Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/105

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 85 inferior to those of the Moguls, or of the Mantcheoux ; and their ambition might entertain the most sanguine hopes of success. But their pride was humbled, and their progress was checked, by the arms and policy of Vouti,'^^ the fifth emperor of [Wnm] the powerful dynasty of the Han. In his long reign of fifty- Ant. christ four years, the Barbarians of the southern provinces submitted to the laws and manners of China ; and the ancient limits of the monarchy were enlarged, from the great river of Kiang to the port of Canton. Instead of confining himself to the timid operations of a defensive war, his lieutenants penetrated many hundred miles into the country of the Huns. In those bound- less deserts, where it is impossible to form magazines and difficult to transport a sufficient supply of provisions, the armies of Vouti were repeatedly exposed to intolerable hardships : and, of one hundred and forty thousand soldiers, who marched against the Barbarians, thirty thousand only returned in safety to the feet of their master. These losses, however, were com- pensated by splendid and decisive success. The Chinese gene- rals improved the superiority which they derived from the temper of their arms, their chariots of war, and the service of their Tartar auxiliaries. The camp of the Tanjou was surprised [Zenghi] in the midst of sleep and intemperance ; and, though the monarch of the Huns bravely cut his way through the ranks of the enemy, he left above fifteen thousand of his subjects on the field of battle. Yet this signal victory, which was preceded and followed by many bloody engagements, contributed much less to the destruction of the power of the Huns than the effectual policy which was employed to detach the tributary nations from their obedience. Intimidated by the arms, or allured by the Ant. Christ promises, of Vouti and his successors, the most considerable'" tribes, both of the East and of the West, disclaimed the [Eapeciaiiy authority of the Tanjou. While some acknowledged them- of Kui<ua] ^ selves the allies or vassals of the empire, they all became the implacable enemies of the Huns : and the numbers of that haughty people, as soon as they were reduced to their native strength, might, perhaps, have been contained within the walls of one of the great and populous cities of China. ^^ The deser- ^8 See the reign of the emperor Vouti, in the Kang-Moii, t. iii. p. 1-98. His various and inconsistent character seems to be impartially drawn. 39 This expression is used in the memorial to the emperor Venti (Duhalde, torn. ii. p. 417). Without adopting the exaggerations of Marco-Polo and Isaac Vossius, we may rationally allow for Pekin two millions of inhabitants. The cities of the South, which contain the manufactures of China, are still more populous.