Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume II.djvu/294

 280 CIIUISTLVNITV IN CHINA, K fC domestic enemies, and at the same time repelling on the tVoiiticrs the aggressions of a warlike and enterprising people. The ^lantchuo Tartars, long a mere tribe of wander- inij herdsmen, followiiiij their eattle about the banks of the rivers Amour and Sangari, had fur some years past been issuing from their obscurity, «nd assuming a more important character; and the chiefs of the Eight IJanners, after having carried on a fierce war amongst themselves, had at length united, in obedience to the strongest among them, to found a monarchy. The govcrmncnt of I'ekin, always accustomed to treat nei<:hl)ourin!r states in the style of absolute sovereignty, had seen with no good will the progress of the Mantchoo j)ower, and neglected no means of im- ])eding its measures and frustrating its alliances ; and it even at length presumed to seize and put to death a chief whom the Mantchoos had chosen for their king. Fortunately, however, for the Tartars, this prince left a son old enough to succeed him ; and to show that he was worthy to do so, he began liis reign by avenging the death of his father. Scarcely had he been recog- nised as their head by the warriors of the Eight Ban- ners, than he organised an army, and making a sudden irruption into the province of Leao-Tong, he seized on Moukden, and struck terror into the whole country. lie might have even continued his course to Pekin, from which he was not far distant, and demanded from the emperor an account of the assassination of his father ; but he seems to have been capable of controlling his passions, and contented himself with sending an ambas- sador with a respectful letter, in which he begged the emperor to attribute to the transports of just indignation