"I dare not doubt thy words, O Candida, yet I will not believe that my great parent would keep close the public storehouses while his children were starving," said the princess.

"It is even worse, O princess, for the daily distribution of food has been withheld," said Candida.

With a vacant stare the princess gazed into the face of her friend for a moment, then with a flood of tears upon her cheeks, fell into her arms; but recovering her presence of mind, she said, "Truly this is a calamity; surely I have heard such things ever precede the downfall of dynasties; but I will to my father's presence, and dutifully implore him on my knees;" and she moved toward the palace as if to act upon her resolution, but Candida caught her in her arms, saying, "It would not be seemly, O princess, nay, it would be useless, for the Prince Li-Kong now possesses the Emperor's confidence."

"What words are these, O Candida? Thou art indeed laughing at thy mistress, for didst thou not say the traitor was in open rebellion?"

"True, my princess, he was, till, for some vile purpose, he made his submission to Ten Thousand Years, who, as he brought the heads of some chiefs of the rebels, pardoned him, in the belief that his rebellion had been a trick, a pretence whereby he had the better subdued the other rebels."

With indignation in her heart at the traitor Li, and her eyes swimming with tears, she placed her hands affectionately in those of her friend--before, however, she could speak she shrieked with fright. The sin-fin had broken his cage and stood as erect as a man, clattering his teeth and grinning in her face, with his great paws upon her neck. The princess fainted; not so the Lady Candida for she boldly clutched hold of the brute, who, however, without relinquishing his grasp of the princess, caught the Lady Candida by her head-dress and hair, and dragged them both in the direction of the lake, looking savagely at the screaming attendants, who scampered off as fast as their legs would carry them; and so rapid were the movements of the brute, that he reached the verge of the water before Nicholas could thrust his sword into his hirsute side, a bit of a surprise that caused the beast to leave his hold of the ladies, when "scotched" but not killed, and catching sight of his real enemy, he uttered a savage scream and sprang at him with extended claws, but so neat was the spring that the weapon of Nicholas pa.s.sed through his heart, when he gave one last terrific leap and rolled over dead.

The fright, the horror of feeling themselves in the sin-fin's clutches, and the revulsion of feeling at the unexpected relief, made the ladies forget, as you may well imagine, the lesser terror of seeing a strange youth within the prohibited walls. As for Nicholas, he thought only of them both. However, seeing they had been more frightened than hurt, and that they were now regarding him with a mixed expression of grat.i.tude, surprise, and even anger, for so great is the modesty of women, and such the force of the custom in China, that rescue from death itself was scarcely sufficient to suppress the instinctive anger they felt at the intrusion of a boy in so sacred a place; perceiving all this at a glance, Nicholas fell upon his knees, saying, "Pardon, O great princess, for thus thy yellow girdle betokens thee. Let the life of thy mean servant be the penalty for his unpardonable intrusion, and he will not regret it, since he has been the means of saving the daughter of his Emperor, and the Christian-protecting Lady Candida, from the fangs of a vile beast."

"Rise, O youth, for it is not seemly that thou shouldst kneel at the feet of her whose life thou hast saved, and say what chance hath brought thee hither," said the royal lady, smiling with sweet grat.i.tude.

"Surely, O princess, chance can have no influence over the children of G.o.d, who must have sent thy servant hither as a manifest of his watchful care for those who obey his word and protect his worshipers," replied Nicholas earnestly.

"Then thou art of the Lord of heaven's religion. But who art thou, O my poor youth, who thus seekest certain death by thy presence here?" said Candida, looking tremulously around, for fear of the approach of any of the eunuchs of the palace.

"Let this, O princess, bespeak the reason of thy servant's intrusion, where even the daring Li-Kong cannot foil his purpose," replied Nicholas, falling upon his knees and presenting his father's letter to the princess, who handed it to Candida, who no sooner glanced at the characters upon the envelope than she said angrily, "This is from the rebel pirate, Chin-Chi-Loong."

"Should thy servant's tongue be torn from his mouth, he would say those words are false, lady. The n.o.ble chief is neither pirate nor rebel; if so, thy servant would not have risked his life to place that letter in the hands of the Son of Heaven," said Nicholas firmly.

"If thy words are true, youth----" but as the Lady Candida spoke, a body of armed eunuchs entered the garden, so, giving the letter back to Nicholas, she said, "Haste youth, for thy life;" but knowing the attempt would be useless, he stood his ground firmly.

"No, lady," said he; "thy servant came here to place that letter in the hands of the Emperor." Before he could say more the men had drawn around him.

