spirit of European intercourse with inferior races to be convinced that it will not stop where it is. The beginning has been made, and the onward march is absolutely inevitable in spite of any efforts the Chinese may make. We believe that the onward march will be for the benefit of China, by bringing her at last within the family of the great civilised powers, and will be of incalculable service to the world by utilising and developing to the utmost the enormous internal resources of the Celestial Empire.

There never was a moment at which it was more important to form just and accurate notions of the history, character, and policy of the Chinese, than at this time when the rulers of the French Republic have entered upon a contest with the Celestial Empire of which they hardly themselves know the cause, the motives, or the probable result. These considerations, however, appear to have no weight with the French Minister. He has learned nothing from the eminent Chinese scholars of the Institute, or from the long annals of the French Missionaries of the Faith, or from more recent political experience. His policy, as far as it is known z the world, is blind and baseless, being founded on the as sumption that the Chinese could be bullied and frightened into submission by demonstrations to which he does n venture to give the name of war. M. Ferry forgets the chat is to France a mere incident of colonial adventITE B to China a question of national independence and existens It was perfectly evident, from the moment that the Frend eft the conquest of Annam and the occupsta Tonquin, in order to open the Red River, that questions & extreme diddenly would arise on the boundLT, AND THE China would not submit, without resistance. To the Tesne

se formidable a neighbor on her southern frame, su in a perince i now degendent on the Chinese Emies From that moment a collision was mer slut.

risk to themselves, because as long as it lasts France is debarred from the exercise of belligerent rights over neutrals. We cannot foresee what will be the termination of this singular contest, and we abstain from speculation as to the operations which may be contemplated by the French Admiral, when he has strength to execute them. But we must protest against the extraordinary strain M. Ferry has put upon the international law of reprisals. Not being authorised by the Constitution of France to declare war without the assent of the Chambers, the Government have sanctioned, under the name of reprisals, acts which are pure acts of war, and which in themselves constitute a state of war. Reprisals mean the seizure of a pledge for the satisfaction of a special demand for reparation, the pledge being restored when the reparation is made. But the furtive entrance of the French vessels of war into the River Min, under colour of peace (for they saluted the Imperial flag after their arrival at Foochow), and the subsequent destruction of the arsenal and of the forts at the mouth of the river, which were taken in reverse and were therefore comparatively defenceless, are acts which nothing but an actual state of war can justify. No more formal declaration of war is needed by the Power assailed in such a manner; the fact speaks for itself. It used to be considered that orders to ‘burn, sink, and destroy' the vessels of another Power, not being a declared enemy, and before a declaration of war, were piratical. Moreover, a declaration of the intentions of the French Government is due to the rest of the world, and to neutral nations having enormous interests at stake, which are seriously compromised by these hostilities. The season is now too far advanced for any serious operations to be undertaken in the present year in Northern China, which would require a much larger army than the French have as yet transported to the East. The occupation of Keelung simply involves the employment of a large garrison in the place, and it would be found that the island of Formosa is not more valuable to France than the island of Chusan was to ourselves, when we occupied and subsequently evacuated it.

These ravages on the coast, or even the occupation of one or two outlying islands, will have no effect on the heart of the Empire, though they will probably increase the irritation of the nation against foreigners to a dangerous degree. It must be confessed that the Chinese have small reason to form a high opinion of the political morality and the respect

for international law of some members of the European family. They have been wantonly assailed, and in this instance no provocation at all proceeded from them. Their attitude has been purely defensive, and such it will probably continue to be.

In conclusion we would only remind M. Ferry of a remark of the Duke of Wellington, well known in this country, when he declared in the House of Lords that nothing was more to be avoided by a great nation than 'little wars." They are carried on with a peace establishment; they waste the resources of the country; they raise awkward questions with other Powers; and the results obtainable by such attacks on Tunis, Madagascar, and Tonquin bear no proportion at all to what they cost. The fabric of the Chinese Empire is too old and too vast to be shaken by a few depredations on the coast; it has survived far greater dangers, both internal and external; compared with the huge bulk of the Chinese nation, which is singularly united by race, by uniformity of customs, and by obedience to authority, these are but the stings of an insect; and if France were more deeply engaged in hostilities on a great scale in the far East, she might find in China the Mexico of the Republic. We trust that the mediation of some neutral Power, which China has repeatedly invoked and France refused, may still settle the dispute, which is equally mischievous to France herself, to China, and to the commerce and peace of the world.

