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diers. An émeute in a great Continental | the world conquering everybody, who build city is always possible, and an émeute is a steamers, and who entered Pekin, have very formidable thing. Even in London stolen some of it, and applied it very adroitmen quail at the idea of a riot, and in Paris ly to the practical work of life? It looks the population comprises at least 200,000 possible, for after all there is a steamer, and men who have passed through the military she does move very quickly, and does carry mill, and are as formidable in all except heavy guns, and can run against tide, and matériel as regular soldiers. No Govern- must have come into existence somehow. ment ever thinks it indispensible to overawe A Hindoo would assert that she was an illuLiverpool, but no Government we are likely sion, like everything else, and a Mussulman to see will venture to leave Lyons unmen- would not care whether he could build one aced by a very powerful force. To press the or not, but a Chinaman has a practical side Governments of the Continent to disarm, is to his mind. Wisdom began and will end equivalent to asking Great Britain to dis- with him, that is clear; but building steamperse her Navy and leave Ireland to the boats being a valuable result of wisdom, he care of a civil police. We should not com- ought to be able to build them. Something ply, and neither will they, and as matters is wrong, something has been neglected, or stand they are no more wrong than we are. a Westesn barbarian could not do what the Of course we do not question, far less child of the Flowery Land is obliged to deny, that the existing state of affairs is very leave undone. It is very annoying, and bad, very injurious to civilization, to free- there are those Japanese, people to whom dom, and to progress, but the remedy, we wisdom has been given, who are even wiser, feel convinced, will be found not in disarm- and more sedate, and more ritualistic than aments, but in making armaments so per- their Chinese brethren, who are beginning fect as not to be burdensome. When every to learn of the Westerns, finding out the man has been trained to arms, nations will philosophy of steamers. The Chinaman be perfectly safe without great crowds round does not like it at all, feels like a country the colours, and this training may by wise squire when a barrister is pleading before arrangements be secured without great na- him, half doubts if he knows everything in tional injury. Two years of drill, gymnas. the world, and is actually ready to listen to tics, and physical instruction, so far from advice. Prince Kung talked the matter injuring youth, decidedly benefit them, bene- over with the Foreign Comptroller of Cusfit them so much as to repay the whole loss toms and the Board of Foreign Affairs, and of time; and two years seem, from the at last resolved to act. The Chinese mode Prussian example, to be amply sufficient. of action is of the French official kind. To attack a nation so trained is a task which The master, Emperor, Regent, or favourite will not be attempted without grave reason, hints that he wants a certain result, and the and to secure peace until there is grave Ministry in whose department the business reason for breaking peace is all that, in the lies draws up a statement of reasons why present condition of the world, statesmen, that result is desirable, and offers a series of whatever they hope, will expect to accom- practical suggestions, beneath which the plish. vermillion pencil writes "sanctioned," and behold there is a new law!

From the Spectator.

A CHINESE REFORM BILL.

THE Emperor of China, a lad of fourteen or fifteen, who rules, or is officially supposed to rule, one-third of the human race, issued on the 30th December, 1866, a very curious and a very important decree. Every candidate for office in China is to pass an examination in European astronomy, mathematics, and physical science. It appears that the Chinese mind has of late been dreadfully shaken by a new and very unpleasant doubt. Wisdom of course is a Chinese product, as local as tea; but may not these troublesome Western peoples, who go blundering about

The Foreign Board, instigated by Prince King and aided by the Comptroller of Cus toms, have in this way drawn up and the Emperor has signed a memorial a translation of which is now before us. It is a most remarkable document, evidently the work of men who see clearly what is wanted, and have a glimmering of the way to arrive at it, but who cannot bear to acknowledge that either way or end is new, and are vaguely puzzled as to the extent to which they are prepared to go. Their wish is that Chinamen should know how to build steamships, but to put it in that brutal way would be impossible, would wound Chinese self-esteem too deeply, perhaps expose them to the imputation of barbarian leanings, or worse still, of latent contempt for philosophy. So

own.