"Tie the dog hand and foot," said the chief.

"Not so, O Lun-Yin," said the princess.

"Thy slave dare not disobey the laws, O ill.u.s.trious daughter of the Mings," replied the chief, bowing to the earth.

"Then convey the youth to the presence of the Emperor, for he has treason to disclose, but let not his limbs be bound at the peril of your life, and we will answer to our great father," said the princess.

When the ladies withdrew toward the inner palace the eunuchs led Nicholas through the small gate into a s.p.a.cious court, which was crowded with soldiers, bonzes and servants, in attendance upon the great lords, who were then in council with the Emperor. Pa.s.sing through the crowd they entered a magnificent archway of veined marble into a vast court, across which ran a ca.n.a.l of water, so pellucid that shoals of gold and silver fish could be seen playing around the stems of the white-leaved lien-hoa at the bottom. Across this ca.n.a.l was thrown a bridge of glittering white marble, supported upon each bank by lions sculptured from the same material. From this bridge Nicholas could see that the whole court was surrounded with marble terraces, which led through small doorways into the imperial treasure rooms, which were full of precious metals, jewels, valuable furs, rare vases, and costly robes, and a variorum collection of silks, that had been presented from the chief manufactories of the empire. Other rooms contained bows, arrows, saddles, and even specimens of the choicest teas to be found in China.

Leaving the treasures they entered the great court of the princes of the blood, whose palaces shone with gilding, j.a.pan, and varnish, through which they pa.s.sed by a small side-gate into the hippodrome, or horse-racing court, which was crowded with mandarins of arms and letters, of inferior rank, besides the state chairs, and horse guards belonging to the princes. As they entered the hippodrome they saw a group of war mandarins gathered around a person who was clamoring for something that the mandarins must have deemed very absurd, for although so near the inner palace, they laughed loudly. Perceiving, however, the chief of the eunuchs, they became suddenly grave, and bowed to the ground three times.

"How is this? Are the dogs tired of their lives, that they venture to make this unseemly uproar within the very hearing of the Son of Heaven himself?" said that officer angrily.

"Truly, the all-powerful Yin would risk his flowery existence, laughing at this paper tiger, who is mad enough to demand an audience with the Son of Heaven," replied one of the mandarins. Before, however, the chief of the eunuchs could reply, the person in question had thrown himself at his feet, crying, "Pardon, O mighty officer of the palace, thy slave, who seeks a master bereft of his senses, and who is now wandering about the palace in search of the Son of Heaven. May he vanquish his enemies."

"Thou, then, art the servant of this dog who has profaned the imperial gardens?" said the chief of the eunuchs; adding, before Nicholas could interfere for Chow, "Let the dog be taken to the prison, as he will doubtless be strangled with his master when the will of the Emperor is known."

Then, in obedience to this command, the boy was hurried away, and Nicholas led forward to the court of the inner palace.

CHAPTER XXI.

a.s.sEMBLY OF THE GREAT PRINCES OF THE EMPIRE.

The audience-chamber of the Emperor was a vast square hall of great height. The ceiling was of pale green, sculptured in devices, and decorated with paintings, charged at intervals with the Emperor's crest in gold. The walls were smooth and without other ornament than the carved window frame, which was set with panes of richly painted paper.

The roof was supported by rows of columns, elaborately sculptured and j.a.panned, which rested upon a pavement of the rarest veined marble, of so high a polish that it reflected the whole interior.

In the centre stood a lofty alcove, above which, upon a drapery of yellow silk, were embossed in pale blue enamel the words "Ching Hoang,"

(Holy Emperor). Beneath, upon a dais, ascended by a flight of broad steps was a throne of frosted gold, surmounted and upheld by dragons of the same metal, but burnished, and whose claws rested upon a carpet of blue velvet, besprinkled with the same monsters in silver.

Opposite the throne upon a raised platform, were placed several vessels of the precious metals, filled with incense, which, as it burned, sent forth a delicious perfume, and candlesticks ingeniously wrought into the shape of animals.

