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

YOSHIDA-TORAJmO
the waters of Japan. But Yoshida, having put his
hand to the plough, was not the man to go back ;
he had entered upon this business, and, please God,
he would carry it through ; and so he gave up his
professional career and remained in Yeddo to be at
hand against the next opportunity. By this be-
haviour he put himself into an attitude towards his
superior, the Daimio of Choshu, which I cannot
thoroughly explain. Certainly, he became a Ronyin,
a broken man, a feudal outlaw ; certainly he was
liable to be arrested if he set foot upon his native
province ; yet I am cautioned that ' he did not really
break his allegiance,' but only so far separated him-
self as that the prince could no longer be held
accountable for his late vassal's conduct. There is
some nicety of feudal custom here that escapes my
comprehension.
In Yeddo, with this nondescript political status,
and cut off from any means of livehhood, he was
joyfully supported by those who sympathised with
his design. One was Sakuma-Shozan, hereditary
retainer of one of the Shogun's councillors, and from
him he got more than money or than money's worth.
A steady, respectable man, with an eye to the
world's opinion, Sakuma was one of those who, if
they cannot do great deeds in their own person,
have yet an ardour of admu'ation for those who can,
that recommends them to the gratitude of history.
They aid and abet greatness more, perhaps, than we
imagine. One thinks of them in connection with
Nicodemus, who visited our Lord by night. And
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