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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42732 ***
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
+
+  In the caption to the illustration facing page 370, KOLENGSOO
+  should possibly be KULANGSU.
+
+
+
+
+THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XXIII.: Tsze-kung asked, saying, "Is there one word which may
+serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?" The Master said, "Is
+not RECIPROCITY such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do
+not do to others."
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: Mr Alcock, at the age of 34.
+   from a drawing by L. A. de Fabeck, 1843.
+   Walker & Cockerell ph. sc.]
+
+
+
+
+     THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA
+     DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA
+
+     AS ILLUSTRATED IN
+     THE CAREER OF
+     SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK, K.C.B., D.C.L.
+     MANY YEARS CONSUL AND MINISTER IN
+     CHINA AND JAPAN
+
+     BY
+     ALEXANDER MICHIE
+
+     AUTHOR OF
+     'THE SIBERIAN OVERLAND ROUTE,' 'MISSIONARIES
+     IN CHINA,' ETC.
+
+     VOL. I.
+
+     WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
+     EDINBURGH AND LONDON
+     MDCCCC
+
+     _All Rights reserved_
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Reminiscences of the Far East called up by the death of Sir Rutherford
+Alcock in November 1897 prompted the writer to send a contribution on
+the subject to 'Blackwood's Magazine.' Being appreciated by the
+family, the article suggested to them some more substantial memorial
+of the deceased statesman, a scheme with which the writer fell in the
+more readily that it seemed to harmonise with the task which friends
+had been already urging upon him--that of writing some account of
+occurrences in the Far East during his own residence there. For there
+was no other name round which these events could be so consistently
+grouped during the thirty years when British policy was a power in
+that part of the world. As Consul and Minister Alcock was so
+interwoven with the history of the period that neither the life of the
+man nor the times in which he lived could be treated apart. And the
+personal element renders his connection with Far Eastern affairs
+particularly instructive, for, combining the highest executive
+qualities with a philosophic grasp of the problems with which he had
+to deal, he at the same time possessed the faculty of exposition,
+whereby the vital relation between the theoretical and the practical
+sides of Far Eastern politics was made plain. The student may thus
+draw his lessons equally from the actions and the reflections of this
+great official.
+
+The life history of Sir Rutherford Alcock is that of the progressive
+development of a sterling character making in all circumstances the
+most of itself, self-reliant, self-supporting, without friends or
+fortune, without interest or advantage of any kind whatsoever. From
+first to last the record is clear, without sediment or anything
+requiring to be veiled or extenuated. Every achievement, great or
+small, is stamped with the hall-mark of duty, of unfaltering devotion
+to the service of the nation and to the interests of humanity.
+
+A copious and facile writer, he has left singularly little in the way
+of personal history. The only journal he seems ever to have kept was
+consigned by him to oblivion, a few early dates and remarks having
+alone been rescued. When in recent years he was approached by friends
+on the subject of auto-biography, he was wont to reply, "My life is in
+my work; by that I am content to be remembered." We must needs
+therefore take him at his word and judge by the fruit what was the
+nature of the tree.
+
+In the following work the reader may trace in more or less continuous
+outline the stages by which the present relation between China and
+foreign nations has been reached. In the earlier portion the course of
+events indicated is comparatively simple, being confined to
+Anglo-Chinese developing into Anglo-Franco-Chinese relations. In the
+latter portion, corresponding roughly with the second volume, the
+stream becomes subdivided into many collateral branches, as all the
+Western nations and Japan, with their separate interests, came to
+claim their share, each in its own way, of the intercourse with China.
+It is hoped that the data submitted to the reader will enable him to
+draw such conclusions as to past transactions as may furnish a basis
+for estimating future probabilities.
+
+The scope of the work being restricted to the points of contact
+between China and the rest of the world, nothing recondite is
+attempted, still less is any enigma solved. It is the belief of the
+author that the so-called Chinese mystery has been a source of
+needless mystification; that the relation between China and the outer
+world was intrinsically simple; and that to have worked from the basis
+of their resemblances to the rest of humanity would have been a
+shorter way to an amicable understanding with the Chinese than the
+crude attempt to accommodate Western procedure to the uncomprehended
+differences which divided them. It needed no mastery of their
+sociology to keep the Chinese strictly to their written engagements
+and to deter them from outrage. But discussion was the invitation to
+laxity; and laxity, condoned and pampered, then defiant and
+triumphant, lies at the root of the disasters which have befallen the
+Chinese Empire itself, and now threaten to recoil also upon the
+foreign nations which are responsible for them. This responsibility
+was never more tersely summed up than by Mr Burlingame in his capacity
+of Chinese Envoy. After sounding the Foreign Office that astute
+diplomatist was able to inform the Tsungli-Yamên in 1869 that "the
+British Government was so friendly and pacific that they would endure
+anything." The dictum, though true, was fatal, and the operation of it
+during thirty subsequent years explains most that has happened during
+that period, at least in the relations between China and Great
+Britain.
+
+A word as to the orthography may be useful to the reader. The
+impossibility of transliterating Chinese sounds into any alphabetical
+language causes great confusion in the spelling of names. A uniform
+system would indeed be most desirable, but common practice has already
+fixed so many of them that it seems better, in a book intended for
+general reading, not to depart too much from the conventional usage,
+or attempt to follow any scientific system, which must, after all, be
+based upon mispronunciation of the Chinese sounds.
+
+As regards personal names, it may be convenient to call attention to
+the distinction between Chinese and Manchu forms. In the case of the
+former the custom is to write the _nomen_, or family name, separately,
+and the _pre-nomen_ (which by Chinese practice becomes the
+_post-nomen_) by itself, and, when it consists of two characters,
+separated by a hyphen--_e.g._, Li (_nomen_) Hung-chang (_post-nomen_).
+In the case of Manchus, who are known not by a family name, but by
+what may be termed, for want of a better expression, their
+_pre-nomen_, it is customary to write the name in one word, without
+hyphens--for example, Kiying, Ilipu. As the Chinese name usually
+consists of three characters or syllables, and the Manchu usually of
+two, the form of name affords a _prima facie_ indication of the
+extraction of the personage referred to. Polysyllabic names, as
+San-ko-lin-sin, are generally Mongol.
+
+The sovereign is not referred to by name, the terms Kwanghsu,
+Tungchih, and so forth, being the Chinese characters chosen to
+designate, or, as we might say, idealise the reign, in the same way as
+impersonal titles are selected for houses of business.
+
+I desire to express my deep obligation to Sir Rutherford Alcock's
+stepdaughter Amy, Lady Pelly, without whose efficient aid the book
+could not have been compiled. It is a subject of regret to all
+concerned that Lady Alcock herself did not live to see the completion
+of a task in the inception of which she took a keen and loving
+interest.
+
+To the other friends who have in different ways helped in the
+production of the book, and particularly to Mr William Keswick, M.P.,
+for the loan of his valuable Chinnery and Crealock drawings, my best
+thanks are due.
+
+     A. M.
+     LONDON, _November 2nd, 1900_.
+
+
+     _Postscript._--The legend on the front cover is a
+     paraphrase of Chapter xxiii., Book xv., of the Analects of
+     Confucius, Dr Legge's translation of which has been adopted
+     by me as the motto of these volumes.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
+     CHAP.                                                    PAGE
+
+         I. THE ARMY SURGEON--
+              I. YOUTH                                           1
+             II. THE PENINSULA, 1832-1837                        8
+            III. ENGLAND, 1838-1844                             23
+
+        II. SENT TO CHINA                                       29
+            FOREIGN RELATIONS WITH CHINA                        31
+
+       III. ANTECEDENTS OF THE WAR--
+              I. THE OPIUM TRADE                                42
+             II. THE SEQUEL TO THE SURRENDER OF OPIUM           55
+
+        IV. THE FIRST CHINA WAR, 1839-1842                      60
+
+         V. THE TREATY OF 1842                                  78
+
+        VI. THE FRUITS OF THE WAR AND PROSPECTS OF PEACE        86
+
+       VII. THE NEW INTERCOURSE: CANTON, 1842-1847              93
+
+      VIII. THE NEW TREATY PORTS--FOOCHOW, AMOY, NINGPO        112
+
+        IX. SHANGHAI                                           124
+              I. THE TSINGPU AFFAIR                            129
+             II. REBELLION                                     135
+            III. THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS                  143
+             IV. CREATION OF THE FOREIGN CUSTOMS               149
+              V. MR ALCOCK'S DEPARTURE FROM SHANGHAI           156
+
+         X. CONSUL ALCOCK'S VIEWS ON GENERAL POLICY            161
+
+        XI. TRADE UNDER THE TREATY OF NANKING                  167
+              I. TEA                                           178
+             II. SILK                                          187
+            III. OPIUM                                         191
+             IV. CHINESE EXPORTS                               200
+              V. BRITISH EXPORTS                               203
+             VI. NATIVE TRADE                                  207
+
+        XII. SHIPPING                                          211
+
+       XIII. THE TRADERS--
+              I. FOREIGN                                       248
+             II. CHINESE                                       263
+
+        XIV. HONGKONG                                          271
+
+         XV. MACAO                                             287
+
+        XVI. PIRACY                                            299
+
+       XVII. THE ARROW WAR                                     308
+              I. THE EARL OF ELGIN AND HIS MISSION             320
+             II. LORD ELGIN'S SECOND MISSION                   349
+
+      XVIII. INTERCOURSE UNDER THE TREATIES OF 1858 AND 1860--
+              I. THE DIPLOMATIC OVERTURE                       361
+             II. NEW PORTS AND OPENING OF YANGTZE              369
+            III. ADMIRAL HOPE'S POLICY TOWARDS INSURGENTS      375
+             IV. THE LAY-OSBORN FLOTILLA                       387
+              V. THE END OF THE REBELLION                      392
+             VI. EVACUATION OF CANTON                          396
+            VII. DEATH OF THE EMPEROR                          397
+           VIII. INFLUENCE OF THESE EVENTS ON PROGRESS OF
+                       DIPLOMACY                               398
+
+
+     APPENDIX.
+
+       I. NOTE ON OUR PRESENT POSITION AND THE STATE OF OUR
+              RELATIONS WITH CHINA, BY CONSUL ALCOCK, JANUARY
+              19, 1849                                         411
+
+      II. CONFIDENTIAL DESPATCH BY CONSUL ALCOCK TO SIR GEORGE
+              BONHAM, JANUARY 13, 1852                         428
+
+     III. CONFIDENTIAL DESPATCH TO SIR GEORGE BONHAM, DATED JUNE
+              17, 1852. (EXTRACT)                              432
+
+      IV. ACCOUNT OF THE SALT TRADE ANNEXED TO MR PARKES' SUMMARY
+              OF THE NATIVE MARITIME TRADE OF FOOCHOW,
+              1846. (EXTRACTS)                                 439
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+     MR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK AT THE AGE OF THIRTY-FOUR.    _Frontispiece_
+          From a drawing by L. A. de Fabeck.
+
+     MACAO                                                          48
+
+     H.M. SHIPS IMOGEN AND ANDROMACHE PASSING BOCCA TIGRIS
+          BATTERIES                                                 70
+
+     THE LAKES, NINGPO                                             114
+
+     THE FIRST CONSULAR RESIDENCE AT FOOCHOW                       116
+
+     BRIDGE OVER RIVER MIN                                         120
+
+     THE SECOND CONSULAR RESIDENCE AT FOOCHOW, 1848                122
+
+     BAMBOO BRIDGE AT FOOCHOW                                      124
+
+     COUNTRY WATERWAY NEAR SHANGHAI                                126
+
+     ENTRANCE TO SZE-KING, NEAR SHANGHAI                           136
+
+     RUSTIC SCENE NEAR SHANGHAI                                    156
+
+     VILLAGE ON THE CANALS                                         200
+
+     DENT'S VERANDAH, MACAO                                        294
+
+     GEORGE CHINNERY                                               298
+          From an oil-painting by himself.
+
+     SIR FREDERICK BRUCE                                           348
+
+     MR LOCH DEPARTS FROM PEKING FOR ENGLAND WITH CHINESE
+          TREATY                                                   354
+
+     MONSEIGNEUR MOUILLI                                           356
+
+     FIRST BRITISH CONSULATE AT KOLENGSOO, 1844                    370
+
+
+MAPS.
+
+     MAP OF CANTON WATERS                                           62
+
+     YANGTZE AND GRAND CANAL                                        75
+
+     MOUTH OF YANGTZE AND CHUSAN ARCHIPELAGO                       132
+
+     ROADS AND WATERWAYS BETWEEN PEKING AND TIENTSIN               331
+
+
+
+
+THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE ARMY SURGEON.
+
+
+I. YOUTH.
+
+     Birth at Ealing -- Motherless childhood -- Feeble health --
+     Irregular schooling -- Medical education -- Student days in
+     Paris -- Wax-modelling -- Admission to College of Surgeons
+     -- House Surgeon at Westminster Hospital.
+
+Born in the same year as Mr Gladstone, May 1809, John Rutherford
+Alcock[1] predeceased that statesman by only six months. His
+birthplace was Ealing, and he died in Westminster, after a residence
+there in retirement of twenty-seven years. Being a delicate infant, he
+was baptised in Ealing church when one day old. His childhood was
+deprived of its sunshine by the loss of his mother, and it does not
+appear that his father, a medical man of some note, and an artist to
+boot, was equal to filling the void in the young life. Consequently
+boyhood had for him none of the halo of a golden age, but was, on the
+contrary, a grey and cheerless memory, furnishing tests of hardihood
+rather than those glowing aspirations which generally kindle young
+ambitions.
+
+His early life was passed with relatives in the north of England, and
+he went to school at Hexham, where he had for companions Sir John
+Swinburne and Mr Dawson Lambton.
+
+Of his school-days there is little to remark. Indeed his early
+education seems to have been most irregular, having been subject to
+long and frequent interruptions on account of ill-health, which
+necessitated sea-voyages and other changes of air. Nevertheless the
+diligence which was part of his nature compensated for these drawbacks
+of his youth, and set its seal on his whole after-career.
+
+On returning to his father's house at the age of fifteen, the boy began
+his medical education, being, according to the fashion of the day,
+apprenticed to his father, and at the same time entered as a student
+at the Westminster Hospital and the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic
+Hospital under that distinguished surgeon, G. J. Guthrie. His passion
+for art had already asserted itself, and he was enabled to indulge it
+by constant visits to Chantrey's studio, where, "amid the musical
+sounds of the chisel on the marble, with snatches of airs from the
+workmen, where all breathed a calm and happy repose, he passed
+delightful hours." His half-holidays were spent at Chantrey's in
+modelling.
+
+In the following year he visited Paris, and seems ever after to have
+looked back on the gay city as a kind of paradise, for there the world
+first really opened to the young man of sixteen. Then began that life
+of work and enjoyment, so blended as to be inseparable, which
+continued without intermission for more than seventy years. In the
+stimulating atmosphere of Paris, and its free and independent life,
+the boy's faculties rapidly developed. He seemed, indeed, to expand
+suddenly into full manhood. Destined for the medical profession, he
+worked hard at anatomy, chemistry, and natural history, while taking
+also a keen interest in artistic and literary subjects; mastered
+French and Italian; and, in short, turned his twelve or eighteen
+months' sojourn to highly practical account.
+
+From a small pocket-book containing notes of the journey to France,
+and part of his work in Paris, we give some extracts illustrative of
+the boy's character and powers of observation.
+
+It was on the 17th of August 1825 that the party embarked at the
+Custom-House Stairs for Calais, the voyage occupying fourteen hours.
+On landing the lad "amused himself by observing the effects in the sky
+and the sea, and by picking up shells, bones of birds and animals,
+which having remained in the sea until perfectly clean, looked
+beautiful and white as ivory." Simple things interested him, and after
+dinner at the Hôtel Meurice in Paris he "listened with much pleasure
+to a man playing airs on what he called an American flute"--which he
+goes on to describe: "The tones were mellow in the extreme, and the
+airs he played I think were much superior in sweetness to any I have
+ever heard from an instrument so clear," and so on. Obviously a
+subjective impression; it is his own emancipation that beautifies the
+simplest things and inspires the simplest sounds. Like the
+convalescent in Gray--
+
+     "The meanest floweret of the vale,
+     The simplest note that swells the gale,
+     The common sun, the air, the skies,
+     To him are opening Paradise."
+
+On his first Sunday in Paris he was "much struck with the beauty of
+the paintings and a great number of pieces sculptured in
+_bas-relief_." Then he walked in the gardens of the Tuileries, "which
+in extent, in statues and in fountains, in the appearance of it taking
+it altogether, far exceeded anything my imagination had conceived
+concerning it."
+
+At Versailles he was "highly delighted with many of the paintings. The
+gardens are extremely extensive and the fountains very numerous; ...
+but it is all extremely artificial, and therefore soon fatigues the
+eye." In these slight observations are perceptible the artistic
+instinct and sense of fitness, faculties which served him so admirably
+in his future work, and might have won him distinction in other fields
+than those in which his lot was ultimately cast.
+
+He was in Paris for a serious purpose, the study of medicine and
+surgery, and seriously he followed it. At the same time he mixed
+freely in the artistic and literary society of the French capital, and
+left none of his talents uncultivated. A characteristic incident in
+his educational career was his mastering the art of modelling in wax
+and in plaster. Following up his experiments in Chantrey's studio, he
+took regular lessons in Paris, and attained such proficiency that,
+young as he was, he was able to maintain himself while in that city by
+the sale of his anatomical models. For one of these he mentions
+receiving fifty guineas, and a few years after "for two arms and two
+legs the size of life" he notes receiving 140 guineas. These also won
+for him distinctions at home, for in the year 1825 he was awarded the
+"Gold Isis Medal" of the Society of Arts, and in the following year
+the "large gold medal" of that society, for original models in
+coloured wax. And it may be mentioned as characteristic that although
+in later years an active member of that society, Sir H. T. Wood, the
+secretary, who knew him well, was unaware of Sir Rutherford Alcock's
+having so early in life received the society's medals. "The fact is an
+interesting one," he says, "and I am glad to have had my attention
+drawn to it." Some of these works were preserved in the Museum of the
+College of Surgeons, while others, prepared in special wax, were
+bought by Government for the use of the Indian medical schools.
+
+From the small pocket-book to which we have already referred, and
+which contains concise notes of his course of instruction in modelling
+under a M. Dupont, we extract the note of his first lesson. It shows
+thoroughness of mind, keenness of observation, and the instinct for
+accuracy which enabled him so soon to attain to excellence in the art,
+and led to success in all the other pursuits of his life:--
+
+     _Sept. 1._--To-day my first lesson in modelling began. I
+     saw M. Dupont work upon a mask of a little boy's face in
+     wax. He opened the eyes, but did not in my opinion make
+     them quite correct. The only thing I observed in particular
+     was his using oil very freely with his tool. I afterwards
+     saw three moulds of a thigh near the hip after amputation,
+     cast in wax. One was soaked in water, another was rubbed
+     with soft-soap, and a third was well oiled. The one that
+     was oiled produced the most perfect cast, but I should have
+     thought both water, soap, and oil were used much too
+     freely. They were all cast in wax of a deep red colour, and
+     one of them was placed in the stump of one of the thighs of
+     the model on which M. Dupont was engaged. It was not quite
+     large enough for the thigh in some places, and too large in
+     others. This he altered without scruple, so that when the
+     stump was finished, though it looked extremely natural, it
+     was by no means accurate.
+
+Before quitting the life in Paris the following sample of its popular
+amusements as they presented themselves to the young student may be
+interesting to readers, and it is unfortunately the last entry in the
+pocket-book, and almost the last assistance we shall get from journals
+during the seventy years of crowded life which followed:--
+
+     I went yesterday [Sunday, September 10, 1826] to the Swiss
+     Mountain, very extensive gardens on the Boulevards, where
+     the most respectable part of the pleasure-seeking Parisians
+     assemble on Sunday: you pay ten sous admittance. Here there
+     is a large establishment for dinners where you may dine as
+     at the restaurateurs, in a public room, or there are a long
+     suite of apartments for parties of four, six, or twelve
+     each, looking out into the gardens, and immediately before
+     the windows was the space enclosed by trees, which form a
+     canopy over it, and which is allotted to dancing. On one
+     side is the orchestra; and when I heard it there was a very
+     excellent band of musicians in it. It was rather
+     unfavourable weather, as there were in the course of the
+     day several very heavy showers, yet there seemed to be a
+     very great number of elegantly dressed females and
+     respectable-looking men; and some even highly-dressed,
+     which is a wonder, I think, for the gentlemen in Paris seem
+     to dress as much inferior to us as the French ladies dress
+     better than the English. Indeed it is quite delightful to
+     see the great taste with which they dress and the elegance
+     of contour in all their figures. I don't know how it
+     happens, but I never recollect seeing a French woman that
+     was at all above the lowest class of society that was a
+     slovenly or slattern figure, and very few that were not
+     really elegant, though their faces are, generally speaking,
+     plain.
+
+     After having dined I went to see the Swiss Mountain, which
+     had made a noise whilst I was at dinner that very much
+     resembled distant thunder. I had no idea what it was; my
+     surprise may therefore be conceived when, on coming
+     suddenly in sight of it, I saw a man, apparently sitting on
+     a chair, whirl past me with a velocity more resembling the
+     speed of lightning than anything I had before seen,--so
+     much so, that though from the top to the bottom where they
+     drop might be about 200 feet, I had merely time to
+     perceive that there was a man seated on some sort of
+     vehicle like a chair.
+
+     The mountain consisted of boards raised at an angle of
+     about from 60° to 70° with the ground, and gradually
+     becoming level. The distance from where they set off to
+     where they stop I have before stated, I think, to be about
+     200 feet.
+
+     This platform is sufficiently broad to allow three of the
+     vehicles to go down and one to return up at the same
+     time--that is to say, there are four iron grooves
+     accurately fitted to the small wheels on which the vehicles
+     move. There are horses as well as chairs for both ladies
+     and gentlemen. I saw several gentlemen on horseback and one
+     lady. The horses appear to me to be real horses' hides,
+     perhaps covering a wooden horse. They are accoutred with
+     saddle, stirrups, and bridle. One person who came down on
+     one of these horses rose and fell in his stirrups as though
+     riding a real horse; it created much laughter, and the
+     people surrounding immediately called out "Un Anglais! un
+     Anglais!" I believe he was an Englishman. It had a
+     ridiculous effect to observe the anxiety depicted on the
+     countenances of the heroes, and compare them, with the
+     knowledge of their perfect safety, with the laughing groups
+     that surrounded them. Sometimes a veteran hero would mount
+     one of the horses and come down with triumph in his
+     countenance; the effect then became still more ridiculous,
+     for he seemed like a great baby mounted on a hobby-horse
+     proportionately large. But so it is through life, I think;
+     one sees people capable of being elated as much by actions
+     little in themselves, but enlarged for the instant by
+     circumstances, as, for instance, in this case--the rapidity
+     of motion, the gay crowd, and the distant music--as they
+     would have been by an action really great in itself but
+     unembroidered by outward show.
+
+     Hearing the music and wishing to see the dancing I had
+     heard so much of, I approached the dancers. We read that
+     the French enjoy dancing with great zest; certes, to see
+     them dance a quadrille, one would not say so: 'tis true it
+     is a dance in which custom has forbidden much exertion,
+     still the entire listlessness they show induced me to think
+     it was a task rather than a pleasure. But when a lively
+     waltz struck up and the waltzing began, I....
+
+Here the notes break off.
+
+Of the student's life of four years from 1828 to 1832 there is little
+which can or need be said. For two years and a half out of the four he
+was house surgeon at the Westminster Hospital and the Ophthalmic
+Hospital, having received, at the age of twenty-one, the diploma from
+the Royal College to practise surgery. During this period he continued
+modelling, and took pupils in that art. Writing for periodicals also
+occupied some of his leisure time.
+
+No sooner was his student career ended than an opening presented
+itself which determined the future course of his life, but in a way
+very different from what could possibly have been anticipated.
+
+
+II. THE PENINSULA, 1832-1837.
+
+     Dynastic quarrel in Portugal -- Foreign legion -- Mr Alcock
+     enters the service, 1832 -- Character of the force and its
+     leaders -- Colonel Shaw -- Incidents of the campaign --
+     Important medical services of Mr Alcock -- Joins the
+     Spanish Foreign Legion, 1836 -- Termination of the
+     campaign.
+
+There were troubles in Portugal. The usurper Dom Miguel was on the
+throne. It was proposed to seat the rightful sovereign, Donna Maria,
+there--her father, Dom Pedro, ex-Emperor of Brazil, who assumed the
+title of Duke of Braganza, heading the movement.
+
+Sympathy was excited in France and England, in both of which countries
+irregular forces were levied to co-operate with the constitutional
+party in Portugal led by his imperial majesty. It was a kind of
+service which tempted alike young bloods and old soldiers who had been
+languishing in peace and idleness since 1815, and a small army of
+"Liberators" was got together in England, with a corresponding naval
+force.
+
+It has been mentioned that young Alcock had studied under the eminent
+army surgeon Guthrie. Feelings of regard had sprung up between the two
+which extended far beyond the professional sphere. Not only had the
+boy been a favourite pupil whose aptitude reflected credit on his
+teacher, but it is quite evident that a personal affection which
+lasted their respective lifetimes was rekindled during the years they
+subsequently spent together in Westminster. When, therefore, Mr
+Guthrie was applied to by Mr O'Meara, who had been in attendance on
+Napoleon at St Helena, to recommend a surgeon for the British-Portuguese
+force, Guthrie sent at once for Alcock and discussed with him his
+professional prospects. The upshot was that as, considering his
+youth,--he was then only twenty-two,--it was useless for him to think
+of beginning practice in London, a few years might be most
+advantageously passed in military service abroad. The young man was
+only too eager to close with the offer then made to him, which not
+only afforded the prospect of active professional work, but seemed to
+open the way for adventures such as the soul of a young man loveth.
+Within twenty-four hours of accepting the offer Alcock was on the way
+to Portsmouth and the Azores. For some time after his arrival there he
+did duty on board ship. His ambition being cramped by this restricted
+service, however, he was anxious to be transferred to the military
+force. He accordingly applied to Colonel Hodges, who commanded the
+marine battalion, to be taken on his staff. The colonel looked at him
+with some hesitation owing to his extremely youthful appearance, but
+on hearing that he had been specially recommended by Guthrie, said,
+"Oh, that is a different matter; come along."
+
+Of the Peninsular expeditions of 1832-37 the interest for the present
+generation lies less in their origin, aims, and results, than in their
+conduct and incidents. They were episodes which have left no marks on
+the general course of history visible to the ordinary observer, and
+are memorable chiefly for their dramatic effects, the play of
+character, the exhibitions of personal courage, capacity, and
+devotion; of jealousy, intrigue, and incapacity; of love and hate; and
+of the lights and shadows that flit across the theatre of human life.
+Interferences in other people's quarrels naturally bring to the
+surface all the incongruities. The auxiliaries are sure to be thought
+arrogant whether they are really so or not, and the _protégés_ are no
+less certain to be deemed ungrateful. Each party is apt to
+underestimate the exploits of the other and to exaggerate his own.
+They take widely different views of the conditions under which their
+respective services are rendered; they misconstrue each other's
+motives, assessing them at their lowest apparent value. Each side
+looks for certain sentimental acknowledgments from the other, while
+daily frictions and inevitable misunderstandings continually embitter
+the disappointment felt at their absence. And there are not two
+parties, but many. There are wheels within wheels; sections playing on
+each other tricks which savour of treachery on the one side, while on
+the other side there may be sulks which are constructive mutiny. The
+question of pay is naturally a constant source of bitterness, for
+countries that need foreign assistance are impecunious and dilatory.
+Few of them would be entitled to the certificate which Dugald Dalgetty
+gave to his excellent paymasters, the Dutch. Yet in spite of
+drawbacks, there is a kind of method in the whole business, a movement
+towards a goal, though at a maximum of cost, with the greatest waste
+and the most poignant regrets over mismanagement.
+
+But what in these irregular campaigns is so remarkable as to be almost
+repugnant to common reason is the devotion of the mercenary soldier.
+This inspiriting sentiment, which springs up spontaneously like a
+wild-flower in desert places, seems to put patriotism in the shade as
+a motive for sacrifice. The hired soldier, though an alien, is often
+indeed more faithful than the son of the soil, perhaps for the reason
+that his allegiance is of a simpler nature, more categorical and
+explicit. The direct personal character of such alien allegiance and
+its transferability are exemplified in the lives of soldiers of
+fortune in general: never better, perhaps, than in the wild and
+dangerous career of Alexander Gardner, colonel of artillery in the
+service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose Memoirs have been recently
+edited by Major Hugh Pearse. Is it the fighting instinct, hereditary
+heroism, or military discipline that makes the soldier? Is it the
+cause that inspires him, or is it only devotion to his immediate
+leader? Explain it how we may, the British Legion both in Portugal and
+in Spain maintained the character of their race for pluck and tenacity
+as well as if they had been fighting for their own king and country.
+And this is rendered still more remarkable when the promiscuous
+manner of their muster is considered. Clandestine engagements in the
+slums of Soho, under the guise of labour or emigrant contracts, in
+evasion of the Foreign Enlistment Acts; surreptitious journeys, as
+"hop-pickers," to Gravesend; secret embarkations under cover of night;
+and the disciplining of a mob composed of the dregs of the streets,
+afford subject of some graphic and humorous descriptions on the part
+of the officers concerned in raising the squad and licking them into
+shape. It must have required a very sanguine faith in the radical
+qualities of the stock for any officer of repute to consent to "march
+through Coventry" with such a herd of scalliwags.
+
+The officer who seems to have had a principal share in collecting
+these raw levies, and distinguished himself in both campaigns in the
+Peninsula, in which he bore a leading part, has left us some racy
+descriptions of the force and its experiences in the field. Sir
+Charles Shaw was himself a typical soldier by nature and by practice.
+Circumstances alone would determine whether it should be as a soldier
+of fortune, a patriot defending hearths and homes, or as an Ishmaelite
+adventurer, that his sword would be unsheathed. The sporting and
+adventurous instinct scents danger afar, like the war-horse in the
+book of Job which laughs at the spears. The manner in which he came to
+embrace the profession of arms was itself so characteristic as to
+deserve mention.
+
+As a youth he was passionately devoted to sport, and when that
+momentous question the choice of a profession came up for
+consideration, sport decided it in favour of law, for the somewhat
+original reason that the young gentleman had observed that lawyers
+seemed to enjoy the longest holidays! He had begun his studies, and
+was on his way to St Andrews to enter on a new course when an incident
+occurred which diverted the current of his thoughts. He met a batch of
+French prisoners of war being removed from one garrison to another,
+whose misery affected him so much that he was instantly seized with
+the idea of becoming a soldier. The particular form in which the
+inspiration took him was that he put himself in the position of one of
+these prisoners and imagined himself the hero of his own and his
+comrades' deliverance.
+
+His studies at St Andrews, perturbed by the new passion, made
+indifferent progress. The historic golf-links afforded some relief,
+acting as a kind of neutral soothing medium between antagonistic
+aspirations. But the final solution of his troubles came from a famous
+piece of water which is there, called the Witches' Pond. The virtue of
+this water was great in the barbaric age when the curse of witchcraft
+lay heavy on the land. The suspected person was thrown into the water.
+If she floated, her guilt was proven and she was incontinently burned;
+if she sank, it proved the high specific gravity of flesh and bone.
+Happy thought! The young man would subject his life's destiny to this
+convenient ordeal. He would jump into the pond, and either sink as a
+lawyer or emerge as a soldier!
+
+After this original form of baptism, initiation into the mysteries
+soon followed, and the young soldier saw much active service during
+the Napoleonic wars in the Peninsula and in the Low Countries. He
+missed Waterloo through being on other duty, and in the piping times
+of peace which followed that decisive battle an idyllic life at
+Richmond seemed to bound the horizon of his unsatisfied ambition for
+some fifteen years. From a totally unexpected quarter the call to arms
+reached him in his retreat, and suddenly roused all his sleeping
+energies. The offer of a commission in the service of the young Queen
+of Portugal met with an eager response, and Shaw entered heart and
+soul into the service of Donna Maria.
+
+As well as being an active soldier, Major Shaw was a lively
+correspondent, and it is from his letters to his family that we get
+the most brilliant flash-lights on the incidents of his military
+career generally, and more particularly on that exciting portion of it
+which most concerns the subject of these volumes. These letters were
+edited and published by himself at the close of the operations in
+Spain.
+
+Colonel Hodges, who commanded the foreign brigade in Portugal, and
+seems to have left the queen's service in a huff, also published a
+narrative of the campaign, of which, however, the historical value is
+not enhanced by its apologetic and explanatory motive.
+
+From the contemporary notes of these two officers we get generous and
+emphatic testimony to the manner in which Mr Alcock acquitted himself
+under the ordeal of severe military service. Indeed his comrades and
+commanding officers, first in Portugal and afterwards in Spain, seem
+to have vied with each other in spontaneous eulogy of the conduct of
+the young surgeon, none of them more flattering than General De Lacy
+Evans, who commanded in Spain. It is the record of a hero and a
+philanthropist, of high military ardour subordinated to still higher
+duty both to the cause he was serving and to the comrades whose lives
+were under his care. The valour of a non-combatant makes no less a
+demand on the virile stamina than the valour of the soldier,--oftentimes
+indeed more, since he lacks the stimulus of active conflict and
+confronts danger passive and unarmed. A few extracts from these really
+remarkable testimonials may still be read with pleasure after the
+lapse of sixty years.
+
+Shaw writes to his family:--
+
+     A peasant led the way (they wear no shoes and their feet
+     are like hands). I took off my shoes, and after getting
+     down about fifty yards, I looked up and saw a favourite
+     soldier of mine close above me, and an intimate friend of
+     Ramus, the assistant-surgeon Alcock (a nice young fellow),
+     following. I ordered the soldier to halt; but his answer
+     of, "I'll follow your honour to death, captain," made me
+     silent. I tried military authority with young Alcock, as I
+     saw he was much excited; but no, his professional services
+     were, he thought, required, and follow he would. Every
+     moment expecting he would roll down, I clasped my toes and
+     fingers close to the precipice, that he might fall without
+     sweeping me with him: such is selfish nature! Two or three
+     times I determined to return, but the soldier's speech
+     forced me on. We reached the bottom in about half an hour,
+     and, believe me, I returned thanks.
+
+     I proceeded along the rocky beach, and there found poor
+     Ramus lying on a rock, in a sleeping position, with all his
+     clothes torn, and a dreadful gash in his head; his body all
+     broken; but with an expression of countenance indicating he
+     had suffered no pain. I was astonished to see him without
+     his shoes; but in ascending a sharp rock I found them, with
+     the marks where his heels had caught as he tumbled
+     backwards head foremost. Finding that our descent had been
+     useless, I told those who had come down that I would not
+     allow them to risk their lives in ascending, and sent off
+     a peasant to get a boat; but he failed both in this and in
+     getting ropes to pull us up. Self again stepped in, and as
+     senior I led the way--one great reason being that no one
+     could tumble back on me! I reached the top--hands torn and
+     feet bruised; and to my joy young Alcock made his
+     appearance, but so faint that I was obliged to supply him
+     liberally with my brandy.
+
+     The duty which now had to be performed by the medical men
+     was of the most arduous character. The surgeon of the
+     British battalion, Souper, carried away by the military
+     spirit instilled into him by being an actor in the "Three
+     Days of July," resigned his commission as surgeon, and on
+     this day commenced and finished his military career, being
+     killed at Hodges' side while carrying orders to the French
+     battalion. His place was filled up by Mr Rutherford Alcock,
+     who had the same love for "fire," but for a different
+     object--that of being close at hand to give prompt
+     assistance to any one who was wounded. Although young,
+     Alcock was old in knowledge and experience: he was highly
+     respected by all who knew him, and beloved by those who
+     entered into action, as they felt assured that he thought
+     not of his own safety when his services could be of benefit
+     to them. In the most exposed situations I saw him this day,
+     dressing officers and men with the same coolness as if he
+     were in a London hospital; and I cannot refrain from
+     expressing envy at the gratified feeling he must ever
+     possess when he thinks of the number of human beings he has
+     saved by his knowledge, experience, bravery, and activity,
+     both at Oporto, Vittoria, and St Sebastian. But his trials
+     after the fight of the 29th of September were great.
+
+     Owing to the fights of Pennafiel, Ponte Fereira, and the
+     different affairs on the Lugar das Antas, the wards
+     allotted to the British in the general hospitals were full;
+     therefore, one may form some idea of the misery of the
+     British when scattered among the different hospitals,
+     speaking a language which was not understood. Measures were
+     taken by Hodges and Alcock to gather the wounded foreigners
+     together, but the Minister of War threw every impediment in
+     the way of this; almost making one suspect, that now that
+     the soldier had done his work and was useless, the sooner
+     he died the better.
+
+     Truth compels me to state a fact I should wish to avoid,
+     but it is right that those who are to be soldiers should
+     know the value that is sometimes put upon their services.
+     The words were made use of by Dom Pedro, but from what I
+     have seen of him, I think others must have at the moment
+     prompted him. The medical man was mentioning that it would
+     be necessary to amputate the legs and arms of some of the
+     British. "No, no," said Dom Pedro, "you British are fond of
+     amputations, because your men are to have pensions, and
+     that is expensive."
+
+     No application from myself as commanding the battalion;
+     from Alcock, as senior medical officer; nor from Hodges, as
+     the representative of the foreigners, had any effect on
+     Augustinho José Freire: thus the poor fellows, crowded
+     together, without beds, without nurses, without clothes,
+     and even without medicines, died in numbers.
+
+The references to Alcock's services are so frequent in these letters,
+so unconventional and spontaneous, as to prove the deep and lasting
+impression the young surgeon had made on his companions in arms. "I am
+glad for all your sakes to tell you that my wounds have healed in an
+extraordinary manner.... I consider myself greatly indebted to Alcock
+both for his skill and attention." And at the close of the Portuguese
+campaign: "I wonder if Alcock knows that he has got the decoration of
+the Tower and Sword? No man in the service deserves it more, both for
+bravery and kindness to the wounded." "The scarcity of medicines was
+dreadful; but with the active and willing assistance of Alcock, and
+the Portuguese medical gentlemen, it is quite wonderful what has been
+accomplished."
+
+The bad condition of the hospitals at Oporto is the burden of many
+references in both Shaw's letters and Hodges' more formal narrative;
+and as the only records of the campaign from Alcock's own pen happen
+to be in official documents connected with the medical service, we
+give _in extenso_ one of his despatches, showing in an inexperienced
+boy of twenty-three a maturity of judgment and a broad grasp of duty,
+with, what is perhaps more important, a mastery of work, that would
+not discredit a veteran.
+
+          OPORTO, _Sept. 20, 1832_.
+
+     SIR,--The danger to which the patients were found to be
+     exposed by the fire of the enemy caused their removal to a
+     place of greater safety, where they might at least have
+     nothing to fear from the enemy's shells. This change in the
+     arrangements, however, has been in other respects extremely
+     disadvantageous to the sick and wounded men. They are now
+     crowded from the higher parts of the building into the
+     corridors and ground-floors--a situation well known to be
+     unfavourable to the recovery of sick men, from the air
+     being so much less pure. Our own men, including the English
+     sailors, have been placed in one ward, which, though of
+     tolerably large dimensions, is very far from affording the
+     necessary space and quantum of air required for forty-eight
+     or fifty patients, which for some time has been the
+     average--an average which we may rather expect to see
+     increased than diminished during the approaching wet
+     season. Moreover, from peculiar localities, it is quite
+     impossible efficiently to ventilate the room, or to ensure
+     a free circulation of air, which is as essential as any
+     other means employed for the recovery of health.
+
+     It is under these circumstances that I feel not only
+     authorised, but bound in duty, to draw your attention to
+     the subject; assured that in any measures proposed for the
+     benefit or wellbeing of the men under your command it is
+     only necessary to show they are really required to meet
+     your cordial support. Many difficulties, and many
+     disadvantageous arrangements, have always attended the
+     treatment of the patients in the present establishment; but
+     these last compulsory changes, when added to the former
+     state, place my patients in too dangerous a position to
+     allow me to be silent or inactive. Situated as we are, I
+     cannot promise the speedy recovery of any of the gunshot
+     wounds, nor indeed of the sick generally, and their
+     liability to any of the epidemics unfortunately so common
+     in crowded hospitals renders me exceedingly anxious to
+     have some steps taken to place them in a more favourable
+     position.
+
+     The means I have to submit for your consideration and
+     approval are, I believe and hope, extremely feasible. I
+     desire to have some large dwelling-house appropriated for
+     the reception of all English and French sick and wounded,
+     by which means the General Hospital would be relieved of
+     nearly a hundred patients, and of those, moreover, who,
+     from the difference of language, are a fruitful and
+     constant source of trouble and inconvenience--nay, more, of
+     irregularity as prejudicial to the patients as it is
+     discreditable to a military establishment of such
+     importance. Many houses well adapted for this purpose might
+     easily be mentioned, already at the disposal of the
+     Government by the flight of the owners. One I could point
+     out at this moment which, from a superficial inspection, I
+     believe might be advantageously appropriated--a corner
+     house in the Praça de St Ildefonso, adjoining the church.
+
+     The advantages which would accrue from this arrangement
+     cannot for a moment be counterbalanced by the trouble or
+     difficulty of first organising the separate establishment.
+     The patients could then be classed and placed in different
+     rooms, and not, as now, promiscuously crowded
+     together--surgical and medical, fevers and amputations; by
+     which arrangement their liability to any epidemic would be
+     exceedingly diminished, while the patients would be more
+     immediately under the eye and control of the medical
+     attendants. Both surgeon and patient would thus be placed
+     under more favourable circumstances, and the general
+     service much facilitated by the removal of foreign troops
+     from an establishment entirely Portuguese.
+
+     In glancing at the advantages, I should omit one of very
+     great importance if I did not submit to you the facility it
+     would afford for the good treatment of wounded and sick
+     officers. Instead of being attended at their own quarters,
+     often just within the first line, to their own great risk
+     and the inconvenience of the surgeon, they would be removed
+     to a place of safety, and where, moreover, from being
+     entirely under medical command, their rank would procure
+     them none of those injurious indulgences in the way of
+     diet, &c., which even the wisest of us are apt to risk the
+     enjoyment of when in our power. They might easily enjoy
+     every necessary comfort, while they would be carefully
+     guarded from all imprudent excess.
+
+     The chief difficulties I foresee, and which I have no doubt
+     will immediately present themselves to your mind, appear to
+     me very far from insurmountable. I require the assistance
+     of no Portuguese officer whatever, except a commissary or
+     purveyor, on whom I can _fully depend_, for the due and
+     regular supply of fuel, meat, wine, fowls, and such other
+     articles as are required for the good treatment of the
+     patients, and which are daily supplied to the General
+     Hospital. This is of the greatest importance, as any
+     irregularity in this branch of the service would not only
+     cripple my efforts, but be of serious injury to all under
+     my care. In addition to this I should require one
+     Portuguese domestic to every fifteen cases, for the purpose
+     of cooking, washing the linen, keeping the wards clean, and
+     such other menial duties as are independent of those
+     appertaining to the orderlies. The expense of a separate
+     establishment ought to be, and would be, of the most
+     trifling kind. The same beds, trussels, and utensils, now
+     exclusively appropriated to us, would be equally
+     serviceable in any other hospital. Two or three boilers,
+     and a few cooking utensils, with a slipper bath, are really
+     the chief and most expensive things required. I may safely
+     leave it to you, sir, to decide if this can cause any
+     grievous outlay.
+
+     Should it be any convenience, or be deemed by you, sir,
+     advantageous to the service, to the English and French
+     might be added the wounded Portuguese soldiers of your
+     brigade. I have little more to add, but should you require
+     further detail, I beg to refer to a letter addressed to
+     Major Shaw on this subject. I am fully conscious and aware
+     of the labour I am entailing on myself, and that which is
+     still more irksome, the heavy responsibility, but I have a
+     duty to perform. I neither court the labour nor desire the
+     responsibility; but if they come as a consequence of my
+     efforts to do that duty I can look steadfastly on them, and
+     I trust I have energy and perseverance enough to do all
+     that depends upon me in spite of them. My most ardent wish
+     is to prove myself worthy of the confidence you have
+     honoured me with, and the trust conferred upon me.--I have
+     the honour to be, sir, your obedient humble servant,
+
+               RUTHERFORD ALCOCK.
+
+     To Colonel HODGES,
+          commanding Foreign Brigade, &c., &c.
+
+As the campaign in defence of the Queen of Portugal closed, that in
+defence of the Queen Christina of Spain opened, and their rough
+experiences in the former did not deter either Colonel Shaw or Surgeon
+Alcock from accepting service in the Spanish Legion organised and
+commanded by De Lacy Evans. "On my arrival in London," writes Shaw in
+1836, "you may suppose how delighted I was to find my friend Alcock at
+the head of the medical department, as his experiences in difficulties
+made him decidedly the most proper man." As it is no part of our plan
+to trace the operations, we give one characteristic letter from
+Colonel Shaw. It is dated San Sebastian, 2 o'clock, May 6, 1836:--
+
+     MY DEAR MOTHER.--The steamer is detained, so I write to you
+     once more. I and my brigade are so fatigued and cut up that
+     we have been allowed to return here for the night. We had a
+     terrible morning's work of it, the brigade having lost, in
+     killed and wounded, about 400 men and 27 officers; others
+     not so much. How I escaped I know not; kind Providence was
+     my protector. My watch is smashed, the ball having cut
+     through cloak, coat, trousers, drawers, and shirt, and only
+     bruised me. A spent ball hit me on the chest, and my gaiter
+     was cut across by another. We had dreadful lines to force:
+     very steep, vomiting fire; and the clay up to our ankles
+     made us so slow that they picked as they chose. The enemy
+     not only behaved well behind their lines, but charged out,
+     and twice or thrice put us for a moment in confusion.
+     Alcock is slightly wounded.
+
+And as an agreeable pendant to the severe strictures on the state of
+the Portuguese hospitals, the following may fitly close our extracts
+from these racy records of arduous military adventure:--
+
+          BAYONNE, _September, 1836_.
+
+     When you land, introduce yourself to my friend Alcock, and
+     beg him to take you through the hospitals. You will, or I
+     am greatly mistaken, be agreeably surprised by the
+     prevailing cleanliness and regularity, as also the care and
+     attendance bestowed on the sick and wounded. Alcock has had
+     a most difficult card to play. He knows well that there are
+     many disabled poor fellows who, if they were in the British
+     service, would be sent to England, certain of receiving
+     their pensions; but he is also aware that a poor fellow
+     sent to England from the service of Queen Christina,
+     instead of receiving his pension, is generally left to
+     starve. It is therefore from a praiseworthy charity that he
+     keeps many in hospital, under his own eye, in order that
+     they may in this manner get as much as will keep body and
+     soul together.
+
+Mr Alcock retired from military service in 1837 with the rank of
+Deputy-Inspector of Hospitals, having received the Order of the Tower
+and Sword together with the war medal of the three years' service in
+Portugal, and the Cross of the Order of Charles III. and Commander's
+Cross of Isabella the Catholic, with medals for the two principal
+actions against the Carlists.
+
+The six years of Peninsular experiences he declared to have been "the
+most stirring and attractive of his life," and in some portions of
+that period he had "more complete personal gratification and material
+happiness than could be safely anticipated in the future." He was now
+to have six years of quite a different experience, which led up to the
+turning-point in his life.
+
+
+III. ENGLAND, 1838-1844.
+
+     Returns to England, 1838 -- Alcock resumes professional
+     work -- Prize essays and publications -- Sir James Paget's
+     testimonial -- A Commissioner for adjusting Peninsular
+     claims -- Appointed Inspector of Anatomy, 1842 --
+     Imperfections of the Anatomy Act -- Marriage to Miss Bacon,
+     1841 -- His enforced abandonment of a surgical career.
+
+On his return to England in 1838 Alcock at once resumed the work of
+his profession. In that year he published in a small 8vo volume 'Notes
+on the Medical History and Statistics of the British Legion of Spain';
+and in 1839, and again in 1841, he carried off the Jacksonian prizes
+of the Royal College of Surgeons awarded for the best essays on
+subjects selected by the Council. The first of these was "On
+Concussion or Commotion of the Brain"; the second, "On Injuries of the
+Thorax and Operations on its Parietes"; and naturally the value of the
+papers lay in the extent to which the author was able to draw on his
+own observation and experience of gunshot wounds during his seven
+years of Peninsular service.
+
+Of these contributions to medical literature Sir James Paget remarks
+that "they may make one regret that he was ever induced to give up the
+study of surgery. For they show an immense power of accurately
+observing and recording facts, and of testing his own and others'
+opinions by the help of all the knowledge of the facts possessed by
+others at that time.... I doubt whether in the first half of this
+century better essays on gunshot wounds of the head and of the thorax
+had been written."
+
+And the small volume dealing with hospital experiences in Spain has
+drawn from the same eminent authority the comment that "it tells in a
+most graphic and clear manner the difficulties which, sixty years ago,
+beset the practice of surgery and the care of troops during war. These
+difficulties may have been greater at that time in Spain than in any
+other country in Western Europe, and may be thought now impossible,
+but they may be read with great interest, and one cannot doubt that
+Sir Rutherford Alcock's true account of them helped to remedy them,
+... contributed to the improvement of the medical department of the
+army in this country."
+
+Mr Alcock joined the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society in 1839,
+and was appointed Lecturer in Surgery at Sydenham College, where he
+delivered a series of lectures on complicated injuries, amputations,
+&c.
+
+His professional labours were soon diversified by an employment which
+could scarcely have been consistent with a large practice, though in
+the beginning of his surgical career it might not seem to involve much
+sacrifice except of time. But it was arduous, onerous, and absolutely
+gratuitous. Great trouble had arisen between the Spanish Government
+and the Foreign Legion in regard to pay. No settlement could be
+obtained, and eventually a commission was appointed to examine and
+adjudicate the numerous claims, to which commission Mr Alcock was
+appointed by express and unanimous request of the general and the
+field officers of the corps. His qualifications for such an office
+were quite exceptional, for to first-rate business capacity, which had
+been shown in the campaign, he added a knowledge of the language and
+the country which was not common, and a character which commanded
+universal confidence. His work on this commission extended over two
+years, and was brought to a satisfactory termination in 1839.
+
+No sooner were the labours of the Spanish commission concluded than Mr
+Alcock was, in 1840, appointed by the Foreign Office to a similar duty
+in an Anglo-Portuguese commission constituted by the two Governments
+to adjust the claims of British subjects who had served in the
+Miguelite war of 1832-35. The work of that commission also was
+satisfactorily accomplished in 1844, and, as in the Spanish
+commission, Mr Alcock's labours were given without remuneration, in
+order, as he said, that his judgment might be unbiassed.[2]
+
+During the course of the Spanish commission Mr Alcock was, in 1842,
+appointed, on the strong recommendation of Sir Benjamin Brodie, to a
+post under the Home Office, that of Inspector of Anatomy. It would be
+distasteful and of no utility to rake up the circumstances which set
+on foot an agitation culminating in the passing of an Act of
+Parliament in 1832 known as "The Anatomy Act." Like many other Acts of
+legislature in this country, it was a compromise by which difficulties
+were sought to be evaded by cunningly devised phrases whereby the
+thing that was meant was so disguised as to appear to be something
+else. "The Act failed in two most important points; it failed in
+honesty, and was wanting in the extent of the powers conferred." In
+short, after ten years' trial the Act was becoming unworkable, and a
+reform in its administration was imperatively demanded. It was at
+that critical moment that Mr Alcock was nominated as one of the two
+inspectors under the Act, and he entered on his duties with his
+well-proved practical energy. Before the end of the first year a long
+and interesting report was sent in by the inspectors, and we may judge
+by the sample of the Hospital Report in Oporto how thoroughly they
+exposed the difficulties and how practically they proposed to overcome
+them. A second report followed in 1843. But Government is a lumbering
+machine, always waiting for some stronger compulsion than a mere
+demonstration of what ought to be; and we are not surprised,
+therefore, to find fifteen years later, and fourteen after his
+connection with the Home Department had ceased, Mr Alcock still
+writing the most lucid and matter-of-fact memoranda on the conditions
+under which competent inspectors might be induced "to work a very
+imperfect Act of Parliament."
+
+It was during the period under review that the most interesting
+episode in a young man's life occurred. On the 17th of May 1841, when
+he had just completed his thirty-second year, he was married to Miss
+Bacon, daughter of the sculptor of that name. The ceremony took place
+at St Margaret's, Westminster, Dean Milman, then a Canon of
+Westminster, officiating. His domestic bliss was unruffled, the couple
+being profoundly congenial.
+
+But now "a change came o'er the spirit of his dream." The career which
+opened before the young surgeon was full of promise. So far as the
+personal factor was concerned, no man could have started with a
+better equipment. There were efficiency, thoroughness, enthusiasm,
+courage, and common-sense; there were, as we have seen in the student
+days, manual dexterity and exactness and artistic power of no
+contemptible order; there was, in short, every attribute of an
+accomplished surgeon, who must in the course of nature rise to
+eminence. A chair of military surgery was ready for him at King's
+College, and an assistant-surgeonship at Westminster Hospital. All
+that, however, had to be sacrificed and a new departure taken, in
+consequence of an illness which left its mark in the form of paralysis
+of hands and arms, and thus put an end to "all dreams of surgical
+practice."
+
+This malady was a legacy from the Peninsula. Like Cæsar, "he had a
+fever when he was in Spain," a rheumatic fever of a particularly
+severe type contracted at the siege of San Sebastian. This entailed
+indescribable pain and misery during many months, and, in spite of
+partial recoveries, seems to have left its after-effects seven years
+later in what he calls the "mysterious" affection in his hands. It was
+indeed considered remarkable that he should have survived an attack of
+so formidable a character. He never recovered the use of his thumbs,
+which marred the legibility of his writing to the end of his life.
+
+His professional career being thus rudely closed, it might well have
+appeared to a man of thirty-five that his life was shipwrecked ere the
+voyage was well begun. It would have been in accord with the
+short-sighted judgment which men usually form of their own fortunes.
+But
+
+     "There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
+     Rough-hew them how we will;"--
+
+and Alcock learned, what many before and since have learned, that
+prosperity and adversity oft visit men in disguise, and are liable to
+be mistaken the one for the other. Providence employs for its
+favourites an alchemy whereby the very ashes of their misery may be
+transmuted into pure gold; and what looks like disaster is but the
+rending of the veil which concealed a world of richer promise than
+that which they abandon with regret.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] He dropped the "John" so early in life that he was never known by
+it.
+
+[2] The only valuable consideration he received for these labours was
+bestowed some years later, when his entry into the service of the
+Foreign Office was ante-dated to 1840, so as to include the period of
+the Peninsular commissions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SENT TO CHINA.
+
+     Importance of appointment -- New position created by Treaty
+     of Nanking -- Exceptional responsibility of the new consuls
+     -- The evolution and scope of foreign intercourse --
+     Pioneer traders -- Mutual experiences of Chinese and
+     foreigners -- Results -- English inheritors of the record
+     -- An intolerable state of things -- Drastic remedy --
+     Where it failed -- Chasm between Eastern and Western ideas
+     -- Commerce alone supplied a safe medium of intercourse --
+     Its healing qualities -- But social and political
+     concomitants created friction -- Arbitrary interferences of
+     Chinese Government -- Their traditional mode of treating
+     barbarians -- Denial of human rights -- Absence of law in
+     their intercourse -- Spasmodic resistance to Chinese
+     tyranny aggravated the evils -- East India Company
+     submitted for the sake of gain -- Close of the Company's
+     charter -- Followed by endeavour of British Government to
+     establish official intercourse -- Determined resistance of
+     Chinese -- Lord Napier, first British envoy, not received
+     -- Loaded with insults -- Contradictory instructions given
+     by British Government -- To conciliate Chinese as in days
+     of Company, and at same time to open diplomatic relations
+     -- Lord Napier's appeal to experience -- His death at Macao
+     -- Captain Ellis, a third envoy, reverts to the policy of
+     submission -- Has no success.
+
+
+When thus thrown upon his beam-ends in 1844, an appointment was
+conferred on Mr Alcock which was not only honourable to him but
+creditable to the Government which selected him. He was among the five
+chosen to fill the office of consul in China under the treaty of
+Nanking, which had been concluded in 1842. And if any event in human
+life be deserving of such distinction, the opening thus provided for
+the talents of Mr Alcock is on many grounds entitled to rank as
+providential. To the end of his days he himself recognised that his
+previous training had not been thrown away, but "had been
+unconsciously preparing him for the great work of his life." The
+Minister responsible for the appointment may be excused if, while
+selecting a man of proved capacity for a post of unknown requirements,
+he did not realise the full value of the service he was rendering to
+his country. Governments are not always so perspicacious in gauging
+the merits of the uncovenanted, and other nominations made under
+circumstances not dissimilar have shown how easily the efficiency of
+the candidate may be subordinated to considerations extraneous to the
+public weal.
+
+The China consulates were a new creation, a venture into the unknown,
+a voyage without landmarks or chart, where success depended on the
+personal qualities of the pioneer navigators--their judgment,
+resourcefulness, and faculty of initiative. Great issues hung upon the
+opening of the new world of the Far East, the success of which was
+largely in the hands of the agents who were employed, for they were
+practically beyond the reach of instructions. There was no telegraph,
+and the so-called Overland Route to India was just beginning to be
+exploited for the conveyance of mails and passengers. Nor was it
+possible for even the wisest Government to frame general instructions
+providing for eventualities out of the range of common experience. The
+conditions of service were therefore such as to constitute an ordeal
+under which a bureaucratic official would shrivel into uselessness or
+worse, while to a strong man they were a powerful stimulant, the very
+breath of life.
+
+It was therefore a matter of serious consequence who should be
+intrusted with the actual inauguration of the new relations with
+China; and in the course of the present narrative it will probably
+appear that it was a happy accident by which the country lost one
+distinguished surgeon among many and gained in exchange a political
+representative whose services must be considered unique.
+
+
+FOREIGN RELATIONS WITH CHINA.
+
+To understand fully the state of our relations with China created by
+the treaty of Nanking, the whole history not only of our own
+commercial intercourse, but of that of the nations who were our
+forerunners in the Far East, would have to be kept in mind. For much
+as we tried and hoped then, and ever since, to confine the
+international question to a few bald propositions respecting trade,
+personal protection, and so forth, it is impossible to eliminate the
+historical, the human, and the general political elements from the
+problem. For both good and evil we are the necessary outcome of our
+own antecedents, as are the Chinese of theirs, and if we had acquired
+a stock of experience of the Chinese, no less had they of us; indeed,
+if we fairly consider the matter, theirs was the more comprehensive.
+For to the Chinese we represented not ourselves alone, nor the East
+India Company, nor a generation or two of timid traders, but
+Christendom as a whole--our Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch
+precursors, the Romish propaganda, and all the abortive missions to
+Peking.
+
+For three centuries and more what may be called the foreign education
+of the Chinese had been proceeding: their habits were being formed in
+so far as their dealings with strangers were concerned, and their
+judgment was being trained by the authentic data with which they had
+been plentifully supplied. European intercourse, in short, had been
+one long lesson to the Chinese in the art of managing men from the
+West. Without meaning it, we had been teaching them how to treat us,
+just as we train animals to perform tricks; and the worst we can say
+of the Chinese is that they have bettered the instruction, to their
+loss perhaps as well as ours.
+
+In the chronicles of that long history there are many deeds worthy of
+remembrance, as well as many of another hue, neither being confined to
+one side. There were good and bad among the early adventurers, as
+there are at all times in every other section of mankind. Of two
+brothers, for example, connected with the very early times, the first
+comer ingratiated himself with the Chinese, and left such a good
+impression behind him that the second was received with open arms:
+very soon, however, he abused the liberality of the natives,
+committing outrages upon them, which led ultimately to his forcible
+expulsion from the country and to restrictions on the outlets for
+trade. Taking it as a whole, the record of the pioneers in China is
+rather a despicable one, in which violence, cupidity, and cowardice
+formed large ingredients.
+
+The English, as latest comers, being served heirs to the turpitudes
+of all Europe, paid the penalty for the misdeeds and shortcomings of
+their predecessors and their neighbours, as well as for their own. The
+penalty was the intolerable degradation they had been made to endure,
+with ever-increasing aggravation, at the only port where they were
+permitted to trade--Canton.
+
+As there are forms of impurity which can only be cleansed by fire, so
+there was no possible remedy for the miseries of Anglo-Chinese
+intercourse short of open war. The hostilities begun in 1839, and
+brought to a conclusion by the treaty of Nanking in 1842, were
+naturally held as a drastic liquidation of long-standing grievances
+and the harbinger of a new era of peace and mutual respect. Why even
+the decisive and one-sided war should have proved an inadequate
+solvent of the perennial strife may partly appear as our story
+proceeds.
+
+The chasm between the Chinese and the Western world, as then
+represented by Great Britain, was in fact much too deep to be bridged
+over by any convention. Intercommunion between bodies so alien was as
+the welding of heterogeneous metals, contact without fusion. From one
+point of view, indeed, circumstances were highly favourable to a
+sympathetic attachment, for there is no safer medium of intercourse
+between nations than the commerce which blesses him that buys and him
+that sells. It was the pursuit of commerce alone that drew men from
+afar to the Asiatic coasts, and the reciprocal desire on the part of
+the natives which opened for the strangers, be it ever so little, the
+gates of the Chinese empire. The purely commercial relation left
+little to be desired on the side of mutual goodwill. The impression
+of it left on the mind of old residents in Canton is thus recorded by
+Mr W. C. Hunter, an American merchant, who lived there from 1824:
+"From the facility of all dealings with the Chinese who were assigned
+to transact business with us, together with their proverbial honesty,
+combined with a sense of perfect security to person and property,
+scarcely a resident of any lengthened time--in short, any 'Old
+Canton'--but finally left them with regret."
+
+Mr Hunter goes further and testifies to the "vigilant care over the
+personal safety of strangers who came to live in the midst of a
+population whose customs and prejudices were so opposed to everything
+foreign."
+
+Why, then, was it that on the ground-level of common material
+interest, and under the sunshine of the protection spontaneously
+accorded by authority, the parties failed in two hundred years to
+evolve between them a _modus vivendi_? The solution of this riddle can
+only be found in a patient survey of events both before and after the
+war.
+
+It would carry us far beyond our limits even to summarise the history
+of foreign intercourse with China. Nor is such a task necessary, since
+our concern lies mainly with those later developments which culminated
+in the war of 1839-42, a glance at which seems essential to any fair
+appreciation of the sequel.
+
+That there was no material cause of difference between the Chinese
+Government and people on the one hand and the foreign traders and
+their representatives on the other was made manifest by the
+persistence and continuous growth of their mutual commerce. And their
+common appreciation of the advantages of the trade is shown by the
+readiness of each in turn to resort to the threat of stopping
+business as a means of pressure on the other side. It is not therefore
+the substance, but the accidents and conditions, of the intercourse
+that generated the friction which led through outrage to reprisals;
+and the two conditions most fruitful in conflict were the necessary
+absence of law and the inevitable incomprehension of each others
+status.
+
+Left to themselves, the traders on either side, though without law,
+would have been a law to themselves, both parties having been
+habituated to a discipline of custom more potent within its sphere
+than any code, commercial or penal. But as no problem in life can ever
+be isolated, so in this case the twofold interference of the State and
+the populace constantly obstructed the genial flow of commercial
+intercourse.
+
+The interference of the Chinese bore no resemblance to the
+restrictions imposed on trade by Western Governments, for these, even
+when most oppressive, are usually specific and calculable. There is a
+tariff of duties, there are harbour and police regulations, and there
+are the laws of the land. The peculiarity of the Chinese official
+supervision of foreign trade was that it was incalculable and
+arbitrary, governed by cupidities and jealousies, and subject to
+individual caprice. Having barbarians to deal with, the Chinese
+authorities followed the maxims of their ancient kings and "ruled them
+by misrule, which is the true and the only way of ruling them." And
+finding the barbarians submissive, they grew accustomed to practise on
+them such indignities as a wanton schoolboy might inflict on a captive
+animal, unrestrained by any consideration save the risk of
+retaliation. The Chinese had no conscience to be shocked by the
+persecution of foreigners, for in relation to them justice and
+injustice were meaningless terms. Such arrogance was not so much the
+result of any formulated belief as of a traditional feeling lying at
+the bottom of their moral conceptions; and just as the Chinese people
+to-day speak of foreigners, without consciousness of offence, as
+"devils," so did the best educated officials in the days before the
+war sincerely regard strangers as an inferior, if not a degraded,
+race. As late as 1870 a British representative writing to the Chinese
+Prime Minister complained that "the educated class, both by speech and
+writing, lets the people see that it regards the foreigner as a
+barbarian, a devil, or a brute." And there has been no change since
+except what is enforced by prudence. To the absence of law in their
+intercourse was therefore superadded a special negation of human
+rights, naturally accompanied by an overbearing demeanour on the side
+of the natives. The strangers were in effect outlawed. The attempts
+made from time to time to assert their independence resembled the
+spasmodic kicking of the ox against the goad which led rather to
+aggravation than amelioration of the pain. The prevailing tone was
+that of submission, inviting more and more aggression, until the cup
+overflowed and war ensued.
+
+If we ask how it could happen that Britons of any class came to submit
+to such ignominy, the only answer forthcoming is that they did it for
+the sake of gain. And if, further, we try to press home the
+responsibility to any particular quarter, there is very little doubt
+that the principal blame must be laid at the door of the East India
+Company, which ruled and monopolised the English trade with China
+until the expiration of their charter in 1834. The Board of Directors
+in Leadenhall Street demanded remittances, and cared nothing for the
+indignities which their distant agents might be forced to undergo in
+order to supply these demands. "The interests at stake were too
+valuable to be put at issue upon considerations of a personal nature,
+... and the Court leave the vindication of the national honour to the
+Crown." Such was their unchanging attitude. The agents on their side,
+balancing the pros and cons, concluded that at any cost they must
+retain the favour of the omnipotent Board. By this course of procedure
+the prestige which would have protected British subjects from outrage
+was bartered away; the Chinese were induced by the subservience of the
+Company's officers to practise constantly increasing insolence, and
+small blame to them. The demeanour of the Company's representatives
+was that of men carrying out instructions against their better
+judgment. Occasionally, indeed, their judgment got the better of their
+instructions, and they would attempt to make a stand for their rights.
+A case occurred in 1831 when new restrictions on the export of silver
+were imposed by the Chinese authorities. Mr H. H. Lindsay, head of the
+Company's committee, resented the proceeding, and threatened to stop
+the trade. In the event, however, the committee gave way, and in token
+of surrender delivered the keys of their factory to a Chinese
+mandarin.
+
+The process which had been consecrated by time naturally did not stop
+when the principal cause of it was removed. It continued uninterrupted
+after the monopoly of the Company had ceased. Indeed the case became
+much aggravated when the British agents, beginning with Lord Napier,
+became representatives of the Crown instead of the Company. And so
+little was the position understood by the authorities in Great Britain
+that, yielding to considerations of convenience, they appointed some
+of the very men whom the Chinese had been long accustomed to treat
+with contumely to be the representatives of the King. But the Chinese
+had a true presentiment of the nature of the changes which this new
+departure threatened. They had learned from Captain Weddell, Commodore
+Anson, and others what were the pretensions of the commander of a
+Kings ship; and then justly inferred that a King's representative
+would stand on a wholly different footing from a Company's
+superintendent. They resolved, therefore, to nip in the bud every
+effort to open international relations, employing to that end all the
+weapons which were familiar to them. The viceroy of Canton not only
+declined communication with the British envoy, but imprisoned him and
+intercepted his letters, so that a naval force was required to release
+him from captivity. Yet it was not malevolence but policy that guided
+the hand of the Chinese authorities--the settled policy of keeping
+foreigners at arm's-length at all costs.
+
+The rule of conduct enjoined by the British Government on the first
+representatives of the Crown in China was emphatically conciliation,
+as in the time of the East India Company and its superintendents. They
+were to "cautiously abstain from all unnecessary use of menacing
+language, or from making any appeal for protection to our military or
+naval force (except in extreme cases), or to do anything to irritate
+the feelings or revolt the opinions or prejudices of the Chinese
+people." That article of the "Sign-manual Instructions to the
+Superintendents of Trade in China" was faithfully carried out; while
+the one ordering the envoy to "take up your residence at the port of
+Canton" could not be obeyed because the Chinese provincial authorities
+placed their veto on it. The conciliatory demeanour of the British
+representative was met by the refusal, accompanied by the grossest
+insults, of the Chinese to receive or acknowledge him. And not by
+insults only, such as perverting the phonetic rendering of his name by
+the substitution of characters bearing odious meanings, and by various
+indignities offered to his person, but by interference with his
+domestic servants, and even cutting off his food-supply, did they
+coerce him into abandoning his post at Canton. Their conduct evoked
+the opinion from Lord Napier, in reporting the incidents to his
+Government, that "the viceroy of Canton was guilty of an outrage on
+the British Crown calling for redress," which drew from the Duke of
+Wellington (February 2, 1835) the chilling comment that "it is not by
+force and violence that his Majesty intends to establish a commercial
+intercourse between his subjects and China, but by the other
+conciliatory measures so strongly inculcated in all the instructions
+which you have received." Lord Napier's despatches prove that he
+understood the situation perfectly. "What advantage or what point did
+we ever gain," he wrote, "by negotiating or humbling ourselves before
+these people, or rather before their Government? The records show
+nothing but subsequent humiliation and disgrace. What advantage or
+what point, again, have we ever lost that was just and reasonable, by
+acting with promptitude and vigour? The records again assure us that
+such measures have been attended with complete success." And he
+recommended his Government "to consult immediately on the best plan to
+be adopted for commanding a commercial treaty, or a treaty which shall
+secure the just rights and embrace the interests, public and private,
+of all Europeans,--not of British alone, but of all civilised people
+coming to trade according to the principles of international law."
+
+Driven to death by Chinese official barbarities, and by the
+discouragement of his own Government, Lord Napier was succeeded first
+by one then by another of the East India Company's old staff, who
+could only maintain themselves by sinking their character as British
+national envoys and submitting to the indignities which the Chinese
+more than ever delighted in imposing on them, increasing in virulence
+in proportion as the resistance to them grew weaker.
+
+The line of policy inculcated upon Lord Napier was, in fact,
+scrupulously followed after his death, notably by Captain Charles
+Elliot, the third in succession, who received the King's commission in
+1836. That officer indeed went far beyond his instructions in his
+efforts to conciliate the Chinese; for though repeatedly ordered by
+Lord Palmerston to communicate with the authorities direct, and not
+through the Hong merchants;[3] and not to head his communications with
+the word "petition"; and notwithstanding his own reiterated opinion in
+the same sense, Captain Elliot entirely yielded to the Chinese
+pretensions. He communicated through the Hong merchants, and
+explicitly received the "commands" of the authorities with
+"reverence." As was natural, the more he conceded the more was exacted
+from him, until conciliation reached the point of exhaustion and there
+was nothing left to give up. Matters had nearly reached this stage
+when the British envoy could thus address the Governor of Canton
+(through the Hong merchants) in 1837: "The undersigned respectfully
+assures his Excellency that it is at once his duty and his anxious
+desire to conform in all things to the imperial pleasure." The result
+of this extreme humility was that Captain Elliot was forced to strike
+his flag at Canton and withdraw to the Portuguese settlement of Macao,
+on the ground that he was unable to maintain intercourse with the
+authorities on the conditions prescribed for him by her Majesty's
+Government.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[3] These were a syndicate appointed by the Chinese Government to
+conduct the foreign trade and be responsible to the Government for the
+proceedings of the foreign merchants.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ANTECEDENTS OF THE WAR.
+
+
+I. THE OPIUM TRADE.
+
+     Its increase caused alarm to Chinese Government by throwing
+     the balance of trade against China -- English manufacturers
+     deplored the same fact -- Drain of silver -- Government
+     opposition to the importation of opium -- Official
+     participation in the trade -- The reign of sham --
+     Illustrated by Mr Hunter -- Captain Elliot volunteers to
+     prevent smuggling -- Rebuffed by Canton authorities -- The
+     principal patrons of the opium trade -- Imperial Government
+     and the opium traffic -- Proposals to legalise it -- The
+     Empress -- Commissioner Lin appointed to suppress trade --
+     His uncompromising proceedings at Canton -- Imprisonment of
+     the foreign merchants, and of the British envoy --
+     Surrender of opium by Captain Elliot.
+
+Commerce itself had also for some time been a source of disquietude,
+and it is an interesting circumstance that it was the same feature of
+it which caused anxiety to both sides. The balance of trade was
+against China, which in the year 1838 had to provide bullion to the
+amount of upwards of £2,000,000 sterling to pay for the excess of
+imports over exports. English manufacturers deplored the fact that the
+purchasing power of China was restricted by the paucity of her
+commodities suitable for foreign markets, while the Chinese
+authorities saw with genuine alarm a yearly drain of what they deemed
+the life-blood of their national wealth; for not only was silver and
+gold bullion exported in what to them were large amounts, but the
+vessels which brought raw cotton and opium from India were frequently
+ballasted for the return voyage with the copper coinage of the
+country. Crude, arbitrary, and quite ineffectual devices were resorted
+to by the Chinese for the arrest or mitigation of the leakage of the
+precious metal. Opium, being the commodity which the people most
+imperatively demanded, was always paid for in hard cash, while
+ordinary merchandise might be bartered against Chinese produce. It is
+not therefore difficult to understand how, without prejudice to moral
+or political considerations, the article opium should have become so
+conspicuous a factor in the agony which preceded the war.
+
+In characterising the relations then subsisting between the Chinese
+and foreigners as lawless, it is not meant that China is a country
+governed without law, although it is true that even in the purely
+domestic administration of the State legality is systematically
+travestied. But in connection with foreign relations, and almost as a
+necessity of the case, every trace of legality was obliterated in
+practice, and the merchants were constantly entangled in a labyrinth
+of illusions and pitfalls. No regulation was, or was ever intended to
+be, carried out as promulgated; it was generally something quite
+different that was aimed at, and it is literally true that the law was
+more honoured in the breach than in the observance.
+
+Many Chinese eagles swooped on the carcass of foreign trade; various
+authorities competed for the spoil; and the constantly changing orders
+were often merely stratagems by which one set of officials sought to
+steal an advantage over another. The rules of the game were perfectly
+understood, and the loftiest professions of public duty were the
+invariable concomitant of the most corrupt practice.
+
+The two principal trade authorities in Canton were the viceroy of the
+two provinces, and the _hoppo_, who held an independent commission
+from Peking as superintendent of the customs. Smuggling was of course
+systematic. Though there were severe dormant laws against it whereby
+unwary individuals might on occasion be entrapped, yet the practice
+was openly carried on in every department of traffic, its chief
+patrons being the viceroy and the _hoppo_. The importation of opium
+was officially prohibited, but no branch of trade was so effectually
+protected. The depot ships lay in what was regarded as the outer
+waters of China--that is, the archipelago in the estuary of the Canton
+river. But the drug was brought to land in the viceroy's own boats and
+to his profit. The traffic was conducted under a fluctuating
+arrangement between the native merchants and the authorities, the
+latter taking frequent occasion to pick quarrels with the former in
+order to have a pretext for extortion. The fees levied upon the
+opium-dealers were divided among the officials, but they could never
+trust each other to deal fairly in the distribution of the takings. By
+way of check on sharp practice a Chinese war-vessel was in the habit
+of visiting the receiving ships, taking from them an account of their
+deliveries, and at the same time making a small levy for the
+commanders personal behoof, for which a formal receipt was granted.
+
+A new _hoppo_ came to Canton in 1837, and, as had been the custom
+with his predecessors, he inaugurated his commission by issuing
+drastic edicts, in concert with the viceroy, against the sale of
+opium, even going through the form of arresting some of the dealers.
+This demonstration, like all that had gone before, was merely intended
+to cover a heavier exaction than had yet been levied. The dealers and
+boatmen refused the terms, and by way of protest the latter burned
+their boats. Whereupon the two high officers built boats of their own,
+which, with the Government ones already employed in the business,
+brought the whole of the opium to Canton. In this manner was the trade
+resumed after a temporary stoppage caused by the strike of the dealers
+and boat-owners against the extortions of the viceroy and _hoppo_. Nor
+was there ever any secret in Peking respecting these proceedings.
+Indeed the occasion of any high official travelling to the capital was
+always marked by a great enhancement of the market price of opium, of
+which the official or his retinue invariably carried a large quantity
+for sale there. This circumstance was published in the trade circulars
+printed in Canton, without the least concealment of the name of the
+mandarin under whose protection the drug was transported. The _hoppo_
+was, and still is, an imperial _protégé_, and it was, and is still,
+perfectly understood that he divides the proceeds of his Canton
+harvest with his patrons. It is for that purpose that he receives the
+appointment. And this was a trade proscribed under extreme penalties
+by imperial edict! It is needless to trace the network of elusion in
+which the administrative ingenuity of Chinese officialdom was
+exercised, and the specimen given above may be taken as typical of
+the system. "Nevertheless, during the year 1838 very serious and
+determined measures began to be adopted by the Chinese authorities,
+directed generally against the trade in opium; and imperial edicts
+threatened death as the punishment for both the dealers in and smokers
+of the drug."
+
+It is hardly possible outside of China to realise the systematic
+make-believe under which public affairs are carried on.
+
+     Life and business in Canton, says Mr Hunter,[4] was a
+     conundrum as insoluble as the Sphinx; everything worked
+     smoothly by acting in direct opposition to what we were
+     told to do. Certainly we were told to "listen and obey," to
+     "tremble and not by obstinacy and irregularity to court the
+     wrath of the imperial will"! We were reminded from time to
+     time that we were "sojourning in the land on sufferance."
+     We were threatened and re-threatened with the "direst
+     penalties if we sold _foreign mud_ to the people; truly
+     forbearance could no longer be exercised." Yet we continued
+     to sell the drug as usual. Our receiving ships at Lintin
+     must no longer loiter at that anchorage, but "forthwith
+     either come into port or return to their respective
+     countries." The heart of the ruler of all within the _Four
+     Seas_ was indeed full of compassion and had been indulgent
+     to the barbarians. But now no more delay could be granted,
+     "cruisers would be sent to open their irresistible
+     broadsides" upon the foreign ships. Yet in spite of these
+     terrors the ships never budged. We were "forbidden to
+     wander about except three times a-month, and that not
+     without a linguist," but we walked whenever we pleased, and
+     the linguist is the last person we ever saw.
+
+And so on through a long catalogue of prohibitions to the disregard of
+which the officials themselves were always parties.
+
+We get an exact description also of the mode in which the opium trade
+was carried on from the pen of Mr Hunter, himself an actor as well as
+an eyewitness. It furnishes a perfect illustration of the reign of
+sham which prevails generally in China:--
+
+     We anchored on the inside of the island of Namoa close by
+     two English brigs, the Omega and Governor Findlay. Inshore
+     of us were riding at anchor two men-of-war junks, with much
+     bunting displayed; one bore the flag of a _foo-tseang_ or
+     commodore. Knowing the "formalities" to be gone through
+     with the mandarins, we expected a visit from one, and until
+     it was made no Chinese boat would come alongside, nor would
+     a junk, not even a bumboat. We had no sooner furled sails
+     and made everything shipshape, when his "Excellency"
+     approached in his gig--a sort of scow as broad as she was
+     long.... He was received at the gangway by Captain Forster.
+     His manner and bearing were easy and dignified. When
+     cheroots and a glass of wine had been offered, the
+     "commodore" inquired the cause of our anchoring at Namoa.
+     The _shroff_ gave him to understand that the vessel, being
+     on her way from Singapore to Canton, had been compelled,
+     through contrary winds and currents, to run for Namoa to
+     replenish her wood and water. Having listened attentively,
+     the great man said that "any supplies might be obtained,
+     but when they were on board, not a moment must be lost in
+     sailing for Whampoa, as the Great Emperor did not permit
+     vessels from afar to visit any other port." He then gravely
+     pulled from his boot a long red document and handed it to
+     his secretary, that we might be informed of its purport. It
+     was as follows:--
+
+
+_An Imperial Edict._
+
+     As the port of Canton is the only one at which outside
+     barbarians are allowed to trade, on no account can they be
+     permitted to wander about to other places in the "Middle
+     Kingdom." The "Son of Heaven," however, whose compassion is
+     as boundless as the ocean, cannot deny to those who are in
+     distress from want of food, through adverse seas and
+     currents, the necessary means of continuing their voyage.
