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i

“Filled with unusual and heretofore little known documents that bring us close to
the lived experience of 17th through early 19th centuries Japan.”
—​Anne Walthall, Professor of History at the
University of California, Irvine

“It is comprehensive, informative, innovative, and elegant. The collection’s subtitle

promises to open a door into ‘daily life during the age of the shoguns’, and the
parade of characters to which Vaporis gives a voice certainly delivers on this promise:
not only do they open the door, they also entice the reader to walk right in and
enjoy the show.”
—​Laura Nenzi, Associate Professor of History at the
University of Tennessee
ii
iii

Voices of Early Modern Japan

In this newly revised and updated second edition of Voices of Early Modern Japan, Constantine
Nomikos Vaporis offers an accessible collection of annotated historical documents of an
extraordinary period in Japanese history, ranging from the unification of warring states
under Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early seventeenth century to the overthrow of the sho-
gunate just after the opening of Japan by the West in the mid-​nineteenth century.
Through close examination of primary sources from “The Great Peace,” this fascin-
ating textbook offers fresh insights into the Tokugawa era: its political institutions, rigid
class hierarchy, artistic and material culture, religious life, and more, demonstrating what
historians can uncover from the words of ordinary people. New features include:

• An expanded section on religion, morality and ethics;

• A new selection of maps and visual documents;
• Sources from government documents and household records to diaries and personal
correspondence, translated and examined in light of the latest scholarship;
• Updated references for student projects and research assignments.

The first edition of Voices of Early Modern Japan was the winner of the 2013 Franklin
R. Buchanan Prize for Curricular Materials. This fully revised textbook will prove a
comprehensive resource for teachers and students of East Asian Studies, history, culture,
and anthropology.

Constantine Nomikos Vaporis teaches Japanese history at the University of Maryland,

Baltimore County. He is the author of five books, including Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military
Service in Edo and the Culture of Early Modern Japan and Samurai: An Encyclopedia of Japan’s
Cultured Warriors.
iv
v

VOICES
of
EARLY MODERN JAPAN
Contemporary Accounts
of Daily Life During
the Age of the Shoguns

Second Edition

CONSTANTINE NOMIKOS VAPORIS

vi

Second edition published 2021

by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Constantine Nomikos Vaporis
The right of Constantine Nomikos Vaporis to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published in hardback 2012 by ABC-CLIO, LLC
First edition published in paperback 2014 by Westview Press
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names:Vaporis, Constantine Nomikos, 1957– author.
Title:Voices of early modern Japan : contemporary accounts of daily life
during the age of the Shoguns / Constantine Nomikos Vaporis.
Other titles: contemporary accounts of daily life during the age of the Shoguns
Description: 2nd edition. | Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Subjects: LCSH: Japan–History–Tokugawa period, 1600-1868–Sources. |
Japan–Social life and customs–1600–1868–Sources.
Classification: LCC DS870.V65 2021 | DDC 952/.025–dc23
LC record available at
ISBN: 978-0-367-42793-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-43724-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00529-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
vi

For my students at UMBC

vi
ix

Contents

List of Illustrations  xiv

Preface  xv
Acknowledgments  xviii

Introduction: The Shogun’s Japan  xxiii

Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents  xxxvi

Timeline of Japanese History from the Mid-​Sixteenth Century

Through the Tokugawa Period, 1543–​1868  xlv

PART I
The Domestic Sphere  1
1 Getting Married: “Agreement Regarding a Dowry” (1815)  3

2 Obtaining a Divorce: An Appeal for Assistance (1850) and

Letters of Divorce (1857, Undated)  6

3 The Consequences of Adultery: “The Eavesdropper Whose

Ears Were Burned” (1686)  12

4 A Woman’s Place: Onna Daigaku (The Greater Learning for

Women, 1716) and Tadano Makuzu’s Hitori Kangae
(Solitary Thoughts, 1818)  15

PART II
Material Life  23
5 Fashion and Sumptuary Legislation: Ihara Saikaku’s The Japanese
Family Storehouse (Nippon eitai gura, 1688); List of Clothing
Prohibitions for Edo Townsmen (1719)  25
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x Contents
6 Samurai Dress and Grooming Standards: Prohibitions of 1615
and 1645  30

7 Lunisolar Calendar: Calendar for Seventh Year of Kaei (1854):

Samurai in Armor  33

8 Japanese Foodways and Diet: The Accounts of Joao Rodrigues

(1620–​21),Yamakawa Kikue (1943), and Terakado Seiken (1832–​36)  37

9 The Communal Bath: Shikitei Sanba’s “The Women’s Bath”

(Ukiyoburo, 1810)  44

10 The Japanese Home: Carl Peter Thunberg’s Travels in Europe, Asia

and Africa Made During the Years 1770 & 1779  50

PART III
The Political Sphere  53
11 A Foreigner’s View of the Battle of Osaka: Richard Cocks’ Account
of the Fall of Osaka Castle (1615)  55

12 Forging Political Order: “Laws for the Military Houses”

(1615, 1635)  60

13 The Emperor and the Kyoto Aristocracy: “Regulations for the

Imperial Palace and the Court Nobility” (1615)  66

14 Weapons Control in Japanese Society: Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s “Sword

Hunt” (1588) and “A Local Ordinance Regarding Swords” (1648)  70

15 Self-​Governance in Villages: Goningumi (Five-​Household Group)

Laws (1640)  75

16 Regulating Townspeople in Two Cities: City Code from Kanazawa

(1642) and Notice Board in Edo (1711)  79

PART IV
Foreign Relations  85
17 Regulating Foreign Relations: The “Closed Country Edicts”
(sakoku rei, 1635, 1639)  87

18 Tokugawa Japan and Choson Korea: Record of a Journey Across

the Sea (1719)  93
xi

Contents xi
19 Leaving a Window Open to the Western World: Letter from a
Nagasaki Official to the Dutch Governor-​General (1642)  97

20 A Dutch Audience with the Shogun: Engelbert Kaempfer’s

The History of Japan (1692)  102

21 Sizing Up the Foreign Threat: Aizawa Seishisai’s Shinron

(New Theses, 1825)  105

PART V
Social and Economic Life  109
22 The Social Estates: Yamaga Sokō on “The Way of the Samurai”
(shidō)  111

23 Trying to Get by on a Fixed Income: Economic Problems Facing

the Samurai, as Seen in a Letter from Tani Tannai to Saitaniya
Hachirōbei Naomasu (1751) and Statement from Three Village
Leaders to a Tokugawa Bannerman (1856)  114

24 The Samurai and Death: An Account of Junshi from François

Caron’s A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and
Siam (1636)  119

25 Private Vengeance Among the Samurai: A Letter from a Daimyo’s

Official in Echigo Province to an Official of the Tokugawa
Shogunate and a Letter of Authorization (1828)  123

26 Rules of Merchant Houses: “The Testament of Shimai Sōshitsu”

(1610) and “The Code of the Okaya House” (1836)  127

27 Dealing with Deviant Behavior: “A Letter of Apology” (1866)  131

28 Loans Among the Peasantry: “A Loan of Rice” (1702)  133

29 Unrest in the Countryside: A Song in Memory of a Protest

(1786) and Petition to the Lord of Sendai from the Peasants
of the Sanhei (1853)  136

30 Outcastes in Tokugawa Society: A Report from the Head of

All Eta and Hinin (Undated) and an Inquiry by the Edo City
Magistrates to the Tokugawa Council of State Regarding the
Forfeiture of the Property of an Eta Who Assumed the Status
of a Commoner (1799)  140
xi

xii Contents
PART VI
Recreational Life  145
31 Advice to Travelers in the Edo Period: Ryokō Yōjinshū (Precautions
for Travelers), 1810  147

32 Documentation for Travel: “Sekisho Transit Permit” (1706) and

“A Passport” (1782)  152

33 Children and Their Amusements: The Japan Journal of

Francis Hall (1859)  157

34 The Tea Ceremony: Chikamatsu Shigenori’s Stories from a

Tearoom Window (1804)  161

35 Archery and the Martial Arts: Hinatsu Shirōzaemon Shigetaka’s

Honchō Bugei Shōden (A Short Tale of the Martial Arts in Our
Country), 1714  165

36 Courtesans and the Sex Trade: Excerpts from Ihara Saikaku’s

The Life of an Amorous Man (Koshoku ichidai otoko, 1682) and
Buyō Ishi’s An Account of Worldly Affairs (Seji kenmonroku, 1816)  168

