, he embraced the life of a recluse and was never seen in
public again.

DEATH OF PRINCE MORINAGA

Things now went from bad to worse in Kyoto, while in the provinces
the remnants of the Hojo's partisans began to raise their heads. The
ever-loyal Kusunoki Masashige and Nawa Nagatoshi entered the capital
to secure it against surprise; Ashikaga Takauji, ostensibly for the
same purpose, summoned large forces from the provinces, and Prince
Morinaga occupied Nawa with a strong army. Takauji saw that the time
had come to remove the prince, in whom he recognized the great
obstacle to the consummation of his ambitious designs. Securing the
co-operation of the lady Ren by a promise that her son, Narinaga,
should be named Crown Prince and commander-in-chief (shoguri) in
succession to Morinaga, he informed the Emperor that Prince Morinaga
was plotting Go-Daigo's deposition and the elevation of his own son
to the throne. The Emperor credited the accusation, summoned the
usurping Morinaga to the palace, and caused him to be arrested. This
happened in November, 1334. Morinaga vehemently declared his
innocence. In a memorial to the Throne he recounted the loyal service
he had rendered to his sovereign and father, and concluded with these
words:

In spite of all this I have unwittingly offended. I would appeal to
heaven, but the sun and moon have no favour for an unfilial son. I
would bow my head and cry to the earth for help, but the mountains
and the rivers do not harbour a disloyal subject. The tie between
father and son is severed, and I am cast away. I have no longer
anything to hope in the world. If I may be pardoned, stripped of my
rank, and permitted to enter religion, there will be no cause for
regret. In my deep sorrow I cannot say more.

Had this piteous appeal reached Go-Daigo, he might have relented. But
just as the memorial addressed by Yoshitsune to his brother,
Yoritomo, was suppressed by Hiromoto, so the chamberlain to whom
Prince Morinaga entrusted his protest feared to carry it to the
sovereign. Before the close of the year, the prince was exiled to
Kamakura, and there placed in charge of Takauji's brother, Tadayoshi,
who confined him in a cave dug for the purpose. He never emerged
alive. Seven months later, Tadayoshi, on the eve of evacuating
Kamakura before the attack of Hojo Tokiyuki, sent an emissary to
assassinate Morinaga in the cave. The unfortunate prince was in his
twenty-eighth year. His name must be