ABSTRACT
SADANOBU MATSUDA IRA FAVOURABLY RECEIVED.-The successor of Tanuma, Sadanobu Matsudaira, who was to be known to posterity as Rakuo Shirakawa, was welcomed with enthusiasm by the nation. He belonged to one of the three branches of the Tokugawa family created by Yoshimune, the eighth Shogun, in imitation of the Imperial Family at Kyoto, which was surrounded by princes of the blood. He was no prodigy of statesmanship, but a man of moderation and integrity, and although not formed by nature to captivate the heart of a nation, his upbringing and high-mindedness placed him high above the other statesmen of his day.
