eace. A monument of that eternal conflict is the Great
Wall of China. Like the Roman Wall in North Britain, to compare
great things with small, its object was not to keep out the Tartars
but to reenforce the vigilance of the military pickets. That end
it seems to have accomplished for a long time. It was, the Chinese
say, the destruction of one generation and the salvation of many.
We shall soon see how it came to be a mere geographical expression.
For our present purpose it may also be regarded as a chronological
landmark, dividing ancient from mediaeval China.

With the House of Chou the old feudal divisions disappeared forever.
The whole country was brought
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under the direct sway of one emperor who, for the first time in
the history of the people, had built up a dominion worthy of that
august title. This was the achievement of Yin Cheng, the Prince
of Ts'in. He thereupon assumed the new style of Hwang-ti. Hwangs
and Tis were no novelty; but the combination made it a new coinage
and justified the additional appellation of "the First," or
Shi-hwang-ti. Four imperishable monuments perpetuate his memory:
the Great Wall, the centralised monarchy, the title _Hwang-ti_,
and the name of China itself--the last derived from a principality
which under him expanded to embrace the empire. Where is there
another conqueror in the annals of the world who has such solid
claims to everlasting renown? Alexander overthrew many nations;
but he set up nothing permanent. Julius Caesar instituted the Roman
Empire; but its duration was ephemeral in comparison with that
of the empire founded by Shi-hwang-ti, the builder of the Wall.

Though Shi-hwang-ti completed it, the wall was not the work of
his reign alone. Similarly the triumphs of his arms and arts were
due in large measure to his predecessors, who for centuries had
aspired to universal sway. Conscious of inferiority in culture,
they welcomed the aid and rewarded the services of men of talent
from every quarter. Some came as penniless adventurers from rival
or hostile states and were raised to the highest honours.

Six great chancellors stand conspicuous as having introduced law
and order into a rude society, and paved the way for final success.
Every one of these was a "foreigner." The princes whom they served
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deserve no small praise for having the good sense to appreciate them
and the courage to follow their advice. Of some of these it might
be said, as Vol