the room."
Similar meetings were held in the palace on two other occasions,

when the Emperor implored that they make no attempt to fight all
the foreign nations, for said he, "the foreigners are stronger

than we, both in money and in arms, while their soldiers are much
better drilled and equipped in every way. If we undertake this

and fail as we are sure to do, it will be impossible to make
peace with the foreigners and our country will be divided up

amongst them." His pleadings, however, were disregarded, and
after the meeting was over, he had to return to his little

island, where for eight weeks he was compelled to sit listening
to the rattling guns, booming cannons and bursting firecrackers,

for the Boxers seemed to hope to exterminate the foreigners by
noise. He must have felt from the books he had studied that it

could only result in disaster to his own people.
When the allies reached Peking and the Boxers capitulated the

Emperor was taken out of his prison and compelled to flee with
the court.

"What do you think of your bullet-proof Boxers now?" one can
imagine they hear him saying to his august aunt, as he sees her

cutting off her long finger nails, dressing herself in blue
cotton garments, and climbing into a common street cart as an

ordinary servant. "Wouldn't it have been better to have taken my
advice and that of Hsu Ching-cheng and Yuan Chang instead of

having put them to death for endeavouring in their earnestness to
save the country? What about your old conservative friends? Can

they be depended upon as pillars of state?" Or some other
"I-told-you-so" language of this kind.

From their exile in Hsian decrees continued to be issued in his
name, and when affairs began to be adjusted, and the allies

insisted on setting aside forever the pretentions of the
anti-foreign Prince Tuan and his son, banishing the former to

perpetual exile, our hopes ran high that the Emperor would be
restored to his throne. But to our disappointment the framers of

the Protocol contented themselves with the clause that: "Rational
intercourse shall be permitted with the Emperor as in Western

countries," and with the return of the court in 1902 he was still
a prisoner.

Every one who has written about audiences with the Empress
Dowager tells how "the Emperor was seated near, though a little

below her," but they never tell why. The reason is not far to
seek. The world must not know that he was a prisoner in the

palace. They must see him near the throne, but they may not speak
to him. The addresses of the ministers were passed to her by her

kneeling statesmen, and it was they who replied. No notice was
taken of the Emperor though he seemed to be in excellent health.

The Empress Dowager however still relieved him of the burdens of
the government, and continued to "teach him how to govern."

"I have seen the Emperor many times," Mrs. Headland tells me,
"and have spent many hours in his presence, and every time we

were in the palace the Emperor accompanied the Empress
Dowager--not by her side but a few steps behind her. When she

sat, he always remained standing a few paces in the rear, and
never presumed to sit unless asked by her to do so. He was a

lonely person, with his delicate, well-bred features and his
simple dark robes, and in the midst of these fawning eunuchs,

brilliant court ladies, and bejewelled Empress Dowager he was an
inconspicuous figure. No minister of state touched forehead to

floor as he spoke in hushed and trembling voice to him, no
obsequious eunuchs knelt when coming into his presence; but on

the contrary I have again and again seen him crowded against the
wall by these cringing servants of Her Majesty.

"One day while we were in the palace a pompous eunuch had stepped
before the Emperor quite obliterating him. I saw Kuang Hsu put

his hands on the large man's shoulders, and quietly turn him
around, that he might see before whom he stood. There were no

signs of anger on his face, but rather a gentle, pathetic smile
as he looked up at the big servant. I expected to see him fall

upon his knees before the Emperor, but instead, he only moved a
few inches to the left, and remained still in front of His

Majesty. Never when in the palace have I seen a knee bend to the
Emperor, except that of the foreigner when greeting him or

bidding him farewell. This was the more noticeable as statesmen
and eunuchs alike fell upon their knees every time they spoke to

the Empress Dowager.
"The first time I saw him his great, pathetic, wistful eyes

followed me for days. I could not forget them, and I determined
that if I ever had opportunity I would say a few words to him

letting him know that the world was resting in hope of his
carrying out the great reforms he had instituted. But he was so

carefully guarded and kept under such strict surveillance that I
never found an opportunity to speak to him. Nor did he ever speak

to the visitors, court ladies, the Empress Dowager, or attendants
during all the hours we remained.

"One of the ministers told me that one day after an audience,
when the Empress Dowager and the Emperor had stepped down from

the dais, Her Majesty was engaged in conversation with one of his
colleagues, and as the Emperor stood near by, he made some remark

to him. Immediately the Empress Dowager turned from the one to
whom she had been talking and made answer for the Emperor.

"On one occasion when there were but four of us in the palace,
and we were all comfortably seated, the Emperor standing a few

paces behind the Empress Dowager, she began discussing the Boxer
movement, lamenting the loss of her long finger nails, and

various good-luck gourds of which she was fond. The Emperor,
probably becoming weary of a conversation in which he had no

part, quietly withdrew by a side entrance to the theatre which
was playing at the time. For some moments the Empress Dowager did

not notice his absence, but the instant she discovered he was
gone, a look of anxiety overspread her features, and she turned

to the head eunuch, Li Lien-ying, and in an authoritative tone
asked: 'Where is the Emperor?' There was a scurry among the

eunuchs, and they were sent hither and thither to inquire. After
a few moments they returned, saying that he was in the theatre.

The look of anxiety passed from her face as a cloud passes from
before the sun--and several of the eunuchs remained at the

theatre.
"I am told that at times the Empress Dowager invites the Emperor

to dine with her, and on such occasions he is forced to kneel at
the table at which she is seated, eating only what she gives him.

It is an honour which he does not covet, but which he dare not
decline for fear of giving offense."

XI
Prince Chun--The Regent

Prince Chun the Regent of China gave a remarkableluncheon at the
Winter Palace to-day to the foreign envoys who gathered here to

attend the funeral ceremonies of the late Emperor Kuang Hsu. The
repast was served in foreign style. Among the Chinese present

were Prince Ching, former president of the Board of Foreign
Affairs and now adviser to the Naval Department; Prince Tsai

Chen, a son of Prince Ching, who was at one time president of the
Board of Commerce; Prince Su, chief of the Naval Department; and

Liaing Tung-yen, president of the Board of Foreign Affairs. After
the entertainment" target="_blank" title="n.招(款)待；联欢会">entertainment the envoys expressed themselves as unusually

impressed with the personality of the Regent. --Daily Press.
XI