Japan and the Japanese

186 JAPAN. A. D. 1C21 1640.
doned the trade to Japan, after having lost forty thousand pounds
in the adventure. This massacre of Amboyna consisted in the exe-
cution, by the Dutch, of ten or twelve factors of the English East
India Company, on the charge of having conspired with some thirty
Japanese residents to seize the Dutch fort. One of these Japanese
having put some questions to a Dutch sentinel about the strength
of the fort, he and others of his countrymen were arrested on suspicion,
and by torture were compelled to accuse the English, who were
then tortured in their turn into accusing each other. The residence
of these Japanese at Amboyna is a proof, in addition to those
already mentioned, of the adventurous spirit of the Japanese of that
day, who had indeed a reputation for desperate daring, such as
might give some color to the suspicions of the Dutch.*
Meanwhile the persecution continued as violently as ever. In
the year 1622 fourteen Jesuits were burnt at the stake, including
Spinola, a missionary of illustrious birth, who had been twenty
years in Japan. Two friars were also burnt, who had been found
on board a Japanese vessel from the Philippines, captured in
1620, by one of the English ships, the Elizabeth, employed in the
blockade of Macao, and by her commander carried to Firando.
The master and crew of the Japanese vessel, and many other native
converts, were executed at the same time. The Spaniards were sus-
pected of smuggling in missionaries, and were wholly forbidden the
islands. As a greater security against this danger, by an edict,
issued in 1624, shortly previous to which there had been a very
severe inquisition in J edo and its neighborhood for concealed priests,
all the ports of Japan were closed against foreigners, except
Firando and Nagasaki, of which Firando remained open to the
Dutch and English, Nagasaki to the Portuguese, and both to the
Chinese. At the same time was introduced the custom of requiring
an exact muster roll, and making a strict inspection of the crews of
all foreign vessels. By the same edict all the subjects of the Cath-
olic king, whether Portuguese or Spaniards, were banished the
country, however long they might have been settled there, and even
though they might have families by Japanese wives.
What aggravated the misfortunes of the Japanese church, and
* See Appendix F.