Japan and the Japanese

CHAPTER XIII.
NEW TROUBLES OF TUB MISSIONARIES FROM THEIR OWN COUNTRYMEN. Till
EMPEROR CLAIMS HOMAGE OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE PHILIPPINES. MU-
TUAL JEALOUSIES OF THE PORTUGUESE AND SPANIARDS. SPANISH ADVEN-
TURERS IN JAPAN. THE EMPEROR'S SUSPICIONS EXCITED. UI9 REPLY
TO THE VICEROY OF GOA. A. D. loC-1 1592.
VALIGNANI'S gracious reception greatly raised the hopes of the
Japanese converts. ]Jut much annoyance was soon experienced
from two pagan lords, who had been appointed joint governors of
Nagasaki. Nor was it pagan hostility alone which the Jesuits
had to dread. Enemies even more dangerous were found among
their own countrymen in Japan, many of whom had ceased to ex-
hibit that zeal for the faith, at first so universal. The irregular
conduct of certain Portuguese merchants, in frequenting ports where
there were no missionaries, and where they could freely follow their
?wn devices, had greatly troubled the Jesuit fathers. A Japanese
idventurer, by name Firanda, having gone to the Philippines
o trade, had -taken it into his head to suggest to the emperor of
lapan to require the Spanish governor of those islands to acknowl-
tuge him as sovereign. This idea, conveyed to the emperor through
* Japanese courtier with whom Firanda was intimate, was eagerly
caught at by a prince rendered vain by the elevation to which he
dad attained, and whose head was filled with schemes for still
further extending his empire.
lie wrote an imperious letter to the
governor of the Philippines, demanding his homage, and despatched
: t by the hand of Firanda, who applied to Father Yalignuni, to
write to the Jesuits at Manilla, and to the Spanish governor, in
furtherance of this project. Valignani refused to write any such
letters, alleging as an ostensible reason, that he had no acquaintance
with the governor of the Philippines, nor authority over the