+     When supplied they must no longer loiter, but depart at
+     once. Respect this.
+
+     TAO-KUANG, _17th year, 6th moon, 4th sun_.
+
+     This "imperial edict" having been replaced in its envelope
+     and slipped inside of his boot (for service on the chance
+     of another foreign vessel "in distress"), his Excellency
+     arose from his seat, which was a signal for all his
+     attendants to return to the boat, except his secretary. The
+     two were then invited to the cabin to refresh, which being
+     done, we proceeded to business. The mandarin opened by the
+     direct questions, "How many chests have you on board? Are
+     they all for Namoa? Do you go farther up the coast?"
+     Intimating at the same time that _there_ the officers were
+     uncommonly strict, and were obliged to carry out the will
+     of the "Emperor of the Universe," &c. But our answers were
+     equally as clear and prompt, that the vessel was not going
+     north of Namoa, that her cargo consisted of about 200
+     chests. Then came the question of _cumsha_, and that was
+     settled on the good old Chinese principle of "all same
+     custom." Everything being thus comfortably arranged, wine
+     drunk, and cheroots smoked, his Excellency said "Kaou-tsze"
+     (I announce my departure).... Chinese buyers came on board
+     freely the moment they saw the "official" visit had been
+     made. A day or two after, several merchant junks stood out
+     from the mainland for the anchorage. As they approached we
+     distinguished a private signal at their mastheads, a copy
+     of which had been furnished to us before leaving
+     Capshuymun. We hoisted ours, the junks anchored close to
+     us, and in a surprisingly short time received from the Rose
+     in their own boats the opium, which had been sold at
+     Canton, and there paid for, deliverable at this anchorage.
+     It was a good illustration of the entire confidence
+     existing between the foreign seller in his factory at
+     Canton and the Chinese buyers, and of a transaction for a
+     breach of any of the conditions of which there existed no
+     legal redress on one side or the other.
+
+  [Illustration: MACAO.]
+
+From his asylum in Macao Captain Elliot thought he saw an opportunity
+for making a fresh attempt to ingratiate himself with the Chinese
+authorities. Disregarding the fact that the only return for his
+previous efforts at conciliation had been accumulated insult and
+odious accusations against himself personally, Captain Elliot resolved
+on trying once more. So, when the opium agitation broke out in
+1838-39, he volunteered his assistance in suppressing smuggling in the
+river. The viceroy, being the head and front of the abuse, spurned the
+offer, saying, what was perfectly true, that he could stop the traffic
+himself by a stroke of the pen.
+
+Ignoring the rebuff, Captain Elliot did nevertheless issue an order
+that "all British-owned schooners, or other vessels habitually or
+occasionally engaged in the illicit opium traffic, _within_ the Bocca
+Tigris, should remove before the expiration of three days, and not
+again return within the Bocca Tigris, being so engaged." And they were
+at the same time distinctly warned, that if "any British subjects were
+feloniously to cause the death of a Chinaman in consequence of
+persisting in the trade within the Bocca Tigris, he would be liable to
+capital punishment; that no owners of such vessels so engaged would
+receive any assistance or interposition from the British Government in
+case the Chinese Government should seize any of them; and that all
+British subjects employed in these vessels would be held responsible
+for any consequences which might arise from forcible resistance
+offered to the Chinese Government, in the same manner as if such
+resistance were offered to their own or any other Government, in their
+own or in any foreign country." This gratuitous assumption of the
+functions of the Chinese executive plunged Captain Elliot into still
+greater difficulties, and prepared the way for the tragic events which
+were to follow a year later. In vulgar parlance he "gave himself away"
+to the Chinese, for in professing to be able to stop opium traffic
+within the river he tacitly accepted the responsibility of stopping
+it also in the estuary, where the British depot ships lay at anchor.
+It was, in fact, the driving home of this responsibility by the
+Chinese which was the apparent occasion of the war. For it is certain
+that during his three years of office as representative of the Crown
+of England Captain Elliot had given no provocation to the Chinese, nor
+had he in any way withstood their aggression.
+
+But a sudden change now came over the scene. The opium question had
+been for some time debated in the imperial counsels with considerable
+earnestness, the issue turning on the alternatives of suppressing or
+legalising the traffic. It seems likely that in those deliberations
+the reigning emperor, Tao-kuang, played a very secondary part; indeed
+as an active factor in the government of the country he appears to
+have been of little more account than his successors have been. He is
+described as an amiable but weak man, sensible of the difficulties of
+his country, but misinformed with regard to them by the favourites
+around him. The most interesting personality about the Imperial Court
+at that time appears to have been the empress, who had raised herself
+to that exalted position by her talents as well as by her
+fascinations. Though her career was a very short one, she exercised a
+potent influence on affairs throughout the whole empire. She was
+credited with a rare power of judging men and of selecting them for
+offices of trust. She was a reformer of abuses and a true patriot; but
+what was most remarkable, considering the order of ideas which
+surrounded her, she held liberal views as to the extension of foreign
+intercourse, and was at the head of the party which was in favour of
+legalising the opium traffic. A memorial addressed to her urging this
+measure was submitted by the emperor to the governor of Canton, Tang,
+who with his colleagues reported on it favourably. The success of the
+empress's policy enraged her enemies and stirred them to the most
+strenuous efforts to compass her fall. The emperor, it is said,
+remained neutral in this strife. The opposition party prevailed,
+gaining over the emperor to their side while he was smarting from the
+grief caused by the death of his own son from opium, an event which
+enlisted his personal feelings against the drug.
+
+So far, however, had the question been carried, that the legalisation
+of the opium trade was fully anticipated by Captain Elliot up to the
+very hour that the storm burst.
+
+The final decision of the Government was to put an end to the trade,
+for which purpose they sent an imperial commissioner to Canton, armed
+with full authority to carry out the emperor's edicts. He arrived at
+his post, March 10, 1839. Commissioner Lin, the best known character,
+with the exception of Captain Elliot himself, in connection with the
+war, was a man of uncommon energy and resolution, and was therefore in
+some respects well chosen for the extraordinary task which was imposed
+upon him. He was a native of Fukien province, an official of high
+standing, having been Governor-General of the Central Provinces, the
+Hu Kwang. He was now appointed Governor-General of the Two Kwang and
+Imperial Commissioner for dealing with the opium question. As a
+Chinese administrator he had been popular, and was no doubt possessed
+of many high qualities.[5] It is possible that had he taken time to
+study the foreign question with which he had to deal, and had he not
+been betrayed by his too easy initial successes, he might have been
+the means of placing the foreign relations of his country on a footing
+of mutual accommodation. A reasonable man would have perceived the
+utter impossibility of preventing the Chinese people from purchasing a
+commodity for which they had an overmastering desire. He showed great
+ignorance of human nature in proposing to break his countrymen of
+opium-smoking within a year, after which time offenders were to be
+beheaded.[6] This was but a sample of his violence and of his
+incapacity to see two sides of a question. It must be remembered,
+however, that he had undertaken to carry out the emperor's
+instructions, and it is difficult to pronounce what amount of latitude
+he might have allowed himself in the interpretation of them.
+
+His proceedings were of an uncompromising character most unusual with
+Chinese. Possessing full authority, he exercised it to the utmost,
+terrorising all the local officials into absolute subservience. The
+governor of Canton, himself deeply implicated in the opium traffic, a
+fact well known to the Imperial Commissioner, was constrained to save
+himself by affecting the utmost zeal in executing the commissioner's
+behests. Having thus disposed of all the opposition with which Chinese
+high officials have usually to reckon from their subordinates, Lin
+gave the rein to his headstrong temper, and instead of effecting
+reform, plunged his country into a war which shattered the imperial
+prestige.
+
+Within three weeks of Lin's arrival in Canton the drastic measures
+against foreigners, and particularly against the opium trade,
+culminated in his imprisoning the whole of the merchants within their
+factories at Canton, menacing them with further outrages on their
+person. At this crisis Captain Elliot, having left his residence at
+Macao, made his way under difficulties to Canton, that he might share
+the captivity of his countrymen and act as their head and mouthpiece.
+Having thus got the superintendent of trade into his power,
+Commissioner Lin preferred most extravagant demands upon him,
+including the delivery to the Chinese of all opium owned by British
+merchants, which amounted to 20,000 chests valued at upwards of
+£2,000,000. The imprisoned merchants had no choice but to yield to the
+demand made upon them by the representative of the British Crown; and
+as the recent agitations had interfered greatly with the course of
+trade, their assent to the terms was no doubt soothed by the
+reflection that they were making a clearance sale of their goods to a
+solvent purchaser, her Majesty's Government. They issued their
+delivery orders for the opium on the 27th March 1839. It is to the
+credit of Commissioner Lin that in a memorial to the throne he
+commended the loyalty of certain of the British merchants.[7]
+
+This grand concession to the demand of Commissioner Lin was but the
+climax of all the antecedent steps of British submission. There was no
+haggling, but a prompt and unconditional surrender in the following
+terms:--
+
+
+_Elliot to the Imperial Commissioner._
+
+          CANTON, _March 27, 1839_.
+
+     Elliot, &c., &c., has now the honour to receive for the
+     first time your Excellency's commands, bearing date the
+     26th day of March, issued by the pleasure of the Great
+     Emperor, to deliver over into the hands of honourable
+     officers to be appointed by your Excellency all the opium
+     in the hands of British subjects.
+
+     Elliot must faithfully and completely fulfil these
+     commands, and he has now respectfully to request that your
+     Excellency will be pleased to indicate the point to which
+     the ships of his nation, having opium on board, are to
+     proceed, so that the whole may be delivered up.
+
+     The faithful account of the same shall be transmitted as
+     soon as it is ascertained.
+
+Captain Elliot did not even give himself time to verify the figures,
+and in his haste committed himself to the delivery of more opium than
+was actually in being. The consequence was that he could not deliver
+until fresh importations arrived, when he was obliged to enter the
+market as an opium merchant and purchase sufficient to enable him to
+fulfil his engagement.
+
+
+II. THE SEQUEL TO THE SURRENDER OF OPIUM.
+
+     Captain Elliot complains of his lengthened imprisonment --
+     The continued cruelties of Commissioner Lin -- Subservience
+     of the Portuguese -- English merchants driven from their
+     homes in Macao to seek refuge on shipboard -- Pursued by
+     the vengeance of the Commissioner -- Chinese claim absolute
+     jurisdiction over person and property -- Demand for an
+     English seaman for execution.
+
+The interesting question in all this is how the Chinese authorities
+were impressed with the magnanimous sacrifice of over £2,000,000
+sterling worth of private property as a ransom for the liberties of
+British subjects. They were certainly not impressed favourably, for
+Captain Elliot, together with the whole community, was detained for
+many weeks after the delivery of the opium close prisoners in Canton,
+and cut off from all outside communication. A week after the surrender
+Captain Elliot wrote to Lord Palmerston, "The blockade is increasing
+in closeness.... This is the first time in our intercourse with this
+empire that its Government has taken the unprovoked initiative in
+aggressive measures against British life, property, and liberty, and
+against the dignity of the British Crown." On the same day the
+Imperial Commissioner threatened to cut off the water-supply from the
+beleaguered merchants. A week later Captain Elliot wrote, "The
+blockade is not relaxed, ... the reverse is the case;" and he was
+constrained, though with evident reluctance, to characterise "the late
+measures as public robbery and wanton violence." Commissioner Lin's
+"continuance of the state of restraint, insult, and dark intimidation,
+subsequently to the surrender, has classed the case amongst the most
+shameless violences which one nation has yet dared to perpetrate
+against another." And there is a forlorn pathos in his confession, a
+fortnight later, of the futility of "remonstrances from a man in my
+present situation to a high Chinese officer determined to be false and
+perfidious."
+
+Nor did the Chinese appetite for cruelty cease to grow by what it fed
+upon even after the crisis of the Canton imprisonment was over. The
+British community, when forced to seek safety on board of their ships,
+were pursued from anchorage to anchorage by the implacable vengeance
+of the Imperial Commissioner. The natives were by proclamation ordered
+to "intercept and wholly cut off all supplies" from the English, some
+of whom "had gone to reside on board the foreign ships at Hongkong,
+and it was to be apprehended that in their extremity some may land at
+the outer villages and hamlets along the coast to purchase
+provisions," in which case the "people were to drive them back, fire
+upon or make prisoners of them." "Even when they land to take water
+from the springs, stop their progress and let them not have it in
+their power to drink." Another proclamation stated that "poison had
+been put into this water; let none of our people take it to drink."
+During the summer of 1839 many murderous outrages were perpetrated by
+the Commissioner's orders on English small craft wherever they were
+found isolated or defenceless.
+
+It is not necessary to pursue these barbarities in detail. Sufficient
+has been advanced to illustrate the spirit in which the Chinese
+Government, in a time of peace and without a vestige of provocation,
+drove the retreating and absolutely submissive English to desperation.
+And their characteristic manner of recompensing servility was
+illustrated with cynical humour in a long memorandum drawn up during
+the progress of the war by Commissioner Lin, the author of the savage
+proceedings just referred to. "Since," he says, "the English are so
+eager for the recommencement of their traffic, let us couple the grant
+with another stipulation, that they present us with the head of
+Elliot, the leader in every mischief, the disturber of the peace, and
+the source of all this trouble"--the last statement containing more
+truth than probably the writer himself fully realised.
+
+Under such conditions it was obviously impossible to place the persons
+and property of British subjects at the mercy of Chinese officials.
+Yet this is what the authorities at Canton insisted upon,--"full
+submission to Chinese penal legislation, involving capital punishment
+by Chinese forms of trial." This was no new claim. The Chinese were
+simply following the precedents. English, French, and Americans had
+each in turn given up their men to be strangled on the demand of the
+Chinese authorities, and though the right had not been exercised for
+nearly twenty years, Lin evidently thought the occasion favourable for
+reviving it. He furnished a clear explanation of what a Chinese trial
+would be by demanding of the British representative the unconditional
+surrender for execution of the alleged murderer of a Chinese. To
+Captain Elliot's almost penitential protestations, that he had been
+unable to discover the assumed murderer among the numerous liberty men
+of ships of more than one nationality who had been in the scuffle, the
+Chinese authorities paid no regard whatever. The Queen's
+representative was publicly denounced in scurrilous language by
+Commissioner Lin for concealing and failing to deliver up an offender,
+and for criminal violation of the laws of China as "shown by our
+reiterated proclamations and clear commands." This truculent
+proclamation being followed by an ultimatum giving ten days for the
+surrender of the unknown murderer under threat of the extermination of
+the British community, the latter had to escape in a body from Canton
+to seek refuge in Macao, whence they were expelled by the authorities
+of that settlement at the behest of the Chinese commissioner. This act
+of loyalty on the part of the Portuguese was duly acknowledged by the
+Imperial Commissioners reply, through his subordinate officials, in
+the following terms:--
+
+     We have received from his Excellency the Imperial
+     Commissioner a reply to our representation that the English
+     foreigners had, one and all, left Macao, and that the
+     Portuguese Governor and Procurador had ably and strenuously
+     aided in their expulsion, and faithfully repressed
+     disorder. The reply is to this effect:--
+
+     That the Portuguese Governor and Procurador having thus
+     ably obeyed the commands for their expulsion, evinces the
+     respectful sense of duty of those officers, and merits
+     commendation. I, the High Commissioner, in company with the
+     Governor, will personally repair to Macao to soothe and
+     encourage. And you are required to pay instant obedience
+     hereto, by making this intention known to them.
+
+Captain Elliot, in a despatch to the Portuguese governor,
+characterised his act as a participation "in measures of unprecedented
+inhospitality and enmity against British subjects."[8]
+
+Into the merits of the opium question itself, or of that unique
+transaction, the surrender of £2,000,000 sterling worth of the
+commodity by a British agent on the mere demand of a Chinese official,
+it would be impossible to enter within the limits of space assigned to
+us. But it is obvious that such a demand, made within two years of the
+time when the viceroy of Canton was building a flotilla to carry the
+merchants' drug from the receiving ships to his provincial capital,
+was something so extravagant that compliance with it must be followed
+either by open war or by complete submission and the abandonment of
+China as a trading field. It is of course conceivable that had the
+ordinary Chinese canon been applied to the case, and the proclamations
+of Commissioner Lin been interpreted, like those that had gone before,
+as the inaugural bombast of a newcomer, the demands might have been
+evaded with impunity. The Portuguese, in fact, did evade them by the
+simple expedient of sending their opium to sea for a time and bringing
+it back again. There is some ground for the surmise that the High
+Commissioner himself reckoned on evasion, and was even embarrassed by
+his unexpected success in having such an enormous amount of property
+frankly thrown on his hands. Our collision with China may thus be said
+to have been brought about by a breach in the continuity of precedents
+on both sides,--we reckoning up to a certain point on the continuance
+of sham, and the Chinese on the continuance of submission. Both were
+misled, and there was no way of reconciliation but by the arbitrament
+of force.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[4] Bits of Old China. Kegan Paul.
+
+[5] When he visited Macao later in the year 1839--after the
+events--there were public demonstrations in his honour, whether
+prompted by public respect for his despotic power or approval of the
+use he had just made of it, or merely a recognition of his previously
+established reputation, may very well remain an open question.
+
+[6] Possibly, however, this was but a specimen of the hyperbolic
+diction which is habitual with the Chinese. An official will threaten
+his servant with instant decapitation for a trifling offence, meaning
+nothing whatever thereby.
+
+[7] As in its commutation for the surrender of slave property, so now
+the British Government inflicted serious injustice on the owners of
+the opium. Captain Elliot's drafts on the Treasury were dishonoured,
+he having had no authority to draw, and the merchants had to wait four
+years for a most inadequate payment.
+
+[8] "By the treaty of 1703," wrote Sir Anders Ljunstedt, the last
+chief of the Swedish Company's factory, "Portugal placed herself, as
+it were, under the protection of Great Britain. This Power never
+failed to render her ally the assistance she stood in need of either
+in Europe or her ultramarine dominions." The English had defended
+Macao against the French in 1803.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE FIRST CHINA WAR, 1839-1842.
+
+     Captain Elliot despatches his only ship to India with a
+     report of the situation -- The helplessness of the British
+     community and persecutions by the Chinese during three
+     months -- Arrival of two ships -- The Chinese attack them
+     and are defeated -- Expedition from India and England
+     arrives -- Canton river blockaded -- Attempts to appeal to
+     Central Government rebuffed -- Squadron sent to the Peiho
+     -- Kishen appointed to treat -- Expedition returns south --
+     Negotiations opened near Canton -- Bogue forts destroyed by
+     British ships -- Illusory negotiations -- River blockaded,
+     but commerce partially resumed -- Extensive war
+     preparations by Chinese -- Captain Elliot's confidence in
+     the Chinese -- Hostilities carried on -- Canton commanded
+     and ransomed -- Triumph of the populace -- Operations
+     extended to northern coasts -- Agreement between Captain
+     Elliot and Kishen repudiated by both sovereigns -- Arrival
+     of Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker -- War vigorously
+     prosecuted -- Towns and forts taken -- Nanking threatened
+     -- Commissioners Ilipu and Kiying appointed to treat --
+     Treaty concluded at Nanking, August 29, 1842 -- The
+     character of Ilipu.
+
+
+Captain Elliot, after the severities to which he and his countrymen
+had been subjected, despatched a vessel to Calcutta with a report on
+the situation to the Governor-General of India, making a corresponding
+report at the same time to London. The departure of this, the only
+vessel at the disposal of the British agent, left him and the
+mercantile community in a helpless predicament during three critical
+months, and it was natural that the Chinese should take advantage of
+so favourable an opportunity to fill the cup of their cruelties fuller
+than ever. The only form of reprisal which was left to the
+unfortunate Captain Elliot was his intimation to the merchants that he
+had moved both the British and Indian Governments to forbid the
+admission of tea and other Chinese produce into their territories--an
+announcement which is said to have irritated Commissioner Lin
+excessively. On September 11, 1839, however, her Majesty's ship Volage
+appeared on the scene. Her commander, Captain Smith, considered that
+the least he could do in defence of his countrymen was to blockade the
+Canton river by way of retaliation for "the stoppage of the supplies
+of food by order of the Chinese Government, and for the Chinese people
+having been ordered to fire upon and seize her Majesty's subjects
+wherever they went; and that certain of them had been actually cut
+off."
+
+This slight evidence of vitality on the part of the English produced
+an immediate effect on the Chinese: their violent proclamations
+against Elliot were withdrawn; provisions were no longer prohibited;
+and certain negotiations were inaugurated for the resumption of trade
+_outside_ the Barrier; whereupon Captain Smith promptly raised the
+blockade.
+
+Before long, however, the Chinese resumed their offensive attitude,
+endeavoured to compel British trading ships to enter within the Bogue,
+and renewed their demands for the murderer of a Chinaman, failing
+which the foreign ships were ordered to depart within three days on
+pain of immediate destruction. They accordingly withdrew to the
+anchorage of Tongku, which became the rendezvous of all the ships of
+war. Difficulties continued to increase on both sides, without
+prospect of any solution, until the 29th of October, when another
+British man-of-war, the Hyacinth, arrived and joined the Volage. These
+vessels proceeded to Chuenpee, with Captain Elliot on board, for the
+purpose of eliciting from the Commissioner some explicit declaration
+of his intentions. They were at once attacked by the Chinese admiral
+with a fleet of twenty-nine war-junks, which they beat off; and thus
+occurred the first hostile encounter between the armed forces of the
+two nations.
+
+  [Illustration: MAP OF CANTON WATERS.]
+
+Of the operations which followed, extending over nearly three years,
+full accounts were given at the time, none better than the 'Narrative
+of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840-43,' by W. D.
+Bernard, with which may be profitably compared Dr Eitel's concise
+history,[9] published forty years later, with all the documents before
+him.
+
+The British Government came to the conclusion that the limits of
+forbearance had been overstepped. The action of the Chinese
+authorities during 1839 forced on it the choice of two alternatives,
+to abandon British subjects and their interests or to exact reasonable
+treatment for them from the Chinese. The latter was selected, and it
+was resolved to demand a commercial treaty under which foreign trade
+might be carried on with security to person and property. In support
+of this decision military and naval forces, equipped in England and in
+India, assembled on the coast of China during the spring of 1840.
+Among the novelties of this equipment were a number of small
+light-draught iron steamers, the most famous of which was the Nemesis,
+built for the Honourable Company by Mr Laird of Birkenhead, drawing
+only six feet laden. This exceedingly mobile little craft, under her
+energetic commander, W. H. Hall, performed almost incredible services
+as the maid-of-all-work of the expedition. The blockade of the Canton
+river, which had been established and withdrawn several times, was
+finally declared on the 28th of June 1840, as a first step in the
+regular war programme, by Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer. A few days
+later the command of the fleet was assumed by Rear-Admiral the Hon.
+George Elliot, who was also appointed joint-plenipotentiary with
+Captain Charles Elliot.
+
+Before commencing a general war upon the Emperor of China every
+resource was exhausted for opening communications with the Imperial
+Government through other channels than that of Canton. The frigate
+Blonde was despatched for this purpose to the harbour of Amoy, where
+the local officials not only refused to receive a letter from the
+English admiral, but ordered an attack upon the boat conveying it on
+shore. The frigate retaliated for this insult by opening fire upon the
+Chinese batteries and war-junks, after which she returned to Hongkong
+to report proceedings to the admiral. About this time, early in July
+1840, the island of Chusan was taken and occupied. The attempt to
+deliver a letter from Lord Palmerston addressed to the Cabinet at
+Peking, by way of Ningpo, having been frustrated by the authorities at
+that port, a blockade was established of Hangchow Bay and the mouth of
+the Yangtze. It had been Captain Elliot's favourite device, as it came
+to be that of all his successors, to apply pressure to the Court of
+Peking by means of a blockade of this the main artery of the Chinese
+empire, and it was by following up this scheme that the war thus
+commenced in 1840 was actually brought to a successful issue in 1842.
+
+The attempts to gain access to the Court through the southern seaports
+having failed, the venue was shifted to the neighbourhood of the
+capital itself. A heavy squadron of ships accordingly anchored off the
+mouth of the Peiho--a demonstration which was sufficiently menacing to
+the capital to induce the Court to appoint an official to parley with
+Captain Elliot, and also to receive the undelivered letter from Lord
+Palmerston. Kishen, a Manchu of high rank, was chosen for this service
+by the emperor. The first, perhaps the sole, object of Kishen's
+diplomacy was to relieve the apprehensions of the Court by procuring
+the prompt withdrawal of the foreign forces. This end was achieved in
+one short conference with Captain Elliot, when Tientsin was pronounced
+to be too near the emperor's palace for negotiations, and it was
+decided that the scene should be shifted back to Canton, a new
+commissioner being appointed to supersede Lin, the impracticable. The
+squadron thereupon, about the end of September, withdrew to Chusan. It
+was generally believed that an armistice had been arranged pending
+negotiations, but it was soon discovered that the only truce made
+applied exclusively to the island of Chusan, where it had been
+declared. The two English plenipotentiaries repaired to Macao in
+November.
+
+All this while extensive preparations for hostilities were vigorously
+prosecuted in the neighbourhood of Canton. Attempts to communicate
+under flag of truce were repelled by force, and it was remarked that
+the Chinese were sufficiently well versed in the significance of the
+white flag to make free use of it for their own protection, while
+disregarding its employment by the other side. The Imperial
+Commissioner, Kishen, reached Canton at the end of November, his
+arrival coinciding in point of time with the invaliding of Admiral
+Elliot, the co-plenipotentiary, thus leaving the British negotiations
+once more in the sole hands of Captain Elliot until such time as Sir
+Gordon Bremer was appointed as his associate.
+
+Of the two diplomatists who had now to confront each other it would
+be difficult to say whether the English or Chinese was the more
+anxious to avert hostilities. To avoid precipitating a conflict
+negotiations were not pressed home by either party, nor were any steps
+taken to give effect to the conference which had been held between
+them at Tientsin.
+
+The hostile demonstrations of the Chinese, and the extraordinary
+exertions they were putting forth to place themselves in a position to
+bar the entrance to the river, compelled the British naval
+commander-in-chief to assume the offensive by attacking the outer
+defences at its mouth. The forts and guns were destroyed as well as
+the Chinese fleet of war-junks, native Indian troops and Royal Marines
+forming an important part of the attacking force. There remained
+extensive fortifications within the embouchure, and every preparation
+was made on both sides for resuming the contest on the following
+morning; but just as the British guns were about to open fire a small
+sampan, with an old woman and a man on board, was sent off by the
+Chinese admiral proposing a cessation of hostilities. This unpromising
+overture did actually eventuate in an armistice, holding out the
+prospect of a treaty of peace, but with the details as usual carefully
+kept in the background. During the period of truce granted by Captain
+Elliot the Chinese continued as active as ever in strengthening and
+extending their defences. This necessitated continued precautions on
+the British side, for it is to be noted throughout all the proceedings
+that the naval and military commanders never shared the illusions of
+Captain Elliot as regards the conciliatory intentions of the Chinese.
+They formed their opinions upon what they saw with their eyes, and
+not by what any Chinese official professed with his lips.
+
+On January 20, thirteen days after the attack on Chuenpee forts,
+Captain Elliot announced from Macao that "preliminary arrangements had
+been concluded. Hongkong was to be ceded, and an indemnity of
+$6,000,000 to be paid by the Chinese; direct official intercourse on
+terms of equality, and trade to be resumed, within ten days." This
+good effect, he added, was "due to the scrupulous good faith of every
+eminent person with whom negotiations are still pending." The British
+plenipotentiary did not lose an hour in carrying out his part of the
+incomplete compact, which was the substantial one of rendering back to
+the Chinese their captured forts. The ceremony of the rendition of the
+Chuenpee forts was performed on the 21st, when the British flag was
+formally struck and the Chinese hoisted in its place under a salute
+from the flagship. On the other side the occupation of Hongkong by the
+British forces proceeded just as if the arrangements between the
+plenipotentiaries had been definitive.
+
+Serious conferences then ensued between the British and Chinese
+plenipotentiaries within the river, at a point known as the Second
+Bar. The blockade was nevertheless maintained, so that a French
+corvette which arrived to watch the course of events was unable to
+enter the river. Captain Elliot, however, invited her commander to
+accompany him and "assist" at his interview with Kishen. In the
+meanwhile the conciliatory attitude of the Chinese commissioner was
+severely denounced from the throne, and while these conferences were
+proceeding, messengers of war were on their way from Peking charged
+with nothing less than the extermination of the barbarians. Kishen was
+degraded, and instead of peaceable negotiations, a proclamation was
+placarded on the walls of Canton offering $50,000 each for the heads
+of the British plenipotentiary and the commodore.
+
+After the expiration of this one-sided truce open hostilities were
+re-entered upon. The Bogue forts had to be once more captured, and the
+British flag re-hoisted. That accomplished, the blockade of the river
+was raised. This somewhat remarkable step was no doubt due to the
+overmastering anxiety shown throughout by Captain Elliot for the
+immediate resumption of trade, he having learnt in the Company's
+school to place the current season's business above every other
+consideration. It appears certain that the quite disproportionate
+value attached by him to this one object obscured his perspective, if
+indeed it did not vitiate his whole policy. Trading vessels were
+permitted to proceed up-river, but under the peculiar reservation that
+the stakes, chains, and barriers placed by the Chinese to obstruct
+navigation should first be removed. The fleet, nevertheless, had still
+to fight its way up to Canton, Captain Elliot meanwhile never ceasing
+to make overtures of peace to the Chinese. There were truces and
+suspensions of hostilities, all of the same nature, binding only on
+one side, and such a medley of peace and war as seemed rather to
+belong to the middle ages than to the nineteenth century. Trade was
+pushed on all the more briskly for the general fear that the duration
+of peace was likely to be brief; and as both parties were alike
+interested in getting the season's produce shipped, the Chinese
+authorities were not ill-pleased to see commerce thus carried on while
+they employed the interval in hurrying forward their grand
+preparations for the crushing of the invading force. Hostilities were
+suspended by an agreement on March 20, 1841, and Captain Elliot, after
+residing some time in the foreign factory, where he had opportunities
+of sounding the disposition of the new commissioners, declared himself
+perfectly satisfied with their "assurances of good faith," which he
+repeated in the same public manner a fortnight later--that is, a month
+after the suspension of hostilities. On leaving the Canton factory
+Captain Elliot, strong in the faith he professed, urged on the senior
+naval officer the propriety of moving his ships away from the city in
+order to show our peaceful disposition, the guard of marines which had
+been stationed for the protection of the factories to be at the same
+time withdrawn.
+
+The mercantile community by no means participated in the confidence of
+the plenipotentiary, nor, as we have said, did the naval commanders.
+Indeed so little satisfied were they with the turn of affairs, that
+Sir Gordon Bremer left in a Company's steamer for Calcutta to lay the
+situation before the Governor-General of India.[10] This occurred in
+the middle of April. In the beginning of May troops were seen pouring
+into the forts near the city. An immense number of fire-rafts in
+preparation to burn the fleet could not be concealed, while placards
+of a most menacing character were posted about the city walls. Captain
+Elliot, whether he was shaken in his belief in the pacific assurances
+of the Chinese authorities or not, returned to the scene, on board the
+Nemesis, on the 10th of May, and it is said that, in order to show the
+Chinese that he still believed in their good faith, he was accompanied
+on this one occasion by his wife, probably the first European woman
+who had set foot in Canton.
+
+Several weeks more elapsed before the British plenipotentiary allowed
+himself to be finally disillusioned. Then he issued a proclamation to
+the merchants warning them to be prepared to leave the factories at a
+moment's notice, while the inevitable Nemesis was moved close up for
+the protection of the foreign community generally. The Chinese had
+employed the greatest ingenuity in masking their warlike preparations,
+and even at the last, when they saw that concealment was no longer
+possible, they attempted to allay the apprehensions of the foreigners
+by issuing an edict in order "to calm the feelings of the merchants
+and to tranquillise commercial business,"--their object being, as it
+was confidently alleged, to take the whole community by surprise and
+completely annihilate them.
+
+  [Illustration: H.M. SHIPS IMOGEN AND ANDROMACHE PASSING BOCCA TIGRIS
+   BATTERIES.]
+
+Although thus attempting to lull the foreigners, the Chinese authorities
+had previously warned the natives, through the elders, to remove their
+families and effects from the neighbourhood of the river. On the very
+day after the soothing proclamation, May 21, the signal for the
+renewal of the war was given by the launching of a number of ingeniously
+contrived fire-rafts, which were dropped down by the tide upon the
+English vessels with the design of burning them at their anchors. This
+scheme failed in its object, partly from miscalculation,--only ten or
+twelve out of about a hundred being ignited,--and partly from the
+intrepidity of the British officers and seamen in grappling with those
+they could reach in their boats, and towing them out of their intended
+course. Indeed the destructive effects of these elaborate engines were
+turned on the Chinese themselves, some of the rafts taking the ground
+close to the city and setting fire to the suburbs. This fiasco was
+followed on the one side by an attack on the forts and the destruction
+of a very large fleet of war-junks, and on the other by the demolition
+and pillage of the foreign factories, not however without some curious
+discrimination.
+
+The attack on Canton was now undertaken in earnest. On the 26th May
+the heights in rear of the city had been captured and were held in
+force, so that the whole Chinese position was completely commanded.
+Everything was ready for the assault, which would have been a
+bloodless affair, an elevation just within the wall affording a
+military vantage-ground from which the whole city could have been
+dominated without the least risk by a very small force. At this
+critical moment Captain Elliot appeared to stay the hand of Sir Hugh
+Gough and Commodore Senhouse, the commanders of the military and naval
+forces respectively. Captain Elliot had, in fact, granted a truce in
+order to discuss, not the terms of peace with China, but merely the
+conditions on which the British forces should retire from Canton. The
+principal of these were that the city should be evacuated by all the
+Chinese and Manchu troops, estimated at 45,000, over whom the
+authorities proved that they had perfect control; and that the
+authorities should pay the ransom of $6,000,000, in consideration of
+which all the river forts were to be restored to the Chinese, under
+the proviso that the forts below Whampoa were not to be rearmed until
+the final conclusion of peace. From first to last 1200 pieces of
+cannon had been captured or destroyed in these river forts, which
+would in any case have taken some time to replace.
+
+The incident which closed this transaction having an important bearing
+upon future events, it merits particular attention. Two days after the
+agreement was concluded the armed Braves of the city and locality
+began to assemble in great numbers on the heights threatening the
+British position, and they even advanced to the attack. Fighting
+ensued, which lasted two days, during which the Chinese force was
+constantly augmenting, and, though more than once dispersed by the
+British, it was only to reassemble in greater numbers and renew the
+attack. Thus the ransoming of the city seemed to be but the beginning
+of strife. At length the British commander insisted upon the prefect
+of Canton going out to the Braves and causing them to disperse, after
+which the British force re-embarked. The incident left on the minds of
+the Cantonese the conviction that they were invincible, for they took
+to themselves the whole credit of expelling the barbarians.[11] This
+belief was destined to bear much bitter fruit in after-days.
+
+The emperor repudiated all these pacific arrangements, and ordered
+that as soon as the English ships had withdrawn new and stronger forts
+were to be erected and armed. After the anomalous episode of Canton
+the war was transferred to the northern coasts. Hongkong, with its
+capacious and well-sheltered harbour and facilities for ingress and
+egress, was found to be an admirable naval and military base, and the
+island soon became a scene of intense activity afloat and ashore. The
+Chinese were attracted to it in great numbers. Tradesmen, mechanics,
+builders, carpenters, servants, boatmen, market-people, and common
+labourers flocked into the island, where one and all found profitable
+employment both under the British Government and in connection with
+the commercial establishment which had already been set up there. It
+is estimated that during the year 1841 not less than 15,000 natives
+from the mainland had taken up their quarters in the new possession of
+Great Britain, and were naturally of material assistance in the
+fitting out of the great expedition which was about to invade the
+eastern seaboard. One drawback, unfortunately, soon showed itself in
+the sickness and mortality of the troops, who were attacked by a fever
+attributed, rightly or wrongly, to the breaking up of the soil, which
+was composed of decomposed granite. Possibly, however, the hardships
+of campaigning in the unhealthy delta of the Canton river predisposed
+the men, when the excitement was over, to attacks of the diseases
+associated with the name of Hongkong. This disastrous epidemic left to
+the colony an evil reputation, which survived many years of hygienic
+improvement.
+
+The agreement concluded between Captain Elliot and Kishen, repudiated
+by the emperor, was no less emphatically disapproved of by the
+Government of Great Britain. Captain Elliot was recalled, and quitted
+China on August 24, Sir Henry Pottinger, the new plenipotentiary,
+having arrived, in company with Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker, on
+the 10th, to the great joy of every one. The war was thereupon pursued
+systematically and with vigour.
+
+The twelve months over which these operations extended will not seem
+long if we consider that the coast of China, with its marvellous
+archipelago, was then scarcely known to navigators; that the ships
+were propelled by sails; that they had to operate nearly 1000 miles
+from their base--and that a place of which they held precarious
+possession; and that the greatest caution was required in moving a
+squadron of fifty vessels, besides transports and store-ships. Indeed
+the real matter for surprise--and it reflects the highest credit on
+the officers concerned--is that in an expedition of such magnitude,
+including the advance of 200 miles up the Yangtze, a river till then
+quite unknown, so few casualties occurred. It should also be
+remembered that in this war against China precautions of quite unusual
+stringency were observed for the protection of private property and
+the avoidance of injury to the population.
+
+The Chinese Government was allowed ample time for reflection between
+each step in the hostile advance, yet neither the capture of the coast
+forts and cities nor the incursions which were made from convenient
+points into the interior sufficed to bring the Court of Peking to sue
+for terms. Amoy, Chinhae, Chapu, Ningpo, Wusung, and Shanghai were
+taken in succession, and Chusan was reoccupied. The Chinese defence of
+these various places was far from contemptible, excepting only as
+regarded the antiquity of its methods and the inefficiency of its
+weapons. The fortifications at the various ports were very extensive,
+and were mounted with an immense number of guns. The troops in most
+cases stood bravely the attack by superior weapons and skill, in
+several cases waiting for the bayonet charge before abandoning their
+earthworks. It was not until the fleet had made its way up the
+Yangtze, secured the Grand Canal which connects the rich rice-growing
+provinces with the northern capital, and had taken its station in
+front of Nanking, the southern capital, that the strategic centre of
+the empire was reached.
+
+  [Illustration: YANGTZE AND GRAND CANAL.]
+
+At Nanking, therefore, commissioners were appointed to treat with Sir
+Henry Pottinger, and as they had nothing to do but acquiesce in his
+demands with the best grace, while at the same time saving the face of
+the Imperial Government as much as the circumstances of such a
+surrender would allow, the long-desired treaty of commerce was at last
+concluded on August 29, 1842.
+
+The two Imperial Commissioners intrusted with the negotiations were
+men of the highest distinction and rank, Ilipu and Kiying. Of the
+latter it was said that he was the first high officer who since the
+commencement of the war had dared to tell the naked truth to his
+imperial master. Their joint memorial to the throne, on which the
+imperial instructions for signing the treaty were based, was
+remarkable for its clearness, simplicity, and outspokenness,
+contrasting in these respects strongly with the customary tone of
+flattery, evasion, and bombast. Of Kiying we shall hear further in the
+sequel.
+
+Ilipu was already an old man and infirm. His name is never mentioned
+by contemporary writers without respect amounting almost to
+veneration. Governor-general in Nanking, he had been appointed
+Imperial Commissioner and ordered to Ningpo to get the dependent
+island Chusan cleared of foreigners. He had thus been brought into
+communication with the foreign commanders in connection with the
+occupation of Ningpo and the capture of Chapu, out of which a
+correspondence ensued alike honourable to both sides. A number of
+Chinese prisoners, after having their wounds attended to and their
+wants provided for, with a small present of money, were restored to
+liberty by the British commander. This unexpected action seemed to
+impress Ilipu, who in return sent down to Chapu a number of English
+prisoners, who had been for some time incarcerated at Hangchow,
+treating them handsomely, according to his lights. The despatch of the
+prisoners was accompanied by a respectful letter to Sir Hugh Gough and
+Sir William Parker, probably the first communication deserving to be
+so styled that ever passed between a high Chinese officer and a
+foreigner. These circumstances augured well for the success of future
+intercourse. Ilipu was sent to Canton as High Commissioner to arrange
+details as to the carrying out of the treaty. He died there, and was
+succeeded by Kiying, who brought the ratification of the treaty to
+Hongkong in June 1843.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[9] Europe in Asia. Luzac & Co.
+
+[10] Commodore Senhouse, who succeeded temporarily to the command, was
+so mortified by the course of diplomacy that his death at Hongkong in
+the month of June 1841 was believed to have been hastened thereby. His
+dying request was that his body should be taken to Macao, for burial,
+as he feared that further conciliatory measures might result in
+Hongkong being given back to the Chinese.
+
+[11] In a proclamation issued in 1844 it was said, "Remember how our
+people were persuaded not to fall upon and massacre your soldiers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE TREATY OF 1842.
+
+     A one-sided bargain -- Not deemed by Chinese obligatory --
+     Condemned by powerful parties -- The Chinese conscience
+     against it -- Fulfilment therefore could not be voluntary
+     -- The Chinese and Manchus compared -- Repugnance to treaty
+     common to them both -- Much determination needed to obtain
+     fulfilment.
+
+
+Out of such antecedents in peace and war it was a moral impossibility
+that normal international relations between Chinese and foreigners
+should follow the conclusion of peace.
+
+The treaty signed at Nanking by Sir Henry Pottinger in 1842, simple
+and explicit in its grammatical construction, and fulfilling as far as
+words could do so all the conditions of a charter of fair trade, was
+tainted with the vices of a one-sided bargain. Indeed the Chinese did
+not regard it in the light of a bargain at all, but as a yoke
+temporarily imposed on them which it was their business to shake off.
+Sir John Davis has told us that "at Peking almost every Chinese of
+rank and influence was opposed to the fulfilment of the stipulations
+of the treaty. The negotiators of it shared in the odium of the
+cowardly generals who had deceived their sovereign by false
+representations of their powers of defence." The obligations of the
+treaty, in fact, sat so lightly on their consciences, that only so far
+as they were held rigorously to its provisions would they observe
+them.
+
+The open-mouthed denunciation of the treaty in high quarters was but
+the textual confirmation of what was obvious in the nature of the
+case, that the Chinese Government regarded the treaty of Nanking as a
+_ruse de guerre_, a mere expedient for purchasing present relief, "a
+temporary arrangement in order to recover from our losses."
+
+The official animus and the political conscience were thus entirely on
+the side of what we call bad faith, a state of things which has come
+down unabated to our own time, though prudence on the one side and
+pressure on the other have generally toned down the outward
+manifestation of it.
+
+Fulfilment of the treaty under these circumstances could only be hoped
+for by the actual employment of the coercive agency which had secured
+its signature, or by the conviction, firmly rooted in the minds of the
+Chinese, that such agency was always ready to be invoked. But as
+perpetual coercion on the part of Great Britain was not to be thought
+of, the establishment and maintenance of satisfactory working
+relations demanded on the part of the British agents responsible for
+the execution of the treaty a rare combination of personal qualities.
+They had, in fact, to assume a power which they did not possess, to
+trade upon the prestige which their country had gained by the success
+of its arms, trusting that their pretensions might be tacitly
+acquiesced in. Had this attitude been consistently maintained, in
+small as well as in great things, from the very outset, there is no
+telling whether the observance of the treaty might not have become a
+matter of Chinese routine, and in time acquired the sacred authority
+of custom. But the contrary was the case, and it was not the
+observance but the non-observance of the treaty that was allowed to
+acquire the sanction of custom.
+
+The conduct of the war offered conclusive evidence that though certain
+individuals, from either better knowledge or higher principle than
+their contemporaries, were inclined to meet their enemies fairly, yet
+the conscience of the State, as authoritatively represented in the
+emperor's edicts, rejected as absurd the notion of keeping any kind of
+faith with the barbarians. Hence the barren result of all appeals to
+the binding authority of the compact, unless when backed by force;
+hence also the efficacy of every application of force in the dealings
+of foreign nations with China whether before or after the treaty of
+1842. This consideration is indeed of the essence of our Chinese
+relations, though habitually ignored in the conduct of our
+intercourse.
+
+As regards the attitude of the Chinese Government towards foreigners
+in connection with the war and the peace, an interesting and
+suggestive distinction has been drawn by Sir John Davis between the
+two elements in the Government, the Chinese and the Manchu,--a
+distinction which has been independently made by other observers. It
+is therefore a point well worthy of being kept in view both in the
+conduct of official intercourse and in speculations as to the future
+of the Chinese empire. Sir John Davis, who, first as a Company's agent
+in China, then for a short time as British envoy before the war, and
+eventually chief superintendent of trade for some years after that
+event, had much experience in dealing with officials of the two races,
+is emphatic on the point that moderation and humanity were always
+found on the side of the Manchus, while implacable ferocity allied
+with treachery distinguished the Chinese officials. The war, he says,
+was solely the work of the latter, the peace, of the former. "New
+Tajin was a thorough Chinese, and, like the rest of his tribe,
+vociferous for war while it was absent, but unable to sustain its
+presence; while the Tartars were generally advocates for peace, though
+they did their duty in an emergency." The antithetic character of the
+two races shown collectively and individually has been a matter of
+general remark by foreigners acquainted with both. "Ilipu," says
+Davis, "a Manchu by birth, possessed the un-Chinese quality of
+straightforwardness and honesty of purpose.... As an early adviser of
+the sovereign, he had endeavoured to dissuade him from risking a
+foreign quarrel in making the English a party to the question of
+restricting the consumption of opium among his own subjects."
+
+The Manchu Kishen, who replaced Commissioner Lin on the failure of the
+latter, was also a man of good faith. He did his best first to avoid
+and then to terminate the war, and in the middle of it concluded a
+convention with Captain Elliot by which Hongkong was ceded and six
+millions of dollars were to be paid as ransom for Canton. Yet having
+been admonished by the emperor "to arouse the patriotism of the nation
+and send the heads of the rebellious barbarians to Peking in baskets,
+for to treat them reasonably is out of the question," he had to excuse
+himself by resort to a false pretence of treachery. The convention he
+represented as a ruse, because "his reinforcements were yet far off";
+but he declared that, "bearing the barbarians many a grudge," he only
+abided his time "for exterminating them whenever it can be done." In
+the impeachment of that capable statesman one of the charges was, "You
+gave to the barbarians Hongkong as a dwelling-place, contrary to our
+law of indivisibility," to which he was fain to answer, "I pretended
+to do so, from the mere force of circumstances, to put them off for a
+time, but had no such serious intention; ... a mere feint to avert the
+further outrages of the barbarians."
+
+He took up similar ground in apologising for the conduct of Admiral
+Kwan, a brave and respectable officer, who had asked and obtained an
+armistice in the Canton river: "He has agreed to a truce with the
+barbarians merely to gain time and be in a state to resist them."
+
+The courtesy of the Manchus was no less conspicuous. Lord Jocelyn, as
+quoted by Mr Hunter, remarked, after a meeting with Kishen: "He rose
+at our entrance and received the mission with great courtesy and
+civility. Indeed the manners of these high mandarins would have done
+honour to any courtier in the most polished Court of Europe." A French
+envoy was similarly impressed in an interview with Kiying: "I have
+visited many European Courts," he said, "and have met and known many
+of the most distinguished men belonging to them, but for polished
+manners, dignity, and ease I have never seen these Chinese surpassed."
+
+While the noblest of the officials were thus driven to assume a
+perfidy which was not really in their heart in order to accommodate
+themselves to the prevailing temper, the baser minds were clamouring
+open-mouthed for meeting honour with dishonour. For it is instructive
+to recall that the most truculent officials--Commissioner Lin, for
+example--based their slippery strategy on the known good faith of the
+barbarians, "which made their engagements sacred," as the Roman
+generals took advantage of the Sabbatical prejudices of the Jews. The
+Chinese could afford to play fast and loose with their end of the
+rope, knowing the other end to be secured to a pillar of good faith.
+The commissioners who signed the treaty in their report to the throne
+also testified that "the English had acted with uniform sincerity."
+
+The confiding spirit of the English tempted the common run of Chinese
+officials to practise systematic deception. Thus a disreputable
+Tartar, who was governor of Canton, reported that he had "resolved to
+get rid of them by a sum of money, as by far the cheapest way.... But
+once having got rid of them, and blocked up all the passages leading
+to Canton, we may again cut off their commerce, and place them in the
+worst possible position," thus anticipating almost to the letter what
+took place at the Taku forts in the second war between 1858-59. A
+pamphlet, attributed to Commissioner Lin, whose wanton atrocities had
+provoked the war, after testifying to the habitual good faith of the
+barbarian, urged the Government "never to conclude a peace: an
+armistice, a temporary arrangement for the present, in order to
+recover from our losses, is all we desire."
+
+The Manchu and Chinese races are the complement of each other in the
+economy of the State. The Manchus, with their military heredity, were
+best fitted for the imperial _rôle_, while the Chinese are by
+tradition rather men of business than administrators. From which it
+may be inferred that the material progress of the country will rest
+more with the Chinese with all their faults than with the Manchus with
+their governing instincts. The Peking Court, indeed, has been long
+under the numerically preponderant influence of the Chinese, and
+except in matters of dynastic interest they are Chinese rather than
+Manchu ethics which govern the acts of State. The counsels of such men
+as Lin and the Chinese party generally prevailed, as we have seen,
+over those of the distinguished Manchus, some of them belonging to the
+imperial family, who had to do with the foreign imbroglio, and it was
+in full accord with Chinese sentiment that the Emperor Tao-kuang was
+brought to declare that such a nation as the English should not be
+allowed to exist on the earth.
+
+Much of the hostility to the treaty may no doubt be fairly referable
+to the military humiliation of a Government to whom war was rebellion
+and rebellion parricide. Nor is the exasperation of the Chinese
+against their conquerors to be measured by those chivalrous standards
+which have been evolved from the traditions of nations accustomed,
+even in war, to meet as equals. They were playing the game under a
+different set of rules. But when every such allowance has been made,
+the moral principle governing Chinese official conduct cannot be
+designated by any word in Western vocabularies but perfidy.
+Belligerency as understood by Western nations did not enter into their
+conception, and their war tactics of kidnapping, poisoning the water,
+torturing and massacring prisoners, and so forth, differed little from
+their procedure in time of peace, being in either case based on the
+implicit negation of human rights in connection with foreigners.
+
+It may thus be seen what difficulties had to be encountered, even
+under the treaty, in guiding the intercourse between Chinese and
+foreigners into safe and peaceable channels; how much depended on the
+tact and capacity of the newly appointed consuls, and how little
+assistance they could hope for from the department which commissioned
+them. For no matter how perspicacious the Home Government might from
+time to time be, they were as much in the hands of their
+representatives after as they had been before the war. The distance
+was too great and the communication too slow for the most vigilant
+ministry to do more than issue general instructions. "The man on the
+spot" would act as his judgment or his feelings or his power prompted
+as emergencies might arise, and we have seen how even the clear
+intentions of Lord Palmerston were thwarted by the idiosyncrasies of
+some of his agents in China.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE FRUITS OF THE WAR AND PROSPECTS OF PEACE.
+
+     Pretensions of British and Chinese irreconcilable --
+     International equality inconceivable by Chinese -- British
+     aims as set forth by merchants -- The inadequacy of their
+     demands -- Clearer insight of their Government --
+     Unsteadiness of British policy -- Consistency of Chinese
+     policy -- Treaty to be observed so far as needful to
+     obviate another war -- Canton irreconcilable -- Ransoming
+     the city in 1841 the cause of much subsequent trouble
+     there.
+
+
+The pretensions of the contending parties being absolutely
+irreconcilable, no spontaneous accommodation was possible between
+them. The Chinese could never acknowledge, or even comprehend,
+equality among nations, the single relationship of victor and victim
+being the beginning and the end of their international ethics. If,
+therefore, they ever set before their minds the issue to be decided by
+a war, it must have assumed the brutal but simple oriental form, Whose
+foot is to be on the other's neck? The question, then, to be submitted
+to the ordeal of battle between Great Britain and China was, Which
+should be the uppermost; which should henceforth dictate to the other?
+In justice to the Chinese, it must be admitted that they realised more
+clearly than their adversary what the quarrel really signified. What
+disconcerted them and led to chronic misunderstanding in the sequel
+was the after-discovery that the victor was slack in claiming the
+fruits of his victory. Whether they really expected success to attend
+their arms may be an open question, for their ingrained habit of
+boasting of their prowess may have deceived even themselves. With this
+caveat the temper in which the Chinese entered on hostilities may be
+gathered from a proclamation of the High Commissioner and the viceroy
+of Canton in September 1839:--
+
+     Let it be asked [they say], though the foreign soldiers be
+     numerous, can they amount to one tenth-thousandth part of
+     ours? Though it be allowed that the foreign guns are
+     powerful and effective, can their ammunition be employed
+     for any long period and not be expended? If they venture to
+     enter the port, there will be but a moment's blaze and they
+     will be turned to cinders. If they dare to go on shore, it
+     is permitted to all the people to seize and kill them. How
+     can these foreigners then remain unawed?
+
+From the British point of view the object of the China expedition was
+set forth with conspicuous moderation by the merchants of London and
+of the great industrial centres. And here it seems not unfitting to
+remark upon the lively and intelligent interest which the commercial
+community of that period was wont to take in the affairs of China. The
+trade of Great Britain and of British India with that country had not
+reached the annual value of £12,000,000 sterling including treasure,
+yet we find in the years 1839 and 1840 a series of ably drawn
+memorials to Government bearing the signatures of all the important
+houses in the kingdom, showing the most intimate acquaintance with
+everything that was passing in China, even though they failed to
+apprehend the full signification thereof. The signatories of these
+papers pointed out without circumlocution the measures necessary to
+be taken in order to place the commercial interests of her Majesty's
+subjects on a satisfactory footing. It would appear, therefore, that
+it was from the independent merchants and manufacturers of Great
+Britain and British India that the true inspiration came to Lord
+Palmerston, who was then Foreign Minister; and not the inspiration
+only, but the courage which was needed to throw over the pusillanimous
+traditions of the Honourable East India Company, and to apply the
+maxims of common-sense to our relations with the Chinese authorities.
+
+Among the memorials addressed to, and by request of, the Foreign
+Secretary, that from the East India and China Association,
+representing the merchants of London interested in the Far East, gives
+perhaps the clearest exposition of the whole case from the commercial
+point of view. After a succinct historical _résumé_ of our successes
+and failures in China, each traced to its cause, the memorialists
+state their opinion that "submission will now only aggravate the evil,
+and that an attempt should be made, supported by a powerful force, to
+obtain such concessions from China as would place the trade upon a
+secure and permanent footing." And they conclude with an outline of
+the commercial treaty which they think would conduce to that result.
+
+     _First._ Admission not only to Canton, but to certain ports
+     to the northward--say Amoy, Fuh-cho-foo, Ningpo, and the
+     Yang-che-keang and Kwan-chou--situated between 29° and 32°
+     north latitude, near the silk, nankin, and tea districts,
+     and it is on this coast that the chief demand for British
+     woollens, longells, and camlets exists.
+
+     _Second._ Commercial relations to be maintained at these
+     places, or at Canton, generally with the Chinese natives;
+     but if the trade be limited to certain _hongs_, which we
+     must strongly deprecate, then the Government to be
+     guarantees of the solvency of such parties so chosen by it.
+
+     _Third._ That British subjects in China carrying on a
+     legitimate trade shall not be treated by the Government or
+     its officials as inferiors, but be left free in their
+     social and domestic relations to adopt European customs, to
+     possess warehouses, and to have their wives and families
+     with them, and to be under the protection of the Chinese
+     laws from insult and oppression.
+
+     _Fourth._ That a tariff of duties, inwards and outwards, be
+     fixed and agreed upon by the British and Chinese
+     Governments, and no alteration be made but by mutual
+     consent.
+
+     _Fifth._ That the Queen's representative, as superintendent
+     of the trade, be allowed direct communication with the
+     Emperor and his Ministers, as well as with the local
+     authorities; and that he be permitted to reside at Peking,
+     or at a given port, for the protection of British subjects
+     and the regulation of the trade.
+
+     _Sixth._ That in the event of any infraction of the Chinese
+     laws, the punishment for the same shall be confined to the
+     offender; and British subjects shall not be considered
+     responsible for the acts of each other, but each man for
+     his own--the innocent not being confounded with the guilty.
+
+     _Seventh._ That supposing the Chinese to refuse opening
+     their ports generally, the cession by purchase, or
+     otherwise, of an island be obtained, upon which a British
+     factory could be established.
+
+     Upon terms such as these the British trade with China
+     could, we think, be carried on with credit and advantage to
+     this country; and if force must be used to obtain them, we
+     cannot believe that the people of Great Britain and the
+     European community in general would offer any objection to
+     its exercise; at least we humbly suggest that the adoption
+     of this course is worth the trial, for if it be not
+     followed, the only alternative seems to be the abandonment
+     of this important and growing commerce to smugglers and to
+     piracy.--We have, &c.,
+
+          G. G. DE H. LARPENT.
+          JOHN ABEL SMITH.
+          W. CRAWFORD.
+
+These stipulations, and the hypothetical form in which they were
+advanced, show how imperfect, after all, was the grasp which the
+mercantile community had as yet taken of the situation. While fully
+recognising the necessity of force and urging its employment, they yet
+seem to have clung to the hope that in some way or another the
+expected treaty was to be the result of amicable negotiation. They did
+not clearly realise that as without force nothing could be obtained,
+so with force everything could be.
+
+And from what an abyss the status of British subjects had come to be
+regarded when it could be deemed a boon that they be placed under the
+protection of Chinese law--instead of being kept for ever outside the
+pale of law and of common human suffrages! Fortunately the Government,
+profiting by past experience and better versed in political science,
+held a more consistent course than that marked out for it by the
+merchants, and went far beyond them in the concessions demanded of the
+Chinese Government. Instead of trusting to Chinese law, protection for
+the persons and property of British subjects was provided for under
+the laws of Great Britain, a stipulation in the treaty which has been
+the palladium of the liberties of all nationalities in China for sixty
+years. The ambiguity which characterised the public appreciation of
+the China question, even when expressed through the most authoritative
+channel, deserves to be noted here on account of the influence it was
+destined to exercise on the future conduct of affairs; for though the
+British Government was perspicacious in the conduct of the war and in
+arranging terms of peace, yet, lacking the sustained support of a
+well-instructed public opinion, its Chinese policy was subject to
+many backslidings. During protracted intervals of inadvertence the
+pernicious influences which it was the purpose of the war to suppress
+were allowed to regain lost ground, with the result that during the
+whole sixty years our Chinese intercourse has been marred by the
+chronic recrudescence of the old hostile temper which inspired the
+outrages before the war.
+
+On the part of the Chinese Court there was undoubtedly a desire for
+such substantial fulfilment of the treaty as might obviate the risk of
+a renewal of the war. The final instruction of the Emperor Tao-kuang
+while the negotiations were proceeding was, "Be careful to make such
+arrangements as shall cut off for ever all cause of war, and do not
+leave anything incomplete or liable to doubt." And so long, at least,
+as the material guarantee of Chusan was retained by Great
+Britain--that is, until 1846--no open violation was to be apprehended.
+The Chinese war party, however--as distinguished from the more
+reasonable Manchus--were furious in their denunciations of the treaty;
+and it was the opinion of Sir John Davis that the situation was only
+saved by the financial exhaustion of the country: "the ordinary taxes
+could not be collected." There would in any circumstances have been a
+strong presumption of covert evasion being resorted to, a presumption
+which was reduced to a certainty by the indulgence extended to that
+ancient focus of mischief, Canton. By one of those aberrations of
+judgment which it is scarcely unfair to call characteristic, Captain
+Elliot desired to save Canton, of all places in the Chinese empire,
+from the pressure of war, and in 1841, in the midst of hostilities on
+the coast, he accepted ransom for the city, a transaction so
+inexplicable that her Majesty's Treasury, at a loss what to do with
+the money, after much explanatory correspondence declared itself
+unable to appropriate the fund in the manner intended by her Majesty's
+representative. The arrogance of the Cantonese had been so
+immeasurably puffed up by this misguided clemency that the peace left
+the populace of the city and district absolutely convinced of their
+invincibility. As the eradication of this dangerous delusion was among
+the primary purposes of the war, so the pandering to the pride of
+Canton proved, as was inevitable, the malignant root of all subsequent
+bitterness.[12]
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[12] It is impossible to review, however summarily, the events of that
+period without free reference to the officer who was during the time
+charged with the care of British interests in China. But no pretence
+is made in these pages to pass a verdict on the public record of
+Captain Elliot. His acts involved too many solecisms in finance, for
+one thing, to have escaped the attention of Parliament; but, like
+others who come before that tribunal, he was neither attacked on his
+merits nor defended on his merits. None could question the sincerity
+of the encomiums passed by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Melbourne
+on his "courage, coolness, and self-devotion"; to which might well be
+added a quite exceptional fearlessness of responsibility. But the
+first representatives of the British Crown in China were doomed to
+failure by the nature of their commission. The terms of their
+instructions were more than contradictory--they were mutually
+destructive. To conciliate the Chinese while opening official
+relations with them was to mix the ingredients of an explosive. A
+dilemma was, in fact, presented unwittingly by the British Government
+to their agents. Lord Napier impaled himself on one horn--that of
+claiming a diplomatic status; Captain Elliot on the other--that of
+gaining over the Government by conciliation; and no earthly skill
+could have saved either of them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE NEW INTERCOURSE: CANTON, 1842-1847.
+
+     The fundamental difficulty of giving effect to the treaty
+     -- Necessity for thoroughness -- Character of Kiying,
+     Imperial Commissioner -- His amicable relations with
+     British Superintendent of Trade -- Turbulence of Canton --
+     Outrages on British merchants -- Condoned by Chinese
+     Government, if not encouraged both by imperial and
+     provincial authorities -- Sir John Davis's testimony -- His
+     passive treatment -- False policy of allowing Chinese
+     Government to screen itself behind the mob -- Postponement
+     of entry into city -- Climax in affair -- Evacuation of
+     Chusan -- Increase of insults at Canton -- Sir John Davis
+     palliates and then asks for redress -- Sudden reaction in
+     his policy consequent on Lord Palmerston's becoming Foreign
+     Secretary -- His clear despatches -- Sir John Davis makes a
+     raid on the river defences -- Has the city at his mercy --
+     But makes an unsatisfactory agreement -- Withdraws
+     protection in spite of remonstrance of merchants --
+     Massacre of six Englishmen in 1847 -- Redress -- Whole
+     question of British protection brought up -- Canton consul
+     objects to ship of war at factories -- Palmerston orders
+     one to be there -- Agreement to defer entry into city till
+     1849 -- People intoxicated with their success -- The
+     potency of the people -- Its limitations -- Interesting
+     correspondence -- Final agreement dictated by people and
+     signed by Sir John Davis and Kiying.
+
+
+To carry out a treaty which was odious to Chinese officials in
+general, most of all to the bureaucracy and populace of the main
+centre of intercourse, Canton, required an effort analogous to that of
+maintaining a body of water at an artificial level--success in either
+case depending on completeness. It is easier to keep the reservoir
+intact than to compromise with leakages, as in certain conditions of
+the human will total abstinence is less irksome than moderation. To
+carry out the treaty, the whole treaty, and nothing but the treaty,
+would seem, therefore, to have been the obvious course for British
+agents to follow, a course suited equally to strong and to weak
+characters. This was, no doubt, understood by some, though not by all,
+of the British staff,--fifty years ago, as in our own day; but in the
+distribution of the _personnel_ it fell out that the fundamental
+condition of success was least realised just where it was most
+imperatively needed--to wit, at that intermittent volcano, Canton. For
+even the close proximity of the chief superintendent--only 120 miles
+distant--at Hongkong was insufficient to keep the cistern of our
+Canton relations water-tight. Sir John Davis, on the whole a competent
+official, shared to some extent in the common human imperfection of
+knowing what was right without always doing, or being able to do, it.
+He is indeed himself the most candid witness to the breakdown of the
+patchwork policy which he permitted to grow up in Canton, perhaps
+because he could not do otherwise.
+
+The first British plenipotentiaries under treaty were exceptionally
+fortunate in their Chinese colleague, the High Commissioner, Kiying.
+He being a near kinsman of the emperor, and, with Ilipu, the principal
+instrument in promoting the conclusion of peace, his appointment must
+have been considered the best recognition the Court could accord of
+the validity of the treaty. "Kiying," says Sir J. Davis, "was by far
+the most remarkable person with whom Europeans have ever come in
+contact in that part of the world; the most elevated in rank as well
+as the most estimable in character." Intercourse with Kiying,
+therefore, was pleasant, and conducive to self-respect.
+
+Both officials were unfortunate in having to reckon with an
+intractable peace-disturbing element in their mutual relations. This
+is the name which, for want of a more exact designation, must be given
+to the people of Canton, "who, through every event since 1839,
+remained incorrigible in the real hatred and affected contempt for
+foreigners."
+
+It has always been, and still is, the practice of the Chinese
+authorities to make use of the populace in their aggressions on
+strangers. There is at all times in China, as in most countries, an
+inexhaustible fund of anti-foreign sentiment ready to be drawn upon by
+agitators, whether within the Government circle or not, and subject
+also to spontaneous explosion. By working on these latent passions,
+and inflaming the popular mind by the dissemination of odious
+calumnies, Government could at any moment foment an anti-foreign raid.
+It was a political engine in the use of which Chinese officialdom had
+become thoroughly expert. It was tempting by its cheapness, and it
+had, moreover, the special fascination for them that in the event of
+being called to account for outrage they could disavow the excesses of
+the "poor ignorant people." Such a force, however, is not without its
+drawbacks to those who employ it. Like a fire, which is easy to kindle
+but hard to control, the popular excitement was apt to extend beyond
+the limits assigned by its instigators, and many an engineer has thus
+been hoist by his own petard. "Otho had not sufficient authority to
+prevent crime, though he could command it," says Tacitus; and the
+observation fits the case of successive generations of Chinese rulers
+as if it had been written for each one of them separately.
+
+The rowdy population of Canton enjoyed special immunity from official
+control. Not only had they been habitually pampered for two hundred
+years, and diligently taught to tyrannise over and despise foreigners,
+but during the war they were allowed to organise themselves
+independently of the authorities, and to claim the honour of driving
+the invaders off on the occasion when the city was admitted to ransom.
+On the mendacious reports of these transactions reaching him, the
+emperor not only bestowed rewards on the leaders but encouraged the
+populace to further hostile measures against the foreigners. The
+liberal distribution of arms during the war proved afterwards a
+powerful incentive to crimes of violence, of which outrages on
+foreigners were but one development.
+
+The self-organised, self-trained bands of Canton were by no means
+disposed to submit tamely to the new order of things, in the
+settlement of which they had had no voice. They had bettered their
+official instruction in the storing up and practising of hatred and
+contempt for foreigners, and they did not choose suddenly to recant
+merely because their Government had been coerced into making a treaty
+in a distant province. Consequently, within three short months of its
+signature notices were placarded inciting the people to violence; very
+soon an organised attack on the British factories was made, and the
+buildings were burned down.
+
+So far from attempting to repress such outrages, the governor of
+Canton, "while the ruins were still smoking," reported to the throne
+that the people "in their natural indignation had committed some
+excesses against the grasping barbarians," and a very gracious answer
+was vouchsafed to an offer of the people of certain outlying villages
+to join the armed bands of the city. The Imperial Government as well
+as the provincial government was thus identified with the popular
+hostility to foreigners, and opposition to the fulfilment of the
+treaty. "The excesses of the Canton mob," writes Sir John Davis, "were
+perpetually and annually resumed, up to the public decapitation of the
+four murderers of the Englishmen in 1847, with the subsequent
+punishment of eleven more."
+
+But this is surely remarkable testimony from the Minister of Great
+Britain who was charged with the protection of his nationals[13] from
+wrong? With British garrisons in occupation of Kulangsu and Chusan, a
+military and naval force in Hongkong, and a Chinese commissioner
+professedly willing to afford protection and redress to foreigners,
+the acquiescence of the British authorities in these recurrent
+outrages seems to stand in need of explanation. The native
+authorities, it was clear, would not, even if they dared, coerce the
+Canton populace. Kiying himself, though meaning to be just, and ready
+to enforce redress against individual culprits, recoiled before the
+mob. So it would appear did the British representative, who, though
+vigilant in requiring compliance with the treaty in minor respects,
+seemed to be paralysed whenever the Cantonese were in question. He
+had been too long accustomed to their practices not to be aware of the
+cumulative quality of these outrages, and he was too practical a
+philosopher not to know the wisdom of arresting the virulent stream at
+its fountain-head. Yet "the miserable policy of the Chinese Government
+... had permitted the populace of Canton ... to reach the
+culminating-point of organised misrule in 1846," British merchants
+being the sufferers. Why was nothing done to protect them at least
+from the consequences of this misrule?
+
+The intricacies of the relation between the criminal rabble of Canton
+and the authorities there it would be hopeless to unravel, just as it
+would be vain to make such an attempt with regard to analogous cases
+which are to this day of constant recurrence. But no special
+penetration is needed to discover the falsity of a policy of allowing
+an organised government to plead its inability to control its own
+populace. Once admit such a plea and the security of the stranger is
+gone, for he has relinquished his hold on the Government without being
+compensated by any alternative security. Such was the state of things
+which had been allowed to grow up in Canton, producing the only fruit
+possible--outrage, ever increasing in violence and ending in massacre.
+
+The postponement of the right of entry into the city conferred by
+treaty was a test case which gave the Chinese the clue to the weakness
+of British policy. The consequences would have been less pernicious
+had the right been frankly surrendered from the first, for to have it
+merely deferred from time to time on the avowed ground of the populace
+not being ready to acquiesce in it was to flatter the mob beyond
+measure while feeding their passion for violence. It was in this
+manner that the British Government had "given itself away" to the
+lawless rowdies of Canton.
+
+The "climax" referred to by Sir John Davis occurred at an interesting
+juncture of time, for it was in 1846 that the last British soldier
+quitted Chinese soil, and Sir John Davis testifies that the
+restoration of Chusan had produced a change for the worse in the tone
+of the Chinese authorities. Kiying himself forgot his urbanity and
+acted "with a degree of _brusquerie_, not to say insolence, never
+before exhibited by him."
+
+A riotous attack on the foreign factories broke out in July 1846, in
+which the merchants were compelled in a body to defend themselves
+against an immense number of assailants. For this outbreak Sir John
+Davis blamed one of the English merchants, and got him irregularly
+fined by the consul. A murderous assault was committed on two British
+seamen in the city of Canton in October following. In the ordinary
+routine he reported the occurrence to the Foreign Office in a despatch
+of seven lines. "Two English merchant seamen," he said, "having
+strayed into the town, had been violently ill-used by the populace";
+adding that he "considered it to be the duty of the consul to prevent
+seamen wandering through Canton." He at the same time instructed the
+consul to find some means of punishing the master of the ship for
+allowing his men liberty, and proposed placing greater power in the
+hands of the consul for the restraint of British subjects generally.
+Above this level the plenipotentiary seemed unable to rise.
+
+In March 1847 an English party of six, including Colonel Chesney,
+commanding the Royal Artillery in Hongkong, narrowly escaped murder at
+the hands of a riotous mob during an excursion up the Canton river.
+They strayed much farther than the two sailors had done, and if they
+did not fare worse it was due to the almost miraculous interposition
+of a Chinese officer with his followers, he himself being roughly
+handled by the mob. It would not do to apply to Colonel Chesney's case
+the homoeopathic treatment which was thought appropriate to the
+others, and Sir John Davis made a formal demand on the Chinese
+authorities for the punishment of the aggressors. The cup of Chinese
+iniquity was deemed full, and the avenger was at last let loose.
+
+Whence, it is pertinent to ask, came this sudden access of vigour in
+the British representative?
+
+The juncture of time above referred to was interesting from another
+point of view, for coincidently with the evacuation of Chusan and the
+renewed arrogance of the Chinese, a political event took place in the
+western hemisphere which had an important bearing on the whole
+attitude of Great Britain. There was a change of Government,
+Palmerston succeeding Aberdeen at the Foreign Office. The influence of
+Lord Palmerston on Chinese affairs during his long public career was
+so remarkable, that the ebb and flow of British prestige may be traced
+as closely by his periods of office as the course of the oceanic tide
+by the phases of the moon. Let any patriotic Englishman ransack the
+records of the sixty odd years of that statesman's full activity, and
+he will find no despatch or speech on the subject of China, even down
+to our own day, that will afford him such genuine satisfaction as
+those emanating from Lord Palmerston. They are so much the embodiment
+of common-sense that they might sometimes be considered commonplace;
+practical, true, clear as a bugle-note. He had been barely six months
+in office when one of his terse despatches to Sir John Davis turned
+that cautious official for the time being into a hero. The
+astonishment of Sir John may be imagined when, in reply to his placid
+report of the outrage on the two seamen, he received a curt
+communication from the Foreign Office in which his attention was
+directed to the punishment, not of the victims, but of the
+perpetrators, of the outrage.
+
+     I have [wrote Lord Palmerston, January 12, 1847] to
+     instruct you to demand the punishment of the parties guilty
+     of this outrage; and you will, moreover, inform the Chinese
+     authorities in plain and distinct terms that the British
+     Government will not tolerate that a Chinese mob shall with
+     impunity maltreat British subjects in China whenever they
+     get them into their power; and that if the Chinese
+     authorities will not by the exercise of their own power
+     punish and prevent such outrages, the British Government
+     will be obliged to take the matter into their own hands.
+
+Sir John Davis was the more ready to respond to this stirring appeal
+that it reached him just as he had entered on a correspondence with
+the Chinese respecting the attack on Colonel Chesney's party. The turn
+of the tide was marked with unusual distinctness in a single sentence
+of the plenipotentiary's despatch dated March 27, 1847. "The records
+of the Foreign Office," wrote Sir John, "will convince your lordship
+that during the last three years I have been rigidly tied down by my
+instructions to the most forbearing policy.... The time has, in my
+opinion, certainly arrived when decision becomes necessary and
+further forbearance impolitic." The inspiration of these instructions
+may be inferred from a speech of Lord Stanley's in 1845, in which he
+said, speaking of China, "I believe, so far as our later experience
+has gone, that there is no nation which more highly values public
+faith in others; and up to the present moment I am bound to say there
+never was a government or a nation which more strictly and
+conscientiously adhered to the literal fulfilment of the engagements
+into which it had entered." This from a Minister of the Crown, after
+three years of continuous outrages in Canton and of refusal to fulfil
+a specific article in the treaty, reflects either on the
+superintendent of trade in China as having withheld information from
+the Government, or on the Government itself in arriving at conclusions
+diametrically opposed to the tenor of their agent's despatches. If it
+be any justification of the Government theory to say so, the
+sentiments expressed by Lord Stanley were echoed by the newspapers of
+the day. "The Chinese," said one of them, "have acted with exemplary
+good faith, nor is there the least probability of their failing in
+future to do so."
+
+Under the new afflatus, and backed handsomely by the naval and
+military commanders, Sir John Davis proceeded to prick the bubble of
+mob lawlessness and to reduce the Anglo-Chinese relations to working
+order. This he did by a sudden raid on the Canton river defences,
+without apparently any diplomatic preliminaries. By a brilliant feat
+of arms General D'Aguilar with a detachment from the Hongkong
+garrison, conveyed by three small steamers of the China squadron,
+swept the defences of the Canton river, blew up the magazines, spiked
+827 pieces of heavy cannon, and placed the city of Canton "entirely at
+our mercy, ... all without the loss of one British life." Under the
+intoxication of such a triumph the plenipotentiary might be pardoned
+the illusion that the Canton troubles were now at an end. "The Chinese
+yielded in five minutes what had been delayed as many months." And yet
+it proved to be a fool's paradise after all in which he found shelter,
+for the old fatality of half-measures that has marred so many British
+victories overshadowed Sir John Davis's first essay in diplomacy. The
+agreement in seven articles concluded with Kiying on April 6, 1847,
+contained such blemishes as the British negotiator could perceive
+clearly enough when the work of other officials was in question.
+Having laid down broadly that the good faith of the Chinese Government
+bore a direct relation to the hostages they had given, yet the
+plenipotentiary, when he came to business on his own account,
+abandoned the securities which were actually in his hands, and, either
+from misgivings of some sort, or under the impulse of a sudden
+reconversion, he threw himself unreservedly on the good faith of the
+Chinese without any guarantee whatever.
+
+With regard to the protection to be afforded to the merchants and the
+prevention of attacks upon them, Lord Palmerston wrote in December
+1846: "Wherever British subjects are placed in danger, in a situation
+which is accessible to a British ship of war, thither a British ship
+of war ought to be, and will be ordered, not only to go but to remain
+as long as its presence may be required. I see no reason for
+cancelling the instructions given to you for the constant presence of
+a ship of war within reach of the factories at Canton." This promise
+of Lord Palmerston's was the sheet-anchor of the merchants' security.
+The question of having a ship of war close to the factories divided
+the mercantile from the local official view, and as the Home
+Government had so clearly adopted the former, the merchants took
+courage to stand up for what they deemed their rights. Learning that
+Sir John Davis, in the plenitude of his military success, had resolved
+to withdraw all her Majesty's forces from Canton, they ventured to
+make a strong remonstrance against such a step. Sir John, however,
+while consenting to the retention of a portion of the force, never
+allowed himself to be convinced of the need of any such measure.
+Writing to his Government in August 1847, he declared that "the Canton
+factories were never less in need of the presence of such a vessel
+than at present,"--an opinion frequently reiterated until November 20,
+when "for the first time since the peace it may be confidently
+predicated that a steamer will not be required." This was within
+sixteen days of the most cruel and revolting massacre of six young
+Englishmen at Hwang-chu-ke, within three miles of the city. The
+absence of a ship of war at that moment was deeply deplored, because
+several of the victims were kept alive long enough to have been
+rescued had there been any British force at hand.
+
+This massacre naturally produced a profound impression on the Canton
+community, who felt that their warnings and petitions had been cruelly
+disregarded. The resident British merchants, in a memorial to Lord
+Palmerston, quoted his lordship's own instruction as to the
+stationing of a British ship of war at Canton, and said "it was with
+the utmost surprise and regret they beheld that officer [Sir J. Davis]
+shutting his eyes to the danger that menaced us, ... and withholding
+the protection he had been directed to afford." "The heavy calamity
+which has befallen us," they add, "is the result of this infatuation."
+
+So much for the protection of life and property resulting from the
+armed expedition of 1847. The value of the new agreement, purely local
+in its bearing, which was the result of the successful invasion, was
+esteemed but lightly by the merchants. In their memorial, written in
+the month of August, they said: "If it is not deemed expedient to
+carry out a general measure in the manner contemplated by the 4th
+article of the new agreement, it would be much better that the
+merchants be again left to themselves"; while respecting the military
+raid and its consequences, they represented that "the just alarm
+occasioned by the expedition four months ago, and the excitement kept
+up by these fruitless negotiations, have done incalculable injury to
+the trade without bettering the position of foreigners in the least."
+
+Such diverse views of policy held by the principal parties concerned
+are typical of the relations which have subsisted between the
+protectors and the protected throughout a great part of the period
+which has elapsed since the British Government established relations
+with China in 1834.
+
+These occurrences at Canton and the decided action taken by the
+British Government brought up in a definite form the whole question of
+the safety of British interests in China, and the means by which it
+was to be secured. The conversion of Sir John Davis, though much, was
+not everything. The aim of Lord Palmerston's policy was still liable
+to be deflected by the perturbing influence of a minor planet in the
+system. The consul in Canton gave him almost as much trouble in his
+day as the famous Tiverton butcher did afterwards in his; and the
+patience with which his lordship endeavoured to enlighten his agent on
+the most elementary principles of human action was admirable. It had
+been the practice of the consul "to report to your Excellency another
+wanton and unprovoked attack on the part of the populace upon a party
+of Englishmen," and at the same time to deprecate any measures of
+defence, whether by organising volunteers among the residents or
+having a British ship of war stationed where she could be seen.
