There was one point of contention between the English and this very haughty and conceited Court of Burma that never was settled. That was the reception of our envoy. It was not sufficient for them that he observed all the forms of respect known in European etiquette, but they required from him also their own, even to the removal of his boots in the king’s presence. Now an English gentleman does not like to doff his boots in public, and to a military man it would seem particularly outrageous to expect it of him. Hence it was a difficulty. Had King Theebaw accepted instead of rejecting our ultimatum in November 1886, he might have kept his throne and his palace; but the proper reception of the British Resident would have been one of the articles he would have had to agree to. It was in the great throne room that we held at first our Sunday morning parade services for the troops, the preacher taking his stand just by the foot of the throne: an interesting circumstance, and not without a touch of romance,—the Kingdom of Jesus Christ set up on the final downfall of this antiquated, corrupt and cruel Oriental despotism. But though we may hopefully take this as a figure and prophecy of the triumph yet to come, the fact itself is a political rather than a religious one, and indicates just this, and nothing more—that Britain has conquered Burma, and is now able to do what she likes with Burma’s most sacred and venerated places. We are not for that reason one inch nearer the real spiritual triumph of Jesus Christ in the hearts of the Buddhists of Burma. That work is but just begun. Some idea of the large extent of the palace buildings may be gathered from the fact that for many months they provided dwellings for the general and his numerous headquarters staff, and for many other officers, besides barracks for an entire battery of artillery, officers and men. In addition to this, quite a number of departments, civil and military, had their offices there, including a postal and telegraph department. Near the front of the palace is the great tower, now used as a fire look-out station. On the top of this a native sentry is always on the watch, and the moment he sees a fire anywhere, either in the cantonment or in the town, he gives the alarm, and the fire-engines are soon on the spot. This is a matter of no small importance in this great city of 188,000 inhabitants, where the houses are of such a highly inflammable material as bamboo, and where in one year 35 fires occurred, destroying 9 monasteries and 724 houses, of the total value of 310,000 rupees.