[To THE EDITOR Of THE " SPECTATOR:I Si,—With reference to
my letter on this subject in the Spectator of February 20th, will you now allow me to quote from Dr. Martin's "A Cycle of Cathay" (1896), p. 221 ?— " After the capture of the Viceroy at Canton the Governor and Mandarins were happy to be permitted to exercise their functions under English authority ; and now that the capital was taken and the throne virtually vacant, would not all the Mandarins of the Empire have been glad to do the same ? Elgin's omission to open Tientsin when he first had it in his power was, as I have said, a glaring blunder; nor was it a less blunder to fail to re- organise the Empire on European principles when he had the capital in his possession."
My former statement that the Mandarins in the North of China virtually offered the government of the Empire to Lord Elgin was not, perhaps, absolutely correct; but the difference between that position and the state of affairs delineated by Dr. Martin is so small as to be not worth quibbling about. In a previous page of the work referred to Dr. Martin mentions that on Hienfung's abandonment of Pekin it was a serious question with the Allies whether they should set the Empire on its legs or go to Nankin and negotiate with the rebel chief. "Setting the Empire on its legs" doubtless meant that the shoes worn would be foreign.
[We cannot publish any more letters on this subject.— ED. Spectator.]
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