ENGLISH READERS. 
THE HIGH SCHOOL SERIES. 
BOOK IV. 
LEARNED STUPIDITY. 
ONE day, when MORI MOTONARI was conversing with some of his favorite retainers, a scholar called HOKKY? KEISAI happened to be present. KEISAI was a great flatterer and extremely sycophantish; and his character revealed itself on this occasion. "Your noble courage," remarked KEISAI to his patron, "shines like a bright light over this land, and people all rejoice in it. What is taking place here resembles what took place in China when T? or when Bu was reigning."
"In the prosperous days of BU," replied MOTONARI, "owing to the skill with which he governed, there were no such flatterers as you. So that your existence is a clear proof that my rule is not in any way equal to that of BU." 
He meant by this, that the state of society under BU'S rule was so good that flatterers were not tolerated ─ no one would employ them. So that, now, KEISAI'S being able to get lucrative employment, was a proof that MOTONARI was an unskillful ruler. 
Shortly after this, MOTONARI remarked; ─ "Such stupid people as this KEISAI are not to be depended upon in any way. Although he has read a good deal, how to make use of what he has read, he does not know. He is learned, but he is stupid. He aims at saying what he thinks will please me and endeavors to make me satisfied with my own attainments, which of course is calculated to make me careless as to what further progress I make. Such unintelligent, undiscerning scholars as this KEISAI are more to be feared than ordinary men. If they receive land from their lords or masters, they think that the men that esteem them so highly as to bestow land on them can be no other than sages and philosophers; for were it otherwise, why should they patronize such good scholars as they? Then they go on to write ornate phrases about their master's doings, many of which doings, being either foolish or insignificant, look utterly ridiculous when described in the bombastic language these scholars make use of. There are crowds of such flatterers as KEISAI to be found. Let it be a maxim with you never to think that people are wise because they are learned." 
These words of MOTONARI are strictly true. There are foolish scholars, and unlearned wise men. Book-learning does not invariably impart wisdom. With retentive memories, men may accumulate a large amount of information, while at the same time they lack judgment and discernment, and their mental faculties remain in a very imperfectly developed state. Their moral natures lacking the strength imparted by fixed principles, they may at any time stoop to conduct that is sycophantish and undignified for the sake of temporary gains.

ANOTHER FLATTERER AND THE TREATMENT HE RECEIVED. 
THERE was in HIDEYOSHI'S time a baron called GAM? UJISATO, to whom HIDEYOSHI gave land that was valued at one million koku of rice per annum. 
On one occasion it happened that somebody came to UJISATO and said: ─ "I happen to know a man whom I think you would do well to employ. His name is TAMAGAWA S?MA." 
UJISATO made inquiries about the man, and was informed that he was very clever, so he agreed to try him. He invited S?MA to his house as a guest, and since he had the reputation of being very intelligent and eloquent, for ten nights UJISATO listened to his discourses. At the end of that time, UJISATO, without saying anything to anyone, gave S?MA some money and sent him away. His retainers and attendants were much surprised when they heard of this. "As S?MA," they remarked," is a man of great reputation, why is he dismissed in this summary way?" 
A few nights after this, they ventured to ask UJISATO why he had parted with S?MA.
"People," said he, "look at the appearance of a man and listen to his plausible speech, and immediately begin to speak of him as a scholar of great merit, and soon they begin to think that there is no one to be compared to him for intelligence. Now I noticed that when S?MA came to my house for the first time, he commenced praising everything in the house. The next thing he did, was to run down in my hearing all other barons. Then he went on to speak highly of every person whom he thought in any way agreeable to me. Had I kept him, he would have done nothing but make mischief in the house."
S?MA afterwards got employed by another baron. This baron was deceived by his plausibility and gave him power in his mansion. But by degrees S?MA'S insincerity revealed itself, and, after having set all the .members of the house at loggerheads, he was dismissed. 
Flatterers are never to be trusted; they are usually men who have lost all independence of character, if they ever possessed any. Flattery is a species of lying, injuring in various ways both him who practices it and him who consents to be its subject. 

A MADMAN BECOMES THE GOD OF HAPPINESS. 
ABOUT a quarter of a century ago, there wandered about the streets of Edo a man that went by the name of the Madman. To what province he originally belonged is not known. Some say that he was born in Mutsu, but this is uncertain. 
While still young, he lost his parents. Having nowhere to go, and no occupation, he traversed the country as a beggar. When hungry, he asked for food; when he wanted sake, he begged for it. He often drank till he was tipsy, and then danced about the streets in a most extraordinary fashion. People often seeing him in this condition, took him to be a madman. And, frequently hearing himself spoken of as being out of his mind, he looked upon himself as such, and did not know himself by any other name than "The Madman." 
At the age of twenty-two he came to Edo, and lay down to sleep, one day, close to the Sh?heigakk?. While lying there, he heard sounds that attracted his attention. They proceeded from the school, and were the sounds of men reading books and practicing music. He remarked to someone that happened to be near: ─ "The persons that are studying here are all men. I also am a man, though a madman. When I examine myself, I see that I possess the eyes, ears, feet and hands of a man. Since Heaven has richly endowed me with gifts, there is no reason why I should not become like these scholars." 
Thus saying, he went round to some of the large shopkeepers of Edo, and asked them to employ him as a cleaver of wood or a drawer of water. But having witnessed his freaks when tipsy, they were all afraid to make use of him. 
Not knowing what to do with himself in Edo, the Madman went to Utsunomiya. He reached the outskirts of the town on the thirty-first of December. Here he met a wealthy farmer, who, according to immemorial custom, was engaged in going from house to house to collect his debts. This farmer the Madman followed. His uncombed hair hung in locks over his shoulders; his face was begrimed with dirt; he was thin, and his bones projected in all directions; his clothes were hanging in tatters about him; and altogether he looked like a fiend. As it was just the time that fiends are said to come to people's houses to frighten them into paying their debts, the farmer thought he was one of these; so he said to him: ─ "You have no business with me, therefore you had better be gone." 
"By my distressed appearance you take me to be a fiend," said the beggar. "Are you unacquainted with the nature of the transition from misery to bliss, or from poverty to riches, that you speak thus? When poverty reaches its culminating point, then come riches; when riches have reached their culminating point, then comes poverty. And such being the case, your being rich now does not insure your being rich always; you cannot say how long you may be free from the inroads of poverty. Nor need I conclude that because of my present condition, I shall never be rich. There are those who, though dressed in rags, have hearts that shine like the stars. There are those who, though thin and emaciated in outward appearance, are rich in intelligence. There are those who, if judged by their skins, are tigers, but who, if judged by their natures, are sheep. There are men, on the other hand, that are rich in coin but deficient in power. Your eye is unable to distinguish between the outside and the inside of a man. You are unable to see any difference between a man and a fiend. Is not this the very height of delusion? You are evidently to be classed with men that are blind and deaf." 
Here the Madman raised his voice high, and, after uttering the severest reproof of the farmer's obtuseness, was about to run away, when the farmer, thinking that no fiend could speak as he had, and inferring from his dress as compared with his knowledge and intelligence, that he must be a very remarkable personage, stopped him and invited him to his home. 
As the farmer drew near his house, he called out to his family with a loud voice: ─ " I have brought the God of Happiness home with me." 
The members of his household all came running out to see who it was that he had brought. When they saw the beggar's wild looks, they said: ─ "You have brought a madman to us." 
"This man may appear to be mad, but he is not actually so," replied the farmer. "He is willing to work for us and if he assists us, shall we not be benefited thereby?" 
The farmer had the man's clothes changed, and gave him work to do. Everything the beggar undertook, he did well; so much so that all the neighbors complimented the farmer on possessing such a faithful servant. 
Just at this time, the Shogun's Government was on its last legs. Things were all upside down. The constant arrival of foreign ships kept people on the alert, and they felt as though they were on the eve of some great crisis. Food was scarce; and those who could not procure it by fair means had no scruples about resorting to foul ones. As the country grew to be more and more disturbed, the Madman thought it was his duty to tell his master what was passing in his mind. So, one day, he went to him and said: ─ "It is impossible to say when a great commotion may take place in our country and the whole nation be convulsed thereby. The advice I have to give is, that you assist those who are around you. Thus you will win the favor of the people; and having won it, you will get protection in time of need. If you neglect to do this, depend upon it, the people will rob you. If a piece of flesh is thrown away in the court-yard, flies and ants are attracted to it; and when this is the case, the flesh is soon consumed. If it happens that in your house alone there is money and other things that people care to have, then your house will be like the piece of meat to hungry flies and ants, and, depend upon it, your property will not be spared." 
The farmer was very much struck with the force of these remarks, and determined to act on them. He refrained from collecting the debts that were due to him, and distributed among his neighbors altogether about a thousand ry? and one thousand koku of rice. 
Just at this time, the disturbance under FUJITA occurred, and all the surrounding villages were attacked and plundered. But the farmer with whom the Madman was living, owing to his great popularity, was spared. 
When the farmer saw this, he said: ─ "He whom men called a madman has proved a true God of Happiness to me." 

COURAGE AND PATRIOTISM.
IN the eighth century of our era, there reigned over Japan an Empress called K?KEN. During her reign there was a Government officer called WAKE KIYOMARO. KIYOMARO was honest and fearless, and no matter how high in rank the person to whom he was speaking might be, he was not the one to withhold his opinion when he thought it ought to be expressed.
The Empress K?KEN worshipped HACHIMAN, the god of war. Whenever the priests came to her and said that HACHIMAN had decreed anything, she would immediately act on the revelation, of whatever nature it might be. 
The Empress was very much attached to a priest called D?KY?. One day, NAKATOMI ASOMARO came to the Empress and said: ─ "HACHIMAN has revealed to me that it is his will that you hand over the kingdom to D?KY?. If you obey this command, your kingdom will prosper."
The Empress was troubled when she heard this, and did not know what to do. She wished to act up to her religion, but did not feel disposed to hand her kingdom over to another. 
She sent for KIYOMARO, and commanded him to go to HACHIMAN'S temple in Usa and hear for himself what was the will of HACHIAIAN concerning this thing. 
When KIYOMARO was about to start on his journey, D?KY? came to him and said: ─ "You have been informed that HACHIMAN has decreed that the kingdom be handed over to me; and I hear that you are being sent to receive the communication of HACHIMAN concerning this matter. If you will so arrange this business that I become Emperor, then, I give you my word of honor that, you shall be my prime minister and shall have the control of all the affairs of my kingdom. But if you act in opposition to my wishes, then, believe me, the punishment that you will receive will be heavy." 
KIYOMARO went to Usa, and returned. And this was the message he brought back: ─ "Thus saith HACHIMAN, the god of war: 'From ancient times down to the present, there bas not been a single case of a subject assuming the rank of an Emperor. The rank of ruler and subject has always been distinct. The person, therefore, that succeeds the Empress, must be of royal descent. Let those that teach anything different from this be removed from power and office. As for this D?KY?, that takes upon him such airs, ─ who is he?"
D?KY?, being defeated in his purpose, grew very angry, and slandered KIYOMARO to the Empress, and did not rest till he had caused him to be banished to Tsukushi. 
He planned the murder of KIYOMARO on the road to Tsukushi; but this he could not effect owing to a thunderstorm that occurred just at the time the assassination was to have taken place. 
Subsequent to this, when the Empress K?KEN was succeeded by the Emperor K?NlN, D?KY? was banished to Shimotsuke; and KIYOMARO was restored to his former position. 
Owing to his noble conduct on the occasion above referred to, KIYOMARO became most popular, and was invested with the third grade of the second order of merit. He died at the age of sixty-seven, respected and beloved. 

HOW ?-OKA TADASUKE CONVICTED A MAN OF MURDER. 
AT the beginning of the last century, there was among the men-servants of OYAMADA SH?ZAEMON* a man called ─ NAOSUKE. 
This NAOSUKE crept into the room where his master slept, and killed him, his wife, and three children with a sword. He was not able to get the money he wished to take, however, owing to the arrival of some neighbors on the scene. 
NAOSUKE escaped, and, after knocking out two of his front teeth, and disfiguring his face and arms, he changed his name to GOMBEI, and obtained employment in a rice shop in K?ji-machi, the owner of which was one ─ SANZAEMON. 
Five or six years after the murder, it was suspected that GOMBEI, though so much altered, was the author of the crime. So he was arrested on suspicion. 
The officers that examined him were convinced that GOMBEI was the murderer, but they could get no satisfactory evidence wherewith to convict him; so they applied to ?-OKA TADASUKE, the City-Bugy?, asking him to help them in some way to find out the truth.

TADASUKE summoned GOMBEI to his presence; and, on his appearance, addressed him as follows: ─ "For an innocent man like you to be accused of murder by Government officials is most lamentable. Having been tortured so much, you will find great difficulty in using your limbs for some time. Here, take this." Thus saying, TADASUKE gave GOMBEI five ry?, and told him to do the best he could with them.
GOMBEI was overcome with delight, making sure that his life was safe. When his spirits were at their height, and he was entirely off his guard. TADASUKE called out suddenly: ─ "NAOSUKE!" 
GOMBEI turned, and answered: ─ "Yes. "TADASUKE instantly commanded his attendants to seize him: which they did, just as he was trying to steal away. 
GOMBEI found it impossible to hide his crime any longer. His having unwittingly answered to the name of NAOSUKE, was, he knew, sufficient to prove his identity, so, seeing there was no way of escape, he confessed his guilt, and was condemned to be crucified. 

PHILANTHROPY. 
ABOUT a century ago, there lived in Tsuruoka, Ugo, a man called SUZUKI UEMON. UEMON was by nature a very benevolent man, and never lost an opportunity of helping those that were in distress. 
In the year 1788 A.D., owing to the failure of the crops, there was a great famine in Mutsu. The corpses of those that died of hunger were lying exposed on the roadside in every direction. Those who escaped did so by going about from place to place to seek food. 
Ugo being the adjacent county to Mutsu, people visited it in crowds to buy food. The inhabitants of Tsuruoka, perceiving that those that were refused food pined away before their eyes, did their very utmost to supply the wants of the famishing multitudes. 
UEMON commenced life as a petty officer, but as soon as he had saved a little money, he resigned his post, and began to farm on his own account. He was very successful and soon accumulated a large amount of property. When he saw how great was the distress of the people, he commenced by spending all the ready money that he had in purchasing food for them. Then he sold, first, his house, and afterwards his garden and ricefields, and laid out the money in supplying the wants of the famine stricken peasants. His wife, influenced by his example, disposed of all her property save two changes of dress-clothes. And, one day, she said that she thought she should sell these.
"As women are usually very fond of dress," remarked her husband, "to see you thus willing to part with that which is so very near to most women's hearts, elicits my admiration. But, since there will be times when you go out visiting, will it not be awkward not to have something decent to wear on these occasions?" 
"It is for this very reason, "replied the wife," that I wish to sell the clothes. As long as I have them, I have a desire to go out visiting; and when I go visiting, I not only need these dresses, but I need hair-combs, hair-pins, and the like, all of which cost money. If I get rid of the desire to go to people's houses, then I shall no longer require such things as these. So they can all be sold, and the money used in providing food for the hungry and the dying." 
Her husband approved of the plan; and it was carried out promptly. 
Early the following year, a girl of about eleven or twelve years of age was to be seen, one day, standing before UEMON'S door. At this time, the snow was so deep and the wind so keen that, even in the case of persons that were well clad, it was difficult to keep warm. The little girl that stood outside UEMON'S door had only one thin garment on. When UEMON'S wife saw this, she said to one of her children that was about the same age as this little girl: ─ "See! You have on two garments, and they are both lined with wool. This little girl has only one garment on, and that a thin unlined one, the season being far advanced now, you will not feel the cold very much; will you not therefore give this little girl one of your garments?" 
The child looked intently at her little friend, and was touched by seeing one about her own age in such distress, and so, quite willingly and cheerfully, she took off one of her garments and gave it to the little girl. 
The parents' hearts were gladdened by the sight: for what they saw was no other than their own benevolent hearts reproduced and reflected in their child.
Virtue, like vice, is often hereditary. Parents, when they cultivate their better feelings and do their best to live virtuous lives, are not only benefiting themselves, but are, though it may be unconsciously, conferring lasting benefit on posterity. 

A REMARKABLE WOMAN. 
MORE than a hundred years ago, there resided somewhere in Bizen a man called YUASA EI, who had a wife called RURI. RURI'S father was employed by the Baron of Bizen. 
Soon after RURI'S birth, her father and the whole family went to Edo. They were there some five or six years. When they returned to their home, though RURI was only eight years old at the time, her memory was so good, that she recollected the names of all the rivers they had crossed and all the mountains that they had traversed on the way.
RURI was twenty-eight years o]d when she married EI. They were a most united couple. It is recorded that she served her husband as a retainer serves his lord; and that EI treated his wife with as much deference as a guest. 
When EI was made the Metsuke of his lord's mansion, he often had business that called him away from home. During his absence everything went on as it ought, and on his return he found nothing out of order. 
When El became old he resigned his office. After this he grew sick. Though his sickness lasted six years, RURI'S attention to him never slackened. She nursed him day and night, consulting his wishes in everything. But nothing availed to save his life, and he passed away. 
After her husband's death, notwithstanding her advanced age, RURI took charge of the house and carried on everything in a most discreet way. She neglected none of the household duties of women, yet she attended at the same time to the cultivation of her mind, spending her leisure hours in reading useful books, composing verses, and practicing music. She was careful in the selection of the books that she read and the songs she sang. Anything bordering on indecency she scrupulously avoided. 
While living such a highly moral life, she never worshipped at any temple, nor did she have anything to do with priests. She allowed no divination or magic of any kind to be practiced in her house. She was kind to the poor and the afflicted. Her brother lost his wife: she took him and all his children into her house and supported them. 
Whenever GENTEI, her son, went out to play with other children. RURI was careful to ask with whom he had been playing and what he had gained or lost by his companionship. She was very fond of GENTEI, but did not on this account treat him indulgently. She would endeavor to stimulate him to effort by relating to him the deeds of the ancients. Among those of whom she spoke, there were such women as SEIS?NAGON, whose deeds she would praise, and then remind her son that more was expected of men than of women. 

She died in 1741 A.D., at the age of seventy-two, highly esteemed by all who knew her. 

HONESTY ITS OWN REWARD.
IN the Ky?h? period [A.D. 1715-1735], in Muromachi, Edo, there lived a tallow-chandler called SHIR?BEI. One day SHIR?BEI picked up a purse that contained one hundred ry?. He brought it home to his mother and said: ─ "Doubtless the person who has lost this money will be greatly troubled about it. How can we manage to discover the owner?" 
"This money," said his mother, "most probably was not dropped by its owner, but by some one to whom it was entrusted for the purpose of being carried from one place to another. Therefore I think the best plan would be to tell the priest of our temple about it. He will be more likely than anyone else to hear who has lost it." 
So they took the money to the priest, but he did not know, he said, to whom it belonged, and therefore they had better take it back to their house. 
Not long after this, the priest had occasion to go to the Asakusa Temple to conduct a service. On the way there, he saw a man running, with bare feet and his hair all over his head in a wild fashion. "What makes you run through the streets in this mad way?" shouted the priest to the man. "Who are you, and where are you going?" 
"I belong to Demma-ch?," said the man. "I am employed by a linen-draper, and a few days ago I dropped a purse containing one hundred ry? that belonged to my master; and now I am going to Kwan-on's Temple to pray that I may find it." 
"I know something about this," replied the priest. "Just call at my temple on your way back, will you."
After finishing his devotions at Asakusa, the man went to the priest's temple. The priest made minute inquiries as to the color of the purse that contained the money and the time at which it was lost, etc., and found that there was no mistake about it ─ the money that SHIR?BEI had picked up had been dropped by this man. So he sent for SHIR?BEI, and the money was returned. 
The man was highly delighted and wished to give SHIR?BEI ten ry? as a reward. This SHIR?BEI refused, saying: ─ "Had I wished to obtain as much money as possible, I might have kept the hundred ry? without saying anything to anyone. Ever since finding the purse, my one desire has been to return it to its owner; and having done that, I am adequately rewarded." 
An honest heart finds ample reward and satisfaction in following its own impulses and convictions, and the possessor of such a heart feels that it would be a descent from his elevated position were he to consent to be paid for doing that which he takes a pleasure in doing. 

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A TRUE GENERAL. 
Among the retainers of H?J? UJIMASA there was a man called SHIMIZU SAEMON [SAEMON flourished about the end of the sixteenth century]. SAEMON'S mother was a most remarkable woman, very courageous and extremely shrewd. One day, when she was walking along the road, she met a child leading an ox that was attached to a cart. The ox went very near the edge of the road, and stopped quite close to the brink. The child did not know what to do; seeing that if she moved the ox on, he would drag the cart right over the bank. 
There were some people near, but they were all afraid to interfere for fear of making the matter worse by doing the wrong thing. 
SAEMON'S mother crept under the cart and undid the harness of the ox, and then, crawling beneath the animal, she managed to push it away from the edge of the declivity where it stood, after which she moved the cart into the middle of the road. The spectators gazed with astonishment at this marvelous display of strength. 
SAEMON inherited his mother's strength and courage. As a young man, he was full of pluck and spirits, and very fond of fighting. But he was at the same time extremely self-willed, had little respect for the rights of others, and was entirely ignorant of the proprieties of polite society. His mother, therefore, on one occasion reproved him as follows: ─ "Depending on personal strength, to push forward to the front of the battle, and then to attack the enemy fiercely ─ this is the courage of an ordinary man. Such men are fit to be employed, but not to act as employers. K? U, of So, in China, [B.C. 206.] had strength enough to root up a large tree; and he had force enough in his glance to bring a goose down from a height, if he happened to look fiercely at it. But he was eventually defeated at Uk?, and was obliged to commit suicide. CH? RY?, who overcame him, was in appearance like a woman. He did not seem capable of doing a brave deed. But, retiring to a sheltered spot in the camp, he planned the war that was taking place a thousand miles away. He thus made up for his lack of courage by excess of skill. A good military general is majestic and imposing in carriage and demeanor, and has none of the coarse fierceness of the brute. He never uses his strength to the disparagement or discomfort of the weak. He respects the right and the just, and is careful about etiquette. He feels compassion for those who are in distress, and gives 'them help. In serving his superiors he is faithful, even in the smallest particulars. He banishes covetousness and lust from his mind. He studies the art of war. By stratagem and courage combined, he endeavors to bring the enemy into subjection to him. The man that complies with these conditions is a real general. While this is so, you are a man who thinks that because he happens to be physically strong, he can afford to despise the weak. You are ignorant of manners, and there is no end to your neglect of the proprieties of life. There is little doubt, therefore, that, unless you reform your evil ways, you will bring disgrace on your family." 
SAENION was affected by these words, and determined to turn over a new leaf. He no longer spent his spare time in idleness and mischief. He was often to be seen reading and writing. He became more and more intelligent, and his personal courage was tempered with discretion ─ in a word, he gradually fulfilled his mother's ideal, and became a great general.
 
INSTRUCTION FOR THE YOUNG. 
If thou be seated in the presence of a superior, thou must not rise up abruptly: if thou meet him in the street, thou shouldst bend the knee and pass on. 
If he summon thee, listen with deference, turning towards him respectfully, and not looking round to the right or to the left. 
If he ask nothing, do thou answer nothing: but if he address thee, then listen with reverence. 
In the relations of men there is decorum; at the court there must be laws: if men be without decorum, there will likewise be transgressions among the multitude. 
When thou art in the throng, speak not indiscriminately, and go away as soon as thy business is over: let 
nothing lead thee into breaking faith with thy friend, and depart not from thy word. 
The man of many words is poor in deeds; and he is like unto an aged dog that barketh at his companions: the idle man is eager for his food; he is like unto a tired ape greedy for fruit. 
Human ears are listening at the wall; speak no calumny, even in secret. Human eyes are looking from the heavens; commit no wrong, however hidden. A chariot, with its link-pin three inches long, will accomplish a journey of a thousand miles: man, with his tongue three inches long, may ruin his body that is five feet in height. 
It is the mouth that is the gate of misfortune; it is the tongue that is the root of misfortune. If the mouth were made like unto the nose, a man would have no trouble till his life's end. 
When a hasty word hath once been spoken, a team of four horses may pursue, but cannot bring it back; the flaw in a mace of white jade may be ground away, but the flaw of an evil word cannot be ground away. 
Calamity and prosperity have no gate; they are there only whither men invite them: from the evils sent by Heaven, there is deliverance; from the evils we cause ourselves, there is no escape. 
In the house where virtue is accumulated, there will surely be abundance of joy: in the place where vice is delighted in, there will surely be abundance of misfortune. 
If a man be good in secret, he shall surely be rewarded openly: if a man do good in secret, his name shall surely shine forth openly. 
Hearts, like faces, are not alike, but are as water that followeth the shape of the vessel which containeth it: thou canst not bend another's bow, thou canst not ride another's horse. 
To see the chariot that is in front overturned, is a warning to the chariot that is behind: not to forget what went before, is a lesson for what followeth after. 
When thou crossest a frontier, enquire what is forbidden within it; when thou enterest a country, enquire concerning that country. 
When thou enterest a village, conform to that village: when thou meetest with a custom, conform to that custom. 
The fool taketh no thought about what is distant, but he shall find sorrow near at hand: he is as one that should scan the heavens through a tube; he is like unto one that should dig the earth with a needle. 
No man is worthy of honor from his birth: it is the garnering up of learning that bringeth him wisdom and virtue; the man that is worthy of honor is not surely rich; the rich man may not be worthy of honor. 
He whose heart hath many desires, though he be rich, must be called poor: he whose heart's only desire is contentment, though he be poor, must be called rich. A teacher that instructeth not his disciples, must be called a breaker of the commandments: a teacher that chideth his disciples, must be called an observer of the commandments. 
He that perpetually followeth evil men, is like unto a dog running round the post to which it is tied: he that is always in the fellowship of good men, is like unto a great ship floating upon the sea. 
He that imitateth good companions is like unto the mugwort which, growing among the hemp, is straight: he that is familiar with evil companions is like unto the bramble which, growing in the thicket, is crooked. 
Leaving thy kindred an cleaving unto a strange teacher, learn to practice the commandments, to be tranquil, to be kind; and though thou be slow of wit, thou mayest, if thou wilt, reach the seat of intelligence. 
If thou learn but one character each day, it will be three hundred and sixty characters [in the year]: each character is worth a thousand pieces of gold. 
He that has taught thee for one day must not be lightly treated: how much more he that hath taught thee for many years. Thou art sworn to thy teacher for three lives; thou art bound to thy parents for one life. 
A disciple must walk seven feet behind his teacher, and not tread on his shadow. 
He that learneth, but not with his whole mind, is like unto a drunken man mumbling in his sleep: he that readeth a thousand scrolls, but readeth them once only, is like unto a moneyless man hurrying to the market. 
Drunkenness maketh the heart mad; satiety maketh man weary of study: warmth increaseth drowsiness; comfort causeth sloth. 
A father's loving-kindness is higher than the mountains, and Shurin is low in comparison: a mother's bounty is deeper than the sea, and the sea of S?-my? is shallower far. 
He that receiveth benefits and is not grateful, is like unto the birds that despoil the branches of the trees they perch on: he that is the object of favors and is not grateful, is like unto the deer that ravage the grass of the fields they dwell in. 
Long life is like unto the mayfly, ─ born in the morning and dying at eve: our bodies are like unto the plantain leaf, ─ flapping in the breeze and easily torn to pieces. 
Above all things, men must practice charity: it is by almsgiving that wisdom is fed. Less than all things, must we grudge money: it is by riches that wisdom is hindered. 
If a man be so poor that he hath no money wherewith to give an alms, he must let a feeling of joy arise within him when he seeth another give. 
The merit of an alms given with a compassionate heart to one poor man, is like unto the ocean: the recompense of alms given to a multitude for thine own sake, is like unto a grain of poppy-seed. 
B. H. CHAMBERLAlN. 

SHIGENORI'S ECONOMY. 
ITAKURA SHIGENORI was a man who vas most economical and moderate in all that he did. Wherever he lived he had three characters written large, so that all that came to his house might see them. "The Herb-eating House" was what these characters signified. He was in the habit, too, of having a pot of cheap herbs placed near him. 
People asked him why he acted thus. "Most men," said he, "when they grow rich, forget the days of their poverty. When their fame is spread far and wide, they forget how long they lived in obscurity. It is because I want to remember what I was, as well as what I am, and because the sight of these things helps me to do this, that I place them near me." 
SHIGENORI was one of KUMAZAWA RY?KAI'S disciples; and it was said that the former's exemplary life was largely owing to the instruction he had received from RY?KAI. 
Among the things that SHIGENORI explained to those around him from time to time, was the difference between economy and parsimony. "These two things," said he," are somewhat difficult to distinguish. But they are, both in their origin and nature, very different. What is called economy, is the cutting down of unnecessary expenses in order to have money to spend on what is essential. Parsimony is the love of not spending, without regard to the object for which money is required being either good or bad." 

II NAOTAKA AND THE SH?GUN'S ABDICATION. 
HIDETADA, the second of the TOKUGAWA Shoguns, being about to resign his office in favor of his son IEMITSU, made known his intention to all the great barons of the empire. 
The barons, with one exception, congratulated HIDETADA on his retirement from office in favor of a son of so much promise. II NAOTAKA, then but a young man, was this exception. 
DOI TOSHIKSTU, seeing this, called II NAOTAKA and said: ─ "Whilst every one else is congratulating the Shogun on what is about to take place, how is it that you alone are silent?" 
"As you remark," replied NAOTAKA, "it is somewhat extraordinary that I should be silent. But the fact is, it seems to me that HIDETADA'S retirement just now will be the cause of trouble to the country at large. I cannot see, therefore, that it is a subject for congratulation." 
"What do you mean by such a remark?" asked TOSHIKATSU. 
"The country has been impoverished by heavy expenditure," replied NAOTAKA. "No sooner was the ?saka war over, than the Castle of Edo was erected; and no sooner was this finished, than the Suruga Castle was commenced. Besides bearing the expense of all this, the various lords were required by the Shoguns to carry on all kinds of operations involving heavy outlay. And now, 

if HIDETADA abdicates in favor of his son, all this kind of thing will begin over again. The barons are tired of spending money. They are not the ones, however, who suffer the most. The lower orders are taxed and oppressed in order to obtain the money needed." The tenor of these remarks was conveyed to the Shogun by TOSHIKATSU. The Shogun sent for NAOTAKA, and said to him:--"Your remarks have been reported to me. I think them perfectly true and advisedly made. But, since I have given orders that all the necessary arrangements for my abdication be commenced, I cannot well go back now. It was quite right of you, however, to speak as you did. "NAOTAKA left the Shogun's palace ill at ease. TOSHIKATSU, who was present at the audience, afterwards met NAOTAKA and remarked:--"How gratifying were the words of the Shogun!" "To me," replied NAOTAKA, "there lvas nothing gratifying in such words. Had he followed my advice, then I might with truth say so. His remarking that, because he has issued his orders and made his arrangements, therefore he must do what he knows to be wrong, is very peculiar. If he knows that his abdication at this time will cause trouble, why does he abdicate?" These remarks were reported to the Shogun, and he was so thoroughly convinced that what NAOTAKA said was correct that he decided to delay his abdication. When NAOTAKA heard of this, he said:--"Now that the Shogun has acted on my advice, I think there is real cause for gratification. If we are conscious that a certain course is wrong, then, cost us what it may, our plain duty is to refrain from following it." NAOTAKA displayed on this occasion real moral courage, combined with public spirit. Alone he protested against HIDETADA'S abdication; and that, not on any personal grounds, but because such a step was likely to prove a source of trouble to the country at large. 
A BAD FATHER AND A GOOD SON. 
I. 
TAlRA KIYOMORI was a most violent and unscrupulous man. He thought nothing of taking the lives of those who were in any way opposed to him, no matter how nearly related to him they might be. In addition to being very cruel, he was most deceitful, and lacked the high sense of what is honorable that characterizes all men who are truly great. SHIGEMORI was as good as his father was wicked. In everything that he did, he thought more of what was right and honorable than of what was calculated to advance his own personal interests. On all occasions when he thought his father was in the wrong, he would reprove him; and when his father contemplated anything that was disloyal or unreasonable, he refused to take part in it. To illustrate these remarks, we give a few extracts from the historical account of the lives and doings of the two men. At the time of the Hogen rebellion, MINAMOTO YOSHITOMO belonged to the Royalist army. His father, 

TAMEYOSHI, joined the rebels; KIYOMORI'S uncle also was attached to the rebel army. 
After the rebels had been defeated, and the trial of the offenders came on, KIYOMORI determined that he would make YOSHITOMO kill his father; so, to set him an example, he killed his own uncle. Taking the latter's head, he sent it to the Emperor, intending that it should incite him to order YOSHITOMO to take the life of his father. 
KIYOMORI'S wishes were complied with. The Emperor issued an order to the effect that YOSHITOMO was to put his father to death. YOSHITOMO pleaded hard for his father's life, but in vain. He was obliged to order his execution. 
Once it happened that SUKEMORI, the grandson of KIYOMORI, while out riding, met FUJIWARA MOTOFUSA, the Regent, in the road. SUKEMORI did not make obeisance to this high officer, as he ought to have done. So one of the followers of the Regent pulled him off his horse. 
When KIYOMORI heard what had happened, he flew into a great rage, and said: ─ "Who dares to touch the grandson of the man that holds the position which I now hold." He sent some soldiers out to meet the Regent, ordering them to drag him out of his carriage, break the carriage in pieces, and then to cut off the cues of his followers. All of which was done. 
In the time of the Heiji rebellion, one day the rebels arrived at KIYOMORI'S camp very suddenly. He was much alarmed, and, losing his presence of mind, put on his armor in a great hurry, the back part front. Some persons who were near pointed out the mistake he had made, saying: ─ "You have put your armor on the wrong way!
"It is not so," replied KIYOMORI. "As the Emperor is coming behind, I have put on the armor so as to have the front part facing him. It would be impolite to have the back part of the armor turned towards an emperor." Without changing it, he went out to battle. 

