Chap. L Commodore R 
4 Japan over all the Indies ; which may perhaps amount to 
* as much more. 
4 I forefee an Qbjebtion, that muft naturally arife in your 
® Mind, to this Account, grounded on the fettled Report 
* of all Writers on the Affairs of Japan', viz. that Gold is 
4 a contraband Commodity * which is true, and of late 
4 Years fo is Silver alfo, and Perfons are feverely punifhed, 
* who attempt to tranfport either out of the Country : Yet, 
® as the Japonefe are a wife People, and know that every 
4 thing has its proper Value* fo in Confideration that the 
* Dutch trade with them on their own Terms in every re- 
4 fpebt, they grant them Licences, at the Return of every 
4 Fleet, for a certain Quantity of Gold, and perhaps are 
4 not very exabt in feeing that Licence complied with : 
* There is another Thing which I ought to explain, and 
* that is, the Value of the Tael or Tayal, which, by the 
4 way, is both a Weight and a Coin, the Value of which 
4 the Dutch eftimate at three^ Guilders and an half * and I 
4 take it to be very near the Englifh Noble, or the Third- 
4 part of a Pound Sterling. I muft likewife obferve, that 
4 the Prefents fent to the Emperor, and his Minifters, are 
4 'not bomprehended in the Company’s Allowance : And 
4 I muft add to this, that the Japonefe Courtiers have a 
4 very lingular Cuftom, which is, that they never accept 
4 a Prefent from a Man they don’t intend to ferve ; nor 
4 will they receive them at all, if above the ufual Value, 
4 from an Apprehension that fomething extraordinary may 
4 be expebted. They are likewife very candid and open, 
4 love to be dealt with freely, and condemn the Chinefe as 
4 a fraudulent deceitful People, whom, therefore, they ufe 
4 with the utmoft Indignity •, whereas, if an European does 
4 nothing to forfeit his Honour, he is fure of being treated 
4 amongft them with the utmoft Friendship and Efteem •, 
4 but he is not to expebl, that they Should enter with him 
4 into any Secrets of their Government, for that is a Subjebt 
4 on which they are remarkably referved. 
4 IX. How comes it to pafs , that the Dutch, who ajjume fo 
4 defpotic a Power throughout the Eaft Indies, fubmit to fuch 
4 Jlavifh Refir Elions as are put on them by the Japonefe? 
and, particularly , how comes it that they deny their being 
4 Chrifiians ? I muft confefs this Queftion a little furprifes 
4 me * becaufe I very little imagined, that one, who fo ju- 
4 dicioufly diftinguifhed the Errors and Confuficns into 
4 which Voyage-writers too frequently fall, Should him- 
4 Self follow them in a Miftake like this. , The Dutch do, 
4 in Japan , what every Man ought to do who refides in a 
4 foreign Country * that is to fay, they fubmit to the Laws, 
4 and, as^ far as they are able, avoid giving Offence. In 
4 other Countries of the Indies , they live as their Circum- 
4 Stances permit * that is, they are Matters in fome, Sub- 
4 jedls in others, and Strangers and Sojourners in the reft. 
As to their Condubt in Japan, it is far from bringing 
4 upon them any Difcredit * they never fought, either un° 
4 der Pretence of Trade or Religion, to return Evil for 
4 Good, or to difturb thofe, from whom they received Pro- 
tection. The Portuguefe were, in fome meafure, in Pof- 
4 feffion of the Trade when they had firft Accel's to Japan ■, 
4 and if the Dutch procured Leave to Share in that Com- 
4 merce, it was certainly what they had a Right to afk, and 
the Emperor of , Japam to give : Yet it was not without 
4 much Difficulty, and all imaginable Oppofition from the 
4 Portuguefe , that they procured it. 
4 As to the Hardships and Reftribtions under which they 
4 labour, they are partly old, partly new : As to the old ones, 
4 they arofe from the Conftitution of the Empire, which 
4 no Strangers had a Right to alter. That the Dutch fub- 
4 mitted to thefe, could give no juft Grounds for Reproach * 
4 becaufe th cPortuguefe, who were as jealous of their Honour, 5 
as any Nation, had fubmitted to them before, without in- 
4 curring any Reftedfion. As to the new Reftribtions, 
4 they arofe from the Seditions and Rebellions of the Ja- 
4 pbnefe Papifts, with which the Dutch had nothing to do * 
4 and if they fuffer for the Precautions, that the bad Con- 
4 dudt of thefe Converts rendered neceffary, it ought to 
he efteemed rather their Misfortune, than their Fault, that 
they have been obliged to fubmit to Hardships they did 
4 not de Serve to have impofed upon them : Yet, to Shew 
4 you, that the Dutch have done nothing more in this than 
other Nations would do, I muft obferve to you, that all 
Numb, 21. 
