rimasa's instance, Prince Mochihito secretly sent to all the
Minamoto families throughout the empire, especially to Yoritomo at
his place of exile in Izu, a document impeaching the conduct of the
Taira and exhorting the Minamoto to muster and attack them.

Yorimasa's story shows that he would not have embarked upon this
enterprise had he not seen solid hope of success. But one of the aids
he counted on proved unsound. That aid was the Buddhist priesthood.
Kiyomori had offended the great monasteries by bestowing special
favour on the insignificant shrine of Itsukushima-Myojin. A
revelation received in a dream having persuaded him that his fortunes
were intimately connected with this shrine, he not only rebuilt it on
a scale of much magnificence, but also persuaded Go-Shirakawa to
make three solemn progresses thither. This partiality reached its
acme at the time of Takakura's abdication (1180), for instead of
complying with the custom hitherto observed on such occasions--the
custom of worshipping at one or more shrines of the three
great monasteries--Enryaku (Hiei-zan), Kofuku (Nara), or Onjo
(Miidera)--Takakura, prompted by Kiyomori, proceeded to Itsukushima.*

*See Murdoch's History of Japan.

A monster demonstration on the part of the offended monasteries was
temporarily quieted, but deep umbrage rankled in the bosoms of the
priests, and Yorimasa counted on their co-operation with his
insurrection. He forgot, however, that no bond could be trusted to
hold them permanently together in the face of their habitual rivalry,
and it was here that his scheme ultimately broke down. At an early
stage, some vague news of the plot reached Kiyomori's ears and he
hastened from his Fukuhara villa to Kyoto. But it soon became evident
that his information was incomplete. He knew, indeed, that Prince
Mochihito was involved, but he suspected Go-Shirakawa also, and he
entertained no conception of Yorimasa's complicity. Thus, while
removing Go-Shirakawa to Rokuhara and despatching a force to seize
Mochihito, he entrusted the direction of the latter measure to
Yorimasa's son, Kanetsuna, who, it need scarcely be said, failed to
apprehend the prince or to elicit any information from his followers.

Presently Kiyomori learned that the prince had escaped to Onjo-ji
(Miidera). Thereupon secret negotiations were opened between Rokuhara
and Enryaku-ji (Hiei-zan), not that the Taira chief suspected the
latter, but because he appreciated that if