211
railways
were
the vast benefits conferred by -- s and telegraphs now-universally recognised in England, and elsewhere, as, I hoped,
would soon
be the case also in
7.
Not many years ago,
the Chinese possessed no merchant steamers, and the traffic of the Coast and Rivers of China was
in the hands of Europeans. But now a powerful Chinese Merchants' Company has been
formed with a large Fleet of steamers mainly in their hands.
The most competent judges are inclined to believe that ere very long this example will be followed also on land, and that the great Empire of China will, at all events, in the course of the next generation, be opened up by railways and telegraphs.
I have the honour to be,
Your Lordship's Most Obedient
Humble Servant,