, 1891-02-07
from the European Mail, 7Jau.J

The death Of Prince Chun, the father of
the Emperor OF China, Will, OF course throw
the Court into mourning, ana thereby neces-
state a pos, ponement OF the audience ques-
ton. The Emperor had intended to receive
the foreign representatives IN March next.
but, under the circumstances, tn $ will be
impossible, 1t is to be hoped that the delay
will not be prejudlcial, although II VIA tnADIo
the more conservative advisers of His Majesty
to increase their pressure upon him, wit! ayiew
to the abandonment OF his new pelicy. The
general impression OF those who have etudiet
Chinese affairs is that FRINGE ChuE 4, served
most OF the credit for directing the slowsInov-
ing machine of what is called the Cuine9e
Government into the course OF progress tiIat
it has taken of late years, 1t was the more
remarkable that the impulse should have
come from him, because in his early days he
was decidedly anti-foreign and militant in his
opinions. He first appeared on the scene Of
public affairs in 1862, but the extent Of his
influence was not revealed until 1876, when
through the death of his nephew, Tungche,
China received q new Emperor. At a mid
night Council. hurriedly assembled, the infant
son of Prince Chun was selected to fill the
vacant Throne, which he still occupies under
the StS lie of Kwangsu, or lllustrious Success
sion.
In theory, the elevation of his son to the
Dragon Throne should have put all end to the
public career of Prince Chun, as it is one of
the first canons. of Chinese law that d father
can never serve under a son but his continu-
ed employment in posts Of constantly -increas-
ing Importance shows how far practice has
gone ahead of archaic theory, even in consery-
alive China. For the last % years there can
be no doubt that the influence of Prince Chun
has been far greater than that properly de-
rived from his nominal Offices In the Admins
tration. lie took the chief part In repudia.
ting the Treaty of Livadia, negotiated by
Chun How with Russia, and when it became
clear hat Prince Kung, instead of being q
tool, might prove an obstacle to the Empress
Regent and himself, he carried out the mea-
sures necessary for his removal from power.
More recently, as President of the new Board
Of Admiralty, on which he secured the c.
operation OF the late Marques Tseng, and as
Commander of the Pekin Field Force, he kept
himself prominently before the world as the
most active and intelligent OF Chinese Princes.
Great as is the influence of Ii Hung Chang
among the Chinese, the surest guarantee of
China's pursuing q conciliatory policy towards
the Treaty Powers was to be found in the
presence in the Imperial Palace of this Man
chu Prince, who had convinced himself that
he must discard the prejudices of his caste
and advocate n friendly policy towards foreign
States. For thisr reason the death of Prince
Chun in the prime of his manhood is both a
calamity for his own countrymen and a mat.
ter of sincere regret to foreigners.
The Indian rising is proving more disastrous
than was anticipated. On December goth
Chief Big Foot and $50 of his followers were
taken prisoners near P~orcupine Greek. The
hostile Indians in the Badlands have surren-
dered, and are on their way to Pine Ridge.
At Porcupine Greek the colnbatants on both
sides fought with great fury. The soldiers
and Indians, it is said, as they fell together
wounded, continued to struggle on the ground.
The Indians seemed possessed with demoni-
acal courage, and, indeed, both sides forgot
everything except the loading and discharg-
ing Of guns. The hand-to-hand melee was an.
early feature of the fight. Oarbines were
dubbed by the troops and the Indians used
their war clubs with extraordinary force and
adroitness, the blows descending like thunder
bolts, But the contest did not last very long.
The Indians, unable to withstand the storm.
took to flight, and then the artilIery-which
up to that time had been perforce kept out of
action, the gunners fearing to kill their
comrades-was brought into play. Gatlings
and Hotchkiss guns opened a deadly fire upon
the fleeing foe. For d full half-hour they
poured forth a scarcely intermittent storm Of
balls upon the Redskins. 1t was a war of sx-