CHAPTER XXI
Spanish Friars in Japan—Extension of Japanese Trade—Progress of the Dutch in the Eastern Seas—They open a Trade with Japan—Emperor’s Letter—Shipwreck of Don Rodrigo de Vivero on the Japanese Coast—His Reception, Observations, and Departure—Destruction of a Portuguese Carac by the Japanese—Another Dutch Ship arrives—Spex’s Charter—Embassies from Macao and New Spain—Father Louis Sotelo and his Projects—A. D. 1607-1618.
The Dutch and English, though they had not yet reached Japan, were already, especially the Dutch, making great progress in the Indian seas; but it was not by them alone that the Portuguese monopoly of Japanese commerce and Japanese conversion was threatened.
Taking advantage of the bull of Clement VII, already referred to, a multitude of Spanish friars from Manila poured into Japan, whose first and chief business it was, according to the Jesuit letter-writers and historians, to declaim with vehemence against the conduct of the fathers of the company, whom they represented as altogether too circumspect, reserved, and timid in the publication of the gospel. The fanaticism of these Spanish friars was excessive, in illustration of which the Jesuit historians relate, with malicious satisfaction, the following story: One of them, in a dispute with one of the shipwrecked Hollanders of Adams’ company (perhaps with Adams himself), to sustain the authority of the Catholic church, appealed to its miraculous power, and when this obstinate Dutch heretic questioned the reality of any such power, and challenged an exhibition of it, the fanatical missionary undertook to convince him by walking himself on the sea. A day was appointed for the miracle. The Spaniard prepared himself by confession, prayer, and fasting. A crowd of Japanese assembled to see it, and the friar, after a confident exhortation to the multitude, stepped, crucifix in hand, into the water, certain of being buoyed up by faith and providence. But he was soon floundering over his head, and was only saved from drowning by some boats sent to his assistance; nor did this experiment add much either to the faith of the Dutchman or to the docility of the Japanese. About this same time, also, the institution of parish priests was introduced; but this, like the admission of friars, led only to new disputes and collisions.
The merchants of Manila, no less than the monks, still looked with longing eyes in the direction of Japan, anxious to share in its commerce; and Don Rodrigo de Vivero, upon his accession to that government, by way of conciliation discharged from confinement and sent home some two hundred Japanese, whom he found imprisoned there, either by way of retaliation for the confiscation of the “San Philip” and the execution of the Spanish missionaries, or for some other cause.
Besides these European rivals, a dangerous competition in the way of trade seems to have been threatened on the part of the Japanese themselves, who appear to have been much more adventurous at this time, whether in point of navigation or the visiting of foreign countries, than the present jealous policy of their government permits. Japanese vessels frequented Manila for the purchase of rich China silks, which formed the chief article of export from Macao to Japan, the policy of China and the relations of Japan towards her not allowing a direct trade. Japanese vessels appeared even in the Pacific Spanish-American ports. It is to this period that the Japanese ascribe the conquest by the king of Satsuma of the Lew Chew Islands; and Macao, Siam, and Annam are enumerated, on Japanese authority, as additional places to which Japanese vessels traded.[69]
The Portuguese seem, on the other hand, to have had little left of that courage and spirit by which their forefathers of the preceding century had been so distinguished. The Dutch cruisers in the East Indies proved a great annoyance to them. In 1603 they blockaded Goa, and the same year Hemkirk took the carac of Macao, a prize of fourteen hundred tons, and valued, with her cargo, at several millions of florins. When the Dutch, under Matelief, attacked Malacca, in 1606, the Portuguese were greatly indebted to a small body of Japanese, who formed a part of the garrison, for their success in repelling the assault. On the other hand, in 1608 a large number of Japanese, obliged to winter at Macao, got into collision with the Portuguese authorities of that city, who suspected them of a design to seize the place, and who, in consequence, put a number of them to death. During this and the two preceding years the annual Portuguese carac had been prevented from sailing from Macao by fear of Dutch cruisers; and, with the effect of this interruption of intercourse and of the bad feeling produced by the collision at Macao, still other circumstances coöperated to endanger the Portuguese ascendency.
