'THE crucial instance of China's luck occurred in 1870 at the time of the Tientsin Massacre. The Power chiefly outraged by that great crime at Tientsin was France, but it was the good fortune of China that France was prevented from exacting the reparation on which she would otherwise have insisted by the breaking out of the war with Germany in the same month. The apologists for China at the present time who point to the "leases" of Kiaochou Bay, Port Arthur, and Weihaiwei as excuses for the recent attempt to drive foreigners into the sea forget conveniently that there was no such excuse for the Tientsin Massacre. Tt is quite possible that the outrages of 1900 might never have occurred if the outbreak of the Franco-German war had not prevented France from insisting on adequate punishment for the massacre at Tientsin. has been most lucky for China hat the disinclination of her troops 2 at Peking to come to close quarters j with the defenders of the Legations prevented the consummation of the intended massacre of all she foreigners at the capital, and that the relieving force of the Allies arrived just in time to prevent the explosion ai the mine that had been carried under the British Legation. Practically everyone in Shanghai, including foreign and Chinese officials, believed that the massacre had taken place and reported their belief by wire to the Governments and Press at home. This was another stroke of luck for China. When it was known that the foreigners in the Legations were safe after all, there was an immediate revulsion of feeling, and in England, and even more in the United States, public opinion veered round in favour of the Chinese, and there was almost a feeling that they were being badly treated by the Allies. Tt was almost forgotten that the Chinese Government had up to the last done its best to ensure the massacre of every foreigner in Peking; that it had laid several traps for the foreign Ministers, to one of which Baron von Ketteler fell a victim; and that it would have succeeded in its design of destroying all the foreigners if the allied troops had arrived a day or two later. Some of the missionary societies, and especially, we are told, the China Inland Mission, have helped to mislead the public by minimising the atrocities that have been practised on their missionaries. This has been done, no doubt, with a good intention, the Societies being eager to resume their good work as soon as quiet is restored in the interior, and being afraid that if the truth is known at home, their work will be restricted and that unmarried women, at least, will be prohibited from going outside the limits of Consular protection. There is, we are informed, a great deal of dissatisfaction among some of the missionaries with the Shanghai government of one of the largest missions, but that the dissatisfied dare not say openly what they feel. Under these circumstances we cannot form any just opinion on this
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.