ART. IX.-Family Memorials. Compiled by ANNA W. MERIVALE. (Printed for private circulation.) 1884.

SOME

OME account of a small volume of memorials of the Merivale family may perhaps not be uninteresting to a larger circle of readers than that of the relatives and friends to whom the record is addressed. The narrative, extending over nearly a century and a half, contains, like almost all similar compilations, many curious notices of events, of character, and of manners. Perhaps not one among a hundred historians, annalists, and memoir writers, has mentioned a circumstance or rumour of which Mr. Samuel Merivale is reminded by the reviving news of the surrender of Quebec.' 'Montcalm's death gives me the more pleasure because he was, if I mistake not, the very Rogue that shot the poor boy that was driving him from Tavistock to Plymouth at the beginning of the War; for which crime he, by his greatness, evaded the deserved Punishment.' The story must have a foundation in fact, as the narrator lived at Tavistock, both at the time when the alleged outrage was committed, and at the date of the letter which contains the statement. Why Montcalm shot the postboy is a subject of reasonable curiosity; but it would be still more interesting to learn whether such a crime could really be committed with impunity by a nobleman and an eminent military commander in the service of a Power with which England was then at war. There was at least one precedent for the execution of a member of the Legation from a friendly Court, who had murdered an English subject.

6

Miss Merivale has displayed judgement and good taste in her treatment of a congenial subject. The literary and official distinction in later times of several members of her family reflects an interest on their ancestors. The founder, or first of the race whose life is recorded, was a favourable specimen of an unambitious and yet cultivated class which is little known to ordinary students of the social history of the eighteenth century. Provincial Dissenting ministers were far out of the range of Horace Walpole's acquaintance. They are not mentioned in the course of sixty years of correspondence by Mrs. Delany, and they were unknown to Boswell. The great novelists of the time did justice to the clergy of high and low degree; but Dr. Primrose, Parson Abraham Adams, Yorick, and the Dr. Harrison of Fielding's 'Amelia,' were all ornaments of the Church of England.

The defect may perhaps be supplied in many volumes of Nonconformist hagiology, but theological biographies form a perishable branch of literature; and admiring disciples are bent on commemorating spiritual zeal and religious orthodoxy rather than on recording secular habits and characteristics.

The second half of the volume consists of extracts from the letters and diaries of Miss Merivale's father, John Henry Merivale, Commissioner in the Court of Bankruptcy, who is remembered by some of the older generation as an agreeable member of society and an accomplished man of letters. Dean Merivale, who has given some assistance to his sister in her present task, quotes the statement of one of his own friends, that Mr. Merivale was the best-dressed man in London, and the opinion of another correspondent that he was the happiest of all persons known to the writer. At that time all Mr. Merivale's twelve children were alive and thriving, and his three eldest sons had already attained high academic distinction. The father, who was a sound lawyer, but not a fluent or ready advocate, had succeeded but moderately in his profession, and he was disappointed in his reasonable hope of becoming a Master in Chancery. His intimate friend Denman had, when he was himself appointed Attorney-General, obtained, as he thought, from Lord Brougham for Mr. Merivale the reversion of the next appointment but one. The promise was, for some unexplained reason, never performed; and Mr. Merivale's chance of promotion by Brougham's successors was probably weakened by his conversion in later years to Conservative opinions. His principal interest was in his literary undertakings, and he would probably have abandoned his professional career but for the judicious remonstrances of his wife and of some of his friends. He was, in his earlier days, a frequent contributor to the periodicals of the time; and he published two or three poems, since forgotten, which were so far successful that they paid their expenses. At a private school and at Cambridge he had acquired a respectable knowledge of Greek and Latin, and he was a good Italian scholar. His translations into verse from the Greek Anthology were justly praised; and he published a creditable version of Schiller's lyrical poems, having learned German, with the aid of one of his daughters, at the age of sixty. At one time he was inclined to undertake the modest and laborious task of writing a history of Devonshire, but he received insufficient encouragement from the publishers.