[TO THE EDITOR OP TIM "SpEcuron.1 SER,—Having resided in China
for thirty-eight years, and having made a special study of China's history and mode of government, I think it extremely improbable that the Chinese Government either can or will permanently change the capital from Pekin to Sian. It would take up too much of your space if I stated all the grounds for this opinion. I will, therefore, only state one. The Emperor is the Son of Heaven, and is the only person in the Empire who worships heaven; on this worship the Chinese believe that the prosperity of all in the Empire depends. The omission of the worship would be regarded with horror and alarm throughout the Empire. Now there is only one Temple of Heaven, that at Pekin. The sacrifices to heaven are performed once a year. I therefore firmly believe that the Emperor will return to Pekin in time to perform the usual sacrifice to heaven.—I am, Sir, &c., CHRISTOPHER T. GARDNER, late H.M.'s Consul, Amoy. Park Lawn, The Park, Cheltenham.
P.S.—As for General Gordon's alleged advice, General Gordon in 1880 told me the advice he gave to the Chinese Government was in case of war with a foreign Power temporarily to evacuate Pekin and to devastate the country round, as the Russians did with Moscow. He did not tell me he had advised the Chinese Government permanently to change the capital.
[How then did Sian continue the capital for so many hundred years F—En. Spectator.]
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