tion that these men be punished. The Nienp'u asserts that Tsêng had yielded against his better judgment to the arguments of T'sung Hou, and that almost before the dispatch had left his hands he regretted his part in it. In several of his letters he tried to recall the recommendations, and in the last communication with Prince K'ung he observes that in dealing with foreigners one must leave room for retreat on account of their craftiness; that in the matter of the punishment of these officials he had made a cardinal mistake by agreeing to it and leaving himself no ground for such retreat.[1] Violent opposition arose on the part of officials and gentry to sacrificing these two men. Letters of protest, memorials to the emperor, denunciations, poured in from all sides because of Tsêng's whitewashing of the Roman Catholic Mission and his recommendation of punishment for the local officials. On the other hand, Ts'ung Hou pulled in the other direction, urging that they go further in meeting the demands of the French as to the local officials. Since Tsêng, sorry that he had gone that far, firmly refused to proceed a step further, Ts'ung Hou asked to have him replaced by some other official.[2]
On all sides the Chinese began to talk of war. But with characteristic courage Tsêng tried to stem the current setting in that direction. At the end of July he plainly discussed China's condition for war in a frank memorial to the emperor. He said that it was necessary for China to suppress vigorously all talk of war, because she was too weak to fight. Personally the thought of death on the battle field did not daunt him, but the fact was that China could not wage a successful war and had no alternative to a peace policy. Even if by strenuous efforts temporary success could be won, the foreigners would simply come
