Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/118

 a spirit of rivalry induced them to build, the brilliant equipages they supported, and the costly habits they cultivated, not only served as a wholesome drain on their resources, but also occupied their attention to the exclusion of politics and other dangerous topics. It was, indeed, a part of the Tokugawa chieftain's plan that the accumulation of wealth in the coffers of individuals should be carefully prevented. In his instructions for the guidance of his successors he laid down the principle that, whenever the opulence of any noble began to attract attention, the task of carrying out some great public work should be imposed upon him.

Iyeyasu excelled as an organiser. Victory in arms served him merely as a prelude to organisation. In that respect he differed from all his predecessors. They had been content to acquire power; his great aim was to consolidate it. They had sought chiefly to exalt their own houses; he sought to place himself at the head of an organised nation and an organised society. Yet he does not appear to have entertained any national ambition. He made peace with Korea on the easiest terms. He refused to assist the Ming dynasty against the Manchu invaders. He struck a fatal blow at maritime enterprise by causing all large ships to be destroyed, an act which his grandson, Iyemitsu, supplemented by an ordinance forbidding the construction of sea-going vessels. He may be said to have inaugu-