Mantchuria, a Chinese territory in Eastern Asia, extending between lat. 42° and 53° N., is now the pos- session partly of the Chinese and partly of the Russians. It is bounded, according to its present liinits, by the Amur on the north ; by the Usuri and the Sungacha on the east, separating it from the Russian maritime terri- tory of Orochi; b}' the Shan-Alin range on the south, separating it from Korea ; and by a portion of the Khin- gan Mountains, the river Sira-Muren, and the district of the upper Sungari, which separate it on the west from the desert of Gobi. Previously to the recent incursions of the Russians on the north, the area of this territory was about 682,000 square miles. Since the treaty of Nov. 11, 1860, the Russians possess all the territory east of the Usuri and north and east of the Amur, and the Chinese possession is reduced to about 378,000 square miles. The population is variously estimated at from 3.000,000 to 4,000,000. Mantchuria "is divided into three provinces; Shing-King (formerly Leaotong), which alone contains upwards of 2,100,000 inhabitants, and tlie chief town of which, Mukden, is the seat of government for the three provinces ; Girin, or Kirin ; and Tsi-tsi-har. The country is mountainous, densel}'' wooded in the south, but consisting chiefly of prairies and grass-land in the north. It is well watered and fruitful in the val- leys. Chinese form the great bulk of the population. The JIantchus themselves are for the most part soldiers ; they are the present rulers of China, who gradually sub- jugated the country. They are not a nomadic race like the jNIongols, but are given to agriculture or hunting, according to the part of their country they inhabit. They are of a lighter complexion and slightly heavier build than the Chinese, have the same conformation of the eye-lids, but rather more beard, and their counte- nances present greater intellectual capacity. Literary pursuits are more esteemed by them than by Mongo- lians. They are of the same religious faith as the Chinese, but they are less under the priesthood. The Mantchus, in short, may be regarded as the most im- provable race in Central Asia, if not on the continent. See Williams, Middle Kingdom, i, 153 sq.; Chambers, Cyclop, ii.x. See also China ; Tartauv.
Mantelet, a long cape, with slits for the arms, worn by prelates. Regular bishops wore it v/ithout the ro- chet ; and cardinals, vested in rochet and mozzetta, lay it aside when visiting another of their order. The man- tdlnne is a purple cloak, with long, hanging sleeves. — M'alcott, Sac. A rchceol. s. v.
Mantle, in the A. Y., is the term used to render four Hebrew words, viz.,
1. »"}'i]X, adde'reth, from '^'''^X, "ample,"' and there- fore probably meaning a large over-garment like the Roman pallium. The Sept. renders it by pyjXtori) (a sheep's skin), 1 Kings xix, 13, etc. ; oeppit;, Zoch. xiii, 4 : and oopci, Gen. xxv, 25. From the passages in which it is mentioned we can conjecture its nature. It is used most fretpiently (1 Kings xix; 2 Kings ii,8, 13, etc.) of Elijali's "mantle," which was in all probability a mere sheepskin, such as is frequently worn by dervishes and poor people in the East, and which seems, after Elijah's time, to liave been in vogue among the prophets (Zech. xiii, 4). Accordingly, by it only is denoted the cape or wrapper which, with the exception of a strip of skin or
leather round his loins, formed, as we have every reason to believe, the sole garment of the prophet. The Bap- tist's dress was of a similar rough description, and we see from Heb. xi, 37 (^tv pijXdjraTc, iv aljiiott; c'tpfiaaw) that such garments were regarded as a mark of poverty and persecution. The word addereth twice occurs with the epithet "i"b, "hairy" (Gen. xxv, 25; Zech. xiii, 4). On the other hand, it is sometimes undoubtedly applied to royal and splendid robes, and is even used to mean " magnificence" in Ezek. xvii, 8 (" vine of magnificence") and Zech. xi, 3. It is the expression for the " goodly Babylonish garment" stolen by Achan, and the " robe" worn by the king of Nineveh (Josh. vii,21 ; Jonah iii, 6). The connection between two meanings apparently so opposite is doubtless to be found in the etymology of the word (from "I'^'^X, ample), or in the notion of a dress richly lined or trimmed with costly,/)/?-^. See Robe.
2. 5"^"^, meil', which in the A.V. is variously ren- dered " mantle," " robe," " cloke ;" and in the Sept. tinv- SvrrjQ, CnrKuig, VTToSvryjC, Trodl}p7]c, xinLv. Josephus caUs it jxtiip. It is a general term derived from b"'2, to cover, and is most frequentlj' applied to " the rohe of the ephod" (Exod. xxviii, 4, etc. ; Lev. viii, 7), which is described as a splendid under-tunic of blue, wrought on the hem with pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, with golden bells between them. It came below the knees, being longer than the ephod, and shorter than the kittoneth. It was a garment of unseamed cotton, open at the top so as to be drawn over the head, and having holes for the insertion of the arms (Joseph. Ant, iii, 7, 4; Jahn, Bihl. Arch. sec. 122; Braunius, De Vest. Sac. p. 436; Schroder, De Vest. 3ful. p. 237, etc.). It was worn, however, not only by priests, like Samuel (1 Sam. ii, 19: xv, 27; xxviii, 14), but by kings and princes (Saul, 1 Sam. xxiv, 4 ; Darid, 1 Chron. xv, 27), and rich men {Ezra, ix, 3-5; Job and his friends, i, 20; ii, 12), and even by king's daughters (2 Sam. xiii, 18), although in the latter case it seems to have had sleeves (see Ge- senius, Thesaur. p. 811). Properly speaking, the meil was worn under the siinlah, or outer garment, but that it was often itself used as an outer garment seems prob- able from some of the passages above quoted. It is in- teresting to know that the garment which Samuel's mother made and brought to the infant prophet at her annual visit to the holy tent at Shiloh was a miniature of the oflicial priestly tunic or robe; the same that the great prophet wore in mature years (1 Sam. xv, 27), and by which he was on one occasion actually identified. When the witch of Endor, in answer to Saul's inquiry, told him that "an old man was come up, covered with a meil," this of itself was enough to inform the king in whose presence he stood — " Saul perceived that it was Samuel" (xxviii, 14).