CHAPTER XIV_China and the Chinese（#63733）

A child of four chosen Emperor--The power of the Empress Dowager--The

Palace feud--The Palace at Pekin--A Frenchman's interview with the

Emperor--The Emperor's person held sacred--Coming of age of the

Emperor--An enlightened proclamation--Reception of the foreign ministers

in 1889--Education of the young monarch--He goes to do homage at the tombs

of his ancestors--A wife is chosen for him--His secondary wives--China,

the battle-ground of the future--Railway concessions.

On the death of the Emperor Tung-Che, there was for the first time for

three hundred years no direct heir to the throne of China, and it being

the law of the country that the heir must be younger than the person he

inherits from, the choice fell upon the infant son of one of Tung-Che's

brothers, the Prince of Chun, seventh son of Taou-Kwang, who still

occupies the throne, if throne it can be called, when the monarch is a

mere prisoner in the hands of the Dowager Empress, compelled to amuse

himself in his enforced seclusion as best he can, and spending much of

his time in training pets, such as goats and monkeys. The ambitious

title of Kwang-Sen, or the "Succession of Glory," was bestowed upon the

little fellow of four years old, who has, alas! found his reign rather a

succession of misfortunes of every kind than one redounding either to his

own glory or that of his people. Once more the unfortunate country has

had to suffer all the evils of a long minority, the real power being in

the hands of an unscrupulous woman, who yields the sceptre of state with

a hand of iron, keeping the "Son of Heaven" in complete subjection. "For

many years," says the astute observer, Archibald Colquhoun, in his _China

in Transformation_, "the politics of Pekin have been swayed by a bitter

Palace feud; the young Emperor and his party on one side, and the Empress

Dowager on the other. Of a passionate nature and an imperious will,

inspired by purely selfish considerations, the late Regent continues to

dominate and even to terrorize the Emperor, who is of feeble physique, and

incapable of wielding the power which belongs to him."

He is a mere puppet in the hands of those who ought to obey him, and his

name is not associated with a single act of policy worthy of the ruler

of a great Empire. Li-Hung-Chang, the courtier, more than once already

referred to, is the chief agent of the Dowager Empress, and to these two

was due the disgraceful abandonment of the war with Japan--which the

Emperor himself wished to carry on to the bitter end--and the signing

of the ignominious treaty in 1895. It is just possible that should the

Empress Dowager die before him--and she is an old woman now--the Emperor

Kwang-Sen may yet take the reins of government into his own hands, but

with pretty well every European nation clamouring for a slice of his

dominions, he will indeed be a wonderful man if he succeeds in leaving any

semblance of power to his successor.

[Sidenote: THE EMPEROR'S APARTMENTS]

This unfortunate occupant of a doomed throne has spent most of his life

at Pekin in the great Palace of his ancestors, his apartments being

situated in the centre of the multitudinous buildings, not far from those

set apart for the use of the real ruler, the Dowager Empress. The space

the Palace occupies is so vast that ministers on their way to the Council

Chamber have more than half a mile to walk after entering the precincts.

Audience is only given by the Emperor at the early hours, four, five, or

six in the morning, and certain high functionaries have the privilege

accorded them of being carried to the reception-hall in sedan-chairs. Many

an important personage, rejoicing in all manner of high-sounding titles,

has however been compelled to remain waiting all night in gala costume in

some ante-room, for the early morning interview, and foreigners complain

bitterly of the discomforts they still have to endure before they are

allowed to come face to face either with the real or the nominal head of

the State.

A friend of mine, connected with the French Embassy, told me that on one

of the very rare occasions when he and some of his colleagues succeeded

in obtaining an interview with the Son of Heaven, the time fixed for the

audience was at four o'clock a.m. He was conducted by a chamberlain to a

room in which a few candles were burning on a table covered with a yellow

cloth. On the other side of this table opposite to him was the Emperor,

with a screen of a delicate jonquil-yellow colour on either side. Behind

one of these screens knelt Prince Kung, and behind the other the Empress.

Obeying a sign from the chamberlain, the visitors saluted the Emperor,

but without performing the ko-too, from which Lord Macartney saved all

foreigners by his firm attitude in 1793, and my friend, as he rose up

after his respectful obeisance, could not resist just raising his eyes

to have a good look at the Son of Heaven, who was at that moment yawning

enough to dislocate his jaws. For this presumption the _attaché_ was

immediately rebuked by the chamberlain, who ordered him to keep his eyes

fixed on the ground until the end of the interview.

[Sidenote: THE EMPEROR'S BED]

The Emperor's apartments consist of seven spacious rooms, in each of which

is a k'ang or divan, such as is in use everywhere in the north of China,

covered with red felt of native manufacture, and provided with cushions

adorned with gold embroidery, representing the symbolic dragon and

phœnix. On the floors of the royal domain are beautiful European carpets

of various kinds, and numerous tables, what-nots, etc., are crowded with

objects of art, such as porcelain and pottery, mostly produced in China,

though of late years some foreign products have figured amongst them.

The Son of Heaven sleeps in a big bed made at Ningpo, richly decorated

with gold and ivory, the very same as that used by his illustrious

ancestor Kang-Hy. He is treated by the eight eunuchs in attendance on his

person with as much reverence as was the great founder of the now weakened

dynasty, and as are the Lamas in the convents on the lofty plateaux of

Thibet and Mongolia, where the modified form of Buddhism known as Lamaism

is practised.

