looked out the Chinese equivalent for "idiocy," and with his finger on
the word, placed it under the eyes of each member of the Council. The
end of this scene may be described in Gordon's own words: "I said make
peace, and wrote out the terms. They were, in all, five articles; the
only one they boggled at was the fifth, about the indemnity. They said
this was too hard and unjust. I said that might be, but what was the
use of talking about it? If a man demanded your money or your life,
you have only three courses open. You must either fight, call for
help, or give up your money. Now, as you cannot fight, it is useless
to call for help, since neither England nor France would stir a finger
to assist you. I believe these are the articles now under discussion
at St Petersburg, and the only one on which there is any question is
the fifth." This latter statement I may add, without going into the
question of the Marquis Tseng's negotiations in the Russian capital,
was perfectly correct.

Gordon drew up several notes or memorandums for the information of the
Chinese Government. The first of these was mainly military, and the
following extracts will suffice:--

"China's power lies in her numbers, in the quick moving of her
troops, in the little baggage they require, and in their few
wants. It is known that men armed with sword and spear can
overcome the best regular troops equipped with breech-loading
rifles, if the country is at all difficult and if the men with
spears and swords outnumber their foe ten to one. If this is the
case where men are armed with spears and swords, it will be much
truer when those men are themselves armed with breech loaders.
China should never engage in pitched battles. Her strength is in
quiet movements, in cutting off trains of baggage, and in night
attacks _not pushed home_--in a continuous worrying of her
enemies. Rockets should be used instead of cannon. No artillery
should be moved with the troops; it delays and impedes them.
Infantry fire is the most fatal fire; guns make a noise far out
of proportion to their value in war. If guns are taken into the
field, troops cannot march faster than these guns. The degree of
speed at which the guns can be carried dictates the speed at
which the troops can march. As long as Peking is the centre of
the Government of China, China can never go to war with any