"To this memorial the Emperor replied with an Edict. On the 16th of June I was granted an audience with the Emperor. It Jastedfortwohours. I was received at 5 a.in. in the Jénshow Throne-hall. Port Arthue and Talienwan had just been taken over by Russia, and the Emperor wore an anxious carewors expression. The Emperor was thin, but apparently in good health. Ho has a straight nose, round forehead, pleasant eyes, is clean' shaven and has'a polo plexion. He is of medium height. His hands are long and thin. He looked very intelligent and had a kindly expression, altogether uncommon amongst the Manchus or even amongst the Chinese. He wore the usual official dress, but instead of the large square of embroidery on the breast worn by the high officials the embroidery in his case was round. encircling a dragon, and there wore two smaller embroideries on his shoulders. He wore the usual official cap. He was led in by eunuchs and took his seat on a dais ona large yellow cushion, with his feet folded beneath him. Ho sent his attendants away and we wers left alone, bur. all the time we were conversing his eyes were watching the windows as if to ser that no one was eavesdropping. There was a long table in front of him with two large candlesticks. knelt at one of the corners of the table and not on the cushions in front of the table which are reserved for the high officials. I remained kneeling during the whole of the "audience. Wo conversed in the Mandarin dialect.
"The Emperor said to me: Your bo"ks are very useful and very instructive."
"Tpractieally repeated what I said in my memorial ab-ut the weskuess of Chinn. being owing to the lack of progress.
"The Emperor said: Yes, all these Conservative Ministers have ruined me." sai to him: 'Chins is very weak now, but it ix not yet too Into t" amend.' gave him the example of France after the Frano"-Prussi War. In that exse the indemnity was much greater than China has paid to Japan. The territory Jat was greater becanss France had lost we provineex and China had only lost sone (Formosa). I asked him how it was that Franco had been able to rect operate +0 -pidly, whereas China had done, practically nothing during the three yew's since the close of the war, "The Emperor listened ver y attentively and ~sked me to give the rer.son.
"replied that the reason was that M. Thiers issued proclamations to the people to of France advi the abolition of corrupt methods and their ce-operation for the rohabibtatim of the country, xt once insti: uring reforms whi would enable the geonnd it had lost. The outcome was that the whole population of France was as one man work ing for one single object. Hence its quick: recovery. In China, however, we have still the old isters who put every obstruction in the way of reform, and I told the tnperor that that was the roam reason the country was now in its present sud condition, worse off than it was three yours ago, at the close of the China-J apan war.
"Tasked him to look at the difficulties Japan had to overcome before she could reform on modern lines. There the military or feudal party had more power than our present Conservative Ministers, but the Mikado adopted the proper can-o by selecting young ani intelligent mea, junior officials, some of whom he set to work out the reforms in the country, whilst others went abroad to learn foreign methods, and returned to make Japan the powerful country which it is to-day. I repeated to him what Peter the Great did to make Russia powerful, raying, You, the Emperor, I would ask yon to remove yourself from the seclusion in which you live. Come boldly forward and employ young and intelligent officials. Follow in the footsteps of the three rulers of whom I have spoken you, and you will find that the reforms will be more easily carried out than you at present imagine. In case China is unable
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.