No doubt the unexpected often happens in China, but all
the omens seem to point to the course of events for the pre- sent being peaceful. If so, China will certainly deserve the reputation for reasonableness which her instructed and enlightened sons claim for her. There is, indeed, something almost uncanny in a dynasty so hedged in by mysterious ceremonial, so uncompromising in its claims upon the allegiance of its subjects, so much accustomed to regard itself as the possessor of spiritual and religious powers, handing in its resignation as if all that was involved was the chairmanship of a board of directors. What makes the situation more strange is that the Emperor, in whose name everything is done, is a helpless child; the Dowager Empress, though a woman of no exceptional powers, is playing a leading part in this world-shaking event.
