by the Empress. After this, in concert with a
trusted eunuch and a few attendants, he disguised himself, and made
an attempt to escape from the city by night; but they found the gates
closed, and the guard refused to allow them to pass. Returning to the
palace in the early morning, the Emperor caused the great bell to be
rung as usual to summon the officers of government to audience; but no
one came. He then retired, with his faithful eunuch, to a kiosque, on
what is known as the Coal Hill, in the palace grounds, and there wrote
a last decree on the lapel of his coat:--"I, poor in virtue and of
contemptible personality, have incurred the wrath of God on high. My
Ministers have deceived me. I am ashamed to meet my ancestors; and
therefore I myself take off my crown, and with my hair covering my face,
await dismemberment at the hands of the rebels. Do not hurt a single
one of my people!" Emperor and eunuch then committed suicide by hanging
themselves, and the Great Ming Dynasty was brought to an end.

Li Tz{u}-ch`eng made a grand official entry into Peking, upon which many
of the palace ladies committed suicide. The bodies of the two Empresses
were discovered, and the late Emperor's sons were captured and kindly
treated; but of the Emperor himself there was for some time no trace.
At length his body was found, and was encoffined, together with those of
the Empresses, by order of Li Tz{u}-ch`eng, by-and-by to receive fit and
proper burial at the hands of the Manchus.

Li Tz{u}-ch`eng further possessed himself of the persons of Wu
San-kuei's father and affianced bride, the latter of whom, a very
beautiful girl, he intended to keep for himself. He next sent off a
letter to Wu San-kuei, offering an alliance against the Manchus, which
was fortified by another letter from Wu San-kuei's father, urging his
son to fall in which Li's wishes, especially as his own life would be
dependent upon the success of the missions. Wu San-kuei had already
started on his way to relieve the capital when he heard of the events
above recorded; and it seems probable that he would have yielded to
circumstances and persuasion but for the fact that Li had seized the
girl he intended to marry. This decided him; he retraced his steps,
shaved his head after the required style, and joined the Manchus.

It was not very long before Li Tz{u}-ch`eng's army was in full pursuit,
with the twofold object of destroying Wu San-kuei and recovering Chinese
territor