2nd October.
A Trait of the Empress Dowager.
The following is 10!d of the Empress Dowager whic well illustrates her grasping character and thy tenacity with which she rem-inbers slights offered her. The Manchu President of the Board of Works, Sung Kuei, recently celebr.ted his ~eventivth birthday anniversary with much eclat at Peking, und it "was generally expected that the gift of the Empress Dowager +n this occasion would be of a special character in honour of his Excellency's attainment of his septuagenari birthday—a great day amongst both Chinese avd Manchus. To the great surprise of the guests who atrendet H. E's residence on that day, although costly and numerous pre-ents came pouring in all day, from all the great ones of Pekins—Princes, Dukes and Imperial nobles—and from the Viceroys and Governors of the Empire, through their friends or special ayonts residing in the Capital, wh act for their principals whenever necessary as, for instance, on occasions like th+ resent one—for Sung Kuei is also an imperial clansman—nothing appeared from his Imperial Mistress, the Empress Dowager. Naturally the-e was much om-ment at this m-rk-d neglect of the save: eign, and the fickle multitude began whisper to one another in ominous ton-a and to wonder amongst. themselves when ther they had done well for their own interests to have been present at the birthday festivities of the snubbed Minister of the Crown, espec'a'ly as Sung Kuei had hitherto received muked favours at the hands of the Empress Dowager, who had be-towed upon him, amongst other valuable gifts, specimens of her autovraphic writings, compos-d of the character '*Longevity" and other characters of auspici meaning on both his fiftieh as well as his sixti-th birthday anniversaries. At 1st one day, in order to satisfy his own as well as the curiosity of others, Yung Lu, as the one who possessed most the privilege of saying what he thought to the dread Empress Dowager, ventured to remin'I her of her supposed forgetfulness of the seventieth birthday of Sung Kuei—* Not at all," quoth the Emjress Dowazer, "I know pertec'ly well what Iam cising. You doubtless must have remarked that of the high Ministers of the Crown that old dotard Sung Kuei hasbeen the only one to neglect showing his respect' in failing to offer VicePresident of presents to m+ on my return to Peking, to have been responsible for the cession of from Hsun.
Well, since Sung Kuei is like tht I have reciprocated, that's all Filial Piety before Confucius.
The 15-h diy of the 7th m-nth of every Chinese year is always observed by the people of Honan province as a festival and day set apart to visit their ancestral buna! grounds, offer sacrifice, an' generally attend to the graves and order repair to be made to them wherever needed. According '0 a Kaifeng letter. the students of the New College of "Western Lewning" in that iry presented them-elves before the President of the institution, Mr. Sun, s Hanlin Academist, on the day' before the above-noted festive', and requested leave for the next day to visit ancestral burial grounds and temples, according to custom from time immemorial. But the 1st and the 15th days of each month are also dates set apart by the authorlies of schools and colleges, Government or private, wherein kowtows must be made in the morning by all students befure the modest tablet cental ug the name of the Great and Perfect and Teacher Confucius (Kang Futze) which is placed in the principal room, or hall of each school or college. So Mr, S.n reminded his scholars of the fact and denied permission for a holiday on the 15th wr the next day. Now it so happens that Mr. San isa Conservative and a bigot, and inst-al of encouraging' his studem's of the new College to stwily modern history and questions of the day, ete. sistently pretended to ignore the reasons for the establishment of such a College, and always used his best endeavours to influence his students to stuly the ancient ¢ assies on filial piety wud the li when the old ingot refused the filld piety holiday on account of its conflicting with the day for worshipping Confucius his scholars " brought his sin," as it were, "back on his own head." They replied that they always understood from him that they were 10 put filial piety before all things, for "from it springs forth loyalty, patriotism and devotion to duty." The next day was the day specially sob apar by their anc-stars and the law to perform the important ceremonies attached to this very doctrine of filial piety which he consistently taught them, and yet he was now, mirabiliv dicta, teaching th-m ty act in direct opposition to his own ethics, and teaching! Well. if such was the case his humble scholars would now respectfully beg to return to their honoured preceptor the books an? classics dealing with filiw pity which he by his very act was now telling them 10 disregard' as, from henceforth, such bocks would be useless to them, Mr. Sun reddener like a beetroot to the sarcasm, and needle-s to say had to forego the Confucian worship in favour of the bual piety doctrine of his anti-Western teachings.
The Wearing of the Winter Official Hat.
His Hovour Yuan, Taotai of Shangh: and the Sooch ww, Sungkiang and Taits'ang Intendanes, has' issued a notice to the local mandarinate thst instructions have been received from H. E, Viceroy Liu Kun-yi, of Nanking, settling upon tomorrow' (3rd October) as the date to change the summer oficial straw hat for the round felt hat of the winter season.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.