placed their wealth at the disposal of the preachers of the new religion. By devoting themselves both to the propaganda and the preparation of countless scientific books, the Jesuit Fathers managed to make many converts and yet placate the powerful literati classes.

Ricci, now appointed superior of all the missions by the general of his order, allowed converts to practise the rites of ancestor-worship, on the ground that he considered them purely civil in their nature. Thus by delighting the Emperor with the distinction of their address and their courtly manners, the Jesuits gained the support of the Throne; by placing their rich learning at the disposal of Chinese scholars in splendidly prepared Chinese texts, they disposed the polite classes to smile on them; and, finally, by viewing the question of ancestor-worship from a very catholic standpoint, they soon attracted the masses towards a religion at once so lordly and so tolerant.

Ricci died in 1610 at the age of eighty, leaving behind him converts who were already numbered by the ten thousand and whose ranks were being swelled at a phenomenal rate. Indeed, so surprising was the success which now attended these Jesuit efforts that the high officials of the Empire began to be alarmed, and steps were taken to limit an activity which was so constantly increasing. Thus in 1617 an Imperial Decree was actually published ordering the missionaries to leave Peking, proceed to Canton, and there embark for Europe; but the skill of the Jesuits allowed them to make this edict a dead-letter.

Again and again were edicts of this character launched against the devoted Fathers and ignored by them. Already more Chinese than the Chinese themselves in their power of appraising the true attitude of the Government, the Jesuits understood exactly how to smile politely and remain exactly where they were.

In 1628, by skilful intrigue, Schaal, a remarkable German Jesuit, was recommended to the Emperor, and soon his great talents and learning enabled him to exercise an influence at Court which the high native officials sought in vain to combat. But now Dominicans and Franciscans, learning of the success of the Jesuits, began to flock to China, and the coming of these rival orders soon gave rise to questions which ended by making the position of Roman Catholics in China an intolerable one. The conflict between the rival orders was for a time postponed by the parlous position of the Ming dynasty. The Manchus had then already seated themselves on a throne at Moukden, which they proclaimed Imperial, and their declared object was to fling the Ming dynasty in the dust and seat themselves on the Peking throne. Between the years 1630 and 1660 the Manchus were therefore wrestling for what was then the richest Empire in the world. By 1644 they had reached and captured Peking, and Shun Chih was proclaimed the first Emperor. It was fully twenty years, however, before all China was subdued, and during this interval the Catholic Fathers played a strange part.

Those in the North of China sided with the Manchus and cast cannon for them with which they might vanquish their enemies; whilst those in the South openly helped the Ming adherents and sought to stop the victorious progress of the Tartars. The latter, however, soon proved irresistible, and China was at last completely conquered.

As long as the young Emperor Shun Chih reigned the influence of Schaal proved too strong for the enemies of Roman Catholicism; but on the death of the first Manchu sovereign, determined efforts were again made to drive the Jesuits away. The Chinese officials pointed out in passionate memorials to the Manchu regent that the rival Christian orders were already fighting amongst themselves about the meaning and worship of Heaven and the Supreme Being as practised by the Throne; that in Japan the Catholics had produced intrigue, schism, and civil war; that the members of the different orders wore distinctive badges and medals; that rosaries and crosses were distributed among the people, who were always ready to follow their chiefs; and that the Missions had therefore become a direct source of danger to the State.

As a consequence of this denouncement, Schaal, who was actually at the time the tutor of the young Emperor Kang-hsi, perhaps the greatest sovereign who has ever reigned in China, along with all other Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans, were either imprisoned or driven out of the country; but many of the Fathers were hidden and protected by the