Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 5, 1895 - Miscellanies, Volume II

YOSHIDA-TORAJIRO
The name at the head of this page is probably
unknown to the English reader, and yet I think it
should become a household word like that of Gari-
baldi or John Brown. Some day soon, we may
expect to hear more fully the details of Yoshida's
history, and the degree of his influence in the trans-
formation of Japan ; even now there must be
Englishmen acquainted with the subject, and per-
haps the appearance of this sketch may elicit some-
thing more complete and exact. I wish to say that
I am not, rightly speaking, the author of the present
paper : I tell the story on the authority of an in-
telligent Japanese gentleman, Mr. Taiso Masaki,
who told it me with an emotion that does honour
to his heart ; and though I have taken some pains,
and sent my notes to him to be corrected, this can
be no more than an imperfect outline.
Yoshida-Torajiro was son to the hereditary military
instructor of the house of Choshu. The name you
are to pronounce with an equality of accent on the
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