II.
SHIGEIORI, with such a father to deal with, led a somewhat unhappy life. KIYOMORI, though so often reproved, was always breaking out afresh and committing some act of violence. The son, however, never despaired of reforming his parent, and remonstrated with him again and again about his unreasonable conduct. We subjoin a memorable instance of this. 
At one time, the Emperor GOSHIRAKAWA, who at this time had abdicated and was living in retirement, and FUJIWARA NARICHIKA were plotting the destruction of KIYOMORI. 
KIYOMORI soon got to hear of this, and immediate]y arrested NARICHIKA, and purposed preventing GOSHIRAKAWA'S interfering with State affairs by keeping him in close confinement. 
Some one informed SHIGEMORI of the designs of his father. SHIGEMORI, without the slightest delay, jumped into his palanquin, and hastened to his father's residence. He found all KIYOMORI'S men with armor on, horses saddled, and flags flying, ready to march out to battle. SHIGEMORI had on court dress. His younger brother. MUNEMORI, pulling him by the sleeve, asked him why he was not in armor. 
"Why are you in armor?" he replied, "Where is the enemy that you propose attacking? I am Commander-in-Chief; and unless there are enemies of the State to be met in battle, you have no right to be under arms." 
KIYOMORI heard what was going on, and, knowing that his conduct was indefensible, was afraid to meet his son as he was. So, to hide his armor, he put on his priest's dress over it. Whilst talking to his son, he constantly tried to conceal his armor, but his clothes kept opening, and so he had to say why he bad it on. He began thus: ─ "The reason of NARICHIKA'S acting as he has, is owing to the support given him by GOSHIRAKAWA. This is a time in which all kinds of plots against the Government are taking place. Had we a thoroughly competent Emperor, all such things would be suppressed; but as you know, our Emperor is a child; and therefore it is that the ex-Emperor (GOSHIRAKAWA) is resorted to, and made a tool of for the carrying out of all kinds of sinister purposes, and in order to defeat the schemes of such persons as NARICHIKA, I intended to go and take GOSHIRAKAWA away to some retired spot, and there await the course of events ─ " 
SHIGEMORI, without waiting for him to finish what he was saying, burst into tears, and replied: ─ "When I see how you act, I feel sure that the fall of our house is not far distant. I have been taught that the benefits we receive come from four different sources, namely, from our parents, from the mass of our fellow-creatures, from the Emperor, and from the precious Triad (SHAKA, the Law, and the Priesthood); and that among these, those we receive from the Emperor are the most to be esteemed. Our house can boast of an ancient connection with Royalty; but subsequent to its receiving the name of TAIRA, it occupied a subordinate position in the country. And so much were we reduced, that not even TADANORI'S merit proved sufficient to exalt him to high rank. Suddenly you became Prime Minister, and even such an unworthy one as myself was appointed to fill the post of Commander-in-Chief, and members of our family crowd the public offices, and appear at Court. They govern quite half of the country. The way in which we have been favored on all sides is wonderful. But we must not forget that our prosperity has created among all ranks a strong feeling of envy. Hitherto we have escaped all the dangers to which our high position has exposed us. And now you have arrested the man that has been plotting our destruction. Be content with going to the ex-Emperor and telling him what has occurred, and he will pay attention to what you say. I have been taught that it is incumbent on a subject to forego the interests of his house for the sake of those of the State. Therefore I cannot follow you in what you propose, for I am bound to serve the State rather than you. The ex-Emperor has showered his benefits on me to an overwhelming extent; and therefore I am in no doubt whether to please you or him." After a pause, he continued: ─"But what a crisis I have come to! If I desire to follow you, I must be unfaithful to my Sovereign; and if I desire to be faithful to my Sovereign, I must be unofficial to my father. If you must needs attempt this outrage, first take the head of SHIGEMORI, and then go and commit it." 
KIYOMORI replied, after his wonted deceitful manner: ─ "I am an old man, and I was doing all this to see what metal my children were made of. If it seems to you that what I have done is bad, then, take what measures you please to put it to rights." Thus saying, he left the room. 
Whereupon SHIGEMORI, turning to his younger brothers, said: ─ "Father is old, and therefore has fallen into this error. But why did you not tell him of his fault? You not only neglected to reprove him, but you encouraged him in what he was about to do." Then addressing the troops, he said: ─ "Without orders from me, you are not to put on armor or prepare for battle on any occasion whatever." 
GOSHIRAKAWA heard what had happened, and remarked: ─ "SHIGEMORI has returned good for evil. He has met hatred with virtue." 

A RARE JUDGE. 
One day ITAKURA SHIGEMUNE, SU?-NO-KAMI, the Governor of Kyoto, was riding in Sanj?-d?ri, Kyoto, when a boy commenced to call out: ─ "There goes that fellow of SU?!" The parents of the boy did all they could to stop him; but he was not to be silenced. He still continued: ─ "There goes that fellow of SU?! There goes that fellow of SU?!" 
SHIGEMUNE sent one of his attendants to find out who the parents of the child were. The parents were very much alarmed by this, and thought that some dreadful punishment awaited them. But they were surprised to find that the man who took down their names went away without saying anything further to them. 
SHIGEMUNE returned to his house, and said to one of his retainers: ─ "Some time ago there was a case on which I passed judgment, in which a man called ─ was concerned; just look up that judgment, will you, and bring the record of it to me." 
On receiving the record, SHIGEMUNE looked narrowly over it, and the next day commanded that the child who had called after him in the street, and its parents, should be summoned to his presence. 
The family, hearing what had occurred, were in a great fright. They thought that the summons foreboded some fearful calamity, so they came trembling into the presence of the Governor. 
"You," commenced SHIGEMUNE, addressing the father of the child, "unless I am mistaken, are the person who some years ago had a dispute with ─ about the inheriting of some property, and it was decided that you should pay to your opponent three kuwamme of silver." 
"Your Honor is quite correct," replied the man. 
"Well," continued SHIGEMUNE, "in deciding on that case, I made a great mistake. Instead of being given against you, it should have been given in your favor. Bear this blunder of mine patiently. The loss of the money I will now atone for by refunding it to you." 
Thus saying, SHIGEMUNE handed three kwamme of silver to the man. 
When he heard the boy speaking maliciously against him; SHIGEMUNE had thought to himself: ─ "There is some good reason for this child's speaking of me in that disrespectful way. I will endeavor to find out what it is. Very probably he has heard something from his father that has prejudiced him against me." 
After the child and his father had gone, he remarked to his attendants: ─ " No doubt the father told his son that it was owing to my judgment that the family had become reduced in circumstances, and so gradually he contracted a hatred for me; and this led to his insolent language in the street." 
SHIGEMUNE was in the habit of exhorting people not to hide their faults. " Let what you have done wrong be known," said he, "and so will you give your superiors an opportunity of putting a better man in your position. Good men are numerous in the world, and you should be ready to give place to them. So hide none of your faults." 
SHIGEMUNE'S conduct on this occasion was as rare as it was noble. Looked at as a moral action, it is an absolutely perfect one of its kind. The fault had been committed years before; it was an official blunder; it was a blunder committed in an obscure case, about which hardly any one but the few insignificant persons concerned knew anything. These considerations would have been sufficient to persuade a less ingenuous man that there was no necessity to adopt the course pursued. But SHIGEMUNE was no mere theorist in moral matters. When conscious of having been in the wrong, even though it might seriously affect his reputation as a judge, he was resolved to do his best to set the matter to rights. 
Viewed in an official light, it may be said that such conduct as that recorded above, were it to occur frequently, would no doubt lead to loss of confidence in the correctness of legal decisions, and bring courts of justice into contempt. But there is no danger of its occurring frequently, as only men of the strongest character would ever have the courage to follow in the footsteps of SHIGEMUNE when similarly situated. SHIGEMUNE was a man who was prepared to sacrifice rank and reputation rather than leave unfulfilled the dictates of his conscience. 

TWO EXTREMES.
IN ?saka, some time ago, there resided a rich merchant called KINOKUNIYA MATAEMON. The way in which this merchant became rich was as follows: ─ When young he was employed by a man of property who lived in the neighborhood, whom he served most faithfully for thirteen or fourteen years. At the expiration of this time, his master said to him one day: ─ "You have served me faithfully all these years, and now, as a reward, I hand over to you one hundred ry?. Do the best you can with them, and do not return to my house till you have made a thousand." 
MATAEMON took the money, and, with a glad heart, went off to Kyoto. AS soon as he reached the capital, he said to himself: ─ " If I launch out into great enterprises. I shall be sure to lose large sums of money. I will confine myself to selling things that are in everyday use. Though the profits I make in this way may be small, they will be certain." 
So he commenced by buying old scraps of paper, which he manufactured into new paper. In this way, in three years, he made three hundred ry?. With this money, in another two years, he made seven hundred more. And so at the end of the five years he had made the thousand required. 
He went back to his master, and said: ─ "I have made the thousand ry? that you desired." 
His master praised him for his diligence, and bade him take the thousand ry? and with it make ten thousand more: which, before five years had elapsed, he succeeded in doing. 
He took the money to his master, who again praised him for his skill and perseverance, and bid him keep the money and endeavor to make one hundred thousand ry? with it. This, also, MATAEMON subsequently managed to do. 
His master was not satisfied, and wished him to make still more. 
Here MATAEMON demurred. "The first thousand that I made," said he, "cost me a great deal of trouble; but since that, the work has been easy. With a large capital to invest, profits are rapid. And I have no doubt I might go on realizing still larger sums of money. But before I make any further attempt, there is a question that I wish to put to you: namely, what amount of property will satisfy you?" 
"There is no limit to the amount I wish to possess," replied the master.
"Are you not satisfied, then, with the sum that you. have already received?" asked MATAEMON. 
"By no means," said the master.
"Then," replied MATAEMON, "I beg to be excused from making any more for you. According to my ideas, life is the greatest treasure we possess. And life it is that makes money of use to us. If one spends all one's days in pursuit of wealth, then life will yield little enjoyment. The anxieties of business will gradually rob us of that without which wealth is useless." 
" Here I differ from you," rejoined the master. "If we have money, then life is of use to us, but not if we have none. " 
"Well;" said MATAEMON, "be that as it may, I have done my best in your service and have made a great deal of money for you, but you having informed me that there is no sum of money that can be named which would satisfy your thirst for gain, I feel there is no use in my making any further attempt to obtain money for you." 
MATAEAMON took his leave of the merchant, returned to his house, and, after distributing his wealth among his friends and relatives, shaved his head and became a priest. 
In these two individuals, we have an instance of the extremes to which men go in the ideas they entertain bearing on the acquisition of wealth. The merchant's refusing to be satisfied with any sum of money however large, and MATAEMON'S being so embittered against a life of money-making as to refuse to take any part in secular affairs during the remainder of his days, are both alike instances of sentiment gone astray. In the one case, that ordinary love of gain, which is one of the greatest causes of the general progress of the world, is allowed to develop into a greedy, irrational thirst for wealth which no amount of money obtained can ever slake: in the other case, experience of the toil and anxiety associated with money-making produces a morbid sentiment, which leads the man who nurtures it to despise secular life as a whole, and, instead of trying to reform it, to content himself with merely showing his contempt for its usages by leading an isolated existence. 

A SERMON BY SHIBATA KY??. 
I. 
M?SHI has said: ─ "There is the third finger. If a man's third, or nameless finger, be bent so that he cannot straighten it, although his bent finger may cause him no pain, still if he hears of some one who can cure it, he will think nothing of undertaking a long journey from Shin to So to consult him upon this deformed finger, for he knows it is hateful to have a finger unlike other men. But he cares not a jot if his heart be different to that of other men; and this is how men disregard the true order of things." 
Now this is the next chapter to the one about benevolence being the heart of man, which expounded to you the other night. True learning has no other aim than that of reclaiming lost souls; and in connection with this, M?SHI has thus again declared in a parable the all-importance of the human heart. 
The nameless finger is that which is next to the little finger. The thumb is called the parent finger; the first finger is called the index finger; the long one is called the middle finger; but the third finger has no name. It is true that it is sometimes called the finger for applying rouge, but that is only a name given it by ladies, and is not in general use. So, having no name, it is called the nameless finger. 
And how comes it to have no name? Why because it is of all the fingers the least useful. When we clutch at or grasp things, we do so by the strength of the thumb and little finger. If a man scratches his head, he does it with the fore-finger; if he wishes to test the heat of the wine in the kettle, he uses the little finger. Thus, although each of the other fingers has its uses and duties, the nameless finger alone is of no use: it is not in the way if we have it, and we do not miss it if we lose it. Of the whole body it is the meanest member. If it be crooked so that we cannot straighten it, it neither hurts nor itches. As M?SHI says in the text, it causes no pain; even if we were without it, we should be none the worse off. Hence, what though it should be bent, it would be better, since it causes no pain, to leave it as it is. 
Yet if a person, having such a crooked finger, hears of a clever doctor who can set it straight, no matter at how great a distance he may be, he will be off to consult this doctor. And pray why? Because he feels ashamed of having a finger a little different from the rest of the world; and so he wants to be cured, and will. think nothing of traveling from Shin to So, a distance of a thousand miles, for the purpose. To be sure, men are very susceptible and keenly alive to a sense of shame; and in this they are quite right. The feeling of shame at what is wrong is the commencement of virtue. The perception of shame is inborn in men; but there are two ways of perceiving shame. There are some men who are sensible of shame for what regards their bodies, but who are ignorant of shame for what concerns their hearts; and a terrible mistake they make. There is nothing which can be compared in importance to the heart. The heart is said to be the lord of the body, which it rules as a master rules his house. Shall the lord, that is the heart, be ailing and his sickness be neglected, while his servants, that are the members, only are cared for? 
If the knee be lacerated, you apply tinder to stop the bleeding; if the moxa should suppurate, you spread a plaster; if a cold be caught, you prepare medicine, garlic, gruel, and ginger wine. For a trifle, you will doctor and care for your bodies, and yet for your hearts you will take no care. Although born of mankind, when your hearts resemble those of devils, of foxes, of snakes, or of crows, rather than the hearts of men, it is because you take no heed, caring for your bodies alone. Whence can you have fallen into such a mistake? 
It is a folly of old standing too, for it was to that that M?SHI pointed when he said, that to be cognizant of a deformed finger and to ignore the deformities of the soul, was to disregard the true order of things. This is not to distinguish between that which is important and that which is unimportant ─ to pick up a trifle and pass by something of value. The instinct of man prompts him to prefer the great to the small, the important to the unimportant. 

II. 
If a man is invited to a feast by his relations or acquaintances, when the guests are assembled and the principal part of the feast has disappeared, he looks all round him, with his eye-balls starting out of his head, and glares at his neighbors, and, comparing the little tit-bits of roast fowl or fish put before them, sees that they are about half an inch bigger than those set before him; then, throwing himself into a rage, he thinks: ─ "what on earth can the host be about? Master TAROBEI is a guest; but so am I. What does the fellow mean by helping me so meanly ? There must be some malice or ill-will here." And so his mind is prejudiced against the host. 
Just be so good as to reflect upon this. Does a man show his spite by grudging a bit of roast fowl or meat? And yet even in such trifles as these do men show how they try to obtain the great, and how they dislike the small. How can men be conscious of shame for a deformed finger, and count it as no misfortune that their hearts are crooked? That is how they abandon the substance for the shadow. 
M?SHI severely censures disregard of the true order of things. What mistaken and bewildered creatures men are! What says the old song? 
"Hidden far among the mountains,
"The tree which seems to be rotten, ─ 
"If its core be yet alive, ─  
"May be made to bear flowers." 
What signifies it if the hand or foot be deformed? The heart is the important thing. If your heart be awry, what though your skin be fair, your nose aquiline, your hair beautiful? All these strike the eye alone, and are utterly useless. It is as if you were to put some filthy thing into a gold-lacquer luncheon box. This is what is called a fair outside, deceptive in appearance. 
There's the scullery-maid who has been washing out the pots at the kitchen sink: the scullion, CH?KICHI, comes up and says to her: ─ "You've got a lot of charcoal smut sticking to your nose," and points out to her the ugly spot. 
The scullery-maid is delighted to be told of this, and answers: ─ "Really! whereabouts is it?" Then she twists a towel round her finger, and bending her head till mouth and forehead are almost on a level, she squints at her nose, and twiddles away with her finger as if she were the famous GOT? at work, carving the ornaments of a sword-handle. "I say, Master CH?KICHI, is it off yet?" 
"Not a bit of it. You've smeared it all over your cheeks now." 
"Oh dear! oh dear! where can it be?" And so she uses the water-basin as a looking-glass, and washes her face clean; then she says to herself: ─ "What a dear boy CH?KICHI is!" and thinks it necessary, out of gratitude, to give him relishes with his supper by the ladleful, and thanks him over and over again. 
But if this same CH?KICHI were to come up to her and say: ─ "Now, really, how lazy you are! I wish you could manage to be rather less of a shrew," what do you think the scullery-maid would answer then? "How impudent this boy is! You see if I take the trouble to do anything more for you." So she gets to be a perfect devil, less only the horns. 
There are other people besides the poor scullery-maid who are in the same way. "Excuse me, Mr. GUNDABEI, but the embroidered crest on your dress of ceremony seems to be a little on one side." Mr. GUNDABEI proceeds to adjust his dress with great precision. "Thank you, sir. I am ten million times obliged to you for your care. If ever there should be any matter in which I can be of any service to you, I beg that you will do me the favor of letting me know;" and, with a beaming face, he expresses his gratitude. 
Now for the other side of the picture. "Really, Mr. GUNDABEI, you are very foolish; you seem to be entirely without discrimination. I beg you to be of a frank and honest heart: it really makes me quite sad to see a man's heart warped in this way." What is his answer? He turns his sword in his girdle ready to draw: it looks as if it must end in a fight soon. 

III. 
If you help a man in anything which ,has to do with a fault of the body, he takes it very kindly and sets about mending matters. If any one helps another to rectify a fault of the heart, he has to deal with a man in the dark, who flies in a rage, and does not care to amend. How out of tune all this is? And yet there are men who are bewildered up to this point. Nor is this a special and extraordinary failing. This mistaken perception of the great and the small, of shadow and of substance, is common to us all; to you and to me. 
Please give me your attention. The form strikes the eye; but the heart strikes not the eye. Therefore, that the heart should be distorted and turned away, causes no pain. This all results from the want of sound judgment; and that is why we cannot afford to be careless. 
The master of a certain house calls his servant CH?KICHI, who sits dozing in the kitchen. "Here, CH?KICHI! The guests are all gone; come and clear away the wine and fish in the back room."  
CH?KICHI rubs his eyes, and with a sulky answer goes into the back room, and, looking about him, sees all the nice things paraded on the trays and in the bowls. It's wonderful how his drowsiness passes away, no need for any one to hurry him now. His eyes glare with greed as he says, "Hullo! here's a lot of tempting things! There's only just one help of that omelette left in the tray. What a hungry lot of guests! What's this? It looks like fish rissoles." With this he picks out one, and crams his mouth full; when on one side, a mess of young cuttle-fish, in a Chinese porcelain bowl, catches his eyes. There the little beauties sit in a circle, like Buddhist priests in religious meditation! "Oh, goodness! holy nice !" and just as he is dipping his finger and thumb in, he hears his master's footstep; and knowing that he is doing wrong, he crams his prize into the pocket of his sleeve, and stoops down to take away the wine-kettle and cups; and as he does this, out tumbles the cuttle-fish from his sleeve. The master sees it. 
"What's that ?" 
CH?KICHI, pretending not to know what has happened, beats the mats, and keeps on saying: ─ "Come again the day before yesterday; come again the day before yesterday." 
But it's no use his trying to persuade his master that the little cuttle-fish are spiders, for they are not the least like them. It's no use hiding things, they are sure to come to light. And so it is with the heart, its purposes will out. If the heart is enraged, the dark veins stand out on the forehead; if the heart is grieved, tears rise to the eyes; if the heart is joyous, dimples appear on the cheeks; if the heart is merry, the face reflects the emotions of the heart. It is not because the eyes are filled with tears that the heart is sad; nor because the veins stand out on the forehead that the heart is enraged. It is the heart which leads the way in everything. All the more important sensations of the heart are apparent in the outward appearances. 

IV. 
In the "Great Learning" or K?SHI it is written: ─ "The truth of what is within appears upon the surface." How then is it possible to prevent the heart's being known? To answer when reproved, to hum tunes when scolded, show a diseased heart; and if this disease is not quickly taken in hand, it will become chronic and the remedy become difficult. Perhaps the disease may grow to be so virulent that even GIBA and HENJAKU in consultation could not effect a cure. So, before the disease has gained strength, I invite you to the study of the moral essays entitled Shin-gaku (the Learning of the Heart). If you once arrive at the possession of your heart as it was originally by nature, what an admirable thing that will be! In that case, your conscience will point out to you even the slightest wrong bias or selfishness. 
While upon this subject, I may tell you a story which was related to me by a friend of mine. It is a story which the master of a certain money-changer's shop used to be very fond of telling. An important part of a money-changer's business is to distinguish between good and bad gold and silver. In the different establishments, the ways of teaching the apprentices this art vary. However, the plan adopted by the money-changer of whom I speak was as follows: ─ At first he would show them no bad silver, but would daily put before them good money only. When they had become thoroughly familiar with the sight of good money, if he stealthly put a little base coin among the good, he found that they would detect it immediately. They saw it as plainly as you see things when you throw light on a mirror. This faculty of detecting base money at a glance was the result of having learned thoroughly to understand good money. Having once been taught in this way, the apprentices would not make a mistake about a piece of base coin during their whole lives; at least so I have heard. I can't vouch for the truth of this; but it is very certain that the principle, applied to moral instruction, is an excellent one. It is a most safe mode of study. However, I was further told that if, after having thus learned to distinguish good money, a man followed some other trade for six months or a year, and gave up handling money, he would become just like any other inexperienced person, unable to distinguish the good from the base. 
Please reflect upon this attentively. If you once render yourself familiar with the nature of the uncorrupted heart, from that time forth you will be immediately conscious of the slightest inclination toward bias or selfishness. And why? Because the natural heart is illumined. When a man has once learned that which is perfect, he will never consent to accept that which is imperfect; but if, after having acquired this knowledge, he again keeps his natural heart at a distance and gradually, forgets to recognize that which is perfect, he finds himself in the dark again, and finds that he can no longer distinguish base money from good. 
I beg you to take care. If a man falls into bad habits, he is no longer able to perceive the difference between the good impulses of his natural heart and the civil impulses of his corrupt heart. With this benighted heart as a starting point, he can carry out none of his intentions, and he has to lift his shoulders sighing and sighing again. A creature much to be pitied indeed! Then he loses all self-reliance, so that, although it would be better for him to hold his tongue and say nothing about it, if he is in the slightest trouble or distress, he goes and confesses the crookedness of his heart to every man he meets. What a wretched state for a man to be in! For this reason I beg you to learn thoroughly the true silver of the heart, in order that you may make no mistake about the base coin. I pray that you and I, during our whole lives, may never leave the path of true principles. 

V. 
I have an amusing story to tell you, if you will be so good as to listen. 
Once upon a time, when the autumn nights were beginning to grow chilly, five or six tradesmen in easy circumstances hid assembled together to have a chat; and, having got ready their picnic boxes and wineflasks, went off to a temple on the hills, where a friendly priest lived, that they might listen to the stags roaring. With this intention they went to call upon the priest, and borrowed the guests' apartments of the monastery; and as they were waiting to hear the deer roar, some of the party began to compose poetry. One would write a verse of Chinese poetry, and another would write a verse of seventeen syllables; and as they were passing the wine-cup, the hour of sunset came, but not a deer had uttered a call; eight o'clock, ten o'clock came; still not a sound from the deer. 
"What can this mean?" said one. "The deer surely ought to be roaring." 
But, in spite of their waiting, the deer would not roar. At last the friends got sleepy, and, bored with writing songs and verses, began to yawn, and gave up twaddling about the woes and troubles of life; and as they were all silent, one of them, a man fifty years of age, stopping the circulation of the wine-cup, said: ─ "Well, certainly, gentlemen, thanks to you, we have spent the evening in very pleasant conversation. However, although I am enjoying myself mightily in this way, my people at home must be getting anxious, so I begin to think that we ought to leave of drinking." 
"Why so?" asked the others. 
"Well, I'll tell you. You know that my only son is twenty-two years of age this year, and a troublesome fellow he is, too. when I'm at home, he lends a hand sulkily enough in the shop; but as soon as he no longer sees the shadow of me, he hoists sail and is off to some bad haunt. Although our relations and connections are always preaching to him, their words have no more effect on him than wind blowing into a horse's ear. When I think that I shall have to leave my property to such a fellow as that, it makes my heart grow small indeed. Although, thanks to those to whom I have succeeded, I want for nothing, still, when I think of my son, I shed tears of blood night and day. " 
As he said this with a sigh, a man of some forty-five or forty-six years said: ─ 
"No, no; although you make so much of your misfortunes, your son is but a little extravagant after all. There's no such great cause for grief there. I've got a very different story to tell. Of late years my shopmen, for one reason or another, have been running me into debt, thinking nothing of a debt of fifty or seventy ounces; and so the ledgers get all wrong. Just think of that. Here have I been keeping these fellows ever since they were little children, and now, as soon as they come to be a little useful in the shop, they begin running up debts, and are no good whatever to their master. You see, you only have to spend your money upon your own son, but I ─ " 
Then another gentleman said: ─ 
"Well, I think that to spend your money upon your shoppeople is no such great hardship after all. Now, I've been in something like trouble lately. I can't get a penny out of my customers. One man owes me fifteen ounces; another owes me twenty-five ounces. Really that is enough to make a man feel as if his heart was worn away." 
When he had finished speaking, an old gentleman who was sitting opposite, playing with his fan, said: ─ 
"Certainly, gentlemen, your grievances are not without cause; still, to be perpetually asked for a little money, or to back a bill, by one's relations or friends, and to have a lot of hangers-on dependent on one, as I have, is a worse case still." 
But before the old gentleman had half finished speaking, his neighbor called out: ─ 
"No, no; all you gentlemen are in luxury compared to me. Please listen to what I have to suffer. My wife and my mother can't hit it off anyhow. All day long they are like a couple of cows butting at one another with their horns. The house is as unendurable as if it were full of smoke. I often think it would be better to send my wife back to her village; but then I've got two little children. If I interfere and take my wife's part, my mother gets low-spirited. If I scold my wife, she says I treat her so brutally because she's not of the same flesh and blood; and then she hates me. The trouble and anxiety are beyond description. I'm like a post stuck up between them." 
And so they all twaddled away in chorus, each about his own troubles. At last one of the gentlemen, recollecting himself, said: ─ 
"Well, gentlemen, certainly the deer ought to be roaring; but we've been so engrossed with our conversation, that we don't know whether we have missed hearing them or not. 
With this he pulled aside the sliding-door of the veranda and looked out, and, lo and behold! A great big stag was standing perfectly silent in front of the garden.
" Hullo!" said the man to the deer, "what's this? Since you've been here all the time, why did you not roar?" 
Then the stag answered, with an innocent face: ─ 
"Oh, I came here to listen to the lamentations of you gentlemen." 
Old and young, men and women, rich and poor, never cease grumbling from morning to night. All this is the result of a diseased heart.
A. B. MITFORD. 

ITAKURA SHIGEMUNE'S PSYCHOMETER. 
ITAKURA SHIGEMUNE asked some of his friends one day what was thought of his mode of discharging the duties of a judge. 
"Some," they replied, "when they see how much force and severity there is in your countenance, are afraid to say what they otherwise would, and hence the real truth is not always elicited." 
"I have been wrong," said SHIGETUNE. "Henceforth, when I go into court, I will have a tea-grinder placed behind a screen, and whilst grinding the tea, I will hear the cases. In deciding on legal cases there should be an absence of private feeling. If the mind is composed, the judgment is clear; and if the judgment is clear, then everything becomes plain. In future I will judge of the state of my mind by the rate at which I turn the tea grinder: when it is calm, the tea grinder will go slow; and when excited, it will go fast. Person's faces are not all alike. Some are attractive, and others repulsive. A judge, however, should not be influenced by outward appearances, but be guided by evidence alone. When he allows the outwardly attractive or repulsive to influence him, he is sure to be prejudiced in the wrong direction; therefore I will use a screen and a tea-grinder." 
Thus we see that a tea-grinder was used by SHIGEMUNE as a psychometer, or mind-measurer. ITAKURA SHIGEMUNE was made Governor of Kyoto A.D. 1619. 

A GREAT HERO UNNERVED. 
ONE day, in the year 1585 A.D., when IEYASU was just forty-three years of age, he was lying sick in the castle of Hamamatsu. He was suffering from a bad carbuncle. He commanded his attendants to squeeze it, but being very painful, they feared to press it hard. "What are you afraid of?" asked IEYASU. "You are like a lot of women; you had better get clam shells, or something of the kind, and squeeze it." 
His attendants were inexperienced in the matter, and did not know what to do, but they thought something ought to be done. So they fetched the shells, and, placing one each side of the carbuncle, they pressed it hard till there proceeded from it a white solid substance that looked like a core. 
"There," said the Shogun, "that will do." He hoped that after this the carbuncle would get better, but it was not long before it began to swell tremendously and caused so much pain that IEYASU did not know what to do with himself. His countenance changed color, and he looked as though he must die. Several doctors were called in, but none of them could afford any relief. 
IEYASU, seeing that the doctors expressed no hope of saving his life, gathered his friends and relatives together to make known to them his will and to take leave of them. Not long after this, it was reported in the vicinity of the castle that IEYASU was dead.
HONDA SAKUZAEMON heard what was occurring, and immediately hastened to IEYASU'S residence, and informed him that, some time previously,. he (SAKUZAEAION) had suffered from a carbuncle and that a doctor whom he knew had cured him; would IEYASU like him to call in this doctor?
"It is of no use," replied IEYASU. 
SAKUZAEMON grew very angry, and said: ─ "This readiness on your part to die like a dog, without making use of any of the means that are available, is something entirely out of harmony with your usual mode of thinking and acting. Is it not a thousand pities that you should throw away your life in this way? Well, well!" he continued, "as nine out of ten of the doctors who attend you say you are going to die, and you yourself think so, I suppose nothing can alter it. And in that case, as I am an old man, I had better precede you to the other world; so I will go and commit suicide at once. I now take my leave of you." 
Thus saying, SAKUZAEMON left the room. IEYASU bade one of his attendants call him back. 
"Are you mad?" inquired IEYASU, as SAKUZAEMON entered the room again. "Though I am very ill, yet there is still some hope of my recovery. And even supposing that I die, that is no reason why you should be in such a hurry to follow me to the grave. Surely it is important that you should be left in the world to take charge of my children and to look after my affairs. It should be your endeavor to remain alive as long as possible. Is it not the height of folly for you to be talking of killing yourself?" 
"Were I twenty years younger," replied SAKUZAEMON, " I might do as you say, but I am now eighty 
years old. From my youth up I have been a man of war, fighting now with this army and now with that. One of my eyes has been destroyed by a sword cut; several of my fingers have been injured; I have been made a cripple. In fact, there is hardly a disability from which men suffer that I have not experienced; so that now there are few things that I can undertake, so crippled have I become. All this has been borne for your sake; and while you live, I feel that I have something to live for. Under your fostering care I have plodded on all these years. While you live, the name of SAKUZAEMON will be still known and feared. If you die now, I feel certain that the surrounding barons will attack and destroy your house. For if there be added to my age the trouble of having lost my master, I shall never be able to withstand the attacks that will be made on us. And when this comes about people may well ask: ─ 'Why did SAKUZAEMON consent to remain in the world after his master was dead to see all this trouble?' There was among TAKEDA KATSUYORI'S retainers a man ─ ASARI, who was very much esteemed by called all who knew him. But when his lord's house was ruined, this man came over to you, and by all kinds of sycophancy tried to curry favor with the enemy of his late lord. The very sight of him offends me. I think to myself every time I see him, I will never consent to be like this man. I will never outlive the prosperity of my master." 
Here IEYASU interposed: ─ " What you say is very true. So, if you think that you can do anything to make me better, then, by all means do it. I place myself in your hands. You may have me treated as you think best " 
Thereupon SAKUZAEMON called in the doctor of whom he had spoken, and, assisted by SAKUZAEMON, this doctor burnt the carbuncle, and afterwards gave the patient some medicine; and by degrees he got better. 
SAKUZAEMON nursed IEYASU all through his sickness, and when he became thoroughly convalescent, the old man wept tears of joy. 
The strongest hearts sometimes give way. Hitherto IEYASU had refused to succumb to any of the numerous difficulties that had beset his path. But on the occasion of which we write, he seems to have lost all his usual invincibility of spirit, and, had it not been for the presence and tact of SAKUZAEMON, it is very probable that the great hero would have ended his career at this time. Life or death often depends on the presence or absence of a strong determination to live if it be possible. Where the disease is not a hopeless one, the patient's recovery is immensely facilitated and hastened by buoyancy and hopefulness of spirit. 
It is said that carbuncles have a peculiarly depressing effect upon the mind. This may partly account for IEYASU'S fit of despondency. The depression did not last long, however. The spirit that had been the mainspring of all the great acts of the Shogun's life was revived by the words of his aged councilor, and the hero was himself again. 