[Illustration: FIG. 56.--A CHINESE SEDAN-CHAIR AND BEARERS.]

The person of the Emperor is held so sacred that neither iron nor steel

is ever allowed to touch him, which of course makes it impossible for him

to receive surgical aid should he be suffering from any of the diseases

requiring the use of the knife. Fortunately he was vaccinated when an

infant in the cradle, before those in charge of him had any suspicion

of the great destiny in store for him. The story goes that a doctor who

proposed to save the life of a Chinese Emperor by bleeding him, nearly

lost his own head as a punishment. The same superstition prevails in

Corea, where one of the kings died in the eighteenth century, when he

might have been saved if he, or rather those about him, could have been

induced to allow a lancet to be used on his sacred person.

The young Emperor was declared of age in 1889, and he was at once informed

that the foreign ministers would be glad to be allowed to pay their

respects to him on this auspicious occasion. To their great surprise

consent to their reception was given not very long afterwards, that

consent being published in the _Pekin Gazette_ in the following year in

terms most flattering to all concerned. After the usual preamble the

Emperor was made to say:

[Sidenote: AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW]

"The ministers of the various powers residing in Pekin have abundantly

shown their loyal desire to maintain peaceful relations and international

friendship. This I cordially recognize, and I rejoice in it.... It is

also hereby decreed that a day be fixed every year for an audience; ...

on the next day the foreign ministers are to be received at a banquet at

the Foreign Office. The same is to be done every year in the first month,

and the rule will be the same on each occasion..." The remainder of the

proclamation was couched in equally courteous terms, presenting a very

marked contrast to the grudging, indeed almost insolent, assent given by

previous Emperors to any request for an audience by the representatives

of the European powers. When the interview took place, moreover, the

various ministers were admitted to the presence of their host one by one,

instead of all together as on previous occasions, whilst the _attachés_,

etc., were received collectively later. The Emperor was seated on a

raised platform at the end of the vast reception-hall, with Prince Ching,

President of the Foreign Board, kneeling on one side. As each minister

came up to the platform making three bows on the way, he was introduced by

the Prince, who took from him the letters of credence and placed them on

a table near the Son of Heaven, who, after bowing an acknowledgment, made

a long speech to the Prince, who listened to it on his knees. The reply

completed, he rose, and with uplifted arms went down into the body of the

hall, where he repeated to the foreign interpreter the following speech:

"We desire to convey to all the ministers, _chargés d'affaires_, and

secretaries, who have presented congratulations to us, that we truly

appreciate, and are very pleased with all their kind expressions, and we

sincerely wish that their respective sovereigns may this year have all

things according to their hearts' desire, and that their happiness and

prosperity may increase. We also hope that you ministers will stay long in

China in the full enjoyment of health, and that friendly relations between

China and foreign countries will never cease."

Surely nothing could be more courteous and conciliatory than the behaviour

of the young Emperor on this important occasion, and but for the terrible

war with Japan, which so soon afterwards shook his throne to its

foundations, he might perhaps have won a real alliance with some Western

power, which would have saved him from the partition of his Empire, from

which there is now no hope of escape.

On the coming of age of the Son of Heaven, his mother, the Princess of

Chun, was raised to the rank of Empress, but his father, the Prince,

received no accession of dignity. Both parents, when admitted to the

presence of their august son, kneel to him and treat him as a being

altogether superior to themselves. Still young, Kwang-Sen is fond of

riding, shooting with the bow-and-arrow, and skating. His day is rigidly

portioned out, and he has little real liberty. When he was a child his

teachers approached him on their knees, and were only allowed to sit

in his presence when he gave them permission. He had to work at the

Chinese and Manchu languages for an hour and a half every day, and is

really extremely well-educated, though, fortunately for foreigners, he is

anything but fond of the mandarins or literati, who would gladly poison

his mind against everything European. At regular intervals he goes to do

homage at the tombs of his ancestors, as do all of high or low degree in

China, and on these solemn occasions he is accompanied by the Empresses

and a suite of no less than thirty thousand persons, including princes,

nobles, mandarins, apparitors, lictors, banner-bearers, porters, etc. Long

before dawn on the day of the ceremony the main road is strewn with fine

sand, and decorated with white and blue velvet flags, whilst at regular

intervals tables are set up covered with yellow drapery, and bearing

the inscription, _Ya Tao_, signifying the Imperial road, words full of

terrible significance to the Chinese, for they mean that all on pain of

death should keep out of the way of the Son of Heaven.

[Sidenote: STRINGENT MEASURES OF PRECAUTION]

The most stringent measures are taken even in the capital to protect the

sovereign from the gaze of the profane. Not only are all the inhabitants

compelled to close the doors of their houses when he is about to pass,

but no one is allowed to climb on the walls of the town, lest from them

they should catch even a glimpse of the Imperial procession. Nor is it

only reverence for the sacred person which leads to all these precautions:

there is the danger that some evil-minded person might attempt to take

the life of the Emperor by firing at him from a distance with one of

those awful engines of destruction, the range of which even now seems so

extraordinary to the Celestials, in spite of their recent experiences in

the war with the Japanese. The Chinese police forbid even European women

to show themselves on the day of the procession, lest the sovereign should

see them, for the myrmidons of the law, accustomed to the strict seclusion

of the female sex in their native land, believe that those who enjoy a

liberty such as that of the wives and daughters of the diplomatists, to be

capable of any crime even against the venerated Son of Heaven.

