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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:46:01 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:46:01 -0700 |
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diff --git a/44548-0.txt b/44548-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e8bf05f --- /dev/null +++ b/44548-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15381 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44548 *** + +Transcriber's Note: + + Inconsistent hyphenation, capitalization, diacritics and spelling + in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical + errors have been corrected. + + Index inconsistencies with the text have been regularized with the + text. + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + + + + +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: Signature + J. Thomson, photo. + 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. II. + + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS + EDINBURGH AND LONDON + MDCCCC + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. + + + CHAP. PAGE + + XIX. JAPAN-- + + I. THE TREATIES AND THEIR NEGOTIATORS 1 + + II. THE OPERATION OF THE TREATIES 12 + + III. ASSASSINATION PERIOD, 1860-61 34 + + IV. NEGOTIATIONS AND RENEWED ASSASSINATIONS, + 1862-64 44 + + V. THE TYCOON'S DILEMMA 60 + + VI. THE CRISIS 75 + + VII. THE BIRTH OF NEW JAPAN 92 + + VIII. THE DIPLOMATIC BODY--TSUSHIMA 104 + + IX. TRADE AND TRADERS 115 + + XX. SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK IN PEKING, 1865-1869-- + + I. THE BRITISH LEGATION 130 + + II. FOREIGN LIFE IN PEKING 138 + + III. THE FOREIGN CUSTOMS UNDER THE PEKING CONVENTION 156 + + IV. EMIGRATION 168 + + V. KOREA 175 + + XXI. THE REVISION OF THE TREATY-- + + I. PREPARATION 180 + + II. THE BURLINGAME MISSION 192 + + III. CHINESE OUTRAGES--YANGCHOW AND FORMOSA 198 + + IV. REVISION NEGOTIATIONS AND CONCLUSION 210 + + XXII. MISSIONARY PROBLEM--TIENTSIN MASSACRE OF 1870 223 + + XXIII. THE EXPANSION OF INTERCOURSE-- + + I. RUSSIA AND FRANCE ADVANCING 250 + + II. JAPAN AGGRESSIVE 255 + + III. KOREA OPENED 256 + + IV. THE FIRST IMPERIAL AUDIENCE--SUCCESSION OF + KWANGHSU 260 + + XXIV. THE MURDER OF MR MARGARY, 1875--CHEFOO CONVENTION, + 1876--RATIFICATION, 1885-- + + I. THE MURDER OF MR MARGARY, 1875 265 + + II. CHEFOO CONVENTION, 1876 275 + + III. THE RATIFICATION, 1885 282 + + XXV. A CHAIN OF INCIDENTS-- + + I. DISPUTE WITH RUSSIA RE KULDJA 290 + + II. KOREAN IMBROGLIO, 1882-85 293 + + III. THE PORT HAMILTON EPISODE, 1885-87 303 + + IV. TIBET 305 + + V. THE CRUISE OF THE SEVENTH PRINCE, 1886 312 + + VI. THE EMPEROR ASSUMES THE GOVERNMENT, 1889 318 + + VII. THE VISIT OF THE CZAREVITCH, 1891 321 + + XXVI. THE TONGKING QUARREL 324 + + XXVII. THE FRENCH PROTECTORATE OF CHRISTIANS 336 + + XXVIII. BRITISH SERVICES: DIPLOMATIC, CONSULAR, AND + JUDICIAL 353 + + XXIX. CHINA AND HER RULERS 368 + + XXX. CHINA'S AWAKENING 388 + + XXXI. THE COLLAPSE 403 + + XXXII. THE RESETTLEMENT OF THE FAR EAST 417 + + XXXIII. THE OUTCOME-- + + I. THE SITUATION IN PEKING 435 + + II. THE CHRONIC CAUSE 440 + + III. IMMEDIATE PROVOCATION 447 + + IV. THE DYNASTIC FACTOR 455 + + V. THE CHINESE OUTBREAK 461 + + VI. THE CRUX 464 + + XXXIV. SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK'S LATER YEARS 476 + + INDEX 490 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME. + + + PAGE + + SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK _Frontispiece_ + + LORD ELGIN 6 + + PRINCE KUNG 134 + + WÊNSIANG 136 + + MANCHU (TARTAR) WOMEN 138 + + MANCHU WOMEN 140 + + CHINESE WOMEN 142 + + CHINESE STREET SCENE DURING RAINY SEASON 144 + + LI HUNG-CHANG AT THE AGE OF FIFTY 184 + + RUINS OF FRENCH CATHEDRAL AT TIENTSIN, BURNED + JUNE 20, 1870 240 + + PEI-T'ANG CATHEDRAL IN PEKING, PURCHASED BY CHINESE + GOVERNMENT 340 + + MINISTERS OF THE YAMÊN OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: H.E. SHÊN + KUEI-FÊN; H.E. TUNG HSÜN; H.E. MAO CHANG-TSI 416 + + +MAPS. + + BAY OF YEDO 4 + + MAP OF EASTERN ASIA _At end_ + + + + +In the contents under Chapter XIX. the date of Commodore Perry's +expedition is by a misprint given as 1883-84 instead of 1853-54. + + + + +THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +JAPAN. + + +I. THE TREATIES AND THEIR NEGOTIATORS. + + Commodore Perry's expedition, 1853-54--Townsend Harris--Count + Poutiatine--Lord Elgin--The treaties of 1858--The solidarity of + Western Powers--The practical attitude of the Japanese--Their + yielding to circumstances--The condition of the country--The + character of the people--Nagasaki--The Dutch--Their two hundred + years' imprisonment. + +A mystery hung over the island empire, which had been sealed against +foreign intercourse for two hundred years, and its mere seclusion, apart +from the weird romance that gilded such fragments of its history as were +known, invested the efforts to reopen the country with a romantic charm. +It was in Japan that Lord Elgin achieved the real diplomatic success of +his life, in the briefest possible time, at the least possible cost, and +with the most far-reaching consequences; for undoubtedly he hastened the +entry of the Land of the Rising Sun into the family of nations. + +The poetical side of the mission was done ample justice to by Laurence +Oliphant in his 'Narrative,' by Captain Sherard Osborn in the pages of +'Blackwood,' and elsewhere. The prosaic side and the practical issues of +this rediscovery of an old world were not so clearly apprehended by them +or by any other contemporary writer. The Powers of Europe and America had +long been watching for opportunities to effect an opening in the barrier, +but all tentatives proved in vain until force was resorted to. This was +first done by the United States, whence a naval squadron under Commodore +Perry appeared off the coast in 1853, repeating the visit, on a still more +imposing scale, in 1854. The apparition deeply impressed the minds of +the Japanese Government and people, who, Lafcadio Hearn tells us, speak +to this day of the "black ships," birds of omen foreshadowing events for +which it behoved them to prepare themselves. Black, indeed, they were, +grim of aspect, huge in bulk, and looming larger than they really were, +with their high sides, great paddle-boxes, and "smoke-stacks." The ships +were armed with a few guns of such calibre and power as had not till +then been placed on any floating battery. Jonathan is never second-best +in naval artillery. Commodore Perry with his three black ships, the +steamers Powhattan, Susquehanna, and Mississippi, and his squadron of +sailing-vessels, opened the door of Japan--not very wide, it is true, yet +so that it could never again be closed. The rudimentary treaty he made was +little more than a covenant to supply wood and water to needy ships and +to be merciful to their crews. A similar treaty was made by the English +Admiral Stirling in 1854, and it included the "most-favoured-nation" +clause, only excepting from its application the privileges enjoyed by +China and Holland. + +To carry the work forward to a more practical stage a man of affairs was +required, and he was found in the person of Townsend Harris, who was +accredited to Japan under the title of Consul-General for the United +States. Mr Harris had been nearly two years in the country when Lord +Elgin, with his modest escort, arrived and made his acquaintance. With +infinite patience Mr Harris had been prosecuting his negotiations, +against wind and current, it would seem, until a propitious gale wafted +his venture into port. The black ships had gone, but another fleet more +numerous was assembled on the neighbouring coast, whence their fame had +reached the secluded empire. Riding on the shoulders of the Anglo-French +exploits in China, and not obscurely hinting at the prospect of the allies +shortly visiting Japan, Mr Harris induced his Japanese friends to "hurry +up" with his treaty, that it might not only serve as a model of moderation +for the other Powers when they also should come to negotiate, but provide +in advance friendly mediation between them and Japan. Lord Elgin justified +the forewarnings of Mr Harris by appearing in the Bay of Yedo within a +few weeks after the signature of the American treaty. + +How much both Mr Harris's treaty and the one which Lord Elgin was about +to sign owed to the previous Russian negotiations cannot be estimated. +Admiral Count Poutiatine concluded a treaty in 1855, and improved it in +1857, on the basis of Sir James Stirling's opening the ports of Nagasaki, +Hakodate, and Shimoda for ship's supplies, with sundry minor privileges. +When Lord Elgin reached the Bay of Yedo in August 1858 he found Count +Poutiatine already there with a frigate and a gunboat. + + [Illustration: BAY OF YEDO. + _Walker & Cockerell sc._] + +This convergence of the great Powers of the world upon a single object, +that of breaking down the seclusion of Japan, was clearly recognised, and +its proximate effect weighed, by the Japanese statesmen of the day. Too +wise to oppose an uncompromising resistance to the pressure, they employed +their skill more profitably in deflecting its course. In accordance with +this policy, Lord Elgin's demand, backed as it was by the prestige of +his recent achievements in China, was promptly conceded, and within the +short space of fourteen days from his arrival in the bay a treaty was +concluded of the same tenor as the American, of which Lord Elgin had +obtained a copy from Mr Harris, who also lent him the invaluable services +of his Dutch interpreter, Mr Heusken. By the two treaties three of the +chief ports of the empire were opened to foreign trade within one year, +and two more at later dates. In some respects the English was an advance +on the American treaty. By the latter the import tariff had been reduced +from the old Dutch rate of 35 per cent to a general rate of 5 per cent _ad +valorem_. The British treaty specifically provided that cotton and woollen +manufactured goods should be included in the class of merchandise paying +5 per cent. The immunities of extra-territoriality were unreservedly +conceded, and were only rescinded by the revised treaties, the first of +which was made with Great Britain in 1894, coming into force in July 1899. + +One general remark applies to all treaties made between foreign powers and +China or Japan, that the interests of each separate Power were safeguarded +by the virtual solidarity which existed among them, through the operation +of that convenient diplomatic save-all, the "most-favoured-nation" clause. +This comprehensive provision inserted in the treaties secured for all the +Powers the advantages gained by any one of their number. Faith in this +ultimate protection may have led occasionally to slipshod negotiations. +There might even be a temptation in some cases to seek special credit +for moderation, with the foreknowledge that the exactions of any of the +Powers would inure to the benefit of all. Lord Elgin wrote the simple +truth when he said that, "as regards all these important commercial +privileges, I have to fight the battles of the Western trading nations +single-handed." This feature had been particularly noticeable in the +negotiations in China, where it was so well understood that the English +treaty would be the common standard that it mattered little that the +signature of some of the others was hurried forward so as to take priority +of the British in point of date. The treaty which Lord Elgin negotiated +with Japan was destined to occupy the same ruling position as the treaty +with China, and therefore it devolved upon him to make provision for all +manner of contingencies which no experience could enable him to foresee. +Considering that these treaties were drawn up with so little knowledge of +the circumstances of the country and of the future exigencies of trade, +the fact that they have stood the test of forty years' experience redounds +greatly to the credit of the negotiants. + + [Illustration: LORD ELGIN.] + +Lord Elgin had to learn what a Daimio was from Count Poutiatine, who +probably had but just acquired the knowledge himself. It is strange at the +present day to read the solemn preamble, "Her Majesty the Queen of the +United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and his Majesty the Tycoon +of Japan." "It was not till some time later that it was discovered that +there was a still higher power than the Shôgun," said Earl Russell in +1865. The imperfect knowledge, however, attests the general soundness of +the principles adopted. + +It must be admitted that on the Japanese side, also, nothing seemed +wanting to render the treaty a workable instrument. The Japanese +negotiators were animated by a more practical spirit than any Chinese +diplomatist with whom foreigners had had dealings. There was no idea in +their minds of blind obstruction; they were bent, if not upon efficient +working, at least on the minimising of friction and risk. And though it +is probable, indeed quite certain, that no treaty whatever could have +been made without substantial force in the background, intelligently +apprehended by the Japanese Government, yet, that being conceded, it +was clearly their object to make the best of the position in which they +actually found themselves. Under no other circumstances could treaties so +complete in detail and so effective for their purpose have been concluded. + +To judge of the acts of the pioneers of foreign intercourse, or to form a +just opinion of the conditions under which the treaties came into force, +it would be necessary for the critic to regard the whole surroundings +as a painter does his subject, not representing what he knows or may +afterwards discover to be there, but considering only what actually meets +his eye. This, of course, is next to impossible in the case of Japan, +where the transformation resulting from the contact with foreigners was +so rapid and so kaleidoscopic, and while foreign knowledge of things +Japanese has increased at so marvellous a rate, that only a series of +mutoscopic photographs could have preserved the sequence. Opinions were +at first, and for some time after, unduly affected by the preconception +of a certain analogy between China and Japan founded on geographical +propinquity, and in a measure on language: this bias influenced the first +influx of foreigners in 1859, who were largely drawn from the commercial +ports of China. Yet those who had been habituated to the manners and +customs of the Chinese were at once struck, not by the similarities, +but by the violent contrasts, which the two peoples presented. These +visitants had left behind them filth and squalor; they met cleanliness +and tidiness of an extreme type. They left behind vagueness of thought, +slovenliness of action; and they encountered pedantic precision. They +left behind indifference and stolidity, with ignorance cherished as a +proud possession; and they encountered a keen and intelligent appetite +for knowledge. These features met the stranger before even his ship had +cast anchor, or he had set foot on shore. He soon perceived, also, that +existence was carried on under an elaborate prescription which left but +a narrow margin to spontaneous action, and such a minute supervision +that a sparrow could hardly cross the road without being noted by the +official guardians of the peace; that every function, whether of official +or private life, was under the undisputed control of the same vigilant +organisation.[1] On entering the narrow waters approaching the harbour +of Nagasaki, he would pass under forts where through a telescope he could +see guns and gunners' quarters all spick and span. If there happened to be +another vessel approaching from seaward, he would know it by the booming +of two guns from the outermost fort, the signal being taken up and passed +on by those inland, and so all the way to Yedo. This, he learned, was +the mode of announcing to the capital the appearance of any foreign craft +off the coast. On entering the inner harbour he would see boats full of +men who looked like women, pushing off to his ship; and then a posse of +officers, each armed with two sharp swords, would come on board. They, +by means of a very imperfect interpreter, would at once ply the master +with questions on every conceivable subject, as if he were competing in +an examination in universal knowledge. The tedious catechism, with its +admixture of seeming frivolity, would have been exasperating but for the +imperturbable suavity of the catechists. Every answer was promptly, yet +deliberately, committed to writing. Such was, and is, the custom of the +race. + +Nagasaki being still, in the first half of 1859, the gate of Japan, +and the only sample of the country known to foreigners, the bright +welcome with which it greeted the new arrivals was of happy augury. It +was there, also, that the first observations of the ways of Japanese +commerce were made, for Nagasaki had carried on trade with China and +with Holland for two hundred years,--a trade which was conducted on the +one side by officials of the Government, who fixed the prices of the +commodities exchanged, and which was all but strangled by monopoly. The +restricted annual "turn-over" must have required a high percentage of +profit to support the Dutch factory, and the privilege of trading on so +petty a scale seemed to be dearly bought by the perpetual imprisonment +of the agents. The unfortunate Dutchmen were confined, with their whole +establishment of warehouses, residences, &c., within an area of less than +three acres of reclaimed foreshore called Deshima, thus described by Sir +Rutherford Alcock in 'The Capital of the Tycoon':-- + + A low fan-shaped strip of land, dammed out from the waters of + the bay, the handle being towards the shore and truncated. One + large wide street, with two-storeyed houses on each side, built in + European style, gives an air of great tidiness; but they look with + large hollow eyes into each other's interiors in a dismal sort of + way, as if they had been so engaged for six generations at least, + and were quite weary of the view.... But the view from the Dutch + commissioner's residence, with its quaint Japanese garden and + its fine sweep down the bay, is very charming.... There flitted + before me a vision of the solitary chiefs of the factory in long + succession taking up their present station in long rotation and + looking forward upon the fair bay with which their sight alone + may be gladdened. How often must the occupants of this lone post + have strained their eyes looking in vain for the solitary ship + bringing tidings from Europe and home! + +The imprisonment of the Dutch was aggravated by many degrading conditions +imposed by the Japanese Government. Their position bore some analogy to +that of the English and other foreigners in Canton previous to 1839. In +both cases the Europeans endured indignities at the hands of Asiatics for +the sake of profit, but beyond that point it is the differences rather +than the resemblances which are significant. The humiliation of the Dutch +in the island of Deshima was indeed unmitigated so far as it went, but +it was neither capricious nor spiteful. Once the yoke was peacefully +adjusted, what remained of life to the Dutchman was made as agreeable +to him as to a cockatoo in a cage. His jailors had no particular animus +against him; they had a purpose of their own to serve in keeping open, +through the foreigners, a channel of communication with the West, and +they had as valid reasons of State for tethering him as one may have +for tying up his ox or his ass. These purposes once served, however, the +Japanese did not revel in harshness or cruelty.[2] With the Chinese it was +otherwise. They also had a political object in restricting the barbarians, +only they were never satisfied with its attainment, but continued heaping +up insults on their victims to the utmost limits of their submissiveness. + +The petty trade which the new-comers were able to do at Nagasaki was, +in the beginning, managed through the existing agency of the Dutch, from +whom, however, there was nothing useful to be learned, much indeed to be +unlearned; and in a few months it was the Dutch themselves who had to go +to school to the interlopers. As commerce had been kept entirely in the +hands of the Government officials, there had been no opportunity for the +rise of any mercantile class among the natives: that was to be a product +of the new era. + + +II. THE OPERATION OF THE TREATIES. + + Japanese preparations for trade at Yokohama--Mr Alcock's arrival + as consul-general--Assumes the rank of Minister--The situation + as he found it--The establishment of diplomatic intercourse + at the capital--The location of the foreign settlement--The + currency--The low value of gold--Its rapid exportation--Friction + caused by conditions of exchange--Efforts of Mr Alcock to set + matters right--Report by Secretary of H.B.M. Treasury--Japanese + double standard, gold and copper--Japanese courage in meeting + difficulties--The Daimios' coinage--Beginnings of trade--Amenities + of residence--The charm of the people--The two Japans, official + and non-official--Complete despotism and complete submission. + +The treaties of 1858 took their proper effect at the two ports of Hakodate +and Kanagawa; but the former being remote from any centre of population, +and its trading resources so obviously limited, it attracted little +attention in commercial circles. It was in the more southerly port that +the new foreign interests became concentrated; and it was so near the +capital--only seventeen miles distant--that the political and commercial +currents soon acted and reacted on each other with direct, and sometimes +violent, effect. To Kanagawa, therefore, the merchants of all nations +gathered in anticipation of the official opening of the port on the 1st +of July 1859. + +We say "Kanagawa," to follow the official nomenclature, but in reality +the adventurers who came there to seek their fortunes did not land at +that place, but three miles away from it, at an obscure village called +Yokohama. There the Japanese Government had decided should be the +future settlement for foreigners, and they had made costly preparations, +according to their lights, for the accommodation of the strangers. Roads +were marked out, a certain number of wooden bungalows had been run up, +a few shops had been opened in the quarter which was designed for native +occupation, a custom-house was built, with warehouses attached, and stone +landing-places had been constructed for boats and lighters. The area thus +marked out for the native and foreign business quarter was a narrow strip +along the sea-shore, having in its flank and rear an immense lagoon, or, +as it was called, "the swamp," intersected by boat channels, where punting +after wildfowl provided amusement for idle foreigners. Being an inlet +of the bay, the swamp made a peninsula of Yokohama, which had just been +connected with the _tokaido_, the great trunk road between the capital +of the Tycoon and that of the Mikado, by a new causeway and several good +bridges, admitting of boat traffic between the swamp and the sea. + +In the middle of the swamp, in rear of Yokohama, was a reclaimed portion +whereon was erected an extensive range of buildings connected by a +causeway with the dry land of the settlement. From its balconies there +waved pendants of cotton cloth bearing the legend, "This place is designed +for the amusement of foreigners," a class of amusement of which there has +never been any lack in Japan. + +Such were some of the outward and visible preparations made by the +Japanese Government, on its own initiative, for the reception of the +foreigners under the new treaties,--preparations which surprised and +somewhat disconcerted the representatives of the Western Governments when +they arrived on the eve of the opening of the port. + +Mr Alcock, who had recently returned to his post as consul at Canton, +was chosen as the first representative of Great Britain in Japan, with +the rank of consul-general. As this rank placed the representative of the +leading Power in an inferior position to his colleagues, and consequently +derogated from the influence he could exercise on the Japanese, Mr Alcock +took it upon himself to assume the title of Plenipotentiary, placing his +resignation in the hands of his Government in case they should disavow +his action. At the same time he recommended that the future British +representative should bear the title of Minister Resident. So far from +disavowing his action, the Government appointed him Envoy Extraordinary +and Minister Plenipotentiary, a higher rank than that suggested by him, +and he was authorised to at once assume the title, although so unusual +a proceeding as the transfer of a consular official to the diplomatic +service involved considerable delay while the needful formalities were +being arranged. The appointment, however, was coupled with the conditions +that the step should not be made a precedent, and that it should confer +no claim to future diplomatic employment in the countries of the West. + +Mr Alcock was conveyed from China in one of her Majesty's ships, +arriving at the port of Nagasaki in June 1859. There he found a fleet +of foreign merchantmen already in the harbour, and some fifteen British +subjects resident on shore, under the ægis of the old Dutch conventions +supplemented by more recent enactments. Mr Alcock remained some days, +and having made arrangements for the carrying on of trade under the new +treaties, left a consul in charge of British interests and proceeded to +Yedo, where he arrived on June 26. + +It is a date to be remembered as that of the practical initiation of +diplomatic intercourse with the ruling Power in Japan. The difference +between a mission to negotiate treaties and one to carry them into effect +is thus set forth by Sir Rutherford Alcock in the preface to his valuable +work, 'The Capital of the Tycoon,' in terms the simple truth of which must +commend itself to every candid reader:-- + + The Ambassadors Extraordinary had only to extort certain + privileges on paper; it was the business of the resident Ministers + to make of these paper-concessions realities--practical, everyday + realities. As this was the very thing the rulers of the country + had determined to prevent, it cannot be matter of wonder that + there was not, and never could be, any real accord, whatever + the outward professions of good faith and amity. Hence also it + naturally followed that, although the original negotiators were + received with smiles, and their path was strewn with flowers, + their successors had only the poisoned chalice held to their lips, + thorns in their path, and the scowl of the two-sworded braves and + Samurai to welcome them whenever they ventured to leave their + gates--while the assassin haunted their steps, and broke their + rest in the still hours of the night with fell intent to massacre. + +To say the situation was novel is to say little. The forces at work in the +Japanese state economy were either unknown to, or, what was perhaps even +worse, misunderstood by, foreign Powers. The lurid history of previous +intercourse, followed by rigid exclusion for two centuries, would have +sufficed to establish one factor in the problem, the iron resolution of +the Japanese rulers. With such men neutrality or indifference was out +of the question, while there was nothing as yet to indicate what was +henceforth to be the ruling motive of Japanese policy. Both parties were +embarking on an unknown voyage, and the avoidance of shipwreck depended +in a very large measure on the character of those who had to discover for +themselves the winds and currents, the rocks and shoals, through which +they had to steer. The leadership among the foreign Powers was tacitly +assigned to Great Britain, and it was a born leader who was commissioned +to represent her. Mr Alcock had had fifteen years' experience of Asiatic +relations, during which time he had proved himself the possessor of those +qualities which were now in special request. These were indomitable +energy, earnestness of purpose much beyond the common run of official +service, fearlessness of responsibility, and alertness to grasp the +nettle danger in order to avert greater evils, and a spirit which would +neither shirk nor postpone an unpleasant duty nor tolerate lukewarmness +nor dilatoriness in others. He was fifty years old--matured in character +and experience, while yet in the prime of his intellectual vigour. + +Mr Alcock arrived in Yedo Bay in time to arrange for the opening of trade +at the appointed date, July 1. + + Nagasaki to Yedo! Two centuries lie between these points, so + near on the map, but so far and completely separated by the + determined policy of the Japanese rulers. A policy of isolation so + effectually carried out that no foreigner, though he might under + the Dutch flag gain access to Nagasaki, could force or find his + way to the capital. + +Steaming up the Bay of Yedo, and leaving Kanagawa unvisited, Mr Alcock +anchored as close to the capital as the depth of water would allow, and +at once informed the Foreign Minister that he had come to stay. This was +done advisedly, as he has explained, to obviate all discussion as to +his place of residence, for he knew that efforts had been made--_more +Sinico_--through Lord Elgin to induce her Majesty's Government to +postpone the residence in Yedo for a couple of years, and to keep their +representative at a distance. His first object was to obtain a suitable +residence for himself and the Legation staff, in which assistance was +cheerfully rendered by the Government officials, as soon as they saw he +was resolved to remain in the capital. Diplomatic intercourse became thus +an established fact. + +The opening of the trading-port did not prove quite so simple, for the +consul-general found he had been forestalled in the choice of a site +for the merchants' residence, which the Government had, as we have seen, +prepared at great expense some three miles away from Kanagawa, the port +named in the treaty. Interpreting this hurried action of the Japanese +as covering the ulterior design of segregating the foreigners from the +natives by thrusting them to a distance from the trunk road which led +through Kanagawa, of keeping them in a kind of imprisonment like the Dutch +at Deshima, and of retaining the power to stop their supplies, whether of +the materials of trade or of sustenance, Mr Alcock warmly contested the +action of the Government. In the end he extorted from them the concession +of a commercial site at Kanagawa itself, which, however, was never taken +up. Events proved too strong for the consul-general, for the merchants +of all nations as they arrived settled in Yokohama, where there was deep +water for shipping and every convenience for business. And it soon began +also to be felt that there was an element of safety in this foreign +settlement being removed from the great imperial road along which armed +processions were continually passing to and from the capital. Within a +year the controversy had died a natural death, and Yokohama speaks for +itself. + +The second obstacle to the free course of trade was a more deep-rooted +one, being nothing less than that chronic bugbear of commerce and finance, +the currency. There was no circulating medium in Japan in the least +degree adequate for the service of international commerce. The trade in +miniature that had been carried on in Nagasaki had been a simple exchange +of commodities without the intervention of the precious metals. Mr Consul +Winchester says that neither in the Dutch nor in the Chinese factories +was a Japanese coin ever seen. But the commerce inaugurated in 1859 +could brook no such limitations, while the extent of its requirements +was of course absolutely unknown to the negotiators of the treaties. +In this state of doubt and ignorance on both sides it seemed that the +best temporary provision that the circumstances admitted of was for the +Tycoon's Government to undertake, after twelve months, to make all foreign +money current in Japan at its natural value, and that until the expiration +of that period Japanese coin should be supplied in exchange for foreign, +weight for weight. Yet it was a monstrous stipulation to insert in any +international treaty, and could never, in fact, be enforced. + +The amazing laxity in this respect with which the treaties of 1858 were +drawn opened the door to unfathomed abuses in the matter of currency. +The coin which was in the minds of the American and English negotiators +was what was then current on the coast of China, the dollar, or more +specifically the Mexican dollar. Yet, as was afterwards pointed out by +Mr G. Arbuthnot, Secretary to her Majesty's Treasury, no provision was +made in the treaties expressly for exchanging that, but only British and +American money. In his opinion the Tycoon's Government might have refused +altogether to receive the Mexican dollar, which was the only coin tendered +to them, and thus the currency clause in the treaty would have been a dead +letter from the first. But since they did not know the weakness of the +ground which the foreigners had chosen, they had to fight out the question +under all the disadvantages of a false position. + +By the treaty provisions, then, as interpreted by both sides, the foreign +merchants who chose to import specie were to be supplied in exchange with +current coin of the realm whereby they could purchase the produce of the +country without awaiting the slow and uncertain realisation of imported +merchandise. But the Japanese, apart from any question of good faith, +had vastly under-estimated the demand which this agreement was to make on +their mintage resources. They could only supply tens where thousands were +required, and in consequence of their scarcity native silver coins were +soon run up to a high premium. These coins were needed not alone for the +purchase of produce, but for the more lucrative investment in the gold +coinage of the country; for an extraordinary anomaly presented itself to +the foreign traders in the relative value of silver and gold in Japan. The +ratio between the two metals throughout the commercial world was at that +time about fifteen to one, but in Japan, owing partly to the fact that +the silver _ichibu_ was a token coin, and yet interchangeable, weight for +weight, with foreign silver coins, the ratio in the market was reduced to +five to one. Nothing could better show how completely the country had been +isolated than this simple phenomenon. Since the seclusion of Japan no such +opportunity of profit without risk had ever tempted merchant adventurers +outside the dreams of romance.[3] It could not be the intention of the +treaty-makers to deprive Japan of her gold, yet the exportation of it +was not only not prohibited, it was expressly sanctioned by treaty, the +export of copper coins alone being forbidden; and once the conduit was +opened no power could arrest the flow from the higher to the lower level. +The currency question presented many intricacies and anomalies against +which the foreign representatives struggled in the dark, but the ratio of +gold to silver was the ruling factor which underlay the whole problem, +and until every _koban_ was exported, or the relative value of gold and +silver had been assimilated to that of the outer world, there could be no +settlement of the currency question in Japan. + +In the mean time the friction caused by the unsatisfied demands of the +traders was considerable; it became in time ludicrous. There was a daily +exchange held at the custom-house, and various arbitrary systems of +distribution were adopted by the officials there. The discovery that a +kind of manhood suffrage was recognised, and that an employee received +as much as his employer, led to applications being made in the names of +servants and even of fictitious persons, to each of whom an allotment +was granted. Again, the discovery that allotments were also made _pro +rata_ according to the amount applied for led to the applications being +sent in for ever larger and larger sums until billions and quintillions +were reached. By such devices, no doubt, some of the applicants may have +gained a momentary advantage over their neighbours, but at no time did +the merchants receive a sufficiency of Japanese coin to carry on the most +restricted business. At one time, about a year after the opening, it was +estimated that there was in the hands of foreign merchants one million +and a half of dollars which were not exchangeable, and were a "drug in +the market." + +Their wants were, however, partially supplied in another manner. For among +the anomalies of the place and period one must be mentioned which had a +quite peculiar bearing on the supply of currency for commercial purposes. +The precious coin, which was doled out homœopathically to merchants, was +supplied to foreign officials in liberal measure. Every minister, consul, +and assistant; every admiral, captain, and lieutenant; every paymaster, +for himself and for the service of his ship, received his quota of +Japanese money on a scale graduated according to rank. The amount put in +circulation by these means was given by Mr Winchester as $2,000,000 per +annum. The recipients, whether directly or through agents, were able to +sell their surpluses to the merchants, of course at a handsome profit, and +no doubt abuses grew out of what was in its original intention a simple +measure of justice to salaried officers. The practice was condemned by +Mr Arbuthnot, and was discontinued by order of the Foreign Office in +1864, on the initiative of the Prussian Government, whose agent in Japan +had voluntarily renounced the privilege. But, oddly enough, the official +exchange was resumed by request of the Japanese Government, and continued +for several years longer, until, in fact, foreign and native coin had +found their common level. + +Trade certainly suffered much in the beginning from the incongruous state +of the currency, which was greatly more complicated than we have attempted +to outline. Even after the year of probation foreign coins were neither +received by traders at their value nor exchangeable in accordance with +the treaties. Whether the Government was at the bottom of the obstruction +or was overruled by circumstances beyond its control was uncertain, but +the British consul-general made masterful exertions to set the matter +right. Currency reform, however, has baffled so many generations of expert +economists that, even assuming the goodwill of the native Government, +an alien official new to the country must have found it difficult to +accomplish much, with the time and means at his disposal. Earl Russell +in 1862 "declined to pronounce on so large and intricate a question," and +would not even discuss it with the Japanese envoys. + +Japanese currency formed the subject of four elaborate reports by the +Secretary to her Majesty's Treasury, extending over twelve months, from +December 1862 to December 1863, drawn up after personal conference +with Sir Rutherford Alcock and on information derived from various +other sources, especially from a series of very able papers by Consul +Winchester. In each of these reports Mr Arbuthnot remarks on the paucity +of data, and in each he qualifies the deductions of the preceding one. Had +the series been still further extended, it is even doubtful if finality +of judgment would have been reached; for in his third report he says, "The +whole question, both as regards the condition of the currency and the real +intentions of the Japanese Government, is involved in so much obscurity +that no sound judgment can yet be formed on the subject" (May 1863). + +It would be a mere weariness to the reader to attempt to elucidate a +problem which an expert student found perplexing, but a few salient +points brought out in Mr Arbuthnot's review may repay citation, as +illustrative of the general state of relations beyond the immediate +question of the currency. "We found," he says, "the Japanese with a +carefully devised system of coinage, presenting indeed anomalies, when +regarded from a European point of view, but apparently well adapted to +their domestic wants; and their coins were found on assay in London to be +well manufactured." The Chinese had no such system, and the evolution of +a metallic currency entitled to such high praise, in a country from which +the rest of the world had been long shut off, is one of the most striking +evidences of the high originating faculty of the Japanese. + +As to the stipulation in the treaties that foreign coin should be current +in Japan on a par with native, weight for weight (not a word said about +purity), it was not only preposterous and absolutely unworkable, but +it was imposed by the ignorance of the foreign negotiators against the +superior knowledge of the Japanese; for it is remarkable that in the +negotiations carried on by the Americans in 1854 the Japanese took up the +impregnable ground that "American coin was only bullion to them." Force +alone--or the fear of it--drove them from that position in 1858, and in +yielding to the unreasoning pressure of the subsequent negotiators the +Japanese probably consoled themselves with their resources of secret +evasion to save them from the worst consequences of the obligation--a +characteristic of the whole treaty-making campaign. + +It appeared to Mr Arbuthnot that the Japanese had a double +standard--itself "a contradiction in terms"--gold and copper; silver +occupying the position of a token currency between the two, at a highly +artificial value, strictly governed by law. The fact was exemplified in +many ways. Art objects in silver contained more metal than the coin paid +for them, the work of the artificer thrown into the bargain. Gold and +copper, on the other hand, bore about the same relationship to each other +as prevailed in other countries. It was silver alone that was maintained +at a conventional level three times above its value in the outer world. +And the philosophy of this is explained by Mr Winchester, who tells us +that, whereas the supply of gold and copper was in many hands, the sources +of the supply of silver were in the exclusive control of the Tycoon's +Government, which derived great advantage from maintaining the silver +coinage at a high fictitious level. + +The efforts of the Japanese to readjust the currency to meet the demands +of the treaty were naturally first directed to silver, which was recoined +and revalued, but confusion was worse confounded by all these attempts. +Eventually the gold _koban_, worth intrinsically 18s. 4d. sterling, or 4 +_bus_ of the intrinsic value of 1s. 4d., was reduced to a sterling value +of 5s. 6d., but was still rated at 4 _bus_, while the copper coinage was +disestablished and iron substituted of no intrinsic value. "I am aware of +no other example," says Mr Arbuthnot, "of so sudden and violent a rending +of the monetary regulations of a country; certainly of none which has been +produced by the interference of foreigners." + +The effect of these inquiries by the Treasury was to discourage further +interference by foreign Governments, to trust much to that great solvent +of anomalies, the silent operation of commerce; while the only complete +remedy was recognised as the establishment of a mint under European +regulations. + +The problem was still further complicated by the separate coinage of +the Daimios. Their _nibukin_, as a general rule, passed only at first in +their own provinces, but gradually they filtered down to the open ports, +and at one time considerable embarrassment arose from the mixture of the +coinage thus caused. In 1871-72 the Imperial Government, then just come to +supreme power, took the matter up with the thoroughness they showed in all +their doings. They gave secret notice to the foreign Ministers of their +intention to call in all princes' _nibukin_, and thereupon issued an order +that during one week these coins should be brought into the custom-houses +at the treaty ports, where they would be fastened up in sealed packets +of $100 value, and notified that coins so stamped within the week would +be accepted by the Government as legal tender, but that thereafter their +use would be prohibited. Now, as the Daimios' money stood at about 90 per +cent discount at the time, the fact that some of the foreign officials who +had access to this confidential information were also merchants created +immediate speculation, with the result that within a fortnight these +silver-gilt _nibukin_ rose from 90 per cent discount to 2 or 3 per cent +premium, the officially sealed packets being a most convenient form for +the payment of duties. + +The alacrity with which the Government applied heroic remedies to a +disastrous predicament was typical of the energy of the Japanese, which +has been displayed since in wider fields. They do not sit down and bemoan +their troubles, but at once arm themselves against them. + +When to the inherent difficulties common to currency problems +generally were superadded the complexities of the monetary system of a +non-commercial and long-secluded country, surprise should be felt that the +regulation of the circulating medium in Japan was accomplished so soon, +rather than that it took so many years to arrive at the solution. The +Tycoon's Government did not live long enough to settle the currency, but +left the problem as a legacy to the Restoration. A good many years elapsed +before the Mikado's Government succeeded in evolving order out of chaos. + +In the mean time, in spite of many drawbacks, trade was making headway +in other directions besides the exportation of gold, and quaint indeed +were the beginnings of it. The staple products happened to be the same +in Japan as in China, tea and silk, and they soon began to be regularly +brought down to Yokohama for sale. But business was at first on such +a lilliputian scale, and was introduced in so dainty a manner, that to +merchants accustomed to the large transactions of China the whole affair +wore something of the air of comic opera, or as if children were playing +at being merchants. This impression was strengthened by the aspect of +the fragile wooden structures with their sliding doors and windows, but +without sitting accommodation, wherein business was transacted, which to +those habituated to the massive, if inelegant, buildings of Hongkong and +Shanghai irresistibly suggested the idea of a doll's house. The Chinese +methods also were inverted. Instead of sending samples of substantial +quantities, such as a thousand chests of tea or fifty bales of silk, and +the owner or his broker coming to chaffer in the silk-room or the tea-room +of the foreign merchant, the latter had to go the round of the Japanese +shops to find out what they had got. Early every morning the leading +merchants might be seen booted to the thighs--for the rain was frequent +and the roads unmade--trudging up and down the Japanese bazaar to see +what novelties had come to hand. The more zealous would sometimes make a +second round in the afternoon, in case there might be some late as well +as early worms to be picked up. The bodily fatigue and consumption of time +involved in this process would have rendered a large business impossible. +There were as yet no Japanese merchants properly so called, and their +endless parley resembled more the tenacious higgling of peasants than +the negotiations of men of business. Moreover, the native dealers seemed +scarcely conscious of any law which should hold them to a bargain in the +event of a more acceptable offer turning up. + +Conclusions unfavourable to Japanese commercial morality have been +drawn from some of those early--and later--experiences; but commercial +like other kinds of specialised morality has necessarily something of a +professional character. The _akindo_, or merchant, was a sort of pariah +in Japan, his social status being inferior to those of the peasant and +the handicraftsman. His sense of honour was not, therefore, sustained by +tradition or stimulated by _esprit de corps_. There being no mercantile +body in Japan, there was no mercantile code, at least none applicable +to international trade, and those unwritten laws without which large +commerce is impossible had not yet been called into being. Contrasts +between the two neighbouring nations have just been mentioned very much +to the advantage of the Japanese; but in matters of commerce, it must be +conceded, the advantage lay entirely with the Chinese, a nation of traders +from their birth. + +In the sale of lacquer ware and objects of art the Japanese were much +more at home than in dealing in raw products of foreign manufactures, +and the treasures which were in the early days exposed in the shops of +Yokohama would make a modern dealer sigh for opportunities which are +no more. Speaking roundly, it would have been safe to buy the stock +indiscriminately at the sellers' own prices, when fortune would have +awaited the investor as surely as if he had bought up the gold coinage +at the ratio of 5 to 1. The same remark would apply to such of the raw +produce of Japan as had been in large demand in China; and conversely +the rule applied also to selected articles of foreign manufacture, +which the Japanese were satisfied to buy at a price mid-way between +the high level of the Dutch monopoly and the low level of what would +remunerate the free importer. Therefore the sudden inroad of open trade +on a market artificially confined resulted in profitable trading while +a new equilibrium was being found; but such prosperity was in its nature +evanescent. + +Irrespective of the material aims which attracted foreign residents to +Japan, the life itself presented several novel and interesting features. +Nothing could have been pleasanter than the social relations which +sprang up between the foreign communities and the unofficial natives. +The strangers were received everywhere with open arms, and the residence +among a smiling people (excluding altogether the meretricious allurements +of the country, which have also not been without their influence) and +amid enchanting scenery was found to add a new pleasure to existence. +Here again we must resort for illustration to a comparison with China, +where strangers at the best were sullenly tolerated, where one might live +a lifetime without entering a house, or seeing a respectable woman, or +making a friend save on a business footing. The Japanese of Yokohama and +Kanagawa, as well as in the surrounding villages and temples, never failed +in courtesy and hospitality to passers-by, and were eager for conversation +with foreigners. A useful smattering of the language was soon acquired +under the stimulus of a quick-witted and sympathetic people alert to jump +at the meaning and patient to help the novice to find his words. The women +of the household were always charming, and if their domestic conversation +sometimes startled the stranger by its freedom, there was neither malice +nor any such impropriety as leaves an evil odour in its trail. Friendships +were formed, not deep perhaps, but genuine as far as they went, and +certainly not the less sincere on the Japanese than on the foreign side. + +The intelligence also of the common people enhanced both the pleasure and +the value of friendly intercourse with them: apt as they were to receive, +they were no less ready to impart, information. Their appreciation of +their country--its beauties, history, traditions, and folk-lore--was +conscious and unrestrained, indeed it amounted to a passion. This afforded +endless subject for talk. Everything save the politics of the day might +be freely discussed, and though the first-arrived foreigners came poorly +prepared to assimilate so much that was novel, they could not help +carrying away a good deal from their frequent confabulations. The native +guide-books formed a reservoir of suggestive topics: surprisingly minute +they were, noting every gem of scenery or point of interest, with the +legends of history, romance, or mythology attaching to them. So accurate +were these itineraries that with their contents well studied foreigners +might make excursions inland lasting several days without the aid of guide +or the necessity of inquiring the way. + +It need not, of course, be said that the mutual intelligence of Japanese +and foreigners did not penetrate below the surface of every-day phenomena. +Of their festivals, their pilgrimages, their votive offerings to temples +and shrines, their ancestral worship, and their whole relation to the +Unseen--call it religion, superstition, or idolatry--the strangers had +no comprehension. Although its outward symbols were passing constantly +under their eyes, esoteric Japan was to them a sealed book, as the mental +processes of the Oriental always are to the Occidental, whose imagination +is cramped by the syllogism, and whose faith languishes for demonstration. +There was, however, ample outside the region of mysticism, outside the +concerns of trade, and equally apart from political questions, to nourish +the best relations between Japanese and foreigners. + +The impressions of the British Minister on his journeys of relaxation +are by no means the least interesting portion of his important work, +'The Capital of the Tycoon.' Having shaken off the official incubus, and +breathing the free air of the country, the intercourse with the common +people in which he was able to indulge was fruitful of reflections of +a brighter hue than any that were prompted by his strenuous life in the +capital. He observes:-- + + They are really a kindly people when not perverted by their rulers + and prompted to hostility.... I had begun to forget I was in + Japan, so much goodwill was shown.... There may be a good deal + of tyranny and oppression, but the people show no marks of it.... + The feudal lord is everything and the lower and labouring classes + nothing. Yet what do we see? Peace, plenty, apparent content, and + a country more perfectly and carefully cultivated and kept, with + more ornamental timber everywhere, than can be matched even in + England.... The material prosperity of a population estimated at + thirty millions, which has made a garden of Eden of this volcanic + soil, and had grown in numbers and in wealth by unaided native + industry. + +Such were the observations made during a few days' rest at the mineral +springs of Atami, and they coincided exactly with the opinions formed +by those whose daily intercourse lay with these same common people, in +which term, of course, were included such town populations as foreigners +had acquaintance with. A contemporary writer, Nagasaki, 1859, remarked: +"The Government of Japan is the most absolute despotism in the world, +and perfectly successful.... For the present it is consistent with great +prosperity and contentment on the part of the people, but it seems to me +it is only their exclusive policy that has kept it so." + +The great, industrious, prosperous masses of Japan, enjoying the gifts of +the gods with thankful hearts, and drinking the cup of life as presented +to them without any acidulating scruples, seemed to be happiest of all in +this, that they were not burdened with the dignity of wearing swords. The +storms that convulsed the upper regions passed over their humble heads +without interrupting the cast of a fishing-net or hindering by a day +the gathering of their harvest. How different the life of the nobles and +their following! their humanity dominated by an elaborate and intolerable +ceremonial, settling their quarrels at the sword's point, and ever on the +alert for bloody intrigue.[4] + +For there were two Japans, that of the people and that of the ruling +class, separated by an impassable gulf. "The very existence of the +plebeian seems unrecognised by the patrician in his lordly progress," +wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock. "And for that very reason there may be more +real liberty among the mass of the people than we imagine." + +The members of the official class were distinguished by carrying in +their girdle two heavy swords with a razor's edge, one long, one short. +The functionaries of the custom-house, with whom alone the foreign lay +community had contact, also wore swords as part of their official uniform, +which they placed with delicate ceremony on a rack in front of them +as they sat on their mats at the receipt of custom,--for there were no +chairs, and the habitual posture was squatting on the hams and heels. To +the aristocratic caste the Japanese people were as absolutely submissive +as if every two-sworded man wielded the power of life and death, which, +so far as the common people were concerned, was not far from the simple +truth.[5] The only great concourses of armed men which the foreign +residents were in the way of seeing were the Daimio processions, which, +hundreds, sometimes thousands strong, were constantly travelling along +the highroad; and in the long town of Kanagawa they could observe the +people prostrated by the sides of the road with heads abased while the +great man with his scowling retainers passed. Residents in Yedo--that is, +the _personnel_ of the foreign Legations--had less agreeable experience +of these feudal swordsmen, who, living in idleness during their prince's +sojourn in the capital, were quick in quarrel, especially in their cups, +and far from agreeable to meet in the streets. + + +III. ASSASSINATION PERIOD, 1860-61. + + Storms begin--Russians murdered at Kanagawa--Two Dutchmen + in Yokohama--Prince regent assassinated--Servant of French + Minister attacked--Mr Heusken, secretary to American Legation, + murdered--Ministers withdraw to Yokohama--And return to + Yedo--First murderous attack on British Legation, 1861--Mr + Oliphant wounded--Attempt on a Japanese Minister--The causes + of these outrages--Partly anti-foreign feeling--Foreign + treaties imposed by force on Tycoon never received sanction of + emperor--Hence universal hostility to foreigners--Internecine + jealousy--Mr Alcock makes ascent of Fujiyama--Against the wish of + Japanese Ministers--Makes a second overland journey from Nagasaki + to Yedo--Sullen attitude of Daimios. + +The ports had not been many months opened when storms began to disturb the +political sky, and the idyllic charm of the new life became tempered by +assassination. The why and the wherefore of these outrages was imperfectly +understood at the time, though it has since been copiously expounded. +The uncertainty as to the moving cause or causes rendered precautions +difficult, and the only safe resource was a watchful eye and the nimble +revolver. + +Much bad feeling had been displayed towards the foreign diplomatic staff +in Yedo, and assaults had been frequent, but nothing of a tragic nature +had occurred until the arrival of a Russian squadron of ten ships, with +Count Mouravieff-Amurski on board. He landed in August 1859 with an escort +of 300 men in Yedo, where he was safe; but an officer and two men at +Kanagawa, buying provisions, were cut to pieces by armed Japanese. This +was what Sir Rutherford Alcock designated as "first blood." The next was +the assassination of a native linguist employed in the British Legation. +Early in 1860 two Dutch shipmasters, one over sixty years of age, were +hacked to pieces in Yokohama. Next the prince regent himself was, within +the precincts of the castle, set upon by an armed band of retainers of the +Prince of Mito and killed, his head being carried off to assure the said +prince of the accomplishment of an act of long-meditated revenge. + +Before the end of the year 1860 the Italian servant of the French Minister +had to defend himself at the entrance of the Legation from the murderous +attack of a couple of two-sworded men; and the year 1861 was ushered in +by the assassination of Mr Heusken, secretary to the American Legation, +on his way from the Prussian Minister, whom he had been assisting in the +negotiation of his treaty. This crime filled the cup for the time being. +The Government proved itself unable or unwilling to protect the diplomatic +body from their bloodthirsty assailants, and three out of the four foreign +representatives--the Dutch minister not being at the time resident in +Yedo--made a protest to the Tycoon's Government, struck their flags, and +withdrew to Yokohama. The American Minister alone remained in Yedo. Soon +the Prussian and Dutch returned thither, leaving only the British and +French representatives in Yokohama, where they remained until specially +invited back to the capital under conditions which they had demanded of +the Government. + +The following summer witnessed the most desperate attempt of all to +exterminate the inmates of at least one of the Legations. Mr Alcock had +just returned from a long, venturesome, dangerous, but most fruitful +journey overland from south to north--from Nagasaki to Yedo--which +included a sea passage through the Inland Sea, when an assault was made +on the Legation at midnight on 4th July 1861. The Tycoon's guard of 150 +men are charitably credited with having been asleep, for they opposed no +obstacle to the entrance of a band of men who cut an opening through a +substantial bamboo stockade at the outer gate, and on their way thence +to the apartments of the Legation staff, a distance of some three hundred +yards, killed, at intervals, four men, some of whom defended themselves, +and a barking dog. The scene is fully and graphically described in 'The +Capital of the Tycoon.' The central object of the attack seems to have +been the Minister himself, who however escaped unhurt, while two members +of the Legation were wounded,--Laurence Oliphant, who had recently come +out as secretary of Legation, having a very severe sword-cut in the arm +and another in the neck. Being more than common tall, Mr Oliphant's head +was saved by the intervention of a low beam, in which a deep sword-cut +was found. If that brilliant writer had seen Yedo rose-tinted in 1858, +he had now at least a chance of judging it in a greyer light. The guard +did not put in an appearance until after the assailants had been beaten +off from, or at least baffled in, their attempt on that portion of the +temple buildings which was occupied by the Minister, and a fierce struggle +ensued in the precincts, in which two of the assailants were killed and +one badly wounded, while twelve of the guard were wounded and one of the +Tycoon's bodyguard killed. The details of Japanese sword-play are not +pleasant matters to dwell upon, but a few words from Mr Alcock's notes +of the tragedy will suffice to give an idea of the manner in which these +massacres were carried out. "I have seen many a battlefield," he says, +"but of sabre wounds I never saw any so horrible. One man had his skull +shorn clean through from the back and half the head sliced off to the +spine, while his limbs only hung together by shreds." "There is probably +not in all the annals of our diplomacy an example of such a bloodthirsty +and deliberate plot to massacre a whole Legation." + +This is a sufficiently full list of the outrages of what may be called +the Yedo period, to distinguish it from a subsequent chapter of history +which was opened in connection with the new port in the Inland Sea, but +which is beyond the range of the present work. + +The only conclusions to be drawn from these occurrences, and those yet to +be related, were--(1) that either the Tycoon's Government itself or some +powerful faction was in deadly opposition to the admission of foreigners +into the country, and (2) that the Tycoon's Government was either unable +or unwilling to protect the persons of foreigners either within the +capital or out of it; (3) that certain great Daimios were concerned +in these murderous outrages. The Prince of Mito's men assassinated the +regent, and were most probably the assailants of the British Legation, +while the Prince of Satsuma's retainers killed Richardson. Another great +Daimio, whose forts commanded the western gate of the Inland Sea, put +himself a year later in a state of war with all the foreign nations. + +The motives of these powerful feudatories were not free from ambiguity, +for they might be animated by a _bonâ fide_ desire to expel the +foreigners, or they might be plotting to embroil the Government with the +Western Powers. It was evident that the authority of the Tycoon over the +great Daimios was far from absolute, and that at any rate he dared not +enforce it in defence of the hated foreigners.[6] Thus the Legations were +left to the mercy of a ferocity which has known no parallel. The midnight +attempt on the British Legation on July 4, 1861, typified the whole +situation. The inmates were ignorant whence the several attacks on them +came, the imperial and Daimio's guard were asserted to have slept through +the crucial stage of the assault, and the provoking cause of the attempt +to exterminate the English was unknown. In such a maze of occult forces +it was almost as difficult to adopt precautions as against earthquakes. + +What lay at the root of all these troubles, according to the deliberate +opinion of Mr Alcock, was that the foreign treaties had been forced on the +Government against its will and in violation of the fundamental laws of +the empire. He says the treaties were not sanctioned by the Mikado, and +that therefore the opposition of the Daimios was on strictly legitimate +lines. Also that the law of the seventeenth century which made it a +capital offence for a foreigner to land in Japan had not been repealed. +The Tycoon's Ministers had been scared into signing even Commodore Perry's +almost platonic treaty; for though that officer had strict orders to +use no force, he did not impart this information to the Japanese, and +they could not otherwise interpret the naval demonstration than as an +intimation that the ship's guns would support the commodore's demands. The +case of Mr Harris's treaty of 1858 was even clearer. It had been drawn up, +but the signature postponed _sine die_ until the great nobles should have +been gained over, and Mr Harris retired to his retreat at Shimoda to wait +events. The news of the forcing of the Peiho forts by the Anglo-French +squadron and the imposing of a treaty on the Emperor of China was conveyed +express to Mr Harris by the steam frigate Mississippi. Another vessel, +the Powhattan, arrived fortuitously at the same time, in which Mr Harris +proceeded to Kanagawa, where commissioners were sent down at once to meet +him, and in three days the treaty was signed. Of course the Allies who +had forced the door of China, having no quarrel whatever with Japan, had +no more thought of coercing that country than the United States had in +1853 and 1854; but it was perhaps scarcely conceivable to the oriental +mind that any nation should deny itself the exercise of a power it +consciously possessed. Naturally, therefore, the Japanese were predisposed +to believe in the aggressive purposes of the invaders of China. No less +natural was it that subsequent evidence of the self-imposed limitation of +their pressure on China should lead the Tycoon's advisers to deplore the +panic-haste with which they had been hustled into making treaties against +the will of the great council of the Empire. In the interval between the +signing and the execution of the treaties the Government had time for +reflection on all that: the malcontent majority of Daimios had also time +to consider what resistance they could offer to innovations which they +detested. + +The reactionary policy that had set in was also clearly shown in the +obstacles thrown in the way of the negotiation of the Prussian treaty. +Count Eulenberg had been six months at work, and as his treaty was but a +copy of those already signed there was no reason in the thing itself for +the obstruction. But Prussia was not then a nation from which there was +much to be feared at such a distance, and therefore the true disposition +of the Japanese Government had free play. + +The Tycoonate itself was a perpetual cause of jealousy among the three +great families, one of which was Mito, who had themselves pretensions +to the honour; and the combination of their private grievances with a +quasi-patriotic and probably sincere hatred of foreign intruders raised +a storm against the Tycoon with which his advisers found it hard to cope. +The Government being committed to the protection of foreigners, massacres +of the latter offered a ready means of gratifying the double passion of +hatred of them and of the Tycoon. + +But although the foreign representatives and the Tycoon were thus to an +unknown extent the objects of a common enmity, it was yet impossible for +them to make common cause, for they were not in harmony. The Government +would willingly have got rid of the treaties or reduced them to a dead +letter. The foreign Ministers, on the other hand, had no choice but to +insist on the fulfilment of the engagements into which the Government had +entered. Not for them to count the cost, the difficulties, or the danger: +relaxation of their demands would have aggravated all three. So there was +nothing for it but the "rigour of the game." + +The British Minister held decided views on the importance of keeping alive +all rights and privileges by exercising them. China would have taught +him, if the knowledge did not come by nature, the value of the modern +principle of "effective occupation" as the only valid sanction of an +abstract title. The treaties of 1858 conferred upon the representatives +of Foreign Powers the right of travelling throughout Japan. The Tycoon's +Government desired to restrict or nullify the privilege, no doubt for +reasons quite sufficient from their point of view. Mr Alcock on his part +saw good reasons for opposing this tendency from the outset. Consequently, +as a first experiment, he organised a journey by the _tokaido_ to the +"matchless" mountain, Fujiyama, distant about eighty miles from the +capital. Every effort was made by the Government officials to dissuade +him from the undertaking; dangers natural and supernatural were conjured +up, a more convenient season was recommended. At length their pleas +for the abandonment or delay of the expedition having been exhausted +without any effect on the resolution of the Minister, the officials +became helpful in the preparations and most careful to provide for the +success of the journey. The party--eight Europeans in all with a large +native contingent--set out on September 4, 1860, rather late in the year +for the ascent, which was, nevertheless, successfully accomplished, and +for the first time the foot of the stranger trod the sacred summit, the +object of constant religious pilgrimages. The whole journey, including a +detour to the hot springs of Atami, occupied one month: it was fruitful +in first-hand information, and replete with agreeable experiences. + +A more important journey was undertaken eight months later, on the +occasion of a return voyage from China and Hongkong, whither the Minister +had gone on certain legal business. Being at Nagasaki, Mr Alcock arranged +to travel in the company of Mr de Wit, the head of the Dutch mission, +across the island of Kiusiu, then by junk up the Inland Sea to Hiogo, +thence by the highroad to Yedo. The proposal met with the same kind of +opposition from the Japanese authorities as the going to Fujiyama the +previous year had done: the dangers of the journey were depicted in strong +colours, and the unsettled state of the country was alleged as a cogent +reason why a foreigner should not trust himself on the highroad. When +these arguments proved unavailing, and the journey was finally resolved +upon, the authorities endeavoured to minimise both its pleasure and its +usefulness by an attempt to extort from the two Ministers an undertaking +in writing never to go in advance of the escort or to leave the highroad. +The plea for the latter restriction was that the road alone was under +imperial control, the land on either side belonging to the Daimios. The +feudatories on their part took effective measures to enforce the condition +by supplying guards through their respective domains, who blocked up every +byway, and in the towns and villages where the party rested screened off +the side streets even from view by means of large curtains stretched on +high poles, emblazoned with the Prince's arms. When the party landed +at Hiogo to resume the journey by the _tokaido_, they were met by a +"Governor" of Foreign Affairs, sent expressly from Yedo to warn the +foreign Ministers once more of the dangers of the road, and to persuade +them to complete their journey by sea. This had become such a stereotyped +formula that the two diplomats paid no attention to the warning, though +they had some reason afterwards to think that on this single occasion +the cry of wolf was genuine; for the assassins who attacked the English +Legation on the night of the return of the party to Yedo were said to have +tracked the foreigners the whole way from Hiogo. + +These two interesting and--the second one especially--arduous journeys, +each of one month's duration, settled the question of the right of the +foreign representatives to travel through the length and breadth of Japan. +They also afforded much insight into the state of the country and the +real feeling of the general population. But they were only interludes +in the drama of sensational diplomacy, which had now to be resumed with +redoubled energy. The Legations had been two years located in Yedo, and no +progress whatever had been made towards establishing a state of security +for foreign life. Matters were, indeed, going from bad to worse. One point +had been gained after the murder of the American secretary in January--the +Government had formally assumed the responsibility for the protection of +the foreigners. Moreover, strong guards of the Tycoon's men were posted +in the different Legations; but, as we have seen, they added nothing to +the sense of security. The demonstration of the inadequacy of all these +precautions left the conditions of foreign life in the capital in worse +plight than ever. The attack on the British Legation therefore called for +a fresh review of the position. + + +IV. NEGOTIATIONS AND RENEWED ASSASSINATIONS, 1862-64. + + British and French guards brought to Yedo--Marks a new + era--Decided position of British Government--Concessions asked + by Japanese, refused by Mr Alcock, granted by Earl Russell to + Japanese envoys--Retrogression--Position of foreign Ministers + assimilating to that of the Dutch at Deshima--Mr Alcock's + departure for Europe, 1862--Bad effects of Lord Russell's + concessions to Japanese--Encouraged them to make fresh + demands--The building of a British Legation in Yedo--_Chargé + d'affaires_ resides mostly in Yokohama--Colonel Neale's + account of the system of guarding the Legation--Midnight + attack on the guards--British sentries murdered--Suspicious + behaviour of Government--British guard increased--Admiral + Hope's opinion--Attack on an English riding party and murder + of Mr Richardson on highroad--Admiral Hope's proposal to "nip + assassination in the bud." + +The question now, therefore, entered on a new phase. Since reliance on +the Government afforded no sense of security, the foreigners must abandon +the position or find some more effective protection, not to supersede, +but to supplement, that which was afforded by the Government. There was +fortunately a British despatch vessel, the Ringdove, at the moment at +Yokohama, to the commander of which Mr Alcock appealed for a guard of +marines and bluejackets. These arrived the next day, twenty-five all +told, with Captain Craigie himself at their head, and they were happily +accompanied by a detachment of fifteen men from the French transport +Dordogne, brought up by the French Minister, Mons. de Bellecourt, +always a staunch supporter of his British colleague. That gentleman, +on hearing the tragic news at Yokohama, where he had been staying, +returned promptly to his post with this most welcome reinforcement for +the defence of the Legations. This simple proceeding marked the beginning +of a new era in the foreign relations with Japan--the era in which the +Powers represented there took the law into their own hands, with highly +important consequences to Japan and to the world. The British naval guard +was reinforced within a few months by a mounted escort of twelve men +drawn from the force then in China. This step was strongly objected to +by the Tycoon's Ministers, but the answer was complete: the Government's +acknowledged incompetence had forced this measure of self-defence on the +Legations. The position taken up by Mr Alcock was confirmed in the most +explicit manner by Earl Russell a year later, who thus addressed the +Japanese envoys in London:-- + + Her Majesty's Government will not agree to any proposal which + may be made by the Ministers of the Tycoon having for its object + to preclude the representatives of the Queen in Japan from + maintaining a cavalry escort for the protection of her Majesty's + servants in that country. The Tycoon cannot ensure the safety of + the British officers within the precincts of the capital and its + immediate neighbourhood; and even if the Tycoon were to engage to + do so, it is notorious that he would not have the power to fulfil + his engagement. + +This plain speaking defined the status of "old" Japan, and gave the clue +to the remarkable train of events which followed. + +Much anxiety and many sinister rumours, but no serious outrages, +disturbed the peace of the Legations and the general foreign community +during the remainder of the year 1861. Mr Oliphant was sent home in +consequence of his wounds, and the occasion was taken advantage of to +have certain private conferences with the Japanese Foreign Ministers, at +which that gentleman assisted, when the "past, present, and future" were +confidentially discussed. Mr Oliphant, thus thoroughly "posted," was able +personally to explain the state of affairs to her Majesty's Ministers, +which greatly assisted them in forming their decisions. He was also the +bearer of an autograph letter from the Tycoon to her Majesty the Queen. + +The Japanese Government had long been pressing the foreign representatives +for the relaxation of some of the articles in the treaties, which were +not to come into operation until a subsequent date. These provided for +the opening of Yedo for general residence on 1st January 1862, and for +the opening of the trading ports of Hiogo, Osaka, and Ní-í-gata on 1st +January 1863. The Tycoon's Government was most anxious to postpone all +these privileges to an indefinite period, nominally seven years, and as +the foreign Ministers in Yedo had no such authority--Mr Alcock had been +instructed to grant "no concessions without equivalents"--the Government +prepared to despatch special envoys to the five Courts of Europe with +which they had treaties. A similar mission to the United States the +previous year had been so well received as to encourage the second effort. +The principle involved in the Japanese plea was precisely the same as that +which had kept Canton closed for so many years, notwithstanding the treaty +provision opening it; but there was this difference of fact between the +two cases, that whereas the danger apprehended and alleged by the Japanese +was probably real, that which had been put forward by the Chinese was +false, and manufactured by the authorities themselves. + +The Japanese were now in full retrogression, and every point they might +gain was certain to become a new fulcrum for forcing more and more +concessions from the foreign Powers. This was proved in many kinds of +ways. For example, the restrictions placed on the foreign envoys, by +which they were kept as prisoners in their Legations, and were attended +in their walks abroad by officious guards who prevented them from seeing +more than could be helped, and forbade intercourse with the people, were +almost tantamount to those formerly imposed on the Dutch in Deshima. +Mr Oliphant frankly speaks of his "jailors." Then repression, and yet +more repression--as much repression, in fact, as the foreigners could +be brought to endure--was the unvarying rule. Even when they were +themselves seeking favours, and had therefore every inducement to show +their liberal side to the foreign Minister, the rule of repression was +rigorously maintained. Mr Alcock relates how this determination prevented +him from presenting the Queen's reply to the Tycoon's letter. First, +the audience was delayed on frivolous grounds; then the ceremonial was +varied. Among other things it was proposed to place the envoy at double +the distance from the Tycoon which had been observed on a previous +occasion. Being anxious to take his leave, to present his _locum tenens_, +and to deliver the Queen's autograph, Mr Alcock waived these innovations +under protest--"being reluctant at the last moment to stand upon a point +of mere etiquette"; but "having found my desire was strong not to raise +difficulties on any minor points, it had been resolved [by the Japanese] +to profit by the circumstance to gain some further advantages derogatory +to the position of the British Minister," and so after everything had been +arranged according to their own wishes the Court officials returned the +following day to say they had made a mistake, and that, in fact, sundry +further restrictions must be observed. This was too much, and the Minister +quitted the capital without his audience, March 1862. + +The same tactics were observed by the envoys in Europe. When the mission +reached London and had laid their case before the same Foreign Secretary +who had instructed the Minister in Japan to "make no concessions without +equivalents," he at once conceded the whole of the Japanese demands +unconditionally, for the nominal conditions were merely that the rest of +the treaty should stand. A detailed memorandum of the agreement was drawn +up and formally signed by Earl Russell and the three Japanese envoys on +June 6, 1862. Having succeeded beyond all expectation in their demands, +the Japanese envoys evidently concluded that the Foreign Office was of +plastic substance, and within two days they had formulated a list of nine +further concessions which they desired to discuss. This, however, was +too much for Lord Russell's patience, and as the envoys had "completed +their business and taken their leave," he declined to enter on any fresh +questions. + +The effect of Lord Russell's concessions could not be otherwise than +detrimental, the only open question being whether his insistence on +opening the ports on the agreed dates would have been a greater or a +lesser evil. Mr Alcock points out the family likeness between the Japanese +pleas for suspension of treaty rights and those with which we had so long +been familiar in China. "The time," he says, allowed to the authorities +of Canton to "soothe the people and prepare the way" was deliberately +used by them to "create the very difficulties which they alleged already +to exist, and make it each year more and more impossible to admit the +foreigners,"--a comment on the Japanese proposal which leaves little doubt +as to his opinion of that transaction. Yet there were cogent reasons for +the course actually adopted, if the premisses be granted that the ports +could only be opened by force, and that England would have been left +alone to employ the necessary force. The most that can be said, then, +for the concessions to the Japanese is that they represented the choice +of evils. No one was benefited by them. They did not help the Tycoon or +avert the catastrophe to his dynasty. They did not lessen the friction, +or the danger to foreign life and interests, or interrupt the long +series of assassinations of foreigners in Japan; nor did they obviate the +necessity of using force in that country, to avoid which was the principal +inducement to her Majesty's Government to violate its own principle. The +analogy with China was, in fact, complete; the old lesson was once more +driven home, that there is no safety in doing wrong. As Sir Rutherford +Alcock puts it, "To retrograde safely and with dignity is often more +difficult for nations and their governments than to advance." + +During the year 1861 an important improvement was inaugurated in +respect to the housing of the foreign Legations. Hitherto they had been +accommodated in temples neither suited to Western modes of living nor, as +had been proved, adapted for defence. Independent sites were now allotted +on a commanding ridge within the city, where the respective Ministers +might have buildings erected on their own plans. These were promptly put +in hand, and soon after Mr Alcock was able to bring his first arduous +campaign--a term applicable in its double sense--to a close. Having +brought the various business of the Legation into a state convenient for +transfer to new hands, he left Yedo in March 1862, a few days before the +arrival of the future _chargé d'affaires_, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward St +John Neale. The Minister was accompanied to England by Moriyama, the chief +interpreter to the Japanese Foreign Office, who was charged with special +instructions to the three envoys then in England. + +From the time that Colonel Neale took charge of the British Legation +events chased each other rapidly. While the new buildings were in progress +the _chargé d'affaires_ divided his time between Yedo and Yokohama, and +while in the capital continued to reside in the temple called To-zen-ji, +where the Legation had been located from the beginning. The inner +buildings were guarded by the mounted escort and by the naval contingent, +which had been renewed as one British warship took the place of another +during the year. In the outer enclosure there was a guard of 500 Japanese, +the retainers of a certain Daimio who was intrusted by the Tycoon with +the protection of the Legation. + +In order to understand what follows, it is necessary to give Colonel +Neale's account of the arrangements which were in force for the protection +of the British Legation:-- + + I found on my arrival that the usual precautions had been taken by + the authorities, and which consisted in placing numerous guards, + entirely surrounding this residence, in detached wooden huts: the + number of these guards, according to the Japanese return which I + obtained, amounted to no less than 535 men, partly of the Tycoon's + bodyguard, but chiefly composed of the retainers of a Daimio named + Matsudaira Temba no Kami, who had been chosen and charged by the + Government with the protection of this Legation. + + Small parties of these men came down at short intervals during + the night to the very doors of this residence, and remained for a + short time with our own sentries, leaving behind them one man at + each post to aid in challenging persons approaching and demanding + the parole, which was in the Japanese language, and issued at + sunset each evening. + + These dispositions were uninterruptedly observed up to the evening + of the 26th June. At midnight on that day the several British + sentinels were at their post, and challenging with vigilance the + Japanese guards, who, in parties of two or three, descended from + the heights overhanging this building at the back for the purpose + of relieving their men. + +What took place at midnight on the 26th June may also be best described +in Colonel Neale's own language:-- + + At half an hour after midnight the British sentry posted at the + door adjoining my bedroom challenged some approaching object in my + hearing, and received in answer the right parole; but the sentry + sharply challenged again in an anxious and eager manner, as if + some circumstance excited his suspicion, after which he walked + three or four steps towards the object approaching. I rose in + bed to hear the result, and in an instant the deadened sound of + a rapid succession of heavy blows and cuts reached my ears, given + in less than two minutes, and at every one of which followed a cry + of anguish from the unfortunate sentry. Silence succeeded for the + moment, and was followed by the beating of drums from the heights + and the gathering of Japanese guards with their red lanterns.... + The assassin having left the sentry at my door, went on towards + the corner of the residence occupied by the guard, a distance + of twenty paces, where he met Corporal Crimp, R.M., coming alone + on his rounds to visit the sentry at my door. A conflict appears + instantly to have taken place between them: a revolver-shot was + heard about the moment the guard was turning out, but nothing + further. + +The corporal was found dead with sixteen sword and lance wounds: the +sentry had nine sword-wounds--"every cut had severed the member it was +aimed at"; but he survived long enough to tell of the instant desertion +of the Japanese sentry who was posted with him. + +This attack was marked by several distinguishing features:-- + +1. The assassins belonged to the Legation guard, or were their comrades; +the only weapon found on the ground was a lance of the precise pattern of +those of the Daimio's guard, which was twelve feet long, and, according to +Colonel Neale, no man carrying such a weapon could have passed the strong +barricade or crawled through the brushwood: presumably, therefore, the +lance was supplied from the armoury within the Legation. According to the +Japanese Ministers, there was but a single assassin. In their anxiety to +maintain their contention that the wounds were all inflicted by the same +man, the Ministers explained to Colonel Neale a little of the science of +Japanese sword-play. "They have attained the climax of dexterity. The +sword is always carried at the side, and adepts in the use of it wound +the moment it is drawn." The fatal stroke, upwards, is given in the act of +drawing. Hence, placing the hand on the hilt is equivalent to presenting +a cocked revolver, and if the assailant is not disabled in the act it +is too late for defence. One only, being wounded by a pistol-bullet and +having committed suicide, was found, and though they could not help +admitting that the man was a retainer of the Daimio who supplied the +guard, the Ministers yet drew a vain distinction between him and the men +actually on duty. It could not, however, be denied that he, or they, were +allowed free ingress and egress through hundreds of men carefully posted +as described by Colonel Neale, and already alert and sounding the alarm, +or that the huts of the Japanese were within 150 feet of the spot where +two Englishmen were murdered, and while the assassin (or assassins) was +inflicting sixteen wounds on one victim and nine on the other. + +2. The intended attack was publicly known beforehand: for several days +the Japanese servants had refused to remain in the Legation overnight, +absenting themselves against orders. The Government also were aware of +the plot, and of the day when it was to be put in execution, which was +on the recurrence of a festival, and, according to the Japanese calendar, +the anniversary of the attack in 1861. The actual day having passed, one +of the Governors of Foreign Affairs was deputed by the Council to call +and congratulate Colonel Neale on his escape. Colonel Neale remarked that +he had no reason for anxiety. The Governor smiled and took leave. But +the "ides of March ... had not gone," In the darkness of that very night +the attack was made. Colonel Neale, recounting the circumstances to the +Council of Foreign Affairs, asked why the Governor had not warned him of +what was impending, instead of congratulating him on his supposed escape; +but "the Gorogiu, to my great surprise, replied that I was quite right in +my observations, and they regretted they had not thought of warning me." + +3. The Japanese Ministers treated the whole matter with apparent +indifference, months having elapsed before any information was +communicated to the British Minister respecting either the cause of the +attack or the execution of justice on the instigators, and then it was +only such information as had been common property for two months. All that +the Japanese Ministers had to say by way of explanation to the foreign +envoys was that the attack proceeded from the unsettled state of public +feeling and from the Japanese nation clinging to the old _régime_; but +that they, the Ministers, hoped gradually to modify this national feeling +so that the foreigners might live in the country without apprehension, +&c. But in the meantime? Well, they "had given strict orders to increase +the protection." Tragicomedy could not well go further. Evidently matters +must soon reach a climax. + +As the first outward and visible consequence of the assassination of +the two marines, an infantry guard of twenty-five men from the 67th +Regiment was sent over from China in addition to the naval guard and the +cavalry escort; and thus another step was taken towards the _dénoûment_ +of the plot. Then the word "retribution" was revived in the diplomatic +correspondence, after having been launched by the Foreign Office in +1861 but arrested _in transitu_, so that it did not reach the Japanese +authorities. It was Admiral Hope, a man who never shrank from speaking +his mind or backing his opinion, who put the case in a pointed form +to the British Admiralty. "Deeply as I should lament the adoption of +hostile measures against the Japanese," he wrote on August 28, "after +the best consideration I have been able to give to the subject I +cannot avoid the conclusion that it is absolutely necessary to nip this +assassination-system in the bud; and that not to take effectual measures +for doing so now will be merely to postpone the evil day to a future, but +not far distant, occasion." + +If further impetus had been wanting to develop this idea, the Japanese +lost no time in supplying it; for the next assassination which has left a +dark blood-stain on the annals of the time was perpetrated on the highroad +between Yedo and Kanagawa on September 14, 1862. + +The victims were a party of three gentlemen and one lady from Yokohama who +had crossed the bay in a boat to Kanagawa, where their horses awaited them +on the _tokaido_. This broad road not being macadamised made an agreeable +riding-course, and it was beautified with lines of old trees, one section +in particular near where the tragedy occurred being known as "The Avenue." +The party proceeded from Kanagawa towards Yedo, not intending to go +farther than Kawasaki, which was the limit of authorised excursions in +that direction. On the way they met the _cortège_ of a Daimio, the first +indication of which was several _norimono_ (the heavy palanquin in which +the nobles of Japan travel) with armed attendants, forming an irregular +train with considerable intervals between. When passing these _norimono_ +the foreigners walked their horses. In the intervals where the road was +clear they cantered, and this mode of alternate progression continued +for three or four miles. Then a regular procession was met, preceded +by about a hundred men marching in single file on either side of the +road. The foreign party thereupon proceeded at a foot's pace, keeping +close to the left side, until they reached "the main body, which was +then occupying the whole breadth of the road." The English party halted +on approaching the main body, according to one of the survivors; but +according to another, they were stopped "when they had got about twelve +men deep in the procession," by "a man of large stature[7] issuing from +the main body," who, swinging his sword with both hands, cut at the two +leading foreigners, Mr Richardson and Mrs Borrodaile, as their horses +were being turned round, and then rushed on the other two. Whereupon the +advance-guard, who had been described as marching in single file, closed +in upon the retreating riders. They were all able by the speed of their +horses to get clear of their assailants; but Mr Richardson was so terribly +hacked that after going some distance he fell from his horse, dying, or, +as his companions thought, dead. He lived, however, until the Daimio's +procession reached the spot, when several of his retainers proceeded to +butcher and mutilate the dying man in the most shocking manner. It speaks +well for all three gentlemen that Mrs Borrodaile escaped substantially +unhurt, though a sword-stroke aimed at her head cut away her hat as she +stooped to avoid the blow. She saw Mr Richardson fall, and her two wounded +companions, unable to render help, urged her to ride on. She miraculously +arrived at Yokohama, bespattered with blood and in a state of very natural +agitation. Mr Clarke and Mr Marshall, exhausted by their wounds, managed +to reach Kanagawa, where they were properly cared for at the American +consulate. + +This tragedy made a more vivid impression on the world at large than +previous ones had done, for several reasons. The cumulative effect of so +many cold-blooded massacres was beginning to tell, and the Japanese cup +was nearly full. There was a lady in the case who galloped seven miles +for dear life, her horse falling twice under her. The chief victim was a +fine specimen of a young Englishman, and very popular. The crime touched +the general foreign community in Japan in a special manner, since the +party belonged to, or were the guests of, Yokohama, where there were also +newspapers and press correspondents to make literature of the event. + +Some friction was created between the foreign community and the British +representative by the ghastly circumstances of this murder. The community, +seeing their own comrades slaughtered without mercy, were incensed, +and called for vengeance, which they deemed to be within reach, for the +Daimio's retinue were sleeping at Hodogaya, a station but a few miles +off. There was force enough afloat and on shore to effect the capture of +the murderers red-handed, and the residents called for this to be done. +Reasons of policy and expediency influenced Colonel Neale in a contrary +sense, in which he was fully supported by the Foreign Office when the +reports reached England. + +The Richardson murder, like that at the British Legation, had its +special characteristics, though of a different order. The outrage was +unpremeditated; the Government was not implicated: it was a fortuitous +collision between the spirit and traditions of two opposed civilisations. +The deed might be construed as the natural punishment of a breach of good +manners--for Japanese etiquette, of which the party seemed to have been +ignorant, required them to dismount--or, as the spontaneous expression +of feudal Japan's deep hatred of the foreigner, concentrated in the +act of a single moment. There was no need on this occasion to hazard +guesses as to the responsible author of the crime, or to keep up a long +train of make-believe negotiations. The _cortège_ belonged to the Prince +of Satsuma, and was escorting his father, Shimadso Saburo, who went +afterwards to the Mikado and said he had been grossly insulted by the +foreigners on the road, and had ordered them to be cut down.[8] + +The problem was thus reduced to its simplest expression. The circumstances +supplied precisely what was wanting to give shape and point to Admiral +Hope's proposal to "nip this assassination-system in the bud"; and a month +after the event he followed up his previous despatch to the Admiralty by +a detailed scheme of reprisals, with the amount and precise distribution +of the force required to give effect to it. And he concludes his despatch +appropriately with the remark, that "should it be found necessary to use +measures of coercion especially against Satsuma, ... the position and +confirmation of his principality render him peculiarly open to attack." + +There were now two reclamations on the Japanese Government--redress for +the murder of the two marines at the Legation in June, and for the killing +and wounding of the Richardson party in September. The British _chargé +d'affaires_ pressed both demands, without committing himself to specific +threats until the mind of her Majesty's Government should be known. Lord +Russell's instructions were sent on 24th December 1862, and would reach +Japan some time in February. They were peremptory as to the use of force +in case of need, whether against the Government or the Prince of Satsuma. + + +V. THE TYCOON'S DILEMMA. + + Strife of parties in Japan--Impotence of Tycoon--His prospective + overthrow--Orders issued by Mikado to drive foreigners out of + Japan--Prevarications of Tycoon--Plots and counterplots--French + and English troops in Yokohama--Compensation paid for the + Richardson murder, but assassin not yet brought to justice--Demand + made on Prince of Satsuma--Bombardment of his castle by + Admiral Kuper--Happy results--Offensive attitude of Prince of + Nagato--Firing on foreign ships of war--Sir R. Alcock's return + from furlough--Publication of his book 'The Capital of the + Tycoon'--His exposition of the political status of parties in + Japan--Dubious attitude of Tycoon--And Mikado--Utmost limit of + concession to Japanese pleas of weakness reached. + +During the interval that elapsed between the tragedy of September 1862 +and the expiation of the crime, revelations of a startling character were +made respecting the strife which was raging among the various parties +in the State--the Tycoon, the Mikado, the great Daimios, and the lesser +Daimios, who followed the Tycoon and the Mikado respectively. These +revelations, however, though they lit up as by lurid lightning-flashes +some corners of the landscape, left the whole in a fog more treacherous +than total darkness. The foreign officials who were called upon to act in +the midst of it confessed themselves unable to unravel the mystery that +surrounded them, nor is it any part of our task to make such an attempt. +It was the chaos which preceded order, a period when the elemental forces +were in the melting-pot, a phase of foreshortened evolution such as had +never till then been dreamed of. However trying such an ordeal was to +the foreign agents who had to go through it, the stress upon them was +as nothing compared to that which lay upon the principalities and powers +of the country itself during the agony of their national birth-throes--a +circumstance which has to be borne in mind when judging of the behaviour +of the Japanese Government in that trying time; for truly the defence of +their proceedings stood much in need of extenuating circumstances. + +We have seen that the British Government had already confessed its +belief that the Tycoon's Government was incompetent to maintain order +where foreigners were concerned. Yet until that Government itself should +plead incompetence, foreign States could only hold it wholly accountable +for all that was done affecting their interests. But the Tycoon's +Government fought tooth and nail against such admission, resorting +to every subterfuge to maintain their status, while yet evading the +responsibilities of the position. The success of this ambiguous policy +required that the foreign representatives should be kept in ignorance +of the relations which subsisted between the different parties in the +Japanese State. Hence secrecy and misdirection governed their diplomatic +intercourse. The treaties themselves having been tainted from their +origin with deception, every stage of their execution was marked by +dissimulation, which came gradually to light as the pressure from within +and from without caused now one corner, now another, of the curtain to be +raised. + +The Tycoon was between the upper and the nether millstone,--foreigners +pressing him for fulfilment of his obligations, while a power greater +than his own was demanding the complete repudiation, or at least the +substantial curtailment, of all these obligations. The straits he was +put to to keep up his two faces were pitiable and desperate, for he had +to make the Mikado and the Daimios believe he was as much opposed to the +foreigners as they were, while to foreigners he was professing loyalty +and throwing the blame of the reaction on the hostile Daimios. Instigated +by them, the Mikado had fully asserted his authority, and the Tycoon was +no longer able to pose as the sovereign ruler of Japan. The allocation of +a site for the foreign Legations on Gotenyama, a popular pleasure-ground +in Yedo, was attacked, and the Tycoon ordered to rescind the grant, which +he endeavoured to do by proposing the substitution of another site. This +being refused by the British _chargé d'affaires_, the Japanese sentry on +the buildings under construction was assassinated, and soon after the +whole building was blown up and burned.