There is one feature in this war which it is
most difficult to understand. We obtain through the Times and the News Agencies pretty accurate accounts of the progress of the cam- paign, which in the absence of railways and cavalry is slower than recent European experience has taught us to expect, but we hear nothing that can be trusted from Pekin. Nobody seems to know what the Court, which is still obeyed through- out China, thinks, or plans, or intends ; for all that appears to the outside world it might be ignorant that Japan existed or that any enemy had entered China. A vague rumour exists that the Emperor trusts Major Hannecken, and that Major Hannecken, as Constable of the Empire, is pro- visioning a fleet somewhere, and organising an army "of one hundred thousand men" somewhere else. There is, how- ever, no confirmation or denial of any ef these reports, though there must be six first-class Embassies in Pekin, each one of which ought to have its own permanent sources of information. Accurate reports, moreover, ought to be sent by the Jesuits to the Roman Propaganda; but somehow nothing that is either intelligible or trustworthy reaches the European public. The last story is that the Viceroy of Nankin is the "coming man" in China, but on which side he is " coming " nobody appears to know.
