, for then it
conquered China, whose present emperor is the descendant of the
conquering Manchu monarch. Manchuria has an area of 280,000, and a
population of 21,000,000; but not more than one million of the people
are Manchus, who wear the costume and speak the language of the Chinese.
The rest of the people are emigrants from China or other countries, and
are as industrious and prosperous as any other in the vast empire.

"The Manchus are the aristocracy of the country; and ever since they
gave China its ruler, their country has been the principal territory for
recruiting the Celestial armies; and there are said to be 80,000 of
their soldiers in service. And they also furnish China with its
magistrates and police. But I will leave their country to take its place
with the other provinces of the empire. China is believed by its own
chronologists to have been in existence 2637 years before the Christian
era, and perhaps from a date still farther back; but these dates are
doubtful.

"The people of China do not know their country by the name so familiar
to us, or they know it only so far as they have learned it from
merchants and travellers. In the matter of names they all seem barbarous
to us; I do not attempt to pronounce them; and I don't think you will
succeed in doing so any better than I have. I may add that I have never
been in China; and what I tell you I did not pick up myself, but must
derive it from others who have travelled and lived in the country.

"I have obtained nearly all my information from the very learned and
valuable article of Dr. Legge, in Chambers's. He is familiar with the
language of the Chinese, has travelled and lived in the country, and is
fully acquainted with the manners and customs of the people. In the
oldest literature of the empire, it is called _Hwa Hsia_, the first word
meaning 'flowery,' and the second is the proper name of the country.
Chung Kwo is the Middle Kingdom, which came into being in the feudal
period, in the midst of the several states and tribes; and if you wish
to know more of China, there is an American edition of Dr. Williams in
four volumes, which will tell you all about it. But the name did not
mean the middle of the earth, as sometimes claimed, nor is it the
foundation of the derisive term applied to China, 'The Central Flowery
Nation.'

"Other names have been given to China, though seldom seen or heard; but
Cathay, perhaps coming from the Russian name Kitai, is