THE CHINESE PLAN.
IT is not difficult to discern the motives which have induced those who rule at Pekin to pour out a fresh torrent of exculpatory lies. Seeing the persistence with which the Allies pursued the attack on Tientsin, they thought that if it succeeded it would be followed by an immediate advance upon Pekin, and resolved to meet that attack in two ways,—namely, by a retreating battle, waged with the spade as much as the rifle, during which it is hoped the European army will suffer much from attrition, and by a transfer of the capital to the old seat of the central power, Singan, or more accurately Segan, or Sian, in Shensi. This city has been chosen, first, because as the oldest metropolis of the Empire, and the actual seat of govern- ment. under four dynasties, a removal thither will give no shock to the prejudices of the people. The Chinese do not forget as we do, and to them Segan will seem a more natural residence for the Emperor than Pekin itself, which, after all, is to a race with whom time does not count a city of yesterday. It was selected because of its comparative nearness to the seats of Manchu power, a reason which since the advance of Russia has died away. Secondly, Segan is ready for the reception of the most ceremonious and luxurious Court in Asia. The inmates of the Imperial Palace have lived a secluded life until the idea of change appals them as it appals nuns. The climate of Began is said to be inviting, it is full of Imperial palaces, which have been carefully kept up, it is better supplied with provisions even than Pekin, and being a great centre of trade, it swarms with mer- chants, shopkeepers, artisans, and all the classes that help to ensure comfort and. luxury to a wealthy Court. There are now more people in Segan than in Pekin, and they are more prosperous, while they are, it is believed, devoted to the dynasty, which in 1868-70 saved them from the Mahommedan rebels who would have converted them by force. Thirdly, Began occupies perhaps the very best strategical position in China. All the great roads converge on it—one in particular stretches straight to Pekin—and it has communication by water through the Hoangho and the great canals with every portion of the Empire. It is pro- tected on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth by the river, and is well fortified after the ancient fashion, which the Chinese will soon learn to improve. They are master masons, if they are nothing else. It is, moreover, protected by its distance from everywhere. The maritime Powers could not attempt to march an army seven hundred and fifty miles through the very thick of China, while a few flat boats sunk in the reaches of the Hoangho would render access by water absolutely impossible. Russia cannot descend on Segan, even if she wished, without conquering all Mongolia first, and laying a rail- way through those vast deserts in the teeth of all the remaining Tartar tribes; and there is no other Power which could have even an interest in making the attempt. Japan, for example, is shunted by the removal into the far dis- tance, while if the Powers seize places on the coast they must hold them under a liability to attack from the interior by the great armies which the Chinese Emperor, once safe from menace in Segan, will have time as well as the means to levy and make strong. India might, no doubt, strike hard after she had occupied and digested Thibet, but that costly bit of Imperial work woald take a generation. The Manchu dynasty, in fact, would for a time be in- vulnerable, and if it could only find an able organiser— and it looks very much as if it had found one—might for a century bid defiance to any external pressure. It has been hard enough to coerce it at Pekin, but at Segan the Ambassadors of Europe will be in the position of suitors in a law court without evidence or funds. The Manchu dynasty, in fact, in leaving Pekin bursts through the toile, and whatever its future destiny, can no longer be compelled to cede provinces or concessions to European visitors under mere menace. Whatever Europe wants in future she must take with the strong hand, and at the risk of a most serious war.
That the resolution to transfer the capital has been taken we have no doubt, for it is mentioned in telegram after telegram by men who plainly do not recognise the importance of the news they send. Indeed, we think it probable that the resolve was the actual cause of the attack on the Legations, the Empress feeling humiliated by the decision, and grasping at the most striking revenge within her power. The transfer, however, will take time and elaborate reparations. There are thousands of attendants to be moved, masses of treasure, and valuable furniture without end, and this not only for the Emperor and Empress and their innumerable Court, but for all the great nobles who surround it, each of whom has a palace which must be stripped, and a movable fortune and a retinue as large as that of a European King. With so vast a movement to be effected transport must be col- lected as for an army, and on the hypothesis of a speedy advance of the Europeans, every day's delay became of importance and every agency which could cause delay a valuable help. It was clear to the Chinese mind that if the Powers thought their Ambassadors safe, they, or at all events some of them, would be less energetic in pushing on, and they therefore poured out through a hundred channels, through their own agents abroad, through the Viceroys and the Taotais of the ports, through great Chinese merchants, and, we fancy, through every China- man in whom the English firms were supposed to con- fide, assurances that the Ambassadors were alive and under the protection of the Government. No proof whatever was offered. No letter from a Minister was suffered to get through, still less was any Minister escorted by cavalry to Tientsin. The Government relied exclusively upon words, upon a confusion of dates, upon incessant repetition of the same phrases all dictated by the same authority ; but so vehemently were the assurances poured forth, so great is the effect of repetition from many quarters, that even the experienced began to doubt their own judgments, and half believed it possible that for some unimaginable reason the Government of China had not killed, but was only silencing, the repre- sentatives of Europe. The American Government actu- ally believed the assurances. The Russian Government, which also requires time, soothed popular impatience by publishing the messages. The Government of Italy halted its second division of troops "because the news from Pekin was favourable." Even the French Govern. ment, not usually very credulous, only asked for confirma- tion of the statements. Only the British Government stood firmly and stolidly on the ground of common- sense, and asked why, if its Minister was "alive and protected," he was unable to open communications with his superiors. Meanwhile there is hesitation, discussion, halfheartedness, or still more careful preparation ; and the Court of Pekin, which knows exactly whether the troops at Tientsin are moving or not, feverishly pushes on the arrangements which, if its inventions are dis- believed and its armies beaten, are to relieve the actors in the great tragedy from all fear of consequences. This, at least, is our belief as to what is occurring in Pekin. There may be delays' even when all is ready, for a dynasty does not fly readily from its capital ; but unless Europe fails in its duty, and the march to Pekin is abandoned, a proclamation will be issued declaring that the dynasty erred in abandoning its ancient seat, that it had been resolved to repair the error, and that the Emperor, accompanied by all the representatives of Europe falsely said to have been murdered, would move in procession to Segan, henceforward to be known as whatever is Chinese for "the City of the Throne."
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