ce (_Rusui_), six
attendants, one chief second, two assistant seconds, one man to carry
incense, who need not be a person of rank--any Samurai will do. They
attend to the setting up of the white screen.

The duty of burying the corpse and of setting the place in order again
devolves upon four men; these are selected from Samurai of the middle
or lower class; during the performance of their duties, they hitch up
their trousers and wear neither sword nor dirk. Their names are
previously sent in to the censor, who acts as witness; and to the
junior censors, should they desire it. Before the arrival of the chief
censor, the requisite utensils for extinguishing a fire are prepared,
firemen are engaged,[109] and officers constantly go the rounds to
watch against fire. From the time when the chief censor comes into the
house until he leaves it, no one is allowed to enter the premises. The
servants on guard at the entrance porch should wear their hempen
dresses of ceremony. Everything in the palace should be conducted with
decorum, and the strictest attention paid in all things.

[Footnote 109: In Japan, where fires are of daily occurrence, the
fire-buckets and other utensils form part of the gala dress of the
house of a person of rank.]

When any one is condemned to _hara-kiri_, it would be well that people
should go to the palace of the Prince of Higo, and learn what
transpired at the execution of the Ronins of Asano Takumi no Kami. A
curtain was hung round the garden in front of the reception-room;
three mats were laid down, and upon these was placed a white cloth.
The condemned men were kept in the reception-room, and summoned, one
by one; two men, one on each side, accompanied them; the second,
followed behind; and they proceeded together to the place of
execution. When the execution was concluded in each case, the corpse
was hidden from the sight of the chief witness by a white screen,
folded up in white cloth, placed on a mat, and carried off to the rear
by two foot-soldiers; it was then placed in a coffin. The
blood-stained ground was sprinkled with sand, and swept clean; fresh
mats were laid down, and the place prepared anew; after which the next
man was summoned to come forth.

ON CERTAIN THINGS TO BE BORNE IN MIND BY THE WITNESSES.

When a clansman is ordered by his feudal lord to perform _hara-kiri_,
the sentence must be read out by the censor of the clan, who also acts
as witness. He should take his place i