There are persistent rumours in mandarin circles here and elsewhere that the Empress Dowager intends to send for Viceroy Chang Chih-tung to be one of the members of the Grand Council and a special adviser, upon her return to Peking. Tt i also alleged that Viceroy Chang is not as friendly to his Majesty Kuang Hsii as might be desired; hence those of the Emperor's Party at' Court apprehend that the presence of the Viceroy at the capital may have an adverse influence on the earnestly desired return to power of his Majesty in the near future.
How Matters Stand at Court.
'A letter to a retired Chinese official residing here from a relative on duty at Court, contains a sketch of the opinions of certain members of the Empress Dowager's Advisory Council which we have been permitted to translate below:—The Grand Secretary Yung Lu has lately been trying to enter the ranks of the Reform Party and be recognised to the world as one, He is shrewd and politic enough to feel that if he openly joins the ranks of the Russo-bhiles, his career towards supreme power will break down at once, the weight of the odium attached to the name throughout the Empire being too great for him to bear, nephew of the Empress Dowager though he may be. This shows that shrewd ministers at Court, including the Empress Dowager herself, now know what formerly they scarcely thought worthy of notice, namely, that there is a public opinion in this country before which they must bend, and to which they must give due consideration; and that this public opinion is strongly against the Manchurian Convention and the Russofication of those three provinces. 'This is why even the all powerful Yung Lu, himself, is afraid of being considered a' Russophile. As for Wang Wén-shao, I learn that there have been numerous attempts lately induce him to join the Russophiles and push the Manchurian Convention to a finish, but the same fear of being, in the end, put down in Chinese history as one of those who sold the ancestral home of his Sovereign to Russia, has also prevented that old official from declaring, openly at least, any predilections for the Mus-conte. The Empress Dowager, alone, has had the courage to state to her Ministers her opinion that the friendship of Russia would be more to China's advantage than any other Foreign Power's, but—and here she is clever enough to feel that, even with the supreme power in her hands, she would yet be unable to defy public opinion, or prevent her name from being handed down to posterity as the destroyer of the Manchu dynasty. As for Prince Ching and the notorious Lu Ch'uan-lin, they are what may be called weather vanes. When the wind blows from the North these weather politicians incline towards that quarter of the compass. They therefore cannot be depended upon for any firm policy, except, perhaps, as regards Lu Ch'uan-lin who is strong for the old regime and is willing to join any party or power ready to bring about his object.
BLE. Sheng.
HE. Sheng, as may be remembered by readers of these columns, was recent-Ly given by Imperial edict, a twenty days! leave from public duties on account of indisposition, after which H.E, was expected to go up North as far as Chénting to meet the returning Court. It is now reported that H.E. Sheng. in view of the near approach of the Tariff negotiations in Shanghai, has been excused from going up North, but that as HE. is to furnish for the use of the Court the pored furniture, ete. on the railway journey "from Chénting to Pekin his "Tribute to the Throne H.E. has sent instead four Tao-and two district magistrates to Chén-ting to make preparations for the entertainment of their Majesties and Court from that city to Peking. These six deputies took with them when they started for Tientsin the other day. no less than 180 large boxes containing Imperial yellow embroidered draperies, porcelain, etc., ete., all of which have been made to order at great expense; the first at Soochow and Hangchow, and the last at the famous kilns of Kinté, Kiangsu.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.