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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. This movement, however, was checked without difficulty, and the insurgents were overthrown in battle.
Don Mancio, his ambassador, being arrived at Rome, with those of the king of Arima, and the prince of Omura, was not satisfied with bringing the obedience of the king, his master, to the vicar of Jesus Christ, by presenting him the letters of Don Francis, full of submission and respect to the Holy See; but he also petitioned him, in the name of his sovereign, to place the apostle of Japan amongst those saints whom the faithful honour; and declared to his Holiness, "That he could not do a greater favour to the king of Bungo."
For instance, in December, 1864, a fragment of blazing wood, from a fire which destroyed the United Service Club at Yokohama, was blown across to the village of Omura before alluded to, which was half burnt down, greatly endangering the General Small-Pox Hospital and the huts of the Royal Marine Battalion in its rear.
To this day the memory of Nobunaga is execrated by the Buddhists. To Nobunaga they give the title of Bakadono, or Lord Fool. It was in the three provinces of Bungo, Omura and Arima, that Christianity was most firmly rooted.
The island passed, what a view presents itself! The long perspective of the bay, the densely wooded hills and lower slopes teeming with agricultural produce, rich corn-fields, ripe for the sickle; picturesque dwellings, hid in shadowy foliage, and flowers and fruit trees, to which the purity and rarity of the atmosphere lend a brilliancy of colouring and distinctness of outline, impossible to describe; the clear blue water, with here and there a quaint and curious-looking junk, resting on its glassy and reflecting surface; the town, sweeping around the shores of the bay; and, afar, the majesty of hill and vale; such, dear reader, is a weak and very imperfect word picture of the charming bay of Omura.
To the left is the bay of Omura, closely skirted at times by the road. At one place is observed an inland temple, connected with the mainland by a causeway of rough rock. The little island is covered with dark pines and jagged rocks, amid which the Japs have perched their shrine and erected a temple.
In 1572 the Portuguese presumed to ask for the whole town of Nagasaki, as a gift to their church, with power of jurisdiction over the same; threatening, in case of refusal, to establish themselves elsewhere. The daimyo, Omura, at first demurred, but eventually yielded; and Nagasaki then became Christian territory, directly governed by the Church.
This was resisted by some of the converted nobles, and particularly by the young prince of Omura, whose obstinacy was punished in a very summary way, the Ziogoon seizing upon the port of Nagasaki, and transferring it to his own immediate government.
Numerous conversions and numerous returns of apostates took place everywhere. While this enthusiasm was at its height, Navarette, vice-provincial of the Dominicans, and Ayala, vice-provincial of the Augustins, emerged from hiding, and robed in their full canonicals, commenced an open propaganda, heralding their approach by a letter addressed to Omura and couched in the most defiant terms.
There is probably as little use for elaborate police regulations in Japan as in any country under the sun; but having chosen the splendid police service of France to pattern by, they can now boast of having a service that lacks nothing in effectiveness. A very good road, with an avenue of fine spreading conifers of some kind, leads out of Omura.
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