+
+The consul's object in all this was to avoid exciting suspicion in the
+minds of the Chinese populace. Sir John Davis, who had all along
+agreed with the consul, had now to tell his subordinate that "Viscount
+Palmerston was of opinion that we shall lose all advantages which we
+have gained by the war if we take the low tone which has been adopted
+at Canton."
+
+     We must stop [continued his lordship] on the very threshold
+     any attempt on their part to treat us otherwise than as
+     their equals.... The Chinese must learn and be convinced
+     that if they attack our people and our factories they will
+     be shot.... So far from objecting (as the Consul had done)
+     to the armed association, I think it a wise security
+     against the necessity of using force.... Depend upon it
+     that the best way of keeping any men quiet is to let them
+     see that you are able and determined to repel force by
+     force, and the Chinese are not in the least different in
+     this respect from the rest of mankind.
+
+In the light of the history of the subsequent fifty years, one is
+tempted to say that Lord Palmerston's dictum puts the eternal China
+question in a nutshell.
+
+But when we reflect on the consequences of a man "of great experience"
+needing such lectures and yet left for years undisturbed at a centre
+of turbulence like Canton, can we greatly wonder at the periodical
+harvest of atrocities which followed?
+
+The one important article in the April agreement was that suspending
+for a definite period of two years the operation of the article of the
+treaty of Nanking conferring the right of entering the city of Canton
+and the other ports of trade. Sir John Davis demanded either
+permission to "return your Excellency's visit in the city, or that a
+time be specifically named after which there shall be general free
+ingress for British subjects." To which Kiying replied, "The intention
+of entering the city to return my visit is excellent. The feelings of
+the people, however, are not yet reconciled to it." And Kiying easily
+had his way. Sir John thereupon explicitly sanctioned a definite delay
+of two years in the exercise of this treaty right, representing the
+privilege in his report to Lord Palmerston as of little importance.
+
+Such, however, was not the view either of the Chinese or the British
+community of Canton. The throwing open of the city was by the latter
+considered the essential object of the recent expedition, and in their
+memorial to Lord Palmerston the merchants stated that the Braves
+having declared their determination to oppose the English at all
+costs, the withdrawal of our troops _re infectâ_ "intoxicated all
+ranks of the people with an imaginary triumph." Exclusion from the
+city thus remained as a trophy in the hands of the reactionaries, to
+become in 1856 the crux of a new dispute and a new war.
+
+It was no imaginary, but a very real, triumph for "the people"; and
+even looking back on the transaction with the advantage of fifty
+years' experience, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it was
+an inversion of judgment to have a city entirely at your mercy and
+then yield to the city instead of making the city yield to you. The
+least that could have been expected was, that while the troops were on
+the spot they should have vindicated the treaty of Nanking once for
+all by opening the city gates and thus eliminating the most pregnant
+source of future strife.
+
+On one point Sir John Davis was in agreement with the
+memorialists--namely, in "tracing back the conduct of the Canton
+populace to the operations of 1841, on which occasion they were spared
+by our forces at the rear of the city." But the merchants were
+pointing out to Lord Palmerston that Sir John Davis was himself
+implicitly following that very precedent.
+
+The China career of Sir John Davis was destined to a tragic finale,
+for in the midst of a series of decidedly optimistic despatches he was
+startled by the news of the Hwang-chu-ke murders. Expiation was as
+prompt as could have been reasonably expected, the High Commissioner
+not daring to afford provocation for a further punitive expedition
+which might not have ended quite so easily as that of the previous
+April.
+
+The Canton imbroglio of 1847 threw into strong relief the potency of
+the Chinese demos and its relation to the Central Government. The
+pretensions of the populace and the stress of events drove the
+Imperial Government into a corner and forced it to show its hand,
+with the result that the occult combination which had been the despair
+of British officials for fourteen years was resolved into its
+elements, and for a time made amenable to treatment. It was
+demonstrated by this experiment that though the Imperial Government
+dared not, except in extremity, oppose any popular movement, yet when
+necessity required the authorities assumed an easy mastery. Sir John
+Davis wrote in one of his latest despatches, "Kiying had clearly
+proved his power over the people when he chooses to exercise it."
+Coerced themselves, the authorities applied corresponding coercion to
+the people, even at the behest of foreigners, "truckling" to whom was
+equally disgraceful to both the Chinese parties. The interaction of
+the two Powers exemplified in a memorable way the principle of all
+Chinese intercourse, that boldness begets timidity and gentleness
+arrogance. When the people asserted themselves the authorities yielded
+and fell into line with them, and when the authorities asserted
+themselves the people succumbed. Such were the lessons of the Canton
+operations of 1847, lessons since forgotten and relearned again and
+again at ever-increasing cost.
+
+But the relations between the Government and the people bore also a
+quasi-diplomatic character. They dealt with each other as if they were
+two Estates of the realm having parallel or concurrent jurisdiction.
+The most remarkable phase, however, of the popular pretensions which
+was evolved under the unaccustomed pressure of the British Minister
+was the attempt of the populace to diplomatise direct with him. So
+curious an incident may still be studied with profit. The new
+departure of the people was the more startling in that they had been
+hitherto known only as a ferocious and lawless mob addicted to
+outrage, whose hatred of foreigners gained in bitterness by a long
+immunity from reprisals. Now that they had felt the "mailed fist" of a
+man of fact, and were almost in the act of delivering up their own
+heroes for execution, they sought to parley with the Power they had
+despised.
+
+The elders of the murderous villages, in the midst of his stern
+demands, sent a memorial to Sir John Davis full of amity and goodwill.
+"Come and let us reason together" was the burden of this novel
+address. The elders proposed a convention for the suppression of
+outrages, somewhat on the lines of the Kilmainham Treaty, to supersede
+the law of the land. "The former treaty drawn up in Kiangnan was not
+well understood by the common people"; in other words, it was wanting
+in validity, for "the resolutions of Government are in nowise to be
+compared to those self-imposed by the people.... Were not this
+preferable to the fruitless proclamations and manifestos of
+government?" "It has, therefore," they say, "been resolved to invite
+the upright and influential gentry and literati of the whole city to
+meet together, and, in concert with the wealthy and important
+merchants of your honourable nation, establish a compact of peace."
+
+Though he could not receive such a communication officially, Sir John
+Davis forwarded a copy to the Foreign Office, to whom he imparted his
+belief that the author was no other than Kiying himself--a surmise
+which was soon confirmed. The paper was extensively circulated; its
+arguments and phraseology were adopted by Kiying in his official
+correspondence with Sir John Davis. "The compact of peace" which
+closed their negotiations amounted to no more, indeed, than police
+protection for foreigners in their country walks, which, however, was
+counterbalanced by a new restriction excluding them from the villages
+as they had already been from the city. The interesting point is that,
+such as it was, it was the proposal of the people ratified by the two
+plenipotentiaries.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From this hurried sketch of affairs at Canton during the first five
+years of the new intercourse we see that the secular policy of China
+had undergone no change as a result of the treaty. The settled
+determination of the Government to exclude foreigners from the country
+and keep them in strict subjection at the farthest maritime outpost of
+the empire had been overcome by violence; but the Chinese never
+abandoned the hope of retrieving their position in whole or in part,
+nor did they forego any opportunity of avenging their military defeat.
+A frontal attack being out of the question, the invader could be
+perpetually worried by guerilla tactics, his sentries caught napping,
+his chiefs bamboozled: what had been lost through force might thus be
+won back by force and fraud judiciously blended, for craft is the
+natural resource of the weak. The conditions of the contest have
+varied with the international developments of fifty years, but time
+has worked no change in the nature of the struggle East _v._ West.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[13] This convenient term, borrowed from the French, saves many
+periphrases and sometimes an ambiguity. Neither "fellow-countrymen,"
+"fellow-subjects," nor "fellow-citizens" fully expresses the
+relationship between an official in an extra-territorialised country
+and those whom he protects and governs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE NEW TREATY PORTS--FOOCHOW, AMOY, NINGPO.
+
+     Visit of Chinese commissioners to Hongkong -- A
+     supplementary treaty negotiated -- Chinese thereby obtain
+     control of junk trade of colony -- Vain efforts to recover
+     the lost ground -- New ports criticised -- Amoy -- Alcock's
+     temporary residence there, 1844 -- Interpreter Parkes --
+     Foochow -- Bad beginning -- Insolence of mandarin and mob
+     -- Lost ground recovered during Alcock's consulate -- His
+     family arrive -- Little trade -- Difficulties of diverting
+     the Bohea trade from old routes -- Alcock's commercial
+     reports -- Their grasp of salient points in a fresh range
+     of subjects.
+
+
+It accorded with the fitness of things that the negotiator of the
+treaty should remain to carry out its provisions. Sir Henry Pottinger
+was appointed the first Governor of Hongkong, Chief Superintendent of
+Trade, and Minister Plenipotentiary for Great Britain; Kiying and two
+associates Imperial Commissioners for China. Intercourse between them
+was of the most agreeable character. Though the wound to the pride of
+China was deep and still fresh, the Imperial Commissioners' acceptance
+of the new state of things exceeded what the most stoical philosophy
+could call for. They came in person, on invitation, to the alienated
+island, there to exchange the ratifications of the Nanking treaty;
+entered heartily into the life of the community, showed great interest
+in their nascent institutions, and "returned to Canton charmed with
+English civilisation." China then was really converted, and Kiying the
+patron saint of the young colony! That adroit Manchu, however, had a
+purpose to serve by his effusive _bonhomie_: it was nothing less than
+to undermine the treaty of Nanking.
+
+So long as Sir Henry Pottinger was negotiating under the guns of her
+Majesty's ships he was master of the situation, but when pitted
+against the Chinese in the open field the position was reversed, for
+they had definite aims and knew how to gain them. Arrangements were
+found necessary for the conduct of trade at the five consular ports;
+the relations between the colony of Hongkong and the empire of China,
+as regards criminals, debtors, &c., required definition; and, more
+important still, the native shipping frequenting its harbour had to be
+regulated. The negotiations required for these purposes afforded
+Kiying a favourable opportunity for giving effect to the reactionary
+policy of the Chinese Government. The supplementary treaty was
+negotiated at the Bogue between Sir Henry Pottinger and Kiying in
+October 1843. The Chinese version seems to have been signed by the
+British agent without his having before him a textual English
+translation: by its provisions the Chinese authorities engaged to
+protect the junk traffic in colonial waters. Sir Henry Pottinger did
+not realise the kind of weapon he had thus placed in the hands of his
+friends until its damaging effects were demonstrated by experience.
+Then what had been lost by diplomacy was sought to be partially
+regained by persuasion. To this end strenuous efforts were made by
+successive governors of Hongkong to induce Kiying to forego some of
+the powers which had been inadvertently conferred on him, as their
+exercise was proving ruinous to the trade of the island. But as this
+result was precisely what had been intended by the Chinese, nothing
+short of another war would have moved them to yield a single point.
+
+His hesitation to exercise the right of entry into the city of Canton
+conferred by the treaty of Nanking, while allowing the Chinese the
+full advantage of the concessions gained by them under the
+supplementary treaty, must likewise be held as a blemish on the policy
+of Sir Henry Pottinger. The best palliation of these errors of the
+first treaty-maker is perhaps to be found in the fact that his
+successors, with many years of actual experience to guide them, have
+fallen into the same errors of both omission and commission.
+
+In other respects Sir Henry Pottinger's arrangements for giving effect
+to the treaty seem to have been as practical as the untried
+circumstances would allow.
+
+  [Illustration: THE LAKES, NINGPO.]
+
+The opening of the new ports, with the exception of Shanghai, was
+unfavourably commented upon by a section of the English press, not
+perhaps unwilling to score a point against the "Tory Government, which
+was alone answerable for the treaty of Nanking." They denounced the
+opening of so many ports on the ground that it would only multiply
+points of collision with the Chinese. Three years later the 'Times'
+pronounced "Amoy, Foochow, and Ningpo as good for nothing as places of
+trade," while Hongkong itself was equally despised as a commercial
+colony. Some of the journals resuscitated the idea which had been
+freely discussed during the years preceding the war, and advocated the
+acquisition in sovereignty of islands as emporia instead of ports on
+the mainland, and it is worthy of remark that the same idea was again
+revived by Mr Cobden twenty years later. "Get two other small
+islands," he said in 1864; "merely establish them as free ports" on
+the model of Hongkong. And this with a view to superseding the treaty
+ports on the coast, where trade had been established for twenty years.
+
+Three of the new ports--Shanghai, Ningpo, and Amoy--were opened under
+Sir Henry Pottinger's auspices in 1843; Foochow in 1844. These places,
+distributed at approximately equal intervals along the coast-line of
+1000 miles between Shanghai and Canton, were not chosen at random.
+They had all been at one time or another entrepots of foreign commerce
+with either Europe, Southern Asia, or Japan. Foochow had been many
+years before strongly recommended by one of the East India Company's
+tea-tasters as most desirable for the shipment of tea. An expedition
+equipped by the Company under Mr Hamilton Lindsay, who, like the other
+servants of the Company, was versed in the Chinese language, visited
+the northern coast in the chartered ship Amherst in 1832, and gained
+the first authentic information concerning the commercial capabilities
+of Shanghai. Mr Gutzlaff, who acted as secretary and coadjutor to Mr
+Lindsay's mission, made several adventurous voyages, including one in
+Chinese disguise, in a native junk, to Tientsin. Though the coast had
+not yet been surveyed, and navigation was in consequence somewhat
+dangerous, a good deal of fairly accurate information, some of it
+already obsolete, was by these means placed at the disposal of those
+who made the selection of the treaty ports. Ningpo was noted for its
+literary culture, for the respectability and intelligence of its
+inhabitants, and their friendly disposition towards foreigners. But
+although it was the entrepot of a flourishing coasting trade, the
+shallowness of its river, the want of anchorage at its embouchure, and
+its vicinity to Shanghai, combined to preclude the growth of foreign
+commerce at the port of Ningpo.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  [Illustration: THE FIRST CONSULAR RESIDENCE AT FOOCHOW.]
+
+It was to Foochow that Mr Alcock was appointed in 1844, by Mr Davis
+(as he then was), who had recently succeeded Sir Henry Pottinger. The
+new consul, however, made his actual _début_ at Amoy, where he was
+detained for four months, from November 1844 to March 1845, acting for
+the titular consul at that port. There he at once displayed that
+energy and clear-sightedness which were to become so conspicuous in
+his subsequent career. Two important matters had to be arranged within
+the period named--the evacuation of the island of Kulangsu by the
+British garrison and the future residence of the consul. Trifling as
+this last may seem, it was a matter of no small consideration in
+China, where, to paraphrase Polonius, the dwelling oft proclaims the
+man. It was one of the innumerable devices of the Chinese authorities
+for degrading new-comers in the eyes of the populace to force them to
+live, as at Canton, within a confined space or in squalid tenements.
+Mr Alcock knew by instinct the importance of prestige, while his
+Peninsular training had taught him the value of sanitation.
+Following these two guiding stars, he overbore the obstruction of the
+officials, and not only obtained a commodious site but had a house
+built to his own specification during his temporary incumbency of the
+office. That, and his general bearing towards the authorities, stamped
+on the Amoy consulate the impress of dignity which has never been
+wholly effaced. He was most fortunate, it must be allowed, in his
+instruments, chiefly in the interpreter whom he found at Amoy, a man,
+or rather a boy--for he was only sixteen--entirely after his own
+heart. That was Harry Parkes, one of the bravest and best of our
+empire-builders. It is indeed to the journals and letters of Sir Harry
+Parkes, edited by Mr Stanley Lane-Poole, and to notes supplied for
+that biography by Sir Rutherford Alcock himself in 1893, that we are
+chiefly indebted for the record of their joint proceedings at Amoy,
+Foochow, and to some extent also Shanghai, from 1844 to 1848. The
+consul made a favourable first impression on the young interpreter,
+who described him in a family letter as "tall but slimly made,
+standing about six feet in his boots; ... very gentlemanly in his
+manners and address, and exceedingly polite." It was not, however,
+till he reached his proper post, Foochow, that the mettle of the new
+consul and interpreter was seriously tested.
+
+Foochow was of superior rank to the other two ports, being, like Canton,
+at once a provincial capital and the seat of a governor-general or
+viceroy of two provinces--namely, Fukien and Chêkiang--and possessing
+a Manchu garrison. The Chinese Government was believed to have been
+most reluctant to open Foochow as a trading port at all, which seemed
+reason enough for the British negotiators insisting on its being
+opened. Its trade was small, which perhaps rendered the port the more
+suitable for the experimental purpose of testing the principles which
+were to govern the new intercourse.
+
+As the leading occurrences there have been set forth at some length by
+Mr Stanley Lane-Poole in the above-mentioned work, there is the less
+reason for us to linger over details. We find that on arrival at the
+end of March 1845 Mr Alcock discovered that he had not to maintain,
+but to regain, the prestige which had already been lost at Foochow.
+Canton was, in fact, repeating itself both as regards the arrogance of
+the Chinese and the acquiescence of British officials. Exclusion from
+the city and various other indignities had been imposed on the consul,
+who, on his part, had followed the course which had proved so fatal at
+Canton of currying favour by submission. Living in a shed,[14] where
+Mr Davis on a flying visit was ashamed to receive return calls from
+the native authorities, keeping up no great state, afraid even to
+hoist his consular flag for fear of hurting the feelings of the
+Chinese, the consul soon brought upon himself and his nationals the
+inevitable consequences of his humility. Mob violence and outrages,
+encouraged at first by the authorities in order to cow the foreigners,
+had attained dimensions which at last alarmed the authorities
+themselves, all within two years of the opening of the port. Mr Alcock
+set himself sternly to oppose this downward current, but a year
+elapsed before the violence of the people and the studied rudeness of
+the officials were finally stamped out. For, curiously enough, as Mr
+Lane-Poole has so well pointed out, every outrage in Canton found its
+echo at Foochow, showing clearly where lay the "centre of
+disturbance," as our meteorologists express it.
+
+In the end, however, the ascendancy of the British authority was
+completely achieved. The consul and the interpreter between them
+succeeded in getting proud Tartars put in the common pillory and
+lesser ruffians severely flogged, while before they left Foochow in
+1846 they had extorted from the authorities substantial pecuniary
+compensation for injuries sustained by British subjects. The credit of
+these vigorous measures no doubt belonged in the first instance to Sir
+John Davis, the chief superintendent, who had been so struck with the
+deplorable condition of things on his first official visit to the port
+in 1844 that he empowered the new consul to find the remedy. The
+effect of this resolute policy on the mandarins was as prompt and
+natural as the effect of the submissive policy had been, and it is
+instructive to read the testimony of Sir John Davis that, after
+redress had been exacted, "the consul was on the best terms with the
+local authorities," which is the perpetual lesson taught in all our
+dealings with the Chinese.
+
+Foochow is distinguished among the coast ports of China by the beauty
+and even grandeur of its scenery and the comparative salubrity of its
+climate. The city itself contains above half a million of people,
+covers an extensive area on the left bank of the river Min, and is
+connected with the foreign quarter by a stone bridge of forty-five
+"arches," which are not arches but spaces between the piers on which
+huge granite slabs are laid horizontally, forming the roadway. The
+houses and business premises of the merchants, the custom-house and
+foreign consulates, are all now situated on Nantai, an island of some
+twenty miles in circumference, which divides the main stream of the
+Min from its tributary, the Yungfu. In the early days the British
+consulate was located within the walled city, in the grounds of a
+Buddhist temple, three miles from the landing-place and business
+quarter on Nantai, and approached through narrow and exceedingly
+foul-smelling streets.
+
+Mrs Alcock joined her husband as soon as tolerable accommodation could
+be prepared for her, and being the first foreign lady who had set foot
+in the city, her entry excited no small curiosity among the people. A
+year later Mrs and Miss Bacon, Mrs Alcock's mother and sister, were
+added to the family party, and though curiosity was still keen, they
+were safely escorted through the surging crowd to their peaceful
+_enclave_ in the heart of the city. The situation was suggestive of
+monastic life. Being on high ground the consulate commanded a superb
+mountain view, with the two rivers issuing from their recesses and the
+great city lying below forming a picturesque foreground, while in the
+middle distance the terraced rice-fields showed in their season the
+tenderest of all greens. The circumstances were conducive to the
+idyllic life of which we get a glimpse in the biography of Sir Harry
+Parkes, who shared it. He speaks in the warmest terms of the kindness
+he received from Mr and Mrs Alcock, who tended him through a fever
+which, but for the medical skill of the consul--no other professional
+aid being available--must have ended fatally. They helped him with
+books, enlarged his field of culture, and there is no doubt that daily
+intercourse with this genial and accomplished family did much to
+supply the want of that liberal education from which the boy had been
+untimely cut adrift. The value of such parental influence to a lad who
+had left school at thirteen can hardly be over-estimated, and he did
+not exaggerate in writing, "I can never repay the Alcocks the lasting
+obligations I am under to them."
+
+  [Illustration: BRIDGE OVER RIVER MIN.]
+
+During the first few years there was practically no foreign trade at
+Foochow except in opium, which was conducted from a sea base beyond
+port limits, a trade which was invisible alike to Chinese and British
+authorities in the sense in which harlequin is invisible to clown and
+pantaloon. The spasmodic attempts which were made to open up a market
+for British manufactures met with no encouragement, for only one
+British merchant maintained a precarious existence, and the question
+of abandoning the port was mooted. The prospect of commercial
+development at Foochow depended on its vicinity to that classic centre
+of the tea cultivation, the famous Bohea range, about 250 miles to the
+westward, whose name, however, was used to cover many inferior
+products. Ten years more elapsed before this advantageous position was
+turned to practical account, owing to the serious obstacles that stood
+in the way of changing the established trade route to Canton and the
+absence of aggressive energy sufficient to overcome them. Through the
+enterprise of an American merchant in alliance with Chinese, Foochow
+began to be a shipping port for tea about the year 1853, growing year
+by year in importance until it rivalled Canton and Shanghai. But as
+its prosperity has always rested on the single article, the fortunes
+of the port have necessarily fallen with the general decay of the
+Chinese tea trade.
+
+Apart from the task of putting the official intercourse on a good
+working basis, of maintaining order between the few foreigners,
+residents, and visitors, and the native population, the consular
+duties at a port like Foochow were necessarily of the lightest
+description. But it was not in Mr Alcock's nature to make a sinecure
+of his office. He was a stranger to the country, about which he had
+everything to learn. He was surrounded by problems all of great
+interest, and some of them pressing urgently for solution, and he had
+to make a success of his port or "know the reason why." Among the
+fruits of his labours during the latter part of his term at Foochow
+are a series of commercial reports, partly published by Government,
+which bear witness to exhaustive research into every circumstance
+having any bearing on the genesis of trade, and applying to those
+local, and to him absolutely novel, conditions the great root
+principles which are of universal validity. Considering how alien to
+his previous experience was the whole range of such subjects, his at
+once grappling with them and firmly seizing their salient features
+showed a mind of no common capacity. For there was nothing perfunctory
+about those early treatises; on the contrary, they were at once more
+polished and more profound than most things of the same kind which
+have appeared during the subsequent half century. The principal
+generalisations of recent commentators on the trade of China were in
+fact set forth in the three Foochow consular reports of 1845-46, while
+many supposed new lights which the discussions of the last few years
+have shed on Chinese character and methods had been already displayed,
+and in a more perfect form, in the buried records of the
+superintendency of trade in China.
+
+  [Illustration: THE SECOND CONSULAR RESIDENCE AT FOOCHOW, 1848.]
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[14] "Mr Lay, who has been officiating as consul for some weeks, has
+been located in a miserable house built on piles on a mud flat, apart
+from the city, and above the bridge, where the tide, as it ebbs and
+flows, daily sweeps up to his door; and all efforts to obtain even
+decent accommodation in the city, where he is entitled to demand it,
+or in any but this pestilent locality, have been in vain."--'Times'
+Correspondent, Hongkong, October 22, 1844.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+SHANGHAI.
+
+     Shanghai -- Importance of its situation -- Consul Balfour
+     -- Germ of municipal institutions -- The foreign
+     settlements -- Confidence and civility of the natives --
+     Alcock appointed consul, 1846 -- Excursions into the
+     country -- Their limitations -- Responsibilities of
+     consuls.
+
+
+Of the four new ports, Shanghai, by far the most important, had been
+fortunate in the selection of its first consul. This was Captain
+George Balfour of the Madras Artillery, who, like a wise
+master-builder, laid the foundations of what is now one of the
+greatest emporia in the world. Captain Balfour had managed the
+beginnings of the settlement so judiciously that the merchants enjoyed
+the fullest facilities for prosecuting their business, while the
+consul maintained good relations with the native authorities and no
+hostile feeling existed between the foreign and native communities.
+The circumstances of the place were favourable to all this: the
+foreign residents were not, as at Canton, confined to a narrow space;
+they had abundance of elbow-room and perfect freedom of movement in
+the surrounding district, which was well provided with footpaths and
+an excellent system of waterways. The people of that part of the
+country are of a peaceable and rather timid disposition. Altogether, a
+healthy condition of things had grown up, there seemed to be no
+grievance felt on either side, while the material prosperity of the
+natives rapidly increased as a result of a great and expanding foreign
+trade, to which they had never been accustomed. The regulation of
+business accommodation and residence was very simple and worked
+automatically. A certain area, ample for every purpose that could be
+foreseen, was set apart by the Chinese Government for the residence of
+foreigners, the location having been indicated by Sir Henry Pottinger
+on his way from Nanking after the signing of the treaty. The rights of
+the native proprietors were in no way interfered with, the merchants
+and others who desired to settle were at liberty to deal with the
+natives for the purchase of building lots, and as the prices paid were
+so much above the normal value of the land there was no essential
+difficulty in effecting purchases. But there being so many interested
+parties, several years elapsed before the whole area had passed into
+the possession of foreign occupants. The land remained the property of
+the Crown, held under perpetual lease, subject only to a small
+ground-rent, which was collected through the consulates, as at this
+day. Roads were gradually marked out and jetties for boats were built
+on the river frontage, and what is now a municipal council served by a
+large secretarial staff and an imposing body of police, and handling a
+budget amounting to £130,000, came into existence under the modest
+title of a "Committee for Roads and Jetties." In the beginning there
+seems to have been an idea of forming separate reservations of land
+for the subjects of the three treaty Powers--Great Britain, France,
+and the United States; but the exigencies of business soon effaced
+the theoretical distinction as between England and America, whose
+separate ideal settlements were merged for all practical purposes into
+one cosmopolitan colony, in which the Powers coming later on the scene
+enjoyed the same rights as the original pioneers.
+
+  [Illustration: BAMBOO BRIDGE AT FOOCHOW.]
+
+To ground thus wisely prepared Mr Alcock succeeded in the autumn of
+1846. His four months at Amoy and eighteen at Foochow were only
+preparatory for the real work which lay before him in the consulate at
+Shanghai, whither he carried in his train the interpreter Parkes, with
+whom he had grown accustomed to work so efficiently. Shanghai by this
+time was already realising the position assigned to it by nature as a
+great commercial port, and the resident community, 120 Europeans all
+told, was already forming itself into that novel kind of republic
+which is so flourishing to-day, while its commercial interests were
+such as to give its members weight in the administration of their own
+affairs as well as in matters of public policy.
+
+  [Illustration: COUNTRY WATERWAY NEAR SHANGHAI.]
+
+The level country round Shanghai was, as we have said, very favourable
+for excursions by land and water, affording tourists and sportsmen
+congenial recreation. The district was in those days remarkably well
+stocked with game. Pheasants of the "ring-necked" variety, now so
+predominant in English preserves, abounded close up to the city wall,
+and were sometimes found in the gardens of the foreign residents.
+Snipe, quail, and wildfowl were plentiful in their season, the last
+named in great variety. All classes of the foreign community took
+advantage of the freedom of locomotion which they enjoyed. Newly
+arrived missionaries, no less than newly arrived sportsmen, were
+encouraged by the ease and safety with which they could prosecute
+their vocation in the towns and villages accessible from Shanghai.
+Within the radius authorised by treaty the foreigners soon became
+familiar objects in a district which is reckoned to support a
+population as dense as that of Belgium. Not only did friendly
+relations exist, but a wonderful degree of confidence was established
+between the natives and foreign tourists. It was not the custom in
+those days for foreigners to carry money, the only coinage available
+being of a clumsy and non-portable character. They paid their way by
+"chits" or orders upon their comprador, and it was not uncommon for
+them in those early days to pay for supplies during their excursions
+into the interior by a few hieroglyphics pencilled on a scrap of
+paper, which the confiding peasant accepted in perfect good faith, and
+with so little apprehension that sometimes a considerable interval
+would elapse before presentation of these primitive cheques--until,
+perhaps, the holder had occasion to make a journey to Shanghai.
+
+But although the foreigner in his proper costume moved freely within
+the prescribed area, it was considered hazardous to venture beyond
+these limits. It was also, of course, a nominal contravention of the
+treaty, for the consequences of which the traveller must take the
+whole risk. Those, therefore--and they were exceedingly few--who could
+not repress the desire to penetrate into the interior adopted as a
+disguise the costume of the natives. It was thus that Fortune made his
+explorations into the tea districts of China. The notion that either
+difficulty or danger attended these distant excursions gradually
+disappeared, and about the year 1855 sportsmen and travellers began
+to explore the forbidden country without any disguise at all, to the
+great amusement of the populace, and to the profit of the priests of
+the temples where they found accommodation.
+
+The consular authorities occupied a peculiar and highly responsible
+position in China. Their nationals being exempt from native
+jurisdiction, and subject only to the laws of their own country,
+promulgated, interpreted, and, when occasion arose, executed, by the
+consul, that functionary was morally answerable to the people and the
+Government of China for the good behaviour of his countrymen. On the
+other hand, it was his primary duty to defend them against all
+aggression of the Chinese. Between these two opposite duties the
+consul needed all the discretion, courage, and good judgment that he
+could command; and it was but natural that individual temperament or
+the pressure of local circumstances should cause diversity in the mode
+in which the consuls interpreted their instructions and balanced the
+different claims of their public duty. As has been said before,
+Captain Balfour had shown himself most judicious in all his
+arrangements for the protection and advancement of his countrymen in
+Shanghai. Foreseeing, notwithstanding the peaceable disposition of the
+natives, that risks might attend unfettered intercourse with the
+interior, he had thought it prudent to restrict the rambles of British
+subjects to the limits of a twenty-four hours' journey from
+Shanghai,--a limit which coincided with curious exactness with the
+"thirty-mile radius" of defence against the rebels which was laid down
+by Admiral Hope eighteen years later.
+
+
+I. THE TSINGPU AFFAIR.
+
+     Attack on three missionaries -- Redress extorted by Consul
+     Alcock -- Its lasting effect.
+
+Affairs in Shanghai had followed a placid and uneventful course until
+an incident occurred which brought into sudden activity the latent
+forces of disorder. Within little more than a year after the arrival
+of Mr Alcock at his new post an outrage was perpetrated on the persons
+of three English missionaries, which led to the first and the last
+important struggle between the British and Chinese authorities in
+Shanghai. The assailants of Messrs Medhurst, Lockhart, and Muirhead,
+the three missionaries concerned, were not the peaceably disposed
+natives of the place, but the discharged crews of the Government
+grain-junks, who had been cast adrift by the officials and left to
+shift for themselves after the manner of disbanded soldiers. The
+attack took place at a small walled town called Tsingpu, within the
+authorised radius, and the three Englishmen came very near losing
+their lives. Mr Alcock lost not a moment in demanding full redress
+from the Chinese authorities, who instinctively sheltered themselves
+under the old evasive pleas which had proved so effective at Canton.
+It happened that the highest local official, the Taotai, had had
+experience of the southern port, and, entirely unaware that he was
+confronted in Shanghai with a man of very different calibre from any
+he had encountered before, he brought out all the rusty weapons of the
+Canton armoury, in sure and certain hope of reducing the consul's
+demands to nullity. Evasion being exhausted, intimidation was tried,
+and the consul and his interpreter were threatened with the vengeance
+of an outraged people, quite in the Canton manner. But intimidation
+was the very worst tactics to try on two Englishmen of the stamp of
+Alcock and Parkes, and when that card had been played the Chinese game
+was up.
+
+The situation was one of those critical ones that test moral stamina,
+that discriminate crucially between a man and a copying-machine. It
+was also one which illuminated, as by an electric flash, the pivotal
+point of all our relations with China then as now, for the principle
+never grows old. It is therefore important to set forth the part
+played by the responsible officer, the support he obtained, the risks
+he ran, and the effective results of his action. An absolutely
+unprovoked murderous outrage had been perpetrated on three Englishmen;
+the Chinese authorities refused redress with insolence and evasion;
+acquiescence in the denial of justice would have been as fatal to
+future good relations at Shanghai as it had been in the previous
+decade in Canton. What was the official charged with the protection of
+his countrymen to do? He had no instructions except to conciliate the
+Chinese; there was no telegraph to England; communication even with
+the chief superintendent of trade at Hongkong, 850 miles off, was
+dependent on chance sailing vessels. Delay was equivalent to
+surrender. Now or never was the peremptory alternative presented to
+the consul, who, taking his official life in his hands, had to decide
+and act on his own personal responsibility. Had time allowed of an
+exchange of views with the plenipotentiary in Hongkong, we know for
+certain that nothing would have been done, for the first announcement
+of Mr Alcock's strong measures filled Mr Bonham (who had just
+succeeded Sir John Davis) with genuine alarm.
+
+     Considering the instructions [he wrote] with which you have
+     been furnished from the Foreign Office, dated December 18,
+     1846, and the limited power and duties of a consul, I
+     cannot but express my regret that you should have taken the
+     steps you have seen fit to do without previous reference to
+     her Majesty's plenipotentiary, as undoubtedly, under the
+     peremptory orders recently received from her Majesty's
+     Government, I should not have considered myself warranted
+     in sanctioning, &c., &c.
+
+Fortunately for the consul and for the peaceful development of British
+trade, one of Palmerston's specific instructions had been obeyed in
+Shanghai. There was a British ship of war in port, the 10-gun brig
+Childers, and, what was of still more importance, a real British _man_
+on board of her, Commander Pitman, who shared to the full the Consul's
+responsibility for what was done.
+
+The measures adopted by Consul Alcock--when negotiation was
+exhausted--were to announce to the Chinese authorities that, until
+satisfaction had been obtained, no duties should be paid on cargo
+imported or exported in British ships: furthermore, that the great
+junk fleet of 1400 sail, laden and ready for sea with the tribute rice
+for Peking, should not be allowed to leave the port. The Childers,
+moored in the stream below the junk anchorage, was in a position to
+make this a most effective blockade. The rage of the Taotai rose to
+fever heat, and it was then he threatened, and no doubt attempted to
+inflame the populace and the whole vagabond class. The Taotai ordered
+some of the rice-laden junks to proceed; but though there were fifty
+war-junks to guard them, the masters dared not attempt to pass the
+ideal barrier thrown across the river by the resolute Captain Pitman.
+
+  [Illustration: MOUTH OF YANGTZE AND CHUSAN ARCHIPELAGO.]
+
+The outrage took place on the 8th of March. On the 13th the consul
+presented an ultimatum to the Taotai giving him forty-eight hours to
+produce the criminals. This being disregarded, the measures above
+referred to were enforced, with the full approval, it may be
+mentioned, of the consuls of the two other treaty Powers. At the same
+time Vice-Consul Robertson, with Parkes for interpreter, was
+despatched to Nanking on board her Majesty's ship Espiègle to lay the
+whole case before the viceroy of Kiangnan. The matter was there
+promptly attended to, full redress was ordered, and the culprits
+punished exactly three weeks after the assault. The embargo on the
+rice-junks was removed, and affairs resumed their normal course.[15]
+The effect of this lesson has never been effaced, harmony having
+prevailed between British and Chinese officials and people in Shanghai
+and the province from that day to this.
+
+The circumstances were of course very unusual which placed such ready
+means of bloodless coercion in the hands of the British consul. The
+fortuitous coincidence of the time of the outrage with the period of
+departure of the grain fleet placed a weapon in the consul's hands
+which of itself would have eventually brought the Chinese to terms,
+should the matter in the mean time not have been taken out of the
+hands of the consul and dealt with from Hongkong by the
+plenipotentiary, whose views have been given above. So soon as the
+detention of the grain fleet became known to the Government of Peking,
+orders of a very drastic nature would undoubtedly have been despatched
+to the viceroy of the province, and both he and his subordinate would
+have been made answerable for their incompetence in imperilling the
+supply of rice for the Government. But the pressure was doubly
+intensified by the appearance of a foreign ship of war under the walls
+of Nanking. Six years had not elapsed since a similar demonstration
+had brought the Government to its knees, and to have allowed such an
+invasion a second time would have drawn down the imperial wrath on the
+luckless provincial authorities. For Nanking differs from the other
+provincial capitals, such as Canton and Foochow, inasmuch as it is
+near the strategic centre of the empire, commanding the main artery of
+communication with the interior of the country, at the point of
+intersection of the Yangtze river by the famous Imperial Canal which
+connects the capital with the richest region in the Yangtze valley. A
+blockade of the sea-going grain fleet with a simultaneous blockade of
+these inland waters, so easily effected, would have throttled China.
+The viceroy, who sent a report on the transaction to the throne by
+special express, explained away his own hasty action by saying "that
+the appearance of the barbarian chiefs at the provincial city may have
+caused anxiety in the sacred breast."
+
+The verdict of the Home Government on the episode was substantially
+the same as that on Sir John Davis's brilliant expedition on the
+Canton river the year before: "Gratified with your success, but don't
+do it again;" in other words, "Do it at your peril, leaving us to
+applaud or repudiate according to the event." Perhaps it would be more
+just to say that there were then, as always, conflicting views in the
+British Cabinet, the apparent vacillations of the Government depending
+a good deal on which of its members happened, for the moment, to have
+the parole,--whether the Foreign Secretary, the Colonial Secretary, or
+other Minister indited the despatch.
+
+Commenting some years later on the general question of our relations
+with China, Mr Alcock wrote as follows: "A salutary dread of the
+immediate consequences of violence offered to British subjects,
+certainty of its creating greater trouble and danger to the native
+authorities personally than even the most vigorous efforts to protect
+the foreigners and seize their assailants will entail, seems to be the
+best and only protection in this country for Englishmen." Palmerston
+himself could not have laid down the law and common-sense of the case
+with greater precision.
+
+
+II. REBELLION.
+
+     Taiping rebellion -- Rebel occupation of Shanghai --
+     Encroachment of investing force on foreign settlement --
+     Driven off by Anglo-American forces -- The French quarrel
+     with insurgents -- Consequent enlargement of French
+     concession -- The assumption of self-government by the
+     Anglo-American community -- Exemplary conduct of Chinese
+     authorities after their defeat -- French belligerency --
+     Difficult question of neutrality -- Treatment of native
+     refugees.
+
+Affairs went smoothly and prosperously in Shanghai for another five
+years, when the greatest calamity that has visited China in modern
+times cast its shadow on the province and on the city. The appalling
+ravages of the Taiping rebellion, which, originating in the southern
+province of Kwangsi, followed the great trade-routes to the
+Yangtze-kiang and down the course of that stream, leaving absolute
+desolation in its wake, reached the southern capital, Nanking, on
+March 8, 1853. The city was paralysed, and surrendered on the 19th,
+apparently without a struggle; the whole Tartar garrison, numbering
+20,000, were put ruthlessly to the sword, not a soul being spared. The
+whole country, officials and people alike, was thrown into a state of
+abject fear. The ease with which such Government forces as there were
+succumbed to the onslaught of the rebel hordes may very well have
+prompted the rowdy element, which exists more or less everywhere, to
+make raids on their own account. Such a band, belonging as was
+supposed to certain secret societies, but without any connection with
+the main body of the Taipings, who were at the time applying fire and
+sword to the populous towns on the Yangtze, surprised and captured the
+walled city of Shanghai. "The news," says an eyewitness, "came like
+thunder from a clear sky;" there was no thought of the city being in
+danger either from within or without. The people were panic-stricken
+at first, but fear with them seemed near akin to criminality, and the
+scene enacted was what was repeated thousands of times and over a wide
+area--one of general pillage and destruction. "Several hundred of the
+usually innocent and simple country-folk--who must have scented their
+prey as the eagle does the carcass, for as yet it was early
+morning--fell upon the custom-house, whence they carried off chairs,
+tables, windows, doors, everything that was portable, leaving the
+floor littered with books and papers, which were being kicked about
+and trodden on in a most unceremonious way."
+
+  [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO SZE-KING, NEAR SHANGHAI.]
+
+For a period of eighteen months, beginning in September 1853 and
+ending in February 1855, these rebels held possession of the city.
+It took a little time before the authorities were able to gather any
+force to expel them. But they did commence a species of siege which
+ultimately succeeded in its object. There would be no interest in
+tracing its progress. What we have to note is the effect which the
+interregnum produced on the relations between the foreign officials
+and community and the Chinese.
+
+The first was of a very remarkable character, being nothing less than
+an armed collision between such foreign forces as could be mustered
+and the imperialist troops who were investing the city. The Chinese
+soldiers were in camp at a short distance outside of the foreign
+settlement, which was exempt from the operations of the war. But the
+discipline of Chinese troops is never very efficient, and unruly
+stragglers from the camps kept the foreigners in the settlement in
+constant hot water. It became, in fact, dangerous for them to take
+their recreation in the open ground at the back of the settlement,
+which was used as a racecourse. Immunity from reprisals produced its
+invariable result, and the aggressions of the soldiery became more
+persistent and better organised. The foreigners were at last driven to
+retaliate in their own defence. After a formidable inroad of the
+Chinese troops, the three treaty consuls met hastily and decided on
+sending a demand to the Chinese general for the withdrawal of all his
+soldiers from the vicinity of the settlement, failing which, his
+position would be attacked at four o'clock the same afternoon by all
+the available foreign forces. These were, marines and bluejackets from
+her Britannic Majesty's ships Encounter and Grecian, marines and
+sailors from the United States ship Plymouth, some sailors from the
+merchant ships in port, and about 200 of the residents as infantry
+volunteers. The English force was commanded by Captain O'Callaghan,
+who was accompanied by Consul Alcock; the Americans were led by
+Captain Kelley, who was accompanied by Consul Murphy; while the
+volunteers were commanded by Vice-Consul Wade, subsequently her
+Majesty's Minister to China. The attack on the Chinese position was
+completely successful; indeed there was apparently very little
+resistance, a circumstance which was attributed by Mr Wetmore, who was
+in the action from beginning to end, to the uncovenanted co-operation
+of the rebels within the city. It was, nevertheless, according to him,
+writing nearly forty years after, "a hazardous, if not a reckless,
+undertaking."
+
+Her Majesty's Government, in a despatch from the Foreign Office dated
+June 16, "entirely approved of Mr Alcock's proceedings, and they
+considered that he displayed great courage and judgment in
+circumstances of no ordinary difficulty"; while the British community
+unanimously conveyed their warmest thanks to Consul Alcock,
+Vice-Consul Wade, and the naval officers concerned, for "saving their
+lives and property from the most imminent jeopardy." And they add that
+"any symptoms of hesitation and timid policy would inevitably have led
+to serious consequences and far greater loss of life."
+
+It is to be remarked that the French took no part in this common
+defence of the settlement, in explanation of which it must be noted
+that they had never fallen kindly into the cosmopolitan system, but
+as years went on kept themselves more and more apart, expanding what
+was a mere consular residence until it covered two populous suburbs
+embracing half of the circuit of the walled city, and what began as a
+settlement came to be spoken of as a "concession."
+
+In this situation it was not difficult for them to pick a quarrel on
+their own account with the rebels, which led to an ineffectual
+bombardment of the city by French ships of war moored close under the
+walls. Guns were then landed in the suburb, which was thereafter
+embraced within the limits of the French concession, the houses being
+demolished to give play to the artillery. A cannonade lasting many
+days resulted in a practical breach in the city wall, which was
+followed up by a combined assault by the French and the imperialist
+troops, with whom they had allied themselves. The attack was repulsed
+with severe loss to the assailants.
+
+Among the results of these operations and of the lapse of organised
+government during eighteen months the most direct was perhaps the
+establishment of the French on the ground where their batteries had
+been placed. For reasons military or otherwise, a _tabula rasa_ was
+made of an immense populous suburb, the ground then admitting of easy
+occupation and the laying out of streets and roads. The area thus
+occupied by the French is separated from the cosmopolitan settlement
+of Shanghai by a tidal creek.
+
+Results less showy, but more important in the interests of humanity
+and international commerce, were very soon apparent in the
+cosmopolitan settlement. The first of these was the assumption by the
+foreign community of the function of self-government and
+self-protection, and the foundation of that important municipality,
+which has established as fine a record of public service as any such
+body has ever done. The inroads of vagabondage and crime would,
+without the protective measures extemporised for the occasion, have
+swamped the foreign quarter and reduced it to the desolate condition
+of the native city. And this necessity of relying on their own
+strength has no doubt given to the community of Shanghai that tone of
+self-confidence which has characterised successive generations of
+them.
+
+The effect of the collision on the relations between the foreign and
+Chinese authorities can hardly be understood without some explanatory
+words. In countries where the soldier, sudden and quick in quarrel,
+seeks the bubble reputation in the cannon's mouth, there is a
+psychological figment called military honour, which may be symbolised
+in various ways, as, for example, by a rag at the end of a stick for
+which brave men will cheerfully die. The warlike traditions which have
+evolved European codes of honour have no existence in China.
+_Revanche_, therefore, did not enter into the heads of the defeated
+Chinese commanders, who contented themselves with posting placards
+about their camps stating that "the barbarians were about to be
+annihilated, but that they had ransomed themselves for 300,000 taels,
+and that an additional 300,000 would be required." Their conduct,
+however, was quite exemplary during the remainder of the siege, their
+chief solicitude being to avoid encroaching on the foreign quarter.
+Whatever be the explanation, the fact is that the Chinese were on
+better terms with the foreign officials after than they had been
+before the battle of "Muddy Flat," fought on the 4th of April 1854.
+Within ten days they were amicably settling in concert the ground for
+a new camp, which would not hamper the military operations of the
+besiegers nor yet compromise the sanctity of the foreign settlement.
+
+Thus there was no obstacle whatever in the way of concerting with the
+nearest representatives of the Government of China all those measures
+which were demanded by the position of neutrality assumed by the
+British Government between the insurgents and imperialist forces, and
+also for the regulation and control of the Chinese refugees, who
+poured into the foreign settlement to escape the rapine of savage war.
+The neutrality of the British representative was difficult to
+maintain: by force of circumstances it took a benevolent form towards
+the beleaguered rebels, who were dependent for their continued
+existence upon supplies received from and through the foreign
+settlement. The situation was complicated by the action of the French,
+who, having quarrelled with the insurgents, entered on the stage as a
+third belligerent. Thereupon the French authorities made a grievance
+of "the scandal of supplies being furnished to the declared enemies of
+the French in the sight and under the protection of our English
+guard," France being at the time allied with Great Britain in
+prosecuting the war in the Crimea. Consul Alcock, whose sense of
+propriety had already been considerably shocked by the facilities
+which the position of the cosmopolitan settlement afforded for
+conveying supplies into the city, treated the appeal of his French
+colleague with respect, and made it the text of a representation to
+the senior naval officer, urging him, if possible, to devise means in
+conjunction with the measures which were already being adopted in the
+settlement for enforcing British neutrality, so that "we may be able
+to give an honest answer to all three belligerents--imperialists,
+insurgents, and French." This policy was at the same time proclaimed
+by a unanimous resolution of the largest meeting of residents ever, up
+to that time, assembled in Shanghai.
+
+The question of the influx of refugees seems not to have met with such
+a prompt solution, but that was due rather to the British
+plenipotentiary's caution than to the obstruction of the Chinese. In a
+despatch to Sir John Bowring, dated June 5, 1854, the consul thus
+describes the evil in question:--
+
+     As regards the strange and altogether unsatisfactory
+     position in which we are placed by the pouring in of a
+     large Chinese population, who have squatted down within our
+     limits contrary to the standing edicts of their own
+     authorities, and run up whole streets of wooden and brick
+     tenements, giving cover to every species of vice and filth,
+     I have only to remark that a walk through the settlement
+     [the governor was expected on a visit] will, I am
+     convinced, satisfy your Excellency that the evil is already
+     too great and increasing at too rapid a rate to be
+     overlooked. The health of foreign residents, the security
+     of their property, and the very tenability of the place as
+     a foreign location, alike render it imperative that a
+     jurisdiction of some kind should be promptly and
+     energetically asserted.
+
+The important negotiations which, within three months, issued in the
+birth of the Foreign Maritime Customs, must be regarded as by far the
+most important outcome of the rebel episode of 1854-55.
+
+
+III. THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS.
+
+     Extent and audacity of smuggling -- Alcock's determination
+     to suppress it -- His report on the position -- Corruption
+     of the Chinese customs service -- Efforts of the British
+     Government to co-operate in collecting dues -- Nullified by
+     treaties with other Powers -- Consequent injury to all
+     foreign trade -- Unexpected solution of the difficulty
+     during the interregnum -- Impetus given to trade by the
+     Taiping rebellion -- Alcock with French and American
+     consuls takes over the customs and collects all dues in
+     trust for the Chinese Government -- Promissory notes
+     employed -- Conditions which made it impossible to enforce
+     payment -- Notes ultimately cancelled.
+
+Certain crying evils in foreign intercourse having arrested the
+attention of Consul Alcock from the day of his arrival in China, he
+bent himself strenuously to the task of overcoming or mitigating them.
+They formed the subject-matter of many anxious reports to his
+superiors, for Mr Alcock always took both a serious and a
+comprehensive view of his duties. For many years there seemed little
+hope of a successful issue to these labours; but at last a rift in the
+clouds opened up the prospect of coping with at least one of them, and
+that was smuggling. So universal was this practice that it seemed a
+necessary and natural feature of all commercial dealings in China. As
+its roots lay deep in the Chinese character and civilisation, no
+stigma attached to the venality of the officials charged with the
+collection of the maritime revenues. Although the practice was in
+extent universal, it was by no means wholesale in degree, and where
+the facilities for evading duties were so tempting, merchants must
+often have been astonished at their own moderation.
+
+Among the legends of the coast, it is true, there were certain _tours
+de force_ in the way of smuggling which made good topics for
+walnuts-and-wine conversation among a community which was rather
+lacking in subjects of general interest,--as of an apocryphal ship
+clearing from China in ballast or with coal which would mysteriously
+land in England a full cargo of tea, which had been taken on board
+without being passed through the custom-house. Conversely, a shipload
+of manufactured goods taken on board in England would melt on the
+passage to China like a cargo of ice, so far as the records in the
+Chinese custom-house would show. One special feat was kept alive,
+post-prandially, for many years as the acme of audacious smuggling.
+British goods were entered at the custom-house "for re-exportation,"
+and no duty paid. The merchant packed the empty cases with silk, which
+was thus shipped under the original English marks, and was described
+as calicoes, on which a "drawback" was claimed of import duties which
+had never been paid at all. Such racy anecdotes belonged to the order
+of Rabelaisian humour which inspired the boast of a certain Lancashire
+manufacturer at the time when, owing to the scarcity and high price of
+cotton, the "filling" of shirtings with plaster of Paris and other
+substances to make up the required weight of the piece was raised to
+almost the dignity of a fine art. Complaints being made by the
+consumer that the cloth so compounded would not wash, this genial
+Lancastrian declared that for his part he would never rest satisfied
+until he could turn out his calicoes without any cotton in them at
+all.
+
+Shanghai, of course, was the great centre of the smuggling trade. What
+smuggling was done at Canton, being the only other important entrepot,
+was on a system which was regulated by the customs authorities
+themselves, and the testimony of Mr Alexander Matheson before the
+House of Commons Committee was to the effect that their tariff was so
+light that it was not worth the merchant's while to smuggle. Such,
+however, was not the view taken by Mr Consul Alcock, who regarded the
+smuggling system as a very serious evil, against which he waged a
+relentless war. He not only compelled, as far as lay in his power, the
+British merchants to comply with the letter of the treaty in their
+dealings with the customs, but he further considered himself bound to
+enforce on the Chinese officials themselves the proper discharge of
+their duty. In these efforts to abolish irregular practices, which all
+deplored, many of the British merchants were only too willing to
+co-operate with the consul's efforts, and the Foreign Office was
+repeatedly moved to take some action in the reform of these abuses.
+The difficulties and anomalies of the situation were fully set forth
+by Mr Alcock in many reports made to his superior, the chief
+superintendent of trade, as the following extract, written in 1851,
+will exemplify:--
+
+     How the commercial and custom-house system of the West and
+     the very opposite principles and practice of the East might
+     be combined so that both should work together with the
+     least possible friction and prejudice, was a difficult
+     problem, no doubt, for those who had the framing of
+     existing treaties. How even the trading operations of
+     foreign merchants, based upon good faith and honesty, could
+     be in any way associated with the corrupt and inept
+     administration of the Chinese custom-house, so that the
+     revenue of the latter alone should be liable to suffer and
+     not the foreign trade, though apparently a simpler task,
+     seems to have presented to the negotiators insuperable
+     difficulties. For one or other of these problems,
+     nevertheless, it was essential they should find some
+     adequate solution, or whatever treaties might be signed
+     their real mission was unfulfilled, and the basis of all
+     future trading relations left unstable and unsatisfactory.
+
+     We cannot suppose this important fact was overlooked by the
+     British Government, which, on the contrary, appears to have
+     sought earnestly to meet the difficulty by undertaking in
+     good faith to co-operate with the Chinese authorities in
+     collecting the duties on British trade. Neither is it clear
+     that failure would have attended such a course had not a
+     disturbing element been speedily introduced from without
+     for which adequate provision does not seem to have been
+     made. We allude to the ratification of treaties with other
+     Governments which should repudiate all obligation on this
+     point to contribute to the protection of the Chinese
+     revenue. It might have been supposed that the Chinese
+     Government, having obtained so great and unquestionable an
+     advantage from the Power they had most to fear, would
+     scarcely have been so foolish as to throw it away upon the
+     first occasion, yet such proved to be the fact, and some
+     credit was taken by the United States commissioner for the
+     omission of all co-operative clauses. Two treaties in
+     consequence came into operation, founded upon different
+     principles--the one subversive of the other in a very
+     essential point. So much was this the case that no fair
+     trial could be given to the provisions of the British
+     treaty respecting the payment of duties, and any attempt to
+     act upon the system contemplated in it became altogether
+     unpracticable so soon as the alteration of our navigation
+     laws opened our ports to foreign shipping.
+
+     We found that to secure the essential objects of these
+     treaties as they now stand there is one thing plainly
+     wanting and yet essential, an honest and efficient
+     custom-house, and who does not see that this is
+     unattainable in China? Too much or too little has been
+     done, therefore. We should either have refused to concede a
+     right to levy maritime duties, or obtained as the condition
+     some better guarantee for its impartial exercise. It should
+     have been remembered that although a foreign Power might
+     give this right to the Emperor of China, it could not so
+     easily give him honest and faithful servants, without which
+     custom-house duties cannot be fairly levied. The very
+     attempt to profit by such a right partially, and with
+     manifestly imperfect means, could not fail to prove
+     injurious to the trade it was the great object of the
+     treaties to develop and protect. It is superfluous now to
+     say that against this evil no sufficient provision was
+     made, and the result has been perpetual and irreconcilable
+     antagonism. From the first day the American treaty came
+     into operation the contracting parties, Chinese and
+     foreign, have been placed in a false position in regard to
+     each other and to the permanent interests of both. The
+     emperor had obtained a right he could not unaided duly
+     exercise, and the foreign merchant was laid under a legal
+     obligation which under such circumstances tended to make
+     his trading privileges nugatory. The former was daily
+     exposed to the loss of the whole or a part of a revenue to
+     which he was by treaty legally entitled, as the price of
+     commercial privileges to the foreigner; and the latter, in
+     so far as he recognised his obligation to pay to such
+     revenue, was debarred from trading with advantage or
+     profit.
+
+     Loss to the custom-house is palpably only one of the
+     mischiefs resulting, and injury to foreign trade is the
+     direct consequence in a far more important degree. There
+     may be some disposed to question this, but when no man can
+     calculate on entering into an operation within 15 or 20 per
+     cent of the prime cost of his merchandise before it shall
+     leave his hands, and his next-door neighbour may gain
+     advantage over him to this amount, while the ordinary
+     margin of profit seldom exceeds that range, it is difficult
+     to arrive at any other conclusion. And when we consider
+     that the natural tendency of partial smuggling is to raise
+     the price in the buying and to lower it in the selling
+     market, its disastrous influence on the general prosperity
+     of the trade must be too plain to admit of contradiction.
+     However it may temporarily enrich a few, it must eventually
+     impoverish many.
+
+     The British plenipotentiary may have thought that
+     smuggling, so far as the interests of trade were concerned,
+     would affect only the Chinese revenue: the American
+     commissioner clearly must have concluded so, and on this
+     supposition acted. But experience has abundantly proved
+     such a conclusion erroneous, and based upon a partial view
+     of the whole case.
+
+The solution of all these difficulties, and the end of the apparently
+hopeless struggle to set things right, came about in a way that must
+have been totally unexpected by all parties. It was through the
+capture of Shanghai by the rebel band in 1853.
+
+The day the city fell the functions of the custom-house ceased, but
+trade continued without interruption; indeed the export trade was
+naturally stimulated by the eagerness of the natives to convert their
+produce into money, and by the desire of the foreign merchants to get
+their purchases safely on board ship. But there was no one in a
+position to collect the dues. Mr Alcock, never timid when he had a
+case for action which satisfied his own mind, proposed to his French
+and American colleagues, who also never seemed to hesitate to follow
+his lead, a method of bridging over the interregnum of the Chinese
+authority and at the same time establishing for the first time the
+precedent of collecting full duties. The plan was that the consuls
+should themselves perform the functions which the Chinese officials
+had never performed--take a rigid account of the goods landed and
+shipped, and receive the amount of the duty on them, to be held in
+trust for the Chinese Government when it should once more be
+resuscitated in Shanghai. Not in coin, however, but in promissory
+notes payable on conditions which were complicated by the necessity of
+maintaining equality of treatment between the various nationalities
+concerned. The contingencies were, in fact, such that it would never
+have been possible to enforce payment of the notes, and in the end
+they were all cancelled and returned to the merchants, so that during
+the ten months between September 1853 and July 1854 there were no
+duties collected at all at the port of Shanghai.
+
+
+IV. CREATION OF THE FOREIGN CUSTOMS.
+
+     The provisional system -- British and American ships pay
+     full dues -- Other nations enter and clear free --
+     Americans follow the same course -- Alcock's strict views
+     of neutrality -- Danger of infringing it by establishment
+     of Government officials within the foreign colony --
+     Breakdown of the provisional system -- Alcock calls upon
+     the Imperial Government -- Custom-house re-established by
+     the Taotai Wu -- Reappearance of all abuses -- Alcock's
+     remonstrances -- Antecedents of Wu -- He makes private
+     arrangements and admits vessels free of dues -- Alcock
+     allows British ships to do likewise -- Shanghai thus
+     becomes a free port -- Alcock's efforts to meet the
+     difficulty -- First idea of the foreign customs --
+     Conditions of success -- Conference with the Taotai --
+     Delegates appointed -- New custom-house inaugurated July
+     12, 1854 -- Mr H. N. Lay appointed Inspector-General --
+     Conditions and essential features which caused immediate
+     and permanent success of the foreign customs.
+
+The "provisional system," as it was called, worked smoothly for four
+months, but not equally, for while British and American ships paid
+full duties (in conditional promissory notes), those of other
+nationalities, having mercantile consuls, were entered and cleared
+exempt from all duty. One Prussian, one Hamburg, two Siamese, one
+Austrian, three Danish, and two Spanish--in all ten vessels--were so
+cleared between September and January, which was, of course, a serious
+injustice to the competing merchants on whose ventures full duties
+were levied. In vain might the British consul argue that the cargoes
+of these defaulting ships bore no larger a proportion to the whole
+trade than in normal conditions the smugglers would bear to the honest
+traders. The American consul, sympathising with the latter, notified
+on January 20, 1854, his secession from the provisional compact, to
+which decision he gave immediate effect by allowing two vessels, the
+Oneida and Science, to depart without payment or security of any
+kind. It was impossible after this for the British authorities to
+continue to lay a burden on their nationals from which competitors
+were thus freeing themselves, the more especially as on broader
+considerations their collecting duties at all for the Chinese had
+been, three years previously, pronounced inexpedient by the British
+Government. However commendable, therefore, on political and moral
+grounds, and however convenient as a stop-gap, the provisional system
+was doomed. The next move was by some means or other to procure the
+re-establishment of a legal Chinese custom-house.
+
+This would have been done at an earlier period but for the strict
+views held by Mr Alcock on the question of neutrality between the
+belligerents. The soil of the foreign settlement had been declared
+sacred and neutral. To permit any Chinese authority to use it even for
+fiscal purposes seemed a violation of its neutrality. Besides, native
+officials exercising their functions there would have had either to
+protect themselves by military force, however small, or to be
+protected by the foreigners, in either case compromising the
+neutrality of the settlement. When the Chinese officials proposed as
+an alternative to discharge customs functions afloat in the river, the
+same objections presented themselves. The foreigners must in that case
+also have defended the revenue collectors from attack by the rebels.
+The customs authority therefore remained dormant.
+
+But on the breakdown of the provisional system whereby the three
+treaty consuls acted as trustees for the Chinese Government, there was
+no alternative left between making Shanghai absolutely a free port and
+setting up some sort of native custom-house. As the lesser evil--to
+say no more--Mr Alcock chose the latter, and within three weeks of the
+lapse of the provisional system he had "called upon the imperial
+authorities to re-establish a custom-house in some convenient
+locality," offering at the same time to afford them the necessary
+facilities for working it. The custom-house was, in fact,
+re-established by the Taotai Wu on February 9, when the provisional
+system of collecting duties, a system never favoured by the British
+Government, was finally and officially terminated.
+
+The reinstatement of the custom-house under the superintendency of the
+Taotai Wu was the signal for the prompt reappearance of all the worst
+irregularities in an exaggerated form.
+
+The admonitions that official received from Mr Alcock on his treaty
+rights and on the necessity for strictness and impartial accuracy were
+completely thrown away. The Taotai had been formerly a merchant in
+Canton, under the name Samqua; and whether it was the passion for a
+"deal" inspired by early training, or the corruption of good manners
+by subsequent association with official life, or, as is most likely, a
+double dose of both, without the checks appropriate to either, he, the
+superintendent of customs, fell at once to making private bargains
+with individual merchants. By arrangement with him a Bremen ship, the
+Aristides, was allowed to enter and clear without complying with a
+single customs or port regulation or the payment of any dues, save
+what may have been paid to Wu himself by way of douceur. Two American
+ships and one British were dealt with in similar fashion. These facts
+being brought to the notice of Mr Alcock, he called the Taotai to
+account, and on receiving only subterfuges instead of explanation, he
+thenceforth allowed openly to British ships the same privileges that
+the Chinese authorities had voluntarily, though secretly, conferred on
+those who chose to make corrupt bargains with them. That is to say,
+Shanghai became now--from April 1854--absolutely a free port.
+
+At last, then, there was a real _tabula rasa_ inviting a fresh
+experiment; and Mr Alcock immediately applied his mind to devising
+some new expedient to meet the difficulty. The Chinese superintendent,
+however willing to compound to his own advantage for the customs dues,
+was as little pleased with its complete abolition as the foreign
+authorities themselves, and he had made sundry alternative proposals,
+based on his experience at Canton, for the effective collection of
+duties. It seemed, however, that in the hands of such a facile
+official, or any one likely to succeed him, his remedies against
+smuggling were worse than the disease, and the necessity of a new
+departure began seriously to occupy the minds of the treaty consuls.
+The outcome was a novel scheme, which was mooted in a despatch to Sir
+John Bowring, dated May 1, 1854, in which Consul Alcock, while
+recognising that "the attempt will not be unaccompanied by serious
+difficulties," declared that he "did not relinquish all hope of
+success _if the collection of duties can in any way be brought under
+the effective control of the three treaty Powers as to the executive
+of the custom-house administration_."
+
+"On any other basis," he added, "I believe every effort to benefit the
+Chinese revenue and at the same time protect the honest merchant must
+in the nature of things prove nugatory." The idea took further shape
+in a memorandum of suggestions drawn up by Mr Alcock on 15th June,
+when he stated that "the sole issue out of the difficulties by which
+the whole subject is beset under existing treaties is to be sought in
+the combination of a _foreign element of probity and vigilance with
+Chinese authority_."
+
+He adds as the first condition of success the "free concurrence of the
+Chinese authorities" in any scheme which may be concocted, and then
+proposes "the association with the Chinese executive of a responsible
+and trustworthy foreign _inspector of customs_ as the delegate of the
+three treaty Powers, to be appointed by the consuls and Taotai
+conjointly at a liberal salary." This is put down at $6000 per annum,
+the whole foreign staff to cost $12,000, and various details of
+administration follow.
+
+It argues well for the absence of international jealousy in those days
+that Mr Alcock proposed that a French gentleman of the name of Smith,
+in the French consular service, should be the inspector whom he and
+the American consul agreed to recommend to the Taotai. In a despatch
+to M. Edan on the 27th of June 1854 he solicited his official sanction
+to the appointment.
+
+The next step was a conference where the three treaty consuls--Alcock,
+Murphy, and Edan--received the Taotai, who discussed with them and
+then adopted substantially, though with some modifications, the
+"suggestions" above quoted.
+
+Instead of one delegate from the three consuls, it was decided that
+each was to appoint one, the three delegates then forming a "board of
+inspectors with a single and united action." As many questions of
+national and international jurisdiction were likely to arise out of
+the executive functions of the inspectors, provision was made for
+dealing with them, and as far as human ingenuity could foresee without
+any experience to guide, every contingency, down to the minutiæ of
+internal administration, was considered in the instructions given to
+the inspectors. The announcement of the newly-constituted Customs
+Board was formally made by the consuls on July 6, and the new
+custom-house was inaugurated on the 12th, the three inspectors being
+Mr T. F. Wade, British; Mr Lewis Carr, American; and M. Smith, French.
+
+The new custom-house was an immediate success: it fulfilled every
+purpose for which it was created, yielding its full revenue to the
+Chinese Government, and putting an end to the temptations of traders
+to seek illicit advantages over each other. It says much for the
+soundness of the principles on which it was established that not only
+has the custom-house of 1854 survived the shock of rebellion and war,
+of extended treaties, of the multiplication of trading-ports from five
+to thirty and of treaty Powers from three to thirteen, but its roots
+have struck deep and its branches have spread wide over every portion
+of the empire, and that in spite of the opposition of powerful
+provincial officials, whose revenues it curtailed by diverting them
+into the imperial channel. The triumvirate Board under which the
+institution was launched was little more than nominal, the direction
+of the customs being a one-man power from the outset, one only of the
+three inspectors possessing either the knowledge, capacity, or zeal
+needed to infuse life into the new department.
+
+The first English inspector, who was only lent for a time to start the
+new enterprise, was replaced in a few months by Mr H. N. Lay,
+interpreter to the consulate, who definitively retired from the
+British in order to enter the Chinese service, while Mr Wade returned
+to his vice-consular duties. The functions of the Board of Inspectors
+were soon consolidated in the office of Inspector-General, which was
+conferred upon Mr Lay, and held by him until 1863, when he was obliged
+to resign the service of the Chinese Government in consequence of
+their failure to ratify his engagements in connection with the Osborn
+flotilla.
+
+It only remains to mention in this place that coincident with the
+establishment of the maritime customs in Shanghai came the
+instructions from her Majesty's Government to cancel the promissory
+notes, amounting to a million of dollars, which had been given by the
+British merchants for duties during the interregnum, the conditions
+attached rendering them legally invalid.
+
+Although the organisation of the foreign customs was an expedient to
+meet an emergency never likely to recur, the transaction,
+nevertheless, forms a brief epitome of the ideal foreign relations
+with China, and it is useful therefore to note what were its essential
+features and the conditions of its creation.
+
+_First._ The Chinese Government were reduced to helplessness and were
+amenable to advice.
+
+_Second._ Corruption and laxity were inherent in their nature and
+ineradicable except by external force.
+
+_Third._ The external force, to be savingly applied, must not be
+subversive of Chinese authority, but must supply the element in
+administration in which the natives are absolutely wanting, and which
+is so tersely summarised by Mr Alcock as "vigilance and probity."
+
+_Fourth._ This combination of Chinese authority with foreign
+vigilance and probity, which has rendered the Chinese customs service
+a kind of miracle of reform, was capable of renovating the whole
+Chinese administration. Why it has not been extended into the other
+departments of state is only another form of lament over lost
+opportunities.
+
+_Fifth._ That the system was established on the broadest cosmopolitan
+basis.
+
+
+V. MR ALCOCK'S DEPARTURE FROM SHANGHAI.
+
+     Promoted to Canton -- Impression he had made upon the
+     European colony of Shanghai -- Their confidence in his
+     integrity and ability -- His domestic life -- First
+     literary work -- Condition of affairs at Canton --
+     Difficulties and obstructions -- Alcock leaves for home
+     before the outbreak of 1856.
+
+With these distinguished services Mr Alcock's career in Shanghai was
+brought to a close. He was promoted to the senior consulate at Canton,
+but he remained long enough in his northern post to see the city of
+Shanghai once more in possession of the constituted authorities and
+the restoration of peace in the vicinity of the port. Being
+practically starved out, the insurgents set fire to the city and made
+the best escape they could during the night, which happened to be the
+last night of the Chinese year, 17th February 1855. Some may have
+escaped, but the greater part fell into the hands of their enemies,
+and for weeks afterwards many a ghastly trophy in the neighbourhood
+attested the ruthless treatment which the fugitives received,
+recalling the realistic picture in a certain epitaph of Villon.
+
+  [Illustration: RUSTIC SCENE NEAR SHANGHAI.]
+
+On his departure from Shanghai in April of that year Mr Alcock
+received a flattering testimonial from the British residents, who were
+cordially joined by both French and Americans. This compliment had the
+special value of being practically unanimous, while yet by no means
+undiscriminating. As a curious characteristic of the social relations
+of the community at that time, it may be mentioned that the document
+was presented in two parts, substantially the same, but differently
+worded. The explanation of the dual presentation is to be found in the
+etiquette which was commonly observed between the Montagues and the
+Capulets of the period, it being considered a point of honour that
+neither should follow the signature of the other; hence the two
+leading members of the community had each to head a separate list.
+
+It was impossible for an officer of such strict views and such an
+uncompromising character to live for eight years in the midst of an
+independent population whom he had to treat as his subjects without
+provoking occasional resentment, and creating friction in carrying out
+the details of his administration. Moreover, his public acts were of
+too decisive a quality to commend themselves to universal approval.
+Yet, frankly recognising all this, the memorialists state, "In
+whatever degree as individuals we may have approved or dissented from
+any of your acts of public policy, we are all ready to do justice to
+the singleness of purpose and sense of public duty under which you
+have uniformly acted. We believe that you have throughout held in view
+your conscientious convictions of what was right and just, and that no
+undue external influence has at any time operated to divert you from
+them." In fact, the Shanghai community--_quorum pars fui_--were proud
+of their consul, and looked up to him as soldiers do to a commander in
+whom they have absolute confidence. They felt themselves ennobled by
+contact with a character _sans peur et sans reproche_. Above all, he
+represented before the Chinese authorities the dignity of his country
+in a manner which has rarely been equalled, and gratitude for that
+patriotic service would of itself have covered a multitude of sins.
+The feeling of respect so generated reconciled the residents to that
+which in another man might have been held to savour of coldness, for
+in social life he was reserved, if not somewhat haughty in his
+bearing,--partly no doubt from temperament, but chiefly from
+absorption in the duties and responsibilities of his office, in
+researches into all the matters which concerned his work, and in the
+study of subjects which were congenial to his mind. It may also be
+said, without reflection on either party, that those robust
+recreations which engrossed the leisure of younger men--and the
+community was very young--were not of a kind with which the consul had
+much personal sympathy. His own distractions were more of a literary
+and reflective order. He did not unbend to gain popularity.
+
+His domestic life left him nothing to desire in the way of society. To
+his wife he was most devoted, and to her he addressed, in half
+soliloquy, a series of thoughts on religious subjects which reveal
+more than anything the deep earnestness of his nature. When this
+loving helpmeet was snatched from his side in March 1853, the calm
+exterior was little disturbed; but having to face that immense gap in
+his life, he was thrown more than ever on his mental resources. His
+isolation was the more keenly felt when he was relieved from the
+heavy demand which the affairs of Shanghai had made on his energies,
+and it was in the comparative leisure of Canton that he composed his
+first serious political contribution to periodical literature, an
+outlet for his thoughts which proved such an attraction to him to the
+end of his life. His first essay was an article in the 'Bombay
+Quarterly Review' on "The Chinese Empire and its Destinies," published
+in October 1855. It was soon followed by a second, entitled "The
+Chinese Empire and its Foreign Relations," a paper which fills no less
+than seventy-eight pages of the 'Review.' The two together form an
+able disquisition on the state of China which has not become obsolete
+by lapse of time.
+
+It was during the same period also that he composed that series of
+short essays which were published anonymously under the title of
+'Life's Problems.' Instead of attempting any appreciation of that
+little volume, we prefer to quote the impression it made on one reader
+many years afterwards. In a letter of Dora Greenwell, published in her
+Memoirs, she says: "I have met with a friend, a book that seems to
+take my whole rational nature along with it. I have seen no such book
+now or at any former time; and it is a book I have often longed for,
+yet never hoped for--a book contemplating _life_ as it is in a
+Christian spirit, yet from the natural standpoint."
+
+The consulate in Canton during the year that Mr Alcock occupied the
+post presented nothing of sensational interest. There was a
+superficial lull there, the lull before the storm which burst in
+October 1856, after Mr Alcock had left for home on his first
+well-earned furlough. The chronic obstruction to business and the old
+difficulties in communicating with the Chinese authorities formed the
+burden of his reports to his chief, Sir John Bowring. The question of
+direct intercourse and of access to the city, which had been put off
+from time to time, was still unsettled. The definitive postponement of
+the treaty right of entry till 1849 had not rendered the solution of
+it one whit easier. On the contrary, the concession had only served to
+confirm the Chinese officials and people in their determination to
+resist the claim for ever. On the accession of Lord Palmerston to the
+Premiership in 1855 the dormant claim was revived, and Sir John
+Bowring was instructed by the Government to obtain unrestricted
+intercourse with the native authorities and the full exercise of the
+right of admission to all the cities which were opened to trade,
+Canton included. To repeated applications of this tenor the Viceroy
+Yeh replied by the traditional evasions, thus laying the train for the
+explosion which soon followed.
+
+Mr Alcock being personally severed from the chain of events which led
+to the outbreak of hostilities in the autumn of 1856, it will be
+convenient here to suspend the narrative and glance at some of those
+general questions which form the subject-matter of our relations with
+China.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[15] See this whole transaction described in his characteristic manner
+by De Quincey in his brochure on China, originally published in Titan,
+1857.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+CONSUL ALCOCK'S VIEWS ON GENERAL POLICY.
+
+     Essays on international relations -- Foresight -- Its
+     connection with succeeding events -- The Canton city
+     question resuscitated.
+
+
+Among serious students of the international problems arising out of
+the forced intercourse of the Western nations with China, Sir
+Rutherford Alcock occupies the first rank. In the long roll of
+consular and diplomatic agents employed by the British Government
+since 1833 he stands alone in the effort to evolve a reasonable
+working scheme out of the chaos of blunders and misunderstandings
+which marked the opening of China to foreign trade. Mr Taylor Meadows,
+another consular officer, though equally far-sighted, was perhaps too
+philosophical for the exigencies of current business. Consul Alcock's
+political philosophy, on the other hand, grew entirely out of the
+facts with which he had to deal from day to day, and was therefore
+essentially practical.
+
+It might seem that fifty-year-old disquisitions on what we now call
+the "China question" must have too much of the musty odour of ancient
+history about them to afford profitable reading to a generation which
+has only been aroused by the thunder of events to take an
+interest--and that as yet perfunctory--in the affairs of the Far East.
+But as Mr Alcock had the faculty of getting to the heart of things, of
+seizing the principles which do not change, his early studies have
+lost neither validity nor value through the lapse of years. On these
+well-digested observations, accordingly, modern inquirers may
+confidently rely as on a corner-stone of Anglo-Chinese politics well
+and truly laid. And the lapse of time, so far from detracting from the
+utility of these opinions, enhances their value. For by extending the
+base of observation over a long period, errors due to personal
+equation, change of circumstance, and other temporary causes, are
+eliminated from the survey, and the seeker after truth is thus
+furnished with a trustworthy criterion by which he may verify his
+conclusions. The forecast of 1849, realised in the developments of
+1900, affords strong proof that the earlier generalisations were not
+the result of ingenious speculation.
+
+It seems reasonable, therefore, here to introduce some of the
+reflections of Consul Alcock while he was as yet comparatively new to
+China. These occur in various forms, as in confidential despatches, in
+private memoranda, and notes for literary articles apparently never
+extended. One of these notes, dated January 19, 1849, summing up the
+results of six years' working of the treaty of Nanking, may well serve
+as a landmark in the record of foreign intercourse with China.
+
+Some extracts from this and other papers are printed for the
+convenience of the reader in an Appendix to the present volume.[16]
+Though bearing directly on the policy of the time when they were
+written, they are no less applicable to present circumstances. They
+show that nothing had changed then, as nothing has changed since, in
+the attitude of the Chinese to foreign nations. "The same arrogant and
+hostile spirit exists, and their policy is still to degrade foreigners
+in the eyes of the people.... Without the power [on our part] of
+commanding attention to any just demands, there is every reason to
+believe the Chinese rulers would still be the most impracticable of
+Orientals.... We cannot hope that any effort of ours or of the emperor
+would suffice to change at once the character and habits of the people
+or even the population of a city."
+
+While advocating a resolute policy in maintaining all British rights
+granted by treaty, the far-sighted consul uttered a timely caution
+against pushing demands for concessions too far. In this he was in
+accord with the policy, often enunciated by the British Government, of
+not imperilling what we already possessed by striving after more. Mr
+Alcock indicates clearly the danger which threatened British interests
+from the prospective influx of Western Powers pressing through the
+doors which Great Britain might be constrained to open:--
+
+     Powers who, having no such great interests to jeopardise,
+     are without this beneficial and most needful check, and may
+     therefore be induced to repeat at a semi-barbarian Court
+     the intrigues and counter-projects for the destruction of
+     our influence and the injury of our trade in the East which
+     are at work in our own times in every capital in Europe, as
+     formerly in India and the Eastern Archipelago.
+
+Nor could a much more accurate description of the state of affairs now
+existing be given than the picture of the future drawn by Consul
+Alcock:--
+
+     Russia, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and America, with
+     their several jealousies and united rivalry with England,
+     their missionary enterprises or commercial and political
+     schemes clashing in their aim and development, are all
+     capable of creating such turmoil, strife, and disturbance
+     throughout the empire, if free access to the Court and the
+     provinces were insisted upon by Great Britain, as could
+     only end in the ejection of Europeans from China as
+     formerly from Japan, or an intestine war in which European
+     force would probably be involved on opposite sides, and to
+     their mutual destruction as States with commercial
+     interests in the country. These, again, might lead to
+     attempts at territorial possession, suggested in the first
+     instance, as in India, in self-defence, and afterwards
+     continued from necessity. With Russia spreading her
+     gigantic arms to the north and east, Great Britain on the
+     south and west, Spain, Holland, and Portugal with their
+     colonies in the Chinese and Indian seas, a struggle for
+     superiority on the soil of China for exclusive advantages
+     or predominant influence might be centred in Peking and
+     embroil the whole of Europe in hostile relations.