37 A Hero for the Masses: The Kabuki Play Sukeroku: Flower of Edo
(1713)  174

PART VII
Religion, Morality, and Ethics  179
38 Preaching to the People: A Sermon by Hosoi Heishū (1783)  181

39 Anti-​Christian Propaganda: Kirishitan monogatari (Tale of the

Christians, 1639)  186

40 Controlling the Populace: Registers of Religious Affiliation (1804)  190

41 Religious Views of the Japanese: Sir Rutherford Alcock’s

The Capital of the Tycoon (1863)  194

42 The Teachings of Zen Buddhism: Suzuki Shōsan’s Roankyō

(Donkey-​Saddle Bridge, 1648) and Hakuin Ekaku’s Sokkō-​roku
Kaien-​fusetsu (Talks Given Introductory to Zen Lectures on the
Records of Sokkō, 1740)  198

43 Nisshinkan School Injunction (Nisshinkan Dōjikun), 1803  203

xi

Contents xiii
PART VIII
Visual Documents  209
44 The Battle of Abeno, Siege of Osaka Castle (1615)  211

45 “Map of Edo in Toshima County, Musashi Province” (1630–​31)  215

46 The Territories of Japan in 1664  220

47 Painting of the Korean Embassy’s Visit to Our Country [Japan],

1748, by Hanegawa Tōei  223

48 Anatomy of a Ukiyo-​e (Woodblock Print): The Rōnin Takebayashi

Takashige  228

Appendix 1 Biographical Sketches of Important Individuals

Mentioned in Text  233
Appendix 2 Glossary of Terms Mentioned in Text  242
Bibliography  248
Index  272
xvi

Illustrations

I Major Domains and Castle Towns in Tokugawa Japan, circa 1660  xix
II The Traditional Provinces of Japan  xx
III Gokaidō Network and Other Major Roads  xxi
IVa‒IVe “The Laws for the Military Houses” (Buke shohatto), 1683. This
five-​page document is presented in its original order (although in its
original form it would have consisted of one long piece of paper).
To read this document as a Japanese person of the Tokugawa period,
you would begin on page xliii and proceed in reverse page order; in
addition, Japanese is read from top to bottom and right to left  xxxix
V Mori Masana Edo Nikki (Mori Masana’s Edo Diary), volume 1  xliv
7.1 “Seventh Year of Kaei (1854) daishoreki [Samurai in Armor]”  34
44.1 The Battle of Abeno, Siege of Osaka Castle (Ōsaka Abeno
gassen no zu), 1615  213
45.1 “Bushū Toshima-​gun Edo shōzu” [Map of Edo in Toshima County,
Musashi Province”]  217
45.2 Annotated version of Figure 45.1  218
46.1 Map drawn by Fabian Drixler  221
47.1 Painting of the Korean Embassy’s Visit to Our Country [Japan]
(Chōsen tsūshinshi raichōzu) by Hanegawa Tōei (1748)  224
48.1 Takebayashi Sadashichi Takashige, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi  229
xv

Preface

Voices of Early Modern Japan: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life during the Age of the Shoguns
contains 66 documents dealing with the Tokugawa period, 1600–​ 1868. Technically
speaking, three documents fall outside the range of these years but are included because
they deal with topics that were either crucial to developments of the Tokugawa years—​
also known as the Edo period—​or are important reflections upon that time. Even though
neither Ieyasu nor Yoshinobu are household names in the United States or Europe, the
Tokugawa period and its immediate aftermath, more than any other period in Japanese
history, are without a doubt a subject of great interest, as evidenced by the popularity
of the samurai, whether it be in the Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai, in anime (e.g.,
“Samurai Champloo”), or in manga (e.g., Vagabond, Rurouni Kenshin). The Tokugawa
period, however, is noteworthy for more than just samurai. The Introduction that follows
will explain the importance and influence of the period, but much of what foreigners and
Japanese alike associate with traditional Japan—​for example, sushi, sumo wrestling, wood-
block prints, kabuki theater, the tea ceremony—​was either developed or achieved broad-​
scale popularity during these years.The continuing interest in, and relevance of,Tokugawa
history and culture is immediately evident walking into a bookstore or turning on a
television in Japan. The “boom” in Tokugawa-​period culture in publishing has continued
unabated since the 1980s, and period dramas remain a mainstay of Japanese television, as
evidenced by Mito Kōmon, the long-​running (since 1969!), historically based drama that
draws from the life of the retired daimyo Mito Mitsukuni, who travels around the country
in the guise of a wealthy merchant, accompanied by two of his samurai retainers (also in
disguise).

Primary Documents
Primary documents open a direct window onto the past, as they allow us to listen to the
people of a given time speak in their own voices. The document excerpts reproduced
in this volume provide the reader with a wide array of perspectives on the people of
Tokugawa Japan, their society, government, foreign relations, material and family life, reli-
gion and modes of thought, and recreations. From these documents we can see what kind
of society Tokugawa Japan’s rulers idealized and what the reality of it actually was; we can
see how its rulers interacted with, and tried to control, the outside world; and we can
begin to understand the views and attitudes of the common people as they negotiated
their lives around the laws and regulations that the rulers established to order society.
xvi

xvi Preface

Organization of Chapters
The 66 documents are divided into 48 numbered chapters, with some chapters offering
two or three related documents. These chapters are organized into eight topical sections,
with four chapters relating to the domestic sphere, six to material life, six to the pol-
itical sphere, five to foreign relations, nine to social and economic life, seven to recre-
ational life, six to religion and morality. An eighth section—​visual documents, with five
chapters—​is new to the second edition. It should be noted, however, that the section
categories are not hard and fast. Some overlap, and in a number of cases one might
argue that a selection could also belong in a different section. For example, while the
tea ceremony and archery might, from one perspective, be considered “recreation” (and
hence fall under the section “Recreational Life”), from another they might also fit in the
section “Religion and Morality,” since both involved the pursuit of a “way” (Japanese,
dō), a spiritual and/​or martial discipline. Similarly, the content in “Material Life,” one
might argue, could also belong in “Social and Economic Life.” Despite this flexibility, the
section categories chosen represent one way of organizing a vast array of primary source
material that the author hopes the reader will find beneficial.
The document selections include a wide variety of types—​official government laws
and regulations, directives sent from one governing body to another, local ordinances,
private agreements (contracts), novels, kabuki plays, broadsheets, maps, woodblock prints,
paintings, polemics (sermons, anti-​Christian propaganda, and moral instructional readers),
letters, and descriptive narratives of everyday life and events, several of which were written
by foreign observers. Some of these documents are well known and often excerpted, such
as the “Laws for the Military Houses” issued by the Tokugawa government, or shogunate;
the “Sword Hunt” issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the late sixteenth century, which
did much to set the pattern of life during the succeeding centuries; the so-​called Closed
Country Edicts of the 1630s that resulted in the expulsion of all Westerners in Japan
except the Dutch; and the idealistic educational tract “The Greater Learning for Women,”
which instructed women on morality and proper behavior. Others are less well known,
but offer a variety of different perspectives on Tokugawa life. For example, paired with
the document just mentioned, “The Greater Learning for Women” are excerpts from the
essay “Solitary Thoughts,” written by a doctor’s daughter named Tadano Makuzu, who
offers a perspective on the relationship between men and women based on observation
and actual lived experience. Each of these documents offers the reader a window dir-
ectly into the age of the shoguns, providing an understanding of the life and times that
cannot be had from textbooks or monographs. All documents are presented in transla-
tion, in English, with the occasional key Japanese term offered in Romanized form, in
the Hepburn style, in parentheses. In some cases the translation has been adapted for the
benefit of the modern reader.
In addition to the 66 documents, each numbered chapter offers various tools to
help you, the reader, more fully understand the meaning, purpose, and significance of
every document. These tools include the following: an “Introduction” providing a per-
tinent historical background for the chapter; a “Keep in Mind as You Read” section that
provides contextual information to help in evaluating the document; an “Aftermath”
section that relates the results and consequences that flowed from the document; an “Ask
Yourself ” section that lists questions about the document and life during the period,
often relating both to the present; a “Topics and Activities to Consider” section with
several themes or ideas to explore in a paper, essay, online project, or class presentation;
xvi

Preface xvii
a “Further Information” section listing important print resources; and in many cases,
additional sections “Film” and “Websites” that offer suggestions for films or internet-​
based videos and electronic information resources, respectively. In addition, many of the
documents are accompanied by a brief sidebar that further illuminates a topic or concept
related to the document, such as “Money,” “The Public Bath,” “The Status System,” “The
First American Trade with Japan,” “The Floating World,” and “Japanese Names.”

