1 



Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



269 



lire the death of King Edward." Tlie writer does not 

 Mtate to say : — 



Imperious and autocratic to a degree lie uniloubtedly is, and 

 ill- has a will of iron that hates to be diverted frotn its purpose. 

 lie is also extremely hasty in his judgments as much as in his 

 actions. No one is more quick to realise his failures, however, 

 than he is himself, and he has been known after a heated out- 

 hurst to go to the Minister or official who provoked his wratli 

 almost immediately afterwards and oflcr his apologies, and 

 a:.;rce that a different course from what he had at tirst demanded 

 would possibly be the wisest. 



For his hasty telegram to Kruger the. Kaiser is said 

 lo have written very full\- to Queen Victoria, reiterating 

 his regrets. Of late the Kaiser is said to have shown an 

 i\er-increasing tendency to devote himself more to 

 intellectual pursuits than to shooting. 



The chief significance of this sketch is the fact that 

 it is declared to have been approved by the Kaiser. 

 This approval may be another indication of the 

 strenuous endeavour of the Kaiser to make himself 

 known to England. 



SUN YAT SEN ON HIMSELF. 



The March Strand contains a paper taken down 

 from Sun Vat Sen's own lips, which is a statement 

 of his career up to the time of his last leaving England. 

 !ic says that up to 1885, when he was eighteen years 

 of age, he led the life ot any Chinese youth of his ilass, 

 ixcept that from his father's conversion to Chris- 

 tianity and his employment by the London Missionarv 

 society he had greater opportunities of coming intu 

 (intact with English and American missionaries in 

 '.mlon. An English lady became interested in him, 

 ■ 111 he learned eventually to speak English. Dr. Kerr, 

 d the An^lo-American Mission, allowed him to pick 

 ip a great deal about medicine. He studied medicine 

 or five happ>- years of his life at the Hong Kong 

 "ollege of Medicine under Dr. Cantlie. 



HOW HIS REVOI.LTIONARY CAREER BEGAN. 



On obtaining his diploma he decided to try his 

 ortunes in the Portuguese Colony of Macap. It was 

 hen that he enrolled himself a member of the Young 

 "hina Party. He failed to secure a paying practice in 

 •lacao, and removed to Canton, where he formed a 

 )ran( h of the party. In 1895 he formed a conspiracy 

 o capture the (ily of Canton, whith, however, the 

 dvanre of Imperial troops frustrated. He fled for 

 his life to Kobe. ( ut off his queue, and dres.sed as a 

 lodi-rn Japanese. In 1896 he sailed for England, 



lure he was kidnapped at the Chinese Legation and, 

 the intervention of Lord Salisbury, released at 



■ eleventh hour. He returned to China during the 



.\er troubles, and sjxike and wrote and lectured on 

 ic inevitable revolution. It was then that Colonel 

 lomer Lea gave in his adhesion, and became his chief 

 iilitary adviser. 



CONVERTED HIS CAl»TORS. 



Ever since the Canton conspiracy a price had Ix'en 

 ned upon his Ikm.I, At one time that amounted to 

 00,000 sterling : — 

 My most extraordinary experience was in Canton, when two 



young officials came themselves to capture me. I was in my 

 room at night and in my shirt-sleeves, reading and looking over 

 my papers. The two men opened the door. They had a 

 dozen soldiers outside. When I saw them I calmly took up one 

 of the sacred books and began to read aloud. They listened for 

 a time, and after a while one of them spoke and asked a 

 question. I answered it, and they asked others. Then ensued 

 a long argument, and I stated my case and the case of the 

 thousands who thought as I did at full length, as well as I 

 could. At the end of two hours the two men went away, and 

 I heard thein saying in the street, "That is not the man we 

 want. He is a good man, and spends his life healing the 

 sick." 



" I HAVE DONE MV WORK." 



Often asked why, with such a price offered for his 

 head, he went about London so freely and took so few- 

 precautions, he answered that his life was now of 

 little consequence ; there were plenty to take his 

 place. Ten years ago the cause would have suffered 

 by his death ; now the organisation is complete. So 

 he adds : — 



Whether I am to be the titular head of all China, or to work 

 in conjunction with another, and that other Vuan-Shih-Kai, is 

 of no importance to me. I have done my work ; the wave of 

 enlightenment and progress cannot now be stayed, and China — 

 the country in the world most fitted to be a republic, because of 

 the industrious and docile character of the people— will, in a 

 short time, take her place amongst the civilised and liberty 

 loving nations of the world. 



Effect of the Crisis on India. 

 The Rajput Herald, writing on the new Asia, says : — 



.■\fler the adjustment of Persia, which will be accomplished in 

 a few years, the next step towards which the ball, set rolling by 

 Cliina, will run to, is India. The Japanese victory had a 

 stupendous etfect in India, and the people who never, a few 

 years ago, knew the existence of Japan, rejoiced at her victory. 

 Now the Chinese awakening will increase it further and further. 

 In social matters India would once for all bridge her social 

 gulfs and the people would put a stop to all internecine 

 quarrels ; a deep feeling of awakening would electrify the 

 nation, and after a few years social differences will be practically 

 unknown. 



ABOUT MATTHEW ARNOCD. 



In " Sixty Years in the Wilderness," in Cornhill. 

 Sir Henry Lucy mentions Matthew Arnold, who. 

 he says, in company that he liked, was a delightful 

 causeur : — 



To those permitted to enjoy intimacy of acquaintance he 

 bubbled over with fun. He had a curious way ol telling little 

 stories against himself. I lemcndjer two dropped in at the 

 dinner table. Talking about Mrs. Arnold, he said : " Ah, you 

 should know my wife I She has all my charm of manner, and 

 none of my conceit." 



Another related to the episode of his un.satisfaclory visit lo 

 the United Slates as a lecturer, a wuik undertaken at great 

 personal sacrifice in order to perform what he regarded as a 

 duly to his family. When the project was mooted, Arnold 

 urged that it was not hopeful, since he was very little known 

 in America. 



" I do not suppose," he .said, half hoping for contradiction, 

 " that there are a hundred men in the country who possess one 

 of my Ixiuk'.'' 



"Sir," said the agent, "I assure you you are mistaken. I 

 know .Xmrrica, and I will unilcilake to say that there is not a 

 small town or village that does not possess in its institute 

 library a copy of ' The Light of Asia.' " 



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