The Court of China has, it is alleged, appointed Li
Hung Chang, Prince Ching, .Yung-Ln, and Hsu-tung, another reactionary noble, its plenipotentiaries, and the first-named will, it is alleged, at once proceed to Tientsin. He gives no hint of the terms which he is empowered to offer, and there is not the slightest evidence that the Empress-Regent is either repentant or conciliatory. She has not removed the Viceroy of Shensi, who has, it seems evident, murdered the missionaries in his province, and her latest decrees order a continuance of the war against foreigners. Much, however, is at present, still obscure, and it is possible that the Empress believes that violent threats will help to make the foreigners more manageable. It seems to have been settled that the Purple Palace is not to be destroyed, but on August 28th the Allies marched solemnly through the Forbidden City." The foreigners in China, who are unanimously opposed to the Russian proposal, appear to think this march will have a great effect, but whether that effect will be a desire for peace is doubtful. Most foreign residents in China wish for war, as they see in the anger of combined Europe a great oppor- tunity of humbling China once for all.