they start with the assertion which no Chinaman will dream of questioning, that the West borrowed from China "the Heaven-sent elements of Chinese knowledge," and the Chinese, in copying their processes, are simply carrying out their own processes one step further. That point being settled satisfactorily, there is at all events no degradation in acquiring Western knowledge. For example, China invented or received from Heaven the science of numbers, and the Western men stealing that, applied and applied it till they produced European mathematics, wherefore a Chinaman in studying mathematics is but regaining his He may even apply his knowledge to shipbuilding, for although the application of thought to useful purpose is in itself perhaps base, still there" is a chapter in the ritual of Chow devoted to the affairs of carriage-building and carpentry, and this in a book which for hundreds and thousands of years the schools have reverenced as a canonical work." Chinamen, moreover, once knew astronomy, even the husbandmen knew it; and in studying astronomy the Chinese mind does but regain its own. The great objection, however still remains to be overcome. To learn these things Chinese must study under foreigners, and to learn wisdom of the foreigner has always struck Chinamen as disgraceful. He alone is wise, and is he to learn of fools? The Board meet this difficulty very boldly, and the paragraph in which it is disposed of is probably the most revolutionary which ever appeared in the Pekin Gazette, an official journal to which all Moniteurs and Gazettes are young:

"As regards the assertion that it would be disgraceful to study under European teachers, this saying is even still more devoid of truth. Of all the disgrace under Heaven, there is no shame (as Mencius says) greater that of being inferior to others. Now, the nations of Europe for thirty or forty years past have devoted study to the construction of steamers, mutually learning from each other, and new methods of construction are daily developed. Japan also has of late despatched persons to Great Britain to study the English language and investigate mathematical science as a permanent basis for acquiring the art of steamship-building, in which before many years are past, they may be expected to have attained proficiency. Without dwelling upon the various powerful and leading maritime nations of Europe, which mutually treat with each other as equals, if a mere insignificant State like Japan shows itself capable of eagerly striving to build up its power, whilst China alone adheres immovably to the routine of her long-descended ways, regardless of fresh

activity, where, we would ask, will then be the greatest occasion for shame? If, on the contrary, we, though not holding ourselves disgraced as the inferiors of others, strive diligently be, perhaps, in the future that we shall actually to bring ourselves on a par with others, it may outstrip them. If, on the other hand, simply holding that to learn from others is disgraceful, we remain content in our position of inequality, will refraining altogether from study be the means of freeing us from disgrace???

That paragraph was obviously suggested by a European, but its acceptance and publication in an official document marks the depth of the change which has come over the Chinese mind. It has realized the fact, openly realized it, that there is a possibility of advance, and that step once gained, all the rest is easy. No other Oriental nation has yet gained it. Mohammedans everywhere believe in their hearts that progress is useless, thought as well as religion having ended with the Koran; Hindoos deliberately believe that nothing good can come out of so stupid and barbarous a people as the English. The Chinaman alone seems as yet to have perceived that there is a mind in the West, and to be willing to avail himself of its aid. A regular University has accordingly been established for the study of Western knowledge, and the triennial examinations are to be held, appointments conferred on successful candidates, and "extraordinary promotion to be awarded to graduates taking a first-class." There is no doubt that with these inducements the university will fill, and we may yet find a Chinese Mandarin who is also a Brunel, a white button who has discovered a star, or a blue button who has applied a novel motive power. Chinese intellect, to reason from analogies, ought to take very kindly to physical science, for they are even now, with their "cram" rules, the best hydraulists, carpenters, and ironworkers in the East; and the Japanese, who so closely resemble them, seem able to learn anything. "God," says an Arab proverb, "has given to Arabs tongues, to Englishmen heads, and to Chinamen hands," and if the English head and the Chinese hand ever come together, the result will probably repay the labour of a generation.

The

The suspension of mental progress in Asia, after so much had been attained, is one of the most inscrutable problems in all history, the one which of all others oftenest suggests despair. Is it the power of accumulation which has perished, or only the desire? If the power, then mankind has no future, for the European races may be arrest

The

lambkins leaping,

very snakes crawl here and there, but Holy Tommie's sleeping.

JACOB.

Ah, him that used to work with Bourne !
Bourne told me how he blunder'd.

He used to preach. I heard him once. Lord,
The women squeak'd like sucking-pigs, the
how he groan'd and thunder'd !

men roared out like cattle, And my gray hair stood up on end!

TIMOTHY.

All ignorant stuff and tattle! He lost his head thro' meddling so with things

that don't concern us;

When we go questioning too close, 'tis little
God will learn us:
"Tis hard enough to squeeze the crops from His
dry ground about us,

ed as the Asiatic races have been. If the | The gorse has got its coat of gold, and smells desire, how is it to be reawakened? Clearly as sweet as clover, not by denying that any progress whatever The lady-smocks are in the hedge, the primhas been made. The late Dr. Ballantyne, And out upon the common there, you see the roses nigh over, whilom Principal of the Benares College, a profound Sanscrit scholar and a man of great originality, always believed that he had discovered the secret of making the Hindoo mind progressive. "We must make the pump suck again," he said, "by pouring in a little water." The moment, as he believed, that a Hindoo scholar could be made to see the connection between his own philosophy and that of the West he would begin to be interested in it to press forward as he would believe, upon his own road. He succeeded in training some very remarkable men, and this Chinese decree is a curious testimony to the truth of his leading principle. Europeans might have derided the Chinese foundation for ever without influencing the Chinese mind, but the moment they propose to build on it the Chinese hesitate, examine, and yield. "The idea," say the foreign Board, "that it is wrong to abandon Chinese methods and to follow in the steps of Europeans may also be dilated upon. It is to be remarked that the germ of Western sciences is in fact originally borrowed from the Heaven-sent elements of No Chinese knowledge. The eyes of Western philosophers having been turned towards the East, and the genius of these men being minately painstaking and apt for diligent thought, they have succeeded in pursuing study to new results. For these they have usurped the name of sciences brought from over-sea; but in reality the methods (of their philosophy) are Chinese methods. This is the case with astronomy and mathematics, and it is equally so with the remaining sciences China has originiated the method, which Europeans have received as an inheritance." The hated notion of adopting a new career is superseded by that of advancing in an old one and the reluctant pupil becomes immediately an eager stu

dent.

From the Spectator.

AN ENGLISH ECLOGUE.

TIMOTHY.

WELL, here's the cuckoo come again, after the barley-sowing,

The duck-weed white upon the pond, all round the violets blowing,

But as for serving 'tother world, it gets its crops without us.

Ah,

Tommie's was a loss that used to put me out completely!

man about could plough a field or kill a pig so neatly.

That's where it lies!

JACOB.

We get no good by asking questions, neighbour : Parsons are sent to watch our Souls, while we

are hard at labour:

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Why, Tommie was a ruddy lad, as rosy as an apple,

Till Methodism filled his head, and he was seen at chapel;

Found out that he'd received a call, grew dismal, dull, and surly,

Read tracts when working in the fields, prayed wildly late and early,

And by and by, began himself to argue with the doubting,

And tho' he'd scarcely been to school began his public spouting.

And soon I found I wasn't blind - how he let matters go here,

While he was at his heavenly work, things suffered down below here:

The hens dropt off for want of feed, horses | His grew sick and useless,

For lack o' milking presently the cows grew dry and juiceless;

And when I found him out, and swore in rage and consternation,

I'm hang'd if Tommie didn't cry and talk about salvation !

"Salvation's mighty well," says I, right mad with my disaster,

"But since I want my farm-stock saved, you find another master!"

And I was firm, and sent him off, tho' he scem'd broken-hearted;

He popped a tract into my fist the morning he departed;

Aye, got a place next day with Bourne, who knew the lad was clever,

But dawdled still about his work, and preach'd as much as ever.

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JACOB.

He

life grew hard, his back grew bare, his
brain grew dreadful airy,

thought of t'other world the more 'cause
this seem'd so contrary,

Went wandering on the river-side, and in the
woods lay lurking,

Gaped at the sky in summer time when other
men were working,

And once was spied a-looking up where a wild
lark was winging,

And tears a-shining in his eyes,
lark was singing!

Last

And

- because the

harvest time he came to me, and begged
for work so sadly,

vowed he had reformed so much, and
look't so sick and badly,

I had not heart to send him off, but put him
out a-reaping,

But, Lord! the same tale o'er again he work-
ed like one half-sleeping.

"Be off!"
says I, "you're good for naught,"
and all the rest stood sneering;
"Master, you may be right," says he,
"the
Lord seems hard o' hearing!

I thought I could fulfil below the call that I had
gotten,

But here's the harvest come again, and all my
life seems rotten:

The Methodists are little good, the High Church
folk are lazy,

And

even when I pray alone, the ways o'
Heaven seem hazy!

Religion don't appear to keep an honest lad
from sad things,

And tho' the world is fine to see, 'tis full of
cruel bad things;

Why, I can't walk in fields and lanes, and see
the flowers a-growing,

And look upon the bright blue sky, or watch
the river flowing,

But even there, where things look fine, out
creeps the speckled adder,

Or silver snakes crawl by, and all at once the
world looks sadder.

It's just the way with Methodists. Give me the The better I have seem'd to grow, the worse all

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High Church, neighbour !

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And what d'ye think that Tommie said? ."I don't play shillyshally,

If I'm to serve the Lord at all, 'twill be contin-
ually;

You think that you can grub and cheat from
Sunday on to Sunday,

And put the Lord Almighty off by howling out
on one day;

But if you want to get to heav'n, your feelings must be stronger;"

And Holy Tommie would not go to chapel any longer.

Learn'd sense? No, no! Reform'd? Not he! But moped and fretted blindly, Because the blessed Methodists had used him so unkindly.

things have gone with me,

It's all a great d-d mystery! I wish the

Lord was done with me!"

And slowly, ever after that, Tommie grew
paler, stiller,

And soon he could not work at all, and quick-
ly he grew iller,

And when the early new-year rains were yellow

ing pool and river,

He closed his eyes, and slept, and gave the puz-
zle up for ever.

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THE essential and only question which needs to be asked in order to test either the literary or spiritual value of a hymn is this, whether the imaginative power and rhythmical or musical feeling of the writer has been so used as to bring the mind of the reader into an attitude in which God and Christ are more vividly seen, and their nature more powerfully realized than it would be without the aid of that imaginative power and that rhythmical measure. There is no different test for the literary and for the spiritual value of a hymn, because a poem which, however beautiful in itself, takes the form of a hymn, when that form turns out to be a spurious one, when, in other words, the writer overlays the personal relation of the mind to God with distracting imaginative touches or fanciful images, is in a literary no less than in a spiritual point of view a bad hymn. Just as a drama, however beautiful in its poetical structure, is in a literary sense a bad drama if it does not open a true and vivid insight into the human characters it professes to deal with, so a hymn, however beautiful its poetical structure, is a bad hymn which does not bring us face to face with the object of devotion, and which allows its poetical detail to hang between the soul and God and intercept the view, instead of further revealing Him. Hence many of the most beautiful poems on devotional subjects seem to us very bad hymns, like, for example, George Herbert's, beginning : —

"Sweet day! so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky;
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night,
For thou must die.

*Original Hymns. By Francis Turner Palgrave. London: Macmillan and Co.

"Sweet rose! whose hue, angry and brave,
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou must die."

We do not suppose Herbert ever intended this for a hymn, but it is now often, and we think very unfortunately, used as one. So far from bringing us into the direct presence of God, it hangs a delicate fretwork of fancies, sometimes grotesque, sometimes exquisitely beautiful, before the mind, which as much shuts out the object of devotion as the rich foliage of a tree shuts out the sun.

The great beauty of most of the dozen hymns before us that they keep so faithfully to the purpose of a hymn, and use the imaginative power and poetical feeling of the writer in absolute subordination to this

end. Instead of distracting the mind with beauty, and scattering the poetical glimpses they give us over a wide area of speculative thought or spiritual emotion, they concentrate the rays of thought and feeling to a focus in the one Object of faith and love. Take, for instance, this fine verse in the hymn for morning,

"O Lord of lights! 'tis Thou alone

Canst make our darkened hearts Thine own:
Though this new day with joy we see,
Great Dawn of God! we cry for Theo!"

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-are all

Here all the associations of the dawn,
the faint glimmer of cold light on the edge
of the horizon, the shiver it brings with it
which attends that chill anticipation of the
over all nature, the tremulous stir of life
sun's heat, the sense of intense serenity and
silence which this first faint birth of trouble
and sorrow brings home to us,
pressed into the service of the true purpose
minds to the first touch of God within the
of a hymn, and all converge to open our
spirit. The same impression is made by the
whole of the following fine hymn, in which
the writer with a certain courage refers to
the Oriental splendour of the Apocalyptic
Vision for the purpose of deepening the
contrast between it and the truer concep-
tion of our Lord, that the kingdom of God
is" within you: "·

"THE CITY OF GOD.

Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστί.

"O thou not made with hands,
Not throned above the skies,
Nor wall'd with shining walls,
Nor framed with stones of price,

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