that he may then have served out his time
for the attempt to leave Japan, and was now resigned to the provincial
Government on a lesser count, as a Ronyin or feudal rebel. But, however
that may be, the change was of great importance to Yoshida; for by the
influence of his admirers in the Daimio's council, he was allowed the
privilege, underhand, of dwelling in his own house. And there, as well
to keep up communication with his fellow-reformers as to pursue his work
of education, he received boys to teach. It must not be supposed that he
was free; he was too marked a man for that; he was probably assigned to
some small circle, and lived, as we should say, under police
surveillance; but to him, who had done so much from under lock and key,
this would seem a large and profitable liberty.

It was at this period that Mr. Masaki was brought into personal contact
with Yoshida; and hence, through the eyes of a boy of thirteen, we get
one good look at the character and habits of the hero. He was ugly and
laughably disfigured with the small-pox; and while nature had been so
niggardly with him from the first, his personal habits were even
sluttish. His clothes were wretched; when he ate or washed he wiped his
hands upon his sleeves; and as his hair was not tied more than once in
the two months it was often disgusting to behold. With such a picture,
it is easy to believe that he never married. A good teacher, gentle in
act, although violent and abusive in speech, his lessons were apt to go
over the heads of his scholars, and to leave them gaping, or more often
laughing. Such was his passion for study that he even grudged himself
natural repose; and when he grew drowsy over his books he would, if it
was summer, put mosquitoes up his sleeve; and, if it was winter, take
off his shoes and run barefoot on the snow. His handwriting was
exceptionally villainous; poet though he was, he had no taste for what
was elegant; and in a country where to write beautifully was not the
mark of a scrivener but an admired accomplishment for gentlemen, he
suffered his letters to be jolted out of him by the press of matter and
the heat of his convictions. He would not tolerate even the appearance
of a bribe; for bribery lay at the root of much that was evil in Japan,
as well as in countries nearer home; and once when a merchant brought
him his son to educate, and added, as was customary[5], a little private
sweetener, Yoshida dashed the money in the give