he had been caught robbing in the Chinese territory. It is known that since this occurred bloody war has gone on between these two populous and powerful nations; that the Tartars have always gained the advantage therein; and that if they had so desired they could have come to the very gates of the court of Paquin, since fear has taken such hold upon the Chinese that they have closed all the gates of the city, except one which they use, and have made another wall completely encircling the one that was already around the city.
The persecution against the Christians and against our Society which has been going on in China during the past years is now mild. Hence people are being converted to Christianity as formerly; and our fathers are safe, for a great mandarin presented to the king a memorial in our favor, in which he refuted the calumnies that a powerful enemy of ours had launched against us, and that had been the cause of this persecution. And, although the king made no answer, by his silence he consents to our fathers’ remaining in China, for it was asked in the memorial that our fathers should not leave that kingdom; and since the mandarins know that the king has seen the memorial, and that he tacitly consents to it, they also, are satisfied with it. As this same memorial has been circulated throughout the whole of China, everybody has learned of our innocence and of the excellence of the law of God, which was dwelt upon at length in the memorial. Accordingly, as they inform us from here, a great number of literâti and mandarins have become friendly toward Ours, and wish them to spread the holy gospel to the most interior parts of China. Hence it is believed that from this time on our holy law will take deeper root in this kingdom.
The bishop of Japon, Don Diego Valente, of our Society, came this year to Macan, where he is detained because of the bloody persecution in Japon. Because of the persecution, also, Father Matos,7 who went to Rome as procurator and took a number of our men for Japon, left part of them in India; while ten who went with him to Macan have been detained there.
Father Nicolas Trigaucio8 went to China as procurator, and returned this year with some of Ours. Some of them, for reasons unknown to me, he left in India, and seven he took with him to Macan.
Of the members who came with these two father procurators, five died during the trip over, after leaving Lisboa. But if the persecution continues in Japon as it is at present, they will not be missed. Indeed there will be too many of Ours, for even now there is so great a number in Macan that it is often said that there is not standing-room in our college.
Of the Kingdoms of Japon
I will begin my account of the affairs of this kingdom with the cruel and bloody persecution against Christianity which is now at such a height, and in which they put so many to death for the faith that, to me, it seems a picture of what happened in the primitive church during the early persecutions by the emperors. What I have said may be realized from part of a letter dated in Nangasaqui October 14, 1619, from Father Matheo de Couros,9 provincial of Japon, to Father Valerio de Ledesma, provincial of these islands. Translated from Portuguese into Spanish it is as follows: “In regard to news from Japon I will not write you at length, since I understand that the father visitor has done so. In temporal affairs everything is quiet. Persecution of Christians has been and is very severe in Meaco, where almost sixty are prisoners for the faith. Five or six of these Christians died in prison there, thoroughly resigned to the divine will. In this city of Nangasaqui there are twenty-eight imprisoned for Christ, in three prisons. In Omura seven religious are imprisoned, four of the Order of St. Dominic, one of the Order of St. Francis, and two of our Society. With them are imprisoned ten other Christians. Of the inhabitants of the same city of Omura three were martyred—Lino, Pedro, and Thome—the first, because when he was guarding the prison in which the religious I have mentioned were confined, he allowed too much food to be given to the holy prisoners, as he was a Christian at heart himself; the second, because from time to time he sent food to them; and the third, because he carried the food. All three were promised their lives if they would renounce our holy law; but they chose rather to die, in order that they might live forever in heaven.”
