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of the country. Our own British merchants inflict upon themselves the greatest harm. Had they not forced upon China the import of Opium, the whole empire from one end to the other would have been opened long ago. It is the shortsighted greed of our merchants, that leaves to their successors a crippled trade and the curse of a numerous nation." With what hatred the Chinese ae filled against the destroyers of their nation is evident in a poster which was spread far and wide during a revolt against the English and which, in translation, reads as follows: "There is a spot on the Globe, called England, inhabited by an undisciplined, lawless race. The principal design of these people is to harm other nations. In boundless self-conceit they swindle, trespass upon the rights of other countries and become their suppressors. Their main dogma speaks of Jesus Christ. In the light of this dogma, they are all devils, endeavoring to lead others astray by their own false doctrines. No matter whether a place be rich or poor, they spare no efforts to set themselves in possession of it. Following their own selfish purposes they create discord wherever they go. Their plots take all kinds of forms, which are as numerous as the hair on our heads. By all that is good and pure: came this devilish race in our land? shall and can we in these days of peace tolerate these shameless demons, these red-bristled barbarians? As things stand, it only remains for us to tie ourselves with mutually binding oaths to a common purpose and to form a secret society to free us from this public calamity."
Though we find in this appeal laid open the purpose of the secret societies for driving out the foreigners, the Chinese have, in spite of all endeavors so far not succeeded in getting rid of the "red-bristled barbarians." Exploiting regardlessly their success in the Opium war, demanding of the Chinese the literal fulfilment of the treaties, themselves however not being guided by them, the English founded settlements in places where they had no right to do so. They promoted the smuggling-trade, prevented the punishment of the guilty ones and thereby undermined the authority of the Chinese Government. Following the advice of a correspondent of the London "Times": that the teeth of the Chinese should be pryed open and the English goods driven into their body, if necessary with powder and cannon" the English shopkeepers in the treaty-ports acted without conscience. In his work "On the Chinese Emigration" (1876) the celebrated geographer Friedrich Ratzel gave proofs that among the English shopkeepers there existed a regular war party, which directed its constant efforts upon the
