pre ridors of the Ananda, was that of with levying taxes from the people [Feb. traversing some sombre and gigan- of that province, attempted to do tic pile appropriated to the cabals likewise with tribes subject to Burand tortures of the Inquisition." The fall of the Pugan monarchy resented this assumption by force mese suzerainty. The Burmese inevitably followed the Mongol of arms; but sundry awful portents, invasion; yet it appears Burma such as earthquakes, storms, and stubbornly refused to acknowledge the appearance of two suns in the Celestial suzerainty, though many sky, caused the superstitious monattempts were made to make her arch, in abject terror, to fancy bow her neck to the yoke. One that he had no alternative exceptof these, in 1416, might have been ing to acquiesce in Yunhli's critical to her destiny, as the time tensions. Accordingly, in complichosen for attacking her was when ance with an ancient custom, he her hands were full with Pegu. built a temporary palace, wherein It appears some Shan chiefs re- he placed his eldest marriageable volted, and a few of them were daughter, in the hope of appeasing sent as prisoners to Ava. others invoked the aid of China, fell out, however, that the pseudoThe the wrath of the conqueror. It so which responded willingly by send- Emperor was driven out of Yunnan ing an army, and demanding the by the Tartars, and took refuge in release of the prisoners. The point Burma, where he became a natuas to whether they were to be sur- ralised subject. To the rendered or not was left to be de- disgrace of the Burmese, this adlasting cided by the result of single com- venturer was surrendered on the bat between champions. Suffice it demand of a Manchu general. so say, the Burmese representative tlew his antagonist, and, according less important, issues aside,—such Leaving collateral, though doubtto agreement, the Chinese army re- as anarchy, which paralysed our tired. The Celestials could not, trade and injuriously affected our however, remain quiescent very administration-French intrigues, long, and in 1444, backed by an the shoe question, and other matarmy, revived the demand for ters of high politics, the final distribute from Taruk-pyè-men in memberment of the Burmese empire 1281. The Burmese refused to was primarly due to the impractiacknowledge the claim, which was cability of King Theebaw, in the not pressed; but later on. in lieu matter of complaints on the part thereof, the Chinese insisted the surrender of the chief of Mo- pany. So, just twelve decades ago, on of an English commercial comganny, who had taken refuge at the inevitable the Burmese capital. The Bur- precipitated by similar perversity would have been mans accepted battle rather than on the part of one of his Majesty's give up the man, and completely predecessors, in connection with defeated the invaders. They were the remonstrances of a Chinese again threatened with serious trou- trader, were it not for the infible in the seventeenth century, nite resource, strategic knowledge, when a certain Yunhli, who had and determined spirit evinced by assumed the title of the Emperor the Burmese generals, confronted of China, when driven from his though they were by apparently capital, Nankin, established him- overwhelming numbers. self in Yunnan, and not content In consequence of a series of misunderstandings in matters con- fore it was more politic to arrive nected with the frontier between at a friendly settlement, rather Burma and China, the Empe- than exasperate a very powerful ror Kienlung, in 1766-69, invad- nation. Accordingly, it was ared Burma four times. Though ranged that peace and friendship a competent civil administrator, should be established between the he was no warrior, and owing to two great countries as of yore; and his selection of incompetent com- that the "gold and silver road" manders, who grossly mismanaged of commerce should remain open. the campaigns, his army was twice Presents were exchanged between obliged to retreat to China. In the parties to the settlement, no way discouraged, the Emperor and it was agreed that envoys was determined not to allow what bearing friendly letters and gifts he considered a petty barbarian should be sent every ten years by power to successfully defy the Sun each sovereign to the other. The of Heaven, and in 1767 despatched Chinese claim for decennial tribute a stronger force, which also had to is based apparently on what took retire precipitately from Burmese place at the end of this war. territory. Notwithstanding all Logically, it would tell against the these reverses, he determined on suppliant Celestials; but as a matagain invading the country, with ter of fact, owing to the tact of the even a more powerful army than Burmese general, both sides were before, selecting a time when the satisfied, and marched off, as it Burmese monarch was distracted were, with drums beating and colby omens in the shape of earth- ours flying. quakes, which rent the great national temples, and seemed to portend coming disaster. His Majesty was, however, quite equal to the occasion, for he despatched an army commanded by capable officers to encounter the invaders, whose success so discouraged the Chinese general that he was constrained to solicit permission to return unmolested to his own country, when he found his forces surrounded "like cows in a pond," and entirely at the mercy of the Burmese. The Burmese