The first was the arrival at Hirado, in July, 1609, of the Dutch vessel, the “Red Lion,” attended by the yacht “Griffon.” They belonged to the fleet of Verhœven, who had left Holland December 12, 1607, with thirteen ships (of which several were of a thousand tons burden), nineteen hundred men, and three hundred and seventy-seven pieces of artillery. The Portuguese fleet, which sailed about the same time from Lisbon, to take out a new viceroy to Goa, was composed of eight great caracs and six galleons. This fleet was scattered by a storm off the Canaries, and one of the galleons, mounting ten cannon, and with one hundred and eighty men, fell into Verhœven’s hands. He had previously made an unsuccessful attack on Mozambique; but had taken, however, in the harbor a carac, mounting thirty-four guns and loaded with merchandise. Off Goa another carac was burned by the Portuguese, to prevent its falling into the hands of the Dutch, who proceeded to Calicut, where a treaty of alliance against the Portuguese was entered into with the king. The Dutch then proceeded by Cochin to Johor, on the peninsula of Malacca (whence the two ships were despatched to Japan) and finally to Bantam and the Moluccas, where the Dutch expected that a truce with Spain, announced by a ship late from Holland, would enable them to devote all their strength to guard against the English, who were also aiming at an establishment in those islands.
Temple of Hideyoshi, Kyōtō
The ships detached from Johor, equally equipped for trading and for fighting, as were all the Indiamen of that period, having missed, by being a few days too late, the carac of Macao, proceeded to carry out their instructions for opening a commercial intercourse with Japan. They were very kindly received at Hirado, whence they sent a deputation to the emperor’s court, with presents, in the name of the Stadtholder, and were successful in obtaining leave to establish a factory at Hirado, for the supply of which with goods the Dutch were to send a ship or two yearly. The “Red Lion,” arriving in the Texel, July, 1610, carried back the following letter:
THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN TO THE KING OF HOLLAND.
“I, emperor and king of Japan, wish to the king of Holland [prince of Orange] who hath sent from so far countries to visit me, greeting.
“I rejoice greatly in your writing and sending unto me, and wish that our countries were nearer the one to the other, whereby we might continue and increase the friendship begun betwixt us, through your presence, whom I imagine in earnest to see; in respect I am unknown unto your majesty, and that your love towards me is manifested through your liberality in honoring me with four presents, whereof, though I had no need, yet, coming in your name, I received them in great worth, and hold them in good esteem.
“And further, whereas the Hollanders, your majesty’s subjects, desire to trade with their shipping in my country (which is of little value and small), and to traffic with my subjects, and desire to have their abiding near unto my court, whereby in person I might help and assist them, which cannot be as now, through the inconvenience of the country; yet, notwithstanding, I will not neglect, as already I have been, to be careful of them, and to give in charge to all my governors and subjects that, in what places and havens, in what port soever they shall arrive, they shall show them all favor and friendships to their persons, ships, and merchandise; wherein your majesty or your subjects need not to doubt or fear aught to the contrary. For they may come as freely as if they came into your majesty’s own havens and countries, and so may remain in my country to trade. And the friendship begun between me and my subjects with you shall never be impaired on my behalf, but augmented and increased.
“I am partly ashamed that your majesty (whose name and renown through your valorous deeds is spread through the whole world) should cause your subjects to come from so far countries into a country so unfitting as this is, to visit me, and to offer unto me such friendships as I have not deserved. But considering that your affection hath been the cause thereof, I could not but friendly entertain your subjects, and yield to their requests, whereof this shall serve for a testimony; that they in all places, countries, and islands under mine obedience, may trade, and traffic, and build houses serviceable and needful for their trade and merchandises, where they may trade without any hindrance at their pleasure, as well in time to come as for the present, so that no man shall do them any wrong. And I will maintain and defend them as mine own subjects.
“I promise, likewise, that the persons whom I understand shall be left here, shall now and at all times be held as recommended unto me, and in all things to favor them, whereby your majesty shall find us as your friends and neighbors.
“For other matters passed between me and your majesty’s servants, which would be too long here to repeat, I refer myself unto them.”[70]
The Dutch were greatly indebted for their success to Matsuura Hōin, king of Hirado, who interested himself greatly in the establishment of a Dutch factory in his island. In fact, it had been at his expense that the two Dutchmen, shipmates of Adams, had some years before been sent to Patania upon their promise to induce their countrymen to open a trade to Japan. In addition to this outlay, which had amounted to fifteen hundred taels, he had furnished the Dutch belonging to the two recently arrived vessels with a galley manned with fifty-six rowers, for their visit to court, of which they had the use for two months; and he had, besides, accommodated them by purchasing all their pepper and silk, the latter article at a considerable loss to himself.