[9] So ambiguous had become the +attitude of the Tycoon, that Colonel Neale was in doubt whether this +conflagration pleased or displeased the Yedo Government. (Six months +later the buildings occupied by the United States Legation were likewise +destroyed by fire.) The hostile Daimios, in the name of the Mikado, were, +in fact, putting strong pressure on the Tycoon, while those Daimios who +had favoured the treaties had been punished by confiscation of their +revenues. The Tycoon's position was fast becoming untenable, and in the +last extremity his advisers decided to take the foreign representatives +for the first time into their confidence. + +In January 1863 a Governor of Foreign Affairs informed Colonel Neale +that the Mikado was angry because he had not been consulted about the +treaties, either before or after the signing of them; and that his +Majesty had ordered the Tycoon repeatedly to drive foreigners out of +the country. "But," replied the British _chargé d'affaires_, "that is +wholly inconsistent with what the Gorogiu previously told Sir Rutherford +Alcock." "Quite so," rejoined the Governor; "only what the Ministers told +Sir Rutherford Alcock was false." "But if one member of the Gorogiu can +thus give the other the lie, what security have we that some successor +of yours will not equally disavow what you say? so that at one time +we have the Mikado reported as friendly and at another as hostile to +foreign treaties and trade, and we shall never know which to believe." +This not very promising beginning of "confidences" was quickly followed +by singular confessions and proposals--part of the system of "frauds, +stratagems, and deceptions practised by the Tycoon's Government," as +Colonel Neale characterises them. The Tycoon's Government was ordered to +communicate officially to the foreign representatives the mandate of the +Mikado to drive out foreigners and close the ports. In obedience to this +order a Governor of Foreign Affairs, in announcing the fact to the French +Minister, softened its effect by explaining that this was carrying out the +Mikado's orders "officially"; but "ce n'est là qu'un stratagème nécessaire +pour tromper le peuple japonnais." In developing his plan of campaign the +Governor laid bare to the French Minister the intention of the Tycoon to +deceive the Mikado by pretending to share his views about foreigners; he +was in like manner to deceive the Daimios. Ogasawara, the Minister who was +responsible for carrying out the edict against foreigners, being "un homme +très capable," would find a means of avoiding the execution; he would +himself go to Kioto and make the Mikado listen to reason; if he refused, +then he would pick a quarrel and employ force against the sovereign. In +that case would the foreign Powers assist the Tycoon? All this, however, +must be kept from Hitotsubashi, the First Minister of the Tycoon, "whose +views were as yet uncertain whether to carry out the expulsive orders from +Kioto or not. Ogasawara had formed the plan to declare himself the enemy +of foreigners in order to deceive the high officers even of the Tycoon who +might not be favourable to his scheme; but everything was to be done to +"save Japan." Finally, Ogasawara was to come the day following himself to +interview the foreign Ministers at Yokohama, but not a word of all this +would he utter "for fear of indiscretions." He would only speak briefly +to the point of the notification of the Mikado's order of expulsion. And +if the foreign Ministers would be good enough to frame their reply to that +message in such severe terms as would make an impression on the agitators +in Kioto and Yedo, it would assist the patriotic schemes of this bustling +statesman. So everybody in Japan from the highest to the lowest was to +be bamboozled--even one's own colleagues in the Tycoon's service--and the +only people with whom faith was to be kept were the detested foreigners, +as represented by the Ministers of England and France! Well might Colonel +Neale recoil in disgust from such a brewage of "fraud, stratagem, and +deception." The Tycoon's officers had in all this one definite object +in view, which was to induce the foreign squadrons then menacing Yedo to +transfer themselves to Osaka and Hiogo and menace some one in that part of +the empire. And, curiously enough, the presence of the French troops which +had recently arrived in Yokohama was not only tolerated by the Tycoon, +but they were to serve him as a lever whereby the astute Ogasawara was +to work on the feelings of the Mikado, by representing to his sovereign +the indignation of the foreign Governments and the difficulty of giving +effect to an order for general expulsion, which would include a body of +well-armed troops. + +For while such comedies were being enacted at Yokohama the Tycoon himself +was at Kioto under the friendly surveillance of the Mikado and his +faithful Daimios, and it was a reasonable enough calculation that the +vicinity of foreign fleets might tend to moderate the counsels of these +recalcitrants, to ease the tension between the contending factions, and +lighten the burden of the Tycoon. + +Meantime the pressure of the British demands for redress of the two +grievances was met by evasions and delays until the ultimatum stage was +reached in June 1863. The pecuniary indemnity charged on the Tycoon, +amounting to £110,000, was then paid under circumstances so peculiar as +to be worth recounting as affording further insight into the agitations +of the period. After exhaustive negotiations, leading to an ultimatum, +an agreement was made whereby the Government was to pay the amount +demanded by seven instalments, commencing 18th June 1863. On the 17th +June Ogasawara, third member of the Gorogiu, wrote a curt note to say +the money could not be paid owing to an "unforeseen circumstance," and +postponing payment till 22nd June. On the 19th the same Minister wrote +to Colonel Neale that he intended to have left Yedo for Yokohama for an +interview, but was prevented by sudden illness. This was followed by an +intimation from the Government that no payment whatever would be made. +Diplomatic relations were thereupon broken off by the British _chargé +d'affaires_, and the conduct of affairs was placed in the hands of the +admiral. This brought about the interview with the French Minister above +alluded to, when the Japanese emissaries promised to pay at once the whole +amount due under the agreement with Colonel Neale, and the specie was +actually conveyed in four cartloads to the British Legation on 24th June. +The only explanation given of this strange shuffle was that the numerous +enemies of the Tycoon and of foreigners were on the watch, and threatened +terrible consequences if any money should be paid to the foreigners. That +difficulty, however, had been surmounted by the resourceful Japanese +Machiavel issuing strict orders that the payment should be kept a dead +secret from all except the Governors of Foreign Affairs themselves,--the +four cartloads of silver, drawn each by a dozen or two of men, grunting +laboriously at the task, from the Japanese custom-house to the British +Legation, remaining for this purpose conveniently invisible to a cloud of +hostile witnesses. + +The demands made on the Tycoon in respect of the attack on the British +Legation and on the Richardson party being thus satisfied, it only +remained to carry out the second portion of Earl Russell's instructions +and exact equal satisfaction from the Prince of Satsuma, over whom the +Yedo Government had shown itself to have no control whatever. Much delay +had occurred, due to a variety of circumstances--mainly to the aggressive +acts of another great Daimio, Choshiu, who possessed the western key +of the Inland Sea. This might have necessitated a concentration of the +British squadron in that spot--which actually came to pass a year later. +Finally, however, Rear-Admiral Sir Augustus Kuper proceeded in August to +the Bay of Kagoshima, the stronghold of the Satsuma principality, Colonel +Neale accompanying him to present the demand on the prince with which he +had been intrusted by the British Government. + +The sole reply vouchsafed by the Daimio was a recommendation to Colonel +Neale to return to Yedo and treat with the Tycoon, as Satsuma had no +relations with Great Britain. It was now the admiral's turn to act, and +his first step in the way of reprisal was the seizing of three steamers, +then lying in the bay, which were soon burned to relieve the squadron +of their charge. Thereupon the Daimio's forts opened fire, and a hot +engagement ensued in the midst of a terrific gale, which the prince's +people afterwards said was reckoned on as a condition favourable for +his attack on the foreign ships. There was considerable loss of life +on both sides; much damage was done to the Daimio's defences, arsenal, +and magazines. But the inhabitants of the town escaped injury from the +conflagration, they having previously been removed to places of safety. +The squadron returned to the Bay of Yedo. + +Within a short time the Prince of Satsuma sued for terms, paid the +indemnity demanded, £25,000, promised to punish the murderer of +Richardson, when caught, and became a good friend to the English, to the +extent at least of desiring to cultivate relations with them. + +Thus happily ended the first hostile encounter between Japan and any +Western Power, the first demonstration of the superiority of foreign arms, +and, as some think, the baptism of fire which was the inaugurating rite +by which Japan entered into the comity and the competition of the Western +nations, and into that path of material progress which has since led to +such astonishing results. + +The attitude of the Yedo Government in this affair may be said to +have been one of placid observation. They had nothing to regret in the +chastisement inflicted on a prince who set their authority at defiance. + +In the interval of time between the settlement of the indemnities for the +two outrages and the departure of the fleet for Kagoshima the Tycoon's +Ministers had drawn closer and closer to the foreign representatives, and +English steamers were chartered for conveyance of the Tycoon's troops +to Osaka with the knowledge and approval of the British authorities. +The defence of Yokohama was by the Government voluntarily confided to +the English and French admirals, and sanguine hopes were held out to +the foreign representatives that if the Tycoon should succeed in his +endeavours at Kioto, foreign relations would assume a totally different +aspect on his return to his capital. + +On the other hand, while the negotiations with the Yedo Government had +been dragging their slow length along, another of the great princes +had taken arms against the foreign Powers indiscriminately. The Daimio +Choshiu had made a strong stand against foreign intercourse, and in a +well-reasoned and moderately worded letter addressed to the Tycoon in +May 1862 he urged union between that high officer and the Mikado in order +that the country might be placed in a condition to resist foreigners. The +territory of the Prince of Nagato, as he was also designated, commanded +the narrow strait of Shimonoséki, which connects the Suwonada, or Inland +Sea, with the outer waters. This had become the regular route of steamers +between the Bay of Yedo and the south of Japan, as at this day. + +Moved by an impulse which was not cleared up at the time, if ever it has +been since, Choshiu began in July 1863 to fire from his forts and from +armed vessels in the straits on passing steamers. French, American, and +Dutch war-vessels were successively bombarded as they entered the passage. +The fire was returned, and damage inflicted on the Daimio's batteries; +but such was the power of their guns and their precision of aim that +many were killed and wounded on the foreign ships, some of which were +obliged to retire without getting through the strait. The prince remained +obdurate and continued his hostile proceedings, a steamer belonging to +the Tycoon and another belonging to Satsuma, said to be the friend and +ally of Choshiu, coming in for the customary salutation as they passed. +He embargoed or destroyed trading junks attempting to pass the straits, +and thus established an effective blockade of the great commercial artery +of Japan. + +It was droll to find Satsuma, soon after the affair of Kagoshima, +appealing to the Mikado against these outrages of Nagato, and opposing +the reactionary policy of his quondam ally. Satsuma had had his lesson; +Nagato had yet to receive his. + + * * * * * + +Sir Rutherford Alcock returned to his post after two years' furlough. His +distinguished services had been recognised by the Queen's Government, +who conferred on him the honour of Knight Commander of the Bath. In +the same year, 1862, he completed his valuable work, 'The Capital of +the Tycoon,' which for the first time brought the real Japan of that +day to the knowledge of the reading world. This, the most important +single literary work left by the busy pen of Sir Rutherford Alcock, +is a storehouse of information on the history, civilisation, politics, +religion, art, and industry of Japan, carefully sifted and presented in +the most attractive form. It contains, moreover, a vivid narrative of +the reopening of international intercourse with that country, and of the +stirring incidents which marked the earlier years of its progress. It is +also a philosophical study at first hand of the most remarkable political +evolution that history records. Considering the official activity and high +tension under which the materials were gathered, the writing of such a +book, of a Japanese Grammar, and other literary and artistic studies, is +a proof of the intellectual detachment which is usually associated with +the higher order of mind. This work of a single pioneer observer has well +borne the scrutiny of the innumerable host of students, grave and gay, who +have followed in the same path. After forty years its authority remains +intact. A short extract will at once show the character of the book and +afford a convenient summary of the then Government of Japan:-- + + That the Mikado is the hereditary sovereign of the empire, the + descendant of a long and uninterrupted line of sovereigns of the + same dynasty, and the only sovereign _de jure_ recognised by all + Japanese from the Tycoon to the lowest beggar--a true sovereign + in all the legal attributes of sovereignty; and that the Tycoon + receives investiture from him as his lieutenant or generalissimo, + _and as such only_, the head of the executive, is known to most + readers of the present day. True, the Mikados have been shorn + of much of their power since Yoritomo, in 1143, profiting by + civil commotions among the princes of the land, and armed with + power as generalissimo to humble these turbulent chiefs, only + suppressed the troubles to arrogate to himself the greater part + of the sovereign power under the title given by a grateful master + of Ziogun. Another Pepin d'Héristal and mayor of the palace, he + did not care to dethrone the descendant of an illustrious line of + emperors, and was content with holding the reins, and transmitting + the same privilege to his descendants. And so the power continued + divided in great degree, the shadow from the substance, until + later, towards the close of the sixteenth century, a peasant's son + and favourite attendant of the actual generalissimo, but known + in Japanese history by the name he afterwards assumed of Taiko + Sama, raised himself, apparently by great abilities as well as + daring, to the seat of power on his master's death, and stripped + the reigning Mikado of the last remains of secular power. + + Since that time the successive emperors, or Mikados, are brought + into the world, and live and die within the precincts of their + Court at Miaco (Kioto), the boundaries of which they never pass + during their whole life. Is it possible to conceive a less + desirable destiny? But the Zioguns, or Tycoons, as they are + styled in European treaties, have long been undergoing a somewhat + analogous process, under which all substantial power has been + transferred from them to the principal Daimios, or Princes, + who form a Great Council of State, and whose nominee the Tycoon + himself has become, as well, I believe, as all his chief Ministers + or councillors. They exercise, if they do not claim, the right + of removing both Tycoon and Ministers, and a voice potential in + all affairs of State. For legislative changes even the almost + forgotten Mikado must indeed give his consent, never of course + refused when any unanimity prevails.... + + The Mikado of the day is the exact type of the last descendant + of Clovis, sitting "sad and solitary, effeminate and degenerate," + doomed only to wield "a barren sceptre" and sigh away a burdensome + and useless existence of mock pageantry; never permitted to pass + the gates of his prison-palace.... + + This double machinery of a titular sovereign who only reigns, + and a lieutenant of the empire who only governs and does not + reign, from generation to generation, is certainly something + very curious; and by long continuance it seems to have led to a + duplicate system such as never existed in any other part of the + world, carried out to almost every detail of existence. Every + office is doubled; every man is alternately a watcher and watched. + Not only the whole administrative machinery is in duplicate, + but the most elaborate system of check and countercheck, on the + most approved Machiavellian principle, is here developed with a + minuteness and perfection as regards details difficult at first + to realise. As upon all this is grafted a system of more than + oriental mendacity, we feel launched into a world of shadows and + make-believes hard to grapple with in the practical business of + life. Of their mendacity and cynical views respecting it I had + many illustrations. One of the official gentry upon a particular + occasion having been found by a foreign Minister in deliberate + contradiction with himself, was asked, somewhat abruptly perhaps, + how he could reconcile it to his conscience to utter such palpable + untruths. With perfect calmness and self-possession he replied, "I + told you last month that such and such a thing had been done, and + now I tell you the thing has not been done at all. I am an officer + whose business it is to carry out the instructions I receive and + to say what I am told to say. What have I to do with its truth or + falsehood?"... + + To return to the Tycoon and the governors of the early middle + ages, with its suzerain and feudatories, its fiefs and a + phantom king, with hereditary mayors of the palace and chiefs + with 10,000 retainers, each one holding himself as good as the + Tycoon, who must live in constant dread of open revolt or secret + assassination, what a pleasant state of existence for all parties + it reveals! Each of these territorial magnates or great Daimios + is practically independent of the Tycoon when within his own + territory, with power of life and death over all his subjects + and dependants; ... even an imperial passport will not secure an + intruder's life.... + + Power has passed in no small degree from the Tycoon's hands, as + it formerly did from the Mikado's, and now remains chiefly in an + executive Council of State, consisting of five Ministers, and + these again held in no small check, if not in subservience, by + the Daimios and feudal chiefs of the higher order, amounting to + some 360. Although these do not actually form a Chamber of Lords + nor assemble in a body at stated periods, nothing legislative, it + is said, can be done without their assent obtained.... They hold + themselves too high to demean themselves by taking part in the + administration, or holding office, under the Tycoon. But neither + the Tycoon nor the Ministers, separately or collectively, can + venture upon a change in their laws and customs without their + sanction and a further confirmation by the phantom sovereign of + Miaco.... + + In the mean time, between the Mikado who nominally wields the + sceptre--the Tycoon, a youth who no less nominally governs the + kingdom, and is but fourth in rank in the Japan red-book, for + three of the Mikado's officers take precedence--and the Daimios + great and small, ... the administrative machinery of the realm + seems to be kept in order. + +Another incident of the year was Sir Rutherford Alcock's second marriage +to a friend of the earlier Shanghai days, the widow of the Rev. T. Lowder, +first consular chaplain of that settlement. They had been both widowed +about the same time. They were about the same age too, and the union, +based on a deep-rooted and matured affection, proved an exceptionally +happy one during thirty-five years, till death divided them. Lady Alcock +accompanied her husband on his return to Japan, where they arrived in +March 1864. + +During the two years of the Minister's absence affairs in Japan had, as we +have seen, been advancing rapidly--whether towards a reasonable solution +or to a catastrophe was as yet doubtful. The agitation against the foreign +treaties had been gathering force and consistency; the Tycoon's position +was becoming more and more precarious, his existence being pledged to +the annulment of the hated treaties. Encouraged by the success which +had attended his mission to Europe in 1862, he despatched another in +the beginning of 1864, to represent to the European Governments that the +public feeling in Japan was growing worse every day, that the Tycoon would +not be able to protect foreigners in Yokohama, and that, in short, the +port must be closed and foreign trade confined to Hakodate and Nagasaki. +The mission, already on its way, was met by Sir Rutherford Alcock in +Shanghai, where he had an opportunity of personal conference with the +envoys. The situation was thus summarised by the Minister in a despatch +to the Foreign Office, 31st March 1864:-- + + It is just two years since I left Japan in order to be present in + London when the first mission sent by the Tycoon to the treaty + Powers in Europe should arrive. Returning to my post a month + ago, I met a second mission on its way to the same Courts. These + two embassies seem to me to form very significant events in the + history of Japan and its relations with foreign States.... I + consider the signing of the protocol of June 1862 (afterwards + adopted with unimportant modifications by all the other Powers), + freely granting without abatement all that the Tycoon asked, was + the culminating act and fitting end of the conciliatory policy + so consistently adhered to from the beginning. It was impossible + to concede more without abandoning the treaties altogether. + Thenceforth it only remained to gather the promised fruit of + greater security to life, and freer intercourse within narrowed + limits, which, for the moment at least, appeared unattainable in + the wider range of five ports and two cities.... The avowed object + of the second mission is to declare that all the hopes held out + by the Tycoon of the probable results of the first concessions + have been illusory.... The only fruit has been indiscriminate + aggression, increased insecurity, calling for measures of coercion + on the part of all the treaty Powers; finally, a decree for the + expulsion of foreigners, with a mission from the Tycoon to declare + his utter inability to maintain the treaties, and to suggest a + surrender of all the rights and privileges they were framed to + secure in perpetuity. + +The mission was not successful in its main purpose, and soon returned to +Japan to report progress. + + +VI. THE CRISIS. + + Foreign rights must be sustained by force or definitively + abandoned--Organises a retaliatory demonstration against + Nagato--Forts at Shimonoséki attacked by international squadron, + after delays--Satisfactory results--Nagato claims authority of + Mikado for his attacks on foreign ships--His defeat gave courage + to Tycoon--Anti-foreign measures promptly withdrawn--The treaties + of 1858 ratified by Mikado--Sir R. Alcock's recall--Lord Russell's + _amende_. + +The Tycoon's Government had actually succeeded by patient persistence in +evil-doing in making Yedo "too hot to hold" the foreign representatives, +who had in consequence gradually accustomed themselves to residence in the +freer air of Yokohama. "Incendiarism and assassination had done their work +and effected the end for which they were employed," writes Sir Rutherford +Alcock, who goes on to remark that "the recovery of this lapsed right" +(of residence in the capital) "will have now to follow, not precede, other +measures." So far had the foreign nations retreated before the forces of +reaction, forces which necessarily acquired cohesion and momentum with +each retrograde step of the opposing Powers. The country, meaning thereby +the official hierarchy, was now at least, if not before, practically +unanimous. Mikado, Daimios, the Tycoon himself, however they may have been +embittered by their mutual jealousies, were now united, and passionately +united, in the determination to expel the foreigners, so far as it might +be possible,--on which latter point, however, there was room for great +differences of opinion. The Prince of Nagato might be a rebel against +the Tycoon's or the Mikado's authority, both of whom had disavowed his +proceedings, but his determination to block the passage of the Inland Sea +and suppress all trade but his own was an important part of the national +policy of expulsion. It appeared that the only friend of foreigners at +that time was the Prince of Satsuma, who had become a changed man since +his stronghold was bombarded, and he began to see that the restoration of +imperial rule and deposition of the Tycoon might be accomplished by the +assistance of foreigners. That event was undoubtedly accelerated by the +policy of the first two British ministers in Japan. + +The new position was reviewed under a sense of deep personal +responsibility by Sir Rutherford Alcock in several despatches during +the spring of 1864, and, as we have seen, the conclusion he arrived at +was that the utmost limit of concession to Japanese exigencies had been +reached: everything had been given up to them that could be given up +without abandoning the treaties entirely and leaving the country. There +was not even room left for negotiation. "No attempt at a compromise of +such conflicting pretensions could possibly succeed." "Compromise or +concession is plainly impossible in the nature of things." Moreover, Earl +Russell had enjoined on both the _chargé d'affaires_ and the Minister to +stand firmly for their rights. His latest instruction to Sir Rutherford +Alcock on his departure from England was, "You will in any case require +from the Tycoon and the Daimios the execution of the treaty." In the face +of a determination to annul the treaties this necessitated some vigorous +action. + +The most obvious and most straightforward course indicated was to deal +a decisive blow against the Prince of Nagato, who for nearly twelve +months had set the whole of the Western Powers at defiance. He was more +accessible from the salt water than even Satsuma; he was repudiated, +hypocritically or not, by his sovereign; and a punitive expedition to +Shimonoséki would not involve detriment to trade or inflict injury on +innocent people. Such an operation had, moreover, much to recommend it +from the point of view of general Japanese policy; for "in attacking +in his stronghold the most violent and rash of his class, it may be +possible," said the British Minister, "by one blow to paralyse the whole +body of Daimios.... The command of the Inland Sea and the whole internal +trade of that portion of Japan which must of necessity be in our hands +during any operations would do more, probably, to bring the Court of the +Mikado and of Yedo to a sense of the danger and folly of entering upon +hostilities with the treaty Powers than any course of diplomacy.... The +alternative is a probable catastrophe, and a war of a protracted kind at +no distant period." + +About this time the appeals which for two years had been made in vain to +the British military authorities in China for a sufficient force to give +security at Yokohama were listened to, and a regiment of infantry, the +20th, and of marines, were detached from Hongkong and a force of Beloochis +from Shanghai. One of the anomalies of an unprecedented situation was that +the Government, which was concerting measures to expel all foreigners, +was nevertheless constrained to provide accommodation for these troops, +"which were not to make war, but to prevent acts which would lead to war." +For all that, the presence of foreign troops on the sacred soil was far +from palatable, even though the Tycoon might secretly acquiesce in the +reasoning by which the British Minister had commended a measure which was +in any case an unavoidable necessity. + +The arrival of these troops had a marked effect on the tactics of the +Tycoon. For ten months his Government, which had been powerless and +passive regarding the warlike proceeding of Choshiu, now became alarmed +lest the foreigners were about to take the law into their own hands with +that recalcitrant Prince. The Tycoon's Ministers began to affect much +concern for his punishment and repression. They would at once move against +him, and until the result of their efforts was known they urged that the +British garrison should remain absolutely passive in Yokohama. + +For effective action against the Daimio Choshiu it was necessary that an +agreement should be come to among the treaty Powers, three of whom had +been in actual collision with his batteries and armed ships. Individually +Great Britain had not received this direct provocation, and was only +interested in the general question of the obstruction to commerce and in +the maintenance of the political status of the Powers. How the concert +was brought about would be an interesting inquiry, but we may safely +conclude that the achievement owed much to two causes, one positive and +one negative. The former was the strong will, clear sight, and absolute +fearlessness of responsibility of the British Minister; the latter was +the non-existence of any ocean telegraph. For, as we have so frequently +seen nearer home, the direct efforts of the Great Powers to arrive at +any agreement for common action are always protracted, often abortive, +and seldom successful. The decision in this case had to be taken by the +agents on the spot, personally intimate with each other, acting on general +principles and on a free interpretation of the instructions from their +Governments. And so it came to pass that within three months after Sir +Rutherford Alcock's arrival in Japan the Ministers of France, the United +States, the Netherlands, and Great Britain had signed a protocol in which +they agreed to make a fresh representation in the nature of an ultimatum +to the Tycoon's Government, calling upon it to adopt means to put an end +to the hostilities of the Prince of Nagato, and informing it that on no +account would their Governments allow the port of Yokohama to be closed. +This agreement of May 1864 was the natural sequel to a declaration of 25th +July 1863, by which the same four Powers had intimated to the Tycoon the +necessity of reopening the Inland Sea, but which had remained without any +acknowledgment by the Government. The new _note identique_ addressed to +the Gorogiu was equally left unacknowledged by that body. + +Nothing therefore remained but to take the respective naval commanders +into counsel. The Ministers had no authority over them, but it was quickly +found that the concert of admirals and captains was as perfect as that +of the diplomatic body. The ships of the four Powers--Great Britain, +France, United States, and Netherlands--were placed under the command of +Vice-Admiral Sir Augustus Kuper, and a plan of action was settled upon. + +The advance to Shimonoséki was still, however, delayed by two +circumstances. The first was the return from Europe of two Japanese +students, out of five who had been sent there the previous year by that +very Prince of Choshiu against whom coercive measures were about to be +undertaken. These young men, hearing while abroad of the proceedings +of their chief, and convinced, from what they had seen in Europe, of +the overwhelming resources of the Powers, that Choshiu was bringing +disaster on himself in forcing battle on such antagonists, resolved to +hurry back to Japan with the express object of warning their prince of +his danger. The arrival of the two youths in Yedo was thought by the +foreign Ministers to offer some chance of coming to terms with Choshiu +without the arbitrament of arms, and accordingly facilities were afforded +by Vice-Admiral Kuper for landing the two travellers at the nearest +convenient point to their prince's territory. They were intrusted with +overtures of peace in the form of a long memorandum from the British +Minister, reviewing the whole situation, and explaining the attitude of +the Powers and the hopelessness of the armed resistance of any Daimio. The +messengers brought back to the rendezvous, where a light-draught vessel +waited for them, an oral reply from the prince explaining his attitude +and asking for three months' delay to enable Choshiu to confer with the +Mikado and Tycoon, by whose orders he had done what he had done, and +without whose consent he dare not change his policy. It is interesting +to recall the fact that the names of the two youthful emissaries were Ito +and Inouyé, who have since played so distinguished and honourable a part +in the development of their country. + +The second cause of suspension of action against Choshiu was the news +of a convention concluded in Paris between the Japanese envoys and the +French Foreign Minister, dated June 20, 1864, in which this very object of +the reopening of the Straits of Shimonoséki was provided for. Were this +convention to be ratified by the Tycoon the immediate cause of dispute +would be removed. The matter, however, was disposed of with more than its +accustomed promptitude by the Japanese Government, who curtly refused to +ratify the French convention. The Tycoon's Ministers declared themselves +unable to carry out the agreement, and to ratify it would merely be to +add another to their too onerous obligations. Admiral Kuper was finally +given a free hand on August 25, and before the middle of September the +forts and ships of the recalcitrant prince were completely destroyed by +the Allied squadrons, not without considerable resistance and some loss +to the assailants. The action was conducted with admirable harmony among +the officers engaged, and the reciprocity of compliments between the +respective commanders-in-chief, especially between the French and English +admirals, is edifying reading in these later days. + +The negotiations which followed on board the British flagship ended in +the most satisfactory manner. Choshiu submitted with a good grace, while +apologetically throwing the blame of his hostile proceedings on the two +higher authorities, the Mikado and the Tycoon. + +All the Daimios had been notified of the decision of the Mikado and +the Tycoon to break off relations with foreigners from 20th June 1863. +Three days after this notice its purport was confirmed, and a positive +order given to "make military preparations with diligence that the ugly +barbarians may be swept out." This was promptly followed by a third yet +more explicit. "Bearing this in mind" (the date of expulsion, 20th June +1863), "you must omit nothing which is required to complete the maritime +defences of your province, and you must be ready to sweep them off should +they attack you unawares." A liberal interpretation of these imperial +decrees might be held to cover the aggressive proceedings of the most +powerful Daimio in the empire, whose province happened to command its most +important strategic position, and who watched the continual passing of +foreign ships under the guns of his forts. The time when Choshiu commenced +his attacks on passing ships coincided so exactly with the date assigned +by the Mikado for the general rupture with foreigners, that it is hardly +possible to dissociate his act from the scheme of his suzerain. When +subsequently called before the council, Choshiu boldly defied both Tycoon +and Mikado, declaring that he alone had obeyed the imperial mandate, and +deserved gratitude for executing single-handed the law of the empire for +the extermination of foreigners. The rupture was decreed for June 20. +The American steamer Pembroke was fired on on the 25th, being, no doubt, +the first foreign vessel to pass the straits after the 20th. Whatever +ulterior designs this great feudatory may have entertained, therefore, he +was not altogether without provocation in making a raid on the Mikado's +capital, which he did in the month of August following, and for which he +was condemned by his suzerain to a term of seclusion within his palace, +the usual form of punishment of an offending feudatory, which implies much +more than would appear from this mild definition. + +On the capture of the forts at Shimonoséki the Government at once stepped +in and assumed all the obligations, pecuniary and other, which the issue +of the collision imposed on the Prince of Nagato. The town of Shimonoséki +had been spared, but held to ransom. A convention was signed whereby the +Tycoon agreed to pay an indemnity of three million dollars, which was +eventually paid in full, the last instalment of it after the fall of the +Shôgunate. + +Taking heart of grace from his defeat by foreigners, the Tycoon, if +not the Mikado also, began to coerce Choshiu on his own account. Not +being able to reach him conveniently in his principality, the Tycoon's +Government set to work to destroy his vast establishment at Yedo. The fire +brigade was employed in this work, and such was the extent of it that +several thousand men were said to be engaged for three days in burning +down the buildings and fittings. Moreover, when categorically questioned +by the foreign Minister whether, now that Satsuma and Choshiu had been +brought under control, "the Tycoon would find it possible to give full +effect to the treaties, and to deal with any recalcitrant or rebellious +Daimios," the confidential Minister of the Tycoon replied without +hesitation, "Yes, certainly." + +The defeat of the two most warlike of the Daimios illuminated the +situation and cleared the way for more intelligent action all round. +To the Japanese Government it was once for all demonstrated that it was +not by force of arms that the "ugly barbarians" were to be driven from +the country. The foreign fleets were for the time being invincible, and +the Powers had also shown themselves ready not only to act, but to act +together. There was, besides, a strong garrison of foreign troops in +Yokohama--a British force of 1200 men of all arms, with a marked tendency +to increase. The Mikado and the Tycoon wisely acquiesced in the situation, +so far as foreigners were concerned, not necessarily abandoning their +policy, but at any rate deferring its execution. + +Their immediate attention was directed to the internal commotions of the +country, which could not now be long in coming to an explosion. A new +planet had intersected their system and upset its balance. There could +be no rest, therefore, until a new equilibrium was found. Foreign forces +chastising the great feudatories, with the tacit acquiescence and for the +benefit of the suzerain, could only be a step either towards dissolution +and subjugation, or towards renaissance and national unity. Feudalism had +had its day and served its turn; it was wholly incompatible with the new +relations which had been imposed on the country by the foreign Powers. But +where is the State, ancient or modern, that could entirely remodel itself, +as it were, on the field of battle and in front of the enemy? That must +remain the proud speciality of Japan. + +The effect of the action at Shimonoséki on the position of foreigners +was at once made apparent in various ways. The Tycoon's Government had +laid a secret embargo on raw silk sent to market at Yokohama as part and +parcel of the general imperial design of closing that port, or, in the +alternative, of a gigantic scheme of Government monopoly of the whole +foreign trade, such being the only form of commerce for which the Japanese +officials had any real sympathy. The stoppage had lasted three months. +After Choshiu's defeat the restrictions were at once officially withdrawn, +though considerable efforts were still required to give full effect to the +withdrawal. Once more, also, "the Tycoon resolved to abandon the policy +of equivocation and duplicity," and to inform the Mikado frankly of the +impossibility of closing the port or of refusing to maintain the treaties. + +The moment seemed opportune for raising the question of the ratification +of the treaties by the Mikado, in respect to which Sir Rutherford Alcock +made certain plain statements in a letter addressed to the Tycoon in +person. "There exists," he said, "a want of accord on the subject of +foreign relations between the Mikado and Tycoon.... The Mikado, by +requiring the abrogation of treaties, has reduced the Tycoon to the +alternative of either disobeying his legitimate sovereign or bringing +on his country all the calamities of war.... The only solution of the +difficulty that promises either peace or security is the ratification +of the treaties by the Mikado." The four foreign representatives +simultaneously pressed the same consideration on the Government, eliciting +from the Japanese Ministers the admission, "We perfectly agree with you, +it should now take place." + +It now became the business of the British Minister to show to his +Government that the proceedings at Shimonoséki fulfilled in every point +the instructions he had received from the Foreign Office. This he did in +a despatch dated September 28, 1864, and so convincingly that Earl Russell +wrote in reply-- + + Your despatch of the 28th of September is a successful vindication + of the policy you have pursued.... My despatches of the 26th of + July were written with a view to discourage the interruption of a + progressive trade by acts of hostility, and to forbid recourse to + force while the treaty was generally observed. Those despatches, + you will understand, remain in full force. + + But the documents you have sent me, which arrived by the last + mail, show that the silk trade was almost wholly interrupted by + the Tycoon, who seemed to be preparing to abet or to abandon the + project of driving out foreigners according to the boldness or + the timidity of our demeanour. + + In this position there could be no better course than to punish + and disarm the Daimio Prince Nagato. + + That course had these three separate advantages:-- + + 1. It gave the best promise of concurrence of the four Powers, + as France, Holland, and the United States had all been sufferers + from the Prince of Choshiu's violations of treaty, while we were + most exposed to risk and loss by any Japanese attack on Yokohama. + + 2. It involved proceeding only against a rebellious vassal, and + not against the Mikado or the Tycoon. + + 3. If the operation should prove successful, the four Powers were + under no obligation to undertake further hostilities unless fresh + provocation should be received. + + Her Majesty's Government have received with great satisfaction + the account of the naval operations of the four squadrons, and + their result, contained in your despatch of September 28. Those + operations were conducted in the most gallant manner; the loss was + not considerable; the four Powers acted in harmony together; no + defenceless city suffered during the hostilities; and the terms + granted to the offending Daimio were moderate towards him, and + sufficient for us. + + I have only to add, that I am commanded to express to you her + Majesty's full approbation of your conduct. + +So far so good. But the slow mail service of those days, and the entire +absence of the telegraph, admitted of wonderful interpolations in +correspondence with such far-off countries as Japan. Events marched +quicker than the course of post could follow them, and despatches were +sometimes written which the writer would have given a good deal to recall. +Such was the case here. We have said that soon after Sir Rutherford +Alcock's return to Japan he addressed some weighty despatches to the +Foreign Office on the situation, undoubtedly leading up to the ultimate +employment of force in vindication of the foreign treaties. This was in +full accord with the spirit of Earl Russell's instructions dated December +17, 1863. These were-- + + 1. To require from the Tycoon and the Daimios the execution of the + engagements of the treaty. + + 2. To consult the admiral and any military officer who may be sent + to Japan as to the means of strengthening and holding our position + in Yokohama. + + 3. To endeavour to procure from Hongkong the services of a regiment + of infantry. + + 4. The admiral to be authorised to land marines and destroy the + batteries which have been erected for the evident purpose of + interrupting the passage of our merchandise, &c.; but he must take + care that no unarmed and peaceable town should be bombarded. + +But when the Foreign Secretary received the Minister's despatches of +May, following the terms of these instructions to their only logical +conclusion, he became alarmed at the prospect of active measures, and +by despatch of August 8 he recalled the Minister under the pretext of +the need of a personal consultation on the state of affairs. This was +followed up by some temporising despatches, saying the Inland Sea was of +no consequence; that the Tycoon was professing an intention to do all +that was necessary; and that the Tycoon and Mikado, seeing the British +forces strong though passive, would gradually drop all hostile policy. +How were these vacillating utterances to be reconciled with the position +so decidedly taken up eight months before? + +A disturbing influence had intervened, causing Lord Russell to see Japan +at an oblique angle. Certain other brave words of the Foreign Secretary +in that year, 1864, in connection with the Danish Duchies, had also had +their current turned awry and lost the name of action. Japan was but +an echo. Of course, after the definite energetic policy of the Queen's +representative in Japan had proved a brilliant success, had involved no +complications, had, in fact, been the means of temporarily uniting four of +the treaty Powers, Lord Russell was ready enough to make the _amende_ to +Sir Rutherford Alcock, though to have cancelled his order of recall would +have been too frank an admission of error to expect from any statesman. +In this manner was the career of Sir Rutherford Alcock in Japan brought +to an abrupt, but highly honourable, conclusion. He received his letter +of recall while in the act of completing the final convention with the +Tycoon respecting the affair of the Prince of Choshiu. The announcement +was heard in Japan almost with consternation. The Tycoon's Ministers were +particularly grieved about it, and they sent a strongly-worded letter +to Earl Russell to be laid before the Queen, dwelling on the important +services the envoy had rendered to their country, and begging that he +might be sent back to them as soon as the urgent affairs that required +his presence in England had been settled. The mercantile communities of +the treaty ports were no less warm in their commendation of the services +rendered to them and to general commerce by the decided measures adopted +by the Minister, and in their regret at his departure. "The principal +triumph of your success," they said in a farewell address, "lies in +the fact that you have accomplished all this not only without causing a +collision between her Majesty's Government and that of the Tycoon, but +by actually strengthening the Government from which you obtained the +concessions, as well as by acting in such a way as to secure the cordial +co-operation of the foreign Ministers resident at this port." + +Admiral Kuper took so serious a view of the loss of a representative +of such unrivalled experience and virility, that he took it on himself +to address to the Minister privately a weighty appeal, on public and +patriotic grounds, to postpone his departure until at least he had time to +refer again to the Foreign Office, which on subsequent information must +certainly take a different view of the action of their Minister. That +the admiral correctly appreciated the attitude of the Foreign Office is +sufficiently shown by Lord Russell's despatches already quoted, and by +that dated January 31, 1865, which concludes, "I shall wish you to return +at once to Yokohama, to perform in Japan such additional meritorious +services as may be expected from your tried ability and long experience." +But Sir Rutherford Alcock did not consider that the episode would have +left him the prestige necessary for further useful service in Japan, and +he declined to return to that country. + +Sir Rutherford remained at his post long enough to secure the fulfilment +of the primary objects of the Allied expedition against Choshiu: the +reopening of trade, which had been practically closed both at Yokohama and +Nagasaki, and a number of most important improvements in the conditions +of foreign residence in Yokohama. These comprised a parade-ground and +racecourse, hospitals, slaughter-houses, filling in of swamp, a clear +and convenient site for consular buildings, a good carriage-road seven +miles in circuit, away from the town, and various other extensions of the +comforts of foreign residents. + +The ratification of the treaties, too, by the Mikado was virtually +arranged. The very day before Sir Rutherford Alcock embarked for England +he was enabled to report to his Government that the law interdicting +intercourse and putting all foreigners under the ban of outlawry had +been modified, and its hostile provisions repealed. This was considered +tantamount to the Mikado's acknowledgment of the Tycoon's treaties, and +thus the vice of illegality which had attached to them from their origin +was at last removed. A year later the Mikado distinctly and in so many +words approved of the treaties. This, therefore, may fairly be considered +Sir Rutherford Alcock's last service to his country in Japan. It was +not, however, till 1868, after the attack on Sir H. Parkes while on his +way to the palace of the Mikado, that an edict was published, over the +imperial sign manual, decreeing that the lives of foreigners in Japan were +thenceforth to be deemed as sacred as the lives of the subjects of the +empire. + +But it would not have been Japan without an assassination to mark the +close of the Minister's eventful career. Two officers of the British +garrison, Major Baldwin and Lieutenant Bird, on an excursion on horseback +to the romantic district of Kamakura, and near the celebrated bronze +statue of Buddha, were stealthily attacked in broad day by a couple of +two-sworded men, and mercilessly cut down. One of them lived late into +the night, spoke, and drank tea, when the assassins, or accomplices +in the crime, paid another visit to the dying man and, as in the case +of Richardson, despatched him with ghastly ferocity. The Tycoon might +truthfully say, "An enemy hath done this"; but the position of the +Government had been so much strengthened by the collapse of Choshiu that +the Tycoon's officers were no longer afraid of pursuing the criminals +and bringing them to justice, especially as they happened to be _ronin_, +or masterless men. "Twelve similar onslaughts," wrote Sir Rutherford, +"have been made on foreigners, and in no one instance has justice had its +due." For "even in the only case where men were executed, the Government +did not venture in exposing their heads to declare their crime, or admit +that it was for an attack upon foreigners." The present case was to +prove an exception to the hitherto unbroken rule. Within a month certain +accomplices in the crime were brought to punishment in Yokohama, and there +one of the principals, who was executed in presence of British officers, +died boasting of his crime and claiming the highest patriotic sanction +for it. + +Sir Rutherford and Lady Alcock took their departure from Yokohama on +December 24, 1864. + + +VII. THE BIRTH OF NEW JAPAN. + + Four years of civil strife--Cessation of efforts to eject + foreigners--The adoption of foreign appliances--Educational + missions--Unanimity of Japanese in cultivating foreign + intercourse--The merits of those who promoted the movement--Sir R. + Alcock's services in the cause of Japanese progress--His services + to Japanese art. + +"Is this the commencement of a civil war?" wrote the British Minister +during his first year of residence in Japan. When he left the civil war +was well advanced. Feverish energy was being displayed by every party +in the State. There was a race for foreign ships and armaments among +the Daimios; the Tycoon was involved in a struggle for existence; the +legitimate sovereign was asserting his authority, and the feudatories were +rallying to his support. Neither the immediate nor the remote issues were +clear, but the sword was out of the scabbard, and would not be sheathed +again until a new order of things should be established. + +The civil strife, which ended within four years in the abolition of +feudalism and the assumption by the Mikado by divine right of all +administrative functions, may be called revolution, restoration, or merely +evolution, according to the point of view from which we regard it. The +hand of the foreigner had loosened the stone from the mountain-side, but +it rolled down by its own laws. The introduction of foreigners into the +country brought down vengeance on the Tycoon as the responsible agent. +To abase him and transfer the sceptre to another house was perhaps as +far as the views of the hostile princes in the first instance extended. +The consummation of the movement in the unification of the State, though +its natural fruit, grew and ripened with a rapidity which bewildered +the lookers-on. From the moment when the goal was descried a profound +unanimity of sentiment urged the leaders towards it, the territorial +magnates being themselves the first to propose the abolition of the +privileges, titles, and responsibilities of their order, which stood +in the way of nationality in the larger sense. But wide and manifold as +were the issues raised in the course of the brief but fierce struggle, it +concerns us chiefly to remember that the avowed impulse which gave the +first impetus to the whole was the passionate purpose of expelling the +foreigner. This was the rallying cry that brought the entire nation into +line. The presence of the foreigner on the soil sacred to the gods was +an insult and a deep humiliation. The manifestoes of the Daimios, their +invective against the Tycoon, the distress of the Mikado and his constant +imploring appeals for help to purge the land of its defilement, testify +to the sincerity and universality of the feeling. In that sentiment there +was no difference between Tycoon and Mikado, the Daimios attached to the +one and those attached to the other: they were only divided as to the time +and the means, the risks and the consequences. + +From the first the foreigners had evidence of the tenacious character +of the Japanese: their persistency in face of difficulties and +discouragements, and, above all, their readiness, not only to risk, but +deliberately to sacrifice, their lives in the pursuit of an object. Such +a spirit would render any people formidable,--most formidable when united +in a common purpose; and their genius for combination is one of their +most typical characteristics. What these qualities have already led to +the world has partly seen; what they will hereafter lead to is perhaps as +much hidden from our generation as the phenomena of the present were from +the preceding one. But from the earliest days of the new intercourse it +was hardly possible to misconstrue the seriousness of the Japanese people, +though their refinement of taste, especially in art, their pleasant +vices, and their addiction to light and frivolous recreation, often masked +their more solid qualities. One word may possibly reconcile the seeming +contradiction. They are an intensely vital people, living every part of +their lives earnestly, which, however, is no synonym for solemnly. The +gravest and the gayest have their appointed place in the social system, +whose parts appear to be co-ordinated as if the whole were a direct +inspiration of nature itself, elastic, accommodating, ever renewing +itself, and yet so highly organised that there is no unemployed surplus, +no waste material, nothing that does not find an effective place in the +great cosmic product. That many practical men have misjudged the Japanese +is beyond doubt. Indeed it is the so-called practical men who are the +most apt to misjudge human phenomena, seeing that their system leaves out +of account all they do not understand, which is usually a good deal. It +was long thought that the Japanese were mere copyists and imitators, and +disparaging epithets have been applied to them under that misapprehension. +But, rightly considered, their very imitation was the clearest proof of +their depth. They had been overcome by the foreigner, therefore they +would help themselves to his weapons--all his weapons, educational, +scientific, ethical, and not merely the machinery of war. This was not +imitation, but adaptation and assimilation. It was no more imitation than +what is seen every day among Americans, for instance, who so successfully +"exploit" the ideas of Europe, and improve on them. It gradually dawned +upon the intelligent few who watched the process from the beginning that +the adaptation of European customs and costume was nothing but a strict +application of the laws of evolution. The Japanese began spontaneously +to appropriate ideas from the dress of Europeans; modifications, scarce +perceptible, were adopted at first by servants. Certain malefactors +advertised for by the Yedo police as early as 1862 were described as +wearing "riding trousers and coats of tight foreign fashion." Each article +of attire was adopted on its merits, for convenience and for no other +reason, one of the first items being buttons. Strange combinations were +sometimes seen, such as a billycock hat, or policeman's cast-off coat with +a few buttons left on, surmounting a pair of bare legs shod with wooden +clogs. Such bizarre combinations were not uncommon during the time of +transition. The growing habits of travel necessitated a revolution in the +coiffure. The ancient custom of shaving part of the head and training the +truncated queue required a staff of skilled barbers to accompany every +travelling party. The expense and inconvenience were intolerable, and so +the old head-dressing had to go the way of obsolete things. + +The Japanese deliberately resolved to learn every secret thing that any +foreign nation possessed. To do this they had to be conciliatory, so as +to gain access to schools, laboratories, arsenals, factories of every +kind. Japanese swarmed in the workshops of Europe and America; they took +military, naval, mercantile, and industrial service wherever they could +get it.[10] In such pursuits an outlandish costume would have been a +severe handicap, not merely marking them as strangers, but hampering them +for the mechanical work they might be engaged in. To be the comrades of +the foreign workmen they must dress like them, and minimise all personal +peculiarities. It is often said by those who regret the change that +the native dress was so becoming, and that the Japanese looked ever so +much nicer in their own than in foreign garb--which may be true, though +irrelevant. To look nice was not what they were aiming at. They had to +join the family of nations, to become men of the world, to comply with +all civilised observances, and as much as in them lay to avoid attracting +notice to their nationality. Such a programme necessitated adoption of +the common costume of the Western nations, and if we do not accuse German, +French, English, and Americans of being imitators, who for similar reasons +adopt a uniform society habit, why should the Japanese be imitators when +doing the very same thing? Let the world not deceive itself,--there is +something more serious than copying in the development of the Japanese +nationality. Borrowers they have undoubtedly been, and that on a grand +scale. Religion, philosophy, language, literature, art, and artistic +manufacture they took bodily from China, apparently through Korea. But who +shall say they have not improved upon their teachers? That is a kind of +borrowing which may yet carry Japan very far. We should not forget that +even a Shakespeare may be an incorrigible borrower. + +From the first appearance of Commodore Perry's "black ships" in 1853 +one idea took complete possession of the Japanese ruling classes, and +inspired all their manifestoes. How far the common people were in sympathy +with their rulers there was no evidence available to show. The idea was +that their nation was weak, and in its seclusion had been outstripped by +the nations of the West, and that they must make every exertion to arm +themselves in order to be able to cope with and to expel the barbarians. +All their temporising with the enemy had this end in view, and they +followed it up with such zeal, intelligence, and national harmony, as to +excite both wonder and admiration. In the building up of their nation, and +giving it a status among the military and industrial Powers, the Japanese +freely and extensively employed foreigners in all capacities, dispensing +with their services when done with as naturally as a builder dispenses +with his temporary scaffolding. They used foreigners from the outset, +but have never allowed foreigners to use them. They have thus remained +the masters in their own house, and therein has lain their strength, +present and prospective. Teaching they have recompensed with coin; and +though confidences have been received with courtesy, their own plans and +purposes have been veiled from the most honoured of their tutors. Their +attitude has remained what it was in the days of the Dutch monopoly, +when instruction in Western lore, including naval and military science, +was freely imparted to them, while the uses to which it was applied were +studiously hidden from the teachers. Though the Dutch, for example, taught +the Japanese mathematics and triangulation so successfully that the pupils +were able to make accurate surveys and construct maps of the country and +charts of its sea-coasts, yet the Dutch were never permitted to see the +finished result. + +In looking back on the work of those foreign Governments and their +agents who by their interference shook this new nation into life, it is +obvious that they did not, any of them, know what they were doing. There +was a divinity shaping their ends which they, with their conventional +concessions to the modern spirit, had no idea of. If we are to pass +judgment at all on those men, it must not be by the ulterior consequences +which they did not and could not foresee, but on the merits of the +problem which immediately presented itself to them. The demand for free +intercourse with Japan being shared by all the nations of Christendom +was bound to be satisfied one day: it was but a question of a favourable +opportunity. Commodore Perry and the United States Government made their +opportunity. Townsend Harris had his opportunity made for him, and with +great adroitness, and not too much scruple, he took advantage of it to +force the half-open door. Lord Elgin, in his turn, did a smart thing in +sandwiching in a full treaty with Japan between his earlier and later +negotiations with China. Each in his degree contributed to the general +result without any apparent sense of responsibility for unsettling an +ancient polity of which they were ignorant, and to which they were blind. +Lord Elgin was indeed visited by the qualms of conscience which were as +natural to him as they were honourable, but the particular consequences +of which he had a passing dread were not those which followed. In any +case, his act was momentary: its results remained to be dealt with by +those who came after. The heat and burden of the day fell upon those who +had to "stub the Thurnaby waste" which the cavaliers had gaily cantered +round,--to reduce theories and compliments to everyday practice. Here was +not only a labour but a responsibility, not of the attenuated abstract +order, but one which was apt to knock violently at their door every +morning and every night. For whatever might be the remote effects, the +immediate issues were always urgent, and what a conscientious man had to +do was to shape a daily course among unknown rocks and whirlpools such +as would eventually lead to a successful ocean voyage. It is surely a +test of good pilotage in such emergencies that no step need be retraced; +that to whatever extent temporary exigencies may hasten or retard, they +should never deflect the general movement from its true direction; that +the years achievement should be homogeneous with the day's doings. It is +a test which would eliminate the time-server from political life, but it +was in all important particulars well responded to in the short career of +Sir Rutherford Alcock in Japan. + +It would be idle to conjecture the probable course of events had a +different spirit prevailed among the first diplomatic representatives +in Japan. Had they been a weak and yielding body, or had they been +connected with the bureaux of their respective Governments by electric +wire; still more, had each step taken by them formed a bone of contention +between opposing factions in their legislatures, all alike ignorant of +the situation, the proceedings of the Ministers would not only have been +deprived of all initiative, but would have been liable to paralysis at +every critical moment. Under such conditions foreign policy in Japan +would have been like driftwood in a whirlpool; the forces of reaction must +have gained courage; the position of foreigners would have been rendered +untenable; and what might have happened in the country itself it would, +as we have said, be quite idle to imagine. In those days no Power would +have interfered to maintain order or to defend treaties had England held +aloof. There is no need to carry hypothesis further than this in order +to appreciate the good fortune not only of Great Britain herself, but of +Japan and the world, in having as pioneer representative a man so alert, +so capable, so clear, and with such unshakable nerve as Sir Rutherford +Alcock; for it is the man on the spot in distant countries who shapes +the policy of his Government, if it is to have a policy at all, and this +historic service the first Minister sent to Japan did effectually render +to his country. Amid difficulties unprecedented, emergencies incessant, +and an elemental strife ever raging, the terms of which were inscrutable, +two immutable principles guided the Minister to a clear issue. The first +was duty, at all costs and hazards; the second, the integrity of the +treaties. Whatever might be argued about the policy or the ethics of +making them, once made, retreat from their engagements was impossible +and compromise futile. Matters had to be pushed to an issue. The whole +term of Sir Rutherford Alcock's service in Japan was filled up with +a warfare against the temptation to temporise in the hope that things +would be better,--a temptation to which, as we have seen, her Majesty's +Government for a time succumbed. In perplexing situations the best solvent +is simplicity, and the Minister found his safety in directness of aim and +inflexibility of purpose. Standing on that rock, the mystifications with +which he was surrounded lost their power to disturb him. "Fortunately," +he wrote to Earl Russell, "whether the Tycoon was playing a comedy or +not, the course plainly indicated is the same, the assertion of a fixed +determination not to be driven out, and to maintain the rights secured +under treaties, by force, if all other means fail." + +To the man who perceived and successfully carried out this simple rule of +action his countrymen owe no common debt. + +As it is proverbially the busiest people who have the most leisure, the +British Minister found time in the midst of his harassing labours to +employ his æsthetic gifts for the benefit of the public. It fell to his +lot, as the reader may remember, while consul in Shanghai, to contribute +samples of the art, industry, and natural products of China to the +Great Exhibition of 1851, neither the native Government nor the foreign +mercantile community being sufficiently interested to assist in the +work. A similar service was asked of him in Japan for the Exhibition of +1862, and it was performed under similar conditions, neither the native +Government nor the foreign residents taking any part in it. The task +had a special fascination for Sir Rutherford, for Japanese art was a new +and rich field for the student as for the dilettante. The Japanese had +originally borrowed their whole art, with their literature and religion, +from China, but they had improved or at least transformed it so much as +to make it their own, though it is contended that in ceramics they had +never succeeded in overtaking the Chinese. For five hundred years they +had worked on the Chinese idea; but at last in the eleventh century A.D. +native schools sprang up, and thenceforth Japanese artists followed their +own inspiration, which was that of nature, producing, in the fulness of +time, the exquisite results with which the world is now so familiar. +The introduction of this Japanese work to the connoisseurs of Europe +through the London Exhibition of 1862 was effected through the personal +exertions of Sir Rutherford Alcock, who added immensely to the obligations +under which he laid his countrymen by the publication in 1878 of a short +but comprehensive work on 'Art and Art Industries of Japan.' Like the +collecting of objects for the Exhibition, the writing of this book was +evidently a labour of love. It reviews with a sympathy which almost +rises to enthusiasm not only the finished product, but the stages of the +evolution of Japanese art, having its origin in a loving fellowship with +nature and in a special affinity with what may be called its humorous +side. The genius of Japan has taken a different form from that of the +West, where "the great works of the sculptor and the painter are seen by +but few," whereas the art work of Japan, "which is always in sight, tends +to cultivate the taste of the million by bringing constantly before their +eyes objects of taste, not less effective because they are unconsciously +felt and enjoyed." It is art pressed into the service of the life of the +people "which can give a priceless value to the commonest and least costly +material by the mere impress of genius and taste, ... which is the most +precious, tested by any true estimate of value and utility." The volume +is well worth perusal by those who are interested in art, not only for +its philosophical yet simple analysis of the subject generally, but for +the instructive way in which universal principles are adapted to the +popularised art of Japan. To read this book, one would imagine the writer +had devoted the whole of the three years and a half he spent in Japan to +the cultivation of the industrial fine arts. + +The Japanese language, too, attracted the interest of the busy Minister, +who during his stay in Yedo brought out a grammar and phrase-book in +Japanese and English. They have, as a matter of course, been superseded by +the more recondite studies of later students; but as a first step towards +familiarising the language to visitors and strangers these introductory +works cannot be denied their meed of merit. + + +VIII. THE DIPLOMATIC BODY--TSUSHIMA. + + Four Western Powers represented in Tokio--Russia only in + Hakodate by consul--And naval officers--Cordial Anglo-French + relations--Temptations to intrigue--Secret communications to + Japanese--Representatives of the Powers arousing suspicions + of each other's designs--Letters cited--The Tsushima + incident--Admiral Sir James Hope obtains its evacuation by + Russians. + +During the first few years there were four representatives of the +Western Powers resident in or near the Tycoon's capital: they were the +Ministers of Great Britain, the United States, France, and Holland. +Russia had accredited no Minister, but intrusted her interests to the +very capable hands of M. Goskavitch, consul at Hakodate, the treaty port +in the northern island of the Japanese group. What was no doubt deemed +of at least equal importance, she maintained a powerful squadron on the +western coast of Japan, whose actual strength was magnified to the view +by their incessant activity, which had the character of a continuous +demonstration on the coast both of China and Japan; and the principle of +direct action by naval officers without the medium of diplomacy, at the +ports of Nagasaki and Hakodate, was so different from that of any other +Power, that the Daimios declared to the Tycoon that any of the foreigners +could be safely insulted except the Russians. Their manœuvres in force +round Hongkong, meaningless to the ordinary professional or political +eye, played probably a corroborative part in the impressions they were +making on the rulers of the neighbouring countries. Prussia had not yet +come effectually on the scene when the decisive operations against the two +great Daimios, which really determined the future course of events, were +undertaken. + +The relations of the resident foreign Ministers among themselves +were marked by substantial harmony, in some instances rising to great +cordiality. The foreign diplomatic body thus presented a united front to +the forces, open or covert, that were opposed to them. Such differences of +opinion as arose in the course of business either were not of a nature, or +were not allowed, to interfere with the pursuit of the national interests +of each, which were inextricably bound up in the common interests of all. +United, the influence of the Powers was practically irresistible; divided, +they would have fallen an easy prey to the devices of what, for want of +another term, must be spoken of as the common enemy, Japan. It is not +pleasant to think of Japan in this way, since she was on her defence in +a position forced upon her; yet overruling circumstances had, in fact, +placed the parties in temporary antagonism--the world against Japan. + +The key to the success of European diplomacy of the earlier period was +without doubt the Anglo-French alliance, which had culminated in the +coercion of imperial China, and was spending its ebbing strength in +suppressing the great Taiping insurrection against that empire. Being +possessed of mobile forces within call, the two Powers were always in a +position to act when circumstances called for action, and they had become +accustomed to co-operation. Hence the potency of their united counsels. + +The Minister of France as well as the admiral on the station had the +instructions of the Imperial Government to support England in her Far +Eastern policy,--"for," said the calculating Emperor Napoleon III., +"though our interests in that part of the world are trivial, we may find +our account in the friendship of England in quarters where our interests +are vital." That the Ministers of the two countries, therefore, should be +on terms of official intimacy and mutual confidence was only natural, and +it was a tower of strength to them both. But we gather from the despatches +that personal respect and attachment went hand in hand with the official +_liaison_; and whether it was Sir Rutherford Alcock or Colonel Neale on +the one side, or M. Duchesne de Bellecourt or Leon Roche on the other, +their expressions towards their colleagues were always of the warmest. +So completely confidential were their relations, that when something was +insinuated by third parties which, if credited, would have necessitated +explanations between the two, it was simply dismissed as unworthy of +consideration. There were not wanting those who would have regarded with +equanimity a little more coldness between the Allied colleagues. + +For, notwithstanding their good fraternal relations, it cannot be said +that the foreign officials in Japan were uniformly successful in resisting +the besetting sin of diplomacy, the common temptation to intrigue. In +certain cases it was resorted to as the natural means of advancing the +solid interests of a particular country; in other cases, where no national +interest could be served by it, it would appear that intrigue was its own +allurement, followed for the mere pleasure of the game. The political +situation in Japan was sufficiently complicated to afford occasion for +both these motives of action. The unstable Government of the country, +oppressed by conflicting obligations and consciously struggling for +existence, offered an ideal theatre for volunteer experimentation by those +on whom no ulterior responsibility rested. + +Be that as it may, however, secret communications did pass between certain +foreign officials and the Japanese Government of a kind which betrayed the +design of undermining the interests of other Powers and frustrating their +policy, presumably for the benefit of those whose zeal in the cause of +international honour impelled them to adopt the _rôle_ of international +informers. It need hardly be said that Great Britain was a principal +object of these occult practices; neither need it be denied that she +suffered from their effects in the estimation of the Japanese Government, +which was naturally credulous of any disparagement of the Powers it +dreaded so much. In the incandescent condition of the intercourse of those +earlier years, had any of the foreign agents spoken well of his neighbours +he would have obtained no hearing for his praise; but given vilification +for its motive, the representation would find its way straight to the +Japanese heart, since nothing could be too vile to be believed of the +intentions of any of the foreign nations. The spy system was congenial +to the Japanese, woven into their whole administration; while as regards +foreigners, they had had ample experience centuries before of the lengths +Christian nations would go in traducing each other for the sake of gaining +a little favour of the rulers of Japan. It was entirely in keeping with +their medieval experiences that these dastardly barbarians should now +be ready to stab each other in the back. Whatever reception, therefore, +on other grounds, might be accorded to gratuitous information conveyed +through prejudiced channels, no surprise was occasioned by it, and as +little doubt of its truth, so long as its burden was evil. This much has +to be borne in mind as a tribute to the intelligence of the writers of +letters such as the following, addressed to the Gorogiu, or Bureau of +Foreign Affairs, and conveyed to them with ostentatious secrecy. In 1860 +one Government agent wrote-- + + Last year towards the middle of the second month the English + created great difficulties in China in consequence of the war + they waged by sea and land. They had violated the treaties in + a shameful manner, and as this excited the indignation of the + Chinese they attacked the English on the river, and captured three + men-of-war. Feeling herself humbled by this defeat, England swore + revenge. She uttered the most unjust menaces against China, and + at the very moment the Chinese commenced their conferences upon + this subject four or five months ago the English suddenly ordered + forty-seven men-of-war from London. These vessels are at present + at Chusan, and await the signal for action. Within two or three + months the men-of-war will leave for the north. The merchant + vessel Dayspring brought us all this news on the 12th instant. + + On speaking about this important news to Mr ----, the British + Consul residing here, he gave me the following information in a + strictly private manner. + + "At last," said Mr ----, "the war with China is decided upon. + We have for a long time been searching for a good harbour where + we shall be able to put the sick and wounded. We have chosen + Tsushima, where we intend to send the sick and wounded, and as + soon as the war has commenced we have resolved to take possession + of that island." + + Mr ---- communicated this to me as a great secret, and I now give + you this information in a strictly private manner. + + You will perceive that this is a question of the utmost + importance, and you must take it into serious consideration + without delay, and with the utmost attention. + + Four years ago the English, who had for a long time coveted + an excellent little island called Perim, took possession of + it, informing the Turkish Government that they only wished to + place their invalids on that island, and this false pretext was + matter for serious discussion. The Turks were perfectly aware of + the deceitful conduct of the English. They did not ignore that + fourteen or fifteen years before, while fighting with the Chinese, + the English had stolen Hongkong under the same pretences.... But + while they were deliberating the English sent their invalids to + Perim, and immediately built forts and stole this island in the + most disgraceful manner. + + As the English are wonderful impostors, it is your duty not only + to take care of Tsushima, but also of the smallest island in your + empire: this must be done with the utmost watchfulness. + + I inform you of this danger in the most private and secret manner. + +And a year or two later, when the intercourse between the British Minister +and the Tycoon was charged with contentious, almost with explosive, +matter, missives were passed in from philanthropic onlookers of a tenor +which excited no surprise, but a good deal of genuine exultation, in the +minds of the Japanese Ministers. It was well known some time before that +it had been sought to prevent a settlement of outstanding difficulties +between the two countries by the assurance volunteered to the Tycoon's +Government that Great Britain was quite unable to make war on Japan, +and the following letter is only one of a series of such international +amenities which shunned the light of day:-- + + Japan was opened by us, ... and after we had settled down here + the other Powers made their appearance. The intentions of ... + in opening this country to foreign intercourse was to increase + the welfare and prosperity of its inhabitants. While we were + doing our utmost for this nation some English men-of-war suddenly + appeared here to demand indemnities for a murder which, although + unjustifiable, was not a _casus belli_. As long as the ambitious, + warlike, and quarrelsome Englishmen are here, the object we have + in view cannot be obtained. They must, therefore, be driven out + of this country. You cannot consent to their demands. Do not + fear the English; there are other nations in Japan, and if you + require assistance you may rest assured we shall give you moral + and material support. + +But in vain was the snare set by these fowlers in the sight of the bird. +The notion of setting a thief to catch a thief was not uncongenial to +Japanese habits of thought, but a generous offer of armed assistance +against a foreign Power savoured too much of the wooden horse even for +such inexperienced internationalists as the New Japan. Having expressed +their appreciation--had it been the Chinese Government it would have taken +the form of praise for their loyal obedience--the Government intimated +that they would exhaust their own resources before putting these friendly +foreign Powers to the trouble of intervening on their behalf. The Japanese +have always been wary about accepting help unasked for. The United States +frigate Niagara, which brought back the envoys in 1860, brought also a +staff of artillery officers whose services were tendered to the Tycoon, +but declined. And it was said the American officers were rather astonished +by the proofs afforded them in Yedo of the efficiency of armament and +proficiency of the gunners which Japan was already able to show. + +One of the vigilant observers of political portents about that time became +convinced that the French had designs upon Tsushima, a belief which was +no doubt in some way also communicated to the Japanese Government; but +by that time--1863--it was too late for any Power to flirt with that +"excellent little island," for since the first warning given the Japanese +in 1860, above cited, the island had been made the subject of definitive +arrangements. The incident itself, though of brief duration and leaving +no visible trail behind it, nevertheless deserves to be remembered as a +landmark of history. + +When Count Mouravieff was in Yedo in 1859, he took the trouble to warn +the Tycoon's Government that the English harboured aggressive designs +against the island of Tsushima, which is a long double or "twin" island, +possessing wonderful harbours, and situated midway between the main +island of Japan and the southern coast of Korea. On March 13, 1861, the +Russians landed from the corvette Possadnik in Tsushima, and saying their +ship wanted repairs, began to build houses on shore. Captain Birileff had +forced the Prince of Tsushima to receive him at his capital, which created +an intense feeling of indignation, especially in the ranks of the nobles, +who each saw himself exposed to similar intrusions. The Daimio repeatedly +requested the Russians to leave, but was always told the ship required +further repairs. In consequence of reports from his own officers and the +Japanese Government, Vice-Admiral Sir James Hope looked in at Tsushima +himself in the month of August, and observing what was going on there, +he addressed a letter to Captain Birileff, of which the substance was as +follows: The prolonged stay of his Imperial Majesty's corvette Possadnik, +the erection of buildings, &c., having created alarm in Yedo, the admiral +had the intention to communicate on the subject as early as possible +with Commodore Likatchoff. Would Captain Birileff meantime facilitate +this correspondence by replying to the questions--(1) Should the Japanese +Government appeal to the treaty, which conveys no right either to create +establishments ashore, to survey the Japanese coast without Government +sanction, or even to enter a non-treaty port except in case of necessity, +would Captain Birileff's orders admit of his leaving Tsushima immediately +on the request of the Japanese authorities? (2) Was it Captain Birileff's +intention to leave Tsushima in October as previously stated to Commander +Ward, leaving the buildings to whomsoever wanted them?... (3) Had the +captain orders to create a permanent establishment there? + +The reply of Captain Birileff was to the effect that the officers of his +Imperial Majesty were accountable only to their own chiefs; ... that he +was quite astonished to hear of the alarms in Yedo, seeing that only two +months before the Prince of Bungo had been sent to Tsushima expressly +from Yedo to grant permission to the corvette to remain there; that the +same prince gave him the opportunity of visiting the Prince of Tsushima, +who was instructed to supply workmen and all that might be necessary +for the construction of the buildings in question; that if the Japanese +Government were annoyed by the surveying operations, they should address +their complaint to the Russian diplomatic agent; that he had no orders +for the occupation of the island, and the nature of the buildings which +the admiral had done him the honour to visit would not show any such +intention; and finally, that when he spoke of leaving in October it had +referred only to himself personally. So far Captain Birileff. + +It was no "Prince of Bungo," but a Governor of Foreign Affairs named +Bungo, who had been despatched in haste from the capital to endeavour by +any means to induce the Russians to leave Tsushima, and was, for his want +of success, disgraced. + +Sir James Hope forthwith proceeded in search of Commodore Likatchoff to +Olga Bay, whence he addressed to him a letter dated September 5, pointing +out the irregularity of the proceedings at Tsushima, the bad effect they +were having on the relations of foreigners generally in Yedo, and that he +could not recognise any establishment on Japanese territory not sanctioned +by treaty--which resolutions he would make known to the authorities +concerned. + +To this the Russian commodore courteously replied from Hakodate, September +23, excusing himself from entering on any international questions, and +pointing out that in their hydrographical labours the Russians were only +following the excellent example set them by the British surveying officers +whom they met on their respective missions, and that no complaint had ever +been made by the Japanese Government. As for the "absurd rumours" alluded +to, the Possadnik had already received orders for another destination, +before receipt of the admiral's letters, and nothing consequently need be +said to calm the doubts and alarms, "si même elles auraient véritablement +raison d'exister." + +Admiral Hope acknowledged this letter, "with much satisfaction," from +Chefoo, October 22, and remarked that, so far as the surveying operations +of the ships in his squadron were concerned, they were carried out with +the full consent of the Japanese Government, at whose special request +Japanese officers and interpreters were accommodated on board during +the whole of the cruise. He added that it was not so much the surveying +operations of the Possadnik as the preparation for a permanent settlement +on shore that disquieted the Japanese Government; and, moreover, that +the Japanese Ministers had distinctly stated that the matter had been +the subject of remonstrance to the commodore, through M. Goskavitch, +the consul at Hakodate, and to Captain Birileff by an officer specially +deputed for the purpose (Bungo). + +The question extended itself to St Petersburg, where Prince Gortchakoff +had remarked to Lord Napier, then British ambassador, on the tone of +Admiral Hope's letter to Commodore Likatchoff, which, he said, but for +the conciliatory disposition of the latter, might have led to serious +misunderstanding. Lord Napier, in reply, observed that "Admiral Hope was +a man of a frank, downright, energetic character, who used the language +natural to him without any intention of giving offence." + +As the Russians had abandoned the island, Prince Gortchakoff called +on Lord Napier to declare that the English would never take possession +of Tsushima, whereupon the ambassador reminded his Excellency that the +English had "offered to sign a treaty binding ourselves and the other +Powers having engagements with Japan to make no acquisitions in those +seas." "I think," concludes the ambassador in his letter to the Foreign +Office, "that Admiral Hope will do well to assure himself that the +buildings have really been evacuated." This precaution had already been +taken, and the admiral reported on November 10 that the Russians had +evacuated on September 29. + +There the incident ended, but not its historical significance. + + +IX. TRADE AND TRADERS. + + Commerce increases in spite of adverse political + situations--And of efforts of Japanese government to repress + it--The _personnel_ of the mercantile community--British + predominance--Relations of merchants to Ministers--Interests + and duties not always identical--Sumptuary laws--Discharges of + firearms forbidden--Seizure of Mr Moss--Wounding of a Japanese + policeman--Trial and sentence of Mr Moss--His liberation in + Hongkong--Sues the Minister and obtains damages--Legal supremacy + at Hongkong--Defects of the consular jurisdiction--The recreation + of shooting. + +These fierce struggles, the sudden arousing to intensity of dormant +passions, the dislocation of the whole structure of Japanese polity, +represented to the foreign nations merely the risks and sacrifices +incidental to the expansion of their commerce. In order to compel the +Government to permit the people to exchange the products of their soil for +the merchandise of the strangers within their gates, the labour, anxiety, +and expense which we have only faintly indicated were voluntarily incurred +by the Western treaty Powers, and by them in turn forced on the reluctant +rulers of Japan. An _a priori_ judgment of the probable effect of the +sanguinary conditions into which official intercourse had been thrown +would probably have concluded that peaceful commerce could not under such +circumstances exist. The restrictions resulting from an ill-regulated +currency, and from the direct interference of the Government, might have +been deemed sufficient of themselves to check the development of trade. +When to these inimical influences were superadded the further facts that +the foreign traders went in peril of their lives, that the communities +of Nagasaki and Yokohama were at different times in such danger that +provisional arrangements were made for conveying them, bag and baggage, on +board ship, a condition of things less favourable to international traffic +could scarcely be conceived. Yet these difficulties, and a score of others +which could be enumerated, served only to bring into clear recognition +the inherent vitality of commerce, which, like running water, finds its +way through or round almost any obstacle. There were, on the other hand, +circumstances favourable to trade. In Japan, as has been already hinted, +the traders of the country had neither part nor lot in the strife that +raged above and around them, and for the most part they could pursue their +peaceful avocations without fear or hindrance. So the quality of commerce +was not strained; but, shedding its benefits on buyer and seller alike, +it grew from small beginnings till it attained to a volume of world-wide +importance, accumulating momentum as it progressed. + +The total amount of foreign trade was a little over one million sterling +per annum for the first three years of the open ports. In the fourth year, +1863, the development of Japanese produce, especially the more precious +commodities, silk and the eggs of the silkworm, began to tell on the gross +values, and the exports for that year amounted to two and a half millions +sterling, the imports of foreign goods being £811,000. The year 1864, +notwithstanding its crowded events of anti-commercial character, witnessed +a notable advance in the value of foreign trade, which in that year +doubled itself. The same thing occurred again in 1865, when the figures +reached a total of eight millions sterling, being double the returns for +1864. + +Thus the foreign trade of Japan had fairly established itself as "a going +concern," advancing in war and peace, but with great fluctuations and many +vicissitudes to those engaged in it. From the purely commercial standpoint +the result justified the anticipations of the Powers who opened Japan to +the world. The event proved that when the materials of trade exist there +trade is sure to follow on the removal of obstructions. And the materials +of trade are not wanting wherever there is a population that wears clothes +and builds houses.[11] + +It is obvious to remark that had it been in the power of the Japanese +Government to place an effective interdict on foreign commerce at its +sources within their own jurisdiction, and beyond the reach of treaty +obligations, it would have been the surest means of causing the withdrawal +of foreigners from the country. That the Government had the will to do so +was shown by their repeated partial attempts at preventing produce from +reaching the open ports, and even inducing a temporary exodus therefrom +of the native population. Why their measures of repression were not more +thorough may be conjectured to have been connected with the circumstance +that the advantages of the foreign trade soon began to be felt in quarters +with which it was not convenient for the Tycoon to inter-meddle. + +As in China, so in Japan, the relations of the merchants to their +official representatives exercised a certain influence on events. The +trade was carried on at first by a very small number of people. In 1861 +there were not 200 foreign residents in all the ports of Japan, the +British nationality predominating in Yokohama, the Dutch at Nagasaki. +The British residents in the former port seem to have numbered about +fifty. It was a small body to carry the burden of inaugurating commercial +intercourse with an empire of thirty millions of people. Nor was it +individually a community of any particular weight, being mostly composed +of young men, not themselves principals, but, in the beginning at least, +a considerable number of them occupying the position of delegates of +mercantile houses in China. It was their representative character which +lent importance to the foreign merchants in Japan. They represented, +first of all, the establishments of which they were subordinates or +offshoots; they represented their respective nations; and they, in +a larger sense, represented the commercial creed of Christendom. The +present sketch would be wanting in symmetry if no account were taken +of the relationship of these handfuls of traders to their own national +authorities, both being engaged in the struggle for the development and +security of commerce under the trying conditions of the time and country. +But of course any such inquiry practically limits itself to those of +British nationality, for two reasons: British trade and British diplomacy +were pre-eminently representative of all others by the preponderance of +the interests involved; in addition to which, the strong individuality +and matured experience of the first British envoy were such that his +colleagues tacitly assigned to him the leading _rôle_, so that his was the +personality which exerted the dominant influence in shaping events from +the opening of the ports. + +The tendency to divergence of view between the merchants and their +official representatives has already been remarked upon in connection with +affairs in China: it was most pronounced in times of difficulty such as +were chronic for more than twenty years in Canton, where it was so acute +at one time that English Chambers of Commerce made formal complaint to the +Foreign Office that its representative in China--Sir John Davis--refused +to see the merchants in Canton, who desired to present their views to him +in time of danger. The antagonism was natural: it is generically the same +that one hears constantly in this country in the form of complaints and +criticisms of Government, Government servants, and generally of all in +authority--with, however, this difference, that in the many-sided life of +a large society there are buffers between the critics and the criticised. +They do not meet face to face unless it be in such circumstances as on +the floor of "the House" with "a substantial piece of furniture" between; +whereas in nascent communities composed of a few scores of individuals, +where there is no tempering medium, where the parties are never out +of each other's sight, differences are apt to become accentuated like +village scandals. Nothing escapes censure; the smallest indiscretions +have a magnifying lens constantly applied to them, and a sinister colour +is given to innocent trifles. Interests are not diversified, shaded +off, or balanced as in adult nations, but are narrow, concentrated, and +highly sensitive. Between Minister and merchants there was of course a +general identity of interest. They had a common test to apply to all +their proceedings and aspirations, the furtherance of commerce. The +official would, perhaps, add the qualifying adjective "legitimate," in the +interpretation of which differences of opinion might arise; and he would +naturally give a wider scope to the commercial idea than those actually +engaged in trade could or ought to do. + +The Minister represents the interests of Great Britain as a whole; the +merchants represent trade generally, but each of them his own interests +particularly, and these various interests cannot always coincide. An +Englishman would naturally give a preference to the manufactures of his +own country, but as a merchant he has to study the requirements of the +country in which he trades, and if he cannot supply them at all, or so +well, by articles manufactured in his own country, he is obliged to seek +them elsewhere. Officials are apt to look askance on this as not fostering +the trade of Great Britain; and while recognising the necessity, the fact +does not warm their sympathy for the merchants of their own country. There +are times also when, from the international point of view, the general +interests of the country may override the special interests of the small +British community in Japan. If policy requires intimate relations between +the Governments, the tendency must inevitably be for the British Minister +to minimise the just causes of complaint of his countrymen in order to +avoid irritation. But the sufferers can hardly be expected to appreciate +sacrifices so forced on them; and so from one cause and another there will +never be wanting grounds of dissatisfaction, and possibly estrangement. + +But the ultimate object being definitely agreed upon between the two +parties, there would still remain room for variance in the means, +questions of tactics, of the nearer or the further view, of the present +generation and the next, and so on _ad infinitum_. Where there was a +third party influencing and opposing legitimate commerce by direct or +indirect means, as the Government of China or Japan, whose machinations +called for strong measures of resistance, the occasions of impatience and +dissatisfaction would be frequent, and friction between the representative +and his constituents would naturally result. But perhaps the most +antagonistic of all to harmony was the fact already pointed out, that in +extra-territorialised countries like China and Japan the representatives +of the treaty Powers were necessarily intrusted with exceptional authority +over the persons of their nationals--for they had to assume the functions +denied to the native Governments, of giving the law to the settlers and +punishing evil-doers. What an invidious and onerous position this entailed +on British officials will presently be shown. Yet it was a temporary +necessity, for which nobody was blamable. + +In treating of the period of the consulship in Shanghai, a certain +distance or aloofness between Consul Alcock and the community of his +nationals was remarked upon, due to difference of age, taste, culture, or +temperament. This characteristic was rather accentuated than otherwise +by the local circumstances of Japan. The Minister was ten years older, +while the community was about as much younger than in Shanghai, so +that the disparity of age was increased. The mere conditions of life +also placed a material gulf between the diplomatic representatives in +Yedo and the lay residents of Yokohama. The capital city being closed +to all but the diplomatic body, visitors not only required a pass from +one of the Ministers, but, in the absence of available accommodation, +strangers had to rely on the hospitality of the foreign Legations. The +curiosity to see Yedo, which in the early days so attracted tourists +and travellers, threw a heavy and most unfair burden of entertainment on +the Ministers, the principal victim of these birds of passage being of +course the representative of Great Britain. So long, therefore, as the +Legations remained in Yedo the barrier was effectual against personal +intercourse between the Ministers and the permanent residents in Yokohama, +even had mutual affinity been stronger than it was. Like most things, +this local separation between the communities and their representative +had its advantages and disadvantages. While on the one hand it was not +conducive to intimacy, on the other the risk of personal friction was +eliminated by it. Nor was direct intercourse at all necessary in the +conduct of business, seeing the regular official medium of communication +was the local consuls, who had nothing of the Olympian about them, and +were felt by the residents to be men of like passions with themselves, +with easy manners, the spirit of good fellowship, and imbued with the +characteristic sporting proclivities of Englishmen at home and abroad, +always an effective bond of sympathy. + +The relations of Sir Rutherford Alcock with the mercantile community +had not been very happily inaugurated, for he clearly felt officially +aggrieved by their settling in Yokohama, instead of waiting till +accommodation could be found for them in Kanagawa; so much so, indeed, +that he seemed almost to deplore the absence of means of coercing them +into obedience to his will. + +While the sore as to the location of the settlement was still somewhat +raw, the Minister found yet another grievance against the merchants +in the fabulous demands for Japanese coins which a few of them had put +forward, by way of burlesquing the system of distribution by the native +authorities. The severity with which this schoolboyish escapade was +pilloried, and the community of Yokohama held up to the opprobrium of +the world, was felt by them as going beyond what the merits of the case +warranted, and the incident did not tend to mollify acerbities on either +side. + +A year later evidence of a certain widening of the breach became more +conspicuous in the course of a rather exceptional lawsuit, in which a +merchant was heavily mulcted for an offence of which the general opinion +was that he was not guilty. A certain Mr Moss was arrested, cruelly +maltreated, and hidden from his official protector, the consul, by a posse +of Japanese police, for having shot game in the vicinity of Kanagawa. +When faced by these armed men, Mr Moss cocked his gun and threatened +any one who should approach to lay hands on him. The party was numerous +enough to surround and wrest the gun from him, which somehow went off, +wounding one of the men badly in the arm. The Minister ordered the consul +to prosecute Mr Moss for murder, in the Queen's name, the consul himself +being judge, sitting with two assessors. The accused was sentenced to pay +a fine of 1000 dollars (£225) and to be deported from Japan. The assessors +dissented, on the ground that the Japanese evidence was falsified to +order, and that the prisoner was in their opinion innocent of the charge +on which he was tried. In consequence of this dissent the judgment had +to be referred to the Minister, who added to the consul's sentence three +months' imprisonment in Hongkong, whither the culprit was conveyed in a +British ship of war. After a week's incarceration in the Hongkong jail the +warrant for imprisonment was found defective, and Mr Moss was released. +He was then advised to bring an action against Sir Rutherford Alcock in +the Supreme Court at Hongkong, which occupied twelve months, and ended +in a jury awarding damages against the Minister for false imprisonment, +that being the only part of the sentence which could be brought within +the jurisdiction of the Hongkong court. As regards the original sentence +of fine and deportation, the Foreign Office, by advice of their law +officers, had long before quashed the conviction and ordered the fine to +be remitted. + +A parallel case had occurred in Canton in 1846. Sir John Davis instructed +the consul there to levy a fine on a British subject for an alleged +offence. Whether just or not, it was illegal, and on appeal to the Supreme +Court in Hongkong, of which colony Sir John Davis himself was governor, +the judgment of the consul was reversed, and the fine of 200 dollars +refunded. Even Sir Frederick Bruce, with all his circumspection, did +not escape falling into the same error with regard to the division of +legal authority between himself and the Supreme Court. "From a careful +perusal of ... her Majesty's Order in Council," he writes, "the chief +superintendent of trade [himself] in cases arising under this section is +the Supreme Court in China: it is for him to prescribe to the consul the +course he is to pursue, and the Supreme Court at Hongkong cannot interfere +in such matters." Her Majesty's Government, however, replied: "You fall +into an error by confounding two distinct questions.... You are mistaken +in treating the question which you have referred to them for decision as +depending upon the 4th and following articles of the Order in Council," +and so on. So that had it fallen to his lot to give a decision involving +a penalty, he would have been sued not before himself, but before the +Supreme Court at Hongkong, and would have sustained the same reverse as +Sir Rutherford Alcock had done. + +These bald facts of the case supplied a striking illustration of the vices +of the consular court system, which was in vogue in China for twenty years +until the establishment of the Supreme Court for China and Japan in 1865. +Consuls were called upon to exercise judicial functions, and Ministers +those of Courts of Appeal, without the slightest preparatory training, +and as often as not without natural aptitude. In criminal cases they were +at once prosecutors and judges, it might even be executioners as well. +The state of conflict in which they lived with the native authorities, of +whom they were accustomed to demand in vain the punishment of malefactors, +placed British officers under continual temptation to prove how promptly +they could bring to justice their own nationals accused of offences +against the natives. This idea of giving object-lessons to Chinese and +Japanese pervades the consular and diplomatic records. English officials +seem to have been oppressed with the reflection of what the natives would +think of the failure of justice in any particular case, and they were +ever apprehensive of political dangers or embarrassments as contingent on +misunderstood lenity to "white men"--natural and proper feelings on the +part of mere political agents, but quite foreign to the administration +of justice according to the rules and maxims of civilised nations. It +seems not unlikely that the obvious lessons of the Moss case itself as +to the incompatibility of judicial and administrative functions, and the +unfair responsibility which their combination threw upon the consular +and diplomatic officers, hastened the realisation of the scheme of an +independent judiciary which was so strongly advocated by Sir Rutherford +Alcock in 'The Capital of the Tycoon.' + +These various incidents, and sundry vexatious restrictions imposed on them +from time to time for their own security, no doubt disposed the residents +to look askance at many acts of the Minister, the reasons for which failed +to impress them. But though the surface of the relations between the +Minister and the merchants was thus perturbed, and regrettable, in the +common interest, as the lukewarmness of personal sympathy may have been, +the residents never failed in their respect for the high and sterling +qualities of the Minister, and the courageous manner in which he fought +for his country's interests. It only needed an emergency to give definite +expression to this feeling, and no testimony could be stronger, more +genuine, or less conventional than the farewell addresses in which the +merchants of Yokohama and Nagasaki summed up the brilliant record of a +man of whom they never ceased to feel proud. Instead of detracting from +the value of such spontaneous testimony, the minor differences only lent +emphasis to it, and set the seal of deep conviction on what in an ordinary +case might have passed as the language of mere compliment. + +As shooting has been alluded to as an occasion of trouble, a word or two +on the subject of this amusement may have an interest for certain readers. +To the Japanese the pursuit of game seemed to be as strange a form of +sport as the other vagaries of the foreigner. Firearms were not in use +with them, cold steel being the regulation weapon of offence. There was a +tradition that the discharge of firearms within twenty-five miles of the +Tycoon's palace was prohibited by law,--what law or how promulgated was +never clearly made out, though the motive was intelligible enough. For +whatever reason, such game as there was in the country had evidently not +been disturbed; the pheasants were not wilder than the English stall-fed +variety. Small shooting-parties were in the habit of going out for a day, +or half a day, from Yokohama and Kanagawa with dogs and native beaters +among the coppices where the birds lay. The country itself was so charming +to walk or ride over, the peasant-folk were so polite and merry, that +heavy bags were not needed to attract sportsmen. Still, a good shot with +industry and a shrewd acquaintance with the habits of the game could +often get several brace of the splendid green pheasant of the country +(_Phasianus versicolor_) in an afternoon; while at rarer intervals the +finger would tremble on the trigger as one of those magnificent birds +called locally the "copper" pheasant (Soemerring's), with tail feathers +as long as a peacock's, would rise from the furrows and sail grandly +into the impenetrable thicket. Objections had been taken by the Japanese +officials to this form of amusement, because it was not the policy of the +rulers to familiarise the people with the sight of firearms, still less +to facilitate their acquiring them. In accordance with representations +from the authorities, the British consul had requested his nationals in +1859 to desist for a time until some arrangement was come to. This they +did, but in the following season resumed the sport, in which there were +no keener participants than the British consular officers. A contemporary +writer in September 1860 thus refers to the return of the shooting season: +"There being nothing to do, we are all looking forward anxiously to the +1st October, on which day the first onslaught on the feathered race takes +place. The weather is now hot, but we are all in very good health.... +We live in a beautiful country, among a civil, amicable, kind-hearted, +and intelligent people. We can roam over the country without let or +hindrance." It is curious to note by the way how tenacious the Englishman +is of the punctilio of his game laws, carrying his observance of them into +countries where he and his laws are alike strangers, and where in many +cases the principles are not applicable to the local conditions. + +A new element in the sport appeared with the advent of cold weather, in +the form of flocks of wildfowl, chiefly geese, which spread themselves +over the low-lying grounds, mostly at some miles distant from the +settlements. They were "geese," indeed, quite unsophisticated, having no +fear of man before their eyes--inherited instinct apparently at fault. +"Their tameness was shocking" at first, but they wonderfully soon learned +to be wary with a foreigner and a gun. The morning's bag of one early +riser, riding six miles and back to a nine o'clock breakfast, late in +November, dwindled rapidly from 12 to 6, 4, 2. The birds were shot within +200 yards of the _tokaido_, and in full view of many curious spectators, +armed and unarmed. Men were hired on the spot to carry the game along the +six miles of highroad and through the long street of Kanagawa, the whole +proceeding, in short, enjoying the utmost possible publicity. + +The unfortunate Mr Moss, however, a few days later, toiled a whole day +and bagged one, with the consequences we have seen. Whether it was law +or not, the evidence supplied by the birds themselves of prescriptive +immunity from gunpowder attack was overwhelming. Hitherto the heavy winged +wildfowl had felt safe so long as they kept out of sword-range of the +human biped, but the new experience of a detonating missile fatal at fifty +yards broke up in a week the habits of generations, and forced them to +promptly readjust themselves to their environment. + +FOOTNOTES: + + [1] "We are never for a moment unwatched; ... if my servant + runs after a butterfly, a two-sworded official runs after + him."--Laurence Oliphant, Letter from Yedo, July 1861. + + [2] "As a general rule, our guardians exercise their functions with + civility; when they are impertinent, one has to submit as one + would to one's jailor.... With entire humility, one is in no + danger whatever."--Oliphant, 2nd July 1861. + + [3] The effect of the commercial isolation of Japan on the value + of general commodities was no less striking. The first foreign + traders might have bought with eyes shut nearly every article that + was offered to them, so great was the disparity of prices between + Japan and her nearest markets. Mr Hunter gives an interesting + example. "I had in go-downs," he says, "8000 piculs of sapan-wood + imported from Manila unsaleable at one dollar and a quarter per + picul, which was about its cost. Immediately that the opening + of the port of Simoda to foreign trade was announced officially, + an English vessel was chartered to carry it there. Brief--it was + sold for 35 dollars per picul, and the proceeds were invested in + Japanese vegetable wax at a cost of 6½ dollars, and sold for $17 + the picul (133⅓ lb. English)," so that in the short voyage from + China to Japan and back the capital multiplied seventy times! + + [4] A story is told of two Samurai meeting on a bridge which was too + narrow to allow of their passing each other. Neither being willing + to give way, they were about to settle the difficulty at the + point of the sword, when a peasant, strolling along the dry bed of + the stream, offered to extricate them without loss of dignity on + either side. Amused at his impertinence, and curious to see how + he would effect his purpose, they consented to humour him; and + when each, following his instructions, was seated in one of the + baskets at either end of the pole he was carrying, he swung it + round on to the opposite shoulder, asked pardon, bowed, and went + on his way, leaving them each facing in the direction in which he + would proceed. + + [5] Ieyasu says the Samurai are the masters of the four classes. + Agriculturists, artisans, and merchants may not behave in a rude + manner towards Samurai. The term for a rude man is, "other than + expected fellow"; and a Samurai is not to be interfered with in + cutting down a fellow who has behaved to him in a manner other + than is expected. The Samurai are grouped into direct retainers, + secondary retainers and nobles, and retainers of high and low + grade; but the same line of conduct is equally allowable to them + all towards an "other than expected fellow." + + [6] "All my old friends have disappeared," writes Laurence Oliphant + on his return to Yedo as secretary of Legation. "One who was an + especial favourite of mine when I was here last, ripped himself + up a short time ago; and two of the other commissioners are + disgraced, and it is supposed have followed his example. This was + all on account of their friendship for foreigners. Every one, down + to the lowest interpreter, who has had anything to do with the + introduction of foreigners, has disappeared or been disgraced." + + [7] This man, Murioka by name, became afterwards well known to + foreigners, and was always ready to talk freely about the whole + transaction. When asked why he struck at a lady he would reply, + "How should I know, never having seen a foreign woman, least of + all on horseback?" + + [8] It was a common thing for a Daimio to rid himself of the irksome + obligations of his position by abdicating in favour of his son. + On better acquaintance Shimadso Saburo proved a most genial old + gentleman. Three years later he entertained Sir Harry and Lady + Parkes at his capital most hospitably. + + [9] Count Inouyé, the foremost statesman of the new Japan, is said + to have confessed that he set fire to the British Legation with + his own hand with the express object of embarrassing the Tycoon's + Government. + + [10] The following souvenir of Count Mutsu, Foreign Minister of + Japan, who died in 1897, told by Mr J. F. Lowder and quoted in + 'Things Japanese' by Mr Basil Hall Chamberlain, affords a graphic + illustration of this point. "In the very early Sixties, when + he was in his nineteenth or twentieth year, he was in Nagasaki + desirous of acquiring a knowledge of English. A lady of my + acquaintance taking an interest in him used to devote an hour or + two every morning to teaching him to read and write, but it was + not long before he came to me despairing of his slow progress, and + asking whether I could not give him a berth on board ship where + nothing but English was spoken. Believing him to be physically too + weak to stand such an ordeal, I endeavoured to dissuade him, but + without success; and so with some misgivings I shipped him as a + cabin-boy, which was the only position I could obtain for him, on + board a small British schooner that used in those days to voyage + between Nagasaki and Shanghai. How long he remained on board I + cannot say, but my recollection is that it was a very considerable + time." + + [11] The foreign trade of Japan now (1900) approximates 40 millions + sterling, exports and imports being very nearly balanced. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK IN PEKING, 1865-1869. + + +I. THE BRITISH LEGATION. + + Contrast between Peking and Yedo--Finds old comrade Wade--The + Manchu statesmen, Kung and Wênsiang--Material progress pressed + upon them--Their failure to appreciate foreign advice. + +Sir Rutherford Alcock had spent only a few months in England when he was +appointed to succeed Sir Frederick Bruce as Minister to China, he himself +being succeeded in Japan by Sir Harry Parkes. Sir Rutherford reached +his post in Peking at the close of 1865. The change of scene from Japan +back to China was even more striking than that from China to Japan had +been in 1859. The excitement of shooting the rapids was succeeded by the +weariness of meandering among mud-shoals--the same medium to work in, +only under different conditions. Fundamentally the international problem +was identical in Japan and China--the conflict between aggression and +resistance. Rational dread of, and natural repulsion to, foreigners, +inspired alike the policies of both countries. Where they differed was +in the manner of meeting the invasion. Japan braced herself nervously +to the effort, and, distinguishing between what was feasible and what +was not, organised a counter-invasion unsuspected by foreign nations, +whom she subdued by their own strength. China, on the other hand, +opposed a fatalistic and unreasoning resistance, making no intelligent +counter-stroke and showing no true anticipation of the issues of the +struggle. The energy of ambitious youth on the one side; on the other mere +inertia, irresponsive to the stimulus of pride, shame, patriotism, or even +material interest. Bearing this contrast in mind, we may partly understand +the prosaic _rôle_ which foreign representatives were doomed in China to +play from the time the capital was forced open by Anglo-French arms in +1860. + +The position of the new British Minister was different from that which he +had occupied in Japan, where, being first in the field, he had to make +precedents, whereas in China he had to follow the course which had been +marked out during the previous four years. In judging of the wisdom of +that course, it is fair to apply the same retrospective criterion that we +proposed in the case of Japan--namely, to consider the situation so far as +it was known and could be realised at the time. Notwithstanding all that +had gone before, China in general, and Peking in particular, remained as +great mysteries to foreigners as Japan itself. The pioneer diplomatists +had to create their diplomacy out of their own consciousness, working upon +an idea which they imported, and not on the objective facts, which were +mere chaos to them. + +Sir Rutherford Alcock had the happiness to find the Peking Legation +in charge of his old vice-consul, Thomas Wade, from whom he had been +officially separated for ten years. Mr Wade was Chinese secretary and +secretary of Legation, offices which were some years later separated, to +the infinite detriment of both. For the secretary of Legation, drawn from +the ranks of the diplomatic service, had neither knowledge of nor interest +in Chinese affairs, nor aught to do but wait idly for the contingency +which might make him _chargé d'affaires_, reckoning every month spent +in the country as a penance entitling him to swift promotion to a more +congenial sphere. And the Chinese secretaryship, by itself, offered no +attraction to an ambitious man. But in 1865 the combination of offices was +most important, especially in the hands of a man of so much distinction +as Mr Wade. As the custodian of the Bruce tradition, if indeed he had not +a large share in its evolution, he bridged the gulf between the outgoing +and the incoming Minister, much as the Permanent Under-Secretary does at +the Foreign Office. + +As Mr (afterwards Sir Thomas) Wade, in the capacity of secretary, _chargé +d'affaires_, and Minister Plenipotentiary, represented Great Britain at +the Chinese Court for the best part of a quarter of a century, a term +equal to that of the other six Ministers put together, a brief reference +to his personality seems necessary to a just comprehension of the course +of affairs during his long residence in Peking. + +Mr Wade began life as a soldier. He had been in the "Black Watch," but, +being the only officer who could not speak Gaelic, found it congenial to +exchange into the 98th Regiment, with which he served in China during the +first war. He was adjutant of the regiment, which was commanded by Colonel +Campbell, afterwards Lord Clyde. When peace was made in 1842, he resigned +his commission and betook himself to the study of Chinese and of Chinese +subjects. After qualifying as interpreter he became Chinese secretary to +the Superintendency of Trade, which until 1858 was domiciled in Hongkong. +Transferred to the consular service, he was for some years interpreter and +vice-consul at Shanghai, where it fell to his lot to command the local +volunteers in the attack on the Chinese Imperial camps in 1854. He was +the first executive head of the Maritime Customs, established in the same +year, his services being lent by his chief to start the new institution. +Attached to Lord Elgin in his two missions to China, he was appointed +secretary of Legation and Chinese secretary under Sir Frederick Bruce when +the Legation was installed in Peking. + +Wheresoever Mr Wade's lot was cast he was beloved for his Irish geniality, +open-mindedness, and sincerity. He was the soul of honour, and was +possessed by the spirit of chivalry much beyond the common measure. His +best friends would never wish to forget his endearing infirmities of +temper, associated as they were with the generous _amende_ which never +failed to follow an over-hasty word. A well-read man, with a memory like +Macaulay's, a brilliant _raconteur_ and inimitable mimic, he was the +delight of every society. The services which he was enabled, by many +years of arduous labour, to render to succeeding generations of students +of Chinese are incalculable, and if his work begins now to be superseded +by that of others, this is but the common fate of pioneers in every +department of research. + +Sir Thomas Wade's character may thus be fitly and fairly summed up in +the hackneyed epithet, "a scholar and a gentleman,"--but not therefore +a statesman. His mind was cast in another and a finer mould than befits +the political arena; and, unnatural as the inference may seem, it is +open to question whether his extensive knowledge of China was the best +qualification for dealing at first hand with current affairs, even in +that country. Profound researches into Chinese literature and philosophy +tend to overshadow and induce a distaste for the jarring questions of +the day. Seen through the luminous haze of its classic history, China +presents to the contemplative mind an object of reverence unlike any +other existing State, for the thread of its continuity since the time +before Abraham is unbroken. Grander than hewn stone or graven bronze, the +monuments of China are written books, and a living race, the heirs of all +her ages, to be conversed with and interrogated. The burden of such vast +homogeneous antiquity may well oppress the mere man of politics: he needs +a certain alloy of Philistinism and a limitation of view to enable him to +concentrate his attention on the exigencies of the passing hour. + + [Illustration: PRINCE KUNG.] + +Relations which might be called intimate had been established between +the two Manchu statesmen, Prince Kung and Wênsiang, and the foreign +representatives. When these high personages were forced to assume +responsibility for international relations, they were not only unversed +in foreign affairs but untrained to any kind of business. The work of the +six Boards was carried on by expert secretaries, and the presidency of +one of them would have been no qualification for the new duty thrust upon +the emperor's Ministers of transacting business with foreign officials +standing on an equality with themselves. Their older colleague, Hangki, +had gained a little foreign knowledge by observation and hearsay while +filling the lucrative office of _hoppo_ at Canton; but the two younger men +mistrusted him, perhaps with reason, possibly from the suspicion naturally +aroused by his possession of superior knowledge. Prince Kung and Wênsiang +recognised that they had everything to learn, and they were apt and eager +scholars. Considering all the circumstances, it is indeed marvellous how +they adjusted themselves by innate tact to the novel position, and how +quickly they assimilated new knowledge. Many illuminating discussions were +carried on between them and the foreign representatives, who on their part +were no less desirous of imparting than the Chinese were of acquiring +information respecting the outer world. In these interesting symposia +Mr Wade naturally played the prominent part. On the enchanted ground of +Chinese history and literature, also, the interlocutors made endless +excursions together; and Chinese philosophy being directed to conduct +rather than speculation, it was possible to deduce from the teaching of +the sages authority for the adoption of almost any useful measure. Between +the modern innovator, therefore, though in foreign garb, and the ancient +moralists there was no such intellectual disagreement as sympathetic +explanations could not resolve. + +It might have been justifiable to conclude that the Chinese were being +influenced for good by the well-meant counsels so copiously addressed to +them, were it not that the tutorial being so entirely incompatible with +the diplomatic function, no useful result could be expected from their +strained combination. It was as if one were to teach a novice the moves +in a game which the two were at the same time playing for serious stakes. + +These interminable interviews and voluminous memoranda were wholly +unproductive, owing, no doubt, to the fact that the ideas of the parties +ran on parallel lines destined never to come to any point of fertile +contact. The burden of the cry of the Western people was "progress," a +word without equivalent in the language, and expressing an idea which +had no place in the conception of the Chinese. Incessant repetition +with varying illustrations were to the Chinese as flowers of rhetoric +wasted on a deaf man, and that simply because the basis of the Chinese +political thought lay at the opposite pole from that of the European. +On one occasion a distinguished American promoter was expatiating to the +governor of Formosa on the advantages of railway communication, his most +telling example being his own experience in being rushed along after an +early breakfast from his house in Albany to New York, where he spent the +day transacting important business and got wheeled back again to Albany +for dinner. The governor stopped him, and asked what in the name of +sanity possessed him to lead such a wearing life, as the last thing he +(the governor) would dream of doing would be to live a hundred miles from +his work. Though the earliest public advocate of railroads in China, the +governor regarded their utility from a far different point of view. + + [Illustration: WÊNSIANG. + _From a photo by J. Thomson, Grosvenor Street, W._] + +So eager were the foreigners for progress, which in their mind included +the regeneration of the Chinese empire and the development of its full +capacity for self-defence, that they were wont to rejoice over the +slightest indications of a beginning being made. Thus the mission of a man +of no standing as a secretary of the Tsungli-Yamên, who was sent to Europe +in 1866 to take observations, was hailed as the beginning of the new era, +and commended so warmly by the foreign Ministers to their Governments +that the emissary was received like the Queen of Sheba by King Solomon, +and shown--at least in Great Britain--everything that was admirable from +the Western point of view. He was as far, however, from appreciating the +triumph of science as was Cetewayo, the Zulu, whose admiration of England +focussed itself on the elephant "Jumbo" at the Zoological Gardens, or the +Scotswoman who, after being shown over the British Museum, had carried +away from it one impression, and that of the "graund mat" at the door. +The Chinese Government's appreciation of Western progress was by no means +increased by the mission of Pin, which rather indeed produced a contrary +effect. China soon began to put forth fresh claims to go her own way, her +own way being directly opposed to the kind of progress which was being +pressed upon her. + +The Chinese in following the doctrines of the sages felt they were under +the guidance of Heaven, so that innovations appeared to them tainted with +impiety. So deeply did the worship of the past pervade their field of +thought, that when high officials ventured to introduce something new, +they usually endeavoured to disarm opposition by gilding their proposals +with well-selected texts from the classics. + + +II. FOREIGN LIFE IN PEKING. + + Social influence of the Alcock family--Sir Rutherford's relations + with his staff--No social relations with natives--Manchu + courtesy to English ladies--Community of foreigners sociable yet + non-cohesive--Description of city--Foreign residency--Objects + of interest--The streets--Mules--Camels--Mongol market--Fur + sales--Absence of regulations--Street anecdotes--Summer + residences. + +By the end of 1865 the foreign life in Peking, official, social, and +private, had already settled into the grooves prescribed by local +conditions, within which it has, more or less, run ever since. + + [Illustration: MANCHU (TARTAR) WOMEN.] + +Nevertheless, the advent of Sir Rutherford and Lady Alcock, with their +daughter, now Lady Pelly, introduced an element into the social atmosphere +of Peking which has afforded the happiest reminiscences to those who came +under its influence. We have seen that Sir Rutherford Alcock, by force of +character, conviction, and sense of duty, naturally assumed the lead among +his peers wherever he happened to be placed. A German resident in Peking +at the time we are speaking of says, "I remember very well that fine +English gentleman, who was conscious of representing the greatest country +of the world, and did it well." The official personality of the British +Minister could not be more truly depicted than in these simple words; but +this natural pre-eminence extended far beyond the official sphere, and +made itself felt for the general good in the common relations of life. +His dealings with subordinates were marked by thoroughgoing loyalty; his +rule was to give his confidence without reserve to those who merited +it, to support and defend them in the discharge of their duty. He was +accessible, always ready to listen to the opinions even of his juniors, +and though exacting as regards work, he never spared himself, but set an +example of industry to those who served under him. He possessed that rare +faculty of appreciation which enables a man to command services which no +money could buy. The survivors of his staff to this day speak of him in +affectionate terms as the best of chiefs. In business he was strictly, +perhaps even rigidly, formal, and his manner was intolerant of laxity in +others. When the official crust was put off like a suit of armour, the +genial depths of his nature were reached, but the number of those who +enjoyed this experience seems never to have been large. Select, but few, +were the friends of his bosom. + +The foreign residents in Peking did not number many, and, with the +exception of the Legations, were rather widely scattered over a city of +vast distances. The original community consisted of about sixty persons, +distributed over the four Legations, the customs' staff, and missionary +establishments. It was a community of young men "about twenty-four years +of age," eminently social, no member being a stranger to the rest, and all +living in friendly intercourse. The Legations may almost be said to have +sat with open doors, so easy were their interchanges of informal visits. +During the time of Sir Rutherford and Lady Alcock their hospitalities +rendered the British Legation the chief centre of social interest, while +the unaffected kindness which inspired these courtesies endeared its +inmates to all their fellow-residents. That, indeed, was the golden age of +the British Legation, and, it may be added, of the general social life of +the Chinese capital, a period when life-long friendships were formed. The +time had not yet come for international rivalries to mar the cordiality +of personal intercourse. Indeed in the convivialities of Peking national +distinctions were absolutely lost, and so to a great extent were the +distinctions of rank. On the racecourse, which was early instituted, as +in the billiard-room, picnic excursions, and the like, all were free and +all were equal. + + [Illustration: MANCHU WOMEN.] + +When we speak of the "social" life of Peking, it must be understood as +referring exclusively to that of the foreign residents among themselves, +for between them and the natives there was no such intimacy. But in those +early days the high Chinese officials seemed to have been more genial than +those of a later epoch. In the winter of 1860-61, for example, Hangki, +formerly _hoppo_ of Canton, was in the habit of receiving Mr Adkins +familiarly at his private residence,--a practice which was afterwards +gradually discontinued. The arrival of the two ladies at the British +Legation was the signal for a display of courtesy by the Manchu Ministers, +who from time to time sent them seasonable presents of plants, flowers, +and other things, thus establishing agreeable personal relations with the +Minister. That the advent of ladies to the Legations should have evoked +the natural politeness of the high officials need not be a matter for +wonder if it be remembered that the Chinese contempt for women is not +shared by the Manchus. It is well known that their women are free from +most of the trammels which contract the lives of their Chinese sisters. +Their unbound feet symbolise liberty of locomotion generally, and they +show themselves unveiled and unabashed in public thoroughfares. They have +the coquetries common to the sex, among which may be reckoned a passion +for floral decoration of the head, and the universal practice of painting +the face and lips. This is done in a thoroughgoing manner, and as if the +paint were "laid on with a trowel," leaving a sharply defined margin on +cheek and neck between the pink and white and the sallow ground on which +the colour is overlaid, giving it the appearance of a mask which might +be easily removed. Even young children are subjected to the cosmetic +treatment; and the very aged do not discard the artificial flowers in the +remnant of their hair. As the fairest Chinese have no such natural colour +as is thus imitated, it is rather difficult to divine whence they derived +the notion of an ideal human skin. + +It is not to be wondered at that the first European girls who appeared in +Peking should have excited some curiosity. One young lady, probably the +first arrival, whose fresh and fair complexion suggested the acme of the +cosmetic art, excited intense interest among the Mongol and Manchu ladies. +On one occasion she was met in the street by a great princess, who was +so struck by her appearance that she stopped her _cortège_, alighted from +her cart, and stood before the English girl and gently rubbed her cheeks +to find out, as she naively said, how the colour was put on! + +The foreign residents at Peking, happy as their circumstances were, +lacked some of the principal elements of a community properly so called. +They had, in fact, little in common besides their æsthetic culture and +their Christian civilisation, the literature, philosophy, and the social +tenets of the West. They had no head, no centre, no neutral meeting-ground +even except the racecourse and the open fields, and were thus always +either hosts or guests to each other. The assumed identity of their high +political interests gave an appearance of solidarity to the diplomatic +section; but the fusion of the other elements in the society was far +from complete, and, in short, outside of the region of recreation and +conviviality the residents could not be said to be animated by any +unifying purpose, nor to have any communal existence. Individual isolation +prevented the aggregate from attaining collective force. + + [Illustration: CHINESE WOMEN.] + +These sterilising conditions were aggravated by another feature of +the situation which had an important bearing on social life. Peking +was one of the most inaccessible capitals in the world. The great +tourist-stream passed it by. It stirred no human emotion unless it +were languid aversion or inarticulate curiosity. The dilettante element +which has ventilated Japan so well and kept her in constant touch with +cosmopolitan life-currents has been absent in Northern China. Peking with +its particular concerns has been thus permitted to lie secluded from the +world, neither generating fruitful ideas nor inviting or profiting by +their importation from without; nor, in short, making itself intelligible +or interesting to mankind other than as an archaic curiosity. China, with +its immense wealth and resources, weighed less in the consideration of the +nations than the petty kingdom of Greece or the deadly swamps of Africa. +Considerations of that kind help to explain the bewilderment with which +the action of these neglected forces has been received during the past few +years, and the disarray of the organs of European opinion when suddenly +called on to deal with the phenomenon of Peking as a daily "headline." + + * * * * * + +Of the city itself it may be noted that it is magnificently laid out +within high and massive walls, the gates and corners surmounted by +bastions and imposing towers pierced with three tiers of gun-ports. The +main streets are straight and extravagantly wide. Spaciousness is the +dominant expression of the whole--the back-yard is a feature of the +meanest one-storeyed hovels. It has not occurred to the Pekingese to +economise earth-space by vertical architecture ground-ward or sky-ward. +Viewed from an elevation, the city has the appearance of a vast park: +the tree-foliage seen in perspective seems to cover the whole area, only +picked out by yellow and green roofs of imperial and other conspicuous +buildings. The palace, a city in itself of 10,000 inhabitants, occupies +an immense _enclave_ symmetrically placed in the centre of the whole. + +From such a coign of vantage as the high wall affords, Peking presents +at once an impressive and a pleasing spectacle. It gives the distance +necessary to lend enchantment to the view. The soothing hum of a great +population; the sweetness of an atmosphere untainted, if it be summer, +or spiced by the aromatic herbs which grow promiscuously between the +interstices of the bricks, if it be autumn,--enfolds the scene in that +kind of soft drapery which memory throws over common things long past. One +lingers, loth to renew a closer acquaintance with the crowd below, which +no longer hums but utters wild discordant cries,--with the horrors of the +streets, which are of the earth, earthy. The area contained between the +rectilinear arteries of the city is dismally laid out on the plan of the +rabbit-warren. These wide streets are alternately deep mire and deep dust +at the best, but at the worst, receptacles of indescribable abominations. +The witty and wise Bishop Favier, when describing these to a friend in +France, was asked, How could a population living in such insanitary +conditions resist a visitation of cholera. "Cholera!" exclaimed the +Father; "it could never enter. It would be asphyxiated at the gate!"[12] + +The dust is acrid to nose and eyes, from the dessicated refuse of +generations, for the streets are watered by long scoops from standing +pools of sewage which overflow in the summer rains and obliterate the +roadway, so that animals harnessed between shafts not unfrequently meet +with a cruel death by drowning in these fœtid thoroughfares. + + [Illustration: CHINESE STREET SCENE DURING RAINY SEASON.] + +Such hints as these will be sufficient to suggest to the least imaginative +that peculiar unattractiveness of the Peking streets which has been +a determining factor in the habits of the foreign residents. Life +would be intolerable to Western folks if it were not removed from the +sights, noises, and odours of the streets; and fortunately the ruling +local principle of spaciousness lends itself to the solution without +running counter to any native practice or prejudice. The Legations, the +customs, and the missionaries are in their various degrees established +in "compounds" large enough to accommodate the members of their staffs +in separate buildings with ample elbow-room, as in an Indian cantonment, +interspaced with trees and sometimes gardens, the whole surrounded by a +high wall and capable of defence. These seductive oases in a wilderness of +garbage, in a city of great distances, naturally conduce to stay-at-home +habits and to segregation, which it requires some energy to overcome. + +Nor is Peking life wanting in more mundane compensations. The city itself +contains many "objects of interest," which in the earlier years of foreign +intercourse were open to the curious. The well-known "Lama temple," +reputed to contain 2000 inmates, which has for many years been dangerous +to enter, was in those days a much-frequented resort, where the stranger +was welcome to go over the establishment and listen to the Buddhist +litanies: a certain bass voice, or perhaps a succession of bass voices, in +the choir, indeed, attained celebrity among foreigners. In the refectory +of that monastery one was obliged, out of respect, to eat, or feign to +eat, the unmitigated fat of the sheep's tail, fished from out the broth, +not with a hook, as was the custom in the Jewish Church, but by the deft +fingers of the chief lama. Now, on the contrary, the foreigner who enters +the gate is hustled, robbed, and stoned. This great change in the attitude +of the lamas has never been satisfactorily explained, but it is presumed +that the manners and customs of some of the visitors to the temple may +have had something to do with it. There have been visitors who, with the +keen acquisitiveness of the world-tourist, have slipped small "josses" +into their pockets out of what, perhaps, appeared to them the superfluous +number of molten images ranged round the shelves of the great Buddha's +sanctuary. + +The Temple of Heaven, too, that grand altar to the Living God, standing +in an immense park enclosed by a lofty wall, was then, and for many +years remained, open to all comers. This was perhaps due less to any +intentional liberality of the authorities than to the negligence of the +gatekeepers and the Board of Works. For a long time access was gained +over a broken part of the outer wall left unrepaired. At one period +English residents played cricket within the vast enclosure; at another +Billingsgate and brickbats were the ordinary salutations which greeted +the would-be visitor--the change being probably due to the slow awakening +of the officials. So with many other places within and without the city, +for in some cases where direct request was made for extension of the +accommodation, the effect of drawing official attention to the subject +was to restrict the privileges which had actually been enjoyed. + +Notwithstanding the occasional rudeness of which Dr Rennie has given us so +faithful a picture, the most unartistic of men could hardly fail to take +pleasure in the daily traffic of the streets, provided only his nerves, +visual and olfactory, were not too delicate. The true lord of the roads +is apt from his commonplaceness to be overlooked by those who owe him +most--that universal conveyancer, the sagacious, tireless mule. He does +not belong to the "five great families"--the fox, weasel, hedgehog, snake, +and rat--which the Chinese hold in mystic awe because they have learned +the secret of immortality; but if utility to man were a criterion of +merit, they would surely fall down and worship this indispensable hybrid. +Hot or cold, wet or dry, the mule never fails to respond to the severest +call upon his strength and courage. + +With the approach of winter an antediluvian rival is introduced upon +the scene, in the shape of the well-known two-humped camel, which is +then shaggy, dignified, and in really grand form. Intolerant of heat, +but impervious to cold, the camels, after passing the summer on the +grass-lands of the Mongolian plateau, are brought down in droves to +the great fair held on a large open space outside the Northern Wall. +The coming of the camels with their bronzed and heavily booted riders +is like a whiff of the free air of the desert. The Pekingese use this +patient but surly beast of burden chiefly for carrying coal from the +mines in the Western Hills to the city; but immense numbers are employed +in transporting tea from the navigable limit of the Peiho to Siberia and +Russia, not entering Peking city at all. + +A roomy encampment between the British and Russian Legations is allotted +to the Mongols, and serves as a market-place where the products of the +desert are exchanged for the utensils and gewgaws of civilisation. The +staple of the Mongol trade is frozen meat--mutton, venison, furred and +feathered game; and without refrigerator or other appliance the carcasses +remain fresh in their skins till the end of the three winter months. +These simple-minded herdsmen, chaffering with shrewd Chinese hucksters, +or sitting, where they seem to have been born, between the high humps of +their slow-moving beasts, form picturesque groups in the imperial city, +the more interesting that their appearance is pathetically suggestive +of an order which is passing away. The Grand Khan, dispensing favours to +his loyal tributaries, has come ominously near to being a mere tradition. +These very sheepskin-coated camel-drivers are the only buffer remaining +between the receding empire and the advancing tide of foreign encroachment +from the north. + +Other evidences of that imperial grandeur which lent some justification to +the title "Middle Kingdom" were still occasionally to be met with. Though +Siam, and even Burma, had fallen indefinitely into arrears, dust-begrimed +embassies from Korea or Nepaul, with their trains of pack-mules bearing +tribute and merchandise (duty free for the benefit of the officials), +might still be seen defiling through the massive gates of the city, +preserving to our day a living picture of the Asiatic mission of the +antique type. For what were they but interesting survivals, shadows of +departed greatness? + +Peking is not a commercial city, but essentially an imperial camp. Trade +proper is confined to an outer or Chinese city, which is but a walled-in +suburb sparsely built over. Through traffic, for obvious fiscal reasons, +shuns the capital; but there is sufficient local commerce, of which +gold and silver smelting forms a not unimportant part, to support many +bankers and merchants who are domiciled in the outer city. It has been +remarked that Chinese trade may be seen at its best in the settlement of +Maimaichên, which faces Kiachta on the Russo-Chinese frontier, or in the +Straits Settlements or Rangoon, where nothing hinders the merchants from +accumulating and displaying their wealth. Even Peking, however, affords +some glimpses of the far-reaching enterprise of the Chinese traders. + +What a suggestive display, for instance, is the fur-market, also of +necessity a "winter exhibition"! Acres and acres of ground are covered +with skins of every conceivable species of quadruped, spread out from dawn +till near noon. Here are daily laid out for sale under the blue sky (and +what a light to make purchases in!) the commonest and the most precious +furs from Manchuria, the Amur, and even Kamtschatka, the total value of +which must be enormous. Let us learn from the history of the Hudson's +Bay Company what organisation of energy, what confidence, what variety of +enterprise and skill, are required to bring these costly commodities from +such vast distances to this great sale-room, and we shall not make light +of the vitality of the Chinese. + + * * * * * + +The amenities of the street traffic, though not of special importance, +call for mention as illustrating certain phases of foreign contact +with the Chinese. If we may take Japan for comparison, in nothing is +the contrast between the two systems more apparent than in municipal +administration. The antithesis may be expressed in one word,--in Japan, +excessive regulation; in China, absence of regulation. Whether there be +any rule of the road in China is of little interest, seeing that, like +other rules, it might be disregarded and there would be no one to enforce +it. The traffic adjusts itself with little friction. China employs no +police,--things arrange themselves by their own interaction, as the +pebbles do on the sea-shore; and for most of the purposes of life the +people are their own law-makers and their own executive. The Chinese +system of government is to govern as little as possible--to let the +country rule itself. So when a strange element demanded accommodation +in the busy streets and congested gateways of Peking, without rules +or supervision, it had to find its level among the rest by friction +and concussion. It would have been an interesting process to watch in +its initial stages. Amid a good deal of clamour and language of a racy +description applied to man and beast and their respective ancestors, there +is rarely a serious road quarrel among the Chinese. One excellent custom +of polite society tends to restrict the area of disputes on the highway, +leaving collisions to be fought out by grooms, carters, chair-bearers, or +boatmen, as the case may be, while the masters maintain an imperturbable +reserve. + +Mr Colborne Baber, who had a way of his own of solving the minor problems +of Chinese intercourse, was once in a cart, sitting well back and +unobserved, in a narrow street that admitted neither of turning nor of +passing another vehicle, when a cart was met about half way. The drivers +began to vociferate, each calling on the other to give way. The opposition +carter claimed the precedence on the ground that his vehicle carried +women, and it looked as if he would gain his point when Baber himself, +becoming impatient, thrust out his head and called out that in his cart +there was a foreign devil, and without further discussion the rival jehu +backed out. + +Those who ride do not recognise each other on the road, even though they +be friends; for if they did so, etiquette would require both to stop and +dismount and go through formal salutations on foot. Foreigners, ignoring +this rule, and their servants not unwilling to profit by the prestige +of their masters in accosting bystanders from the saddle, are sometimes +grievously misdirected when not lectured on their bad manners. The +natives on their part are seldom averse from presuming on the foreigner's +ignorance of what is due to him. Between the one and the other, or as a +result of the mere chapter of accidents, collisions were inevitable in +the streets. How were they to be dealt with in the absence of constituted +authority? If aggression towards a foreigner on the part of a great man's +servants were submitted to, there would be no end to it, they being 500 to +1. On the other hand, insolence promptly resented and vigorously punished +never failed to elicit the approval not only of the spectators, but even +of the great man himself, who perhaps had secret grievances of his own +against his lackeys, which he was not sorry to see partially paid off +by proxy. In all cases the sympathy of the Chinese goes with the side +that successfully asserts itself. Of this hundreds of examples could be +given--perhaps not one on the converse side. + +A writer in the 'Whitehall Review' some years ago, among interesting +reminiscences of the 'Sixties, relates some incidents to show the +primitive means by which equilibrium was established between natives and +foreigners in the Peking streets. _Place aux dames._ The experience of the +first foreign female who had been seen is thus amusingly told. Mr Bruce's +housekeeper, an old family retainer who had followed the fortunes of her +master all over the world, + + saw no particular reasons for not acting in Peking as she had + done in Cairo or Constantinople, and the first morning after her + arrival sallied forth, basket on arm, to do her marketing for the + day. When I add that she knew not a word of Chinese, that none of + the natives spoke English, that she was about five feet high and + ten feet round the crinoline, and was the first female European + ever seen by the Pekingese, her enterprise will be judged to have + been braver than she knew. However, nothing daunted, she entered + a butcher's shop, closely pressed upon by an inquisitive and + delighted crowd. Before she could even look at a joint or chop + she was hemmed in, and one waggish native, bolder than the rest, + gave her a substantial dig in the crinoline, shouting in Chinese, + "Let's see if she's solid." But the laugh was not for long on his + side. Seizing a chopper from the block, Mrs A. made a mighty blow + at his head, which he happily evaded. In less than a second the + shop was clear, the terrified natives tumbling over each other + in their haste to get away. A European who came upon the scene + at the moment beheld the startling sight of some 500 Chinese + rushing up the principal street pursued by an infuriated old woman + armed with a chopper. With some difficulty she was persuaded to + abandon the chase and resume her basket, which she had dropped + in her excitement. But it is on record that for a good two years + thereafter Mrs A. was allowed to shop in peace, and became a + "Black Douglas" to troublesome Chinese children in the vicinity + of the Legation. + +In later years she talked in what she called "broken China." + +Another "adjustment to environment" is thus described:-- + + A curious little industry sprang up in the environs of the city, + consequent on the horsey proclivities of the Europeans. This was + getting run over, which was generally accomplished by rushing in + front of the horses and throwing the hands up. One of two things + always happened. Either the horse shied and the rider came off, to + the huge delight of the Chinese mob, or the gesticulating party + was knocked down. In this latter event, cautioned as we all were + to give no offence, if possible, to the natives, a dollar was + generally handed as salve to the artful victim, whose screams and + yells that he had been killed never failed to draw a large and + sympathising crowd of friends, who regarded the "foreign devil" + with most unfriendly looks. In one village at last it became + intolerable, and we decided if any further attempt was made we + would run down the culprits intentionally. As usual, on our next + visit three or four young _gamins_ essayed the usual dodge. Being + fully prepared for it, nobody was unseated, and we turned our + horses back at full gallop, three or four Chinese being hurled + into the hedge by our horses. We did not stop to offer dollars, + but were never afterwards stopped. + +Following the same train of reflection, he gives examples of the drastic +manner in which the Russians asserted their prerogatives on the road, +which we do not quote, as they were probably exceptional cases. + +The never-failing courtesy of the Manchus rises superior to such +unpleasant encounters. An example of this was related to the writer by a +member of the British Legation. In riding through a narrow place, narrowed +probably by the cesspool occupying more than its fair share of the street, +he met the _cortège_ of a grandee at a spot where it seemed impossible +to pass, and it looked as if the solitary horseman must turn back. As +he thought of doing so he observed the occupant of the sedan call a halt +and direct his bearers to make room for the stranger. Observing closely +the features of him who showed so much consideration for a foreigner, the +Englishman was pleased, some time afterwards, to recognise in him Prince +Ch'ing, who succeeded Prince Kung as President of the Tsungli-Yamên in +1884. + +The lives of the foreign residents were by no means confined within the +four walls of the city. The environs without fences or trespass notices +make charming excursion-grounds for riding-parties. For longer expeditions +there are the never-failing attractions of the Ming Tombs, the Great +Wall, the passes into Mongolia, and various other distant points. The +city is beautifully situated in the centre of a mountain crescent, whose +nearest point is thirteen miles distant. The first object of quest when +the Legations had been established was a sanatorium or summer retreat--for +the thermometer reaches 100 Fahr. in June--and the Western Hills were +explored. Some of the most beautiful spots there are occupied by Buddhist +temples or monasteries, whose builders have shown as nice a taste in +the selection of their sites as their brethren the monks of the West +have always done. These religious houses, laid out with a view to the +accommodation of pilgrims and strangers, are regularly used by Chinese +grandees as health-resorts or shelters from political storms. The Russian +mission, while it was alone in Peking, had set the example twenty years +before of resorting to the hill temples in the dog-days. Arrangements +with the priests for the occupation of certain portions of one of the +temples were soon made by Mr Parkes, who was on a visit to the capital, +and ever since 1861 official Peking, with one notable exception, has on +the approach of summer migrated bodily from the oppressive atmosphere of +the great city to the exhilarating air of the Western Hills. The social +life of the city was reproduced at the temples, but in a less conventional +form, every one residing there being considered on a holiday. The country +round offered many temptations to excursions, and amateurs of geology, +botany, and natural history were never at a loss for something to interest +them in their rambles among the hills. Residence so far from town brought +the foreigners into friendly contact also with their rustic neighbours, +whose innate good qualities, moderation, contentment, and kindliness were +displayed in a very favourable light. + +But the sojourn at the hills also brought the foreigner into occasional +contact with Chinese of high rank, who welcomed such opportunities of +showing civility to the strangers. At other times disagreeable collisions +with the retainers of a great personage were experienced. So popular were +the temples of the Western Hills as a summer resort that they were always +full, and consequently disputes about accommodation were liable to occur, +especially when some grasping priest would let the same premises to two +different occupants, leaving them, or rather their servants, to fight for +the possession. + + +III. THE FOREIGN CUSTOMS UNDER THE PEKING CONVENTION. + + Centralised in Peking--Encouraged by British Ministers--Assumed + imperial form after the treaties of 1858--Extension to all the + ports--Original international basis becomes purely Chinese--Shows + capacity for larger functions than collection of duties--Becomes + a diplomatic auxiliary--British Government leans upon it--The + Chinese faithfully served by it--Interpreter of the intentions + of the foreign Governments--Inspector-General gains influence + over British Minister--Pleases Board of Trade--And maintains + confidential relations with British Government--While remaining + faithful to China--Services rendered by the Customs to all + commercial nations. + +It was a source of unmixed satisfaction to Sir Rutherford Alcock, on +assuming office in Peking, to find the maritime customs, the bantling of +Shanghai, firmly established in the capital and gathering strength and +influence. As its functions pertained exclusively to trade, Sir Frederick +Bruce had been originally of opinion that the inspector-general should be +located in the commercial centre, Shanghai, and he took exception to the +institution being domiciled in Peking, where trade was expressly excluded +by treaty. Sir Frederick, however, soon saw reason to modify his views. +When it began to appear to him that the customs might prove a convenient +auxiliary to the diplomacy of the treaty Powers, he cultivated the +institution and encouraged it to occult activity in the political sphere. +Sir Frederick Bruce's interests in the fortunes of the customs, however, +could never be so ardent as that of its parent, Sir Rutherford Alcock, +and its monthly nurse, Mr Wade. The presence of these two in the British +Legation afforded a fresh guarantee of the prosperity of the customs, +which they were both well satisfied to see in the competent hands of Mr +Hart. For as the institution was a creation without precedent, the form +of its development must be largely influenced by the personal qualities +of its head. Whatever character it might have assumed under its original +inspector-general, Lay, it could hardly have been the same service that +has grown and spread under the directing hand of Sir Robert Hart. It +is impossible to dissociate the Chinese customs as it stands from the +vigorous self-sustained intellect that has moulded and still controls it, +for it is assuredly not such a going concern as can be made over to any +new head without the risk of changes more or less organic. + +The story of the first decade of the maritime customs was told clearly, +briefly, and modestly in a monograph which Mr Hart prepared for Mr Bruce +in 1864, published as a Blue Book of thirteen pages (No. 1, 1865). Up +to the date of the Tientsin treaty of 1858 the operations of the foreign +collectorate were confined to the single port of Shanghai, the inspectors +holding the appointment from the governor-general at Nanking, who was +Imperial Commissioner for Foreign Trade. The new treaty gave the foreign +Powers an interest in the Chinese customs which they did not possess +before, because the war indemnities were to be paid by instalments out +of the collections of duty, so that during the time when these payments +were being made the maintenance of the machinery for collecting the duties +was a matter of international concern. The new treaty also provided for a +uniform system of duty collection for all the trading-ports; and then the +institution assumed an imperial and dropped its provincial character, the +inspector-general receiving his commission from the Central Government. + +Considering that the mission of the foreign customs was to subvert +time-honoured native systems, it was received with surprising graciousness +at most of the trading centres. The first port to which the new system was +extended was Canton, the leader in welcoming its advent there being the +_hoppo_, the one functionary in the empire whose privileges seemed to be +most directly threatened by the new-comer. By one of those anomalies which +are so common and yet so inexplicable in Chinese affairs, arrangements for +opening the office in Canton were carried on without interruption during +the hostilities of 1859. Patience, tact, and resolution were nevertheless +required to overcome the innumerable difficulties of detail incidental to +substituting rigorous inspection and remorseless collection for the chaos +of unaccountability which had previously reigned unchallenged. A very few +years, however, served to reduce all obstruction, and to bring trader and +official, foreigner and Chinese, into working harmony. + +For the first time in history a true account was rendered to the Imperial +Government, accompanied by a substantial revenue on which it could depend. +Naturally the agency, though foreign, which yielded such tangible fruit, +commended itself to the statesmen of the capital, who frankly recognised, +as did the provincial authorities themselves, that the result obtained +was wholly beyond the competence of any native organisation. Though, +therefore, the customs service was essentially of a provisional, stop-gap +character, it had on that very account a surer guarantee of permanence +than could have been derived from any paper covenant by which the Chinese +Government could have been bound, for that would have provoked disputation +and evasion. The spasmodic attempt to formalise the service on a basis +of international obligation which was made in 1898 was perhaps the first +thing that really imperilled its constitution. In its origin, indeed, +the foreign customs had been international, the three treaty Powers being +each represented on the inspectorate; but with the expansion in 1858 this +character was abandoned, and the customs became a purely Chinese concern +operated by foreign employees, the staff being selected from among all +nations indiscriminately, according to personal merit. + +Almost from the time of the transference of the inspectorate to the +capital the customs showed capacities of wider range than are comprised +within the routine of a custom-house. Profoundly impressed as were the +imperial statesmen with the value of the new revenue-producer, they soon +began to perceive that the institution might be put to other and greater +uses. Plurality of function in itself was no stumbling-block to them, +for it is the system on which Chinese administration is carried on. In +the very first year they had intrusted the inspector-general and his +deputy with the organisation of a navy, with the evident approval of the +British Minister. That functionary, indeed, seemed as little disposed as +the Chinese themselves to see incongruity in the various forms of customs +activity, especially when he regarded its extra official services as +rendered to himself; and he really stood much in need of services of that +kind. + +Her Majesty's first representative in Peking, helpless and despairing, +was, in fact, fain to throw himself on the support of the first +inspector-general, Mr Lay, and then of his successor, Mr Hart, as +having knowledge and influence with the Chinese Government which was +not possessed by the British Legation. It did not apparently occur to Mr +Bruce that such knowledge was strictly limited, and that the influence +could be of very little use to him, and might be too dearly purchased. +Having no other resource, however, he was perhaps not unwilling to +shut his eyes to the false position in which he was placing himself in +leaning upon the paid servants of the Chinese Government to assist him in +carrying out a policy which was totally repugnant to that Government. The +fidelity of both Mr Lay and Mr Hart to the master whom they served being +beyond question, the diplomatic prestige conferred on them by the British +Minister, as well as the knowledge and influence derived from the other +side, must, in all matters of controversy, be thrown into the Chinese +scale. + +As this interesting truth dawned upon the minds of the Tsungli-Yamên, they +saw in their English employee a providential instrument for drawing the +sting from the threatening language which was sometimes applied to them +by the foreign representatives. Of these, the only one who had as yet any +serious matter to discuss with the Chinese was the representative of Great +Britain. It was assumed on the British side that nothing proposed by that +Power was contrary to the interests of China: so far, indeed, did this +theory inspire their action, that the welfare of the Chinese seemed at +times to overshadow that of their own empire in the minds of the British +representatives. No doubt there was an ideal point of view from which +the interests of China and her Western neighbours might seem ultimately +to blend, but Chinese statesmen were in nowise able to take in such a +large perspective. They continued to regard the foreign invasion, with +all its pretences of goodwill, as an unmitigated calamity to be opposed +wherever possible. No man can pronounce a certain judgment as to whether, +with their imperfect knowledge, they were more right or more wrong in +following their obstructive instincts. Reforms, progress, and the opening +up of the country to foreigners, were being persistently pressed upon +them; they fully expected these concessions to be demanded of them when +the time came--and it was already drawing near--when the treaties should +be revised. Admitting, moreover, that some one, or more, of the Powers +might have been considerate enough to forego, or indefinitely postpone, +advantages for themselves rather than imperil the wellbeing of the Chinese +State, there were already six instead of the original three treaty Powers +to be reckoned with; nor was there any limit to the further increase of +their numbers. Supposing, then, that, relying on the benignant intentions +of the English, they should, in the revision of their treaty, admit such +innovations as inland steam navigation, inland residence, railways, +and so forth, would not these successes stimulate the other Powers, +when their turn for revision came,--France in 1870, Germany in 1871, +and others later,--to advance still farther the outposts of the foreign +invasion, each, in a spirit of generous emulation, striving to surpass the +achievements of his predecessor; and all with the complacent consciousness +that they were doing good to China? These endless contingencies were more +than Chinese statesmen could cope with, and the apprehension of them had +no other effect than to consolidate their resistance in small as well +as in great things. They were learning to mistrust the efficacy of their +ancient imperial policy of dividing and ruling, and with good reason had +lost confidence in their capacity to distinguish in embryo between what +was trivial and what was laden with deep consequences. + +Resistance, therefore, tempered by the fear of force, seemed their only +refuge. Some of the dangers ahead, of which they had glimpses, might have +been obviated by a bolder policy; but being unable to formulate such +a policy for themselves, and unwilling to accept it cut and dried from +others, there was nothing left them but indiscriminate resistance. Under +such conditions no harmony was possible between the Chinese and Western +Governments; and not knowing how far they might with safety evade the +pressure put upon them, the Chinese had recourse to the Inspector-General +of Customs, as Louis XI. had recourse to his astrologer whenever he felt +himself in a difficult crisis. + +The Tsungli-Yamên, accustomed to act on hand-to-mouth views of policy, +would do anything to relieve the pressure of the moment, but nothing to +prevent a recurrence of it. Indisposed to follow up the sequences of cause +and effect, they would in emergencies become impatient of ratiocination +and attempt to reach the foregone conclusion by a shorter cut. Common +gossip in China thus fairly summarised their attitude in certain crises +of this kind. If discussion with the British Legation ran high, the Yamên +would send for the inspector-general and ask simply, "Does this mean +war?" The answer being "No," the question ceased to trouble the Yamên, +and the foreign Minister would be allowed to rage at his pleasure. Their +Excellencies would even help him out with the opprobrious terms he was +searching for, and then listen placidly to the remainder of the tirade. +Great Britain having not only the preponderating interest, but being still +the leading Power in the Far East, it was obviously a great advantage for +the Chinese that it should be that Power which came particularly under +the influence of the inspector-general. To tie the hands of the British +Government for a whole generation was, indeed, an achievement worthy of a +master of policy; but it was by no means the only service which might be +rendered to China even by an Inspector-General of Customs. + +The same agency was destined in later days to unravel many tangled skeins +in China's international relations. It brought Gordon to her rescue in +1880; by sheer innate ability in the use of the most unpromising means, it +brought about peace with France in 1885; and, though with less success, it +procured the attempted intervention of Great Britain with Japan in 1894. + +How far these great potentialities were foreseen in the earlier years +of the Customs service is doubtful. Even in their parental complacency +Sir Rutherford Alcock and Mr Wade may well have failed to realise, as an +uninterested outsider might have done, the nature of the power that was +being nursed in their infant Hercules. Certain it is that they reckoned +it as a factor on their own side. It is clear that Sir Rutherford Alcock, +so far from regarding the inspector-general as an opponent, commended him +to the Foreign Office as a valuable auxiliary. Mr Wade clung to the same +belief for a good many years longer. + +The first to perceive the tendency of the new relationship which events +were bringing about was, no doubt, the inspector-general himself. +China, he saw, could be best served by a virtual control of the British +Legation. The nascent power was, however, too precious to be trusted to +personal accidents, and the inspector-general wisely availed himself +of circumstances as they arose to widen his basis of influence by +establishing such relations with the Home Government as might save +him from being wholly dependent on the life or the caprice of the +representative for the time being at Peking. Such to an ordinary man +might have appeared a hopeless ambition, considering the circumstance +of distance and other adverse conditions. Yet by gradual steps this too +was accomplished. A well-directed stroke or a happy accident established +the inspector-general in high favour with the Board of Trade when under +the presidency of Mr John Bright. He had summed up the results of the +treaty revision[13] negotiations in 1868 in a congratulatory letter to +the British Minister which has been many times published. As a masterly +exposition of the State of China in its relation to foreign Powers it was +warmly indorsed by Sir Rutherford Alcock, and is well worth perusal even +at this day. The Board of Trade was much impressed by a presentment of +the Chinese case so much in sympathy with the views often expressed by Mr +Cobden and Mr Bright, and which are traditional in the Board of Trade. +Their policy was noninterference in the affairs of China, based largely +on their disparagement of the value of British interests in that country. +In commenting on this closely reasoned State Paper, the Board of Trade +specially selected for illustration of its merit the following passage: +"Of course, force will wrest anything from China: but wherever there is +action there is reaction; and as sure as natural laws continue to act, +so sure it is that appeals to force in one age will give to the men of +a later day a heritage of vengeance,--the Europeans of some future day +may wish that their forefathers had not sown the seeds of hatred in the +bayonet-ploughed soil of Cathay." + +Nor was this the only result of the happy success of the new customs +diplomacy, for, as the connecting link between commerce and politics, the +Board of Trade was a potent agency in determining the political action of +the Government, more especially when there was a strong man at the head +of it and a weak one at the Foreign Office. + +The rising power in China did not seek fresh conquests, but was adroit in +seizing on such as came in its way, and circumstances having brought it +in direct touch with the Foreign Office, that department was drawn into +close relation with the Chinese customs. + +The result of all this, briefly stated, was the partial effacement of +the Legation and the gradual promotion of Sir Robert Hart to the first +place in the confidence of the British Government. As the Foreign Office +had, since the suppression of the Taiping rebellion and the death of +Lord Palmerston, been most reluctant either to busy itself or to inform +itself respecting affairs in China, and was, moreover, anxious to minimise +the cost of the Legation in Peking, it was rather predisposed to accept +volunteer assistance in the management of British interests in China. The +Legation was then, as now, without any intelligence department, the cost +of which was saved under the vague belief that all needful information +might be obtained from the customs. Thus relegated to a secondary place, +the Legation was more and more neglected by Her Majesty's Government, +until at last representatives were selected at random and sent out +without instructions, in blind reliance on the good offices of the +Inspector-General of Customs. + +Before this final stage had been reached, however, such an opportunity +occurred, through the death of Sir Harry Parkes, of legitimising +the irregular connection, as a death sometimes provides in certain +relations of domestic life, and Sir Robert Hart was himself appointed +British Minister. This step was recognised as so far appropriate to the +circumstances that it conjoined responsibility with power, which had +been too long divorced from each other. But just as the new Minister +was about to assume his duties a hitch occurred with the Tsungli-Yamên, +whose views as to the succession to the post of head of the customs not +coinciding with Sir Robert Hart's, he thereupon resigned the office of +British Minister and resumed his Chinese service. The incident made no +difference in the confidence which Sir Robert Hart inspired in the Foreign +Office, which had, in fact, drifted into a position of dependence on the +inspector-general. This close relationship continued until the Japanese +war in 1894, when the British Government, the victim of many illusions, +found itself in a condition of bewilderment, like King Lear on the heath, +quite unfurnished with the means of coping with the superior intelligence +of the other European Powers. + +Throughout all these years the attitude of the inspector-general towards +his Chinese employers was absolutely above suspicion. He served them +loyally throughout, and if the British Government imagined he was using +his highly paid position under the Chinese Government in any way to +promote other than Chinese interests, that was a gratuitous assumption on +their part for which they alone were responsible, and for which, as for +all false strategy, the inevitable penalty must be paid. + +Among the important international services rendered by the foreign +customs, the effective lighting of the coast deserves the first place. +Next to that may be reckoned the compilation of accurate statistics of +foreign trade with China, more complete perhaps than exists in any other +country. The reports of the commissioners of customs at the various +ports are also replete with varied and useful information concerning the +commerce, industry, and agriculture, with other conditions of the life +of the Chinese. Special subjects assigned to individual men are treated +as exhaustively as if investigated by a Royal Commission. These valuable +papers constitute a modern Chinese Repository to which there is but one +drawback--its inaccessibility. + + +IV. EMIGRATION. + + Extensive emigration of Chinese labourers in consequence of + gold discoveries--Great abuses--Attempt to diminish same by + international action--Tripartite treaty concluded in Peking--Not + ratified by France and England--Who send out amended treaty, + but negotiations never resumed by Chinese--Opposition of British + colonies and the United States to Chinese emigration. + +The first public question with which Sir Rutherford Alcock was called upon +to deal was that of the emigration or exportation of Chinese coolies. +Among the consequences of the gold discoveries of the middle of the +century was a demand for human labour, which China of all countries was +best able to supply. Voluntary emigration to California and Australia +(the "Old" and the "New Gold Mountain") was considerable; but it did not +meet the requirements of those enterprises in tropical and subtropical +countries which, if not originated, were at least stirred into activity +by the impulse radiating from the gold mines. The contractor was called +into requisition, and Chinese were carried off in shiploads to Cuba, +Peru, Chili, "where they were sold into virtual slavery" under agreements +over which there was no legal supervision. Terrible abuses characterised +the traffic; mutiny and massacre on the high seas were among the natural +consequences. "Another coolie tragedy" was as common a newspaper heading +in the 'Fifties as "another missionary outrage" in the subsequent decades +of the nineteenth century. + +Hongkong being the most convenient shipping port, it was natural +that thence should emanate the first efforts to suppress the abuses +of the traffic. The "Chinese Passengers Act" passed by the Colonial +Legislature in 1855 was a well-considered step in that direction, and +the establishment of responsible emigration agencies was another. Such +efforts, however, could only be partially successful; for while they +cleared the colony from participation in a nefarious trade, they made +no impression on the trade itself. Indeed, by throwing it into the least +reputable channels, the fate of the victims may even have been rendered +less endurable by the restrictive measures conceived for their benefit. +The Portuguese settlement of Macao remained open, and there the coolie +traffic flourished exceedingly, to the pecuniary advantage of that colony +and of the maternal Government, which levies an annual tribute from its +Far Eastern offspring. The trade was also carried on in a more or less +clandestine and irregular manner at Canton, Swatow, and other Chinese +ports, under non-British flags. + +For years the colonial press was filled with the horrors of the traffic. +Such paragraphs as the following were continually appearing in the +Hongkong newspapers:-- + + At Macao the coolie trade is still rampant, with all its + abominations. The inquiries instituted, or said to have been + instituted, by Governor Amaral, have ended in smoke. Day after day + some additional iniquity comes to light in connection with this + horrible traffic. Coolies kidnapped, imprisoned in barracoons, + flogged to make them consent to sign the iniquitous contract that + binds them to a life of slavery, marched with a strong guard to + testify at the Government offices to their signature as given + voluntarily and freely, half-starved, exposed to blindness and + disease on board ship in transit to the place of their exile, + tossed overboard, or left on some barren isle to die, if loss of + sight or sickness renders them useless to their masters. Such + are the grand features of the Macao coolie trade, supported by + the governor in his official acts, and the semi-official paper he + edits. Such are the horrors of a slave-trade worse than that of + the poor African negro, which all nations ought to unite to put + an end to. + +Foreigners could of course have had no success whatever in such +man-hunting schemes without the interested co-operation of the natives. +How this was obtained may be gathered from such reports as that of Mr W. +M. Cooper, acting consul at Swatow, one of the principal entrepots. + + Nowhere [he says] is population more dense than in the plains + of the Han. There is a constant tendency, where the struggle + for existence is so keen, and no drain exists as that caused by + recruiting for an army, towards the formation of a scum of bad + characters, whom their idleness or ill-deeds drive to prey on the + more industrious. These, frequently discarded by their families, + are seen by the official and the village elder on their way to + the coolie-house with a sense of relief and satisfaction; and + not seldom is the coolie-broker aided in his object of obtaining + men by persons of this class, and frequently by the relations of + the men themselves. Thus the trade is allowed to take root with + the concurrence of the heads of the people, who not only rid + themselves by means of it of a nuisance and a burden, but make + money by the transaction; and a connection is formed which the + broker, in his thirst for dollars, becoming gradually hardened and + more ruthless, is not slow to avail himself of in carrying out, + with greater boldness, evil designs on his victim. + +But if the atrocities incident to the capture and embarkation cried aloud +for a remedy, the brutalities of the middle passage were no less heinous; +and though the light could not easily penetrate the scenes enacted in the +distant mines and plantations which were the ultimate destination of the +coolies, enough was known to show that their lot in Spanish-American and +other countries and colonies was far from enviable. + +To efface this blot on civilisation was the first object which engaged +the attention of Sir Rutherford Alcock in Peking. The Chinese Government +itself had remained for many years callous to the cruelties perpetrated +on its subjects; but this was in keeping with its tolerant habit, its +blindness to things disagreeable, and its constitutional aversion to +overt action of any kind. The Peking authorities seem, however, to have +been at last aroused by the interest in the question evinced by foreign +Governments, and in 1866 the Chinese Ministers were induced to join +the foreign Powers in devising means to ameliorate the condition of the +emigrants. The suggestions of Prince Kung were practical and well directed +towards a solution of the problem. + +The problem, however, was by no means simple; for to be effective, +regulations must be of universal obligation, and receive the sanction of +all the interested Powers. There was no desire in any quarter to arrest +the stream of honest and free emigration; on the contrary, it was welcomed +as an outlet for destitute Chinese. To impose restrictions on Hongkong +while the neighbouring colony was lawless and free; to place obstacles +in the way of emigration to Demerara and Trinidad, where the coolies +were happy and contented, thereby driving them in greater numbers to +territories where they were enslaved,--was obviously no gain to humanity. +The question, however, was as urgent as it was difficult. + +Yet there were circumstances in the situation favourable to a satisfactory +issue. Chief among these was the fact that France and England were +still working loyally together in matters of cosmopolitan concern. Sir +Rutherford Alcock found his French colleagues in Peking as amenable as he +had found those in Yedo. The consequence was that, as the result of the +winter's labours, a tripartite convention for the regulation of coolie +emigration was signed in March 1866 by the British and French Ministers +and Prince Kung. The convention was approved by the Ministers of Russia, +the United States, and Prussia, though they were not parties to it. +But the French Government took exception to certain of its provisions, +and deferred ratification until these should be modified. The British +Colonial Office and Emigration Board fell in with the views of the French +Government. The settlement of the question was thereupon shifted from +Peking to Paris and London, when voluminous correspondence ensued between +the two Foreign Offices, extending through the years 1866, 1867, and +into 1868. The co-operation between the two Governments was hearty and +complete; and the amount of patient labour devoted to the task, especially +by the French Foreign Office, which had not the auxiliary machinery at its +disposal which existed in the Government departments in England, was in +the highest degree creditable to both. It may suffice to say that after +eighteen months of earnest work a "Projet de Règlement International +d'Emigration" was completed in twenty-three articles with subsidiary +forms, and was despatched to Peking at the end of 1867, the discussions +having resulted in the retention of almost the entire text of the original +convention--a fact which reflected no small credit on the Ministers in +Peking who had drawn it up. + +But when the time came for resuming negotiations in the Chinese capital, +the Government there had relapsed into its habitual apathy respecting +the welfare of its people. Possibly, also, the zeal of the resident +Ministers of France and England may have cooled during the interval +which had elapsed since their previous efforts. Their attention was +becoming engrossed with other subjects. Effective co-operation between +the three parties was evidently no longer feasible. The attempt to +regulate emigration by a comprehensive international agreement was tacitly +abandoned, and the evils of the coolie trade were left to be dealt with +sporadically. + +Free emigration from Hongkong--that is to say, of emigrants who paid +their own passage--proceeded all the while on an extensive scale. But +the laws of the colony did not permit contract emigration except to +British colonies, and under elaborate supervision both at embarkation and +after arrival at the field of labour. Although coolie ships could not be +despatched from Hongkong, a certain amount of indirect participation in +the traffic was maintained for some years by residents in the colony who +supplied fittings for the coolie ships preparatory to their proceeding +to the port of embarkation. Colonial legislation, however, gradually put +an end to this, and successive ordinances so narrowed the field of the +contractors' operations that the trade, both direct and indirect, was +practically extinguished so far as Hongkong was concerned. A declaration +by the Chief Justice in 1873 summed up the various prohibitory laws by +enacting that the coolie trade would be treated as a slave trade, aiding +or abetting which would be felony. In the year following, the Portuguese +Government, yielding to the friendly pressure that had been for a long +time put upon them, passed a law prohibiting the coolie trade at Macao. + +While the emigrants were so anxiously protected at the outset of their +voyage, the immigration of Chinese into the United States and the +Australian colonies was exciting interest of a different kind in those +countries. Legislation was continuously directed against the influx +of Chinese, and not legislation only, but barbarous ill-treatment and +outrages on a par with those perpetrated against foreigners in China. Mr +Secretary Seward on his round-the-world tour in 1871 expressed himself +highly favourable to Chinese labour in the United States, and his views +afforded great encouragement to emigration to California for some years +after. The treaty concluded at Washington in 1868 by Mr Burlingame +accorded full privileges to Chinese in the United States. But a sharp +reaction occurred in the views of American statesmen, and in 1880 the +Chinese Government, by treaty made in Peking, consented to a modification +of the Washington treaty of 1868, which would allow the United States to +limit or suspend, though not absolutely to prohibit, Chinese immigration. +This step towards prohibition was completed in another convention signed +at Washington in 1894. Why the Chinese Government should have gratuitously +consented to attach a stigma to their country and people is one of those +inexplicable matters which abound in the history of China's foreign +relations. + + +V. KOREA. + + Comes into the sphere of international relations in 1866--Illegal + propagandism followed by persecutions--France adopts the + cause of the missions--Calls upon China as suzerain to punish + Koreans--Which failing, French Minister proclaims annexation + of Korea--Naval expedition repulsed--American naval expedition + repulsed in 1871. + +It was in the year 1866 that foreign aggression first complicated the +relations between China and her tributaries. The kingdom of Korea had with +more consistency and more success than either China or Japan secluded +itself absolutely from foreign intrusion. Nevertheless, the ubiquitous +Jesuit had found his way there, under desperate subterfuges; for if +the foreigner in general was proscribed, the foreign religionist was +anathema to the rulers of Korea. The laws of the country were draconic +in their severity against all priests or pretenders to supernatural +authority; but the zeal of the Catholic propaganda defied the laws, +though not always with impunity. "Persecutions," in fact, occasionally +broke out, and "massacres" was a not inappropriate description of the +repressive measures adopted by the Government in vindication of what it +considered the law of the State. The French Government, or at least its +representative in Peking, resolved to espouse the cause of the persecuted +missionaries in 1866, and to make reprisals on the King of Korea. But +that country being a vassal state, the demand was first made formally on +the suzerain, that he should cause the Korean persecutors to be punished +and the missionaries avenged. This was not only prejudging the particular +case, but was yet another instance of foreigners forcing a formula on +China, and making her answerable to a tribunal of whose jurisdiction +she had no cognisance. The relations of China to the surrounding States +which acknowledged her suzerainty were vague and various, imperfectly +understood by Western States, as was sufficiently proved in the Burma +Convention concluded between Great Britain and China in 1886. But the +French _chargé d'affaires_ recognised no debatable ground such as even +in the international comity of the West differentiates one dependent +State from another, and one suzerain Power from another. In the British +system alone the diversity in the relations of the members to the head +is sufficient to exclude the application of any general rule. While the +touchstone of war would no doubt reduce all to one level, yet in the +matter of administrative responsibility what single rule could embrace, +for example, India, Malta, the self-governing colonies, the Transvaal, and +the African Protectorates? M. de Bellonet, however, was not embarrassed +by any dubitations about the clean-cut rule to be enforced on China and +Korea. He simply demanded that the suzerain should punish the vassal, +failing which, he would take the affair into his own hands. Logical, no +doubt, and not unreasonable, assuming the quarrel to be just. But the +French _chargé_ went a step further in adjudging the actual dissolution +of the family compact and sequestration of the inferior kingdom. On +Prince Kung's declining responsibility for the Korean persecutions, M. +de Bellonet, without further ado, annexed Korea to the empire of France, +dethroned the king, and posted placards about the streets of Peking +promulgating the fact. To Prince Kung he addressed a weighty despatch, in +which he said, "The same day on which the King of Korea laid his hands on +my unhappy countrymen was the last of his reign. He himself declared its +end, which I, in my turn, solemnly declare to-day."[14] + +This was carrying the question beyond the scope of international law. + +Taking an analogy from common life, a father may neglect to correct a +mischievous son, and thus leave his neighbours free to take the law into +their own hands, but their right to chastise or prosecute does not include +that of annulling the parental relationship, and of making a bondman +of the offender. Force, of course, may effect such a rupture in the +connection between nations, but in this case the force had not yet been +applied. Admiral Roze proceeded with a squadron to the mouth of the Han, +the waterway to the Korean capital, bombarded forts, and left his name to +an island which faces the port of Chemulpo. The incident was then at an +end. + +But not the effects of it. It was to Chinese and Koreans a flash of the +Röntgen rays that revealed the innermost hearts of the foreigners with +a vividness not to be forgotten; it was the whole missionary question, +from the Eastern point of view, in a nutshell. To violate the laws and +teach the natives to do so, and then appeal to foreign Governments to +back them in this insidious form of rebellion--that was the function of +the missionaries. The foreign Government thereupon lays claim to the +territory, and so the conspiracy is crowned. In the face of such an +unveiling of motives the chance of the Chinese statesmen being led by +the friendly counsel poured constantly into their ears by the foreign +Ministers in Peking must have been small indeed. + +About the same time a small American vessel called the General Sherman, +with a cargo of notions and some passengers, including one English +missionary, made her way through the archipelago which fringes the coast +into the inner waters of Korea. She was never again heard of, and the +fate of crew and passengers was for long a matter of report and surmise. +At last, in 1868, a United States ship of war, the Shenandoah, was +sent to the Korean coast to get information about the General Sherman. +Nothing whatever was learned. Then Mr George F. Seward, consul-general in +Shanghai, advocated a mission to Korea with a sufficient force to ensure +respect. His persevering recommendations prevailed with the Government at +Washington, and a squadron was equipped in 1871 to proceed to Korea and +attempt to open the country, the admiral being furnished with copies of +the Japan treaties of 1854 and 1858 as models. The Americans at once came +into collision with the Korean troops, bombarded their forts, and defeated +with considerable loss a military force marshalled to resist them. But +no negotiations were possible. The Korean Government remained impervious +to remonstrance and uncompromising in its refusal of intercourse. The +following characteristic letter, addressed by the Korean authorities to +Admiral Rogers, tersely expresses their attitude of resolute isolation:-- + + In the year 1868 a man of your nation, whose name was Febiger, + came here and communicated and went away; why cannot you do the + same? In 1866 a people called the French came here, and we refer + you to them for what happened. This people has lived 4000 years + in the enjoyment of its own civilisation, and we want no other. + We trouble no other nation--why do you trouble us? Our country + is in the extreme east, and yours in the extreme west; for what + purpose do you come so many thousand miles across the sea? Is it + to inquire about the ship destroyed [the General Sherman]? Her men + committed piracy and murder, and they were punished with death. + Do you want our land? That cannot be. Do you want intercourse with + us? That cannot be either. + +The American ships withdrew, as the French had done, leaving the peninsula +once more to its fate. + +Previously to this a piratical expedition was attempted by a German in +a North-German steamer, instigated and piloted by a French priest. Its +purpose was to desecrate the tombs of the kings, with a view to carrying +off the golden treasures with which they were believed to be buried. + +The three fiascos left no outward trace in the current of affairs in +China, and diplomatic intercourse proceeded in the capital as if the +Korean peninsula did not exist. Let it not be supposed, however, that +the statesmen of Peking failed to take these exhibitions to heart, +although they maintained the strictest reserve on the subject. Christian +proselytism and foreign domination were once more discovered in active +alliance, justifying all the suspicions of the Asiatic nations. + +FOOTNOTES: + + [12] There is more truth than may appear in the bishop's paradox. + Peking is singularly free from epidemics, except occasionally + of smallpox. When Shanghai suffered so severely from cholera in + 1862, there were two British regiments quartered there--one, the + 67th, within the native city, amid filth and stagnant water; the + other, the 31st, in the foreign settlement, in quarters carefully + selected by the surgeon, Dr Rennie. The 31st lost a third of its + strength; the 67th suffered very little. Writing in August 1860 + from Peitang, a town 500 yards square in the midst of a great + swamp, into which 17,000 men were huddled, Sir Hope Grant says: + "Notwithstanding the pestilential nature of the place, our troops, + wonderful to say, never enjoyed better health." + + [13] See _infra_, "Revision of the Treaty," pp. 210-222. + + [14] _Vide_ 'U.S. Diplomatic Corresp.,' vol. ii. for 1867, p. 424. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE REVISION OF THE TREATY. + + +I. PREPARATION. + + Struggle for the observance of the treaty--Hope in the prospective + revision--Information gathered by British Minister--Chinese + apprehensive of force being used--Imperial Government consult + provincial officials--Interesting memorials in reply--Especially + from Li Hung-chang--His liberal views respecting foreigners--And + wise advice to the throne. + +The conflict between foreign aggressions and Chinese resistance had +proceeded without intermission on either side for seven years. In the +struggle the Chinese had gained many successes, but the fruits of them had +not been secured beyond the risk of reprisal. Both sides were ill at ease. +The foreigners on their part had been buoyed up under their grievances +by the hope of a readjustment of international relations, which had been +provided for in the treaties of Tientsin and Peking. + +The decennial period was at hand when revision of the treaty of Tientsin +might be claimed. To that important juncture all eyes looked forward. The +foreigners hoped for freer intercourse; the Chinese wished to restrict +what already existed. Great preparations were made for the revision +campaign. On the part of the foreigners opinions were invited from all the +trading-ports as to the points where modification could be advantageously +claimed, and memorials from the Chambers of Commerce both in China and in +Great Britain, from individuals, professional men, and from missionaries, +poured in upon the British Minister during the years 1867 and 1868, +extending even into 1869. + +Sir R. Alcock had even taken every possible pains to acquaint himself +with the local circumstances of the various treaty ports by personal +inspection and personal communication--a practice which public opinion +urged in vain upon his successors, who had much greater need of such +local observations. Following up this tour of his own, he delegated to +a subordinate the task of studying the conditions under which trade was +carried on in the interior, in the districts most likely to be affected by +any probable changes in the treaty. Under this roving commission Consul +Swinhoe made an extensive tour through the canal district of the Yangtze +delta, and finished up with an expedition to Szechuan in 1869, on which +he was accompanied by delegates of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. + +The importance attached by foreigners to the occasion naturally stirred +the Chinese Government also to make special exertions to meet the coming +contest. From the measures to which they resorted it is evident that they +were apprehensive lest force should be applied by the foreigners to gain +their ends; for the idea of free negotiation and of voluntary agreement +had not yet been assimilated by the Chinese. To them the foreigner +represented force and nothing else. They had never really comprehended +the reasons for the withdrawal of the Allies when in possession of Peking, +and though the immediate danger of war was removed, the shadow of it never +ceased to haunt the dreams of Chinese statesmen. + +Mistrusting their own resources, the Central Government appealed to the +provinces for confidential advice; and as these communications throw light +on the inner--though not the innermost--thoughts of the Chinese, which it +is difficult otherwise to gauge, some of them are worth perusing in the +actual words of the writers. + +The secret circular addressed by the Tsungli-Yamên to the high officials +throughout the empire in 1867 opened abruptly with the proposition, "The +barbarian question is one of old standing"; it then proceeded to review +the difficulties and the dangers of "our present conjuncture," arising +mainly from the improvement of communications and armaments combined +with the earth-hunger of the various European nations. The foreigner at +one time stood in awe of the Central Power, but that was before railways +and steamships had been invented; and while the numbers who came to +China were as yet insignificant, and were conveniently restricted to one +spot, where they could be managed, now they occupy so many positions as +to form a strategic cordon round the empire. Moreover, they are united +in interest, and cannot suddenly be either isolated or weakened. How, +then, can we confront them with our isolation and weakness? It is to +be feared that we have no one who, taking a comprehensive view of the +whole situation, can create disunion among our enemies through their own +rivalries and insatiable avarice. Yet it is just here that the germ of +an effective policy should be sought. If, however, circumstances render +such a scheme at present impracticable, its execution may be deferred. We +must be patient under suffering, diligently strengthening ourselves, and +abide in hope. We bear in mind the calamities of 1860, and how to save +the State the emperor was entreated to conclude a treaty. It was evident +that the treaty, hastily concluded, would remain a fruitful source of +future difficulty; nevertheless, good faith required that it should be +fulfilled, and even the very fulfilment of it be turned into a means of +limitation and restraint. The time for revision being now at hand, you are +requested to give your suggestions as to the means of avoiding a rupture +with foreigners, and in case of a rupture, what will ensure safety. The +principal points likely to be brought forward at the revision conferences +are here submitted for your consideration. To simply declare the whole +impracticable is easy; the difficulty will be to devise a plan for safely +avoiding concession. Deal with the matter, therefore, in a practical way, +and not by an empty thesis; and let your memorial reach us not later than +December. The points are--(1) The audience question. (2) The question +of an embassy to foreign countries, which had been repeatedly urged by +the various foreign Ministers in Peking. The arguments in favour of such +a measure are, that "to know your adversary as he knows you" is a maxim +of practical wisdom, and that it would be of great advantage to have the +means of appealing from an unreasonable foreign Minister in Peking to his +own Government. (3) Telegraphs and railways. (4) Residence of merchants in +the interior. (5) Salt trade and coal-mining. (6) Extension of missions. + +Such was the substance of the Tsungli-Yamên's circular to the +governors-general and governors of provinces. The memorials in reply +were distinguished by some plain speaking. Amid a good deal that was +vaporous and fantastic, such as would characterise any general council, +there were propositions of sound statecraft, maxims which it would have +been good for the Central Government to lay to heart, and side-lights +on their traditional conceptions of national policy well deserving to be +studied by the Powers which have relations with the Chinese. One clause +in the memorial of Tsêng Kwo-fan, for example, went to the root of the +administrative difficulties which caused then, and still cause, the major +portion of the angry friction between Chinese and foreign officials. +He reminded the emperor, in fact, that he had a court of appeal in the +provinces; so that though he might, under pressure, be forced to concede +points to the foreign nations in Peking, yet it was the memorialist +himself and his peers in the provinces who would have the last word to +say. The elliptic and allusive style usually assumed in Chinese documents +may allow this hint to be interpreted either as a veiled defiance of, or +as an assurance of support to, the throne--perhaps both subtly compounded. +But the practical inference remains, that, as experience has often proved, +the provinces revise the decisions of the capital, and the execution rests +with them. + + [Illustration: LI HUNG-CHANG AT THE AGE OF FIFTY. + _From a photo by J. Thomson, Grosvenor Street, W._ ] + +The memorial, however, which is most interesting to foreigners, because +the plainest to their comprehension, is that of Li Hung-chang, at that +period Governor-General of the Hu-kwang; and as it affords a key to that +statesman's subsequent career and the unique position he has occupied +in regard to the foreign relations of the empire, it seems well worthy +of reproduction. Omitting the preamble, and certain classic references +without which a Chinese State Paper would be no more complete than a +speech in Parliament or a leader in the 'Times' fifty years ago would +have been without a Latin quotation, the substance of the memorial runs +as follows:-- + + The humble opinion of the writer is, that in conducting business + with foreigners the point of the greatest importance is to avoid + exciting their contempt; that contempt once excited, they will + thwart us at every turn, and even in affairs that are really + practicable they will contrive a thousand schemes and devices to + throw obstacles in the way of their practicability. But if they + feel respect for China, all matters can be mutually arranged; + and even difficult questions can be settled by compromise or + agreement. + + Foreigners, however, are not the only persons who are influenced + by this feeling: it animates alike the minds of the whole human + race. + + It is often said that foreigners are crafty and malign and full + of unexpected ruses: but is it not the fact that Chinese are the + same; or rather that the outrageous craft and malignity of the + Chinese exceeds even that of foreigners? The truth is, that at + present foreigners are powerful and the Chinese feeble. And whence + arises the power of the former? It certainly is not innate in + them, but depends upon the fact that "the requisites of Government + are sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and + the confidence of the people in their ruler" (Confucian Analects). + And how is the weakness of China to be accounted for? This also is + not innate, but is a result of the truth of the above axiom not + being sufficiently recognised. The present condition of foreign + countries resembles that of China before the union, or is perhaps + even still more formidable. + + In the course of time foreigners came to China, opened numerous + marts, and conveyed their merchandise everywhere. They traded + at as many as five ports, and all with no other object but that + of making the wealth of China contribute to their own. A little + consideration shows that those who ventured to come to this + country must have placed their reliance upon something to have + rendered them so fearless; and there is not the slightest reason + why that which they confided in should not also become a source + of confidence to China. + + Many persons have offered their views upon the several questions + now under consideration, and it is useless to take the trouble + to recapitulate them. But all such appliances as telegraphs, + railways, locomotives, and steamships--the things on which + foreigners rely--can without exception be learned by the Chinese. + It is often alleged that these inventions are attended with + harm: how is it, then, that in foreign countries every district + has its trains and steamers, every locality its telegraphs and + railways? Natives of China, too, have travelled abroad and can + bear testimony that these things, so far from being harmful, are + advantageous. + + Imperial audience is distinctly stipulated for in the treaty of + 1860, and it is next to impossible to withdraw it; especially as + his sainted Majesty Kanghsi admitted Japanese to his presence, + and there will be no difficulty in ascertaining the ceremony then + employed. And again, during the negotiations with the Russians + on the boundary and trade questions, which took place about the + same period, they were treated as an equal Power. It is but right, + indeed, to consider such Powers as upon a footing of equality with + ourselves. + + The idea of the writer is to wait until the majority of the + emperor, and then to receive all the representatives in a + side-hall as was done by his sacred Majesty Kanghsi. It will, + however, first be necessary to arrange distinctly whether such + interviews are to take place once or twice a-year. Otherwise an + impropriety will be caused by their constantly demanding audiences + every few days on frivolous questions. + + Such a course presents no difficulties from our point of view, and + from theirs it is a _sine quâ non_. Moreover, they would see how + the imperial magnanimity extends to every region. Their request + may with great propriety be granted. + + As to the appointment of an envoy, in the fourth year of Tungchih, + Pin Ch'un and others were sent on a visit to the several foreign + countries, and the Tsungli-Yamên has lately written to state + that Chih kang and others have now proceeded thither. Thus the + mission has been continuous, and it would be well to adhere to + this system. + + The question of separate missions at the Courts of the several + Powers, however, still remains for deliberation. In discussing + these questions persons are apprehensive, either that the + emperor's commission will be disgraced, or that there will be an + extravagant expenditure of the imperial funds. But such persons + are not acquainted with the whole bearing of the subject. + + Memorialist is of opinion that this question is eminently + susceptible of a satisfactory solution. After selecting reliable + and trustworthy men to reside at foreign Courts, it will be + necessary to appoint subordinates and interpreters, who can be + exchanged every three or every five years. Interpreters, indeed, + should be selected from each country to which an envoy proceeds--a + system which would give us the double advantage of facilitating + public business, and of affording us an opportunity to display + our amicable desires. Far from being detrimental, the project is + attended with great advantages. + + The matter of missionary extension is beset with greater + difficulties than the rest, especially as it is not a State + question with foreign Governments.