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But it would be a delight to call in this nephew-in-law, and
have him sit or kneel, and may we not believe she allowed him to
sit? and give her a full and intimate account of the trip and the
countries through which they passed. She was anxious that this
constitution should be given to the people before she passed
away. This, however, could not be. Whether it will be adopted
within the time allotted is a question which the future alone can
answer.
The next great reform undertaken by the Empress Dowager was her
crusade against opium. The importance of this can only be
estimated when we consider the prevalence of the use of the drug
throughout the empire. The Chinese tell us that thirty to forty
per cent. of the adult population are addicted to the use of the
drug.
One day while walking along the street in Peking, I passed a
gateway from which there came an odour that was not only
offensive but sickening. I went on a little distance further and
entered one of the best curio shops of the city, and going into
the back room, I found the odour of the street emphasized
tenfold, as one of the employees of the firm had just finished
his smoke. I left this shop and went to another where the
proprietor had entirely ruined his business by his use of the
drug, and it was about this time that the Empress Dowager issued
the following edict:
"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China
has been flooded with the poison
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