Some time previous to the arrival of these Dutch ships, in the autumn of 1608, Don Rodrigo de Vivero, the late governor of Manila, returning to New Spain in the galleon the “St. Francis,” was wrecked on the southeast coast of Nippon.[71] At first it was not known what land it was, but a Japanese Catholic on board soon recognized it. The crew, who had escaped to the shore, proceeded to a neighboring village, the people of which evinced much compassion for them, the women even shedding tears. They gave them clothing and food (consisting of rice, pulse, and a little fish), and sent word to the Tono, or lord of the district, who issued orders that they should be well treated, but not suffered to remove.
They were soon visited by the Tono, who came in great pomp, preceded by three hundred men; some bearing banners, others armed with lances, matchlocks, and halberts. He saluted Don Rodrigo with much politeness, by a motion of his head and hand, and placed him on his left, that being considered the place of honor among the Japanese, because the swords are worn on that side. He made Don Rodrigo several presents, and took upon himself the subsistence of the party, allowing two Spanish officers to proceed to the emperor’s court, to communicate to him and to his son and, according to the Japanese custom, colleague, the details of the case.
Yedo, where the emperor’s son resided, was about forty leagues distant, and Suruga, where the emperor held his court, still forty leagues further. The messengers returned in twenty-four days, with an officer of the prince, charged with a message of condolence from the emperor, and leave to visit their courts. All the property that could be saved from the wreck was given up to the Spaniards.
The first place on their route was a town of ten or twelve thousand inhabitants. The Tono took Don Rodrigo to his castle, situated on a height, and surrounded by a ditch fifty feet deep, passed by a drawbridge. The gates were of iron; the walls of solid masonry, eighteen feet high, and the same in thickness. Near the first gate stood a hundred musketeers, and between that and the second gate, which opened through a second wall, were houses, gardens, orchards, and rice-fields. The dwelling rooms were of wood, exquisitely finished and adorned with a profusion of gold, silver, varnish, etc.
All the way to Yedo the density of the population greatly surprised the Spaniards, who were everywhere well lodged and entertained. They entered that city amid such a crowd, that the officers of police had to force a way for them,—and yet the streets were very broad. Such crowds collected about the house which the prince had ordered to be prepared for them, that they had no rest; till at last a guard was placed about it, and a tablet set up, prohibiting the populace from molesting them. Of the city Rodrigo gives this description: “Yedo contains seven hundred thousand inhabitants, and is traversed by a considerable river which is navigable by vessels of moderate size. By this river, which divides in the interior into several branches, the inhabitants are supplied with provisions and necessaries, which are so cheap that a man may live comfortably for a rial (five cents) a day. The Japanese do not make much wheaten bread, though what they do make is excellent. The streets and squares of Yedo are very handsome, clean, and well kept. The houses are of wood, and mostly of two stories. The exterior is less imposing than with us, but they are far handsomer and more comfortable within. Towards the street the houses have covered galleries, and each street is occupied by persons of the same calling; carpenters in one, jewellers in another, tailors in another, including many trades unknown in Europe. The merchants and traders dwell together in the same way. Provisions also are sold in places appointed for each sort. I observed a market where game was sold; there was a great supply of rabbits, hares, wild boars, deer, and other animals which I never saw before. The Japanese rarely eat any flesh but that of game, which they hunt. The fish market, very extensive and extremely neat and clean, affords a great variety of fish, sea and river, fresh and salt; and there were large tubs containing live fish. Adjoining the inns are places where they let and sell horses, and these places are so numerous, that the traveller, who, according to custom, changes his horse every league, is only embarrassed where to choose. The nobles and great men inhabit a distant part of the city, and their quarter is distinguished by the armorial ornaments, sculptured, painted, or gilt, placed over the doors of the houses,—a privilege to which the Japanese nobles attach great value. The political authority is vested in a governor, who is chief of the magistracy, civil and military. In each street resides a magistrate who takes cognizance, in the first instance, of all cases, civil and criminal, submitting the more difficult to the governor. The streets are closed at each end by a gate, which is shut at nightfall. At each gate is placed a guard of soldiers, with sentinels at intervals; so that, if a crime is committed, notice is conveyed instantly to each end of the street, and, the gates being closed, it rarely happens that the offender escapes. This description is applicable to all the other cities in the kingdom.”
