Note I OMITTED DOCUMENTS
I. Letter of the Emperor Iyeyasu (Ōgosho-Sama) to the king of England—(James I.).[133]
“Your majesty’s kind letter, sent me by your servant, Captain John Saris (who is the first that I have known to arrive in any part of my dominions), I heartily embrace, being not a little glad to understand of your great wisdom and power, as having three plentiful and mighty kingdoms under your powerful command. I acknowledge your majesty’s great bounty in sending me so undeserved a present of many rare things, such as my land affordeth not, neither have I ever before seen; which I receive not as from a stranger, but as from your majesty, whom I esteem as myself. Desiring the continuance of friendship with your highness, and that it may stand with your good liking to send your subjects to any part or port of my dominions, where they shall be most heartily welcome, applauding much their worthiness, in the admirable knowledge of navigation, having with much facility discovered a country so remote, being no whit amazed with the distance of so mighty a gulf, nor greatness of such infinite clouds and storms from prosecuting honorable enterprises of discoveries and merchandising, wherein they shall find me to further them according to their desires. I return unto your majesty a small token of my love (by your said subject), desiring you to accept thereof as from one that much rejoiceth in your friendship. And whereas your majesty’s subjects have desired certain privileges for trade and settling of a factory in my dominions, I have not only granted what they demanded, but have confirmed the same unto them under my broad seal, for better establishing thereof. From my castle in Suruga, this fourth day of the ninth month, in the eighteenth year of our Dairi, according to our computation. Resting your majesty’s friend, the highest commander in the kingdom of Japan:
“[Signed]
Minna. Montono Yer. Ye. Yeas
[Minamoto-no-Iyeyasu].”
II. An ordinance of the Emperor of Japan sent to all the governors of the maritime districts to prevent the landing of Portuguese:[134]
“The express and reiterated commandments against the promulgation of the religion and doctrine of the Christians have been duly published and everywhere proclaimed; but it being found that these edicts were not efficacious, they (that is, the Christians) were forbidden to approach the coasts of Japan with their galliots and other sea vessels; and some of them, in contempt of this prohibition, having come to Nagasaki, orders were given, in punishment of this offence, to put them to death. It was commanded, last year, by a special edict, that in case any sea vessel were seen on the coasts of Japan or entered any port, it might be permitted to anchor, with a strong guard on board, till what they proposed was sent to the emperor. This commandment is now revoked; and it is ordered instead that these vessels (that is, Portuguese and Spanish vessels), without hearing a word which those on board have to say, shall be destroyed and burnt, whatever pretence they may set up, and all their crews to the last man be put to death.
“It is also commanded to erect watch-towers on the mountains and all along the coast, and to keep constant watch to discover Portuguese vessels, so that news of their arrival may at once be spread everywhere; and if such a vessel shall first be discovered from a more distant point, it shall be imputed as a crime to those in charge of the nearer watching places, and the governors thus guilty of negligence shall be deprived of their offices. As soon as a Portuguese vessel shall be discovered, news shall be sent express to all the neighborhood, to the governors of Nagasaki and Ōsaka, and to the lord of Arima.
“It is expressly forbidden to attack or molest any Portuguese vessel at sea, but only in some road, port, or haven of the empire, as to which you will conform to the orders that may be sent you from the governors of Nagasaki or the lord of Arima, except where necessity obliges instant action, in which case you will act as already commanded.
“As to vessels of other nations, you will, according to the tenor of former ordinances, visit and examine them; and, after placing a strong guard on board, without allowing a single person to land, send them in all safety to Nagasaki.”
III. Letter from Louis XIV to the Emperor of Japan:[135]
“To the sovereign and highest emperor and regent of the great empire of Japan, over subjects very submissive and obedient, the king of France wishes a long and happy life and a most prosperous reign:
“Many wars, carried on by my ancestors, the kings of France, and many victories gained by them, as well over their neighbors as over distant kingdoms, having been followed by profound peace, the merchants of my kingdom, who trade throughout Europe, have taken occasion very humbly to beg me to open for them the way into other parts of the world to sail and to trade thither like the other European nations; and I have the rather inclined to accede to their request, from its being seconded by the wishes of the princes and nobles among my subjects, and by my own curiosity to be exactly informed of the manners and customs of the great kingdoms exterior to Europe, of which we have hitherto known nothing but from the narratives of our neighbors who have visited the East. I have, therefore, to satisfy as well my own inclination as the prayers of my subjects, determined to send deputies into all the kingdoms of the East; and as my envoy to your high and sovereign majesty, I have selected Francis Caron, who understands Japanese, and who has many times had the honor of paying his respects to your majesty, and of audience from you. For that express purpose I have caused him to come into my kingdom, knowing him very well to be of good extraction, though by misfortunes of war stripped of his property; but re-established by me in his former condition, and even elevated in honor and dignity, to make him more worthy to approach your high and sovereign majesty with all due respect. An additional motive for selecting him was fear lest another person, from ignorance of the wise ordinances and customs established by your majesty, might do something in contravention of them, and so might fall under your majesty’s displeasure; whence I have judged the said Francis Caron the most capable to present my letter and my requests, with such solemnities as might secure for them the best reception on the part of your majesty, and to make known my good affection and my frank desire to grant to your sovereign majesty whatever you may ask of me, in return for the grant of what I ask: which is, that the merchants of my kingdoms, who have united themselves into a company, may have free commerce throughout your majesty’s empire, without trouble or hindrance. I send you the present of trifling value here noted.... I hope it may be agreeable to your majesty, and that some things useful to your majesty may be found in my country, of which I voluntarily leave open and free all the ports.
“At Paris, the twenty-fourth year of my reign [1666].
“The King Louis.”
Note.—What is said above of Caron’s good extraction, of his having lost his fortune by the chances of war, and of his re-establishment in his former position by the favor of the king, was, it is probable, merely intended to reconcile the Japanese to receiving as an envoy from the king of France a man whom they had known only in the—according to their ideas—low character of a Dutch merchant.
In the instructions drawn up for the bearer of this letter, the following curious directions were given as to the answer to be made to the inquiries of the Japanese on the topic of religion: “As to the article of religion you will say, that the religion of the French is of two kinds—one the same with that of the Spaniards, the other the same with that of the Dutch;[136] and that his majesty, knowing that the religion of the Spaniards is disliked in Japan, has given orders that those of his subjects who go thither shall be of the Dutch religion; that this distinction will be carefully attended to; and that no Frenchman will ever be found wishing to contravene the imperial orders.[137] Should they advance as an objection, that the king of France depends upon the Pope, like the king of Spain, you will answer, that he does not depend upon him; that the king of France acknowledges no superior, and that the nature of his dependence upon the Pope may easily be seen in what has happened within two years, in consequence of an outrage at Rome upon the person of his majesty’s ambassador. The Pope not making a sufficiently speedy reparation, his majesty had sent an array into Italy, to the great terror of all the Italian princes, and of the Pope himself, who sent a legate to him charged with the most humble and pressing supplications, whereby his majesty was induced to recall his troops, which already had encamped in the Pope’s territories. So that the king is not only sovereign and absolute in his own domain, but also gives the law to many other potentates; being a young prince, twenty-five years of age, valiant, wise, and more powerful than any of his ancestors; and, withal, so curious that, besides a particular knowledge of all Europe, he eagerly seeks to know the constitution of the other countries of the world.”