"I then explained in a few words our public-school system, to
which she replied:

" 'The taxes in China are so heavy at present that it would be
impossible to add another expense such as this would be.'

"It was not long thereafter, however, before an edict was issued
commending female education, and at the present time hundreds of
girls' schools have been established by private persons both in
Peking and throughout the empire.

"On another occasion, while the ladies were having refreshments,
the Empress Dowager requested me to come to her private
apartments, and while we two were alone together, with only a
eunuch standing by fanning with a large peacock-feather fan, she
asked me to tell her about the church. It was apparent from the
beginning of her conversation that she made no distinction
between Roman Catholics and Protestants, calling them all the
Chiao. I explained to her that the object of the church was the
intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of the people,
making them both better sons and better subjects.

"Few women are more superstitious than the Empress Dowager. Her
whole life was influenced by her belief in fate, charms, good and
evil spirits, gods and demons.

"When it was first proposed that she have her portrait painted
for the St. Louis Exposition, she was dumfounded. After a long
conversation, however, in which Mrs. Conger explained that
portraits of many of the rulers of Europe would be there,