In another letter dated November 10, 1619, the same father writes: “On the sixth of October, Meaco offered to heaven the richest gift that has ever been seen in that great and populous city. The gift consisted of fifty-four Christians, who were burned alive for the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have already written how there was in the public prison at Meaco a large number of the faithful, incarcerated because they would not bend the knee to Baal. Nine of these died in the prison on account of the excessive labors and hardships which they suffered there. They died thoroughly resigned to the divine will, and rejoicing in their happy fate. When the emperor came to the court of the Dayri,10 the metropolis of the whole of Japon, they told him of the imprisoned Christians; and since he is an implacable enemy of our holy faith, he ordered that they should all be burned alive. Thereupon twenty-six stakes were set up in a public place in front of the temple of Daybut, a large and magnificent building, at a distance from the river that flows by the place. On Sunday, the sixth of October, they took the holy prisoners from the jail, not sparing even the tender young girls nor the babes at their mothers’ breasts. They marched them through the principal streets of Meaco, accompanied by a crier who announced that they had been condemned to be burned alive because they were Christians. Most of the soldiers of Jesus Christ were dressed in white, and their faces were so happy and so resolute that the power of the divine grace which upheld them was plainly shown. They encouraged one another for the trial, and with great calmness bade good-by to the friends and acquaintances whom they met along the way. From time to time they proclaimed aloud that they were dying for the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. When they had come to the place where they were to offer their lives to the Lord as an acceptable sacrifice, they appeared more joyful, as does one who is about to gain the eternal reward. Two by two they were now tied to the stakes, the women with their babes in their arms. Some of our daiicos—people of our Society like lay brothers, who aid us in preaching11—as well as other Christians who went to the place to encourage the martyrs, were present. But the servants of the Lord showed such remarkable strength that they really encouraged the spectators. When the wood was finally set on fire, the majority of these fortunate martyrs turned their eyes toward heaven, and, without moving them in the least, remained in this posture after death. During the first few days a strict watch was kept over the blessed bodies to prevent the Christians from taking them away, but through the efforts of our fathers who live in that city some have already been recovered.” So far I quote from the father provincial. To this I will add some points taken from other letters and relations.
The above-mentioned father provincial is a strong pillar in Japon, and an excellent interpreter. He is director of the Christian community there, by virtue of a brief from his Holiness, which arrived last year, and in which, it is ordered that in default of a bishop in japon the provincial of the Society who may be in office at the time shall rule that bishopric and Christian community. Therefore, although the bishop has come; the provincial has governed up to the present time, and continues to govern, because, as I have said, conditions in Japon do not admit of the bishop’s going there, since it is feared that the situation may be aggravated and persecution increased thereby. Consequently his Lordship is now in Macan.
About two years ago our father general appointed Father Francisco Vieira as visitor of Japon. He is a man already past sixty, and, indeed, is nearing seventy; but in spite of this he is so vigorous that when the persecution was at its height he, with great courage, went from Macan to Japon. He was often in imminent danger of being imprisoned. He took refuge in Canzuça, a place in the lands of Arima, where he abode in a hut of straw. Here, on account of the hardships he endured, he was frequently attacked by a kidney disease which caused him great pain. Once he had so violent an attack that he sent in great haste to get holy oil in order that he might take the holy sacrament. Again the same disease, accompanied by a severe pain above the heart, attacked him with such violence that he could scarcely breathe. So he determined that extreme unction should be administered to him; but, remembering that he had
Gabriel de Matos was born at Vidigueira, Portugal, in 1572, and entered the Jesuit order at the age of sixteen. He spent twenty years in the Japan missions, and later was provincial of Malabar; and he filed in January, 1633, either at Cochin or at Macao (according to differing authorities).
Nicolas Trigault was born at Douai, France, in 1577, and became a Jesuit novice when seventeen years old. As a student, he made a specialty of Oriental languages, and in 1610 entered the China mission, of which he was long in charge—meanwhile becoming versed in Chinese history and literature, concerning which, as well as the Jesuit missions there, Trigault wrote various books and memoirs. He died November 14, 1628, at either Nanking or Hang-tcheou.
Matheo de Curos was born at Lisbon in 1568, and became a Jesuit when fifteen years old; three years later, he left Europe for Japan, where during many years he occupied high positions in his order. He died at Fuscimo (Fushimi?), October 29, 1633.
Cf.
