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34 erected, clothed himself sumptuously, adorned with pearls and gems, and in that state burnt himself to death. Woo-wang cut down with the sword the wicked and unhappy Ta-ke. How often, even in this life, does Divine Providence punish the atrociously profligate!"

In many respects the history of Chow reminds us of Sardanapalus.

We now arrive at another dynasty, that of Chow, which, numbering thirty-five sovereigns, embraced the period between the years 1122 and 249 B.C. Interminable civil wars marked the reign of this family, during which some of the vassal princes were so blind to the interests of the future as to call the Tartars to assist them in their disputes with neighbouring chiefs, thus introducing into the heart of the empire the savage tribes which were destined at a later date to conquer it. The births of three great men occurred during this dynasty — namely, Kung-fu-tsze (Confucius) in 552 B.C.; Laou-tsze, or Laou-keun, a contemporary of the first named great philosopher; and Mang-tsze, or Mencius.

We now pass on to the Tsin dynasty, lasting from 249 to 206 B.C., and numbering three sovereigns. Of these the Emperor Hwang-te deserves particularly to be noticed, if only on account of the hatred with which his memory is still regarded by the Chinese. Mounting the throne at the early age of twenty, the powerful genius of this monarch seems even then to have been fixed on one great object — supreme dominion. Taking into his counsels the Prime Minister, one Le-sze, a most astute and unscrupulous