history of japan - Library

could not have accomplished their purpose.
6. The law forbade confederacies and the taking of oaths,
yet that they harboured no malice against the Shōgun was
apparent from the quiet and peaceable manner in which
they had surrendered the Castle of Akō in the previous
year, and there was no doubt that nothing but absolute
necessity had led to their forming a confederacy (in
defiance of the law).
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The report ended with a recommendation that the rōnin
should be left permanently under the charge of the Daimyō
to whom they had already been respectively consigned. It
bore the seal and signature of every member of the
Hyōjōsho (High Court), of the three Temple Magistrates, of
the four Chief Censors, of the three City Magistrates, and of
the four Finance Magistrates. The Shōgun Tsunayoshi
himself was really anxious to save the lives of these men,
but even he, in such a case as this, could not set aside the
claims of the law. If the Princely Abbot of Uyeno had
interceded for them, he would have been heard, and
Tsunayoshi did go so far as to see His Eminence and
indirectly hint that such a course on his part would be
appreciated. But the Abbot either did not understand or did
not choose to do so, and so the law had to take its course.
On the forenoon of 20th March, 1703, each of the four
Daimyō abovementioned received notice from the Great