commander summoned a council of war, the members of which unanimously gave it as their opinion that no quarter should be given to the Celestials. He overruled this advice, on the ground that undue severity would only perpetuate ill feelings, to the mutual and lasting disadvantage of both countries; and that there In the recent controversy regarding the alleged suzerain rights of China in Burma, this incident, as related in Sir Arthur Phayre's carefully authenticated History of Burma,' was relied on by those opposed to the Chinese claims, their opponents ridiculing it as the fond imaginings of the Burmese Court historiographer, differing from the account given by Crawfurd and by Chinese historians. Crawfurd's version is certainly not in accord with most of the recognised authorities on Burmese affairs; but it was admittedly founded on Court gossip, while the dicta of Celestial historians is not quoted. The truth probably is, as Sir Arthur Phayre suggests, the campaigns of Chinese armies in Burma from 1765 to 1769 are noticed very briefly in the histories of China, Gutzlaff alone telling the truth 1 See Phayre's History of Burma. London: 1883. without disguise of the discomfiture of the Chinese armies. Gutzlaff's account, by the way, is almost word for word identical with that given by the despised Burmese historian, excepting that he merely contents himself with recording that a treaty was made, without entering into particulars with regard to its details. The most amicable relations have ever since existed between the two countries, in spite of not a little provocation to misunderstanding, owing to overtures made by the pseudo-King Suleiman of Talifu to his Majesty of the Golden Foot. The late King Mengdoon, stanch in his loyalty to his "Elder Brother," denounced Suleiman as a rebel. Not so the English, who, according a warm reception to Panthay envoys in 1872-73, in defiance of their obligations to China, incensed the latter against England, and caused her, by measures short, sharp, and decisive, to reassert her power and make a clean sweep of the Panthays. Thus, by British intrigues, China was awakened to a sense of her responsibilities as regards Yunnan, just as French intrigues influenced England in precipitating the inevitable as to Upper Burma. Though a profound peace has characterised the relations between the Burmese and Chinese since 1769, they have both been involved in various wars with powerful European States, with results affecting the fortunes of both very differently; for Younger Brother was dismayed to find his patrimony wrested from him, and himself an exiled prisoner-while Elder Brother was elated at the nation that he bad successfully withstood, and actually defeated, the flower of an army belonging to one of the most warlike nations in Christendom. In spite of wars with neighbouring States, the empire of Burma may be said to have remained intact till the year 1824, when the arrogance of Burmese statesmen led them to invade territory under British protection, and thus compelled England to wage war against Burma, resulting in the cession to the former of the provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim. Suffice it to say, similar causes led to the wars of 1852-53 and 1885-86, causing first the loss of Pegu, her fairest province, and ultimately all that remained to his Majesty of the Golden Foot. Burmese history, as detailed in the Maha Raja Wen or Great Chronicle of Kings, it must be admitted, tells a different tale: "Prosaic, and perhaps biassed Western writers affirm that no defeats are recorded in those courtly pages; reverses are charmed into acts of clemency; armies as vast as those that people dreamland march through its chapters; its heroes are of the old ballad type." With the fall of Mandalay, or the City of Gems, the Court historiographer, like Othello, found his occupation gone, so that the records of recent events, as seen through Burmese spectacles, will probably never see the light. The Chinese, however, as already hinted, were satisfied with the results of their encounters with a European foe, especially as they were not to blame for the disturbance of the peace in that portion of the Golden Chersonese belonging to the Sun of Heaven. Really they were the victims of an insatiable earth-hunger, as well as a morbid political ambition, which, of late years, has distinguished the 1 The Burman. By Showay Yoe. 1882. French, whose twofold object as they cynically admit-was to acquire a new colony in Tonquin and supplant the English as the dominant power in Farther India. So long as France confined herself to Cochin-China and Annam, China contented herself with a policy which she found convenient in the case of the British annexation in Burma, remaining quiet while the latter absorbed the maritime provinces, but asserting her alleged suzerain rights when they approached nearer to her. When the French, however, under the flimsiest of pretexts, ventured to Occupy Tonquin, China very naturally demurred to part with a province which undoubtedly belonged to the Celestial Empire, and in support of her contention was obliged to appeal to arms a challenge accepted by France with a light heart. After a weary campaign, which taxed the resources of both sides to the utmost, and caused a terrible loss of life, each side emerged from the conflict, loudly asserting it was the victor. It is unnecessary to our present purpose