A great struggle which has been going on in Pekin
between the young Emperor and his Conservative counsellors has ended in the victory of the monarch. The Son of Heaven is tired of the .endless restrictions in which he is swathed, and by way of breaking through them, recently conceded the right of audience to all foreign Ambassadors. The old statesmen at the Chinese Foreign Office were furious, and as they could not cancel the order, insisted on degrading ceremonials sanctioned by old etiquette, to which they knew the Ambassadors would never submit, So strong is etiquette in China, that they were sup- posed to have won ; but the Emperor is either a strong man, or has determined advisers, for he defeated all intrigues by actually receiving the Ambassadors with a ceremonial to which they raised no objection. The incident, with some others which have preceded it, such as the peremptory orders to the Viceroys to receive the Cesarewitch properly, suggests that the Emperor means to govern for himself ; and if that is the case, wo may see great changes in Pekin, which during the last generation has been governed by a kind of cabal of politicians in favour with the Empress-Mother.
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