Quotes4study

Man will never fly.  Space travel is merely a dream.  All aspirin is alike.

Unknown

America is the country where you buy a lifetime supply of aspirin for one

dollar, and use it up in two weeks.

Fortune Cookie

Man will never fly.  Space travel is merely a dream.  All aspirin is alike.

Fortune Cookie

The proudest boast of the most aspiring philosopher is no more than that he provides his little playfellows the greatest pastime with the greatest innocence.

_Goldsmith._

The aspiring youth that fired the Ephesian dome Outlives in fame the pious fool that rais'd it.

COLLEY CIBBER. 1671-1757.     _Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act iii. Sc. 1._

Power to do good is the true and lawful end of aspiring.

_Bacon._

The soul aspiring pants its source to mount, As streams meander level with their fount.

ROBERT MONTGOMERY. 1807-1855.     _The Omnipresence of the Deity. Part i._

'T is immortality to die aspiring, As if a man were taken quick to heaven.

GEORGE CHAPMAN. 1557-1634.     _Conspiracy of Charles, Duke of Byron. Act i. Sc. 1._

Pride is still aiming at the blest abodes; / Men would be angels, angels would be gods; / Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell, / Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.

_Pope._

Others, more aspiring than achieving, / Achieve all in suggestion, ... / More helpful by their infinite reaching forth / Than all completed thinking.

_Dr. Walter Smith._

In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies; All quit their sphere, and rush into the skies. Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes: Men would be angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell, Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.

ALEXANDER POPE. 1688-1744.     _Essay on Man. Epistle i. Line 123._

Numerous medicinal substances have been employed in diabetes, but few of them are worthy of mention as possessed of any efficacy. Opium is often found of great service, its administration being followed by marked amelioration in all the symptoms. Morphia and codeia have a similar action. In the severest cases, however, these drugs appear to be of little or no use, and they certainly increase the constipation. Heroin hydrochloride has been tried in their place, but this seems to have more power over slight than over severe cases. Salicylate of sodium and aspirin are both very beneficial, causing a diminution in the sugar excretion without counterbalancing bad effects. Entry: DIABETES

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 3 "Destructors" to "Diameter"     1910-1911

When the symptoms are first felt it is well to take a good purge, and to encourage free perspiration by a hot bath, some diaphoretic drug, as spirits of nitrous ether, being taken before retiring to bed. Some of the older school of physicians still pin their faith to a dose of Dover's powder. When the cold manifests itself by aches and pains in back and limbs, aspirin taken three or four times in the first twenty-four hours will often act like magic. Locally a snuff made of menthol 1 part, ammonium chloride 3 parts and boracic acid 2 parts will relieve the discomfort of the nose. Also, remembering the microbic origin of the disease, gargling and nasal syringing should be repeated at intervals. As soon as the attack shows signs of subsiding, a good tonic and, still better, a change of air are very helpful. Entry: CATARRH

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt"     1910-1911

With respect to the treatment of gout the greatest variety of opinion has prevailed and practice been pursued, from the numerous quaint nostrums detailed by Lucian to the "expectant" or do-nothing system recommended by Sydenham. But gout, although, as has been shown, a malady of a most severe and intractable character, may nevertheless be successfully dealt with by appropriate medicinal and hygienic measures. The general plan of treatment can be here only briefly indicated. During the acute attack the affected part should be kept at perfect rest, and have applied to it warm opiate fomentations or poultices, or, what answers quite as well, be enveloped in cotton wool covered in with oil silk. The diet of the patient should be light, without animal food or stimulants. The administration of some simple laxative will be of service, as well as the free use of alkaline diuretics, such as the bicarbonate or acetate of potash. The medicinal agent most relied on for the relief of pain is colchicum, which manifestly exercises a powerful action on the disease. This drug (_Colchicum autumnale_), which is believed to correspond to the hermodactyl of the ancients, has proved of such efficacy in modifying the attacks that, as observed by Dr Garrod, "we may safely assert that colchicum possesses as specific a control over the gouty inflammation as cinchona barks or their alkaloids over intermittent fever." It is usually administered in the form of the wine in doses of 10 to 30 drops every four or six hours, or in pill as the acetous extract (gr. ½-gr. i.). The effect of colchicum in subduing the pain of gout is generally so prompt and marked that it is unnecessary to have recourse to opiates; but its action requires to be carefully watched by the physician from its well-known nauseating and depressing consequences, which, should they appear, render the suspension of the drug necessary. Otherwise the remedy may be continued in gradually diminishing doses for some days after the disappearance of the gouty inflammation. Should gout give evidence of its presence in an irregular form by attacking internal organs, besides the medicinal treatment above mentioned, the use of frictions and mustard applications to the joints is indicated with the view of exciting its appearance there. When gout has become chronic, colchicum, although of less service than in acute gout, is yet valuable, particularly when the inflammatory attacks recur. More benefit, however, appears to be derived from potassium iodide, guaiacum, the alkalis potash and lithia, and from the administration of aspirin and sodium salicylate. Salicylate of menthol is an effective local application, painted on and covered with a gutta-percha bandage. Lithia was strongly recommended by Dr Garrod from its solvent action upon the urates. It is usually administered in the form of the carbonate (gr. v., freely diluted). Entry: GOUT

