crafty insight, for not only would such a
course have brought the stubborn enemy to a realisation of the weakness
of their position and thus paved the way to a dignified peace, but by
the act itself few would have been left to hand down the tradition of
a relentless antagonism. Yet with incredible obtuseness his advice was
ignored and he himself was referred to at the time by those who regarded
the matter from a different angle, with a scarcely-veiled dislike, which
towards many of his followers took the form of building materials and
other dissentient messages whenever they attempted to raise their voices
publicly. As an inevitable result the conquest of the country took
years, where it would have been moons had the more truly humane policy
been adopted, commerce and the arts languished, and in the end so little
spoil was taken that it was more common to meet six mendicants wearing
the honourable embellishment of the campaign than to see one captured
slave maiden offered for sale in the market places--indeed, even to this
day the deficiency is clearly admitted and openly referred to as The
Great "Domestic" Problem.

At various times during my residence here I have been filled with a
most acute gratification when the words of those around have seemed to
indicate that they recognised the undoubted superiority of the laws and
institutions of our enlightened country. Sometimes, it is true, upon a
more detailed investigation of the incident, it has presently appeared
that either I had misunderstood the exact nature of their sentiments
or they had slow-wittedly failed to grasp the precise operation of the
enactment I had described; but these exceptions are clearly the outcome
of their superficial training, and do not affect the fact my feeble and
frequently even eccentric arguments are at length certainly moving the
more intelligent into an admission of what constitutes true justice
and refinement. It is not to be denied that here and there exists a
prejudice against our customs even in the minds of the studious; but as
this is invariably the shadow of misconception, it has frequently been
my sympathetic privilege to promote harmony by means of the inexorable
logic of fact and reason. "But are not your officials uncompromisingly
opposed to the freedom of the Press?" said one who conversed with me on
the varying phases of the two countries, and knowing that in his eyes
this would constitute an unendurable offence, I at once a