rity of
these people are the inoffensive and industrious peasants of the
interior, who have long been accustomed to bad government; as they will
scarcely find their lot harder now, they will probably quietly accept
the new order, unless some radical change is made affecting their
habits of life, which is unlikely. Some of the old conservative gentry
are opposed to the republic; but, now the Manchu dynasty is gone, whom
or what can they suggest in its place that would be received favorably
by the country? The descendant of the Mings? Or the descendant of
Confucius?

Neither seems a likely candidate in present circumstances. For it may
very well be the case that as the revolution has been so largely
military, and parts of the army need careful handling, as the recent
riots in Peking showed, the Republican Government will assume something
of a distinctively military character, and Yuan Shih-kai, as its head,
be in a position not very different from that of a military
dictator--as Diaz was in Mexico. The republic will, of course, have its
troubles, and serious ones enough, to face, but the balance of
probabilities certainly suggests its lasting awhile.

R.F. JOHNSTON

Like political upheavals in other ages and other lands, the Chinese
revolution has been the outcome of the hopes and dreams of impetuous
and indomitable youth. Herein lies one of its main sources of strength,
but herein also lies a very grave danger. Young China to-day looks to
Europe and to America for sympathy. Let her have it in full measure.
Only let us remind her that the work she has so boldly, and perhaps
light-heartedly, undertaken is not only the affair of China, not only
the affair of Asia, but that the whole world stands to gain or lose
according as the Chinese people prove themselves worthy or unworthy to
carry out the stupendous task to which they have set their hands.

The grave peril lies, of course, in the tendency of the Chinese
"Progressives"--as of all hot-headed reformers, whether in China or in
England--to break with the traditions of past ages, and to despise what
is old, not because it is bad, but because it is out of harmony with
the latest political shibboleth. Those of us who believe in the
fundamental soundness of the character of the Chinese people, and are
aware of the high dignity and value of a large part of their inherited
civilization and culture, are awaiting with deep anxiety an answer to
this question: Is the New Chin