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses"     1910-1911

So speaking, I embark'd, and bade embark My followers, throwing, quick, the hawsers loose. They, ent'ring at my word, the benches fill'd Well-ranged, and thresh'd with oars the foamy flood. Attaining soon that neighbour-land, we found At its extremity, fast by the sea, A cavern, lofty, and dark-brow'd above With laurels; in that cavern slumb'ring lay Much cattle, sheep and goats, and a broad court Enclosed it, fenced with stones from quarries hewn, With spiry firs, and oaks of ample bough. Here dwelt a giant vast, who far remote His flocks fed solitary, converse none Desiring, sullen, savage, and unjust. Monster, in truth, he was, hideous in form, Resembling less a man by Ceres' gift Sustain'd, than some aspiring mountain-crag Tufted with wood, and standing all alone. Enjoining, then, my people to abide Fast by the ship which they should closely guard, I went, but not without a goat-skin fill'd With sable wine which I had erst received From Maron, offspring of Evanthes, priest Of Phœbus guardian god of Ismarus, Because, through rev'rence of him, we had saved Himself, his wife and children; for he dwelt Amid the grove umbrageous of his God. He gave me, therefore, noble gifts; from him Sev'n talents I received of beaten gold, A beaker, argent all, and after these No fewer than twelve jars with wine replete, Rich, unadult'rate, drink for Gods; nor knew One servant, male or female, of that wine In all his house; none knew it, save himself, His wife, and the intendant of his stores. Oft as they drank that luscious juice, he slaked A single cup with twenty from the stream, And, even then, the beaker breath'd abroad A scent celestial, which whoever smelt, Thenceforth no pleasure found it to abstain. Charged with an ample goat-skin of this wine I went, and with a wallet well supplied, But felt a sudden presage in my soul That, haply, with terrific force endued, Some savage would appear, strange to the laws And privileges of the human race. Few steps convey'd us to his den, but him We found not; he his flocks pastur'd abroad. His cavern ent'ring, we with wonder gazed Around on all; his strainers hung with cheese Distended wide; with lambs and kids his penns Close-throng'd we saw, and folded separate The various charge; the eldest all apart, Apart the middle-aged, and the new-yean'd Also apart. His pails and bowls with whey Swam all, neat vessels into which he milk'd. Me then my friends first importuned to take A portion of his cheeses, then to drive Forth from the sheep-cotes to the rapid bark His kids and lambs, and plow the brine again. But me they moved not, happier had they moved! I wish'd to see him, and to gain, perchance, Some pledge of hospitality at his hands, Whose form was such, as should not much bespeak When he appear'd, our confidence or love. Then, kindling fire, we offer'd to the Gods, And of his cheeses eating, patient sat Till home he trudged from pasture. Charged he came With dry wood bundled, an enormous load Fuel by which to sup. Loud crash'd the thorns Which down he cast before the cavern's mouth, To whose interior nooks we trembling flew. At once he drove into his spacious cave His batten'd flock, all those which gave him milk, But all the males, both rams and goats, he left Abroad, excluded from the cavern-yard. Upheaving, next, a rocky barrier huge To his cave's mouth, he thrust it home. That weight Not all the oxen from its place had moved Of twenty and two wains; with such a rock Immense his den he closed. Then down he sat, And as he milk'd his ewes and bleating goats All in their turns, her yeanling gave to each; Coagulating, then, with brisk dispatch, The half of his new milk, he thrust the curd Into his wicker sieves, but stored the rest In pans and bowls--his customary drink. His labours thus perform'd, he kindled, last, His fuel, and discerning _us_, enquired,

BOOK IX     The Odyssey, by Homer

We, who do not believe what these women believe, but who, like them, live by faith,--we have never been able to think without a sort of tender and religious terror, without a sort of pity, that is full of envy, of those devoted, trembling and trusting creatures, of these humble and august souls, who dare to dwell on the very brink of the mystery, waiting between the world which is closed and heaven which is not yet open, turned towards the light which one cannot see, possessing the sole happiness of thinking that they know where it is, aspiring towards the gulf, and the unknown, their eyes fixed motionless on the darkness, kneeling, bewildered, stupefied, shuddering, half lifted, at times, by the deep breaths of eternity.

