We have ever been careful to reverend to Her Imperial Majesty, the Empresstially nourish our sentiment of gratitude
Dowager, for her care and solicitude over us day and night (during our early childhood and youth), and we have always tried to return them by obeying her Majesty in everything. We also owe her Majesty a deep debt of gratitude for freely giving us the immeasurable benefits of her advice accruing from her great experience in all matters, portance and questions of peace or war beginning from those of national im:
lown to the smallest affair of everyday life and deportment. Her Majesty's solicitude for our welfare may. truly be said' to be all-pervading and ever on the alert lest we, in our inexperience, should commit the slightest mistake, In this respect we confidently assert that it is known to all our officers and the great masses of our subjects throughout the whole Empire. Imagine then our feelings to hear, while granting certain audiences, from the lips of uncouth and coarse men who have no senso of refinement and self-restraint nor discrimination, words and sentiments calculated to lessen our filial ates "ud respect for Her Imperial Majesty. We mean the two Vice dents Wang Ming-luan and Ch'ang Lin, Last year these two men frequently used vilifying words with sinister intent to cause a breach between the Empress-Dowager and ourself. If we had followed our impulse of the moment we should have then and there cashiered these two men and commanded an investigation into their conduct on the spot, But the country was just then passing through a crisis of vital moment to the nation (anticipated advance of the Japanese forces against Peking.—Trranslator)in consequence of which we had to restrain our anger, the more especially, as the Empress-Dowager (for safety of the dynasty) might upon learn-being then ill and worn out by anxious fears
ing the facts suffer still more to the great danger of the Imperial health. The time, however, has now come when we consider it advisable to make our wishes clearly known to the whole world, with the intent that our Ministers and servants may learn discrimination in the exercise of their tongues and avoid the danger of traducing B.LM. the Empress-Dowager in our presence. We therefore hereby cashier forthwith the delinquent Ministers, Wang Ming-luan, Chinese Junior Vice-President of the Board of Civil Appointments, and Ch'ang Lin, Manchu Junior Vice-President of the Board of Revenue, and they are also to be dismissed for ever from the public service. And be it further known to all that this is only what we consider a slight punishment in relation to the enormity of the offence and we would also enjoin upon ovr Court and our Ministers, high and low, that if in the future any one dares again to use specious words in order to try to influence us in our duty to Her Imperial Majesty, we will not fail to visit condign and extreme punishment upon the delinquents,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.