Few aspire to the position of a prophet, much less to be an alarmist or "a prophet of evil"; but some facts are not wholly reassuring, e.g., the return of the former (1900) magistrate of Shencho to his old st, where he has released some 80 ex-Boxers om prises, and transformed a state of peace and quiet into such conditions that native pastors and preachers cannot visit that section to labour among their flocks. It may be that the Boxers had been sufficiently punished by their long confinement, looked at from the standpoint of mercy, but in their release, conditions of peace should have been preserved in some way. One cannot help questioning the significance of such a situation.
It is also a fact that within the last few weeks young fellows sporting Boxer flags and garments have been seen practising here in Tientsin. It is the continuity of the many little things in so many places, coupled with certain facts and conditions in the Capital itself, that seem to indicate no change whatever in the attitude of the reactionary party in Peking towards reform and those things which make for the best interests of this vast empire.
Several Steamers have come up to the Bund recently, and there is good reason to hope that it will not be long till our largest vessels will be visiting us. It will be a great convenience to travellers, and a help to business, to have the old conditions in the river restored. It is essential to the continued prosperity of this place.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.