Kioto that the
exigency of the occasion had forced him to take this action.

The feeling that followed was intense. The country became divided into
two parties, that of the mikado, which opposed the foreigners, and that
of the shogun, which favored them. "Honor the mikado and expel the
barbarians," became the patriot watchword, and in all directions excited
partisans roamed the land, vowing that they would kill the regent and
his new friends and that they were ready to die for the true emperor.
Their fury bore fruit. Ii was assassinated. At the moment when a strong
hand was most needed, that of the regent was removed. And as the feeling
of bitterness against the foreigners grew, the influence of the shogun
declined. The youthful dignitary was obliged by public opinion to visit
Kioto and do homage to the mikado, an ancient ceremony which had not
been performed for two hundred and thirty years, and whose former
existence had almost been forgotten.

This was followed by a still more vital act. Under orders from the
mikado, the shogun appointed the prince of Echizen premier of the
empire. The prince at once took a remarkable step. For over two
centuries the daimios had been forced to reside in Yedo. With a word he
abolished this custom, and like wild birds the feudal lords flew away.
The cage which had held them so long was open, and they winged their way
to their distant nests. This act was fatal to the glory of Yedo and the
power of its sovereign lord. In the words of the native chronicler, "the
prestige of the Tokugawa family, which had endured for three hundred
years, which had been as much more brilliant than Kamakura in the age of
Yoritomo as the moon is more brilliant than the stars, which for more
than two hundred and seventy years had forced the daimios to take their
turn of duty in Yedo, and which had, day and night, eighty thousand
vassals at its command, fell to ruin in the space of a single day."

In truth, the revolution was largely completed by this signal act. Many
of the daimios and their retainers, let loose from their prison,
deserted the cause of their recent lord. Their place of assemblage was
now at Kioto, which became once more populous and bustling. They
strengthened the imperial court with gold and pledged to it their
devotion. Pamphlets were issued, some claiming that the clans owed
allegiance to the shogun, others that the mikado was the true and only
emperor.

The first warlike step in suppo