If the average foreign visitor to Macao were asked what historical figure he would associate with the little Portuguese colony, he would probably think only of the poet Luis de Cams, though if he were better informed than most, he might add the painter George Chinnery and the pioneer Protestant missionary, Robert Morrison. Yet there is no lack of interesting characters connected with the “City of the Name of God” during its three and a half centuries of existence, and the present article deals with the story of one of them. Its perusal may help to recall those picturesque days when Macao formed the sole breach in the Great Wall of China's political exclusiveness, save for the “Thirteen Factories” at Canton.

The interest that the Far East holds for Henry A. Wallace has been concretely manifested in recent years by the trip which he took to eastern Siberia and China in the early summer of 1944, and by a pamphlet which he wrote at about the same time. Less well known is the fact that this interest, at least along certain lines, is of long standing, and has played an important part in shaping one aspect of his social thinking.

During the past several years I had heard vaguely that among the agricultural measures carried out by Mr. Wallace while Secretary of Agriculture (1933–40), those grouped under the title of “The Ever-Normal Granary” had been inspired by ancient Chinese practice. Because of the importance of Wang An-shih (1021–86) in Chinese economic thought, and because of the existence of a considerable literature on Wang in English, I had supposed that it was he who might have stimulated these measures. On writing to Mr. Wallace for confirmation, however, he very kindly replied to me as follows (letter of August 24, 1945):

The term “Southeast Asia” is coming steadily into greater use. The termis a convenient geographic expression, but is it anything more? Do the countries of this region have very much in common? Do they have enough in common to suggest the possibility of fruitful cooperation? These questions take on added significance because of the present political upheavals and unrest in nearly all of the countries of this region.

To have a proper appreciation of the return of the territory of Battambang and Angkor to Cambodia as a consequence of the treaty of March 23, 1907 between France and Siam, it is necessary to know something of the history of the ancient Khmer Empire or at least that of the peoples of the Mékong and Ménam valleys since the appearance of the so-called Tai people in the middle Ménam in the eartly part of the twelfth century.

Late in November, 1867, Anson Burlingame resigned his post as U. S. Minister to China and accepted the invitation of the Tsungli Yamen to take part in China's first diplomatic mission to the Treaty Powers. The minister's party left Peking on November 25, 1867. The second day out of Peking there occurred the exciting adventure described in this letter.

The letter writer was Burlingame's sixteen-year old son, Walter Anson, and the “Dear Grandpa” to whom the letter was written was the Hon. Isaac Livermore of Boston. The letter is reproduced as it was written except for the omission of some irrelevant material at the end. Modern versions of place names, when identifiable, are given in brackets. The spelling and grammar are Walter's.