[Illustration: FIG. 57.--A BONZE TORTURING HIMSELF IN A TEMPLE, AFTER A

CHINESE PAINTING.

(_Univers Pittoresque._)]

[Sidenote: SECONDARY WIVES IN CHINA]

A wife was of course chosen for Kwang-Sen as soon as he attained his

majority, and the lady selected for the difficult position of Empress

was the daughter of an official of the province of Che-kiang, who was,

it is said, as good and as well educated as she was beautiful. Truly it

must have been an immense change in her life to be raised from her humble

position as the child of a mere nobody, to be placed on the throne of the

most populous Empire of the world, and the way in which she has fulfilled

her high destiny is very differently judged by the few who really know

anything of Palace life in China. Her influence has not of course been as

paramount as it would have been in a country where monogamy was practised.

Very soon after she became a bride, various supplementary beauties

were chosen to fill the royal harem, and the so-called lotus flowers,

tea-blossoms, etc., were all equally irreproachable in manners and morals

from the Chinese point of view. The number of left-handed marriages

permitted in China is illimitable, and where there is money enough to

support them, a man often has as many as three hundred secondary wives.

As a matter of course there is none of the fierce jealousy in the

Celestial Empire such as is aroused on the mere suspicion of a rival in

the virtuous bosom of a European wife. Other countries, other manners; and

in China wives and concubines live peacefully enough under one roof, with

no more friction than is seen amongst the hens in a poultry-yard. Time

alone can show what will be the eventual outcome of the life now being

lived in the Imperial Palace of Pekin, for time alone can sift the truth

from the many conflicting rumours which reach the outer world. One thing

alone is certain, China will be the battle-ground of the future, and the

yellow peril, about which so much has been prophesied, will assume many an

unexpected form before the century just about to begin in its turn nears

its close.

CONCLUSION

When every month brings some change in the political position in China,

and the daily press is full of more or less contradictory rumours as to

what is going on at Pekin, it is impossible to come to any real decision

on the many vexed questions under discussion. One great fact, however,

emerges distinctly from out of the chaos of conflicting data, and that is,

that it will be Russia, with her wonderful faculty for working steadily

onwards towards a definite aim, who will secure the lion's share in the

spoliation of the Celestials, whilst her Trans-Siberian railway, which

already pays its way, creating trade wherever it passes, and in another

four years will connect St. Petersburg with Port Arthur, will be one of

the most important factors in changing the course of the commerce of the

world.

Shut in as she is on the East by the English in Burmah and the French in

Cochin-China, threatened on the West by the Germans and the Japanese, and

dominated on the north by Russia, the Celestial Empire finds herself

compelled to awake from her long stupor, and to arouse herself to action

of some kind. With no real army, no longer an efficient fleet, however,

what can she do? She can only choose what seems to her the least of

the evils hemming her in on every side, and elect from among the many

competitors for the post, the protector best able to save her not only

from her outside enemies, but from herself.

[Sidenote: IMPORTANCE OF RUSSIA]

As has been very aptly said, Russia is of all the Western Powers the

most imbued with Oriental ideas, and she combines, with the energy

and ambition of a first-rate power of the future, a sympathy with the

Celestials altogether wanting to France, Germany, or Great Britain.

There is, in fact, an actual affinity of race between the Chinese and

the inhabitants of the northern steppes, and there is therefore far more

hope of real amalgamation between them than there can be in any other

case. The English, the French, the Germans, the Italians, if they win

the concessions they are now in their turn clamouring for, will always

be aliens in the districts they acquire, and there will never, to use

a homely but expressive phrase, be any love lost between them and the

natives.

Li-Hung-Chang, one of the most enlightened statesmen who have ever arisen

in China, came to Europe in 1896 with a view to ascertaining by personal

observation, which of the western nations would be likely to be the best

friend for his distracted country, in the enfeebled condition to which

the war with Japan had reduced her. He saw quickly enough that it would

not be England, nor Germany, nor France, but that it would be Russia. It

was therefore with Russia that a treaty was eventually made, and ratified

in 1897; this treaty, in addition to other privileges, giving to the

great northern power. Port Arthur, with the right of making it a coaling

station, and in case of war of concentrating troops in its harbour. "The

Russians and the Chinese," said Mitchie, writing more than thirty years

ago, "are peculiarly suited to each other ... the Russians meet the

Chinese as Greek meets Greek ... they understand each other's character

thoroughly, because they are so closely alike." Recent events have proved

how true was the insight of this astute observer, and it is evident that

whilst the other Powers will have to content themselves with their various

spheres of influence, Russia alone will obtain real political control

of the Celestial Empire as a whole. There remains now no hope that the

disintegrating forces at work in the once powerful nation will be arrested

from within, in spite of the fact that again and again China has risen

in the past from apparent dissolution into a greater nation than before,

absorbing her conquerors and converting them into patriots, ready to

dare all for their adopted country. The saving force must now come from

without, and when once more there is a strong hand directed by a strong

brain at the head of affairs, the resources of the unhappy land will be

found to be practically inexhaustible. With a prolific soil, vast mineral

wealth, and a teachable population, there is indeed no limit to what

China, which has been called the India of the future, may become.

[Illustration: FIG. 58.--THE TOWN AND BRIDGE OF FUCHAM.]

