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THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 251
Morrison. The book created tremendous excitement
all over the country. It was eagerly read
alike by far-seeking patriots and by hide-bound and
helplessly stupid conservatives. The government
tried to suppress it, but could not. Watanabe", the
nobleman, remembering India and the conquests of
Asiatic nations by Europeans, tried to second the
purpose of the book and to open the eyes of the
high officers to the state of affairs, to have the
coasts properly defended and the military classes
roused out of their luxury and sensuality. He had
copies of the flags of European nations distributed
among the people along the coast so that the
movement of foreign vessels could be reported.
At last the government woke up and appointed
a high officer named Renzo to attend to national
defense. This man who was of a jealous disposition,
and a bigoted adherent of the Yedo government,
having met Egawa, who had learned the
modern military art from the Dutch, was chagrined
to find him far ahead of himself in knowledge.
By means of his well-paid and numerous spies,
he found out other things, namely
: that Egawa was
a friend of Takano and Watanabe* and that there
was a circle of scholars who were studying European
books. He also found that two Japanese
gentlemen, father and son, had their plans all laid
to sail in a junk over to the Benin islands, and
thence to get on board some whaling-vessel, visit
America, and learn western science.
All this was an eye-opener of the most powerful