Tae tour of observation or inspection which the Seventh Prince, Chun, the father of the Emperor, is about to make may be " revival of the old nativity of his race which has been 80 long dormant, But in one way it will, if it is curried out to the extent cliented by our Tientsin Correspondent, give the P An experience never before enjoyed by one of his line. He will be the first Manchu prince to travel in a steam-ship, and that alone is a remarkable innovation on the old ways of Chinese Imperial life, It shows og strikingly as anything that has gone before the immense changes whioh have taken place in this ovuntry, The reception of Foreign ambussndore by the Emperor was certainly not a spon. taneous act of Imperial graciousness, it was obtained only utter pressure had been used. The employment of foreign whill, arms, machinery, were all state necessities without which the Empire could not have been held together, and wanting which it would lave helpless prey to its enemies or to ambitions neighbours, The improvements in the defences of the country which have been adopted during the Inst quarter of a century, were of course made with the full consent of the members of the Imperiul family who take a share the government of the empire, but whatever was done by them in this way occurred in the capital or its immediate vicinity, and the activity which was attributed lo the Seventh Prince, his desire to see the navy and army improved, had in the eyes of foreigners and probably also of the provincial Chinese, always something of the flattery which Gazettes and Court reporters bestow on personages of his rank, Prince Cl'an now steps beyond the precinets of the yamens in Peking, and goes forth to see fur himself what ins been done by Viceroys and naval and military oommaudere. We do not know whether the opinions of the Emperor Kiang Hi, on travelling by sea, as recorded by Juhu Bell of Auter-y ure preserved in any books which are available to the members of the Imperial family, bat if they are, i t that Prince Chtan siders (hem to need modification, at least, in order to meet the requirements of modern times. For the Emperor told the Russian Envoy that "having heard that his Czurish majesty exposed himself to many dangers, especially by water, at which he was much surprised, he desired he would take the advice of an old man and not hazard his life by coumuitting himself to the rage of the merciless waves and winds, where no valour could avail." Every one will hope that the first experiences of Prince Ch'un on the Gulf of Peobili will be plonsant, and that on his return to Peking he may have so mung agreeable novelties Lo relate that other members of the Imperial family may be led to emulate and surpass his adventures by lund and sea, We are not sanguine enough to ex. pect that thin visit to cumps, arsenals, and forte, and short trips noross the Gulf of Pechili mean any great departure by the Mancha Princes from their cus. toms, It may mean no departure at all, but be merely an adventure under. taken by one of them whose curiosity about foreign things hua led him to lay aside the habitual Inssitude of mind which has so long possessed the govern. ing class in the capital, Ho may be influenced solely by curiosity, but if it should be #0, it is no slight thing to have a Prince of the blood permit such very natural feeling to get the better of the scorn of Western ways which we Ind come to consider traditional in his class and the mandarinate that isolates itself in Peki We prefer to think that the Prince is animated by a desire to acquaint himself with the results of the Inrge expenditure on moder means of defence which the Ewpiro haa me curred in recent years; it would perhaps be inferring too much if we were to sny that he las heard of the activity in their departments displayed by the Princes of the great Earopeau Houses and desires to imitate it, Still Uuat may have had some influence on his mind, as the world us in late years been 80 brought close together, that even those who dwell in its recesses, as in the yamens of Peking, oan uow know the occurrences in the every day life of their coutewporaries, It will be eufficient to look upon this step of the Seventh Prince as evidence that some at lerist of the reigning family have a desire to get themselves abreast of the progressive world, and his so doing nny have the most important effect on Inrge numbers of the nobility and others of influence. Nations hi 1 Professor Seeles's opinion, as it were, very atiff joints, They -do not easily learn a uew kind of movement," and if this is true of other parts of the world it inadequately describes the condition of Ohina daring the' first three quarters
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.