d at nine of the provincial capitals, and at
ten other important points in the provinces. The Manchu commandant of
each of the nine garrisons above mentioned, familiar to foreigners as
the Tartar General, was so placed in order to act as a check upon
the civil Governor or Viceroy, of whom he, strictly speaking, took
precedence, though in practice their ranks have always been regarded as
equal. With the empire at peace, the post of Tartar General has always
been a sinecure, and altogether out of comparison with that of the
Viceroy and his responsibilities; but in the case of a Viceroy suspected
of disloyalty and collusion with rebels, the swift opportunity of
the Tartar General was the great safeguard of the dynasty, further
strengthened as he was by the regulation which gave to him the custody
of the keys to the city gates. Those garrisons, the soldiers of which
were accompanied by their wives and families, were from the first
intended to be permanent institutions; and there until quite recently
were to be found the descendants of the original drafts, not allowed to
intermarry with their Chinese neighbours, but otherwise influenced to
such an extent that their Manchu characteristics had almost entirely
disappeared. In one direction the Manchus made a curious concession
which, though entirely sentimental, was nevertheless well calculated
to appeal to a proud though unconquered people. A rule was established
under which every Manchu high official, when memorializing the throne,
was to speak of himself to the Emperor as "your Majesty's slave,"
whereas the term accepted from every Chinese high official was simply
"your Majesty's servant." During the early years of Manchu rule,
proficiency in archery was as much insisted on as in the days of Edward
III with us; and even down to a few years ago Manchu Bannermen, as they
came to be called, might be seen everywhere diligently practising the
art--actually one of the six fine arts of China--by the aid of which
their ancestors had passed from the state of a petty tribal community to
possession of the greatest empire in the world.

The term Bannerman, it may here be explained, is applied to all Manchus
in reference to their organization under one or other of eight banners
of different colour and design; besides which, there are also eight
banners for Mongolians, and eight more for the descendants of those
Chinese who sided with the Manchus against the Mings, and thus helped to
esta