of the Palmerston policy, the "Firm Hand," and the acceptance of the ambassador's principles of "Hands Off." Or, as the Imperialists put it, "the relapse of Great Britain into an effeminate, invertebrate, inconsequent policy, swayed by every wind from without and within, and opposed to the judgment of her own experienced representative."
This policy was put in motion by a letter written by the minister to Burlingame, a copy of which was sent to the English officers in China with orders to act accordingly. The pith of the communication was this:
"Her Majesty's Government, I informed you in reply, fully admitted that the Chinese Government was entitled to count upon the forbearance of foreign nations; and I assured you that, as far as this country was concerned, there was neither desire nor intention to apply unfriendly pressure to China to induce her government to advance more rapidly in her intercourse with foreign nations than was con-
