Some hare hence intimated what certainly is not impossible, that Christianity
may have thus early reached Japan through India. But there is
probably some mistake in this statement of the doctrines held. No writer
hut Meylan has mentioned the story, and both the Buddhist and Brahmin-
ical systems afford materials which an over-zealous and uninformed spirit of
Christianity might easily convert into seemingly Christian doctrines. Thus,
the old Spanish ecclesiastics who first came to America were quite convinced
that the gospel had been brought to our continent by St. Thomas, long before
their arrival.
S E C T I O N T.
GENERAL VIEW OE THE PAST RELATIONS OE THE EMPIRE WITH THE
WESTERN CIVILIZED NATIONS.
THE PORTUGUESE.
F e r d in a n d M en d e z P in t o has been immortalized by Cervantes, hut
unfortunately for his reputation it is, to use the phrase of Shakspeare, as a
“ measureless liar.” Like Marco Polo, when he told strange thing, that
had befallen him in his wanderings, the men of his generation refused to
believe him. But like Polo, he related a great deal that has since been
found to he tru e ; and we are inclined to think that, when telling what he
professed to have seen himself, he interspersed his narrative with as few
lies as some of his more accredited successors of modem times.
Pinto was a good representative of the Portuguese discoverer of the
sixteenth century. In his day Portugal was a power. In less than two
centuries she had traversed the Atlantic, conquered Madeira, the Cape de
Verds, the coast of Guinea and Congo; had planted herself on the shores of
India, and obtained a foothold in China. She had founded in her wealthy
metropolis of Goa what has been called “ the Koine of India.” She
possessed Macao, and was among the first of European maritime powers in
the east. Albuquerque had laid for her the foundations of a magnificent
oriental empire, which it needed a man like Albuquerque to consolidate and
retain. The man was wanting, and the empire never grew to maturity. But
this her prosperous day produced for her many a hardy sailor, half hero, half
adventurer; now exhibiting a touch of chivalry and now a touch of traffic; a
soldier on land to-day and a corsair of the seas to-morrow; exceedingly devout
or surpassingly profane, according to circumstances; but always ready to
encounter fatigue, privation or peril, to promote the gain of himself and the
grandeur of his country, which on most occasions he felicitously contrived to
reconcile and blend into one common end. Of this class Pinto was a type.
He visited Japan, and has told us the story of his adventures; and the
better authorities of this day believe that he was an eye-witness and actor
in such scenes as he relates of personal incidents.
There is, however, some room for discussion on the subject of dates; for
if we may credit the Japanese annals, it would seem that about the same
time there must have been two visits of Europeans to Japan; but if there
were, both were made by natives of Portugal, so that to them unquestionably
belongs the honor of having first landed on the J apanese soil, and of
having brought that country into communication with Europe. The discovery,
indeed, was accidental in both cases, if two there were, but that does
not alter the fact that it was made by the Portuguese.
We incline to think, however, that there was but one visit. The annals
of Japan record the arrival of the first Europeans, and substantially they
agree with Pinto’s story. So remarkable was the event, and so strange the
appearance of the new comers, that the Japanese preserved portraits of them.
The date assigned in the annals would correspond with our October, in the
year 1543. Pinto makes the date of his arrival in 1545. Still the details
given by Pinto, and confirmed by the annals, force us to believe that both
are telling the story of the same event. Whether it were in the one year
or the other of those named above, the story is, that a Portuguese ship or
Chinese Corsair, (we know not which,) on board of which was Pinto, after
great stress of weather, was driven to the shores of Japan, and anchored at
last in the harbor of Bungo, on the island of Kiu-siu. The Japanese at
that time, though vigilant, yet manifested no reluctance to admit the strangers
and hold communication with them. They extended courtesy and
kindness to them, and no obstacle was interposed to a free trade with the
inhabitants. The names of those who first landed are said by various
writers, from Maffeius up to Thunberg, to have been Antonio Mota, Francisco
Zeimoto, and Antonio Peixoto. Fraissinet, however, thinks that the
names have been disfigured or altered, and that the individuals meant were
Fernan Mendez Pinto, Diego Zeimoto, and Christoval Borallo. The Japanese
annals speak of two under the names of Moura Siouksia and Krista Mota,
and Fraissinet suggests that Siouksia may be the Japanese pronunciation of
Zeimoto, and Krista their nearest approach to Christoval. The natives and
strangers were so well pleased with each other that, by an arrangement with
the viceroy or prince of Bungo, (the rulers of the principalities were then
probably more independent of the Emperor than they are now,) a Portuguese
ship was to be sent annually to. the island of Kiu-siu laden with
woollen cloths, furs, manufactured silks, taffetas, and other commodities
needed by the Japanese. The ship was to be despatched probably from
Macao, or, it may be, from Goa. The returns were to he made in gold