10th January.
IN an extremely reade volume just. published in' Paris, Chine 'Ancienne et Nouvelle," by G. Wealersse, a recent visitor holding a travelling scholarship from the University of Paris, one of the causes of the recent outbreak in' the North is said to be "Taffaiblissement clu prestige Angiais"—the decline of British prestige. his decline of British prestige in China has been a common ery recently with Continental papers and wherever the wish is father to the thought: bw, matter of fact, though the Briton in China may not assert himself and advertise himse: f as much as some of his neighbours, he has not lost any prestige among the Chines: by the even's of the last two or three years, nor shall we lose it as long as we have men like the present British Minister and Consuls-General ar the head of the British official representa tion in China. Foreigners, and not only Englishmen, who have been travelling in the north and northwest of this empire during the pist year find that the Englishman is received everywhere as well as, if not better than, he ever was, The general idea is to pay and look pleasant, if pay they must, and to forgive and forget the insanity of 1900; and there seems to be no idea of holding foreigners responsible for the Boxer outbreak, notwithstanding the explanations published by some of the foreign apulogists for the Boxers. These gentry were so indiscriminately ruthless in their killings and burnings that it seems now to be only their foreign apologists that have any sympathy with them.
"Phot the prestige of Grea' Britain has not been diminished in Mongolia, where it is sometimes supposed that it has b-en completed overshadowed by Russia, is conclusively shown by some news that has just reached us from the eastern part of that vast country. There has been an Englishman travelling there recently, and he found to his surprise that the Mongolian Princes whom he met were most anxious that a British official, interested in trade, should be sent there to open and promote commercial relations with Great Britain. Here is an opportunity which we ave sure the Commercial Attache of the British Legation will be only too glad to be allowed to seize. Mongolia is a much richer country than many people imagine; the people are ready to welcome a British resident, whether he is called a Consul or whatever title may be given him; the spirit of restlessness, of discontent with the storied past, that is stirring China generally has reached the Mongolian Princes, and it is encouraging to see that they spontaneously turn to Great. Britain to lead them out the darkness into the light. We this opening "will not be and particularly that the people at home will realise that there is a re-opening of China going on, that the prospects are very promising, and that it will pay chem well to be advantage of the opportunities that are now presenting themselves in many directions.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.