February 19th and 20th.—We have received a Memorial from the Censor, T'u Yen-shou, in which he takes upon himself to give an unreserved expression of opinion respecting the approaching assumption of government by the Emperor in person. In view of the important questions pressin; at the moment, he asks Us to issue a Decree directing that Memorials from the provinces, as well as sealed reports from the Officers of the Court, should continue to be address sed to Us, and he requests that such documents should be perused by Us before effect is given to the proposals to which they refer. The Censor's suggestion has caused Us profound astonishment. A female Regency was only resorted to asa last device, and looking back in Our seclusion upon the abuses which it caused in previous dynasties, We issued special commands that the Government should revert to its proper Head the moment the right time arrived, in order that the constitutional usages of Our revered predecessors might be duly preserved, and that no round for adverse comment might be furnished to future ages. Our decision was taken with firm resolve and our object had a deep significance. Besides, We have already issued Decrees fully expounding Our views to Our subjects, and all classes under our rule have cheerfully acquiesced in Our action, Were We now at the very beginning of a new order of things to require that Memorials should be addressed to Us, we should be stultifying our previous action by cancelling instructions which have been only recently issued. In what light would posterity regard Us) The analogy adduced yy the Censor is quite irrelevant, asa female Regency and that instituted by the Emperor K'ien-lung are totally different things. After the assumption of personal govern: ment by the Emperor, Prince Ch'un alone will be required to address Memorials directly to Us in his own name. The secret documents referred to by the Censor which have been submitted to Us by Prince Ch'un treated of important concerns of state which at the outset of the Emperor's assumption of government jit was thought he should su': mit to Us on such occasions as he paid Us visits of respect. It was never for a moment intended that this practice should be sanctioned as a permanent institution, or that Our tutelage of the Emperor should be indefinitely prolonged. The Censor's suggestion is made in manifest disregard of Our former Decrees and has the further objection of fur-rushing grounds for adverse criticism of our action in future ages. Having regard to the extravagance of his proposals and the very important issues to which they relate, we feel bound to administer to him a severe warning, unless reckless interference with accepted institutions is to go unpunished. We command therefore that T'u Jen-shou be required to vacate his office of Censor, that he be handed over to the Board for determination of a penalty, and that his Memorial be flung back to him.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.