This, in a public service like that of Great Britain, is a splendid career for so young a man, aided by no special interest, and distinguished rather by ordinary parts in a high state of activity, than by the qualities of what Confucius was wont to call "the superior man."

Mr Thomas Taylor Meadows is a remarkable contrast to Sir H. Parkes: his Northumbrian stature and solidity indicate a man of slow adaptability, not easily moved from any opinion he once takes up; and his early education at a German University has given him a tendency to theorising somewhat in excess of the actual grasp of his mind. He has been connected in an important manner with the Tai-ping movement, because from an early period of its existence he took a great interest in it, and industriously availed himself of his position in the Consular Service to collect information regarding that move

In his most valuable and interesting work, The Chinese and their Rebellions,' and in his long reports to Government, he always took a very favourable view of the Tai-pings. Mr Meadows has the credit of having been the first among our modern Sinologues to comprehend the vital principles of the Chinese State, and the pretensions of the Rebellion in relation to these principles; and his great knowledge of the Chinese has been gathered not only by hard and intelligent study (for there is such a thing as industrious unintelligent study) of their language and literature, but also by frequently travelling among them as one of themselves, in circumstances which exposed him to very great danger. He is not for a moment to be confounded with the rut of Tai-ping sympathisers in China, or with Colonel Sykes et hoc omne genus at home; but, owing to the interest which the Rebellion excited in him from its resemblance to earlier revolutionary movements in China, and to

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the foolish character of many of the objections brought against it, he greatly exaggerated its merits, and lost sight of the deterioration which took place in the character and in the practices of its leaders. It was of importance, however, for a competent person among our officials in China to take the side of the Tai-pings and say all that could be said in their favour. While doing so Mr Meadows has always shown himself a scholar and a gentleman, and he has thrown much light on collateral subjects of interest and importance. It is greatly to be regretted that some differences with Sir Frederick Bruce when Mr Meadows was Acting Consul at Shanghai, and his own love of studious retirement, should have prevented him from taking a much higher place than he has done in Anglo-Chinese officialdom. At his own request he was banished to the unimportant consulship of Newchwang in Manchuria some years ago, and as he has never shown any disposition to be released from that post, we can only hope that he may soon lay before the public the result of his researches in Manchu language and history.

So far as I can judge in regard to a subject which seems purposely kept as much in the dark as possible, Admiral Sir James Hope was the British officer in China who took the most active part in bringing about a change in our relationships towards the Tai-pings; but I have no means of determining whether this was done from a serious view of the position, or simply from the natural tendency of naval officers to cut out work for themselves and for those under their command. There can be no doubt that the Taku disaster of 1859 was one which would have been fatal to the prospects of any British admiral not backed up either by great interest or by much popularity in the service. Both these causes, com

bined with his own personal gallantry, have served to throw a veil over Admiral Hope's management on that occasion; and it may also be said, that previous to the disaster our experience of Chinese warfare had not warranted any expectation of such serious resistance as Sankolinsin made at the mouth of the Peiho in 1859. In determining on the clearance of a thirty-mile radius round Shanghai, in the operations which effected that end, and in his support of the course of conduct followed by Captain Dew in Chekiang, Admiral Hope did valuable service to the cause of order and peace in China; but it was by the support he gave to General Ward, and to the establishment of the Ever-Victorious Army on the footing of a respectable force, that he dealt his most effectual blow against the Tai-pings. Of his subordinate, Captain Roderick Dew, it is not necessary to repeat here what has already been said in the commencement and the end of Chapter VII. The valley of the Wye has reason to be proud of so dashing and distinguished a naval officer.

Both the chief of the present Abyssinian Expedition and his second have served in China. Sir Robert Napier held a divisional command under Sir Hope Grant on the Peking Expedition, and directed the capture of the North Fort at Taku, impressing on his troops a high idea of his ability, and on observers like myself, of his geniality of disposition. Major-General Sir Charles W. Staveley went through a good deal of service in the Crimea, having been in the battles of Alma and Balaclava, and in command of the 44th Regiment at the fall of Sebastopol. In the China campaign of 1860 he commanded a brigade, and, in April and May 1862, was in command of the force employed against the Tai-pings in the neighbourhood of Shanghai, when the fortified town of Najow

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was taken, the walled cities of Kading, Tsipoo, and Cholin, and several intrenched camps. He has the reputation of being very active and kind-hearted, but cautious, and more inclined to fulfil the duties of a second in command than for assuming the initiative and the responsibility required of a chief. His appointment of a British officer to command the Ever-Victorious Army was an event forced upon him by circumstances rather than of his own seeking, and his bearing towards the Chinese was dignified, reserved, and guarded; but at the same time he was very polite towards them, and they thought very highly of him. His successor, Major-General W. G. Brown, on the contrary, was not at all afraid of incurring responsibility, and was apt to be a little highhanded with the Chinese. The acquaintance of this officer with active service had been drawn chiefly from the Punjaub campaign, he having been wounded at the battle of Chillianwallah, and commanded the 29th Regiment at the battle of Goojerat. Like many other officers who have seen much service in India, he was disposed to deal with the Chinese as we do with the natives of India, which the Celestials do not at all appreciate; but pleasantness arising from that cause was amply compensated to them by the hearty and effective support which he gave to Colonel Gordon, and, in general, to the Imperialist cause, regardless of the outcries of Tai-ping sympathisers, and fearless of the responsibility which he incurred.

any un

In the persons of Colonel Gordon and of Mr Robert Hart the Chinese have, at a very critical period of their history, been happily brought in contact with two Foreigners of a higher tone of mind and character than their previous experience had made them much acquainted with. Of the former officer I have thought it necessary

already to say much more than is agreeable to himself, and shall only add here a very few words. A great deal of what has been mentioned to his credit I should never have learned from himself; and the reader who has gone through the details of fighting and bloodshed with which his name is associated, might be surprised on finding him to be a man still young, of quiet manners and disposition, and of varied culture. Deeply religious in sentiment, and a soldier of the Havelock and Stonewall Jackson type, Colonel Gordon presents few of the characteristics usually associated with the common notion of the dashing leader of an irregular force. Great pleasure in activity, a self-sacrificing disposition, and a sense of duty, have been evidently the mainsprings of his conduct; and the results, whatever others may think, have been too pleasant and satisfactory to himself, and, as he thinks, too undeserved, to allow of his glorying in them.

Mr Hart, the Inspector-General of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, was in the British Consular Service in China before he entered that of which he became the head on the dismissal of Mr Lay in 1863, and brought much previous culture to assist him in acquiring a knowledge of the Chinese language and people. While fully alive to the defects of the Celestial Government, he has shown great tact and wisdom in leading it along the path of progress; at the same time he has commanded the respect of his own countrymen in the somewhat invidious position of Inspector-General of Customs. His lucid memorandums on the trade and the condition of China are well worthy the consideration of those who desire to see gradual and pacific improvement in that country. Of late he has almost entirely taken up his residence at Peking, and has become the confidential adviser of the Peking Government in all that refers to