From the throne to the end of the wall, ranged so as to form an alley, stood the great officers of state, attired in large flowing robes of silk, flounced with gold, and bearing on their b.r.e.a.s.t.s the insignia of their different dignities; those belonging to the military department wearing golden b.u.t.tons on their caps and tigers or lions on their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, while the civil officers, who were of higher rank, wore birds in place of beasts. At the back of these mandarins were other officers, bearing umbrellas of silk brocade, fringed with gold; there were also many who wore the b.u.t.ton of an inferior rank, and who wore large fans of silk, embroidered with gold; others with large standards, sprinkled with golden stars, dragons, the sun, and the moon in all its quarters, to represent the twenty-eight mansions of the heavens, and their conjunctions and oppositions with the sun, as they appear in the intersections of the circles, which the astronomers call the dragon's head and tail. Near the walls stood a number of mandarins of inferior rank, both civil and military, bearing maces, axes, hammers, and swords.

Upon the steps of the throne stood the princes of the blood, attired in the costumes of their civil or military rank, the only tokens of their imperial blood, being the large yellow or red girdle, and the circle instead of the square in which the bird or beast is worn upon the breast.

The left hand being the place of honor in China, on that side of the throne stood the imperial but unfortunate Prince, Yong-Li, a youth of fifteen years of age, near to whom stood the aged Woo, whose office, that of a colao or censor, was at once the most dangerous and most popular in the empire, his duty being to check the great mandarins, and even the Emperor himself, in the wrong exercise of their authority. This officer may be termed the representative of that public opinion in China which moulds its irresponsible despotism somewhat to the shape of a const.i.tutional government. One step lower, in the full costume of tsong-tou (a great viceroy), stood the Prince Woo-san-Kwei. This prince was the son of the censor Woo, and one of the most remarkable men of his time. He was tall and stately, and, like the rest of the n.o.bles of the Ming dynasty, wore his hair in long and luxuriant tresses; moreover, like his parent Woo, he wore the circle upon his breast, and around his waist the girdle of red, which betokened him to be of the second rank of the princes of the blood. Upon the opposite side of the throne, and one step nearer, as became his closer relationship to the monarch, stood the first prince of the yellow girdle, Li-Kong, a man whose influence upon those tempestuous times was as remarkable for bad as that of Woo-san-Kwei was for good; he was also a tang-tou.

Next this prince, in their robes of office, stood the colaos, or ministers of state, and with them an officer whose bird-embroidered robe and cap betokened him a mandarin of letters of the highest rank in the great college of Han-Lin. This officer was tutor to the heir to the throne, but in addition held an office so peculiar that I do not think you will accuse me of tediousness if I tell you something about it. He was the chief historian of the empire, an appointment which, if carried out with similar integrity, would be creditable to other empires besides China.

"These historians," says a writer who resided within the walls of the palace thirty years, "consist of a certain number of men, who, for their learning and impartiality are purposely chosen for this office. Their business is to observe narrowly not only the actions but the words of the Emperor, which, without communication with the others, each must write upon a loose piece of paper, and put it through a c.h.i.n.k into an office set apart for the purpose.

"In these papers both the Emperor's virtues and faults are set down with the same liberty and impartiality. 'Such a day,' say they, 'the Emperor's behavior was unseasonable and intemperate; he spoke after a manner which became not his dignity. The punishment which he inflicted on such an officer was rather the effect of his pa.s.sion than the result of his justice. In such an affair, he stopped the sword of justice, and abrogated the just sentence of the magistrate.' Or else, 'The Emperor entered courageously into a war for the defence of his people and for the maintenance of the honor of his empire; and, notwithstanding the commendations given him by his flatterers, he was not puffed up, but behaved himself modestly, his words were tempered with all the sweetness and humility possible, which made him more loved and admired by his court than ever.'

"Such is the way in which they record down all that occurs; but that neither fear on the one side, nor hope on the other, may bias men to give a partial record of the Emperor, the office wherein these papers are kept is never opened during the life of the sovereign, or while any of his family sit upon the throne. When, however, the imperial dignity pa.s.ses into another family, all these loose memoirs are gathered together, compared, and a history composed, that either hands down the Emperor as an example to posterity, or exposes him to the censure and odium of the nation, if he has been negligent of his own duty and his people's good. Thus is it the interest of the Emperor to be circ.u.mspect, and cautious how he behaves himself during his reign."

With reference to the history of events and the progress of the people generally, it is the custom for each city to keep an exact record of every memorable event as it happens, its most remarkable places and inhabitants, good or bad; moreover, of their manners and customs; and although there are many who, by offering bribes to the governor, obtain honorable mention in these annals, upon the whole the accounts are considered to be tolerably accurate, for at the end of every forty years the mandarins of every city a.s.semble and examine the accounts, and expunge what they deem unfit to remain recorded.

