by Japan. The young Emperor could doubtless put to flight the august
but doughty dowager, as well as his beloved relative, Prince Tuan,
and rule his flowery kingdom in peace and harmony, while Li Hung Chang
would lose his head, metaphorically, if not literally, in favor of
Tap-Key, future lord of the war department."




DRAWBACKS OF THE KING BUSINESS.


"No," said the Observer, thoughtfully, "I never cherished dreams
of inordinate wealth or power; there's nothing in it. If a man is
satisfied to reach a moderate altitude he may enjoy it unmolested, but
if he succeeds in scaling some remarkable height, there immediately
arises an army of envious cranks ready to take his life or make it so
miserable for him that he will be glad to sell out at half price and
gratefully descend into the obscurity from which he rose.

"Nor, is it only the self-made man to whom these remarks apply. Take,
for example, the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Germany, or any
other potentate, Christian or heathen, civilized or savage, great or
small. He has more trouble to the square inch than a weather prophet.
Nicholas III is probably the worst off of them all. He gets up early
in the morning and shaves himself with a safety razor, while the court
chemist is analyzing his breakfast for traces of arsenic or prussic
acid; then he dons his bullet-proof coat, descends a private stairway
to a bomb-proof drawing-room and receives his meals on a dumb-waiter
from the laboratory with the chemist's certificate that all injurious