In the imminent partition of China into spheres of influence, should that

partition finally supersede the more generous policy of the opening of the

whole country on equal terms to the trade of all the European nations, the

Yang-tse basin, with its populous towns of Nanking, Hankow, Fuchan, and

others, will be the field of action of Great Britain; whilst Shantung,

a rich sea-bound province, will be that of Germany; and the French, who

already occupy Tonking on the south, will obtain concessions in the

neighbouring districts. On every side railways are now being projected,

and the probability is that ere the century just about to open has run

half its course, the whole of China will be intersected by them.

In the Blue Book on Chinese affairs, issued on the 14th March of the

current year (1899), the following significant statistics of the railway

concessions granted to foreigners in the Celestial Empire are given,

showing that Great Britain is more than equal to Russia in the actual

amount of mileage secured, whilst Germany, France, Belgium, and America

have among them less than Great Britain alone:

[Sidenote: TELEGRAPHS IN CHINA]

British railways 2,800 miles

Russian " 1,530 "

German " 720 "

Belgian " 650 "

French " 420 "

American " 300 "

More important still, as breaking up finally the isolation on which China

has prided herself for so many centuries, is the fact that already pretty

well all the important towns of the vast Empire are connected by telegraph

with each other, and with the outside world. The search-light of publicity

is in fact turned full upon the land once so fraught with mystery, and

before long there will be no hidden thing connected with either court or

country which will not be revealed to the inquisitive gaze of all the

world.

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husband for external, and perhaps rather inadequate, reasons, and

then discovers that he married her because she was an heiress. She

feels the indignity acutely, and does not scruple to tell him her

opinion--her very candid opinion--of his behaviour. That is the

effect of the first few chapters, and the rest of Miss Whitby's book

is devoted to relating how this divided couple hated, quarrelled, and

finally fell in love with one another. Mary Fenwick and her husband

live and move and make us believe in them in a way which few but the

great masters of fiction have been able to compass."--_Athenæum_.

TWO ENGLISH GIRLS.

By Mabel Hart.

"This story is distinguished by its pure and elegant English, and

the refinement of its style and thought. It is a lively account,

with many touches of humour, of Art study in Florence, and the

story weaved into it exhibits a high ideal of life ... The lively,

pleasant, and refined tone of the narrative and dialogue will

recommend the story to all cultivated renders."--_Spectator_.

"Beatrice Hamlyn is an emancipated young woman of the most pleasing

type, and her friend Evelyn is hardly less amiable. But the

cleverness of Miss Hart's story lies in the simple yet effective

portrait of the Italian character. The elder Vivaldi is presented

to us in a way that shows both knowledge and sympathy. There are

pleasing touches of humour, too, in the minor personages."--_Saturday

Review_.

HIS LITTLE MOTHER, AND OTHER TALES.

By the Author of 'John Halifax, Gentleman.'

"'His Little Mother' is the story of a sister's self-sacrifice from

her childhood until her early death, worn out in her brother's and

his children's service. It is a pathetic story as the author tells

it The beauty of the girl's devotion is described with many tender

touches, and the question of short-sighted though loving foolishness

is kept in the background. The volume is written in a pleasant

informal manner, and contains many tender generous thoughts and not a

few practical ones. It is a book that will be read with interest, and

that cannot be lightly forgotten."--_St. James's Gazette_.

"The book is written with all Mrs. Craik's grace of style, the chief

charm of which after all, is its simplicity."--_Glasgow Herald_.

MISTRESS BEATRICE COPE:

Or, PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF A JACOBITE'S DAUGHTER.

By M. E. Le Clerc.

"This is a new one-volume edition of one of the prettiest stories

that has been written for a long time. It has all the charm and

glamour of the most romantic and heroic period of English history

yet it never for an instant oversteps the limit of sober fact and

probability in the way which mars, so many romantic stories. The tone

of the book is absolutely fair and just, and so good qualities of

both parties are done justice to. Not that politics as such do more

than form a background for the sweet figure of Mistress Beatrice,

one of the simplest, most charming, tender, and heroic maidens of

fiction. It is a good story well and dramatically told, which gives a

life-like picture of the end of the most stirring and heroic period

of our national history."--_Queen_.

LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED.

_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

A MARCH IN THE RANKS.

By Jessie Fothergill.

"Ever since Mies Jessie Fothergill wrote her admirable first novel,

'The First Violin,' one has looked forward to her succeeding books

with interest. The present one is a pleasant book, well-written,

well-conceived. A book that is written in good sensible English,

and wherein the characters are mostly gentlefolk and 'behave as

sich,' is not to be met with every day, and consequently deserves a

considerable meed or praise."--_World_.

"The characters are so brightly and vividly conceived, and the

complications which go to make up the story are so natural, so

inevitable, and yet so fresh, that the interest awakened by the

opening of the tale never declines until the close, but rather, as is

fitting, becomes richer and deeper."--_Academy_.

NINETTE.

By the Author of 'Vera,' 'Blue Roses,' Etc.

"A story of sustained power from beginning to end, it is put together

according to the true principles of art; moreover, we congratulate

the author upon her hero and heroine. Ninette, in her simple untaught

rectitude of conduct, her innate modesty, and child-like faith,

recalls some of the happiest touches in the Lucia of the immortal

'Promessi Sposi.'"--_Church Quarterly Review_.

"'Ninette' is something more than a novel; it is a careful and

elaborate study of life among the Provençal hills, and, as such,

deserves special attention. It is a pretty tale of true love, with

its usual accompaniments of difficulty and trouble, which are all

overcome in the long run."--_Library World_.

