Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/114

 compassed by giving, on the one hand, a full measure of recognition to the divinity of the Throne's occupant, and by enforcing, on the other, the logical sequence of that doctrine. The descendant of the gods must be completely divested of all executive functions, these passing absolutely and unquestionably into the hands of the Shōgun, who should exercise them without any reference to the sovereign, accepting, in return, full responsibility for the public peace and good order of the country which he thus undertook to govern. No command of the Emperor could have the force of law unless it received the counter-signature of one of the Shōgun's chief officials. In short, nothing was left to the sovereign except the prerogative of conferring honours and titles. His seclusion was made more complete than ever. Progresses, state visits to shrines, ambassadorial audiences,—such things passed out of His Majesty's existence. The great territorial magnates were forbidden to visit the Palace, or even to enter the quarter of Kyōtō in which it stood. The Court nobles might not intermarry with the families of the military chieftains unless the permission of the Government in Yedo had been obtained. These two classes were to be kept rigidly distinct. And never by either the one or the other might the Emperor's face be viewed. Even when the ministers of the Court approached the Throne, they saw nothing of their sovereign except the