argument convenient to his purpose. "Your family," said he, 66 owes its rise to the minority of the last Emperor of the preceding house; it is therefore just that the remains of Soong should give place to another family." The famous Pe-yen pursued the Chinese army first to Fokien, and afterwards to Hoey-chow in Canton province. Great cruelty was exercised on the vanquished, and it is recorded that "the blood of the people flowed in sounding torrents." The remains of the Chinese court betook themselves to the sea near Canton, and perished, A.D. 1281.

On the accession of Koblai Khan, the first of the Yuen dynasty, the favourite religion of the Tartars being that of Budh, or Fo, of which the grand Lama of Thibet is the head, an order was promulged to burn all the books of the Taou sect; an exception was suggested in favour of the Taou-te-king, as the only really inspired writing of that religion; but the order was made peremptory to burn them all. The historian, a Confucian, observes that his Majesty, who favoured Budhism, and those of his predecessors, who had encouraged the other persuasion, were equally erroneous and partial; both doctrines should have been extinguished. Budhism, in fact, has never flourished as it did under the Mongol Tartar race.

Koblai fixed the seat of Government at Peking, or Kambalu, as it is styled by Marco Polo, after the Tartars. As the most effectual remedy for the sterility of the plain in which that capital is situated, he constructed that vast canal, extending south a distance of about 300 leagues into the most fertile provinces, and serving as an easy conveyance for their products, independently of a sea navigation. This great work, which is more particularly described in its proper place, was a benefit to China, by itself sufficient to redeem in some measure the injustice and violence by which the Mongol possessed himself of the empire.

The northern portion of China was now known o the name Kathai, or Cathay, the appellation invariably given to it by the Venetian traveller. The southern was styled Manjee, which is evidently a corruption of Mantsze, originally applied to the barbarians of the south. There is a portion of Ava bordering on China at this day called Manchegee, which probably has the same derivation. Notwithstanding the great qualities of Koblai, which were calculated to lay the foundations of a permanent dominion, the degeneracy of his successors was such as to cause the empire to pass out of the hands of the Mongol race, in a little more than eighty years time. There is scarcely anything worthy of notice in their annals, save the rapid and excessive degeneracy of these Tartar princes. Koblai had wisely adopted the political institutions of China; but those who followed him surpassed the Chinese themselves in their luxury and effeminacy. Enervated by the climate and vices of the south, they quickly lost the courage and hardihood which had put the country in possession of their ancestors; and Shunty, the ninth Emperor in succession, was compelled to resign the empire to a Chinese.

It is worthy of remark, that of the score of dynasties which have followed each other, all established themselves on the vices, luxury, or indolence of their immediate forerunners. The present Manchow race has already shown no unequivocal symptoms of degeneracy. The two greatest princes by whom it has been distinguished, Kanghy and Kien-loong, sedulously maintained the ancient habits of their Tartar subjects by frequent hunting excursions beyond the wall, in which they individually bore no small share of the fatigue and danger. The late Emperor, Keaking, and the present one have, on the other hand, been remarkable for their comparative indolence;

:

and the reigns of both have exhibited a mere succession of revolts and troubles. The following is part of an edict issued by the reigning Monarch in 1824 :"With reference to the autumnal hunt of the present year, I ought to follow the established custom of my predecessors; but, at the same time, it is necessary to be guided by the circumstances of the times, and to act in conformity to them. The expedition to Je-ho (Zhehol) is also ordered to be put off for this year. It is an involuntary source of vexation to me: I should not think of adopting this measure from a love of ease and indulgence." Since that date, however, the same course has been repeated under various pretexts. The Manchow rule has already lasted much longer than the Mongol, and, from all present appearances, a bold Chinese adventurer might perhaps succeed in overthrowing it.

The first Emperor of the Ming dynasty, which expelled the Mongols in 1366, had been servant to a monastery of bonzes, or priests of Budh. Having joined a numerous body of revolters, he soon became their leader, and after making himself master of some provinces in the south, at length defeated a part of the Emperor's troops in a great battle. The Chinese now flocked to him from all parts, and having crossed the Yellow river he forced Shunty to fly northwards, where he died soon after, leaving the empire in possession of the successful Chinese, who assumed the sovereignty with the title of Tae-tsoo, or great ancestor."

The new Emperor endeavoured to establish his capital at Foongyang-foo, his native city, but was obliged, from its local disadvantages, to give it up, and adopt Nanking instead; erecting Peking into a principality for one of his younger sons, Yoong-lo. When this prince succeeded as third Emperor of his family, the capital was transferred in 1408 to Peking; a

principal reason perhaps being the necessity of keeping the Eastern Tartars in check. Nanking was still occupied by the heir, with a distinct set of tribunals, and this shows more confidence than is commonly displayed under Asiatic despotisms. It was in the same reign that Timour, or Tamerlane, died on his way to the conquest of China, in the year 1405.

During the reign of Hoong-hy, the fourth Emperor of the Ming family, a great conflagration of the palace melted together a mixture of valuable metals, and from this compound were constructed numbers of vases, which are highly valued at the present day. In this, the reader may perceive an origin somewhat similar to that of the famous Corinthian brass. Some of the Chinese vases so highly esteemed were seen by the British embassy near Nanking, in 1816. It is a common practice, however, at present, to put the name of the above Emperor on vases which have no pretensions whatever to this antique value.

It was in the same dynasty that the Portuguese, as we have already seen, came to China, and obtained, about the middle of the sixteenth century, their imperfect tenure of Macao; and it was also under the Ming race that the Jesuits established themselves in China. The zeal and address with which these intelligent and adventurous men opened a way for themselves, and their mission, is deserving of high praise; and the knowledge which some of them obtained of the language, manners, and institutions of the country has never perhaps been surpassed by any other Europeans. Had it not been for the narrow-minded bigotry and intolerance with which some of the Popes, and the monks whom they deputed to China, frustrated the labours of the more sober-minded Jesuits, Europeans and their religion might at this day enjoy a very different footing in the empire.

66

In the year 1618, Wanlie, the thirteenth Emperor of the Chinese dynasty, being on the throne, a war commenced with the Eastern Tartars, who now called their country (the present Mougden) Manchow, which means the full region.” We have before seen that, just previous to the Mongol conquest, and during the latter end of the Soong dynasty, these Eastern Tartars, under the name of Kin, or the golden" race, had subdued some portion of the north of China, but were driven out by the Mongols. When the last of the Mongols, descendants of Koblai Khan, were expelled from China by the founder of the Ming, or Chinese race, they sought a refuge among the Eastern Tartars, and from their intermarriages with the natives sprung the Bogdoi Khans, or Manchow princes, who were destined to expel the Ming. It is in this manner that the Emperors of the present dynasty derive their descent from Koblai Khan.

It was Tien-ming, the lineal ancestor of the family now reigning, who in the time of Wanlie drew up a paper containing seven subjects of grievance, on the ground of which he formally attacked China, with the view of doing himself justice. He entered the province of Peking at the head of 50,000 men, and was preparing to besiege the capital, when he was repulsed, and compelled to retire for awhile to Leaoutung, north of the Great wall. His title Tien-ming literally means Heaven's decree." The contest was subsequently resumed, and lasted with various success until the last Emperor of Ming succeeded in 1627. This Prince seemed insensible to the danger which threatened him, and, instead of repelling the Tartars, estranged his own subjects by his ill-conduct, driving at length a portion of them to revolt. The leader

of the rebels subdued the provinces Honân and Shensy, and murdered the principal mandarins; but, in order to gain their assistance, he freed the people