Victor Hugo     Les Miserables

Morrel obeyed; the count arose, and unlocking a closet with a key suspended from his gold chain, took from it a little silver casket, beautifully carved and chased, the corners of which represented four bending figures, similar to the Caryatides, the forms of women, symbols of the angels aspiring to heaven. He placed the casket on the table; then opening it took out a little golden box, the top of which flew open when touched by a secret spring. This box contained an unctuous substance partly solid, of which it was impossible to discover the color, owing to the reflection of the polished gold, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, which ornamented the box. It was a mixed mass of blue, red, and gold. The count took out a small quantity of this with a gilt spoon, and offered it to Morrel, fixing a long steadfast glance upon him. It was then observable that the substance was greenish.

Alexandre Dumas, Pere     The Count of Monte Cristo

For, though it includes what I proceed to add, all the merit of what I proceed to add was Joe's. It was not because I was faithful, but because Joe was faithful, that I never ran away and went for a soldier or a sailor. It was not because I had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, but because Joe had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, that I worked with tolerable zeal against the grain. It is not possible to know how far the influence of any amiable honest-hearted duty-doing man flies out into the world; but it is very possible to know how it has touched one's self in going by, and I know right well that any good that intermixed itself with my apprenticeship came of plain contented Joe, and not of restlessly aspiring discontented me.

Charles Dickens     Great Expectations

"Oh, trebly hooped and welded hip of power! Oh, high aspiring, rainbowed jet!--that one strivest, this one jettest all in vain! In vain, oh whale, dost thou seek intercedings with yon all-quickening sun, that only calls forth life, but gives it not again. Yet dost thou, darker half, rock me with a prouder, if a darker faith. All thy unnamable imminglings float beneath me here; I am buoyed by breaths of once living things, exhaled as air, but water now.

Herman Melville     Moby Dick; or The Whale

EUDOCIA MACREMBOLITISSA (c. 1021-1096), daughter of John Macrembolites, was the wife of the Byzantine emperor Constantine X., and after his death (1067) of Romanus IV. She had sworn to her first husband on his death-bed not to marry again, and had even imprisoned and exiled Romanus, who was suspected of aspiring to the throne. Perceiving, however, that she was not able unaided to avert the invasions which threatened the eastern frontier of the empire, she revoked her oath, married Romanus, and with his assistance dispelled the impending danger. She did not live very happily with her new husband, who was warlike and self-willed, and when he was taken prisoner by the Turks (1071) she was compelled to vacate the throne in favour of her son Michael and retire to a convent, where she died. The dictionary of mythology entitled [Greek: Iônia] ("Collection of Violets"), which formerly used to be ascribed to her, was not composed till 1543 (Constantine Palaeokappa). Entry: EUDOCIA

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 8 "Ethiopia" to "Evangelical Association"     1910-1911

