grown very wealthy, lead him, riding on an ass, round his gardens. As recompense the Emperor gave him a tael. Then he himself led the mandarin in similar fashion. At the end of the tour he asked how much greater he was than his minister? "The comparison is impossible," said the ready courtier. "Then I must make the estimate myself," replied Kanghi. "I am 20,000 times as great, therefore you will pay me 20,000 taels." His reign was singularly free from the executions so common under even the best of Chinese rulers; and, whenever possible, he always tempered justice with mercy.

Notwithstanding his enfeebled health and the many illnesses from which he had suffered in later life, he persisted in following his usual sporting amusements, and he passed the winter of 1722 at his hunting-box at Haidsu. He seems to have caught a chill, and after a brief illness he died on the 20th December in that year. From his earliest youth Kanghi had given abundant promise of his future greatness, and one story which is preserved of him, when about to succeed to the crown, is indicative of his ample confidence in himself and his destiny. It is said that when Chuntche lay on his death-bed he summoned his children into his presence and asked, "Which of you feels that he possesses the ability and strength to retain a crown that has been won only so short a time?" All pleaded youth and inexperience except Kanghi, the youngest, in whose vigorous instincts there dwelt the full assurance of success. The result more than justified his confidence in himself. The death of Kanghi called forth from all sides, and very different persons, unanimous testimony as to his ability and worth. The European missionaries who had benefited by his patronage were equally eloquent and emphatic in his praise. One priest wrote of him: "This prince was one of those extraordinary men who are only met with once in the course of several centuries. He placed no limits to his desire for knowledge, and of all the princes of Asia there never was one with so great a taste for the arts and sciences. This prince was not put out by the expression of an opinion different from his own-rare as it is for princes of his rank to tolerate contradiction." Of his personal appearance another priest speaks not less favourably than of his moral and intellectual character: "There is nothing in his appearance which is not worthy of the throne he occupies. His air is majestic, his figure is excellently proportioned and above the middle height; all the features of the countenance are regular; his eyes bright and larger than is usual with his nation; the nose slightly curved and drooping at the point; and the few marks left by. the small-pox detract nothing from the charm which is conspicuous throughout his person." But the greatest tribute of all comes from Mailla, the laborious historian, or rather the translator of Chinese histories from the earliest times to the death of Kanghi. He writes of this prince, in concluding his great work, "Just posterity will beyond doubt assign to this prince a distinguished place among the greatest monarchs. Fully occupied between affairs of state, military achievements, and the study of liberal pursuits; beneficent, brave, generous, wise, active and vigilant in policy, of profound and extended genius, having nothing of the pomp or indolence of Asiatic Courts, although his power and wealth were both immense; the one thing alone wanting to this prince, according to the desire of the missionaries who have become the exponents of his eminent qualities, was to crown them all with the adoption of the Christianity of which he knew the principles, and of which he valued the morality and the

maxims, but which policy and the human passions prevented his openly embracing." With regard to Kanghi's services and place among the rulers of China, we must repeat what we have already written. Of the magnitude of Kanghi's services to both China and his own race there can be no question. They were conspicuous and incontestable. He had ascended the throne at a time when it seemed that the Manchu conquest, far from giving China the assurance of a settled and peaceful rule, would prove in its main result the perpetuation of internal dissension and sanguinary strife. The presence of the able and powerful feudatory Wou Sankwei strengthened that conviction, and none dared think, when the crisis reached the stage of open war, that the youthful prince would more than hold his own, and eventually triumph over the veteran general whose military skill and consistent good fortune had been the theme of admiration with his countrymen for more than a generation.

The place of Kanghi among Chinese sovereigns is clearly defined. He ranks on almost equal terms with the two greatest of them all—Taitsong and his own grandson, Keen Lung-and it would be ungracious, if not impossible, to say in what respect he falls short of complete equality with either, so numerous and conspicuous were his talents and his virtues. His long friendship and high consideration for the Christian missionaries have no doubt contributed to bring his name and the events of his reign more prominently before Europe than was the case with any other Chinese ruler. But, although this predilection for European practices may have had the effect of strengthening his claims to precede every other of his country's rulers, it can add but little to the impression produced on even the most cursory reader by the remarkable achievements in peace and war accomplished by this gifted Emperor. Kanghi's genius dominates one of the most critical periods in Chinese history, of which the narrative should form neither an uninteresting nor an uninstructive theme. Celebrated as the consolidator and completer of the Manchu conquest, Kanghi's virtue and moderation have gained him permanent fame as a wise, just, and beneficent national sovereign in the hearts of the Chinese people.

