out-fantasies fantasy itself. At the same time, it may be said that even the slightest of these works is touched by the master's hand, and that two of them, "A Pair of Blue Eyes," a piece of exquisite pathos, and "The Trumpet Major," a light-hearted romance, alive with joyous patriotism, are worthy to rank even with the novels of character and environment.

Mr. Hardy's prose style keeps sternly in touch with the tradition of our ancient speech. He uses words with a full consciousness of their weight and meaning. His sentences are compactly knit, and have no loose edges. Moreover, his periods have a pleasant sinuous movement, which proves that he is sensitive to harmony as well as to structure. His mastery of dialect is complete, and, like all masters of dialect, he records the talk of the people with a finer freedom than he brings to the management of the cultured speech. He is not often conscious of his forerunners, and seldom echoes the cadence of another. Now and again he recalls Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy," but the reminiscences of the past are found rarely, and at long intervals. For Mr. Hardy the English language is an instrument of precision. He will exclude no word from his vocabulary which shall clarify his meaning. He uses words of Saxon and Latin origin with impartiality. It is perhaps a defect of his style that he employs such inexpressive nouns as "premises" or "erection" when the dignified and simple "house" would far better serve his turn. But it was his fortune, good or evil, to live in the days of a tyrannical science, now already "bankrupt," and to admit into his language words of a curious shape and sound, words weighted with associations that are now half-forgotten. Theomachist, thesmothete, nullibist, zenithal, nebulosity-these are some of the strange words wherewith he scatters

his pages. And nothing need be said against them if they had justified themselves in their places. But at times they make but a harsh discord, and appear after a brief interval as mere concessions to a scientific curiosity, that has had its day. However, these are mere blemishes upon the surface of a sober, dignified style,-a style which will give Mr. Hardy a high place among writers of English prose.

There remains to say a word of Mr. Hardy's poetry. He himself sets a higher value upon it than upon his prose. "The more individual part of my literary fruitage," he calls it. The passage of time, we think, will correct the writer's own estimate. It is not dangerous to prophesy that by the novels of environment Mr. Hardy will be esteemed in the court of posterity. Comparison, maybe, is unprofitable, and the brilliance of the prose can in no way dim the lustre of "The Dynasts." This, in truth, is a work apart, without ancestry or descendant. It is a drama that can be played upon no stage but the stage of the imagination. It is, as its author says, "concerned with the Great Historical Calamity, or Clash of Peoples," which rent Europe in twain a hundred years ago. And as Mr. Hardy's vast panorama unfolds itelf, we are struck most keenly by the poet's amazing impartiality. He stands as far remote from the puppets of his drama as Providence itself. He is fair to Napoleon, without underrating "the last large words" of Pitt. With a balanced hand he leads upon the stage all the great men of the epoch, French and English, and with a rare clairvoyance he seems to see the precise relation of one event to another. And over the whole action there broods a set of impersonated abstractions," or Intelligences, called Spirits-Spirit of Pity, Spirit of Rumor, Spirit of the Years. "The Pities." as Mr. Hardy says, approximate to Schlegel's notion of the

the cessation of the import of Indian opium." By some this is misunderstood to be China's immediate release. It is not so, because there are accumulated, in the treaty ports, stocks of Indian opium waiting to enter China that may take a year in doing so. On the other hand, it is not the refusal of immediate release. Mr. Montagu stated that the accumulation of approximately 20,000 chests is now being taken into China at the rate of 2,000 chests a month. But that does not mean that China will be compelled to take the whole or any part of the 20,000 chests. On the contrary, Mr. Montagu said, "Do not let us talk for a moment of forcing China to take opium."

He also said: "The Chinese never suggested that we should stop the imports completely at once," and he gave as the reason that it was "because they thought that as soon as we had stopped the imports, their difficulties with their own growers would have increased." Later on he said: "Even in 1911, the Chinese Government never for one moment suggested the abandonment of that pari passu policy. What they wanted was to quicken that policy, not abandon it, because they thought that the complete cessation of the importation of Indian opium would have increased their difficulties." Later, in the same speech, he said: "If these stocks were to be sent elsewhere . . . and there is absolutely no evidence that the Chinese Government would wish this, it would . . . increase the difficulties of the Chinese Government themselves."

Clearly our Government believes that China's continuing to import Indian opium actually helps and not hinders her policy of suppressing the entire traffic. From Mr. Montagu's statement, it would even appear to be the Chinese Government's desire that its citizens should go on importing In

dian opium, This acquiescence of China in continued importation is put forward in justification for not stopping the traffic at once. Presumably, therefore, it now rests with China to say whether the accumulated stocks should go in or not. Confirmation of this view is to be found in the House of Commons speech of Mr. Acland, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, on December 20th last. He then said: "Our sending opium to China must come to an end automatically in 1917, and can be brought to an end automatically at any time before that, if the Chinese Government promises to see that it is not being cultivated in their own country."

Now that our own Government has discontinued sales of further opium for China, the Indo-Chinese question is narrowed down to this-must China take the 20,000 chests now in the treaty ports, or may she henceforward refuse to allow their importation? It is for China herself to ask for immediate release. Quite clearly, there need be no difficulty about the disposal of the stocks elsewhere, for, in the aforenamed speech, Mr. Montagu announced the Indian Government's intention to go on producing for the nonChinese markets. Let its future production be lessened by the number of chests still remaining in the treaty ports. Let India be content with having already made out of opium for China about twice as much money as in 1907 could have been expected from the whole then future Indo-Chinese opium trade. And let China at once go free. Should our Government wish it, let China's freedom to refuse opium till 1917 depend upon her persistence in the suppression policy. Her rulers would not object. But whatever virtue the pari passu policy may have had in 1908 or 1909, there is abundant evidence to show that the best way now of helping China is to free her at

once from the obligation to take more Indian opium.

