With one of the earliest Portuguese ships came the great missionary apostle of the Jesuits, Francis Xavier, who landed at Kagoshima in 1549. He was kindly received, and during his short sojourn his labors were attended with wonderful success. Other laborers followed, and the toleration was so complete that in a few years the Christians numbered hundreds of thousands, and within fifty years it was estimated that they had increased to nearly two million adherents.[1] Among them were found princes, generals, and the flower of the nobility. Both in regard to religion and commerce it may be said that the government of Japan at that period exhibited more liberality to the nations of Europe than the latter exhibited to each other. Velasco, the governor-general of the Philippines, in an account of a visit which he made to the country in 1608, relates an anecdote of the Shogun, who was urged by the Buddhist priests to suppress the Christians. "How many sects may there be in Japan?" he asked. "Thirty-five," was the reply, referring to the many Buddhist sects. "Well," he said, "we can easily bear with thirty-six."[2]
In 1582 three of the nobility, representing as many of the Christian princes, attended by a suite befitting their station, made a visit to Rome to pay their respects to the head of the Catholic Church. They were received with distinguished attention by the crowned heads and people in their journey through Portugal, Spain, and
- ↑ Memorials of Japon, Hakluyt Society, preface, v.; The United States and Japan, by I. Nittobe, Baltimore, 1891, p. 10.
- ↑ Memorials of Japon, 184.