+
+An interesting feature in the prognostications of both Mr Alcock and
+Mr Meadows in those early days was the ignoring of the Power which is
+now assuming such an active part in the rearrangement of the Far East.
+Germany was not even thought of as a world Power, but her entry on the
+stage has only added confirmation to the soundness of all these
+predictions.
+
+The more immediate significance, however, of the elaborate exposition
+of the Anglo-Chinese situation which we are now considering, lay in
+its connection with the chain of events which followed within a few
+years, and its coincidence with the progress in the views of the
+British Government, which might almost be traced back to the date of
+the paper. The year 1849 was one of the critical epochs in foreign
+intercourse with China, for it was then that the last promissory note
+as to the opening of Canton became due, and was dishonoured. The years
+of grace successively granted to the Chinese authorities to enable
+them to prepare for the execution of the treaty stipulation had been
+used by them, or at any rate by the populace, to render its execution
+permanently impossible. Mr Bonham, who proceeded up the river to apply
+for the fulfilment of the agreement of 1847, which promised admission
+to the city within two years, was received, not with the suave evasion
+of Kiying but with the coarse rebuff of Governor-General Seu, who amid
+popular enthusiasm caused a memorial arch to be erected to commemorate
+the third repulse of the barbarians. The turning-point of affairs had
+been now reached; the scales fell from the eyes of the British
+Government. Reluctantly they were driven to the conclusion that they
+had for seven years been trifled with, that their agents, one after
+another, had been duped; that while they deluded themselves by
+imagining that by their concessions they were pouring oil on water,
+they were, in fact, throwing that inflammable substance on fire. Such
+systematic blunders could not be made with impunity. It began, in
+short, to be perceived that the ground so weakly surrendered at Canton
+could not be recovered without, in the prophetic words of Lord
+Palmerston, "coming to blows" once more with the Chinese.
+
+The attention of the British Government being thus seriously directed
+to China, they entered into correspondence with their plenipotentiary,
+the governor of Hongkong, as to the best means of arresting the
+decline of British prestige and of placing the interests of trade and
+residence on a satisfactory footing. The plenipotentiary had no
+resource but one for obtaining either information or advice on such
+large questions, and that was always Consul Alcock at Shanghai, a
+thousand miles from the seat of trouble, who had not then even seen
+Canton. Mr Alcock was alert to respond to the invitation of his chief,
+copiously, fearlessly, and with masterly lucidity as well as
+comprehensiveness. In a despatch to Sir George Bonham dated January
+13, 1852, the development of the new policy may be traced.[17] And the
+whole situation is fully laid bare in a further despatch of June 17,
+1852.[18]
+
+This confidential official correspondence,[19] carried on for a number
+of years, constitutes a natural introduction to the chapter of history
+which was about to open. In the transactions which led to a second
+rupture with China Consul Alcock had personally no part, for he was on
+leave in England, but there also his voice was heard in the discussion
+of the causes and objects of the war.
+
+In a series of letters to the press, during 1857-58, commenting on the
+progress of events, Mr Alcock endeavoured to keep the British public
+informed of what was transpiring in China, the reasons for it, and the
+probable consequences. These letters were republished in pamphlet
+form, of course anonymously.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[16] See Appendix I.
+
+[17] See Appendix II.
+
+[18] See Appendix III.
+
+[19] See Appendices I., II., and III.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TRADE UNDER THE TREATY OF NANKING.
+
+     Trade the sole motive in all British and American dealings
+     with China -- Simplicity of this trade -- Chief staple
+     imports and exports -- Data for any review of Chinese trade
+     -- Mutual alarm caused by excess of imports -- Peculiar
+     conditions of British trade -- Entailing a loss of over 30
+     per cent, yet steadily maintained -- System of barter --
+     Consequent impossibility of clear accounts -- And ignorance
+     of position at any given moment -- Trade also hampered by
+     traditions of the East India Company -- Such as that of
+     keeping large stores on hand -- Gradual improvement on
+     these methods -- Advantages of landed investment in China
+     -- Perceived and acted on by the Jesuits -- And later by
+     foreign merchants -- The American trade -- Similarity of
+     currency -- Excess of Chinese exports met by shipments of
+     specie -- And later by credits on London banks.
+
+
+Whatever may be said of that of other nations, the intercourse of
+Great Britain and the United States with China, from the earliest
+period to the latest, whether in peace or war, has had no other object
+than trade between the nations, and therefore all the steps in that
+intercourse must be judged in their relation to the promotion of
+international commerce. War and diplomacy, geographical exploration
+and reforms, even literary researches and mutual instruction, being
+all ancillary to the main purpose, it seems fitting to consider as
+briefly as may be what manner of thing it was which set, and still
+keeps, all these auxiliary forces in motion.
+
+From its first introduction till now one feature has characterised the
+Chinese foreign trade, and that is its simplicity. Both on the export
+and the import side a few staple commodities have made up its whole
+volume, and in this respect the statistics of to-day differ but little
+from those of fifty years ago. The leading Chinese imports at the
+conclusion of the first war were: From India, opium and raw cotton, to
+which has been added, since the development of steam factories, cotton
+yarn. From England, plain bleached and unbleached cotton goods, cotton
+yarn, some descriptions of woollens, iron and lead, account for nearly
+the whole value. The trade from the United States and the continent of
+Europe in those days did not greatly affect the general aggregate. The
+exports of Chinese produce were at the period in question almost
+confined to the one article--tea. Subsequently silk grew into
+importance, and soon exceeded in value the great speciality of China.
+Rhubarb was a commodity on which, next to tea, the Chinese affected to
+lay much stress, on the ground that foreigners were dependent upon it
+for the preservation of their health, and that stopping the supply
+might offer an easy means of coercing them. But the article never
+assumed any important commercial value. Sugar, camphor, and matting
+were also among the exports, the last named being much in demand in
+the United States. It is only of recent years, however, that anything
+like assorted cargoes of produce have been sent away from the Chinese
+ports. The trade has passed through many vicissitudes, has had its
+periodical ebb and flow, but has on the whole been prosaically
+progressive. And this has been especially the case with the imports
+of British and other Western produce.
+
+It would be instructive to review the circumstances of the Chinese
+trade at successive stages of its progress, and to note the grievances
+of merchants and manufacturers at different epochs and the obstacles
+to commercial development as they were felt from time to time. It
+would be more interesting to do this were it possible to discriminate
+between permanent causes and temporary accidents. But it is not always
+what is of the most lasting importance that makes the strongest
+impression upon those who are actively engaged in the struggle for
+life. The trader does not greatly differ from the world at large in
+his love of a whipping-boy--that is to say, in the common tendency to
+attribute mischances to objective rather than to subjective causes.
+Prosperity, like good health, is, to those who enjoy it, its own
+sufficient explanation, the normal reward of the merit each one takes
+to himself as a matter of course. Adversity, on the other hand, is
+assigned to demonic origin, its victims being martyrs to the powers of
+nature or the hostile combinations of men. For these reasons it would
+be as difficult to gather from their own accounts what were the real
+helps and what the real hindrances to the traders' progress, as to
+draw general conclusions on the state of agriculture from
+conversations with working farmers. The commercial circular is a
+familiar product of the modern era of open trade. It undertakes to
+record the actual state of markets and to give the reasons why they
+are not otherwise. If one were to circumnavigate the globe and compare
+the ordinary run of these reports issuing from the great emporia, one
+feature would be found common to them all--it is the bogy. Everything
+would be for the best--but for certain adverse influences. It may be
+the vagaries of some Finance Minister or Tariff Commission, the
+restraint of princes, war, pestilence, or famine--inundations here and
+droughts there; but a something there must always be to explain away
+the moral accountability of the individual traders, manufacturers, or
+planters. China and Japan have seldom been without such fatalistic
+obstacles to commerce. For many years the rebellion was the _bête
+noire_ of merchants, then the mandarins, and smaller rebellions; the
+scarcity of specie at one period, at another the superabundance of
+cheap silver. In Burma the King of Ava stood for long as the root of
+all commercial evil. In Japan the Daimios and the currency served
+their turn. India is never without calamities sufficient to account
+for perhaps more than ever happens there. All such drawbacks, however,
+though real enough as far as they go, are never exhaustive, and seldom
+even reach to the core of the problem. They are as atmospheric
+phenomena, to be observed, taken advantage of, or provided against,
+and are extremely interesting to the individuals immediately affected
+by them. But as regards the general course of trade, such incidents
+are but as storms on the surface of the deep oceanic currents: it is
+the onward sweep of the great volume of traffic that alone possesses
+public interest. Of the circumstances which influence the course and
+direction of that beneficent current a collation of the utterances of
+traders would yield but a refracted account. So that in order to
+appreciate the progress of commerce we have to fall back on the
+unadorned columns of statistical tables, which themselves leave
+something to be desired on the score of completeness.[20]
+
+With regard to certain periods of the China trade we have rather full
+data, as, for instance, in the decade following the war, when the
+working of the trade exercised the minds both of British merchants and
+of their Government in a degree which has scarcely been equalled
+since. The same may be predicated of the Chinese Government also, and,
+as has been observed in a previous chapter, it was an interesting
+coincidence that during that critical period it was the self-same
+grievance that pressed on both sides--namely, the insufficiency of the
+Chinese exported produce to pay for the goods imported. The effect of
+this on the Chinese Government was to excite unfeigned alarm at the
+steady drain of silver required to pay for the excess of their
+imports. On the British side the grievance came home to the
+manufacturers in the form of the incapacity of the Chinese to take off
+an adequate quantity of the products of English looms. The remedy
+proposed from the two sides was thoroughly characteristic of their
+respective traditions. On the Chinese side it was negative,
+obstructive, prohibitory, and absolutely vain. On the British side the
+proposal was positive, expansive, and in accord with the spirit of
+modern commerce. The Chinese remedy was to forbid the export of silver
+and the import of opium, which, being the article in most urgent
+demand, was usually paid for in bullion or in coined dollars. The
+English remedy was to stimulate the export of Chinese produce. But
+here a paradox stands in the way of a clear perception of the
+position. The British trade was being carried on at a loss, which some
+of the merchants estimated at 33 per cent on the round venture. That
+is to say, manufactured goods were sold in China at a loss of 15 to 20
+per cent, and the proceeds, being invested in Chinese produce,
+realised a further loss on sale in England of 17 or 20 per cent.
+
+To account for this unremunerative trade being carried on voluntarily
+year after year, it is necessary to remember the great distance of the
+two markets in the days before the introduction of steam and the
+shortening of the voyage by the piercing of the Suez Canal. We have to
+allow also for the gambling or speculative element which animates all
+commerce, and the "hope-on-hope-ever" spirit without which no distant
+adventure would ever be undertaken. The rationale of the phenomenon
+was reduced to a very simple expression by Mr Gregson, who, when asked
+by the Committee of the House of Commons if he could explain "the
+singular proceeding of continuing the trade for a series of years with
+perpetual losses on it," replied: "The manufacturers reason that as
+the losses have been considerable the exports will fall off, and
+therefore they may export again. They are generally deceived, because
+their neighbours taking the same view, the exports are kept up and the
+loss continues."
+
+The case thus bluntly stated by Mr Gregson was not such a temporary
+phase as might naturally have been concluded. The same remarkable
+features continued for many years afterwards more or less
+characteristic of the China trade, so that had another commission been
+appointed to consider the subject they would have been surprised to
+find the old riddle still awaiting solution, Why so regular and simple
+a trade should be carried on apparently without profit? The data of
+supply and demand being well ascertained, prices remunerative to the
+merchant might have been expected to arrange themselves automatically.
+Further explanations seem, in fact, required to supplement Mr
+Gregson's, and some of these must appear somewhat whimsical and
+farfetched to the general reader. The peculiar method in vogue of
+stating accounts was not perhaps without its influence in obscuring
+the merchants' perceptions of the merits of their current operations.
+The trade being virtually conducted by barter, the sale of a
+particular parcel of goods did not necessarily close the venture. A
+nominal price was agreed upon between buyer and seller for the
+convenience of account-keeping, but this almost always had reference
+to the return investment in tea or other produce. So that British
+goods were regarded as a means of laying down funds in China for the
+purchase of tea, while tea was regarded as a return remittance for the
+proceeds of manufactured goods, and as a means of laying down funds in
+England for further investments in the same commodity for shipment to
+China. The trade thus revolving in an eternal circle, having neither
+beginning nor end, it was impossible to pronounce definitely at what
+particular point of the revolution the profit or loss occurred. A bad
+out-turn of goods exported would, it was hoped, be compensated for by
+the favourable result of the produce imported, and _vice versâ_, _ad
+infinitum_. Thus no transaction stood on its own merits or received
+the unbiassed attention of the merchants. Their accounts did not show
+the actual amount of loss or gain on a particular invoice, the
+formula simply recording the price at which the venture, as an
+operation in exchange, "laid down the dollar." The par value of that
+coin being taken at 4s. 4d., the out-turn of a sterling invoice which
+yielded the dollar at any price below that was of course a gain, or
+anything above it a loss. But the gain or loss so registered was
+merely provisional. The dollar as such was never realised: it was but
+a fiction of the accountant, which acquired its substantial value only
+when reinvested in Chinese produce. The final criterion, therefore,
+was how much the dollar invoices of Chinese produce would yield back
+in sterling money when sold in London, and how that yield compared
+with the "laid-down" cost of the dollar in China. But even that
+finality was only provisional so long as the circuit of reinvestment
+was uninterrupted.
+
+Merchants were not called upon to face their losses as they were made,
+nor could they realise their profits as they were earned. Long before
+one year's account could be closed, the venture of one or two
+subsequent years had been launched beyond recall, and the figures of
+the newest balance-sheet related to transactions which, having already
+become ancient history, were but a dry study compared with the new
+enterprises bearing the promise of the future and absorbing the whole
+interest of the merchant. Business was thus carried on very much in
+the dark, the eyes of the trader being constantly directed forward,
+while past experience was not allowed its legitimate influence in
+forming the judgment. A blind reliance on the equalising effect of
+averages was perhaps the safest principle on which such a commerce
+could be carried on. The merchants themselves were wont to say that
+after drawing the clearest inferences from experience, and making the
+most careful estimates of probabilities, the wisest man was he who
+could act contrary to the obvious deductions therefrom. Business thus
+became a kind of concrete fatalism.
+
+The China trade was, moreover, much hampered by certain traditions of
+the East India Company which long clung to its skirts. One of these
+relics of conservatism, transmitted from the days of the maritime
+wars, was the principle of storing up merchandise at both termini. It
+was an understood thing that the Company should never keep less than
+two years' supply of tea in the London warehouses, and long after the
+Company ceased to trade stocks of that commodity often amounted to
+nearly twelve months' consumption. Similarly, manufactured goods were
+accumulated, whether of set purpose or from the mere force of habit,
+in the China depots. The merchant seemed to have inherited the
+principle of holding merchandise for some ideal price, locking up his
+own or his constituents' capital, incurring cumulative charges on
+commodities which were all the while deteriorating in value, and
+eventually perhaps selling under some financial or other pressure. A
+certain satisfaction seems to have been derived from the contemplation
+of a full "go-down," as if the merchandise there stored had been
+realised wealth instead of a block to such realisation.
+
+That primitive state of affairs is now a thing of the past, since the
+progress of the world during the last thirty years has revolutionised
+not the foreign trade of China, but the peculiar system on which it
+was carried on. The distribution of capital and the services of
+Exchange banks exploded many conservative doctrines. The first
+merchants who, perceiving the necessity of reforming the habits of the
+trade, boldly resolved to "sell and repent" on the arrival of their
+merchandise, were pitied by their more antiquated neighbours, and
+thought to be likely to stand much in need of repentance. But in their
+case wisdom has been justified of her children.
+
+This bald sketch of the trade customs inherited from the East India
+Company, though typical, is by no means exhaustive. There were, both
+before and after the treaty of Nanking, many byways and specialities
+and exceptions by which the vicious circle was broken with happy
+results to the individuals. Indeed at all points there have been
+collateral avenues to fortune, contributory enterprises more
+profitable than those which were purely commercial. The various ways
+of taxing commerce, as by insurance, freightage, storage, lighterage,
+packing, financing, &c., have afforded, on the whole, safe and good
+returns on capital. In countries where family improvidence is
+prevalent, and where capital is scarce and dear, as is the case
+generally in the Far East, both the opportunity and the inducement to
+invest in real estate are afforded to those who are in a position to
+take advantage of them,--for the same conditions which bring property
+into the market provide the tenants for the new proprietors. By
+following with that singleness of purpose which distinguishes all
+their proceedings the line of financial policy so obviously suggested
+by this state of things, the Jesuits, Lazarists, and other religious
+orders have gradually accumulated in every locality where they have
+settled a very large amount of house property in and around populous
+centres. By this means they have laid whole communities of natives,
+and even foreigners, under permanent tribute to the Church, and have
+thereby rendered their missions independent of subventions from
+Christian countries. Many of the foreign merchants, following this
+worldly-wise example, have in like manner rendered themselves
+independent of mercantile business.
+
+The American trade was for the most part exempt from the drawbacks as
+well as the advantages of the circuit system. The similarity of
+currency helped to simplify American commerce with China, and though
+from an early period the United States exported manufactures to that
+country, these went but a little way in payment for the products which
+they imported from China. Hence large shipments of specie had to be
+made to purchase their cargoes. No statistics exist, but Mr Hunter
+incidentally mentions one ship carrying amongst other cargo $350,000,
+and three other vessels carrying between them $1,100,000, which may be
+taken as typical of the course of trade prior to the abolition of the
+East India Company's monopoly. This mode of paying for produce was
+succeeded in after-years by credits on London banks, drafts under
+which supplied the most convenient medium of remittance to shippers of
+opium and other produce from India. The circuit was trilateral, and to
+a considerable extent remains so.
+
+
+I. TEA.
+
+     Causes of bad state of trade -- Failure of hopes built on
+     "free" trade -- Efforts for improvement -- Select Committee
+     of 1847 -- Excessive duties in England -- Irregularities in
+     valuation -- Annual consumption at this time -- Revenue
+     from the duties -- Beginnings of the India tea trade -- Mr
+     Robert Fortune -- Lord William Bentinck, Governor-General,
+     introduces tea culture, 1834 -- Assam Company founded 1839
+     -- Fortune's missions to China -- Tea-plant indigenous in
+     India -- Progress of scientific culture -- Vicissitudes of
+     the trade -- Ultimate success of the India and Ceylon trade
+     -- An example of Western as against Eastern methods --
+     Tea-planting introduced in Ceylon -- Rapid increase there
+     -- Why China has been supplanted in the market -- Ingenuity
+     and enterprise of the Indian planters -- A victory of race
+     and progress -- Obstructive measures of the Chinese
+     Government.
+
+There was an apparent inconsistency in the outcry for larger
+quantities of Chinese produce to balance the trade, while the small
+quantity that did come forward could only be sold at a loss. The
+explanation may partly be found in the "boom" which naturally ensued
+on the emancipation of the China trade from the oppressive monopoly of
+the East India Company, and in the disappointment which, no less
+naturally, succeeded the boom. To some extent also the onerous imposts
+laid upon the principal article of export--tea--by the British
+Exchequer might be held responsible for the anomaly; for the English
+duties were a mechanical dead-weight on the trade, impeding the free
+play of the other economic factors. There was a practically unlimited
+supply of tea in China, and a growing demand for it in England, and
+yet some £2,000,000 in specie was annually sent away from China as the
+balance of trade. How to commute that amount of silver into tea for
+the benefit of both countries might be said to be the problem before
+the merchants and their Governments.
+
+The only means which appeared to them feasible to effect this object
+was to lower the British import duty. Among many interesting
+particulars concerning the actual state of the Chinese trade at that
+time, we get from the report of the Select Committee of the House of
+Commons on "Commercial Relations with China," of 1847, an insight into
+the difficulties, such as in our day can scarcely be imagined, which
+stood in the way of any reduction of the tea duties.
+
+On the opening of what was called free trade with China--"free," that
+is to say, of the East India Company's monopoly--the duty was 96 per
+cent _ad valorem_ on all teas sold at or under 2s. a pound, or 100 per
+cent on all above that price. These _ad valorem_ duties worked
+iniquitously for both the Government and the merchants, the Customs
+levying the higher rate when the lower was appropriate, and the
+merchants redressing the injustice in their own fashion when occasion
+served. An attempt was made to remedy this regrettable situation by
+the reduction of tea to three classifications, and the conversion of
+the _ad valorem_ duties into specific duties ranging from 1s. 6d. to
+3s. per pound on these classifications. The arrangement was still
+found unworkable, and the most glaring irregularities were common. The
+same parcel of tea, absolutely uniform in quality, divided between
+London and Liverpool, would be assessed in one port on the lower, and
+in the other on the higher, scale of duties, and the Customs would
+grant no redress, though the overcharge might be ruinous to the
+trader.
+
+This impossible state of things was remedied in 1836, when the duties
+were converted to one uniform rate of 2s. per pound on all teas.
+Subsequently 5 per cent was added to this, so that the duty in 1847
+was 2s. 2¼d. The object to which the Government inquiry was primarily
+directed was to gauge the effect on the consumption of tea of the
+raising or lowering of the duties, on which depended the ultimate
+retail price. The admission of competition in the Chinese trade in
+1834 had the immediate effect of reducing the "laid-down" cost of tea,
+which promptly reacted upon the consumption of the article in England.
+But as the import duty remained unaltered, while the prime cost of the
+tea was much lowered, the Exchequer derived the whole benefit from the
+increased consumption.
+
+The annual consumption at that time in Great Britain was 1 lb. 10 oz.
+per head, or 46,000,000 lb. in total, and it was shown that in every
+instance where the duty was lower the consumption was proportionately
+greater. In the Isle of Man, where the duty was 1s. per pound, the
+consumption quickly rose, when the restriction on the quantity allowed
+to be imported there was removed, to 2 lb. 10 oz. per head. In the
+Channel Islands it was 4 lb. 4 oz. per head. "In Newfoundland,
+Australia, and other colonies the consumption is very much larger per
+head than it is in this country." The Australian colonies have
+maintained to the present day their pre-eminence as tea-drinkers,
+their consumption averaging no less than 10 lb. per head. Consumption
+in Russia and the United States is estimated at a little over 1 lb.
+per head of the population.
+
+The colonists have always been the most intelligent consumers of the
+article. Forty years ago they substituted good black teas for the
+pungent green which had supplied the wants of the mining camps and
+primitive sheep stations, and within the last few years they have
+shown their appreciation of the flavoury Ceylon leaf by taking every
+year a larger quantity in relative displacement of the rougher
+qualities which come from India. The "geographical distribution" of
+the taste for tea presents some rather curious facts. In the United
+Kingdom, for example, dealers find that Irish consumers demand the
+best quality of tea. The United States remained faithful to their
+green tea long after that description was discarded in Australia; and
+even when black tea came to be in part substituted, it was not the
+Ceylon or Chinese Congou, but the astringent Oolong kinds, such as are
+so largely supplied from Japan, which met the taste of American
+consumers.
+
+The cost price of tea had been so much reduced by the abolition of the
+East India Company's monopoly that the fixed rate of duty, instead of
+being equivalent, as it had been when originally fixed, to 100 per
+cent on the value, was estimated to average 165 per cent on Congou
+tea, which was much beyond what the Legislature intended when the
+tariff was decided; for while they reckoned on getting a revenue of
+£3,600,000, the increase in the quantity had been so considerable that
+the yield of the duty had risen to £5,000,000. The arguments and the
+evidence in favour of reducing the duties were unanswerable from every
+point of view. Yet the utmost which the advocates in 1847 seem to have
+hoped for was that it might be reduced to 1s. per pound, which they
+considered would entail a temporary loss to the revenue. But we see in
+our day that the Government draws nearly £4,000,000 from the article
+on a tariff rate of 4d. per pound, while the consumption per head of
+population has risen to 6 lb., or a total of 235,000,000 lb. per
+annum.
+
+While the mercantile community were thus straining after means of
+developing the tea trade from China there were causes at work, of
+which they seemed to have no suspicion, which have completely
+revolutionised that trade, reducing China to a quite secondary
+position as an exporter. Among the witnesses examined before the
+Committee of 1847 there was one who may almost be said to have held
+the fate of the Chinese tea trade in his hands, though probably he
+himself was unaware of it. This was Mr Robert Fortune, curator of the
+Physic Gardens at Chelsea, who had travelled in some of the tea
+districts of China as agent of the Horticultural Society of London,
+being also commissioned by the East India Company to investigate the
+processes of the growth and manufacture of tea in China, and to bring
+to India seeds and plants as well as skilled workmen to manipulate the
+leaves. The idea of cultivating tea in India had long been entertained
+by the Company. The plant itself had been found indigenous in Upper
+Assam twenty years before Fortune's day, but no practical notice was
+taken of the discovery until 1834, when the Government of India
+resolved to attempt the culture of the leaf. The scheme received its
+first embodiment in a Minute of Lord William Bentinck, the first
+Governor-General of India,[21] in 1834. The plan he laid down was to
+"select an intelligent agent, who should go to Penang and Singapore
+and in conjunction with authorities and the most intelligent of
+Chinese agents should concert measures for obtaining the genuine
+plant, and actual cultivators." The state of affairs in China at the
+time did not favour the prosecution of such an enterprise. The native
+resources of India, however, began at once to be utilised. The Assam
+Company, the pioneer of tea-culture, was established in 1839, and
+continues its operations to our own day. After the treaty of peace and
+the successful establishment of trade at the new ports in China, Lord
+William Bentinck's ideas were realised in the two missions of Fortune,
+who succeeded in conveying to India nearly 20,000 plants from both the
+black and green tea countries of Central China. Although, judging from
+subsequent experience, India might by her unaided efforts have
+developed this great industry, yet it can hardly be doubted that the
+enterprise of the practical Scottish gardener applied the effective
+stimulus which raised tea-growing to the rank of a serious national
+interest. Hybridisation between the imported Chinese plants and those
+of indigenous growth proceeded actively, no less than one hundred
+varieties being thus produced. Planters now consider that the native
+plant would have served all their purposes without any intermixture,
+but probably nothing short of practical experience would have
+persuaded them of this.
+
+The vicissitudes of tea-growing in India have been so sharp that they
+would form of themselves an interesting episode of industrial history.
+Mania and panic alternated during the experimental stages of the
+enterprise, with the inevitable result of wholesale transfers of
+property, so that of the early pioneers comparatively few were
+destined to enjoy the ultimate reward of their sacrifices.
+Difficulties of many kinds dogged the steps of the planters, among
+these being the unsatisfactory land tenure and the supply of labour.
+The mortality among the imported coolies was for many years so heavy
+that the Government was eventually obliged to interfere with severe
+regulations, which were imposed in 1863. These and other difficulties
+being successfully grappled with, the prosperity of the industry
+flowed as smoothly as the Niagara river below the Falls, until the
+supply of tea from India and Ceylon had completely swamped that from
+the original home of the trade.
+
+The supplanting of Chinese by Indian tea in the markets of the
+world--for even Russia is now an importer of the latter--is an
+interesting example of the encroachment of Western enterprise on the
+ancient province of Eastern habits. These are of course only general
+terms, for from all such comparisons Japan must be either excluded or
+classed rather among the foremost of the progressive nations than
+among her nearest geographical neighbours. When tea-cultivation was
+once shown to be "payable" in British Indian territory the energy of
+the Western people was quickly brought to bear on the industry, and
+through several cycles of success and failure, and over the dead
+bodies, so to speak, of many pioneers, the production available for
+and distributed in the English market has steadily grown from nothing
+up to 154,000,000 lb. per annum.
+
+The cultivation of tea was introduced at a much later period into
+Ceylon, where it most opportunely took the place of coffee, which had
+been ruined by disease, and already the deliveries of tea from that
+island press hard on that from India itself, having reached 90,000,000
+lb., or more than half of the Indian supply. The rate of progress in
+Ceylon has been most remarkable. In 1883 the most experienced
+residents in the island considered themselves sanguine in predicting
+that the export of tea would eventually reach the total of 20,000,000
+lb.--it being at that time under 1,000,000 lb. While the products of
+India and Ceylon have thus been advancing by leaps and bounds, the
+import from China has dwindled down to 29,000,000 lb.,--about
+one-tenth part of a trade of which forty years ago she held an easy
+monopoly.
+
+How has such a gigantic displacement been brought about? Primarily, no
+doubt, from the vigorous following up of the discovery that tea could
+be profitably grown in India. But beyond that it is a victory of race
+over race, of progress over stagnation, of the spirit of innovation
+and experiment over that of conservative contentment. The Indian
+planters have made a personal study of all the conditions of
+tea-culture, have selected their plants, invented machinery to do all
+that the Chinese have done for centuries by manipulation, have put
+ample capital into the enterprise, and used the utmost skill in
+adapting their product to the taste of their customers. Moreover, they
+have by dint of advertising all over the world, attending exhibitions,
+and many other devices, forced their commodity into markets which
+would never have come to them. There was, on the other hand, no one
+interested in the success of Chinese tea-growers, whose plantations
+are in the interior of the country, subdivided into garden-plots, with
+no cohesion among their owners for aggressive purposes. For though
+the Chinese can and do combine, it is usually in a negative sense, to
+obstruct and not to promote action, whereas the tea-growers of India
+have shown examples of intelligent co-operation of the aggressive and
+productive kind, not wasting power in seeking to impede rivals, but
+devoting their whole energies to the prosecution of their own
+business. And they have their reward.
+
+The short-sightedness of the Government has no doubt contributed to
+the decline of the Chinese tea trade, through the excessive duties of
+one kind and another which they have continued to levy on the article
+from the place of growth to the port of shipment. It is fair to
+remember, however, that their exactions bear most heavily on the low
+grades, which, notwithstanding, continue to be shipped in quite as
+large quantities as is desirable in the interest of consumers; while
+the superior qualities, which are quite able to bear the taxes, have
+almost ceased to be imported into Great Britain, the whole supply
+finding its way to Russia. That country has long been celebrated, and
+justly so, for the excellence of its tea, for which fantastical
+reasons are wont to be given. The true reason is very simple. Russian
+merchants purchase the fine Chinese teas for which no market can now
+be found in England, the public taste having run so exclusively on the
+product of India and Ceylon that a cup of good Chinese tea has become
+a luxury reserved for those who have facilities for obtaining the
+article outside the ordinary channels of trade.
+
+
+II. SILK.
+
+     Balance of trade adjusted by Shanghai silk trade -- China
+     the original silk country -- Silk chiefly exported from
+     Canton -- Advantages of the new port of Shanghai -- Disease
+     attacks the silkworm in Europe -- Shanghai supplies the
+     deficit -- Efforts in Italy and France to obtain healthy
+     seed from China and Japan -- Disease overcome by M. Pasteur
+     -- Renewed prosperity of the European producers shared by
+     the Chinese.
+
+Within six years of the time when the merchants of England were
+earnestly seeking a remedy for the crying evil of the balance of trade
+against China, the whole difficulty had disappeared through the
+operation of natural causes. The great factor in bringing about the
+change was the rapid growth of the trade of Shanghai, and more
+particularly the large exportation of raw silk from that port. "The
+noble article," as the Italians fondly call it, already in 1853
+represented a larger value than the tea exported; the turn of the tide
+had come; the balance of trade had shifted; and in a very few years
+silver flowed into the country more copiously than it had ever flowed
+out.
+
+Of all the materials of commerce silk is perhaps the most classical. A
+fibre so lustrous, so pure, and so durable, has been the desire of all
+nations ancient and modern, and the peculiar interest excited by its
+humble origin enveloped the subject in myths and legends during the
+earlier intercourse between Europe and Asia. China was known to the
+ancients as the cradle of sericulture, deriving, in fact, from its
+most famous product the name Serica, by which it was known to the
+Greeks and Romans. There is not a silk-producing country in the world
+which is not directly or indirectly indebted to China for the seed of
+the insect, if not also for the introduction of the white
+mulberry-tree, upon the leaves of which the caterpillar is fed. Though
+rivals have sprung up in many countries both in Europe and in Asia,
+China has not lost its reputation, or even its pre-eminence, as a
+producer of the article.
+
+The vicissitudes of the silk trade and cultivation would afford more
+varied interest than the comparatively simple annals of the
+displacement of tea. Though the subject falls outside the scope of the
+present work, the changes that have taken place in Chinese commerce
+cannot be intelligently followed without some reference to the
+animated competition which has been going on for more than forty years
+among the great silk-producing countries. The first in rank among
+these was Italy, France following at a considerable distance. The
+wants of Europe had been mainly supplied during centuries by the
+product of these countries, India and the Levant and some others
+contributing also their share. Japan had been growing silk for her own
+use during all the time that intercourse with the rest of the world
+was prohibited by severe laws, and she came later into the field as an
+exporter.
+
+The quantity obtained from China previous to the opening of the five
+ports was all derived from the southern provinces, and was exported
+from Canton. In nothing was the pre-eminence of the new port of
+Shanghai over its older rival destined to be more marked than in the
+development of the silk trade. Its position within an easy canal
+journey of the richest silk-growing districts in the whole empire gave
+to the northern port advantages which were promptly turned to account
+in co-operation between the foreign and the native merchants,
+resulting before many years in the growth of a healthy and most
+satisfactory trade. The supply of the article having up to that time
+been regulated by the home demand, the entry of an outside customer
+had a very stimulating effect upon the Chinese growers. Some years
+elapsed before the product of the newly opened districts could be
+fully tested and appreciated by the manufacturers in Europe. This time
+was well employed by the Chinese cultivators and traders in maturing
+their arrangements for bringing larger supplies to the foreign market,
+suited to the requirements of the new purchasers, as far as they were
+understood. The supply and demand had progressed evenly, admitting of
+good profits to both sides, until a stage was reached when the trade
+and cultivation were both ready to respond to a new stimulus, and just
+then the new stimulus was applied.
+
+Disease began to attack the silkworms in Europe; the production of
+Italian and other silk became precarious, and inadequate to the
+demands of the manufacturing trade. Into the vacuum thus created
+supplies from China were ready to pour in, and highly remunerative
+prices awaited them. The export from Shanghai for the year 1856 was
+very large, and the result encouraged growers and native and foreign
+merchants to put forth still greater efforts in the following year,
+when the shipments from that port reached 90,000 bales, worth probably
+£10,000,000 sterling. These shipments, thrown on the market during the
+money panic of 1857, resulted disastrously, but the impetus given to
+the trade continued to be felt during many subsequent years.
+
+The Italians in the meanwhile, driven to their wits' end to save so
+valuable an industry, tried first to obtain healthy seed from China
+and Japan. The first experiments being unsuccessful, the eggs having
+hatched during the voyage, steamers were specially chartered and
+carefully fitted up with conveniences for preserving the precious
+commodity. Experiment was also made of sending the seed by the caravan
+route through Siberia to save the risk of premature incubation. In
+fact, Jason's quest of the Golden Fleece was scarcely characterised by
+more varied adventures than that of the Italians--the French also
+joining to a certain extent--after a healthy breed of silkworm. After
+many years of anxious and almost desperate efforts, some success was
+obtained in introducing Chinese and Japanese seed into Europe; but the
+produce of the exotic seed also in time became liable to attacks of
+the parasite, and it was not till science came to the aid of the
+cultivators that the true remedy was finally applied, and an important
+item in the national wealth of Southern Europe was saved. It was M.
+Pasteur who eventually furnished the means of detecting in the egg the
+germ of the destructive parasite; so that by sorting out the infected
+eggs and destroying them the race was purified. Thus the way was
+opened for the restoration of European culture to more than its
+pristine prosperity; for the many valuable lessons which the
+cultivators learnt in the school of their adversity have stood them in
+good stead now that fortune has again smiled upon them.
+
+Notwithstanding the revival of European silk-culture, the silks of
+China and Japan and other Eastern countries still hold their own in
+the Western markets, and continue to form an important constituent of
+the export trade of the Far East.[22] The European markets to which
+they are consigned are no longer indeed English, but French, German,
+American, and others, the last forty years having witnessed a
+revolution in the silk industries of Great Britain, and a virtual
+transference of the old industries of Spitalfields, Norwich,
+Macclesfield, and other districts to her manufacturing rivals.
+
+
+III. OPIUM.
+
+     The largest and most interesting Chinese import --
+     Peculiarities of the trade -- Nominally contraband -- But
+     openly dealt in -- Ships anchored in the Canton river -- Or
+     near the trading-ports -- Wusung -- Opium cargoes
+     discharged into old hulks before entering Shanghai port --
+     Importance of the opium traffic as a factor in foreign
+     intercourse -- The opium clippers -- The opium market
+     liable to much variation -- Piracy -- The clippers were
+     armed -- Occasionally attacked -- Anomalous position --
+     Alcock's aversion to the opium traffic -- His reasons --
+     Experience at Shanghai modifies his opinion -- The trade
+     being bound up with our Indian and Chinese commerce -- No
+     attempt to stop it could do other than aggravate the
+     mischief -- Still wishes to see the trade modified or
+     abolished -- Despatch to Sir J. Bowring -- His desire to
+     devise some scheme -- His last proposal of 1870 --
+     Ambiguous attitude of the British Government -- Inheritors
+     of the East India Company's traditions -- These forbad the
+     carrying of opium in their ships -- Question of legalising
+     the traffic -- 1885 Chinese Government trebles the import
+     duty and asks the help of the Hongkong Government for its
+     collection.
+
+The most interesting constituent of trade in China has always been
+opium, especially since the product of British India was so much
+improved and stimulated by the Government as practically to supersede
+in the China market the demand for the production of other countries.
+The value of the opium imported exceeded that of all other articles,
+the figures being returned at $23,000,000 and $20,000,000 respectively
+for the year 1845. As the exports of Chinese produce were at that time
+estimated at $37,000,000, it is evident that opium played a most
+important part in the adjustment of the balance of trade; and as it
+came from India and the returns from it had to go thither, opium and
+raw cotton, which also came from India, formed the pivot of exchange.
+As the opium was paid for in silver and not by the barter of produce,
+it was natural to charge it with the loss of the silver which was
+annually shipped away from China, and which was assumed to reach the
+amount of £2,000,000 sterling, though that seems to be an
+exaggeration.
+
+The trade in this commodity differs from all ordinary commerce in the
+conditions under which it has been carried on, and in the sentiments
+which have grown up concerning it. Until the treaty made by Lord Elgin
+in 1858 the importation of opium had been for many years nominally
+contraband, while yet the trade in it was as open as that in any other
+commodity and was as little interfered with by the Government. Laxity
+and connivance being the characteristics of Chinese officialdom, there
+would be nothing extraordinary even in the official patronage of a
+traffic which was forbidden by the State, so that it would not be safe
+to infer from the outward show what the real mind of the responsible
+Government was on that or any other subject. The necessity of saving
+appearances, an object always so dear to the Chinese heart,
+necessitated a special machinery for conducting the trade in opium.
+Before the war, as has been already said, the ships carrying the drug
+anchored at certain rendezvous in the estuary of the Canton river,
+where they delivered their goods on the order of the merchants who
+were located in Canton or Macao. The vessels also made excursions up
+the coast, where they had direct dealings with the Chinese, the master
+acting as agent for the owners. And when the northern ports were
+opened, after the treaty of Nanking, the opium depot ships were
+stationed at convenient points on the coast in the vicinity of the
+trading-ports. The most important of these stations was at Wusung, on
+the Hwangpu river, nine miles by road from Shanghai. There were
+sometimes a dozen, and never less than half-a-dozen, hulks moored
+there, dismantled, housed-in, and unfit for sea. The supply was kept
+up in the earlier days by fast schooners and latterly by steamers,
+which in the period before the treaty of 1858 discharged their opium
+into these hulks without surveillance of any kind, and then proceeded
+up the river to Shanghai with the rest of their cargo, which, though
+often consisting of but a few odd packages, was taken charge of by the
+custom-house with the utmost punctilio, while the valuable cargo of
+opium was ignored as if it did not exist.
+
+The opium trade was a ruling factor in the general scheme of foreign
+intercourse and residence in China. The postal communication, for
+example, on the coast and between India and China was practically
+dependent on it; for, being a precious commodity, it could afford to
+pay very high charges for freight, and the opium clippers could be run
+regardless of expense, as will be more fully described in the Chapter
+on "Shipping."
+
+The high value of the article influenced the conduct of the trade in a
+variety of ways, one in particular being that the vessels carrying it
+had to go heavily armed. The coast of China before the war and after
+swarmed with pirates, to whom so portable an article as opium offered
+an irresistible temptation. The clippers on the coast were usually
+small schooners from 100 to 200 tons burthen, and though with their
+superior sailing powers they could always take care of themselves in a
+breeze, they would have been helpless in a calm unless prepared to
+stand to their guns. It was sometimes alleged by those opposed to the
+traffic that these vessels were little better than pirates themselves,
+inasmuch as they were forcing a trade prohibited by the laws of the
+empire, and were armed to resist the authorities. The opium-carriers
+were not unfrequently attacked by pirates, sometimes captured and
+destroyed by them; but there never seems to have been any interference
+or complaint on the part of the Government, even when prompted thereto
+by British consuls. Nevertheless it was an anomalous state of things,
+though one far from unusual in the first third of the century, that
+European vessels should ply their trade armed like privateers.
+
+The attitude of Consul Alcock towards the opium trade was, from the
+earliest days of his consulship in Foochow until his final departure
+from China in 1870, one of consistent aversion, so decided, indeed,
+that in some of the arguments adduced in his Foochow reports against
+the trade the conclusion somewhat outran the premisses, as he in after
+years acknowledged by marginal notes on those earlier despatches:--
+
+     A trade prohibited and denounced alike as illegal and
+     injurious by the Chinese authority constitutes a very
+     anomalous position both for British subjects and British
+     authorities, giving to the latter an appearance of
+     collusion or connivance at the infraction of the laws of
+     China, which must be held to reflect upon their integrity
+     and good faith by the Chinese.
+
+     No small portion of the odium attaching to the illicit
+     traffic in China falls upon the consular authorities under
+     whose jurisdiction the sales take place, and upon the whole
+     nation whose subjects are engaged in the trade; and the
+     foundations of the largest smuggling trade in the world are
+     largely extended, carrying with them a habit of violating
+     the laws of another country.
+
+     The opium is of necessity inimical and opposed to the
+     enlargement of our manufacturing trade.
+
+     That which has been said of war may with still greater
+     force apply to the illicit traffic in opium, "It is the
+     loss of the many that is the gain of the few."
+
+     Whichever way we turn, evil of some kind connected with
+     this monstrous trade and monopoly of large houses meets our
+     eye.
+
+In order to do justice to the agents in the traffic, he adds in the
+same report on the trade for 1845--
+
+     While the cultivation and sale of opium are sanctioned and
+     encouraged for the purposes of revenue in India, and those
+     who purchase the drug deriving wealth and importance from
+     the disposal of it in China are free from blame, it is vain
+     to attempt to throw exclusive opprobrium upon the last
+     agents in the transaction.
+
+These were the impressions of a fresh and presumably unprejudiced mind
+taking its first survey of the state of our commercial intercourse
+with China. They were reflections necessarily of a somewhat abstract
+character, formed on a very limited acquaintance with the actualities
+of a trade which did not yet exist in Foochow. A few years' experience
+at the great commercial mart of Shanghai widened the views of the
+consul materially, and showed him that there was more in this opium
+question than meets the eye of the mere philosopher. A confidential
+report on the subject made in 1852 treats the matter from a more
+statesman-like as well as a more businesslike point of view. In that
+paper he does more than deplore the evil, and while seeking earnestly
+for a remedy, fully recognises the practical difficulties and the
+danger of curing that which is bad by something which is worse.
+
+     The opium trade [he observes in a despatch to Sir John
+     Bowring] is not simply a question of commerce but first and
+     chiefly one of revenue--or, in other words, of finance, of
+     national government and taxation--in which a ninth of the
+     whole income of Great Britain and a seventh of that of
+     British India is engaged.
+
+     The trade of Great Britain with India in the year 1850
+     showed by the official returns an export of manufactures to
+     the value of £8,000,000, leaving a large balance of trade
+     against that country. A portion of the revenue of India has
+     also to be annually remitted to England in addition, for
+     payment of the dividends on Indian stock and a portion of
+     the Government expenses. These remittances are now
+     profitably made _viâ_ China, by means of the opium sold
+     there; and failing this, serious charges would have to be
+     incurred which must curtail both the trade and the
+     resources of the Indian Exchequer.
+
+     In China, again, scarcely a million and a half of
+     manufactured goods can find a market; yet we buy of tea and
+     silk for shipment to Great Britain not less than five
+     millions, and the difference is paid by opium.
+
+     A trade of £10,000,000 in British manufactures is therefore
+     at stake, and a revenue of £9,000,000--six to the British
+     and three to the Indian Treasury.
+
+     Which of these is the more important in a national point of
+     view,--the commerce, or the revenue derived from it? Both
+     are, however, so essential to our interests, imperial and
+     commercial, that any risk to either has long been regarded
+     with distrust and alarm, and tends to give a character of
+     timidity to our policy and measures for the maintenance of
+     our relations with China--the more disastrous in its
+     results, that to the oriental mind it is a sure indication
+     of weakness, and to the weak the Chinese are both
+     inexorable and faithless.
+
+     That the opium trade, illegal as it is, forms an _essential
+     element_, interference with which would derange the whole
+     circle of operations, must be too apparent to require
+     further demonstration.
+
+     Reference to the practical details of the colossal trade in
+     which it plays so prominent a part shows that it is
+     inextricably mixed up with every trading operation between
+     the three countries, and that to recognise the one and
+     ignore the other is about as difficult in any practical
+     sense as to accept the acquaintance of one of the Siamese
+     twins and deny all knowledge of his brother.
+
+     _No attempt of the British Government to stop or materially
+     diminish the consumption could possibly avail_, or be
+     otherwise than productive of aggravated mischief to India,
+     to China, and to the whole world, by giving a motive for
+     its forced production where it is now unknown, and throwing
+     the trade into hands less scrupulous, and relieved of all
+     those checks which under the British flag prevent the trade
+     from taking the worst characters of smuggling, and being
+     confounded with other acts of a lawless and piratical
+     nature affecting life and property, to the destruction of
+     all friendly or commercial relations between the two races.
+     It is also sufficient to bear in mind that it is a traffic,
+     as has been shown, which _vitalises_ the whole of our
+     commerce in the East; that without such means of laying
+     down funds _the whole trade_ would languish, and its
+     present proportions, colossal as they are, soon shrink into
+     other and insignificant dimensions; that the two branches
+     of trade are otherwise so _inextricably interwoven_, that
+     no means could be devised (were they less essential to each
+     other) of separating them. And finally, although Great
+     Britain has much to _lose_, China in such a quixotic
+     enterprise has little or nothing to _gain_.
+
+Notwithstanding all these weighty considerations, Mr Alcock never
+swerved in his desire to see "the opium trade, with all its train of
+contradictions, anomalies, and falsifying conditions," modified, if
+not done away with. In a careful despatch to Sir John Bowring dated
+May 6, 1854, reviewing our whole position in China, he thus expresses
+himself:--
+
+     Any modification for the better in our relations must, I
+     believe, begin here. We must either find means of inducing
+     the Chinese Government to diminish the evil by legalising
+     the trade, or enter the field of discussion ... with a
+     stone wall before us.... The legalisation would go far to
+     diminish the obstacle such an outrider to our treaty
+     creates; but far better would it be, and more profitable in
+     the end in view of what China might become commercially to
+     Europe, America, and to Great Britain specially, if the
+     Indian Government abandoned their three million sterling
+     revenue from the cultivation of opium, and our merchants
+     submitted to the temporary prejudice or inconvenience of
+     importing silver for the balance of trade.
+
+Nearly twenty years afterwards we find Mr Alcock still engaged on the
+problem how to diminish the trade in opium without dislocating both
+the trade and finance of India, his last act on retiring from China in
+1870 having been to propose a fiscal scheme of rearrangement by which
+the opium trade might undergo a process of slow and painless
+extinction.[23]
+
+The attitude of the British Government towards the opium trade has
+always been ambiguous. Succeeding to the inheritance of the East India
+Company as the great growers of opium, they had to carry on its
+traditions. These had led the Company in its trading days into some
+striking inconsistencies, for though they cultivated the poppy
+expressly for the China market, employing all the intelligence at
+their command to adapt their product to the special tastes of the
+Chinese, they yet refused to carry a single chest of it in their own
+ships which traded to China. By this policy they thought they could
+exonerate themselves in face of the Chinese authorities from
+participation in a trade which was under the ban of that Government.
+The importation of the drug was thus thrown upon private adventurers,
+and whenever the subject was agitated in Canton and Macao, none were
+so warm in their denunciations of the trade as the servants of the
+East India Company. This was notably the case with Captain Elliot,
+who, after leaving the Company's service and becoming representative
+of the Crown, never wearied in his strictures on the opium traffic.
+
+The question of legalising the traffic had frequently before been
+considered by the Chinese Government,[24] and it was fully expected
+that this was the policy which would prevail in Peking in 1837. The
+pendulum swung to the opposite side, namely, that of prohibition, and
+legalisation was not adopted until 1858. But once adopted, the idea
+made such progress that in 1885 the Chinese Government made a
+successful appeal to the British Government to be allowed to treble
+the import duty authorised in 1858, and that the Colonial Government
+of Hongkong should render them special assistance in collecting it.
+
+
+IV. CHINESE EXPORTS.
+
+     Efforts of the consuls to stimulate trade -- Alcock's work
+     at Foochow -- His despatches -- Exhibition of 1851 --
+     Exhibits of Chinese produce sent by Alcock.
+
+  [Illustration: VILLAGE ON THE CANALS.]
+
+The continuous efforts made by the consuls in the first decade after
+the treaty to stimulate the action of foreign merchants in laying hold
+of all the opportunities offered to them for extending their
+connections with the Chinese trade ought not to be passed over without
+notice. It was the burden of Consul Alcock's labours while in Foochow
+to gather information from every source, to digest it as well as he
+was able, and to lay it before his countrymen; and if he, in his
+despatches to the plenipotentiary, sometimes reflected on what seemed
+to him the apathy and want of enterprise of the merchants, that must
+be set down to a laudable zeal to make his office fruitful of benefit
+to his country. The same spirit animated his proceedings in Shanghai.
+The demand made for exhibits for the Great Exhibition of 1851 found Mr
+Alcock and his lieutenant Parkes eager to supply samples of Chinese
+products of every kind likely to be of commercial interest. On
+applying to the mercantile community of Shanghai for their
+co-operation in collecting materials, he found them not over-sanguine
+as to the results of such an effort, and in his despatch of December
+1850 to the plenipotentiary he remarks that "the British and foreign
+residents in Shanghai appeared to feel that the impossibility of
+gaining access to the great seats of manufacture or the producing
+districts for raw material placed them in too disadvantageous a
+position to do justice either to themselves or the resources of the
+empire, which could only be very inadequately represented, and in a
+way more calculated to mislead than instruct." "The conclusion," he
+goes on to say, "at which the mercantile community has arrived has
+gone far to paralyse all exertion on my part." Nevertheless, with the
+restricted means at his disposal, he set to work to collect specimens
+of Chinese produce and industry and to transmit them to the Board of
+Trade for the use of the Commissioners. Of objects of art he sent a
+great variety in bronze, inlaid wood, porcelain, soapstone, and
+enamels, and the fancy articles which have since acquired such great
+reputation in the world that dealers in European and American capitals
+send out commissions every year to make extensive purchases. Colours
+used by the Chinese for dyeing purposes in twenty shades of blue, silk
+brocades, and many valuable products of the Chinese looms, were well
+represented, and the commoner utensils, such as scissors, needles, and
+razors, some of which were within the last few years specially
+recommended in consular reports to the notice of English
+manufacturers, as if the suggestion were made for the first time. Of
+raw material, samples were sent of hemp, indigo, and many other
+natural products; and when it is considered how eager the British
+mercantile community appeared to be to increase their importation of
+Chinese produce--be it tea, silk, or any other commodity--in order to
+balance the export trade, it is interesting to observe that in those
+early days a number of articles of export were described and
+classified, with an account of the districts of their origin, which
+have only taken their place in the list of exports from China within
+the last twenty years or so. These were sheep's wool of six different
+descriptions, and camels' hair, which are now so extensively dealt in
+at the northern ports of China. Perhaps these articles were not seen
+in bulk by foreigners until after the opening of the new ports in
+1861, and it is worthy of remark that even after this discovery, and
+sundry experimental shipments, many years elapsed before the special
+products of Northern China became recognised articles of foreign
+trade. These now include straw plait, sheep's wool, goats' wools,
+goats' skins, dogs' skins, camels' hair, horses' tails, pigs'
+bristles, and a number of other articles of export which might
+perfectly well have been brought to the foreign market of Shanghai
+even before the opening of the northern ports. What was wanted was the
+knowledge that such products were procurable and the organisation of a
+market for their disposal in China, in Europe, and the United States.
+To stimulate inquiry into these matters was an object of the consular
+reports of the early days, and the fact that the seed then sown seemed
+to have been buried in sterile soil for thirty years affords a
+reasonable prospect that from the more advantageous basis on which
+commercial men now stand still larger developments of international
+commerce may be reserved to future adventurers.
+
+
+V. BRITISH EXPORTS.
+
+     Slow increase -- Turn of the scale by the Shanghai silk
+     trade -- Consequent inflow of silver to China -- Alcock's
+     comment on the Report of Select Committee -- His grasp of
+     the true state of affairs.
+
+This department of trade presents little else but a record of very
+slow improvement, with some rather violent fluctuations due to obvious
+and temporary causes. In the first year after the treaty of Nanking
+the value of shipments to China from the United Kingdom was
+£1,500,000; in 1852, £2,500,000; in 1861, £4,500,000, decreasing in
+1862 to £2,300,000, and rising in 1863 to £3,000,000; after which
+period it steadily increased to £7,000,000, at which it has
+practically remained, with the exception of two or three years between
+1885 and 1891, when it rose to £9,000,000.
+
+The theory of the merchants who gave evidence before the Committee of
+1847, that an increase in the exports from China was all that was
+needed to enable the Chinese to purchase larger quantities of
+manufactured goods, has by no means been borne out by the subsequent
+course of trade. For although the Chinese exports have been greatly
+extended since then, that of silk alone having more than sufficed to
+pay for the whole of the imports from abroad, there has been no
+corresponding increase in the volume of these importations. What
+happened was merely this, that the drain of silver from China, which
+was deplored on all sides up till about 1853, was converted into a
+steady annual inflow of silver to China.[25] Consul Alcock, having
+been requested by her Majesty's chief superintendent of trade to make
+his comments on the Report of the Select Committee, dealt
+comprehensively with the whole question of the trade between Europe,
+India, and China, and evinced a wider grasp of the true state of the
+case than the London merchants had done. In a despatch dated March 23,
+1848, the following passages occur:--
+
+     Nearly the whole of the evidence furnished by the witnesses
+     on our trade is calculated to mislead those imperfectly
+     acquainted with the details. The existence of this relation
+     [the importation of opium and raw cotton from India] is
+     kept out of sight, and conclusions are suggested which
+     could only be maintained if the Indian imports into China
+     did not form a part of our commerce, and did not come in
+     direct competition with the import of staple manufactures.
+
+     To counteract as far as may be in my power the erroneous
+     tendency of the partial evidence which the Blue-Book
+     contains on this part of the subject, I have ventured for
+     the information of her Majesty's Government to bring
+     forward such facts and inferences as seem to me to place in
+     the strongest light the fallacy of the argument mainly
+     insisted upon before the Committee--viz., that we have only
+     our own consumption of tea to look to as indicating the
+     extent to which we can exchange our manufactures--that this
+     is the only limit of our imports into China. But imports of
+     what? Not certainly of cotton and woollen goods, for we
+     already export of tea and silk from China to the value of
+     some four millions sterling, and cannot find a profitable
+     market for manufactured goods to the amount of two
+     millions; and a somewhat similar proportion, or
+     disproportion rather, may be traced during the monopoly of
+     the East India Company, during the free-trade period prior
+     to the commencement of hostilities, and since the treaty.
+     Say that from a reduction of the tea duties or any other
+     cause we _double_ our _exports_ from China as we have
+     already done since 1833, from what data are we to infer
+     that in this same proportion the export into China of
+     British manufactures will increase; or in other words, that
+     for every additional million of tea there will be an
+     equivalent value expended upon our cotton fabrics?
+
+     The anticipated result is contradicted by all past
+     experience in China, and a moment's reflection must show
+     that the essential elements have been overlooked. 1st, That
+     there is a balance of trade against the Chinese of some
+     $10,000,000, which must adjust itself before any increase
+     of our exclusively British imports into China can be safely
+     or reasonably expected, for which an additional export of
+     20,000,000 lb. of tea and 10,000 bales of silk is required.
+     2ndly, That if such increase of our exports hence restored
+     the balance of trade to-morrow, the proportion in which an
+     increased import of our goods would take place must depend
+     upon the result of a competition of cotton goods against
+     opium and raw cotton--all three objects in demand among the
+     Chinese; and the proportion of each that may be taken under
+     the assumed improvement depends upon the relative degree of
+     preference exhibited by our customers for the different
+     articles. The two latter have proved formidable rivals to
+     our manufactures, nor is there any reason to anticipate
+     beneficial change in that respect.
+
+     The argument, therefore, that the only limit to our imports
+     into China is the consumption of tea and silk in Great
+     Britain, if meant to be applied, as it appears to be in the
+     evidence, exclusively to British imports--that is, to
+     cotton and woollens--is fallacious, and can only be
+     sustained by dropping the most important features of the
+     import trade, by treating opium and raw cotton as though
+     they had neither existence nor influence upon our British
+     staple trade.
+
+     The influence of this mode of reasoning is calculated to be
+     the more mischievous that it comes from gentlemen of
+     practical mercantile information, and purports to suggest a
+     remedy for an evil which is, in truth, of our own creating,
+     and must recur as often and as certainly as the same causes
+     are in operation. The trade in China during the last three
+     years has been a losing, and in many instances a ruinous,
+     trade, not because the English do not drink more tea, or
+     the Chinese do not find it convenient to wear more cotton
+     of our manufacture, but simply because in such market the
+     supply has not been carefully regulated by an accurate
+     estimate of the probable demand. Our merchants at home have
+     unfortunately been led by such reasoning as I have quoted
+     to assume that in proportion as we purchase more tea the
+     Chinese would lay out more money in cotton goods, and that
+     the one might be taken as a true estimate of the other.
+     Hence came shipments after the treaty so disproportioned to
+     the actual wants or state of demand in the Chinese market
+     that an immediate glut, with the consequent and necessary
+     depreciation in price, followed. Nor did the evil end here:
+     a return was of necessity to be made for this enormous
+     over-supply of goods, hence more tea was shipped than the
+     legitimate demand of the English markets would have
+     suggested or justified, and at the other end of the chain
+     the same depreciation and ruinous loss was experienced....
+
+     I have submitted in this and the preceding Reports my
+     strong conviction that other conditions than a mere
+     increase in our exports hence are essential. Of these I
+     have endeavoured to show the principal and most important
+     are access to the first markets, the removal of or
+     efficient control over all fiscal pretexts for restricting
+     the free circulation of our goods in the interior and the
+     transit of Chinese produce thence to the ports, and,
+     finally, the abolition of all humiliating travelling limits
+     in the interior, which more than anything else tends to
+     give the Chinese rulers a power of keeping up a hostile and
+     arrogant spirit against foreigners, and of fettering our
+     commerce by exactions and delays of the most injurious
+     character.
+
+The conditions of the trade were, in fact, simpler than the merchants
+had imagined. The Chinese entered into no nice estimates of the
+balance of imports and exports, but purchased the goods which were
+offered to them so far as they were adapted to their requirements--and
+there is no other rule for the guidance of foreign manufacturers in
+catering for the great Chinese market.
+
+
+VI. NATIVE TRADE.
+
+     Inter-provincial trade -- Advantages of the employment of
+     foreign shipping -- China exports surplus of tea and silk
+     -- Coasting-trade -- Salt.
+
+The great reservoir of all foreign commerce in China is the
+old-established local inter-provincial trade of the country itself,
+which lies for the most part outside of the sphere of foreign interest
+excepting so far as it has come within the last forty years to supply
+the cargoes for an ever-increasing fleet of coasting sailing-ships and
+steamers. This great development of Chinese commerce carried on in
+foreign bottoms was thus foreshadowed by Mr Alcock as early as 1848:--
+
+     The disadvantages under which the native trade is now
+     carried on have become so burdensome as manifestly to
+     curtail it, greatly to the loss and injury of the Chinese
+     population, enhancing the price of all the common articles
+     of consumption: any measures calculated, therefore, to
+     exempt their commerce from the danger, delay, and loss
+     attending the transport of valuable produce by junks must
+     ultimately prove a great boon of permanent value, though at
+     first it may seem the reverse.
+
+     In a political point of view the transfer of the more
+     valuable portion of their junk trade to foreign bottoms is
+     highly desirable, as tending more than any measures of
+     Government to improve our position by impressing the
+     Chinese people and rulers with a sense of dependence upon
+     the nations of the West for great and material advantages,
+     and thus rebuking effectually the pride and arrogance which
+     lie at the root of all their hostility to foreigners.
+
+     In a commercial sense the direct advantage would consist in
+     the profitable employment of foreign shipping to a greater
+     extent: it would also assist the development of the
+     resources of the five ports--more especially those which
+     hitherto have done little foreign trade. I have entered
+     into some details to show how the carrying trade may work
+     such results, particularly in reference to sugar, which
+     promises to pave the way at this port to large shipments in
+     this and other articles for the Chinese.
+
+     A more effective blow will be given to piracy on the coast
+     by a partial transfer of the more valuable freights to
+     foreign vessels than by any measures of repression which
+     either Government can carry out, for piracy will, in fact,
+     cease to be profitable....
+
+     A further extension of the trade between our Australian
+     settlements and China, and our colonies in the Straits with
+     both, may follow as a natural result of any successful
+     efforts in this direction,--the addition of a large bulky
+     article of regular consumption like sugar alone sufficing
+     to remove a great difficulty in the way of a Straits
+     trade....
+
+     If this can be counted upon, I think it may safely be
+     predicated that at no distant period a large and profitable
+     employment for foreign shipping will be found here totally
+     exclusive of the trade with Europe.
+
+It has been said with regard to tea that the quantity sold for export
+is but the overflow of what is produced for native consumption, and to
+silk the same observation would apply. Essentially a consuming
+country, it is the surplus of these two articles that China has been
+able to afford which has constituted the staple of export trade from
+first to last. It is an interesting question whether there may not be
+surpluses of some other Chinese products to be similarly drawn upon.
+If the foreign trade has been distinguished by its simplicity, being
+confined to a very few standard commodities, such cannot be predicated
+of the native trade, which is of a most miscellaneous character. It is
+impossible to give any statistical account of the coast and inland
+traffic of China. Any estimate of it would be scarcely more
+satisfactory than those which are so loosely made of the population.
+In the early days, when the ports opened by the treaty of 1842 were
+still new ports, great pains were taken by the consuls to collect all
+the information they could respecting purely Chinese commerce, which
+they not unnaturally regarded as the source whence the material of an
+expanded foreign trade might in future be drawn. Especially was this
+the case at Foochow under the consulship of Mr Alcock and the
+assistantship of his energetic interpreter, Parkes. We find, for
+instance, among the returns compiled by that industrious officer of
+three months' trading in 1846, the quantities and valuations of over
+fifty articles of import and as many of export given in great detail:
+imports in 592 junks of 55,000 tons, and of exports in 238 junks of
+22,000 tons. Of the sea-going junks he gives an interesting summary,
+distinguishing the ports with which they traded and their tonnage,
+with short abstracts of the cargoes carried. These amounted for the
+year to 1678 arrivals from twenty different places, and 1310
+departures for twenty-four places; and this at a port of which the
+consul wrote in 1847, "No prospect of a British or other foreign trade
+at this port is apparent in the very remotest degree." Every traveller
+in every part of China is astonished at the quantity and variety of
+the merchandise which is constantly on the move. It is this that
+inspires confidence in the boundless potentialities of Chinese
+commerce, which seems only waiting for the link of connection between
+the resources of the empire and the enterprise of the Western world.
+
+Besides the sea-borne trade of which it was possible to make these
+approximate estimates, there is always in China an immense inland
+trade; and at the time when piracy was rampant on the coast, and
+before the aid of foreign ships and steamers was obtained, all the
+goods whose value enabled them to pay the cost of carriage were
+conveyed by the inland routes, often indeed from one seaport to
+another, as, for instance, between Canton and Foochow, Ningpo,
+Shanghai, &c.; and it is still by the interior channels that much of
+the trade is done between Shanghai and the provinces to the north of
+it, which would appear, geographically speaking, to be more accessible
+from their own seaports.
+
+The relation of the Government to the inter-provincial trade is, in
+general terms, that of a capricious tax-gatherer, laying such burdens
+on merchandise as it is found able and willing to bear. The arbitrary
+impositions of the officials are, however, tempered by the genius of
+evasion on the part of the Chinese merchant, and by mutual concession
+a _modus vivendi_ is easily maintained between them.
+
+The item of trade in which Government comes into most direct relation
+with the trader is the article salt, which is produced all along the
+sea-coast, and is likewise obtained from wells in the western
+provinces. Like many other Governments, the Chinese have long treated
+salt as a Government monopoly. As the manner in which this is carried
+out illustrates in several points the ideas that lie at the root of
+Chinese administration, some notes on the subject made by Parkes at
+Foochow in 1846, and printed in an appendix to this volume, may still
+be of interest.[26]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[20] The annual value of the whole foreign trade with China, imports
+and exports, is now about £70,000,000.
+
+[21] His predecessors had been governors of Fort William in Bengal.
+
+[22] Eastern countries send to Europe half of the whole consumption of
+the West--China yielding 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the entire
+supply, Japan 12 per cent.
+
+[23] It is worth notice that this consistent opponent of the opium
+trade during fifty active years should have come under the ban of the
+Anti-Opium Society in England when the discussion of this important
+question degenerated into a mere polemic.
+
+[24] Import duty had been regularly levied on opium for a hundred
+years, the prohibition of importation having been decreed after 1796
+(Eitel).
+
+[25] During the last two decades important factors--such as foreign
+loans, armaments, and the like--have so influenced the movements of
+gold and silver that they bear no such simple relation to the "balance
+of trade" properly so called as was formerly the case.
+
+[26] See Appendix IV.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+SHIPPING.
+
+     The East Indiaman -- Opium clippers -- Coasting craft --
+     Trading explorations -- Yangtze -- Japan -- Ocean trade --
+     American shipping -- Gold in California -- Repeal of
+     British Navigation Laws -- Gold in Australia -- Ocean
+     rivalry -- Tonnage for China -- Regular traders -- Silk --
+     British and American competition -- The China clipper --
+     Steam -- The Suez Canal -- Native shipping -- Lorchas.
+
+
+Next in importance to the merchandise carried was the shipping which
+carried it. That stately argosy, the East Indiaman, was already
+invested with the halo of the past. Her leisurely voyages, once in two
+years, regulated by the monsoons, landing the "new" tea in London
+nearly a year old, and her comfortable habits generally, were matters
+of legend at the time of which we write. But a parting glance at the
+old is the best way of appreciating the new. The East Indiaman was the
+very apotheosis of monopoly. The command was reserved as a short road
+to fortune for the _protégés_ of the omnipotent Directors in
+Leadenhall Street, and as with Chinese governors, the tenure of the
+post was in practice limited to a very few years, for the Directors
+were many and their cognates prolific. So many, indeed, were their
+privileges, perquisites, and "indulgences" that a captain was expected
+to have realised an ample independence in four or five voyages; the
+officers and petty officers having similar opportunities,
+proportionate to their rank. They were allowed tonnage space, the
+captain's share being 56 tons, which they could either fill with their
+own merchandise or let out to third parties. The value of this,
+including the intermediate "port-to-port" voyage in India, may be
+judged from the figures given by one captain, who from actual data
+estimated the freight for the round voyage at £43 per ton. The
+captains enjoyed also the passage-money, valued by the same authority
+at £1500 per voyage. There were other "indulgences," scarcely
+intelligible in our days, which yet yielded fabulous results. These
+figures are taken from a statement submitted to the Honourable Company
+by Captain Innes, who claimed, on behalf of himself and comrades,
+compensation for the loss they sustained through the cessation of the
+monopoly. The captain showed that he made, on the average of his three
+last voyages, £6100 per voyage--of which £180 was pay!--without
+counting "profits on investments," for the loss of which he rather
+handsomely waived compensation. £8000 to £10,000 per voyage was
+reckoned a not extravagant estimate of a captain's emoluments. The
+Company employed chartered ships to supplement its own, and the
+command of one of them was in practice put up to the highest bidder,
+the usual premium being about £3000 for the privilege of the command,
+which was of course severely restricted to qualified and selected men.
+
+That such incredible privileges should be abused, to the detriment of
+the too indulgent Company, was only natural. The captains, in fact,
+carried on a systematic smuggling trade with Continental ports as
+well as with ports in the United Kingdom where they had no business to
+be at all, though they found pretexts, _à la Chinoise_, such as stress
+of weather or want of water, if ever called to account. The Channel
+Islands, the Scilly Islands, and the Isle of Wight supplied the
+greatest facilities for the illicit traffic, and their populations
+were much alarmed when measures were threatened to suppress it. The
+inspecting commander reported officially from St Mary's, in 1828,
+"that these islands were never known with so little smuggling as this
+year, and the greatest part of the inhabitants are reduced to great
+distress in consequence, for hitherto it used to be their principal
+employment."[27] The ships were also met by accomplices on the high
+seas which relieved them of smuggled goods. What is so difficult to
+understand about such proceedings is that the Court of Directors,
+though not conniving, seemed helpless to check these irregularities.
+Their fulminations, resolutions, elaborate advertisements, and
+measures prescribed for getting evidence against offenders, bore a
+curious resemblance to those futile efforts which are from time to
+time put forth by the Chinese Government, which is equally impotent to
+suppress illicit practices in its administration. One cause of this
+impotence was also very Chinese in character. The smugglers had
+friends in office, who supplied them with the most confidential
+information.
+
+The East India Company, nevertheless, in one important respect
+received value for its money--in the competence of its officers. The
+greatest pains were taken to secure the efficiency of the service, for
+the ships were more than mere carriers or passenger-boats. They were
+maintained on a war-footing, and were manned by thoroughly disciplined
+crews. Many gallant actions at sea, even against regular men-of-war,
+stand to the credit of the Indiamen.
+
+But what conceivable freight-money or profits on merchandise could
+support a trade carried on under such luxurious conditions! It was
+magnificent, indeed, but it was not business, and no surprise need be
+felt that the East India Company, while furnishing its employees with
+the means of fortune, made very little for its shareholders by either
+its shipowning or mercantile operations. The Company was a standing
+example of that not uncommon phenomenon, the progressionist become
+obstructionist, blocking the door which it opened. For many years it
+had played the part of dog-in-the-manger, keeping individual traders
+out while itself deriving little if any benefit from its monopoly.
+Whenever independent merchants succeeded--under great difficulties, of
+course--in gaining a footing, they invariably proved the superiority
+of their business methods; and it is to them, and not to the Company,
+that the development of trade in the Far East is due. English
+shipowners had constantly agitated for a share in the traffic round
+the Cape, and there were many Indian-owned ships engaged in the China
+trade, the Company's ostentatious abstention from carrying the opium
+which it grew affording this favourable opening for private
+adventurers.
+
+It is somewhat surprising that the seafaring nations of the world, who
+were free from the restrictions which so cramped the British
+shipowners, should have suffered to endure so long a monopoly so
+baseless as that of the East India Company. The fact seems to prove
+the general depression of maritime energy in the early part of the
+century. But succeeding to such a patriarchal _régime_, it is little
+wonder that the common merchantmen, reduced to reasonable economical
+conditions, should have reaped a bountiful harvest. The Company's
+terms left a very handsome margin for shrinkage in the freight tariff,
+while still leaving a remunerative return to the shipowner. The
+expiration of the Company's charter, therefore, gave an immense
+stimulus to the common carriers of the ocean; though, starting from
+such an elevated plateau of profits, the inducements to improvements
+in the build and management of ships were not very urgent.
+
+The size of the ships and their capacity for cargo underwent slow
+development in the first half of the century. The East Indiamen
+averaged about 1000 tons, some ships being as large as 1300, while
+those chartered by the Company seem to have run about 500 tons. All
+were bad carriers, their cargo capacity not exceeding their registered
+tonnage. In the ordinary merchant service which succeeded large ships
+were deemed unsuited to the China trade, 300 tons being considered a
+handy size, until the expansion of trade and necessity for speed
+combined with economical working forced on shipowners a larger type of
+vessel.
+
+Of quite another class were the opium clippers, which also in a
+certain sense represented monopoly in its long struggle with open
+trade--the monopoly of capital, vested interests, and enterprise. The
+clippers, first sailing craft and then steamers, were able by means of
+the advantages they possessed to prolong the contest into the
+'Sixties; indeed the echo of it had scarcely died away when the Suez
+Canal and the telegraph cable revolutionised the whole Eastern trade
+at a single stroke. The precious cargoes they carried, and scarcely
+less valuable intelligence, supplied the means of maintaining the
+opium-carriers in the highest efficiency. Every voyage was a race, the
+rivalry being none the less animated for the smallness of the
+competing field. Indeed, when reduced to a duel, the struggle became
+the keenest. It was only towards the close of the period that the
+opium-clipper system attained its highest organisation. The great
+China houses of Jardine, Matheson, & Co., and Dent & Co., then ran
+powerful steamers--the former firm chiefly between Calcutta and
+Hongkong--their time of departure from the Indian port being regulated
+so as to enable them to intercept the English mail-steamers on their
+arrival in Singapore, where they received on board their owners'
+despatches, with which they proceeded at once to Hongkong before the
+mail-steamer had taken in her coal. They had speed enough to give the
+P. and O. steamer two days on the run of 1400 miles; and making the
+land in daylight, they would slip into one of the snug bays at the
+back of the island at dusk and send their private mail-bag to the
+merchant-prince to digest with his port, and either lie hidden under
+the cliffs or put to sea again for a day or two with perhaps a number
+of impatient passengers on board.
+
+The rival house of Dent & Co. devoted their energies more especially
+to the China coast. Their fast steamers would start from Hongkong an
+hour after the arrival of the Indian and English mail, landing owners'
+despatches at the mouth of the Yangtze, whence they were run across
+country to Shanghai. To gain exclusive possession of a market or of a
+budget of news for ever so brief a period was the spur continuously
+applied to owners, officers, and men. How the public regarded these
+operations may be inferred from a note in Admiral Keppel's diary of
+1843: "Anonymous opium-clipper arrived from Bombay with only owners'
+despatches. Beast."
+
+All this of course presupposed a common ownership of ship and cargo,
+or great liberties, if not risks, taken with the property of other
+people. In the years before the war this common management of ship and
+cargo was a simple necessity, for opium had to be stored afloat and
+kept ready for sailing orders. The 20,000 chests surrendered in 1839
+might have been all sent away to Manila or elsewhere had that course
+of procedure been determined on. Captain John Thacker, examined before
+the Parliamentary Committee of 1840, being asked what he would have
+done in case the Chinese had ordered away the opium, answered, "I
+would have sent mine away to the Malay Islands, to exchange it for
+betel-nut and pepper.... I had a ship at Canton that I could not get
+freighted with tea, and I intended to send her away with the opium." A
+kind of solidarity between ship and cargo was thus an essential of the
+trade at that time, and what originated in necessity was continued as
+a habit for many years after its economical justification had ceased.
+
+The ambition of owning or controlling ships became a feature of the
+China trade, the smaller houses emulating the greater. It seemed as if
+the repute of a merchant lacked something of completeness until he had
+got one or more ships under his orders, and the first use the
+possession was put to was usually the attempt to enforce against all
+comers a quasi-monopoly either in merchandise or in news. To be able
+to despatch a vessel on some special mission, like Captain Thacker,
+had a fascination for the more enterprising of the merchants, which
+may perhaps be referred back to the circumstance that they were men
+still in the prime of life.
+
+The passion was kept alive by the inducements offered by a series of
+events which crowded on each other between the years 1858 and 1861.
+Before that time the spread of rebellion, the prevalence of piracy,
+and the general state of unrest and distrust which prevailed among the
+Chinese commercial classes, threw them on the protection of foreign
+flags, and the demand for handy coasting craft was generously
+responded to by all maritime nations, but chiefly by the shipowners of
+Northern Europe. Such a mosquito fleet was perhaps never before seen
+as that which flew the flags of the Hanse Towns and of Scandinavia on
+the China coast between 1850 and 1860; and many a frugal family on the
+Elbe, the Weser, and the Baltic lived and throve out of the earnings
+of these admirably managed and well-equipped vessels. The vessels were
+mostly run on time-charters, which were exceedingly remunerative; for
+the standard of hire was adopted from a period of English
+extravagance, while the ships were run on a scale of economy--and
+efficiency--scarcely then dreamed of in England. A schooner of 150
+tons register earning $1500 per month, which was a not uncommon rate,
+must have paid for herself in a year, for the dollar was then worth
+5s. Yet the Chinese also made so much money by subletting their
+chartered tonnage that foreigners were tempted into the same business,
+without the same knowledge or assurance of loyal co-operation at the
+various ports traded with.
+
+The habit of handling ships in this way, whether profitably or not,
+had the effect of facilitating the despatch of reconnoitring
+expeditions when openings occurred, and they did occur on a
+considerable scale within the period above mentioned. The year 1858
+was an epoch in itself. It was the year of the treaty of Tientsin,
+which threw open three additional trading-ports on the coast, three
+within the Gulf of Pechili, and three on the Yangtze. Of the three
+northern ports, excepting Tientsin, very little was known to the
+mercantile community, and the selection of Têng-chow and Newchwang by
+the British plenipotentiary shows what a change has in the interval
+come over the relative intelligence of the Government and the
+merchants; for in those days, it would appear, the Government was as
+far in advance of the merchants in information about China as the
+merchants of a later period have been in advance of the Government.
+These unknown, almost unheard-of, ports excited much interest during
+the year that elapsed between the signing of the treaty and its
+ratification. Information about them from Chinese sources was
+therefore diligently sought after.
+
+Within a couple of miles of the foreign settlement of Shanghai--and it
+was the same thing in the Ningpo river--compact tiers of large
+sea-going junks lay moored head and stern, side to side, forming a
+continuous platform, so that one could walk across their decks out
+into the middle of the river. Their masts, without yards or rigging,
+loomed like a dense thicket on the horizon. Of their numbers some idea
+may be formed when we remember that 1400 of them were found loaded at
+one time in 1848 with tribute rice. Of this enormous fleet of ships
+and their trade the foreign mercantile community of Shanghai was
+content to remain in virtual ignorance. They traded to the north, and
+were vaguely spoken of as "Shantung junks"--Shantung then standing for
+everything that was unknown north of the thirty-second parallel. The
+map of China conveyed about as much to the mercantile communities on
+the coast in those days as it did to the British public generally
+before the discussions of 1898. These junks carried large quantities
+of foreign manufactured goods and opium to the unknown regions at the
+back of the north wind, of which some of the doors were now being
+opened. How was one to take advantage of the opening, and be first in
+the field? Time must be taken by the forelock, and a certain amount of
+commercial exploration entered into in order to obtain data on which
+to base ulterior operations. Accordingly in the spring of 1859, a few
+months before the period fixed for the exchange of ratifications of
+the treaty, several mercantile firms equipped, with the utmost
+secrecy, trading expeditions to the Gulf of Pechili. Their first
+object was to discover what seaport would serve as the entrepot of
+Têngchow, since that city, though near enough to salt water to have
+been bombarded for a frolic by the Japanese navy in 1894, possessed
+no anchorage. The several sets of argonauts, among whom was the writer
+of this book, seeking for such an anchorage, found themselves, in the
+month of April, all together in the harbour of Yentai, which they
+misnamed Chefoo, a name that has become stereotyped. Obviously, then,
+that would be the new port, especially as the bay and the town showed
+all the signs of a considerable existing traffic. It was full forty
+miles from Têngchow, but there was no nearer anchorage. The foreign
+visitors began at once to cultivate relations with the native
+merchants, tentatively, like Nicodemus, making their real business by
+night, while the magnificent daylight was employed in various local
+explorations. These were full of fresh interest, the Shantung coast
+being the antithesis of the Yangtze delta; for there were found
+donkeys instead of boats, stony roads instead of canals, bare and
+barren mountains instead of soft green paddy- or cotton-fields, stone
+buildings, and a blue air that sparkled like champagne.
+
+Our own particular movable base of operations was one smart English
+schooner, loaded with mixed merchandise, and commanded by a sea-dog
+who left a trail of vernacular in his wake. Soon, however, we were
+able to transfer our flag to a commodious houseboat, of a hybrid type
+suited to the sheltered and shallow waters of the Lower Yangtze, but
+not, strictly speaking, seaworthy. Next, a Hamburg barque came and
+acted as store-ship, releasing the English schooner for more active
+service. The master of that craft was also a character, full of
+intelligence, but rough, and the trail of tobacco juice was over all,
+with strange pungent odours in the cuddy.
+
+Having thus inserted the thin end of the wedge, pegged out mentally
+the site of the future settlement, and trifles of that sort, the
+pioneers of commerce waited for the official announcement of the port
+being opened. Meantime there was the unknown Newchwang to be
+discovered, at the extreme north-east corner of the Gulf of Liaotung,
+and for this purpose the boat aforesaid presented a very tempting
+facility. The trip was accomplished, not without anxiety and detention
+on the way by stress of weather, and the British flag was shown in the
+Liao river, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time in May
+1859. Many other ports and harbours in the gulf were visited during
+the summer and autumn. Weihai-wei became very familiar, not as a place
+of trade, which it never was, but as a convenient anchorage better
+sheltered than Chefoo. How blind were the pioneers to the destinies of
+these gulf ports and the gulf itself! How little did they dream of the
+scenes that peaceful harbour was to witness, the fortifications which
+were to follow, the Chinese navy making its last desperate stand there
+like rats caught in a trap; and finally, the British flag flying over
+the heights!
+
+The treaty of course was not ratified, though the news of the repulse
+of the British plenipotentiary at Taku only reached the pioneers in
+the form of tenebrous Chinese rumours with an ominous thread of
+consistency running through their various contradictions. The most
+conclusive evidence, however, of the turn affairs had taken was the
+interference of the officials with the native merchants and people at
+Chefoo, whom they forbade intercourse with the foreigners, and made
+responsible for the presence of the foreign ships. The ships,
+therefore, had to move out of sight, and it was in this predicament
+that the harbour of Weihai-wei offered such a welcome refuge.
+
+To put an end to the intolerable suspense in Chefoo the Hamburger was
+got under weigh and sailed to the westward. On approaching the mouth
+of the Peiho the situation at once revealed itself: not one English
+ship visible, but the Russian despatch-boat America, and one United
+States ship, with which news was exchanged, and from which the details
+of the Taku disaster were ascertained. This news, of course, knocked
+all the commercial adventures which had been set on foot in the gulf
+into "pie." Nothing remained but to wind them up with as little
+sacrifice as possible,--a process which was not completed till towards
+Christmas.
+
+The three ports to be opened on the Yangtze stood on quite a different
+footing. They had not been named, and their opening was somewhat
+contingent on the position of the hostile forces then occupying the
+river-banks. The navigation, moreover, was absolutely unknown above
+Nanking, and it was left to Captain Sherard Osborn to explore the
+channel and to Lord Elgin to make a political reconnaissance at the
+same time in H.M.S. Furious, of which cruise Laurence Oliphant has
+left us such a delightful description. It was not, however, till 1861
+that the great river was formally opened by Admiral Sir James Hope.
+Trade then at once burst upon the desolate scene like the blossoms of
+spring. On the admiral's voyage up to Hankow, on the 600 miles of
+stream scarcely a rag of sail was to be seen. Within three months the
+surface of the river was alive with Chinese craft of all sorts and
+sizes. The interior of China had for years been dammed up like a
+reservoir by the Taipings, so that when once tapped the stream of
+commerce gushed out, much beyond the capacity of any existing
+transport. The demand for steamers was therefore sudden, and
+everything that was able to burn coal was enlisted in the service. The
+freight on light goods from Hankow to Shanghai commenced at 20 taels,
+or £6, per ton for a voyage of three days. The pioneer inland steamer
+was the Fire Dart, which had been built to the order of an American
+house for service in the Canton river. She was soon followed by others
+built expressly for the Yangtze, and before long regular trade was
+carried on. Again the tradition asserted itself of every mercantile
+house owning its own river steamer, some more than one. Steamers
+proved a mine of wealth for a certain time. Merchants were thereby
+enticed into a technical business for which they had neither training
+nor aptitude, and the natural consequences were not very long delayed.
+
+While on the subject of river steamers, it is interesting to recall
+that in the beginning English merchants sent their orders for the
+Yangtze to the United States. The vessels were light, roomy, and
+luxurious, admirably adapted to their work. In the course of a few
+years, however, the tables were turned, and the Americans themselves
+came to the Clyde builders with their specifications, and had their
+river steamers built of iron. Many economies and great improvements
+have been made in the construction and management of these vessels
+since 1861, but we need not pursue the matter into further detail
+here.
+
+The opening of the Yangtze made a revolution in the tea trade, for the
+product of Central China, which formerly was carried on men's backs
+over the Meiling Pass to Canton, could now be brought by water cheaply
+and quickly to Hankow, which in the very year of its opening became a
+subsidiary shipping port--subsidiary, that is, to Shanghai, where the
+ocean voyage began. Before long, however, this great central mart
+became an entrepot for ocean traffic. To the steamer Scotland, owned
+by Messrs W. S. Lindsay & Co. and commanded by Captain A. D. Dundas,
+R.N., belongs the honour of being the first ocean steamer to ascend
+the river to Hankow, and thereby opening the interior of China to
+direct trade with foreign countries. And within two years a sailing
+vessel was towed up the river and loaded a cargo of the new season's
+tea for London.
+
+But the most interesting item in the budget of that _annus mirabilis_
+1858 was the opening of Japan to foreign intercourse. To
+contemporaries it was the discovery of a new world of activity,
+intelligence, beauty--an elaborate civilisation built on strange
+foundations. Could the veil of the future have been withdrawn for the
+men of that day, how their imaginations would have been staggered
+before the unrolling of an epic transcending in human interest all the
+creations of fiction! But before all things there was trade to be done
+with awakening Japan, nobody knew what or how; while the seductive
+novelties of the life, the art, the scenery, and the laws contested
+the supremacy of the claims of mundane commerce. Here was an ideal
+opening for the commercial pioneer. What kind of merchandise would the
+Japanese buy, and what had they to sell, were naturally the first
+objects of inquiry. For this purpose ships with trial cargoes had to
+be sent hither and thither to explore, and there was work here for the
+kind of handy craft that had had such a run on the China coast. By
+their means was the foreign trade of the Japanese ports opened to the
+world. The clipper ship Mirage, laden with Manchester goods in which
+the late Sir John Pender was interested, lay several days in Shanghai
+waiting orders to proceed on an experimental trip to Japan as early as
+1858, but the owners wisely concluded that the venture would be
+premature.
+
+So far we have dealt only with what may be considered as the outriders
+of the host, and the subject would be very incomplete without giving
+some account of the main body, the common carriers of the
+international trade, filling by far the most important place in the
+economical system of the countries of their origin. While endeavouring
+to confine our attention as much as possible within the limits of the
+field embraced by the China, developing later into the Far Eastern,
+trade, the progress of the merchant shipping employed therein cannot
+be fully understood except from a standpoint more cosmopolitan. For
+the history of the Eastern shipping is intimately bound up with events
+which were taking place in other and widely-separated quarters of the
+globe in the middle of this century. Within the space of three to four
+years events happened of a world-moving character, forming the basis
+of the commercial revolution that has set its mark on the second half
+of the century. The catholicity of commerce and its unfailing
+inventiveness in supplying human wants were wonderfully illustrated at
+this time. Events so different in their nature as the potato blight
+in one hemisphere, the production of gold in another, and the
+abrogation of the Navigation Laws in England, combined within these
+few years to revolutionise the world's shipping trade.
+
+In the year 1847 the world was first startled by the definitive
+announcement of gold discoveries in California, and four years later a
+similar phenomenon appeared in Australia. Coincidently with these
+events the first Universal Exhibition of the industries of all nations
+was held in Hyde Park, and whatever we may think of the relative
+influence of that and of the gold discoveries, there can be but one
+opinion as to the splendid advertisement which the Exposition lent to
+the golden promise of the Antipodes and the East Pacific. Thenceforth
+the whole world, industrial, commercial, and financial, beat with one
+pulse, a fact which has received constantly accumulating illustrations
+until the present day. It was as if the sectional divisions of the
+globe had been united in one great pool, forced to maintain a common
+level, subject only to disturbances of the nature of rising and
+falling waves. The new supplies of gold, by making money plentiful,
+inflated the price of all commodities and stimulated production in
+every department of agriculture and manufacture; but the time-worn yet
+ever-new passion for wealth, disseminated afresh throughout the
+civilised world, probably acted more powerfully on the material
+progress of mankind than the actual possession of the new riches. The
+rapid peopling of desert places created a demand for the necessaries
+of life--food, clothing, housing, tools, and appliances of every
+description. In a word, the tide of humanity, rushing to America for
+food and to the goldfields for the means of buying it, made such calls
+on the carrying powers of the world as could not be satisfied without
+a stupendous effort.
+
+Of all nations the most responsive to the stimulus was beyond doubt
+the United States: it was there that shipbuilding had been making the
+most gigantic advances. The total tonnage afloat under the American
+flag bade fair at one time to rival that of Great Britain. The
+attention of the American shipping interest had been particularly
+directed towards China, where excellent employment rewarded the
+enterprise, not only in the ocean voyage out and home, but also in the
+coasting trade, which included the portable and very paying item of
+opium. English merchants and shipowners did not, of course, resign
+their share in the China trade without a struggle; but they were
+fighting on the defensive, and under the disadvantages incidental to
+that condition of warfare. Every improvement they introduced in the
+efficiency of their ships in order to cope with the advances of their
+rivals was promptly followed by a counter-move which gave the
+wide-awake Americans again the lead. About 1845 an important step
+forward was taken in the despatch of a new type of vessel from the
+United States to China which surpassed in speed the newest and best
+English ships. The British reply to this was the building of clippers,
+initiated in 1846 by Messrs Hall of Aberdeen. The first of these, a
+small vessel, having proved successful in competing for the coasting
+trade of China, larger ships of the clipper type were constructed, and
+so the seesaw went on.
+
+Then emigration to the United States, chiefly from Ireland, made
+demands on the available tonnage which was indifferently met by
+vessels unfit for the work, and the American builders were not slow to
+see the advantage of placing a superior class of vessel on this
+important Atlantic service.
+
+Following close on this salutary competition--East and West--came one
+of the epoch-making events just alluded to, the gold-mining in
+California, which more decisively than ever threw the advantage in the
+shipping contest on the side of the United States. The ocean was the
+true route to California for emigrants and material; but the voyage
+was long, and impatience of intervening space being the ruling temper
+of gold-seekers, the shortening of the time of transit became a crying
+want for the living cargoes, and scarcely less for the perishable
+provisions which the new ships were designed to carry. Speed, comfort,
+and capacity had therefore to be combined in a way which had never
+before been attempted. The result was the historical American clipper
+of the middle of the century, beautiful to look on with her cloud of
+white cotton canvas, covering every ocean highway. These were vessels
+of large capacity, carrying one-half more dead-weight than their
+registered tonnage;[28] built and rigged like yachts, and attaining a
+speed never before reached on the high seas. The pioneer of this fine
+fleet made the voyage from New York to San Francisco, a "coasting
+voyage" from which foreign flags were excluded, and returned direct in
+ballast, the owners realising a handsome profit on the outward passage
+alone. The Americans not only had the Californian trade practically
+in their own hands, but were prompt to turn the advantage which that
+gave them to profitable account in the competition for the trade of
+China. The ships, when empty, sailed across the Pacific, loading, at
+Canton or Shanghai, tea and other produce for London or New York, the
+three-cornered voyage occupying little more time than the direct route
+to China and back to which English ships were then confined. As the
+American clippers earned on the round about a third more freight than
+English ships could obtain on their out-and-home voyage, competition
+bore very hard on the latter. Larger and finer ships were constantly
+being added to the American fleet until they almost monopolised the
+trade not only between New York and San Francisco, but also between
+China and Great Britain. British shipping was, in fact, reduced to the
+greatest depression, the falling off in the supply of new tonnage
+being almost commensurate with the increase of that of the United
+States. A phenomenal advance was recorded also in the entries of
+foreign ships into British ports to the displacement of British-owned
+tonnage.
+
+It was at this most critical juncture that the heroic remedy of repeal
+of the Navigation Laws in 1850 consigned British shipowners to
+absolute despair; for if they could not hold their own while protected
+by these laws, how were they to survive the removal of the last
+barrier from the competition of the whole world? But the darkest hour
+was, as often happens, that before the dawn. The withdrawal of
+protective legislation proved the turning-point in the fortunes of the
+British shipowner. In part it was an efficient cause, inasmuch as it
+threw the shipowner entirely on his own resources for his existence.
+He had to look to improvements in the efficiency and economy of his
+ships, for which it must be admitted there was considerable room.
+There were many conservative prejudices to be got rid of--that one,
+for example, which held it dangerous to have less than one foot in
+breadth to four in length, the adherence to which rendered British
+ships oval tubs compared with the American, which had for many years
+been proving the superiority of five and even six to one. The English
+axiom, which had so long resisted plain reason, had at last to yield
+to necessity. And so with many other antiquated conditions, including
+the quality and qualifications of masters, officers, and seamen.
+
+The exertions made in Great Britain to improve merchant shipping were
+at once stimulated and immeasurably assisted by the gold discoveries
+in Australia, an island in the South Pacific more absolutely dependent
+on sea communication than San Francisco on the American continent had
+been. It was, moreover, in British territory, where no exclusive
+privileges could be enjoyed, and where competition was entirely
+unfettered. Of course the clipper fleet of the United States was
+prepared to do for Australia what it had done so well for California;
+but the prospect of the carrying trade between Great Britain and her
+colonies falling into alien hands aroused the spirit of the English to
+make a supreme effort to at least hold their own, if not to recover
+lost ground.
+
+The seven seas soon became alive with rival clipper ships of great
+size and power, and the newspapers chronicled the runs they made to
+Australia and California in days, as they now record the hours
+consumed on steamer voyages across the Atlantic. Ancient barriers
+seemed to be submerged, and fusion of the ocean traffic of the world
+into one great whole opened the way to a new dispensation in the
+history of merchant shipping. Tonnage was tonnage all the world over,
+and became subject to the comprehensive control in which the gold and
+silver produced in distant countries was held by the great financial
+centres. But the ocean telegraph was not yet, and for twenty years
+more many gaps were left in the system of ocean communications, whence
+resulted seasons of plethora alternating with scarcity in particular
+lines of traffic.
+
+There was probably no trade in which the overflow of the new output of
+tonnage was more quickly felt than in that of China. It became a
+common custom for vessels of moderate size which had carried goods and
+emigrants to Australia and California, whence no return cargoes were
+at that period to be had, to proceed to India or China in
+ballast--"seeking." This was a source of tonnage supply which the
+merchants resident in those countries had no means of reckoning upon,
+though such a far-reaching calculation might not be beyond the powers
+of a clear head posted at one of the foci of the commercial world. An
+example may be quoted illustrative of the local tonnage famine which
+occasionally prevailed during that transition period. An English ship
+arrived in ballast at Hongkong from Sydney in 1854. The owner's local
+agent, or "consignee," recommended the captain to proceed at once
+north to Shanghai, where, according to latest advices, he would be
+sure to obtain a lading at a high rate of freight. The cautious
+skipper demurred to taking such a risk, and refused to move unless the
+agent would guarantee him £6, 10s. per ton for a full cargo for
+London. This was agreed. The ship reached the loading port at a moment
+when there was no tonnage available and much produce waiting shipment,
+and she was immediately filled up at about £7 or £8 per ton. It fell
+to the lot of this particular vessel, by the way, to carry a mail from
+Hongkong to Shanghai, the P. and O. Company's service being then only
+monthly, and no other steamer being on the line. It was just after the
+outbreak of the war with Russia. About a couple of days after the
+departure of the Akbar--for that was her name--when it was considered
+quite safe to do so, a resident American merchant, unable to contain
+himself, boasted of having sent by this English vessel the despatches
+of the Russian admiral under sealed cover to a sure hand in Shanghai.
+The recipient of this confidence, like a good patriot, reported the
+circumstance promptly to the governor of the colony, and he to the
+senior naval officer, who with no less promptitude ordered a steam
+sloop, the Rattler, to proceed in chase of the ship. The pursuit was
+successful; the Russian despatches were taken out and brought back to
+Hongkong, where they were submitted to the polyglot governor, Sir John
+Bowring.
+
+Another incident of the same period will show how it was possible for
+a bold operator to exploit the tonnage of the world on a considerable
+scale without the aid of the telegraph, or even of rapid communication
+by letter. One such operator in London, reckoning up the prospective
+supply and demand of tonnage throughout the world, foresaw this very
+scarcity in China of which we have just given an illustration. He
+thereupon proceeded to charter ships under various flags and engaged
+in distant voyages to proceed in ballast to the China ports, there to
+load cargoes for Europe. The wisdom of the operation was far from
+clear to the charterer's agents in China when they heard of ships
+coming to them from the four quarters of the world at a time when
+freights were low, with but little prospect of improvement, so far as
+they could see; but their outlook was circumscribed. Though as the
+ships began to arrive the difficulty of providing profitable
+freightage seemed to presage the ruin of the venture, yet subsequent
+arrivals justified the prevision of its author by earning for him
+highly remunerative freights. The tide had really risen as it had been
+foreseen; but it soon receded, and before the last charter had been
+fulfilled the time-factor, which is fatal to so many well-laid
+schemes, interposed, and probably caused the early profits to be
+swallowed up in the final losses.
+
+The bulk of the China traffic, however, was carried not by these
+erratic outsiders but by the regular traders, which loaded in London,
+Liverpool, or New York with manufactured goods, coal, and metals, and
+returned from China with tea, silk, and other produce. It must have
+been a profitable business, for the average freight homeward in the
+'Forties and 'Fifties seems to have been about £5 per ton; and if we
+allow even one-third of that for the outward voyage, it would give the
+shipowner somewhere about £7 for the round voyage, which was
+accomplished with ease within the twelve months. It must be
+remembered, however, that the expenses of running were proportionately
+high on the small vessels which were then in the trade. In the course
+of time, when speed and facilities of despatch at home and abroad had
+been further improved, the clippers from London took in Australia in
+the outward voyage by way of filling up the time until the tea crop
+was brought to market.
+
+When the great increase in the export of silk took place a special
+rate was paid on it to favourite ships on account of its high value.
+But though this precious article could afford, when necessary, extreme
+rates of freight, its total bulk was too small--about one-tenth of
+that of tea--to affect seriously the general carrying trade of China.
+A certain quantity was regularly shipped by the "overland route"--that
+is, by P. and O. Company's steamers to Suez, and thence by rail to
+Alexandria, to be there reshipped for its ultimate destination,
+Marseilles or Southampton. But the capacity of the steamers was so
+small that only a _pro rata_ allotment of space was made to
+applicants, and the freight charged for it was at the rate of £25 per
+ton. Under exceptional conditions one sailing ship in the year 1856
+carried a silk cargo of 6000 bales, valued at £750,000 sterling, which
+was said to be the largest amount ever ventured, up to that time, in
+any merchant vessel. It was so unexpectedly large that the shippers
+were unable fully to cover their risk by insurance. A singular
+fatality attended the outset of this voyage, showing the fallibility
+of human judgment even under the most favourable circumstances. The
+commander of this ship had been perhaps the most successful in the
+China trade, and it was the extraordinary confidence that was placed
+in his judgment that induced the merchants to intrust to his care
+merchandise of such enormous value. Though much impressed with the
+sense of personal responsibility for its safety, he was yet tempted by
+a fine starlit night to break ground from the anchorage at Shanghai
+and drop down the river to Wusung, where he touched on the well-known
+bar, and was passed by the outward-bound mail-steamer the following
+morning. The ship was of course reported "on shore," and so the
+letters ordering insurance which the mail-steamer carried were
+rendered useless. The master, though the ship had lain but a few hours
+on soft mud, dared not proceed to sea with such a valuable cargo
+without examining the ship's bottom. To do this he had to be towed
+back to Shanghai, fourteen miles by river, discharge, strip off the
+copper, replace it, reload the cargo, and recommence the voyage. It
+proved much the longest she had ever made, and there was great anxiety
+among the merchants, especially among those of them who were only
+partially insured. But as fate would have it, while the ship was on
+the high seas her cargo was growing in value, the silk famine in
+Europe having in the mean time clearly declared itself; so that what
+with the delay of a month or two at the start and several weeks more
+on the passage, a time was gained for sufficient profit to accrue on
+the silk to lay the foundation of several respectable fortunes, and
+the commander, to whose error of judgment the result was due, was
+received in London with acclamation and with substantial gratuities
+from some of the fortunate owners of his cargo. The lucky craft was
+the Challenger, Captain Killick, which had distinguished herself in
+racing against the American clipper Nightingale in 1852 and 1863, and
+was the first sailing-vessel to load tea at Hankow in 1863,--a
+historic ship.
+
+During the time of the deepest gloom in shipping circles, consequent
+on the repeal of the Navigation Laws, at a meeting where the ruin of
+the industry was proclaimed in chorus by the shipowners present, one
+man had the courage to rise up and stem the current of depression.
+"The British shipowners have at last sat down to play a fair and open
+game with the Americans, and, by Jove! we will trump them," were the
+words of Mr Richard Green, the eminent shipbuilder of Blackwall, as
+quoted by Mr W. S. Lindsay in his 'History of Merchant Shipping.' Mr
+Lindsay adds that Mr Green was as good as his word, for shortly after
+he built, to the order of Mr Hamilton Lindsay, a China merchant, the
+ship Challenger, of 600 or 700 tons, expressly to match the American
+Challenge, more than double her size, and thought to be the fastest
+ship then afloat. Though the two never met, the performances of the
+English, whether for speed or for dry carrying, quite eclipsed the
+American ship. It was with another competitor that the pioneer
+Blackwall clipper tried conclusions, and the circumstance suggests a
+somewhat whimsical association of the evolution of the China clipper
+with the Great Exhibition. A ship of exquisite model and finish had
+been built in America for the purpose of conveying visitors to that
+great gathering. She was put into the China trade, for which by her
+size she was well suited. Whether by prearrangement or not, she met
+the Challenger in 1852 in Shanghai, where they were both laden with
+tea simultaneously. Immense excitement was aroused, which took the
+usual form of heavy wagers between the respective partisans on the
+issue of the race to London. It was a close thing, as sportsmen say,
+the British ship coming in two days ahead of her rival. Dissatisfied,
+as the owner of a yacht or of a racehorse is apt to be with his
+defeat, certain changes were made by the owners of the Nightingale in
+her equipment for the next year's voyage. The race was again run from
+the same port, on the same conditions--and with the same result, only
+still more in favour of the English ship.
+
+A general excitement about such a trivial matter as the relative speed
+of two ships was only to be accounted for by the awakening
+consciousness of the significance of the English shipping revival
+which was then beginning. The interest extended much beyond the circle
+of those directly concerned. The deck of a mail steamer, to take an
+instance, became suddenly animated as the signals of a sailing-vessel
+were read out. Speaking a ship at sea was no such unusual occurrence,
+but when the name of Challenger was passed round, passengers and crew
+rushed to the side, gazing intently on the shapely black hull and
+white sails reflecting the morning sun. She was in the Straits of
+Malacca, on her way back to China to run her second heat. A young man
+among the passengers betraying ignorance of the cause of the commotion
+felt as small as if unable to name the last Derby winner. The world at
+that time seemed to have grown young. Imagination was directed to a
+dawn gilded with promise which the sequel has surely not belied!
+
+Thus the China Sea became a principal battle-ground whereon the
+struggle for ascendancy between the ships of Great Britain and the
+United States was most strenuously fought out. It was, as Mr Green
+said, a fair and open contest, alike creditable to both sides, and an
+unmixed benefit to the world at large. The energy of the English
+shipping interest was thoroughly aroused, and the shipowners and
+shipbuilders of Scotland came speedily to the front. In a few years
+after the issue was joined between the United States and Great
+Britain, the shipbuilders of the latter country found a potent
+auxiliary in iron, which began to be used for sailing-ships.[29] The
+vessel that led the way in this innovation, combining great speed with
+the other conditions of success, was the Lord of the Isles, Captain
+Maxton, of Greenock, which distinguished herself by beating two of the
+fastest American clippers of twice her size in the run from Foochow to
+London in 1856. The gradual introduction of steam on long voyages,
+which followed the free use of iron, was also to the advantage of the
+British competitors; and thus from a combination of favouring
+circumstances and dogged efforts to turn them to account, the
+ascendancy of British shipping was finally established.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In sketching the performances of these vessels we have somewhat
+anticipated the advent of that famous fleet of tea clippers which
+commanded the traffic of the Far East for something like fifteen
+years. For the beginnings of that struggle we have to go back to the
+year 1851, when the Leith clipper Ganges raced two Americans, the
+Flying Cloud and Bald Eagle, from China to London, finishing up with
+an interesting tack-and-tack contest up Channel from Weymouth, the
+English ship passing Dungeness six hours ahead. At that period the
+odds in mere numbers were so overwhelming against the English vessels
+that such occasional victories as the above were calculated to inspire
+the builders with courage to persevere. The Aberdeen clippers,
+Stornoway, Chrysolite, and Cairngorm, worthily followed the
+London-built Challenger in disputing the prize of speed with the best
+of their American contemporaries; and after the race of 1856, won, as
+has been mentioned, by the iron ship Lord of the Isles of Greenock,
+the American flag was practically eliminated from the annual contest.
+Competition, however, by no means slackened on that account, but
+rather increased in intensity. Past achievements opened the eyes of
+those interested to the possibilities of indefinite improvement in the
+build, rig, and equipment of ships, so that the idea took root and
+became a passion. Each year brought forth something new, giving birth
+in the following year to something still newer, until a type of ship
+was evolved which seemed to be the acme of design and execution.
+British clippers raced against each other for the blue ribbon of the
+ocean with as great zest as they had ever done when other flags were
+in the field.
+
+The competition for speed received a great stimulus from the opening
+of Foochow as a regular tea-shipping port in 1856. The port had been
+hindered by official restrictions from enjoying its natural advantages
+at an earlier period, and it was mainly due to the enterprise of the
+leading American house that these obstacles were at last removed and
+the produce of the Bohea hills diverted to its proper outlet. The
+event marked an epoch in the tea trade; for Foochow being so much
+closer to the plantations than the other two ports, it became possible
+to put on board there the first growth of the season with a prospect
+of landing the new teas in London a couple of months earlier than the
+trade had been accustomed to. It may be mentioned as one of the
+curiosities of conservatism that this very circumstance was used to
+the commercial prejudice of shipments from the new port. It was
+revolutionising the established routine of the trade, would interfere
+with the summer holidays, and it was gravely argued that October was
+the very earliest time when the London buyers could be induced to
+attend to the tea-market. But the fragrance of the new tea was
+irresistible in dispersing such cobwebs. So far from its coming too
+early to market, the best shipbuilders in the world were soon engaged
+in constructing ships that would accelerate the arrival of the new tea
+by as much as a couple of days. And so hungry was the trade that
+special arrangements were made to facilitate the brokers obtaining
+samples to sell by before the vessel passed Gravesend, and he would be
+an obscure grocer who was not able to display in his shop window a
+tea-chest bearing the name of the clipper on the day following her
+arrival in the dock. The annual tea-race from Foochow thus became one
+of the events of the year. Premiums were paid to the winner, and
+sliding scales of freight were in course of time introduced, graduated
+by the number of days on passage.
+
+No better proof could be adduced of the high excellence of the ships
+as well as of the good seamanship of their commanders than the
+exceeding closeness of the running on that long ocean voyage of twelve
+thousand miles. Several times it happened that vessels starting
+together would see nothing of each other during the hundred days'
+passage until the fog lifting in the Downs would reveal them close
+together, from which point the winning of the race depended on the
+pilot or the tug. Of the great race of 1866 Mr W. S. Lindsay, from
+whose valuable work on Merchant Shipping we have drawn freely for
+these details, says: "This race excited extraordinary interest among
+all persons engaged in maritime affairs. Five ships started--the
+Ariel, Taeping, Serica, Fiery Cross, and Taitsing. The three first
+left Foochow on the same day, but lost sight of each other for the
+whole voyage until they reached the English Channel, where they again
+met, arriving in the Thames within a few hours of each other." Very
+fast passages continued to be made after that time. The Ariel and
+Spindrift raced in 1868, and the Titania made a quick run in 1871; but
+Mr Lindsay awards the palm to the Sir Lancelot and Thermopylæ as "the
+two fastest sailing-ships that ever traversed the ocean." The former
+vessel, 886 tons register, made the run from Foochow to London in
+ninety days in 1868, and an interesting fact is recorded by the owners
+of that fine ship bearing on the propelling power of sails. Many
+experienced navigators had during the clipper-racing entertained
+misgivings as to the value of the excessive amount of sail and the
+heavy rig which were deemed necessary to the equipment of a clipper.
+The ships, they said, "buried themselves under the press of canvas."
+Writing seven years after the performance just mentioned, the owner
+of the Sir Lancelot said: "After the mania for China clipper-sailing I
+had 8 feet cut off from all the lower masts, and reduced the masts
+aloft and the yards in proportion. Yet with that (and no doubt a
+proportionately reduced crew) she maintained her speed undiminished."
+This was not an uncommon experience.[30]
+
+It is not to be supposed that the produce of China or the imports into
+the country were all carried by clipper ships. Theirs was a special
+service reserved for the most valuable produce and for the first few
+weeks of the season. After that fitful fever the trade of the year
+settled down to what may be called daily-bread conditions, when ships
+with moderate speed, large capacity, and frugally sailed, made steady
+and substantial profits for their owners. It is a commonly accepted
+maxim that the race--for profits, at all events--is not always to the
+swift. It was a saying of Mr Green, whose firm owned a large fleet of
+ships in the Australian and Indian trade, that in his balance-sheet
+for the year he found that his slow ships had paid for his fast ones.
+Nor did this economic rule lose its validity when steam came to
+supersede sail.
+
+The clippers proper had not had a clear run of fifteen years when
+steamers began to trespass on their preserves. The possibility of a
+successful steam voyage round the Cape began to be proved in 1864,
+and was demonstrated in 1866, when Mr Alfred Holt of Liverpool first
+established his "blue-funnel" line, beginning with the Ajax, Achilles,
+and Agamemnon. But though sailing clippers were displaced, the
+sporting element in the China trade was not extinguished. The opening
+of the Yangtze revived the interest in early arrivals of tea by
+bringing the "black leafs" of Hunan and Hupeh to the sea nearly as
+soon as the "red leafs," whose outlet was Foochow. The produce of the
+central provinces up till 1861 was conveyed by a slow and expensive
+route, a considerable portion of it on the backs of porters, to
+Canton. Hankow when opened became at once the entrepot for these teas,
+and sea-going ships began to load their cargoes in the very heart of
+the Chinese empire. For some years there had been two sets of
+races--one from Foochow and one from Hankow--which took the wind out
+of each other's sails, and the sport became somewhat stale.
+
+It was the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and the consequent
+improvements in the construction of steamships, that gave its full
+value to the Yangtze as a trade route. For then ocean steamers loaded
+at Hankow with all the advantages of the short route and convenient
+coaling-stations, and the old excitement of the Foochow racing was
+revived under a still higher pressure. Every year witnessed some new
+design for combining the maximum cargo and coal stowage with the
+maximum speed, so that new tea, which but a few years before was
+landed in November, now came to market early in July. The last great
+race occurred in 1883 between the Glenogle and Stirling Castle. By
+that time Indian tea was rapidly gaining the ascendant in the great
+consuming marts, displacing the Chinese article, which could no longer
+afford the prestige of being carried by steamers built and run
+regardless of expense. Thenceforth all Far Eastern produce found an
+everyday level; merchandise was carried to and fro by regular lines,
+with measured intervals of sailing, all the year round, freights were
+fixed by common agreement, and the trade assumed a character of an
+omnibus traffic on a large scale.
+
+The Suez Canal produced an immense lateral extension of trade with
+China by bringing the Black Sea, Mediterranean, and North Sea ports
+into direct communication with the ports of the Far East. The Russian
+volunteer fleet, composed of very large and swift steamers, each
+capable of conveying 2000 troops, carried tea direct from Hankow to
+Odessa. Trade with Marseilles and Genoa was developed by British and
+German enterprise as well as by the Messageries Maritimes of France.
+Antwerp, Bremen, and Hamburg became the terminal ports for important
+lines of steamers. The mercantile navy of Japan had not risen into
+general notice during the earlier time with which we are principally
+concerned, and it would deserve a treatise by itself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By a process of natural selection native shipping in China and Japan
+has been extensively superseded by foreign, and an immense dislocation
+of capital has in consequence taken place. The effect of this has been
+severely felt on the China coast, especially in such large shipping
+ports as Taku, Shanghai, and Ningpo, where there were in former days
+large and prosperous shipowning communities. The disturbance has
+probably been much less marked in Japan, owing to the greater agility
+of the people in adapting themselves to inevitable changes. Certain it
+is that in both countries there is still a large junk fleet employed
+in the coasting trade, being protected against foreign as well as
+steam competition by their light draught and their privilege of
+trading at ports not opened to foreign trade.
+
+The temptation to evade the prohibition of foreign flags led in former
+days to sundry bizarre effects on the coast of China. The natives,
+finding it to their advantage to employ foreign vessels, exercised
+their ingenuity in making them look like Chinese craft. This would at
+first sight appear no easy matter, seeing that the Chinese junks
+carried no yards and their hulls were of a construction as different
+from that of a modern ship as was possible for two things to be which
+were intended for the same purpose. The junks possessed certain
+qualities conducive to buoyancy and safety, such as water-tight
+bulkheads, which at once strengthened the hull and minimised the
+danger of sinking. But their sailing properties, except with the wind
+"free," were beneath contempt. Their weatherly and seaworthy qualities
+commended vessels of foreign construction to the Chinese traders,
+while the talisman of the flag was deemed by them a protection against
+pirates, and perhaps also, on occasion, against official inquisition.
+Probably what on the whole the native owner or charterer would have
+preferred was that his ship should pass for foreign at sea and for
+native in port. To this end in some cases resort was had to
+hermaphrodite rigging, and very generally to two projecting boards,
+one on each side of the figurehead, bearing the staring Chinese eye,
+such as the junks south of the Yangtze carry. The open eye on the
+ship's bow was to enable the Chinese port officials to close theirs to
+the unauthorised presence of strangers, and thus everything was
+arranged in the manner so dear to the Chinese character.
+
+In the south of China the advantage of the flag was sought without the
+foreign appearance of the vessel. The foreign flag was hoisted on
+native-built small craft, a large fleet of which hailed from Macao
+under Portuguese colours, and were from time to time guilty of great
+irregularities on the coast. The Chinese of Hongkong, British subjects
+born and bred, registered their vessels and received colonial sailing
+letters, renewable at frequent intervals, as a check on bad behaviour.
+With these papers short trips were made along the south coast, and a
+local trade was carried on in the estuary of the Canton river. These
+vessels of about 100 or 200 tons burthen were called "lorchas," of
+which we shall hear more in subsequent chapters.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[27] For interesting details of the smuggling organisation which
+lasted up to the middle of the present century, see 'Smuggling Days
+and Smuggling Ways,' by the Hon. Henry N. Shore, R.N.
+
+[28] The modern ship carries 70 to 75 per cent of dead-weight over her
+registered tonnage, and of weight and measurement combined about
+double.
+
+[29] The American and British clippers were originally built of wood
+sheathed with metal. After that came trial of iron ships coated with
+tallow, but finally at the climax of the sailing clippers' notable
+races they were all of composite construction--_i.e._, iron frames
+planked with wood and sheathed with yellow metal. This type of vessel
+(now out of date) was the essential feature of the fastest sailing
+China clippers. Thereupon followed the iron and steel steamship as the
+permanent carrier, and the white-winged argosies were no more!
+
+[30] Mr James MacCunn of Greenock says that all these racing clippers,
+which were practically the same size, carried double crews, numbering
+about thirty-three all told, equal to that of a 2500-tons merchantman
+of to-day. The Sir Lancelot, besides the shingle ballast below the
+tea, carried 100 tons fitted kentledge in the limbers stowed between
+skin and ceiling, whereby great "stiffness" was ensured--a factor of
+much value in beating down the China Sea against the monsoon, and at
+other times in "carrying on" under a heavy press of canvas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE TRADERS.
+
+
+I. FOREIGN.
+
+     Their relations to their official representatives -- And to
+     the trading interests of their own countries -- Their unity
+     -- High character -- Liberality -- Breadth of view.
+
+In the preceding portions of this narrative it has been shown how much
+the character of the principal officials on both sides influenced the
+progress of events. There was, however, yet another factor which
+contributed in a lesser degree and in a different manner to the
+general result which ought not to be entirely omitted from
+consideration, and that was the personal qualities and traditional
+characteristics of the two trading communities, foreign and Chinese.
+It was they who created the subject-matter of all foreign relations,
+and stood in the breach in all the struggles between foreign and
+native officials. It was their persons and their fortunes which were
+ever at stake; it was they who first felt the shock of disturbance,
+and were the first to reap the fruits of peace.
+
+The relation of the foreign mercantile community to their official
+representatives was not always free from friction, because the same
+high authority which enjoined on the officials the protection of the
+persons and the promotion of the interests of the lay community
+empowered them also to rule over these their _protégés_, and to apply
+to them an arbitrary discipline in accordance with what they conceived
+to be the exigencies of the time. Duty in such circumstances must
+often have assumed a divided aspect, and rules of action must
+frequently have been put to a severe strain; nor is it surprising
+that, owing to these peculiar relationships, the resident communities
+should not have been able on all occasions to see eye to eye with the
+agents of their Governments.
+
+In their national and representative character the China merchants
+were wont at different crises to have moral burdens laid on them which
+did not properly fit their shoulders. They were little affected by the
+shallow moralism of the pulpit, which, taken literally, would have
+counselled general liquidation and the distribution of the proceeds
+among the poor, leaving the common creditor out of account; but
+official sermons also were on certain occasions preached to, or at,
+the merchants, implying some obligation on their part to sacrifice
+individual advantage to the greater good of the greater number. Were
+there no other answer to such altruistic monitions, it would be
+sufficient to plead that under such theories of duty commerce could
+not exist, and its political accessories would become superfluous. No
+road to commercial prosperity has been discovered which could dispense
+with the prime motive for the exertion which makes for progress--to
+wit, individual ambition, cupidity, or by whatever term we choose to
+designate the driving power of the complex machine of civilised life.
+Mammon is, after all, a divinity whose worship is as universal as
+that of Eros, and is scarcely less essential to the preservation of
+the race. Nor is it by collective, but by strictly individual,
+offerings that these deities are propitiated, and the high purposes of
+humanity subserved. It is no reproach, therefore, to the China
+merchants that they should have seized every opportunity for gain,
+totally irrespective of the general policy of their country. It was
+not for them to construe portents, but to improve the shining hour.
+And if it should at any time happen that the action of private
+persons, impelled by the passion for gain, embarrassed a diplomatist
+in his efforts to bring about some grand international combination,
+the fault was clearly his who omitted to take account of the ruling
+factor in all economic problems. The trade was not made for Government
+policy, but the policy for the trade, whose life-blood was absolute
+liberty of action and a free course for individual initiative. The
+success of British trade as a whole could only be the aggregate of the
+separate successes not otherwise attainable than by each member of the
+mercantile fraternity performing his own part with singleness of
+purpose. Nothing certainly could ever justify any trader in foregoing
+a chance of gain for the sake of an ideal benefit to the community,
+even if it were likely to be realised. A distinction must be drawn
+between the tradesman and the statesman. Though their functions may
+sometimes overlap, their respective duties to the State are of a
+different though complementary character.
+
+To the charge which from time to time has been levelled at the China
+merchants, that they were too narrow and too selfish, it may be
+plausibly replied that, on the contrary, they were if anything too
+broad; for their individual interests were not so bound up with
+general progress as are the interests of colonists in a new country,
+where co-operation is essential. Progress meant, to the China
+merchants, the admitting of the flood of competition, which they were
+in no condition to meet. The general interests of the country required
+the opening of new markets; in a lesser degree the interests of the
+manufacturing section required the same thing; but the interests of
+the merchants, albeit they appeared to represent their country and its
+industries, were in fact opposed to expansion. Yet so strong in them
+was the race instinct for progress that their private advantage has
+oftentimes actually given way to it, so that we have seen throughout
+the developments of foreign intercourse with China the resident
+merchants placing themselves in the van in helping to let loose the
+avalanche which overwhelmed them and brought fresh adventurers to
+occupy the ground.
+
+Nor has the relation of the merchants, even to the operations in which
+they were engaged, been always clearly understood. Although they
+personified their national trade in the eyes of the world, the
+merchants were never anything more than the vehicles for its
+distribution, having no interest in its general extension, though a
+powerful interest in the increase of their individual share. The
+productions which provided the livelihood of many thousands of people
+in China, and perhaps of a still larger number in Great Britain and
+other manufacturing countries, did not concern them. A percentage by
+way of toll on merchandise passing through their warehouses was the
+limit of their ambition. A clear distinction should therefore be
+drawn between the merchant and the producer or manufacturer; on which
+point some observations of Wingrove Cooke[31] are worth quoting:--
+
+"The calculations of the merchants do not extend beyond their own
+business. Why should they? Fortunately for himself, the merchant's
+optics are those of the lynx rather than those of the eagle. An
+extremely far-sighted commercial man must always run risks of
+bankruptcy, for the most absolutely certain sequences are often the
+most uncertain in point of time." The same writer, however, comments
+on the ignorance and narrowness of both British traders and
+manufacturers, and their failure to avail themselves of the
+opportunities offered to them of exploiting the trading resources of
+the Chinese. "There is no spirit of inquiry abroad," he says, "no
+energy at work, no notion of distracting the eye for a moment from
+watching those eternal shirtings, no thought whether you cannot make
+better shift with some other class of goods. Manchester made a great
+blind effort when the ports were opened, and that effort failed. Since
+then she has fallen into an apathy, and trusts to the chapter of
+accidents." As for the merchants on whom manufacturers relied to push
+the sale of their wares, "they come out here," he says, "to make
+fortunes in from five to seven years, not to force English calicoes up
+into remote places. Their work is to buy Chinese produce, but," he
+goes on, "if the English manufacturer wants extraordinary exertion,
+carefully collected information, and persevering up-country
+enterprise--and this is what he does want--he must do it himself. The
+British export trade will not maintain mercantile houses, but it would
+pay for travelling agents acting in immediate connection with the home
+manufacturers, who should keep their principals at home well informed,
+and who should work their operations through the established houses
+here. The evil is that British goods are not brought under the eyes of
+the Chinaman of the interior cities."
+
+The inaccuracies of some of these comments need not obscure the shrewd
+and prophetic character of the general advice tendered to the British
+manufacturers. After an interval of forty years they have begun to act
+upon it, and though their progress has as yet been slow, they are
+taking to heart another portion of Mr Cooke's advice, that "all
+dealing with the interior of China is impossible unless your agents
+speak the language of the people."
+
+A certain divergence between the official and non-official view of
+affairs had begun to show itself in the period before the war. Before
+the close of the East India Company's monopoly the independent
+merchants perceived that their interests, as well as those of the
+Company itself, were prejudiced by the truckling tactics of its
+agents, and though few in number, the mercantile community began to
+give utterance to their grievances and to show they had a mind of
+their own on public commercial policy. As the whole position of
+foreigners in China rested on premisses which were essentially false,
+disappointment, irritation, and alarm were chronic. Every one
+concerned, official and unofficial, was aggrieved thereby, while no
+one was disposed to accept blame for the grievance. A tendency to
+recrimination was the natural consequence. When their representatives
+failed to protect them against the aggressions of the Chinese the
+merchants complained, while the officials in their turn were not
+indisposed to retort by alleging provocative or injudicious conduct on
+the part of the merchants themselves as contributory to the
+ever-recurrent difficulties. Through the retrospective vista of two
+generations it is easy now to see where both parties were at
+fault--the merchants in making too little account of the difficulties
+under which their representatives were labouring, and the officials in
+failing to perceive that the causes of their disagreements with the
+Chinese lay altogether deeper than the casual imprudence of any
+private individual, even if that could be established. The despatches
+of the earlier "superintendents," notably those of Sir George
+Robinson, betray a certain jealousy of the political influence
+supposed to be wielded by the mercantile community of Canton working
+through their associations in England, and the superintendents seemed
+therefore concerned to cast discredit on mercantile opinion. It would
+have been strange enough, had it been true, that an isolated community
+of a hundred individuals should be torn by faction, yet it is a fact
+that on their assumed disagreements an argument was based for
+invalidating the representations which they occasionally made to the
+Home Government. Their views were disparaged, their motives impugned,
+and their short-sighted selfishness deplored. The note struck in 1835
+has been maintained with variations down almost to our own day,--a
+circumstance which has to be borne in mind by those who aim at a fair
+appreciation of British relations with China during the last sixty
+years.
+
+Far, however, from being a disunited flock, the mercantile body in
+China generally have on the whole been singularly unanimous in their
+views of the political transactions with which their interests were
+bound up; while as to the old community of Canton, no epithet could be
+less appropriate than one which would imply discord. Concord was the
+enforced effect of their circumstances. Imprisoned within a narrow
+space, surrounded by a hostile people, exposed to a constant common
+peril, the foreign residents in Canton were bound to each other by the
+mere instinct of self-preservation. They became, in fact, what Nelson
+called his captains, a "band of brothers." The exclusion of females up
+till 1842, and the deterrent conditions of married life there even
+under the treaty, made it essentially a bachelor community, living
+almost like one family, or as comrades in a campaign. Of the
+disinterested hospitality and good-fellowship which continue to this
+day, even in the maturity of their domestic development, to
+characterise the foreign communities in China, the germ is doubtless
+to be discovered in that primitive society which oscillated between
+Canton and Macao during the thirty years which ended in 1856, in which
+year their factories were for the last time destroyed, and the old
+life finally broken up.
+
+But there is something more to be credited to these early residents
+than the mutual loyalty prescribed for them by the peculiar conditions
+of their life. They exemplified in a special degree the true temper
+and feelings of gentlemen,--a moral product with which local
+conditions had also, no doubt, something to do. They lived in glass
+houses, with open doors; they could by no means get away from one
+another, or evade a mutual observation which was constant and
+searching. Whatever standards, therefore, were recognised by the
+community, the individual members were constrained to live up to them
+in a society where words and deeds lay open to the collective
+criticism. And the standard was really a high one. Truth, honour,
+courage, generosity, nobility, were qualities common to the whole
+body; and those who were not so endowed by birthright could not help
+assuming the virtue they did not possess, and, through practice,
+making it eventually their own. Black sheep there were, no doubt, but
+being never whitewashed, they did not infect the flock, as happens in
+more advanced communities.
+
+These intimate conditions favouring the formation of character were
+powerfully reinforced by the one feature of European life in China
+which was external to the residents, their contact with the
+surrounding mass of Chinese. The effect of intercourse with so-called
+inferior races is a question of much complexity, and large
+generalisations on such subjects are unsafe, each case being best
+considered on its proper merits. In their intercourse with the
+Chinese, certain points stood out like pillars of adamant to fix the
+principles by which the foreign residents were obliged to regulate
+their bearing towards the natives. In the first place, the strangers
+formed units hemmed in and pressed upon by thousands; therefore they
+must magnify themselves by maintaining an invincible prestige, they
+must in the eyes of that alien world always be heroes, and they must
+present a united front. Extending the same principles from the
+material to the moral sphere, the foreigners must maintain the
+reputation of their caste for probity, liberality, and trustworthiness.
+Their word must be as good as their bond; they must on no account
+demean themselves before the heathen, nor tolerate any temptation from
+a Chinese source to take unfair advantage of their own kind, the
+Caucasian or Christian, or by whatever term we may indicate the white
+man. Whatever their private differences, no white man must permit
+himself to acquiesce in the disparagement of his own people in the
+view of the people of the country. They must be, one and all, above
+suspicion. Such were some of the considerations which were effective
+in maintaining the character of Europeans in China. Although
+association with a race so alien as the Chinese, with such different
+moral standards, must have had the usual deteriorating effects of such
+contact, yet the positive gain in the formation of character from the
+practice of such maxims of conduct as those above indicated probably
+left a balance of advantage with the China merchants.
+
+The case would be imperfectly stated were mention not made of the
+process of natural selection which constituted the merchants a body of
+picked men. China was a remote country. It offered neither the
+facility of access nor the scope for adventure which in more recent
+times have attracted such streams of emigration to distant parts of
+the world. The mercantile body was a close corporation, automatically
+protected by barriers very difficult to surmount. The voyage itself
+occupied six months. Letters were rarely answered within a year. Hence
+all the machinery of business had to be arranged with a large
+prescience. Even after the opening of the overland route to Suez
+communication with China was maintained by sailing-ships up till 1845,
+when the Lady Mary Wood, the first steamer of the P. and O. Company,
+reached Hongkong, with no accommodation for more than a few
+passengers, and carrying no more cargo than a good-sized lighter. And
+later still, when steamers carried the mails fortnightly to China, the
+expense of the trip was so great that only a chosen few could afford
+it. It took £150 to £170 to land a single man in Hongkong, and in
+those days when extensive outfits were thought necessary, probably as
+much more had to be laid out in that way. The merchants who
+established themselves in China after the opening of the trade were
+either themselves men of large means, or they were the confidential
+representatives of English and American houses of great position.
+There were no local banks, operations extended over one or two years,
+an immense outlay of capital was required, and credit had to be
+maintained at an exceedingly high level, not only as between the
+merchants in China and their correspondents in London, Liverpool, New
+York, and Boston, but between both and the financial centre of the
+world. Through such a winnowing-machine only good grain could pass. It
+was a natural result that the English and American merchants both in
+China and India should have been superior as a class to the average of
+other commercial communities. And what was true of partners and heads
+of houses was no less so of their "assistants." There were no
+"clerks," as the term is commonly used in England, except Portuguese
+hailing from the neighbouring settlement of Macao. The young men sent
+from England were selected with as much care as it was possible to
+bestow, for they were precious. Not only were they costly, but it
+might take a year to make good casualties. Besides, in countries
+situated as China was then, where contingencies of health were never
+out of mind, it was not worth while to send out one who was a clerk
+and nothing more. There must be potential capacity as well, since it
+could never be foreseen how soon emergencies might arise which would
+require him to assume the most responsible duties. Hence every new
+hand engaged must enjoy the fullest confidence both of his immediate
+employers and of the home firm to which they were affiliated.
+
+As might be expected under such circumstances, family connections
+played a large part in the selection, and the tendency of the whole
+system was to minimise the gulf which in advanced societies separates
+the master from the man. In education and culture they were equals, as
+a consequence of which the reins of discipline might be held lightly,
+all service being willingly and intelligently rendered. The system of
+devolution was so fully developed that the assistant was practically
+master in his own department, for the success of which he was as
+zealous as the head. The "mess" _régime_ under which in most houses
+the whole staff, employers and employees, sat at one table, tended
+strongly in the direction of a common social level.
+
+What still further contributed much to raise the position of
+assistants was the tradition which the merchants both in India and
+China inherited from the East India Company of what may be called
+pampering their employees. They were permitted to carry on trade on
+their own account, in the same commodities and with the same buyers
+and sellers, in which they possessed advantages over their employers
+in having all the firm's information at command with the privilege of
+using its machinery free of cost. The abuses to which such a system
+was liable are too obvious to be dwelt upon; but to be himself a
+merchant, sometimes more successful than his principal, though without
+his responsibilities, certainly did not detract from the social status
+of the assistant.
+
+Sixty years ago the China community was composed of men in the prime
+of life. The average age was probably not over thirty--a man of forty
+was a grey-beard. In this respect an evolutionary change has come over
+the scene, and the average age of the adult residents must have risen
+by at least ten years. But the China community in all its stages of
+development has maintained the colonial characteristic of buoyancy and
+hopefulness. Reverses of fortune never appalled its members. Having
+been early accustomed to the alternations of fat years and lean, a
+disastrous season was to them but the presage of a bountiful one to
+follow; while a succession of bad years made the reaction only the
+more certain. This wellspring of hope has often helped the China
+merchants to carry the freshness of spring even into the snows of
+winter. The nature of their pursuits, moreover, fostered a
+comprehensive spirit. Trained in the school of wholesale dealing, and
+habituated to work on large curves, the China merchants have all
+through felt the blood of the merchant princes in their veins, and it
+has even been alleged to their disadvantage that, like the scions of
+decayed families the world over, the pomp and circumstance were
+maintained after the material basis had in the natural course of
+affairs vanished. Nay, more, that the grandiose ideas appropriate to
+the heirs of a protected system have disqualified them for the contest
+in small things which the latter days have brought upon them.
+
+Of that restricted, protected, quasi-aristocratic, half-socialistic
+society some of the traditions and spirit remain; but the structure
+itself could not possibly withstand the aggression of modern progress,
+and it has been swept away. New elements have entered into the
+composition of the mercantile and general society of the Far East, its
+basis has been widened and its relations with the great world
+multiplied. In innumerable ways there has been improvement, not the
+least being the development of family life and the more enduring
+attachment to the soil which is the result of prolonged residence.
+Living, if less luxurious, is vastly more comfortable, more refined,
+and more civilised, and men and women without serious sacrifices make
+their home in a country which in the earlier days was but a scene of
+temporary exile. Charities abound which were not before needed; the
+channels of humanity have broadened, though it cannot be said at the
+cost of depth, for whatever else may have changed, the generosity of
+the foreign communities remains as princely as in the good old days.
+
+Yet is it permissible to regret some of the robuster virtues of the
+generation that is past. The European solidarity _vis-à-vis_ the
+Chinese world, which continued practically unbroken into the eighth
+decade of the century, a tower of moral strength to foreigners and an
+object of respect to the Chinese, has now been thrown down. Not only
+in private adventures have foreigners in their heat of competition let
+themselves down to the level of Chinese tactics, but great financial
+syndicates have immersed themselves in intrigues which either did not
+tempt the men of the previous generation or tempted them in vain; and
+even the Great Powers themselves have descended into the inglorious
+arena, where decency is discarded like the superfluous garments of the
+gladiator, and where falsity, ultra-Chinese in quality, masquerades in
+Christian garb. The moral ascendancy of Christendom has been in a
+hundred ways shamelessly prostituted, leaving little visible
+distinction between the West and the East but superior energy and
+military force.
+
+Take them for all in all, the China merchants have been in their day
+and generation no unworthy representatives of their country's
+interests and policy, its manhood and character. Their patriotism has
+not been toned down but expanded and rationalised by cosmopolitan
+associations, and by contact with a type of national life differing
+diametrically from their own. Breadth and moderation have resulted
+from these conditions, and a habit of tempering the exigencies of the
+day by the larger consideration of international problems has been
+characteristic of the mercantile bodies in China from first to last.
+And though statesmanship lies outside the range of busy men of
+commerce, it must be said in justice to the merchants of China that
+they have been consistently loyal to an ideal policy, higher in its
+aims and more practical in its operation than that which any line of
+Western statesmen, save those of Russia, has been able to follow. It
+had been better if the continuous prognostications of such a compact
+body of opinion had been more heeded.
+
+
+II. CHINESE.
+
+     Business aptitude -- High standard of commercial ethics --
+     Circumstances hindering great accumulations.
+
+As it requires two to make a bargain, it would be an imperfect account
+of the China trade which omitted such an important element as the
+efficiency of the native trader. To him is due the fact that the
+foreign commerce of his country, when uninterfered with by the
+officials of his Government, has been made so easy for the various
+parties concerned in it. Of all the accomplishments the Chinese nation
+has acquired during the long millenniums of its history, there is none
+in which it has attained to such perfect mastery as in the science of
+buying and selling. The Chinese possess the Jews' passion for
+exchange. All classes, from the peasant to the prince, think in money,
+and the instinct of appraisement supplies to them the place of a ready
+reckoner, continuously converting objects and opportunities into cash.
+Thus surveying mankind and all its achievements with the eye of an
+auctioneer, invisible note-book in hand, external impressions
+translate themselves automatically into the language of the
+market-place, so that it comes as natural to the Chinaman as to the
+modern American, or to any other commercial people, to reduce all
+forms of appreciation to the common measure of the dollar. A people
+imbued with such habits of mind are traders by intuition. If they have
+much to learn from foreigners, they have also much to teach them; and
+the fact that at no spot within the vast empire of China would one
+fail to find ready-made and eager men of business is a happy augury
+for the extended intercourse which may be developed in the future,
+while at the same time it affords the clearest indication of the true
+avenue to sympathetic relations with the Chinese. In every detail of
+handling and moving commodities, from the moment they leave the hands
+of the producer in his garden-patch to the time when they reach the
+ultimate consumer perhaps a thousand miles away, the Chinese trader is
+an expert. Times and seasons have been elaborately mapped out, the
+clue laid unerringly through labyrinthine currencies, weights, and
+measures which to the stranger seem a hopeless tangle, and elaborate
+trade customs evolved appropriate to the requirements of a
+myriad-sided commerce, until the simplest operation has been invested
+with a kind of ritual observance, the effect of the whole being to
+cause the complex wheels to run both swiftly and smoothly.
+
+To crown all, there is to be noted, as the highest condition of
+successful trade, the evolution of commercial probity, which, though
+no monopoly of the Chinese merchants, is one of their distinguishing
+characteristics. It is that element which, in the generations before
+the treaties, enabled so large a commerce to be carried on with
+foreigners without anxiety, without friction, and almost without
+precaution. It has also led to the happiest personal relations between
+foreigners and the native trader.
+
+     When the business of the season was over [says Mr
+     Hunter][32] contracts were made with the Hong merchants for
+     the next season. They consisted of teas of certain
+     qualities and kinds, sometimes at fixed prices, sometimes
+     at the prices which should be current at the time of the
+     arrival of the teas. No other record of these contracts was
+     ever made than by each party booking them, no written
+     agreements were drawn up, nothing was sealed or attested. A
+     wilful breach of contract never took place, and as regards
+     quality and quantity the Hong merchants fulfilled their
+     part with scrupulous honesty and care.
+
+The Chinese merchant, moreover, has been always noted for what he
+himself graphically calls his large-heartedness, which is exemplified
+by liberality in all his dealings, tenacity as to all that is material
+with comparative disregard of trifles, never letting a transaction
+fall through on account of punctilio, yielding to the prejudices of
+others wherever it can be done without substantial disadvantage, a
+"sweet reasonableness," if the phrase may be borrowed for such a
+purpose, which obviates disputation, and the manliness which does not
+repine at the consequences of an unfortunate contract. Judicial
+procedure being an abomination to respectable Chinese, their security
+in commercial dealings is based as much upon reason, good faith, and
+non-repudiation as that of the Western nations is upon verbal finesse
+in the construction of covenants.
+
+Two systems so diametrically opposed can hardly admit of real
+amalgamation without sacrifice of the saving principle of both. And
+if, in the period immediately succeeding the retirement of the East
+India Company, perfect harmony prevailed between the Chinese and the
+foreign merchant, the result was apparently attained by the foreigners
+practically falling in with the principles and the commercial ethics
+of the Chinese, to which nothing has yet been found superior. The
+Chinese aptitude for business, indeed, exerted a peculiar influence
+over their foreign colleagues. The efficiency and alacrity of the
+native merchants and their staff were such that the foreigners fell
+into the way of leaving to them the principal share in managing the
+details of the business. When the venerable, but unnatural, Co-hong
+system of Old Canton was superseded by the compradoric, the connection
+between the foreign firm and their native staff became so intimate
+that it was scarcely possible to distinguish between the two, and
+misunderstandings have not unfrequently arisen through third parties
+mistaking the principal for the agent and the agent for the principal.
+
+Such a relationship could not but foster in some cases a certain
+lordly abstraction on the part of the foreign merchant, to which
+climatic conditions powerfully contributed. The factotum, in short,
+became a minister of luxury, everywhere a demoralising influence, and
+thus there was a constant tendency for the Chinese to gain the upper
+hand,--to be the master in effect though the servant in name. The
+comprador was always consulted, and if the employer ventured to omit
+this formality the resulting transaction would almost certainly come
+to grief through inexplicable causes. Seldom, however, was his advice
+rejected, while many of the largest operations were of his initiation.
+Unlimited confidence was the rule on both sides, which often took the
+concrete form of considerable indebtedness, now on the one side now on
+the other, and was regularly shown in the despatch of large amounts of
+specie into the far interior of the country for the purchase of tea
+and silk in the districts of their growth. For many years the old
+practice was followed of contracting for produce as soon as
+marketable, and sometimes even before. During three or four months, in
+the case of tea, large funds belonging to foreign merchants were in
+the hands of native agents far beyond the reach of the owners, who
+could exercise no sort of supervision over the proceedings of their
+agents. The funds were in every case safely returned in the form of
+produce purchased, which was entered to the foreign merchant at a
+price arbitrarily fixed by the comprador to cover all expenses. Under
+such a _régime_ it would have needed no great perspicacity, one would
+imagine, to foretell in which pocket the profits of trading would
+eventually lodge. As a matter of fact, the comprador generally grew
+rich at the expense of his employer. All the while the sincerest
+friendship existed between them, often descending to the second or
+third generation.[33]
+
+It would be natural to suppose that in such an extensive commercial
+field as the empire of China, exploited by such competent traders,
+large accumulations of wealth would be the result. Yet after making
+due allowance for inducements to concealment, the wealth even of the
+richest families probably falls far short of that which is not
+uncommon in Western countries. Several reasons might be adduced for
+the limitation, chiefly the family system, which necessitates constant
+redistribution, and which subjects every successful man to the
+attentions of a swarm of parasites, who, besides devouring his
+substance with riotous living, have the further opportunity of ruining
+his enterprises by their malfeasance. Yet although individual wealth
+may, from these and other causes, be confined within very moderate
+limits, the control of capital for legitimate business is ample. Owing
+to the co-operative system under which the financiers of the country
+support and guarantee each other, credit stands very high, enabling
+the widely ramified commerce of the empire to be carried on upon a
+very small nucleus of cash capital. The banking organisation of China
+is wonderfully complete, bills of exchange being currently negotiable
+between the most distant points of the empire, the circulation of
+merchandise maintaining the equilibrium with comparatively little
+assistance from the precious metals.
+
+The true characteristics of a people probably stand out in a clearer
+light when they are segregated from the conventionalities of their
+home and forced to accommodate themselves to unaccustomed conditions.
+Following the Chinese to the various commercial colonies which they
+have done so much to develop, it will be found that they have carried
+with them into their voluntary exile the best elements of their
+commercial success in their mother country. The great emporium of
+Maimaichên, on the Siberian frontier near Kiachta, is an old
+commercial settlement mostly composed of natives of the province of
+Shansi, occupying positions of the highest respect both financially
+and socially. The streets of the town are regular, wide, and
+moderately clean. The houses are solid, tidy, and tasteful, with
+pretty little courtyards, ornamental door-screens, and so forth, the
+style of the whole being described as superior to what is seen in the
+large cities within China proper. The very conditions of exile seem
+favourable to a higher scale of living, free alike from the incubus of
+thriftless relations and from the malign espionage of Government
+officials.
+
+In the Philippine Islands and in Java the Chinese emigrants from the
+southern provinces have been the life and soul of the trade and
+industry of these places. So also in the British dominions, as at
+Singapore and Penang, which are practically Chinese Colonies under the
+British flag. Hongkong and the Burmese ports are of course no
+exceptions.
+
+The description given by Mr Thomson[34] of the Chinese in Penang would
+apply equally to every part of the world in which the Chinese have
+been permitted to settle:--
+
+     Should you, my reader, ever settle in Penang, you will be
+     there introduced to a Chinese contractor who will sign a
+     document to do anything. His costume will tell you that he
+     is a man of inexpensive yet cleanly habits. He will build
+     you a house after any design you choose, and within so many
+     days, subject to a fine should he exceed the stipulated
+     time. He will furnish you with a minute specification, in
+     which everything, to the last nail, will be included. He
+     has a brother who will contract to make every article of
+     furniture you require, either from drawings or from models.
+     He has another brother who will fit you and your good lady
+     with all sorts of clothing, and yet a third relative who
+     will find servants, and contract to supply you with all the
+     native and European delicacies in the market upon condition
+     that his monthly bills are regularly honoured.
+
+     It is, indeed, to Chinamen that the foreign resident is
+     indebted for almost all his comforts, and for the profusion
+     of luxuries which surround his wonderfully European-looking
+     home on this distant island.
+
+The Chinese are everywhere found enterprising and trustworthy men of
+business. Europeans, worried by the exhaustless refinements of the
+Marwarree or Bengali, find business with the Chinese in the Straits
+Settlements a positive luxury. Nor have the persecutions of the race
+in the United States and in self-governing British colonies wholly
+extinguished the spark of honour which the Chinese carry with them
+into distant lands. An old "'Forty-niner," since deceased, related to
+the writer some striking experiences of his own during a long
+commercial career in San Francisco. A Chinese with whom he had
+dealings disappeared from the scene, leaving a debt to Mr Forbes of
+several thousand dollars. The account became an eyesore in the books,
+and the amount was formally "written off" and forgotten. Some years
+after, Mr Forbes was surprised by a visit from a weather-beaten
+Chinese, who revealed himself as the delinquent Ah Sin and asked for
+his account. Demurring to the trouble of exhuming old ledgers, Mr
+Forbes asked Ah Sin incredulously if he was going to pay. "Why,
+certainly," said the debtor. The account was thereupon rendered to him
+with interest, and after a careful examination and making some
+corrections, Ah Sin undid his belt and tabled the money to the last
+cent, thereupon vanishing into space whence he had come.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[31] China in 1857-58. Routledge.
+
+[32] The Fankwae at Canton.
+
+[33] Apart from their liberality in the conduct of business, the
+generosity of the Chinese mercantile class, their gratitude for past
+favours, are so remarkable as to be incomprehensible to the Western
+mind. An account of them would read like a "fairy tale."
+
+[34] The Straits of Malacca, &c. By J. Thomson.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+HONGKONG.
+
+     Two British landmarks -- Chinese customs and Hongkong --
+     Choice of the island -- Vitality of colony -- Asylum for
+     malefactors -- Chinese official hostility -- Commanding
+     commercial position -- Crown Colony government --
+     Management of Chinese population -- Their improvement --
+     English education -- Material progress -- Industrial
+     institutions -- Accession of territory.
+
+
+The past sixty years of war and peace in China have left two landmarks
+as concrete embodiments of British policy--the Chinese maritime
+customs and the colony of Hongkong. These are documents which testify
+in indelible characters both to the motives and to the methods of
+British expansion throughout the world. For good and for evil their
+record cannot be explained away. Both institutions are typically
+English, inasmuch as they are not the fulfilment of a dream or the
+working out of preconcerted schemes, but growths spontaneously
+generated out of the local conditions, much like that of the British
+empire itself, and with scarcely more conscious foresight on the part
+of those who helped to rear the edifice.
+
+The relation of the British empire to the world, which defies
+definition, is only revealed in scattered object-lessons. India throws
+some light upon it--the colonies much more; and though in some
+respects unique in its character, Hongkong in its degree stands
+before the world as a realisation of the British ideal, with its
+faults and blunders as well as with its excellences and successes.
+
+The want of a British station on the China coast had long been felt,
+and during the ten years which preceded the cession innumerable
+proposals were thrown out, some of which distinctly indicated Hongkong
+itself as supplying the desideratum. But as to the status of the new
+port the various suggestions made neutralised each other, until the
+course of events removed the question out of the region of discussion
+and placed it in the lap of destiny.
+
+The earliest English visitors to the island described it as inhabited
+by a few weather-beaten fishermen, who were seen spreading their nets
+and drying their catch on the rocks. Cultivation was restricted to
+small patches of rice, sweet-potatoes, and buckwheat. The abundance of
+fern gave it in places an appearance of verdure, but it was on the
+whole a treeless, rugged, barren block of granite. The gentlemen of
+Lord Amherst's suite in 1816, who have left this record, made another
+significant observation. The precipitous island, twelve miles long,
+with its deep-water inlets, formed one side of a land-locked harbour,
+which they called Hongkong Sound, capable of sheltering any number of
+ships of the largest size. Into this commodious haven the English
+fugitives, driven first from Canton and then from Macao, by the
+drastic decree of the Chinese authorities in 1839, found a refuge for
+their ships, and afterwards a footing on shore for themselves. Stern
+necessity and not their wills sent them thither. The same necessity
+ordained that the little band, once lodged there, should take root,
+and growth followed as the natural result of the inherent vitality of
+the organism. As Dr Eitel well points out, this small social body did
+not originate in Hongkong: it had had a long preparatory history in
+Macao, and in the Canton factories, and may be considered, therefore,
+in the light of a healthy swarm from the older hives.
+
+During the first few years of the occupation the selection of the
+station was the subject of a good deal of cheap criticism in the
+press. A commercial disappointment and a political failure, it was
+suggested by some that the place should be abandoned. It was
+contrasted unfavourably with the island of Chusan, which had been
+receded to China under the same treaty which had ceded Hongkong to
+Great Britain; and even as late as 1858 Lord Elgin exclaimed, "How
+anybody in their senses could have preferred Hongkong to Chusan seems
+incredible."
+
+But, in point of fact, there had been little or no conscious choice in
+the matter. The position may be said to have chosen itself, since no
+alternative was left to the first British settlers. As for Chusan, it
+had been occupied and abandoned several times. The East India Company
+had an establishment there in the beginning of the eighteenth century,
+and if that station was finally given up either on its merits or in
+favour of Hongkong, it was certainly not without experience of the
+value of the more northerly position. Whatever hypothetical
+advantages, commercial or otherwise, might have accrued from the
+retention of Chusan, the actual position attained by Hongkong as an
+emporium of trade, a centre of industry, and one of the great shipping
+ports in the world, furnishes an unanswerable defence both of the
+choice of the site and the political structure which has been erected
+on it. Canton being at once the centre of foreign trade and the focus
+of Chinese hostility, vicinity to that city was an indispensable
+condition of the location of the British entrepot, and the place of
+arms from which commerce could be defended. And it would be hard even
+now to point to any spot on the Chinese coast which fulfilled the
+conditions so well as Hongkong.
+
+The course of its development did not run smooth. It was not to be
+expected. The experiment of planting a British station in contact with
+the most energetic as well as the most turbulent section of the
+population of China was not likely to be carried out without mistakes,
+and many have been committed. Indeed, from the day of its birth down
+to the present time domestic dissensions and recriminations respecting
+the management of its affairs have never ceased.
+
+This was inevitable in a political microcosm having neither diversity
+of interest nor atmospheric space to soften the perspective. The
+entire interests of the colony were comprised within the focal
+distance of myopic vision. Molehills thus became mountains, and the
+mote in each brother's eye assumed the dimensions of animalcula seen
+through a microscope. The bitter feuds between the heads of the
+several departments of the lilliputian Government which prevailed
+during the first twenty years must have been fatal to any young colony
+if its progress had depended on the wisdom of its rulers. Happily a
+higher law governs all these things.
+
+Freedom carried with it the necessary consequences, and for many years
+the new colony was a tempting Alsatia for Chinese malefactors, an
+asylum for pirates, who put on and off that character with wonderful
+facility, and could hatch their plots there fearless of surveillance.
+When the Taiping rebellion was at its height, piracy became so mixed
+with insurrection that the two were not distinguishable, and it
+required both firmness and vigilance on the part of the authorities to
+prevent the harbour of Hongkong becoming the scene of naval
+engagements between the belligerents. During the hostilities of
+1857-58 a species of dacoity was practised with impunity by Chinese,
+who were tempted by rewards for the heads of Englishmen offered by the
+authorities of Canton.
+
+It cannot, therefore, be denied that the immigrants from the mainland
+in the first and even the second decade of its existence were leavened
+with an undesirable element, causing anxiety to the responsible
+rulers.
+
+The Chinese authorities, as was natural, waged relentless war on the
+colony from its birth. Though compelled formally to admit that the
+island and its dependencies were a British possession, they still
+maintained a secret authority over the Chinese who settled there, and
+even attempted to levy taxes. As they could not lay hands on its
+trade, except the valuable portion of it which was carried on by
+native craft, they left no stone unturned to destroy that. By skilful
+diplomacy, for which they are entitled to the highest credit, they
+obtained control over the merchant junks trading to Hongkong, and
+imposed restrictions on them calculated to render their traffic
+impossible. By the same treaty they obtained the appointment of a
+British officer as Chinese revenue agent in Hongkong--a concession,
+however, disallowed by the good sense of the British Government. But
+the Chinese were very tenacious of the idea of making Hongkong a
+customs station, never relaxing their efforts for forty years, until
+the convention of 1886 at last rewarded their perseverance by a
+partial fulfilment of their hopes.
+
+For reasons which, if not very lofty, are yet very human, the
+diplomatic and consular agents of Great Britain have never looked
+sympathetically on the colony--indeed have often sided with the
+Chinese in their attempts to curtail its rights.
+
+Nor has the Home Government itself always treated the small colony
+with parental consideration. Before it was out of swaddling-clothes
+the Treasury ogre began to open his mouth and, like the East India
+Company, demand remittances. A military establishment was maintained
+on the island, not for the benefit of the residents, but for the
+security of a strategical position in the imperial system. The
+colonists were mulcted in a substantial share of the cost, which the
+governor was instructed to wring out of them. The defences themselves,
+however, were neglected, and allowed to grow obsolete and useless,
+and, if we mistake not, it was the civil community, and not the
+Government, that insisted on their being modernised. The compromise
+eventually arrived at was, that the colonists provided the guns and
+the imperial Government the forts. An interesting parallel to this was
+the case of Gibraltar, which possessed no dock until the civil
+community by sheer persistence, extending over many years, at length
+overcame the reluctance of the British Government to provide so
+essential an adjunct to its naval establishment. The colony had
+suffered much from the war with China, but the Home Government refused
+it any participation in the indemnity extorted from the Chinese.
+
+But these and other drawbacks were counterbalanced, and eventually
+remedied, by the advantages offered by a free port and a safe harbour.
+Standing in the fair way of all Eastern commerce, which pays willing
+tribute to the colony, Hongkong attracted trade from all quarters in a
+steadily increasing volume, and became the pivot for the whole ocean
+traffic of the Far East.[35] The tide of prosperity could not be
+stayed--it invaded every section of the community. The character of
+the Chinese population was continuously raised. The best of them
+accumulated wealth: the poorest found remunerative employment for
+their labour. Crime, with which the colony had been tainted,
+diminished as much through the expulsive power of material prosperity
+as from the judicious measures of the executive Government, for the
+credit must not be denied to successive administrators for the
+improvement in the condition of the colony. Among those none was more
+deserving of praise than Sir Richard MacDonnell (1865-72), who on
+catching sight, as he entered the harbour, of an enormous building,
+which he was told was the jail, remarked, "I will not fill that, but
+stop the crime;" and he was nearly as good as his word,--a terror to
+evil-doers.
+
+A Crown colony is the form of government which challenges the most
+pungent criticism. The elected members of its legislature, being a
+minority, can only in the last resort acquiesce in the decisions of
+the official majority who constitute the executive Government. Such a
+minority, however, is by no means wanting in influence, for it is,
+after all, publicity which is the safeguard of popular liberty. The
+freedom of speech enjoyed by an Opposition which has no fear of the
+responsibility of office before its eyes widens the scope of its
+criticisms, and imparts a refreshing vigour to the invective of those
+of its members who possess the courage of their convictions. It
+reaches the popular ear, and the apprehension of an adverse public
+opinion so stimulated can never fail to have its effect on the acts of
+the Administration. Under such a _régime_ it seems natural that, other
+things being equal, each governor in turn should be esteemed the worst
+who has borne rule in the colony, and in any case his merits are never
+likely to be fairly gauged by any local contemporary estimate. King
+Stork, though fair and far-seeing, may be more obnoxious to criticism
+than King Log, who makes things pleasant during his official term.
+
+Hongkong being established as a free port, the functions of Government
+were practically limited to internal administration, and the question
+of greatest importance was the control of the Chinese population which
+poured in. This was a new problem. Chinese communities had, indeed,
+settled under foreign rule before, as in the Straits Settlements, in
+Java, and in Manila, but at such distances from their home as rendered
+the settlers amenable to any local regulations which might be imposed
+on them. Distance even acted as a strainer, keeping back the dregs.
+But Hongkong was nearer to China than the Isle of Wight is to
+Hampshire. Evil-doers could come and go at will. It could be overrun
+in the night and evacuated in the morning. Spies were as
+uncontrollable as house-flies, and whenever it suited the Chinese
+Government to be hostile, they proved their power to establish such a
+reign of terror in the colony that it was dangerous to stray beyond
+the beat of the armed policeman. Clearly it was of primary importance
+to come to terms with the native community, to reduce them to
+discipline, to encourage the good and discourage the bad among the
+Chinese settlers. As their numbers increased the public health
+demanded a yet stricter supervision of their habits. Sanitary science
+had scarcely dawned when the colony was founded, and its teachings had
+to be applied, as they came to light, to conditions of life which had
+been allowed to grow up in independence of its requirements. To
+tolerate native customs, domestic habits, and manner of living, while
+providing for the general wellbeing of a community in a climate which
+at its best is debilitating, taxed the resources of the British
+executive, and of course gave rise to perpetual recrimination. But the
+thing has been accomplished. Successive conflagrations have
+co-operated with the march of sanitary reform and the advance in their
+worldly circumstances in so improving the dwellings of the population,
+that their housing now compares not unfavourably with that of the
+native cities of India. The Southern Chinese are naturally cleanly,
+and appreciative of good order when it is judiciously introduced
+among them, even from a foreign source.
+
+A more complex question was that of bringing an alien population such
+as the Chinese within the moral pale of English law, for law is vain
+unless it appeals to the public conscience. The imposition of foreign
+statutes on a race nursed on oral tradition and restrained from
+misdoing by bonds invisible to their masters was not an undertaking
+for which success could be safely foretold. The effect of a similar
+proceeding on the subtle natives of India has been described as
+"substituting for a recognised morality a mere game of skill, at which
+the natives can give us long odds and beat us." "The mercantile and
+money-lending classes in India," says Mr S. S. Thorburn, "delight in
+the intricacy and surprises of a good case in court." With the Chinese
+it has been otherwise. The population of Hongkong have so far
+assimilated the foreign law that, whether or not it satisfies their
+innate sense of right, it at least governs their external conduct, and
+crime has been reduced very low: as for litigation, it is
+comparatively rare; it is disreputable, and has no place in the
+Chinese commercial economy.
+
+The best proofs of their acceptance of colonial rule is the constantly
+increasing numbers of the Chinese residents; the concentration of
+their trading capital there; their investments in real estate and in
+local industries; their identification with the general interests of
+the colony, and their adopting it as a home instead of a place of
+temporary exile. The means employed to conciliate the Chinese must be
+deemed on the whole to have been successful. There was first police
+supervision, then official protection under a succession of qualified
+officers, then representation in the Colonial Legislature and on the
+commission of the peace. The colonial executive has wisely left to the
+Chinese a large measure of a kind of self-government which is far more
+effective than anything that could find its expression in votes of the
+Legislature. The administration of purely Chinese affairs by native
+committees, with a firm ruling hand over their proceedings, seems to
+fulfil every purpose of government. The aim has been throughout to
+ascertain and to gratify, when practicable, the reasonable wants of
+the Chinese, who have responded to these advances by an exhibition of
+public spirit which no society could excel. It is doubtful whether in
+the wide dominion of the Queen there are 250,000 souls more
+appreciative of orderly government than the denizens of the whilom
+nest of pirates and cut-throats--Hongkong.