After an interval of two days, the prince sent his secretary, whose name was Honda Kōzuke-no-Suke, to invite Don Rodrigo to visit him. The palace he describes as enclosed by a wall of immense blocks of freestone, put together without cement, with embrasures, at equal distances, well furnished with artillery. At the foot of this wall was a deep wet ditch, crossed by a drawbridge of a peculiar and very ingenious construction. Don Rodrigo passed through two ranks of musketeers, about one thousand in number, to the second wall, distant from the first three hundred paces. At the gate four hundred lancers and pikemen were stationed. A third wall, about twelve feet high, was guarded by three hundred halberdiers. Within was the palace, with the royal stables on one side, containing three hundred horses, and on the other an arsenal with arms for one hundred thousand men. Rodrigo affirms that from the entrance to the palace were more than twenty thousand men, not assembled for the occasion, but constantly employed and paid for the daily service of the court.
The first apartment of the palace was entirely covered with rich ornaments, carpets, stuffs, velvet, and gold. The walls were hung with pictures representing hunting subjects. Each apartment exceeded the preceding in splendor, till the further one was reached, in which the prince was seated on a superb carpet of crimson velvet, embroidered with gold, placed upon a kind of platform, raised two steps, in the centre of the apartment. He wore three dresses, one over the other, the exterior one green and yellow; in his girdle were his longer and shorter swords. His hair was tied up with ribbons of different colors, and his head had no other ornament. He was about thirty-five years of age; of a brown complexion, a pleasing figure, and good height. Don Rodrigo was conducted to a seat on the left hand of the prince, who conversed with him on a variety of indifferent subjects.
Four days after, the travellers set off for Suruga, on a visit to the emperor. The road is thus described: “On whatsoever side the traveller turns his eyes, he perceives a concourse of people passing to and fro, as in the most populous cities of Europe. The roads are lined on both sides with superb pine-trees, which keep off the sun. The distances are marked by little eminences planted with two trees.” In the hundred leagues between Suruga and Miyako, several towns were passed, estimated to contain one hundred thousand inhabitants, and a village occurred at every quarter of a league. Rodrigo declares himself so delighted with Japan, that, “if he could have prevailed upon himself to renounce his God and his king, he should have preferred that country to his own.”
He estimated Suruga to contain from five to six hundred thousand inhabitants. The climate was more agreeable than that of Yedo, but the city not so handsome. As at Yedo, a convenient residence was provided for him, which the crowd besieged as they had done there. The emperor sent a secretary to compliment him on his arrival, with a present of rich dresses, and in about a week he had his presentation. He was conveyed in an elegant litter to the palace, which was a fortress like that at Yedo. On the whole, there was less display than at the prince’s court, but more marks of power and fear. The interview with the emperor is thus described: “I followed the minister, who conducted me into the presence of the sovereign, whom I saluted. He was in a kind of square box, not very large, but astonishingly rich. It was placed two steps above the floor, and surrounded at four paces’ distance by a gold lattice-work, six feet high, in which were small doors, by which the emperor’s attendants went in and out, as they were called from the crowd, prostrate on their hands and knees around the lattice.[72] The monarch was encircled by nearly twenty grandees, ministers or principal courtiers, in long silk mantles, and trousers of the same material, so long that they entirely concealed the feet. The emperor was seated on a kind of stool, of blue satin, worked with stars and half-moons of silver. In his girdle he wore a sword, and had his hair tied up with ribbons of different colors, but had no other head-dress. His age appeared to be about sixty.[73] He was of the middle stature, and of a very full person. His countenance was venerable and gracious; his complexion not near so brown as that of the prince.”
As if to magnify the emperor, Don Rodrigo was detained during the introduction of a Tono of high rank, who brought presents in gold, silver, and silk, worth twenty thousand ducats. At a hundred paces from the throne he prostrated himself with his face to the floor, and remained in this posture for several minutes in perfect silence, neither the emperor nor either of the ministers vouchsafing a word. He then retired with his suite, consisting of three thousand persons. After other exhibitions of the same sort, Don Rodrigo, having been directed to make what requests he would, was conducted by two ministers to a third apartment, whence other great officers escorted him out of the palace with all ceremony.
Afterwards he was entertained by Kōzukedono, the prime minister, at a magnificent collation, the host pledging his health in exquisite Japanese wine [sake?] by placing the glass upon his head.[74] The Spaniard presented at this time a memorandum of his requests translated into Japanese. They were three: first, that the royal protection might be granted to Christian priests of different orders who then resided in the empire, and that they might not be molested in the free use and disposal of their houses and churches; secondly, that amity might continue between the emperor and the king of Spain; and, lastly, that, as an evidence of that friendship, the emperor would not permit the Dutch (whose arrival has already been mentioned) to reside in his territories, but would drive them out—since, besides being enemies of Spain, they were little better than pirates and sea-rovers.
