the rushing prow furrowed the calm surface of the sea into two diverging lines of foam. There was, indeed, something about this strangely silent man that could not fail to arrest the attention of the beholder. Apparently about forty-five years of age, his well-knit frame and vigorous constitution betokened perfect health. His noble and command ing figure, military bearing, and thoroughly intellectual countenance would have made him conspicuous anywhere. But more remarkable than all else were his eyes. The square chin and firmly set mouth might betoken a strong will ; the finely-chiseled features and high, full forehead, intellectual power ; but no one could catch a glance from those wonderful eyes, that shone forth from his swarthy countenance like wells of living fire, without feeling conscious that he stood in the presence of a man possessing qualities that raised him above even the more gifted of his fellow-men. On the evening we have just spoken of, as he stood in his chosen place for solitary meditation, his gaze was fixed straight forward on the distant horizon as if he would call up a vision of the shores that lay still far away beyond. He had cast off his hat, and with his head thrown slightly back, he stood as motionless as a statue, only the lines of his face revealing that he was thrilled by some transporting joy or terrible grief. Then, as he stood thus, apparently oblivious to all his surroundings, his frame seemed to tremble with the deep emotions that surged through his soul, his features grew rigid, his eyes slowly closed, his hands stole quietly to his breast and were clasped together as if in prayer, the lips moved and then closed tightly, his face grew ashy pale, and for a moment the strange being seemed to have fallen into a trance. But it was only for a moment. The color rushed back to his face, the lips parted, and a fluttering sigh broke from them, the hands unclasped and dropped again to his side, his features relaxed, and his chin sank upon his breast, his eyes remaining closed.

The sound of footsteps behind him roused Anjiro from

Paoli ; the Last of the Missionaries.

the reverie into which lie had fallen lie raised his head, and with a mighty yet imperceptible struggle crushed down all evidences of his recent display of emotion. It was Shiro who was approaching, and behind him, at some distance, Anjiro saw Beaumont and Van Neist. The strangely luminous eyes of the elder man met those of Shiro, and with a voice steady enough, but still evincing the difficulty with which its owner kept it under control, he said :

“ I have seen it again, Shiro. The days of visions are still upon the earth. I saw again the red horse of war, his mane clotted with gouts of carnage ; I heard the roar of battle, the hoarse shout of the warrior, the shriek of the dying. I beheld the midnight skies flame red with the burning temples of the accursed Buddha ; I looked, and before me armed bands of men contended for the mastery ; I saw them locked together in the death grapple ; my heart stood still as they reeled to and fro in the mad fury of the fight, covering the green earth beneath them with their slain. At last one army broke and fled away into the darkness ; I saw the victors as they followed after in swift pursuit, and as their conquering banners swept past me, lo ! I beheld emblazoned thereon the figure of our Christ and his cross, and sweeter than angels’ song, was borne to my ears the ‘ Yaso-Maria,'* the battle cry of the Christians — the paean of triumph. But hush ! they who have no part with us are at hand !’’

Jesus and Mary.

II.

NIRADO SHIRO MAKES A STARTLING DECLARATION.

It was Van Neist and the young Englishman who were now coming up to the place where the two friends were standing. Turning around, Shiro joined in conversation with them, but Anjiro relapsed into his accustomed silence, replying only in monosyllables to the remarks that Beaumont addressed to him.

The conversation turned finally upon religious subjects and particularly the persecution which the Japanese Christians were then suffering. Beaumont was outspoken in his denunciation of the barbaric character of a government that was visiting its unoffending subjects with such wanton destruction for their religious belief.

“Mynheer Beaumont,’’ interposed the captain, “you are not to forget that if religious persecution be taken as a mark of barbarism, our Western civilization would scarcely be worthy of American savages. Had the missionaries who went to Japan been more the peacebringing servants of Christ and less the intriguing emissaries of a foreign power, the result, I doubt not, would have been different.”

“ True, perhaps,” responded Beaumont, who understood what Van Neist’s allusion to a foreign power meant, /“ yet despite their bondage to an ecclesiastical system, the devotion of these men to their converts that has led them to remain with them at the peril of their lives, or, having left the country, secretly to return, and with their native brethren to suffer untold persecutions and death, is to me one of the most touching pictures of Christian loyalty

Paoli ; the Last of the Missionaries .

that the history of the church affords ; and were it in my power to aid such zeal and constancy I should consider myself thrice happy in the opportunity.”/

Beaumont spoke with impassioned earnestness, his fine eyes glowing with fervid enthusiasm. Van Neist scanned his face closely and then said : “ I caution you, Mynheer,

that you be more reserved in expressing your views after we reach Japan. I am only a plain, unlearned man, but twenty-five years of voyaging through all seas, and to almost every land, has taught me some things ; and especially have I learned the imprudence of uttering one’s thoughts too freely ; and should the opportunity to help a Catholic missionary, which you seem to crave, come to you, I trust you will not attempt to do it aboard the Spuyten Duyvil, seeing that we are bound by the most solemn promises to the Japanese government to grant passage or to render assistance to no foreign priest. I would not interfere with your liberty, nor do even a Jesuit wrong, yet on behalf of my employers and their interests in Japan I must make this request.”

Beaumont was rebuked by the words of the captain and he felt that he had allowed his enthusiasm to carry him beyond the bounds of prudence.

“ Believe me, Captain Van Neist,” he said, humbly, “my zeal outran my discretion, as you have said ; but I assure you I shall do nothing that will compromise my friends.”

“ I shall accept your word for it.”

“You may with safety. I shall endeavor to follow your advice, and be more cautious hereafter.”

“ There is need of it, I do assure you, my young friend. You will find the Japanese officials jealous of all foreigners ; a word will arouse their most bitter prejudices, and that would be fatal to the interests which has brought you to the East.”