| Citation |
RGG.781.003
11 Jan 1781:12 (98)
An Account of the Reception of a Dutch Ambassador by the
Emperor of Japan.
[1 1/2 column description. Near middle:]
From the accounts I had heard of the ceremony, my curiosity
prompted me to be a spectator of the whole. First went the
presents, set out on beautiful enamelled tables, adorned
with flowers, borne on mens shoulders, and followed by
Japanese musick and dancers. . . If the ceremonies at the
first audience appeared mortifying, those which are
practiced in the second are much more so. . . Here all the
Europeans were directed to pass in review, and to grovel and
to act the serpent as before. . . They were ordered to
write, to stand up, to sit, to compliment each, to be drunk,
to sing, to eat: in short, they were ordered to do all that
could satisfy the curiosity of women. . .
. . . Yet the ceremony did not end here; for every great
lord of the court was to be visited in the same manner; and
their ladies were all equally pleased with seeing the
strangers perform, even the children seeming highly diverted
with the dancing Dutchmen. . .
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