1950.
Holy Wars of the Tsing Dynasty.
243
our author, “sinners,” transgressors of laws celestial. All such “siu- ners" ought to be either exterminated, or made to submit to the pow- ers that be; and military operations undertaken for these purposes ure holy wars! Nothing is, or can be truly good, in the estimation of men of this class, unless it be Chinese, and come within the pale of the Middle Kingdom; accordingly we find in the volumes before us, "the doctrines of Jesus" denounced as injurious to the people and hurtful to the state. Such doctrines, therefore, and those who profess and propagate them, may be tolerated, but they are not to be com- mended, are not to be approved. Strange as it may seem, Wei Yuen, the minister of Reason's Glory, places Christianity and opium in the same category, as the principal evils that now endanger the safety of the empire.
Regarding the feelings of the Chinese towards foreigners there is a great diversity of opinion. Some people would have us believe that the black-haired race-men, women and children—all hate and abhor the fún kwei, and would gladly have them exterminated. Others take the opposite extreme, and would have us know that all, or near- ly all, both people and rulers, would welcome foreigners to their coun- try; but this needs proof. There are those, we know, who would rejoice to see the restrictive policy set aside. The number of such, however, we fear, is not large. A few only are sufficiently informed, have knowledge enough of foreigners, to render them capable of forming a correct opinion on the point in question. The information possessed by the Chinese regarding other people and nations, is ex- cedingly limited and incorrect. Many of the best informed do not believe that the admission of foreigners into their country—or even to the five ports-will or can be for the public good. They would prefer to have the old policy restored, and all foreigners for ever exclud- ed from the country. The new and liberal policy they deprecate, aw the people of Europe deprecated the first movements of the Refor- mation. These men, as we know, not only err in judgment, but are wrong in their premises. The more their information is increased the better for them, and the better for their country will be the conse- quences. The old order of things, the exclusive policy, has nothing in its favor that we can discern, to make its perpetuity desirable-noth- ing, unless we are prepared to affirm that the semi-civilization of this country is preferable to the enlightened state of western nations, and the religions of China more to be sought for than that taught us in Holy Writ. We not only dislike the old policy, but with the present half and half system we are thoroughly dissatisfied. Compared with