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CHAPTER XXV.
SEEKERS AFTER GOD.
npHE castle in Fukui, begun in the twelfth cent-
-L ury, enlarged in the sixteenth, and again re-
planned in the eighteenth by Iye*yasu himself, and,
rebuilt by his son, occupied the larger portion of the
city. It was surrounded by a triple line of stone
walls surmounted by ramparts and surrounded by
moats or ditches, which were fed by three streams
coming in from the north, all emptying
into the
large river which flows along the front of the city.
In this manner the moats were kept full of clean,
bright running water.
If we cross the drawbridge of the castle and enter
the main part of the citadel, we shall find that there
is in progress a large school which is devoted to the
mastery of the native literature, to the Chinese char-
acters, and also to the Dutch, the only foreign language
then studied by progressive samurai. If we
enter this school in the early part of the year 1859
we shall find our old friend Honda Jiro. He is no
longer a would-be destroyer of foreigners, but apparently
only a commonplace teacher. The schoolroom
consists of a large apartment, covered on the
floor with mats. On these mats young men are kneel-
ing, or rather sitting upon their heels, before a low
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