[15] At the present moment + innumerable churches are being erected in every province, + district, and department for the explanation of their canon and + the preaching of their faith; and the common people are one-half + of them deceived, and the other half led to join them for evil + purposes. Instructions should be issued to the superintendents + of northern and southern trade, as well as to the generals, + viceroys, governors, customs superintendents, and taotais, to + become intimate with the foreign officials with whom they are + in communication. Then, when anything is to be arranged, there + would be no harm in telling them distinctly that when the common + people misbehave the local functionaries must adjudicate; and + that when it happens that the people refuse to become proselytes, + the officials can on no account insist upon their doing so + against their will--for such a course would but raise riots and + disturbances, to the detriment of international amity. At the + approaching revision of the treaty all possible arguments must be + used with regard to this point, and on no account must any further + clause be added. + + With reference to the remaining points--viz., coal mines, + importation of salt, erection of inland warehouses, inland + steam navigation, and the like--these, although comparatively + unimportant matters, nevertheless entail serious consequences. If + their introduction is harmless, there is no necessity to waste + words and ink in the raising of disputes and complications; but + if, on the other hand, there are among them concessions which + we are unwilling to make, it will be very proper to "explain the + circumstances to them and argue the rights of the case," and they + will hardly wish to press embarrassments upon us. + + Should they, however, take advantage of their strength to + impose upon our weakness by dividing our territory and sharing + among them the fat of the land, in such a pressing crisis the + greatest firmness would be necessary. But there need be no great + apprehension of such a contingency, for the simple reason that, + with the exception of Russia, foreign countries are all too + distant from China, and the acquisition of its territory would be + nothing but an embarrassment to them. + + The fact is, that the prosperity of foreign countries is + inseparably connected with the welfare of the Chinese people; and + instead of draining that people to the last drop, would they not + rather prefer to use, without exhausting--to take, and still leave + a residue? + + The present occasion of treaty revision with the English is a + most important juncture. The English treaty once disposed of, + there will be no difficulty with the other Powers. The danger + to be apprehended is that during the revision of next year they + will employ coercion to extort concession. This, however, may be + known previously; and should it be the case, it will of course + be necessary to select experienced troops and able officers to + confront them. Should nothing of the sort occur, negotiations + should be entered upon. + + In short, supposing we are to cherish a feeling of revenge and + devise schemes to subvert foreign Powers, it will be necessary to + wait until--with large armies and abundant supplies, with no rebel + or Mohammedan outbreaks in the provinces, and no difficulties in + the capital--we can cope with them without hesitation. We shall be + a match then for all adversaries; but otherwise we cannot engage + in a rash and random conflict. Even when it is supposed that we + are ready for the struggle, it will still be necessary to exercise + extreme and continual caution, and to wait until our spirit is + high, and our aspect, therefore, formidable. Then should there + be no war, the question would be disposed of; but in the event of + our taking the field, it would not be unvictoriously. + + Memorialist, however, has had several years' experience in + conducting business with foreigners, and is thoroughly familiar + with their character. He has found that, no matter what they are + engaged in, they act honourably without deceit or falsehood. But + although it is possible to acquire a general knowledge of their + mode of action in the conduct of their own affairs, yet there is + no means of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the details and + motives of their conduct. Their bearing, however, in military + matters affords clear evidence of their straightforwardness. + There is the instance of the Englishman Gordon, late + commander-in-chief at Soochow, who, having organised 3000 troops + of the Ever-Victorious Army, took the field against the rebels. + Subsequently, at the capture of Soochow, the memorialist himself + observed that officer personally leading in advance of his + troops with a courage and _sang-froid_ worthy of all praise. He + subsequently became the recipient of the imperial commendation + and reward. + + The writer has also, in conjunction with Tsêng Kwo-fan, acting + viceroy of the two Kiang, been associated with foreigners in + organising foreign-drilled infantry and cavalry, and in making + arrangements for the building of steam-vessels. He is thoroughly + convinced that they are actuated by upright and amicable + principles, and entertain no feelings of animosity towards China. + With the knowledge of these facts before us, it is possible to + draw our conclusions upon other matters. + + It is from these considerations, therefore, that the writer + suggests the policy to be pursued in intercourse with foreigners. + There seems to be no necessity to dispose of the several + questions hastily and on the instant, nor do the resident foreign + Ministers at Peking apparently intend to insist upon an immediate + settlement. + + It would be well if H.I.M. on attaining his majority were himself + to adopt the policy suggested, and in that case no difficult + questions would arise. + + 6th year, 11th month, 6th day. + +As perhaps the best essay yet extant in translating the Chinese imperial +tradition into the language of the modern world, this paper of Li +Hung-chang's is full of instruction for foreign diplomatists. Read in +the light of the subsequent thirty years, we see that it sets forth +the principles which have inspired the whole public life of the most +prominent man in China. His recognition of the honourable character of +foreigners, as he knew them, represented a notable advance on the like +testimony of Commissioner Lin in 1841, inasmuch as Lin deduced from it +the ease by which their good faith could be abused, while Li made it +a ground of confidence in co-operation with them. His recommendation +to his contemporaries, to cultivate intimacy with foreign officials in +order to obviate misunderstandings in the execution of the treaties, was +only preaching that which he has consistently practised throughout his +official life. He was the first high official who braved public opinion by +sitting with open doors. This conciliatory temper and open mind has made +Li Hung-chang the lubricator in many jarring conflicts; and it kept him, +contrary to constitutional usage, for twenty-five years at the diplomatic +outpost of the capital. + +His delicate handling of the suggestion of the Central Government, +to resist by hostile means the proposals of foreigners, is also +characteristic of the man who had seen war and hated it. While bowing to +the imperial will, he proposed postponement of its execution. In a similar +case many years afterwards a memorial of Li's was quoted as an incitement +to war with Japan, whereas it was an extinguisher, in diplomatic form, +put upon the bellicose proposal of another. + +Not the least interesting part of Li's memorial is the ground on which +he advocates reform--the proved superiority of foreign nations. His +argument takes the identical form, and is expressed in the very words, +used by the Daimios of Japan; and the circumstances of the two countries +in their foreign relations were in the main so similar, that it cannot +but be instructive to observe how they comported themselves respectively +under the stress of the foreign irruption. Both had been overawed by +foreign forces, and both sought revenge by using the strength of their +opponents for their own regeneration. The difficulty, as we see it, in +the carrying out of the scheme of regeneration was of the same nature in +both countries--the want of unity and centralisation. Japan was divided +up into feudal principalities; China into provinces and prefectures as +independent as self-governing British colonies. The councils of the +Daimios bore a rough analogy to the consultations with the governors +and governors-general of China. The enemy was the same, and the means of +overcoming him are as clearly laid down in Li Hung-chang's memorial as in +the most perfervid of the Japanese manifestoes. How, then, did it come +about that the same leaven should have fermented with such miraculous +rapidity in the one country, while in the other it has been buried in a +torpid mass? Obviously this is a matter which will repay the consideration +of those who concern themselves with the state and prospects of China. + + +II. THE BURLINGAME MISSION. + + Mysterious inception--American Minister becomes Chinese envoy + to Western countries--Objects of mission concealed--Its first + adventure--Mr Burlingame concludes treaty at Washington--Persuades + British Government to adopt new policy in China. + +Three processes--separate, though not independent--were going on +simultaneously during the year 1868: the revision of the British treaty +in Peking; an epidemic of anti-foreign demonstrations in the provinces; +and the progress of the Burlingame mission in Europe. One of them cannot +be understood without the other; but taking the revision of the treaty +as the object towards which the other two converged, it will be simpler +to reserve the special consideration of the treaty question until we have +given a short outline of the accessory episodes. + +Of the eight questions submitted to the provincials, one was disposed of, +and that in a surprisingly precipitate manner, a month before even the +memorials of the various authorities were sent in. An embassy to Europe +and America was appointed, equipped, and despatched in the month of +November 1867, and with a foreigner at its head. A proceeding so contrary +to Chinese tradition naturally excited curiosity as to its origin,--a +curiosity which has been tantalised but not to this day satisfied, though +the mission itself soon became ancient history. It is certain none of the +representatives of foreign Powers then in the capital were consulted, +or in any way taken into confidence with regard to the scheme--except, +of course, the one who transferred himself from the service of his own +country to that of China. "No one," wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock, "knew +that the Chinese were on the eve of a revolution which would materially +change the aspect of affairs." This by way of explaining an important +memorandum he had just written on the state of China, which would have +been of a different tenor had any hint of what was intended been given to +him. + +As the embassy was the first that China had sent to a foreign country, +and as it was commissioned under some urgent demand which evidently +would brook no delay, its composition, character, and objects are all +interesting to the student of Chinese politics. There were three envoys, +two Chinese and one foreign. The latter was the Hon. Anson Burlingame, +Minister of the United States to China, who of course was the spokesman of +the mission. A better selection for the purpose could not have been made, +had even a larger choice of men been open to the Chinese. Mr Burlingame +had been an active politician in his time, and was a practised orator. If +we add the epithet "sophisticated rhetorician," which was ten years later +applied to a still more eminent personage, that is little more than to say +he was a special pleader. And he was engaged on special pleader's duty. +Whatever the genesis of the mission, therefore, it was a master stroke of +the Chinese Government, eclipsing all their other contrivances to resist +the expected demands of foreigners at the revision of the treaties. It was +the first open attempt by the Chinese to apply the homœopathic principle +to their international affairs in using the foreigner as an antidote to +the foreigner. + +The Burlingame mission left Peking with the ostensible approval of +the foreign representatives. The support of the British Minister was +given in the most practical way by the permission granted to the acting +Chinese secretary, Mr J. McLeavy Brown, to accept the secretaryship of +the mission--a favour the more marked in that Mr Brown happened to be +the _locum tenens_ of Mr Wade, who had just gone on leave, so that his +departure left the British Legation destitute at a season of the year when +it was impossible to call up substitutes from the ports, and at a time +when the greatest burden of work was in prospect. And yet the true object +of the mission was concealed from Sir Rutherford Alcock. "I do not know +what Mr Burlingame's instructions may ultimately be," he wrote in January +1868, adding, "but it is very obvious what is the work which devolves upon +him." Sir Rutherford's judgment of its purpose seems to have been based on +his own inferences from the facts of the situation and his unquestioning +faith in Mr Burlingame's loyalty to his professed principles. + +He had known Mr Burlingame for two years as the _doyen_ of the diplomatic +body, the most fervid champion of that "co-operative policy" whereby the +treaty Powers agreed to act as a united body in pursuit of identical +objects. He could not suppose that his late colleague had turned his +back on those common objects without notice. Although, therefore, the +suddenness and secrecy of the move might have suggested misgivings as +to the mission being intended to promote the views of the diplomatic +body in Peking, yet it is beyond question that Sir Rutherford Alcock +heartily favoured the embassy. His confidence in it is further attested +by a very long and elaborate memorandum which he addressed to Prince +Kung, indicating the uses to which the embassy should be put in bringing +about an understanding with the Powers, whereby Chinese interests would +be safeguarded while the treaty rights of foreigners should be amply +fulfilled. "I see in the mission a hope of improvement and a material +change in the whole aspect of affairs.... Proves there are Ministers with +power and influence in the councils of the emperor who believe the time +has come for breaking with the past.... After a long night of weariness +and futile efforts, daylight begins to appear.... I hail the appointment +of a representative to the Western Powers as the beginning of a new era." +Such was the Minister's valediction in his report to the Foreign Office. +But he had been mightily deceived. The night had indeed been long, but +it was not the true dawn which was welcomed with this joyful acclamation. +How quickly the gloom settled down again on that scene of fruitless toil +will presently be seen. + +The mission was introduced to the notice of the world by a humorous +prelude, which may be quoted for the sake of the light it incidentally +throws on the chronic state of China. On their way from Peking to +Tientsin, seventy or eighty miles, the envoys halted at a large +market-town, where a report met them of a phenomenon not very uncommon +in those parts, especially in winter--a band of marauders who had been +annoying the neighbourhood. The mission took refuge in an inn, resolved +to stand a siege until aid should come. In this strait Mr Burlingame +seems never to have thought of applying either to the local authorities +of the town or to the Government he was serving, but despatched urgent +messages to Peking, where there were escorts kept at the Russian and +British Legations, and to Tientsin, where was the British gunboat Dove. +His appeals were answered with alacrity from both sides. From Peking came +a relief party of British and Russian soldiers in charge of members of +the two Legations; from Tientsin a party of mounted bluejackets under +Lieutenant Dunlop. They met at the half-way house where the mission lay, +but nothing could be seen or heard of the besiegers. Mr Burlingame's +party reached their port of embarkation without further adventure. Indeed +the only serious matter that arose out of the imbroglio was a difference +of opinion between one Vodkansky of the Cossack guard and Mulvaney, a +sturdy Hibernian of the British escort, which the latter proposed to +settle by the means in vogue among heroes before the days of Agamemnon. +Tragic consequences were, however, averted by the soothing diplomacy +of the representative of her Majesty's Legation, Mr Conolly, and the +two Burlingame relief expeditions returned to their respective stations +nothing the worse for a couple of days' outing in the bracing November +air. + +Mr Burlingame made his _début_ in the United States, first by eloquent +speeches in San Francisco, and next by what assumed the form of +serious negotiations at Washington. An orator cannot reasonably be held +accountable for every detail of his orations, but Mr Burlingame's mission +may be most favourably summarised by a few carefully chosen words of his +own:-- + + 1st. It was the object of the mission to disabuse the foreign + Powers of an impression they were supposed to entertain, that the + Chinese Government had entered upon a retrograde policy. + + 2nd. To deprecate a precipitate and unfriendly attempt on their + part to enter upon a policy which might make all progress + impossible from its menacing tone and "violent shock to the + feelings, and even prejudices, of the people." + +Translated into practice, these propositions meant that China wished +to be let alone; and that, we may safely assume, represented the whole +extent of Mr Burlingame's instructions. This claim was embodied in a +convention which he made at Washington, comprising certain "additional +articles" to the American treaty of 1858, the purport of which was that +the United States undertook to apply no pressure to China, which, it may +be presumed, that Power had never the intention of doing. The convention +was for several reasons not welcomed at Peking, but it served the only +purpose which perhaps it was ever expected to serve, that of giving the +keynote to the representations which the envoy was afterwards to make to +the various Powers in Europe. + +The next Government to which Mr Burlingame addressed himself was that +of Great Britain, over which he obtained a more important success than +over that of the United States. In fact, he persuaded Lord Clarendon +to discard all the information that ever reached the Foreign Office +from its own responsible agents in China--men who were bound by every +consideration of loyalty and public duty to report only what was true, +and to accept instead thereof the protestations of an agent hired to +make out a case; for it is superfluous to add that Mr Burlingame was +far indeed from representing the true state of facts. He succeeded in so +altering the course of the British Government that their agent in China +was discredited, stultified, and rendered powerless to effect the objects +for which he had been labouring. This was the first step of the Foreign +Office in the new departure which had many evil results--that, namely, of +taking their cue not from agents in their own pay, but from others over +whom they could exercise no control, and who had alien interests to serve. + +From the Chinese point of view the Burlingame mission was a decided +success. + + +III. CHINESE OUTRAGES--YANGCHOW AND FORMOSA. + + Missions attacked at Yangchow--Redress refused by Chinese + and enforced by consul--With naval assistance--Satisfactory + issue--Continuous outrages in Formosa--Government affords no + relief--Disturbances quelled by British forces--Lawlessness near + Swatow--Communications with interior controlled by bandits--Order + restored by Consul Alabaster with naval force--Peace and + good feeling between Chinese and foreigners resulting from + these various measures--Which were approved by Imperial + Government--Disapproved by British Government in consequence of Mr + Burlingame's representations--Consuls punished--Lord Clarendon, + prompted by Mr Burlingame, sends fresh instructions to Minister + and consuls. + +The year 1868 was marked by serious anti-foreign outbreaks in widely +distant provinces of the empire. At Yangchow, a wealthy city on the Grand +Canal, twelve miles from the left bank of the Yangtze river, a favourite +resort for retired officials, rich salt merchants, and gentry, the Inland +missionaries under the orders of Mr Hudson Taylor established themselves. +In no locality in China could they have been less welcome, for there they +met their natural enemies in the greatest force. Before long an attack +on them was organised at the instigation of the literati and gentry, and +with the connivance of the local authorities. "The onslaught was sudden +and severe, the mob set fire to the premises, the ladies and children of +the mission had to be thrown out of the windows to save their lives." +There was no mistake, therefore, as to the murderous intentions of the +assailants. The nearest British consul was at Shanghai, the consulate at +Chinkiang, twelve miles from the scene of the outrage, being in charge +of an assistant, Mr Clement Allen. That young officer hastened instantly +to the assistance of the missionaries, and made his protest against the +culpable negligence, to say no more, of the Chinese officials, who on +their part made a great to-do of hushing the matter up and repairing the +injured house. Consul Medhurst promptly followed up the representations +made by Mr Allen by personal appeal to the viceroy at Nanking, fifty miles +distant. The mind of that high official had already been prejudiced by +ingeniously falsified reports of the transaction supplied to him by the +prefect of Yangchow, and in consequence he refused Mr Medhurst's request +to depute an official to accompany him to that city for the purpose of +investigating the facts. Thereupon Mr Medhurst, availing himself of the +arrival of H.M.'s ship Rinaldo at Chinkiang, obtained from her commander +a sufficient escort to accompany him to Yangchow; and then only did the +viceroy, Tsêng Kwo-fan, appoint an officer, though of totally inadequate +rank, to co-operate with the consul. The Chinese officer did not, however, +keep his appointment, and Mr Medhurst proceeded without him, and placed +in the hands of the prefect at Yangchow a written demand for redress, one +of the items being the seizure and punishment of the gentry, whose names +were submitted. The prefect at once declared his inability to deal with +men of such influence, all being of higher rank than himself. As nothing, +therefore, could be settled at Yangchow, the prefect agreed to accompany +Mr Medhurst to Nanking to lay the whole matter before the viceroy. +A deputy from the viceroy, however, met Mr Medhurst at Chinkiang and +endeavoured to dissuade him from proceeding to Nanking, offering instead +to accompany him back to Yangchow, according to the original programme. Mr +Medhurst, in his turn, persuaded the deputy to return with him to Nanking +on H.M.'s ship Rinaldo, which was to start from Chinkiang the following +morning. But the deputy Chang did not keep that appointment, any more +than he had kept his previous one. The prefect of Yangchow also found +means of evading his promise to accompany the consul into the presence +of the viceroy. After much pressure on the one side and evasion on the +other, the viceroy offered to settle the matter by a charitable gratuity +to the missionaries in lieu of damages, and showed his anxiety to get +the affair patched up quickly by sending an official of rank to follow +Mr Medhurst on board H.M.'s ship Rinaldo, where he spent two hours in +attempting to persuade the consul to accept the terms offered. Matters +were, in fact, in a fair way of settlement when, "just at this juncture," +the commander of the Rinaldo fell sick and determined to proceed with +his ship to Shanghai, the consul being thus left in a humiliating and +helpless position, as Sir Rutherford Alcock describes it. The Chinese +officials at once changed their tone, withdrew from negotiations, and +nothing more could be done with them. The action of the naval officer +in abandoning the consul was freely criticised at the time, and being in +consequence asked by the Admiralty for an explanation, he stated, among +other things, "that it never entered his head that the presence simply +of a small man-of-war could have the effect of influencing the viceroy." +He also stated that he had "been given to understand that the viceroy had +expressed his willingness to comply with Mr Medhurst's requests, and would +send a letter to that effect that night or the next morning." The gallant +officer did not appear to perceive that the withdrawal of his ship before +the viceroy's promise had been fulfilled completely changed the situation. + +Nothing was left for the consul, then, but to lay the whole case before +H.M.'s Minister, and in doing so he made these observations: "I can call +to mind, out of my experience of British relations with China, scarcely +one instance in which the outrage complained of has been more unprovoked +on the part of the sufferers, and in which the evidence of neglect and +culpability on the part of the local authorities has been more marked +and incontrovertible. Few cases can have occurred, moreover, in which the +power to grant prompt and reasonable redress was more within the reach of +the supreme provincial authority." + +The Minister, in his turn, had no resource but to call upon the admiral +on the station "to repair the mischief by sending such naval force +to the mouth of the Grand Canal as shall enable him, if necessary, to +apply effective pressure both on the local authorities and populace at +Yangchow and on the viceroy at Nanking," to whom the consul was once +more instructed to address himself. Of course the Minister had before +this applied in the usual form to the Tsungli-Yamên, and with the usual +result. They deprecated hasty conclusions until they themselves had +full information from the local authorities; but they admitted without +hesitation that, assuming the facts, full redress must be granted. + +The Minister's representations to the Central Government were renewed +with greater emphasis on receipt of the news of the collapse of the +consul's negotiations. Prince Kung then expressed his readiness to +make the compensations demanded; but as regarded the punishment of the +instigators of the outrage, he contented himself with tacitly indorsing +the plea of the viceroy, "that the gentry indicated were men of high +rank, and incapable of wilful disregard of treaty provisions, for which +reason they need not be called to account." In reply the Minister stated +that immunity to such offenders, more especially if highly placed, is +wholly incompatible with the treaty rights of foreigners. A new inquiry, +however, was instituted at Yangchow, and the Viceroy Tsêng, who had just +been gazetted to another post, was warned not to leave Nanking until the +affair was concluded. After an interval of two months, Consul Medhurst, +escorted by a naval force despatched to his aid by Admiral Keppel, sent +his cards once more to the Nanking viceroy. The old tactics were repeated, +and negotiations threatened to be indefinitely protracted, but eventually +promises were given for the full redress demanded. Promises, however, had +been given before, and it was deemed not unreasonable in the circumstances +to demand a material guarantee. There happened to be lying at anchor +opposite the city a small steamer recently built for the viceroy, which +he was induced to place under the orders of Captain Heneage, R.N., +pending the execution of the arrangements. The end of the discussion +was a complete and satisfactory settlement of the whole affair, which +included the deprivation of the prefect and the magistrate of Yangchow. +The after-effects have been no less satisfactory. For the last thirty +years Yangchow has been the most peaceable missionary field in the whole +empire. We have set forth this incident in some detail, because it was +typical, isolated, and free from all obscurities. + +While these events were passing on the Yangtze, similar troubles, which +had been threatening for some time, came to a head in the island of +Formosa. Outbreaks of mob-violence against the property and person of +both missionaries and merchants took place in different parts of the +island. At Banca, in the Tamsui district, two English merchants, Messrs +Kerr and Bird, were murderously assaulted by a ferocious armed mob, and +Mr Holt, the acting vice-consul at Tamsui, reported in October 1868 that +"remonstrance, expostulation, despatches, letters, messages, and visits +having alike failed in securing common justice" from the mandarin, he +might be "driven at any moment to strike his consular flag and close +communication with the authorities. Our lives are threatened by people +who have proved that the will to murder us is not wanting," and with whom +the authorities either could not or would not interfere. Mr Holt held +his ground until assistance reached him, and he made no secret of his +intention to back his diplomacy by a show of force whenever he got the +chance. "Short of destruction of life and property," he wrote, "I intend +using any means in my power to enforce that justice that the people who +are supposed to administer it deny me. On the arrival of the gunboat I +will at once inform your Excellency of the measures concerted between the +commander and myself." Vice-Admiral Keppel reported to the Admiralty in +December that "the opportune arrival of H.M. gunboat Janus and the United +States Aroostook was followed by a full compliance with the demands of +her Majesty's consul." + +Matters did not run quite so smoothly at the other end of the island, +where missionaries as well as merchants were the object of attack. The +campaign was carried on with vigour for some six months. Redress was +not only unobtainable from the Chinese authorities, but even personal +access to them was rendered impossible by the obstruction of the mob. +Mr George Jamieson was obliged to forego a visit to the magistrate +at Taiwan in April on the latter confessing that he could not protect +him from violence. Mr Gibson, five months later, found his road to the +mandarin ambuscaded by three parties of sixty or seventy men each, armed +with jingalls, swords, and spears. Outrage succeeded outrage during the +whole period. The state of affairs was of course a subject of serious +remonstrance with the Central Government, of whom the Minister first +demanded, as in the Yangchow case, a joint inquiry into the facts. For +this purpose the consul, Mr Swinhoe, who had been absent on other duty, +was ordered to his proper post. At the same time Vice-Admiral Keppel was +requested to send an adequate naval force to support the consul's position +and prevent further outbreaks. + +The Yamên went through the form of ordering to the spot a commissioner, +who, however, left it again immediately, thus turning the orders of the +Yamên into ridicule. This proceeding naturally encouraged the hostility +of the local officials and of the mob who executed their behests. The +situation became most threatening. + +The squadron detached by Admiral Keppel for active operations at Takow +and its neighbourhood consisted of three corvettes and five gunboats, to +be reinforced if necessary by the flagship Rodney, carrying eighty-two +guns. Before this imposing force arrived, however, the task they were +intended to achieve had been already accomplished. "Driven to despair, +and believing life and property to be in great danger, Mr Gibson, without +waiting for instructions, called upon Lieutenant Gurdon of the gunboat +Algerine to take possession of the Chinese fort, which resulted in a loss +of life and a destruction of Government stores." + +Mr Gibson's action was somewhat euphemistically described as "without +waiting for instructions," seeing that he had positive instructions +to maintain his ground until a naval force should arrive. Both the +operation itself and certain details of its execution were adverted +upon so severely, first by Sir Rutherford Alcock and then by the British +Government, that, notwithstanding Commodore Jones's commendation of "the +most brilliant exploit I have heard of in these seas," Lieutenant Gurdon +fell under the displeasure of the Lords of the Admiralty, as the acting +consul did under that of the Foreign Office. The object of the joint +adventure, however, was attained, and the spirit of outrage among the +Chinese completely subdued. This happened in December. + +There remained, however, yet another centre of turbulence which greatly +impeded the operation of the treaty, at the port of Swatow. The villages +which lie between that seaport and the district city of Chow-chow-fu, +some 12 miles up the river Han, had banded themselves together to oppose +foreign intercourse with the latter city. Not only were the business and +property of foreign merchants interfered with, but a British man-of-war +gig in the river was fired upon, and when the men landed to identify the +offender they were overpowered by the whole population of the nearest +village. This hostile attitude, resembling very much that of the Canton +villages twenty years before, steadily increased until the native +officials themselves were not safe in passing to and from the district +city. Strong representations were made to the high authorities of the +province at Canton. The viceroy had promised to send a military force to +quell the riotous villages, but before he had proved the sincerity of his +intention the Gordian knot was cut by British initiative in January 1869. +The late Sir Challoner Alabaster, a man of uncommon resolution, was at +that time acting consul at Swatow; and he, having secured the co-operation +of Commodore Jones, led a force of marines and bluejackets against the +offending villages. A stout resistance was offered at first, but when +several of the villages had been taken and destroyed the whole eighteen +made their submission. Thereafter the district enjoyed perfect peace +and security. In the following March Sir Rutherford Alcock was able to +telegraph to Lord Clarendon that "the accounts from all the ports showed +that peace and order had been restored; that at Yangchow and Formosa +entire security and an improved position had been obtained; that there +was no more cause for anxiety at any point; that the best understanding +existed with the foreign body at Peking; and that the relations with China +had never been more satisfactory." + +The bearing of these occurrences on the revision of the treaty may not at +first sight be quite clear, but it is interesting to note in what manner +they were connected with that operation in the mind of Sir Rutherford +Alcock. He calculated that the necessity of using force to vindicate +foreign treaty rights, of which both he and his predecessor had constantly +warned them, would bring home to the Peking authorities the alternative +which they would always have to face in case of failure to carry out the +treaties. How very differently these outrages and the enforced redress +affected the situation in Peking will now be seen. + +The action taken at Yangchow and in Formosa having been fully explained +to the Tsungli-Yamên, Wênsiang and the other Ministers expressed their +entire concurrence. But what satisfied the Government of China produced +quite another impression on that of Great Britain. Lord Stanley, as +Foreign Secretary, had written on November 20, 1868: "Mr Medhurst appears +to have acted with great prudence and firmness, and you will convey to +him my approval of his proceedings.... I have to instruct you [Sir R. +Alcock] to press the case in question upon the Chinese Government." Two +months later Mr Medhurst was reprimanded by Lord Clarendon for his action, +and the "full satisfaction for the outrage" was attributed exclusively +to the "readiness with which the Central Government took measures that +proved effectual." The change of Government which had in the interval +taken place in England (December 9, 1868) was hardly sufficient to account +for so diametrical a change of view in a matter of imperial concern. +Another agency had effected the conversion of the British Government. +Mr Burlingame had arrived fresh from fervid denunciations in the United +States of the "tyrannic policy" and the "throat policy" of Great Britain +as applied to China, and adroitly seizing on the repression of the +Yangchow and Formosa outrages as flagrant examples, he succeeded in +incensing Lord Clarendon against the various British officials concerned +in these troubles, whom his lordship visited with punishment which +scarcely stopped short of vindictiveness. Mr Medhurst, indeed, a man of +long and distinguished service, had only a black mark set against his +name; but Mr Gibson was publicly censured and degraded, and ordered to +make an apology to the Chinese officials whose lawless aggressions he +had lawlessly repelled. With some inconsistency, Lord Clarendon, about +the same time, approved the conduct of Acting-Consul Holt at Tamsui, who +succeeded in adjusting most serious misunderstandings with the Chinese +through no other means than the visible force of the small gunboat Janus, +for whose arrival he waited before preferring his demands. + +That the sudden change in the policy of the British Government was the +work of Mr Burlingame was frankly avowed by Lord Clarendon himself, who +based the fresh instructions to the Minister in China on the arrangements +he had concluded with the Chinese representative. In his letter of +condemnation, January 14, 1869, he, moreover, intimated that he could not +wait before pronouncing judgment for Sir Rutherford Alcock's complete +report on the Yangchow affair, because his "communication with Mr +Burlingame ... rendered it necessary that he should not defer making his +observations." That a British Secretary of State could have so demeaned +his office would not have been believed save on his own confession. He +of course carried the Admiralty with him, and the same influence which +inspired the new instructions issued to the Minister and consuls inspired +those issued to the commanding officers on the China station. + +Taken textually, the negotiations between Mr Burlingame and Lord Clarendon +were of a platonic character. H.M.'s Government undertook to apply +no pressure to China. It would have been a simple matter to refrain +from applying pressure, and a tacit resolution to that effect with +corresponding instruction to the Minister in Peking would have secured the +object. To make it a subject of direct pledge to the Chinese Government +seemed one of those gratuitous acts which all diplomatic experience +condemns as fraught with future embarrassments. To save appearances, +however, a nominal equivalent was taken. "Mr Burlingame was requested to +bear in mind, and to make known to the Chinese Government, that we should +henceforward have a right to expect on its part the faithful fulfilment +of treaty engagements, the prompt redress of grievances referred to the +Central Government, and friendly treatment of British subjects by the +Chinese authorities"--as if all that had not been already stipulated for +under the solemn sanction of the existing treaty. + + +IV. REVISION NEGOTIATIONS AND CONCLUSION. + + Lukewarmness of British Government--Sir R. Alcock's misgivings + as to success--Mixed commission in Peking to consider + details--Mr Hart's predominance--Treaty becomes a custom-house + concern--Increase of duties being the Chinese aim--Sir + Rutherford Alcock attributes failure to Mr Burlingame's + misrepresentations--Merchants oppose the treaty--Ratification + refused by British Government--Inferences from this + fiasco--Chinese influenced by force alone. + +Let us now revert to the cause and origin of the Burlingame mission--the +revision of the treaty of Tientsin. The instruction for revision was +given by Lord Stanley on August 16, 1867, in such general terms as the +following:-- + + Her Majesty's Government neither wish, nor have they the + right, to impose sacrifices on China, even though they may be + convinced that the inconvenience of such sacrifices will be only + temporary, whereas the benefit which will result from them will be + lasting.... We must reconcile ourselves to waiting for the gradual + development of that [better] system, and content ourselves with + reserving for revision at a future period any new arrangement we + may come to in 1868.... You will of course act openly with the + representatives of other Powers, inviting and availing yourself + of their co-operation. + +A note of misgiving as to the policy of asking for the revision runs +through the whole correspondence. After the preliminary labours of sifting +the voluminous memorials from merchants and others, Sir Rutherford Alcock +sums up their demands thus: "All their wants turn upon three or four +cardinal defects, not of the treaties so much as in their execution." And +he adds the significant reflection: "The question arises, if nothing is to +be gained by demanding a revision, ... whether much would not be lost, and +an opportunity thrown away, which might, by reserving the right, be turned +to better account when the emperor's majority is declared. I believe the +true policy of foreign Powers would be to wait; ... to this conclusion +... all the representatives of foreign Powers now in Peking are led." "The +Chinese," he also says, "would go much faster and better if left alone." + +The question naturally suggested by these remarks--why a task involving +enormous labour, of which only negative results were to be expected, was +entered upon at all at such an inopportune moment--remains unanswered. + +It would be insufferably tedious, and of no practical utility, to track +the windings of a maze leading nowhere, for the revised treaty was never +ratified. But the labours of two whole years could not but leave landmarks +to guide succeeding travellers over the same ground. It could not be but +that with so much beating of the bushes the game would be started, if not +brought to bag. It was a reconnaissance in force which, for the first +time, compelled the respective parties to the struggle to reveal their +true character and intentions. Such a discovery was perhaps not too dearly +bought by the time and trouble expended on it. + +The first definite step in the process of revision was the nomination of +a mixed commission of British and Chinese "to devise means of securing a +more prompt redress of commercial grievances." The members were Mr Fraser, +second secretary to the British Legation; Mr Hart, Inspector-General of +Customs; and two secretaries of the Tsungli-Yamên--a heavy preponderance +on the Chinese side of the question. To the same commission was added +another British member, Mr Adkins. And here it is not impertinent to +observe that the absence of both the Chinese secretary, Mr Wade, and the +acting Chinese secretary, Mr Brown, left the Legation in a condition too +crippled to engage on work which would have taxed its full strength. The +members of the commission held many sittings, reporting proceedings from +time to time to their respective principals, the Tsungli-Yamên and the +British Minister. + +It needs no great effort of imagination to divine, in a body thus +composed, whose would be the dominant voice. Mr Hart conducted the +proceedings throughout. The discussion had not gone far when it was found +hopeless to revise the provisions of the treaty in any sense compatible +with progress or freer intercourse; and the dangerous questions which had +caused the Government so much anxiety, and which had inspired both the +Burlingame mission and the various secret memorials, being thus happily +ruled outside the controversy, the Chinese Ministers seem to have given +themselves no further concern about the revision. This distant attitude +of theirs was severely commented on by a contemporary writer in 'Fraser's +Magazine,' who said:-- + + After ten years of conciliatory blandishments on our part, the + high Chinese authorities had so far disobeyed the spirit of the + treaty that, although they had not actually prevented our Minister + from corresponding and visiting with them, yet they had had the + audacity to render all such intercourse absolutely nugatory, + and had constrained him, after a long and successful diplomatic + career, to descend to the extremely humiliating position of + treating with them indirectly through the medium of Mr R. Hart. + +As, however, the proceedings became focussed on a tariff revision destined +to add to the duty receipts, a "collector of revenue wanting money," as Mr +Hart described himself, was the most fitting negotiator, and the Chinese +ministers were well pleased to leave him free to make his own bargain, so +long as it yielded that result. + +To give colour to the Chinese demand for higher duties a bold formula was +resorted to, and supported by equally bold reasoning. The expedient was +a rearrangement of the method of collection of inland dues on foreign +merchandise, which was then, as it continues to be, the great bone of +contention between foreign traders and the Chinese authorities. The +treaties conferred on merchants the right of compounding for all inland +taxation of their merchandise by a single payment at the port of entry; +but the practices of the Chinese officials had rendered the privilege a +nullity. In the new negotiations Mr Hart, on the part of the Chinese, +took the high ground of maintaining, with subtle dialectic, that the +protection which foreigners claimed was not in fact given by the treaties. +So strongly did the Chinese entrench themselves in this contention, that +heavy artillery was required to dislodge them. "Could any negotiators +be so dull or incompetent," wrote Sir R. Alcock in reply, "as to sign a +treaty of commerce with an Eastern potentate, extorted at the point of +the bayonet, and leave this unlimited power in his hands to turn against +us the next moment, or whenever he pleased, and nullify all that had been +stipulated, destroying the trade for which alone war had been made?" +Defeated in argument, the Chinese next begged that what they could not +claim as a right might yet be accorded to them as a favour, thus copying +the tactics of the Japanese in an analogous case. + +As this proved to be the crux of the whole transaction, the rock on which +the convention eventually split, it is useful to consider how the subject +was treated in the negotiations. The treaties of Nanking, 1842, and of +Tientsin, 1858, provided for the transit of British goods throughout +the empire on payment of a fixed charge. But in securing exemption from +arbitrary imposts in the interior, the treaty of Nanking signally failed; +that of Tientsin had proved equally ineffective, and why? From inherent +difficulties in the nature of things--obstacles absolutely insuperable +so long as the country remained under the same organic conditions. Such +were the propositions with which the British Minister entered upon the +discussion of the subject; and as no proposal was made for changing the +organic conditions of the empire, the prospect of obtaining a satisfactory +fulfilment of those treaty provisions did not seem very encouraging. + +But then a suggestion, apparently emanating from Consul Robertson at +Canton, was made for simplifying the problem by doing away with the option +which had been reserved in the treaties for foreign merchants, either +to pay the commutation at the port of landing, or to allow their goods +to run the gantlet of the Chinese customs stations. Instead of this, it +was suggested that a single compulsory payment, amounting to half the +import tariff, might be levied on the landing of the goods, which should +thereafter be freed from all other imposts throughout the empire. It +was not unnatural that a "collector of revenue" should appropriate this +conception, and introduce it into the revised treaty; but then the doubt +immediately arose on the other side, whether the promised exemption would +be any more of a reality than it had been under the existing _régime_. If +the difficulties in the way of fulfilling the stipulation in the treaty +of Tientsin and Nanking were really insuperable, would they now disappear +merely because the Chinese Government received an increased import duty? +In considering Mr Hart's proposal, "the question would be," according to +Sir Rutherford Alcock, "Could we obtain a sufficient guarantee that such +additional import due would effectually exempt British goods from all +other dues, local, provincial, and what not?" And again, "Security for +exemption from all but the fixed 2½ per cent was the one question on which +depended the value of any revision." + +A necessary condition of any successful treaty was the assent of +all the other Powers to its provisions, seeing that under their +most-favoured-nation clauses any one of them by holding aloof could +render the treaty inoperative. The various foreign representatives were +therefore kept informed of the progress of negotiations. In this way their +opinions were obtained from time to time as to the merits of the various +proposals. On the subject of the compulsory payment of transit dues the +opinions which the British Minister received from his colleagues were +all unfavourable. They considered that some "additional guarantee would +be necessary against failure, and as against security for additional +losses which would be entailed upon the merchants." To give effect to +the new proposals an edict was to be published acquainting all provincial +officials with what had been agreed upon. But still the diplomatic body +maintained "that nothing is really certain but the addition of 2½ per +cent to the import duties. This will be rigorously exacted and paid; +but whether the equivalent exemption from all other taxation will be +obtained must be held doubtful, ... seeing that in the past the same +provincial authorities have shown the most persistent disregard of +treaty stipulations and proclamations." "Under such circumstances," Sir +Rutherford adds, "it would seem reasonable that, during the first year +at least, all amounts collected under the new arrangements ... should be +carried to a separate account ... to meet claims for compensation." In the +end, however, he saw reason to waive this proviso, to disregard the views +of his colleagues, and to assent to the new impost, without any guarantee. +Attempts to obtain concessions from the Chinese in the way of freer +intercourse proved, as we have said, hopeless from the first. The renewal +of the Chinese demand to establish a customs station in Hongkong--that +"immense smuggling depot"--was refused on the British side; while the +British request for recognition of Hongkong as a port of call for goods +in transit to Canton was in like manner refused on the Chinese side, +because it "would give the place a respectable name" as well as make it +the "great emporium of the south." Hongkong, it is fair to remember, was, +not unnaturally, odious in the eyes of the Chinese. The more prosperous +the colony became, the more they hated it; and the more patriotic among +them--as, for instance, the Minister Wênsiang--detested it the most. + +The ruling factor in eliminating all measures of progress from the +negotiations and reducing the whole to a customs question was Mr +Burlingame. + + After the arrival of the mission to Washington [wrote Sir + Rutherford on February 27, 1869] the hopes which the signature + of the additional articles was calculated to excite undoubtedly + exercise a very prejudicial effect on my efforts.... With Mr + Burlingame's enthusiastic reception, and the prompt signature + of the convention by which the United States Government pledged + itself to leave China free to adopt or reject all such innovations + and internal improvements, and even to use its influence with + other Powers for the same end, they gained precisely the assurance + they wanted.... From that moment further progress or successful + negotiation became impossible. + +He added in a subsequent despatch to Lord Clarendon:-- + + One result stands out more clearly than any other, and it is this: + what we have gained by the last year's preliminary negotiations is + not likely to be withdrawn. But if it was difficult to negotiate + for large concessions before the assurance authoritatively given + by your lordship to Mr Burlingame, ... it is now out of the + question to hope for more than has already been conceded.... + Strong in the assurances of two of the treaty Powers, ... it is + quite certain that no further progress can be made at present. It + simply remains for her Majesty's Government to determine whether + they will carry out the revision on the basis proposed and already + assented to by the Chinese Government, or defer the revision + altogether to some later period. + +The provisional report of the negotiations having been submitted by the +Foreign Office to the other treaty Powers for their opinion, most of +them contented themselves with amicable generalities, the only definite +criticism elicited being that of the North German Confederation. Going +straight to the core of the matter, in May 1869, Count Bernstorff wrote +as follows, basing his remarks upon the opinion of the German merchants:-- + + Although the advantages which are to be expected for trade in + general from the abolition of the "lekin taxes" would not be + too dearly bought by this extension of the transit duty to all + commodities, yet, on the other hand, the treaty Powers certainly + have the right of demanding the abolition of the taxes levied + contrary to treaty, even without giving anything in return, + and they might probably obtain this result by common action. + And then, moreover, it appears, from existing circumstances + in China, exceedingly questionable whether this tax, even if + abolished by imperial edict in consequence of a treaty, would not, + nevertheless, still be levied by the mandarins, although perhaps + in another shape, since now indeed they have their assignments + thereon. + +Doubts on the part of the Foreign Office led to further correspondence +backwards and forwards, closing with the following ambiguous despatch, +dated 29th September, which was transmitted by telegram, a very slow +process in those days:-- + + If you should not have concluded an arrangement before this + reaches you, her Majesty's Government think it would be better + to protract negotiations rather than accept now a limited + arrangement, which would be binding for so long a period as ten + years, and which would not comprise a satisfactory arrangement + respecting transit duties, and which might compromise the right + of her Majesty's Government to take part in the negotiations of + other Powers for a revision of their treaties. + + Should you, however, have completed any arrangement, you may be + assured that the best view will be taken of it here. + +The supplementary convention was, in fact, signed in October, and Sir +Rutherford Alcock took his leave immediately after, visiting the Yangtze, +Shanghai, Hongkong, and India on his way to Europe. At these places +he explained in general terms the bearing of the treaty, the Indian +Government being specially concerned in the increase of the Chinese import +duty on opium, to which the trade generally were absolutely indifferent. + +The supplementary convention was exhaustively reviewed by the Shanghai +General Chamber of Commerce in a memorial addressed to Lord Clarendon +(December 31, 1869). To the practical view of the merchants the treaty +consisted of three clauses: one making compulsory what had previously been +optional--the payment of half the import duty in commutation of inland +dues on foreign merchandise; one doubling the export duty on raw silk; +and the third more than doubling the import duty on opium. Of these, the +first alone was deemed important. The consideration offered by the Chinese +Government for the compulsory payment--that they would frank imported +goods through nine of the eighteen provinces of China--was not regarded as +an equivalent; for the treaty of Tientsin contained the same undertaking +without the geographical limitation, but it had not been fulfilled. The +ground alleged for this non-observance of the existing treaty had been +the existence of insurmountable obstacles in connection with provincial +and imperial finance. These obstacles, the merchants observed, were +"now assumed to have been suddenly overcome," an assumption which they +considered illusory. The question of transit dues was not new to them: +it had been threshed out on all sides during weary years; it was the +recurrent topic of the day with them, as it was destined to continue to +be for a generation longer; and the merchants could not therefore believe +that the difficulties against which they had been hopelessly struggling +were suddenly removed by magic. They were not shown how the revolution was +to be effected. In short, "the conclusion," they said, "was irresistible, +that to a very great extent the commutation of transit dues, which is +made compulsory by the new treaty, will simply become an additional tax +on trade without any return whatever; and that the provincial authorities +will as heretofore tax goods in transit very much as they please, the +treaty stipulation to the contrary notwithstanding,"--a conclusion +supported by arguments which could not be refuted. + +Sir Thomas Wade some years later expressed the same views as the merchants +had done. "I doubted," he said, "the good faith of officials when breach +of faith could only be established by the evidence of those subject to +their authority and entirely in their power.... I have since found reason +to believe that the control of taxation in the provinces is a matter of +no small trouble to the Central Government as at present constituted, +if indeed it be possible at all." Nevertheless, he adds, "I have found +occasion to regret that the convention has not been allowed at least a +term of probation." A term of probation was the alternative suggested by +the merchants also, but it seems never to have received any consideration +from the Foreign Office. + +The representation which the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce based upon +their review of the treaty was adopted by influential commercial bodies in +England, who in a "monstrous deputation," as Mr Hammond called it, urged +on the Secretary for Foreign Affairs the non-ratification of the treaty. +The British Government gave way, not, as they candidly admitted, convinced +by the reasoning, but overawed by the electoral pressure of the merchants; +and the supplementary convention was allowed to fall through. + +Thus ended the first attempt to negotiate a treaty with China as a +perfectly free agent. The conclusion to be drawn not only from the +negative result, but from the whole process of the negotiations--from the +memorials from the provinces, and still more from the Privy Council, the +six boards, and the censorates--is, as stated by Sir Rutherford Alcock in +May 1869, "that the old spirit of arrogance of the days of Lin and Yeh is +still in full vigour, and the assumption of superiority over the barbarian +absolutely unmeasured. That the anti-foreign element amongst the official +and educated classes has suffered no diminution whatever; that if some +two or three leading men take a clearer view of the political situation, +they are evidently without power to take action upon it; and so the vessel +of State is allowed to drift whichever way the tide of prejudice and +ignorance may set. There are still some documents," he added, "wanting to +complete the series, especially the answer of Li Hung-chang and a second +memorial of Tsêng Kwo-fan [p. 184 _seq._], which it would be desirable to +obtain as showing the policy advocated by two of the most prominent men +in the empire at this moment." + +One sentence of Sir Rutherford Alcock sums up the case China _v._ the +West: "Pressure, indeed, there must always be here if anything is to be +achieved for the advancement of foreign interests and commerce. In one +way or other, however we may disguise it, our position in China has been +created by force--naked, physical force; and any intelligent policy to +improve or maintain that position must still look to force in some form, +latent or expressed, for the results." Whether the Western nations, +singly or collectively, are justified in using their force for such a +purpose is a question which is not affected by this plain statement of the +case. That the policy of the Western Powers has been largely influenced +by sentimental consideration towards China is true; but their action +has never been consistent with their professions, and their oscillation +between coercion and submission has led to disastrous consequences. + + [Illustration] + +FOOTNOTE: + + [15] He now knows better. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +MISSIONARY PROBLEM--TIENTSIN MASSACRE OF 1870. + + Importance of missionary question long foreseen by Consul + Alcock--Introduction of missionaries under two French + treaties--Toleration of Christians under treaties of 1858--Forced + upon China--Ardour of missionary spirit uncontrollable--Negligence + of treaty-makers in providing no regulations for admission of + the propaganda--Contrasted with the care bestowed on trade + regulations--Religious toleration of the Chinese--Christian + intolerance--Surreptitious article in French Convention of + 1860--Giving large privileges to missionaries in the interior--Its + abuse complained of by Chinese--Enforced restitution of old + property--Bitter injustice--Disintegrating action of the + propaganda--Abuses of extra-territoriality--Interference in + local affairs--Detaching natives from their allegiance--Causes of + strife--Chinese Government culpable in permitting abuses--Disputes + about land and houses--Chinese official laxity compensated + for by unofficial illegitimate methods--Attacks on missions + fomented thereby--No remedy possible without the unanimous + consent of the Powers--Each having different objects--Fruits + of widespread hostility to missions appeared in 1868--Riot and + outrage--Culminated in Tientsin massacre of 1870--Details of the + occurrence--Treated cavalierly by Imperial Government--Culpability + of officials--Pressure by foreign Ministers induces Chinese + to execute sixteen criminals--Apologetic mission of Chunghou + to France--Suspicions of his complicity unfounded--Causes of + the hostility to foreigners--Government fear of reprisals + by France--They begin to take the missionary question + seriously--Issue an important circular--Badly received by the + Powers. + + +No subject more seriously engaged the attention of Sir Rutherford Alcock +during his whole term of service than that of the Christian propaganda. +While it was yet in embryo, and long before the untoward consequences now +so familiar had declared themselves, the evil to come formed the theme of +many anxious despatches. For, with the exception of Mr T. T. Meadows, he +was the only one of the early consuls who attempted to read the horoscope +of China with a conscious participation in the responsibility for its +welfare. Their warnings were, of course, wasted on the desert air, for +statesmen whose hands are on the lever of events are like the signalmen on +a busy railway, recking nothing of the origin or destination of the train, +careful only that it pass their own "point" in safety. The thin end of the +entering wedge destined to split China into fragments, unless anticipated +(as in fact it has been) in its disruptive work by some ruder allied +agency, was clearly discerned by Consul Alcock while at Shanghai. Under +cover of the first French treaties in 1844 and 1846 missionaries effected +a legal lodgment on the coast of China, from which they cast longing +eyes on the vast interior of the country. Rivalry between the Christian +sects brought fresh pressure to bear on the plenipotentiaries, and the +"toleration clause" was introduced into all the treaties negotiated at +Tientsin in 1858, and in the German treaty of 1861. + +Russia led the way, followed by the United States, Great Britain, and +France. The "clause" was substantially the same in all, the toleration +of Christianity being based on its moral character exclusively--"Hommes +de bien qui ne cherchent pas d'avantages matériels" (Russian); "Teaching +men to do good, and to do to others as they would have others do to +them" (American); "Inculcates the practice of virtue, and teaches man +to do as he would be done by" (English); "Ayant pour objet essentiel de +porter les hommes à la vertu" (French).[16] Yet this apparent unanimity +concealed essential differences in aim and motive. Russia, France, and the +United States, to leave England out of the account, each meant something +specifically distinct from the other by the practically identical clause. + +What the Chinese would have said, had they been free to discuss the +demand made upon them, we can hardly conjecture; but in the position in +which they actually found themselves they would have subscribed to any +form of words submitted to them, their sole anxiety then being to get +rid of the barbarians on any terms. Had the preamble run, "Whereas the +Christian religion as practised for 1800 years has not brought peace but a +sword upon the earth, has set the father against the son, nation against +nation, instigated crimes without number, sided with the oppressor and +the unrighteous judge, and is daily prostituted for political ends," +the Chinese would have signed the toleration clause just the same. The +phraseology was nothing to them, whence it follows that the responsibility +for the consequences rests on the Powers who imposed the form as well +as the substance of the obligations. These Powers placed themselves in +a self-contradictory position both towards China and the Church, for +the only ground on which they claimed protection for missionaries in the +framing of the treaty is the one which they cannot so much as consider in +the fulfilment of it. The ethical and religious side of the propaganda +is to the executive official a negligible quantity, while he can take +cognisance only of that aspect of Christianity which was studiously kept +out of sight in the treaty--its political character, the temper of the +missionaries and of the people among whom they work, and all that makes +for good or bad relations between them. + +Amid mixed and perverted motives there is doubtless in all sections of +the propaganda a residuum of pure zeal in a holy cause. The medieval +solicitude for "saving the heathen" survives, and men and women, fired +with the conviction that they are engaged in such a godlike enterprise, +constitute an ever-living force with which statesmen have to lay their +account. It can neither be reasoned with nor turned aside, and is the more +intractable in that the logical effect of its inspiration is to place +it above civil law, but under a divine law of its own interpreting, the +interpretation varying indefinitely with the divisions of the force, each +division, and sometimes each individual, selecting such portions of the +code and bending them to such meaning as may support the objects and the +methods of the sect. To introduce such a complex ferment into the Chinese +body politic was a psychological experiment on a colossal scale, and also +irrevocable. It was, therefore, an experiment which demanded the kind of +precaution used in handling dangerous chemicals. + +Yet absolutely no thought was bestowed on the subject; the explosive was +imported with less ceremony than is bestowed on a bale of long cloth, and +left to spread according to its own laws in the living tissue into which +it was injected. So far at least as the English treaty was concerned, +we have it on the authority of the actual negotiator that the Christian +clause was an after-thought "shoved in" at the last moment. The same +authority adds, "The treaty was left to carry out itself"--in other +respects besides that of the missionary question. Sir Rutherford Alcock +speaks of "the futility of grafting on to a treaty of commerce, forced +upon the Chinese under circumstances which left them no power to refuse, a +proselytising agency for the conversion of the nation to Christianity.... +Whatever aims at these ends under the stipulation of a treaty of commerce +and amity introduces a cause of distrust and an element of disturbance. +This we have done, and are now reaping the fruit." But a rose-cutting +would not be grafted with the insouciance with which this spiritual +element was incongruously inserted in a commercial treaty. Commenting +directly upon the toleration clause itself, Sir Rutherford wrote: "It is +only necessary to read carefully the words of the article to be aware that +in the whole range of the treaty, from the 1st to the 56th article, there +is nothing stipulated for so difficult to secure as the fulfilment in its +integrity of this one clause." + +The foreign Powers generally seemed to court the very "disturbance" +apprehended by "leaving the treaty to carry out itself," washing their +hands of their own careless work. We have seen what pains were taken to +allow the treaty to operate smoothly in its main purpose by elaborating +a scheme of trade regulations far more complete than the treaty itself. +But as foreign trade had been carried on by the Chinese for centuries, +and the merchants of the respective countries were thoroughly at home +with each other, commerce was the least likely source of friction. Of +the new dynamic element introduced into the treaties, it seems never to +have occurred to the negotiators that any regulation was necessary at +all. Missionaries were permitted to enter and settle in the interior, +where everything was strange, for practical purposes beyond the orbit +of their countries' laws, while protected against the jurisdiction of +the Government under which they were to live. Men who could withstand +the temptation offered by such a state of things are not born every day. +Without rule of conduct save their individual judgment, with no previous +understanding with the Chinese provincial officials as to relative +rights and duties, they were left to find such accommodation to their +surroundings as their several idiosyncrasies and the untried conditions +of Chinese social life might determine. The missionary in the interior +had thus all the qualities of a "foreign body" setting up irritation in +the organism,--a state of things, however, which his absolute faith in +the sanctity of his mission perhaps prevented him from comprehending. + +One trait in the national character was highly favourable to the +reception of a foreign religion. The Chinese were of all nations the +most tolerant of opinion. They had already accepted and assimilated two +foreign religions--Buddhism and Mohammedanism; indeed they had also, two +hundred years before, accepted and retained Christianity until it was +expelled in convulsions provoked by the foreign missionaries themselves. +Its second advent need not have caused convulsions had it come as the +others had done, with clean hands, as a religion and nothing else. The +tolerance of the Chinese has been referred to materialism and contemptuous +apathy, which is by no means an exhaustive account of the matter. +They were not, any more than Hindus, naked savages without language +or literature: if anything, they were over-civilised. Proud they were, +indeed, and conceited, and in its religious aspect they affected to regard +Christianity as but a wave breaking on a rock. Their rock was a unique +philosophy, scarcely to be called a system, which stands for religion, +differing from other philosophic systems in eschewing speculation and +attending to the ethics of common life,--the only philosophy that may be +said ever to have transfused itself into the blood of a people. + +The culture of the Chinese, however, was merely an obstacle to the +realisation of the Catholic ideal of saving the heathen, as the grandest +natural scenery was regarded merely as a hindrance to medieval travel. +"Unhappy infidels, who spend their lives in smoke and their eternity in +flames," was Father le Jeune's epigrammatic summary of the whole case in +Quebec. So deep-rooted is the tradition of the reprobation of the heathen, +that it generally requires many years' experience before a foreign +missionary is led by contact with facts to see that Chinese ethics form +the natural basis for the Christian superstructure. Some missionaries, +indeed, go so far as to use the writings of Confucius as a text-book. +Before reaching this ripe stage, however, the foreign missionary has it +in his power to do more mischief than he can perhaps ever undo. + +There was one treaty stipulation which has not been left to chance for its +fulfilment--the additional article inserted in the French Convention of +Peking in 1860. An astute missionary, acting as interpreter to Baron Gros, +managed to interpolate in the Chinese text a clause of his own which had +no place in the French--the ruling version--and was quite unknown to the +French Envoy.[17] By that clause full permission was accorded to French +missionaries to purchase land and erect buildings thereon throughout +the empire; and further, all churches, schools, cemeteries, lands, and +buildings which had been owned by persecuted Christians (Chinese) in +previous centuries were to be paid for, and the money handed to the +French representative in Peking for transmission to the Christians in +the localities concerned. This astounding demand, in our eyes at once so +truculent and so impracticable, seems to have been to the Chinese neither +more nor less oppressive than the rest of the treaty, and they signed +without demur, under the usual mental reservation. But it was in germ an +official recognition of a French protectorate over Chinese Christians, +and of corporate communities of Christians held qualified to be served +heirs to those who had been persecuted in the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries--a germ which might be cultivated with greater or less success, +according to the skill of those who had the care of it. Some effort +of imagination is required in order to realise what is implied in this +surreptitious article. + + We must suppose [wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock] a French army + entering London and there dictating the conditions of peace, and + among others one that all Church property confiscated by Henry + VIII. should forthwith be restored to the Roman Catholic Church by + the present holders, however acquired, and without compensation, + and that the French Government could be appealed to in order to + enforce the rigorous execution of the stipulation. + +How the stipulation was enforced is thus described by Prince Kung in his +circular of 1871, more fully noticed below:-- + + During the last few years the restitution of chapels in every + province has been insisted upon without any regard for the feeling + of the masses, the missionaries obstinately persisting in their + claims. They have also pointed out fine handsome houses (belonging + to, or occupied by, the gentry or others) as buildings once used + as churches, and these they have compelled the people to give up. + But what is worst, and what wounds the dignity of the people, + is that they often claim as their property _yamêns_, places of + assembly, temples held in high respect by the literates and the + inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Buildings which were once used + as chapels have been in some cases sold years ago by Christians; + and, having been sold and resold by one of the people to another, + have passed through the hands of several proprietors. There is + also a large number of buildings which have been newly repaired + at very considerable expense, of which the missionaries have + insisted on the restitution, refusing at the same time to pay + anything for them. On the other hand, there are some houses which + have become dilapidated, and the missionaries put in a claim for + the necessary repair. Their conduct excites the indignation of + the people whenever they come in contact with each other, and it + becomes impossible for them to live quietly together.[18] + +Bitter consequences have resulted from the enforced operation of the +interpolated clause, for the French Government, as is shown above, took +full advantage of the pious fraud. Neither did the Chinese themselves, +on discovering the truth, openly resent this example of how the foreign +religion "porte les hommes à la vertu." The fraud was more than condoned +by missionaries of all nations and sects, whose legal title to residence +in the interior of China, distant from all authority, rests solely on the +interpolated French clause, the benefit of which accrues to them under +the most-favoured-nation privilege. British Protestant missionaries, not +altogether satisfied with this tainted title, in a long letter to their +Minister, Sir Rutherford Alcock, claimed the right of inland residence +on another ground. They adduced the public declaration of Mr Burlingame, +that "China invites Protestant missionaries to plant the shining Cross on +every hill and in every valley"; to which the answer was simple, that the +Chinese Government disavowed the promises of the envoy, and repudiated the +implied obligation. The British Government disapproved of the claim under +the French treaty, though in rather ambiguous terms, because it rested +"on no sound foundation, but on an interpolation of words in the Chinese +version alone in the French treaty with China." Since then, however, the +pretensions of the French missionaries have been vindicated less by the +interpolated clause itself than by the vigorous exercise of all the rights +conferred by it, and very much more. The clause thus lent material force +to the spiritual ferment, accelerating by many degrees its disintegrating +action. It may be alleged, in palliation of the light-heartedness with +which the whole subject was treated by the negotiators of the treaties, +that they could not have foreseen such a development of their innocent +toleration clause; but the circumstance only emphasises the urgent need +there was for a clear definition of what was really meant by it. + +But if toleration be the note of Chinese polity--concerning not +religion alone, but almost every matter affecting government--it may +be asked, What is it in the propagation of Christianity that excites +the hostility of people and rulers? It is that the missionaries present +themselves to Chinese view as the instruments of powerful nations bent +on the ruin of the empire. They enter the country with a talisman of +extra-territoriality; their persons are sacred; the law of the land cannot +lay hands on them. That is the first stage. The second is, that they seek +to extra-territorialise their converts also, whose battles they fight +in the provincial courts and in the rustic communes, and so make it of +material advantage to the people to bear the banner of the Cross. Many +missionaries are really zealous in the work of alienating the Chinese from +their natural allegiance, and of encouraging them to seek the protection +of foreign Powers as against the native authorities. Thus a revolution +of the most vital nature is in progress, and is being pushed on with all +the energy which Christian, combined with ecclesiastical and political, +zeal can throw into the work. Village is set against village, clan against +clan, family against family, and a man's foes in China are too often they +of his own household.[19] + +No doubt the Chinese Government are to blame for having allowed such a +state of things to grow up; but it is part and parcel of their drifting +attitude towards everything. It is not that their apprehensions are not +aroused, but that they lack initiative to avert the danger which they +fear. While in theory they do not admit the claim of any foreign Power +to protect Chinese subjects, yet in practice the thing goes on, and +is acquiesced in. So formidable, indeed, have the foreign missionaries +become, that most of the provincial authorities are afraid as well as +jealous of them; and peace-loving viceroys give the simple injunction +to their prefects and magistrates that on no account must they permit +dispute with foreigners or native Christians. This means that the Chinese +Christian must be upheld, right or wrong, and the Christian would be very +un-Chinese if he did not take advantage of such a privilege to trounce +his heathen neighbours. + +The right given in the French treaty of acquiring land and building houses +in the interior is one of the most constant causes of local quarrel. Real +estate in China, being held not on personal but on family tenure, can +only be rightfully alienated by the common consent. A dissentient member +holding out, or reviving his claim for purposes of extortion after assent +has been given and transfer made, may become a convenient instrument +in the hands of agitators against the foreigners; and where there is no +such dissentient it is not unusual for the local authorities to create +one by forcible means. A case in point may be mentioned in illustration. +A building was made over to the Baptist Missionary Society by a Chinese +family, every precaution being taken to obtain the unanimous consent of +its various branches. When the deed had been signed by the head of the +family and other responsible members, the local magistrate examined the +chief of the clan, denounced him, and punished him severely by bastinado. +Two of the signatories, thus intimidated, disowned their own act, thereby +invalidating the deed by non-unanimity. + +Nearly all the attacks on missionaries proceed in one form or another +from that fecund nursery of feuds, the land question. Whatever the merits +of the dispute, the foreigner is _prima facie_ in the wrong; for he is +an alien, an intruder, and he erects buildings which are outlandish, +offensive to taste, and of sinister influence; and whosoever, albeit +the most disreputable member of a family of three or four generations, +proclaims a grievance by which he has lost his birthright, is sure of +a sympathetic following. Thus without taking into account individual +indiscretions, or infirmities of temper, open attacks on time-honoured +customs, and so forth, there is a perennial root of bitterness in +missionary enterprise in the interior of China, which throws out shoots +culminating in murder and fiendish ferocity; and all this without even +a distant approach to the kernel of Christianity which lies behind the +outworks. + +For what the Chinese authorities have failed to do by the legitimate means +at their command, their underlings and the circle of gentry that surrounds +each provincial centre attempt to do by illegitimate and criminal methods. +Hatred of missions and converts shows itself by violent outbreaks in +which innocent and guilty suffer a common fate; mobs are excited by false +suggestions, scholars write inflammatory placards filled with the foulest +calumnies, and the higher officials "let it work"--secretly applauding, +but ready, if called to account, to exculpate themselves and blame the +poor ignorant people. + +The charges which form the staple of these attacks turn largely upon the +murder of children in order to make use of eyes, members, blood, &c., +in certain Christian rites; and they are so extravagant and absurd that +foreigners are apt to doubt that even the most ignorant among the people +really believe in the crimes which are alleged against Christians. The +best authorities, however,--as, for example, the late Sir Thomas Wade,--do +not question the sincerity of the popular belief; and indeed if we compare +these charges with those made against the Jews by influential sections of +Christians in Europe, we shall be surprised at their practical identity. + +For this deplorable state of things no one has been able to suggest a +remedy. What has been done cannot be undone. To mend it even would require +such united action among the Great Powers as it is hardly possible in +the present state of the world to conceive. France, indeed, on the morrow +of the Tientsin massacre, did appeal to the co-operative principle as a +protection to all foreign interests in China. The French ambassador in +London addressed the Foreign Office in these terms:-- + + Bien que les victimes de ces attentats soient presque + exclusivement des Français, on ne saurait contester que des + faits pareils révèlent l'existence de dangers qui menacent + indistinctement tous les étrangers résidant en Chine. C'est en + considérant leurs intérèts comme solidaires dans ces contrées de + l'extrême Orient que les Puissances européennes peuvent arriver à + assurer à leurs nationaux les garanties et les sécurités stipulées + dans les traités. + +In the subsequent action of France in China, however, there has been no +trace of regard for any such principle of solidarity. Indeed, were the +Powers ever so amicably disposed towards each other on other questions, +they could not agree in this, the objects of their policy being absolutely +irreconcilable. + +"We cannot doubt," wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock, "that the missionary +question is the main cause of disturbance in our relations with China, +and of danger to the Chinese Government itself no less than to all +foreigners resident in the country, missionaries and laymen alike." He +recommended in 1868 that "the treaty Powers should, if possible, come +to some understanding on the religious and missionary question as the +necessary preliminary to any united action for the common benefit, the +acquisition of increased facilities for trade, &c." And he says, "As +regards Chinese converts, any attempt to extend a protectorate over them +would of necessity either fail or be subversive of the whole government of +China." But in the same paper he states that "France, with no trade in the +East, is ambitious of a protectorate over Roman Catholic missions"; and +that "with regard to converts protection has been partially extended to +them under the ægis of the French Government, and that persistent efforts +were being made to make that protection effectual." These efforts have +been still more persistent during the generation that has since passed. +With France the protectorate over native Christians is the great objective +of her Chinese diplomacy--not the ultimate end, indeed, but the lever +by which that end may be attained. To suggest to France, therefore, the +abandonment of this policy would be about as hopeless as asking her to +give up her colonies as the preliminary to an international conference. +And while France protects the proselytising machinery of the Roman +Catholic Church and its consequent usurpation of the Chinese authority, it +would seem of little avail to place other missionaries under restriction. + + * * * * * + +The fruits of this war of the social elements began to be harvested in +1868, as Sir Rutherford Alcock observed; but that was only the beginning +of a long series of conflicts which have marked the progress of missionary +work in China up to the present day. Riot, outrage, and massacre are its +regular landmarks. The outbreaks have so much in common that it would +serve no useful purpose to trace them in detail, or attempt to apportion +praise or blame to this or that individual or sect. The one which has +left the reddest mark on history, and, being enacted in the presence of a +foreign mercantile community, brought the several factors in the question +into a clearer light than can ever be thrown upon outrages in remote parts +of the interior, is the Tientsin massacre of 21st June 1870. This occurred +six months after Sir Rutherford Alcock left China, while Mr Wade was +_chargé d'affaires_ for Great Britain, and Count Rochechouart for France, +in Peking. + +The massacre of sixteen French Sisters of Charity, including an Irish +girl, Alice Sullivan, a French consul, and several French subjects, +also--unwittingly, according to the imperial edict treating of the +occurrence--a Russian merchant and his wife, was the work of an organised +band, led by the city fire brigade, under the direction of the civic +authorities. The crime had been planned for some time: it was preceded +by the murder of an isolated English missionary, Mr Williamson, near +Tientsin, and by an attempted anti-foreign rising in Nanking, which +was promptly suppressed by the viceroy, Ma, who was soon after himself +assassinated. (He was a Mohammedan.) The impending outrage in Tientsin +was foreseen, and warning given, several days before. An Englishman was +attacked on the 19th for no reason. The official highest in rank on the +spot--not, however, a territorial authority--was Chunghou, a Manchu, +holding the office of Imperial Commissioner for Trade, and very friendly +to foreigners. Admiral Keppel says of him that he was the most finished +Chinese gentleman he had ever met, with the exception of the viceroy of +Canton (probably meaning Kiying). The governor of the province was Tsêng +Kwo-fan, whose capital was Paoting-fu, some 100 miles in the interior; +and his subordinates, the prefect and magistrate, were the authorities at +Tientsin immediately responsible for the massacre. Chunghou had warned the +Peking Government several weeks before of the progress of the agitation +against the French mission. + +The Imperial Government immediately on the occurrence issued an edict +describing the massacre as "a quarrel between the people and the +missionaries resulting in a fight," but were promptly driven from that +position and pressed, not only by the French, but by all the foreign +representatives, to investigate and do justice in the case, Count +Rochechouart demanding the capital punishment of the three mandarins +who had instigated the massacre. On this the Chinese Government +remarked in a secret edict, "Rochechouart, with boundless arrogance, +demands the execution of the Fu and Hsien, a demand ten thousand times +to be rejected." Under pressure, however, the Government ordered the +governor-general, Tsêng, to proceed to the spot and investigate. After +a protracted journey he reached Tientsin and commenced to take evidence, +not of the crime committed, but of the suspicions which had been excited +against the Sisters of Mercy, whom, after ransacking their cemeteries +for mutilated children, he eventually acquitted. He then suspended the +magistrates _pro formâ_, and spoke of sending for troops to catch the +rioters! On receiving the viceroy's report another imperial decree was +issued repeating the original falsehoods, and causing much disappointment +to the foreign Ministers. Renewed pressure from them, not without hints +of stronger measures, resulted in the offer of fifteen of the mob to be +executed, which, being unanimously rejected, the Chinese Government, +apparently thinking it was the number that was inadequate, threw in +five more, making twenty in all. Sixteen were actually beheaded, the +remaining four being saved by the timely arrival of the Russian Minister, +who protested against the execution of the men accused of murdering the +Russians, because he did not believe in their guilt. Compensation was paid +by the Chinese officials to the families of the executed men, which, with +the honours done to their dead bodies, showed that they were sacrificed +not for crime, but for reasons of State. Of course pecuniary compensation +was made on account of the victims of the massacre, the Chinese Government +being never hard to deal with where money is concerned. The prefect and +the magistrate who had busied themselves after the tragedy in torturing +Christians, in order to extort from them confessions which would justify +the massacre, were nominally banished, though it was perfectly understood +that this was a pure matter of form. + + [Illustration: RUINS OF FRENCH CATHEDRAL AT TIENTSIN, BURNED JUNE 20, + 1870.] + +As part of the reparation for the massacre the Imperial Commissioner for +Northern Trade, Chunghou, was despatched in the early part of 1871 on +a mission to France to express the regret of the Chinese Government for +what had occurred. This official, the first man of rank who was ever sent +out of China, received but an indifferent reception from the President of +the French Republic. Being the highest authority in Tientsin at the time +of the massacre, and having known of the preparations for an outbreak +of some kind, Chunghou was severely blamed by Europeans on the coast of +China, who alleged that the massacre could have been prevented had he put +forth his authority. Meetings were even held on the subject in Shanghai, +and remonstrances were sent to Europe against Chunghou's being received +anywhere as an ambassador until he should exonerate himself from all share +in the Tientsin atrocity. These representations, no doubt, had something +to do with the attitude of the French Provisional Government, which, on +other grounds also, was probably little disposed in that year to occupy +itself with the affairs either of the Church or of China. + +There is reason to believe, however, that Chunghou's conduct during the +affair of Tientsin was not inconsistent with innocence; for although he +was a man in authority, it was only as superintendent of trade, having +no control whatever over the hierarchy of territorial officials, who +were under the orders of the viceroy, Tsêng Kwo-fan. Beyond his personal +attendants it is not probable that Chunghou could move a corporal's guard +in Tientsin, and his position was such that the local authorities and +their myrmidons looked with the keenest jealousy on any departure of the +superintendent of trade from the strict line of his own functions. He +dared not, in fact, move a finger against officers who owed allegiance +to the viceroy, and in apprising the Peking Government of the rumours +which were current, Chunghou probably considered that he had gone as +far as public duty warranted. These somewhat anomalous relations between +two high dignitaries of the empire were put an end to when Li Hung-chang +succeeded Tsêng Kwo-fan as viceroy of Chihli; for he was appointed also +the successor of Chunghou as superintendent of trade, and resided for the +most part of his time in the commercial port, Tientsin. The two offices +continue to be combined in one person. + +Most of the typical features of a missionary outrage were in this case +exemplified--ferocious placards and brochures, circulation of calumnies +against the missionaries, guilt of the local authorities, their immunity +from punishment, and the official publication of travestied versions of +the occurrence. There was also, we may add, a lurking disposition on the +part of foreign Governments to give credit to the Chinese charges against +the missionaries. Finding themselves unable by pressure on the Chinese +to obtain satisfaction for past or security against future outrages, they +were seldom indisposed to cover their impotence by throwing the blame on +their own people. + +There was, consequently, readiness in certain foreign official quarters +to dwell on undefined "indiscretions." It was too easily assumed in the +beginning that the practice of the Sisters of Charity of purchasing +destitute children reasonably excited the suspicions of the people. +As a matter of fact, however, as was admitted afterwards, this alleged +practice of the Sisters was entirely imaginary. It was also assumed that +the massacre was a spontaneous act of the populace, who believed the +stories of kidnapping. But in view of the fact that these agitations arose +simultaneously in distant parts of the empire, this theory of sporadic +action could not be sustained: besides, as Tsêng Kwo-fan himself shrewdly +enough pointed out, no child had been missed from any family at Tientsin, +and the idea of a disciplined fire brigade and a great city mob being +suddenly roused to fury by the abstract idea that somewhere children had +been kidnapped by somebody is too altruistic for ordinary belief. The mob +needed an instigator, and the instigator was well known. + +In the diplomatic correspondence which ensued, admitted on all hands to +be most unsatisfactory, the British _chargé d'affaires_ had occasion to +complain to Prince Kung that in the communications that passed foreign +Ministers and their Governments were spoken of as vassals, which, coming +two years after Mr Wade's warm support of the Burlingame mission, was +instructive as regards the progress in liberal ideas which had been +claimed for the Chinese. + +Another consequence of this affair may be noted. The instructions to +British naval officers in China, which had been dictated by Mr Burlingame +in 1869, were virtually reversed after the Tientsin massacre. + +It was the general belief at the time that, literally by the fortune +of war, the Chinese Government narrowly escaped a signal retribution +for its continued guerilla warfare against foreigners as represented by +the missionary vanguard. Information travelled slowly then. The nearest +telegraph stations to Peking were Kiachta on the Russian frontier and +Colombo, and there was only periodical communication with either, so that +it happened that the official news of the massacre reached the British +Foreign Office on July 25th. If we recall what was transpiring in the +capitals of Europe during that month of July 1870, we may permit ourselves +the speculation that events might have taken quite another turn had the +news from China reached the Tuileries a month earlier than it did. The +Chinese Government themselves were strongly imbued with this idea. In +an interesting interview which Consul Adkins had with Li Hung-chang in +October, after he had succeeded to the viceroyalty of Chihli, in which the +incident was discussed, the viceroy could not conceal his anxiety. The +pith of a Chinese interview usually lies, like that of a lady's letter, +in the postscript, and as Mr Adkins was taking leave the governor-general +asked him, "Do you think France will make war next year?" (It is worth +noting that in his report of the interview Mr Adkins expressed himself +"reassured by the governor-general's tone and manner." "I take for +granted," he wrote, "that he will not tolerate any outrage on foreigners +within his jurisdiction;" and this forecast of Mr Adkins has, we believe, +been completely borne out by the event.) + +But although the Chinese had escaped a great peril, they were somewhat +shaken in their sense of security for the future. The attacks on +missionaries had no doubt gone further than was altogether safe, since +the indignation of the foreign Powers had been roused almost to the pitch +of war. The provincial authorities having had their own way so long, +threatened to be too strong for the Central Government, and were likely +to embroil them with foreign nations; while in their turn the "literati +and gentry," unemployed officials and the leaders of disorder in the great +provincial cities, were also becoming too demonstrative for the provincial +rulers. It was clear to the authorities that they were face to face with +a dangerous situation, and, contrary to their traditional practice, they +began to devise measures in order to meet it. The missionary, they now +saw, was with them for good, the hope of expelling him by intimidation +must be relegated to fanatics of the non-practical school, and it would be +imbecile to shut their eyes any longer to facts. No doubt they had allowed +things to go too far in the admission of foreigners into the interior, +trusting to the resourcefulness of the provinces in insidious means of +repression, but to retrace their steps was now impossible. They could no +longer hope to expel the missionary, but they would contrive some means to +mitigate the dangers of his presence. They would, in short, endeavour to +supply, in concert with the treaty Powers, that culpable omission in the +treaties by henceforth regulating the missions and defining their rights +and obligations. + +The result of these cogitations was an elaborate scheme for the control +of missions which was published in the summer of 1871, and was addressed +to the French Government, and by them communicated to the others. That the +Chinese Ministers of themselves took so unprecedented an initiative it is +not necessary to believe. The circular was attributed to that greatest of +all Chinese statesmen, Wênsiang, but the unseen hand that has done so much +to assist China out of her international difficulties may easily be traced +in this notable State Paper. In the preamble the case is stated much as +we have endeavoured to set it forth: "Trade has in no degree occasioned +differences between China and the Powers. The same cannot be said of the +missions, which engender ever-increasing abuses. Although in the first +instance it may have been declared that the primary object of the missions +was to exhort men to virtue, Catholicism, in causing vexation to the +people, has produced a contrary effect in China." The circular submitted +eight rules for the government of missionary relations with the people and +officials in the provinces. The rules referred to (1) the management of +orphanages, which it was proposed either to close altogether or to place +under severe restrictions; (2) the mixed attendance of women and men at +public worship, which, being contrary to Chinese propriety, scandalised +the people; (3) the legal status of missionaries in the interior, and the +evil consequences of the _imperia in imperio_ which had resulted through +the missionaries' separating themselves, and even their native converts, +from the jurisdiction of the local authorities; (4) the restriction of +proceedings in the case of riots to the persons actively participating +in the same; (5) the clear definition of passports, so that missionaries +should not be able to move about at will, leaving no trace; (6) the need +of strict examination into the character and antecedents of converts; +(7) the etiquette to be observed by missionaries in intercourse with +officials, the missionaries not to arrogate official style; and (8) the +reclamation of alleged sites of ancient churches to be stopped, great +injustice having been done to Chinese through their being obliged to +surrender properties which they had honestly bought and paid for. + +Many things have happened since 1871, and each transaction with foreigners +has involved greater and greater encroachment on the Chinese prerogatives. +Thus the objection taken in 1871 to the missionaries' arrogating official +style has now been so completely waived that the Chinese Government +itself bestows official rank on missionaries, and has sanctioned a rule +of etiquette for their intercourse with the high Chinese authorities. +Thus "bishops are authorised to demand to see viceroys and governors of +provinces; vicars-general and archdeacons are authorised to demand to see +provincial treasurers, judges, and taotais; other priests are authorised +to demand to see prefects of the first and second class, independent +prefects, sub-prefects, and other functionaries. The various orders +of ecclesiastics are to visit and write to the corresponding orders of +Chinese officials on terms of equality, and these officials will naturally +respond, according to their rank, with the same courtesies."[20] + +This famous circular of 1871 unfortunately perished at its birth: it was +roughly attacked in the foreign press, and met with a very cold reception +by the Foreign Offices. The English and American Governments seemed +satisfied with the reflection that the strictures on missionary practices +applied specially to Catholics, and pleased to be able on that account to +dismiss it from consideration. From that day to this the evils complained +of have gone on increasing and accumulating year by year, outrages and +massacres following each other without interruption, and the exacerbation +of feeling between foreign missionaries and the Chinese population going +on with accelerated speed. The political results to China have assumed +in these later years the very concrete form of territorial spoliation, +and the Chinese have had abundant experience of the religion which makes +nations strong and the people virtuous. That is not to say, however, +that there is not good seed already germinating under the snow, which may +hereafter bear the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Meanwhile the naked +unregulated forces are in open conflict, and he would be a bold prophet +who should forecast the issue. + + [Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + + [16] Germany in her treaty made no profession, but simply stipulated + for toleration. + + [17] M. Eugene Simon, one of the most distinguished of the French + consuls in China, in his book, 'La Cité Chinoise,' awards the + credit of this performance to M. Delamarre, "un prêtre des + Missions étrangères," who acted as Baron Gros' interpreter. + "Je tiens," says M. Simon, "le fait de plusieurs sources, et + entre autres de M. Delamarre, qui se glorifait beaucoup de sa + supercherie." + + [18] Compare "Jesuits' Estates Act" in Canada, 1890, for which Mr + Mercier was decorated by the Pope. + + [19] It will be understood that a concise view of the general + mission question is all that is here aimed at, no distinction + being drawn between branches of the propaganda. Important as + are their differences viewed from the foreign standpoint, they + are practically ignored by the Chinese, as we see from the + impartiality with which they visit resentment on all. Our concern + is with the impression produced by the propaganda as a whole, + gathered as far as possible from Chinese evidence and not from + the hypothetical arguments of foreign disputants. In other words, + it is the political bearing of the movement which alone we are + endeavouring to illustrate. + + [20] This measure was intended by the Chinese Government to + facilitate the local settlement of disputes where the facts + were known, and so obviate incessant appeals to the Central + Government. It has not fulfilled its purpose, partly because an + important section of the propaganda declined to avail itself of + the concession offered to them. Indeed the form of the concession + implies a hierarchy which only Catholic missions possess. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE EXPANSION OF INTERCOURSE. + + +I. RUSSIA AND FRANCE ADVANCING. + + Influx of treaty Powers--Diversion of Chinese foreign policy into + new channels--Aggrandisement of Russia--And France--At the expense + of China--Affecting whole policy of China for thirty years--The + rise of German influence--And Japanese. + +Up to this stage the foreign relations of China have been traced from +what is practically a single point of view--the English--without sensible +distortion of their true proportions. But the events of 1857-60, and +the treaties by which they were crowned, introduced new factors and a +wider ramification of international connections. The arms of England +and France opened the door to an influx of Powers eager to reap where +they had not sown; and though the full effect was not realised till many +years later, the shifting of foreign intercourse from an essentially +Anglo-Chinese to a Sino-cosmopolitan basis became a potential reality +on the day that Peking surrendered to the Allies. Foreseeing such a +result, the negotiators of the treaties of 1858 advisedly refrained from +pressing the Chinese Government more than was essential to the freedom +of commerce, on the ground that other Powers less restrained than the +authors of the treaties by a sense of moral responsibility might take +undue advantage of concessions extorted from the vanquished. This +prevision has been borne out by events, for the original "three treaty +Powers" soon became thirteen, and the old solicitude for the conservation +of China was gradually discovered to be confined to the small minority +who had a substantial commercial stake in the country. With the increase +in their number there naturally also appeared diversity of interest, +scarce perceptible in the beginning, but ever widening with the progress +of events until at length a stage of violent antagonism in the policy of +the Powers was reached. The division among their enemies, which Chinese +statesmen have deplored their inability to compass, has thus been brought +about without their aid; but so far from realising the Chinese dream of +ruling the barbarians, the division has only exposed the empire to the +ravages of rival spoilers. + +It is impossible to do more than glance at the several channels into +which the foreign relations of China have branched off since 1860. Yet +they intersect each other at so many points as to form a network which +can only be intelligently considered as a whole. The quasi-biographical +form of the present work may be appropriately dropped, so far as China +is concerned, with the beginning of 1870, when the more immediate subject +of it disappears from the stage of action to reappear as a perspicacious +critic surveying the scene from a distant but commanding standpoint. + +Two developments of far-reaching importance found their proximate +starting-point, though not their origin, in the crisis which laid China +prostrate in 1858 and 1860. These were the extension of the Russian empire +to the Pacific Ocean, and the creation of that Asiatic empire which had +been the dream of France for two centuries. China being by these vast +territorial aggressions placed between the upper and the nether millstone, +the anticipated advance of the two Powers has exerted an influence on her +destiny scarcely less potent than the Japanese war itself, with which it +so effectively co-operated. The soldier-statesmen of Russia foreseeing, +what the war of 1854-55 was soon to demonstrate, that the sea route +to their Pacific possessions was at the mercy of the maritime Powers, +resolved to make a dash for a line of communication by land, and in +pursuance of this adventurous conception forced their way down the Amur +in spite of the feeble remonstrance of the Chinese wardens of the marches. +What was thus taken by the strong hand in 1854 was formally ceded in 1858, +when, first, the Amur province, with the free navigation of the river, +and, next, an undefined condominium in the Usuri province, were granted +by treaty to Russia. This was but a step towards the absolute cession, two +years later, of that territory, including the whole Manchurian sea-coast, +600 miles in length. These extensive cessions, giving Russia the command +of North-Eastern Asia, were extorted from China while _in extremis_ as a +direct result of the Anglo-French victories. + +So with the French establishment in the south-eastern section of the +Continent. The expedition sent to the Far East in conjunction with that +of Great Britain was, on completion of its work in China, withdrawn to +Cochin-China, and, in an alliance of brief duration with Spain, invaded +that dependency of the empire of Annam--a vassal of China--and captured +Saigon. The Spanish partnership being thereupon dissolved, the French +empire of "Indo-China" was inaugurated with a free hand. Zeal for religion +was the motive of the invasion: "The emperor wished to put a stop to +the constantly recurring persecutions of Christians in Cochin-China, and +to secure them the efficacious protection of France." The record of the +phenomenal progress of the new French empire since the treaty of Saigon +in 1862 has been related by many eloquent pens. M. F. Garnier, the heroic +explorer; M. de Carné, his colleague; M. Lanier, M. Deschamps, M. de +Lanessan, and a host of enthusiastic French writers, have depicted in +glowing terms not only the process, but the motives and aspirations, of +the French "empire-builders."[21] + +The pressure, latent and active, of these two powerful neighbours has +given its tone to the policy of China during thirty years, and in such a +way that her relations with the commercial nations who did not menace her +integrity have been relegated to a secondary place. + +The new German influence in the Far East, which had its modest beginnings +in the treaties so reluctantly concluded by the Japanese and Chinese in +1861, has grown in importance _pari passu_ with the rapid development of +the German empire itself, ably seconded, it must always be allowed, by the +personal qualities of the Ministers who have been successively chosen to +represent the Fatherland at Peking and Tokio. The first resident Minister +to China was Baron Rehfues, who opened the Legation in Peking in 1866, +under the treaty of 1861. + +Another nation destined to play a leading _rôle_ among the Powers in the +Western Pacific was during the same period rising like the sun in the +eastern sky. Nor was it very long before the nascent Power of Japan began +to make its weight felt in the conflicts and concerts of the Far Eastern +world. + +It is obvious that under these various influences operating from without, +and the reflex action set up within the State itself, the character +of China as a political and diplomatic entity could not any longer +be what it had been in the years before the war. What had been simple +became complex; no international issue could be raised in an isolated +form; nor could China make any move, whether voluntary or involuntary, +without facing the critical observation of many interested parties. +This multiple responsibility to Powers by no means at one in their aims, +and each assuming over her a status of superiority, could have no other +effect than to reduce to nullity any efforts China might make either to +improve herself or please the Powers. It was impossible to please them +all. Decades before the Japanese war, more than one of them had offered +her armed assistance in thwarting the designs of a third,--which things +Chinese statesmen pondered in silence. + + +II. JAPAN AGGRESSIVE. + + Extraordinary progress of Japan--Nation becomes restless--Invades + Formosa--Bought off by China. + +The civil war in Japan had been fought with characteristic energy during +three years, when a revolution, the like of which was never before seen, +established the new empire on the double foundations of hereditary +monarchy and popular suffrage. The effect of the revolution was to +concentrate the whole strength of the State under the government of the +Mikado, and thus enable it to give free play to the widest ambitions. With +incredible rapidity the nation made itself efficient for every enterprise +of peace or war. The best that the Western world had to teach was eagerly +appropriated by a people just aroused from a long sleep, and anxious to +make up lost time. They went so fast, indeed, that onlookers shook their +heads, and their best friends would have applied the brake had it been +possible. But the nation was self-reliant, and in its first adolescence +it began to be aggressive. + +Within six years of the revolution of 1868 an expedition was sent to +invade the Chinese island of Formosa. Through the good offices of Sir +Thomas Wade, British Minister in Peking, war between the two empires was +averted, and the Japanese forces withdrawn. They were virtually bought +off, a proceeding characterised by Sir H. Parkes as pusillanimous on +the part of the empire of China. The transaction really sealed the fate +of China, in advertising to the world that here was a rich empire which +was ready to pay, but not ready to fight. The euphemisms under which +the ransom was disguised deceived no one unless it were the Chinese +themselves. The vast cessions to Russia, incredible as they appeared, had +at least the palliation of a dire emergency, and verbal equivalents in +the shape of promises of deliverance therefrom. The submission to Japan, +on the other hand, was made in a time of comparative ease. + +The incident had yet a further significance. The pretext of the Japanese +invasion was injuries done to shipwrecked Liuchiuans, a people whom China +till then and for some years later considered her own vassals, and who +had for centuries paid her regular tribute. Such an episode was therefore +a sure mark of imperial decadence;--a definite step, moreover, in the +downward process, to be followed not long after by the Japanese boldly +asserting a claim to the Liuchiu Islands, against which China could only +interpose an inarticulate protest. The meaning of these indications was +not likely to be lost either on the Japanese, who were more immediately +concerned, or on other less interested onlookers. And what has the +subsequent history of China been but a development of the symptoms? + + +III. KOREA OPENED. + + Japan concludes commercial treaty with Korea--Establishes working + relations--Exciting jealousy in China--The suzerain--China replies + by opening Korea to the whole world. + +The expanding life of Japan was soon to overflow in another direction. +The kingdom of Korea lay within twelve hours' steaming from the Japanese +coast: it had a historic and a mythical interest for Japan; it had been +the source of her culture as well as the scene of her conquests and +ultimate defeat. With the exception of piratical raids on the coast towns +of China, Korea was the only foreign field into which Japanese arms had +been carried, and the prowess of their peninsular heroes was cherished +as a sacred treasure by a people singularly tenacious of their heroic +legends. After an interval of three centuries the new Japan directed its +ambition to the scene of its medieval exploits; and the "hermit kingdom" +was at last dragged from its seclusion and forced to play an unwilling +part in the international game. The modern spirit had tempered the +military passion, commerce and industry supplied the ballast to adventure, +and instead of landing an army of 200,000 men, as they had done in 1592, +the Japanese, in 1876, re-established themselves in the peninsula through +the peaceable agency of a treaty of amity and commerce--a weapon newly +borrowed from the armoury of Europe. This movement of the Japanese was by +no means intended to "open" Korea--except to themselves. On the contrary, +it appears that that very astute people ingratiated themselves with +the king's Government by aiding, or professing to aid, them to keep the +country closed to all other nations. + +But, like every other attempt to isolate an international question, the +exclusive effort of the Japanese not only failed, but resulted in opening +Korea instead of closing it. They could not lock themselves in: the key +was on the outside of the door. Although they disguised their feelings, +the Chinese authorities had been gravely disturbed by the attacks of the +French and the Americans on Korea in 1867 and 1871. The audacious advance +of the Japanese aroused them to the extent of considering the merits of a +counter-move; for Korea was the secular battle-ground between China and +Japan, the historic stepping-stone between the two countries. And Korea +was a vassal to China, if ever one State did occupy such a relation to +another. By old tradition, by effective conquest, by solemn engagement, +by regular tributary missions, by the prerogative of investiture, by +the obeisance of the sovereign before the Chinese envoys sent on great +occasions, by every kind of acknowledgment which the servant could render +to the master, was the suzerainty of China established. + +China's relations to her tributaries was perhaps the best feature in +her imperial character. There was protection, nominal or real, but never +a shadow of domination. The ceremonial once settled, the most complete +independence was accorded to the vassal State, the imperial object being +never oppression or exploitation, but the girdling of the empire with a +cordon of contented States looking with filial eyes towards the Dragon +throne. Of these filial States Korea was the most important, on account +of its geographical position as commanding one of the main approaches +to the Middle Kingdom, or, as the king himself once expressed it in a +memorial to the emperor, as "the lips protecting the teeth." For China the +Korean peninsula has been a strategical stronghold, but its importance was +increased a hundredfold when the statesmen of Peking came to realise what +they had done in giving away the whole Manchurian sea-coast, leaving them +no outlet to the Sea of Japan excepting through Korea, which, moreover, +was studded all round with excellent harbours, useful to friends and +tempting to enemies. + +The wise policy which the emperors had observed towards their tributaries +had borne valuable fruit in Korea. For two hundred years the Peking +Government had dealt so benignly with king and people as to have inspired +feelings of genuine affection combined with deep reverence for the "big +country." Whether collectively or individually, officially or privately, +the Chinese were warmly welcomed everywhere without ever abusing the +courtesy of their hosts--in marked contrast, it must be observed, to +the Japanese, whose record in Korea has been one of unbroken brutality, +producing a general feeling of aversion. + +If anything, therefore, could excite the jealousy of Chinese statesmen, it +would be to see this filial dependency being tampered with by strangers, +more especially by their hereditary foes, the Japanese. Better all the +world in Korea with Japan excluded, than Japan in with the rest of the +world kept out. Slow of apprehension, and still slower of action, her +unpractical conservatism in high places reducible only by sap and mine, +China brooded over the Korean problem for some years before any result +of the incubation appeared. The conclusion eventually arrived at was to +neutralise the Japanese action by opening Korea to the whole world under +treaty. The realisation of this scheme was as usual placed in the hands of +Li Hung-chang, who on the one hand recommended the Korean king to conclude +commercial treaties with foreign Powers, and on the other encouraged the +latter to open negotiations. Hence the general opening of the country in +1882, with its train of tragic consequences. + +The terms of the foreign treaties with Korea had not been thoroughly +thought out, and the very ambiguity was perpetuated which it was the +interest of China to clear away. The treaties purported to be made with an +independent State, whereas Korea was a vassal, and the inconsistency was +attempted to be remedied by a separate letter from the king to the Powers +with whom he had concluded treaties, declaring, notwithstanding, that the +Chinese emperor was his suzerain. + + +IV. THE FIRST IMPERIAL AUDIENCE--SUCCESSION OF KWANGHSU. + + End of the minority of Emperor Tungchih--Audience of the foreign + Ministers in 1873--Under derogatory conditions--Death of the + young emperor--Empress regent's _coup d'état_ in selecting + successor--Her own nephew--Eighteen years' minority of Emperor + Kwanghsu. + +An event looked forward to for twelve long years with patient expectation, +and with hope, lively at the beginning but fading away towards the end +of the period, that it would prove the sovereign remedy for the defects +of Chinese intercourse with the world, was the assumption of power by +the young emperor, who attained his majority in 1873. The diplomatic +body busied themselves greatly in preparations for their first audiences +with the sovereign to whom they were accredited. The Chinese on their +part were no less anxiously engaged in devising means of lightening +the blow to their prestige in consenting to receive foreigners at all, +while dispensing with the prescribed prostrations. Obliged to yield the +main point, the Court officials minimised its significance by imposing +sundry derogatory conditions as to the building in which the audience +was to be granted, and by the terms in which it was referred to in the +imperial decree, which represented the foreign Ministers as "imploring an +audience," and by other like devices. + +The first to be admitted to the presence was the representative of Japan, +who held the rank of ambassador. Next came the resident Ministers of +Russia, the United States, Great Britain, France, and Holland, in a body; +and lastly, the French Minister separately, in order to convey the reply +of his Government to the mission of Chunghou respecting the Tientsin +massacre of 1870. The several letters of credence were placed on a table. +The emperor "seemed to be speaking" to Prince Kung, though no sound was +heard. The prince in his turn addressed a few words to the five Ministers, +in Chinese, purporting to be what the emperor had spoken in Manchu, and +the audience was at an end, the whole ceremony lasting about five minutes. + +By long anticipation a superstitious halo had formed round the abstract +question of audience: it grew into a kind of fetish. Mr Lay shrewdly +observed that the object of the "resident Minister" clause in the +treaties had been misunderstood by foreigners in being regarded by them +as an end instead of only a means. Mr Wade, who was British Minister at +the time, made no such mistake; for though he consistently laid stress +on ceremonial, it was, as he has frequently explained, because with +the Chinese form was more than substance, and included it. A proper +regulation of official etiquette was in his estimation the principal key +to the remedy of material wrongs. From this point of view a five minutes' +audience of the Son of Heaven, even in dumb show and once a-year, was a +step of real importance. "The empire," wrote Mr Wade, "has for the first +time in its history broken with the tradition of isolated supremacy--not, +it may be, with a good grace, but still past recall; and while I would +anxiously deprecate a too sanguine estimate of its results, I am as little +disposed to undervalue the change that has been effected." + +But whatever hopes of a practical kind were raised by this ceremonial +innovation were doomed to speedy extinction, for the emperor did not +survive to grant a second reception. He died within the year, and was +succeeded by another infant, involving a second minority much longer than +the preceding one. Eighteen years, in fact, elapsed between the first +imperial audience and the second. + +The Emperor Tungchih, though but eighteen years of age, left a legend +behind him. The gossip of the capital assigned to him considerable +independence of character, and a certain audacity in breaking bounds +without the discreet chaperonage enjoyed by the Prince Siddhârtha in his +explorations beyond the palace precincts of King Suddhôdana. He was, +if common report belied him not, a true son of his mother in certain +respects, though of her masterful statecraft, and the qualities which +become a great monarch, he was too young to have given proofs. Leaving +no heir, the deficiency was promptly supplied by the resourcefulness of +the empress-mother. As the widow of the Emperor Hsienfêng and co-regent, +she adopted a posthumous heir to that monarch to replace his own son. +Her choice fell on the infant son of Prince Ch'un, the youngest brother +of Hsienfêng. The mother of the adopted child was the empress-regent's +own sister, and by thus enthroning her nephew the regent assured herself +another long lease of power. The proceeding was irregular, there being two +older brothers of Prince Ch'un alive and having sons. The nearest heir +was the infant grandson of Prince Tun, the fifth son of Tao-kuang, but +though Prince Tun himself had thirty years before been given in adoption +to an uncle, the claim of his descendants to the imperial inheritance +being thereby weakened, he seems never to have renounced his rights. At +the time of the decease of Tungchih there was so much apprehension of +disturbances in Peking, both on account of the succession and the form of +the regency, that the 'Times' (February 4, 1875) wrote, "A battle on this +question would seem almost inevitable, and notwithstanding the proverbial +slowness of the East in most things, in crises like the present aspirants +to Eastern thrones are wont to display both energy and readiness when the +moment arrives for a _coup d'état_." + +The next in seniority of the sons of Tao-kuang was Prince Kung, whose +title was uncompromised by alienation, and he had a son eligible. Whatever +may have been the reasons for setting aside the claims of the two elder +brothers to occupy the Dragon throne, they were considered to have been +wrongfully set aside, and of this more will doubtless be heard in the +fulness of time. Since, for reasons well understood, no natural heir +to the present monarch can succeed him, there must be fresh recourse +to adoption when or before the necessity arises, and what influences, +native or alien, may then be concentrated on the imperial succession is +a speculation on which it would be profitless to enter. + +The empress-regent's _coup d'état_ of January 1875, when on a bitterly +cold night her infant nephew was taken out of his warm bed, conveyed +into the palace, and proclaimed emperor the following morning, answered +the scheming lady's expectations, for she has ruled the Chinese empire +from that day to this. By the same stroke she was enabled to disembarrass +herself of her original confederate, Prince Kung, to whose ambition she +dealt a crushing blow in ousting his family from the succession. The two +had come to hate each other with more than common virulence; and now that +Prince Ch'un had been set on an unassailable pedestal as father of the +reigning sovereign, the regent placed her trust and confidence in him, and +shared with him the sweets of empire. Inasmuch, however, as the regent +was a woman, and her imperial brother-in-law neither a man of affairs +nor in a position to assume any outward share in the Government, it was +necessary to bring in a practical statesman to stand between them and the +outer world. This position of confidence was occupied for twenty years by +the grand secretary, Li Hung-chang. + +FOOTNOTE: + + [21] For an unvarnished narrative of both the French and the Russian + advances the reader cannot do better than consult Mr Gundry's + 'China and her Neighbours,' Chapman & Hall, 1893. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE MURDER OF MR MARGARY, 1875--CHEFOO CONVENTION, 1876--RATIFICATION, +1885. + + +I. THE MURDER OF MR MARGARY, 1875. + + Efforts to reach China from Burma--Expedition under Colonel + Browne--Mr Margary appointed interpreter--Meets party at + Bhamo--Precedes them into China, and is assassinated at + Manwyne--Discussion thereon with the Chinese Government--Tsên + Yü-ying, Governor of Yunnan--British Minister charges him with the + murder--Demands his arraignment--Sends commission from Peking to + Yunnan to take evidence--Unsuccessful. + +Ever since the conquest of British Burma, and more especially since the +treaty concluded with the King of Burma in 1862, political and commercial +speculation had been busied with the mountainous country which divides +it from the empire of China. The fact that next to nothing was known +of that wild region, combined with the prospect of reopening the old +caravan route which had been some time closed by disturbances among the +frontier tribes and by Chinese insurgents, constituted a great stimulus to +exploration. To this end projects were from time to time considered by the +Indian Government--sometimes at the instance of enthusiastic officials, +sometimes urged by the superior authority of the British Government under +pressure from mercantile bodies in England. South-western China, however, +was as jealously guarded from intrusion as the sea-coast had been, and no +progress was made in penetrating its mystery. + +After the failure of an exploring expedition under Colonel Edward B. +Sladen in 1868, the Indian Government, in furtherance of the wishes of the +Government at home, sanctioned yet another attempt six years later, though +with decided misgivings as to any successful issue. Arrangements were +made during 1874, and the expedition, under Colonel Horace Browne, was +despatched from Burma _viâ_ Bhamo in the beginning of 1875. The British +Minister in China had been asked for his co-operation, and in particular +he was requested to furnish Colonel Browne with a competent interpreter. +It was arranged that this official, armed with a Chinese passport issued +by the Government at Peking, should make his own way through China from +the coast and join Colonel Browne at Bhamo. + +The choice of her Majesty's Minister fell upon one of the most promising +officers in the consular service, Mr Augustus Raymond Margary, who +proceeded from Shanghai by way of the Yangtze to the province of Yunnan, +and in five months accomplished his perilous pioneering journey with +perfect success, arriving on the 17th of January at the rendezvous, where +he was received with the warmest feelings by Colonel Browne and his party, +and with surprise and admiration by the Burmese. + +On being joined by Mr Margary, the mission prepared to start from Bhamo +towards China. Everything seemed auspicious for the expedition. On +arriving at the Burmese frontier, however, the party were met by sinister +rumours of armed opposition to their passage through the Kakhyen hills. +Margary, having just come safely through these districts, volunteered +to proceed alone to ascertain the truth of the reports which they had +heard. How he was treacherously assassinated at Manwyne, the first city +within the Chinese border, and how Colonel Browne's mission was assailed +and driven back by armed bands, has been told by Dr John Anderson in 'A +Narrative of the two Expeditions to Western China' of 1868 and 1875, and +by Sir Rutherford Alcock, the sympathetic editor of Mr Margary's 'Letters +and Journals,' as well as in numerous Government publications. + +It became then a question of the gravest import to fix the guilt of +this treachery, and to consider what means could be adopted for avenging +the death of a young Englishman within Chinese territory, and bearing a +passport from the Government of Peking. "Whether it be Burmese, Kakhyens, +Shan tribes, or Chinese that are in question, it is impossible we can +accept a defeat of this nature, brought on, too, by our own spontaneous +acts," was the conclusion of Sir Rutherford Alcock. Governments which +resorted to the assassination of individuals under their own safe conduct +must be deterred, by persuasion or by force, from the use of such tactics. +The demand for redress which was made direct to the Tsungli-Yamên was +followed by a wrangling and evasive discussion as to the conditions on +which the passport had been granted. These, it must be admitted, had +not been so definitely stated as they might have been. Passports, as Mr +Wade, then Minister in Peking, explained, were granted in two forms--for +"business," meaning trade, or for "pleasure," rendered in Chinese "tour +or travel." It was in the latter form that the passport for Colonel +Browne was applied for, and the Chinese made a plausible defence of their +position on this narrow ground, asserting that the subsequent declaration +that the mission was intended to open a trade route through Chinese +provinces, where they alleged no trading rights for foreigners existed, +could not be covered by a passport granted for pleasure. + +The voluminous discussion on international rights which followed, although +academical in form and irrelevant to the question at issue, betrayed the +animus of the Chinese Government in regard to commercial concessions in +the interior; but it is possible that the true motive for the repulse +of Colonel Browne's expedition, of which Mr Margary's murder was but an +incident, lay deeper. Europeans are accustomed to make light of oriental +suspicions, and the idea that Colonel Browne's party was the vanguard of +a hostile force to be treacherously introduced into Chinese territory +under passport may seem too fantastic to have been entertained in good +faith. Yet if we consider on what trivial grounds even the civilised +Powers of Europe will at times suspect each other of the most grandiose +designs, and how often the suspicion is justified, we need not dismiss +as incredible the fact that, in a frontier province which had recently +been the scene of a formidable rebellion, an armed escort accompanying a +foreign tourist party should have caused sincere misgivings in the minds +of the authorities. Nor do the facts of the case exclude the possibility +of such suspicions being suggested from without, even if they did not +arise spontaneously within. Apart from these special considerations, the +chances of success would probably have been greater if the mission had +started from the Chinese side, where the right of travel and exploration +had already been established. + +The verbal polemic over the conditions of the passport did not, however, +touch the matter in hand, which was the murder of a British official for +whom the Chinese Government, both imperial and provincial, were expressly +responsible. It is not necessary at this day to pronounce judgment on +the identity of the actual criminal. The murder was the result of a +conspiracy in which Chinese and Burmese were both implicated. They were +alike interested in preventing the passage of the mission, and the strong +opposition of the Burma Government was not unknown to Mr Margary, for he +had noted it in his Journal. + +The King of Burma, the father of the well-known Theebaw, was a learned +pandit and a devout Buddhist, as severe in regard to heretics as the +crowned heads of Europe were in the days of the Inquisition. The Court of +Ava, in its claims to obeisance from foreigners, was almost as exacting as +the Son of Heaven himself, and the priests lorded it over the community +with the arrogance of a pampered caste. Thus foreign intercourse was +heavily hampered, and a good understanding rendered almost impossible. +Fears for their prerogatives must have inspired the royal and priestly +coterie with aversion to that restless element which was always trying to +"open up" other people's country and to explore trade routes. Hence the +motive for obstructing the passage of a foreign expedition between Burma +and China was as strong on the Burmese as on the Chinese side. + +Tsên Yü-ying, the Chinese governor, held an exceptionally strong position +in his province, and the officials stood very much in awe of him. Though +not a pure Chinese, having been born in the mountains of Kwangsi, of +aboriginal parentage on one side, his personal prestige was very great. +A fighting man from his youth, he had acquired an immense reputation in +suppressing the Mohammedan rebellion in Yunnan. This he did in oriental +style, extirpating the rebels so far as he could, root and branch. To save +the trouble of burying many thousands of old people and children, he had +them drowned in the Tali Lake. The military commander who was told off for +this pleasing duty palliated the massacre, when in after years narrating +these occurrences, by saying there were not really 10,000 but only 3000 +thrown into the lake. This official had remonstrated with the governor +against the sentence, saying that such severity was not in accordance with +Tao li (principle); but Tsên replied, "You have nothing to do with Tao +li; you must conform to the Leu li" (Penal Code). + +Tsên Yü-ying was therefore something greater than an ordinary provincial +governor, and wielded something more than the authority belonging to +his office. Not only was he responsible, as all governors are, for what +was done within his government, but it is difficult to conceive of any +important incident occurring there without his personal sanction. But +which was the leader in the plot, whether the acting-governor Tsên Yü-ying +or the King of Burma, is comparatively unimportant; suffice it that her +Majesty's Minister fixed, on grounds which satisfied himself, though of +course on inferential evidence only, the instigation of the crime on the +governor-general Tsên Yü-ying; and whether the direct guilt were brought +home to him or not, there could be no question about his responsibility +under the Chinese principle of administration. "From the governor-general +downwards they are each and all individually and collectively held +responsible for all that may happen in the limits of their jurisdiction." +Accordingly, after much preliminary discussion, Mr Wade demanded that +that high official should be censured for neglect of duty, and, on later +information, that he should be brought for trial to Peking. To this +demand the Peking Government refused to listen, and after feigning for +many months to have no knowledge of what had taken place, they produced a +report from the governor-general himself inculpating certain subordinates, +of whom he seemed willing to make a nominal sacrifice. This report was so +openly mendacious that Sir Thomas Wade threatened to haul down his flag +if it were published. + +Unluckily for the successful prosecution of the demand for the arraignment +of the viceroy, the British Minister became entangled in a cat's-cradle of +negotiations for the revision of the treaty of Tientsin, with which the +Yunnan outrage got so mixed up that the different questions never could +be, or at any rate never were, separated again. Throwing the net is the +tactical device in which the Chinese excel. The demand for reparation +for the murder was alternately put forward, modified, and withdrawn +according as the general propositions were shuffled about, and thus the +effect of a concentrated attack on the essential point was lost. The +minister on his own showing found himself in a succession of dilemmas, +while the Chinese defensive position was clear throughout: it was to +refuse everything, evade when direct refusal was dangerous, and in short +to baffle all attempts of the British Minister to get to close quarters +with the question. Sir Thomas Wade was several times brought by these +elusive tactics to the point of threatening withdrawal of the Legation, +which in itself the Chinese would have welcomed as a householder might +the "positively last visit" of a tax-collector, but for the ulterior +consequences to be apprehended. + +After many months of fruitless labour Sir Thomas Wade resolved to send +a commission of his own to Yunnan to collect evidence as to Margary's +murder. His right to do so was at first contested by the Chinese; but +after considering the matter, and getting the best advice at their +command, they assented, and named High Commissioners to meet the British +officials. The Hon. T. G. Grosvenor, secretary of Legation, was detached +for this duty, assisted by two of the most competent men in the consular +service--Mr Colborn Baber and Mr Arthur Davenport. On the Chinese side +were appointed the viceroy of the Hu Kwang, Li Han-chang, elder brother +of Li Hung-chang, another official to whom Sir Thomas Wade objected +strongly, but in vain, and Tsên Yü-ying himself, the inculpated party. +The promises made to the British Minister before he would allow the +mission to set out were broken as soon as it was fairly on its way, and +Sir Thomas Wade had serious thoughts of recalling it, foreseeing that +it was destined merely to waste time. What possible hope, indeed, could +there be of isolated foreigners collecting evidence in a distant city +against the high provincial officials? No evidence was taken. The British +Commissioner was simply presented with the original report, to which was +added the so-called "confession" of thirteen savages "kidnapped to do +duty as prisoners at the bar." These savages could not speak Chinese, nor +was their language understood by any one in the viceregal court; it was +evident that they had never been near the scene of the crime, nor did they +look in the least like men who were pleading guilty to a capital charge. + +The motive of the Chinese in yielding to the appointment of the British +commission, after refusing their assent to it, only occurred to Sir Thomas +Wade when they recommended that Mr Grosvenor should remain in Yunnan +until the case was closed. No coercive measures, they calculated, would +be taken against them while these hostages remained in their hands. From +first to last the only question that occupied the mind of the Chinese +Government was whether force would be applied or not. And if they read--as +of course they did--the English newspapers of the day they would see that +the contingency of war was dwelt upon throughout the year 1875 as the +sole alternative to the condign punishment of the Governor-General of +Yunnan-Kweichow. This was, indeed, from time to time directly threatened +by Sir Thomas Wade, and he had applied for the Flying Squadron to come on +from India to support his demands. When at last, after eighteen months' +struggle, he abandoned the negotiations, and "abruptly left Peking" for +Shanghai in order to be in direct telegraphic communication with the +Home Government, he wrote, "I had, in the last fortnight, again and again +threatened either to remove the Legation or to recommend to her Majesty's +Government the extremest measure of coercion unless I had secured a very +moderate form of reparation." + +When Prince Kung realised the fact that the British Minister had actually +left the capital he became suddenly serious, and sent after him to +say there had been a misunderstanding, which would have been cleared +away if he had only waited. At the same time the prince had recourse +to his foreign adviser, the Inspector-General of Customs, who stood +to the Government somewhat in the relation of a "medicine-man." The +inspector-general had taken an active part, both direct and indirect, in +the comedy of the preceding eighteen months--whether as an ally or an +opponent of the British Minister seems not to have been quite clear to +the comprehension of the latter. + +An imperial decree was immediately despatched to the Grand Secretary, +Li Hung-chang, instructing him to detain the British Minister on his +way through Tientsin, in order to confer with him on the Margary case. +This proposal Sir Thomas Wade declined on several grounds: among others, +that at a previous stage of the negotiations the promises made by Li +Hung-chang had been repudiated by the Peking Government. This effort to +stop him at Tientsin having failed, Mr Hart was despatched in hot haste +after Sir Thomas Wade to Shanghai, ostensibly to discuss the "commercial +question," but really to induce the British Minister to re-enter the +arena of negotiation,[22] in which the Chinese felt themselves safe. Sir +Thomas, therefore, consented to meet a special commissioner, but without +committing himself as to the scope of the intended conference. The High +Commissioner was Li Hung-chang, and the place of meeting Chefoo, the +locality being selected by Sir Thomas Wade himself. There was concluded +the famous Chefoo Convention. + + +II. CHEFOO CONVENTION, 1876. + + Negotiations with Li Hung-chang at Chefoo--Mr Hart + assisting--Sir Thomas Wade hurried into making an unsatisfactory + settlement--Chefoo convention analysed--Net result an increase + in the customs dues--Criticised by the merchants. + +It was in the month of September, the summer not yet over, during which +season the sea air and fine beach of Chefoo made it at that time the +best health resort for the China coast. Visitors from Peking occasionally +varied their summer residence at the Western Hills by spending a few weeks +at Chefoo, and in 1876 there were several members of the diplomatic body +taking their holiday at the watering-place, the meeting of the British +and Chinese plenipotentiaries constituting for them an added attraction. + +Sir Thomas Wade had originally no intention of concluding a formal +convention, nor had he authority for closing the Yunnan question without +further reference to his Government; but circumstances proved too +strong for him to keep to his resolution. He, in fact, found himself in +such a position of difficulty as is perhaps best described by the word +"cornered"--the advantage of the game having passed entirely to the +other side. The Chinese commissioner was powerfully reinforced by the +inspector-general, supported by the local commissioner of customs for +Chefoo; and the neutrality of those of the diplomatic body who were on +the spot was believed to be benevolent to the Chinese. The "co-operative +policy" of Mr Burlingame's day had for the time being at least lapsed, +and particularist views among the Powers or their representatives began +to prevail. The British Minister, deeming the matter in dispute with +the Chinese a purely British concern, did not hold it incumbent on him +to hamper his negotiations by daily consultations with his colleagues, +who on their part resented his reticence, claiming it as a right that, +considering how their national interests might be affected by the result, +they should be kept informed of the progress of the negotiations. +Sir Thomas Wade admits that, among other considerations, it was the +impatience of these colleagues of his to see the discussion definitely +terminated which induced him to close the case without waiting for further +instructions from his Government. + +It must be borne in mind that the problem before the Chinese High +Commissioner had never varied: it was the extremely simple one, how to +screen the ex-governor Tsên Yü-ying, whether guilty or innocent, without +encountering a British armed force. The fate of the negotiations depended +entirely on the probable movement of the Flying Squadron, which was lying +at Talien-wan, a hundred miles off. No greater service could have been +rendered to the Chinese Government than to assure the High Commissioner +that he had nothing to fear from the British ships. The foreign Ministers +who were present had their Intelligence Departments in full activity, and +they had a shrewd notion of the limitations of the Flying Squadron, which +they were free to communicate to the Chinese plenipotentiary. They were +aware that the time--September 1876--was not opportune for the British +Government to embark on distant enterprises of indefinite possibilities. +From one source or another the assurance was given to the Chinese +negotiator, and once convinced, on whatever evidence, that the British +guns would fire nothing but salutes, Li Hung-chang felt himself master of +the situation. It then became his turn to force a settlement, and he at +once assumed a peremptory tone with the British Minister, notifying him +that he would leave Chefoo on a certain day, convention or no convention. +Sir Thomas Wade had, or thought he had, no choice but to capitulate to +superior force. Pressed by his diplomatic colleagues, as has been said, as +well as by the expressed desire of his own Government to get the tedious +matter settled, he had to accept the best agreement he could get, and the +Chefoo convention was the result. + +The fear of coercion being eliminated, the negotiation became reduced +to a custom-house affair like the treaty revision of 1869, the Chinese +seizing the occasion to renew their former efforts to obtain an increase +of revenue from foreign trade. Instead of adding to the import duty on +foreign merchandise as in 1869, they now proposed to extend the area +of internal taxation, and in particular they prepared the way for an +indefinite increase in the opium revenue. This was the substantial part +of the convention. New ports were opened in harmony with the scheme. + +A clause referring to residence at Chungking in Szechuan provided that +British merchants would not be allowed to reside there so long as no +steamers had access to the port. When, under this contingent clause, it +was attempted to make the conditional permission effective by sending +steamers to the port, the Chinese Government offered opposition, and the +right was abandoned by Great Britain. + +As for the Yunnan affair, the settlement of it gravitated to the form +which had been universally condemned. "Do not let the nation lay itself +open to the contempt of an Asiatic people by accepting money for life +treacherously taken by official order," wrote Sir R. Alcock in July +1875. But "the series of bad precedents" was once more followed, and +"blood-money was accepted for the life of a British subject." + +It was thought important to publish far and wide the terms of settlement, +and a proclamation with Sir T. Wade's _imprimatur_ was posted throughout +the country. It was remarked, however, that this proclamation embodied the +very falsities against the publication of which the British Minister had +previously protested under threat of breaking off diplomatic relations. +The guilt of notoriously innocent parties was assumed in it, but their +pardon granted on the fictitious ground that the evidence against them +would not suffice to convict by the processes of British law. + +A separate article provided for a mission of exploration by way of +Szechuan and Tibet in the following year. + +A subject on which Sir Thomas Wade had long set his heart was an +improvement in the terms of intercourse between foreign and Chinese +officials, with a view of putting an end to the habitual assumption +of superiority of the Chinese. This was treated in a few empty words +providing that the Tsungli-Yamên should invite foreign representatives to +consider with them a code of etiquette, a clause imposing no obligation +whatever on either party. + +Another question which had greatly occupied the minds of both the +British Government and its successive representatives ever since 1833 +was the establishment of a code of laws to regulate the civil and +criminal relations between foreigners and Chinese at the treaty ports +and elsewhere. This had formed a feature in the supplementary convention +of 1869, the undertaking in which did not, however, extend beyond the +general terms that "it is further agreed that England and China shall in +consultation draw up a commercial code." + +Strongly approving, however, of the abstract idea that China should adopt +a written code of commercial law as a first step towards a general legal +reform, Sir T. Wade nevertheless uttered a useful caution to those ardent +reformers who see in a good code of laws a panacea for either national +or international grievances. "No nation," he says, "worked harder at its +legislation than China; but in the way of justice there are at least +two serious impediments--an ignorance which renders due appreciation +of the value of evidence, especially in criminal cases, impossible; and +a dishonesty that would be fatal to the administration of any laws, no +matter how enlightened." He illustrates this by relating an instance of +the obstinate nature of the _chose jugée_ in China. + + In a case [he says] the termination of which is just announced + at Peking, we have a woman wrongly convicted, on a confession + extorted from her by torture, of the murder of a husband who + died a natural death, the injustice being so patent that the + fellow-provincials of the accused appealed to Peking. Orders + being issued for a rehearing of the case, the former decision + was affirmed in the province, and this a second and again a third + time. The proceedings were then removed to Peking; and it is in + the end established that magistrates of districts, prefects of + departments, the governor of the province, and the high officer + charged with the public instruction of the province, who had been + specially commissioned to rehear the case, have all more or less + combined to conceal the delinquency of the first authority who + heard it; with whose guilt the rest, his seniors, had associated + themselves either through carelessness or from a corrupt motive. + These proceedings lasted over two years. + +One point, however, was definitively gained in connection with +jurisprudence, the recognition of the British Supreme Court as a means of +discharging treaty obligations. + +The convention as a whole was subjected to the same kind of criticism +as that of 1869 had been. The Chambers of Commerce pointed out that it +sanctioned Chinese exactions which had been up to that time consistently +resisted as violations of the treaty of Tientsin. Imposts, condemned by +the Chinese themselves,[23] which were to be abolished altogether by +the terms of the Alcock convention, were by the Chefoo agreement not +only recognised as lawful, but the area of their levy, within which +the taxes were to be freed from all restrictions whether as to their +amount or incidence, greatly extended. It would appear, therefore, said +the merchants, "better to revert to the clear and simple provisions of +the treaty of Tientsin, and insist on their being carried out without +evasion." So far, they say, from simplifying the question of the taxation +of foreign goods, the obliquely worded clauses in the Chefoo convention +tend to quite the opposite result. "New elements of obscurity have +been introduced, and if twenty years have been spent wrangling over the +comparatively simple wording of the Tientsin treaty, it is to be feared +that no person now living will see the end of the controversies which will +rage over the indefinite arrangement set forth in the Chefoo convention." + +Opium was also for the first time introduced into a treaty, for the +purpose of increasing the Chinese revenue from it and of making the +maritime customs, supported by the British Government, the agent for its +collection. The Chinese had always been at liberty to levy what internal +taxation they pleased on opium; but, said the Chamber of Commerce, for +the "English Government to make itself even indirectly answerable for the +collection from Chinese of an impost of indefinite amount, varying at each +port according to the caprice or the necessities of local authorities who +are not even specified, would surely be to introduce a most inconvenient +precedent." The convention was left for nine years unratified by the +British Government. It could not be ratified because, among other reasons, +five of the treaty Powers took the same objection as the British and other +merchants had taken to the curtailment of the area of exemption from +inland taxation--in other words, to the legal sanction extended by the +agreement to unlimited exactions of the Chinese tax-collectors which had +up till then been resisted as illegal. + +During the eight years following the signature of the Chefoo convention +incessant discussion and agitation on the subject of the duties on opium +and general merchandise kept the British Legation in Peking, and in a +lesser degree the Foreign Office at home, in full activity. The question +was turned over in all its aspects, threshed out on this side and on +that, and numerous schemes were proposed for readjusting the imposts. The +British Minister displayed the utmost ingenuity in evolving variations +on the central theme, in which ethical, political, and sentimental +considerations played their part, but without advancing the solution of +the problem. The problem was altogether too simple for such recondite +treatment. The Chinese throughout all the tortuous disquisitions pressed +towards the one object of a substantial increase in their revenue, by +whatever means it might be arrived at; and eventually they attained their +object, as those generally do who concentrate their attention on a single +point. + + +III. THE RATIFICATION, 1885. + + Ratification postponed--Tedious discussion during nine + years--Chinese claiming large increase in opium duty--Ultimately + granted--By agreement signed in 1885--Hongkong and Macao made + stations for collecting opium duties. + +The convention simmered for nine years before its final ratification. +The two Governments skirmished in the air all that time, misconceiving +each other's aims and avoiding close quarters. The policy of Great +Britain with regard to opium had been fatally deflected by unpractical +considerations. The article had been placed by the trade regulations +appended to the treaty in the exceptional position of being excluded +from the privilege accorded to all other merchandise of exemption from +inland taxation by payment of a fixed charge. The Chinese authorities +were therefore at liberty to tax the article in transit to any extent +they pleased. For reasons connected with their own administration, this +unlimited power of taxation in transit was not deemed sufficient to +produce the desired amount of revenue, and they were intent on supplying +the deficiency by an enhanced import tariff. The difference between +the two forms of taxation was that the inland duty was collected in a +Chinese sieve, while the import duty was levied with the formalities of +a banker's counter. Naturally, therefore, the Chinese Government missed +no opportunity of pressing for an increase on the tariff fixed by treaty. +It was the main object sought by them in the unratified convention of +1869. Failing then, they renewed their efforts in the Chefoo convention of +1876, seeking the same end by an inverted process, like taking a sea-fort +from the land side. Instead of reviving the discredited proposal, they +effected a turning movement by extending the area of the inland dues +until it included the port of landing. Why, having full licence over the +whole empire, a few acres added to their tax-collecting province should +have been deemed of such vital importance is not perhaps at first sight +self-evident. The reason was that under the proposed system the machinery +of the Imperial maritime customs could be employed in collection, with +the protection of the foreign consuls. + +The concession was set forth in cryptic form in the convention, but the +Chinese knew very well what interpretation they intended to give to the +clause. That intention remained unaltered, though tactics varied. By the +light of the vague and pointless correspondence carried on for seven years +with the British Government they saw their way to advancing considerably +beyond the position gained by the convention. They consequently raised +their demands in proportion as they found the British Government yielding, +until eventually they reached a vantage-ground where they could safely +unmask and make direct for their object, an increase in the import tariff +pure and simple. Eighty taels were added to the thirty allowed by the old +treaty, and the opium duty was thus really trebled at a stroke. + +The negotiations which led up to the convention are chiefly interesting +as showing how easily the Foreign Office was chased from cover to cover +by the Chinese Minister. Having once got the enemy "on the run," the +Marquis Tsêng did not relax his pursuit until, notwithstanding one or two +rear-guard actions, he capitulated without conditions. + +After seven years of active deliberation the definitive diplomatic +conference was opened by Lord Granville in January 1883. As a preliminary, +the basis of the negotiations was rigidly defined by Mr (now Lord) Currie, +in accordance with the Chefoo convention, thus: the regulation of the +_likin_ taxation, and specification of the barriers at which collections +were to be made. + +But, as we have hinted, the Chinese aspirations had in the mean time +far transcended the scope of any provision of any treaty. No longer +content with regulating _likin_, their first step in the conference +was to induce Lord Granville to abandon the preliminary stipulation +he had so carefully laid down. The Chinese Minister proposed a general +commutation rate, uniform at all the ports, supporting the claim by sundry +specious arguments. The _likin_ barriers had been a chronic grievance +of the merchants. The marquis held out a prospect of their abolition as +a consequence of the single-payment commutation of inland dues on which +he was intent. It is a feature of Chinese bargains of every description +that something definite should be conceded on the one side, and something +indefinite promised on the other,--the "bird in the hand" invariably for +the Chinese. There was nothing surprising, therefore, in the time-honoured +formula being employed in these diplomatic interchanges. + +In moving from his base, Lord Granville, of course, ceded everything; but +he made a final stand at the amount, declaring that "he could not agree +that the _likin_ payment should be fixed at more than 70 taels"; moreover, +that he "would require full information as to the guarantees which would +be given that opium would not be subject to any further payment while in +transit." One such guarantee was already provided for in the convention, +which stipulates "that the nationality of the person possessing or +carrying the merchandise would be immaterial." This was deemed of great +importance to trade, because since it was not always possible for a +foreign owner, or even a deputy of his own race, to accompany a parcel of +goods into the interior, the permission for Chinese to accompany them was +essential to the working of the transit business. The contention of the +merchant had always been, that the exemption from dues was a privilege +attaching to the goods, and not to the temporary owner or transport agent. +On the other hand, as the goods could not speak, the option of sending +either a native or a foreigner at the merchant's own choice was considered +a useful check on illicit exactions. + +The confident manner in which the marquis brushed away both of Lord +Granville's ultimata showed how well he had profited by his experience of +Foreign Office diplomacy. To Lord Granville's maximum of 70 taels (the sum +actually agreed upon with the Chinese Government) the marquis said he was +sorry, but his instructions did not permit of his accepting less than 80 +taels per pecul. It is not customary to ask for proofs of good faith from +ambassadors acting "on instructions," and Lord Granville simply yielded +the point, while entering a mild protest against being forced by a Chinese +_non possumus_. + +And the right of the foreigner to accompany his goods, on which so much +stress had been laid, was disposed of with exquisite assurance by the +Chinese Minister, who was confident that such a mere detail "would not +be allowed to stand in the way of a settlement," notwithstanding that it +involved a reversal of the Chefoo convention. + +And as to the guarantees for fulfilment, the Marquis Tsêng was sure that +"the strongest guarantee would consist in the moral obligation" on the +part of the Chinese Government to carry out arrangements of their own +proposing. Thus, by sheer persistence, the Chinese gained every point, +securing not only a threefold duty on opium, but the assistance of her +Majesty's Government in its collection, for that was the meaning of +transferring the levy from the interior to the seaport. The agreement, +concluded by Lord Granville in June, was signed by Lord Salisbury in July +1885, under the title of an "Additional Article to the Chefoo Convention." + +It is right to add, on the authority of recent observers, that the +convention has worked smoothly, no complaints being heard of inland +exactions in contravention of its terms. It thus appears that the moral +guarantee on which the Marquis Tsêng spoke so confidently was after all +of some validity. But as the only source from which complaints could come +would be those foreign agents who were by the terms of the convention +expressly excluded from conveying or accompanying opium into the country, +the negative evidence is not absolutely conclusive. + +It would have been most interesting to gain from so enlightened a +Minister as Tsêng some insight into the causes of the continual friction +and recrimination which attend the operation of the commercial articles +in the Chinese treaties, but his despatches have reference only to the +question of the moment. "The Imperial Government," he says, "have often +been held responsible for the friction caused in working arrangements but +ill-adapted to the state of the country, and which a better knowledge of +its internal conditions would have shown to those who framed them are +incapable of execution." "The present scheme," he intimates, "being in +harmony with existing institutions," may be expected to work smoothly. +Existing institutions, therefore, are opposed to local taxation and in +favour of single commutations. When, however, a different thesis has +to be sustained, we are assured by other authorities that "existing +institutions" claim arbitrary, variable, and unlimited taxation of goods +in transit for the benefit of the provincial exchequers, and that it is +the attempt to commute these by a payment at the port which is the true +cause of the friction and disputation. + +The natural corollary followed the ratification of the Chefoo convention. +The desire of the Chinese Government, cherished for nearly thirty years, +to establish a customs station in Hongkong was virtually consummated +in the following year. The trade of the colony had been vexed by a +perpetual blockade by so-called revenue cruisers which harried every +native vessel entering or leaving the harbour. The hope of getting the +investment relaxed may have induced the acquiescence of the colony in +any alternative. The Chinese sought to grip the opium supply by the neck, +which could only be done by their obtaining control over the harbour of +Hongkong. This was conceded, and a customs station was established on the +Chinese side of the anchorage, while an office was opened in the city of +Victoria. + +There was a second "neck" to the opium supply--Macao. The arrangement +made with Hongkong without a corresponding agreement with Macao would +have merely driven the trade from the one to the other. Overtures were +therefore made to the Portuguese, who, unlike the English, were offered a +valuable consideration for admitting the control of the Chinese customs +into their waters. They then obtained for the first time a treaty of +independent sovereignty for the colony. + +The effect of all these negotiations and arrangements, whether intended or +not, was to stimulate the cultivation of Chinese opium to a high degree, +and this, according to the impartial testimony of an ex-German Minister, +is, apart from the increase to the Chinese revenue, the net result of the +anti-opium agitation. + + [Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + + [22] "Experience shows us that in the eyes of the Chinese negotiation + is a sign of weakness."--Sir F. BRUCE. + + [23] "_Likin_ is in its nature an oppressive institution only + continued in force owing to the necessity of providing resources + to meet the army expenditure in the north-west."--'Peking + Gazette,' January 18, 1875. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A CHAIN OF INCIDENTS. + + +I. DISPUTE WITH RUSSIA _RE_ KULDJA. + + Insurrection in Kashgaria--Russia occupies Kuldja--Engaging to + evacuate when country settled--Tso Tsung-tang's march--Death + of Yakub-beg--China reoccupies Kashgaria--Calls upon Russia + to retire from Kuldja--Relations become strained--Chunghou + concludes treaty with Russia--Violently repudiated by empress--War + threatened--Gordon summoned--Dispute arranged by Marquis Tsêng. + +The dilatoriness of China in making a stand against Japanese pretensions +in Korea may be partly explained by her serious preoccupations elsewhere. +She had been immersed in a sea of troubles. She seemed to be enveloped in +rebellion. In the south-west the province of Yunnan had been severed from +the imperial rule, and in its recovery the land was almost depopulated. +In the north-west there were also Mohammedan risings, and in far-distant +Kashgaria, separated from China by a thousand miles of desert and +militarily untenable by her, the adventurer known as Yakub-beg set up +an independent government, which he maintained for some years. Anarchy +on her frontier afforded to Russia the pretext of occupying Chinese +territory to maintain order; but she was scrupulous in assuring the Peking +Government that this step was provisional, and that she was ready to +restore Kuldja as soon as the Chinese were again in a position to resume +the government of the town and territory. The time came sooner than was +expected. The famous march of Tso Tsung-tang, who halted to grow grain +for the support of his army, and the disaffection in his camp leading to +the demise of Yakub, enabled China to reoccupy the revolted districts. +Russia, on being asked to redeem her pledge as to Kuldja, made conditions +which were not acceptable, and a diplomatic campaign was entered upon. +A high Manchu official, Chunghou, the same who had been sent to France +in 1871, was despatched to Prussia, where he concluded the treaty of +Livadia, which was so repugnant to the empress-regent and her advisers +that not only was it repudiated at Peking, but the envoy was delivered +to the Board of Punishments. Relations became strained between Russia +and China, and on both sides there were hints of a resort to force. In +view of this eventuality the Chinese Government were recommended to apply +for the services of their old champion, Gordon, who, unknown to them, +had taken service with Lord Ripon, the then new Viceroy of India, and, +equally unknown to them, had precipitately resigned that service. The +Chinese had a large body of troops in Manchuria; the long line of Russian +communication was very weak along that frontier; the governor of Eastern +Siberia, declaring himself unable to resist a Chinese attack, had urged +the Government at St Petersburg to come to terms at once with China, and +wait for a suitable opportunity to recover what they might be obliged +to cede. The Chinese Government hoped that if Gordon would come to their +assistance, and take command of their Manchurian levies, his name would +be a host in itself, and his appearance on the scene would at any rate +convince the Russian Government that China was in earnest. With this view +an invitation was sent to General Gordon in a telegram from Sir Robert +Hart, which found him in Bombay. The invitation was unconditional; it +indicated no purpose and named no price. Gordon took it entirely on trust, +closed at once, and proceeded to China. Having been given no clue as to +what service was expected from him, Gordon, nevertheless, not only came +to a conclusion of his own on the subject, but supplied his views to the +newspapers before leaving India, and at every port of call on the route. +He declared he was going to China to induce her to make peace, for she +was unable to do otherwise. In this he was of an opposite opinion from +the Russian governor-general. But whatever the merit of his opinion, the +object of the Chinese in sending for him was of course frustrated by his +published declarations. These being communicated to the Government at +Peking, they saw that so far from stiffening them in their negotiations +with Russia, Gordon's presence would seriously embarrass them, and they +accordingly endeavoured to prevent his coming. Through Sir Robert Hart +they sent a message to meet Gordon at Chefoo, requesting him to proceed no +farther. Disregarding this request, he continued his journey to Tientsin, +where he had interviews with his old friend the Viceroy Li; and he also +made his way to Peking, where by the aid of an indifferent Cantonese +interpreter he made representations to the Tsungli-Yamên, some of which +the interpreter dared not reproduce in Chinese. Gordon left without seeing +either Sir Robert Hart, on whose authority alone he had come to China, +or the British Minister, Sir Thomas Wade. The advice he left with the +Chinese Ministers was to renounce the endeavour to organise an army on +Western models, and not to waste money on modern weapons, but to trust +rather to numbers and the Fabian strategy which was natural to them. This +being promptly published in foreign journals, was regarded as highly +paradoxical, if not cynical; but it was recalled to mind fifteen years +later, when China was being defeated in the pitched battles against which +Gordon had warned them. + +The Kuldja dispute was eventually disposed of by the Chinese Minister, +Marquis Tsêng, who negotiated a treaty at St Petersburg, by which the +territory was nominally receded to China, while its strategical positions +were retained in the occupation of Russia, thus rendering the whole region +untenable by Chinese troops. + + +II. KOREAN IMBROGLIO, 1882-1885. + + Outbreak in 1882--Conspiracy of the king's father--Attack on + Japanese legation--Chinese troops control the capital--Foreign + innovations--Brought bad elements to the surface--Conspiracy + in 1884--Assassinations--Treachery of king's confidant--Kim + Ok Kun's escape to Japan--The avenger--His elaborate + preparations--Assassination of Kim--Joy in the Korean + Court--Honours to the assassin--Japan dissatisfied--Count Ito's + mission--Japan secures equal rights with China in Korea. + +The Russian question settled, China had leisure to attend to Korean +affairs, of which the importance was becoming more and more clear to her +statesmen. The scare on the north-west was in another form transferred +to the north-east, where there was the double risk of complications +arising from both Russian and Japanese encroachment on Korea. The opening +of the country to foreign intercourse, intended as a protection against +such dangers, was soon discovered to be inadequate. A procession of +events, dating from the signing of the treaties and culminating in 1885, +transformed the kingdom from a vassal to a quasi-independent State. + +The first link in the chain, so far as visible effects were concerned, +was an _émeute_ which took place in Söul in 1882. The father of the +king had occupied a position as regent curiously resembling that of the +Empress-Dowager of China, and being ambitious to regain the authority +which he had laid down on the king's coming of age, raised a conspiracy +to depose him. In connection with the plot a mob was let loose on the +Japanese legation, where a desperate struggle ensued, in which, and +in the running fight which they made towards the seaport, a number of +Japanese were killed. The survivors were conveyed to Nagasaki in a British +ship-of-war. What provocation the Japanese had given for this savage +onslaught is not a matter on which we need enter. The point is that it +afforded justification for sharp reprisals. Perceiving this, and being in +a position of unaccustomed preparedness, the Chinese Government--that is +to say, Li Hung-chang--adopted prompt measures for anticipating action +on the part of the Japanese. They despatched an envoy with a body of +troops and a naval squadron to the seaport of the capital where they at +once put down the conspiracy, re-established the king's authority, and by +a clever but wonderfully common oriental ruse captured the Usurper, and +carried him off to China as a State prisoner. The Chinese troops remained +in the vicinity of the capital, and a Resident on the Indian pattern was +installed at the Korean Court. + +Before long a foreign element began to be introduced into the Korean +administration. Among other things a branch of the Chinese customs service +was established, and, as in China, many duties besides that of raising a +revenue soon claimed the attention of the foreign commissioner. No more +effective first step in the regeneration of such a country could have +been undertaken than an honest administration of its maritime revenue. It +was a measure both good in itself and prolific of beneficial results in +many directions. Other reforms, however, were projected which required +a certain preparation of the soil and a careful consideration of social +forces and conditions. The introduction of foreign ideas of any kind into +a country which, so far as politics were concerned, might be considered +virgin soil, was, to say the least, a hazardous experiment. Undigested +schemes for the Europeanisation or the Japonisation of a Government which +had up till then banished foreign intercourse entirely from its shores +was likely to have an effect analogous to that of suddenly administering +strong meat to the victim of protracted privation. Korean affairs were +even less understood by foreigners than Western affairs were by the +Koreans, so that the yeast thrown into the Korean dough produced risings +for which Western foreigners at least, whatever may be said of the +Japanese, were quite unprepared. Factions sprang up like fungoid growths +in an excavation, sordid ambitions were set in motion, and the royal Court +became a hotbed of intrigue towards which the most flagitious elements in +the capital were naturally drawn. + +The agitation which was fed from these various sources broke out into +open violence in 1884, when two of the king's Ministers were assassinated +by a band of conspirators. It would be futile to attempt to unravel the +plot; its visible consequences only need be considered as further links in +the chain of events, and also as affording some curious evidence of the +manner in which the new alien civilisation was beginning to adapt itself +to that which was ingrained in the Korean character. The professed object +of the plot was understood to be the severance of the Chinese tie through +the instrumentality of the Japanese, and the king himself was believed +to be privy to this scheme. It is probable that the high political and +patriotic ideal was but the rallying flag under which diverse schemers +might pursue their several ambitions. The Koreans are credited with a +special dose of the subtlety which belongs to Asiatic races, and whatever +the real intentions of the king may have been, the conspirators were false +to him. A concise contemporary account of the fray given in a message to +the 'Times' states that-- + + The rising against the King of Korea is the outcome of reactionary + intrigues similar to the movement in 1882, when the present + king's father was captured and taken as a State prisoner to + China. Defective accounts only have been received of the recent + events. On the night of December 4, during an entertainment, + there was an alarm of fire near the palace; Min chong ik, the + queen's nephew, who was recently travelling in Europe, rushed + out, met some assassins, and was stabbed, with many others. The + conspirators then attacked the king, who applied to the Japanese + Minister for the protection of his guard. Before morning six of + the Ministers were killed. On the 6th the Koreans again attacked + the palace, the Chinese troops being present. A fight ensued, and + the Japanese guard lost three men killed and five wounded. Being + overpowered, the Japanese abandoned the palace, retiring to the + Japanese Legation, the king being carried off by the Chinese. The + tumult increased, and thirty Japanese residents were massacred + by the Chinese. On the 7th the Korean mob attacked the Japanese + Legation, which was destroyed, and the Minister with his guard + forced his way out amid showers of missiles. They stormed the + gates and retreated to the seaport of Chemulpo. On the following + day the king sent friendly messages to the Japanese Minister. + + At a recent date the Chinese garrison consisted nominally of 3000 + men, but the force has been much depleted. The Japanese numbered + 120, and these were about to be withdrawn when the outbreak + occurred. The situation is critical, each side accusing the other + of aggression; but it is expected that the affair will be settled + amicably, neither Power desiring a quarrel for the benefit of + interested spectators. The Japanese may insist on steps being + taken to secure their Minister for the future from such outrages. + Each Power has appointed an officer to investigate the facts + before deciding on a definite course. Further complications are, + however, certain to arise from the anomalous position of Korea. + After the Kuldja scare China perceived the supreme strategic + importance of the peninsula, and that a great Power occupying it + would control Chinese external policy. The Government promoted + the foreign treaties in 1882 with the objects of interesting the + commercial Powers in the integrity of Korea, and of obtaining a + recognition of its vassalage. Later treaties, beginning with that + negotiated by Sir Harry Parkes last year, assumed the independence + of Korea. The exercise of Chinese sovereignty is exposing Korea + to the double peril of her own troubles and of China's possible + wavering at a critical moment. The Chinese and Korean interests + are, in the absence of commerce, purely political, Korea's + importance consisting in its commanding position. + +And the Japanese shortly after tabulated the casualties as follows:-- + + Seven officials killed by progressives, 7 progressives killed + by Korean troops, 38 Korean soldiers killed by Japanese troops, + 95 rioters killed by Japanese, 67 progressives imprisoned, 11 + beheaded, with shocking barbarities at execution. + +The immediate purpose of the leaders of the plot appears to have been to +destroy the influence of the powerful family to which the queen belonged, +and had they contented themselves with the murder of any number of that +family, it was not considered likely that either king or people would have +greatly deplored the crime. But the chief assassin, Kim Ok Kun, struck at +the two Ministers who were the king's right hand, and who had, moreover, +endeared themselves to the nation by the exceptional purity of their +public life and their beneficence in times of scarcity. Execrated alike +by the sovereign and his people, Kim Ok Kun sought an asylum in Japan, +where he was entertained for a number of years while engaged in hatching +further plots against the peace of his native land. + +Naturally his presence in Japan caused umbrage to China. The King of Korea +lived in terror of his machinations, for Kim had a considerable following, +by whose aid he hoped to make a descent on Korea and effect a revolution +in the government. The guilt of Kim Ok Kun's betrayal of his sovereign was +the more heinous from his having been confidential adviser to the Crown +during all the negotiations with foreigners, between whom and the king +he was the constant referee. He carried into exile the innermost royal +secrets. The king's resentment against Kim was naturally embittered by +his impotence to avenge the treachery to which he had been a victim. + +For the preservation of peace and of friendly relations an agreement +was entered into between the three Governments to the effect that Kim +should not be permitted to leave Japan for any other country excepting +China or the United States. On these conditions the refugee became an +embarrassment to the Government of Japan, which felt bound to protect him +against counterplots while preventing him from carrying out his seditious +designs. Nevertheless Nemesis was on the track of the assassin, and the +way in which the quarry was hunted down by the avenger of blood affords +a greater insight into the nature of the tragedy than do any of the +contemporary comments. It also serves to illustrate certain points in the +Korean character which are decidedly not without interest to students of +current history. + +A member of an important Korean family named Hong had been implicated +in Kim's conspiracy, and by Korean law his whole family were held guilty +of the treason. The king fully exonerated the head of the family, being +convinced that no blame attached to him personally. Nevertheless, the old +man was so dejected by the disgrace brought on his name, that he forthwith +poisoned himself with his whole house. A young man distantly connected +with the family of Hong, and bearing their surname, took upon himself the +duty of avenging these deaths, and set to work in a systematic manner to +compass the murder of Kim. The private vengeance of Hong-tjyong-on fitted +in well with his patriotic duty, and his scheme was favoured by the Korean +king. About three years after Kim's flight, Hong made his way to Japan, +bearing secret letters from the king outlawing Kim and his followers and +authorising their capture or assassination. Hong's plan was to ingratiate +himself with Kim as a supporter of his schemes, but his recent arrival +direct from Korea without any credentials from the revolutionary party in +that country rendered Kim suspicious of the would-be recruit. Unable to +gain the access which he required to the person of his victim, Hong saw +that he would have to adopt more elaborate means to effect his purpose. He +went therefore to Europe, where he must have spent five or six years at +least in acquiring a European education, European manners, and a perfect +knowledge of European ways. He was courteous, refined, and intelligent, +a great favourite in society (especially in religious circles), and made +in particular many warm friends in France. Having thoroughly shaken off +Korea, he thought he might now present himself in Japan in a character +that would disarm all suspicion. Accordingly he made his way thither, and +succeeded in attaching himself to Kim, talked progress and revolution, and +thereby insinuated himself into the confidence of the arch-conspirator, +becoming gradually master of his secret plots and schemes. The +arrangements of the Japanese Government for the protection of Kim's person +seem to have been so efficient that, in order to accomplish his purpose, +Hong perceived that it was necessary to induce Kim to leave Japan. This +seemed the most difficult part of his enterprise, and a far-fetched scheme +had to be contrived in order to furnish Kim with a plausible reason for +proceeding to China. Between the plots which Kim may have had in his mind +and those which Hong for his own purposes suggested to him, it is not +possible, neither is it necessary, to distinguish. Hong's own account of +the matter was, that Kim had been concerting some movement on Korea from +a Russian base, but was prevented from proceeding to Vladivostock by the +vigilance of the Japanese Government. The agreement between the three +Powers would not, however, be violated by his proceeding to Shanghai, +where he would find the means of continuing his voyage to Vladivostock, +for neither of the travellers apprehended any difficulty in eluding the +surveillance of the Chinese officials and taking passage in a trading +steamer to the Russian port. + +Kim eventually fell in with this proposal, and left Japan with a Japanese +servant, accompanied by Hong. They arrived in Shanghai on the 27th of +March 1894, repaired to a Japanese hotel, and reported themselves at the +Japanese consulate. The following day Hong, having first put on Korean +upper garments, murdered Kim, and fled, but was captured at Wusung by the +foreign municipal police of Shanghai, and by them detained in custody +until claimed by the Chinese authorities under instructions from Li +Hung-chang. The news of the assassination was received by the Chinese +Government with a sense of relief and "sombre acquiescence," but at the +Korean Court with almost a frenzy of delight. The king gave a banquet in +honour of the event, to which he invited all the foreign Ministers. The +Chinese Government ordered a man-of-war to convey the murderer and the +remains of the victim to Korea. The former was covered with honours, while +the remains of Kim were treated with savage indecency and his family put +to death. + +Thus did the assassin of 1884 expiate his crime exactly ten years later. + +The issue of the plot of 1884 was not agreeable to the Japanese, who were +particularly affronted by the fact that the Chinese were in a position to +snatch the king out of their hands and to afford him military protection +against all comers. But Japan was in no humour to relinquish her own +policy in Korea, which was quite incompatible with the suzerain status +of China, and with the very concrete form in which it had just been +manifested. One of the leading statesmen of Japan, Count Inouye, was sent +to Korea to investigate the whole affair, and inquire into the relative +position of China and Japan in the peninsula. The result of his inquiries +was a determination to follow up by orthodox diplomacy the disintegrating +effects which the risings in 1882 and 1884 had no doubt been intended +to subserve. China being in the throes of a war with France, the moment +was particularly favourable for preferring demands upon her. An embassy +was therefore despatched to Peking, under Count Ito, in March 1885. He +counted much on the friendly offices of the British Minister, Sir Harry +Parkes, in smoothing the way to amicable negotiations with China, but +unhappily the Japanese ambassador arrived at Peking almost on the day of +Sir Harry's death. After vain attempts to deal with the Tsungli-Yamên the +Japanese mission withdrew to Tientsin, where negotiations were entered +into by Li Hung-chang, extending over several weeks. Count Ito's mission +was successful in concluding a treaty by which China and Japan were put +on a footing of equality in the peninsula so far as regards military +protection. The troops of both countries were to be withdrawn, and neither +party was to send a force in future without giving written notice to the +other. This arrangement was a surrender in substance of China's suzerainty +over Korea, though she retained the ceremonial form in full vigour for +nine years after. + + +III. THE PORT HAMILTON EPISODE, 1885-1887. + + Sudden occupation of Korean harbour by Great Britain--Questioned + by China, Japan, and Korea--Position condemned by naval + authority--Abandoned on guarantee from China against occupation + by other Powers. + +"In view of potentialities" the British Government on April 14, 1885, +sent instructions to Vice-Admiral Dowell to occupy Port Hamilton, an +island harbour on the coast of Korea. This high-handed proceeding was +justified on the plea of necessity--the necessity, as explained by Lord +Granville, of anticipating the "probable occupation of the island by +another Power." Naturally the measure disturbed neighbouring States, +as well as the Government of Korea itself. China and Japan asked for +explanations, and an agreement with the former, as suzerain of Korea, was +about to be signed for the temporary use of the harbour by Great Britain, +when the Russian Minister at Peking interposed with an intimation that +if China consented to the occupation of Port Hamilton by Great Britain, +Russia would compensate herself by the seizure of some other point of the +Korean littoral. The protest of the Korean Government thus became merged +in negotiations with China, but was never withdrawn. + +While these _pour-parlers_ were going on, the position of Port Hamilton +was unequivocally condemned as a naval station by a succession of three +admirals commanding the China Squadron; and as the immediate occasion +of the occupation of the harbour had happily passed, there remained +no ostensible reason for prolonging it. Before abandoning the island, +however, the British Government hoped that some arrangement might be +come to for an international guarantee of the integrity of Korea, which +being already a bone of contention between certain Powers, and unable +to defend its own independence, constituted a constant menace to the +peace of the Far East. The proposal met with no favour from the Chinese +Government, for the reason probably that it would have involved an organic +change in its own relations with Korea. The next proposal came from the +Korean Government itself, which suggested a _modus vivendi_ by opening +as treaty ports both Port Hamilton and Port Lazareff, which latter was +the point Russia would have seized if she had seized anything. This +idea was approved of by the British Government, but nothing came of it. +Eventually the evacuation was agreed to on the assurance from China that +neither Port Hamilton nor any other portion of Korean territory would in +future be occupied by any other Power. This pledge China was enabled to +give on the strength of an equivalent guarantee which she had received +from Russia, that Power being then the only one considered as likely to +cherish aggressive designs on the Korean peninsula. These engagements were +exchanged in November 1886, eighteen months after the occupation, and the +British flag was finally hauled down on the island on February 27, 1887. + +The net visible result of the incident was to confirm China in her +suzerainty, since the negotiations were made with her and not with Korea, +and to obtain a specific pledge from Russia that she would keep her hands +off Korea "under any circumstances." It was argued seven years afterwards +that Russia had broken her pledge by her interferences in Korean affairs, +but in 1895 a new state of circumstances had been brought about. China in +that year ceased to be the suzerain of Korea, and obligations which were +valid under the old _régime_ necessarily lapsed. A new page of history was +turned, and Korea attained the status of a nominally independent kingdom. + + +IV. TIBET. + + Lhassa visited by Babu Sarat Chandra Das--Proposed commercial + expedition--Originated by Secretary of State--Envoy sent to + Peking to obtain passport--Opposition organised by Chinese and + Tibetans--Mission withdrawn. + +The year 1885 witnessed the first act in the ill-advised policy--as to its +method, not its object--of the Indian Government of opening commercial +relations with Tibet. A learned Bengali pandit, versed in Tibetan, had +made two successful visits to Lhassa, where he gained the friendship +of the lamas, who invited him to come again. A fair prospect of opening +commercial relations by gradually disarming prejudices and apprehension +was thus presented. Having duly reported his experiences to the Government +of India, the babu waited their pleasure as to further developments at +Darjeeling, where he occupied the post of Government schoolmaster. An +English civilian, making the acquaintance of the babu in that hot-weather +retreat, conceived the idea of an official mission to Lhassa, in which +the services of the babu might be utilised as guide and interpreter. The +Indian Government was averse from the enterprise on economical if on no +other grounds, but direct pressure being brought to bear on the India +Office in London, the ambitious young statesman who then presided over its +counsels is said to have espoused the proposal and overruled the reluctant +Government of India. + +Of the organisation and procedure of the mission nothing very +complimentary can be said. Instead of following the line of least +resistance, of driving in the thin end of the wedge, in accordance with +the commonplace maxims consecrated by all human experience, the reverse +process was followed in every single particular. Sarat Chandra Das had +shown the way, and the entry he had effected could have been gradually +widened by himself and others of his own class until the obstacles to free +commercial intercourse had been overcome. The experience of a hundred +years had shown to the world the invincible prejudices of the Tibetan +rulers against foreign visitors. The babu had in his own person conquered +these prejudices by his mastery of Buddhistic lore, as well as by his +gentleness and consummate tact; but the mission, which had its origin +in the information he supplied, discarded his methods and proceeded on +military lines. Its _personnel_ included politicals and scientists, but +no commercial agent, and as Mr Gundry has well said, "The Under Secretary +of State, while stating that the object of the mission was to confer with +the Chinese commissioners and the Lhassa Government as to the resumption +of commercial relations between India and Tibet," added in Parliament +that, "looking to the delicate nature of the mission, it had not been +thought advisable to appoint a special commercial representative." An +armed force of some 300 men sent on a "delicate mission" which, though +essentially commercial, yet had nothing commercial in its composition! +Could anything be conceived more certain to arouse the sleeping suspicions +of the Tibetans? It was but repeating on a larger scale the deplorable +fiasco of Colonel Browne's attempted march from Burma to China in 1875. + +The first act in this little drama was performed in Peking when the envoy, +Macaulay, arrived with his staff for the ostensible purpose of applying +for a passport for Tibet. For such a purpose there was no need to have +sent a special messenger to Peking at all, as a passport could have been +much more easily obtained by the British Minister there and transmitted +by post in the ordinary course of business. The passport could not, of +course, be refused in plain terms by the Chinese Government, but the +personal demand for it gave them the opportunity of cross-examining the +intended envoy as to the objects of his proposed mission. It may well +be believed, from the self-contradictory explanation of the mission +tendered to the British Parliament, that the envoy in Peking failed to +allay the suspicions of the Chinese Government. On the contrary, his +presence intensified them exceedingly. The sole effect of the preliminary +expedition to Peking was, in fact, to forewarn the Chinese Government, +so that they, in concert with the rulers of Tibet, should be prepared to +interpose obstacles to the advance of the mission, but in such a way as +not openly to compromise the good faith of the Chinese Government. The +journey of the envoy to Peking, therefore, sealed the fate of his own +mission, and at the same time closed Tibet against more judicious advances +in the future. + +The most interesting episode in connection with this abortive effort +was the appearance of the Babu Sarat Chandra Das himself in the Chinese +capital. By sheer force of intellect he succeeded in a few days in +obtaining the confidence of the inner circle of the lamas there. Having +been brought in contact with a certain Manchu official, the pandit +showed very unobtrusively a familiarity with the more recondite tenets of +Buddhism which captivated the Manchu, whose heart was set on improving +his knowledge of the sacred mysteries.[24] The babu could speak no +Chinese, but it was not difficult among the thousands of lamas in Peking +to find a competent Tibetan interpreter. The fame of the pandit spread +rapidly among the ranks of the priesthood, whose chiefs competed for the +honour of sitting at the feet of the Indian Gamaliel. In expounding the +doctrines, while enjoying the hospitality, of different groups of lamas, +the popularity of the pandit grew from day to day, until he was at length +constrained to take up his quarters at the great Yellow Temple, outside +the north wall of Peking, and live with the brethren. They invested him +with the yellow robe and the other ecclesiastical insignia, and treated +him altogether as one of the initiated. It required all his acumen to +prevent his status as a Buddhist lama from clashing with his position as +a subordinate of the Indian envoy, on whom he was in attendance. He had +to pay frequent visits to the British Legation, where it would have been +impossible for him to appear in his religious vestments without exciting +inconvenient gossip, and perhaps incurring the disapproval of his superior +officer. The custom of travelling in Peking in closed carts enabled the +babu to play the double part of Jekyll and Hyde with perfect success. +He would leave the Temple as a lama, drive to a friend's rooms in the +city, where his Indian costume was kept ready, in which he proceeded in +another cab and in another character to the British Legation, returning +to reassume his yellow robes and then repair to the Temple. + +During the time when the envoy designate remained in Peking a very high +personage arrived from Tibet, and it was on his conferences with the +Chinese Court that the success of the intended mission depended. It would +be presumptuous on the part of any foreigner to attempt to divine what +passed between the delegate from the Grand Lama and the Chinese Ministers; +but were it possible for any one to penetrate into those secret counsels, +the babu was the man to do it. There is no doubt that he did. In fact, +he had positive information that the Indian mission to Tibet would be +stopped at the instance of the Chinese Government, and that the issue +of the passport was an empty form. Such information would naturally be +unwelcome to the envoy, and the sequel seems to show that the warning +was disregarded. The expedition was organised, fully equipped, ready +for a march into Tibet. Had it proceeded it is highly improbable that +the babu would have accompanied it as interpreter, for he could not have +exonerated himself from the imputation of bad faith towards his Tibetan +hosts in acting as guide to an armed force into a country where he had +been received and reinvited as a private guest. + +What would have been the consequence of the mission proceeding into Tibet +it is, of course, impossible to say, but the circumstances of its recall +were not conducive to satisfactory relations between China and Great +Britain. Mistrusting the effectiveness of the Tibetan opposition to the +Indian mission--for the force could very likely have made good its passage +to Lhassa--the Chinese Government resorted to diplomatic means of stopping +its advance. Its never-failing emergency man, the Inspector-General of +Customs, was called upon, and he intervened with the British Government +with such good effect that they sent orders to India to stop the Tibetan +mission. Thus the Indian Government was a second time overruled: first, +in being made to organise the mission against its will; and secondly, in +being forced to recall it when its recall involved immeasurable loss of +influence in future dealings with China. An attempt was made to cover the +retreat in a cloud of verbiage by a convention signed at Peking in 1886, +which, however, only made the case worse, in that it was a retrograde +step, virtually cancelling the right of visiting Tibet, which had been +conferred by the Chefoo convention of ten years before. The same treaty +which embodied this renunciation, perhaps the weakest to which any British +representative ever set his name, also fostered the illusions which have +been so detrimental to the welfare of China, by promising a continuance of +the tribute missions from Burma after that country had become an integral +part of the Indian Empire. + +The fruits of this diplomatic surrender were not long in showing +themselves, for it was soon followed by an invasion of British Sikkim +from the Tibetan side. This aggression of the lamas was of necessity +resisted by the Indian Government, and an unexpected opportunity was +thus offered to them of settling the whole Tibetan question by the rapid +march of a small force to Lhassa. There is good reason to believe that +this solution of the difficulty was the one which commended itself to the +practical statesmen and soldiers of India; but their action was paralysed +by the orders of the Home Government, which continued to be ruled by +influences which were neither military nor political nor practical. +Discussions between the Indian Government and the Chinese _amban_ or +Resident at Lhassa, professing to speak for the Tibetan Lama Government, +were protracted year after year, and seemed interminable. At last even +the Chinese themselves grew weary of the comedy, and experienced in Tibet +something of the difficulty which occasionally beset them in China--that +is to say, they were unable to exorcise the demon they had invoked. They +had stirred up the Tibetans to the point of obstructing the Macaulay +mission, but seemed really to lose control of the force after it had been +set in motion. After some years of futile talk the statesmen of China +would perhaps have hailed with satisfaction the advance of a British force +to Lhassa to cut the Gordian knot; but they dared not, of course, give +such a hint as was conveyed to Captain Fournier, "Avancez donc,"[25] and +the Indian Government, not having the wit to divine it, had to submit to +a long-drawn-out and permanent humiliation, that was in no wise mended +by the Calcutta convention of 1890, which, professing only to settle the +existing frontiers, did not even settle them. + + +V. THE CRUISE OF THE SEVENTH PRINCE, 1886. + + Character and position of Prince Ch'un--Had been misunderstood by + foreigners while he was in seclusion--An amiable and progressive + man--His visit to Port Arthur in 1886--Intercourse with many + foreigners. + +The spring of 1884 witnessed a ministerial crisis of the first order +in Peking. For twenty-four years Prince Kung, uncle to the deceased +emperor Tungchih, had held a position equivalent to Chancellor of the +empire. To the outside world he was only known as Minister for Foreign +Affairs and head of the Tsungli-Yamên. During the greater part of the +time he had been at feud with the empress-regent, from whom his power +was derived, but, being indispensable to her, he was tolerated for want +of a competent successor. The troubles in Tongking caused an agitation +in the capital, and the empress seized the opportunity to dismiss Prince +Kung with most of his colleagues of the Yamên and introduce a fresh set. +The eminent position of the prince, however, was one difficult to fill; +but the substitution was effected by a kind of _coup d'état_ by which the +empress brought the younger brother of Prince Kung out of his retirement +and made him virtually, as far as it was possible, her coadjutor in the +Government. But the peculiar status of Prince Ch'un, as father to the +reigning emperor, rendered him immune from responsibility, since in China +the son could not place the father under discipline. For this reason the +prince could not in his own name exercise any of the great functions of +the State. He was therefore obliged to keep in the background, while the +executive service was performed by his nominees. Thus in foreign affairs +he was efficiently represented by the Grand Secretary Li Hung-chang, and +by Prince Ch'ing, a junior member of the imperial family, who was made +president of the Tsungli-Yamên, and holds the office to the present day. + +Whatever the true motives may have been for recasting the +Tsungli-Yamên--and it would be hazardous for any foreigner to dogmatise +about such matters--a great improvement was remarked in the efficiency of +that body. Prince Ch'ing, though new to public affairs, acquitted himself +like a gentleman, and gained the goodwill of all the foreign Legations by +his laborious efforts to learn his work and to bring justice and reason +as well as courtesy into the transaction of business. The circumstances +of the time were also favourable to improvement; for being at war with +one great Power, China was naturally most anxious to conciliate the +others. While this amenable temper lasted, business was despatched by +the Tsungli-Yamên with a celerity never before known, and good use was +made of the opportunity to clear off legacies of arrears that had been +accumulating in the foreign legations. + +The Seventh Prince, so long as he was in seclusion, had stood in the +opinion of foreigners for everything that was fanatical, obstructive, +and irreconcilable, the head of the war party, and so forth. Even Sir +Rutherford Alcock, in an article on Chinese Statesmen in 1871, adopted +this popular estimate, calling him "violently hostile, joining with Wo in +all efforts to make the anti-foreign faction predominate." + +The announcement of Prince Ch'un, therefore, as the successor of Prince +Kung not unnaturally aroused apprehension of a reactionary policy. +His first public act, however, in so far as it was his, dispelled the +misconception under which foreigners had been labouring for many years: +it was to conclude a peace with France in the face of a rabid opposition. +This misconception of Prince Ch'un's character and policy is only an +example of how vain it is for foreigners to attempt to sound the currents +of Chinese politics, more especially where palace factions are concerned. + +The advent of the Seventh Prince having removed all friction between the +empress-regent and the Government, it was a signal for tentative reforms +and what foreigners call progress. Li Hung-chang had to a considerable +extent imbued the Court with his own ideas. He assured them there was no +danger in adopting foreign methods and foreign manners,--on the contrary, +that to do so was the only means of safety to the empire. Within a few +months of his taking the reins, the Prince established a precedent which +amounted to a small revolution in its way. He began to transact business +through his agents with foreigners in the capital itself, which had been +up to that time strictly preserved from all contamination of foreign +trade. The two "stores" which existed were not traders by right, but +were under the special protection of certain foreign Ministers, who had +represented to the Government the necessity of such agencies for the +supply of necessaries for the use of their Legations. This was followed +in course of time by the introduction of novelties in the palace, such +as electric light, toy railways and steam launches in the imperial +pleasure-grounds. The telegraph wire itself was introduced into the city +during the summer of 1884, it having been previously jealously kept at +a distance of thirteen miles, from superstitious fears concerning the +sinister influence which the electric wire might exert over the fortunes +of the capital. However real such fears may be in the minds of the +Chinese, and however convenient they may be as a defence against proposals +from without, they invariably yield to the pressure of necessity. While +the terminus of the telegraph line was at Tungchow, the inconvenience of +having to send mounted messengers thirteen miles to despatch and receive +messages was for some time felt almost entirely by the foreign Legations; +but when the war crisis with France arose, and the Chinese Government +itself was sending urgent messages requiring immediate answers to the +southern provinces and to Europe, the absurdity of losing more time +between the Tsungli-Yamên and the telegraph station than was occupied +by the transmission of the message and its reply from Europe became so +striking, that the order was given to bring the telegraph into the city. +No more was heard of geomantic difficulties. + +The most important object, however, which Li Hung-chang sought to gain +through the activity of the Seventh Prince, was so to interest his +Highness in the scheme of national defence, which had been growing under +the viceroy's initiative, that this department of the work of Government +should be transformed from a provincial to an imperial concern. With this +end in view an expedition on salt water was arranged for the Prince; and +insignificant as the feat must appear in Western eyes, yet for a Manchu +prince, who had never seen the sea, to be allowed to trust himself on the +treacherous element at all, or on such a strange monster as a steamer, +must be accepted as a decided proof that the old order was changing, +giving place to the new. The prince was undoubtedly nervous, not knowing +what should befall him on his expedition. + +The first ordeal through which he had to pass was that of personal +contact with foreigners, of whom he had perhaps never seen one in +Peking. His introduction was carefully organised by Li Hung-chang, and +it was at Tientsin that the prince first met with foreign officials, +who waited upon him at separate audiences. The foreigners were as much +charmed with his Highness as he expressed himself to have been with them, +so that he embarked on his cruise free from anxiety. His attendants, +however,--on whom and on Li Hung-chang all the responsibility of course +rested,--continued to feel anxious during their passage across the Gulf. +This feeling became for a moment acute when, on landing at Port Arthur, +they were met by a British admiral and staff with a guard of honour. It +is an actual fact that the sight of strange armed men waiting for the +prince, working on oriental traditions, did suggest a trap, for the idea +of capture by treachery is never wholly absent from the Chinese mind. The +Government had taken the wise precaution of attaching to the prince an +experienced and capable foreigner in whom he reposed perfect confidence, +and Mr Detring explained foreign customs and forms of courtesy to the +prince and his suite in a way which completely reassured them. Among all +the dignitaries in the prince's suite, however, there was not one capable +of taking in the entirely novel ideas which were presented to them. One +man only, of quite subordinate rank--whether a Manchu or a Chinese by +birth is unknown to the writer--a confidential agent of the Seventh Prince +in business matters, seized the entire programme of foreign etiquette the +moment it was explained to him, and through him the whole ceremony passed +smoothly and agreeably to all parties. The name of this official was Chang +Yi, who has since been taking a leading part in mining, railway, and other +progressive enterprises in China. + +On his return to Peking Prince Ch'un in a memorial to the Throne reported +fully the incidents of his cruise to the gulf ports. Not long after a +naval board was established in Peking, with the prince at its head. As a +step in the direction of centralising the naval authority, which included +also the direction of the land defences, the establishment of a Board +of Admiralty in the capital was certainly a progressive one; but as its +members possessed neither knowledge nor experience of naval or military +affairs its authority was much attenuated, almost every question having +to be referred back to Li Hung-chang in Tientsin. Any chance that might +have existed of Prince Ch'un himself inspiring the new Board and bringing +it up to a state of efficiency was lost through his Highness falling into +ill-health, from which he never recovered, but after a lingering illness +died in 1890. + + +VI. THE EMPEROR ASSUMES THE GOVERNMENT, 1889. + + The Emperor Kwanghsu comes of age in 1889--Audience of foreign + Ministers arranged--Derogatory conditions--Second audience refused + by Ministers--Accepted by Austrian and British envoys. + +In 1889 his Majesty Kwanghsu attained his majority and married. But his +coming of age was a somewhat gradual process, with intervals between +each step, as if the empress-regent, who alone determined the time and +the seasons, were either mistrustful of the capacity of her nephew +or reluctant to lay down the reins of authority. The emperor, kept +in leading-strings, was allowed to assume some of the functions of an +autocrat, but not all. This slow unfolding of the imperial blossom had +this result among others, that it procured a welcome respite from the +bitter ordeal of granting an audience to the representatives of foreign +States. It was well understood that the foreigners had for sixteen years +been looking forward to the emperor's assumption of power as to the +consummation of their diplomatic function, and that as soon as a decent +interval had been allowed to the young monarch after his majority, the +subject would become pressing. + +It had been discussed in whispers for nearly two years, when, to the +astonishment of everybody, including even the members of the Tsungli-Yamên +themselves, an imperial decree was issued in December 1890 in kindly +terms ordering preparations to be made to receive the foreign Ministers +after the Chinese New Year--that is, in the February following. Since +nobody owned to having been in the secret, the act was set down to the +emperor's gracious initiative, and was hailed with enthusiasm as the +opening of a new era. The Great Wall had at last fallen; the pretensions +to superiority for which the Chinese had made such great sacrifices were +suddenly abandoned, and henceforth equality with foreign nations was to +be the basis of their diplomatic intercourse. + +The hope was shortlived, for as soon as the details of the imperial +reception came to be arranged with the Tsungli-Yamên all the old +difficulties appeared in an aggravated form. The foreign ministers, having +pondered the question for eighteen years, had unanimously resolved that +they would not accept an audience in the building used for the reception +of tributary princes, where the ceremony of 1873 had taken place, but only +in the imperial palace, or not at all. The whole value of the audience was +the acknowledgment it signified of international equality. The idea that +it would facilitate business must have been long before abandoned. The +form, therefore, was everything, and the Chinese Ministers were resolved +that the "tributary" form should be adhered to. They became urgent in +their appeals to the reasonableness of the foreign Ministers. They had +gone to expense in renovating the hall, Tz-kwang-ko; they had no other +place available; the imperial decree must be obeyed, and this admitted of +no postponement. + +Yielding to these arguments, the foreign Ministers agreed to a compromise. +They would, for this time only, repair to the Tz-kwang-ko, but never +again. The ceremony took place therefore on 5th March 1891. There were +two receptions--first an audience to the various foreign Ministers +separately, next a general reception of the whole of them. The diplomatic +body soon felt the consequences of their retrograde step, for when they +came to discuss details of the audience of the following year, the Chinese +interposed a simple _non possumus_ to every demand which implied the +acknowledgment of equality. A reception within the palace without the +_kotow_ could not even be discussed. No accommodation between the opposing +views being possible, there was no audience in 1892. The diplomatic +body were solidly united in maintaining the dignity of their respective +countries, and by ceasing to solicit, they left the onus of discovering +a solution of the question on the Chinese themselves. The audience was of +no practical value to the foreigners, while the withholding of it placed +the Chinese so much in the wrong that they might safely have been left to +their own devices. + +Before, however, the pressure to extricate themselves and their sovereign +from an untenable position had become too severe, a diversion in their +favour was created by the flying visit of an Austrian envoy, who seemed +ready to present his credentials on any terms whatever, so that the +formalities were quickly got over, and he enabled to conclude his mission. +The Chinese availed themselves of this unexpected opportunity, and the +emperor granted an audience to M. Biegeleben in another hall or pavilion +outside the palace, which thenceforth became known locally as the Palais +Biegeleben. + +At the end of 1892, not long after the Biegeleben incident, a new British +Minister arrived in Peking. Not apparently considering himself bound +by the compact to which his predecessor was a party, he, without the +knowledge of his diplomatic colleagues, accepted an audience on the same +derogatory terms as the Austrian envoy had done, and the reactionary +policy of the Chinese thus enjoyed a complete, if temporary, triumph. This +proceeding of the British Minister was deeply resented by the diplomatic +body, most of all by the Russian Minister, Count Cassini, himself a +new arrival, and the circumstance did not tend to smooth the subsequent +intercourse between the parties. + + +VII. THE VISIT OF THE CZAREVITCH, 1891. + + Worthy reception in Peking impossible--Attempted substitution + of provincial reception--Czarevitch visits only the Russian + communities in China. + +Closely connected in point of time, and possibly by a more vital link, +with the imperial audience was the voyage of the Czarevitch to India, +China, and Japan in 1890-91. There was no precedent in China for the +reception of the member of any foreign royal family. In the days before +the first audience the Duke of Edinburgh, while in command of the Galatea, +visited Peking, but strictly _incognito_, no visits being exchanged with +any Chinese. But times had changed considerably in the twenty years that +had since elapsed, and with an emperor of full age on the throne things +that were winked at during his minority could no longer be so lightly +treated. The Chinese Government were, in fact, perfectly conscious of the +responsibility which lay upon them to show courtesy to so distinguished a +visitor as the heir to the throne of Russia, and they took timely measures +for his reception. + +The position of the audience question convinced the Ministers that it +would be impossible to receive him worthily in Peking, since to do so +would be to admit equality with foreign States. The first care of the +Chinese, therefore, was to induce his Imperial Highness to stay away +from the capital. The Russian Government were told that Li Hung-chang, +representing the Chinese Emperor, would meet the Czarevitch at Chefoo, +and that his reception by other Governors of provinces would be deemed +equivalent to one by the emperor in person. The Russian Government +fell into the trap, and the programme of provincial receptions would +have been carried out but for the eccentricity of Chang Chih-tung, +the governor-general of the Hu provinces on the Yangtze. He, with the +other provincials, had received the instructions about the reception of +the Czarevitch, but he alone treated the order with contempt, not even +deigning to answer it or to explain his reason. The order did not emanate +from Peking, and he would not accept a mandate from an equal. Evidently +the emperor had no hand in drawing up the programme, and this Chang had +the best means of knowing, for he had a brother in the Inner Council. This +action of a high authority throws full light on the difference between an +imperial and a provincial transaction, as the Chinese themselves regard +it. + +In keeping with this independent attitude of Chang was the rudeness with +which he received the officer deputed by the Russian admiral to arrange +details of the reception at Wuchang. In this way the intended imposture +was exposed. But if the Russian Government had been too easily led into a +false position, it must be admitted they extricated themselves cleverly, +by simply demanding a yellow chair for the Czarevitch, a colour reserved +exclusively for the emperor. As this could not be conceded the official +ceremonies fell through, and the Czarevitch contented himself with +visiting the Russian communities at the Chinese ports. He then proceeded +to Japan, where a brilliant reception awaited him; and from Japan to +Vladivostock, where he turned the first sod of the Trans-Siberian Railway, +19th May 1891. + + [Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + + [24] See _infra_, p. 343. + + [25] See _infra_, p. 330. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE TONGKING QUARREL. + + Rapid advance of French towards China proper--The Black + Flags--Discussions between France and China--Attempted + negotiations--Conquest of Tongking decided upon--Chinese + feared attack on Canton--City defenceless--Negotiation with + France recommended--Captain Fournier concludes convention + with Li Hung-chang in Tientsin--Strong opposition in the + capital--Collision between forces in Tongking--French make war + on China--Peace concluded through customs agency, April 1885--The + Li-Fournier convention ratified. + + +The progress of the French in the annexation of Cochin China, Annam, and +Tongking was phenomenally rapid. These aggressions on her tributary States +were far from agreeable to China, but no effective means of resistance was +proposed. The Chinese policy, wrote Sir R. Alcock,[26] "has been one of +drift, and letting things slide into irretrievable confusion and disaster +for want of courage and decisive action at the right time. Between the +Dupuis and Garnier expeditions, in which a handful of men were seizing +towns, storming citadels, and terrorising the Annamite mandarins and +king into virtual submission to any terms dictated to them, and Captain +Rivière's very similar proceedings in 1883, there was abundant time and +opportunity for China either to fight or to negotiate with effect, but +she did neither." + +When, however, the advance of the French brought them within measurable +distance of the southern provinces of China proper, a more serious view of +the invasion was forced upon the Government. A body of irregular troops, +called the Black Flags, for some time stood in the way of the French, who +designated them "pirates." The status of these Black Flags was, indeed, +somewhat ambiguous, as they had been virtually outlawed by the Chinese. +But when it was seen that they were harassing the French, the provincial +authorities recognised that they were fighting the battle of China and of +her tributary. The Annamese Government had, in the first instance, invited +the assistance of the Black Flags, and the Chinese Government officially +encouraged them, while hoping to evade direct responsibility for doing so. +The French had made the useless mistake of wounding China in a tender spot +by destroying the seal granted to the Annamese sovereign by the emperor, +and it was probably this insult rather than the territorial seizures which +induced China to reinforce the Black Flags by a body of imperial troops, +and to lay down distinctly the line which she would consider herself bound +to defend. + +The annexation of Annam became the subject of protracted discussions +between France and China. The diplomacy of the Marquis Tsêng in Paris, +and of Li Hung-chang in China--a convention had actually been concluded +between the latter and the French Minister, Bourrée--failed to arrest the +progress of France, and the question between the two countries reached +a burning point after the capture by the French of Sontay and Bacninh in +the spring of 1884. + +The Chinese envoy had declared to M. Ferry that a French advance on these +places would be regarded by his Government as a _casus belli_. Seeing, +however, that no action was taken by China after their actual capture, +the French took fresh courage, and their programme of conquest became so +much expanded that what had been the dream of a few became the definitive +policy of the Republic. "The conquest of Tongking had been decided upon +in principle," wrote Admiral Jaurèguiberry to Captain Rivière at the +time when M. de Freycinet was declaring that there should be no policy +of aggression. The taking of the two citadels sealed the policy of the +admiral and falsified that of the Foreign Minister. From that point may be +dated the important position which France has since assumed in claiming to +direct, in conjunction with Russia, the destinies of the Chinese Empire. + +On the fall of the two cities the Chinese officials of the southern +provinces were filled with consternation. They feared that the successes +of the French would encourage them, if not to invade China, at least to +force a settlement with her on their own terms. They had before them the +brochure of Captain Rivière, commander of the French forces in Tongking, +in which he advocated a quarrel with China as a preliminary to the seizure +of the three southern provinces, Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yunnan. An +obvious step towards the execution of such a design would be an attack on +the provincial capital, Canton, an event which was not only anticipated +by the authorities, but was thought feasible, and even probable, by +disinterested onlookers. How little prepared were the Chinese to resist +such an attack will be best understood by the measures they took to avert +it. + +An officer of the Chinese customs service, Mr G. Detring, returning from +furlough, brought with him the details of the Marquis Tsêng's abortive +negotiations in Paris. He arrived in China immediately after the capture +of the two strongholds of Sontay and Bacninh. In proceeding from Hongkong +to take up his official post at Canton he accepted a passage in the French +_aviso_ Volta, which conveyed Rear-Admiral Lespès to the latter city. She +was commanded by Commandant Fournier, with whom Mr Detring had been some +years before on terms of intimacy in the north of China. The principal +topic discussed on the passage was naturally Tongking, and, judging from +subsequent developments, it is reasonable to suppose that the seeds of the +settlement eventually concluded between China and France were sown during +that short but interesting voyage. When Mr Detring reported himself to the +provincial authorities they evinced the greatest anxiety as to what they +conceived to be the threatening attitude of the French against Canton. +Asked if their river defences were in a position to resist attack, they +frankly avowed that they were not; but yet, being personally responsible +for the defence, they dared not confess the true state of affairs to the +Imperial Government. The viceroy of Canton and the governor of Yunnan +were already under censure, and the military commanders in Tongking +were even threatened with decapitation "pour encourager les autres." The +Canton authorities were thus, in fact, in the dilemma in which Chinese +provincial officials have so frequently found themselves in dealing with +foreign exigencies--responsible yet helpless. Since they were avowedly +incapable of resistance, the viceroy and governor were advised at once +to open negotiations with the French, and, as a first step, to report the +actual position frankly to the Central Government,--in other words, to Li +Hung-chang, who in this, as in all other crises, had to bear the burden +of every initiative. Having had experience of the capacity of Mr Detring, +first in the negotiating of the Chefoo convention, and subsequently during +several years of official intercourse at Tientsin, Li Hung-chang moved +the Central Government to summon the Canton commissioner of customs to +Tientsin for consultation. + +The way being thus partially opened to negotiation, Rear-Admiral Lespès +held himself in readiness to proceed to Tientsin in response to any +invitation that might be conveyed to him. Captain Fournier was sent on +in advance to the rendezvous at Chefoo, where he was to remain until +the real views of the Chinese Government respecting a settlement of the +Tongking dispute had been ascertained. The French having set their hearts +on extorting a large indemnity, it was emphatically declared to them that +China would never pay one farthing. Any negotiation, therefore, would be +futile unless this question was first eliminated. Having paved the way +with Li Hung-chang, Mr Detring next proceeded to Chefoo to invite Captain +Fournier to Tientsin. From previous good relations he was _persona grata_ +with Li, and on that account was thought a not unfit agent with whom to +discuss preliminaries in anticipation of the arrival of his admiral. But +that there should be no mistake about the indemnity, Captain Fournier +was once more told that unless it were dropped it would be useless his +proceeding to Tientsin. His doing so, therefore, was a tacit withdrawal +of that important item in the French demands. Both parties being equally +desirous of a settlement, all official technical difficulties were +promptly overcome, and Captain Fournier, from a mere herald of the French +admiral, was by telegraphic instructions from Paris at once promoted to +the rank of plenipotentiary for France, and this notwithstanding that +there was an accredited representative of the Republic eighty miles off +in Peking. The two negotiators, in short, fell into each other's arms, +and the convention of May 11, 1884, was the result. + +The peace so suddenly and irregularly patched up was not, however, +destined to endure. Li Hung-chang, knowing better than any of his +peers the risks of a war with France, had stretched his authority to +the uttermost in concluding a treaty which practically ceded Annam and +Tongking to that Power. For though in this as in all his other acts he +carried with him the approval of the empress-dowager, he knew that he +had to brave the ferocious opposition of the ignorant fanatics of the +capital, which he himself described as the "howling of dogs." The moment +the announcement was made, indeed, the furies were let loose upon him, +and he had practically no support but that of the empress-dowager; for +the Tsungli-Yamên, so far as they were not opposed to the treaty, were +invertebrate. It is necessary to bear in mind this critical position +of Li Hung-chang in order to understand the series of blunders, +misunderstandings, recriminations, and actual war which ensued. + +After the ratification of the treaty, arrangements had to be made for the +withdrawal of the Chinese forces from the territory which had been ceded +to France. Captain Fournier, in an interview with Li Hung-chang, presented +a memorandum fixing the dates on which the troops were to evacuate the +several positions specified. A long discussion appears to have taken +place, in which it is not difficult, from the circumstances above referred +to, to divine what the viceroy's attitude must have been. He wished +to avoid the invidious responsibility of asking the Central Government +to order the withdrawal of the troops from Langson, as to do so would +obviously add fuel to the fire of those powerful functionaries who were +clamouring for the repudiation of the treaty, and for the negotiator's +head. In vain endeavouring to obtain from Fournier an indefinite delay in +carrying out the stipulation for the retirement of the Chinese troops, Li +perhaps trusted that the French commanders in Tongking would themselves +cut the knot by marching forward with an adequate force and brushing away +the Chinese troops opposing them. The accomplished fact would then have +settled everything. + +It has been said that the clever interpreter, instead of translating all +the viceroy's arguments and explaining his difficulties, summed the whole +up to Captain Fournier in two words, "Avancez donc"--advice which would no +doubt have been sufficient if only the French military commander, Colonel +Dugenne, had marched with a reasonable force, or even if he had carried +with him a competent interpreter, through whom he might have communicated +with the Chinese commander. The latter officer, however, when called upon +to evacuate the post, pleaded that he had received no instructions to +that effect, and asked for time to communicate with Peking. The letter +to the French commander containing these reasonable pleas for delay was +either wrongly translated or left untranslated for months. In the meantime +Colonel Dugenne advanced with a small party, and was forced to retreat +with loss, for which he was not unjustly recalled by his own authorities; +and thereupon ensued the Franco-Chinese war. + +This was not, however, the only _contretemps_ in connection with this +lamentable outbreak. The Chinese commander had actually telegraphed +to Li Hung-chang for instructions; but, still unwilling to face the +responsibility, the latter left the reply to his council, among whom +there happened to be for the moment his evil genius, Chang Pei-lun, a +fire-eating member of the Tsungli-Yamên, who was on his way to take up +the post of governor of Fukien province and Imperial Commissioner of the +Foochow arsenal. + +Laudable efforts were made to repair the mischief, and in the conferences +which followed in Paris peace was more than once all but assured; but +owing to a series of accidents and misunderstandings, in which the +authorities at Peking, the French representative there, the French +commanders on the Chinese coast, and the telegraph were all implicated, +the die was cast in August 1884, and the war was continued till the +following April. + +For reasons of their own the French Government were averse to calling the +hostilities "war," preferring reprisals and "intelligent destruction." By +whatever name it may be called, the French did not distinguish themselves +greatly in the conduct of the operations. Their only feat of arms was +the destruction, at their anchorage in the river Min, of the Chinese +ships belonging to the Foochow squadron, and of the arsenal, which, as +Li Hung-chang bitterly reflected, had been erected by "French genius." +Admiral Courbet found his destructive work easy, having entered the river +and taken up a position in the rear of the batteries during time of peace. +The subsequent operations in Formosa were without result; and the French +Government refused permission to Admiral Courbet to attack Port Arthur, +on the non-military ground of wishing to save the prestige of "notre ami +Li Hung-chang." So far as the naval operations were concerned, even when +most successful in intelligent destruction, they were quite ineffective +towards ending the war until the method which has never failed to bring +the Chinese Government to terms was resorted to--the stoppage of the +grain-supply to the capital. This was accomplished by a patrol of the +coast for the purpose of intercepting vessels carrying rice to Tientsin. +The work performed during the winter and spring of 1885 by the French +cruisers, in keeping the sea without any base and performing their patrol +duties in all weathers, excited the admiration of seamen. It should be +mentioned that they were precluded from acting offensively against the +Yangtze by tacit understanding with Great Britain and other Powers. + +If the breach of the peace between France and China was a historical +curiosity, the eventual settlement of the dispute resembled a dramatic +extravaganza. The final incident of the war in Tongking was the defeat +of the French, followed by a panic, caused apparently by General Négrier +being wounded. The force then made a disorderly retreat before imaginary +pursuers. In the meantime the empress-dowager had given positive orders +that peace should be made on any terms. Both parties had thus come round +to the _status quo ante bellum_--that is to say, they were both equally +urgent to obtain peace, as they had been in May 1884. The agent in +bringing this about was Sir Robert Hart; and it was effected, as great +things usually are, by the adroit use of very simple means. During the +blockade of Formosa a small Chinese lighthouse tender was captured by the +French admiral and detained. As she was essentially non-combatant, and was +serving the interests of humanity in supplying the numerous lighthouses +on the coast of China for the benefit of the commerce of all nations, Sir +Robert Hart instructed his very capable London agent, Mr Duncan Campbell, +to go to Paris and represent the case to the French Ministers, with a +view to obtaining the release of so useful and harmless a vessel. In +this manner the door was opened to the larger negotiation. Mr Campbell +executed his delicate mission with so much tact, that in the amicable +conversations which ensued between him and certain French officials the +idea of putting an end to a war of which both parties were tired, and +which, moreover, seemed objectless, was ventilated; and in a few days +authority was telegraphed from Peking to Mr Campbell to sign a protocol. + +This was done before the news of the French reverse at Langson reached +Paris. After such a military success M. Jules Ferry could not imagine +that the Chinese Government would adhere to the terms of the protocol, +and therefore he kept the whole negotiation secret from the Chambers. In +the meanwhile the mishap to the French troops, being greatly exaggerated, +excited such intense feeling in France that M. Ferry, _le Tonkinois_, +was obliged to resign, with the treaty which might have saved him in his +pocket. As for the empress-dowager, she recked nothing of the success of +her brave troops on the outskirts of the empire, but thought only of the +enormous expense of the war, which had been unpleasantly brought home to +her, and of matters affecting her own convenience. She therefore had no +thought of going back on the treaty, but was even more urgent than before +to have it promptly signed and ratified. The honours of the peace thus +fell in a few days to M. Ferry's successor. + +And what was the outcome of a year's fighting which cost China 100,000,000 +taels and France some proportionate amount? A simple reaffirmation of the +Li-Fournier convention of May 1884! The convention itself was short and +simple--one clause only exciting much interest during the negotiations, +and that provoked a hot discussion, not on the substance, but on the +verbal form. It was a stipulation by which the two contracting parties +consciously meant different things, and each fought hard for a phrase +sufficiently subtle to allow each to interpret it in his own way when the +time came for the fulfilment of the treaty provisions. The French were +most desirous of binding the Chinese to employ French industries in all +their new undertakings. China was equally resolute in avoiding any such +obligation. In the end each was satisfied that he could read the treaty +clause in his own favour. But the final victory in the struggle would go +to the side that was most persistent in forcing its meaning into practice. +The French Ministry had announced to the Chambers a great victory for +French manufacturing industries, which were represented as having by it +obtained a monopoly in China. The text of the treaty, even in the French +version, did not, indeed, bear this out; but the French had the _primâ +facie_ argument on their side, that the introduction of a clause in a +treaty referring to the Chinese patronage of French industries, however +worded, must have meant something more than merely to register the common +fact that China was at liberty to deal with whom she pleased. In the +end a compromise was effected by China's giving to a French syndicate +the contract for excavating the basin and dock at Port Arthur and +certain orders for material, among which was a famous military balloon, +wonderfully symbolic of the whole proceeding. + + [Illustration] + +FOOTNOTE: + + [26] 'Contemporary Review,' December 1884. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE FRENCH PROTECTORATE OF CHRISTIANS. + + Alliance with Church the corner-stone of French + conquest--Persistence of French ambitions in the Far + East--Protectorate of native Christians--Its abuse by the + propaganda--Forcible erection of cathedrals in Peking--Imperial + family aggrieved thereby--Negotiations for removal of church + from palace grounds--Mr Dunn's mission to Rome--Vatican to send + a nuncio--French Government vetos--French minister vetos transfer + of cathedral--Unless transaction placed in his hands. + + +The claim of France to protect Christians against the native authorities +in the Far East constitutes the basis and the origin of her present +political position in those countries. The propagation of the faith was, +indeed, a recognised element in the adventures of other countries besides +France; but she has, since the eclipse of Portugal and Spain, enjoyed +the distinction of a working alliance with the Church in furthering the +foreign domination of both. "Church and State, linked in alliance close +and potential, played faithfully into each other's hands," says Parkman +('Jesuits in North America'). In the reign of Louis XIV. the kingdom +of Siam was the object of their joint attention. A missionary bishop +persuaded the most Christian king that to establish the Church in Siam +and convert king and country to the Catholic faith would open an effectual +door for the extension of French commerce. A century later another bishop +persuaded another Louis to interfere in the affairs of Annam, and only +the events of 1789 cut short an expedition that was being prepared of +politico-ecclesiastical propagandism. Napoleon III. took up the cause, +and actually effected the conquest of Cochin China; and Gambetta was +so enthusiastic on the subject that, while persecuting the Catholics in +France, he was ready to expend the forces of the Republic in protecting +them in distant countries. + +There is here, therefore, irrespective of persons or forms of government, +an unbroken tradition, which furnishes a key to the successive operations +of France in the Far East. Thus when she resolved to join England in +hostilities against China in 1857 a pretext was ready to hand in the +murder of a Catholic priest in the interior of the country, his presence +there being a defiance of the laws of the empire. There has been flux +and reflux in French policy, but no change in its direction; and though +prudence has from time to time set limits to its full expression, +the claim to a special representation of Chinese Christians has been +consistently pursued as a cardinal object of the French military, naval, +and diplomatic forces in the Far East. + +The treaties of 1858 for the first time authorised travelling into the +interior, and placed French subjects, whether missionary or not, who +availed themselves of the permission, under the protection of their own +country. But ever since the convention of Peking in 1860 it has been +sought by indirect and unobtrusive means to assume the protectorate over +native Christians as well. The interpolated clause in the Chinese, which +was no part of the authentic French version of the convention, lent a +certain colour to the pretension by seeming to recognise communities +of Chinese Christians as legal units and fit subjects of international +agreement between China and France. Nevertheless, "French interference +between the Chinese authorities and the subjects of the empire of China +has never had any treaty warrant or justification by the law of nations," +wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock in the 'Nineteenth Century,' November 1886; +and he added, "China has the remedy in her own hands, to a certain extent, +by refusing to admit the pretension." The Chinese Government had long +been alive to the danger, as its elaborate appeal to the reason of the +Powers in 1871 amply testified, but its eyes were opened still wider by +the lesson of the Tongking war. A disposition was thereafter evinced to +withstand the claim of the French, and the action of Germany afforded +sufficient support to the Chinese position, had the Government only +had the courage and perspicacity to lean upon it. For in the Catholic +propaganda were missionaries of German origin, who were not permitted to +divest themselves of their nationality, but were made to apply for their +passports into the interior not to the French, but the German, Legation in +Peking. Had Italy and Spain been equally independent, the question of the +French, or any other protectorate, could scarcely have been entertained +without introducing the element of separate foreign nationalism into +the constitution of the Christian communities in China, which would not, +perhaps, have been agreeable to the views of the Catholic propagandists, +for they naturally aspired to maintain their independence as a compact +ecclesiastical organisation. + +The dread of the French protectorate was much accentuated by the enforced +restitution of ancient buildings, the most conspicuous examples of which +occurred in the city of Peking itself, and even within the area of the +imperial palace. The sites of three ancient churches being claimed by the +French Minister, the emperor's Government was compelled to violate its +sense of justice by evicting the existing owners. The original building of +one of the three was found practically intact, though hidden by the houses +built round and against its walls. These of course had to be cleared away, +regardless of the rights of their occupants. The interior fittings and +decorations of the church had disappeared, but, strange to say, much of +the wood carving and other ornaments were gradually recovered from the +old-curiosity shops, where the parts not destroyed had, by the instinct +of the Wardour Street craft, been preserved, begrimed with the dust of a +hundred years and hopelessly unsaleable. By patiently collecting these +disjointed fragments and piecing them together like a Chinese puzzle, +the Fathers were able gradually to restore the church to something like +its original state, so that it became itself an interesting relic of the +golden age of the Jesuits in Peking. + +The other two churches had been demolished, and the sites converted to +secular uses, requiring some ingenuity to identify. When these sites +were, under the new dispensation, cleared of superincumbent buildings, +churches were erected as much exceeding the original as the glory of +the Jewish temple, rebuilt after the Captivity, excelled that of the +former house. The restrictions imposed by the Government on the style of +the buildings, the last vestige of power which they dared assert, bore +lightly on the astute constructors of the new churches. In deference +to a common Chinese objection, perhaps partly superstitious, to lofty +structures overlooking them, a limit was set to the height of the new +buildings. But remonstrances after completion were easily disposed of by +the pious Fathers inviting the objectors to go and measure the towers! The +Chinese seem to have the same constitutional dislike of a demonstration +that they have to a straight line or a right angle, and a challenge +like this never failed to put them to silence. As to their neglect to +exercise their right of supervision during construction, the shortest +way to characterise it is merely to say it was Chinese. The same kind of +negligence also allowed roofs of cathedrals, not in the capital alone, but +in distant provinces, to be covered with yellow tiles, a colour reserved +exclusively for imperial use. It is true the process was disguised, for +the benefit of those who chose to be blind, by the tiles being whitewashed +before being sent aloft, leaving to the slow action of the weather the +gradual revelation of the imperial colour, which might then, indeed, be +represented as the act of Heaven. Nothing is too transparent to deceive +those who are willing to be deceived. + + [Illustration: PEI-T'ANG CATHEDRAL IN PEKING, PURCHASED BY CHINESE + GOVERNMENT.] + +The cathedral around which the greatest interest centred, however, was the +one which was erected within the palace grounds. The site had been granted +by the great Emperor Kanghsi, the most imperial of the Manchu line, to the +learned fathers who cured his fever by administering Jesuits' bark, then +a new discovery, and whom he reckoned on attaching to his house by the +favours bestowed on them. The new building was presumably erected on or +near the site of the old, against the most urgent protests of the Court. +Every inducement was offered to the French--larger and better sites, +perhaps other compensations as well--if they would forego their demand +for the resumption of the ground; but the French Government being set +upon marking its ascendancy by a permanent sign, compelled the erection +of the Pei-t'ang Cathedral on the spot indicated. The Lazarists, who had +succeeded to the Jesuits in North China, had a kindly bishop at their +head, who conceded much in the structure of the new building to soothe +the feelings of the imperial family. Nevertheless, stunted as they were, +from the point of view of architectural symmetry, the double towers of the +cathedral were visible from the palace, and the two belfries commanded +a view over a large part of the precincts. The building was therefore +an eyesore to the inmates for twenty years, on the common ground on +which it would have been offensive even to a provincial population, but +still more as a staring monument of the deepest humiliation the dynasty +had endured.[27] The empress-dowager bore the grievance, but not with +resignation, for soon after the affairs of the empire assumed a settled +aspect she urged her Ministers to find a way to get rid of the obnoxious +building. + +Monseigneur Delaplace had, in his former diocese of Chêkiang, rendered +good service to the Government in opposing the rebels, for which he was +granted high Chinese rank. Being dissatisfied with the action of France +after the Tientsin massacre of 1870, he extricated his mission from the +control of the French Legation in Peking, and from that date till his +death in 1882 conducted its affairs in direct communication with the +Tsungli-Yamên. Fully recognising how hateful his cathedral was to the +Chinese, he co-operated with Prince Kung and Wênsiang in their efforts +to remove it, and in 1874 he actually concluded an agreement with them +to that effect. But the contract was vetoed by the French Government. The +sore was thus reopened and continued to fester until 1881, when there was +so much excitement in the capital that the Church and mission were thought +to be in great danger. During the Tongking troubles the question of the +cathedral was allowed to rest, but no sooner was peace assured than the +Court again became restless, and with renewed urgency sought a remedy for +its grievance. + +The negotiations, which proved successful, were entered upon in an +irregular manner, such as has characterised so many of the Chinese +official acts. An Englishman in Peking, who had had business dealings with +the Government, was asked one day by the confidential factotum of Prince +Ch'un whether he could render assistance in the matter of the Pei-t'ang. +The case was explained at length, and the foreigner, not being then aware +of the negotiations of 1874, suggested, as the most obvious course, trying +to make an arrangement with the Lazarist mission. The Manchu shook his +head, to signify the futility of that proceeding. The enterprise thus +seemed desperate, unless the Imperial Government should exercise its +sovereign right of expropriation,--much too drastic a measure for any +Chinese Government to attempt. + +One hope only seemed to remain, a direct appeal to the Vatican. This led +to a long conversation on the Papacy, and the Manchu official,[28] being a +pious and even a learned Buddhist, became intensely interested in hearing +much that was new to him respecting the position and prerogatives of the +European Dalai Lama. Nor did the "great Western Saint," whose vicegerent +the Pope claims to be, fail to evoke the deep reverence of both the Manchu +and the Chinese who were present, so that one might be almost justified +in appropriating words uttered on a different occasion,--they were "not +very far from the kingdom" ruled by "the Western Saint." + +But the interesting question was, How was the Vatican to be approached? By +a qualified secret agent intrusted with the full confidence of the Chinese +Court. The mission would be by no means easy, for should its object become +known, it would be thwarted in advance from mere jealousy, if from no +other motive, by Lazarist and perhaps other Catholic missions, so that +access to the Supreme Pontiff would be blocked at the outset. The mission +would also be certain to arouse the strenuous hostility of the French +Government. After discussing the problem from all sides for three hours, +the Manchu cut it short by the abrupt question, "Will you go?" "No," said +the foreigner; "such an undertaking requires quite other qualities than +any I possess. But," he added, after considering the matter, "I think I +know the man who might carry it through." "Where is he? in Peking? Bring +him here," were rapped out like musketry-fire, showing how urgent was +the subject. The agent recommended to him was Mr J. G. Dunn, a man of +genius and of varied accomplishments, a Catholic, and having an extensive +personal acquaintance with the propaganda. He was at once invited to +Peking, when another long conference ensued, and Mr Dunn was requested to +draw up a memorandum on the whole scheme for the information of Prince +Ch'un. After waiting some time for a response Mr Dunn left the capital, +decidedly disappointed, for he was eager for a service so congenial to +his character and feelings. Indeed had the mission been created for the +man, or the man for the mission, the harmony between means and ends could +hardly have been closer. + +Several months elapsed before the question emerged again from official +obscurity, and the manner of it is worth relating if only for the +side-light it throws on Chinese methods. Li Hung-chang paid a visit to the +capital in 1885, and soon after his return to Tientsin he requested his +secretaries to find out where Mr Dunn was and to invite him by telegraph +to come to see the viceroy. Not knowing why he was sent for, any more +than Gordon did when summoned from India five years before, Mr Dunn came, +and Li at once entered on the Pei-t'ang question, showing him his own +memorandum on the subject. The affair having been placed by Prince Ch'un +in the hands of Li Hung-chang to be carried through, Mr Dunn was promptly +commissioned, and in concert with the viceroy's secretary, the very +capable officer who now represents China at Washington, the emissary's +instructions and credentials were drawn up. There were two separate +instructions, and no little confusion was caused thereby. + +On leaving China for Rome, Mr Dunn stipulated that a competent +intermediary should be appointed to interpret his correspondence to Li +Hung-chang, a duty which was intrusted to the commissioner of customs in +Tientsin. The utility of this provision was soon made manifest, for when +telegrams began to arrive from Rome, their purport was unintelligible, +as they seemed irrelevant to the expropriation of the cathedral, which +was Mr Dunn's special mission. Irritated by this apparent aberration, +the viceroy's idea was to recall the emissary. But when it was suggested +that the copies of his credentials should be first carefully examined +the position became clearer. One part of his instructions was then found +to be directed towards the question of the Christian protectorate, and +Mr Dunn was, in fact, diplomatising with the Pope with a view to his +appointing a nuncio or apostolic delegate to China to represent all the +Catholic missions. The Chinese had not fully mastered this idea, and even +Li Hung-chang, who has a wonderful memory, had forgotten the existence +of the second section of his instructions, which no doubt Mr Dunn had +drawn up himself. The Tsungli-Yamên, languid and bemused, hesitated to +express any opinion, and assumed their habitual passive attitude. One +person alone really grasped the importance of having the Church in China +represented by the delegate of a Power "which has no armies or fleets +wherewith to threaten or attack." The empress-dowager, when the nomination +of Mgr. Agliardi was announced, and his coming depended on formal imperial +invitation, sent the urgent message to the Yamên, "Get that man here; lose +no time." + +Mr Dunn's negotiations with the Vatican of course soon leaked out; notices +appeared in the press; Mr Punch had his little joke that though there +was evidently a good deal _doing_, the question was, Who was _Dunn_? The +French Government took the matter up energetically through their Minister +in Rome, and their diplomatic efforts having failed, they presented +an ultimatum to the Pope which compelled him to cancel the appointment +of his nuncio. France threatening to terminate the concordat, withdraw +the subvention to the Church in France, and sequestrate its ministers, +the Holy Father had no option but to submit. With tears in his eyes he +deplored his impotence to respond to the invitation of China under such +a truculent menace to "his children in France." + +While these things were going on in Rome the transference of the Pei-t'ang +Cathedral, which had been settled in principle through Mr Dunn, was then +taken up by the Lazarist Mission, and the popular Père Favier was deputed +by the Bishop of Peking to proceed to Rome and to Paris to obtain from +the Vatican and the General of the Lazarist Order the specific authority +to negotiate the transfer. Having brought back the necessary powers, +a convention was shortly concluded between Bishop Tagliabue and Li +Hung-chang. The Church made an excellent bargain, as it generally does: +a new site of about thrice the area was granted close to the old on the +opposite side of the broad roadway, and a bountiful compensation in money +was made for the trouble and cost of removal. But after the agreement was +signed the French Government interposed its veto so far as to insist on +being the intermediary through whose hands the transaction should pass. +France also, it was said, had previously essayed to _marchander_ with +China for her consent, but withdrew when it became clear that further +obstruction might entail untoward consequences. To mark its satisfaction +at the final solution of this question, the Chinese Government eulogised +all those who had helped to bring it about, and bestowed high rank on +Bishop Tagliabue and the Abbé Favier (now bishop). + +This transaction supplied a crucial test of French policy and pretensions +in China, the first concrete expression of both that had been obtained +since the forcible restitution of Church property immediately after the +capture of Peking. The coercion, indeed, was applied on this occasion +to the Roman Pontiff and the Catholic Church rather than to the Chinese +Government; but the latter were not so dull as not to see to what +ulterior objects the French scheme might be extended, given convenient +circumstances. They were, in fact, really alarmed, and the question was +discussed with some warmth in the Chinese as well as in the European +press. "The end is not yet," wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock; "China may +be less open to intimidation than heretofore, and assert her undoubted +right to refuse the recognition of an assumed protectorate over Roman +missions, irrespective of the nationality of their members." The French +press espoused the cause of the protectorate warmly, treating it as a most +valuable national asset. The Chinese press took up the question in reply. +Their view of the position was comprehensively summed up in a native +newspaper in October 1886 in the following terms:-- + + It has been said by them of old time that when a man is found + acting injuriously to his own family but benevolently to strangers + his behaviour is unnatural, and there is something hidden under + the cloak of outward kindness. + + We have from time to time printed translations from various + foreign newspapers on the subject of the relations between the + Chinese Government and the Pope. Some days ago we reproduced an + article on the same subject from the 'Temps,' a French newspaper + of the highest authority. These articles all indicate that the + French Government is greatly troubled at the prospect of losing + what is called the right to protect Christians in China. This is + a question which has not hitherto been much considered by Chinese + statesmen. Those of them who have been in Europe, or who have + studied political affairs there, know something of the importance + of the issues which are covered up in that apparently harmless + word "protection"; but it is hardly to be expected that the + Ministers and statesmen who have scarcely travelled beyond the + walls of Peking can realise the full significance of the phrase. + Nothing is better calculated to quicken the apprehension of the + Government on this point than the extraordinary excitement of the + French Government, which insists on protecting the Christians + in China whether they desire this protection or not. For now + that the French have so plainly shown their secret designs, it + would be impossible for China to acquiesce, by word or deed, in + the pretensions which France sets up. It is rather suspicious + that the French Government, the greatest enemy of Christianity, + which is constantly oppressing the priests and confiscating their + property in France, should be so intensely desirous of protecting + Christians in China, where this protection is not required. A + leading French statesman, Gambetta, who died a few years ago, + left as a legacy to his followers the doctrine that the Church + should be suppressed in France but supported in all foreign + countries. Gambetta was a man who had no reverence for Heaven, and + no religion, and seems to have regarded Christianity as a disease + which he wished his own country to be rid of, but was not sorry + to see it spreading elsewhere. It is necessary to keep these ideas + in mind in order to understand the action of the French Government + to-day. + + It would be out of place here to discuss what Christianity + is. Like Buddhism, it had a very pure origin, and the living + principles of both are mercy, benevolence, and peace. But both + religions have in course of ages been overlaid with doctrines and + practices which have obscured the simplicity of their origin, + and even changed their character. But the greatest misfortune + to Christianity is that it has been made use of by princes + as a pretext for wars of aggression. In fact, nearly all the + wars of Europe for the last thousand years have been in some + way connected with religion. This is sometimes made a reproach + against Christianity, which professes to be founded on peace and + self-sacrifice, but the reproach is scarcely just. Rather it is + the peaceful character of Christianity which has induced ambitious + statesmen to make use of it to work out their own designs, just as + in private life unscrupulous men are sometimes enabled to carry + out questionable plans by using the names of men of blameless + character. We are only now concerned with the political aspect of + Christianity, not its merits as a religion. The modern history of + Turkey affords the best illustration of the danger of allowing + foreign Powers to interfere in matters of religion. During the + last hundred years Russia has several times made war on Turkey, + always on the pretext of protecting Christians, and it is this + which is fast breaking up the Turkish empire. It is interesting + to observe that Russia and France follow the same policy in this + matter. When the French Legation withdrew from Peking on the 2nd + day of the 7th moon of the 10th year of Kwanghsu (22nd August + 1884), the affairs of the Christians were transferred to the + Russian Legation. The Ministers of the Tsungli-Yamên remember + very well how eagerly the Russian Minister assumed the office + of protector of Christians, going to even greater lengths in the + way of protection than the French themselves had done. The reason + for this is plain. Russia, although she has none now, expects to + have by-and-by many Christians in Mongolia and Manchuria who may + be extremely useful to her in her aggressive designs on China. + Therefore the Russian officials, always looking very far ahead, + were most anxious to establish a right of interference for the + protection of Christians. And they could do this without reproach + when they were acting not for themselves but for France during + war-time; well knowing that, whatever position she succeeded in + establishing for France, Russia could claim for herself when the + proper time came. But the more anxious Russia and France are to + assert the right of interfering with Chinese Christians, the more + resolute China should be in resisting all such interference. The + only safety for China is to treat Christians, whether Chinese + or foreign, exactly as all other people are treated--to make no + distinctions. Foreign missionaries have the right to travel and + reside in the interior; they can exercise this right without + getting passports from the French Minister. The Catholic missions + are composed of men of all nations, but they all have Ministers in + Peking to whom they can apply for passports. Let the Germans get + their passports from the German Legation, the Spaniards from the + Spanish, Italians, Belgians, and Hollanders from their respective + Legations, but no European State has any right to arrogate to + itself the position of protector of missionaries in general. + + It is satisfactory to learn that the head of the Catholic Church + is of this opinion, and although grateful to France for what + she has done in the past, is now desirous of being free from + French protection in the future. To carry out these views, the + Pope is about to send to China a very high official to reside + in Peking and perform the functions of a Minister. As the Pope + has no troops and no territory, but is merely a kind of Dalai + Lama, there is no danger to China from opening direct relations + with him. The affairs of the missionaries can then be dealt with + in an open and straightforward manner, as no fear of political + traps will lurk behind. The Christians when they know they are no + longer protected by a military State will understand that their + security will depend on their own wisdom in avoiding offence. + And the officials and people, on the other hand, will gradually + learn that the Christians are only anxious to lead virtuous + lives, without any political ambition, and they will respect + them. The Imperial Government will then also be able to extend + its favour to all Christians and missionaries without the fear + of nursing traitors in its bosom. The missionaries have among + them men of great learning and much skill in sciences, which the + Emperor Kanghsi--who must always stand as the model for Chinese + rulers--knew very well how to utilise. The present generation + possesses men no less capable of rendering good services to China, + and there would be no reason for not using them if the suspicion + of their being agents of the French Government were once cleared + away. + +Notwithstanding so much clear thinking, however, the action of the +Chinese continued, as before, nebulous. They seemed never able to seize +the bull by the horns, but drifted on, allowing themselves constantly to +be put in the wrong, hoping perhaps to accomplish by illegitimate means +what was within their legal competence. Afraid or unwilling to control +the provincial authorities, they allowed outrages to be perpetrated for +which they refused redress until coercion was applied, thus affording to +foreign Powers a not in all cases unwelcome pretext for extending their +protection even to Chinese Christians. Within a month of the consummation +of the transfer of the Pei-t'ang Cathedral, and after the Marquis Tsêng, +fresh from Europe, had taken his seat at the Board, the Tsungli-Yamên had +fallen into its chronic apathy with regard to Christians. A missionary +named Bodinier arrived in Peking from distant Kweichow for the purpose +of soliciting the intervention or intercession of the French Legation +in favour of the persecuted Christians in that province. While he +was on his journey the Catholics of Chungking in Szechuan were being +similarly maltreated. Certain disturbances in that great commercial mart +culminated in the attack on the house of a wealthy Christian family, which +resisted the assailants, several of whom were killed in the affray. The +magistrates, who had been supine during the time when the mischief was +brewing, thereupon arrested the head of the Lo family and condemned him +to death,--an exercise of authority which was held to be arbitrary, and +invidiously directed against Christians. Here was an occasion when the +Central Government should have taken prompt action, and so deprived the +French Government of any pretext for interference. It was a moment when +that Government was less apt than usual to put forth its power in the +Christian cause. M. Constans was Minister in China, and he was personally +not at all disposed to assume the protection of Chinese Christians. +Nevertheless, the case being urgent, and the Tsungli-Yamên either cowardly +or indifferent, M. Constans broke through the rule he had laid down for +himself so far as to telegraph to Paris for instructions. The reply was +prompt, doubtless inspired by the propaganda at home, to the effect that +he should take up the case of Mr Lo. Thus the Chinese threw away a golden +opportunity of showing to the world that the Chinese Christians did not +stand in need of any foreign aid. An impartial investigation might have +shown, indeed, that the Christians were the aggressors, and the local +Chinese officials might have been vindicated from the charges made against +them. But the Government's inaction constantly puts it in the wrong even +when it may be substantially in the right. The same fatal course has been +regularly pursued even to our day, with results patent to all. + +FOOTNOTES: + + [27] The effect of these imposing edifices, which dwarf into + insignificance the most pretentious native buildings, is well + exemplified in the approach to Canton, where the French cathedral + church, erected on the site of the Viceroy Yeh's _yamên_, is the + only object visible, and where the idea of a permanent memorial + of defeat is well realised. It is not a conciliatory policy; + irresistible force is required to maintain it. + + [28] See _supra_, p. 308. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +BRITISH SERVICES: DIPLOMATIC, CONSULAR, AND JUDICIAL. + + Necessity for administrative and judicial control over + British subjects--Consular courts--Supreme court for China and + Japan--_Personnel_ of the consular service--Functions of the + diplomatic representatives--Absence of distinction explained by + apathy of Home Government--Need of reform. + + +The frequent references throughout this work to the part played by British +agents in the development of intercourse with China seem to call for a +short account of the character and status of the official machinery which +served for so many years as the principal working joint between the two +opposed systems of civilisation. + +The relations between Great Britain and China were necessarily at first +experimental. The consuls appointed to the five ports were selected with +no special training, and the chief superintendent, to whom they looked +for guidance, was scarcely better furnished than themselves. Yet, as has +been shown, the remoteness of the consuls from their chief, and of both +from the Government they served, threw them much upon their own resources. +How the demand for independent initiative was responded to by some of the +individuals concerned has been incidentally noticed in previous chapters. + +From the time when it assumed direct relations with China, the need of an +effective control over British subjects resorting to that country weighed +heavily on the British Government; for in exempting them from native +jurisdiction the Government took on itself the responsibility for the good +behaviour of its people. The exercise of this control was necessarily +tentative, proceeding step by step as occasions arose. The unceasing +solicitude of the Government for the orderly conduct of its subjects in +China is testified by a long series of Orders in Council conferring on +the consuls and their superintendent an almost despotic authority over the +persons of the British residents. The operation of this arbitrary system +was more satisfactory than could have been expected, thanks to the high +character of the parties concerned and the common-sense which governed +their mutual relations. In their double capacity, however, of protectors +of Chinese and foreigners against the inroads of British subjects, and of +the latter against the inroads of the Chinese, the consuls soon discovered +that the one part of their duty was easy and the other difficult; and +it is no matter for wonder, therefore, if, following the line of least +resistance, some of them should have leaned to the side of repression +rather than to that of the encouragement of their countrymen. This was +noticeable even in judicial proceedings, where the consul was supreme +over his own nationals, but had no authority over their opponents. Some +check on the consequences of consular idiosyncrasies and defective legal +knowledge was maintained by a supreme court in Hongkong, independent +alike of the superintendent of trade and of the governor of the colony, +to which court appeals lay from consular decisions. This prerogative +of the colonial court was not unnaturally irksome to the diplomatic and +consular servants of the Foreign Office, and was doubtless one cause of +the coolness, not to say antipathy, with which the colony has generally +been regarded by them. + +The treaties of 1858 and 1860 were followed by a great development +in all three services--diplomatic, consular, and judicial. Some years +previously the China consular service began to be treated as a career for +which special preparation was required, the entry being by competitive +examination, through which a certain number of students were annually sent +out to China, there to complete their education and then take their part +in executive work. When additional ports were opened, therefore, making +about twenty in all, in 1861, there was the full complement of qualified +men ready to occupy the new consular posts, each of them competent to be +his own interpreter. Diplomatic functions were at the same time withdrawn +from Hongkong, where they had been merely nominal for eighteen years, +and became centred in the Chinese capital. A few years later the judicial +authority, so far as it related to the communities at the Chinese ports, +was also withdrawn from Hongkong, and was conferred upon the Supreme Court +for China and Japan, having its headquarters in Shanghai, established by +the Queen's Order in Council of 1864. The new court was inaugurated by +Sir Edmund Hornby, who brought to the work practical experience gained in +the Levant, the assistant judge being Mr C. W. Goodwin, Barrister of the +Inner Temple. This establishment has furnished a solvent for many of the +difficulties connected with British residence in the Far East. Adapted +with judgment to local circumstances, the court has proved of immense +assistance to the consuls, who, subordinated judicially to the chief +judge, could now obtain from him proper guidance in their difficulties, +a facility of which they availed themselves freely. + +Although a great advance on what preceded it, the Supreme Court could +not of course escape from all the drawbacks which affected the consular +courts. As between British subjects, it enjoyed the full powers of law +courts in the mother country; but as between British subjects on the one +hand, and the natives of the country, or non-British residents, on the +other, the authority of the British court could only be exercised over the +former. This one-sided action has been to some extent compensated in later +times by the judicial qualifications of consuls representing other Western +nationalities, who administer their own laws with the same impartiality +as the British courts do theirs. But as regards the Chinese no such +compensation operates, for although the treaties make provision for the +judicial action of the Chinese authorities, their conceptions of equity +and forms of procedure being wholly alien to those of the Western nations, +their decisions seldom satisfy the foreign litigant. An attempt to supply +a connecting-link between two radically different juridical ideals was +made in the setting up of mixed courts for the purpose of dealing with +petty cases between natives and foreigners within the settlements of +Shanghai. These courts have been occasionally presided over by honest and +competent judges, assisted by able foreign assessors; but as the native +magistrates, being men of low rank, could always be overruled by the local +executive, they lacked the power to make their decisions effective. + +As it was impossible to set up a separate judicial establishment at +each treaty port where there was but a handful of residents, the consuls +had to continue to perform magisterial duty with all the inconveniences +attending their double function. Efforts were made by the Home Government +to minimise these disadvantages by infusing a modicum of legal knowledge +into the service, for which purpose they offered inducements to consular +officials who should qualify as barristers. Notwithstanding all this, +however, the simple fact that a consul is bound in his administrative +capacity to take a part in matters which may afterwards come before him as +a judge perpetuates an element of incongruity demanding an uncommon degree +of tact on the part of the official. Some of the worst consequences to be +apprehended from this state of things are partially obviated by the judge +or assistant judge of the Supreme Court going on circuit, when important +cases in the consular districts require it; but that expedient is only +possible at rare intervals. + +The wisdom with which the Supreme Court has been directed is attested +by the absence of incident in its history, and by the universal tacit +approval of its proceedings. Its success, indeed, soon came to be accepted +so much as a matter of course that the true source of it was forgotten. +It was, however, recalled vividly to the public memory by a certain +retrograde movement. After a quarter of a century of satisfactory working +her Majesty's Government took a step which was equivalent to pulling out +the corner-stone of the edifice--the absolute independence of the bench. +In order to effect an economy in salaries, it was ordained that the two +incompatible offices--the judicial and political--should be merged into +one, making the chief judge consul-general, and the assistant judge consul +for Shanghai. By this move the judges became subordinate to the Legation +in Peking, and the Supreme Court itself was subjected to all the evils of +the dual function under which the consuls had been labouring. Thanks to +the exceptional qualities of the holders of the double office, no glaring +scandal arose out of the unnatural combination; but the protests of the +community, and of the incumbent of the two offices himself, were strong +enough to induce the Foreign Office, after a few years' trial, to retrace +their false step and restore the judge to his independence. + + * * * * * + +The twenty consular establishments in China on which the Select Committee +of the House of Commons reported in 1872 were manned by forty "effectives +on duty," besides a considerable contingent on furlough. The ten posts +subsequently created employ on an average twenty more. Two complete +generations of officials have passed through the consular mill in fifty +years, which may be moderately reckoned at two hundred men, all of them +selected by a competitive examination only one degree less stringent +than that for the Indian Civil Service, and nearly all of them men +of varied accomplishments. They have been placed in every part of the +wide empire of China, and during their career have been shifted about +so that every one has had chances of interesting himself in localities +strongly contrasted with each other, both as regards official labour +and personal recreation and study. From a body of highly educated men +so situated, it was naturally to be expected that much enlightenment +would be obtained concerning China and its people, and considerable +progress made in the promotion of amiable intercourse between them and +foreigners. These expectations have not been disappointed. In the period +immediately following the peace of 1860 remarkable activity was shown +by British consular officers. The names of Meadows, Markham, Alabaster, +Oxenham, recall many exploits of exploration in the interior during +very troublous times. Swinhoe, Baber, Hosie, Bourne, Spence, Davenport, +Parker, have continued the work and greatly extended its area. Others +have distinguished themselves in the held of literary research, and +some have found their appropriate reward in honourable appointments in +English universities. On the whole, there has been lack of neither energy +nor capacity in the British consular service; and yet it is a matter of +common remark, even by its members themselves, that in their primary duty +of promoting and defending the interests of British commerce they have +been unsuccessful. Treaty rights, they admit, have not been safeguarded +at the Chinese ports, and this in spite of every apparent incentive to +exertion in their defence. A distinction, however, must be drawn between +an apparent incentive which is general and remote, such as the patriotic +desire for the advancement of their country's interests, and those +influences which are nearer and more personal. The attitude of the China +consuls can only be fairly estimated in its relation to that of their +chief, and his again in relation to that of the Home Government. "Like +master, like man," is an adage which fits the case, and it is to Peking +and to London we must look for the key to the character of the consular +rank and file. + + * * * * * + +The British Ministers at Peking have been selected without any fixed +rule. The first of the series was taken from the diplomatic circle. The +succeeding three, whose term of office covered a period of twenty years, +were chosen from among the veterans of the consular service. The next +two were taken from the junior ranks of diplomacy, and the seventh was a +military officer from Africa. The appointment of Sir Robert Hart in 1885, +which was cancelled by his wish, afforded further illustration of the +extreme catholicity of the Government's elective faculty. + +The witnesses examined before the Select Committee of the House of +Commons in 1872 were unanimous in insisting on the necessity for long and +special training for the office of consul in China, and this principle +has been strictly followed by the Government. But for the higher post of +superintendent of all the consuls the Government has, at least since 1885, +acted on the theory that no such qualification is necessary. But the task +of a Minister to China is by no means an easy one. It may be left undone, +or it may be done so badly that it were better not to be done at all, but +to discharge the duties of the office in a creditable manner requires not +only high training but large capacity. The Minister has to conduct his +own diplomatic duties in the capital, in which not the Chinese alone but +all or nearly all his foreign colleagues are openly or secretly thwarting +him. He has at the same time to direct the proceedings of twenty or thirty +officers placed at great distances, whom he has never seen, and every one +of whom is superior to himself in the knowledge of the conditions to be +dealt with. For such a duty it is obvious that an officer sent from Europe +must be incompetent, the circumstances of the service in China differing +essentially from those prevailing elsewhere. The new incumbent, unless +he were a born genius, could never get beyond the elementary lessons of +experience before, overtaken by promotion, he shakes the Chinese dust off +his feet for ever. Much might of course be learned by personal observation +at the consular ports and conference with local officials and people in +the provinces, but it is somewhat singular that this obvious source of +intelligence has been taken advantage of almost exclusively by those of +the British Ministers who stood the least in need of it. Indeed the only +one of them who made it a rule to visit the treaty ports at intervals +was Sir Rutherford Alcock, whose long experience convinced him of the +necessity of constantly refreshing and extending his knowledge of local +circumstances and people. + +A service dispersed over such a large area as the Chinese empire, carried +on by despatches between parties who were strangers to each other, and +one of whom at least had no personal knowledge of the subjects treated, +must have been characterised by an absence of reality, and must have +tended more and more towards a perfunctory routine. For this, however, +the system of appointing Ministers who were strangers to the country +was not wholly responsible. Long before the Ministers were so selected +the secretaries began to be sent from European schools, and thus the +consular service, disheartened by inadequate pay and a constant menace +of further diminution, saw the few prizes of their profession withdrawn +from their reach. To serve his time quietly, therefore, to earn his +pension and retire without a stain on his character, became more or less +the consular ideal. Ambition was starved among those who had to bear +the burden and heat of a thirty years' residence in China, when they saw +good posts thrown away upon men imported for two or three years, who were +almost useless, and who themselves deplored their enforced idleness. The +disadvantages attending these exotic importations have been often insisted +upon. An old member of the consul staff comments upon it in the following +practical manner:-- + + In every country administered by the British Crown, or at + every Court at which there is a British representative, the + administrator or envoy has from the moment of his entering + on the duties of his office the assistance of an experienced + staff, well versed in the local history and traditions, or finds + himself in the midst of a society the language and usages of + which are familiar to him. In China, where we have been fighting + and negotiating for over fifty years, we are not so fortunate. + A Minister proceeds there, and on his arrival finds himself in + a new and to him unknown country, the staff which he may bring + with him being like himself utterly unacquainted with the East + and its peoples. The Minister is obliged either to grope his way + unassisted, or to rely on the aids and advice of experienced (but + not always disinterested) outsiders. Under these circumstances his + only wise course is to put himself entirely in the hands of the + permanent local staff, which, for this purpose, means the Chinese + Secretary. That officer, the real motive force of the Legation, + occupies a position of greater importance than that of the nominal + head of the mission, but, with an irony which is not uncommon in + Government administration, he is the least appreciated member of + the staff. His salary is that of the junior ranks in the consular + service, and yet it is to him that the seniors in that service + look for instructions which he is incompetent to give them: the + result may be imagined. Why should these things be? The Indian + Government has in its service many men of brilliant attainments, + and of knowledge gained in long years of service in the East, + who might be called upon to fill the post of Minister which would + be suitable and congenial to them. And there is an abundance of + choice of junior Legation officers in the well-trained consular + service. Would it not be very advantageous if the working hands in + the Legation were chosen from the most competent Chinese scholars + in the consular service? + +Considering their initial qualifications, their social standing, and their +great opportunities, it must be admitted that the men of distinction +who have emerged from the consular service during the last fifty years +seems disproportionately small. It is perhaps invidious to mention +names in this connection, but in response to inquiries addressed to +veterans in the service, four men only are placed in the first rank as +the best representatives of the consular training school. These are Sir +Harry Parkes, Mr T. T. Meadows, Mr H. N. Lay, and Mr W. F. Mayers. Sir +Robert Hart, it should be mentioned, left the service so early, and Sir +Rutherford Alcock joined it so late, in life, that their distinguished +careers can scarcely be claimed as the product of the consular nursery. + + * * * * * + +It is impossible to look back over the forty years which have elapsed +since the new relations were established in China without being struck +by a certain change which passed over the character of the diplomatic +and consular services between the first decade of that period and the +second. The anxious years of the rebellion evoked much active energy on +the part of British officials. The serious opposition to the operation +of the treaties was met by very vigorous action on the part of the +consuls at the ports and of the Minister at the capital. The years 1868 +and 1869 may be considered to have marked the culminating-point of the +British official effort to enforce observance of the treaties in letter +and spirit, and to protect all commercial interests. The change which +came over the diplomatic and consular services at the end of the first +decade of diplomatic relations may be likened to the rising followed by +the receding of a tide. Up till the years we have specified, whatever the +difficulties which beset their office, the consuls showed earnestness in +the defence of the interests confided to them, and acted on the conviction +that their exertions were pleasing to those who were set in authority +over them. Their sense of duty was sustained by the hope of distinction. +After 1869 the discovery was made that the situation had been undergoing +a change of which the service had been unaware. What was formerly deemed +a merit had become a demerit in consular officers, and on this discovery +zeal naturally fell to a discount. It was but a reflex of the change that +had crept over the spirit of the British Foreign Office, a change which +also had escaped notice until circumstances forced it into publicity. +This seems to have originated with the removal from the scene of Lord +Palmerston, the statesman who for forty years had stood in a general way +for what was manly and straightforward in the British national character. +Though he left a tried and trusted colleague, Lord Clarendon, in charge of +the Foreign Office, and a sturdy permanent Under-Secretary, perhaps the +last custodian of the Palmerstonian tradition, and who remained at his +post for five years longer, yet it was made evident by results that the +spirit which had animated that great department of State had vanished. +The Foreign Office became nerveless and invertebrate, sentimental +and unstable. Those who had to do with it in the time of Palmerston, +Layard, and Hammond know that since their time the officials bearing +the same titles have been of quite another calibre, have been swayed +by different influences, and above all have exhibited no such knowledge +of the affairs with which they had to deal as their predecessors of the +Palmerstonian era. Many explanations may be given for the new departure +without disparagement of the capacities of the individuals concerned. +Such explanations interest those who may desire to promote reform in the +constitution and the inspiration of the Foreign Office. It suffices us +merely to note the fact by way of accounting for some of the shortcomings +which have been laid to the charge of our representation in China. We +have seen how easily one Foreign Secretary yielded to the meretricious +solicitations of the envoy Burlingame, and how another allowed himself +to be cajoled by the Marquis Tsêng. After these, and sundry other such, +exhibitions it was impossible for any Minister serving the country in +the Far East to place the old reliance on the support of his Government. +With John Bright, the implacable opponent of Palmerston and his works, +installed at the Board of Trade, whose word was law on such matters +as Chinese commercial treaties, and apparently more anxious to undo +the work of Palmerston than to promote a trade which both he and his +department unaffectedly despised, it was not likely that the commercial +communities trading with China should cherish any hope of redress of +grievances from a Government whose face seemed set against them. Apathy, +therefore, became the principle, to keep the peace at all sacrifices the +avowed policy of British diplomacy in China. The apparent exception to +this rule in the attempted reclamations in connection with the Margary +murder in 1875 afforded in its abortive ending a new corroboration of +the rule. The diplomatic and consular establishments went on grinding out +routine despatches and publishing statistical reports, but with the tacit +understanding that whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Under +such conditions it was of little consequence how the Peking representation +might be filled, since it has not for thirty years risen above the level +of comedy, the term applied to it by those who have grown old in its +service. + + * * * * * + +Such was the situation of affairs when the greatest crisis in the history +of China, or of foreign relations with that country, was sprung upon +the world in 1894. A Legation equal only to clerical routine suddenly +called upon to play a part in a commotion which unhinged the policy of +the world was totally inadequate to the strain, and as a consequence of +the impotence of the Foreign Office and its agent in China, the interests +of Great Britain and, what was only second in importance, the interests +of the Chinese empire were allowed to go by default. The Chinese were, +and perhaps even still remain, unconscious of the reasons of the collapse +of their empire. Perhaps something of the same kind might be said of +the British Foreign Office in regard to the interests of Great Britain +in China. Certainly there is as yet little sign of a determination to +reform the mechanism of the country's representation, and this, perhaps, +because the preliminary step thereto would be the reform of the Foreign +Office itself. And so the Legation goes on under the nominal headship +of a Minister who must be guided entirely by his Chinese Secretary, an +official of inferior rank and position to the body of consuls whom he has +to control, and for whose authority they can never have genuine respect. + +The recent upheaval has offered many new opportunities of distinction for +the consuls, especially in the interior of China. That these openings +have infused new life into the consular ranks has been shown in many +ways during the last few years; and if natural selection be allowed to +operate freely and the best men be not discouraged in their efforts for +their country's benefit by undue interferences from Peking, where there is +neither knowledge nor capacity to guide them, it is still possible that +the consular service may play a valuable part in the reconstruction of +the foreign relations of China. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +CHINA AND HER RULERS. + + Longevity of the State--Government by prestige--Necessity + of adaptation to European ideas--The Empress-dowager--Prince + Kung--Wênsiang--Hu Lin-yi--Tsêng Kwo-fan--Tso Tsung-tang--Chang + Chih-tung--Li Hung-chang--His long and consistent career--Efforts + at reorganising national forces. + + +The long continuance of a State more populous than any other on record is +a phenomenon which to thoughtful minds can hardly fail to evoke a feeling +akin to reverence. De Quincey declared if he met a Chinaman he would +make obeisance to him, saying, "There goes a man 2000 years old." Be the +causes of this national longevity what they may, the fact should make us +pause to consider on what foundation does this great vital national system +rest? The most realistic word-painter of China represents the country as +a collection of villages, each being a unit of self-government,[29] and +in describing "village life" in minute detail, seems to depict the great +empire, of which each village is a pattern in miniature. Dynasties may +come and dynasties may go, but the Chinese families, their industries +and their customs, go on for ever. It is remarkable with what ease the +people adapt themselves to changes in their ruling powers, regardless +of race or origin; indeed it is a noteworthy fact that the rulers have +for many centuries been more often foreign than native.[30] Foreign, +however, not quite in the sense in which the word is so easily translated +"barbarian" by the Chinese, and applied by them to the hated Aryans of +the West. The rulers of China have been of cognate races, more or less +imbued with the same generic ideas as the Chinese themselves, and with +tastes akin to theirs. How this succession of dynasties, each established +by violence, has coexisted with the continuity of the grand national +idea of the emperor being the Son of Heaven can only be explained by the +very practical character of the race, who accept the usurper as divinely +appointed from the moment he has proved himself successful. What holds, +and has held together from ancient times, this great aggregate of mankind +in common usages and ideas is naturally a mystery to Occidentals, the +cohesive principle not being perceptible to them. China occupies the +unique position of a State resting on moral force,[31] a conception almost +as alien to the Western mind as material progress is to the Eastern, hence +the proposition is apt to be received with amused contempt. Yet a State +administered without police, and ruled without an army, is a something +which cannot be explained away. Government by prestige is, other things +being equal, surely the most economical as well as the most humane of all +species of government; but an obvious consequence is that in emergencies +the Government is beholden to volunteers, and is often driven to enlist +the services of banditti and other forces proscribed by the law. Imperial +prestige, which embraces the relations of the surrounding tributaries, +is but an expansion of the authority of the head of the family and of +the elders of the village, which rests on moral sanction only. The first +collision, however, with the material forces of Christendom proved that +in the system of the modern world the Chinese principle of government +was an anachronism, and that moral must succumb to physical force. Yet +in the midst of the world's triumph in the pricking of the great Chinese +bubble, it had been well to reflect what the kind of bubble was that was +being pricked. China with her self-contained, self-secreted knowledge, +could not be expected to foresee how the impact of the West was likely to +affect her ancient polity. She had nothing wherewith to compare herself, +and no criterion of good or evil except her own isolated experience; nor +did she know aught of human development except what was, so to speak, +forcibly injected into her, but never assimilated. What, then, could she +do to be saved but to take herself entirely to pieces like a house that +has to be rebuilt on a new plan, and so fit herself for the companionship +and competition of the worldly Powers, from whose pressure she could by +no means escape? She had to put away the wisdom of ages, the traditions +of a civilisation unbroken for thousands of years, and convert herself +into a mechanical, scientific, and military Power. Something more radical +than reform is involved in such a root-and-branch change: it was not +improvement but transformation that was demanded. + +That some such essential changes are necessary to the preservation of +the Chinese empire is probably recognised by all who interest themselves +in the subject--including a large ever-increasing number of the Chinese +themselves; but the gravity of the revolution may well cause misgivings +both as to its possibility and its incalculable effects. Who among the +Chinese rulers is sufficient for such things? + +It is not always possible to locate the nervous centre of any Government +in the West, whether its form be autocratic or representative. With +regard to that of China we may safely say it is never possible--at +least for any foreigner. The attempts which have been from time to time +made to assign acts of Government to the will or influence of certain +individuals have in general proved in the sequel to have been far from +hitting the mark. The monarch under whose authority the whole machine +moves is not necessarily the directing will: indeed he is very often +little better than a puppet. "The eunuchs, concubines, and play-actors, +who constituted the Court of the late Emperor Hsien-fêng, the father of +the present young emperor, had more influence probably in bringing on +the war that led the Allies to Peking than any of the high officers or +Ministers," wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock in 1871. Another writer put it in +a more paradoxical form: "There is in China something more powerful than +the Emperor, and that is the Viceroy; more powerful than the Viceroy, +and that is the Taotai; more powerful than the Taotai, and that is the +Weiyuen," meaning that the power of obstruction, extending through every +grade of officialdom, is most widely diffused at the base. Official +responsibility and moral responsibility do not therefore coincide--men +in highest positions being unable to do the things they would, while the +things they would not they are often obliged to do. The Government is +consequently carried on by continual compromise beyond the limits to which +we are accustomed in Western Governments, because it is not confronted +with outspoken opposition with which it can reason, but with a network +of secret machinations which can only be met by correlative tactics. But +though Government in China may seem by this state of things to be reduced +to an almost passive condition, yet the individuality of statesmen is +not altogether destroyed. In some respects, indeed, the circumstances +we have noted rather favour the influence of men of mark; for where the +complicated machine is held in a state of equilibrium by innumerable +neutralising checks, it would appear that any determined will could set +it in motion in a given direction. The character of Chinese statesmen, +therefore, is not a factor to be ignored in considering either the present +or the future of China, although the very partial knowledge of them which +is accessible to Europeans must constantly lead to erroneous conclusions. + + * * * * * + +Of the statesmen who have appeared since the opening of Peking in 1860, +it would probably be fair to consider the two emperors as negligible +quantities. The potent personage in the empire during that period is +no doubt the Empress-dowager, who has, in so far as any one can be +said to have done so, ruled China for forty years. Apart from ethical +considerations, which have less to do with matters of government than +could be wished, the empress's characteristics are clearness of purpose, +strength of will, a ready accommodation of means to ends, and frank +acceptance of the inevitable. There are no signs of the bigot or the +doctrinaire about her. Mundane in her objects, she is practical in seeking +them; and if to hold an entirely anomalous position of authority opposed +to legitimacy and the traditions of the dynasty and the empire be evidence +of success, then the empress-dowager must be admitted to be a successful +woman. In the position she has occupied, and still occupies, she would +appear to be the principal force in the State. Whatever may be her power +of initiative, which is so attenuated in the high State functionaries, +her power of veto probably stands pre-eminent. + +The anomalous relations which have subsisted between the empress-dowager +and her imperial nephew are too intricate for us to attempt to unravel +them. But the facts resulting from them, which are patent to the world, +point to conditions which are not without danger to the empire. Indeed +the Emperor himself constituted such a danger from the moment when as +an infant he was placed on the Dragon Throne by usurped authority. His +personal imperfections added materially to that danger, and his final +efforts to free himself from the leading-strings of his patroness have +indefinitely enhanced the evil by destroying the personal prestige +of the sovereign. For what can be thought of a Son of Heaven who has +his prerogatives doled out to him and again withdrawn by the will of +another, and where is the force to meet the crisis in the State which +may yet result from the illegitimacy of the emperors succession? The +worship accorded throughout the empire to the Son of Heaven may indeed be +transferred unimpaired to a new possessor of that dignity. But a reigning +emperor shorn of his governing faculty must, one would think, put the +allegiance of the people to a severe strain. How far such considerations +may go in weakening the ties of loyalty in the provinces and in letting +loose the spectre of rebellion cannot be known, but it may be guessed and +feared. + + * * * * * + +Leaving out the Camarilla of the Court, of whom nothing certain can +be predicated, the executive statesmen who have to outward appearance +directed the public affairs of the Chinese empire for forty years may +almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. Prince Kung, the highest in +station and nearest to the throne, was rather a moderating than an active +force in the State, and his attention was very much divided between public +affairs and those of more personal concern. His colleague, Wênsiang, was a +more energetic character. By common consent he was the most conscientious +as well as the most liberal-minded statesman that China has produced +during the sixty years of foreign intercourse. Mr Adkins, who knew him +intimately in the early days, says: "He was courteous in manner and a +lively conversationalist. He once told me over the teacups that, if he +could have his will, every brick and stone of Hongkong city should be torn +down and thrown into the sea." This was not the kind of language he held +at a later period; for, in a private interview with Sir Rutherford Alcock +in 1869, while admitting the hostility of his class and that he himself +had originally shared all their prejudices, he declared that his long and +intimate relations with the foreign Legations had opened his eyes to the +favourable side of the foreign character and progressive policy. Perhaps +the best account of this Manchu statesman is that given by Sir Rutherford +Alcock himself in an article in 'Fraser's Magazine,' 1871:-- + + Wênsiang is by far the most distinguished, both from his superior + knowledge and his intellectual grasp of the position occupied + by China in its relations with foreign States.... As a member of + the Grand Secretariat, and vested with other high functions, his + influence is very great, both personal and official--subject, + nevertheless, to such attenuation as the active hostility of a + very powerful party of anti-foreign functionaries within and + without the palace can effect. This party, if party that can + properly be called which is composed of nearly the whole of + the educated classes of the empire--officials, literati, and + gentry--are unceasing in their opposition to all progressive + measures, whether emanating from the Foreign Board or elsewhere. + But Wênsiang is held in especial hatred as the known advocate of a + policy of progressive improvement with foreign aid and appliances. + The failure of the Lay-Osborn fleet very nearly effected his ruin, + and that of his patron the prince [Kung] also, and has ever since + told against his influence. The cost and humiliation of that most + disastrous experiment were all visited on his head, and it has no + doubt tended not solely to impair his power, but also to render + him more timid and less disposed to make any further venture in + the same direction. He has the reputation among his own people of + being honest, and foreigners know him to be patriotic and earnest + in what he believes to be for the good of his country, while + far in advance of all his contemporaries in enlightened views + as to how in the actual situation of affairs that end may best + be served. Upon occasions he can be both bitter and sarcastic, + and speaks out his mind plainly enough against the pretensions + of foreigners to shape everything to their own ends in China. He + nevertheless gets little credit from the opposite faction for + patriotism or a disinterested love of his country, and of late + there has been remarked, with failing health, an expression of + weariness, as if he were losing heart and hope, and began to feel + unequal to any further struggle. With the ever-increasing demands + for better execution of treaties--in things often materially and + legally impossible in the present state of affairs, for larger + facilities and increased privileges on the foreign side, and + the gathering of hostile elements in front and all round him + proceeding from the Chinese national party, who would refuse + everything, and, if left to themselves, precipitate the country + into another war with the Western Powers, he may well feel weary. + +Wênsiang, in short, suffered the fate of those who are too liberal and +too far advanced for their surroundings, and became a martyr to his own +disappointment. Old before his time, and overwhelmed with difficulties +which he was unable to surmount, his mind became depressed, and his death +in 1876 cost China the ablest, the best, and most devoted of her public +men. No doubt there have been good and well-meaning men since his time, +both in the Tsungli-Yamên, the Great Council, and in the provincial +governments; but none of them has shown any quality of leadership, and +all have for the most part been content with the maxim, "Sufficient for +the day is the evil thereof." + +The comparatively early death of Hu Lin-yi, a Hunanese, Governor of the +province of Hupei, who, in conjunction with Kuanwen, the Governor-General +of the Hu provinces, originated the scheme for repressing the Taiping +rebellion, prevented him from receiving the credit of that notable +achievement. The institutions of the country paralysed its defence, for +a provincial army was an object of dread to the Manchu rulers, while they +possessed no imperial organisation to cope with the calamity. No attempt, +therefore, could be made to organise a force to resist the rebellion, +and so the devastation was allowed to spread from province to province +without check. Hu Lin-yi set himself to overcome this difficulty, and +thought out a scheme by which the rebellion might be overcome. Before +taking any action, however, it was necessary that he should bring the +Peking Government to his views, which he accomplished by first converting +the Governor-General, who was a Manchu. The two thereupon joined in a +memorial to the throne, praying that they might be permitted to raise in +the Central Provinces a mobile military force to repel the invasion of +the insurgents. + +The nucleus of this force already existed in the province of Hunan, where +volunteer levies under the leadership of Tsêng Kwo-fan, the father of the +late Marquis Tsêng, Minister to Great Britain, had done good service in +several small engagements with the rebels. The execution of the general +scheme of defence against the rebels fell naturally, therefore, to the +lot of Tsêng, who during his subsequent governor-generalship of the Lower +Yangtze had the honour of putting an end to the ravages of the Taipings. +No man was held in higher esteem among the counsellors of the Chinese +empire than this sagacious statesman. At once moderate and resolute, he +perceived the need of accommodation to the exigencies of the new time, and +though he would have resisted the ingress of foreigners to the uttermost, +he had the wisdom to see that this was no longer possible, and the advice +tendered to his sovereign, while tempered to the susceptibilities of the +Court, was distinctly in favour of respecting the treaties and avoiding +conflict with foreign nations. + +A contemporary of Tsêng Kwo-fan, and his equal in rank and authority, +was Tso Tsung-tang, best known as the Conqueror of Kashgar, where he was +credited with military exploits which history will scarcely ratify. He +was a thoroughgoing man, blunt in manner, but straightforward, and loyal +to his engagements. He was somewhat rash and uncompromising, seeking the +end sometimes without considering the means, and his opinion on matters of +State would have carried no weight but for his reputation for exemption +from the prevailing vice of his class--financial corruption. This +character obtained him toleration for many originalities. On one occasion +he camped outside the walls of Peking for several days because he refused +to pay the customary exactions of the officials in charge of the gates, +so that his audience of the emperor seemed likely to be indefinitely +postponed. But high officials in China of austere views have usually a +man of business in attendance who oils the wheels while saving the face +of their master. Tso's money matters were in the hands of a very politic +gentleman of this class, and so the Grand Secretary's entry into the city +was duly arranged. Tso had a lofty idea of the dignity of his country, +and of the necessity for its defending itself against all enemies. +To this end he threw his energies into the development of the arsenal +and shipbuilding-yard at the Pagoda anchorage in the Foochow river. He +was generally considered an opponent of his younger contemporary, Li +Hung-chang, the one being held to stand for the old conservatism of China, +and the other for its liberalisation. They were for many years the two +chief provincials, the one being Imperial Commissioner for the southern +and the other for the northern ports of China. It was customary for the +emperor to refer important questions connected with foreign affairs to +these two advisers, whose opinions must very often have neutralised each +other. In the end Tso recognised the necessity for a change of policy for +the preservation of the empire, but being himself too old to change he +recommended his rival, Li Hung-chang, to the Throne as the fitting man to +introduce needed innovations. If the records are to be implicitly trusted +Tso would appear to have undergone a sort of death-bed repentance, for +in his political testament, a document which is regarded with a kind of +sacred authority in China, he recommended to the throne the improvements +he had steadfastly opposed, including even the introduction of railways +into the country. + +Although out of the chronological order, we may mention here another +eminent official, distinguished by many of the characteristics of +Tso Tsung-tang, who has been Governor of the province of Shansi, +Governor-General of the Canton provinces, and is now Governor-General of +the central provinces. Wherever he has been, Chang Chih-tung has proved +himself bold and original. His open mind has led him to take up schemes +warmly without counting the cost, and under his inspiration immense sums +have been spent in both his viceroyalties for which but little return +was obtained, and of which indeed it was scarcely possible to render a +clear account. His reputation for purity, however, has saved him from +the consequences of his recklessness, both in the eyes of the people and +of the Government, and enabled him to hold office long enough to show +some results of his expensive enterprises. The great ironworks which he +set up in Hanyang, with very little consideration as to how they were to +become effective, have at last produced iron of a quality sufficient to +make inferior rails, thus giving an earnest of the ultimate realisation +of his dream of rendering China independent of foreign countries. Chang's +literary power is of a very high order, his style is terse and incisive, +and this is a weapon which renders him formidable in a country which +cultivates literature as a religion. To say that Chang Chih-tung is +the opponent of foreigners is merely to credit him with the ordinary +patriotism of his countrymen. But though he often treats strangers with +the studied discourtesy which characterised the older generation of +Chinese officials, he has never allowed his prejudices to stand in the +way of free intercourse with any foreigner whom he thought he could make +subservient to some purpose of his own. As a statesman Chang Chih-tung has +failed through intensity and want of comprehensiveness. In fact he is not +a statesman, but a sciolist, and a trenchant essayist, unaccustomed to +accommodate his ideas to the circumstances of actual life. He, too, has +been a bitter opponent of Li Hung-chang, which, however, did not hinder +him from composing a most fulsome panegyric on that statesman on the +occasion of his seventieth birthday, in which he was credited with all +the attributes of all the heroes of Chinese mythology. The many fantastic +schemes which Chang has originated would in any Western country have +relegated their author to the custody of the Commissioners of Lunacy. +One of these was to prevent foreign ships entering the Gulf of Pecheli +by sinking tiers of junks between Shantung and Talien-wan; another was +to catch the Japanese soldiers in a gigantic locust-trap, consisting of a +deep trench to be dug at their supposed landing-place near Shanhai-kwan, +and the fact of this proposal being seriously adopted and some miles +of the trench actually dug by the Chinese soldiers reveals more of the +military impotence of China than the most voluminous dissertations. + +Without carrying the exhaustive process further, it is safe to say that +whatever concrete statesmanship there has been in China during the past +generation has been embodied in the person of Li Hung-chang. He alone has +a continuous record, has followed a definite line, and kept his ideals, +like a captive balloon, strictly attached to the earth on which he had +to work. He also was a literate of distinction, having taken the highest +degree, that of the Hanlin College. But though his literary tastes have +not been left wholly uncultivated, they have never intruded themselves +into his conduct of affairs, so that an estimate of his position cannot +be based upon his writings, but only on his actions. He indulged in no +speculations, propounded no theories, but was eminently a man of fact. +Contrary to all Chinese tradition he laid himself out for personal +intercourse with foreigners, from whom he was never weary of learning, and +in doing so he braved the odium of his peers, and incurred the charge of +treason as a truckler to barbarians. Living in the eyes of the world, both +of his own and foreign countries, for a period of nearly forty years, he +has been the one familiar figure in modern China. His accessibility has +afforded to travellers and visitors endless opportunities of delineation, +so that if ever a Chinese of rank was known throughout the world it must +be Li Hung-chang. + +The interest attaching to this statesman consists in his having in his +own person, and without a party, stood between the Old World and the +New, having devoted his life to working out in practice a _modus vivendi_ +between them. His methods have been wholly empirical and opportunist, and +hence no synthesis of his plan of operations is available, except such as +we may compose out of the facts themselves. A few cardinal principles, +nevertheless, stand out clearly in the life-work of this statesman. One +is that of reorganising the defensive forces of the empire in accordance +with the lessons learned from foreign raids; a second has been so to +observe the treaties made with foreigners as to afford them no ground +for complaint; and a third, when causes of difference arose, whether +by inadvertence or by design, to agree with the adversary quickly. The +following out of the first two might very well have entailed upon Li the +reproach of favouring foreigners; the following out of the third may with +greater justice have earned for him the character of a peace-at-any-price +man. So consistently did he follow the line of action dictated by these +principles, that no attacks on foreigners or on Christian missions have +ever been tolerated within his jurisdiction. During the twenty-four years +of his governor-generalship of Chihli, whose population is one of the most +turbulent in the empire, there was not a single missionary outrage, his +instructions to his district officials being peremptory, that, right or +wrong, they must have no questions with foreigners. Had the other viceroys +been similarly minded and equally resolute, no attacks on missionaries +would have been recorded throughout the Chinese Empire. Though Li +Hung-chang was as much anti-foreign at heart as every true Chinaman +must be, he endeavoured, crudely following the example of the Japanese, +to employ foreign men and appliances in order the more effectually to +resist them. His pacific tendencies were no proof of pusillanimity, but +rather of a deep consciousness, derived from personal experience, of the +incapacity of China to resist foreign attack. Li Hung-chang's external +policy, therefore, may be defined as the strengthening of the country to +meet invasion, and the avoidance, while such preparations were being made, +of every cause of collision with foreigners. These cardinal points had to +be kept in view, like guiding stars, amid the exigencies of daily affairs, +which alone were sufficient to fill up the measure of one man's capacity. +The administration of two populous provinces, the superintendency of the +maritime trade of half the empire, and incessant consultations concerning +imperial affairs generally, constituted a burden which no one man could +bear. While to these were added the whole details of national defence, +naval and military reorganisation, the construction of a navy on foreign +lines, the whole of which was undertaken by Li Hung-chang, working not +only without a party but practically without a staff, and at the mercy of +technical advisers who owed him no allegiance. The briefest recapitulation +of the duties so undertaken would be enough to stagger the credulity of +the most active administrator of the West; the recital would suffice, +without any proof from experience, to show that these labours of Hercules +could never, in fact, be performed. But the difference between performance +and non-performance marks the chasm which divides the Chinese from the +Western world, and distinguishes the order of ideas and practice which +make for the preservation, from those which tend to the disintegration, +of the Chinese empire itself. The task from which the mass of Chinese +statesmen have recoiled, and which has only been attempted in a persistent +manner by Li Hung-chang himself, was probably beyond the power of any man +and of any party. + + * * * * * + +But here the inquiry suggests itself, why a strong-headed and +practical-minded man should have devoted a lifetime to impossible +achievements, and why in a nation of great intellects the task should +have been virtually relegated to one man? The Chinese are not fools; +their mental capacity is second to that of no other race. Their culture is +excessive, though narrow; and if we find them exhibiting in great national +affairs no more intelligence than that shown by children in building +castles of sand, it is natural to conclude that there is some fundamental +misconception either on their part or on ours of the problem before them. +But if we consider the Chinese as belonging to the world of moral force, +then their misconception of all that belongs to the world of physical +force is not only explicable, but it is inevitable; for between the two +there is no common ground on which even a compromise might be effected, +and the one must eternally misunderstand the other. + +The burden of the memorials of the Chinese high functionaries on this +subject have been that the Middle Kingdom being overcome by the brute +force of the rebellious barbarians, the obvious way to restore the +lapsed authority of the empire was to acquire the instruments of foreign +strength. This they diligently set themselves to do, but apparently +without the slightest comprehension of the secret of the strength of the +foreigners. The Chinese being what they were, could no more win the secret +of the Western power by buying its weapons than a musical tyro could hope +to rival the greatest artistes by possessing himself of a Stradivarius. +Guns, ships, explosives of the latest type, are worse than dummies without +the organised human force that gives them life. The element which would +have infused vitality into the new organisation was the one thing beyond +their imagination, and so far as they did comprehend it, it inspired them +with aversion and awe, for it meant in their eyes delivering the keys of +power into the hands of strangers. What was needed to regenerate the army, +to create a navy, to reform the finances, was the liberal importation +of men. This necessity was no doubt partially perceived by Li Hung-chang +and his like, but never entirely even by him; for he remained throughout +the one-eyed man among the blind, groping after something which he could +only guess at. Teachers from Europe and America were employed in the +country, and natives were sent to foreign countries to be instructed; +but the spirit of the new instruction was never allowed to vitalise the +organisation, and consequently all the knowledge that was acquired by both +methods remained barren and unfruitful. Thus Li Hung-chang's efforts fell +short of their object, and China continued to be the land of moral force +for the iron-shod physical forces to trample on. + +From the earliest period of his career Li Hung-chang stood out far in +advance of his fellows, and in all the troubles which have beset the +empire during his time, it is he who has been thrust into the breach and +made to bear the brunt of its misfortunes. Being the only man who did +anything, he was naturally made responsible for all, and critics, both +foreign and native, have had an easy task in laying bare his failures, +which his contemporaries have escaped by confining themselves to official +routine and playing for their own safety. Though the burden of the State +has fallen upon the shoulders of Li Hung-chang more than upon any other +individual, he has never flinched from the responsibility. The occurrences +of 1894 and subsequently threw him into greater prominence than ever +before. Forced to carry on the war with Japan, during which the defences +of the empire for which he was responsible completely broke down, he +was next also forced to make peace with that Power on very humiliating +conditions. Seldom was a more pathetic scene witnessed than the virtual +controller of the Chinese empire lying at the feet of a victorious enemy +in a foreign country, with the bullet of an assassin in his cheek. More +tragic still was his return to the capital with the treaty of Shimonoseki. +An intense feeling against Li had been roused throughout the country. The +provincial officials with singular unanimity denounced his treachery as +they considered it, for the treaty was in their eyes no less disgraceful +than the conduct of the war, for both of which Li alone was deemed +responsible. The sentiment of the provinces was echoed in Peking, where +his enemies in high places had almost secured the capital punishment of +the negotiator, and failing that, his assassination, from which fate he +was only saved by the veto of Prince Kung and the subsequent protection +of the empress-dowager. He was also in an important sense under the +protection of Russia, that Power having undertaken to hold him harmless +from the consequences of his surrender to the Japanese. In order to take +him out of the way of the conspiracies in Peking, Russia requested that +an Imperial prince might be sent to the coronation ceremony in 1896. +That being impossible by the laws of the empire, which Russia very well +knew, a substitute of the highest rank had to be found, and thus Li +Hung-chang was designated, by the approval of the empress-dowager and by +the consent--reluctant it is believed--of the Emperor, for the mission +of congratulation to the Czar. After the festivities at Moscow, Li made +the tour of Europe and the United States, meeting everywhere with a +distinguished reception. + +FOOTNOTES: + + [29] Village Life in China. By Arthur Smith, D.D. + + [30] An ingenious friend, who was kind enough to read this passage + in MS., sent me the following suggestive note: "King Solomon was a + thorough Chinaman, crafty, gaining the throne although the fourth + and youngest son of his mother; killing off the kingdom-maker, + Joab, and murdering the lawful heir, Adonijah. His fondness for + pomp and joss pidjin, witness the Queen of Sheba and the Temple; + love of trade, his ventures with King Hiram to Ophir. His apathy + in military affairs, leading to the breaking up of the empire. + His love of sententious maxims, Proverbs. His truly Chinese and + non-Hebrew syncretism, worshipping Ashtoreth, Moloch, and Chemosh, + as well as Jehovah. Now David, judging by the weak characters of + his children, was, like many famous men in history, the reverse of + prepotent. Solomon was a son of erewhile widow Bathsheba. Uriah + being a Hittite, she was presumably one also. So Solomon would + be practically a Hittite--i.e., Mongolian or Tartar; a striking + example of the newly-named but long-observed phenomenon called + telegony or 'throwing back.' Solomon 'threw back' to the first + sire, Uriah." + + [31] "The boasted influence that the Government of China possesses + over its subjects is almost entirely _moral_, and they really do + not possess the power to cope with a popular tumult, which is the + object of their greatest dread."--H. Parkes, at Foochow, May 1, + 1846, _æt._ seventeen. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +CHINA'S AWAKENING. + + Prestige gained, 1880-90--Yields to Japan in Korea while + reasserting full suzerainty--The lessons of adversity--Schemes for + naval and military reforms--Purchase and manufacture--Provincial + system antagonistic to reform--Li Hung-Chang's efforts--Faithful + service of foreign experts--Drill-instructors--Creation of a + navy--Coast fortification--Superior efficiency of navy compared + with army--Corruption and nepotism--Awakening of China apparent, + not real. + + +The service of the navy in the conveyance of troops and of a special +envoy to Korea in 1882 was the first which that luckless force was able +to render to China. The service was repeated on two other occasions: +when a High Commissioner was sent on a mission of imperial condolence +in 1890, and again when an assassin was rescued from the revenge of +counter-assassins and conveyed safely from China to Korea in 1894. The +little kingdom thus played a considerable part in the awakening scenes of +the suzerain empire. + +On a retrospective view, indeed, it would appear that during the period +in question China passed the culminating-point in her efforts to regain +national prestige. She had just asserted herself in an unexpected manner +in her dealings with Russia, playing a very different part in regard to +her distant and worthless possessions in the north-west from what she +had done twenty years before in regard to the integral part of her proper +territories in the north-east, which she had surrendered with scarcely a +protest. The world began to respect China as a power. Her decisive action +in Korea showed that she was no longer disposed to permit her neighbours +to trifle with the question of her suzerainty in that kingdom, and for +ten years she was pre-eminent there in fact as well as of right. Yet +with a significant qualification. For, being challenged by Japan while at +war with France in 1885, she was unable to vindicate her sole supremacy +in Korea, and was constrained to admit her rival into partnership. Thus +was the first irrevocable step taken towards the future realisation +of the Japanese designs on the peninsula. A _condominium_ must ever be +destructive to the policy of the less energetic member, and the treaty +concluded between Li Hung-chang and Count Ito in 1885 was the fatal +prelude to the events of ten years later. As the treaties granting to +Russia a coequal right of navigating the Amur and a joint ownership of +the Usuri province constituted the virtual surrender of Chinese rights, +so any treaty with Japan, no matter on what conditions, respecting Korea, +was a virtual abdication of the Chinese suzerainty. The right in common +to send troops into Korea on notice given could have no other effect than +to deliver up the kingdom to the Power which was the most alert in taking +advantage of the agreement. In giving up half her rights China retreated +from an inexpugnable position, and left herself no footing for defending +the remaining half, when its turn came to be assailed. + +But with the irony which is the very pathos of human and national decline, +the outward pretence to authority became more demonstrative as the +substance of the claim slipped away. Not for two hundred and fifty years +had China asserted her prerogative with such uncompromising arrogance +as when she sent an imperial mission of condolence to the royal Court in +1890, years after the keystone of her Korean arch had been pulled away. It +was also about this period that the Chinese Minister to England lent his +name to a manifesto warning the world of the coming resurrection of China. +"The sleep and the awakening" strictly followed the law above alluded to, +that hollowness, not solidity, makes the loudest sound. + +But so many interests are now inextricably interwoven with the destinies +of China that her effort at reform and its failure compel us to give +attention to the opening of a new chapter in the world's history. The +humiliating foreign invasions, the three rebellions that shook the +empire, and the numerous minor risings, had all left their impression. +The lessons taught by these adversities had been taken to heart, and +the rulers of the empire were called upon to devise a remedy. The first +and most obvious desideratum was, of course, naval and military reform, +or rather regeneration, whereby they might be strengthened to speak +with their enemies in the gates. On this subject Chinese statesmen were +absolutely at one with their officious foreign advisers: it was a subject +which inspired many of the early homilies of the British Minister, if no +others. There was, however, this essential difference in the conception of +the means of carrying out the reform, that the foreign advisers of China +were completely prepossessed by the notion that an imperial executive, +if it did not exist, must be promptly created, while nothing was further +from the imagination of the Chinese. They were entirely prepossessed +by their tradition and the state of things actually existing, which +they did not dream of changing. That was the provincial system on which +the administration of the empire rested. The fiasco of the Lay-Osborn +flotilla, which was the first crude attempt to mix the oil and vinegar +of the two conflicting systems, revealed the fundamental, irreconcilable +divergence between the two sets of ideas, which rendered all advice +from the one side to the other futile, and co-operation impossible. That +palpable failure of the Central Government was calculated to discourage +fresh innovations from the same quarter, and the incident was constantly +referred to by diplomatists as having blighted the promising career of +Wênsiang as a reformer, he being the minister personally responsible for +the scheme. + +The Chinese, nevertheless, proceeded according to their own lights to set +their house in order in so far as its defensive services were concerned. +The successful employment of foreign arms and foreign auxiliaries in the +suppression of the Taiping rebellion showed them the way. It was a natural +but a fatal error, which the Chinese have not to this day abjured, to +attach too much importance to the arms, and too little to the man using +them. They accordingly commenced in a rather wild and wayward manner to +buy weapons and munitions, and then to set up in their own country the +means of manufacturing the simpler kinds. The chief promoter, if not the +originator, of these novelties was Li Hung-chang, who continued to be the +presiding genius of military and naval reform, no matter in what province +his official duties happened to lie. The personal authority wielded by +the Grand Secretary in provinces beyond his own government was really +a step towards centralisation of the executive, and with time and an +adequate succession of followers in the same path there is no telling what +changes in the Government system might not have been evolved from such a +nucleus. But the one-man power was unequal to any great result; it also +weakened with age, opposition, and discouragement. The actual reforms +inaugurated remained strictly provincial, and even local. There was no +evidence of initiative or supervision from the Central Government. The +nearest approach to it was the establishment of an arsenal at Tientsin by +Chunghou, the first superintendent of trade for the northern ports, and a +member of the imperial clan. It would almost appear as if the Government +had no concern with the more distant parts of the country, and the strange +anomaly presented itself to the onlookers of large sums being expended on +the most modern artillery and in the manufacture of thousands of arms of +precision while the Peking field force was equipped with bows and arrows. + +There came a time at last when the necessity of some kind of +centralisation was forced on the Government. It was after Prince Kung had +been sent into retirement in 1884, when his younger brother, the father of +the emperor, had decided to "come out" and take a part in the executive +government, and especially after Prince Ch'un had made a short cruise in +salt water in 1886, that a Naval Board was established in Peking itself +with the prince at its head. The institution was of course laughed at, +as the beginnings of things usually are, and its inefficiency was indeed +glaring enough. It would have taken a generation in slow-moving China for +such a board to have learned the rudiments of its duties. + +What we are at the moment concerned with is the naval and military reform +of the twenty-five years preceding the advent of Prince Ch'un to power. In +the purchase of war material no single system was followed. The provincial +rulers at Canton, Foochow, Nanking, and Tientsin no doubt had to sanction +what was done within their respective provinces--a check which might be +perfunctory or conscientious--but practically the management was in the +hands of subordinate officials without knowledge or training or visible +responsibility. As in war each Chinese regiment fights for its own hand, +or runs away as the case may be, so in the supply of arms each local +official did pretty much what seemed right in his own eyes. Hence the +heterogeneous composition of _matériel_, one small body of troops carrying +in a campaign thirteen different patterns of rifle, with ammunition still +more curiously diversified. + +Concerning the arsenals established under the auspices of the various +governors-general from Canton even to Kirin in Manchuria, and under +the technical management of foreigners, the most remarkable point to +be noted--and it applies generally to the employment of foreigners in +China--is the faithful service the Chinese have been able to command in +circumstances where it was hardly to be expected. An ignorant employer and +an expert employee is a combination apt to engender the worst abuses, and +the way the Chinese selected their foreign executive--a marine engineer +here, a surgeon of a marching regiment there, a naval lieutenant somewhere +else--was not the way, one would have thought, to obtain either honesty +or efficiency. Yet the foreigners selected either possessed or acquired +adequate qualifications, and one and all rendered devoted service to +their employers. The position of these foreigners, however, never was or +could be one of authority: whatever they did was under the orders of their +Chinese superior, who was often too ignorant to weigh the reasons for what +was done. In course of time the natives themselves became more instructed, +but whether their half-knowledge was a help or a hindrance to the work of +their foreign experts is problematical. Of the quality or quantity of the +_matériel_ turned out in the various Chinese arsenals it were useless to +speak. It produced an illusory sense of security, and for a time imposed +equally on native and foreigner. + +Nor was training entirely neglected. Drill-masters were engaged. Schools +were established in connection with the arsenals, where naval instruction +especially was carried to a high standard. Students sent to Europe +proved themselves most apt to assimilate the instruction given to them. +Of those who distinguished themselves at Greenwich may be mentioned the +present Minister to the Court of St James's. Cadets were also received +into the British navy, and some very expert officers were turned out by +these means. A large number of youths were at one time selected to be +educated in the United States, remaining there long enough to learn to +read and write English, and to become enamoured of Western life. This +educational experiment was interesting in many ways. The youths who were +sent to America under the care and at the instigation of the Cantonese, +Yung Wing, who had himself been educated in the United States, were +domiciled for the most part with private families there; and they so +imbibed the influence of their surroundings that a high sense of honour +was developed in them. The writer can speak from personal experience of +the fidelity and efficiency of some of these students. Captain Clayson, +who had several serving under him in the "Peiyang Squadron," has said that +although on their return to China the authorities had distributed them in +services other than those for which they had been trained, yet because +of the school discipline they had been subjected to, and the sense of +honour developed by their contact with Western people, he found them far +more useful and trustworthy than the men who had been trained in Chinese +naval schools. This experience seems to suggest that there are good moral +qualities of the Chinese waiting, like the mineral ores in their country, +for an awakening influence. In all these progressive efforts Li Hung-chang +retained the lead, and his own province was well in advance in educational +enterprises. Besides a military school with German, and a naval school +with English, instructors, he set up within a mile of his Yamên a fairly +furnished medical school with a hospital attached. His special corps of +foreign-drilled troops was the best equipped and best disciplined force +in the empire. + +While all this progress was being made in the direction of military +efficiency, the naval requirements of the country were not neglected. The +failure of the undigested Lay-Osborn scheme showed the Chinese that the +naval problem must be attacked in a different fashion. It was a false +start, and they must begin again. Accordingly, profiting by what they +had heard and seen of the efficient service rendered in their narrow +waters by foreign gunboats, the Chinese Government contracted with the +Armstrong firm for a small flotilla carrying one heavy gun with a wide +range of fire. These craft were little more than floating gun-carriages; +but notwithstanding broad beam and flat bottoms, they were moderately +sea-worthy. They were known as the Alphabeticals, from being named after +the Greek letters. This modest flotilla was the nucleus of the Chinese +navy. + +Attempts at naval construction were made at Shanghai, Foochow, and Canton; +but beyond providing work and training for native artificers, and acting +occasionally as transports on a small scale, despatch-carriers, and +official yachts, the vessels turned out from native yards rendered no +service to the country. The Chinese navy as a potential military arm only +took shape when Li Hung-chang was able to carry the Government with him so +far as to purchase effective war-ships in Europe, to institute a system of +training under competent foreign officers, and to establish naval harbours +with docks and workshops. Two iron-clad battleships, a respectable +squadron of cruisers, and some smaller craft, manned by trained crews and +officered by men who had received a regular naval education and perfectly +understood their duties, constituted the fighting navy of China. The two +English officers who supervised the training, Captain Tracy at Foochow +and Captain Lang in the Gulf of Pechili, were thoroughly satisfied with +the capacity of both officers and men, and what was distinguished as the +Peiyang or Northern Squadron was brought up by the latter officer to such +a state of efficiency that he reckoned that a further two years' drill +would enable the Chinese to take its place, on a small scale, among the +best equipped fleets in the world. + +And while the navy was developing so satisfactorily, coast fortifications +also made great progress. The mouths of rivers were all defended by +the best modern guns; three naval ports in the Gulf of Pechili--Port +Arthur, Weihai-wei, and Talien-wan--were fortified at great expense, +and everything externally evinced a determination on the part of China +to place herself in a position of independence, delivered from the fear +of foreign attack, except of course by land, and even that had been +partially provided for, as we have seen, by the military establishments +in Manchuria. + +Between the naval and the military preparations, however, there was an +immense disparity. The force for which Li Hung-chang was personally +responsible was carefully drilled, armed, fed, and paid, and, given +competent leading, would no doubt have rendered a good account of +itself; but the army as a whole was never brought to a state approaching +efficiency. The navy, on the other hand, possessed the best ships and the +best armament that money could buy, with the most modern appliances for +war, and its _personnel_ was subjected to the most careful discipline. +The fortress guns were also of the newest and best pattern, and nothing +was spared, apparently, to fit them for the purpose for which they were +intended. It was generally conceded that the fortresses so armed were safe +from attack by sea. + +The explanation of the great difference between the organisation of +the sea and the land forces seems to be that the former, being a new +creation, was beyond the range of criticism and was unhampered by any +traditions, while the reform of the army was merely patching a worn-out +garment. The immemorial conditions of military service were unchanged. +No army was formed, but a series of local levies raised without cohesion +or central control. The foreign instructors were kept strictly to their +class-work, were subordinated to the people whom they had to instruct, +and possessed no kind of authority. They were allowed to drill the men, +while the officers for the most part held themselves above the drudgery +of the parade-ground. The few who had acquired a smattering of military +education in Europe were as helpless as the foreign drill-masters to move +their wholly ignorant superiors. Hence abuses of the most grotesque kind +did not creep but rushed into every camp and every school, reducing the +scientific teaching to a hollow farce. + +The familiar factors of peculation and nepotism had an important influence +on these naval and military developments in China. Such things are no +monopoly of the Chinese. If corruption could ruin a State, it would not +be necessary to look so far afield as China for national disasters. But +the form which the vice takes in China has a determining effect on the +administration quite irrespective of the waste of resources and diminution +of efficiency which are common to corruption in all its forms. Thus if we +have to reconcile the lavish purchases of material with the attenuation of +_personnel_, we need only reflect that the former bring large emoluments +with little labour to the official employed, while the training of men +involves much work and little profit. Further, if we want an explanation +of the infinite diversity of the arms which are furnished to the troops, +we may find it in the excessive competition among officials for a share of +the traffic, and the interest which the higher authorities have in passing +without inspection what is purveyed by their subordinates. + +Nepotism in China is part and parcel of the family system, which is the +palladium of the nation. Every military corps raised is essentially +territorial; and if ever it is moved from one province to another, +it looks to a territorial chief, and no stranger can command it. Li +Hung-chang's disciplined troops, if not all of his own clan, were at +least the natives of his province and spoke his dialect. His subordinate +officials were blood relations and family adherents. It needs no argument +to show how such a survival of feudalism militates against national +organisation. Pure feudalism, indeed, would be less detrimental; for under +it territorial exclusiveness would at least be balanced by territorial +responsibility, but under the short-service system of China a governor +or governor-general may during his three years' term throw everything +into confusion and half ruin the finances of a province with which he is +precluded from having any territorial tie, and then proceed to another and +repeat the performance. The navy, though, as we have said, exempt from the +incubus of tradition, was nevertheless unable to withstand the pressure of +immemorial heredity. As the first and principal naval school happened to +be at Foochow, it was natural that new battleships and cruisers should be +officered and manned in the first instance by natives of Fukien province. +The admiral, however, hailed from another province--that of Li Hung-chang. +Though brave and capable, Admiral Ting was uneducated, and found it +hard to hold his own among the captains and lieutenants who had been to +Greenwich and could speak and write English, and some of them French. +Neither the Chinese admiral nor the English co-admiral--who was led to +believe he possessed authority, but was deceived--were able to repress +the intrigues which ran riot among the Foochow officers,--intrigues having +for their object the complete control of the fleet, the power of keeping +out and admitting whom they chose without reference to qualifications, +and the general determination to subordinate the naval service to +their personal and family advantage. The presence of Captain Lang was a +hindrance to their schemes, and they intrigued him out. But as the fleet +belonged to the north, they were unable to exclude northern seamen from +the country round Weihai-wei, who proved when the day of trial came the +most intelligent and the staunchest force that China possessed. + +The Peiyang Squadron was the nearest approach to an imperial navy that +China ever possessed, and yet it was so far provincial that it could not +be sent into the central or southern waters without creating jealousy +on the part of the local authorities, just as if it had been a foreign +force. In 1891, when anti-foreign riots in various places on the Yangtze +threatened to endanger the peace of the empire, the Imperial Government +allowed foreign ships of war to proceed up the river for the purpose +of preventing outbreaks rather than offend the susceptibilities of the +provincial authorities by employing their own naval forces on that duty. +During that critical period the Peiyang Squadron was cruising in Japanese +waters while the Great River was being patrolled by foreign gunboats. + +These various evidences of martial energy procured for China the credit +of a real awakening, and ensured her the respect due to a serious Power. +Yet the unsoundness of the foundation on which her new prestige rested was +no secret to any one who took the trouble to consider the facts, for all +the weaknesses we have mentioned, with many more, were notorious to every +foreign resident in China; nor was there a naval officer of any nation +who did not regard the fighting value of the Chinese fleet as nothing. +Ships were good, officers and men in themselves were passable, but without +organisation, while the whole force was governed by other than militant +principles. The attempted military reorganisation could, in fact, have no +vitality except as a branch of a general reform of the administration, +the keystone of which was fiscal. Of this, however, the Chinese rulers +seemed to take no heed, contenting themselves with snatching at what +was superficial and conspicuous to the eye. The Chinese florists in the +spring-time supply to hawkers shrubs covered with blossom which is so +cleverly attached by fine wire to the twigs as almost to deceive the +elect. This is practically what the Chinese Government bad been doing with +their national defences, so that on the first trial they collapsed like a +sapless flower. These experiences have an important bearing on the large +problem of Chinese reform and reorganisation, and indeed on the continued +existence of the empire. + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE COLLAPSE. + + China clings to universal sovereignty--Demonstration of same + towards Korea--Irritating to Japanese--Their aspirations in + Korea--Insurrection in southern districts--Chinese troops sent + there--Japanese simultaneously occupy Korean capital--War between + China and Japan--China defeated--Causes and consequences--General + sympathy with Japan. + + +We have seen that up to the end of 1892 the Chinese Government clung +to the figment of universal sovereignty. Perhaps it was the figment +that clung to them, they not knowing how to drop it. When they had, +under stress, seemed to concede the principle of equality, it was not +done heartily, but to serve a momentary purpose. Like a belligerent +who continues a guerilla warfare after concluding peace, they fought +inch by inch for the rags of the old prerogative after having by +treaty surrendered it. It had been long predicted that their refusal +or inability to bring their theories into agreement with patent facts, +and to come into line with the Powers of the world, must lead to tragic +consequences. Foreign nations laughed at the Chinese pretension as an +innocent archaic survival. But those individuals to whose lot it fell, +in their own persons, to suffer the continued humiliation which was a +consequence of the survival, did not find the comedy of the situation +quite so congenial. The high-spirited nation living in the closest +neighbourhood to China, using its language and literature, was naturally +more galled by the Chinese assumption than those distant peoples who +only suffered in the persons of their diplomatic agents. Though it would +be more than the evidence warrants to say that the pretension of the +Chinese Government was directly provocative of the events of 1894, yet it +is certain that it had a full share in filling the cup. Nowhere had the +Chinese conception of supremacy been exemplified in a more uncompromising +form than in her relations with Korea. Her position as suzerain was a +reality. She had in times past defended her tributary at great cost, had +marked the relationship by permanent monuments, and had maintained the +rites necessary to keep her title alive. As late as 1890 the tributary +formalities were repeated conspicuously before the world. In that year the +"Grand" Queen-Dowager Chao of Korea died. According to custom the king +despatched a messenger to Peking to report the death to his suzerain. +The envoy presented his papers kneeling before the vice-president of the +Board of Rites. He was the bearer of a petition from the king descanting +on the miseries of his country, and expressing regret that, owing to the +straitened circumstances of his Court, he might be unable to carry out +all the ceremonies required for the entertainment of the usual mission +of condolence from the emperor; therefore, as "an infant trusting to the +tender mercies of his parents," the king begged that not a mission, but a +message only, might be returned to him by the hands of his own envoy. The +imperial decree in reply to this petition, while admitting the facts of +the situation as set forth by the king, nevertheless announced that the +customary usage must be maintained, only an important concession would +be made to the poverty of Korea in the route which would be followed by +the new mission. Previous envoys had made the whole journey between the +two capitals by land, and after entering Korean territory they had to +pass many stations in their slow march to the capital, involving much +expense to the country through which they travelled. All this would be +saved on the present occasion by the two commissioners travelling by sea, +and landing at Chemulpo, a few miles only from the capital. The king had +to submit to the modified burden, if such he really considered it. The +ceremonies observed were elaborate and impressive. Frequent prostrations +by Korean officials before the emperor's tablet, and before the Imperial +Commissioners, introduced the proceedings; afterwards the king was taken +charge of by the Chinese master of ceremonies, led through a complicated +ritual, and told to bend, kneel, _kotow_, and stand erect at so many +different stages that the mere reading of the official account of them +is bewildering. The reporter's conclusion gives the gist of the whole +ceremonial from the Chinese point of view: "The emperor's consideration +for his vassal State as evinced by his thoughtfulness in matters +pertaining to the mission is fathomless. How admirable and satisfactory! +And how glorious!" + +All this was unexceptionably correct, and in its fantastic way expressed +an actuality not to be contested. Yet to the Japanese, with their +antagonistic policy, we can well understand that this renewed assertion +of the Chinese suzerainty, after the convention of 1885, must have +been highly irritating. Scarcely less so was the superior position +habitually assigned to the Chinese Resident over all the other foreign +representatives at the Korean Court. He alone at all times had the ear +of the king; he was the only one privileged to enter the palace in his +sedan chair, the others having to leave theirs at the gate and walk. While +abstaining from interference in small things, the Chinese Resident did, +in fact, direct the national policy of Korea so far as such a thing could +be said to exist. + +As the affairs of Korea formed the occasion, if not the cause, of the +Japanese War in 1894, it might seem desirable to refer once more to +the troubles and misgovernment of that country. To explain them would +be quite impossible, for to say that there are wheels within wheels, +intrigue within intrigue, the whole revolving round a pivot of sordid +corruption, is perhaps the only general account that can be given of the +state of the Government and of its official hierarchy. But the conflict +between China and Japan held on its way through the labyrinth of local +intrigue, and eventually produced a result which, strange to say, seems +never to have been anticipated by any one outside the Government circles +of Japan. The energetic Chinese Resident at the Korean Court may perhaps +have been needlessly ostentatious in asserting the legitimate paramountcy +of China, but the aggression of the Japanese in various parts of the +country, and the extravagant claims they founded upon these aggressions, +really called for a champion of Korean independence, a function which Yuan +Shih-kai[32] filled with considerable ability. The subordination of Korea +to China was nowhere visible except in Court relations. The subjugation +of the peninsula by the Japanese, on the other hand, was rapidly bringing +the population itself into bondage to alien merchants, adventurers, and +usurers, actively supported by their own Government. If they had had +the patience to wait a few years, the Japanese must have won Korea by +energetic infiltration alone. + +But these things did not move fast enough for the settled ambition +of Japan, which she with diligence, unanimity, and wonderful secrecy +determined to develop by force of arms. It would be idle to seek for +the causes of the war elsewhere than in this forward national policy +of Japan. Alert as she had been to seize every chance that offered of +detaching Korea from her allegiance to China, her preparations were not +sufficiently complete to justify her unmasking her whole policy until +1894, when the grand opportunity for which she had been waiting, if she +did not actively assist in bringing it about, presented itself. What +proved to be an ill-advised interference of China in the internal affairs +of Korea furnished the occasion. An insurrection had broken out in the +southern part of the peninsula, and the king had no forces to put it +down. Various versions had been circulated of the extent and character of +the insurrection; but when it had continued for some time, and nothing +was done to check it, the advisers of the Chinese Government became +apprehensive of interference by some foreign Power for the restoration of +order. Strangely enough, Japan was the very last quarter from which this +danger was anticipated. The Chinese at length summoned resolution to send +a force to the king's assistance to put down the insurrection, but whether +the king in his heart desired this armed interference it is impossible +for us to say. + +Li Hung-chang was personally opposed to any such expedition, and when +goaded to action from Peking, where the bellicose spirit had been +generated, he pointed out that no request had been received from the +king. This omission was also remarked upon by the practical Admiral Ting, +and both may have hoped that the absence of so important a link in the +chain would enable them to avoid the overt action which they had the +best grounds for deprecating. Such a hope, if it existed, was of brief +duration; for the King of Korea was induced, by influences brought to +bear on him, "to place himself in order" and implore his suzerain for +assistance, which the suzerain could no longer withhold. Then was Li +Hung-chang pressed by that body whose characteristic was the negation +of initiative, the Tsungli-Yamên, and like a sluggish horse which once +takes the bit in its teeth, the Yamên became as impatient for action as +in all its previous history it had been resolute in evasion. When but a +few days had elapsed since the issue of the order, and the troops were +not yet embarked, the Ministers, quite ignorant of what was involved in +sending a military force across the sea, began to jeer Li Hung-chang on +his delay, hinting that he was perhaps growing stale with age. The troops +were, nevertheless, despatched all too soon. On their landing at Yashan +in Southern Korea, the insurrection immediately collapsed: such was the +prestige of the imperial authority. + +In order to comply with the letter of the Li-Ito convention China +notified Japan officially of the despatch of these troops, some 2000 +in all, and of the purpose for which they were sent. But Japan had no +need to wait for any such formal intimation. She had her Intelligence +Department, remarkably alert. Japanese--not perhaps always known as +such--were employed in the Chinese official bureaus, even in the most +confidential departments, while Japanese in disguise swarmed in all the +military centres. The Chinese telegraph service has no secrets from any +one who thinks it worth his while to possess them. Consequently every +detail of the preparation, every point in the discussion, and every step +in embarkation, was punctually telegraphed by the Japanese consul to the +Foreign Office in Tokio. Hence it was that Japanese troops arrived in +Korea simultaneously with the Chinese, only they numbered 10,000 against +2000, and instead of being assigned to the region of the insurrection, +in accordance with the provisions of the Li-Ito convention, they marched +straight to the capital and took possession of the king. The insurrection +having collapsed, the Chinese troops were under orders of withdrawal, +and would have returned home in the same transports that conveyed them to +Korea but for the unaccountable, and of course illegitimate, presence of +Japanese troops at the capital. Notwithstanding the provocation to retain +the Chinese troops in Korea as a counterbalance to those, five times more +numerous, which had been sent by Japan, the Chinese authorities were +advised by their best friends to recall their troops, even though the +Japanese should thereby be apparently left in possession of the field. +The Chinese would in that case have maintained an unassailably correct +position, and Japan would have had to dispense with her pretexts for war. +Evacuation by the Chinese had been actually decided upon, and the steamer +Kowshing was chartered for the purpose of bringing back the troops. Before +the measure was carried out, however, other counsels prevailed, and that +very ship was employed in conveying more troops to reinforce the first +expedition, and in the midst of pretended negotiations for an arrangement +between the two Powers, the Japanese sank the Kowshing on the high sea +with all on board. + +It is usual, as a matter of form, if nothing else, to assign some specific +cause for a war; but though many able writers have essayed to explain +the Japanese action in 1894, they have all of them left the question in +greater obscurity than they found it. Nor did the formal declaration of +war by the Mikado throw any light on the subject. A Japanese statesman +being asked what the war was about, replied bluntly, "It is to defeat +China," and the most elaborate exposition of motives or policy does +not carry us perceptibly further than this concise and straightforward +statement. The Chinese Government itself held precisely the same view as +to the object of the war, though its perceptions were so obscured that +it was quite unaware of its incapacity for defence. Neither did it during +the actual progress of hostilities realise the cause of its defeat. Indeed +there is no evidence to show that China has even to this day discovered +the secret of her impotence. + +The course and immediate consequence of the war itself have been set forth +in many books, and are so well known as to render it superfluous to enter +into any detail here. A few general points only need be mentioned as a +key to what followed. + +1. Russia took unusual pains to dissuade Japan from engaging in the war, +pointing out in clear terms that her interests would not allow her to be +an indifferent spectator of any changes on the continent of Asia. + +2. Great Britain next endeavoured to patch up the supposed quarrel--which +could never be defined in words--between China and Japan, and on the +day on which her agent in Tokio expressed himself confident that the +differences, so far as he understood them, would be arranged without +recourse to war, the British chartered transport Kowshing was sunk with +1200 men on board. + +3. The solution of the question which would have reconciled the views +of the four Powers more immediately concerned was the neutralisation of +Korea. Great Britain, Russia, and Japan were of one mind on this subject, +and China would have hailed such an escape from her chronic embarrassment +respecting Korea. Why, then, was no attempt made to bring about such a +solution? Want of co-ordination, it would appear; diplomatic paralysis. +Though the views of each Power separately ascertained were identical, +none of them would speak first, and there was no fifth party to assume the +initiative in bringing them to a common understanding. The blame of this +must be equally distributed, though in point of fact there were degrees +of responsibility which it would be useless now to recall. It is only one +example the more of the great gap which often yawns between professional +diplomacy and practical politics. + +The issue of the war was a foregone conclusion, both by sea and land. +China had no army, and the more numerous her levies the more helpless +they were before a disciplined enemy. The navy failed precisely where +it was expected to fail. It was an incomplete machine, neglected and +in disorder, deficient in many essential things. Worst of all, there +was no heart in it. Captain Lang, R.N., and other British officers had +been expelled from the service through a conspiracy of the captains in +1890, and thenceforth its deterioration became rapid. The efficiency of +the navy for its main purpose was the last thing considered by the cabal. +They relied absolutely on the diplomatic resources of Li Hung-chang to +save them from any possible trial of strength, and refused to face an +alternative even by way of argument. Bravery was by no means lacking in +the ranks, nor professional education among the officers. There were some +who had Nelson's maxims at the tip of their tongue, and there were some +who added to a thorough naval training the spirit of devotion which makes +heroes. But these qualities were isolated and incoherent; there was no +tradition to render them fruitful, no martial spirit, no disgrace for +the coward, no honour for the valiant. The fleet was a body, defective +enough at that, but without a soul. The minds of the captains being set +on quite other objects than the efficiency of their service, when the +crisis threatened they were intent only on evading collisions. The valour +of the admiral, the fine sense of duty of individual officers, and the +fighting qualities of a considerable body of the seamen, were swamped +in the prevailing pusillanimity of the service; the choice spirits were +discouraged by the fatuous neglect at headquarters to supply the ordinary +necessaries of warfare. It was the writer's fortune to make a passage in a +Chinese protected cruiser in September 1894, a few days before the great +naval action off the Yalu, and it was most pathetic to hear the defects +pointed out by the captain and first lieutenant--defects in ammunition +for the guns mounted, absence of gun crews, so that in action men would +have to be taken from one gun to another and put to work for which they +had no training, everywhere the ship spoiled for want of the ha'porth of +tar. That particular vessel was not disgraced in the Yalu fight, but was +brought into Port Arthur by the superhuman exertions of her officers, +her iron deck beams twisted by the fire and her plates red hot. A second +conversation with the captain and first lieutenant after the action +was but a painful commentary on that of the week before. The one was +prediction, the other fulfilment. Perhaps the state of the navy could not +be more forcibly illustrated than by the fact that the fleet was led into +action at the Yalu by a German military officer. + +China was indeed defeated, amid the applause of Europe and the whole +world, and the primeval law of violence received a new consecration. This +is the one outcome of the war which seems likely to leave a permanent +impress on the surface of our civilisation, for the spontaneous outburst +from the four corners of the earth cannot be referred to any venal or +wire-pulling agency. There had been foreign wars in China before, wars +entered upon after long discussion and accumulating causes of quarrel. +Their merits divided the opinion of the world--they divided even the +nations that waged them; and the opposition was on one occasion strong +enough to overturn a British Government that had actually entered into +hostilities against China. But in 1894 there was not a dissentient +voice. The cause of the war was not known and not inquired into, the +universal enthusiasm was simply for the victor, as such, without regard +to anything but his military prowess. That was what the world fell down +and worshipped. Not any righteous cause, or racial sympathy, or community +of interest, inspired their acclamations; for none of these things were +considered or understood by the masses who chorussed the triumph of the +conqueror of China. English pens and tongues beyond all others urged +the victorious Power to make crushing conditions of peace, and in the +clamour traditional landmarks were forgotten. The policy of saving China, +the great English milch cow, from destruction, which had been patiently +followed by Great Britain for forty years, was thus suddenly submerged in +a wave of warlike enthusiasm. + +Press-made feeling was both stronger and had more influence on the action +of Government in England than in any other country. The war had upset +the balance of power in Asia, but the press took no heed of that, and +urged with conspicuous success that the Japanese should on no account +be hindered in their seizure of the spoils. Other countries, keeping a +cooler outlook on eventualities, were unable to regard the occupation of +Liao-tung by Japanese forces with the equanimity with which it was viewed +in England, though they made no objection to the enormous indemnities +forced from China, which might indeed be philosophically regarded by +them as a tax levied specially on British trade. Being threatened in her +weakest frontier by this ambitious military Power, Russia had intimated +before war began, in no ambiguous terms, that she could not tolerate +such a neighbour, and on the conclusion of peace she took steps to give +effect to that resolution. Russia had throughout the war been extremely +nervous about the possible action of Great Britain, and would have gone +considerable lengths to come to an understanding with her; but towards +the end, when the pretensions of the Japanese began to assume extravagant +dimensions, their moral effect on the Great Powers enabled her to dispense +with English favour by drawing France and Germany to her support. The +gravity of the Japanese demands was the factor that drew the three Powers +together, and Li Hung-chang, when he went as envoy to Japan in March +1895, assented to the indemnity and the surrender of territory on the +assurance given him that the more excessive the conditions of peace he +might be forced to sign, the more certain were they to be revised by +the intervention of the Powers. The three Powers proved strong enough +to induce Japan to give up Liao-tung for an increased indemnity, and +the future of the Far East thus was arranged in conferences from which +Great Britain had excluded herself. There were several reasons for +the abstention of the British Government from taking a share in this +settlement. One was the complete failure of their Intelligence Department +before, during, and after the war. But the fervour of the nation in +deprecating interference with the Japanese was a sufficient, and no doubt +a welcome, warrant for the inaction of the Government. An experienced +observer of English public life remarked afterwards that he had never +known a situation in which the press, metropolitan and provincial, had +displayed such entire unanimity and lavished such unmixed praise on the +Government for its isolation. And yet it was a unanimity of nescience, +of simple abdication, the surrender of a position in the Far East which +had been built up for two generations on the permanent interests of the +country, and which, sacrificed at the critical moment, is gone beyond +recall. The "new diplomacy," uninstructed popular impulse, never had +a freer field; for the Government which it dominated was scarcely more +enlightened, and decidedly more apathetic, than the nation itself. + + [Illustration] + + [Illustration: MINISTERS OF THE YAMÊN OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. + H.E. Shên Kuei-fên. + H.E. Tung Hsün. + H.E. Mao Chang-tsi. + _From a photo by J. Thomson, Grosvenor Street, W._] + +FOOTNOTE: + + [32] The same who is now governor of Shantung. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE RESETTLEMENT OF THE FAR EAST. + + An unsettlement--Interference of Russia, Germany, and + France--China reduced to dependence--Disintegration + proceeds--France forces China to violate her treaties with + England--Russian approval--The loans pressed upon China--Russia + vetoes English loan, substituting a French one, Russia + standing security--Germany seizes Kiaochow--Russia seizes + Port-Arthur--England's remonstrance unheeded--A diplomatic + correspondence explained--British public aroused to importance of + the Far Eastern question--Call upon Government to take protective + action. + + +It would perhaps be in stricter accordance with facts to describe +what ensued on the Chinese collapse as a process of unsettlement than +resettlement, since no man now living is likely to see the end of the +dislocation effected by the transactions of 1895. The crude ingredients of +national policy, stripped of the international decencies with which they +were wont to be invested, were then thrown into the caldron; elementary +forces, naked and undisguised, confronted each other; and the scramble +which moderate men had hoped to see indefinitely postponed was entered +into with the zest of a Cornish wrecking raid. The officious interference +of quasi-friendly Powers to save the derelict empire from mutilation +proved, according to unvarying experience, a remedy which was worse than +the disease. Russia, Germany, and France proceeded to treat China as a +No Man's Land; disintegration was the order of the day. The example was, +of course, contagious. Other Powers, with no more substantial ground of +claim than was afforded by the defencelessness of China, began whetting +their knives to carve the moribund carcass. + +A momentous transformation had been effected in a few months. China now +occupied the paradoxical position of a protected State without protection; +of a sovereign State shorn of the power of fulfilling her obligations. +To this impossible situation the Government itself had been an efficient +contributor. During the progress of the war China had, of her own motion, +thrown herself on the mercy of the world. Before all the Powers, great +and small, with whom she had intercourse, she humbled herself in the dust, +imploring them collectively, separately, or anyhow, to save her from her +relentless foe. She, the titular mistress of the world, grovelled thus at +the feet of Powers to whom she would not, even then, in plain words, have +conceded equality. And when assistance eventually came it was imposed on +her by external force. She could make no conditions. + +The revolution which the revised treaty of Shimonoseki effected in the +international status of China was naturally first realised by those +who had brought it about. China ceased to be a free agent; she became a +vassal, and not to one Power only. And the intervening Powers lost no time +in demonstrating the fact, France taking the lead. Within two months of +the revision of the treaty of Shimonoseki the French Minister in Peking +compelled China to sign a treaty granting to France large territorial +concessions on which she had long had her eye, with commercial privileges +never before granted to any Power. But the stipulations of the French +convention were in open conflict with those of an existing treaty with +this country, inasmuch as they gave to France a portion of the Shan +States, which had been expressly reserved as a neutral zone in the treaty +between China and Great Britain. The British Minister, pointing this out +before the French treaty was concluded, protested against its signature. +The Ministers of the Yamên admitted the justice of his contention, nor +can it be said the protest was unheeded. With the Yamên it was a question +solely of the balance of power, and feeling that the French force was the +heaviest in the scale, they yielded to that and signed the treaty with +France in direct violation of that which they had previously signed with +Great Britain. As if to leave no ambiguity as to the true significance +of the change of status which had come over China, the Russian Minister +on the day following made a formal visit to the Tsungli-Yamên, with more +than the customary display, to congratulate the Chinese Ministers on what +they had done, and to assure them of the approval of his Government. + +This novel application of the law of force threw out of gear the whole +system of Chinese national engagements, and was quite incompatible with +normal diplomatic relations. Formerly the struggle had lain between China +and all the Powers, her obligations to whom were observed in proportion +to the amount of coercion applied by, or to be apprehended from, each. +From this resulted a chronic demand for the fulfilment of agreements, and +constant reclamations for non-fulfilment. But now the native reluctance +to observe treaties was potentially reinforced by the action of foreign +Powers in not only condoning, but explicitly insisting upon, China's +violating her engagements. + +It may be that this species of _force majeure_ was not wholly unwelcome to +the Chinese. It certainly widened the field for their favourite tactics +of playing off one foreign Power against another. A better answer than +heretofore was now available to all demands and remonstrances. "We should +for our part be most happy to do as you desire, but--what would Russia +say, what would France say?" Thus diplomacy in China at once degenerated +into a "tug of war" contest, China herself being merely the rope which +was pulled. She was virtually ruled out of the active management of her +own affairs and became the _corpus vile_ for rival aggressors. + +Aggression sometimes assumed strange forms. One of the first which the +treaty of peace with Japan developed was a remarkable competition in +lending money to the Chinese. The indemnities to be paid to Japan were +heavy, and it was obvious that China must borrow. But before she had time +to take any step in that direction money was being thrust upon her. First +in the ranks were English loan-mongers, who had had some experience in +the business. Their negotiations were slow and halting; and when they +had at last concluded a contract it was only to be told that Russia +objected to the transaction, and required that China should borrow from +French capitalists, who were willing to lend on the guarantee of Russia. +The Chinese Government were absolutely passive, not willingly, but of +necessity; they had not asked for the guarantee which Russia volunteered, +and were quite willing to accept the loan of £16,000,000 sterling on +the English terms. But Russia simply insisted on their taking the French +money, under an ominous threat, while she herself stood security for the +solvency of China, thereby assuming the position of first mortgagee on the +revenues of that empire. That accomplished, Russia stipulated that China +should contract no further loan for a period of six months. + +The precedent set by Russia and France of ignoring the Government of China +as an efficient factor in negotiations respecting her territory or her +obligations was followed to the letter by Germany when in November 1897 +she took possession of the most important naval harbour on the Chinese +coast, with an adequate hinterland, carrying elastic rights extending over +an immense area of country. Admiral von Diedrichs reduced the question +of the acquisition to its very simplest expression. "Common-sense," he +submitted to the Chinese commandant, "must tell you on which side the +superior force lies, and therefore you would be wise to make way for me +without resistance." With the prize in her hands, Germany next demanded +a formal title to what she had seized, and instead of giving the German +Minister his passports the Chinese Government granted the request. + +In this unceremonious manner was the new status of China embodied in +monumental facts. She was the common victim, having no power to bind or +loose save in accordance with the dictates of her masters. The Chinese +Government seemed to have abdicated sovereign functions. + +After France and Germany it was Russia's turn to give tangible evidence of +the real ascendancy she had gained over the Chinese Imperial Government. +Hers was the only true mastery. The others might wrest provinces and +extort concessions from a prostrate Government, but Russia alone reached +the cerebral centre and controlled--so far as outward effect went--the +volition of the organism. Negotiations, partly revealed in 1895, showed +conclusively the scope and direction of her Chinese policy. It was +profound and practical, continuing on the lines that had proved so +successful in the past. The basis of it was an ostensible friendship for +China, out of which grew a protective alliance, and the peculiar kind of +partnership which had constituted the intermediate stage in the previous +great territorial acquisitions of Russia. The joint right of the two +Powers--to the exclusion of all others--to navigate the Amur and the +Songari, and the joint possession of the Usuri territory--"details to be +hereafter settled"--was now to be applied to the coast and harbours of +Liao-tung, of which Russia was to have the use, afterwards defined in a +treaty as the "usufruct." The gentlest methods were to be used, and so far +as mere phrases were concerned, a matter on which the Chinese always were +punctilious, the utmost consideration for their feelings was to be shown. +Russia had two immediate objects in view, both of cardinal importance +to her. The first was to obtain a terminus for the Great Siberian +Railway more southerly than Vladivostock, which could only be obtained +in Korean or Chinese territory. The second--the necessary corollary of +the first--was to bring the territory through which the railway should +run within the Russian administration. The sanction of China to a branch +of the Siberian Railway being carried through Manchuria to a terminus +on the Liao-tung littoral was formally given in conferences between +Li Hung-chang and the Czar on the occasion of the coronation at Moscow +in 1896. The details were afterwards developed in a way of which it is +probable the Chinese Government had little foresight; but it would have +made no difference, for to Russia nothing could be denied. + +Out of these comprehensive projects of Russia--projects which belonged +to the very highest order of imperial statecraft--arose a strange unequal +duel between Russian and British diplomacy, which has also left its mark +on history. Her Majesty's Government and their agents abroad having been +found wanting in the matter of information during the upheaval of the Far +East, it appeared to be their _rôle_ to ignore and deny the facts upon +which other Powers were acting. In particular the whole Russian scheme +of utilising Chinese territory and controlling the Chinese Government was +discredited with considerable vehemence. The consequence of this attitude +of scepticism was that whatever Great Britain might resolve to do must be +done in the dark. Assured by their agents in the Far East that the bay +of Kiaochow was worthless, the British Government satisfied themselves +that Germany had made a poor bargain in taking it. Dismissing as a +phantasy the whole string of facts concerning Russia's plans, the British +Government exposed themselves to collision with those plans, and received +in consequence a series of diplomatic humiliations, entailing upon the +country permanent disadvantages of a most substantial kind. Towards the +end of 1898, soon after the German seizure of Kiaochow, a harbour which +had also proved a convenient winter rendezvous for the Russian fleet, the +announcement came from China that the latter had received permission from +the Chinese Government to winter at Port Arthur on the opposite coast +of Liao-tung. Thereupon a discussion was raised between London and St +Petersburg concerning the prospective designs of Russia. This discussion +was stamped from its origin with futility by previous communications with +the Russian Government, the purport of which was inferred from a speech by +Mr Balfour in February 1896. On that occasion he declared that the British +Government would not only not oppose, but would hail with satisfaction, +the acquisition by Russia of an ice-free port in the Pacific. As her +Majesty's Government held Russia to the pledge she gave in 1886 to +respect the integrity of the Korean coast, it followed that the ice-free +harbour contemplated by Mr Balfour could only be in Chinese territory, +which, as affecting the dominating power of Russia in the Far East, was +greatly in advance of what the occupation of a Korean harbour would have +been. Korea had been safe-guarded from encroachment because it was the +stepping-stone to China, but the Russian lodgment on the inner waters of +China itself deprived Korea of most of its strategical value. Hence Russia +kept silence when Mr Curzon stated in Parliament that the pledge held +good which preserved the integrity of Korea, a pledge which had lost its +significance. This acquiescence in Russia's taking an ice-free port on the +Chinese coast was in direct contradiction to other no less authoritative +statements of the British Government. As, for instance, the resolution +passed by the House of Commons, and accepted by the Government, pledging +them to maintain the integrity of China, followed by the statement by +the Under Secretary of State that the Liao-tung coast with its harbours +constituted an integral part of the Chinese dominions. It is obvious that +this confusion arose either from lack of information or lack of interest +in the subject, coupled in either case with absent-mindedness on the part +of the British Government. But these inconsistencies of the members of +the British Government made no difference to the steady prosecution of +the Russian plans, which were now developed with great rapidity. These +pretensions were signalised by two memorable incidents, following each +other so closely as to be practically simultaneous, in January 1898. +The first was a new loan to the Chinese under negotiation by British +financiers, to assist which her Majesty's Government was strongly urged +by the China merchants to give its guarantee to the lenders as Russia +had done in the case of the previous loan. On being asked by the Foreign +Office what securities it would be proper to demand from the Chinese +Government as the equivalent of such British guarantee, the British +Minister at Peking replied that one of the conditions should be the +opening of Talien-wan as a treaty port by the Chinese Government. Whether +he had considered in what way this concession was to benefit the position +of Great Britain was not disclosed. The proposal was promptly vetoed by +the Russian Government, whose ambassador in London urged strongly that +"if we insisted on making Talien-wan an open port we should be encroaching +on the Russian sphere of influence, and denying her in future that right +to the use of Port Arthur to which the progress of events had given her a +claim,"--adding, that without having any designs on the territory, "it was +generally admitted that Russia might claim a commercial _débouché_ upon +the open sea, and that in order to enjoy that advantage fully she ought +to be at liberty to make such arrangements with China as she could obtain +with respect to the commercial _régime_ which was to prevail there." + +The second incident was that two British war-vessels which were anchored +in Port Arthur--where, of course, they had the same right to be as +any other foreign man-of-war--"made a bad impression" on the Russian +Government, and formed the subject of complaint to the British Secretary +of State. While denying the right of Russia to comment on the movements +of British ships in Chinese waters, Lord Salisbury nevertheless allowed +the vessels in question to depart, a movement which was reported with much +colour of truth in Peking and St Petersburg as having been made by the +order of Russia. + +Thus within one month the exposition of the Russian designs was expanded +from the first assurance of Count Muravieff that the wintering of the +ships was merely for the temporary convenience of the fleet, to the +assertion of vague territorial rights over the coast and harbours of +Liao-tung. And Lord Salisbury observed with plaintive naïveté in the month +of March, that whereas his Government "had always looked with favour upon +the idea of Russia obtaining an ice-free port on the Pacific, Russia had +now given a most unfortunate extension to this policy." It appears that +the eyes of the British Government were not opened to the gravity of the +situation until Russia, alleging that an ice-free port on the Chinese +coast (no longer the Pacific) was a vital necessity to her, thereupon +took possession of Port Arthur and Talien-wan. The British Government +at the eleventh hour opposed the proceeding, for the reason that "the +influence of Russia over the Government of Peking will be so increased to +the detriment of that of her Majesty's Government, if the Russians are to +have a lease of Port Arthur and Talien-wan, that it seems desirable for +us to make some counter-move." Thus the British Government were brought +to see, when too late, what those interested in Far Eastern affairs had +been endeavouring to tell them years before; and there seems to be no +doubt that the final discovery of the truth was due to the efforts of one +or two persistent writers in the press during January and February 1898, +but chiefly to the action of a small independent section of the British +House of Commons led by Mr Yerburgh. On such trifling accidents do great +events sometimes hang, that it seems probable that had Mr Yerburgh's +movement taken effect three months earlier British ships would not have +been withdrawn from Port Arthur, neither would China have been ousted from +the possession of her only two naval harbours north of the Yangtze--at +least not just then. It would serve no good purpose to follow the various +explanations given by Ministers of the British Crown of their diplomatic +encounters with Russia. They will have little interest for the historian. +But a clear account of these transactions given in a letter to the +'Times,' May 19, 1898, may very well serve as a guide to future inquirers +into these matters:-- + + _The Legend of Talien-wan._ + + Before the recent diplomatic struggle in the Far East is allowed + to pass away from the public mind, may I be permitted to say a + few words on one of its aspects which seems to have received very + little attention? + + The bad faith of the Russian Government has been strongly, and + not unreasonably, condemned; but no attempt has been made to + explain it, except on the popular hypothesis that a double dose of + original sin is normal in the Muscovite. It does not seem to have + occurred to any writer on the subject that the Russians themselves + may have a grievance, that they may have acted under a sense of + injury, or that, in their view, the good faith of the British + Government is not above reproach. I believe they are mistaken; + but it is none the less true that the chain of facts on which they + rely will well bear the interpretation they place upon it. + + The great blot on the recently published "Correspondence + respecting the affairs of China" (No. 1, 1898) is that it takes + no account of its immediate _Vorgeschichte_. It relates to a + diplomatic struggle of which we last heard officially as far + back as 1887, when the Blue-book on Port Hamilton was published. + Since then many important things have happened, notably the + Chino-Japanese war and the intervention of Russia, France, and + Germany in the settlement of Shimonoseki. To ignore these events + is really to delude the public; for the chapter of Far Eastern + politics which begins with the German descent on Kiaochow is + little short of meaningless if the story of Shimonoseki is + passed over. Indeed the legend of Talien-wan itself belongs to + a policy which may easily be traced back half a century. It is, + however, not necessary for my purpose that I should go behind the + Shimonoseki intervention. What was the object of that transaction? + No one who has given any attention to Far Eastern affairs has + ever been under the slightest illusion on this point. The great + problem of Russian statesmanship since the foundation of the + empire has been to reach the open sea, first in the Baltic, then + in the Euxine and the Mediterranean, and, after the Crimean war, + in the Pacific. Since Muravieff and Nevelskoy opened the Amur + Russia has neglected no opportunity of pushing southward in order + to get beyond the line of winter ice, and every embarrassment + of China has been skilfully used by her to bring her nearer her + goal. We in England have consistently resisted this policy, and + in 1886 we thought to have finally defeated it when, by seizing + Port Hamilton, we extracted a pledge from Russia that she would + not occupy Korean territory "under any circumstances whatever." + To all outward seeming Russian expansion in the Far East was thus + stopped in the ice-bound harbour of Vladivostock. This, however, + was not the view of Russia herself. She was still confident that + an opportunity would be afforded her of realising her ambition, + for there were other harbours on the Pacific besides those of + Korea, and if the road to them was longer and more difficult, + Russian patience was equal to the task of covering it. In these + circumstances Japan, victorious in her war with China, claimed + and obtained the cession of the Liao-tung peninsula, and thus + threatened to shut the door for ever against Russian access to the + Pacific. The intervention of the Powers which Russia thereupon + organised was ostensibly directed to the protection of the + integrity and independence of China, but no intelligent politician + doubted at the time, or has doubted since, that its real aim was + to keep the Pacific door open for Russia. + + Shortly after this event Lord Salisbury came into office. The + problem which then most urgently demanded his attention was that + of Armenia. Largely by its attitude in the Far East the Rosebery + Cabinet had left our relations with Russia in a distinctly + strained condition, and the one obvious remedy of the Armenian + horrors--the coercion of the Sultan--was blocked by Russia. Lord + Salisbury directed himself to the conciliation of Russia, wisely + recognising that nothing could be done in the Near East without + Russian goodwill and assistance. What were the means he employed? + I cannot say what private negotiations may have taken place + between the two Governments, but we seem to have a sufficiently + significant illustration of the direction in which the Premier + was disposed to make concessions to Russia in a speech delivered + by Mr Balfour at Bristol on February 3, 1896. In that speech a + British Minister announced for the first time that this country + would not oppose Russian expansion to the Pacific. "I, for my + part, frankly state," he said, "that, so far from regarding with + fear and jealousy a commercial outlet for Russia in the Pacific + Ocean which would not be ice-bound half the year, I should welcome + such a result as a distinct advance in this far-distant region." + This statement made a profound impression all over the world, as + well it might, seeing that it implied the abandonment of a policy + which had been consistently and vigilantly adhered to by Great + Britain from the time of Lord Clarendon to that of Lord Rosebery. + + A few days after Mr Balfour's Bristol speech--on February 20--it + fell to Mr Curzon to explain in a negative way the scope of his + leader's pronouncement. An impression had got abroad that the new + policy implied the surrender of the pledge given by Russia in 1886 + with regard to the occupation of Korean territory, and the Under + Secretary was asked in the House of Commons for his views on the + subject. Mr Curzon replied that "her Majesty's Government consider + that the pledge given by the Russian Government is still binding." + Was this a disavowal of the new Russophile policy. Obviously not: + for later in the year, at the Guildhall banquet, Lord Salisbury + made to Russia the friendliest overtures he has ever made in + public speech. At the same time he especially accentuated the + novelty of his attitude by asserting that "it is a superstition + of an antiquated diplomacy that there is any necessary antagonism + between Russia and Great Britain." + + The position, then, of the Government was apparently this: they + had abandoned the traditional hostility of this country to Russian + expansion towards the ice-free Pacific on condition that it did + not trench on Korean territory. It followed, then, that they + were not disposed to offer any hindrance to the acquisition by + Russia of a port on Chinese territory, westward of the Korean + frontier--that is, somewhere between the mouth of the Yalu and + Port Arthur. This must be clear to anybody who cares to glance at + a map. The upshot of the speeches of Mr Balfour and Lord Salisbury + and of the statement of Mr Curzon was, in short, to invite Russia, + whenever she might feel so disposed, to plant the Russian flag + on the southern coast of Manchuria. This, at any rate, was the + view taken in Russia, and, for my part, I can see no escape from + it. It is not a little significant of the satisfaction caused in + Russia by this interpretation of the policy of Great Britain that, + on November 25, a fortnight after Lord Salisbury's speech, the + Tsar at last consented in principle to the British proposals for + coercing the Sultan of Turkey on the Armenian question. + + Now we come to the events of last November, when Germany suddenly + swooped down on Kiaochow. This step is known to have been very + distasteful to the Russian Government. It was the first appearance + of a European Power in the northern waters of China, in a region + which Russia had persuaded herself was reserved for her own + domination. Long before the murder of the unfortunate German + missionaries in Shantung it was well known in St Petersburg that + Germany had her eyes on Kiaochow, and the Russian Minister at + Peking had more than once warned Li Hung-chang and urged him to + fortify the bay. The disappointment of Russia became intensified + when it was observed that the step taken by Germany, was not + resented in this country, and fears of an Anglo-German alliance + in the Far East began to possess the Russian mind. Then suddenly + there came the Talien-wan incident, and Russia found herself once + more confronted by the danger which had threatened her in the + treaty of Shimonoseki. + + The real significance of the Talien-wan incident has never yet + been fully set forth. Had Talien-wan been made a treaty port, and + thus given more or less of an international status, Russia would + have been practically shut out for ever from the ice-free ocean. + The only stretch of coast on which she could obtain this outlet + was, as I have already shown, the southern coast of Manchuria + from the Korean frontier on the Yalu to Port Arthur. Now, if we + examine this coast-line carefully we shall find that there is only + one spot capable of being transformed into a commercial port, and + that is Talien-wan. The China Sea Directory (vol. iii.), published + by the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, gives us the + fullest particulars on this subject. It traces the coast-line in + microscopic detail and shows us that it has only five possible + harbours. The first, westward from the Yalu, is Taku-shan, the + approach to which is frozen during the winter months. The second + is Pi-tse-wo,--here the water is too shallow even for large junks. + The third is Yen-tao Bay, the anchorage of which is bad, and in + places dangerous. The fourth is Talien-wan, and the fifth Port + Arthur. Talien-wan has all the advantages which are absent from + the other ports. It is ice-free, spacious, well sheltered, with + excellent anchorage and considerable commercial possibilities. Is + it surprising that Russia should have felt aggrieved when it was + proposed to make Talien-wan a treaty port? + + As a matter of fact, I believe Russia regarded this proposal + as an attempt to evade the assurance given by Mr Balfour in his + Bristol speech. She looked upon it as the design of a powerful + Anglo-German combination to exclude her for ever from the China + seas. It was to her mind a conspiracy of the most dangerous + kind, and she bent all her efforts to defeat it. When she had + defeated it she lost no time in securing her position. She took + Port Arthur as well as Talien-wan, for the simple reason that her + interpretation of the situation convinced her that a commercial + port overlooked by a great citadel in foreign hands would be a + vantage to her foes rather than a prize to herself. Can she be + altogether blamed for taking this view? + + The mistake the Russian Government made was in attaching a + serious meaning to the casual blunders of our Government, and in + imagining that these blunders marked a connected purpose, if not + a consistent policy. They were not to know that the Russophile + passage in Mr Balfour's Bristol speech was a mere oratorical tag; + that our friendly attitude towards Germany at Kiaochow was only + a sort of amiable tolerance of an act the scope and consequence + of which we had not measured; and that our proposal to open + Talien-wan was made at the suggestion of our Minister at Peking, + who, of course, knew what he was about, while it was acquiesced in + at home by Ministers who simply did not know what they were doing. + That Sir Claude Macdonald designed the Talien-wan move as a check + to Russia I have no doubt; that Lord Salisbury never dreamed of + this aspect of it I am equally convinced. + + However that may be, one thing, I think, is clear. The sense of + injury and the complaints of bad faith are not all on one side. In + diplomacy, as in most of the affairs in this world, it is a wise + rule not to believe your opponent to be as stupid as he looks. + Russia at any rate paid us this compliment during the recent + negotiations. The result, no doubt, is that she has overreached + us. But whose fault is it? + +The Russian flag once hoisted over Port Arthur and Talien-wan (by what +nominal authority makes no difference whatever to the fact) placed the new +relation of China to the rest of the world beyond all discussion. China +did not willingly surrender her territory: she looked in vain for help, +but found none. She weighed in the balance the words and acts of one great +Power against the words and acts of another, and had no choice but to +place herself under authority of the strongest, finally and irrevocably. +That fact must be taken as the master-key to her subsequent policy in all +its phases. + +These several events succeeding each other in close order awoke the +British public from their optimistic dream, and forced them to reflect +that there was after all something more in these Far Eastern readjustments +than had occurred to them when cheering on gallant little Japan to +the spoliation of China. The result obtained was certainly not that +which was contemplated either by the nation or the Government when +Great Britain settled down into her isolation. When the truth of the +situation had revealed itself to the public there was naturally a loud +call for something to be done to safeguard the commercial interests of +the country, if not to recover lost prestige; but the Government were as +far from having definite aims in China as they had ever been, and while +goading them to action, the public was scarcely in a position to advise +what that action should be. Neither had the Government, in spite of +all that had taken place, fully realised to what extent China had added +impotence to reluctance, for they continued to deal with China very much +as if the events of 1895 to 1898 had never happened. They were reluctant +to recognise the fact that Russia, in possession of the Liao-tung or +Kwan-tung peninsula and of the railway line connecting it with Siberia, +held a noose round the neck of the Peking Government, which she could +tighten or relax, conceal or parade, as circumstances required, and +that until some other Power or Powers were prepared to speak with equal +authority Russia must be paramount, not by virtue of any convention, but +as the outcome of accomplished facts. + +Two measures adopted by Great Britain to rectify the preponderance of +Russia were the seizure, under a form of negotiation, of the harbour of +Weihai-wei and the forcing of money upon the Chinese by way of loan. The +value of these strokes of policy has not yet become apparent. + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE OUTCOME. + + +I. THE SITUATION IN PEKING. + + A magnified repetition of experiences in Canton--Chinese + unchanged--International usages inapplicable. + +Since the foregoing chapters were put into the printer's hands the Far +Eastern Question has reached a crisis in which its ruling factors have +been suddenly exposed in their nakedness. But the searchlight now thrown +upon them casts a blacker shadow on the unilluminated portions of the +field. The events of 1900, while revealing the landmarks of past foreign +relations with China, have deepened the obscurity of all that concerns +the future of the Chinese State itself, as well as of the position of the +foreign Powers in relation to it and to one another. International comity +is seen to have made no progress in sixty years; on the contrary, the +gulf that divides China from the world yawns wider than ever, of which a +striking example is afforded by the telegrams lately exchanged between +the Chinese and the German Emperors. They speak in tongues unknown to +one another and are mutually unintelligible, so that they have no common +ground but that of brute force. Intercourse imposed on them against their +will and conscience has resulted, naturally enough, in exhibiting the +Chinese as the enemies of the human family. + +The capture of the Taku forts and the occupation of Peking by foreign +troops were but a repetition of similar incidents forty years before; and +it is instructive to observe how closely the lines of the old precedents +have been followed. Prisoners taken treacherously, or envoys held as +hostages; the threat to kill them if foreign troops menaced the capital; +the devices to arrest the advance of the Allied forces; the proposal to +negotiate only when the Chinese case became desperate; the ineradicable +belief in the credulity of foreigners; and the flight of the Court when +all other expedients failed,--were but another rehearsal, with variations, +of previous performances at Canton, Nanking, and Peking. The parallel is +completed by the efforts of foreign Powers to coax the emperor back to his +capital. Nothing has been changed, only the scale has been magnified, and +the civilised world, instead of one or two Powers, has become directly +interested in the catastrophe. Official intercourse with China has +thus continued on the lines on which it began. The first British envoy +was treated as a malefactor, imprisoned, his letters were intercepted, +his communications cut off, his servants withdrawn; he was guarded and +threatened by armed men posted at his door, and reduced to dangerous +subterfuges in order to get a message conveyed to his countrymen outside. +Canton in 1834 was simply Peking in 1900, in embryo. A naval force was +required to relieve Lord Napier from his perilous situation then,[33] as a +combined naval and military force has been required to relieve the foreign +Ministers in Peking now. The cycle has been completed. Every link in the +chain connecting the opening with the closing incidents of diplomatic +intercourse has been, on one side at least, homogeneous. Whatever and +whoever may have altered, the Chinese certainly have not. Commissioner +Lin, Viceroy Yeh, Prince Tuan, the empress-dowager, and all wielding +authority, whether in name or not, have been true to the Chinese ideal. +They have all alike been blind to the consequences of their acts, which +have throughout been characterised by the strategy of fools--momentary +success followed by overwhelming reverses, resulting at each succeeding +encounter in a further invasion of the frontiers of their political +independence. + +The crisis has been sufficiently prolonged to enable the world to perceive +what the Chinese mean by the term negotiation. To them it signifies what +it has always done, a palaver to gain time, to hoodwink an opponent, +to escape from a threatened danger, to purchase immunity by promises; a +device to manage, or, as they themselves express it, "to soothe and bridle +barbarians." As little now as at any former period can they conceive the +idea of a fair bargain between equals. They but temporise as with a savage +or a dangerous beast. "Get rid of the barbarians" is their unvarying +_mot d'ordre_, and it matters but little to them what instruments are +employed in carrying it out. The office is one from which every statesman +instinctively shrinks, since if he fails in taming the barbarians his +case is referred to the Board of Punishments, and if he succeeds he incurs +the contempt of all classes for the concessions by which he has purchased +peace. It is hardly possible for him in any case to escape degradation. +Be it therefore Lin, Kishen, Kiying, Yeh, Kweiliang, Wênsiang, Chunghou, +Li Hung-chang, or any one else, Chinese negotiators, whatever their +apparent success in averting a danger, are morally certain to come to a +bad end; and for the reason which caused the failure of Lord Napier in +1834, the impossibility of reconciling two principles which are wholly +incompatible. As negotiation under such conditions can only be nugatory, +a lengthened experience has made it clear that neither the negotiator +nor the negotiation avails anything, but solely the manner in which the +Chinese are held to their engagements, even when imposed on them by force, +and the strictness with which the common duties of civilised nations are +exacted from them, with or without written agreements. + +One feature in the recent Peking episode distinguishes it from previous +experiences. A Government communicating with foreign Powers through its +own envoys, doling out through them garbled information, while isolating +the envoys of those same Powers within its capital, and planning, and +if not doing its best to effect, their extermination, at least openly +approving the attempt, is surely unexampled in human history. The +proposal of such a Government, on the failure of its plans to "negotiate +for peace," would be the most sardonic of practical jokes if we could +disconnect it from the evidence implied in the proposal of the estimate +of foreign nations which is ingrained in the Chinese moral constitution. +Obviously, however, such a Government has placed itself beyond the pale +of international relations, and it is hardly possible to conceive any +restoration of the old or evolution of a new _régime_ which can place +China in the rank of civilised Powers. + +We are, in fact, thrust back on the conclusion arrived at by Lord Napier +in 1834: "That Government is not in a position to be dealt with or treated +by civilised nations according to the same rules as are acknowledged and +practised among themselves." Yet, instead of being treated with less, the +Chinese Government has received greater consideration than is accorded by +one Western State to another. Prerogatives implying superiority have been +conceded to it by consent of all the foreign Powers--a false principle +which has now produced its natural result. + +The usages of Western Courts, therefore, being wholly inapplicable in +China, no matter what Government may rule there, international relations +of the European type must be, as they have hitherto been, an illusory +ideal, and some new form of intercourse, corresponding more closely to +the realities of the case, must take the place of that which has proved so +totally unworkable. Should foreign nations, by reason of differences among +themselves or the magnitude of the problem, hesitate to act up to this +view of the situation, the continuance of a status which is essentially +false to the facts must lead to some still more tragic catastrophe than +any that has yet taken place. + + +II. THE CHRONIC CAUSE. + + Hostility of Government and people--Fostered by immunity--Cause of + animosity as set forth by Chinese--Incitements to outrage--Chinese + press calumnies--Compared with European--Effect on the Chinese of + international vituperation. + +It must be admitted that the attitude of the Chinese has been quite +consistent: from first to last they have resisted the foreign impact +_per fas et nefas_, using such weapons as they could command, while +avoiding, according to their lights, the risk of reprisals. Their lights +have indeed deceived them, their resistance has failed, and their methods +stand condemned. But it is beside the question to inveigh against their +barbarity, for "what is bred in the bone comes out in the flesh," and in +human relations there are permanent facts which have to be accepted, like +the skin of the Ethiopian and the spots of the leopard. Since foreigners +have, for their own purposes, broken into a hornet's nest, it is idle for +them to prescribe the manner of retaliation unless they are prepared to go +through with their aggression and to enforce obedience to their own canon. + +The constant feature in all Chinese attacks on foreigners has been the +immunity from punishment of the real instigators. Massacres of foreigners +have been condoned, for the blood-money exacted for them was no punishment +to criminals who did not contribute to the payment. All attempts on the +part of foreign agents to make guilty officials responsible for their +outrages have been frustrated by the Government, who have invariably held +the persons of officials exempt from punishment at the instance of, or +for injuries done to, foreigners. In Chinese eyes injury to foreigners +is meritorious in the abstract, and to be rewarded rather than punished. +Foreign Powers have in practice acquiesced in this fatal principle, for +though on rare occasions they have successfully insisted on the removal +of some obnoxious official, the Government have taken care to nullify +the penalty by promoting him to a better post. The various attempts that +have been made by foreign representatives to collect evidence to support +a legal charge against the instigators of outrages have been baffled by +the inflexible determination of the Government to shield the official as +well as the non-official leaders of riots. The foreign method of seeking +redress, being thus foredoomed to failure, is obviously not suited to the +circumstances. + +But while foreigners were pursuing their object by a hopeless path, the +Chinese administration itself provided the simpler and more efficacious +remedy of holding the chief authority of every province responsible for +misgovernment, as well as for crimes and misdemeanours committed within +his district. In the words of Sir Rutherford Alcock, "Each province +constitutes a separate state in its administration; to compensate +for this the emperor can appoint and remove every official, from the +Governor-General downwards, at his pleasure. And they are each and all +individually and collectively held responsible for all that may happen +in the limits of their jurisdiction." By the custom of the country, +therefore, the guilt of the highest official is assumed whenever any +disturbance of the peace takes place or crime is committed within his +government. He may transfer it, if he can, and ferret out evidence in +his own exculpation; but errors of judgment, pleas of good intentions, +and palliatives of that kind are not admitted, and not offered. Why +foreigners have never appealed to this fundamental principle of Chinese +administration, and have preferred relying on their own crude procedure +and strange methods of collecting evidence while practically acquiescing +in the immunity of Chinese officials, has never been satisfactorily +explained. For it is only in matters concerning foreigners that the +persons of Chinese officials are held sacred. The Government have +no scruples with regard even to the highest in rank when they make +themselves obnoxious to the powers that be. Degradation, deprivation, +chains, imprisonment, and the headsman's broadsword, are ever ready to +vindicate the majesty of the law when the Court awards the penalty. But +foreigners are treated as outside the law, which is the gravamen of the +Chinese offence against them. The constitution of the country afforded +them a clear ground for demanding that the traditional principle of +responsibility should be put in force for their protection. It was, in +fact, applied spontaneously by Li Hung-chang in the province of which +he was viceroy, with the result that Chihli was exempt from outrages +on foreigners for nearly a quarter of a century. Why was the system +not extended to all the provinces of the empire? Had not the foreign +representatives the natural right of demanding the benefit of Chinese +institutions, or did they consider their exotic substitute as preferable? + +A wrong road can never lead to a right destination; sins of omission +and commission have alike to be atoned for, and the cost accumulates +at compound interest. The result of sparing prefects and governors the +consequences of the evil deeds permitted within their jurisdiction is that +the Western Powers are now confronted with the more serious dilemma of +sparing the throne itself and tolerating the continuance of anti-foreign +outrages, or of doing stern justice towards the guilty even though the +heavens should fall. A retrospective glance over the history of sixty +years might help towards a solution even of this momentous problem. Have +the sacrifices of principle that have hitherto been made in order to save +the empire, or the dynasty, been efficacious to these ends? The answer of +history is No; on the contrary, they have accelerated the ruin of both. + +The provoking cause of recent outbreaks against foreigners in all +parts of the Chinese empire may be gathered from the proceedings of +the conspirators, from their placards and lampoons, and from their +secret correspondence. The keynote of all these is general detestation +of foreigners, special enmity to Christianity and its accessories, and +aversion to the symbols of material progress. Hatred of foreigners now +shows itself as a passion which binds the provinces together as nothing +else has ever been known to do. Their expulsion is a cause which is +held to justify the vilest deeds done in its name. Nor is the present +state of things a growth of yesterday. The ferment has been working for +forty years--to go no further back--with many sporadic outbreaks to +mark its progress. It was not nipped in the bud, as it might perhaps +have been. Exhibitions of ill-feeling had been habitually disregarded +by foreigners, who in their readiness to blame each other for provoking +them, were accustomed to repel obvious explanations, and to go far afield +for theories which would exonerate themselves at the expense of their +neighbours. If stones were thrown or abusive epithets shouted, "It was +only the children." Only the children! As if more conclusive testimony to +any prevailing sentiment were possible.[34] In Peking itself the foreign +Ministers set the example of palliating these abuses, and the only wonder +is that the fire has smouldered so long without bursting into flame. +During thirty years--to speak only of the recent period--missionaries +in the interior have encountered the growing hostility of the people, +which they have ascribed, perhaps too exclusively, to the machinations of +"literati and gentry," forgetting that the torch would be applied in vain +to a substance that was not inflammable. + +Not that the machinations of the official and literary classes of the +country are by any means to be held of little account, for they have +been the most potent factor in fomenting and directing the passions +of the people. What corresponds in China to a newspaper press has been +constantly employed in vilifying the character and execrating the designs +of foreigners, and holding them up continually to the contempt and hatred +of the Chinese people. There was no effective means of contradicting the +calumnies which were daily poured forth from every centre of population. +Attempts have, indeed, been made by special counterblasts in the form +of missionary publications in the chief citadel of hostility, and in a +less polemic form in the periodicals in the Chinese language conducted by +foreigners, yet these have had little more effect on the popular beliefs +than a leading article in the 'Times' has upon the flood of anti-English +literature that is poured out every day from Continental journals. From +an observation of the calumnies which are so unquestioningly accepted +by European populations we may partly judge of the effect of a constant +stream of the same class of vituperative literature among the still more +ignorant people of China. The features of both are the same. In Europe, as +in China, there is no crime that the lowest savages have ever committed +which is not attributed, with impassioned eloquence and with the finest +literary skill, to those who are held up to the popular animosity. In +Europe, as in China, the ruling powers encourage the virulence of the +press. In countries where the Government exercises direct control, and in +others where the connection is less official, extravagances are permitted +which can serve no other purpose than that of making the objects of +the invective so odious that a quarrel with them is rendered popular in +advance. European Governments thus play with fire, as the Chinese have +done, but in the case of the latter the incendiary policy has worked out +its logical result. + +Nor should it be forgotten that since, in these days, the Chinese have +the fullest access to European literature, the calumnies of one nation +by another are calculated to confirm their conviction of the turpitude of +all. Neither is their armoury confined to the international amenities of +the Western press. The charges habitually, and as a matter of course, made +against their own countrymen by British writers and speakers would justify +a stranger people, already predisposed thereto, in forming the worst +opinion of English character. During the saturnalia of a general election, +when the fountains of the great deep are broken up, no baseness, no +falsity, no treachery, is too gross to be attributed, not to the rabble, +but to the chosen leaders of the people. Such things being circulated +throughout the world, preserved in indelible ink, can the enemies of the +British nation, or at least the prejudiced Chinese, be greatly blamed for +accepting the character of our people on such unimpeachable evidence? +Should we not judge them on analogous testimony? From whatever sources +they gather their ideas, however,--whether from the study of foreign +newspapers, from their own observation of the ways of foreign men and +women, or from the gross libels published by their literati,--there is no +reason to doubt that the unfavourable opinion which the Chinese entertain +of foreigners is held by them in good faith. + + +III. IMMEDIATE PROVOCATION. + + Shock of the Japanese war--European spoliation of + China--Anarchy apprehended therefrom--Reminiscence of Taiping + rebellion--Proposals for moderating foreign inroads--Lawlessness + of foreign Powers--Chinese yield to force but nurse + resentment--The missionary irritant. + +What has caused the chronic anti-foreign movement to swell suddenly to +imperial dimensions, and to explode simultaneously in the capital and in +distant provinces, is a larger question than we can attempt to answer. +As contributory causes, however, there are certain facts lying on the +surface of foreign relations which are too suggestive to be passed over. +The Japanese war of 1894-95, and the train of events following it, noted +in a previous chapter, struck at the vital centre of the Chinese empire. +Foreigners of all nations applied force to China, not to defend person +or property, but to divide up the empire in disregard of the Government +and the people, both assumed to be moribund. The partition of China was +discussed in the Western press as a matter in which the Government and +natives of the country had no concern. Open doors, spheres of influence, +concessions, protectorates--the various modes in which the Chinese oyster +was to be cooked and served--were treated solely as questions of rivalry +and preponderance between the Western Powers. The people were not indeed +ignored, for the aggressors reckoned on them as their most valuable +asset, the raw material of prospective armies, the source of labour supply +for excavations and earthworks, and of the payable traffic for railways +and other exotic enterprises. But there is more in human nature than a +capacity to dig or obey a drill-sergeant, and it is precisely the elements +which were disregarded by political, financial, and industrial adventurers +which have risen up in judgment against them. The grandiose pronouncements +of the foreign press during the last two or three years were by no means +lost on the Chinese Government. These writings showed that the ambitions +of foreign countries had no limits, while the gratification of them was +absolutely incompatible with the retention of any semblance of independent +authority by the rulers of the country. + +Reasoning after the fact, and from effect to cause, is apt to be +fallacious, but when the circuit is completed by the joining of prediction +with realisation, some confidence may be felt in the soundness of +the conclusion. Those who have observed the condition of China with +a sympathetic eye have been for years labouring under the deepest +apprehension for the peace of the country. The Japanese war accentuated +this feeling, and the subsequent ruthless proceedings of the Western +Powers deepened the apprehension. As the forces of aggression could in +nowise be restrained, anxious, but inadequate and altogether ineffectual, +attempts were made to avert their worst effects. Warnings were not +wanting that "dangers which might have slept for generations to come +had been suddenly brought within the range of practical politics, and +that unless measures of precaution were taken in time, what happened in +1894-95 would sooner or later happen again, ... that the Chinese Empire +would be brought to the verge of disruption; for all the forces, external +and internal, which make for anarchy would be let loose, and the empire +would be powerless alike to resist dismemberment by the aggressive Powers +or the subversion of authority by internal upheaval." The paper from +which we quote, doubtless one of many such drawn up in 1896, goes on to +say: "However desirous some, or even all, of the Great Powers might be +of saving China from dissolution, they would be paralysed by their own +jealousies, and they would perhaps be more concerned to avert a general +war among themselves than to prevent calamity in China. A crisis might +thus arise more direful in its consequences than the chronic crisis in +the Ottoman Empire, and a reign of havoc would follow in which millions +would perish where the loss of thousands now excites the indignation of +the civilised world.[35] No circumstances would be wanting to intensify +the horror, for it would not be even civil war, but promiscuous rapine +as aimless and as uncontrollable as a forest fire. A generation has +scarcely passed since China was desolated by the scourge of the Taiping +rebellion, which is thought to have destroyed a population equal to that +of a first-class European State; and a new outbreak of the like kind +would be more hopeless, inasmuch as the factors which were eventually +brought into play to extinguish the conflagration in 1862-64 would now +be wanting, or would be rendered inoperative by the complex circumstances +above indicated." + +The spectre was anarchy, the provocatives aggression and dismemberment; +and the permanent interests of international commerce were appealed to +to avert the calamities foreshadowed. "Dismemberment, from the point +of view of the general interests of trade, would be little better than +anarchy." Severe pressure was being put on the Chinese Government--even +in 1896, when these and similar forebodings were uttered--to permit +free communication by steam and rail, and the development of the mineral +resources of their country. It was from such sources that the immediate +danger to the integrity of the territory and the peace of the State was +apprehended, while, on the other hand, the need for the innovations was +freely granted. "The Chinese having neither men nor appliances capable +of undertaking either the construction or management of railways, must +be wholly dependent on foreigners for their inauguration. This state of +things, fully recognised on all sides, has led speculators and promoters +of all nations to besiege the Chinese authorities with offers of the +means of construction and with demands for concessions. But considering +the relative positions of China and the Western nations, it cannot +but be admitted that the Chinese have done well to refuse to listen +to such proposals. Rival concessionaires working under the ægis of +extra-territoriality in the interior would be the axe at the root of the +tree of China's integrity." + +The problem of preserving the independence and integrity of China, +while permitting the opening of the interior of the country to foreign +enterprise, was felt to be one of the gravest importance, not to be +settled by the clamour either of rival concession-hunters or the intrigue +of rival States. "Inland residence," wrote Sir Rutherford Alcock, in 1868, +"will bring weakness to the nation and death to the Government, and must +eventuate in greater anarchy than has yet been seen.... Right of residence +in the interior is hardly compatible with an extra-territorial clause." + +The essential condition of safety for the country was evidently, +therefore, to bar the acquisition of territorial rights by any foreign +Government or company. With this view it was urged that at least the +ownership and control of railways and mines should be retained in the +hands of the Government itself, under a competent organisation in which +foreign skill and experience should be effectively represented. As +the then existing railway line of 200 miles was of such a character, a +development of the same system was recommended for the larger schemes +which were thought to be impending. The foreign Powers were urged +to assist China in putting her house in order and in adapting her +administration to the exigencies of the time. + +Such were among the proposals made in 1896, and not disapproved by +the Powers to which they were addressed. But common action thereon by +foreigners was hindered by mutual rivalry and distrust, while the Chinese +Government on its part showed neither inclination nor capacity--any more +than it had ever done--to meet its difficulties by comprehensive measures. +It preferred the ancient system of resisting, in detail and in secret, the +advances of foreigners,--a policy of traps and snares and entanglements. +Possibly the paralysis of despair had already reached the nerve centres +of Chinese statesmanship, or the desperate scheme of a general expulsion +of foreigners had begun to fascinate the leading spirits. Certain it is +no practical _rapprochement_ was effected, or even seriously attempted, +between the contending forces. + +Meantime, however, the invaders would brook no delay,--they had no +time for temporising tactics. The "ugly rush" began--syndicate rivalled +syndicate, and Government Government, in dividing up the _corpus vile_. +Within twelve months of the period just referred to Germany led the way +in the dismemberment of China by cutting off a slice of Shantung; Russia +promptly followed in Liaotung; then Great Britain took Weihai-wei as a +set-off, and assumed an interest in the central zone keener than that +of the Chinese Government itself. Other Powers followed with imperious +demands for portions of Chinese territory, on no ground whatever +except that China was weak. Every law save the law of the strongest +was suspended. Justice and mercy were thrown to the winds. And yet the +orgies of spoliation were followed by no change in the outward forms of +diplomatic relations with the Chinese Government. Foreign representatives +continued to negotiate as if the power of that Government remained intact, +though to assume, for one purpose, that there was neither sentient +organism nor sovereign authority in China, and for another, that the +Government retained its full competence,[36] was obviously to bring chaos +into their intercourse. As a consequence, diplomatic correspondence +with China since 1898--the British share of which, so far as has been +published, extends to a thousand pages--is but a harvest of Dead Sea +Fruit. + +But Chinese relations being a compound of courtesy and force on the +part of foreign Powers, it is not difficult to divine which of the two +must be the dominant factor. Though they bowed their heads in morose +silence before their conquerors, Chinese statesmen retained sufficient +vitality to discriminate between platonic diplomacy and the "mailed +fist," yielding in all things to menace, in nothing to argument. To +seize territory, under this _régime_, presented less difficulty than to +obtain redress for trivial injuries. Aggressive Powers were respected +according to the measure of their aggression, while those who concerned +themselves with the preservation of the empire met with no recognition +whatever. British schemes were thwarted at every point, while other +Powers ran riot throughout the territory. For this reason the Chinese +Government collectively, and individual mandarins, have been stigmatised +as anti-British, as if to be so were a blot upon their escutcheons. No +doubt they are; but to assume on that account that the Chinese rulers +are pro-Russian, pro-French, or pro-German is more than the premisses +seem to warrant. History and tradition are alike opposed to such an +idea. That peculiar kind of patriot, the friend of every country but +his own, is not much in evidence in China. The vainest and most jealous +nation on earth was not likely in a moment to suppress its self-love, +invert its whole character, and welcome an army of foreign adventurers, +no matter of what nationality, who came in the guise not of servants but +masters. And, setting sentiment aside, the Chinese were not blind to the +material consequences of the foreign schemes which were pressed on them, +but were as keenly alive to the danger of intrusting railway and mining +enterprises to foreigners as they had always shown themselves to be +when their military and naval armaments were concerned. The memorials of +provincial authorities clearly prove this. If, therefore, they admitted +the disruptive agency into their country, it was from no love of the +interlopers, but solely by way of submission to superior force, and under +the same mental reservation with which they had subscribed to all their +previous treaty engagements. + +The chronic missionary irritant mentioned in previous chapters had been +steadily spreading, and the hostility evoked by it as steadily increasing. +Christianity being the only character in which foreigners had presented +themselves to the view of the masses, the extirpation of it stood in the +forefront of the anti-foreign programme. The disasters which the governing +classes had always apprehended from the extension of foreign missions had +suddenly assumed the form of a concrete reality. All that its opponents +had for generations foretold became fact: their administration was being +undermined, their traditions set at nought, their very territory wrenched +from them in the name of the foreign religion. Propagandism was finally +unmasked by the German Emperor in the uncompromising manner characteristic +of that potentate. The Name that is above every name was openly made +subservient to the lust of conquest. China saw at last that she was really +doomed through the instrumentality of the religion which she had engaged +herself to tolerate. + + +IV. THE DYNASTIC FACTOR. + + Irregularity of the succession--Defensive position of the + empress-dowager--Cantonese reformers influence emperor--Regent's + alarm, vengeance and reaction--The new heir-apparent. + +Ever since the _coup d'état_ in January 1875, whereby the empress-regent +by her own fiat placed her infant nephew on the throne of her deceased +son, to the exclusion of more legitimate heirs, the dynastic question +has been regarded by Chinese patriots as a certain source of future +trouble.[37] The imperial dignity was not the only matter involved in the +succession, but a vast amount of property also, and so many members of +the imperial clan were interested in the result that it was deemed certain +that the partisans of legitimacy would lie in wait for an opportunity of +enforcing the claims of the rightful heir. As it is customary to attribute +the acts of statesmen to personal motives, it has never been doubted that +the interest of the empress-regent in setting the reigning emperor on the +throne was sufficiently explained by her own lust of power. We know what +is done, but do not always know what is prevented, and in the case of +the families of both the elder brothers who were passed over, there may +have been practical as well as judicial reasons to justify even a _coup +d'état_ which supplanted them. From what has recently been revealed of +the character of Prince Tuan, for example, the exclusion of his progeny +may possibly have been a providential deliverance. + +Be these things as they may, however, and be her ulterior motives what +they may, the solicitude of the empress-regent has been constantly +directed to protecting the weak point in her dynastic defences. The +childlessness of the present emperor, as well as the misfortunes of +the empire since he assumed the reins of power in 1889, of course added +indefinitely to her anxiety, while at the same time serving to keep alive +the pretensions of the elder branches. + +Speaking, as we have done throughout, only of what is apparent, the +succession question was brought to the point of incandescence by certain +events in 1898. Great and justifiable discontent had arisen in the +provinces with the manner in which the affairs of the empire had been +conducted, resulting in humiliation and calamity. The idea of doing +something to stem the tide of misgovernment by enforcing the lessons +of recent misfortune was freely discussed. But the Chinese have not +discovered any method of remedying grievances except insurrections +in one form or another, on a small or on a large scale. A movement of +this character has been on foot in the Canton province ever since the +Japanese war. These revolutionary conspiracies have indeed been so well +organised, and so powerfully supported, that once, if not oftener, the +provincial city of Canton has narrowly escaped capture. The agitation has +been directed nominally against the Manchu Government. Whether directly +associated with the insurrectionary propaganda or not, another body +afterwards challenged public notice under the name of Reformers. As in the +case of the insurrectionary movement, many Government officials secretly +gave their adhesion to the cause, and inspired the leaders with confidence +in the ultimate success of their schemes. + +Reform had been preached continuously to China from every foreign pulpit +for forty years. "Reform or perish" was the regular formula--words so +easily written that no resident, tourist, publicist, foreign official, +or any one with a pen or a tongue, refrained from reiterating them +continually. Individually every Chinese official with whom foreigners came +in contact joined in the cry. But though the general demand was unanimous, +there was diversity in the details, and in such a case the details were +everything. A dozen writers, each insisting on the necessity of thorough +reform, would postulate separately some indispensable preliminary to any +reform whatsoever. These indispensable preliminaries, added together, +would have left nothing for the substantive portion of the programme; by +them Chinese administration would have been renovated from top to bottom. +Such was the difficulty which friends and critics experienced in knowing +where to begin in their efforts to reduce the general to the particular. + +In 1898, however, a bold attempt was made to launch a comprehensive scheme +of reform by imperial fiat. A Cantonese named Kang Yu-wei, backed by a +body of opinion,--of the extent and value of which different estimates may +be formed, "financed," of course, as popular leaders must be,--obtained +the ear of the emperor, and induced him to promulgate a budget of edicts +of startling novelty. Being deemed revolutionary, they excited alarm +in the Imperial Court. What were the specific grounds of alarm may be +easily surmised. Foreigners who refer it exclusively to the question of +reform may possibly take as partial a view of this as they have done of +other Court movements. What is known is, that the empress-regent, always +ready to strike when her interest or her schemes have been threatened, +pounced on the unfortunate emperor, and by force of will and the parental +authority which counts for so much in China, and in virtue of the Great +Seal which she had reserved when handing over her trust, made him revoke +his revolutionary edicts, hunted out his dangerous counsellors and +punished them as traitors. The embers of reform were thus for the time +ruthlessly stamped out. Of the ethics of these proceedings it is needless +to speak: not ethics but strength decided the issue; nature's primeval law +was not suspended in favour of the adventurous spirits who flew at such +high game. A reaction against all reform naturally set in, and the old +struggle was renewed: between conservation and revolution, viewed from +the Chinese Court side; between purity and corruption, viewed from that +of the Reformers. + +But the quarrel cannot be restricted to so simple an issue as either of +these. The question between the Reformers and the Court was complicated by +sundry important considerations. In the first place, the capture of the +Emperor by Kang Yu-wei was directly inspired by the teaching of foreign +missionaries. In the second place, the movement originated in the same +southern provinces whence the Taiping rebellion itself had sprung, and +where conspiracies against the Government had been active since 1895. +And thirdly, the reform agitation was ostentatiously patronised by the +foreign, or at least by the English, press, while the leaders of the +insurgents found a safe asylum, if not an effective base of operations, +in Hongkong and in foreign countries. Taking these circumstances +together, therefore, whatever may be thought of the intrinsic merits +of the double agitation, it could scarcely be expected that the Powers +which saw themselves so seriously menaced should draw any such fine +distinction between the ostensible objects of the reformers and of the +revolutionaries, as to regard the one with complacency while suppressing +the other. The most abject of governments and the most timid of animals +will resist to the death an attack which threatens their existence. There +would be nothing unnatural, therefore, in the resentment of the Imperial +Government against its disaffected people being, by the process which +is so familiar to us in family quarrels, temporarily diverted from the +domestic to the foreign enemy, against whom the combined hostility of all +parties in the Chinese State might, for the time being, be concentrated. + +Without, however, attempting to assign their relative values to all or +any of these factors in the question, it seems evident that the events of +1898 revealed the elements of a drama in which the contending factions in +the Court were forced to show their colours. The course of the conflict +during the year and a half following the autumn of 1898 has probably +been obscured rather than elucidated by the contradictory reports and +fluctuating comments which have been so freely disseminated with but +slight regard to the authenticity of their origin. But the nomination of +a grandson of Prince Tun as heir-apparent, which was decreed in January +1900, looks like a belated, if not compulsory, recognition of the prior +claims of that Princes family, and a confession that the Emperor Kwanghsu +has kept the rightful heir twenty-five years out of his inheritance; +for the grandson now selected possesses no right which the grandson set +aside in 1875 did not possess. The relations of Prince Tuan, the father +of the emperor designate, with the empress-regent are as obscure as +the intricacies of palace politics usually are to contemporary foreign +observers. Fortunately, however (in one sense), the cross-currents and +undercurrents of the Court, the question who are confederates and who +rivals, who betrayers and who betrayed, in the imperial camp, are matters +which have to a great extent been deprived of their significance. Under +normal conditions the dynastic imbroglio might have had a perturbing +influence on the policy of foreign Powers, but the explosion of last +summer has relegated all such domestic questions to a secondary place. +When the correspondent of the 'Times' could report that there was "no +Government" in Peking, the _personnel_ of that Government lost its +practical interest. The old order, with its sins and sorrows, has indeed +passed away, but to find a substitute for it is a problem that will tax +the wisdom as well as the forbearance of the world. The anarchy which +has been so long dreaded is actually upon us, and the prospective horrors +of it are assuredly not lessened by the outbreak being signalised in the +capital rather than in the provinces. + + +V. THE CHINESE OUTBREAK. + + Chinese methods of expelling foreigners--Secret societies--The + Boxers. + +Considering as a whole, therefore, the succession of crushing blows which +during the past six years have been dealt against the integrity of China +by open enemies and dissimulating friends, we may conceive, at least +partially, the hatred of foreigners which exists in the country. In this +case we are not driven to assume any wide difference between the Chinese +and races more nearly allied to ourselves, nor need we seek to account +for their demonstrations by defects in their moral or religious training. +Had even the whole population of China been miraculously converted to +Christianity, as suggested by Sir Robert Hart ('Fortnightly Review,' +November 1900), it is not permissible to assume that they would have +continued turning the other cheek to so many smiters. If we suppose the +case of any Western nation subjected to the experiences through which +the Chinese have had to pass at the hands of foreign dictators, the mode +in which it would act may afford us some measure by which to gauge the +excesses of the Chinese. + +The origin and organisation of the recent outbreak will no doubt be a +topic of discussion for some time to come, and it is not within our +province to anticipate the final verdict on it. But, as in certain +contagious diseases which become constitutional, the angry symptoms first +show themselves at the point of infection, it is interesting to note +that the German sphere in Shantung enjoys the distinction of being the +cradle of the principal agency producing the cataclysm. The prominence +suddenly attained by the Boxer movement is probably fortuitous, due to +its casual connection with high personages. Secret societies are nothing +new, nor societies of divers sorts which have scarcely the pretence of +secrecy. As weeds spring up where cultivation is neglected, these social +growths may be considered in the light of spontaneous efforts to occupy +ground left vacant by the constituted Government,--a sort of excrescence +of autonomy rising and falling according as the administration is less or +more efficient. The members of these societies may be ascetics who follow +strict rules of living, defenders of popular rights, or mere "bullies" +who may be hired. They bear virtuous titles, but it is safe to assume that +the ostensible object of the associations is in practice invariably lost +in schemes of a different complexion. Sometimes in collision, at other +times in collusion, with the established Government, these societies are +a mobile factor, a sort of shifting ballast, always to be reckoned with +in the Chinese economy. + +As the Boxers are an athletic corps, drilled and exercised, it was +natural to inquire, when their imposing force stood revealed, how +such a formidable movement could have been organised among the Chinese +people without the fact becoming known to the foreign residents in the +country. One answer is, that those who saw what was going on and warned +their countrymen were decried as alarmists, and then held their peace. +The wisest were but little wiser than their neighbours, for as weather +prophets easily forecast the character of the following season, while +they are at fault as regards that of the next twenty-four hours, so those +who are able to predict with confidence the remote future in China are +often the most blind to the nearer future which is reckoned by days or +months. But incredulity was excusable in the present case, for the extent +and apparent suddenness of the movement were really unprecedented. Such a +force has not been mobilised and kept in the field in a militant condition +without immense effort and liberal supplies, for though pillage might +go far, it would not go all the way in supporting so large a body for +any length of time. The junction of the Boxers with imperial troops, the +relations of the commanders to members of the imperial family, and the +influence of the movement on the question of the dynastic succession, are +all matters on which light will be welcome; for as no military invasion +of the territory has ever called forth such a general enthusiasm of +resistance, interesting, indeed, will be the discovery of the real genesis +of a rising at once spontaneous and aggressive. + +The most practical observation, however, that foreign nations have been +forced to make during the crisis is that, whatever might have been the +separate designs of those who presided over the general movement, the +rallying flag of the combination was the extermination of foreigners. +That was the pretext which, for the time being at least, reconciled +all antagonisms and satisfied all consciences. It seemed as if the +long-accumulated hatred of the Chinese had gathered to a head, and its +whole force had been concentrated in one supreme effort to sweep the +aliens throughout the empire into the sea. That elaborate preparation had +been made to carry this into effect seems to be placed beyond doubt, the +rulers of China evidently conceiving that the effort would be successful. + +The excuse put forward in palliation of an anti-crusade headed by the +highest personages in the empire bears an interesting family resemblance +to the apology usually made for rebels. Being beguiled by false prophets, +they believed they would succeed;[38] and success would have justified the +venture. The facts are such as no subsequent negotiations, no treaties, +no modifications of government, no reform, no professions of any kind, +can ever explain away. + + +VI. THE CRUX. + + Concert of foreign Powers unstable--Divergent aims--Aggressive + and non-aggressive Powers--Unpromising outlook--The progress of + Russia the only permanent element. + +If conflicting forces in China have been united in an effort to expel +the foreigners, so the non-Chinese world has been forced into temporary +agreement in order to extinguish a conflagration which endangered all +interests. But the Powers assembled to execute judgment and restore order +in China present a picturesque diversity of ulterior aims. Their unity +can hardly, therefore, be expected to survive the emergency which gave it +birth. After the storm has passed--if it does pass--the permanent policy +of the several Powers may be expected to resume its normal sway. Of the +character of these different policies we are not left in doubt, for in the +history of the past six years it has been revealed in overt acts bearing +a higher authority than the most solemn official manifestoes. + +The principal Powers concerned may be ranged in three groups--the +aggressive, the non-aggressive, and the absorbent. Under the first +must be ranked Japan, France, and Germany. Facts which cannot lie have +proved that these three Powers have long cherished designs upon the +territory of China. No doubt they flatter themselves with the belief +that their rule over such portions of Chinese soil as may come under +their control would be a blessing to mankind, an opinion which it would +serve no good purpose to controvert. And they reckon that, in addition +to the higher civilisation which they propose to confer on the Chinese +people and Government, they will secure material advantages for their +own populations. The ruling characteristic, however, of this policy is +that it is factitious, adventurous, and ideal, in search of interests +to defend rather than framed for the defence of interests existing. It +is essentially, therefore, an aggressive policy, though, in a sense, +also progressive. Dividing the world into communities to be conquered +and nations who are fitted to conquer them, it represents the primeval +moving power in ethnic evolution. But it is a policy quite unsuited for +co-operation, and the attempt to yoke together Governments, certain of +whom are moved empirically by facts as they exist and as they arise, +and others by the desire of creating facts, ends--as all concerts +of antagonistic interests must end--most likely in explosion. A safe +calculation may be made as to the action of a non-aggressive Power, +under given circumstances, as the action of a man of business may be +approximately inferred from obvious considerations of pecuniary advantage. +But in the case of States with ideal policies, like France and Germany, +no such forecast can be made. This radical divergence between the aims of +the Powers who are called upon to decree the fate of China must render a +sincere agreement between them, under any circumstances, impossible; and +if the policy of one of them should happen to be directed by a political +genius ambitious of distinction, the course of the whole would be subject +to aberrations incalculable. It is true that the Governments which have +marked out for themselves these extensive plans of aggression may begin +to perceive that their proceedings in China have been somewhat in advance +of any justification, also that they have been reckoning without their +host, and that to found and maintain empires in further Asia may put a +strain upon their resources out of proportion to the material gains to +be derived from the enterprise. Perceiving that their "vaulting ambition +may o'erleap itself" and land them on the off-side of the horse, they may +show themselves willing, for the moment, to attenuate the significance +of their previous energy. The discovery that the conquest of China +involves something more than a military promenade may induce them to +make professions which, however sincere for the time being, accord but +indifferently with established facts. In the procession of history, +however, it is the facts and not the words which ultimately prevail. + +And this is the only canon by which it is safe to interpret the +apocalyptic exchange of notes just announced between Great Britain and +Germany, whose significance, like that of the conversation of a Chinese, +lies in the things which are not said. Considered as a convention, it +must be classed with those elastic bargains of which several examples +occur in the preceding narrative, in which one party has a definite +aim and the other not, and which is therefore destined to be employed +exclusively to the advantage of the former. _Vigilantibus non dormientibus +servit lex._ Without knowing what secret inducements led to such a +declaration of policy between Great Britain and Germany it is impossible +to assign a value to it. Its most authoritative expositors in the German +press rejoice in the fact that it pins Great Britain down to the only +policy which she has ever pursued, or ever will,--a policy in which her +public utterances have throughout coincided with her overt acts,--that, +namely, of opening Chinese and all other markets not for herself but +for the whole world on equal terms. An agreement, however, which does +not arrest French encroachments in the south, Russian appropriations in +the north, nor German exclusive exploitations in Shantung or elsewhere, +contributes little to that maintenance of the integrity of China which is +its professed object. Neither the world at large nor China herself will +benefit greatly by a verbal restriction on the one Power to whom the "open +door" and the integrity of China are articles of political religion and +of undeviating practice. And the clause which solemnly reserves to the +two parties the right of consulting together in certain contingencies +gives to the transaction a very platonic character. But a covenant whose +meaning is veiled is always a hazardous operation, even in private life, +where the power of definite interpretation lies with the more aggressive +of the two parties. + + * * * * * + +The non-aggressive Powers may be defined as those whose citizens have +established in the country a substantial position, which their Governments +have been slow to protect. The principal representatives of this group +are Great Britain and the United States, whose interests in China have +many times been defined as commercial, and not territorial. They have +acted consistently on the conviction that there is no country in the +world where conquest for the sake of commerce was less justifiable than +in China, which possesses a large population inured to labour, accustomed +to the luxuries of a civilised society, and with unsurpassed aptitude +for business. No special credit is due to the two Anglo-Saxon nations for +their recognition of these circumstances, except in so far as it indicates +an intelligent appreciation of their own interests. They desire, as an +ordinary trader or manufacturer would, that a good customer may be kept +on his legs, and that a promising inheritance shall not be alienated +from the next generation of their merchants. Their policy, however, being +essentially passive and conservative, suffers from the defects of these +qualities, and is liable to be overborne by the more energetic action of +the Powers which we have ventured to place in the aggressive class. + + * * * * * + +There remains the third group, which consists of one member, and that is +Russia. Although Russia is in effect more aggressive than all the others +put together, her annexations have been conducted under a different +formula from those of Germany, France, or Japan. It is not merely that she +has avoided hostilities, and effected her purpose by patient and adroit +diplomacy, but that her acquisitions of Chinese territory have not been +of the "wild-cat" order, but genuine integral additions to her existing +possessions. The expansion of Russia, whether a matter to be deplored +or applauded, is at any rate a natural growth, unduly forced at times, +but steady and progressive. It is the shadow of this secular advance of +Russia that covers the whole Far Eastern situation, and has in fact done +so for nearly fifty years. The character of her progress could not be +better described, even with the lights we now possess, than it was by Sir +Rutherford Alcock as far back as 1855. With rare clearness of vision and +firmness of touch he thus foretold the position which Russia was destined +to occupy in the Far East:-- + + China has long been impotent. Russia has within the last few + years, by force of diplomacy, appropriated half the province + of Manchuria, the ancient patrimony of the reigning dynasty, + and with it the command of the river Amur. If this other great + Leviathan ... has not yet swallowed the whole empire, it can only + be that, great as are its capacities, there are limits imposed by + nature to the powers of deglutition and digestion in the largest + boa-constrictor or predatory animal yet discovered. In the mean + time the danger is more immediate and menacing to Europe than + to China, perhaps; for Russia has at Sakhalin, the mouth of the + Amur, and the adjoining coasts of the Western continent, laid the + foundation for a position as menacing to European commerce as any + now existing at the opposite extremity in the Baltic. Stretching + with giant arms across the whole breadth of Northern Asia and + Europe from fastnesses at each end, Asiatic hordes, directed by + Western genius and science, are held in leash, ready to let slip + over the fair and fertile south of both continents. The wealthiest + regions of both Europe and Asia are at once threatened by this + modern colossus.... China, India, and the kingdoms of Southern + Europe form but the three different stages of invading progress. + Long before the whole of such a gigantic scheme of rule and + conquest can have its accomplishment in China--the most helpless + as well as the richest of all the victims--Russia will be enabled + to reap the first-fruits and take instalments of the larger and + more distant spoil, by controlling the trade of Northern China + and the rich European trade so recently developed in its seas. + +Russia alone has a policy independent at once of accidents, autocrats, +shifting governing bodies, and of all personalities, weak or strong. +With the accumulated force of past achievements, an unbroken tradition, +and great military forces massed on a frontier which is no frontier, +Russia among the other Powers now masquerading in the Far East is as the +iron vessel floating among the earthenware pots. Russian publicists, in +order to strengthen the dominant position to which they aspire, have been +proclaiming with increasing insistency that they are the only nation who +can deal with the Chinese Question because they are themselves an Asiatic +people. They justify this pretension by their primitive Asiatic military +ethics, and it is an instructive spectacle to see their forces massacring +Chinese populations wholesale while their diplomatists are ostentatiously +shielding those in high places from the just consequences of their +crimes. The German Emperor has said many clever and some foolish things, +but perhaps he never did a wiser one than in making over his schemes of +vengeance to his august ally, for the work is more becoming to an Asiatic +than a Teutonic people. + + * * * * * + +From an areopagus composed of these incongruous elements great +achievements are expected, but the comparison between the end and the +means inspires little confidence as to the result. The task itself is +gigantic enough to appal the boldest political experimenter that ever +lived, while its complexity involves insoluble contradictions. China, +the very Government itself, has been guilty of outrages against foreign +nations such as no nation can forgive another. The foreign Powers have +been openly and persistently defied--their people massacred throughout +the empire. Yet the nations so hated and flouted assume that they +have a mission to fulfil in setting up a stable Government in China, a +Government to be created for their own convenience, with which they may +in future negotiate,--a puppet Government, therefore, yet one which is to +maintain peace and good order throughout a vast empire by the prestige +of its authority over a loyal and devoted people. As buttresses to the +stability of the new _régime_, "the loyal southern viceroys," as they +are termed--loyal to whom, or to what?