alternative of the use of force, will not fail to procure redress of grievances. There is likely to arise a class of cases where to delay is to yield up property and life, perhaps, to wanton destruction. I have not yet considered these. One can imagine the individual citizen guiding his life with the most perfect control and moderation. Such moderation, even in well-ordered countries, does not always insure safety. There is no guilt imputed to the man who in self-defence strikes back vigorously. The person who assaults is to be condemned abstractly, but when an emergency arises he may do so without infringing law or right. Much more is it true that in Eastern countries, where prejudices of race and religion exist, the most perfect moderation on the part of foreigners will not secure safety, and that it may be necessary in the interests of humanity to deliver sharp blows. Blood is thicker than water. It is not to be expected that the foreigner or his civil or military representative will stand still in such cases. I presume there is no government unwilling to recognise the necessities which so arise. They will put their recognition of it as little on paper as possible. They will ever impress the necessity of careful procedure. They will indicate that force may only be used at the peril of the official. They will scrutinise closely the use of it. But they will defend the officer who, in moderation and discretion, and with recognition of his responsibility, has acted with vigour. The representative who cannot so act, when it may be necessary, would indeed be unfit for his post. If I do not dwell further on this proposition the reason is manifest. When discretionary powers are granted, the fact implies the difficulty of making rules. This dispatch has already exceeded reasonable bounds, and I here leave the subject dealt with in your hands. In doing so I feel conscious that many considerations remain untouched. What I have said, however, will indicate my conception of our true policy in China. Circumstances and fuller information must modify whatever policy is adopted. And lest I may leave wrong impressions, I shall add that while I have spoken as if there is but one mind among our merchants in the East, practically there are many and divergent views held. The addresses to Mr. Browne cannot be considered conclusive on this head, though, as evidence, they may seem unimpeachable. Sir R. Alcock and Mr. Browne, I may say, differ between themselves, and each more or less from the merchants. They are, however, equally earnest in their advocacy of truth and of the interests of China, as they see them. Of some of the expressions of Mr. Burlingame I have spoken without reserve. My advocacy of the principles which formed the basis of his policy is the best testimony I can bear to my high estimate of his disposition and services. GEO. F. SEWARD. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL Anson Burlingame. "Defence of Massachusetts." Speech in the United States House of Representatives, June 21, 1856. Cambridge; printed for private distribution, 1856. 33 pp. G. H. Colton Salter. "The Chinese Embassy to All the Treaty Powers." North China Herald, Shanghai, December 14, 1867. (Reprint. An account of Burlingame's departure from Peking and the attack of bandits upon the party.) "Banquet to His Excellency Anson Burlingame and His Associates of the Chinese Embassy, by the Citizens of New York, on Tuesday, June 23, 1868." New York, 1868. 65 pp. "Reception and Entertainment of the Chinese Embassy by the City of Boston, August 21, 1868." Boston, 1868. Walter Hilliard Bidwell. "Hon. Anson Burlingame." The Eclectic Magazine, n. s., vol. 8, September, 1868, pp. 1155-7, with portrait. New York. Thomas C. Knox. "The Chinese Embassy to the Foreign Powers." Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 37, October, 1868, pp. 592-604. New York. Richard J. Hinton. "A Talk with Mr. Burlingame about China." The Galaxy, vol. 6, November, 1868, pp. 613-623. New York. "The Chinese Mission to Christendom." Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, vol. 68, February, 1869, pp. 194-206. Edinburgh. "Banquet in Honor of Major-General John A. Dix, Late Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States to France, Given by the Americans of Paris, Tuesday, June 1, 1869." Paris, 1869. 46 pp. (Containing a speech by Burlingame.) Elliot C. Cowdin. "Chamber of Commerce of the State Tribute to the Memory of Anson Burlingame, March 3, 1870. Eulogy." New York; 1870. 11 pp. (Also printed in the New York Times, March 4.) of New York. "A Memorial of Anson Burlingame, Late Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Chinese Empire to the Treaty Powers." Printed by order of the Committee of Arrangements of the City Council of Boston. 1870. 23 pp. James Gillespie Blaine. “Mr. Burlingame as an Orator.” The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 26, November, 1870, pp. 629-634. The more important newspaper biographical notices at the time of his death appear in the following: London Times, February 24. New York Times, February 24. New York Tribune, February 24. Boston Daily Advertiser, February 24. Detroit Advertiser, February 24. London Daily News, February 27. Toledo Commercial, March 3. Rochester Democrat, March 22. Biographical articles also are to be found in Appleton's "Annual Cyclopedia" for 1870, and in Appleton's "Cyclopedia of American Biography," edited by Wilson and Fiske, vol. 1, 1888. DOCUMENTARY United States of America. Diplomatic correspondence. Annual volumes, 1862-70. (Published in the years. 1862 and 1870 as "Message of the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress," in other years as "Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs Accompanying the Annual Message of the President.") Washington. United States Department of State MS. Archives. (Lettered on the back "China") vols. 20-28. Great Britain. Parliamentary Papers. London. (As follows:) China, nos. 1 and 2 (1864): Correspondence respecting the Anglo-Chinese fleet and Mr. Lay. China (1867): Memorials respecting the revision of the Treaty of Tientsin. (Con China, no. 1 (1869): Correspondence respecting the China, no. 1 (1870): Dispatch from Sir R. Alcock China, no. 4: Memorials respecting the Chinese treaty revision. China, no. 5 (1871): Correspondence respecting the revision of the treaty of Tientsin. |