Yung-Lu is dead. He was the Tartar Mandarin who had
most influence with the Empress, and who approached nearest to the European conception of a Prime Minister. He was bitterly anti-foreign, but had some qualms as to the wisdom of the attack on the Legations, and helped to produce the hesitation to which their ultimate escape must be ascribed. If the Court had been as determined as it professed to be, it could have wiped out the diplomatists. Yung-Lu has been succeeded by Prince Ching, who is usually reckoned a moderate. He is a member, however, of the Imperial house, and probably conceals his real opinions as carefully as most Princes do in Europe. In any case, the Empress-Regent remains the real ruler, and until her death there will be no change in the policy of China, the secret of which is locked in her own breast. There is not the slightest evidence that she is under any control, either from her advisers, or from the people, or from foreign Powers.
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