Other Features
There are a number of other important features of Voices of the Shogun’s Japan. The first is
a general introduction that explores the major themes and developments of the Tokugawa
(Edo) period for users and also explains the significance of the times in the context of
the span of Japanese history. In addition, there is an appendix of brief biographical entries
on the most important individuals mentioned in the document sections, and a glossary
of unfamiliar terms encountered in the chapters. All names and terms included in the
glossary or appendix are formatted in small capitals as cross-​references upon their first
mention in any chapter. Any unfamiliar terms in the documents themselves are set in
boldface; brief definitions of these are offered near the document text to provide quick
reference for the reader.
An “Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents” section provides readers with a
series of questions—​Who wrote it? When and where was it written? Who was it written
for? Why was it written?—​to assess the historical context of the document. It also advises
users on how to identify and define keywords and passages, the main thesis of the docu-
ment, and the assumptions the author brought to the document from his or her class,
religious beliefs, and economic circumstances. Users will also be urged to understand how
the document was produced and circulated and to compare it to other similar documents
of the period. Photographs of Tokugawa-​era documents accompany the text, briefly
explaining for students and modern users familiar only with modern electronic docu-
ment production how documents were produced during the period and by whom, and,
where appropriate, the various writing styles used.
The volume includes a chronology of Japanese history from the arrival of Westerners
in Japanese waters in the middle of the sixteenth century through the Tokugawa period
(1600–​1868), listing important events in the life of the country and selected significant
dates in world history; a detailed and current bibliography of print materials and websites,
divided by broad topic; and a detailed subject index to allow readers to access information
in the document sections easily and quickly.
This, second, edition includes some new materials, including maps and a section of
visual documents (with six chapters). Some pedagogical materials were revised, the urls
of all websites referenced in the book checked and in some cases updated; although some
of these will inevitably change in the future, enough information has been provided to
make it easier to locate a website that might have migrated to a new address.
Finally, for updates regarding websites or additional print resources, please go to:
https://​voicesofearlymodernjapan.wordpress.com/​. To contact the author, please do so at
his university email address: vaporis at umbc.edu
xvii

Acknowledgments

Since this volume is meant for instructional purposes, I would like to take this oppor-
tunity to thank the outstanding teachers that I have had during the course of my edu-
cation. Although my poor memory does not allow me to remember all of their names,
their faces and passion for teaching remain embedded in my consciousness. A few stand
out above the rest, though, and deserve mention here. Mr. George Hand (Beaver Country
Day School) made history fun before I even thought about the possibility of a career in
the field. Ms.Yasuhara Taeko and Fr. George Tsongranis selflessly taught me the wonders
of the Japanese language as a middle schooler and opened up a new world for me. My
late father, Rev. Dr. Nomikos Michael Vaporis, a Greek Orthodox priest and historian
of Byzantine and Modern Greek Hellenism, steered me toward that new world and
demonstrated a lifelong passion for learning, teaching, and service. Dr. Chisato Kitagawa
inspired me as a college freshman to continue the lifelong challenge of “mastering”
Japanese and to make the study of Japan in some form a career. Martin C. Collcutt and
James R. Bartholomew were also inspiring teachers and mentors who steered me toward
a career in Japanese history.
Several scholars generously reviewed the entire manuscript of the first edition and
made numerous suggestions that have greatly improved it: Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi
(York University), K. N. (Kiri) Paramore (National University of Ireland, University
College Cork), and Anne Walthall (University of California, Irvine). Michael Wert
(Marquette University), Oleg Benesch (University of York), Ronald P. Toby (University
of Illinois at Urbana-​Champaign), Amaury A. Garcia Rodríguez (El Colegio de México),
Julie N. Davis (University of Pennsylvania), and (again) Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi also
gave important feedback on a number of chapters for the second edition or otherwise
supported my research efforts. I would also like to express my appreciation to Joseph
School (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), who made the maps of Japan that
appear before the Introduction, and Fabian Drixler (Yale University) for another map,
which appears as the subject of one chapter. Anonymous reviewers for both editions
provided many helpful suggestions for improving the text. Of course, all errors of fact and
interpretation are mine alone.
This project would not have been possible without several outstanding editors: Mariah
Gumpert, who encouraged me to undertake the challenge of compiling a volume on
Tokugawa Japan for ABC-​CLIO’s Voices of an Era series; Priscilla McGeehon, Editorial
Director and Executive Editor, History, for Westview Press, who saw the potential for it
to reach a larger audience; and Stephanie Rogers (Publisher, Asian Studies, Routledge),
without whom there would likely not have been a second edition.To all of them I would
like to express my heartfelt appreciation.
newgenprepdf

xi

Acknowledgments xix
Finally, I have been fortunate to have had the unwavering support of a number of
excellent chairs and deans—​James Mohr, John Jeffries, Kriste Lindenmeyer, Marjoleine
Kars, Amy Froide, and Scott Casper—​at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
(UMBC), where I have taught for over 30 years. My research has also benefited greatly
from the support of the Dresher Center for the Humanities. However, I dedicate this
edition to all the students who, during the past three decades, have consistently filled my
undergraduate course “Japan in the Shogun Age.” Their genuine interest and enthusiasm
for the fascinating world of Tokugawa Japan first motivated me to produce this book and
continued to inspire me to revise and expand it in this second edition.

Figure I Major Domains and Castle Towns in Tokugawa Japan, circa 1660
Source: Map drawn by Joseph School.
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x

xx Acknowledgments

Figure II The Traditional Provinces of Japan

Source: Map drawn by Joseph School.
xxi

Acknowledgments xxi

Figure III Gokaidō Network and Other Major Roads

Source: Map drawn by Joseph School.
xxi
xxii

Introduction
The Shogun’s Japan

All the struggle and pain Lord Ieyasu endured was to bring peace to all Japan.Therefore, it is worthy of
celebration that bows and arrows are kept in bags and swords in wooden cases.That the shogun’s men
keep their armor in merchants’ storehouses means that Japan is now enjoying unprecedented peace.
The ultimate wish of Tōshōgū [the deified Ieyasu] has been realized.You should not be sorrowful that
swords and bows rot in pawnshops.
(Tokugawa, p. 43)

In the quotation above, the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–​1751) responded
to one of his retainers, whom he overheard deploring the fact that samurai were pawning
their armor. Yoshimune tells the retainer that he, and by implication all Japanese, should
not be unhappy but rather thankful for the peace, which by that point in time was
more than a century long. Many contemporary observers in Japan did in fact herald
what they referred to as the “realm at great peace” (tenka taihei). Indeed under the rule
of the Tokugawa shoguns, from 1603 to 1867, the warfare that had wracked the islands
of Japan for much of the preceding century ceased, the fractured political landscape was
reconstructed, and Japan experienced one of the longest periods of uninterrupted peace
in world history. According to the sociologist Reinhard Bendix’s calculation, during the
Tokugawa years France was at war for 115 years; Great Britain, 125; Spain, 160; Austria,
130; Prussia, 97; and Russia, 147.1 By the end of the seventeenth century, Japan had
become one of the most urbanized societies around the globe, its population and agri-
culture-​based economy experienced rapid growth, and its arts blossomed into what may
have been the world’s first popular (mass) culture. Much of what we today associate with
“traditional” Japan either originated with, or found a popular audience in, Tokugawa
times: for example, a stable pattern of bureaucratic rule, high rates of literacy, kabuki the-
ater, the tea ceremony, sumo wrestling, woodblock prints, and even sushi.

