Wuen the Emperor left the city of Peking lately quite a large part of the population went with him. Twenty thousand at least were in the procession, and there were more than ten thousand carts, wagons and other conveyances. The Emperor is borne in a chair with sixteen bearers, who are trained to their work, are all tall men of the same height, and are forbidden to smoke, cough, or spit, nor mast they utter even whisper. The Emperor sits in aglas chair. There is a single Inrgo sheet of plate glass on ench side, through which he can be seen distinctly, He wears the ordinary costume of a Manchu gentleman. All the six Boards were represented, and other government offices to the number of about eight more. The Presidents of Boards, thirteen in all, go in chairs, a privilege not allowed to inferior persons. The supplemental Board of Ceremonies has to go in unstinted nambers, its officers having mach to do in regelating the ceremonies. Until the present time the Emperor has scarcely gone anywhere except for the performance of sacrifices, on which occasions those who have the duties of priests must appear in full force. When the procession left the palace gates it entered upon a carefully levelled road covered with yellow earth, on which not a stone ora stick could be seen, A troop of about fifty horsemen, distributed before and behnd the Emperor; rode on in good order, there being no sound heard but the tramp of the horses' feet, No one was allowed to be in the streets except persons having daties connected with the Imperial progress; but all along the way small holes were perforated through the shop shatters, and a thousand eyes were watching to catch a sight of the Son of Heaven and of the Empress in their yellow chairs. To those outside the city more liberty is allowed. The people are permitted to look on, bat they must kneel ato distance of not less than twenty or thirty yards from the Emperor.
The contrast with Western cnstoms is very striking. The Chinese notion is that the people must look on in trembling adoration when their prince is near. European sovereigns without an exception wish the people to rejoice and to make their pleasure known by shouting, and while the crowds remove their hats in sign of respect, the crowned heads of the West remove theirs. This indicates sympathy between the governor and the governed, and underneath it there is a sort of democratic equality. In the old days of Rome the soldiers might shout "Imperator!" and there wereoccasions when they were told to do so as a part of their duty. The Chinese belong to the Taranian races, and the outward demonstrations of respect which otis quetta requires are silence and kneeling. Several persons on the occasion of the late progress seized the opportunity to prostrate themselves on the road in sight of the Emperor. Their object was to have attention drawn to their personal grievances. According to the rale on such occasions they were taken into custody by the officers of the Board of Panishmeuts, and the results of enquiries into their cases have not yet been made known, This is a recognized legal mode of appealing to the Emperor, but all such persons are treated as criminals, pending a judicial decision. There is something very unlike Western custom in this also.
The Emperor is accommodated in buildings called Hsing Kung. They are sufficiently numerous on the line of way to allow of the Emperor taking refveshmont whenever he requires, and sleeping at the proper intervals. Tents are set up round these imperial hotels, and here the government officers are accommodated. They are all disposed in their proper places, as in Peking when the Emperor is at home, The Emperor is always the centre of an encampment. Military officers watch over his safety and civil officers discharge the business of the State. The Peking Gazette was published every other day during the Emperor's absence, instead of every day, indicating that much less business was done; bat still there was a court each day, and a certain amount of business was transacted. The land taxes by special edict were diminished for each department through which the Emperor passed to the extent of four parts in ten. There is no mention made of special favours bestowed beyond this, but as it is usual to reduce the year's taxes by only three-tenths on such occasions the young Emperor has now gained some reputation for liberality. As the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's father also went on this visit to the tombs, all the appointments of this progress of eighty miles for the performance of sacrifices to the Emperor's ancestors
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.