There were various rumours amongst Joel mandarins on Sunday and Monday ye news recently arrived in, the failing health of the Emperor Kuang Hi, and this report has been emphasised by a telegram in the Universal Guzelte to the effect that the Emperor's illness is very serious." A member of the staff of this paper called upon several influential native officials yesterday on the above subject and from one of these mandarins he obtained a glimpse of a confidential letter received from Palace official at Peking. The letter in question stated that the fear of the Empress Dowager of the Ministers of Great Britain, America, ete., alone prevented the summary poisoning of the Emperor immediately after the coup d'état of September last, and the consequence was that the health'of the Emperor gradually reides being that a slow poison-Encouraged, by the apparent indifference of ign representatives as: to H.M. Kuang Hsit's continued existence, and especially by the cordiality with which their wives accepted the invitation to the Palace. the Empress Dowager, urged on the President of the Board of has now determined to make away with Kiang Hsit altogether, and the dawn of ext New Year may soe'another person on the Dragon Throne. The Empress Dowager, ever since the coup always' had persons on whom she 1 to report to her daily the pulse of the foreign sentiments towards herself and her usurpation, and it must have been shown to her that ne objections would be made to any of her actions by the foreign Ministers or she would not dare to pat a new Emperor so som on the Throne. Another Peking lvtter received by a second local mandarin shown to our Reporter merely stated that "the Emperor's health has recently grown suddenly worse, and this appears to point to the fact that the Empress Dowager has now learnt the secrat of the j lousies of opposing Ministers agai st h other and reaping, benefits the from."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.