Page:China Under the Empress Dowager - ed. Backhouse and Bland - 1914.pdf/311

 brother, who was kneeling on the platform to receive her, with one curt sentence, “You have killed Jung Lu by recommending that useless doctor,” and passed on to her chair without another word. It was on this occasion, receiving certain forcign ladies in the travelling palace erected for her at Pao-ting fu, that the Old Buddha alluded directly to the massacres of foreign missionaries which had taken place in that city, “with which she had, of course, nothing to do.” No doubt by this time, and by force of repetition, Tzii Hsi had persuaded herself of her complete innocence; but however this may be, she undoubtedly won over most of the foreigners with whom she came in contact, by the charm and apparent sincerity of her manner,

Before settling down to the accustomed routine of life in the palace, the Empress Dowager, whose penchant for per- sonal explanation in Imperial Edicts seemed to be growing upon her, issued a Decree which gained for her renewed sympathy from all classes of Chinese officials. Aftcr the usual exhortations to her faithful subjects to co-operate loyally in her schemes for Reform, ta put off the old bad ways and to persist energetically in well-doing, she gives a graphic description of the hardships which she and the Emperor endured during her compulsory “tour to the west.” After referring to the unforgettable shocks and sorrows of that journey, the Edict says :—

“T have now returned once more to my palace, and find the ancestral Temples reposing as of old in dignified and unbroken serenity. Beneath the deep awe which overcomes me in the presence of my glorious ancestars my soul feels an added weight of gricf and remorse, and I only hope that by Heaven's continued favour I may yet live to accomplish some meri- torious work.” 5