of a heinous crime, he has been sentenced to death in the castle-town.  With fear and trembling we recognize the justice of his sentence.  But in the matter of his wife and children, she is but a woman, and they are so young and innocent that they cannot distinguish the east from the west:  we pray that in your great clemency you will remit their sin, and give them up to the representatives of the one hundred and thirty-six villages, for which we shall be ever grateful.  We, the elders of the villages, know not to what extent we may be transgressing in presenting this memorial.  We were all guilty of affixing our seals to the former petition; but Sogoro, who was chief of a large district, producing a thousand kokus of revenue, and was therefore a man of experience, acted for the others; and we grieve that he alone should suffer for all.  Yet in his case we reverently admit that there can be no reprieve.  For his wife and children, however, we humbly implore your gracious mercy and consideration.

“Signed by the elders of the villages of the estate, the 2d year of Shoho, and the 2d month.”

Having drawn up this memorial, the hundred and thirty-six elders, with Zembei at their head, proceeded to the Court-house to present the petition, and found the various officers seated in solemn conclave.  Then the clerk took the petition, and, having opened it, read it aloud; and the councillor, Ikeura Kazuye, said—­

“The petition which you have addressed to us is worthy of all praise.  But you must know that this is a matter which is no longer within our control.  The affair has been reported to the Government; and although the priests of my lord’s ancestral temple have interceded for Sogoro, my lord is so angry that he will not listen even to them, saying that, had he not been one of the Gorojiu, he would have been in danger of being ruined by this man:  his high station alone saved him.  My lord spoke so severely that the priests themselves dare not recur to the subject.  You see, therefore, that it will be no use your attempting to take any steps in the matter, for most certainly your petition will not be received.  You had better, then, think no more about it.”  And with these words he gave back the memorial.

Zembei and the elders, seeing, to their infinite sorrow, that their mission was fruitless, left the Court-house, and most sorrowfully took counsel together, grinding their teeth in their disappointment when they thought over what the councillor had said as to the futility of their attempt.  Out of grief for this, Zembei, with Hanzayemon and Heijiuro, on the 11th day of the 2d month (the day on which Sogoro and his wife and children suffered), left Ewaradai, the place of execution, and went to the temple Zenkoji, in the province of Shinshiu, and from thence they ascended Mount Koya in Kishiu, and, on the 1st day of the 8th month, shaved their heads and became priests; Zembei changed his name to Kakushin, and Hanzayemon changed his to Zensho: