But all these festivities meant money, The Grand Chamberlains and high officers of the Household Department entrusted with the duty of preparing the birthday celebrations were inclined, in view of the present condition of affairs in the country, to think that Tls. 100,000 should be more my having been frequently enjoined upon than enough to cover every expense, econu-
them by Edict transmitted by word of mouth by the Eunuchs. But although Ministers might propose, it is the Emperor who disposes, hence instead of being able to present a bill for the original amount, another little one of Tis, 400,000 and above has been the result of the recent Imperial Birthday Celebrations. A
AN ANNUAL CEREMONY, There is a custom in the rites of this dynasty, fixing the Ist day of the 10th moon (in this instance the 8th of November) for a general thanksgiving to the gods for their protection during the past twelve months; the sacrifices consisting of every conceivable variety of beasts of the field and birds of the air—wild ortame. The various meats are boiled or roasted or raw as the case may be, and on the day before the offering ofthe stcrtces, His Majesty notes on a list of names presented to him by the Office of Control of Eunuchs and Court Worship, the princes, nobles, grand secretaries, and presidents of Boards and the Censorship whom he invites to bear him company in eating the flesh of these sacrifices. The ceremony is called Ch'ih jon or " Eating Meat," and is usually considered to be a gauge of His Majesty's likes and dislikes. Poor Prince Kung, who has experienced many ups and. downs of Court favour in his day, and who has sometimes "eaten" this sacrificial meat and again sometimes has not, on this occasion, however, has had a tray of it ordered by the Entperor to be sent to him. cathe: ba. ts ae Uncle who by the conainand Not on the ground of popularity, but be-
of the Empress Dowager was not to be altogether ignored, and because he is one whose varied Sy pp see inay be of sone use on occasion to the interests of the dynasty.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.