Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/184

 time furnished an object lesson in these principles. The Emperor (Kōkaku), desiring to give a certain title to his father, sent an envoy to Yedo to consult the Shōgun. But it happened just then that the Shōgun contemplated giving a similar title to his own father. The proposal from the Kyōtō Court was regarded as a deliberate scheme, and when the Emperor's envoys pressed it, they were actually punished by the Shōgun. Voices were now raised loudly denouncing the arbitrariness of the Tokugawa. They did not as yet become audible in influential quarters, but they nevertheless indicated the growth of a sentiment fatal to the permanence of the Yedo administration.

It will be easily understood that although the revival of pure Japanese literature, of the Japanese religious cult and of the ethics connected with it, was in effect a rebellion against the despotic sway of Chinese authority, the latter had in fact prepared the route to the goal indicated by the former. For whereas Confucianism taught that a ruler's title is valid only so long as his administration conduces to the welfare of the ruled, Shintō showed the people whither they should turn for relief from the incompetent and injurious sway of the Shōguns. Thus, though the two stood nominally opposed to each other, both had the same political tendency.

At this epoch a new factor of disturbance appeared upon the scene: the Russians began