"'Ninette' is evidently based on long and intimate acquaintance with

French rural districts, is excellently written, and cannot fail to

please."--_Scotsman_.

A CROOKED PATH.

By Mrs. Alexander.

"'A Crooked Path' is, to say the least, as good a novel as the best

of the many good novels which Mrs. Alexander has written; indeed,

most people, even those who remember 'The Wooing O't.' will consider

it the most satisfactory of them all, as a piece of literary work,

as well as the most interesting as a story. Starting from a point so

common as the suppression of a will, the reader before long finds

himself following her into the least expected yet the most natural

developments, reaching poetical justice at the end by equally natural

and equally unlooked-for means. The portraiture is invariably

adequate, and the background well-filled."--_Graphic_.

ONE REASON WHY.

By Beatrice Whitby.

"Our old friend the governess makes a re-entry into fiction under the

auspices of Beatrice Whitby in 'One Reason Why.' Readers generally,

however, will take a great deal more interest, for once, in the

children than in their instructress. 'Bay' and 'Ellie' are charmingly

natural additions to the children of novel-land; so much so, that

there is a period when one dreads a death-bed scene for one of

them--a fear which is happily unfulfilled. The name of the authoress

will be remembered by many in conjunction with 'The Awakening of Mary

Fenwick.'"--_Graphic_.

"Every page of 'One Reason Why' shows the mark of a fresh, vigorous

mind. The style is good--in some parts excellent. It is clear,

expressive, and often rhythmic."--_Scotsman_.

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_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

MAHME NOUSIE.

By G. Manville Fenn.

"Mr. Manville Fenn has the gift of not only seeing truth, but of

drawing it picturesquely. His portrait of Mahme Nousie is faithful as

well as touching. Like all her race she is a being of one idea, and

that idea is her child. To keep her away from the island, to have her

brought up as a lady, it is for this that Nousie has opened a cabaret

for the negroes and has sat at the receipt of custom herself. Of

course she never once thinks of the shock that the girl must undergo

when she is plunged suddenly into such a position, she never thinks

about anything but the fact that she is to have her child again. Her

gradual awakening, and the struggles of both mother and daughter to

hide their pain, are finely told. So is the story of how they both

remained 'faithful unto death.' History has a power to charm which is

often lacking in tales of higher pretensions."--_Saturday Review_.

THE IDES OF MARCH.

By G. M. Robins.

"'The Idea of March' is a capital book. The plot does not depend for

its interest upon anything more fantastic than an old gentleman's

belief that a family curse will take effect unless his son marries

by a given date. The complications which arise from this son's being

really in love with a girl whom he believes to have treated his

friend, Captain Disney, vary badly, and getting engaged to another

girl, who transfers her affections to the same Captain Disney, are

skilfully worked out, while the dialogue is, in parts, extremely

bright, and the description of the founding of the Norchester branch

of the Women's Sanitary League really funny."--_Literary World_.

"'The Idea of March,' in spite of its classical name, is a story of

the present time, and a very good one, full of lively conversation,

which carries us merrily on, and not without a fund of deeper feeling

and higher principal."--_Guardian_.

PART OF THE PROPERTY.

By Beatrice Whitby.

"The book is a thoroughly good one. The theme is fairly familiar--the

rebellion of a spirited girl against a match which has been arranged

for her without her knowledge or consent; her resentment at being

treated, not as a woman with, a heart and will, but as 'part of the

property'; and her final discovery, which is led up to with real

dramatic skill, that the thing against which her whole nature had

risen in revolt has become the one desire of her heart. The mutual

relations each to each of the impetuous Hedge, her self-willed,

stubborn grandfather, who has arranged the match, and her lover

Jocelyn, with his loyal, devoted, sweetly-balanced nature, are

portrayed with fine truth of insight; but perhaps the author's

greatest triumph is the portrait of Mrs. Lindsay, who, with the

knowledge of the terrible skeleton in the cupboard of her apparently

happy home, wears so bravely the mask of light gaiety as to deceive

everybody but the one man who knows her secret. It is refreshing to

read a novel in which there is not a trace of slipshod work."

CASPAR BROOKE'S DAUGHTER.

By Adeline Sergeant.

"'Caspar Brooke's Daughter' is as good as other stories from the same

hand--perhaps better, it is not of the sort that has much really

marked originality or force of style, yet there is a good deal of

clever treatment in it It was quite on the cards that Caspar himself

might prove a bore or a prig or something else equally annoying.

His daughter, too--the fair and innocent convent-bred girl--would

in some hands have been really tedious. The difficulties of the

leading situation--a daughter obliged to pass from one parent to

another on account of their 'incompatibility'--are cleverly conveyed.

The wife's as well as the husband's part is treated with feeling

and reticence--qualities which towards the end disappear to a

certain extent. It is a story in some ways--not in all--above the

average."--_Athenæum_.

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_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

JANET.

By Mrs. Oliphant.

"'Janet' is one of the ablest of the author's recent novels;

perhaps the ablest book of the kind that she has produced since the

Carlingford series; and its ability is all the more striking because,

while the character material is so simple, it is made to yield,

without any forced manipulation, a product of story which is rich in

strong dramatic situations."--_Manchester Examiner_.

"Mrs. Oliphant's hand has lost none of its cunning, despite her

extraordinary--and, one would think, exhausting--industry. 'Janet'

may fairly rank among the best of her recent productions."--_St.

