yamen had turned round and behaved very sensibly afterwards, I
felt sure that responsibility and actual personal dealings with
foreigners would be a good experience and a useful education for
this Prince, and that he would eventually be one of the sturdiest
supporters of progress and good relations."



IV

The Empress Dowager--As a Reactionist

The most interesting personage in China during the past thirty
years has been and still is without doubt the lady whom we style
the Empress Dowager. The character of the Empress's rule can only
be judged by what it was during the regency, when she was at the
head of every movement that partook of the character of reform.
Foreign diplomacy has failed, for want of a definite centre of
volition and sensation to act upon. It had no fulcrum for its
lever. Hence only force has ever succeeded in China. With a woman
like the Empress might it not be possible really to transact
business? --Blackwood's Magazine.



IV

THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REACTIONIST

It was between November 1, 1897, and April 16, 1898, that