A MAN WHOSE EYE WAS ALWAYS ON THE FUTURE. 
AYABE MICHIHIRO was a man who lived in the Genroku epoch [A.D. 1688-1703]. He was a native of Kitsuke, Bungo. He was by nature a very honest and straightforward man, and accustomed from early youth to hold his own against all odds. 
When a child he was brought up in his uncle's house. His uncle treated him 1;vith great indifference, not showing him even ordinary civility. 
When MICHIHIRO was about eight years old, he was so annoyed by his uncle's treatment that, one night, he determined to bear it no longer. He got up in the middle of the night and went off to his parents' house. 
His parents were astonished to find so much courage in so young a child, and, after hearing what he had to say about the cause of his running away from his uncle's, saw that it would not be wise to send him back. So they determined to train him at home ─ feeling sure that so strong a nature, if well developed, would make him who was endowed with it a great man in the world. 
MICHIHIRO possessed not only an unbending will, but also a most wonderful memory. When passages with some hundred or more characters were read to him from Chinese books, he never forgot the pronunciation of a single character. 
His father taught MICHIHIRO all he knew; but regretted that he could not teach him more, and that he had not the means to send him elsewhere. He often used to say of him that, from want of a good teacher, he vas like a horse which, with spirits enough to go a thousand miles, is turned into a wretched old hack that can hardly move an inch ─ meaning to say that his son's powers were being ruined owing to the lack of suitable developing agencies. 
At the age of seventeen, MICHIHIRO lost his mother, and being very poor, he went out into service in a neighboring village. While engaged thus, he studied medicine, and made a little money by practicing. This money he devoted to the maintenance of his father, MICHIKAZU. After experiencing all kinds of hardship and privation, he obtained at length employment under the Kitsuke Baron. 
At this time MICHIHIRO'S brother was very poor, and consequently had to mortgage his house and fields. MICHIHIRO paid off the mortgage, and gave the property back to his brother. 
MICHIHIRO married and had children. One of his children went to Edo and became an officer. While there, MICHIHIRO sent him a letter which contained the following remarks: ─ "I was brought up in an out-of-the-way place were I had few educational advantages. I kept my heart pure, however, and always had a great desire to serve my country in some special way; but I was unable, owing to the circumstances in which I was placed, to realize this great object of my life. Nevertheless I constantly comforted myself with the hope that this object would be realized by my children, if not by me. As I am now old, I cannot expect to live to see you thoroughly established in office. But, hearing that you have been appointed to fill an important post under the Government, I feet that I can die in peace. Remember that the true path consists in the fulfilling of our obligations to our fellow men. Beware of all foolish display. In things of every day life, follow the established customs of men, provided that no evil is likely to result from doing so; for it is not good to separate ourselves from others without an adequate reason."
There are men and nations that are always worshipping the past. There are those, on the other hand, whose eyes are ever on the future. There are men who rejoice in what their ancestors have done, but who despair of seeing their like again. There are others who think that the world is steadily but surely progressing, and that the golden future will disclose to the human race a far more desirable state of existence than was ever dreamt of by our ancestors. AYABE MICHIHIRO was one of the latter. His eyes were always on the future: he thought that what was not realized by himself would certainly be realized by his descendants. 

NITTA YOSHISADA CASTS HIS SWORD INTO THE SEA. 
THE third son of MINAMOTO YOSHI-IE, born A.D. 1057, had two sons. The elder son succeeded his father to the fief of Nitta, in the province of K?tsuke: The second inherited from his adopted father, TAWARA ─ the fief of Ashikaga. 
Both these sons founded families which took their name from their place of hereditary possession. Four hundred years later, their illustrious descendants became conspicuous. NITTA YOSHISADA, a captain in the army of H?J?, had been sent to besiege KUSUNOKI, one of the Mikado's faithful vassals; but refusing to fight against the Imperial forces, NITTA deserted with his command. He sent his retainer to ?T?NOMIYA, son of the Emperor, then hiding in the mountains, who gave him a commission in the name of his exiled father. 
NITTA immediately returned to his native place, collected all his retainers, and, before the shrine of the village, raised the standard of revolt against H?J?. His banner was a long white pennant, crossed near the top by two black bars, beneath which was a circle bisected by a black zone. Adopting the plan of attack proposed by his brother, and marching down into Sagami, he appeared at Inamurasaki, on the outskirts of Kamakura, in thirteen days after raising his banner as the Mikado's vassal. 
At this point, where the road from Kamakura to Enoshima strikes the beach, a splendid panorama breaks upon the vision of the beholder. In front is the ocean, with its rolling waves and refreshing salt breeze. To the south, in imposing proportions, and clothed in the blue of distance, is the Island of ?shima; and farther on are the mountains of the peninsular of Izu. To the right emerges, fair and lovely in perpetual green, the island of Enoshima. Landward is the peak of ?yama, with its satellites; but, above all, in full magnificence of proportion, stands Fuji, the lordly mountain. Here NITTA performed an act that has become immortal in song and the artist's colors. 
On the eve before the attack, NITTA, assembling his host at the edge of the strand, and removing his helmet, thus addressed his warriors: ─ "The Son of Heaven (the Emperor) has been deposed by his traitorous subject, and is now in distant exile by the Western Sea. I, YOSHISADA, being unable to look upon this act unmoved, have raised an army to punish the thieves yonder. I humbly pray thee, O God of the Sea, to look into my loyal heart; command the tide to ebb and open a path." 
Thus saying, he bowed reverently, and then, as SAN-Y? says, with his head bare, and in the sight of heaven, cast his sword into the waves as a prayer-offering to the gods that the waves might recede, in token of their righteous favor. The golden hilt gleamed for a moment in the air, and the sword sank from sight. 
The next morning the tide had ebbed, the strand was dry, and the army, headed by the chief whom the soldiers now looked upon as the chosen favorite of Heaven, marched resistlessly on. Kamakura was attacked from three sides. The fighting was severe and bloody, but victory everywhere deserted the banners of the traitors, and rested upon the pennons of the loyal. NITTA, after performing great feats of valor in person, finally set the city on fire, and in a few hours Kamakura was a waste of ashes. 
Just before the final destruction of the city, a noble named AND?, a vassal of the house of H?J?, seeing the ruin around him, the soldiers slaughtered, the palaces burned, and remarking that for a hundred years no instance of a retainer dying for his lord had been known, resolved to commit hara-kiri. The wife of NITTA was his niece. Just as he was about to plunge his dirk into his body, a servant handed him a letter from her, begging him to surrender. The old man indignantly exclaimed: ─ "My niece is the daughter of a samurai house. Why did she make so shameless a request? And NITTA, her husband, is a samurai. Why did he allow her to do so?" He then took the letter, wrapped it round his sword, which he plunged into his body, and died. A great number of vassals of H?J? did likewise. 
W. E. GIFFIS.

A NARROW ESCAPE. 
I. 
IT was the year 206 B.C., when, early one morning, RY? KI, the Lord of Hai, arrived at the gates of the capital of Shin (one of the great States of ancient China) with one hundred soldiers, for the purpose of holding an interview with K? U. 
After the usual salutations, KI addressed U as follows: ─ "I have united my strength with yours, and together we have attacked the Shin State. You attacked the enemy on the northern side of the river, and I on the southern. Our agreement was, that whoever should reach the capital first should become king of Shin. I never expected then that I should be the first to arrive here. In fact, so great are the uncertainties of war, I did not know whether I should ever have an opportunity of meeting you again. There are, I know, insignificant people who wish to make out that you and I are not on good terms with each other. But if the truth be told, I captured this place for you and not for myself. I have taken account of the state of things here, but have carefully avoided appropriating anything to myself. The houses remain unopened, the storehouses with their seals unbroken: and day and night we have all been anxiously awaiting your arrival before taking action." 
U'S wrath, which had been kindled by certain reports that had reached him and by the general appearance of things at the capital, was appeased by these remarks, and he invited KI to take some wine with him. A few of U's friends and relations were also asked to come and take part in the entertainment. Among them there were present U's uncle, K? HAKU, and his chief retainer, HAN S?. KI was attended by only one retainer, a man called CH? RY?. The positions that they occupied in the room were as follows: U and HAKU sat on the western side; KI'S retainer, RY?, sat on the eastern, S? on the northern, and KI on the southern side. 
After they had been drinking wine for some little time, S? motioned to U with his eyes, intending by this to signify that he thought the right moment for slaying KI had arrived. Then, taking a stone ring that had an opening in it, he raised it in the air three times, meaning by this to intimate that a similar opening should be made in KI'S body. 
U took no notice whatever of S?'S signs. The fact was he had never given his consent to KI'S assassination. 
S?, seeing that his signs had no effect, left the room, and went and called a man named K? S?. "Our master," said he to S?, "is a man who is averse to killing people. So do you go in, and, handing a cup of wine to U, ask him if he will allow you to dance, sing, and act before him. Then, while brandishing your sword in illustration of the words you are singing, watch your time, and kill KI. If this is not done, we shall all become his prisoners as sure as we are here." 
S? did as he was bidden. He came into the apartment where the guests were assembled, and, handing a cup of wine to U, said: ─ "During the war we have had no entertainment of any kind. I beg that you will allow me to do a little acting for the amusement of the party." 
U gave his consent, and S? commenced to dance and sing, with his drawn sword in his hand, after the custom of those days. 
No sooner did S? begin his performance than HAKU, unbidden, commenced to dance also, sword in hand. The fact was he had urged U not to consent to KI'S being killed; and, seeing at a glance what was being attempted, determined to be ready for any emergency. So whenever S? danced near KI, HAKU intercepted him; and in this way S? failed to accomplish his purpose. 
Seeing how matters stood, RY? went out through the gates of the city and called HAN KWAI, who was with the troops outside. 
"Well," said KWAI, "how are things going today?" 
"They are most urgent," replied RY?; "S? is dancing round the Lord of Hai, with the intention of killing him when an opportunity occurs." 
"Urgent, indeed!" exclaimed KWAI; "let us be off. If he is to die, we will die with him." 
Taking his sword and his shield, KWAI started off for the house where U and his guests were assembled. The guards attempted to prevent KWAI'S passing through the gates of the city; but knocking them down with his shield one after another, he passed on, and was soon in the house where they were all assembled. On entering the room in which his master was, holding his shield firm in his left hand whilst tucking up his clothes with his right, KWAI advanced and stood before U. His eyes burned with fury and his hair stood erect as he gazed on the face of his master's host. 

II. 
"Who is this guest?" asked U, turning to RY?.
"It is KWAI, one of my master's retainers," replied RY?. 
"A noble knight, indeed!" said U. "Let plenty of wine be given him." 
A large cupful was then handed to KWAI, who, after thanking U, emptied the cup at one draught without sitting down. 
U now commanded that pork should be given him: a leg of undressed pork was handed to KWAI. Placing his shield on the floor, KWAI put the meat on the shield, then, drawing his sword, he cut it up, and, raw though it was, he eat as much as he required before the assembled guests. 
"Let more wine be given him," said U to his attendants; and then to KWAI: ─ "Be persuaded to take a little .more wine, Sir knight." 
"Oh, certainly," replied KWAI. "I am not backward in laying down my life when occasion calls for it, and certainly I need not be backward in taking wine when it is offered to me. I will take any mount." 
More wine was given him. After he had taken it, he addressed U as follows: ─ "The former king of Shin had a heart very much like that of a wolf or a tiger. His thirst for blood was not exceeded by that of either of these animals. On this account it was that the whole country rose against him, and everything was thrown into the state of confusion in which we now see it. At this juncture, as is well known to you, the various generals had a conference, and agreed that whoever should, after having conquered all the opponents on the way to the capital, be the first to enter it, should be created King of Shin. My master was the first to enter. But, instead of assuming the power to which he had a right, shutting up the dwelling houses and public offices, sealing the storehouses, and removing the most of his troops from the place, he awaited your arrival. The troops whom you found guarding the place when you came, were stationed here to keep out any but yourself. At such times as these, there was no knowing who might come and attempt to seize the city, so we thought it necessary to guard it till you arrived. Since my master has exerted himself in this way on your behalf, the least you could do in return would be to give him some adequate reward for his services; but instead of this, you listen to the advice of a set of insignificant fellows who are in attendance on you, and plot his destruction. In all this you are but following in the footsteps of the deceased King of Shin, and, acting as he did, you will doubtless meet with the fate that befell him. This is not a matter that concerns me. But if you consult your own interests, then you could adopt no worse course than the one you are following." 
U made no reply to these remarks, but simply requested KWAI to sit down. KWAI sat down by RY?'S side. 
Shortly after this KI rose, and, requesting the host to excuse him for a moment, went out of the room and, as he did it, beckoned to KWAI to follow him. The two at once made their escape from the place. 
After they had gone a little distance on the road, KI said to KWAI: ─ "We came away in a very unceremonious manner, without even taking leave of them. What will they say to this?" 
"In great transactions," replied KWAI, "one cannot trouble about minute particulars: where a great ceremony is being performed small civilities cannot be attended to. They were like the knife and the block, and we were like the fish that was to be cut. If we had stayed, we should certainly have been chopped up. Therefore it was no time to stand on ceremony." 
RY? managed to slip out of the room, and, after having a conference with his master, went back to U and excused KI and KWAI on the score that they had been taking so much wine that they were obliged to leave the room, and that, not being in a fit state to come and bid U farewell, they had left in an unceremonious way. "I," said RY?, have been commissioned to come to you and to ask your forgiveness for this conduct of my master's." Here he produced four precious stones, and continued: ─ "These my master has sent; he begs that you will be pleased to accept two and that General HAN S? will take the other two." 
"Where has your master gone?" asked U. 
"Well, to tell you the truth, " replied RY?, "he heard that you were going to reprimand him severely, and so he has rejoined his army." 
U accepted the present and placed it by his side. But S?, taking the stones that had been given to him, threw them down on the ground, and, striking them with his sword and breaking them in pieces, with a heavy sigh, exclaimed: ─ "This foolish empty-headed child! It is utterly useless to try and accomplish anything by means of such an one as he!" 
This had reference to U, to whom he then added: ─ "You ought to be the head of this country, but, instead of that, KI will usurp the power and we shall all be subject to him sooner or later. This will come about, mark my words." 
About four years after these events, these words found their fulfillment. U was defeated by KI, and, in his despair, committed suicide. 
KWAI displayed extraordinary courage on this, as on subsequent, occasions. His great coolness and pluck impressed the mind of U and took away from him any lingering inclination that he had to consent to S?'S proposal to kill KI.
 
TWO INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF KAN TAISHI. 
THE Emperor KENS? was a Chinaman who, being a most steadfast believer in Buddhism, often had various Buddhist relics brought to his palace. 
In the year 819 A.D., a bone, which was said to be the bone of SHAKA, was brought to KENS?'S palace in Nankin, and remained there three days. After he had finished worshipping it, he allowed it to be sent round to the different temples of the neighborhood. As it passed along the road the people crowded out of their houses and bowed down before it. The whole town was talking about nothing else but this bone. Each one hoped it might pass by his house that he might have an opportunity of worshipping it. 
When the fever was at its height, KAN TAISHI sent a letter to the Emperor which contained the following remarks: ─ "SHAKA was a man who originally belonged to all uncivilized country; and who was guilty of ignoring the chief relationships of life, namely, that between a master and his servant and that between parents and their children. Even supposing that he were still alive, it would be quite enough for you to have an interview with him once, and give him a good meal and a change of clothes; after which you would do well to bid him leave our country. By so doing you would prevent his leading a large number of people astray. But now, seeing that SHAKA has been dead for years, and his bones have all long since corrupted and crumbled into dust, what reason can there be for your having such a loathsome thing in your palace as that bone? I beg you will command your attendants to throw it into the fire or into the water; and that you will thus cut off at one stroke all the evil that results from the superstitious practice of worshipping bones, and prevent its being observed in after generations. If SHAKA has a soul that is able to punish people for their sins, I am prepared to bear all the punishment that he can inflict." 
This letter made the Emperor KENS? very angry, and he banished TAISHI to Ch?sh?. 

II. 
ON another occasion, after KENS? was dead and TAISHI had been recalled from banishment, a man called ? TEIS? rebelled against the Government, and surrounded the place where GY? GENYOKU, the Commander of the Government troops, had fortified himself. The Emperor appointed TAISI to act as "Heibujir?." In discharging the duties which pertained to his office, the Emperor bade him be careful how he entered that part of the country which was in the hands of the rebels. To this he replied: ─ "To put a check on a man about to enter on such duties as those I undertake, proceeds from a benevolent feeling on the part of the one who invests him with power; and, as such, is quite proper. But to discharge the duties that devolve upon him even though it may cost him his life, this is the obligation incurred by him who seeks to serve his lord faithfully." 
TAISHI set out for the place where the rebels were encamped, and on reaching it, went straight into the camp. When the rebels saw him they prepared to attack him. TEIS? drew his sword and bent his bow ready for use. TAISHI, not in the least disconcerted, advanced to TEIS?'S quarters. He found that the whole place was full of troops, all equipped for battle. TEIS?, pointing to the troops, said: ─ "If you wish to know who is the cause of all the disturbance that now exists in the country, I can tell you. These are the men who are at the bottom of it all; I am not responsible for it." 
"Was it not," asked TAISHI in a loud voice, so that all might hear, "because the Emperor saw in you the ability that makes a general, that he gave you the command of the troops? But it seems that you are unable to control the men over whom you have been made a general." 
The soldiers now interposed, and said: ─ "Formerly we fought under DAN SH?JITSU against the rebels who were led by SHU SAI; and in this war SH?JITSU fell. We have in our possession the blood-stained clothes that he wore on that occasion. Why, then, should we think of rebelling against the Government, were we not led on to it by our general? It is he that is responsible for the rebellion; why then do you speak of us as the 'rebel army?'" 
"I am glad to see that you still bear in mind what SH?JITSU did," replied TAISHI. "Many are the benefits to be derived from loyalty, and many the disadvantages of being in a state of rebellion." 
TEIS?, when he heard this, was afraid that the soldiers might be affected by what TATSHI was saying to them, and therefore commanded them all to leave his presence. Then, turning to TAISHI, he asked: ─ "For what purpose have you come?" 
"GENYOKU," said TAISHI, "I grant, is not the kind of man that ought to receive the patronage he does. But he is still left in the world, and the Emperor does not care to abandon him altogether, and so he has patronized him. But there is no reason why you should make so much of all this. Far better to take no notice of him." 
"Very well," said TEIS?, "I will do as you recommend, and let him alone." 
TEIS? now took TAISHI to his quarters, gave him some wine, and sent him away in the most civil manner possible. After this he raised the siege and allowed GENYOKU to escape unmolested. 
Here we see how the moral courage of one man saved the lives of thousands of soldiers, thereby showing its superiority to that brute courage which was doubtless the sole prominent characteristic of the mass of the besiegers and the besieged on this occasion.
 
A CONTROVERSIAL SPIRIT NOT TO BE CULTIVATED. 
?TAKASAKA SEISUKE wrote a book to oppose IT? JINSAI, in some parts of which he said things that were untrue of JINSAI. 
One of JINSAI'S pupils came to him with the book and requested him to write a reply. 
JINSAI smiled, but said nothing. 
The pupil continued: ─ "If when spoken evil of, we have anything to say in self-defense, it is surely our duty to say it. For why should we be abused and make no reply? If you do not answer SEISUKE, then I will do so for you." 
"The superior man," replied JINSAI, "should refrain from controversy. Suppose that SEISUKE should be right and I wrong, then, as he has shown me my defects I ought to look upon him as my benefactor. If he is wrong, and I am right, then, as he becomes wiser, he will gradually discover his mistake. This is something that you ought to bear in mind. In study the most important thing is to keep the mind quiet; to exercise self-control. In all things we must consider what is likely to prove profitable and edifying. Why waste time and words in condemning others and justifying yourself?" 
Controversy is apt to embitter the feelings and disqualify the mind for looking at both sides of the various questions that are presented to it. Hence, when no principle is involved, and the dispute is likely to be almost exclusively confined to personalities, JINSAI'S advice may be followed with safety. 

EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE AND RARE GENEROSITY. 
KIBUCHI SHIGEMITSU was a brave soldier of the Shinano province, who flourished in the twelfth century. He served for some time under TOMIBE IETOSHI, whom he served most faithfully. 
IETOSHI lost his life in battle when fighting near Yokota-gawara. He was slain by NISHI SHICHIR?. SHICHIR? cut off IETOSHI'S head, and, fixing it to his saddle, rode away. 
Some little time before IETOSHI set out for the war, SHIGEMITSU had been dismissed from his service owing to a slanderous report that some one had wickedly spread about him. Thus he was not able to accompany IETOSHI to the war. This troubled him very much and one day be said to himself: ─ "Though I have been dismissed from the service of IETOSHI, it is not for me to be remaining at home idle at such a time as this. I will go and see how my master has fared in the war." 
Without knowing what had happened to IETOSHI, he hastened to the seat of war. He looked about for his old master's flag, but, not finding it anywhere, he began to doubt whether something had not happened to him. After enquiry, he found out what had befallen IETOSHI. On learning that SHICHIR? had killed him, he immediately sought out the latter's whereabouts. When he saw him, he asked: ─ "Are you not NISHI SHICHIR?? I am the retainer of TOMIBE IETOSHI, and my name is KICIBUCHI SHIGEMITSU. I was sent on a message by my late master; and when I returned, was surprised to hear that he had been killed. Will you not allow me to make my report to his head?" 
Thus saying, he urged on his horse, and hastened towards his foe. 
SHICHIR?, perceiving by his countenance that SHIGEMITSU was a man who was too determined to be easily resisted, turned his horse's head and fled. 
"Do you think that you are going to get away like that? " cried SHIGEMITSU with a loud voice. "You are the enemy of my lord, and I am not going to let you escape." 
Thus saying, he put spurs to his horse, overtook his foe, cut him down, and took off his head. He removed the head of his late master from SHICHIR?'S saddle, and placing it reverentially before him, addressed it as follows: ─ "Though innocent of that whereof I was accused, I was dismissed from your service, and remained at home when you set out for the war. But, in thinking over matters, it seemed to me that, even though unbidden, if I went to the seat of war and did some great exploit on your behalf, you would then know what kind of man I am. When I reached the battlefield, to my grief, I found out that you were dead, and so I was not able to obtain my desire. But I know that your departed spirit will be comforted by knowing that I have slain your enemy." 

He had no sooner concluded this address to the head of his departed master, than he jumped on his horse, and taking the two heads in his left hand and his sword in his right, with the bridle reins between his teeth, he galloped into the midst of the battle, and, flourishing his sword in a defiant manner, called out: ─ "TOMIBE IETOSHI was killed by NISHI SHICHIR?. KIBUCHI SHIGEMITSU instantaneously avenged his death. Come one and come all and try your strength with me." 
Here thirty-seven men, all mounted on horses, came out against him. He rode furiously into their midst, and, slashing away right and left, succeeded in cutting down some twelve or thirteen of them. But he vas wounded in various parts of the body. Feeling that he could not hold out much longer, he tossed the head of SHICHIR? away in contempt, and, while still keeping a firm hold of the head of his master, ran his sword through his own head, and dropped dead from his horse. 
All who beheld the sight, whether friend or foe, were alike overcome with astonishment and filled with profound admiration for the brave knight of Shinano. 
In refusing to allow the slanderous report to sour his temper; in his determination not to nurse his wounded pride, but to act in every way as though his relations with his master were all that they had been in former times, SHIGEMITSU showed that, added to the courage which feared nothing, he possessed the generosity of spirit which refuses to be suppressed by opposing influences ─ the love that no waters can quench; that "suffereth long, and is kind, and thinketh no evil."
 
CHIN SH? TAKES THE TIDE AT ITS FLOOD. 
When the Shin armies became the masters of the whole of China [B.C. 22l], the Shin Government abused in the most shameful manner the power it had acquired. The People were butchered by thousands; with few exceptions, all the books that could be found were burnt; scholars were buried alive; and thousands of people were employed in building the great wall of China without receiving remuneration for their labor. The distress throughout the whole country at this time was almost beyond endurance. All this took place under the first emperor of the Shin dynasty, SHIK?. But his successor followed in the same line. All worthy men were carefully kept out of office, and the Court and the public offices were crowded with ignorant, cruel, unprincipled men. 
During the reign of the second Shin emperor, NISEI, there lived a man called CHIN SH?. He was a native of the Y?j? prefecture. When still a young man, he was employed by a farmer as a common laborer at so much a day. One day when working in the fields he stopped what he was doing, went to the top of a little mound, and, heaving a deep sigh over the evils of the time, turned to his associates and said: ─ "When we all get rich and are scattered hither and thither, we must be careful not to forget each other." 
"How on earth is a man like you," replied one of his companions, laughing, "who works for a few cents per day, ever going to become rich?" 
"A swallow or a sparrow cannot possibly tell what is in the mind of an eagle," replied SH?. " You are no judge of what is in my mind." 
Some years after this event, SH? was chosen to be the head of some nine hundred laborers who had orders from the Government to guard a certain place in the prefecture of Gyoy? which was supposed to be in danger. A man called Go K? was deputy-head of this band of men. 
On their way to the place where they were to keep guard, the men found that the rivers were so swollen that it was impossible to pass. So they were not able to reach the place at the time fixed. It was a law among the Shin people that persons who did not keep appointments of this kind should be put to death. 
The two leaders consulted together as to what course they should take, and agreed that, as they would be killed anyhow, it was better to die fighting against such an iniquitous government as that of Shin than to be killed by it. "The whole country has groaned long enough beneath the rule of Shin," remarked SH?. "The present Emperor is but a child, and not fit to be on the throne. If we come to ask who ought to be the Emperor, then FUSO was he. But alas! because he was a wise man and feared not to reprove his master whenever he saw him do anything wrong, he was killed. The people, however, have only heard of his great wisdom and do not know whether he is dead or alive. Then there is K?EN ─ a very popular general ─ some say he is dead, and others that he has fled to some out-of-the-way place. As people do not know for a certainty what has become of either one of these two men, if we give out that we are espousing their cause, they will flock to our standard." 
K? highly approved of the plan. Before taking any steps, however, they agreed that it would be well to consult a diviner about it. This they did without delay. 
"Your project," said the diviner to SH?, "will succeed, but you yourself will become a spirit." 
SH? was delighted with this revelation. "His saying that I should become a spirit," said he to K?, "no doubt referred to my doing astonishing things, such a bringing all kinds of people into subjection, and so on," 
The next step that SH? took was to write the words, "SH? will become king," in red on a piece of linen, which was placed in the inside of a fish. This fish was given to one of SH?'S servants to cook. When the fish was cut open previous to being dressed, the written prediction was discovered. The cook announced to the nine hundred men who followed SH? what he had found. 
SH? subsequently made use of another device for deceiving the people. He sent K? into the woods, and told him to light a fire and imitate the cry of a fox, and to say: ─ "The great So is about to prosper." This too was carried out. The followers of SH? were all very much astounded at it, and, as most of them came from So, they took this to be an indication that their cause would triumph, saying to each other: ─ "SH? will doubtless become king."

II. 
After all these preliminary preparations had been made, SH? addressed his men as follows: ─ "You are aware that, owing to the heavy rain, we have not been able to keep our appointment; and that the punishment for this is death. Even supposing you do not meet with this fate, you will be sent to guard some place in Gyoy?, and in that case, it is probable that out of every ten of you some six or seven will be killed. Now brave men will of course live as long as they can do so honorably, but if there come a time in which they are bound to lay down their lives, they prefer to do so in some creditable manner ─ they prefer to die for something. The people who have become kings, barons, generals, and prime ministers in the world are not a special class by themselves. They are men who have risen to these positions by dint of effort and perseverance, and what they have done, any one of us may do." 
The nine hundred men were moved by this address, and agreed to do their best to collect troops. They gave out that they were fighting in the cause of FUSO and K?EN. They also announced that the government that they proposed to establish would be known as the So Government. SH? was created general of the army, and K? the next to him in power. The people all flocked to their standard, and wherever they fought they were victorious; and, true to the prediction, SH? became king. Not long after, K? U and RY? KI followed up the efforts of SH?, and, as a result, the Shin dynasty fell. 
SH? was not a man of extraordinary ability, but he had the good fortune to live at a time when his countrymen were longing for deliverance from the despotism of the Shin rulers; and he possessed resolution enough to enable him to make a bold stroke at a power that seemed too formidable to be overcome. It was its seasonableness that made the movement inaugurated by SH? so successful. 
A page in Japanese history, parallel to the above records how, when H?J? TAKATOKI was acting in the most outrageously arbitrary manner, a Mutsu man, called AND? TAKANARI, collected a few troops an rebelled. TAKATOKI sent a large number of men against TAKANARI, but they were all defeated. And gradually the movement grew to immense proportions till it effected the overthrow of TAKATOKI'S administration. 
The fact is that, in both these cases, the existing government was like a large rotten tree, that needed only a slight breeze to throw it down. So that its overthrow is rather to be attributed to its own corrupt state than to the strength of the instruments employed to to effect it. 
SH?'S success was owing to the use that he made of a golden opportunity. 
"There is a tide in the affairs of men 
"Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; 
"Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
"Is bound in shallows and in miseries." 
                                                                           SHAKESPEARE. 

A FOREIGN DOG ACTS AS INSTRUCTOR TO A JAPANESE DOG. 
A Japanese dog which had contracted an intimacy with one of foreign extraction, overpowered with admiration and envy of his friend, was desirous of learning from him, with a view of bettering his own condition, how it happened that their respective conditions in society were so very different. "How comes it to pass," enquired he, "that you foreign dogs are so much better treated than we? You are washed and fed, and kept in the house and made companions of by your masters, whilst we are kicked and cuffed and get nought but fish-bones for our food, and if we so much as put our noses inside the kitchen, are perhaps drenched with hot water."
"Oh, because you're a rough lot," replied the foreign dog, "and withal, you are good for nothing but barking, and as regards that too, you bark at everybody without distinction. Whether it be a visitor, or your master going in or out of the house, it's all one to you. Now, we never bark at anybody but a robber, and otherwise conduct ourselves decently and quietly."
"You state the case correctly, so far as we Japanese dogs are concerned," answered the Japanese dog, "I am afraid; but as example is better than precept, may I 'request that you'll give me a little instruction in deportment? I am most desirous of occupying the same place in the estimation of my master as you enjoy in yours, and shall feel very grateful for any hints which  you may feel inclined to impart." 
"I'll be delighted, I am sure," replied the foreign dog, "to be of any assistance in my power, and as I am going out for a walk, you cannot do better than accompany me and observe my demeanor. Now, my good friend, don't lurch about in that lazy fashion; such a gait may suit a butcher's cur, but is wholly inadmissible in a dog of quality. You see with what ease and elegance I trot along. Nothing confers such an air of good breeding as attention to such matters. A thoughtless curl of the tail, head well up, and just a trifle on one side. H'm. yes, that will do; but before we start, no barking and yelping, if you please, the only occasion on which we ought to indulge in such noises being, as I told you before, when thieves are present, and then it is always right to raise an alarm." 
With such and many other pieces of useful advice on the one part, and much deferential acquiescence all the other, the two dogs pursued their way very pleasantly and profitably, visiting many places and projecting many future excursions, and there is no saying what might not have resulted from their friendship had not business or pleasure carried their footsteps to a place where money-exchangers were in the habit of meeting to transact business, when to the horror and dismay of the foreign dog, his native bred companion, taking a hasty survey of the place, was seen to raise his head in the air, and, throwing his ears back, to set up such a howling and barking that the very sparrows in the gutters ceased their chattering for a moment to see that was the matte, and the foreign dog was at his wits end how to put a stop to the din. Seizing an opportunity of a pause for breath, however, he proceeded to rate his friend soundly for hi misconduct. "There you go again," said he. "You could not hold your tongue for a couple of hours, but must take advantage of a public place like this to make yourself ridiculous and disgrace me." 
"What," rejoined the Japanese dog in an injured tone; "did you not tell me that I should always bark at thieves?" 
"Of course I did; what of that?" 
"Why, I've taken a look round here, and as I see none but thieves, I've followed your advice, that's all." 
T. A. PURCELL. 
THE BARBER'S STORY. 
A BARBER once related to a few friends the following story: ─
"Many many years ago, before the tide of western civilization had set in upon our shores, and the people of Japan had not yet abandoned the customs of their ancestors, when men still wore the costume which for centuries had been recognized as their national dress, and shaved their heads and beards as became decent and respectable people," ─ here the barber heaved a a sigh and said: ─"Aye! aye! whilst yet the Yamatodamashii, the spirit of old Japan, was abroad, and retainers of a chieftain still loved and reverenced their lord, and the lord was a father to his dependants; in such a good old time., I say, a certain Daimy?, renowned for his wisdom and benevolence, assembling his household together, recounted to them the following story: 
"He had been for many days annoyed and perplexed, he said by reports from his steward to the effect that a thief was in the habit of entering his wood store nightly and helping himself to its contents, and that so well had he calculated his opportunity that hitherto he had escaped being apprehended, nor lad he afforded any clue to his identity. Surmising that the place was carelessly watched, he had made up his mind to lie in wait for the thief himself, but without imparting his intention to anybody.
"Secreting himself before nightfall, and having waited patiently for many hours, he was at last rewarded by hearing a stealthy football, and the moon, appearing from behind a cloud for a second or two, revealed to him the features of the robber, which he recognized as those of a laborer of his own. Feigning the voice of the man's father, he softly called him by his name, and bidding him make haste, commenced to toss him down bundle after bundle of wood with great rapidity ─ curious to see how much he could carry away. 'But judge of my surprise,' be said, 'to find that the man was not only content with a very moderate quantity, but actually reproached me, his supposed father, for fancying him base enough to steal more fuel than he actually required.' 
"'Why should I take more than is actually necessary to cook our supper?' he whispered. 'Far be it from me to do so base an action.' 
"Struck with the noble scrupulousness of the man, honest even in his thieving, I have assembled you here to day,' said the baron, 'to see me reward him for his virtue; and to that end, I desire my steward to make him such suitable provision as shall relieve him from the necessity of stealing for the future.' 
"The man who robs because he is in need is the slave of circumstances, and is to be commiserated." 
The barber went on to show that the thief most to be detested and most to be feared, is he who takes advantage of his office or position to rob his employers 
T. A. PURCELL 

VIRTUE IS MORE TO BE HONOUREDR THAN POWER. 
AFTER DAN KAMBOKU had resigned his position as a government official in the province of Gi, China, the Emperor of Gi drove, one day, through the village in which he lived and made obeisance to him. Some of the Emperor's retinue, seeing this, said to him: ─ "Is not KAMBOKU a man of low rank? Is it dignified of you to make obeisance to such a man?" 
"KAMBOKU," replied the Emperor, "is a man who cares little for power and high rank. He is content to live the life of a sage. But although he lives in this little obscure village, his name is known and respected thousands of miles away. Seeing then that he is so universally esteemed, why should I because I happen to be an Emperor be backward in doing him honor? KAMBOKU shines in the light of virtue; I but in the light of power. KAMBOKU is rich in justice; I only in material wealth. Power is not to be ranked side by side with virtue; opulence is not to be exalted to a level with justice. KAMBOKU is a man who, if he had an opportunity of exchanging his virtue and righteousness for the money and power which I possess, would not consent to do it." 
The meaning of the above remarks seems to be that honor of the most exalted kind is the sole possession of the virtuous; and that ordinary regal pomp and power is not to be ranked alongside with the homage and respect due to him who sits on the throne of virtue. The virtuous should be the most honored: and there is no honor worthy of the name apart from sterling moral worth, 
"There was a people once by wisest counsels steered, 
"Who temples twain to Virtue and to Honor reared, 
"Excepting through the first ─ they stood so wall to wall ─
" No man within the second one could get at all. 
"As forecourt into Honor's temple Virtue's stood; 
"'Through merit praise is reached, ─ such was the moral good. 
"All age did nose two temples thus together stand, 
"And all was noble-toned and prosperous in the land. 
"But long ago did Virtue's solemn temple fall;  
"And Honor's shine, profaned, is open now to all." 
ANON. 

