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[[underlined]] Chapter XI. [[/underlined]] 22^[[6]].
China itself prove impossible, we might find something to do in Mongolia, or even in Tibet. His Holiness, a kindly, intelligent and pleasant-faced man apparently in early middle life, received us graciously, and displayed toward us what seemed more than merely formal courtesy. I left his presence, as I think did all of us, with the feeling that should we ever wish to work in the lands under his spiritual jurisdiction, we might expect to find in him an influential and interested friend.
On March 30th Mr. Wenley and I, with our Chinese colleagues, went to request permits [[strikethrough]] (see page 198, note 216) [[/strikethrough]] for work in Shansi from the new Minister of Education. The latter was of course a political appointee---one of the men who had come into power as a result of the recent downfall of Marshal Wu P'ei-fu. The Minister himself was unable to see us; but the Vice-Minister, [[superscript]] (213) [[/superscript]] who received us, was quite af-
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[[superscript]] (213) [[/superscript]] Not the same man with whom we had previously established such friendly relations, and upon whose active interest and support we had come to rely.
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fable, and promised to have the necessary official documents ready for us in a few days.
On the following day a Mr. Mu Hsüeh-hsun [[3 Chinese characters]], a well-to-do bibliophile and collector of rare books, invited me to his house to inspect his treasures. At the close of a delightful visit, Mr. Mu told me that he wished to leave his collections to the public; but that in the existing state of affairs he disliked to put them under official control. He wished therefore to leave them to a Board of Trustees, to consist mainly of Chinese but to include a few foreigners, of whom he asked me to be one. [[superscript]] (214) [[/superscript]] I mention this incident to show the friendly and
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[[superscript]] (214) [[/superscript]] Unfortunately, Mr. Mu died before he could put his plan into effect; I believe that his collections are now in Toronto, Canada.
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