within the boundaries of his own province. Ostensibly a check on
corrupt practices, it is probable that this rule had a more far-reaching
political purport. The members of the Han-lin College presented an
address praying him (1) to prepare a list of all worthy men; (2) to
search out such of these as might be in hiding; (3) to exterminate
all rebels; (4) to proclaim an amnesty; (5) to establish peace; (6) to
disband the army, and (7) to punish corrupt officials.

The advice conveyed in the second clause of the above was speedily
acted upon, and a number of capable men were secured for the
government service. At the same time, with a view to the full technical
establishment of the dynasty, the Imperial ancestors were canonised, and
an ancestral shrine was duly constituted. The general outlook would
now appear to have been satisfactory from the point of view of Manchu
interests; but from lack of means of communication, China had in those
days almost the connotation of space infinite, and events of the highest
importance, involving nothing less than the change of a dynasty, could
be carried through in one portion of the empire before their imminence
had been more than whispered in another. No sooner was Peking taken by
the One-Eyed Rebel, than a number of officials fled southwards and took
refuge in Nanking, where they set up a grandson of the last Emperor but
one of the Ming Dynasty, who was now the rightful heir to the throne.
The rapidly growing power of the Manchus had been lost sight of, if
indeed it had ever been thoroughly realised, and it seemed quite natural
that the representative of the House of Ming should be put forward to
resist the rebels.

This monarch, however, was quite unequal to the fate which had befallen
him; and, before long, both he himself and his capital were in the
hands of the Manchus. Other claimants to the throne appeared in various