Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 108 (Color Image)

0108	Among the Celestials : vol.1

82 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. IV.

remove our ships from it before it was even

theirs, and of their then walking into it in the

face of a powerful British fleet, seems astounding

beyond all expression.

With these facts before us, we cannot doubt

that our rights are threatened, and that if

some period is not put to the tide of Russian

aggressiveness, all our privileges in Manchuria

will be swept away. We may still enjoy those

indirect advantages which the substitution of

Russian for Chinese civilisation in Manchuria

will bring about, just as we enjoy certain ad-

vantages from the substitution of Russian for

Turkish rule in Batoum. But we will not enjoy

the full advantages to which we are entitled. If

the Russians continue to hold the same ideas of

expansion, and to carry them out with the same

audacity and determination as heretofore, in a

score or so of years Manchuria will be absorbed

by Russia, and British trade will be excluded.

And what if it is ? some will say. After all,

our trade with Manchuria never will be more

than a small fraction of the total trade of the

British Empire, and would it be worth while

for the preservation of that to run the risk of a

war with Russia ?

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