Dowager ought to punish the Emperor as a good mother does a bad
child, though in the light of all the other things he did, he was
to be pitied more than blamed for a disposition thus inherited
and developed.

It was about this time he began the study of English. He ordered
that two teachers be appointed, and contrary to all former
customs he allowed them to sit rather than kneel while they
taught him. At the time they were selected I was exchanging
lessons in English for Chinese with the grandson of one of these
teachers, and learned a good deal about the progress the young
man was making. He was in such a hurry to begin that he could not
wait to send to England or America for books, and so the
officials visited the various schools and missions in search of
proper primers for a beginner. When they visited us we made a
thorough search and finally Dr. Marcus L. Taft discovered an
attractively illustrated primer which he had taken to China with
him for his little daughter Frances, and this was sent to Kuang
Hsu.

One day a eunuch called on me saying that the Emperor had learned
that the various institutions of learning, educational
associations, tract and other societies had published a number of
books in Chinese which they had translated from the European
languages. I was at that time the custodian of two or three of
these societies and had a great variety of Chinese books in my
possession. I therefore sent him copies of our astronomy,
geology, zoology, physiology and various other scientific books
which I was at that time teaching in the university.