+
+As an educational centre Hongkong fulfils a function whose value is
+difficult to estimate. From the foundation of the colony the subject
+engaged the attention of the executive Government, as well as of
+different sections of the civil community. The missionary bodies were
+naturally very early in the field, and there was for a good many years
+frank co-operation between them and the mercantile community in
+promoting schools both for natives and Europeans. In time, however,
+either their aims were found to diverge or else their estimate of
+achievement differed, and many of the missionary teaching
+establishments were left without support.
+
+After an interval of languor, however, new life was infused into the
+educational schemes of the colony. The emulation of religious sects
+and the common desire to bring the lambs of the flock into their
+respective folds inspired the efforts of the propagandists, their zeal
+reacting on the colonial Government itself with the most gratifying
+results, so far at least as the extension of the field of their common
+efforts was concerned.
+
+The Chinese had imported their own school systems, while taking full
+advantage of the educational facilities provided by the Government and
+the Christian bodies. Being an intellectual race, they are well able
+to assimilate the best that Christendom has to offer them. But the
+colonial system contents itself with a sound practical commercial
+education, which has equipped vast numbers of Chinese for the work of
+clerks, interpreters, and so forth, and has thus been the means of
+spreading the knowledge of the English language over the coast of
+China, and of providing a medium of communication between the native
+and European mind.
+
+The material progress of Hongkong speaks volumes for the energy of its
+community. The precipitous character of the island left scarcely a
+foothold for business or residential settlement. The strip which
+formed the strand front of the city of Victoria afforded room for but
+one street, forcing extensions up the rugged face of the hill which
+soon was laid out in zig-zag terraces: foundations for the houses are
+scarped out of the rock, giving them the appearance of citadels. The
+locality being subject to torrential rains, streets and roads had to
+be made with a finished solidity which is perhaps unmatched. Bridges,
+culverts, and gutters all being constructed of hewn granite and fitted
+with impervious cement, the storm-waters are carried off as clean as
+from a ship's deck. These municipal works were not achieved without
+great expense and skilfully directed labour, of which an unlimited
+supply can always be depended on. And the credit of their achievement
+must be equally divided between the Government and the civil
+community.
+
+The island is badly situated as regards its water-supply, which has
+necessitated the excavation of immense reservoirs on the side farthest
+from the town, the aqueduct being tunnelled for over a mile through a
+solid granite mass. These and other engineering works have rendered
+Hongkong the envy of the older colonies in the Far East. No less so
+the palatial architecture in which the one natural product of the
+island has been turned to the most effective account. The quarrying of
+granite blocks, in which the Chinese are as great adepts as they are
+in dressing the stones for building, has been so extensive as visibly
+to alter the profile of the island.
+
+A great deficiency of the island as a commercial site being the
+absence of level ground, the enterprise of the colonists has been
+incessantly directed towards supplying the want. Successive
+reclamations on the sea-front, costing of course large sums of money,
+have so enlarged the building area that the great thoroughfare called
+Queen's Road now runs along the back instead of the front of a new
+city, the finest buildings of all being the most recent, standing upon
+the newly reclaimed land. It is characteristic of such improvements,
+that, while in course of execution, they should be deemed senseless
+extravagance, due to the ambition of some speculator or the caprice of
+some idealist, thus perpetually illustrating the truth of the Scottish
+saying, "Fules and bairns should never see a thing half done."
+Hongkong has been no exception to so universal a rule.
+
+The industrial enterprise of the colony has fully kept pace with its
+progress in other respects. The Chinese quarter resembles nothing so
+much as a colony of busy ants, where every kind of handicraft is plied
+with such diligence, day in and day out, as the Chinese alone seem
+capable of. The more imposing works conducted by foreigners occupy a
+prominent place in the whole economy of the Far East. Engineering and
+shipbuilding have always been carried on in the colony. Graving-docks
+capable of accommodating modern battleships, and of executing any
+repairs or renewals required by them as efficiently as could be done
+in any part of the world, constitute Hongkong a rendezvous for the
+navies of all nations. Manufactures of various kinds flourish on the
+island. Besides cotton-mills, some of the largest sugar-refineries in
+the world, fitted with the most modern improvements, work up the raw
+material from Southern China, Formosa, the Philippines, and other
+sugar-growing countries in the Eastern Archipelago, thus furnishing a
+substantial item of export to the Australian colonies and other parts
+of the world. The colony has thereby created for itself a commerce of
+its own, while its strategical situation has enabled it to retain the
+character of a pivot on which all Far Eastern commerce turns.
+
+This pivotal position alone, and not the local resources of the place,
+enabled the colony to found one of the most successful financial
+organisations of the modern world. The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank has
+had a history not dissimilar from that of the colony as a whole, one
+of success followed by periods of alternate depression and elation.
+Now in the trough of the wave and now on its crest, the bank has
+worked its way by inherent vitality through all vicissitudes of good
+or bad fortune, until it has gone near to monopolising the exchange
+business of the Far East, and has become the recognised medium between
+the money-market of London and the financial needs of the Imperial
+Chinese administration.
+
+It should not be overlooked as a condition of its success that the
+great Hongkong Bank, like all other successful joint-stock
+enterprises, whether in Hongkong or in China, has from its origin
+borne a broad international character. Though legally domiciled in a
+British possession, representative men of all nationalities sit on its
+board and take their turn in the chairmanship as it comes round. The
+international character, indeed, may be cited as one of the elements
+of the success of the colony itself. No disability of any kind
+attaches to alien settlers, not even exclusion from the jury panel.
+They are free to acquire property, to carry on business, to indulge
+their whims, and to avail themselves of all the resources of the
+colony, and enjoy the full protection of person and property which
+natural-born British subjects possess. They come and go at their
+pleasure, no questions asked, no luggage examined, no permits required
+for any purpose whatever coming within the scope of ordinary life. Nor
+are they even asked whether they appreciate these advantages or not;
+in fact they are as free to criticise the institutions under which
+they live as if they had borne their part in creating them, which, in
+fact, they have done, and this it is which marks the vitality of the
+British system, whether in the mother country or in its distant
+dependencies.
+
+The exceedingly cramped conditions of life on the island having proved
+such an obstacle to its development, the acquisition of a portion of
+the mainland forming one side of the harbour was at an early period
+spoken of as a desideratum for the colony. The idea took no practical
+shape, however, until the occupation of Canton by the Allied forces
+under the administration of Consul Parkes; and it is one of the most
+noteworthy achievements of that indefatigable man that, during the
+time when Great Britain was in fact at war with the Government of
+China, he should have succeeded, on his own initiative, in obtaining
+from the governor of the city a lease of a portion of land at Kowloon,
+which was subsequently confirmed by the convention of Peking in 1860.
+The improvement of artillery and other means of attack on sea-forts
+left the island very vulnerable, and the measures taken by the various
+European Powers to establish naval stations on the Chinese coast,
+together with the efforts which the country itself was making to
+become a modern military Power, rendered it a matter of absolute
+necessity, for the preservation of the island, that a sufficient area
+of the adjacent territory should be included within its defences.
+Following the example set by Germany and Russia, the British
+Government concluded an arrangement with the Government of China by
+which the needed extension was secured to Great Britain under a
+ninety-nine years lease. A convention embodying this agreement was
+signed at Peking in June 1898.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[35] The tonnage entered and cleared for the year 1898 amounted to
+17,265,780, of which one-half was under the British flag.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+MACAO.
+
+     Contrast with Hongkong -- An interesting survival --
+     Trading facilities -- Relations with Chinese Government --
+     Creditable to both parties -- Successful resistance to the
+     Dutch -- Portuguese expulsion from Japan -- English trading
+     competitors enjoy hospitality of Macao -- Trade with Canton
+     -- Hongkong becomes a rival -- Macao eclipsed -- Gambling,
+     Coolie trade, Piracy -- Population -- Cradle of many
+     improvements -- Distinguished names.
+
+
+The three hours' transit from Hongkong to Macao carries one into
+another world. The incessant scream of steam-launches which plough the
+harbour in all directions night and day gives place to the drowsy
+chime of church bells, and instead of the throng of busy men, one
+meets a solitary black mantilla walking demurely in the middle of a
+crooked and silent street. Perhaps nowhere is the modern world with
+its clamour thrown into such immediate contrast with that which
+belongs to the past.
+
+The settlement of Macao is a monument of Chinese toleration and of
+Portuguese tenacity. The Portuguese learnt at an early stage of their
+intercourse the use of the master-key to good relations with the
+Chinese authorities. It was to minister freely to their cupidity,
+which the Portuguese could well afford to do out of the profits of
+their trading. To "maintain ourselves in this place we must spend
+much with the Chinese heathen," as they themselves said in 1593 in a
+letter to Philip I. Macao is, besides, an interesting relic of that
+heroic age when a new heaven and a new earth became the dream of
+European adventurers. The spot was excellently well suited for the
+purposes, commercial and propagandist, which it was destined to serve;
+for in spite of the crimes and cruelties of the sixteenth century
+argonauts, the religious element was strongly represented in all their
+enterprises.[36] Situated outside the river proper, though within its
+wide estuary, and open to the sea, the settlement yet communicates by
+an inner passage or branch of the Pearl river with the city of Canton.
+It possesses two sheltered harbours adequate to the nautical
+requirements of the Middle Ages.
+
+The small peninsula of Macao combined business conveniences with
+salubrity of climate in a degree absolutely unrivalled in the torrid
+zone. Its picturesque scenery was always found refreshing to the eye
+wearied by long contemplation of brick walls, malarious swamps, or the
+monotonous glare of the melancholy ocean. From the Chinese point of
+view, also, it was an ideal location for strangers, since they could
+be thus kept out of sight, isolated like a ship in quarantine, and put
+under effective restraint. The situation lent itself to the
+traditional Chinese tactics of controlling barbarians by stopping
+their food-supply, a form of discipline of which the efficacy had been
+proved at an early period in the history of the colony. The Chinese
+adopted all the measures they could think of to confine traders to
+Macao, where certain indulgences were held out to them, subject to
+good behaviour.
+
+The Portuguese adventurers of the early sixteenth century, to whom the
+modern world owes so much, did well in pitching on this "gem of the
+orient earth and open sea" as a link in their chain of trading
+stations, which extended from the coasts of Africa to the Japanese
+islands. To trade as such the Chinese Government never seem to have
+had any objection, nor, would it appear, to foreigners as such. So
+long as there was nought to fear from their presence, the ancient
+maxim of cherishing men from afar could be followed without reserve,
+for the Chinese are by nature not an unkindly people. Tradition,
+indeed, claims for the settlement of foreigners in the Cantonese
+archipelago a purely hospitable origin, a storm-beaten vessel having
+in the year 1517 received permission from the local authorities to
+repair damages and dry her cargo there. The Portuguese frequented
+several harbours before they settled at Macao, their principal station
+being the island of Sanchuan, where Xavier was buried. About the
+middle of the sixteenth century, the city of Canton being besieged by
+a large piratical force whose base of operations was Macao, the high
+provincial authorities in their extremity sought the aid of the
+Portuguese, who came promptly to the rescue of the city, defeated the
+pirates, and captured their stronghold. Moved by mixed feelings of
+gratitude and policy, the Canton authorities thereupon sanctioned the
+Portuguese occupation of Macao, not ill-pleased to set up at that
+strategic point so effective a counterpoise to the native pirates.
+
+It said as much for the tact of the Portuguese as for the forbearance
+of the Chinese authorities that such an isolated position as that of
+Macao should have been held without force, and only on the prestige of
+past achievements, on terms of mutual amity, for nearly four hundred
+years. The Portuguese squatters paid to the Chinese Government a
+ground-rent of about £150 per annum, in consideration of which they
+enjoyed practical independence. "The merchants, fully aware that their
+settlement at Macao was due neither to any conquest, nor as a return
+for services by co-operating in destruction of pirates, bore in mind
+two principles--to be on good terms with the provincial authorities,
+and to improve as much as possible their exclusive trade with China."
+The forms of administrative authority were indeed maintained by the
+Chinese, their permission being required to reside and to build houses
+and so forth--regulations which were more vexatious, perhaps, in
+theory than in fact. The exercise of Chinese jurisdiction over the
+person was asserted with moderation as regards the Portuguese, though
+full authority was maintained over the native population. The
+Portuguese, however, became dissatisfied with the relationship which
+had worked smoothly for three hundred years, and when the
+treaty-making era arrived they sought means to improve their status.
+By persistent efforts they gradually freed themselves from the
+overlordship of China, this object being finally attained by good
+diplomacy in 1887, when the Imperial Government ceded to Portugal
+sovereign rights over Macao in consideration of assistance rendered by
+the colony in the collection of the Chinese opium revenue.
+
+Macao did not escape the fortunes of the long war of commercial
+supremacy which was waged between Holland and Portugal, but the colony
+successfully resisted two attempts to reduce it in 1622 and 1627. Its
+resources at that period enabled the diminutive settlement even to
+play some part in the game of empire in China itself, for we are told
+that a force of 400 men from India, under the command of two
+Portuguese officers, proceeded by land to Peking to support the last
+Ming emperor in his struggle with the invading Manchus. These
+auxiliaries returned whence they came without seeing active service.
+
+Although the Dutch failed to take military possession of Macao, they
+took other trading colonies, and succeeded eventually in wresting from
+the Portuguese their Asiatic commerce. They supplanted them entirely
+in Japan, whose "gold and spoils" had greatly enriched the colony.
+Being expelled, not without reason, in 1662, the Portuguese fugitives
+from Japan retired to Macao.
+
+Other competitors also began to appear and to assert their right to
+participate in the trade of the Far East, and Macao became the
+hostelry for merchants of all nations, who carried on business with
+the great Chinese emporium, Canton. Chief among these guests were the
+Dutch and English East India Companies, both of which maintained
+establishments at Macao for some two hundred years.
+
+The English Company had made use of the Macao anchorage first under a
+treaty with the viceroy of Goa, and subsequently under Cromwell's
+treaty with the Portuguese Government in 1654, which permitted English
+ships to enter all the ports in the Portuguese Indies. Before the
+close of the seventeenth century ships were despatched direct from
+England to Macao. The English adventurers were not satisfied with the
+privilege of anchoring so far from the great emporium, but direct
+trade with Canton had yet to be fought for. The energetic Captain
+Weddell, commanding the ship London, in 1655 met the obstructive
+tactics of the Cantonese authorities by bombarding the Bogue forts and
+forcing his way up the river, after which he was received in friendly
+audience by the viceroy, and was granted full participation in the
+Canton trade, much to the chagrin, it is said, of the jealous Macao
+merchants.
+
+The loss of its own direct commerce was thus compensated for by the
+tribute which the Portuguese colony was able to levy upon the general
+trade of China, by whomsoever carried on. Massive houses, with immense
+verandahs running all round them, and spacious and cool interior
+recesses, attest to this day the ancient glory of Macao. Though now
+neglected, and perhaps converted to baser uses, they afford a glimpse
+of the easy life led by the Company's agents and the merchants in the
+days before the treaty. During the business season, which was in the
+cool months, the whole mercantile community repaired to the factories
+at Canton while the ships lay at the deep-water anchorage of Whampoa,
+and between these two points the work of the year was done--arduous
+enough, no doubt, while it lasted. In spite of some contemporary
+testimony to the contrary, one can hardly conceive the quasi-imprisonment
+within the Canton factories as a kind of life to be enjoyed, but only
+as one to be endured for an object. At any rate, when the last cargo
+of tea had been shipped off the scene was like the break-up of a
+school. The merchants and their whole establishment betook themselves
+to their sumptuous river barges, and glided down the stream to Macao,
+where the luxury of a long holiday awaited them. Once at least in
+every year the foreigners were in full accord with the Chinese
+authorities, who sternly forbade loitering, and kept up the form of
+peremptorily sending the merchants away as soon as their business had
+been done. Nevertheless, those who desired to remain found no
+difficulty.
+
+The Portuguese colony, whether or not under compulsion, played an
+ungracious part in the troubles which preceded the outbreak of war
+between Great Britain and China. To evict from their houses a company
+of helpless people and drive them to sea, even at the bidding of an
+oriental tyrant, was a proceeding little in keeping with the
+traditions of Lusitanian chivalry. But Englishmen may very well
+forgive the Portuguese this act of inhumanity, since it compelled the
+fugitives to seek a home of their own in the Canton waters, destined
+to eclipse the fading glories of "la cidade do nome de Deos da Macao."
+
+The treaty of 1842, which enabled British merchants to set up house
+for themselves, deprived Macao of a large portion of its revenue; but
+even under this eclipse the era of its prosperity did not then come
+quite to an end.
+
+The occupation of Hongkong supplied to British traders all the wants
+which Macao had previously furnished, accompanied by a security which
+the Portuguese Administration was unable to confer. Its harbour was
+incomparably superior, fulfilling all the requirements of a modern
+seaport. These advantages were irresistible; nevertheless, the
+merchants vacated with evident reluctance the roomy mansions in which
+the pleasantest part of their lives had been spent. Several of them
+retained possession of their Macao homes, using them for purposes of
+recreation. "Dent's comfortable quarters at Macao" afforded an
+agreeable retreat for Admiral Keppel, and no doubt many others of the
+nautical brotherhood before and after his time; for the sea-breezes of
+Macao were almost as great a relief to the denizens of Queen's Road as
+to the community which, after the treaty, was permanently quartered in
+the Canton factories. To this day Macao, well served by fast and
+commodious steamers, remains a favoured resort for week-end tourist
+parties, picnics, honeymoons, and the like.
+
+  [Illustration: DENT'S VERANDAH, MACAO.]
+
+The population of Macao is estimated at 75,000 Chinese and under 4000
+Portuguese, of whom the percentage of pure blood is not large. The
+so-called Portuguese of the Chinese coast differ from those of Goa as
+the Chinese differ from the Indian natives. They supply a want in the
+general economy: in China, as clerks, for whose work they have, like
+the indispensable babu, a natural aptitude; in India, as domestic and
+personal servants. With the increase of typewriting and the practice
+of dictation in mercantile establishments the clerical services of
+the Macaese are likely to assume less importance. They are good
+Catholics, smoke cigarettes, and are harmless.
+
+Though for many years Macao suffered depression from the loss of its
+foreign trade, its natural advantages in course of time attracted to
+it new branches of industry, which to some extent revived its drooping
+prosperity. Foreign and native merchants found it convenient to
+conduct a certain portion of their trade in tea and silk and other
+articles in the quiet old city, where burdens were light and labour
+abundant. Traffic of a less desirable character found also its natural
+domicile in the colony. It became the headquarters of the lucrative
+coolie trade, which there for many years found an asylum where it
+feared no law, human or divine. To the credit of the Portuguese
+Government, however, this traffic was abolished in 1874. Opium and
+gambling licences now provide the chief contributions to a colonial
+revenue, the surplus of which over expenditure furnishes a respectable
+annual tribute to the needy mother country.
+
+There is yet another species of enterprise historically associated
+with the colony which cannot be altogether omitted, though it should
+be mentioned with the extenuating circumstances. Piracy, as we have
+seen, was rampant on the coasts of Asia, as it was also in Europe,
+before Vasco da Gama doubled the Cape; and it was not to be expected
+in an age when successful buccaneers in the Atlantic were earning
+distinction by harassing the common enemy Spain, that an isolated
+colony in remote Asia, detached from Europe a century and a half
+earlier, should have anticipated the ethical refinements of the
+awakening conscience of Christendom. Slavery itself was tolerated
+among the most enlightened races until the middle of the present
+century, and if the Macaese did feel a sneaking toleration for
+mitigated forms of it, as well as for other species of criminality
+which flourished all round them, it must be admitted the temptation
+lay very near to their hand. They had been brought up for centuries in
+close familiarity with the practices of the sea-rover. Though it
+cannot be said that piracy ever took rank as a domestic institution in
+patriarchal Macao, yet the openings for young men were much restricted
+by family custom, and instances have been reported of improvident sons
+laying unfilial hands on their fathers' junks on the coast with a view
+to rectifying the balance of the family finance. Whether or not such
+modes of redress were ever actually carried into effect, the fact that
+legends of this character should have woven themselves into the tissue
+of local gossip within comparatively recent times, and in connection
+with well-known names, indicates a state of feeling which should be
+allowed for in considering the relation of Macao to Chinese piracy.
+
+The influence of Macao on the history of foreign relations with China
+extended much beyond the sphere of mere commercial interests. For
+three hundred years it was for foreigners the gate of the Chinese
+empire, and all influences, good and bad, which came from without were
+infiltrated through that narrow opening, which also served as the
+medium through which China was revealed to the Western world. It was
+in Macao that the first lighthouse was erected, a symbol of the
+illuminating mission of foreigners in China. It was there also that
+the first printing-press was set up, employing movable type instead of
+the stereotype wooden blocks used by the Chinese. From that press was
+issued Morrison's famous Dictionary, and for a long series of years
+the Chinese Repository, a perfect storehouse of authentic information
+concerning the Chinese empire, conducted chiefly by English and
+American missionaries. The first foreign hospital in China was opened
+at Macao, and there vaccination was first practised. It was from Macao
+that the father of China missions, Matteo Ricci, started on his
+adventurous journey through the interior of the country in the
+sixteenth century, ultimately reaching the capital, where he
+established an influence over the Imperial Court scarcely less than
+miraculous, thus laying the foundation-stone of the Catholic
+propaganda in China. The little Portuguese settlement has therefore
+played no mean part in the changes which have taken place in the great
+empire of China.
+
+Of the personages associated with its history, the most brilliant, or
+at least the best known, was St Francis Xavier, the apostle of the
+Indies,--a man of so magnetic a character that he was credited with
+the miraculous gift of tongues, while as a matter of fact he seems not
+to have been even an ordinarily good linguist, speaking to the natives
+of the Far East only through an interpreter. Xavier died and was
+buried in the neighbouring island of Sanchuan, whence his remains were
+transferred first to Macao itself and afterwards to Goa. The names of
+Xavier and Ricci cast a halo over the first century of the existence
+of Macao. Another of the earlier residents of world-wide fame was the
+poet Camöens, who in a grotto formed of granite blocks tumbled
+together by nature, almost washed by the sea, sat and wrote the
+Portuguese epic 'The Lusiad,' celebrating the adventures of the great
+navigator Vasco da Gama. Of names belonging to the present century, or
+the English period, two only need be mentioned here. One was Robert
+Morrison, the father of English sinology, who was sent to China by the
+London Missionary Society in 1807. This remarkable man had mastered
+the initial difficulties of the Chinese language before leaving
+England. This he accomplished by the aid of a young Cantonese, and by
+diligent study of MSS. in the British Museum, and of a MS.
+Latin-Chinese dictionary lent to him by the Royal Society. His teacher
+accompanied him on the long voyage to China, during which Morrison
+laboured "from morning to midnight." In Canton a Pekingese teacher, a
+Catholic convert, was obtained, and the study of Chinese was carried
+on assiduously. The most enduring monument of these labours was the
+Chinese-English dictionary, which was printed by the East India
+Company at a cost of £15,000. This standard work has been the fountain
+from which all students of Chinese have drawn since his time.
+
+Art has had but one representative, an Irish gentleman named George
+Chinnery, who resided in Macao from 1825 till his death in 1852. Of Mr
+Chinnery's drawings and paintings there are many scattered
+collections, on some of which we have been able to draw for the
+illustrations in these volumes.
+
+  [Illustration: GEORGE CHINNERY.
+   (_From an oil-painting by himself._)]
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[36] Nomenclature alone sufficiently attests this fact--whether of the
+ships that carried them or of the lands they christened, as Natal,
+Trinidad, &c. The gigantic cross carved in the granite face of Table
+Mountain (it is said) by Vasco da Gama proclaimed to the wide ocean
+the sanctity of his mission. English adventurers were strongly imbued
+with the same pious spirit. Down to our own day marine policies open
+with the words, "In the name of God, Amen"; while the bill of lading,
+which within the past generation has become packed with clauses like a
+composite Act of Parliament--all tending to absolve the owner from
+responsibility as carrier--formerly began with the words, "Shipped by
+the grace of God," and ended with the prayer that "God would send the
+good ship to her desired port in safety."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+PIRACY.
+
+     Association with Hongkong and Macao -- Activity of British
+     navy in suppressing piracy -- Its historic importance --
+     Government relations with pirates -- The convoy system --
+     Gross abuse -- Hongkong legislation -- Progress of steam
+     navigation -- Fatal to piracy.
+
+
+A factor which has done so much to shape commercial intercourse with
+China as piracy cannot be properly ignored in a survey like the
+present. The settlements of Hongkong and Macao were forced into
+contact with this time-honoured institution, for these places are
+situated as near to the piratical centre as they are to that of the
+typhoon zone. From the time of the first war down to quite recent
+years the British squadron on the China station was almost engrossed
+in the two duties of surveying the coast and rivers, and of repressing
+piracy,--services which were not interrupted even during the progress
+of a war with the Imperial Government. Both proceedings were
+anomalous, being a usurpation of the sovereign functions of the
+Chinese Government. That Government, however, never evinced more than
+a languid interest in operations against its piratical subjects.
+Piracy, as such, seems indeed to have enjoyed that fatalistic
+toleration which the Chinese Government and people are wont to extend
+to every species of abuse, on the principle that what cannot be cured
+must be endured. Nor is China the only country where banditti have
+established with their future victims a conventional relation like
+that of certain predatory animals which are said to live on easy terms
+with the creatures destined to become their prey. Successful leaders,
+whether of brigands or of sea-rovers, have from time to time attained
+high political status in the empire. Wingrove Cooke says:--
+
+     Whenever anything occurs of historic importance we always
+     find that some bandit has had a hand in it. The land was
+     always full of them. When the Tartars possessed themselves
+     of China, one of these bandit chiefs had just possessed
+     himself of Peking, and the last of the Ming race had just
+     hanged himself. It was a pirate who drove the Dutch out of
+     Formosa; the son of a "celebrated pirate" who helped the
+     Cantonese to defend their city against the Tartars; and it
+     was a pirate who the other day destroyed the Portuguese
+     piratical fleet at Ningpo. In all ages and at all times
+     China has been coasted by pirates and traversed by bands of
+     robbers.
+
+In the 'Peking Gazette,' which he quotes, the Imperial Government
+itself thus describes the rule of the robbers:--
+
+     They carry off persons in order to extort ransoms for them;
+     they falsely assume the characters of police officers; they
+     build fast boats professedly to guard the grain-fields, and
+     into these they put from ten to twenty men, who cruise
+     along the rivers, violently plundering the boats of
+     travellers, or forcibly carrying off the wives and
+     daughters of the _tanka_ boat people. The inhabitants of
+     the villages and hamlets fear these robbers as they would
+     tigers, and do not offer them any resistance. The
+     husbandman must pay these robbers a charge, else as soon as
+     his crop is ripe it is plundered, and the whole field laid
+     bare. In the precincts of the metropolis they set fire to
+     places during the night, that, under pretence of saving and
+     defending, they may plunder and carry off.
+
+When it suits the Government to enlist rebels or robbers in its
+service it condones their misdeeds, and confers on them rank and
+honour. The chief of the Black Flags, who kept up a guerilla war
+against the French in Tongking, was a recent case in point, as was
+also, if report speaks truly, the late gallant Admiral Ting, who
+perished in the Chinese forlorn-hope at Weihai-wei in 1895. The
+relationship between the authorities and the freebooters is often of
+so equivocal a character, that foreign naval officers in their crusade
+against pirates may have failed at times to make the proper
+discrimination. Vessels seized as pirates occasionally escaped the
+fate which should have awaited them by proving themselves revenue
+protectors. But if the Government ever suffered from cases of mistaken
+identity, the balance was handsomely redressed; for piracy and
+smuggling being ingeniously blended, the forces of the British colony
+might in their turn be induced, by information supplied by the Chinese
+authorities, to act as revenue cruisers, under the belief that they
+were being led against pirates. The hard fights resulting in the
+destruction of piratical fleets bearing all the evidences of
+criminality were, however, too frequent to permit any doubt as to the
+general character of the craft so treated.
+
+But the anti-piratical agency was not confined to the commissioned
+officers of her Majesty's navy. Foreigners of all nations were drawn
+into the coasting traffic, in various capacities, as an antidote to
+piracy, with benefit, no doubt, to legitimate trade, yet not without
+some serious drawbacks. Dr Eitel tells us that during the first decade
+after the war the waters of Hongkong swarmed with pirates, that the
+whole coast-line was under the control of a blackmailing confederacy,
+and that the peaceful trading junk was obliged to be heavily armed, so
+that externally there was nothing to distinguish a trader from a
+pirate. During this period European seamen took service with the
+native pirates who made Hongkong their headquarters, whence they drew
+their supplies, and where they kept themselves informed as to the
+movements of valuable merchandise and of war-vessels. Foreigners were
+enlisted also in the service of the honest trader; Chinese merchants
+began to charter small European sailing-vessels for coasting voyages,
+whereby they gained the protection of a European flag, the prestige of
+a European crew, and the better sea-going qualities of a European
+vessel. Steamers also began to be employed to convoy the native junks.
+
+The extension of the convoy system brought in its train the most
+terrible abuses, the class of foreigners so employed being as ready to
+sell their services to the pirates as to the merchants, and to turn
+from protector to oppressor of the honest trader with as much facility
+as Chinese fishermen and pirates interchange their respective parts.
+Many tragedies were enacted along the coast and rivers of China--many
+more, no doubt, than ever became known to the foreign public. Mr
+Medhurst, consul at Shanghai, said that the foreigners employed by the
+Chinese to protect their property on the water were guilty of
+atrocities of all kinds in the inner waters, which the Chinese
+authorities and people were unable to prevent. And Mr Adkins, consul
+at Chinkiang on the Yangtze, reported in the same year, 1862, a
+series of brutal murders committed by foreigners on the river, with
+which the native authorities declined to interfere. The criminals, not
+being amenable to any jurisdiction but their own, were thus left free
+to commit their outrages, unless some representative of their own
+country happened to be on the spot. The Taiping rebellion attracted
+desperate characters from all quarters, to whom it was a matter of
+indifference under what flag they served--pillage being their sole
+inducement. The only conspicuous case of trial of a foreigner for
+piracy was that of a young American, Eli Boggs, who was condemned in
+the Supreme Court of Hongkong in 1857, and sentenced to transportation
+for life. From such experiences it is to be apprehended that should
+any part of the Chinese empire become disorganised, lawless foreigners
+will be a more terrible scourge to the inhabitants than even the
+native pirates and bandits.
+
+Of the abuses developed by the convoy system, and of the character of
+the foreigners concerned therein, a graphic yet matter-of-fact account
+is given by Wingrove Cooke. As the state of rampant lawlessness which
+prevailed at the time on the China coast, and the traditional attitude
+of the Government towards freebooters, are so perfectly illustrated in
+his concise narrative of the destruction of a Portuguese convoy, no
+apology is needed for quoting a passage or two from Mr Cooke's letter
+dated Ningpo, August 24, 1857:--
+
+     The fishing-boats which ply off the mouth of the river Yung
+     pay convoy duties to the extent of 50,000 dollars a-year;
+     and the wood-junks that ply between Ningpo and Foochow, and
+     the other native craft, raise the annual payment for
+     protection to 200,000 dollars (£70,000) annually. These
+     figures are startling, but I have taken pains to ascertain
+     their correctness.
+
+     The vessels employed in this convoy service were Portuguese
+     lorchas. These vessels were well armed and equipped. There
+     were no mandarin junks and no Portuguese ships of war to
+     cope with them or control them, and they became masters of
+     this part of the coast. It is in the nature of things that
+     these privateers should abuse their power. They are accused
+     of the most frightful atrocities. It is alleged that they
+     made descents upon villages, carried off the women,
+     murdered the men, and burnt the habitations. They became
+     infinitely greater scourges than the pirates they were paid
+     to repel. It is alleged, also, that complaints to the
+     Portuguese consul were vain; that Portuguese sailors taken
+     red-handed and handed over to this consul were suffered to
+     escape from the consular prison. Rightly or wrongly, the
+     Chinese thought that the consul was in complicity with the
+     ruffians who were acting both as convoy and as pirates....
+     The leader of the pirate fleet was--I am going back now to
+     a time three years ago--a Cantonese named A'Pak. The
+     authorities at Ningpo, in their weakness, determined to
+     make terms with him rather than submit to the tyranny of
+     the Portuguese.
+
+     A'Pak was made a mandarin of the third class; and his
+     fleet--not altogether taken into Government pay, for that
+     the Chinese could not afford--was nominally made over to
+     A'Pak's brother.... After a few of these very sanguinary
+     provocations, A'Pak--not, it is believed, without the
+     concurrence of the Taotai of Ningpo--determined to destroy
+     this Portuguese convoy fleet.
+
+     For this purpose A'Pak's brother collected his snake-boats
+     and convoy junks from along the whole coast, and assembled
+     about twenty of them, and perhaps 500 men. The Portuguese
+     were not long in hearing of these preparations, but they
+     seem to have been struck with panic. Some of their vessels
+     went south, some were taken at the mouth of the river.
+     Seven lorchas took refuge up the river, opposite the
+     Portuguese consulate. The sailors on board these lorchas
+     landed some of their big guns, and put the consulate in a
+     state of defence, and perhaps hoped that the neighbourhood
+     of the European houses and the character of the consulate
+     would prevent an attack. Not so. On the day I have above
+     mentioned the Canton fleet came up the river. The
+     Portuguese consul immediately fled. The lorchas fired one
+     broadside at them as they approached, and then the crews
+     deserted their vessels and made for the shore. About 200
+     Cantonese, accompanied by a few Europeans, followed these
+     140 Portuguese and Manila-men ashore. A fight took place in
+     the streets. It was of very short duration, for the
+     Portuguese behaved in the most dastardly manner. The
+     Manila-men showed some spirit, but the Portuguese could not
+     even persuade themselves to fight for their lives behind
+     the walls of their consulate. The fortified house was taken
+     and sacked by these Chinamen, the Portuguese were pursued
+     among the tombs, where they sought refuge, and forty of
+     them were shot down, or hunted and butchered with
+     spears....
+
+     Merciless as this massacre was, and little as is the choice
+     between the two sets of combatants, it must be owned that
+     the Cantonese acted with purpose and discipline. Three
+     trading Portuguese lorchas which lay in the river with
+     their flags flying were not molested; and no European, not
+     a Portuguese, was even insulted by the infuriated butchers.
+     The stories current of Souero and his Portuguese followers
+     rivalled the worst of the tales of the buccaneers, and
+     public opinion in Ningpo and the foreign settlement was
+     strongly in favour of the Cantonese.
+
+But if Hongkong was the centre of piratical organisation, it was also
+the centre of effort to put it down. The exploits of her Majesty's
+ships, destroying many thousands of heavily-armed piratical junks,
+were loyally supplemented by the legislation and the police of the
+Colonial Government, which were continuously directed towards the
+extermination of piracy. These measures, however, did not appear to
+make any material impression on the pest. As part of his general
+policy of suppressing crime, the most drastic steps were taken by Sir
+Richard MacDonnell against pirates. He struck at the root of the evil
+within the colony itself by penalising the receivers of stolen goods,
+and by a stricter surveillance over all Chinese vessels frequenting
+the harbour. He also endeavoured to secure the co-operation of the
+Chinese Government, without which no permanent success could be hoped
+for. This was not, indeed, the first time that Chinese co-operation
+had been invoked. In one of the hardest fought actions against a
+piratical stronghold--that of Sheipu Bay, near Ningpo, in 1856--her
+Majesty's brig Bittern was towed into action through the bottle-neck
+of the bay by a Chinese-owned steamer. But the assistance rendered to
+the Government of Hongkong by the steam-cruisers of the Chinese
+customs service was of too ambiguous a character to be of real use,
+smugglers rather than pirates being the object of the Chinese
+pursuit--smugglers of whom the high Chinese officials had good reason
+to be jealous.
+
+The result of the police activity and of regulations for the coast
+traffic was a great diminution in the number of piracy cases brought
+before colonial magistrates. This, however, by itself was not
+conclusive as to the actual decrease of the crime, for it may only
+have indicated a change of strategy forced on the pirates by the
+vigorous action of the Colonial Government. Foreign vessels were by no
+means exempt from the attentions of the piratical fleets, though they
+seldom fell a prey to open assault at sea. A different form of tactics
+was resorted to where foreigners were the object of attack: it was to
+embark as passengers a number of the gang with arms secreted, who rose
+at a signal and massacred the ship's officers. Even after steam
+vessels had virtually superseded sailers on the coast this device was
+too often successful through want of care on the part of the master.
+These attacks were carried out with great skill and daring, sometimes
+on the short passage of forty miles between Hongkong and Macao, and in
+several instances almost within the harbour limits of Hongkong itself.
+
+While awarding full credit to the indefatigable exertions of the
+British squadron in China--the only one that ever troubled itself in
+such matters--and to the unremitting efforts of the colony of
+Hongkong, the reduction, if not the extinction, of armed piracy on the
+coast of China must be attributed largely to the commercial
+development, in which the extension of the use of steam has played the
+principal part. Organised by foreigners, and employed by Chinese,
+lines of powerful steamers have gradually monopolised the valuable
+traffic, thus rendering the calling of the buccaneer obsolete and
+profitless. Foreign traders, however, do well not to forget the debt
+they owe to the institution which they have superseded. But for the
+pirates, and the scarcely less piratical exactions of officials, the
+Chinese would not have sought the assistance and the protection of
+foreign men, foreign ships, or foreign steamers. Piracy has thus not
+only worked towards its own cure, but has helped to inaugurate an era
+of prosperous trade, based on the consolidation of the interests of
+Chinese and foreigners, such as may foreshadow further developments in
+which the same elements of success may continue in fruitful
+combination.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE ARROW WAR, 1856-1860.
+
+     Lorchas -- Outrage on the Arrow -- Question of access to
+     city -- Tone of British Foreign Office -- Firm tone of
+     British Government -- Destruction of Canton factories and
+     flight of foreign residents -- Operations in river.
+
+
+From the earliest days of the British occupation it had been the aim
+of the Canton authorities to destroy the "junk" trade of Hongkong by
+obstructive regulations, for which the supplementary treaty of 1843
+afforded them a certain warrant. But as the Chinese began to settle in
+large numbers on the island the claims of free commerce asserted
+themselves, and gradually made headway against the restrictive schemes
+of the mandarins. The Government fostered the legitimate commercial
+ambition of the Chinese colonists by passing ordinances whereby they
+were enabled to register vessels of their own, sail them under the
+British flag, and trade to such ports as were open to British
+shipping. Certificates of registry were granted only to men of
+substance and respectability who were lessees of Crown land in the
+colony. The class of vessel for which colonial registers were granted
+was of native build and rig, more or less modified, of good sea-going
+qualities, known by the local name of lorcha. Naturally the Canton
+authorities looked askance at any measure aimed at the liberation of
+trade, and so truculent an imperial commissioner as Yeh was not likely
+to miss an opportunity of wreaking vengeance on the "native-born" who
+dared to exercise privileges derived from residence in the hateful
+colony.
+
+One of these registered vessels was the Arrow, commanded by an
+Englishman and manned by Chinese. This vessel was in the course of her
+traffic boarded at Canton at midday on October 8, 1856, by order of
+the Chinese authorities, with marked official ostentation, her crew
+forcibly carried off on a charge, according to a Chinese version, "of
+being in collusion with barbarians," and her ensign hauled down. How
+this outrage on the British flag was perpetrated, how resisted, and
+what came of it, have been so often set forth that there is no need to
+dwell upon the details here. The traditional insolence of the Chinese
+was reasserted in all its virulence, as in the days of Commissioner
+Lin, and once more the British agents were confronted with the dilemma
+of aggravating past griefs by submission or of putting their foot down
+and ending them. A single-minded and courageous man was in charge of
+British interests in Canton, and, left with a free hand, there could
+be no doubting the line Mr Parkes would take. The decision, however,
+lay with Sir John Bowring, governor of Hongkong, her Majesty's
+plenipotentiary and superintendent of trade, and with the naval
+commander-in-chief, Sir Michael Seymour.
+
+We have seen that the likelihood of sooner or later having to clear
+accounts with the authorities of Canton had not been absent from the
+mind of her Majesty's Government for some years previously, though by
+no initial act of their own would they have brought the question to a
+crisis. If the governor entertained doubts whether the Arrow insult
+furnished adequate provocation, his decision was materially helped by
+the deadlock in relations which followed. A simple _amende_ for the
+indignity offered to the flag was asked for, such as the Chinese were
+adepts in devising without "losing face"; but all discussion was
+refused; the viceroy would not admit any foreign official to a
+personal conference. The small Arrow question thus became merged in
+the larger one of access to the city, and to the provincial
+authorities, which had on various pretexts been denied to the British
+representatives in contravention of the treaty of 1842.
+
+It happened that the question had lately assumed a somewhat definite
+place in the agenda of the British plenipotentiary. Lord Clarendon had
+in 1854 instructed Sir John Bowring to take any opportunity of
+bringing the "city question" to a solution, and Sir John addressed a
+long despatch to Commissioner Yeh on the subject in April of that
+year. It had no effect, and was followed up a few months later by an
+effort in another direction. The turbulent character of the Cantonese
+people and the impracticable arrogance of the imperial officers who
+successively held office there had often prompted an appeal to Cæsar,
+and more than one attempt had been made in times gone by to submit the
+Canton grievances to the judgment of the Imperial Court. These
+attempts were inspired by a total misconception of the relations
+between the provinces and the capital. In the year 1854, however, it
+was decided to renew the effort to open direct communications with the
+Imperial Government. And circumstances seemed to promise a more
+favourable issue to the mission than had attended preceding ones. The
+time had come when a revision of the tariff and commercial articles of
+the treaties might be claimed, and besides the standing grievance at
+Canton there were sundry matters in connection with the fulfilment of
+the treaties which together constituted a justifying pretext for an
+unarmed expedition to the Peiho. The chances of a favourable reception
+were thought to be strengthened by the combination of the Treaty
+Powers. Sir John Bowring and the American Minister, Mr McLane,
+accordingly went together, with a competent staff of interpreters, to
+Tientsin, where they were soon followed by the French secretary of
+Legation.
+
+High officials were appointed to treat with them, because it was
+feared that if some courtesy were not shown them the barbarians would
+return south and join the rebels, who were then threatening the
+southern provinces. But the net result of the mission was that it was
+allowed to depart in peace. Lord Elgin, commenting on the proceedings,
+sums up the instructions to the Chinese officials, gathered from the
+secret reports afterwards discovered, as, "Get rid of the barbarians,"
+which would be an equally exhaustive rendering of all the instructions
+ever given to Chinese plenipotentiaries. On the occasion of this visit
+to the Peiho the foreign plenipotentiaries resorted, as had been done
+on sundry previous occasions, to the oriental custom of approaching a
+great man gift in hand. In the depleted condition of the imperial
+treasury they calculated that the recovery of the duties unpaid
+during the recent interregnum at Shanghai would be a tempting bait to
+the Peking Government. The offer, however, could not, it would appear,
+be intelligibly conveyed to the minds of the northern functionaries:
+unacquainted with commercial affairs, and misconstruing the proposal
+as a plea for the forgiveness of arrears, they at once conceded the
+sop to Cerberus, pleased to have such a convenient way of closing the
+mouths of the barbarians.
+
+In December following a favourable opportunity seemed to present
+itself for renewing the attack on the exclusiveness of Canton. The
+Taiping rebels had blockaded the river, and in a "pitched battle"
+defeated the imperialist fleet and were actually threatening the city.
+In this emergency Yeh implored the aid of the English forces. Sir John
+Bowring thereupon proceeded to Canton with a naval force of five ships
+to protect the foreign factories, the presence of the squadron having
+at the same time the desired deterrent effect on the rebels, who
+withdrew their forces. Now at last the governor felt confident that
+the barrier to intercourse was removed, and he applied to the viceroy
+for an interview; but Yeh remained obdurate, refused audience as
+before, and with all the old contumely. Precisely the same thing had
+happened in the north in 1853, when the governor of Kiangsu applied
+through Consul Alcock to the superintendent of trade, Sir George
+Bonham, for the assistance of one of her Majesty's ships in defending
+Nanking against the expected attack of the Taipings. Divers
+communications of like tenor had, during several months, led up to
+this definite application. The appeal was most urgent, and yet in the
+title given to her Majesty's plenipotentiary the two important
+characters had been omitted, indicating that his power emanated from
+the ruler of an "independent sovereign state." "Such an omission,"
+remarked Mr Alcock, "is characteristic of the race we have to deal
+with, for even in a time of danger to the national existence they
+cannot suppress their arrogance and contempt for barbarians." Arrogant
+and contemptuous of course they were, and yet it may perhaps be
+questioned whether such terms fully explain the mutilation of the
+plenipotentiary's official titles. Although they had been compelled by
+mechanical force to accord titles implying equality to foreign
+officials, yet in the innermost conviction of the Chinese an
+independent sovereign State was at that time almost unthinkable, and
+could only be expressed by a solecism. If, therefore, we ask how an
+imperial commissioner could demean himself by soliciting protection
+from the barbarians to whom he was denying the scantiest courtesy, we
+have to consider the point of view from which China had from time
+immemorial and without challenge regarded all the outer States. For it
+is the point of view that is paradoxical. To Yeh, considering
+barbarians merely as refractory subjects, there was no inconsistence
+in commanding their aid, while denying their requests. The position is
+analogous to that of Ultramontanes, who claim tolerance for themselves
+in heretical communities by a divine right which excludes the idea of
+reciprocity. This key to the history of foreign intercourse with China
+is too often forgotten.
+
+Nothing daunted, Sir John returned to the charge in June 1855, on the
+occasion of the appointment of the new consul, Mr Alcock, whom he
+asked permission to introduce to the Imperial Commissioner. His letter
+was not even acknowledged for a month, and then in the usual
+contemptuous terms.
+
+So far, indeed, from Yeh's being mollified by the assistance
+indirectly accorded to him in defending the city from rebel attack, or
+by the succession of respectful appeals made to him by Sir John
+Bowring, a new campaign of aggression was inaugurated against the
+lives and liberties of the foreign residents in Canton. This followed
+the traditional course. Inflammatory placards denouncing foreigners,
+and holding them up to the odium of the populace, were extensively
+posted about the city and suburbs in the summer of 1856. These, as
+usual, were followed by personal attacks on isolated Englishmen found
+defenceless, and, following the precedents of ten years before, the
+outbreaks of anti-foreign feeling in Canton found their echo also in
+Foochow, where an American gentleman met his death in a riot which was
+got up there in July. So serious was the situation becoming that Mr
+Consul Parkes, who had succeeded Mr Alcock in June, solemnly warned
+the Imperial Commissioner that such acts, if not promptly
+discountenanced by the authorities (who of course were well known to
+be the instigators), must inevitably lead to deplorable consequences.
+The Chinese reply to this remonstrance was the outrage on the lorcha
+Arrow. To isolate that incident, therefore, would be wholly to miss
+the significance of it: it would be to mistake the match for the mine.
+
+Those who were on the spot and familiar with antecedent events could
+have no doubt whatever that, in condoning the present insults, the
+British authorities would have invited greater and always greater, as
+in the days of Lin. The tone of recent despatches from the Foreign
+Office fortified the governor in taking a strong resolution; the
+clearness of Consul Parkes' view made also a deep impression on him;
+and yet another factor should not be altogether overlooked which
+contributed its share in bringing the two responsible officials to a
+definite decision. It was not an unknown phenomenon in public life
+that two functionaries whose co-operation was essential should
+mistrust each other. This was distinctly the case with Sir John
+Bowring and Sir Michael Seymour. They needed some connecting medium to
+make them mutually intelligible, and it was found in the influence of
+local public opinion. The mercantile community, which for twenty
+years, or as long as they had had utterance, had never wavered in the
+conviction that in strength alone lay their safety, were to a man for
+vigorous measures at Canton. And it happened that, scarcely perceived
+either by themselves or by the other parties concerned, they possessed
+a special channel for bringing the force of their views to bear on the
+two responsible men. Sir John Bowring had himself deplored "the
+enormous influence wielded by the great and opulent commercial houses"
+when adverse to his projects. He was now to experience that influence
+in another sense, without perhaps recognising it, for when the wind is
+fair it makes slight impression on those whose sails it fills.
+
+Among the business houses in China two stood pre-eminent. One had a
+son of the plenipotentiary for partner; both were noted for their
+princely hospitality, especially to officers of the navy. "Those
+princely merchants, Dent & Co., as well as Matheson," writes Admiral
+Keppel in his Diary, "kept open house. They lived in palaces." One of
+the two buildings occupied by the former firm, "Kiying House," which
+some twenty years later became the Hongkong Hotel, was as good as a
+naval club for all ranks, while admirals and post-captains found snug
+anchorage within the adjoining domain of the seniors of the firm. The
+two great houses did not always pull together, but on this occasion
+their separate action, converging on a single point, was more
+effectual than any half-hearted combination could have been. Night
+after night was the question of Canton discussed with slow
+deliberation and accumulating emphasis in the executive and the
+administrative, the naval and the political, camps respectively.
+Conviction was imbibed with the claret and cheroots, and it was not
+altogether without reason that what followed has sometimes been called
+the "Merchants' War."
+
+The die was cast. The great Canton bubble, the bugbear of a succession
+of British Governments and representatives, was at last to be pricked,
+though with a delay which, however regrettable at the time, perhaps
+conduced to greater thoroughness in the long-run. Those of our readers
+who desire to trace the various operations against Canton during the
+twelve months which followed cannot do better than consult Mr Stanley
+Lane-Poole's 'Life of Sir Harry Parkes,' the volume of 'Times'
+correspondence by that sage observer and vivacious narrator, Mr
+Wingrove Cooke, and the delightful sailors book recently published by
+Vice-Admiral Sir W. R. Kennedy. The campaign unfolded itself in a
+drama of surprises. The force at the admiral's disposal being too
+small to follow up the initial movement against the city, which gave
+no sign of yielding by first intention, Sir Michael Seymour had to
+content himself with intimating to the Viceroy Yeh that,
+notwithstanding his Excellency's interdict, he had, with a guard of
+bluejackets, visited the Viceregal Yamên; and with keeping hostilities
+alive by a blockade of the river while awaiting reinforcements.
+
+The Arrow incident occurred in October. In December the foreign
+factories were burned by the Chinese, and the Viceroy Yeh issued
+proclamations offering rewards for English heads. The mercantile
+community retired to Hongkong, a few to the quieter retreat of Macao.
+The vengeance of Commissioner Yeh pursued them exactly as that of
+Commissioner Lin had done in 1839. Assassinations were not infrequent
+on the outskirts of the city of Victoria; and in January 1857 the
+principal baker in the colony was induced to put a sack of arsenic
+into his morning supply of bread, which only failed of its effect
+through the excess of the dose acting as an emetic.
+
+The early portion of the year 1857 was enlivened by active operations
+in hunting out Chinese war-junks in the various creeks and branches of
+the river, commenced by Commodore Elliot and continued on a brilliant
+scale by Commodore H. Keppel, who arrived opportunely in the frigate
+Raleigh, of which he speaks with so much pride and affection in his
+Memoirs. That fine vessel, however, was lost on a rock approaching
+Macao, sinking in shallow water in the act of saluting the French
+flag, a war vessel of that nationality having been descried in the
+anchorage. The commodore and his officers and crew, thus detached,
+were soon accommodated with small craft good for river service, and in
+a very short time they made a memorable cutting-out expedition as far
+as the city of Fatshan, destroying formidable and well-posted fleets
+of war-junks in what the commodore described as "one of the prettiest
+boat actions recorded in naval history." Sir W. Kennedy served as a
+midshipman in those expeditions, and his descriptions supply a
+much-needed supplement to that of the Admiral of the Fleet, correcting
+it in some particulars and filling in the gaps in a wonderfully
+realistic manner. No adequate estimate can be formed of the importance
+of the year's operations in the Canton river without reading Admiral
+Kennedy's brilliant but simple story.
+
+The Canton imbroglio made the kind of impression that such occurrences
+are apt to do in England. The merits of the case being usually
+ignored, the bare incidents furnish convenient weapons with which to
+assail the Government that happens to be in office. Under such
+conditions statements can be made and arguments applied with all the
+freedom of a debating club. The Arrow trouble occasioned a temporary
+fusion of the most incongruous elements in English politics. When Lord
+Derby, Lord Lyndhurst, Bishop Wilberforce, Mr Cobden, Mr Bright, Mr
+Gladstone, and Mr Disraeli were found banded together as one man, it
+was neither common knowledge nor any sincere interest in the question
+at issue, but "unanimosity" towards the Premier, that inspired them.
+The Opposition orators took their brief from the published despatches
+of Commissioner Yeh, which they assumed as the starting-point of the
+China question, and found no difficulty whatever in discovering all
+the nobility and good faith on the Chinese side, the perfidy and
+brutality on the side of the British representative. Though successful
+in carrying a vote of censure on the Government, the attitude of the
+Coalition did not impress the public, and Lord Palmerston's appeal to
+the electorate was responded to by his being returned to power by a
+large majority.
+
+How very little the question itself affected public men in England may
+be inferred from the notices of it in the Memoirs, since published, of
+leading statesmen of the period. The fate of China, or of British
+commerce there, was not in their minds at all, their horizon being
+bounded by the immediate fate of the Ministry, to them the be-all and
+end-all of national policy. What deplorable consequences all over the
+world have arisen from the insouciance of British statesmen as regards
+all matters outside the arena of their party conflicts!
+
+Sir John Bowring was made the scapegoat of the war. A philosophical
+Radical, he had been president of the Peace Society, and his quondam
+friends could not forgive a doctrinaire who yielded to the stern logic
+of facts. As consul at Canton he had had better opportunities of
+studying the question of intercourse with the Chinese than any holder
+of his office either before or since his time. No one had worked more
+persistently for the exercise of the right of entry into Canton.
+Superseded in the office of plenipotentiary by the appointment of the
+Earl of Elgin as High Commissioner for Great Britain, Sir John Bowring
+remained Governor of Hongkong, and it fell to him to "do the honours"
+to his successor, from whom he received scant consideration. Indeed
+Lord Elgin made no secret of his aversion to the colony and all its
+concerns, and marked his feeling towards the governor by determining
+that he should never see the city of Canton--that Promised Land so
+soon to be opened to the world through Sir John's instrumentality.
+
+
+I. THE EARL OF ELGIN AND HIS MISSION.
+
+     Capture of Canton -- The Treaty of Tientsin -- Comments on
+     the treaty -- Sequel to the treaty -- Omission to visit
+     Peking -- Comments thereon -- How to deal with Chinese --
+     Commissioners to Shanghai to negotiate the tariff -- Two
+     pressing questions to be settled -- Delay of Commissioners'
+     arrival -- Resentment of Lord Elgin and change of tactics
+     re Canton -- Canton question same as Chinese question --
+     Chinese demand for abandonment of Resident Minister -- Lord
+     Elgin's assent -- Comments thereon -- Treaty with Japan --
+     The Taku disaster.
+
+The transports bringing the troops from England were meanwhile
+hurrying at top speed--not in those days a very high one--round the
+Cape of Good Hope, and the navy was being reinforced by several
+powerful ships, including the mosquito squadron of gunboats which were
+destined to play so useful a part, first in the operations of war, and
+subsequently in patrolling the coast and rivers for the protection of
+peaceful traders. Lord Elgin's arrival in Hongkong, coinciding in time
+with that of the frigates Shannon, commanded by Sir William Peel, and
+Pearl, Captain Sotheby, put heart into the long-suffering British
+community at the port. But sinister news from India had reached Lord
+Elgin on his voyage to China, in consequence of which, and on the
+urgent request of the Governor-General, he took on himself to
+intercept the troopships wherever they could be met with, and turn
+their course to Calcutta. Before he had been many days in Hongkong,
+foreseeing an indefinite period of inaction in China, and being
+obliged in any case to wait the arrival of his French colleague,
+without whom no French co-operation could be had, Lord Elgin
+determined to proceed himself to Calcutta, taking with him the two
+frigates Shannon and Pearl. This welcome reinforcement not only
+arrived opportunely in India, but, as is well known, did heroic
+service in throwing back the tide of mutiny.
+
+Fortune seemed in all this to be favouring the Chinese, nothing more
+hurtful threatening them than a passive blockade of the Canton river
+and its branches. But a fresh expedition was promptly despatched from
+England to take the place of that which had been diverted to India. A
+body of 1500 marines arrived in the autumn, and on them, supplemented
+by the Hongkong garrison, devolved the duty of bringing China to
+terms, the navy, of course, being the essential arm in all these
+operations.
+
+Lord Elgin returned to China in ample time to meet the French
+plenipotentiary, Baron Gros. His lordship's policy had from the first
+been an interesting theme for speculation, not less so as the time for
+putting it in force drew near. It had been surmised that his object
+would be to leave Canton alone, and set out on another wild-goose
+chase to the north. That so futile a scheme should not be carried out
+without at least a protest, the mercantile community met Lord Elgin on
+his arrival in June with an address couched in the following terms:--
+
+     We venture upon no opinion at present respecting the
+     readjustment of our relations with the empire at large,
+     though always prepared to hold our advice and experience at
+     your lordship's command; but upon that branch of the
+     question which we distinguish as the "Canton difficulty" we
+     would take this, the earliest opportunity, of recording our
+     opinion--an opinion founded upon long, reluctant, and, we
+     may add, traditional experience--that any compromise of it,
+     or any sort of settlement which shall stop short of the
+     complete humiliation of the Cantonese,--which shall fail to
+     teach them a wholesome respect for the obligations of their
+     own Government in its relations with independent Powers,
+     and a more hospitable reception of the foreigner who
+     resorts to their shores for the peaceable purposes of
+     trade,--will only result in further suffering to themselves
+     and further disastrous interruptions to us.
+
+     Many of us have already been heavy sufferers by the present
+     difficulty. It must be apparent to your lordship that our
+     best interests lie upon the side of peace, and upon the
+     earliest solid peace that can be obtained. But,
+     notwithstanding this, we would most earnestly deprecate any
+     settlement of the question which should not have eliminated
+     from it the very last element of future disorder.
+
+The meaning of these weighty words, as interpreted by Wingrove Cooke,
+was, "You must take Canton, my lord, and negotiate at Peking with
+Canton in your possession." And he adds, "Such is the opinion of every
+one here, from the highest to the lowest." We learn from his private
+letters that it was by no means the opinion of the new plenipotentiary.
+"The course I am about to follow," he writes, "does not square with
+the views of the merchants." Yet his reply to their address was so
+diplomatic that he was able to say "it gave them for the moment
+wonderful satisfaction." The editor of Lord Elgin's letters suppresses
+the rest of the sentence. The new plenipotentiary hoped even "to
+conclude a treaty in Shanghai, and hasten home afterwards,"--a hope
+which could only coexist with an entire disregard of our whole
+previous experience in China; almost, one might argue, with an entire
+ignorance of the record.[37]
+
+On his return from India, however, and on the assembling of the Allied
+forces, he found that the course prescribed by history and
+common-sense was, after all, the only practical one to follow, and
+that was to commence hostilities at Canton. Yet Lord Elgin seems to
+have submitted to the inexorable demands of circumstances with no very
+good grace. Indeed his attitude towards the Canton overture and his
+mission generally was decidedly anomalous. The two leading ideas
+running through the published portion of his correspondence were, "It
+revolts me, but I do it"; and, "Get the wretched business over and
+hurry home." Lord Elgin's mental constitution, as such, is of no
+interest to us except as it affected his acts and left its impress on
+the national interests in China. From that point of view, however, it
+is public property, and as much an ingredient in the history as any
+other quality of the makers of it. First, we find him at variance with
+the Government which commissioned him, in that he speaks with shame of
+his mission: "That wretched question of the Arrow is a scandal to us."
+Why? Her Majesty's Government had deliberated maturely on the Arrow
+question, had referred it to their law officers, had concluded it was
+a good case, and had written unreservedly in that sense to their
+representative in China. Was it, then, greater knowledge, or superior
+judgment, that inspired Lord Elgin to an opposite opinion? And in
+either case would it not have been better to have had the point
+cleared up before undertaking the mission?
+
+But, in point of fact, the Arrow question was not the question with
+which Lord Elgin had to deal, as it had long before been merged, as we
+have said, into the much larger one of our official relations with
+China.
+
+The truth seems to be that Lord Elgin came to China filled with the
+conviction that in all our disputes the Chinese had been the oppressed
+and we the oppressors. Of our intercourse with them he had nothing
+more complimentary or more definite to say than that it was
+"scandalous." For his own countrymen he had never a good word, for the
+Chinese nothing but good--until they came into collision with himself,
+when they at once became "fools and tricksters." Having assembled a
+hostile force in front of Canton, he writes, December 22, 1857, "I
+never felt so ashamed of myself in my life.... When I look at that
+town I feel that I am earning for myself a place in the Litany
+immediately after 'plague, pestilence, and famine.'" Becoming
+gradually reconciled to events, however, he writes, "If we can take
+the city without much massacre I shall think the job a good one,
+because no doubt the relations of the Cantonese with the foreign
+population were very unsatisfactory." But why "massacre," much or
+little? It was but a phantasy of his own he was thus deprecating. The
+curious point is, however, that Lord Elgin imagined that everybody was
+bent on this massacre except himself, and when all was over, and
+"there never was a Chinese town which suffered so little by the
+occupation of a hostile force," he appropriates the whole credit for
+this satisfactory issue! "If," he writes, "Yeh had surrendered on the
+mild demand made upon him, I should have brought on my head the
+imprecations both of the navy and the army, and of the civilians, the
+time being given by the missionaries and the women." An insinuation so
+purely hypothetical and so sweeping would not be seriously considered
+in any relation of life whatsoever; but no one who knows either the
+navy or the army would hesitate to affirm that the humanity of every
+officer and man in these services was as much beyond reproach as Lord
+Elgin's own, albeit it might assume a different form of expression.
+When the city, "doomed to destruction from the folly of its own rulers
+and the vanity and levity of ours," had been occupied, and the bugbear
+of massacre had vanished, the object of Lord Elgin's sympathies became
+shifted: "I could not help feeling melancholy when I thought that we
+were so ruthlessly destroying"--not the place or the people, but--"the
+prestige of a place which has been for so many centuries intact and
+undefiled by the stranger." Had he written this after witnessing some
+of the horrors of the city described by Wingrove Cooke, possibly these
+regrets for its defilement might have been less poignant. But though
+reverence for the mere antiquity of China is a most salutary lesson to
+inculcate in these our days, it is pathetic to see the particular man
+whose mission was to humble her historical prestige tortured by
+compunctions for what he is doing. One is tempted to wish the "job"
+had been intrusted to more commonplace hands.
+
+Some of those English officials by whose vanity and levity the "city
+was doomed to destruction" were also writing their private letters,
+and this was the purport. "I confidently hope," wrote Mr Parkes,
+before Lord Elgin's first arrival in China, "that a satisfactory
+adjustment of all difficulties may be attained with a slight effusion
+of blood. Canton, it is true, must fall. I see no hope of any
+arrangement being arrived at without this primary step being effected,
+but I trust that with the fall of that city hostilities may end, and
+that the emperor may then consent to receive a representative at
+Peking." However, as soon as he gets to actual business with the
+Chinese, Lord Elgin finds that he also has to be stern even as others.
+As early as January 10, 1858, a week after the occupation of the city,
+"I addressed the governor in a pretty arrogant tone. I did so out of
+kindness, as I now know what fools they are, and what calamities they
+bring upon themselves, or rather on the wretched people, by their
+pride and trickery." But what the novice was only beginning to find
+out the veterans had learned years before.[38]
+
+His attitude to his countrymen generally is scarcely less censorious
+than towards the officials who had borne, and were yet to bear, the
+burden and heat of the day in China. From Calcutta he wrote:--
+
+     It is a terrible business being among inferior races. I
+     have seldom from man or woman since I came to the East
+     heard a sentence which was reconcilable with the hypothesis
+     that Christianity had ever come into the world.
+     Detestation, contempt, ferocity, vengeance, whether
+     Chinamen or Indians be the object.
+
+From China:--
+
+     The whole world just now is raving mad with a passion for
+     killing and slaying, and it is difficult for a person in
+     his sober senses, like myself, to keep his own among them.
+
+Again:--
+
+     I have seen more to disgust me with my fellow-countrymen
+     than I saw during the whole course of my previous life....
+     I have an instinct in me which loves righteousness and
+     hates iniquity, and all this keeps me in a perpetual
+     boil.... The tone of the two or three men connected with
+     mercantile houses in China whom I find on board is all for
+     blood and massacre on a great scale.
+
+The perennial fallacy that underlies the "one-righteous-man" theory
+from the days of Elijah the Tishbite downwards, and the ineptitude of
+all indiscriminate invective, would be sufficient answer to such
+sweeping maledictions. Below these ebullitions of the surface,
+however, there lay a grave misgiving in Lord Elgin's mind concerning
+his mission as a whole, in which many thoughtful people must have
+shared: "Whose work are we engaged in when we burst thus with hideous
+violence and brutal energy into these darkest and most mysterious
+recesses of the traditions of the past?" This was written at Tientsin
+after the passage of the forts, and it is well worth recalling, now
+that the vultures of Europe are wheeling round the moribund empire.
+
+Canton city was occupied by the Allies on January 2, 1858.
+Commissioner Yeh was captured, carried on board the paddle-sloop
+Inflexible, and conveyed to Calcutta, where he eventually died. His
+absence made it easier to deal with the other authorities. He is
+perhaps the only Chinese official who has ever been made personally
+responsible for attacks on foreigners.
+
+A provisional government was established under three commissioners
+nominated by the Allied commanders-in-chief, though in fact the labour
+and responsibility rested solely on one of the three, Mr Parkes.
+Having induced the native governor, Pikwei, to resume his functions
+and administer the affairs of the city, under supervision, order was
+partially established, and the chiefs, diplomatic and military,
+withdrew--much too abruptly, it was generally thought--to prepare an
+expedition to the north.
+
+But the commissioners were left with inadequate forces to maintain
+order, fettered as they were by instructions which rendered them
+immobile. The British admiral, after nearly a year and a half's
+experience in the river, might have known something of the Canton
+problem, while the Allied plenipotentiaries apparently understood
+nothing of it. This was shown by what contemporary opinion designated
+Lord Elgin's "first symptom of weakness." When the figurehead Pikwei
+was brought from his prison to be invested with authority under the
+Allied commanders he coolly claimed precedence of the English admiral
+and general, and Lord Elgin, contrary to his own pre-arrangement of
+seats, &c., conceded the claim, thereby striking the keynote of the
+relations which were to exist between the Allied commissioners and the
+Chinese officials. Lord Elgin had occasion to remember this when, in
+1860, Prince Kung tried to lead him into a similar trap, whereby he
+himself would have been relegated to a second place. The result of
+these arrangements was very much what might have been expected.
+Finding the foreign garrison passive, the turbulent elements in the
+city and the surrounding villages soon began to fan the embers of
+their former fires. They refused to consider themselves conquered, and
+set about reorganising their forces as they had done on previous
+occasions, and, beginning with secret schemes of assassination, they
+became emboldened by impunity, and by-and-by mustered courage to
+attack and annoy the garrison of the city, which was as helpless to
+repel insults as the mounted sentries at the Horse Guards. The army of
+occupation was besieged, the prestige of the capture of the city was
+in a few months wholly dissipated, and the officials and gentry
+affected to believe that the barbarians were only in the river, their
+presence in the city being ostentatiously ignored in public
+correspondence. During the whole of the year 1858 the cry went up
+continuously from the commissioners and military commanders, but it
+remained practically unheeded by the chiefs in the far north, except
+in so far that they drew still shorter the tether of the beleaguered
+force, in order that they might avoid all possible collision with
+their Chinese assailants. Lord Elgin at first deemed the turbulence at
+Canton a good reason for effecting a speedy settlement with the
+Imperial Government; but, as we shall see presently, that settlement
+when made had no influence at all upon either the Government
+officials or the gentry and populace of that city. The solution of the
+Canton problem was found in an entirely different direction.
+
+It may be mentioned here that besides the administration of the city,
+several important matters of business were arranged during the
+commissionership of Mr Parkes. There was the question of the site at
+Shameen for the future residence of foreigners; and the regulation of
+coolie emigration, which had been carried on in an unsatisfactory
+manner; and last, not least, the first lease of Kowloon, on the
+mainland facing Hongkong, and forming one side of the harbour. This
+important concession, as already said, was negotiated on the sole
+initiative of Mr Parkes, the military authorities being talked into it
+afterwards. It was the first response to the demand of Wingrove Cooke,
+Why we had not taken possession of the peninsula of Kowloon, for "if
+any other Powers should do so--and what is to prevent them--the
+harbour of Hongkong is lost to us." Several important exploratory
+expeditions were also undertaken in 1859, in which Parkes was
+everywhere warmly received by officials and people, one of these
+excursions being far up the West river, the opening of which, however,
+to foreign trade remained in abeyance for forty years thereafter.
+
+  [Illustration: ROADS AND WATERWAYS BETWEEN PEKING AND TIENTSIN.]
+
+The next object of the plenipotentiaries, of course, was to negotiate
+at Peking, or wherever properly accredited negotiators could be met
+with, Canton being held in pledge. Progress was slow, because the
+fleet was so largely composed of sailing-vessels, which must wait for
+the fair monsoon; and the plenipotentiaries did not assemble within
+the river Peiho--the forts at its mouth having been silenced and the
+guns captured--until June. There followed Lord Elgin to Tientsin the
+French, American, and Russian Ministers, all bent on making treaties
+and on observing each other. The resources of Chinese resistance
+having been provisionally exhausted, imperial commissioners came to
+arrest the further progress of the foreigners by negotiations, or, to
+speak with strict accuracy, to concede the minimum that was necessary
+to induce them to depart. Such, we may be sure, was the beginning and
+the end of their instructions then, as it was afterwards. The work of
+negotiation, so far as the form went, seems to have fallen to Mr H. N.
+Lay, whose place was very soon to know him no more; but, in the words
+of Lord Elgin, "anybody could have made the treaty."
+
+The contents of the treaty, signed June 26, 1858, fulfilled the
+instructions of Lord Clarendon, and the commercial articles which
+constituted its main body corresponded substantially with the
+desiderata of the merchants as set forth in their memorials in
+response to the invitation of Lord Elgin, the treaty going in advance
+of their demands on certain points and falling short of them on
+others. Opium was not mentioned, but was afterwards placed on the
+tariff; and a toleration clause for the Christian religion was
+inserted, without much apparent consideration for the consequences
+involved in it. A special memorandum from Consul Alcock, called for by
+the Foreign Office, had dwelt mainly on the precautions which should
+accompany the exercise of such new privileges as promiscuous residence
+in the interior; but, excepting in the case of merchants, where little
+or no risk was involved, the warnings of Mr Alcock were unheeded alike
+in the text of the treaty and in the subsidiary regulations.
+
+"The most important matter gained by the treaty," however, in the
+opinion of Lord Elgin, was "the resident Minister at Peking," "without
+which," wrote Mr Parkes, "the treaty was not worth a straw." And
+substituting "lost" for "gained," such was also the opinion of the
+Chinese negotiators. It was, indeed, the universal opinion. Diplomatic
+representation at Peking might be fairly considered to have been the
+primary object of the war of 1857-58, as commercial extension and
+access to Canton had been that of 1839-42. And when "the miserable war
+was finished" and "his liberty regained" Lord Elgin cleared out his
+force, bag and baggage, as if he had been escaping from something,
+leaving not a trace behind.
+
+As this move constituted a veritable crisis in Anglo-Chinese
+relations, it seems advisable for a moment to consider its bearings.
+Judging after the event, it is of course easy to perceive the fatal
+error of Lord Elgin in hurrying away from the Peiho. A fair criticism
+of his policy will confine itself strictly to the circumstances as
+known at the time. His experience had so closely resembled that of his
+predecessors, that he was aware that the Chinese were "yielding
+nothing to reason and everything to fear." He had seen with his own
+eyes the Queen's ratifications of previous treaties exhumed from a
+collection of miscellaneous papers in Canton, they being, as
+Commissioner Yeh remarked, not worth sending to Peking; he knew that
+the treaty of Nanking had been observed by the Chinese only as far as
+force or fear compelled them, and that its crucial stipulation had
+been for many years evaded, and then with unmasked arrogance
+repudiated; he knew that the very war in which he had been engaged,
+and his whole mission to China, were caused and provoked by the
+refusal of the provincial authorities to admit his predecessors or
+himself within the walls of Canton. In his own ultimatum to
+Commissioner Yeh, Lord Elgin had asked no more than the execution of
+the treaty of Nanking, which included access to the city of Canton,
+and compensation for damage to British property. Yet the Chinese
+Government, dreading war as they did, had notwithstanding incurred its
+hazards rather than open the gates of a distant provincial city. How,
+then, were they likely to regard the, to them, infinitely greater
+outrage of resident foreign Ministers in the sacred capital itself?
+This demand was practically the only one against which the Chinese
+commissioners made a stand. When everything had been written down
+ready for signature they drew back, saying it was as much as their
+heads were worth to subscribe such a condition. The answer was a
+peremptory threat to march on Peking, whereupon the commissioners
+signed the paper without another word. The crisis did not last
+twenty-four hours. No one could believe that a miracle of conversion
+had been wrought in that time, or that the enforced signature of the
+Imperial Commissioners had changed a fundamental principle of Chinese
+policy. What, under these circumstances, was the "present value" of
+the treaty? Was it so much as conceivable that it would be voluntarily
+carried out? Was it not evident rather that it was signed under
+_duresse_ solely with the immediate view of getting the barbarians out
+of doors and leaving the key within? What said the imperial decree
+published in the 'Peking Gazette'? "The barbarians[39] had come
+headlong with their ships to Tientsin. Moved by the commands of
+Kweiliang and his colleagues, they have now weighed anchor and stood
+out to sea." If our former treaty needed a material guarantee for its
+execution, how much more this one? The test of good faith was in Lord
+Elgin's own hands; he should clearly have applied it, and presented
+himself at Peking for audience of the emperor. Perhaps it would have
+been refused, in which case he would have at least known where he
+stood. A campaign against Peking would have been easy with the handy
+force he possessed, or at the worst he could have occupied Tientsin
+and the Taku forts until all questions were settled.
+
+This was the view generally held at the time both by officials and the
+lay community in China, before any untoward consequences had revealed
+themselves. It was strongly expressed by Parkes, who deplored "the
+ominous omission that Lord Elgin had gone away to Japan without
+entering Peking or having an audience with the emperor." We have not
+the advantage of knowing what Wingrove Cooke would have said of it,
+but we may infer the prevailing opinion by what another newspaper
+correspondent wrote from Shanghai on the receipt of the first news of
+the signing of the treaty:--
+
+          SHANGHAI, _July 13, 1858_.[40]
+
+     The "Chinese War," properly so called, has now reached its
+     termination, and the fleet in the Gulf of Pechili is
+     dispersing. Lord Elgin arrived here yesterday with the new
+     treaty, which his brother, the Hon. F. Bruce, carries home
+     by the present mail. The document will not be published
+     until it is ratified by the Queen, but in the mean time the
+     chief points of it may be tolerably well guessed at. The
+     diplomatists are confident that the new treaty will "give
+     satisfaction." That is saying a good deal, but how could it
+     be otherwise than satisfactory? The emperor was so
+     terror-struck by our audacious advance on Tientsin, that he
+     was ready to concede everything we wanted rather than see
+     us approach any nearer to his capital. There could have
+     been but little discussion--the ambassadors had simply to
+     make their terms. The new treaty, then, provides for
+     indemnification for losses at Canton, a contribution
+     towards the expenses of the war (for which Canton is held
+     as a guarantee), the opening of more ports for trade,
+     freedom of access to the interior, toleration for
+     Christians, and a resident Minister at Peking. The only
+     omission seems to be that Lord Elgin did not himself go to
+     Peking; for unless the right of residence at the capital
+     receives a practical recognition from the Chinese
+     Government at once, it will certainly lead to vexatious
+     discussion whenever we wish to exercise it. The right of
+     entry into Canton, conceded by the treaty of Nanking, but
+     not insisted on through the timidity of our
+     representatives, ought to have taught us a useful lesson.
+     While the emperor is in a state of alarm anything may be
+     done with him, but when the pressure is removed and the
+     fleet dispersed, Pharaoh's heart will certainly be
+     hardened, and then Chinese ingenuity will be employed in
+     evading as many of the provisions of the treaty as they
+     dare. Let us hope, however, that when the weather cools a
+     little and the thing can be done comfortably, Lord Elgin
+     may still pay a friendly visit to his new allies at their
+     headquarters [which he more than once threatened to do].
+
+Such was contemporary opinion unbiassed as yet by visible effects.
+When the tragedy took place a year later, of course people spoke out
+more clearly. Parkes then wrote:--
+
+     The Chinese Government never intended, nor do they intend,
+     if they can avoid it, to carry out the Elgin treaty. It was
+     granted by them against their will, and we omitted all
+     precautions necessary to ensure its being carried out--I
+     mean, in quitting Tientsin as we did in July 1858, instead
+     of remaining there until the treaty had been actually
+     carried into effect. You will recollect in what a hurry the
+     admiral and Lord Elgin, one and all, were to leave and run
+     off to recreate in Japan and elsewhere. By that step they
+     just undid all they had previously done.
+
+Writing eighteen months after the event, and six months after the Taku
+repulse, Laurence Oliphant fully confirmed the views of Parkes. "The
+political importance," he observed, "of such an achievement"--_i.e._,
+a march to Peking--"it is impossible to overestimate. The much-vexed
+question of the reception of a British Minister at the capital would
+have been set at rest for ever." He then goes on to give a number of
+exculpatory reasons for the omission, which would have been more
+convincing had they been stated by Lord Elgin himself in despatches
+written at the time.
+
+Nor was Lord Elgin's own explanation to the House of Lords any more
+satisfying. "In point of fact," he said, "I was never charged with the
+ratification of the treaty. The treaty was never placed in my
+possession. I never had the option of going to Peking." If his
+lordship had had a better case he would never have elected to rest his
+vindication on a piece of verbal finesse. Yet this speech gave their
+Lordships for the moment "wonderful satisfaction."[41]
+
+The omission to consummate the treaty was followed a few months later
+by an act of commission of which it is difficult to render any clear
+account, and which Oliphant in his 'Narrative' makes no attempt to
+explain, merely reproducing the official despatches. Before leaving
+China Lord Elgin pulled the key-stone from the arch of his own work,
+reducing the treaty to that condition which Parkes had described as
+"not worth a straw." At the instance of the Chinese commissioners he
+moved her Majesty's Government to suspend the operation of "the most
+important" article in it, the residence of a British Minister in
+Peking. It is needless to follow the arguments, utterly unreal and
+having no root either in history or in experience, by which this fatal
+course was urged upon the Government, for they were of the same
+species as those which had induced her Majesty's Ministers to
+tolerate for fourteen years the exclusion of their representatives
+from Canton, the right to enter which city had just been recovered by
+force. It is most instructive to mark, as the key to many failures,
+how, like successive generations of youth, successive British agents
+in China have failed to profit by the experience of their
+predecessors, and have had in so many cases to buy their own at the
+expense of their country; for we see still the same thing indefinitely
+repeating itself, like a recurring decimal. Even at this the end of
+the nineteenth century we seem as far off as ever from laying hold of
+any saving principle, though it stares at us out of the whole panorama
+of our intercourse. Lord Elgin's procedure afforded at once the best
+example what to do and the clearest warning what to avoid in China,
+and it is the most useful for future guidance for the reason that
+effect followed cause as closely as report follows flash. It was his
+fate, much against his will apparently, to wage war on China in order
+to revindicate a right which had lapsed through the weakness and
+wrong-headedness of certain British representatives; yet in the
+closing act of a perfectly successful war he commits the self-same
+error on a more comprehensive scale, entailing on some future
+Government and plenipotentiary the necessity of making yet another war
+on China to recover what he was giving away. What is the explanation
+of this continuous repetition of the same mistake? It would seem that,
+knowing nothing of the Chinese, yet imagining they know something, the
+representatives of Great Britain and of other Powers, notably the
+United States, have been in the habit of evolving from their own
+consciousness and keeping by them a subjective Chinaman with whom
+they play "dummy," and of course "score horribly," as the most recent
+diplomatic slang has it. Their despatches are full of this game--of
+reckoning without their host, who, when brought to book, turns out to
+be a wholly different personage from the intelligent automaton kept
+for Cabinet use. Then, under the shock of this discovery,
+denunciations of treachery--black, base, and so forth--relieve the
+feelings of the foiled diplomat, while the substance of his previous
+triumph has quite eluded him. To this kind of illusion Lord Elgin was
+by temperament more predisposed than perhaps any of his predecessors
+save Captain Elliot. Though convinced by his first encounter that
+Chinese statesmen were "fools and tricksters," the simulacrum soon
+asserted supremacy over the actuality of experience, and to the honour
+of the very persons so stigmatised he committed the interests of his
+country, abandoning all the securities which he held in his hand.
