"I do; but the tale of that man's crime is long; to-morrow night I
will walk with you, and narrate the whole. Peace be with you, my son,
and good-night." The weather continued fine, and the _Batavia_ hove-to in the evening
with the intention of anchoring the next morning in the roadstead of
St Helena. Philip, when he went on deck to keep the middle watch,
found the old priest at the gangway waiting for him. In the ship all
was quiet; the men slumbered between the guns, and Philip, with his
new acquaintance, went aft, and seating themselves on a hencoop, the
priest commenced as follows:--

"You are not, perhaps, aware that the Portuguese, although anxious to
secure for themselves a country discovered by their enterprise and
courage, and the possession of which, I fear, has cost them many
crimes, have still never lost sight of one point dear to all good
Catholics--that of spreading wide the true faith, and planting the
banner of Christ in the regions of idolatry. Some of our countrymen
having been wrecked on the coast, we were made acquainted with the
islands of Japan; and seven years afterwards, our holy and blessed St
Francis, now with God, landed on the Island of Ximo, where he remained
for two years and five months, during which he preached our religion
and made many converts. He afterwards embarked for China, his original
destination, but was not permitted to arrive there; he died on his
passage, and thus closed his pure and holy life. After his death,
notwithstanding the many obstacles thrown in our way by the priests of
idolatry, and the persecutions with which they occasionally visited
the members of our faith, the converts to our holy religion increased
greatly in the Japanese islands. The religion spread fast, and many
thousands worshipped the true God. "After a time, the Dutch formed a settlement at Japan, and when they
found that the Japanese Christians around the factories would deal
only with the Portuguese, in whom they had confidence, they became our
enemies; and the man of whom we have spoken, and who at that period
was the head of the Dutch Factory, determined, in his lust for gold,
to make the Christian religion a source of suspicion to the emperor
of the country, and thus to ruin the Portuguese and their adherents. Such, my son, was the conduct of one who professed to have embraced
the reformed religion as being of greater purity than our own. "There was a Japanese lord of great wealth and influence who lived
near us, and who, with two of his sons, had embraced Christianity, and
had been baptised. He had two other sons, who lived at the emperor's
court. This lord had made us a present of a house for a college and
school of instruction: on his death, however, his two sons at court,
who were idolaters, insisted upon our quitting this property. We
refused, and thus afforded the Dutch principal an opportunity of
inflaming these young noblemen against us: by this means he persuaded
the Japanese emperor that the Portuguese and Christians had formed a
conspiracy against his life and throne; for, be it observed, that when
a Dutchman was asked if he was a Christian, he would reply, 'No; I am
a Hollander.' "The emperor, believing in this conspiracy, gave an immediate order
for the extirpation of the Portuguese, and then of all the Japanese
who had embraced the Christian faith. He raised an army for this
purpose, and gave the command of it to the young noblemen I have
mentioned, the sons of the lord who had given us the college. The
Christians, aware that resistance was their only chance, flew to arms,
and chose as their generals the other two sons of the Japanese lord,
who, with their father, had embraced Christianity. Thus were the two
armies commanded by four brothers, two on the one side and two on the
other. "The Christian army amounted to more than 40,000 men, but of this the
emperor was not aware, and he sent a force of about 25,000 to conquer
and exterminate them. The armies met, and after an obstinate combat
(for the Japanese are very brave) the victory was on the part of the
Christians, and, with the exception of a few who saved themselves in
the boats, the army of the emperor was cut to pieces. "This victory was the occasion of making more converts, and our army
was soon increased to upwards of 50,000 men. On the other hand, the
emperor, perceiving that his troops had been destroyed, ordered new
levies and raised a force of 150,000 men, giving directions to his
generals to give no quarter to the Christians, with the exception
of the two young lords who commanded them, whom he wished to secure
alive, that he might put them to death by slow torture. All offers of
accommodation were refused, and the emperor took the field in person. The armies again met, and on the first day's battle the victory was on
the part of the Christians; still they had to lament the loss of one
of their generals, who was wounded and taken prisoner, and, no quarter
having been given, their loss was severe. "The second day's combat was fatal to the Christians. Their general
was killed; they were overpowered by numbers, and fell to a man. The
emperor then attacked the camp in the rear, and put to the sword every
old man, woman, and child. On the field of battle, in the camp, and by
subsequent torture, more than 60,000 Christians perished. But this
was not all; a rigorous search for Christians was made throughout the
islands for many years; and they were, when found, put to death by
the most cruel torture. It was not until fifteen years ago that
Christianity was entirely rooted out of the Japanese empire, and
during a persecution of somewhat more than sixteen years, it is
supposed that upwards of 400,000 Christians were destroyed; and all
this slaughter, my son, was occasioned by the falsehood and avarice
of that man who met his just punishment but a few days ago. The Dutch
company, pleased with his conduct, which procured for them such
advantages, continued him for many years as the president of their
factory at Japan. He was a young man when he first went there, but his
hair was grey when he thought of returning to his own country. He had
amassed immense wealth,--immense, indeed, must it have been to have
satisfied avarice such as his! All has now perished with him, and he
has been summoned to his account. Reflect a little, my son. Is it
not better to follow up our path of duty, to eschew the riches and
pleasures of this world, and, at our summons hence, to feel that we
have hopes of bliss hereafter?" "Most true, holy father," replied Philip, musing. "I have but a few years to live," continued the old man, "and God
knows I shall quit this world without reluctance." "And so could I," replied Philip. "_You_, my son!--no. You are young, and should be full of hopes. You
have still to do your duty in that station to which it shall please
God to call you." "I know that I have a duty to perform," replied Philip. "Father, the
night air is too keen for one so aged as you.