was put a
stop to, and the following instructions were sent to Goto Yamato no
Kami and Midzuno Setsu no Kami--

"With reference to the affair of Hotta Kotsuke no Suke, lord of
the castle of Sakura, in Shimosa, whose quarrel with Sakai
Iwami no Kami within the castle of Yedo ended in bloodshed. For
this heinous crime and disregard of the sanctity of the castle,
it is ordered that Kotsuke no Suke be brought as a prisoner to
Yedo, in a litter covered with nets, that his case may be
judged.

"2d year of Keian, 2d month.
(_Signed by the Gorojiu_) INABA MINO NO KAMI.
INOUYE KAWACHI NOKAMI.
KATO ECCHIU NO KAMI."

Upon the receipt of this despatch, Hotta Kotsuke no Suke was
immediately placed in a litter covered with a net of green silk, and
conveyed to Yedo, strictly guarded by the retainers of the two
nobles; and, having arrived at the capital, was handed over to the
charge of Akimoto Tajima no Kami. All his retainers were quietly
dispersed; and his empty castle was ordered to be thrown open, and
given in charge to Midzuno Iki no Kami.

At last Kotsuke no Suke began to feel that the death of his wife and
his own present misfortunes were a just retribution for the death of
Sogoro and his wife and children, and he was as one awakened from a
dream. Then night and morning, in his repentance, he offered up
prayers to the sainted spirit of the dead farmer, and acknowledged and
bewailed his crime, vowing that, if his family were spared from ruin
and re-established, intercession should be made at the court of the
Mikado,[69] at Kiyoto, on behalf of the spirit of Sogoro, so that,
being worshipped with even greater honours than before, his name
should be handed down to all generations.

[Footnote 69: In the days of Shogun's power, the Mikado remained the
Fountain of Honour, and, as chief of the national religion and the
direct descendant of the gods, dispensed divine honours.]

In consequence of this it happened that the spirit of Sogoro having
relaxed in its vindictiveness, and having ceased to persecute the
house of Hotta, in the 1st month of the 4th year of Keian, Kotsuke no
Suke received a summons from the Shogun, and, having been forgiven,
was made lord of the castle of Matsuyama, in the province of Dewa,
with a revenue of twenty thousand kokus. In the same year, on the 20th
day of the 4th mon