a hot bombardment. Nothing entitled to be called resistance was offered; there was no enemy. Having battered down a sufficient number of dwellings, and got tired of their "glorious" sport, the allies stopped the cannonading. A squad was then sent to demand of the Viceroy Yeh the formal surrender of the town. "We shall surrender nothing," was the reply, "because we are right, and you are wrong." "Then we will take you prisoner." "You have the power." "Come with us, then." But the Viceroy did not move. Thereupon they lifted up the chair in which he sat, and carried him on board Lord Elgin's ship. As to who were the real victors in this case may be safely left to the future verdict of civilization; unless, indeed. General Grant anticipates it in the great work on "The Philosophy of the Chinese Policy," which it is to be hoped he will soon publish.
Mr. Wells Williams remarks,[1] "It was about a. d. 600 that Taitsung, of the Tang dynasty, instituted the present plan of preparing and selecting civilians by means of study and degrees." That is, more than twelve hundred years ago China adopted its present thoroughgoing policy of competitive civil-service examinations to secure honesty and efficiency in the discharge of political duties and trusts. Whatever may have been its results, England, within a generation, has adopted a similar system, confessedly in imitation of the Chinese. We, too, have feebly tried to secure something of the kind; but such is the degraded condition of American political morality that the effort has been little else than a ridiculous farce. Perhaps Goldwin Smith will show us that the beastly condition of our politics is due to "evolution supplanting Christian morality."
It is said that the Chinese are untruthful; but Mrs. Opie, in her classical book on lying, did not have to go to China for her illustrations either of the nice gradations or the great popularity of this practice. She dealt with it entirely as the phenomenon of a religious country. Moreover, as we are just fresh from a political campaign, perhaps the less we say about veracity the better, even in comparison with the pagans. An intelligent gentleman, many years a resident of China, and accustomed to large business transactions with their merchants, informs us that among these merchants in the great centers of commerce the standard of mercantile honor is higher than anywhere else in the world. The tea and silk sent us from China are no doubt often adulterated, which is, of course, very immoral; but the highest English authority, Dr. Hassall, declared, in his big book upon the subject, that in his country every article under heaven that can be adulterated is adulterated.
"But they are such dreadful opium smokers!" ejaculates the complacent tobacco-chewing deacon, as he seeks the spittoon. Very true; and we are not bringing forward these godless heathen as models of all the virtues. But speaking of opium recalls another passage in Chinese history, which throws light on this comparison of Christian and pagan morality. The Chinese Government undertook to suppress the opium-traffic, so as to cut off the foreign supply and arrest the demoralizing influence of its use among the people. Profoundly impressed by the dreadful evils of this increasing habit, the authorities did their utmost to stop the smuggling of the article; but, when its vigorous measures began to be effective, the great Christian nation which was embarked in the villainous trade, made war upon the country, and forced the accursed drug upon it at the cannon's mouth. The conduct of England in this "opium war" will be infamous through all time; but its policy was as deliberate as its motives were execrable. In the preliminary discussion of
- ↑ "Middle Kingdom," vol. i., p. 422.