CHARLES EMMANUEL I. [CARLO EMANUELE] (1562-1630), duke of Savoy, succeeded his father, Emmanuel Philibert, in 1580. He continued the latter's policy of profiting by the rivalry of France and Spain in order to round off and extend his dominions. His three chief objects were the conquest of Geneva, of Saluzzo and of Monferrato. Saluzzo he succeeded in wresting from France in 1588. He intervened in the French religious wars, and also fought with Bern and other Swiss cantons, and on the murder of Henry III. of France in 1580 he aspired to the French throne on the strength of the claims of his wife Catherine, sister of Henry of Navarre, afterwards King Henry IV. In 1590 he sent an expedition to Provence in the interests of the Catholic League, and followed it himself later, but the peace of 1593, by which Henry of Navarre was recognized as king of France, put an end to his ambitions. In the war between France and Spain Charles sided with the latter, with varying success. Finally, by the peace of Lyons (1601), he gave up all territories beyond the Rhone, but his possession of Saluzzo was confirmed. He now meditated a further enterprise against Geneva; but his attempt to capture the city by treachery and with the help of Spain (the famous _escalade_) in 1602 failed completely. The next few years were filled with negotiations and intrigues with Spain and France which did not lead to any particular result, but on the death in 1612 of Duke Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua, who was lord of Monferrato, Charles Emmanuel made a successful _coup de main_ on that district. This arrayed the Venetians, Tuscany, the Empire and Spain against him, and he was obliged to relinquish his conquest. The Spaniards invaded the duchy from Lombardy, and although the duke was defeated several times he fought bravely, gained some successes, and the terms of the peace of 1618 left him more or less in the _status quo ante_. We next find Charles Emmanuel aspiring to the imperial crown in 1619, but without success. In 1628 he was in alliance with Spain in the war against France; the French invaded the duchy, which, being abandoned by Spain, was overrun by their armies. The duke fought desperately, but was taken ill at Savigliano and died in 1630. He was succeeded by his son Victor Amedeo I., while his third son Tommaso founded the line of Savoy-Carignano from which the present royal house of Italy is descended. Charles Emmanuel achieved a great reputation as a statesman and warrior, and increased the prestige of Savoy, but he was too shifty and ingenious, and his schemes ended in disaster. Entry: CHARLES

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 8 "Chariot" to "Chatelaine"     1910-1911

In January 1892 the khedive Tewfik, who had always maintained cordial relations with Sir Evelyn Baring, died suddenly, and was succeeded by his son, Abbas Hilmi, a young man without political experience, who failed at first to understand the peculiar situation in which a khedive ruling under British protection is necessarily placed. Aspiring to liberate himself at once from foreign control, he summarily dismissed Mustafa Pasha Fehmi (15th January 1893), whom he considered too amenable to English influence, and appointed in his place Fakhri Pasha, who was not a _persona grata_ at the British Agency. Such an incident, which might have constituted a precedent for more important acts of a similar kind, could hardly be overlooked by the British representative. He had always maintained that what Egypt most required, and would require for many years to come, was an order of things which would render practically impossible any return to that personal system of government which had well-nigh ruined the country. In this view the British agent was warmly supported by Lord Rosebery, then secretary of state for foreign affairs. The young khedive was made therefore to understand that he must not make such changes in the administration without a previous agreement with the representative of the protecting power; and a compromise was effected by which Fakhri Pasha retired, and the post of premier was confided once more to Riaz. With this compromise the friction between the khedive and Sir Evelyn Baring, who had now become Lord Cromer, did not end. For some time Abbas Hilmi clung to his idea of liberating himself from all control, and secretly encouraged a nationalist and anti-British agitation in the native press; but he gradually came to perceive the folly, as well as the danger to himself, of such a course, and accordingly refrained from giving any overt occasion for complaint or protest. In like manner the relations between the British officials and their Egyptian colleagues gradually became more cordial, so that it was found possible at last to reform the local administration in the provinces according to the recommendations of Mr (afterwards Sir) Eldon Gorst, who had been appointed adviser to the ministry of the interior. Nubar Pasha, it is true, who succeeded Riaz as prime minister in April 1894, objected to some of Mr Gorst's recommendations, and in November 1895 resigned. He was succeeded by Mustafa Fehmi, who had always shown a conciliatory spirit, and who had been on that account, as above stated, summarily dismissed by the khedive in January 1893. After his reinstatement the Anglo-Egyptian condominium worked without serious friction. Entry: 3

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1 "Edwardes" to "Ehrenbreitstein"     1910-1911