The minister, the next day, after another collation, reported the emperor’s answer, who had remarked, with admiration, that Don Rodrigo, though destitute, had asked nothing for himself, but had regarded only the interests of his religion and his king. The two first requests were granted. As to the expulsion of the Hollanders, that, the emperor said, “will be difficult this year, as they have my royal word for permission to sojourn in Japan; but I am obliged to Don Rodrigo for letting me know what characters they are.” The emperor offered the shipwrecked Spaniard one of the ships of European model, which the pilot Adams had built for him, in which to proceed to New Spain; and he begged him to request King Philip to send to Japan fifty miners, as he understood those of New Spain to be very skilful, whereas those of Japan did not obtain from the ore half the silver it was capable of yielding.
Don Rodrigo soon after set out for Shimo, where he was to take ship. From Suruga to Miyako, estimated at one hundred leagues, the country was mostly level and very fertile. Several considerable rivers were crossed in large ferry-boats by means of a cable stretched from bank to bank. Provisions were very cheap. His idea of the population of the country grew more and more exaggerated. He insists that he did not pass a town of less population than one hundred and fifty thousand; and Miyako, which he considers the largest city in the world, he sets down at one million five hundred thousand.[75] Situated upon a highly cultivated plain, its walls were ten leagues in circuit, as Don Rodrigo ascertained by riding round them on horseback. It took him an entire day. He enters into a number of details about the Dairi and his court. He was powerless, and lived in splendid poverty. The court of the governor of Miyako, who had six vice-governors under him, was scarcely less splendid than that of the emperor. He told Don Rodrigo that this city contained five thousand temples and more than fifty thousand public women. He showed him a temple, the largest building he had seen in Japan, containing statues of all the gods, and another in which was an immense bronze statue, the size of which filled him with astonishment. “I ordered,” he says, “one of my people to measure the thumb of the right hand; but, although he was a person of the ordinary size, he could not quite encircle it with both arms. But the size of the statue is not its only merit; the feet, hands, mouth, eyes, forehead, and other features are as perfect and expressive as the most accomplished painter could make a portrait. When I first visited this temple it was unfinished; more than one hundred thousand men were daily employed upon it. The devil could not suggest to the emperor a surer expedient to get rid of this immense wealth.”[76]
The temple and tomb of Taikō-Sama, raised since his death to the rank of the gods, is thus described by Rodrigo, who deplores the dedication of such an edifice to one whose “soul is in hell for all eternity.” The entrance was by an avenue paved with jasper four hundred feet by three hundred. On each side, at equal distances, were posts of jasper, on which were placed lamps lighted at night. At the end of this passage was the peristyle of the temple, ascended by several steps, and having on the right a monastery of priests. The principal gate was encrusted with jasper and overlaid with gold and silver ornaments skilfully wrought. The nave of the temple was supported by lofty columns. There was a choir, as in European cathedrals, with seats and a grating all round. Male and female choristers chanted the prayers, much as in Catholic churches, and the surplices put Rodrigo in mind of the prebends of Toledo. The church was filled with silent devotees. Four of the priests accosted him, and seem to have put him to great uneasiness by conducting him to the altar of their “infamous relics,” surrounded with an infinite number of lamps. After raising five or six curtains, covering as many gratings, first of iron, then of silver, and the last one of gold, a kind of chest was exposed, in which were contained the ashes of Taikō-Sama. Within this enclosure none but the chief priests could enter. All the Japanese prostrated themselves.
Hastening to quit “this accursed spot,” Rodrigo was accompanied by the priests to their gardens, exceeding, he says, those of Aranjuez.
Of the religion of Japan he makes the following observation: “The Japanese, like us, use holy, or rather unholy, water, and chaplets consecrated to their false gods, Shaka [Buddha] and Nido [Amida], which are not the only ones that they worship, for there are no less than thirty-five different sects or religions in Japan. Some deny the immortality of the soul, others adore divers gods, and others yet the elements. All are tolerated. The bonzes of all the sects having concurred in a request to the emperor that he would expel our monks, the prince, troubled with their importunities, inquired how many different religions there were in Japan. ‘Thirty-five,’was the reply. ‘Well,’said he, ‘where thirty-five sects can be tolerated, we can easily bear with thirty-six;—leave the strangers in peace.’” He estimates the Christians at three hundred thousand,—a much more probable number than the eighteen hundred thousand at which they were reckoned by the missionaries,[77] whose reckoning was the same now that it had been ten years before.