IEYASU'S MESSAGE TO NARUSE HAYTO. 
Just before the ?saka Castle was taken, IEYASU went up the Cha-usu hill, in order to see how things were going on inside the castle grounds. He noticed that the garrison was very much reduced, consisting of no more than four or five hundred men, who were all assembled in one spot. So he gave orders that an attack should be commenced on the castle without delay. 
His order, for some reason or other, was not promptly carried out by NARUSE HAYATO, the general in command of the troops. IEYASU, seeing the delay, sent a messenger to HAYATO. "Go," said IEYASU to the messenger, "to that coward NARUSE HAYATO and tell him to take my son YOSHINAO to attack the castle at once." 
The messenger went to HAYATO, and repeated the message just as it had been delivered to him, and that before YOSHINAO and a number of other persons. 
HAYATO was very angry, and, before the messenger had concluded his message, with a loud voice replied: ─ "The HAYATO whom you address has no recollection of ever having acted the coward on any one occasion throughout his whole life. But ask your master whether he did not act the coward when fighting with TAKEDA SHINGEN? " 
After the castle had been taken, and the war was over, HAYATO went to see IEYASU, and, referring to what had occurred, said: ─ "During the siege of the ?saka Castle, you sent a command to me to attack the castle, and because you thought I was slow in commencing the assault, you became very angry and called me a coward. I have been in your service ever since I was a child; and therefore I should not be offended by anything that you might say to me when you and I are alone. But your messenger came and repeated your message in public, before all my followers, and in the presence of your son. Why you chose a man to bear your message who had no more sense than that man, I cannot tell. It makes little matter to me personally what you are pleased to say of me, but, as you know, all the Owari people look up to me as a pillar that support your son, and a speech such as that you made is calculated to make my followers lose faith in me and to lead your son to look down on me. It was on this account that I publicly used abusive language in reference to you; for had I remained silent, I should have lost all my influence with my followers." 
"Under such circumstances, whatever you might have said would not have been amiss," replied IEYASU. "I am not offended by your conduct. I see that it was your great regard for my household that prompted you to act as you did." 
IEYASU'S message was a most injudicious one, and with anyone less magnanimous than HAYATO, it might have had serious consequences. But it was well that IEYASU had the sense to acknowledge himself in the wrong when the matter was brought up by HAYATO after the war was over. 

COURAGE TEMPERED WITH WISDOM. 
IN the Sengoku period [B.C. 450-22l], in Ch?, a State of China, there was a government officer of high rank called RIN SH?JO. Next to him in rank was a man called REN HA. 
One day HA remarked to those who were near him: ─ "I am in command of the troops in this country, and am one who has done good service in war. There is that man SH?JO, whose origin is low, but who, on account of his being able to talk, occupies a higher position than I. I am quite ashamed that my rank is lower than that of such a man as SH?JO. I shall, when an opportunity occurs, do something to annoy him, and thus induce him to fight with me." 
SH?JO heard that HA was purposing to provoke a quarrel with him; so he carefully avoided meeting him. If SH?JO heard that HA was to be present at any assembly, he did not go to it; and when he met him in the road, he avoided him. 
SH?JO'S attendants attributed this conduct to cowardice. They were therefore very much ashamed of their master, and went to remonstrate with him about it. Whereupon he told them his mind on the subject. "As you know," said he; "I have done some brave deeds in my life. I went to Shin, and, alone, put the great people of Shin to shame. Is it likely, then, that I should be afraid of HA? But I have not myself only to think of. What is it that keeps Shin from attacking us? Nothing but the fact that HA and I are known to be here and ready to defend the country. But if HA and I fight and kill each other, what will become of the country? I avoid him because I think that it becomes me to think of my country first and myself last ─ because I do not think it right to allow a personal matter to be the cause of bringing trouble upon my native land." 
HA heard that SH?JO had spoken thus. He admired the noble sentiment to which SH?JO had given expression, and felt that he (HA) had been acting foolishly. He went to SH?JO and confessed that he had been in the wrong, and subsequent to this the two leading men of Ch? were on very friendly terms with each other. 
Both these men were brave; but SH?JO was wise as well as brave. Courage undisciplined by wisdom often does more harm than good. It strikes where it would be better to forbear. It makes no distinction between public and private interests. 
The spirit of SH?JO has almost put an end to private duels in Europe, and in Japan. That no man has a right to throw away his life or run the risk of disablement, to further his own private interests, or to satisfy the demands of a morbid sentiment, has become a recognized fact. To refuse to light a duel often requires more courage than to light it, in countries where dueling is not quite gone out of fashion. Brave men endowed with SH?JO'S spirit have persistently refused to risk their lives and the lives of others in obedience to a custom that places men on a level, with brutes, which know of no better way of settling quarrels than by the destruction or disablement of one of the antagonists.
 
MUS?BY?E VISITS THE LAND OF DWARFS. 
I. 
NOW, at a period of history when any man's wife might be run off with for seven and a half ry?, and when any misdeed whatever might be quietly compounded for at five, a somewhat superficial person, MUS?BY?E, the hero of our tale, forsook the world to spend his whole life in dreaming. In his early days he lived at the mound of Urashima, in the neighborhood of Kanagawa. Many a spring and autumn passed over his head while he got a living by rowing his boat out into the bay in all kinds of wind and weather to ply his hook or set his nets, while to keep himself from ever too ambitiously looking up in the world, he never, even in the fairest weather, doffed his broad brimmed rain hat. He likened his own heart to the free blue plain of waters, comforted his inner man with a bottle of rice-beer daily, slept in his boat or lay awake in his boat and cared for nothing and nobody besides. 
One day he read the work by Y?KOKUSHI, called "Ws?by?e," which contains various allegories, but, alas! it contained no "medicine for the cure of fools." Now, MUS?BY?E also, had he not loved fishing, would never have encountered squalls, and had he not met with squalls, would not have been compelled to cruise about the various islands he visited, and had he not sailed around them, he would never have come to understand the causes of poverty and wealth, and, finally, supposing he had not grasped the principles from which flow poverty and wealth why, in short, should MUS?BY?E ever have come to be spoken about at all? But no man's stomach can be filled by merely looking at a picture of unleavened bread, or gazing at a rice pudding made of cotton wool. Had even SEKK?, after swallowing every grief and hardship, not desired to see the dragon, the dreadfulness of the real dragon would have been appreciated with great difficulty. If NARIHIRA had not been fond of indulging in the tender passion, the hearts of true women would have been hard to know, for it is by looking at genuine, real things that education is to be developed. 
So thought our hero as he sighed: ─ "Now, if a storm would but get up would it not be jolly? But this sort of thing is too provoking: ─ the recent spell of fin weather makes one feel quite resentful towards the God of Winds." 
On this very day, then, while he lay idly floating on a large junk waiting for a gale, his spirits had begun to give way and, unconsciously making a pillow of his rudder, he slept for a wink or two, ─ when suddenly there appeared standing in the bow of the boat a venerable white-haired old man, with straw skirts on his loins and a fishing-rod over his shoulder, not unlike TAIK?B? but for his beard, and older looking than EBISU SAMUR?, who took to shaking up the sleeper, calling aloud: ─ "Pray get up! Pray get up!" like a doctor's boy with an early messenger waiting long for a prescription. MUS?BY?E, opening his eyes with sudden amazement, cries: ─ 
"From whence, Sir, did you ever manage to get into this boat, lying as it is so far from the shore ?" 
"I was an angler of the village of Mizunoe in the province of Tango," replied the old man, "and once unexpectedly found myself in the Land of Treasures, where, having joined the company of the Sennin (genii), I have been spending more than three hundred years in luxury and ease, and am called the. genius URASlIMA, or Island of the Sea. I have no personal knowledge of the matter, but I believe Kanagawa was my native place, and being your near neighbor, although perhaps it's no affair of mine, I feel bound to say that your present wishes seem rather absurd. Now, I say, don't you suppose that the old fellow who has just stepped into your boat is at all insincere. Ah, the ecstasies of joy which this old man experienced when riding long, long ago on a tortoise's back to the Land of Treasures! ─ but when those three centuries of pleasures have been expended they seem shorter than one day of pain. Yet a raw young scatterbrain like you will soon no doubt overthrow his own apish conceit, for you will have yet to learn that earning one's living leaves scars which last a life-time. This vain world is all too wide for a body of five feet long to fill, though when the falcon soars aloft, the bluebottle is sure to wish to soar too! Yet were a man to master the secrets of the universe itself, his knowledge would be of no use to himself or to anybody else. The true gentleman leaves not the side of his father and mother. The poet who abides at home, knows the scenes of real interest. Although there may be lands where the inhabitants have long arms, long legs, or, perhaps, holes in their breasts, their passions are all very much the same. So it is quite a mistake in you to desire to see men never witnessed before. That may be called the truly living eye which perceives what nobody ever cared to observe closely before, and that is often the very hardest thing of all to see. However, as riding on storks has now gone rather out of fashion, I must give you this fishing-rod for a steed. Take it and make of it the bones of a kite and fasten the end of its string to a tree. When you sit astride it, the wind will of itself cause the kite to fly away up into ethereal space. It is said that in the ancient times the Chinese General, KAN SHIN, made a kite wherewith he might be able to inspect the interior of his enemy's camp. So in riding this one, when it blows from the east you may look down into the Land of Youth; when it blows south you will turn to that of Lustful Passion; with a west wind you will view the Land of Drunkenness, and with a north that of Robbery. Although raised far above the earth, your eye will be sharper than a telescope, and your ears will hear more acutely than if you had imbibed the 'Wine that loosens dumb men's tongues.' Rain may not wet you nor sun scorch; you shall suffer neither from thirst nor hunger, nor ever succumb to drowsiness or fatigue. Such are the boons this kite confers on its rider. Between these four lands I have mentioned there are also four villages, namely, the towns of Pain, Passion, Gluttony, and Pleasure. To each of these, according as the wind may favor, you may freely go. Entertain no doubts now about any of these things. So saying, the form vanished from sight, leaving nothing but a fishing-rod behind. 
II. Well, MUS?BY?E, having received the rod and line from the genius, made for himself a kite, and setting off towards Kanagawa, fastened the string to the trunk of a gnarled pine-tree and, mounting the kite, waited patiently for a breeze to blow. At last the east wind arose and gently raised the kite and its rider up into the welkin till it floated high as the summit of Fuji-san. 
MUS?BY?E then held on firmly by his paper steed to keep himself from falling and began to peer cautiously below him, ─ when, lo! he discovered that he was gazing on the fair kingdom of youth, but what particular province of that country lay stretched below him he could not at first clearly make out. The inhabitants, however, were all little bodies living just like the people who inhabit the Island of Dwarfs, or the Land on the banks of the river Sai, to which little children go when they die. 
Now, these little folks multiply and spread rapidly over the land they inhabit. They are in height not more than two feet. Both their men and women have their little polls cleanly shaven, though a sing]e tuft of hair is allowed to grow on the nape of their necks. There is a soft spot, too, on the top of their head which keeps always throbbing. Their tiny arms are as limp as can be, and their legs are so weak and flabby that they can neither stand nor walk. The mannikins wear cinnamon or pale-blue colored robes, and the little women drape themselves in warm peach or snowy white. Both sexes wear what seem to be cognizances on their clothes, such as the crane, tortoise, pine-tree, or bamboo proper. They have vessels for eating and drinking, notwithstanding that they live entirely on milk. They care little for the soiling of their clothes and object strongly to the bathing tub. While they are fast asleep the opportunity is seized to have their polls shaved. They seem to know not the distinctions of meum and tuum and eagerly desire to get hold of whatever they set their eyes on, and whatever is given to them they at once pop into their mouths. They can scarcely express themselves in words at all, and what they attempt to say is hard to be understood. They know not that fire burns nor that a steel blade cuts. At noon they sleep; at night never. Their pillows are stuffed with red peas and they use a peculiar kind of mosquito net shaped like the hood of a carriage. When they awake from sleep they begin to cry, when they feel hungry they cry, when it is dark they cry, when they see strange faces they cry, and it they, are not carried out-of-doors they cry. But when they cry there are charms to soothe them ─ for example, if the breast is put to their lips they cease their lamentations suddenly. 
The Path of Heaven slays not, and so over this village of Water-babies preside two deities called BENEVOLENCE and LOVE. The male god is called TOTO-NO-MIKOTO, or the Lord Papa, and the corresponding goddess is named KAMA-NO-MIKOTO, or our Lord Mamma. Besides these there are Uba, or milk Fountain, Daki-Mori, or Nursey, Sato-Oya, or Foster Mother, and Sh?ni-isha the Baby-Doctor. With the joint aid of all these and many other guardian divinities, the inhabitants of this dreamland of dwarfs are carefully upreared, but the depths of love which flow forth cannot be written with pen. However repuisive tnay sometimes be the concomitants of this duty, such as, well, say the breaking of an egg's yolk over a pair of trousers, it is never felt to be at all offensive, and even if the little folks clamber with dirty feet over a satin waistcoat, no one becomes the least angry with them. Sometimes when nothing at all has occurred to amuse them they chuckle with laughter. At bed-time the song ─ "Sleep, sleep, baby," is sung to them. They slap the maternal bosom and kick the paternal chin, but receive never a word of reproof. They make the tea-pot into a pillow and turn darkness into day, and when at last they drop off to sleep the faintest noise makes them scream out suddenly as if at the touch of fire. When the parents sit down to meals and have already poured the tea on their rice, let the baby give but a single squall, and down at once go chopsticks and contents with a clash, and, running to his side, they snatch him up and hug him until he is quiet again. Even during the day-time a mother will lie down soothingly beside her half slumbering babe as patiently as if she had nothing else whatever to do. Is not this a most wonderful exhibition of good temper? When they have some spare time they set the little one to clap hands saying: ─ Totonome, totonome! and teaching them the various other accomplishments of babyhood. When asked to come to mama, baby toddles to receive some "amazake" as a reward. If he comes to grief without crying he is praised as a brave boy, if he cries he is praised as a good one. Whenever he can say Totonome, he gets a nice tit-bit of fish or fowl to eat. 
This pigmy race calls rice, mama; soup, otsuke; gods and saints, nono; pretty things, h?ho; frightsome ones, okka. To walk is called an-.yo; to stand, tatchi; to sleep nenne. Soiled things are spoken of as babatchi, a dog is wan-wan; a cat is nyaa-nyaa; a rat, ch?-ch?; fish or fowl, toto. Tea is called cha-cha; wine, ototo; the hand, tete, the foot, an-yo; clothes, bebe; sandals jojo; boy, b?, ─ but the difference between our language and their foreign lingo does not extend beyond these points. 
The diseases which prevail in the land are smallpox, measles, whooping-cough, convulsions, and a kind of scalp eruption, but the natives sincerely hate all kinds of doctor's stuff and will not swallow it at all if they can help it. They have no other desire but to eat and drink. At the end of three years they are separated from the maternal bosom; at five, they can run about briskly, and at seven they can well distinguish between heat and cold. From the day of their birth till they reach seven is one period, and were they not to receive during its whole duration the constant aid of the two Deities LOVE and BENEVOLENCE none of them could survive a single day! 
HENRY FAULDS. 

A TRANSPOSED ARGUMENT.
IN the time of KY?, the King of So, there was a Chinaman called K? OTSU who held the office of Taifu. Among the duties which devolved on him, one was the guarding of the King's palace. 
One night a thief entered the palace and carried off a great many things. OTSU was reprimanded by the Prime Minister for having guarded the palace so badly and expelled from office. He went home to live with his mother. 

