Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-28

hoppers trusting in the strength of their
arms, and thus shame our honored lord
but We could not halt in our deed of VEN
geance. Having taken counsel together
last night we have escorted my Lord Kot-
suke no Suke hither to your tomb. This
dirk. by which our honored lord set great
store last year, and intrusted to our care,
we now bring back. If your noble spirit be
now present before this tomb, We pray you,
as a sign, to take the dirk, and, striking
the head of your enemy with it a second
time. to dispel your hatred forever. This
is the respectful statement of forty-seven
men,"
The text, Thou shalt not live under the
same heaven with the enemy of thy IA
Their" is based upon the Confucian books.
DR.. Legge, in his Life Teachings of Con-
fucius,' page lib. has an interesting para
graph summing up the doctrine of the sage
upon the subject of revenge.
In the second book of the LIE Ke' there
is the following passage: With the slayer
of his father a man may not live under
the same heaven; against the slayer of his
brother man must never have to go
home to fetch weapon; with the slayer of
his friend a man may not live in the same
state The lex talionis is here laid down
in its fullest extent The Chow Lee tells
us of a provision made against the evil
consequences of the principle by the ap-
pointment of a minister called The Recon-
ciler. The provision is very inferior to the
cities of refuge which We're set apart by
Moses for the manSlayer to flee to from the
ever, it existed, and it is remarkable that
Confucius, when consulted on the subject,
took no notice of it, but affirmed the duty
of blood-revenge in the strongest and most
unrestricted terms. His disciple, TsZe Hea,
asked him, What course is to be pursued
in the murder of a father or motherg He
replied, The son must sleep upon a mat
ting of grass with his shield for his pillow;
he must decline to take office: he must not
live under the same heaven with the
slayer. When he meets him in the market
place or the court he must have his weapon
ready to strike him.. And what is the
course in the murder of a brother?' The
surviving brother must not take office in
the same state with the slayer; yet, if he
go on his princes service to the state
where the slayer is, though he meet him,
he must not fight with him. And what is
the course in the murder of an uncle or
cousins? In this case the nephew or
cousin is not the principal
IF the principal, on whom the revenge
devolveS, can take it, he has only to stand
behind with his weapon in his hand, and
support him."
1 will add one anecdote to show the sane
tity which is attached to the graves of the
forty-seven. In the month of September
1865 certain man came to pray before
the grave of Oishi Chikara. Having fin
ished his prayers, he deliberately perform
ed hara kiri, and, the belly wound not be-
ing mortal, despatched himself by cutting
his throat Upon his person We're found
papers setting forth that, being a Ronin
and without means of earning living, he
had petitioned to be allowed to enter the
clan of the Prince of Choshiu, which he
looked upon as the nobest clan in the
realm; his petition having been refused
nothing renamed for him but to die, for
to be a Ronn was hateful to him and he
would serve no other master than the
Prince of Choshiu; what more fitting place
could he find in which to put an end TO his
life than the graveyard of these braves?
This happened at about two hundred yards
distance from my house, and when L saw
the spot an hour or two later. the ground
was all despatched with blood and dis
turbed by the death struggles of the man.