know next to nothing of what may be termed the Catholic episode
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, had we access to
none but the official Japanese sources. How can we trust those
sources when they deal with times yet more remote?"--Chamberlain.

"The annals of the primitive Church furnish no instances of
sacrifice or heroic constancy, in the Coliseum or the Roman
arenas, that were not paralleled on the dry river-beds or
execution-grounds of Japan."

"They ... rest from their labors; and their works do follow
them. "--Revelation.


CHAPTER XI - A CENTURY OF ROMAN CHRISTIANITY

Darkest Japan.


The story of the first introduction and propagation of Roman
Christianity in Japan, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
has been told by many writers, both old and new, and in many languages.
Recent research upon the soil,[1] both natives and foreigners making
contributions, has illustrated the subject afresh. Relics and memorials
found in various churches, monasteries and palaces, on both sides of the
Pacific and the Atlantic, have cast new light upon the fascinating
theme. Both Christian and non-Christian Japanese of to-day, in their
travels in the Philippines, China, Formosa, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and
Italy, being keenly alert for memorials of their countrymen, have met
with interesting trovers. The descendants of the Japanese martyrs and