voy with
tributary presents to demand a princess in marriage; but know not if
the Emperor will ratify the engagement with the customary oaths. The
fineness of the season has drawn away our chiefs on a hunting
excursion amidst the sandy steppes. May they meet with success, for
we Tartars have no fields--our bows and arrows are our sole means of
subsistence.

_Enter Minister of Han, reciting verses_.

MINISTER. Let a man have the heart of a kite, and the talons
of an eagle.
Let him deceive his superiors, and oppress those below
him;
Let him enlist flattery, insinuation, profligacy, and avarice
on his side,

And he will find them a lasting assistance through life. I am no
other than Maouyenshow, a minister of the sovereign of Han. By a
hundred arts of specious flattery and address I have deceived the
Emperor, until he places his whole delight in me alone. My words he
listens to; and he follows my counsel. Within the precincts of the
palace, as without them, who is there but bows before me--who is
there but trembles at my approach? But observe the chief art which I
have learned: It is this: to persuade the Emperor to keep aloof from
his wise counsellors, and seek all his pleasures amidst the women of
his palace. Thus it is that I strengthen my power and greatness.
But, in the midst of my lucubrations--Here comes the Emperor.

_Enter Emperor Yuente, attended by Eunuchs and Women_.

EMPEROR [_recites verses]_. During the ten generations that
have succeeded our acquisition of Empire, my race has alone
possessed the four hundred districts of the world. Long have the
frontiers been bound in tranquillity by the ties of mutual oaths.
And our pillow has been undisturbed by grief or anxiety. Behold in
us the Emperor Yuente, of the race of Han. Our ancestor Kaoute
emerged from a private station, and raised his family by
extinguishing the dynasty of Tsin, and slaughtering their race. Ten
generations have passed away since he left this inheritance to us.
The four boundaries of the empire have been tranquil; the eight
regions at rest! But not through our personal merits; we have wholly
depended on the exertions of our civil and military rulers. On the
demise of our late father, the female inmates of the palace were all
dispersed, and our harem is now solitary and untenanted; but how
sh