Waen by the treaty of Tientsin the Chinese Government permitted the residence of foreign Ministers at the it was thought that a very impo adrauce in the relations of China with foreign countries had been secured. Up to that time, the Superintendent of Trade bad only dealt with provincial authorities, and it had always been in their power to refuse concessions on the plea that what they were willing to allow was declined by the Central Government. They saw the rensonubleness of foreigners' dowands, and were perfectly randy to consent to foreigners' wishes; but the Central Government could not see with their eyes; the powers in Peking were enveloped in mists of antique custom which their reason could not pierce, and they were unwillingly obliged to conform to the directions remitted them from the seat of authority. It was therefore believed that once our Ministers could got access to this all-powerful Central Government, and had the right to interview the members of the Grand Council wheuever they pleased and carry their points by a censeless personal importunity, great results would follow. Intelligent Grand Secretaries would certainly see the justice of reasoning which equally intelligent foreign Mini ters could represent to them in person; and the points which, intentionally or not, are often lost when arguments are filtered through intermediate channels, would all have their proper effect when addressed to the master minds with. out intervention. The right of r dence in Peking then was to cure all former troubles, and an era of peace and good-will la foreign relations was inaugurated. at the belief which prompted the i of Peking was wel nob even now deny, and we must still applaud the statesmanship which urged the English and French to carry this point; but there were certain drawbacks in the arrangement which were not expected at the time, but which show themselves too plainly now.
The isolation of the foreign representatives in Peking is nearly as great as that of the Gods in the laureate's Lotos-eaters"
They lie reclined On the hills, like Gods together, less of mankind, But they smile, they find a music centred in a doleful song Steaming uy, lamentation and an ancient tale of wrong, Like s tale of little meaning the' the: words are strong.
The complaints of straggling men at the paris only reach them at such an interval of distance and time that they are seriously weakened by the delay and if physical obstacles prevent a matter being attended to at once, the Minister is apt to think that a little longer postponement will not matter. The Ministers are out of public opinion. What is: passing in the minds of their fellow-men, the common thoughts for which everyone and no one is at the same time responsible, and a knowledge of which is 80 valuable to the rulers of men, never reaches them. The conversation with their fellows in other walks of life, which tells far more than reports from Consuls or articles from newspapers, is impossible to men secluded as the foreign Minis. ters are, They hear of the Woosung Bar, but they only hear of it; they cannot appreciate' the vexations it causes, us they would do if they could walk out on the Bund to-morrow morning and join in the ordinary conversations of the people they would meet.. 'They are five days at' least from the end of the telegraphic cable, the wonderful wire that "makes the whole world kin" far more truly than the "touch of nature" immortalized by Shakespere, and the world travels so fast now that when it takes a man ton days to get an answer to his question, that answer may be out of date before the questioner has received it, It is the natural tendency of all officials to feel a benignant contempt for the non-official public, and this feeling must be sadly intensified when the officials are removed from vulgar contact by the distance that separates Peking from Shanghai, And now comes Colonel Gordon with a strong indictment against Peking from the philo-Chinese point of view. In the most able paper which we re-print on another page, be shows what a disadvantage it is to China that the capital of the country is in such an out-ofthe-way corner of the Empire. The Chinese people, says Colonel Gordon, are not unprogressive, are by no means unwilling to adopt foreign improvements. But Peking, behind its double walls, knows nothing of the wishes of the people, hears nothing of the march of progress. The Central Government is being steadily left behind by the people it governs. It knows this, and its unceasing object is to prevent its people going forward lest it should get out of hand alto. gether. It is not merely the danger from invasion to which' the Central Government is necessarily subjected by being on the circumference instead of at the centre of the Empire. The worse danger, because if not averted in time it will become incurable, is that the Government is gradually fall. ing out of unison with the people, and a revolution will follow, wot from the action of any one discontented offi but from the whole people having reached a higher level, to which the small clique of rulers in Peking cannot attain, No Government, however absolute in theory, cun afford to be behind its subjects in enlightenment, and the sacred right of rebellion is almost
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.