the Government, who took counsel together how they might restore
peace. As the Hatamotos were directly under the orders of the Shogun,
it was no difficult matter to put them down: the hard question to
solve was how to put a restraint upon the great Daimios. However, one
of the Gorôjin,[17] named Matsudaira Idzu no Kami, a man of great
intelligence, hit upon a plan by which he might secure this end.

[Footnote 17: The first Council of the Shogun's ministers; literally,
"assembly of imperial elders."]

There was at this time in the service of the Shogun a physician, named
Nakarai Tsusen, who was in the habit of frequenting the palace of my
Lord Kunaishôyu, and who for some time past had been treating him for
the disease from which he was suffering. Idzu no Kami sent secretly
for this physician, and, summoning him to his private room, engaged
him in conversation, in the midst of which he suddenly dropped his
voice and said to him in a whisper--

"Listen, Tsusen. You have received great favours at the hands of the
Shogun. The Government is now sorely straitened: are you willing to
carry your loyalty so far as to lay down your life on its behalf?"

"Ay, my lord; for generations my forefathers have held their property
by the grace of the Shogun. I am willing this night to lay down my
life for my Prince, as a faithful vassal should."

"Well, then, I will tell you. The great Daimios and the Hatamotos
have fallen out about this affair of Matagorô, and lately it has
seemed as if they meant to come to blows. The country will be
agitated, and the farmers and townsfolk suffer great misery, if we