Not long after this, his mother lost a piece of cotton cloth. She went to the Prime Minister and accused him of having stolen the cloth. The matter was brought before the King, ,who said that if it could be proved that the Prime Minister had committed this offence, high as his rank was, he should be disgraced ; but if, on the other. Hand, the woman was saying what was incorrect, she would be punished for slandering a state-officer. "The Prime Minister did not steal the cloth himself," replied the woman, " but he sent some one to steal it."  "How was this accomplished?" asked the King. "In ancient times, in the days when Son SHUKUGO administered justice," she replied, "though the doors of a house were left open, thieves did not enter it; and even if things were dropped in the streets, no one picked them up. All this was owing to the skill with which people were governed. But now, owing to the fact that the Prime Minister has no eats to hear or eyes to see how things stand, everything goes wrong, and thieves swarm in every part of the country."  "As officers belong to the upper classes and thieves to the lower, how can the former know anything about the latter?" asked the King.  "How is it," replied the woman, "that the King speaks thus? Not long ago my son was degraded from office because he neglected o keep the King's palace from being robbed. And yet according to what your Majesty says, my son, who belonged to the upper classes, could not know anything about the thief who belonged to the lower classes. One of the ancient kings says that, if one of the lower classes commits a crime, it is as though the King himself committed it. If those who rule are not straightforward and discerning in what they do, how can those who are ruled become so?"  The King was impressed by what he heard, and told them to give the woman the same amount of cotton cloth that she had lost and money in addition. But she refused to take either, saying that what she had said had not been said to get money. Whereupon the King was still more astonished, and bid them re-instate her son in his former office. The notion that the faults and crimes of the lower orders are to be attributed to the inefficiency of rulers, was a most popular one in China from very ancient times. What the woman seems to have meant was that. if this theory were adhered to in awarding punishment in the present instance, her son ought not to be the only one to suffer, in fact, that the bulk of the responsibility lay with the high officers of State. 
AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF GREATNESS.  AMONG the many characteristics of great men, none is more striking than the gratitude they feel for the correction of their faults and imperfections. TOKUGAWA IEYASU was a man who never turned his face away from wholesome reproof. He deemed it one of the chief offices of a friend to point out, in a kind but faithful manner, any particulars in which he conceives that his companion's conduct is amiss. SUZUKI KYOZABURO was to IEYASU such a friend, as will appear by the following tale :When IEYASU was conversing one day with his successor in the Shogunate, HIDETADA, he remarked :-" Some years ago, when I was in Mikawa SUZUKI KYUZABURO took some carp from my pond, which he boiled and ate. Not long after, ODA NOBUNAGA made me a present of some sake, this also KYOZABURO took. I thought that for these offences he ought to die. So one day I ran after him with a sword; and as I ran called out:-' KYOZABURO !' When he heard me call, he turned, and, after having stripped one of his shoulders bare he said with a loud voice:- ' A man who values men's lives no more than voice :-' those of fish-how shall be become the ruler of a great country ? ' "When I heard this, I suspected that some hidden meaning lay beneath KYOZABURO'S words, and that, before taking any further steps, I ought to try and find out what it was., After thinking a while, I remembered that I l]d imprisoned a man for stealing fish from my pond; and I had no doubt tl]at it was to remind me of this act and to reprove me for it, that KYOZABUR took the fish and carried off the sake. I therefore called him and thanked him for what he had done." 
THE HIGH ROAD .TO INTELLIGENCE. MATUDAIRA NOBUTSUNA'S intelligence and ingenuity are recorded to have been such that he never seemed at a loss to find a solution for any question that was put to him.  One day some one remarked to him:-"Nothing seems to puzzle you; your sharpness in all matters is something to which no one else can attain." That does not proceed," replied NOBUTSUNA, "from my own unaided genuis.  I have to thank the great men who preceded me for what I know. I am a man, and you are men; pray do not try to make out that there is anything supernatural about me. Look at the skin of my ankle bone. See how stiff and hard it has become. This is owing to the hours that I have spent in a sitting posture, in attendance on wise and well-informed men. It is from these men that I have learned what I know. My father and grandfather both served IEYASU and his successor, HIDETADA, and obtained a large amount of useful information from them, which they handed on to me. Then, from my earliest days, I have been constantly in the presence of IEMITSU, from whom. I have learnt all manner of things. The knowledge which I have thus obtained from various quarters, I have made use of in a variety of ways, drawing inferences from it, and applying it to all kinds of cases. But I show no such wonderful genius as you represent. In my opinion there is no great difference between ourselves and the ancients in the mode of acquiring knowledge. The only difference is, that gradually experience has been accumulating, and therefore, in many respects, we are wiser than the ancients. If people are prepared to persevere in sitting at the feet of the wise, even to the extent of getting blisters on their feet, as I have done, then there is no difficulty about their becoming intelligent." NOBUTSUNA'S remarks give u5 the secret of that superior intelligence possessed by some. Keen observation, attention to the things related to them, a retentive memory for all heard and read,-this it is that is the foundation of the sagacity and fruitfulness of resource displayed by such men as MATSUDARA NOBUTSUNA. 
PATRIOTISM AND FAITHFULNESS. IN the SO period [A.D. 960-1279], a Chinaman called BUN TENSHO, when still a child, saw the statues of OYOSHO, KO SEN and some others in the village school which he attended. He noticed that all the noted men in honor of whom statues had been erected, received the appellation of chu-setsu (loyal and temperate), to show that their virtue consisted of a combination of loyalty and moderation. As he looked on these statues, he said to himself:-"It shall be my aim to follow in the footsteps of these illustrious men, and to leave a name behind me that vill not easily be forgotten." At the commencement of the Tokuyu period [A.D. 1253], the Gen troops approached SO from three quarters. The S6 Emperor gave orders to his army to do their utmost to defend the country. But all the leading men of S5 were afraid to meet the Gen troops in battle. 
TENSHO when he saw this, was overcome with grief and rage. He determined to do his utmost to save his country, so he gathered as many troops as were willing to fight, and made preparations to lead them in person.  When some of his fellow-countrymen saw what he was doing, they remarked that his going against the Gen troops with, such a force was like a flock of sheep going out to meet tigers. "I am well aware of that," replied the TENSHO, but for the space of three hundred years we and our ancestors have lived in this country and have reaped the benefits to be derived therefrom. And now when an occasion comes in which there is a demand for brave men to defend the country, not one of the regular troops is forthcoming; therefore it is that, without regard to the inequality between ourselves and the enemy, I go out to meet the Gen troops. I do it with the hopes that some of my countrymen may be stimulated by this action of mine to exert themselves for the defense of the country. If this comes about, our native land may still be saved from ruin." TENSH went at once to the Emperor's palace, and informed him that he was prepared to go out against the Gen troops. The Emperor was still a child ; and the government was administered by CHIN GICHU. GICHU refused to consent to the plans proposed by TENSHO. On the contrary, he hastened to inform the leader of the Gen troops that the SO emperor would submit to HAKVGAN, their King. HAKUGAN replied that, if such were the case, it would be necessary for them to send one of their high officials to his camp, as he had some communications to make to him. GICHU would doubtless have been sent, but he had run away, so it was decided to send TENSHO. TENSHO had a long controversy with the Gen Emperor, HAKUGAN, but all to no purpose. HAKUGAN grew very angry and refused to allow TENSHO to return to his home. He was carried off as a captive to Gen. HAKUGAN captured also the Dowager-Empress and her son, and they were conveyed to Gen. TOSO, the former Emperor of SO, had two sons, one was called EKI, and the other KO. The Gen troops did their best to capture these young men, but without success. TENSHO was delighted to hear that they were free, hoping that circumstances would sooner or later favor the design he had of setting up the one or the other of them as Emperor and thus restoring the independence of his country. TENSHO, owing to the connivance of the person who had charge of him, succeeded in making his escape whilst on the road to Gen. He went to Shinshu, where he concealed himself for a long time. He underwent all manner of hardships, and often despaired of life. His one desire was to meet with the late Emperor's sons, EKI and KO. He sought for them throughout the whole of Shinshu, but in vain. He went to the neighboring province and still continued his search. At lade last, to his great joy, he heard that EKI had been n Emperor in Fukushu. He immediately hastened to the place where the new Emperor was residing, and, calling together a large number of brave and intelligent men set up the Government of SO again, and took steps to wrest the whole o the SO country from the hands of the Gen troops. II. While all this was going on, however, the Gen soldiers were victorious in other parts of S5. They captured a large number of prisoners: among them were the wife and children of TENSHO. But TENSHO, nothing disheartened, held on his way. Another calamity overtook him. An infectious disease broke out, and carried off most of his relations and friend5 and a great many of his troops. He bore up even against such fearful odds for a while, but eventually was taken prisoner by CHO KOHAN. KOHAN treated him with the greatest consideration and deference, TENSHO occupying in his house the position of a guest rather than a prisoner. KOHAN gave a feast to commemorate the conquest of SO. On this occasion he said to TENSHO:-"Your country is taken and your relations are most of them dead, therefore you have no longer any duties to kith or kin Lo be performed. You have served your country faithfully, and non', as you can serve it no longer, you had better serve our country instead. If you consent to do this, we are prepared to make you our Prime Minister." TENSHO replied :-"Though my country is conquered and the best of what I most value is gone, yet, to become the servant of another country in order to escape death, is something that I can never consent to do." 
KOHAN was very much affected by this remark, and treated TENSHO still more kindly. Subsequent to this, TENSHO was taken before the Prime Minister of Gen, HAKURA, when the following incidents took place. As TENSHO approached HAKURA, he saluted him after the fashion of his country by placing his hand together. HAKURA thought to make him kneel. TENSHO remarked:-"People in the south salute each other by placing their hands together; in your country, the inferior salutes the superior by kneeling before him. As I am a southerner, I follow the custom of the south." HAKURA commanded two of his attendants to make TENSHO bow his head. But the latter resisted and the attendants did not succeed; in fact, TENSHO only held his head higher on account of the attempt. HAKURA, thinking to put TENSHO to shame, said:-" From ancient times down to the present, has there been any one who has consented to give his country to another whilst saving his own life by escaping to a foreign land ?" "I have done my best to save my country, replied TENSHO. "My coming to this country was not of my own free will. I was brought here as a captive. Had it not been for the fact that we had rebels in our midst- who helped you to take our country, you would never have conquered it. I quite expected to throw away my life in my country's cause. Not being killed by others, I would have killed myself, had it not been that I had an old mother alive who needed my support and that our late Emperor's two sons were still alive, one of whom I hoped to establish on the throne of S6 before I died." "Seeing that TOKUYU, the lawful Emperor, was still alive, was it right of you to try and set up anyone besides?" asked HAKURA. "The saving of the country," replied TENSHO, "was of more importance to us than our possessing the person of any one Emperor in particular, and my setting another than the lawful Emperor on the throne was, under the circumstances, for the country's good." "What merit," asked HAKURA "can there be in setting up two rulers in a country?" "I do not claim that there was any special merit about it," replied TENSHO, "but it was done to save the country, and if it saved it for a single hour, it vas a good thing to do." " But," replied HAKURA, "when you foresaw that you would be most certainly defeated in this purpose, why did you persist in trying to carry it out ?" "If your father and mother were ill," replied TENSHO, "and you were certain they could not recover, would you refrain from giving them medicine and endeavoring to save their lives up to the very last? Under all circumstances we must do our best. Heaven, and not we, is responsible for results. But as I am about to die, why need I multiply words?" HAKURA wished to kill TENSHO, but the King would not give his consent. He ordered that TENSH should be kept a prisoner, but allowed to go out for exercise when he pleased. This latter TENSHO refused to do. He spent his time in composing verses. As time went on, he was offered various posts, but refused them al]l saying that, having no country to live for, he preferred to be killed. At last, he begged that they would not prolong his ' misery, but put him to death. The King of Gen was prevailed on to consent to his execution. TENSHO'S face was calm when he died. Turning towards his country, he said:-" It is all over with me." Concealed in his bosom were found the following words:-"KOSHI speaks of losing life in the cause of benevolence; and MOSHI of preferring righteousness to the preservation of life. If righteousness be always placed before personal ease, then, though the object ought in any great sacrifice made be not realized, and the people for whom the sacrifice is made are not actually benefited by it, the display of the virtue of benevolence is the same." The meaning of this is, that virtue is to be valued on its own account, and not for what it effects; the latter depending very much on the circumstances by which it is surrounded. There is no special excellence to be attached to virtue that is successful as distinguished from virtue that is successful. 
A DEEP LAID PLOT AND HOW IT WAS DISCOVERED. 
I. SOME twelve years before TOKUGAWA YOSHlMUNE assumed the title of Shogun [became Shogun 1716 A.D.], while he was still in Kii, it happened that one of hi concubines called SAWANO, being about to give birth to a child, was sent off to her mother, who lived in the village of Hirasawa to be confined there. With her YOSHIMUNE sent a letter, a sword, and fifty ryo in money-of the two former articles more anon. When SAWANO reached her home, she found no one but her mother there. It was not long after her arrival before she gave birth to a son. But the mother and the child both died. They were buried in the cemetery attached to a temple known as the Kodenji, and SAWANO'S aged mother was left to bemoan their loss. She carefully laid by the things sent by the Shogun, reckoning them the greatest treasures she possessed. In Hirasawa there was another temple called the Kwan-o-in. There was a student of this temple called HOTAKU, who was but a boy at the time of which we write. As SAWANO'S mother used to do the washing for this temple, she knew the youth very well. One day, about eleven years after the death of SAWANO, HOTAKU had occasion to go to the old woman's house on some business. She treated him very hospitably, bringing out some dumplings for him, and, while he was eating them, chatted with him in a most friendly manner. "How old are you?" asked the old woman. "Eleven," replied HOTAKU. "Just the age that my grandson would have been, had he lived," replied the old woman. "In that case, how different would have been my position. I should not have been working for my living as I am now. "It is no use your talking in this way," replied HOTAKU, "to persons who know nothing about the matter. People will think you crazy if you talk so grandly. "l am not deceiving you," replied the o]d woman." "You have been studying at the temple, so of course you can read. I will show you something that will prove to you that I should have been in very different circumstances had my grand-child lived." Here she handed to HOTAKU a letter which had the Shogun's seal on it, and the purport of which was, that if SAWANO gave birth to a son, the said son should be exalted to rank and position and have all the privileges of a member of the TOKUGAWA family conferred upon him. "There is no mistake about what you say," said HOTAKU; "but I advise you not to be shewing this document to everyone that comes along, for fear it may get you into trouble. You had better keep this matter to yourself." As he said this, the thought crossed HOTAKU'S mind that, if he could steal the document and the sword, he could by this means pass himself off as the Shogun's son without any difficulty ; for who was to know that SAWANO'S son was dead ? Here was a chance ; and he was not the one to miss it. 
HOTAKU went back to the temple full of the subject. That night, visiQn5 of wealth, rank and pomp flitted before him; and he awoke the next morning fully determined to take the first opportunity of acting on the resolution he had made. Not many days after. HOTAKU had occasion to go with the priest in charge of his temple to a medicine shop. There, while the priest was performing a religious service, the lad amused himself by looking over the medicines. A large jar on the shelf attracted his attention. "What medicine may this be?" inquired HOTAKU of a man who was in the shop. " It is called Hammyo Shiseki" said the man. "It is rank poison." Some of this HOTAKU Stole while the shopman was engaged elsewhere. HOTAKU waited his time and, one night, when it was snowing hard, he went to the house of SAWANO'S mother, and, after thanking her for her kindness to him' in the past, produced some wine and induced the old woman to take enough to make her quite tipsy ; and then, when she was asleep, strangled her. Dragging the corpse over to the hearth, he placed the face in the fire, so as to look as though the old woman had fallen into it; and round the hearth he placed wine cups, making it appear as though the deceased had drunk herself tipsy and then, in a state of unconsciousness, had burnt herself to death. He then took the document, the sword, and what money there was in the house and went away. The neighbors came in the next day, and, seeing how things were, did not suspect foul play. "It was evident," they said, "that the old woman had burnt herself to death whilst tipsy." HOTAKU thought to himself:-"It will never do to leave any one alive who knows me well, or my identity will be discovered. So I must kill the priest with whom I am living." This he accomplished by putting some of the poison that he had stolen from the apothecary into the priest's rice. So the old priest died, no one knew how or why. The only thing that was conjectured was, that some food he had taken had disagreed with him, no uncommon occurrence in those days of ignorance of the properties of herbs. No one of course dreamt that a student priest would kill his teacher and benefactor. The next thing which HOTAKU did, was to represent to the villagers that, since his priest was dead, it would be necessary for him to continue his studies elsewhere:-"I am too young and inexperienced to take charge of the emple," said he; "therefore, with your leave I will go away to some other place, and when I have completed my studies, I will return and be your pastor." The people were all much struck with the thoughtfulness and the zeal of the young priest. They collected money for him, and gave him presents of various kinds; and, on hearing that he was going to start on the following day, said they would come and see him off. "You need not do this," replied HOTAKU:-"A yamabushi, you know, is one who must inure himself to trial, so it is better that I should go away alone." II. The next morning, HOTAKU rose very early and went down to the seashore. Here he saw a dog wandering about in search of food. With a little rice he tempted the animal to approach him, and then killed it with a sword. Taking the animal's blood, he bespattered his clothes with it, and having cut holes in them .to make it appear as though they had been pierced with a sword, he threw the dead carcase of the dog into the sea and went off in the opposite direction to that which he had told the people he should take. The villagers discovered the clothes, and immediately concluded that some robber had heard of the money that HOTAKU had received from them and, for its sake, had killed the lad and cast his body into the sea. The clothes and other articles that belonged to him found on the beach were, by order of the district officer, collected and carefully preserved. HOTAKU assumed the garb of a pilgrim and gave out that he was going to Ise. Instead of this, he went in the direction of Higo. He obtained food on the road by begging, lodging at night where he could, and thus reached Kumamoto. Shortly after his arrival there, he entered a mochi shop and bought some mochi. The seller of the mochi asked him whence he had come. "You have it marked on your hat," said the shopman, "that you are on the road to Ise. Are you traveling a]one or in company with some one?" "I am alone," said HOTAKU. "I have come from Kii, from the village of Hirasawa." " How is it that you left your home alone ?" "It was on account of a step-mother who treated me cruelly." "How did it happen that you came all around here to go to Ise?" "Well," said HOTAKU, with tears in his eyes, "after setting out, I felt so miserable that I thought I would return to my home, but I heard that' my step-mother was so enraged by my running away that she would not think of receiving me back again. So I went on, begging from place to place, not knowing what else to do, and at last I have reached this town; may I ask its name?" The mochi man was moved by the story. "As I am in want of a boy in the house," said he, "if you like to stop with me, I will make use of you." HOTAKU gladly accepted the offer; his chief aim being to pass the time and to make preparations for the realizing of the great object of his life; and this he could do as well here as elsewhere. He agreed therefore to serve the mochi man. In order to obtain the favor and confidence of his master, HOTAKU exerted himself to the very utmost, sitting up late at night and rising early in the morning. 
Though his master often left money about, he did not attempt to take any, thus creating the impression that he vas a thoroughly honest lad. He served the mochi man for two years. At the end of this time, his master thought that HOTAKU'S diligence and perseverance ought to be rewarded in some better way than he had it in his power to do. So he recommended him to a man who had a larger business than himself. He sent him to a friend who kept a large coarse-ware shop. Here too HOTAKU made himself very useful, soon winning the confidence of his master, so much so that the master was quite careless about the way in which he allowed HOTAKU to handle his money. He empowered HOTAKU to pay his accounts and receive money on his behalf almost every day. When he saw how he was trusted, HOTAKU thought to himself:-"I could take twenty or thirty ryo at any time, but this would be entirely insufficient for my purpose: I must manage to get about a hundred, and then I will be off. This I can easily do by forgery of some kind." Soon after this, HOTAKU had occasion to go to the baron of the Kumamoto castle to collect the money due to his master. The account only amounted to four ryo. HOTAKU altered the figure four into a hundred, and the forgery being undiscovered he carried off this amount. He immediately shaved his head, and assuming the costume of a priest, set out for Bingo. He was now just twenty years of age. III. One evening, HOTAKU got benighted, and, not knowing the way, was thinking of sleeping in the open plain in the middle of which he found himself, when he discovered a small building that had been used as a shrine. Into this building he crept, and was settling himself to sleep, when he saw a man come up, light a fire in front of the building, and sit down on the veranda that surrounded it. He was very tall, and wore two swords, each of which was encased in a red sheath. By his looks he appeared to be a robber; and such, indeed, he was. HOTAKU gave a cough, to let the man know that he was there, and then asked:-"Are you a samurai who, like myself, is on a journey? Will you kindly allow me to warm myself by your fire?" "Whence does the priest come ?" asked the robber. "I am a yamabushi," replied HOTAKU. "I wander about the country hither and thither. I do not belong to one place more than to another. But may I ask whence you come? You do not look like a man who belongs to this part of the country." "I too am a man who has no fixed abode," replied the robber. "With the sky for my roof, and the whole country as my dwelling place, with the clothes and money of the passers-by to supply my needs, I do not know what it is to want. But, by the way I have just come to the end of my stock of money and should like to borrow a little of you." 
Without appearing in any way alarmed, HOTAKU took three ryo out of his pocket and gave them to the robber. "As I am receiving," said the robber "I may as well take all you have." Here he stretched out his hand and took the purse from HOTAKU'S pocket, and then, drawing the sword that HOTAKU had in his belt, he examined it closely, and, seeing the TOKUGAWA crest on it, exclaimed: "Ah! you seem to have some fine things about you. This I will relieve you of too. When I become prosperous, I will make some return to you for what I am taking." The robber was about to depart; but HOTAKU seized the sheath of one of his swords and stopped him. "You have taken my money," said HOTAIKU, "and now you want to carry off this sword; if you persist in attempting this, I will throw away my life rather than lose the weapon. But come and listen to what I have to say: It is no use my attempting to hide anything from you; I will tell you all." Here HOTAKU related to the robber the whole history of his early life and the designs which he had concocted. "Now," said he, at the conclusion: "having' come thus far in my career, if I find that you are determined to stand in the way of my further progress, by attempting to carry off the weapon upon the possession of which my success in the future depends, then, I tell you plainly, I will sell my life dearly rather than lose it; and though our fight may end in my death, unless I am very much mistaken, you will not come off scot-free. I shall leave my mark on you; a mark that will probably lead to your arrest. If, on the other hand, you will promise, to help me in realizing my great purpose, then I solemnly promise that, on its realization, you shall be exalted to rank and enriched with emoluments. Choose what you will do. If you fight, remember that you fight against one who is desperate and who will not lose his life for a trifle." The robber suddenly knelt at HOTAKU'S feet, and said:-"I am AKAGAWA DAIZEN, a knight-errant of Mito. I am astounded by the disclosures you have made to me. If you have such a grand purpose as this in your mind, then I shall be most happy to give you my assistance. In return, I shall look to you to reward me by creating me a baron." Here DAIZEN returned the sword and the money that he had taken. The two men consulted together as to how they should act to compass the end they had in view. "It seems to me," said HOTAKU "that, Previous to giving out that I am the Shogun's son, it is essential 'that l should collect money and obtain a certain number of follower; and it will be necessary also for me to be able to tell how I was brought up, etc. while this is being done, will you not hide yourself somewhere in the neighborhood? When I have obtained the necessary accessories to the position I am about to assume, I will send for you." "There is no need to act in this way," replied the robber. "I have about one hundred and fifty ryo that I took from a woman whom I killed a short time ago. Then I have a cousin who is the yamabushi of a temple called the J6raku-in, situated in Nagahora, Mino. This man can be taken into the plot and made to say that you were brought up under his care. We can collect a number of followers in Nagahora. It will make little matter who they are-robbers, farmers, or what not. When we have men enough to make a good show, we will go up to Osaka and when we get there, I know how to make any amount of money. So the first thing we will decide on is to go to the Joraku-in." HOTAKU was pleased with this idea. So the two went to Nagahora; and as soon as they had collected some fifty-five followers, they thought it high time to make preparations for appearing in public. They ordered a number of articles to be made, such as clothes, swords, curtains, and the like: each article being marked with the TOKUGAWA crest. HOTAKU assumed the name of TOKUGAWA TEN-ICHIB. DAIZEN became his chief councilor; and two intelligent men called WATANABE JIDAYOU and HONDA GONDAYU became knights in attendance. When all the preparations were complete, the party traveled by easy stages to Osaka. 
IV. On reaching Osaka, through the assistance rendered by a friend of DAIZEN'S, they succeeded in hiring a large house, where they took up their quarters. In front of the house a notice-board was placed, on which the words:-"The temporary residence of TOKUGAWA TEN-ICHIBO," were inscribed. Shortly after their arrival, the head of the ward in which the house was situated sent to the house to say that such a great personage as the Shogun's son should not have taken up his quarters in the ward without any notice whatever having been given to the ward officers, and added that he would be found fault with for not having reported. TEN-ICHIBO'S arrival to the Governor of the city. "There is no reason for complaint," replied GONDAYU. "You should be very grateful for the honor of having such an august personage in your ward. If anyone finds fault with you, send them to me. You townsfolk, I suppose, are at a loss how to act on such occasions, not having a Shogun's son here every day." The head of the ward in which the house was situated reported what had taken place to the Governor of Osaka, and the latter sent two messengers to the house in which TEN-ICHIBO was residing. The messengers complained of his curtains bearing the TOKUGAWA crest being hung round his dwelling without the authorities being informed that a member of the TOKUGAWA family was coming. "And," added the messengers, "the Governor says that you are to come to see him about this at once." "Tell him that I am not going to see him," replied TEN-ICHIBO. "Is the Shogun's son, do you think, going to the Governor like one who has committed an offence? If the Governor has any business with me, he will have to come here to see me." This was reported to the Governor, and he determined to go and see the visitor himself. On his arrival, TENIGHIBO received him with a good deal of pomp, and showed him the sword and the document which the Shogun had given SAWANO. After inspecting these, the Governor thought .there could be no mistake about TEN-ICHIBO'S being the real son of the Shogun. TEN-ICHIBO was in want of money; to obtain this, he issued notes of hand, which promised that every person lending money should be repaid with land, at the rate of one hundred koku for every hundred ryo land. In this way, in Osaka alone, he collected eighty-five thousand ryo. He went to Kyoto and adopted the same plan, collecting about sixty thousand ryo in that city. While this was going on the Governors of Osaka and Kyoto sent in post haste to Edo, to report what had happened, and to ask whether the personage traveling under the name of TEN-ICHIBO was in reality the son of the Shogun. On the arrival of the messengers, the Shogun was asked whether he had any recollection of giving such a document to anyone as that which TEN-ICHIBO was said to possess. He replied that he had a distinct recollection of so doing. Messages were therefore despatched to Kyoto and Osaka to warn the Governors of those cities not to treat TEN-ICHIBO rudely, since there was every probability of his being the son of the Shogun. The effect of the messages was to add to the honors paid to TEN-ICHIBO. When he saw this, he thought that he could not do better than start for Edo at once. This resolve he at once put into execution. He traveled slowly after the manner of great personages in those days, and with great pomp. Long before he reached the Shogun's capital, the news of his approach had spread all over Edo, and the townsfolk were waiting in anxious suspense for his arrival. One day, it was in everyone's mouth that TOKUGAWA TEN-ICHIBO had actually reached the city and had taken up his quarters in Yatsuyama, Shiba. On the matter being reported to the Shogun, he said he could not of course consent to see the new arrival till his identification as his own son was placed beyond a doubt, and he therefore appointed O-OKA TADASUKE ECHIZEN-NO-KAMI and MATSUDAIRA IZU-NO-KAMI to investigate the case. TADASUKE, on hearing what had occurred, said at once that he was positive that the personage so much talked about was not the real son of the Shogun. "For," said he, "if he had been, instead of obtaining money in the way he has, he would have sent up to the Shogun and received from him all the money he required, and would have had State officials sent to escort him to Edo." TADASUKE despatched two messengers to TEN-ICHIBO. They were instructed to inquire why, without reporting his arrival, he had made use of the Shogun's crest on the drapery that surrounded l]is dwelling, and to inform him that, as the City Bugyo, TADASUKE had certain questions to put to him, and that therefore he was to come to the Bugyo's office. TEN-ICHIBO made the same reply as he had done at Osaka "The Bugyo's gate," said he, "is one by which persons who are suspected of some crime go in and out. The son of the Shogun is not one who can make himself so cheap as to go to the Bugyo's office like an ordinary person. If the Bugyo has any business with TEN-ICHIBO, it is his place to come here. To this TADASUKE replied that, whoever he might be, it made little matter; he was now quartered in the city of Edo, and therefore was under the jurisdiction of its Governor. He might be the son or the brother of the Shogun, but that did not absolve him from appearing at court when summoned. He added that, if he refused to appear, he should be obliged to send officers to bring him. TEN-ICHIBO thought it best, under these circumstances, to go. On his arriving at the entrance of the Court of Justice, DAIZEN, who walked in front of him, said that his master could not enter the Court by the small gate, it would be beneath his rank to do so; he therefore wished the large gate opened. The officers in charge of the gate refused to comply with this request. "Whether your master is guilty of any offence or not, makes little matter to us," said they "He has come here to be examined, and therefore he must enter by the same gate by which other people enter." DAIZEN consented, and, his master entered the building. He was making his way to the chief seat, when, with a loud voice, TADASUKE called out:-"TEN-ICHIBO! take the lowest seat. You may deceive others, but you cannot, deceive ECHIZEN, you crafty fellow!" Smiling, TEN-ICHIBO replied:-"Is ECHIZEN gone out. of his mind? Is it that his receiving three thousand koku a year, instead of the three hundred bags that he used to receive, and his being made the Bugyo of this city, is too much for him, and that he is off his head with pride? Were I-to take notice of all your rudeness, Sir, it would end in your having to commit suicide. But this I do not intend to do." "To me you appear no other than an impostor," replied TADASUKE. Here the examination commenced; and the tale concocted by TEN-ICHIBO and DAIZEN was given in all its details. After this was finished, the sword and the document that the Shogun had given to SAWANO were shown to TADASUKE as a conclusive proof of the identity of their possessor. TADASUKE had reckoned on frightening TEN-ICHIBO into a confession of his imposture, as be had often done before when the persons examined were conscious of guilt. But this not succeeding, and he being unable to produce any evidence worthy of being confronted with the minute details furnished by TEN-ICHIBO and his followers, the Governor felt that no other course was open to him than to confess himself in the wrong and for the time being ask TEN-ICHIBO to pardon his insolence. This course TADASUKE took, galling as it was to his pride. He confessed that he had been mistaken and said that, as there seemed to be no doubt about TEN-ICHIBO"S identity, a meeting with his father should be arranged shortly. This brought that day's examination to a close. V. TADASUKE'S decision was reported to the Shogun; and he, fully persuaded that TEN-ICHIBO was his real son, was anxious that arrangements should be made for their meeting without delay. TADASUKE was informed of this. He demurred. He said he was unwilling to take any part in bringing about a meeting of which he highly disapproved. "I am not convinced," said the Governor, " that TEN-ICHIBO is the real son of YOSHIMUNE. I therefore wish to investigate the case further." 
To this the lords in attendance on the Shogun objected. "You have given your decision in favor of TEN-ICHIBO'S identity," said they, "and is it not preposterous of you to ask for time to consider the case more thoroughly ? " On this request of the Governor's being reported to the Sh6gun, he was so annoyed that he ordered the Governor's imprisonment in his private house. TADASUKE was fully convinced that, were time allowed him to send men to Kii to collect evidence, he would have no difficulty in proving that TEN-ICHIBO was a daring impostor. But how could the Shogun be prevented from holding the interview on which his heart was so much set? Ever fruitful in resources, TADASUKE at once recollected that there was one man in the Shogun's capital whose advice YOSHIMUNE would hardly venture to spurn. This was no other than MITO CHONAGON, a near relation of the Shogun's. This baron was a special friend of TADASUKE'S. But the question was, how could he make known what had occurred to this lord and solicit his help? To do it by letter while his house was so strictly guarded night and day was an utter impossibility. After a few minutes' consideration, TADASUKE called one of his chief retainers and requested him to get ready a coffin, and to give out that his (the retainer's) mother was dead and was about to be buried. After nightfall the Governor entered the coffin and was borne out through what was called the Fujo-mon, or the Unclean Gate, a gate which was seldom opened except when corpses bad to be conveyed through it. He reached the residence of the Mito baron, in Koishikawa, without being discovered. TADASUKE obtained an audience with CHUNAGON; to whom he related all that had occurred, and at its close said: "TEN-ICHIBO is not the Shogun's son, notwithstanding that he has in his possession articles which seem to prove his identity. His face plainly indicates that he is of plebeian origin. But I stand alone in holding this opinion. Every man of influence in this city is in favor of the Shogun's giving TEN-ICHIBO an immediate audience, Unless you can do something to prevent this, and can induce YOSHIMUNE: to give me time to send down to Kii to make inquiries about TENICHIB'S real history, I am confident that the Shogun will treat this impostor as a true man: and in that case, when the real facts of the case are disclosed, as they most certainly will be, YOSHIMUNE will deeply regret that he should have .allowed himself to be so easily duped. Though my protest against an immediate interview being arranged, may cost me my life, no other course is open to me than to make it, unless, indeed, I consent to violate my conscience and to act disloyally to my superior." The Mito baron had a heart that promptly responded to such noble sentiments as these and he determined to intercede with the Shogun on TADASUKE'S behalf. His intercession was successful, and the Shogun gave orders that time for further investigation of the case should be given prior to its final settlement. Through assistance rendered by CHUNAGON, TADASUKE returned to his house. The next day he examined several OE TN-ICHIBO'S followers, but without discovering anything that could be used as evidence of their master's imposture. He saw that there was nothing for it but to despatch messengers to Kii and wait quietly till they returned. Consequently, he gave out that he was sick and unable to attend to the duties of his Court. TADASUKE now called two of his most trusted retainers, HIRAI HEIJIRO and another, whose name has not been handed down, whom, after fully impressing with the gravity of the occasion, he bade go to Kii and make minute inquiries into the matter. He told them that they were to spare no money either on the road or in collecting information at Hirasawa, and that on no account were they to be away longer than ten days. The two messengers set out, and, by traveling day and night, succeeded in reaching the village of Hirasawa, in two days and a half. They made minute inquiries, but for some time could get no information whatever bearing on the case. As hour after hour passed, a feeling of despair began to settle down on their minds, and they thought that, since " they never could go back to Edo and confess their failure, they would have to commit suicide. But day and night they continued their search. The Kodenji cemetery was examined in every part, in the hope of finding some trace of the death of the real son of the Shogun. At first they discovered nothing, but one day they came across two graves which hitherto had escaped their notice. They were covered over with grass, and though there was an inscription on them, it had become illegible. By examining the temple records, however, the messengers found out that on the 15th of March of the year Tori in the period of Hoei, a woman and her infant son had died on the same day and had been buried there; and that an old woman called SAN had erected the tombstone. They inquired about this old woman, and were informed that she had burnt herself to death while tipsy. As the date of the death of the child and its mother corresponded with the time at which SAWANO had been sent away by the Shogun, they had little doubt that the remains which the two neglected graves contained, were no other than those of YOSHIMUNE'S son and his mother. But they had still to find out who this TEN- ICHIBO was. They thought that the best way of discovering who had lived in the village about the time of the death of these persons, and what had become of the same, would be to examine the official register; on doing which, they found that there was one HOTAKU, who had lived with a yamabushi in a temple known as the KWAN-O-IN; and that, on the priest's dying suddenly, this individual had set out to go to some other village, but had been attacked and killed by robbers on the sea shore near at hand. " The articles that were found scattered about on the beach the morning after the murder, are still with us," said the authorities who showed the register to the retainers. On the retainers asking to see these things, a man was sent to a neighboring storehouse and the following articles were placed before the messengers:-One cloth. One shirt. One wool-lined garment. A basket hat with HOTAKU'S name on it. One basket. A bamboo walking stick. These the messengers took. On inquiry, they found out that there was a man who knew HTAKU, one-KYUSUKE. His services they procured, and flew back to Edo as fast as kago and horses would carry them. In the meantime, YOSHIlMUNE, still being of opinion that TEN-ICHIBO was his real son, was very anxious to see him, and one day, in the hearing of several of his associates, he gave a sigh, and said: -"Is ECHIZEN not well yet? How is TEN-ICHIBO'S case going on?" His attendants seeing how troubled he was, sent to TADASUKE telling him that he must settle the case by the following morning, and that if he could not do this, he was to resign his position of Bugyo that same night. TADASUKE on hearing this, said to himself: -"It is now only seven days since my messengers left: it is utterly impossible that they can be back, at the earliest, before the day after to-morrow, and I am told that l had better resign if I cannot settle the case between this and to-morrow morning. If I do as they direct, whoever is appointed to succeed me will be sure to bring about a meeting between TEN-ICHIBO and the Shogun to-morrow morning, and so all the labor that I have expended on the case will be thrown away. No; rather than resign, I will die. To-morrow morning I will commit suicide, and my son shall do the same. Before I do so, however, I will write a letter in which I will declare it to be my solemn conviction, at the point of death, that TEN-ICHIBO is au impostor, and I will warn my successor not to consent to his having an audience with the Shogun. In that case, when they find I have laid down my life rather than act contrary to my convictions, they will not be in a hurry to arrange for the interview. And while they are considering what to do, my messengers will arrive, and, unless I am very much mistaken, will bring with them conclusive evidence of TEN-ICHIBO'S imposture." So, that night TADASUKE, after preparing the document, called his son, then only eleven years old, and told him to be in readiness to commit suicide in the morning. Then, summoning one of his favorite retainers, a man called IKEDA DAISUKE, to his side, he addressed him as follows: "Before I die, I have a word I wish to say to you. After I am gone, you and the two faithful men who will arrive from Kii are not to pay any regard to the precept which teaches that, " a faithful servant should not serve two masters." Before three days have elapsed you are to endeavor to obtain employment under the new Bugyo. Be sure and acquaint the two men who have gone to Kii with this wish of mine." TADASUKE now called all his followers, and exhorted them to seek service under other masters after his decease. " Let not my name be disgraced," said he, "by your wandering about the country like men who have no ties and no responsibilities." He gave them a cup of wine each and solemnly took his leave of them. When this ceremony was over, his wife came forward and said: -"My husband's having to lay down his life in this way is nothing extraordinary. Having married a samurai, of course I have always anticipated that such a thing as this might happen. Did I choose to do so, I might fortify my mind and decide to survive my husband and my son, but with those whom I most love in the other world, what inducement would there be for me to remain in this? I therefore beg to be allowed to die with my husband and my son." "To be sure," replied TADASUKE; " nothing could be more reasonable than such a request. Then we will all die together. The lad shall disembowel himself first, and you shall cut off his head; then you shall cut your own throat, and I will cut off your head ; after which I will disembowel myself, and DAISUKE shall cut off my head." The necessary preparations were all made, and the party solemnly waited for the day to dawn. 