From Miyako Don Rodrigo proceeded to Fushimi, adjoining, where he embarked for Ōsaka, ten leagues down a river, as large as the Guadalquivir at Seville, and full of vessels. Ōsaka, built close to the sea, he reckons to contain one million inhabitants. Here he embarked in a junk for Nagasaki. Not finding his vessel in proper repair, he accepted an invitation from the emperor to return to Suruga, where he renewed his endeavors to persuade that prince to expel the Dutch, but without effect. At last, with presents and despatches for the king of Spain, he set sail August 1, 1610, after a stay in Japan of nearly two years.[78]
Meanwhile an event occurred of which Rodrigo makes no mention, but for which the Portuguese were inclined to hold him responsible, no less than the Dutch. The annual carac from Macao had arrived, as we have seen, in the autumn of 1609, after an interval of three years, commanded, as it happened, by the very same person who had been chief magistrate there on occasion of the late seizure and execution of certain Japanese. The emperor, strengthened, as it was thought, by the expectation of Dutch and Spanish trade, encouraged the prince of Arima to revenge the death of his subjects who had perished at Macao; and when the carac was ready to sail on her return voyage she was attacked by a fleet of Japanese boats. They were two or three times repulsed, but, taking the carac at a disadvantage, becalmed and drifted into a narrow passage, they succeeded in setting her on fire, and in destroying her with all her crew.
Both the Dutch factors who had been left in Japan, and the king of that island, Hōin-Sama, who had exerted himself greatly for the establishment of Dutch commerce, were not a little annoyed at the non-appearance of any Dutch vessels at Hirado during the year 1610. The Dutch in the East Indies had, indeed, at this moment other things to attend to. Verhœven, after his return to the Moluccas, had been entrapped and treacherously slain at Banda, by the natives of that island, along with many of his principal officers. This, however, did not prevent the Dutch from soon after making a treaty with these islanders, by which they obtained the sole right of purchasing their nutmegs and mace, and which they followed up by the establishment of not less than seven forts in the Molucca Islands, and by vigorous, though as yet unsuccessful, attempts to drive away the Spaniards who had come to the aid of the Portuguese.
A Scene in the Palace Gardens, Kyōtō
The Moluccas thus occupied, Admiral Wittert, who had succeeded to the command of the Dutch fleet, sailed with part of the ships for Manila; for though the truce between Spain and Holland was known, it had not been proclaimed in the East Indies, and was not regarded by either party. Here, unfortunately, Wittert suffered himself to be surprised by a much superior Spanish force, and though he fought with the greatest courage till he fell, his own ship and two others were taken, and another blown up, two only making their escape.
Immediately upon the arrival of the “Red Lion” in Holland, a number of ships had been fitted out for Japan; but the first to arrive was a small yacht, called the “Brach,” in July, 1611, with only a trifling cargo of cloths, silks, pepper, ivory, and lead. Presently a government officer came on board to demand a manifest of the cargo to be sent to the emperor; but this the Dutch did not like to submit to, as the Portuguese were free from it, and especially as the present cargo was so trifling. These demands being renewed, finally, though somewhat perplexed by the small means they had of making presents, they resolved upon a new mission to the emperor’s court. The king of Hirado advised them also to extend their visit to the hereditary prince at Yedo, and not to omit paying their respects to Hideyori at Ōsaka, son of the late emperor, and who might yet mount the throne. The king of Hirado furnished a galley, in addition to one belonging to the factories, and two commissioners, of whom the principal was Jacob Spex, set out for Suruga, July 17, with an interpreter and a Japanese gentleman as a guide or conductor[79].
The 6th of August they reached Ōsaka, defended by a fine castle, in which dwelt Hideyori, now eighteen years of age. He had always been kept secluded, but enjoyed a large revenue, and had many adherents, by whom, as the Dutch learned, the hope of placing him on the throne was zealously entertained.
Arriving at Miyako, they learned that a Portuguese embassy had passed through it four days preceding. They were deputies from Macao, who had landed at Kagoshima, in a small vessel, and had gone with rich presents to the emperor to solicit a renewal of trade and indemnification for the vessels destroyed at Nagasaki two years before. Accompanied by a large number of trumpeters and other musicians, they marched, with great pomp, to the sound of the instruments, the whole of them, even their black slaves, clothed in velvet of a uniform color. The governor of Miyako, to whom they had made rich presents, had furnished them with eighty-eight horses, which they had equipped at their own expense.
