the Great in Russia, and the more recent reforms in Japan, the

history of which he had prepared in two volumes which he sent to
the Emperor. He had made a reputation for himself in his native

place as a "Modern Sage and Reformer," was hailed as a "young
Confucius," was appointed a third-class secretary in the Board

of Works, and as the Emperor and he had been studying on the same
lines, Kang, through the influence of the brother of the chief

concubine, was introduced to His Majesty. He had a three hours'
conference with the Foreign Office, in which he urged that China

should imitate Japan, and that the old conservative ministers and
viceroys should be replaced by young men imbued with Western

ideas, who might confer with the Emperor daily in regard to all
kinds of reform measures.

This interview was reported to Kuang Hsu by Prince Kung and Jung
Lu, who both being old, and one of them the greatest of the

conservatives, could hardly be expected to approve of his
theories. Kang, however, was asked to embody his suggestions in a

memorial, was later given an audience with the Emperor, and
finally called into the palace to assist him in the reforms he

had already undertaken. And if Kang Yu-wei had been as great a
statesman as he was reformer, Kuang Hsu might never have been

deposed.
The crisis came during the summer of 1898. I had taken my family

to the seashore to spend our summer vacation. A young Chinese
scholar--a Hanlin--who had been studying in the university for

some years, and with whom I was translating a work on psychology,
had gone with me. He took the Peking Gazette, which he read

daily, and commented upon with more or less interest, until June
23d, when an edict was issued abolishing the literary essay of

the old regime as a part of the government examination, and
substituting therefor various branches of the new learning. "We

have been compelled to issue this decree," said the Emperor,
"because our examinations have reached the lowest ebb, and we see

no remedy for these matters except to change entirely the old
methods for a new course of competition."

"What do you think of that?" I asked the Hanlin.
"The greatest step that has ever yet been taken," he replied.

This Hanlin was not a radicalreformer, but one of a long line of
officials who were deeply interested in the preservation of their

country which had weathered the storms of so many
centuries,--storms which had wrecked Assyria, Babylonia, Media,

Egypt, Greece and Rome, while China, though growing but little,
had still lived. He was one of those progressive statesmen who

have always been found among a strong minority in the Middle
Kingdom.

The Peking Gazette continued to come daily bringing with it the
following twenty-seven decrees in a little more than twice that

many days. I will give an epitome of the decrees that the reader
at a glance may see what the Emperor undertook to do. Summarized

they are as follows:
1. The establishment of a university at Peking.

2. The sending of imperial clansmen to foreign countries to study
the forms and conditions of European and American government.

3. The encouragement" target="_blank" title="n.鼓励；赞助；引诱">encouragement of the arts, sciences and modern
agriculture.

4. The Emperor expressed himself as willing to hear the
objections of the conservatives to progress and reform.

5. Abolished the literary essay as a prominent part of the
governmental examinations.

6. Censured those who attempted to delay the establishment of the
Peking Imperial University.

7. Urged that the Lu-Han railway should be prosecuted with more
vigour and expedition.

8. Advised the adoption of Western arms and drill for all the
Tartar troops.

9. Ordered the establishment of agricultural schools in all the
provinces to teach the farmers improved methods of agriculture.

10. Ordered the introduction of patent and copyright laws.
11. The Board of War and Foreign Office were ordered to report on

the reform of the military examinations.
12. Special rewards were offered to inventors and authors.

13. The officials were ordered to encourage trade and assist
merchants.

14. School boards were ordered established in every city in the
empire.

15. Bureaus of Mines and Railroads were established.
16. Journalists were encouraged to write on all political

subjects.
17. Naval academies and training-ships were ordered.

18. The ministers and provincial authorities were called upon to
assist--nay, were begged to make some effort to understand what

he was trying to do and help him in his efforts at reform.
19. Schools were ordered in connection with all the Chinese

legations in foreign countries for the benefit of the children of
Chinese in those places.

20. Commercial bureaus were ordered in Shanghai for the
encouragement" target="_blank" title="n.鼓励；赞助；引诱">encouragement of trade.

21. Six useless Boards in Peking were abolished.
22. The right to memorialize the throne in sealed memorials was

granted to all who desired to do so.
23. Two presidents and four vice-presidents of the Board of Rites

were dismissed for disobeying the Emperor's orders that memorials
should be allowed to come to him unopened.

24. The governorships of Hupeh, Kuangtung, and Yunnan were
abolished as being a useless expense to the country.

25. Schools of instruction in the preparation of tea and silk
were ordered established.

26. The slow courier posts were abolished in favour of the
Imperial Customs Post.

27. A system of budgets as in Western countries was approved.
I have given these decrees in this epitomized form so that all

those who are interested in the character of this reform movement
in China may understand something of the influence the young

Emperor's study had had upon him. Grant that they followed one
another in too close proximity, yet still it must be admitted by

every careful student of them, that there is not one that would
not have been of the greatest possible benefit to the country if

they had been put into operation. If the Emperor had been allowed
to proceed, making them all as effective as he did the Imperial

University, and if the ministers and provincial authorities had
responded to his call, and had made "some effort to understand

what he was trying to do," China might have by this time been
close upon the heels of Japan in the adoption of Western ideas.

As the edicts continued to come out in such quick succession my
Hanlin friend became alarmed. He came to me one day after the

Emperor had censured the officials for trying to delay the
establishment of the Imperial University and said:

"I must return to Peking."
"Why return so soon?" I inquired.

"There is going to be trouble if the Emperor continues his reform
at this rate of speed," he answered.

It was when the Emperor had issued the sixth of his twenty-seven
decrees that this young Chinese statesman made this observation.

If his most intimate advisers had had the perspicuity to have
foreseen the final outcome of such precipitance might they not

have advised the Emperor to have proceeded more deliberately?
When one remembers how China had been worsted by Japan, how all

her prestige was swept away, how, from having been the parent of
the Oriental family of nations, a desirable friend or a dangerous

enemy, she was stripped of all her glory, and left a helpless
giant with neither strength nor power, one can easily understand