VI. When the time for the carrying out of their dire resolution was approaching, and they were all ready to lay down their lives in the calm and ceremonious manner which the custom of those days prescribed, and which was looked on as a sign of noble breeding, it was reported that the two messengers who had been sent to Kii had arrived. In rushed those two noble men, almost dead with fatigue, their persons bearing marks of the speed with which they had traveled : their hair tied in knots behind and allowed to hang, uncombed and disheveled, down their backs, tight belts round their waists to hold them together and to enable them to stand the tremendous shaking of the rough sedan used for rapid journeys in those days. They had no sooner entered the house, than, with a loud voice, they exclaimed:" TEN-ICHIBO is an impostor." TADASUKE was wild with delight. He ordered the messengers to come to him at once. They were loath to do this, thinking it improper for them to appear before their master in the plight they were in; but TADASUKE insisted, so they came in, and gave a full account of all that they had discovered. TADASUKE said that he should no longer look on the two men as his retainers, but as his brothers. He told his children that henceforth they were to call each of the men by whose exertions their father's life had been saved, uncle. The Governor now removed his death robes and put on his ordinary court dress, and forthwith sent to say that he had recovered from his sickness and was prepared to resume his duties. At the same time he communicated to the Shogun the information that he had obtained. YOSHIMUNE, after hearing all the particulars, said that TADASUKE was to be allowed to deal with the case in the way he thought best. So, the same day, TADASUKE sent a messenger to TEN-ICHIBO, informing him that he had recovered from his sickness and that, after conferring with IZU-NO-KAMI, he had resolved to make arrangements for his having an audience with the Shogun. He added that, he intended to have delivered this message in person, but that he did not feel quite well enough to undertake the task: " To-morrow," said he, "if you will come to my house, I will instruct you in the ceremonies to be observed at your first interview with the Shogun, and afterwards will accompany you to his palace." On hearing this, TEN-ICHIBO'S joy knew no bounds: he felt as elated as if he were about to ascend to the third heaven. The next day he put on his very best clothes, and, taking a number of followers with him, went in great state to the Governor's residence, which was situated near the Sukiya Bridge. TADASUKE, had made up his mind to arrest TENICHIBO. Consequently, he had given orders beforehand that, when TEN-ICHIBO passed within the precincts of his residence, all the gates should be closed and barred after him. At the same time, to allay suspicion, the followers of TADASUKE were directed to pay the greatest respect to TEN-ICHIBO up to the last. On his arrival, the Governor went out to the front door to meet him, and conducted him into the guest's chamber. After he was seated, "IZU-NO-KAMI will be here directly," said TADASUKE, "In the meanwhile, please sit down and rest a little." Thus saying, he left the room. KYOSUKE had previously been instructed to act as a waiter, and, on entering the room where TEN-ICHIBO was sitting, to look well at him: if there was no mistake about his being HOTAKU, KYUSUKE was to watch his chance and pull TADASUKE'S sleeve. TADASUKE also gave directions that the articles which had been brought from Kii, should be hung up round the hall through which TEN-ICHIB5 was to pass on his way out of the house. As soon as these preparations were complete, TADASUKE went again into the room where TEN-ICHIBO was sitting and ordered refreshments to be served up for him. After he had been there some little time, a messenger arrived from IZU-NO-KAMI to say that, owing to his being obliged to attend to some public business, he was unable to come to TADASUKE'S house to meet TEN-ICHIBO, and that, at the risk of being considered impolite, he must beg TEN-ICHIBO to come to the Bugyo's residence on the following day at lo o'clock. " You hear what the messenger says," said TADASUKE to DAIZEN. " Please to inform your lord that we wish him to come again to-morrow morning." "As it is government business," remarked TENICHIBO " that has prevented IZU-NO-KAMI from coming, there is no help for it." TEN-ICHIBO now gave directions to his attendants to prepare for his return. Then slowly and deliberately he rose and descended from the dais on which he had been sitting, and gradually made his way towards the entrance hall. While he was doing this, KYUSUKE glided forward and pulled TADASUKE'S sleeve. As TEN-ICHIBO approached the hall, his eyes rested on the articles that he had left on the sea shore at Hirasawa as they hung round the entrance. His countenance changed and he became ghastly pale. He stepped back two or three paces as though afraid to proceed. In the midst of his embarrassment, he heard TADASUKE'S voice stern and loud: -"HOTAKU, wait!" HOTAKU stood still, trembling with fear. "Arrest him," shouted the Bugyo; and suddenly a score of armed men, who had been lying in ambush, sprung out from the place of their concealment, surrounded the impostor, bound and led him away. DAIZEN saw in an instant to what a pass things had come, and determined to sell his life dearly. He slashed away right and left at the soldiers who attempted to arrest him, killing and wounding a large number of them. But at last, by surrounding him with ladders, they succeeded in capturing him. HOTAKU saw that there was no use in attempting to hide anything, so he confessed the whole of his crimes. DAIZEN at first refused to divulge anything, but after undergoing torure, relented, and gave the whole history of his past life. HOTAKU was beheaded, and l]Is head was exposed to view in a public place for some days. DAIZEN and all the impostor's chief followers were put to death. Others who had taken part in the plot were banished. YOSHIMUNE was very much gratified by the pains that TADASUKE took to find out the truth on this occasion. " Had it not been for the superior intelligence of ECHIZEN," said he, "I should have been deceived by this rogue, and my name would have been dishonored." The Shogun ordered that, as a reward for his services on this occasion, TADASUKE'S income should be increased from three thousand koku a year to seven thousand, and that he should be promoted to the office of Fisha Bugyo or Governor of Temples. Thus ended one of the most subtle and daring attempts at imposture that Japanese history records. It was fortunate that such a man as ECHIZEN-NO-KAMI happened to be in office at the time, or the impostor would most certainly have succeeded in establishing his claim, and perfidy would have obtained the rewards which honesty alone merits. 
YAMADA NAGAMASA IN SIAM 
There is evidence to show that in the latter half of the sixteenth and during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, the Japanese were actuated by a spirit of enterprise that prompted them to take long voyages, to engage in foreign commerce and take part in foreign wars. The merchants of Osaka, Hirado, and Nagasaki visited and traded with Annam, Tonquin, Cambodia, Siam, Formosa, the Philippine Islands, and the Malay Peninsula. At that time the Japanese went to sea in sailing vessels constructed after foreign fashion, and their men of war resembled those in use in Europe at the same period. The earliest extant record of written communication between Japan and Siam consists of a letter, by the Sh6gun IEYASU, to the King of Siam, dated October 22nd., A.D. 1606. Commercial intercourse between the two countries existed, however, long before this. Among the Japanese who settled in Siam, YAMADA NIZAEION NAGAMASA was by far the most distinguished. It is of him that we now propose to give a short account. NAGAMASA is said to have been born in Yamada, Ise, in tile year 1576 A.D. As a lad he vas very self-willed, and his education vas altogether neglected. He used to help the priests of the neighboring temple in various little ways, but he did nothing besides. When about fourteen or fifteen years of age, he went to the town of Suruga and resided for more than ten years in a street of that town known as Baba-machi. At this time he lived a most irregular life, fighting with any one who was willing to fight with him. His friends tried to prevail on him to commence some regular work, but in vain. In disposition he was frank and open, and was gifted with great power of speech, so that, notwithstanding his many acts of violence, he made but few enemies. In Suruga there were at that time two merchants called-TAKIZAEMON and OTA JIROEMON who were in the habit of going to Siam to trade. These men were known to NAGAMASA, and he went to them and asked them to allow him to accompany them on their next voyage to Siam. The merchants were reluctant enough to take such a wild, self-willed youth with them, but, at the same time, they thought it would never do to refuse NAGAMASA'S request, as he might do them some injury. So they gave him a vague kind of answer that might mean anything. NAGAMASA was not to be put off. He found out when the ship in which they were going would call at Osaka, and was there waiting for it when it arrived. To the surprise of the merchants, he quietly walked on board and said: -" According to the agreement le made, I have come to join you." They set off for Siam, and after transacting their business there, were intending to bring NAGAMASA back with them to Japan. But he requested to be left in Siam, and being glad enough to get rid of him, they made no objection. This happened A.D. 1604, when NAGAMASA was just twenty-eight years of age. At this period a number of Japanese who had belonged to the defeated army in the Sekigahara war, had settled in Siam. So numerous were they in one of the towns, that there was a street called Nihon-machi, in which there were hundreds of houses inhabited exclusively by Japanese. At this time there was a great rebellion in Siam, and the authorities, unable to quell it, applied to the Japanese for help. NAGARIASA informed the Government that there were some three hundred Japanese who were prepared to fight and who were skilled in war, and that they would prove sufficient to subdue the rebel forces. The offer was gladly accepted. The Japanese fought bravely and conquered their foes. NAGAMASA received as a reward, for his services on this occasion land yielding three thousand koku a year. Subsequent to this he became the instructor of the King's son, and his income was increased to thirty thousand koku a year. After being thus enriched, he went to Nihon-machi and addressed his compatriots as follows:" Those of you who wish to return to your country, had better do so at once. As many of you as wish to follow me, please give in your names, and I will maintain you." The majority of those present were glad to become the followers of such a brave general as NAGAMASA, and at once swore allegiance to him. Not long after this, the King of Siam was prevailed on by NAGAMASA to alter the law of succession. Up to this time the younger brother of the reigning Emperor was the heir-apparent to the throne. But the King now altered the law, and made the eldest son of the reigning monarch the heir. This caused a great disturbance in all the states subject to the King of Siam. NAGAMASA went against those who rebelled and soon brought them into subjection. On his way back from this war, arrayed in red armor, NAGAMASA rode in a splendid chariot, such as was only used by royal personages; Hindoo musicians were in attendance, and he was surrounded by hundreds of officers of rank. The King of Siam was more and more pleased with him; and made him the Rajah of Hippiru, giving him his daughter in marriage. During the lifetime of this King, NAGAMASA still continued to prosper: but not long after the King's death his life was plotted against. He fell a victim to treachery, dying from the effects of poison A.D. 1633. NAGAMASA had a son called O-IN who avenged his father's death, and was the author of numerous brave exploits in Siam. 
A DIALOGUE ON COMMERCE. I. GWANROKU (Obstinate)-Ah, SAISUKE (Clever), here is a question which sorely puzzles me. When the late Government was overthrown, the management of the empire passed into the hands of the Mikado. I therefore looked forward with pleasure to the time as not far distant when the hairy foreigners, who had become such dear friends of the late Government, would be driven from the country. I was mistaken, however. I find that they are now treated with the same consideration as in former days. Osaka and Hyogo have become marts for their trade, and even Edo itself has been thrown open to western commerce. Pray how do you account for this? I confess I cannot for the life of me understand it. According to certain teachers, Japan is from ancient times divine in its origin, and therefore it is that we men of Japan are gifted with intelligence in measure far above foreign barbarians. We have enjoyed to the full the various necessaries of life-naught thereof is lacking. Surely ours is the very finest country in the world. Hither, then, after leaving their own wretched habitations, where nothing but the most abject poverty prevails, did these foreigners troop with greedy maw. From every quarter did they crowd, and with one fell purpose single out Japan. To this country they bring their worthless goods, and take from us our splendid productions. Our merchandise they gradually buy up, our country they impoverish. The acquisition of Japan itself is, I doubt not, the ultimate object of these lawless miscreants. To them I attribute the general scarcity which has been felt throughout our land of late years. Prices rise daily, and commodities are selling for three or four times their former value. When I reflect on this state of things, my conviction is borne out that it is all the work of those hairy foreigners; and yet the detestable rascals are held in such esteem by our Sovereign that everything is done at their dictation. Of course I am a worthless old dotard, and disposed to be very meddlesome, but am. I not correct? SAISUKE-Well, GWANROKU, you speak in no measured terms of the evils of commerce, but I must confess that I don't understand your objections. Many a time and oft have I listened to the words of a scholar who maintains that commerce is an absolute necessity. In proof of this assertion he argues as follows:-In the first dawn of civilization man knew not how to till the ground. He had no raiment wherewith to clothe himself-nay more, he could not build for himself a habitation. With the help of the gods he soon learnt the art of husbandry, concealed his nakedness in some rude fashion, and built himself a dwelling-place. At such an early period, however, each man tilled his own patch of ground, made his own clothes, and built his own house. But it soon became evident that while such an enormous waste of power continued, no real progress could be made. It then occurred to some person of parts that each individual ought no longer to continue to turn his hand to everything; that is to say, that while one man tilled the soil and grew rice and grain, another should build houses, and a third make clothes. That all others should in like manner adopt different professions, and each give his undivided energy to the pursuit of his own calling. Suppose then that the farmer who grew rice and grain laid aside as much as sufficed for the wants of himself and his family, he would exchange the surplus with the tailor and the carpenter. The latter, for instance, would, in return for building the farmer's house; receive his rice and grain, and the tailor would be paid for his clothes in the same commodities. Such would appear to be the beginning of commerce. Now, however, the word commerce is only used to signify the importation of foreign merchandize into Japan, and the exportation to foreign countries of Japanese produce. But this is riot the proper acception of the term. Commerce is the exchange between man and man of one commodity for another. In course of time the gradual spread of civilization was accompanied by a' greater sub-division of labor. Trade itself expanded, and men were not slow to perceive that as long as each workman was compelled to go from place to place to barter his goods, his time would be wasted and trade seriously trammeled. The middle man here intervened. He became a medium for the transaction of business between tradesmen, and made his living by receiving a percentage on such dealings. Such would seem to be the origin of our merchant. The farmer was now enabled to devote his whole attention to agriculture, and artisans were entirely occupied with their several callings. Between these two classes the merchant acted as a communicating link. He carried the farmer's rice and grain to the tailor, and the clothes which he received in exchange for the same from the latter, he delivered to the farmer. Or perhaps the farmer may have had enough clothes, but wanted 'umbrellas. In that case he would say to the merchant: -" Go and procure me some umbrellas;" and the latter would take the clothes to the umbrella maker and exchange them for his umbrellas, which he would carry to the farmer. Thus the wants of everybody were satisfied. For these services the merchant was paid in. kind. He received a little rice and grain from the farmer, an article or two of clothing from the tailor, and from the umbrella maker one or two umbrellas. If he did not need any of these commodities he could exchange them for such as he did want, and in this way earn a livelihood. II. As the world began to make greater strides in civilization, a more extensive sub-division of labor followed. The merchant's business likewise increased, and ere long it was discovered that the mere barter of one commodity for another, was in truth a very cumbrous transaction. For instance, suppose the draper wanted a measure of wine, he could not exchange a piece of his cloth for a measure of wine, because their values were not equal, and it might not be profitable for him to cut l]is cloth. Again, suppose the paper manufacturer wished to obtain some sugar for his paper, but that the sugar refiner did not want paper, it is clear no transaction could have taken place between them. The inconvenience caused by such a state of things was very obvious, and a remedy vas provided by some Person of more than ordinary parts, who introduced money made by government. Instead, therefore, of bartering one commodity for another, this money was used as a circulating medium. The draper, for example, first sold his piece goods, and then, without resorting to barter, purchased one or two measures of vine as suited his convenience. In exactly the same way the paper manufacturer sold his paper, and with the money which he thus obtained he bought as many pounds of sugar as he wanted. The wine merchant and the grocer, too, disposed of their goods for money, and were thereby enabled to transact their business with much greater facility than by the former system of barter. Money possesses this advantage, it can be applied at any time to the purchase of articles necessary for daily use, or, if convenient, it can be laid by for a year or two. Time does not corrupt it as it does meat and fish, nor, like rice and wheat, does it need spacious granaries. The introduction of money proved very advantageous to the interests of trade, for it formed a medium by which all business was transacted. One day, for instance, the rice merchant sells his rice for a certain sum, and the next day, or perhaps the next month, he buys therewith some clothes or some other commodity. In fact, with money, he procures anything he desires or wants, in the same way as he bartered before, only that now the transaction is a much more simplified one. Such dealings originally went by the name of barter, but whether you call it barter or commerce it is really the same thing. This money, then, gave an immense impetus to trade. But, at first, business was confined to transactions between neighbors or between adjacent districts. No commercial intercourse took place between distant Provinces. As civilization advanced, however, the supply of the products of the soil and of manufactures increased. Greater efficiency, too, was obtained in their production, and articles of superior quality made. I need only instance the candles of Chikuzen, which are the finest in Japan, and the excellent dried fish of Tosa People came from distant localities as well as from the neighboring districts to purchase such commodities. In the course of time, the provinces sent their products  both by laud and sea to Osaka, Edo, Nagasaki, and other commercial emporiums, where each obtained such commodities as it did not itself produce. Now a moment's reflection will show you that it is in precisely a similar way these foreigners bring their goods to Japan and buy in return our produce. For let us suppose an observer; looking at such things with the eye .of the Deity, what would he see? In the one case the products of Tosa and Chikuzen brought to Edo and Osaka; in the other, goods exported from England and Holland to Japan. And how do these differ? In no respect, save that of proximity and distance. For instance, Japan has no woolen cloths and camlets of its own. Foreigners, therefore, bring such goods to us, and buy our tea and silk, which are so superior to those produced in foreign countries. Speaking generally, then, trade between neighboring districts, between the eastern and western provinces; and between Japan and European nations,' is one and the same Principle, seen in different stages or its development. But now when foreigners come to Japan to trade, the Japanese, probably because they have never traded with foreigners, refuse to recognize the truth of this argument. Pray give this question your best attention. Edo and Osaka have recently been open to foreign trade, and our Government are rightly of opinion that if commerce increases, Japan will in the end become more wealthy, For this we should be truly thankful, and I do not think there can be a single objection thereto. GWANROKU-Ah, I think I see the drift of your argument. But depend upon it you are still deceived by these hairy foreigners. As I pointed out before, since they have come to Japan all our products are being carried abroad, and prices are consequently rising every day. Now if this state of things should continue for three or four years longer, everybody in Japan will be a beggar. This result I regard as inevitable. Be assured, too, that if trade increases in Edo and Osaka, even in the space of one short year or so, all the money and productions of Japan will find their way into the hands of the hairy foreigners, and to a certainty, even Japan itself will ultimately become theirs. Tell me, then. SAISUKE, must I regard commerce as an inevitable necessity? SAISUKE-GWANROKU, you do not yet understand the true state of the case. When you say that prices have risen during the past three or four years, you must not attribute that rise in prices to commerce alone. I agree with you that the introduction of foreign commerce and its sudden expansion, by creating a larger demand for commodities would of itself cause a rise in prices. But he who has instructed me in these matters asserts that the increase in prices caused by commerce is not an evil, but will in the end rather prove to be a benefit; and this for the reasons just given. Commerce causes high prices by creating an increase in the demand for commodities. As the demand increases, the rate of production will be naturally increased, the productive power of Japan will be proportionately augmented, and in the end the nation will be enriched. When the original rate of production is in this way increased, the stock available for the market becomes larger, and the demand and supply are equalized. Prices, then, it is quite evident, will again go down. If you take a comprehensive view of the question, you will see that nothing is more conducive to future prosperity than the high prices occasioned by commerce. Weigh the matter well, and you will find that I am right. When the demand increases, even though prices be high, buyers will be numerous, and when purchasers are numerous, the productive class becomes larger, and the supply of commodities is increased. As the supply increases, the greatest possible degree of efficiency is obtained in the mode of production, competition is caused, and one man tries to undersell another. In this way trade gradually assumes its normal position, and prices naturally go down. At present, however, commerce is in its primary stage; the demand is excessive, and the number of purchasers out of all proportion to the number of producers. This gives rise, no doubt, to much temporary distress, but if you look forward to nine or ten years' time, you will see the immense advantage which Japan cannot fail to reap in the increase of wealth throughout the country. III. During the last two or three years the farmers have greatly enriched themselves. For while foreign commerce has increased the demand for commodities, the rate of production has not been proportionately increased, and therefore high prices have prevailed. The agriculturist reaps all the profit of such transactions, while the tradesman suffers serious loss. This effect, however, is only temporary, and it is quite evident that, if the country remains tranquil, in a very few years the supply of commodities will be largely augmented, and prices will fall. In old times our market was confined to the supply of Japan alone. Now, on the other hand, traffic is extending, and the proportion of buyers will always be large. We can never, therefore, expect to return to the low prices which ruled of old. Antiquity is gone, and instead thereof we are now enabled to import foreign goods. It must be remembered, too, that as commerce thrives, the national wealth will be increased, and the power of amassing riches will depend on each man's industry. Let men only avoid idleness, and there is no doubt that they can live better now than in the old times when prices were low. In proof of this, compare the state of the country with the state of large towns like Edo. In the latter places, where a flourishing trade is carried on, prices, as compared with those ruling in the country, are very exorbitant, and it would appear to be difficult to gain a livelihood in such places. Yet what is the fact? In no place can a man who is industrious amass wealth so rapidly as in Edo. Every man of any ability goes there and makes his fortune. Similarly, there can be no possible reason why a place where prices are low should on that account be considered as offering any special advantages to 'its inhabitants. In point of fact, the advantage is rather the other way. That is to say, a Place where prices are high, and where an extensive trade is carried on, presents the most favorable field for the acquisition of wealth. This I regard a the true view of the matter. But there is still another reason why the extension of commerce will cause a fall in prices. It is as follows:-Foreigners have succeeded, within the last few years, in introducing machinery into almost every branch of trade. For instance, in cleaning rice and grain they have a machine which in the short space of an hour or two will clean one or two hundred koku of rice. Again, in the transport of goods they use steamers at sea and locomotive engines on land, by which they can carry goods hundreds of miles in one day. And lastly, in communicating between distant places, they have an appliance called the telegraph, by means of which, while one takes a puff of a pipe, business can be transacted between places several hundreds of miles apart. There is little doubt that all these inventions cause a reduction in prices, and as our relations with foreigners are placed on a more intimate footing, and their machinery introduced into Japan, it is plain that we may look forward to a like result. This is the true rationale of the whole question, and clearly shows, I think, that the rise of prices occasioned by commerce need cause no anxiety. There are several other causes which contribute to a rise in prices. Of these there are two which are especially disastrous in their effects, namely; (1) a disturbed state of society, which acts as a check on the rate of production; and, (2) a depreciation of the coinage. In connection with this, a story goes that, long ago, before Western countries had reached their present height of civilization, their rulers, by a re-issue of the coinage, gradual]y depreciated its value. An extraordinary rise in prices was the result, which was, of course, followed by great national distress. Such a proceeding was fraught with mischief. When a rise in prices is caused by a depreciation of the coinage, it is really the latter which has lost its value, and not the prices which have risen, for the coins retain the names which were originally affixed to them. The dollar, for instance, is still called by the same name, but, owing to the frequent re-issue of this coin, its value has deteriorated, and the present dollar is no more than equivalent to half an old dollar. If, therefore, what was sold for one dollar in old days did not now fetch two or three dollars, the old dollar would have lost its proportionate purchasing power. And (on inquiry) I learnt that what was sold for one dollar is now worth two, or even three times that sum. It must be borne in mind, however, that it is not the prices which have risen, but the real value of the coinage which has deteriorated. (I need hardly remark that the daily fluctuation in the market rates differs entirely from the rise in prices caused by commerce). I admit that the distress prevailing in the world does not arise from this cause alone. But rulers, inasmuch as they are placed in authority, can, as suits their own convenience, tamper with the coinage of the country. Such a proceeding, however, is contrary to all justice, and only hastens the ruin of the nation. Modern civilization, it is needless to add, will prevent the recurrence of such a calamity. All these arguments, then, clearly show that a rise in price may be advantageous or disadvantageous; that is to say, when caused by commerce, it shows that nations are advancing in civilization and increasing in wealth; while, on the other hand, the rise in prices occasioned by a disturbed state of society, or by a depreciation of the coinage, is a sure symptom of the approaching distress and impoverishment of the country. IV. GWANROKU-Ah, I understand your argument. I now perceive that a rise in prices caused by a disturbed state of society, or by depreciation of the coinage, inflicts an incalculable amount of injury on a nation, but that when such rise is the effect of commerce, though it may be, as you observe, a temporary evil, it will prove in the end a great benefit. But now I want to ask you to consider carefully what I am going to say. From the establishment of our line of emperors until a few years ago, that is for a period of about 2,500 years, not a single thing was imported from foreign countries, and yet Japan was able to supply all her own wants; you must admit this. I can see no reason, therefore, why we should now adopt a different policy and rush into commerce. In so doing, we seem to me to be acting like men who are bewildered after a long dream. To be sure, in the time of HIDEYOSHI, foreigners came and introduced commerce, and after that, Dutchmen and Chinamen traded every year at Nagasaki. But they brought nothing which Japan really wanted, in fact, importation was quite unnecessary. Now, as you pointed out, the establishment of commercial relations with foreigners causes an increased demand for commodities. A temporary rise in prices is the result, this naturally causes al increase in the original rate of production, and as the supply becomes larger, prices gradually fall. Thus the original rise is rather an advantage. But if we refrain from commerce altogether, and so let prices remain at their original level, would not this be a still greater advantage? If, indeed, Japan cannot, without importing commodities from abroad, furnish the means of subsistence for itself, then we have no choice left us. But Japan, in contradistinction to foreign countries, contains everything necessary for its own support, and, therefore, I look upon it as the height of folly to allow ourselves to be deceived by these hairy foreigners into encouraging commerce. Do you not agree with me? SAISUKE-Certainly not. I perceive that you have been listening to the words of some narrow-minded teacher, and, therefore, cannot readily comprehend my arguments. I shall, however, endeavor to place the matter before you in another light, but as we have been now talking for some time, we will take a smoke, and resume the conversation later on. V. SAISUKE-Now, as we have finished our smoke, I shall beg leave to resume my long discourse. You argued a while ago that, as Japan was entirely a self-supporting country, it had no need whatsoever of foreign commerce. You will pardon me for saying that this is a very great mistake, for the reasons already given; as well as for those I am now about to state. In the dawn of civilization, when men began to buy and sell, all trade was confined to transactions between the inhabitants of neighboring villages and districts. As civilization advanced, trade sprang up between provinces twenty or even forty .miles apart, and after some time a regular traffic was established between the east and west of Japan. Now, you must not suppose that it was owing to the pressure of want in these districts that traffic was begun. The absolute wants of each locality were, of course, supplied in some fashion. But mark you how essentially man differs from the brute creation. He is endowed by nature with a longing after perfection, and this longing gains strength in proportion as he advances in intelligence. Such being the case, it has pleased the Deity, by a wise dispensation, to apportion success to the amount of industry mall puts forth. Pray apply these general principles to the present instance. Commerce was encouraged by the late Government, and even now the same policy has received the high sanction of our Emperor, Not because Japan cannot supply its own wants, for, as you have justly remarked, we have lived till within a short time ago without engaging in foreign commerce. Foreign countries have, however, some choice productions which are not to be found in Japan; and we, on the other hand, produce some commodities which foreigners require. Commerce, therefore, is mutually advantageous. The wants of everybody are thus supplied, and eventually both parties will be enriched. There are found men, however, who affirm that goods imported from foreign countries are utterly useless. Such is not the case. Take, for example, their guns, their ships, and their watches. Such things have never been thought of in Japan; and, besides these, foreigners manufacture many articles which, though not absolutely necessary for every day use, it is desirable that we should possess. As man progresses in civilization, he naturally becomes desirous of bringing everything to a state of perfection. Of course his first efforts are directed to the production of those utensils that are indispensable for daily use: after this, articles for which there is a less urgent necessity are introduced. The country which feels no wants beyond those felt by society in its purely primitive stage, cannot in any sense be said to be civilized. For example, in old time when they had no oil, and no cord with which to tie the cue, the only means of dressing the hair was to tie it together by means of a piece of straw or some other coarse material. In the course of time, however, oil was made, and cord was manufactured, and the hair was dressed very nicely; accordingly, oil and this kind of hair-dressing cord have both become articles of daily consumption. But suppose some one objects, and says there is no reason why the hair should not now be worn without having it dressed with oil, and urges that, if we had no cord, the cue could be tied with a piece of straw or something else, as it was in old times. To such an objection I have a very sufficient answer in the fact, that man is naturally desirous of attaining perfection, and that therefore when oil becomes an article of daily, use, he spares no pains to produce by means of it a fine gloss on the hair. In this he has succeeded so well that, as, to produce this gloss, oil was -a necessity, the demand for it increased, and such shops as that of Sakuraka, and Mitsuganeko, not to mention others, have opened to meet the large demand for oil. Perhaps you look upon this as ruinous extravagance, but it is not so in reality. It is the usual accompaniment of progress in civilization. Now precisely the same argument applies in the case of the so-called useless productions of foreign countries. That is to say, they may be considered useless now, but the time will come when they will be indispensable, so that the question whether an artic]e ;s useful or not depends for the most part on the stage of civilization at which we have arrived. If you call nothing good except what is barely necessary for life then it is quite immaterial what food you eat, providing you fill your stomach. And as for clothing and dwelling place, if you have a few rags to keep out the cold and a hovel to shelter you from the rain and frost, you want no more. In that case there would be no necessity to buy anything beyond mere local produce, and each district would supply its own wants. You must admit, however, that man is not content to occupy such a stationary position. If then any one argues that we should not engage in foreign commerce because we are independent of it, I need only remind him that for the very same reason Japanese need not trade with one another. On the other hand, as internal traffic cannot be dispensed with, just the same necessity exists for our engaging in foreign commerce. But there is another argument in favor of our entering into commercial relations with foreigners. May not foreign trade be a means of averting a great calamity? For example, take the question of the importation of foreign rice. If this staple article of food could not be imported into Japan, is it not quite possible that we might be visited by a famine far surpassing in its severity that OE 1834? It is, I believe, solely owing to the importation of foreign rice that we can now sit here and consume our daily modicum of food. Suppose, for instance, that at any future period Japan should be visited by a great famine. It is highly improbable that a similar scarcity would prevail everywhere; therefore rice would be imported from abroad, and a calamity such as that to which I have just referred would be wholly impossible: Don't suppose, GWANROKU, that I attribute this to foreigners, but am I not right in regarding it as one of the advantages of commerce? GWANROKU-Ah! no doubt your reasons are very just. As you observe, Japanese trade and foreign commerce are the same in principle, and I do not think there can be any doubt that as the world advances-in civilization commerce becomes a necessity. I likewise agree with you with regard to the importation of foreign rice. But listen while I tell you what a man who ought to know says on this subject. These are his words: -"The man who tills the soil should be the object of our primary concern. He cares not for the heat of summer nor the cold of winter. Year by year he toils, all covered with mud, in pursuit of his calling. And by the sweat of his brow we obtain the produce of the earth, both rice and grain and other crops. To the husbandman, in short, is owing the fact that all the inhabitants of Japan, from the Emperor down to the lowest classes, can peacefully pursue their several avocations. The tillers of the soil are at the root of everything. The two-sworded gentry, the tradesmen, and the merchants, are the leaves. Now, suppose for example, that a man plants a pine or a cedar: his first care will be to give the tree plenty of water in order that the roots may not die. And if these are well watered, the leaves and branches will not require any special attention from him. They will naturally grow of themselves. But suppose the planter devoted all his care to the branches and the leaves of the tree and neglected its roots, then it is certain that the former would forthwith perish. So it is with a nation. If the Government give their first attention to the root of the national weal, the husbandman and the advancement of agricultural interests, the branches and leaves thereof, that is, the two-sworded gentry and lower classes, may be left to the pursuit of their several avocations." Some of the wisest men have inculcated these views. They have taught that the husbandman should be the objects of our primary regard, and that merchants should be regarded as an avaricious class who amass enormous fortunes and live very extravagantly. Of late, however, there has been a sad degeneration in our social condition; merchants are increasing in number, and trade is thriving. The farmer becomes a merchant, and his fields are allowed to lie waste. Now I hold that such a state of things calls for the intervention of our Government. I am decidedly of opinion that some salutary measures should be adopted to keep these merchants in check. If commercial prosperity has been attended with such serious consequences when confined to Japan alone, surely we shall by and by have still greater reason to lament the sad effects of foreign commerce. VI. SAISUKE-Will you excuse me, GWANROKU, for saying that your arguments are not very intelligible? Sentiments such as these are the utterances of very narrow-minded philosophers, men who are carried away with their admiration for anything savoring of antiquity, while they regard with a jealous eye everything modern. But this blind love of antiquity would find no favor, I imagine, amongst a civilized, people. You are right, no doubt, in saying that the man who tills the soil is, as it were, the root of the common weal, but you must remember that if we were all farmers, our existence as a nation would be at an end. Artizans and merchants have also their place in society. They buy the farmer's produce, manufacture it, and sell it to the world, thus supplementing the labors of the husbandman. In fact the three classes of farmers, artizans, and merchants, seem to me to resemble a three-legged vessel. They mutually support one another, and the loss of any one would destroy the whole. But the merchant, you argue, is a man of an avaricious disposition, who amasses money rapidly and leads a life of extravagance. Merchants, too, as a class, you say, are increasing in number, trade is prospering, and consequently society. This, however, is a very mistaken objection. I admit that the merchant, when compared with the farmer, does not endure much vet or cold and is, on the whole, rather an inferior kind of person. He also makes a considerable amount of money, it is true but to suppose that every merchant, as a matter of course, amasses an enormous fortune would be an egregious mistake. It is quite obvious that the merchant differs from the farmer. He lives in the town, and is therefore inferior to the rustic in physical development; but his business demands the application of all his mental energy, and his wits are thereby sharpened. The ingenuousness of the rustic disappears, and in its stead the polish of a city life is acquired. This, however, is only the development of those talents with which God has endowed every man. It is a law of nature, and therefore cannot be found fault with. If it were an evil, the only inference we could draw would be that the right rule of conduct is for man to grow up a simpleton and neglect entirely the talents with which he has been endowed. But in adopting this principle we should be acting in direct opposition to the will of the Deity. You will see, therefore, that in the march of enlightenment man must of necessity lay aside his unreserved simplicity of manner. Don't, however, for one moment understand me to say that if trade prospers it is quite immaterial whether man deteriorates in a moral point of view or not. Far from it. The preservation of our moral integrity is of the very first importance, and with this object efforts are now being made by our Government to extend education as widely as possible. Even those who are engaged in earning their daily bread and cannot educate themselves are taught to imitate those who are educated. For though we cannot go so far as to say that among the educated classes there is not a single bad man, still, as a rule, the educated man is the best member of society. On the whole, then, I must join issue with you when you say that the merchant should be watched with a jealous eye. I now proceed to your next objection, namely, that when business thrives the farmer becomes 'dissatisfied, leaves his fields to lie waste, and turns merchant or. artizan. The fallacy of this is very patent. I agree with you in your remark that the farmer is very industrious, and I admit that it is quite possible that some farmers, through a dislike for agriculture, become merchants or mechanics. But this is not the sole reason why our fields have become waste, and in order to explain my meaning more fully I will tell you what has been going on in foreign countries. It bas happened in several foreign lands that the taxes on agriculture have been so excessive that farmers have paid more than half the produce of the soil in year]y taxes. Besides this, money has been exacted from them on various pretences and their services have been demanded for the execution of public works. The farming class, therefore have found it impossible to live, and they have been compelled to leave their lands and. become either merchants or mechanics; while those of their number who were very poor or incapable of exertion have had to turn beggars. Thus farmers have suffered, lands have become waste, and the original rate of production has been checked. To be sure, the number of artizans and merchants has increased, but, nevertheless, this state OE things vas enough to destroy the countries in which they have taken place. This result was due solely to the fact that the excessive taxes levied on the farmers prevented them from earning a livelihood, and not because farming as compared with mechanical or mercantile pursuits required such unremitting toil. The inference, therefore, is legitimate that if the yearly taxes and duties are fairly distributed, and the farmers' taxes do not press too severely on them, no serious diminution in the number of the farming class will take place nor will the lands lie waste. The whole question Stands thus: If the farmers are too numerous, and the artizans and merchants too few, some of the former class will engage in agriculture, because as farmers they will obtain larger profits for their money. In a word, then, it may be taken for granted that each class will find out what is most conducive to its own interests, and that without any intervention on the part of government. To repeat my former simile, the three classes combined resemble a three-legged vessel. If each of the three is strong, the whole will be preserved uninjured, and the national weal promoted. This bigoted teacher of yours, then, did not understand this reasoning, and, therefore, he attached an undue importance to the farmer, and endeavored to promote agricultural interests, while he did all in his power to thwart the artizan and the merchant. But whoever attempts to impede the course of trade, does not understand what he is doing. For if any check be laid thereon, the demand for commodities naturally ceases, and in the end agriculture itself suffers, and the farmer becomes poorer. This argument I regard as conclusive. While, however, advocating the principle of the nonintervention of government, the best course for a government to adopt in order to increase the national wealth is to encourage traffic, and so increase the demand for commodities. When such demand increases, the rate of production will also increase, and both the farmer and the artizan will send a larger supply of commodities into the market. For these reasons, the opening of Edo and Osaka to foreign trade should be looked upon as a wise measure; our commercial relations will rapidly increase in importance, and the demand for