a Daimio on account of disgrace_.--When a
Daimio had been guilty of treason or offended against the Tycoon,
inasmuch as the family was disgraced, and an apology could neither be
offered nor accepted, the offending Daimio was condemned to
_hara-kiri_. Calling his councillors around him, he confided to them
his last will and testament for transmission to the Tycoon. Then,
clothing himself in his court dress, he disembowelled himself, and cut
his own throat. His councillors then reported the matter to the
Government, and a coroner was sent to investigate it. To him the
retainers handed the last will and testament of their lord, and be
took it to the Gorojiu (first council), who transmitted it to the
Tycoon. If the offence was heinous, such as would involve the ruin of
the whole family, by the clemency of the Tycoon, half the property
might be confiscated, and half returned to the heir; if the offence
was trivial, the property was inherited intact by the heir, and the
family did not suffer.

In all cases where the criminal disembowels himself of his own accord
without condemnation and without investigation, inasmuch as he is no
longer able to defend himself, the offence is considered as
non-proven, and the property is not confiscated. In the year 1869 a
motion was brought forward in the Japanese parliament by one Ono
Seigoro, clerk of the house, advocating the abolition of the practice
of _hara-kiri_. Two hundred members out of a house of 209 voted
against the motion, which was supported by only three speakers, six
members not voting on either side. In this debate the _seppuku, or
hara-kiri_, was called "the very shrine of the Japanese national
spirit, and the embodiment in practice of devotion to principle," "a
great ornament to the empire," "a pillar of the constitution," "a
valuable institution, tending to the honour of the nobles, and based
on a compassionate feeling towards the official caste," "a pillar of
religion and a spur to virtue." The whole debate (which is well worth
reading, and an able translation of which by Mr. Aston has appeared in
a recent Blue Book) shows the affection with which the Japanese cling
to the traditions of a chivalrous past. It is worthy of notice that
the proposer, Ono Seigoro, who on more than one occasion rendered
himself conspicuous by introducing motions based upon an admiration of
our Western civilization, was murdered not long after this debate took
place.

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