With many of the North American aborigines the giving of the name, its transference from one individual to another, its change by the individual in recognition of great events, achievements, &c., and other aspects of nominology are of significance in connexion with social life and religious ceremonies, rites and superstitions. The high level attained by some tribes in these matters can be seen from Miss Fletcher's description of "A Pawnee Ritual used when changing a Man's Name" (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1899). Names marked epochs in life and changed with new achievements, and they had often "so personal and sacred a meaning," that they were naturally enough rendered "unfit for the familiar purposes of ordinary address, to a people so reverently inclined as the Indians seem to have been." The period of puberty in boys and girls was often the occasion of elaborate "initiation" ceremonies and rites of various kinds, some of which were of a very trying and even cruel character. Ceremonial or symbolic "killings," "new-births," &c., were also in vogue; likewise ordeals of whipping, isolation and solitary confinement, "medicine"-taking, physical torture, ritual bathings, painting of face or body, scarification and the like. The initiations, ordeals, &c., gone through by the youth as a prelude to manhood and womanhood resembled in many respects those imposed upon individuals aspiring to be chiefs, shamans and "medicine-men." Many facts concerning these rites and ceremonies will be found in G. Stanley Hall's _Adolescence_ (1904) and in the articles on "Ordeals" and "Puberty Customs" in the _Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico_ (1907-1910). In the method of approach to the supernatural and the superhuman among the North American aborigines there is great diversity, and the powers and capacities of the individual have often received greater recognition than is commonly believed. Thus, as Kroeber (_Amer. Anthrop._, 1902, p. 285) has pointed out, the Mohave Indians of the Yuman stock have as a distinctive feature of their culture "the high degree to which they have developed their system of dreaming and of individual instead of traditional connexion with the supernatural." For the Omaha of the Siouan stock Miss A. C. Fletcher (_Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci._, 1895, 1896; _Journ. Anthr. Inst._, 1898) has shown the appreciation of the individual in the lonely "totem" vigil and the acquisition of the personal _genius_. Entry: 1

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 4 "Independence, Declaration of" to "Indo-European Languages"     1910-1911

The mantle of Spenser fell, somewhat in shreds, upon poets of many schools until the Restoration. As though in thanks to his master Tasso, he lent to Edward Fairfax, the best translator of the _Jerusalem Delivered_ (_Godfrey of Bulloigne_, 1600), some of his own ease and intricate melody. Harington, the witty translator of Ariosto (1591) and spoilt child of the court, owed less to Spenser. The allegorical colouring was nobly caught, if sometimes barbarized, in the _Christ's Victory and Triumph_ of the younger Giles Fletcher (1610), and Spenser's emblematic style was strained, even cracked, by Phineas Fletcher in _The Purple Island_ (1633), an aspiring fable, gorgeous in places, of the human body and faculties. Both of these brethren clipped and marred the stanza, but they form a link between Spenser and their student Milton. The allegoric form, long-winded and broken-backed, survived late in Henry More's and Joseph Beaumont's verse disquisitions on the soul. Spenser's pastoral and allusive manner was allowed by Drayton in his _Shepherd's Garland_ (1593), and differently by William Browne in _Britannia's Pastorals_ (1613-1616), and by William Basse; while his more honeyed descriptions took on a mawkish taste in the anonymous _Britain's Ida_ and similar poems. His golden Platonic style was buoyantly echoed in _Orchestra_ (1596), Sir John Davies' poem on the dancing spheres. He is continually traceable in 17th-century verse, blending with the alien currents of Ben Jonson and of Donne. He was edited and imitated in the age of Thomson, in the age of William Morris, and constantly between. Entry: III

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6 "English Language" to "Epsom Salts"     1910-1911