--deriving authority, it is to be +presumed, from the Government which is to be patronised by foreigners, are +expected to meet the convenience of the dictators and prevent anarchy in +the provinces. In short, the subjective Chinaman, as we have ventured to +call the fabulous animal so often evolved from Western consciousness, is +once more to be brought on the scene, and do everything that is expected +of him. + +A puppet Government is an intelligible thing, but of a puppet pulled by +a dozen strings no clear conception can be formed. Such, however, has +been the anomalous history of foreign relations with China, that the +identical state of things now threatening has not been absent from the +minds of observers for a whole generation. The missionary question alone +was thought likely to result in a deadlock between China and the Powers. +More than thirty years ago Sir Rutherford Alcock was impressed with the +destructive effect of "each treaty Power dictating to the Government and +coercing its officers in their jurisdiction wherever Christians were +concerned." This, he thought, "would tend to paralyse and bring into +contempt the executive, leading to a process of disintegration fatal to +the existence of the Empire." What was then thought applicable to the +missionary field now affects the whole range of international intercourse +and of Chinese government. We are, in fact, confronted by two anarchies +of most serious portent--anarchy in the administration of China, and +anarchy among the foreign Powers who are so active in that country. From +the beginning of the intervention to protect the Legations anarchy among +the Allies has been the predominant feature: it was that which frustrated +effective action in June, and led to such severe loss and suffering. +Anarchy alone can account for the lawless proceedings at Tientsin, +Peking, and on the Chinese coast, which on any other hypothesis would be a +disgrace to civilisation. Anarchy has characterised all the utterances of +the Western Powers. Beginning at the wrong end with great swelling words +full of sound and fury, the Powers who assumed to lead have gradually +toned down their threats as they obtained more light on the situation +and on their own incapacity to deal with it. The latest expression of +this incapacity is the Anglo-German Agreement, already referred to, which +perpetuates the fallacy of excluding the Chinese factor from the China +question. Yet out of, even by means of, this confusion it is expected that +order may be established in China! _Similia similibus!_ + + * * * * * + +In this desperate imbroglio the ultimate advantage will no doubt fall +to those members of the unnatural coalition who have the clearest views +and the firmest resolution in giving effect to them. The dubious and +vacillating Powers frittering away their political forces, espousing every +contradiction in succession, and turning in weariness from the disgusting +scenes in which they will have reluctantly participated, will in all +probability leave the path open for their neighbours who have steadier +aims and fewer scruples. + +Russia has been in real, though not nominal or legal, possession of +Manchuria since 1896. She has absorbed in times past many stony deserts +and barren solitudes, but in Manchuria she has for the first time +acquired a rich territory with an all-important sea-base and a virile +population, whereby her dominant position in Eastern Asia has been +rendered inexpugnable. China lies at her feet. Obviously, therefore, +her interests in that empire are not only distinct from, but opposed to, +those of every other Power: for while they may desire (1) to support an +efficient government and keep the empire of China on its legs, and (2) to +cut off slices of the territory for their own use,--two contradictory and +mutually destructive policies,--Russia has no need to be anxious, either +as to the efficiency of any Chinese Government or as to her own ulterior +interests in the territory. The looser the substance to be absorbed the +more painless will be the process of absorption. Once established in +strength in Manchuria, disorder on her frontier may afford the perhaps not +unwelcome opportunity of restoring order on her own terms,--of, in fact, +continuing the process by which Siberia with Central and North-Eastern +Asia have, in the course of two hundred years, been gradually incorporated +into the Russian Empire. "It may well be doubted," wrote Sir Rutherford +Alcock in 1868, "if this vast empire (of China) is not too large to be +any longer governed from Peking. It is impossible to conceive a more +disadvantageous site for the capital." Disadvantageous, perhaps, to +China, whose centre of gravity lies a thousand miles to the south; but +not disadvantageous to a Power whose strength is consolidated five hundred +miles to the north.[39] + +And the veto which Russia has exercised over the acts of the Chinese +Government since 1895, whereby she has been able, at her pleasure, to +frustrate the enterprises of other Powers, is not likely to fall into +abeyance when that Government has been prostrated by its own folly. For +the weaker the Chinese Government becomes the greater will be its need of +correction and guidance. But we have only to imagine half-a-dozen Powers, +each aspiring, and some of them fully resolved, to exercise their special +veto over the proposals of the others, to realise the tragic complexity +of the international problems which now present themselves for solution. +A government holding together three hundred millions of people ripened +for rebellion, potentially at war with the rest of the world, and yet +governing under multiple tutelage--such is the prospect before us. Of +all the legacies which the nineteenth bequeaths to the twentieth century, +there is none more portentous than that of the sick giant of the Far East. + + [Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + + [33] See vol. i. p. 38. + + [34] Mr Freeman-Mitford, in 'The Attaché at Peking,' recently + published, tells the following good story illustrative of this + (p. 168). M. de Mas, the Spanish Minister, happening to be at + the house of Hêng-Chi, and knowing that he had a little son of + whom he was inordinately proud, thought it would be a very pretty + compliment if he asked to see the little boy, who was accordingly + produced, sucking his thumb after the manner of his years. Him his + father ordered to pay his respects to M. de Mas--that is to say, + shake his united fists at him in token of salutation; instead of + which the child, after long silence and much urging, taking his + thumb deliberately out of his mouth roared out "Kwei-tzŭ" (devils) + at the top of his voice and fled. + + [35] Referring to the massacre of Armenian Christians, with regard + to which Germany took up a very different attitude from that now + assumed towards China--a circumstance, by the way, which serves + to reduce the "Christian" factor in the present intervention to + its proper value. + + [36] Or, as M. Paul Boell expresses it, "Traitant la Chine tantôt + comme un pouvoir tout à fait formidable, tantôt comme une + puissance nègre de septième ordre." + + [37] Kwanghsu, being first cousin to the deceased Emperor Tungchih, + could not, according to Chinese usage, be his heir. In adopting + him, therefore, as posthumous heir to the previous Emperor + Hsienfêng, his uncle, the Regent left her own son, the Emperor + Tungchih, without an heir, promising to supply the want from + the future offspring of Kwanghsu, or by some other adoption; but + against this procedure strong protests were made. The arrangement, + however, conferred upon the Dowager-Empress, as the widow of + Hsienfêng, the authority of a mother over his heir, a circumstance + which to a large extent accounts for the filial deference the + reigning emperor has always paid to his adoptive mother. + + [38] Thirty years ago the great Nanking viceroy, Tsêng Kwo-fan, + assured the Government in a memorial to the throne that if the + question of treaty revision could not be satisfactorily arranged + with foreigners, he had forces enough under his orders to drive + them all into the sea. + + [39] The question of removing the capital to a more convenient site + has been discussed academically--by foreigners--for many years, + their view being that Nanking would be the most suitable. No doubt + a central point open to the sea would be more convenient for the + maritime Powers, but that is evidently not an advantage which + commends itself to the Chinese themselves. During the Japanese war + their strategists urged the removal of the Court from Peking to + Signan fu in Shensi, simply on the ground of the inaccessibility + of the latter site. The transport was prepared and the Emperor + was ready, but the Empress-Dowager vetoed the project. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK'S LATER YEARS. + + Retirement--Literary work--Social and charitable + occupations--Geographical Society--Borneo--Failing health--Active + to the end. + + +After twenty-seven years' service in the Far East Sir Rutherford Alcock +spent the remaining twenty-seven years of his life in his own country, +not in the placid enjoyment of a well-earned leisure or in mere literary +recreation, but in labours incessant for the good of his countrymen. +Though the scene had changed, the methodical habits of his business life +remained unaltered, and were directed in their full activity to the duties +that presented themselves in England. + +During his whole active life Sir Rutherford had cherished the hope of +occupying his years of leisure with work for the sick and needy. His +visit to England, 1856-58, perhaps gave the definite direction to this +aspiration, and led him to see that hospitals, schools, prisons, and +similar institutions would afford the best available medium through +which he could reach the object of his desires. No sooner, therefore, +was he released from official service than the ex-army surgeon returned +to his first love. The associations of his youth were bound up with the +two hospitals in Westminster where he had studied. There, accordingly, +after the lapse of forty years, his active connection with the medical +schools was resumed. Residing in the immediate vicinity, Sir Rutherford +was able to devote a large share of his time to the affairs of Westminster +Hospital, giving back with interest what he had received from his nursing +mother. He was a regular visitor there: before long he joined the Board, +and became a prominent figure at its meetings. Being appointed one of the +vice-presidents, an office he held till his death, he was, through his +constant attendance, the working chairman of the board. There was much +good work waiting to be done in the control and direction of the routine +service of the establishment, and still more in the way of improvements +required to adapt the machine to the needs of the time. Hospitals in +general were by no means in a satisfactory condition thirty years ago, +and the Westminster was certainly no better than its neighbours. The +sanitary state of the establishment was antiquated and unfavourable to +the patients. But the structural changes necessary to improve this and to +extend the accommodation, and the heavy expenditure involved, demanded +first-rate financial and organising capacity, as well as unremitting +labour,--desiderata which Sir Rutherford was eminently qualified to +supply. The nursing was at such a low level as amounted almost to a +scandal. Drastic remedies, in short, and in many directions, were called +for. But reform from within is proverbially an unpromising undertaking, +the _personnel_ being identified with conservative traditions. That kind +of parsimony which is in effect the worst extravagance, inasmuch as it +yields no adequate return, was a serious obstacle to improvement. It was +not their fault, but that of the system of which they were but creatures, +that nurses and other attendants were so perfunctory and so inefficient. +It was the system, therefore, that had to be reformed, and into that work +Sir Rutherford Alcock threw himself _con amore_. In his labours for the +improvement of the hospital he was supported throughout by the cordial +co-operation of the late Lady Augusta Stanley. We are indebted to his +colleague, Mr George Cowell, F.R.C.S., for a short reference to the work +initiated and carried through by Sir Rutherford Alcock, and for a warm +tribute to the zeal and ability which he brought into the service:-- + + Most of the many valuable reports on such subjects as the nursing, + admission of out-patients, structural alterations, and improved + sanitation were written by him, and endorsed by the committees + over which he so ably presided. The writer of this notice + remembers the early controversies with reference to the nursing, + and the growing complaints which failed to receive attention until + Sir Rutherford came on the scene. Hospital committees in those + days were not so liberal as they are now, and all increase in + the wages of the nurses was absolutely refused for many years. + The result of this parsimony was that as the general rate of + wages increased, the best nurses were enticed away by better pay + elsewhere, and Westminster had gradually come to be nursed by a + lower and lower class, and indeed thirty years ago it was not an + unheard-of thing to convict a nurse for consuming brandy ordered + for the patient. The medical staff were obliged to make a stand + against this crying evil, and at last, with the assistance of Sir + Rutherford, and in spite of the determined opposition of the then + senior physician, a change was made, and the cost of the nursing + was doubled at a bound. + +Sir Rutherford was chairman of the Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital for +sixteen years, and of the Hospital for Women in Soho Square, to both +of which institutions he rendered great services. He was member of the +Council of the House of Charity for assisting those who have seen better +days, and chairman of the Nursing Home founded by Lady Augusta Stanley, +in which he took a keen interest. He was also a Poor Law Guardian and +a leader in sundry charitable and other parochial work, his experiences +of which he likened to the steps of a dancing-master--"two forward and +one backward, with no very sensible advance in any one direction." One +important step forward he did, however, succeed in making, and that was +in obtaining trained nurses for sick inmates of workhouses. His efforts, +while connected with St George's Union, were specially devoted to the +treatment of the sick: he also took a great interest in the emigration of +pauper children to Canada. + +As a member of the committee of the Charity Organisation Society he +laboured for many years in a variety of ways to bring about unity of +action between that body and the Board of Guardians. In connection with +the Westminster District Board of Works, Board of Parochial Trustees, +Western Dispensary, and Westminster Nursing Committee, he rendered +innumerable services to the populous districts controlled by these +organisations. Having been elected to the Board of Works in 1875, Sir +Rutherford was at once placed upon the Sanitary Committee, to which the +Board delegated the administration of the Public Health Acts then in +force. The vestry clerk of St Margaret's and St John's records that the +Sanitary Committee of the District Board of Works was Sir Rutherford's +favourite field of work--an impression which was no doubt also formed by +the executive officers of the other spheres of his multifarious activity. +The members of the Board were at that time greatly occupied in combating +the evils resulting from the overcrowded and insanitary condition of +their district, and Sir Rutherford was largely instrumental in urging +upon the Home Office the necessity of legislation to compel medical +practitioners and heads of families to give notice of cases of infectious +diseases--efforts which eventually resulted in the Act of Parliament of +1889. + +In 1881 he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission to investigate +the London smallpox and fever hospitals, to the formation of which he +had contributed powerfully by his reports and articles and labours in the +Medical Conference. In 1882 he presided over the Health Department of the +Social Science Congress. + +In all the social and philanthropic objects to which he devoted himself he +was an original worker, never a follower of routine or one to say ditto +to another man's opinions. Whatever he undertook he did thoroughly, and +with a single eye to the main purpose. His various activities brought him +into contact with all sorts and conditions of men, but chiefly with those +on the pathetic side of social life--the unfortunate, the debilitated, +the improvident, the suffering. He shirked none of his obligations to the +meanest of these, and would suffer the greatest personal inconvenience +rather than fail in fulfilment of the smallest promise, or in gratifying +the slightest request. This punctilious observance of the minor duties +was remarked as a prominent feature in his character. An intimate friend +writes, "How I wish I could convey even a faint idea of his kindly and +sympathetic friendship, which left the feeling that he was on a plane +above one in his lofty sense of love and duty." Pure philanthropy, +genuine economy, and sound finance being his guiding principles in all +social undertakings, and whatever he undertook being pushed through to +a successful issue, he by degrees acquired a reputation for efficiency +and tenacity. It was not surprising that his energetic character should +have gained him the credit of aggressiveness, or, as Mr Co well puts +it, "bellicose individuality," which, however, served him in good stead +in every post he occupied. We have already seen throughout his official +career how he was stimulated by controversy: he was at his best as a +fighting man. + +The high qualities which Sir Rutherford devoted to his labours of love +received flattering recognition from the Queen, who applied to him to draw +up the regulations and rules of the institution by which deserving nurses +were to be benefited in commemoration of her Majesty's Jubilee. This +honour he accepted from her Majesty on the condition that he should have +for colleagues in the work Sir James Paget and the Duke of Westminster, a +request which was graciously granted. The balance of the Women's Jubilee +offering of 1887 was £70,000, of which fund the three were appointed +trustees. They decided that it should be applied to the foundation of +an institution to promote the education and maintenance of nurses for +the sick poor in their own homes. When the scheme had been matured a +royal charter of incorporation was granted, wherein the governing body +was styled "The Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for Nurses," the three +trustees being appointed to act permanently in that capacity, and also as +members of the Council of the Institute. "Sir Rutherford," says the Rev. +Arthur Peile, Master of St Katharine's, "continued to the last to take +an unfailing interest in the work, and in many valuable ways aided the +committee and council by his advice. From his wide grasp of the subject +in its various bearings he was able to make important suggestions." +The Diamond Jubilee and the incidents connected with the celebration +interested Sir Rutherford greatly during the last year of his life, and +the medal he received on the occasion was valued by him more highly than +any other distinction, because he knew that the bestowal of it was the +spontaneous act of the Queen herself, for whom he had a deep personal +affection. + +To the larger public Sir Rutherford Alcock was perhaps best known by his +work in connection with the Royal Geographical Society, on the committee +of which he served for twenty years. Elected President in 1876, it +fell to him to receive Sir George Nares on his return from his Arctic +expedition in that year, and Mr H. M. Stanley on his return from the +Congo in 1877. His various presidential addresses to the Society itself, +and to the geographical section of the British Association, are replete +with well-digested summaries of the progress of geographical exploration +throughout the world. His comprehensive treatment of the subject assisted +very much, if not to make geography a science, at least to lift it out +of the region of mere technical knowledge, and to assign to the study of +it the social and political significance now universally attached to the +description of the earth's surface. Personally he did much to stimulate +enterprise of that kind in various regions. As Chairman of the African +Exploration Fund, he took an active share in the labours which resulted in +the despatch of Mr Keith Johnston and Mr Joseph Thomson to East Africa, +and, by bringing the country into notice, had such important results in +the direction of the opening up of that part of the continent. Speaking +of him a few days after his death, the President, Sir Clements Markham, +said: "Judicious, patient, and courteous, he was esteemed by us all, +and his able advice helped us out of many a difficulty. The period of +his presidency will always be remembered for the energy with which he +advocated African exploration, the result of his efforts being represented +by the memorable expeditions of Joseph Thomson." + +We have already had occasion to remark on the personal interest which Sir +Rutherford had taken during the earlier years of his service in China and +Japan in the London Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862.[40] Indeed the Japanese +"show" in the latter was virtually organised by him. His well-known +sympathy with, and interest in, all industrial and artistic collections +led to his being chosen as British Commissioner to the Paris Exhibition +of 1878. + +About the same time a question of imperial concern claimed Sir +Rutherford's active intervention: that was colonisation in the Eastern +Archipelago. Borneo, the largest island in the world after Australia, +has from time to time excited considerable interest in Great Britain. +The romantic career of the Rajah of Sarawak, Sir James Brooke, on the +west coast, had much to do with bringing that part of the world into +public notice. Adopting as his country the domain made over to him by the +native chiefs, Rajah Brooke laboured among his people like a missionary +of civilisation, trampled out the savage customs of the natives, and +after many trials gained the confidence of the people by his justice and +firmness, and eventually brought the country into a state of prosperity +and good order. In this he was loyally seconded by Captain Keppel, now +Admiral of the Fleet, whose 'Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido' is a +graphic story of their joint adventures among pirates and head-hunters. +Coal having been found in Labuan, adjoining the Rajah's territory, that +island was acquired by Great Britain in 1847, under treaty from the Sultan +of Brunei, who engaged not to make any cession of his territory without +her Majesty's consent, and established as a Crown colony. + +The Netherlands and Spain claimed between them, upon a vague tenure, +enormous tracts of the coast of Borneo and the adjoining archipelago, +effectually blocking all progress in these regions. There still remained, +however, an important section of the northern part of that immense island +unappropriated by the white man. Portions of this tract had been leased +to an American citizen, who transferred it to an American company; but +being unable to furnish the capital either to pay the stipulated rent +or to develop so enormous a property, in 1877 the holders were glad +to part with all their rights to an English association consisting of +Baron von Overbeck and Mr (now Sir) Alfred Dent, who undertook to pay +the agreed tribute to the Sultans of Borneo and Sooloo. Possessing this +immense estate, with the sovereign rights inherent in the proprietor, the +English association made arrangements to develop the property. Agents +were sent out to occupy certain points on the coast, and a provisional +government, suited to the requirements of the place, was set up. But the +administration putting too heavy a strain upon a private individual, Mr +Dent set to work to find assistance in his undertaking. + +At this juncture, 1879, Sir Rutherford Alcock, impressed by the important +strategical position of the island of Borneo, lying close to the track of +vessels traversing the China Sea, its possession of several good harbours, +and prospective coal supply, joined Mr Dent in his efforts to place the +British occupation of the Bornean harbours on a secure basis. As a first +step it was necessary to organise a company with sufficient capital to +take over the government and utilise the resources of the territory. This +may well have seemed at the time not only an arduous but an impossible +undertaking; for nothing short of a royal charter could supply the +necessary guarantee to attract capitalists, and to assure them that their +property investment would eventually be productive. The era had long gone +past when royal charters were granted to merchant adventurers. Such an +institution, therefore, seemed an anachronism, opposed to the spirit of +the age. Nor was the political colour of the British Government at the +time encouraging to imperial schemes of any description. In spite of these +difficulties the knowledge of affairs and insistency of Sir Rutherford +Alcock and the other promoters enabled them eventually to succeed in +pushing their enterprise with the Government to the point of obtaining a +charter of incorporation in November 1881. On the faith of this charter a +company was formed, of which the capital now stands at £2,000,000, under +the title of the "British North Borneo Company." Sir Rutherford Alcock +became the chairman, which post he continued to fill during the ten +years which may be considered the probationary stage of the company. To +him it owed much of its success in overcoming the numerous difficulties +incidental to starting so novel a venture; and among his other labours in +its behalf he drew up a full and elaborate handbook of North Borneo. It +was not a trading, but a governing and a land-owning company, its revenues +consisting of royalties paid by private adventurers for the privileges +of mining, agriculture, and so forth, licences and the necessary taxes +on commerce. But the interests of a dividend-earning and a governing +company were so nearly incompatible that no little ingenuity as well as +patient effort were required to bring about reconciliation between the +two elements. + +The affairs of the company have been conducted with great perseverance, +the exploitation of the territory by means of planting, mining, and +industries of various kinds having been handed over to subsidiary +companies created for the purpose, while the parent body maintains its +position as overlord, administering the whole territory. + +But amidst his numerous preoccupations in England Sir Rutherford never +loosened his grasp on the events which were transpiring in the distant +field to which his official life had been devoted. As the only competent +and persistent critic of these events, he did as much as one man could to +turn the eyes of his countrymen towards their most important interests +in Further Asia. Nearly every passing event was noticed briefly by +him in the columns of the daily press, while the permanent features of +the Far Eastern problem, which are only now beginning to dawn upon the +consciousness of the nation, were copiously dealt with in the monthly +magazines and in the more stately pages of the 'Edinburgh Review.' Sir +Rutherford's contributions to periodical literature, forming a tolerably +complete repertory of the questions arising out of the intercourse of +Europe with Eastern Asia, would fill many volumes. As late as 1896 the +subject was still uppermost in his mind. "In China," he then wrote, +"there is a far larger Eastern question than what is occupying us at +Constantinople. An open port for Russia, a railroad across Russia, with +the French scheming for our commerce in the Indo-Chinese peninsula,--the +whole situation is full of danger to all our interests in China." And +during the last year of his life the thought of all that had been lost +to the country through sheer neglect seemed to weigh heavily on his +mind. That his constant premonitions of coming changes passed practically +unheeded by the public to whom they were addressed is unfortunately true; +and it is trite to say that it would have been well for this country +if the warnings of such serious writers as this had been taken to heart +before instead of after the deluge. But that would have been a historical +anomaly, for mankind has learned little since the days of Noah. + +Under the valid plea of advancing age and failing health Sir Rutherford +during his last years relinquished one after another the offices which +he had filled with so much earnestness and good faith. Deafness alone +obliged him to retire from the active chairmanship of the Westminster +Hospital, though his attendances at the weekly meetings of the Board +were unremitting to the very end. As late as July 1897 he took a leading +part in measures he deemed urgent for the wellbeing of the institution. +During the Jubilee celebrations he was able to receive a formal visit +from a party of twelve Dyak police from British North Borneo, under the +command of Mr Wardrop. The Committee of the Jubilee Nurses continued to +meet at his house, and he did work for the institution during the summer. +While at Wimbledon with his family in August, he was seized by an illness +from which he rallied sufficiently to be brought home to his house at +Westminster, where he came under the medical care of his old friend and +physician, Dr Lionel Beale. Among the few friends who were admitted to see +him during the last month of his life were the Dean of Westminster, Lord +Lister, Mr Edmund Bagshawe of Bath, and one or two others. His strength +was then gradually failing, though he retained his intellect unimpaired +till within a few days of the end, on November 2, 1897. He was buried in +Merstham churchyard. His widow, nearly his own age, survived him sixteen +months, dying in March 1899. How much the maintenance of the husband's +long life of active usefulness owed to the support and encouragement of +a judicious and devoted wife must remain behind the veil. She had her +reward. + + [Illustration: MAP OF EASTERN ASIA + TO ILLUSTRATE + THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA IN THE VICTORIAN ERA + BY ALEXANDER MICHIE] + +It may be interesting in conclusion to add a few words of Sir Rutherford +Alcock's estimate of himself, which occur in a letter to the friend who +had pressed him on the subject of biography, written within a year of his +death. "In worldly things," he said, "I have been exceptionally favoured +by opportunities, many of them unanticipated, and rather fortuitous than +by any efforts or merits. My early life was marked by a great rashness, +and a readiness to accept responsibilities which savoured much of +presumption and confidence from conceit in my powers to deal with whatever +fell in my way--very different from my retrospect in old age and the +sobered estimate my judgment is now disposed to form of all I undertook +and accomplished, and the risks I accepted, through my fifty years of +active life." + +If, however, age be the season appropriate for judgment, youth is the time +for laying up the materials for it; and he who takes no risks achieves +nothing worthy of being judged. We estimate the man by his record rather +than by his own review of it, falling back on the criterion, valid in all +circumstances, "By their fruits ye shall know them." + +FOOTNOTE: + + [40] In 1863 the University of Oxford conferred upon him the degree + of D.C.L. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Adkins, Mr, reports foreign atrocities, i. 302, 303; + in charge of Peking legations, i. 355; + intimate with Hangki, ii. 140; + on mixed commission regarding redress of commercial grievances, + ii. 212; + interview with Li, ii. 244, 245. + + Alabaster, Sir Challoner, ii. 206, 359. + + Alcock, John Rutherford-- + _Chronological sequence of career_-- + Birth and early years, i. 1, 2; + medical education, i. 2-4; visit to Paris, i. 2; + medical work, i.8; campaign in Portugal, i. 14-20; + campaign in Spain, i. 21, 22; + publications on surgery, i. 23, 24; + appointed Inspector of Anatomy, i. 25; + marriage, i. 26; + paralysis of hands, i. 27; + appointed consul at Foochow, i. 29, 116; + residence at Amoy, i. 116, 117; + at Foochow, i. 117-122; + Consular Reports (1845-46), i. 123; + appointed to Shanghai, i. 126; + Tsingpu affair, i. 129-133; + Taiping occupation of Shanghai, i. 138, 141; + custom-house plans, i. 148, 151-154; + promoted to Canton consulate, i. 156; + death of his wife, i. 158; + literary work, i. 159; + first furlough, i. 159; + Memorandum requested by Foreign Office, i. 332; + appointed Consul-General in Japan and granted title of + Plenipotentiary, ii. 14; + arrival in Yedo, ii. 15-17; + journey up the Inland Sea, ii. 36, 42; + expedition to Fujiyama, ii. 41, 42; + leaves Yedo on furlough (1862), ii. 50; + made K.C.B., ii. 70; + completes 'The Capital of the Tycoon,' ii. 70; + made D.C.L. of Oxford University (1863), ii. 484 _note_; + returns to Yedo, ii. 70; + second marriage, ii. 73; + recalled by Earl Russell, ii. 87, 88; + leaves Japan, ii. 91; + publishes 'Art and Art Industries of Japan,' ii. 102; + publishes Japanese Grammar, ii. 103; + appointed minister to China, ii. 130; + efforts against coolie trade, ii. 168, 171, 172; + favours Burlingame mission, ii. 194, 195; + departure for Europe, ii. 218; + criticisms of Far Eastern events, ii. 476, 477; + work for Westminster Hospital, ii. 478-480; + various public and charitable works, ii. 480, 481, 483; + receives Jubilee medal from the Queen, ii. 483; + work regarding colonisation in Borneo, ii. 485-488; + illness and death, ii. 488, 489. + _Personal characteristics_-- + Aggressiveness, ii. 482. + Alertness, ii. 16, 100. + Appearance, i. 117. + Appreciative faculty, ii. 139. + Art, love of, i. 2, 4, ii. 101. + Common-sense, i. 27. + Courage and nerve, i. 15-17, 27, ii. 100, 126. + Courtesy, ii. 484. + Duty, devotion to, i. 15, 18, 157, ii. 16, 101, 138, 482. + Energy, i. 26, 116, ii. 16, 482, 484. + Enthusiasm, i. 27. + Formality, ii. 139. + Geniality to intimates, ii. 139. + Grasp of fundamentals and breadth of view, i. 116, 122, 143, 162, + 166, 204. + Hospitality, ii. 139. + Industry, ii. 139. + Judgment and farsightedness, i. 18, 163, ii. 484. + Kindness and sympathy, ii. 482. + Loyalty, ii. 138. + Lucidity of style, i. 26, 166. + Practical philosophy, i. 161. + Reserve, i. 158, ii. 121. + Resolution, ii. 101. + Responsibility, fearlessness of, i. 20, 166, 437, ii. 16, 489. + Thoroughness and earnestness of purpose, i. 18, 27, ii. 16, 181, + 361, 481. + + Alcock, Lady, marriage of, ii. 73; + death of, ii. 489. + + Alcock, Mrs (_née_ Bacon), marriage of, i. 26; + arrival in Foochow, i. 120; + death of, i. 158. + + America, Americans (_see also_ Powers)-- + British support advantageous to, i. 437. + Burlingame mission to, ii. 192, 193, 196, 197. + Chinese trade with, i. 168, 177; + Chinese traders in, i. 270; + "dummy" Chinaman evolved by, i. 338, 339; + action against Chinese emigration, ii. 174; + Chinese youths educated in, ii. 394, 395. + Custom-house co-operation omitted in treaty of, i. 146; + customs not levied by, at Shanghai in Taiping rebellion, i. 149. + Disputes of French and British with (1849), i. 435. + Foochow developed by, i. 121, 122, 241. + Japan, naval demonstration off, ii. 2; + Mr Harris's treaty, ii. 3, 5, 39, 99; + Minister remains in Yedo during assassination period, ii. 36; + Japanese mission to, ii. 47; + artillery officers declined by Japanese, ii. 110. + Korean expedition from, ii. 178, 179. + Li's visit to, ii. 387. + Missionaries from, in Yangtze expedition, i. 370. + Non-aggressive policy of, ii. 468. + Opium included in Tientsin treaty at instance of, i. 342. + Shipping industry in, i. 224, 228-230. + Silk industry of, i. 191. + Taiping rebellion, joint action with British at Shanghai during, + i. 138. + Tientsin Conference attended by (1854), i. 311; + at Tientsin later with Lord Elgin, i. 331. + Toleration clause in treaty of, ii. 224. + + Amoy-- + Alcock's residence at, i. 116, 117. + Opening of, i. 115. + 'Times' pronouncement against, i. 114. + + Amur, the, Russian acquisitions on, ii. 252, 422. + + Anatomy Act, Alcock appointed Inspector under, i. 25, 26. + + Anderson, Dr John, cited, ii. 267. + + Annam, French conquest of, ii. 253, 324, 325. + + A'Pak, exploit of, against lorchas, i. 304, 305. + + Arbuthnot, G., on Japanese currency, ii. 19, 22, 23. + + Arrow, crew of, seized by Chinese, i. 309; + Lord Elgin's view of incident, i. 323, 324. + + Atami, Springs of, Alcock's visit to, ii. 32, 42. + + 'Attaché at Peking, The,' cited, ii. 444 _note_. + + Australia, attitude of, towards Chinese emigrants, ii. 174. + + Austria, envoy from, received in audience at Peking, ii. 320, 321. + + + Baber, Colborne, ii. 150, 272, 359. + + Bacon, Miss. _See_ Alcock, Mrs. + + Baldwin, Major, assassination of, ii. 91. + + Balfour, the Right Hon. A. J., speech of, regarding Russian ports, + ii. 425, 430, 432. + + Balfour, Captain George, i. 124, 128. + + Bernard, W. D., cited, i. 63. + + Biegeleben, M., ii. 320, 321. + + Bird, Lieutenant, assassination of, ii. 91. + + Birileff, Count, at Tsushima, ii. 111-114. + + Blakiston, Captain, cited, i. 370. + + Bonham, Sir George, succeeds Sir J. Davis at Hongkong, i. 131; + rebuffed by Seu, i. 165; + applies to Alcock for information, i. 166; + asked to defend Nanking against Taipings, i. 312; + Alcock's despatch to (1852), i. 428-432. + + Borneo, Alcock's interest in British development of, ii. 485-488. + + Bowring, Sir John, demands right of entry into Canton, i. 160; + Russian despatches brought to, i. 233; + plenipotentiary at Hongkong, i. 309; + dealings with Yeh, i. 310, 313, 314; + visit to Tientsin, i. 311; + protects factories at Canton, i. 312; + influenced towards strong measures, i. 315; + policy of, i. 319, 323 _note_; + superseded, i. 319, 320. + + Boxers, ii. 462, 463. + + Bright, the Right Hon. John, confidence of, in Sir R. Hart, + ii. 164-166; + attitude of, towards China trade, ii. 365, 366. + + Brodie, Sir Benjamin, i. 25. + + Brown, J. McLeavy, ii. 194. + + Brown, Major-General, i. 385, 386, 392. + + Browne, Colonel Horace, ii. 266, 267. + + Bruce, the Hon. Frederick--Tientsin treaty brought home by, i. 335; + repulsed at Taku forts, i. 348; + British minister at Peking, i. 355; + prohibits Englishmen from visiting Peking, i. 363; + adopts determined attitude, i. 367; + refuses to defend Ningpo, i. 377; + Gordon's interview with, i. 383; + supports Burgevine's cause, i. 384, 385; + implicated in the Lay-Osborn flotilla failure, i. 389, 390; + applauds Gordon's resentment against Li, i. 392; + policy and diplomacy, i. 401-404, 407; + correspondence with Prince Kung, i. 404-406, 409; + confuses legal authority of himself and Supreme Court, ii. 124, + 125; + succeeded by Alcock, ii. 130; + anecdote of his housekeeper, ii. 152; + relations with Inspector-General of Customs in Peking, ii. 156, + 159, 160. + + Burgevine, General, i. 382, 384-387. + + Burlingame, the Hon. Anson, mission of, as Chinese envoy, ii. 192-198; + Alcock's approval of the mission, ii. 194, 195; + Alcock's subsequent view, ii. 217; + British Government influenced by mission, ii. 208, 209; + negotiates American treaty giving full privileges to Chinese + immigrants, ii. 174; + asserts Chinese welcome to missionaries, ii. 232. + + Burma-- + Browne, Colonel H., expedition under, ii. 266, 267. + King of, ii. 269. + + + Campbell, Duncan, ii. 333. + + Canton-- + Alcock promoted to consulate of, i. 156. + Arrogant hostility and excesses of population, i. 72, 92, 95-99, + 107, 274, 415, 419. + Arrow incident, i. 309, 323, 324. + Blockade of river (1839), i. 61, 63. + Commerce carried on during hostilities, i. 68, 69, ii. 158. + Conditions of life in, in early days, i. 33, 34, 46. + D'Aguilar's destruction of river defences, i. 102, 103. + Davies, Sir John, policy of, i. 94, 99-104, 106-108. + Entry, right of, refused, i. 98, 107, 114, 160, 165, 310, 333, 338. + Factories attacked (1846), i. 99; + burned (1856), i. 317. + Foochow sensitive to disturbances in, i. 119, 314. + French attack feared, ii. 326-328. + Merchants in, imprisoned, i. 53, 55; + views of, disparaged, i. 254; + characteristics of, i. 255; + influence of, i. 315; + friction between Sir J. Davis and, ii. 119. + "Merchants' War," i. 316 _seq._ + Naval construction attempted at, ii. 396. + Occupation of, by Allied troops, i. 328, 342-345; + Kowloon concession obtained during occupation, i. 286; + evacuated by Allies, i. 396. + Portuguese relief of, in sixteenth century, i. 259; + Portuguese crews slaughtered by Cantonese, i. 304, 305. + Revolutionary conspiracies in neighbourhood of, ii. 456. + Shameen site acquired, i. 330. + Smuggling insignificant at, i. 144, 145. + Taipings at, i. 312. + War of 1839-42--blockade of river, i. 63; + destruction of Bogue forts and junks, i. 66; + forts restored, i. 67; + recaptured, i. 68; + fire-raft attempts, i. 71; + British attack stopped by Elliot, i. 71; + ransom taken for the city, i. 72, 91; + departure of British troops, i. 72; + evil effects of ransoming, i. 108. + War of 1857 ("The Merchants' War"), i. 316 _seq._ + Weddell's bombardment of (1655), i. 292. + + 'Capital of the Tycoon, The,' passages quoted from, ii. 10, 15, + 31, 32, 71-73; + independent judiciary advocated in, ii. 126. + + Ceylon, growth of tea trade with, i. 184, 185. + + Challenger, i. 235-238. + + Chamberlain, Basil Hall, quoted, ii. 96 _note_. + + Chang Chih-tung, rudeness of, regarding the Czarevitch, ii. 322, 323; + characteristics and policy of, ii. 380, 381. + + Chang Yi, ii. 317. + + Chantrey, Sir F. L., Alcock's studies under, i. 2. + + Chefoo-- + Convention of. _See under_ Treaties. + Czarevitch to be received at, ii. 322. + Early exploration of, i. 221, 222. + + Chêkiang, Taiping campaign in, i. 380, 394. + + Chesney, Colonel, i. 99, 100. + + China (_for particular persons, towns, &c., see their titles_)-- + Admiralty board, ii. 317, 318, 392, 393. + Army-- + Abuses in, ii. 398. + Arms, diversity of, ii. 391, 393, 399. + Discipline lax, i. 137. + Honour, military, non-existent in, i. 140. + Li's efforts for, ii. 188, 190, 391, 397. + Black Flags, ii. 325. + Boxers, ii. 462, 463. + _Chose jugée_, instance of, ii. 280. + Commerce. _See that title._ + Commercial community in Britain keenly alive to affairs in, i. 87. + Consuls. _See below under_ Foreigners. + Coolie trade, i. 295, ii. 168-174. + Corruption and laxity inherent in government of, i. 155, 192. + Court-- + Audience, right of, approved by Li, ii. 186; + granted by Emperor Tungchih (1873), ii. 260, 261; + by Kwanghsu (1891), ii. 318-320. + Chinese, not Manchu, influence predominant at, i. 84. + Dynastic arrangements of the Empress-Dowager, ii. 264, 313, + 455 _and note_, 456. + Flight of, i. 354, ii. 436; + proposed removal during Japanese War, ii. 474 _note_. + Custom-house. _See below under_ Taxation. + Decentralisation the principle of government, i. 388, 402, 407, 408. + Drift, policy of, ii. 324. + Emigration, ii. 168, 169, 171-174. + "Ever Victorious Army," campaign of, i. 382-387; + disbandment of, i. 393. + Exhibition of 1851, represented at, i. 200-202, ii. 101, 102. + Foreigners-- + Aims of, i. 368. + Assistance from, distrusted, i. 387; + made use of, ii. 385, 386; + faithfully rendered, ii. 393, 394. + Co nciliatory and subservient attitude of British, i. 35-41, 56, + 118, 253, 415; + of Portuguese, i. 287. + Confidence between native merchants and, i. 48. + Consistent attitude of, desirable, i. 340, ii. 222. + Consular Courts, drawbacks of, ii. 125, 126, 354, 356, 357. + Consular officials, peculiar responsibilities of, i. 30, 79, 85, + 92 _note_, 128, 130, ii. 353, 354, 360; + numbers and qualifications of, ii. 358, 359. + Degradation and indignities imposed upon, i. 33, 35-40, 55-58, + 60, 118, 163, 411, 415. + Force, policy of, the condition of security for, i. 39, 40, 61, + 80, 90, 106, 119, 426, 437-439, ii. 221, 222. + Hatred and contempt for, i. 313, 419, ii. 29, 440, 441, 443-446, + 461, 463, 464. + Ignorance of Chinese prevalent among, i. 338, 339, 361, 362, 398. + Immunity for wrongs against, i. 436, 440, 441. + Inland residence, Alcock's view of, ii. 450, 451. + Legation, British. _See_ Great Britain--Peking. + Legations, diplomatic difficulties of, i. 398-401; + relieved by military force, ii. 437. + Life-and-death jurisdiction over, claimed by government, i. 57. + Negotiation with, Chinese view of, ii. 274 _note_, 437. + Pioneers, general character of, i. 31-33. + Policy adopted towards--"rule by misrule," i. 35, 403; + perfidy and denial of human rights, i. 36, 78-80, 84, 85, 90, 342; + resistance and ejection, 38, 111, 311, 331, 366, 367, ii. 437; + degradation in the eyes of the people, i. 163, 411; + "refractory subjects" treatment, i. 313. + Proclamations and placards against, i. 56, 58, 65, 70, 96, 314, + 317, 342, 360, 435, ii. 236, 242. + Supreme Court for China and Japan, ii. 355-358. + Fortifications, ii. 397. + Futai, position of, i. 381. + Helplessness and paradoxical position of, ii. 418, 421, 422, 433, + 452. + Hong merchants, i. 40 _note_. + Hoppo, position of, i. 44, 45. + Illegality of administration in, i. 43. + International ethics of, i. 86. + Japanese War (1894), Li's responsibilities regarding, ii. 386, 387; + no reasonable cause for, ii. 410; + deprecated by Russia, ii. 411; + sinking of the Kowshing, ii. 410, 411; + bombardment of Têngchow, i. 220; + China's defeat, ii. 411-413; + universal applause, ii. 413, 414; + indemnity exacted, ii. 415; + indemnity supplied by Russian loan, ii. 421; + results of the war, ii. 447; + proposed removal of Chinese Court during, ii. 474 _note_. + Junks-- + Build and appearance of, i. 246, 247. + Chinese authorities' control of, i. 113, 275, 308. + Coasting trade conducted by, in China and Japan, i. 246. + Convoy system, i. 302-304. + Grain fleet blockaded at Shanghai (1845), i. 131-133; + blockaded by French in Tongking quarrel, ii. 332. + "Shantung junks," i. 220. + Value of trade by, at Foochow, i. 209. + Korea, relations with. _See_ Korea. + Lorchas, tonnage of, i. 247; + atrocities connected with, i. 304, 305; + colonial registers granted to, i. 305, 309. + Maritime Customs. _See below under_ Taxation--Custom-house. + Missionaries. _See that title._ + Moral force the sanction of rule, ii. 370 _and note_, 385. + Navy-- + Beginnings of, ii. 396. + Board of Admiralty, ii. 317, 318, 392, 393. + British instruction in, ii. 395. + Li's efforts for, ii. 391, 396. + Nepotism in, ii. 398-400. + Organisation lacking in, ii. 401, 412, 413. + Peiyang Squadron, ii. 395, 400. + Tradition, unhampered by, ii. 398. + Nepotism in, ii. 398-400. + Opium trade. _See that title._ + Passports, two forms of, ii. 267. + Piracy. _See that title._ + Populace, excesses of, connived at by Government, i. 95, 97, 98, + 364; + coerced by Government, i. 108, 109; + feared by Government, i. 109, 424; + direct diplomatic negotiations with, i. 109-111. + "Progress," no word for, ii. 136. + Provincial officials, smuggling undertaken by, i. 44, 45; + power of, ii. 184, 372; + responsibility of, ii. 441, 442. + Punishments, difficulties of ensuring, i. 426, 427; + not inflicted for wrongs against foreigners, i. 436, 440, 441. + Real estate, importance of, i. 176, 177, 434; + missionary problem complicated by question of, ii. 234, 235. + Rhubarb exported from, i. 168. + Salt trade, i. 210, 439-442, ii. 188. + Smuggling. _See that title._ + Supreme Court, award given against Alcock by, ii. 124; + independence of, ii. 354; + removal of, to Shanghai, ii. 355; + subordinated to British legation, ii. 358. + Taiping Rebellion-- + Burgevine's defection to rebels, i. 386. + Canton, at, Yeh asks British aid against, i. 312. + Chêkiang campaign against, i. 380, 394. + Commerce continued during, i. 148. + Devastation caused by, i. 375, 377, 378, 350, 381, 394, ii. 449. + End of, i. 394. + Foreign desperadoes attacked by, i. 303. + Imperial measures against, i. 381; + view of, i. 395, 396. + Magnitude of, i. 135. + Maritime Customs the important outcome of, i. 142. + Nanking, capture of, i. 136. + Ningpo, capture of, i. 376, 377. + Russian attitude towards, i. 394, 395. + Shanghai captured, i. 136; + besieged by Imperial troops, i. 137; + collision between foreigners and troops, i. 137, 138; + French bombardment of city, i. 139; + rebel refugees in, i. 141, 142; + departure of rebels from, i. 156. + Yangtze, rebel strongholds and operations on the, i. 369, 371-375. + Taotai, status of, i. 129. + Taxation-- + Custom-house-- + Chefoo Convention provisions of, ii. 277, 278, 280, 281, 286, 287. + Hongkong, station at, desired by Chinese, i. 276; + refused, ii. 216; + established, i. 276, ii. 288. + Korea, established in, ii. 295. + Macao, established at, ii. 288. + Maritime Customs Inspector, position and work of, in Peking, + ii. 156-160, 162-167. + Revision of treaty made an affair of, ii. 213, 216, 217. + Shanghai, at, unsatisfactory conditions of, i. 145-147, 435, + 436; + customs collected by consuls, i. 148; + promissory notes cancelled by British Government, i. 148, 155; + American exemption, i. 149; + re-establishment of custom-house, i. 151; + period of free trade, i. 152; + Alcock's scheme of mixed control, i. 152-154. + Inland, proposed commutation of, ii. 214-216, 218; + commutation provided by treaty (1869), ii. 219, 220; + area of, increased by Chefoo Convention, ii. 277, 278, 280, 281. + Likin taxes, German minister's view of, ii. 218; + nature of, ii. 280 _note_; + grievance of, ii. 285. + Native trade, on, i. 210. + Tributaries, position towards, ii. 258. + Tsungli-Yamên-- + Audience difficulties raised by, ii. 319, 320. + Ch'ing, Prince, a member of, ii. 154, 313. + Circular addressed to Provincial Governors by, ii. 182, 183. + Creation of, i. 360. + Etiquette, codification of, suggested for, ii. 279. + Formosa riots, action regarding, ii. 205. + Function of, i. 399. + Gordon's representations to, ii. 292. + Helplessness of, ii. 419. + Ito's attempt to negotiate with, ii. 302. + Korean expedition urged by, ii. 408. + Kung, Prince, a member of, i. 360; + dismissed by Empress, ii. 312. + Margary murder, action regarding, ii. 267. + Maritime Customs Inspector, attitude towards, ii. 160. + Mixed commission regarding redress of commercial grievances, + represented on, ii. 211. + Yangchow affair, action in, ii. 202. + War with Great Britain (1839-1842). _See under_ Canton; + with Great Britain (1857), i. 316 _seq._; + with Great Britain and France (1860), i. 349-354; + with Japan (1894). _See above_ Japanese War; + Women, position of, ii. 140, 141. + + Chinese-- + Appearances valued by, i. 192. + Commercial aptitude and honesty of, i. 33, 34, 263-270, ii. 28. + Industry of, i. 284. + Japanese contrasted with, ii. 8, 27-29, 130, 131, 259. + Kindliness of, i. 289, ii. 155. + Manchus contrasted with, i. 80, 81, 83, 84. + Toleration of, ii. 228, 233. + War customs of, i. 352. + + Ch'ing, Prince, anecdote of, ii. 153, 154; + efficiency of, as president of Tsungli-Yamên, ii. 313. + + Chinnery, George, i. 298. + + Choshiu. _See_ Nagato, Prince of. + + Christianity (_see also_ Missionaries), toleration clause for, + in Tientsin treaty, i. 332; + Chinese view of, ii. 349. + + Ch'un, Prince, son of, adopted as Emperor by Empress-mother, ii. 262; + made Empress's coadjutor, ii. 264, 313; + voyage of, ii. 316, 317; + illness and death of, ii. 318; + memorial regarding Vatican mission submitted to, ii. 344. + + Chunghou, Tientsin massacre foreseen by, ii. 239; + mission to France, ii. 241; + to Russia, ii. 291; + establishes arsenal at Tientsin, ii. 392. + + Chungking, residence in, opposed, ii. 278; + persecutions of Christians in, ii. 351. + + Chusan, capture and occupation of, i. 64; + reoccupied, i. 75; + retained till 1846, i. 91; + restored, i. 99; + contrasted with Hongkong, i. 273. + + Clarendon, Lord, Mr Burlingame's success with, ii. 197, 198, 208, 209; + reprimands Mr Medhurst, ii. 207, 208; + trusted by Lord Palmerston, ii. 365. + + Cochin China, French conquests in, ii. 253, 324. + + Commerce-- + China, in-- + Alcock's despatch on trade between Europe, India, and China, + i. 204-206; + his investigations prior to revision of treaty, ii. 181. + Aptitude of Chinese for, i. 33, 34, 263-270, ii. 28. + Arbitrary interference of Chinese Government with, i. 35. + Balance of trade against China, i. 42, 171. + British treaty the model for others, ii. 6. + Chefoo Convention, internal taxation area increased by, ii. 277, + 278, 280, 281. + Chinese language essential to commercial agents, i. 253. + Code of law, establishment of, suggested, ii. 279. + Co-hong system, i. 40 _note_, 266. + Compradoric system, i. 266, 267. + Confidence between Chinese and foreigners, i. 48. + Drawbacks to, i. 169, 170. + Imports and exports, nature of, i. 168; + present value of, i. 171 _note_; + shipments from United Kingdom in various years, i. 203. + Intercourse of British and Americans with China caused by, i. 167. + Losses in early days, i. 172-175. + Merchants in Britain, Chinese affairs closely followed by + (1839-40), i. 87-89; + merchants in China, aims and work of, i. 248-253; + complaints of, i. 253, 254, ii. 119; + influence of, i. 254, 315; + characteristics of, i. 255-263; + representations of, to Lord Elgin, i. 322. + "Merchants' War," i. 316 _seq._ + Mixed Commission regarding redress of grievances, ii. 211, 212. + Native trade, i. 207-210. + Peking, in, ii. 148, 149. + Pioneer expeditions (1859), i. 220. + Ports overcrowded with goods, i. 224; + number open in 1861, i. 402. + Precarious position of, i. 35, 412, 413, 419. + Real estate a valuable asset, i. 176, 177. + Shipments from United Kingdom in various years, values of, i. 203. + Simplicity of, i. 168. + Transit of goods, ii. 214-216, 218-220. + Value of, in 1839, i. 87. + War no bar to, i. 68, 69, 148, ii. 158. + Gold discoveries a stimulus to, i. 227. + Japan, in-- + Development of, ii. 116-118. + Merchants, preference of, for Yokohama to Kanagawa, ii. 17, 18, 123; + regret of, at Alcock's recall, ii. 89; + interests of, at variance with diplomatic, ii. 119-124, 126. + Methods of, ii. 27, 28. + Profits of, in early days, ii. 20 _note_, 29. + Value of, annually, ii. 117 _note_. + Opium, Silk, Tea. _See those titles._ + Straits, with, suggested by Alcock, i. 208. + + Comprador, position of, i. 266, 267. + + Confucianism, i. 229. + + Consular Court system, drawbacks of, ii. 125, 126, 354, 356, 357. + + Cooke, Wingrove, quoted, i. 252, 253, 300, 303-305, 339; + cited, i. 317, 322, 323 _and note_, 325. + + Coolie trade, i. 295, ii. 168-174. + + Cooper, W. M., on coolie trade, ii. 170. + + Cowell, George, appreciation of Alcock, ii. 479, 480. + + Curzon, the Hon. George, speech regarding Russian pledge concerning + Korea, ii. 424, 430. + + Czarevitch, visit of, to China and Japan, ii. 321-323. + + + Daimios. _See under_ Japan. + + Davis, Sir John, Manchus and Chinese contrasted by, i. 80, 81; + policy of, in Canton, i. 94, 99-104, 106-108; + diplomatic negotiations with the populace, i. 109-111; + succeeds Sir H. Pottinger, i. 116; + policy regarding Foochow, i. 119; + Canton merchants' complaints against, ii. 119; + decision of, reversed by Supreme Court, ii. 124. + + De Mas, M., anecdote of, ii. 444 _note_. + + De Quincey cited, i. 133 _note_. + + Delamarre, M., ii. 230 _note_. + + Delaplace, Mgr., ii. 341, 342, 394. + + Detring, G., accompanies Prince Ch'un on his voyage, ii. 317; + relations with Capt. Fournier, ii. 327; + summoned to Tientsin, ii. 328; + assists Li regarding Mr Dunn's mission, ii. 345. + + Dunn, J. G., ii. 344-346. + + Dupont, M., Alcock's studies under, i. 5. + + Dutch-- + Japanese instructed by, ii. 98. + Macao, commercial establishment at, i. 291. + Nagasaki, ii. 10, 11. + Portuguese commercial rivalry with, i. 291. + Promptness of, as paymasters, i. 11. + + + East India Company-- + Commercial methods of, i. 175. + Employees pampered by, i. 211-214, 260. + Macao, commercial establishment at, i. 291. + Officials of, employed in Chinese consular posts, i. 38, 80. + Opium trade of, i. 198, 199. + Shipping of, i. 211-215. + Subservience of, towards Chinese, i. 37, 38, 88, 253. + Tea trade developed by, i. 182, 183. + + Eitel, Dr, cited, i. 63, 199 _note_, 273, 301. + + Elgin, Earl of, cruise in the Furious, i. 223; + contrasts Hongkong and Chusan, i. 273; + on Tientsin conference (1854), i. 311; + conduct of Hongkong affairs, i. 320-329; + aversion to his Chinese mission, i. 320, 323-327; + services in Indian Mutiny, i. 321; + concludes Tientsin treaty, i. 331, 334; + hurried departure from Tientsin, i. 333, 335, 336; + visit to Japan, i. 335, 336; + diplomatic success there, i. 347, ii. 1, 5, 6, 99; + defends his China policy in House of Lords, i. 337; + predisposed to illusions regarding Chinese, i. 339; + misgivings as to Chinese good faith, i. 340, 347; + return to Shanghai, i. 343, 347; + negotiates with Treaty Commissioners at Shanghai, i. 343, 344; + estimate of, i. 346-348; + voyage up the Yangtze (1558), i. 347, 370; + second mission to China, i. 349; + negotiations with Prince Kung, i. 329, 352, 353; + succeeded by his brother, i. 355. + + Elliot, Captain Charles, subservience of, to Chinese, i. 40, 41, 54; + offers to suppress opium trade, i. 48, 49; + surrenders opium cargoes, i. 53, 54; + imprisoned in Canton, i. 53, 55; + appointed joint-plenipotentiary with Rear-Admiral Elliot, i. 64; + left in sole charge, i. 65-71; + recalled, i. 74; + confidence of, in Chinese, i. 66, 69, 70; + contradictory nature of his commission, i. 92 _note_; + strictures on opium trade, i. 199. + + Elliot, Rear-Admiral the Hon. George, i. 63-65. + + Empress--Dowager of China, Prince Ch'un the coadjutor of, ii. 264, 313; + _coup d'état_ executed by, ii. 264, 313, 455; + enmity with Prince Kung, ii. 264, 312; + attitude towards Li, ii. 264, 329, 387; + view of Tongking affair, ii. 329, 334; + characteristics of, ii. 373; + power of, ii. 455 _and note_; + reformers punished by, ii. 458. + + Eulenberg, Count, i. 366, ii. 40. + + Evans, General de Lacy, appreciation of Alcock, i. 14; + Alcock under, in Spanish Legion, i. 21. + + "Ever--Victorious Army," campaign of, i. 382-387; + disbandment of, i. 393. + + Exhibition of 1851, Alcock's collection of exhibits for, i. 200-202, + ii. 101, 102; + influence of, on foreign trade, i. 227. + + Exhibition of 1862, Alcock's collection of samples for, ii. 102, 484. + + Exhibition, Paris, Alcock British Commissioner to, ii. 485. + + + Favier, Bishop, ii. 144, 346, 347. + + Foochow-- + Alcock's appointment as consul at, i. 116; + his commercial researches at, i. 200. + American enterprise a stimulus to tea trade at, i. 121, 122, 241. + Canton disturbances reflected in, i. 119, 314. + Naval construction attempted at, ii. 396; + naval school at, ii. 400. + Opening of (1844), i. 115; + further development of, i. 240. + Situation and importance of, i. 117, 119, 120. + 'Times' pronouncement against, i. 114. + Trade at, nature of, i. 118, 121, 122, 241; + sea-borne trade at, i. 209. + + Formosa-- + French blockade of, ii. 333. + Japanese invasion of, ii. 255. + Missionary riots in, ii. 203-205, 207. + + Fortune, Robert, i. 182, 183. + + Fournier, Captain, ii. 327-330. + + France, French (_see also_ Powers)-- + Aggressive policy of, ii. 465, 466. + British cordially supported by, in China, i. 377, 379; + in Japan, ii. 45, 81, 105; + regarding Chinese emigration, ii. 172. + Cochin China, conquest of, ii. 253, 324. + Concession of land obtained by (1849), i. 138, 139, 435; + extorted by (1895), ii. 419. + Coolie trade, efforts against, ii. 172. + Customs Inspector proposed by Alcock from consular service of, i. 153. + Elgin followed to Tientsin by, i. 331. + Loan to China, ii. 421. + Missionary enterprise of, ii. 175-177, 224, 225, 229-232, 234, 237, + 238, 253; + protectorate of Christians the aim of, ii. 336-342, 346-352. + Peking campaign (1860), i. 349-354. + Russia supported by, after Japanese War, ii. 415; + their approval of French acquisitions, ii. 419. + Shanghai settlement and "concession" of, i. 138, 139, 435. + Silk industry of, i. 191. + Taipings' support by British resented by, i. 141. + Tientsin Conference attended by (1854), i. 311. + Tongking quarrel, ii. 325-334. + Yangtze expedition of MM. Simon and Dupuis, i. 371. + + Freeman-Mitford, Mr, anecdote cited from, ii. 444 _note_. + + Fujiyama, Alcock's expedition to, ii. 41, 42. + + Futai, position of, i. 381. + + + Germany, Germans (_see also_ Powers)-- + Aggressive policy of, ii. 465, 466. + Alcock, appreciation of, by Peking resident, ii. 138. + Anglo-German agreement, ii. 467, 468, 473. + Armenian massacres, attitude towards, ii. 449 _note_. + Chinese attitude towards, i. 366. + Influence of, increasing, ii. 253, 254. + Japanese attitude towards, ii. 40. + Kiaochow. _See that title._ + Korean expedition of, ii. 179. + Military instruction of Chinese undertaken by, ii. 395. + Missionaries kept to their nationality, ii. 338. + Peking, legation established in, ii. 254. + Propagandism unmasked by, ii. 454. + Russia supported by, after Japanese War, ii. 415. + Shantung sphere of, disturbances in, ii. 462. + Silk industry of, i. 191. + Toleration clause in treaty of, ii. 225 _note_. + Transit duty extension, Count Bernstorff on, ii. 218. + + Gibson, Mr, ii. 204-206, 208. + + Giquel, Prosper, i. 394. + + Gordon, Captain C. G., commands the "Ever-Victorious Army," i. 383-387; + quarrels with Li, i. 392, 393; + honoured by Chinese Government, i. 395; + attempts at intercourse with Chinese, i. 399; + appreciated by Li, ii. 189; + summoned by Chinese Government, ii. 291, 292. + + Gorogiu, function of the, ii. 108. + + Grant, Sir Hope, i. 348, 349, 352. + + Granville, Lord, negotiates ratification of Chefoo Convention, + ii. 284-287. + + Great Britain (_see also_ Powers)-- + Anglo-German agreement, ii. 467, 468, 473. + Borneo, colonisation in, ii. 485-487. + Good faith of, recognised by Chinese, i. 83, ii. 190. + Inconsistent policy of, in China, i. 432, 433. + Japanese War, attitude towards, ii. 413-416, 433. + Loan offered to China, ii. 420; + forced on her, ii. 434. + Narrowness of view among politicians in, i. 319. + Naval instruction of Chinese undertaken by, ii. 395. + Non-aggressive policy of, ii. 468. + Peking, Legation in-- + Chinese Secretaryship, ii. 132, 362, 363, 367. + Deterioration in personnel of, ii. 360-362, 364, 366, 367. + Establishment of, i. 355. + Intelligence department defective, ii. 415, 423. + Subordination of, to Inspector-General of Customs, ii. 165, 166. + Supreme Court for a time subordinate to, ii. 358. + Russian acquisitions, attitude towards, ii. 423-433. + Weihai-wei seized by, ii. 434. + Yedo, Legation in, assaulted, ii. 36-38; + indemnity demanded, ii. 65, 66; + burnt, ii. 62 and _note_. + + Greenwell, Dora, appreciation of 'Life's Problems' expressed by, i. 159. + + Gros, Baron, i. 321, 349, ii. 230. + + Gurdon, Lieutenant, ii. 205. + + Guthrie, G. J., Alcock's medical studies under, i. 2; + recommends Alcock to Mr O'Meara, i. 9. + + + Hakodate, opening of, for ships' supplies, ii. 4; + neglected by merchants, ii. 12; + Russian representative at, ii. 104. + + Hankow-- + Abandonment of, by inhabitants in Taiping scare, i. 374. + Consular officer established at, i. 373. + Development of, i. 224, 225. + Elgin's voyage to (1858), i. 347. + Hope's visit to (1861), i. 223. + + Harris, Townsend, ii. 3, 5, 39, 99. + + Hart, Sir Robert, temporarily Inspector-General of Chinese Maritime + Customs, i. 387; + implicated in the Lay-Osborn flotilla failure, i. 388-390; + an authority on Gordon's reconciliation with Li, i. 193; + position and work of, as Inspector-General of Customs in Peking, + ii. 157, 160, 162-167; + appointed British Minister in China, but resigns post, ii. 166; + on Mixed Commission regarding redress of commercial grievances, + ii. 211-215; + action in the Margary murder case, ii. 274; + influence on the Chefoo Convention, ii. 276; + invites Gordon to help Chinese, ii. 292; + obtains recall of Tibetan mission, ii. 310; + obtains peace with France, ii. 333; + 'Fortnightly Review' paper cited, ii. 461. + + Hodges, Colonel, takes Alcock on to his staff, i. 9, 10; + appreciation of Alcock, i. 14. + + Holt, Mr, ii. 203, 204, 208. + + Hong merchants, i. 40 _note_. + + Hongkong-- + Administration of, i. 277, 278. + Advantages of site, i. 273, 274, 277, 284. + Alcock's visit to (1869), ii. 219. + Bank of, i. 284, 285. + British contempt for, i. 115; + Government's attitude towards, i. 276. + Buildings in, i. 282, 283. + Cession of, and occupation by British, i. 67. + Chinese traders and mechanics in, i. 73; + shipowners in, i. 247, 308; + escaped criminals numerous, i. 275; + improvement of general character, i. 277-282, 284. + Chusan contrasted with, i. 273. + Coolie trade, efforts against, ii. 168, 169. + Cost of voyage to, in early days, i. 258. + Customs station at, desired by Chinese, i. 276; + refused, ii. 216; + established, i. 276, ii. 288. + Development of, i. 73, 274-286. + Dislike of, by diplomatic and consular officials, i. 273, 276, + 320, ii. 355; + by Chinese Government, i. 275, ii. 216. + Early record of (1816), i. 272. + Elgin's aversion to, i. 273, 320. + Emigration from, ii. 173. + Industries of, i. 283, 284. + International character of, i. 285. + Junk trade under Chinese control, i. 113, 275, 308. + Kiying House, i. 316. + Macao contrasted with, i. 287, 294. + Piracy headquarters at, i. 302, 305. + Pottinger, Sir H., first governor of, i. 112. + Reformers safe in, ii. 459. + Schools in, i. 281, 282. + Supreme Court in, ii. 354, 355. + Tonnage entered and cleared at, in 1898, i. 277 _note_. + Yokohama guard despatched from, ii. 77. + + Hong-tjyong-on, ii. 299-302. + + Hope, Admiral Sir James, Yangtze formally opened by, i. 223; + commands British naval contingent in Peking campaign, i. 349; + repulsed at Taku forts (1859), i. 350; + visits Peking, i. 365; + relations with Taipings, i. 370-373, 375-379; + opinion on Taiping Rebellion, i. 375; + vigorous policy of, i. 376; + friendship with Admiral Protêt, i. 379; + comradeship with Ward, i. 382; + advises strong measures in Japan, ii. 55; + scheme for offensive measures in Japan, ii. 59; + correspondence with Capt. Birileff regarding Tsushima, ii. 111-114. + + Hoppo, position of, i. 44, 45. + + Hsienfêng, Emperor, death of, i. 397. + + Hu Lin-yi, ii. 377. + + Huang, Governor-General, i. 342, 343. + + Hunter, W. C., quoted, i. 34, 46-48, ii. 20 _note_; + cited, i. 82. + + Hwang-chu-ke, massacre of Englishmen at, i. 104, 108. + + + Ignatieff, General, assists Sir H. Grant, i. 353, 354; + negotiates cession of Vladivostock, i. 357, 358; + attitude towards British Legation and Chinese, i. 359. + + Ilipu, Commissioner, i. 76, 77, 81. + + India-- + Alcock's visit to (1869), ii. 219. + Calcutta Convention, ii. 312. + Chinese imports from, i. 168. + East India Company. _See that title._ + Elgin's opportune arrival in, i. 321. + Gordon summoned from, ii. 292. + Opium trade. _See that title._ + Tea trade, i. 182-186. + Tibetan expedition, ii. 305-310. + + Inouyé, Count, British Legation building burnt by, ii. 62 _note_; + return from Europe and mission to Choshiu, ii. 80, 81; + mission to Korea, ii. 302. + + Ito, Count, return from Europe and mission to Choshiu, ii. 80, 81; + mission to Peking, ii. 302. + + + Japan (_for particular persons, towns, see their titles_)-- + Aggressive policy of, ii. 254-256, 465, 466. + Art of, ii. 102, 103. + Assassination period in, ii. 35-38. + Chinese War. _See under_ China. + Consuls in, peculiar responsibilities of, ii. 121. + Currency of, ii. 18-27. + Customs of, ii. 33. + Czarevitch's visit to, ii. 323. + Daimios-- + Coinage of, ii. 25, 26. + Hostility of, to foreigners, ii. 38-41, 43. + Legation guards provided by, ii. 51, 53. + Processions of, ii. 34, 56. + Tycoon's relation to, ii. 38, 60-65, 67, 68, 76, 93. + Elgin's visit to, i. 335, 336; + his diplomatic success, i. 347, ii. 1, 5, 6, 99. + Exhibition of 1862, represented at, ii. 102, 484. + Foreigners, supervision of, ii. 8; + early pleasant relations with, ii. 9, 29-31; + hatred of, ii. 38-41, 43, 58, 77, 93; + retrograde policy towards, ii. 47-49; + use made of, ii. 95-98, 130, 131, 191, 255; + help of, declined when unasked, ii. 110. + Formosa invaded by, ii. 255. + Gorogiu, function of the, ii. 108. + Hong's vendetta pursued in, ii. 300, 301. + Inland Sea, Alcock's expedition up, ii. 36, 42; + Prince of Nagato's blockade of, ii. 69, 76, 77. + Korea, treaty with, ii. 256, 257; + Korean outbreak against, ii. 294, 297, 298; + equality with China in, ii. 302, 303, 389; + aggression in, ii. 406, 407, 409. + Liao-tung claimed by, ii. 429. + Liuchiu Islands claimed by, ii. 256. + Opening of, to foreign intercourse (1858), i. 225. + Portuguese expelled from, i. 291. + Prosperity of, ii. 32. + "Rudeness," term for, ii. 34 _note_. + Russian admiral in, i. 395. + Samurai, anecdote of, ii. 33 _note_ 1. + Silk industry of, i. 188, 191 _note_. + Sport in, ii. 127-129. + + Japanese-- + Chinese contrasted with, ii. 8, 27, 29, 130, 131, 259. + Combination, power of, ii. 94. + Imitation, faculty of, ii. 94-97. + Practical comprehension of circumstances, ii. 7. + Seriousness of, ii. 94. + Tenacity and resolution of, ii. 16, 93. + + Junks. _See under_ China. + + + Kanagawa-- + American treaty signed at, ii. 39. + Massacre of Russians at, ii. 35. + Moss, Mr, arrested for shooting game near, ii. 123, 128. + Opening of (1859), ii. 12. + Riding party from, attacked, ii. 55-57. + Yokohama preferred to, by foreign merchants, ii. 17, 18, 123. + + Kang Yu-wei, reform programme of, ii. 457, 458. + + Kashgaria, rebellion in, ii. 290, 291. + + Kennedy, Vice-Admiral Sir W. R., cited, i. 317, 318. + + Keppel, Admiral, diary entry regarding opium clipper, i. 217; + appreciation of Dent's hospitality, i. 294, 316; + operations against war-junks, i. 317, 318; + aids Consul Medhurst in Yangchow affair, ii. 202; + report on Formosa missionary affair, ii. 204; + details force to aid Mr Gibson, ii. 205; + appreciation of Chunghou, ii. 239. + + Kiaochow, German seizure of, ii. 421; + British opinion, ii. 423; + Russian attitude, ii. 431. + + Kim Ok Kun, ii. 298-302. + + Kishen, appointment of, to negotiate with British, i. 65; + conciliatory manner of, i. 67; + good faith and courtesy of, i. 81, 82. + + Kiying, Commissioner, appointed to treat with Sir H. Pottinger, + i. 76, 77; + courtesy of, i. 82; + pleasant nature of intercourse with, i. 94, 95; + impotence of, before Cantonese, i. 97; + high-handed manner of, after restoration of Chusan, i. 99; + agreement concluded with (1847), i. 103, 107; + effects postponement of foreign entry into Canton, i. 107; + popular memorial to Sir J. Davis inspired by, i. 110; + affability of, to governor of Hongkong, i. 112, 113; + supplementary treaty with, i. 113; + no redress from, against a Chih-hsien, i. 426. + + Korea-- + American expeditions to, ii. 178, 179. + China, tribute embassies to, ii. 148; + reverence for, ii. 259; + embassy of condolence from, ii. 404, 405; + privileges of, ii. 406. + Foreign ferment in, ii. 295. + French annexation of, ii. 176, 177. + Hong honoured by Court, ii. 301, 302. + Japanese, treaty with, ii. 256, 257; + brutality of, ii. 259; + equality of, with China, ii. 302, 303, 389; + aggression of, ii. 406, 407, 409. + Jesuit propagandism in, ii. 175. + Opening of, by China, ii. 259. + Port Hamilton incident, ii. 303, 305. + Russian pledge regarding, ii. 424, 425. + Söul, _émeute_ in, ii. 294, 296-298. + + Kowloon, concession of, acquired by Parkes, i. 286, 330. + + Kuldja, Russian claims regarding, ii. 290-293. + + Kung, Prince, Lord Elgin's negotiations with, i. 329, 352, 353; + signs Peking treaty, i. 354; + deceived by Ignatieff, i. 358; + member of Tsungli-Yamên, i. 360; + Gordon's interviews with, i. 383; + implicated in the Lay-Osborn flotilla failure, i. 389, 390; + executes _coup d'état_, i. 397, 398; + correspondence with British Minister, i. 403-406, 409; + high-handed tone of, i. 410; + intimate relations with British Legation, ii. 134, 135; + efforts against coolie trade, ii. 171, 172; + declines responsibility for Korean persecutions, ii. 176; + action in Yangchow affair, ii. 202; + circular regarding missionaries, ii. 231; + Sir T. Wade's remonstrance to, on Chinese official tone, ii. 244; + present at audience of foreign Ministers, ii. 261; + imperial claims of, ii. 263; + enmity between Empress and, ii. 264, 312; + action regarding Margary case, ii. 274; + dismissed by Empress, ii. 312; + efforts regarding Pei-t'ang Cathedral, ii. 342; + moderating influence of, ii. 374; + vetoes proposed assassination of Li, ii. 387. + + Kuper, Rear-Admiral Sir Augustus, attack on Satsuma, ii. 67; + operations against Prince of Nagato, ii. 80, 81; + appeals to Foreign Office regarding Alcock's recall, ii. 89. + + Kwanghsu, Emperor, selected by Empress, ii. 263; + comes of age, ii. 318; + childlessness of, ii. 456; + reform programme adopted by, ii. 458. + + Kweiliang, i. 334, 360. + + + Lane-Poole, Stanley, cited, i. 117, 316. + + Lang, Captain, ii. 396, 400, 412. + + Lay, H. N., residence of, at Foochow, i. 118 _note_; + Inspector-General of Customs, i. 155; + negotiates Tientsin treaty, i. 331; + Osborn flotilla fiasco, i. 387-391; + summary of Chinese affairs (1858-63), i. 409, 410; + fidelity to Chinese Government, ii. 160; + observation on residence of Ministers, ii. 261; + representative of consular training school, ii. 363. + + Lay-Osborn flotilla, i. 387-391; + Wênsiang and Prince Kung discredited by failure of scheme, + ii. 375, 391. + + Lekin, likin. _See under_ China--Taxation. + + Lhassa, Bengali's friendly visits to, ii. 305; + Indian expedition attempted, ii. 306-310; + protracted negotiations at, ii. 311, 312. + + Li Han-Chang, ii. 272. + + Li Hung-Chang, foreigners enlisted by, i. 381, 382; + dismisses Burgevine, i. 385, 387; + rejects the Lay-Osborn flotilla, i. 391; + Gordon's quarrel with, i. 392, 393; + memorial of, regarding revision of treaty, ii. 184-190; + influence of, in foreign affairs, ii. 190, 264, 313, 314; + succeeds Tsêng Kwo-fan and Chunghou, ii. 242; + interview with Consul Adkins, ii. 244, 245; + negotiates opening of Korea, ii. 259; + ascendancy of, in imperial counsels, ii. 264, 329; + appointed to treat with Sir T. Wade on Margary murder, ii. 274, 275; + negotiates Chefoo Convention, ii. 275-277; + Gordon's interviews with, ii. 292; + action in Korean _émeute_, ii. 294; + Count Ito's negotiations with, ii. 302; + arranges voyage of Prince Ch'un, ii. 316; + deputed to meet the Czarevitch at Chefoo, ii. 322; + Annam negotiations, ii. 325; + summons Mr Detring to Tientsin, ii. 328; + concludes Fournier Convention, ii. 329; + arranges Vatican mission, ii. 345; + opposed by Tso Tsung-tang, ii. 379; + characteristics and policy of, ii. 381-386; + promotes naval and military reform, ii. 382, 391, 396, 397; + no anti-foreign outbreaks in province of, ii. 383, 442; + responsibilities of, regarding Japanese War, ii. 386, 387; + progressive efforts of, ii. 395; + opposed to Korean expedition, ii. 408; + agrees to Manchurian branch of Siberian railway, ii. 423. + + Liao-tung-- + Japanese occupation of, ii. 414; + cession of, for indemnity, ii. 415. + Russian acquisition of, ii. 422, 423. + + 'Life's Problems,' appreciation of, i. 159. + + Likatchoff, Commodore, ii. 112, 114. + + Lin, Commissioner, measures of, against opium trade, i. 51-54; + demands life-and-death jurisdiction, i. 57; + reply of, to Macaese, i. 58; + superseded, i. 65; + custom-house administration of, i. 435. + + Lindsay, W. S., cited, i. 237; + quoted, i. 242. + + Liuchiu Islands, ii. 256. + + Livadia, treaty of, ii. 291. + + Lorchas. _See under_ China. + + Lowder, Mrs, Alcock's marriage with, ii. 73. + + + Macao (_see also_ Portuguese)-- + British refugees expelled from, i. 58, 272, 293; + plenipotentiaries repair to, i. 65. + Celebrities of, i. 297, 298. + Clerks from, i. 259. + Coolie trade at, ii. 169, 174. + Custom-house established at, ii. 288. + Elliot's retirement to, i. 41. + Hongkong contrasted with, i. 287, 294. + Peacefulness and salubrity of, i. 287, 288, 292-294. + Piracy tolerated at, i. 295, 296. + Population of, i. 294, 295. + Portuguese occupation of, i. 289-291. + + Macaulay, T. B., ii. 307. + + MacCunn, James, cited, i. 243 _note_. + + Macdonald, Sir Claude, ii. 432. + + MacDonnell, Sir Richard, i. 277, 305, 306. + + Manchuria-- + Chinese troops in, ii. 291. + Russian acquisition of coast, ii. 252, 469, 473. + Siberian railway to pass through, ii. 423. + + Manchus-- + Chinese contrasted with, i. 80, 81; + complementary to, i. 83, 84. + Courtesy of, i. 82, 368, ii. 140, 153. + Moderation and humanity of, i. 81. + Women, position of, ii. 140, 141. + + Margary, Augustus Raymond, ii. 266, 267. + + Markham, Sir Clements, appreciation of Alcock, ii. 484. + + Mas, M. de, anecdote of, ii. 444 _note_. + + Mayers, W. F., ii. 363. + + Meadows, Taylor, Alcock compared with, i. 161, ii. 224; + distinguished services of, ii. 359; + representative of consular training school, ii. 363. + + Medhurst, Mr, foreign atrocities reported by, i. 302; + map made by, i. 432; + action in Yangchow affair, ii. 199-201; + reprimanded by Lord Clarendon, ii. 207, 208. + + Mikado of Japan, sanction of, necessary to treaties, ii. 39, 63, 85; + sanction obtained, ii. 90; + Tycoon's relation to, ii. 60-65, 71-73, 76, 85, 92, 93; + expulsion of foreigners ordered by, ii. 63; + administrative functions assumed by, ii. 92, 255. + + Missionaries-- + Alcock's views on, ii. 223, 224, 227, 230, 231, 237. + American, on Yangtze expedition, i. 370. + Charges against, ii. 236. + Chinese view of, ii. 177-179. + Control of, Chinese scheme for, ii. 246-248. + Disunion among the Powers caused by, ii. 237. + French enterprise regarding, ii. 175-177, 224, 225, 229-232, 234, + 237, 238, 253; + their aim a protectorate of Christians, ii. 336-342, 346-352. + Hongkong, in, i. 281. + "Indiscretions" of, emphasised by their Governments, ii. 243. + Irritation and disruption caused by, ii. 203-205, 207, 224, 226-233, + 238, 246, 248, 249, 454. + Kang Yu-wei inspired by, ii. 458. + Korea, in, ii. 175, 177-179. + Li's advice regarding, ii. 187; + his policy towards, ii. 383, 442. + Publications of, ii. 445. + Russian Peking establishment, i. 356, ii. 154. + Tientsin massacre, ii. 238, 239; + French ambassador's note on, ii. 237; + results of, ii. 240-244. + Tsingpu attack, i. 129. + + Mito, Prince of, ii. 35, 38, 40, 41. + + Mongol market in Peking, ii. 147, 148. + + Montauban, General (Count Palikao), i. 349, 351-353. + + Morrison, Robert, i. 297, 298. + + Moss, Mr, ii. 123, 124, 128. + + Mouravieff-Amurski, Count, at Yedo, ii. 35; + warns Japanese against British designs, ii. 111; + gives assurances regarding Russian fleet, ii. 426. + + Mutsu, Count, anecdote of, ii. 96 _note_. + + + Nagasaki-- + Alcock's arrival at, ii. 14. + Coins not used in trade at, ii. 18. + Dutch trade at, ii. 10, 11. + Legation from Korea conveyed to, ii. 294. + Opened for ships' supplies, ii. 4. + Welcome to foreigners at, ii. 9. + + Nagato, Prince of, hostile action of, ii. 67, 69, 76, 77; + operations against, ii. 77-81; + Japanese students sent to Europe by, ii. 80; + justifies his anti-foreign action, ii. 82; + results of his defeat, ii. 86. + + Namoa, typical sale of opium at, i. 47, 48. + + Nanking-- + Capital, proposed as, ii. 474 _note_. + Important position of, i. 134. + Lay-Osborn flotilla, connection with, i. 391. + Robertson's mission to, i. 133, 428. + Taipings at, British aid asked against, i. 312; + Admiral Hope's dealings with, i. 371, 372. + Treaty. _See under_ Treaties. + + Napier, Lord, experiences of, in China, i. 38-40; + views on Chinese government, ii. 439. + + Neale, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward St John, in charge of British Legation + at Yedo, ii. 50; + attack on British Legation described by, ii. 51, 52; + congratulated by Japanese on his escape, ii. 54; + action after Richardson murder, ii. 58; + negotiations with Japanese, ii. 62-67. + + Newchwang, i. 219, 222. + + Ningpo-- + A'Pak's exploit at, i. 304, 305. + Characteristics of, i. 116. + Occupation of, by British, i. 76. + Opening of, i. 115. + Piratical stronghold near, i. 306. + Taipings, captured by, i. 376, 377; + captured from, i. 380; + base of British and French during Chêkiang campaign, i. 394. + 'Times' pronouncement against, i. 114. + + + Oliphant, Laurence, cited, i. 223, 336, 337, 347, ii. 2; + quoted, i. 341, ii. 9 _note_, 11 _note_; + wounded by Japanese, ii. 36, 37; + invalided home, ii. 46. + + Opium trade-- + Alcock's attitude towards, i. 194-198, 417-419. + Cash payments the rule in, i. 43, 171, 192. + Chefoo Convention, introduced into, ii. 281, 283; + stimulated by, ii. 289. + Clippers, i. 193, 215-217. + Contraband before 1858, i. 44-48, 192; + legalisation of, urged by Alcock, i. 418; + effected, i. 199; + recognised by Tientsin treaty, i. 332, 341. + Elliot's offer to suppress, i. 48, 49; + his attitude towards, i. 199. + Foochow, at, i. 121. + Hostility of Chinese attitude towards, i. 417-419. + Importance of, i. 193, 194, 196, 197, 417, 418. + Lin's measures against, i. 51-54. + Postal communication dependent on, i. 193, 216, 217. + Smuggling connected with, i. 44-48. + Surrender of opium at Canton, i. 53, 54 _and note_. + Transit dues, proposed increase of, ii. 219; + duty trebled, ii. 284, 286. + Value of, i. 192. + + Osborn, Captain Sherard, Yangtze explored by, i. 223, 347; + in command of flotilla refused by Chinese, i. 388; + cited, ii. 2. + + + Paget, Sir James, appreciation of Alcock, i. 23, 24. + + Palikao, Count, i. 349, 351-353. + + Palmerston, Lord, successful Chinese policy of, i. 88, 100, 101, 104, + 131; + the China dissolution, i. 319; + change in foreign policy after death of, ii. 364, 365. + + Paris, Alcock's first visit to, i. 2-7; + Campbell's mission to, ii. 333. + + Parkes, Sir Harry, interpreter to Alcock, i. 117; + appreciation of Alcock, i. 120, 121; + accompanies Alcock to Shanghai, i. 126; + despatched with Robertson to Nanking, i. 133; + compiles returns of sea-borne trade at Foochow, i. 209; + obtains Kowloon concession, i. 286, 330; + action regarding the Arrow incident, i. 309; + remonstrates with Yeh, i. 314; + Lord Elgin's appreciation of, i. 326 _note_; + commissioner at Canton, i. 328, 330; + successful administration there, i. 397; + deplores Lord Elgin's hurried departure from Tientsin, i. 335; + reward offered for head of, i. 342; + seized and imprisoned by Chinese, i. 352; + released, i. 354; + visits Peking, i. 365; + attached by Lord Elgin to Admiral Hope, i. 370; + describes abandonment of Hankow, i. 374; + attack on, in Japan, ii. 90; + succeeds Alcock in Japan, ii. 130; + views on Chinese action regarding Formosa and Japan, ii. 255; + negotiates treaty regarding Korea, ii. 297; + death of, ii. 302; + representative of consular training school, ii. 363. + + Pechili Gulf, cruise in, i. 220-223; + defences suggested for, ii. 381; + fortifications of ports in, ii. 397. + + Peiho river, demonstration off mouth of (1840), i. 64; + defences of (1860), 350. + _See also_ Taku forts. + + Peking-- + Blockade of, a means of coercing Government, i. 416, 428-431. + British Legation. _See under_ Great Britain. + Campaign of 1860, i. 349-354. + _Chose jugée_, case of, ii. 280. + Convention signed at (1886), ii. 310. + Disadvantages of, as site for capital, ii. 474 _and note_. + Distant view of, ii. 143. + Elgin's error in omitting to visit, i. 334-337 _and note_. + Fur market, ii. 149. + German Legation established in, ii. 254. + Health of, ii. 144 _note_. + Hostility of natives in, i. 364. + Inaccessibility of, ii. 142. + Innovations after 1884, ii. 315. + Insanitary condition of, ii. 144, 145. + Lama temple, ii. 145, 146. + Legations, diplomatic difficulties of, i. 398-401; + relieved by military force (1900), ii. 437. + Macaulay's mission to, ii. 307, 308. + Maritime Customs Inspector established in, ii. 156. + Mules and camels, ii. 147. + Pei-t'ang Cathedral, erection of, ii. 341; + transfer of, ii. 346, 347. + Prohibitions against English visitors, i. 363. + Residence of British representative at, suggested in merchants' + memorial (1839), i. 89; + residence included in Tientsin treaty, i. 332, 336; + right of residence suspended, i. 337, 346. + Russian mission in, i. 356, ii. 154. + Sarat Chandra Das, visit of, ii. 308-310. + Social Life in, ii. 138-142. + Street traffic in, ii. 149-153. + Summer retreat from, ii. 154, 155. + Temple of Heaven, ii. 146. + Treaty signed at (1860), i. 354. + + Pin Ch'un, ii. 137, 186. + + Piracy-- + Alcock's views on, i. 208. + British action against, i. 299, 301, 305-307. + Chinese attitude towards, i. 299-301. + Foreigners engaged in, in China, i. 302; + foreigners subjected to, i. 306, 307. + Hongkong headquarters of, i. 302, 305. + Portuguese leniency to, i. 295, 296; + their earlier assistance against, i. 289, 290. + Prevalence of, i. 194, 209, 218. + Steam traffic a blow to, i. 307. + Taiping Rebellion complicated by, i. 275. + + Popoff, M., i. 357, 395. + + Port Arthur-- + British evacuation of, ii. 426. + Ch'un, Prince, meets British Admiral at, ii. 317. + Fortifications of, ii. 397. + French abstain from attacking, ii. 332; + French syndicate entrusted with construction works at, ii. 335. + Russian acquisition of, ii. 424-427. + + Portugal, Alcock's work as army surgeon in, i. 14-18; + on Anglo-Portuguese Commission regarding claims of British + auxiliaries, i. 25. + + Portuguese (_see also_ Macao)-- + Chinese cupidity conciliated by, i. 287. + Convoy trade carried on by, i. 304, 305. + Ming dynasty supported by, i. 291. + Obligations to Great Britain disregarded by, i. 58 and _note_. + + Pottinger, Sir Henry, i. 74, 112-114. + + Powers, Western-- + Anarchy among, ii. 472, 473. + Audience granted to, by Emperor Tungchih, ii. 261; + by Kwanghsu, ii. 318-320. + British covertly attacked by, to Japanese government, ii. 107-110. + Chefoo Convention, feeling regarding, ii. 276, 277, 281. + Classification of, ii. 465. + Danger to be apprehended from, i. 163, 420. + "Dummy" Chinaman evolved by, i. 338, 339, ii. 472. + Korea, inaction regarding, ii. 411. + Missionary problem, unity not possible regarding, ii. 237. + Rivalry of, i. 262, ii. 447, 451, 475. + Spoliation of China by, ii. 417, 418, 447, 452. + Taiping Rebellion, attitude towards, i. 394. + + "Progress," no Chinese equivalent for, ii. 136. + + Protêt, Admiral, i. 377, 379. + + + Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for Nurses, Alcock's work for, + ii. 482, 483. + + + Real estate, value of, in the Far East, i. 176, 177, 434. + + Rennie, Dr, quoted, i. 362-366, ii. 146. + + Rhubarb, Chinese export of, i. 168. + + Richardson, Mr, murder of, ii. 38, 56, 57; + redress for, ii. 65, 66. + + Robertson, Vice-Consul, i. 133, 428, ii. 210. + + Royal Geographical Society, Alcock's work for, ii. 483, 484. + + Roze, Admiral, ii. 177. + + "Rudeness," Japanese term for, ii. 34 _note_. + + Russell, Earl, approves Alcock's measures, ii. 45, 86; + negotiates with Japanese envoys, ii. 49; + advocates firm policy in Japan, ii. 59, 76; + recalls Alcock, ii. 87, 88; + desires Alcock's return to Japan, ii. 89. + + Russia, Russians (_see also_ Powers)-- + Absorbent policy of, ii. 469, 470, 473, 474. + Akbar despatches incident, i. 233. + Amur, acquisitions on the, ii. 252, 429. + Ascendancy of, in China, ii. 422, 434, 473, 475. + British friction with, ii. 321. + Czarevitch visits China, ii. 321-323. + Elgin followed to Tientsin by, i. 331. + French in concert with, ii. 415; + their acquisitions approved by, ii. 419. + Japan--squadron at Yedo, ii. 35; + represented by M. Goskavitch, ii. 104; + Tsushima affair, ii. 111-114. + Japanese War deprecated by, ii. 411; + Japanese claims modified by, ii. 415. + Kuldja incident, ii. 290-293. + Li protected by, ii. 387, 415. + Liao-tung acquired by, ii. 422, 423. + Livadia, treaty of, ii. 291. + Loan to China guaranteed by, ii. 421. + Manchurian coast acquired by, ii. 252, 469. + Military ethics of, ii. 470, 471. + Peking, establishment in, i. 356, ii. 154. + Port Hamilton incident, ii. 303-305. + Protectorate of Christians assumed by, ii. 349, 350. + Respect accorded to, by Chinese, i. 357; + by Japanese, i. 357, ii. 104. + Siberian railway, beginning of, ii. 323; + Manchurian branch of, ii. 423. + Taiping Rebellion, attitude towards, i. 394, 395. + Talien-wan seized by, ii. 427; + 'Times' extract on the proceeding, ii. 428-432. + Tea supply of, i. 186. + Tientsin massacre, ii. 239, 241. + Toleration clause in treaty of, ii. 224. + Vladivostock, acquisition of, i. 358; + Czarevitch's visit to, ii. 323. + + + Salisbury, Lord, additional article to the Chefoo Convention signed by, + ii. 287; + speech regarding Russian ports, ii. 426, 430; + Russia conciliated by, ii. 429. + + Samqua, i. 151, 434, 435. + + Samurai, status of, ii. 33 _note_ 2. + + Sarat Chandra Das, ii. 306, 308-310. + + Satsuma, Prince of, riding party attacked by retinue of, ii. 58; + attack on, ii. 67, 68; + appeals to Mikado against Prince of Nagato, ii. 69; + friendly to foreigners, ii. 76. + + Seventh Prince. _See_ Ch'un, Prince. + + Seward, George F., ii. 174, 178. + + Seymour, Sir Michael, naval commander-in-chief at Hongkong, i. 309; + relations with Sir J. Bowring, i. 315; + operations in the "Merchants' War," i. 317. + + Shanghai-- + Alcock appointed to, i. 126; + testimonial to him from foreign residents in, i. 157, 158; + his visit to (1869), ii. 218. + Apathy of residents regarding Exhibition samples, i. 200, 201. + Capture of, in first China War, i. 75. + Chamber of Commerce at, reviews Supplementary Convention, ii. 219. + Chunghou, condemned at meetings in, ii. 241. + Custom-house. _See under_ China--Taxation. + Development of, i. 124-126. + French concession in, i. 139. + Inland trade from, i. 210. + Kim assassinated in, ii. 301. + Lindsay's mission to (1832), i. 115. + Naval construction attempted at, ii. 396. + Neighbourhood of, i. 126, 127. + Opening of (1843), i. 115. + Self-reliance of community in, i. 140. + Silk trade facilitated by opening of, i. 188. + Smuggling centre at, i. 144. + Supreme Court for China and Japan established at, ii. 355-358. + Taipings, danger from, i. 377-379. + Thirty mile radius established round, i. 128, 372, 376, 383, 384. + Tientsin treaty negotiations conducted at, i. 343, 347. + Tonnage famine at, i. 232, 233. + Tsingpu affair, i. 129-133. + Yokohama guard of Beloochis sent from, ii. 78. + + Shantung-- + German seizure of port in, ii. 421; + British opinion on seizure, ii. 423; + Russian attitude, ii. 431. + Scenery of, i. 221. + Unrest most violent in, ii. 462. + + Shaw, Sir Charles, sketch of career of, i. 12-14; + appreciation of Alcock, i. 14-17, 21, 22. + + Shimadso Saburo, ii. 58, 59 _and note_. + + Shimoda, opening of, ii. 4. + + Shimonoséki, Straits of, blockaded by Prince of Nagato, ii. 69, 76, 77; + forts at, captured by Allies, ii. 83. + + Shimonoseki treaty, ii. 387, 418. + + Shipping-- + Convoy system in China, i. 302-304. + Disguise of boats for Chinese coasting trade, i. 246, 247. + East India Company's, i. 211-215. + Gold discoveries' effect on, i. 227-231. + Hanseatic and Scandinavian, i. 218, 219. + Junks. _See under_ China. + Lorchas. _See under_ China. + Merchant owners, i. 217, 218, 224. + Navigation Law repealed, i. 230. + Opium clippers, i. 193, 215-217. + Piracy. _See that title._ + Revival of British, i. 231, 237, 239. + Silk cargoes, i. 235, 236. + Steam brought into general use, i. 243-245; + effect on piracy, i. 307. + Tea clippers, i. 239-243. + + Shore, the Hon. Henry N., cited, i. 213 _note_. + + Silk, Chinese trade in, importance of, i. 168, 187-191 _and note_, 203; + shipping of, i. 235, 236; + Japanese trade in, ii. 116. + + Smith, Arthur, cited, ii. 368. + + Smuggling-- + Alcock's efforts against, i. 143, 145; + extract from his report on, i. 145-147. + Elliot's offer to suppress, i. 48, 49. + England, in, i. 213. + Prevalence of, i. 44, 45, 143, 195, 301. + Salt merchants vigilant against, i. 442. + Trade disastrously affected by, i. 147. + + Solomon, King, Chinese characteristics of, ii. 369 _note_. + + Spain, Alcock's work as army surgeon in, i. 21, 22; + on Commission regarding payment of Foreign Legion, i. 24, 25; + rheumatic fever contracted at San Sebastian, i. 27. + + Stanley, Lady Augusta, Alcock's work with, ii. 479, 480. + + Staveley, Brigadier-General, i. 365, 379, 383, 385. + + Stirling, Sir James, Japanese treaty of, ii. 4. + + Swatow, ii. 206. + + Swinhoe, Consul, ii. 181, 204, 359. + + + Taiping Rebellion. _See under_ China. + + Taku forts, British repulse at, i. 222, 223, 348; + strengthened by Chinese, i. 350; + captured by Allies, i. 351; + occupied by Allies, i. 355; + captured (1900), ii. 436. + + Talien-wan-- + British suggestion regarding, ii. 425. + Fortifications of, ii. 397. + Russian seizure of, ii. 427. + 'Times' letter on, ii. 428-432. + + Tao-kuang, Emperor, i. 50, 51. + + Taotai, status of, i. 129. + + Tartars, i. 81. + + Taxation. _See under_ China. + + Tea trade-- + Clippers, i. 239-243. + Consumption of tea, quality and quantity of, i. 180, 181. + Duties heavy, i. 178-181, 186. + Foochow famous for, i. 121, 122, 240, 241. + Hankow a new centre for, i. 225. + Importance of, in early Chinese trade, i. 168; + decline of, i. 184-186. + + Thomson, J., quoted, i. 269. + + Tibet, Bengali's friendly visits to, ii. 305; + Indian expedition attempted, ii. 306-310; + attack on British Sikkim, ii. 311. + + Tientsin-- + Arsenal established at, by Chunghou, ii. 392. + Ch'un, Prince, introduced to foreigners at, ii. 316. + Conference at (1840), i. 65; + (1854), i. 311. + Elgin's treaty. _See_ Treaties--Tientsin; + his hurried departure from, i. 333, 335, 336. + Gordon's interviews with Li at, ii. 292. + Gutzlaff's expedition to, i. 115. + Massacre at. _See under_ Missionaries. + Peking campaign, base of Allied troops during, i. 351; + garrison left in, i. 355. + Treaty of. _See under_ Treaties. + + Ting, Admiral, ii. 400, 408. + + Tông-chow, i. 219, 220. + + Tongking, French conquest of, ii. 326. + + Trade. _See_ Commerce. + + Treaties-- + Alcock's stand for integrity of, ii. 101. + Anglo-German Agreement, ii. 467, 468, 473. + Calcutta Convention, ii. 312. + Chefoo Convention, negotiation and provisions of, ii. 275-280, 310, + 311; + criticism of, ii. 280, 251; + ratification of, ii. 284, 287. + Disregard of, chronic, ii. 214, 359. + Fournier Convention, ii. 329. + Japan--Commodore Perry's, ii. 2; + Townsend Harris's, ii. 3, 5, 39, 99; + Sir J. Stirling's, ii. 4; + Lord Elgin's, ii. 5, 6, 99. + Li-Ito Convention, ii. 302, 303, 389, 408, 409. + Livadia, ii. 291. + "Most-favoured-nation" clause, ii. 3, 5, 6, 215, 232. + Nanking, signing of, i. 75, 76; + Chinese hostility to, i. 78, 79, 91, 93, 97; + supplement to, i. 112-114; + English opposition to, i. 114; + working of, summed up by Alcock, i. 162, 411-428; + evaded by Chinese, i. 333, ii. 214; + restrictions of boundary imposed by, i. 415. + Peking (1860), i. 354; + (1886), ii. 310. + St Petersburg, ii. 293. + Shimonoseki, ii. 387, 418. + Tientsin, ports opened by, i. 219; + signing of, i. 331, 334; + provisions of, i. 332, 341; + residence at Peking a stipulation of, i. 332-335; + Chinese view of, i. 334-336, 341, 342, 346, 348; + suspension of residence clause, i. 337, 346; + ratified at Peking, i. 354; + regarded as model for other Powers, ii. 6; + revision preparations, ii. 180-183; + revision discussed, ii. 211-218; + supplementary convention signed, ii. 218; + reviewed, ii. 219, 220; + not ratified, ii. 220, 221. + Toleration clauses, ii. 224, 225. + Yeh's contempt for, i. 333. + + Tsên-Yü-ying, ii. 270-273. + + Tsêng, the Marquis, negotiates ratification of Chefoo Convention, + i. 284-287; + negotiates treaty at St Petersburg, ii. 293; + Annam negotiations, ii. 325; + member of Tsungli-Yamên, ii. 351. + + Tsêng Kwo-Chuan, i. 381, 391. + + Tsêng Kwo-fan, operations in Taiping Rebellion, i. 381, 391, 393; + memorial regarding revision of treaty, ii. 184; + intercourse with foreigners, ii. 189; + action in Yangchow affair, ii. 199-203; + action regarding Tientsin massacre, ii. 240, 243; + volunteer levies under, ii. 377; + characteristics of, ii. 378; + expulsion of foreigners suggested by, ii. 464 _note_. + + Tsushima, designs on, attributed to British, ii. 108, 109, 111; + to French, ii. 110; + Russian occupation of, ii. 111-114. + + Tsingpu affair, i. 129-135, 415, 423, 424. + + Tso Tsung-tang, ii. 291, 278, 279. + + Tsungli-Yamên. _See under_ China. + + Tuan, Prince, characteristic action of (1900), ii. 437; + progeny of, not in the succession, ii. 456; + relations of, with Empress Regent obscure, ii. 460. + + Tun, Prince, imperial claims of son of, ii. 263; + grandson of, nominated heir-apparent, ii. 460. + + Tungchih, Emperor, i. 397, ii. 260-262. + + Tycoon of Japan, Lord Elgin's treaty with, ii. 6, 7; + guards of, at foreign legations, ii. 36, 38, 44, 51-53; + Daimios' relation to, ii. 38-41, 60-65, 67, 68, 76, 93; + autograph letter to the Queen, ii. 46; + the Queen's reply, ii. 48; + envoys sent by, to Great Britain, ii. 48, 49; + second mission, ii. 74, 75; + Mikado's relation to, ii. 71-73, 85, 92; + regret at Alcock's recall, ii. 88. + + + United States. _See_ America. + + + Vatican, appeal to, ii. 343. + + 'Village Life in China' cited, ii. 368. + + Vladivostock, Russian acquisition of, i. 358; + Czarevitch at, ii. 323. + + + Wade, Sir Thomas, action in Taiping Rebellion, i. 138, ii. 133; + Inspector of Customs at Shanghai, i. 154; + at Peking with Alcock (1865), ii. 131; + career and characteristics of, ii. 132-134; + views of, on Maritime Customs Inspectorship, ii. 163, 164; + on supplementary convention to Tientsin treaty, ii. 220; + _chargé d'affaires_ at Peking, ii. 239, 244; + views of, on audience of foreign Ministers, ii. 261, 262; + negotiations regarding Margary case, ii. 270-275, 278; + negotiates Chefoo Convention, ii. 275-279; + views of, on Chinese legislation, ii. 279. + + Ward, Mr, i. 382. + + Weihai-wei-- + British seizure of, ii. 434. + Chinese forlorn hope at, i. 222, 301. + Early exploration of, i. 222. + Fortifications of, ii. 397. + + Wênsiang, member of Tsungli-Yamên, i. 360; + discredited by Lay-Osborn flotilla fiasco, i. 389, ii. 375, 391; + intimate relations with British Legation, ii. 134, 135; + concurs in strong measures against rioters, ii. 207; + dislike of Hongkong, ii. 216; + circular regarding control of missions attributed to, ii. 246; + efforts regarding Pei-t'ang Cathedral, ii. 342; + high qualities of, ii. 374-376. + + Westminster Hospital, Alcock's work for, ii. 478-480. + + Winchester, Consul, on Japanese currency, ii. 18, 23. + + Wolseley, Lieutenant-Colonel, i. 371, 373. + + Wu, i. 151, 434, 435. + + Wusung-- + Challenger on the bar at, i. 236. + Hong captured at, ii. 301. + Opium trade at, i. 193. + Thirty mile radius, included in, i. 372, 376. + + + Yakub-beg, ii. 290, 291. + + Yangchow riot, ii. 198-203, 207. + + Yangtze river-- + Advance of 200 miles up (1842), i. 74; + Lord Elgin's voyage to Hankow (1858), i. 347, 370. + Blockade of, suggested, i. 430. + Opening of, i. 223, 369, 373. + + Yedo-- + Alcock's arrival at, ii. 15-17. + British Legation. _See under_ Great Britain. + Choshiu's establishment at, destroyed, ii. 83. + Hostility to foreigners, ii. 35. + Legations, withdrawal of, to Yokohama, ii. 36; + foreign guards at, ii. 45; + improved residence for, ii. 50. + Social conditions in, ii. 122. + + Yeh, Viceroy, evades demands for right of entry into Canton, i. 160; + hostile to native shipowners, i. 309; + asks British aid against Taipings, i. 312; + attitude towards foreigners, i. 312-314; + offers reward for English heads, i. 317; + contemptuous of treaties, i. 333; + superseded, i. 342; + capture and death of, i. 328. + + Yerburgh, Mr, ii. 427. + + Yokohama-- + Foreigners' residence prepared by Japanese at, ii. 13; + improved, ii. 90. + Garrison of British troops in, ii. 77, 78, 84. + Legations' withdrawal to, during assassination period, ii. 36. + Merchants' preference for, to Kanagawa, i. 18, 122, 123. + Tycoon's inability to maintain order in, ii. 74. + + Yuan Shih-kai, ii. 406. + + Yunnan-- + Burmese expedition and murder of Mr Margary, ii. 266, 267; + negotiations regarding, ii. 267-276; + settlement of affair, ii. 278. + Rebellion in, ii. 290. + + +THE END. + + +PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Englishman in China During the +Victorian Era, Vol. II (of 2), by Alexander Michie + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44548 *** |