EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXTREMES 265 



noteworthy at Pekin on a small scale. In this mimic 

 town the emperors, too much the slaves of their great- 

 ness to appear in public, were diverted several times in 

 the year by the eunuchs of the palace, who personated 

 merchants, shopkeepers, artisans, and even thieves and 

 pickpockets. On the appointed day each put on the 

 habit of his profession; the ships arrived at the port, 

 the shops were opened, etc., and the business of life was 

 carried on as if this were a real town. 



For autumn there were plantations of oak, beech, and 

 other deciduous trees whose leaves turn to brilliant 

 colours as winter approaches. Amidst these were planted 

 evergreens and fruit trees, where the few flowers which 

 blossom- late in the year grew beside " decayed trees and 

 dead stumps of picturesque forms overspread with moss 

 and ivy." 



The buildings with which these scenes were decorated 

 were such as indicated decay, being intended as me- 

 mentos of death to the passer-by. Some were hermit- 

 ages and almshouses, where the faithful old servants of 

 the family spent the remainder of their lives in peace 

 amidst the tombs of their predecessors. Then there 

 were various sorts of ruins : half buried triumphal arches 

 and mausoleums with mutilated inscriptions, that once 

 commemorated the heroes of ancient times; sepul- 

 chres, catacombs, and cemeteries for favourite domestic 

 animals; or whatever else might serve to indicate the 



