-683 J A 1 
When the Tartars, for the Arft time, in 799, had over-run 
part of Japan, and when, after a conAderable time had 
elapfed, their fleet was deftroyed by a violent ftorm in 
the courfe of a Angle night, the Japanefe general at¬ 
tacked and fo totally defeated his numerous and brave 
enemies, that not a Angle perfon fqrvived to return and 
carry the tidings of fuch an unparalleled defeat. In like 
manner when the Japanefe were again, in 1281, invaded 
by the warlike Tartars, to the number of 240,000 flght- 
.ing'men, they gained a viftory equally complete. The 
extirpation of the Portuguefe, and with them of the 
Chriftian religion, towards the beginning of the 17th 
century, was l'o complete, that fcarcely a veftige can now 
be difcerned of its ever having exilted there. 
With relpeft to the government of thefe iflands, it is, 
and has Been for a long time, monarchical; though for¬ 
merly it feems to have been fplit into a' great number of 
petty kingdoms, which were at length all fwallowed by 
one. Anciently, the emperors were likwife fovereign 
pontiffs, under the title of dairos, (a name fuppofed to 
have been derived from Dairo, the head of that family ;) 
at which time, their perfons and dignity were held fo fa- 
cred, that not only every rebellion againff them, but 
even every contravention to their decrees, whether in ci¬ 
vil or religious matters, was detefted as a crime againff 
heaven itfelf. They were, in feme meafure, worlliipped 
by all their fubjedls, and alTumed fuch ftate as if they had 
been partakers of a divine nature. They never fet their 
feet upon the ground, nor fuffered the fun to fhine or 
wind to blow upon them. They never wore their clothes 
above one day, and never ate twice out of the fame diffies. 
In a word, all their furniture,- veffels, and utenAls, be¬ 
longing to bed or board, were renewed every day. They 
-server cut their hair or beard, nor pared their nails. They 
kept theinfelves as much as poflible from being publicly 
feen, and were chiefly waited on by twelve wives, whom 
they married with great foleranity. The titles they af- 
fumed, and by which they were addrefied, came little 
Ihort of blafphemy, and the manner of approaching them 
favoured ftrongly of idolatry. Whol'oever appeared[in their 
prefence were obliged to proftrate theinfelves flat upon the 
ground, and in that humble Atuation prefent their peti¬ 
tion, anfwer their queftions, and receive their commands. 
And as the emperor lived thus in fplendour, luxury, and 
effeminacy, he committed the chief care of the civil, and 
all the military, affairs to his prime minifter, who was 
ftyled cubo, or generaliflimo of all the forces ; which dig¬ 
nity was commonly bellowed on one of his youngeft fons, 
for the eldeft always inherited his father’s throne. About 
the beginning of the Axteenth century, fuch a dreadful 
civil war broke out, and lafted fo many years, that the 
empire was quite ruined. During thefe diffractions and 
confuAons, a common foldier, by name Tayckoy, a per¬ 
fon of obfeure birth, but of an enterpriflng genius, found 
means to raife himfelf to the imperial dignity ; having, 
in little more than three years time, by an uncommon 
Ihare of good fortune, fubdued all his competitors and op¬ 
ponents, and reduced all their cities and caffles. The 
dairo, not being in a condition to obffruCt or put a ftop 
to his progrefs, was forced to fubmit to his terms ; and 
might perhaps have been condemned to much harder, had 
not Tayckoy been apprehenfive left his foldiers, who Hill 
revered their ancient natural monarch, fhould have re¬ 
volted in his favour. To prevent this, he granted him 
the l'upreme power in all religious matters, with great 
privileges, honours, and revenues, annexed to it ; whilft 
himfelf remained inverted with the whole civil and mili¬ 
tary power, and was acknowledged and proclaimed king 
of Japan. This great revolution happened in 1517, and 
Tayckoy reigned feveral years with great wifdom and 
tranquillity; during which he made many wholefome laws 
and regulations, which ftill fubflft, and are much admired 
to this day. At his death, he left the crown to his fon 
Tayckoflama, then a minor; but the treacherous prince, 
under vvliofe guardianftrip he was left, deprived him of his 
Jt 
1 A. N. 
life before he came of age. By this murder, the crown 
parted to the family of Jejaffama, in which it ftill conti¬ 
nues. Tayckoy and his fucceffors have contented tliem- 
felves with the title of cubo, which, under the dairos, was 
that of prime minifter, whofe office is now fuppreffed ; fo 
that the cubo, in all fecular concerns, is quite as abfolute 
and defpotic, and has as extenrtve a power over the lives 
and fortunes of all his fubjecls, from the petty kings 
down to the loweft perfons, as ever the dairos had. The 
dairo reftdes conftantly at Meaco, and the cubo at Jeddo. 