+
+But what, then, is the secret of dealing with the Chinese which so
+many able men, not certainly intending to make failures, have missed?
+This interesting question is thus partially answered by Wingrove
+Cooke. "The result of all I hear and see," he wrote, "is a settled
+conviction that at present we know nothing--absolutely nothing--of the
+nature of those elements which are at work inside China. Crotchets,
+&c., are rife, but they are all the offspring of vain imaginings, not
+sober deductions from facts.... Treat John Chinaman as a man, and
+exact from him the duties of a civilised man, and you will have no
+more trouble with him." Which is but a paraphrase of Lord
+Palmerston's prescription to consider the Chinese as "not greatly
+different from the rest of mankind." Such, however, has always been
+too simple a formula for the smaller minds. They would complicate it
+by trying, with ludicrous effect, to get behind the brain of the
+Chinese and play their opponent's hand as well as their own. Probably
+it matters less on what particular footing we deal with the Chinese
+than the consistency with which we adhere to it. To treat them as
+_protégés_, and excuse them as minors or imbeciles while yet allowing
+them the full licence and privileges of the adult and the sane, is
+manifestly absurd. To treat them as dependent and independent at the
+same time can lead to nothing but confusion and violent injustice. To
+allow engagements with them to become waste paper is the surest road
+to their ruin and our discomfiture. To let our Yea be Yea, and our
+Nay, Nay, is as much the Law and the Prophets in China as it is
+throughout the world of diplomacy. To this simplicity Lord Elgin had
+attained, at least in theory, when he told the merchants of Shanghai
+that in dealing with Chinese officials he had "been guided by two
+simple rules of action. I have never preferred a demand which I did
+not believe to be both moderate and just, and from a demand so
+preferred I have never receded."
+
+What misgiving troubled the repose of Lord Elgin as to the good faith
+of the Imperial Government on which he had ventured so much, may be
+partly inferred from his avidity in catching at any straw which might
+support his faith. Hearing that "his friends the two Imperial
+Commissioners" who had signed the treaty were appointed to meet him in
+Shanghai to arrange the tariff, Lord Elgin welcomed the news as
+"proof that the emperor has made up his mind to accept the treaty."
+But as the emperor had already, by imperial decree dated 3rd July, and
+communicated in the most formal manner to Lord Elgin, expressly
+sanctioned the treaty before the plenipotentiary left Tientsin,
+wherefore the anxiety for further proofs of his good intentions? "This
+decree was forced out of the emperor," Mr Oliphant tells us, "by Lord
+Elgin's pertinacity"--and the threat of bringing up to Tientsin a
+regiment of British soldiers then at the mouth of the river! As a
+matter of fact, the mission of the two Imperial Commissioners was of
+quite another character from that assigned to it by Lord Elgin. The
+two men were sent to complete their task of preventing by every means
+the advent of the barbarians to Peking, just as Lord Elgin himself
+was, two years later, sent back to China to finish his work, which was
+to bring the said barbarians into the imperial city. Between two such
+missions there could be neither reconciliation nor compromise.
+
+There is authority for stating that the Imperial Commissioners were
+expressly sent by the emperor to Shanghai (1) to annul the whole
+treaty of Tientsin, and (2) failing the whole, as much of it as
+possible, but especially the article providing for a Minister at
+Peking. The ostensible purpose of the mission, from the foreign point
+of view, was the settlement of the tariff and trade regulations,--about
+which, however, the Chinese cared very little,--and delegates were
+appointed for this purpose. The labour was conscientiously performed,
+on one side at any rate, and the result was highly creditable to the
+delegates. It was by insertion in the tariff of imports that opium
+became recognised, chiefly, it would appear, at the instance of the
+United States Minister, Mr W. B. Reed, who was on the spot.
+
+Apart from the tariff two principal questions occupied the minds of
+the negotiators of the treaty--the actual situation at Canton on the
+part of the English, and the prospective residence in Peking on the
+part of the Chinese. Lord Elgin hoped, by an appeal to the treaty of
+peace, to put an end to the hostile proceedings of officials and
+people which had harassed the occupying force in Canton with impunity
+for nine months. But it was the treaty itself against which officials,
+gentry, and braves were making war, just as they had done in the case
+of the treaty of 1842. There was no ambiguity about the movement. The
+Government was carried on not in Canton but in the neighbouring city
+of Fatshan, where the Governor-General Huang, who had been appointed
+to succeed Yeh, held his court and issued his decrees. Two months
+after the occupation of Canton the puppet whom the Allies had
+installed there admitted that the object of the assemblage of braves
+was to retake the city. Two months after the signature of the treaty
+and its acceptance by the emperor the Governor-General Huang was
+publicly offering a reward of $30,000 for the head of Parkes, and was
+stimulating the people in every way to expel the foreigners from the
+city. All this was in perfect accord both with imperial policy and
+with Chinese ethics. It had the full sanction of the emperor, just as
+similar operations had formerly had of his father. For the grand
+purpose of destroying or impairing the treaty there was no distinction
+in the Chinese mind between legitimate and illegitimate, honourable or
+treacherous, methods.
+
+Lord Elgin, who had returned from Japan to Shanghai to meet the
+Imperial Commissioners in September, disappointed at their
+non-arrival, opened communications with them by a threat of returning
+to Tientsin and thus saving them the trouble of completing their slow
+journey to Shanghai. On their eventual arrival there he opened a
+diplomatic campaign against Canton by a demand (October 7) to know
+under what authority Huang and the military committees were organising
+attacks on the Allies. In reply the Imperial Commissioners naïvely
+proposed to promulgate the treaty. This frivolous answer provoked the
+rejoinder (October 9) that the treaty had been three months before
+publicly sanctioned by imperial decree, that something more than
+"documents and professions" were required to satisfy Lord Elgin on a
+question of "peace or war," and he demanded the removal of the
+Governor-General Huang. The commissioners then said they had denounced
+Huang to the throne, and hoped for his removal at no very distant
+date. They would also move his Majesty the Emperor to withdraw his
+authority from the hostile militia. Canton being thus disposed of, as
+he supposed, Lord Elgin proceeded to other business. But the
+hostilities at Canton continued without the least abatement for three
+months longer, until something more strenuous than diplomatising with
+the Imperial Commissioners was resorted to. The British Government had
+at last become exasperated, and the Foreign Secretary, Lord
+Malmesbury, wrote on October 14 to Lord Elgin, "The most severe
+measures against the braves are the only ones which will obtain the
+recognition by the Cantonese of the treaty of Tientsin." It was not
+long before Lord Elgin himself became converted to the same belief,
+for on January 20, 1859, he wrote to General van Straubenzee, after
+some successful reprisals he had made on the village braves, that
+"advantage should be taken of the cool weather to familiarise the
+rural inhabitants of the vicinity of Canton with the presence of our
+troops, and to punish severely braves or others who venture to attack
+them." By this time also he had realised that the promise on which he
+relied in October had been evaded, and he told the Imperial
+Commissioners on January 22 that he would "have nothing more to say to
+them on Canton matters,--that our soldiers and sailors would take the
+braves into their own hands."
+
+The effect of the new tactics was immediate and satisfactory. When the
+Allied troops began to move about they were welcomed in the very
+hotbeds of hostility. "At Fatshan," writes General van Straubenzee on
+January 28, "we were received most courteously by the authorities and
+respectfully by the people." A five-days' excursion to Fa Yuen, the
+headquarters of the anti-foreign committee, was likewise a perfect
+success; and so everywhere throughout the Canton district. Lord Elgin
+was now able to assume a bolder tone with the Imperial Commissioners
+and address them in still plainer terms.
+
+"The moderation of the Allies," he wrote to them in February, "has
+been misunderstood by the officials and gentry by whom the braves are
+organised.... This habit of insult and outrage shall be put down with
+the strong hand.... It shall be punished by the annihilation of all
+who persist in it." There was no need for any such extreme remedy, for
+as soon as the burglars realised that the watch-dog had been loosed
+they ceased from troubling the household, and fell back on peaceful
+and respectable ways of life. "With the cessation of official
+instigation," Lord Elgin wrote in March, "hostile feeling on the part
+of the inhabitants appears to have subsided," thus falling into line
+with Consul Alcock, who wrote: "Clear proof was furnished that the
+long-nurtured and often-invoked hostility of the Cantonese was
+entirely of fictitious growth, due exclusively to the inclinations of
+the mandarins as a part of the policy of the Court of Peking." And
+then, too, the difficulty of removing the Governor-General Huang
+disappeared. He had, in fact, been unsuccessful in expelling the
+barbarians, just as Yeh had been, and the imperial decree superseding
+him naturally followed. His presence or absence had then become of no
+importance to the Allies, as, had he remained, he would have accepted
+the accomplished fact of the foreign supremacy with as good a grace as
+the gentry and their braves had done, for they never contemplated
+endangering their lives by fighting. Outrages on stragglers,
+assassination, kidnapping, and bravado filled up the repertory of
+their militant resources, and when these were no longer effective they
+retired into private life as if nothing had happened. The officials
+were no less acquiescent once they realised that they had a master.
+
+The interest of this Canton episode lies in its relation to the
+Chinese question generally. Foreign intercourse with China is marked
+by a rhythm so regular that any part of it may be taken as an epitome
+of the whole, like a pattern of wall-paper. From Canton we learn that
+calculation of national advantage or danger, argument from policy,
+even threats which are not believed, are so much "clouds and wind,"
+not profitable even as mental exercises. What alone is valid is
+concrete fact; not treaties, but the execution of them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Imperial Commissioners had in good time presented their own demand
+on Lord Elgin, and in most becoming terms, for between preferring and
+meeting a request there is all the difference in the world. The two
+Chinese signatories of the treaty frankly avowed that they had signed
+without scrutiny under military pressure, and that certain
+stipulations were highly inconvenient to the Imperial Government,
+particularly the right of keeping a Minister in residence in Peking.
+Lord Elgin agreed to move his Government, and the Government consented
+to waive the right, conditionally. Lord Elgin laid stress on the
+retention of the right as a right, forgetting that in China a right
+conditionally waived is a right definitely abandoned. Nor only so, but
+so far from consolidating what remains, it constitutes a
+vantage-ground for demanding further concessions, and in other fields
+of international relations besides that of China. Nothing therefore
+could have been wider of the mark than any expectation that "the
+decision of her Majesty's Government respecting residence in Peking
+would induce the Chinese Government to receive in a becoming manner a
+representative of her Majesty when he proceeds to the Peiho to
+exchange the ratification." Experience pointed to quite the opposite
+effect.
+
+These critical remarks are by no means intended either to belittle
+Lord Elgin's good work, to depreciate his real statesmanship, or to
+scoff at his sensibility and high-mindedness. But his errors being
+like a flaw in a steel casting, pregnant with destruction, and as the
+same kind of flaw continues to vitiate many of our smaller diplomatic
+castings, the China question could not really be understood without
+giving proper consideration to them. For the rest, as a despatch
+writer Lord Elgin was both copious and able--he did not take a double
+first at Oxford for nothing. Still, his writings and orations are
+scarcely the source whence one would seek for light and leading on the
+Chinese problem. They are vitiated by self-vindication. Many of them
+are elaborate efforts to make the worse appear the better reason,
+while their political philosophy is based too much on speculative
+conceptions where ascertained data were available.
+
+On the last day of July 1858 Lord Elgin with his suite set out on
+their memorable voyage to Japan, the narrative of which has been so
+skilfully woven by Laurence Oliphant. This episode will claim our
+attention later. His lordship came, saw, and conquered--returned to
+China in a month crowned with fresh laurels. At Shanghai he saw the
+tariff settled, and then performed another pioneer voyage of
+prodigious significance. This was up the Yangtze as far as the great
+central emporium Hankow. Captain Sherard Osborn was the Palinurus of
+that original and venturesome voyage. After that, Lord Elgin bent his
+steps towards England; but before leaving China the ghosts of things
+done and undone haunted him. "A variety of circumstances lead me to
+the conclusion that the Court of Peking is about to play us false,"
+was the melancholy epitaph he wrote on his mixed policy, on his honest
+attempt to make war with rose-water, and his subordination, on
+critical occasions, of judgment to sentiment.
+
+Meantime his brother Frederick, who had carried the Tientsin treaty to
+London, was returning with it and the Queen's ratification and his
+letter of credence as British Minister to China. The _dénoûment_ of
+the plot was now at hand. The real mind of the Chinese Government was
+finally declared in the sanguinary reception the new envoy met with at
+the entrance of the Peiho in June 1859. Frederick Bruce was generally
+considered a man of larger calibre than his elder brother. "In
+disposition he was a fine, upright, honourable fellow," writes Sir
+Hope Grant, "and in appearance tall and strong made, with a remarkably
+good expression of countenance." But it took even him a long time to
+fathom the new situation. After his disastrous repulse from the Taku
+forts he wrote in August, "I regret much that when the permanent
+residence was waived it was not laid down in detail what the reception
+of the Minister at Peking was to be." But it was no question of detail
+that barred his passage to Peking. It was the settled determination
+never to see the face of any foreign Minister; and it seems strange
+that it should have taken not only another year but another war
+finally to convince the British plenipotentiaries and their Government
+that the message of China from first to last, from Peking and Canton,
+had been to fling the treaty in their face.
+
+  [Illustration: SIR FREDERICK BRUCE.]
+
+
+II. LORD ELGIN'S SECOND MISSION.
+
+     Invasion of Peking -- Convention of Peking -- Establishment
+     of the British Legation -- Russian and British, a contrast.
+
+The Chinese perfidy at Taku had of course to be avenged. A formidable
+expedition was equipped by the Allied Powers, Lord Elgin and Baron
+Gros being reappointed as plenipotentiaries. The history of the famous
+Peking campaign of 1860, with its tragic incidents, has been impressed
+on the world by so many writers, military and civil, most of them
+actors in the scenes they depict, that the barest outline of events
+may suffice in this place.
+
+In the preliminary agreement between the two Governments, the British
+military force was limited to 10,000 effectives; but the number
+actually placed in the field exceeded that figure by the consent of
+the French, whose forces were between 6000 and 7000. The British
+contingent was commanded by General Sir Hope Grant, the French by
+General Montauban, afterwards created Count Palikao,--"a fine,
+handsome, soldier-like man, apparently under sixty years of age."
+
+The naval forces were commanded respectively by Vice-Admiral Sir James
+Hope, "a tall, noble-looking man, with a prepossessing and most
+gentlemanlike appearance,"[42] and by Admiral Page, "a superior man
+with a great deal of dry humour, but bad-tempered."[43]
+
+The friction arising between Allies working together, waiting for each
+other, consulting at every step, taking precedence of each other on
+alternate days, at first vexatious, was in the end overcome by the
+tact of the commanders on both sides.
+
+The first operation of war was to occupy the harbour of Chusan as an
+intermediate base. After that the British force was conveyed in
+transports to Talien-wan, where they were disembarked, while the
+French were landed at Chefoo, on the opposite shore of the Gulf of
+Pechili. At these points preparations were made for the intended
+descent on the coast of the province of Chihli, between 200 and 300
+miles to the westward. The British force included 1000 cavalry in
+splendid condition, and a battery of Armstrong guns, then for the
+first time used in active service. The French had no cavalry, the
+attempts to import horses from Japan were not successful, and the
+scarcity of draught-animals on their side caused great delay in the
+sailing of the expedition from the temporary depots. At length on July
+26 a fleet of over 200 sail--a magnificent spectacle--carried the two
+armies to within twenty miles of the Peiho, where they anchored,
+waiting for favourable weather and a minute reconnaissance.
+
+The one piece of strategy in the campaign was the choice of a
+landing-place. The Taku forts, which had been strong enough to repulse
+Sir James Hope with severe loss a year before, had been further
+strengthened, for to the Chinese it was a matter of life and death to
+bar the entrance to the Peiho. The chain barrier across the mouth of
+the river could not be forced under the concentrated fire of the
+forts; only the lightest draught vessels could approach within five
+miles; and a frontal attack was not to be thought of. But a decided
+difference of opinion between the Allied generals had disclosed
+itself as to the mode of procedure. The French commander was
+determined to land on the coast to the southward of the forts; the
+English was still more resolute in selecting as a landing-place the
+mouth of the Peitang river, eight miles northward of Taku. So
+irreconcilable were their views that it was agreed that each should go
+his own way, only starting simultaneously. After more careful study,
+however, General Montauban came to think better of his own scheme, and
+proposed to Sir Hope Grant to join him in the landing at Peitang.
+
+So on August 2 the first detachments of 2000 from each army were
+disembarked, and the campaign proper commenced. The forts at Peitang
+were easily occupied, "a kind old man" pointing out where there were
+loaded shells which would explode on foot pressure on a gun-lock laid
+so as to fire a train. By means of a raised causeway leading through a
+sea of "briny slush," positions were reached whence the Taku forts
+could be attacked from the rear. Though bravely defended, the forts on
+the left bank were captured, and as they commanded those on the
+opposite bank no resistance was offered by the latter. The Peiho was
+thus opened for the conveyance of troops and stores to Tientsin, which
+was made the base of operations for the advance of the Allied armies
+on Peking.
+
+The military movements were hampered by the presence of the two
+plenipotentiaries, who stopped on the way to negotiate with the
+unbeaten foe. Delay was not the only untoward consequence of these
+proceedings. At one moment a military disaster seemed to have been
+narrowly escaped. Taking advantage of the singular credulity of the
+Allies, the Chinese, while engaging them in friendly negotiations, had
+planned to decoy the army into a convenient camping-ground at
+Changchia-wan, towards which the troops were marching, when, "To my
+surprise," writes the commander-in-chief, "we found a strong Tartar
+picket, who retired on our approach; and a little farther on were seen
+great bodies of cavalry and infantry, the latter drawn up behind a
+large nullah to our right front, displaying a number of banners." In
+the meantime the envoys, Parkes, Loch, and other officers, who had
+been negotiating with the higher mandarins at Tungchow, a couple of
+miles off, were seized and made prisoners with their escort, all being
+subsequently cruelly tortured, and most of them massacred, in
+accordance with Chinese practice in war.
+
+Sir Hope Grant, finding his army of 4000 men in process of being
+hemmed in, attacked and routed the Chinese troops on September 18,
+resuming his march on the 21st, when the remainder of his force had
+joined him. He had not gone far, however, when the way was again
+barred, and another action had to be fought at the bridge Pali-chiao,
+ten miles from Peking, where General Montauban distinguished himself,
+and whence he derived his title.
+
+Far from owning themselves defeated, the Chinese on the morrow resumed
+negotiations as between equals. The Imperial Commissioners who had
+mismanaged the affair were replaced by Prince Kung, a brother of the
+emperor, who sent letters under a flag of truce, saying he was ready
+to come to terms, but "said nothing about our poor prisoners." The
+Allied plenipotentiaries declined to treat until the captives should
+be returned, whereupon Prince Kung sent another letter saying they
+were safe, but would only be sent back on the restitution of the Taku
+forts and the evacuation of the river by the Allied fleets.
+
+Lord Elgin had demanded that he should deliver the Queen's letter in
+person to the emperor. Prince Kung refused this demand, which Lord
+Elgin incontinently abandoned. Waxing bolder, Prince Kung next
+threatened that the entry of the Allied forces into the capital would
+be followed by the instant massacre of the prisoners. The
+plenipotentiaries retorted by intimating that the surrender of
+prisoners was a necessary condition of the suspension of hostilities.
+A week having been wasted in this vain seesaw, an ultimatum was sent
+into Peking on September 30. This was answered by the Chinese inviting
+the Allies to retire to Changchia-wan, the scene of the great defeat
+of their army, offering to sign the treaty there. And so the contest
+was maintained until the Allied artillery was planted within sixty
+yards of the north gate, and the hour was about to strike when the
+wall was to be battered down.
+
+Most valuable information--the topography of the city--had been
+supplied by General Ignatieff, who accompanied the Allies. A map which
+he lent to Sir Hope Grant showed every street and house of importance
+in Peking, laid down by a scientific member of the Russian mission in
+the city. The data had been obtained by traversing the streets in a
+cart, from which angles were taken, while an indicator fixed to the
+wheel marked the distances covered. Without this plan the attack would
+have been made from the south side, as proposed by General Montauban,
+which would have involved a march through the commercial or Chinese
+quarter, and the surmounting first of the Chinese and then of the
+Tartar wall. The map made it clear that from every point of view the
+north side offered the most eligible point of attack, where nothing
+intervened between a great open plain and the wall of the Manchu city.
+
+Passing over the dramatic incidents of the destruction of the Summer
+Palace, an act of calculated vengeance for the murder and maltreatment
+of envoys and prisoners, the flight of the emperor on a hunting tour
+to Jêho, whence he never returned, the release of the prisoners and
+their account of the captivity, the new treaty was signed at the Hall
+of Ceremonies on October 22, 1860, by Prince Kung, "a delicate
+gentlemanlike man, evidently overcome with fear," and his coadjutor,
+Hangki. The treaties of Tientsin were ratified, and some further
+indemnities exacted. The special provisions introduced into the French
+treaty will be referred to in a subsequent chapter.[44]
+
+The closing scene was marked by a degree of haste somewhat recalling
+Tientsin in 1858. The very slow advance on Peking brought the climax
+of the campaign unpleasantly close to the season when communication by
+water would be shut off by ice; "the weather became bitterly cold,
+some of the hills being covered with snow." And Sir Hope Grant's
+never-failing counsellor, Ignatieff, with "his usual extreme
+kindness," furnished him with the most important information that the
+Peiho would soon become frozen up and it would be unsafe to linger in
+Peking. Mr Loch's galloping off with the treaty, as shown in the
+illustration, was rather typical of the whole business. The treaty
+as such was of little consequence--the fulfilment of its provisions
+was everything.
+
+  [Illustration: MR LOCH DEPARTS FROM PEKING FOR ENGLAND WITH CHINESE
+   TREATY.]
+
+Some lessons, nevertheless, had been learned in the school of
+diplomatic adversity. Peking was not left without a _locum tenens_ of
+the Minister, Tientsin was not left without a garrison, and the Taku
+forts were occupied by the Allies for a couple of years after the
+final conclusion of peace.
+
+"Ring out the old; ring in the new." There seemed a natural fitness in
+the Hon. Frederick Bruce succeeding the Earl of Elgin as Minister
+plenipotentiary, and there was a dramatic finish in the farewell
+ceremonial when the retiring representative of the Queen vacated the
+seat of honour, placing therein his younger brother, whom he
+introduced to Prince Kung as the accredited agent of Great Britain.
+The new era was inaugurated; a real representative of her Britannic
+Majesty was installed in the capital of the Son of Heaven.
+
+The season was late, and though two palaces had been granted on lease
+for the residences of the British and the French Ministers, many
+alterations and repairs were needed to render them fit for occupation,
+which could not be effected before the closing of the sea
+communication by ice. The Ministers therefore resolved to withdraw
+from Peking for the winter, placing their respective legations in
+charge of a junior consular officer, Mr Thomas Adkins, who volunteered
+to hold the post until the return of the plenipotentiaries in the
+following spring.
+
+Mr Adkins was not the only foreign sojourner in the Chinese capital.
+There was a French Lazarist priest, Mouilli by name, who, having
+successfully concealed himself among his native Christians during the
+military advance of the Allies, emerged from his hiding-place on the
+triumphant entry of the ambassadors, and showed himself in the streets
+in a sedan chair with four bearers. There was the permanent Russian
+establishment within the city, with its unbroken record of 173 years.
+Originally composed of prisoners taken at the siege of Albazin, it had
+become a seminary of the Orthodox Church and a political _vedette_ of
+the Russian empire, invaluable to the two masterful diplomatists who
+appeared suddenly on the scene in the years 1858 and 1860. The mission
+served as a speculum through which Russia could look into the inner
+recesses of the Chinese State, while to the Chinese it was a window of
+bottle-glass through which the external world was refracted for them.
+The Russian Government selects its agents on the principle on which we
+select university crews or All-England elevens--namely, the most fit.
+So important and far-sighted a scheme as the Peking mission was not
+left to chance or the claims of seniority, but was maintained in the
+highest efficiency. Its members--six ecclesiastical and four lay--were
+changed every ten years. All of them, from the Archimandrite
+downwards, were accomplished linguists, speaking Chinese like the
+natives, and masters also of the Manchu and Mongol languages. Their
+relations with the Chinese officials were unostentatious, yet
+brotherly. Few secrets, either of administration, dynastic politics,
+or official intrigue, no communications between the Government,
+provincial or imperial, and any foreigners, escaped record in the
+archives of the Russian mission. The _personnel_ were protected
+from outrage or insult by their own tact and their traditional
+prestige; and as the Daimios of Japan in their anti-foreign manifestos
+declared that every foreigner could be insulted with impunity except
+the Russians, so in China the name was a talisman of security. While
+the Anglo-French expedition was marching towards Peking the Russian
+Secretary, M. Popoff, had occasion to leave that city and pass the
+night at a native inn on the road to Tientsin. The place became filled
+with the retreating Chinese soldiery, and M. Popoff had the pleasure
+of hearing their excited conversation respecting himself. They were
+for dragging him out and killing him on the spot, when the landlord
+interposed. "That foreigner is a Russian," said he; "it will be
+dangerous to lay a hand on him."
+
+  [Illustration: MONSEIGNEUR MOUILLI.]
+
+M. Popoff's errand was to meet General Ignatieff, who was making his
+way to Peking with the Allied forces. It was of the utmost importance
+that he should arrive simultaneously with the French and English
+plenipotentiaries in order to save China from her doom. China's
+extremity was Russia's opportunity for showing the sincerity of her
+long unbroken friendship. The foreigners had come to possess
+themselves of the empire and destroy the dynasty. Their ruthless
+character was soon to be shown in the burning and pillage of the
+Summer Palace. The Chinese Court's apprehension of the impending
+calamity was proved by the flight of the emperor to a quasi-inaccessible
+retreat. In that terrible crisis no sacrifice would have been deemed
+by the imperial family too great to "get rid of the barbarians."
+Confirming their own worst fears as to the designs of the invaders,
+General Ignatieff revealed to them the only way of salvation. Nothing
+would arrest the schemes of the Allies but the intervention of a
+strong Power friendly to China. He had it in his power to make such
+representations to Baron Gros and Lord Elgin as would induce them to
+withdraw their troops. This essential service he offered to the Chinese
+for a nominal consideration. Only a rectification of frontier by
+inclusion of a sterile region inhabited by robbers and infested by
+tigers, where no mandarin could make a living, fit only for a penal
+settlement, with a rugged sea-coast where no Chinese sail was ever
+seen. Prince Kung jumped at the providential offer of deliverance, and
+so that great province called Primorsk, with its 600 miles of coast-line,
+which gave to Russia the dominion of the East--"Vladivostock"--was
+signed away by the panic-stricken rulers of China. A year later this
+transaction cropped up in conversation over the teacups, after the
+business of the day had been disposed of, between Prince Kung and a
+certain foreign diplomatist, who remarked that there was never the
+remotest intention on the part of the Allies of keeping a single
+soldier in China after the treaty was made. The Prince looked aghast,
+then said solemnly, "Do you mean to say we have been deceived?"
+"Utterly," replied the other; and then the dejection of the Prince was
+such as the foreigner, who lived to enjoy a twenty-years' acquaintance
+with him, declared he never saw in his or any other Chinese
+countenance. Thus General Ignatieff, without any force, in the vulgar
+sense, of his own, was adroit enough and bold enough to wield the
+forces of his belligerent neighbours so as to carry off the only
+solid fruit of the war, while fulfilling the obligations of friendship
+for China and denouncing her spoilers.
+
+The Russian envoy had not the same incentive to hurry away from Peking
+as the other treaty-makers had, for the ice which would imprison them
+would afford him the most expeditious road for travel homewards
+through Siberia. He was nearly as much relieved as Prince Kung himself
+at getting rid of these "barbarians," for then he had the field of
+diplomacy all to himself. He made his treaty, and departed during the
+winter by the back door, across Mongolia.
+
+Ignatieff was a man well known in English society, and thoroughly
+conversant with England. Like most educated Russians, he was affable
+and sympathetic--a "charming fellow." He was courteous and
+companionable to the _locum tenens_ of the English Legation, and in
+taking leave of Mr Adkins expressed the opinion that he would be all
+right in his isolation so long as the emperor did not return to
+Peking, but in that event his position would not be an enviable one.
+However, "if you fear any trouble, go over to the Russian mission:
+they will take care of you."
+
+The winter of 1860 left the statesmen of China some food for
+reflection. The thundering legions had passed like a tornado which
+leaves a great calm behind it. The "still small voice" had also
+departed, with a province in his _chemadán_, gained without a shot or
+even a shout. Two strongly contrasted foreign types had thus been
+simultaneously presented to the astonished Chinese. Can it be doubted
+which left the deeper impression?
+
+Preparations were made during the winter for receiving the foreign
+Ministers in the spring. A department of Foreign Affairs was created
+under the title of "Tsung-li Koh Kwoh She Yu Yamên," or briefly,
+"Tsungli-Yamên," the three original members being Prince Kung,
+Kweiliang, and Wênsiang. The Yamên was established by imperial decrees
+in January; Mr Bruce and M. Bourboulon arrived in March 1861, when
+diplomacy proper began, the thread of which will be resumed in a later
+section.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[37] "Verily," writes Wingrove Cooke, "Sir John Bowring, much abused
+as he is both here and at home, has taken a more common-sense view of
+these matters than the high diplomatists of England and France."
+
+[38] Before the conclusion of his second mission Lord Elgin's opinion
+of at least one of those whom at the outset he disparaged had
+undergone considerable modification. "Parkes," he wrote in 1860, "is
+one of the most remarkable men I ever met for energy, courage, and
+ability combined. I do not know where I could find his match."
+
+[39] Lord Elgin protested against the use of this tabooed term, but
+took no exception to the statement as to his having obeyed the
+commands of the Imperial Commissioners.
+
+[40] 'The Scotsman,' September 18, 1858.
+
+[41] It seems to have been a general opinion at the time that Lord
+Elgin was deterred from proceeding to Peking by the protestations of
+his learned advisers, who declared that his doing so would "shatter
+the empire."
+
+[42] Sir Hope Grant's Journal.
+
+[43] Ibid.
+
+[44] Vol. ii. p. 224.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+INTERCOURSE UNDER THE TREATIES OF 1858 AND 1860.
+
+
+I. THE DIPLOMATIC OVERTURE.
+
+     Spontaneous fulfilment of treaties not to be expected --
+     Retreating attitude of foreign Ministers -- Repression of
+     British tourists -- Hostility of Pekingese -- Conciliation
+     fails -- Chinese refuse to conclude treaty with Prussia --
+     Glimpse of the real truth -- Rooted determination to keep
+     out foreigners -- Absence of the sovereign -- Female
+     regents -- Diplomatic forms in abeyance -- Foreign
+     Ministers' task complicated by assumed guardianship of
+     China -- Pleasant intercourse with Manchu statesmen.
+
+When Mr Bruce and M. Bourboulon took up their residence in Peking on
+March 22, 1861, diplomacy was as yet a white sheet on which it was
+their part to trace the first characters. The treaty--for all the
+treaties were substantially one--was their charter; its integral
+fulfilment their only safety. For as it had not been a bargain of
+give-and-take between equals, but an imposition pure and simple by the
+strong upon the weak, there would be no spontaneous fulfilment of its
+obligations, rather a steady counter-pressure, as of water forcibly
+confined seeking out weak spots in the dam. Moreover, the two parties
+to the treaty, foreigners and Chinese, were not acquainted with each
+other: aims, incentives, temper and character, and the nature of the
+considerations by which they respectively would be influenced, were
+all obscure. It was an uncertain situation, calling for vigilance and
+caution. There can be no doubt the pregnant importance of the first
+steps was realised by the representatives on both sides. The thoughts
+of the Chinese on that critical occasion can only be inferred from
+their acts. Of what was uppermost in the minds of the foreigners, or
+at least of the English Minister, we have some slight indications from
+the pen of a member of his staff, who, though not himself in the
+diplomatic circle, claims to be the authorised chronicler of the early
+days of the mission. This pretension is implicitly indorsed by the
+fact that the preface to Dr Rennie's book[45] was written in
+Government House, Calcutta, whither he followed Lord Elgin in the
+capacity of physician. When the Ministers had only been five days in
+Peking Dr Rennie wrote as follows: "Now is commencing perhaps the most
+difficult part of a permanent English residency at Peking--namely, the
+satisfying the Chinese that we are a tolerably harmless and
+well-intentioned people, inclined to live with them on terms of amity
+rather than the contrary, and that the desire of our Government is
+that its subjects should respect, as much as is consistent with
+reason, their national prejudices."
+
+Such an immaculate sentiment placed in the very forefront of an
+ambassadorial programme, ushered in at the cost of two wars which
+shook the foundations of the Chinese empire, leaves something to be
+desired as a justification for being in Peking at all. But Dr Rennie
+indicates no other purpose for which foreign legations were
+established there. He does not get beyond the mere "residency." A
+viceroy of India proclaiming at each stage of a "progress" that he was
+a man of peace, a bride hoping to lead a passably virtuous life, would
+scarcely be more naïve than a foreign Minister's pious aspiration to
+behave tolerably well to the Chinese. For where was the "difficulty,"
+one is tempted to ask? It is explained by Dr Rennie.
+
+Two English officers, it appears, had made an excursion to the Great
+Wall without the necessary consular and local authorisation, and had
+further shown "the bad taste, at a date so recent to its destruction,"
+to visit the Summer Palace. A formal complaint of these indiscretions
+met Mr Bruce on his arrival, and credit must be given to the Chinese
+for their appreciation of the tactical value of what Scotswomen call
+"the first word of flytin'." They moved the first pawn, and put the
+British Minister at once on the defensive. He responded by an
+arbitrary exercise of authority whereby Englishmen were prohibited
+from visiting Peking. The restriction possessed little direct
+importance, since few persons were then affected by it; but as the
+opening act of the new diplomacy, its significance could hardly be
+overrated. Though "only a little one," it was a recession from the
+right conferred on the subjects of all treaty Powers to travel for
+business or pleasure not only to Peking, but throughout the Chinese
+empire. It was as the tuning-fork to the orchestra.
+
+It is not permissible to suppose that the British Minister had not
+good reasons for swerving from the principle of exercising rights,
+great and small, for which, as he well knew, experience in China had
+been one long, unbroken, cogent argument. Dr Rennie furnishes his
+readers with the reason. "The Chinese," he observes, "would seem to
+be very sensitive"; and "taking all the circumstances into
+consideration, ... the fear that casual visits on the part of
+strangers ... may prove antagonistic to the establishment of a
+harmonious feeling at the opening of a new era in our intercourse with
+the Chinese," the Minister resolved to keep Englishmen (and only them)
+out of the capital.
+
+This explanation, like that of the purpose of the Legation itself,
+leaves on us a sense of inadequacy. These hyper-sensitive people had
+been engaged, only six months before, in torturing and massacring
+foreign envoys and prisoners, for which atrocities the destruction and
+sack of Yuen-ming-yuen was thought to be not too severe a reprisal.
+That the high officials who had committed these cruelties and endured
+the penalty should suddenly become so delicate that they could not
+bear the thought of a harmless tourist looking upon the ruins of the
+palace seems a somewhat fantastical idea. As for the sensitiveness of
+the townspeople, Dr Rennie himself had some experience of it three
+days after penning the above remarks. "A good deal of shouting and
+hooting," he says, was followed by "stones whizzing past me." Then "my
+horse was struck by a stone" and bolted. A similar experience befell
+another member of the Legation on the same day in another part of the
+city. Dr Rennie believed the stones to have been thrown by boys, which
+is probable enough. The favourite Chinese official palliation of
+outrages on foreigners is to attribute them to youths and poor
+ignorant people, which, however, in nowise softens the impact of the
+missile. Let us give the Chinese full credit for the virtues they
+possess--and they are many--but no one familiar with the streets of
+Peking would consider delicacy their predominant characteristic. View
+the diplomatic incident how we please, it cannot be denied that the
+Chinese drew first blood in the new contest, and at the same time
+practically tested the disposition of the invading force.
+
+Another "straw" from Dr Rennie's journal may be noticed as indicating
+the set of the current. _Apropos_ of the first commercial case that
+had been sent up from the ports to the Minister, he records the
+conclusion that "in almost every dispute which arises between
+ourselves and the Chinese we are in the first instance in the wrong;
+but, unfortunately [for whom?], the Chinese equally invariably adopt
+the wrong method of putting matters right," so that "the original
+wrong committed by us is entirely lost sight of." The observation
+refers exclusively to mercantile affairs, and it was a rather large
+generalisation to make after a month's experimental diplomacy in
+Peking.
+
+The Minister soon found that his efforts to placate the Chinese
+Government were not producing the intended effect. It was not the
+"casual visitor" that in any special way annoyed them, but the
+foreigner in all his moods and tenses, most of all Mr Bruce himself,
+his colleagues and their staff, medical and other, and all that they
+stood for. General Ignatieff had not, after all, conjured away the
+foreign plague, nor were the Chinese statesmen entirely reassured even
+as to their immunity from the military danger. In the month of April
+Admiral Hope, Brigadier-General Staveley, and Mr Parkes visited
+Peking, and were courteously received; but Prince Kung was visibly
+relieved, Dr Rennie tells us, when assured that the admiral was not to
+remain there. As for the general, his presence in the vicinity was
+inevitable so long as a considerable British and French force remained
+in garrison in Tientsin and Taku. Like the Ministers themselves, he
+was an unpleasant necessity to be endured as well as may be. But being
+thus obliged to tolerate the greater evil, it would appear to Western
+reasoning that an admiral more or less in an inland town need not have
+so greatly upset Chinese equanimity. Prince Kung, however, was not yet
+able to look on such matters with Western eyes. Every foreigner kept
+at arm's-length, no matter what his rank or condition, was a gain, as
+every locust destroyed is a gain to the peasant.
+
+So when the Prussian envoy, Count Eulenberg, presented himself, the
+British Minister vouching for his respectability, for the purpose of
+making a treaty on the lines of those already made and ratified, his
+efforts were frustrated by every plausible device. The envoy was
+relegated to the most distant point at which it was deemed feasible to
+stay his progress--namely, Tientsin, where negotiations were
+vexatiously protracted during four months. The first and final
+sticking-point was the claim to residence in the capital, which the
+Chinese absolutely refused to concede. Eventually they agreed to
+compound for a deferred entry ten years after signature. This by
+haggling was finally reduced to five years, and the treaty was
+thereupon concluded in August 1861. The old Canton tactics were thus
+revived, as if nothing had happened since 1857.
+
+As the echo of Mr Bruce, Dr Rennie's comment on the proceeding is
+worth noting. "Looks very like merely gaining time, in hopes that,
+before that period expires, _all foreign residence in the capital_
+will be at an end." Here we catch a glimpse of the fundamental truth
+underlying all Chinese diplomacy from first to last--the purpose,
+never relaxed for an instant, of some day expelling foreigners from
+the country. No foreigner could hope to unravel the tangle of Chinese
+reasoning so as to comprehend in what manner the exclusion of one
+State was to assist in the eviction of the representatives of four
+Great Powers already established in the capital; but it may be
+inferred from the above remark that Mr Bruce was beginning to perceive
+that good behaviour towards the Chinese was not the be-all and end-all
+of the functions of a British representative in China. There was
+another side. We know, in fact, though Dr Rennie does not record it,
+that Mr Bruce began to see the necessity of making a stand against the
+reactionary pressure of the Chinese; that he was resolved on bending
+the Ministers of the Yamên to his will--being satisfied he could do
+it--instead of yielding to theirs in the vain hope of gaining their
+confidence.
+
+The grand desideratum had been at last obtained, access to the
+capital; but how different the realisation from the anticipation!
+There was no sovereign and no Court, only the shell of the nut without
+the kernel. And as diplomacy began so it continued, in successive
+illusions, partially dispelled, yet clung to with slow-dying hope.
+
+At first sight, no doubt, the task of the foreign representatives
+seemed an easy one: they had but to lay down the law to a defeated
+Power, to hammer the softened metal. This course would have been as
+simple in fact as it was in principle had they been united, and had it
+been possible for them to take a simple view of their mission; but
+from the first their duty to their respective countries was
+complicated, and in varying degrees, by what they conceived to be
+their duty towards China. It was inevitable that the attempt to follow
+two lines of policy divided by such cleavage should result in a fall
+into the crevasse. China, in fact, was too large a subject for either
+the treaty Powers or their agents to grasp. She made huge demands on
+the humanity, the indulgence, and the protection of the Powers who had
+broken down her wall of seclusion, and she had nothing in kind to
+offer them in return--neither gratitude nor co-operation, nor even
+good faith. For this China could be blamed only in so far as her own
+welfare was hindered by her irresponsiveness, for her statesmen were
+not far wrong in attributing to any motive rather than pure
+philanthropy the obtrusive solicitude of the Western Powers.
+International relations even between kindred peoples are in the nature
+of things selfish, or worse; and the more they assume an altruistic
+mask the more they lie open to suspicion. In this cynical view of the
+attitude of her neighbours China has never wavered.
+
+Yet it was not all illusion and Dead Sea apples. Something had been
+gained by diplomatic access to the capital. The elaborate insolence of
+the Chinese mandarin had been exchanged for the urbanity of the
+well-bred Manchu. It became possible to converse. Foreigners were
+listened to with attention, and answered with an open countenance. The
+change was incalculable. It recalled the days of Lord Macartney and
+the Emperor Kienlung, of Sir John Davis's pleasant intercourse with
+Kiying, and of the agreeable impression left by the Manchu statesmen
+who were concerned from 1841 onwards in the conduct of war or the
+conclusion of peace. If to the kindly personal relations which
+characterised the earlier years of Peking diplomacy no permanent
+tangible result could be definitely ascribed, who can tell what evils
+were staved off or calamity averted by these friendly amenities?
+
+In order, however, to appreciate the state of affairs in Peking in
+1865, it is necessary to fill the gap in our narrative by an outline
+of events following the ratification of the treaty of Tientsin and
+Convention of Peking in October 1860.
+
+
+II. NEW PORTS AND OPENING OF THE YANGTZE.
+
+     Seven new coast ports -- Admiral Hope's Yangtze expedition
+     -- His relations with Taiping rebels -- Hankow, Kiukiang,
+     and Chinkiang opened to trade -- Panic in Hankow, and
+     exodus of population for fear of rebels.
+
+The new ports opened to trade--Tientsin, Newchwang, and Chefoo in the
+North; Swatow, and two Formosan ports; Kiungchow in Hainan--added
+considerably to the range of foreign commerce, and necessitated a
+large extension of the foreign customs and of the consular services.
+But the most important feature in the new arrangements was the
+effective opening of the river Yangtze. It was interesting, as giving
+access to the commercial centre of the empire; and as bringing
+foreigners into direct contact, possibly conflict, with the Taiping
+rebels. For the banks of the great river were at the time checkered
+with the alternate strongholds of rebels and imperialists. Trade must
+therefore either be carried on on sufferance from both, or be
+efficiently protected from the interference of either belligerent.
+Obviously this was a matter to be gone about discreetly.
+
+The course and capabilities of the great waterway, and the disposition
+of the military forces on its banks, had been well reconnoitred by
+Lord Elgin himself in 1858; and the ports to be opened, which were
+left unnamed in the treaty, were pretty definitely indicated in the
+survey then made. There were to be three in all. Chinkiang, which had
+been recently recovered from the rebels, situated at the intersection
+of the Imperial Canal and the Yangtze-kiang, was definitely fixed. The
+two others farther up river remained to be selected.
+
+The opening of the river was by treaty made contingent on the
+restoration of imperial authority on its banks; but as there was
+nothing more likely to accelerate that consummation than commercial
+traffic on the river, the Chinese Government acquiesced in the British
+authorities making the experiment, at their own risk as regarded
+possible trouble with the insurgents. The object was to "throw open
+the general coasting trade of the river"; and Lord Elgin, on his
+departure from China, left the undertaking in the hands of Admiral
+Hope, to whom he attached Mr Parkes, withdrawn for the occasion from
+his duties as commissioner in Canton.
+
+  [Illustration: FIRST BRITISH CONSULATE AT KOLENGSOO, AMOY, 1844.]
+
+The admiral started from Shanghai in advance of Mr Parkes, with a
+squadron of light-draught steamers, on February 11, 1861. He carried
+an exploring expedition composed of Colonel Sarel, Captain Blakiston,
+Mr Shereshewsky, and Dr A. Barton, whose proceedings are reported in
+Blakiston's 'Five Months on the Upper Yangtze'; several American
+missionaries; two Frenchmen, afterwards distinguished, MM. Eugène
+Simon and A. Dupuis, the latter proving the means of eventually giving
+Tongking to France; a French military attaché; Lieut.-Colonel
+Wolseley, D.A.Q.-M.G.; and a delegation from the Shanghai Chamber of
+Commerce, with several private persons. Whether the pilots presumed
+upon light draught and steam power, or whether the course of the river
+had changed so much since the previous surveys were made, the vessels
+got stranded, one after another, in the estuary; and as each grounded
+a companion was told off to stand by her, so that before they had got
+clear of what is known as the Langshan Crossing (the home of the
+famous breed of black poultry) the admiral's tender, the Coromandel,
+was the only vessel left in a mobile condition. Not to lose time, the
+admiral determined to push on in that non-combatant craft to Nanking,
+the rebel capital, and test the temper and intentions of the Taipings.
+
+As the steamer slowly approached the landing-place, in bright sunshine
+and a still atmosphere, the batteries on the river front were crowded,
+but remained silent.
+
+"What will you do, sir, if they fire?" the admiral was asked.
+
+"Oh, I will just drop down out of range, and send and ask them what
+they mean by it," he replied, with deep deliberate utterance, not
+unlike Beaconsfield's.
+
+An officer was sent ashore to parley, some rebel officers came on
+board, and the prospect of an amicable understanding appeared to be
+satisfactory. It was a critical juncture in the history both of the
+Taiping movement itself and of foreign relations with it and with
+China. Without exaggeration, it may be said that the proximate fate
+of the Taipings then lay hidden within the brain of Sir James Hope,
+and each occasion of contact between him and them during the next few
+months added its definite contribution to the data on which the
+momentous decision was ultimately taken. Although he had then no
+higher opinion of the Taipings than that they were "an organised band
+of robbers," the admiral was resolved to give them fair play; and
+since no diplomatic intercourse could be held with insurgents, he
+determined to take relations with them under his own supervision
+(March 8, 1861). "The principle I shall adopt being that in the
+district of country of which they hold possession the Taiping
+authorities must be regarded as those of the _de facto_ Government,
+... and this principle being likely to lead to the payment of double
+duties (to rebels and imperialists) on all trade conducted at places
+in their possession, I am desirous of definite instructions on the
+subject."
+
+The first point to be settled with the rebel authorities at Nanking
+was the non-molestation of British traffic passing up and down the
+river within range of their batteries or otherwise, to secure which
+object it had been determined to station a ship of war abreast of the
+city. The sanction of the Taiping chiefs was wanted to this
+arrangement, which, however, without such sanction, it would have been
+all the more necessary to insist upon. The second point affected the
+general relations between foreign trade and the rebel movement. The
+next aim of the admiral was to arrive at an understanding with the
+leaders for the neutralisation of Shanghai and Wusung within an area
+of thirty miles round these two places.
+
+Not being prepared to enter into definite negotiations until the
+arrival of Mr Parkes, who had not yet joined the expedition, Sir James
+Hope returned to the squadron which he had left aground in the lower
+reaches of the river. But thinking the time and the opportunity might
+be usefully employed in gathering some acquaintance with the Taipings
+at their headquarters, he landed three volunteers at Nanking, whose
+presence he ascertained would not be unwelcome to the authorities
+there. They were to remain in the city as the guests of the rebels
+till the admiral's return. The party consisted of Lieut.-Colonel
+Wolseley, Mr P. J. Hughes, vice-consul designate of Kiukiang, and one
+of the Shanghai delegates. They were joined on shore by the Rev.
+William Muirhead, missionary, who had reached Nanking by land from
+Shanghai. The party was thus a thoroughly representative one. On the
+return of the admiral a week later, accompanied by Mr Parkes, the
+arrangements for a guard-ship were satisfactorily settled after some
+puerile obstruction, and the expedition proceeded on its way up the
+river to Hankow, where, as also at Kiukiang and Chinkiang, consular
+officers were established; and the Yangtze was declared open by
+notification in Shanghai on March 18, 1861.
+
+The expedition was fruitful in information concerning the rebels, all
+tending to confirm the purely destructive character of the movement.
+Certain incidents of the voyage were also most instructive to the
+visitors. While the expedition was still at Hankow the Taipings had
+captured a walled city, fifty miles distant, which had been passed by
+the squadron on its way up a few days before. The news created a
+universal panic throughout the three cities, Wuchang, Hanyang, and
+Hankow, and the scene which followed could not be paralleled. It is
+thus laconically referred to in the report of the delegates of the
+Chamber of Commerce: "The abandonment was most complete, not a house
+nor a shop was open, and it became equally impossible to purchase
+goods, to check quotations, or pursue inquiries."
+
+One day the deep Han river was so packed with junks that one might
+almost walk from bank to bank over their mat coverings. The next day
+everything that could float was crowded with fugitive families with
+their household stuff huddled precariously on the decks, and such a
+fleet as, for number and picturesqueness, was probably never seen,
+covered the broad bosom of the Yangtze, making slow headway under sail
+against the current.
+
+Mr Parkes, eminently a man of fact, thus describes what he was witness
+to:--
+
+     Darkness fell upon crowds of the people lying with their
+     weeping families, and the _débris_ of their property, under
+     the walls of Wuchang, anxious only to escape from defences
+     that should have proved their protection.... The noise and
+     cries attending their embarkation continued throughout the
+     night, but daylight brought with it a stillness that was
+     not less impressive than the previous commotion. By that
+     time all the fugitives had left the shore, and the river,
+     as far as the eye could reach, was covered with junks and
+     boats of every description bearing slowly away up-stream
+     the bulk of the population of three cities, which a few
+     days before we had computed at 1,000,000 of souls.
+
+Of what came of this and many such another melancholy exodus of
+humanity, without resources, ready to brave any death rather than fall
+into the hands of the destroyers, there is no record; and the scene
+at Hankow, magnified a hundred times, would give an inadequate
+conception of the havoc of the fifteen years of the Taiping rebellion.
+
+
+III. ADMIRAL HOPE'S POLICY TOWARDS INSURGENTS.
+
+     Devastation only to be expected of them -- Enforces
+     neutrality and respect for foreign property -- Thirty-mile
+     radius round Shanghai -- Hesitancy of British Minister and
+     Foreign Office -- Overcome by firmness of Admiral --
+     Capture of Ningpo by rebels -- Arrangements for trade there
+     -- Bad faith of rebels -- Shanghai to be defended -- Its
+     dangerous position -- Ravages of rebels -- Offensive
+     movements against them -- Clearing of the thirty-mile
+     radius -- Cordial relations between English and French
+     admirals -- Mr Bruce won over -- The campaign -- Recapture
+     of Ningpo -- Chinese raise foreign force -- Ward --
+     Burgevine -- Chinese statesmen who organised the
+     suppression of the rebellion -- General Gordon takes
+     command of the "Ever-Victorious Army."
+
+None of the spectators was more profoundly impressed than Admiral
+Hope, and the spectacle undoubtedly helped to mature his views on the
+demerits of the rebellion. On April 6 he wrote to the Admiralty: "A
+period of anarchy, indefinite in duration, appears likely to ensue, in
+which the commercial towns of the empire will be destroyed, and its
+most productive provinces laid waste. For this state of things, so
+destructive to foreign trade, I see no remedy except the recognition
+by both parties, if practicable, of the neutrality of the consular
+ports, which would then become places of security in which the Chinese
+merchants and capitalists could take refuge." And towards the
+realisation of this scheme the first step was the obligation laid upon
+the rebel Government at Nanking that their forces should not approach
+within thirty miles of Shanghai or Wusung. This idea, however, was but
+slowly assimilated by her Majesty's Minister at Peking and by the
+Government at home, and Lord Russell, while approving generally of the
+admiral's policy, stipulated that no force be used except in direct
+defence of British property. Mr Bruce wrote able despatches from
+Peking, in which the pros and cons, the contingencies and risks, of
+alternative courses were so well balanced, that the only practical
+conclusion that could possibly issue therefrom was that eventually
+arrived at,--to leave the decision to the admiral with a promise of
+support, whatever course he might adopt. The Foreign Office and the
+Peking Legation, in fact, faithfully represented the orthodox view of
+affairs, whereby national policy is primarily reduced to a game of
+safety for officials, and to the application of theories and general
+principles often having little bearing on the actualities of the case.
+The admiral's mind was cast in a different mould. To him the
+exigencies of the situation were everything, the official balance very
+little, the fear of responsibility nothing. The man on the spot,
+seeing clearly the right thing to do and resolved to do it, was bound
+in the end to gain the Government to his side, for Governments like a
+strong arm to lean on. With men like Sir James Hope there was no risk
+of complications arising, for complications arise mostly from the
+nervous dread of them, never from going straight and clear to the
+objective point. It needed a visit of the admiral to Peking, however,
+and the best part of a year's correspondence, to convert the British
+Government point by point to his views.
+
+Meantime the Taiping rebels advanced to Ningpo, the defence of which
+Mr Bruce had refused to sanction, and they captured the city on
+December 9, 1861, after engaging not to do so. The leaders there were
+interviewed by the French Admiral Protêt and the English Captain
+Corbett with a view to gaining a comprehension of their plans, and "to
+prevent the atrocities of which they have hitherto been guilty, and to
+endeavour to effect an arrangement by which trade can be conducted
+from the town. The French Rear-Admiral Protêt will act in concert with
+me," wrote Admiral Hope to Corbett, December 7.
+
+After the capture of the city the admiral instructed Captain Corbett
+that if the rebels wished to levy any duties, he was to see that in
+amount they did not exceed those stipulated in the imperial tariff.
+Arrangements were also made by the three treaty Powers for the
+protection of foreign life and the safety of the foreign quarter. The
+position was, however, a very difficult one, as the rebels had no idea
+of order or of keeping faith. Indeed the problem of protecting British
+subjects while observing Lord Russell's neutrality instructions was
+fast becoming impossible, for the conventions made with the Taiping
+authorities in Nanking were disregarded by them, and Shanghai itself
+was threatened.
+
+The admiral's conception of what was required for the protection of
+British interests was all the while undergoing steady development, and
+in January he wrote that Kiukiang and Hankow had become as essential
+to our trade as Shanghai. Writing a month later, he pressed his plans
+still more definitely upon the Admiralty. "On every occasion," he said
+on February 21, 1862, "on which I have reported the state of Shanghai
+since my return here, it has been my duty to bring the devastation and
+atrocities committed by the rebels in its immediate vicinity very
+prominently under their Lordships' notice. These proceedings have been
+conducted at a distance much too close to be consistent with the
+respect due to the occupation of the town by French and English
+forces, or to leave its supplies of provisions and native trade
+unaffected."
+
+The tension was at length relieved by the relaxation of Earl Russell's
+restrictions. He had already said that "it might be expedient" to
+protect the treaty ports, and that he was "of opinion that we ought to
+defend Shanghai and Tientsin as long as our forces [the garrison left
+from the Peking campaign] occupied these ports." But now, on March 11,
+1862, he took a more practical view of the whole situation, and issued
+her Majesty's commands that "Admiral Hope should not only defend
+Shanghai and protect the other treaty ports, but also the British flag
+and the Yangtze, and generally that British commerce is to have the
+aid of her Majesty's ships of war."
+
+During the winter of 1861-62 matters had become very critical in
+Shanghai. The rebel chiefs sent an intimation to the foreign consuls
+that it was their intention to capture the town, and they proceeded to
+burn the villages and ravage the country on both sides of the river
+within gun-shot of the military lines. Special local measures of
+defence were adopted by the residents, and fugitives in thousands
+flocked into the only asylum where their lives were safe. The pressure
+of these events led to yet more definite action on the part of Sir
+James Hope, who perceived that the effective defence of Shanghai and
+its sources of supply involved aggressive movements against the rebels
+in order to drive them out of all the places they occupied within the
+thirty-mile radius. In all these proceedings the admiral went hand in
+hand with his French colleague, and with the commanders of the French
+and British military forces. An agreement signed by the four on
+February 13, 1862, settled the immediate question of the defence of
+the city of Shanghai. An appeal to the British Minister completed his
+conversion to a "forward policy." "I strongly recommend," wrote the
+admiral on February 22, "that the French and English commanders should
+be required by yourself and M. Bourboulon to free the country from
+rebels within a line"--specified; and the reply was as hearty and free
+from ambiguity as could be wished: "We can no more suffer Shanghai to
+be taken by famine or destroyed by insurrection than we can allow it
+to be taken by assault; and it requires but little experience in China
+to be assured that the effect of remaining on a strict defensive
+within the walls is to convince our assailants that we are unable to
+meet them in the field."
+
+The plan of campaign was settled in an agreement signed by Sir James
+Hope, Admiral Protêt, and Brigadier Staveley, April 22, 1862, and was
+carried out to the letter during the early summer and the autumn
+following. At an early period of the operations Admiral Protêt was
+killed: his loss was deeply lamented, most of all by his British
+colleague, with whom relations of exceptional intimacy had sprung up.
+"The extent to which I enjoyed his confidence and regard will ever
+prove a source of unmingled satisfaction to me," wrote Sir James Hope
+on the day of the admiral's death, May 17, 1862, himself at the time
+confined to his cabin by wounds.
+
+The rebel forces in Ningpo, who had been on their good behaviour for a
+short time, became aggressive and insulting, even going the length of
+offering rewards for foreign heads in the good old mandarin fashion.
+It is well to remember that even in their unkempt condition, and with
+everything to gain from the goodwill of foreigners, the Taiping rebels
+lacked nothing of the most arrogant of Chinese assumptions. The
+pretensions of the chief far exceeded those of the Emperors of China.
+The Taipings required foreigners to be subject to their jurisdiction,
+and they habitually applied derogatory terms to foreign countries.
+Such things were regarded much as the eccentricities of a lunatic
+might be. Nevertheless they were a faithful reflex of what is rooted
+in the Chinese mind.
+
+The position of foreigners and the foreign ships there having thus
+been rendered intolerable, the city was recaptured from the rebels by
+Commander Roderick Dew in the same month--a brilliant feat of arms.
+After the capture he wrote: "In the city itself, once the home of half
+a million of people, no trace or vestige of an inhabitant could be
+seen.... The canals were filled with dead bodies and stagnant filth."
+The recapture of Ningpo was the beginning of an Anglo-Franco-Chinese
+campaign against the rebels in Chêkiang which was carried on
+simultaneously with that round Shanghai.
+
+It is needless to follow in detail the operations which culminated two
+years later in the final suppression of the Taiping rebellion; but the
+relations which grew up between the British and French commanders on
+the one side, and the Chinese military forces which were being
+organised on the other, were so fruitful in results as to merit their
+being held in particular remembrance. Though the history has been many
+times written, it may still not be considered supererogatory to trace
+some of the points of contact between the native and foreign motives
+and plans of action, and the evolution of the defensive idea which was
+the product of the combination.
+
+The Taiping rebellion had devastated the central and southern
+provinces many years before the Chinese Government roused itself to a
+serious effort to resist it. The movement of repression originated
+with the Governor-General of the Hu provinces, whose chief lieutenant
+and successor was Tsêng Kwo-fan, Governor-General of Kiangnan at the
+time of which we now speak. His brother, Tsêng Kwo-chuan, the Governor
+of Chêkiang province, was the military leader, and Li Hung-chang, the
+most capable and energetic of them all, was governor of the province
+of Kiangsu. The imperialist forces had been gradually closing on
+Nanking, and it was thought probable that this hemming-in process
+forced the rebels to seek outlets and new feeding-grounds in the
+populous districts of Kiangsu and Chêkiang. The rebels had enlisted a
+number of foreigners in their ranks, and made great efforts to supply
+themselves with foreign arms and ammunition, for which purpose, among
+others, communication with the sea was most important for them. Li,
+_futai_ (governor), also began to enlist foreigners and raise a
+special corps, drilled and armed in foreign fashion, and led by
+foreign officers. The foreign agent in this enterprise on the
+imperialist side was Frederick Ward, to whom Mr Bruce referred in May
+1861 as "a man called Ward, an ex-Californian fillibuster." Within a
+year Mr Bruce wrote, "In the Chinese force organised and led by Mr
+Ward I see the nucleus of a military organisation which may prove most
+valuable in the disturbed state of China." The truth is, "Ward's
+force," which became known by its high-flown Chinese title of the
+"Ever-Victorious Army," was seized on from its origin by Sir James
+Hope, whose encouragement and support were essentially serviceable to
+it in its early days. The admiral treated Ward as a comrade, fighting
+by his side, and thus giving the new levy a military status. While the
+Chinese troops were yet raw he co-operated with them by capturing
+positions from the rebels and trusting Ward's men to hold them, on the
+assurance of their leader that they were equal to that duty. Ward
+himself was an unpretentious, cool, and daring man, reckless of his
+own life. During his brief campaign he was riddled with bullets, one
+of which entering his mouth destroyed the palate and impaired his
+speech, and before long the fatal missile reached its mark. He was
+succeeded in the command by his second, Burgevine, who, though a good
+soldier, lacked Ward's tact and moderation, and got into trouble with
+his paymasters, to whom he used violence and threats. He was deposed
+from the command by Governor Li, which brought about a serious crisis,
+for the disciplined force of foreigners and Chinese was left without a
+head. In this emergency Li applied to the British authorities for the
+loan of an officer to command the disciplined force. The
+responsibility of the British representatives, naval and military,
+became thus extended to finding a suitable Englishman to replace
+Burgevine. Their first selection was Captain Holland, R.M., who held
+the post for a short time, and was succeeded by Captain C. G. Gordon,
+R.E.
+
+Gordon had arrived in China in 1860 in time to share in the last act
+of the Peking campaign; he passed the year 1861 at Tientsin, where he
+was highly esteemed as a model man and meritorious officer. In the
+winter of 1861 he had conferences with Mr Bruce and Prince Kung on the
+question of suppressing the rebellion; but none of their ideas, nor
+the policy of the British Government, were then sufficiently advanced
+to lead to any practical result. Gordon accompanied his corps to
+Shanghai in the spring of 1862, and was engaged in the operations for
+clearing the thirty-mile radius under General Staveley, who spoke
+warmly of his daring reconnoitring services, for which Gordon had been
+already distinguished in the Crimea. In the following winter he was
+busy surveying and mapping the country which had been reconquered from
+the rebels, and in the spring of 1863 he was offered by his chief the
+leadership of Ward's force. Gordon's was no doubt the best selection
+that could have been made, having regard only to the abilities which
+were then recognised in him; for though General Staveley knew him well
+both in Tientsin and Shanghai, it is not claimed for him, or any one
+else, that he had prescience of those transcendent qualities and that
+magnetic power which the subsequent campaign against the rebels was
+the means of bringing to light. When Gordon took command of the
+"Ever-Victorious," the force had had two years' training and regular
+campaigning, and the men were entitled to rank as veteran troops.
+Gordon, however, was to infuse new life into the corps by his dynamic
+personality and by the diligent use of the regenerative agency of
+"Sergeant What's-his-name." The number of foreigners actually employed
+in the force is doubtful, but detailed returns of killed and wounded
+in the course of a year's operations gave a hundred names. Gordon's
+faculty of control was probably more severely tested by his management
+of that motley foreign crew than of the whole indigenous force; but
+the best of which it was capable was got out of this fortuitous
+concourse of men, and under the inspiration of the commander several
+names of distinction emerged from the cosmopolitan group.
+
+When Gordon took over the command in March 1863 it was six months
+since the thirty-mile radius had been entirely cleared of rebels, and
+the first duty of the "Ever-Victorious" was to keep that area clear;
+its second to carry the war as far as it was able into the regions
+beyond. Its efficiency, especially for this latter purpose, depended
+on the support and co-operation of the British and French commanders,
+whose troops remained in occupation of the treaty port of Shanghai.
+For a time there was danger of a lapse in this co-operation. The
+dismissed General Burgevine carried his grievances to Peking, and made
+such an impression by his plausible address on the American and
+British Ministers there, that Mr Bruce espoused his cause and wrote
+strong despatches to the British commander, Staveley (April 10, 1863),
+urging the reinstatement of Burgevine and the suppression of Gordon,
+to whom it was to be explained that the step was no reflection on him,
+&c. Again and again the Minister returned to the charge, both to the
+commander in Shanghai and to the Foreign Office at home; but the
+Governor Li was firm, and adduced such cogent reasons for the
+dismissal of Burgevine that Major-General Brown, who had just
+succeeded to the British command, joined Li in resolutely protesting
+against the removal of Gordon, whom, it may be remarked, the English
+general had never yet seen. The men on the spot prevailed against the
+man who was theorising from a distance, and on the worst data
+conceivable, the culprit's own account of himself. Mr Bruce, who, as
+we have seen, was well acquainted with Gordon, must have had reasons
+for his policy not given in his official despatches, for these were
+inadequate and narrow for a man of his large capacity.
+
+We have said Major-General Brown had not then seen Gordon. He had
+arrived from India in April to relieve General Staveley of the command
+of the British troops in China. He was a wiry man and of an active
+temperament, and rapidly mastered the situation. Probably to him is
+due the credit of the first true perception of what manner of man this
+young engineer officer was. General Brown was for a few days after his
+arrival a guest in one of the spacious _hongs_ in the Shanghai
+settlement, which had a wide verandah, giving access to all the
+bedrooms. One morning very early the general, excited by a message
+that had just reached him, rushed round in _déshabillé_ calling for
+his host with a piece of coarse Chinese paper in his hand. "Do you
+know Major Gordon?" he said. "Why, yes, a very nice fellow, and
+reported to be a first-rate officer." "But," exclaimed the general,
+"he is a genius! Just look what I have received from him from the
+front," and he unfolded the whitey-brown paper with some rough
+diagrams, and a few not very legible pencil notes indicating his
+position and plan of attack on Taitsan (where Captain Holland had been
+repulsed) and Kuensan,[46] both cities on the line of communication
+with the provincial capital, Soochow. "The man is a genius,"
+reiterated the general, "and must be supported." A few days later
+another of these cryptic missives arrived, when a similar scene was
+repeated with redoubled emphasis. "I tell you that man is a military
+genius; that's what I call him, a military genius," said the dapper
+little soldier in his vivacious reiterative manner. "I'll support him
+for all I am worth." And then he developed his own plan of relieving
+the "Ever-Victorious" of garrison duty, leaving the whole
+force--secure of its base--free to engage in aggressive operations.
+This plan of giving effective support to Gordon's force was carried
+out to the letter, as subsequently described by the general in his
+official despatches reporting the capture of Taitsan and Kuensan: "I
+had a field force acting in conjunction, as a support, moving on the
+extreme edge of our boundary, ... which was of great assistance to
+Major Gordon in his operations." He adds: "Kuensan having fallen,
+Major Gordon now proposes to make it his headquarters; ... and as the
+_futai_ intends to make Taitsan his headquarters, I shall bring it
+within the boundary, thus giving the imperialists every confidence to
+hold it, knowing they could receive support from me at any moment."
+How vital to the fortunes of the "Ever-Victorious Army" was this
+decided action of General Brown's was seen when, three months later,
+General Burgevine had gone over, with a certain following of
+malcontents, to the Taipings, a movement which suggested to Gordon
+serious misgivings as to the loyalty of the foreigners remaining in
+his own force. Burgevine, however, had no success in the rebel camp,
+and soon, in a secret interview with Gordon, sued for safe-conduct and
+amnesty. Improving his acquaintance, however, with the new commander
+of the "Ever-Victorious," Burgevine's next proposal was the bold one
+of eliminating as between themselves all questions of conflicting
+loyalty to the respective belligerents by throwing over both, and by
+joining forces on their own account, to capture Soochow, and there
+raise an army to march on Peking. It was a partnership which did in
+nowise commend itself to Gordon, but the proposal served to show how
+shrewd Li Hung-chang had been in his estimate of the deposed leader.
+
+
+IV. THE LAY-OSBORN FLOTILLA.
+
+     Orders sent through Mr Hart to Mr Lay -- Fleet equipped
+     under Captain Osborn, R.N. -- Ratification of their
+     agreements refused in Peking -- Government would not place
+     foreigners in a position of authority -- Misunderstandings
+     and final sacrifice of Mr Lay -- Ships paid off and sold --
+     Crucial question the recapture of Nanking.
+
+The invincible distrust of foreign auxiliaries which dominates Chinese
+policy and prevents the empire from ever having an army or a navy,
+received another signal illustration in the same year in the great
+fiasco of the Lay-Osborn flotilla. Mr H. N. Lay, Inspector-General of
+Chinese Maritime Customs, was in England on leave in 1861, his _locum
+tenens_ in Peking being Mr (now Sir) Robert Hart. Conferences with the
+Chinese Ministers on the naval weakness of the empire resulted in a
+very important decision, in consequence of which Mr Hart was empowered
+to send to Mr Lay orders for certain armed vessels to be officered and
+manned by Englishmen. Mr Lay executed the rather "large order"
+according to his lights, engaging Captain Sherard Osborn to command
+the fleet, which was equipped on a war-footing. The foreign enlistment
+difficulties of the British Government were overcome, as the
+Government was by that time ready to go to any length in assisting the
+Government of China. The fleet duly arrived in China, and Mr Lay and
+Captain Osborn presented themselves in Peking to obtain ratification
+of their agreements from the Imperial Government. This was refused,
+the force was disbanded, and the ships sold, at a heavy pecuniary
+sacrifice to the Chinese, for they made no demur about payment.
+
+The rock on which the scheme seemed to split was the contention of Mr
+Lay that the fleet was imperial, and that the commodore should take no
+orders from viceroys or provincial authorities, but only from the
+emperor, and through Mr Lay himself. This was a shock to the very
+edifice of Chinese Government, conceived of as feasible only under the
+belief that in its helpless condition the Government must accede to
+anything. But the scheme was really impossible. So also, however, was
+the alternative of provincialising the naval force, as has been shown
+by subsequent failures in the attempt to use the services of British
+officers in the Chinese navy. Such an instance of reckoning without
+your host was never heard of before or since. It was like a practical
+joke on a titanic scale. The ships were actually there, manned,
+officered, and armed. It was a dangerous knot, which had to be
+promptly cut or untied. Following the line of least resistance, Mr Lay
+was made the scapegoat, on whose head the Minister "laid both his
+hands"--rather heavily--"confessing over him the iniquities of all,"
+and sending him away into the wilderness. In the general interest the
+sacrifice of Mr Lay was perhaps the safest way out of the imbroglio,
+for he was a pugnacious little man in whose hands despotic power might
+have been attended with inconvenience. Nevertheless, the blame of the
+failure belonged to all the parties concerned--to Prince Kung,
+Wênsiang, Mr Hart, Mr Bruce, and the British Government. They each
+entered into the scheme with different ideas, more or less vague,
+except Mr Lay's own, which had perforce to be reduced to the definite
+when he came to draw up contracts with British naval officers, and to
+meet the strict requirements of British law. The Chinese Ministers of
+course could have no conception what a foreign-equipped navy really
+meant, nor had they probably fully divulged what was really in their
+mind; Mr Lay and Mr Hart were young men with large ideas, but without
+experience; Mr Bruce was a man of the world who had seen service, and
+was, from his position, the most responsible of them all, and
+therefore the most culpable in deceiving himself, and allowing the
+British Government to be misled. He approved of the project, or it
+could never have been carried out. But what was it precisely that he
+approved of? He "saw with pleasure that Captain Osborn was about to
+reorganise the preventive service" (October 6, 1862), and as late as
+February 8, 1863, he wrote to Prince Kung of the "speedy arrival of
+the steam flotilla which your Imperial Highness has so wisely
+ordered"--as if it were a pair of official boots! Yet on the arrival
+of the flotilla it was found that everybody concerned was at
+cross-purposes, and the question naturally suggests itself, what steps
+her Majesty's Minister had taken to satisfy himself as to the real
+intentions of Prince Kung, whether they had been properly transmitted
+by Mr Hart and correctly interpreted by Mr Lay and fully communicated
+to her Majesty's Government. It appears that Mr Bruce had, in fact,
+undergone a change of mind--induced, no doubt, by cogent
+considerations--during Mr Lay's final sojourn in Peking. Having
+received a message from the Minister urging a stiff attitude with the
+Chinese Government and promising the full support of the Legation, Mr
+Lay proceeded to the Yamên and laid down the law strongly, as his
+manner was, in the full assurance that he had the British Minister at
+his back. But after thus burning his boats he found himself abandoned,
+for reasons of State which he was unable to appreciate. Such was the
+account of the crisis given at the time by Mr Lay himself to a
+confidential friend then residing in Peking. For the Chinese
+Government the scheme was necessarily a leap in the dark. For the
+British Government it involved a violent reversal of recently declared
+policy, and on a most important issue. It was consequently a case
+where extreme and minute precautions against possible misunderstandings
+would not have been superfluous, yet--so far as has yet been made
+public, for there is doubtless a missing link in the record--such seem
+to have been wholly absent from the inception of the enterprise.
+
+The crux of the question, no doubt, was the position of Nanking. The
+lever Mr Lay employed to secure acceptance of his conditions was the
+prospect of the immediate capture of the Taiping capital, against
+which the provincial Government, represented by the Viceroy Tsêng, his
+brother, and the governor of Kiangsu, Li, were expending their forces.
+The temptation was exceedingly strong to close with Lay and secure the
+services--probably much overrated for that particular object--of the
+new flotilla, were it even by recourse to some ambiguous phrase which
+might leave a loophole of escape from the agreement when its immediate
+object had been served. Something like this might have been attempted
+but for the uncompromising attitude of Li Hung-chang, for it was he
+who smashed the flotilla scheme. It was true, he allowed, that the
+assistance of the ships would enable the viceroy's forces to capture
+the city at once; but, he added confidently, we shall succeed in time
+by our own resources, and it were better to lose the city and the
+province, and even the empire itself, than to place such power as Lay
+demanded in the hands of any foreigner. Burgevine was fresh in the
+_futai's_ mind--was indeed at that very time in the rebel camp near
+him. Li's arguments clinched the matter. The flotilla was never
+commissioned. The whole chapter of experiences of the campaign in
+Kiangsu has left a vivid impression on the mind of Li Hung-chang: it
+was the most interesting period of his life, but no incident of it
+imparts such vivacity to his reminiscences as that of the Lay-Osborn
+fleet. Nothing warms him to dramatic locution like a reference to that
+episode.
+
+
+V. THE END OF THE REBELLION.
+
+     Gordon's brilliant campaign -- His quarrel with Li
+     Hung-chang -- And reconciliation -- Other French and
+     English officers co-operate in suppression of rebellion --
+     Russian aid offered.
+
+Gordon's campaigning lasted one year: it was marked by great
+successes, sundry reverses, more than one crisis, and many
+discouragements. The famous quarrel with the _futai_ Li was
+illustrative of several points of great utility to be borne in mind in
+considering the working relations of Eastern and Western peoples; but
+perhaps its chief interest lay in its revelation of the independent
+and dominating character of Gordon himself, which was his
+distinguishing mark through life. After a confused and scarcely
+intelligible bargain with the rebel chiefs at Soochow, by which their
+lives were to be spared, they were beheaded by order of Li. Gordon
+resented this, and, like another Achilles, withdrew to his tent. For
+this he was warmly applauded by General Brown, Mr Bruce, and the
+Foreign Office, who all denounced Li as the most odious criminal, with
+whom no further communication should be held. When, two months later,
+Gordon, without consultation with any of these parties, but not
+without friendly advice, changed his mind, resumed his friendship with
+the governor and active operations in the field, the same chorus of
+approval greeted his action as had previously been pronounced of his
+inaction. Mr Bruce wrote on February 10, 1864, to Prince Kung, among
+other things, that "Major Gordon is to be relieved from any
+communication with Governor Li." Within a week Gordon, of his own
+motion, had abandoned that position, leaving to the Minister to
+explain the change of attitude in any way he pleased, which he did by
+resort to that token coinage of diplomatic fiction which serves the
+domestic purposes of the craft, but has no market-value outside its
+conventional domain. An able explanatory letter from Mr Hart, the new
+Inspector-General of Customs, who investigated the transaction on the
+spot, would have afforded to the Minister colourable grounds for
+"revision" of the earlier judgment, had he been allowed time to avail
+himself of it. But Gordon's action forced his hand, and left him no
+choice but to acquiesce first and find his reasons afterwards. The
+Foreign Office, however, being at a distance, could not be swung back
+again so quickly, and they had, on the impulse of the first advices,
+withdrawn their sanction for Major Gordon's serving the Chinese at
+all. This order reached him after he had, on his own motion,
+definitely resigned the service, so that there was no further clashing
+of authorities. Though the force contributed materially to the
+suppression of the rebellion, the final act, the capture of Nanking,
+was left to the unaided resources of the Viceroy Tsêng.
+
+Not the least of Gordon's successes was the peaceable dissolution of
+the force when it had done its work; for the establishment was, for
+its size, enormously costly, and it was a two-edged sword in the hands
+of the Chinese. The "Ever-Victorious Army" was happy in the
+opportuneness of its death. A prolonged existence might easily have
+dispelled the wonderful prestige it had gained in its short career and
+limited scope. Perhaps, after all, its place in history owes
+everything to the personality of its last leader, whose legacy to
+mankind is not so much a catalogue of achievements as a
+life--immortal.
+
+The renown of Gordon and the brilliancy of his exploits have thrown
+unduly into the shade the Anglo-Chinese and Franco-Chinese campaign in
+the neighbouring province of Chêkiang, which had Ningpo for its sea
+base. In their degree these operations were no less essential to the
+ultimate overthrow of the rebellion than those in the province of
+Kiangsu, and, among many others, the names of Prosper Giquel, who
+afterwards managed the arsenal at the Pagoda anchorage, Foochow, and
+of the large-hearted bishop, Mgr. Delaplace, afterwards translated to
+the metropolitan see, where he died, deserve to be had in remembrance.
+Sundry risings in other provinces caused trouble and apprehension; but
+we may, for the purposes of this narrative, consider that the year
+1864 witnessed the closing scene of the great rebellion.
+
+It would be impossible, within any reasonable space, to follow even in
+outline the course of that stupendous devastation, exceeding in its
+wanton waste of human life the horrors of the Thirty Years' War in
+Germany: our concern has been only with that side of the movement with
+which foreign nations were forced into contact, with its political
+bearing, and its influence on the position of the Chinese Government.
+It happened that only two of the Powers were directly concerned in
+offensive operations against the rebels, but in the task of
+suppression they had the moral support of them all. Indeed, but for
+the French and English activity it seems probable that Russia was
+ready single-handed to undertake the whole business. The Russian
+Government from time to time signified its approval of the action
+taken by the French and English in assisting the Chinese Government to
+put down the rebellion. Russia was included in the thanks of the
+Chinese to their foreign allies; she had at least furnished material
+in the shape of "10,000 rifles and several cannons." These arrived in
+Peking, after a protracted journey, at a time when the Russian
+Minister deemed it expedient to explain to his British colleagues that
+the arms had reference only to the rebellion. Moreover, Russia had, or
+professed to have, serious intentions of sending a large force of her
+own to co-operate in its suppression. M. Petchroff, a member of the
+Russian Legation, spent a month in Shanghai in the autumn of 1862 in
+frequent conferences on this subject with the Chinese authorities, the
+report of which he carried in person to Admiral Popoff, who was at the
+time in Japan. M. Petchroff called upon the British admiral while in
+Shanghai, and informed him of this project. It was not carried out, as
+Prince Gortchakoff explained to Lord Napier, because the Russian
+Government had not force enough available to render effective
+assistance, but they wished to show the Chinese that they were in
+hearty sympathy with the Anglo-French policy, and might, for moral
+effect, show their flag in co-operation, so far as prudence would
+allow.