to decide this knotty point; but the fact that raw levies, consisting of peasants, robbers, and ragamuffins of all kinds, armed, 'tis true, partly with weapons of precision, but which were worse than useless owing to their want of practice-cheated by commissariat officers and paymasters, and led by officers, who, considering discretion the better part of valour, took up their positions a day's march or so from the front should more or less be able to hold their own against well-disciplined French troops, commanded by experienced officers, offers food for serious consideration. For if the Chinese should take the lesson to heart, and utilise the enormous rough material they possess, by subjecting it to proper discipline and organisation, as well as centralised administration and control, by the aid of railways and the telegraph-there is no reason why they should not be able to defy the world. Baron Hubner, in his very interesting work,1 declares he is frightened at the results of Chinese emigration, which in a comparatively short space of time has flooded three-quarters of the globe, and indulges in the following reflections: "Two enormous reservoirs; two rivers are issuing from them, the white river and the yellow river-the one fertilising the lands through which it runs with the seeds of Christian civilisation, and the other threatening to destroy them. Already at several points these rivers are meeting and contending for the mastery. What will be the final issue? the twentieth century will determine it in its annals." If there be substantial grounds for the Baron's misgivings, how truly appalling would be the prospect if the Celestials should take it into their heads to carry fire and sword into the countries they now overrun in the interests of peaceful industry! Agreeably to the convention entered into at the close of the war of 1769- already noticedembassies have since been despatched by both countries at irregular intervals. Judging by the light brought to bear on these events, by persons behind the scenes, both sides have practised the most glaring deceptions on each other in the matter of the ambassadorial personnel and the treatment of the envoys accredited to their Courts. Laughing in their sleeves, as it 1 Through the British Empire. London: 1886. were, at their own knavish tricks, end of the Buddhist Lent, when all the official and great men of the country, as well as the tributary chiefs, were bound to do homage at the Golden Foot, presenting gifts as tokens of allegiance to the Lord of the White Elephant. kin were apparently paid back in Burmese envoys deputed to Petheir own coin by the Chinese, who, by way of relieving the monotonous existence of the former, caused them to stand in the streets with the gaping crowds, and dance. attendance on the Emperor when he chose to go out for an airing, to visit monasteries and tea-gardens, or besport himself on the ice. With exquisite, though mayhap unconscious irony they also insisted on their putting in an appearance at the Emperor's annual levee, identical with the Burmese kadaw. The most barefaced imposition on the Chinese part was when the Viceroy of Yunnan practised the well-known amorous propensities of Mentaragyi, King of Bursubordinates three Yunnan women, ma, by sending in charge of his own whose inferior social position was evidenced by their normally shaped feet, and palming them off as princesses escorted by envoys from the Sun of Heaven. on Anomalous as it may appear, no effort was spared on either side to welcome envoys with becoming honour, and to make their official reception as brilliant and imposing as the requirements of ancient custom demanded. The traditionary canons as to the barbaric pomp inevitable on such occasions were adhered to most religiously. Yet, with all this, the officials of both Courts seemed to take a childish pleasure in offering every conceivable slight to their seemingly highly honoured guests, endeavouring to mortify them in every possible way, under the mistaken impression that by so doing they exalted themselves at the expense of their friends. What is now known as the shoe question was, as an engine of oppression, a neverfailing source of delight to the Burmese, for the process of unbooting within the palace precincts was as abhorrent to the Chinese as to Europeans. This infatuation would have caused the loss of their country in the thirteenth century, had Kublai Khan chosen to take it, and doubtless had not a little to do with the final catastrophe. Causing misguided foreigners to perform unnecessary obeisance was a practical joke of perennial flavour, the most stiff-necked being unwittingly forced to become victims thereto by being led through doorways so low that they necessarily bowed their heads! But the plan of all others for humbling strangers which pleased them most, was to induce them to attend the great immemorial Chinese caravans had annual kadaw or levee, held at the done this, the natural inference tical sway over the magnificent When the English obtained prachighways and the Irawadi, and a glance at of the Brahmaputra the map proved that the traditionally rich and densely populated south-western provinces of China were far nearer British territory than the sea-coast of the Flowery Land, the desirability of tapping them in the interests of direct commerce meanest comprehension. was apparent to the As it was well known that from time |