James's Gazette_.

"'Janet' is really an exciting story, and contains a great deal

more plot and incident than has been the case in any of Mrs.

Oliphant's recent novels. The character sketches are worthy of their

authorship."--_Queen_.

A RAINBOW AT NIGHT.

By the Author of 'Mistress Beatrice Cope.'

"In common, we should imagine, with a large circle of novel-readers,

we have been rather impatiently looking forward to the time when

M. E. Le Clerc, the author of 'Mistress Beatrice Cope,' would

produce a successor to that singularly interesting and charming

tale. 'A Rainbow at Night,' though it certainly lacks the romantic

and dramatic character, combined with the flavour of a fascinating

period, which gave special distinction to its forerunner, has no

trace of falling off in the essential matters of construction,

portraiture, and style."--_Graphic_.

"Thanks to an interesting plot and a graphic as well as refined

manner, 'A Rainbow at Night,' when once commenced, will not readily

be laid aside."--_Morning Post_.

IN THE SUNTIME OF HER YOUTH.

By Beatrice Whitby.

"A description of a home stripped by the cold wind of poverty of all

its comforts, but which remains home still. The careless optimism of

the head of the family would be incredible, if we did not know how

men exist full of responsibilities yet free from solicitudes, and who

tread with a jaunty step the very verge of ruin; his inconsolable

widow would be equally improbable, if we did not meet every day with

women who devote themselves to such idols or clay. The characters of

their charming children, whose penury we deplore do not deteriorate,

as often happens in that cruel ordeal. A sense of fairness pervades

the book which is rarely found in the work of a lady. There is

interest in it from first to last, and its pathos is relieved by

touches of true humour."--_Illustrated London News_.

MISS BOUVERIE.

By Mrs. Molesworth.

"Mrs. Molesworth has long established a reputation as one of the

freshest and most graceful of contemporaneous writers of light

fiction; but in 'Miss Bouverie' she has surpassed herself, and it

is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the prettiest stories

which as appeared for years."--_Morning Post_.

"Everyone knows Mrs. Molesworth by her exquisite Christmas stories

for children, and can guess that any novel she writes is interesting,

without sensationalism. The refinement which pervades all Mrs.

Molesworth's stories comes evidently from a pure, spiritual nature,

which unconsciously raises the reader's tone of thought, without any

approach to didactic writing."--_Spectator_.

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_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

FROM HARVEST TO HAYTIME.

By the Author of 'Two English Girls.'

"The accomplished author of 'Two English Girls' has produced another

novel of considerable merit. The story is one of a rural district in

England, into which there introduces himself one day a foot-sore,

hungry, sick tramp, who turns out to be a young man of education and

consideration, whose career in the past is strange, and whose career

in the future the author has depicted as stranger still. The writer

is successful chiefly in the excellent life-like pictures which she

presents of Rose Purley, the young lady who manages the farm, and of

the village doctor, Gabriel Armstrong. The book is one which may be

read with pleasure."--_Scotsman_.

THE WINNING OF MAY.

By the Author of 'Dr. Edith Romney.'

"It is the writing of one who is determined, by dint of conscientious

and painstaking work; to win success from that portion of the public

that does not look for the brilliant achievements of genius, but can

recognise meritorious work. The tale is an agreeable one, and the

character of Mr. Beresford is admirably drawn, showing considerable

insight and understanding. The author has a steady mastery over the

story she wishes to tell, and she tells it clearly and eloquently,

without hesitation and without prolixity. The book has this

merit--the first merit of a novel--that the reader is interested in

the people rather than the plot, and that he watches the development

of character rather than that of event."--_Literary World_.

SIR ANTHONY.

By Adeline Sergeant.

"Sir Anthony introduces two mysterious children, Henry and Elfrida,

into his house, and compels his wife, whom he dislikes, to protect

and virtually adopt them. In due course he tells these children,

in his own vigorous Anglo-Saxon, 'You two are my eldest son and

daughter, lawfully begotten of my wife, once Mary Derrick, and known

afterwards as Mary Paston. You will be Sir Henry Kesterton when I

die, and Elfrida is heiress to her grandmother's money and jewels.'

Lady Kesterton overheard this terrible statement. He repeats it in

a still more offensive form. Thereupon she gives him an overdose of

chloral and fights desperately, and with temporary success, for what

she regards as the rights of her children, but especially of her son

Gerard. Failure overtakes her, and Elfrida, though not poor Henry,

comes by her own. The plot is good and thoroughly sustained from

first to last."--_Academy_.

THUNDERBOLT.

By the Rev. J. Middleton Macdonald.

"'Thunderbolt' is an Australian rival of Claude Duval and Mr.

Macdonald records his daring feats with unflagging verve. Never was

police officer more defied nor bewildered than the Major Devereux,

of brilliant Indian reputation, who, in the Australian bush, finds

that to catch a robber of Thunderbolt's temperament and ability

requires local knowledge as well as other gifts undreamt-of by the

Hussar officer. Thunderbolt goes to races under the Major's nose,

dances in the houses of his friends, robs Her Majesty's mails and

diverse banks, but conducts himself with (on occasion) the chivalrous

courtesy that characterised his prototype. His tragical end is told

with spirit, while the book has excellent descriptions of Australian

life, both in town and country."--_Morning Post_.

LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED.

_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

MARY FENWICK'S DAUGHTER.

