The following curious passage from a private letter, written by
a gentleman of much acuteness now in the English service in China,
will at once support the conclusions we have steadily pressed on our readers as to the issue of our present policy there, and illustrate the modus operandi. " China," he says, " is in a frightful state, only held together by English assistance. . . . We can't go on fighting for them for ever, and the moment we cease to supply them with men and ships the whole vast empire will break up, and it is not improbable that you will some day hear of me as Governor of a province five times the size of England. . . . Cruel fate is driving us to acts we all deplore. Here, for instance, is a city with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, and the Governor comes trembling to me on any alarm, and trusts entirely to my action to defend his walls against rebels and pirates. If the gunboat placed here for the protection of our interests went away, the rebellious Chinese would bombard the city.
Fancy a letter like this Shih, of the great pure dynasty, Intendant of the — District, Comptroller of Customs, &c., &c., to the great English officer,—Whereas, I have been informed that rebels infest the islands, to the destruction of harmless traders, will the honourable officer who loves the people as his own children direct the Senior Naval officer to go out and punish the guilty, eo shall security be restored on the coast ?' On which I, the honourable officer, go on board the gunboat, and steam down to the islands, where, in the midst of scenery like paradise, pirates abound. We go into a quiet nook, and find ten junks, which open fire upon us from all their guns. Our sixty-eight pounder is run out with an eight-inch shell in it. A great crash, and up goes junk No. 1 into thin air. Another discharge of grape sends the pirates on shore, when the country people come down and poke at them with long spears. The junks are taken into port, and sole I, the honourable officer, have cleared the seas and had a delightful trip. The week after the pirates are all back again in other junks. The Chinese do simply nothing." The English must rule China before long, on the old principle that nature " abhors a vacuum."
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