Japan and the Japanese

228 JAPAN. A. D. 1G90.
still stronger confirmation, some drops of his own blood upon it,
which he fetches by pricking one of his fingers behind the nail.
This must be repeated twice a year, at least : first, about the
beginning of the year, at the time when they perform the solemn
act of theirs of trampling upon the image of our blessed Saviour
pendent from the cross, of the Virgin Mary, and of other holy per
sons, as a public and unquestionable proof that they forever renounce
the Christian religion;* and again, after the arrival of our
ships in the harbor, in order to remind them of the solemn obligation
they lay under, and to renew their hatred towards us. The
persons who are to attend us in our journey to court must, imme-
diately after their departure, take a third oath, promising that
they will have a strict hand and watchful eye over us and our
conduct all along the road, and that they will not show us any
particular acts of friendship, or enter into any kind of familiarity
with us.
" This oath, however, though never so terrible and binding,
would be but little regarded by this nation, were it not for the
severe punishment put by the civil magistrate upon the least trans-
gression thereof, a crime that is not to be expiated but by shed-
ding the very same blood the oath hath been confirmed by.
" Thus much I cannot forbear owning, in justice to the natives,
that, even amidst all the troubles and hardships we are exposed to
in this country, we have at least this comfort, that we are treated
by our numerous guardians and overseers with apparent civility,
with caresses, compliments, presents of victuals, and other marks
of deference, so far as it is not inconsistent with their reasons of
state. But this, their gentle and reasonable behavior on our be-
half, is owing more to the custom of the country, and to the innate
civility and good manners of the natives, than to any particular
esteem they have for us, or any favor they are willing to show us.
" No Japanese, who seems to have any regard or friendship for
the Dutch, is looked upon as an honest man and true lover of his
country. This maxim is grounded upon the principle that it is
absolutely contrary to the interests of the country, against the
pleasure ol their sovereign, nay, by virtue of the oath they have
taken, even against the supreme will of the gods, and the dictates
* See further in relation to this ceremony, chap. xxx.