Synopses & Reviews
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. TROUBLOUS TIMES. IJREVTOUS to the arrival of Europeans at Canton the -- government of China had given much encouragement to foreign commerce, and statistical records exist to the present day which show a perfect knowledge in that country of the advantages of trade with the nations of the West. Unhappily, a condition of things arose unfriendly to peace, and tending to a war of races. In seeking for a cause of this change in the course of events, we are compelled to recognize, first of all, the arrogant pretensions to superiority on the part of the Chinese. They had never met with a people whom they considered at all comparable to themselves in point of civilization. Their traditions, and the culture of their schools, had deeply impressed the national mind that all but themselves were barbarians; while their long experience with the border tribes, and the conflict of ages with the aboriginal inhabitants, had shaped toward inferior and unfriendly states a policy of proud assumption, and of utter disregard of those just principles which they themselves confessed to be of great value in the home administration. Their fundamental maxim of intercourse with foreigners has been thus translated: The barbarians are like beasts, and not to be governed on the same principles as citizens. Were any one to attempt controlling them by the great maxims of reason, it would tend to nothing but confusion. Theancient kings well understood this, and accordingly ruled barbarians by misrule. Therefore, to rule barbarians by misrule is the true and best way of ruling them. If the reader is tempted to interject here a severe and righteous criticism, let him remember the misrule of Holland in Java, of Great Britain in South Africa and in Hindoostan, and the treatment of the Indian by...
Synopsis
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