THE VOICE FROM WITHIN
to the shogunate. Later on it began to influence even the princes of the Tokugawa family, especially the princes of Mito and the lords of Echizen. The scholars of these daimiates, with their Shinto and Oyomian tendencies, were the apostles of the Restoration. It is to be noted that Keiki, last of the shoguns, who voluntarily gave up the reins of government to the Mikado, was a prince of Mito.
The hour had come when dreams were to be translated into action, and the sword was to leave the quiet of the scabbard and leap forth with the fury of lightning.
Strange whispers traveled from the cities to the villages. The lotus trembled above the turbid waters, the stars began to pale before the dawn, and that
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