the ever-widening gulf the Court has dug by its insanity. People
remember now that this procedure of leaving behind a Prince to begin
the first _pourparlers_ is only the precedent of 1860. Then Prince
Kung played exactly the same _role_ when the Court had fled to Jehol.

Prince Ching fenced a long time before he would move forward, or even
disclose his safe hiding-place; but in the end he was prevailed upon
by some one. And yesterday he actually entered Peking through the same
Northern Gates which witnessed the mad flight of the Court a month
ago.

Many rode out to see this entry, half expecting something spectacular,
which would give them a change of thought. But they were grievously
disappointed. Prince Ching merely appeared in a sedan chair, looking
very old and very white, and with his _cortege_ closely surrounded by
Japanese cavalry, whose drawn swords gave the great man the appearance
of a prisoner rather than that of an Envoy. Every Chinese official,
large and small, in the city came out on this occasion for the first
time since the troops burst in; and sitting in what carts they could
find, and clothed in the remains of their official clothes, they paid
their Manchu dignitary their trembling respects. What terror these
wretched men exhibited until they actually met the Prince, and saw
that there was going to be no treachery of shooting down by ignorant
soldiery! For a whole month everyone of them had been living
disguised in the most humble clothes, escaping over back walls
directly news was brought that marauders were at their front doors;
offering their very women up so as to escape themselves; living in
all truth the most wretched lives. Hourly they had expected to be
denounced by enemies to the European commanders as ex-Boxer chiefs,
and then to be summarily shot. That is what had happened for miles
round Monseigneur F----'s cathedral, it is being whispered. The native
Catholics, having died in hundreds, and lost whole families of
relatives, had revenged themselves as cruelly as only men who have
been between life and death for many weeks do. They had led French
soldiers into every suspected household, and pointing out the man on
whom rumour had fixed some small blame, they had exacted vengeance.
Even on this day of Prince Ching's entry this search and revenge was
still going on; there were so many scores to pay....

It was plain to me that every official was thinking of these things,
for the little con