as one
foreigner would have suffered for his faith in Japan, except the six
Franciscans executed on the "Martyrs' Mount" at Nagasaki by
Hideyoshi's order, in 1597. But the missionaries did not obey.
Suffering or even death counted for nothing with these men as against
the possibility of saving souls. "Forty-seven of them evaded the
edict, some by concealing themselves at the time of its issue, the
rest by leaving their ships when the latter had passed out of sight
of the shore of Japan, and returning by boats to the scene of their
former labours. Moreover, in a few months, those that had actually
crossed the sea re-crossed it in various disguises."* The Japanese
Government had then to consider whether it would suffer its authority
to be thus defied by foreign visitors or whether it would resort to
extreme measures.

*Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition; article "Japan," by Brinkley.

PERIOD SUBSEQUENT TO 1613

Throughout a period of two years immediately following the issue of
the anti-Christian edict of 1614, the attention of Ieyasu, and indeed
of the whole Japanese nation, was concentrated on the struggle which
took place between the adherents of the Tokugawa and the supporters
of Hideyori. That struggle culminated in an assault on the castle of
Osaka, and fresh fuel was added to the fire of anti-Christian
resentment inasmuch as many Christian converts espoused Hideyori's
cause, and in one part of the field the troops of Ieyasu had to fight
against a foe whose banners were emblazoned with a cross and with
images of Christ and of St. James, the patron saint of Spain.
Nevertheless, the Christian converts possessed the sympathy of so
many of the feudal chiefs that much reluctance was shown to inflict
the extreme penalty of the law on men and women whose only crime was
the adoption of an alien religion. Some of the feudal chiefs, even at
the risk of losing their estates, gave asylum to the converts; others
falsely reported a complete absence of Christians in their dominions,
and some endeavoured earnestly to protect the fanatics; while, as to
the people at large, their liberal spirit is shown in the fact that
five priests who were in Osaka Castle at the time of its capture were
able to make their way to distant refuges without any risk of
betrayal.

ENGRAVING: GREEN-ROOM OF A THEATRE (In the Middle of the Tokugawa
Period)

On the other hand, there were not wanting feudatories who, judging
that zeal in obeying t