The November magazines have at last penetrated this distant province and the first one opened with eagerness las been the "Fortnightly," there to peruse and re-peruse its opening article, he impression formed has been very different from that expected from the earlier perusal of extracts and reviews which had come previously to hand. Ta the writer of this brief note, none of the reviewers appear to have taken in or allowed for the standpoint of the writer of the article, The primary, perhaps almost the. sole object the Director-General of Customs had in view, as he rapidly threw off these pages which have sent such a flutter through the Western world—es written while the hardships of the zo, the din of can: the excitement of suspense, were still impressed on body and mind (witness the date: August 22nd. The Lo; 8 were only relieved on the 15th)—this object surely was to bring home to the mind of the public and of the leading members of political circles, to such as would deign, that it, to acquire knowledge from the pages of a magazine, what was the difficulty of the task they' were about to put hands to, the suhilety of the problem desired to be solved. "The Legations Besieged," gasped amazed Europe, 'a Minister murdered, engineora and missionaries slaughtered," and the first impulse was to adopt severe and hasty eaguites—measures which, so varied and manifold were the interests involved, would soon land all in an impasse, make Europe ridiculous in the eyes of the Eastern world, and perhaps lead to worse turmoil than had just been passed through, The first object then of Sir Robert Hart. was to calla halt, to urge consideration of the results of past treatment, of whither hasty action would lead.
'A second but subsidiary object was to put in a word for the dynasty and the Toler he had served so faithfully all theo years, a ruler whose powers and whose limitations none probably knew better than he. We are all conscious of the power behind the Po; e, and that the Czar of the Russias is not all despotic in his Imperial cabinet; the Director-General of Customs knew that the Empress was not entirely to blame for the present eruption. If then, as he forcibly shows, you can neither divide nor miraculously regenerate the Empire, neither have you any commanding personality to whom to commit the reins of government; you are compelled to fall back on the reigning dynasty and to be careful how you deal with it and its rulers. Do not destroy such authority as still exists the edict of the Court still runs throughout the Eighteen Provinces; if otherwise confusion would be but worse confounded.
Fortnightly's" article, the writer of brief and imperfect critique maintains, must be read asa whole. It is absolutely unfair to extract and isolate, as a leader
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.