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junior officers from colonels to lieutenants, as well as of non-commissioned officers from sergeants-major to corporals.

The above figures show the state of affairs prior to changes consequent upon the import of new ideas from the West; changes which have not yet been sufficiently systematized to lend themselves to any accurate analysis. Their gist is that eminent viceroys and governors have organized forces on European lines, and equipped them with modern weapons. The doings of these forces have not yet furnished a cardinal answer to the question whether the Chinese not the Manchus or the Mongols, but the Chinese. can be moulded into efficient soldiers. It is frequently asserted as a historical fact that they ceased to be soldiers after a brief period of national existence - brief in comparison with the long life of the Empire. The lust of battle is declared to be unknown to them, and never to have been known to them. On the other hand, the most hostile critic cannot deny that their physique is excellent, and that civilian members of the population have frequently shown themselves possessed of courage and coolness in a marked degree. Mr. E. H. Parker, one of the most eminent sinologues of the era, who passed twenty-five years in China, says: "I have found my Chinese followers in all provinces invariably true and stanch to me in times of danger, and I should not hesitate to lead a Chinese force, properly armed and brought into