ABSTRACT
THE particulars given in the last char>ter respecting the Tai· ping Rebellion did not include those details connected with foreign intercourse during the same period which have had such important results on the Chinese people and government It is a notable index of the vigor and self-poise of both, that during those thirteen terrible years, the mass of inhabitants in the ten eastern provinces never lost confidence in their own government or its ability to subdue the rebels; while the leading officers at Peking and in all those provinces at no time expressed doubt as to the loyalty of their countrymen when left free to act. The narrative of foreign intercourse is now resumed from the year 1849, when the British authorities waived the right of insisting upon their admission into the city of Oanton according to the terms of the convention with Riying in 1847. The conduct of the Oantonese, in view of the forcible entrance of English troops into their city, is an interesting exhibition of their manner of arousing enthusiasm and raising funds and volunteers to cope with an emergency. The series of papers found in V 01. XVIII. of the Ohinese Repository well illustrates the curious mixture of a sense of wrong and deep concern in public affairs, combined with profound ignorance and inaptitude as to the best means for attaining their object.