15.

CHAPTER XII.

A SHORT REIGN AND THE BEGINNING OF A LONG ONE.

IMMEDIATELY after the death of Kanghi, his fourth son, who had long been designated as his heir, was proclaimed Emperor, under the style of Yung Ching, which name means "the indissoluble concord or stable peace." The late Emperor had always favoured this prince, and in his will he publicly proclaimed that he bore much resemblance to himself, and that he was a man of rare and precious character. His first acts indicated considerable vigour and decision of mind. In the edict announcing the death of his father and his own accession he said that on the advice of his ministers he had entered upon the discharge of his Imperial duties, without giving up precious time to the indulgence of his natural grief, which would be gratifying to his feelings, but injurious to the public interests. As Yung Ching was of the mature age of 45, and as he had enjoyed the confidence of his predecessor, he was fully qualified to carry on the administration. He declared that his main purpose was to continue his father's work, and that he would tread as closely as he could in Kanghi's footsteps. While Yung Ching took these prompt steps to secure himself on the throne, some of his brothers assumed an attitude of menacing hostility towards him, and all his energy and vigilance were required to counteract their designs. A very little time was needed, however, to show that Kanghi had selected his worthiest son as his successor, and that China would have no reason to fear under Yung Ching the loss of any of the benefits conferred on the nation by Kanghi. His fine presence, and frank, open manner, secured for him the sympathy and applause of the public, and in a very short time he also gained their respect and admiration by his wisdom and justice.

The most important and formidable of his brothers was the fourteenth son of Kanghi, by the same mother, however, as that of Yung Ching. He and his son Poki had been regarded with no inconsiderable favour by Kanghi, and at one time it was thought that he would have chosen them as his successors; but these expectations were disappointed. He was sent instead to hold the chief command against the Eleuths on the western borders. Yung Ching determined to remove him from this post, in which he might have opportunities of asserting his independence, and for a moment it seemed as if he might disobey. But more prudent counsels prevailed, and he returned to Pekin, where he was placed in honourable confinement, and retained there during the whole of Yung Ching's reign. He and his son owed their release thirteen years later to the greater clemency or self-confidence of Keen Lung. Another brother, named Sessaka, also fell under suspicion, and he was arrested, and his estates confiscated. He was then so far forgiven that a small military command

was given him in the provinces. Others of more importance were involved in his affairs. Lessihin, son of Prince Sourniama, an elder brother of Kanghi, was denounced as a sympathiser and supporter of Sessaka. The charge seems to have been based on slender evidence, but it sufficed to cause the banishment of this personage and all his family to Sining. It appears as if they were specially punished for having become Christians, and there is no doubt that their conversion embittered the Emperor's mind against the Christian missionaries and their religion. It enabled him to say, or at least induced him to accept the statement, that the Christians meddled and took a side in the internal politics of the country. Yung Ching saw and seized his opportunity. His measures of repression against the recalcitrant party in his own family culminated in the summary exile of Sourniama and all his descendants down to the fourth generation. Sourniama vainly endeavoured to establish his innocence, and he sent three of his sons, laden with chains, to the palace, to protest his innocence and devotion. But they were refused audience, and Sourniama and his family sank into oblivion and wretchedness on the outskirts of the Empire.

