(1) Fudiin, Governor of Anhui, in report ing the lamented death of Liu Ming-chuan, late Governor of Formosa, at his home in the city of Hofei, Aulut, prays for the Amperial bounty with respect to the deceased, Liu Ming-chuan possessed in life the high distinction of being a most loyal and brave officer, which is manifest in the long list of victories won by him over Yaiping'and other rebels two score years ose During the reign of the late Emperor Hsien Feng (1850-1861) the Taiping rebels had gained possession of Antini province, in consequence of which Liu Mingchuan, then quite a young man, was the first to organise patriotic bands of volunteers pledged to rescue their native province from the ruthless rebels. The result: was that the Into first Marquis Tsing Kao.fun, admiting the high qualities of the youthful soldier, patronised him and promoted him to official rank, In the early days of the reign of the late Emperor Tung Chih (1861-1873), Liu Ming-chuan assisted Li Hung-chang to organise ay army for the purpose of reducing the country east of Anhui province, and Liu succeeded in re-capturing many important cities, chief amongst which was the large city of Ch'angchou (Kiangsu). In conseeof his services Lin was appointed Provincial Commander-in-chief of Chibli and ordered to suppress the Nienfei bandits who were then infesting the provinces of Shantung, Honan, etc., In this campaign which lasted several years, Liu took part in several hundred conflicts against these mounted bandits, gaining considerable di tinction by his successes in several important battles in which the Nienfei suffered immense losses For this Liu was made a hereditary noble of the Ith class. Subsequently Liu took special pains to meet the notorious chief of chiefs of the Nienfei rebels, namely, Chang Chung-vii; and so persistently did Lia pursue the said chief that. he finally succeeded in capturing him, slaying immense numbers of rebels in the meanwhile, Through the untiring energy and coa-dess pursuit of these Nienfei maintained by Liu the back of the rebellion was broken and the Northern and Eastern provinces cleared of these pests. For these servic-s Liu was created a Baron or heredity ary noble of the fifth class. When we amounted the Throne we specially made Liu Ming-chuan a Governor (of Formosa) with the brevet rank of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and President of the Board War, (or in other words changed Liu's military rank into a civil one.—Translator.) In his new sphere Liu Ming-ch*uan conducted himself in all points to our complete satisfaction, and a few veers ago we resretfully permitted him to retire into private life owing to serious maladies contracted while serving his country. Recently, we were anticipating the pleasure of receiving him again into our councils, to rely his advice and to shower upon hi marks of our respect and. admit his high qualities, when the sad news of his Iamented death now reaches us, which we receive with great regret. Asa Jast token of our appreciation of Lia Mingchuan's loyal services to the dynasty, we hereby command that he be granted the posthumous title of Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and let his faners] obsequies he conducted on lines usually granted to the rank of a Governor. Special memorial temples are further ordered to be built in the provinces where he has served and Let his martial deeds be accorded in the dynastic history. Any "black marks" against Liu's name in the Boards are also hereby ordered to be erased and let the said Boards further report to us what pecuniary grants should be made to the deceased officer's family. His eldest grandson Liu Ch'ao-yang is hereby given the rank of an under-secretary of one of the Six Boards, and his younger son Liu Sheng-yun, a first-class licentiate, is hereby made a chvjén with permission to compete at the Metropolitan examinations for the degree of chin shih, As for the first-class licentiate Liu Sheng-pei, he is given the rank ofan under-secretary of one of the Six Boards as a mark of our desire to con-for distinction upon the off-spring of those who have been loyal and faithful to us.
(2) Appointing a number of officials to the provincial administrations, 20th March.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.