'A Decree.—We are in receipt of various memorials from Ch'ang-shun, the Militery Governor of Kirin, in which he gives an account of an extensive fire which occurred in the town of Kirin on the 13th of May last and consumed over 2,500 chien of buildings. The Governor reports that prayers which he offered to the Guardian God of the city had the effect of arresting the calamity, and We hereby issue a tablet to be suspended in the city temple to evince Our gratitude for this manifestation of divine aid. Ch'ang-shun asked that he should be punished for his carelessness in not taking sufficient precautions to avert the disaster, and as he cannot be considered wholly blameless in the matter, We order that he be handed over to the Board Punishments for the determination of a suitable penalty, Let him exert himself to the utmost to provide for the larve number of people left homeless by the fire. As regards the selection of 'a site for the erection of a new yamen for the Governor and the outlay which it will entail, we command the concerned to consider the matter and report to us.
Ist June,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.