262 



Manners. 



Astrology, 



JAPAN. 



thence difperfed by fea to the peninfula of Malacca^ Siam^ and 

 other places. 



Notwithstanding the Japanefe have for ages fcarcely 

 known the peft of war, yet they are endowed with the gieateft 

 heroifm. If in any quarrel they have been conquered by an 

 enemy, and find they cannot revenge the infult, they will put 

 themfelves to death : I fpeak of this, not in praife, but to de- 

 fcribe a high fpirit, bordering on brutality. That fpirit, exerted 

 •in a foreign land againft the treachery oi Peter Nuyts, the Dutch 

 governor, merits our admiration and applaufe*. To fill the cata- 

 logue of their vices, they are diftruftful, proud, cruel, and defli- 

 tute of benevolence ; and from the doftrine of their Bonzees, 

 are fo infenfible to the wants of their fellow-creatures, as to 

 fufFer them to perifh by denying them every fort of relief. To 

 their intrepidity may be added their patience under labor, their 

 ability to undergo any hardfliips. Their other virtues are nume- 

 rous : they have great induftry, great moderation in their plea- 

 fures, are entirely free from luxury and intemperance ; mode- 

 rate in their defires of wealth, juft in their dealings, and true to 

 their word; chafte in word and adtion ; religious, but apt to de- 

 viate into the groffefl fuperftitions. 



They are celebrated for the quicknefs of their apprehenfions, 

 and facility in learning. Before the arrival of the miffionaries, 

 their acquired knowledge was at a low ebb. What they attained 

 after that period may poffibly be loft. At that time they w^ere 

 very ignorant aftronomers,but much addicted to judicial aftrology; 

 they undertake nothing without confulting fome pretending 



• Univ. Hift. vol. x. p. 321. Kaempfer'% Japan, vol. ii. app. 57. 



impoftor. ] 



