rtue of the helpless!

But the slave traffic is not confined to women; any man may sell
his son; and classes of both sexes are found in all the houses of
the rich. Praedial servitude was practised in ancient times, as it
was in Europe in the Middle Ages, and in Russia till a recent day.
We read of lands and labourers being conferred on court favourites.
How the system came to disappear we need not pause to inquire. It
is certain, however, that no grand act of emancipation ever took
place in China like that which cost Lincoln his life, or that for
which the good Czar Alexander II. had to pay the same forfeit.
Russia is to-day eating the bitter fruits of ages of serfdom; and
the greatest peril ever encountered by the United States was a
war brought on by negro slavery.

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The form of slavery prevailing in China is not one that threatens
war or revolutions; but in its social aspects it is worse than
negro slavery. It depraves morals and corrupts the family, and
as long as it exists, it carries the brand of barbarism. China
has great men, who for the honour of their country would not be
afraid to take the matter in hand. They would, if necessary, imitate
Lincoln and the Czar Alexander to effect the removal of such a
blot.

It is proposed, we are told, to limit slavery to minors--freedom
ensuing on the attainment of majority. This would greatly ameliorate
the evil, but the evil is so crying that it demands not amelioration,
but extinction. Let the legislators of China take for their model
the provisions of British law, which make it possible to boast that
"as soon as a slave touches British soil his fetters fall." Let
them also follow that lofty legislation which defines the rights
and provides for the well-being of the humblest subject. Let the
old system be uprooted before a new one is inaugurated, otherwise
there is danger that the limiting of slavery to minors will leave
those helpless creatures exposed to most of the wrongs that accompany
a lifelong servitude.

The number and extent of the reforms decreed or effected are such
as to make the present reign the most illustrious in the history
of the Empire. May we not hope that in dealing with polygamy and
domestic slavery, the action of China will be such as to lift her
out of the class of Turkey and Morocco into full companionship
with the most enlightened nations of Europe and America.

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III.

A NEW OPIUM WAR

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