Nor yet because, who love Thee not, must, die eternally.
So would I love Thee, dearest Lord, and in Thy praise will sing;
Solely because thou art my God, and my eternal King."
—Hymn attributed to Francis Xavier.
"Half hidden, stretching in a lengthened line
In front of China, which its guide shall be,
Japan abounds in mines of Silver fine,
And shall enlighten'd be by holy faith divine."
—Camoens
"The people of this Iland of Japon are good of nature, curteous aboue measure, and valiant in warre; their justice is seuerely executed without any partialitie vpon transgressors of the law. They are gouerned in great ciuilitie. I meane, not a land better gouerned in the world by ciuill policie. The people be verie superstitious in their religion, and are of diuers opinions."—Will Adams, October 22, 1611.
"A critical history of Japan remains to be written ... We should know next to nothing of what may be termed the Catholic episode of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, had we access to none but the official Japanese sources. How can we trust those sources when they deal with times yet more remote?"—Chamberlain.
"The annals of the primitive Church furnish no instances of sacrifice or heroic constancy, in the Coliseum or the Roman arenas, that were not paralleled on the dry river-beds or execution-grounds of Japan."
"They ... rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. "—Revelation.