No certain information was ever got of the death of Hideyori or his mother. In all probability they committed suicide, and their bodies were destroyed in the conflagration. Reports were circulated of their having fled--some said to Koya, others to Satsuma; but as diligent search was made for six months after, and no trace of them was discovered with certainty either then or in after years, the common report is likely to be correct. His natural son was taken and beheaded. After this decisive battle, Iyeyas, having satisfied himself that he had made all things sure about Miako and Osaka, returned to Soonpu, and his son to Yedo. However, Iyeyas did not live long to gather the fruits of his sowing, or witness the success of his schemes in the working of his laws. He died on March 8, 1616, at Soonpu, advising his sons to be kind to the nobles, and, above all, to govern their subjects in the spirit of tenderness and affection. He died not without suspicion of his having been poisoned by his second son, Hideyas, the elder brother of Hidetada, the Shiogoon. He was buried in the hills of Nikko, a short distance north of Yedo, with great splendor. His posthumous title or name and rank is To sho, Dai Gongen mia (Tung chau, Ta K’iuen hien kung) d’zo jo itchi-i, Dai jo dai jin--The Eastern Light, the Illustrious Gem (a Buddhist title for a deified being) of the first rank, Prime Minister. He is often spoken of as To sho goo and Gongen sama, but this latter is a generic term, and not specially applicable to any individual. The East India Company endeavored, shortly before the death of Iyeyas, to open a trade with Japan, and the letters of Captain Saris, Cocks, and others, give an interesting account of the country at the time. In answer to a letter from the King of Great Britain, Iyeyas granted to his majesty’s subjects certain privileges of trade, and the settling of a factory in Japan, and confirmed these under his broad seal for the better determining thereof. This document, a fac-simile of the original, is to be seen in Purchas. For sufficient reasons, the factory was in no long time withdrawn, and the trade entirely ceased in 1621. In 1619 some notice of the persecutions carried on against Christians is given in Mr. Cocks’ letter, which corroborates the accounts received through the Roman Catholic channels, and is worthy of note as being written by one who evidently bore no great goodwill to that form of the Christian religion, and will render it unnecessary to allude further to the fearful particulars detailed by Trigautius and others: