19th May. Exctosep in this issue will be found a prospectus of the International Institute that the Rev. Gilbert Reid proposes to establish at Peking. We have referred on several occasions with the' approval it deserved to Mr. Reid's Mission to the Higher Classes which he has been carrying on at Peking, and have endeavoured to show what a large measure of success he has attained with very scanty means, 'I'he proposed institution is an outcome of this mission, and it cannot be doubted that it will have a proportionate measure of success in the able h founder,—Mr, Reid's long residence in the interior of China, his habit of making friends with the officials, a the adaptability that has commended hima to them, have made him thoroughly conversant with official thoughts and ways, so'that he has become specially a persona grata at Peking, and the friendships. and acquaiuts..ces he has formed among the high mandarins are a proof of this, and a very striking proof. Even if the prospectus we have already referred to did not contain the documents of sanction and recognition that are attached to it, we should be sure that Mr. Reid was on the right track; with these documents there can be no doubt about it.
What Mr, Reid proposes to found—and we understand that the 'I'sungli Yamen Ministers have assured him that he need be under no anxiety as to the obtaining of the necessary site in good position—is an International Institute to consist of a large anditorium, a library and reading room, a museum, class-rooms, and a reception ball, "Such an Institute," Mr. Reid says, "located in Peking would be an intellectual centre for the diffusion of enlightening and liberal influence amongst the mandarins and educated classes of all China. It would tend to promote friendliness between representative men of China and the West. The plan was originally drawn up in Chinese, and adapted to the present condition of China, and the tastes of her ruling classes. The benefits, however, resultting would extend to foreigners as well as Chinese."
We are all of us interested in the progress of enlightenment in China, and "'in the spread of a knowledge of Westera arts and sciences among the Chinese. This interest is not entirely unselfish, for every extension of Chinese acquaintance with Western inventions of whatever kind means sooner or later an increased demand for those inventions.
So that we cannot benefit China without at the same time benefiting ourselves; and in supporting such an institution as Mr, Reid proposes the philanthropist and the merchant meet on common ground. The proposed library and reading-room, the museum and the class-rooms, will be not only instruments of instruction for the Chinese, they will be also instruments for he extension of commerce; and an institution that can make good such claims to support has a vitality that will be enduring. Mr. Reid estimates the sum required to establish the institution which he contemplates at 'I's. 100,000, for the bulk of which he relies on foreign contributions; and he shows that there are two preliminary requisites to the procuring of these contribntions the distinct endorsement and by the High Authorities in This has already been fully accorded by the Princes and Minis of the Imperial Board of Foreign Of the first time that an official sanction has ever been given to a foreign scheme under foreign auspices, aiming at progress, enlightenment, and reform, Many other prominent Chinese officials as well as various Foreign Ministers in Peking have indicated in various ways their deep interest in the under taking. 5 "Second, contributions to a certain extent from persons of the foreign community in China are needed, not only for the intrinsic value of such gifts, but as a testimony to the desirability of this enterprise for the enlightenment of the higher classes of China, and through them of the masses of the people. Individual contributions have already been made in Peking, Tientsin, and Chefuo, not only from foreigners of different nationalities and creeds, but quite readily from progressive Chinese."
Mr. Reid's idea, we understand, is that in this Jubilee year of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, British subjects should be invited to contribute the funds required for the auditorium, which should thenceforth be known as the Victoria Hall. It would bea fine memorial of our gracious Queen in Peking, and it would be appropriate because those in the highest places at Peking have a special reverence for the sovereign whose completion of sixty years' reign is to be commemorated in June, Reid is now on his way home, and it is eminently desirable that he should be able to collect subscriptions here to his scheme from both foreigners and Chinese, because such subscriptions will be an endorsement of his scheme when he comes to ask fur subscriptions at home. The scheme will without doubt stand on its own merits when presented by Mr, Reid in the United States and in Europe; but it will be strengthened by the backing that a good list of subscriptions from foreigners and Chinese in China will give it. "'Lhe plan for the Institate," says Mr. Reid, "is suited to the Chinese and meets with their approval. It is hoped that the foreign residents of China, wishing well for China, will also approve, and so hasten forward the movement of advancement and true civilisation. A door has been unexpectedly opened; let us enter at once that other and larger doors may be speedily opened hereafter."
We printed some days ago the letter of recognition sent by LIB. Li Hung-chang to Mr. Reid; it is reprinted with the prospectus issued this morning, and is preceded by a remarkable sanction from the 'I'sungli Yamen; for it is remarkable that this conservative and or-dirianly timorous—from—ignorance—body should have committed itself to so definite a commendation of a foreigner's scheme, Wo can sympathise with the gratification that Mr, Reid must feel at receiving such an uns deniable proof of the success of his Mission in Peking—a one-man mission, conceived and carried out by himself. "Besides keeping these documents on file for future reference," so the Princes Ministers of the Yamen, "we sure the said missionary, that when his plan for the Institute goes into operation, if the actuality answers to the prospectus, producing good and not evil, this Board will, after due investiga~ tion, confer on him additional tokens of approval. In the meantime let the Secretaries of the Board convey to Mr, Reid this expression of our cordial commendation."
Mr. Reid proposes shortly to make an appeal to foreigners and Chinese in Shanghai for their assistance, and we cannot doubt that so goud a cause will meet with a satisfactory response.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.