This Prince Had Been Set Down As A Harmless,
Inoffensive Student, But His Prompt Action On This Occasion Excited
General Admiration, And Kiaking, Grateful For His Life, At Once Proclaimed
Him His Heir.
Toward the close of his reign, and very soon after the departure of Lord
Amherst, Kiaking was brought face to face with a very serious conspiracy,
or what he thought to be such, among the princes of the Marichu imperial
family.
By an ordinance passed by Chuntche all the descendants of that
prince's father were declared entitled to wear a yellow girdle and to
receive a pension from the state; while, with a view to prevent their
becoming a danger to the dynasty, they were excluded from civil or
military employment, and assigned to a life of idleness. This imperial
colony was, and is still, one of the most peculiar and least understood of
the departments of the Tartar government; and although it has served its
purpose in preventing dynastic squabbles, there must always remain the
doubt as to how far the dynasty has been injured by the loss of the
services of so many of its members who might have possessed useful
capacity. They purchased the right to an easy and unlaborious existence,
with free quarters and a small income guaranteed, at the heavy price of
exclusion from the public service. No matter how great their ambition or
natural capability, they had no prospect of emancipating themselves from
the dull sphere of inaction to which custom relegated them.
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