26th Nov.
Ir is very unfortunate that Tsai Taotai, who has made it his endeavour to be courteous and friendly with foreigners here ever since he assumed this Taotaiship, should have been ordered to resign at a time when there are several questions of imtrance to the Municipality await ing settlement. The most important of these is Settlement Extension the principle of which has been conceded by Peking and the Viceroy Liu Kun-yi, the details being left to Tsai Taotai to arrange. Unfortunately for us, the arrangement of the details of the extension of these Settlements is to await the conclusion of the negotiations in reference to the Ningpo Joss-house by the French Consul-General, and Count de Bezaure does not seem to be getting on at all well with the Viceroy. We understand that he let the Viceroy know that he was going w the River and would look in at aking on his way to enquire after His Excellency's health. Count de Bezaure went up in the French cruiser Descartes and went to the yamen with an escort of twenty-five armed blue-jackets. The Viceroy seems to have taken umbrage at this attention, and when Count de Bezaure, after exchanging the usual compliments, tried to' interest his host in the question of the extension of the French Settlement, the latter absolutely refused to talk business on the plea that the matter was now in the hands of Tsai Taotai. The Viceroy, who is always extremely courteous and polite to foreigners, and wae has a very clear knowledge of what is going on, though
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.