6 G G E W E I R 
c the Nations, excluded by the.Edib! again!! the Gh/iftians, 
have Solicited to be reftored, and to trade upon th 0 fame 
4 Terms with the Dutch.' And it is to their want of Soccefs 
6 in this Application, that you ought to attribute the Reflect 
4 tions you have heard, on the Meaftnefs and Pusillanimity 
4 of the Dutch, in bearing with the Japonefe Inipohtions. 
4 As to the common Imputation of their denying them- 
4 felves to be Chriftians, I flatter my Self,,, that I Shall be 
4 able to Shew you the Folly of it. The Japonefe are 
4 much too wife a Nation to give any Credit to fuch an 
4 Affertion, if the Dutch had been Wicked enough to have 
4 attempted to impofe on them by it. The Truth of the 
4 Matter is this : The Dutch , at the Time of the Perse- 
cution, declared* that their Intention in coming to Ja- 
pan was purely for the fake of Trade % and that they did 
4 not pretend to trouble the Peace of the Empire, as the 
t P°fLug,uefe had done : They farther allege, and certainly 
with Truth, that their Religion differed in many refpebls' 
4 from that of the Papifts. Now I cannot fee, what there 
4 is blameable in Rich a Condubt* and, on the Whole, you 
4 will find, that, inftead of denying themfelves to be Cbri- 
ftians, they only avowed themfelves Proteftants. As a. 
Proof of this, give me Leave to put you in mind of the 
Iijftrudtions given by Lewis XIV. to the Sieur Francis 
Carron, when he intended to have fent him on an Em- 
bafty to the Emperor of Japan * wherein he direbts him 
to affure that Monarch, that, though his moft Chriftian 
4 Majefty was of the fame Communion with the Portu- 
4 guefe, yet many of his Subjects were not, but of the fame 
4 Religion with the Hollanders * and that, if his Imperial 
Majefty would admit the French to trade, in his Domi- 
nions, he would take care that Trade Should be managed 
4 by fuch of his Subjebts as were of that Religion, 
4 This I think fo full an Anfwer, in every refpebt, td 
4 your Queftion, that, I hope, it will intirely cure you of 
your Prejudice in that refpebt, and bring you to acknow- 
4 Edge there is nothing, either of Wickedncfs or Blafphemy, 
4 in their avowing they trade with the Japonefe as Hollander s\ 
4 without drawing Religion at all into the Queftion : After 
all, the Dutch certainly found their Account, and, per- 
haps, always will, in their Commerce to Japan , notwith- 
ftanding the new Reftridtions •, though I think it very 
4 doubtful, whether any other Nation would or not* and 
for this plain Reafon : The greateft Part of the Cargoes 
they fend to Japan , are the Produce of their own Do^* 
minions in the Eafi Indies * as, on the other hand, the 
4 principal Markets to which they carry the Commodities 
4 or Japan, are likewife within their own Dominions, dr 
4 at leaf! Places where they have Fabtories. Thus, I hope, I 
4 have fully anfwered ail your Queries, and let the Nature of 
4 the Dutch Commerce, in this Country, in a true Light. 
It would have been much eafier for me to have written a 
Volume upon this Subject, than to have confined myfelf 
witnin fo narrow a Compafs * but I find you are no great 
4 Friend to voluminous Writings, neither indeed am I. 
Your Queftions are certainly very plain, and very perti- 
nent, expreffing fully, though in few Words, what it is 
you want to know. If, my Anfwers fhall be lo happy as 
to appeal iatisrabfory to you, and flipply that Knowledge 
which you have fought for elfewhere in vain, they will 
make ample Amends for the Pains they have coft me. 
At all Events, I am confident you will efteem them, as 
4 the Marks of that fincere Friendfhip which their Author 
4 has for you * and will therefore pardon whatever Miftakes 
4 your Penetration may difeover.’ 
36. The Eafi India Company have eftablifhed three 
F abtories * the Heads of which have the Title of Refidents* 
who correfpond direbtly with the Governor-General of 
Batavia , and are not dependent on any Governor or Di- 
rebtoi whatevei, as other Eabtors, who have the Title of 
Refidents, are. ft he firft of thefe independent Refidents 
is fixed at Cheribon , on the Coaft of Java, at the Diftance 
of forty Leagues from Batavia, where the Company carries 
on a very advantageous Commerce in Coffee, Cardamoms 
Indico, Cotton, CM The Land is as fertile in Rice, and 
other Provifions, as perhaps any Country in the World. 
It is of confiderable Extent* and the People who inhabit it 
are under the Dominion of four great Lords, who were 
formerly ftiled Pangerans, i. e . Princes* but are now ftiled 
4 * Sultans, 
