The position of affairs in China is a little clearer,
but not mach. According to the best accounts, which, however, are not official, Great Britain and Germany having rejected the Russian advice to leave Pekin, the Powers have arrived at a sort of compromise. All the Legations having been withdrawn, Pekin is to be held by an international garrison, which will in- clude the Russians, until Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching on one aide and Sir Robert Hart on the other can arrive at terms which Europe can accept. The forces will then be withdrawn, and the Chinese Government in some form will be reinstalled. Sir Robert Hart's action will be more or less informal, but the Powers express confidence in him, and he will act as the expert advising the Ambassadors on more questions than finance. This, we say, appears to be the arrangement coming, or made, but everything as yet is, vague, though Prince Ching and Sir Robert Hart are certainly conferring. The Powers, of course, are anxious to keep step, but there is an obvious difference of opinion between them. Russia, France, America, and Japan are inclined to condone the outrages inflicted on them, while Great Britain and the Triple Alliance insist that there must be "reparation for the past," which includes punishment for all who provoked the attack on the Legations, and "security for the future," which will include, or should include, the deposition of the Empress. The negotiations will therefore be long.