Nor was this governor (the same apparently who had entertained Don Rodrigo) less bountiful to the Dutch. He furnished them with horses, a passport, and letters to the chief of the emperor’s council, but refused their presents, not being accustomed, he said, to take anything from strangers. When they pressed him, he still refused to accept anything now, but promised, if they had anything left at their return, to allow them to remember him,—a piece of disinterestedness by which the economical Dutch were greatly charmed.
Just before reaching Suruga they encountered Adams, the English pilot, to whom they had written, and who, upon arriving at Suruga, hastened to Kōzukeno-Suke, the same secretary of the emperor seen by Don Rodrigo, but whom the Dutch call president of the council, to solicit for them a speedy audience. While waiting for it, they learned that the Portuguese ambassadors had not been very successful; nor had a Spanish embassy, which had just arrived from New Spain, with thanks to the emperor for his courtesies to Don Rodrigo. The presents of this ambassador were very splendid; but his carriage was so haughty as to displease the Japanese. He demanded leave for the Spaniards to build ships, for which the forests and workmen of Japan afforded greater facilities than either Manila or New Spain, and to explore the coasts, the Spaniards’ ignorance of which had cost them the loss of some valuable vessels. This was agreed to; but the emperor declined the request for the expulsion of the Dutch, saying that he had nothing to do with these European quarrels. Adams was present at these interviews; nor did he fail by his representations to excite the suspicions of the emperor against the Spaniards.
Gotō Shōzaburō, the emperor’s treasurer, freely told the Dutch that the Spaniards and Portuguese had represented him as coming to Japan rather as privateersmen than as traders, and that, as might be seen by the smallness of their present cargo, their chief resource for trade was in the prizes they took. But Adams entered with great zeal into their defence, insisting upon their honesty and fairness as the qualities which had given them such success in trade, referring to the recent truce with Spain as showing that plunder was not their object, and excusing the smallness of the present venture by the lack, as yet, of any regular treaty.
These representations were not without their effect. Kōzukeno-Suke received the Dutch very graciously, approved the requests which they made on the subject of trade, and promised to lay them before the emperor pending their visit to Yedo, for which he furnished them with vessels, horses, and guides. With much persuasion he was at last induced to accept a present, which the Dutch regarded as a special favor, as he had positively declined any from the Portuguese and Spaniards. Before their departure, they were admitted to an audience from the emperor, who inquired of them how many soldiers they had in the Moluccas[80]; whether they traded to Borneo; whether it were true that the best camphor came from that island; what odoriferous woods the Dutch had in their country; and other similar questions, to which they replied through their interpreter. After they had taken their leave, Kōzukedono and Gotō Shōzaburō reconducted them out of the hall, at the same time felicitating them on their favorable audience. It was very unusual, they said, for the emperor to make himself so familiar; he did not bestow such a favor even on the greatest lords of the empire, who brought him presents of the value of ten, twenty, and thirty thousand taels; nor had he said a single word to the Portuguese and Spanish ambassadors. To Adams, who was called back to the royal apartments, the emperor expressed himself greatly delighted with the presents, as showing that the Dutch were “past masters” in arts as well as in arms.
The Dutchmen, having caused their propositions to be written out in Japanese, placed them in the hands of Kōzukedono, and on the 18th they were furnished with an order for ten horses, and a letter to the hereditary prince at Yedo. Adams, who was in as great favor at this court as at Suruga, lodged them in a house of his own, and undertook to give notice of their arrival to Sadono-Kami, president of the prince’s council and father of Kōzukedono, who sent an officer in return to make his compliments to the Dutchmen.
They made him a visit the next day, with a present, which, as a great favor, he condescended to accept. He inquired of them particularly the cause of the war which had lasted so long between the Spaniards and the Dutch, and the history of the negotiations which had brought about the recent truce. The Dutch did not conceal the small extent of their country, and the Japanese minister expressed great astonishment that so feeble a state should have resisted with such success so powerful a king. Finally, he treated them to a collation of fruit. Though very old and infirm, he conducted them to the passage, and promised to accompany them the next day to the palace. Admitted to the imperial palace, the prince thanked them for the journey they had undertaken to see him; but when (pretending orders from Holland to that effect) they besought his favor and protection, he dismissed them with a nod. An officer, however, conducted them over the palace, and the prince sent them some presents, though not very magnificent ones. They themselves made many presents, principally cloth and glass bottles, to many lords of the court, among whom they found, in high favor, a brother of the young king of Hirado.
