1550,
declaring it a capital offence to embrace Christianity. The edict was
not retrospective. About one hundred and fifty converts whom Xavier,
aided by Anjiro, had won during his two years' sojourn, were not
molested, but Xavier himself passed on to the island of Hirado, where
he was received by salvos of artillery from Portuguese vessels lying
in harbour. Matsuura, the Hirado baron, had already been captivated
by the commerce of the newcomers, and seeing the marked reverence
extended by them to Xavier, the baron issued orders that respectful
attention should be paid to the teaching of the foreign propagandist.
Doubtless owing in large part to these orders, one hundred converts
were made during the first ten days of Xavier's residence in Hirado.

It was, in fact, evident that the attitude of the official classes
towards the new-comers was mainly influenced by the prospect of
trade, and that the attitude of the non-official classes towards the
foreign religion depended largely on the mood of their superiors.
Xavier argued that "if the favour of such a small prince was so
potent for the conversion of his subjects, it would be quite another
thing if he (Xavier) could have the protection of the Emperor." He
therefore, resolved to visit Kyoto. His journey took him in the first
place to Yamaguchi, capital of the Choshu fief. This town lay on the
northern shore of Shimonoseki Strait, and had long been the principal
emporium of trade with China and Korea. But the ruler of the fief,
though courteous to the new-comers, evinced no disposition to show
any special cordiality towards humble missionaries unconnected with
commerce. Therefore, finding that their preaching produced little
effect, Xavier and his companion, Fernandez, continued their journey
to Kyoto, which they reached after travelling for nearly two months
on foot in the depth of winter. It happened, however, that the
capital was then suffering sharply from the effects of internecine
strife, and the two missionaries failed to obtain access to either
the sovereign or the shogun.

Nothing remained, therefore, but recourse to street preaching, and
for this they were ill equipped, for Xavier, constitutionally a bad
linguist, knew very little of the Japanese language, and his
companion, Fernandez, even less, while as for Anjiro, he had remained
in Kagoshima. After devoting a few days to this unproductive task,
Xavier returned to Yamaguchi. He had not made any converts in