VII.-1. The Life of William Makepeace Thackeray. By Lewis Melville. Two vols. London: Hutchinson 2. The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, with Biographical Introductions by his daughter, Anne And other works. IX.-1. The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson to his Family and Friends. Selected and edited with Notes and Introductions by Sidney Colvin. Two X.-1. Pratique Criminelle des Cours et Tribunaux. Par M. Faustin-Hélie. Paris: Marchal-Billard et Cie., 2. Histoire de la Procédure Criminelle en France. XI.-1. Further Correspondence respecting the Affairs of Swaziland. August 1890. (C. 6200.) 2. A Convention between Her Majesty and the South African Republic for the Settlement of the Affairs And other works. XII.-1. The Flora of Cheshire. Tabley. Edited by Spencer Moore, with a Bio- graphical Notice of the Author by Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff. London: Longmans and Co., 1899. 2. Poems Dramatic and Lyrical. By John Leicester II.-1. Narrative of an Expedition to Southern Africa during the years 1836 and 1837. By Captain Cornwallis Harris. Bombay American Mission And other works. III.-1. Vor Sonnenaufgang: Sociales Drama. 8te Auflage, 1898. Die Versunkene Glocke: Ein deutsches Märchendrama. 30te Auflage, 1897.-Fuhrmann 2. The Plays of Gerhart Hauptmann. [Lonely Lives; Hannele; The Weavers.] Translated by William And other works. IV.-1. Memoirs of the Right Hon. Sir John Alexander Macdonald. By Joseph Pope. Two vols. London: 2. Life and Times of Sir John A. Macdonald, Premier And other works. V.-1. Qu'est-ce que l'art? Par le Comte Léon Tolstoï. Traduit du russe et précédé d'une Introduction par Téodor de Wyzewa. Paris: Perrin et Cie., 1898. And other works. VI.-1. Report of the Departmental Committee appointed by the Board of Trade to inquire what Amendments are necessary in the Acts relating to Joint-stock Com- panies incorporated with Limited Liability under the Companies Acts, 1862 to 1890, with Appendix. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command VII.-1. Ruskin and the Religion of Beauty. Translated from the French of Robert de la Sizeranne by the Countess of Galloway. London: George Allen, 1899. 2. The Art-Teaching of John Ruskin. By W. G. And other works. - VIII.-1. The Life of Edward White Benson, sometime Archbishop of Canterbury. By his son, Arthur Christopher Benson. Two vols. London: Mac- 2. A Memoir of Richard Durnford, D.D., sometime Bishop of Chichester, with Selections from his Correspondence. Edited by W. R. W. Stephens, And other works. - IX. Statutes and Regulations made for the University of London by the Commissioners appointed under the X.-1. Lumsden of the Guides. A Sketch of the Life of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Burnett Lumsden, K.C.S.I., C.B. By General Sir Peter Lumsden, G.C.B., C.S.I., and George R. Elsmie, C.S.I. London: 2. The History of Lord Lytton's Indian Administra- tion, 1876 to 1880: compiled from Letters and Official Papers. By Lady Betty Balfour. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899 And other works. XI.-1. The Life of Wellington: the Martial Power of Great Britain. THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. ART. I.-1. The Yangtze Valley and Beyond. By Mrs. J. F. Bishop. London: John Murray, 1899. 2. Through the Yangtse Gorges. By Archibald John Little. Third and Revised Edition. London: Sampson Low, 1899. 3. The Break-up of China. By Lord Charles Beresford. London and New York: Harper and Brothers, 1899. 4. China in Transformation. By A. R. Colquhoun. London and New York: Harper and Brothers, 1898. 5. The Far-Eastern Question. By Valentine Chirol. London: Macmillan and Co., 1896. 6. Foreign Office Blue-books. Correspondence respecting Affairs in China. China, No. 1 (1898); China, No. 1 and No. 2 (1899). THE HE history of our relations with China within recent years may properly be divided into two unequal periods. The first extends from the close of the Anglo-Chinese War of 1858-60 down to the Japanese War of 1894-95. The second and much shorter period comprises the four or five years that have elapsed since the conclusion of the latter struggle. A marked contrast can be drawn between these two periods. In the long space of thirty-four years following the Treaty of Tien-tsin the most distinctive characteristics were stagnation and dull monotony. Trade proceeded on the lines laid down in the Treaty, and, all things considered, made fair progress; but outside the limits of the Treaty it may be said that no progress whatever was made. Time after time applications were addressed to the Chinese Government for permission to work some of the vast mineral wealth of the country, or to assist in improving the inland communication by building railways; but all in vain. The Chinese Government would neither work their mines themselves nor permit them to be worked by Vol. 191.-No. 381. B others; and while every other country in the world was being overspread by a network of railways, China alone refused to move. It was only within the last few years of the period that a very small beginning of railway enterprise was made. In other directions equal indifference prevailed. In finance, in the judiciary, and in military organisation no attempt was made to introduce reforms. The governing powers were perfectly well satisfied with the state of affairs, and turned a deaf ear to all suggestions of improvement. In contrast with this long period of stagnation the history of the last five years presents a picture of feverish activity. Sensible of her helplessness under the crushing defeat inflicted by the Japanese arms, China has yielded to fear everything that she formerly denied to reason. Developments have followed one another with startling rapidity. Concessions, both for mines and railways, have been obtained almost wholesale, and trading privileges have been granted of greater importance and of greater value, potentially at least, than all that went before. More startling still, the two principal naval strongholds the only two in fact that China ever possessed-have been made over, the one to Russia, the other to England, under the euphonious term of a lease; while two other convenient anchorages on the coast have been similarly conveyed, the one to Germany and the other to France. These latter will, doubtless, be in time transformed into places of arms. Simultaneously with this, China has appeared as a borrower in the European market; and whereas her previous borrowings were mere flea-bites, she has now pledged her revenues up to the hilt, and has contracted to pay to Europe, by way of interest and sinking fund, a sum which, as things now stand, will leave her barely enough to live on. And, as a last and tragic act in this drama, China has put to death, banished, or imprisoned a band of young reformers who apparently were single-minded in their desire for their country's good, and whose only fault was that they were in too great haste to remove the fetters. which have so long cramped and restrained the better energies of the nation. Such are the main features of the second and shorter period of recent Chinese history; but, in order to enable us better to estimate the precise value of the concessions gained and to take stock of the actual situation, we think it desirable to review very briefly the leading features of the earlier period. In a recent number of this Review, a writer, dealing with Quarterly Review, April 1894. |