In 1851, three years before the treaty of peace and amity with the United States of America was concluded, Sakuma had received into his entire friendship one who was like himself to occupy a niche in the annals of his country. This was Yoshida Torajiro, better known now by his literary name of Sho-in. Yoshida, as Sakuma’s pupil, had become imbued with his mentor’s ideas on the subject of national defence, and acting on Sakuma’s suggestion, which was that every man ought to examine for himself how other countries provided for their own security from attack, Yoshida endeavoured to procure a passage in an American warship, though it was at that time against the law for a Japanese to quit his native land, and in this endeavour he was supported by the conviction that Sakuma approved of his plan, but unfortunately the attempt was foredoomed to failure, as Commodore Perry would not countenance a breach of Japanese law. Sakuma perceived that Yoshida contemplated running the risk of detection, with the object of seeing for himself the condition of people under an enlightened government, and gaining experience which should fit him to continue the good work which the elder man had begun, and the pupil received at the hands of his master a treasured letter stimulating him to yet greater efforts in his search for knowledge, and designed to comfort him amid the inevitable trials and difficulties of the career that he had mapped out for himself. That composition was to be historic, for it decided the fate of Sakuma too, but it shows the clearsightedness of its writer, and it was subsequently an incentive to many to prove constant amid the storm and stress of a period of transition and revolution. An attempt is here made to translate Sakuma’s stirring exhortation into English, but the result is by no means satisfactory, for it is very difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce faithfully the force of the original. Rendered into English it might perhaps be read as:— “He has journeyed a thousand leagues, and though he has not yet disclosed to me the trend of his thoughts, I perceive that he is meditating some exploit out of the ordinary. As I watch him move away from my cottage gate I see in fancy a solitary stork outstretched on the wing in the autumn sky. The ocean lies beneath, and the five continents seem to be the bird’s close neighbours. So in a tour of the globe one takes in the situation at a glance, and the benefit exceeds that of a hundred lectures. An intelligent person would not fail to profit hugely by the opportunities presented of acquiring expansive views of men and things. Unless a man achieves something wonderful in life he cannot hope to bear a high reputation after his death.”