It is difficult to know which to admire more, using the word "admire"
its old rather than in its modern sense—the ability and effrontery with which Russia has dragged out her negotiations with Japan, or the, persistency with which obviously untruthful reports of the position have been communicated from St. Petersburg to the gobo-mouches of the Continental Press, Certainly from the middle of last year Russia has known perfectly well that she had no intention of fulfilling her many: promises to evacuate Manchuria, and has known equally well that Japan would take the risk ofa war if Russia did not act up to her own words, and the whole intent of her pacific protestations has been to gain time to strengthen her position, 'Japan has never receded from the very moderate demands she formulated last sammer, and has known that Russia had-no real intention of acceding' to them; whether she has lost or gained more by submitting to Russia's intentional procrastination we have bardly sufficient knowledge of the details of her operations to decide. Oe thing must be remembered, that Japan, having been so recently admitted into the first class of the. Powers has been scrupulously anxious to observe the nicest attention to international etiquette, so that no Power could find a flaw.-to pick in her action; and to this solicitude, laudable if possibly prejudicial to her immediate interests, the remarkable patience she has displayed is undoubtedly due in a measure. She was determined that no one.should be able to say that she had not exhausted every possible resource of diplomacy before changing the en for the sword, although she new, as all well-informed bystanders were assured, that she would in the end be forced to take up the sword, We have ourselves been kept so well-informed of the progress of the negotiations by our correspondents, that the immediate imminence of hostilities—if they have not already begun—can be no surprise to our readers, Indeed, on account of our constant endeavour to present all the facts possible without extenuation or exaggeration, we have been accused of inciting Japan to war, which is aa reasonable as it is to accuse the Sicawei Observatory of fomenting the typhoons it announces from time to time during the summer. It is some months now, if not years, since we pointed out that Japan's future existence depended on the arrest of Russia's aggression on. Manchuria and Corea, and it is for her future existence as an independent and prosperous Empire that. she is now with admirable heroism undertaking the t risk of a war with the great Northern Power. "There is no'Englishman. who will not wish' her success, humiliating as it is to feel that while we have too often given way to Russia's pretensions,.it.has been reserved for little Japan to stand up to her and put her pretensions to the test. Not that Englishmen have any dislike for Russians as a people or as individuals; ib is the tortuousness of Russian diplomacy, the constant discrepaney between her words and her actions, that are so repellent, For the Czar asa man we have nothing but admiration and respect; but the Russian Government, of which he is the autocratic' head, does not inspire the same feelings, There are some who believe that there will be no fighting after all, because they are convinced ' that Russia will at the lass moment concede all Japan's demands. There are others, and these are.the sympathisers with. Russia, who profess themselves convinced that Japan will at the lass moment be satisfied
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.