+
+The importance of putting an end to the rebellion, and the value of
+foreign aid in doing so, were fully realised by the Peking Government.
+Of this the abortive, but costly, Osborn flotilla furnished proof
+enough; and the honours bestowed on Gordon by imperial decree were an
+expression of the unspeakable relief which was felt in the palace at
+the dispelling of the hideous nightmare. A final decree summing up the
+movement, in a tone of restrained sincerity not usual in these
+conventional documents, says: "Words cannot convey any idea of the
+misery and desolation he [the Taiping chief] caused; the measure of
+his iniquity was full, and the wrath of both gods and men was roused
+against him."
+
+
+VI. EVACUATION OF CANTON.
+
+     Good feeling and compliments on both sides -- Mr Parkes's
+     able administration of the city.
+
+An event which passed off without the slightest sensation, because
+without hitch, was the evacuation of Canton by the Allied troops in
+October 1861. Were it only for one clause in the proclamation issued
+by the high Chinese authorities on the occasion, this transaction
+would form a valuable historical landmark:--
+
+     During the occupation of Canton by the allied troops of
+     England and France during a period of four years, their
+     conduct has never been otherwise than friendly towards the
+     military and people of the whole city, and the military and
+     people having also corresponded with courtesy and
+     friendship, harmony has been maintained from first to last.
+     Now that the troops are being withdrawn, the consuls of
+     England and France will continue to reside within the city,
+     while the merchants and people of all nations will
+     constantly pass in and out, or reside therein at their
+     pleasure. It remains the duty of yourselves, the military
+     and people, to continue to them the same respectful and
+     courteous relations that have prevailed during the
+     occupation.
+
+Compare this with the state of things existing only three years
+before! Much of the success of the occupation and its good permanent
+results were unquestionably due to the high qualities of Parkes, the
+British commissioner, who thus modestly refers to the matter in his
+despatch: "The confidence of the people in a strong and inoppressive
+Government, added to their own governable character, materially
+facilitated the task of maintaining order in a vast and most intricate
+city containing a population of upwards of 1,000,000 inhabitants." The
+"Canton question" was thus finally disposed of to the satisfaction of
+all parties.
+
+
+VII. DEATH OF THE EMPEROR.
+
+     His flight from the capital -- Succession of his son --
+     Regency of the two empresses -- Prince Kung's sanguinary
+     _coup d'état_.
+
+Next in importance to the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, the
+death of the Emperor Hsienfêng marked the period we are now
+considering. That unfortunate monarch, who deserted his capital
+against the strongest remonstrances of his advisers, on the approach
+of the Allied forces, died at his hiding-place in August 1861, and his
+only son was proclaimed in his stead under the style of Tungchih. The
+new emperor was a child, and provision had to be made for a regency.
+How this regency fell into the hands of two empresses--one the mother
+of the young emperor, the other the true widow of the deceased--was
+not very well understood by the foreigners then in the capital. Prince
+Kung's _coup d'état_, by which the three male members of the regency
+were elaborately arraigned and then assassinated, was not organised to
+get rid of any imaginary "anti-foreign faction," as was too easily
+assumed at the time, but simply and solely to place the empire at the
+feet of himself and the emperor's mother. "Parties" in Peking have
+always been, and are to this day, a puzzle to foreigners, who, having
+seldom at the moment any trustworthy means of informing themselves,
+are apt to be carried away by "cries," sometimes got up for the
+purpose of misleading them,--for the Chinese are not at all averse
+from turning to account the half knowledge on which foreigners are
+prone to form their opinions.
+
+
+VIII. INFLUENCE OF THESE EVENTS ON PROGRESS OF DIPLOMACY.
+
+     Inadequacy of foreign diplomacy -- Absence of sovereign --
+     Allies committed to protection of China -- Coercion
+     impossible -- Large outlook of Mr Bruce -- The provincial
+     _versus_ imperial administration -- Attempt to force
+     Central Government to coerce provincial -- Contemptuous
+     attitude of Chinese Ministers -- Sir F. Bruce's despair --
+     He clutches at various straws -- General reaction of
+     Chinese.
+
+How did these various occurrences influence the progress of diplomatic
+relations with the Government? We have seen that diplomacy in Peking
+was a venture launched on imported capital, which, meeting with no
+indigenous support, was doomed from the first to feed upon itself.
+There was no dialect through which the foreign idea could translate
+itself to Chinese comprehension, no medium by which Chinese political
+conceptions could be made intelligible to the foreigner. When Gordon
+could not get his meaning filtered through an interpreter, he called
+for a dictionary and put his finger on the word "idiotcy"--and the
+most orthodox interpreting could not get much beyond this point in
+establishing a common currency for the interchange of national ideas.
+The initial difficulty in imposing foreign forms, foreign terms,
+foreign procedure--of revolutionising at a stroke a system of
+administration petrified by ancient usage--would have existed even if
+the statesmen of China had been sincere converts to the innovation.
+The contrary was, of course, the case: they were as much opposed to
+the new relations as they had been to the military invasion itself. No
+help, therefore, was to be expected from the Chinese side in creating
+a workable scheme of international intercourse. They desired nothing
+of that kind, their ambition soaring no higher than the creation of a
+buffer against which external impulsion might expend its force. That
+buffer was the Tsungli-Yamên. Foreign diplomacy, therefore, if it were
+to subsist at all, must subsist on its own resources, the foundation
+of which was force. The force that brought foreigners to Peking must,
+either _in esse_ or _in posse_, for an indefinite time keep them there
+and render them efficient. Force no doubt would have enabled the
+foreign Ministers to bring about even those structural changes in the
+Chinese system which were necessary to clear the ground for the
+operation of their diplomacy. But if there was one thing more than
+another of which Western Governments were determined to convince
+themselves, it was that the law of force was finally abrogated in
+China; that on a certain day at a certain hour, coincident with the
+signing (by force) of a sheet of paper, the spirit of hostility had
+departed from the Chinese mind; and that the law of love and reason
+was, without preamble, to take the place of that which had brought
+about the new relations. Whether believed in or not, this curious
+paradox was to be the rule of all future action.
+
+The game that opens with the "king" off the board, and is afterwards
+continued with the "queen" protected, is an obviously impossible one.
+The foreign Ministers had to do with a Government of irresponsibility,
+and instead of teaching its members from the outset to recognise their
+new obligations--training them as children, which as regards foreign
+matters they really were--the foreign Ministers began by treating the
+Chinese Government rather as an infant too delicate for discipline,
+with the familiar results of such treatment. The diplomats betrayed so
+much anxiety to lure the sovereign back to his palace, that the
+Chinese Ministers soon learned to exploit this feeling for their own
+ends. That such and such a concession "would have a good effect at
+Jêho" was inducement enough to the foreign representatives to waive
+one point after another in the transaction of public business. When
+the emperor died, after six months of this _régime_ of indulgence, the
+position was changed materially for the worse,--for the diplomats had
+now a veritable infant on their hands, with a female regent "behind
+the curtain." No prospect thenceforth of even the initial formality of
+delivering letters of credence until the child should grow up, by
+which time many things might happen. Thus the European scheme of
+diplomacy, which was to have been imposed bodily on the Court of
+Peking, stumbled heavily on the threshold, and never recovered
+itself. But the Chinese recovered. Their fear of the "fierce
+barbarians" disappeared as they saw them throw away their weapons, and
+the process was resumed by which the fruits of the war and of the
+treaties of peace were gradually nibbled away.
+
+And of course the whole idea of coercing the Imperial Government, even
+had it ever been entertained, was openly reduced to nullity when the
+foreign Powers interfered for the suppression of the rebellion. The
+Allies could not knock down with one hand what they were propping up
+with the other, and thus the Imperial Government not only enjoyed
+immunity, but knew that they possessed it,--that their late conquerors
+were now fully committed to the upholding of the integrity of China
+and the maintenance of the dynasty. Any liberties might consequently
+be taken: remonstrances from the foreigners would be loud in
+proportion to their hollowness, but the barbarians could not attack a
+citadel full of their own hostages.
+
+Although remoteness from the scene of action and imperfect
+acquaintance with local requirements were apt to invalidate his
+conclusions on points of detail, and to compel him occasionally to
+follow where he might have been expected to guide the action of his
+subordinate executive, yet whenever Sir Frederick Bruce delivered his
+mind on the position of China and her foreign relations as a whole,
+his views were large, luminous, and statesmanlike. He foresaw from the
+first what the degradation of the Chinese Government must inevitably
+lead to. His outlook is revealed in a brief sentence in one of his
+earlier despatches: "The weakness of China rather than her strength
+is likely to create a fresh Eastern question in these seas." There
+need be little doubt that that idea dominated his Chinese diplomacy.
+Severity, or even strictness, may well have seemed on the face of the
+matter inconsistent with the pious wish to strengthen China, yet we
+now know that what she then most needed was to be braced up to the
+fulfilment of her obligations as a necessity of her own wellbeing.
+
+The field of diplomacy in the orthodox sense being closed, and there
+being no foreign interests in Peking, the subject-matter for the
+Ministers' activity was furnished entirely from the trading-ports. Of
+these there were fifteen open in 1861. The kind of questions which
+arose may be generally defined as claims arising out of breaches of
+treaty by provincial officials, for which redress was sought from the
+Central Government. This was a reversal of Chinese methods, which,
+even had the Government been well disposed, would not have been easy
+to effect; and as the Government was hostile, difficulty became
+impossibility. The British Minister after a year's trial began to
+realise the magnitude of his Sisyphean task. "In a country like
+China," he wrote to the Foreign Office in July 1862, "where the
+principles of administration differ entirely from those practised by
+us, the conclusion of a treaty is the commencement, not the
+termination, of difficulties."
+
+To a consul he wrote at the same time: "The important result to be
+gained by the establishment of direct relations with the Government of
+Peking is the avoidance of local acts of violence.... Time will elapse
+before the new system will work smoothly and efficiently, ... but you
+must not go beyond pacific efforts to remedy the abuses complained
+of." A few months later, in a general circular to consuls, he thus
+carefully recapitulated the instruction:--
+
+     The object to be attained is that of forcing the local
+     officials to observe the treaty ... through the pressure
+     brought to bear upon them by the Peking Government, and
+     thus escape from the false position in which we have
+     hitherto been placed of coercing the local authorities and
+     people, and thus doing the work of the Imperial Government.
+     To initiate this new system of relations is a task which
+     can only be effected gradually and patiently; but the
+     attempt must be steadily and perseveringly made, in order
+     that the Chinese Government may be forced to teach its
+     people, &c.
+
+And at the same time he summed up the situation to the Foreign Office
+in these words: "Our relations with China cannot be put upon a safe
+footing until the Imperial Government itself compels its local
+officers to observe treaties"--a matter in which the Central
+Government itself most needed compulsion!
+
+But all this about "forcing" the local officials and "forcing" the
+Imperial Government, without using any force, recalls the ancient
+Chinese maxim of "ruling barbarians by misrule." The world rested
+securely enough on the tortoise, but what did the tortoise itself rest
+on? With grim satisfaction must the Chinese Ministers have watched the
+foreigners entering on a desert campaign where they would exhaust
+their strength without reaching the enemy. The warnings and threats
+which alone the Minister allowed himself to use to enforce his demands
+or his admonitions, as the case might be, were to the Chinese mere
+blank cartridge. Prince Kung, replying to one of those minatory
+despatches, "imagines that his Excellency uses this outspoken language
+for the purpose of stimulating the Chinese Government to activity. His
+Highness is sure that it is not his Excellency's desire to act in the
+manner indicated." And so on indefinitely. The impression made on the
+Chinese Government by the force of foreign diplomacy was likened by an
+American Minister twenty years afterwards to "boxing a feather-bed."
+The policy above described, inaugurated by Mr Bruce and followed
+consistently by the British Government, was pithily termed by Lord
+Salisbury, when in Opposition, as an "ideal policy" in pursuit of
+which the concrete interests of the country were allowed to lapse.
+
+It would be tedious to trace in detail the process of disintegration
+of treaty rights which followed these interesting overtures. It will
+be more to the purpose to cite the British Minister's review of the
+results twelve months later in a despatch to Prince Kung. This
+despatch and the reply to it were deemed so important at the time that
+they were separately called for by the House of Commons, and were
+published as independent Blue Books (Nos. 6 and 8, 1864):--
+
+     Sir Frederick Bruce wished the Prince of Kung to understand
+     that he had reason to be greatly dissatisfied
+
+     1. With the general disregard of treaty provisions
+     manifested at the ports.
+
+     2. With the tone of the Government generally towards
+     foreigners.
+
+     It is entirely due to the exertions of the Allied forces
+     that Shanghai and Ningpo are not now in rebel possession.
+     Had Shanghai fallen, the imperial authority would have
+     received a blow from which it could never have recovered....
+
+     Sir F. Bruce did not look for any extraordinary
+     demonstration of gratitude for these services, but he had
+     hoped that the Central Government would at least have
+     insisted on the faithful observance of the treaty at the
+     ports. He had hoped also that it would have addressed itself
+     with some increase of vigour to the organisation of a
+     competent executive.
+
+     These expectations have not been realised. At several of the
+     ports the treaty is daily broken in matters great and small;
+     and the Central Government, if not unwilling, shows itself
+     unable to enforce a better order of things. The orders sent
+     by the Foreign Board, when Sir Frederick Bruce complains,
+     are not carried out, either because the local authorities do
+     not stand in awe of the Foreign Board or because they do not
+     believe the Foreign Board issues them in earnest....
+
+     The Foreign Board has gone through the form of issuing
+     instructions, but the causes of complaint remain as they
+     were, either because the local authorities do not fear or
+     because the Foreign Board does not care. Seeing that none of
+     the authorities complained of have been punished or removed,
+     that officials notoriously hostile to foreigners have been
+     appointed to places in which they have increased opportunity
+     of indulging in their anti-foreign tendencies, while
+     officials of friendly disposition have been withdrawn, Sir
+     Frederick Bruce is induced, however reluctantly, to infer
+     that if the Imperial Government be not adverse to friendly
+     intercourse, it is, at all events, indisposed to do what is
+     necessary to teach the people and local authorities that
+     China is sincerely desirous of friendly relations with
+     foreign Powers....
+
+     It is for the Chinese Government to consider whether it will
+     listen to these warnings, &c.
+
+_Prince Kung's Reply, 19th June 1863._
+
+     With reference to the proposition on which the British
+     Minister's note insists, that the treaty should rank with
+     the law, the Prince has to observe that the principle that
+     the treaty is identical with the laws of the Imperial
+     Government, and that breach of treaty is the same thing as
+     violation of the law, is the principle on which the
+     Government of China proceeds, and its only desire is that
+     foreign nations should regard the treaty in the same
+     light....
+
+     As regards the cases still undetermined in the provinces,
+     the Prince hopes that the British Minister will refer to
+     the record and inform him, case by case, of the particulars
+     of each, and the Yamên will at once write to the Provincial
+     Governments concerned to hurry them with the cases
+     enumerated....
+
+_Sir Frederick Bruce's Reply, July 2, 1863._
+
+     Your Imperial Highness states in explicit terms that the
+     Government of China recognises the treaties as the law of
+     the empire in its relations with foreigners, and that
+     breaches of treaty are considered violations of those laws.
+     But the despatch of your Imperial Highness contains nothing
+     to show that this principle will be carried out in
+     practice. I stated instances in which the authorities, in
+     spite of the remonstrances of her Majesty's consul, had
+     deliberately set aside the letter of the treaty for no
+     other object than to curtail the privileges of her
+     Majesty's subjects. Your Imperial Highness in your reply
+     does not allude to these cases, nor do you inform me that
+     any steps have been taken to remedy these grievances or to
+     prevent a repetition of such conduct. I am simply requested
+     to send in a list of the grievances complained of; and I am
+     informed that the local authorities will be urged to settle
+     them with speed. Such a proposal is entirely
+     unsatisfactory; for what reason have I to suppose that the
+     instructions now to be sent by your Imperial Highness will
+     be attended to, when I see that the orders which I am
+     assured were given by your Imperial Highness for the
+     redress of outrages such as ... have been disobeyed?
+
+In these State Papers the relations present and prospective between
+China and the outer world are accurately represented. Putting aside
+local and temporary questions, the despatches might be dated 1873,
+1883, or 1893, for the position remained substantially the same during
+the three decades.
+
+The attitude of the British Minister we see to be one of hopeless
+pleading and vague admonition; of the Chinese Ministers, elastic
+resistance. One wonders how far, under the mask of dull decorum, the
+Chinese entered into the real humour of the situation: foreigners
+chafing impotently, but with their teeth drawn, occupying themselves
+largely with the preservation of China and the dynasty; urging
+reforms, military, financial, and administrative, while putting up
+with the non-fulfilment of the commonest obligations.
+
+Sir F. Bruce was much too wise a man not to be perfectly conscious of
+the negative result of foreign diplomacy in Peking. His private
+letters, some of which were published by Mr Lay in 1864, are more
+emphatic on the point than his public despatches. He saw it was a case
+for desperate remedies, but unfortunately he had no remedy except such
+as aggravated the disease. Like a drowning man, Sir Frederick Bruce
+clutched at one straw, then another--first at the inspectorate of
+customs, then at the collective body of his colleagues--to redress the
+balance which lay so heavily against him. We see in the despatch of
+June 12, 1863, the inception of what became known as the "co-operative
+policy." That was an arrangement by which the cause of one foreigner
+was to be made the cause of all, so that the treaty Powers might
+present a solid front to the Chinese. Unfortunately such a policy
+bears no fruit, since half-a-dozen Powers with separate interests, and
+of varying tempers, can only unite in doing nothing. The co-operative
+policy, therefore, by tying the hands of all the Powers, rendered the
+Chinese more secure than ever from outside interference.
+
+From Sir Frederick Bruce's despatches it may be gathered that the
+reason for the non-success of the Peking diplomacy was, that it was
+not founded on fact. It assumed that the Government of China was
+centralised instead of decentralised; that the administration of the
+empire hinged on the initiative of Peking, from which distant point
+the resident Ministers could protect their respective national
+interests throughout the empire. This hypothesis, which might have
+graced an academic debate, was acted upon as if it was a reality, and
+the struggle to make it so has absorbed the resources of diplomacy for
+forty years. The real fact, however, was quite otherwise. The
+distinctive character of Chinese Government is not autocracy, but
+democracy and provincial autonomy. The springs of action work from
+below, not from above, and to reverse this order of the ages was to
+convert a court of appeal into a court of first instance: to sue for a
+tradesman's debt before the Lord Chancellor, requiring the legal
+machinery to be first turned upside down. Diplomacy in China has thus
+been a disheartening effort to drive in a wedge by its thick end
+without adequate leverage. It is possible, indeed, that force might
+have accomplished even as much as that, but force was the one thing
+the use of which was proscribed.
+
+The redress of grievances being sought not where it could have been
+exacted, at the point affected, but in the capital, the Central
+Government was called on to exercise over the provincial officials a
+kind of control which had never been exercised before. The provincial
+officials, relieved from the local pressure which they respected,
+easily evaded the novel and unconstitutional interference of the
+capital, and violated the treaties with an impunity unknown in the
+days before the admission of the foreign Ministers to Peking. The
+treaties, no doubt, had become the "law of the land" so far as a mere
+barbarian phrase could make them so, but a full-grown tree of Western
+legality could not so easily transplant itself to an alien and
+refractory soil. The argument from legality appealed, therefore, to
+the ear only. The practical conclusion to which Sir Frederick Bruce
+was led is very simply stated in two paragraphs of his letters to
+Prince Kung: "My object has been to seek redress through the Imperial
+Government, and to do away with the necessity of seeking redress by
+forcible demonstrations at the ports. But it is evident that the
+reluctance of your Imperial Highness to enter frankly into this policy
+renders my efforts ineffectual." "Either the Imperial Government is
+unwilling to use its influence to cause the treaties to be fairly
+carried out, or it has not the power to cause its orders to be
+obeyed." Sir Frederick would have hit still nearer the mark if he had
+omitted the "either," "or," and said simply the Imperial Government
+was _both_ unwilling and unable.
+
+Notwithstanding these definite views, the experiment of forcing a
+centralisation which would have been a revolution on the
+unintelligible Government of China had to be continued through many
+weary years that were to follow, during which time the rights
+conferred by treaty on foreigners fell more and more into abeyance.
+
+The progress in that direction made in the two first years is thus
+summarised by Mr H. N. Lay, the first Inspector-General of Customs, on
+his return to China in 1863:--
+
+     When I left China the emperor's Government, under the
+     pressure of necessity, and with the beneficial terror
+     established by the Allied foray to Peking in 1860 fresh in
+     their recollection, was in the best of moods, willing to be
+     guided, grateful for help, and in return for that help
+     prepared to do what was right by the foreigner. What did I
+     find on my return? The face of things was entirely changed.
+     There was the old insolent demeanour, the nonsensical
+     language of exclusion, the open mockery of all treaties....
+     In short, all the ground gained by the treaty of 1858 had
+     been frittered away, and we were thrust back into the
+     position we occupied before the war,--one of helpless
+     remonstrance and impotent menace; ... the labour of years
+     lost through egregious mismanagement. The Foreign Board
+     looked upon our European representatives as so many _rois
+     fainéants_.... Prince Kung was no longer accessible.... He
+     professed to be engaged with more important matters.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[45] Peking and the Pekingese.
+
+[46] Kunshan or Quinsan.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+     NOTE ON OUR PRESENT POSITION AND THE STATE OF OUR RELATIONS
+     WITH CHINA, BY CONSUL ALCOCK, JANUARY 19, 1849.
+
+
+_Section I._
+
+The lesson of the past is very legibly written in the history of our
+relations,--oppression in the Chinese, increased by submission in the
+English. Resistance of the latter followed by concession in the former
+may be read in every stage, and the influence of the late war, beyond
+the tangible effects embodied in the provisions of the treaties, has
+been limited very much to outward forms: there is reason to suspect
+that the policy of the Chinese has been masked, not changed.
+
+The same arrogant and hostile spirit exists, and their policy is still
+to degrade foreigners in the eyes of the people, and to offer every
+obstacle which may _with safety_ be interposed to any extended
+intercourse,--objects which they seek to carry out by various covert
+and indirect means. In this sense the letter of the treaty is often
+quoted, but any large interpretation can only be secured under a moral
+compulsion, as the least objectionable alternative. This may not,
+perhaps, be wholly owing to bad faith, for distrust and fear of
+foreigners probably influences the result. Hence all the principal
+advantages enjoyed under the treaty are only held by a species of
+personal tenure of precarious character, and a consul at one of the
+ports may lose more in a week than her Majesty's Government may find
+it easy to recover with costly and embarrassing efforts in a year. Our
+present relations consist in a never-ceasing struggle, under veiled
+appearances of amity; and the treaty extorted by force is generally
+sought to be eluded by cunning. They have no objection to the foreign
+trade as one of the elements of their own prosperity, though they
+much underrate its importance; but to make it wholly acceptable [to
+them], the former humiliating conditions are wanting.
+
+The whole effort of the Chinese rulers seems to be limited to
+preserving peace as the first object, and, so far as may be compatible
+with this, to assimilate our present to our ancient position as the
+second.
+
+From the general bearing of our relations in connection with the past
+and the future, the nature and extent of the disadvantages under which
+we labour may be easily deduced:--
+
+     1. Local insecurity to person and property at Canton.
+
+     2. Want of access to the first markets and of the means of
+     pushing and verifying the consumption of our manufactures
+     in the interior.
+
+     3. Ill-adjusted rates of duty on several important
+     articles.
+
+     4. Want of reciprocity and equality in our political
+     relations, and a certain inferiority in our position social
+     and political.
+
+By the first we are menaced with perpetual danger of fatal collision
+and interruption to our commerce, while our general position is at the
+same time prejudiced. By the second we are deprived of any large
+market for our goods, and pay dearer for native produce. By the third
+the Straits, Indian, and the native carrying trade are all impeded in
+their growth and dwarfed in their proportions; and by the fourth
+insuperable difficulties in remedying abuses or amending our relations
+are encountered, our only means of action being upon Canton and its
+governor, acting as an imperial commissioner.
+
+The full and rapid development of our commerce, a new and profitable
+field for our manufactures, and a better guarantee for the maintenance
+of our friendly relations, are the chief advantages to be sought in
+the removal of these disabilities.
+
+The practicability of maintaining our relations on their present
+unsatisfactory footing in the south must be very doubtful, nor is
+there much hope that any of the essential advantages above specified
+may be gained incidentally in the natural progress of time, and still
+less that the grounds of alarm should of themselves disappear. The
+causes of all that is bad in our position spring from too deep a
+source, and may be traced too far back, to admit of any such hope: a
+rooted conviction in the minds of a whole population, derived from
+traditional knowledge of the humiliating and derogatory position
+voluntarily accepted by foreigners, cannot be effaced by a treaty, or
+even a short successful war which passed over the city that was the
+offending cause almost harmless. How far it may be possible to convert
+popular contempt and dislike into respect and fear, we cannot judge
+from experience: hitherto, in the steps taken to that end, either too
+much or too little has been attempted.
+
+There are practical difficulties of a peculiar and altogether local
+character [it is obvious] to any immediate amelioration of our
+position at Canton which do not exist elsewhere. Setting aside these
+considerations, it will be found that all that is most valuable and
+important in the advantages to be desired are of a nature to be
+granted by the sole exercise of the emperor's will: greater freedom of
+access, the modification of half-a-dozen items in the tariff, even the
+exchange of envoys between the two Courts, if this were deemed
+expedient, are all matters to be decided by a stroke of the vermilion
+pencil. No hostile populations interpose a practical negative to
+concessions such as these. The grounds upon which we may claim the
+revisal of some of the provisions of existing treaties are derived
+from the well-established conditions of all permanent relations of a
+friendly and commercial character between sovereign States in the
+civilised world.
+
+We may claim of right a modification of the basis of our relations on
+the injury resulting to our interests from the bad faith or
+impuissance (it matters little which) of the Chinese Government in
+giving execution to the treaties in force. We may insist upon
+prejudicial limits being abolished, since they have plainly failed in
+their ostensible object to secure freedom from molestation or injury
+which was the condition of their acceptance.
+
+If it be the traditional policy of the Tartar dynasty to keep
+foreigners at the outer confines of the empire and in a degrading
+position, it may with better justice be the policy of Great Britain to
+obtain a direct action upon their centre, and freedom from idle and
+vexatious restrictions. The right of a nation to interdict intercourse
+and commerce, and therefore to determine upon what conditions it shall
+exist, is but an imperfect right, and subject to such modifications as
+the rights of other nations to the use of innocent objects of utility
+dictate; and the refusal of a common right is an abuse of the
+sovereign power, and an injury to be resisted.
+
+China, however disposed its rulers may be to deny the fact, is one of
+a community of nations with common rights and obligations, and any
+claim to exemption from the recognised terms of national intercourse
+is inadmissible in the interest of all other countries. To admit such
+a right of exemption would be to allow the arrogated superiority in
+power and civilisation, and to pamper the hostile conceit of her
+people.
+
+So long as the sovereign States of Europe will permit so obvious an
+inference it cannot be matter of surprise, and scarcely subject of
+reproach, to the Chinese, that they should be so ready to assert and
+so pertinacious in acting upon it.
+
+But even if exclusion from the territories, from all trade and
+intercourse, were an absolute right in the first instance, the Chinese
+have forfeited all claim to its exercise--first, by voluntarily
+entering into relations political and commercial in ages past with
+other States and people, by exchange of embassies, by opening their
+ports and territories and encouraging trade; and secondly, by
+aggressive wars and invasion of the territory of Europe by the Tartar
+and Mongolian races who have ruled the country.
+
+China preserves her undoubted right of self-preservation as a
+political society and an empire, but this does not involve the
+incidental right of interdicting intercourse, because her own history
+shows that danger does not necessarily follow unlimited access, since
+as late as the seventeenth century such free communication existed
+with foreigners; and secondly, because the right of decision must be
+shared by the interdicted party.
+
+
+_Section II._
+
+It is not enough, however, to determine the abstract principles upon
+which a policy may be founded--that which is just may not always be
+most expedient, and if both the one and the other, it may not be
+practicable.
+
+The chief difficulties to be encountered in any attempt to place our
+relations on an improved basis may be traced to three principal
+sources:--
+
+     The Canton popular traditions and hostility.
+     The treaties in force.
+     The contraband trade in opium.
+
+The characteristic features of our position at Canton and their origin
+are too well known to require illustration. To our political relations
+before the war, and the humble and in every way derogatory attitude
+assumed towards the Chinese, is clearly to be traced their present
+insolence, assumed superiority, and hostility on finding it
+questioned.
+
+The principle of narrow boundaries and restricted limits confirmed by
+the Treaty of Nanking virtually sanctioned the tradition of the past,
+which no mere verbal assertion of equality thus practically
+contradicted can modify. The repudiation of this principle and the
+establishment of a different footing seem to be essential to our
+political equality, which would form the best foundation of an
+improved social and commercial position, most especially in the south.
+Were our chief political relations with the Chinese Government not
+centred at Canton, it is very evident that that port would lose much
+of the importance which now attaches to the sayings and doings of its
+turbulent mob and impracticable authorities. Were the centre of our
+political action anywhere else, the local difficulties, troublesome as
+they are, must soon merge into comparative insignificance, and such a
+measure as this would seem an easier task to accomplish than to change
+the habits and the prejudices of a whole population.
+
+If we turn from Canton and its unsatisfactory history of oriental
+insolence and presumption on the one side, and undue submission to
+their exigencies on the other, and consider the exemption from all
+such characteristics at Shanghai, the respective influences of the
+treaties and of local circumstances may be deduced by a comparison of
+the two chief ports.
+
+The various concurring circumstances terminating in the Tsingpu
+outrage, which threatened to approximate the position of the British
+at Shanghai to that occupied at Canton, have been detailed in the
+correspondence of the period. The position was seriously affected by
+the comparative immunity of whole villages participating in the
+murders at Canton in the previous year, by the atrocious features of
+the crime itself, and by the assumed necessity of the consul's
+inaction pending a reference to her Majesty's plenipotentiary,
+occupying several weeks.
+
+Prompt redress was imperiously demanded by the interests at stake and
+the sinister aspect of affairs, and to enforce this coercive means
+were employed, leaving nothing to be desired.
+
+The most important of the results obtained was the demonstration of a
+power to shift the centre of action from a port where no progress
+could be made to a vulnerable point nearer to Peking where immediate
+attention could be commanded, and this was supplied by the mission to
+Nanking.
+
+From these two circumstances--the serious deterioration of our
+position, and the prompt and efficacious remedy provided--an important
+conclusion may be drawn as to our means of effecting any required
+change in our relations.
+
+In an empire vast in area as China, with an overflowing population, it
+is no slight advantage to be enabled, without a single battle, to
+invest and vigorously blockade the capital; and this it is in our
+power to effect by a small squadron at the mouth of the Grand Canal in
+the early spring, when Peking is dependent for its supplies for the
+year on the arrival of the grain and tribute junks by that channel. A
+more effective means of coercion this than the destruction of twenty
+cities on the confines of the Chinese territory or on the coast. With
+a starving Court and population around him, flight or concession
+appears to be the emperor's only alternatives.
+
+The facility and the certainty with which this object may be attained
+are important considerations. The insurmountable obstacles to the
+advance of a European army into the interior are rendered nugatory and
+altogether unimportant by the knowledge of this highroad to the heart
+of the empire.
+
+The maintenance of our present relations is probably in no slight
+degree due to the secret consciousness of their weakness at this
+point.
+
+In any future policy that may be adopted, therefore, these facts and
+views are calculated to supersede the necessity for active
+hostilities, and must tend to avert from a peaceful and industrious
+population all the worst calamities of war, at the same time that they
+free her Majesty's Government from the embarrassment of a costly and
+protracted war _in prospectu_.
+
+A simple and ready resource for commanding attention to any just
+demands is indeed invaluable in China, and without it there is every
+reason to believe the Chinese rulers would still be the most
+impracticable of Orientals. With such a power, no insuperable
+obstacles exist to the satisfactory solution of difficulties without
+either costly effort or interruption to the trade of the five ports;
+and it was the long-matured conviction of our powerful action, by
+means of a command over the necessary supplies for Peking, that
+dictated the course followed in the Tsingpu affair.
+
+The Chinese view of the opium trade and our agency in it forms perhaps
+the chief obstacle to our taking that high ground with the rulers, and
+good position with the people, which the extension of our commercial
+interests demands. Let us look, then, to this opium traffic and the
+influence it actually exercises upon our position in China.
+
+It is no question here whether opium should be classed in the category
+of medicines, stimuli, or fatal poisons; the Chinese have decided that
+for themselves, and regard it only as a poison, and the British as the
+great producers, carriers, and sellers of the drug, to our own great
+profit and their undoubted impoverishment and ruin. Nor does their
+conviction end here: they believe to maintain this traffic we made war
+and dictated a humiliating peace, and that we are prepared to do so
+again, if they ventured on any interference to its prejudice.
+
+These opinions may be false or true in their foundation, that is not
+the question, but, What is the influence they are calculated to
+exercise? Hostility and distrust can alone be traced to this source.
+No other feelings flow from it, and the consequences will meet us at
+every turn of our negotiations, in our daily intercourse, and every
+changing phase of our relations. As it overshadows with a sinister
+influence the whole field of our political action, so must it be
+seriously taken into account and calculated upon as an adverse element
+in all we attempt in China.
+
+Accepted as _un fait accompli_, the best means of neutralising and
+counteracting its bad effects are alone to be considered, since the
+enormous capital, large revenue, and inseparable connection of our
+legitimate trade with opium, as a means of laying down funds in China,
+involved in the traffic, precludes all idea of its cessation or
+removal.
+
+The effective protection lent to the chief opium-dealers, in their
+capacity of British merchants, resident at the ports under the
+provisions of the treaty, and the manifest inability of the Chinese
+either to bring the legal proof we should require against these
+principals, or of attacking by force their agents in the glaring
+infraction of the Chinese laws, at the opium stations, no doubt flings
+an air of insincerity over all our protestations of non-intervention,
+while there is mockery in the invitation to assail large fleets of
+heavily-armed European vessels. Even if the Chinese for a single
+moment believed in the honesty of our declarations, they know the
+utter futility of any means of attack they possess against such
+superior force as the opium fleets present. This is the view taken by
+the Chinese, who, though they do not confess their own weakness, do
+not disguise or deny it to themselves.
+
+The obstacles which these opinions create and fling in our path
+whenever advantages are sought at the hands of the Chinese in
+furtherance of our national interests are to be overcome before any
+progress can be made. There are three modes of dealing with them:--
+
+1. By arguments to prove the fallacy of their assumption that we were
+either the original cause of this traffic, or have now the power to
+put an end to it, or finally, that it is an unmixed evil.
+
+2. By a modification in the demands we should, without this
+consideration, be entitled to insist upon.
+
+3. By a mixture of kindness and decision, of instruction and
+intimidation, and, in last resort, by coercion for the attainment of
+all just and necessary concessions.
+
+And as we should naturally begin with the first, and may eventually
+find ourselves compelled to resort to the last, so no doubt it will be
+expedient many times to combine all the different methods of
+overcoming the active or inert resistance we encounter in the Chinese
+rulers.
+
+As to any remedy to be applied to the evils of the opium trade, there
+seems to be none open to either Government but its legalisation, which
+would strip it of its contraband character, and remove from the
+emperor the open reproach to his authority, while it might be made to
+yield a large revenue to his treasury.
+
+If on a question of national policy or morality, this measure, as the
+lesser of two evils, is declined, there seems to be no help for the
+mischief which must accrue to us from being the chief agents in the
+traffic. But it is useless to disguise from ourselves the injurious
+influence it will unfailingly exercise upon our political action, when
+any rights on our part are weighed, and it is this which may entail
+the necessity of our flinging the weight of the sword into the
+opposite scale--sheathed it may be, but not the less significant and
+compulsory in its effect.
+
+The opium grief and the Canton hostility thus work together and
+dovetail into each other to our manifest prejudice, that port
+continuing to enjoy its old privilege of being the great exponent and
+centre of both. There we meet in their least veiled form the national
+adverseness to foreigners concentrated and localised--the conviction
+of injury and loss at our hands from opium, heightened into asperity
+and bitterness by the arrogance of their tempers and the consciousness
+of their weakness.
+
+In no other port does it seem likely the same overt expression and
+concentration of adverse feelings will ever be experienced. It would
+appear the more important, therefore, to modify the virulent form they
+assume at Canton, and remove the bad precedent and example incessantly
+furnished by the Cantonese.
+
+The entrance into the city is obviously a question of principle, not
+of any _direct_ practical advantage in a _commercial_ sense. The
+freedom from annoyance, and security to property, are more truly so,
+and of these two the latter, by far the most essential and important
+to our interests, seems only to require more storage room for goods,
+away from a dense Chinese suburb which renders insurance from risk of
+fire impossible, and entails upon our merchants all the additional
+danger of fraud in the Chinese warehouse-keepers, who are of necessity
+the custodians of our goods.
+
+We cannot hope that any effort of ours or of the emperor will suffice
+to change at once the character and habits of a people, or even of the
+population of a city. But the last war has shown that with us it rests
+to bring at any time the pretensions of the Chinese rulers down to a
+nearer level with their military power; and if they cannot from
+inherent weakness do all that may be desirable, neither are they in a
+position to refuse any concession, clearly at their option to grant,
+and such are these which it would seem most important to Great Britain
+to secure: the nature of our demands and the circumstances under which
+they shall be preferred are considerations of policy and expediency.
+But the real question, and by far the most important, it will be
+obvious, is rather what it may be wise to demand, than what it may be
+possible to obtain. The danger of collision between the rival
+civilisations of the East and West has long been foreseen,
+instinctively felt by the Chinese, and more clearly discerned by
+Europeans in the result of the late war; and the larger commercial
+interests growing up under, and in spite of, the present system of
+restrictions, has only tended, by partially extending the points of
+contact without placing our relations on a plain basis of reciprocity
+and equality, to increase the chances. It can only be hoped that the
+gradual introduction of European arts and ideas and their
+fructification may in some degree fuse and harmonise the discordant
+elements before the course of events which otherwise tend to
+precipitate a violent and disastrous collision are beyond our control.
+To such a peaceful and beneficial termination of the difficulties
+which unavoidably beset our relations with China, the efforts of all
+Western Powers should in the common interest be directed.
+
+These considerations must act as the most powerful checks to any
+initiative measures of a large and comprehensive character for the
+improvement of our position and the more rapid development of our
+commerce.
+
+In this point of view the two greatest obstacles to any advance are
+the large commercial interests and national revenue at stake, and the
+danger of being followed by the envoys of other foreign Powers who,
+having no such great interests to jeopardise, are without this
+beneficial and most needful check, and may therefore be induced to
+repeat at a semi-barbarian Court the intrigues and counter-projects
+for the destruction of our influence and the injury of our trade in
+the East which are at work in our own times in every capital in
+Europe, as formerly in India and the Eastern Archipelago.
+
+Russia, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and America, with their
+several jealousies and united rivalry with England, their missionary
+enterprises or commercial and political schemes clashing in their aim
+and development, are all capable of creating such turmoil, strife, and
+disturbance throughout the empire, if free access to the Court and the
+provinces were insisted upon by Great Britain, as could only end in
+the ejection of Europeans from China as formerly from Japan, or an
+intestine war in which European power would probably be involved on
+opposite sides, and to their mutual destruction as States with
+commercial interests in the country. These, again, might lead to
+attempts at territorial possession, suggested in the first instance,
+as in India, in self-defence, and afterwards continued from
+necessity. With Russia spreading her gigantic arms to the north and
+east, Great Britain on the south and west, Spain, Holland, and
+Portugal with their colonies in the Chinese and Indian seas, a
+struggle for superiority on the soil of China for exclusive advantages
+or predominant influence might be centred in Peking and embroil the
+whole of Europe in hostile relations. The same objection applies to
+all efforts to enlarge our intercourse and remove limitations, and has
+ever prevailed. It was recognised as an objection to the last war. The
+course of events urged on by the opium trade left but little
+alternative at the last, or there can be no doubt, with the additional
+fear of the uncertain result of a struggle with a vast empire like
+China, the resources of which were so imperfectly known, the British
+Government would have been deterred from any onward step, as these
+motives did in effect prevent any hostile aggression, so long as it
+was possible to avoid it, without the sacrifice of our trade.
+
+The war over, it again prevailed, and we are once more in a position
+to accept as final the increased but limited advantages resulting, or
+to try for more, and by our policy to avert or provoke disturbing
+causes which must lead to change. The moderation which marked, and the
+policy which dictated, our treaties carried us back to the old ground
+of a nation trading by sufferance, under limitations and restrictions
+which kept us at the boundaries of the empire, and with us the rest of
+the Western world, the only difference being enlarged facilities and
+better guarantees for the pursuit of trade on the coast-line, and
+within the restricted limits of the five ports selected. It is now for
+the British Government to determine whether we should rest content
+with the revenue derived from an import of some 60 million lb. of tea
+and the export from India of 40,000 chests of opium, netting together
+some 7 millions sterling to the British and Indian Government,
+together with the incidental advantage of the raw produce of silk,
+promising to render us independent of Europe and the adjoining markets
+for the supply of this staple of an important branch of our
+manufactures at a cheaper rate, and the market for Indian cotton, the
+circumstances which lend to China nearly all its importance; or take
+measures, not free from danger and difficulty, of great prospective
+magnitude, both in a political and commercial sense, to make China a
+great market for our manufactures also. At present the Chinese take
+considerably less than 2 millions sterling in annual value out of an
+aggregate production of some 70 millions. In this respect they are of
+less importance to us as customers than the West India colonies, the
+Italian States and islands, or one of the larger European States, so
+small a fraction do they absorb. The prospect that would urge us on
+should be the hope of seeing China take of our manufactures as large a
+share as all Europe, and instead of a couple of millions, create a
+demand for more than twenty. The produce of tea and silk we have, the
+market for opium and Indian cotton is ours. We want an equally large
+and beneficial market for our manufactures--our cotton fabrics,
+woollens, linen, and cutlery, for which our powers of production are
+all but unlimited.
+
+Two questions suggest themselves, therefore, on the solution of which
+the decision should depend, it being assumed as unquestioned that
+something of risk and danger to that which we have must attend all
+effective efforts to win that which is as yet wanting.
+
+To the first four great commercial objects involved in our relations
+with China, as above specified, shall we sacrifice the fifth?
+
+Or shall we peril all for the attainment of the fifth, by the
+endeavour to create a market for our manufactures which at present
+exists only in its rudiments, and to a small fractional value?
+
+If the extreme exiguity of the market for manufactures be not held to
+justify the voluntary incurrence of great risk or danger to our tea,
+silk, opium, and raw cotton trade, which form the great bulk of our
+commerce as it exists at the present day, British and Indian, it will
+only remain to be determined what are the various secondary means at
+our disposal for the improvement of this fifth or manufacturing branch
+as the primary object, and their respective chances of success on the
+one hand and dangers attending their adoption on the other. For the
+dangers, it must be well understood, are of two kinds--those attending
+failure, and those which may be consequent upon, and the ulterior
+results of, success in the first instance.
+
+It being borne in mind that whatever we ask and obtain will be claimed
+and enjoyed by others, it is necessary to consider to what use they
+are liable to be turned by foreign Powers over whom we can exercise no
+control, and whose interests or national jealousies may clearly be
+adverse to our position in China and the advancement of our commerce.
+To these various heads of a subject in every point of view great and
+important, and surrounded by doubts and difficulties of the most
+embarrassing character, the best information that can be brought by
+any one individual is insufficient for a perfectly satisfactory
+solution of the questions which must be discussed. All that can be
+attempted is to throw some additional light upon the general bearing
+of the whole, and to contribute such data and practical inferences,
+illustrative of our present position and its future prospects, as may
+help to suggest a safe conclusion as circumstances develop new phases
+in our relations and call for action.
+
+
+_Section III._
+
+Assuming the present basis of our relations to continue, the best
+course to be pursued in actual circumstances, more especially for the
+maintenance of our advantageous position in the north, is worthy of
+consideration. The instructions lately received from her Majesty's
+Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs are of a nature to suggest
+inquiry under the three heads to which they refer:--
+
+1. Recourse to the authorities by British subjects in danger of
+popular violence.
+
+2. Reference in all cases to her Majesty's plenipotentiary for
+instructions.
+
+3. The verification of the punishment awarded to Chinese offenders.
+
+In reference to the instructions under the first of these heads, it is
+to be observed that even with such unusual facilities as some of the
+older missionaries possess who speak the dialect, and are often
+familiar with the localities they visit, the resource indicated cannot
+be counted upon as available.
+
+In the Tsingpu affair, as soon as they actually became sensible of
+danger, it was clearly impossible, nor in one case in a hundred is it
+probable, that such a resource will be in their power.
+
+In these cases the authorities keep out of the way, they and all their
+ragged staff of runners and police; and if otherwise, moved by a fear
+of worse consequences from the acts of the nearest British authority,
+the means they take to rescue a maltreated foreigner are miserably
+ineffective and uncertain in their results. Whoever will read the
+details of the species of rescue effected in the Tsingpu business will
+see that it was by the merest chance the three Englishmen had not
+their brains beaten out, either before the arrival of the disguised
+runners or while they were waiting an opportunity of stepping in to
+render the unfortunate sufferers any service.
+
+It must be clear, therefore, that access to the authorities in
+emergencies of this nature must always be difficult and generally
+impracticable for a foreigner. Retreat to a boat or other place of
+safety is as little likely to be attainable.
+
+A salutary dread of the immediate consequences of violence offered to
+British subjects, the certainty of its creating greater trouble and
+danger to the native authorities personally than even the most
+vigorous efforts to protect the foreigner and seize their assailants
+will entail, seems to be the best and only protection in this country
+for Englishmen. When the Chinese authorities of all ranks, from the
+viceroy at Nanking to the lowest police runners, are thoroughly imbued
+with this feeling, it will not only rouse them to greater energy but
+find its way to the populace by certain steps, and render such
+exertion unnecessary, and the nationality of an Englishman will become
+his safeguard. Hence the impolicy, not to say impossibility, of
+treating instances of personal outrage such as that of Tsingpu as
+police cases, and leaving redress to the ordinary administration of
+Chinese laws. Where justice exists only nominally, and her image
+should be represented not only blind but deaf, deplorable consequences
+would result from such a course. There seems to be a democratic spirit
+among the Chinese which renders the authorities especially averse to
+risk collision with the populace or any popular feeling. The
+Chih-hsien is himself exposed to insult and violence if he attempt to
+enforce the collection of the taxes in a bad season, and but lately he
+was besieged here in his own _yamên_. Not ten days ago the Taotai paid
+1600 taels of silver to secure a piece of building-ground at the
+urgent demand of the French consul, rather than exert his authority to
+compel the owners to take the fair value of $400 offered, and upon the
+posts put up to mark the boundaries these parties did not hesitate to
+prohibit its appropriation. The principal check upon the people, and
+safeguard for the authorities in cases of popular disturbance, seems
+to be the conviction under which every Chinese quails, of the
+terrible vengeance that may pursue them and their families, the tumult
+once over, if they should have been marked or recognised. In
+proportion as the magistrate is helpless before numbers, is his power
+large of wreaking summary and vengeful punishment upon each of the
+individuals that may form the mob, once separated from each other.
+
+Considerations such as these necessarily influence her Majesty's
+consul on the spot, who each day has under his eyes these significant
+details, national and administrative. Where danger threatens to
+involve the persons or the property of British subjects, his sole
+direct resource is to fall back upon the treaty, and to cover with the
+ægis of national inviolability individual interests. By any other
+course he falls inevitably into the hopeless condition of one waiting
+for such redress as the common course of justice in China usually
+affords, where everything assuming its form is venal and arbitrary.
+
+The result of all efforts made to secure the apprehension of thieves
+or the recovery of property stolen from foreigners is conclusive as to
+the kind of security to be obtained for British subjects where
+infractions are dealt with as affairs of police in which justice is to
+take its ordinary course. In scarcely one instance has any redress
+been obtained since the port was opened. If thieves are overtaken, it
+is only that they may disgorge their booty for the benefit of the
+police sent after them, and the larger the amount the less chance is
+there of either apprehension or restitution. Witness Mr Hubertson's
+robbery, where his servant went off with nearly $10,000 in gold and
+silver, and he was promptly traced and pursued.
+
+Then in reference to the standing orders that, in case of difficulty
+arising, reference shall invariably be made to her Majesty's
+plenipotentiary for instructions. Instances have been very numerous
+showing the nullity of any means of action on the local authorities
+here through the Imperial Commissioner at Canton, not only in these
+matters, but in those treated on higher grounds, and affecting our
+political position. Last year (1847) not only a list of cases where no
+satisfactory exertion had been made to obtain redress for property
+stolen was forwarded, but the consul urged upon Sir John Davis, her
+Majesty's plenipotentiary at the time, the urgent necessity for the
+removal of the then acting magistrate at Shanghai, who had openly
+reviled a consulate servant for taking the service of the barbarians,
+and dismissed him without redress. The only answer to be obtained from
+his Excellency Kiying was to the effect that the Chih-hsien, as a
+territorial officer, was not under his jurisdiction. Fortunately he
+was removed very shortly for misconduct in the management of Chinese
+affairs,--for however injurious his proceedings to the British, it was
+obvious neither redress nor assistance was to be obtained from Canton
+and the Imperial Commissioner.
+
+The paramount necessity of protecting its subjects in distant
+countries is of course well understood by her Majesty's Government,
+and in an oriental State this can only be effected by letting it be
+known and felt that whoever attacks one of the solitary subjects will
+be held to have attacked the sovereign and the nation. By this policy
+a firman, far more potent than the Grand Seignior's in his own
+territory, is given to every Englishman abroad, ensuring his freedom
+from injury all over the world.
+
+The treaty viewed in this light becomes a real and efficient bulwark
+against encroachments, and without such safeguard, with Chinese
+management, it would at no distant period in all its most important
+provisions become null and void. No doubt inconvenience results from
+the necessity of treating casualties of collision between subjects of
+different countries as infractions of a solemn treaty; but the
+oriental, and in some respects very peculiar, character of the
+Chinese, and our relations with them, must be borne in mind, and the
+lesser of two evils chosen with such discretion and judgment as the
+circumstances imperatively demand.
+
+At a distant and isolated port like Shanghai, where a brig of war is
+by no means permanently stationed, the consul is left to his own
+resources, separated by an interval of many weeks from the assistance
+of her Majesty's plenipotentiary. When difficulties and emergencies
+supervene, it is only by prompt demands for redress, and firm
+resistance to any virtual negation of the rights and privileges
+guaranteed by treaty, that he can hope successfully to defend the very
+important interests confided to his charge.
+
+As regards the practicability and expediency of verifying the
+punishments of any Chinese offender by the presence of a British
+officer when a sentence is carried into execution, the instruction
+received could only have been partially applicable to the Tsingpu
+offenders had it been earlier received, for the most serious
+punishment was banishment to a penal settlement in Tartary.
+
+But the whole subject is one of peculiar difficulty, nor can any hope
+be entertained of submitting in this place a satisfactory solution. It
+has long been felt that of all the provisions of the two treaties,
+that which provided for the due administration of the laws on Chinese
+offenders was the most nugatory. The chief difficulty consists in a
+British officer being present at all during a trial in a Chinese
+court, assuming the right were to be granted by treaty. Where the
+ordinary mode of questioning is by torture, a process utterly
+repugnant to our notions of justice and our sense of what is due to
+humanity and truth, are we by our presence to sanction and be made
+parties to such proceedings? Or are we to interfere and insist upon
+justice being administered not according to their usages, but ours?
+The objection to both courses seems equally valid, and yet without the
+presence of an efficient officer there is no guarantee whatever for
+the due administration of justice.
+
+As regards the presence of an officer at punishments, unless he is in
+a position to identify the criminal, which must often from the
+circumstances of the case be impossible, it may be questioned whether
+our national character is not in danger of being compromised without
+the real object of such risk being attained. Nothing could more
+effectually tend to lower us in the opinion of the Chinese than to be
+imposed upon by the jugglery of a substituted criminal, or the
+punishment of an innocent man at our instigation, or even the illegal
+and excessive punishment of a real offender. Yet to all these we are
+exposed when we take upon ourselves to watch the course of justice and
+verify the execution of the sentences. It may finally be observed that
+there are punishments recognised in the Chinese code revolting for
+their brutality, which an English officer could scarcely sanction with
+his presence without discredit to our national feeling. A lesser
+objection exists in the frequency of minor punishments for theft and
+petty misdemeanours, so that an interpreter would be required for this
+duty alone.
+
+These are some of the practical difficulties to the effective exercise
+of any check upon the proceedings of the Chinese authorities in
+criminal informations against Chinese subjects, and to devise a remedy
+may require more consideration than has probably yet been given to the
+subject.
+
+From this review of our actual position at the most favourably
+situated of the northern ports, and the means by which it has been
+preserved from deterioration, and in many essential points materially
+improved, a correct inference may be drawn of the injurious
+consequences of any retrograde influence from Canton, direct or
+indirect.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+CONFIDENTIAL DESPATCH BY CONSUL ALCOCK TO SIR GEORGE BONHAM, JANUARY
+13, 1852.
+
+
+I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's
+confidential despatch of the 17th ultimo, and although the departure
+of the Audax within three days of its receipt leaves me but little
+time for consideration or inquiry, I have devoted so much time and
+thought to the subject during the last five years that I venture to
+reply without delay.
+
+On the general scope of coercive measures adapted to ensure success in
+any negotiations with the Chinese Government, and more especially on
+the blockade of the Grand Canal as a very cogent means, I have already
+in my confidential report of January 19, 1849, and subsequently in
+another of February 13, 1850, submitted the opinion I had formed after
+long and careful study of our position in China; and further inquiries
+and experience of the people we have to deal with have only served to
+confirm the views contained in those reports.
+
+I took the responsibility of sending Mr Vice-Consul Robertson with the
+Espiègle to Nanking in the spring of 1848 with the strong conviction
+that at that particular season, with the tribute of grain uncollected
+and a thousand of these grain-junks actually under an embargo at
+Shanghai, any demonstration of force in the neighbourhood of the Grand
+Canal _would command immediate attention_, and the result went far to
+establish the accuracy of the conclusion. Circumstances since then
+have, however, altered both in a favourable and an adverse sense.
+Taokuang, with his humiliating experience of the superiority of our
+arms and his known and acknowledged desire to avoid any further
+collision during his reign, is no longer on the throne; and his young
+successor, untaught by the experience of his father, has given very
+unequivocal signs of disposition to enter upon a different policy. On
+the other hand, a protracted and serious insurrection in the southern
+provinces has drained his treasury, weakened his authority, and now
+threatens, unless he finds means by force or bribery to put the
+insurgents down, at no distant period to affect the stability of his
+throne. If the arrogance of youth in the new sovereign should
+therefore dispose him on the one side to venture on a crusade against
+Western Powers, his perilous position in regard to his own provinces
+cannot fail to impress upon him the prudence of at least temporising
+until a more convenient season. I am led to think, therefore, from all
+I can learn, that the two contrary forces will go far to neutralise
+each other, and that Hsienfêng, with all his hostile feeling, will be
+at the _present moment_ as accessible to reason, from the peculiarly
+embarrassing position in which he is placed, if backed by coercive
+means, as was his predecessor at the conclusion of the war.
+
+From this your Excellency will perceive that I deem the present time,
+from the political condition of China, more favourable than any later
+period may be for the success of coercive measures. As regards the
+season of the year to be selected, both in reference to the navigation
+of the Yangtze-kiang and the transmission of the grain tribute, the
+blockading should not be commenced later than April. During the summer
+the sun melts the snow on the mountains and sends down the freshets,
+swelling the river until it overflows its banks with great accession
+of violence to the current. When the fleet sailed up in July 1842 many
+of the soundings taken were over paddy-fields, and altogether out of
+the bed of the river, as the soundings and observations of the
+Espiègle clearly demonstrated. The tribute also begins to be sent up
+to Peking from some parts as early as April. A fleet of grain-junks
+were at the mouth of the canal when the Espiègle made her appearance
+at the end of March in 1848.
+
+How far a blockade at the present time would have the desired
+effect--that is, if made effective before the month of May--is a
+question upon which I cannot feel any doubt. Much would of course
+depend upon the suddenness of the descent, and therefore upon the
+previous secrecy observed; much upon the available nature of the force
+employed. Besides two or three large-class vessels, I am strongly
+persuaded there should be at least two small steamers of light draught
+of water, and one or two brigs, which would be quite as effective
+against any force the Chinese could bring to bear, and far more
+manageable and serviceable, as well as less costly, than larger
+vessels. If the result aimed at were not very promptly attained, it
+might be necessary to retake Chinkiang-fu as a base of operations, and
+to detach two or three small-class vessels to watch the entrances of
+water-courses and canals nearer the mouth of the Yangtze-kiang, of
+which there are at least four, and through them junks with tribute
+might otherwise pass to the north and into the Grand Canal at some
+point above the Yangtze-kiang, and between it and the Yellow river.
+There is also a very free communication with all the lowland districts
+south of the Yangtze-kiang and the north above Nanking by means of the
+_Seu ho_, which runs from Soochow west into the Yangtze-kiang at _Wu
+Hu_ and _Taiping_. But from this point northward there does not appear
+to be any good water communication leading to the Grand Canal without
+descending the Yangtze-kiang as far as _Iching_ and _Kwachow_ on the
+two mouths of the Grand Canal at its junction with the Yangtze-kiang
+below Nanking. These secured would therefore stop the main traffic by
+the _Seu ho_ route to the north for the relief of Peking. My own
+impression is that if no warning were given, nor time allowed for
+previous preparation, our demands would be granted within one month of
+the commencement of the blockade. If from any unforeseen cause,
+however, the negotiations were protracted, and the Chinese Government
+had leisure to recover from its panic and adopt plans for obtaining
+tribute and grain by circuitous routes, it would be in that case that
+Chinkiang-fu might be required, together with a good watch on the
+various tributaries of the Yangtze-kiang below and eastward of Nanking
+already referred to; and perhaps on the coast towards the Yellow river
+and the Peiho two or three cruisers might be required to intercept
+junks _sent by sea_ with tribute. Such in effect is the intention of
+the Chinese Government at the present moment, without any reference
+to us. The grain to be collected from the eight provinces, divided
+into upper and lower, consists of the common grain and of white rice,
+the latter for the consumption of the emperor and his Court, which it
+is intended shall be sent this season by sea from _Shanghai_,--a
+circumstance peculiarly favourable to the success of any blockading
+measures, since, as it would be necessary under any contingencies to
+cover Shanghai and our large interests there with an effective force,
+the same means would enable her Majesty's Government to lay an embargo
+on a large and especially important portion of the tribute already
+collected in the port. I do not imagine it would be contemplated to
+abandon Shanghai, and I am far from thinking it would be either
+necessary or expedient--though at Ningpo, Foochow, and perhaps Amoy,
+it might be considered well--to withdraw the few foreigners for a
+time. At Canton, no doubt, it would be imperative either to give
+adequate protection or to abandon the place. On this point I am
+scarcely called upon to offer an opinion. It probably does not enter
+into any plans contemplated to strike a blow at Canton, or to adopt
+any measure necessarily entailing bloodshed and heavy loss: were it
+otherwise, no doubt the fall of Canton and the humiliation of the
+Cantonese would in itself go far to read a salutary lesson throughout
+the empire, and especially at Peking, where there is reason to believe
+they look upon Canton and the Cantonese as affording the great barrier
+to our progress, from our inability to make any impression either upon
+the city or the people.
+
+I do not, of course, presume to offer these suggestions on the general
+measures which might be found needful for the protection of British
+interests along the coast, and the distribution and economising of our
+forces while a blockade on the Yangtze-kiang was being effected, as
+better informed than your Excellency on such points, but merely refer
+to them incidentally as necessary parts of any plan for demanding
+redress by coercive measures at the mouth of the Grand Canal.
+
+For the better illustration of the points touched upon in this
+despatch in reference to the different points of access to the Grand
+Canal, either coastwise or by the Yangtze-kiang below Nanking and the
+two mouths of the canal, which will have to be borne in mind, I beg to
+enclose a very rough and hasty plan of the main channels, taken
+chiefly from the elaborate map of the empire published under the
+Jesuits, and which Mr Medhurst, when my last confidential report was
+in hand, was good enough at my suggestion to work at on an enlarged
+scale, availing himself of all the additional information, by
+comparison of maps, itineraries, &c., that was accessible.
+
+I shall be glad if in this somewhat hasty reply to your Excellency's
+despatch I have been able to afford such information as you have
+desired; but if not, or upon any other points it should appear that
+further inquiries can be prosecuted advantageously and without
+creating suspicion, I shall be happy to give my best efforts to carry
+out your Excellency's instructions.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+CONFIDENTIAL DESPATCH TO SIR GEORGE BONHAM, DATED JUNE 17, 1852.
+(EXTRACT.)
+
+
+If I might without presumption express an opinion on our general
+policy in China, I should add that it seems in danger of being
+paralysed by the two antagonistic forces [alluded to in the preamble],
+and by necessities difficult to reconcile. The magnitude and extreme
+importance of our interests in the East--in commerce and revenue (for,
+as I have shown, the China trade is the connecting-link between Great
+Britain and India, and necessary to complete the circle of trading
+operations)--suggest on the one hand the necessity of avoiding all
+measures that may rashly jeopardise such interests, yet nevertheless
+make it imperative on the other to adopt firmly and unhesitatingly
+whatever steps may be necessary to prevent loss or deterioration. How
+these can best be reconciled is the problem to be solved. As late as
+the last war, throughout all our previous intercourse the attempt had
+been made to arrive at the solution by a system of temporising and
+concession, even to that which was unjust and injurious, and this
+steadily carried out, with a few rare and brief exceptions. Our policy
+since the treaty has manifested a tendency to an opposite course,
+encouraged no doubt by the result of the first determined stand made.
+It has, nevertheless, been so hesitatingly developed that we appear
+to halt between the two. In words we have asserted resistance to
+insult or wrongful treatment, but in acts we have not seldom
+temporised and submitted. The fruit of this policy we now are
+beginning to reap. Principles of action have sometimes been asserted
+and then abandoned, instead of being persisted in until the end was
+accomplished. In dealing with the Chinese, however, nothing appears to
+be so necessary as to keep the ground once assumed. If this be true,
+there cannot be too much caution used in first asserting or contending
+for a right; but that step once taken, there is no safe halting-place
+between it and full success. A course of alternate opposition and
+submission cannot do otherwise than end in defeat; and defeat in this
+country is never limited to its immediate consequences. It has
+appeared, on looking back through the ten years which have now elapsed
+since the termination of the war, that the first half of the period
+was passed in comparative security under the strong influence its
+events were calculated to exercise on the Chinese mind; but, true to
+their invariable policy, they have never ceased to seek by every means
+in their power to make the British authorities develop under what
+instructions they were acting and to penetrate into their true spirit,
+in order to ascertain the limits to which our sufferance would extend
+and the nature of the powers of resistance or retaliation her
+Majesty's Government were ready to authorise. I think it cannot be
+matter of doubt to any one resident in China throughout this period,
+that during the latter portion the Chinese have felt assured of the
+essentially pacific determination of our Government and the policy of
+endurance and sufferance in all cases of minor wrongs. And, assured
+under such a system (with the known impossibility of any direct action
+in Peking), they have, during the last two years more especially, felt
+emboldened, systematically, by a series of apparently small
+encroachments and aggressions, to undermine our position, and to
+restore, as nearly as may be, the state of things existing before the
+war, extending the system to all the ports.
+
+With this conviction I have thought it desirable to bring before her
+Majesty's plenipotentiary in detail many illustrations of the
+deteriorating influences at work at this port, and now venture to pass
+these rapidly in review, that their collective evidence may not be
+wanting. And in order that I may be brief, I shall merely note in the
+margin the number and dates of various despatches bearing upon similar
+matters, without further reference to their contents. By these I think
+it will be seen that the general current and tendency of all the
+official acts for the last two years upon which I have frequently
+commented as they occurred has been distrust, and strongly adverse
+alike to our trade and the stability of our position.
+
+Evidence, I think, will be found in these records to establish the
+fact that the present Taotai Wu (or Samqua, as he is more familiarly
+known, of Canton trading memory) has been especially selected as the
+chief agent to initiate, and the fit instrument for carrying out, a
+retrograde policy: his character, means, and the general direction of
+his efforts to damage our local position, territorial and social--to
+cripple and restrict our trade, and to Cantonise the whole of our
+relations both with people and authorities in the north--are all in
+keeping with this mission, and incomprehensible on any other
+supposition.
+
+The steps of his progress have been carefully watched, and in the
+despatches noted in the margin traced, together with their
+effects--neither very apparent on the surface. These may perhaps best
+be considered by aid of a somewhat arbitrary division as to subjects
+rather than chronologically, for they have generally run on
+conterminous and parallel lines. Starting from the Tsingpu affair, in
+the spring of 1848, and his baffled efforts to pluck from us the best
+fruit of the risks incurred to vindicate an important principle, from
+which date he hung about the place--in the background it is true, but
+not the less busy as a spy from Nanking, between which place and
+Shanghai, occasionally acting Taotai, at others absent, he oscillated
+until the fit time appeared to have arrived. After the accession of
+the new emperor, Lin was displaced from the Taotai office, and he was
+finally installed by "imperial appointment" to put his hand to the
+work before him. His steps may be traced in the sinister influences
+and obstruction brought to bear upon all our interests.
+
+The _land tenure and regulations_ under which a foreign colony had
+rapidly risen covering more than a hundred acres of land, as an
+element of strength and independence to the British more especially,
+seems to have excited both the jealousy and the fears of the Chinese
+authorities. There seemed no limit to its progress and development;
+each year saw more and more land occupied, while houses of a large
+and costly description rapidly filled up the vacant spaces.
+
+Before Wu came _ostensibly_ upon the scene some progress had been made
+in the creation of difficulties, and the authorities having in the
+spring of 1849 granted a large and absurdly disproportionate tract to
+the French, over which the French consul claimed a territorial
+jurisdiction, the national susceptibilities of the Americans gave the
+opportunity of bringing French and Americans, and the latter and the
+English, into collision, and they were not slow to profit by it to set
+the land regulations practically aside while officially appearing to
+uphold them.
+
+The desire of the community to carry out an extravagant and not very
+practicable scheme for a new park or exercise-course that should
+enclose nearly the whole arable ground and villages within our limits
+afforded the next opportunity, and the arrogant humour and
+superstitions of the Fukein clans supplied the ready instruments for
+inflicting a second blow upon the rights and security of the foreigner
+at Shanghai connected with the occupation of land.
+
+These attacks and aggressions have since been perseveringly followed
+up--popular commotions, abusive and menacing placards, having all been
+used in turns to the damage of our position, and the result has been
+discredit, broken regulations, divided and antagonistic pretensions
+between the two most numerous classes of foreign residents--the
+British and American--and between all foreigners and the Fukein clans,
+the most turbulent and aggressive of the native population at the
+port,--a result of which, looking to all the present embarrassment and
+future danger to our interests it is calculated to produce, I am bound
+to say I think Samqua may well be proud. The national vanity of the
+French leading them to an absurd and useless acquisition, the love of
+exercise of the British leading the equestrians to press an
+ill-advised and impracticable scheme for a three-mile racecourse, and
+the national susceptibilities of the Americans leading them to dispute
+the land tenure which hitherto had been the condition of their own
+security,--all have been adroitly turned to the greatest advantage, to
+the profit of the Chinese and the serious detriment of the foreigner.
+
+The progress made in creating obstacles to our _commerce_ has been not
+less worthy of remark. For a system of total laxity in the
+custom-house administration under Lin a capricious alternation of
+vigilance and neglect, under which oppressive acts of partiality and
+injustice are frequently perpetrated, has been substituted, to the
+great derangement of operations in trade. The carrying trade has been
+harassed and impeded, and the Taotai is now actively engaged in
+efforts to get the cargo-boats under his exclusive control, and to
+organise a _cohong_ of five firms on the model of the ancient
+establishments at Canton, while already--I believe at his suggestion
+(indeed he scarcely denies it)--information has reached me that a new
+transit duty of seven mace per picul has been levied at Chung-An on
+the produce proceeding thence from the Black Tea districts to
+Shanghai. A duty of over 7 per cent, in violation of one of the most
+important of our treaty stipulations, with a monopoly of cargo-boats,
+a right to levy new transit duties, and a _cohong_--the three leading
+advantages secured by the treaty vanish. It is vain to disguise the
+fact, for nothing can be clearer or more certain. On these points I
+have been collecting detailed information, and shall shortly be
+enabled to write more fully on the subject. I beg your Excellency in
+the meantime to rest assured that the main facts have already been
+placed beyond doubt. In connection with these, freedom of access to
+different points in the interior and with Ningpo by the inland route
+as advantages long enjoyed have also attracted attention, and some
+more feeble efforts have been made to throw obstacles in the way.
+
+In the _administration of justice_ perhaps more than in any other
+directions adverse influences have been brought to bear with complete
+effect. Redress for any injury inflicted on a foreigner, protection
+from frauds, or recovery of debts, are all wholly unattainable. The
+action of the Chinese tribunals in our behalf is null and void, and
+the course taken by the authorities in all cases referred to there
+amounts to a total denial of justice. The act of the Taotai in seizing
+and flogging Mr ----'s boatmen was only wanting to withdraw from the
+foreigners all protection dependent upon the Chinese laws and their
+administration under our treaties.
+
+Under these three heads, therefore, I would sum up the progressive and
+evident deterioration in our position here. The tenure of land, the
+operations of trade, the administration of justice, have all been
+objects of attack, and with serious prejudice. That, however, which is
+at present evident as the effect of the steps taken, forms but a
+small part of the injury which will in a very short period be too
+manifest to be overlooked if no determined steps are taken to reverse
+the policy now pursued. The time, I am firmly persuaded, has arrived
+for meeting by energetic action these insidious attacks--as the _least
+dangerous course_--if our most important interests here are really to
+be defended with any effect.
+
+How this may best be done I feel your Excellency is entitled to demand
+from the officer who seeks so earnestly to impress you with a
+conviction that action is necessary, and I have no wish to shrink from
+the responsibility of suggesting measures by which I conceive some
+positive good may be effected, to repair the mischief, and much
+impending evil at all events averted.
+
+In reference to the land, also, it would seem very desirable that some
+understanding should be come to with the United States _chargé
+d'affaires_ by which any participation in the advantages of the
+British location, consistent with the security of all, should be
+freely conceded, while anything incompatible _with this condition_
+must be as certainly resisted, in their interest not less than ours.
+If Dr Parker prove impracticable I see no resource but a reference
+home, when I trust all the real importance of the questions at issue
+to the _interests of British trade and the British position at this
+port_ will be steadily kept in view; nor should it be forgotten that
+in its maintenance all foreign States are deeply interested, whatever
+the Americans for the moment may think. Any injury to our position
+must recoil with double force upon so weak and small a minority as
+they are when left to stand alone.
+
+As regards the measures now in progress for organising a _cohong_,
+levying new transit duties, and creating a monopoly of cargo-boats,
+all tending in the most serious degree to fetter our trade, in
+indirect violation of the express stipulations of our treaty, I
+confess there seems to be but one course consistent with the credit of
+our Government or the defence of our interests, and that is resolutely
+and firmly to resist them as infractions of treaty. Two modes of doing
+this, however, suggest themselves. The one is by active
+proceedings--prohibiting the payment of any maritime duties by British
+subjects until satisfaction is obtained, and a distinct intimation
+that if this does not suffice other _and more determined measures
+should follow_. The other involves a system of _negation_ that would
+be peculiarly embarrassing to the Chinese local authorities, and
+eventually to the Government at Peking. This may be carried out by
+simply holding the treaty to be _in abeyance_ by their own acts, and
+declining to take any steps with British subjects to enforce the
+conditions--whether as regarded customs, access to the interior, the
+purchase of land, or the administration of justice--so long as the
+measures objected to were persisted in.
+
+In reference to these two courses, I will not hesitate to say that, if
+left to my discretion, I should adopt the first; but the condition of
+ultimate success would be the certainty that, if the object was not
+attained by such means, her Majesty's Government would feel pledged to
+send a squadron to the mouth of the Grand Canal next spring with an
+imperative demand for the Taotai's disgrace and the reversal of all
+this obnoxious policy, and authority to resort to coercive measures if
+not listened to.
+
+If, however, it should be deemed preferable to incur the risk of doing
+nothing--or what, I confess, appears to me even more dangerous, to
+make protests, or demonstrations which there is no serious intention
+of following up to their legitimate conclusion--the negative policy is
+of course the only one to be attempted. The responsibility of the
+initiative would then be thrown upon the Chinese themselves. The
+tables would be turned, and the Chinese will be left to right
+themselves as they best could, while a large revenue will slip through
+their hands and manifold complications and embarrassments in their
+relations with foreigners arise to their confusion. The task, in fine,
+they now assign to us would devolve upon them, and their sole remedy,
+if they did not choose to give way, would be to stop the trade; but as
+that would be a plain and ostensible _casus belli_, they will not
+attempt it.
+
+If, on the other side, nothing effective be done, I must frankly state
+my conviction that our position in the north will rapidly deteriorate,
+and our relations be embroiled, if not irreparably injured. I believe
+means for the amelioration of both may be safely taken, and have long
+been required; but I feel still more strongly convinced that at no
+distant period they _must_ be taken, and the longer they are delayed
+the greater will be the ultimate cost, and the more imminent the
+hazard to our future trade and relations with China.
+
+If I am correct in these inferences, the conclusion of the whole must
+be that the time has arrived when it will be no longer safe to defer
+strong and effective measures in defence of our interests, and that
+there is a clear necessity for present action to avert at no distant
+period a costly war and a shock to this empire it is so ill capable of
+sustaining, that it must of necessity be attended with great peril not
+only to the present dynasty but to the existing social organisation of
+the country.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+ACCOUNT OF THE SALT TRADE ANNEXED TO MR PARKES' SUMMARY OF THE NATIVE
+MARITIME TRADE OF FOOCHOW, 1846. (EXTRACTS.)
+
+
+They have constituted the sale of salt a monopoly, which they place in
+the hands of a set of merchants whom they hold liable for the payment
+of a fixed amount of tax. This, in some instances, falls rather heavy
+upon them, but proves an easy measure to the authorities, who have
+thus but little trouble or expense of collection. All the supplies of
+salt are drawn from the sea-shore, and consequently there is an
+appointment of salt inspector in every maritime province, who
+superintends everything connected with the _gabelle_: he holds a high
+rank and receives good emoluments from the Government, 3000 taels per
+annum. It also forms one of the duties of the governor-general of the
+province to act as chief superintendent of salt excise.
+
+Most of the supplies from Fukien have to be sent into the interior and
+the adjacent province of Kiangsi _viâ_ Foochow. The salt is made all
+along the shore to the southward....
+
+The salt is made at these places by people belonging to the various
+localities, and the manufacture gives employment to numbers of
+individuals, who in those sterile districts have few other means of
+subsistence. The general method of manufacture is to collect the
+saturated loam from the beach in heaps, and thence to draw off the
+brine by drainage into large but shallow-built vats, when
+crystallisation is effected by exposure to the natural heat of the
+sun. The brine being all extracted from the heap, it is removed to the
+beach, and the same earth, having been immersed in the salt-tide, can
+again be used. In fine weather great quantities can thus be
+expeditiously manufactured, but a succession of rain stops the works,
+and a scarcity in the supplies is the consequence. The producers are
+exempted from all taxes or charges on the part of the Government, on
+the consideration that they are in mean labouring circumstances,
+though many of the salt-farms are very extensive, and some of their
+conductors possessed of better competence than the merchants, on whom
+the whole burden of taxation falls. Junks are despatched to these
+places by the salt merchants for freights.
+
+The Government system of exacting a fixed annual amount of _gabelle_
+is very defective, and places the trade, which might prosper under
+other management, on an unhealthy basis. When the trade is dull, it
+becomes still more depressed by the nature of the liabilities that the
+merchants have at all times equally to bear, and which then become
+burdensome; and again, on the other hand, in case of a thriving
+season, the revenue is in no way advantaged. Their wretched executive,
+however, prevents any improvement. They therefore content themselves
+with fixing a stated sum, upwards of 300,000 taels per annum; and if
+they can secure the requisite number of persons to undertake to
+dispose of a certain quantity of salt that will yield excise to this
+amount, they are content. Thus each merchant is bound to conduct the
+sale of the quantity that he undertakes, or rather is held responsible
+for the amount of duty due on such quantity, and having once paid this
+up, should he be so disposed, he is at perfect liberty to transport
+and sell more salt on his own account, duty free; whilst, on the other
+hand, should he, from a glut in the market or other circumstances, not
+be able to dispose of the quantity of which he had undertaken the
+sale, he has still to pay duty on the whole at a fixed unalterable
+rate.
+
+It is therefore the imminent risk attending salt speculations that
+causes people of property to be so averse towards entering them. They
+involve a great outlay of capital, with continual liability but
+uncertain remuneration. Thus, if a man embarks the whole or greater
+part of his means in speculations which do not succeed, he becomes
+instantly embarrassed with the Government, and, with no incomings to
+relieve him, may perhaps not succeed in recovering his first failure.
+Most of the merchants being men who are selected merely on account of
+their capital, the management of their business is entirely in the
+hands of those they employ, for whose honesty or capacity they are
+mainly dependent for success. The charges and expenses connected with
+carrying on a salt business are very great. Yet there are several
+instances of old merchants employing good managing men, and possessing
+plenty of supporting capital, having amassed large fortunes in the
+trade, though, on the contrary, cases are much more numerous of
+speculators having suffered losses and contracted debts with the
+Government. A debt to the State of no less than 1,450,000 taels by the
+salt dealers of Foochow has thus gradually collected.
+
+The nomination of salt merchants is almost invariably compulsory, and
+no one can retire from the business without he is totally unable from
+want of means to continue in it. In these cases the reflection that
+they were obliged to undertake the transactions that led to their ruin
+must add increased poignancy to their losses. When once, however, they
+have undertaken a transaction, they are much favoured by the
+authorities, who give them entertainments and confer honours and
+distinctions upon them. There are head merchants appointed, who hold
+some control over the proceedings of the others. To be a head merchant
+a man must be of known character and not owing anything to the
+Government. They are responsible for all the other merchants, who,
+however trustworthy, have all to be secured by the head merchants. In
+case of any merchant becoming in arrears with the payment of his
+duties, the salt inspector orders the head merchants to limit him to a
+certain time in which to liquidate all charges. According as the case
+needs, the head merchants convene and consult as to whether they
+should pray for an extension of the term or require some of the other
+merchants in substantial circumstances to lend the necessary amounts,
+or perhaps they may proceed to pay it themselves. If also they find
+that any of the other merchants are incompetent, from want of means,
+to manage their business, they represent the same to the salt
+inspector, that they may be allowed to retire. At present there are
+four head merchants out of a total of sixty-one....
+
+Smuggling is also carried on to some extent. As this, however, affects
+the vital interests of the salt merchants, they show great vigilance
+in investigating and reporting to the authorities any instances that
+may come within their knowledge, and for this purpose fit up and
+maintain several small vessels which keep up a constant watch against
+contraband proceedings.
+
+There are a multiplicity of fees and charges which prove very onerous
+to the merchants. [Here follows a list of forty-seven separate fees,
+dues, and charges, amounting to 15,300 taels, or about £5000 sterling,
+on 900,000 lb. weight, or about one-eighth of a penny per lb.]
+
+
+END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
+PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Englishman in China During the
+Victorian Era, Vol. I (of 2), by Alexander Michie
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42732 ***