Friday's news from Corea is very vague. All that is
certain is that the Japanese are continuing to pour fresh troops into the peninsula. Their number is now believed to reach fifty thousand men, and for Asiatic troops they are extra- ordinarily well found in all the munitions of war. They even have an ambulance train. The war-fever in Japan is said to be "intense and universal," and the Press and "popular orators" are developing wild schemes for the conquest of China, or at least of Manchuria,—a proposition which should wind up in Euclid's fashion with the formula, "which is absurd." From China the most interesting item of news is the activity of the Emperor. The recluse of the Imperial city insists on full daily reports as to the war, and shows a very imperious spirit. He demands to know why the Japanese vessels which attacked the Arsenals were allowed to escape. It would, indeed, be a strange result of the war if the Emperor broke through the veil behind which he sits secluded and in- sisted, like the Mikado, on ruling as well as reigning. It would be a difficult work, however, for the Chinese analogue of the Shogun is a Committee, not an individual. Meantime, no one knows where the Chinese fleet has gone to except the Viceroy Li Hung Chang, and he keeps his own counsel. Will it appear off Yokohama?