Theoretically, the will of the emperor is the only law; the lives, fortunes, and worldly happiness of his subjects depend upon its wildest caprice; but, in reality, it is only theoretically, for in the words of another great authority, who not only resided at the court of Pekin some thirty years, but absolutely held office therein. "One would imagine that this unlimited power of the Emperor would often occasion very unfortunate events in the government, and indeed it sometimes hath, as nothing in this world is without its alloy of inconvenience, yet so many are the provisions and so wise the precautions which the laws have prescribed to prevent them, that a prince must be wholly insensible of his own reputation and even interest, as well as the public good, who continues long in the abuse of his authority; for if he hath any regard for his own reputation, there are three things which will prevail with him to govern by justice, not pa.s.sion: first, the old laws, given from the foundation of the empire, have laid it down as a standing maxim, that kings are properly the fathers of their people, _and not masters placed upon the throne only to be served by slaves_. The words in italics contain a doctrine, by the way, that our first James strived so hard to inculcate, that it ultimately led to a revolution in England, not very dissimilar to that in China, of which I am now writing. Such having been the teaching of those law-givers, Confucius and others, who are to the present day venerated as deities in China, the Emperor's proudest t.i.tle of honor has been in all ages Ta-fou" (that is, grandfather).

This theory of what the Emperor should be, is so deeply imprinted in the minds of the people and the mandarins, that, when they offer praises, whether deserved or not, it is based upon his presumed affection for his people. The teachers and philosophers continually set forth in their books that the state is but a large family, and that he who knows how to govern the one is best capable of governing the other; so that, if the Emperor neglects, never so little, the practice of this maxim, he may be a great warrior, an able politician, a learned man, and yet meet with neither love nor esteem from his people. Indeed, they value him only as they believe he is, or is not, a father to them.

Thus, as I have shown you, not only the censor, but, in a lesser degree, every mandarin may tell the Emperor of his faults, provided it be in a manner agreeable to that veneration and profound respect which is due to his office. The manner, however, in which this is done, is somewhat roundabout. The mandarin who perceives any thing in the Emperor's conduct contrary to the maxims laid down in the sacred books, draws up a request, in which, after having set forth the respect which he bears toward his majesty, he most humbly prays that he will please to reflect upon the ancient laws and good examples of his great predecessors. This request lies upon a table among many other pet.i.tions, which are daily presented and which the Emperor is obliged to read; and if he does not change his conduct, the pet.i.tion is repeated again and again till the end has been gained, or the mandarin himself punished for his presumption. The latter, however, never happens, except with bad and tyrannical Emperors.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE BOY PRINCE AND THE RIVAL GENERALS.

Thus were the great princes and lords of China awaiting the coming of their imperial master, and with something like impatience, for often, of late, had his majesty kept them waiting for hours, and then granted no audience at all. Such, however, was not to be the case then, for soon the sounds of wind instruments were heard, pages and eunuchs entered from the door which led to the imperial apartment, followed by the favorite body attendants of the sovereign, then the Emperor himself;--and the mandarins in the body of the hall, and the lords upon the steps of the throne, bent their heads till their foreheads touched the floors, in which position they remained, awaiting the command of the monarch to arise. Wey-t-song, the last of the Ming Emperors, was of middle height and spare figure, at least for a Chinese, whose notion of manly beauty consists of large and bulky form; he was attired in a robe of yellow silk, embroidered with five-clawed dragons, a necklace of costly pearls, and a golden girdle fastened around his waist by a jeweled clasp; his high cap or crown of purple satin, sparkled with jewels, and was decorated with the peac.o.c.k's feather, which fell upon his long black hair; his boots were of purple satin, and fitted tightly to the shape of the feet; as for his hands, they were hidden beneath the folds of his robe.

When the Emperor had seated himself upon the throne, a graceful movement with his ample sleeves gave the sign for the kneeling courtiers to arise, and they stood with their arms straightened and eyes turned upon the ground, pretending that the sight of so much majesty was too dazzling for their vision.

Thus, for a time, all was silent, till the censor Woo, falling upon his knees, and holding above his head his silver seal of office, gravely said, "Since our lord has vouchsafed us his heavenly audience, and the door of the imperial apartments is no longer disfigured by the audience-denying tablet, it is the duty of the meanest of his slaves to open his lips, even at the risk of his life."

"Rise, thou venerable n.o.ble, for it is not seemly that one who is at age's extremity should kneel, even before the Emperor. Rise, n.o.ble Woo, for thy years demand that thy pet.i.tion should be heard standing," said Wey-t-song, aiding the aged man to his feet.