Tae strain of contending interests at Peking is evidently becoming intense, yet it is instructive to observe how loath the officials of the Empire are to depart from precedent and to set up their individual opinion as having any claim for acceptance. The Empire notwithstanding is raled by what in all periods has proved the most urisal factory of Governments, and one which in China has the double disadvantage of being not only a Regency but a Regency under female chiefs, There is very little reason to doubt that the vast majority of the higher officials are unanimonsin conderaning theexpedionoy of a war with Russia, and those highest in office have not failed by constitutional means to place their views before the members of the Regency. The Regents are unfortunately women, and so the matier has become one of sentiment rather than reason, and it behoves whose function is to obey to accept orders, however unreasonable, and to endeavour within their own jurisdic. tious to concoct means for carrying them out. It has thus happened at euch war provoked by Peking with a foreign Power that the provinces were found utterly unprepared. Fortunately, in previous wars the interests of the Powers hostile to the Government were identical with those of the people at Inrge, and so war carried on against a Government exclusively was made to boar as lightly as possible on the people. Trade went on as usual between the ports of China while British arms were engaged in upsetting some of the usages of the Court at Peking. The individual was left free and unfettered to pursue his daily avocations, and even the Magistrates, where their interference did not assume a hostile character, were left without molestation to continue the ordinary routine of their official daties. There is, unfortunately, no guarantee that this wise system will be accepted by Ru should China be ill-advised enough to urge on a contest. The conduct of Russian armies and Russian squadrons in Turkey has not been marked by thet mildness which might cipated from " Power entering a neighbouring country with professions of philanthropic motives, With China the contest will be a strictly territorial one. Russia has nob yet advanced so far us to be able to preach a crusade in China for the relief of oppressed nationalities. She wants a piece of land which would be usefal to her in affording food crops for her armies in the exhausted oases of Central Asia, and China, to whom the possession of the wanted territory is ab best useless, does not wish to give it to her, Russian trade with China has
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.