crossing a small stream. From the enclosure, three doors, two for mandarins and a central one for the Emperor alone, conduct to the largest of the palace courts, surrounded by magazines, containing the Imperial treasures, precious stones, robes, arms, etc.

The Imperial Hall, or Hall of the Great Union, stands in this court-a square edifice about 150 feet in each direction, adorned with sculptured panels and golden dragons, and paved with marble. The throne occupies the centre of the hall. Two adjoining halls on the same raised foundation are used as a saloon and robing-room.

From the court of the Imperial Hall a marble staircase leads to the Gate of the Kien-tsing-tung, or Tranquil Place of Heaven. Very special permission is needed even for courtiers to enter here. It is used as a council-chamber. Beyond it is the special domain of the Empress, and beyond this lies the Imperial Garden, with its flower-beds and pavilions, its hanging gardens, lake, and fountains.

The eastern division of the Prohibited City contains the offices of the Privy Council and Treasury, also the Library, and the Temple of Intense Thought, in which offerings are made to Confucius and other sages of old time. Here, also, are the temple in which the Emperor adores his ancestors, and numerous palaces inhabited by princes of the blood and their retainers. The Hall of Distinguished Sovereigns, the printing office, and other State buildings occupy the western division. The Prohibited City also contains barracks and stables, capable of containing 15,000 men and 5,000 horses, so that it is in itself a fortress, defended by the two outer cities, which are fortresses also.

A broad avenue leads from the southern gate of the palace enclosures to the Tatsing Gate of the Yellow City. On each side are large parks, enclosing ancient and abandoned bronzeries. Close to the Ta-tsing Gate are vast caves for the storage of wood and other fuel. We must briefly allude to a few other objects of interest in the Tartar City, without attempting to localise them, before proceeding to speak of its Chinese neighbour. The Temple of the Tower is a famous one, with a large Buddhist convent of great renown attached to it. The Grand Place is remarkable for little but its extent and regularity. In the centre a fountain springs from a marble basin, and on each side of its octagonal area rise symmetrical palaces. The Imperial Pagoda of Kwang-min-tien stands in a pleasant park, and is one of the most beautiful in Pekin. The body of the edifice is of polished red bricks, the roof of brilliant blue tiles, and at the various projecting corners hang flags and lanterns, and little bells that tinkle to every passing breeze. In the interior are gilded idols, and pictures of gods and genii. The once famous elephant stables are now only ruins. The Ming Emperors kept thirty elephants as a part of their royal state. The Manchoo Emperors despised these symbols of Asiatic despotism, and gradually suffered the establishment to decline. At the time of the Allied Expedition of 1860 there was but one elephant in the stable-a feeble veteran more than a century old, white with age and powerless for offence or defence, and blind of one eye.

The Peh-tang and Nam-tang are the two most important of the four Roman Catholic mission stations of Pekin. The former is in the Yellow City, and consists of a series of pavilions and large courtyards, and an ancient chapel with a tower, from which there is a splendid view. Many of the photographic views of Pekin sold in Europe have been taken from this point. The surrounding park is so large that the Chinese call it a forest.

The chapel shows marks of the popular fury at the time of the expulsion of the Jesuits. The Nam-tang, an ancient Portuguese establishment ceded to France, contains the Roman Catholic Cathedral, an edifice of the time of Louis XV., with two square towers. It was in a state of complete dilapidation, but was repaired in 1861.

The mention of these edifices naturally leads us to refer to the Jesuits who played so

important a part at the Court of China in the seventeenth century. The earliest attempt to establish a Roman Catholic mission at Pekin was in 1293, when John of Mount Corvin went there, and was subsequently made archbishop. Bishops and priests were sent to aid in this effort, which was not a very successful one, and terminated in complete failure at the fall of the Mongol Empire. But in the year 1580 Father Ricci, full of the zeal which was at that time so fervent amongst the members of the still youthful Society of Jesus, penetrated to Pekin. He appeared at first as a literary gentleman, and acquired great influence amongst the literary and governing classes. His intellectual gifts were varied, and his learning extensive and profound, and to unbounded energy he united unflagging

perseverance and great prudence. He conciliated the Emperor by teaching astronomy and Western sciences. In teaching Christianity he tried to make things pleasant all round. "The Emperor found in him," says a French writer, "a man full of complaisance; the pagans, a minister who accommodated himself to their superstitions; the mandarins, a polite courtier, skilled in all the trickery of courts; and the devil, a faithful servant, who, far from destroy

ing, established his reign among the heathen, and even extended it to the Christians. He preached in China the religion of Christ according to his own fancy, adopting the sacrifices offered to Confucius and his ancestors, and teaching the Christians to assist at the worship of idols, provided they only addressed their devotions to a cross covered with flowers, or secretly attached to one of the candles which were lighted in the temples of the false gods." This style of teaching was much reprobated by European Catholics, and great controversies arose ; but the Chinese Emperors decreed that Christianity as taught by the Jesuits should be taught there.

For over a century the Jesuit missions flourished. Numerous bishoprics were established