If any one doubt the sincerity and fervor of the Christian converts of to-day, or the ability of the Japanese to accept a higher form of faith, or their willingness to suffer for what they believe, they have but to read the accounts preserved in English, Dutch, French, Latin, and Japanese, of various witnesses to the fortitude of the Japanese Christians of the seventeenth century. The annals of the primitive church furnished no instances of sacrifice or heroic constancy in the Coliseum or the Roman arenas that were not paralleled on the dry river beds and execution grounds of Japan.
Finally, in 1637, at Shimabara, the Christians rose by tens of thousands in arms, seized an old castle, repaired and fortified it, and raised the flag of rebellion. Armies from Kiushiu and the Kuanto, composed mainly of veterans of Korea and Osaka, were sent by the shoguns to besiege it. A siege of two months, by land and water, was, however, necessary to reduce the fortress, which was finally done with the aid of Dutch cannon, furnished under compulsion by the traders at Deshima.
The intrepid garrison, after great slaughter, surrendered, and then the massacre of thirty-seven thousand Christians began, and was finished by the hurling of thousands more from the rock of Pappenberg, in Nagasaki harbor. Thousands more were banished to various provinces, or put to death by torture. Others escaped and fled to the island of Formosa, joining their brethren already there.
The Dutch gained the privilege of a paltry trade and residence on the little fan-shaped island of Deshima in front of Nagasaki. Here, under degrading restrictions, and constant surveillance, lived a little company of less than twenty Hollanders, who were allowed one ship per annum to come from the Dutch East Indies and exchange commodities of Japan for those of Holland.
Previous article Next article
From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
