"Who is responsible for the delay in the forward movement?" is what everyone here is asking himself and his neighbour. The Japanese think that in spite of there being a shade of a suggestion to that effect in Sir Michael Hicks-Beach's words, the blame does not rest with Japan. They point with pride to the testimony your Special correspondent at Tientsin bears to the perfection of their arrangements, and are inclined to lay the blame on certain Buropean Powers,"—and when certain European Powers," are spoken of by the Japanese, one never has any great difficulty in making out the Powers that are meant. It is enid here that the Russians are now convinced that the Ministers are ''in clover" in Peking, that they are enjoying themselves under the benignant eye of Prince Tuan, and that there is no neep to advance to their assistance and bring about in consequence a collapse that one may never hear the end of. They (the Russians) ate, say others, waiting for some distinguished commander to turn up and won't be happy till they get him. The general idea is that they are pursuing the facties they pursued in 1895, bolstering up the effete Chinese Government, bat no even-minded men here share that idea.
The proposed voyage of Admiral Seo mour up the Yangtz> was strongly disapproved of here, and some people were inclined to regard that voyage—tiking in connection with the landing of Indian troops at Hongkong and with the well-known aspirations of a puty in Great Britain in connection with the Yangtze valley—as evidence that England meant to have her spoil before going any farther. that were the policy—of course, it was not—nobody in Japan could be found, I think, to support it.
9th August,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.