Those who are feeling that steps should be taken to prevent in future the sacrifice of so many lives, the blighting of so many more, will do well to consider how this present war has been brought about Nations have their duties as well as individuals and from the moment when England made herself une quantity négligable, as one of the best diplomatists in the Far East described her, some ten years ago, it became inevitable that either Russia must engulf Japan, or Japan resist Russia. A letter of the late Li Hung-chang to the Iste Prince Yung Lu has lately been quoted with very severe comment, snd without apparently considering how well Li knew that "in present circumstances it might be difficult for us to recover possession of it (Manchuria)." Knowing what Li knew of the condition of the Chinese Army he might as well have written frankly impossible." He therefore relied upon war between Russia and Japan, and whichever side wou, hoped to secure some advantage for his own country—an opportunist policy, all that he had ever attained toin hislonglife. But this is to consider the letter as if we knew no more, had never heard of the cheque st Moscow, which an eyewitness, one of, our most brilliant writers, assured me he had seen. What also of the following story, which I now simply proceed to relate us it wae told to me, in the hope that it may be either refuted or confirmed. The events are so recent they are surely easily susceptible of proof or disproof.
The story is that when Li was sent for by the Dowager Empress to come to Peking and make terms of pence with the Allies there was a little trouble about hit Iliad heard before that it originally intended he should travel in a Russian man-of-war or be guarded by Russian man-of-war, but the British Admiral stopped that, saying the British ting was enough protection, I now hear that Li changed hip on the river opposite the Kaiping mine wharves, there getting on to one of that Company's steamers, and that on the new steamer there were number of field guns and ammunition, When told these would cause trouble on arrival at Tangku, Li said: "I am on a Peace Commission, they trust me, there will be no trouble at all."
At Taku Bar an English cutter came off to board the vessel, but the Lieutenant just told them to carry on, and they went on to Tangku alongside the wharf. Whilst there the Russian Admiral called, and Li returned the call, and whilst all this was going on Russian soldiers came and took away all the field guns Mr. Kingsley, detached from Customs Service for 14 or 15 years, and told off to accompany Li, than pressed him for a dispatch to take up to the Peitang fort, ordering the officer in command to hand it over to the British, saying if this were not done there would be rouble, Li would not consent. Mr. Kingsley point as best he could. At Inst You go out of the room, pres and ['li have a dispatch written." The dispatch was finished, handed to Mr. Kingsley by Li, and by him passed on to confidential man in a steam-launch. The man went up to the Peitang fort, but, the attack had already commenced. Thus patch was never delivered, possibly hands. Accord. ing to my informant ti toh ordered that the fort should be delivered to the Russians There need not have been any fighting there and then, if the Admirals had waited, though the result might not have pleased everyone concerned.
This is surely exactly of a piece with the rest of Li's policy, and how much it was approved in the eyes of the " Liege Lady," to use Ku Hang-ming's favourite phrase, is sufficiently shown. by the unexampled honour just recently accorded to his heir, one never before granted to a Chinese.
That he and his "Liege Lady " were agreed as to their line of policy I cannot understand anyone doubting. Now if Li had his reasons of solid value for following it, does it seem reasonable to suppose that she had not I recollect standing at the doors of the women's quarter of the Palace in the Forbidden City in 1901 whilst agonized eunuchs put their backs against the doors, and pleaded there were ladies of the Imperial Harem left behind there. " Oh well, I suppose we nfust not go in and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.