By Beatrice Whitby.

"This is one of the most delightful novels we have read for a long

time. 'Bab' Fenwick is an 'out of doors' kind of girl, full of

spirit, wit, go, and sin, both original and acquired. Her lover,

Jack, is all that a hero should be, and great and magnanimous as he

is, finds some difficulty in forgiving the _insouciante_ mistress all

her little sins of omission and commission. When she finally shoots

him in the leg--by accident--the real tragedy of the story begins.

The whole is admirable, if a little long."--_Black and White_.

ROBERT CARROLL.

By the Author of 'Mistress Beatrice Cope.'

"M. E. Le Clerc devotes herself to historic fiction, and her success

is sufficient to justify her in the occasional production of stories

like 'Mistress Beatrice Cope' and 'Robert Carroll.' Beatrice Cope was

a Jacobite's daughter, so far as memory serves, and Robert Carroll

was the son of a Jacobite baronet, who played and lost his stake at

Preston, fighting for the Old Pretender. Of course the hero loved a

maiden whose father was a loyal servant of King George, and, almost

equally of course, one of this maiden's brothers was a Jacobite. A

second brother, by the way, appears as a lad of sixteen in the spring

of 1714, and as a wounded colonel of cavalry on the morrow of the

fight at Preston, less than two years later--rapid promotion even for

those days, though certainly not impossible. The author has taken

pains to be accurate in her references to the events of the time, and

her blend of fact and fiction is romantic enough."--_Athenæum_.

THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE.

By the Author of 'Some Married Fellows.'

"It is a comfort to turn from the slipshod English and the tiresome

slang of many modern novels to the easy and cultured style of 'The

Husband of One Wife,' and we have been thoroughly interested in the

story, as well as pleased with the manner in which it is told. As for

Mrs. Goldenour, afterwards Mrs. Garfoyle, afterwards Mrs. Pengelley,

she is certainly one of the most attractive as well as one of the

most provoking of heroines, and Mrs. Venn has succeeded admirably in

describing her under both aspects. The scene of the dinner-party,

and the description of the bishop's horror at its magnificence is

very clover. We are very glad to meet several old friends again,

especially Mrs. Gruter, who is severe and amusing as ever. Altogether

we feel that Mrs. Venn's novels are books to which we can confidently

look forward with pleasure."--_Guardian_.

BROTHER GABRIEL.

By M. Betham-Edwards.

"The story will be followed with unfaltering interest. Nor is

anything short of unmixed praise due to several of the episodes

and separate incidents of which it is composed. The principal

characters--Delmar, Zoe's cousin and lover--stand out in decided and

life-like relief. In the sketches of scenery, especially those of the

coast of Brittany and the aspect of its sea, both in calm and storm.

Miss Betham-Edwards need not fear comparison with the best masters of

the art."--_Spectator_.

"The book is one that maybe read with pleasure; it is fluently,

flowingly, carefully written; and It contains very pleasant sketches

of character."--_Academy_.

LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED.

_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

A MATTER OF SKILL.

By Beatrice Whitby.

"Miss Whitby essays a lighter vein than usual in her collection of

stories, entitled 'A Matter of Skill.' But she writes with the same

excellence and freedom, and all these miniature love-stories will be

cordially welcomed. Lovely woman appears in these pages in a variety

of moods, humorous and pathetic, and occasionally she seems not a

little 'uncertain, coy, and hard to please.' The title story, showing

how a stately girl is captured, after a good deal of trouble, by a

short and common-place young man, is very amusing; and there are

other sketches in which it is interesting to follow the wiles of

Mother Eve ere she has come to years of discretion."--_Academy_.

JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.

By Mrs. Craik.

"The new and cheaper edition of this interesting work will doubtless

meet with great success. John Halifax, the hero of this most

beautiful story, is no ordinary hero, and this his history is no

ordinary book. It is a full-length portrait of a true gentleman, one

of nature's own nobility. It is also the history of a home, and a

thoroughly English one. The work abounds in incident, and many of the

scenes are full of graphic power and true pathos. It is a book that

few will read without becoming wiser and better."--_Scotsman_.

A LIFE FOR A LIFE.

By Mrs. Craik.

"We are always glad to welcome this author. She writes from her own

convictions, and she has the power not only to conceive clearly what

it is that she wishes to say, but to express it in language effective

and vigorous. In 'A Life for a Life' she Is fortunate in a good

subject, and she has produced a work of strong effect The reader,

having read the book through for the story, will be apt (if he be of

our persuasion) to return and read again many pages and passages with

greater pleasure than on a first perusal. The whole book is replete

with a graceful, tender delicacy; and, in addition to its other

merits, it is written in good careful English."--_Athenæum_.

CHRISTIAN'S MISTAKE.

By Mrs. Craik.

"A more charming story, to our taste, has rarely been written. Within

the compass of a single volume the writer has hit off a circle of

varied characters, all true to nature--some true to the highest

nature--and she has entangled them in a story which keeps us in

suspense till the knot is happily and gracefully resolved; while, at

the same time, a pathetic interest is sustained by an art of which

it would be difficult to analyse the secret. It is a choice gift

to be able thus to render human nature so truly, to penetrate its

depths with such a searching sagacity, and to illuminate them with a

radiance so eminently the writer's own."--_The Times_.

LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED.

_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

A NOBLE LIFE.

By Mrs. Craik.

