Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/226

 pered by a sense of relief from responsibility. Besides, no scrutiny was made into the contents of their treasuries at the moment of mediatisation. They were allowed to remain in unquestioned possession of the accumulated funds of their former fiefs at the same time that they became public creditors for annual allowances equal to one-tenth of their feudal revenues. From a pecuniary point of view they had never been better situated, for the charges on the incomes of their fiefs under the old system must have exceeded the amount of the reduction now effected. Yet even when all these allowances are made, the cup that the ex-Daimyōs were required to drink certainly contained a very solid residuum of bitterness, and that they swallowed it patiently is one of the most remarkable events in the history of any nation.

So long, however, as the samurai remained a distinct class with special privileges, feudalism could not be said to have disappeared. They were the country's only soldiers. Some of their incomes were for life alone, but the great majority were hereditary, and all were based on the fact that their holders devoted themselves to military service only. Four hundred thousand men were in receipt of such emoluments, and the annual charge to the State on their account aggregated about two million pounds sterling. The nation began to feel that the burden could not be borne permanently. On the other hand, that these men