commodities become larger. But when I say that our government has encouraged commerce, I only mean that they have allowed merchants to transact business and have abstained from meddling in any way with the operations of trade. Long ago the governments of foreign countries tried the policy of interference, but it proved very prejudicial to the interests of trade. In the present case if, by the assistance of government, the demand for commodities is increased, the products of the soil as well as manufactures will be supplied in greater abundance, and the national veal Promoted. Taking all these points, then, into consideration, I don't think you should attach any importance to the silly objections of your bigoted friend. VII. GWANROKU-Ah, I perceive that your arguments are correct, though I must confess that I did not understand them before. Hitherto I have followed the teachings of a one-sided Philosopher, but now I am as one just awakened from a dream. There is, however, one question, which is not settled to my satisfaction, which I will now state as plainly as I can. You have conclusively proved that commerce is not injurious, that, in fact it is absolutely necessary. But, to repeat a former remark of mine, these hairy foreigners, Englishmen and Frenchmen, have singled out Japan, and in proportion as commerce increases they visit our country in greater numbers. They become intimate with Japanese, whom they impose upon, gradually acquiring a certain amount of influence over them. They buy up our productions and impoverish our country, the latter I greatly fear, will eventually fall into their hands. My teacher often lays great stress upon this horrible design. What do you think of it? No matter how beneficial commerce may seem to be, if it should lead to such a result as this we should soon learn to our cost the truth of the popular adage: -" All is not gold that glitters." Eh, SAISUKE, what is your opinion? SAISUKE-Your observations are not entirely without reason. Even so long ago as the time of TAIKO-SAMA, when foreigners first came to this country, their design vas to take Japan by force. There is no doubt of this. But now, as the world has advanced in civilization, it has become impossible to seize upon a country in this way without any ostensible pretext. For suppose that one or two countries entertained such a project, all the other nations would never give their consent to such a proceeding. But nevertheless I know that man can never lay aside his grasping disposition, and I cannot say that even now foreigners do not harbor such thoughts. We have the case of China before our eyes. Many differences between the Chinese and foreigners arose, and war broke out. So, in Japan, we know not how soon some circumstance, perhaps very trifling in itself, may cause a misunderstanding and lead to a declaration of hostilities must never be forgotten that foreigners are capable of forming the most nefarious plots. My opinion, however, is that the best course for us to pursue is to engage in commerce quite regardless of any designs which foreigners may have. For if they really think of seizing on Japan, our refusing to enter into commercial relations with them, will not prevent their projects being put into execution. To be sure, commerce affords these fellows an opportunity of learning all about Japan, but at the same time, we must not forget that we have the advantage of becoming intimately acquainted with their countries. We can buy their, ships of war and their loud thundering cannon, and in a few years can learn how to manufacture them ourselves. If, on the other hand, we persistently refuse to engage in commerce, foreigners could, of course, learn nothing about Japan; but we should be equally ignorant of Western civilization. We could not buy their ships and guns, nor could we manufacture them in Japan. Our only resources in time of war would be matchlocks and junks. Now, Japan is divine in its origin, and tar excels all other countries. There is no gainsaying this, but nevertheless, it would never do for it to engage in modern warfare with matchlocks and junks. If it should do so, I am afraid that the issue would not be honorable to our divine country. For these reasons, then, if foreigners should be base enough to harbor such a design as that of which you speak, we should utterly disregard it, and with a determination not to be outdone by them, should eagerly engage in commerce. Our countrymen would also do well to go abroad and enter into business there. By adopting this policy foreigners would learn to look with dread upon the power of our divine country. It was owing to the influence of the principles laid down above on them that, when the Americans first came to Japan some years ago, the late Government permitted their subjects to engage in commerce. The present Government are only carrying out the same policy in opening Edo, Osaka, and Hyogo to foreign trade. For these efforts to promote the prosperity of the nation, I think, our Government deserve every credit. Pray let me hear your opinion. GWANROKU-Ah, I now see the full force of your argument, and I quite agree with you that the best course for us to pursue is to leave these foreigners to hatch any plots they like, and to engage in commerce. I have not hitherto had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the arguments in favor of commerce, and I therefore regret having commented so unfairly on the policy of our Government. SAISUKE-Then you fully comprehend the drift of the arguments which I have endeavored to lay before you? I am delighted at my success. To sum up, nothing can be more conducive to the interests of a nation than commerce; the national wealth is thereby increased, and the temporary rise of prices which occurs need cause no alarm. Depend upon it, too, it will be much easier to gain a livelihood than in the old days of low prices. If trade continues to expand, you will find that in Edo, where land was formerly worth its weight in gold, its value will now be doubled, aye trebled. Will not this be a fine state of things? The learned KINZO here interposed: -" Pray wait a moment, SAISUKE, I cannot yet accord you my approval; what is your opinion regarding Christianity? In connection with the question of the extension of commerce, this vile religion has caused me no little anxiety. Do you approve of it? " SAISUKE-I entirely share your apprehensions on this subject. This religion of JESUS is a hateful thing, and I have always heard from learned men that it is fraught with mischief to our country. It is expressly stipulated in the Treaties that no foreigner shall be allowed to pervert Japanese. If, then, in the face of this stipulation, these fellows should be so base as to attempt perversion, they would by so doing be guilty of a violation of truth and justice, than which there is no greater crime in the sight of heaven; and in that case, I maintain that every man in Japan, both high and low, should be prepared to sacrifice his life in order to exterminate the rascals, and thus afford an example of the might of our country's gods. We, who by God's blessing are born citizens of this divine country, would then show our sense of this favor by fastening on the throats of these hairy foreigners and destroying them. I may add, however, that a revival has lately taken place in the study of Japanese literature, that is in the of study our national religion; no matter what efforts, then, these fellows may put forth to spread the religion of JESUS, I don't think they will effect anything. KINZO-Well done! well done! You are a citizen of our divine country, and animated with the true conservative spirit of Japan. Would that all our countrymen held similar sentiments! GWANROKU-Bravo! bravo! If these rascals attempt such an outrageous crime, this driveling old fellow, GWANROKU, will not be outdone by SAISUKE. Though he has lived three score years and ten, his teeth are yet strong, and single-handed he will devour ten, or even twenty, of these hairy foreigners. J. O'DRISCOLL. April, 1872. 
THE FROG'S ADVICE TO THE RAT. In the times when birds and animals used, whenever they were so disposed, to assume human forms, it happened, one day that, while an unsophisticated, artless old man was sauntering about in front of a small shrine, a middle aged man-or one that appeared to be such-wearing a brown silky coat, arrived, and commenced to pray most fervently. While praying he kept turning his head from side to side, as though he was afraid that some one would see him. "Who may you be, praying so earnestly and looking about so stealthily there?" asked the old man. "To me you seem to have the face of one who is not easily satisfied with what he gets. What were you asking for so earnestly just now?" "Since to your sharp eye," replied the rat, for such the later arrival was, "I appear to be no ordinary being, I may as well tell you that I am no other than a rat; and one that has had considerable experience in the world. Having received from nature a body that is light, claws that hold on to anything they touch, strong teeth that will tear anything to pieces, there are few things in the world that I cannot procure if I wish to do so. But notwithstanding this, I have one cause for anxiety: people still persist in observing the stupid custom of keeping cats. These cats are my mortal enemies, and I have been asking that they may be all swept from the face of the, earths When we come to think of it, cats are utterly useless in the world. They do nothing but mischief; either they steal the fish that 'have been carefully placed on the' trays ready to serve to guests, or they steal fowls from the coops, or, to crown all, they change themselves into cat-ghosts and kill people. Is not my request, then, a reasonable one? I only ask that creatures who do nothing but harm in the world may be removed from it. What may you have come to ask for?" inquired the rat of the old man. " I am frog that lives under a verandah near," replied the old man. "I have no special desire for anything. As I do no mischief, no one dislikes me; as I am ugly, no one cares for me; I am nobody's pet: as I am not fond of tasty food, I do not rob any one of that which they prize; and having no special desire for anything, I do not find it necessary to pray to the gods. Now let me tell you what passed through my mind as I listened to what you have just been saying about the cat. For you to dislike the animal that does you harm, is very natural. But it seems to me that there is one thing that you overlook; that is, that you yourself are the cause of the existence of the cat. People do not keep cats for heir own sakes, but on your account. All you seem cognizant of is the uselessness of the cat; you seem to know nothing of the mischievousness of the rat. - You say that, being furnished with a light body and sharp claws, you can climb anywhere. If this is so, then you might as well run up to the top of trees and eat nuts and things of that kind, instead of pilfering in the way you do. And, as you say that anything you wish for you can catch, why not procure your food in the mountains or woods far away from the haunts of men? Or, if you must keep near people's houses, then be content with picking up what they have thrown away. If you were to act thus, I venture to predict that no one would dislike you, and that there would be no cats left in the world to disturb you. You boast of your good teeth: it is on account of your possessing these teeth that people find it necessary to keep cats to catch you. As the saying goes: -' A mean person's talents are the cause of mischief to himself.' It is so with you. It is those very teeth that are the source of danger to you. " If, then, instead of bearing such malice against the cat, and praying so ill-naturedly for its destruction, you would only reform your evil ways and no longer continue to injure people's property, cats would disappear of themselves. But while I talk thus, I do not forget that you are (alas!) not the only individual in the world who errs in this way. There are numbers of persons, who, instead of reforming their own evil practices, spend their time in blaming others or in praying for their destruction. There are persons who pray to God for everything that they want whether good or had. God is not one who will listen to unreasonable prayers. If people's hearts are pure, then their prayers will be heard, if not, then it is useless to offer them." 
MUSOBYOE IN THE ISLAND OF NEGLECTED EDUCATION. I. Now, when you look into the condition of those who are born in the Island of Neglected Education, you find that from seven or eight to sixteen years is deemed one period, during which 'the clothes are tucked in at the shoulders and skirts "lost-child-tickets " are attached to the amulet bag; the hair is shaved away at the crown, in a patch shaped like an ovoid gold-piece, while it remains long all round. There is also what is called the " dragon- fly style," with its four knots, and the clean shave "Poppy-head priest style;" as the natives heartily hate having the stubble shaved or the hair knotted at all, the most prevalent form is what may be called the "unkempt mop." The weak are oppressed by the strong, to whom the former look up as the General of " hungry imps." They climb trees like monkeys, they swim in the water like kelpies, they hide in the grass like hares, and take their bath like crows. They care not for nail rents in their clothes, nor for raw wounds on their bodies. They brandish about big sticks and set dogs a fighting; they dote upon rats and keep them (in cages) jingling bells. In spring-time, forgetting the dinner hour, they scatter with their kites the neighbor's plum blossoms. In summer they catch cicadas, beat down bats, and delight in the taking of life; in the autumn they chase dragon-flies in the open fields; in winter they smash the ice at the back door and roll up snow-balls, and although they collect fire-flies wherewith to make a lantern, they are by no means fond of reading books by its aid. As for the one only duty they have to perform, they sit opposite a desk from eight o'clock till two, and although they take a pen in hand, they do not learn to make a single whip stroke or dot; when tired of drawing men's heads, they slobber over their copy-books with water so as to make up the count; they ask to go out of the room when there is no need, hide the sandals of their playmates, and loiter about the back yard setting their hearts on the peach-saplings which grow near. When they are made to show themselves to visitors, they bite their thumbs, and slip away backwards like a cat from a bag; but they push themselves readily enough in front of those weaker than themselves, and with tongues like razors call them bad names. Sometimes they plunge intentionally into puddles and don't mind dirtying their iron-heeled sandals; they poke holes in the paper lamps, playfully dig into the wall plaster, eat earth, or, ransacking the premises for the lares and penates, devour the incense. Although these crimes are hard to forgive, the master cannot prevent them; but he makes them get up on the desk and pouring water into a bowl, gives it them to hold, but a sham cry is got up without any true sense of shame. When the moxa is being applied, they jerk all their four limbs about, not thinking that it is being administered for their good. It is the law in this land that if, when one is being beaten for some misdeed, he should escape in the midst of his punishment, he is not again to be chastened. Capital punishment is inflicted by binding the criminal gently with a hempen cord, thrusting him into a closet and keeping him there. Frequently, also, the midday lamp is lit and the moxa is shown, but this is only to frighten them. Seeing that in all these matters, even from the creation period of coddling up to the present day, the August Parents as (guardian deities) govern the place with such misleading laws of Benevolence and Love, this is indeed an easy going, happy-go-lucky Buddhist land. On that account, the men and women of the lower orders do not fear the law, and all of them do just what is well pleasing in their own eyes, causing great grief to the August Parents. But divine retribution is after all hard to escape, and some find themselves at last with no place in which to lay themselves down. Amongst the inhabitants some have large upper lips, some have long nails, and others long arms. Those who have large muzzles are all their lifetime free from trouble; and those who have long nails are undoubtedly covetous, while the long-armed are certainly thieves. Nevertheless the August Parents wist not of these things; but although they may witness the wickedness of their offspring, they think it to be goodness and so praise them to others. When there is company and their youngsters are praised, they deign, with narrowed eyes and quivering dilated nostrels, to be pleased; there is no doubt about that. Rewards and punishments are not justly administered, and so when there is anything eatable in view, the natives stick to the spot and are prone to snatch and swallow. Peaches, persimmons, pears, grapes, musk-melons, water-melons, oranges, thick-skinned or thin-skinned, they devour like hungry monkeys. They are addicted to dumplings and bean-cake, or coming lower down in the scale, to various kinds of hard-bake and cheap buns; but they rarely indulge in tobacco or beer. Only once in a twelvemonth, while the new year pines still remain, do they don their hempen holiday clothes, put on the airs of big folks, and while walking from gate to gate, only for a little time look consequential; for, on the way home, all in their pompous dresses of ceremony, they crave to be carried pick-a-back. At the festival of the rice god, on the first day of the Horse, in the second month, they eat and drink like hysterical tabby cats, and for two or three days return to their homes. On the fifth month, when sacred flags are set up at the gate, they brandish about lades of the iris for swords, hang dangling from the piles which support the flag staff, or, hand over hand, climb the pole itself, the apparent danger sending a cold shiver through the livers of on-lookers. II. At three, the hair is allowed to grow naturally; trousers are donned at five. At seven the girls are freed from robe laces, which is the beginning of luxuriousness, while they begin to feel that standing up publicly on the stage of the Shinto dancing car at fair time is a joy to last a whole life time. Now, when MUSOBYOE'S eyes and ears had been well stuuned by these and other scenes and sounds, the light again dawned upon him, and unconsciously coming down on his knee-pan with a loud whack, he exclaimed: "It Is indeed true what the learned SHIBA ONKO uttered when he wrote thus:-( Parents blunder when they bring up their children without instruction. Lax instruction and guidance is due to the teacher's neglectfulness. Parental instruction and tutorial strictness must be both present, and if so it must be the child's fault when learning is not acquired." Now father and son form a differentiated unity. If the father instructs his child, and the latter learns well what is taught him, the boy will win a name for himself and. found a family line; but when, in spite of a father's willingness to instruct, the child does not learn, he is not showing love for himself. And again, when the child has this aim (to acquire learning) but the father yields no instruction, he is throwing away his child. If one looks at the condition of this Island of Neglected Education, it will be seen that the natives are made to eat till they are satiated; and are clothed warmly enough; yet, as they are devoid of instruction not a single one of them honors his parents. And as rewards and punishments are there unjustly distributed, the purpose (of providence) is defeated. The people of the olden times naturally felt them-selves unable to send their children from home (to board at school). Thinking that love would be lost if the children's freedom were curtailed in any way, they hired teachers to instruct them at home. Now the benevolence of a teacher is next to that of a father or mother. The teaching of anything to little children is the most difficult of all teaching. In ancient times one (Chinese) character vas valued at a thousand gold pieces. Now-a-days, why the two sen paid at term time is considered an excessive fee for learning some hundreds of them, so low have the market quotations for letters become! The low price at which characters are offered for sale, must surely be the reason why so many people in the world can neither read nor write. Writing does not take more than three years to master, and so when two or three copy-books have been gone through, the scholar supposing himself to be already of some use, and that a poor man's son does not require to go very deeply into things, gives the teacher his dismissal. When he is sent off to his apprenticeship, he thinks that it is something very different from playing about at home. So he can't wait for the two annual holidays usually allowed, but while going a message drops into the parental dwelling; if when sent to meet his master with the paper lantern, he peep in, the old folks are set quite purring with delight and cry: "Now, there will be lots of time before sundown, so you can stay and eat a little rice before you go. I'll boil some of the pumpkin you are so fond of, deary. But, O, gracious! How much thinner you are than when you lived at home, no doubt from the badness of food!" And so saying, the mother takes the greasy boxwood comb which is sticking in her hair, and smoothes the recent stubby growth on her boy's temples, while he is delighted down to the inmost layer of his frame; and thinking it a rather jolly state of affairs, he begins to tell how his workmates bully him; how the foreman boxes his ears daily; how the mistress makes him peel daikon how the master bade him draw water, and how, while he was going to draw the water, he slipped on the well planks; and how he then barked his knee-Pans, and how he never said as much as that it pained him, and how he was scolded, and called a useless piece of goods, and so on. As he is grumbling through this long list of imaginary grievances as if they were real, crying and sobbing the while, the mother too, unable any longer to repress her feelings, begins to wail, saying: "Since he was quite a little boy he has always been so subject to headaches, and I am sure even if he were a Lord Buddha of the hardest metal, he would remember it, if he got his ears boxed every day! As for his master, -master forsooth! -making these Poor little eleven or twelve years' old arms draw water! I would master him. He might think of his own pet child a bit, and then he would perhaps have a little more sympathy, -peeling daikon!!! They are such ugly things to peel, too! Why, how could even a big man in cold weather help letting them slip from his fingers? -And no word of setting him to learn the real shop business either; and what's more, setting him to stand before the kitchen boiler-cooking is work which was not in the bargain! Well, smashing the little knee-pan must have been a dreadfully sore thing! I will put some 'white scented dragon' on the place. Come now and show me your knee! On which the urchin displays a tiny scratch. But the fond parent, for whom "the needle has been made into an iron-bar," is not aware that the wound was acquired during a wrestling match in the top story of a bath house! Nevertheless, after having searched the drawers of the needle box and taken out from thence a shell containing some ointment, she screamed out, in a voice that took all the breath out of her body and frightened away the neighbors, to her husband: -"How very patient the poor child has been up till now! No, it will never do to keep him there any longer; no, that it won't! You just go away smartly and get him off; now do." III. The father does not at all like the commission assigned to him, but nevertheless gets his boy released from his indentures to a painstaking master, who, though quite aware of the youth's propensity to cheat hi-m out of the Price of many a feast, had fondly hoped that years might better him. "Seeing that he has now been taken back," reflects the fond parent, "were he again to be set playing about, people would be sure to set their tongues a-wagging. Look here now, "says he, turning to the hopeful youth, "in summer time you may go and try your luck at selling peaches. I'll do all the marketing for you myself, and you may take for pocket-money all you can make. Only mind you don't sell below first cost! I won't take anything from you at all, so you may buy whatever you please." From that time forward the urchin does just as he likes with himself: learns the various uses of small cash, is prematurely knowing about sundry matters, hangs about the dancing saloons, swallows voraciously at drinking matches, and soon forgets all the useful things he may have seen. Let a restive horse have nothing for its legs to do and it will be sure to kick somebody; but if you ride it about skillfully, curbing here and checking there, and giving it no rest for its- limbs, there will be no more attempts to fling. Now the heart is just such an unruly colt as this. If children from earliest infancy are taught reading, arithmetic, literature, and military science as far as may be possible in the station of life to which they belong, and are pulled in day by day from one exercise and guided to another, while in the intervals of such instruction they are brought to the parental home and taught how to hand round tea and how to conduct themselves in company, their minds will have no leisure from morning to night whereby they may wander into wrong paths. On the other hand, children whose parents rarely give a deliberate thought to their education, readily become a cheap convenience to the master, who, giving them a mere trifle by way of wages, works them hard, by day and night, and so at last it come about that they have no leisure to learn anything. Even if they are taught something, to love amusement is a natural tendency in youths. They hold their noses high in the pride of now being in service, and won't listen to what their parents have to tell them. While there are said to be some who don't allow themselves to fall asleep, even when drowsiness seizes them, learn in order to remember, and bestow painful and studious application so as to be of service to their masters, such persons are not to be found in the Island of Neglected Education, where both squires and servants are ordinary unlettered people. MUSOBYOE, deeply touched in his own experience by all this, now cast a look downwards in order to observe the ways of girls in that country. Although their customs are quite those of Neglected Education Island, there is not so much wild frolicking about as in the case of the boys. For example, while the natives are eating their daily three meals, the mothers must needs wait table for them; the mothers must dress the hair, and the mothers must even set the pattens in order and put them on. The children set nothing right that is in disorder. They lavish gold and silver on dresses, combs, and ornamental hair-pins. As to serving, they feel no shame though devoid of any idea how to shape out and sew even a bag for bran. After their writing lesson, trusting to maternal good nature, the damp copy is tossed aside, the mother being expected to dry it. Thrumming the guitar is the chief accomplishment of young ladies: no regard is paid to the feelings of sick neighbors. IV. In olden times children were wont to ask why this? and why that ? so as to increase their ability. Parents in those days, too, would set them to playing cat's cradle, which helped them in time to do fine weaving; or, again, such games as the pairing of clam shells, poem cards, or, to come down a little in the scale, guess scenes were in fashion. Now these and the like games were useful for sharpening one's Powers of observation, but they are never indulged in by the people of this island. It is only the turbulent and noisy sort of games, such a battledore and shuttlecock, blind man's buff, and devil chasing, that they care for. Girls and boys are not kept each by themselves here. The girls don't choose for themselves their own style of coiffure, nor the pattern of their robes, but copy the prevailing fashion: playing the guitar is in vogue over the way, it must be acquired here too; if others there learn dancing, it must be taught here too. All through this Land of Youth five or six sen monthly are spent on rattles, wind-mills, papier-mache dogs, humpty-dumpties, bamboo horses, Peep-shows, and water-squirts, which articles are, without any loss of time, crushed up and squeezed into the waste paper basket! What an enormous expense to be sure! Again, you may see on all sides there, mountains and lakes occupying a space not exceeding two to three square feet. The white bones of the cuttle-fish are transformed into paddy-birds. Mock tortoises are hung up and keep swimming away without making any progress; gold fish are set to swim in bowls; little birds sing in the windows, and the inhabitants are forever buying, as the seasons for them come round, tree-crickets, bell-ringing insects, or grass-hoppers. They make a well by turning a small wine-barrel upside down to form the lining wall. To make a rice farm they take an unglazed tile and call it a quarter of an acre, and then the little farmer, shouldering his hoe-spade, even when standing idle, pays obeisance to a leaden image of Tenjin. He quickly acquires the latest popular ballads, is on terms of intimacy with the vendors of liquid barley-sugar. Were the expense incurred for such things diminished by even but a half, and were good education really wished for, there would be no want of money wherewith to pay the salaries of teachers. While our hero MUSOBYOE was exclaiming: -"Dear me, how very absurdly childish are these amusements! "the string of the giant kite which he bestrode sprang up into the air with a shrill whi-r-r and carried him off to one of the neighboring islands. HENRY FAULDS. 
PRECOCIOUS CHILDREN. 
DAZAI SHUNDAI was a disciple of SORAI [the latter died A.D. 1722]. He was a very honest, straightforward, and fearless man. Without regard to the rank or position of the persons to whom he was speaking, he said all that he wished to say, caring not a straw what offence his words might give. There was in SHUNDAI'S day a lad called KAN RlNSHO, who, at the age of twelve, was so extraordinarily intelligent that he became one of the Shogun's teachers, and was spoken of as "The wonderful boy," But it seems that he was only wonderful as a very young child. Like a bud that shows great promise when it first sprouts forth but never matures into fruit, RINSHO seemed to think that he knew at the age of twelve all he needed to know, and hence never matured into the man that he might have become, had his powers been fully developed. SHUNDAI, seeing this, sent him a letter of reproof, which contained, among others, the following remarks: -"To me it seems that you use the learning of the great men of antiquity as toys wherewith to amuse yourself. Though you are rekoned among the scholars of the realm, you are in reality only a student of the Confucian learning. Unfortunately you have a name in the world for more than ordinary intelligence; you are called 'The wonderful boy,' and hold the rank of a government official. But you forget that all this involves a number of duties to be performed. History tells us of hundreds of lads, no older than you, who read and digested scores of pages in one day. But all the time I have known you, you have not read anything. When I compare what you are now with what you were last year, I see no signs whatever of your having made progress. If you have advanced in anything, it is in skill in playing the life. Your reputation has of late been diminishing instead of increasing so that you can no longer afford to be careless about your future career. Among the three misfortunes of which TEI SEISHUKU speaks, the exalting of a very young person to a high position is one. You are a good illustration of this. "You plead all kinds of excuses for not working, and in this are like one of whom SEISHUKU writes, who was afraid of the snow in winter and the thunder and rain in summer-this time would not do, and that time would not do, so that it ended in his accomplishing next to nothing. Your want of diligence is in a measure, perhaps, owing to the feebleness of your nature, but in a still larger measure is it to be attributed to your allowing yourself to be spoilt by the patronage you have received." Pertinent to the above, it is recorded that IEYASU, when in Suruga, was informed that there was a very extraordinary child there: its precocity was represented as something marvelous. "I should not be surprised if that child turns out to be a fool in after life," remarked IEYASU. "You had better not be too loud in its praises. Such precocity is by no means a good sign. As an old verse has it: -'For a child of three 'To be only three; 'This should be deemed good luck 'By you and by me' "For things to be matured beyond their age is not good. Children who thus ripen early become old men and women sooner than they ought." There is no reason for finding fault with early precocity. It is its management and development that is so often at fault. For a child of twelve to be allowed to think himself equal to scholars of thirty or forty, as RINSHO seems to have done, is of course fatal to progress. But precocity, being a species of capability, provided it receive careful training, is calculated to enable the child who is endowed with it to excel in after life in whatever pursuit he may choose. History tells us of scores of great men who were extremely precocious as children. These not only started ahead of their fellows, but kept ahead throughout the whole of their careers. IEYASU'S remark about early maturity involving early decay is, we fear, only too true. This is caused by the excessive pressure put on the powers of great intellects. They die of over-activity. 
THE HERON AND THE CROW. A CROW and a heron happened, one day, to be walking about in the same field, when the crow turned and said to the heron: -"You seem to me to be such a very queer bird, with your long, useless bill. You always appear to be humped up with the cold, as though you did not know what to do with yourself. And as for your long, ugly looking neck, I do not know whether it is conducive to preserving the right balance of your body or not, but there is no other earthly good besides that I can see in it. And your long, awkward looking legs, too, what can they be good for unless it be to catch mudeels with? Your walk is so peculiar that it has added a new word to the language of men: when they speak of a man walking nyoro-nyoro, they write the characters, "like a heron," [n f: t r,] as most expressive of the awkward gait to which they refer. What can be the use of such an ugly thing as you in the world? "As for me, I serve a variety of uses. Only to mention one among many: when persons are going to die, I go near their houses and make a cawing noise. By this they know that death is near. On this account, however, they look upon me as a repulsive, objectionable kind of bird; they hate me like sin. Is there anything to compare with this piece of unreasonableness on their part? "For you to boast of bringing bad news to people, is a great mistake," replied the heron. "And for people to say that the crow's caving is bad, and on this account to contract a hatred for you, is no less unreasonable. When persons have no virtue or honesty to recommend them, to be always complaining of the treatment they receive at the hands of others and to condemn others for their behavior towards them-this is something of which no sensible man will for a moment approve. Such people are universally disliked, and that not without reason. You are judged by the tenor of your every-day life; which is decidedly mischievous. Think of the acts of your ordinary life. With the object of catching rats, you destroy people's roofs. You tear up the things that have been sown in gardens; you eat the fruit that does not belong to you; and, without the slightest reluctance, you devour things that have been put out to dry. In fact, you do almost everything that is calculated to give offence. Then your calving is as noisy as it well could be.  It is hardly to be expected, under these circumstances, that people should do anything but dislike you. Your giving information about people's approaching death, is nothing to your credit. It shows no virtuous feeling in you, when taken in connection with the general tenor of your life. Your making a noise on these occasions is just like the frog's making a noise when it is going to rain. It is something that is taught you by an instinct (excuse me for saying so) of which you have little reason to be proud. Your assembling in large numbers is owing to the popensity to gather together in one place that birds of one voice and the same instincts often have. In all this I can see no trace of that compassion and benevolence for which you wish people to give you credit. "There are men like you, whose instincts, on the whole, are impure and whose general conduct is mischievous. Though such people often say and do a few good things, these are insufficient to remove the reproach which rests on their names. "The circumstances in which we find ourselves, the nature with which we are endowed-over this we have no control. It becomes us to make the best of our lot. It may be that we all have something which we would fain be without, and lack something which we long to possess. Contentment with our lot-this is the lesson we have to learn. And as for pointing the finger of scorn at creatures whose forms or natures differ from our own, that Mr. Crow, is an amusement in which you, of all other birds, should be the last to indulge." 
THE INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. THE Mongol Tartars, everywhere triumphant in China and the various dependencies of that country, were ambitious to add Japan to their dominions. They were known to the Japanese as the people of Gen. KOPPITSURETSU, their Emperor, despatched a messenger to Japan to ask whether the Japanese intended to submit to his rule, threatening, in case of refusal, to send an army against them. HOJO TOKIMUNE, enraged at the insolent demands of the Chinese, sent away their messenger in disgrace. Six times the Gen people sent embassies, and six time they were treated with undisguised contempt. In 1274 A.D., the Gen army, consisting of about 1o,ooo men, landed at Tsushima. The commander of the Japanese troops in that island was killed. The Gen fleet proceeded to Iki, and killed the General in command there, TAIRA KAGETAKA. These reverses were soon reported in the capital, and troops were hastily despatched to the south. KAGETAKA attacked the Gen troops and put them to rout. The number killed on this occasion was so large that the remainder had to return to China for reinforcements. The Gen Emperor now sent nine ambassadors, who were instructed not to leave Japan without a definite reply to carry back to their master. These ambassadors TOKIMUNE beheaded. Great preparations were now made for the war that all felt to be imminent. Troops from the east were sent to Kyoto. Military stores and ammunition were collected. The army was drilled and disciplined. All unnecessary public expenses were curtailed, and the Government were prepared to concentrate their whole strength on the impending struggle. In 1279 A.D., other messengers arrived from China: their heads fell at Dazaifu, in Kyushu. Meanwhile, the Chinese armada was preparing, and Great China was confident that she could crush the people who refused to do her homage. The army of the Chinese is said to have numbered one hundred thousand men. Their ships whitened the sea, as the snowy herons whiten the islands of Lake Biwa. They numbered thirty-five hundred in all. " In July 1281," writes Mr. GRIFFIS, "the tasseled prows and fluted sails of the Chinese junks greeted the straining eyes of watchers on the hills of Dazaifu. The armada sailed gallantly up, and ranged itself off the castled city. Many of the junks were of immense proportions, larger than the natives of Japan had ever seen, and were armed with the engines of European warfare, which their Venetian guests had taught the Gen people to construct and work. The Japanese had small chance of success on the water; as, although their boats, being swifter and lighter, were more easily managed, yet many of them were sunk by the darts and huge stones hurled by the catapults mounted on their enemy's decks. In personal prowess, however, the natives of Japan were superior to the foe! Swimming out to the fleet, a party of thirty boarded a junk, and cut off the heads of the crew; but another company attempting to do the same thing were all killed by the now vary Tartars. " One captain KONO MITSUARI, sculled rapidly out to an outlying junk, and, in spite of a shower of darts, one of which rendered his left arm useless, ran his boat alongside the junk, and letting down the masts, boarded the decks. A hand-to-hand fight ensued, and, before the enemy's fleet could assist, the daring assailants set the ship on fire and were off, carrying away twenty-one heads. "The fleet now ranged itself in a cordon, linking each vessel to another with an iron chain. They hoped thus to foil the cutting-out parties. Besides the catapults, immense bow-guns shooting heavy darts were mounted on their decks, so as to sink all attacking boats. By these means many of the latter were destroyed, and more than one company of Japanese who expected victory, lost their lives. Still the enemy could not effect a lauding in force. Their small detachments were cut off or driven into the sea, as soon as they reached the shore, and over two thousand heads were among the trophies of the defenders in the skirmishes. A line of fortifications many miles long, consisting of earth-works and heavy palisading of planks, was now erected along shore. Behind these the defenders watched the invaders, and challenged them to land. "There was a Japanese captain, KUSANO SHICHIRO, who had long hoped for this invasion. He bad often prayed to the gods that he might have an opportunity of fighting the Gen troops and was now overjoyed at the prospect of a combat. Sallying out from behind the breastwork, he defied the enemy to fight. Shortly after, he filled two boats with brave fellows, and pushed put apparently unarmed, to the fleet. ' He is mad,' cried the spectators on shore. 'How bold,' said the men on the fleet, 'for two little. boats to attack thousands of great ships! Surely they are coming to surrender themselves.' Supposing this to be their object the Gen men refrained from shooting. When within a few oar's lengths, the Japanese, flinging out ropes with grappling hooks, leaped on the Gen junk. The bows and spears of the Chinese were no match for the two handed razor-like swords of the Japanese. The issue, though for a while doubtful, was a swift and complete victory for the men who were fighting for their native laud. Burning the junk, the surviving victors left before the surrounding ships could cut them off. Among the captured was one of the highest officers in the Gen fleet. "The whole nation was now roused. Reinforcements poured in from all quarters to swell the ranks of the defenders of their native land. From the monasteries and temples all over the country went up unceasing prayer to the gods to ruin their enemies and save the land of Japan. The emperor and ex-emperor went in solemn state to the Shint6 chief priest, and, writing out their petitions to the gods, sent him as a messenger to the Shrine of Ise. It is recorded as a miraculous fact, that at the hour of noon, as the sacred envoy arrived at the Shrine, and offered the prayer-the day being perfectly clear-a streak of cloud appeared in the sky, which soon overspread the heavens, until the dense masses portended a storm of awful violence. "A typhoon burst upon the Chinese fleet. And terrible was the havoc it made in the course of a few hours. The ships butted together like mad bulls. They were impaled oil the rocks, dashed against the cliffs, or tossed oil land like corks from the spray. They were blown over till they careened and filled. Heavily freighted with human beings, they sunk by hundreds. The corpses were piled on the shore, or floated on the water so thickly that it seemed almost possible to walk thereon. The vessels of the survivors, in large numbers, drifted to or were wrecked on Takashima, where the Gen men established themselves; and, cutting down trees, began building boats to reach Corea. Here they were attacked by the Japanese, and, after a bloody struggle, all the fiercer for the despair on the one side and the exultation on the other, were all slain or driven into the sea to be drowned, except three, who were sent back to tell their emperor how the gods of Japan had destroyed their armada." 