Perspectives on the Tokugawa Period

The Tokugawa period is often dated from 1603, when Tokugawa Ieyasu received
the title of shogun from the emperor and established a military government, known
as the shogunate, in Edo (now Tokyo), until 1867, when the fifteenth and final shogun,
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, resigned. It is alternatively dated from 1600, when Ieyasu and his
forces defeated his main rivals in the Battle of Sekigahara, until 1868, when the Meiji
Restoration, the coup d’état by a coalition of southern domains that overthrew the sho-
gunate and announced the reversion of power to the emperor, took place.This volume has
adopted the latter dates since the former ones belie an emperor-​centered view of history.
xvi

xxiv Introduction
Using the starting date of 1603 implies that Tokugawa Ieyasu did not take power—​and
the Tokugawa period did not begin—​until the emperor bestowed the title of shogun on
him.While this was certainly an epoch-​making event, one can argue strongly, as I do here,
that people living in those times did not attach as much importance to the title itself as
compared with the Tokugawa victory at Sekigahara three years earlier. It is also possible
to argue for beginning the Tokugawa period in 1615, the date of the conclusion of the
Battle of Osaka, when the last armed threat by those opposing the establishment of the
Tokugawa authority were defeated. Many historians, and particularly Japanese historians,
also refer to the years 1600–​1868 as the Edo period, which emphasizes the importance
of the Tokugawa political center, the city of Edo. Some historians avoid the use of the
term “Edo period” because it privileges the political center of the Tokugawa government
and thereby minimizes the political autonomy of the larger domains. Similarly, Japanese
literary historians eschew the term “Edo literature,” arguing that it is misleading because
much of the literature of the time was produced in the cities of Kyoto and Osaka. Instead,
they and some other historians prefer the term “early modern” (kinsei) because it avoids
many of the issues discussed above. However, the use of the label early modern is in
itself problematic in some ways in that it is a term created by historians to refer to an era
following the Middle Ages in Western history, meaning roughly the years 1500–​1800.
Use of the term in the Japanese context, therefore, can be criticized as Eurocentric or
as an example of Western cultural imperialism—​that is, by trying to fit Japanese history
into a Western framework of analysis. As the reader can deduce from the above, there
is a fair amount of subjectivity involved in choosing some years over others to date
periods (a process known as periodization). Dates are artificially constructed, and names
selected (“Tokugawa” versus “Edo” versus “early modern”) for a purpose and reflect the
viewpoints and biases of historians.
Given the positive assessment of the Tokugawa period presented at the beginning of
this Introduction, the reader might be surprised to learn that there have been critical
interpretations of these years expressed by contemporaries and historians alike. History,
of course, involves a constant procession of revision and reevaluation. This revisionism
arises mainly out of new readings of old evidence, in the light of changing conditions by
historians with new interests, sensitivities, preoccupations, and historical methods. Put dif-
ferently, views of the modern (the present) largely determine the light we cast on the past.
Early in the Tokugawa period, Jesuit missionaries and Western traders wrote quite posi-
tive accounts of Japanese government and society. The Jesuits’ reports may have been par-
ticularly positive about Japan because of the warm reception they received initially from
the country’s samurai leaders for their missionary work to spread Christianity in Japan.
In their firsthand comparisons between early seventeenth-​century Japan and Europe,
they concluded that Japan was strictly but well governed. In their assessment, the mili-
tary leaders—​the shogun and the daimyo under him—​appeared to rule with no greater
severity than the kings and princes of Europe. While Westerners were all appalled by the
Japanese practice of seppuku, or ritual suicide, they found the laws of the land impar-
tially and justly executed. For example, Will Adams, the historical figure upon which the
Blackthorne (“Anjin san”) character in the novel and movie Shogun is based, wrote:

The people of this island of Japan are good of nature, courteous above measure,
and valiant in war: their justice is severely executed without any partiality upon
transgressors of the law. They are governed in great civility. I mean, not a land better
governed in the world by civil police.2
Random documents with unrelated
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from her father, after his long illness in Melbourne. In it, he
told briefly what Cyril had been to him through that trying
time.

"I have not really known the boy till now," he wrote; "yet I
thought I did—after all these months together. Jean herself
could hardly have done more. I have never been allowed to
want a thing. It was no use to suggest his leaving me more
to the nurse, and taking his pleasure. She was no great
shakes, certainly, and Cyril did not trust her. He was with
me most of the day, and often at night; and if I
remonstrated, his answer was, 'For Jean's sake!' Strange to
say, he, never seemed overdone. Womanly gentleness is
beautiful, but when conjoined with manly strength, it is past
praise. He is growing into a fine fellow—a thorough man,
body and mind."

This was not quite the Cyril of Jean's knowledge—the

coddled pet of Sybella, ready always to take care of himself.

"But Jem has often said there was more in Cyril than
appeared. It is not fair to doubt him, without full proof—and
I will not!" she repeated resolutely.

The glow of renewed confidence lent at once a different

aspect to life.

Turning over another sheet, she came on a copy of the

English "Times."

"Days old! Quite ancient! The very morning we left. I

remember—the papers were late that day, and I did not see
them before we started."

Jean skimmed column after column, to pass the time: her

brain still busy in its back regions with Cyril.
"They will soon reach home now, if they really are off in the
'Spanish Gipsy.' A few weeks, I suppose—six or seven. Not
likely that they should change, after once making up their
minds; unless that story were true. But I will not believe it,
until I know. If we should hear that they have actually
started, then I shall be sure it is false. Cyril would never
think of such a voyage—without need—if he were just
engaged. My father could as well come home alone . . . The
only thing is that fancy for Emmie Lucas! Otherwise I could
laugh at the tale. Well—Emmie is heart-whole! That is one
comfort. No harm done there."

Jean had an abrupt singular consciousness of receiving a

blow. It might almost have been an actual physical blow,
judged by sensation. Thought was scattered; and a grey
haze descended on all around, coming like the fall of dusk.
She sat motionless, gazing at the paper; hardly feeling;
certainly not reasoning. The heavy blow came first,
numbing her faculties, before the actual sense of those
terrible words seemed to reach her understanding.

"LOSS OF THE 'SPANISH GIPSY!'"

The haze grew blacker, then partly cleared: and Jean read
on:

"LOSS OF THE 'SPANISH GIPSY,' WITH ALL ON BOARD."

Not one saved! So much was clear. Jean's mind refused to

grasp any further particulars. She was dazed with the
shock, and could only watch fixedly, like a fascinated
creature, the convolutions of the neat black letter-press,
which took strange forms before her eyes, one shape
dissolving into another, after the mode of kaleidoscope
figures. Then she was far away from Rouen, out in the open
sea; and great waves arose, dashing wildly; and there were
men, struggling, sinking—and Cyril's face, a blanched dead
face, below the cruel breakers.

"I hope nothing is wrong, Miss Trevelyan! No ill news?"

Mrs. Newnham's question broke into Jean's vision, and with

a strong effort she recalled herself, looked up, and
answered quietly—

"The loss of the 'Spanish Gipsy.'"

"Ah, yes, to be sure—on the way home from Australia. Very

shocking, was it not? Poor things! I hope no friends of yours
happened to be on board."

Jean was silent.

"Such a sad event! And I dare say many of them had been
out for years. After a bad storm, was it not?"

"I—don't know."

"Yes; that was it. I remember. There have been so many

casualties lately; but I remember. Another ship, the
'Shannon,' had been signalled, and was coming to their
help, because the 'Spanish Gipsy' had been so much
disabled. And all at once, it was seen to capsize and go
down. Not a moment's warning, and not a person saved.
The 'Shannon' was too far-off to get to the spot in time—
though it does seem strange that none of the sailors should
have been able to keep afloat. Those things do happen
sometimes: but it is really very dreadful—quite terrible."

Jean could not talk of the horror which had fallen upon her.
And the pitter-patter of conventional pity, looking blandly on
from a comfortable distance, was only a degree less
insupportable than the pitter-patter of conventional
condolence would be.