"Few men and no women will read 'A Noble Life' without feeling

themselves the better for the effort."--_Spectator_.

"A beautifully written and touching tale. It is a noble

book."--_Morning Post_.

"'A Noble Life' is remarkable for the high types of character it

presents, and the skill with which they are made to work out a story

of powerful and pathetic interest."--_Daily News_.

THE WOMAN'S KINGDOM.

By Mrs. Craik.

"'The Woman's Kingdom' sustains the author's reputation as a writer

of the purest and noblest kind of domestic stories."--_Athenæum_.

"'The Woman's Kingdom' is remarkable for its romantic interest. The

characters are masterpieces. Edna is worthy of the hand that drew

John Halifax."--_Morning Post_.

A BRAVE LADY.

By Mrs. Craik.

"A very good novel, showing a tender sympathy with human nature, and

permeated: by a pure and noble spirit."--_Examiner_.

"A most charming story."--_Standard_.

"We earnestly recommend this novel. It is a special and worthy

specimen of the author's remarkable powers. The reader's attention

never for a moment flags."--_Post_.

MISTRESS AND MAID.

By Mrs. Craik.

"A good, wholesome book, as pleasant to read as it is

instructive."--_Athenæum_.

"This book is written with the same true-hearted earnestness as 'John

Halifax.' The spirit of the whole work is excellent."--_Examiner_.

"A charming tale charmingly told."--_Standard_.

LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED.

_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

YOUNG MRS. JARDINE.

By Mrs. Craik.

"'Young Mrs. Jardine' is a pretty story, written in pure

English."--_The Times_.

"There is much good feeling in this book. It is pleasant and

wholesome."--_Athenæum_.

"A book that all should read. Whilst it is quite the equal of any

of its predecessors in elevation of thought or style, it is perhaps

their superior in interest of plot and dramatic intensity. The

characters are admirably delineated, and the dialogue is natural and

clear."--_Morning Post_.

HANNAH.

By Mrs. Craik.

"A powerful novel of social and domestic life. One of the most

successful efforts of a successful novelist."--_Daily News_.

"A very pleasant, healthy story, well and artistically told. The book

is sure of a wide circle of readers. The character of Hannah is one

of rare beauty."--_Standard_.

NOTHING NEW.

By Mrs. Craik.

"'Nothing New' displays all those superior merits which have made

'John Halifax' one of the most popular novels of the day."--_Morning

Post_.

"The reader will find these narratives calculated to remind him of

that truth and energy of human portraiture, that spell over human

affections and emotions, which have stamped this author as one of the

first novelists of our day."--_John Bull_.

IN TIME TO COME.

By Eleanor Holmes.

"'In Time to Come,' by Miss Eleanor Holmes, merits a good place among

one-volume novels. The theme is interesting, the characters who

work it out have been observantly studied and carefully drawn, and

the sequel justifies what at the first blush seems rather a vague

title."--_Dundee Advertiser_.

LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED.

_Each in One Volume, Crown Octavo, 3s. 6d._

THE UNKIND WORD.

By Mrs. Craik.

"The author of 'John Halifax' has written many fascinating stories,

but we can call to mind nothing from her pen that has a more enduring

charm than the graceful sketches in this work. Such a character as

Jessie stands out from a crowd of heroines as the type of all that is

truly noble, pure, and womanly."--_United Service Magazine_.

DALEFOLK.

By Alice Rea.

"'Dalefolk' tells of the effect produced on a simple and impressible

people by a terrific curse, pronounced by a half-insane clergyman on

a parishioner whom he believes to have written an anonymous letter

of complaint to the Bishop of the diocese The cloud of mingled

awe and repulsion that rests on the family for two generations is

forcibly described. But this is only a background for a series

of capital sketches of life as it was among the West Cumberland

dalesmen at a period--this is the only note of time--when the

diocese was ruled from Chester instead of, as now, from Carlisle.

The author evidently writes from full acquaintance with her subject,

and brings out in vivid colours the quaint, old festivities, the

dancings, and wrestlings, and card-playings, the great gatherings

for shearings and 'salvings,' all of them excuses for genial and

unstinted hospitalities, and renewals of kind, neighbourly feeling

and good-fellowship, which were so needed among the loneliness and

isolation which were of necessity the habitual lot of the occupiers

of the great sheep farms. She is equally happy in entering into the

ways of thought and feeling which must have been characteristic of

the primitive and simple folk to whom the reader is introduced in her

pleasant pages."--_Guardian_.

STUDIES FROM LIFE.

By Mrs. Craik.

"These studies are truthful and vivid pictures of life, often

earnest, always full of right feeling, and occasionally lightened by

touches of quiet genial humour. The volume is remarkable for thought,

sound sense, shrewd observation, and kind and sympathetic feeling for

all things good and beautiful."--_Morning Post_.

A WOMAN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN.

By Mrs. Craik.

"A book of sound counsel It is one of the most sensible works of its

kind, well written, true-hearted, and altogether practical. Whoever

wishes to give advice to a young lady may thank the author for means

of doing so."--_Examiner_.

"These thoughts are worthy of the earnest and enlightened mind, the

all-embracing charity and well-earned reputation of the author of

'John Halifax.'"--_Standard_.

"This excellent book is characterised by good sense, good taste, and

feeling, and is written in an earnest, philanthropic, as well as

practical spirit."--_Morning Post_.

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BEATRICE WHITBY'S NOVELS.

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