The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-28 00:00:00

WILL ADAMS.

"Will Adams may not inappropriately be called a repre-
sentative Englishman, for though neither General nor Ad-
miral at sea, nay, but little more than a simple shipman, he
was one of the fathers' of our navy. Not for that reason,
however, was he chosen as the hero of the following nar-
rative, but because he was the first Englishman who ever
set foot in Japan, in which land he lived, for some time a
prisoner, then as the friend and confidant of the Emperor
(Ziogoon), negotiated a treaty for his country, married a
native lady, had children, and lastly, after a twenty years'
sojourn, made a will (which was afterwards brought to
England), and died. Of the history of this fine old English
shipman, and founder of the Dutch and English commerce
with Japan, we have but fragments in the shape of letters
written by him and some of his contemporaries; but from
these we gather the facts that he was born at Gillingham in.
Kent ; was apprenticed to a shipmaster, one Nicholas Dig-
gines, of Limehouse, near London; and that he married,
served as master and pilot in the navy of Queen Bess,
again in the service of the worshipful Company of Barbary
merchants, and lastly in the Dutcn fleet which sailed from
the Texel in 1598 ; and that, after a disastrous voyage,
accident threw him, with several shipmates, upon the land
of Japan, about April, 1600, in which empire he remained
till his death in May, 1620 ; and this, and much more that
has enabled me to give the fortunes of my hero, we have
upon authorities which may be found collected and collated
in the admirable work of Mr. Thomas Rundal, printed
for the Hakluyt Society, and entitled Memorials of the
Empire of Japan in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Cen-
turies. "

Although Will Adams is the nominal hero of the
tale, he is in reality but the eeeping partner of
the firm of Adams and Melichor, for Melichor
is the relater of this history, or rather autobio-
graphy, in which the doings of his friend Will
Adams are related ; and it is the personal adven-
tures of this individual that form the thread of
the story, and the interest of the reader is natu-
rally with the man who is always in trouble,
rather than with the one who is in court favour.
Melichor von Santvoort, a young Dutchman of
rank, having been saved from the stake, at which
his parents perished during the occupation of
Holland by the Spaniards in the sixteenth cen-
tury, by a wealthy merchant, who sacrificed his
conscience to save his property, personal and
mercantile, held a candle to the devil, and bided
his time. Young Melichor sailed with the ill-
fated Dutch fleet of the Barbary Company on its
wild goose chase. On board ship he meets with
Will Adams, and a brotherly friendship springs
up between them ; after many misfortunes, in
the end they are cast on the shores of Japan.
At first they are kindly received; but owing to
the machinations of their natural enemies, the
Spaniards and Portugese, Melichor and Will
Adams, separated from their comrades, are cast
into prison. They endure long captivity—during the
history of which much native incident is described.
I n the end, however, they gain an interview
with the Emperor, but previous to the au-
dience they are placed by his direction
in a concealed closet, so as to enable them to over-
hear a charge preferred against them by their
enemies, the Spaniards. The description here is
amusing; the indignation of the Englishman, com-
pelled to remain silent while the Spaniard is
abusing himself and country. At length his turn
came, and the Dutchman and Englishman were
led before the Emperor and signed to kiss the
ground, but like the gallant but unfortunate Mils°
of the Buffs, who refused to kneel to a Chinaman,
they remained standing, declaring that their coun-
trymen knelt to none but their God and sovereign,
which piece of independence so pleased the Emperor,
accustomed to and sated with servile fawning,
that he took them at once into favour, and hence-
forth the Spaniards were their humble servants.
Now commence Melichor's adventures. Will
Adams, the favourite of the Emperor, advances
rapidly in favour, and beyond a few passing inci-
dents he is out of the story, of which, up to the
present time, he had played the first part.
Melichor's adventures are amusing, and at times
highly interesting. The descriptions of native
character and custom are remarkably clever. We
are told by those in Lord Elgin's expedition that
the country is so rich that there are no beggars,
but Mr. Dalton gives accounts of endless classes
of this fraternity, We give one as an example :