imes, when
they were wiped from the blackboard for having taken part in the
Sepoy mutiny.

Liberal beyond precedent, Kubla Khan encouraged the establishment of a
Christian bishopric, in which John de Monte Corvino was the first
representative of the Holy See. He also welcomed those adventurous
Italians, the Polos, and sought to make use of them to open
communication with Europe. Yet we cannot forbear to express a doubt,
whether, aside from the Christian religion, Europe in that age had much
in the way of civilization to impart to China.

Three of the native dynasties, which preceded the Mongol conquest, made
themselves famous by advancing the interests of civilization. The house
of Han (B.C. 202-A.D. 221) restored the sacred books, which the builder
of the Great Wall had destroyed in order to obliterate all traces of
feudalism and make the people submit to a centralized government. Even
down to the present day, the Chinese are proud to describe themselves as
"sons of Han." The house of Tang, A.D. 618-908, is noted above all for
the literary style of its prose-writers and the genius of its poets. In
South China the people are fond of calling themselves "sons of Tang."
The house of Sung, A.D. 970-1127, shows a galaxy of philosophers and
scholars, whose expositions and speculations are accepted as the
standard of orthodoxy. More acute reasoners it would be difficult to
find in any country; and in the line of erudition they have never been
surpassed.

It is reported that in 643 the Emperor Theodosius sent an envoy to
China with presents of rubies and emeralds. Nestorian missionaries also
presented themselves at court. The Emperor received them with respect,
heard them recite the articles of their creed, and ordered a temple to
be erected for them at his capital. This was in the palmy period of the
Tangs, when the frontiers of the Empire had been pushed to the borders
of the Caspian Sea.

If China in part or in whole was sometimes conquered by Tartars, it is
only fair to state that the greatest of the native sovereigns more than
once reduced the extramural Tartars to subjection. Between the two races
there existed an almost unceasing conflict, which had the effect of
civilizing the one and of preventing the other from lapsing
into lethargy.

About B.C. 100, Su Wu, one of China's famous diplomatists, was sent on
an embassy to the Grand Khan of Tartary. An ode, which he addressed to
his wife on the eve of his perilous e