A Handful of Salt in a Stagnant Mass.


The Nagasaki Hollanders were not immaculate saints, neither were they
sooty devils. They did not profess to be Christian missionaries. On the
other hand, they were men not devoid of conscience nor of sympathy with
aspiring and struggling men in a hermit nation, eager for light and
truth. The Dutchman during the time of hermit Japan, as we see him in
the literature of men who were hostile in faith and covetous rivals in
trade, is a repulsive figure. He seems to be a brutal wretch, seeking
only gain, and willing to sell conscience, humanity and his religion,
for pelf. In reality, he was an ordinary European, probably no better,
certainly no worse, than his age or the average man of his country or of
his continent. Further, among this average dozen of exiles in the
interest of commerce, science or culture, there were frequently
honorable men far above the average European, and shining examples of
Christianity and humanity. Even in his submission to the laws of the
country, the Dutchman did no more, no less, but exactly as the
daimi[=o]s,[14] who like himself were subject to the humiliations
imposed by the rulers in Yedo.

It was the Dutch, who, for two hundred years supplied the culture of
Europe to Japan, introduced Western science, furnished almost the only
intellectual stimulant, and were the sole teachers of medicine and
science.[15] They trained up hundreds of Japanese to be physicians who
practised rational medicine and surgery. They filled with needed courage
the hearts of men, who, secretly practising dissection of the bodies of
criminals, demonstrated the falsity of Chinese ideas of anatomy. It was