At present nothing is certain except that if Japan is
attacked by two Powers, Great Britain must intervene ; while if Russia is attacked by two, France must either declare war, or, accepting a British alliance, must renounce her alliance with Russia. The situation will be full of perils, especially for ourselves, hampered as we are by the rash though attractive alliance with Japan ; but not, we think, of insurmountable perils. The worst feature for our- selves of the whole case is the shattered and bewildering con- dition of our internal politics ; but an emergency both wakes up the political sense of our countrymen and strengthens their nerve. It should be noted most carefully that from the day the war begins China ceases to be a negligible quantity, and that the impulses which govern the absolute mistress of China are beyond European calculation. She ought, on all usual hypotheses, to wish to recover Manchuria ; but will she if it is to the advantage of Japan ?