She went back to the brief awful paragraph, which might

mean so much to her. If they had started in the "Spanish
Gipsy!" It all hinged there. One hand was put up to shield
her face: and Mrs. Newnham, taking the hint, sank into
silence.

Did the others know of this? Was it for this that Evelyn had
hurried her away?

"So kindly meant! But what use?" she asked despairingly.

"Nothing can undo it! And how can I bear to be here—out of
reach? How can Evelyn bear it? If news were to come—But
she will not wish to stay now—now I know it."

Jean passed quickly out of the room, sending no glance

towards the old lady, whose very existence she had
forgotten, and hastened upstairs. Entering the room, she
found herself face to face with—Jem!

Jean showed no surprise, and forgot to shake hands. It

seemed perfectly natural that Jem should be there. She
came near, without a word, not knowing how altered was
her own look. A quick interchange of glances passed
between the other two. It was evident to both of them that
Jean had some idea of the truth. Evelyn, much distressed,
laid her hands on Jean's, which were rigid as iron.

"Mr. Trevelyan has so kindly come, dear," she faltered, "to—

to see—if we—"

"No, no! To tell us—" urged Jean hoarsely. "To tell us—"

"Yes: to tell us just a little more. You are right. Dear Jean,
we have tried to keep it from you, till we could be sure—and
we are not really sure yet. But I am afraid—Have you
guessed anything?"

"Not guessed! A paper—downstairs—" Jean had difficulty in

saying the words. Her throat seemed to close with the
effort; and she waited impatiently for them to speak.

"What did the paper say?" Jem was uncertain still how much
she understood. "Something about the 'Spanish Gipsy?'"

"I know! I know! Gone down! And they—they—they—" She

turned on him a face of agony.

"Tell her!" begged Evelyn, bursting into tears. "O tell her
quickly."

"We cannot be absolutely certain of anything yet," Jem said,

in his quietest manner. "I want you to understand this—not
to be sure, until we really know. Still, I am afraid things do
look bad. I sent a telegram to Melbourne the day you came
away, asking whether or no they had started, and the
answer has been unaccountably delayed. It ought to have
arrived in a few hours, and I did not get it till this morning.
But—"

"Yes! Yes! But—!" repeated Jean hoarsely. "Go on!"

"It is very short—only two words, and no particulars given.

'Both off!'—that is all it says. Whether by long sea or by
Suez we cannot tell. There is no mention of the 'Spanish
Gipsy.' I am disappointed to hear so little, and I have sent a
second telegram asking for more information. It ought to
come quickly—but meantime I hardly felt that it would be
right to delay telling you—or at least Mrs. Villiers—what I
had heard. So I came away at once. If only I could have
brought something better!"
"Both! Both at once! Oh, it can't be! Not both!"

Evelyn's sobs were distressing: but Jean shed no tears. She

looked bewildered.

"Impossible! Not both! Evelyn, don't cry so! What is the

good? They will come home. It couldn't be—both of them!"
Then to Jem—"We must go back at once. I can't stay here.
You will take us—will you not? We could reach Dieppe in
time—for the night-boat, I mean. I'll help Anderson. Evelyn
needn't touch a thing. Only please not to stay here. Evelyn
dear, don't let us."

She wrung her hands together, with a strange forlorn

gesture, unlike Jean.

"Don't talk to me—about that, I mean! Don't pity me! We

must not stop to think of anything—only just get off—and
then—I don't want water, Jem! What is that for? You don't
suppose I'm hysterical, do you? But I'll drink some, if you
like. It doesn't matter. I only want to get away as fast—as
fast as possible. And then—Evelyn, do, do stop crying! I
don't know how to bear it. And what is the use? They must
come home! It couldn't be—both of them! Don't hold me,
please. I want to go."

"One word first! Jean, listen to me. The Mrs. Parkinson who
wrote last week about Cyril being engaged, has written
again; and now she contradicts that—says it is untrue!"

Jean's face relaxed its rigidity.

"She did mean Lilias Mackenzie—and Lilias Mackenzie is

engaged to somebody else. Mrs. Parkinson saw Cyril, and
she says he was all impatience to get home—so eager to be
off."
"Poor Cyril!" whispered Jean, every feature quivering.

"He was true to you—I am sure he was."

"He—is true!"

Jean disengaged herself, stooped to kiss Evelyn, and was

gone.

Half-an-hour later she reappeared, almost her usual self;

only with reddened eyes and strained look; still urgently
entreating to start immediately. For almost the first time in
her life, she forgot to think of others, under the pull of this
intense desire. Evelyn made no difficulties; and Jem
believed that to be on the move might be best for both of
them. As Jean had said, they could reach Dieppe in time for
the night-packet, which did not start till after one o'clock in
the morning.

CHAPTER IV.

ROUGH WINDS.

"Loud the angry wind was wailing."

LONGFELLOW.
JEM had crossed the Channel many a time, but he had
never known a rougher passage. Until they were well out of
Dieppe harbour, nobody—not even the experienced Captain
—had imagined what the force of wind and wave would be:
or certainly Jem would have insisted on delay,
notwithstanding Jean's impatience to be off. Such weather
is rare in May, when one expects to have done with the
worst gales of winter and spring.

Repeatedly in the slow hours of that boisterous night and

early morning, Jem wished that they had not come. The trip
bid fair to outlast considerably its orthodox length of four
hours. Dawn was beginning to break, and they were still in
mid-Channel, only about half-way over. The sea was so
heavy, that it had been early found needful, for safety's
sake, to slow down the engines; and advance was tardy. A
large proportion of the passengers were too entirely
prostrated by sea-sickness to pay close heed to the flight of
time: but Jem and Jean were first-rate sailors.

Jem retired only for an hour or two; then he came once

more on deck, preferring to keep watch. It was no easy
matter to maintain footing on a floor which each instant
assumed some new slope, trying almost every conceivable
position except the horizontal. He soon ensconced himself in
the most sheltered spot he could find, not far from the
companion-hatch, there to study at leisure the conflict of
forces.

Faint gleams of light stole over the waste of watery hills—a

grey landscape of long broken ranges, sliding swiftly one
after another in a never-ending progression from the west-
north-west. Snow-tipped summits reared themselves,
mountain-like, the dark crests being rent into white foam,
and torn away by the gale. It was a scene never for two
instants the same, yet ever repeating itself, as vast bluffs of
water rolled past and under—sometimes partly over—the
straining vessel. Each time a sea was shipped, there was,
with the shock of concussion, a rush of the broken wave.

Jem escaped, in his corner, most of the flow, but he came in

for drenching showers of spray; and rug and macintosh
failed to keep him dry. Still he sat on: and but for certain
saddening circumstances, he would have enjoyed the hurly-
burly of excited elements.

He was grieved both for Evelyn and Jean: yet no doubt it

was Evelyn mainly who filled his thoughts. Matters in that
direction had of late severely tried Jem's fortitude. To see
Evelyn in trouble, and not do his utmost to comfort her, was
hard of endurance. It was the old pain of years gone by,
revived and intensified. If Evelyn were happy, he could bear
bravely for himself the long suffering of life apart from her;
but if she were sad, he was wretched. Perhaps not many
men love so unselfishly.

All the hours of this stormy night, she was never out of his
mind. He had gone through a spell of fierce battling, during
many months past, unknown to those with whom he lived;
and things were nearing a climax. Jem had felt lately that
the fight was too sore for him. Health and spirit threatened
to break down beneath it. A question as to his future had
arisen in the shape of an offered living—a large London
Parish, among the very poor, yet not so far East that he
might not, perhaps, venture to have his mother with him,
for at least part of the year. The income, though less than
that of Dutton, would still enable him to keep her in
comfort.

For three days he had carried the letter about, unable to

arrive at any decision. Now, he determinately faced the
matter, alone in semi-darkness, on the heaving deck, with a
world of troubled waters around.

In the light of threatened separation, he found out how he

had grown to depend on occasional meetings with Evelyn—a
glimpse here; a word or smile there—to carry him on. He
discovered how desolate life would be without her, beyond
reach of her sweet face and voice. A life not worth living, he
could almost have said—if any good and right feeling man
might dare to say such words, in the blaze of his
responsibilities, and of the work given him to do.

