(rox oR special couresroxpENt.)
The remains of the late Empress of the Eastern Palace, posthumously styled Hsiao-chen-hsien Huang Hou, whose death happened in April last, were removed from the ity yesterday morning, the 19th day of the Chinese 9th month, to be cor to the tomb, or as the Chinese euphemistically term it feng an "to seal her last rest" at the Imperial Mausolea situated some ninety miles North East of Peking. The deceased Empress was the Consort of the Emperor Hsien Feng, though not his first wife; the latter died before Hsien Feng ascended the Throne, and he married 8 second time the lady now deceased. She bore him no son, and on the death of Haion Feng and during the minority of his successor, Tung Chil, was appointed Empress Regent, in company with the mother of the boy Emperor. And thetwoEmpresses Regent, as is well known, have virtually governed the Chinese Empire for the last twenty years. She was a comparatively young woman, and her death was as unexpected as it was sudden.
Before proceeding to describe the funeral Proceasion it might perhaps be not uninteresting tu notice some of the preparatory ceremonies connected with the event. About a fortnight after the death of the Empress, her remains were removed in state from the Palace to the Kuan Teh Taoist persuasions, who were daily en aged in chanting prayers for the repose of the departed soul, But the offerings and prayers before the coffin in the Kuan Teh Tien appeared to be one of the princi features in the funeral rites, to judy the frequent references to them in the Peking Gazette. About the month of September " mission of condolence from the King of Corva visited Peking, also to offer prayers in the Kuan Teh Tien; and Prince Kung is known to have excused himself at an interview with a foreign Minister on the ground of having to to his prayers."
the Decree for the funeral was p nounced that, in accord: the Emperor and surviving Empress would follow the remains to the place ut se-culture to show their affectionate love for the memory of \the departed Empress but it was afterwards announced that they would not This decision was ostensibly taken at the instance ut sine of the leading officers of Government, who some ime since memorialized the throne in persuasive language, descanting on the tender age of the Emperor, the convalescent state of the Empress, the length and da of the journey, ete., ete. Itis by no me a violent presumption, howe: of the chief causes for this decision is to be found in the impression which the assasination of the Czar Alexander If and of President Garfield must have sensitive mind Two weeks work of repairing the roads commenced. All booths and stalls which in ordinary times crop up here a id there by the ruad-side in blissful ignorance of munici regulations, were swept away; and the roads were mended after the Chinese fashion, the sides the edges of whicl smoothed ov. son's trowel. In the meantime, and until the return of the procession from the tombs, these roads are forbidden tu carts and other vehicles, which get on as best they can. The next duty was to practice carry the catafalque or hearse, in which the collin bore to the grave. The large beams and poles which go to make it up, and which ordinary funerals are painted red, in chia case were vellon, and bound together with yellow cords; and the canopy was draped with yellow satin, The bearers were trained for some days to carry the ponderous machine with a gentle uniform stop, the idea being to reduce the vibration to a minimum. It was an amusing sight to seo score of sleek-looking mandarins squatting placidly in this pompous hearse and being carried to and fro in funereal fashion. Their duty, I believe, was to see that the men were drilled to carry it without any jolting, the test being made by placing in it a on filled with water, which should be carrie 4 without spilling.
The line of route taken by the process sion was as follows:—Vith the early dawn the coffin left the Kuan Teh Tien, borne by sixty-four bearers out of the Hou Men, or back-gate of the Palace; there it was transferred to a large catafalque with a hundred and twenty-eight bearers, and conveyed through the north-east gate of the city. Beyond the suburbs was. plateau, on which was erected a marquee made of yellow cloth and incl by a similar fencing, the whole being surrounded by the tents of the soldiers forming the Imperial Body Guard. Here, the Emperor, who had gone by another route and through another gate of the city, met the cortege and went through the ceremony of bidding the last farewell. This ended, he returned to the Palace by the same route; and the proc sion proceeded on its way to the tomb:
Having succeeded in transporting myself, in the small hours of the night, some five miles into the country near the road by which the cottage was to proceed, I was able to got a good view of it by hiding myself in one of the cemeteries which are sometimes so conveniently situated by the roadside in Northern China. While innnured in this clandestine situation awaiting the arrival of the procession, I was rewarded by thespectacleof aglorioussun-rise, which somewhat compensated mo for the subsequent disappointment, a note of which appears below. The Imperial Astronomers, I thought, certainly deserved credit for their sagacious foresight in selecting such an auspicious day; for it was superbly fine. Phe sun rose with dazzling splendour and spread its effulgence over the flat country, lighting up vith golden hue the picturesque city gates, bastions, and other prominent objects. And as their tall, unnatural shadows jerept smaller and smaller, the genial rays of the sun became delightfully enjoy able. Looking out upon the scene by which I was surrounded, the following thoughts came into my mind. Here a. great national event, the obsequies of an Empress of the Chinese Empire, whose form of government is said to be strictly patriarchal and prescribes the Government of the State to be based upon the government of the family. What manifestations of public sympathy do I wit ness on the part of the people for one of their departed rulers? Some crowds of inquisitive country-people gathered here and there, at safe distances, to watch the sight as it wends its way by their fields and lands! In this particular case, however, the prohibition against witnessing the funeral was somewhat lax, owing to the fact that the Emperor was proceeding by another route, and that all the efforts of the Executive were required in that direction to preserve His Majesty's august person from the profane gaze of his humble subjects; and the public, aware of this fact, availed themselves of the opportunity to disregard a prohibition which had no strength in it beyond theory, and turned out in goodly numbers, especially in the The only attempts to repress the crowd, so far as I noticed, were when some petty oficial or underling on horseback imagined himself ayzrieved by the sight of men and women in holiday costumes, and, spurring his steed up the embankment, switched right and left with his whip, driving away men, women and children. But itis a fact that the public are rigorously excluded from venturing even to look at any Imperial pageant, whether of mourning or rejoicing, on pain of the severest
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.