23rd April.
Tue young Manchu, Prince Tsai Chin, on whom has fallen the honour of being appointed Special Ambas-sider to represent China at the Coronation of King Edward VIL, has stayed a week in Shanghai, and under the able guidance and tutelage of Sir Chéntung Li has 'y spent that time in seeing all that he could of this Settlement. This a youth who had_never previously qnit'ed Peking and the neizhbourhood must have afforded food for cogitation, admiration and amazeynent, and have formed a fitting preparation for the greater wonders of Western civilisation with which he will became acquainted doring his stay in England. The young Prince must have been ages ently impressed by the handsome buildings, the attractive Bund, and well inid out reals with the bustling traffic. cannot fail prised and instructed by the shipping in the River and the busy wharves, and the numerous mills, fretaries and industrial establishments be seen all round; and he cannot '¢ failed to no'e how effectively yet unobtrusively this extensive Settlement is governed by our Municipal Council, and the general orderliness which everywhere obtai The visit to the Arsenal was one in which the young Prince found much to interest and surprise him, and he himself related with emphasis the great pleasure he experienced from his brief visit to that establishment, and also the extreme faction that forded him visit of inspection to H.MS. Arethu He mixed freely with foreigners at various social gatherings, and showed himself to be affable, cheerful and pleasant in his intercourse with those he met, and to possess 2 recep! mind*eapable of fully appreciating the attentions paid to him, while anxious to acquire a true knowledge of the wonders of civilisation that were being unfolded to him. This is all the more important because our Peking correspondent, in the letter dated the 12th of April published in our issue of yesterday, mentions that an opinion has been expressed by some in the capital that in the appointment of Prince Tsai Chen to be the Special Ambassador to England for the Coronation ceremonies an unsuitable selection has been made, and the correspondent then goes ati to state how ib is reported that the young man has already ruined his health and undermined his constitution by dissipation and over-indulgence in the use of opium. This may be put down as a gross exaggeration or a downright misstatement. It must be borne in mind that Peking is a hotbed of cabals and intrigues, and is filled with a horde of officials and expectant officials, whose daily life is passed in underhand schemes and contrivances to obtain promotion for themselves or appointments for relations and friends, the attempted or successful operation being accompanied invariably by heavy payments in the way of fees or squeezes, A man who succeeds in obtaining an appointment of any. kind must in some measure cause disappointment to others, and thereby become an object of envy and hatred to those not so successful, thus laying himself open todeiractivn, malicious innuendos, or even libellous abuse, Tt may safely be as aimed that this has been the case with Prince Tsai Chen, and that the wrath' and malice of certain cliques in the capital have be poured down on the heads the youthful Prince and his father Prince Ching. The fact must nov lost sight of thab it was at one proposed that. Prince Ching should be the special representative of China in England, but the Prince was able to show the Empress Do-that, it was unadvisable thas i'd leave Peking at the present time, and it was_ therefore determined that his son, Prince Tsai Chen, should receive the appointment.
tis positive that those who met the Prince in Shanghai could detect no evidence of the serious imputations that have been made against him, and we have in addition the undoubted testimony of those who are in a position to judge of his character and bearing, that no other Manchu Prince, not even the experienced Prince Ssu, could have behaved more correctly, maintaining the dignity of his position with perfect cou and cordiality, yet with a tention to all ceremonial observances, The Prince has now departed on his long journey across many seas,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.