Daily Inspiration Quote by Will Adams

A petty theft complaint becomes, in Will Adams's hands, a quiet indictment of empire on the ground. Stranded far from home and newly entangled in Japan's power structure, Adams frames his losses in two layers: the obvious wreck (what he "lost...in the ship") and the opportunism that followed, when "the captain and the company" strip away anything "good or worth the taking". The phrasing does sly work. "Good or worth the taking" makes the looting sound almost procedural, as if value itself invites confiscation. It's not merely robbery; it's a system recognizing and extracting portable wealth.

The last clause is the real payload: "all which was done unknown to the emperor". Adams isn't only trying to clear his name or recover property; he's positioning his grievance to be legible within a hierarchical court. He draws a careful line between sovereign authority and the corrupt micro-economy beneath it. The emperor (or, more practically in this era, the top of the political order) is imagined as a figure of justice whose legitimacy depends on not knowing what his agents do. That move flatters power while pressuring it: if the ruler is good, he must act; if he does nothing, perhaps he did know.

In context, this is survival rhetoric. As a foreigner with precarious standing, Adams can't afford open accusation. So he offers a narrative calibrated to travel upward: loyal to the idea of rule, ruthless about the behavior of men who exploit distance from the throne.