From Yedo they proceeded to a port eighteen leagues distant (probably Uraga), where Adams had another house, and where they found the Spanish ship which had brought the ambassador from New Spain. The ambassador himself was also there. He sent them a very civil message, to which they responded with equal civility. Pressing invitations for a visit passed between them, but neither party would be the first to call on the other. By some Flemings, however, attached to the ambassador’s suite, they were assured that the ambassador had no authority to demand the exclusion of the Dutch, which he had done on his own authority. The embassy, they said, had been fitted out at an expense of fifty thousand dollars.
Upon their return to Suruga, October 1, Adams brought them the patent which the emperor had granted for their commerce, and which, being translated, proved to be in the following words:
“All Dutch ships that come into my empire of Japan, whatever place or port they put into, we do hereby expressly command all and every one of our subjects not to molest the same in any way, nor to be a hindrance to them; but, on the contrary, to show them all manner of help, favor, and assistance. Every one shall beware to maintain the friendship in assurance of which we have been pleased to give our imperial word to these people; and every one shall take care that our commands and promises be inviolably kept.
“Dated (according to the Japanese calendar equivalent to) August 30, 1611.”[81]
The Dutch were very much troubled to find that the clause guaranteeing freedom from the visits of inspectors and guards, and interference with their trade by the government, which had been the great object of their mission, was omitted. They made representations on the subject to Kōzukeno-Suke, who advised them not to press it. But as they conceived it of the greatest importance, they drew up a Japanese memorial, which Adams presented to the emperor and the request of which Kōzukedono seconded with such effect that the emperor ordered an edict granting the wishes of the Dutch to be drawn up, which he immediately proceeded to sign. Such is the statement of Spex’s narrative; but no such document appears to be preserved in the archives of the Dutch factory, the short one already given being everywhere cited and relied upon as the charter of the Dutch trade to Japan, without any mention anywhere else of any such supplement to it.
The return of the Dutchmen, by way of Miyako, to Hirado, does not offer anything remarkable, except their meeting at Sakai (whither they went to learn the price of goods and the course of trade there), with Melichor von Santvoort, one of the Dutchmen who had reached Japan at the same time with Adams. After selecting factors to stay behind, ordering the erection of warehouses, and making such presents as their small means admitted to their Japanese friends, their vessel set sail on her return the 28th of September.
The Dutch, as we have seen, had been greatly assisted by Adams. The Spanish envoy, in his negotiations, relied chiefly, as Don Rodrigo had done before him, on the advice and assistance of Father Louis Sotelo, a Franciscan friar of noble descent[82], established at Miyako, who entered with great zeal into the project of a regular trade between Japan and Mexico. But the old jealousy which the Japanese had long entertained of the Spaniards soon broke out afresh. Some soundings made along the coast by the vessel which brought out the Spanish ambassador were looked upon with great suspicion and jealousy, which Adams is said to have aggravated. Sotelo, despairing of success with the emperor, though at first he had seemed to favor his projects, subsequently proposed the same scheme to Date Masamune, who ruled over a part, or the whole, of the kingdom of Ōshū, or Mutsu, in the north of Japan, hitherto almost unknown, but to which a few missionaries had lately made their way. The prince of Ōshū adopted Sotelo’s project with zeal, affecting also quite a leaning towards the new faith, and, at Sotelo’s suggestion, he sent an ambassador to the Pope and the king of Spain[83].
After many disappointments, Sotelo with this ambassador set sail at length for New Spain, about the end of the year 1613, in a vessel belonging to Masamune; and, by way of the city of Mexico, proceeded to Seville and Madrid, where they arrived in October, 1614. Thence they proceeded to Rome, and had an audience of the Pope, November 30, 1615, by whom Sotelo was nominated bishop for the north and east parts of Japan, and his legate for the whole of it[84]. Having reached New Spain on his return, he found in the port of Acapulco a Japanese vessel belonging to Masamune, which, having disposed of a cargo of Japanese goods, took on freight for Manila a part of the suite of a new Spanish governor of the Philippines, intending to purchase at Manila a cargo of Chinese silks. But the Council of the Indies, under the influence of the Jesuits, and on the plea that the nomination of all Eastern bishops belonged to the king, opposed Sotelo’s consecration; and the merchants of Manila, alarmed at the rivalry of New Spain for the Japanese trade, made such representations that, on his arrival there, his papers were seized, and he himself was sent back to the superiors of his order in New Mexico.
But long before the occurrence of these events—in fact, previous to the departure of Sotelo from Japan—the Catholic faith there had received a blow from which it never recovered, and which brought it to speedy ruin.