Having thus settled the difficulties within his own family, Yung Ching next turned his attention to humbling the bold band of foreigners who had established themselves in the capital and throughout the country, as much by their own persistency and indifference to slight as by the acquiescence of the Chinese government, and who, after they had reached some of the highest official posts, continued to preach and propagate their gospel of a supreme power and mercy beyond the control of kings, a gospel which was simply destructive of the paternal and sacred claims on which a Chinese Emperor based his authority as superior to all earthly interference, and as transmitted to him direct from Heaven. The official classes confirmed the Emperor's suspicions, and encouraged him to proceed to extreme lengths. On all sides offences were freely laid at the doors of the missionaries. It was said of them that "their doctrine sows trouble among the people, and makes them doubt the goodness of our laws." In the province of Fuhkien their eighteen churches were closed, and the priests were summarily ordered to return to Macao. At Pekin itself the Jesuits lost all their influence. Those who had been well-disposed towards them were either banished or cowed into silence. The Emperor turned his back on them and refused to see them, and they could only wait with their usual fortitude until the period of Imperial displeasure had passed over. When they endeavoured to enlist in their support the sympathy and influence of the Emperor's brother— the thirteenth prince-who in Kanghi's time had been considered their friend, they met with a rebuff not unnatural or unreasonable when the mishaps to his relations for their Christian proclivities are borne in mind. This prince said, in words which have often been repeated since by Chinese ministers and political writers, "What would you say if our people were to go to Europe and wished to change there the laws and customs established by your ancient sages? The Emperor, my brother, wishes to put an end to all this in an effectual manner. I have seen the accusation of the Tsongtou of Fuhkien. It is undoubtedly strong, and your disputes about our customs have greatly injured you. What would you say if we were to transport ourselves to Europe and to act there as you have done here? Would you stand it for a moment? In the course of time I shall master this business, but I declare to you that China will want for nothing when you cease to live in it, and that your absence will not cause it any loss.

Here nobody is retained by force, and nobody also will be suffered to break the laws or to make light of our customs."

The final expression of Chinese policy with regard to the Christians was given, however, by the Emperor himself, when at last he agreed to receive the missionaries in audience, but refused to allow them to say a word when he delivered his ultimatum in the following carefully-prepared speech :

"The late Emperor, my father, after having instructed me during forty years, chose me in preference to any of my brothers to succeed him on the throne. I make it one of my first objects to imitate him, and to depart in nothing from his manner of government Some Europeans in the province of Fuhkien have shown a wish to destroy our laws, and they have been a cause of trouble to our people. The high officials of that province have duly apprised me of these facts. It is my duty to provide a remedy for the disorder. That is a matter for the government with which I am charged. I could not and ought not to act now as I used to do when I was only a simple prince. You tell me that your law is not a false one. I believe you; if I thought that it was false, what would prevent me from destroying your churches, and from driving you out of the country? False laws are those which, under the pretext of spreading virtue, rouse a spirit of revolt. But what would you say if I were to send a troop of bonzes and lamas into your country in order to preach their doctrines? How would you receive them? Ricci came to China in the first year of Wanleh. I will not touch upon what the Chinese did at that time, as I am in no way responsible for it. But then you were very few in numbers. In fact there were only one or two of you, and you had not your people and churches in every province. It was only in my father's reign that these churches were raised on all sides, and that your doctrines spread with rapidity. We then saw these things clearly enough, and we dared say nothing on the subject. But if you knew how to beguile my father, do not hope to be able to deceive me in the same manner. You wish that all the Chinese should become Christians, and indeed your creed demands it. I am well aware of this, but in that event what would become of us? Should we not soon be merely the subjects of your kings? The converts you have made already recognise nobody but you, and in a time of trouble they would listen to no other voice than yours. I know, as a matter of fact, that we have nothing now to fear, but when the foreign vessels shall come in their thousands and tens of thousands, then it may be that some disaster will ensue. China has in the north the Empire of the Russians, which is not to be despised; on the south there are the Europeans and their kingdoms, which are still more considerable; and on the west there is Tse Wang Rabdan, whom I wish to keep back within his borders, lest he should enter China, and cause us trouble. The Czar's ambassador solicited that permission should be given the Russians to establish factories for commerce in all the provinces. His request was refused, and trade was only allowed at Pekin or at Kiachta, on the frontier of the Kalka country. I permit you to reside here, and at Canton, as long as you give no cause for complaint; but if any should arise I will not allow you to remain either here or at Canton. I will have none of you in the provinces. The Emperor, my father, suffered much in reputation among the literati by the condescension with which he allowed you to establish yourselves. He could not himself make any changes in the laws of our sages, and I will not suffer that in the least degree there shall be cause to reproach my reign on this score. When my sons and grandsons are on the