The religion throughout Japan, it is well known, is 
pagan, fplit into feveral feels, who live together in the 
greateft harmony. Every fed! has its own temples and 
priefts. The fpiritual emperor, the dairi, is the chief of 
their religion. They acknowledge and honour a Supreme 
Being. The author of this relation (Dr. Thunberg) faw 
two temples of the God oi^eds of a majeftic height. The 
idol that reprefented this god was of gilded wood, and of 
fo prodigious a Aze, that upon his hands Ax perfons 
might At in the Japanefe faihion ; his Ihoulders were Ave 
toiies broad. In the other temple, the inAnite power of 
this god was reprefented by little gods to the number of 
33,333, all Handing round the great idol that reprefented 
God. The priefts, who are numerous in every temple, 
have nothing to do hut to clean the pavement, light the 
lamps, and drefs the idol with flowers. The temples are 
open to every body, even to the Dutch; and in cafe they 
are in want of a lodging in the fuburbs, when they go to 
the court of Jeddo, they are entertained with hofpitality 
in thefe temples. All the feels agree in o.bferving the 
Ave following maxims, or precepts r Not to kill, or to eat 
any thing that is killed ; not to Ileal ; not to defile ano¬ 
ther man’s bed; not to lie; nor to drink wine. 
Chriftianity, if popery deferves that name, had once 
made a conAderable progrefs in this country, in confe- 
quence of a mirtion conducted by Portuguefe and Spanilh 
Jefuits ; amongft whom the famous faint Francis Xavier 
was employed, but foon relinquifhed the fervice. There 
were alio fome Francifcan friars of Spain engaged at lall. 
The Jefuits and friars were fupplied from Goa, Macao, 
and the Manillas. At Arft the undertaking proceeded with 
rapid fuccefs, but ended at laft in the moft tragical man¬ 
ner, owing to the pride and liaughtinefs, the mifconducl, 
rapacity, and extravagant confpiracy of the fathers againff 
the-ftate. This folly and madnefs produced a perfecu- 
tion of forty years duration, terminated by a moft horri¬ 
ble and bloody maflacre, not to be paralleled in hiftory. 
After this the Portuguefe, as likewife the Chriftian reli¬ 
gion, were totally expelled the country, and the moft 
effedlual means taken for preventing their return. The 
natives are for this purport: prohibited from going out of 
the country ; and all foreigners are excluded from an 
open and free trade; for, as to the Dutch and Chinefe, 
under which laft name fome other eaftern nations go thi¬ 
ther, they are fliut up whilft they remain there, and a 
moft ftridt watch is fet upon them, infomuch that they 
are no better than prifoners; and the Dutch, it is laid, to 
obtain a privilege even fo far, declared themfelves to be no 
Ckrijlians, but Dutchmen . 
It was about the year of Chrift 1549, or Ax years,after 
the Arft difeovery, that the fathers of the lociety arrived 
there, being induced by the favourable reprefentations of 
a young Japanefe who had fled to Goa. Till the year 
1625, or near 1630, the Chriftian religion fpread through 
moft of the provinces of the empire, many of the princes 
and lords openly embracing it ; and there was very good 
reafon to hope, that within a ftn.rt compafs of time the 
whole empire would have been converted to the faith of 
our Saviour, had not the ambitious views, and the impa¬ 
tient endeavours of the fathers to reap the temporal as 
well as the fpiritual fruits of their care and labour, fo 
provoked the l’upreme majefty of the empire,_as to raife 
againff themfelves and their converts a peri'ecution which 
hath not its parallel in hiftory, whereby the'religion they 
preached, and all thole that profefled it, were in a few 
years 