THE TRIUMPH OF RIGHT OVER MIGHT. I. In the time of TOKUGAWA IEMITSU, among the councilors of the Tsugaru baron there was a man called MATSUMAE GOROZAEMON. GOROZAEMON had a son called GOROBEI, who, being an only child, was very much petted by his parents. While the boy was still young, his mother died, and his father soon after married another woman. This woman, whose name was NAO, had a daughter by a previous husband, whom she brought with her to live in GOROZAEMON'S house. When her own child grew big, she treated GOROBEI very cruelly. GOROZAEMON, seeing this, kept thinking how bad it would be for his son after his (GOROZAEMON'S) death, with such an unkind woman as a mother. When the boy had grown up, his father was taken ill. Among GOROZAEMON'S servants there was a man called KISAKI BUMBEI. BUMBEI was honest and faithful. Much concerned about his master's state of health, he came to inquire after him from time to time. One day, when BUMBEI had finished his usual inquiries, GOROZAEMON told him of his apprehensions in reference to his wife's conduct after his death, and requested him to do his best to help his son GOROBEI to obtain what was his due. "This duty I will undertake," replied BUMBEI, "and will perform even though it may cost me my life. But it is a delicate matter; concerning, as it does, members of your family. I should like to have something in writing to show that I am entrusted with power to act on your behalf" The following document was then drawn up and handed to BUMBEI: -"I, MATSUMAE GOROZAEMON, do hereby make it known that I have serious doubts whether my wife NAO, owing to the perversity of her mind, will make my son GOROBEI the heir to my estates. I do therefore empower KISAKI BUMBEI to act on my behalf, and do charge him to see to it that my son is not robbed of what is bequeathed to him. When NAO'S daughter is married, it is my wish that a dowry of a thousand ryo be given to her. These two matters I entrust to the said KISAKI BUMBEI, and specially request that they be attended to with scrupulousness." This document BUMBEI took, and solemnly promised td act up to. Not long after this GOROZAEMON died. And, as he had anticipated, soon after his decease NAO commenced to persecute her step-son. She dismissed BUMBEI from her service; and then represented to the local authorities that GOROBEI had acted in a most unfilial manner towards her. Through bribery she succeeded in inducing the local officers to order his expulsion from her house. GOROBEI went to Edo. He set up a rice shop in Kuramae, Asakusa. The dealings of the ordinary Edo shop keepers of that time were full of tricks of the trade, but GOROBEI acted in au honest way, which gave him a good reputation among those who frequented his shop. These recommended others to go to it, so that, by degrees he made money and was able to marry. After a while he had a son, whom he named GOSUKE. One day, he thought to himself: -" Alas ! I have gone down in the world. Born the son of a councilor, I am not pursuing the kind of life my father would have wished had he been alive, but there is no help for it. I must go on as I am for the present. I should like, however, to bring my son up to be a brave samurai and to retrieve by means of him the honor which I have had the misfortune to lose." He prepared, therefore, at the back of his house a fencing yard, in which he gave his son and a few other lads instruction in fencing day by day. Not far from GOROBEI'S house, there lived a hatamoto called NAITO TOEMON, who also gave lessons in fencing. Among his disciples there were two youths called FUJITA TAKUMI and KONDO TANOMO. When they heard that GOROBEI was teaching fencing so near their master's fencing yard, they were very angry. "Not far from here," said one of these youths to TOEMON, one day, "there is a shop-keeper who has the impudence to set himself up as a teacher of fencing, What fun it would be to bring the fellow here and have a turn with him. Of course he cannot fence, townsman that he is." "It is very foolish of you to talk in that way," replied TOEMON. " In a great place like Edo there is no saying who is who. Suppose the man is a better fencer than either of you, and you get beaten; what then? If, on the other hand, he is an ordinary townsman, then you will of course come off victors; but what credit is there in beating a man who cannot fence at all?" The two wild young fellows paid no attention to this advice of their teacher. "It may be you are afraid of this GOROBEI that you speak thus," was the only reply they made. Riled by this remark, TOEMON gave his consent to their summoning GOROBEI. The two youths went at once and fetched him. They did not tell GOROBEI for what purpose they wished him to come to the hatamoto's house. So he was surprised enough when, on their arrival, one of them said: -"We hear you have been teaching fencing at your place. It is somewhat a rare occurrence for a townsman to be instructing people in sword exercise; so we thought we should like to have a bout with you just to see what you can do in this line?" Whereupon GOROBEI, excusing himself, replied: "I do not set myself up as an instructor in sword exercise. I began by teaching my son only, but gradually a few friends asked to join him. I know very little of the art, and I do not wish to fence with people who have been properly instructed." The two young men were not to be put off: they insisted on his fencing. So, as there was no help for it, GOROBEI took a fencing sword and commenced. Neither of the young men could stand before him, for he was a good fencer, and they but novices. TOEMON, seeing that his disciples were defeated, grew furious, and, taking a sword, rushed at GOROBEI, intending to kill him on the spot. GOROBEI begged him to desist, but TOEMON paid no attention to his entreaties. So GOROBEI drew his sword and adroitly defended himself against the wild slashes of the hatamoto, and, watching his chance, made his escape to his house. II. After GORBEI had gone, TOEMON and his two disciples conferred together about what had happened, and they agreed that if GORBEI were not killed the incident would be regarded as a blot on their honor. So they decided that they would bring about his death by some means or other. TOEMON went to the Bugyo, HARAI IYO-NO-KAMI, who was related to him by marriage, and informed him of what had occurred. "And," aid he, "as we shall concoct something that will be brought before you for judgment, we beg that you will so arrange matters that we may succeed in accomplishing our purpose." At first the Bugyo refused to do anything for them, saying that it vas not for a public officer to act in the way they wished: but subsequently he thought that if he refused their request, it might bring trouble on his daughter, who was TOEMON'S wife, so he promised to further their plans as far as lay in his power. The method TOEMON adopted to get GOROBEI into trouble was as follows: -He called three of his most trusted retainers and told them to cut their bodies in several places, and then to run in haste to the Bugyo's gate and say that they had met a man called MATSUMAE GOROBEI in the street, who had, without any provocation from them, commenced to quarrel and fight with them; and then to show their wounds and say that they might have killed GORBEI had they not feared being reprimanded by the authorities for killing a man without an adequate cause, and that therefore they had come to the Bugyo for help. All this was carried out. 
The Bugyo sent at once and had GOROBEI arrested. GOROBEI denied, of course, the charges that were brought against him, and, even though subjected to torture, for some time refused to say what he knew to be false. But subsequently, fearing that if he did not pretend to to be guilty his son would also be arrested and tortured, he acknowledged that he had acted as the three men had represented. For this he was condemned to die. Not far from Nihonbashi, there lived at this time an otokodate who, from the whole-hearted way in which he assisted all those who were in distress, had prefixed to his name, TASUKE, the word Isshin, and so was called ISSHIN TASUKE, or, the Whole-hearted TASUKE. TASUKE was originally one of the retainers of the famous OKUBO HIKOZAEMON. Being a man of great honesty and intelligence, he was a favorite with his master. One day HIKOZAEMON called TASUKE and told him that he regretted very much that he had not the wherewithal to reward his faithful services. "Where ever you go, however," said he, "there is no fear of your not getting employment; you can easily make five hundred or a thousand koku a year; so, take this fifty ryo and go and serve some rich baron who can afford to give you a good equivalent for your services." "I am much obliged to you for your kind offer;" replied TASUKE, 'f but, as I have been in your service so long, I prefer to remain with you. I am quite satisfied with my present position. I respectfully decline to accept the offer you make." "What I have said to you now," replied HIKOZAEMON, "I have said for your benefit. It is not to your interest to remain with me any longer." Here he pressed on TASUKE the advisability of his taking the money. Thus urged, TASUKE took the fifty ryo and became a hawker of fish. When on his rounds selling fish, he sought out the persecuted and the oppressed, whom he invariably assisted to the utmost of his power. Soon after the events related above, TASUKE, on reaching the house of GOROBEI, one day, found the family in a great state of distress. On inquiring the cause of this, all that had happened was related to him. "I will rescue GOROBEI," said he at once, and off he vent with his fish to the house of HIKOZAEMON. As TASUKE approached the entrance to his old master's court yard, one OF HIKOZAEMON'S servants accosted him: -"Well, TASUKE, any nice fish to-day?" "I have two good fresh tai here," replied TASUKE, "but they are too good for such low class gentlefolk as your master-fish a little bit gone is quite good enough for such as he." "You impudent fellow!" exclaimed the servant. "What do you mean? -and you an old servant or the master's too-I will run my sword through you." HIKOZAERION, who happened to be near, overheard the conversation and interposed: -"Well you are an insolent fellow. TASUKE, speaking of me in that way! What do you mean by it? " Pardon my rudeness," replied TASUKE, bowing to the earth, "I wanted to see you in a hurry; and I knew that a man occupying the station I now do, could not effect this in any ordinary way, so I adopted the plan of pretending to abuse you:" "Ha! ha! ha!-this is a stratagem of yours then, is it;" exclaimed HIKOZAEMON, laughing heartily. "Well, well! from an old servant like you, there is nothing to be offended at in this. Come in, come in. Let me hear what you want." TASUKE entered and related the whole history of what had occurred. " This is a difficult matter," remarked HIKOZAEMON "The man himself has confessed his guilt. Were I younger I might attempt something, but I am now over seventy years of age, and I fear I should not succeed in such a complicated business as this." "Then there is no help for it " said TASUKE, taking his fish knife and preparing to commit suicide. " Hold, hold!" exclaimed HIKOZAEMON, seizing his hand. "What has taken you?" "Let me alone," said TASUKE, "die I will. TASUKE is not the man to break his word. He has promised to help GOROBEI, and do it he will-or perish." "I am all old man;" replied HIKOZAEMON, "and have not the energy that I once had for undertaking new enterprises. But old as I am I cannot refuse my aid in a cause which affects you so deeply. Set your mind at ease. I will do my best to help you." The first thing that HIKOZAEMON did was to obtain a respite for GOR6BEI. This he effected by applying to the Shogun, with whom he was on the most intimate terms. He next commissioned TASUKE to search for some satisfactory evidence by which to overthrow or reverse the decision of the Bugyo. A few days after his interview with HIKOZAEMON, TASUKE, in going his rounds with his fish basket, went to the house of TOEMON, and, in the course of conversation with one of the servants, remarked that he had been sick. "Indeed l" replied the servant; " and we have sickness her too. Three of our fellows were attacked by one MATSUMAE GOROBEI the other day, and got badly wounded: here they are lying inside the screen." "Oh dear!" exclaimed TASUKE! "I am extremely sorry to hear this. I regret that I have nothing better to offer, but please accept these fish for the invalids," hauling out two or three fish from his basket. He fetched five sho of sake and presented it to them. He set to and dressed the fish himself and, after placing everything ready for their meal and giving injunctions to the invalids to take great care of themselves, he vent away He did not go far, however: he hid near the room, where he could overhear everything that was going on. III. NO sooner had TASUKE gone than the three would be-invalids jumped out of their beds and said: "This otokodate, TASUKE, is a fine fellow, and no mistake! -giving away the things by which he gets his living, and buying sake for us in the bargain !-Come, come! let us have a drink together." Whereupon they commenced to drink and make a great noise. In the midst of the hubbub, TASUKE suddenly reappeared. "Excuse me," said he, as he opened the sliding door and re-entered the room. " TASUKE has come back! TASUKE has come back; " exclaimed the men as they heard him approaching, and, throwing down their sake cups, they rushed for their beds. There was a dragging of bed clothes, and a scrambling for pillows, and sundry attempts at arranging the screen. Before they could get straight, TASUKE was in their midst. In their flurry they had left signs enough of what had been going on: one man in his confusion had forgotten to cover his feet, which were projecting from under the clothes; and the others were disarranged in various ways. TASUKE hardly knew how to keep from laughing, but he pretended to be astonished. '"What's this? what's this?" he exclaimed. "You fellows have been feigning sickness. You might carry on like this with a stranger, but I wonder you do it with an old acquaintance like TASUKE. You ought to know him well enough by this time to tell him just how matters stand, instead of making a fool of him in this way." Here they whispered to each other: " We had better tell him just how things are. It can do no harm to tell a man like TASUKE." So one of them commenced: -" Really, TASUKE, we ought to be shamed of ourselves for acting in this way. But, to tell you the truth, master has given us fifteen ryo each to pretend to be wounded badly, in order to bring about the death of MATSUMAE GOROBEI. When he is killed we are to have another fifteen each. When that takes place we will feast you, TASUKE, so don't say a word about it, old chap." "Ah, you are lucky fellows!" said TASUKE, and left the house. He now went to the sake shop and, drawing up the form of a receipt for the amount of liquor purchased, made the owner of the shop affix his seal to the same. It ran as follows: -"Received the under-mentioned sum of sixteen sen six rin from ISSHIN TASUKE for five sho of sake, to be presented to certain sick persons in the nagaya of NAITO TOEMON." "You can fetch the empty tubs from the nagaya," said TASUKE, In great glee he now hastened to HIKOZAEMON'S house and related to him all that had happened. HIKOZAEMON reported the incident to the Shogun, and the Shogun immediately ordered that the case should be reconsidered by the Bugyo. Such a proceeding being of rare occurrence, and the persons concerned being well known, on the day appointed for the rehearing of the case, the court was crowded to overflowing, all the elite of Edo, and even the Shogun himself, being among those who were present on the occasion. The trial opened by one of the two city Bugyos, IYO-NO-KAMI informing GOROBEI that, owing to fresh evidence bearing on his case having been obtained, the case was to be reconsidered. TASUKE, being the chief witness, was the first to be called. On his entering the court, the audience bent forward, anxious to see what kind of a man he was who had been bold enough to declare that he would overturn the decision of the Bugyo. "You are said to be acquainted with the details of the affray between GOROBEI and the retainers of TOEMON," commenced the Bugyo; "please give an account. of the same." "Certainly;" replied TASUKE, "I will do so. But, being a man of low rank, I am not acquainted with the language that it is proper to use to such great personages as are here to-day. It may be that, in my ignorance I shall say some things that will sound impolite. If such is the case, your Honor will kindly pardon it." These words were no sooner out of TASUKE'S lips, than his countenance changed, and, looking fiercely at the Bugyo, he said: -"GOROBEI is a man whom I know very well. He is not the kind of person to quarrel with any one. The night on which he is said to have attacked TOEMON'S men, he was engaged with his accounts up to twelve o'clock; whereas the affray was said to have taken place at ten o'clock. Therefore the tale of TOEMON'S followers is manifestly false." Here, looking angrily at TASUKE, the Bugyo asked: -"Has not GOROBEI confessed to having done that of which he is accused, and has he not put his seal to the confession?" "Notwithstanding this," replied TASUKE, "I am prepared to show that he did not do that of which he is accused. Here are the accounts that he was making up that very night, which you can see for yourself. If this evidence suffices, well and good: if not, I have other, but the production of it would cause a great many people trouble and inconvenience, so that provided the case can be settled without it, I prefer not to produce it." When the Bugyo heard TASUKE speak of trouble being caused, he looked for a moment as though a nail had been driven into him, but, recollecting where he was and to the gaze of how many eyes he was exposed, the feeling was not allowed to manifest itself in the expression of his countenance for more than an instant. "Never mind that. Let us have the evidence," said the Bugyo. TASUKE commenced with the account of the fencing bout and gave a minute statement of all. that happened after. In the course of his evidence, just as he was approaching the subject of IYO-NO-KAMI and TOEMON'S relationship to each other, he commenced: -" TOEMON and IYO-NO-KAMI-" when he was suddenly interrupted. "Be silent," exclaimed the Bugyo. " This is the public court; and I am the Judge. How dare you speak of me as IYO-NO-KAMI?" "Did I not say," replied TASUKE, "just now that I should most probably speak impolitely? Very well, then I will say that on account of Mr. TOEMON being a relation of Mr. IYO-NO-KAMI-" "What-again? You rude fellow!" exclaimed the Bugyo. " Why do you mention my name in this court? The trial concerns you and GOROBEI, but not me. What business, then, have you to be talking about me?" Here MATSUDAIRA NOBUTSUNA, with a loud voice, said: -IYO-NO-KAMI! give place. This trial will be conducted by the other Bugyo, HlZEN-NO-KAMI. IYO-NO-KAMI retired, and the new judge took his place. HIZEN-NO-KAMI encouraged TASUKE to say all that he knew about the case. As TASUKE was giving his evidence, IYO-NO-KAMI'S face changed color some half a dozen times; now it was white, and now red. When the three men who had feigned to be sick came up to be examined, they affirmed that they did not know TASUKE in the least; and that they had not taken the sake. Whereupon, TASUKE produced the receipt for the latter, and suggested that the men's bodies should be examined. It was found that they had no marks of the wounds left anywhere on them. The three men, seeing that it was useless to try and conceal the truth any longer, confessed the plot. HIZEN-NO-KAMI ordered them to be shackled; and TOEMON and his two disciples to be sent to prison. IYO-NO-KAMI was degraded from office and placed in the charge of a hatamoto, pending further inquiry into the part he had taken in the plot. GOROBEI was acquitted. Before he was released, however, another charge was brought against him, which had been previously concocted by IYO-NO-KAMI, who, on hearing that TASUKE purposed overturning his decision, thought that it was just possible that his dishonesty would come to light and, in that case, that GORBEI would be set free. This, out of sheer enmity, he was desirous of preventing. So, he had prevously sent a man to search GOROBEI'S store-house, to find something whereby he might accuse him. There he found a box containing two suits of armor and two documents. One was written by the command of TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI, and the other by the command of TOKUGAWA IEYASU. In the former there was mention made of land yielding two thousand koku a year having been given to GOROBEI'S father for personal merit. The man who found these copied them word for word, and took the copies to IYO-NO-KAMI. " Ah," said he, "a townsman like GOROBEI, never obtained these by fair means. He has doubtless stolen them. "Accordingly, the charge of having in his possession articles which could not possibly belong to him, was brought against GOROBEI, and it came up for hearing just as he was declared innocent of the former charge. When the character of the- articles found was stated, HIZEN-NO-KAMI asked GOROBEI how he came by them. GOROBEI made no reply. "Come," said the judge, "this is quite another matter from that we have been considering. Here are documents from no less personages than IEYASU and HIDEYOSHI. If these are stolen, your guilt very great." "I cannot tell you anything about them," GOROBEI replied. IV. TASUKE now went to GOROBEI and said: -"If you do not give information about these things, all that HIKOZAEMON and I have accomplished so far will be rendered fruitless. How did you come by hem? Were they bought? Or did you get them as security for money lent? Or did you steal them?" " I cannot tell you anything about them; " persisted GOROBEI. So, as they could get no evidence out of him, GOROBEI was sent back to prison. On his way to the prison, by the connivance of the officer in charge, TASUKE was allowed to converse with GOROBEI. "It may be all very well for you said TASUKE, "to conceal the history of these articles, but if no information is given about them, then all that HIKOZAEMON has done will be of no use; and you must remember that HIKOZAEMON is not a relation of yours or a man on whom you have any claim. He took up your case because I asked him to do so; and now if you are condemned on account of this new affair, he will be ashamed of having espoused your cause. Surely this is not the way to treat a man who has befriended you." " Well, then," said GOROBEI, "I will tell you; but remember you are to keep the matter to yourself. One of the suits of armor was used by my father and came into my possession at his death: It has three bullet holes in it. The other was bought for my use by my father. As regards the documents, the one from TOYOTOMI was given to my father for having led a thousand troops in the forefront of the battle in the Oshu war. The second document was drawn up by command of IEYASU, and simply affirms that the statements made in the first are correct." He afterwards informed TASUKE of his belongings. " And " said he " a man called KISAKI BUMBEI is well acquainted with the history of my past life. But, he added, " I do not wish my family affairs made public. My reason for not revealing them in the court was that I did not wish to expose the folly and perversity of my step-mother; for, in doing this, I should have been indirectly exposing my father's mistake in marrying such a woman; and not this only, but the injustice of the officer who turned me out of my father's house, and, through him, the negligence of the Lord of Tsugaru in allowing such n unrighteous officer to remain in power. Rather than bring trouble on so many people, I will suffer the punishment they are pleased to appoint." TASUKE could not contain himself for joy at these disclosures. He danced about like a boy. And, after telling GOROBEI not to be discouraged and urging him to take good care of his health, he rushed off to HIKOZAEMON and related to him all that he had heard. When TASUKE arrived, HIKOZAEMON was feeling Very much disheartened by the failure of his efforts to release GORBEI; and so the news brought was most welcome to him. HIKOZAEMON ordered TASUKE to go to GOROBEI'S former home and find out everything that he could about his past history, so that they might have materials for showing that the fresh charges brought against him were as groundless as the former ones. Thinking it possible that TASUKE might be waylaid on the road, he ordered two expert swordsmen to accompany him. In the meantime, HIKOZAEMON sent to HIZEN-NO-KAMI informing him how things stood, and stating that evidence was being collected, which would be produced before very long. Whereupon HIZEN-NO-KAMI ordered that GOROBEI'S case stand over. While all this was going on, another plot against GOROBEI was being concocted. TOEMON'S son, TOJUOR, and TAKUMI'S son GENSHIRO, were talking over what had happened just after the trial was concluded. " If," said they, "TASUKE proves that the armor is GOROBEI'S property, then we are done for. Let us go to the store-house at night and burn the armor, and give out that GOROBEI'S wife burnt it to save her husband from being convicted of theft." The night before TASUKE left for Tsugaru, he went to GOROBEI'S house to bid farewell to GOROBEI'S wife. As he was going out of the house, he noticed a light in the godown. He examined the building and found that a hole had been cut in it. So he at once knew that there were thieves inside. Taking a mat, he stopped the hole through which the men had entered, and ran quickly to call for help. In a very few minutes, the store-house was surrounded by the neighbors and, while they kept guard, TASUKE went to the Bugyo and obtained thirty constables to arrest the thieves. No one cared to be the first to enter the store-house, not knowing how many men were inside nor how desperate they might be. TASUKE came forward and, saying: "Since I was the first to discover these rogues, I may as well be the first o arrest them," entered the building. He could not find anyone inside for a while, but, after searching for some time in the upper part of the building, he caught sight of a long box from which there projected a little bit of a man's coat. This he opened, and out sprung two men, who immediately drew their swords and attacked TASUKE. TASUKE had nothing more than a stick in his hands, but with this he warded off the blows of his assailants, and kept them at bay till the thirty constables who had been sent from the Bugyo came up and arrested them. The two young men were taken off to HIZEN-NO-KAMI. On their arrival at his house, he inquired of the officer that had charge of them what kind of men they were. Did they seem to be peasants, were they townsmen, or did they belong to the better class people? "They are no peasants," said the officer. "From what I hear, they are no other than TOEMON'S son, TOJURO, and a companion of his, FUJITA GENSHIRO. The Bugyo, after ascertaining that such was the case, gave directions that they should both be poisoned. His reason for acting thus was that he did not wish the name of a hatamoto to be disgraced by the disclosures which at a public trial must have taken place: he thought, too, that, for the sake of the families to which the two men belonged, it was preferable to conceal from the public the nature of their crime, and to let it be known only that they had died in prison. The Bugyo now had GOROBEI called, and inquired of him whether what he had disclosed in reference to the two sets of armor, the documents, and his family vas correct. GOROBEI, after giving his reasons for revealing the same, said that there was no mistake whatever about it. The Bugyo now despatched a letter to ETCHU-NO-KAMI, the Baron of Tsugaru, requesting him to send down to Edo GOROBEI'S Step-mother NAO, her daughter, and son-in-law (for, though we have not mentioned the fact, son-in-law she had), and informing him of the interest that even the Shogun was taking in GOROBEI'S case. In due time the party arrived in Edo, and they and GOROBEI confronted each other for the first time in the Court of Justice, on the occasion of an official inquiry, conducted before the Shogun and most of the chief officers of the city and numerous barons. " Now," said the judge to GOROBEI, " repeat the statement you made to mc a little time ago in the presence of your relations." GOROBEI hesitated a little, feeling that it would be unfilial of him to act towards his mother in the way he was commanded to do; but, on being pressed by the Bugyo, he consented. After he had finished, the Bugyo asked NAO whether what he had said was correct. She affirmed that it was not. "And," said she, " GOROBEI is a very bad man. His father knew that he was not fit to succeed to his estates, so, before his death he asked me to look out for a good husband for my daughter and to make her husband the heir of his estates. Of this I have evidence in the form of a document left by GOROZAEMON." Here she produced a paper, which the Bugyo took, and showed to ETCHU-NO-KAMI, who was present on the occasion. On being asked whether the writing was GOROZAEMON'S or not, ETCHU-NO-KAMI affirmed that it was. " Then you have been deceiving us;" said the Bugyo to GOROBEI. V. GOROBEI, as the reader will have gathered from what has been already said, was extremely weak in disposition; and his many reverses, coming one after another, had made him think that some cruel fate, from which it was useless to try to escape, was pursuing him: for as soon as he got free from one charge, was not another brought up? He despaired of saving his life, and therefore now, when thus addressed by the Bugyo, simply bowed his head and said: -" I have no excuse to offer for my conduct." The usu2tl document, was drawn up, and GOROBEI'S finger, after having been dipped into the ink, was stretched out ready for sealing the confession, -and so sealing his fate, which was death by decapitation-when a voice from' one of the audience was heard-"Watt wait! there is more evidence to come yet." The voice was that of HIKOZAEMON. "No, no," replied IZU-NO-KAMI. " There is no object in waiting." " I have sent TASUKE to search for one BUMBEI, who knows GOROBEI'S history well," replied HIKOZAEMON; "please wait at any rate till he returns. In the administration of public justice, that which demands investigation should be investigated to the utmost limits. It is only after truth and falsehood have been clearly distinguished from each other by every possible means, that those who are worthy of condemnation should be condemned and those who are innocent should be declared so. If this be not done, the administration of justice is sure to miscarry. For this reason I beg that you will wait." "What you say is very true," replied IZU-NO-KAMI. " Before men are condemned, minute inquiry should be made; but as we do not know where BUMBEI is, and as ETCHU-NO-KAMI declares that the document which NAO has produced was written by GOROZAEMON, there is nothing to wait for!' "To me it seems," interposed the Shogun (who spoke from behind a screen which entirely hid him from view), " that what HIKOZAEMON says is perfectly reasonable. If BUMBEI is acquainted with details which affect the case, then, though there may be difficulty in finding him, he ought to be sought for throughout the length and breadth of the land. To rely only on such evidence as is at hand and easily procured, and to neglect to collect what is distant and difficult to obtain, is not the right way of administering public justice. Judgment on the case must be postponed." Thus ended that day's proceedings. In the meanwhile, TASUKE and his two companions had set out for Tsugaru. They had heard that BUMBEI was in Hirosaki, and therefore were intending to go to that town first, but when they got near Koga, a place on the high road to Nikko, just as they were sitting down to have a pipe under the shade of the pine-trees planted along the road-side, they noticed that not far from them sat a man that evidently was on his way to Edo. Like themselves, he had also stopped to have a smoke. They asked him for a light and got into conversation with him: They found out that he had come from Hirosaki. On being asked whether he knew KISAKI BUMBEI, the man replied that he did. " But," said he, -" he is not in Hirosaki now. He is gone to Nikko, and is living in Tera-machi there." Hearing this, the three men set off for Nikko. They searched about in various parts of the village, but could hear nothing of any such person as BUMBEI. They began to think that the man whom they met at Koga had deceived them for some reason or other. At any rate they concluded that it was useless searching further in Nikko, so they agreed to go elsewhere. They went to the posting station and ordered horses, and, telling the people there that they were in a great hurry, mounted their steeds and, setting off at a rapid pace, were soon out of the village. Just as they had cleared the village, they met a priest on horseback. Frightened by the rapid way in which the three horses were approaching, or by the dress of the riders, the priest's horse turned round and ran off at a great rate. The priest; who was getting up in years, fell off, and, as the road lay between two rice-fields and was very narrow, he alighted on his head in one of the rice-fields beneath and was stunned. The three men stopped, picked the old priest up, and gave him all kinds of restoratives to bring him round. At last he revived and they took him back to the posting station. Here they were detained by the authorities till the priest had properly recovered from the effects of his fall. This occupied about half the day. As it was noon, they thought that, before starting on their journey, they would have their dinner. So they went to a small hotel near and sat down to dine, when who should turn up but the old priest. He had come to thank them for their kindness to him. After doing this, he asked them where they were going, and TASUKE told him that they were in search of one KISAKI BUMBEI. The old man smiled and said: -" I am he." He told them that he had been searching for GOROBEI for nineteen years, and that he had become a priest to enable him to travel from place to place without creating suspicion. The joy of both the seeker and the sought knew no bounds. They all set off in post haste to Edo, and TASUKE landed his charge safe in HIKOZAEMON'S house. HIIKOZAEMON was afraid that attempts might be made on the life of a man whose evidence was expected to affect GOROBEI'S case so materially. He therefore kept BUMBEI by his side night and day; and, old as HIKOZAEMON was, he would have defended his guest against all comers. On the 2lst of October, A.D. 1627, GOROBEI'S case came up for hearing again. Though the events which we have described above took some time to occur, yet the interest in the case had not flagged during the interval. And now the news of the arrival of the man who had been waited for so long, intensified the excitement that existed. Sot on the above mentioned day, the Shogun and all the chief government officers, clad in their robes of State, assembled in the Court House. Elevated on a high seat at the back, behind a screen, sat IEMITSU; in front of him, but on a lower elevation, sat the three great lords of Kii, Owari, and Mito; beneath them MATSUDAIRA, IZU-NO-KAMI, a State-councilor; and beneath him again the Bugyo. Facing the Bugyo, on the one side, were the plaintiffs, and on the other, the defendants. BUMBEI did not enter the court until he was summoned. After everyone had taken his place the summons was given. All eyes were anxiously turned to the door by which he was to enter, the spectators being eager to see what kind of a man he was that had been waited for so long, and whose evidence it was asserted would upset the decision of the former court. They were all taken aback when an old emaciated priest made his appearance at the door. On entering, BUMBEI went at once to GOROBEI and, taking his sleeve in his hand, with tears in his eyes, said: -"It Is a long, long time since we met. How you have changed! I should hardly know you." After watching the two for some little time, HIZEN-NO-KAMI stated to BUMBEI that, through the evidence given by NAO, GOROBEI had already been condemned to death, but that, at the request of HIKOZAEMON, his execution had been delayed. "As you are said to be in possession of evidence bearing on the case," said the Bugyo, " we are now assembled to hear what you have to say." VI. " I have known," commenced BUMBEI, "this GOROBEI from his childhood, and I can testify that he is an honest man, and that he has always been most filial to his parents. That his wife would after his death seize his property and give it to her son-in-law, was foreseen by GOROZAEMON, and therefore it vas that in his last illness he called me to his bedside and requested me to see to it that his son GOROBEI was made heir to his estates." BUMBEI now produced the document entrusted to him by GOROZAEMON, the contents of which are given above. The Bugyo took the document, looked at it narrowly, and handed it to IZU-NO-KAMI; and he, after inspecting it, passed it on to ETCHU-NO-KAMI. After they had all examined it, they waited to see what the Bugyo would say; but he did not seem to know what to say, so IZU-NO-KAMI came forward and addressed NAO as follows: -" The document that you presented to us some time ago is a forgery. This is evident by comparing it with the one that BUMBEI has furnished us. Yours has been made up by copying single characters from GOROZAEMON'S writing. That it has been so composed, is made apparent by the characters not running into each other." It is necessary to say here that such documents are usually written in one of the two running hands known as sosho and gyosho; so that, when written properly one character is joined to another. This it would be difficult to imitate when copying a special handwriting, where the characters copied were found in different combinations. "GOROBEI'S document," continued IZU-NO-KAMI, "though penned when GOROZAEMON was sick, was evidently written right off by one hand at one time, as there are no breaks in it whatever. Have you anything to say in reply to this?" NAO was silent. "Then you are guilty of having attempted to impose on the court by falsehood?" Still there was no reply. A written confession of her crime was drawn up and sealed by her own hand. GOROBEI and BUMBEI were placed in charge of HIKOZAEMON. NAO, her daughter, and son-in-law were all condemned to death, but, through the intercession of GOROBEI, the sentence was changed to banishment. They were all sent to Hachijo, where they ended their days in obscurity and disgrace. The three men who pretended to be wounded, were also banished to a distant place. As for TOEMON, TANOMO, and TAKUMI, the Bugyo announced that their case would be settled later on. These three men, owing to their rank, were not confined in the common prison, but placed in what was called in those days an "agariya," a house specially set apart for the confinement of better class prisoners. Here they were strictly guarded, and not allowed to go out anywhere. One day, as they were talking to each other about the course of events, one of them remarked: -" There is little doubt that we shall have to die, and as we have disgraced the name of hatamoto by our conduct, shall we not endeavor to kill GOROBEI before dying ourselves? So shall we do something to wipe off the reproach that we have brought on our profession and our families." This the others fell in with; and the plan they concocted for accomplishing their Purpose was as follows: They bribed one of the guards to take a letter to MIZUNO JUBEI, a friend of TOEMON'S, asking him to procure GOROBEI by some means or other and send him to them. JUBEI was not only a friend of TOEMON'S; he was a man who was extremely jealous of the reputation of a hatamoto, and so, actuated by true esprit de cops, he was determined to do what he could to comply with TOEMON'S request, though it might cost him his life. JUBEI knew that HIKOZAEMON would not easily part with his charge. So he had a coffin prepared, which he ordered his servants to carry to HIKOZAEMON'S gate. Before he left his home he said to his family: -" I am now going to HIKOZAEMON'S house on important business, and it may be that I shall not come back alive. I have therefore had a coffin sent on to bring back my corpse in case I die there." JUBEI set out on horseback for HIKOZAEMON'S house. On reaching it, he made his request, telling HIKOZAEMON plainly that, unless he was prepared to grant it, he (JUBEI) had made up his mind to kill him and commit suicide.  "I am not at liberty," replied HIKOZAMON, " to do as I please with GOROBEI. He is entrusted to me by the authorities, and I may not deliver him up unless commanded to do so by them. Even supposing that they should agree to his being handed over to his enemies, what credit would there be in three strong men all setting on a poor weak emaciated creature, that is little better than a ghost, and killing him? If they want to do anything of this kind, let them kill his son GOSUKE. 1 will procure him for you, if you please." This satisfied JUBEI, and he conveyed the information without delay to TOEMON. HIKOZAEMON was determined to put these three men to shame, and make them reap the fruits of their own folly right on to the bitter end. So he concocted a plan for bringing about their destruction in a way that would be considered as honorable to his own party as humiliating to their foes. He called GOSUKE and told him what he had agreed to; "and," said he, "don't you be killed quietly by these fellows, fight it out with them; and unless I am much mistaken, you will come off victorious, But you must be trained in fencing for some time yet." HIKOZAEMON now informed JUBEI that he had communicated to GOSUKE what they had agreed to, and that GOSUKE had said that, as his father could not last much longer, he would like to be present at his death before dying himself. JUBEI from time to time asked HIKOZAEMON whether GOSUKE was not ready; but from time to time he was put off, and this went on till six months had elapsed after the matter had been decided on. All this while GOSUKE had been learning fencing from morning to night. Three of HIKOZAEMON'S best fencing masters had been giving him instruction. At the end of the time, HIKOZAEMON thought that there was no mistake about GOSUKE'S being a match for the three men; but as he did not wish him to be killed, he told TASUKE to go with him into the fencing ring, and, if he saw that he was in danger, to help him. HIKOZAEMON reported to the Bugyo what he purposed doing; and the Bugyo gave his consent to the holding of a public match. Accordingly, on June 25th A.D. 1628, the combat took place, the fencing ring being formed at Namiki, Asakusa. The Bugyo (HIZEN-NO-KAMl) and a number of his subordinates were present to see fair play. HIKOZAEMON and JUBEI were also there, and a large crowd of less noted spectators. When the preparations were complete, the three men all entered the lists together, dressed in the white clothes which it is customary for such persons to wear on these occasions. From the opposite side entered GOSUKE, also dressed in white. When the drum, which in this country corresponded to the trumpets of the heralds in ancient European tournaments, gave the signal for the commencement of the fight, the three men walked into the centre of the ring, and GOSUKE advanced to meet them. For a moment the combatants eyed each other, and as they did it, TOEMON said to GOSUKE: -"You are a fortunate townsman, to be privileged to die by the hand of a hatamoto." Without further parley, the three men rushed at GOSUKE with the intention of cutting him in two at one stroke; but he warded off the blows and commenced to fight in right earnest: now cutting, now guarding, now leaping from one side of the ring to the other, to escape the thrusts of his antagonists' swords. The three men first combined in an attack on GOSUKE in front, but finding this not answer, they separated, TOEMON attacking him in front and his two assistants from the side. The latter thought to kill him with a side stroke. When the spectators saw this, they exclaimed: -" It is all up with him." But in an instant GOSUKE sprang away and thus avoided all three strokes at once. No sooner did he ward off one blow, however, than another came. TOEMON grew furious. "This mean fellow! - parrying our blows in this war; he makes me mad," exclaimed the hatamolo, as he commenced to assault GOSUKE afresh. GOSUKE kept cool and was proof against all attempts to cut him down. When blows were high, he stooped and allowed them to pass over his head; when low, he leaped up in the air and let them go under his feet. The skill and rapidity of his movements are said to have resembled those of YOSHITSUNE of old. The flashing of the swords of the combatants was like lightning. The spectators perspired with excitement, and held their breath in anxious suspense. Attack after attack did GOSUKE repel, but by degrees he showed signs of fatigue, and the discerning eyes of some of the spectators perceived that, unless speedy assistance were given him, he would fall a victim to his foes-a fate which most of those present would have deplored. Voices from the crowd were heard: -"TASUKE! TASUKE! be quick! don't let them kill him!" TASUKE had entered the ring with GOSUKE, but hitherto had kept out of the way. But thinking now that the spectators were right in supposing GOSUKE to be in danger, he took one of the dirks which he had concealed in his bosom, and threw it at TANOMO just as he had his arm uplifted to made another cut at GOSUKE. TASUKE was skilled in dirk throwing; so his aim was sure, and the weapon entered the arm of the assailant and at once it dropped powerless to his side. TOEMON saw this, and he at once ran over to cut TASUKE down, but TASUKE in an instant had another dirk ready, which he hurled at TOEMON, striking out his left eye. TOEMON fell to the ground. TAKUMI now came to attack TASUKE, but he too received a dirk, which entered deep into his thigh. While all this was going on, GOSUKE was not idle. No sooner had the dirk entered TANOMO'S arm than he was felled to the ground by GOSUKE'S sword and killed. TOEMON, on his falling, shared the same fate. So that when TAKUMI received the dirk wound he vas the only one left to oppose GOSUKE: he was instantaneously despatched. Thus fell all GOSUKE'S foes. VII. When the fight was over, GOSUKE walked up to the place where the Bugyo was seated, and, kneeling down before him, said: -"I, a townsman, have committed the great sin of killing three hatamoto. It is unnecessary for me to say that whatever punishment you are pleased to appoint I shall willingly undergo." "Your case will be considered, and you will hear from us in a day or two," replied the Bugyo. " In the meantime you are placed in charge of HIKOZAEMON." HIKOZAEMON, TASUKE, and GOSUKE all left the ring together. The report of what the two men had accomplished had reached the crowd outside, and, with shouts of applause, they accompanied the little party to HIKOZAEMON'S house. Here the three men and their friends all sat down to a great feast which HIKOZAEMON had, in anticipation of the result, prepared for them. On the twenty-eight of June, a letter from MATSUDAIRA IZUNO-KAMI reached HIKOZAEMON, commanding that, on the following day at 9 a.m., HIKOZAEMON should conduct MATSUMAE GOSUKE to the Shogun's castle, specifying what clothes the latter was to put on, and adding that he was to wear two swords in his belt. The letter was signed by HOTTA SAGAMI-NO-KAMI, KUGA YAMATO-NO-KAMI, and MATSUDAIRA IZU-NO-KAMI. HIKOZAEMON wept tears of joy when this letter arrived. I have been exerting myself all this time on behalf of GOROBEI," said he, "and at last I am rewarded. This is no ordinary letter. GOSUKE will be made a hatamoto, or one of the Shogun's retainers, to-morrow, as sure as I am alive. Then he will no longer be the GOSUKE that we now know, but another man: my rank and his will be alike." HIKOZAEMON called GOROBEI and told him of all the honor that was in store for his son. " The Shogun's kindness to you is higher than heaven and deeper than the sea," said HIKOZAEMON. GOROBEI thanked HIKOZAEMON in a somewhat absent manner for the help he had given him, but said little besides. They all awaited ill anxious expectation the events of the following day. The next morning at the appointed time, HIKOZAEMON and GOSUKE went to the castle. On their arrival, they found the three officers above named prepared to receive them. They were informed that the Shogun was extremely pleased at the way in which GOSUKE had shown his filial piety in becoming a substitute for his father and in consenting to deliver himself up to his parent's enemies, and at the valor he had displayed in killing the three hatamoto, and that on this account he had exalted him to the rank of a hatamoto, and had given orders that land valued at two thousand koku a year and a house in Tera-machi, Ushigome, be assigned to him. The Shogun proposed to increase the annual income of OKUBO HIIKOZAEMON in consideration of his services on this occasion. But the latter refused to take anything for what he had done. The Shogun, however, induced him to accept a present of two swords; made by the famous swordsmith KUNIMITSU, and a dress suit of clothes in memory of the part he had taken in the case. HIKOZAEMON mounted GOSUKE on a horse and took him around to all the great barons, for the purpose of acquainting them with his new appointment and of paying his respects to them. The two then went home and told GOROBEI all that had occurred. GOROBEI had been in prison a long time, and had suffered very much from the effects of the torture to which he had been subjected. His nervous, system was undermined; his whole physical frame disorganized; his mental powers, too, had been very much weakened by the intense anxiety of the preceding six or eight months. When the news of GOSUKE'S appointment, therefore, was conveyed to him, he suddenly stood up, a thing he had not been able to do since he came out of prison, uttered a few somewhat incoherent words, signifying the delight which the new had produced in his mind, and then dropped dead to the ground. The sudden change from shame and trouble to such undreamt of success and honor, was too much for him. He fell a victim to the misfortunes of his life. The next day, TASUKE was summoned to the Bugyo's office and informed that since he had exerted himself so much on GOROBEI'S behalf, it had been decided to give him GOROBEI'S house and ground. TASUKE thanked the Bugyo, but declined the gift. "-SHlROBEl," said he, "has had the management of GOROBEI'S business for a long time, and he has shown great diligence an d trustworthiness in the pot that he has occupied. "I should like him to be rewarded, so please give him the house and the land. It was not for gain that I assisted GOROBEI, but because I knew that his cause was a just one. TASUKE was subsequently made manager of the Shogun's stables, an office which suited his tastes and disposition. KISAKI BUMBEI had a temple erected for him in Hirosaki, where he worshipped the spirits of the house of MATSUMAE GOROBEI. GOSUKE took his mother to his new house in Tera-machi and passed the rest of his days in prosperity, becoming extremely popular among his fellow hatamoto. IYO-NO-KAMI, on hearing that his daughter had committed suicide owing to the misfortunes brought on the family by her father's and husband's folly, and overcome with vexation at the contempt with which he was regarded on account of his recent conduct, followed her to the grave, destroying himself in the orthodox fashion. So ends the story of "THE TRIUMPH OF RIGHT OVER MIGHT." " Nothing could be more admirable than the noble, disinterested way in which perfect strangers to GOROBEI took up his cause and defended it to the very last. It is most gratifying, too, to see the Shogun interfering on behalf of persecuted innocence, and rejoicing at the downfall of his own hatamoto, fully convinced that their destruction was the result of their crimes. 
THE END.