though they ranked after the _go-san-ke_, they had some
superior advantages. They were classed as _kyakubun_, or guests, and
whenever they paid a visit to the capital of the shogun, they were met by
envoys and conducted to their residences.

Besides these daimyos of different classes, Ieyasu established an inferior
kind of feudal nobility, which was termed _hatamoto_. This means literally
_under the flag_. They had small holdings assigned to them, and their
income varied very greatly. Mr. Gubbins, in his paper, puts the number at
about 2,000. It was the custom to employ the members of this minor class
of aristocracy very largely in filling the official positions in the
shogun's government. Indeed, it was held as a common maxim, that the
offices should be filled by poor men rather than by rich.(234) The
_gokenin_, numbering about 5,000, were still another class who were
inferior to the _hatamoto_. They had small incomes, and were mostly
employed in subordinate positions. Beneath these again stood the ordinary
fighting men, or common _samurai_, who were the retainers of the daimyos
and of the shogun. They were the descendants of the soldiers of the time
of Yoritomo, who appointed _shiugo_ to reside with a company of troops in
each province, for the purpose of keeping the peace. They had already
grown to claim a great superiority over the common people, and Ieyasu
encouraged them in this feeling of superciliousness. The people were
divided into four classes, arranged in the following order: _samurai_,
farmers, artisans, and merchants. And in his _Legacy_ Ieyasu thus
expresses himself(235): "The _samurai_ are masters of the four classes.
Farmers, artisans, and merchants may not behave in a rude manner towards
_samurai_ ... and a _samurai_ is not to be interfered with in cutting down
a fellow who has behaved to him in a manner other than is expected." Again
he says(236): "A girded sword is the living soul of a _samurai_."

The authority coming from so high and so revered a source did not grow
less during the centuries of feudalism which followed. The _samurai_ did
not fail to use all the privileges which were allowed them by Ieyasu's
testamentary law. Especially in the large cities where great numbers of
them were gathered, and where idleness led them into endless evil
practices, the arrogance and overbearing pride of the _samurai_ made them
an intolerable nuisance. Nevertheless it must be allowed that nearly all
that was go