"The more need for me to leave Dutton! It is making me

useless," was what Jem did say. Few would have endorsed
the assertion, yet it expressed a positive danger.

He never had sought to win her: so much Jem could aver.

He had resolutely restrained himself; had treated her with
mere grave kindness and courtesy; nay, he had even forced
a certain sternness, a certain coldness, to cover his burning
devotion. The love of a strong man of thirty-five, which has
slowly grown for years, in the face of hopeless obstacles, is
no light thing. Jem was not like Cyril. He could never
hesitate as to whom he loved. Once and again, with all the
force of his vigorous Trevelyan nature, he had stamped his
passion under foot, and had for a while counted it slain; but
always, like a phoenix from the ashes, it had sprung up
anew: and at last, he had ceased to think of destroying a
thing of such vitality. So far he had been able to hold it in
leash. Now, nothing remained but to flee.

Which would mean a manner of slow dying—the death of all

joy in life, except such joys as are unearthly. Jem had them
in possession!
Only money stood between, to hinder his seeking and
perhaps winning her—but it was a potent "only." If she
married him, she would lose her all, beyond a mere pittance
—so Jem believed—and what had he to offer her instead?
Not even Dutton living for life! Whether or no, he accepted
this present offer—and there seemed no reason for not
doing so—he counted himself in a manner devoted to East-
End work, for sooner or later . . . Evelyn the wife of a
clergyman, with narrow income, toiling in back-slums! Jem
could not picture it. Yet there might be capabilities in that
fair creature, not yet developed; and Jem had seen in her
some faint dawnings of a high spirit of self-devotion.

Had he had any reason to believe that she loved him,

unsought—then of course he would have spoken: then of
course he would have given her at least the choice. But he
had no reason to believe anything of the kind; and he could
not in conscience set himself to win her.

Another watery mountain, towering above its compeers,

swept up, and struck the steamer with a force which made
every plank in her to vibrate. When the rush of water and
the hail of spray had cleared, Jem became presently aware
of a difference in the sum-total of sounds. The steady throb
of the engines was ceasing. He waited a few minutes, not
flurried though anxious; but it did not recommence, and he
went aft, to make enquiries.

"Jean! You here!" Coming back to his seat, he found her.

"Don't scold me, please. I could not stay down any longer."

"It is not fit for you on deck."

"I can't go back directly—the hatches are closed again. And
I would rather not. We are so boxed up below. Some
gentlemen were coming up, to ask what had happened; and
one of them was kind and helped me. I wanted to find you:
and when I saw your rug, I knew you would soon be back."

Jem wrapped her round with the said rug.

"I don't want it," protested Jean uselessly. "I have my

waterproof. Why have the engines stopped?"

"Something wrong with the starboard paddle-wheel."

"I don't understand."

"That green wave did a lot of damage—carried away the

driving-arm, and broke the radial rods. It is what they call a
'feathering paddle-wheel.' There is nothing now to control
the floats. The fear is, if the engines are started again, that
the loose floats may break in the side of the steamer."

"And—sink us?"

"Things might come to that."

"What are we to do?"

"Let ourselves drift for a time. There seems to be no other

choice. The risk of using the paddle-wheel is too great to be
ventured on—unless as a last resource; and we have not
come to last resources yet. So long as we have plenty of
sea-room, we are hardly in actual danger. The difficulty is
as to steering. The sea breaks through the wheel
incessantly. But they are contriving some sort of apparatus,
to prevent our drifting too fast, and to keep the boat's head
to the wind."
"When shall we reach Newhaven?"

"Not much hope of Newhaven at present. With this head-

wind, I suppose we shall drift over towards the French coast
—and up Channel. By-and-bye we may fall in with some
other steamer, and be taken in tow . . . It is patience-
trying."

"If I had not been so bent in coming by this boat—!"

"Something else might have happened, equally unpleasant.

Nobody knew, till we were off, how rough it would be.
There's a grand wave! . . . You won't often see a finer sight!
. . . Sit close! We shall be drenched! . . . Whew!"

"I should enjoy it—any other time!"

"Remember, there is no absolute certainty—about them, I

mean! At the last moment they may have changed their
plans, and come by Suez."

"Not if the passage were taken. Why should they? . . . Is it

any use to let myself hope?"

Jem had no difficulty in hearing Jean's clear intonation,

even through the babel of wind and water. Conversation
was perforce fitful, containing many breaks: but the two
were as quiet as if seated in Dutton Rectory study.

Jean's next words came after an interval—

"Drowning is not a painful death, is it?"

"No, not painful. This is generally agreed upon, I think . . .

Would you not be wiser to leave details, till we know more?
One goes through needless misery sometimes, picturing
what has never happened. They and we are in our Father's
Hands. Try to remember that—and to trust . . . What do you
think of my going back to London work?"

"And leaving Dutton?"

"I have had an offer of a living."

Jean was buried in thought, and Jem had ceased to expect

an answer, when she said—

"I shall have to come and work there too—if—You would let
me, would you not? Unless Evelyn and I came and lived
together! It has been her dream for years."

"Mrs. Villiers!"

"She said so the other day! . . . Oh, what a wave!"

"Hold fast! . . . Yes—you were saying—"

"She has often talked so—especially of late. Evelyn gets so

tired of her present life. She would like to give it all up, and
take to East-End work as a vocation . . . I don't think the
wish is only restlessness. Sometimes she talks as it were—
but that is because she is so honest—so afraid of laying
claim to higher motives than she has. Evelyn does think and
feel very deeply—and her religion is always so true—though
she talks very little. I am sure the wish is a real wish; not
mere disgust with Dutton and the Park . . . Isn't it strange
that Cyril should have written so often lately of London
work of that kind? He says he can't settle down at his age
to a do nothing existence at the Brow. He would like to
spend part of the year in Town, and look into all sorts of
questions, and help a little to improve things at the East-
End. But no use talking," murmured Jean. "When perhaps
—"
Jem hardly heard the last few words. That which she said
about Evelyn stirred him strongly, seeming to clothe the
condition of things with a new vesture of possibilities.

Four o'clock in the afternoon, and still the hapless

passengers were at sea, exposed to the fury of wind and
wave. Hour after hour had crept by; and the "Bristol," with
her damaged wheel and silent engines, drifted slowly, log-
like, across the Channel, and towards the French coast.

One friendly steamer, the "Achilles," had been signalled in

the course of the morning, and had come to their aid. With
great delay and difficulty, and no small peril of a collision,
she had been manœuvred into a position near enough
alongside to take on board the tow-rope of the "Bristol." For
a while hopes rose high; but in so heavy a sea, the strain
proved to be too great.

After two hours, the powerful hawser snapped as if made of

tinder; and to pick it up again was not possible. The wind
had by this time fallen to some extent; but the seas still
chased one another in mountainous grey ridges with
wearisome monotony.

Though the "Achilles" could do no more, she showed her

sympathy by lingering long in the neighbourhood of the
hapless vessel; till indeed the fast-nearing outline of the
French coast, and an ominous line of breakers on a rocky
shore, seen in glimpses between the rising and falling of
watery heights, spoke of peril to both steamers. Then the
"Achilles" was compelled for her own safety to stand out to
sea: and the "Bristol" drifted alone.
Passengers and crew had behaved well thus far. There were
several ladies among the former, and some had been much
overcome: yet weeping was quiet, screaming and hysterics
were unknown. Many were still suffering too severely from
mal de mer to pay attention to surrounding circumstances:
while others knew of the now pressing danger, and bore it
calmly.

Boats were in readiness for launching; life-belts were either

donned or kept at hand by a large proportion of those on
board: and one gentleman had already pulled off his heavy
boots, in preparation for a swim.

Among those able to be on deck were not only Jean and

Jem, but also Evelyn. She had rallied from her weakness,
the near peril acting as a tonic, and had insisted on leaving
the cabin. It might be that a summons would soon reach all
below to follow her example. Jem had helped her to his
favourite corner, the most sheltered attainable: and he sat
beside her, keeping careful watch over her comfort. He
looked worn with his long night-watch and inward battling,
but a vivid light shone in his eyes, as they drew closer to
the coast. To die with Evelyn seemed to him no terrible
matter; not half so terrible as to cut himself asunder from
her, living.

