Leave the strangers in peace". Some of the most powerful
princes espoused the Christian religion, and about the year 1584, a
mission, consisting of two young Japanese noblemen, attended by two
counsellors of less rank, was sent to Rome by the subordinate kings of
Bungo and Arima, and the Prince of Omura, in testimony of the devotion of
those rulers. The people themselves hastened to the new faith with such
zeal as to win the warmest affections of all the missionaries who went
among them. Xavier wrote of them, "I know not when to cease, in speaking of
the Japanese; they are truly the delight of my heart."
So long as the mild teachings of Xavier and his Jesuit band prevailed, the
cause of Christianity advanced and prospered. But their field of labor was
soon invaded by multitudes of Dominicans and Franciscans from various
Portuguese settlements in Asia. By the persistent exercise of their best
faculties for mischief, these friars succeeded without much delay in
working irreparable injury where their predecessors had effected so much
good. They quarrelled, first among themselves, and then with the Jesuits,
until their strifes became the mockery of the people. The native priests of
the Siutoo and Buddhist religions took advantage of this state of things to
make a bold stand against the spread of the new doctrines. They organized a
force in the dominions of Omura, destroyed a Jesuit settlement and church,
and marched about in open rebellion against the authority of the
Prince.
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