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 month, the Shogun, Prince Iyemitsu, was pleased to depart this life, at the age of forty-eight; and whether by the forgiving spirit of the prince, or by the divine interposition of the sainted Sogoro, Kotsuke no Suke was promoted to the castle of Utsu no Miya, in the province of Shimotsuke, with a revenue of eighty thousand kokus; and his name was changed to Hotta Hida no Kami.  He also received again his original castle of Sakura, with a revenue of twenty thousand kokus:  so that there can be no doubt that the saint was befriending him.  In return for these favours, the shrine of Sogoro was made as beautiful as a gem.  It is needless to say how many of the peasants of the estate flocked to the shrine:  any good luck that might befall the people was ascribed to it, and night and day the devout worshipped at it.

Here follows a copy of the petition which Sogoro presented to the Shogun—­

“We, the elders of the hundred and thirty-six villages of the district of Chiba, in the province of Shimosa, and of the district of Buji, in the province of Kadzusa, most reverently offer up this our humble petition.

“When our former lord, Doi Shosho, was transferred to another castle, in the 9th year of the period Kanye, Hotta Kaga no Kami became lord of the castle of Sakura; and in the 17th year of the same period, my lord Kotsuke no Suke succeeded him.  Since that time the taxes laid upon us have been raised in the proportion of one to and two sho to each koku.[70]