Evelyn had her gentlest and most fragile aspect; and her
large eyes watched with fascinated eagerness the rolling up
and past of each great wave which tossed and heaved their
boat, like a huge log, on its bosom. Yet fear was not in her
face; rather a restful quiet might be found there. Jean,
standing at a short distance, keeping her feet in a manner
which no other woman on that sloping deck could emulate,
saw this with silent wonder. She had expected more of
physical fear and shrinking on Evelyn's part. Could it be, not
only that to Evelyn's gentle spirit the great transition now
threatening was not a matter for dread, but also that under
Jem's watchful care a new content had arisen. The thought
came, which strangely had never before occurred to Jean—
did Evelyn love Jem?

"Another half hour, and we shall be on the rocks!" a

passenger said aloud.

Evelyn heard, and her glance went in appeal to Jem.

"Hardly so soon," he answered.

"Can nothing be done?"

"The engines will be set going. I do not suppose the Captain

will wait much longer."

"And if the wheel breaks in the side of the steamer—That is

feared, is it not?"

"Yes. Then we should have, probably, to take to the boats."

"Would the boats live in this sea?" asked Evelyn.

"That is the question."

A faint smile came to her lips, drawn there by something in

Jem's look.

"Jean must be your first care," she said.

"None can be my care before you! Jean too of course. If we

take to the boats, we will keep together—all three of us."

"But if you could not save us both—Jean must be first. She

is so young. And for Cyril's sake!" urged Evelyn. "It does
not matter so much for me. I have had my life, you know . .
. And sometimes I think—One would not wish to choose;
but going Home early would solve many difficulties. If it
were God's will for me, I mean. I don't think I have been so
very happy."

"Ought you not to have been?"

"Why—'ought'? I am so alone—for years past, always alone.

People seem to think money is all one needs; but I care
little for wealth. If you knew how little! It is only a burden .
. . I should like to thank you now for what you said to me,
one day lately—the day we met and had a talk. It opened
my eyes to a good deal. If we get through this, I am
resolved to live a different life—not for myself any more. So
many need helping; and I should like to help them. I will
find some work to do."

Jem's answer was more of a reply than might appear on the

surface: "I have thoughts of going back to London."

"To leave Dutton?"

"It will be best."

"For Dutton? Or for yourself?"

"For both, perhaps; certainly for myself. There are difficult

elements in my life at Dutton; and I have always felt that
my true work lay among the London poor."

"Ah—I have always felt that that was a life worth living!"

"Any life may be, and ought to be, worth living, if there is a
right motive-power."

Jem said this almost mechanically. Recollections of a long

past scene flashed through his mind; of a meeting in the
gorge; of the General's fair young wife looking with sad
eyes, as she said, "It must be a splendid life—a life worth
living—so different from most people's lives!"

The remembrance stirred Jem strongly. He almost forgot his

present position; and a new impulse came over him, to
speak out, not to leave her in ignorance of his love. What
Jean had said of Evelyn, and what Evelyn now said of
herself, seemed to place matters on a new level. Jem could
hardly have told what he thought or expected; only the
fresh impulse was overmastering; and he seemed to be
suddenly freed from binding shackles. Perhaps in the near
prospect of possible death, questions of more or less money
grew small, as if seen through a reversed binocular;
perhaps the long night and day had unstrung him; perhaps
Evelyn's unconscious confiding wistfulness of look and
manner had most to do with the breaking down of his
resolution. One way or another, he heard his own voice
saying, almost without premeditation—

"If I were not poor—and if you were not rich—I should have
asked if you could share that work with me. But as things
are—"

A moment's silence; and then—"Why not?"

Jem glanced up, hardly able to believe his own ears. Below
the surface, he was tempest-tossed; long pent-up forces
surging in billows like those grey heights around. A dazzle
of light filled the murky air, and everything was pulsating
with a new vividness of life and hope. He grew excessively
pale; yet he spoke with restrained utterance:

"Because it would be asking you to give up everything—in

exchange for nothing!"

"But if I do not value the 'everything'? And if that 'nothing'

is perhaps 'something' to me?"
"You must understand! I have only my stipend—and my
mother to support. Don't you see?" asked Jem, with less
composure.

The throb of the silent engines seemed to have passed into

his brain; and he scarcely knew what he said under this
strange clang of sound and brightness of light, through
which he heard Evelyn's low tones, inaudible to everybody
else, and saw her sweet face, fair still to him as in all the
freshness of her lovely girlhood; while the rush of wind and
water faded into nothingness.

"I did not mean to say this! I hardly know why—except—

The thing cannot be—ought not to be! . . . Still—if we
should not get through—or if you are saved, and not I—
then I should like you to know that I have loved you for
years—have loved you always. I have never loved any other
—since the day that I first saw you, coming over the
stepping-stones!"

"So long ago! All those years!" said Evelyn.

A bright rose-colour flushed her cheeks, and the deep blue

eyes, looked up at Jem, had lost their unsatisfied craving.

"And I thought you almost despised me—looked down on

what seemed to you my butterfly life."

"When I would have given all I had—any day—for a look or

a word! But you mean—you think—" Jem could hardly speak
—"you mean, you could give up—you think you could learn
to love me?"

"I think I have learnt that already," she answered softly.

"And the giving up would be no giving up—because of what
I should have in exchange."
The engines had been started again, as they talked, and
now so terrific a clamour of sound burst from the damaged
wheel, as it began slowly to revolve, that Jem's reply was
lost. What matter? Enough had been said!

CHAPTER V.

SUCCEEDING CALM.

"She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd:

She's a woman, and therefore to be won."
SHAKESPEARE.

THE dreaded peril did not develop into fact. Those massive
loose floats, made of steel and weighing between two and
three tons, though they struck heavily, with a frightful
crash, against the framework, did little injury to the side of
the vessel. The steamer drew gradually away from the
threatening line of breakers; and thenceforward the worst
was over. So often the thing which we most fear does not
come upon us.

Jem had telegraphed home before starting; and he well

knew what his mother's anxiety would be, at this long delay
in their arrival; but nothing could be done. Until they should
reach port, no word could be sent. They were cut off from
communication with the civilised world.

Progress homeward had to be of the most tardy description,

since the Captain dared only to use the engines at their
slowest rate. It was a matter of snail-like creeping, inch by
inch, little more than a mile an hour; and another dreary
night had to be lived through by the suffering passengers.
Only Evelyn and Jem seemed none the worse—nay, rather,
much the better—for their uncomfortable experience.

Jean gazed wonderingly at them both many times in the

course of the evening; but she asked no questions, and
they would not thrust their new-found joy into her burden
of fear and sorrow.

Evelyn could sleep that second night peacefully as a child;

but not Jean. She came on deck before breakfast, looking
haggard. The wind had changed and gone down; and the
sea had grown more still, heaving in sleepy billows, like the
tired sighs of a child after a fit of passion.

"How soon do we get in? The engines are stopping again,"

Jean said, a despairing under-tone audible.

Jem showed a small steamer near at hand. "A tug at last!

We shall be all right now. Our little friend will tow us to
Newhaven."

"I thought we were to land somewhere else."

"So it was said yesterday; but we go to Newhaven, after all.

I am glad for your sake. If a telegram has arrived, it will be
sent there to meet us."

"I have had a lesson, at all events, not to be wilful again,"

said Jean. "If I had not been so bent on getting off—"
"It is nearly over now, I hope. Have you had anything to
eat?"

"No. Why won't you let me blame myself?"

"So you shall, if it is a relief. But there is another side to the

question. I shall be thankful all my life that we did come."

"By this boat?"

"By this particular boat! If we had not, Evelyn and I might

never—"

Jem paused, and Jean repeated—"Evelyn!"

"I may call her so now."

"Then it is that! I almost fancied—and yet—O Jem, I am

glad!—Glad somebody is happy! And Cyril would have been
so pleased."

"Will be—perhaps. We won't give up hope yet."

