_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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.