ng a secret defensive
alliance with that nation against the White Peril from the West. For
once, however, she made a mistake in the selection of her men, for
these commissioners, unlike what we usually find the yellow man,
revealed too much of the important mission on which they were bent, and
were recalled in disgrace, and the treaty came to naught.

V

The Empress Dowager--As a Reformer

Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her life
and her throne, the Dowager has become a convert to the policy of
progress. She has, in fact, outstripped her nephew. "Long may she
live!" "Late may she rule us!" During her lifetime she may be counted
on to carry forward the cause she has so ardently espoused. She grasps
the reins with a firm hand; and her courage is such that she does not
hesitate to drive the chariot of state over many a new and untried
road. She knows she can rely on the support of her viceroys--men of her
own appointment. She knows too that the spirit of reform is abroad in
the land, and that the heart of the people is with her.--W. A. P.
Martin in "The Awakening of China."

V

THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REFORMER

In June, 1902, soon after the return of the court from Hsian to Peking,
a company of ladies from the various legations in Peking who had
received invitations to an audience and a banquet with the Empress
Dowager were asked to meet at one of the legations for the purpose of
consultation. The meeting was unusual. Many of those who were present
had no higher motive than the ordinary tourist who goes sightseeing.
With the exception of one or two who had been in once before, none of
these ladies had ever been present at an audience. Several of them
however had passed through the Boxer siege of 1900, had witnessed the
guns from the wall of the Imperial City pouring shot and shell into the
British legation, where they were confined during those eight memorable
weeks of June, July and August, and had come out with their hearts
filled with resentment. One of them had received a decoration from her
government for her bravery in standing beside her husband on the
fortifications when buildings were crumbling and walls falling, and her
husband was buried by an exploding mine, and then vomited out unhurt by
a second explosion. Among the number were several recent arrivals in
Peking who had had none of these bitter experiences, but had heard much
of the Empress Dowager, and above all t