is the proper and becoming sort of speech for the occasion.  If the prisoner entrusts them with any message, the retainers should receive it in such a manner as to set his mind at rest.  Should he ask for writing materials in order to write a letter, as this is forbidden by the law, they should tell him so, and not grant his request.  Still they must feel that it is painful to refuse the request of a dying man, and must do their best to assist him.  They must exhaust every available kindness and civility, as was done in the period Genroku, in the case of the Ronins of Asano Takumi no Kami.  The Prince of Higo, after the sentence had been read, caused paper and writing materials to be taken to their room.  If the prisoner is light-headed from excitement, it is no use furnishing him with writing materials.  It must depend upon circumstances; but when a man has murdered another, having made up his mind to abide by the consequences, then that man’s execution should be carried through with all honour.  When a man kills another on the spot, in a fit of ungovernable passion, and then is bewildered and dazed by his own act, the same pains need not be taken to conduct matters punctiliously.  If the prisoner be a careful man, he will take an early opportunity after he has been given in charge to express his wishes.  To carry kindness so far as to supply writing materials and the like is not obligatory.  If any doubt exists upon the point, the chief witness may be consulted.

After the Ronins of Asano Takumi no Kami had heard their sentence in the palace of Matsudaira Oki no Kami, that Daimio in person went and took leave of them, and calling Oishi Chikara,[110] the son of their chief, to him, said, “I have heard that your mother is at home in your own country; how she will grieve when she hears of your death and that of your father, I can well imagine.  If you have any message that you wish to leave for her, tell me, without standing upon ceremony, and I will transmit it without delay.”  For a while Chikara kept his head bent down towards the ground; at last he drew back a little, and, lifting his head, said, “I humbly thank your lordship for what you have been pleased to say.  My father warned me from the first that our crime was so great that, even were we to be pardoned by a gracious judgment upon one count, I must not forget that there would be a hundred million counts against us for which we must commit suicide:  and that if I disregarded his words his hatred would pursue me after death.  My father impressed this upon me at the temple called Sengakuji, and again when I was separated from him to be taken to the palace of Prince Sengoku.  Now my father and myself have been condemned to perform hara-kiri, according to the wish of our hearts.  Still I cannot forget to think of my mother.  When we parted at Kiyoto, she told me that our separation would be for long, and she bade me not to play the coward when I thought of her.  As I took a long leave of her then, I have no message to send to her now.”  When he spoke thus, Oki no Kami and all his retainers, who were drawn up around him, were moved to tears in admiration of his heroism.