A few days ago there arrived in England, General Chang, President of the Chinese National Opium Prohibition Union. Though not officially representing the Chinese Government, he comes with their knowledge, approbation, and hearty goodwill. Nineteen out of twenty-two Chinese provincial governors have subscribed toward the cost of his mission. He comes with credentials from the highest personages in China. He is one of the military secretaries and an intimate and trusted friend of President Yuan ShihKai, who has granted him three months' leave of absence on a special mission, to tell the British Government and people of China's earnest desire for immediate freedom from Indian opium. His personal testimony to the universality of this desire is striking and emphatic. Among many communications he has brought are letters from the Vice-President of the Chinese Republic, General Li Yuen Hung, from the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, from General Feng Kuo Chang, Governor of Chihli, from all the great parties in the new Chinese Parliament-viz., the Kuo Ming Tang, the Kung Ho Tang the Tung Yi Tang, and the Min Chü Tang-and from the Peking Chamber of Commerce. They all express friendliness toward Great Britain, and show a touching faith in our willingness to accede to their prayer for immediate release from the obligation to take Indian opium. The memorial from the Peking Chamber of Commerce asks the British Government for "an immediate and complete stoppage of Indian opium, in order to save the people of China from this poisonous drug, and thus benefit the whole world." Practically the only political parties in China now are the King Но Tang (which has

just absorbed the Tung Yi Tang and the Min Chü Tang, and is now called the Chin Pu Tang,) and the Kuo Ming Tang. The memorial of the former asks for "an instant cessation of the importation of Indian opium." The memorial of the latter says that, "as long as Indian opium can come in, the prohibition movement cannot attain its complete success, that the people of new China are anxious that the opium curse may be got rid of at the earliest date, and desire, therefore, an early cessation of the importation of Indian opium."

The two delegates from the Fukien province to the recent great Chinese National Anti-Opium Conference at Peking, viz., Ding Neng Gnong and Shau Hsiang Cheng, send a special memorial of their own, addressed to the British Parliament. It recites that in Fukien "the planters were promised that, as soon as their cultivation was stopped, the importation of foreign opium would be discontinued, and growing was totally suppressed in 1911." Then, in the autumn of 1911, the revolution broke out, and, "taking advantage of the non-fulfilment of this promise and weakness of the Government after the revolution, and being jealous of the great profits enjoyed by those dealing in foreign opium, the farmers in Hsinghua and some other districts naturally attempted again to grow poppy, which was far more lucrative than any other crop. It was not seldom that they asked, 'Why should the Government prohibit its own citizens from saving a little money by growing their poppy, while it allows the importation of foreign opium? And so long as the Government could not keep its promise of excluding the foreign drug, why should we obey its law and stop planting our poppy? They could not be prevailed upon to stop the cultivation without the application of some military force.

In the Hsinghua Prefecture alone, over a thousand planters and others were killed by the troops before this poisonous plant was wiped out. If the foreign opium be not immediately excluded, after the terrible destruction of so many lives and such a great quantity of poppy as in Hsinghua, would the Chinese farmers not consider it most unjust for their Government to bring a military force again upon them and kill them for attempting to raise the next crop of poppy? When a Government is not backed up by justice, it cannot accomplish much, even with a military force."

Fukien is only one of several provinces in which the authorities have had to call out the military to suppress poppy-planting. In China's heroic task of suppressing the production, sale, and smoking of opium, her difficulties in any case are enormous. In at least two of the western provinces there are several areas occupied by uncivilized tribes, which are practically independent. In Kansu and the remoter parts of Szechuan and Yunnan, far away from Peking, the lack of money for the payment of officials' salaries and the terrible temptation to the local authorities to wink at the highly profitable poppy-growing as a means of raising local revenue constiThe Contemporary Review.

tute a situation full of difficulty, and open the door to grave abuse. Quite recently reports have reached me of poppy-growing in Russia on the borders of Mongolia and of the smuggling of opium into China. And undoubtedly, with a large part of Mongolia itself in revolt, China must find it practically impossible to check there either the fabulously lucrative production or the enslavingly seductive use of the drug. Let it be remembered that China has also to prevent the importation and use of other equally harmful and easily smuggled drugs, such as morphia and cocaine, and some idea may be formed of the difficulties confronting her.

Never did the rulers of a great people struggle more gallantly to free it from a debasing vice than China's rulers are struggling to-day. Never did a great nation more sorely need our sympathy and help than China does to-day. The hour of her need is the hour of our opportunity-not for a moment to push her further into despair -but to lift her out of it into the sunshine of hope. Great, indeed, has been the wrong we have long done her. Proportionately great is the obligation now resting upon us to set her immediately free.

Theodore Cooke Taylor.

"Dear me!" exclaimed the chairman, looking first at the book, then at the correspondent, and then at the managers seated round the table, "so we've been entertaining an angel unawares."

And he might have added that it had taken them just twelve months to see the wings.

I.

They certainly were not in evidence when the angel first appeared in

Chignett Street, though he was the most presentable of the three candidates for the vacant post. It was the wrong time of the year for the "College list" to be of much use, and the advertisement had brought in poor results. One of the three was a rather shabby-looking man of forty whose testimonials were so guarded as to arouse suspicion rather than inspire confidence. The second was a young