"I have not much left. But this—is it real? You mean it!"

"Nothing was ever more real. I don't wonder you ask the
question. I keep putting it to myself. All is changed—like a
bewildering dream. I didn't know what capacities for
happiness I had! . . . Yes, it is real—that she loves me—
better than Dutton Park."

"And you will stay in Dutton?"

"I think not. There is no need. We both long for London

work; and Evelyn has more of her own than I knew. A
legacy of £600 a year was left her lately by the General's
brother-in-law. Marriage will not touch that. So we can
afford to provide for my mother, if she likes a country home
best; and somebody else will be as well fitted as I am to
look after the old ladies of Dutton."

Jem could not resist the little flash of fun; but he grew
instantly apologetic.

"Forgive me! It must sound so heartless. But if you knew

what this is to me—after years of utter hopelessness!"

"I think I do know; and you could never be heartless," Jean

answered.

To Evelyn, a little later, she murmured—"So this is what has

been the matter with you lately—not poor Miss Moggridge,
after all!" and Evelyn offered no protest.

A small tug, with a large steamer in tow, could not be

expected to advance rapidly; and the "Bristol" had drifted
far out of her course; but the sea being now comparatively
smooth, the Captain preferred to make his own port.
Passengers, eager to be on land, were disposed to grumble;
yet the delay involved was not very great. There was no
longer any question of danger; only of patience. People
might eat and drink and enjoy themselves, so far as certain
physical sensations permitted.

It was growing dusky, when late in the afternoon, they

reached the Newhaven harbour. An eager crowd of battered
and weather-beaten voyagers pressed across the gangway,
anxious to reach firm ground. Evelyn, clinging to Jem's arm,
seemed to care little whether she were on deck or on land;
and Jem could scarcely turn his mind to aught else beside
Evelyn. Still they did not forget Jean, and if she stood apart,
she was at once beckoned near.
After crossing the gangway, however, while in the midst of a
dense crowd, Jean was forcibly separated from her
companions, and hustled backward. She had little spirit to
struggle; and though not much liking to find herself alone,
she could hardly be called nervous. When able to move
forward again, she looked about in vain for Evelyn and Jem.
Had they gone on, forgetfully? Jean smiled at the idea; yet
a forlorn wave swept over her, not for the first time that
day. The contrast between their happiness and what might
be in store for herself was almost too painful.

In the growing darkness, and in the throng, she still failed

to catch a glimpse of her companions. Jean began to feel
uncomfortable.

Then she found somebody by her side—somebody well

covered with a large foreign-looking cloak, and wearing a
rough-weather cap, pulled low over his eyes. She had a
glimpse of a brown-moustached face. And an ungloved
hand, well sunburnt, touched her courteously, to draw
attention; while an odd gruff voice, not unfamiliar in its
intonation, said—

"Pardon me! Miss Trevelyan—? Mr. Trevelyan has gone on,

and he desires me to bring you to the hotel."

"Rather curious!" Jean thought; but the manner was

unmistakably that of a gentleman, and Jean submitted. "A
friend of Jem's!" she conjectured.

"You have had an unpleasant voyage."

"Very," Jean said, with sufficient brevity, as she walked by

his side.

"Mr. Trevelyan asked me to inform you that news has come

from abroad—good news."
"A telegram!"

"That—and more!"

"My father—and—"

"They did not go in the unfortunate 'Spanish Gipsy.' There

was a change of plans just at last. Both are safe and well . .
. I think you had better take my arm."

For a moment, Jean was rather near loss of consciousness.

Long suspense and want of sleep had told upon her; but
with a determined effort she rallied, after her father's
fashion.

"Thanks—no need. You are sure—quite sure?"

"Perfectly. There can be no mistake. They did take their

passage in the 'Spanish Gipsy;' but soon afterwards, they
managed to get off—at some little sacrifice of money. The
fact is, Sir Cyril had not patience. He was anxious to get
home; and the long voyage meant too much delay. They
would not write word of this change, thinking that it would
make a pleasant surprise; and they have come straight by
Suez."

"Have come! Then they are now—"

"In Newhaven! Waiting for your arrival. Mr. Trevelyan is at

the hotel—and Sir Cyril—is—"

The stranger hesitated: paused near a lamp; pushed higher

his penthouse of a cap; and said in a different voice—

"Jean, am I so changed?"

"Cyril!!!"
"And so, Mabel, everything is settled, and they are all going
to be married as fast as possible, don't you know?" stated
Mrs. Kennedy, a few days later, to her usual confidante.

Mabel, having been absent from home, required instruction

on the recent course of events.

"I don't know, I'm sure, why they should wait. Sir Cyril has
plenty of money; and now that funny Mme. Collier is
coming to live again at Dulveriford Rectory, why, nobody
can say Jean can't be spared."

"She'll make a splendid Lady Devereux—as nice as any one

could wish. As for poor Miss Devereux, why, she must just
make up her mind to it. But they say she was as nice as
anything when Sir Cyril came home, and cried in his arms,
like I don't know what—having been so frightened about
him, and all, don't you see? That does soften people
sometimes. And, after all, she isn't hard—she's only just
Miss Devereux. And she's to have a sweet little house built,
and everything done to make her comfortable. So she can't
complain."

"Not that we shall have so very much of Sir Cyril and Jean
in Dutton. I can see that! They're all agog for London, and
East-End work, and no end of philanthropicalness."

"It's wonderful how Sir Cyril is altered. I wouldn't have

believed it—after less than two years and a half. Why, he
looks positively ten years older, I do declare, Mabel; and
he's bigger, and stouter, and regularly burnt brown, and
he's grown a moustache, and his voice is deeper too. He's
nothing like as pretty as he was. I always did say he was
the prettiest boy, with the loveliest manner—but then, of
course, he can't be a boy always, don't you know, and he's
got nice manners still. You can fancy how he's changed, for
Jean herself didn't know him when she first saw him in the
dark. But if Jean likes him better so, it's all right; and she
says she does."

"As for Mr. Trevelyan, he looks quite young and strong

again, and he goes striding about like a great long-legged
emu!"

"And we're to lose Mr. James Trevelyan! That seems a

shame, and I'm desperately sorry—though to be sure the
Colonel does say he's not at all a safe young man, and poor
dear Thomas shakes his head. But some people always
shake their heads over everybody, don't you know; and
there's nobody I'd rather hear preach; only, of course, you
mustn't tell Thomas! But it does give one a sort of lift—up
out of the mud, you know."

"Mrs. Trevelyan? Oh, she's to spend half the year in London

with them—and half the year at the Brow. That's the plan,
I'm told. She says she's so glad for 'dear Jem' she always
calls him 'Dear Jem,' you know—that she can't think of
herself. And Mr. James Trevelyan is all beaming, and Mrs.
Villiers looks as young and lovely as she did at sixteen.

"Poor dear creatures! They all think everything is to keep

straight after marriage. A sort of comfortable wind-up, don't
you see, and nothing ever to go wrong again! Of course, it
won't—I mean, of course it will—at least you know what I
mean. Things will get crooked just as much as ever, and
perhaps a lot more. Why, if nothing else happens, there's a
husband to look after, and everybody knows what that
means! If they don't, they soon will."
"Of course, they'll be awfully happy, dear, and it all fits in
beautifully, and it's just exactly what one wishes. I always
did say Mr. James Trevelyan was the right person for Mrs.
Villiers; and Sir Cyril has been crazy after Jean ever since
he wore knickerbockers. But, all the same, I suppose they'll
have their needles and pins, like other folks. Married life
isn't just nothing but plum-cake, you know."

Mrs. Kennedy's metaphors were apt to get mixed, but she

smiled on in placid unconsciousness of the incongruity.

"Miss Moggridge says it's so wonderful how one event grows

out of another; and I suppose it is; only it would be more
wonderful still if they didn't. She's a queer sort of woman,
Mabel—intellectual and all that!—but she's quite too much
for me, don't you know? And she's going to live at Rome."

"So it's all settled; and now there's nothing to be done but
to publish the banns, and to get the frocks and veils!"

THE END.

The Gresham Press

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED

WOKING AND LONDON