The Hojo family, to which belonged Masa, Yoritomo's consort, assumed towards the Kamakura shogun an attitude similar to that previously assumed by the Fujiwara family towards the emperor in Kioto. A child, who on state occasions was carried to the council chamber in Masa's arms, served as the nominal repository of the shogun's power, the functions of administration being discharged in reality by the Hojo family, whose successive heads took the name of _shikken_ (constable). At first care was taken to have the shogun's office filled by a near relative of Yoritomo; but after the death of that great statesman's two sons and his nephew, the puppet shoguns were taken from the ranks of the Fujiwara or of the Imperial princes, and were deposed so soon as they attempted to assert themselves. What this meant becomes apparent when we note that in the interval of 83 years between 1220 and 1308, there were six shoguns whose ages at the time of appointment ranged from 3 to 16. Whether, if events had not forced their hands, the Hojo constables would have maintained towards the Throne the reverent demeanour adopted by Yoritomo must remain a matter of conjecture. What actually happened was that the ex-emperor, Go-Toba, made an ill-judged attempt (1221) to break the power of Kamakura. He issued a call to arms which was responded to by some thousands of cenobites and as many soldiers of Taira extraction. In the brief struggle that ensued the Imperial partisans were wholly shattered, and the direct consequences were the dethronement and exile of the reigning emperor, the banishment of his predecessor together with two princes of the blood, and the compulsory adoption of the tonsure by Go-Toba; while the indirect consequence was that the succession to the throne and the tenure of Imperial power fell under the dictation of the Hojo as they had formerly fallen under the direction of the Fujiwara. Yoshitoki, then head of the Hojo family, installed his brother, Tokifusa, as military governor of Kioto, and confiscating about 3000 estates, the property of those who had espoused the Imperial cause, distributed these lands among the adherents of his own family, thus greatly strengthening the basis of the feudal system. "It fared with the Hojo as it had fared with all the great families that preceded them: their own misrule ultimately wrought their ruin. Their first eight representatives were talented and upright administrators. They took justice, simplicity and truth for guiding principles; they despised luxury and pomp; they never aspired to high official rank; they were content with two provinces for estates, and they sternly repelled the effeminate, depraved customs of Kioto." Thus the greater part of the 13th century was, on the whole, a golden era for Japan, and the lower orders learned to welcome feudalism. Nevertheless no century furnished more conspicuous illustrations of the peculiarly Japanese system of vicarious government. Children occupied the position of shogun in Kamakura under authority emanating from children on the throne in Kioto; and members of the Hojo family as shikken administered affairs at the mandate of the child shoguns. Through all three stages in the dignities of mikado, shogun and shikken, the strictly regulated principle of heredity was maintained, according to which no Hojo shikken could ever become shogun; no Minamoto or Fujiwara could occupy the throne. At the beginning of the 14th century, however, several causes combined to shake the supremacy of the Hojo. Under the sway of the ninth shikken (Takatoki), the austere simplicity of life and earnest discharge of executive duties which had distinguished the early chiefs of the family were exchanged for luxury, debauchery and perfunctory government. Thus the management of fiscal affairs fell into the hands of Takasuke, a man of usurious instincts. It had been the wise custom of the Hojo constables to store grain in seasons of plenty, and distribute it at low prices in times of dearth. There occurred at this epoch a succession of bad harvests, but instead of opening the state granaries with benevolent liberality, Takasuke sold their contents at the highest obtainable rates; and, by way of contrast to the prevailing indigence, the people saw the constable in Kamakura affecting the pomp and extravagance of a sovereign waited upon by 37 mistresses, supporting a band of 2000 dancers, and keeping a pack of 5000 fighting dogs. The throne happened to be then occupied (1310-1338) by an emperor, Go-Daigo, who had reached full maturity before his accession, and was correspondingly averse from acting the puppet part assigned to the sovereigns of his time. Female influence contributed to his impatience. One of his concubines bore a son for whom he sought to obtain nomination as prince imperial, in defiance of an arrangement made by the Hojo that the succession should pass alternately to the senior and junior branches of the Imperial family. Kamakura refused to entertain Go-Daigo's project, and thenceforth the child's mother importuned her sovereign and lover to overthrow the Hojo. The _entourage_ of the throne in Kioto at this time was a counterpart of former eras. The Fujiwara, indeed, wielded nothing of their ancient influence. They had been divided by the Hojo into five branches, each endowed with an equal right to the office of regent, and their strength was thus dissipated in struggling among themselves for the possession of the prize. But what the Fujiwara had done in their days of greatness, what the Taira had done during their brief tenure of power, the Saionji were now doing, namely, aspiring to furnish prime ministers and empresses from their own family solely. They had already given consorts to five emperors in succession, and jealous rivals were watching keenly to attack this clan which threatened to usurp the place long held by the most illustrious family in the land. A petty incident disturbed this state of very tender equilibrium before the plan of the Hojo's enemies had fully matured, and the emperor presently found himself an exile on the island of Oki. But there now appeared upon the scene three men of great prowess: Kusunoki Masashige, Nitta Yoshisada and Ashikaga Takauji. The first espoused from the outset the cause of the Throne and, though commanding only a small force, held the Hojo troops in check. The last two were both of Minamoto descent. Their common ancestor was Minamoto Yoshiiye, whose exploits against the northern Yemishi in the second half of the 11th century had so impressed his countrymen that they gave him the title of Hachiman Taro (first-born of the god of war). Both men took the field originally in the cause of the Hojo, but at heart they desired to be avenged upon the latter for disloyalty to the Minamoto. Nitta Yoshisada marched suddenly against Kamakura, carried it by storm and committed the city to the flames. Ashikaga Takauji occupied Kioto, and with the suicide of Takatoki the Hojo fell finally from rule after 115 years of supremacy (1219-1334). The emperor now returned from exile, and his son, Prince Moriyoshi, having been appointed to the office of shogun at Kamakura, the restoration of the administrative power to the Throne seemed an accomplished fact. Entry: IX

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 3 "Japan" (part) to "Jeveros"     1910-1911

Index: