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THE  ENGLISHMAN  IN  CHINA 


Chap,  xxiil:  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  w(yrdf  What  you  do  not 
want  done  to  yourself,  do  not  do  to  others." 


.»>■.- 


K 


Wajiu.-i*.Cockerelltjh.: 


PEEFACE 


Reminiscences  of  the  Far  East  called  up  by  the 
death  of  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock  in  November  1897 
prompted  the  writer  to  send  a  contribution  on  the 
subject  to  '  Blackwood's  Magazine.'  Being  appreci- 
ated by  the  family,  the  article  suggested  to  them 
some  more  substantial  memorial  of  the  deceased 
statesman,  a  scheme  with  which  the  writer  fell  in 
the  more  readily  that  it  seemed  to  harmonise  with 
the  task  which  friends  had  been  already  urging  upon 
him — that  of  writinof  some  account  of  occurrences  in 
the  Far  East  during  his  own  residence  there.  For 
there  was  no  other  name  round  w^hich  these  events 
could  be  so  consistently  grouped  during  the  thirty 
years  when  British  policy  was  a  power  in  that  part 
of  the  world.  As  Consul  and  Minister  Alcock  was 
so  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  period  that 
neither  the  life  of  the  man  nor  the  times  in  which 
he  lived  could  be  treated  apart.  And  the  personal 
element  renders  his  connection  with  Far  Eastern 
affairs  particularly  instructive,  for,  combining  the 
highest  executive  qualities  with  a  philosophic  grasp 
of  the   problems   with  which  he  had  to  deal,   he   at 


vi  PREFACE. 

the  same  time  possessed  the  faculty  of  exposition, 
whereby  the  vital  relation  between  the  theoretical 
and  the  practical  sides  of  Far  Eastern  politics  was 
made  plain.  The  student  may  thus  draw  his  lessons 
equally  from  the  actions  and  the  reflections  of  this 
great  official. 

The  life  history  of  Sir  Kutherford  Alcock  is  that  of 
the  progressive  development  of  a  sterling  character 
making  in  all  circumstances  the  most  of  itself,  self- 
reliant,  self-supporting,  without  friends  or  fortune, 
without  interest  or  advantage  of  any  kind  whatso- 
ever. From  first  to  last  the  record  is  clear,  without 
sediment  or  anything  requiring  to  be  veiled  or 
extenuated.  Every  achievement,  great  or  small,  is 
stamped  with  the  hall-mark  of  duty,  of  unfaltering 
devotion  to  the  service  of  the  nation  and  to  the 
interests  of  humanity. 

A  copious  and  facile  writer,  he  has  left  singularly 
little  in  the  way  of  personal  history.  The  only 
journal  he  seems  ever  to  have  kept  was  consigned 
by  him  to  oblivion,  a  few  early  dates  and  remarks 
having  alone  been  rescued.  When  in  recent  years 
he  was  approached  by  friends  on  the  subject  of  auto- 
biography, he  was  wont  to  reply,  "My  life  is  in  my 
work ;  by  that  I  am  content  to  be  remembered." 
We  must  needs  therefore  take  him  at  his  word  and 
judge  by  the  fruit  what  was  the  nature  of  the  tree. 

In  the  following  work  the  reader  may  trace  in 
more  or  less  continuous  outline  the  stages  by  which 
the  present  relation  between  China  and  foreign  nations 
has  been  reached.  In  the  earlier  portion  the  course 
of  events  indicated  is  comparatively  simple,  being  con- 
fined to  Anglo-Chinese  developing  into  Anglo-Franco- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

Chinese  relations.  In  the  latter  portion,  corresponding 
roughly  with  the  second  volume,  the  stream  becomes 
subdivided  into  many  collateral  branches,  as  all  the 
Western  nations  and  Japan,  with  their  separate  in- 
terests, came  to  claim  their  share,  each  in  its  own 
way,  of  the  intercourse  with  China.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  data  submitted  to  the  reader  will  enable  him  to 
draw  such  conclusions  as  to  past  transactions  as  may 
furnish  a  basis  for  estimating  future  probabilities. 

The  scope  of  the  work  being  restricted  to  the  points 
of  contact  between  China  and  the  rest  of  the  world, 
nothing  recondite  is  attempted,  still  less  is  any  enigma 
solved.  It  is  the  belief  of  the  author  that  the  so-called 
Chinese  mystery  has  been  a  source  of  needless  mysti- 
fication ;  that  the  relation  between  China  and  the 
outer  world  was  intrinsically  simple ;  and  that  to 
have  worked  from  the  basis  of  their  resemblances 
to  the  rest  of  humanity  would  have  been  a  shorter 
way  to  an  amicable  understanding  with  the  Chinese 
than  the  crude  attempt  to  accommodate  Western 
procedure  to  the  uncompreh ended  differences  which 
divided  them.  It  needed  no  mastery  of  their  sociology 
to  keep  the  Chinese  strictly  to  their  written  engage- 
ments and  to  deter  them  from  outrage.  But  discussion 
was  the  invitation  to  laxity ;  and  laxity,  condoned  and 
pampered,  then  defiant  and  triumphant,  lies  at  the  root 
of  the  disasters  which  have  befallen  the  Chinese  Empire 
itself,  and  now  threaten  to  recoil  also  upon  the  foreign 
nations  which  are  responsible  for  them.  This  responsi- 
bility was  never  more  tersely  summed  up  than  by  Mr 
Burlingame  in  his  capacity  of  Chinese  Envoy.  After 
sounding  the  Foreign  Ofiice  that  astute  diplomatist  was 
able  to  inform  the  Tsungli-Yamen  in  1869  that  *'the 


viii  PREFACE. 

British  Government  was  so  friendly  and  pacific  that 
they  would  endure  anything."  The  dictum,  though 
true,  was  fatal,  and  the  operation  of  it  during  thii'ty 
subsequent  years  explains  most  that  has  happened 
during  that  period,  at  least  in  the  relations  between 
China  and  Great  Britain. 

A  word  as  to  the  orthography  may  be  useful  to  the 
reader.  The  impossibility  of  transliterating  Chinese 
sounds  into  any  alphabetical  language  causes  great 
confusion  in  the  spelling  of  names.  A  uniform  system 
would  indeed  be  most  desirable,  but  common  practice 
has  already  fixed  so  many  of  them  that  it  seems 
better,  in  a  book  intended  for  general  reading,  not 
to  depart  too  much  from  the  conventional  usage, 
or  attempt  to  follow  any  scientific  system,  which 
must,  after  all,  be  based  upon  mispronunciation  of 
the  Chinese  sounds. 

As  regards  personal  names,  it  may  be  convenient 
to  call  attention  to  the  distinction  between  Chinese 
and  Manchu  forms.  In  the  case  of  the  former  the 
custom  is  to  write  the  nomen,  or  family  name,  separ- 
ately, and  the  pre-nomen  (which  by  Chinese  practice 
becomes  the  post-nomen)  by  itself,  and,  when  it  con- 
sists of  two  characters,  separated  by  a  hyphen — e.g., 
Li  [nomen)  Hung-chang  (post-nomen).  In  the  case 
of  Manchus,  who  are  known  not  by  a  family  name, 
but  by  what  may  be  termed,  for  want  of  a  better 
expression,  their  pre-nomen,  it  is  customary  to  write 
the  name  in  one  word,  without  hyphens — for  example, 
Kiying,  Ilipu.  As  the  Chinese  name  usually  consists 
of  three  characters  or  syllables,  and  the  Manchu 
usually  of  two,  the  form  of  name  affords  a  p)rima 
facie   indication   of  the   extraction   of   the   personage 


PREFACE.  IX 

referred   to.      Polysyllabic    names,   as    San-ko-lin-sin, 
are  generally  Mongol. 

The  sovereign  is  not  referred  to  by  name,  the  terms 
Kwanghsu,  Tungchih,  and  so  forth,  being  the  Chinese 
characters  chosen  to  designate,  or,  as  we  might  say, 
idealise  the  reign,  in  the  same  way  as  impersonal  titles 
are  selected  for  houses  of  business. 

I  desire  to  express  my  deep  obligation  to  Sir  Ruther- 
ford Alcock's  stepdaughter  Amy,  Lady  Pelly,  without 
whose  efficient  aid  the  book  could  not  have  been 
compiled.  It  is  a  subject  of  regret  to  all  concerned 
that  Lady  Alcock  herself  did  not  live  to  see  the 
completion  of  a  task  in  the  inception  of  which  she 
took  a  keen  and  loving  interest. 

To  the  other  friends  who  have  in  different  ways 
helped  in  the  production  of  the  book,  and  particularly 
to  Mr  William  Keswick,  M.P.,  for  the  loan  of  his 
valuable  Chinnery  and  Crealock  drawings,  my  best 
thanks  are  due. 

A.  M. 

London,  November  2wc?,  1900. 


Postscript. — The  legend  on  the  front  cover  is  a  paraphrase  of  Chapter 
xxiii,,  Book  xv.,  of  the  Analects  of  Confucius,  Dr  Legge's  translation  of 
which  has  been  adopted  by  me  as  the  motto  of  these  volumes. 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 


CHAP. 

I.    THE    ARMY    SURGEON 

I.    YOUTH 

II.    THE    PENINSULA,    1832-1837       . 
III.   ENGLAND,   1838-1844        .... 

IL    SENT    TO    CHINA        

FOREIGN    RELATIONS    WITH    CHINA 

III.  ANTECEDENTS    OP    THE    WAR 

I.    THE    OPIUM    TRADE  .... 

IL    THE    SEQUEL    TO    THE    SURRENDER    OF    OPIUM 

IV.  THE    FIRST    CHINA    WAR,    1839-1842 

V.    THE    TREATY    OF    1842  ..... 

VL    THE    FRUITS    OF    THE    WAR    AND    PROSPECTS    OF    PEACE 
VIL    THE    NEW    INTERCOURSE  :     CANTON,    1842-1847 

VIIL    THE    NEW    TREATY    PORTS FOOCHOW,    AMOY,    NINGPO 

IX.    SHANGHAI 

I.    THE    TSINGPU    AFFA.IR     .... 
IL    REBELLION 

III.  THE    CHINESE    MARITIME  CUSTOMS     . 

IV.  CREATION    OF    THE    FOREIGN    CUSTOMS 

V.    MR    ALCOCk's    DEPARTURE    FROM    SHANGHAI 
X.    CONSUL    ALCOCk's    VIEWS    ON    GENERAL    POLICY      . 
XL    TRADE    UNDER    THE    TREATY    OF    NANKING 
I.    TEA    . 
II.    SILK  . 

III.  OPIUM 

IV.  CHINESE    EXPORTS 
V.    BRITISH    EXPORTS 

VL    NATIVE    TRADE       . 


1 

8 
23 
29 
31 

42 

55 

60 

78 

86 

93 

112 

124 

129 

135 

143 

149 

156 

161 

167 

178 

187 

191 

200 

203 

207 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


XII.    SHIPPING 

XIII.  THE    TRADERS 

I.    FOREIGN 
II.    CHINESE 

XIV.  HONGKONG    . 
XV.    MACAO 

XVI.    PIRACY 
XVII.    THE    ARROW    WAR 

I.    THE    EARL    OF    ELGIN    AND    HIS    MISSION 

II.  LORD  Elgin's  second  mission     . 

XVIII.    INTERCOURSE    UNDER    THE    TREATIES    OF    1858    AND    1860 

I.    THE    DIPLOMATIC    OVERTURE 
IL    NEW    PORTS    AND    OPENING    OF    YANGTZE 
IIL    ADMIRAL    HOPe's    POLICY    TOWARDS    INSURGENTS 
IV.    THE    LAY-OSBORN    FLOTILLA 
V.    THE    END    OF    THE    REBELLION 

VI.    EVACUATION    OF    CANTON        .... 
VII.    DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR      .... 
VIII.    INFLUENCE     OF     THESE     EVENTS     ON     PROGRESS     OF 
DIPLOMACY  ...... 


211 

248 
263 
271 
287 
299 
303 
320 
349 

361 
369 
375 
387 
392 
396 
397 

398 


APPENDIX. 


I.    NOTE    ON    OUR    PRESENT     POSITION    AND     THE     STATE    OF    OUR 
RELATIONS    WITH    CHINA,    BY    CONSUL    ALCOCK,    JANUARY 

19,   1849 411 

II.    CONFIDENTIAL   DESPATCH    BY    CONSUL    ALCOCK    TO    SIR    GEORGE 

BONHAM,    JANUARY    13,    1852  .....         428 

III.    CONFIDENTIAL  DESPATCH   TO  SIR  GEORGE  BONHAM,  DATED  JUNE 

17,  1852.      (extract) 432 

IV.  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  SALT  TRADE  ANNEXED  TO  MR  PARKES'  SUM- 
MARY OF  THE  NATIVE  MARITIME  TRADE  OF  FOOCHOW, 
1846.      (extracts) 439 


ILLUSTRATIONS  TO  THE  FIRST  TOLUME. 


DENTS    VERANDAH,    MACAO  ...... 

GEORGE    CHINNERY 

From  ail  oil-painting  by  himself. 

SIR    FREDERICK    BRUCE      ....... 

MR     LOCH    DEPARTS    FROM    PEKING     FOR    ENGLAND    WITH     CHINESE 
TREATY  ........ 

MONSEIGNEUR    MOUILLI     ....... 

FIRST    BRITISH    CONSULATE    AT    KOLENGSOO,    1844 


48 


MR    RUTHERFORD    ALCOCK    AT    THE    AGE    OF    THIRTY-FOUR        .  FrontlSpiece 

From  a  drawing  by  L.  A.  de  Fabeck. 
MACAO  ......... 

H.M.     SHIPS     IMOGEN     AND     ANDROMACHE     PASSING     BOCCA     TIGRIS 
BATTERIES        ........ 

THE    LAKES,    NINGPO  ....... 

THE    FIRST    CONSULAR    RESIDENCE    AT    FOOCHOW  . 

BRIDGE    OVER    RIVER    MIN  ...... 

THE    SECOND    CONSULAR    RESIDENCE    AT    FOOCHOW,    1848 
BAMBOO    BRIDGE    AT    FOOCHOW  ...... 

COUNTRY    WATERWAY    NEAR    SHANGHAI  .... 

ENTRANCE    TO    SZE-KING,    NEAR    SHANGHAI  .  . 

RUSTIC    SCENE    NEAR    SHANGHAI 

VILLAGE    ON    THE    CANALS  .  '  . 


70 
114 
116 
120 
122 
124 
126 
136 
156 
200 
294 
298 

348 

354 
356 
370 


MAPS. 

MAP    OF    CANTON    WATERS 

YANGTZE    AND    GRAND    CANAL    ..... 

MOUTH    OF    YANGTZE    AND    CHUSAN    ARCHIPELAGO 

ROADS    AND    WATERWAYS    BETWEEN    PEKING    AND    TIENTSIN 


62 

75 
132 
331 


THE  ENGLISHMAN  IN  CHINA. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE     ARMY     SURGEON. 
I.    YOUTH. 

Birth  at  Ealing — Motherless  childhood — Feeble  health — Irregular  schooling 
— Medical  education— Student  days  in  Paris — Wax-modelling — Admis- 
sion to  College  of  Surgeons — House  Surgeon  at  Westminster  Hospital. 

Born  in  the  same  year  as  Mr  Gladstone,  May  1809, 
John  Rutherford  Alcock^  predeceased  that  statesman 
by  only  six  months.  His  birthplace  was  Ealing,  and  he 
died  in  Westminster,  after  a  residence  there  in  retire- 
ment of  twenty-seven  years.  Being  a  delicate  infant, 
he  was  baptised  in  Ealing  church  when  one  day  old. 
His  childhood  was  deprived  of  its  sunshine  by  the  loss 
of  his  mother,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  his  father,  a 
medical  man  of  some  note,  and  an  artist  to  boot,  was 
equal  to  filling  the  void  in  the  young  life.  Consequently 
boyhood  had  for  him  none  of  the  halo  of  a  golden  age, 
but  was,  on  the  contrary,  a  grey  and  cheerless  memory, 

1  He  dropped  the  "  John  "  so  early  in  life  that  he  was  never  known  by  it. 
VOL.  I.  A 


2  YOUTH.  [chap.  I. 

furnishing  tests  of  hardihood  rather  than  those  glowing 
aspirations  which  generally  kindle  young  ambitions. 

His  early  life  was  passed  with  relatives  in  the  north 
of  England,  and  he  went  to  school  at  Hexham,  where 
he  had  for  companions  Sir  John  Swinburne  and  Mr 
Dawson  Lambton. 

Of  his  school-days  there  is  little  to  remark.  Indeed 
his  early  education  seems  to  have  been  most  irregular, 
having  been  subject  to  long  and  frequent  interruptions 
on  account  of  ill-health,  which  necessitated  sea- voyages 
and  other  changes  of  air.  Nevertheless  the  diligence 
which  was  part  of  his  nature  compensated  for  these 
drawbacks  of  his  youth,  and  set  its  seal  on  his  whole 
after-career. 

On  returning  to  his  father's  house  at  the  age  of 
fifteen,  the  boy  began  his  medical  education,  being, 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  day,  apprenticed  to  his 
father,  and  at  the  same  time  entered  as  a  student  at 
the  Westminster  Hospital  and  the  Eoyal  Westminster 
Ophthalmic  Hospital  under  that  distinguished  surgeon, 
G.  J.  Guthrie.  His  passion  for  art  had  already  asserted 
itself,  and  he  was  enabled  to  indulge  it  by  constant 
visits  to  Chantrey's  studio,  where,  ''amid  the  musical 
sounds  of  the  chisel  on  the  marble,  with  snatches  of 
airs  from  the  workmen,  where  all  breathed  a  calm  and 
happy  repose,  he  passed  delightful  hours."  His  half- 
holidays  were  spent  at  Chantrey's  in  modelling. 

In  the  following  year  he  visited  Paris,  and  seems 
ever  after  to  have  looked  back  on  the  gay  city  as  a 
kind  of  paradise,  for  there  the  world  first  really  opened 
to  the  young  man  of  sixteen.  Then  began  that  life  of 
work  and  enjoyment,  so  blended  as  to  be  inseparable, 
which  continued  without  intermission  for  more  than 
seventy  years.    In  the  stimulating  atmosphere  of  Paris, 


i 


THE   MEDICAL   STUDENT.  3 

and  its  free  and  independent  life,  the  boy's  faculties 
rapidly  developed.  He  seemed,  indeed,  to  expand 
suddenly  into  full  manhood.  Destined  for  the  medical 
profession,  he  worked  hard  at  anatomy,  chemistry,  and 
natural  history,  while  taking  also  a  keen  interest  in 
artistic  and  literary  subjects ;  mastered  French  and 
Italian  ;  and,  in  short,  turned  his  twelve  or  eighteen 
months'  sojourn  to  highly  practical  account. 

From  a  small  pocket-book  containing  notes  of  the 
journey  to  France,  and  part  of  his  work  in  Paris,  we 
give  some  extracts  illustrative  of  the  boy's  character 
and  powers  of  observation. 

It  was  on  the  17th  of  August  1825  that  the  party 
embarked  at  the  Custom-House  Stairs  for  Calais,  the 
voyage  occupying  fourteen  hours.  On  landing  the  lad 
"  amused  himself  by  observing  the  effects  in  the  sky 
and  the  sea,  and  by  picking  up  shells,  bones  of  birds 
and  animals,  which  having  remained  in  the  sea  until 
perfectly  clean,  looked  beautiful  and  white  as  ivory." 
Simple  things  interested  him,  and  after  dinner  at  the 
Hotel  Meurice  in  Paris  he  "  listened  with  much  plea- 
sure to  a  man  playing  airs  on  what  he  called  an  Ameri- 
can flute" — which  he  goes  on  to  describe  :  "The  tones 
were  mellow  in  the  extreme,  and  the  airs  he  played 
I  think  were  much  superior  in  sweetness  to  any  I  have 
ever  heard  from  an  instrument  so  clear,"  and  so  on. 
Obviously  a  subjective  impression  ;  it  is  his  own  eman- 
cipation that  beautifies  the  simplest  things  and  inspires 
the  simplest  sounds.     Like  the  convalescent  in  Gray — 

"  The  meanest  floweret  of  the  vale, 
The  simplest  note  that  swells  the  gale, 
The  common  sun,  the  air,  the  skies, 
To  him  are  opening  Paradise." 

Od  his  first  Sunday  in  Paris  he  was  "  much  struck 


4  YOUTH.  [chap.  I. 

with  the  beauty  of  the  paintings  and  a  great  number 
of  pieces  sculptured  in  has-relief."  Then  he  walked  in 
the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries,  "which  in  extent,  in 
statues  and  in  fountains,  in  the  appearance  of  it  taking 
it  altogether,  far  exceeded  anything  my  imagination 
had  conceived  concerning  it." 

At  Versailles  he  was  "  highly  delighted  with  many 
of  the  paintings.  The  gardens  are  extremely  extensive 
and  the  fountains  very  numerous ;  .  .  .  but  it  is  all 
extremely  artificial,  and  therefore  soon  fatigues  the 
eye."  In  these  slight  observations  are  perceptible 
the  artistic  instinct  and  sense  of  fitness,  faculties 
which  served  him  so  admirably  in  his  future  work,  and 
mifi-ht  have  won  him  distinction  in  other  fields  than 
those  in  which  his  lot  was  ultimately  cast. 

He  was  in  Paris  for  a  serious  purpose,  the  study  of 
medicine  and  surgery,  and  seriously  he  followed  it. 
At  the  same  time  he  mixed  freely  in  the  artistic  and 
literary  society  of  the  French  capital,  and  left  none  of 
his  talents  uncultivated.  A  characteristic  incident  in 
his  educational  career  was  his  mastering  the  art  of 
modelling  in  wax  and  in  plaster.  Following  up  his 
experiments  in  Chantrey's  studio,  he  took  regular 
lessons  in  Paris,  and  attained  such  proficiency  that, 
young  as  he  was,  he  was  able  to  maintain  himself 
while  in  that  city  by  the  sale  of  his  anatomical  models. 
For  one  of  these  he  mentions  receiving  fifty  guineas, 
and  a  few  years  after  "  for  two  arms  and  two  legs  the 
size  of  life"  he  notes  receiving  140  guineas..  These 
also  won  for  him  distinctions  at  home,  for  in  the  year 
1825  he  was  awarded  the  "Gold  Isis  Medal"  of  the 
Society  of  Arts,  and  in  the  following  year  the  "  laro"e 
gold   medal"   of  that   society,   for   original  models  in 


WORK   AND   STUDY.  5 

coloured  wax.  And  it  may  be  mentioned  as  character- 
istic that  although  in  later  years  an  active  member  of 
that  society,  Sir  H.  T.  Wood,  the  secretary,  who  knew 
him  well,  was  unaware  of  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock's 
having  so  early  in  life  received  the  society's  medals. 
"The  fact  is  an  interesting  one,"  he  says,  "and  I  am 
glad  to  have  had  my  attention  drawn  to  it."  Some  of 
these  works  were  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  the 
College  of  Surgeons,  while  others,  prepared  in  special 
wax,  were  bought  by  Government  for  the  use  of  the 
Indian  medical  schools. 

From  the  small  pocket-book  to  which  we  have  al- 
ready referred,  and  which  contains  concise  notes  of  his 
course  of  instruction  in  modelling  under  a  M.  Dupont, 
we  extract  the  note  of  his  first  lesson.  It  shows 
thoroughness  of  mind,  keenness  of  observation,  and 
the  instinct  for  accuracy  which  enabled  him  so  soon 
to  attain  to  excellence  in  the  art,  and  led  to  success 
in  all  the  other  pursuits  of  his  life  : — 

Sept.  1. — To-day  my  first  lesson  in  modelling  began.  I  saw 
M.  Dupont  work  upcm  a  mask  of  a  little  boy's  face  in  wax. 
He  opened  the  eyes,  but  did  not  in  my  opinion  make  them 
quite  correct.  The  only  thing  I  observed  in  particular  was  his 
using  oil  very  freely  with  his  tool.  I  afterwards  saw  three 
moulds  of  a  thigh  near  the  hip  after  amputation,  cast  in  wax. 
One  was  soaked  in  water,  another  was  rubbed  with  soft-soap, 
and  a  third  was  well  oiled.  The  one  that  was  oiled  produced 
the  most  perfect  cast,  but  I  should  have  thought  both  water, 
soap,  and  oil  were  used  much  too  freely.  They  were  all  cast  in 
wax  of  a  deep  red  colour,  and  one  of  them  was  placed  in  the 
stump  of  one  of  the  thighs  of  the  model  on  which  M.  Dupont 
was  engaged.  It  was  not  quite  large  enough  for  the  thigh  in 
some  places,  and  too  large  in  others.  This  he  altered  without 
scruple,  so  that  when  the  stump  was  finished,  though  it  looked 
extremely  natural,  it  was  by  no  means  accurate. 


6  YOUTH.  [chap.  I. 

Before  quitting  the  life  in  Paris  the  following  sample 
of  its  popular  amusements  as  they  presented  themselves 
to  the  young  student  may  be  interesting  to  readers,  and 
it  is  unfortunately  the  last  entry  in  the  pocket-book, 
and  almost  the  last  assistance  we  shall  get  from  jour- 
nals during  the  seventy  years  of  crowded  life  which 
followed : — 

I  went  yesterday  [Sunday,  September  10,  1826]  to  the 
Swiss  Mountain,  very  extensive  gardens  on  the  Boulevards, 
where  the  most  respectable  part  of  the  pleasure  -  seeking 
Parisians  assemble  on  Sunday :  you  pay  ten  sous  admittance. 
Here  there  is  a  large  establishment  for  dinners  where  you  may 
dine  as  at  the  restaurateurs,  in  a  public  room,  or  there  are  a 
long  suite  of  apartments  for  parties  of  four,  six,  or  twelve  each, 
looking  out  into  the  gardens,  and  immediately  before  the 
windows  was  the  space  enclosed  by  trees,  which  form  a  canopy 
over  it,  and  which  is  allotted  to  dancing.  On  one  side  is  the 
orchestra;  and  when  I  heard  it  there  was  a  very  excellent 
band  of  musicians  in  it.  It  was  rather  unfavourable  weather, 
as  there  were  in  the  course  of  the  day  several  very  heavy 
showers,  yet  there  seemed  to  be  a  very  great  number  of  ele- 
gantly dressed  females  and  respectable-looking  men ;  and  some 
even  highly-dressed,  which  is  a  wonder,  I  think,  for  the  gentle- 
men in  Paris  seem  to  dress  as  much  inferior  to  us  as  the  French 
ladies  dress  better  than  the  English.  Indeed  it  is  quite  delight- 
ful to  see  the  great  taste  with  which  they  dress  and  the 
elegance  of  contour  in  all  their  figures.  I  don't  know  how  it 
happens,  but  I  never  recollect  seeing  a  French  woman  that  was 
at  all  above  the  lowest  class  of  society  that  was  a  slovenly  or 
slattern  figure,  and  very  few  that  were  not  really  elegant, 
though  their  faces  are,  generally  speaking,  plain. 

After  having  dined  I  went  to  see  the  Swiss  Mountain,  which 
had  made  a  noise  whilst  I  was  at  dinner  that  very  much 
resembled  distant  thunder.  I  had  no  idea  what  it  was ;  my 
surprise  may  therefore  be  conceived  when,  on  coming  suddenly 
in  sight  of  it,  I  saw  a  man,  apparently  sitting  on  a  chair,  whirl 
past  me  with  a  velocity  more  resembling  the  speed  of  lightning 
than  anything  I  had  before  seen, — so  much  so,  that  though 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom  where  they  drop  might  be  about 


AMUSEMENTS   IN   PARIS.  7 

200  feet,  I  had  merely  time  to  perceive  that  there  was  a  man 
seated  on  some  sort  of  vehicle  like  a  chair. 

The  mountain  consisted  of  boards  raised  at  an  angle  of  about 
from  60°  to  70°  with  the  ground,  and  gradually  becoming  level. 
The  distance  from  where  they  set  off  to  where  they  stop  I  have 
before  stated,  I  think,  to  be  about  200  feet. 

This  platform  is  sufficiently  broad  to  allow  three  of  the 
vehicles  to  go  down  and  one  to  return  up  at  the  same  time — 
that  is  to  say,  there  are  four  iron  grooves  accurately  fitted  to 
the  small  wheels  on  which  the  vehicles  move.  There  are 
horses  as  well  as  chairs  for  both  ladies  and  gentlemen.  I  saw 
several  gentlemen  on  horseback  and  one  lady.  The  horses 
appear  to  me  to  be  real  horses'  hides,  perhaps  covering  a  wooden 
horse.  They  are  accoutred  with  saddle,  stirrups,  and  bridle. 
One  person  who  came  down  on  one  of  these  horses  rose  and 
fell  in  his  stirrups  as  though  riding  a  real  horse  ;  it  created  much 
laughter,  and  the  people  surrounding  immediately  called  out 
"  Un  Anglais  !  un  Anglais  ! "  I  believe  he  was  an  Englishman. 
It  had  a  ridiculous  effect  to  observe  the  anxiety  depicted  on  the 
countenances  of  the  heroes,  and  compare  them,  with  the  know- 
ledge of  their  perfect  safety,  with  the  laughing  groups  that 
surrounded  them.  Sometimes  a  veteran  hero  would  mount  one 
of  the  horses  and  come  down  with  triumph  in  his  countenance ; 
the  effect  then  became  still  more  ridiculous,  for  he  seemed  like 
a  great  baby  mounted  on  a  hobby-horse  proportionately  large. 
But  so  it  is  through  life,  I  think  ;  one  sees  people  capable  of 
being  elated  as  much  by  actions  little  in  themselves,  but  en- 
larged for  the  instant  by  circumstances,  as,  for  instance,  in  this 
case — the  rapidity  of  motion,  the  gay  crowd,  and  the  distant 
music — as  they  would  have  been  by  an  action  really  great  in 
itself  but  unembroidered  by  outward  show. 

Hearing  the  music  and  wishing  to  see  the  dancing  I  had 
heard  so  much  of,  I  approached  the  dancers.  We  read  that  the 
French  enjoy  dancing  with  great  zest ;  certes,  to  see  them  dance 
a  quadrille,  one  would  not  say  so :  'tis  true  it  is  a  dance  in 
which  custom  has  forbidden  much  exertion,  still  the  entire 
listlessness  they  show  induced  me  to  think  it  was  a  task  rather 
than  a  pleasure.  But  when  a  lively  waltz  struck  up  and  the 
waltzing  began,  I  .  .  . 

Here  the  notes  break  off. 


8  THE   PENINSULA.  [cHAP.  I. 

Of  the  student's  life  of  four  years  from  1828  to  1832 
there  is  little  which  can  or  need  be  said.  For  two 
years  and  a  half  out  of  the  four  he  was  house  surgeon 
at  the  Westminster  Hospital  and  the  Ophthalmic 
Hospital,  having  received,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  the  diploma  from  the  Royal  College  to  practise 
surgery.  During  this  period  he  continued  modelling, 
and  took  pupils  in  that  art.  Writing  for  periodicals 
also  occupied  some  of  his  leisure  time. 

No  sooner  was  his  student  career  ended  than  an 
opening  presented  itself  which  determined  the  future 
course  of  his  life,  but  in  a  way  very  different  from 
what  could  possibly  have  been  anticipated. 


II.    THE    PENINSULA,   1832-1837. 

Dynastic  quarrel  in  Portugal — Foreign  legion — Mr  Alcock  enters  the 
service,  1832 — Character  of  the  force  and  its  leaders — Colonel  Shaw 
— Incidents  of  the  campaign — Important  medical  services  of  Mr 
Alcock — Joins  the  Spanish  Foreign  Legion,  1836 — Termination  of  the 
campaign. 

There  were  troubles  in  Portugal.  The  usurper  Dom 
Miguel  was  on  the  throne.  It  was  proposed  to  seat 
the  rightful  sovereign.  Donna  Maria,  there — her  father, 
Dom  Pedro,  ex-Emperor  of  Brazil,  who  assumed  the 
title  of  Duke  of  Braganza,  heading  the  movement. 

Sympathy  was  excited  in  France  and  England,  in 
both  of  which  countries  irregular  forces  were  levied 
to  co-operate  with  the  constitutional  party  in  Portugal 
led  by  his  imperial  majesty.  It  was  a  kind  of  service 
which  tempted  alike  young  bloods  and  old  soldiers  who 
had  been  languishing  in  peace  and  idleness  since  1815, 


THE   ARMY   SURGEON.  9 

and  a  small  army  of  "Liberators"  was  got  together 
in  England,  with  a  corresponding  naval  force. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  young  Alcock  had 
studied  under  the  eminent  army  surgeon  Guthrie. 
Feelings  of  regard  had  sprung  up  between  the  two 
which  extended  far  beyond  the  professional  sphere. 
Not  only  had  the  boy  been  a  favourite  pupil  whose 
aptitude  reflected  credit  on  his  teacher,  but  it  is 
quite  evident  that  a  personal  affection  which  lasted 
their  respective  lifetimes  was  rekindled  during  the 
years  they  subsequently  spent  together  in  West- 
minster. When,  therefore,  Mr  Guthrie  was  applied 
to  by  Mr  O'Meara,  who  had  been  in  attendance  on 
Napoleon  at  St  Helena,  to  recommend  a  surgeon  for 
the  British  -  Portuguese  force,  Guthrie  sent  at  once 
for  Alcock  and  discussed  with  him  his  professional 
prospects.  The  upshot  was  that  as,  considering  his 
youth, — he  was  then  only  twenty-two, — it  was  useless 
for  him  to  think  of  beginning  practice  in  London,  a 
few  years  might  be  most  advantageously  passed  in 
military  service  abroad.  The  young  man  was  only 
too  eager  to  close  with  the  offer  then  made  to  him, 
which  not  only  afforded  the  prospect  of  active  pro- 
fessional work,  but  seemed  to  open  the  way  for  ad- 
ventures such  as  the  soul  of  a  young  man  loveth. 
Within  twenty  -  four  hours  of  accepting  the  offer 
Alcock  was  on  the  way  to  Portsmouth  and  the 
Azores.  For  some  time  after  his  arrival  there  he 
did  duty  on  board  ship.  His  ambition  being 
cramped  by  this  restricted  service,  however,  he  was 
anxious  to  be  transferred  to  the  military  force.  He 
accordingly  applied  to  Colonel  Hodges,  who  com- 
manded  the    marine    battalion,    to    be    taken    on    his 


10  THE   PENINSULA.  [chap.  i. 

staff.  The  colonel  looked  at  him  with  some  hesita- 
tion owing  to  his  extremely  youthful  appearance,  but 
on  hearing  that  he  had  been  specially  recommended 
by  Guthrie,  said,  "Oh,  that  is  a  different  matter ;  come 
along." 

Of  the  Peninsular  expeditions  of  1832-37  the  interest 
for  the  present  generation  lies  less  in  their  origin,  aims, 
and  results,  than  in  their  conduct  and  incidents.  They 
were  episodes  which  have  left  no  marks  on  the  general 
course  of  history  visible  to  the  ordinary  observer,  and 
are  memorable  chiefly  for  their  dramatic  effects,  the 
play  of  character,  the  exhibitions  of  personal  courage, 
capacity,  and  devotion  ;  of  jealousy,  intrigue,  and  in- 
capacity ;  of  love  and  hate  ;  and  of  the  lights  and 
shadows  that  flit  across  the  theatre  of  human  life. 
Interferences  in  other  people's  quarrels  naturally  bring 
to  the  surface  all  the  incongruities.  The  auxiliaries 
are  sure  to  be  thought  arrogant  whether  they  are 
really  so  or  not,  and  the  proteges  are  no  less  certain 
to  be  deemed  ungrateful.  Each  party  is  apt  to  under- 
estimate the  exploits  of  the  other  and  to  exaggerate 
his  own.  They  take  widely  different  views  of  the 
conditions  under  which  their  respective  services  are 
rendered ;  they  misconstrue  each  other's  motives,  as- 
sessing them  at  their  lowest  apparent  value.  Each 
side  looks  for  certain  sentimental  acknowledgments 
from  the  other,  while  daily  frictions  and  inevitable 
misunderstandings  continually  embitter  the  disappoint- 
ment felt  at  their  absence.  And  there  are  not  two 
parties,  but  many.  There  are  wheels  within  wheels ; 
sections  playing  on  each  other  tricks  which  savour 
of  treachery  on  the  one  side,  while  on  the  other  side 
there   may  be   sulks   which   are    constructive   mutiny. 


SOLDIERS   OF   FORTUNE.  11 

The  question  of  pay  is  naturally  a  constant  source  of 
bitterness,  for  countries  that  need  foreign  assistance 
are  impecunious  and  dilatory.  Few  of  them  would  be 
entitled  to  the  certificate  which  Dugald  Dalgetty  gave 
to  his  excellent  paymasters,  the  Dutch.  Yet  in  spite 
of  drawbacks,  there  is  a  kind  of  method  in  the  whole 
business,  a  movement  towards  a  goal,  though  at  a 
maximum  of  cost,  with  the  greatest  waste  and  the 
most  poignant  regrets  over  mismanagement. 

But  what  in  these  irregular  campaigns  is  so  remark- 
able as  to  be  almost  repugnant  to  common  reason  is 
the  devotion  of  the  mercenary  soldier.  This  inspirit- 
ing sentiment,  which  springs  up  spontaneously  like 
a  wild-flower  in  desert  places,  seems  to  put  patriotism 
in  the  shade  as  a  motive  for  sacrifice.  The  hired 
soldier,  though  an  alien,  is  often  indeed  more  faithful 
than  the  son  of  the  soil,  perhaps  for  the  reason  that 
his  allegiance  is  of  a  simpler  nature,  more  categorical 
and  explicit.  The  direct  personal  character  of  such 
alien  allegiance  and  its  transferability  are  exemplified 
in  the  lives  of  soldiers  of  fortune  in  general :  never 
better,  perhaps,  than  in  the  wild  and  dangerous  career 
of  Alexander  Gardner,  colonel  of  artillery  in  the 
service  of  Maharaja  Eanjit  Singh,  whose  Memoirs 
have  been  recently  edited  by  Major  Hugh  Pearse. 
Is  it  the  fighting  instinct,  hereditary  heroism,  or 
military  discipline  that  makes  the  soldier?  Is  it  the 
cause  that  inspires  him,  or  is  it  only  devotion  to 
his  immediate  leader  ?  Explain  it  how  we  may,  the 
British  Legion  both  in  Portugal  and  in  Spain  main- 
tained the  character  of  their  race  for  pluck  and  ten- 
acity as  well  as  if  they  had  been  fighting  for  their 
own    king   and    country.      And  this  is  rendered  stiU 


12  THE   PENINSULA.  [chap.  i. 

more  remarkable  when  the  promiscuous  manner  of 
their  muster  is  considered.  Clandestine  engagements 
in  the  slums  of  Soho,  under  the  guise  of  labour  or 
emigrant  contracts,  in  evasion  of  the  Foreign  Enlist- 
ment Acts  ;  surreptitious  journeys,  as  "  hop-pickers," 
to  Gravesend ;  secret  embarkations  under  cover  of 
night ;  and  the  disciplining  of  a  mob  composed  of 
the  dregs  of  the  streets,  afford  subject  of  some 
graphic  and  humorous  descriptions  on  the  part  of 
the  officers  concerned  in  raising  the  squad  and  lick- 
ing them  into  shape.  It  must  have  required  a  very- 
sanguine  faith  in  the  radical  qualities  of  the  stock 
for  any  officer  of  repute  to  consent  to  "  march 
through  Coventry"  with  such  a  herd  of  scalliwags. 

The  officer  who  seems  to  have  had  a  principal 
share  in  collecting  these  raw  levies,  and  distinguished 
himself  in  both  campaigns  in  the  Peninsula,  in  which 
he  bore  a  leading  part,  has  left  us  some  racy  de- 
scriptions of  the  force  and  its  experiences  in  the  field. 
Sir  Charles  Shaw  was  himself  a  typical  soldier  by 
nature  and  by  practice.  Circumstances  alone  would 
determine  whether  it  should  be  as  a  soldier  of  fortune, 
a  patriot  defending  hearths  and  homes,  or  as  an 
Ishmaelite  adventurer,  that  his  sword  would  be  un- 
sheathed. The  sporting  and  adventurous  instinct 
scents  danger  afar,  like  the  war-horse  in  the  book  of 
Job  which  laughs  at  the  spears.  The  manner  in 
which  he  came  to  embrace  the  profession  of  arms 
was  itself  so  characteristic  as  to  deserve  mention. 

As  a  youth  he  was  passionately  devoted  to  sport, 
and  when  that  momentous  question  the  choice  of  a 
profession  came  up  for  consideration,  sport  decided 
it  in  favour  of  law,  for  the  somewhat  original  reason 


COLONEL   SHAW.  13 

that  the  young  gentleman  had  observed  that  lawyers 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  longest  holidays !  He  had  begun 
his  studies,  and  was  on  his  way  to  St  Andrews  to 
enter  on  a  new  course  when  an  incident  occurred 
which  diverted  the  current  of  his  thoughts.  He  met 
a  batch  of  French  prisoners  of  war  being  removed 
from  one  garrison  to  another,  whose  misery  affected 
him  so  much  that  he  was  instantly  seized  with  the 
idea  of  becoming  a  soldier.  The  particular  form  in 
which  the  inspiration  took  him  was  that  he  put 
himself  in  the  position  of  one  of  these  prisoners  and 
imaofined  himself  the  hero  of  his  own  and  his 
comrades'  deliverance. 

His  studies  at  St  Andrews,  perturbed  by  the  new 
passion,  made  indifferent  progress.  The  historic  golf- 
links  afforded  some  relief,  acting  as  a  kind  of  neutral 
soothing  medium  between  antagonistic  aspirations. 
But  the  final  solution  of  his  troubles  came  from  a 
famous  piece  of  water  which  is  there,  called  the 
Witches  Pond.  The  virtue  of  this  water  was  great 
in  the  barbaric  age  when  the  curse  of  witchcraft  lay 
heavy  on  the  land.  The  suspected  person  was  thrown 
into  the  water.  If  she  floated,  her  guilt  was  proven 
and  she  was  incontinently  burned ;  if  she  sank,  it 
proved  the  high  specific  gravity  of  flesh  and  bone. 
Happy  thought !  The  young  man  would  subject 
his  life's  destiny  to  this  convenient  ordeal.  He 
would  jump  into  the  pond,  and  either  sink  as  a 
lawyer  or  emerge  as  a  soldier ! 

After  this  original  form  of  baptism,  initiation  into 
the  mysteries  soon  followed,  and  the  young  soldier 
saw  much  active  service  during  the  Napoleonic  wars 
in   the   Peninsula   and    in    the    Low   Countries.      He 


14  THE   PENINSULA.  [chap.  l. 

missed  Waterloo  through  being  on  other  duty,  and 
in  the  piping  times  of  peace  which  followed  that 
decisive  battle  an  idyllic  life  at  Eichmond  seemed 
to  bound  the  horizon  of  his  unsatisfied  ambition  for 
some  fifteen  years.  From  a  totally  unexpected 
quarter  the  call  to  arms  reached  him  in  his  retreat, 
and  suddenly  roused  all  his  sleeping  energies.  The 
offer  of  a  commission  in  the  service  of  the  young 
Queen  of  Portugal  met  with  an  eager  response,  and 
Shaw  entered  heart  and  soul  into  the  service  of 
Donna  Maria. 

As  well  as  being  an  active  soldier.  Major  Shaw 
was  a  lively  correspondent,  and  it  is  from  his  letters 
to  his  family  that  we  get  the  most  brilliant  flash- 
lights on  the  incidents  of  his  military  career  generally, 
and  more  particularly  on  that  exciting  portion  of  it 
which  most  concerns  the  subject  of  these  volumes. 
These  letters  were  edited  and  published  by  himself 
at  the  close  of  the  operations  in  Spain. 

Colonel  Hodges,  who  commanded  the  foreign  brigade 
in  Portugal,  and  seems  to  have  left  the  queen's  service 
in  a  huff,  also  published  a  narrative  of  the  campaign, 
of  which,  however,  the  historical  value  is  not  enhanced 
by  its  apologetic  and  explanatory  motive. 

From  the  contemporary  notes  of  these  two  officers 
we  get  generous  and  emphatic  testimony  to  the 
manner  in  which  Mr  Alcock  acquitted  himself  under 
the  ordeal  of  severe  military  service.  Indeed  his 
comrades  and  commanding  officers,  first  in  Portugal 
and  afterwards  in  Spain,  seem  to  have  vied  with 
each  other  in  spontaneous  eulogy  of  the  conduct  of 
the  young  surgeon,  none  of  them  more  flattering 
than   General    De    Lacy   Evans,    who   commanded   in 


THE   CAMPAIGN.  15 

Spain.  It  is  the  record  of  a  hero  and  a  philan- 
thropist, of  high  mihtary  ardour  subordinated  to  still 
higher  duty  both  to  the  cause  he  was  serving  and 
to  the  comrades  whose  lives  were  under  his  care. 
The  valour  of  a  non-combatant  makes  no  less  a 
demand  on  the  virile  stamina  than  the  valour  of  the 
soldier, — oftentimes  indeed  more,  since  he  lacks  the 
stimulus  of  active  conflict  and  confronts  danger  passive 
and  unarmed.  A  few  extracts  from  these  really  re- 
markable testimonials  may  still  be  read  with  pleasure 
after  the  lapse  of  sixty  years. 
Shaw  writes  to  his  family  : — 

A  peasant  led  the  way  (they  wear  no  shoes  and  their  feet 
are  like  hands).  I  took  off  my  shoes,  and  after  getting  down 
about  fifty  yards,  I  looked  up  and  saw  a  favourite  soldier  of 
mine  close  above  me,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  Eamus,  the 
assistant-surgeon  Alcock  (a  nice  young  fellow),  following.  I 
ordered  the  soldier  to  halt ;  but  his  answer  of,  "  I'll  follow  your 
honour  to  death,  captain,"  made  me  silent.  I  tried  military 
authority  with  young  Alcock,  as  I  saw  he  was  much  excited ; 
but  no,  his  professional  services  were,  he  thought,  required,  and 
follow  he  would.  Every  moment  expecting  he  would  roll 
down,  I  clasped  my  toes  and  fingers  close  to  the  precipice, 
that  he  might  fall  without  sweeping  me  with  him :  such  is 
selfish  nature !  Two  or  three  times  I  determined  to  return, 
but  the  soldier's  speech  forced  me  on.  We  reached  the 
bottom  in  about  half  an  hour,  and,  believe  me,  I  returned 
thanks. 

I  proceeded  along  the  rocky  beach,  and  there  found  poor 
Ramus  lying  on  a  rock,  in  a  sleeping  position,  with  all  his 
clothes  torn,  and  a  dreadful  gash  in  his  head;  his  body  all 
broken  ;  but  with  an  expression  of  countenance  indicating  he 
had  suffered  no  pain.  I  was  astonished  to  see  him  without  his 
shoes ;  but  in  ascending  a  sharp  rock  I  found  them,  with  the 
marks  where  his  heels  had  caught  as  he  tumbled  backwards 
head  foremost.  Finding  that  our  descent  had  been  useless,  I 
told  those  who  had  come  down  that  I  would  not  allow  them 


16  THE   PENINSULA.  [chap.  I. 

to  risk  their  lives  in  ascending,  and  sent  off  a  peasant  to  get  a 
boat ;  but  lie  failed  both  in  this  and  in  getting  ropes  to  pull 
us  up.  Self  again  stepped  in,  and  as  senior  I  led  the  way — 
one  great  reason  being  that  no  one  could  tumble  back  on  me  ! 
I  reached  the  top — hands  torn  and  feet  bruised ;  and  to  my 
joy  young  Alcock  made  his  appearance,  but  so  faint  that  I 
was  obliged  to  supply  him  liberally  with  my  brandy. 

The  duty  which  now  had  to  be  performed  by  the  medical 
men  was  of  the  most  arduous  character.  The  surgeon  of  the 
British  battalion,  Souper,  carried  away  by  the  military  spirit 
instilled  into  him  by  being  an  actor  in  the  "  Three  Days  of 
July,"  resigned  his  commission  as  surgeon,  and  on  this  day 
commenced  and  finished  his  military  career,  being  killed  at 
Hodges'  side  while  carrying  orders  to  the  French  battalion. 
His  place  was  filled  up  by  Mr  Eutherford  Alcock,  who  had 
the  same  love  for  "fire,"  but  for  a  different  object — that  of 
being  close  at  hand  to  give  prompt  assistance  to  any  one  who 
was  wounded.  Although  young,  Alcock  was  old  in  know- 
ledge and  experience :  he  was  highly  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him,  and  beloved  by  those  who  entered  into  action,  as 
they  felt  assured  that  he  thought  not  of  his  own  safety  when 
his  services  could  be  of  benefit  to  them.  In  the  most  exposed 
situations  I  saw  him  this  day,  dressing  officers  and  men  with 
the  same  coolness  as  if  he  were  in  a  London  hospital ;  and  I 
cannot  refrain  from  expressing  envy  at  the  gratified  feeling  he 
must  ever  possess  when  he  thinks  of  the  number  of  human 
beings  he  has  saved  by  his  knowledge,  experience,  bravery,  and 
activity,  both  at  Oporto,  Vittoria,  and  St  Sebastian.  But  his 
trials  after  the  fight  of  the  29th  of  September  were  great. 

Owing  to  the  fights  of  Pennafiel,  Ponte  Fereira,  and  the 
different  affairs  on  the  Lugar  das  Antas,  the  wards  allotted  to 
the  British  in  the  general  hospitals  were  full ;  therefore,  one 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  misery  of  the  British  when  scat- 
tered among  the  different  hospitals,  speaking  a  language  which 
was  not  understood.  Measures  were  taken  by  Hodges  and 
Alcock  to  gather  the  wounded  foreigners  together,  but  the 
Minister  of  War  threw  every  impediment  in  the  way  of  this ; 
almost  making  one  suspect,  that  now  that  the  soldier  had  done 
his  work  and  was  useless,  the  sooner  he  died  the  better. 

Truth  compels  me  to  state  a  fact  I  should  wish  to  avoid, 
but  it  is  right  that  those  who  are  to  be  soldiers  should  know 


SURGICAL    SERVICES.  17 

the  value  that  is  sometimes  put  upon  their  services.  The 
words  were  made  use  of  by  Dom  Pedro,  but  from  what  I  have 
seen  of  him,  I  think  others  must  have  at  the  moment  prompted 
him.  The  medical  man  was  mentioning  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  amputate  the  legs  and  arms  of  some  of  the  British. 
"  No,  no,"  said  Dom  Pedro,  "  you  British  are  fond  of  amputa- 
tions, because  your  men  are  to  have  pensions,  and  that  is 
expensive." 

No  application  from  myself  as  commanding  the  battalion ; 
from  Alcock,  as  senior  medical  officer ;  nor  from  Hodges,  as 
the  representative  of  the  foreigners,  had  any  effect  on  August- 
inho  Jos^  Freire :  thus  the  poor  fellows,  crowded  together, 
without  beds,  without  nurses,  without  clothes,  and  even  with- 
out medicines,  died  in  numbers. 

The  references  to  Alcock's  services  are  so  frequent  in 
these  letters,  so  unconventional  and  spontaneous,  as  to 
prove  the  deep  and  lasting  impression  the  young  sur- 
geon had  made  on  his  companions  in  arms.  "  I  am 
glad  for  all  your  sakes  to  tell  you  that  my  wounds 
have  healed  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  ...  I  con- 
sider myself  greatly  indebted  to  Alcock  both  for  his 
skill  and  attention."  And  at  the  close  of  the  Por- 
tuguese campaign  :  "I  wonder  if  Alcock  knows  that 
he  has  got  the  decoration  of  the  Tower  and  Sword? 
No  man  in  the  service  deserves  it  more,  both  for 
bravery^  and  kindness  to  the  wounded."  "  The  scarcity 
of  medicines  was  dreadful ;  but  with  the  active  and 
willing  assistance  of  Alcock,  and  the  Portuguese  medi- 
cal gentlemen,  it  is  quite  wonderful  what  has  been 
accomplished." 

The  bad  condition  of  the  hospitals  at  Oporto  is 
the  burden  of  many  references  in  both  Shaw's  letters 
and  Hodges'  more  formal  narrative ;  and  as  the  only- 
records  of  the  campaign  from  Alcock's  own  pen 
happen   to   be   in   official    documents    connected   with 

VOL.  I.  B 


18  THE   PENINSULA.  [chap.  i. 

the  medical  service,  we  give  in  extenso  one  of  his 
despatches,  showing  in  an  inexperienced  boy  of  twenty- 
three  a  maturity  of  judgment  and  a  broad  grasp  of 
duty,  with,  what  is  perhaps  more  important,  a  mastery 
of  work,  that  would  not  discredit  a  veteran. 

Oporto,  Sept.  20,  1832. 

Sir, — The  danger  to  which  the  patients  were  found  to  be 
exposed  by  the  fire  of  the  enemy  caused  their  removal  to  a 
place  of  greater  safety,  where  they  might  at  least  have  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  enemy's  shells.  This  change  in  the  arrange- 
ments, however,  has  been  in  other  respects  extremely  disadvan- 
tageous to  the  sick  and  wounded  men.  They  are  now  crowded 
from  the  higher  parts  of  the  building  into  the  corridors  and 
ground-floors — a  situation  well  known  to  be  unfavourable  to 
the  recovery  of  sick  men,  from  the  air  being  so  much  less  pure. 
Our  own  men,  including  the  English  sailors,  have  been  placed 
in  one  ward,  which,  though  of  tolerably  large  dimensions,  is 
very  far  from  affording  the  necessary  space  and  quantum  of  air 
required  for  forty-eight  or  fifty  patients,  which  for  some  time 
has  been  the  average — an  average  which  we  may  rather  expect 
to  see  increased  than  diminished  during  the  approaching  wet 
season.  Moreover,  from  peculiar  localities,  it  is  quite  impossible 
efficiently  to  ventilate  the  room,  or  to  ensure  a  free  circulation 
of  air,  which  is  as  essential  as  any  other  means  employed  for 
the  recovery  of  health. 

It  is  under  these  circumstances  that  I  feel  not  only  author- 
ised, but  bound  in  duty,  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  subject ; 
assured  that  in  any  measures  proposed  for  the  benefit  or  well- 
being  of  the  men  under  your  command  it  is  only  necessary  to 
show  they  are  really  required  to  meet  your  cordial  support. 
Many  difficulties,  and  many  disadvantageous  arrangements, 
have  always  attended  the  treatment  of  the  patients  in  the 
present  establishment ;  but  these  last  compulsory  changes, 
when  added  to  the  former  state,  place  my  patients  in  too 
dangerous  a  position  to  allow  me  to  be  silent  or  inactive. 
Situated  as  we  are,  I  cannot  promise  the  speedy  recovery  of 
any  of  the  gunshot  wounds,  nor  indeed  of  the  sick  generally, 
and  their  liability  to  any  of  the  epidemics  unfortunately  so 
common  in  crowded  hospitals  renders  me  exceedingly  anxious 


REPORT   OX    HOSPITALS.  19 

to  have  some  steps  taken  to  place  them  in  a  more  favourable 
position. 

The  means  I  have  to  submit  for  your  consideration  and 
approval  are,  I  believe  and  hope,  extremely  feasible.  I  desire 
to  have  some  large  dwelling-house  appropriated  for  the  reception 
of  all  English  and  French  sick  and  wounded,  by  which  means 
the  General  Hospital  would  be  relieved  of  nearly  a  hundred 
patients,  and  of  those,  moreover,  who,  from  the  difference  of 
language,  are  a  fruitful  and  constant  source  of  trouble  and 
inconvenience — nay,  more,  of  irregularity  as  prejudicial  to  the 
patients  as  it  is  discreditable  to  a  military  establishment  of 
such  importance.  Many  houses  well  adapted  for  this  purpose 
might  easily  be  mentioned,  already  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Government  by  the  flight  of  the  owners.  One  I  could  point 
out  at  this  moment  which,  from  a  superficial  inspection,  I 
believe  might  be  advantageously  appropriated — a  corner  house 
in  the  Praga  de  St  Ildefonso,  adjoining  the  church. 

The  advantages  which  would  accrue  from  this  arrangement 
cannot  for  a  moment  be  counterbalanced  by  the  trouble  or 
difficulty  of  first  organising  the  separate  establishment.  The 
patients  could  then  be  classed  and  placed  in  different  rooms, 
and  not,  as  now,  promiscuously  crowded  together — surgical  and 
medical,  fevers  and  amputations ;  by  which  arrangement  their 
liability  to  any  epidemic  would  be  exceedingly  diminished, 
w^hile  the  patients  would  be  more  immediately  under  the  eye 
and  control  of  the  medical  attendants.  Both  surgeon  and 
patient  would  thus  be  placed  under  more  favourable  circum- 
stances, and  the  general  service  much  facilitated  by  the 
removal  of  foreign  troops  from  an  establishment  entirely 
Portuguese. 

In  glancing  at  the  advantages,  I  should  omit  one  of  very 
great  importance  if  I  did  not  submit  to  you  the  facility  it 
would  afford  for  the  good  treatment  of  wounded  and  sick 
officers.  Instead  of  being  attended  at  their  own  quarters,  often 
just  within  the  first  line,  to  their  own  great  risk  and  the 
inconvenience  of  the  surgeon,  they  would  be  removed  to  a 
place  of  safety,  and  where,  moreover,  from  being  entirely 
under  medical  command,  their  rank  would  procure  them  none 
of  those  injurious  indulgences  in  the  way  of  diet,  &c.,  which 
even  the  wisest  of  us  are  apt  to  risk  the  enjoyment  of  when 
in    our   power.       They    might    easily    enjoy    every    necessary 


20  THE   PENINSULA.  [chap.  i. 

comfort,  while  they  would  be  carefully  guarded  from  all  im- 
prudent excess. 

The  chief  difficulties  I  foresee,  and  which  I  have  no  doubt 
will  immediately  present  themselves  to  your  mind,  appear  to  me 
very  far  from  insurmountable.  I  require  the  assistance  of  no 
Portuguese  officer  whatever,  except  a  commissary  or  purveyor, 
on  whom  I  csmfidly  depend,  for  the  due  and  regular  supply  of 
fuel,  meat,  wine,  fowls,  and  such  other  articles  as  are  required 
for  the  good  treatment  of  the  patients,  and  which  are  daily 
supplied  to  the  General  Hospital.  This  is  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, as  any  irregularity  in  this  branch  of  the  service  would 
not  only  cripple  my  efforts,  but  be  of  serious  injury  to  all  under 
my  care.  In  addition  to  this  I  should  require  one  Portuguese 
domestic  to  every  fifteen  cases,  for  the  purpose  of  cooking,  wash- 
ing the  linen,  keeping  the  wards  clean,  and  such  other  menial 
duties  as  are  independent  of  those  appertaining  to  the  orderlies. 
The  expense  of  a  separate  establishment  ought  to  be,  and  would 
be,  of  the  most  trifling  kind.  The  same  beds,  trussels,  and 
utensils,  now  exclusively  appropriated  to  us,  would  be  equally 
serviceable  in  any  other  hospital.  Two  or  three  boilers,  and  a 
few  cooking  utensils,  with  a  slipper  bath,  are  really  the  chief 
and  most  expensive  things  required.  I  may  safely  leave  it  to 
you,  sir,  to  decide  if  this  can  cause  any  grievous  outlay. 

Should  it  be  any  convenience,  or  be  deemed  by  you,  sir, 
advantageous  to  the  service,  to  the  English  and  French  might 
be  added  the  wounded  Portuguese  soldiers  of  your  brigade.  I 
have  little  more  to  add,  but  should  you  require  further  detail,  I 
beg  to  refer  to  a  letter  addressed  to  Major  Shaw  on  this  subject. 
I  am  fully  conscious  and  aware  of  the  labour  I  am  entailing  on 
myself,  and  that  which  is  still  more  irksome,  the  heavy  respon- 
sibility, but  I  have  a  duty  to  perform.  I  neither  court  the 
labour  nor  desire  the  responsibility ;  but  if  they  come  as  a  con- 
sequence of  my  efforts  to  do  that  duty  I  can  look  steadfastly  on 
them,  and  I  trust  I  have  energy  and  perseverance  enough  to  do 
all  that  depends  upon  me  in  spite  of  them.  My  most  ardent 
wish  is  to  prove  myself  worthy  of  the  confidence  you  have 
honoured  me  with,  and  the  trust  conferred  upon  me. — I  have 
the  honour  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  humble  servant, 

KUTHERFORD    AlCOCK. 
To  Colonel  Hodges, 

commanding  Foreign  Brigade,  &c.,  &c. 


SPANISH   LEGION.  21 

As  the  campaign  in  defence  of  the  Queen  of  Por- 
tugal closed,  that  in  defence  of  the  Queen  Christina 
of  Spain  opened,  and  their  rough  experiences  in  the 
former  did  not  deter  either  Colonel  Shaw  or  Sur- 
geon Alcock  from  accepting  service  in  the  Spanish 
Legion  organised  and  commanded  by  De  Lacy  Evans. 
"On  my  arrival  in  London,"  writes  Shaw  in  1836, 
"you  may  suppose  how  delighted  I  was  to  find  my 
friend  Alcock  at  the  head  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment, as  his  experiences  in  difficulties  made  him 
decidedly  the  most  proper  man."  As  it  is  no  part 
of  our  plan  to  trace  the  operations,  we  give  one 
characteristic  letter  from  Colonel  Shaw.  It  is  dated 
San  Sebastian,  2  o'clock,  May  6,  1836  :— 

My  dear  Mother. — The  steamer  is  detained,  so  I  write  to 
you  once  more.  I  and  my  brigade  are  so  fatigued  and  cut  up 
that  we  have  been  allowed  to  return  here  for  the  night.  We 
had  a  terrible  morning's  work  of  it,  the  brigade  having  lost,  in 
killed  and  wounded,  about  400  men  and  27  officers;  others  not 
so  much.  How  I  escaped  I  know  not ;  kind  Providence  was  my 
protector.  My  watch  is  smashed,  the  ball  having  cut  through 
cloak,  coat,  trousers,  drawers,  and  shirt,  and  only  bruised  me. 
A  spent  ball  hit  me  on  the  chest,  and  my  gaiter  was  cut  across 
by  another.  We  had  dreadful  lines  to  force  :  very  steep,  vomit- 
ing fire ;  and  the  clay  up  to  our  ankles  made  us  so  slow  that 
they  picked  as  they  chose.  The  enemy  not  only  behaved  well 
behind  their  lines,  but  charged  out,  and  twice  or  thrice  put  us 
for  a  moment  in  confusion.      Alcock  is  slightly  wounded. 

And  as  an  agreeable  pendant  to  the  severe  stric- 
tures on  the  state  of  the  Portuguese  hospitals,  the 
following  may  fitly  close  our  extracts  from  these 
racy  records  of  arduous  military  adventure  : — 

Bayonne,  September  1836. 

When  you  land,  introduce  yourself  to  my  friend  Alcock,  and 
beg  him  to  take  you  through  the  hospitals.     You  will,  or  I  am 


22  THE   PENINSULA.  [chap.  i. 

greatly  mistaken,  be  agreeably  surprised  by  the  prevailing 
cleanliness  and  regularity,  as  also  the  care  and  attendance 
bestowed  on  the  sick  and  wounded.  Alcock  has  had  a  most 
difficult  card  to  play.  He  knows  well  that  there  are  many 
disabled  poor  fellows  who,  if  they  were  in  the  British  service, 
would  be  sent  to  England,  certain  of  receiving  their  pensions ; 
but  he  is  also  aware  that  a  poor  fellow  sent  to  England  from 
the  service  of  Queen  Christina,  instead  of  receiving  his  pension, 
is  generally  left  to  starve.  It  is  therefore  from  a  praiseworthy 
charity  that  he  keeps  many  in  hospital,  under  his  own  eye,  in 
order  that  they  may  in  this  manner  get  as  much  as  will  keep 
body  and  soul  together. 

Mr  Alcock  retired  from  military  service  in  1837 
with  the  rank  of  Deputy  -  Inspector  of  Hospitals, 
having  received  the  Order  of  the  Tower  and  Sword 
together  with  the  war  medal  of  the  three  years' 
service  in  Portugal,  and  the  Cross  of  the  Order  of 
Charles  III.  and  Commander's  Cross  of  Isabella  the 
Catholic,  with  medals  for  the  two  principal  actions 
against  the  Carlists. 

The  six  years  of  Peninsular  experiences  he  declared 
to  have  been  "the  most  stirring  and  attractive  of 
his  life,"  and  in  some  portions  of  that  period  he 
had  "  more  complete  personal  gratification  and  ma- 
terial happiness  than  could  be  safely  anticipated  in 
the  future."  He  was  now  to  have  six  years  of  quite 
a  different  experience,  which  led  up  to  the  turning- 
point  in  his  life. 


CONTRIBUTIONS   TO    SURGICAL   LITERATURE.  23 


III.    ENGLAND,    1838-1844. 

Returns  to  England,  1838— Alcock  resumes  professional  work — Prize  essays 
and  publications — Sir  James  Paget's  testimonial — A  Commissioner  for 
adjusting  Peninsular  claims — Appointed  Inspector  of  Anatomy,  1842 
—Imperfections  of  the  Anatomy  Act— Marriage  to  Miss  Bacon,  1841 — 
His  enforced  abandonment  of  a  surgical  career. 

On  his  return  to  England  in  1838  Alcock  at  once 
resumed  the  work  of  his  profession.  In  that  year  he 
published  in  a  small  8vo  volume  '  Notes  on  the  Medical 
History  and  Statistics  of  the  British  Legion  of  Spain ' ; 
and  in  1839,  and  again  in  1841,  he  carried  off  the  Jack- 
sonian  prizes  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  awarded 
for  the  best  essays  on  subjects  selected  by  the  Council. 
The  first  of  these  was  "  On  Concussion  or  Commotion 
of  the  Brain  "  ;  the  second,  "  On  Injuries  of  the  Thorax 
and  Operations  on  its  Parietes " ;  and  naturally  the 
value  of  the  papers  lay  in  the  extent  to  which  the 
author  was  able  to  draw  on  his  own  observation  and 
experience  of  gunshot  wounds  during  his  seven  years 
of  Peninsular  service. 

Of  these  contributions  to  medical  literature  Sir  James 
Paget  remarks  that  "  they  may  make  one  regret  that 
he  was  ever  induced  to  give  up  the  study  of  surgery. 
For  they  show  an  immense  power  of  accurately  observ- 
ing and  recording  facts,  and  of  testing  his  own  and 
others'  opinions  by  the  help  of  all  the  knowledge  of 
the  facts  possessed  by  others  at  that  time.  ...  I 
doubt  whether  in  the  first  half  of  this  century  better 
essays  on  gunshot  wounds  of  the  head  and  of  the 
thorax  had  been  written." 

And   the  small   volume   dealing   with   hospital   ex- 


24  ENGLAND.  [chap.  i. 

periences  in  Spain  has  drawn  from  the  same  eminent 
authority  the  comment  that  "  it  tells  in  a  most  graphic 
and  clear  manner  the  difficulties  which,  sixty  years 
ago,  beset  the  practice  of  surgery  and  the  care  of 
troops  during  war.  These  difficulties  may  have  been 
greater  at  that  time  in  Spain  than  in  any  other 
country  in  Western  Europe,  and  may  be  thought  now 
impossible,  but  they  may  be  read  with  great  interest, 
and  one  cannot  doubt  that  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock's 
true  account  of  them  helped  to  remedy  them,  .  .  . 
contributed  to  the  improvement  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  army  in  this  country." 

Mr  Alcock  joined  the  Royal  Medical  and  Chirurgical 
Society  in  1839,  and  was  appointed  Lecturer  in  Sur- 
gery at  Sydenham  College,  where  he  delivered  a  series 
of  lectures  on  complicated  injuries,  amputations,  &c. 

His  professional  labours  were  soon  diversified  by  an 
employment  which  could  scarcely  have  been  consistent 
with  a  large  practice,  though  in  the  beginning  of  his 
surgical  career  it  might  not  seem  to  involve  much 
sacrifice  except  of  time.  But  it  was  arduous,  onerous, 
and  absolutely  gratuitous.  Great  trouble  had  arisen 
between  the  Spanish  Government  and  the  Foreign 
Legion  in  regard  to  pay.  No  settlement  could  be 
obtained,  and  eventually  a  commission  was  appointed 
to  examine  ^  and  adjudicate  the  numerous  claims,  to 
which  commission  Mr  Alcock  was  appointed  by  express 
and  unanimous  request  of  the  general  and  the  field 
officers  of  the  corps.  His  qualifications  for  such  an 
office  were  quite  exceptional,  for  to  first-rate  business 
capacity,  which  had  been  shown  in  the  campaign,  he 
added  a  knowledge  of  the  language  and  the  country 
which  was  not  common,  and  a  character  which  com- 


INSPECTOR   OF   ANATOMY.  25 

manded  universal  confidence.  His  work  on  this  com- 
mission extended  over  two  years,  and  was  brought  to  a 
satisfactory  termination  in  1839. 

No  sooner  were  the  labours  of  the  Spanish  com- 
mission concluded  than  Mr  Alcock  was,  in  1840, 
appointed  by  the  Foreign  Office  to  a  similar  duty  in 
an  Anglo -Portuguese  commission  constituted  by  the 
two  Governments  to  adjust  the  claims  of  British 
subjects  who  had  served  in  the  Miguelite  war  of 
1832-35.  The  work  of  that  commission  also  was 
satisfactorily  accomplished  in  1844,  and,  as  in  the 
Spanish  commission,  Mr  Alcock's  labours  were  given 
without  remuneration,  in  order,  as  he  said,  that  his 
judgment  might  be  unbiassed.^ 

During  the  course  of  the  Spanish  commission  Mr 
Alcock  was,  in  1842,  appointed,  on  the  strong  recom- 
mendation of  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie,  to  a  post  under  the 
Home  Office,  that  of  Inspector  of  Anatomy.  It  would 
be  distasteful  and  of  no  utility  to  rake  up  the  circum- 
stances which  set  on  foot  an  agitation  culmmating  in 
the  passing  of  an  Act  of  Parliament  in  1832  known  as 
"  The  Anatomy  Act."  Like  many  other  Acts  of  legis- 
lature in  this  country,  it  was  a  compromise  by  which 
difficulties  were  sought  to  be  evaded  by  cunningly 
devised  phrases  whereby  the  thing  that  was  meant 
was  so  disguised  as  to  appear  to  be  something  else. 
"  The  Act  failed  in  two  most  important  points  ;  it  failed 
in  honesty,  and  was  wanting  in  the  extent  of  the 
powers  conferred."  In  short,  after  ten  years'  trial 
the  Act  was  becoming  unworkable,  and  a  reform  in 

^  The  only  valuable  consideration  he  received  for  these  labours  was 
bestowed  some  years  later,  when  his  entry  into  the  service  of  the  Foreign 
Office  was  ante-dated  to  1840,  so  as  to  include  the  period  of  the  Peninsular 
commissions. 


26  ENGLAND.  [chap.  i. 

its  administration  was  imperatively  demanded.  It 
was  at  that  critical  moment  that  Mr  Alcock  was 
nominated  as  one  of  the  two  inspectors  under  the 
Act,  and  he  entered  on  his  duties  with  his  well- 
proved  practical  energy.  Before  the  end  of  the  first 
year  a  long  and  interesting  report  was  sent  in  by 
the  inspectors,  and  we  may  judge  by  the  sample  of 
the  Hospital  Report  in  Oporto  how  thoroughly  they 
exposed  the  difficulties  and  how  practically  they 
proposed  to  overcome  them.  A  second  report  fol- 
lowed in  1843.  But  Government  is  a  lumbering 
machine,  always  waiting  for  some  stronger  compul- 
sion than  a  mere  demonstration  of  what  ought  to  be ; 
and  we  are  not  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  fifteen 
years  later,  and  fourteen  after  his  connection  with 
the  Home  Department  had  ceased,  Mr  Alcock  still 
writing  the  most  lucid  and  matter-of-fact  memoranda 
on  the  conditions  under  which  competent  inspectors 
might  be  induced  "  to  w^ork  a  very  imperfect  Act  of 
Parliament." 

It  was  during  the  period  under  review  that  the  most 
interesting  episode  in  a  young  man's  life  occurred.  On 
the  17th  of  May  1841,  Avhen  he  had  just  completed  his 
thirty-second  year,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Bacon, 
daughter  of  the  sculptor  of  that  name.  The  ceremony 
took  place  at  St  Margaret's,  Westminster,  Dean  Mil- 
man,  then  a  Canon  of  Westminster,  officiating.  His 
domestic  bliss  was  unruffled,  the  couple  being  pro- 
foundly congenial. 

But  now  "  a  change  came  o'er  the  spirit  of  his 
dream."  The  career  which  opened  before  the  young 
surgeon  was  full  of  promise.  So  far  as  the  personal 
factor   was    concerned,    no   man    could    have    started 


MEDICAL   CAREER   CLOSED    BY   ILLNESS.  27 

with  a  better  equipment.  There  were  efficiency, 
thoroughness,  enthusiasm,  courage,  and  common-sense  ; 
there  were,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  student  days, 
manual  dexterity  and  exactness  and  artistic  power  of 
no  contemptible  order ;  there  was,  in  short,  every 
attribute  of  an  accomplished  surgeon,  who  must  in 
the  course  of  nature  rise  to  eminence.  A  chair  of 
military  surgery  was  ready  for  him  at  King's  College, 
and  an  assistant-surgeonship  at  Westminster  Hospital. 
All  that,  however,  had  to  be  sacrificed  and  a  new  de- 
parture taken,  in  consequence  of  an  illness  which  left  its 
mark  in  the  form  of  paralysis  of  hands  and  arms,  and 
thus  put  an  end  to  "  all  dreams  of  surgical  practice." 

This  malady  was  a  legacy  from  the  Peninsula.  Like 
Caesar,  "  he  had  a  fever  when  he  was  in  Spain,"  a  rheu- 
matic fever  of  a  particularly  severe  type  contracted  at 
the  siege  of  San  Sebastian.  This  entailed  indescribable 
pain  and  misery  during  many  months,  and,  in  spite  of 
partial  recoveries,  seems  to  have  left  its  after-effects 
seven  years  later  in  what  he  calls  the  "mysterious" 
affection  in  his  hands.  It  was  indeed  considered 
remarkable  that  he  should  have  survived  an  attack 
of  so  formidable  a  character.  He  never  recovered 
the  use  of  his  thumbs,  which  marred  the  legibility 
of  his  writing  to  the.  end  of  his  life. 

His  professional  career  being  thus  rudely  closed,  it 
might  well  have  appeared  to  a  man  of  thirty-five  that 
his  life  was  shipwrecked  ere  the  voyage  was  well  begun. 
It  would  have  been  in  accord  with  the  short-sighted 
judgment  which  men  usually  form  of  their  own  for- 
tunes.    But 

"  There's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-hew  them  how  we  will ;  " — 


28 


ENGLAND. 


[chap. 


and  Alcock  learned,  what  many  before  and  since  have 
learned,  that  prosperity  and  adversity  oft  visit  men  in 
disguise,  and  are  liable  to  be  mistaken  the  one  for 
the  other.  Providence  employs  for  its  favourites  an 
alchemy  whereby  the  very  ashes  of  their  misery  may 
be  transmuted  into  pure  gold ;  and  what  looks  like 
disaster  is  but  the  rending  of  the  veil  which  concealed 
a  world  of  richer  promise  than  that  which  they  abandon 
with  regret. 


29 


CHAPTEE    II 


SENT    TO    CHINA. 

Importance  of  appointment — New  position  created  by  Treaty  of  Nanking 
— Exceptional  responsibility  of  the  new  consuls — The  evolution  and 
scope  of  foreign  intercourse — Pioneer  traders — Mutual  experiences 
of  Chinese  and  foreigners  —  Results  —  English  inheritors  of  the 
record  —  An  intolerable  state  of  things  —  Drastic  remedy  —  Where 
it  failed  —  Chasm  between  Eastern  and  Western  ideas  —  Commerce 
alone  supplied  a  safe  medium  of  intercourse — Its  healing  qualities 
— But  social  and  political  concomitants  created  friction — Arbitrary 
interferences  of  Chinese  Government  —  Their  traditional  mode 
of  treating  barbarians — Denial  of  human  rights — Absence  of  law 
in  their  intercourse  —  Spasmodic  resistance  to  Chinese  tyranny 
aggravated  the  evils  —  East  India  Company  submitted  for  the  sake 
of  gain — Close  of  the  Company's  charter  —  Followed  by  endeavour 
of  British  Government  to  establish  official  intercourse — Determined 
resistance  of  Chinese — Lord  Napier,  first  British  envoy,  not  received — 
Loaded  with  insults — Contradictory  instructions  given  by  British 
Government — To  conciliate  Chinese  as  in  days  of  Company,  and  at 
same  time  to  open  diplomatic  relations — Lord  Napier's  appeal  to 
experience — His  death  at  Macao — Captain  Ellis,  a  third  envoy,  reverts 
to  the  policy  of  submission — Has  no  success. 

When  thus  thrown  upon  his  beam-ends  in  1844,  an 
appointment  was  conferred  on  Mr  Alcock  which  was 
not  only  honourable  to  him  but  creditable  to  the 
Government  which  selected  him.  He  was  among  the 
five  chosen  to  fill  the  oflfice  of  consul  in  China  under 
the  treaty  of  Nanking,  which  had  been  concluded  in 
1842.     And  if  any  event  in  human  life  be  deserving  of 


30  SENT    TO    CHINA.  [cHAP.  II. 

such  distinction,  the  opening  thus  provided  for  the 
talents  of  Mr  Alcock  is  on  many  grounds  entitled  to 
rank  as  providential.  To  the  end  of  his  days  he  him- 
self recognised  that  his  previous  training  had  not  been 
thrown  away,  but  "  had  been  unconsciously  preparing 
him  for  the  great  work  of  his  life."  The  Minister 
responsible  for  the  appointment  may  be  excused  if, 
while  selecting  a  man  of  proved  capacity  for  a  post  of 
unknown  requirements,  he  did  not  realise  the  full  value 
of  the  service  he  was  rendering  to  his  country.  Govern- 
ments are  not  always  so  perspicacious  in  gauging  the 
merits  of  the  uncovenanted,  and  other  nominations 
made  under  circumstances  not  dissimilar  have  shown 
how  easily  the  efficiency  of  the  candidate  may  be 
subordinated  to  considerations  extraneous  to  the  public 
weal. 

The  China  consulates  were  a  new  creation,  a  venture 
into  the  unknown,  a  voyage  without  landmarks  or 
chart,  w^here  success  depended  on  the  personal  qualities 
of  the  pioneer  navigators — their  judgment,  resource- 
fulness, and  faculty  of  initiative.  Great  issues  hung 
upon  the  opening  of  the  new  world  of  the  Far  East, 
the  success  of  which  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  the 
agents  who  were  employed,  for  they  were  practically 
beyond  the  reach  of  instructions.  There  was  no  tele- 
graph, and  the  so-called  Overland  Route  to  India  was 
just  beginning  to  be  exploited  for  the  conveyance  of 
mails  and  passengers.  Nor  was  it  possible  for  even  the 
wisest  Government  to  frame  general  instructions  pro- 
viding for  eventualities  out  of  the  range  of  common 
experience.  The  conditions  of  service  were  therefore 
such  as  to  constitute  an  ordeal  under  which  a  bureau- 
cratic official  would  shrivel  into  uselessness  or  worse, 


ONE    OF   THE    NEW    CONSULS.  31 

while  to  a  strong  man  they  were  a  powerful  stimulant, 
the  very  breath  of  life. 

It  was  therefore  a  matter  of  serious  consequence  who 
should  be  intrusted  with  the  actual  inauguration  of  the 
new  relations  with  China ;  and  in  the  course  of  the 
present  narrative  it  will  probably  appear  that  it  was 
a  happy  accident  by  which  the  country  lost  one  dis- 
tinguished surgeon  among  many  and  gained  in  exchange 
a  political  representative  whose  services  must  be  con- 
sidered unique. 


FOREIGN   RELATIONS   WITH   CHINA. 

To  understand  fully  the  state  of  our  relations  with 
China  created  by  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  the  whole 
history  not  only  of  our  own  commercial  intercourse, 
but  of  that  of  the  nations  who  were  our  forerunners 
in  the  Far  East,  would  have  to  be  kept  in  mind.  For 
much  as  we  tried  and  hoped  then,  and  ever  since,  to 
confine  the  international  question  to  a  few  bald  pro- 
positions respecting  trade,  personal  protection,  and  so 
forth,  it  is  impossible  to  eliminate  the  historical,  the 
human,  and  the  general  political  elements  from  the 
problem.  For  both  good  and  evil  we  are  the  neces- 
sary outcome  of  our  own  antecedents,  as  are  the 
Chinese  of  theirs,  and  if  we  had  acquired  a  stock  of 
experience  of  the  Chinese,  no  less  had  they  of  us ; 
indeed,  if  we  fairly  consider  the  matter,  theirs  was 
the  more  comprehensive.  For  to  the  Chinese  we  re- 
presented not  ourselves  alone,  nor  the  East  India 
Company,  nor  a  generation  or  two  of  timid  traders, 
but  Christendom  as  a  whole — our  Spanish,  Portuguese, 


32  FOREIGN   RELATIONS   WITH   CHINA.         [chap.  ii. 

and  Dutch  precursors,  the  Romish  propaganda,  and  all 
the  abortive  missions  to  Peking. 

For  three  centuries  and  more  what  may  be  called 
the  foreign  education  of  the  Chinese  had  been  pro- 
ceeding :  their  habits  were  being  formed  in  so  far  as 
their  dealings  with  strangers  were  concerned,  and  their 
judgment  was  being  trained  by  the  authentic  data  with 
which  they  had  been  plentifully  supplied.  European 
intercourse,  in  short,  had  been  one  long  lesson  to  the 
Chinese  in  the  art  of  managing  men  from  the  West. 
Without  meaning  it,  we  had  been  teaching  them  how 
to  treat  us,  just  as  we  train  animals  to  perform  tricks  ; 
and  the  worst  we  can  say  of  the  Chinese  is  that  they 
have  bettered  the  instruction,  to  their  loss  perhaps  as 
well  as  ours. 

In  the  chronicles  of  that  long  history  there  are 
many  deeds  worthy  of  remembrance,  as  well  as  many 
of  another  hue,  neither  being  confined  to  one  side. 
There  were  good  and  bad  among  the  early  adven- 
turers, as  there  are  at  all  times  in  every  other 
section  of  mankind.  Of  two  brothers,  for  example, 
connected  with  the  very  early  times,  the  first  comer 
ingratiated  himself  with  the  Chinese,  and  left  such  a 
good  impression  behind  him  that  the  second  was  re- 
ceived with  open  arms  :  very  soon,  however,  he  abused 
the  liberality  of  the  natives,  committing  outrages  upon 
them,  which  led  ultimately  to  his  forcible  expulsion 
from  the  country  and  to  restrictions  on  the  outlets 
for  trade.  Taking  it  as  a  whole,  the  record  of 
the  pioneers  in  China  is  rather  a  despicable  one,  in 
which  violence,  cupidity,  and  cowardice  formed  large 
ingredients. 

The  English,  as  latest  comers,  being  served  heirs  to 


THE   GULF   BETWEEN    EAST    AND   WEST.  33 

the  turpitudes  of  all  Europe,  paid  the  penalty  for  the 
misdeeds  and  shortcomings  of  their  predecessors  and 
their  neighbours,  as  well  as  for  their  own.  The  penalty- 
was  the  intolerable  degradation  they  had  been  made 
to  endure,  with  ever-increasing  aggravation,  at  the  only 
port  where  they  were  permitted  to  trade — Canton. 

As  there  are  forms  of  impurity  which  can  only  be 
cleansed  by  fire,  so  there  was  no  possible  remedy  for 
the  miseries  of  Anglo-Chinese  intercourse  short  of  open 
war.  The  hostilities  begun  in  1839,  and  brought  to 
a  conclusion  by  the  treaty  of  Nanking  in  1842,  were 
naturally  held  as  a  drastic  liquidation  of  long-standing 
grievances  and  the  harbinger  of  a  new  era  of  peace 
and  mutual  respect.  Why  even  the  decisive  and  one- 
sided war  should  have  proved  an  inadequate  solvent 
of  the  perennial  strife  may  partly  appear  as  our  story 
proceeds. 

The  chasm  between  the  Chinese  and  the  Western 
world,  as  then  represented  by  Great  Britain,  was  in 
fact  much  too  deep  to  be  bridged  over  by  any  con- 
vention. Intercommunion  between  bodies  so  alien  was 
as  the  welding  of  heterogeneous  metals,  contact  with- 
out fusion.  From  one  point  of  view,  indeed,  circum- 
stances were  highly  favourable  to  a  sympathetic 
attachment,  for  there  is  no  safer  medium  of  inter- 
course between  nations  than  the  commerce  which 
blesses  him  that  buys  and  him  that  sells.  It  was 
the  pursuit  of  commerce  alone  that  drew  men  from 
afar  to  the  Asiatic  coasts,  and  the  reciprocal  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  natives  which  opened  for  the 
strangers,  be  it  ever  so  little,  the  gates  of  the 
Chinese  empire.  The  purely  commercial  relation  left 
little    to    be    desired    on    the    side    of   mutual    good- 

VOL.  I.  c 


34  FOREIGN   RELATIONS    WITH    CHINA.         [chap.  II. 

will.  The  impression  of  it  left  on  the  mind  of  old 
residents  in  Canton  is  thus  recorded  by  Mr  W.  C. 
Hunter,  an  American  merchant,  who  lived  there  from 
1824  :  "  From  the  facility  of  all  dealings  with  the 
Chinese  who  were  assigned  to  transact  business  with 
us,  together  with  their  proverbial  honesty,  combined 
with  a  sense  of  perfect  security  to  person  and  property, 
scarcely  a  resident  of  any  lengthened  time — in  short, 
any  '  Old  Canton ' — but  finally  left  them  with  regret." 

Mr  Hunter  goes  further  and  testifies  to  the  "  vigilant 
care  over  the  personal  safety  of  strangers  who  came  to 
live  in  the  midst  of  a  population  whose  customs  and 
prejudices  were  so  opposed  to  everything  foreign." 

Why,  then,  was  it  that  on  the  ground  -  level  of 
common  material  interest,  and  under  the  sunshine  of 
the  protection  spontaneously  accorded  by  authority, 
the  parties  failed  in  two  hundred  years  to  evolve 
between  them  a  modus  vivendif  The  solution  of 
this  riddle  can  only  be  found  in  a  patient  survey 
of  events  both  before  and  after  the  war. 

It  would  carry  us  far  beyond  our  limits  even  to 
summarise  the  history  of  foreign  intercourse  with 
China.  Nor  is  such  a  task  necessary,  since  our  con- 
cern lies  mainly  with  those  later  developments  which 
culminated  in  the  war  of  1839-42,  a  glance  at  which 
seems  essential  to  any  fair  appreciation  of  the  sequel. 

That  there  was  no  material  cause  of  difference 
between  the  Chinese  Government  and  people  on  the 
one  hand  and  the  foreign  traders  and  their  repre- 
sentatives on  the  other  was  made  manifest  by  the 
persistence  and  continuous  growth  of  their  mutual 
commerce.  And  their  common  appreciation  of  the 
advantages  of  the   trade   is  shown  by  the   readiness 


OFFICIAL   INTERFERENCE   WITH   COMMERCE.  35 

of  each  in  turn  to  resort  to  the  threat  of  stopping 
business  as  a  means  of  pressure  on  the  other  side. 
It  is  not  therefore  the  substance,  but  the  accidents 
and  conditions,  of  the  intercourse  that  generated  the 
friction  which  led  through  outrage  to  reprisals ;  and 
the  two  conditions  most  fruitful  in  conflict  were  the 
necessary  absence  of  law  and  the  inevitable  incom- 
prehension of  each  other's  status. 

Left  to  themselves,  the  traders  on  either  side,  though 
without  law,  would  have  been  a  law  to  themselves, 
both  parties  having  been  habituated  to  a  discipline  of 
custom  more  potent  within  its  sphere  than  any  code, 
commercial  or  penal.  But  as  no  problem  in  life  can 
«ver  be  isolated,  so  in  this  case  the  twofold  inter- 
ference of  the  State  and  the  populace  constantly 
obstructed  the  genial  flow  of  commercial  intercourse. 

The  interference  of  the  Chinese  bore  no  resemblance 
to  the  restrictions  imposed  on  trade  by  Western 
Governments,  for  these,  even  when  most  oppressive, 
are  usually  specific  and  calculable.  There  is  a  tarifl* 
of  duties,  there  are  harbour  and  police  regulations, 
and  there  are  tho  laws  of  the  land.  The  peculiarity 
of  the  Chinese  ofiicial  supervision  of  foreign  trade 
was  that  it  was  incalculable  and  arbitrary,  governed 
by  cupidities  and  jealousies,  and  subject  to  individual 
caprice.  Having  barbarians  to  deal  with,  the  Chinese 
authorities  followed  the  maxims  of  their  ancient  kings 
and  "ruled  them  by  misrule,  which  is  the  true  and 
the  only  way  of  ruling  them."  And  finding  the 
barbarians  submissive,  they  grew  accustomed  to  prac- 
tise on  them  such  indignities  as  a  wanton  schoolboy 
might  inflict  on  a  captive  animal,  unrestrained  by 
any  consideration    save   the  risk   of  retaliation.     The 


36  FOREIGN    RELATIONS   WITH    CHINA.         [chap.  ii. 

Chinese  had  no  conscience  to  be  shocked  by  the 
persecution  of  foreigners,  for  in  relation  to  them 
justice  and  injustice  were  meaningless  terms.  Such 
arrogance  was  not  so  much  the  result  of  any  formu- 
lated belief  as  of  a  traditional  feeling  lying  at  the 
bottom  of  their  moral  conceptions ;  and  just  as  the 
Chinese  people  to-day  speak  of  foreigners,  without 
consciousness  of  offence,  as  "devils,"  so  did  the  best 
educated  officials  in  the  days  before  the  war  sincerely 
regard  strangers  as  an  inferior,  if  not  a  degraded, 
race.  As  late  as  1870  a  British  representative 
writing  to  the  Chinese  Prime  Minister  complained 
that  "  the  educated  class,  both  by  speech  and  writ- 
ing, lets  the  people  see  that  it  regards  the  foreigner 
as  a  barbarian,  a  devil,  or  a  brute."  And  there  has 
been  no  change  since  except  what  is  enforced  by 
prudence.  To  the  absence  of  law  in  their  inter- 
course was  therefore  superadded  a  special  negation 
of  human  rights,  naturally  accompanied  by  an  over- 
bearing demeanour  on  the  side  of  the  natives.  The 
strangers  were  in  effect  outlawed.  The  attempts 
made  from  time  to  time  to  assert  their  independence 
resembled  the  spasmodic  kicking  of  the  ox  against 
the  goad  which  led  rather  to  aggravation  than  amelior- 
ation of  the  pain.  The  prevailing  tone  was  that  of 
submission,  inviting  more  and  more  aggression,  until 
the  cup  overflowed  and  war  ensued. 

If  we  ask  how  it  could  happen  that  Britons  of  any 
class  came  to  submit  to  such  ignominy,  the  only  answer 
forthcoming  is  that  they  did  it  for  the  sake  of  gain. 
And  if,  further,  we  try  to  press  home  the  responsibility 
to  any  particular  quarter,  there  is  very  little  doubt 
that  the  principal  blame  must  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the 


HUMILITY   OF   EAST   INDIA    COMPANY.  37 

East  India  Company,  which  ruled  and  monopolised  the 
English  trade  with  China  until  the  expiration  of  their 
charter  in  1834.  The  Board  of  Directors  in  Leadenhall 
Street  demanded  remittances,  and  cared  nothing  for 
the  indignities  which  their  distant  agents  might  be 
forced  to  undergo  in  order  to  supply  these  demands. 
*'  The  interests  at  stake  were  too  valuable  to  be  put  at 
issue  upon  considerations  of  a  personal  nature,  .  .  . 
and  the  Court  leave  the  vindication  of  the  national 
honour  to  the  Crown."  Such  was  their  unchanging 
attitude.  The  agents  on  their  side,  balancing  the  pros 
and  cons,  concluded  that  at  any  cost  they  must  retain 
the  favour  of  the  omnipotent  Board.  By  this  course  of 
procedure  the  prestige  which  would  have  protected 
British  subjects  from  outrage  was  bartered  away ;  the 
Chinese  were  induced  by  the  subservience  of  the  Com- 
pany's officers  to  practise  constantly  increasing  insol- 
ence, and  small  blame  to  them.  The  demeanour  of  the 
Company's  representatives  was  that  of  men  carrying 
out  instructions  against  their  better  judgment.  Occa- 
sionally, indeed,  their  judgment  got  the  better  of  their 
instructions,  and  they  would  attempt  to  make  a  stand 
for  their  rights.  A  case  occurred  in  1831  when  new 
restrictions  on  the  export  of  silver  were  imposed  by  the 
Chinese  authorities.  Mr  H.  H.  Lindsay,  head  of  the 
Company's  committee,  resented  the  proceeding,  and 
threatened  to  stop  the  trade.  In  the  event,  however, 
the  committee  gave  way,  and  in  token  of  surrender 
delivered  the  keys  of  their  factory  to  a  Chinese 
mandarin. 

The  process  which  had  been  consecrated  by  time 
naturally  did  not  stop  when  the  principal  cause  of  it 
was  removed.      It  continued  uninterrupted  after  the 


38  FOREIGN   RELATIONS    WITH    CHINA.         [chap.  il. 

monopoly  of  the  Company  had  ceased.  Indeed  the  case 
became  much  aggravated  when  the  British  agents,  begin- 
ning with  Lord  Napier,  became  representatives  of  the 
Crown  instead  of  the  Company.  And  so  little  was  the 
position  understood  by  the  authorities  in  Great  Britain 
that,  yielding  to  considerations  of  convenience,  they 
appointed  some  of  the  very  men  whom  the  Chinese  had 
been  long  accustomed  to  treat  with  contumely  to  be  the 
representatives  of  the  King.  But  the  Chinese  had  a 
true  presentiment  of  the  nature  of  the  changes  which 
this  new  departure  threatened.  They  had  learned  from 
Captain  Weddell,  Commodore  Anson,  and  others  what 
were  the  pretensions  of  the  commander  of  a  King's  ship; 
and  then  justly  inferred  that  a  King's  representative 
would  stand  on  a  wholly  different  footing  from  a 
Company's  superintendent.  They  resolved,  therefore, 
to  nip  in  the  bud  every  effort  to  open  international  re- 
lations, employing  to  that  end  all  the  weapons  which 
were  familiar  to  them.  The  viceroy  of  Canton  not  only 
declined  communication  with  the  British  envoy,  but 
imprisoned  him  and  intercepted  his  letters,  so  that  a 
naval  force  was  required  to  release  him  from  captivity. 
Yet  it  was  not  malevolence  but  policy  that  guided  the 
hand  of  the  Chinese  authorities — the  settled  policy  of 
keeping  foreigners  at  arm's-length  at  all  costs. 

The  rule  of  conduct  enjoined  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment on  the  first  representatives  of  the  Crown  in  China 
was  emphatically  conciliation,  as  in  the  time  of  the  East 
India  Company  and  its  superintendents.  They  were  to 
"  cautiously  abstain  from  all  unnecessary  use  of  menac- 
ing language,  or  from  making  any  appeal  for  protection 
to  our  military  or  naval  force  (except  in  extreme  cases), 
or  to  do  anything  to  irritate  the  feelings  or  revolt  the 


INSULTS   TO   LORD   NAPIER.  39 

opinions  or  prejudices  of  the  Chinese  people."  That 
article  of  the  "  Sign-manual  Instructions  to  the  Super- 
intendents of  Trade  in  China "  was  faithfully  carried 
out ;  while  the  one  ordering  the  envoy  to  "  take  up 
your  residence  at  the  port  of  Canton "  could  not  be 
obeyed  because  the  Chinese  provincial  authorities  placed 
their  veto  on  it.  The  conciliatory  demeanour  of  the 
British  representative  was  met  by  the  refusal,  accom- 
panied by  the  grossest  insults,  of  the  Chinese  to  receive 
or  acknowledge  him.  And  not  by  insults  only,  such  as 
perverting  the  phonetic  rendering  of  his  name  by  the 
substitution  of  characters  bearing  odious  meanings,  and 
by  various  indignities  offered  to  his  person,  but  by  inter- 
ference with  his  domestic  servants,  and  even  cutting  off 
his  food-supply,  did  they  coerce  him  into  abandoning 
his  post  at  Canton.  Their  conduct  evoked  the  opinion 
from  Lord  Napier,  in  reporting  the  incidents  to  his 
Government,  that  "  the  viceroy  of  Canton  was  guilty  of 
an  outrage  on  the  British  Crown  calling  for  redress," 
which  drew  from  the  Duke  of  Wellington  (February  2, 
1835)  the  chilling  comment  that  "it  is  not  by  force  and 
violence  that  his  Majesty  intends  to  establish  a  com- 
mercial intercourse  between  his  subjects  and  China,  but 
by  the  other  conciliatory  measures  so  strongly  incul- 
cated in  all  the  instructions  which  you  have  received." 
Lord  Napier's  despatches  prove  that  he  understood  the 
situation  perfectly.  "  What  advantage  or  what  point 
did  we  ever  gain,"  he  wrote,  "  by  negotiating  or 
humbling  ourselves  before  these  people,  or  rather  before 
their  Government  ?  The  records  show  nothing  but 
subsequent  humiliation  and  disgrace.  What  advantage 
or  what  point,  again,  have  we  ever  lost  that  was  just 
and  reasonable,  by  acting  with  promptitude  and  vigour  ? 


40  FOREIGN   RELATIONS   WITH   CHINA.         [chap.  Ii. 

The  records  again  assure  us  that  such  measures  have 
been  attended  with  complete  success."  And  he  recom- 
mended his  Government  "  to  consult  immediately  on 
the  best  plan  to  be  adopted  for  commanding  a  com- 
mercial treaty,  or  a  treaty  which  shall  secure  the  just 
rights  and  embrace  the  interests,  public  and  private, 
of  all  Europeans,  —  not  of  British  alone,  but  of  all 
civilised  people  coming  to  trade  according  to  the 
principles  of  international  law.". 

Driven  to  death  by  Chinese  ofBcial  barbarities,  and 
by  the  discouragement  of  his  own  Government,  Lord 
Napier  was  succeeded  first  by  one  then  by  another  of 
the  East  India  Company's  old  staff,  who  could  only 
maintain  themselves  by  sinking  their  character  as 
British  national  envoys  and  submitting  to  the  indigni- 
ties which  the  Chinese  more  than  ever  delighted  in 
imposing  on  them,  increasing  in  virulence  in  proportion 
as  the  resistance  to  them  grew  weaker. 

The  line  of  policy  inculcated  upon  Lord  Napier 
was,  in  fact,  scrupulously  followed  after  his  death, 
notably  by  Captain  Charles  Elliot,  the  third  in  suc- 
cession, who  received  the  King's  commission  in  1836. 
That  officer  indeed  went  far  beyond  his  instruc- 
tions in  his  efforts  to  conciliate  the  Chinese ;  for 
though  repeatedly  ordered  by  Lord  Palmerston  to 
communicate  with  the  authorities  direct,  and  not 
through  the  Hong  merchants ;  ^  and  not  to  head  his 
communications  with  the  word  "  petition "  ;  and  not- 
withstanding his  own  reiterated  opinion  in  the  same 
sense.  Captain  Elliot   entirely  yielded  to  the  Chinese 

1  These  were  a  syndicate  appointed  by  the  Chinese  Government  to  con- 
duct the  foreign  trade  and  be  responsible  to  the  Government  for  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  foreign  merchants. 


CAPTAIN   ELLIOTS    DEFERENCE. 


41 


pretensions.  He  communicated  through  the  Hong 
merchants,  and  explicitly  received  the  "commands" 
of  the  authorities  with  "reverence."  As  was  natural, 
the  more  he  conceded  the  more  was  exacted  from 
him,  until  conciliation  reached  the  point  of  exhaus- 
tion and  there  was  nothing  left  to  give  up.  Matters 
had  nearly  reached  this  stage  when  the  British 
envoy  could  thus  address  the  Governor  of  Canton 
(through  the  Hong  merchants)  in  1837 :  "  The 
undersigned  respectfully  assures  his  Excellency  that 
it  is  at  once  his  duty  and  his  anxious  desire 
to  conform  in  all  things  to  the  imperial  pleas- 
ure." The  result  of  this  extreme  humility  was  that 
Captain  Elliot  was  forced  to  strike  his  flag  at  Can- 
ton and  withdraw  to  the  Portuguese  settlement  of 
Macao,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  unable  to  main- 
tain intercourse  with  the  authorities  on  the  conditions 
prescribed  for  him  by  her  Majesty's  Government. 


42 


CHAPTER    III. 

ANTECEDENTS    OF    THE    WAR. 

I.   THE  OPIUM   TRADE. 

Its  iuciease  caused  alarm  to  Chinese  Government  by  throwing  the  balance 
of  trade  against  China — English  manufacturers  deplored  the  same  fact 
— Drain  of  silver — Government  opposition  to  the  importation  of  opium 
— Official  participation  in  the  trade — The  reign  of  sham — Illustrated 
by  Mr  Hunter — Captain  Elliot  volunteers  to  prevent  smuggling — 
Rebuffed  by  Canton  authorities — The  principal  patrons  of  the  opium 
trade — Imperial  Government  and  the  opium  traffic — Proposals  to 
legalise  it — The  Empress — Commissioner  Lin  appointed  to  suppress 
trade — His  uncompromising  proceedings  at  Canton — Imprisonment  of 
the  foreign  merchants,  and  of  the  British  envoy — Surrender  of  opium 
by  Captain  Elliot. 

Commerce  itself  had  also  for  some  time  been  a 
source  of  disquietude,  and  it  is  an  interesting  cir- 
cumstance that  it  was  the  same  feature  of  it  which 
caused  anxiety  to  both  sides.  The  balance  of  trade 
was  against  China,  which  in  the  year  1838  had  to 
provide  bullion  to  the  amount  of  upwards  of 
£2,000,000  sterling  to  pay  for  the  excess  of  imports 
over  exports.  English  manufacturers  deplored  the  fact 
that  the  purchasing  power  of  China  was  restricted 
by  the  paucity  of  her  commodities  suitable  for  foreign 
markets,  while  the  Chinese  authorities  saw  with 
genuine   alarm   a  yearly  drain  of  what  they  deemed 


INTERCOURSE   WITHOUT   LAW.  43 

the  life-blood  of  their  national  wealth  ;  for  not  only 
was  silver  and  gold  bullion  exported  in  what  to 
them  were  large  amounts,  but  the  vessels  which 
brought  raw  cotton  and  opium  from  India  were  fre- 
quently ballasted  for  the  return  voyage  with  the 
copper  coinage  of  the  country.  Crude,  arbitrary,  and 
quite  ineffectual  devices  were  resorted  to  by  the 
Chinese  for  the  arrest  or  mitigation  of  the  leakage 
of  the  precious  metal.  Opium,  being  the  commodity 
which  the  people  most  imperatively  demanded,  was 
always  paid  for  in  hard  cash,  while  ordinary  mer- 
chandise might  be  bartered  against  Chinese  produce. 
It  is  not  therefore  difficult  to  understand  how,  with- 
out prejudice  to  moral  or  political  considerations,  the 
article  opium  should  have  become  so  conspicuous  a 
factor  in  the   agony  which  preceded  the  war. 

In  characterising  the  relations  then  subsisting  be- 
tween the  Chinese  and  foreigners  as  lawless,  it  is  not 
meant  that  China  is  a  country  governed  without  law, 
although  it  is  true  that  even  in  the  purely  domestic 
administration  of  the  State  legality  is  systematically  ^ 
travestied.  But  in  connection  with  foreign  relations, 
and  almost  as  a  necessity  of  the  case,  every  trace  of 
legality  was  obliterated  in  practice,  and  the  merchants 
were  constantly  entangled  in  a  labyrinth  of  illusions 
and  pitfalls.  No  regulation  was,  or  was  ever  intended 
to  be,  carried  out  as  promulgated  ;  it  was  generally 
something  quite  different  that  was  aimed  at,  and  it  is 
literally  true  that  the  law  was  more  honoured  in  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance. 

Many  Chinese  eagles  swooped  on  the  carcass  of 
foreign  trade ;  various  authorities  competed  for  the 
spoil ;  and  the  constantly  changing  orders  were  often 


44  THE   OPIUM   TRADE.  [chap.  hi. 

merely  stratagems  by  which  one  set  of  officials  sought 
to  steal  an  advantage  over  another.  The  rules  of  the 
game  were  perfectly  understood,  and  the  loftiest  pro- 
fessions of  public  duty  were  the  invariable  concomitant 
of  the  most  corrupt  practice. 

The  two  principal  trade  authorities  in  Canton  were 
the  viceroy  of  the  two  provinces,  and  the  hoppo,  who 
held  an  independent  commission  from  Peking  as  super- 
intendent of  the  customs.  Smuggling  was  of  course 
systematic.  Though  there  were  severe  dormant  laws 
against  it  whereby  unwary  individuals  might  on  occa- 
sion be  entrapped,  yet  the  practice  was  openly  carried 
on  in  every  department  of  traffic,  its  chief  patrons  being 
the  viceroy  and  the  hopp>o.  The  importation  of  opium 
was  officially  prohibited,  but  no  branch  of  trade  was  so 
effectually  protected.  The  depot  ships  lay  in  what  was 
regarded  as  the  outer  waters  of  China — that  is,  the 
archipelago  in  the  estuary  of  the  Canton  river.  But 
the  drug  was  brought  to  land  in  the  viceroy's  own 
boats  and  to  his  profit.  The  traffic  was  conducted 
under  a  fluctuating  arrangement  between  the  native 
merchants  and  the  authorities,  the  latter  taking 
frequent  occasion  to  pick  quarrels  with  the  former  in 
order  to  have  a  pretext  for  extortion.  The  fees  levied 
upon  the  opium  -  dealers  were  divided  among  the 
officials,  but  they  could  never  trust  each  other  to 
deal  fairly  in  the  distribution  of  the  takings.  By  way 
of  check  on  sharp  practice  a  Chinese  war-vessel  was 
in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  receiving  ships,  taking  from 
them  an  account  of  their  deliveries,  and  at  the  same 
time  making  a  small  levy  for  the  commander's  personal 
behoof,  for  which  a  formal  receipt  was  granted. 

A  new  hoppo  came  to  Canton  in  1837,  and,  as  had 


OFFICIAL   CONNECTION    WITH    OPIUM.  45 

been  the  custom  with  his  ^predecessors,  he  inaugurated 
his  commission  by  issuing  drastic  edicts,  in  concert 
with  the  viceroy,  against  the  sale  of  opium,  even  going 
through  the  form  of  arresting  some  of  the  dealers. 
This  demonstration,  like  all  that  had  gone  before,  was 
merely  intended  to  cover  a  heavier  exaction  than  had 
yet  been  levied.  The  dealers  and  boatmen  refused 
the  terms,  and  by  way  of  protest  the  latter  burned 
their  boats.  Whereupon  the  two  high  officers  built 
boats  of  their  own,  which,  with  the  Government  ones 
already  employed  in  the  business,  brought  the  whole 
of  the  opium  to  Canton.  In  this  manner  was  the  trade 
resumed  after  a  temporary  stoppage  caused  by  the 
strike  of  the  dealers  and  boat -owners  against  the 
extortions  of  the  viceroy  and  liojypo.  Nor  was  there 
ever  any  secret  in  Peking  respecting  these  proceedings. 
Indeed  the  occasion  of  any  high  official  travelling  to 
the  capital  was  always  marked  by  a  great  enhancement 
of  the  market  price  of  opium,  of  which  the  official  or 
his  retinue  invariably  carried  a  large  quantity  for  sale 
there.  This  circumstance  was  published  in  the  trade 
circulars  printed  in  Canton,  without  the  least  conceal- 
ment of  the  name  of  the  mandarin  under  whose  pro- 
tection the  drug  was  transported.  The  lioppo  was, 
and  still  is,  an  imperial  'protege,  and  it  was,  and 
is  still,  perfectly  understood  that  he  divides  the 
proceeds  of  his  Canton  harvest  with  his  patrons. 
It  is  for  that  purpose  that  he  receives  the  appoint- 
ment. And  this  was  a  trade  proscribed  under  extreme 
penalties  by  imperial  edict !  It  is  needless  to  trace 
the  network  of  elusion  in  which  the  administrative 
ingenuity  of  Chinese  officialdom  was  exercised,  and  the 
specimen  given  above  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  the 


46  THE   OPIUM   TRADE.  [chap.  III. 

system.  "Nevertheless,  during  the  year  1838  very 
serious  and  determined  measures  began  to  be  adopted 
by  the  Chinese  authorities,  directed  generally  against 
the  trade  in  opium ;  and  imperial  edicts  threatened 
death  as  the  punishment  for  both  the  dealers  in  and 
smokers  of  the  drug." 

It  is  hardly  possible  outside  of  China  to  realise  the 
systematic  make-believe  under  which  public  affairs  are 
carried  on. 

Life  and  business  in  Canton,  says  Mr  Hunter,^  was  a  con- 
undrum as  insoluble  as  the  Sphinx ;  everything  worked 
smoothly  by  acting  in  direct  opposition  to  what  we  were  told 
to  do.  Certainly  we  were  told  to  "  listen  and  obey,"  to 
"  tremble  and  not  by  obstinacy  and  irregularity  to  court  the 
wrath  of  the  imperial  will "  !  We  were  reminded  from  time  to 
time  that  we  were  "  sojourning  in  the  land  on  sufferance."  We 
were  threatened  and  re-threatened  with  the  "  direst  penalties  if 
we  sold  foreign  mud  to  the  people ;  truly  forbearance  could  no 
longer  be  exercised."  Yet  we  continued  to  sell  the  drug  as 
usual.  Our  receiving  ships  at  Lintin  must  no  longer  loiter 
at  that  anchorage,  but  "  forthwith  either  come  into  port  or 
return  to  their  respective  countries."  The  heart  of  the  ruler 
of  all  within  the  Four  Seas  was  indeed  full  of  compassion  and 
had  been  indulgent  to  the  barbarians.  But  now  no  more  delay 
could  be  granted,  "  cruisers  would  be  sent  to  open  their  irre- 
sistible broadsides "  upon  the  foreign  ships.  Yet  in  spite  of 
these  terrors  the  ships  never  budged.  We  were  "  forbidden  to 
wander  about  except  three  times  a-month,  and  that  not  without 
a  linguist,"  but  we  walked  whenever  we  pleased,  and  the 
linguist  is  the  last  person  we  ever  saw. 

And  so  on  through  a  long  catalogue  of  prohibitions  to 
the  disregard  of  which  the  officials  themselves  were 
always  parties. 

We  get  an  exact  description  also  of  the  mode  in 
which  the  opium  trade  was   carried  on  from  the  pen 

1  Bits  of  Old  China.     Kegan  Paul. 


MANNER   OF   CONDUCTING   THE   TRAFFIC.  47 

of  Mr  Hunter,  himself  an  actor  as  well  as  an  eye- 
witness. It  furnishes  a  perfect  illustration  of  the  reign 
of  sham  which  prevails  generally  in  China  : — 

We  anchored  on  the  inside  of  the  island  of  Namoa  close  by 
two  EngHsh  brigs,  the  Omega  and  Governor  Findlay.  Inshore 
of  us  were  riding  at  anchor  two  men-of-war  junks,  with  much 
bunting  displayed ;  one  bore  the  flag  of  a  foo-tscang  or  commo- 
dore. Knowing  the  "  formaUties "  to  be  gone  through  with 
the  mandarins,  we  expected  a  visit  from  one,  and  until  it  was 
made  no  Chinese  boat  would  come  alongside,  nor  would  a  junk, 
not  even  a  bumboat.  We  had  no  sooner  furled  sails  and  made 
everything  shipshape,  when  his  "  Excellency "  approached  in 
his  gig — a  sort  of  scow  as  broad  as  she  was  long.  .  .  .  He  was 
received  at  the  gangway  by  Captain  Forster.  His  manner  and 
bearing  were  easy  and  dignified.  When  cheroots  and  a  glass  of 
wine  had  been  offered,  the  "  commodore  "  inquired  the  cause  of 
our  anchoring  at  Namoa.  The  shroff  ga^wQ  him  to  understand 
that  the  vessel,  being  on  her  way  from  Singapore  to  Canton, 
had  been  compelled,  through  contrary  winds  and  currents,  to 
run  for  Namoa  to  replenish  her  wood  and  water.  Having 
listened  attentively,  the  great  man  said  that  "  any  supplies 
might  be  obtained,  but  when  they  were  on  board,  not  a  moment 
must  be  lost  in  sailing  for  Whampoa,  as  the  Great  Emperor  did 
not  permit  vessels  from  afar  to  visit  any  other  port."  He  then 
gravely  pulled  from  his  boot  a  long  red  document  and  handed 
it  to  his  secretary,  that  we  might  be  informed  of  its  purport. 
It  was  as  follows  : — 

An  Imperial  Edict, 

As  the  port  of  Canton  is  the  only  one  at  which  outside 
barbarians  are  allowed  to  trade,  on  no  account  can  they  be 
permitted  to  wander  about  to  other  places  in  the  "  Middle 
Kingdom."  The  "  Son  of  Heaven,"  however,  whose  compassion 
is  as  boundless  as  the  ocean,  cannot  deny  to  those  who  are  in 
distress  from  want  of  food,  through  adverse  seas  and  currents, 
the  necessary  means  of  continuing  their  voyage.  When  sup- 
plied they  must  no  longer  loiter,  but  depart  at  once.  Kespect 
this. 

Tao-kuano,  nth  year,  6th  moon,  ith  sun. 


48  THE   OPIUM   TRADE.  [chap.  hi. 

This  "  imperial  edict "  having  been  replaced  in  its  envelope 
and  slipped  inside  of  his  boot  (for  service  on  the  chance  of 
another  foreign  vessel  "  in  distress  "),  his  Excellency  arose  from 
his  seat,  which  was  a  signal  for  all  his  attendants  to  return  to 
the  boat,  except  his  secretary.  The  two  were  then  invited  to 
the  cabin  to  refresh,  which  being  done,  we  proceeded  to  busi- 
ness. The  mandarin  opened  by  the  direct  questions,  "  How 
many  chests  have  you  on  board  ?  Are  they  all  for  Namoa  ? 
Do  you  go  farther  up  the  coast  ? "  Intimating  at  the  same 
time  that  there  the  officers  were  uncommonly  strict,  and  were 
obliged  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  "  Emperor  of  the  Universe," 
&c.  But  our  answers  were  equally  as  clear  and  prompt,  that 
the  vessel  was  not  going  north  of  Namoa,  that  her  cargo  con- 
sisted of  about  200  chests.  Then  came  the  question  of  ciimsha, 
and  that  was  settled  on  the  good  old  Chinese  principle  of  "  all 
same  custom."  Everything  being  thus  comfortably  arranged, 
wine  drunk,  and  cheroots  smoked,  his  Excellency  said  "  Kaou- 
tsze "  (I  announce  my  departure).  .  .  .  Chinese  buyers  came 
on  board  freely  the  moment  they  saw  the  "  official "  visit  had 
been  made.  A  day  or  two  after,  several  merchant  junks  stood 
out  from  the  mainland  for  the  anchorage.  As  they  approached 
we  distinguished  a  private  signal  at  their  mastheads,  a  copy  of 
which  had  been  furnished  to  us  before  leaving  Capshuymun. 
We  hoisted  ours,  the  junks  anchored  close  to  us,  and  in  a 
surprisingly  short  time  received  from  the  Eose  in  their  own 
boats  the  opium,  which  had  been  sold  at  Canton,  and  there 
paid  for,  deliverable  at  this  anchorage.  It  was  a  good  illus- 
tration of  the  entire  confidence  existing  between  the  forei^ifn 
seller  in  his  factory  at  Canton  and  the  Chinese  buyers,  and  of 
a  transaction  for  a  breach  of  any  of  the  conditions  of  which 
there  existed  no  leojal  redress  on  one  side  or  the  other. 


From  his  asylum  in  Macao  Captain  Elliot  thought 
he  saw  an  opportunity  for  making  a  fresh  attempt  to 
ingratiate  himself  with  the  Chinese  authorities.  Dis- 
regarding the  fact  that  the  only  return  for  his 
previous  efforts  at  conciliation  had  been  accumulated 
insult  and  odious  accusations  against  himself  person- 
ally,   Captain   Elliot   resolved    on    trying   once   more. 


14M|', ,.-, 


CAPTAIN   ELLIOTS    OFFICIOUS    MOVE.  49 

So,  when  the  opium  agitation  broke  out  in  1838-39, 
he  volunteered  his  assistance  in  suppressing  smuggling 
in  the  river.  The  viceroy,  being  the  head  and  front 
of  the  abuse,  spurned  the  offer,  saying,  what  was 
perfectly  true,  that  he  could  stop  the  traffic  himself 
by  a  stroke  of  the  pen. 

Ignoring  the  rebuff.  Captain  Elliot  did  nevertheless 
issue  an  order  that  "  all  British-owned  schooners,  or 
other  vessels  habitually  or  occasionally  engaged  in 
the  illicit  opium  traffic,  ivithin  the  Bocca  Tigris, 
should  remove  before  the  expiration  of  three  days, 
and  not  again  return  within  the  Bocca  Tigris,  being 
so  engaged."  And  they  were  at  the  same  time 
distinctly  warned,  that  if  "  any  British  subjects  were 
feloniously  to  cause  the  death  of  a  Chinaman  in  con- 
sequence of  persisting  in  the  trade  within  the  Bocca 
Tigris,  he  would  be  liable  to  capital  punishment ; 
that  no  owners  of  such  vessels  so  engaged  would 
receive  any  assistance  or  interposition  from  the  British 
Government  in  case  the  Chinese  Government  should 
seize  any  of  them ;  and  that  all  British  subjects 
employed  in  these  vessels  would  be  held  responsible 
for  any  consequences  which  might  arise  from  forcible 
resistance  offered  to  the  Chinese  Government,  in  the 
same  manner  as  if  such  resistance  were  offered  to 
their  own  or  any  other  Government,  in  their  own  or 
in  any  foreign  country."  This  gratuitous  assumption 
of  the  functions  of  the  Chinese  executive  plunged 
Captain  Elliot  into  still  greater  difficulties,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  tragic  events  which  were  to 
follow  a  year  later.  In  vulgar  parlance  he  "  gave 
himself  away"  to  the  Chinese,  for  in  professing  to  be 
able  to  stop  opium  traffic  within  the  river  he  tacitly 

VOL.  I.  D 


50  THE    OPIUM   TRADE.  [chap.  III. 

accepted  the  responsibility  of  stopping  it  also  in  the 
estuary,  where  the  British  depot  ships  lay  at  anchor. 
It  was,  in  fact,  the  driving  home  of  this  responsibility 
by  the  Chinese  which  was  the  apparent  occasion  of 
the  war.  For  it  is  certain  that  during  his  three 
years  of  office  as  representative  of  the  Crown  of 
England  Captain  Elliot  had  given  no  provocation  to 
the  Chinese,  nor  had  he  in  any  way  withstood  their 
aggression.  ^ 

But  a  sudden  change  now  came  over  the  scene. 
The  opium  question  had  been  for  some  time  debated 
in  the  imperial  counsels  with  considerable  earnestness, 
the  issue  turning  on  the  alternatives  of  suppressing 
or  legalising  the  traffic.  It  seems  likely  that  in 
those  deliberations  the  reigning  emperor,  Tao-kuang, 
played  a  very  secondary  part ;  indeed  as  an  active 
factor  in  the  government  of  the  country  he  appears 
to  have  been  of  little  more  account  than  his  successors 
have  been.  He  is  described  as  an  amiable  but  weak 
man,  sensible  of  the  difficulties  of  his  country,  but 
misinformed  with  regard  to  them  by  the  favourites 
around  him.  The  most  interesting  personality  about 
the  Imperial  Court  at  that  time  appears  to  have 
been  the  empress,  who  had  raised  herself  to  that 
exalted  position  by  her  talents  as  well  as  by  her 
fascinations.  Though  her  career  was  a  very  short 
one,  she  exercised  a  potent  influence  on  affairs 
throughout  the  whole  empire.  She  was  credited 
with  a  rare  power  of  judging  men  and  of  selecting 
them  for  offices  of  trust.  She  was  a  reformer  of 
abuses  and  a  true  patriot ;  but  what  was  most 
remarkable,  considering  the  order  of  ideas  which 
surrounded  her,  she  held  liberal  views  as  to  the  ex- 


COMMISSIONER   LIN.  51 

tension  of  foreign  intercourse,  and  was  at  the  head 
of  the  party  which  was  in  favour  of  legalising  the 
opium  traffic.  A  memorial  addressed  to  her  urging 
this  measure  was  submitted  by  the  emperor  to  the 
governor  of  Canton,  Tang,  who  with  his  colleagues 
reported  on  it  favourably.  The  success  of  the 
empress's  policy  enraged  her  enemies  and  stirred 
them  to  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  compass  her 
fall.  The  emperor,  it  is  said,  remained  neutral  in 
this  strife.  The  opposition  party  prevailed,  gaining 
over  the  emperor  to  their  side  while  he  was  smart- 
ing from  the  grief  caused  by  the  death  of  his  own 
son  from  opium,  an  event  which  enlisted  his  personal 
feelings  against  the  drug. 

So  far,  however,  had  the  question  been  carried, 
that  the  legalisation  of  the  opium  trade  was  fully 
anticipated  by  Captain  Elliot  up  to  the  very  hour 
that  the  storm  burst. 

The  final  decision  of  the  Government  was  to  put 
an  end  to  the  trade,  for  which  purpose  they  sent  an 
imperial  commissioner  to  Canton,  armed  with  full 
authority  to  carry  out  the  emperor's  edicts.  He 
arrived  at  his  post,  March  10,  1839.  Commissioner 
Lin,  the  best  known  character,  with  the  exception  of 
Captain  Elliot  himself,  in  connection  with  the  war, 
was  a  man  of  uncommon  energy  and  resolution,  and 
was  therefore  in  some  respects  well  chosen  for  the 
extraordinary  task  which  was  imposed  upon  him. 
He  was  a  native  of  Fukien  province,  an  official  of 
high  standing,  having  been  Governor- General  of  the 
Central  Provinces,  the  Hu  Kwang.  He  was  now 
appointed  Governor-General  of  the  Two  Kwang  and 
Imperial   Commissioner   for    dealing   with    the    opium 


52  THE   OPIUM   TRADE.  [chap.  hi. 

question.  As  a  Chinese  administrator  he  had  been 
popular,  and  was  no  doubt  possessed  of  many  high 
qualities.-^  It  is  possible  that  had  he  taken  time  to 
study  the  foreign  question  with  which  he  had  to  deal, 
and  had  he  not  been  betrayed  by  his  too  easy  initial 
successes,  he  might  have  been  the  means  of  placing 
the  foreign  relations  of  his  country  on  a  footing  of 
mutual  accommodation.  A  reasonable  man  would 
have  perceived  the  utter  impossibility  of  preventing 
the  Chinese  people  from  purchasing  a  commodity  for 
which  they  had  an  overmastering  desire.  CHe  showed 
great  ignorance  of  human  nature  in  proposing  to 
break  his  countrymen  of  opium  -  smoking  within  a 
year,  after  which  time  offenders  were  to  be  be- 
headed.^ \  This  was  but  a  sample  of  his  violence 
and  of  his  incapacity  to  see  two  sides  of  a  question. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  he  had  under- 
taken to  carry  out  the  emperor's  instructions,  and 
it  is  difficult  to  pronounce  what  amount  of  latitude 
he  might  have  allowed  himself  in  the  interpretation 
of  them. 

His  proceedings  were  of  an  uncompromising  character 
most  unusual  with  Chinese.  Possessing  full  authority, 
he  exercised  it  to  the  utmost,  terrorising  all  the  local 
officials  into  absolute  subservience.  The  governor  of 
Canton,    himself    deeply    implicated     in     the     opium 

^  When  he  visited  Macao  later  in  the  year  1839 — after  the  events — 
there  were  public  demonstrations  in  his  honour,  whether  prompted  by 
public  respect  for  his  despotic  power  or  approval  of  the  use  he  had  just 
made  of  it,  or  merely  a  recognition  of  his  previously  established  reputa- 
tion, may  very  well  remain  an  open  question. 

2  Possibly,  however,  this  was  but  a  specimen  of  the  hyperbolic  diction 
which  is  habitual  with  the  Chinese.  An  official  will  threaten  his  servant 
with  instant  decapitation  for  a  trifling  offence,  meaning  nothing  whatever 
thereby. 


lin's  uncompromising  action.  53 

traffic,  a  fact  well  known  to  the  Imperial  Commis- 
sioner, was  constrained  to  save  himself  by  affecting 
the  utmost  zeal  in  executing  the  commissioner's  be- 
hests. Having  thus  disposed  of  all  the  opposition 
with  which  Chinese  high  officials  have  usually  to 
reckon  from  their  subordinates,  Lin  gave  the  rein  to 
his  headstrong  temper,  and  instead  of  effecting  reform, 
plunged  his  country  into  a  war  which  shattered  the 
imperial  prestige. 

Within  three  weeks  of  Lin's  arrival  in  Canton  the 
drastic  measures  against  foreigners,  and  particularly 
against  the  opium  trade,  culminated  in  his  imprisoning 
the  whole  of  the  merchants  within  their  factories  at 
Canton,  menacing  them  with  further  outrages  on  their 
person.  At  this  crisis  Captain  Elliot,  having  left  his 
residence  at  Macao,  made  his  way  under  difficulties 
to  Canton,  that  he  might  share  the  captivity  of  his 
countrymen  and  act  as  their  head  and  mouthpiece. 
Having  thus  got  the  superintendent  of  trade  into  his 
power.  Commissioner  Lin  preferred  most  extravagant 
demands  upon  him,  including  the  delivery  to  the 
Chinese  of  all  opium  owned  by  British  merchants, 
which  amounted  to  20,000  chests  valued  at  upwards 
of  £2,000,000.  The  imprisoned  merchants  had  no 
choice  but  to  yield  to  the  demand  made  upon  them 
by  the  representative  of  the  British  Crown ;  and  as 
the  recent  agitations  had  interfered  greatly  with  the 
course  of  trade,  their  assent  to  the  terms  was  no  doubt 
soothed  by  the  reflection  that  they  were  making  a 
clearance  sale  of  their  goods  to  a  solvent  purchaser, 
her  Majesty's  Government.  They  issued  their  delivery 
orders  for  the  opium  on  the  27th  March  1839.  It  is 
to  the  credit  of  Commissioner  Lin  that  in  a  memorial 


54  THE   OPIUM   TRADE.  [chap.  ill. 

to  the  throne  he  commended  the  loyalty  of  certam  of 
the  British  merchants.^ 

This  grand  concession  to  the  demand  of  Commis- 
sioner Lin  was  but  the  climax  of  all  the  antecedent 
steps  of  British  submission.  There  was  no  haggling, 
but  a  prompt  and  unconditional  surrender  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms  : — 

Elliot  to  the  Imperial  Commissioner. 

Canton,  March  27,  1839. 

Elliot,  &c.,  &c.,  has  now  the  honour  to  receive  for  the  first 
time  your  Excellency's  commands,  bearing  date  the  26  th  day  of 
March,  issued  by  the  pleasure  of  the  Great  Emperor,  to  deliver 
over  into  the  hands  of  honourable  officers  to  be  appointed  by 
your  Excellency  all  the  opium  in  the  hands  of  British  subjects. 

Elliot  must  faithfully  and  completely  fulfil  these  commands, 
and  he  has  now  respectfully  to  request  that  your  Excellency 
will  be  pleased  to  indicate  the  point  to  which  the  ships  of  his 
nation,  having  opium  on  board,  are  to  proceed,  so  that  the  whole 
may  be  delivered  up. 

The  faithful  account  of  the  same  shall  be  transmitted  as  soon 
as  it  is  ascertained. 

Captain  Elliot  did  not  even  give  himself  time  to 
verify  the  figures,  and  in  his  haste  committed  himself 
to  the  delivery  of  more  opium  than  was  actually  in 
being.  The  consequence  was  that  he  could  not  de- 
liver until  fresh  importations  arrived,  when  he  was 
obliged  to  enter  the  market  as  an  opium  merchant 
and  purchase  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  fulfil  his 
engagement. 

1  As  in  its  commutation  for  the  surrender  of  slave  property,  so  now  the 
British  Government  inflicted  serious  injustice  on  the  owners  of  the  opium. 
Captain  Elliot's  drafts  on  the  Treasury  were  dishonoured,  he  having  had  no 
authority  to  draw,  and  the  merchants  had  to  wait  four  years  for  a  most 
inadequate  payment. 


ENGLISH   COMMUNITY   MADE   CLOSE   PRISONERS.       55 


II.    THE   SEQUEL  TO   THE    SURRENDER   OF   OPIUM. 

Captain  Elliot  complains  of  his  lengthened  imprisonment — The  continued 
cruelties  of  Commissioner  Lin — Subservience  of  the  Portuguese — 
English  merchants  driven  from  their  homes  in  Macao  to  seek  refuge 
on  shipboard — Pursued  by  the  vengeance  of  the  Commissioner — 
Chinese  claim  absolute  jurisdiction  over  person  and  property — Demand 
for  an  English  seaman  for  execution. 

The  interesting  question  in  all  this  is  how  the 
Chinese  authorities  were  impressed  with  the  magnani- 
mous sacrifice  of  over  £2,000,000  sterling  worth  of 
private  property  as  a  ransom  for  the  liberties  of  British 
subjects.  They  were  certainly  not  impressed  favour- 
ably, for  Captain  Elliot,  together  with  the  whole  com- 
munity, was  detained  for  many  weeks  after  the  delivery 
of  the  opium  close  prisoners  in  Canton,  and  cut  off  from 
all  outside  communication.  A  week  after  the  surrender 
Captain  Elliot  wrote  to  Lord  Palmerston,  "  The  block- 
ade is  increasing  in  closeness.  .  .  .  This  is  the  first 
time  in  our  intercourse  with  this  empire  that  its 
Government  has  taken  the  unprovoked  initiative  in 
aggressive  measures  against  British  life,  property,  and 
liberty,  and  against  the  dignity  of  the  British  Crown." 
On  the  same  day  the  Imperial  Commissioner  threatened 
to  cut  off  the  water-supply  from  the  beleaguered  mer- 
chants. A  week  later  Captain  Elliot  wrote,  "The 
blockade  is  not  relaxed,  .  .  .  the  reverse  is  the  case  ; " 
and  he  was  constrained,  though  with  evident  reluctance, 
to  characterise  "  the  late  measures  as  public  robbery  and 
wanton  violence."  Commissioner  Lin's  "  continuance 
of  the  state  of  restraint,  insult,  and  dark  intimidation, 
subsequently  to  the  surrender,  has  classed  the  case 
amongst  the  most  shameless  violences  which  one  nation 


56         SEQUEL   TO    THE    SURRENDER   OF  OPIUM.       [chap.  III. 

has  yet  dared  to  perpetrate  against  another."  And 
there  is  a  forlorn  pathos  in  his  confession,  a  fortnight 
later,  of  the  futility  of  "  remonstrances  from  a  man  in 
my  present  situation  to  a  high  Chinese  officer  deter- 
mined to  be  false  and  perfidious." 

Nor  did  the  Chinese  appetite  for  cruelty  cease  to 
grow  by  what  it  fed  upon  even  after  the  crisis  of  the 
Canton  imprisonment  was  over.  The  British  com- 
munity, w^hen  forced  to  seek  safety  on  board  of  their 
ships,  were  pursued  from  anchorage  to  anchorage  by 
the  implacable  vengeance  of  the  Imperial  Commis- 
sioner. The  natives  were  by  proclamation  ordered 
to  "  intercept  and  wholly  cut  off  all  supplies "  from 
the  English,  some  of  whom  "  had  gone  to  reside  on 
board  the  foreign  ships  at  Hongkong,  and  it  was  to 
be  apprehended  that  in  their  extremity  some  may  land 
at  the  outer  villages  and  hamlets  along  the  coast  to 
purchase  provisions,"  in  which  case  the  "  people  were 
to  drive  them  back,  fire  upon  or  make  prisoners  of 
them."  "  Even  when  they  land  to  take  water  from  the 
springs,  stop  their  progress  and  let  them  not  have  it  in 
their  power  to  drink."  Another  proclamation  stated 
that  "  poison  had  been  put  into  this  water ;  let  none 
of  our  people  take  it  to  drink."  During  the  summer 
of  1839  many  murderous  outrages  were  perpetrated 
by  the  Commissioner's  orders  on  English  small  craft 
wherever  they  were  found  isolated  or  defenceless. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  pursue  these  barbarities  in 
detail.  Sufficient  has  been  advanced  to  illustrate  the 
spirit  in  which  the  Chinese  Government,  in  a  time  of 
peace  and  without  a  vestige  of  provocation,  drove  the 
retreating  and  absolutely  submissive  English  to  des- 
peration.    And  their  characteristic  manner  of  recom- 


CHINESE    CLAIM   LIFE-AND-DEATH   JURISDICTION.       57 

pensing  servility  was  illustrated  with  cynical  humour 
in  a  long  memorandum  drawn  up  during  the  progress 
of  the  war  by  Commissioner  Lin,  the  author  of  the 
savage  proceedings  just  referred  to.  "  Since,"  he  says, 
**  the  English  are  so  eager  for  the  recommencement  of 
their  traffic,  let  us  couple  the  grant  with  another  stipu- 
lation, that  they  present  us  with  the  head  of  Elliot,  the 
leader  in  every  mischief,  the  disturber  of  the  peace,  and 
the  source  of  all  this  trouble  " — the  last  statement  con- 
taining more  truth  than  probably  the  writer  himself 
fully  realised. 

Under  such  conditions  it  was  obviously  impossible 
to  place  the  persons  and  property  of  British  subjects 
at  the  mercy  of  Chinese  officials.  Yet  this  is  what 
the  authorities  at  Canton  insisted  upon, — "  full  sub- 
mission to  Chinese  penal  legislation,  involving  capital 
punishment  by  Chinese  forms  of  trial."  This  was  no 
new  claim.  The  Chinese  were  simply  following  the 
precedents.  English,  French,  and  Americans  had  each 
in  turn  given  up  their  men  to  be  strangled  on  the 
demand  of  the  Chinese  authorities,  and  though  the 
right  had  not  been  exercised  for  nearly  twenty  years, 
Lin  evidently  thought  the  occasion  favourable  for 
reviving  it.  He  furnished  a  clear  explanation  of 
what  a  Chinese  trial  would  be  by  demanding  of  the 
British  representative  the  unconditional  surrender  for 
execution  of  the  alleged  murderer  of  a  Chinese.  To 
Captain  Elliot's  almost  penitential  protestations,  that 
he  had  been  unable  to  discover  the  assumed  murderer 
among  the  numerous  liberty  men  of  ships  of  more 
than  one  nationality  who  had  been  in  the  scuffle, 
the  Chinese  authorities  paid  no  regard  whatever. 
The    Queen's    representative  was    publicly   denounced 


58         SEQUEL   TO   THE   SURRENDER   OF   OPIUM.       [chap.  hi. 

in  scurrilous  language  by  Commissioner  Lin  for  con- 
cealing and  failing  to  deliver  up  an  offender,  and  for 
criminal  violation  of  the  laws  of  China  as  "  shown 
by  our  reiterated  proclamations  and  clear  commands." 
This  truculent  proclamation  being  followed  by  an 
ultimatum  giving  ten  days  for  the  surrender  of  the 
unknown  murderer  under  threat  of  the  extermination 
of  the  British  community,  the  latter  had  to  escape  in 
a  body  from  Canton  to  seek  refuge  in  Macao,  whence 
they  were  expelled  by  the  authorities  of  that  settlement 
at  the  behest  of  the  Chinese  commissioner.  This  act  of 
loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  Portuguese  was  duly  acknow- 
ledged by  the  Imperial  Commissioner's  reply,  through 
his  subordinate  officials,  in  the  following  terms  : — 

We  have  received  from  his  Excellency  the  Imperial  Com- 
missioner a  reply  to  our  representation  that  the  English 
foreigners  had,  one  and  all,  left  Macao,  and  that  the  Portuguese 
Governor  and  Procurador  had  ably  and  strenuously  aided  in 
their  expulsion,  and  faithfully  repressed  disorder.  The  reply  is 
to  this  effect : — 

That  the  Portuguese  Governor  and  Procurador  having  thus 
ably  obeyed  the  commands  for  their  expulsion,  evinces  the 
respectful  sense  of  duty  of  those  officers,  and  merits  commenda- 
tion. I,  the  High  Commissioner,  in  company  with  the 
Governor,  will  personally  repair  to  Macao  to  soothe  and 
encourage.  And  you  are  required  to  pay  instant  obedience 
hereto,  by  making  this  intention  known  to  them. 

Captain  Elliot,  in  a  despatch  to  the  Portuguese 
governor,  characterised  his  act  as  a  participation  "  in 
measures  of  unprecedented  inhospitality  and  enmity 
against  British  subjects."  ^ 

^  "By  the  treaty  of  1703,"  wrote  Sir  Anders  Ljunstedt,  the  last  chief  of 
the  Swedish  Company's  factory,  "  Portugal  placed  herself,  as  it  were,  under 
the  protection  of  Great  Britain.  This  Power  never  failed  to  render  her 
ally  the  assistance  she  stood  in  need  of  either  in  Europe  or  her  ultramarine 
dominions."     The  English  had  defended  Macao  against  the  French  in  1803. 


WAR   INEVITABLE.  59 

Into  the  merits  of  the  opium  question  itself,  or  of 
that  unique  transaction,  the  surrender  of  £2,000,000 
sterling  worth  of  the  commodity  by  a  British  agent  on 
the  mere  demand  of  a  Chinese  official,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  enter  within  the  limits  of  space  assigned  to 
us.  But  it  is  obvious  that  such  a  demand,  made  within 
two  years  of  the  time  when  the  viceroy  of  Canton  was 
building  a  flotilla  to  carry  the  merchants'  drug  from 
the  receiving  ships  to  his  provincial  capital,  was  some- 
thing so  extravagant  that  compliance  with  it  must  be 
followed  either  by  open  war  or  by  complete  submission 
and  the  abandonment  of  China  as  a  trading  field.  It 
is  of  course  conceivable  that  had  the  ordinary  Chinese 
canon  been  applied  to  the  case,  and  the  proclamations 
of  Commissioner  Lin  been  interpreted,  like  those  that 
had  gone  before,  as  the  inaugural  bombast  of  a  new- 
comer, the  demands  might  have  been  evaded  with  im- 
punity. The  Portuguese,  in  fact,  did  evade  them  by 
the  simple  expedient  of  sending  their  opium  to  sea  for 
a  time  and  bringing  it  back  again.  There  is  some 
ground  for  the  surmise  that  the  High  Commissioner 
himself  reckoned  -on  evasion,  and  was  even  embarrassed 
by  his  unexpected  success  in  having  such  an  enormous 
amount  of  property  frankly  thrown  on  his  hands.  Our 
collision  with  China  may  thus  be  said  to  have  "been 
brought  about  by  a  breach  in  the  continuity  of  pre- 
cedents on  both  sides, — we  reckoning  up  to  a  certain 
point,  on  the  continuance  of  sham,  and  the  Chinese  on 
the  continuance  of  submission.  Both  were  misled,  and 
there  was  no  way  of  reconciliation  but  by  the  arbitra- 
ment of  force. 


60 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   FIRST   CHINA  WAR,    1839-1842. 


Captain  Elliot  despatches  his  only  ship  to  India  with  a  report  of  the  situa- 
tion— The  helplessness  of  the  British  community  and  persecutions  by 
the  Chinese  during  three  months — Arrival  of  two  ships — The  Chinese 
attack  them  and  are  defeated — Expedition  from  India  and  England 
arrives  —  Canton  river  blockaded  —  Attempts  to  appeal  to  Central 
Government  rebuffed — Squadron  sent  to  the  Peiho — Kishen  appointed 
to  treat — Expedition  returns  south — Negotiations  opened  near  Canton 
— Bogue  forts  destroyed  by  British  ships — Illusory  negotiations — River 
blockaded,  but  commerce  partially  resumed — Extensive  war  prepara- 
tions by  Chinese — Captain  Elliot's  confidence  in  the  Chinese — Hostili- 
ties carried  on — Canton  commanded  and  ransomed — Triumph  of  the 
populace — Operations  extended  to  northern  coasts — Agreement  be- 
tween Captain  Elliot  and  Kishen  repudiated  by  both  sovereigns — 
Arrival  of  Vice-Admiral  Sir  "William  Parker — War  vigorously  prose- 
cuted— Towns  and  forts  taken — Nanking  threatened — Commissioners 
Ilipu  and  Kiying  appointed  to  treat — Treaty  concluded  at  Nanking, 
August  29,  1842— The  character  of  Ilipu. 

Captain  Elliot,  after  the  severities  to  which  he  and 
his  countrymen  had  been  subjected,  despatched  a  vessel 
to  Calcutta  with  a  report  on  the  situation  to  the  Gover- 
nor-General of  India,  making  a  corresponding  report  at 
the  same  time  to  London.  The  departure  of  this,  the 
only  vessel  at  the  disposal  of  the  British  agent,  left  him 
and  the  mercantile  community  in  a  helpless  predicament 
during  three  critical  months,  and  it  was  natural  that 
the  Chinese  should  take  advantage  of  so  favourable  an 
opportunity  to  fill  the  cup  of  their  cruelties  fuller  than 


1839-42.]  BLOCKADE   OF   CANTON   RIVER.  61 

ever.  The  only  form  of  reprisal  which  was  left  to  the 
unfortunate  Captain  Elliot  was  his  intimation  to  the 
merchants  that  he  had  moved  both  the  British  and 
Indian  Governments  to  forbid  the  admission  of  tea  and 
other  Chinese  produce  into  their  territories — an  an- 
nouncement which  is  said  to  have  irritated  Commis- 
sioner Lin  excessively.  On  September  11,  1839,  how- 
ever, her  Majesty's  ship  Volage  appeared  on  the  scene. 
Her  commander.  Captain  Smith,  considered  that  the 
least  he  could  do  in  defence  of  his  countrymen  was 
to  blockade  the  Canton  river  by  way  of  retaliation 
for  "  the  stoppage  of  the  supplies  of  food  by  order 
of  the  Chinese  Government,  and  for  the  Chinese 
people  having  been  ordered  to  fire  upon  and  seize 
her  Majesty's  subjects  wherever  they  went ;  and  that 
certain  of  them  had  been  actually  cut  off." 

This  slight  evidence  of  vitality  on  the  part  of  the 
English  produced  an  immediate  effect  on  the  Chinese  : 
their  violent  proclamations  against  Elliot  were  with- 
drawn ;  provisions  were  no  longer  prohibited ;  and 
certain  negotiations  were  inaugurated  for  the  resump- 
tion of  trade  outside  the  Barrier ;  whereupon  Captain 
Smith  promptly  raised  the  blockade. 

Before  long,  however,  the  Chinese  resumed  their 
offensive  attitude,  endeavoured  to  compel  British  trad- 
ing ships  to  enter  within  the  Bogue,  and  renewed 
their  demands  for  the  murderer  of  a  Chinaman,  failing 
which  the  foreign  ships  were  ordered  to  depart  within 
three  days  on  pain  of  immediate  destruction.  They 
accordingly  withdrew  to  the  anchorage  of  Tongku, 
which  became  the  rendezvous  of  all  the  ships  of  war. 
Difficulties  continued  to  increase  on  both  sides,  without 
prospect  of  any  solution,   until  the  29th  of  October, 


62 


THE    FIRST    CHINA    WAR. 


[chap.  IV 


when  another  British  man-of-war,  the  Hyacinth,  arrived 
and  joined  the  Yolage.  These  vessels  proceeded  to 
Chuenpee,  with  Captain  ElHot  on  board,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  eUciting  from  the  Commissioner  some  expHcit 


II  'ai/:ir€rCo.:kereU  SC. 


MAP   OF   CANTON    WATERS. 


declaration  of  his  intentions.  They  were  at  once 
attacked  by  the  Chinese  admiral  with  a  fleet  of  twenty- 
nine  war-junks,  which  they  beat  off;  and  thus  occurred 
the  first  hostile  encounter  between  the  armed  forces  of 
the  two  nations. 


1839-42.]  BRITISH   FORCES   ASSEMBLED.  63 

Of  the  operations  which  followed,  extending  over 
nearly  three  years,  full  accounts  were  given  at  the 
time,  none  better  than  the  '  Narrative  of  the  Voyages 
and  Services  of  the  Nemesis  from  1840-43,'  by  W.  D. 
Bernard,  with  which  may  be  profitably  compared  Dr 
Eitel's  concise  history,^  published  forty  years  later, 
with  all  the  documents  before  him. 

The  British  Government  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  limits  of  forbearance  had  been  overstepped.  The 
action  of  the  Chinese  authorities  during  1839  forced  on 
it  the  choice  of  two  alternatives,  to  abandon  British 
subjects  and  their  interests  or  to  exact  reasonable 
treatment  for  them  from  the  Chinese.  The  latter  was 
selected,  and  it  was  resolved  to  demand  a  commercial 
treaty  under  which  foreign  trade  might  be  carried  on 
with  security  to  person  and  property.  In  support  of 
this  decision  military  and  naval  forces,  equipped  in 
England  and  in  India,  assembled  on  the  coast  of  China 
during  the  spring  of  1840.  Among  the  novelties  of  this 
equipment  were  a  number  of  small  light -draught  iron 
steamers,  the  most  famous  of  which  was  the  Nemesis, 
built  for  the  Honourable  Company  by  Mr  Laird  of 
Birkenhead,  drawing  only  six  feet  laden.  This  exceed- 
ingly mobile  little  craft,  under  her  energetic  com- 
mander, W.  H.  Hall,  performed  almost  incredible 
services  as  the  maid -of- all -work  of  the  expedition. 
The  blockade  of  the  Canton  river,  which  had  been 
established  and  withdrawn  several  times,  was  finally 
declared  on  the  28th  of  June  1840,  as  a  first  step  in 
the  regular  war  programme,  by  Commodore  Sir  Gordon 
Bremer.  A  few  days  later  the  command  of  the  fleet 
was  assumed  by  Hear- Admiral  the  Hon.  George  Elliot^ 

*  Europe  in  Asia.     Luzac  &  Co. 


64  THE   FIRST    CHINA   WAR.  [chap.  iv. 

who  was  also  appointed  joint-plenipotentiary  with  Cap- 
tain Charles  Elliot. 

Before  commencing  a  general  war  upon  the  Emperor 
of  China  every  resource  was  exhausted  for  opening 
communications  with  the  Imperial  Government  through 
other  channels  than  that  of  Canton.  The  frigate 
Blonde  was  despatched  for  this  purpose  to  the  harbour 
of  Amoy,  where  the  local  officials  not  only  refused  to 
receive  a  letter  from  the  English  admiral,  but  ordered 
an  attack  upon  the  boat  conveying  it  on  shore.  The 
frigate  retaliated  for  this  insult  by  opening  fire  upon 
the  Chinese  batteries  and  war-junks,  after  which  she 
returned  to  Hongkong  to  report,  proceedings  to  the 
admiral.  About  this  time,  early  in  July  1840,  the 
island  of  Chusan  was  taken  and  occupied.  The  attempt 
to  deliver  a  letter  from  Lord  Palmerston  addressed  to 
the  Cabinet  at  Peking,  by  way  of  Ningpo,  having  been 
frustrated  by  the  authorities  at  that  port,  a  blockade 
was  established  of  Hangchow  Bay  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Yangtze.  It  had  been  Captain  Elliot's  favourite 
device,  as  it  came  to  be  that  of  all  his  successors,  to 
apply  pressure  to  the  Court  of  Peking  by  means  of  a 
blockade  of  this  the  main  artery  of  the  Chinese  empire, 
and  it  was  by  following  up  this  scheme  that  the  war 
thus  commenced  in  1840  was  actually  brought  to  a 
successful  issue  in  1842. 

The  attempts  to  gain  access  to  the  Court  through 
the  southern  seaports  having  failed,  the  venue  was 
shifted  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  capital  itself  A 
heavy  squadron  of  ships  accordingly  anchored  off  the 
mouth  of  the  Peiho — a  demonstration  which  was  suf- 
ficiently menacing  to  the  capital  to  induce  the  Court  to 
appoint  an  official  to  parley  with  Captain  Elliot,  and 


1839-42.]      KISHEN   APPOINTED  :    FUTILE   NEGOTIATIONS.     65 

also  to  receive  the  undelivered  letter  from  Lord  Pal- 
merston.  Kishen,  a  Manchu  of  high  rank,  was  chosen 
for  this  service  by  the  emperor.  The  first,  perhaps  the 
sole,  object  of  Kishen's  diplomacy  was  to  relieve  the 
apprehensions  of  the  Court  by  procuring  the  prompt 
withdrawal  of  the  foreign  forces.  This  end  was  achieved 
in  one  short  conference  with  Captain  Elliot,  when 
Tientsin  was  pronounced  to  be  too  near  the  emperor's 
palace  for  negotiations,  and  it  was  decided  that  the 
scene  should  be  shifted  back  to  Canton,  a  new  com- 
missioner being  appointed  to  supersede  Lin,  the  imprac- 
ticable. The  squadron  thereupon,  about  the  end  of 
September,  withdrew  to  Chusan.  It  was  generally 
believed  that  an  armistice  had  been  arranged  pending 
negotiations,  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  only 
truce  made  applied  exclusively  to  the  island  of  Chusan, 
where  it  had  been  declared.  The  two  English  pleni- 
potentiaries repaired  to  Macao  in  November. 

All  this  while  extensive  preparations  for  hostili- 
ties were  vigorously  prosecuted  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Canton.  Attempts  to  communicate  under  flag  of 
truce  were  repelled  by  force,  and  it  was  remarked 
that  the  Chinese  were  sufficiently  well  versed  in  the 
significance  of  the  white  flag  to  make  free  use  of 
it  for  their  own  protection,  while  disregarding  its 
employment  by  the  other  side.  The  Imperial  Com- 
missioner, Kishen,  reached  Canton  at  the  end  of 
November,  his  arrival  coinciding  in  point  of  time 
with  the  invaliding  of  Admiral  Elliot,  the  co-pleni- 
potentiary, thus  leaving  the  British  negotiations  once 
more  in  the  sole  hands  of  Captain  Elliot  until  such  time 
as  Sir  Gordon  Bremer  was  appointed  as  his  associate. 

Of  the  two  diplomatists  who  had  now  to  confront 
VOL.  I.  E 


66  THE   FIRST    CHINA   WAR.  [chap.  iv. 

each  other  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  whether  the 
English  or  Chinese  was  the  more  anxious  to  avert 
hostilities.  To  avoid  precipitating  a  conflict  negoti- 
ations were  not  pressed  home  by  either  party,  nor 
were  any  steps  taken  to  give  eflect  to  the  conference 
which  had  been  held  between  them  at  Tientsin. 

The  hostile  demonstrations  of  the  Chinese,  and  the 
extraordinary  exertions  they  were  putting  forth  to 
place  themselves  in  a  position  to  bar  the  entrance 
to  the  river,  compelled  the  British  naval  commander- 
in  -  chief  to  assume  the  offensive  by  attacking  the 
outer  defences  at  its  mouth.  The  forts  and  guns 
were  destroyed  as  well  as  the  Chinese  fleet  of  war- 
junks,  native  Indian  troops  and  Royal  Marines  form- 
ing an  important  part  of  the  attacking  force.  There 
remained  extensive  fortifications  within  the  embouch- 
ure, and  every  preparation  was  made  on  both  sides 
for  resuming  the  contest  on  the  following  morning ; 
but  just  as  the  British  guns  were  about  to  open 
fire  a  small  sampan,  with  an  old  woman  and  a  man 
on  board,  was  sent  off  by  the  Chinese  admiral  pro- 
posing a  cessation  of  hostilities.  This  unpromising 
overture  did  actually  eventuate  in  an  armistice,  hold- 
ing out  the  prospect  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  but  with 
the  details  as  usual  carefully  kept  in  the  back- 
ground. During  the  period  of  truce  granted  by  Cap- 
tain Elliot  the  Chinese  continued  as  active  as  ever 
in  strengthening  and  extending  their  defences.  This 
necessitated  continued  precautions  on  the  British  side, 
for  it  is  to  be  noted  throughout  all  the  proceedings 
that  the  naval  and  military  commanders  never  shared 
the  illusions  of  Captain  Elliot  as  regards  the  con- 
ciliatory intentions  of  the  Chinese.     They  formed  their 


1839-42.]  ILLUSORY   ARRANGEMENTS.  67 

opinions  upon  what  they  saw  with  their  eyes,  and  not 
by  what  any  Chinese  official  professed  with  his  lips. 

On  January  20,  thirteen  days  after  the  attack  on 
Chuenpee  forts.  Captain  Elliot  announced  from  Macao 
that  "  prelimininary  arrangements  had  been  concluded. 
Hongkong  was  to  be  ceded,  and  an  indemnity  of 
§6,000,000  to  be  paid  by  the  Chinese  ;  direct  official 
intercourse  on  terms  of  equality,  and  trade  to  be 
resumed,  within  ten  days."  This  good  effect,  he  added, 
was  "  due  to  the  scrupulous  good  faith  of  every 
eminent  person  with  whom  negotiations  are  still 
pending."  The  British  plenipotentiary  did  not  lose 
an  hour  in  carrying  out  his  part  of  the  incomplete 
compact,  which  was  the  substantial  one  of  rendering- 
back  to  the  Chinese  their  captured  forts.  The  cere- 
mony of  the  rendition  of  the  Chuenpee  forts  was 
performed  on  the  21st,  when  the  British  flag  was 
formally  struck  and  the  Chinese  hoisted  in  its  place 
under  a  salute  from  the  flagship.  On  the  other  side 
the  occupation  of  Hongkong  by  the  British  forces 
proceeded  just  as  if  the  arrangements  between  the 
plenipotentiaries  had  been  definitive. 

Serious  conferences  then  ensued  between  the  British 
and  Chinese  plenipotentiaries  within  the  river,  at  a 
point  known  as  the  Second  Bar.  The  blockade  was 
nevertheless  maintained,  so  that  a  French  corvette 
which  arrived  to  watch  the  course  of  events  was 
unable  to  enter  the  river.  Captain  Elliot,  however, 
invited  her  commander  to  accompany  him  and  "  assist " 
at  his  interview  with  Kishen.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
conciliatory  attitude  of  the  Chinese  commissioner  was 
severely  denounced  from  the  throne,  and  while  these 
conferences  were  proceeding,  messengers  of  war  were 


68  THE   FIRST    CHINA    WAR.  [chap.  iv. 

on  their  way  from  Peking  charged  with  nothing  less 
than  the  extermination  of  the  barbarians.  Kishen 
was  degraded,  and  instead  of  peaceable  negotiations, 
a  proclamation  w^  placarded  on  the  walls  of  Canton 
offering  $50,000  each  for  the  heads  of  the  British 
plenipotentiary  and  the  commodore. 

After  the  expiration  of  this  one  -  sided  truce  open 
hostilities  were  re-entered  upon.  The  Bogue  forts  had 
to  be  once  more  captured,  and  the  British  flag  re- 
hoisted.  That  accomplished,  the  blockade  of  the  river 
was  raised.  This  somewhat  remarkable  step  was  no 
doubt  due  to  the  overmastering  anxiety  shown  through- 
out by  Captain  Elliot  for  the  immediate  resumption 
of  trade,  he  having  learnt  in  the  Company's  school 
to  place  the  current  season's  business  above  every 
other  consideration.  It  appears  certain  that  the  quite 
disproportionate  value  attached  by  him  to  this  one 
object  obscured  his  perspective,  if  indeed  it  did  not 
vitiate  his  whole  policy.  Trading  vessels  were  per- 
mitted to  proceed  up-river,  but  under  the  peculiar 
reservation  that  the  stakes,  chains,  and  barriers  placed 
by  the  Chinese  to  obstruct  navigation  should  first  be 
removed.  The  fleet,  nevertheless,  had  still  to  fight 
its  way  up  to  Canton,  Captain  Elliot  meanwhile  never 
ceasing  to  make  overtures  of  peace  to  the  Chinese. 
There  were  truces  and  suspensions  of  hostilities,  all 
of  the  same  nature,  binding  only  on  one  side,  and 
such  a  medley  of  peace  and  war  as  seemed  rather 
to  belong  to  the  middle  ages  than  to  the  nineteenth 
century.  Trade  was  pushed  on  all  the  more  briskly 
for  the  general  fear  that  the  duration  of  peace  was 
likely  to  be  brief;  and  as  both  parties  were  alike 
interested    in    getting   the   season's   produce   shipped. 


1839-42.]     CAPTAIN  ELLIOT's  CONFIDENCE  IN   CHINESE.      69 

the  Chinese  authorities  were  not  ill  -  pleased  to  see 
commerce  thus  carried  on  while  they  employed  the 
interval  in  hurrying  forward  their  grand  preparations 
for  the  crushing  of  the  invading  force.  Hostilities 
were  suspended  by  an  agreement  on  March  20,  1841, 
and  Captain  Elliot,  after  residing  some  time  in  the 
foreign  factory,  where  he  had  opportunities  of  sound- 
ing the  disposition  of  the  new  commissioners,  declared 
himself  perfectly  satisfied  with  their  "  assurances  of 
good  faith,"  which  he  repeated  in  the  same  public 
manner  a  fortnight  later — that  is,  a  month  after  the 
suspension  of  hostilities.  On  leaving  the  Canton  fac- 
tory Captain  Elliot,  strong  in  the  faith  he  professed, 
urged  on  the  senior  naval  officer  the  propriety  of 
moving  his  ships  away  from  the  city  in  order  to 
show  our  peaceful  disposition,  the  guard  of  marines 
which  had  been  stationed  for  the  protection  of  the 
factories  to  be  at  the  same  time  withdrawn. 

The  mercantile  community  by  no  means  participated 
in  the  confidence  of  the  plenipotentiary,  nor,  as  we 
have  said,  did  the  naval  commanders.  Indeed  so 
little  satisfied  were  they  with  the  turn  of  affairs, 
that  Sir  Gordon  Bremer  left  in  a  Company's  steamer 
for  Calcutta  to  lay  the  situation  before  the  Governor- 
General  of  India.  ^  This  occurred  in  the  middle  of 
April.  In  the  beginning  of  May  troops  were  seen 
pouring  into  the  forts  near  the  city.  An  immense 
number  of  fire-rafts  in  preparation  to  burn  the  fleet 

^  Commodore  Senhouse,  who  succeeded  temporarily  to  the  command,  was 
so  mortified  by  the  coui'se  of  diplomacy  that  his  death  at  Hongkong  in  the 
month  of  June  1841  was  believed  to  have  been  hastened  thereby.  His 
dying  request  was  that  his  body  should  be  taken  to  Macao,  for  burial,  as  he 
feared  that  further  conciliatory  measures  might  result  in  Hongkong  being 
given  back  to  the  Chinese. 


70  THE   FIRST   CHINA   WAR.  [chap.  iv. 

could  not  be  concealed,  while  placards  of  a  most 
menacing  character  were  posted  about  the  city  walls. 
Captain  Elliot,  whether  he  was  shaken  in  his  belief 
in  the  pacific  assurances  of  the  Chinese  authorities 
or  not,  returned  to  the  scene,  on  board  the  Nemesis, 
on  the  10th  of  May,  and  it  is  said  that,  in  order  to 
show  the  Chinese  that  he  still  believed  in  their 
good  faith,  he  was  accompanied  on  this  one  occasion  by 
his  wife,  probably  the  first  European  woman  who  had 
set  foot  in  Canton. 

Several  weeks  more  elapsed  before  the  British 
plenipotentiary  allowed  himself  to  be  finally  dis- 
illusioned. Then  he  issued  a  proclamation  to  the 
merchants  warning  them  to  be  prepared  to  leave 
the  factories  at  a  moment's  notice,  while  the  inevit- 
able Nemesis  was  moved  close  up  for  the  protection 
of  the  foreign  community  generally.  The  Chinese 
had  employed  the  greatest  ingenuity  in  masking 
their  warlike  preparations,  and  even  at  the  last, 
when  they  saw  that  concealment  was  no  longer 
possible,  they  attempted  to  allay  the  a23prehensions 
of  the  foreigners  by  issuing  an  edict  in  order  *'  to 
calm  the  feelings  of  the  merchants  and  to  tran- 
quillise  commercial  business," — their  object  being,  as  it 
was  confidently  alleged,  to  take  the  whole  community 
by  surprise  and  completely  annihilate  them. 

Although  thus  attempting  to  lull  the  foreigners, 
the  Chinese  authorities  had  previously  warned  the 
natives,  through  the  elders,  to  remove  their  families 
and  effects  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  river.  On 
the  very  day  after  the  soothing  proclamation.  May 
21,  the  signal  for  the  renewal  of  the  war  was  given 
by    the   launching   of  a   number   of  ingeniously    con- 


1839-42.]  ATTACK   BY   FIRE-RAFTS.  71 

trived  fire-rafts,  which  were  dropped  down  by  the 
tide  upon  the  EngHsh  vessels  with  the  design  of 
burning  them  at  their  anchors.  This  scheme  failed 
in  its  object,  partly  from  miscalculation,  —  only  ten 
or  twelve  out  of  about  a  hundred  being  ignited,  — 
and  partly  from  the  intrepidity  of  the  British  officers 
and  seamen  in  grappling  with  those  they  could  reach 
in  their  boats,  and  towing  them  out  of  their  intended 
course.  Indeed  the  destructive  effects  of  these  elab- 
orate engines  were  turned  on  the  Chinese  themselves, 
some  of  the  rafts  taking  the  ground  close  to  the  city 
and  setting  fire  to  the  suburbs.  This  fiasco  was 
followed  on  the  one  side  by  an  attack  on  the  forts 
and  the  destruction  of  a  very  large  fleet  of  war-junks, 
and  on  the  other  by  the  demolition  and  pillage  of  the 
foreign  factories,  not  however  without  some  curious 
discrimination. 

The  attack  on  Canton  was  now  undertaken  in 
earnest.  On  the  26th  May  the  heights  in  rear  of 
the  city  had  been  captured  and  were  held  in  force, 
so  that  the  whole  Chinese  position  was  completely 
commanded.  Everything  was  ready  for  the  assault, 
which  would  have  been  a  bloodless  affair,  an  elevation 
just  within  the  wall  affording  a  military  vantage- 
ground  from  which  the  whole  city  could  have  been 
dominated  without  the  least  risk  by  a  very  small 
force.  At  this  critical  moment  Captain  Elliot  appeared 
to  stay  the  hand  of  Sir  Hugh  Gough  and  Commodore 
Senhouse,  the  commanders  of  the  military  and  naval 
forces  respectively.  Captain  Elliot  had,  in  fact,  granted 
a  truce  in  order  to  discuss,  not  the  terms  of  peace 
with  China,  but  merely  the  conditions  on  which  the 
British  forces  should  retire  from  Canton.     The  principal 


72  THE   FIRST   CHINA   WAR.  [chap.  iv. 

of  these  were  that  the  city  should  be  evacuated  by 
all  the  Chinese  and  Manchu  troops,  estimated  at 
45,000,  over  whom  the  authorities  proved  that  they 
had  perfect  control ;  and  that  the  authorities  should 
pay  the  ransom  of  $6,000,000,  in  consideration  of  which 
all  the  river  forts  were  to  be  restored  to  the  Chinese, 
under  the  proviso  that  the  forts  below  Whampoa 
were  not  to  be  rearmed  until  the  final  conclusion  of 
peace.  From  first  to  last  1200  pieces  of  cannon  had 
been  captured  or  destroyed  in  these  river  forts,  which 
would  in  any  case  have  taken  some  time  to  replace. 

The  incident  which  closed  this  transaction  having 
an  important  bearing  upon  future  events,  it  merits 
particular  attention.  Two  days  after  the  agreement 
was  concluded  the  armed  Braves  of  the  city  and 
locality  began  to  assemble  in  great  numbers  on  the 
heights  threatening  the  British  position,  and  they 
even  advanced  to  the  attack.  Fighting  ensued,  which 
lasted  two  days,  during  which  the  Chinese  force  was 
constantly  augmenting,  and,  though  more  than  once 
dispersed  by  the  British,  it  was  only  to  reassemble 
in  greater  numbers  and  renew  the  attack.  Thus  the 
ransoming  of  the  city  seemed  to  be  but  the  beginning 
of  strife.  At  length  the  British  commander  insisted 
upon  the  prefect  of  Canton  going  out  to  the  Braves 
and  causing  them  to  disperse,  after  which  the  British 
force  re-embarked.  The  incident  left  on  the  minds 
of  the  Cantonese  the  conviction  that  they  were  in- 
vincible, for  they  took  to  themselves  the  whole  credit 
of  expelling  the  barbarians.^  This  belief  was  destined 
to  bear  much  bitter  fruit  in  after-days. 

^  In  a  proclamation  issued  in  1844  it  was  said,  "Remember  how  our 
people  were  persuaded  not  to  fall  upon  and  massacre  your  soldiers." 


1839-42.]  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   HONGKONG.  73 

The  emperor  repudiated  all  these  pacific  arrange- 
ments, and  ordered  that  as  soon  as  the  English  ships 
had  withdrawn  new  and  stronger  forts  were  to  be 
erected  and  armed.  After  the  anomalous  episode  of 
Canton  the  war  was  transferred  to  the  northern  coasts. 
Hongkong,  with  its  capacious  and  well-sheltered  har- 
bour and  facilities  for  ingress  and  egress,  was  found 
to  be  an  admirable  naval  and  military  base,  and  the 
island  soon  became  a  scene  of  intense  activity  afloat 
and  ashore.  The  Chinese  were  attracted  to  it  in  great 
numbers.  Tradesmen,  mechanics,  builders,  carpenters, 
servants,  boatmen,  market-people,  and  common  labour- 
ers flocked  into  the  island,  where  one  and  all  found 
profitable  employment  both  under  the  British  Govern- 
ment and  in  connection  with  the  commercial  establish- 
ment which  had  already  been  set  up  there.  It  is 
estimated  that  during  the  year  1841  not  less  than 
15,000  natives  from  the  mainland  had  taken  up  their 
quarters  in  the  new  possession  of  Great  Britain,  and 
were  naturally  of  material  assistance  in  the  fitting  out 
of  the  great  expedition  which  was  about  to  invade  the 
eastern  seaboard.  One  drawback,  unfortunately,  soon 
showed  itself  in  the  sickness  and  mortality  of  the 
troops,  who  were  attacked  by  a  fever  attributed, 
rightly  or  wrongly,  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  soil, 
which  was  composed  of  decomposed  granite.  Possibly, 
however,  the  hardships  of  campaigning  in  the  un- 
healthy delta  of  the  Canton  river  predisposed  the 
men,  when  the  excitement  was  over,  to  attacks  of 
the  diseases  associated  with  the  name  of  Hongkong. 
This  disastrous  epidemic  left  to  the  colony  an  evil 
reputation,  which  survived  many  years  of  hygienic 
improvement. 


74  THE    FIRST   CHINA   WAR.  [chap.  iv. 

The  agreement  concluded  between  Captain  Elliot 
and  Kishen,  repudiated  by  the  emperor,  was  no  less 
emphatically  disapproved  of  by  the  Government  of 
Great  Britain.  Captain  Elliot  was  recalled,  and 
quitted  China  on  August  24,  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  the 
new  plenipotentiary,  having  arrived,  in  company  with 
Vice- Admiral  Sir  William  Parker,  on  the  10th,  to  the 
great  joy  of  every  one.  The  war  was  thereupon  pur- 
sued systematically  and  with  vigour. 

The  twelve  months  over  which  these  operations  ex- 
tended will  not  seem  long  if  we  consider  that  the  coast 
of  China,  with  its  marvellous  archipelago,  was  then 
scarcely  known  to  navigators ;  that  the  ships  were 
propelled  by  sails ;  that  they  had  to  operate  nearly 
1000  miles  from  their  base — and  that  a  place  of  which 
they  held  precarious  possession  ;  and  that  the  greatest 
caution  was  required  in  moving  a  squadron  of  fifty 
vessels,  besides  transports  and  store-ships.  Indeed 
the  real  matter  for  surprise — and  it  reflects  the  highest 
credit  on  the  officers  concerned — is  that  in  an  expedi- 
tion of  such  magnitude,  including  the  advance  of  200 
miles  up  the  Yangtze,  a  river  till  then  quite  unknown, 
so  few  casualties  occurred.  It  should  also  be  remem- 
bered that  in  this  war  against  China  precautions  of 
quite  unusual  stringency  were  observed  for  the  pro- 
tection of  private  property  and  the  avoidance  of  injury 
to  the  population. 

The  Chinese  Government  was  allowed  ample  time 
for  reflection  between  each  step  in  the  hostile  advance, 
yet  neither  the  capture  of  the  coast  forts  and  cities 
nor  the  incursions  which  were  made  from  convenient 
points  into  the  interior  sufficed  to  bring  the  Court 
of  Peking  to  sue  for  terms.     Amoy,  Chinhae,  Chapu, 


1839-42.]         SEIZURE   OF   THE   STRATEGIC   CENTRE. 


75 


Ningpo,  Wusung,  and  Shanghai  were  taken  in  succes- 
sion, and  Chusan  was  reoccupied.  The  Chinese  defence 
of  these  various  places  was  far  from  contemptible,  ex- 
cepting only  as  regarded  the  antiquity  of  its  methods 
and  the  inefficiency  of  its  weapons.  The  fortifications 
at  the  various  ports  were  very  extensive,  and  were 
mounted  with  an  immense  number  of  guns.  The 
troops  in  most  cases  stood  bravely  the  attack  by  su- 
perior weapons  and  skill,  in  several  cases  waiting  for 


fVa/Jter  6-  Coc/tertii  ic. 


YANGTZE  AND  GRAND  CANAL. 


the  bayonet  charge  before  abandoning  their  earth- 
works. It  was  not  until  the  fleet  had  made  its  way 
up  the  Yangtze,  secured  the  Grand  Canal  which 
connects  the  rich  rice -growing  provinces  with  the 
northern  capital,  and  had  taken  its  station  in  front 
of  Nanking,  the  southern  capital,  that  the  strategic 
centre  of  the  empire  was  reached. 

At  Nanking,  therefore,  commissioners  were  appointed 
to  treat  with  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  and  as  they  had 


76  THE   FIRST   CHINA   WAR.  [chap.  iv. 

nothing  to  do  but  acquiesce  in  his  demands  with  the 
best  grace,  while  at  the  same  time  saving  the  face  of 
the  Imperial  Government  as  much  as  the  circumstances 
of  such  a  surrender  would  allow,  the  long -desired 
treaty  of  commerce  was  at  last  concluded  on  August 
29,   1842. 

The  two  Imperial  Commissioners  intrusted  with  the 
negotiations  were  men  of  the  highest  distinction  and 
rank,  Ilipu  and  Kiying.  Of  the  latter  it  was  said 
that  he  was  the  first  high  officer  who  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  had  dared  to  tell  the  naked 
truth  to  his  imperial  master.  Their  joint  memorial  to 
the  throne,  on  which  the  imperial  instructions  for  sign- 
ing the  treaty  were  based,  was  remarkable  for  its  clear- 
ness, simplicity,  and  outspokenness,  contrasting  in 
these  respects  strongly  with  the  customary  tone  of 
flattery,  evasion,  and  bombast.  Of  Kiying  we  shall 
hear  further  in  the  sequel. 

Ilipu  was  already  an  old  man  and  infirm.  His  name 
is  never  mentioned  by  contemporary  writers  without 
respect  amounting  almost  to  veneration.  Governor- 
general  in  Nanking,  he  had  been  appointed  Imperial 
Commissioner  and  ordered  to  Ningpo  to  get  the  de- 
pendent island  Chusan  cleared  of  foreigners.  He  had 
thus  been  brought  into  communication  with  the  foreign 
commanders  in  connection  with  the  occupation  of 
Ningpo  and  the  capture  of  Chapu,  out  of  which  a 
correspondence  ensued  alike  honourable  to  both  sides. 
A  number  of  Chinese  prisoners,  after  having  their 
wounds  attended  to  and  their  wants  provided  for,  with 
a  small  present  of  money,  were  restored  to  liberty  by 
the  British  commander.  This  unexpected  action 
seemed   to   impress   Ilipu,   who   in   return   sent   down 


1839-42.] 


TREATY    OF   NANKING   RATIFIED. 


77 


to  Chapu  a  number  of  English  prisoners,  who  had 
been  for  some  time  incarcerated  at  Hangchow,  treating 
them  handsomely,  according  to  his  lights.  The  de- 
spatch of  the  prisoners  was  accompanied  by  a  respect- 
ful letter  to  Sir  Hugh  Gough  and  Sir  William  Parker, 
probably  the  first  communication  deserving  to  be  so 
styled  that  ever  passed  between  a  high  Chinese  officer 
and  a  foreigner.  These  circumstances  augured  well 
for  the  success  of  future  intercourse.  Ilipu  was  sent 
to  Canton  as  High  Commissioner  to  arrange  details 
as  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  treaty.  He  died  there, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Kiying,  who  brought  the  rati- 
fication of  the  treaty  to  Hongkong  in  June  1843. 


_s?_ 


78 


CHAPTER  y. 

THE    TREATY    OF     1842. 

A  one-sided  bargain — Not  deemed  by  Chinese  obligatory — Condemned  by 
powerful  parties — The  Chinese  conscience  against  it — Fulfilment  there- 
fore could  not  be  voluntary — The  Chinese  and  Manchus  compared — 
Repugnance  to  treaty  common  to  them  both — Much  determination 
needed  to  obtain  fulfilment. 

Out  of  such  antecedents  in  peace  and  war  it  was  a 
moral  impossibility  that  normal  international  relations 
between  Chinese  and  foreigners  should  follow  the  con- 
clusion of  peace. 

The  treaty  signed  at  Nanking  by  Sir  Henry  Pottinger 
in  1842,  simple  and  explicit  in  its  grammatical  con- 
struction, and  fulfilling  as  far  as  words  could  do  so  all 
the  conditions  of  a  charter  of  fair  trade,  was  tainted 
with  the  vices  of  a  one-sided  bargain.  Undeed  the 
Chinese  did  not  regard  it  in  the  light  of  a  bargain 
at  all,  but  as  a  yoke  temporarily  imposed  on  them 
which  it  was  their  business  to  shake  off.  Sir  John 
Davis  has  told  us  that  "  at  Peking  almost  every 
Chinese  of  rank  and  influence  was  opposed  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty.  The 
negotiators  of  it  shared  in  the  odium  of  the  cowardly 
generals  who  had  deceived  their  sovereign  by  false 
representations    of    their    powers    of    defence."      The 


THE  TREATY  A  TEMPORARY  EXPEDIENT.      79 

obligations  of  the  treaty,  in  fact,  sat  so  lightly  on 
their  consciences,  that  only  so  far  as  they  were  held 
rigorously  to  its  provisions  would  they  observe  them. 

The  open-mouthed  denunciation  of  the  treaty  in  high 
quarters  was  but  the  textual  confirmation  of  what  was 
obvious  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  the  Chinese 
Government  regarded  the  treaty  of  Nanking  as  a  i^se 
de  guerre,  a  mere  expedient  for  purchasing  present 
relief,  *'  a  temporary  arrangement  in  order  to  recover 
from  our  losses." 

The  official  animus  and  the  political  conscience  were 
thus  entirely  on  the  side  of  what  we  call  bad  faith, 
a  state  of  things  which  has  come  down  unabated  to 
our  own  time,  though  prudence  on  the  one  side  and 
pressure  on  the  other  have  generally  toned  down  the 
outward  manifestation  of  it. 

Fulfilment  of  the  treaty  under  these  circumstances 
could  only  be  hoped  for  by  the  actual  employment  of 
the  coercive  agency  which  had  secured  its  signature, 
or  by  the  conviction,  firmly  rooted  in  the  minds  of  the 
Chinese,  that  such  agency  was  always  ready  to  be 
invoked.  But  as  perpetual  coercion  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  satisfactory  working  relations 
demanded  on  the  part  of  the  British  agents  responsible 
for  the  execution  of  the  treaty  a  rare  combination  of 
personal  qualities.  They  had,  in  fact,  to  assume  a 
power  which  they  did  not  possess,  to  trade  upon  the 
prestige  which  their  country  had  gained  by  the  success 
of  its  arms,  trusting  that  their  pretensions  might  be 
tacitly  acquiesced  in.  Had  this  attitude  been  con- 
sistently maintained,  in  small  as  well  as  in  great 
things,    from    the   very   outset,    there    is    no    telling 


80  THE   TREATY    OF    1842.  [chap.  v. 

whether  the  observance  of  the  treaty  might  not  have 
become  a  matter  of  Chinese  routine,  and  in  time  ac- 
quired the  sacred  authority  of  custom.  But  the  con- 
trary was  the  case,  and  it  was  not  the  observance  but 
the  non-observance  of  the  treaty  that  was  allowed  to 
acquire  the  sanction  of  custom. 

The  conduct  of  the  war  offered  conclusive  evidence 
that  thouD^h  certain  individuals,  from  either  better 
knowledge  or  higher  principle  than  their  contempor- 
aries, were  inclined  to  meet  their  enemies  fairly,  yet 
the  conscience  of  the  State,  as  authoritatively  repre- 
sented in  the  emperor's  edicts,  rejected  as  absurd 
the  notion  of  keeping  any  kind  of  faith  with  the 
barbarians.  Hence  the  barren  result  of  all  appeals 
to  the  binding  authority  of  the  compact,  unless  when 
backed  by  force ;  hence  also  the  efficacy  of  every 
application  of  force  in  the  dealings  of  foreign  nations 
with  China  whether  before  or  after  the  treaty  of 
1842.  This  consideration  is  indeed  of  the  essence  of 
our  Chinese  relations,  though  habitually  ignored  in 
the  conduct  of  our  intercourse. 

As  reo;ards  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  Government 
towards  foreigners  in  connection  with  the  war  and  the 
peace,  an  interesting  and  suggestive  distinction  has 
been  drawn  by  Sir  John  Davis  between  the  two  ele- 
ments in  the  Government,  the  Chinese  and  the 
Manchu, — a  distinction  which  has  been  independently 
made  by  other  observers.  It  is  therefore  a  point  well 
worthy  of  being  kept  in  view  both  in  the  conduct 
of  official  intercourse  and  in  speculations  as  to  the 
future  of  the  Chinese  empire.  Sir  John  Davis,  who, 
first  as  a  Company's  agent  in  China,  then  for  a  short 
time  as  British  envoy  before  the  war,  and  eventually 


MANCHU   MODERATION.  81 

chief  superintendent  of  trade  for  some  years  after  that 
event,  had  much  experience  in  dealing  with  officials 
of  the  two  races,  is  emphatic  on  the  point  that 
moderation  and  humanity  were  always  found  on  the 
side  of  the  Manchus,  while  implacable  ferocity  allied 
with  treachery  distinguished  the  Chinese  officials.  The 
war,  he  says,  was  solely  the  work  of  the  latter,  the 
peace,  of  the  former.  "  New  Tajin  was  a  thorough 
Chinese,  and,  like  the  rest  of  his  tribe,  vociferous  for 
war  while  it  was  absent,  but  unable  to  sustain  its 
presence  ;  while  the  Tartars  were  generally  advocates 
for  peace,  though  they  did  their  duty  in  an  emer- 
gency." The  antithetic  character  of  the  two  races 
shown  collectively  and  individually  has  been  a  matter 
of  general  remark  by  foreigners  acquainted  with  both. 
"  Ilipu,"  says  Davis,  "  a  Manchu  by  birth,  possessed 
the  un  -  Chinese  quality  of  straightforwardness  and 
honesty  of  purpose.  ...  As  an  early  adviser  of  the 
sovereign,  he  had  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  from 
risking  a  foreign  quarrel  in  making  the  English  a 
party  to  the  question  of  restricting  the  consumption 
of  opium  among  his  own  subjects." 

The  Manchu  Kishen,  who  replaced  Commissioner 
Lin  on  the  failure  of  the  latter,  was  also  a  man  of 
good  faith.  He  did  his  best  first  to  avoid  and  then 
to  terminate  the  war,  and  in  the  middle  of  it  concluded 
a  convention  with  Captain  Elliot  by  which  Hongkong 
was  ceded  and  six  millions  of  dollars  were  to  be  paid 
as  ransom  for  Canton.  Yet  havinof  been  admonished 
by  the  emperor  "  to  arouse  the  patriotism  of  the  nation 
and  send  the  heads  of  the  rebellious  barbarians  to 
Peking  in  baskets,  for  to  treat  them  reasonably  is  out 
of  the  question,"  he  had  to  excuse  himself  by  resort 

VOL.  I.  F 


82  THE   TREATY   OF    1842.  [chap.  v. 

to  a  false  pretence  of  treachery.  The  convention  he 
represented  as  a  ruse,  because  "  his  reinforcements  were 
yet  far  off";  but  he  declared  that,  "bearing  the  bar- 
barians many  a  grudge,"  he  only  abided  his  time  "  for 
exterminating  them  whenever  it  can  be  done."  In  the 
impeachment  of  that  capable  statesman  one  of  the 
charges  was,  "  You  gave  to  the  barbarians  Hongkong 
as  a  dwelling-place,  contrary  to  our  law  of  indivisi- 
bility," to  which  he  was  fain  to  answer,  "  I  pretended 
to  do  so,  from  the  mere  force  of  circumstances,  to  put 
them  off  for  a  time,  but  had  no  such  serious  intention ; 
...  a  mere  feint  to  avert  the  further  outrages  of  the 
barbarians." 

He  took  up  similar  ground  in  apologising  for  the 
conduct  of  Admiral  Kwan,  a  brave  and  respectable 
officer,  who  had  asked  and  obtained  an  armistice  in 
the  Canton  river  :  "  He  has  agreed  to  a  truce  with  the 
barbarians  merely  to  gain  time  and  be  in  a  state  to 
resist  them." 

The  courtesy  of  the  Manchus  was  no  less  conspicuous. 
Lord  Jocelyn,  as  quoted  by  Mr  Hunter,  remarked,  after 
a  meeting  with  Kishen  :  "  He  rose  at  our  entrance  and 
received  the  mission  with  great  courtesy  and  civility. 
Indeed  the  manners  of  these  high  mandarins  would 
have  done  honour  to  any  courtier  in  the  most  polished 
Court  of  Europe."  A  French  envoy  was  similarly  im- 
pressed in  an  interview  with  Kiying :  "I  have  visited 
many  European  Courts,"  he  said,  "  and  have  met  and 
known  many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  belonging 
to  them,  but  for  polished  manners,  dignity,  and  ease 
I  have  never  seen  these  Chinese  surpassed." 

While  the  noblest  of  the  officials  were  thus  driven  to 
assume  a  perfidy  which  was  not  really  in  their  heart 


CHINESE   PERFIDY.  83 

ill  order  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  prevailing 
temper,  the  baser  minds  were  clamouring  open-mouthed 
for  meeting  honour  with  dishonour.  For  it  is  instruc- 
tive to  recall  that  the  most  truculent  officials — Com- 
missioner Lin,  for  example  —  based  their  slippery 
strategy  on  the  known  good  faith  of  the  barbarians, 
''  which  made  their  engagements  sacred,"  as  the  Roman 
generals  took  advantage  of  the  Sabbatical  prejudices 
of  the  Jews.  The  Chinese  could  afford  to  play  fast 
and  loose  with  their  end  of  the  rope,  knowing  the 
other  end  to  be  secured  to  a  pillar  of  good  faith.  The 
commissioners  who  signed  the  treaty  in  their  report  to 
the  throne  also  testified  that  "  the  English  had  acted 
with  uniform  sincerity." 

The  confiding  spirit  of  the  English  tempted  the 
common  run  of  Chinese  officials  to  practise  systematic 
deception.  Thus  a  disreputable  Tartar,  who  was  gover- 
nor of  Canton,  reported  that  he  had  "  resolved  to  get 
rid  of  them  by  a  sum  of  money,  as  by  far  the  cheapest 
way.  .  .  .  But  once  having  got  rid  of  them,  and  blocked 
up  all  the  passages  leading  to  Canton,  we  may  again 
cut  off  their  commerce,  and  place  them  in  the  worst 
possible  position,"  thus  anticipating  almost  to  the  letter 
what  took  place  at  the  Taku  forts  in  the  second  war 
between  1858-59.  A  pamphlet,  attributed  to  Com- 
missioner Lin,  whose  wanton  atrocities  had  provoked 
the  war,  after  testifying  to  the  habitual  good  faith 
of  the  barbarian,  urged  the  Government  **  never  to 
conclude  a  peace  :  an  armistice,  a  temporary  arrange- 
ment for  the  present,  in  order  to  recover  from  our 
losses,  is  all  we  desire." 

The  Manchu  and  Chinese  races  are  the  complement 
of  each   other   in   the   economy   of  the   State.       The 


84  THE   TREATY   OF    1842.  [cHAP.  V. 

Manchus,  with  their  military  heredity,  were  best  fitted 
for  the  imperial  role,  while  the  Chinese  are  by  tradition 
rather  men  of  business  than  administrators.  From 
which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  material  progress 
of  the  country  will  rest  more  with  the  Chinese  with 
all  their  faults  than  with  the  Manchus  with  their 
governing  instincts.  The  Peking  Court,  indeed,  has 
been  long  under  the  numerically  preponderant  influ- 
ence of  the  Chinese,  and  except  in  matters  of  dynastic 
interest  they  are  Chinese  rather  than  Manchu  ethics 
which  govern  the  acts  of  State.  The  counsels  of  such 
men  as  Lin  and  the  Chinese  party  generally  prevailed, 
as  we  have  seen,  over  those  of  the  distinguished 
Manchus,  some  of  them  belonging  to  the  imperial 
family,  who  had  to  do  with  the  foreign  imbroglio, 
and  it  was  in  full  accord  with  Chinese  sentiment  that 
the  Emperor  Tao-kuang  was  brought  to  declare  that 
such  a  nation  as  the  English  should  not  be  allowed 
to  exist  on  the  earth. 

Much  of  the  hostility  to  the  treaty  may  no  doubt  be 
fairly  referable  to  the  military  humiliation  of  a  Govern- 
ment to  whom  war  was  rebellion  and  rebellion  parri- 
cide. Nor  is  the  exasperation  of  the  Chinese  against 
their  conquerors  to  be  measured  by  those  chivalrous 
standards  which  have  been  evolved  from  the  tradi- 
tions of  nations  accustomed,  even  in  war,  to  meet  as 
equals.  They  were  playing  the  game  under  a  different 
set  of  rules.  But  when  every  such  allowance  has  been 
made,  the  moral  principle  governing  Chinese  official 
conduct  cannot  be  designated  by  any  word  in  Western 
vocabularies  but  perfidy.  Belligerency  as  understood 
by  Western  nations  did  not  enter  into  their  conception, 
and   their   war   tactics   of  kidnapping,    poisoning  the 


INHERENT   DIFFICULTIES   OF   INTERCOURSE. 


85 


water,  torturing  and  massacring  prisoners,  and  so  forth, 
differed  little  from  their  procedure  in  time  of  peace, 
being  in  either  case  based  on  the  implicit  negation  of 
human  rights  in  connection  with  foreigners. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  what  difficulties  had  to  be 
encountered,  even  under  the  treaty,  in  guiding  the 
intercourse  between  Chinese  and  foreigners  into  safe 
and  peaceable  channels ;  how  much  depended  on  the 
tact  and  capacity  of  the  newly  appointed  consuls,  and 
how  little  assistance  they  could  hope  for  from  the 
department  which  commissioned  them.  For  no  matter 
how  perspicacious  the  Home  Government  might  from 
time  to  time  be,  they  were  as  much  in  the  hands  of 
their  representatives  after  as  they  had  been  before 
the  war.  The  distance  was  too  great  and  the  com- 
munication too  slow  for  the  most  vigilant  ministry 
to  do  more  than  issue  general  instructions.  "  The 
man  on  the  spot"  would  act  as  his  judgment  or  his 
feelings  or  his  power  prompted  as  emergencies  might 
arise,  and  we  have  seen  how  even  the  clear  intentions 
of  Lord  Palmerston  were  thwarted  by  the  idiosyncrasies 
of  some  of  his  agents  in  China. 


86 


CHAPTEE    VL 

THE   FRUITS    OF   THE   WAR   AND    PROSPECTS   OF   PEACE. 

Pretensions  of  British  and  Chinese  irreconcilable — International  equality 
inconceivable  by  Chinese — British  aims  as  set  forth  by  merchants — 
The  inadequacy  of  their  demands — Clearer  insight  of  their  Government 
— Unsteadiness  of  British  policy — Consistency  of  Chinese  policy — Treaty 
to  be  observed  so  far  as  needful  to  obviate  another  war — Canton  irre- 
concilable— Ransoming  the  city  in  1841  the  cause  of  much  subsequent 
trouble  there. 

The  pretensions  of  the  contending  parties  being  absol- 
utely irreconcilable,  no  spontaneous  accommodation  was 
possible  between  them.  The  Chinese  could  never  ac- 
knowledge, or  even  comprehend,  equality  among  nations, 
the  single  relationship  of  victor  and  victim  being  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  their  international  ethics.  If, 
therefore,  they  ever  set  before  their  minds  the  issue  to 
be  decided  by  a  war,  it  must  have  assumed  the  brutal 
but  simple  oriental  form,  Whose  foot  is  to  be  on  the 
other's  neck  ?  The  question,  then,  to  be  submitted  to 
the  ordeal  of  battle  between  Great  Britain  and  China 
was.  Which  should  be  the  uppermost ;  which  should 
henceforth  dictate  to  the  other?  In  justice  to  the 
Chinese,  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  realised  more 
clearly  than  their  adversary  what  the  quarrel  really 
signified.  What  disconcerted  them  and  led  to  chronic 
misunderstanding  in  the  sequel  was  the  after-discovery 


OBJECTS   OF   THE   WAR.  87 

that  the  victor  was  slack  in  claiming  the  fruits  of  his 
victory.  Whether  they  really  expected  success  to 
attend  their  arms  may  be  an  open  question,  for  their 
ingrained  habit  of  boasting  of  their  prowess  may  have 
deceived  even  themselves.  With  this  caveat  the  tem- 
per in  which  the  Chinese  entered  on  hostilities  may  be 
gathered  from  a  proclamation  of  the  High  Commissioner 
and  the  viceroy  of  Canton  in  September  1839: — 

Let  it  be  asked  [they  say],  though  the  foreign  soldiers  be 
numerous,  can  they  amount  to  one  tenth-thousandth  part  of 
ours  ?  Though  it  be  allowed  that  the  foreign  guns  are 
powerful  and  effective,  can  their  ammunition  be  employed  for 
any  long  period  and  not  be  expended  ?  If  they  venture  to 
enter  the  port,  there  will  be  but  a  moment's  blaze  and  they  will 
be  turned  to  cinders.  If  they  dare  to  go  on  shore,  it  is  per- 
mitted to  all  the  people  to  seize  and  kill  them.  How  can  these 
foreigners  then  remain  unawed  ? 

From  the  British  point  of  view  the  object  of  the 
China  expedition  was  set  forth  with  conspicuous 
moderation  by  the  merchants  of  London  and  of  the 
great  industrial  centres.  And  here  it  seems  not  un- 
fitting to  remark  upon  the  lively  and  intelligent  in- 
terest which  the  commercial  community  of  that  period 
was  wont  to  take  in  the  affairs  of  China.  The  trade  of 
Great  Britain  and  of  British  India  with  that  country 
had  not  reached  the  annual  value  of  £12,000,000  ster- 
ling including  treasure,  yet  we  find  in  the  years  1839 
and  1840  a  series  of  ably  drawn  memorials  to  Govern- 
ment bearing  the  signatures  of  all  the  important  houses 
in  the  kingdom,  showing  the  most  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  everything  that  was  passing  in  China,  even 
though  they  failed  to  apprehend  the  full  signification 
thereof     The  signatories  of  these  papers  pointed  out 


88  THE   FRUITS    OF    THE   WAR.  [chap.  vi. 

without  circumlocution  the  measures  necessary  to  be 
taken  in  order  to  place  the  commercial  interests  of 
her  Majesty's  subjects  on  a  satisfactory  footing.  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  that  it  was  from  the  inde- 
pendent merchants  and  manufacturers  of  Great  Britain 
and  British  India  that  the  true  inspiration  came  to 
Lord  Palmerston,  who  was  then  Foreign  Minister ;  and 
not  the  inspiration  only,  but  the  courage  which  was 
needed  to  throw  over  the  pusillanimous  traditions  of 
the  Honourable  East  India  Company,  and  to  apply 
the  maxims  of  common  -  sense  to  our  relations  with 
the  Chinese  authorities. 

Among  the  memorials  addressed  to,  and  by  request 
of,  the  Foreign  Secretary,  that  from  the  East  India 
and  China  Association,  representing  the  merchants  of 
London  interested  in  the  Far  East,  gives  perhaps  the 
clearest  exposition  of  the  whole  case  from  the  com- 
mercial point  of  view.  After  a  succinct  historical 
resume  of  our  successes  and  failures  in  China,  each 
traced  to  its  cause,  the  memorialists  state  their  opinion 
that  "  submission  will  now  only  aggravate  the  evil, 
and  that  an  attempt  should  be  made,  supported  by  a 
powerful  force,  to  obtain  such  concessions  from  China 
as  would  place  the  trade  upon  a  secure  and  permanent 
footing."  And  they  conclude  with  an  outline  of  the 
commercial  treaty  which  they  think  would  conduce  to 
that  result. 


First.  Admission  not  only  to  Canton,  but  to  certain  ports  to 
the  northward  —  say  Amoy,  Fuh-cho-foo,  Ningpo,  and  the 
Yang-che-keang  and  Kwan-chou — situated  between  29°  and 
32°  north  latitude,  near  the  silk,  nankin,  and  tea  districts,  and 
it  is  on  this  coast  that  the  chief  demand  for  British  woollens, 
longells,  and  camlets  exists. 


VIEWvS   OF   BRITISH    MERCHANTS.  89 

Secoiid.  Commercial  relations  to  be  maintained  at  these 
places,  or  at  Canton,  generally  with  the  Chinese  natives;  but 
if  the  trade  be  limited  to  certain  hongs,  which  we  must  strongly 
deprecate,  then  the  Government  to  be  guarantees  of  the  solvency 
of  such  parties  so  chosen  by  it. 

Third.  That  British  subjects  in  China  carrying  on  a  legiti- 
mate trade  shall  not  be  treated  by  the  Government  or  its 
officials  as  inferiors,  but  be  left  free  in  their  social  and  domestic 
relations  to  adopt  European  customs,  to  possess  warehouses,  and 
to  have  their  wives  and  families  with  them,  and  to  be  under  the 
protection  of  the  Chinese  laws  from  insult  and  oppression. 

Fourth.  That  a  tariff  of  duties,  inwards  and  outwards,  be 
fixed  and  agreed  upon  by  the  British  and  Chinese  Governments, 
and  no  alteration  be  made  but  by  mutual  consent. 

Fifth.  That  the  Queen's  representative,  as  superintendent 
of  the  trade,  be  allowed  direct  communication  with  the  Emperor 
and  his  Ministers,  as  well  as  with  the  local  authorities ;  and 
that  he  be  permitted  to  reside  at  Peking,  or  at  a  given  port, 
for  the  protection  of  British  subjects  and  the  regulation  of  the 
trade. 

Sixth.  That  in  the  event  of  any  infraction  of  the  Chinese 
laws,  the  punishment  for  the  same  shall  be  confined  to  the 
offender;  and  British  subjects  shall  not  be  considered 
responsible  for  the  acts  of  each  other,  but  each  man  for  his 
own — the  innocent  not  being  confounded  with  the  guilty. 

Seventh.  That  supposing  the  Chinese  to  refuse  opening  their 
ports  generally,  the  cession  by  purchase,  or  otherwise,  of 
an  island  be  obtained,  upon  which  a  British  factory  could  be 
established. 

Upon  terms  such  as  these  the  British  trade  with  China  could, 
we  think,  be  carried  on  with  credit  and  advantage  to  this 
country ;  and  if  force  must  be  used  to  obtain  them,  we  cannot 
believe  that  the  people  of  Great  Britain  and  the  European 
community  in  general  would  offer  any  objection  to  its  exercise ; 
at  least  we  humbly  suggest  that  the  adoption  of  this  course  is 
worth  the  trial,  for  if  it  be  not  followed,  the  only  alternative 
seems  to  be  the  abandonment  of  this  important  and  growing 
commerce  to  smugglers  and  to  piracy. — We  have,  &c., 

G.  G.  DE  H.  Larpknt. 
John  Abel  Smith. 
W.  Crawford. 


90  THE   FRUITS   OF   THE   WAR.  [chap.  vi. 

These  stipulations,  and  the  hypothetical  form  in 
which  they  were  advanced,  show  how  imperfect,  after 
all,  was  the  grasp  which  the  mercantile  community  had 
as  yet  taken  of  the  situation.  While  fully  recognising 
the  necessity  of  force  and  urging  its  employment,  they 
yet  seem  to  have  clung  to  the  hope  that  in  some  way 
or  another  the  expected  treaty  was  to  be  the  result  of 
amicable  negotiation.  They  did  not  clearly  realise  that 
as  without  force  nothing  could  be  obtained,  so  with 
force  everything  could  be. 

And  from  what  an  abyss  the  status  of  British  subjects 
had  come  to  be  regarded  when  it  could  be  deemed  a 
boon  that  they  be  placed  under  the  protection  of 
Chinese  law — instead  of  being  kept  for  ever  outside 
the  pale  of  law  and  of  common  human  suffrages  I  For- 
tunately the  Government,  profiting  by  past  experience 
and  better  versed  in  political  science,  held  a  more 
consistent  course  than  that  marked  out  for  it  by  the 
merchants,  and  went  far  beyond  them  in  the  conces- 
sions demanded  of  the  Chinese  Government.  Instead 
of  trusting  to  Chinese  law,  protection  for  the  persons 
and  property  of  British  subjects  was  provided  for  under 
the  laws  of  Great  Britain,  a  stipulation  in  the  treaty 
which  has  been  the  palladium  of  the  liberties  of  all 
nationalities  in  China  for  sixty  years.  The  ambiguity 
which  characterised  the  public  appreciation  of  the 
China  question,  even  when  expressed  through  the  most 
authoritative  channel,  deserves  to  be  noted  here  on 
account  of  the  influence  it  was  destined  to  exercise  on 
the  future  conduct  of  affairs ;  for  though  the  British 
Government  was  perspicacious  in  the  conduct  of  the 
war  and  in  arranging  terms  of  peace,  yet,  lacking  the 
sustained  support  of  a  well-instructed  public  opinion, 


THE  COURT  AND  THE  TREATY.  91 

its  Chinese  policy  was  subject  to  many  backslidings. 
During  protracted  intervals  of  inadvertence  the  per- 
nicious influences  which  it  was  the  purpose-  of  the  war 
to  suppress  were  allowed  to  regain  lost  ground,  with 
the  result  that  during  the  whole  sixty  years  our 
Chinese  intercourse  has  been  marred  by  the  chronic 
recrudescence  of  the  old  hostile  temper  which  inspired 
the  outrages  before  the  war. 

On  the  part  of  the  Chinese  Court  there  was  un- 
doubtedly a  desire  for  such  substantial  fulfilment  of  the 
treaty  as  might  obviate  the  risk  of  a  renewal  of  the 
war.  The  final  instruction  of  the  Emperor  Tao-kuang 
while  the  negotiations  were  proceeding  w^as,  "  Be 
careful  to  make  such  arrangements  as  shall  cut  off  for 
ever  all  cause  of  war,  and  do  not  leave  anything  incom- 
plete or  liable  to  doubt."  And  so  long,  at  least,  as  the 
material  guarantee  of  Chusan  was  retained  by  Great 
Britain — that  is,  until  1846-'— no  open  violation  was  to 
be  apprehended.  The  Chinese  war  party,  however — as 
distinguished  from  the  more  reasonable  Manchus — were 
furious  in  their  denunciations  of  the  treaty ;  and  it  was 
the  opinion  of  Sir  John  Davis  that  the  situation  wa^ 
only  saved  by  the  financial  exhaustion  of  the  country: 
"the  ordinary  taxes  could  not  be  collected."  There 
would  in  any  circumstances  have  been  a  strong  pre- 
sumption of  covert  evasion  being  resorted  to,  a  presump- 
tion which  was  reduced  to  a  certainty  by  the  indulgence 
extended  to  that  ancient  focus  of  mischief.  Canton.  By 
one  of  those  aberrations  of  judgment  w^hich  it  is  scarcely 
unfair  to  call  characteristic,  Captain  Elliot  desired  to 
save  Canton,  of  all  places  in  the  Chinese  empire,  from 
the  pressure  of  war,  and  in  1841,  in  the  midst  of 
hostilities  on  the  coast,  he  accepted  ransom  for  the  city, 


92  THE   FRUITS   OF   THE   WAR.  [chap.  vi. 

a  transaction  so  inexplicable  that  her  Majesty's  Treasury, 
at  a  loss  what  to  do  with  the  money,  after  much  ex- 
planatory correspondence  declared  itself  unable  to 
appropriate  the  fund  in  the  manner  intended  by  her 
Majesty's  representative.  The  arrogance  of  the 
Cantonese  had  been  so  immeasurably  puffed  up  by  this 
misguided  clemency  that  the  peace  left  the  populace  of 
the  city  and  district  absolutely  convinced  of  their 
invincibility.  As  the  eradication  of  this  dangerous 
delusion  was  among  the  primary  purposes  of  the  war,  so 
the  pandering  to  the  pride  of  Canton  proved,  as  was 
inevitable,  the  malignant  root  of  all  subsequent 
bitterness.^ 

^  It  is  impossible  to  review,  however  summarily,  the  events  of  that  period 
without  free  reference  to  the  officer  who  was  during  the  time  charged  with 
the  care  of  British  interests  in  China.  But  no  pretence  is  made  in  these 
pages  to  pass  a  verdict  on  the  public  record  of  Captain  Elliot.  His  acts 
involved  too  many  solecisms  in  finance,  for  one  thing,  to  have  escaped  the 
attention  of  Parliament ;  but,  like  others  who  come  before  that  tribunal,  he 
was  neither  attacked  on  his  merits  nor  defended  on  his  merits.  None  could 
question  the  sincerity  of  the  encomiums  passed  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
and  Lord  Melbourne  on  his  "  courage,  coolness,  and  self-devotion " ;  to 
which  might  well  be  added  a  quite  exceptional  fearlessness  of  responsibility. 
But  the  first  representatives  of  the  British  Crown  in  China  were  doomed  to 
failure  by  the  nature  of  their  commission.  The  terms  of  their  instructions 
were  more  than  contradictory — they  were  mutually  destructive.  To  con- 
ciliate the  Chinese  while  opening  official  relations  with  them  was  to  mix 
the  ingredients  of  an  explosive.  A  dilemma  was,  in  fact,  presented  un- 
wittingly by  the  British  Government  to  their  agents.  Lord  Napier  impaled 
himself  on  one  horn — that  of  claiming  a  diplomatic  status  ;  Captain  Elliot 
on  the  other — that  of  gaining  over  the  Government  by  conciliation  ;  and  no 
earthly  skill  could  have  saved  either  of  them. 


93 


CHAPTEE   VII. 


THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE  I    CANTON,    1842-1847. 

The  fundamental  diflEiculty  of  giving  eflfect  to  the  treaty  —  Necessity  for 
thoroughness  —  Character  of  Kiying,  Imperial  Commissioner  —  His 
amicable  relations  with  British  Superintendent  of  Trade — Turbulence 
of  Canton  —  Outrages  on  British  merchants  —  Condoned  by  Chinese 
Government,  if  not  encouraged  both  by  imperial  and  pro\^ncial 
authorities  —  Sir  John  Davis's  testimony — His  passive  treatment — 
False  policy  of  allowing  Chinese  Government  to  screen  itself  behind 
the  mob — Postponement  of  entry  into  city — Climax  in  affair — Evacua- 
tion of  Chusan — Increase  of  insults  at  Canton — Sir  John  Davis  palliates 
and  then  asks  for  redress — Sudden  reaction  in  his  policy  consequent  on 
Lord  Palmerston's  becoming  Foreign  Secretary — His  clear  despatches 
— Sir  John  Davis  makes  a  raid  on  the  river  defences — Has  the  city  at 
his  mercy — But  makes  an  unsatisfactory  agreement — Withdraws  pro- 
tection in  spite  of  remonstrance  of  merchants — Massacre  of  six  English- 
men in  1847 — Redress — Whole  question  of  British  protection  brought 
up  —  Canton  consul  objects  to  ship  of  war  at  factories  —  Palmerston 
orders  one  to  be  there — Agreement  to  defer  entry  into  city  till  1849 — 
People  intoxicated  with  their  success — The  potency  of  the  people — Its 
limitations — Interesting  correspondence — Final  agreement  dictated  by 
people  and  signed  by  Sir  John  Davis  and  Kiying. 

To  carry  out  a  treaty  which  was  odious  to  Chinese 
officials  in  general,  most  of  all  to  the  bureaucracy  and 
populace  of  the  main  centre  of  intercourse,  Canton, 
required  an  effort  analogous  to  that  of  maintaining  a 
body  of  water  at  an  artificial  level — success  in  either 
case  depending  on  completeness.  It  is  easier  to  keep 
the  reservoir  intact  than  to  compromise  with  leakages,  as 
in  certain  conditions  of  the  human  will  total  abstinence 


94  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap.  vii. 

is  less  irksome  than  moderation.  To  carry  out  the  treaty, 
the  whole  treaty,  and  nothing  but  the  treaty,  would 
seem,  therefore,  to  have  been  the  obvious  course  for 
British  agents  to  follow,  a  course  suited  equally  to 
strong  and  to  weak  characters.  This  was,  no  doubt, 
understood  by  some,  though  not  by  all,  of  the  British 
staff,  —  fifty  years  ago,  as  in  our  own  day ;  but  in 
the  distribution  of  the  personnel  it  fell  out  that  the 
fundamental  condition  of  success  was  least  realised 
just  where  it  was  most  imperatively  needed  —  to 
wit,  at  that  intermittent  volcano.  Canton.  For  even 
the  close  proximity  of  the  chief  superintendent — only 
120  miles  distant  —  at  Hongkong  was  insufficient  to 
keep  the  cistern  of  our  Canton  relations  water-tight. 
Sir  John  Davis,  on  the  whole  a  competent  official, 
shared  to  some  extent  in  the  common  human  imper- 
fection of  knowing  what  was  right  without  always 
doing,  or  being  able  to  do,  it.  He  is  indeed  him- 
self the  most  candid  witness  to  the  breakdown  of 
the  patchwork  policy  which  he  permitted  to  grow 
up  in  Canton,  perhaps  because  he  could  not  do 
otherwise. 

The  first  British  plenipotentiaries  under  treaty  were 
exceptionally  fortunate  in  their  Chinese  colleague,  the 
High  Commissioner,  Kiying.  He  being  a  near  kins- 
man of  the  emperor,  and,  with  Ilipu,  the  principal 
instrument  in  promoting  the  conclusion  of  peace,  his 
appointment  must  have  been  considered  the  best 
recognition  the  Court  could  accord  of  the  validity 
of  the  treaty.  "  Kiying,"  says  Sir  J.  Davis,  "  was 
by  far  the  most  remarkable  person  with  whom  Euro- 
peans have  ever  come  in  contact  in  that  part  of 
the   world ;    the    most    elevated   in   rank    as   well   as 


KIYING,    IMPERIAL   COMMISSIONER.  95 

the  most  estimable  in  character."  Intercourse  with 
Kiying,  therefore,  was  pleasant,  and  conducive  to  self- 
respect. 

Both  officials  were  unfortunate  in  having  to  reckon 
with  an  intractable  peace-disturbing  element  in  their 
mutual  relations.  This  is  the  name  which,  for  want 
of  a  more  exact  designation,  must  be  given  to  the 
people  of  Canton,  "  who,  through  every  event  since 
1839,  remained  incorrigible  in  the  real  hatred  and 
affected  contempt  for  foreigners." 

It  has  always  been,  and  still  is,  the  practice  of  the 
Chinese  authorities  to  make  use  of  the  populace  in 
their  aggressions  on  strangers.  There  is  at  all  times 
in  China,  as  in  most  countries,  an  inexhaustible  fund 
of  anti-foreign  sentiment  ready  to  be  drawn  upon  by 
agitators,  whether  within  the  Government  circle  or  not, 
and  subject  also  to  spontaneous  explosion.  By  working 
on  these  latent  passions,  and  inflaming  the  popular 
mind  by  the  dissemination  of  odious  calumnies,  Govern- 
ment could  at  any  moment  foment  an  anti-foreign  raid. 
It  was  a  political  engine  in  the  use  of  which  Chinese 
officialdom  had  become  thoroughly  expert.  It  was 
tempting  by  its  cheapness,  and  it  had,  moreover,  the 
special  fascination  for  them  that  in  the  event  of  being 
called  to  account  for  outrage  they  could  disavow  the 
excesses  of  the  "poor  ignorant  people."  Such  a  force, 
however,  is  not  without  its  drawbacks  to  those  who 
employ  it.  Like  a  fire,  which  is  easy  to  kindle  but 
hard  to  control,  the  popular  excitement  was  apt  to 
extend  beyond  the  limits  assigned  by  its  instigators, 
and  many  an  engineer  has  thus  been  hoist  by  his  own 
petard.  "  Otho  had  not  sufficient  authority  to  prevent 
crime,  though  he  could  command  it,"  says  Tacitus ;  and 


96  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap.  vii. 

the  observation  fits  the  case  of  successive  generations 
of  Chinese  rulers  as  if  it  had  been  written  for  each  one 
of  them  separately. 

The  rowdy  population  of  Canton  enjoyed  special 
immunity  from  official  control.  Not  only  had  they 
been  habitually  pampered  for  two  hundred  years,  and 
diligently  taught  to  tyrannise  over  and  despise  for- 
eigners, but  during  the  war  they  were  allowed  to 
organise  themselves  independently  of  the  authorities, 
and  to  claim  the  honour  of  driving  the  invaders  off  on 
the  occasion  when  the  city  was  admitted  to  ransom. 
On  the  mendacious  reports  of  these  transactions  reach- 
ing him,  the  emperor  not  only  bestowed  rewards  on  the 
leaders  but  encouraged  the  populace  to  further  hostile 
measures  against  the  foreigners.  The  liberal  distribu- 
tion of  arms  during  the  war  proved  afterwards  a  power- 
ful incentive  to  crimes  of  violence,  of  which  outrages  on 
foreigners  were  but  one  development. 

The  self-organised,  self- trained  bands  of  Canton  were 
by  no  means  disposed  to  submit  tamely  to  the  new 
order  of  things,  in  the  settlement  of  which  they  had 
had  no  voice.  They  had  bettered  their  official  instruc- 
tion in  the  storing  up  and  practising  of  hatred  and 
contempt  for  foreigners,  and  they  did  not  choose  sud- 
denly to  recant  merely  because  their  Government  had 
been  coerced  into  making  a  treaty  in  a  distant  pro- 
vince. Consequently,  within  three  short  months  of  its 
signature  notices  were  placarded  inciting  the  people  to 
violence ;  very  soon  an  organised  attack  on  the  British 
factories  was  made,  and  the  buildings  were  burned 
down. 

So  far  from  attempting  to  repress  such  outrages,  the 
governor  of  Canton,  "  while  the  ruins  were  still  smok- 


THE   CANTONESE   MOBS.  97 

ing,"  reported  to  the  throne  that  the  people  "  in  their 
natural  indignation  had  committed  some  excesses 
against  the  grasping  barbarians,"  and  a  very  gracious 
answer  was  vouchsafed  to  an  offer  of  the  people  of 
certain  outlying  villages  to  join  the  armed  bands  of  the 
city.  The  Imperial  Government  as  well  as  the  pro- 
vincial government  was  thus  identified  with  the 
popular  hostility  to  foreigners,  and  opposition  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  treaty.  "  The  excesses  of  the  Canton 
mob,"  writes  Sir  John  Davis,  "  were  perpetually  and 
annually  resumed,  up  to  the  public  decapitation  of  the 
four  murderers  of  the  Englishmen  in  1847,  with  the 
subsequent  punishment  of  eleven  more." 

But  this  is  surely  remarkable  testimony  from  the 
Minister  of  Great  Britain  who  was  charged  with  the 
protection  of  his  nationals  ^  from  wrong  ?  With  British 
garrisons  in  occupation  of  Kulangsu  and  Chusan,  a 
military  and  naval  force  in  Hongkong,  and  a  Chinese 
commissioner  professedly  willing  to  afford  protection 
and  redress  to  foreigners,  the  acquiescence  of  the  British 
authorities  in  these  recurrent  outrages  seems  to  stand 
in  need  of  explanation.  The  native  authorities,  it  was 
clear,  would  not,  even  if  they  dared,  coerce  the  Canton 
populace.  Kiying  himself,  though  meaning  to  be  just, 
and  ready  to  enforce  redress  against  individual  culprits, 
recoiled  before  the  mob.  So  it  would  appear  did  the 
British  representative,  who,  though  vigilant  in  requiring 
compliance  with  the  treaty  in  minor  respects,  seemed  to 
be  paralysed  whenever  the  Cantonese  were  in  question. 

1  This  convenient  term,  borrowed  from  the  French,  saves  many  peri- 
phrases and  sometimes  an  ambiguity.  Neither  "fellow-countrymen," 
"fellow-subjects,"  nor  "fellow-citizens"  fully  expresses  the  relationship 
between  an  official  in  an  extra-territorialised  country  and  those  whom  he 
protects  and  governs. 

VOL.  T.  G 


98  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [cHAP.  vii. 

He  had  been  too  long  accustomed  to  their  practices  not 
to  be  aware  of  the  cumulative  quality  of  these  outrages, 
and  he  was  too  practical  a  philosopher  not  to  know  the 
wisdom  of  arresting  the  virulent  stream  at  its  fountain- 
head.  Yet  "  the  miserable  policy  of  the  Chinese 
Government  .  .  .  had  permitted  the  populace  of 
Canton  ...  to  reach  the  culminating-point  of  organ- 
ised misrule  in  1846,"  British  merchants  being  the 
sufferers.  Why  was  nothing  done  to  protect  them  at 
least  from  the  consequences  of  this  misrule  ? 

The  intricacies  of  the  relation  between  the  criminal 
rabble  of  Canton  and  the  authorities  there  it  would  be 
hopeless  to  unravel,  just  as  it  would  be  vain  to  make 
such  an  attempt  with  regard  to  analogous  cases  which 
are  to  this  day  of  constant  recurrence.  But  no  special 
penetration  is  needed  to  discover  the  falsity  of  a  policy 
of  allowing  an  organised  government  to  plead  its 
inability  to  control  its  own  populace.  Once  admit 
such  a  plea  and  the  security  of  the  stranger  is  gone, 
for  he  has  relinquished  his  hold  on  the  Government 
without  being  compensated  by  any  alternative  security. 
Such  was  the  state  of  things  which  had  been  allowed 
to  grow  up  in  Canton,  producing  the  only  fruit  possible 
— outrage,  ever  increasing  in  violence  and  ending  in 
massacre. 

The  postponement  of  the  right  of  entry  into  the  city 
conferred  by  treaty  was  a  test  case  which  gave  the 
Chinese  the  clue  to  the  weakness  of  British  policy. 
The  consequences  would  have  been  less  pernicious  had 
the  right  been  frankly  surrendered  from  the  first,  for 
to  have  it  merely  deferred  from  time  to  time  on  the 
avowed  ground  of  the  populace  not  being  ready  to 
acquiesce  in  it  was  to  flatter  the  mob  beyond  measure 


CLIMAX   OF   CHINESE   HOSTILITY.  99 

while  feeding  their  passion  for  violence.  It  was  in  this 
manner  that  the  British  Government  had  "  given  itself 
away  "  to  the  lawless  rowdies  of  Canton. 

The  "  climax  "  referred  to  by  Sir  John  Davis  occurred 
at  an  interesting  juncture  of  time,  for  it  was  in  1846 
that  the  last  British  soldier  quitted  Chinese  soil,  and 
Sir  John  Davis  testifies  that  the  restoration  of  Chusan 
had  produced  a  change  for  the  worse  in  the  tone  of  the 
Chinese  authorities.  Kiying  himself  forgot  his  ur- 
banity and  acted  "  with  a  degree  of  hrusquerie,  not  to 
say  insolence,  never  before  exhibited  by  him." 

A  riotous  attack  on  the  foreign  factories  broke  out  in 
July  1846,  in  which  the  merchants  were  compelled  in  a 
body  to  defend  themselves  against  an  immense  number 
of  assailants.  For  this  outbreak  Sir  John  Davis  blamed 
one  of  the  English  merchants,  and  got  him  irregularly 
fined  by  the  consul.  A  murderous  assault  was  com- 
mitted on  two  British  seamen  in  the  city  of  Canton  in 
October  following.  In  the  ordinary  routine  he  reported 
the  occurrence  to  the  Foreign  Ofiice  in  a  despatch  of 
seven  lines.  "  Two  English  merchant  seamen,"  he  said, 
"  having  strayed  into  the  town,  had  been  violently  ill- 
used  by  the  populace"  ;  adding  that  he  **  considered  it 
to  be  the  duty  of  the  consul  to  prevent  seamen  wander- 
ing through  Canton."  He  at  the  same  time  instructed 
the  consul  to  find  some  means  of  punishing  the  master 
of  the  ship  for  allowing  his  men  liberty,  and  proposed 
placing  greater  power  in  the  hands  of  the  consul  for  the 
restraint  of  British  subjects  generally.  Above  this  level 
the  plenipotentiary  seemed  unable  to  rise. 

In  March  1847  an  English  party  of  six,  including 
Colonel  Chesney,  commanding  the  Royal  Artillery  in 
Hongkong,  narrowly  escaped  murder  at  the  hands  of  a 


100  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap.  vii. 

riotous  mob  during  an  excursion  up  the  Canton  river. 
They  strayed  much  farther  than  the  two  sailors  had 
done,  and  if  they  did  not  fare  worse  it  was  due  to  the 
almost  miraculous  interposition  of  a  Chinese  officer  with 
his  followers,  he  himself  being  roughly  handled  by  the 
mob.  It  would  not  do  to  apply  to  Colonel  Chesney's 
case  the  homoeopathic  treatment  which  was  thought 
appropriate  to  the  others,  and  Sir  John  Davis  made 
a  formal  demand  on  the  Chinese  authorities  for  the 
punishment  of  the  aggressors.  The  cup  of  Chinese 
iniquity  was  deemed  full,  and  the  avenger  was  at  last 
let  loose. 

Whence,  it  is  pertinent  to  ask,  came  this  sudden 
access  of  vigour  in  the  British  representative  ? 

The  juncture  of  time  above  referred  to  was  inter- 
esting from  another  point  of  view,  for  coincidently 
with  the  evacuation  of  Chusan  and  the  renewed 
arrogance  of  the  Chinese,  a  political  event  took  place 
in  the  western  hemisphere  which  had  an  important 
bearing  on  the  whole  attitude  of  Great  Britain. 
There  was  a  change  of  Government,  Palmerston 
succeeding  Aberdeen  at  the  Foreign  Office.  The 
influence  of  Lord  Palmerston  on  Chinese  affairs  dur- 
ing his  long  public  career  was  so  remarkable,  that 
the  ebb  and  flow  of  British  prestige  may  be  traced 
as  closely  by  his  periods  of  office  as  the  course  of 
the  oceanic  tide  by  the  phases  of  the  moon.  Let 
any  patriotic  Englishman  ransack  the  records  of  the 
sixty  odd  years  of  that  statesman's  full  activity,  and 
he  will  find  no  despatch  or  speech  on  the  subject  of 
China,  even  down  to  our  own  day,  that  will  afford 
him  such  genuine  satisfaction  as  those  emanating  from 
Lord  Palmerston.     They  are  so  much  the  embodiment 


LOBD   PALMERSTON.  101 

of  common -sense  that  they  might  sometimes  be  con- 
sidered commonplace ;  practical,  true,  clear  as  a 
bugle-note.  He  had  been  barely  six  months  in 
oiBce  when  one  of  his  terse  despatches  to  Sir  John 
Davis  turned  that  cautious  official  for  the  time  being 
into  a  hero.  The  astonishment  of  Sir  John  may  be 
imagined  when,  in  reply  to  his  placid  report  of  the 
outrage  on  the  two  seamen,  he  received  a  curt  com- 
munication from  the  Foreign  Office  in  which  his 
attention  was  directed  to  the  punishment,  not  of  the 
victims,  but  of  the  perpetrators,  of  the  outrage. 

I  have  [wrote  Lord  Palmerston,  January  12,  1847]  to 
instruct  you  to  demand  the  punishment  of  the  parties  guilty 
of  this  outrage ;  and  you  will,  moreover,  inform  the  Chinese 
authorities  in  plain  and  distinct  terms  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment will  not  tolerate  that  a  Chinese  mob  shall  with  impunity 
maltreat  British  subjects  in  China  whenever  they  get  them  into 
their  power  ;  and  that  if  the  Chinese  authorities  will  not  by 
the  exercise  of  their  own  power  punish  and  prevent  such 
outrages,  the  British  Government  will  be  obliged  to  take  the 
matter  into  their  own  hands. 

Sir  John  Davis  was  the  more  ready  to  respond  to 
this  stirring  appeal  that  it  reached  him  just  as  he 
had  entered  on  a  correspondence  with  the  Chinese 
respecting  the  attack  on  Colonel  Chesney's  party. 
The  turn  of  the  tide  was  marked  with  unusual  dis- 
tinctness in  a  single  sentence  of  the  plenipotentiary's 
despatch  dated  March  27,  1847.  "The  records  of 
the  Foreign  Office,"  wrote  Sir  John,  "will  convince 
your  lordship  that  during  the  last  three  years  I 
have  been  rigidly  tied  down  by  my  instructions  to 
the  most  forbearing  policy.  .  .  .  The  time  has,  in 
my  opinion,  certainly  arrived  when  decision  becomes 


102  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap.  vii. 

necessary  and  further  forbearance  impolitic."  The 
inspiration  of  these  instructions  may  be  inferred  from 
a  speech  of  Lord  Stanley's  in  1845,  in  which  he  said, 
speaking  of  China,  "  I  believe,  so  far  as  our  later  ex- 
perience has  gone,  that  there  is  no  nation  which  more 
highly  values  public  faith  in  others;  and  up  to  the 
present  moment  I  am  bound  to  say  there  never  was 
a  government  or  a  nation  which  more  strictly  and 
conscientiously  adhered  to  the  literal  fulfilment  of 
the  engagements  into  which  it  had  entered."  This 
from  a  Minister  of  the  Crown,  after  three  years  of 
continuous  outraores  in  Canton  and  of  refusal  to  ful- 
fil  a  specific  article  in  the  treaty,  reflects  either  on 
the  superintendent  of  trade  in  China  as  having  with- 
held information  from  the  Government,  or  on  the 
Government  itself  in  arriving  at  conclusions  dia- 
metrically opposed  to  the  tenor  of  their  agents 
despatches.  If  it  be  any  justification  of  the  Govern- 
ment theory  to  say  so,  the  sentiments  expressed  by 
Lord  Stanley  were  echoed  by  the  newspapers  of  the 
day.  "  The  Chinese,"  said  one  of  them,  "  have  acted 
with  exemplary  good  faith,  nor  is  there  the  least 
probability  of  their  failing  in  future  to  do  so." 

Under  the  new  af&atus,  and  backed  handsomely  by 
the  naval  and  military  commanders,  Sir  John  Davis 
proceeded  to  prick  the  bubble  of  mob  lawlessness 
and  to  reduce  the  Anglo- Chinese  relations  to  working 
order.  This  he  did  by  a  sudden  raid  on  the  Canton 
river  defences,  without  apparently  any  diplomatic 
preliminaries.  By  a  brilliant  feat  of  arms  General 
D'Aguilar  with  a  detachment  from  the  Hongkong 
garrison,  conveyed  by  three  small  steamers  of  the 
China   squadron,   swept   the   defences   of  the   Canton 


SIR  JOHN   DAVIS'S   RAID.  103 

river,  blew  up  the  magazines,  spiked  827  pieces  of 
heavy  cannon,  and  placed  the  city  of  Canton  "en- 
tirely at  our  mercy,  ...  all  without  the  loss  of  one 
British  life."  Under  the  intoxication  of  such  a 
triumph  the  plenipotentiary  might  be  pardoned  the 
illusion  that  the  Canton  troubles  were  now  at  an 
end.  ''The  Chinese  yielded  in  five  minutes  what 
had  been  delayed  as  many  months."  And  yet  it 
proved  to  be  a  fool's  paradise  after  all  in  which  he 
found  shelter,  for  the  old  fatality  of  half-measures 
that  has  marred  so  many  British  victories  over- 
shadowed Sir  John  Davis's  first  essay  in  diplomacy. 
The  agreement  in  seven  articles  concluded  with  Ki- 
ying  on  April  6,  1847,  contained  such  blemishes  as 
the  British  negotiator  could  perceive  clearly  enough 
when  the  work  of  other  officials  was  in  question. 
Having  laid  down  broadly  that  the  good  faith  of 
the  Chinese  Government  bore  a  direct  relation  to 
the  hostages  they  had  given,  yet  the  plenipotentiary, 
when  he  came  to  business  on  his  own  account, 
abandoned  the  securities  which  were  actually  in  his 
hands,  and,  either  from  misgivings  of  some  sort,  or 
under  the  impulse  of  a  sudden  reconversion,  he 
threw  himself  unreservedly  on  the  good  faith  of  the 
Chinese  without  any  guarantee  whatever. 

With  regard  to  the  protection  to  be  affi)rded  to  the 
merchants  and  the  prevention  of  attacks  upon  them. 
Lord  Palmerston  wrote  in  December  1846  :  "  Wherever 
British  subjects  are  placed  in  danger,  in  a  situation 
which  is  accessible  to  a  British  ship  of  war,  thither  a 
British  ship  of  war  ought  to  be,  and  will  be  ordered, 
not  only  to  go  but  to  remain  as  long  as  its  presence 
may  be  required.     I  see  no  reason  for  cancelling  the 


104  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap.  vii. 

instructions  given  to  you  for  the  constant  presence  of 
a  ship  of  war  within  reach  of  the  factories  at  Canton." 
This  promise  of  Lord  Palmerston's  was  the  sheet- 
anchor  of  the  merchants'  security.  The  question  of 
having  a  ship  of  war  close  to  the  factories  divided 
the  mercantile  from  the  local  official  view,  and  as  the 
Home  Government  had  so  clearly  adopted  the  former, 
the  merchants  took  courage  to  stand  up  for  what  they 
deemed  their  rights.  Learning  that  Sir  John  Davis, 
in  the  plenitude  of  his  military  success,  had  resolved 
to  withdraw  all  her  Majesty's  forces  from  Canton,  they 
ventured  to  make  a  strong  remonstrance  against  such 
a  step.  Sir  John,  however,  while  consenting  to  the 
retention  of  a  portion  of  the  force,  never  allowed  him- 
self to  be  convinced  of  the  need  of  any  such  measure. 
Writing  to  his  Government  in  August  1847,  he  de- 
clared that  "  the  Canton  factories  were  never  less  in 
need  of  the  presence  of  such  a  vessel  than  at  present," 
— an  opinion  frequently  reiterated  until  November  20, 
when  "for  the  first  time  since  the  peace  it  may  be 
confidently  predicated  that  a  steamer  will  not  be  re- 
quired." This  was  within  sixteen  days  of  the  most 
cruel  and  revolting  massacre  of  six  young  Englishmen 
at  Hwang-chu-ke,  within  three  miles  of  the  city.  The 
absence  of  a  ship  of  war  at  that  moment  was  deeply 
deplored,  because  several  of  the  victims  were  kept  alive 
long  enough  to  have  been  rescued  had  there  been  any 
British  force  at  hand. 

This  massacre  naturally  produced  a  profound  im- 
pression on  the  Canton  community,  who  felt  that  their 
warnings  and  petitions  had  been  cruelly  disregarded. 
The  resident  British  merchants,  in  a  memorial  to  Lord 
Palmerston,  quoted  his  lordship's  own  instruction  as  to 


OFFICIAL    V.   MERCANTILE   VIEWS.  105 

the  stationing  of  a  British  ship  of  war  at  Canton,  and 
said  "  it  was  with  the  utmost  surprise  and  regret  they 
beheld  that  officer  [Sir  J.  Davis]  shutting  his  eyes  to 
the  danger  that  menaced  us,  .  .  .  and  withholding 
the  protection  he  had  been  directed  to  afford."  "  The 
heavy  calamity  which  has  befallen  us,"  they  add,  **  is 
the  result  of  this  infatuation." 

So  much  for  the  protection  of  life  and  property 
resulting  from  the  armed  expedition  of  1847.  The 
value  of  the  new  agreement,  purely  local  in  its  bear- 
ing, which  was  the  result  of  the  successful  invasion, 
was  esteemed  but  lightly  by  the  merchants.  In  their 
memorial,  written  in  the  month  of  August,  they  said  : 
"  If  it  is  not  deemed  expedient  to  carry  out  a  general 
measure  in  the  manner  contemplated  by  the  4th  article 
of  the  new  agreement,  it  would  be  much  better  that 
the  merchants  be  again  left  to  themselves "  ;  while 
respecting  the  military  raid  and  its  consequences, 
they  represented  that  "the  just  alarm  occasioned  by 
the  expedition  four  months  ago,  and  the  excitement 
kept  up  by  these  fruitless  negotiations,  have  done  in- 
calculable injury. to  the  trade  without  bettering  the 
position  of  foreigners  in  the  least." 

Such  diverse  views  of  policy  held  by  the  principal 
parties  concerned  are  typical  of  the  relations  which 
have  subsisted  between  the  protectors  and  the  pro- 
tected throughout  a  great  part  of  the  period  which 
has  elapsed  since  the  British  Government  established 
relations  with  China  in  1834. 

These  occurrences  at  Canton  and  the  decided  action 
taken  by  the  British  Government  brought  up  in  a 
definite  form  the  whole  question  of  the  safety  of 
British   interests  in  China,  and  the  means  by  which 


106  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap.  vii. 

it  was  to  be  secured.  The  conversion  of  Sir  John 
Davis,  though  much,  was  not  everything.  The  aim 
of  Lord  Palmerston's  policy  was  still  liable  to  be  de- 
flected by  the  perturbing  influence  of  a  minor  planet  in 
the  system.  The  consul  in  Canton  gave  him  almost 
as  much  trouble  in  his  day  as  the  famous  Tiverton 
butcher  did  afterwards  in  his ;  and  the  patience  with 
which  his  lordship  endeavoured  to  enlighten  his  agent 
on  the  most  elementary  principles  of  human  action 
was  admirable.  It  had  been  the  practice  of  the 
consul  "  to  report  to  your  Excellency  another  wanton 
and  unprovoked  attack  on  the  part  of  the  populace 
upon  a  party  of  Englishmen,"  and  at  the  same  time 
to  deprecate  any  measures  of  defence,  whether  by 
organising  volunteers  among  the  residents  or  having 
a  British  ship  of  war  stationed  where  she  could  be 
seen. 

The  consul's  object  in  all  this  was  to  avoid  exciting 
suspicion  in  the  minds  of  the  Chinese  populace.  Sir 
John  Davis,  who  had  all  along  agreed  with  the  con- 
sul, had  now  to  tell  his  subordinate  that  **  Viscount 
Palmerston  was  of  opinion  that  we  shall  lose  all  ad- 
vantages which  we  have  gained  by  the  war  if  we 
take  the  low  tone  which  has  been  adopted  at  Canton." 

We  must  stop  [continued  his  lordship]  on  the  very  threshold 
any  attempt  on  their  part  to  treat  us  otherwise  than  as  their 
equals.  .  .  .  The  Chinese  must  learn  and  be  convinced  that  if 
they  attack  our  people  and  our  factories  they  will  be  shot.  .  .  . 
So  far  from  objecting  (as  the  Consul  had  done)  to  the  armed 
association,  I  think  it  a  wise  security  against  the  necessity  of 
using  force.  .  .  .  Depend  upon  it  that  the  best  way  of  keeping 
any  men  quiet  is  to  let  them  see  that  you  are  able  and  deter- 
mined to  repel  force  by  force,  and  the  Chinese  are  not  in  the 
least  different  in  this  respect  from  the  rest  of  mankind. 


I 


ENTRY  INTO   CANTON   POSTPONED.  107 

In  the  light  of  the  history  of  the  subsequent  fifty 
years,  one  is  tempted  to  say  that  Lord  Pahnerston's 
dictum  puts  the  eternal  China  question  in  a  nutshell. 

But  when  we  reflect  on  the  consequences  of  a  man 
"  of  great  experience "  needing  such  lectures  and  yet 
left  for  years  undisturbed  at  a  centre  of  turbulence  like 
Canton,  can  we  greatly  wonder  at  the  periodical  harvest 
of  atrocities  which  followed  ? 

The  one  important  article  in  the  April  agreement  was 
that  suspending  for  a  definite  period  of  two  years  the 
operation  of  the  article  of  the  treaty  of  Nanking  con-  , 
ferring  the  right  of  entering  the  city  of  Canton  and  the 
other  ports  of  trade.  Sir  John  Davis  demanded  either 
permission  to  ''return  your  Excellency's  visit  in  the 
city,  or  that  a  time  be  specifically  named  after  which 
there  shall  be  general  free  ingress  for  British  subjects." 
To  which  Kiying  replied,  "  The  intention  of  entering 
the  city  to  return  my  visit  is  excellent.  The  feelings 
of  the  people,  however,  are  not  yet  reconciled  to  it." 
And  Kiying  easily  had  his  way.  Sir  John  thereupon 
explicitly  sanctioned  a  definite  delay  of  two  years  in 
the  exercise  of  this  treaty  right,  representing  the 
privilege  in  his  report  to  Lord  Palmers  ton  as  of  little 
importance. 

Such,  however,  was  not  the  view  either  of  the  Chinese 
or  the  British  community  of  Canton.  The  throwing 
open  of  the  city  was  by  the  latter  considered  the 
essential  object  of  the  recent  expedition,  and  in  their 
memorial  to  Lord  Palmerston  the  merchants  stated 
that  the  Braves  having  declared  their  determination 
to  oppose  the  English  at  all  costs,  the  withdrawal  of 
our  troops  re  infectd  "  intoxicated  all  ranks  of  the 
people  with  an  imaginary  triumph."     Exclusion  from 


108  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap.  vii. 

the  city  thus  remained  as  a  trophy  in  the  hands  of  the 
reactionaries,  to  become  in  1856  the  crux  of  a  new 
dispute  and  a  new  war. 

It  was  no  imaginary,  but  a  very  real,  triumph  for 
*^  the  people";  and  even  looking  back  on  the  trans- 
action with  the  advantage  of  fifty  years'  experience,  it 
is  difiicult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  it  was  an  in- 
version of  judgment  to  have  a  city  entirely  at  your 
mercy  and  then  yield  to  the  city  instead  of  making  the 
city  yield  to  you.  The  least  that  could  have  been 
expected  was,  that  while  the  troops  were  on  the  spot 
they  should  have  vindicated  the  treaty  of  Nanking  once 
for  all  by  opening  the  city  gates  and  thus  eliminating 
the  most  pregnant  source  of  future  strife. 

On  one  point  Sir  John  Davis  was  in  agreement  with 
the  memorialists — namely,  in  "  tracing  back  the  con- 
duct of  the  Canton  populace  to  the  operations  of  1841, 
on  which  occasion  they  were  spared  by  our  forces  at  the 
rear  of  the  city."  But  the  merchants  were  pointing 
out  to  Lord  Palmerston  that  Sir  John  Davis  was  him- 
self implicitly  following  that  very  precedent. 

The  China  career  of  Sir  John  Davis  was  destined 
to  a  tragic  finale,  for  in  the  midst  of  a  series  of  de- 
cidedly optimistic  despatches  he  was  startled  by  the 
news  of  the  Hwang-chu-ke  murders.  Expiation  was  as 
prompt  as  could  have  been  reasonably  expected,  the 
High  Commissioner  not  daring  to  afford  provocation  for 
a  further  punitive  expedition  which  might  not  have 
ended  quite  so  easily  as  that  of  the  previous  April. 

The  Canton  imbroglio  of  1847  threw  into  strong 
relief  the  potency  of  the  Chinese  demos  and  its  relation 
to  the  Central  Government.  The  pretensions  of  the 
populace  and  the  stress  of  events  drove  the  Imperial 


CHINESE   DEMOS   AND   CHINESE   GOVERNMENT.        109 

Government  into  a  corner  and  forced  it  to  show  its 
hand,  with  the  result  that  the  occult  combination  which 
had  been  the  despair  of  British  officials  for  fourteen 
years  was  resolved  into  its  elements,  and  for  a  time 
made  amenable  to  treatment.  It  was  demonstrated  by 
this  experiment  that  though  the  Imperial  Government 
dared  not,  except  in  extremity,  oppose  any  popular 
movement,  yet  when  necessity  required  the  authorities 
assumed  an  easy  mastery.  Sir  John  Davis  wrote  in 
one  of  his  latest  despatches,  "  Kiying  had  clearly 
proved  his  power  over  the  people  when  he  chooses  to 
exercise  it."  Coerced  themselves,  the  authorities  ap- 
plied corresponding  coercion  to  the  people,  even  at  the 
behest  of  foreigners,  "  truckling"  to  whom  was  equally 
disgraceful  to  both  the  Chinese  parties.  The  inter- 
action of  the  two  Powers  exemplified  in  a  memorable 
way  the  principle  of  all  Chinese  intercourse,  that  bold- 
ness begets  timidity  and  gentleness  arrogance.  When 
the  people  asserted  themselves  the  authorities  yielded 
and  fell  into  line  with  them,  and  when  the  authorities 
asserted  themselves  the  people  succumbed.  Such  were 
the  lessons  of  the  Canton  operations  of  1847,  lessons 
since  forgotten  and  relearned  again  and  again  at  ever- 
increasing  cost. 

But  the  relations  between  the  Government  and  the 
people  bore  also  a  quasi-diplomatic  character.  They 
dealt  with  each  other  as  if  they  were  two  Estates  of 
the  realm  having  parallel  or  concurrent  jurisdiction. 
The  most  remarkable  phase,  however,  of  the  popular 
pretensions  which  was  evolved  under  the  unaccustomed 
pressure  of  the  British  Minister  was  the  attempt  of  the 
populace  to  diplomatise  direct  with  him.  So  curious 
an  incident  may  still  be  studied  with  profit.     The  new 


110  THE   NEW   INTERCOURSE.  [chap,  vil 

departure  of  the  people  was  the  more  startling  in  that 
they  had  been  hitherto  known  only  as  a  ferocious  and 
lawless  mob  addicted  to  outrage,  whose  hatred  of 
foreigners  gained  in  bitterness  by  a  long  immunity 
from  reprisals.  Now  that  they  had  felt  the  "  mailed 
fist "  of  a  man  of  fact,  and  were  almost  in  the  act  of 
delivering  up  their  own  heroes  for  execution,  they 
sought  to  parley  with  the  Power  they  had  despised. 

The  elders  of  the  murderous  villages,  in  the  midst  of 
his  stern  demands,  sent  a  memorial  to  Sir  John  Davis 
full  of  amity  and  goodwill.  *'  Come  and  let  us  reason 
together"  was  the  burden  of  this  novel  address.  The 
elders  proposed  a  convention  for  the  suppression  of 
outrages,  somewhat  on  the  lines  of  the  Kilmainham 
Treaty,  to  supersede  the  law  of  the  land.  "  The  former 
treaty  drawn  up  in  Kiangnan  was  not  well  understood 
by  the  common  people  "  ;  in  other  words,  it  was  want- 
ing in  validity,  for  "  the  resolutions  of  Government  are 
in  nowise  to  be  compared  to  those  self-imposed  by  the 
people.  .  .  .  Were  not  this  preferable  to  the  fruitless 
proclamations  and  manifestos  of  government  ?  "  "It 
has,  therefore,"  they  say,  "  been  resolved  to  invite  the 
upright  and  influential  gentry  and  literati  of  the  whole 
city  to  meet  together,  and,  in  concert  with  the  wealthy 
and  important  merchants  of  your  honourable  nation, 
establish  a  compact  of  peace." 

Though  he  could  not  receive  such  a  communication 
officially.  Sir  John  Davis  forwarded  a  copy  to  the 
Foreign  Office,  to  whom  he  imparted  his  belief  that 
the  author  was  no  other  than  Kiying  himself — a  sur- 
mise which  was  soon  confirmed.  The  paper  was  exten- 
sively circulated ;  its  arguments  and  phraseology  were 
adopted  by  Kiying  in  his  official  correspondence  with 


STRUGGLE   BETWEEN   EAST   AND   WEST.  Ill 

Sir  John  Davis.  "  The  compact  of  peace  "  which  closed 
their  negotiations  amounted  to  no  more,  indeed,  than 
police  protection  for  foreigners  in  their  country  walks, 
which,  however,  was  counterbalanced  by  a  new  re- 
striction excluding  them  from  the  villages  as  they  had 
already  been  from  the  city.  The  interesting  point  is 
that,  such  as  it  was,  it  was  the  proposal  of  the  people 
ratified  by  the  two  plenipotentiaries. 


From  this  hurried  sketch  of  affairs  at  Canton  during 
the  first  five  years  of  the  new  intercourse  we  see  that 
the  secular  policy  of  China  had  undergone  no  change  as 
a  result  of  the  treaty.  The  settled  determination  of 
the  Government  to  exclude  foreigners  from  the  country 
and  keep  them  in  strict  subjection  at  the  farthest  mari- 
time outpost  of  the  empire  had  been  overcome  by 
violence ;  but  the  Chinese  never  abandoned  the  hope 
of  retrieving  their  position  in  whole  or  in  part,  nor  did 
they  forego  any  opportunity  of  avenging  their  military 
defeat.  A  frontal  attack  being  out  of  the  question,  the 
invader  could  be  perpetually  worried  by  guerilla  tactics, 
his  sentries  caught  napping,  his  chiefs  bamboozled : 
what  had  been  lost  through  force  might  thus  be  won 
back  by  force  and  fraud  judiciously  blended,  for  craft  is 
the  natural  resource  of  the  weak.  The  conditions  of 
the  contest  have  varied  with  the  international  develop- 
ments of  fifty  years,  but  time  has  worked  no  change  in 
the  nature  of  the  struggle  East  v.  West. 


112 


CHAPTER   YIIL 

THE   NEW   TREATY   PORTS — FOOCHOW,    AMOY,    NINGPO. 


Visit  of  Chinese  commissioners  to  Hongkong — A  supplementary  treaty 
negotiated — Chinese  thereby  obtain  control  of  junk  trade  of  colony — 
Vain  efforts  to  recover  the  lost  ground — New  ports  criticised — Amoy 
— Alcock's  temporary  residence  there,  1844  —  Interpreter  Parkes — 
Foochow  —  Bad  beginning  —  Insolence  of  mandarin  and  mob  —  Lost 
ground  recovered  during  Alcock's  consulate — His  family  arrive — Little 
trade — Difficulties  of  diverting  the  Bohea  trade  from  old  routes — 
Alcock's  commercial  reports — Their  grasp  of  salient  points  in  a  fresh 
range  of  subjects. 


It  accorded  with  the  fitness  of  things  that  the  negoti- 
ator of  the  treaty  should  remain  to  carry  out  its 
provisions.  Sir  Henry  Pottinger  was  appointed  the 
first  Governor  of  Hongkong,  Chief  Superintendent 
of  Trade,  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  for  Great 
Britain ;  Kiying  and  two  associates  Imperial  Com- 
missioners for  China.  Intercourse  between  them  was 
of  the  most  agreeable  character.  Though  the  wound 
to  the  pride  of  China  was  deep  and  still  fresh,  the 
Imperial  Commissioners'  acceptance  of  the  new  state 
of  things  exceeded  what  the  most  stoical  philosophy 
could  call  for.  They  came  in  person,  on  invitation, 
to  the  alienated  island,  there  to  exchange  the  rati- 
fications of  the  Nanking  treaty ;  entered  heartily  into 
the  life  of  the  community,   showed  great  interest  in 


THE  SUPPLEMENTARY  TREATY.         113 

their  nascent  institutions,  and  "returned  to  Canton 
charmed  with  English  civilisation."  China  then  was 
really  converted,  and  Kiying  the  patron  saint  of 
the  young  colony !  That  adroit  Manchu,  however, 
had  a  purpose  to  serve  by  his  effusive  bonhomie:  it 
was  nothing  less  than  to  undermine  the  treaty  of 
Nanking. 

So  long  as  Sir  Henry  Pottinger  was  negotiating 
under  the  guns  of  her  Majesty's  ships  he  was  master 
of  the  situation,  but  when  pitted  against  the  Chinese 
in  the  open  field  the  position  was  reversed,  for  they 
had  definite  aims  and  knew  how  to  gain  them. 
Arrangements  were  found  necessary  for  the  conduct  of 
trade  at  the  five  consular  ports ;  the  relations  be- 
tween the  colony  of  Hongkong  and  the  empire  of 
China,  as  regards  criminals,  debtors,  &c.,  required 
definition  ;  and,  more  important  still,  the  native  ship- 
ping frequenting  its  harbour  had  to  be  regulated. 
The  negotiations  required  for  these  purposes  afforded 
Kiying  a  favourable  opportunity  for  giving  effect 
to  the  reactionary  policy  of  the  Chinese  Government. 
The  supplementary  treaty  was  negotiated  at  the 
Bogue  between  Sir  Henry  Pottinger  and  Kiying  in 
October  1843.  The  Chinese  version  seems  to  have 
been  signed  by  the  British  agent  without  his  hav- 
ing before  him  a  textual  English  translation  :  by  its 
provisions  the  Chinese  authorities  engaged  to  protect 
the  junk  traffic  in  colonial  waters.  Sir  Henry  Pot- 
tinger did  not  realise  the  kind  of  weapon  he  had 
thus  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  friends  until  its 
damaging  effects  were  demonstrated  by  experience. 
Then  what  had  been  lost  by  diplomacy  was  sought 
to  be  partially  regained  by  persuasion.     To  this  end 

VOL.  I.  H 


114  THE    NEW   TREATY   PORTS.  [chap.  viii. 

strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  successive  governors 
of  Hongkong  to  induce  Kiying  to  forego  some  of 
the  powers  which  had  been  inadvertently  conferred 
on  him,  as  their  exercise  was  proving  ruinous  to  the 
trade  of  the  island.  But  as  this  result  was  precisely 
what  had  been  intended  by  the  Chinese,  nothing  short 
of  another  war  would  have  moved  them  to  yield  a 
single  point. 

His  hesitation  to  exercise  the  right  of  entry  into 
the  city  of  Canton  conferred  by  the  treaty  of  Nan- 
king, while  allowing  the  Chinese  the  full  advantage 
of  the  concessions  gained  by  them  under  the  sup- 
plementary treaty,  must  likewise  be  held  as  a  blemish 
on  the  policy  of  Sir  Henry  Pottinger.  The  best  pal- 
liation of  these  errors  of  the  first  treaty -maker  is 
perhaps  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  his  successors, 
with  many  years  of  actual  experience  to  guide  them, 
have  fallen  into  the  same  errors  of  both  omission 
and  commission. 

In  other  respects  Sir  Henry  Pottinger's  arrange- 
ments for  giving  effect  to  the  treaty  seem  to  have 
been  as  practical  as  the  untried  circumstances  would 
allow. 

The  opening  of  the  new  ports,  with  the  exception 
of  Shanghai,  was  unfavourably  commented  upon  by 
a  section  of  the  English  press,  not  perhaps  unwilling 
to  score  a  point  against  the  '*  Tory  Government,  which 
was  alone  answerable  for  the  treaty  of  Nanking." 
They  denounced  the  opening  of  so  many  ports  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  only  multiply  points  of 
collision  with  the  Chinese.  Three  years  later  the 
'Times'  pronounced  "Amoy,  Foochow,  and  Ningpo 
as  good  for  nothing  as  places  of  trade,"  while  Hong- 


SHANGHAI,    NINGPO,    AMOY,    FOOCHOW.  115 

kong  itself  was  equally  despised  as  a  commercial 
colony.  Some  of  the  journals  resuscitated  the  idea 
which  had  been  freely  discussed  during  the  years 
preceding  the  war,  and  advocated  the  acquisition  in 
sovereignty  of  islands  as  emporia  instead  of  ports  on 
the  mainland,  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
same  idea  was  again  revived  by  Mr  Cobden  twenty 
years  later.  *'  Get  two  other  small  islands,"  he  said 
in  1864;  "merely  establish  them  as  free  ports"  on 
the  model  of  Hongkong.  And  this  with  a  view  to 
superseding  the  treaty  ports  on  the  coast,  where  trade 
had  been  established  for  twenty  years. 

Three  of  the  new  ports  —  Shanghai,  Ningpo,  and 
Amoy  ^-  were  opened  under  Sir  Henry  Pottinger's 
auspices  in  1843;  Foochow  in  1844.  These  places, 
distributed  at  approximately  equal  intervals  along  the 
coast-line  of  1000  miles  between  Shanghai  and  Canton, 
were  not  chosen  at  random.  They  had  all  been  at 
one  time  or  another  entrepots  of  foreign  commerce 
with  either  Europe,  Southern  Asia,  or  Japan.  Foo- 
chow had  been  many  years  before  strongly  recom- 
mended by  one  of  the  East  India  Company's  tea-tasters 
as  most  desirable  for  the  shipment  of  tea.  An  ex- 
pedition equipped  by  the  Company  under  Mr  Hamilton 
Lindsay,  who,  like  the  other  servants  of  the  Company, 
was  versed  in  the  Chinese  language,  visited  the  north- 
ern coast  in  the  chartered  ship  Amherst  in  1832,  and 
gained  the  first  authentic  information  concerning  the 
commercial  capabilities  of  Shanghai.  Mr  GutzlafF, 
who  acted  as  secretary  and  coadjutor  to  Mr  Lindsay's 
mission,  made  several  adventurous  voyages,  including 
one  in  Chinese  disguise,  in  a  native  junk,  to  Tientsin. 
Though  the  coast   had   not   yet   been   surveyed,   and 


116  THE   NEW   TREATY   PORTS.  [chap.  viii. 

navigation  was  in  consequence  somewhat  dangerous, 
a  good  deal  of  fairly  accurate  information,  some  of  it 
already  obsolete,  was  by  these  means  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  those  who  made  the  selection  of  the  treaty 
ports.  Ningpo  was  noted  for  its  literary  culture,  for 
the  respectability  and  intelligence  of  its  inhabitants, 
and  their  friendly  disposition  towards  foreigners.  But 
although  it  was  the  entrepot  of  a  flourishing  coasting 
trade,  the  shallowness  of  its  river,  the  want  of  anchor- 
age at  its  embouchure,  and  its  vicinity  to  Shanghai, 
combined  to  preclude  the  growth  of  foreign  commerce 
at  the  port  of  Ningpo. 

It  was  to  Foochow  that  Mr  Alcock  was  appointed 
in  1844,  by  Mr  Davis  (as  he  then  was),  who  had 
recently  succeeded  Sir  Henry  Pottinger.  The  new 
consul,  however,  made  his  actual  debut  at  Amoy, 
where  he  was  detained  for  four  months,  from  No- 
vember 1844  to  March  1845,  acting  for  the  titular 
consul  at  that  port.  There  he  at  once  displayed 
that  energy  and  clear-sightedness  which  were  to  be- 
come so  conspicuous  in  his  subsequent  career.  Two  im- 
portant matters  had  to  be  arranged  within  the  period 
named — the  evacuation  of  the  island  of  Kulangsu  by 
the  British  garrison  and  the  future  residence  of  the 
consul.  Trifling  as  this  last  may  seem,  it  was  a  matter 
of  no  small  consideration  in  China,  where,  to  paraphrase 
Polonius,  the  dwelling  oft  proclaims  the  man.  It  was 
one  of  the  innumerable  devices  of  the  Chinese  authori- 
ties for  degrading  new-comers  in  the  eyes  of  the  popu- 
lace to  force  them  to  live,  as  at  Canton,  within  a  con- 
fined space  or  in  squalid  tenements.  Mr  Alcock  knew 
by  instinct  the  importance  of  prestige,  while  his  Benin- 


CONSUL   ALCOCK   AT   AMOY   AND   FOOCHOW.         117 

sular  training  had  taught  him  the  value  of  sanitation. 
Following  these  two  guiding  stars,  he  overbore  the 
obstruction  of  the  officials,  and  not  only  obtained  a 
commodious  site  but  had  a  house  built  to  his  own 
specification  during  his  temporary  incumbency  of  the 
office.  That,  and  his  general  bearing  towards  the 
authorities,  stamped  on  the  Amoy  consulate  the  im- 
press of  dignity  which  has  never  been  wholly  effaced. 
He  was  most  fortunate,  it  must  be  allowed,  in  his  in- 
struments, chiefly  in  the  interpreter  whom  he  found  at 
Amoy,  a  man,  or  rather  a  boy — for  he  was  only  sixteen 
— entirely  after  his  own  heart.  That  was  Harry 
Parkes,  one  of  the  bravest  and  best  of  our  empire- 
builders.  It  is  indeed  to  the  journals  and  letters  of 
Sir  Harry  Parkes,  edited  by  Mr  Stanley  Lane-Poole, 
and  to  notes  supplied  for  that  biography  by  Sir  Puther- 
ford  Alcock  himself  in  1893,  that  we  are  chiefly  in- 
debted for  the  record  of  their  joint  proceedings  at 
Amoy,  Foochow,  and  to  some  extent  also  Shanghai, 
from  1844  to  1848.  The  consul  made  a  favourable 
first  impression  on  the  young  interpreter,  who  described 
him  in  a  family  letter  as  "  tall  but  slimly  made,  stand- 
ing about  six  feet  in  his  boots ;  .  .  .  very  gentle- 
manly in  his  manners  and  address,  and  exceedingly 
polite."  It  was  not,  however,  till  he  reached  his  proper 
post,  Foochow,  that  the  mettle  of  the  new  consul  and 
interpreter  was  seriously  tested. 

Foochow  was  of  superior  rank  to  the  other  two  ports, 
being,  like  Canton,  at  once  a  provincial  capital  and  the 
seat  of  a  governor-general  or  viceroy  of  two  provinces 
— namely,  Fukien  and  Chekiang  —  and  possessing  a 
Manchu  garrison.  The  Chinese  Government  was  be- 
lieved to  have  been  most  reluctant  to  open  Foochow 


118  THE   NEW    TREATY   PORTS.  [chap.  viii. 

as  a  trading  port  at  all,  which  seemed  reason  enough 
for  the  British  negotiators  insisting  on  its  being  opened. 
Its  trade  was  small,  which  perhaps  rendered  the  port 
the  more  suitable  for  the  experimental  purpose  of  test- 
ing the  principles  which  were  to  govern  the  new 
intercourse. 

As  the  leading  occurrences  there  have  been  set  forth 
at  some  length  by  Mr  Stanley  Lane-Poole  in  the  above- 
mentioned  work,  there  is  the  less  reason  for  us  to  linger 
over  details.  We  find  that  on  arrival  at  the  end  of 
March  1845  Mr  Alcock  discovered  that  he  had  not  to 
maintain,  but  to  regain,  the  prestige  which  had  already 
been  lost  at  Foochow.  Canton  was,  in  fact,  repeating 
itself  both  as  regards  the  arrogance  of  the  Chinese  and 
the  acquiescence  of  British  officials.  Exclusion  from 
the  city  and  various  other  indignities  had  been  imposed 
on  the  consul,  who,  on  his  part,  had  followed  the  course 
which  had  proved  so  fatal  at  Canton  of  currying  favour 
by  submission.  Living  in  a  shed,^  where  Mr  Davis  on 
a  flying  visit  was  ashamed  to  receive  return  calls  from 
the  native  authorities,  keeping  up  no  great  state,  afraid 
even  to  hoist  his  consular  flag  for  fear  of  hurting  the 
feelings  of  the  Chinese,  the  consul  soon  brought  upon 
himself  and  his  nationals  the  inevitable  consequences  of 
his  humility.  Mob  violence  and  outrages,  encouraged 
at  first  by  the  authorities  in  order  to  cow  the  foreigners, 
had   attained  dimensions  which  at   last   alarmed   the 


^  "  Mr  Lay,  who  has  been  officiating  as  consul  for  some  weeks,  has  been 
located  in  a  miserable  house  built  on  piles  on  a  mud  flat,  apart  from  the 
city,  and  above  the  bridge,  where  the  tide,  as  it  ebbs  and  flows,  daily  sweeps 
up  to  his  door  ;  and  all  efi'orts  to  obtain  even  decent  accommodation  in  the 
city,  where  he  is  entitled  to  demand  it,  or  in  any  but  this  pestilent 
locality,  have  been  in  vain." — '  Times '  Correspondent,  Hongkong,  October 
22,  1844. 


RECOVERS   PRESTIGE   AT   FOOCHOW.  119 

authorities  themselves,  all  within  two  years  of  the 
opening  of  the  port.  Mr  Alcock  set  himself  sternly 
to  oppose  this  downward  current,  but  a  year  elapsed 
before  the  violence  of  the  people  and  the  studied  rude- 
ness of  the  officials  were  finally  stamped  out.  For, 
curiously  enough,  as  Mr  Lane-Poole  has  so  well  pointed 
out,  every  outrage  in  Canton  found  its  echo  at  Foochow, 
showing  clearly  where  lay  the  "  centre  of  disturbance," 
as  our  meteorologists  express  it. 

In  the  end,  however,  the  ascendancy  of  the  British 
authority  was  completely  achieved.  The  consul  and 
the  interpreter  between  them  succeeded  in  getting 
proud  Tartars  put  in  the  common  pillory  and  lesser 
ruffians  severely  flogged,  while  before  they  left  Foochow 
in  1846  they  had  extorted  from  the  authorities  sub- 
stantial pecuniary  compensation  for  injuries  sustained 
by  British  subjects.  The  credit  of  these  vigorous 
measures  no  doubt  belonged  in  the  first  instance  to 
Sir  John  Davis,  the  chief  superintendent,  who  had 
been  so  struck  with  the  deplorable  condition  of  things 
on  his  first  official  visit  to  the  port  in  1844  that  he 
empowered  the  new  consul  to  find  the  remedy.  The 
effect  of  this  resolute  policy  on  the  mandarins  was  as 
prompt  and  natural  as  the  effect  of  the  submissive 
policy  had  been,  and  it  is  instructive  to  read  the  testi- 
mony of  Sir  John  Davis  that,  after  redress  had  been 
exacted,  "  the  consul  was  on  the  best  terms  with  the 
local  authorities,"  which  is  the  perpetual  lesson  taught 
in  all  our  dealings  with  the  Chinese. 

Foochow  is  distinguished  among  the  coast  ports  of 
China  by  the  beauty  and  even  grandeur  of  its  scenery 
and  the  comparative  salubrity  of  its  climate.  The  city 
itself  contains  above  half  a  million  of  people,  covers  an 


120  THE   NEW   TREATY  POETS.  [chap.  viii. 

extensive  area  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Min,  and  is 
connected  with  the  foreign  quarter  by  a  stone  bridge  of 
forty-five  *' arches,"  which  are  not  arches  but  spaces 
between  the  piers  on  which  huge  granite  slabs  are  laid 
horizontally,  forming  the  roadway.  The  houses  and 
business  premises  of  the  merchants,  the  custom-house 
and  foreign  consulates,  are  all  now  situated  on  Nantai, 
an  island  of  some  twenty  miles  in  circumference,  which 
divides  the  main  stream  of  the  Min  from  its  tributary, 
the  Yungfu.  In  the  early  days  the  British  consulate 
was  located  within  the  walled  city,  in  the  grounds  of  a 
Buddhist  temple,  three  miles  from  the  landing-place 
and  business  quarter  on  Nantai,  and  approached 
through  narrow  and  exceedingly  foul-smelling  streets. 
Mrs  Alcock  joined  her  husband  as  soon  as  tolerable 
accommodation  could  be  prepared  for  her,  and  being 
the  first  foreign  lady  who  had  set  foot  in  the  city,  her 
entry  excited  no  small  curiosity  among  the  people.  A 
year  later  Mrs  and  Miss  Bacon,  Mrs  Alcock's  mother 
and  sister,  were  added  to  the  family  party,  and  though 
curiosity  was  still  keen,  they  were  safely  escorted 
through  the  surging  crowd  to  their  peaceful  enclave 
in  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  situation  was  suggestive 
of  monastic  life.  Being  on  high  ground  the  consulate 
commanded  a  superb  mountain  view,  with  the  two 
rivers  issuing  from  their  recesses  and  the  great  city 
lying  below  forming  a  picturesque  foreground,  while  in 
the  middle  distance  the  terraced  rice-fields  showed  in 
their  season  the  tenderest  of  all  greens.  The  circum- 
stances were  conducive  to  the  idyllic  life  of  which  we 
get  a  glimpse  in  the  biography  of  Sir  Harry  Parkes, 
who  shared  it.  He  speaks  in  the  warmest  terms  of  the 
kindness  he  received  from  Mr  and  Mrs  Alcock,  who 


THE   NEW   BRITISH    CONSULATE.  121 

tended  him  through  a  fever  which,  but  for  the  medical 
skill  of  the  consul  —  no  other  professional  aid  being 
available — must  have  ended  fatally.  They  helped  him 
with  books,  enlarged  his  field  of  culture,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  daily  intercourse  with  this  genial  and 
accomplished  family  did  much  to  supply  the  want  of 
that  liberal  education  from  which  the  boy  had  been 
untimely  cut  adrift.  The  value  of  such  parental  influ- 
ence to  a  lad  who  had  left  school  at  thirteen  can  hardly 
be  over-estimated,  and  he  did  not  exaggerate  in  writing, 
**  I  can  never  repay  the  Alcocks  the  lasting  obligations 
I  am  under  to  them." 

During  the  first  few  years  there  was  practically 
no  foreign  trade  at  Foochow  except  in  opium,  which 
was  conducted  from  a  sea  base  beyond  port  limits, 
a  trade  which  was  invisible  alike  to  Chinese  and 
British  authorities  in  the  sense  in  which  harlequin 
is  invisible  to  clown  and  pantaloon.  The  spasmodic 
attempts  which  were  made  to  open  up  a  market  for 
British  manufactures  met  with  no  encouragement,  for 
only  one  British  merchant  maintained  a  precarious 
existence,  and  the  question  of  abandoning  the  port 
was  mooted.  The  prospect  of  commercial  develop- 
ment at  Foochow  depended  on  its  vicinity  to  that 
classic  centre  of  the  tea  cultivation,  the  famous 
Bohea  range,  about  250  miles  to  the  westward, 
whose  name,  however,  was  used  to  cover  many  in- 
ferior products.  Ten  years  more  elapsed  before  this 
advantageous  position  was  turned  to  practical  account, 
owing  to  the  serious  obstacles  that  stood  in  the  way 
of  changing  the  established  trade  route  to  Canton 
and  the  absence  of  aggressive  energy  sufiicient  to 
overcome  them.     Through  the  enterprise  of  an  Amer- 


122  THE   NEW   TREATY   PORTS.  [chap.  VIII. 

ican  merchant  in  alliance  with  Chinese,  Foochow  began 
to  be  a  shipping  port  for  tea  about  the  year  1853, 
growing  year  by  year  in  importance  until  it  rivalled 
Canton  and  Shanghai.  But  as  its  prosperity  has 
always  rested  on  the  single  article,  the  fortunes  of 
the  port  have  necessarily  fallen  with  the  general 
decay  of  the  Chinese  tea  trade. 

Apart  from  the  task  of  putting  the  official  inter- 
course on  a  good  working  basis,  of  maintaining  order 
between  the  few  foreigners,  residents,  and  visitors, 
and  the  native  population,  the  consular  duties  at 
a  port  like  Foochow  were  necessarily  of  the  lightest 
description.  But  it  was  not  in  Mr  Alcock's  nature 
to  make  a  sinecure  of  his  office.  He  was  a  stranger 
to  the  country,  about  which  he  had  everything  to 
learn.  He  was  surrounded  by  problems  all  of  great 
interest,  and  some  of  them  pressing  urgently  for 
solution,  and  he  had  to  make  a  success  of  his  port 
or  "  know  the  reason  why."  Among  the  fruits  of 
his  labours  during  the  latter  part  of  his  term  at 
Foochow  are  a  series  of  commercial  reports,  partly 
published  by  Government,  which  bear  witness  to 
exhaustive  research  into  every  circumstance  having 
any  bearing  on  the  genesis  of  trade,  and  applying 
to  those  local,  and  to  him  absolutely  novel,  conditions 
the  great  root  principles  which  are  of  universal  validity. 
Considering  how  alien  to  his  previous  experience  was 
the  whole  range  of  such  subjects,  his  at  once  grappling 
with  them  and  firmly  seizing  their  salient  features 
showed  a  mind  of  no  common  capacity.  For  there 
was  nothing  perfunctory  about  those  early  treatises ; 
on  the  contrary,  they  were  at  once  more  polished 
and   more    profound    than    most    things    of    the    same 


COMMERCIAL   STUDIES. 


123 


kind  which  have  appeared  during  the  subsequent 
half  century.  The  principal  generalisations  of  recent 
commentators  on  the  trade  of  China  were  in  fact  set 
forth  in  the  three  Foochow  consular  reports  of  1845-46, 
while  many  supposed  new  lights  which  the  discussions 
of  the  last  few  years  have  shed  on  Chinese  character 
and  methods  had  been  already  displayed,  and  in  a 
more  perfect  form,  in  the  buried  records  of  the  super- 
intendency  of  trade  in  China. 


124 


CHAPTER    IX. 


SHANGHAI. 


Shanghai — Importance  of  its  situation — Consul  Balfour — Germ  of  municipal 
institutions — The  foreign  settlements — Confidence  and  civility  of  the 
natives — Alcock  appointed  consul,  1846 — Excursions  into  the  country 
— Their  limitations — Responsibilities  of  consuls. 

Of  the  four  new  ports,  Shanghai,  by  far  the  most 
important,  had  been  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  its 
first  consul.  This  was  Captain  George  Balfour  of 
the  Madras  Artillery,  who,  like  a  wise  master-builder, 
laid  the  foundations  of  what  is  now  one  of  the 
greatest  emporia  in  the  world.  Captain  Balfour  had 
managed  the  beginnings  of  the  settlement  so  judici- 
ously that  the  merchants  enjoyed  the  fullest  facilities 
for  prosecuting  their  business,  while  the  consul  main- 
tained good  relations  with  the  native  authorities  and 
no  hostile  feeling  existed  between  the  foreign  and 
native  communities.  The  circumstances  of  the  place 
were  favourable  to  all  this  :  the  foreign  residents 
were  not,  as  at  Canton,  confined  to  a  narrow  space ; 
they  had  abundance  of  elbow-room  and  perfect  free- 
dom of  movement  in  the  surrounding  district,  which 
was  well  provided  with  footpaths  and  an  excellent 
system  of  waterways.  The  people  of  that  part  of 
the  country  are  of  a  peaceable  and  rather  timid  dis- 
position.     Altogether,   a   healthy   condition   of  things 


''>€ 


'-  ^1 


% 


GENESIS   OF   FOREIGN    SETTLEMENT.  12  5 

had  grown  up,  there  seemed  to  be  no  grievance  felt 
on  either  side,  while  the  material  prosperity  of  the 
natives  rapidly  increased  as  a  result  of  a  great  and 
expanding  foreign  trade,  to  which  they  had  never 
been  accustomed.  The  regulation  of  business  accom- 
modation and  residence  was  very  simple  and  worked 
automatically.  A  certain  area,  ample  for  every  pur- 
pose that  could  be  foreseen,  was  set  apart  by  the 
Chinese  Government  for  the  residence  of  foreigners, 
the  location  having  been  indicated  by  Sir  Henry 
Pottinger  on  his  way  from  Nanking  after  the  signing 
of  the  treaty.  The  rights  of  the  native  proprietors 
were  in  no  w^ay  interfered  with,  the  merchants  and 
others  who  desired  to  settle  were  at  liberty  to  deal 
with  the  natives  for  the  purchase  of  building  lots,  and 
as  the  prices  paid  were  so  much  above  the  normal  value 
of  the  land  there  was  no  essential  difficulty  in  effecting 
purchases.  But  there  being  so  many  interested  parties, 
several  years  elapsed  before  the  whole  area  had  passed 
into  the  possession  of  foreign  occupants.  The  land 
remained  the  property  of  the  Crown,  held  under  per- 
petual lease,  subject  only  to  a  small  ground-rent,  which 
was  collected  through  the  consulates,  as  at  this  day. 
Roads  were  gradually  marked  out  and  jetties  for  boats 
were  built  on  the  river  frontage,  and  what  is  now  a 
municipal  council  served  by  a  large  secretarial  staff 
and  an  imposing  body  of  police,  and  handling  a  budget 
amounting  to  £130,000,  came  into  existence  under 
the  modest  title  of  a  "  Committee  for  Roads  and 
Jetties."  In  the  beginning  there  seems  to  have  been 
an  idea  of  forming  separate  reservations  of  land  for  the 
subjects  of  the  three  treaty  Powers — Great  Britain, 
France,  and  the  United  States ;  but  the  exigencies  of 


126  SHANGHAI.  [chap.  ix. 

business  soon  effaced  the  theoretical  distinction  as 
between  England  and  America,  whose  separate  ideal 
settlements  were  merged  for  all  practical  purposes 
into  one  cosmopolitan  colony,  in  which  the  Powers 
coming  later  on  the  scene  enjoyed  the  same  rights 
as  the  original  pioneers. 

To  ground  thus  wisely  prepared  Mr  Alcock  succeeded 
in  the  autumn  of  1846.  His  four  months  at  Amoy 
and  eighteen  at  Foochow  were  only  preparatory  for  the 
real  work  which  lay  before  him  in  the  consulate  at 
Shanghai,  whither  he  carried  in  his  train  the  interpreter 
Parkes,  with  whom  he  had  grown  accustomed  to  work 
so  efficiently.  Shanghai  by  this  time  was  already 
realising  the  position  assigned  to  it  by  nature  as 
a  great  commercial  port,  and  the  resident  community, 
120  Europeans  all  told,  was  already  forming  itself  into 
that  novel  kind  of  republic  which  is  so  flourishing  to- 
day, while  its  commercial  interests  were  such  as  to  give 
its  members  weight  in  the  administration  of  their  own 
affairs  as  well  as  in  matters  of  public  policy. 

The  level  country  round  Shanghai  was,  as  we  have 
said,  very  favourable  for  excursions  by  land  and 
water,  affording  tourists  and  sportsmen  congenial  re- 
creation. The  district  was  in  those  days  remarkably 
well  stocked  with  game.  Pheasants  of  the  "ring- 
necked"  variety,  now  so  predominant  in  English  pre- 
serves, abounded  close  up  to  the  city  wall,  and  were 
sometimes  found  in  the  gardens  of  the  foreign  resi- 
dents. Snipe,  quail,  and  wildfowl  were  plentiful  in 
their  season,  the  last  named  in  great  variety.  All 
classes  of  the  foreign  community  took  advantage  of 
the  freedom  of  locomotion  which  they  enjoyed.  Newly 
arrived  missionaries,  no  less  than  newly  arrived  sports- 


'*■  .#, ,, 


FRIENDLY   RELATIONS   WITH    NATIVES.  127 

men,  were  encouraged  by  the  ease  and  safety  with 
which  they  could  prosecute  their  vocation  in  the  towns 
and  villages  accessible  from  Shanghai.  Within  the 
radius  authorised  by  treaty  the  foreigners  soon  be- 
came familiar  objects  in  a  district  which  is  reckoned 
to  support  a  population  as  dense  as  that  of  Belgium. 
Not  only  did  friendly  relations  exist,  but  a  wonderful 
degree  of  confidence  was  established  between  the 
natives  and  foreign  tourists.  It  was  not  the  custom 
in  those  days  for  foreigners  to  carry  money,  the  only 
coinage  available  being  of  a  clumsy  and  non  -  port- 
able character.  They  paid  their  way  by  "  chits "  or 
orders  upon  their  comprador,  and  it  was  not  un- 
common for  them  in  those  early  days  to  pay  for  sup- 
plies during  their  excursions  into  the  interior  by  a 
few  hieroglyphics  pencilled  on  a  scrap  of  paper,  which 
the  confiding  peasant  accepted  in  perfect  good  faith, 
and  with  so  little  apprehension  that  sometimes  a  con- 
siderable interval  would  elapse  before  presentation  of 
these  primitive  cheques  —  until,  perhaps,  the  holder 
had  occasion  to  make  a  journey  to  Shanghai. 

But  although  the  foreigner  in  his  proper  costume 
moved  freely  within  the  prescribed  area,  it  was  con- 
sidered hazardous  to  venture  beyond  these  limits.  It 
was  also,  of  course,  a  nominal  contravention  of  the 
treaty,  for  the  consequences  of  which  the  traveller 
must  take  the  whole  risk.  Those,  therefore — and  they 
were  exceedingly  few  —  who  could  not  repress  the 
desire  to  penetrate  into  the  interior  adopted  as  a 
disguise  the  costume  of  the  natives.  It  was  thus  that 
Fortune  made  his  explorations  into  the  tea  districts 
of  China.  The  notion  that  either  difficulty  or  danger 
attended    these    distant    excursions   gradually   disap- 


128  SHANGHAI.  [chap.  ix. 

peared,  and  about  the  year  1855  sportsmen  and 
travellers  began  to  explore  the  forbidden  country 
without  any  disguise  at  all,  to  the  great  amusement 
of  the  populace,  and  to  the  profit  of  the  priests  of 
the  temples  where  they  found  accommodation. 

The  consular  authorities  occupied  a  peculiar  and 
highly  responsible  position  in  China.  Their  nationals 
being  exempt  from  native  jurisdiction,  and  subject  only 
to  the  laws  of  their  own  country,  promulgated,  inter- 
preted, and,  when  occasion  arose,  executed,  by  the 
consul,  that  functionary  was  morally  answerable  to  the 
people  and  the  Government  of  China  for  the  good 
behaviour  of  his  countrymen.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
was  his  primary  duty  to  defend  them  against  all  ag- 
gression of  the  Chinese.  Between  these  two  opposite 
duties  the  consul  needed  all  the  discretion,  courage, 
and  good  judgment  that  he  could  command ;  and  it 
was  but  natural  that  individual  temperament  or  the 
pressure  of  local  circumstances  should  cause  diversity 
in  the  mode  in  which  the  consuls  interpreted  their 
instructions  and  balanced  the  different  claims  of  their 
public  duty.  As  has  been  said  before.  Captain  Balfour 
had  shown  himself  most  judicious  in  all  his  arrange- 
ments for  the  protection  and  advancement  of  his 
countrymen  in  Shanghai.  Foreseeing,  notwithstand- 
ing the  peaceable  disposition  of  the  natives,  that  risks 
might  attend  unfettered  intercourse  with  the  interior, 
he  had  thought  it  prudent  to  restrict  the  rambles  of 
British  subjects  to  the  limits  of  a  twenty-four  hours' 
journey  from  Shanghai, — a  limit  which  coincided  with 
curious  exactness  with  the  "  thirty -mile  radius "  of 
defence  against  the  rebels  which  was  laid  down  by 
Admiral  Hope  eighteen  years  later. 


ATTACK    ON   THREE   MISSIONARIES.  129 


I.   THE   TSINGPU   AFFAIR. 

Attack  on  three  missionaries — Redress  extorted  by  Consul 
Alcock — Its  lasting  eflfect. 

Affairs  in  Shanghai  had  followed  a  placid  and  un- 
eventful course  until  an  incident  occurred  which 
brought  into  sudden  activity  the  latent  forces  of  dis- 
order. Within  little  more  than  a  year  after  the  arrival 
of  Mr  Alcock  at  his  new  post  an  outrage  was  per- 
petrated on  the  persons  of  three  English  missionaries, 
which  led  to  the  first  and  the  last  important  struggle 
between  the  British  and  Chinese  authorities  in  Shang- 
hai. The  assailants  of  Messrs  Medhurst,  Lockhart, 
and  Muirhead,  the  three  missionaries  concerned,  were 
not  the  peaceably  disposed  natives  of  the  place,  but 
the  discharged  crews  of  the  Government  grain-junks, 
who  had  been  cast  adrift  by  the  officials  and  left  to 
shift  for  themselves  after  the  manner  of  disbanded 
soldiers.  The  attack  took  place  at  a  small  walled  town 
called  Tsingpu,  within  the  authorised  radius,  and  the 
three  Englishmen  came  very  near  losing  their  lives. 
Mr  Alcock  lost  not  a  moment  in  demanding  full  redress 
from  the  Chinese  authorities,  who  instinctively  shel- 
tered themselves  under  the  old  evasive  pleas  which 
had  proved  so  effective  at  Canton.  It  happened  that 
the  highest  local  official,  the  Taotai,  had  had  ex- 
perience of  the  southern  port,  and,  entirely  unaware 
that  he  was  confronted  in  Shanghai  with  a  man  of 
very  different  calibre  from  any  he  had  encountered 
before,  he  brought  out  all  the  rusty  weapons  of  the 
Canton  armoury,  in  sure  and  certain  hope  of  reducing 

VOL.    I.  I 


130  THE   TSINGPU   AFFAIR.  [chap.  ix. 

the  consul's  demands  to  nullity.  Evasion  being  ex- 
hausted, intimidation  was  tried,  and  the  consul  and  his 
interpreter  were  threatened  with  the  vengeance  of  an 
outraged  people,  quite  in  the  Canton  manner.  But 
intimidation  was  the  very  worst  tactics  to  try  on  two 
Englishmen  of  the  stamp  of  Alcock  and  Parkes,  and 
when  that  card  had  been  played  the  Chinese  game 
was  up. 

The  situation  was  one  of  those  critical  ones  that 
test  moral  stamina,  that  discriminate  crucially  between 
a  man  and  a  copying-machine.  It  was  also  one  which 
illuminated,  as  by  an  electric  flash,  the  pivotal  point 
of  all  our  relations  with  China  then  as  now,  for  the 
principle  never  grows  old.  It  is  therefore  important 
to  set  forth  the  part  played  by  the  responsible  officer, 
the  support  he  obtained,  the  risks  he  ran,  and  the 
effective  results  of  his  action.  An  absolutely  unpro- 
voked murderous  outrage  had  been  perpetrated  on 
three  Englishmen ;  the  Chinese  authorities  refused 
redress  with  insolence  and  evasion  ;  acquiescence  in  the 
denial  of  justice  would  have  been  as  fatal  to  future 
good  relations  at  Shanghai  as  it  had  been  in  the 
previous  decade  in  Canton.  What  was  the  official 
charged  with  the  protection  of  his  countrymen  to  do  ? 
He  had  no  instructions  except  to  conciliate  the 
Chinese ;  there  was  no  telegraph  to  England ;  com- 
munication even  with  the  chief  superintendent  of 
trade  at  Hongkong,  850  miles  off",  was  dependent 
on  chance  sailing  vessels.  Delay  was  equivalent  to 
surrender.  Now  or  never  was  the  peremptory  alter- 
native presented  to  the  consul,  who,  taking  his  official 
life  in  his  hands,  had  to  decide  and  act  on  his  own 
personal    responsibility.       Had    time    allowed    of    an 


VIGOROUS   REPRISAL.  131 

exchange  of  views  with  the  plenipotentiary  in  Hong- 
kong, we  know  for  certain  that  nothing  would  have 
been  done,  for  the  first  announcement  of  Mr  Alcock's 
strong  measures  filled  Mr  Bonham  (who  had  just  suc- 
ceeded Sir  John  Davis)  with  genuine  alarm. 

Considering  the  instructions  [he  wrote]  with  which  you  have 
been  furnished  from  the  Foreign  Office,  dated  December  18, 
1846,  and  the  limited  power  and  duties  of  a  consul,  I  cannot 
but  express  my  regret  that  you  should  have  taken  the  steps 
you  have  seen  fit  to  do  without  previous  reference  to  her 
Majesty's  plenipotentiary,  as  undoubtedly,  under  the  peremptory 
orders  recently  received  from  her  Majesty's  Government,  I 
should  not  have  considered  myself  warranted  in  sanctioning, 
&c.,  &c. 

Fortunately  for  the  consul  and  for  the  peaceful 
development  of  British  trade,  one  of  Palmerston's 
specific  instructions  had  been  obeyed  in  Shanghai. 
There  was  a  British  ship  of  war  in  port,  the  10-gun 
brig  Childers,  and,  what  was  of  still  more  importance, 
a  real  British  man  on  board  of  her,  Commander  Pit- 
man, who  shared  to  the  full  the  Consul's  responsibility 
for  what  was  done. 

The  measures  adopted  by  Consul  Alcock  —  when 
negotiation  was  exhausted — were  to  announce  to  the 
Chinese  authorities  that,  until  satisfaction  had  been 
obtained,  no  duties  should  be  paid  on  cargo  imported 
or  exported  in  British  ships :  furthermore,  that  the 
great  junk  fleet  of  1400  sail,  laden  and  ready  for  sea 
with  the  tribute  rice  for  Peking,  should  not  be  allowed 
to  leave  the  port.  The  Childers,  moored  in  the  stream 
below  the  junk  anchorage,  was  in  a  position  to  make 
this  a  most  effective  blockade.  The  rage  of  the  Taotai 
rose  to  fever  heat,  and  it  was  then  he  threatened,  and 


132 


THE   TSINGPU    AFFAIR. 


[chap.  IX. 


no  doubt  attempted  to  inflame  the  populace  and  the 
whole  vagabond  class.  The  Taotai  ordered  some  of  the 
rice-laden  junks  to  proceed ;  but  though  there  were 
fifty  war-junks  to  guard  them,  the  masters  dared  not 


Scale  of  Miles 
o lo        20        3p 


ll'alker  <&•  Cockerell  sc. 
MOUTH    OF   YANGTZE   AND    CHUSAN    ARCHIPELAGO. 


attempt  to  pass  the  ideal  barrier  thrown  across  the 
river  by  the  resolute  Captain  Pitman. 

The  outrage  took  place  on  the  8th  of  March.  On 

the   13th  the   consul  presented   an  ultimatum   to  the 

Taotai  giving  him   forty-eight    hours  to  produce  the 


PROMPT   REDRESS.  133 

criminals.  This  being  disregarded,  the  measures  above 
referred  to  were  enforced,  with  the  full  approval,  it 
may  be  mentioned,  of  the  consuls  of  the  two  other 
treaty  Powers.  At  the  same  time  Vice-Consul  Robert- 
son, with  Parkes  for  interpreter,  was  despatched  to 
Nanking  on  board  her  Majesty's  ship  Espiegle  to  lay 
the  whole  case  before  the  viceroy  of  Kiangnan.  The 
matter  was  there  promptly  attended  to,  full  redress 
was  ordered,  and  the  culprits  punished  exactly  three 
weeks  after  the  assault.  The  embargo  on  the  rice- 
junks  was  removed,  and  affairs  resumed  their  normal 
course.^  The  effect  of  this  lesson  has  never  been 
effaced,  harmony  having  prevailed  between  British 
and  Chinese  officials  and  people  in  Shanghai  and  the 
province  from  that  day  to  this. 

The  circumstances  were  of  course  very  unusual 
which  placed  such  ready  means  of  bloodless  coercion 
in  the  hands  of  the  British  consul.  The  fortuitous 
coincidence  of  the  time  of  the  outrage  with  the  period 
of  departure  of  the  grain  fleet  placed  a  weapon  in 
the  consul's  hands  which  of  itself  would  have  event- 
ually brought  the  Chinese  to  terms,  should  the 
matter  in  the  mean  time  not  have  been  taken  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  consul  and  dealt  with  from  Hong- 
kong by  the  plenipotentiary,  whose  views  have  been 
given  above.  So  soon  as  the  detention  of  the  grain 
fleet  became  known  to  the  Government  of  Peking, 
orders  of  a  very  drastic  nature  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  despatched  to  the  viceroy  of  the  province, 
and  both  he  and  his  subordinate  would  have  been 
made  answerable  for  their  incompetence  in  imperilling 

1  See  this  whole  transaction  described  in  his  characteristic  manner  by  Do 
Quincey  in  his  brochure  on  China,  originally  published  in  Titan,  1857. 


134  THE   TSINGPU   AFFAIR.  [chap.  ix. 

the  supply  of  rice  for  the  Government.  But  the 
pressure  was  doubly  intensified  by  the  appearance 
of  a  foreign  ship  of  war  under  the  walls  of  Nanking. 
Six  years  had  not  elapsed  since  a  similar  demonstration 
had  brought  the  Government  to  its  knees,  and  to 
have  allowed  such  an  invasion  a  second  time  would 
have  drawn  down  the  imperial  wrath  on  the  luck- 
less provincial  authorities.  For  Nanking  differs  from 
the  other  provincial  capitals,  such  as  Canton  and 
Foochow,  inasmuch  as  it  is  near  the  strategic  centre 
of  the  empire,  commanding  the  main  artery  of  com- 
munication with  the  interior  of  the  country,  at  the 
point  of  intersection  of  the  Yangtze  river  by  the 
famous  Imperial  Canal  which  connects  the  capital 
with  the  richest  region  in  the  Yangtze  valley.  A 
blockade  of  the  sea-going  grain  fleet  with  a  simul- 
taneous blockade  of  these  inland  waters,  so  easily 
effected,  would  have  throttled  China.  The  viceroy, 
who  sent  a  report  on  the  transaction  to  the  throne 
by  special  express,  explained  away  his  own  hasty 
action  by  saying  ''  that  the  appearance  of  the  bar- 
barian chiefs  at  the  provincial  city  may  have  caused 
anxiety  in  the  sacred  breast." 

The  verdict  of  the  Home  Government  on  the 
episode  was  substantially  the  same  as  that  on  Sir 
John  Davis's  brilliant  expedition  on  the  Canton 
river  the  year  before  :  "  Gratified  with  your  success, 
but  don't  do  it  again ; "  in  other  words,  "  Do  it  at 
your  peril,  leaving  us  to  applaud  or  repudiate  according 
to  the  event."  Perhaps  it  would  be  more  just  to  say 
that  there  were  then,  as  always,  conflicting  views  in 
the  British  Cabinet,  the  apparent  vacillations  of  the 
Government  depending  a  good  deal  on  which  of  its 


SOLE    CONDITION    OF   FOREIGN   SECURITY.  135 

members  happened,  for  the  moment,  to  have  the 
parole, — whether  the  Foreign  Secretary,  the  Colonial 
Secretary,  or  other  Minister  indited  the  despatch. 

Commenting  some  years  later  on  the  general  question 
of  our  relations  with  China,  Mr  Alcock  wrote  as 
follows :  "A  salutary  dread  of  the  immediate  con- 
sequences of  violence  offered  to  British  subjects, 
certainty  of  its  creating  greater  trouble  and  danger 
to  the  native  authorities  personally  than  even  the 
most  vigorous  efforts  to  protect  the  foreigners  and 
seize  their  assailants  will  entail,  seems  to  be  the 
best  and  only  protection  in  this  country  for  English- 
men." Palmerston  himself  could  not  have  laid  down 
the  law  and  common-sense  of  the  case  with  greater 
precision. 

II.  REBELLION. 

Taiping  rebellion — Rebel  occupation  of  Shanghai — Encroachment  of  invest- 
ing force  on  foreign  settlement — Driven  off  by  Anglo-American  forces 
— The  French  quarrel  with  insurgents — Consequent  enlargement  of 
French  concession — The  assumption  of  self-government  by  the  Anglo- 
American  community — Exemplary  conduct  of  Chinese  authorities  after 
their  defeat — French  belligerency — Difficult  question  of  neutrality — 
Treatment  of  native  refugees. 

Affairs  went  smoothly  and  prosperously  in  Shanghai 
for  another  five  years,  when  the  greatest  calamity 
that  has  visited  China  in  modern  times  cast  its 
shadow  on  the  province  and  on  the  city.  The  ap- 
palling ravages  of  the  Taiping  rebellion,  which, 
originating  in  the  southern  province  of  Kwangsi, 
followed  the  great  trade-routes  to  the  Yangtze-kiang 
and  down  the  course  of  that  stream,  leaving  absolute 
desolation   in    its  wake,  reached  the  southern  capital, 


136  REBELLION.  [chap.  ix. 

Nanking,  on  March  8,  1853.  The  city  was  paralysed, 
and  surrendered  on  the  19th,  apparently  without  a 
struggle  ;  the  whole  Tartar  garrison,  numbering  20,000, 
were  put  ruthlessly  to  the  sword,  not  a  soul  being 
spared.  The  whole  country,  officials  and  people  alike, 
was  thrown  into  a  state  of  abject  fear.  The  ease 
with  which  such  Government  forces  as  there  were  suc- 
cumbed to  the  onslaught  of  the  rebel  hordes  may  very 
well  have  prompted  the  rowdy  element,  which  exists 
more  or  less  everywhere,  to  make  raids  on  their 
own  account.  Such  a  band,  belonging  as  was  supposed 
to  certain  secret  societies,  but  without  any  connection 
with  the  main  body  of  the  Taipings,  who  were  at 
the  time  applying  fire  and  sword  to  the  populous 
towns  on  the  Yangtze,  surprised  and  captured  the 
walled  city  of  Shanghai.  "  The  news,"  says  an  eye- 
witness, "  came  like  thunder  from  a  clear  sky ; "  there 
was  no  thought  of  the  city  being  in  danger  either 
from  within  or  without.  The  people  were  panic- 
stricken  at  first,  but  fear  with  them  seemed  near 
akin  to  criminality,  and  the  scene  enacted  was  what 
was  repeated  thousands  of  times  and  over  a  wide 
area — one  of  general  pillage  and  destruction.  "  Several 
hundred  of  the  usually  innocent  and  simple  country- 
folk— who  must  have  scented  their  prey  as  the  eagle 
does  the  carcass,  for  as  yet  it  was  early  morning — fell 
upon  the  custom-house,  whence  they  carried  off  chairs, 
tables,  windows,  doors,  everything  that  was  portable, 
leaving  the  floor  littered  with  books  and  papers,  w^hich 
were  being  kicked  about  and  trodden  on  in  a  most 
unceremonious  way. 

For  a  period  of  eighteen  months,  beginning  in  Sep- 
tember 1853  and  ending  in  February  1855,  these  rebels 


COLLISION   WITH   CHINESE   TROOPS.  137 

held  possession  of  the  city.  It  took  a  little  time  before 
the  authorities  were  able  to  gather  any  force  to  expel 
them.  But  they  did  commence  a  species  of  siege  which 
ultimately  succeeded  in  its  object.  There  would  be 
no  interest  in  tracing  its  progress.  What  we  have 
to  note  is  the  effect  which  the  interregnum  produced 
on  the  relations  between  the  foreign  officials  and 
community  and  the  Chinese. 

The  first  was  of  a  very  remarkable  character,  being- 
nothing  less  than  an  armed  collision  between  such 
foreign  forces  as  could  be  mustered  and  the  im- 
perialist troops  who  were  investing  the  city.  The 
Chinese  soldiers  were  in  camp  at  a  short  distance 
outside  of  the  foreign  settlement,  which  was  exempt 
from  the  operations  of  the  war.  But  the  discipline 
of  Chinese  troops  is  never  very  efficient,  and  unruly 
stragglers  from  the  camps  kept  the  foreigners  in  the 
settlement  in  constant  hot  water.  It  became,  in 
fact,  dangerous  for  them  to  take  their  recreation  in 
the  open  ground  at  the  back  of  the  settlement, 
which  was  used  as  a  racecourse.  Immunity  from 
reprisals  produced  its  invariable  result,  and  the 
aggressions  of  the  soldiery  became  more  persistent 
and  better  organised.  The  foreigners  were  at  last 
driven  to  retaliate  in  their  own  defence.  After  a 
formidable  inroad  of  the  Chinese  troops,  the  three 
treaty  consuls  met  hastily  and  decided  on  sending 
a  demand  to  the  Chinese  general  for  the  withdrawal 
of  all  his  soldiers  from  the  vicinity  of  the  settle- 
ment, failing  which,  his  position  would  be  attacked 
at  four  o'clock  the  same  afternoon  by  all  the  avail- 
able foreign  forces.  These  were,  marines  and  blue- 
jackets from  her  Britannic  Majesty's  ships  Encounter 


138  REBELLION.  [chap.  ix. 

and  Grecian,  marines  and  sailors  from  the  United 
States  ship  Plymouth,  some  sailors  from  the  merchant 
ships  in  port,  and  about  200  of  the  residents  as 
infantry  volunteers.  The  English  force  was  com- 
manded by  Captain  O'Callaghan,  who  was  accom- 
panied by  Consul  Alcock ;  the  Americans  were  led 
by  Captain  Kelley,  who  was  accompanied  by  Consul 
Murphy ;  while  the  volunteers  were  commanded  by 
Vice-Consul  Wade,  subsequently  her  Majesty's  Min- 
ister to  China.  The  attack  on  the  Chinese  position 
was  completely  successful ;  indeed  there  was  appar- 
ently very  little  resistance,  a  circumstance  which  was 
attributed  by  Mr  Wetmore,  who  was  in  the  action  from 
beginning  to  end,  to  the  uncovenanted  co-operation 
of  the  rebels  within  the  city.  It  was,  nevertheless, 
according  to  him,  writing  nearly  forty  years  after,  "  a 
hazardous,  if  not  a  reckless,  undertaking." 

Her  Majesty's  Government,  in  a  despatch  from  the 
Foreign  Office  dated  June  16,  "entirely  approved  of 
Mr  Alcock's  proceedings,  and  they  considered  that  he 
displayed  great  courage  and  judgment  in  circum- 
stances of  no  ordinary  difficulty "  ;  while  the  British 
community  unanimously  conveyed  their  warmest  thanks 
to  Consul  Alcock,  Vice-Consul  Wade,  and  the  naval 
officers  concerned,  for  "  saving  their  lives  and  property 
from  the  most  imminent  jeopardy."  And  they  add 
that  "  any  symptoms  of  hesitation  and  timid  policy 
would  inevitably  have  led  to  serious  consequences 
and  far  greater  loss  of  life." 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  French  took  no 
part  in  this  common  defence  of  the  settlement,  in 
explanation  of  which  it  must  be  noted  that  they 
had  never  fallen  kindly  into  the  cosmopolitan  system, 


FRENCH  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SHANGHAI.      139 

but  as  years  went  on  kept  themselves  more  and 
more  apart,  expanding  what  was  a  mere  consular 
residence  until  it  covered  two  populous  suburbs 
embracing  half  of  the  circuit  of  the  walled  city,  and 
what  began  as  a  settlement  came  to  be  spoken  of 
as  a  "  concession." 

In  this  situation  it  was  not  difficult  for  them  to 
pick  a  quarrel  on  their  own  account  with  the  rebels, 
which  led  to  an  ineifectual  bombardment  of  the  city 
by  French  ships  of  war  moored  close  under  the  walls. 
Guns  were  then  landed  in  the  suburb,  which  was 
thereafter  embraced  within  the  limits  of  the  French 
concession,  the  houses  being  demolished  to  give  play 
to  the  artillery.  A  cannonade  lasting  many  days 
resulted  in  a  practical  breach  in  the  city  wall,  which 
was  followed  up  by  a  combined  assault  by  the  French 
and  the  imperialist  troops,  with  whom  they  had 
allied  themselves.  The  attack  was  repulsed  with 
severe  loss  to  the  assailants. 

Among  the  results  of  these  operations  and  of  the 
lapse  of  organised  government  during  eighteen  months 
the  most  direct  was  perhaps  the  establishment  of  the 
French  on  the  ground  where  their  batteries  had  been 
placed.  For  reasons  military  or  otherwise,  a  tabula 
rasa  was  made  of  an  immense  populous  suburb,  the 
ground  then  admitting  of  easy  occupation  and  the 
laying  out  of  streets  and  roads.  The  area  thus  occu- 
pied by  the  French  is  separated  from  the  cosmopolitan 
settlement  of  Shanghai  by  a  tidal  creek. 

Results  less  showy,  but  more  important  in  the  in- 
terests of  humanity  and  international  commerce,  were 
very  soon  apparent  in  the  cosmopolitan  settlement. 
The  first  of  these  was  the  assumption  by  the  foreign 


140  KEBELLIOX.  [chap.  ix. 

community  of  the  function  of  self-government  and 
self-protection,  and  the  foundation  of  that  important 
municipality,  which  has  established  as  fine  a  record  of 
public  service  as  any  such  body  has  ever  done.  The 
inroads  of  vagabondage  and  crime  would,  without  the 
protective  measures  extemporised  for  the  occasion,  have 
swamped  the  foreign  quarter  and  reduced  it  to  the 
desolate  condition  of  the  native  city.  And  this  neces- 
sity of  relying  on  their  own  strength  has  no  doubt 
given  to  the  community  of  Shanghai  that  tone  of 
self  -  confidence  which  has  characterised  successive 
generations  of  them. 

The  effect  of  the  collision  on  the  relations  between 
the  foreign  and  Chinese  authorities  can  hardly  be  under- 
stood without  some  explanatory  words.  In  countries 
where  the  soldier,  sudden  and  quick  in  quarrel,  seeks 
the  bubble  reputation  in  the  cannon's  mouth,  there  is 
a  psychological  figment  called  military  honour,  which 
may  be  symbolised  in  various  ways,  as,  for  example,  by 
a  rag  at  the  end  of  a  stick  for  which  brave  men  will 
cheerfully  die.  The  warlike  traditions  which  have 
evolved  European  codes  of  honour  have  no  existence  in 
China.  Revanche,  therefore,  did  not  enter  into  the 
heads  of  the  defeated  Chinese  commanders,  who  con- 
tented themselves  with  posting  placards  about  their 
camps  stating  that  "  the  barbarians  were  about  to  be 
annihilated,  but  that  they  had  ransomed  themselves  for 
300,000  taels,  and  that  an  additional  300,000  would  be 
required."  Their  conduct,  however,  was  quite  exem- 
plary during  the  remainder  of  the  siege,  their  chief 
solicitude  being  to  avoid  encroaching  on  the  foreign 
quarter.  Whatever  be  the  explanation,  the  fact  is  that 
the   Chinese  were   on   better   terms  with    the    foreign 


BRITISH   NEUTRALITY.  141 

officials  after  than  they  had  been  before  the  battle  of 
"Muddy  Flat,"  fought  on  the  4th  of  April  1854. 
Within  ten  days  they  were  amicably  settling  in  concert 
the  ground  for  a  new  camp,  which  would  not  hamper 
the  military  operations  of  the  besiegers  nor  yet  com- 
promise the  sanctity  of  the  foreign  settlement. 

Thus  there  was  no  obstacle  whatever  in  the  way  of 
concerting  with  the  nearest  representatives  of  the 
Government  of  China  all  those  measures  which  were 
demanded  by  the  position  of  neutrality  assumed  by  the 
British  Government  between  the  insurgents  and  im- 
perialist forces,  and  also  for  the  regulation  and  control 
of  the  Chinese  refugees,  who  poured  into  the  foreign 
settlement  to  escape  the  rapine  of  savage  war.  The 
neutrality  of  the  British  representative  was  difficult  to 
maintain :  by  force  of  circumstances  it  took  a  benevo- 
lent form  towards  the  beleaguered  rebels,  who  w^ere 
dependent  for  their  continued  existence  upon  supplies 
received  from  and  through  the  foreign  settlement.  The 
situation  was  complicated  by  the  action  of  the  French, 
who,  having  quarrelled  with  the  insurgents,  entered  on 
the  stage  as  a  third  belligerent.  Thereupon  the  French 
authorities  made  a  grievance  of  "  the  scandal  of  supplies 
being  furnished  to  the  declared  enemies  of  the  French 
in  the  sight  and  under  the  protection  of  our  English 
guard,"  France  being  at  the  time  allied  with  Great 
Britain  in  prosecuting  the  war  in  the  Crimea.  Consul 
Alcock,  whose  sense  of  propriety  had  already  been  con- 
siderably shocked  by  the  facilities  which  the  position 
of  the  cosmopolitan  settlement  affiDrded  for  conveying 
supplies  into  the  city,  treated  the  appeal  of  his  French 
colleague  with  respect,  and  made  it  the  text  of  a  rep- 
resentation to  the  senior  naval  officer,  urging  him,  if 


142  REBELLION.  [chap.  ix. 

possible,  to  devise  means  in  conjunction  with  the  mea- 
sures which  were  already  being  adopted  in  the  settle- 
ment for  enforcing  British  neutrality,  so  that  "  we  may 
be  able  to  give  an  honest  answer  to  all  three  bel- 
ligerents— imperialists,  insurgents,  and  French."  This 
policy  was  at  the  same  time  proclaimed  by  a  unanimous 
resolution  of  the  largest  meeting  of  residents  ever,  up 
to  that  time,  assembled  in  Shanghai. 

The  question  of  the  influx  of  refugees  seems  not  to 
have  met  with  such  a  prompt  solution,  but  that  was 
due  rather  to  the  British  plenipotentiary's  caution  than 
to  the  obstruction  of  the  Chinese.  In  a  despatch  to  Sir 
John  Bowring,  dated  June  5,  1854,  the  consul  thus 
describes  the  evil  in  question  : — 

As  regards  the  strange  and  altogether  unsatisfactory  position 
in  which  we  are  placed  by  the  pouring  in  of  a  large  Chinese 
population,  who  have  squatted  down  within  our  limits  contrary 
to  the  standing  edicts  of  their  own  authorities,  and  run  up 
whole  streets  of  wooden  and  brick  tenements,  giving  cover  to 
every  species  of  vice  and  filth,  I  have  only  to  remark  that  a 
walk  through  the  settlement  [the  governor  was  expected  on  a 
visit]  will,  I  am  convinced,  satisfy  your  Excellency  that  the 
evil  is  already  too  great  and  increasing  at  too  rapid  a  rate  to 
be  overlooked.  The  health  of  foreign  residents,  the  security  of 
their  property,  and  the  very  tenability  of  the  place  as  a  foreign 
location,  alike  render  it  imperative  that  a  jurisdiction  of  some 
kind  should  be  promptly  and  energetically  asserted. 

The  important  negotiations  which,  within  three 
months,  issued  in  the  birth  of  the  Foreign  Maritime 
Customs,  must  be  regarded  as  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant outcome  of  the  rebel  episode  of  1854-55. 


THE   SMUGGLING   EVIL.  143 


III.    THE   CHINESE   MAEITIME   CUSTOMS. 

Extent  and  audacity  of  smuggling — Alcock's  determination  to  suppress  it — 
His  report  on  the  position — Corruption  of  the  Chinese  customs  service 
— Efforts  of  the  British  Government  to  co-operate  in  collecting  dues — 
Nullified  by  treaties  with  other  Powers  —  Consequent  injury  to  all 
foreign  trade — Unexpected  solution  of  the  difficulty  during  the  inter- 
regnum— Impetus  given  to  trade  by  the  Taiping  rebellion — Alcock 
with  French  and  American  consuls  takes  over  the  customs  and  collects 
all  dues  in  trust  for  the  Chinese  Government — Promissory  notes  em- 
ployed— Conditions  which  made  it  impossible  to  enforce  payment — 
Notes  ultimately  cancelled. 

Certain  crying  evils  in  foreign  intercourse  having 
arrested  the  attention  of  Consul  Alcock  from  the  day 
of  his  arrival  in  China,  he  bent  himself  strenuously  to 
the  task  of  overcoming  or  mitigating  them.  They 
formed  the  subject-matter  of  many  anxious  reports  to 
his  superiors,  for  Mr  Alcock  always  took  both  a  serious 
and  a  comprehensive  view  of  his  duties.  For  many 
years  there  seemed  little  hope  of  a  successful  issue  to 
these  labours ;  but  at  last  a  rift  in  the  clouds  opened 
up  the  prospect  of  coping  with  at  least  one  of  them,, 
and  that  was  smuggling.  So  universal  was  this  prac- 
tice that  it  seemed  a  necessary  and  natural  feature  of 
all  commercial  dealings  in  China.  As  its  roots  lay  deep 
in  the  Chinese  character  and  civilisation,  no  stigma 
attached  to  the  venality  of  the  officials  charged  with 
the  collection  of  the  maritime  revenues.  Although  the 
practice  was  in  extent  universal,  it  was  by  no  means 
wholesale  in  degree,  and  where  the  facilities  for  evad- 
ing duties  were  so  tempting,  merchants  must  often 
have  been  astonished  at  their  own  moderation. 

Among  the  legends  of  the  coast,  it  is  true,  there  were 
certain  tou7^s  de  force  in  the  way  of  smuggling  which 


144  THE    CHINESE   MARITIME    CUSTOMS.         [chap.  ix. 

made  good  topics  for  walnuts-and-wine  conversation 
among  a  community  which  was  rather  lacking  in  sub- 
jects of  general  interest, — as  of  an  apocryphal  ship 
clearing  from  China  in  ballast  or  with  coal  which  would 
mysteriously  land  in  England  a  full  cargo  of  tea,  which 
had  been  taken  on  board  without  being  passed  through 
the  custom-house.  Conversely,  a  shipload  of  manufac- 
tured goods  taken  on  board  in  England  would  melt  on 
the  passage  to  China  like  a  cargo  of  ice,  so  far  as  the 
records  in  the  Chinese  custom-house  would  show.  One 
special  feat  was  kept  alive,  post-prandially,  for  many 
years  as  the  acme  of  audacious  smuggling.  British 
goods  were  entered  at  the  custom-house  "  for  re-expor- 
tation," and  no  duty  paid.  The  merchant  packed  the 
empty  cases  with  silk,  which  was  thus  shipped  under 
the  original  English  marks,  and  was  described  as  cali- 
•coes,  on  which  a  "drawback"  was  claimed  of  import 
duties  w^hich  had  never  been  paid  at  all.  Such  racy 
anecdotes  belongfed  to  the  order  of  Rabelaisian  humour 
which  inspired  the  boast  of  a  certain  Lancashire  manu- 
facturer at  the  time  when,  owing  to  the  scarcity  and 
high  price  of  cotton,  the  "filling"  of  shirtings  with 
plaster  of  Paris  and  other  substances  to  make  up  the 
required  weight  of  the  piece  was  raised  to  almost  the 
dignity  of  a  fine  art.  Complaints  being  made  by  the 
consumer  that  the  cloth  so  compounded  would  not 
wash,  this  genial  Lancastrian  declared  that  for  his  part 
he  would  never  rest  satisfied  until  he  could  turn  out  his 
calicoes  without  any  cotton  in  them  at  all. 

'  Shanghai,  of  course,  was  the  great  centre  of  the 
smuggling  trade.  What  smuggling  was  done  at 
Canton,  being  the  only  other  important  entrepot,  was  on 
a  system  which  was  regulated  by  the  customs  authori- 


EFFORTS   TO   ABOLISH   SMUGGLING.  145 

ties  themselves,  and  the  testimony  of  Mr  Alexander 
Matheson  before  the  House  of  Commons  Committee 
was  to  the  effect  that  their  tariff  was  so  light  that  it 
was  not  worth  the  merchant's  while  to  smuggle.  Such, 
however,  was  not  the  view  taken  by  Mr  Consul  Alcock, 
who  regarded  the  smuggling  system  as  a  very  serious 
evil,  against  which  he  waged  a  relentless  war.  He  not 
only  compelled,  as  far  as  lay  in  his  power,  the  British 
merchants  to  comply  with  the  letter  of  the  treaty  in 
their  dealings  with  the  customs,  but  he  further  con- 
sidered himself  bound  to  enforce  on  the  Chinese  officials 
themselves  the  proper  discharge  of  their  duty.  In 
these  efforts  to  abolish  irregular  practices,  which  all 
deplored,  many  of  the  British  merchants  were  only  too 
willing  to  co-operate  with  the  consul's  efforts,  and  the 
Foreign  Office  was  repeatedly  moved  to  take  some 
action  in  the  reform  of  these  abuses.  The  difficulties 
and  anomalies  of  the  situation  were  fully  set  forth  by 
Mr  Alcock  in  many  reports  made  to  his  superior,  the 
chief  superintendent  of  trade,  as  the  following  extract, 
written  in  1851,  will  exemplify: — 

How  the  commercial  and  custom-house  system  of  the  West 
and  the  very  opposite  principles  and  practice  of  the  East  might 
be  combined  so  that  both  should  work  together  with  the  least 
possible  friction  and  prejudice,  was  a  difficult  problem,  no  doubt, 
for  those  who  had  the  framing  of  existing  treaties.  How  even 
the  trading  operations  of  foreign  merchants,  based  upon  good 
faith  and  honesty,  could  be  in  any  way  associated  with  the 
corrupt  and  inept  administration  of  the  Chinese  custom-house, 
so  that  the  revenue  of  the  latter  alone  should  be  liable  to 
suffer  and  not  the  foreign  trade,  though  apparently  a  simpler 
task,  seems  to  have  presented  to  the  negotiators  insuperable 
difficulties.  For  one  or  other  of  these  problems,  nevertheless, 
it  was  essential  they  should  find  some  adequate  solution,  or 
whatever  treaties  might  be  signed  their  real  mission  was  un- 

VOL.    I.  K 


146  THE   CHINESE   MARITIME   CUSTOMS.         [chap.  ix. 

fulfilled,   and   the    basis   of    all    future   trading    relations    left 
unstable  and  unsatisfactory. 

We  cannot  suppose  this  important  fact  was  overlooked  by 
the  British  Government,  which,  on  the  contrary,  appears  to 
have  sought  earnestly  to  meet  the  difficulty  by  undertaking  in 
good  faith  to  co-operate  with  the  Chinese  authorities  in  col- 
lecting the  duties  on  British  trade.  I^either  is  it  clear  that 
failure  would  have  attended  such  a  course  had  not  a  dis- 
turbing element  been  speedily  introduced  from  without  for 
which  adequate  provision  does  not  seem  to  have  been  made. 
We  allude  to  the  ratification  of  treaties  with  other  Govern- 
ments which  should  repudiate  all  obligation  on  this  point  to 
contribute  to  the  protection  of  the  Chinese  revenue.  It  might 
have  been  supposed  that  the  Chinese  Government,  having 
obtained  so  great  and  unquestionable  an  advantage  from  the 
Power  they  had  most  to  fear,  would  scarcely  have  been  so 
foolish  as  to  throw  it  away  upon  the  first  occasion,  yet  such 
proved  to  be  the  fact,  and  some  credit  was  taken  by  the  United 
States  commissioner  for  the  omission  of  all  co-operative  clauses. 
Two  treaties  in  consequence  came  into  operation,  founded  upon 
different  principles — the  one  subversive  of  the  other  in  a  very 
essential  point.  So  much  was  this  the  case  that  no  fair  trial 
could  be  given  to  the  provisions  of  the  British  treaty  respecting 
the  payment  of  duties,  and  any  attempt  to  act  upon  the  system 
contemplated  in  it  became  altogether  unpracticable  so  soon  as 
the  alteration  of  our  navigation  laws  opened  our  ports  to 
foreign  shipping. 

We  found  that  to  secure  the  essential  objects  of  these 
treaties  as  they  now  stand  there  is  one  thing  plainly  wanting 
and  yet  essential,  an  honest  and  efficient  custom-house,  and 
who  does  not  see  that  this  is  unattainable  in  China  ?  Too 
much  or  too  little  has  been  done,  therefore.  We  should  either 
have  refused  to  concede  a  right  to  levy  maritime  duties,  or 
obtained  as  the  condition  some  better  guarantee  for  its  im- 
partial exercise.  It  should  have  been  remembered  that  al- 
though a  foreign  Power  might  give  this  right  to  the  Emperor 
of  China,  it  could  not  so  easily  give  him  honest  and  faithful 
servants,  without  which  custom-house  duties  cannot  be  fairly 
levied.  The  very  attempt  to  profit  by  such  a  right  partially, 
and  with  manifestly  imperfect  means,  could  not  fail  to  prove 
injurious  to  the  trade  it  was  the  great  object  of  the  treaties  to 


SMUGGLING   INJURIOUS   TO   TRADE.  147 

develop  and  protect.  It  is  superfluous  now  to  say  that  against 
this  evil  no  sufficient  provision  was  made,  and  the  result  has 
been  perpetual  and  irreconcilable  antagonism.  From  the  first 
day  the  American  treaty  came  into  operation  the  contracting 
parties,  Chinese  and  foreign,  have  been  placed  in  a  false  position 
in  regard  to  each  other  and  to  the  permanent  interests  of  both. 
The  emperor  had  obtained  a  right  he  could  not  unaided  duly 
exercise,  and  the  foreign  merchant  was  laid  under  a  legal  obliga- 
tion which  under  such  circumstances  tended  to  make  his  trading 
privileges  nugatory.  The  former  was  daily  exposed  to  the  loss 
of  the  whole  or  a  part  of  a  revenue  to  which  he  was  by  treaty 
legally  entitled,  as  the  price  of  commercial  privileges  to  the 
foreigner ;  and  the  latter,  in  so  far  as  he  recognised  his  obliga- 
tion to  pay  to  such  revenue,  was  debarred  from  trading  with 
advantage  or  profit. 

Loss  to  the  custom-house  is  palpably  only  one  of  the  mis- 
chiefs resulting,  and  injury  to  foreign  trade  is  the  direct  con- 
sequence in  a  far  more  important  degree.  There  may  be  some  dis- 
posed to  question  this,  but  when  no  man  can  calculate  on  entering 
into  an  operation  within  15  or  20  per  cent  of  the  prime  cost  of 
his  merchandise  before  it  shall  leave  his  hands,  and  his  next- 
door  neighbour  may  gain  advantage  over  him  to  this  amount, 
while  the  ordinary  margin  of  profit  seldom  exceeds  that  range, 
it  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  other  conclusion.  And  when  we 
consider  that  the  natural  tendency  of  partial  smuggling  is  to 
raise  the  price  in  the  buying  and  to  lower  it  in  the  selling 
market,  its  disastrous  influence  on  the  general  prosperity  of  the 
trade  must  be  too  plain  to  admit  of  contradiction.  However  it 
may  temporarily  enrich  a  few,  it  must  eventually  impoverish 
many. 

The  British  plenipotentiary  may  have  thought  that  smug- 
gling, so  far  as  the  interests  of  trade  were  concerned,  would 
affect  only  the  Chinese  revenue  :  the  American  commissioner 
clearly  must  have  concluded  so,  and  on  this  supposition  acted. 
But  experience  has  abundantly  proved  such  a  conclusion  erron- 
eous, and  based  upon  a  partial  view  of  the  whole  case. 

The  solution  of  all  these  difficulties,  and  the  end  of 
the  apparently  hopeless  struggle  to  set  things  right, 
came  about  in  a  way  that  must  have  been  totally  unex- 


148  THE    CHINESE   MARITIME   CUSTOMS.         [chap.  IX. 

pected  by  all  parties.     It  was  through  the  capture  of 
Shanghai  by  the  rebel  band  in  1853. 

The  day  the  city  fell  the  functions  of  the  custom- 
house ceased,  but  trade  continued  without  interruption ; 
indeed  the  export  trade  was  naturally  stimulated  by 
the  eagerness  of  the  natives  to  convert  their  produce 
into  money,  and  by  the  desire  of  the  foreign  merchants 
to  get  their  purchases  safely  on  board  ship.  But  there 
was  no  one  in  a  position  to  collect  the  dues.  Mr 
Alcock,  never  timid  when  he  had  a  case  for  action 
which  satisfied  his  own  mind,  proposed  to  his  French 
and  American  colleagues,  who  also  never  seemed  to 
hesitate  to  follow  his  lead,  a  method  of  bridging  over 
the  interregnum  of  the  Chinese  authority  and  at  the 
same  time  establishing  for  the  first  time  the  precedent 
of  collecting  full  duties.  The  plan  was  that  the  consuls 
should  themselves  perform  the  functions  which  the 
Chinese  officials  had  never  performed  —  take  a  rigid 
account  of  the  goods  landed  and  shipped,  and  receive 
the  amount  of  the  duty  on  them,  to  be  held  in  trust  for 
the  Chinese  Government  when  it  should  once  more  be 
resuscitated  in  Shanghai.  Not  in  coin,  however,  but  in 
promissory  notes  payable  on  conditions  which  were 
complicated  by  the  necessity  of  maintaining  equality  of 
treatment  between  the  various  nationalities  concerned. 
The  contingencies  were,  in  fact,  such  that  it  would 
never  have  been  possible  to  enforce  payment  of  the 
notes,  and  in  the  end  they  were  all  cancelled  and 
returned  to  the  merchants,  so  that  during  the  ten 
months  between  September  1853  and  July  1854  there 
were  no  duties  collected  at  all  at  the  port  of 
Shanghai. 


UNFAIR   COMPETITION.  149 


IV.    CREATION   OF   THE   FOREIGN  CUSTOMS. 

The  provisional  system — British  and  American  ships  pay  full  dues — Other 
nations  enter  and  clear  free — Americans  follow  the  same  course — 
Alcock's  strict  views  of  neutrality — Danger  of  infringing  it  by  estab- 
lishment of  Government  officials  within  the  foreign  colony — Breakdown 
of  the  provisional  system — Alcock  calls  upon  the  Imperial  Government 
— Custom-house  re-established  by  the  Taotai  Wu — Reappearance  of  all 
abuses  —  Alcock's  remonstrances  —  Antecedents  of  Wu  —  He  makes 
private  arrangements  and  admits  vessels  free  of  dues — Alcock  allows 
British  ships  to  do  likewise — Shanghai  thus  becomes  a  free  port — Al- 
cock's efforts  to  meet  the  difficulty — First  idea  of  the  foreign  customs — 
Conditions  of  success — Conference  with  the  Taotai — Delegates  appointed 
— New  custom-house  inaugurated  July  12,  1854 — Mr  H.  N.  Lay  ap- 
pointed Inspector-General — Conditions  and  essential  features  which 
caused  immediate  and  permanent  success  of  the  foreign  customs. 

The  "  provisional  system,"  as  it  was  called,  worked 
smoothly  for  four  months,  but  not  equally,  for  while 
British  and  American  ships  paid  full  duties  (in  con- 
ditional promissory  notes),  those  of  other  nationalities, 
having  mercantile  consuls,  were  entered  and  cleared 
exempt  from  all  duty.  One  Prussian,  one  Hamburg, 
two  Siamese,  one  Austrian,  three  Danish,  and  two 
Spanish — in  all  ten  vessels — were  so  cleared  between 
September  and  January,  which  was,  of  course,  a  serious 
injustice  to  the  competing  merchants  on  whose  ventures 
full  duties  were  levied.  In  vain  might  the  British 
consul  argue  that  the  cargoes  of  these  defaulting  ships 
bore  no  larger  a  proportion  to  the  whole  trade  than  in 
normal  conditions  the  smugglers  would  bear  to  the 
honest  traders.  The  American  consul,  sympathising 
with  the  latter,  notified  on  January  20,  1854,  his  seces- 
sion from  the  provisional  compact,  to  which  decision  he 
gave  immediate  effect  by  allowing  two  vessels,  the 
Oneida   and    Science,   to   depart  without   payment   or 


150  CREATION   OF   THE   FOREIGN   CUSTOMS.       [chap.  ix. 

security  of  any  kind.  It  was  impossible  after  this  for 
the  British  authorities  to  continue  to  lay  a  burden  on 
their  nationals  from  which  competitors  were  thus 
freeing  themselves,  the  more  especially  as  on  broader 
considerations  their  collecting  duties  at  all  for  the 
Chinese  had  been,  three  years  previously,  pronounced 
inexpedient  by  the  British  Government.  However 
commendable,  therefore,  on  political  and  moral  grounds, 
and  however  convenient  as  a  stop-gap,  the  provisional 
system  was  doomed.  The  next  move  was  by  some 
means  or  other  to  procure  the  re- establishment  of  a 
legal  Chinese  custom-house. 

This  would  have  been  done  at  an  earlier  period  but 
for  the  strict  views  held  by  Mr  Alcock  on  the  question 
of  neutrality  between  the  belligerents.  The  soil  of  the 
foreign  settlement  had  been  declared  sacred  and  neutral. 
To  permit  any  Chinese  authority  to  use  it  even  for 
fiscal  purposes  seemed  a  violation  of  its  neutrality. 
Besides,  native  officials  exercising  their  functions  there 
would  have  had  either  to  protect  themselves  by  mili- 
tary force,  however  small,  or  to  be  protected  by  the 
foreigners,  in  either  case  compromising  the  neutrality  of 
the  settlement.  When  the  Chinese  officials  pro230sed 
as  an  alternative  to  discharge  customs  functions  afloat 
in  the  river,  the  same  objections  presented  themselves. 
The  foreiofners  must  in  that  case  also  have  defended 
the  revenue  collectors  from  attack  by  the  rebels.  The 
customs  authority  therefore  remained  dormant. 

But  on  the  breakdown  of  the  provisional  system 
whereby  the  three  treaty  consuls  acted  as  trustees  for 
the  Chinese  Government,  there  was  no  alternative  left 
between  making  Shanghai  absolutely  a  free  port  and 
setting  up  some  sort  of  native  custom-house.     As  the 


NATIVE   CUSTOMS    ABUSES.  151 

lesser  evil — to  say  no  more — Mr  Alcock  chose  the  latter, 
and  within  three  weeks  of  the  lapse  of  the  provisional 
system  he  had  "  called  upon  the  imperial  authorities  to 
re-establish  a  custom-house  in  some  convenient  locality," 
offering  at  the  same  time  to  afford  them  the  necessary 
facilities  for  working  it.  The  custom-house  was,  in 
fact,  re-established  by  the  Taotai  Wu  on  February  9, 
when  the  provisional  system  of  collecting  duties,  a 
system  never  favoured  by  the  British  Government,  was 
finally  and  officially  terminated. 

The  reinstatement  of  the  custom  -  house  under  the 
superintendency  of  the  Taotai  Wu  was  the  signal  for 
the  prompt  reappearance  of  all  the  worst  irregularities 
in  an  exaggerated  form. 

The  admonitions  that  official  received  from  Mr  Alcock 
on  his  treaty  rights  and  on  the  necessity  for  strictness 
and  impartial  accuracy  were  completely  thrown  away. 
The  Taotai  had  been  formerly  a  merchant  in  Canton, 
under  the  name  Samqua  ;  and  whether  it  was  the 
passion  for  a  "  deal "  inspired  by  early  training,  or 
the  corruption  of  good  manners  by  subsequent  associ- 
ation with  official  life,  or,  as  is  most  likely,  a  double 
dose  of  both,  without  the  checks  appropriate  to  either, 
he,  the  superintendent  of  customs,  fell  at  once  to  mak- 
ing private  bargains  with  individual  merchants.  By 
arrangement  with  him  a  Bremen  ship,  the  Aristides, 
was  allowed  to  enter  and  clear  without  complying  with 
a  single  customs  or  port  regulation  or  the  payment  of 
any  dues,  save  what  may  have  been  paid  to  Wu  himself 
by  way  of  douceur.  Two  American  ships  and  one 
British  were  dealt  with  in  similar  fashion.  These  facts 
being  brought  to  the  notice  of  Mr  Alcock,  he  called  the 
Taotai  to  account,  and  on  receiving  only  subterfuges 


152  CREATION   OF   THE   FOREIGN   CUSTOMS.       [chap.  ix. 

instead  of  explanation,  he  thenceforth  allowed  openly  to 
British  ships  the  same  privileges  that  the  Chinese 
authorities  had  voluntarily,  though  secretly,  conferred 
on  those  who  chose  to  make  corrupt  bargains  with  them. 
That  is  to  say,  Shanghai  became  now — from  April  1854 
— absolutely  a  free  port. 

At  last,  then,  there  was  a  real  tabula  rasa  inviting  a 
fresh  experiment ;  and  Mr  Alcock  immediately  applied 
his  mind  to  devising  some  new  expedient  to  meet  the 
difficulty.  The  Chinese  superintendent,  however  willing 
to  compound  to  his  own  advantage  for  the  customs' 
dues,  was  as  little  pleased  with  its  complete  abolition  as 
the  foreign  authorities  themselves,  and  he  had  made 
sundry  alternative  proposals,  based  on  his  experience  at 
Canton,  for  the  effective  collection  of  duties.  It  seemed, 
however,  that  in  the  hands  of  such  a  facile  official,  or 
any  one  likely  to  succeed  him,  his  remedies  against 
smuggling  were  worse  than  the  disease,  and  the 
necessity  of  a  new  departure  began  seriously  to  occupy 
the  minds  of  the  treaty  consuls.  The  outcome  was  a 
novel  scheme,  which  was  mooted  in  a  despatch  to  Sir 
John  Bowring,  dated  May  1,  1854,  in  which  Consul 
Alcock,  while  recognising  that  "  the  attempt  will  not  be 
unaccompanied  by  serious  difficulties,"  declared  that  he 
"  did  not  relinquish  all  hope  of  success  if  the  collection 
of  duties  can  in  any  way  he  brought  under  the  effective 
cont7^ol  of  the  three  treaty  Powers  as  to  the  executive  of 
the  custom-house  administration ^ 

"  On  any  other  basis,"  he  added,  "  I  believe  every 
effort  to  benefit  the  Chinese  revenue  and  at  the  same 
time  protect  the  honest  merchant  must  in  the  nature  of 
things  prove  nugatory."  The  idea  took  further  shape 
in  a    memorandum    of  suggestions    drawn    up    by  Mr 


THE   GENESIS    OF   THE   FOREIGN    CUSTOMS.  153 

Alcock  on  15th  June,  when  he  stated  that  *' the  sole 
issue  out  of  the  difficulties  by  which  the  whole  subject 
is  beset  under  existing  treaties  is  to  be  sought  in 
the  combination  of  a  foreign  element  of  lorohity  and 
vigilance  with  Chinese  authority T 

He  adds  as  the  first  condition  of  success  the  "  free 
concurrence  of  the  Chinese  authorities  "  in  any  scheme 
which  may  be  concocted,  and  then  proposes  "  the 
association  with  the  Chinese  executive  of  a  responsible 
and  trustworthy  foreign  inspector  of  customs  as  the 
delegate  of  the  three  treaty  Powers,  to  be  appointed  by 
the  consuls  and  Taotai  conjointly  at  a  liberal  salary." 
This  is  put  down  at  $6000  per  annum,  the  whole 
foreign  staff  to  cost  §12,000,  and  various  details  of 
administration  follow. 

It  argues  well  for  the  absence  of  international 
jealousy  in  those  days  that  Mr  Alcock  proposed  that  a 
French  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Smith,  in  the  French 
consular  service,  should  be  the  inspector  whom  he 
and  the  American  consul  agreed  to  recommend  to  the 
Taotai.  In  a  despatch  to  M.  Edan  on  the  27  th  of 
June  1854  he  solicited  his  official  sanction  to  the 
appointment. 

The  next  step  was  a  conference  where  the  three 
treaty  consuls — Alcock,  Murphy,  and  Edan — received 
the  Taotai,  who  discussed  with  them  and  then  adopted 
substantially,  though  with  some  modifications,  the 
"suggestions"  above  quoted. 

Instead  of  one  delegate  from  the  three  consuls,  it  was 
decided  that  each  was  to  appoint  one,  the  three  dele- 
gates then  forming  a  "  board  of  inspectors  with  a 
single  and  united  action."  As  many  questions  of 
national  and  international  jurisdiction  were  likely  to 


154  CREATION    OF   THE   FOREIGX    CUSTOMS.       [chap.  IX. 

arise  out  of  the  executive  functions  of  the  inspectors, 
provision  was  made  for  dealing  with  them,  and  as  far  as 
human  ingenuity  could  foresee  without  any  experience 
to  guide,  every  contingency,  down  to  the  minutiae  of 
internal  administration,  was  considered  in  the  instruc- 
tions given  to  the  inspectors.  The  announcement  of  the 
newly-constituted  Customs  Board  was  formally  made 
by  the  consuls  on  July  6,  and  the  new  custom-house  was 
inaugurated  on  the  12th,  the  three  inspectors  being  Mr 
T.  F.  Wade,  British  ;  Mr  Lewis  Carr,  American ;  and 
M.  Smith,  French. 

The  new  custom-house  was  an  immediate  success : 
it  fulfilled  every  purpose  for  which  it  was  created, 
yielding  its  full  revenue  to  the  Chinese  Government, 
and  putting  an  end  to  the  temptations  of  traders  to 
seek  illicit  advantages  over  each  other.  It  says  much 
for  the  soundness  of  the  principles  on  which  it  was 
established  that  not  only  has  the  custom-house  of  1854 
survived  the  shock  of  rebellion  and  war,  of  extended 
treaties,  of  the  multiplication  of  trading-ports  from  five 
to  thirty  and  of  treaty  Powers  from  three  to  thirteen, 
but  its  roots  have  struck  deep  and  its  branches  have 
spread  wide  over  every  portion  of  the  empire,  and  that 
in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  powerful  provincial  officials, 
whose  revenues  it  curtailed  by  diverting  them  into  the 
imperial  channel.  The  triumvirate  Board  under  which 
the  institution  was  launched  was  little  more  than 
nominal,  the  direction  of  the  customs  being  a  one-man 
power  from  the  outset,  one  only  of  the  three  inspectors 
possessing  either  the  knowledge,  capacity,  or  zeal 
needed  to  infuse  life  into  the  new  department. 

The  first  English  inspector,  who  was  only  lent  for  a 
time  to  start  the  new  enterprise,  was  replaced  in  a  few 


ITS    FUNDAMENTAL   PRINCIPLES.  155 

months  by  Mr  H.  N.  Lay,  interpreter  to  the  consulate, 
who  definitively  retired  from  the  British  in  order  to 
enter  the  Chinese  service,  while  Mr  Wade  returned  to 
his  vice-consular  duties.  The  functions  of  the  Board 
of  Inspectors  were  soon  consolidated  in  the  office  of 
Inspector- General,  which  was  conferred  upon  Mr  Lay, 
and  held  by  him  until  1863,  when  he  was  obliged  to 
resign  the  service  of  the  Chinese  Government  in  con- 
sequence of  their  failure  to  ratify  his  engagements  in 
connection  with  the  Osborn  flotilla. 

It  only  remains  to  mention  in  this  place  that  coin- 
cident with  the  establishment  of  the  maritime  customs 
in  Shanghai  came  the  instructions  from  her  Majesty's 
Government  to  cancel  the  promissory  notes,  amounting 
to  a  million  of  dollars,  which  had  been  given  by  the 
British  merchants  for  duties  during  the  interregnum, 
the  conditions  attached  rendering  them  legally  invalid. 

Although  the  organisation  of  the  foreign  customs 
was  an  expedient  to  meet  an  emergency  never  likely 
to  recur,  the  transaction,  nevertheless,  forms  a  brief 
epitome  of  the  ideal  foreign  relations  with  China,  and 
it  is  useful  therefore  to  note  what  were  its  essential 
features  and  the  conditions  of  its  creation. 

First.  The  Chinese  Government  w^ere  reduced  to 
helplessness  and  were  amenable  to  advice. 

Second.  Corruption  and  laxity  were  inherent  in  their 
nature  and  ineradicable  except  by  external  force. 

Third.  The  external  force,  to  be  savingly  applied, 
must  not  be  subversive  of  Chinese  authority,  but  must 
supply  the  element  in  administration  in  which  the 
natives  are  absolutely  wanting,  and  which  is  so  tersely 
summarised  by  Mr  Alcock  as  "  vigilance  and  probity." 

Fourth,  This  combination  of  Chinese  authority  with 


156       ALCOCK's   departure   from   shanghai.       [chap.  IX. 

foreign  vigilance  and  probity,  which  has  rendered  the 
Chinese  customs  service  a  kind  of  miracle  of  reform, 
was  capable  of  renovating  the  whole  Chinese  adminis- 
tration. Why  it  has  not  been  extended  into  the  other 
departments  of  state  is  only  another  form  of  lament 
over  lost  opportunities. 

Fifth.  That    the    system    was    established    on    the 
broadest  cosmopolitan  basis. 


V.  MR  ALCOCK'S  DEPARTURE  FROM  SHANGHAI. 

Promoted  to  Canton — Impression  he  had  made  upon  the  European  colony 
of  Shanghai  —  Their  confidence  in  his  integrity  and  ability  —  His 
domestic  life — First  literary  work — Condition  of  affairs  at  Canton — 
Difficulties  and  obstructions — Alcock  leaves  for  home  before  the  out- 
break of  1856. 

With  these  distino^uished  services  Mr  Alcock's  career 
in  Shanghai  was  brought  to  a  close.  He  was  promoted 
to  the  senior  consulate  at  Canton,  but  he  remained 
long  enough  in  his  northern  post  to  see  the  city  of 
Shanghai  once  more  in  possession  of  the  constituted 
authorities  and  the  restoration  of  peace  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  port.  Being  practically  starved  out,  the  insur- 
gents set  fire  to  the  city  and  made  the  best  escape 
they  could  during  the  night,  which  happened  to  be  the 
last  night  of  the  Chinese  year,  17th  February  1855. 
Some  may  have  escaped,  but  the  greater  part  fell  into 
the  hands  of  their  enemies,  and  for  weeks  afterwards 
many  a  ghastly  trophy  in  the  neighbourhood  attested 
the  ruthless  treatment  which  the  fugitives  received, 
recalling  the  realistic  picture  in  a  certain  epitaph  of 
Villon. 


TESTIMONIAL   TO    MR   ALCOCK.  157 

On  his  departure  from  Shanghai  in  April  of  that 
year  Mr  Alcock  received  a  flattering  testimonial  from 
the  British  residents,  who  were  cordially  joined  by  both 
French  and  Americans.  This  compliment  had  the 
special  value  of  being  practically  unanimous,  while  yet 
by  no  means  undiscriminating.  As  a  curious  character- 
istic of  the  social  relations  of  the  community  at  that 
time,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  document  was 
presented  in  two  parts,  substantially  the  same,  but 
differently  worded.  The  explanation  of  the  dual  pre- 
sentation is  to  be  found  in  the  etiquette  which  was 
commonly  observed  between  the  Montagues  and  the 
Capulets  of  the  period,  it  being  considered  a  point  of 
honour  that  neither  should  follow  the  signature  of  the 
other ;  hence  the  two  leading  members  of  the  commun- 
ity had  each  to  head  a  separate  list. 

It  was  impossible  for  an  officer  of  such  strict  views 
and  such'  an  uncompromising  character  to  live  for  eight 
years  in  the  midst  of  an  independent  population  whom 
he  had  to  treat  as  his  subjects  without  provoking  oc- 
casional resentment,  and  creating  friction  in  carrying 
out  the  details  of  his  administration.  Moreover,  his 
public  acts  were  of  too  decisive  a  quality  to  commend 
themselves  to  universal  approval.  Yet,  frankly  recog- 
nising all  this,  the  memorialists  state,  "  In  whatever 
degree  as  individuals  we  may  have  approved  or  dissented 
from  any  of  your  acts  of  public  policy,  we  are  all  ready 
to  do  justice  to  the  singleness  of  purpose  and  sense 
of  public  duty  under  which  you  have  uniformly  acted. 
We  believe  that  you  have  throughout  held  in  view 
your  conscientious  convictions  of  what  was  right  and 
just,  and  that  no  undue  external  influence  has  at  any 
time  operated  to  divert  you  from  them."     In  fact,  the 


158       ALCOCK's   departure   from   shanghai.      [chap.  IX. 

Shanghai  community — quorum  pars  fui — were  proud 
of  their  consul,  and  looked  up  to  him  as  soldiers  do 
to  a  commander  in  whom  they  have  absolute  confi- 
dence. They  felt  themselves  ennobled  by  contact  with 
a  character  sans  peur  et  sans  i^eproche.  Above  all,  he 
represented  before  the  Chinese  authorities  the  dignity 
of  his  country  in  a  manner  which  has  rarely  been 
equalled,  and  gratitude  for  that  patriotic  service  would 
of  itself  have  covered  a  multitude  of  sins.  The  feeling 
of  respect  so  generated  reconciled  the  residents  to  that 
which  in  another  man  might  have  been  held  to  savour  of 
coldness,  for  in  social  life  he  was  reserved,  if  not  some- 
what haughty  in  his  bearing, — partly  no  doubt  from 
temperament,  but  chiefly  from  absorption  in  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  his  office,  in  researches  into  all 
the  matters  which  concerned  his  work,  and  in  the  study 
of  subjects  which  were  congenial  to  his  mind.  It  may 
also  be  said,  without  reflection  on  either  I3arty,  that 
those  robust  recreations  which  engrossed  the  leisure 
of  younger  men — and  the  community  was  very  young 
— were  not  of  a  kind  with  which  the  consul  had  much 
personal  sympathy.  His  own  distractions  were  more 
of  a  literary  and  reflective  order.  He  did  not  unbend 
to  gain  popularity. 

His  domestic  life  left  him  nothing  to  desire  in  the  way 
of  society.  To  his  wife  he  was  most  devoted,  and  to 
her  he  addressed,  in  half  soliloquy,  a  series  of  thoughts 
on  religious  subjects  which  reveal  more  than  anything 
the  deep  earnestness  of  his  nature.  When  this  loving 
helpmeet  was  snatched  from  his  side  in  March  1858, 
the  calm  exterior  was  little  disturbed ;  but  having  to 
face  that  immense  gap  in  his  life,  he  was  thrown  more 
than  ever  on  his  mental  resources.     His  isolation  was 


LITERARY   RECREATION.  159 

the  more  keenly  felt  when  he  was  relieved  from  the 
heavy  demand  which  the  affairs  of  Shanghai  had  made 
on  his  energies,  and  it  was  in  the  comparative  leisure 
of  Canton  that  he  composed  his  first  serious  political 
contribution  to  periodical  literature,  an  outlet  for  his 
thoughts  which  proved  such  an  attraction  to  him  to 
the  end  of  his  life.  His  first  essay  was  an  article  in 
the  '  Bombay  Quarterly  Review '  on  "  The  Chinese 
Empire  and  its  Destinies,"  published  in  October  1855. 
It  was  soon  followed  by  a  second,  entitled  "  The  Chinese 
Empire  and  its  Foreign  Relations,"  a  paper  which  fills 
no  less  than  seventy-eight  pages  of  the  'Review.'  The 
two  together  form  an  able  disquisition  on  the  state 
of  China  which  has  not  become  obsolete  by  lapse  of 
time. 

It  was  during  the  same  period  also  that  he  composed 
that  series  of  short  essays  which  were  published  anony- 
mously under  the  title  of  '  Life's  Problems.'  Instead  of 
attempting  any  appreciation  of  that  little  volume,  we 
prefer  to  quote  the  impression  it  made  on  one  reader 
many  years  afterwards.  In  a  letter  of  Dora  Green  well, 
published  in  her  Memoirs,  she  says  :  ''I  have  met  with 
a  friend,  a  book  that  seems  to  take  my  whole  rational 
nature  along  with  it.  I  have  seen  no  such  book  now 
or  at  any  former  time ;  and  it  is  a  book  I  have  often 
longed  for,  yet  never  hoped  for — a  book  contemplating 
life  as  it  is  in  a  Christian  spirit,  yet  from  the  natural 
standpoint." 

The  consulate  in  Canton  during  the  year  that  Mr 
Alcock  occupied  the  post  presented  nothing  of  sensa- 
tional interest.  There  was  a  superficial  lull  there,  the 
lull  before  the  storm  which  burst  in  October  1856, 
after  Mr  Alcock  had  left  for  home  on  his  first  well- 


160       ALCOCK's   departure   from   SHANGHAI.       [chap.  ix. 

earned  furlough.  The  chronic  obstruction  to  business 
and  the  old  difficulties  in  communicating  with  the 
Chinese  authorities  formed  the  burden  of  his  reports 
to  his  chief,  Sir  John  Bowring.  The  question  of  direct 
intercourse  and  of  access  to  the  city,  which  had  been 
put  off  from  time  to  time,  was  still  unsettled.  The 
definitive  postponement  of  the  treaty  right  of  entry 
till  1849  had  not  rendered  the  solution  of  it  one  whit 
easier.  On  the  contrary,  the  concession  had  only 
served  to  confirm  the  Chinese  officials  and  people  in 
their  determination  to  resist  the  claim  for  ever.  On 
the  accession  of  Lord  Palmerston  to  the  Premiership 
in  1855  the  dormant  claim  was  revived,  and  Sir  John 
Bowring  was  instructed  by  the  Government  to  obtain 
unrestricted  intercourse  with  the  native  authorities  and 
the  full  exercise  of  the  right  of  admission  to  all  the 
cities  which  were  opened  to  trade.  Canton  included. 
To  repeated  applications  of  this  tenor  the  Viceroy  Yeh 
replied  by  the  traditional  evasions,  thus  laying  the 
train  for  the  explosion  which  soon  followed. 

Mr  Alcock  being  personally  severed  from  the  chain 
of  events  which  led  to  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in 
the  autumn  of  1856,  it  will  be  convenient  here  to 
suspend  the  narrative  and  glance  at  some  of  those 
general  questions  which  form  the  subject  -  matter  of 
our  relations  with  China. 


161 


CHAPTEH    X. 


CONSUL   ALCOCK's    VIEWS    ON    GENERAL   POLICY. 


Essays  on  international  relations — Foresight — Its  connection  with  succeed- 
ing events — The  Canton  city  question  resuscitated. 

Among  serious  students  of  the  international  problems 
arising  out  of  the  forced  intercourse  of  the  Western 
nations  with  China,  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock  occupies 
the  first  rank.  In  the  long  roll  of  consular  and  diplo- 
matic agents  employed  by  the  British  Government 
since  1833  he  stands  alone  in  the  effort  to  evolve 
a  reasonable  working  scheme  out  of  the  chaos  of 
blunders  and  misunderstandings  which  marked  the 
opening  of  China  to  foreign  trade.  Mr  Taylor 
Meadows,  another  consular  officer,  though  equally 
far-sighted,  was  perhaps  too  philosophical  for  the 
exigencies  of  current  business.  Consul  Alcock's 
political  philosophy,  on  the  other  hand,  grew  en- 
tirely out  of  the  facts  with  which  he  had  to  deal 
from  day  to  day,  and  was  therefore  essentially 
practical. 

It  might  seem  that  fifty-year-old  disquisitions  on 
what  we  now  call  the  "  China  question "  must  have 
too  much  of  the  musty  odour  of  ancient  history 
about   them  to  afford  profitable  reading  to  a  gener- 

VOL.   I.  L 


162  ALCOCk's   views   on   general   policy.      [chap.  X. 

ation  which  has  only  been  aroused  by  the  thunder 
of  events  to  take  an  interest — and  that  as  yet  per- 
functory— in  the  affairs  of  the  Far  East.  But  as 
Mr  Alcock  had  the  faculty  of  getting  to  the  heart 
of  things,  of  seizing  the  principles  which  do  not 
change,  his  early  studies  have  lost  neither  validity 
nor  value  through  the  lapse  of  years.  On  these 
well  -  digested  observations,  accordingly,  modern  in- 
quirers may  confidently  rely  as  on  a  corner  -  stone 
of  Anglo- Chinese  politics  well  and  truly  laid.  And 
the  lapse  of  time,  so  far  from  detracting  from  the 
utility  of  these  opinions,  enhances  their  value.  For 
by  extending  the  base  of  observation  over  a  long 
period,  errors  due  to  personal  equation,  change  of 
circumstance,  and  other  temporary  causes,  are  elim- 
inated from  the  survey,  and  the  seeker  after  truth 
is  thus  furnished  with  a  trustworthy  criterion  by 
which  he  may  verify  his  conclusions.  The  forecast  of 
1849,  realised  in  the  developments  of  1900,  affords 
strong  proof  that  the  earlier  generalisations  were  not 
the  result  of  ingenious  speculation. 

It  seems  reasonable,  therefore,  here  to  introduce 
some  of  the  reflections  of  Consul  Alcock  while  he 
was  as  yet  comparatively  new  to  China.  These  occur 
in  various  forms,  as  in  confidential  despatches,  in 
private  memoranda,  and  notes  for  literary  articles 
apparently  never  extended.  One  of  these  notes, 
dated  January  19,  1849,  summing  up  the  results  of 
six  years'  working  of  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  may 
well  serve  as  a  landmark  in  the  record  of  foreign 
intercourse  with  China. 

Some  extracts  from  this  and  other  papers  are  printed 
for  the  convenience  of  the  reader  in  an  Appendix  to  the 


DANGER   OF   EXTORTING   CONCESSIONS.  163 

present  volume.^  Though  bearing  directly  on  the  policy 
of  the  'time  when  they  were  written,  they  are  no  less 
applicable  to  present  circumstances.  They  show  that 
nothing  had  changed  then,  as  nothing  has  changed 
since,  in  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  to  foreign  nations. 
"  The  same  arrogant  and  hostile  spirit  exists,  and  their 
policy  is  still  to  degrade  foreigners  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  .  .  .  Without  the  power  [on  our  part]  of  com- 
manding attention  to  any  just  demands,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  the  Chinese  rulers  would  still  be  the 
most  impracticable  of  Orientals.  .  .  .  We  cannot  hope 
that  any  effort  of  ours  or  of  the  emperor  would  suffice 
to  change  at  once  the  character  and  habits  of  the 
people  or  even  the  population  of  a  city." 

While  advocating  a  resolute  policy  in  maintaining  all 
British  rights  granted  by  treaty,  the  far-sighted  consul 
uttered  a  timely  caution  against  pushing  demands  for 
concessions  too  far.  In  this  he  was  in  accord  with  the 
policy,  often  enunciated  by  the  British  Government,  of 
not  imperilling  what  we  already  possessed  by  striving 
after  more.  Mr  Alcock  indicates  clearly  the  danger 
which  threatened  British  interests  from  the  pros- 
pective influx  of  Western  Powers  pressing  through 
the  doors  which  Great  Britain  might  be  constrained 
to  open  : — 

Powers  who,  having  no  such  great  interests  to  jeopardise,  are 
without  this  beneficial  and  most  needful  check,  and  may  there- 
fore be  induced  to  repeat  at  a  semi-barbarian  Court  the  in- 
trigues and  counter-projects  for  the  destruction  of  our  influence 
and  the  injury  of  our  trade  in  the  East  which  are  at  work  in 
our  own  times  in  every  capital  in  Europe,  as  formerly  in  India 
and  the  Eastern  Archipelago. 


1  See  Appendix  I. 


164         ALCOCK's   views   on   general   policy.       [chap.  X. 

Nor  could  a  much  more  accurate  description  of  the 
state  of  affairs  now  existing  be  given  than  the  picture 
of  the  future  drawn  by  Consul  Alcock : — 

Russia,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Holland,  and  America,  with 
their  several  jealousies  and  united  rivalry  with  England,  their 
missionary  enterprises  or  commercial  and  political  schemes 
clashing  in  their  aim  and  development,  are  all  capable  of 
creating  such  turmoil,  strife,  and  disturbance  throughout  the 
empire,  if  free  access  to  the  Court  and  the  provinces  were 
insisted  upon  by  Great  Britain,  as  could  only  end  in  the  ejection 
of  Europeans  from  China  as  formerly  from  Japan,  or  an  intestine 
war  in  which  European  force  would  probably  be  involved  on 
opposite  sides,  and  to  their  mutual  destruction  as  States  with 
commercial  interests  in  the  country.  These,  again,  might  lead 
to  attempts  at  territorial  possession,  suggested  in  the  first  in- 
stance, as  in  India,  in  self-defence,  and  afterwards  continued 
from  necessity.  With  Russia  spreading  her  gigantic  arms  to 
the  north  and  east.  Great  Britain  on  the  south  and  west,  Spain, 
Holland,  and  Portugal  with  their  colonies  in  the  Chinese  and 
Indian  seas,  a  struggle  for  superiority  on  the  soil  of  China  for 
exclusive  advantages  or  predominant  influence  might  be  centred 
in  Peking  and  embroil  the  whole  of  Europe  in  hostile  relations. 

An  interesting  feature  in  the  prognostications  of 
both  Mr  Alcock  and  Mr  Meadows  in  those  early 
days  was  the  ignoring  of  the  Power  which  is  now 
assuming  such  an  active  part  in  the  rearrangement 
of  the  Far  East.  Germany  was  not  even  thought  of 
as  a  world  Power,  but  her  entry  on  the  stage  has 
only  added  confirmation  to  the  soundness  of  all  these 
predictions. 

The  more  immediate  significance,  however,  of  the 
elaborate  exposition  of  the  Anglo  -  Chinese  situation 
which  we  are  now  considering,  lay  in  its  connection 
with  the  chain  of  events  which  followed  within  a  few 
years,    and   its   coincidence  with    the  progress  in  the 


ENTRY  INTO  CANTON  PEREMPTORILY  DENIED.   165 

views  of  the  British  Government,  which  might  almost 
be  traced  back  to  the  date  of  the  paper.  The  year 
1849  was  one  of  the  critical  epochs  in  foreign  inter- 
course with  China,  for  it  was  then  that  the  last 
promissory  note  as  to  the  opening  of  Canton  became 
due,  and  was  dishonoured.  The  years  of  grace  suc- 
cessively granted  to  the  Chinese  authorities  to  enable 
them  to  prepare  for  the  execution  of  the  treaty 
stipulation  had  been  used  by  them,  or  at  any  rate 
by  the  populace,  to  render  its  execution  permanently 
impossible.  Mr  Bonham,  who  proceeded  up  the  river 
to  apply  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  agreement  of 
1847,  which  promised  admission  to  the  city  within 
two  years,  was  received,  not  with  the  suave  evasion 
of  Kiying  but  with  the  coarse  rebuff  of  Governor- 
General  Seu,  who  amid  popular  enthusiasm  caused  a 
memorial  arch  to  be  erected  to  commemorate  the 
third  repulse  of  the  barbarians.  The  turning-point 
of  affairs  had  been  now  reached ;  the  scales  fell 
from  the  eyes  of  the  British  Government.  Reluct- 
antly they  were  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
had  for  seven  years  been  trifled  with,  that  their 
agents,  one  after  another,  had  been  duped ;  that 
while  they  deluded  themselves  by  imagining  that  by 
their  concessions  they  were  pouring  oil  on  water, 
they  were,  in  fact,  throwing  that  inflammable  sub- 
stance on  fire.  Such  systematic  blunders  could  not 
be  made  with  impunity.  It  began,  in  short,  to  be 
perceived  that  the  ground  so  weakly  surrendered  at 
Canton  could  not  be  recovered  without,  in  the  pro- 
phetic words  of  Lord  Palmerston,  "coming  to  blows" 
once  more  with  the  Chinese. 

The  attention  of  the  British  Government  being  thus 


166  ALCOCK's   views   on   general   policy.      [chap.  X. 

seriously  directed  to  China,  they  entered  into  cor- 
respondence with  their  plenipotentiary,  the  governor 
of  Hongkong,  as  to  the  best  means  of  arresting  the 
decline  of  British  prestige  and  of  placing  the  in- 
terests of  trade  and  residence  on  a  satisfactory 
footing.  The  plenipotentiary  had  no  resource  but 
one  for  obtaining  either  information  or  advice  on 
such  large  questions,  and  that  was  always  Consul 
Alcock  at  Shanghai,  a  thousand  miles  from  the  seat 
of  trouble,  who  had  not  then  even  seen  Canton. 
Mr  Alcock  was  alert  to  respond  to  the  invitation  of 
his  chief,  copiously,  fearlessly,  and  with  masterly 
lucidity  as  well  as  comprehensiveness.  In  a  despatch 
to  Sir  George  Bonham  dated  January  13,  1852,  the 
development  of  the  new  policy  may  be  traced.^  And 
the  whole  situation  is  fully  laid  bare  in  a  further 
despatch  of  June  17,  1852.2 

This  confidential  official  correspondence,^  carried  on 
for  a  number  of  years,  constitutes  a  natural  introduc- 
tion to  the  chapter  of  history  which  was  about  to 
open.  In  the  transactions  which  led  to  a  second 
rupture  with  China  Consul  Alcock  had  personally  no 
part,  for  he  was  on  leave  in  England,  but  there  also 
his  voice  was  heard  in  the  discussion  of  the  causes 
and  objects  of  the  war. 

In  a  series  of  letters  to  the  press,  during  1857-58, 
commenting  on  the  progress  of  events,  Mr  Alcock 
endeavoured  to  keep  the  British  public  informed  of 
what  was  transpiring  in  China,  the  reasons  for  it,  and 
the  probable  consequences.  These  letters  were  repub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form,  of  course  anonymously. 

1  See  Appendix  II.  -  See  Appendix  III. 

3  See  Appendices  I.,  II.,  and  III. 


167 


CHAPTER   XL 


TRADE   UNDER   THE   TREATY   OF   NANKING. 


Trade  the  sole  motive  in  all  British  and  American  dealings  with  China — 
Simplicity  of  this  trade — Chief  staple  imports  and  exports — Data  for 
any  review  of  Chinese  trade — Mutual  alarm  caused  by  excess  of  im- 
ports— Peculiar  conditions  of  British  trade — Entailing  a  loss  of  over 
30  per  cent,  yet  steadily  maintained — System  of  barter — Consequent 
impossibility  of  clear  accounts — And  ignorance  of  position  at  any  given 
moment — Trade  also  hampered  by  traditions  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany— Such  as  that  of  keeping  large  stores  on  hand — Gradual  improve- 
ment on  these  methods — Advantages  of  landed  investment  in  China 
— Perceived  and  acted  on  by  the  Jesuits — And  later  by  foreign  mer- 
chants—  The  American  trade  —  Similarity  of  currency  —  Excess  of 
Chinese  exports  met  by  shipments  of  specie — And  later  by  credits  on 
London  banks. 


Whatever  may  be  said  of  that  of  other  nations,  the 
intercourse  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
with  China,  from  the  earHest  period  to  the  latest, 
whether  in  peace  or  war,  has  had  no  other  object  than 
trade  between  the  nations,  and  therefore  all  the  steps 
in  that  intercourse  must  be  judged  in  their  relation  to 
the  promotion  of  international  commerce.  War  and 
diplomacy,  geographical  exploration  and  reforms,  even 
literary  researches  and  mutual  instruction,  being  all 
ancillary  to  the  main  purpose,  it  seems  fitting  to  con- 
sider as  briefly  as  may  be  what  manner  of  thing  it  was 
which  set,  and  still  keeps,  all  these  auxiliary  forces  in 
motion. 


168  TRADE   UNDER   TREATY   OF   NANKING.       [cHAP.  XI. 

From  its  first  introduction  till  now  one  feature  has 
characterised  the  Chinese  foreign  trade,  and  that  is  its 
simplicity.  Both  on  the  export  and  the  import  side  a 
few  staple  commodities  have  made  up  its  whole  volume, 
and  in  this  respect  the  statistics  of  to-day  differ  but 
little  from  those  of  fifty  years  ago.  The  leading 
Chinese  imports  at  the  conclusion  of  the  first  war 
were :  From  India,  opium  and  raw  cotton,  to  which  has 
been  added,  since  the  development  of  steam  factories, 
cotton  yarn.  From  England,  plain  bleached  and  un- 
bleached cotton  goods,  cotton  yarn,  some  descriptions 
of  woollens,  iron  and  lead,  account  for  nearly  the  whole 
value.  The  trade  from  the  United  States  and  the 
continent  of  Europe  in  those  days  did  not  greatly  affect 
the  general  aggregate.  The  exports  of  Chinese  prod- 
uce were  at  the  period  in  question  almost  confined  to 
the  one  article — tea.  Subseqently  silk  grew  into  im- 
portance, and  soon  exceeded  in  value  the  great  speci- 
ality of  China.  Rhubarb  was  a  commodity  on  which, 
next  to  tea,  the  Chinese  affected  to  lay  much  stress,  on 
the  ground  that  foreigners  were  dependent  upon  it  for 
the  preservation  of  their  health,  and  that  stopping  the 
supply  might  offer  an  easy  means  of  coercing  them. 
But  the  article  never  assumed  any  important  com- 
mercial value.  Sugar,  camphor,  and  matting  were  also 
among  the  exports,  the  last  named  being  much  in 
demand  in  the  United  States.  It  is  only  of  recent 
years,  however,  that  anything  like  assorted  cargoes 
of  produce  have  been  sent  away  from  the  Chinese 
ports.  The  trade  has  passed  through  many  vicissitudes, 
has  had  its  periodical  ebb  and  flow,  but  has  on  the 
whole  been  prosaically  progressive.     And  this  has  been 


RESULTS   OF   TRADING.  169 

especially  the  case  with  the  imports  of  British  and  other 
Western  produce. 

It  would  be  instructive  to  review  the  circumstances 
of  the  Chinese  trade  at  successive  stages  of  its  progress, 
and  to  note  the  grievances  of  merchants  and  manufac- 
turers at  different  epochs  and  the  obstacles  to  com- 
mercial development  as  they  were  felt  from  time  to 
time.  It  would  be  more  interesting  to  do  this  were  it 
possible  to  discriminate  between  permanent  causes  and 
temporary  accidents.  But  it  is  not  always  what  is  of 
the  most  lasting  importance  that  makes  the  strongest 
impression  upon  those  who  are  actively  engaged  in  the 
struggle  for  life.  The  trader  does  not  greatly  differ 
from  the  world  at  large  in  his  love  of  a  whipping-boy — 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  common  tendency  to  attribute 
mischances  to  objective  rather  than  to  subjective  causes. 
Prosperity,  like  good  health,  is,  to  those  who  enjoy  it, 
its  own  sufficient  explanation,  the  normal  reward  of  the 
merit  each  one  takes  to  himself  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Adversity,  on  the  other  hand,  is  assigned  to  demonic 
origin,  its  victims  being  martyrs  to  the  powers  of  nature 
or  the  hostile  combinations  of  men.  For  these  reasons 
it  would  be  as  difficult  to  gather  from  their  own 
accounts  what  were  the  real  helps  and  what  the  real 
hindrances  to  the  traders'  progress,  as  to  draw  general 
conclusions  on  the  state  of  agriculture  from  conversa- 
tions with  working  farmers.  The  commercial  circular 
is  a  familiar  product  of  the  modern  era  of  open  trade. 
It  undertakes  to  record  the  actual  state  of  markets  and 
to  give  the  reasons  why  they  are  not  otherwise.  If 
one  were  to  circumnavigate  the  globe  and  compare  the 
ordinary  run  of  these  reports  issuing  from  the  great 


170  TRADE   UNDER   TREATY   OF   NANKING.       [chap.  XI. 

emporia,  one  feature  would  be  found  common  to  them 
all — it  is  the  bogy.     Everything  would  be  for  the  best 
— but  for  certain  adverse  influences.     It  may  be  the 
vagaries  of  some  Finance  Minister  or  Tarifi"  Commission, 
the  restraint  of  princes,  war,   pestilence,  or  famine — 
inundations  here  and  droughts  there ;  but  a  something 
there  must  always  be  to  explain  away  the  moral  ac- 
countability of  the  individual  traders,  manufacturers, 
or  planters.     China  and  Japan  have  seldom  been  with- 
out such  fatalistic  obstacles  to  commerce.      For  many 
years  the  rebellion  was  the  hete  noire  of  merchants,  then 
the   mandarins,    and   smaller   rebellions ;    the   scarcity 
of  specie  at  one  period,  at  another  the  superabundance 
of  cheap  silver.     In  Burma  the  King  of  Ava  stood  for 
long  as  the  root  of  all  commercial  evil.     In  Japan  the 
Daimios  and  the  currency  served  their  turn.      India 
is    never  without   calamities   sufficient  to  account  for 
perhaps  more  than  ever  happens  there.     All  such  draw- 
backs, however,  though  real  enough  as  far  as  they  go, 
are  never  exhaustive,  and  seldom  even  reach  to  the  core 
of  the  problem.     They  are  as  atmospheric  phenomena, 
to  be  observed,  taken  advantage  of,  or  provided  against, 
and  are  extremely  interesting  to  the  individuals  imme- 
diately affected  by  them.     But  as  regards  the  general 
course  of  trade,  such  incidents  are  but  as  storms  on  the 
surface  of  the  deep  oceanic  currents  :  it  is  the  onward 
sweep  of  the  great  volume  of  traffic  that  alone  possesses 
public  interest.     Of  the  circumstances  which  influence 
the  course  and  direction  of  that  beneficent  current  a 
collation  of  the  utterances  of  traders  would  yield  but  a 
refracted  account.     So  that  in  order  to  appreciate  the 
progress  of  commerce  we  have  to  fall  back  on  the  un- 
adorned columns  of  statistical  tables,  which  themselves 


OBSTACLES   TO   EXPANSION.  17 1 

leave  something  to  be  desired  on  the  score  of  com- 
pleteness.^ 

With  regard  to  certain  periods  of  the  China  trade 
we  have  rather  full  data,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  decade 
following  the  war,  when  the  working  of  the  trade 
exercised  the  minds  both  of  British  merchants  and  of 
their  Government  in  a  degree  which  has  scarcely  been 
equalled  since.  The  same  may  be  predicated  of  the 
Chinese  Government  also,  and,  as  has  been  observed  in 
a  previous  chapter,  it  was  an  interesting  coincidence 
that  during  that  critical  period  it  was  the  self-same 
grievance  that  pressed  on  both  sides  —  namely,  the 
insufficiency  of  the  Chinese  exported  produce  to  pay 
for  the  goods  imported.  The  effect  of  this  on  the 
Chinese  Government  was  to  excite  unfeigned  alarm  at 
the  steady  drain  of  silver  required  to  pay  for  the  excess 
of  their  imports.  On  the  British  side  the  grievance 
came  home  to  the  manufacturers  in  the  form  of  the 
incapacity  of  the  Chinese  to  take  off  an  adequate  quan- 
tity of  the  products  of  English  looms.  The  remedy 
proposed  from  the  two  sides  was  thoroughly  character- 
istic of  their  respective  traditions.  On  the  Chinese  side 
it  was  negative,  obstructive,  prohibitory,  and  absolutely 
vain.  On  the  British  side  the  proposal  was  positive, 
expansive,  and  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  modern  com- 
merce. The  Chinese  remedy  was  to  forbid  the  export 
of  silver  and  the  import  of  opium,  which,  being  the 
article  in  most  urgent  demand,  was  usually  paid  for  in 
bullion  or  in  coined  dollars.  The  English  remedy  was 
to  stimulate  the  export  of  Chinese  produce.  But  here 
a  paradox  stands  in  the  way  of  a  clear  perception  of  the 

1  The  annual  value  of  the  whole  foreign  trade  with  China,  imports  and 
exports,  is  now  about  £70,000,000. 


172  TRADE    UNDER   TREATY   OF   NANKING.       [cHAP.  XI. 

position.  The  British  trade  was  being  carried  on  at  a 
loss,  which  some  of  the  merchants  estimated  at  33  per 
cent  on  the  round  venture.  That  is  to  say,  manufac- 
tured o^oods  were  sold  in  China  at  a  loss  of  15  to  20 
per  cent,  and  the  proceeds,  being  invested  in  Chinese 
produce,  realised  a  further  loss  on  sale  in  England  of 
17  or  20  per  cent. 

To  account  for  this  unremunerative  trade  being 
carried  on  voluntarily  year  after  year,  it  is  necessary 
to  remember  the  great  distance  of  the  two  markets  in 
the  days  before  the  introduction  of  steam  and  the 
shortening  of  the  voyage  by  the  piercing  of  the  Suez 
Canal.  We  have  to  allow  also  for  the  gambling  or 
speculative  element  which  animates  all  commerce, 
and  the  "  hope-on-hope-ever "  spirit  without  which  no 
distant  adventure  would  ever  be  undertaken.  The 
rationale  of  the  phenomenon  was  reduced  to  a  very 
simple  expression  by  Mr  Gregson,  who,  when  asked  by 
the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  if  he  could 
explain  "  the  singular  proceeding  of  continuing  the 
trade  for  a  series  of  years  with  perpetual  losses  on 
it,"  replied  :  "  The  manufacturers  reason  that  as  the 
losses  have  been  considerable  the  exports  will  fall 
off,  and  therefore  they  may  export  again.  They  are 
generally  deceived,  because  their  neighbours  taking 
the  same  view,  the  exports  are  kept  up  and  the  loss 
continues." 

The  case  thus  bluntly  stated  by  Mr  Gregson  was  not 
such  a  temporary  phase  as  might  naturally  have  been 
concluded.  The  same  remarkable  features  continued  for 
many  years  afterwards  more  or  less  characteristic  of 
the  China  trade,  so  that  had  another  commission  been 
appointed  to  consider  the  subject  they  would  have  been 


UNSATISFACTORY    RESULTS   OF   CHINA   TRADE.       173 

surprised  to  find  the  old  riddle  still  awaiting  solution, 
Why  so  regular  and  simple  a  trade  should  be  carried  on 
apparently  without  profit  ?  The  data  of  supply  and 
demand  being  well  ascertained,  prices  remunerative  to 
the  merchant  might  have  been  expected  to  arrange 
themselves  automatically.  Further  explanations  seem, 
in  fact,  required  to  supplement  Mr  Gregson's,  and  some 
of  these  must  appear  somewhat  whimsical  and  far- 
fetched to  the  general  reader.  The  peculiar  method  in 
vogue  of  stating  accounts  was  not  perhaps  without  its 
influence  in  obscuring  the  merchants'  perceptions  of  the 
merits  of  their  current  operations.  The  trade  being 
virtually  conducted  by  barter,  the  sale  of  a  particular 
parcel  of  goods  did  not  necessarily  close  the  venture. 
A  nominal  price  was  agreed  upon  between  buyer  and 
seller  for  the  convenience  of  account-keeping,  but  this 
almost  always  had  reference  to  the  return  investment 
in  tea  or  other  produce.  So  that  British  goods  were 
regarded  as  a  means  of  laying  down  funds  in  China  for 
the  purchase  of  tea,  while  tea  was  regarded  as  a  return 
remittance  for  the  proceeds  of  manufactured  goods,  and 
as  a  means  of  laying  down  funds  in  England  for  further 
investments  in  the  same  commodity  for  shipment  to 
China.  The  trade  thus  revolving  in  an  eternal  circle, 
having  neither  beginning  nor  end,  it  was  impossible  to 
pronounce  definitely  at  what  particular  point  of  the 
revolution  the  profit  or  loss  occurred.  A  bad  out-turn 
of  goods  exported  would,  it  was  hoped,  be  compensated 
for  by  the  favourable  result  of  the  produce  imported, 
and  vice  versa,  ad  infinitum.  Thus  no  transaction  stood 
on  its  own  merits  or  received  the  unbiassed  attention  of 
the  merchants.  Their  accounts  did  not  show  the  actual 
amount   of  loss   or   gain  on  a  particular  invoice,  the 


174  TRADE    UNDER   TREATY   OF   NANKING.       [chap.  XI. 

formula  simply  recording  the  price  at  which  the  venture, 
as  an  operation  in  exchange,  "laid  down  the  dollar." 
The  par  value  of  that  coin  being  taken  at  4s.  4d.,  the 
out-turn  of  a  sterling  invoice  which  yielded  the  dollar  at 
any  price  below  that  was  of  course  a  gain,  or  anything 
above  it  a  loss.  But  the  gain  or  loss  so  registered  was 
merely  provisional.  The  dollar  as  such  was  never 
realised  :  it  was  but  a  fiction  of  the  accountant,  which 
acquired  its  substantial  value  only  when  reinvested  in 
Chinese  produce.  The  final  criterion,  therefore,  was 
how  much  the  dollar  invoices  of  Chinese  produce  would 
yield  back  in  sterling  money  when  sold  in  London,  and 
how  that  yield  compared  with  the  "  laid-down  "  cost  of 
the  dollar  in  China.  But  even  that  finality  was  only 
provisional  so  long  as  the  circuit  of  reinvestment  was 
uninterrupted. 

Merchants  were  not  called  upon  to  face  their  losses  as 
they  were  made,  nor  could  they  realise  their  profits  as 
they  were  earned.  Long  before  one  years  account 
could  be  closed,  the  venture  of  one  or  two  subsequent 
years  had  been  launched  beyond  recall,  and  the  figures 
of  the  newest  balance-sheet  related  to  transactions 
which,  having  already  become  ancient  history,  were  but 
a  dry  study  compared  with  the  new  enterprises  bearing 
the  promise  of  the  future  and  absorbing  the  whole 
interest  of  the  merchant.  Business  was  thus  carried  on 
very  much  in  the  dark,  the  eyes  of  the  trader  being 
constantly  directed  forward,  while  past  experience  was 
not  allowed  its  legitimate  influence  in  forming  the 
judgment.  A  blind  reliance  on  the  equalising  effect 
of  averages  was  perhaps  the  safest  principle  on  which 
such  a  commerce  could  be  carried  on.  The  merchants 
themselves  were  wont  to  say  that  after  drawing  the 


HAMPERED    BY   TRADITIONS.  l75 

clearest  inferences  from  experience,  and  making  the 
most  careful  estimates  of  probabilities,  the  wisest 
man  was  he  who  could  act  contrary  to  the  obvious 
deductions  therefrom.  Business  thus  became  a  kind 
of  concrete  fatalism. 

The  China  trade  was,  moreover,  much  hampered  by- 
certain  traditions  of  the  East  India  Company  which 
long  clung  to  its  skirts.  One  of  these  relics  of  con- 
servatism, transmitted  from  the  days  of  the  maritime 
wars,  was  the  principle  of  storing  up  merchandise  at 
both  termini.  It  was  an  understood  thing  that  the 
Company  should  never  keep  less  than  two  years'  supply 
of  tea  in  the  London  warehouses,  and  long  after  the 
Company  ceased  to  trade  stocks  of  that  commodity 
often  amounted  to  nearly  twelve  months'  consumption. 
Similarly,  manufactured  goods  were  accumulated, 
whether  of  set  purpose  or  from  the  mere  force  of 
habit,  in  the  China  depots.  The  merchant  seemed  to 
have  inherited  the  principle  of  holding  merchandise 
for  some  ideal  price,  locking  up  his  own  or  his  con- 
stituents' capital,  incurring  cumulative  charges  on 
commodities  which  were  all  the  while  deterioratinof 
in  value,  and  eventually  perhaps  selling  under  some 
financial  or  other  pressure.  A  certain  satisfaction 
seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the  contemplation 
of  a  full  "  go -down,"  as  if  the  merchandise  there 
stored  had  been  realised  wealth  instead  of  a  block 
to  such  realisation. 

That  primitive  state  of  affairs  is  now  a  thing  of  the 
past,  since  the  progress  of  the  world  during  the  last 
thirty  years  has  revolutionised  not  the  foreign  trade  of 
China,  but  the  peculiar  system  on  which  it  was  car- 
ried on.     The  distribution  of  capital  and  the  services  of 


176  TRADE   UNDER   TREATY   OF    NANKING.       [chap.  XI. 

Exchange  banks  exploded  many  conservative  doctrines. 
The  first  merchants  who,  perceiving  the  necessity  of 
reforming  the  habits  of  the  trade,  boldly  resolved  to 
"  sell  and  repent "  on  the  arrival  of  their  merchandise, 
were  pitied  by  their  more  antiquated  neighbours,  and 
thought  to  be  likely  to  stand  much  in  need  of  repent- 
ance. But  in  their  case  wisdom  has  been  justified  of 
her  children. 

This  bald  sketch  of  the  trade  customs  inherited  from 
the  East  India  Company,  though  typical,  is  by  no 
means  exhaustive.  There  were,  both  before  and  after 
the  treaty  of  Nanking,  many  byways  and  specialities 
and  exceptions  by  which  the  vicious  circle  was  broken 
with  happy  results  to  the  individuals.  Indeed  at  all 
points  there  have  been  collateral  avenues  to  fortune, 
contributory  enterprises  more  profitable  than  those 
which  were  purely  commercial.  The  various  ways  of 
taxing  commerce,  as  by  insurance,  freightage,  storage, 
lighterage,  packing,  financing,  &c.,  have  afibrded,  on 
the  whole,  safe  and  good  returns  on  capital.  In 
countries  where  family  improvidence  is  prevalent,  and 
where  capital  is  scarce  and  dear,  as  is  the  case  gen- 
erally in  the  Far  East,  both  the  opportunity  and  the 
inducement  to  invest  in  real  estate  are  afibrded  to 
those  who  are  in  a  position  to  take  advantage  of 
them, — for  the  same  conditions  which  bring  property 
into  the  market  provide  the  tenants  for  the  new 
proprietors.  By  following  with  that  singleness  of 
purpose  which  distinguishes  all  their  proceedings 
the  line  of  financial  policy  so  obviously  suggested  by 
this  state  of  things,  the  Jesuits,  Lazarists,  and  other 
religious  orders  have  gradually  accumulated  in  every 
locality  where  they  have  settled  a  very  large  amount  of 


AMERICAN   TRADE.  177 

house  property  in  and  around  populous  centres.  By 
this  means  they  have  laid  whole  communities  of  natives, 
and  even  foreigners,  under  permanent  tribute  to  the 
Church,  and  have  thereby  rendered  their  missions 
independent  of  subventions  from  Christian  countries. 
Many  of  the  foreign  merchants,  following  this  worldly- 
wise  example,  have  in  like  manner  rendered  themselves 
independent  of  mercantile  business. 

The  American  trade  was  for  the  most  part  exempt 
from  the  drawbacks  as  well  as  the  advantages  of 
the  circuit  system.  The  similarity  of  currency  helped 
to  simplify  American  commerce  with  China,  and 
though  from  an  early  period  the  United  States  ex- 
ported manufactures  to  that  country,  these  went  but  a 
little  way  in  payment  for  the  products  which  they 
imported  from  China.  Hence  large  shipments  of  specie 
had  to  be  made  to  purchase  their  cargoes.  No 
statistics  exist,  but  Mr  Hunter  incidentally  mentions 
one  ship  carrying  amongst  other  cargo  8350,000,  and 
three  other  vessels  carrying  between  them  81,100,000, 
which  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  the  course  of  trade 
prior  to  the  abolition  of  the  East  India  Company's 
monopoly.  This  mode  of  paying  for  produce  was 
succeeded  in  after-years  by  credits  on  London  banks, 
drafts  under  which  supplied  the  most  convenient 
medium  of  remittance  to  shippers  of  opium  and  other 
produce  from  India.  The  circuit  was  trilateral,  and 
to  a  considerable  extent  remains  so. 


VOL.    I.  M 


178  TEA.  [chap.  XI. 


I.   TEA. 

Causes  of  bad  state  of  trade — Failure  of  hopes  built  on  "  free  "  trade — 
Efforts  for  improvement — Select  Committee  of  1847 — Excessive  dutie§ 
in  England — Irregularities  in  valuation — Annual  consumption  at  this 
time — Revenue  from  the  duties — Beginnings  of  the  India  tea  trade — 
Mr  Robert  Fortune — Lord  William  Bentinck,  Governor-General,  in- 
troduces tea  culture,  1834 — Assam  Company  founded  1839 — Fortune's 
missions  to  China — Tea-plant  indigenous  in  India — Progress  of  scien- 
tific culture — Vicissitudes  of  the  trade — Ultimate  success  of  the  India 
and  Ceylon  trade — An  example  of  Western  as  against  Eastern  methods 
— Tea-planting  introduced  in  Ceylon  —  Rapid  increase  there  —  Why 
China  has  been  supplanted  in  the  market — Ingenuity  and  enterprise 
of  the  Indian  planters — A  victory  of  race  and  progress — Obstructive 
measures  of  the  Chinese  Government. 

There  was  an  apparent  inconsistency  in  the  outcry 
for  larger  quantities  of  Chinese  produce  to  balance  the 
trade,  while  the  small  quantity  that  did  come  forward 
could  only  be  sold  at  a  loss.  The  explanation  may 
partly  be  found  in  the  "  boom  "  which  naturally  ensued 
on  the  emancipation  of  the  China  trade  from  the 
oppressive  monopoly  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  in 
the  disappointment  which,  no  less  naturally,  succeeded 
the  boom.  To  some  extent  also  the  onerous  imposts 
laid  upon  the  principal  article  of  export — tea — by  the 
British  Exchequer  might  be  held  responsible  for  the 
anomaly ;  for  the  English  duties  were  a  mechanical 
dead-weight  on  the  trade,  impeding  the  free  play  of 
the  other  economic  factors.  There  was  a  practically 
unlimited  supply  of  tea  in  China,  and  a  growing  de- 
mand for  it  in  England,  and  yet  some  £2,000,000  in 
specie  was  annually  sent  away  from  China  as  the 
balance  of  trade.  How  to  commute  that  amount  of 
silver  into  tea  for  the  benefit  of  both  countries  might 


HEAVY   DUTIES.  179 

be  said  to  be  the  problem  before  the  merchants  and 
their  Governments. 

The  only  means  which  appeared  to  them  feasible 
to  effect  this  object  was  to  lower  the  British  import 
duty.  Among  many  interesting  particulars  concern- 
ing the  actual  state  of  the  Chinese  trade  at  that 
time,  we  get  from  the  report  of  the  Select  Committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons  on  "  Commercial  Relations 
with  China,"  of  1847,  an  insight  into  the  difficulties, 
such  as  in  our  day  can  scarcely  be  imagined,  which 
stood  in  the  way  of  any  reduction  of  the  tea  duties. 

On  the  opening  of  what  was  called  free  trade  with 
China — "  free,"  that  is  to  say,  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany's monopoly — the  duty  was  96  per  cent  ad  valorem 
on  all  teas  sold  at  or  under  2s.  a  pound,  or  100  per  cent 
on  all  above  that  price.  These  ad  valorem  duties 
worked  iniquitously  for  both  the  Government  and  the 
merchants,  the  Customs  levying  the  higher  rate  when 
the  lower  was  appropriate,  and  the  merchants  redress- 
ing the  injustice  in  their  own  fashion  when  occasion 
served.  An  attempt  was  made  to  remedy  this  re- 
grettable situation  by  the  reduction  of  tea  to  three 
classifications,  and  the  conversion  of  the  ad  valorem 
duties  into  specific  duties  ranging  from  Is.  6d.  to  3s. 
per  pound  on  these  classifications.  The  arrangement 
was  still  found  unworkable,  and  the  most  glaring 
irregularities  were  common.  The  same  parcel  of  tea, 
absolutely  uniform  in  quality,  divided  between  London 
and  Liverpool,  would  be  assessed  in  one  port  on  the 
lower,  and  in  the  other  on  the  higher,  scale  of  duties, 
and  the  Customs  would  grant  no  redress,  though  the 
overcharge  might  be  ruinous  to  the  trader. 

This  impossible  state  of  things  was  remedied  in  1836, 


180  TEA.  [chap.  XI. 

when  the  duties  were  converted  to  one  uniform  rate  of 
2s.  per  pound  on  all  teas.  Subsequently  5  per  cent  was 
added  to  this,  so  that  the  duty  in  1847  was  2s.  2Jd. 
The  object  to  which  the  Government  inquiry  was 
primarily  directed  was  to  gauge  the  effect  on  the  con- 
sumption of  tea  of  the  raising  or  lowering  of  the  duties, 
on  which  depended  the  ultimate  retail  price.  The  ad- 
mission of  competition  in  the  Chinese  trade  in  1834 
had  the  immediate  effect  of  reducing  the  "laid-down" 
cost  of  tea,  which  promptly  reacted  upon  the  consump- 
tion of  the  article  in  England.  But  as  the  import  duty 
remained  unaltered,  while  the  prime  cost  of  the  tea  was 
much  lowered,  the  Exchequer  derived  the  whole  benefit 
from  the  increased  consumption. 

The  annual  consumption  at  that  time  in  Great  Britain 
was  1  lb.  10  oz.  per  head,  or  46,000,000  lb.  in  total,  and 
it  was  shown  that  in  every  instance  where  the  duty  was 
lower  the  consumption  was  proportionately  greater.  In 
the  Isle  of  Man,  where  the  duty  was  Is.  per  pound,  the 
consumption  quickly  rose,  when  the  restriction  on  the 
quantity  allowed  to  be  imported  there  was  removed,  to 
2  lb.  10  oz.  per  head.  In  the  Channel  Islands  it  was 
4  lb.  4  oz.  per  head.  "  In  Newfoundland,  Australia, 
and  other  colonies  the  consumption  is  very  much  larger 
per  head  than  it  is  in  this  country."  The  Australian 
colonies  have  maintained  to  the  present  day  their  pre- 
eminence as  tea-drinkers,  their  consumption  averaging 
no  less  than  10  lb.  per  head.  Consumption  in  Bussia 
and  the  United  States  is  estimated  at  a  little  over  1  lb. 
per  head  of  the  population. 

The  colonists  have  always  been  the  most  intelligent 
consumers  of  the  article.  Forty  years  ago  they  substi- 
tuted good  black  teas  for  the  pungent  green  which  had 


TASTES    IN   TEA.  181 

supplied  the  wants  of  the  mining  camps  and  primitive 
sheep  stations,  and  within  the  last  few  years  they  have 
shown  their  appreciation  of  the  flavoury  Ceylon  leaf  by 
taking  every  year  a  larger  quantity  in  relative  displace- 
ment of  the  rougher  qualities  which  come  from  India.  ' 
The  "  geographical  distribution "  of  the  taste  for  tea 
presents  some  rather  curious  facts.  In  the  United 
Kingdom,  for  example,  dealers  find  that  Irish  con- 
sumers demand  the  best  quality  of  tea.  The  United 
States  remained  faithful  to  their  green  tea  long  after 
that  description  was  discarded  in  Australia ;  and  even 
when  black  tea  came  to  be  in  part  substituted,  it  was 
not  the  Ceylon  or  Chinese  Congou,  but  the  astringent 
Oolong  kinds,  such  as  are  so  largely  supplied  from 
Japan,  which  met  the  taste  of  American  consumers. 

The  cost  price  of  tea  had  been  so  much  reduced  by 
the  abolition  of  the  East  India  Company's  monopoly 
that  the  fixed  rate  of  duty,  instead  of  being  equivalent, 
as  it  had  been  when  originally  fixed,  to  100  per  cent 
on  the  value,  was  estimated  to  average  165  per  cent 
on  Congou  tea,  which  was  much  beyond  what  the 
Legislature  intended  when  the  tariff  was  decided  ; 
for  while  they  reckoned  on  getting  a  revenue  of 
£3,600,000,  the  increase  in  the  quantity  had  been  so 
considerable  that  the  yield  of  the  duty  had  risen 
to  £5,000,000.  The  arguments  and  the  evidence  in 
favour  of  reducing  the  duties  were  unanswerable  from 
every  point  of  view.  Yet  the  utmost  which  the  advo- 
cates in  1847  seem  to  have  hoped  for  was  that  it  might 
be  reduced  to  Is.  per  pound,  which  they  considered 
would  entail  a  temporary  loss  to  the  revenue.  But 
we  see  in  our  day  that  the  Government  draws  nearly 
£4,000,000    from   the   article   on   a  tariff  rate  of  4d. 


182  TEA.  [chap.  XI. 

per  pound,  while  the  consumption  per  head  of  popu- 
lation has  risen  to  6  lb.,  or  a  total  of  235,000,000  lb. 
per  annum. 

While  the  mercantile  community  were  thus  strain- 
ing after  means  of  developing  the  tea  trade  from 
China  there  were  causes  at  work,  of  which  they 
seemed  to  have  no  suspicion,  which  have  completely 
revolutionised  that  trade,  reducing  China  to  a  quite 
secondary  position  as  an  exporter.  Among  the  wit- 
nesses examined  before  the  Committee  of  1847  there 
was  one  who  may  almost  be  said  to  have  held  the 
fate  of  the  Chinese  tea  trade  in  his  hands,  though 
probably  he  himself  was  unaware  of  it.  This  was 
Mr  Robert  Fortune,  curator  of  the  Physic  Gardens 
at  Chelsea,  who  had  travelled  in  some  of  the  tea 
districts  of  China  as  agent  of  the  Horticultural 
Society  of  London,  being  also  commissioned  by  the 
East  India  Company  to  investigate  the  processes  of 
the  growth  and  manufacture  of  tea  in  China,  and  to 
bring  to  India  seeds  and  plants  as  well  as  skilled 
workmen  to  manipulate  the  leaves.  The  idea  of 
cultivating  tea  in  India  had  long  been  entertained 
by  the  Company.  The  plant  itself  had  been  found 
indigenous  in  Upper  Assam  twenty  years  before 
Fortune's  day,  but  no  practical  notice  was  taken  of 
the  discovery  until  1834,  when  the  Government  of 
India  resolved  to  attempt  the  culture  of  the  leaf 
The  scheme  received  its  first  embodiment  in  a  Minute 
of  Lord  William  Bentinck,  the  first  Governor-General 
of  India,^  in  1834.  The  plan  he  laid  down  was  to 
"  select  an  intelligent  agent,  who  should  go  to  Penang 
and    Singapore    and    in    conjunction    with    authorities 

1  His  predecessors  had  been  governors  of  Fort  William  in  Bengal. 


fortune's  researches.  183 

and  the  most  intelligent  of  Chinese  agents  should 
concert  measures  for  obtaining  the  genuine  plant,  and 
actual  cultivators."  The  state  of  affairs  in  China  at 
the  time  did  not  favour  the  prosecution  of  such  an 
enterprise.  The  native  resources  of  India,  however, 
began  at  once  to  be  utilised.  The  Assam  Company, 
the  pioneer  of  tea-culture,  was  established  in  1839, 
and  continues  its  operations  to  our  own  day.  After 
the  treaty  of  peace  and  the  successful  establishment 
of  trade  at  the  new  ports  in  China,  Lord  William 
Bentinck's  ideas  were  realised  in  the  two  missions 
of  Fortune,  who  succeeded  in  conveying  to  India 
nearly  20,000  plants  from  both  the  black  and  green 
tea  countries  of  Central  China.  Although,  judging 
from  subsequent  experience,  India  might  by  her  un- 
aided efforts  have  developed  this  great  industry,  yet 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  enterprise  of 
the  practical  Scottish  gardener  applied  the  effective 
stimulus  which  raised  tea-growing  to  the  rank  of  a 
serious  national  interest.  Hybridisation  between  the 
imported  Chinese  plants  and  those  of  indigenous 
growth  proceeded  actively,  no  less  than  one  hundred 
varieties  being  thus  produced.  Planters  now  con- 
sider that  the  native  plant  would  have  served  all 
their  purposes  without  any  intermixture,  but  probably 
nothing  short  of  practical  experience  would  have 
persuaded  them  of  this. 

The  vicissitudes  of  tea-growing  in  India  have  been 
so  sharp  that  they  would  form  of  themselves  an  in- 
teresting episode  of  industrial  history.  Mania  and 
panic  alternated  during  the  experimental  stages  of 
the  enterprise,  with  the  inevitable  result  of  whole- 
sale   transfers    of    property,    so    that    of    the    early 


184  TEA.  [chap.  XI. 

pioneers  comparatively  few  were  destined  to  enjoy 
the  ultimate  reward  of  their  sacrifices.  Difficulties  of 
many  kinds  dogged  the  steps  of  the  planters,  among 
these  being  the  unsatisfactory  land  tenure  and  the 
supply  of  labour.  The  mortality  among  the  imported 
coolies  was  for  many  years  so  heavy  that  the  Govern- 
ment was  eventually  obliged  to  interfere  with  severe 
regulations,  which  were  imposed  in  1863.  These  and 
other  difficulties  being  successfully  grappled  with,  the 
prosperity  of  the  industry  flowed  as  smoothly'  as  the 
Niagara  river  below  the  Falls,.. ^until  the  supply  of 
tea  from  India  and  Ceylon  had  completely  swamped 
that  from  the  original  home  of  the  trade. 

The  supplanting  of  Chinese  by  Indian  tea  in  the 
markets  of  the  world  —  for  even  Russia  is  now  an 
importer  of  the  latter — is  an  interesting  example  of 
the  encroachment  of  Western  enterprise  on  the 
ancient  province  of  Eastern  habits.  These  are  of 
course  only  general  terms,  for  from  all  such  com- 
parisons Japan  must  be  either  excluded  or  classed 
rather  among  the  foremost  of  the  progressive  nations 
than  among  her  nearest  geographical  neighbours. 
When  tea  -  cultivation  was  once  shown  to  be  "  pay- 
able" in  British  Indian  territory  the  energy  of  the 
Western  people  was  quickly  brought  to  bear  on  the 
industry,  and  through  several  cycles  of  success  and 
failure,  and  over  the  dead  bodies,  so  to  sj)eak,  of 
many  pioneers,  the  production  available  for  and  dis- 
tributed in  the  English  market  has  steadily  grown 
from  nothing  up  to  154,000,000  lb.  per  annum. 

The  cultivation  of  tea  was  introduced  at  a  much  later 
period  into  Ceylon,  where  it  most  opportunely  took  the 
place  of  coflee,  which  had  been  ruined  by  disease,  and 


PLANTING   IN   INDIA   AND   CEYLON.  185 

already  the  deliveries  of  tea  from  that  island  press 
hard  on  that  from  India  itself,  having  reached 
90,000,000  lb.,  or  more  than  half  of  the  Indian  supply. 
The  rate  of  progress  in  Ceylon  has  been  most  remark- 
able. In  1883  the  most  experienced  residents  in  the 
island  considered  themselves  sanguine  in  predicting  that 
the  export  of  tea  would  eventually  reach  the  total  of 
20,000,000  lb.— it  being  at  that  time  under  1,000,000  lb. 
While  the  products  of  India  and  Ceylon  have  thus  been 
advancing  by  leaps  and  bounds,  the  import  from  China 
has  dwindled  down  to  29,000,000  lb., — about  one-tenth 
part  of  a  trade  of  which  forty  years  ago  she  held  an 
easy  monopoly. 

How  has  such  a  gigantic  displacement  been  brought 
about  ?  Primarily,  no  doubt,  from  the  vigorous  follow- 
ing up  of  the  discovery  that  tea  could  be  profitably 
grown  in  India.  But  beyond  that  it  is  a  victory  of 
race  over  race,  of  progress  over  stagnation,  of  the  spirit 
of  innovation  and  experiment  over  that  of  conservative 
contentment.  The  Indian  planters  have  made  a  per- 
sonal study  of  all  the  conditions  of  tea-culture,  have 
selected  their  plants,  invented  machinery  to  do  all  that 
the  Chinese  have  done  for  centuries  by  manipulation, 
have  put  ample  capital  into  the  enterprise,  and  used  the 
utmost  skill  in  adapting  their  product  to  the  taste  of 
their  customers.  Moreover,  they  have  by  dint  of  adver- 
tising all  over  the  world,  attending  exhibitions,  and 
many  other  devices,  forced  their  commodity  into 
markets  which  would  never  have  come  to  them.  There 
was,  on  the  other  hand,  no  one  interested  in  the  success 
of  Chinese  tea-growers,  whose  plantations  are  in  the 
interior  of  the  country,  subdivided  into  garden-plots, 
with   no  cohesion  among  their  owners  for  aggressive 


186  TEA.  [chap.  XI. 

purposes.  For  though  the  Chinese  can  and  do  combine, 
it  is  usually  in  a  negative  sense,  to  obstruct  and  not  to 
promote  action,  whereas  the  tea-growers  of  India  have 
shown  examples  of  intelligent  co  -  operation  of  the 
aggressive  and  productive  kind,  not  wasting  power  in 
seeking  to  impede  rivals,  but  devoting  their  whole 
energies  to  the  prosecution  of  their  own  business. 
And  they  have  their  reward. 

The  short  -  sightedness  of  the  Government  has  no 
doubt  contributed  to  the  decline  of  the  Chinese  tea 
trade,  through  the  excessive  duties  of  one  kind  and  an- 
other which  they  have  continued  to  levy  on  the  article 
from  the  place  of  growth  to  the  port  of  shipment. 
It  is  fair  to  remember,  however,  that  their  exactions 
bear  most  heavily  on  the  low  grades,  which,  notwith- 
standing, continue  to  be  shipped  in  quite  as  large 
quantities  as  is  desirable  in  the  interest  of  consumers ; 
while  the  superior  qualities,  which  are  quite  able  to 
bear  the  taxes,  have  almost  ceased  to  be  imported 
into  Great  Britain,  the  whole  supply  finding  its  way 
to  Kussia.  That  country  has  long  been  celebrated, 
and  justly  so,  for  the  excellence  of  its  tea,  for  which 
fantastical  reasons  are  wont  to  be  given.  The  true 
reason  is  very  simple.  Russian  merchants  purchase 
the  fine  Chinese  teas  for  which  no  market  can  now  be 
found  in  England,  the  public  taste  having  run  so  ex- 
clusively on  the  product  of  India  and  Ceylon  that  a 
cup  of  good  Chinese  tea  has  become  a  luxury  reserved 
for  those  who  have  facilities  for  obtaininof  the  article 
outside  the  ordinary  channels  of  trade. 


ORIGIN    OF   SILK.  187 


II.    SILK. 


Balance  of  trade  adjusted  by  Shanghai  silk  trade — China  the  original  silk 
country — Silk  chiefly  exported  from  Canton — Advantages  of  the  new 
port  of  Shanghai — Disease  attacks  the  silkworm  in  Europe — Shanghai 
supplies  the  deficit — Efforts  in  Italy  and  France  to  obtain  healthy  seed 
from  China  and  Japan — Disease  overcome  by  M.  Pasteur — Renewed 
prosperity  of  the  European  producers  shared  by  the  Chinese. 

Within  six  years  of  the  time  when  the  merchants 
of  England  were  earnestly  seeking  a  remedy  for  the 
crying  evil  of  the  balance  of  trade  against  China,  the 
whole  difficulty  had  disappeared  through  the  operation 
of  natural  causes.  The  great  factor  in  bringing  about 
the  change  was  the  rapid  growth  of  the  trade  of 
Shanghai,  and  more  particularly  the  large  exportation 
of  raw  silk  from  that  port.  "  The  noble  article,"  as 
the  Italians  fondly  call  it,  already  in  1853  represented 
a  larger  value  than  the  tea  exported  ;  the  turn  of  the 
tide  had  come ;  the  balance  of  trade  had  shifted  ;  and 
in  a  very  few  years  silver  flowed  into  the  country  more 
copiously  than  it  had  ever  flowed  out. 

Of  all  the  materials  of  commerce  silk  is  perhaps  the 
most  classical.  A  fibre  so  lustrous,  so  pure,  and  so 
durable,  has  been  the  desire  of  all  nations  ancient 
and  modern,  and  the  peculiar  interest  excited  by  its 
humble  origin  enveloped  the  subject  in  myths  and 
legends  during  the  earlier  intercourse  between  Europe 
and  Asia.  China  was  known  to  the  ancients  as  the 
cradle  of  sericulture,  deriving,  in  fact,  from  its  most 
famous  product  the  name  Serica,  by  which  it  was 
known  to  the  Greeks  and  Eomans.  There  is  not  a 
silk-producing    country    in    the    world   which    is    not 


188  SILK.  [chap.  XI. 

directly  or  indirectly  indebted  to  China  for  the  seed 
of  the  insect,  if  not  also  for  the  introduction  of  the 
white  mulberry -tree,  upon  the  leaves  of  which  the 
caterpillar  is  fed.  Though  rivals  have  sprung  up  in 
many  countries  both  in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  China 
has  not  lost  its  reputation,  or  even  its  pre-eminence, 
as  a  producer  of  the  article. 

The  vicissitudes  of  the  silk  trade  and  cultivation 
would  afford  more  varied  interest  than  the  com- 
paratively simple  annals  of  the  displacement  of  tea. 
Though  the  subject  falls  outside  the  scope  of  the  pres- 
ent work,  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  Chinese 
commerce  cannot  be  intelligently  followed  without  some 
reference  to  the  animated  competition  which  has  been 
going  on  for  more  than  forty  years  among  the  great 
silk -producing  countries.  The  first  in  rank  among 
these  was  Italy,  France  following  at  a  considerable 
distance.  The  wants  of  Europe  had  been  mainly  sup- 
plied during  centuries  by  the  product  of  these  countries, 
India  and  the  Levant  and  some  others  contributing 
also  their  share.  Japan  had  been  growing  silk  for  her 
own  use  during  all  the  time  that  intercourse  with  the 
rest  of  the  world  was  prohibited  by  severe  laws,  and 
she  came  later  into  the  field  as  an  exporter. 

The  quantity  obtained  from  China  previous  to  the 
opening  of  the  five  ports  was  all  derived  from  the 
southern  provinces,  and  was  exported  from  Canton. 
In  nothing  was  the  pre-eminence  of  the  new  port  of 
Shanghai  over  its  older  rival  destined  to  be  more 
marked  than  in  the  development  of  the  silk  trade. 
Its  position  within  an  easy  canal  journey  of  the  richest 
silk-growing  districts  in  the  whole  empire  gave  to  the 
northern  port  advantages  which  were  promptly  turned 


LARGE  EXPORTS  FROM  SHANGHAI.        189 

to  account  in  co-operation  between  the  foreign  and 
the  native  merchants,  resulting  before  many  years  in 
the  growth  of  a  healthy  and  most  satisfactory  trade. 
The  supply  of  the  article  having  up  to  that  time  been 
regulated  by  the  home  demand,  the  entry  of  an  outside 
customer  had  a  very  stimulating  effect  upon  the  Chinese 
growers.  Some  years  elapsed  before  the  product  of 
the  newly  opened  districts  could  be  fully  tested  and 
appreciated  by  the  manufacturers  in  Europe.  This 
time  was  well  employed  by  the  Chinese  cultivators 
and  traders  in  maturing  their  arrangements  for  bring- 
ing larger  supplies  to  the  foreign  market,  suited  to 
the  requirements  of  the  new  purchasers,  as  far  as  they 
were  understood.  The  supply  and  demand  had  pro- 
gressed evenly,  admitting  of  good  profits  to  both  sides, 
until  a  stage  was  reached  when  the  trade  and  cultiva- 
tion were  both  ready  to  respond  to  a  new  stimulus,  and 
just  then  the  new  stimulus  was  applied. 

Disease  began  to  attack  the  silkworms  in  Europe  ; 
the  production  of  Italian  and  other  silk  became  pre- 
carious, and  inadequate  to  the  demands  of  the  manu- 
facturing trade.  Into  the  vacuum  thus  created  sup- 
plies from  China  were  ready  to  pour  in,  and  highly 
remunerative  prices  awaited  them.  The  export  from 
Shanghai  for  the  year  1856  was  very  large,  and  the 
result  encouraged  growers  and  native  and  foreign  mer- 
chants to  put  forth  still  greater  efforts  in  the  following 
year,  when  the  shipments  from  that  port  reached 
90,000  bales,  worth  probably  £10,000,000  sterling. 
These  shipments,  thrown  on  the  market  during  the 
money  panic  of  1857,  resulted  disastrously,  but  the 
impetus  given  to  the  trade  continued  to  be  felt  during 
many  subsequent  years. 


190  SILK.  [chap.  XI. 

The  Italians  in  the  meanwhile,  driven  to  their 
wits'  end  to  save  so  valuable  an  industry,  tried  first 
to  obtain  healthy  seed  from  China  and  Japan.  The 
first  experiments  being  unsuccessful,  the  eggs  having 
hatched  during  the  voyage,  steamers  were  specially 
chartered  and  carefully  fitted  up  with  conveniences  for 
preserving  the  precious  commodity.  Experiment  was 
also  made  of  sending  the  seed  by  the  caravan  route 
through  Siberia  to  save  the  risk  of  premature  in- 
cubation. In  fact,  Jason's  quest  of  the  Golden  Fleece 
was  scarcely  characterised  by  more  varied  adventures 
than  that  of  the  Italians — the  French  also  joining  to 
a  certain  extent — after  a  healthy  breed  of  silkworm. 
After  many  years  of  anxious  and  almost  desperate 
efforts,  some  success  was  obtained  in  introducing 
Chinese  and  Japanese  seed  into  Europe ;  but  the  prod- 
uce of  the  exotic  seed  also  in  time  became  liable  to 
attacks  of  the  parasite,  and  it  was  not  till  science  came 
to  the  aid  of  the  cultivators  that  the  true  remedy  was 
finally  applied,  and  an  important  item  in  the  national 
wealth  of  Southern  Europe  was  saved.  It  was  M. 
Pasteur  who  eventually  furnished  the  means  of  de- 
tecting in  the  egg  the  germ  of  the  destructive  parasite  ; 
so  that  by  sorting  out  the  infected  eggs  and  destroying 
them  the  race  was  purified.  Thus  the  way  was  opened 
for  the  restoration  of  European  culture  to  more  than 
its  pristine  prosperity ;  for  the  many  valuable  lessons 
which  the  cultivators  learnt  in  the  school  of  their 
adversity  have  stood  them  in  good  stead  now  that 
fortune  has  again  smiled  upon  them. 

Notwithstanding  the  revival  of  European  silk-culture, 
the  silks  of  China  and  Japan  and  other  Eastern 
countries  still  hold  their  own  in  the  Western  markets, 


DISPLACEMENT   OF    SILK    INDUSTRY.  191 

and  continue  to  form  an  important  constituent  of  the 
export  trade  of  the  Far  East.^  The  European  markets 
to  which  they  are  consigned  are  no  longer  indeed  Eng- 
lish, but  French,  German,  American,  and  others,  the 
last  forty  years  having  witnessed  a  revolution  in  the 
silk  industries  of  Great  Britain,  and  a  virtual  transfer- 
ence of  the  old  industries  of  Spitalfields,  Norwich, 
Macclesfield,  and  other  districts  to  her  manufacturing 
rivals. 


III.  OPIUM. 

The  largest  and  most  interesting  Chinese  import — Peculiarities  of  the  trade 
— Nominally  contraband — But  openly  dealt  in — Ships  anchored  in  the 
Canton  river — Or  near  the  trading-ports — Wusung — Opium  cargoes 
discharged  into  old  hulks  before  entering  Shanghai  port — Importance 
of  the  opium  traffic  as  a  factor  in  foreign  intercourse  —  The  opium 
clippers — The  opium  market  liable  to  much  variation — Piracy — The 
clippers  were  armed — Occasionally  attacked — Anomalous  position — 
Alcock's  aversion  to  the  opium  traffic — His  reasons — Experience  at 
Shanghai  modifies  his  opinion — The  trade  being  bound  up  with  our 
Indian  and  Chinese  commerce — No  attempt  to  stop  it  could  do  other 
than  aggravate  the  mischief — Still  wishes  to  see  the  trade  modified  or 
abolished  —  Despatch  to  Sir  J.  Bowring  —  His  desire  to  devise  some 
scheme — His  last  proposal  of  1870 — Ambiguous  attitude  of  the  British 
Government  —  Inheritors  of  the  East  India  Company's  traditions — 
These  forbad  the  carrying  of  opium  in  their  ships — Question  of  legalis- 
ing the  traffic — 1885  Chinese  Government  trebles  the  import  duty  and 
asks  the  help  of  the  Hongkong  Government  for  its  collection. 

The  most  interesting  constituent  of  trade  in  China 
has  always  been  opium,  especially  since  the  product  of 
British  India  was  so  much  improved  and  stimulated  by 
the  Government  as  practically  to  supersede  in  the  China 
market  the  demand  for  the  production  of  other  countries. 

^  Eastern  countries  send  to  Europe  half  of  the  whole  consumption  of  the 
West — China  yielding  35  per  cent  to  40  per  cent  of  the  entire  supply,  Japan 
12  per  cent. 


192  OPIUM.  [chap.  XI. 

The  value  of  the  opium  imported  exceeded  that  of  all 
other  articles,  the  figures  being  returned  at  $23,000,000 
and  $20,000,000  respectively  for  the  year  1845.  As 
the  exports  of  Chinese  produce  were  at  that  time 
estimated  at  $37,000,000,  it  is  evident  that  opium 
played  a  most  important  part  in  the  adjustment  of  the 
balance  of  trade ;  and  as  it  came  from  India  and  the 
returns  from  it  had  to  go  thither,  opium  and  raw  cotton, 
which  also  came  from  India,  formed  the  pivot  of  ex- 
change. As  the  opium  was  paid  for  in  silver  and  not 
by  the  barter  of  produce,  it  was  natural  to  charge  it 
with  the  loss  of  the  silver  which  was  annually  shipped 
away  from  China,  and  which  was  assumed  to  reach  the 
amount  of  £2,000,000  sterling,  though  that  seems  to  be 
an  exaggeration. 

The  trade  in  this  commodity  differs  from  all  ordinary 
commerce  in  the  conditions  under  which  it  has  been 
carried  on,  and  in  the  sentiments  which  have  grown  up 
concerning  it.  Until  the  treaty  made  by  Lord  Elgin 
in  1858  the  importation  of  opium  had  been  for  many 
years  nominally  contraband,  while  yet  the  trade  in 
it  was  as  open  as  that  in  any  other  commodity  and 
was  as  little  interfered  with  by  the  Government. 
Laxity  and  connivance  being  the  characteristics  of 
Chinese  officialdom,  there  would  be  nothing  extra- 
ordinary even  in  the  official  patronage  of  a  traffic 
which  was  forbidden  by  the  State,  so  that  it  would 
not  be  safe  to  infer  from  the  outward  show  what  the 
real  mind  of  the  responsible  Government  was  on 
that  or  any  other  subject.  The  necessity  of  saving 
appearances,  an  object  always  so  dear  to  the  Chinese 
heart,  necessitated  a  special  machinery  for  conducting 
the    trade  in   opium.      Before   the  war,    as   has   been 


COURSE   OF   TRADE.  193 

already  said,  the  ships  carrying  the  drug  anchored  at 
certain  rendezvous  in  the  estuary  of  the  Canton  river, 
where  they  delivered  their  goods  on  the  order  of  the 
merchants  who  were  located  in  Canton  or  Macao.  The 
vessels  also  made  excursions  up  the  coast,  where  they 
had  direct  dealings  with  the  Chinese,  the  master  acting 
as  agent  for  the  owners.  And  when  the  northern  ports 
were  opened,  after  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  the  opium 
depot  ships  were  stationed  at  convenient  points  on  the 
coast  in  the  vicinity  of  the  trading-ports.  The  most 
important  of  these  stations  was  at  Wusung,  on  the 
Hwangpu  river,  nine  miles  by  road  from  Shanghai. 
There  were  sometimes  a  dozen,  and  never  less  than 
half-a-dozen,  hulks  moored  there,  dismantled,  housed- 
in,  and  unfit  for  sea.  The  supply  was  kept  up  in  the 
earlier  days  by  fast  schooners  and  latterly  by  steamers, 
which  in  the  period  before  the  treaty  of  1858  dis- 
charged their  opium  into  these  hulks  without  surveil- 
lance of  any  kind,  and  then  proceeded  up  the  river  to 
Shanghai  with  the  rest  of  their  cargo,  which,  though 
often  consisting  of  but  a  few  odd  packages,  was  taken 
charge  of  by  the  custom  -  house  with  the  utmost 
punctilio,  while  the  valuable  cargo  of  opium  was 
ignored  as  if  it  did  not  exist. 

The  opium  trade  was  a  ruling  factor  in  the  general 
scheme  of  foreign  intercourse  and  residence  in  China. 
The  postal  communication,  for  example,  on  the  coast 
and  between  India  and  China  was  practically  de- 
pendent on  it ;  for,  being  a  precious  commodity,  it 
could  afford  to  pay  very  high  charges  for  freight,  and 
the  opium  clippers  could  be  run  regardless  of  expense, 
as  will  be  more  fully  described  in  the  Chapter  on 
"  Shipping." 

VOL.    I.  N 


194  OPIUM.  [chap.  XI. 

The  high  value  of  the  article  influenced   the   con- 
duct of  the  trade  in  a  variety  of  ways,  one   in  par- 
ticular being  that  the  vessels  carrying  it  had  to  go 
heavily  armed.      The  coast  of  China  before  the  war 
and  after  swarmed  with  pirates,  to  whom  so  portable 
an   article  as  opium  offered  an  irresistible  temptation. 
The  clippers  on  the  coast  were  usually  small  schooners 
from  100  to  200  tons  burthen,  and  though  with  their 
superior  sailing  powers  they  could  always  take  care 
of    themselves    in    a   breeze,    they   would    have   been 
helpless  in  a  calm  unless  prepared  to  stand  to  their 
guns.      It  was    sometimes   alleged    by   those   opposed 
to   the    traflic    that    these   vessels   were   little   better 
than    pirates    themselves,    inasmuch     as     they    were 
forcing  a  trade  prohibited  by  the  laws  of  the  empire, 
and  were  armed  to  resist  the  authorities.     The  opium- 
carriers  were   not   un frequently    attacked   by   pirates, 
sometimes    captured    and    destroyed    by    them ;    but 
there    never    seems    to    have    been    any    interference 
or   complaint  on    the   part   of  the    Government,   even 
when  prompted  thereto  by  British   consuls.      Never- 
theless it  was  an  anomalous  state   of  things,  though 
one  far  from  unusual  in  the  first  third  of  the  century, 
that  European  vessels  should  ply  their  trade  armed 
like  privateers. 

The  attitude  of  Consul  Alcock  towards  the  opium 
trade  was,  from  the  earliest  days  of  his  consulship  in 
Foochow  until  his  final  departure  from  China  in 
1870,  one  of  consistent  aversion,  so  decided,  indeed, 
that  in  some  of  the  arguments  adduced  in  his 
Foochow  reports  against  the  trade  the  conclusion 
somewhat  outran  the  premisses,  as  he  in  after  years 


CONSUL  ALCOCK's  EARLIER  REPORTS.      195 

acknowledged    by    marginal    notes    on    those    earlier 
despatches  : — 

A  trade  prohibited  and  denounced  alike  as  illegal  and  in- 
jurious by  the  Chinese  authority  constitutes  a  very  anom- 
alous position  both  for  British  subjects  and  British  authorities, 
giving  to  the  latter  an  appearance  of  collusion  or  connivance  at 
the  infraction  of  the  laws  of  China,  which  must  be  held  to 
reflect  upon  their  integrity  and  good  faith  by  the  Chinese. 

No  small  portion  of  the  odium  attaching  to  the  illicit  traffic 
in  China  falls  upon  the  consular  authorities  under  whose  juris- 
diction the  sales  take  place,  and  upon  the  whole  nation  whose 
subjects  are  engaged  in  the  trade ;  and  the  foundations  of  the 
largest  smuggling  trade  in  the  world  are  largely  extended, 
carrying  with  them  a  habit  of  violating  the  laws  of  another 
country. 

The  opium  is  of  necessity  inimical  and  opposed  to  the  en- 
largement of  our  manufacturing  trade. 

That  which  has  been  said  of  war  may  with  still  greater  force 
apply  to  the  illicit  traffic  in  opium,  "  It  is  the  loss  of  the  many 
that  is  the  gain  of  the  few." 

Whichever  way  we  turn,  evil  of  some  kind  connected  with 
this  monstrous  trade  and  monopoly  of  large  houses  meets  our 
eye. 

In  order  to  do  justice  to  the  agents  in  the  traffic, 
he  adds  in  the  same  report  on  the  trade  for  1845 — 

While  the  cultivation  and  sale  of  opium  are  sanctioned  and 
encouraged  for  the  purposes  of  revenue  in  India,  and  those  who 
purchase  the  drug  deriving  wealth  and  importance  from  the 
disposal  of  it  in  China  are  free  from  blame,  it  is  vain  to 
attempt  to  throw  exclusive  opprobrium  upon  the  last  agents  in 
the  transaction. 

These  were  the  impressions  of  a  fresh  and  presum- 
ably unprejudiced  mind  taking  its  first  survey  of 
the  state  of  our  commercial  intercourse  with  China. 
They  were  reflections  necessarily   of  a  somewhat   ab- 


196  OPIUM.  [chap.  XL 

stract  character,  formed  on  a  very  limited  acquain- 
tance with  the  actualities  of  a  trade  which  did  not 
yet  exist  in  Foochow.  A  few  years'  experience  at 
the  great  commercial  mart  of  Shanghai  widened  the 
views  of  the  consul  materially,  and  showed  him  that 
there  was  more  in  this  opium  question  than  meets 
the  eye  of  the  mere  philosopher.  A  confidential  re- 
port on  the  subject  made  in  1852  treats  the  matter 
from  a  more  statesman-like  as  well  as  a  more  business- 
like point  of  view.  In  that  paper  he  does  more  than 
deplore  the  evil,  and  while  seeking  earnestly  for  a 
remedy,  fully  recognises  the  practical  difficulties  and 
the  danger  of  curing  that  which  is  bad  by  something 
which  is  worse. 

The  opium  trade  [he  observes  in  a  despatch  to  Sir  John 
Bo  wring]  is  not  simply  a  question  of  commerce  but  first  and 
chiefly  one  of  revenue — or,  in  other  words,  of  finance,  of 
national  government  and  taxation — in  which  a  ninth  of  the 
whole  income  of  Great  Britain  and  a  seventh  of  that  of  British 
India  is  engaged. 

The  trade  of  Great  Britain  with  India  in  the  year  1850 
showed  by  the  official  returns  an  export  of  manufactures  to  the 
value  of  £8,000,000,  leaving  a  large  balance  of  trade  against 
that  country.  A  portion  of  the  revenue  of  India  has  also  to  be 
annually  remitted  to  England  in  addition,  for  payment  of  the 
dividends  on  Indian  stock  and  a  portion  of  the  Government 
expenses.  These  remittances  are  now  profitably  made  vid 
China,  by  means  of  the  opium  sold  there ;  and  failing  this, 
serious  charges  would  have  to  be  incurred  which  must  curtail 
both  the  trade  and  the  resources  of  the  Indian  Exchequer. 

In  China,  again,  scarcely  a  million  and  a  half  of  manu- 
factured goods  can  find  a  market ;  yet  we  buy  of  tea  and  silk 
for  shipment  to  Great  Britain  not  less  than  five  millions,  and 
the  difference  is  paid  by  opium. 

A  trade  of  £10,000,000  in  British  manufactures  is  there- 
fore at  stake,  and  a  revenue  of  £9,000,000 — six  to  the  British 
and  three  to  the  Indian  Treasury. 


HIS    LATER   REPORTS.  197 

Which  of  these  is  the  more  important  in  a  national  point  of 
view, — the  commerce,  or  the  revenue  derived  from  it  ?  Both 
are,  however,  so  essential  to  our  interests,  imperial  and  com- 
mercial, that  any  risk  to  either  has  long  been  regarded  with 
distrust  and  alarm,  and  tends  to  give  a  character  of  timidity  to 
our  policy  and  measures  for  the  maintenance  of  our  relations 
with  China — the  more  disastrous  in  its  results,  that  to  the 
oriental  mind  it  is  a  sure  indication  of  weakness,  and  to  the 
weak  the  Chinese  are  both  inexorable  and  faithless. 

That  the  opium  trade,  illegal  as  it  is,  forms  an  essential 
element,  interference  with  which  would  derange  the  whole 
circle  of  operations,  must  be  too  apparent  to  require  further 
demonstration. 

Eeference  to  the  practical  details  of  the  colossal  trade  in 
which  it  plays  so  prominent  a  part  shows  that  it  is  inextricably 
mixed  up  with  every  trading  operation  between  the  three 
countries,  and  that  to  recognise  the  one  and  ignore  the  other  is 
about  as  difficult  in  any  practical  sense  as  to  accept  the  ac- 
quaintance of  one  of  the  Siamese  twins  and  deny  all  knowledge 
of  his  brother. 

No  attempt  of  the  British  Government  to  stop  or  materially 
diminish  the  consumption  could  possibly  avail,  or  be  otherwise 
than  productive  of  aggravated  mischief  to  India,  to  China,  and 
to  the  whole  world,  by  giving  a  motive  for  its  forced  production 
where  it  is  now  unknown,  and  throwing  the  trade  into  hands 
less  scrupulous,  and  relieved  of  all  those  checks  which  under 
the  British  flag  prevent  the  trade  from  taking  the  worst 
characters  of  smuggling,  and  being  confounded  with  other  acts 
of  a  lawless  and  piratical  nature  affecting  life  and  property,  to 
the  destruction  of  all  friendly  or  commercial  relations  between 
the  two  races.  It  is  also  sufficient  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  a 
traffic,  as  has  been  shown,  which  vitalises  the  whole  of  our 
commerce  in  the  East ;  that  without  such  means  of  laying 
down  funds  the  whole  trade  would  languish,  and  its  present 
proportions,  colossal  as  they  are,  soon  shrink  into  other  and 
insignificant  dimensions ;  that  the  two  branches  of  trade  are 
otherwise  so  inextricably  interwoven,  that  no  means  could  be 
devised  (were  they  less  essential  to  each  other)  of  separating 
them.  And  finally,  although  Great  Britain  has  much  to  lose, 
China  in  such  a  quixotic  enterprise  has  little  or  nothing  to 
gain. 


198  OPIUM. 


CHAP.    XL 


Notwithstanding  all  these  weighty  considerations, 
Mr  Alcock  never  swerved  in  his  desire  to  see  "  the 
opium  trade,  with  all  its  train  of  contradictions, 
anomalies,  and  falsifying  conditions,"  modified,  if  not 
done  away  with.  In  a  careful  despatch  to  Sir  John 
Bowring  dated  May  6,  1854,  reviewing  our  whole 
position  in  China,  he  thus  expresses  himself: — 

Any  modification  for  the  better  in  our  relations  must,  I 
believe,  begin  here.  We  must  either  find  means  of  inducing 
the  Chinese  Government  to  diminish  the  evil  by  legalising  the 
trade,  or  enter  the  field  of  discussion  .  .  .  with  a  stone  wall 
before  us.  .  .  .  The  legalisation  would  go  far  to  diminish  the 
obstacle  such  an  outrider  to  our  treaty  creates ;  but  far  better 
would  it  be,  and  more  profitable  in  the  end  in  view  of  what 
China  might  become  commercially  to  Europe,  America,  and  to 
Great  Britian  specially,  if  the  Indian  Government  abandoned 
their  three  million  sterling  revenue  from  the  cultivation  of 
opium,  and  our  merchants  submitted  to  the  temporary  prejudice 
or  inconvenience  of  importing  silver  for  the  balance  of  trade. 

Nearly  twenty  years  afterwards  we  find  Mr  Alcock 
still  engaged  on  the  problem  how  to  diminish  the 
trade  in  opium  without  dislocating  both  the  trade 
and  finance  of  India,  his  last  act  on  retiring  from 
China  in  1870  having  been  to  propose  a  fiscal  scheme 
of  rearrangement  by  which  the  opium  trade  might 
undergo  a  process  of  slow  and  painless  extinction.^ 

The  attitude  of  the  British  Government  towards  the 
opium  trade  has  always  been  ambiguous.  Succeeding 
to  the  inheritance  of  the  East  India  Company  as  the 
great   growers   of  opium,    they   had   to   carry   on   its 

^  It  is  worth  notice  that  this  consistent  opponent  of  the  opium  trade 
during  fifty  active  years  should  have  come  under  the  ban  of  the  Anti- 
Opium  Society  in  England  when  the  discussion  of  this  important  question 
degenerated  into  a  mere  polemic. 


LEGALISING   THE   TRAFFIC.  199 

traditions.  These  had  led  the  Company  in  its  trading 
days  into  some  striking  inconsistencies,  for  though  they 
cultivated  the  poppy  expressly  for  the  China  market, 
employing  all  the  intelligence  at  their  command  to 
adapt  their  product  to  the  special  tastes  of  the  Chinese, 
they  yet  refused  to  carry  a  single  chest  of  it  in  their 
own  ships  which  traded  to  China.  By  this  policy  they 
thought  they  could  exonerate  themselves  in  face  of  the 
Chinese  authorities  from  participation  in  a  trade  which 
was  under  the  ban  of  that  Government.  The  im- 
portation of  the  drug  was  thus  thrown  upon  private 
adventurers,  and  whenever  the  subject  was  agitated 
in  Canton  and  Macao,  none  were  so  warm  in  their 
denunciations  of  the  trade  as  the  servants  of  the 
East  India  Company.  This  was  notably  the  case 
with  Captain  Elliot,  who,  after  leaving  the  Company's 
service  and  becoming  representative  of  the  Crown, 
never  wearied  in  his  strictures  on  the  opium  traffic. 

The  question  of  legalising  the  traffic  had  frequently 
before  been  considered  by  the  Chinese  Government,^ 
and  it  was  fully  expected  that  this  was  the  policy 
which  would  prevail  in  Peking  in  1837.  The  pen- 
dulum swung  to  the  opposite  side,  namely,  that  of 
prohibition,  and  legalisation  was  not  adopted  until 
1858.  But  once  adopted,  the  idea  made  such  progress 
that  in  1885  the  Chinese  Government  made  a  suc- 
cessful appeal  to  the  British  Government  to  be  allowed 
to  treble  the  import  duty  authorised  in  1858,  and  that 
the  Colonial  Government  of  Hongkong  should  render 
them  special  assistance  in  collecting  it. 

*  Import  duty  had  been  regularly  levied  on  opium  for  a  hundred  years, 
the  prohibition  of  importation  having  been  decreed  after  1796  (Eitel). 


200  CHINESE   EXPORTS.  [chap.  xi. 


IV.   CHINESE   EXPORTS. 

Efforts  of  the  consuls  to  stimulate  trade — Alcock's  work  at  Foochow — His 
despatches — Exhibition  of  1851 — Exhibits  of  Chinese  produce  sent  by 
Alcock. 

The  continuous  efforts  made  by  the  consuls  in  the 
first  decade  after  the  treaty  to  stimulate  the  action 
of  foreign  merchants  in  laying  hold  of  all  the  oppor- 
tunities offered  to  them  for  extending  their  connec- 
tions with  the  Chinese  trade  ought  not  to  be  passed 
over  without  notice.  It  was  the  burden  of  Consul 
Alcock's  labours  while  in  Foochow  to  gather  informa- 
tion from  every  source,  to  digest  it  as  well  as  he 
was  able,  and  to  lay  it  before  his  countrymen ;  and 
if  he,  in  his  despatches  to  the  plenipotentiary,  some- 
times reflected  on  what  seemed  to  him  the  apathy 
and  want  of  enterprise  of  the  merchants,  that  must 
be  set  down  to  a  laudable  zeal  to  make  his  office 
fruitful  of  benefit  to  his  country.  The  same  spirit 
animated  his  proceedings  in  Shanghai.  The  demand 
made  for  exhibits  for  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851 
found  Mr  Alcock  and  his  lieutenant  Parkes  eager  to 
supply  samples  of  Chinese  products  of  every  kind 
likely  to  be  of  commercial  interest.  On  applying  to 
the  mercantile  community  of  Shanghai  for  their  co- 
operation in  collecting  materials,  he  found  them  not 
over-sanguine  as  to  the  results  of  such  an  effort,  and 
in  his  despatch  of  December  1850  to  the  plenipo- 
tentiary he  remarks  that  "  the  British  and  foreign 
residents  in  Shanghai  appeared  to  feel  that  the  impos- 
sibility of  gaining  access  to  the  great  seats  of  manu- 


CHINA   AND   THE   EXHIBITION   OF   1851.  201 

facture  or  the  producing  districts  for  raw  material 
placed  them  in  too  disadvantageous  a  position  to  do 
justice  either  to  themselves  or  the  resources  of  the 
empire,  which  could  only  be  very  inadequately  repre- 
sented, and  in  a  way  more  calculated  to  mislead  than 
instruct."  "  The  conclusion,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  at 
which  the  mercantile  community  has  arrived  has  gone 
far  to  paralyse  all  exertion  on  my  part."  Neverthe- 
less, with  the  restricted  means  at  his  disposal,  he  set 
to  work  to  collect  specimens  of  Chinese  produce  and 
industry  and  to  transmit  them  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
for  the  use  of  the  Commissioners.  Of  objects  of  art 
he  sent  a  great  variety  in  bronze,  inlaid  wood, 
porcelain,  soapstone,  and  enamels,  and  the  fancy 
articles  which  have  since  acquired  such  great  repu- 
tation in  the  world  that  dealers  in  European  and 
American  capitals  send  out  commissions  every  year 
to  make  extensive  purchases.  Colours  used  by  the 
Chinese  for  dyeing  purposes  in  twenty  shades  of  blue, 
silk  brocades,  and  many  valuable  products  of  the 
Chinese  looms,  were  well  represented,  and  the  com- 
moner utensils,  such  as  scissors,  needles,  and  razors, 
some  of  which  were  within  the  last  few  years  specially 
recommended  in  consular  reports  to  the  notice  of 
English  manufacturers,  as  if  the  suggestion  were 
made  for  the  first  time.  Of  raw  material,  samples 
were  sent  of  hemp,  indigo,  and  many  other  natural 
products ;  and  when  it  is  considered  how  eager  the 
British  mercantile  community  appeared  to  be  to  in- 
crease their  importation  of  Chinese  produce — be  it 
tea,  silk,  or  any  other  commodity — in  order  to  balance 
the  export  trade,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  in 
those  early  days  a  number  of  articles  of  export  were 


202  CHINESE   EXPORTS.  [chap.  xi. 

described  and  classified,  with  an  account  of  the  districts 
of  their  origin,  which  have  only  taken  their  place  in 
the  list  of  exports  from  China  within  the  last  twenty- 
years  or  so.  These  were  sheep's  wool  of  six  different 
descriptions,  and  camels'  hair,  which  are  now  so  ex- 
tensively dealt  in  at  the  northern  ports  of  China. 
Perhaps  these  articles  were  not  seen  in  bulk  by 
foreigners  "until  after  the  opening  of  the  new^  ports 
in  1861,  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  even  after 
this  discovery,  and  sundry  experimental  shipments, 
many  years  elapsed  before  the  special  products  of 
Northern  China  became  recognised  articles  of  foreign 
trade.  These  now  include  straw  plait,  sheep's  wool, 
goats'  wools,  goats'  skins,  dogs'  skins,  camels'  hair, 
horses'  tails,  pigs'  bristles,  and  a  number  of  other 
articles  of  export  which  might  perfectly  well  have 
been  brought  to  the  foreign  market  of  Shanghai  even 
before  the  opening  of  the  northern  ports.  What  was 
wanted  was  the  knowledge  that  such  products  were 
procurable  and  the  organisation  of  a  market  for  their 
disposal  in  China,  in  Europe,  and  the  United  States. 
To  stimulate  inquiry  into  these  matters  was  an  object 
of  the  consular  reports  of  the  early  days,  and  the 
fact  that  the  seed  then  sown  seemed  to  have  been 
buried  in  sterile  soil  for  thirty  years  affords  a  reason- 
able prospect  that  from  the  more  advantageous  basis 
on  which  commercial  men  now  stand  still  larger  de- 
velopments of  international  commerce  may  be  reserved 
to  future  adventurers. 


SMALL    VOLUME   OF   BRITISH    EXPORTS.  203 


V.   BRITISH  EXPORTS. 

Slow  increase — Turn  of  the  scale  by  the  Shanghai  silk  trade — Consequent 
inflow  of  silver  to  China — Alcock's  conament  on  the  Report  of  Select 
Committee — His  grasp  of  the  true  state  of  affairs. 

This  department  of  trade  presents  little  else  but  a 
record  of  very  slow  improvement,  with  some  rather 
violent  fluctuations  due  to  obvious  and  temporary 
causes.  In  the  first  year  after  the  treaty  of  Nanking 
the  value  of  shipments  to  China  from  the  United  King- 
dom was  £1,500,000;  in  1852,  £2,500,000;  in  1861, 
£4,500,000,  decreasing  in  1862  to  £2,300,000,  and 
rising  in  1863  to  £3,000,000;  after  which  period  it 
steadily  increased  to  £7,000,000,  at  which  it  has  prac- 
tically remained,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three 
years  between  1885  and  1891,  when  it  rose  to 
£9,000,000. 

The  theory  of  the  merchants  who  gave  evidence 
before  the  Committee  of  1847,  that  an  increase  in  the 
exports  from  China  was  all  that  was  needed  to  enable 
the  Chinese  to  purchase  larger  quantities  of  manufac- 
tured goods,  has  by  no  means  been  borne  out  by 
the  subsequent  course  of  trade.  For  although  the 
Chinese  exports  have  been  greatly  extended  since 
then,  that  of  silk  alone  having  more  than  sufiiced 
to  pay  for  the  whole  of  the  imports  from  abroad, 
there  has  been  no  corresponding  increase  in  the 
volume  of  these  importations.  What  happened  was 
merely  this,  that  the  drain  of  silver  from  China, 
which  was  deplored  on  all  sides  up  till  about  1853, 
was  converted  into  a  steady  annual  inflow  of  silver 


204  BRITISH   EXPORTS.  [chap.  xi. 

to  China.  ^  Consul  Alcock,  having  been  requested  by 
her  Majesty's  chief  superintendent  of  trade  to  make 
his  comments  on  the  Report  of  the  Select  Committee, 
dealt  comprehensively  with  the  whole  question  of  the 
trade  between  Europe,  India,  and  China,  and  evinced 
a  wider  grasp  of  the  true  state  of  the  case  than  the 
London  merchants  had  done.  In  a  despatch  dated 
March  23,   1848,  the  following  passages  occur  : — 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  evidence  furnished  by  the 
witnesses  on  our  trade  is  calculated  to  mislead  those  imper- 
fectly acquainted  with  the  details.  The  existence  of  this 
relation  [the  importation  of  opium  and  raw  cotton  from  India] 
is  kept  out  of  sight,  and  conclusions  are  suggested  which  could 
only  be  maintained  if  the  Indian  imports  into  China  did  not 
form  a  part  of  our  commerce,  and  did  not  come  in  direct  com- 
petition with  the  import  of  staple  manufactures. 

To  counteract  as  far  as  may  be  in  my  power  the  erroneous 
tendency  of  the  partial  evidence  which  the  Blue-Book  contains 
on  this  part  of  the  subject,  I  have  ventured  for  the  information 
of  her  Majesty's  Government  to  bring  forward  such  facts  and 
inferences  as  seem  to  me  to  place  in  the  strongest  light  the 
fallacy  of  the  argument  mainly  insisted  upon  before  the  Com- 
mittee— viz.,  that  we  have  only  our  own  consumption  of  tea  to 
look  to  as  indicating  the  extent  to  which  we  can  exchange  our 
manufactures — that  this  is  the  only  limit  of  our  imports  into 
China.  But  imports  of  what  ?  Xot  certainly  of  cotton  and 
woollen  goods,  for  we  already  export  of  tea  and  silk  from  China 
to  the  value  of  some  four  millions  sterling,  and  cannot  find  a 
profitable  market  for  manufactured  goods  to  the  amount  of  two 
millions ;  and  a  somewhat  similar  proportion,  or  disproportion 
rather,  may  be  traced  during  the  monopoly  of  the  East  India 
Company,  during  the  free-trade  period  prior  to  the  commence- 
ment of   hostilities,  and    since   the   treaty.      Say  that   from   a 


1  During  the  last  two  decades  important  factors — such  as  foreign  loans, 
armaments,  and  the  like — have  so  influenced  the  movements  of  gold  and 
silver  that  they  bear  no  such  simple  relation  to  the  "  balance  of  trade " 
properly  so  called  as  was  formerly  the  case. 


CONSUL   ALCOCK's   COMMENTS.  205 

reduction  of  the  tea  duties  or  any  other  cause  we  double  our 
exports  from  China  as  we  have  already  done  since  1833,  from 
what  data  are  we  to  infer  that  in  this  same  proportion  the 
export  into  China  of  British  manufactures  will  increase ;  or  in 
other  words,  that  for  every  additional  million  of  tea  there  will 
be  an  equivalent  value  expended  upon  our  cotton  fabrics  ? 

The  anticipated  result  is  contradicted  by  all  past  experience 
in  China,  and  a  moment's  reflection  must  show  that  the 
essential  elements  have  been  overlooked.  1st,  That  there  is  a 
balance  of  trade  against  the  Chinese  of  some  $10,000,000, 
which  must  adjust  itself  before  any  increase  of  our  exclusively 
British  imports  into  China  can  be  safely  or  reasonably  expected, 
for  which  an  additional  export  of  20,000,000  lb.  of  tea  and 
10,000  bales  of  silk  is  required.  2ndly,  That  if  such  increase 
of  our  exports  hence  restored  the  balance  of  trade  to-morrow, 
the  proportion  in  which  an  increased  import  of  our  goods  would 
take  place  must  depend  upon  the  result  of  a  competition  of 
cotton  goods  against  opium  and  raw  cotton — all  three  objects  in 
demand  among  the  Chinese ;  and  the  proportion  of  each  that 
may  be  taken  under  the  assumed  improvement  depends  upon 
the  relative  degree  of  preference  exhibited  by  our  customers  for 
the  different  articles.  The  two  latter  have  proved  formidable 
rivals  to  our  manufactures,  nor  is  there  any  reason  to  anticipate 
beneficial  change  in  that  respect. 

The  argument,  therefore,  that  the  only  limit  to  our  imports 
into  China  is  the  consumption  of  tea  and  silk  in  Great  Britain, 
if  meant  to  be  applied,  as  it  appears  to  be  in  the  evidence, 
exclusively  to  British  imports — that  is,  to  cotton  and  woollens 
— is  fallacious,  and  can  only  be  sustained  by  dropping  the  most 
important  features  of  the  import  trade,  by  treating  opium  and 
raw  cotton  as  though  they  had  neither  existence  nor  influence 
upon  our  British  staple  trade. 

The  influence  of  this  mode  of  reasoning  is  calculated  to  be 
the  more  mischievous  that  it  comes  from  gentlemen  of  practical 
mercantile  information,  and  purports  to  suggest  a  remedy  for 
an  evil  which  is,  in  truth,  of  our  own  creating,  and  must  recur 
as  often  and  as  certainly  as  the  same  causes  are  in  operation. 
The  trade  in  China  during  the  last  three  years  has  been  a 
losing,  and  in  many  instances  a  ruinous,  trade,  not  because  the 
English  do  not  drink  more  tea,  or  the  Chinese  do  not  find  it 
convenient  to  wear  more  cotton  of  our  manufacture,  but  simply 


206  BRITISH   EXPORTS.  [chap.  xi. 

because  in  such  market  the  supply  has  not  been  carefully 
regulated  by  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  probable  demand. 
Our  merchants  at  home  have  unfortunately  been  led  by  such 
reasoning  as  I  have  quoted  to  assume  that  in  proportion  as  we 
purchase  more  tea  the  Chinese  would  lay  out  more  money  in 
cotton  goods,  and  that  the  one  might  be  taken  as  a  true 
estimate  of  the  other.  Hence  came  shipments  after  the  treaty 
so  disproportioned  to  the  actual  wants  or  state  of  demand  in 
the  Chinese  market  that  an  immediate  glut,  with  the  conse- 
quent and  necessary  depreciation  in  price,  followed.  Nor  did 
the  evil  end  here :  a  return  was  of  necessity  to  be  made  for 
this  enormous  over-supply  of  goods,  hence  more  tea  was  shipped 
than  the  legitimate  demand  of  the  English  markets  would  have 
suggested  or  justified,  and  at  the  other  end  of  the  chain  the 
same  depreciation  and  ruinous  loss  was  experienced.  .  .  . 

I  have  submitted  in  this  and  the  preceding  Keports  my  strong 
conviction  that  other  conditions  than  a  mere  increase  in  our 
exports  hence  are  essential.  Of  these  I  have  endeavoured  to 
show  the  principal  and  most  important  are  access  to  the  first 
markets,  the  removal  of  or  efficient  control  over  all  fiscal 
pretexts  for  restricting  the  free  circulation  of  our  goods  in  the 
interior  and  the  transit  of  Chinese  produce  thence  to  the 
ports,  and,  finally,  the  abolition  of  all  humiliating  travelling 
limits  in  the  interior,  which  more  than  anything  else  tends  to 
give  the  Chinese  rulers  a  power  of  keeping  up  a  hostile  and 
arrogant  spirit  against  foreigners,  and  of  fettering  our  commerce 
by  exactions  and  delays  of  the  most  injurious  character. 

The  conditions  of  the  trade  were,  in  fact,  simpler 
than  the  merchants  had  imagined.  The  Chinese 
entered  into  no  nice  estimates  of  the  balance  of  imports 
and  exports,  but  purchased  the  goods  which  were 
offered  to  them  so  far  as  they  were  adapted  to  their 
requirements — and  there  is  no  other  rule  for  the  guid- 
ance of  foreign  manufacturers  in  catering  for  the  great 
Chinese  market. 


THE   RESERVOIR   OF   FOREIGN   TRADE.  207 


VI.   NATIVE  TRADE. 

Inter-provincial  trade — Advantages  of  the  employment  of  foreign  ship- 
ping —  China  exports  surplus  of  tea  and  silk  —  Coasting  -  trade  — 
Salt. 

The  great  reservoir  of  all  foreign  commerce  in  China 
is  the  old-established  local  inter-provincial  trade  of  the 
country  itself,  which  lies  for  the  most  part  outside  of 
the  sphere  of  foreign  interest  excepting  so  far  as  it  has 
come  within  the  last  forty  years  to  supply  the  cargoes 
for  an  ever-increasing  fleet  of  coasting  sailing-ships  and 
steamers.  This  great  development  of  Chinese  com- 
merce carried  on  in  foreign  bottoms  was  thus  fore- 
shadowed by  Mr  Alcock  as  early  as  1848  : — 

The  disadvantages  under  which  the  native  trade  is  now 
carried  on  have  become  so  burdensome  as  manifestly  to  curtail 
it,  greatly  to  the  loss  and  injury  of  the  Chinese  population, 
enhancing  the  price  of  all  the  common  articles  of  consumption : 
any  measures  calculated,  therefore,  to  exempt  their  commerce 
from  the  danger,  delay,  and  loss  attending  the  transport  of 
valuable  produce  by  junks  must  ultimately  prove  a  great  boon 
of  permanent  value,  though  at  first  it  may  seem  the  reverse. 

In  a  political  point  of  view  the  transfer  of  the  more  valuable 
portion  of  their  junk  trade  to  foreign  bottoms  is  highly  desir- 
able, as  tending  more  than  any  measures  of  Government  to 
improve  our  position  by  impressing  the  Chinese  people  and 
rulers  with  a  sense  of  dependence  upon  the  nations  of  the  West 
for  great  and  material  advantages,  and  thus  rebuking  effectually 
the  pride  and  arrogance  which  lie  at  the  root  of  all  their 
hostility  to  foreigners. 

In  a  commercial  sense  the  direct  advantage  would  consist  in 
the  profitable  employment  of  foreign  shipping  to  a  greater 
extent :  it  would  also  assist  the  development  of  the  resources  of 
the  five  ports — more  especially  those  which  hitherto  have  done 


208  NATIVE   TRADE.  [chap.  xi. 

little  foreign  trade.  I  have  entered  into  some  details  to  show 
how  the  carrying  trade  may  work  such  results,  particularly  in 
reference  to  sugar,  which  promises  to  pave  the  way  at  this  port 
to  large  shipments  in  this  and  other  articles  for  the  Chinese. 

A  more  effective  blow  will  be  given  to  piracy  on  the  coast 
by  a  partial  transfer  of  the  more  valuable  freights  to  foreign 
vessels  than  by  any  measures  of  repression  which  either 
Government  can  carry  out,  for  piracy  will,  in  fact,  cease  to  be 
profitable.  .  .  . 

A  further  extension  of  the  trade  between  our  Australian 
settlements  and  China,  and  our  colonies  in  the  Straits  with 
both,  may  follow  as  a  natural  result  of  any  successful  efforts  in 
this  direction, — the  addition  of  a  large  bulky  article  of  regular 
consumption  like  sugar  alone  sufficing  to  remove  a  great 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  a  Straits  trade.  .  .   . 

If  this  can  be  counted  upon,  I  think  it  may  safely  be  predi- 
cated that  at  no  distant  period  a  large  and  profitable  employ- 
ment for  foreign  shipping  will  be  found  here  totally  exclu- 
sive of  the  trade  with  Europe. 

It  has  been  said  with  regard  to  tea  that  the  quantity 
sold  for  export  is  but  the  overflow  of  what  is  produced 
for  native  consumption,  and  to  silk  the  same  observa- 
tion would  apply.  Essentially  a  consuming  country,  it 
is  the  surplus  of  these  two  articles  that  China  has  been 
able  to  afford  which  has  constituted  the  staple  of  export 
trade  from  first  to  last.  It  is  an  interesting  question 
whether  there  may  not  be  surpluses  of  some  other 
Chinese  products  to  be  similarly  drawn  upon.  If  the 
foreign  trade  has  been  distinguished  by  its  simplicity, 
being  confined  to  a  very  few  standard  commodities, 
such  cannot  be  predicated  of  the  native  trade,  which  is 
of  a  most  miscellaneous  character.  It  is  impossible  to 
give  any  statistical  account  of  the  coast  and  inland 
traffic  of  China.  Any  estimate  of  it  would  be  scarcely 
more  satisfactory  than  those  which  are  so  loosely  made 
of  the  population.     In  the  early  days,  when  the  ports 


PARKES   OV   SEA-BORNE   TRADE.  209 

opened  by  the  treaty  of  1842  were  still  new  ports, 
great  pains  were  taken  by  the  consuls  to  collect  all  the 
information  they  could  respecting  purely  Chinese  com- 
merce, which  they  not  unnaturally  regarded  as  the 
source  whence  the  material  of  an  expanded  foreign 
trade  might  in  future  be  drawn.  Especially  was  this 
the  case  at  Foochow  under  the  consulship  of  Mr  Alcock 
and  the  assistantship  of  his  energetic  interpreter, 
Parkes.  We  find,  for  instance,  among  the  returns 
compiled  by  that  industrious  officer  of  three  months' 
trading  in  1846,  the  quantities  and  valuations  of  over 
fifty  articles  of  import  and  as  many  of  export  given  in 
great  detail  :  imports  in  592  junks  of  55,000  tons,  and  of 
exports  in  238  junks  of  22,000  tons.  Of  the  sea-going 
junks  he  gives  an  interesting  summary,  distinguishing 
the  ports  with  which  they  traded  and  their  tonnage, 
with  short  abstracts  of  the  cargoes  carried.  These 
amounted  for  the  year  to  1678  arrivals  from  twenty 
difierent  places,  and  1310  departures  for  twenty-four 
places  ;  and  this  at  a  port  of  which  the  consul  wrote  in 
1847,  "  No  prospect  of  a  British  or  other  foreign  trade 
at  this  port  is  apparent  in  the  very  remotest  degree." 
Every  traveller  in  every  part  of  China  is  astonished 
at  the  quantity  and  variety  of  the  merchandise  which 
is  constantly  on  the  move.  It  is  this  that  inspires 
confidence  in  the  boundless  potentialities  of  Chinese 
commerce,  which  seems  only  waiting  for  the  link  of 
connection  between  the  resources  of  the  empire  and 
the  enterprise  of  the  Western  world. 

Besides  the  sea-borne  trade  of  which  it  was  possible 
to  make  these  approximate  estimates,  there  is  always 
in  China  an  immense  inland  trade  ;  and  at  the  time 
when  piracy  was  rampant  on  the  coast,  and  before  the 

VOL.   I.  O 


210  NATIVE   TRADE.  [chap.  xi. 

aid  of  foreign  ships  and  steamers  was  obtained,  all  the 
goods  whose  value  enabled  them  to  pay  the  cost  of 
carriage  were  conveyed  by  the  inland  routes,  often 
indeed  from  one  seaport  to  another,  as,  for  instance, 
between  Canton  and  Foochow,  Ningpo,  Shanghai,  &c. ; 
and  it  is  still  by  the  interior  channels  that  much  of  the 
trade  is  done  between  Shanghai  and  the  provinces  to 
the  north  of  it,  which  would  appear,  geographically 
speaking,  to  be  more  accessible  from  their  own  seaports. 

The  relation  of  the  Government  to  the  inter -pro- 
vincial trade  is,  in  general  terms,  that  of  a  capricious 
tax-gatherer,  laying  such  burdens  on  merchandise  as  it 
is  found  able  and  willing  to  bear.  The  arbitrary  im- 
positions of  the  officials  are,  however,  tempered  by  the 
genius  of  evasion  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  merchant, 
and  by  mutual  concession  a  modus  vivendi  is  easily 
maintained  between  them. 

The  item  of  trade  in  which  Government  comes  into 
most  direct  relation  with  the  trader  is  the  article  salt, 
which  is  produced  all  along  the  sea-coast,  and  is  likewise 
obtained  from  wells  in  the  western  provinces.  Like  many 
other  Governments,  the  Chinese  have  long  treated  salt 
as  a  Government  monopoly.  As  the  manner  in  which 
this  is  carried  out  illustrates  in  several  points  the  ideas 
that  lie  at  the  root  of  Chinese  administration,  some 
notes  on  the  subject  made  by  Parkes  at  Foochow  in 
1846,  and  printed  in  an  appendix  to  this  volume, 
may  still  be  of  interest.^ 

^  See  Appendix  IV. 


211 


CHAPTER    XII. 

SHIPPING. 

The  East  Indiaman — Opium  clippers — Coasting  craft — Trading  explora- 
tions— Yangtze — Japan — Ocean  trade — American  shipping — Gold  in 
California — Eepeal  of  British  Navigation  Laws — Gold  in  Australia — 
Ocean  rivalry — Tonnage  for  China — Regular  traders — Silk — British 
and  American  competition — The  China  clipper — Steam — The  Suez 
Canal — Native  shipping — Lorchas. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  merchandise  carried  was 
the  shipping  which  carried  it.  That  stately  argosy, 
the  East  Indiaman,  was  already  invested  with  the 
halo  of  the  past.  Her  leisurely  voyages,  once  in  two 
years,  regulated  by  the  monsoons,  landing  the  "new" 
tea  in  London  nearly  a  year  old,  and  her  comfortable 
habits  generally,  were  matters  of  legend  at  the  time 
of  which  we  write.  But  a  parting  glance  at  the  old 
is  the  best  way  of  appreciating  the  new.  The  East 
Indiaman  was  the  very  apotheosis  of  monopoly.  The 
command  was  reserved  as  a  short  road  to  fortune  for 
the  proteges  of  the  omnipotent  Directors  in  Leaden- 
hall  Street,  and  as  with  Chinese  governors,  the  tenure 
of  the  post  was  in  practice  limited  to  a  very  few 
years,  for  the  Directors  were  many  and  their  cog- 
nates prolific.  So  many,  indeed,  were  their  privi- 
leges, perquisites,  and  "indulgences"  that  a  captain 
was  expected  to  have  realised  an  ample  independence 


212  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

in  four  or  five  voyages ;  the  officers  and  petty- 
officers  having  similar  opportunities,  proportionate  to 
their  rank.  They  were  allowed  tonnage  space,  the 
captain's  share  being  56  tons,  which  they  could  either 
fill  with  their  own  merchandise  or  let  out  to  third 
parties.  The  value  of  this,  including  the  inter- 
mediate "  port  -  to  -  port "  voyage  in  India,  may  be 
judged  from  the  figures  given  by  one  captain,  who 
from  actual  data  estimated  the  freight  for  the  round 
voyage  at  £43  per  ton.  The  captains  enjoyed  also 
the  passage-money,  valued  by  the  same  authority  at 
£1500  per  voyage.  There  were  other  "indulgences," 
scarcely  intelligible  in  our  days,  which  yet  yielded 
fabulous  results.  These  figures  are  taken  from  a 
statement  submitted  to  the  Honourable  Company  by 
Captain  Innes,  who  claimed,  on  behalf  of  himself  and 
comrades,  compensation  for  the  loss  they  sustained 
through  the  cessation  of  the  monopoly.  The  captain 
showed  that  he  made,  on  the  average  of  his  three 
last  voyages,  £6100  per  voyage — of  which  £180  was 
pay! — without  counting  ''profits  on  investments,"  for 
the  loss  of  which  he  rather  handsomely  waived  com- 
pensation. £8000  to  £10,000  per  voyage  was  reckoned 
a  not  extravagant  estimate  of  a  captain's  emoluments. 
The  Company  employed  chartered  ships  to  supplement 
its  own,  and  the  command  of  one  of  them  was  in 
practice  put  up  to  the  highest  bidder,  the  usual 
premium  being  about  £3000  for  the  privilege  of  the 
command,  which  was  of  course  severely  restricted  to 
qualified  and  selected  men. 

That  such  incredible  privileges  should  be  abused, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  too  indulgent  Company,  was 
only   natural.       The    captains,    in   fact,    carried    on    a 


SMUGGLING  IN  ENGLAND.  213 

systematic  smuggling  trade  with  Continental  ports 
as  well  as  with  ports  in  the  United  Kingdom 
where  they  had  no  business  to  be  at  all,  though 
they  found  pretexts,  a  la  Cliinoise,  such  as  stress  of 
weather  or  want  of  water,  if  ever  called  to  account. 
The  Channel  Islands,  the  Scilly  Islands,  and  the  Isle 
of  Wight  supplied  the  greatest  facilities  for  the  illicit 
traffic,  and  their  populations  were  much  alarmed  when 
measures  were  threatened  to  suppress  it.  The  inspect- 
ing commander  reported  officially  from  St  Mary's,  in 
1828,  "that  these  islands  were  never  known  with  so 
little  smuggling  as  this  year,  and  the  greatest  part 
of  the  inhabitants  are  reduced  to  great  distress  in 
consequence,  for  hitherto  it  used  to  be  their  principal 
employment."  ^  The  ships  w^ere  also  met  by  accom- 
plices on  the  high  seas  which  relieved  them  of 
smuggled  goods.  What  is  so  difficult  to  understand 
about  such  proceedings  is  that  the  Court  of  Directors, 
though  not  conniving,  seemed  helpless  to  check  these 
irregularities.  Their  fulminations,  resolutions,  elaborate 
advertisements,  and  measures  prescribed  for  getting 
evidence  against  offenders,  bore  a  curious  resemblance 
to  those  futile  efforts  which  are  from  time  to  time  put 
forth  by  the  Chinese  Government,  which  is  equally 
impotent  to  suppress  illicit  practices  in  its  adminis- 
tration. One  cause  of  this  impotence  was  also  very 
Chinese  in  character.  The  smugglers  had  friends  in 
office,  who  supplied  them  with  the  most  confidential 
information. 

The  East  India  Company,  nevertheless,  in  one  im- 

^  For  interesting  details  of  the  smuggling  organisation  which  lasted  up 
to  the  middle  of  the  present  century,  see  '  Smuggling  Days  and  Smuggling 
Ways,'  by  the  Hon.  Henry  N.  Shore,  R.N. 


214  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

portant  respect  received  value  for  its  money — in  the 
competence  of  its  officers.  The  greatest  pains  were 
taken  to  secure  the  efficiency  of  the  service,  for  the 
ships  were  more  than  mere  carriers  or  passenger- 
boats.  They  were  maintained  on  a  war-footing,  and 
were  manned  by  thoroughly  disciplined  crews.  Many 
gallant  actions  at  sea,  even  against  regular  men-of- 
war,  stand  to  the  credit  of  the  Indiamen. 

But  what  conceivable  freight -money  or  profits  on 
merchandise  could  support  a  trade  carried  on  under 
such  luxurious  conditions  1  It  was  magnificent,  in- 
deed, but  it  was  not  business,  and  no  surprise  need 
be  felt  that  the  East  India  Company,  while  furnish- 
ing its  employees  with  the  means  of  fortune,  made 
very  little  for  its  shareholders  by  either  its  shipown- 
ing  or  mercantile  operations.  The  Company  was  a 
standing  example  of  that  not  uncommon  phenomenon, 
the  progressionist  become  obstructionist,  blocking  the 
door  which  it  opened.  For  many  years  it  had  played 
the  part  of  dog  -  in  -  the  -  manger,  keeping  individual 
traders  out  while  itself  deriving  little  if  any  benefit 
from  its  monopoly.  Whenever  independent  merchants 
succeeded — under  great  difficulties,  of  course — in  gain- 
ing a  footing,  they  invariably  proved  the  superiority 
of  their  business  methods ;  and  it  is  to  them,  and  not 
to  the  Company,  that  the  development  of  trade  in 
the  Far  East  is  due.  English  shipowners  had  con- 
stantly agitated  for  a  share  in  the  traffic  round  the 
Cape,  and  there  were  many  Indian-owned  ships  en- 
gaged in  the  China  trade,  the  Company's  ostenta- 
tious abstention  from  carrying  the  opium  which  it 
grew  afibrding  this  favourable  opening  for  private 
adventurers. 


CESSATION    OF   EAST   INDIA    COMPANY'S   MONOPOLY.       215 

It  is  somewhat  surprising  that  the  seafaring  nations 
of  the  world,  who  were  free  from  the  restrictions  which 
so  cramped  the  British  shipowners,  should  have  suffered 
to  endure  so  long  a  monopoly  so  baseless  as  that  of 
the  East  India  Company.  The  fact  seems  to  prove 
the  general  depression  of  maritime  energy  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century.  But  succeeding  to  such  a 
patriarchal  regime,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  common 
merchantmen,  reduced  to  reasonable  economical  con- 
ditions, should  have  reaped  a  bountiful  harvest.  The 
Company's  terms  left  a  very  handsome  margin  for 
shrinkage  in  the  freight  tariff,  while  still  leaving  a 
remunerative  return  to  the  shipowner.  The  expiration 
of  the  Company's  charter,  therefore,  gave  an  immense 
stimulus  to  the  common  carriers  of  the  ocean ;  though, 
starting  from  such  an  elevated  plateau  of  profits, 
the  inducements  to  improvements  in  the  build  and 
management  of  ships  were  not  very  urgent. 

The  size  of  the  ships  and  their  capacity  for  cargo 
underwent  slow  development  in  the  first  half  of 
the  century.  The  East  Indiamen  averaged  about 
1000  tons,  some  ships  being  as  large  as  1300,  while 
those  chartered  by  the  Company  seem  to  have  run 
about  500  tons.  All  were  bad  carriers,  their  cargo 
capacity  not  exceeding  their  registered  tonnage.  In 
the  ordinary  merchant  service  which  succeeded  large 
ships  were  deemed  unsuited  to  the  China  trade,  300 
tons  being  considered  a  handy  size,  until  the  expansion 
of  trade  and  necessity  for  speed  combined  with  eco- 
nomical working  forced  on  shipowners  a  larger  type 
of  vessel. 

Of  quite  another  class  were  the  opium  clippers,  which 
also  in  a  certain  sense  represented  monopoly  in  its  long 


216  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

struggle  with  open  trade  —  the  monopoly  of  capital, 
vested  interests,  and  enterprise.  The  clippers,  first 
sailing  craft  and  then  steamers,  were  able  by  means 
of  the  advantages  they  possessed  to  prolong  the  con- 
test into  the  'Sixties  ;  indeed  the  echo  of  it  had  scarcely 
died  away  when  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  telegraph 
cable  revolutionised  the  whole  Eastern  trade  at  a 
single  stroke.  The  precious  cargoes  they  carried,  and 
scarcely  less  valuable  intelligence,  supplied  the  means  of 
maintaining  the  opium- carriers  in  the  highest  efficiency. 
Every  voyage  was  a  race,  the  rivalry  being  none  the 
less  animated  for  the  smallness  of  the  competing  field. 
Indeed,  when  reduced  to  a  duel,  the  struggle  became 
the  keenest.  It  was  only  towards  the  close  of  the 
period  that  the  opium  -  clipper  system  attained  its 
highest  organisation.  The  great  China  houses  of 
Jardine,  Matheson,  &  Co.,  and  Dent  &  Co.,  then  ran 
powerful  steamers — the  former  firm  chiefly  between 
Calcutta  and  Hongkong — their  time  of  departure  from 
the  Indian  port  being  regulated  so  as  to  enable  them  to 
intercept  the  English  mail-steamers  on  their  arrival  in 
Singapore,  where  they  received  on  board  their  owners' 
despatches,  with  which  they  proceeded  at  once  to 
Hongkong  before  the  mail-steamer  had  taken  in  her 
coal.  They  had  speed  enough  to  give  the  P.  and  O. 
steamer  two  days  on  the  run  of  1400  miles  ;  and  making 
the  land  in  daylight,  they  would  slip  into  one  of  the 
snug  bays  at  the  back  of  the  island  at  dusk  and  send 
their  private  mail-bag  to  the  merchant-prince  to  digest 
with  his  port,  and  either  lie  hidden  under  the  cliffs 
or  put  to  sea  again  for  a  day  or  two  with  perhaps  a 
number  of  impatient  passengers  on  board. 

The  rival  house  of  Dent  &  Co.  devoted  their  ener- 


OPIUM   CLIPPERS.  217 

gies  more  especially  to  the  China  coast.  Their  fast 
steamers  would  start  from  Hongkong  an  hour  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Indian  and  English  mail,  landing 
owners'  despatches  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yangtze, 
whence  they  were  run  across  country  to  Shanghai. 
To  gain  exclusive  possession  of  a  market  or  of  a 
budget  of  news  for  ever  so  brief  a  period  was  the  spur 
continuously  applied  to  owners,  officers,  and  men. 
How  the  public  regarded  these  operations  may  be 
inferred  from  a  note  in  Admiral  KeppeFs  diary  of 
1843:  "Anonymous  opium  -  clipper  arrived  from  Bom- 
bay with  only  owners'  despatches.     Beast." 

All  this  of  course  presupposed  a  common  ownership 
of  ship  and  cargo,  or  great  liberties,  if  not  risks,  taken 
with  the  property  of  other  people.  In  the  years  before 
the  war  this  common  management  of  ship  and  cargo 
was  a  simple  necessity,  for  opium  had  to  be  stored 
afloat  and  kept  ready  for  sailing  orders.  The  20,000 
chests  surrendered  in  1839  might  have  been  all  sent 
away  to  Manila  or  elsewhere  had  that  course  of  pro- 
cedure been  determined  on.  Captain  John  Thacker, 
examined  before  the  Parliamentary  Committee  of  1840, 
being  asked  what  he  would  have  done  in  case  the 
Chinese  had  ordered  away  the  opium,  answered,  "  I 
would  have  sent  mine  away  to  the  Malay  Islands,  to 
exchange  it  for  betel-nut  and  pepper.  ...  I  had  a 
ship  at  Canton  that  I  could  not  get  freighted  with  tea, 
and  I  intended  to  send  her  away  with  the  opium."  A 
kind  of  solidarity  between  ship  and  cargo  was  thus  an 
essential  of  the  trade  at  that  time,  and  what  originated 
in  necessity  was  continued  as  a  habit  for  many  years 
after  its  economical  justification  had  ceased. 

The  ambition  of  owning  or  controlling  ships  became 


218  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

a  feature-  of  the  China  trade,  the  smaller  houses  emu- 
lating the  greater.  It  seemed  as  if  the  repute  of 
a  merchant  lacked  something  of  completeness  until 
he  had  got  one  or  more  ships  under  his  orders,  and 
the  first  use  the  possession  was  put  to  was  usually 
the  attempt  to  enforce  against  all  comers  a  quasi- 
monopoly  either  in  merchandise  or  in  news.  To  be 
able  to  despatch  a  vessel  on  some  special  mission,  like 
Captain  Thacker,  had  a  fascination  for  the  more  enter- 
prising of  the  merchants,  which  may  perhaps  be  re- 
ferred back  to  the  circumstance  that  they  were  men 
still  in  the  prime  of  life. 

The  passion  was  kept  alive  by  the  inducements 
offered  by  a  series  of  events  which  crowded  on  each 
other  between  the  years  1858  and  1861.  Before  that 
time  the  spread  of  rebellion,  the  prevalence  of  piracy, 
and  the  general  state  of  unrest  and  distrust  which  pre- 
vailed among  the  Chinese  commercial  classes,  threw 
them  on  the  protection  of  foreign  flags,  and  the  de- 
mand for  handy  coasting  craft  was  generously  re- 
sponded to  by  all  maritime  nations,  but  chiefly  by 
the  shipowners  of  Northern  Europe.  Such  a  mosquito 
fleet  was  perhaps  never  before  seen  as  that  which  flew 
the  flags  of  the  Hanse  Towns  and  of  Scandinavia  on 
the  China  coast  between  1850  and  1860;  and  many  a 
frugal  family  on  the  Elbe,  the  Weser,  and  the  Baltic 
lived  and  throve  out  of  the  earnings  of  these  admirably 
managed  and  well-equipped  vessels.  The  vessels  were 
mostly  run  on  time-charters,  which  were  exceedingly 
remunerative  ;  for  the  standard  of  hire  was  adopted 
from  a  period  of  English  extravagance,  while  the  ships 
were  run  on  a  scale  of  economy — and  efliciency — 
scarcely  then  dreamed  of  in  England.     A  schooner  of 


RECONNOITRING   EXPEDITIONS.  219 

150  tons  register  earning  $1500  per  month,  which  was 
a  not  uncommon  rate,  must  have  paid  for  herself  in  a 
year,  for  the  dollar  was  then  worth  5s.  Yet  the 
Chinese  also  made  so  much  money  by  subletting  their 
chartered  tonnage  that  foreigners  were  tempted  into 
the  same  business,  without  the  same  knowledge  or 
assurance  of  loyal  co-operation  at  the  various  ports 
traded  with. 

The  habit  of  handling  ships  in  this  way,  whether 
profitably  or  not,  had  the  effect  of  facilitating  the 
despatch  of  reconnoitring  expeditions  when  openings 
occurred,  and  they  did  occur  on  a  considerable  scale 
within  the  period  above  mentioned.  The  year  1858 
was  an  epoch  in  itself  It  was  the  year  of  the  treaty 
of  Tientsin,  which  threw  open  three  additional  trading- 
ports  on  the  coast,  three  within  the  Gulf  of  Pechili,  and 
three  on  the  Yangtze.  Of  the  three  northern  ports, 
excepting  Tientsin,  very  little  was  known  to  the 
mercantile  community,  and  the  selection  of  Teng-chow 
and  Newchwang  by  the  British  plenipotentiary  shows 
what  a  change  has  in  the  interval  come  over  the 
relative  intelligence  of  the  Government  and  the 
merchants ;  for  in  those  days,  it  would  appear,  the 
Government  was  as  far  in  advance  of  the  merchants  in 
information  about  China  as  the  merchants  of  a  later 
period  have  been  in  advance  of  the  Government. 
These  unknown,  almost  unheard-of,  ports  excited  much 
interest  during  the  year  that  elapsed  between  the 
signing  of  the  treaty  and  its  ratification.  Information 
about  them  from  Chinese  sources  was  therefore  diligently 
sought  after. 

Within  a  couple  of  miles  of  the  foreign  settlement  of 
Shanghai — and  it  was  the  same  thing  in  the  Ningpo 


220  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

river  —  compact   tiers    of   large    sea -going  junks    lay- 
moored  head  and  stern,  side  to  side,  forming  a  con- 
tinuous platform,  so  that  one  could  walk  across  their 
decks  out  into  the  middle  of  the  river.     Their  masts, 
without  yards  or  rigging,  loomed  like  a  dense  thicket 
on  the  horizon.     Of  their  numbers  some  idea  may  be 
formed  when  we  remember  that   1400  of  them  were 
found  loaded  at  one  time  in  1848  with  tribute  rice.     Of 
this  enormous  fleet  of  ships  and  their  trade  the  foreign 
mercantile   community    of   Shanghai   was   content    to 
remain  in  virtual  ignorance.     They  traded  to  the  north, 
and   were   vaguely  spoken   of  as   "Shantung  junks" 
—  Shantung   then  standing   for   everything  that  was 
unknown   north    of  the    thirty  -  second  parallel.     The 
map  of  China  conveyed  about  as  much  to  the  mercantile 
communities  on  the  coast  in  those  days  as  it  did  to  the 
British  public  generally  before  the  discussions  of  1898. 
These  junks  carried  large  quantities  of  foreign  manu- 
factured goods  and  opium  to  the  unknown  regions  at 
the  back  of  the  north  wind,  of  which  some  of  the  doors 
were  now  being  opened.     How  was  one  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  opening,  and  be  first  in  the  field?     Time 
must  be  taken  by  the  forelock,  and  a  certain  amount  of 
commercial  exploration  entered  into  in  order  to  obtain 
data  on  which  to  base  ulterior  operations.     Accordingly 
in  the  spring  of  1859,  a  few  months  before  the  period 
fixed  for  the  exchange  of  ratifications  of  the  treaty, 
several   mercantile   firms    equipped,    with    the   utmost 
secrecy,   trading   expeditions   to  the    Gulf  of  Pechili. 
Their  first  object  was  to  discover  what  seaport  would 
serve  as  the  entrepot  of  Tengchow,  since  that  city, 
though  near  enough  to  salt  water  to  have  been  bom- 
barded   for    a   frolic  by   the   Japanese   navy  in    1894, 


CRUISE   IX   GULF   OF   PECHILI.  221 

possessed  no  anchorage.  The  several  sets  of  argo- 
nauts, among  whom  was  the  writer  of  this  book, 
seeking  for  such  an  anchorage,  found  themselves,  in  the 
month  of  April,  all  together  in  the  harbour  of  Yentai, 
which  they  misnamed  Chefoo,  a  name  that  has  become 
stereotyped.  Obviously,  then,  that  would  be  the  new 
port,  especially  as  the  bay  and  the  town  showed  all  the 
signs  of  a  considerable  existing  traffic.  It  was  full 
forty  miles  from  Tengchow,  but  there  was  no  nearer 
anchorage.  The  foreign  visitors  began  at  once  to 
cultivate  relations  with  the  native  merchants,  tenta- 
tively, like  Nicodemus,  making  their  real  business  by 
night,  while  the  magnificent  daylight  was  employed  in 
various  local  explorations.  These  were  full  of  fresh 
interest,  the  Shantung  coast  being  the  antithesis  of  the 
Yangtze  delta  ;  for  there  were  found  donkeys  instead  of 
boats,  stony  roads  instead  of  canals,  bare  and  barren 
mountains  instead  of  soft  green  paddy-  or  cotton-fields, 
stone  buildings,  and  a  blue  air  that  sparkled  like 
champagne. 

Our  own  particular  movable  base  of  operations  was 
one  smart  English  schooner,  loaded  with  mixed  mer- 
chandise, and  commanded  by  a  sea  -  dog  who  left  a 
trail  of  vernacular  in  his  wake.  Soon,  however,  we 
were  able  to  transfer  our  flag  to  a  commodious  house- 
boat, of  a  hybrid  type  suited  to  the  sheltered  and 
shallow  waters  of  the  Lower  Yangtze,  but  not,  strictly 
speaking,  seaworthy.  Next,  a  Hamburg  barque  came 
and  acted  as  store-ship,  releasing  the  English  schooner 
for  more  active  service.  The  master  of  that  craft  was 
also  a  character,  full  of  intelligence,  but  rough,  and  the 
trail  of  tobacco  juice  was  over  all,  with  strange  pungent 
odours  in  the  cuddy. 


222  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

Having  thus  inserted  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge, 
pegged  out  mentally  the  site  of  the  future  settlement, 
and  trifles  of  that  sort,  the  pioneers  of  commerce  waited 
for  the  official  announcement  of  the  port  being  opened. 
Meantime  there  was  the  unknown  Newchwang  to  be 
discovered,  at  the  extreme  north-east  corner  of  the 
Gulf  of  Liaotung,  and  for  this  purpose  the  boat  afore- 
said presented  a  very  tempting  facility.  The  trip  was 
accomplished,  not  without  anxiety  and  detention  on 
the  way  by  stress  of  weather,  and  the  British  flag  was 
shown  in  the  Liao  river,  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge, 
for  the  first  time  in  May  1859.  Many  other  ports  and 
harbours  in  the  gulf  were  visited  during  the  summer 
and  autumn.  Weihai-wei  became  very  familiar,  not  as 
a  place  of  trade,  which  it  never  was,  but  as  a  convenient 
anchorage  better  sheltered  than  Chefoo.  How  blind 
were  the  pioneers  to  the  destinies  of  these  gulf  ports 
and  the  gulf  itself !  How  little  did  they  dream  of  the 
scenes  that  peaceful  harbour  was  to  witness,  the 
fortifications  which  were  to  follow,  the  Chinese  navy 
making  its  last  desperate  stand  there  like  rats  caught 
in  a  trap ;  and  finally,  the  British  flag  flying  over  the 
heights  ! 

The  treaty  of  course  was  not  ratified,  though  the 
news  of  the  repulse  of  the  British  plenipotentiary  at 
Taku  only  reached  the  pioneers  in  the  form  of 
tenebrous  Chinese  rumours  with  an  ominous  thread  of 
consistency  running  through  their  various  contradic- 
tions. The  most  conclusive  evidence,  however,  of  the 
turn  affairs  had  taken  was  the  interference  of  the 
officials  with  the  native  merchants  and  people  at 
Chefoo,  whom  they  forbade  intercourse  with  the 
foreigners,   and   made  responsible  for  the  presence  of 


NEW    PORTS    ON   THE   YANGTZE.  223 

the  foreign  ships.  The  ships,  therefore,  had  to  move 
out  of  sight,  and  it  was  in  this  predicament  that 
the  harbour  of  Weihai  -  wei  offered  such  a  welcome 
refuge. 

To  put  an  end  to  the  intolerable  suspense  in  Chefoo 
the  Hamburger  .was  got  under  weigh  and  sailed  to  the 
westward.  On  approaching  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho 
the  situation  at  once  revealed  itself :  not  one  English 
ship  visible,  but  the  Russian  despatch-boat  America, 
and  one  United  States  ship,  with  which  news  was 
exchanged,  and  from  which  the  details  of  the  Taku 
disaster  were  ascertained.  This  news,  of  course, 
knocked  all  the  commercial  adventures  which  had  been 
set  on  foot  in  the  gulf  into  "  pie."  Nothing  remained 
but  to  wind  them  up  with  as  little  sacrifice  as  possible, 
— a  process  which  was  not  completed  till  towards 
Christmas. 

The  three  ports  to  be  opened  on  the  Yangtze 
stood  on  quite  a  different  footing.  They  had  not  been 
named,  and  their  opening  was  somewhat  contingent  on 
the  position  of  the  hostile  forces  then  occupying  the 
river-banks.  The  navigation,  moreover,  was  absolutely 
unknown  above  Nanking,  and  it  was  left  to  Captain 
Sherard  Osborn  to  explore  the  channel  and  to  Lord 
Elgin  to  make  a  political  reconnaissance  at  the  same 
time  in  H.M.S.  Furious,  of  which  cruise  Laurence 
Oliphant  has  left  us  such  a  delightful  description.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  1861  that  the  great  river  was 
formally  opened  by  Admiral  Sir  James  Hope.  Trade 
then  at  once  burst  upon  the  desolate  scene  like  the 
blossoms  of  spring.  On  the  admiral's  voyage  up  to 
Hankow,  on  the  600  miles  of  stream  scarcely  a  rag  of 
sail  was  to  be  seen.     Within  three  months  the  surface 


224  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

of  the  river  was  alive  with  Chinese  craft  of  all  sorts 
and  sizes.  The  interior  of  China  had  for  years  been 
dammed  up  like  a  reservoir  by  the  Taipings,  so  that 
when  once  tapped  the  stream  of  commerce  gushed  out, 
much  beyond  the  capacity  of  any  existing  transport. 
The  demand  for  steamers  was  therefore  sudden,  and 
everything  that  was  able  to  burn  coal  was  enlisted  in 
the  service.  The  freight  on  light  goods  from  Hankow 
to  Shanghai  commenced  at  20  taels,  or  £6,  per  ton  for 
a  voyage  of  three  days.  The  pioneer  inland  steamer 
was  the  Fire  Dart,  which  had  been  built  to  the  order 
of  an  American  house  for  service  in  the  Canton  river. 
She  was  soon  followed  by  others  built  expressly  for  the 
Yangtze,  and  before  long  regular  trade  was  carried  on. 
Again  the  tradition  asserted  itself  of  every  mercantile 
house  owning  its  own  river  steamer,  some  more  than 
one.  Steamers  proved  a  mine  of  wealth  for  a  certain 
time.  Merchants  were  thereby  enticed  into  a  technical 
business  for  which  they  had  neither  training  nor 
aptitude,  and  the  natural  consequences  were  not  very 
long  delayed. 

While  on  the  subject  of  river  steamers,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  recall  that  in  the  beginning  English  merchants 
sent  their  orders  for  the  Yangtze  to  the  United  States. 
The  vessels  were  light,  roomy,  and  luxurious,  admir- 
ably adapted  to  their  work.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  however,  the  tables  were  turned,  and  the  Ameri- 
cans themselves  came  to  the  Clyde  builders  with  their 
specifications,  and  had  their  river  steamers  built  of 
iron.  Many  economies  and  great  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  construction  and  management  of 
these  vessels  since  1861,  but  we  need  not  pursue  the 
matter  into  further  detail  here. 


THE   OPENING   OF   JAPAN.  225 

The  opening  of  the  Yangtze  made  a  revolution  in 
the  tea  trade,  for  the  product  of  Central  China,  which 
formerly  was  carried  on  men's  backs  over  the  Meiling 
Pass  to  Canton,  could  now  be  brought  by  water  cheaply 
and  quickly  to  Hankow,  which  in  the  very  year  of  its 
opening  became  a  subsidiary  shipping  port — subsidiary, 
that  is,  to  Shanghai,  where  the  ocean  voyage  began. 
Before  long,  however,  this  great  central  mart  became 
an  entrepot  for  ocean  traffic.  To  the  steamer  Scotland, 
owned  by  Messrs  W.  S.  Lindsay  &  Co.  and  commanded 
by  Captain  A.  D.  Dundas,  R.N.,  belongs  the  honour 
of  being  the  first  ocean  steamer  to  ascend  the  river 
to  Hankow,  and  thereby  opening  the  interior  of 
China  to  direct  trade  with  foreign  countries.  And 
within  two  years  a  sailing  vessel  was  towed  up  the 
river  and  loaded  a  cargo  of  the  new  season's  tea  for 
London. 

But  the  most  interesting  item  in  the  budget  of  that 
annus  mirahilis  1858  was  the  opening  of  Japan  to 
foreign  intercourse.  To  contemporaries  it  was  the  dis- 
covery of  a  new  world  of  activity,  intelligence,  beauty 
— an  elaborate  civilisation  built  on  strange  foundations. 
Could  the  veil  of  the  future  have  been  withdrawn  for 
the  men  of  that  day,  how  their  imaginations  would 
have  been  staggered  before  the  unrolling  of  an  epic 
transcending  in  human  interest  all  the  creations  of 
fiction !  But  before  all  things  there  was  trade  to  be 
done  with  awakening  Japan,  nobody  knew  what  or 
how ;  while  the  seductive  novelties  of  the  life,  the  art, 
the  scenery,  and  the  laws  contested  the  supremacy  of 
the  claims  of  mundane  commerce.  Here  was  an  ideal 
opening  for  the  commercial  pioneer.  What  kind  of 
merchandise  would  the  Japanese  buy,  and  what  had 

VOL.   I.  p 


226  SHIPPING.  [chap.  xii. 

they  to  sell,  were  naturally  the  first  objects  of  inquiry. 
For  this  purpose  ships  with  trial  cargoes  had  to  be 
sent  hither  and  thither  to  explore,  and  there  was  work 
here  for  the  kind  of  handy  craft  that  had  had  such  a 
run  on  the  China  coast.  By  their  means  was  the 
foreign  trade  of  the  Japanese  ports  opened  to  the 
world.  The  clipper  ship  Mirage,  laden  with  Manchester 
goods  in  which  the  late  Sir  John  Pender  was  inter- 
ested,^ lay  several  days  in  Shanghai  waiting  orders  to 
proceed  on  an  experimental  trip  to  Japan  as  early  as 
1858,  but  the  owners  wisely  concluded  that  the  venture 
would  be  premature. 

So  far  we  have  dealt  only  with  what  may  be  consid- 
ered as  the  outriders  of  the  host,  and  the  subject 
would  be  very  incomplete  without  giving  some  account 
of  the  main  body,  the  common  carriers  of  the  inter- 
national trade,  filling  by  far  the  most  important  place  in 
the  economical  system  of  the  countries  of  their  origin. 
While  endeavouring  to  confine  our  attention  as  much 
as  possible  within  the  limits  of  the  field  embraced 
by  the  China,  developing  later  into  the  Far  Eastern, 
trade,  the  progress  of  the  merchant  shipping  employed 
therein  cannot  be  fully  understood  except  from  a  stand- 
point more  cosmopolitan.  For  the  history  of  the  East- 
ern shipping  is  intimately  bound  up  with  events  which 
were  taking  place  in  other  and  widely-separated  quar- 
ters of  the  globe  in  the  middle  of  this  century.  With- 
in the  space  of  three  to  four  years  events  happened  of 
a  world-moving  character,  forming  the  basis  of  the 
commercial  revolution  that  has  set  its  mark  on  the 
second  half  of  the  century.  The  catholicity  of  com- 
merce and  its  unfailing  inventiveness  in  supplying 
human  wants  were  wonderfully  illustrated  at  this  time. 


GOLD   DISCOVERIES.  227 

Events  so  different  in  their  nature  as  the  potato  blight 
in  one  hemisphere,  the  production  of  gold  in  another, 
and  the  abrogation  of  the  Navigation  Laws  in  England, 
combined  within  these  few  years  to  revolutionise  the 
world's  shipping  trade. 

In  the  year  1847  the  world  was  first  startled  by  the 
definitive  announcement  of  gold  discoveries  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  four  years  later  a  similar  phenomenon 
appeared  in  Australia.  Coincidently  with  these  events 
the  first  Universal  Exhibition  of  the  industries  of  all 
nations  was  held  in  Hyde  Park,  and  whatever  we 
may  think  of  the  relative  influence  of  that  and  of 
the  gold  discoveries,  there  can  be  but  one  opinion 
as  to  the  splendid  advertisement  which  the  Expo- 
sition lent  to  the  golden  promise  of  the  Antipodes 
and  the  East  Pacific.  Thenceforth  the  whole  world, 
industrial,  commercial,  and  financial,  beat  with  one 
pulse,  a  fact  which  has  received  constantly  accumulat- 
ing illustrations  until  the  present  day.  It  was  as  if 
the  sectional  divisions  of  the  globe  had  been  united  in 
one  great  pool,  forced  to  maintain  a  common  level, 
subject  only  to  disturbances  of  the  nature  of  rising  and 
falling  waves.  The  new  supplies  of  gold,  by  making 
money  plentiful,  inflated  the  price  of  all  commodities 
and  stimulated  production  in  every  department  of 
agriculture  and  manufacture  ;  but  the  time-worn  yet 
ever  -  new  passion  for  wealth,  disseminated  afresh 
throughout  the  civilised  world,  probably  acted  more 
powerfully  on  the  material  progress  of  mankind  than 
the  actual  possession  of  the  new  riches.  The  rapid 
peopling  of  desert  places  created  a  demand  for  the 
necessaries  of  life — food,  clothing,  housing,  tools,  and 
appliances  of  every  description.     In  a  word,  the  tide 


228  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

of  humanity,  rushing  to  America  for  food  and  to  the 
goldfields  for  the  means  of  buying  it,  made  such  calls 
on  the  carrying  powers  of  the  world  as  could  not  be 
satisfied  without  a  stupendous  effort. 

Of  all  nations  the  most  responsive  to  the  stimulus 
was  beyond  doubt  the  United  States :  it  was  there 
that  shipbuilding  had  been  making  the  most  gigantic 
advances.  The  total  tonnage  afloat  under  the  Ameri- 
can flag  bade  fair  at  one  time  to  rival  that  of  Great 
Britain.  The  attention  of  the  American  shipping  in- 
terest had  been  particularly  directed  towards  China, 
where  excellent  employment  rewarded  the  enterprise, 
not  only  in  the  ocean  voyage  out  and  home,  but  also 
in  the  coasting  trade,  which  included  the  portable  and 
very  paying  item  of  opium.  English  merchants  and 
shipowners  did  not,  of  course,  resign  their  share  in  the 
China  trade  without  a  struggle ;  but  they  were  fight- 
ing on  the  defensive,  and  under  the  disadvantages 
incidental  to  that  condition  of  warfare.  Every  im- 
provement they  introduced  in  the  efficiency  of  their 
ships  in  order  to  cope  with  the  advances  of  their  rivals 
was  promptly  followed  by  a  counter-move  which  gave 
the  wide  -  awake  Americans  again  the  lead.  About 
1845  an  important  step  forward  was  taken  in  the 
despatch  of  a  new  type  of  vessel  from  the  United 
States  to  China  which  surpassed  in  speed  the  newest 
and  best  English  ships.  The  British  reply  to  this  was 
the  building  of  clippers,  initiated  in  1846  by  Messrs 
Hall  of  Aberdeen.  The  first  of  these,  a  small  vessel, 
having  proved  successful  in  competing  for  the  coast- 
ing trade  of  China,  larger  ships  of  the  clipper  type 
were  constructed,  and  so  the  seesaw  went  on. 

Then  emigration  to  the  United  States,  chiefly  from 


AMERICAN   CLIPPERS.  229 

Ireland,  made  demands  on  the  available  tonnage  which 
was  indifferently  met  by  vessels  unfit  for  the  work, 
and  the  American  builders  were  not  slow  to  see  the 
advantage  of  placing  a  superior  class  of  vessel  on  this 
important  Atlantic  service. 

Following  close  on  this  salutary  competition — East 
and  West — came  one  of  the  epoch-making  events  just 
alluded  to,  the  gold-mining  in  California,  which  more 
decisively  than  ever  threw  the  advantage  in  the  ship- 
ping contest  on  the  side  of  the  United  States.  The 
ocean  was  the  true  route  to  California  for  emigrants 
and  material ;  but  the  voyage  was  long,  and  impatience 
of  intervening  space  being  the  ruling  temper  of  gold- 
seekers,  the  shortening  of  the  time  of  transit  became 
a  crying  want  for  the  living  cargoes,  and  scarcely  less 
for  the  perishable  provisions  which  the  new  ships  were 
designed  to  carry.  Speed,  comfort,  and  capacity  had 
therefore  to  be  combined  in  a  way  which  had  never 
before  been  attempted.  The  result  was  the  historical 
American  clipper  of  the  middle  of  the  century,  beauti- 
ful to  look  on  with  her  cloud  of  white  cotton  canvas, 
covering  every  ocean  highway.  These  were  vessels  of 
large  capacity,  carrying  one  -  half  more  dead  -  weight 
than  their  registered  tonnage ;  ^  built  and  rigged  like 
yachts,  and  attaining  a  speed  never  before  reached  on 
the  high  seas.  The  pioneer  of  this  fine  fleet  made  the 
voyage  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  a  '*  coasting 
voyage"  from  which  foreign  flags  were  excluded,  and 
returned  direct  in  ballast,  the  owners  realising  a 
handsome  profit  on  the  outward  passage  alone.  The 
Americans  not  only  had  the  Californian  trade  practi- 

^  The  modern  ship  carries  70  to  75  per  cent  of  dead-weight  over  her 
registered  tonnage,  and  of  weight  and  measurement  combined  about  double. 


230  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

cally  in  their  own  hands,  but  were  prompt  to  turn 
the  advantage  which  that  gave  them  to  profitable 
account  in  the  competition  for  the  trade  of  China. 
The  ships,  when  empty,  sailed  across  the  Pacific,  load- 
ing, at  Canton  or  Shanghai,  tea  and  other  produce  for 
London  or  New  York,  the  three  -  cornered  voyage 
occupying  little  more  time  than  the  direct  route  to 
China  and  back  to  which  English  ships  were  then  con- 
fined. As  the  American  clippers  earned  on  the  round 
about  a  third  more  freight  than  English  ships  could 
obtain  on  their  out-and-home  voyage,  competition  bore 
very  hard  on  the  latter.  Larger  and  finer  ships  were 
constantly  being  added  to  the  American  fleet  until 
they  almost  monopolised  the  trade  not  only  between 
New  York  and  San  Francisco,  but  also  between  China 
and  Great  Britain.  British  shipping  was,  in  fact, 
reduced  to  the  greatest  depression,  the  falling  off  in 
the  supply  of  new  tonnage  being  almost  commen- 
surate with  the  increase  of  that  of  the  United  States. 
A  phenomenal  advance  was  recorded  also  in  the  entries 
of  foreign  ships  into  British  ports  to  the  displacement 
of  British-owned  tonnage. 

It  was  at  this  most  critical  juncture  that  the  heroic 
remedy  of  repeal  of  the  Navigation  Laws  in  1850  con- 
signed British  shipowners  to  absolute  despair ;  for  if 
they  could  not  hold  their  own  while  protected  by  these 
laws,  how  were  they  to  survive  the  removal  of  the 
last  barrier  from  the  competition  of  the  whole  world  ? 
But  the  darkest  hour  was,  as  often  happens,  that 
before  the  dawn.  The  withdrawal  of  protective  legis- 
lation proved  the  turning-point  in  the  fortunes  of  the 
British  shipowner.  .  In  part  it  was  an  efficient  cause, 
inasmuch  as  it  threw  the  shipowner  entirely  on   his 


BRITISH   COMPETITION.  231 

own  resources  for  his  existence.  He  had  to  look  to 
improvements  in  the  efficiency  and  economy  of  his 
ships,  for  which  it  must  be  admitted  there  was  con- 
siderable room.  There  were  many  conservative  pre- 
judices to  be  got  rid  of — that  one,  for  example,  which 
held  it  dangerous  to  have  less  than  one  foot  in  breadth 
to  four  in  length,  the  adherence  to  which  rendered 
British  ships  oval  tubs  compared  with  the  American, 
which  had  for  many  years  been  proving  the  superiority 
of  five  and  even  six  to  one.  The  English  axiom,  which 
had  so  long  resisted  plain  reason,  had  at  last  to  yield 
to  necessity.  And  so  with  many  other  antiquated 
conditions,  including  the  quality  and  qualifications  of 
masters,  officers,  and  seamen. 

The  exertions  made  in  Great  Britain  to  improve 
merchant  shipping  were  at  once  stimulated  and  im- 
measurably assisted  by  the  gold  discoveries  in  Aus- 
tralia, an  island  in  the  South  Pacific  more  absolutely 
dependent  on  sea  communication  than  San  Francisco 
on  the  American  continent  had  been.  It  was,  more- 
over, in  British  territory,  where  no  exclusive  privi- 
leges could  be  enjoyed,  and  where  competition  was 
entirely  unfettered.  Of  course  the  clipper  fleet  of 
the  United  States  was  prepared  to  do  for  Australia 
what  it  had  done  so  well  for  California ;  but  the 
prospect  of  the  carrying  trade  between  Great  Britain 
and  her  colonies  falling  into  alien  hands  aroused 
the  spirit  of  the  English  to  make  a  supreme  effort 
to  at  least  hold  their  own,  if  not  to  recover  lost 
ground. 

The  seven  seas  soon  became  alive  with  rival  clipper 
ships  of  great  size  and  power,  and  the  newspapers 
chronicled  the  runs  they  made  to  Australia  and  Cali- 


232  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

fornia  in  days,  as  they  now  record  the  hours  con- 
sumed on  steamer  voyages  across  the  Atlantic. 
Ancient  barriers  seemed  to  be  submerged,  and  fusion 
of  the  ocean  traffic  of  the  world  into  one  great 
whole  opened  the  way  to  a  new  dispensation  in  the 
history  of  merchant  shipping.  Tonnage  was  tonnage 
all  the  world  over,  and  became  subject  to  the 
comprehensive  control  in  which  the  gold  and  silver 
produced  in  distant  countries  was  held  by  the  great 
financial  centres.  But  the  ocean  telegraph  was  not 
yet,  and  for  twenty  years  more  many  gaps  were 
left  in  the  system  of  ocean  communications,  whence 
resulted  seasons  of  plethora  alternating  with  scarcity 
in  particular  lines  of  traffic. 

There  was  probably  no  trade  in  which  the  over- 
flow of  the  new  output  of  tonnage  was  more  quickly 
felt  than  in  that  of  China.  It  became  a  common 
custom  for  vessels  of  moderate  size  which  had  carried 
goods  and  emigrants  to  Australia  and  California, 
whence  no  return  cargoes  were  at  that  period  to  be 
had,  to  proceed  to  India  or  China  in  ballast — 
"  seeking."  This  was  a  source  of  tonnage  supply 
which  the  merchants  resident  in  those  countries  had 
no  means  of  reckoning  upon,  though  such  a  far- 
reaching  calculation  might  not  be  beyond  the  powers 
of  a  clear  head  posted  at  one  of  the  foci  of  the 
commercial  world.  An  example  may  be  quoted  illus- 
trative of  the  local  tonnage  famine  which  occasionally 
prevailed  during  that  transition  period.  An  English 
ship  arrived  in  ballast  at  Hongkong  from  Sydney 
in  1854.  The  owner's  local  agent,  or  "consignee," 
recommended  the  captain  to  proceed  at  once  north 
to   Shanghai,  where,  according   to  latest   advices,   he 


TONNAGE   FAMINE.  233 

would  be  sure  to  obtain  a  lading  at  a  high  rate 
of  freight.  The  cautious  skipper  demurred  to  taking 
such  a  risk,  and  refused  to  move  unless  the  agent 
would  guarantee  him  £6,  10s.  per  ton  for  a  full 
cargo  for  London.  This  was  agreed.  The  ship 
reached  the  loading  port  at  a  moment  when  there 
was  no  tonnage  available  and  much  produce  waiting 
shipment,  and  she  was  immediately  filled  up  at  about 
£7  or  £8  per  ton.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  this  par- 
ticular vessel,  by  the  way,  to  carry  a  mail  from 
Hongkong  to  Shanghai,  the  P.  and  O.  Company's  ser- 
vice being  then  only  monthly,  and  no  other  steamer 
being  on  the  line.  It  was  just  after  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  with  Russia.  About  a  couple  of  days 
after  the  departure  of  the  Akbar — for  that  was  her 
name — when  it  was  considered  quite  safe  to  do  so, 
a  resident  American  merchant,  unable  to  contain  him- 
self, boasted  of  having  sent  by  this  English  vessel 
the  despatches  of  the  Russian  admiral  under  sealed 
cover  to  a  sure  hand  in  Shanghai.  The  recipient  of 
this  confidence,  like  a  good  patriot,  reported  the  cir- 
cumstance promptly  to  the  governor  of  the  colony, 
and  he  to  the  senior  naval  officer,  who  with  no  less 
promptitude  ordered  a  steam  sloop,  the  Rattler,  to 
proceed  in  chase  of  the  ship.  The  pursuit  Avas  suc- 
cessful ;  the  Russian  despatches  were  taken  out  and 
brought  back  to  Hongkong,  where  they  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  polyglot  governor.  Sir  John  Bowring. 

Another  incident  of  the  same  period  will  show 
how  it  w^as  possible  for  a  bold  operator  to  exploit 
the  tonnage  of  the  world  on  a  considerable  scale 
without  the  aid  of  the  telegraph,  or  even  of  rapid 
communication  by  letter.     One  such  operator  in  Lon- 


234  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

don,  reckoning  up  the  prospective  supply  and  de- 
mand of  tonnage  throughout  the  world,  foresaw  this 
very  scarcity  in  China  of  which  we  have  just  given 
an  illustration.  He  thereupon  proceeded  to  charter 
ships  under  various  flags  and  engaged  in  distant 
voyages  to  proceed  in  ballast  to  the  China  ports, 
there  to  load  cargoes  for  Europe.  The  wisdom  of 
the  operation  was  far  from  clear  to  the  charterer's 
agents  in  China  when  they  heard  of  ships  coming 
to  them  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  world  at  a 
time  when  freights  were  low,  with  but  little  pros- 
pect of  improvement,  so  far  as  they  could  see ;  but 
their  outlook  was  circumscribed.  Though  as  the  ships 
began  to  arrive  the  difiiculty  of  providing  profitable 
freightage  seemed  to  presage  the  ruin  of  the  ven- 
ture, yet  subsequent  arrivals  justified  the  prevision 
of  its  author  by  earning  for  him  highly  remunerative 
freights.  The  tide  had  really  risen  as  it  had  been  fore- 
seen ;  but  it  soon  receded,  and  before  the  last  charter 
had  been  fulfilled  the  time-factor,  which  is  fatal  to 
so  many  well-laid  schemes,  interposed,  and  probably 
caused  the  early  profits  to  be  swallowed  up  in  the 
final  losses. 

The  bulk  of  the  China  traffic,  however,  was  carried 
not  by  these  erratic  outsiders  but  by  the  regular  traders, 
which  loaded  in  London,  Liverpool,  or  New  York  with 
manufactured  goods,  coal,  and  metals,  and  returned 
from  China  with  tea,  silk,  and  other  produce.  It  must 
have  been  a  profitable  business,  for  the  average  freight 
homeward  in  the  'Forties  and  'Fifties  seems  to  have 
been  about  £5  per  ton ;  and  if  we  allow  even  one- 
third  of  that  for  the  outward  voyage,  it  would  give 
the    shipowner    somewhere    about   £7    for    the    round 


SILK   FREIGHTS.  235 

voyage,  which  was  accomplished  with  ease  within  the 
twelve  months.  It  must  be  remembered,  how^ever, 
that  the  expenses  of  running  were  proportionately 
high  on  the  small  vessels  which  were  then  in  the  trade. 
In  the  course  of  time,  when  speed  and  facilities  of 
despatch  at  home  and  abroad  had  been  further  im- 
proved, the  clippers  from  London  took  in  Australia 
in  the  outward  voyage  by  way  of  filling  up  the  time 
until  the  tea  crop  was  brought  to  market. 

"When  the  great  increase  in  the  export  of  silk  took 
place  a  special  rate  was  paid  on  it  to  favourite  ships  on 
account  of  its  high  value.  But  though  this  precious 
article  could  afford,  when  necessary,  extreme  rates  of 
freight,  its  total  bulk  was  too  small — about  one-tenth 
of  that  of  tea — to  affect  seriously  the  general  carrying 
trade  of  China.  A  certain  quantity  was  regularly 
shipped  by  the  "  overland  route  " — that  is,  by  P.  and 
O.  Company's  steamers  to  Suez,  and  thence  by  rail  to 
Alexandria,  to  be  there  reshipped  for  its  ultimate  des- 
tination, Marseilles  or  Southampton.  But  the  capacity 
of  the  steamers  was  so  small  that  only  a  pro  rata  allot- 
ment of  space  was  made  to  applicants,  and  the  freight 
charged  for  it  was  at  the  rate  of  £25  per  ton.  Under 
exceptional  conditions  one  sailing  ship  in  the  year  1856 
carried  a  silk  cargo  of  6000  bales,  valued  at  £750,000 
sterling,  which  was  said  to  be  the  largest  amount  ever 
ventured,  up  to  that  time,  in  any  merchant  vessel.  It 
was  so  unexpectedly  large  that  the  shippers  were  unable 
fully  to  cover  their  risk  by  insurance.  A  singular  fatality 
attended  the  outset  of  this  voyage,  showing  the  falli- 
bility of  human  judgment  even  under  the  most  favour- 
able circumstances.  The  commander  of  this  ship  had 
been  perhaps  the  most  successful  in  the  China  trade, 


236  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

and  it  was  the  extraordinary  confidence  that  was  placed 
in  his  judgment  that  induced  the  merchants  to  intrust  to 
his  care  merchandise  of  such  enormous  value.  Thouo:h 
much  impressed  with  the  sense  of  personal  responsi- 
bility for  its  safety,  he  was  yet  tempted  by  a  fine  starlit 
night  to  break  ground  from  the  anchorage  at  Shanghai 
and  drop  down  the  river  to  Wusung,  where  he  touched 
on  the  well-known  bar,  and  was  passed  by  the  outward- 
bound  mail-steamer  the  following  morning.  The  ship 
was  of  course  reported  "  on  shore,"  and  so  the  letters 
ordering  insurance  which  the  mail-steamer  carried  were 
rendered  useless.  The  master,  though  the  ship  had 
lain  but  a  few  hours  on  soft  mud,  dared  not  proceed  to 
sea  with  such  a  valuable  cargo  without  examining  the 
ship's  bottom.  To  do  this  he  had  to  be  towed  back  to 
Shanghai,  fourteen  miles  by  river,  discharge,  strip  off 
the  copper,  replace  it,  reload  the  cargo,  and  recommence 
the  voyage.  It  proved  much  the  longest  she  had  ever 
made,  and  there  was  great  anxiety  among  the  mer- 
chants, especially  among  those  of  them  who  were  only 
partially  insured.  But  as  fate  would  have  it,  while 
the  ship  was  on  the  high  seas  her  cargo  was  growing  in 
value,  the  silk  famine  in  Europe  having  in  the  mean 
time  clearly  declared  itself;  so  that  what  with  the  delay 
of  a  month  or  two  at  the  start  and  several  weeks  more 
on  the  passage,  a  time  was  gained  for  sufficient  profit  to 
accrue  on  the  silk  to  lay  the  foundation  of  several 
respectable  fortunes,  and  the  commander,  to  whose 
error  of  judgment  the  result  was  due,  was  received  in 
London  with  acclamation  and  with  substantial  gratu- 
ities from  some  of  the  fortunate  owners  of  his  cargo. 
The  lucky  craft  was  the  Challenger,  Captain  Killick, 
which  had  distinguished  herself  in  racing  against  the 


THE    CHALLENGER.  237 

American  clipper  Nightingale  in  1852  and  1863,  and 
was  the  first  sailing-vessel  to  load  tea  at  Hankow  in 
1863, — a  historic  ship. 

During  the  time  of  the  deepest  gloom  in  shipping 
circles,  consequent  on  the  repeal  of  the  Navigation 
Laws,  at  a  meeting  where  the  ruin  of  the  industry  was 
proclaimed  in  chorus  by  the  shipowners  present,  one 
man  had  the  courage  to  rise  up  and  stem  the  current  of 
depression.  ^'  The  British  shipowners  have  at  last  sat 
down  to  play  a  fair  and  open  game  with  the  Americans, 
and,  by  Jove !  we  will  trump  them,"  were  the  words  of 
Mr  Richard  Green,  the  eminent  shipbuilder  of  Black- 
wall,  as  quoted  by  Mr  W.  S.  Lindsay  in  his  '  History  of 
Merchant  Shipping.'  Mr  Lindsay  adds  that  Mr  Green 
was  as  good  as  his  word,  for  shortly  after  he  built,  to 
the  order  of  Mr  Hamilton  Lindsay,  a  China  merchant, 
the  ship  Challenger,  of  600  or  700  tons,  expressly  to 
match  the  American  Challenge,  more  than  double  her 
size,  and  thought  to  be  the  fastest  ship  then  afloat. 
Though  the  two  never  met,  the  performances  of  the 
English,  whether  for  speed  or  for  dry  carrying,  quite 
eclipsed  the  American  ship.  It  was  with  another  com- 
petitor that  the  pioneer  Blackwall  clipper  tried  con- 
clusions, and  the  circumstance  suggests  a  somewhat 
whimsical  association  of  the  evolution  of  the  China 
clipper  with  the  Great  Exhibition.  A  ship  of  exquisite 
model  and  finish  had  been  built  in  America  for  the 
purpose  of  conveying  visitors  to  that  great  gathering. 
She  was  put  into  the  China  trade,  for  which  by  her  size 
she  was  well  suited.  Whether  by  prearrangement  or 
not,  she  met  the  Challenger  in  1852  in  Shanghai,  where 
they  were  both  laden  with  tea  simultaneously.  Im- 
mense excitement  was  aroused,  which  took  the  usual 


238  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

form  of  heavy  wagers  between  the  respective  partisans 
on  the  issue  of  the  race  to  London.  It  was  a  close 
thing,  as  sportsmen  say,  the  British  ship  coming  in  two 
days  ahead  of  her  rival.  Dissatisfied,  as  the  owner  of 
a  yacht  or  of  a  racehorse  is  apt  to  be  with  his  defeat, 
certain  changes  were  made  by  the  owners  of  the  Night- 
ingale in  her  equipment  for  the  next  year  s  voyage. 
The  race  was  again  run  from  the  same  port,  on  the 
same  conditions — and  with  the  same  result,  only  still 
more  in  favour  of  the  English  ship. 

A  general  excitement  about  such  a  trivial  matter  as 
the  relative  speed  of  two  ships  was  only  to  be  accounted 
for  by  the  awakening  consciousness  of  the  significance 
of  the  English  shipping  revival  which  was  then  be- 
ginning. The  interest  extended  much  beyond  the  circle 
of  those  directly  concerned.  The  deck  of  a  mail 
steamer,  to  take  an  instance,  became  suddenly  animated 
as  the  signals  of  a  sailing-vessel  were  read  out.  Speak- 
ing a  ship  at  sea  was  no  such  unusual  occurrence,  but 
when  the  name  of  Challenger  was  passed  round,  pass- 
engers and  crew  rushed  to  the  side,  gazing  intently  on 
the  shapely  black  hull  and  white  sails  reflecting  the 
morning  sun.  She  was  in  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  on 
her  way  back  to  China  to  run  her  second  heat.  A 
young  man  among  the  passengers  betraying  ignorance 
of  the  cause  of  the  commotion  felt  as  small  as  if  unable 
to  name  the  last  Derby  winner.  The  world  at  that 
time  seemed  to  have  grown  young.  Imagination  was 
directed  to  a  dawn  gilded  with  promise  which  the 
sequel  has  surely  not  belied ! 

Thus  the  China  Sea  became  a  principal  battle-ground 
whereon  the  struggle  for  ascendancy  between  the  ships 
of  Great   Britain   and   the    United    States   was  most 


BRITISH   SHIPPING   REVIVAL.  239 

strenuously  fought  out.  It  was,  as  Mr  Green  said,  a 
fair  and  open  contest,  alike  creditable  to  both  sides, 
and  an  unmixed  benefit  to  the  world  at  large.  The 
energy  of  the  English  shipping  interest  was  thoroughly 
aroused,  and  the  shipowners  and  shipbuilders  of  Scot- 
land came  speedily  to  the  front.  In  a  few  years  after 
the  issue  was  joined  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain,  the  shipbuilders  of  the  latter  country 
found  a  potent  auxiliary  in  iron,  which  began  to  be 
used  for  sailing-ships.^  The  vessel  that  led  the  way  in 
this  innovation,  combining  great  speed  with  the  other 
conditions  of  success,  was  the  Lord  of  the  Isles,  Captain 
Maxton,  of  Greenock,  which  distinguished  herself  by 
beating  two  of  the  fastest  American  clippers  of  twice 
her  size  in  the  run  from  Foochow  to  London  in  1856. 
The  gradual  introduction  of  steam  on  long  voyages, 
which  followed  the  free  use  of  iron,  was  also  to  the 
advantage  of  the  British  competitors ;  and  thus  from 
a  combination  of  favouring  circumstances  and  dogged 
efforts  to  turn  them  to  account,  the  ascendancy  of 
British  shipping  was  finally  established. 

In  sketching  the  performances  of  these  vessels  we 
have  somewhat  anticipated  the  advent  of  that  famous 
fleet  of  tea  clippers  which  commanded  the  traflic  of  the 
Far  East  for  something  like  fifteen  years.  For  the 
beginnings  of  that  struggle  we  have  to  go  back  to  the 

*  The  American  and  British  clippers  were  originally  built  of  wood 
sheathed  with  metal.  After  that  came  trial  of  iron  ships  coated  with 
tallow,  but  finally  at  the  climax  of  the  sailing  clippers'  notable  races  they 
were  all  of  composite  construction — i.e.,  iron  frames  planked  with  wood 
and  sheathed  with  yellow  metal.  This  type  of  vessel  (now  out  of  date) 
was  the  essential  feature  of  the  fastest  sailing  China  clippers.  Thereupon 
followed  the  iron  and  steel  steamship  as  the  permanent  carrier,  and  the 
white-winged  argosies  were  no  more  ! 


240  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

year  1851,  when  the  Leith  clipper  Ganges  raced  two 
Americans,  the  Flying  Cloud  and  Bald  Eagle,  from 
China  to  London,  finishing  up  with  an  interesting 
tack -and -tack  contest  up  Channel  from  Weymouth, 
the  English  ship  passing  Dungeness  six  hours  ahead. 
At  that  period  the  odds  in  mere  numbers  were  so  over- 
whelming against  the  English  vessels  that  such  occa- 
sional victories  as  the  above  were  calculated  to  inspire 
the  builders  with  courage  to  persevere.  The  Aberdeen 
clippers,  Stornoway,  Chrysolite,  and  Cairngorm,  worthily 
followed  the  London-built  Challenger  in  disputing  the 
prize  of  speed  with  the  best  of  their  American  contem- 
poraries ;  and  after  the  race  of  1856,  won,  as  has 
been  mentioned,  by  the  iron  ship  Lord  of  the  Isles  of 
Greenock,  the  American  flag  was  practically  eliminated 
from  the  annual  contest.  Competition,  however,  by  no 
means  slackened  on  that  account,  but  rather  increased 
in  intensity.  Past  achievements  opened  the  eyes  of 
those  interested  to  the  possibilities  of  indefinite  im- 
provement in  the  build,  rig,  and  equipment  of  ships,  so 
that  the  idea  took  root  and  became  a  passion.  Each 
year  brought  forth  something  new,  giving  birth  in  the 
following  year  to  something  still  newer,  until  a  type  of 
ship  was  evolved  which  seemed  to  be  the  acme  of  design 
and  execution.  British  clippers  raced  against  each 
other  for  the  blue  ribbon  of  the  ocean  with  as  great 
zest  as  they  had  ever  done  when  other  flags  were  in  the 
field. 

The  competition  for  speed  received  a  great  stimulus 
from  the  opening  of  Foochow  as  a  regular  tea-shipping 
port  in  1856.  The  port  had  been  hindered  by  official 
restrictions  from  enjoying  its  natural  advantages  at  an 
earlier  period,  and  it  was  mainly  due  to  the  enterprise 


NEW  ERA  IN  THE  TEA  TRADE.         241 

of  the  leading  American  house  that  these  obstacles  were 
at  last  removed  and  the  produce  of  the  Bohea  hills 
diverted  to  its  proper  outlet.  The  event  marked  an 
epoch  in  the  tea  trade  ;  for  Foochow  being  so  much 
closer  to  the  plantations  than  the  other  two  ports,  it 
became  possible  to  put  on  board  there  the  first  growth 
of  the  season  with  a  prospect  of  landing  the  new  teas  in 
London  a  couple  of  months  earlier  than  the  trade  had 
been  accustomed  to.  It  may  be  mentioned  as  one  of 
the  curiosities  of  conservatism  that  this  very  circum- 
stance was  used  to  the  commercial  prejudice  of  ship- 
ments from  the  new  port.  It  was  revolutionising  the 
established  routine  of  the  trade,  would  interfere  with 
the  summer  holidays,  and  it  was  gravely  argued  that 
October  was  the  very  earliest  time  when  the  London 
buyers  could  be  induced  to  attend  to  the  tea-market. 
But  the  fragrance  of  the  new  tea  was  irresistible  in 
dispersing  such  cobwebs.  So  far  from  its  coming  too 
early  to  market,  the  best  shipbuilders  in  the  world 
were  soon  engaged  in  constructing  ships  that  would 
accelerate  the  arrival  of  the  new  tea  by  as  much  as 
a  couple  of  days.  And  so  hungry  was  the  trade  that 
special  arrangements  were  made  to  facilitate  the  brokers 
obtaining  samples  to  sell  by  before  the  vessel  passed 
Gravesend,  and  he  would  be  an  obscure  grocer  who  was 
not  able  to  display  in  his  shop  window  a  tea-chest 
bearing  the  name  of  the  clipper  on  the  day  following 
her  arrival  in  the  dock.  The  annual  tea-race  from 
Foochow  thus  became  one  of  the  events  of  the  year. 
Premiums  were  paid  to  the  winner,  and  sliding  scales 
of  freight  were  in  course  of  time  introduced,  graduated 
by  the  number  of  days  on  passage. 

No  better  proof  could  be  adduced  of  the  high  excel- 
VOL.    I.  Q 


242  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

lence  of  the  ships  as  well  as  of  the  good  seamanship 
of  their  commanders  than  the  exceeding  closeness  of  the 
running  on  that  long  ocean  voyage  of  twelve  thousand 
miles.  Several  times  it  happened  that  vessels  starting 
together  would  see  nothing  of  each  other  during  the 
hundred  days'  passage  until  the  fog  lifting  in  the  Downs 
would  reveal  them  close  together,  from  which  point  the 
winning  of  the  race  depended  on  the  pilot  or  the  tug. 
Of  the  great  race  of  1866  Mr  W.  S.  Lindsay,  from 
whose  valuable  work  on  Merchant  Shipping  we  have 
drawn  freely  for  these  details,  says  :  "  This  race  excited 
extraordinary  interest  among  all  persons  engaged  in 
maritime  affairs.  Five  ships  started — the  Ariel,  Tae- 
ping,  Serica,  Fiery  Cross,  and  Taitsing.  The  three  first 
left  Foochow  on  the  same  day,  but  lost  sight  of  each 
other  for  the  whole  voyage  until  they  reached  the 
English  Channel,  where  they  again  met,  arriving  in 
the  Thames  within  a  few  hours  of  each  other."  Very 
fast  passages  continued  to  be  made  after  that  time. 
The  Ariel  and  Spindrift  raced  in  1868,  and  the  Titania 
made  a  quick  run  in  1871  ;  but  Mr  Lindsay  awards 
the  palm  to  the  Sir  Lancelot  and  Thermopylae  as 
**  the  two  fastest  sailing-ships  that  ever  traversed  the 
ocean."  The  former  vessel,  886  tons  register,  made 
the  run  from  Foochow  to  London  in  ninety  days 
in  1868,  and  an  interesting  fact  is  recorded  by  the 
owners  of  that  fine  ship  bearing  on  the  propelling 
power  of  sails.  Many  experienced  navigators  had 
during  the  clipper-racing  entertained  misgivings  as  to 
the  value  of  the  excessive  amount  of  sail  and  the 
heavy  rig  which  were  deemed  necessary  to  the  equip- 
ment of  a  clipper.  The  ships,  they  said,  "  buried 
themselves  under  the  press  of  canvas."     Writing  seven 


THE   END    OF   THE    CHINA   CLIPPER.  243 

years  after  the  performance  just  mentioned,  the  owner 
of  the  Sir  Lancelot  said :  '*  After  the  mania  for 
China  clipper-sailing  I  had  8  feet  cut  off  from  all  the 
lower  masts,  and  reduced  the  masts  aloft  and  the 
yards  in  proportion.  Yet  with  that  (and  no  doubt 
a  proportionately  reduced  crew)  she  maintained  her 
speed  undiminished."  This  was  not  an  uncommon 
experience.^ 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  produce  of  China 
or  the  imports  into  the  country  were  all  carried  by 
clipper  ships.  Theirs  was  a  special  service  reserved 
for  the  most  valuable  produce  and  for  the  first  few 
weeks  of  the  season.  After  that  fitful  fever  the  trade 
of  the  year  settled  down  to  what  may  be  called  daily- 
bread  conditions,  when  ships  with  moderate  speed, 
large  capacity,  and  frugally  sailed,  made  steady  and 
substantial  profits  for  their  owners.  It  is  a  commonly 
accepted  maxim  that  the  race — for  profits,  at  all  events 
— is  not  always  to  the  swift.  It  was  a  saying  of  Mr 
Green,  whose  firm  owned  a  large  fleet  of  ships  in  the 
Australian  and  Indian  trade,  that  in  his  balance-sheet 
for  the  year  he  found  that  his  slow  ships  had  paid 
for  his  fast  ones.  Nor  did  this  economic  rule  lose  its 
validity  when  steam  came  to  supersede  sail. 

The  clippers  proper  had  not  had  a  clear  run  of 
fifteen  years  when  steamers  began  to  trespass  on 
their  preserves.     The  possibility  of  a  successful  steam 

*  Mr  James  MacCunn  of  Greenock  says  that  all  these  racing  clippers, 
which  were  practically  the  same  size,  carried  double  crews,  numbering 
about  thirty-three  all  told,  equal  to  that  of  a  2500-tons  merchantman  of 
to-day.  The  Sir  Lancelot,  besides  the  shingle  ballast  below  the  tea,  carried 
100  tons  titted  kentledge  in  the  limbers  stowed  between  skin  and  ceiling, 
whereby  great  "  stiffness  "  was  ensured — a  factor  of  much  value  in  beating 
down  the  China  Sea  against  the  monsoon,  and  at  other  times  in  "carrying 
on  "  under  a  heavy  press  of  canvas. 


244  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

voyage  round  the  Cape  began  to  be  proved  in  1864, 
and  was  demonstrated  in  1866,  when  Mr  Alfred  Holt 
of  Liverpool  first  established  his  "  blue-funnel "  line, 
beginning  with  the  Ajax,  Achilles,  and  Agamemnon. 
But  though  sailing  clippers  were  displaced,  the  sport- 
ing element  in  the  China  trade  was  not  extinguished. 
The  opening  of  the  Yangtze  revived  the  interest  in 
early  arrivals  of  tea  by  bringing  the  ** black  leafs"  of 
Hunan  and  Hupeh  to  the  sea  nearly  as  soon  as  the 
"  red  leafs,"  whose  outlet  was  Foochow.  The  produce 
of  the  central  provinces  up  till  1861  was  conveyed  by 
a  slow  and  expensive  route,  a  considerable  portion  of 
it  on  the  backs  of  porters,  to  Canton.  Hankow  when 
opened  became  at  once  the  entrepot  for  these  teas, 
and  sea-going  ships  began  to  load  their  cargoes  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  Chinese  empire.  For  some  years 
there  had  been  two  sets  of  races — one  from  Foochow 
and  one  from  Hankow — which  took  the  wind  out  of 
each  other's  sails,  and  the  sport  became  somewhat 
stale. 

It  was  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  in  1869,  and 
the  consequent  improvements  in  the  construction  of 
steamships,  that  gave  its  full  value  to  the  Yangtze 
as  a  trade  route.  For  then  ocean  steamers  loaded  at 
Hankow  with  all  the  advantages  of  the  short  route 
and  convenient  coaling-stations,  and  the  old  excitement 
of  the  Foochow  racing  was  revived  under  a  still  higher 
pressure.  Every  year  witnessed  some  new  design  for 
combining  the  maximum  cargo  and  coal  stowage  with 
the  maximum  speed,  so  that  new  tea,  which  but  a 
few  years  before  was  landed  in  November,  now  came 
to  market  early  in  July.  The  last  great  race  occurred 
in  1883  between  the  Glenogle  and  Stirling  Castle.     By 


SUEZ   CANAL   TRANSFORMS   EASTERN   SHIPPING.       245 

that  time  Indian  tea  was  rapidly  gaining  the  ascendant 
in  the  great  consuming  marts,  displacing  the  Chinese 
article,  which  could  no  longer  afford  the  prestige  of 
being  carried  by  steamers  built  and  run  regardless  of 
expense.  Thenceforth  all  Far  Eastern  produce  found 
an  everyday  level ;  merchandise  was  carried  to  and 
fro  by  regular  lines,  with  measured  intervals  of  sailing, 
all  the  year  round,  freights  were  fixed  by  common 
agreement,  and  the  trade  assumed  a  character  of  an 
omnibus  traffic  on  a  large  scale. 

The  Suez  Canal  produced  an  immense  lateral  exten- 
sion of  trade  with  China  by  bringing  the  Black  Sea, 
Mediterranean,  and  North  Sea  ports  into  direct  com- 
munication with  the  ports  of  the  Far  East.  The 
Russian  volunteer  fleet,  composed  of  very  large  and 
swift  steamers,  each  capable  of  conveying  2000  troops, 
carried  tea  direct  from  Hankow  to  Odessa.  Trade 
with  Marseilles  and  Genoa  was  developed  by  British 
and  German  enterprise  as  well  as  by  the  Messageries 
Maritimes  of  France.  Antwerp,  Bremen,  and  Ham- 
burg became  the  terminal  ports  for  important  lines 
of  steamers.  The  mercantile  navy  of  Japan  had  not 
risen  into  general  notice  during  the  earlier  time  with 
which  we  are  principally  concerned,  and  it  would  de- 
serve a  treatise  by  itself 

By  a  process  of  natural  selection  native  shipping  in 
China  and  Japan  has  been  extensively  superseded  by 
foreign,  and  an  immense  dislocation  of  capital  has  in 
consequence  taken  place.  The  effect  of  this  has  been 
severely  felt  on  the  China  coast,  especially  in  such 
large  shipping  ports  as  Taku,  Shanghai,  and  Ningpo, 
where  there  were  in  former  days  large  and  prosperous 


246  SHIPPING.  [chap.  XII. 

shipowning  communities.  The  disturbance  has  prob- 
ably been  much  less  marked  in  Japan,  owing  to  the 
greater  agility  of  the  people  in  adapting  themselves  to 
inevitable  changes.  Certain  it  is  that  in  both  countries 
there  is  still  a  large  junk  fleet  employed  in  the  coasting 
trade,  being  protected  against  foreign  as  well  as  steam 
competition  by  their  light  draught  and  their  privilege 
of  trading  at  ports  not  opened  to  foreign  trade. 

The  temptation  to  evade  the  prohibition  of  foreign 
flags  led  in  former  days  to  sundry  bizarre  effects  on  the 
coast  of  China.  The  natives,  finding  it  to  their*  advan- 
tage to  employ  foreign  vessels,  exercised  their  ingenuity 
in  making  them  look  like  Chinese  craft.  This  would  at 
first  sight  appear  no  easy  matter,  seeing  that  the 
Chinese  junks  carried  no  yards  and  their  hulls  were  of 
a  construction  as  different  from  that  of  a  modern  ship 
as  was  possible  for  two  things  to  be  which  were  in- 
tended for  the  same  purpose.  The  junks  possessed 
certain  qualities  conducive  to  buoyancy  and  safety, 
such  as  water-tight  bulkheads,  which  at  once  strength- 
ened the  hull  and  minimised  the  danger  of  sinking. 
But  their  sailing  properties,  except  with  the  wind 
**  free,"  were  beneath  contempt.  Their  weatherly  and 
seaworthy  qualities  commended  vessels  of  foreign  con- 
struction to  the  Chinese  traders,  while  the  talisman  of 
the  flag  was  deemed  by  them  a  protection  against 
pirates,  and  perhaps  also,  on  occasion,  against  official 
inquisition.  Probably  what  on  the  whole  the  native 
owner  or  charterer  would  have  preferred  was  that  his 
ship  should  pass  for  foreign  at  sea  and  for  native  in 
port.  To  this  end  in  some  cases  resort  was  had  to 
hermaphrodite  rigging,  and  very  generally  to  two 
projecting  boards,  one  on  each  side  of  the  figurehead. 


NATIVE   SHIPPING. 


247 


bearing  the  staring  Chinese  eye,  such  as  the  junks 
south  of  the  Yangtze  carry.  The  open  eye  on  the 
ship's  bow  was  to  enable  the  Chinese  port  officials  to 
close  theirs  to  the  unauthorised  presence  of  strangers, 
and  thus  everything  was  arranged  in  the  manner  so 
dear  to  the  Chinese  character. 

In  the  south  of  China  the  advantage  of  the  flag  was 
sought  without  the  foreign  appearance  of  the  vessel. 
The  foreign  flag  was  hoisted  on  native-built  small  craft, 
a  large  fleet  of  which  hailed  from  Macao  under  Portu- 
guese colours,  and  were  from  time  to  time  guilty  of 
great  irregularities  on  the  coast.  The  Chinese  of 
Hongkong,  British  subjects  born  and  bred,  registered 
their  vessels  and  received  colonial  sailing  letters,  renew- 
able at  frequent  intervals,  as  a  check  on  bad  behaviour. 
With  these  papers  short  trips  were  made  along  the 
south  coast,  and  a  local  trade  was  carried  on  in  the 
estuary  of  the  Canton  river.  These  vessels  of  about  100 
or  200  tons  burthen  were  called  "lorchas,''  of  which 
we  shall  hear  more  in  subsequent  chapters. 


248 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

THE     TRADERS. 
I.   FOREIGN. 

Their  relations  to  their  official  representatives — And  to  the  trading  in- 
terests of  their  own  countries — Their  unity — High  character — Liber- 
ality— Breadth  of  view. 

In  the  preceding  portions  of  this  narrative  it  has  been 
shown  how  much  the  character  of  the  principal  officials 
on  both  sides  influenced  the  progress  of  events.  There 
was,  however,  yet  another  factor  which  contributed  in 
a  lesser  degree  and  in  a  different  manner  to  the  general 
result  which  ought  not  to  be  entirely  omitted  from 
consideration,  and  that  was  the  personal  qualities  and 
traditional  characteristics  of  the  two  trading  communi- 
ties, foreign  and  Chinese.  It  was  they  who  created 
the  subject-matter  of  all  foreign  relations,  and  stood 
in  the  breach  in  all  the  struggles  between  foreign  and 
native  officials.  It  was  their  persons  and  their  fortunes 
which  were  ever  at  stake ;  it  was  they  who  first  felt 
the  shock  of  disturbance,  and  were  the  first  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  peace. 

The  relation  of  the  foreign  mercantile  community 
to  their  official  representatives  was  not  always  free 
from  friction,  because  the  same  high  authority  which  en- 


THEIR   RELATIONS   WITH    OFFICIALS.  249 

joined  on  the  officials  the  protection  of  the  persons  and 
the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  lay  community 
empowered  them  also  to  rule  over  these  their  proteges, 
and  to  apply  to  them  an  arbitrary  discipline  in  accord- 
ance with  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  exigencies  of 
the  time.  Duty  in  such  circumstances  must  often  have 
assumed  a  divided  aspect,  and  rules  of  action  must  fre- 
quently have  been  put  to  a  severe  strain ;  nor  is  it 
surprising  that,  owing  to  these  peculiar  relationships, 
the  resident  communities  should  not  have  been  able 
on  all  occasions  to  see  eye  to  eye  with  the  agents  of 
their  Governments. 

In  their  national  and  representative  character  the 
China  merchants  were  wont  at  different  crises  to  have 
moral  burdens  laid  on  them  which  did  not  properly  fit 
their  shoulders.  They  were  little  affected  by  the  shallow 
moralism  of  the  pulpit,  which,  taken  literally,  would 
have  counselled  general  liquidation  and  the  distribution 
of  the  proceeds  among  the  poor,  leaving  the  common 
creditor  out  of  account ;  but  official  sermons  also  were 
on  certain  occasions  preached  to,  or  at,  the  merchants, 
implying  some  obligation  on  their  part  to  sacrifice  indi- 
vidual advantage  to  the  greater  good  of  the  greater 
number.  Were  there  no  other  answer  to  such  altruistic 
monitions,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  plead  that  under 
such  theories  of  duty  commerce  could  not  exist,  and  its 
political  accessories  would  become  superfluous.  No 
road  to  commercial  prosperity  has  been  discovered 
which  could  dispense  with  the  prime  motive  for  the 
exertion  which  makes  for  progress — to  wit,  individual 
ambition,  cupidity,  or  by  whatever  term  we  choose  to 
designate  the  driving  power  of  the  complex  machine  of 
civilised  life.     Mammon  is,  after  all,  a  divinity  whose 


250  THE   TRADERS — FOREIGN.  [chap.  xiii. 

worship  is  as  universal  as  that  of  Eros,  and  is  scarcely- 
less  essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  race.  Nor  is  it 
by  collective,  but  by  strictly  individual,  offerings  that 
these  deities  are  propitiated,  and  the  high  purposes  of 
humanity  subserved.  It  is  no  reproach,  therefore,  to 
the  China  merchants  that  they  should  have  seized 
every  opportunity  for  gain,  totally  irrespective  of  the 
general  policy  of  their  country.  It  was  not  for  them 
to  construe  portents,  but  to  improve  the  shining  hour. 
And  if  it  should  at  any  time  happen  that  the  action 
of  private  persons,  impelled  by  the  passion  for  gain, 
embarrassed  a  diplomatist  in  his  efforts  to  bring  about 
some  grand  international  combination,  the  fault  was 
clearly  his  who  omitted  to  take  account  of  the  ruling 
factor  in  all  economic  problems.  The  trade  was  not 
made  for  Government  policy,  but  the  policy  for  the 
trade,  whose  life-blood  was  absolute  liberty  of  action 
and  a  free  course  for  individual  initiative.  The  success 
of  British  trade  as  a  whole  could  only  be  the  aggregate 
of  the  separate  successes  not  otherwise  attainable  than 
by  each  member  of  the  mercantile  fraternity  performing 
his  own  part  with  singleness  of  purpose.  Nothing 
certainly  could  ever  justify  any  trader  in  foregoing  a 
chance  of  gain  for  the  sake  of  an  ideal  benefit  to  the 
community,  even  if  it  were  likely  to  be  realised.  A 
distinction  must  be  drawn  between  the  tradesman  and 
the  statesman.  Though  their  functions  may  sometimes 
overlap,  their  respective  duties  to  the  State  are  of  a 
different  though  complementary  character. 

To  the  charge  which  from  time  to  time  has  been 
levelled  at  the  China  merchants,  that  they  were  too 
narrow  and  too  selfish,  it  may  be  plausibly  replied 
that,    on    the    contrary,    they   were    if   anything   too 


PUBLIC   SPIRIT   OF    THE   MERCHANTS.  251 

broad ;  for  their  individual  interests  were  not  so 
bound  up  with  general  progress  as  are  the  interests 
of  colonists  in  a  new  country,  where  co-operation  is 
essential.  Progress  meant,  to  the  China  merchants, 
the  admitting  of  the  flood  of  competition,  which  they 
were  in  no  condition  to  meet.  The  general  interests 
of  the  country  required  the  opening  of  new  markets ; 
in  a  lesser  degree  the  interests  of  the  manufacturing 
section  required  the  same  thing ;  but  the  interests  of 
the  merchants,  albeit  they  appeared  to  represent  their 
country  and  its  industries,  were  in  fact  opposed  to 
expansion.  Yet  so  strong  in  them  was  the  race  in- 
stinct for  progress  that  their  private  advantage  has 
oftentimes  actually  given  way  to  it,  so  that  we  have 
seen  throughout  the  developments  of  foreign  inter- 
course with  China  the  resident  merchants  placing 
themselves  in  the  van  in  helping  to  let  loose  the 
avalanche  which  overwhelmed  them  and  brought  fresh 
adventurers  to  occupy  the  ground. 

Nor  has  the  relation  of  the  merchants,  even  to  the 
operations  in  which  they  were  engaged,  been  always 
clearly  understood.  Although  they  personified  their 
national  trade  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  the  merchants 
were  never  anything  more  than  the  vehicles  for  its 
distribution,  having  no  interest  in  its  general  exten- 
sion, though  a  powerful  interest  in  the  increase  of 
their  individual  share.  The  productions  which  pro- 
vided the  livelihood  of  many  thousands  of  people  in 
China,  and  perhaps  of  a  still  larger  number  in  Great 
Britain  and  other  manufacturing  countries,  did  not 
concern  them.  A  percentage  by  way  of  toll  on  mer- 
chandise passing  through  their  warehouses  was  the 
limit   of  their   ambition.     A   clear   distinction   should 


252  THE   TRADERS — FOREIGN.  [chap.  xiii. 

therefore  be  drawn  between  the  merchant  and  the 
producer  or  manufacturer ;  on  which  point  some  obser- 
vations of  Wingrove  Cooke  ^  are  worth  quoting  : — 

"  The  calculations  of  the  merchants  do  not  extend 
beyond  their  own  business.  Why  should  they  ? 
Fortunately  for  himself,  the  merchant's  optics  are 
those  of  the  lynx  rather  than  those  of  the  eagle. 
An  extremely  far-sighted  commercial  man  must  always 
run  risks  of  bankruptcy,  for  the  most  absolutely 
certain  sequences  are  often  the  most  uncertain  in 
point  of  time."  The  same  writer,  however,  comments 
on  the  ignorance  and  narrowness  of  both  British 
traders  and  manufacturers,  and  their  failure  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunities  offered  to  them  of 
exploiting  the  trading  resources  of  the  Chinese. 
"  There  is  no  spirit  of  inquiry  abroad,"  he  says,  "  no 
energy  at  work,  no  notion  of  distracting  the  eye  for 
a  moment  from  watching  those  eternal  shirtings,  no 
thought  whether  you  cannot  make  better  shift  with 
some  other  class  of  goods.  Manchester  made  a  great 
blind  effort  when  the  ports  were  opened,  and  that 
effort  failed.  Since  then  she  has  fallen  into  an 
apathy,  and  trusts  to  the  chapter  of  accidents."  As 
for  the  merchants  on  whom  manufacturers  relied  to 
push  the  sale  of  their  wares,  "  they  come  out  here," 
he  says,  "  to  make  fortunes  in  from  five  to  seven 
years,  not  to  force  English  calicoes  up  into  remote 
places.  Their  work  is  to  buy  Chinese  produce,  but," 
he  goes  on,  "  if  the  English  manufacturer  wants 
extraordinary  exertion,  carefully  collected  information, 
and  persevering  up-country  enterprise  —  and  this  is 
what   he   does   want  —  he   must   do  it  himself      The 

1  China  in  1857-58.     Routledge. 


EMANCIPATION  FROM  MONOPOLY.        253 

British  export  trade  will  not  maintain  mercantile 
houses,  but  it  would  pay  for  travelling  agents  acting 
in  immediate  connection  with  the  home  manufacturers, 
who  should  keep  their  principals  at  home  well  in- 
formed, and  who  should  work  their  operations  through 
the  established  houses  here.  The  evil  is  that  British 
goods  are  not  brought  under  the  eyes  of  the  China- 
man of  the  interior  cities." 

The  inaccuracies  of  some  of  these  comments  need 
not  obscure  the  shrewd  and  prophetic  character  of 
the  general  advice  tendered  to  the  British  manufac- 
turers. After  an  interval  of  forty  years  they  have 
begun  to  act  upon  it,  and  though  their  progress  has 
as  yet  been  slow,  they  are  taking  to  heart  another 
portion  of  Mr  Cooke's  advice,  that  "all  dealing  with 
the  interior  of  China  is  impossible  unless  your  agents 
speak  the  language  of  the  people." 

A  certain  divergence  between  the  official  and  non- 
official  view  of  affairs  had  begun  to  show  itself  in  the 
period  before  the  war.  Before  the  close  of  the  East 
India  Company's  monopoly  the  independent  merchants 
perceived  that  their  interests,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Company  itself,  were  prejudiced  by  the  truckling  tactics 
of  its  agents,  and  though  few  in  number,  the  mercan- 
tile community  began  to  give  utterance  to  their  griev- 
ances and  to  show  they  had  a  mind  of  their  own  on 
public  commercial  policy.  As  the  whole  position  of 
foreigners  in  China  rested  on  premisses  which  were 
essentially  false,  disappointment,  irritation,  and  alarm 
were  chronic.  Every  one  concerned,  official  and  un- 
official, was  aggrieved  thereby,  while  no  one  was  dis- 
posed to  accept  blame  for  the  grievance.  A  tendency 
to  recrimination  was  the  natural  consequence.     When 


254  THE   TRADERS — FOREIGN.  [chap.  xiii. 

their  representatives  failed  to  protect  them  against  the 
aggressions  of  the  Chinese  the  merchants  complained, 
while  the  officials  in  their  turn  were  not  indisposed 
to  retort  by  alleging  provocative  or  injudicious  conduct 
on  the  part  of  the  merchants  themselves  as  contrib- 
utory to  the  ever-recurrent  difficulties.  Through  the 
retrospective  vista  of  two  generations  it  is  easy  now  to 
see  where  both  parties  were  at  fault — the  merchants 
in  making  too  little  account  of  the  difficulties  under 
which  their  representatives  were  labouring,  and  the 
officials  in  failing  to  perceive  that  the  causes  of  their 
disagreements  with  the  Chinese  lay  altogether  deeper 
than  the  casual  imprudence  of  any  private  individual, 
even  if  that  could  be  established.  The  despatches  of 
the  earlier  "  superintendents,"  notably  those  of  Sir 
George  Robinson,  betray  a  certain  jealousy  of  the 
political  influence  supposed  to  be  wielded  by  the  mer- 
cantile community  of  Canton  working  through  their 
associations  in  England,  and  the  superintendents 
seemed  therefore  concerned  to  cast  discredit  on  mer- 
cantile opinion.  It  would  have  been  strange  enough, 
had  it  been  true,  that  an  isolated  community  of  a 
hundred  individuals  should  be  torn  by  faction,  yet  it 
is  a  fact  that  on  their  assumed  disagreements  an  argu- 
ment was  based  for  invalidating  the  representations 
which  they  occasionally  made  to  the  Home  Govern- 
ment. Their  views  were  disparaged,  their  motives 
impugned,  and  their  short-sighted  selfishness  deplored. 
The  note  struck  in  1835  has  been  maintained  with 
variations  down  almost  to  our  own  day, — a  circum- 
stance which  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who 
aim  at  a  fair  appreciation  of  British  relations  with 
China  during  the  last  sixty  years. 


THE   OLD   CANTON   COMMUNITY.  255 

Far,  however,  from  being  a  disunited  flock,  the 
mercantile  body  in  China  generally  have  on  the 
whole  been  singularly  unanimous  in  their  views  of  the 
political  transactions  with  which  their  interests  were 
bound  up  ;  while  as  to  the  old  community  of  Canton, 
no  epithet  could  be  less  appropriate  than  one  which 
would  imply  discord.  Concord  was  the  enforced  effect 
of  their  circumstances.  Imprisoned  within  a  narrow 
space,  surrounded  by  a  hostile  people,  exposed  to  a 
constant  common  peril,  the  foreign  residents  in  Canton 
were  bound  to  each  other  by  the  mere  instinct  of  self- 
preservation.  They  became,  in  fact,  what  Nelson  called 
his  captains,  a  '^band  of  brothers."  The  exclusion  of 
females  up  till  1842,  and  the  deterrent  conditions  of 
married  life  there  even  under  the  treaty,  made  it 
essentially  a  bachelor  community,  living  almost  like 
one  family,  or  as  comrades  in  a  campaign.  Of  the 
disinterested  hospitality  and  good-fellowship  which 
continue  to  this  day,  even  in  the  maturity  of  their 
domestic  development,  to  characterise  the  foreign 
communities  in  China,  the  germ  is  doubtless  to  be 
discovered  in  that  primitive  society  which  oscillated 
between  Canton  and  Macao  during  the  thirty  years 
which  ended  in  1856,  in  which  year  their  factories 
were  for  the  last  time  destroyed,  and  the  old  life 
finally  broken  up. 

But  there  is  something  more  to  be  credited  to  these 
early  residents  than  the  mutual  loyalty  prescribed  for 
them  by  the  peculiar  conditions  of  their  life.  They 
exemplified  in  a  special  degree  the  true  temper  and 
feelings  of  gentlemen, — a  moral  product  with  which 
local  conditions  had  also,  no  doubt,  something  to  do. 
They  lived   in   glass   houses,   with    open  doors  ;    they 


256  THE   TRADERS — FOREIGN.  [chap.  xiii. 

could  by  no  means  get  away  from  one  another,  or 
evade  a  mutual  observation  which  was  constant  and 
searching.  Whatever  standards,  therefore,  were  rec- 
ognised by  the  community,  the  individual  members 
were  constrained  to  live  up  to  them  in  a  society  where 
words  and  deeds  lay  open  to  the  collective  criticism. 
And  the  standard  was  really  a  high  one.  Truth, 
honour,  courage,  generosity,  nobility,  were  qualities 
common  to  the  whole  body ;  and  those  who  were  not 
so  endowed  by  birthright  could  not  help  assuming  the 
virtue  they  did  not  possess,  and,  through  practice, 
making  it  eventually  their  own.  Black  sheep  there 
were,  no  doubt,  but  being  never  whitewashed,  they 
did  not  infect  the  flock,  as  happens  in  more  advanced 
communities. 

These  intimate  conditions  favouring  the  formation 
of  character  were  powerfully  reinforced  by  the  one 
feature  of  European  life  in  China  which  was  external 
to  the  residents,  their  contact  with  the  surrounding 
mass  of  Chinese.  The  eflect  of  intercourse  with  so- 
called  inferior  races  is  a  question  of  much  complexity, 
and  large  generalisations  on  such  subjects  are  unsafe, 
each  case  being  best  considered  on  its  proper  merits. 
In  their  intercourse  with  the  Chinese,  certain  points 
stood  out  like  pillars  of  adamant  to  fix  the  principles 
by  which  the  foreign  residents  were  obliged  to  regu- 
late their  bearing  towards  the  natives.  In  the  first 
place,  the  strangers  formed  units  hemmed  in  and 
pressed  upon  by  thousands ;  therefore  they  must 
magnify  themselves  by  maintaining  an  invincible 
prestige,  they  must  in  the  eyes  of  that  alien  world 
always  be  heroes,  and  they  must  present  a  united 
front.        Extending    the     same    principles     from    the 


A    BODY   OF   PICKED   MEN.  257 

material  to  the  moral  sphere,  the  foreigners  must 
maintain  the  reputation  of  their  caste  for  probity, 
liberality,  and  trustworthiness.  Their  word  must 
be  as  good  as  their  bond ;  they  must  on  no  account 
demean  themselves  before  the  heathen,  nor  tolerate 
any  temptation  from  a  Chinese  source  to  take  unfair 
advantage  of  their  own  kind,  the  Caucasian  or 
Christian,  or  by  whatever  term  we  may  indicate 
the  white  man.  Whatever  their  private  differences, 
no  white  man  must  permit  himself  to  acquiesce  in 
the  disparagement  of  his  own  people  in  the  view 
of  the  people  of  the  country.  They  must  be,  one 
and  all,  above  suspicion.  Such  were  some  of  the 
considerations  which  were  effective  in  maintaining 
the  character  of  Europeans  in  China.  Although 
association  with  a  race  so  alien  as  the  Chinese,  with 
such  different  moral  standards,  must  have  had  the 
usual  deteriorating  effects  of  such  contact,  yet  the 
positive  gain  in  the  formation  of  character  from 
the  practice  of  such  maxims  of  conduct  as  those 
above  indicated  probably  left  a  balance  of  advan- 
tage with  the  China  merchants. 

The  case  would  be  imperfectly  stated  were  mention 
not  made  of  the  process  of  natural  selection  which 
constituted  the  merchants  a  body  of  picked  men. 
China  was  a  remote  country.  It  offered  neither 
the  facility  of  access  nor  the  scope  for  adventure 
which  in  more  recent  times  have  attracted  such 
streams  of  emigration  to  distant  parts  of  the  world. 
The  mercantile  body  was  a  close  corporation,  automati- 
cally protected  by  barriers  very  difficult  to  surmount. 
The  voyage  itself  occupied  six  months.  Letters  were 
rarely  answered  within  a  year.      Hence  all  the  ma- 

VOL.    I.  R 


258  THE   TRADEES — FOREIGN.  [chap.  xiii. 

chinery  of  business  had  to  be  arranged  with  a  large 
prescience.  Even  after  the  opening  of  the  overland 
route  to  Suez  communication  with  China  was  main- 
tained by  sailing-ships  up  till  1845,  when  the  Lady 
Mary  Wood,  the  first  steamer  of  the  P.  and  O. 
Company,  reached  Hongkong,  with  no  accommodation 
for  more  than  a  few  passengers,  and  carrying  no  more 
cargo  than  a  good  -  sized  lighter.  And  later  still, 
when  steamers  carried  the  mails  fortnightly  to  China, 
the  expense  of  the  trip  was  so  great  that  only  a 
chosen  few  could  afford  it.  It  took  £150  to  £170 
to  land  a  single  man  in  Hongkong,  and  in  those 
days  when  extensive  outfits  were  thought  necessary, 
probably  as  much  more  had  to  be  laid  out  in  that 
way.  The  merchants  who  established  themselves 
in  China  after  the  opening  of  the  trade  were  either 
themselves  men  of  large  means,  or  they  were  the 
confidential  representatives  of  English  and  American 
houses  of  great  position.  There  were  no  local  banks, 
operations  extended  over  one  or  two  years,  an  immense 
outlay  of  capital  was  required,  and  credit  had  to  be 
maintained  at  an  exceedingly  high  level,  not  only 
as  between  the  merchants  in  China  and  their  corres- 
pondents in  London,  Liverpool,  New  York,  and  Boston, 
but  between  both  and  the  financial  centre  of  the 
world.  Through  such  a  winnowing  -  machine  only 
good  grain  could  pass.  It  was  a  natural  result  that 
the  English  and  American  merchants  both  in  China 
and  India  should  have  been  superior  as  a  class  to 
the  average  of  other  commercial  communities.  And 
what  was  true  of  partners  and  heads  of  houses  was 
no  less  so  of  their  "  assistants."  There  were  no 
"  clerks,"  as  the  term  is  commonly  used  in  England, 


SELECTION   OF   RECRUITS.  259 

except  Portuguese  hailing  from  the  neighbouring 
settlement  of  Macao.  The  young  men  sent  from 
England  were  selected  with  as  much  care  as  it  was 
possible  to  bestow,  for  they  were  precious.  Not  only 
were  they  costly,  but  it  might  take  a  year  to 
make  good  casualties.  Besides,  in  countries  situated 
as  China  was  then,  where  contingencies  of  health 
were  never  out  of  mind,  it  was  not  worth  while  to 
send  out  one  who  was  a  clerk  and  nothing  more. 
There  must  be  potential  capacity  as  well,  since  it 
could  never  be  foreseen  how  soon  emergencies  might 
arise  which  would  require  him  to  assume  the  most 
responsible  duties.  Hence  every  new  hand  engaged 
must  enjoy  the  fullest  confidence  both  of  his  immediate 
employers  and  of  the  home  firm  to  which  they  were 
affiliated. 

As  might  be  expected  under  such  circumstances, 
family  connections  played  a  large  part  in  the  selection, 
and  the  tendency  of  the  whole  system  was  to  mini- 
mise the  gulf  which  in  advanced  societies  separates 
the  master  from  the  man.  In  education  and  culture 
they  were  equals,  as  a  consequence  of  which  the  reins 
of  discipline  might  be  held  lightly,  all  service  being 
willingly  and  intelligently  rendered.  The  system  of 
devolution  was  so  fully  developed  that  the  assistant 
was  practically  master  in  his  own  department,  for 
the  success  of  which  he  was  as  zealous  as  the  head. 
The  "  mess "  regime  under  which  in  most  houses  the 
whole  staff,  employers  and  employees,  sat  at  one  table, 
tended  strongly  in  the  direction  of  a  common  social 
level. 

What  still  further  contributed  much  to  raise  the 
position   of  assistants   was   the    tradition   which    the 


260  THE    TRADERS — FOREIGN.  [chap.  xiii. 

merchants  both  in  India  and  China  inherited  from 
the  East  India  Company  of  what  may  be  called 
pampering  their  employees.  They  were  permitted 
to  carry  on  trade  on  their  own  account,  in  the  same 
commodities  and  with  the  same  buyers  and  sellers,  in 
which  they  possessed  advantages  over  their  employers 
in  having  all  the  firm's  information  at  command 
with  the  privilege  of  using  its  machinery  free  of  cost. 
The  abuses  to  which  such  a  system  was  liable  are 
too  obvious  to  be  dwelt  upon ;  but  to  be  himself  a 
merchant,  sometimes  more  successful  than  his  prin- 
cipal, though  without  his  responsibilities,  certainly  did 
not  detract  from  the  social  status  of  the  assistant. 

Sixty  years  ago  the  China  community  was  com- 
posed of  men  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  average  age  was 
probably  not  over  thirty — a  man  of  forty  was  a  grey- 
beard. In  this  respect  an  evolutionary  change  has 
come  over  the  scene,  and  the  averaw  ao^e  of  the  adult 
residents  must  have  risen  by  at  least  ten  years.  But 
the  China  community  in  all  its  stages  of  development 
has  maintained  the  colonial  characteristic  of  buoyancy 
and  hopefulness.  Reverses  of  fortune  never  appalled 
its  members.  Having  been  early  accustomed  to  the 
alternations  of  fat  years  and  lean,  a  disastrous  season 
was  to  them  but  the  presage  of  a  bountiful  one  to 
follow  ;  while  a  succession  of  bad  years  made  the  re- 
action only  the  more  certain.  This  wellspring  of 
hope  has  often  helped  the  China  merchants  to  carry 
the  freshness  of  spring  even  into  the  snows  of  winter. 
The  nature  of  their  pursuits,  moreover,  fostered  a  com- 
prehensive spirit.  Trained  in  the  school  of  wholesale 
dealing,  and  habituated  to  work  on  large  curves,  the 
China  merchants  have  all  through  felt  the  blood  of  the 


MODERN   CHANGES.  261 

merchant  princes  in  their  veins,  and  it  has  even  been 
alleged  to  their  disadvantage  that,  like  the  scions  of 
decayed  families  the  world  over,  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance were  maintained  after  the  material  basis  had  in 
the  natural  course  of  affairs  vanished.  Nay,  more, 
that  the  grandiose  ideas  appropriate  to  the  heirs  of  a 
protected  system  have  disqualified  them  for  the  contest 
in  small  things  which  the  latter  days  have  brought 
upon  them. 

Of  that  restricted,  protected,  quasi-aristocratic,  half- 
socialistic  society  some  of  the  traditions  and  spirit 
remain ;  but  the  structure  itself  could  not  possibly 
withstand  the  aggression  of  modern  progress,  and  it 
has  been  swept  away.  New  elements  have  entered 
into  the  composition  of  the  mercantile  and  general 
society  of  the  Far  East,  its  basis  has  been  widened  and 
its  relations  with  the  great  world  multiplied.  In  in- 
numerable ways  there  has  been  improvement,  not  the 
least  being  the  development  of  family  life  and  the  more 
enduring  attachment  to  the  soil  which  is  the  result  of 
prolonged  residence.  Living,  if  less  luxurious,  is  vastly 
more  comfortable,  more  refined,  and  more  civilised,  and 
men  and  women  without  serious  sacrifices  make  their 
home  in  a  country  which  in  the  earlier  days  was  but  a 
scene  of  temporary  exile.  Charities  abound  which  were 
not  before  needed ;  the  channels  of  humanity  have 
broadened,  though  it  cannot  be  said  at  the  cost  of 
depth,  for  whatever  else  may  have  changed,  the 
generosity  of  the  foreign  communities  remains  as 
princely  as  in  the  good  old  days. 

Yet  is  it  permissible  to  regret  some  of  the  robuster 
virtues  of  the  generation  that  is  past.  The  European 
solidarity  vis-a-vis  the  Chinese  world,  which  continued 


262  THE   TRADERS — FOREIGN.  [chap.  xiii. 

practically  unbroken  into  the  eighth  decade  of  the 
century,  a  tower  of  moral  strength  to  foreigners  and  an 
object  of  respect  to  the  Chinese,  has  now  been  thrown 
down.  Not  only  in  private  adventures  have  foreigners 
in  their  heat  of  competition  let  themselves  down  to  the 
level  of  Chinese  tactics,  but  great  financial  syndicates 
have  immersed  themselves  in  intrigues  which  either 
did  not  tempt  the  men  of  the  previous  generation  or 
tempted  them  in  vain  ;  and  even  the  Great  Powers 
themselves  have  descended  into  the  inglorious  arena, 
where  decency  is  discarded  like  the  superfluous 
garments  of  the  gladiator,  and  where  falsity,  ultra- 
Chinese  in  quality,  masquerades  in  Christian  garb. 
The  moral  ascendancy  of  Christendom  has  been  in  a 
hundred  ways  shamelessly  prostituted,  leaving  little 
visible  distinction  between  the  West  and  the  East  but 
superior  energy  and  military  force. 

Take  them  for  all  in  all,  the  China  merchants  have 
been  in  their  day  and  generation  no  unworthy  repre- 
sentatives of  their  country's  interests  and  policy,  its 
manhood  and  character.  Their  patriotism  has  not  been 
toned  down  but  expanded  and  rationalised  by  cosmo- 
politan associations,  and  by  contact  with  a  type  of 
national  life  differing  diametrically  from  their  own. 
Breadth  and  moderation  have  resulted  from  these 
conditions,  and  a  habit  of  tempering  the  exigencies  of 
the  day  by  the  larger  consideration  of  international 
problems  has  been  characteristic  of  the  mercantile 
bodies  in  China  from  first  to  last.  And  though 
statesmanship  lies  outside  the  range  of  busy  men  of 
commerce,  it  must  be  said  in  justice  to  the  merchants 
of  China  that  they  have  been  consistently  loyal  to  an 
ideal  policy,  higher  in  its  aims  and  more  practical  in 


CHINESE   COMMERCIAL   INSTINCT.  263 

its  operation  than  that  which  any  line  of  Western 
statesmen,  save  those  of  Russia,  has  been  able  to 
follow.  It  had  been  better  if  the  continuous  prog- 
nostications of  such  a  compact  body  of  opinion  had 
been  more  heeded. 


11.  CHINESE. 

Business  aptitude — High  standard  of  commercial  ethics — Circumstances 
hindering  great  accumulations. 

As  it  requires  two  to  make  a  bargain,  it  would  be  an 
imperfect  account  of  the  China  trade  which  omitted 
such  an  important  element  as  the  efficiency  of  the 
native  trader.  To  him  is  due  the  fact  that  the  foreign 
commerce  of  his  country,  when  uninterfered  with  by 
the  officials  of  his  Government,  has  been  made  so  easy 
for  the  various  parties  concerned  in  it.  Of  all  the 
accomplishments  the  Chinese  nation  has  acquired 
during  the  long  millenniums  of  its  history,  there  is 
none  in  which  it  has  attained  to  such  perfect  mastery 
as  in  the  science  of  buying  and  selling.  The  Chinese 
possess  the  Jews*  passion  for  exchange.  All  classes, 
from  the  peasant  to  the  prince,  think  in  money,  and 
the  instinct  of  appraisement  supplies  to  them  the 
place  of  a  ready  reckoner,  continuously  converting 
objects  and  opportunities  into  cash.  Thus  surveying 
mankind  and  all  its  achievements  with  the  eye  of 
an  auctioneer,  invisible  note -book  in  hand,  external 
impressions  translate  themselves  automatically  into 
the  language  of  the  market  -  place,  so  that  it  comes 
as  natural  to  the  Chinaman  as  to  the  modern  Ameri- 
can, or  to  any  other  commercial  people,  to  reduce  all 


264  THE   TRADERS — CHINESE.  [oHAP.  xiii. 

forms  of  appreciation  to  the  common  measure  of  the 
dollar.  A  people  imbued  with  such  habits  of  mind  are 
traders  by  intuition.  If  they  have  much  to  learn  from 
foreigners,  they  have  also  much  to  teach  them ;  and 
the  fact  that  at  no  spot  within  the  vast  empire  of 
China  would  one  fail  to  find  ready-made  and  eager  men 
of  business  is  a  happy  augury  for  the  extended  inter- 
course which  may  be  developed  in  the  future,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  affords  the  clearest  indication  of  the 
true  avenue  to  sympathetic  relations  with  the  Chinese. 
In  every  detail  of  handling  and  moving  commodities, 
from  the  moment  they  leave  the  hands  of  the  producer 
in  his  garden-patch  to  the  time  when  they  reach  the 
ultimate  consumer  perhaps  a  thousand  miles  away,  the 
Chinese  trader  is  an  expert.  Times  and  seasons  have 
been  elaborately  mapped  out,  the  clue  laid  unerringly 
through  labyrinthine  currencies,  weights,  and  measures 
which  to  the  stranger  seem  a  hopeless  tangle,  and  elab- 
orate trade  customs  evolved  appropriate  to  the  re- 
quirements of  a  myriad  -  sided  commerce,  until  the 
simplest  operation  has  been  invested  with  a  kind  of 
ritual  observance,  the  effect  of  the  whole  being  to  cause 
the  complex  wheels  to  run  both  swiftly  and  smoothly. 

To  crown  all,  there  is  to  be  noted,  as  the  highest 
condition  of  successful  trade,  the  evolution  of  commer- 
cial probity,  which,  though  no  monopoly  of  the  Chinese 
merchants,  is  one  of  their  distinguishing  characteristics. 
It  is  that  element  which,  in  the  generations  before  the 
treaties,  enabled  so  large  a  commerce  to  be  carried  on 
with  foreigners  without  anxiety,  without  friction,  and 
almost  without  precaution.  It  has  also  led  to  the 
happiest  personal  relations  between  foreigners  and  the 
native  trader. 


LARGE-HEARTED.  265 

When  the  business  of  the  season  was  over  [says  Mr  Hunter]  ^ 
contracts  were  made  with  the  Hong  merchants  for  the  next 
season.  They  consisted  of  teas  of  certain  qualities  and  kinds, 
sometimes  at  fixed  prices,  sometimes  at  the  prices  which  should 
be  current  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  teas.  No  other 
record  of  these  contracts  was  ever  made  than  by  each  party 
booking  them,  no  written  agreements  were  drawn  up,  nothing 
was  sealed  or  attested.  A  wilful  breach  of  contract  never  took 
place,  and  as  regards  quality  and  quantity  the  Hong  merchants 
fulfilled  their  part  with  scrupulous  honesty  and  care. 

The  Chinese  merchant,  moreover,  has  been  always 
noted  for  what  he  himself  graphically  calls  his  large- 
heartedness,  which  is  exemplified  by  liberality  in  all  his 
dealings,  tenacity  as  to  all  that  is  material  with  com- 
parative disregard  of  trifles,  never  letting  a  transaction 
fall  through  on  account  of  punctilio,  yielding  to  the 
prejudices  of  others  wherever  it  can  be  done  without 
substantial  disadvantage,  a  "  sweet  reasonableness,"  if 
the  phrase  may  be  borrowed  for  such  a  purpose,  which 
obviates  disputation,  and  the  manliness  which  does  not 
repine  at  the  consequences  of  an  unfortunate  contract. 
Judicial  procedure  being  an  abomination  to  respectable 
Chinese,  their  security  in  commercial  dealings  is  based 
as  much  upon  reason,  good  faith,  and  non-repudiation 
as  that  of  the  Western  nations  is  upon  verbal  finesse 
in  the  construction  of  covenants. 

Two  systems  so  diametrically  opposed  can  hardly 
admit  of  real  amalgamation  without  sacrifice  of  the 
saving  principle  of  both.  And  if,  in  the  period  imme- 
diately succeeding  the  retirement  of  the  East  India 
Company,  perfect  harmony  prevailed  between  the 
Chinese  and  the  foreign  merchant,  the  result  was 
apparently  attained  by  the  foreigners  practically  falling 

^  The  Fankwae  at  Canton. 


266  THE   TRADERS — CHINESE.  [chap.  xiii. 

in  with  the  principles  and  the  commercial  ethics  of  the 
Chinese,  to  which  nothing  has  yet  been  found  superior. 
The  Chinese  aptitude  for  business,  indeed,  exerted  a 
peculiar  influence  over  their  foreign  colleagues.  The 
efficiency  and  alacrity  of  the  native  merchants  and 
their  staff  were  such  that  the  foreigners  fell  into  the 
way  of  leaving  to  them  the  principal  share  in  managing 
the  details  of  the  business.  When  the  venerable,  but 
unnatural,  Co-hong  system  of  Old  Canton  was  super- 
seded by  the  compradoric,  the  connection  between  the 
foreign  firm  and  their  native  staff  became  so  intimate 
that  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  distinguish  between  the 
two,  and  misunderstandings  have  not  unfrequently 
arisen  through  third  parties  mistaking  the  principal 
for  the  agent  and  the  agent  for   the  principal. 

Such  a  relationship  could  not  but  foster  in  some 
cases  a  certain  lordly  abstraction  on  the  part  of  the 
foreign  merchant,  to  which  climatic  conditions  power- 
fully contributed.  The  factotum,  in  short,  became  a 
minister  of  luxury,  everywhere  a  demoralising  influ- 
ence, and  thus  there  was  a  constant  tendency  for 
the  Chinese  to  gain  the  upper  hand,  —  to  be  the 
master  in  effect  though  the  servant  in  name.  The 
comprador  was  always  consulted,  and  if  the  employer 
ventured  to  omit  this  formality  the  resulting  trans- 
action would  almost  certainly  come  to  grief  through 
inexplicable  causes.  Seldom,  however,  was  his  ad- 
vice rejected,  while  many  of  the  largest  operations 
were  of  his  initiation.  Unlimited  confidence  was  the 
rule  on  both  sides,  which  often  took  the  concrete 
form  of  considerable  indebtedness,  now  on  the  one  side 
now  on  the  other,  and  was  regularly  shown  in 
the    despatch    of  large    amounts    of    specie    into    the 


CONFIDENTIAL    RELATIONS   WITH    FOREIGNERS.       267 

far  interior  of  the  country  for  the  purchase  of  tea 
and  silk  in  the  districts  of  their  growth.  For  many 
years  the  old  practice  was  followed  of  contracting  for 
produce  as  soon  as  marketable,  and  sometimes  even 
before.  During  three  or  four  months,  in  the  case  of 
tea,  large  funds  belonging  to  foreign  merchants  were 
in  the  hands  of  native  agents  far  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  owners,  who  could  exercise  no  sort  of  super- 
vision over  the  proceedings  of  their  agents.  The 
funds  were  in  every  case  safely  returned  in  the  form 
of  produce  purchased,  which  was  entered  to  the 
foreign  merchant  at  a  price  arbitrarily  fixed  by  the 
comprador  to  cover  all  expenses.  Under  such  a 
regime  it  would  have  needed  no  great  perspicacity, 
one  would  imagine,  to  foretell  in  which  pocket  the 
profits  of  trading  would  eventually  lodge.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  comprador  generally  grew  rich  at 
the  expense  of  his  employer.  All  the  while  the  sin- 
cerest  friendship  existed  between  them,  often  de- 
scending to  the  second  or  third  generation.^ 

It  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that  in  such  an 
extensive  commercial  field  as  the  empire  of  China, 
exploited  by  such  competent  traders,  large  accumu- 
lations of  wealth  would  be  the  result.  Yet  after 
making  due  allowance  for  inducements  to  conceal- 
ment, the  wealth  even  of  the  richest  families  prob- 
ably falls  far  short  of  that  which  is  not  uncommon 
in  Western  countries.  Several  reasons  might  be  ad- 
duced for  the  limitation,  chiefly  the  family  system, 
which  necessitates  constant  redistribution,  and  which 

^  Apart  from  their  liberality  in  the  conduct  of  business,  the  generosity  of 
the  Chinese  mercantile  class,  their  gratitude  for  past  favours,  are  so  re- 
markable as  to  be  incomprehensible  to  the  Western  mind.  An  account 
of  them  would  read  like  a  "  fairy  tale." 


268  THE   TRADERS — CHINESE.  [chap.  xiii. 

subjects  every  successful  man  to  the  attentions  of  a 
swarm  of  parasites,  who,  besides  devouring  his  sub- 
stance with  riotous  living,  have  the  further  oppor- 
tunity of  ruining  his  enterprises  by  their  malfeasance. 
Yet  although  individual  wealth  may,  from  these  and 
other  causes,  be  confined  within  very  moderate  limits, 
the  control  of  capital  for  legitimate  business  is  ample. 
Owing  to  the  co-operative  system  under  which  the 
financiers  of  the  country  support  and  guarantee  each 
other,  credit  stands  very  high,  enabling  the  widely 
ramified  commerce  of  the  empire  to  be  carried  on 
upon  a  very  small  nucleus  of  cash  capital.  The  bank- 
ing organisation  of  China  is  wonderfully  complete, 
bills  of  exchange  being  currently  negotiable  between 
the  most  distant  points  of  the  empire,  the  circula- 
tion of  merchandise  maintaining  the  equilibrium  with 
comparatively  little  assistance  from  the  precious 
metals. 

The  true  characteristics  of  a  people  probably  stand 
out  in  a  clearer  light  when  they  are  segregated  from 
the  conventionalities  of  their  home  and  forced  to  ac- 
commodate themselves  to  unaccustomed  conditions. 
Following  the  Chinese  to  the  various  commercial 
colonies  which  they  have  done  so  much  to  develop, 
it  will  be  found  that  they  have  carried  with  them 
into  their  voluntary  exile  the  best  elements  of  their 
commercial  success  in  their  mother  country.  The 
great  emporium  of  Maimaichen,  on  the  Siberian 
frontier  near  Kiachta,  is  an  old  commercial  settle- 
ment mostly  composed  of  natives  of  the  province  of 
Shansi,  occupying  positions  of  the  highest  respect 
both  financially  and  socially.  The  streets  of  the 
town  are  regular,   wide,   and   moderately  clean.     The 


THE   CHINESE   ABROAD.  269 

houses  are  solid,  tidy,  and  tasteful,  with  pretty  little 
courtyards,  ornamental  door  -  screens,  and  so  forth, 
the  style  of  the  whole  being  described  as  superior  to 
what  is  seen  in  the  large  cities  within  China  proper. 
The  very  conditions  of  exile  seem  favourable  to  a 
higher  scale  of  living,  free  alike  from  the  incubus  of 
thriftless  relations  and  from  the  malign  espionage  of 
Government  officials. 

In  the  Philippine  Islands  and  in  Java  the  Chinese 
emigrants  from  the  southern  provinces  have  been  the 
life  and  soul  of  the  trade  and  industry  of  these 
places.  So  also  in  the  British  dominions,  as  at 
Singapore  and  Penang,  which  are  practically  Chinese 
Colonies  under  the  British  flag.  Hongkong  and  the 
Burmese  ports  are  of  course  no  exceptions. 

The  description  given  by  Mr  Thomson  ^  of  the  Chinese 
in  Penang  would  apply  equally  to  every  part  of  the 
world  in  which  the  Chinese  have  been  permitted  to 
settle  : — 

Should  you,  my  reader,  ever  settle  in  Penang,  you  will  be 
there  introduced  to  a  Chinese  contractor  who  will  sign  a 
document  to  do  anything.  His  costume  will  tell  you  that 
he  is  a  man  of  inexpensive  yet  cleanly  habits.  He  will  build 
you  a  house  after  any  design  you  choose,  and  within  so  many 
days,  subject  to  a  fine  should  he  exceed  the  stipulated  time. 
He  will  furnish  you  with  a  minute  specification,  in  which 
everything,  to  the  last  nail,  will  be  included.  He  has  a 
brother  who  will  contract  to  make  every  article  of  furniture 
you  require,  either  from  drawings  or  from  models.  He  has 
another  brother  who  will  fit  you  and  your  good  lady  with  all 
sorts  of  clothing,  and  yet  a  third  relative  who  will  find 
servants,  and  contract  to  supply  you  with  all  the  native  and 
European  delicacies  in  the  market  upon  condition  that  his 
monthly  bills  are  regularly  honoured. 


^  The  Straits  of  Malacca,  &c.     By  J.  Thomson. 


270  THE   TRADERS — CHINESE.  [chap.  xiii. 

It  is,  indeed,  to  Chinamen  that  the  foreign  resident  is  in- 
debted for  almost  all  his  comforts,  and  for  the  profusion  of 
luxuries  which  surround  his  wonderfully  European -looking 
home  on  this  distant  island. 

The  Chinese  are  everywhere  found  enterprising  and 
trustworthy  men  of  business.  Europeans,  worried  by  the 
exhaustless  refinements  of  the  Marwarree  or  Bengali, 
find  business  with  the  Chinese  in  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments a  positive  luxury.  Nor  have  the  persecutions 
of  the  race  in  the  United  States  and  in  self-o^overn- 
ing  British  colonies  wholly  extinguished  the  spark  of 
honour  which  the  Chinese  carry  with  them  into  dis- 
tant lands.  An  old  "  'Forty  -  niner,"  since  deceased, 
related  to  the  writer  some  striking  experiences  of  his 
own  during  a  long  commercial  career  in  San  Francisco. 
A  Chinese  with  whom  he  had  dealings  disappeared 
from  the  scene,  leaving  a  debt  to  Mr  Forbes  of  several 
thousand  dollars.  The  account  became  an  eyesore  in 
the  books,  and  the  amount  was  formally  "  written 
off"  and  forgotten.  Some  years  after,  Mr  Forbes 
was  surprised  by  a  visit  from  a  weather  -  beaten 
Chinese,  who  revealed  himself  as  the  delinquent  Ah 
Sin  and  asked  for  his  account.  Demurring  to  the 
trouble  of  exhuming  old  ledgers,  Mr  Forbes  asked 
Ah  Sin  incredulously  if  he  was  going  to  pay.  *'  Why, 
certainly,"  said  the  debtor.  The  account  was  there- 
upon rendered  to  him  with  interest,  and  after  a  care- 
ful examination  and  making  some  corrections,  Ah  Sin 
undid  his  belt  and  tabled  the  money  to  the  last  cent, 
thereupon  vanishing  into  space  whence  he  had  come. 


271 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


HONGKONG. 


Two  British  landmarks — Chinese  customs  and  Hongkong — Choice  of  the 
island — Vitality  of  colony — Asylum  for  malefactors — Chinese  official 
hostility — Commanding  commercial  position — Crown  Colony  govern- 
ment—  Management  of  Chinese  population — Their  improvement — 
English  education — Material  progress — Industrial  institutions — Acces- 
sion of  territory. 

The  past  sixty  years  of  war  and  peace  in  China  have 
left  two  landmarks  as  concrete  embodiments  of  British 
policy — the  Chinese  maritime  customs  and  the  colony 
of  Hongkong.  These  are  documents  which  testify  in 
indelible  characters  both  to  the  motives  and  to  the 
methods  of  British  expansion  throughout  the  world. 
For  good  and  for  evil  their  record  cannot  be  explained 
away.  Both  institutions  are  typically  English,  inas- 
much as  they  are  not  the  fulfilment  of  a  dream  or 
the  working  out  of  preconcerted  schemes,  but  growths 
spontaneously  generated  out  of  the  local  conditions, 
much  like  that  of  the  British  empire  itself,  and  with 
scarcely  more  conscious  foresight  on  the  part  of  those 
f^ho  helped  to  rear  the  edifice. 

The  relation  of  the  British  empire  to  the  world, 
which  defies  definition,  is  only  revealed  in  scattered 
object-lessons.  India  throws  some  light  upon  it — the 
colonies   much    more ;    and    though    in   some   respects 


272  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

unique  in  its  character,  Hongkong  in  its  degree  stands 
before  the  world  as  a  realisation  of  the  British  ideal, 
with  its  faults  and  blunders  as  well  as  with  its  excel- 
lences and  successes. 

The  want  of  a  British  station  on  the  China  coast  had 
long  been  felt,  and  during  the  ten  years  which  pre- 
ceded the  cession  innumerable  proposals  were  thrown 
out,  some  of  which  distinctly  indicated  Hongkong 
itself  as  supplying  the  desideratum.  But  as  to  the 
status  of  the  new  port  the  various  suggestions  made 
neutralised  each  other,  until  the  course  of  events 
removed  the  question  out  of  the  region  of  discussion 
and  placed  it  in  the  lap  of  destiny. 

The  earliest  English  visitors  to  the  island  described 
it  as  inhabited  by  a  few  weather-beaten  fishermen,  who 
were  seen  spreading  their  nets  and  drying  their  catch 
on  the  rocks.  Cultivation  was  restricted  to  small 
patches  of  rice,  sweet-potatoes,  and  buckwheat.  The 
abundance  of  fern  gave  it  in  places  an  appearance  of 
verdure,  but  it  was  on  the  whole  a  treeless,  rugged, 
barren  block  of  granite.  The  gentlemen  of  Lord  Am- 
herst's suite  in  1816,  who  have  left  this  record,  made 
another  significant  observation.  The  precipitous  island, 
twelve  miles  long,  with  its  deep-water  inlets,  formed 
one  side  of  a  land-locked  harbour,  which  they  called 
Hongkong  Sound,  capable  of  sheltering  any  number 
of  ships  of  the  largest  size.  Into  this  commodious 
haven  the  English  fugitives,  driven  first  from  Canton 
and  then  from  Macao,  by  the  drastic  decree  of  the^ 
Chinese  authorities  in  1839,  found  a  refuge  for  their 
ships,  and  afterwards  a  footing  on  shore  for  themselves. 
Stern  necessity  and  not  their  wills  sent  them  thither. 
The  same  necessity  ordained  that  the  little  band,  once 


HONGKONG   OR   CHUSAN  ?  273 

lodged  there,  should  take  root,  and  growth  followed  as 
the  natural  result  of  the  inherent  vitality  of  the  organ- 
ism. As  Dr  Eitel  well  points  out,  this  small  social 
body  did  not  originate  in  Hongkong  :  it  had  had  a 
long  preparatory  history  in  Macao,  and  in  the  Canton 
factories,  and  may  be  considered,  therefore,  in  the  light 
of  a  healthy  swarm  from  the  older  hives. 

During  the  first  few  years  of  the  occupation  the 
selection  of  the  station  was  the  subject  of  a  good 
deal  of  cheap  criticism  in  the  press.  A  commer- 
cial disappointment  and  a  political  failure,  it  was 
suggested  by  some  that  the  place  should  be  abandoned. 
It  was  contrasted  unfavourably  with  the  island  of 
Chusan,  which  had  been  receded  to  China  under  the 
same  treaty  which  had  ceded  Hongkong  to  Great 
Britain;  and  even  as  late  as  1858  Lord  Elgin  ex- 
claimed, "  How  anybody  in  their  senses  could  have 
preferred  Hongkong  to  Chusan  seems  incredible." 

But,  in  point  of  fact,  there  had  been  little  or  no 
conscious  choice  in  the  matter.  The  position  may  be 
said  to  have  chosen  itself,  since  no  alternative  was 
left  to  the  first  British  settlers.  As  for  Chusan,  it 
had  been  occupied  and  abandoned  several  times.  The 
East  India  Company  had  an  establishment  there  in 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  if  that 
station  was  finally  given  up  either  on  its  merits  or 
in  favour  of  Hongkong,  it  was  certainly  not  without 
experience  of  the  value  of  the  more  northerly  position. 
Whatever  hypothetical  advantages,  commercial  or  other- 
wise, might  have  accrued  from  the  retention  of  Chusan, 
the  actual  position  attained  by  Hongkong  as  an  em- 
porium of  trade,  a  centre  of  industry,  and  one  of  the 
great  shipping  ports  in  the   world,   furnishes  an  un- 

VOL.   I.  s 


274  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

answerable  defence  both  of  the  choice  of  the  site  and 
the  poUtical  structure  which  has  been  erected  on  it. 
Canton  being  at  once  the  centre  of  foreign  trade  and 
the  focus  of  Chinese  hostihty,  vicinity  to  that  city 
w^as  an  indispensable  condition  of  the  location  of  the 
British  entrepot,  and  the  place  of  arms  from  which 
commerce  could  be  defended.  And  it  would  be  hard 
even  now  to  point  to  any  spot  on  the  Chinese  coast 
which  fulfilled  the  conditions  so  well  as  Hongkong. 

The  course  of  its  development  did  not  run  smooth.  It 
was  not  to  be  expected.  The  experiment  of  planting 
a  British  station  in  contact  w4th  the  most  energetic 
as  well  as  the  most  turbulent  section  of  the  population 
of  China  was  not  likely  to  be  carried  out  without  mis- 
takes, and  many  have  been  committed.  Indeed,  from 
the  day  of  its  birth  down  to  the  present  time  domestic 
dissensions  and  recriminations  respecting  the  manage- 
ment of  its  affairs  have  never  ceased. 

This  was  inevitable  in  a  political  microcosm  having 
neither  diversity  of  interest  nor  atmospheric  space  to 
soften  the  perspective.  The  entire  interests  of  the 
colony  were  comprised  within  the  focal  distance  of 
myopic  vision.  Molehills  thus  became  mountains,  and 
the  mote  in  each  brother's  eye  assumed  the  dimensions 
of  animalcula  seen  through  a  microscope.  The  bitter 
feuds  between  the  heads  of  the  several  departments  of 
the  lilliputian  Government  which  prevailed  during  the 
first  twenty  years  must  have  been  fatal  to  any  young 
colony  if  its  progress  had  depended  on  the  wisdom  of 
its  rulers.  Happily  a  higher  law  governs  all  these 
things. 

Freedom  carried  with  it  the  necessary  consequences, 
and  for  many  years  the  new  colony  was  a  tempting 


AN   ALSATIA.  275 

Alsatia  for  Chinese  malefactors,  an  asylum  for  pirates, 
who  put  on  and  off  that  character  with  wonderful 
facility,  and  could  hatch  their  plots  there  fearless 
of  surveillance.  When  the  Taiping  rebellion  was  at 
its  height,  piracy  became  so  mixed  with  insurrection 
that  the  two  were  not  distinguishable,  and  it  required 
both  firmness  and  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  authori- 
ties to  prevent  the  harbour  of  Hongkong  becoming 
the  scene  of  naval  engagements  between  the  bellig- 
erents. During  the  hostilities  of  1857-58  a  species 
of  dacoity  was  practised  with  impunity  by  Chinese, 
who  were  tempted  by  rewards  for  the  heads  of  English- 
men offered  by  the  authorities  of  Canton. 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  denied  that  the  immigrants 
from  the  mainland  in  the  first  and  even  the  second 
decade  of  its  existence  were  leavened  with  an  undesir- 
able element,  causing  anxiety  to  the  responsible  rulers. 

The  Chinese  authorities,  as  was  natural,  waged  re- 
lentless war  on  the  colony  from  its  birth.  Though 
compelled  formally  to  admit  that  the  island  and  its 
dependencies  were  a  British  possession,  they  still 
maintained  a  secret  authority  over  the  Chinese  who 
settled  there,  and  even  attempted  to  levy  taxes.  As 
they  could  not  lay  hands  on  its  trade,  except  the 
valuable  portion  of  it  which  was  carried  on  by  native 
craft,  they  left  no  stone  unturned  to  destroy  that. 
By  skilful  diplomacy,  for  which  they  are  entitled  to 
the  highest  credit,  they  obtained  control  over  the 
merchant  junks  trading  to  Hongkong,  and  imposed 
restrictions  on  them  calculated  to  render  their  traffic 
impossible.  By  the  same  treaty  they  obtained  the 
appointment  of  a  British  officer  as  Chinese  revenue 
agent  in  Hongkong — a  concession,  however,  disallowed 


276  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

by  the  good  sense  of  the  British  Government.  But 
the  Chinese  were  very  tenacious  of  the  idea  of  making 
Hongkong  a  customs  station,  never  relaxing  their 
efforts  for  forty  years,  until  the  convention  of  1886 
at  last  rewarded  their  perseverance  by  a  partial 
fulfilment  of  their  hopes. 

For  reasons  which,  if  not  very  lofty,  are  yet  very 
human,  the  diplomatic  and  consular  agents  of  Great 
Britain  have  never  looked  sympathetically  on  the 
colony — indeed  have  often  sided  with  the  Chinese  in 
their  attempts  to  curtail  its  rights. 

Nor  has  the  Home  Government  itself  always  treated 
the  small  colony  with  parental  consideration.  Before 
it  was  out  of  swaddling-clothes  the  Treasury  ogre 
began  to  open  his  mouth  and,  like  the  East  India 
Company,  demand  remittances.  A  military  establish- 
ment was  maintained  on  the  island,  not  for  the 
benefit  of  the  residents,  but  for  the  security  of  a 
strategical  position  in  the  imperial  system.  The  col- 
onists were  mulcted  in  a  substantial  share  of  the 
cost,  which  the  governor  was  instructed  to  wring 
out  of  them.  The  defences  themselves,  however,  were 
neglected,  and  allowed  to  grow  obsolete  and  useless, 
and,  if  we  mistake  not,  it  was  the  civil  community, 
and  not  the  Government,  that  insisted  on  their  being 
modernised.  The  compromise  eventually  arrived  at 
was,  that  the  colonists  provided  the  guns  and  the 
imperial  Government  the  forts.  An  interesting  paral- 
lel to  this  was  the  case  of  Gibraltar,  which  pos- 
sessed no  dock  until  the  civil  community  by  sheer 
persistence,  extending  over  many  years,  at  length 
overcame  the  reluctance  of  the  British  Government 
to  provide  so  essential  an  adjunct  to  its  naval  estab- 


PROSPERITY.  277 

lishment.  The  colony  had  suffered  much  from  the 
war  with  China,  but  the  Home  Government  refused 
it  any  participation  in  the  indemnity  extorted  from 
the  Chinese. 

But  these  and  other  drawbacks  were  counter- 
balanced, and  eventually  remedied,  by  the  advantages 
offered  by  a  free  port  and  a  safe  harbour.  Stand- 
ing in  the  fair  way  of  all  Eastern  commerce,  which 
pays  willing  tribute  to  the  colony,  Hongkong  at- 
tracted trade  from  all  quarters  in  a  steadily  increas- 
ing volume,  and  became  the  pivot  for  the  whole 
ocean  traffic  of  the  Far  East.  ^  The  tide  of  pros- 
perity could  not  be  stayed — it  invaded  every  section 
of  the  community.  The  character  of  the  Chinese 
population  was  continuously  raised.  The  best  of 
them  accumulated  wealth  :  the  poorest  found  remun- 
erative employment  for  their  labour.  Crime,  with 
which  the  colony  had  been  tainted,  diminished  as 
much  through  the  expulsive  power  of  material  pros- 
perity as  from  the  judicious  measures  of  the  ex- 
ecutive Government,  for  the  credit  must  not  be 
denied  to  successive  administrators  for  the  improve- 
ment in  the  condition  of  the  colony.  Among  those 
none  was  more  deserving  of  praise  than  Sir  Richard 
MacDonnell  (1865-72),  who  on  catching  sight,  as  he 
entered  the  harbour,  of  an  enormous  building,  which 
he  was  told  was  the  jail,  remarked,  "  I  will  not  fill 
that,  but  stop  the  crime ; "  and  he  was  nearly  as 
good  as  his  word, — a  terror  to  evil-doers. 

A  Crown  colony  is  the  form  of  government  which 
challenges    the   most   pungent  criticism.     The  elected 

1  The   tonnage   entered   and   cleared  for   the   year  1898  amounted   to 
17,265,780,  of  which  one-half  was  under  the  British  flag. 


278  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

members  of  its  legislature,  being  a  minority,  can 
only  in  the  last  resort  acquiesce  in  the  decisions  of 
the  official  majority  who  constitute  the  executive 
Government.  Such  a  minority,  however,  is  by  no 
means  wanting  in  influence,  for  it  is,  after  all,  pub- 
licity which  is  the  safeguard  of  popular  liberty. 
The  freedom  of  speech  enjoyed  by  an  Opposition 
which  has  no  fear  of  the  responsibility  of  office  be- 
fore its  eyes  widens  the  scope  of  its  criticisms,  and 
imparts  a  refreshing  vigour  to  the  invective  of  those 
of  its  members  who  possess  the  courage  of  their 
convictions.  It  reaches  the  popular  ear,  and  the 
apprehension  of  an  adverse  public  opinion  so  stimu- 
lated can  never  fail  to  have  its  effect  on  the  acts 
of  the  Administration.  Under  such  a  regime  it 
seems  natural  that,  other  things  being  equal,  each 
governor  in  turn  should  be  esteemed  the  worst  who 
has  borne  rule  in  the  colony,  and  in  any  case 
his  merits  are  never  likely  to  be  fairly  gauged 
by  any  local  contemporary  estimate.  King  Stork, 
though  fair  and  far-seeing,  may  be  more  obnoxious 
to  criticism  than  King  Log,  who  makes  things 
pleasant  during  his  official  term. 

Hongkong  being  established  as  a  free  port,  the 
functions  of  Government  were  practically  limited  to 
internal  administration,  and  the  question  of  greatest 
importance  was  the  control  of  the  Chinese  popula- 
tion which  poured  in.  This  was  a  new  problem. 
Chinese  communities  had,  indeed,  settled  under  for- 
eign rule  before,  as  in  the  Straits  Settlements,  in 
Java,  and  in  Manila,  but  at  such  distances  from 
their  home  as  rendered  the  settlers  amenable  to  any 
local    regulations   which    might   be   imposed  on  them. 


PROGRESSIVE   IMPROVEMENT.  279 

Distance  even  acted  as  a  strainer,  keeping  back  the 
dregs.  But  Hongkong  was  nearer  to  China  than 
the  Isle  of  Wight  is  to  Hampshire.  Evil  -  doers 
could  come  and  go  at  will.  It  could  be  overrun 
in  the  night  and  evacuated  in  the  morning.  Spies 
were  as  uncontrollable  as  house-flies,  and  whenever 
it  suited  the  Chinese  Government  to  be  hostile, 
they  proved  their  power  to  establish  such  a  reign 
of  terror  in  the  colony  that  it  was  dangerous  to 
stray  beyond  the  beat  of  the  armed  policeman. 
Clearly  it  was  of  primary  importance  to  come  to 
terms  with  the  native  community,  to  reduce  them 
to  discipline,  to  encourage  the  good  and  discourage 
the  bad  among  the  Chinese  settlers.  As  their  num- 
bers increased  the  public  health  demanded  a  yet 
stricter  supervision  of  their  habits.  Sanitary  science 
had  scarcely  dawned  when  the  colony  was  founded, 
and  its  teachings  had  to  be  applied,  as  they  came 
to  light,  to  conditions  of  life  which  had  been  al- 
lowed to  grow  up  in  independence  of  its  require- 
ments. To  tolerate  native  customs,  domestic  habits, 
and  manner  of  living,  while  providing  for  the  gen- 
eral wellbeing  of  a  community  in  a  climate  which 
at  its  best  is  debilitating,  taxed  the  resources  of 
the  British  executive,  and  of  course  gave  rise  to 
perpetual  recrimination.  But  the  thing  has  been 
accomplished.  Successive  conflagrations  have  co-oper- 
ated with  the  march  of  sanitary  reform  and  the 
advance  in  their  worldly  circumstances  in  so  im- 
proving the  dwellings  of  the  population,  that  their 
housing  now  compares  not  unfavourably  with  that 
of  the  native  cities  of  India.  The  Southern  Chinese 
are  naturally  cleanly,  and  appreciative  of  good  order 


280  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

when  it  is  judiciously  introduced  among  them,  even 
from  a  foreign  source. 

A  more  complex  question  was  that  of  bringing  an 
alien  population  such  as  the  Chinese  within  the  moral 
pale  of  English  law,  for  law  is  vain  unless  it  ap- 
peals to  the  public  conscience.  The  imposition  of 
foreign  statutes  on  a  race  nursed  on  oral  tradition 
and  restrained  from  misdoing  by  bonds  invisible  to 
their  masters  was  not  an  undertaking  for  which 
success  could  be  safely  foretold.  The  effect  of  a 
similar  proceeding  on  the  subtle  natives  of  India 
has  been  described  as  "substituting  for  a  recognised 
morality  a  mere  game  of  skill,  at  which  the  natives 
can  give  us  long  odds  and  beat  us."  "  The  mercan- 
tile and  money-lending  classes  in  India,"  says  Mr  S. 
S.  Thorburn,  "  delight  in  the  intricacy  and  surprises 
of  a  good  case  in  court."  With  the  Chinese  it  has 
been  otherwise.  The  population  of  Hongkong  have 
80  far  assimilated  the  foreign  law  that,  whether  or 
not  it  satisfies  their  innate  sense  of  right,  it  at  least 
governs  their  external  conduct,  and  crime  has  been 
reduced  very  low :  as  for  litigation,  it  is  compara- 
tively rare ;  it  is  disreputable,  and  has  no  place  in 
the  Chinese  commercial  economy. 

The  best  proofs  of  their  acceptance  of  colonial  rule  is 
the  constantly  increasing  numbers  of  the  Chinese  resi- 
dents ;  the  concentration  of  their  trading  capital  there  ; 
their  investments  in  real  estate  and  in  local  industries  ; 
their  identification  with  the  general  interests  of  the 
colony,  and  their  adopting  it  as  a  home  instead  of  a 
place  of  temporary  exile.  The  means  employed  to  con- 
ciliate the  Chinese  must  be  deemed  on  the  whole  to 
have  been  successful.      There  was  first   police   super- 


NATIVE   ADMINISTRATION.  281 

vision,  then  official  protection  under  a  succession  of 
qualified  officers,  then  representation  in  the  Colonial 
Legislature  and  on  the  commission  of  the  peace.  The 
colonial  executive  has  wisely  left  to  the  Chinese  a 
large  measure  of  a  kind  of  self-government  which  is  far 
more  effisctive  than  anything  that  could  find  its  expres- 
sion in  votes  of  the  Legislature.  The  administration  of 
purely  Chinese  affairs  by  native  committees,  with  a 
firm  ruling  hand  over  their  proceedings,  seems  to  fulfil 
every  purpose  of  government.  The  aim  has  been 
throughout  to  ascertain  and  to  gratify,  when  prac- 
ticable, the  reasonable  wants  of  the  Chinese,  who  have 
responded  to  these  advances  by  an  exhibition  of  public 
spirit  which  no  society  could  excel.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  in  the  wide  dominion  of  the  Queen  there  are 
250,000  souls  more  appreciative  of  orderly  government 
than  the  denizens  of  the  whilom  nest  of  pirates  and 
cut-throats — Hongkong. 

As  an  educational  centre  Hongkong  fulfils  a  function 
whose  value  is  difficult  to  estimate.  From  the  founda- 
tion of  the  colony  the  subject  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  executive  Government,  €is  well  as  of  different  sec- 
tions of  the  civil  community.  The  missionary  bodies 
were  naturally  very  early  in  the  field,  and  there  was 
for  a  good  many  years  frank  co  -  operation  between 
them  and  the  mercantile  community  in  promoting 
schools  both  for  natives  and  Europeans.  In  time, 
however,  either  their  aims  were  found  to  diverge  or 
else  their  estimate  of  achievement  differed,  and  many 
of  the  missionary  teaching  establishments  were  left 
without  support. 

After  an  interval  of  languor,  however,  new  life  was 
infused   into   the  educational   schemes  of  the   colony. 


282  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

The  emulation  of  religious  sects  and  the  common  desire 
to  bring  the  lambs  of  the  flock  into  their  respective 
folds  inspired  the  efforts  of  the  propagandists,  their  zeal 
reacting  on  the  colonial  Government  itself  with  the 
most  gratifying  results,  so  far  at  least  as  the  extension 
of  the  field  of  their  common  efforts  was  concerned. 

The  Chinese  had  imported  their  own  school  systems, 
while  taking  full  advantage  of  the  educational  facilities 
provided  by  the  Government  and  the  Christian  bodies. 
Being  an  intellectual  race,  they  are  well  able  to  as- 
similate the  best  that  Christendom  has  to  offer  them. 
But  the  colonial  system  contents  itself  with  a  sound 
practical  commercial  education,  which  has  equipped 
vast  numbers  of  Chinese  for  the  work  of  clerks,  in- 
terpreters, and  so  forth,  and  has  thus  been  the  means 
of  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the  English  language 
over  the  coast  of  China,  and  of  providing  a  medium 
of  communication  between  the  native  and  European 
mind. 

The  material  progress  of  Hongkong  speaks  volumes 
for  the  energy  of  its  community.  The  precipitous 
character  of  the  island  left  scarcely  a  foothold  for 
business  or  residential  settlement.  The  strip  which 
formed  the  strand  front  of  the  city  of  Victoria  afforded 
room  for  but  one  street,  forcing  extensions  up  the 
rugged  face  of  the  hill  which  soon  was  laid  out  in  zig- 
zag terraces  :  foundations  for  the  houses  are  scarped 
out  of  the  rock,  giving  them  the  appearance  of  citadels. 
The  locality  being  subject  to  torrential  rains,  streets 
and  roads  had  to  be  made  with  a  finished  solidity  which 
is  perhaps  unmatched.  Bridges,  culverts,  and  gutters 
all  being  constructed  of  hewn  granite  and  fitted  with 
impervious  cement,  the  storm-waters  are  carried  off  as 


ADVERSE   CONDITIONS    OVERCOME.  283 

clean  as  from  a  ship's  deck.  These  municipal  works 
were  not  achieved  without  great  expense  and  skilfully- 
directed  labour,  of  which  an  unlimited  supply  can 
always  be  depended  on.  And  the  credit  of  their 
achievement  must  be  equally  divided  between  the 
Government  and  the  civil  community. 

The  island  is  badly  situated  as  regards  its  water- 
supply,  which  has  necessitated  the  excavation  of 
immense  reservoirs  on  the  side  farthest  from  the  town, 
the  aqueduct  being  tunnelled  for  over  a  mile  through  a 
solid  granite  mass.  These  and  other  engineering  works 
have  rendered  Hongkong  the  envy  of  the  older  colonies 
in  the  Far  East.  No  less  so  the  palatial  architecture  in 
which  the  one  natural  product  of  the  island  has  been 
turned  to  the  most  effective  account.  The  quarrying 
of  granite  blocks,  in  which  the  Chinese  are  as  great 
adepts  as  they  are  in  dressing  the  stones  for  building, 
has  been  so  extensive  as  visibly  to  alter  the  profile  of 
the  island. 

A  great  deficiency  of  the  island  as  a  commercial  site 
being  the  absence  of  level  ground,  the  enterprise  of  the 
colonists  has  been  incessantly  directed  towards  supply- 
ing the  want.  Successive  reclamations  on  the  sea-front, 
costing  of  course  large  sums  of  money,  have  so  enlarged 
the  building  area  that  the  great  thoroughfare  called 
Queen's  Road  now  runs  along  the  back  instead  of  the 
front  of  a  new  city,  the  finest  buildings  of  all  being  the 
most  recent,  standing  upon  the  newly  reclaimed  land. 
It  is  characteristic  of  such  improvements,  that,  while  in 
course  of  execution,  they  should  be  deemed  senseless 
extravagance,  due  to  the  ambition  of  some  speculator 
or  the  caprice  of  some  idealist,  thus  perpetually  illus- 
trating the  truth  of  the  Scottish  saying,  "  Fules  and 


284  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

bairns  should  never  see  a  thing  half  done."  Hongkong 
has  been  no  exception  to  so  universal  a  rule. 

The  industrial  enterprise  of  the  colony  has  fully 
kept  pace  with  its  progress  in  other  respects.  The 
Chinese  quarter  resembles  nothing  so  much  as  a  colony 
of  busy  ants,  where  every  kind  of  handicraft  is  plied 
with  such  diligence,  day  in  and  day  out,  as  the  Chinese 
alone  seem  capable  of  The  more  imposing  works  con- 
ducted by  foreigners  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the 
whole  economy  of  the  Far  East.  Engineering  and 
shipbuilding  have  always  been  carried  on  in  the 
colony.  Graving  -  docks  capable  of  accommodating 
modern  battleships,  and  of  executing  any  repairs  or 
renewals  required  by  them  as  efficiently  as  could  be 
done  in  any  part  of  the  world,  constitute  Hongkong 
a  rendezvous  for  the  navies  of  all  nations.  Manu- 
factures of  various  kinds  flourish  on  the  island. 
Besides  cotton  -  mills,  some  of  the  largest  sugar- 
refineries  in  the  world,  fitted  with  the  most  modern 
improvements,  work  up  the  raw  material  from 
Southern  China,  Formosa,  the  Philippines,  and  other 
sugar-growing  countries  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago, 
thus  furnishing  a  substantial  item  of  export  to  the 
Australian  colonies  and  other  parts  of  the  world. 
The  colony  has  thereby  created  for  itself  a  commerce 
of  its  own,  while  its  strategical  situation  has  enabled 
it  to  retain  the  character  of  a  pivot  on  which  all  Far 
Eastern  commerce  turns. 

This  pivotal  position  alone,  and  not  the  local 
resources  of  the  place,  enabled  the  colony  to  found  one 
of  the  most  successful  financial  organisations  of  the 
modern  world.  The  Hongkong  and  Shanghai  Bank 
has    had   a    history    not    dissimilar   from    that    of  the 


HONGKONG  AND  SHANGHAI  BANK.       285 

colony  as  a  whole,  one  of  success  followed  by  periods 
of  alternate  depression  and  elation.  Now  in  the 
trouofh  of  the  wave  and  now  on  its  crest,  the  bank 
has  worked  its  way  by  inherent  vitality  through  all 
vicissitudes  of  good  or  bad  fortune,  until  it  has  gone 
near  to  monopolising  the  exchange  business  of  the  Far 
East,  and  has  become  the  recognised  medium  between 
the  money-market  of  London  and  the  financial  needs  of 
the  Imperial  Chinese  administration. 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  as  a  condition  of  its 
success  that  the  great  Hongkong  Bank,  like  all  other 
successful  joint -stock  enterprises,  whether  in  Hong- 
kong or  in  China,  has  from  its  origin  borne  a  broad 
international  character.  Though  legally  domiciled  in  a 
British  possession,  representative  men  of  all  nation- 
alities sit  on  its  board  and  take  their  turn  in  the 
chairmanship  as  it  comes  round.  The  international 
character,  indeed,  may  be  cited  as  one  of  the  ele- 
ments of  the  success  of  the  colony  itself.  No  dis- 
ability of  any  kind  attaches  to  alien  settlers,  not 
even  exclusion  from  the  jury  panel.  They  are  free  to 
acquire  property,  to  carry  on  business,  to  indulge  their 
whims,  and  to  avail  themselves  of  all  the  resources  of 
the  colony,  and  enjoy  the  full  protection  of  person  and 
property  which  natural-born  British  subjects  possess. 
They  come  and  go  at  their  pleasure,  no  questions 
asked,  no  luggage  examined,  no  permits  required  for 
any  purpose  whatever  coming  within  the  scope  of 
ordinary  life.  Nor  are  they  even  asked  whether  they 
appreciate  these  advantages  or  not ;  in  fact  they  are 
as  free  to  criticise  the  institutions  under  which  they 
live  as  if  they  had  borne  their  part  in  creating  them, 
which,  in  fact,  they  have  done,  and  this  it  is  which 


286  HONGKONG.  [chap.  xiv. 

marks  the  vitality  of  the  British  system,  whether  in 
the  mother  country  or  in  its  distant  dependencies. 

The  exceedingly  cramped  conditions  of  life  on  the 
island  having  proved  such  an  obstacle  to  its  develop- 
ment, the  acquisition  of  a  portion  of  the  mainland 
forming  one  side  of  the  harbour  was  at  an  early  period 
spoken  of  as  a  desideratum  for  the  colony.  The  idea 
took  no  practical  shape,  however,  until  the  occupation 
of  Canton  by  the  Allied  forces  under  the  administration 
of  Consul  Parkes  ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  noteworthy 
achievements  of  that  indefatigable  man  that,  during  the 
time  when  Great  Britain  was  in  fact  at  war  with  the 
Government  of  China,  he  should  have  succeeded,  on  his 
own  initiative,  in  obtaining  from  the  governor  of  the 
city  a  lease  of  a  portion  of  land  at  Kowloon,  which  was 
subsequently  confirmed  by  the  convention  of  Peking  in 
1860.  The  improvement  of  artillery  and  other  means 
of  attack  on  sea-forts  left  the  island  very  vulnerable, 
and  the  measures  taken  by  the  various  European 
Powers  to  establish  naval  stations  on  the  Chinese 
coast,  together  with  the  efforts  which  the  country 
itself  was  making  to  become  a  modern  military  Power, 
rendered  it  a  matter  of  absolute  necessity,  for  the 
preservation  of  the  island,  that  a  sufficient  area  of 
the  adjacent  territory  should  be  included  within  its 
defences.  Following  the  example  set  by  Germany 
and  Russia,  the  British  Government  concluded  an  ar- 
rangement with  the  Government  of  China  by  which 
the  needed  extension  was  secured  to  Great  Britain 
under  a  ninety  -  nine  years  lease.  A  convention  em- 
bodying this  agreement  was  signed  at  Peking  in 
June  1898. 


287 


CHAPTER    XY. 


MACAO. 


Contrast  with  Hongkong  —  An  interesting  survival — Trading  facilities — 
Eelations  with  Chinese  Government — Creditable  to  both  parties — 
Successful  resistance  to  the  Dutch — Portuguese  expulsion  from  Japan 
— English  trading  competitors  enjoy  hospitality  of  Macao — Trade  with 
Canton — Hongkong  becomes  a  rival  —  Macao  eclipsed  —  Gambling, 
Coolie  trade,  Piracy — Population — Cradle  of  many  improvements — 
Distinguished  names. 

The  three  hours'  transit  from  Hongkong  to  Macao 
carries  one  into  another  world.  The  incessant  scream 
of  steam  -  launches  which  plough  the  harbour  in  all 
directions  night  and  day  gives  place  to  the  drowsy 
chime  of  church  bells,  and  instead  of  the  throng  of 
busy  men,  one  meets  a  solitary  black  mantilla  walking 
demurely  in  the  middle  of  a  crooked  and  silent  street. 
Perhaps  nowhere  is  the  modern  world  with  its  clamour 
thrown  into  such  immediate  contrast  with  that  which 
belongs  to  the  past. 

The  settlement  of  Macao  is  a  monument  of  Chinese 
toleration  and  of  Portuguese  tenacity.  The  Portuguese 
learnt  at  an  early  stage  of  their  intercourse  the  use 
of  the  master-key  to  good  relations  with  the  Chinese 
authorities.  It  was  to  minister  freely  to  their  cupidity, 
which  the  Portuguese  could  well  afford  to  do  out  of  the 
profits  of  their  trading.     To    '*  maintain  ourselves  in 


288  MACAO.  [chap.  XV. 

this  place  we  must  spend  much  with  the  Chinese 
heathen,"  as  they  themselves  said  in  1593  in  a  letter 
to  Philip  I.  Macao  is,  besides,  an  interesting  relic  of 
that  heroic  age  when  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth 
became  the  dream  of  European  adventurers.  The  spot 
was  excellently  well  suited  for  the  purposes,  commercial 
and  propagandist,  which  it  was  destined  to  serve ;  for 
in  spite  of  the  crimes  and  cruelties  of  the  sixteenth 
century  argonauts,  the  religious  element  was  strongly 
represented  in  all  their  enterprises.^  Situated  outside 
the  river  proper,  though  w^ithin  its  wide  estuary,  and 
open  to  the  sea,  the  settlement  yet  communicates  by 
an  inner  passage  or  branch  of  the  Pearl  river  with  the 
city  of  Canton.  It  possesses  two  sheltered  harbours 
adequate  to  the  nautical  requirements  of  the  Middle 
Ages. 

The  small  peninsula  of  Macao  combined  business 
conveniences  with  salubrity  of  climate  in  a  degree  ab- 
solutely unrivalled  in  the  torrid  zone.  Its  picturesque 
scenery  was  always  found  refreshing  to  the  eye  wearied 
by  long  contemplation  of  brick  walls,  malarious  swamps, 
or  the  monotonous  glare  of  the  melancholy  ocean.  From 
the  Chinese  point  of  view,  also,  it  was  an  ideal  loca- 
tion for  strangers,  since  they  could  be  thus  kept  out  of 
sight,  isolated  like  a  ship  in  quarantine,  and  put  under 

1  Nomenclature  alone  sufficiently  attests  this  fact — whether  of  the  ships 
that  carried  them  or  of  the  lands  they  christened,  as  Natal,  Trinidad,  &c. 
The  gigantic  cross  carved  in  the  granite  face  of  Table  Mountain  (it  is  said) 
by  Vasco  da  Gama  proclaimed  to  the  wide  ocean  the  sanctity  of  his  mission. 
English  adventurers  were  strongly  imbued  with  the  same  pious  spirit. 
Down  to  our  own  day  marine  policies  open  with  the  words,  "  In  the  name 
of  God,  Amen  " ;  while  the  bill  of  lading,  which  within  the  past  generation 
has  become  packed  with  clauses  like  a  composite  Act  of  Parliament — all 
tending  to  absolve  the  owner  from  responsibility  as  carrier — formerly  began 
with  the  words,  "  Shipped  by  the  grace  of  God,"  and  ended  with  the  prayer 
that  "  God  would  send  the  good  ship  to  her  desired  port  in  safety." 


EARLY   PORTUGUESE   SETTLERS.  289 

effective  restraint.  The  situation  lent  itself  to  the 
traditional  Chinese  tactics  of  controlling  barbarians  by 
stopping  their  food-supply,  a  form  of  discipline  of  which 
the  efficacy  had  been  proved  at  an  early  period  in  the 
history  of  the  colony.  The  Chinese  adopted  all  the 
measures  they  could  think  of  to  confine  traders  to 
Macao,  where  certain  indulgences  were  held  out  to 
them,  subject  to  good  behaviour. 

The  Portuguese  adventurers  of  the  early  sixteenth 
century,  to  whom  the  modern  world  owes  so  much, 
did  well  in  pitching  on  this  "gem  of  the  orient  earth 
and  open  sea"  as  a  link  in  their  chain  of  trading 
stations,  which  extended  from  the  coasts  of  Africa  to 
the  Japanese  islands.  To  trade  as  such  the  Chinese 
Government  never  seem  to  have  had  any  objection, 
nor,  would  it  appear,  to  foreigners  as  such.  So  long 
as  there  was  nought  to  fear  from  their  presence,  the 
ancient  maxim  of  cherishing  men  from  afar  could  be 
followed  without  reserve,  for  the  Chinese  are  by  nature 
not  an  unkindly  people.  Tradition,  indeed,  claims  for 
the  settlement  of  foreigners  in  the  Cantonese  archi- 
pelago a  purely  hospitable  origin,  a  storm-beaten  vessel 
having  in  the  year  1517  received  permission  from  the 
local  authorities  to  repair  damages  and  dry  her  cargo 
there.  The  Portuguese  frequented  several  harbours 
before  they  settled  at  Macao,  their  principal  station 
being  the  island  of  Sanchuan,  where  Xavier  was  buried. 
About  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  city  of 
Canton  being  besieged  by  a  large  piratical  force  whose 
base  of  operations  was  Macao,  the  high  provincial 
authorities  in  their  extremity  sought  the  aid  of  the 
Portuguese,  who  came  promptly  to  the  rescue  of  the 
city,  defeated  the  pirates,  and  captured  their  strong- 

VOL.   I.  T 


290  MACAO.  [chap.  XV. 

hold.  Moved  by  mixed  feelings  of  gratitude  and  policy, 
the  Canton  authorities  thereupon  sanctioned  the  Portu- 
guese occupation  of  Macao,  not  ill-pleased  to  set  up  at 
that  strategic  point  so  effective  a  counterpoise  to  the 
native*  pirates. 

It  said  as  much  for  the  tact  of  the  Portuguese 
as  for  the  forbearance  of  the  Chinese  authorities  that 
such  an  isolated  position  as  that  of  Macao  should 
have  been  held  without  force,  and  only  on  the  prestige 
of  past  achievements,  on  terms  of  mutual  amity,  for 
nearly  four  hundred  years.  The  Portuguese  squatters 
paid  to  the  Chinese  Government  a  ground  -  rent  of 
about  £150  per  annum,  in  consideration  of  which 
they  enjoyed  practical  independence.  "  The  mer- 
chants, fully  aware  that  their  settlement  at  Macao 
was  due  neither  to  any  conquest,  nor  as  a  return  for 
services  by  co-operating  in  destruction  of  pirates,  bore 
in  mind  two  principles — to  be  on  good  terms  with  the 
provincial  authorities,  and  to  improve  as  much  as 
possible  their  exclusive  trade  with  China."  The  forms 
of  administrative  authority  were  indeed  maintained 
by  the  Chinese,  their  permission  being  required  to 
reside  and  to  build  houses  and  so  forth — regulations 
which  were  more  vexatious,  perhaps,  in  theory  than 
in  fact.  The  exercise  of  Chinese  jurisdiction  over 
the  person  was  asserted  with  moderation  as  regards 
the  Portuguese,  though  full  authority  was  maintained 
over  the  native  population.  The  Portuguese,  how- 
ever, became  dissatisfied  with  the  relationship  which 
had  worked  smoothly  for  three  hundred  years,  and 
when  the  treaty  -  making  era  arrived  they  sought 
means  to  improve  their  status.  By  persistent  efforts 
they   gradually  freed   themselves   from   the   overlord- 


VICISSITUDES.  291 

ship  of  China,  this  object  being  finally  attained  by 
good  diplomacy  in  1887,  when  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment ceded  to  Portugal  sovereign  rights  over  Macao 
in  consideration  of  assistance  rendered  by  the  colony 
in  the  collection  of  the  Chinese  opium  revenue. 

Macao  did  not  escape  the  fortunes  of  the  long  war 
of  commercial  supremacy  which  was  waged  between 
Holland  and  Portugal,  but  the  colony  successfully 
resisted  two  attempts  to  reduce  it  in  1622  and  1627. 
Its  resources  at  that  period  enabled  the  diminutive 
settlement  even  to  play  some  part  in  the  game  of 
empire  in  China  itself,  for  we  are  told  that  a  force  of 
400  men  from  India,  under  the  command  of  two  Portu- 
guese officers,  proceeded  by  land  to  Peking  to  support 
the  last  Ming  emperor  in  his  struggle  with  the  invad- 
ing Manchus.  These  auxiliaries  returned  whence  they 
came  without  seeing  active  service. 

Although  the  Dutch  failed  to  take  military  pos- 
session of  Macao,  they  took  other  trading  colonies, 
and  succeeded  eventually  in  wresting  from  the  Portu- 
guese their  Asiatic  commerce.  They  supplanted  them 
entirely  in  Japan,  whose  "gold  and  spoils"  had  greatly 
enriched  the  colony.  Being  expelled,  not  without 
reason,  in  1662,  the  Portuguese  fugitives  from  Japan 
retired  to  Macao. 

Other  competitors  also  began  to  appear  and  to 
assert  their  right  to  participate  in  the  trade  of  the 
Far  East,  and  Macao  became  the  hostelry  for  mer- 
chants of  all  nations,  who  carried  on  business  with 
the  great  Chinese  emporium.  Canton.  Chief  among 
these  guests  were  the  Dutch  and  English  East  India 
Companies,  both  of  which  maintained  establishments 
at  Macao  for  some  two  hundred  years. 


292  MACAO.  [chap.  XV. 

The  English  Company  had  made  use  of  the  Macao 
anchorage  first  under  a  treaty  with  the  viceroy  of 
Goa,  and  subsequently  under  Cromwell's  treaty  with 
the  Portuguese  Government  in  1654,  which  permitted 
English  ships  to  enter  all  the  ports  in  the  Portuguese 
Indies.  Before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
ships  were  despatched  direct  from  England  to  Macao. 
The  English  adventurers  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
privilege  of  anchoring  so  far  from  the  great  emporium, 
but  direct  trade  with  Canton  had  yet  to  be  fought 
for.  The  energetic  Captain  Weddell,  commanding  the 
ship  London,  in  1655  met  the  obstructive  tactics  of 
the  Cantonese  authorities  by  bombarding  the  Bogue 
forts  and  forcing  his  way  up  the  river,  after  which 
he  was  received  in  friendly  audience  by  the  viceroy, 
and  was  granted  full  participation  in  the  Canton  trade, 
much  to  the  chagrin,  it  is  said,  of  the  jealous  Macao 
merchants. 

The  loss  of  its  own  direct  commerce  was  thus  com- 
pensated for  by  the  tribute  which  the  Portuguese 
colony  was  able  to  levy  upon  the  general  trade  of 
China,  by  whomsoever  carried  on.  Massive  houses, 
with  immense  verandahs  running  all  round  them, 
and  spacious  and  cool  interior  recesses,  attest  to 
this  day  the  ancient  glory  of  Macao.  Though 
now  neglected,  and  perhaps  converted  to  baser  uses, 
they  afibrd  a  glimpse  of  the  easy  life  led  by  the 
Company's  agents  and  the  merchants  in  the  days 
before  the  treaty.  During  the  business  season,  which 
was  in  the  cool  months,  the  whole  mercantile  com- 
munity repaired  to  the  factories  at  Canton  while  the 
ships  lay  at  the  deep-water  anchorage  of  Whampoa, 
and  between  these  two  points  the  work  of  the  year 


A   REFRESHING   RETREAT.  293 

was  done — arduous  enough,  no  doubt,  while  it  lasted. 
In  spite  of  some  contemporary  testimony  to  the  con- 
trary, one  can  hardly  conceive  the  quasi- imprisonment 
within  the  Canton  factories  as  a  kind  of  life  to  be  en- 
joyed, but  only  as  one  to  be  endured  for  an  object.  At 
any  rate,  when  the  last  cargo  of  tea  had  been  shipped 
off  the  scene  was  like  the  break-up  of  a  school.  The 
merchants  and  their  whole  establishment  betook  them- 
selves to  their  sumptuous  river  barges,  and  glided 
down  the  stream  to  Macao,  where  the  luxury  of  a 
long  holiday  awaited  them.  Once  at  least  in  every 
year  the  foreigners  were  in  full  accord  with  the 
Chinese  authorities,  who  sternly  forbade  loitering, 
and  kept  up  the  form  of  peremptorily  sending  the 
merchants  away  as  soon  as  their  business  had  been 
done.  Nevertheless,  those  who  desired  to  remain 
found  no  difficulty. 

The  Portuguese  colony,  whether  or  not  under  com- 
pulsion, played  an  ungracious  part  in  the  troubles 
which  preceded  the  outbreak  of  war  between  Great 
Britain  and  China.  To  evict  from  their  houses  a 
company  of  helpless  people  and  drive  them  to  sea, 
even  at  the  bidding  of  an  oriental  tyrant,  was  a 
proceeding  little  in  keeping  with  the  traditions 
of  Lusitanian  chivalry.  But  Englishmen  may  very 
well  forgive  the  Portuguese  this  act  of  inhumanity, 
since  it  compelled  the  fugitives  to  seek  a  home  of 
their  own  in  the  Canton  waters,  destined  to  eclipse 
the  fading  glories  of  "la  cidade  do  nome  de  Deos  da 
Macao." 

The  treaty  of  1842,  which  enabled  British  merchants 
to  set  up  house  for  themselves,  deprived  Macao  of  a 
large  portion  of  its  revenue  ;  but  even  under  this  eclipse 


294  MACAO.  [chap.  XV. 

the  era  of  its  prosperity  did  not  then  come  quite  to 
an  end. 

The  occupation  of  Hongkong  supplied  to  British 
traders  all  the  wants  which  Macao  had  previously 
furnished,  accompanied  by  a  security  which  the 
Portuguese  Administration  was  unable  to  confer.  Its 
harbour  was  incomparably  superior,  fulfilling  all  the 
requirements  of  a  modern  seaport.  These  advantages 
were  irresistible ;  nevertheless,  the  merchants  vacated 
with  evident  reluctance  the  roomy  mansions  in  which 
the  pleasantest  part  of  their  lives  had  been  spent. 
Several  of  them  retained  possession  of  their  Macao 
homes,  using  them  for  purposes  of  recreation.  "  Dent's 
comfortable  quarters  at  Macao "  afforded  an  agreeable 
retreat  for  Admiral  Keppel,  and  no  doubt  many  others 
of  the  nautical  brotherhood  before  and  after  his  time ; 
for  the  sea-breezes  of  Macao  were  almost  as  great  a 
relief  to  the  denizens  of  Queen's  Road  as  to  the 
community  which,  after  the  treaty,  was  permanently 
quartered  in  the  Canton  factories.  To  this  day  Macao, 
well  served  by  fast  and  commodious  steamers,  remains 
a  favoured  resort  for  week-end  tourist  parties,  picnics, 
honeymoons,  and  the  like. 

The  population  of  Macao  is  estimated  at  75,000 
Chinese  and  under  4000  Portuguese,  of  whom  the 
percentage  of  pure  blood  is  not  large.  The  so-called 
Portuguese  of  the  Chinese  coast  differ  from  those  of  Goa 
as  the  Chinese  differ  from  the  Indian  natives.  They 
supply  a  want  in  the  general  economy  :  in  China,  as 
clerks,  for  whose  work  they  have,  like  the  indispensable 
babu,  a  natural  aptitude  ;  in  India,  as  domestic  and 
personal  servants.  With  the  increase  of  typewriting 
and  the  practice  of  dictation  in  mercantile  establish- 


THE   COOLIE   TRADE.  295 

merits  the  clerical  services  of  the  Macaese  are  likely 
to  assume  less  importance.  They  are  good  Catholics, 
smoke  cigarettes,  and  are  harmless. 

Though  for  many  years  Macao  suffered  depression 
from  the  loss  of  its  foreign  trade,  its  natural  advantages 
in  course  of  time  attracted  to  it  new  branches  of 
industry,  which  to  some  extent  revived  its  drooping 
prosperity.  Foreign  and  native  merchants  found  it 
convenient  to  conduct  a  certain  portion  of  their  trade 
in  tea  and  silk  and  other  articles  in  the  quiet  old  city, 
where  burdens  were  light  and  labour  abundant.  Traffic 
of  a  less  desirable  character  found  also  its  natural 
domicile  in  the  colony.  It  became  the  headquarters 
of  the  lucrative  coolie  trade,  which  there  for  many 
years  found  an  asylum  where  it  feared  no  law,  human 
or  divine.  To  the  credit  of  the  Portuguese  Govern- 
ment, however,  this  traffic  was  abolished  in  1874. 
Opium  and  gambling  licences  now  provide  the  chief 
contributions  to  a  colonial  revenue,  the  surplus  of 
which  over  expenditure  furnishes  a  respectable  annual 
tribute  to  the  needy  mother  country. 

There  is  yet  another  species  of  enterprise  historically 
associated  with  the  colony  which  cannot  be  altogether 
omitted,  though  it  should  be  mentioned  with  the  ex- 
tenuating circumstances.  Piracy,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  rampant  on  the  coasts  of  Asia,  as  it  was  also 
in  Europe,  before  Yasco  da  Gama  doubled  the  Cape ; 
and  it  was  not  to  be  expected  in  an  age  when 
successful  buccaneers  in  the  Atlantic  were  earning 
distinction  by  harassing  the  common  enemy  Spain, 
that  an  isolated  colony  in  remote  Asia,  detached 
from  Europe  a  century  and  a  half  earlier,  should 
have     anticipated    the     ethical     refinements     of    the 


296  MACAO.  [chap.  XV. 

awakening  conscience  of  Christendom.  Slavery  it- 
self was  tolerated  among  the  most  enlightened  races 
until  the  middle  of  the  present  century,  and  if  the 
Macaese  did  feel  a  sneaking  toleration  for  mitigated 
forms  of  it,  as  well  as  for  other  species  of  criminality 
which  flourished  all  round  them,  it  must  be  admitted 
the  temptation  lay  very  near  to  their  hand.  They  had 
been  brought  up  for  centuries  in  close  familiarity  with 
the  practices  of  the  sea-rover.  Though  it  cannot  be 
said  that  piracy  ever  took  rank  as  a  domestic  institution 
in  patriarchal  Macao,  yet  the  openings  for  young  men 
were  much  restricted  by  family  custom,  and  instances 
have  been  reported  of  improvident  sons  laying  unfilial 
hands  on  their  fathers*  junks  on  the  coast  with  a  view 
to  rectifying  the  balance  of  the  family  finance. 
Whether  or  not  such  modes  of  redress  were  ever 
actually  carried  into  effect,  the  fact  that  legends  of 
this  character  should  have  woven  themselves  into  the 
tissue  of  local  gossip  within  comparatively  recent 
times,  and  in  connection  with  well  -  known  names, 
indicates  a  state  of  feeling  which  should  be  allowed 
for  in  considering  the  relation  of  Macao  to  Chinese 
piracy. 

The  influence  of  Macao  on  the  history  of  foreign 
relations  with  China  extended  much  beyond  the  sphere 
of  mere  commercial  interests.  For  three  hundred  years 
it  was  for  foreigners  the  gate  of  the  Chinese  empire, 
and  all  influences,  good  and  bad,  which  came  from 
without  were  infiltrated  through  that  narrow  opening, 
which  also  served  as  the  medium  through  which  China 
was  revealed  to  the  Western  world.  It  was  in  Macao 
that  the  first  lighthouse  was  erected,  a  symbol  of  the 
illuminating  mission  of  foreigners   in   China.      It  was 


ITS   EARLY   CELEBRITIES.  297 

there  also  that  the  first  printing-press  was  set  up, 
employing  movable  type  instead  of  the  stereotype 
wooden  blocks  used  by  the  Chinese.  From  that  press 
was  issued  Morrison's  famous  Dictionary,  and  for  a  long 
series  of  years  the  Chinese  Repository,  a  perfect  store- 
house of  authentic  information  concerning  the  Chinese 
empire,  conducted  chiefly  by  English  and  American 
missionaries.  The  first  foreign  hospital  in  China  was 
opened  at  Macao,  and  there  vaccination  was  first  prac- 
tised. It  was  from  Macao  that  the  father  of  China 
missions,  Matteo  Ricci,  started  on  his  adventurous 
journey  through  the  interior  of  the  country  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  ultimately  reaching  the  capital, 
where  he  established  an  influence  over  the  Imperial 
Court  scarcely  less  than  miraculous,  thus  laying  the 
foundation-stone  of  the  Catholic  propaganda  in  China. 
The  little  Portuguese  settlement  has  therefore  played 
no  mean  part  in  the  changes  which  have  taken  place 
in  the  great  empire  of  China. 

Of  the  personages  associated  with  its  history,  the 
most  brilliant,  or  at  least  the  best  known,  was  St 
Francis  Xavier,  the  apostle  of  the  Indies, — a  man  of  so 
magnetic  a  character  that  he  was  credited  with  the 
miraculous  gift  of  tongues,  while  as  a  matter  of  fact  he 
seems  not  to  have  been  even  an  ordinarily  good  linguist, 
speaking  to  the  natives  of  the  Far  East  only  through 
an  interpreter.  Xavier  died  and  was  buried  in  the 
neighbouring  island  of  Sanchuan,  whence  his  remains 
were  transferred  first  to  Macao  itself  and  afterwards  to 
Goa.  The  names  of  Xavier  and  Ricci  cast  a  halo  over 
the  first  century  of  the  existence  of  Macao.  Another 
of  the  earlier  residents  of  world-wide  fame  was  the 
poet  Camoens,  who  in  a  grotto  formed  of  granite  blocks 


298  MACAO.  [chap.  XV. 

tumbled    together   by  nature,    almost  washed   by  the 
sea,  sat  and  wrote  the  Portuguese  epic  '  The  Lusiad,' 
celebrating  the  adventures  of  the  great  navigator  Yasco 
da  Gama.     Of  names  belonging  to  the  present  century, 
or  the  English  period,   two  only  need  be  mentioned 
here.     One  was  Robert  Morrison,  the  father  of  English 
sinology,    who    was    sent    to    China    by    the    London 
Missionary    Society    in    1807.      This   remarkable   man 
had   mastered   the   initial   difficulties   of  the   Chinese 
language   before    leaving    England.      This    he   accom- 
plished  by   the   aid   of  a   young   Cantonese,   and   by 
diligent  study  of  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  and  of 
a   MS.   Latin-Chinese  dictionary  lent  to  him  by  the 
Royal  Society.     His  teacher  accompanied  him  on  the 
long  voyage  to  China,  during  which  Morrison  laboured 
"  from  morning  to  midnight."     In  Canton  a  Pekingese 
teacher,    a   Catholic   convert,   was   obtained,    and   the 
study  of  Chinese   was   carried   on   assiduously.      The 
most    enduring   monument    of  these   labours  was   the 
Chinese-English  dictionary,  which  was  printed  by  the 
East   India    Company   at    a    cost    of   £15,000.      This 
standard  work  has  been  the  fountain  from  which  all 
students  of  Chinese  have  drawn  since  his  time. 

Art  has  had  but  one  representative,  an  Irish  gentle- 
man named  George  Chinnery,  who  resided  in  Macao 
from  1825  till  his  death  in  1852.  Of  Mr  Chinnery  s 
drawings  and  paintings  there  are  many  scattered  collec- 
tions, on  some  of  which  we  have  been  able  to  draw  for 
the  illustrations  in  these  volumes. 


GEORGE  CHINNERY. 
{From  an  oil-painting  by  himself.') 


299 


CHAPTEK    XYI. 

PIRACY. 

Association  with  Hongkong  and  Macao — Activity  of  British  navy  in  sup- 
pressing piracy — Its  historic  importance — Government  relations  with 
pirates — The  convoy  system — Gross  abuse — Hongkong  legislation 
— Progress  of  steam  navigation — Fatal  to  piracy. 

A  FACTOR  which  has  done  so  much  to  shape  commer- 
cial intercourse  with  China  as  piracy  cannot  be  properly- 
ignored  in  a  survey  like  the  present.  The  settlements 
of  Hongkong  and  Macao  were  forced  into  contact 
with  this  time-honoured  institution,  for  these  places  are 
situated  as  near  to  the  piratical  centre  as  they  are  to 
that  of  the  typhoon  zone.  From  the  time  of  the  first 
war  down  to  quite  recent  years  the  British  squadron 
on  the  China  station  was  almost  engrossed  in  the  two 
duties  of  surveying  the  coast  and  rivers,  and  of  re- 
pressing piracy, — services  which  were  not  interrupted 
even  during  the  progress  of  a  war  with  the  Imperial 
Government.  Both  proceedings  were  anomalous,  being 
a  usurpation  of  the  sovereign  functions  of  the  Chinese 
Government.  That  Government,  however,  never 
evinced  more  than  a  languid  interest  in  operations 
against  its  piratical  subjects.  Piracy,  as  such,  seems 
indeed  to  have  enjoyed  that  fatalistic  toleration  which 
the  Chinese  Government  and  people  are  wont  to  ex- 


300  PIRACY.  [chap.  XVI. 

tend  to  every  species  of  abuse,  on  the  principle  that 
what  cannot  be  cured  must  be  endured.  Nor  is  China 
the  only  country  where  banditti  have  established  with 
their  future  victims  a  conventional  relation  like  that  of 
certain  predatory  animals  which  are  said  to  live  on  easy 
terms  with  the  creatures  destined  to  become  their  prey. 
Successful  leaders,  whether  of  brigands  or  of  sea-rovers, 
have  from  time  to  time  attained  high  political  status  in 
the  empire.     Wingrove  Cooke  says  : — 

Whenever  anything  occurs  of  historic  importance  we  always 
find  that  some  bandit  has  had  a  hand  in  it.  The  land  was 
always  full  of  them.  When  the  Tartars  possessed  themselves 
of  China,  one  of  these  bandit  chiefs  had  just  possessed  himself 
of  Peking,  and  the  last  of  the  Ming  race  had  just  hanged  him- 
self. It  was  a  pirate  who  drove  the  Dutch  out  of  Formosa ; 
the  son  of  a  "  celebrated  pirate  "  who  helped  the  Cantonese  to 
defend  their  city  against  the  Tartars ;  and  it  was  a  pirate  who 
the  other  day  destroyed  the  Portuguese  piratical  fleet  at  Ningpo. 
In  all  ages  and  at  all  times  China  has  been  coasted  by  pirates 
and  traversed  by  bands  of  robbers. 

In  the  '  Peking  Gazette,'  which  he  quotes,  the  Im- 
perial Government  itself  thus  describes  the  rule  of 
the  robbers  : — 

They  carry  off  persons  in  order  to  extort  ransoms  for  them  ; 
they  falsely  assume  the  characters  of  police  officers ;  they  build 
fast  boats  professedly  to  guard  the  grain-fields,  and  into  these 
they  put  from  ten  to  twenty  men,  who  cruise  along  the  rivers, 
violently  plundering  the  boats  of  travellers,  or  forcibly  carrying 
off  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  tanka  boat  people.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  villages  and  hamlets  fear  these  robbers  as 
they  would  tigers,  and  do  not  offer  them  any  resistance.  The 
husbandman  must  pay  these  robbers  a  charge,  else  as  soon  as 
his  crop  is  ripe  it  is  plundered,  and  the  whole  field  laid  bare. 
In  the  precincts  of  the  metropolis  they  set  tire  to  places  during 
the  night,  that,  under  pretence  of  saving  and  defending,  they 
may  plunder  and  carry  off. 


GOVERNMENT   RELATIONS   WITH   PIRATES.  301 

When  it  suits  the  Government  to  enlist  rebels  or 
robbers  in  its  service  it  condones  their  misdeeds,  and 
confers  on  them  rank  and  honour.  The  chief  of  the 
Black  Flags,  who  kept  up  a  guerilla  war  against 
the  French  in  Tongking,  was  a  recent  case  in  point, 
as  was  also,  if  report  speaks  truly,  the  late  gallant 
Admiral  Ting,  who  perished  in  the  Chinese  forlorn-hope 
at  Weihai-wei  in  1895.  The  relationship  between 
the  authorities  and  the  freebooters  is  often  of  so 
equivocal  a  character,  that  foreign  naval  officers  in 
their  crusade  against  pirates  may  have  failed  at  times 
to  make  the  proper  discrimination.  Vessels  seized  as 
pirates  occasionally  escaped  the  fate  which  should 
have  awaited  them  by  proving  themselves  revenue 
protectors.  But  if  the  Government  ever  suffered  from 
cases  of  mistaken  identity,  the  balance  was  hand- 
somely redressed ;  for  piracy  and  smuggling  being 
ingeniously  blended,  the  forces  of  the  British  colony 
might  in  their  turn  be  induced,  by  information  sup- 
plied by  the  Chinese  authorities,  to  act  as  revenue 
cruisers,  under  the  belief  that  they  were  being  led 
against  pirates.  The  hard  fights  resulting  in  the 
destruction  of  piratical  fleets  bearing  all  the  evidences 
of  criminality  were,  however,  too  frequent  to  permit 
any  doubt  as  to  the  general  character  of  the  craft 
so  treated. 

But  the  anti-piratical  agency  was  not  confined  to 
the  commissioned  officers  of  her  Majesty's  navy. 
Foreigners  of  all  nations  were  drawn  into  the  coast- 
ing traffic,  in  various  capacities,  as  an  antidote  to 
piracy,  with  benefit,  no  doubt,  to  legitimate  trade, 
yet  not  without  some  serious  drawbacks.  Dr  Eitel 
tells   us   that  during   the  first  decade  after  the  war 


302  PIRACY.  [chap.  XVI. 

the  waters  of  Hongkong  swarmed  with  pirates,  that 
the  whole  coast-line  was  under  the  control  of  a  black- 
mailing confederacy,  and  that  the  peaceful  trading 
junk  was  obliged  to  be  heavily  armed,  so  that  ex- 
ternally there  was  nothing  to  distinguish  a  trader 
from  a  pirate.  During  this  period  European  seamen 
took  service  with  the  native  pirates  who  made  Hong- 
kong their  headquarters,  whence  they  drew  their 
supplies,  and  where  they  kept  themselves  informed 
as  to  the  movements  of  valuable  merchandise  and  of 
war -vessels.  Foreigners  were  enlisted  also  in  the 
service  of  the  honest  trader  ;  Chinese  merchants  be- 
gan to  charter  small  European  sailing  -  vessels  for 
coasting  voyages,  whereby  they  gained  the  protection 
of  a  European  flag,  the  prestige  of  a  European  crew, 
and  the  better  sea  -  going  qualities  of  a  European 
vessel.  Steamers  also  began  to  be  employed  to  con- 
voy the  native  junks. 

The  extension  of  the  convoy  system  brought  in  its 
train  the  most  terrible  abuses,  the  class  of  foreigners 
so  employed  being  as  ready  to  sell  their  services  to 
the  pirates  as  to  the  merchants,  and  to  turn  from  pro- 
tector to  oppressor  of  the  honest  trader  with  as  much 
facility  as  Chinese  fishermen  and  pirates  interchange 
their  respective  parts.  Many  tragedies  were  enacted 
along  the  coast  and  rivers  of  China — many  more,  no 
doubt,  than  ever  became  known  to  the  foreign  public. 
Mr  Medhurst,  consul  at  Shanghai,  said  that  the 
foreigners  employed  by  the  Chinese  to  protect  their 
property  on  the  water  were  guilty  of  atrocities  of 
all  kinds  in  the  inner  waters,  which  the  Chinese 
authorities  and  people  were  unable  to  prevent.  And 
Mr    Adkins,    consul    at    Chinkiang    on    the   Yangtze, 


FOREIGN    DESPERADOES.  303 

reported  in  the  same  year,  1862,  a  series  of  brutal 
murders  committed  by  foreigners  on  the  river,  with 
which  the  native  authorities  declined  to  interfere. 
The  criminals,  not  being  amenable  to  any  jurisdiction 
but  their  own,  were  thus  left  free  to  commit  their 
outrages,  unless  some  representative  of  their  own 
country  happened  to  be  on  the  spot.  The  Taiping 
rebellion  attracted  desperate  characters  from  all 
quarters,  to  whom  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference 
under  what  flag  they  served  —  pillage  being  their 
sole  inducement.  The  only  conspicuous  case  of  trial 
of  a  foreigner  for  piracy  was  that  of  a  young 
American,  Eli  Boggs,  who  was  condemned  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Hongkong  in  1857,  and  sentenced 
to  transportation  for  life.  From  such  experiences  it 
is  to  be  apprehended  that  should  any  part  of  the 
Chinese  empire  become  disorganised,  lawless  foreigners 
will  be  a  more  terrible  scourge  to  the  inhabitants 
than  even  the  native  pirates  and  bandits. 

Of  the  abuses  developed  by  the  convoy  system,  and 
of  the  character  of  the  foreigners  concerned  therein, 
a  graphic  yet  matter-of-fact  account  is  given  by 
Wingrove  Cooke.  As  the  state  of  rampant  lawless- 
ness which  prevailed  at  the  time  on  the  China  coast, 
and  the  traditional  attitude  of  the  Government  to- 
wards freebooters,  are  so  perfectly  illustrated  in  his 
concise  narrative  of  the  destruction  of  a  Portuguese 
convoy,  no  apology  is  needed  for  quoting  a  passage 
or  two  from  Mr  Cooke's  letter  dated  Ningpo,  August 
24,  1857  :— 

The  fishing-boats  which  ply  off  the  mouth  of  the  river  Yung 
pay  convoy  duties  to  the  extent  of  50,000  dollars  a-year ;  and 
the  wood-junks  that  ply  between  Ningpo  and  Foochow,  and  the 


304  PIRACY.  [chap.  XVI. 

other  native  craft,  raise  the  annual  payment  for  protection  to 
200,000  dollars  (£70,000)  annually.  These  figures  are  start- 
ling, but  I  have  taken  pains  to  ascertain  their  correctness. 

The  vessels  employed  in  this  convoy  service  were  Portuguese 
lorchas.  These  vessels  were  well  armed  and  equipped.  There 
were  no  mandarin  junks  and  no  Portuguese  ships  of  war  to 
cope  with  them  or  control  them,  and  they  became  masters -of 
this  part  of  the  coast.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  these 
privateers  should  abuse  their  power.  They  are  accused  of  the 
most  frightful  atrocities.  It  is  alleged  that  they  made  descents 
upon  villages,  carried  off  the  women,  murdered  the  men,  and 
burnt  the  habitations.  They  became  infinitely  greater  scourges 
than  the  pirates  they  were  paid  to  repel.  It  is  alleged,  also, 
that  complaints  to  the  Portuguese  consul  were  vain ;  that  Por- 
tuguese sailors  taken  red-handed  and  handed  over  to  this  consul 
were  suffered  to  escape  from  the  consular  prison.  Kightly  or 
wrongly,  the  Chinese  thought  that  the  consul  was  in  complicity 
with  the  ruffians  who  were  acting  both  as  convoy  and  as  pirates. 
.  .  .  The  leader  of  the  pirate  fleet  was — I  am  going  back  now 
to  a  time  three  years  ago — a  Cantonese  named  A'Pak.  The 
authorities  at  Ningpo,  in  their  weakness,  determined  to  make 
terms  with  him  rather  than  submit  to  the  tyranny  of  the 
Portuguese. 

A'Pak  was  made  a  mandarin  of  the  third  class ;  and  his 
fleet — not  altogether  taken  into  Government  pay,  for  that  the 
Chinese  could  not  afford — was  nominally  made  over  to  A'Pak's 
brother.  .  .  .  After  a  few  of  these  very  sanguinary  provoca- 
tions, A'Pak — not,  it  is  believed,  without  the  concurrence  of 
the  Taotai  of  Ningpo — determined  to  destroy  this  Portuguese 
convoy  fleet. 

For  this  purpose  A'Pak's  brother  collected  his  snake-boats 
and  convoy  junks  from  along  the  whole  coast,  and  assembled 
about  twenty  of  them,  and  perhaps  500  men.  The  Portuguese 
were  not  long  in  hearing  of  these  preparations,  but  they  seem 
to  have  been  struck  with  panic.  Some  of  their  vessels  went 
south,  some  were  taken  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Seven 
lorchas  took  refuge  up  the  river,  opposite  the  Portuguese 
consulate.  The  sailors  on  board  these  lorchas  landed  some 
of  their  big  guns,  and  put  the  consulate  in  a  state  of  defence, 
and  perhaps  hoped  that  the  neighbourhood  of  the  European 
houses  and  the  character  of  the  consulate  would  prevent  an 


Hongkong's  measures  against  piracy.       305 

attack.  Not  so.  On  the  day  I  have  above  mentioned  the 
Canton  fleet  came  up  the  river.  The  Portuguese  consul  immed- 
iately fled.  The  lorchas  fired  one  broadside  at  them  as  they 
approached,  and  then  the  crews  deserted  their  vessels  and 
made  for  the  shore.  About  200  Cantonese,  accompanied  by 
a  few  Europeans,  followed  these  140  Portuguese  and  Manila- 
men  ashore.  A  fight  took  place  in  the  streets.  It  was  of 
very  short  duration,  for  the  Portuguese  behaved  in  the  most 
dastardly  manner.  The  Manila-men  showed  some  spirit,  but 
the  Portuguese  could  not  even  persuade  themselves  to  fight 
for  their  lives  behind  the  walls  of  their  consulate.  The  forti- 
fied house  was  taken  and  sacked  by  these  Chinamen,  the 
Portuguese  were  pursued  among  the  tombs,  where  they  sought 
refuge,  and  forty  of  them  were  shot  down,  or  hunted  and 
butchered  with  spears.    .    .    . 

Merciless  as  this  massacre  was,  and  little  as  is  the  choice 
between  the  two  sets  of  combatants,  it  must  be  owned  that 
the  Cantonese  acted  with  purpose  and  discipline.  Three  trad- 
ing Portuguese  lorchas  which  lay  in  the  river  with  their  flags 
flying  were  not  molested ;  and  no  European,  not  a  Portuguese, 
was  even  insulted  by  the  infuriated  butchers.  The  stories 
current  of  Souero  and  his  Portuguese  followers  rivalled  the 
worst  of  the  tales  of  the  buccaneers,  and  public  opinion  in 
Ningpo  and  the  foreign  settlement  was  strongly  in  favour  of 
the  Cantonese. 

But  if  Hongkong  was  the  centre  of  piratical 
organisation,  it  was  also  the  centre  of  effort  to  put 
it  down.  The  exploits  of  her  Majesty's  ships,  de- 
stroying many  thousands  of  heavily-armed  piratical 
junks,  were  loyally  supplemented  by  the  legislation 
and  the  police  of  the  Colonial  Government,  which 
were  continuously  directed  towards  the  extermination 
of  piracy.  These  measures,  however,  did  not  appear 
to  make  any  material  impression  on  the  pest.  As 
part  of  his  general  policy  of  suppressing  crime,  the 
most  drastic  steps  were  taken  by  Sir  Richard  Mac- 
Donnell   against   pirates.      He   struck   at  the  root  of 

VOL.    I.  u 


306  PIRACY.  [chap.  XVI. 

the  evil  within  the  colony  itself  by  penalising  the 
receivers  of  stolen  goods,  and  by  a  stricter  surveil- 
lance over  all  Chinese  vessels  frequenting  the  har- 
bour. He  also  endeavoured  to  secure  the  co  -  oper- 
ation of  the  Chinese  Government,  without  which  no 
permanent  success  could  be  hoped  for.  This  was  not, 
indeed,  the  first  time  that  Chinese  co-operation  had 
been  invoked.  In  one  of  the  hardest  fought  actions 
against  a  piratical  stronghold  —  that  of  Sheipu  Bay, 
near  Ningpo,  in  1856  —  her  Majesty's  brig  Bittern 
was  towed  into  action  throuo^h  the  bottle  -  neck  of 
the  bay  by  a  Chinese-owned  steamer.  But  the  as- 
sistance rendered  to  the  Government  of  Hongkong 
by  the  steam-cruisers  of  the  Chinese  customs  service 
was  of  too  ambiguous  a  character  to  be  of  real 
use,  smugglers  rather  than  pirates  being  the  object 
of  the  Chinese  pursuit — smugglers  of  whom  the  high 
Chinese  officials  had  good  reason  to  be  jealous. 

The  result  of  the  police  activity  and  of  regula- 
tions for  the  coast  traffic  was  a  great  diminution 
in  the  number  of  piracy  cases  brought  before  colonial 
magistrates.  This,  however,  by  itself  was  not  con- 
clusive as  to  the  actual  decrease  of  the  crime,  for 
it  may  only  have  indicated  a  change  of  strategy 
forced  on  the  pirates  by  the  vigorous  action  of  the 
Colonial  Government.  Foreign  vessels  were  by  no 
means  exempt  from  the  attentions  of  the  piratical 
fleets,  though  they  seldom  fell  a  prey  to  open  as- 
sault at  sea.  A  different  form  of  tactics  was  re- 
sorted to  where  foreigners  were  the  object  of  attack  : 
it  was  to  embark  as  passengers  a  number  of  the 
gang  with  arms  secreted,  who  rose  at  a  signal  and 
massacred  the  ship's  officers.     Even  after  steam  ves- 


STEAMERS   CAUSE   PIRACY   TO   LANGUISH.  307 

sels  had  virtually  superseded  sailers  on  the  coast 
this  device  was  too  often  successful  through  want 
of  care  on  the  part  of  the  master.  These  attacks 
were  carried  out  with  great  skill  and  daring,  some- 
times on  the  short  passage  of  forty  miles  between 
Hongkong  and  Macao,  and  in  several  instances  almost 
within  the  harbour  limits  of  Hongkong  itself 

While  awarding  full  credit  to  the  indefatigable 
exertions  of  the  British  squadron  in  China  —  the 
only  one  that  ever  troubled  itself  in  such  matters 
— and  to  the  unremitting  efforts  of  the  colony  of 
Hongkong,  the  reduction,  if  not  the  extinction,  of 
armed  piracy  on  the  coast  of  China  must  be  attrib- 
uted largely  to  the  commercial  development,  in 
which  the  extension  of  the  use  of  steam  has  played 
the  principal  part.  Organised  by  foreigners,  and  em- 
ployed by  Chinese,  lines  of  powerful  steamers  have 
gradually  monopolised  the  valuable  traffic,  thus  render- 
ing the  calling  of  the  buccaneer  obsolete  and  profitless. 
Foreign  traders,  however,  do  well  not  to  forget  the 
debt  they  owe  to  the  institution  which  they  have 
superseded.  But  for  the  pirates,  and  the  scarcely 
less  piratical  exactions  of  officials,  the  Chinese  would 
not  have  sought  the  assistance  and  the  protection 
of  foreign  men,  foreign  ships,  or  foreign  steamers. 
Piracy  has  thus  not  only  worked  towards  its  own 
cure,  but  has  helped  to  inaugurate  an  era  of  pros- 
perous trade,  based  on  the  consolidation  of  the 
interests  of  Chinese  and  foreigners,  such  as  may 
foreshadow  further  developments  in  which  the  same 
elements  of  success  may  continue  in  fruitful  com- 
bination. 


308 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE   ARROW   WAR,    1856-1860. 


Lorchas — Outrage  on  the  Arrow — Question  of  access  to  city — Tone  of 
British  Foreign  Office — Firm  tone  of  British  Government — Destruc- 
tion of  Canton  factories  and  flight  of  foreign  residents — Operations  in 


From  the  earliest  days  of  the  British  occupation  it 
had  been  the  aim  of  the  Canton  authorities  to  de- 
stroy the  "junk"  trade  of  Hongkong  by  obstructive 
regulations,  for  which  the  supplementary  treaty  of 
1843  afforded  them  a  certain  warrant.  But  as  the 
Chinese  began  to  settle  in  large  numbers  on  the 
island  the  claims  of  free  commerce  asserted  them- 
selves, and  gradually  made  headway  against  the  re- 
strictive schemes  of  the  mandarins.  The  Govern- 
ment fostered  the  legitimate  commercial  ambition 
of  the  Chinese  colonists  by  passing  ordinances  w^here- 
by  they  were  enabled  to  register  vessels  of  their 
own,  sail  them  under  the  British  flag,  and  trade  to 
such  ports  as  were  open  to  British  shipping.  Certif- 
icates of  registry  were  granted  only  to  men  of  sub- 
stance and  respectability  who  were  lessees  of  Crown 
land  in  the  colony.  The  class  of  vessel  for  which 
colonial  registers  were  granted  was  of  native  build  and 
rig,  more  or  less  modified,  of  good  sea-going  qualities. 


1856-60.]      SEIZURE   OF   CREW   OF   BRITISH    VESSEL.  309 

known  by  the  local  name  of  lorcha.  Naturally  the 
Canton  authorities  looked  askance  at  any  measure 
aimed  at  the  liberation  of  trade,  and  so  truculent  an 
imperial  commissioner  as  Yeh  was  not  likely  to  miss 
an  opportunity  of  wreaking  vengeance  on  the  "  native- 
born"  who  dared  to  exercise  privileges  derived  from 
residence  in  the  hateful  colony. 

One  of  these  reo:istered  vessels  was  the  Arrow,  com- 
manded  by  an  Englishman  and  manned  by  Chinese. 
This  vessel  was  in  the  course  of  her  traffic  boarded  at 
Canton  at  midday  on  October  8,  1856,  by  order  of 
the  Chinese  authorities,  with  marked  official  osten- 
tation, her  crew  forcibly  carried  off  on  a  charge, 
according  to  a  Chinese  version,  "  of  being  in  collu- 
sion with  barbarians,"  and  her  ensign  hauled  down. 
How  this  outrage  on  the  British  flag  was  perpe- 
trated, how  resisted,  and  what  came  of  it,  have  been 
so  often  set  forth  that  there  is  no  need  to  dwell 
upon  the  details  here.  The  traditional  insolence  of 
the  Chinese  was  reasserted  in  all  its  virulence,  as  in 
the  days  of  Commissioner  Lin,  and  once  more  the 
British  agents  were  confronted  with  the  dilemma  of 
aggravating  past  griefs  by  submission  or  of  putting 
their  foot  down  and  ending  them.  A  single-minded 
and  courageous  man  was  in  charge  of  British  interests 
in  Canton,  and,  left  with  a  free  hand,  there  could  be  no 
doubting  the  line  Mr  Parkes  would  take.  The  decision, 
however,  lay  with  Sir  John  Bo  wring,  governor  of 
Hongkong,  her  Majesty's  plenipotentiary  and  super- 
intendent of  trade,  and  with  the  naval  commander-in- 
chief,  Sir  Michael  Seymour. 

We  have  seen  that  the  likelihood  of  sooner  or  later 
having  to  clear  accounts  with  the  authorities  of  Canton 


310  THE   ARROW   WAR.  [chap.  xvii. 

had  not  been  absent  from  the  mind  of  her  Majesty's 
Government  for  some  years  previously,  though  by  no 
initial  act  of  their  own  would  they  have  brought  the 
question  to  a  crisis.  If  the  governor  entertained 
doubts  whether  the  Arrow  insult  furnished  adequate 
provocation,  his  decision  was  materially  helped  by 
the  deadlock  in  relations  which  followed.  A  simple 
amende  for  the  indignity  offered  to  the  flag  was  asked 
for,  such  as  the  Chinese  were  adepts  in  devising 
without  "losing  face"  ;  but  all  discussion  was  refused; 
the  viceroy  would  not  admit  any  foreign  official  to  a 
personal  conference.  The  small  Arrow  question  thus 
became  merged  in  the  larger  one  of  access  to  the  city, 
and  to  the  provincial  authorities,  which  had  on  various 
pretexts  been  denied  to  the  British  representatives  in 
contravention  of  the  treaty  of  1842. 

It  happened  that  the  question  had  lately  assumed 
a  somewhat  definite  place  in  the  agenda  of  the  British 
plenipotentiary.  Lord  Clarendon  had  in  1854  in- 
structed Sir  John  Bowring  to  take  any  opportunity 
of  bringing  the  "city  question"  to  a  solution,  and  Sir 
John  addressed  a  long  despatch  to  Commissioner  Yeh 
on  the  subject  in  April  of  that  year.  It  had  no  effect, 
and  was  followed  up  a  few  months  later  by  an  effort  in 
another  direction.  The  turbulent  character  of  the  Can- 
tonese people  and  the  impracticable  arrogance  of  the 
imperial  officers  who  successively  held  office  there  had 
often  prompted  an  appeal  to  Caesar,  and  more  than 
one  attempt  had  been  made  in  times  gone  by  to  sub- 
mit the  Canton  grievances  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Imperial  Court.  These  attempts  w^ere  inspired  by  a 
total  misconception  of  the  relations  between  the  pro- 
vinces and  the  capital.     In  the  year   1854,   however. 


1856-60.]      ATTEMPTS   TO   SETTLE    "CITY       QUESTION.         311 

it  was  decided  to  renew  the  effort  to  open  direct  com- 
munications with  the  Imperial  Government.  And 
circumstances  seemed  to  promise  a  more  favourable 
issue  to  the  mission  than  had  attended  preceding  ones. 
The  time  had  come  when  a  revision  of  the  tariff  and 
commercial  articles  of  the  treaties  might  be  claimed, 
and  besides  the  standing  grievance  at  Canton  there 
were  sundry  matters  in  connection  with  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  treaties  which  together  constituted  a 
justifying  pretext  for  an  unarmed  expedition  to  the 
Peiho.  The  chances  of  a  favourable  reception  were 
thought  to  be  strengthened  by  the  combination  of  the 
Treaty  Powers.  Sir  John  Bowring  and  the  American 
Minister,  Mr  McLane,  accordingly  went  together,  with 
a  competent  staff  of  interpreters,  to  Tientsin,  where 
they  were  soon  followed  by  the  French  secretary  of 
Legation. 

High  officials  were  appointed  to  treat  with  them, 
because  it  was  feared  that  if  some  courtesy  were  not 
shown  them  the  barbarians  would  return  south  and 
join  the  rebels,  who  were  then  threatening  the 
southern  provinces.  But  the  net  result  of  the  mission 
was  that  it  was  allowed  to  depart  in  peace.  Lord 
Elgin,  commenting  on  the  proceedings,  sums  up  the 
instructions  to  the  Chinese  officials,  gathered  from  the 
secret  reports  afterwards  discovered,  as,  "  Get  rid  of 
the  barbarians,"  which  would  be  an  equally  exhaustive 
rendering  of  all  the  instructions  ever  given  to  Chinese 
plenipotentiaries.  On  the  occasion  of  this  visit  to  the 
Peiho  the  foreign  plenipotentiaries  resorted,  as  had 
been  done  on  sundry  previous  occasions,  to  the  oriental 
custom  of  approaching  a  great  man  gift  in  hand.  In 
the  depleted  condition  of  the  imperial  treasury  they 


312  THE   ARROW   WAR.  [cHAP.  XVII. 

calculated  that  the  recovery  of  the  duties  unpaid  dur- 
ing the  recent  interregnum  at  Shanghai  would  be  a 
tempting  bait  to  the  Peking  Government.  The  offer, 
however,  could  not,  it  would  appear,  be  intelligibly 
conveyed  to  the  minds  of  the  northern  functionaries  : 
unacquainted  with  commercial  affairs,  and  misconstru- 
ing the  proposal  as  a  plea  for  the  forgiveness  of  arrears, 
they  at  once  conceded  the  sop  to  Cerberus,  pleased  to 
have  such  a  convenient  way  of  closing  the  mouths  of 
the  barbarians. 

In  December  following  a  favourable  opportunity 
seemed  to  present  itself  for  renewing  the  attack  on 
the  exclusiveness  of  Canton.  The  Taiping  rebels  had 
blockaded  the  river,  and  in  a  "  pitched  battle  "  defeated 
the  imperialist  fleet  and  were  actually  threatening  the 
city.  In  this  emergency  Yeh  implored  the  aid  of  the 
English  forces.  Sir  John  Bowring  thereupon  pro- 
ceeded to  Canton  with  a  naval  force  of  five  ships  to 
protect  the  foreign  factories,  the  presence  of  the 
squadron  having  at  the  same  time  the  desired  deter- 
rent effect  on  the  rebels,  who  withdrew  their  forces. 
Now  at  last  the  governor  felt  confident  that  the  bar- 
rier to  intercourse  was  removed,  and  he  applied  to 
the  viceroy  for  an  interview ;  but  Yeh  remained 
obdurate,  refused  audience  as  before,  and  with  all 
the  old  contumely.  Precisely  the  same  thing  had 
happened  in  the  north  in  1853,  when  the  governor  of 
Kiangsu  applied  through  Consul  Alcock  to  the  super- 
intendent of  trade.  Sir  George  Bonham,  for  the  assist- 
ance of  one  of  her  Majesty's  ships  in  defending  Nan- 
king against  the  expected  attack  of  the  Taipings. 
Divers  communications  of  like  tenor  had,  during  several 
months,  led  up  to  this  definite  application.     The  appeal 


1856-60.]  ASSUMPTION   OF   SUPERIOR   STATUS.  313 

was  most  urgent,  and  yet  in  the  title  given  to  her 
Majesty's  plenipotentiary  the  two  important  characters 
had  been  omitted,  indicating  that  his  power  emanated 
from  the  ruler  of  an  *'  independent  sovereign  state." 
"Such  an  omission,"  remarked  Mr  Alcock,  **  is  char- 
acteristic of  the  race  we  have  to  deal  with,  for  even 
in  a  time  of  danger  to  the  national  existence  they 
cannot  suppress  their  arrogance  and  contempt  for  bar- 
barians." Arrogant  and  contemptuous  of  course  they 
were,  and  yet  it  may  perhaps  be  questioned  whether 
such  terms  fully  explain  the  mutilation  of  the  pleni- 
potentiary's official  titles.  Although  they  had  been 
compelled  by  mechanical  force  to  accord  titles  implying 
equality  to  foreign  officials,  yet  in  the  innermost 
conviction  of  the  Chinese  an  independent  sovereign 
State  was  at  that  time  almost  unthinkable,  and  could 
only  be  expressed  by  a  solecism.  If,  therefore,  we  ask 
how  an  imperial  commissioner  could  demean  himself 
by  soliciting  protection  from  the  barbarians  to  whom 
he  was  denying  the  scantiest  courtesy,  we  have  to 
consider  the  point  of  view  from  which  China  had  from 
time  immemorial  and  without  challenge  regarded  all 
the  outer  States.  For  it  is  the  point  of  view  that  is 
paradoxical.  To  Yeh,  considering  barbarians  merely 
as  refractory  subjects,  there  was  no  inconsistence  in 
commanding  their  aid,  while  denying  their  requests. 
The  position  is  analogous  to  that  of  Ultramontanes, 
who  claim  tolerance  for  themselves  in  heretical  com- 
munities by  a  divine  right  which  excludes  the  idea  of 
reciprocity.  This  key  to  the  history  of  foreign  inter- 
course with  China  is  too  often  forgfotten. 

Nothing  daunted,  Sir  John  returned  to  the  charge 
in  June  1855,  on  the  occasion  of  the  appointment  of 


314  THE   ARROW   WAR.  [chap.  xvii. 

the  new  consul,  Mr  Alcock,  whom  he  asked  permission 
to  introduce  to  the  Imperial  Commissioner.  His  letter 
was  not  even  acknowledged  for  a  month,  and  then 
in  the  usual  contemptuous  terms. 

So  far,  indeed,  from  Yeh's  being  mollified  by  the  as- 
sistance indirectly  accorded  to  him  in  defending  the 
city  from  rebel  attack,  or  by  the  succession  of  respect- 
ful appeals  made  to  him  by  Sir  John  Bowring,  a  new 
campaign  of  aggression  was  inaugurated  against  the 
lives  and  liberties  of  the  foreio^n  residents  in  Canton. 
This  followed  the  traditional  course.  Inflammatory 
placards  denouncing  foreigners,  and  holding  them  up 
to  the  odium  of  the  populace,  were  extensively  posted 
about  the  city  and  suburbs  in  the  summer  of  1856. 
These,  as  usual,  were  followed  by  personal  attacks  on 
isolated  Englishmen  found  defenceless,  and,  follow- 
ing the  precedents  of  ten  years  before,  the  outbreaks 
of  anti  -  foreign  feeling  in  Canton  found  their  echo 
also  in  Foochow,  where  an  American  gentleman  met 
his  death  in  a  riot  which  was  got  up  there  in  July. 
So  serious  was  the  situation  becoming  that  Mr  Consul 
Parkes,  who  had  succeeded  Mr  Alcock  in  June,  sol- 
emnly warned  the  Imperial  Commissioner  that  such 
acts,  if  not  promptly  discountenanced  by  the  authori- 
ties (who  of  course  were  well  known  to  be  the 
instigators),  must  inevitably  lead  to  deplorable  con- 
sequences. The  Chinese  reply  to  this  remonstrance 
was  the  outrage  on  the  lorcha  Arrow.  To  isolate  that 
incident,  therefore,  would  be  wholly  to  miss  the  sig- 
nificance of  it :  it  would  be  to  mistake  the  match 
for  the  mine. 

Those  who  were  on  the  spot  and  familiar  with 
antecedent  events  could  have  no  doubt  whatever  that. 


1856-60.]      INFLUENCE   OF   MERCANTILE   COMMUNITY.        315 

in  condoning  the  present  insults,  the  British  au- 
thorities would  have  invited  greater  and  always 
greater,  as  in  the  days  of  Lin.  The  tone  of  recent 
despatches  from  the  Foreign  Office  fortified  the  gov- 
ernor in  taking  a  strong  resolution ;  the  clearness 
of  Consul  Parkes'  view  made  also  a  deep  impression 
on  him  ;  and  yet  another  factor  should  not  be  al- 
together overlooked  which  contributed  its  share  in 
bringing  the  two  responsible  officials  to  a  definite 
decision.  It  was  not  an  unknown  phenomenon  in 
public  life  that  two  functionaries  whose  co-operation 
was  essential  should  mistrust  each  other.  This  was 
distinctly  the  case  with  Sir  John  Bowring  and  Sir 
Michael  Seymour.  They  needed  some  connecting 
medium  to  make  them  mutually  intelligible,  and  it 
was  found  in  the  influence  of  local  public  opinion. 
The  mercantile  community,  which  for  twenty  years, 
or  as  long  as  they  had  had  utterance,  had  never 
wavered  in  the  conviction  that  in  strength  alone 
lay  their  safety,  were  to  a  man  for  vigorous  meas- 
ures at  Canton.  And  it  happened  that,  scarcely  per- 
ceived either  by  themselves  or  by  the  other  parties  con- 
cerned, they  possessed  a  special  channel  for  bringing 
the  force  of  their  views  to  bear  on  the  two  responsible 
men.  Sir  John  Bowring  had  himself  deplored  "the 
enormous  influence  wielded  by  the  great  and  opulent 
commercial  houses"  when  adverse  to  his  projects. 
He  was  now  to  experience  that  influence  in  another 
sense,  without  perhaps  recognising  it,  for  when  the 
wind  is  fair  it  makes  slight  impression  on  those  whose 
sails  it  fills. 

Among   the    business    houses   in   China   two   stood 
pre-eminent.     One   had  a   son  of  the  plenipotentiary 


316  THE   ARROW   WAR.  [chap.  xvii. 

for  partner ;  both  were  noted  for  their  princely  hos- 
pitaUty,  especially  to  officers  of  the  navy.  "  Those 
princely  merchants,  Dent  &  Co.,  as  well  as  Matheson," 
writes  Admiral  Keppel  in  his  Diary,  "  kept  open 
house.  They  lived  in  palaces."  One  of  the  two 
buildings  occupied  by  the  former  firm,  "  Kiying 
House,"  which  some  twenty  years  later  became  the 
Hongkong  Hotel,  was  as  good  as  a  naval  club  for 
all  ranks,  while  admirals  and  post-captains  found  snug 
anchorage  within  the  adjoining  domain  of  the  seniors 
of  the  firm.  The  two  great  houses  did  not  always 
pull  together,  but  on  this  occasion  their  separate 
action,  converging  on  a  single  point,  was  more  efiectual 
than  any  half-hearted  combination  could  have  been. 
Night  after  night  was  the  question  of  Canton  dis- 
cussed with  slow  deliberation  and  accumulating  em- 
phasis in  the  executive  and  the  administrative,  the 
naval  and  the  political,  camps  respectively.  Convic- 
tion was  imbibed  with  the  claret  and  cheroots,  and 
it  was  not  altogether  without  reason  that  what  fol- 
lowed has  sometimes  been  called  the  "  Merchants' 
War." 

The  die  was  cast.  The  great  Canton  bubble,  the 
bugbear  of  a  succession  of  British  Governments  and 
representatives,  was  at  last  to  be  pricked,  though 
with  a  delay  which,  however  regrettable  at  the  time, 
perhaps  conduced  to  greater  thoroughness  in  the  long- 
run.  Those  of  our  readers  who  desire  to  trace  the 
various  operations  against  Canton  during  the  twelve 
months  which  followed  cannot  do  better  than  con- 
sult Mr  Stanley  Lane -Poole's  'Life  of  Sir  Harry 
Parkes,'  the  volume  of  '  Times '  correspondence  by  that 
sage   observer   and  vivacious   narrator,   Mr  Wingrove 


1856-60.]  THE   DRAMA    UNFOLDS   ITSELF.  317 

Cooke,  and  the  delightful  sailor's  book  recently  pub- 
lished by  Vice -Admiral  Sir  W.  E.  Kennedy.  The 
campaign  unfolded  itself  in  a  drama  of  surprises.  The 
force  at  the  admiral's  disposal  being  too  small  to  fol- 
low up  the  initial  movement  against  the  city,  which 
gave  no  sign  of  yielding  by  first  intention,  Sir  Michael 
Seymour  had  to  content  himself  with  intimating  to 
the  Viceroy  Yeh  that,  notwithstanding  his  Excel- 
lency's interdict,  he  had,  with  a  guard  of  bluejackets, 
visited  the  Viceregal  Yamen ;  and  with  keeping  hos- 
tilities alive  by  a  blockade  of  the  river  while  awaiting 
reinforcements. 

The  Arrow  incident  occurred  in  October.  In  De- 
cember the  foreign  factories  were  burned  by  the 
Chinese,  and  the  Viceroy  Yeh  issued  proclamations 
offering  rewards  for  English  heads.  The  mercantile 
community  retired  to  Hongkong,  a  few  to  the 
quieter  retreat  of  Macao.  The  vengeance  of  Com- 
missioner Yeh  pursued  them  exactly  as  that  of  Com- 
missioner Lin  had  done  in  1839.  Assassinations  were 
not  infrequent  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  of  Vic- 
toria;  and  in  January  1857  the  principal  baker  in 
the  colony  was  induced  to  put  a  sack  of  arsenic  into 
his  morning  supply  of  bread,  which  only  failed  of 
its  effect  through  the  excess  of  the  dose  acting  as  an 
emetic. 

The  early  portion  of  the  year  1857  was  enlivened  by 
active  operations  in  hunting  out  Chinese  war-junks  in 
the  various  creeks  and  branches  of  the  river,  com- 
menced by  Commodore  Elliot  and  continued  on  a  bril- 
liant scale  by  Commodore  H.  Keppel,  who  arrived 
opportunely  in  the  frigate  Raleigh,  of  which  he  speaks 
with  so  much  pride  and  affection  in  his  Memoirs.     That 


318  THE   AREOW   WAR.  [chap.  xvii. 

fine  vessel,  however,  was  lost  on  a  rock  approaching 
Macao,  sinking  in  shallow  water  in  the  act  of  saluting 
the  French  flag,  a  war  vessel  of  that  nationality  having 
been  descried  in  the  anchorage.  The  commodore  and 
his  officers  and  crew,  thus  detached,  were  soon  accom- 
modated with  small  craft  good  for  river  service,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  they  made  a  memorable  cutting- 
out  expedition  as  far  as  the  city  of  Fatshan,  destroying 
formidable  and  well-posted  fleets  of  war-junks  in  what 
the  commodore  described  as  "  one  of  the  prettiest  boat 
actions  recorded  in  naval  history."  Sir  W.  Kennedy 
served  as  a  midshipman  in  those  expeditions,  and  his 
descriptions  supply  a  much-needed  supplement  to  that 
of  the  Admiral  of  the  Fleet,  correcting  it  in  some  par- 
ticulars and  filling  in  the  gaps  in  a  w^onderfully  realistic 
manner.  No  adequate  estimate  can  be  formed  of  the 
importance  of  the  year's  operations  in  the  Canton  river 
without  reading  Admiral  Kennedy  s  brilliant  but  simple 
story. 

The  Canton  imbroglio  made  the  kind  of  impression 
that  such  occurrences  are  apt  to  do  in  England.  The 
merits  of  the  case  being  usually  ignored,  the  bare  inci- 
dents furnish  convenient  weapons  with  which  to  assail 
the  Government  that  happens  to  be  in  office.  Under 
such  conditions  statements  can  be  made  and  arguments 
applied  with  all  the  freedom  of  a  debating  club.  The 
Arrow  trouble  occasioned  a  temporary  fusion  of  the 
most  incongruous  elements  in  English  politics.  When 
Lord  Derby,  Lord  Lyndhurst,  Bishop  Wilberforce,  Mr 
Cobden';  Mr  Bright,  Mr  Gladstone,  and  Mr  Disraeli 
were  found  banded  together  as  one  man,  it  was  neither 
common  knowledge  nor  any  sincere  interest  in  the  ques- 
tion at  issue,  but  "  unanimosity  "  towards  the  Premier, 


1866-60.]  "THE   CHINA    DISSOLUTION."  319 

that  inspired  them.  The  Opposition  orators  took  their 
brief  from  the  published  despatches  of  Commissioner 
Yeh,  which  they  assumed  as  the  starting-point  of  the 
China  question,  and  found  no  difficulty  whatever  in 
discovering  all  the  nobility  and  good  faith  on  the 
Chinese  side,  the  perfidy  and  brutality  on  the  side 
of  the  British  representative.  Though  successful  in 
carrying  a  vote  of  censure  on  the  Government,  the 
attitude  of  the  Coalition  did  not  impress  the  public, 
and  Lord  Palmerston's  appeal  to  the  electorate  was 
responded  to  by  his  being  returned  to  power  by  a 
large  majority. 

How  very  little  the  question  itself  affected  public 
men  in  England  may  be  inferred  from  the  notices  of 
it  in  the  Memoirs,  since  published,  of  leading  statesmen 
of  the  period.  The  fate  of  China,  or  of  British  com- 
merce there,  was  not  in  their  minds  at  all,  their  hor- 
izon being  bounded  by  the  immediate  fate  of  the 
Ministry,  to  them  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  national 
policy.  What  deplorable  consequences  all  over  the 
world  have  arisen  from  the  insouciance  of  British 
statesmen  as  regards  all  matters  outside  the  arena 
of  their  party  conflicts  ! 

Sir  John  Bowring  w^as  made  the  scapegoat  of  the 
war.  A  philosophical  Radical,  he  had  been  president 
of  the  Peace  Society,  and  his  quondam  friends  could 
not  forgive  a  doctrinaire  who  yielded  to  the  stern 
logic  of  facts.  As  consul  at  Canton  he  had  had 
better  opportunities  of  studying  the  question  of  in- 
tercourse with  the  Chinese  than  any  holder  of  his 
office  either  before  or  since  his  time.  No  one  had 
worked  more  persistently  for  the  exercise  of  the 
right  of  entry  into  Canton.     Superseded  in  the  office 


320  EARL   OF   ELGIN    AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

of  plenipotentiary  by  the  appointment  of  the  Earl  of 
Elgin  as  High  Commissioner  for  Great  Britain,  Sir 
John  Bowring  remained  Governor  of  Hongkong,  and 
it  fell  to  him  to  "  do  the  honours "  to  his  successor, 
from  whom  he  received  scant  consideration.  Indeed 
Lord  Elgin  made  no  secret  of  his  aversion  to  the 
colony  and  all  its  concerns,  and  marked  his  feeling 
towards  the  governor  by  determining  that  he  should 
never  see  the  city  of  Canton — that  Promised  Land  so 
soon  to  be  opened  to  the  world  through  Sir  John's 
instrumentality. 


I.   THE   EARL  OF   ELGIN  AND  HIS  MISSION. 

Capture  of  Canton — The  Treaty  of  Tientsin — Comments  on  the  treaty — 
Sequel  to  the  treaty — Omission  to  visit  Peking — Comments  thereon — 
How  to  deal  with  Chinese — Commissioners  to  Shanghai  to  negotiate 
the  tariff — Two  pressing  questions  to  be  settled — Delay  of  Commis- 
sioners' arrival — Resentment  of  Lord  Elgin  and  change  of  tactics  re 
Canton — Canton  question  same  as  Chinese  question — Chinese  demand 
for  abandonment  of  Resident  Minister — Lord  Elgin's  assent — Com- 
ments thereon — Treaty  with  Japan — The  Taku  disaster. 

The  transports  bringing  the  troops  from  England 
were  meanwhile  hurrying  at  top  speed — not  in  those 
days  a  very  high  one  —  round  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  the  navy  was  being  reinforced  by  several 
powerful  ships,  including  the  mosquito  squadron  of 
gunboats  which  were  destined  to  play  so  useful  a 
part,  first  in  the  operations  of  war,  and  subsequently 
in  patrolling  the  coast  and  rivers  for  the  protection  of 
peaceful  traders.  Lord  Elgin's  arrival  in  Hongkong, 
coinciding  in  time  with  that  of  the  frigates  Shannon, 
commanded  by  Sir  William  Peel,  and  Pearl,  Captain 


1856-60.]  LORD   ELGIN    VISITS   INDIA.  321 

Sotheby,  put  heart  Into  the  long  -  suffering  British 
community  at  the  port.  But  sinister  news  from  India 
had  reached  Lord  Elgin  on  his  voyage  to  China,  in 
consequence  of  which,  and  on  the  urgent  request  of 
the  Governor- General,  he  took  on  himself  to  intercept 
the  troopships  wherever  they  could  be  met  with,  and 
turn  their  course  to  Calcutta.  Before  he  had  been 
many  days  in  Hongkong,  foreseeing  an  indefinite  period 
of  inaction  in  China,  and  being  obliged  in  any  case 
to  wait  the  arrival  of  his  French  colleague,  without 
whom  no  French  co  -  operation  could  be  had,  Lord 
Elgin  determined  to  proceed  himself  to  Calcutta, 
taking  with  him  the  two  frigates  Shannon  and  Pearl. 
This  welcome  reinforcement  not  only  arrived  oppor- 
tunely in  India,  but,  as  is  well  known,  did  heroic 
service  in  throwing  back  the  tide  of  mutiny. 

Fortune  seemed  in  all  this  to  be  favouring  the 
Chinese,  nothing  more  hurtful  threatening  them  than 
a  passive  blockade  of  the  Canton  river  and  its  branches. 
But  a  fresh  expedition  was  promptly  despatched  from 
England  to  take  the  place  of  that  which  had  been 
diverted  to  India.  A  body  of  1500  marines  arrived 
in  the  autumn,  and  on  them,  supplemented  by  the 
Hongkong  garrison,  devolved  the  duty  of  bringing 
China  to  terms,  the  navy,  of  course,  being  the  essential 
arm  in  all  these  operations. 

Lord  Elgin  returned  to  China  in  ample  time  to 
meet  the  French  plenipotentiary.  Baron  Gros.  His 
lordship's  policy  had  from  the  first  been  an  inter- 
esting theme  for  speculation,  not  less  so  as  the  time 
for  putting  it  in  force  drew  near.  It  had  been  sur- 
mised that  his  object  would  be  to  leave  Canton  alone, 
and  set  out  on  another  wild-goose  chase  to  the  north. 

VOL.    I.  X 


322  EARL   OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

That  SO  futile  a  scheme  should  not  be  carried  out  with- 
out at  least  a  protest,  the  mercantile  community  met 
Lord  Elgin  on  his  arrival  in  June  with  an  address 
couched  in  the  following  terms : — 

We  venture  upon  no  opinion  at  present  respecting  the 
readjustment  of  our  relations  with  the  empire  at  large,  though 
always  prepared  to  hold  our  advice  and  experience  at  your 
lordship's  command ;  but  upon  that  branch  of  the  question 
which  we  distinguish  as  the  "  Canton  difficulty "  we  would 
take  this,  the  earliest  opportunity,  of  recording  our  opinion — 
an  opinion  founded  upon  long,  reluctant,  and,  we  may  add, 
traditional  experience — that  any  compromise  of  it,  or  any 
sort  of  settlement  which  shall  stop  short  of  the  complete 
humiliation  of  the  Cantonese, — which  shall  fail  to  teach  them 
a  wholesome  respect  for  the  obligations  of  their  own  Govern- 
ment in  its  relations  with  independent  Powers,  and  a  more 
hospitable  reception  of  the  foreigner  who  resorts  to  their  shores 
for  the  peaceable  purposes  of  trade, — will  only  result  in  further 
suffering  to  themselves  and  further  disastrous  interruptions 
to  us. 

Many  of  us  have  already  been  heavy  sufferers  by  the  present 
difficulty.  It  must  be  apparent  to  your  lordship  that  our 
best  interests  lie  upon  the  side  of  peace,  and  upon  the  earliest 
solid  peace  that  can  be  obtained.  But,  notwithstanding  this, 
we  would  most  earnestly  deprecate  any  settlement  of  the 
question  which  should  not  have  eliminated  from  it  the  very 
last  element  of  future  disorder. 

The  meaning  of  these  weighty  words,  as  interpreted 
by  Wingrove  Cooke,  was,  "  You  must  take  Canton, 
my  lord,  and  negotiate  at  Peking  with  Canton  in  your 
possession."  And  he  adds,  "  Such  is  the  opinion  of 
every  one  here,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest."  We 
learn  from  his  private  letters  that  it  was  by  no  means 
the  opinion  of  the  new  plenipotentiary.  "  The  course 
I  am  about  to  follow,"  he  writes,  "  does  not  square 
with  the  views  of  the  merchants."     Yet  his  reply  to 


1856-60.]  HIS   ATTITUDE   TOWARDS   CANTON.  323 

their  address  was  so  diplomatic  that  he  was  able  to 
say  '*  it  gave  them  for  the  moment  wonderful  satis- 
faction." The  editor  of  Lord  Elgin's  letters  suppresses 
the  rest  of  the  sentence.  The  new  plenipotentiary 
hoped  even  '*  to  conclude  a  treaty  in  Shanghai,  and 
hasten  home  afterwards," — a  hope  which  could  only 
coexist  with  an  entire  disregard  of  our  whole  previous 
experience  in  China ;  almost,  one  might  argue,  with 
an  entire  ignorance  of  the  record. ^ 

On  his  return  from  India,  however,  and  on  the  as- 
sembling of  the  Allied  forces,  he  found  that  the  course 
prescribed  by  history  and  common-sense  was,  after  all, 
the  only  practical  one  to  follow,  and  that  was  to  com- 
mence hostilities  at  Canton.  Yet  Lord  Elgin  seems  to 
have  submitted  to  the  inexorable  demands  of  circum- 
stances with  no  very  good  grace.  Indeed  his  attitude 
towards  the  Canton  overture  and  his  mission  generally 
was  decidedly  anomalous.  The  two  leading  ideas 
running  through  the  published  portion  of  his  corres- 
pondence were,  "  It  revolts  me,  but  I  do  it "  ;  and, 
"Get  the  wretched  business  over  and  hurry  home." 
Lord  Elgin's  mental  constitution,  as  such,  is  of  no  in- 
terest to  us  except  as  it  affected  his  acts  and  left  its 
impress  on  the  national  interests  in  China.  From  that 
point  of  view,  however,  it  is  public  property,  and  as 
much  an  ingredient  in  the  history  as  any  other  quality 
of  the  makers  of  it.  First,  we  find  him  at  variance 
with  the  Government  which  commissioned  him,  in  that 
he  speaks  with  shame  of  his  mission  :  "  That  wretched 
question  of  the   Arrow   is  a  scandal   to   us."      Why  ? 

^  "  Verily,'  writes  Wingrove  Cooke,  " Sir  John  Bowring,  much  abused 
as  he  is  both  here  and  at  home,  has  taken  a  more  common-sense  view  of 
these  matters  than  the  high  diplomatists  of  England  and  France." 


324  EARL    OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

Her  Majesty's  Government  had  deliberated  maturely 
on  the  Arrow  question,  had  referred  it  to  their  law 
officers,  had  concluded  it  was  a  good  case,  and  had 
written  unreservedly  in  that  sense  to  their  represent- 
ative in  China.  Was  it,  then,  greater  knowledge,  or 
superior  judgment,  that  inspired  Lord  Elgin  to  an 
opposite  opinion  ?  And  in  either  case  would  it  not 
have  been  better  to  have  had  the  point  cleared  up 
before  undertaking  the  mission  ? 

But,  in  point  of  fact,  the  Arrow  question  was  not 
the  question  with  which  Lord  Elgin  had  to  deal,  as 
it  had  long  before  been  merged,  as  we  have  said, 
into  the  much  larger  one  of  our  official  relations 
with  China. 

The   truth  seems  to  be  that  Lord  Elgin   came   to 
China  filled  with  the  conviction  that  in  all  our   dis- 
putes  the    Chinese  had   been   the   oppressed   and  we 
the   oppressors.      Of   our    intercourse   with    them    he 
had  nothing  more  complimentary  or  more  definite  to 
say   than   that   it   was    "  scandalous."      For   his   own 
countrymen  he  had  never  a  good  word,  for  the  Chinese 
nothing  but  good — until  they  came  into  collision  with 
himself,  when  they  at  once  became  "  fools  and  trick- 
sters."     Having  assembled  a  hostile  force  in  front  of 
Canton,  he  writes,  December  22,  1857,  "I  never  felt 
so  ashamed  of  myself  in  my  life.    .    .    .    When  I  look 
at   that  town  I  feel  that  I  am  earning  for  myself  a 
place  in  the  Litany  immediately  after  '  plague,  pesti- 
lence, and  famine.'  "     Becoming  gradually  reconciled  to 
events,  however,  he  writes,  "If  we  can  take  the  city 
without  much  massacre  I  shall  think  the  job  a  good 
one,  because  no  doubt  the  relations  of  the  Cantonese 
with  the  foreign  population  were  very  unsatisfactory." 


1856-60.]  COMPUNCTIONS.  325 

But  why  "massacre,"  much  or  little?  It  was  but  a 
phantasy  of  his  own  he  was  thus  deprecating.  The 
curious  point  is,  however,  that  Lord  Elgin  imagined 
that  everybody  was  bent  on  this  massacre  except  him- 
self, and  when  all  was  over,  and  "  there  never  was  a 
Chinese  town  which  suffered  so  little  by  the  occupation 
of  a  hostile  force,"  he  appropriates  the  whole  credit 
for  this  satisfactory  issue  !  *'  If,"  he  writes,  "  Yeh  had 
surrendered  on  the  mild  demand  made  upon  him,  I 
should  have  brought  on  my  head  the  imprecations  both 
of  the  navy  and  the  army,  and  of  the  civilians,  the 
time  being  given  by  the  missionaries  and  the  women." 
An  insinuation  so  purely  hypothetical  and  so  sweeping 
would  not  be  seriously  considered  in  any  relation  of 
life  w^hatsoever ;  but  no  one  who  knows  either  the 
navy  or  the  army  would  hesitate  to  affirm  that  the 
humanity  of  every  officer  and  man  in  these  services 
was  as  much  beyond  reproach  as  Lord  Elgin's  own, 
albeit  it  might  assume  a  different  form  of  expression. 
When  the  city,  "  doomed  to  destruction  from  the  folly 
of  its  own  rulers  and  the  vanity  and  levity  of  ours," 
had  been  occupied,  and  the  bugbear  of  massacre  had 
vanished,  the  object  of  Lord  Elgin's  sympathies  became 
shifted  :  "  I  could  not  help  feeling  melancholy  when  I 
thought  that  we  were  so  ruthlessly  destroying " — not 
the  place  or  the  people,  but — "  the  prestige  of  a  place 
which  has  been  for  so  many  centuries  intact  and  un- 
defiled  by  the  stranger."  Had  he  written  this  after 
witnessing  some  of  the  horrors  of  the  city  described  by 
Wingrove  Cooke,  possibly  these  regrets  for  its  defile- 
ment might  have  been  less  poignant.  But  though 
reverence  for  the  mere  antiquity  of  China  is  a  most 
salutary  lesson  to  inculcate  in  these   our  days,   it  is 


326  EARL    OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

pathetic  to  see  the  particular  man  whose  mission  was 
to  humble  her  historical  prestige  tortured  by  com- 
punctions for  what  he  is  doing.  One  is  tempted  to 
wish  the  "job"  had  been  intrusted  to  more  common- 
place hands. 

Some  of  those  English  officials  by  whose  vanity  and 
levity  the  "  city  was  doomed  to  destruction"  were  also 
writing  their  private  letters,  and  this  was  the  purport. 
"  I  confidently  hope,"  wrote  Mr  Parkes,  before  Lord 
Elgin's  first  arrival  in  China,  "  that  a  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  all  difiiculties  may  be  attained  with  a 
slight  effusion  of  blood.  Canton,  it  is  true,  must  fall. 
I  see  no  hope  of  any  arrangement  being  arrived  at 
without  this  primary  step  being  effected,  but  I  trust 
that  with  the  fall  of  that  city  hostilities  may  end,  and 
that  the  emperor  may  then  consent  to  receive  a  repre- 
sentative at  Peking."  However,  as  soon  as  he  gets  to 
actual  business  with  the  Chinese,  Lord  Elgin  finds 
that  he  also  has  to  be  stern  even  as  others.  As  early 
as  January  10,  1858,  a  week  after  the  occupation  of  the 
city,  "  I  addressed  the  governor  in  a  pretty  arrogant 
tone.  I  did  so  out  of  kindness,  as  I  now  know  what 
fools  they  are,  and  what  calamities  they  bring  upon 
themselves,  or  rather  on  the  wretched  people,  by  their 
pride  and  trickery."  But  what  the  novice  was  only 
beginning  to  find  out  the  veterans  had  learned  years 
before.^ 

His  attitude  to  his  countrymen  generally  Is  scarcely 
less  censorious  than  towards  the  officials  who  had  borne, 

1  Before  the  conclusion  of  his  second  mission  Lord  Elgin's  opinion  of  at 
least  one  of  those  whom  at  the  outset  he  disparaged  had  undergone  con- 
siderable modification.  "Parkes,"  he  wrote  in  1860,  "is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  I  ever  met  for  energy,  courage,  and  ability  combhied.  I 
do  not  know  where  I  could  find  his  match." 


1856-60.]  THE   ONE   RIGHTEOUS   MAN.  327 

and  were  yet  to  bear,  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day 
in  China.     From  Calcutta  he  wrote  : — 

It  is  a  terrible  busineSvS  being  among  inferior  races.  I  have 
seldom  from  man  or  woman  since  I  came  to  the  East  heard  a 
sentence  which  was  reconcilable  with  the  hypothesis  that 
Christianity  had  ever  come  into  the  world.  Detestation, 
contempt,  ferocity,  vengeance,  whether  Chinamen  or  Indians 
be  the  object. 

From  China : — 

The  whole  world  just  now  is  raving  mad  with  a  passion  for 
killing  and  slaying,  and  it  is  difficult  for  a  person  in  his  sober 
senses,  like  myself,  to  keep  his  own  among  them. 

Again  : — 

I  have  seen  more  to  disgust  me  with  my  fellow-countrymen 
than  I  saw  during  the  whole  course  of  my  previous  life.  ...  I 
have  an  instinct  in  me  which  loves  righteousness  and  hates 
iniquity,  and  all  this  keeps  me  in  a  perpetual  boil.  .  .  .  The 
tone  of  the  two  or  three  men  connected  with  mercantile  houses 
in  China  whom  I  find  on  board  is  all  for  blood  and  massacre 
on  a  great  scale. 

The  perennial  fallacy  that  underlies  the  "one- 
righteous -man"  theory  from  the  days  of  Elijah  the 
Tishbite  downwards,  and  the  ineptitude  of  all  indis- 
criminate invective,  would  be  sufficient  answer  to  such 
sweeping  maledictions.  Below  these  ebullitions  of  the 
surface,  however,  there  lay  a  grave  misgiving  in  Lord 
Elgin's  mind  concerning  his  mission  as  a  whole,  in  which 
many  thoughtful  people  must  have  shared:  "Whose 
work  are  we  engaged  in  when  we  burst  thus  with 
hideous  violence  and  brutal  energy  into  these  darkest 
and  most  mysterious  recesses  of  the  traditions  of  the 
past  ?  "  This  was  written  at  Tientsin  after  the  passage 
of  the  forts,  and  it  is  well  worth  recalling,  now  that  the 


328  EARL   OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

vultures  of  Europe  are  wheeling  round  the  moribund 
empire. 

Canton  city  was  occupied  by  the  Allies  on  January  2, 
1858.  Commissioner  Yeh  was  captured,  carried  on 
board  the  paddle  -  sloop  Inflexible,  and  conveyed  to 
Calcutta,  where  he  eventually  died.  His  absence  made 
it  easier  to  deal  with  the  other  authorities.  He  is 
perhaps  the  only  Chinese  official  who  has  ever  been 
made  personally  responsible  for  attacks  on  foreigners. 

A  provisional  government  was  established  under  three 
commissioners  nominated  by  the  Allied  commanders-in- 
chief,  though  in  fact  the  labour  and  responsibility 
rested  solely  on  one  of  the  three,  Mr  Parkes.  Having 
induced  the  native  governor,  Pikwei,  to  resume  his 
functions  and  administer  the  aflairs  of  the  city,  under 
supervision,  order  was  partially  established,  and  the 
chiefs,  diplomatic  and  military,  withdrew  —  much  too 
abruptly,  it  was  generally  thought  —  to  prepare  an 
expedition  to  the  north. 

But  the  commissioners  were  left  with  inadequate 
forces  to  maintain  order,  fettered  as  they  were  by 
instructions  which  rendered  them  immobile.  The 
British  admiral,  after  nearly  a  year  and  a  half's  ex- 
perience in  the  river,  might  have  known  something  of 
the  Canton  problem,  while  the  Allied  plenipotentiaries 
apparently  understood  nothing  of  it.  This  was  shown 
by  what  contemporary  opinion  designated  Lord  Elgin's 
"first  symptom  of  weakness."  When  the  figurehead 
Pikwei  was  brought  from  his  prison  to  be  invested 
with  authority  under  the  Allied  commanders  he  coolly 
claimed  precedence  of  the  English  admiral  and  general, 
and  Lord  Elgin,  contrary  to  his  own  pre -arrangement  of 
seats,  &c.,  conceded  the  claim,  thereby  striking  the  key- 


1856-60.]  ALLIES   BESIEGED    IN    CANTON.  329 

note  of  the  relations  which  were  to  exist  between  the 
Allied  commissioners  and  the  Chinese  officials.  Lord 
Elgin  had  occasion  to  remember  this  when,  in  1860, 
Prince  Kung  tried  to  lead  him  into  a  similar  trap, 
whereby  he  himself  would  have  been  relegated  to  a 
second  place.  The  result  of  these  arrangements  was 
very  much  what  might  have  been  expected.  Finding 
the  foreign  garrison  passive,  the  turbulent  elements  in 
the  city  and  the  surrounding  villages  soon  began  to  fan 
the  embers  of  their  former  fires.  They  refused  to  con- 
sider themselves  conquered,  and  set  about  reorganising 
their  forces  as  they  had  done  on  previous  occasions, 
and,  beginning  with  secret  schemes  of  assassination,  they 
became  emboldened  by  impunity,  and  by-and-by  mus- 
tered courage  to  attack  and  annoy  the  garrison  of  the 
city,  which  was  as  helpless  to  repel  insults  as  the 
mounted  sentries  at  the  Horse  Guards.  The  army  of 
occupation  was  besieged,  the  prestige  of  the  capture  of 
the  city  was  in  a  few  months  wholly  dissipated,  and 
the  officials  and  gentry  affected  to  believe  that  the 
barbarians  were  only  in  the  river,  their  presence  in  the 
city  being  ostentatiously  ignored  in  public  correspon- 
dence. During  the  whole  of  the  year  1858  the  cry 
went  up  continuously  from  the  commissioners  and 
military  commanders,  but  it  remained  practically  un- 
heeded by  the  chiefs  in  the  far  north,  except  in  so 
far  that  they  drew  still  shorter  the  tether  of  the 
beleaguered  force,  in  order  that  they  might  avoid  all 
possible  collision  with  their  Chinese  assailants.  Lord 
Elgin  at  first  deemed  the  turbulence  at  Canton  a  good 
reason  for  effecting  a  speedy  settlement  with  the  Im- 
perial Government ;  but,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  that 
settlement  when  made  had  no  influence  at  all  upon 


330  EARL    OF   ELGIN   AND    HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

either  the  Government  officials  or  the  gentry  and 
populace  of  that  city.  The  solution  of  the  Canton 
problem  was  found  in  an  entirely  different  direction. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  besides  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  city,  several  important  matters  of  business 
were  arranged  during  the  commissionership  of  Mr 
Parkes.  There  was  the  question  of  the  site  at  Shameen 
for  the  future  residence  of  foreigners ;  and  the  regula- 
tion of  coolie  emigration,  which  had  been  carried  on  in 
an  unsatisfactory  manner  ;  and  last,  not  least,  the  first 
lease  of  Kowloon,  on  the  mainland  facing  Hongkong, 
and  forming  one  side  of  the  harbour.  This  important 
concession,  as  already  said,  was  negotiated  on  the  sole 
initiative  of  Mr  Parkes,  the  military  authorities  being 
talked  into  it  afterwards.  It  was  the  first  response  to 
the  demand  of  Wingrove  Cook,  Why  we  had  not  taken 
possession  of  the  peninsula  of  Kowloon,  for  '4f  any  other 
Powers  should  do  so — and  what  is  to  prevent  them — the 
harbour  of  Hongkong  is  lost  to  us."  Several  important 
exploratory  expeditions  w^ere  also  undertaken  in  1859, 
in  which  Parkes  was  everywhere  warmly  received  by 
officials  and  people,  one  of  these  excursions  being  far  up 
the  West  river,  the  opening  of  which,  however,  to  foreign 
trade  remained  in  abeyance  for  forty  years  thereafter. 

The  next  object  of  the  plenipotentiaries,  of  course, 
was  to  negotiate  at  Peking,  or  wherever  properly 
accredited  negotiators  could  be  met  with,  Canton  being 
held  in  pledge.  Progress  was  slow,  because  the  fleet 
was  so  largely  composed  of  sailing-vessels,  which  must 
wait  for  the  fair  monsoon ;  and  the  plenipotentiaries 
did  not  assemble  within  the  river  Peiho — the  forts  at 
its  mouth  having  been  silenced  and  the  guns  captured — 
until  June.     There  followed  Lord  Elgin  to  Tientsin  the 


1856-60.] 


NEGOTIATIONS   AT   TIENTSIN. 


331 


French,  American,  and  Russian  Ministers,  all  bent  on 
making  treaties  and  on  observing  each  other.  The 
resources  of  Chinese  resistance  having  been  provi- 
sionally exhausted,  imperial  commissioners  came  to 
arrest  the  further  progress  of  the  foreigners  by  nego- 
tiations, or,  to  speak  with  strict  accuracy,  to  concede 


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the  minimum  that  was  necessary  to  induce  them  to 
depart.  Such,  we  may  be  sure,  was  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  their  instructions  then,  as  it  was 
afterwards.  The  work  of  negotiation,  so  far  as  the 
form  went,  seems  to  have  fallen  to  Mr  H.  N.  Lay, 
whose  place  was  very  soon  to  know  him   no   more  ; 


332  EARL    OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [cHAP.  XVII. 

but,  in  the  words  of  Lord  Elgin,  ''  anybody  could  have 
made  the  treaty." 

The  contents  of  the  treaty,  signed  June  26,  1858, 
fulfilled  the  instructions  of  Lord  Clarendon,  and  the 
commercial  articles  which  constituted  its  main  body 
corresponded  substantially  with  the  desiderata  of  the 
merchants  as  set  forth  in  their  memorials  in  response  to 
the  invitation  of  Lord  Elgin,  the  treaty  going  in  ad- 
vance of  their  demands  on  certain  points  and  falling 
short  of  them  on  others.  Opium  was  not  mentioned, 
but  was  afterwards  placed  on  the  tariff;  and  a  tolera- 
tion clause  for  the  Christian  religion  was  inserted, 
without  much  apparent  consideration  for  the  conse- 
quences involved  in  it.  A  special  memorandum  from 
Consul  Alcock,  called  for  by  the  Foreign  Office,  had 
dwelt  mainly  on  the  precautions  which  should  accom- 
pany the  exercise  of  such  new  privileges  as  promiscuous 
residence  in  the  interior ;  but,  excepting  in  the  case  of 
merchants,  where  little  or  no  risk  was  involved,  the 
warnings  of  Mr  Alcock  were,  unheeded  alike  in  the 
text  of  the  treaty  and  in  the  subsidiary  regulations. 

"  The  most  important  matter  gained  by  the  treaty," 
however,  in  the  opinion  of  Lord  Elgin,  was  "  the  resident 
Minister  at  Peking,"  "without  which,"  wrote  Mr  Parkes, 
"  the  treaty  was  not  worth  a  straw."  And  substituting 
"lost"  for  "gained,"  such,  was  also  the  opinion  of  the 
Chinese  negotiators.  It  was,  indeed,  the  universal 
opinion.  Diplomatic  representation  at  Peking  might  be 
fairly  considered  to  have  been  the  primary  object  of  the 
war  of  1857-58,  as  commercial  extension  and  access  to 
Canton  had  been  that  of  1839-42.  And  when  "the 
miserable  war  was  finished  "  and  "  his  liberty  regained  " 
Lord  Elgin  cleared  out  his  force,  bag  and  baggage,  as  if 


1866-60.]  TREATY   OF   TIENTSIN,    1858.  333 

he  had  been  escaping  from  something,  leaving  not  a 
trace  behind. 

As  this  move  constituted  a  veritable  crisis  in  Anglo- 
Chinese  relations,  it  seems  advisable  for  a  moment 
to  consider  its  bearings.  Judging  after  the  event,  it 
is  of  course  easy  to  perceive  the  fatal  error  of  Lord 
Elgin  in  hurrying  away  from  the  Peiho.  A  fair 
criticism  of  his  policy  will  confine  itself  strictly  to 
the  circumstances  as  known  at  the  time.  His  experi- 
ence had  so  closely  resembled  that  of  his  predecessors, 
that  he  was  aware  that  the  Chinese  were  "yielding 
nothing  to  reason  and  everything  to  fear."  He  had 
seen  with  his  own  eyes  the  Queen's  ratifications  of 
previous  treaties  exhumed  from  a  collection  of  mis- 
cellaneous papers  in  Canton,  they  being,  as  Commis- 
sioner Yeh  remarked,  not  worth  sending  to  Peking; 
he  knew  that  the  treaty  of  Nanking  had  been 
observed  by  the  Chinese  only  as  far  as  force  or  fear 
compelled  them,  and  that  its  crucial  stipulation  had 
been  for  many  years  evaded,  and  then  with  unmasked 
arrogance  repudiated ;  he  knew  that  the  very  war  in 
which  he  had  been  engaged,  and  his  whole  mission  to 
China,  were  caused  and  provoked  by  the  refusal  of  the 
provincial  authorities  to  admit  his  predecessors  or  him- 
self within  the  walls  of  Canton.  In  his  own  ultimatum 
to  Commissioner  Yeh,  Lord  Elgin  had  asked  no  more 
than  the  execution  of  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  which 
included  access  to  the  city  of  Canton,  and  compensation 
for  damage  to  British  property.  Yet  the  Chinese 
Government,  dreading  war  as  they  did,  had  notwith- 
standing incurred  its  hazards  rather  than  open  the 
gates  of  a  distant  provincial  city.  How,  then,  were 
they  likely  to  regard  the,  to  them,  infinitely  greater 


334  EARL    OF    ELGIN   AND    HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

outrage  of  resident  foreign  Ministers  in  the  sacred 
capital  itself?  This  demand  was  practically  the  only- 
one  against  which  the  Chinese  commissioners  made  a 
stand.  When  everything  had  been  written  down  ready 
for  signature  they  drew  back,  saying  it  was  as  much  as 
their  heads  were  worth  to  subscribe  such  a  condition. 
The  answer  was  a  peremptory  threat  to  march  on 
Peking,  whereupon  the  commissioners  signed  the  paper 
without  another  word.  The  crisis  did  not  last  twenty- 
four  hours.  No  one  could  believe  that  a  miracle  of 
conversion  had  been  wrought  in  that  time,  or  that  the 
enforced  signature  of  the  Imperial  Commissioners  had 
changed  a  fundamental  principle  of  Chinese  policy. 
What,  under  these  circumstances,  was  the  "  present 
value  "  of  the  treaty  ?  Was  it  so  much  as  conceivable 
that  it  would  be  voluntarily  carried  out  ?  Was  it  not 
evident  rather  that  it  was  signed  under  duresse  solely 
with  the  immediate  view  of  getting  the  barbarians  out 
of  doors  and  leaving  the  key  within  ?  What  said  the 
imperial  decree  published  in  the  '  Peking  Gazette '  ? 
"  The  barbarians  ^  had  come  headlong  with  their  ships 
to  Tientsin.  Moved  by  the  commands  of  Kweiliang 
and  his  colleagues,  they  have  now  weighed  anchor  and 
stood  out  to  sea."  If  our  former  treaty  needed  a 
material  guarantee  for  its  execution,  how  much  more 
this  one  ?  The  test  of  good  faith  was  in  Lord  Elgin's 
own  hands ;  he  should  clearly  have  applied  it,  and  pre- 
sented himself  at  Peking  for  audience  of  the  emperor. 
Perhaps  it  would  have  been  refused,  in  which  case  he 
would  have  at  least  known  where  he  stood.     A  cam- 

1  Lord  Elgin  protested  against  the  use  of  this  tabooed  term,  but  took  no 
exception  to  the  statement  as  to  his  having  obeyed  the  commands  of  the 
Imperial  Commissioners. 


1856-60.]  OMISSION    TO    PROCEED   TO   PEKING.  335 

paign  against  Peking  would  have  been  easy  with  the 
handy  force  he  possessed,  or  at  the  worst  he  could  have 
occupied  Tientsin  and  the  Taku  forts  until  all  questions 
were  settled. 

This  was  the  view  generally  held  at  the  time  both  by 
officials  and  the  lay  community  in  China,  before  any 
untoward  consequences  had  revealed  themselves.  It 
was  strongly  expressed  by  Parkes,  who  deplored  "  the 
ominous  omission  that  Lord  Elgin  had  gone  away 
to  Japan  without  entering  Peking  or  having  an  aud- 
ience with  the  emperor."  We  have  not  the  advantage 
of  knowing  what  Wingrove  Cooke  would  have  said  of 
it,  but  we  may  infer  the  prevailing  opinion  by  what 
another  newspaper  correspondent  wrote  from  Shanghai 
on  the  receipt  of  the  first  news  of  the  signing  of  the 
treaty  : — 

Shanghai,  July  13,  1858. ^ 

The  "  Chinese  War,"  properly  so  called,  has  now  reached  its 
termination,  and  the  fleet  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechili  is  dispersing. 
Lord  Elgin  arrived  here  yesterday  with  the  new  treaty,  which 
his  brother,  the  Hon.  F.  Bruce,  carries  home  by  the  present 
mail.  The  document  will  not  be  published  until  it  is  ratified 
by  the  Queen,  but  in  the  mean  time  the  chief  points  of  it  may 
be  tolerably  well  guessed  at.  The  diplomatists  are  confident 
that  the  new  treaty  will  "give  satisfaction."  That  is  saying 
a  good  deal,  but  how  could  it  be  otherwise  than  satisfactory  ? 
The  emperor  was  so  terror-struck  by  our  audacious  advance 
on  Tientsin,  that  he  was  ready  to  concede  everything  we  wanted 
rather  than  see  us  approach  any  nearer  to  his  capital.  There 
could  have  been  but  little  discussion — the  ambassadors  had 
simply  to  make  their  terms.  The  new  treaty,  then,  provides 
for  indemnification  for  losses  at  Canton,  a  contribution  to- 
wards the  expenses  of  the  war  (for  which  Canton  is  held  as  a 
guarantee),  the  opening  of  more  ports  for  trade,  freedom  of 
access  to  the  interior,  toleration  for  Christians,  and  a  resident 


1  *The  Scotsman,'  September  18,  1858. 


336  EARL  OF  ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

Minister  at  Peking.  The  only  omission  seems  to  be  that 
Lord  Elgin  did  not  himself  go  to  Peking ;  for  unless  the  right 
of  residence  at  the  capital  receives  a  practical  recognition  from 
the  Chinese  Government  at  once,  it  will  certainly  lead  to 
vexatious  discussion  whenever  we  wish  to  exercise  it.  The 
right  of  entry  into  Canton,  conceded  by  the  treaty  of  Nanking, 
but  not  insisted  on  through  the  timidity  of  our  representatives, 
ought  to  have  taught  us  a  useful  lesson.  While  the  emperor  is 
in  a  state  of  alarm  anything  may  be  done  with  him,  but  when 
the  pressure  is  removed  and  the  fleet  dispersed,  Pharaoh's  heart 
will  certainly  be  hardened,  and  then  Chinese  ingenuity  will  be 
employed  in  evading  as  many  of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  as 
they  dare.  Let  us  hope,  however,  that  when  the  weather  cools 
a  little  and  the  thing  can  be  done  comfortably.  Lord  Elgin  may 
still  pay  a  friendly  visit  to  his  new  allies  at  their  headquarters 
[which  he  more  than  once  threatened  to  do]. 

Such  was  contemporary  opinion  unbiassed  as  yet 
by  visible  effects.  When  the  tragedy  took  place  a 
year  later,  of  course  people  spoke  out  more  clearly. 
Parkes  then  wrote  : — 

The  Chinese  Government  never  intended,  nor  do  they  intend, 
if  they  can  avoid  it,  to  carry  out  the  Elgin  treaty.  It  was 
granted  by  them  against  their  will,  and  we  omitted  all  pre- 
cautions necessary  to  ensure  its  being  carried  out — I  mean, 
in  quitting  Tientsin  as  we  did  in  July  1858,  instead  of  re- 
maining there  until  the  treaty  had  been  actually  carried  into 
effect.  You  will  recollect  in  what  a  hurry  the  admiral  and 
Lord  Elgin,  one  and  all,  were  to  leave  and  run  off  to  recreate 
in  Japan  and  elsewhere.  By  that  step  they  just  undid  all  they 
had  previously  done. 

Writing  eighteen  months  after  the  event,  and  six 
months  after  the  Taku  repulse,  Laurence  Oliphant  fully 
confirmed  the  views  of  Parkes.  "  The  political  im- 
portance," he  observed,  "  of  such  an  achievement " — 
i.e.,  a  march  to  Peking — "it  is  impossible  to  overesti- 
mate.    The  much-vexed  question  of  the  reception  of  a 


1856-60.]  ABANDONS   RESIDENCE   IN   PEKING.  337 

British  Minister  at  the  capital  would  have  been  set  at 
rest  for  ever."  He  then  goes  on  to  give  a  number  of 
exculpatory  reasons  for  the  omission,  which  would  have 
been  more  convincing  had  they  been  stated  by  Lord 
Elgin  himself  in  despatches  written  at  the  time. 

Nor  was  Lord  Elgin's  own  explanation  to  the  House 
of  Lords  any  more  satisfying.  "  In  point  of  fact/'  he 
said,  *'  I  was  never  charged  with  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty.  The  treaty  was  never  placed  in  my  possession. 
I  never  had  the  option  of  going  to  Peking."  If  his 
lordship  had  had  a  better  case  he  would  never  have 
elected  to  rest  his  vindication  on  a  piece  of  verbal 
finesse.  Yet  this  speech  gave  their  Lordships  for  the 
moment  "wonderful  satisfaction."^ 

The  omission  to  consummate  the  treaty  was  followed 
a  few  months  later  by  an  act  of  commission  of  which  it 
is  difficult  to  render  any  clear  account,  and  which  Oli- 
phant  in  his  '  Narrative '  makes  no  attempt  to  explain, 
merely  reproducing  the  official  despatches.  Before 
leaving  China  Lord  Elgin  pulled  the  key- stone  from 
the  arch  of  his  own  work,  reducing  the  treaty  to  that 
condition  which  Parkes  had  described  as  "not  worth  a 
straw."  At  the  instance  of  the  Chinese  commissioners 
he  moved  her  Majesty's  Government  to  suspend  the 
operation  of  "the  most  important "  article  in  it,  the 
residence  of  a  British  Minister  in  Peking.  It  is  need- 
less to  follow  the  arguments,  utterly  unreal  and  having 
no  root  either  in  history  or  in  experience,  by  which  this 
fatal  course  was  urged  upon  the  Government,  for  they 
were  of  the  same  species  as  those  which  had  induced 

^  It  seems  to  have  been  a  general  opinion  at  the  time  that  Lord  Elgin 
was  deterred  from  proceeding  to  Peking  by  the  protestations  of  his  learned 
advisers,  who  declared  that  his  doing  so  would  "  shatter  the  empire." 
VOL.   I.  Y 


338  EARL   OF  ELGIN   AND    HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

her  Majesty's  Ministers  to  tolerate  for  fourteen  years 
the  exclusion  of  their  representatives  from  Canton,  the 
right  to  enter  which  city  had  just  been  recovered  by 
force.  It  is  most  instructive  to  mark,  as  the  key  to 
many  failures,  how,  like  successive  generations  of 
youth,  successive  British  agents  in  China  have  failed 
to  profit  by  the  experience  of  their  predecessors,  and 
have  had  in  so  many  cases  to  buy  their  own  at  the 
expense  of  their  country ;  for  we  see  still  the  same 
thing  indefinitely  repeating  itself,  like  a  recurring 
decimal.  Even  at  this  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century  we  seem  as  far  off  as  ever  from  laying  hold  of 
any  saving  principle,  though  it  stares  at  us  out  of  the 
whole  panorama  of  our  intercourse.  Lord  Elgin's  pro- 
cedure afforded  at  once  the  best  example  what  to  do 
and  the  clearest  warning  what  to  avoid  in  China,  and 
it  is  the  most  useful  for  future  guidance  for  the  reason 
that  effect  followed  cause  as  closely  as  report  follows 
flash.  It  was  his  fate,  much  against  his  will  appar- 
ently, to  wage  war  on  China  in  order  to  revindicate  a 
right  which  had  lapsed  through  the  weakness  and 
wrong-headedness  of  certain  British  representatives  ; 
yet  in  the  closing  act  of  a  perfectly  successful  war  he 
commits  the  self-same  error  on  a  more  comprehensive 
scale,  entailing  on  some  future  Government  and  pleni- 
potentiary the  necessity  of  making  yet  another  war  on 
China  to  recover  what  he  was  giving  away.  What  is 
the  explanation  of  this  continuous  repetition  of  the 
same  mistake  ?  It  would  seem  that,  knowing  nothing 
of  the  Chinese,  yet  imagining  they  know  something, 
the  representatives  of  Great  Britain  and  of  other 
Powers,  notably  the  United  States,  have  been  in  the 
habit   of  evolving   from  their  own  consciousness  and 


1856-60.]  DIPLOMATIC   ILLUSIONS.  339 

keeping  by  them  a  subjective  Chinaman  with  whom 
they  play  "  dummy,"  and  of  course  "  score  horribly,"  as 
the  most  recent  diplomatic  slang  has  it.  Their  de- 
spatches are  full  of  this  game — of  reckoning  without 
their  host,  who,  when  brought  to  book,  turns  out  to  be 
a  wholly  different  personage  from  the  intelligent  auto- 
maton kept  for  Cabinet  use.  Then,  under  the  shock 
of  this  discovery,  denunciations  of  treachery — black, 
base,  and  so  forth — relieve  the  feelings  of  the  foiled 
diplomat,  while  the  substance  of  his  previous  triumph 
has  quite  eluded  him.  To  this  kind  of  illusion  Lord 
Elgin  was  by  temperament  more  predisposed  than  per- 
haps any  of  his  predecessors  save  Captain  Elliot. 
Though  convinced  by  his  first  encounter  that  Chinese 
statesmen  were  "  fools  and  tricksters,"  the  simulacrum 
soon  asserted  supremacy  over  the  actuality  of  ex- 
perience, and  to  the  honour  of  the  very  persons  so 
stigmatised  he  committed  the  interests  of  his  country, 
abandoning:  all  the  securities  which  he  held  in  his 
hand. 

But  what,  then,  is  the  secret  of  dealing  with  the 
Chinese  which  so  many  able  men,  not  certainly  in- 
tending to  make  failures,  have  missed  ?  This  interesting 
question  is  thus  partially  answered  by  Wingrove  Cooke. 
"  The  result  of  all  I  hear  and  see,"  he  wrote,  "  is  a 
settled  conviction  that  at  present  we  know  nothing — 
absolutely  nothing — of  the  nature  of  those  elements 
which  are  at  work  inside  China.  Crotchets,  &c.,  are 
rife,  but  they  are  all  the  offspring  of  vain  imaginings, 
not  sober  deductions  from  facts.  .  .  .  Treat  John 
Chinaman  as  a  man,  and  exact  from  him  the  duties  of 
a  civilised  man,  and  you  will  have  no  more  trouble  with 
him."     Which  is  but  a  paraphrase  of  Lord  Palmerston's 


340  EARL   OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvil. 

prescription  to  consider  the  Chinese  as  "  not  greatly- 
different  from  the  rest  of  mankind."  Such,  however, 
has  always  been  too  simple  a  formula  for  the  smaller 
minds.  They  would  complicate  it  by  trying,  with 
ludicrous  effect,  to  get  behind  the  brain  of  the  Chinese 
and  play  their  opponent's  hand  as  well  as  their  own. 
Probably  it  matters  less  on  what  particular  footing  we 
deal  with  the  Chinese  than  the  consistency  with  which 
we  adhere  to  it.  To  treat  them  as  proteges,  and  excuse 
them  as  minors  or  imbeciles  while  yet  allowing  them 
the  full  licence  and  privileges  of  the  adult  and  the  sane, 
is  manifestly  absurd.  To  treat  them  as  dependent  and 
independent  at  the  same  time  can  lead  to  nothing  but 
confusion  and  violent  injustice.  To  allow  engagements 
with  them  to  become  waste  paper  is  the  surest  road  to 
their  ruin  and  our  discomfiture.  To  let  our  Yea  be  Yea, 
and  our  Nay,  Nay,  is  as  much  the  Law,  and  the  Prophets 
in  China  as  it  is  throughout  the  world  of  diplomacy. 
To  this  simplicity  Lord  Elgin  had  attained,  at  least  in 
theory,  when  he  told  the  merchants  of  Shanghai  that 
in  dealing  with  Chinese  officials  he  had  **  been  guided 
by  two  simple  rules  of  action.  I  have  never  preferred 
a  demand  which  I  did  not  believe  to  be  both  moderate 
and  just,  and  from  a  demand  so  preferred  I  have  never 
receded." 

What  misgiving  troubled  the  repose  of  Lord  Elgin  as 
to  the  good  faith  of  the  Imperial  Government  on  which 
he  had  ventured  so  much,  may  be  partly  inferred  from 
his  avidity  in  catching  at  any  straw  which  might  sup- 
port his  faith.  Hearing  that  "  his  friends  the  two 
Imperial  Commissioners"  who  had  signed  the  treaty 
were  appointed  to  meet  him  in  Shanghai  to  arrange 
the  tariff.  Lord  Elgin  welcomed  the  news  as   "  proof 


1856-60.]     EFFORTS  TO  ANNUL  THE  TREATY.        341 

that  the  emperor  has  made  up  his  mind  to  accept  the 
treaty."  But  as  the  emperor  had  already,  by  imperial 
decree  dated  3rd  July,  and  communicated  in  the  most 
formal  manner  to  Lord  Elgin,  expressly  sanctioned  the 
treaty  before  the  plenipotentiary  left  Tientsin,  wherefore 
the  anxiety  for  further  proofs  of  his  good  intentions  ? 
"  This  decree  was  forced  out  of  the  emperor,"  Mr 
Oliphant  tells  us,  "  by  Lord  Elgin's  pertinacity  " — and 
the  threat  of  bringing  up  to  Tientsin  a  regiment  of 
British  soldiers  then  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  !  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  mission  of  the  two  Imperial  Com- 
missioners was  of  quite  another  character  from  that 
assigned  to  it  by  Lord  Elgin.  The  two  men  were 
sent  to  complete  their  task  of  preventing  by  every 
means  the  advent  of  the  barbarians  to  Peking,  just 
as  Lord  Elgin  himself  was,  two  years  later,  sent  back 
to  China  to  finish  his  work,  which  was  to  bring  the 
said  barbarians  into  the  imperial  city.  Between  two 
such  missions  there  could  be  neither  reconciliation  nor 
compromise. 

There  is  authority  for  stating  that  the  Imperial 
Commissioners  were  expressly  sent  by  the  emperor 
to  Shanghai  (l)  to  annul  the  whole  treaty  of  Tientsin, 
and  (2)  failing  the  whole,  as  much  of  it  as  possible,  but 
especially  the  article  providing  for  a  Minister  at  Peking. 
The  ostensible  purpose  of  the  mission,  from  the  foreign 
point  of  view,  was  the  settlement  of  the  tariff  and  trade 
regulations, — about  which,  however,  the  Chinese  cared 
very  little, — and  delegates  were  appointed  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  labour  was  conscientiously  performed,  on  one 
side  at  any  rate,  and  the  result  was  highly  creditable 
to  the  delegates.  It  was  by  insertion  in  the  tariff  of 
imports  that  opium  became  recognised,  chiefly,  it  would 


342  EARL   OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

appear,  at  the  instance  of  the  United  States  Minister, 
Mr  W.  B.  Reed,  who  was  on  the  spot. 

Apart  from  the  tariff  two  principal  questions  occupied 
the  minds  of  the  negotiators  of  the  treaty — the  actual 
situation  at  Canton  on  the  part  of  the  English,  and 
the  prospective  residence  in  Peking  on  the  part  of 
the  Chinese.  Lord  Elgin  hoped,  by  an  appeal  to  the 
treaty  of  peace,  to  put  an  end  to  the  hostile  proceed- 
ings of  oflScials  and  people  which  had  harassed  the  oc- 
cupying force  in  Canton  with  impunity  for  nine  months. 
But  it  was  the  treaty  itself  against  which  officials, 
gentry,  and  braves  were  making  war,  just  as  they 
had  done  in  the  case  of  the  treaty  of  1842.  There 
was  no  ambiguity  about  the  movement.  The  Govern- 
ment was  carried  on  not  in  Canton  but  in  the  neigh- 
bouring city  of  Fatshan,  where  the  Governor-General 
Huang,  who  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  Yeh,  held 
his  court  and  issued  his  decrees.  Two  months  after 
the  occupation  of  Canton  the  puppet  whom  the  Allies 
had  installed  there  admitted  that  the  object  of  the 
assemblage  of  braves  was  to  retake  the  city.  Two 
months  after  the  signature  of  the  treaty  and  its  ac- 
ceptance by  the  emperor  the  Governor- General  Huang 
was  publicly  offering  a  reward  of  §30,000  for  the  head 
of  Parkes,  and  was  stimulating  the  people  in  every 
way  to  expel  the  foreigners  from  the  city.  All  this 
was  in  perfect  accord  both  with  imperial  policy  and 
with  Chinese  ethics.  It  had  the  full  sanction  of  the 
emperor,  just  as  similar  operations  had  formerly  had  of 
his  father.  For  the  grand  purpose  of  destroying  or 
impairing  the  treaty  there  was  no  distinction  in  the 
Chinese  mind  between  legitimate  and  illegitimate, 
honourable  or  treacherous,  methods. 


1856-60.]     THE   BRITISH   GOVERNMENT   EXASPERATED.       343 

Lord  Elgin,  who  had  returned  from  Japan  to  Shang- 
hai to  meet  the  Imperial  Commissioners  in  September, 
disappointed  at  their  non  -  arrival,  opened  communi- 
cations with  them  by  a  threat  of  returning  to  Tientsin 
and  thus  saving  them  the  trouble  of  completing  their 
slow  journey  to  Shanghai.  On  their  eventual  arrival 
there  he  opened  a  diplomatic  campaign  against  Canton 
by  a  demand  (October  7)  to  know  under  what  authority 
Huang  and  the  military  committees  were  organising 
attacks  on  the  Allies.  In  reply  the  Imperial  Com- 
missioners naively  proposed  to  promulgate  the  treaty. 
This  frivolous  answer  provoked  the  rejoinder  (October 
9)  that  the  treaty  had  been  three  months  before 
publicly  sanctioned  by  imperial  decree,  that  some- 
thing more  than  "  documents  and  professions "  were 
required  to  satisfy  Lord  Elgin  on  a  question  of  "  peace 
or  war,"  and  he  demanded  the  removal  of  the  Governor- 
General  Huang.  The  commissioners  then  said  they  had 
denounced  Huang  to  the  throne,  and  hoped  for  his  re- 
moval at  no  very  distant  date.  They  would  also  move 
his  Majesty  the  Emperor  to  withdraw  his  authority 
from  the  hostile  militia.  Canton  being  thus  disposed 
of,  as  he  supposed,  Lord  Elgin  proceeded  to  other 
business.  But  the  hostilities  at  Canton  continued 
without  the  least  abatement  for  three  months  longer, 
until  something  more  strenuous  than  diplomatising 
with  the  Imperial  Commissioners  was  resorted  to. 
The  British  Government  had  at  last  become  exasper- 
ated, and  the  Foreign  Secretary,  Lord  Malmesbury, 
wrote  on  October  14  to  Lord  Elgin,  "The  most  severe 
measures  against  the  braves  are  the  only  ones  which 
will  obtain  the  recognition  by  the  Cantonese  of  the 
treaty    of   Tientsin."      It   was   not   long    before   Lord 


344  EARL   OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

Elgin  himself  became  converted  to  the  same  belief, 
for  on  January  20,  1859,  he  wrote  to  General  van 
Straubenzee,  after  some  successful  reprisals  he  had 
made  on  the  village  braves,  that  "  advantage  should 
be  taken  of  the  cool  weather  to  familiarise  the  rural 
inhabitants  of  the  vicinity  of  Canton  with  the  presence 
of  our  troops,  and  to  punish  severely  braves  or  others 
who  venture  to  attack  them.''  By  this  time  also  he 
had  realised  that  the  promise  on  which  he  relied  in 
October  had  been  evaded,  and  he  told  the  Imperial 
Commissioners  on  January  22  that  he  would  "  have 
nothing  more  to  say  to  them  on  Canton  matters, 
— that  our  soldiers  and  sailors  would  take  the  braves 
into  their  own  hands." 

The  effect  of  the  new  tactics  was  immediate  and 
satisfactory.  When  the  Allied  troops  began  to  move 
about  they  were  welcomed  in  the  very  hotbeds  of  hos- 
tility. "  At  Fatshan,"  writes  General  van  Straubenzee 
on  January  28,  "we  were  received  most  courteously 
by  the  authorities  and  respectfully  by  the  people." 
A  five-days'  excursion  to  Fa  Yuen,  the  headquarters 
of  the  anti-foreign  committee,  was  likewise  a  perfect 
success ;  and  so  everywhere  throughout  the  Canton 
district.  Lord  Elgin  was  now  able  to  assume  a 
bolder  tone  with  the  Imperial  Commissioners  and 
address  them  in  still  plainer  terms. 

"  The  moderation  of  the  Allies,"  he  wrote  to  them 
in  February,  "  has  been  misunderstood  by  the  officials 
and  gentry  by  whom  the  braves  are  organised.  .  .  . 
This  habit  of  insult  and  outrage  shall  be  put  down 
with  the  strong  hand.  ...  It  shall  be  punished  by 
the  annihilation  of  all  who  persist  in  it."  There  was 
no  need  for  any  such  extreme  remedy,  for  as  soon  as 


1856-60.]  THE   STRONG   HAND   TELLS.  345 

the  burglars  realised  that  the  watch -dog  had  been 
loosed  they  ceased  from  troubling  the  household,  and 
fell  back  on  peaceful  and  respectable  ways  of  life. 
"  With  the  cessation  of  official  instigation,"  Lord  Elgin 
wrote  in  March,  "  hostile  feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
inhabitants  appears  to  have  subsided,"  thus  falling 
into  line  with  Consul  Alcock,  who  wrote :  "  Clear 
proof  was  furnished  that  the  long-nurtured  and  often- 
invoked  hostility  of  the  Cantonese  was  entirely  of 
fictitious  growth,  due  exclusively  to  the  inclinations 
of  the  mandarins  as  a  part  of  the  policy  of  the  Court 
of  Peking."  And  then,  too,  the  difficulty  of  removing 
the  Governor -General  Huang  disappeared.  He  had, 
in  fact,  been  unsuccessful  in  expelling  the  barbarians, 
just  as  Yeh  had  been,  and  the  imperial  decree  super- 
seding him  naturally  followed.  His  presence  or  absence 
had  then  become  of  no  importance  to  the  Allies,  as,  had 
he  remained,  he  would  have  accepted  the  accomplished 
fact  of  the  foreign  supremacy  with  as  good  a  grace 
as  the  gentry  and  their  braves  had  done,  for  they 
never  contemplated  endangering  their  lives  by  fight- 
ing. Outrages  on  stragglers,  assassination,  kidnap- 
ping, and  bravado  filled  up  the  repertory  of  their 
militant  resources,  and  when  these  were  no  longer 
effective  they  retired  into  private  life  as  if  nothing 
had  happened.  The  officials  were  no  less  acquiescent 
once  they  realised  that  they  had  a  master. 

The  interest  of  this  Canton  episode  lies  in  its  relation 
to  the  Chinese  question  generally.  Foreign  intercourse 
with  China  is  marked  by  a  rhythm  so  regular  that  any 
part  of  it  may  be  taken  as  an  epitome  of  the  whole,  like 
a  pattern  of  wall-paper.  From  Canton  we  learn  that 
calculation  of  national  advantage  or  danger,  argument 


34G  EARL    OF    ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.       [chap.  xvii. 

from  policy,  even  threats  which  are  not  believed,  are  so 
much  "  clouds  and  wind,"  not  profitable  even  as  mental 
exercises.  What  alone  is  valid  is  concrete  fact ;  not 
treaties,  but  the  execution  of  them. 

The  Imperial  Commissioners  had  in  good  time 
presented  their  own  demand  on  Lord  Elgin,  and 
in  most  becoming  terms,  for  between  preferring  and 
meeting  a  request  there  is  all  the  difference  in  the 
world.  The  two  Chinese  signatories  of  the  treaty 
frankly  avowed  that  they  had  signed  without  scrutiny 
under  military  pressure,  and  that  certain  stipulations 
were  highly  inconvenient  to  the  Imperial  Government, 
particularly  the  right  of  keeping  a  Minister  in  residence 
in  Peking.  Lord  Elgin  agreed  to  move  his  Govern- 
ment, and  the  Government  consented  to  waive  the 
right,  conditionally.  Lord  Elgin  laid  stress  on  the 
retention  of  the  right  as  a  right,  forgetting  that  in 
China  a  right  conditionally  waived  is  a  right  definitely 
abandoned.  Nor  only  so,  but  so  far  from  consolidating 
what  remains,  it  constitutes  a  vantage  -  ground  for 
demanding  further  concessions,  and  in  other  fields  of 
international  relations  besides  that  of  China.  Nothing 
therefore  could  have  been  wider  of  the  mark  than 
any  expectation  that  "  the  decision  of  her  Majesty's 
Government  respecting  residence  in  Peking  would 
induce  the  Chinese  Government  to  receive  in  a  becom- 
ing manner  a  representative  of  her  Majesty  when  he 
proceeds  to  the  Peiho  to  exchange  the  ratification." 
Experience  pointed  to  quite  the  opposite  effect. 

These  critical  remarks  are  by  no  means  intended 
either  to  belittle  Lord  Elgin's  good  work,  to  depreciate 
his  real  statesmanship,  or  to  scoff"  at  his  sensibility  and 


1856-60.]  HIS   EPITAPH   ON   HIS   POLICY.  347 

high-mindedness.  But  his  errors  being  like  a  flaw  in  a 
steel  casting,  pregnant  with  destruction,  and  as  the 
same  kind  of  flaw  continues  to  vitiate  many  of  our 
smaller  diplomatic  castings,  the  China  question  could 
not  really  be  understood  without  giving  proper  con- 
sideration to  them.  For  the  rest,  as  a  despatch  writer 
Lord  Elgin  was  both  copious  and  able — he  did  not  take 
a  double  first  at  Oxford  for  nothing.  Still,  his  writings 
and  orations  are  scarcely  the  source  whence  one  would 
seek  for  light  and  leading  on  the  Chinese  problem. 
They  are  vitiated  by  self-vindication.  Many  of  them 
are  elaborate  efibrts  to  make  the  worse  appear  the 
better  reason,  while  their  political  philosophy  is  based 
too  much  on  speculative  conceptions  where  ascertained 
data  were  available. 

On  the  last  day  of  July  1858  Lord  Elgin  with  his 
suite  set  out  on  their  memorable  voyage  to  Japan,  the 
narrative  of  which  has  been  so  skilfully  woven  by 
Laurence  Oliphant.  This  episode  will  claim  our 
attention  later.  His  lordship  came,  saw,  and  con- 
quered— returned  to  China  in  a  month  crowned  with 
fresh  laurels.  At  Shanghai  he  saw  the  tariff  settled, 
and  then  performed  another  pioneer  voyage  of  pro- 
digious significance.  This  was  up  the  Yangtze  as  far 
as  the  great  central  emporium  Hankow.  Captain 
Sherard  Osborn  was  the  Palinurus  of  that  original 
and  venturesome  voyage.  After  that.  Lord  Elgin  bent 
his  steps  towards  England;  but  before  leaving  China 
the  ghosts  of  things  done  and  undone  haunted  him. 
"  A  variety  of  circumstances  lead  me  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Court  of  Peking  is  about  to  play  us  false,"  was 
the  melancholy  epitaph  he  wrote  on  his  mixed  policy, 
on  his  honest  attempt  to  make  war  with  rose-water, 


348  EARL   OF   ELGIN   AND   HIS   MISSION.      [chap.  xvii. 

and  his  subordination,  on  critical  occasions,  of  judgment 
to  sentiment. 

Meantime  his  brother  Frederick,  who  had  carried  the 
Tientsin  treaty  to  London,  was  returning  with  it  and 
the  Queen's  ratification  and  his  letter  of  credence  as 
British  Minister  to  China.  The  denoHment  of  the 
plot  was  now  at  hand.  The  real  mind  of  the  Chinese 
Government  was  finally  declared  in  the  sanguinary 
reception  the  new  envoy  met  with  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Peiho  in  June  1859.  Frederick  Bruce  was 
generally  considered  a  man  of  larger  calibre  than  his 
elder  brother.  "  In  disposition  he  was  a  fine,  upright, 
honourable  fellow,"  writes  Sir  Hope  Grant,  "  and  in 
appearance  tall  and  strong  made,  with  a  remarkably 
good  expression  of  countenance."  But  it  took  even 
him  a  long  time  to  fathom  the  new  situation.  After 
his  disastrous  repulse  from  thfe  Taku  forts  he  wrote 
in  August,  "  I  regret  much  that  when  the  permanent 
residence  was  waived  it  was  not  laid  down  in  detail 
what  the  reception  of  the  Minister  at  Peking  was 
to  be."  But  it  was  no  question  of  detail  that  barred 
his  passage  to  Peking.  It  was  the  settled  determina- 
tion never  to  see  the  face  of  any  foreign  Minister ; 
and  it  seems  strano^e  that  it  should  have  taken  not 
only  another  year  but  another  war  finally  to  convince 
the  British  plenipotentaries  and  their  Government  that 
the  message  of  China  from  first  to  last,  from  Peking 
and  Canton,  had  been  to  fling  the  treaty  in  their 
face. 


SIR  FREDERICK   BRUCE. 


1856-60.1  THE   ALLIED   FORCES.  349 


II.  LORD  ELGIN'S   SECOND  MISSION. 

Invasion  of  Peking — Convention  of  Peking — Establishment  of  the  British 
Legation — Russian  and  British,  a  contrast. 

The  Chinese  perfidy  at  Taku  had  of  course  to  be 
avenged.  A  formidable  expedition  was  equipped  by 
the  Allied  Powers,  Lord  Elgin  and  Baron  Gros  being 
reappointed  as  plenipotentiaries.  The  history  of  the 
famous  Pekin  campaign  of  1860,  with  its  tragic  inci- 
dents, has  been  impressed  on  the  world  by  so  many 
writers,  military  and  civil,  most  of  them  actors  in  the 
scenes  they  depict,  that  the  barest  outline  of  events 
may  suffice  in  this  place. 

In  the  preliminary  agreement  between  the  two 
Governments,  the  British  military  force  was  limited  to 
10,000  effectives;  but  the  number  actually  placed  in 
the  field  exceeded  that  figure  by  the  consent  of  the 
French,  whose  forces  were  between  6000  and  7000. 
The  British  contingent  was  commanded  by  General 
Sir  Hope  Grant,  the  French  by  General  Montauban, 
afterwards  created  Count  Palikao, — "a  fine,  hand- 
some, soldier-like  man,  apparently  under  sixty  years 
of  age." 

The  naval  forces  were  commanded  respectively  by 
Vice- Admiral  Sir  James  Hope,  '*a  tall,  noble-looking 
man,  with  a  prepossessing  and  most  gentlemanlike 
appearance,"^  and  by  Admiral  Page,  "a  superior  man 
with  a  great  deal  of  dry  humour,  but  bad-tempered."^ 

The  friction  arising  between  Allies  working  together, 
waiting  for  each  other,  consulting  at  every  step,  tak- 

1  Sir  Hope  Grant's  Journal.  ^  Ibid. 


350  LORD  Elgin's  second  mission,      [chap.  xmi. 

ing  precedence  of  each  other  on  alternate  days,  at 
first  vexatious,  was  in  the  end  overcome  by  the  tact 
of  the  commanders  on  both  sides. 

The  first  operation  of  war  was  to  occupy  the  harbour 
of  Chusan  as  an  intermediate  base.  After  that  the 
British  force  was  conveyed  in  transports  to  Talien-wan, 
where  they  were  disembarked,  while  the  French  were 
landed  at  Chefoo,  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  Gulf  of 
Pechili.  At  these  points  preparations  were  made  for 
the  intended  descent  on  the  coast  of  the  province  of 
Chihli,  between  200  and  300  miles  to  the  westward. 
The  British  force  included  1000  cavalry  in  splendid  con- 
dition, and  a  battery  of  Armstrong  guns,  then  for  the 
first  time  used  in  active  service.  The  French  had  no 
cavalry,  the  attempts  to  import  horses  from  Japan  were 
not  successful,  and  the  scarcity  of  draught-animals  on 
their  side  caused  great  delay  in  the  sailing  of  the 
expedition  from  the  temporary  depots.  At  length  on 
July  26  a  fleet  of  over  200  sail — a  magnificent  spectacle 
— carried  the  two  armies  to  within  twenty  miles  of  the 
Peiho,  where  they  anchored,  waiting  for  favourable 
weather  and  a  minute  reconnaissance. 

The  one  piece  of  strategy  in  the  campaign  was  the 
choice  of  a  landing-place.  The  Taku  forts,  which  had 
been  strong  enough  to  repulse  Sir  James  Hope  with 
severe  loss  a  year  before,  had  been  further  strengthened, 
for  to  the  Chinese  it  was  a  matter  of  life  and  death  to 
bar  the  entrance  to  the  Peiho.  The  chain  barrier  across 
the  mouth  of  the  river  could  not  be  forced  under  the 
concentrated  fire  of  the  forts  ;  only  the  lightest  draught 
vessels  could  approach  within  five  miles ;  and  a  frontal 
attack  was  not  to  be  thought  of  But  a  decided  difier- 
ence  of  opinion  between  the  Allied  generals  had  dis- 


1856-60.]  THE   PEKING   CAMPAIGN.  351 

closed  itself  as  to  the  mode  of  procedure.  The  French 
commander  was  determined  to  land  on  the  coast  to  the 
southward  of  the  forts ;  the  English  was  still  more 
resolute  in  selecting  as  a  landing-place  the  mouth  of 
the  Peitang  river,  eight  miles  northward  of  Taku.  So 
irreconcilable  were  their  views  that  it  was  agreed  that 
each  should  go  his  own  way,  only  starting  simultane- 
ously. After  more  careful  study,  however,  General 
Montauban  came  to  think  better  of  his  own  scheme, 
and  proposed  to  Sir  Hope  Grant  to  join  him  in  the 
landing  at  Peitang. 

So  on  August  2'^the  first  detachments  of  2000 
from  each  army  were  disembarked,  and  the  campaign 
proper  commenced.  The  forts  at  Peitang  were  easily 
occupied,  "a  kind  old  man"  pointing  out  where  there 
were  loaded  shells  which  would  explode  on  foot 
pressure  on  a  gun-lock  laid  so  as  to  fire  a  train. 
By  means  of  a  raised  causeway  leading  through  a 
sea  of  "  briny  slush,"  positions  were  reached  whence 
the  Taku  forts  could  be  attacked  from  the  rear. 
Though  bravely  defended,  the  forts  on  the  left  bank 
were  captured,  and  as  they  commanded  those  on  the 
opposite  bank  no  resistance  was  offered  by  the  latter. 
The  Peiho  was  thus  opened  for  the  conveyance  of 
troops  and  stores  to  Tientsin,  which  was  made  the 
base  of  operations  for  the  advance  of  the  Allied 
armies  on  Peking^. 

The  military  movements  were  hampered  by  the  pre- 
sence of  the  two  plenipotentiaries,  who  stopped  on  the 
way  to  negotiate  with  the  unbeaten  foe.  Delay  was 
not  the  only  untoward  consequence  of  these  pro- 
ceedings. At  one  moment  a  military  disaster  seemed 
to  have  been  narrowly  escaped.     Taking  advantage  of 


352  LORD  Elgin's   second   mission.        [chap.  xvn. 

the  singular  credulity  of  the  Allies,  the  Chinese,  while 
engaging  them  in  friendly  negotiations,  had  planned 
to  decoy  the  army  into  a  convenient  camping-ground 
at  Changchia  -  wan,  towards  which  the  troops  were 
marching,  when,  **  To  my  surprise,"  writes  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, "  we  found  a  strong  Tartar  picket, 
who  retired  on  our  approach ;  and  a  little  farther  on 
were  seen  great  bodies  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  the 
latter  drawn  up  behind  a  large  nullah  to  our  right  front, 
displaying  a  number  of  banners."  In  the  meantime 
the  envoys,  Parkes,  Loch,  and  other  officers,  who  had 
been  negotiating  with  the  higher  mandarins  at  Tung- 
chow,  a  couple  of  miles  off,  were  seized  and  made 
prisoners  with  their  escort,  all  being  subsequently 
cruelly  tortured,  and  most  of  them  massacred,  in 
accordance  with  Chinese  practice  in  war. 

Sir  Hope  Grant,  finding  his  army  of  4000  men  in 
process  of  being  hemmed  in,  attacked  and  routed  the 
Chinese  troops  on  September  18,  resuming  his  march 
on  the  21st,  when  the  remainder  of  his  force  had 
joined  him.  He  had  not  gone  far,  however,  when 
the  way  was  again  barred,  and  another  action  had  to 
be  fought  at  the  bridge  Pali  -  chiao,  ten  miles  from 
Peking,  where  General  Montauban  distinguished  him- 
self, and  whence  he  derived  his  title. 

Far  from  owning  themselves  defeated,  the  Chinese 
on  the  morrow  resumed  negotiations  as  between  equals. 
The  Imperial  Commissioners  who  had  mismanaged  the 
affair  were  replaced  by  Prince  Kung,  a  brother  of  the 
emperor,  who  sent  letters  under  a  flag  of  truce,  saying 
he  was  ready  to  come  to  terms,  but  "said  nothing 
about  our  poor  prisoners."  The  Allied  plenipotentiaries 
declined  to  treat  until  the  captives  should  be  returned, 


1856-61.]  PEKING   ATTACKED.  353 

whereupon  Prince  Kung  sent  another  letter  saying 
they  were  safe,  but  would  only  be  sent  back  on  the 
restitution  of  the  Taku  forts  and  the  evacuation  of  the 
river  by  the  Allied  fleets. 

Lord  Elgin  had  demanded  that  he  should  deliver 
the  Queen's  letter  in  person  to  the  emperor.  Prince 
Kung  refused  this  demand,  which  Lord  Elgin  incon- 
tinently abandoned.  Waxing  bolder,  Prince  Kung 
next  threatened  that  the  entry  of  the  Allied  forces 
into  the  capital  would  be  followed  by  the  instant 
massacre  of  the  prisoners.  The  plenipotentiaries  re- 
torted by  intimating  that  the  surrender  of  prisoners 
was  a  necessary  condition  of  the  suspension  of  hos- 
tilities. A  week  having  been  wasted  in  this  vain  see- 
saw, an  ultimatum  was  sent  into  Peking  on  September 
30.  This  was  answered  by  the  Chinese  inviting  the 
Allies  to  retire  to  Changchia-wan,  the  scene  of  the 
great  defeat  of  their  army,  offering  to  sign  the  treaty 
there.  And  so  the  contest  was  maintained  until  the 
Allied  artillery  was  planted  within  sixty  yards  of  the 
north  gate,  and  the  hour  was  about  to  strike  when  the 
wall  was  to  be  battered  down. 

Most  valuable  information — the  topography  of  the 
city — had  been  supplied  by  General  Ignatieff,  who  ac- 
companied the  Allies.  A  map  which  he  lent  to  Sir 
Hope  Grant  showed  every  street  and  house  of  im- 
portance in  Peking,  laid  down  by  a  scientific  member 
of  the  Russian  mission  in  the  city.  The  data  had  been 
obtained  by  traversing  the  streets  in  a  cart,  from  which 
angles  were  taken,  while  an  indicator  fixed  to  the  wheel 
marked  the  distances  covered.  Without  this  plan  the 
attack  would  have  been  made  from  the  south  side,  as 
proposed  by  General   Montauban,  which   would   have 

VOL.   I.  z 


354  LORD   Elgin's   second   mission.        [chap.  xvn. 

involved  a  march  through  the  commercial  or  Chinese 
quarter,  and  the  surmounting  first  of  the  Chinese  and 
then  of  the  Tartar  wall.  The  map  made  it  clear  that 
from  every  point  of  view  the  north  side  offered  the 
most  eligible  point  of  attack,  where  nothing  intervened 
between  a  great  open  plain  and  the  wall  of  the  Manchu 
city. 

Passing  over  the  dramatic  incidents  of  the  destruction 
of  the  Summer  Palace,  an  act  of  calculated  vengeance 
for  the  murder  and  maltreatment  of  envoys  and  prisoners, 
the  flight  of  the  emperor  on  a  hunting  tour  to  Jeho, 
whence  he  never  returned,  the  release  of  the  prisoners 
and  their  account  of  the  captivity,  the  new  treaty 
was  signed  at  the  Hall  of  Ceremonies  on  October  22, 
1860,  by  Prince  Kung,  *'  a  delicate  gentlemanlike 
man,  evidently  overcome  with  fear,"  and  his  coadjutor, 
Hangki.  The  treaties  of  Tientsin  were  ratified,  and 
some  further  indemnities  exacted.  The  special  pro- 
visions introduced  into  the  French  treaty  will  be 
referred  to  in  a  subsequent  chapter.^ 

The  closing  scene  was  marked  by  a  degree  of  haste 
somewhat  recalling  Tientsin  in  1858.  The  very  slow 
advance  on  Peking  brought  the  climax  of  the  campaign 
unpleasantly  close  to  the  season  when  communication 
by  water  would  be  shut  off  by  ice  ;  "  the  weather 
became  bitterly  cold,  some  of  the  hills  being  covered 
with  snow."  And  Sir  Hope  Grant's  never-failing  coun- 
sellor, Ignatieff,  with  "  his  usual  extreme  kindness," 
furnished  him  with  the  most  important  information 
that  the  Peiho  would  soon  become  frozen  up  and  it 
would  be  unsafe  to  linger  in  Peking.  Mr  Loch's  gallop- 
ing off  with  the  treaty,  as  shown  in  the  illustration, 

1  Vol.  ii.  p.  224. 


^\Mh 


1856-61.]       ALLIED   ENVOYS   LOCATED   IN   PEKING.  355 

was  rather  typical  of  the  whole  business.  The  treaty 
as  such  was  of  little  consequence — the  fulfilment  of  its 
provisions  was  everything. 

Some  lessons,  nevertheless,  had  been  learned  in  the 
school  of  diplomatic  adversity.  Peking  was  not  left 
without  a  locum  tenens  of  the  Minister,  Tientsin  was 
not  left  without  a  garrison,  and  the  Taku  forts  were 
occupied  by  the  Allies  for  a  couple  of  years  after  the 
final  conclusion  of  peace. 

"  Ring  out  the  old  ;  ring  in  the  new."  There  seemed 
a  natural  fitness  in  the  Hon.  Frederick  Bruce  succeed- 
ing the  Earl  of  Elgin  as  Minister  plenipotentiary,  and 
there  was  a  dramatic  finish  in  the  farewell  ceremonial 
when  the  retiring  representative  of  the  Queen  vacated 
the  seat  of  honour,  placing  therein  his  younger  brother, 
whom  he  introduced  to  Prince  Kung  as  the  accredited 
agent  of  Great  Britain.  The  new  era  was  inaugurated  ; 
a  real  representative  of  her  Britannic  Majesty  was  in- 
stalled in  the  capital  of  the  Son  of  Heaven. 

The  season  was  late,  and  though  two  palaces  had 
been  granted  on  lease  for  the  residences  of  the  British 
and  the  French  Ministers,  many  alterations  and  re- 
pairs were  needed  to  render  them  fit  for  occupation, 
which  could  not  be  effected  before  the  closing  of  the 
sea  communication  by  ice.  The  Ministers  therefore 
resolved  to  withdraw  from  Peking  for  the  winter, 
placing  their  respective  legations  in  charge  of  a  junior 
consular  officer,  Mr  Thomas  Adkins,  who  volunteered  to 
hold  the  post  until  the  return  of  the  plenipotentiaries 
in  the  following  spring. 

Mr  Adkins  was  not  the  only  foreign  sojourner  in  the 
Chinese  capital.  There  was  a  French  Lazarist  priest, 
Mouilli  by  name,  who,  having  successfully  concealed 


356  LORD  Elgin's  second  mission,      [chap.  xvn. 

himself  among  his  native  Christians  during  the  mili- 
tary advance  of  the  Allies,  emerged  from  his  hiding- 
place    on    the  triumphant   entry   of  the    ambassadors, 
and  showed   himself  in  the  streets  in  a  sedan  chair 
with  four  bearers.     There  was  the  permanent  Russian 
establishment  within  the  city,  with  its  unbroken  record 
of  173  years.     Originally  composed  of  prisoners  taken 
at  the  siege  of  Albazin,  it  had  become  a  seminary  of 
the  Orthodox   Church  and   a  political  vedette  of  the 
Russian    empire,    invaluable     to     the    two    masterful 
diplomatists  who  appeared  suddenly  on  the  scene  in 
the   years    1858    and    1860.      The   mission   served   as 
a    speculum    through    which    Russia   could    look    into 
the    inner    recesses   of   the    Chinese    State,    while   to 
the  Chinese  it  was  a  window  of  bottle-glass  through 
which  the  external  world  was  refracted  for  them.     The 
Russian  Government  selects  its  agents  on  the  principle 
on  which  we  select  university  crews  or  All -England 
elevens  —  namely,  the   most   fit.       So   important   and 
far-sighted  a  scheme  as  the  Peking  mission  was  not 
left  to  chance  or  the  claims  of  seniority,  but  was  main- 
tained in  the  highest  efficiency.      Its  members  —  six 
ecclesiastical  and  four  lay  —  were  changed  every  ten 
years.      All  of  them,   from  the  Archimandrite  down- 
wards, were  accomplished  linguists,  speaking  Chinese 
like    the    natives,    and    masters    also   of   the    Manchu 
and    Mongol    languages.       Their    relations    with    the 
Chinese   officials   were   unostentatious,    yet   brotherly. 
Few  secrets,   either   of  administration,   dynastic   poli- 
tics,  or  official    intrigue,    no   communications  between 
the    Government,    provincial    or    imperial,    and    any 
foreigners,    escaped    record    in    the    archives   of    the 
Russian  mission.     The  personnel  were  protected  from 


MONSEIGNEUR   MOUILLI. 


1856-61.]  M.    POPOFF.  357 

outrage  or  insult  by  their  own  tact  and  their  tra- 
ditional prestige  ;  and  as  the  Daimios  of  Japan  in 
their  anti  -  foreign  manifestoes  declared  that  every 
foreigner  could  be  insulted  with  impunity  except  the 
Russians,  so  in  China  the  name  was  a  talisman  of 
security.  While  the  Anglo  -  French  expedition  was 
marching  towards  Peking  the  Russian  Secretary,  M. 
Popoff,  had  occasion  to  leave  that  city  and  pass  the 
night  at  a  native  inn  on  the  road  to  Tientsin.  The 
place  became  filled  with  the  retreating  Chinese  sol- 
diery, and  M.  PopoiF  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
their  excited  conversation  respecting  himself  They 
were  for  dragging  him  out  and  killing  him  on  the 
spot,  when  the  landlord  interposed.  "  That  foreigner 
is  a  Russian,"  said  he ;  "it  will  be  dangerous  to  lay 
a  hand  on  him." 

M.  Popoff 's  errand  was  to  meet  General  Ignatieff, 
who  was  making  his  way  to  Peking  with  the  Allied 
forces.  It  was  of  the  utmost  importance  that  he 
should  arrive  simultaneously  with  the  French  and 
English  plenipotentiaries  in  order  to  save  China  from 
her  doom.  China's  extremity  was  Russia's  opportunity 
for  showing  the  sincerity  of  her  long  unbroken  friend- 
ship. The  foreigners  had  come  to  possess  themselves 
of  the  empire  and  destroy  the  dynasty.  Their  ruthless 
character  was  soon  to  be  shown  in  the  burning  and 
pillage  of  the  Summer  Palace.  The  Chinese  Court's 
apprehension  of  the  impending  calamity  was  proved 
by  the  flight  of  the  emperor  to  a  quasi- inaccessible 
retreat.  In  that  terrible  crisis  no  sacrifice  would 
have  been  deemed  by  the  imperial  family  too  great 
to  "get  rid  of  the  barbarians."  Confirming  their 
own  worst  fears  as   to   the  designs  of  the  invaders. 


358  LORD   Elgin's   second   mission.        [chap.  xvn. 

General  Ignatieff  revealed  to  them  the  only  way  of 
salvation.  Nothing  would  arrest  the  schemes  of 
the  Allies  but  the  intervention  of  a  strong  Power 
friendly  to  China.  He  had  it  in  his  power  to 
make  such  representations  to  Baron  Gros  and  Lord 
Elgin  as  would  induce  them  to  withdraw  their 
troops.  This  essential  service  he  offered  to  the  Chinese 
for  a  nominal  consideration.  Only  a  rectification  of 
frontier  by  inclusion  of  a  sterile  region  inhabited  by 
robbers  and  infested  by  tigers,  where  no  mandarin 
could  make  a  living,  fit  only  for  a  penal  settlement, 
with  a  rugged  sea-coast  where  no  Chinese  sail  was  ever 
seen.  Prince  Kung  jumped  at  the  providential  ofiPer  of 
deliverance,  and  so  that  great  province  called  Primorsk, 
with  its  600  miles  of  coast-line,  which  gave  to  Russia 
the  dominion  of  the  East  —  "  Vladivostock  "  —  was 
signed  away  by  the  panic-stricken  rulers  of  China. 
A  year  later  this  transaction  cropped  up  in  conversa- 
tion over  the  teacups,  after  the  business  of  the  day  had 
been  disposed  of,  between  Prince  Kung  and  a  certain 
foreign  diplomatist,  who  remarked  that  there  was 
never  the  remotest  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Allies 
of  keeping  a  single  soldier  in  China  after  the  treaty 
was  made.  The  Prince  looked  aghast,  then  said 
solemnly,  "  Do  you  mean  to  say  we  have  been  de- 
ceived?" "  Utterly,"  replied  the  other;  and  then  the 
dejection  of  the  Prince  was  such  as  the  foreigner, 
who  lived  to  enjoy  a  twenty-years'  acquaintance  with 
him,  declared  he  never  saw  in  his  or  any  other  Chinese 
countenance.  Thus  General  Ignatieff,  without  any 
force,  in  the  vulgar  sense,  of  his  own,  was  adroit 
enough  and  bold  enough  to  wield  the  forces  of  his 
belligerent    neighbours    so    as   to    carry   off  the    only 


1856-61.]  GENERAL   IGNATIEFF.  359 

solid  fruit  of  the  war,  while  fulfilling  the  obligations 
of  friendship  for  China  and  denouncing  her  spoilers. 

The  Russian  envoy  had  not  the  same  incentive  to 
hurry  away  from  Peking  as  the  other  treaty-makers 
had,  for  the  ice  which  would  imprison  them  would 
afford  him  the  most  expeditious  road  for  travel 
homewards  through  Siberia.  He  was  nearly  as  much 
relieved  as  Prince  Kung  himself  at  getting  rid  of  these 
"  barbarians,"  for  then  he  had  the  field  of  diplomacy  all 
to  himself  He  made  his  treaty,  and  departed  during 
the  winter  by  the  back  door,  across  Mongolia. 

Ignatieff  was  a  man  well  known  in  English  society, 
and  thoroughly  conversant  with  England.  Like  most 
educated  Russians,  he  was  affable  and  sympathetic — a 
"  charming  fellow."  He  was  courteous  and  companion- 
able to  the  locum  tenens  of  the  English  Legation,  and 
in  taking  leave  of  Mr  Adkins  expressed  the  opinion 
that  he  would  be  all  right  in  his  isolation  so  long  as 
the  emperor  did  not  return  to  Peking,  but  in  that 
event  his  position  would  not  be  an  enviable  one. 
However,  "  if  you  fear  any  trouble,  go  over  to  the 
Russian  mission :  they  will  take  care  of  you." 

The  winter  of 'I860  left  the  statesmen  of  China  some 
food  for  reflection.  The  thundering  legions  had  passed 
like  a  tornado  which  leaves  a  great  calm  behind  it. 
The  "  still  small  voice "  had  also  departed,  with  a 
province  in  his  chemaddn,  gained  without  a  shot  or 
even  a  shout.  Two  strongly  contrasted  foreign  types 
had  thus  been  simultaneously  presented  to  the 
astonished  Chinese.  Can  it  be  doubted  which  left 
the  deeper  impression? 

Preparations  were  made  during  the  winter  for 
receiving    the   foreign   Ministers    in    the    spring.      A 


360 


LORD  Elgin's  second  mission,      [chap.  xvh. 


department  of  Foreign  Affairs  was  created  under  the 
title  of  "Tsung-li  Koh  Kwoh  She  Yu  Yam^n,"  or 
briefly,  "  Tsungli-Yam^n,"  the  three  original  members 
being  Prince  Kung,  Kweiliang,  and  Wdnsiang.  The 
Yamen  was  established  by  imperial  decrees  in  January; 
Mr  Bruce  and  M.  Bourboulon  arrived  in  March  1861, 
when  diplomacy  proper  began,  the  thread  of  which  will 
be  resumed  in  a  later  section. 


361 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

INTERCOURSE   UNDER  THE   TREATIES   OF    1858   AND    1860. 

I.   THE  DIPLOMATIC  OVERTURE. 

Spontaneous  fulfilment  of  treaties  not  to  be  expected — Retreating  attitude 
of  foreign  Ministers  —  Repression  of  British  tourists  —  Hostility  of 
Pekingese — Conciliation  fails — Chinese  refuse  to  conclude  treaty  with 
Prussia — Glimpse  of  the  real  truth — Rooted  determination  to  keep  out 
foreigners — Absence  of  the  sovereign — Female  regents — Diplomatic 
forms  in  abeyance — Foreign  Ministers'  task  complicated  by  assumed 
guardianship  of  China — Pleasant  intercourse  with  Manchu  statesmen. 

When  Mr  Bruce  and  M.  Bourboulon  took  up  their 
residence  in  Peking  on  March  22,  1861,  diplomacy  was 
as  yet  a  white  sheet  on  which  it  was  their  part  to  trace 
the  first  characters.  The  treaty — for  all  the  treaties 
were  substantially  one — was  their  charter ;  its  integral 
fulfilment  their  only  safety.  For  as  it  had  not  been  a 
bargain  of  give-and-take  between  equals,  but  an  im- 
position pure  and  simple  by  the  strong  upon  the  weak, 
there  would  be  no  spontaneous  fulfilment  of  its  obliga- 
tions, rather  a  steady  counter  -  pressure,  as  of  water 
forcibly  confined  seeking  out  weak  spots  in  the  dam. 
Moreover,  the  two  parties  to  the  treaty,  foreigners  and 
Chinese,  were  not  acquainted  with  each  other  :  aims, 
incentives,  temper  and  character,  and  the  nature  of  the 


362  THE   DIPLOMATIC   OVERTURE.  [chap,  xviii. 

considerations  by  which  they  respectively  would  be 
influenced,  were  all  obscure.  It  was  an  uncertain 
situation,  calling^  for  vio^ilance  and  caution.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  the  pregnant  importance  of  the  first  steps 
was  realised  by  the  representatives  on  both  sides. 
The  thoughts  of  the  Chinese  on  that  critical  occasion 
can  only  be  inferred  from  their  acts.  Of  what  was 
uppermost  in  the  minds  of  the  foreigners,  or  at  least  of 
the  English  Minister,  we  have  some  slight  indications 
from  the  pen  of  a  member  of  his  staff,  who,  though  not 
himself  in  the  diplomatic  circle,  claims  to  be  the 
authorised  chronicler  of  the  early  days  of  the  mission. 
This  pretension  is  implicitly  indorsed  by  the  fact  that 
the  preface  to  Dr  Rennie's  book  ^  was  written  in  Govern- 
ment House,  Calcutta,  whither  he  followed  Lord  Elgin 
in  the  capacity  of  physician.  When  the  Ministers 
had  only  been  five  days  in  Peking  Dr  Rennie  wrote 
as  follows :  "  Now  is  commencing  perhaps  the  most 
difficult  part  of  a  permanent  English  residency  at 
Peking — namely,  the  satisfying  the  Chinese  that  we 
are  a  tolerably  harmless  and  well-intentioned  people, 
inclined  to  live  with  them  on  terms  of  amity  rather 
than  the  contrary,  and  that  the  desire  of  our  Govern- 
ment is  that  its  subjects  should  respect,  as  much  as 
is  consistent  with  reason,  their  national  prejudices." 

Such  an  immaculate  sentiment  placed  in  the  very 
forefront  of  an  ambassadorial  programme,  ushered  in 
at  the  cost  of  two  wars  which  shook  the  foundations 
of  the  Chinese  empire,  leaves  something  to  be  desired 
as  a  justification  for  being  in  Peking  at  all.  But  Dr 
Rennie  indicates  no  other  purpose  for  which  foreign 
legations  were  established  there.      He   does   not   get 

1  Peking  and  the  Pekingese. 


1861-65.]      BEGINNING    OF   CONCESSIONS   TO    CHINESE.        363 

beyond  the  mere  "  residency."  A  viceroy  of  India  pro- 
claiming at  each  stage  of  a  "progress"  that  he  was  a 
man  of  peace,  a  bride  hoping  to  lead  a  passably 
virtuous  life,  would  scarcely  be  more  naive  than  a 
foreign  Minister's  pious  aspiration  to  behave  tolerably 
well  to  the  Chinese.  For  where  was  the  "  difficulty," 
one  is  tempted  to  ask  ?     It  is  explained  by  Dr  Rennie. 

Two  English  officers,  it  appears,  had  made  an  excur- 
sion to  the  Great  Wall  without  the  necessary  consular 
and  local  authorisation,  and  had  further  shown  *'  the 
bad  taste,  at  a  date  so  recent  to  its  destruction,"  to 
visit  the  Summer  Palace.  A  formal  complaint  of  these 
indiscretions  met  Mr  Bruce  on  his  arrival,  and  credit 
must  be  given  to  the  Chinese  for  their  appreciation  of 
the  tactical  value  of  w^hat  Scotswomen  call  "  the  first 
word  of  flytin'."  They  moved  the  first  pawn,  and  put 
the  British  Minister  at  once  on  the  defensive.  He 
responded  by  an  arbitrary  exercise  of  authority  where- 
by Englishmen  were  prohibited  from  visiting  Peking. 
The  restriction  possessed  little  direct  importance, 
since  few  persons  were  then  affected  by  it ;  but  as  the 
opening  act  of  the  new  diplomacy,  its  significance  could 
hardly  be  overrated.  Though  "only  a  little  one,"  it 
was  a  recession  from  the  right  conferred  on  the  subjects 
of  all  treaty  Powers  to  travel  for  business  or  pleasure 
not  only  to  Peking,  but  throughout  the  Chinese  empire. 
It  was  as  the  tuning-fork  to  the  orchestra. 

It  is  not  permissible  to  suppose  that  the  British 
Minister  had  not  good  reasons  for  swerving  from  the 
principle  of  exercising  rights,  great  and  small,  for  which, 
as  he  well  knew,  experience  in  China  had  been  one 
long,  unbroken,  cogent  argument.  Dr  Rennie  furnishes 
his    readers   with    the    reason.       "  The    Chinese,"    he 


364  THE   DIPLOMATIC   OVERTURE.  [chap,  xviii. 

observes,  "  would  seem  to  be  very  sensitive " ;  and 
"taking  all  the  circumstances  into  consideration,  .  .  . 
the  fear  that  casual  visits  on  the  part  of  strangers 
.  .  .  may  prove  antagonistic  to  the  establishment  of  a 
harmonious  feeling  at  the  opening  of  a  new  era  in  our 
intercourse  with  the  Chinese,"  the  Minister  resolved  to 
keep  Englishmen  (and  only  them)  out  of  the  capital. 

This  explanation,  like  that  of  the  purpose  of  the 
Legation  itself,  leaves  on  us  a  sense  of  inadequacy. 
These  hyper- sensitive  people  had  been  engaged,  only 
six  months  before,  in  torturing  and  massacring  foreign 
envoys  and  prisoners,  for  which  atrocities  the  destruc- 
tion and  sack  of  Yuen-ming-yuen  was  thought  to  be  not 
too  severe  a  reprisal.  That  the  high  officials  who  had 
committed  these  cruelties  and  endured  the  penalty 
should  suddenly  become  so  delicate  that  they  could  not 
bear  the  thought  of  a  harmless  tourist  looking  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  palace  seems  a  somewhat  fantastical  idea. 
As  for  the  sensitiveness  of  the  townspeople,  Dr  Rennie 
himself  had  some  experience  of  it  three  days  after 
penning  the  above  remarks.  "  A  good  deal  of  shouting 
and  hooting,"  he  says,  was  followed  by  "  stones  whizzing 
past  me."  Then  "my  horse  was  struck  by  a  stone" 
and  bolted.  A  similar  experience  befell  another  member 
of  the  Legation  on  the  same  day  in  another  part  of  the 
city.  Dr  Rennie  believed  the  stones  to  have  been 
thrown  by  boys,  which  is  probable  enough.  The 
favourite  Chinese  official  palliation  of  outrages  on 
foreigners  is  to  attribute  them  to  youths  and  poor 
ignorant  people,  which,  however,  in  nowise  softens  the 
impact  of  the  missile.  Let  us  give  the  Chinese  full 
credit  for  the  virtues  they  possess — and  they  are  many 
— but    no    one    familiar   with    the    streets    of    Peking 


1861-65.]  FIRST    BLOOD.  365 

would  consider  delicacy  their  predominant  charac- 
teristic. View  the  diplomatic  incident  how  we  please, 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Chinese  drew  first  blood 
in  the  new  contest,  and  at  the  same  time  practically 
tested  the  disposition  of  the  invading  force. 

Another  *' straw"  from  Dr  Rennie's  journal  maybe 
noticed  as  indicating  the  set  of  the  current.  Aproi^os 
of  the  first  commercial  case  that  had  been  sent  up  from 
the  ports  to  the  Minister,  he  records  the  conclusion 
that  "  in  almost  every  dispute  which  arises  between 
ourselves  and  the  Chinese  we  are  in  the  first  instance 
in  the  wrong ;  but,  unfortunately  [for  whom  ?],  the 
Chinese  equally  invariably  adopt  the  wrong  method  of 
putting  matters  right,"  so  that  "  the  original  wrong 
committed  by  us  is  entirely  lost  sight  of."  The  observa- 
tion refers  exclusively  to  mercantile  affairs,  and  it  was 
a  rather  large  generalisation  to  make  after  a  month's 
experimental  diplomacy  in  Peking. 

The  Minister  soon  found  that  his  efforts  to  placate 
the  Chinese  Government  were  not  producing  the  in- 
tended effect.  It  was  not  the  "  casual  visitor  "  that  in 
any  special  way  annoyed  them,  but  the  foreigner  in  all 
his  moods  and  tenses,  most  of  all  Mr  Bruce  himself,  his 
colleagues  and  their  staff*,  medical  and  other,  and  all 
that  they  stood  for.  General  Ignatieff*  had  not,  after 
all,  conjured  away  the  foreign  plague,  nor  were  the 
Chinese  statesmen  entirely  reassured  even  as  to  their 
immunity  from  the  military  danger.  In  the  month  of 
April  Admiral  Hope,  Brigadier- General  Staveley,  and 
Mr  Parkes  visited  Peking,  and  were  courteously  re- 
ceived ;  but  Prince  Kung  was  visibly  relieved,  Dr 
Rennie  tells  us,  when  assured  that  the  admiral  was  not 
to  remain  there.     As  for  the  general,  his  presence  in. 


366  THE    DIPLOMATIC    OVERTURE.  [chap,  xviii. 

the  vicinity  was  inevitable  so  long  as  a  considerable 
British  and  French  force  remained  in  garrison  in  Tien- 
tsin and  Taku.  Like  the  Ministers  themselves,  he  was 
an  unpleasant  necessity  to  be  endured  as  well  as  may 
be.  But  being  thus  obliged  to  tolerate  the  greater  evil, 
it  would  appear  to  Western  reasoning  that  an  admiral 
more  or  less  in  an  inland  town  need  not  have  so  greatly 
upset  Chinese  equanimity.  Prince  Kung,  however,  was 
not  yet  able  to  look  on  such  matters  with  Western 
eyes.  Every  foreigner  kept  at  arm's-length,  no  matter 
what  his  rank  or  condition,  was  a  gain,  as  every  locust 
destroyed  is  a  gain  to  the  peasant. 

So  when  the  Prussian  envoy.  Count  Eulenberg,  pre- 
sented himself,  the  British  Minister  vouching  for  his 
respectability,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  treaty  on 
the  lines  of  those  already  made  and  ratified,  his  efforts 
were  frustrated  by  every  plausible  device.  The  envoy 
was  relegated  to  the  most  distant  point  at  which  it  was 
deemed  feasible  to  stay  his  progress — namely,  Tientsin, 
where  negotiations  were  vexatiously  protracted  during 
four  months.  The  first  and  final  sticking-point  was  the 
claim  to  residence  in  the  capital,  which  the  Chinese 
absolutely  refused  to  concede.  Eventually  they  agreed 
to  compound  for  a  deferred  entry  ten  years  after  signa- 
ture. This  by  haggling  was  finally  reduced  to  five 
years,  and  the  treaty  was  thereupon  concluded  in 
August  1861.  The  old  Canton  tactics  were  thus  re- 
vived, as  if  nothing  had  happened  since  1857. 

As  the  echo  of  Mr  Bruce,  Dr  Bonnie's  comment  on 
the  proceeding  is  worth  noting.  "  Looks  very  like 
merely  gaining  time,  in  hopes  that,  before  that  period 
expires,  all  foreign  residence  in  the  capital  will  be  at 
an  end."     Here  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  fundamental 


1861-65.]  REACTIONARY   TACTICS.  367 

truth  underlying  all  Chinese  diplomacy  from  first  to 
last — the  purpose,  never  relaxed  for  an  instant,  of  some 
day  expelling  foreigners  from  the  country.  No  for- 
eigner could  hope  to  unravel  the  tangle  of  Chinese 
reasoning  so  as  to  comprehend  in  what  manner  the 
exclusion  of  one  State  was  to  assist  in  the  eviction  of 
the  representatives  of  four  Great  Powers  already  estab- 
lished in  the  capital ;  but  it  may  be  inferred  from  the 
above  remark  that  Mr  Bruce  was  beginning  to  perceive 
that  good  behaviour  towards  the  Chinese  was  not  the 
be-all  and  end-all  of  the  functions  of  a  British  repre- 
sentative in  China.  There  was  another  side.  We 
know,  in  fact,  though  Dr  Rennie  does  not  record  it, 
that  Mr  Bruce  began  to  see  the  necessity  of  making  a 
stand  against  the  reactionary  pressure  of  the  Chinese ; 
that  he  was  resolved  on  bending  the  Ministers  of  the 
Yamdn  to  his  will  —  being  satisfied  he  could  do  it — 
instead  of  yielding  to  theirs  in  the  vain  hope  of  gaining 
their  confidence. 

The  grand  desideratum  had  been  at  last  obtained, 
access  to  the  capital ;  but  how  different  the  realisation 
from  the  anticipation  !  There  was  no  sovereign  and  no 
Court,  only  the  shell  of  the  nut  without  the  kernel. 
And  as  diplomacy  began  so  it  continued,  in  successive 
illusions,  partially  dispelled,  yet  clung  to  with  slow- 
dying  hope. 

At  first  sight,  no  doubt,  the  task  of  the  foreign  repre- 
sentatives seemed  an  easy  one :  they  had  but  to  lay  down 
the  law  to  a  defeated  Power,  to  hammer  the  softened 
metal.  This  course  would  have  been  as  simple  in  fact 
as  it  was  in  principle  had  they  been  united,  and  had  it 
been  possible  for  them  to  take  a  simple  view  of  their 
mission ;  but  from  the  first  their  duty  to  their  respec- 


368  THE   DIPLOMATIC   OVERTURE.  [chap,  xviii. 

tive  countries  was  complicated,  and  in  varying  degrees, 
by  what  they  conceived  to  be  their  duty  towards  China. 
It  was  inevitable  that  the  attempt  to  follow  two  lines 
of  policy  divided  by  such  cleavage  should  result  in  a 
fall  into  the  crevasse.  China,  in  fact,  was  too  large  a 
subject  for  either  the  treaty  Powers  or  their  agents  to 
grasp.  She  made  huge  demands  on  the  humanity,  the 
indulgence,  and  the  protection  of  the  Powers  who  had 
broken  down  her  wall  of  seclusion,  and  she  had  nothing 
in  kind  to  offer  them  in  return — neither  gratitude  nor 
co-operation,  nor  even  good  faith.  For  this  China 
could  be  blamed  only  in  so  far  as  her  own  welfare  was 
hindered  by  her  irresponsiveness,  for  her  statesmen 
were  not  far  wrong  in  attributing  to  any  motive  rather 
than  pure  philanthropy  the  obtrusive  solicitude  of  the 
Western  Powers.  International  relations  even  between 
kindred  peoples  are  in  the  nature  of  things  selfish,  or 
worse  ;  and  the  more  they  assume  an  altruistic  mask 
the  more  they  lie  open  to  suspicion.  In  this  cynical 
view  of  the  attitude  of  her  neighbours  China  has  never 
wavered. 

Yet  it  was  not  all  illusion  and  Dead  Sea  apples. 
Something  had  been  gained  by  diplomatic  access  to 
the  capital.  The  elaborate  insolence  of  the  Chinese 
mandarin  had  been  exchanged  for  the  urbanity  of  the 
well-bred  Manchu.  It  became  possible  to  converse. 
Foreigners  were  listened  to  with  attention,  and  answered 
with  an  open  countenace.  The  change  was  incalculable. 
It  recalled  the  days  of  Lord  Macartney  and  the  Em- 
peror Kienlung,  of  Sir  John  Davis's  pleasant  intercourse 
with  Kiying,  and  of  the  agreeable  impression  left  by 
the  Manchu  statesmen  who  were  concerned  from  1841 
onwards  in  the  conduct  of  war  or  the  conclusion  of 


1861-65.]  NEW   COAST   PORTS.  369 

peace.  If  to  the  kindly  personal  relations  which  charac- 
terised the  earlier  years  of  Peking  diplomacy  no  per- 
manent tangible  result  could  be  definitely  ascribed,  who 
can  tell  what  evils  were  staved  off  or  calamity  averted 
by  these  friendly  amenities  ? 

In  order,  however,  to  appreciate  the  state  of  affairs  in 
Peking  in  1865,  it  is  necessary  to  fill  the  gap  in  our 
narrative  by  an  outline  of  events  following  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaty  of  Tientsin  and  Convention  of  Peking 
in  October  1860. 


II.  NEW  PORTS  AND   OPENING  OF  THE  YANGTZE. 

Seven  new  coast  ports — Admiral  Hope's  Yangtze  expedition — His  relations 
with  Taiping  rebels — Hankow,  Kiukiang,  and  Chinkiang  opened  to 
trade  —  Panic  in  Hankow,  and  exodus  of  population  for  fear  of 
rebels. 

The  new  ports  opened  to  trade  —  Tientsin,  New- 
chwang,  and  Chefoo  in  the  North  ;  Swatow,  and  two 
Formosan  ports ;  Kiungchow  in  Hainan — added  con- 
siderably to  the  range  of  foreign  commerce,  and  ne- 
cessitated a  large  extension  of  the  foreign  customs 
and  of  the  consular  services.  But  the  most  import- 
ant feature  in  the  new  arrangements  was  the  effective 
opening  of  the  river  Yangtze.  It  was  interesting,  as 
giving  access  to  the  commercial  centre  of  the  empire ; 
and  as  bringing  foreigners  into  direct  contact,  possi- 
bly conflict,  with  the  Taiping  rebels.  For  the  banks 
of  the  great  river  were  at  the  time  checkered  with 
the  alternate  strongholds  of  rebels  and  imperialists. 
Trade  must  therefore  either  be  carried  on  on  suffer- 
ance from   both,   or  be  efficiently  protected  from  the 

VOL.    I.  2  A 


370  OPENING   OF   THE   YANGTZE.  [chap,  xviii. 

interference  of  either  belligerent.  Obviously  this  was 
a  matter  to  be  gone  about  discreetly. 

The  course  and  capabilities  of  the  great  waterway, 
and  the  disposition  of  the  military  forces  on  its  banks, 
had  been  w^ell  reconnoitred  by  Lord  Elgin  himself  in 
1858  ;  and  the  ports  to  be  opened,  which  were  left 
unnamed  in  the  treaty,  were  pretty  definitely  indicated 
in  the  survey  then  made.  There  were  to  be  three  in 
all.  Chinkiang,  which  had  been  recently  recovered 
from  the  rebels,  situated  at  the  intersection  of  the 
Imperial  Canal  and  the  Yangtze- kiang,  was  definitely 
fixed.  The  two  others  farther  up  river  remained  to  be 
selected. 

The  opening  of  the  river  was  by  treaty  made  con- 
tingent on  the  restoration  of  imperial  authority  on  its 
banks ;  but  as  there  was  nothing  more  likely  to  acceler- 
ate that  consummation  than  commercial  traffic  on  the 
river,  the  Chinese  Government  acquiesced  in  the  British 
authorities  making  the  experiment,  at  their  own  risk 
as  regarded  possible  trouble  with  the  insurgents.  The 
object  was  to  "  throw  open  the  general  coasting  trade 
of  the  river "  ;  and  Lord  Elgin,  on  his  departure  from 
China,  left  the  undertaking  in  the  hands  of  Admiral 
Hope,  to  whom  he  attached  Mr  Parkes,  withdrawn 
for  the  occasion  from  his  duties  as  commissioner  in 
Canton. 

The  admiral  started  from  Shanghai  in  advance  of  Mr 
Parkes,  with  a  squadron  of  light-draught  steamers,  on 
February  11,  1861.  He  carried  an  exploring  expe- 
dition composed  of  Colonel  Sarel,  Captain  Blakiston, 
Mr  Shereshewsky,  and  Dr  A.  Barton,  whose  proceedings 
are  reported  in  Blakiston's  '  Five  Months  on  the  Upper 
Yangtze ' ;  several  American  missionaries ;  two  French- 


1861-65.]  APPROACH   TO   NANKING.  371 

men,  afterwards  distinguished,  MM.  Eugene  Simon  and 
A.  Dupuis,  the  latter  proving  the  means  of  eventually 
giving  Tongking  to  France  ;  a  French  military  attache  ; 
Lieut  .-Colonel  Wolseley,  D.A.Q.-M.G. ;  and  a  delega- 
tion from  the  Shanghai  Chamber  of  Commerce,  with 
several  private  persons.  Whether  the  pilots  pre- 
sumed upon  light  draught  and  steam  power,  or  whether 
the  course  of  the  river  had  changed  so  much  since  the 
previous  surveys  were  made,  the  vessels  got  stranded, 
one  after  another,  in  the  estuary  ;  and  as  each  grounded 
a  companion  was  told  off  to  stand  by  her,  so  that  before 
they  had  got  clear  of  what  is  known  as  the  Langshan 
Crossing  (the  home  of  the  famous  breed  of  black  poultry) 
the  admiral's  tender,  the  Coromandel,  was  the  only 
vessel  left  in  a  mobile  condition.  Not  to  lose  time, 
the  admiral  determined  to  push  on  in  that  non-com- 
batant craft  to  Nanking,  the  rebel  capital,  and  test  the 
temper  and  intentions  of  the  Taipings. 

As  the  steamer  slowly  approached  the  landing- 
place,  in  bright  sunshine  and  a  still  atmosphere,  the 
batteries  on  the  river  front  were  crowded,  but  re- 
mained silent. 

*'  What  will  you  do,  sir,  if  they  fire  ? "  the  admiral 
was  asked. 

"Oh,  I  will  just  drop  down  out  of  range,  and  send 
and  ask  them  what  they  mean  by  it,"  he  replied,  with 
deep  deliberate  utterance,  not  unlike  Beaconsfield's. 

An  officer  was  sent  ashore  to  parley,  some  rebel 
officers  came  on  board,  and  the  prospect  of  an  amicable 
understanding  appeared  to  be  satisfactory.  It  was  a 
critical  juncture  in  the  history  both  of  the  Taiping 
movement  itself  and  of  foreign  relations  with  it  and 
with  China.      Without  exaggeration,  it  may  be  said 


372  OPENING   OF   THE   YANGTZE.  [chap,  xviii. 

that  the  proximate  fate  of  the  Taipings  then  lay  hidden 
within  the  brain  of  Sir  James  Hope,  and  each  occasion 
of  contact  between  him  and  them  during  the  next  few 
months  added  its  definite  contribution  to  the  data  on 
which  the  momentous  decision  was  ultimately  taken. 
Although  he  had  then  no  higher  opinion  of  the  Taipings 
than  that  they  were  "  an  organised  band  of  robbers," 
the  admiral  was  resolved  to  give  them  fair  play ;  and 
since  no  diplomatic  intercourse  could  be  held  with  in- 
surgents, he  determined  to  take  relations  with  them 
under  his  own  supervision  (March  8,  1861).  "  The 
principle  I  shall  adopt  being  that  in  the  .district  of 
country  of  which  they  hold  possession  the  Taiping 
authorities  must  be  regarded  as  those  of  the  de  facto 
Government,  .  .  .  and  this  principle  being  likely  to 
lead  to  the  payment  of  double  duties  (to  rebels  and 
imperialists)  on  all  trade  conducted  at  places  in  their 
possession,  I  am  desirous  of  definite  instructions  on  the 
subject." 

The  first  point  to  be  settled  with  the  rebel  authorities 
at  Nanking  was  the  non-molestation  of  British  traffic 
passing  up  and  down  the  river  within  range  of  their 
batteries  or  otherwise,  to  secure  which  object  it  had 
been  determined  to  station  a  ship  of  war  abreast  of  the 
city.  The  sanction  of  the  Taiping  chiefs  was  wanted 
to  this  arrangement,  which,  however,  without  such 
sanction,  it  would  have  been  all  the  more  necessary  to 
insist  upon.  The  second  point  affected  the  general 
relations  between  foreign  trade  and  the  rebel  move- 
ment. The  next  aim  of  the  admiral  was  to  arrive  at  an 
understanding  with  the  leaders  for  the  neutralisation  of 
Shanghai  and  Wusung  within  an  area  of  thirty  miles 
round  these  two  places. 


1861-65.]         RELATIONS  WITH  REBELS.  373 

Not  being  prepared  to  enter  into  definite  negotiations 
until  the  arrival  of  Mr  Parkes,  who  had  not  yet  joined 
the  expedition,  Sir  James  Hope  returned  to  the 
squadron  which  he  had  left  aground  in  the  lower 
reaches  of  the  river.  But  thinking  the  time  and  the 
opportunity  might  be  usefully  employed  in  gathering 
some  acquaintance  with  the  Taipings  at  their  head- 
quarters, he  landed  three  volunteers  at  Nanking,  whose 
presence  he  ascertained  would  not  be  unwelcome  to  the 
authorities  there.  They  were  to  remain  in  the  city  as 
the  guests  of  the  rebels  till  the  admiral's  return.  The 
party  consisted  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Wolseley,  Mr  P.  J. 
Hughes,  vice-consul  designate  of  Kiukiang,  and  one  of 
the  Shanghai  delegates.  They  were  joined  on  shore 
by  the  E-ev.  William  Muirhead,  missionary,  who  had 
reached  Nanking  by  land  from  Shanghai.  The  party 
was  thus  a  thoroughly  representative  one.  On  the 
return  of  the  admiral  a  week  later,  accompanied  by  Mr 
Parkes,  the  arrangements  for  a  guard-ship  were  satis- 
factorily settled  after  some  puerile  obstruction,  and 
the  expedition  proceeded  on  its  way  up  the  river  to 
Hankow,  where,  as  also  at  Kiukiang  and  Chinkiang, 
consular  officers  were  established ;  and  the  Yangtze 
was  declared  open  by  notification  in  Shanghai  on  March 
18,  1861. 

The  expedition  was  fruitful  in  information  concerning 
the  rebels,  all  tending  to  confirm  the  purely  destructive 
character  of  the  movement.  Certain  incidents  of  the 
voyage  were  also  most  instructive  to  the  visitors. 
While  the  expedition  was  still  at  Hankow  the  Taipings 
had  captured  a  walled  city,  fifty  miles  distant,  which 
had  been  passed  by  the  squadron  on  its  way  up  a  few 
days    before.       The   news   created   a   universal    panic 


374  OPENING   OF   THE   YANGTZE.  [chap,  xviii. 

throughout  the  three  cities,  Wuchang,  Hanyang,  and 
Hankow,  and  the  scene  which  followed  could  not  be 
paralleled.  It  is  thus  laconically  referred  to  in  the 
report  of  the  delegates  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  : 
**  The  abandonment  was  most  complete,  not  a  house  nor 
a  shop  was  open,  and  it  became  equally  impossible 
to  purchase  goods,  to  check  quotations,  or  pursue 
inquiries." 

One  day  the  deep  Han  river  was  so  packed  with 
junks  that  one  might  almost  walk  from  bank  to  bank 
over  their  mat  coverings.  The  next  day  everything 
that  could  float  was  crowded  with  fugitive  families  with 
their  household  stuff  huddled  precariously  on  the  decks, 
and  such  a  fleet  as,  for  number  and  picturesqueness,  was 
probably  never  seen,  covered  the  broad  bosom  of  the 
Yangtze,  making  slow  headway  under  sail  against  the 
current. 

Mr  Parkes,  eminently  a  man  of  fact,  thus  describes 
what  he  was  witness  to  : — 

Darkness  fell  upon  crowds  of  the  people  lying  with  their 
weeping  families,  and  the  debris  of  their  property,  under  the 
walls  of  Wuchang,  anxious  only  to  escape  from  defences  that 
should  have  proved  their  protection.  .  .  .  The  noise  and  cries 
attending  their  embarkation  continued  throughout  the  night, 
but  daylight  brought  with  it  a  stillness  that  was  not  less  im- 
pressive than  the  previous  commotion.  By  that  time  all  the 
fugitives  had  left  the  shore,  and  the  river,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  was  covered  with  junks  and  boats  of  every  de- 
scription bearing  slowly  away  up-stream  the  bulk  of  the 
population  of  three  cities,  which  a  few  days  before  we  had 
computed  at   1,000,000   of  souls. 

Of  what  came  of  this  and  many  such  another  melan- 
choly exodus  of  humanity,  without  resources,  ready 
to  brave  any  death  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands 


1861-65.]      NEUTRALITY  OF  TREATY  PORTS.         376 

of  the  destroyers,  there  is  no  record  ;  and  the  scene 
at  Hankow,  magnified  a  hundred  times,  would  give 
an  inadequate  conception  of  the  havoc  of  the  fifteen 
years  of  the  Taiping  rebellion. 


III.  ADMIRAL  HOPE'S  POLICY  TOWARDS  INSURGENTS. 

Devastation  only  to  be  expected  of  them — Enforces  neutrality  and  respect 
for  foreign  property — Thirty-mile  radius  round  Shanghai — Hesitancy 
of  British  Minister  and  Foreign  Office — Overcome  by  firmness  of  Ad- 
miral— Capture  of  Ningpo  by  rebels — Arrangements  for  trade  there — 
Bad  faith  of  rebels — Shanghai  to  be  defended — Its  dangerous  position 
— Ravages  of  rebels — Offensive  movements  against  them — Clearing  of 
the  thirty-mile  radius — Cordial  relations  between  English  and  French 
admirals — Mr  Bruce  won  over — The  campaign — Recapture  of  Ningpo 
— Chinese  raise  foreign  force — Ward — Burgevine — Chinese  statesmen 
who  organised  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion — General  Gordon  takes 
command  of  the  "  Ever- Victorious  Army." 

None  of  the  spectators  was  more  profoundly  im- 
pressed than  Admiral  Hope,  and  the  spectacle 
undoubtedly  helped  to  mature  his  views  on  the 
demerits  of  the  rebellion.  On  April  6  he  wrote  to 
the  Admiralty :  "A  period  of  anarchy,  indefinite  in 
duration,  appears  likely  to  ensue,  in  which  the  com- 
mercial towns  of  the  empire  will  be  destroyed,  and 
its  most  productive  provinces  laid  waste.  For  this 
state  of  things,  so  destructive  to  foreign  trade,  I  see 
no  remedy  except  the  recognition  by  both  parties,  if 
practicable,  of  the  neutrality  of  the  consular  ports, 
which  would  then  become  places  of  security  in  which 
the  Chinese  merchants  and  capitalists  could  take 
refuge."  And  towards  the  realisation  of  this  scheme 
the  first  step  was  the  obligation  laid  upon  the  rebel 
Government  at  Nanking  that  their  forces  should  not 


376      hope's   policy   towards   insurgents.      [chap.  XVIII. 

approach  within  thirty  miles  of  Shanghai  or  Wusung. 
This  idea,  however,  was  but  slowly  assimilated  by  her 
Majesty's  Minister  at  Peking  and  by  the  Government 
at  home,  and  Lord  Russell,  while  approving  generally 
of  the  admiral's  policy,  stipulated  that  no  force  be 
used  except  in  direct  defence  of  British  property.  Mr 
Bruce  wrote  able  despatches  from  Peking,  in  which 
the  pros  and  cons,  the  contingencies  and  risks,  of  alter- 
native courses  were  so  well  balanced,  that  the  only 
practical  conclusion  that  could  possibly  issue  therefrom 
was  that  eventually  arrived  at, — to  leave  the  decision 
to  the  admiral  with  a  promise  of  support,  whatever 
course  he  might  adopt.  The  Foreign  Office  and  the 
Peking  Legation,  in  fact,  faithfully  represented  the 
orthodox  view  of  affairs,  whereby  national  policy  is 
primarily  reduced  to  a  game  of  safety  for  officials, 
and  to  the  application  of  theories  and  general  prin- 
ciples often  having  little  bearing  on  the  actualities 
of  the  case.  The  admiral's  mind  was  cast  in  a 
different  mould.  To  him  the  exigencies  of  the  situa- 
tion were  everything,  the  official  balance  very  little, 
the  fear  of  responsibility  nothing.  The  man  on  the 
spot,  seeing  clearly  the  right  thing  to  do  and  resolved 
to  do  it,  was  bound  in  the  end  to  gain  the  Government 
to  his  side,  for  Governments  like  a  strong  arm  to  lean 
on.  .  With  men  like  Sir  James  Hope  there  was  no  risk 
of  complications  arising,  for  complications  arise  mostly 
from  the  nervous  dread  of  them,  never  from  going 
straight  and  clear  to  the  objective  point.  It  needed 
a  visit  of  the  admiral  to  Peking,  however,  and  the  best 
part  of  a  year's  correspondence,  to  convert  the  British 
Government  point  by  point  to  his  views. 

Meantime  the  Taiping  rebels  advanced  to  Ningpo, 


1861-65.]  REBELS    CAPTURE   NINGPO.  377 

the  defence  of  which  Mr  Bruce  had  refused  to  sanction, 
and  they  captured  the  city  on  December  9,  1861,  after 
engaging  not  to  do  so.  The  leaders  there  were  inter- 
viewed by  the  French  Admiral  Protet  and  the  English 
Captain  Corbett  with  a  view  to  gaining  a  comprehen- 
sion of  their  plans,  and  "  to  prevent  the  atrocities  of 
which  they  have  hitherto  been  guilty,  and  to  en- 
deavour to  effect  an  arrangement  by  which  trade  can 
be  conducted  from  the  town.  The  French  Rear- 
Admiral  Protet  will  act  in  concert  with  me,"  wrote 
Admiral  Hope  to  Corbett,  December  7. 

After  the  capture  of  the  city  the  admiral  instructed 
Captain  Corbett  that  if  the  rebels  wished  to  levy 
any  duties,  he  was  to  see  that  in  amount  they  did 
not  exceed  those  stipulated  in  the  imperial  tariff. 
Arrangements  were  also  made  by  the  three  treaty 
Powers  for  the  protection  of  foreign  life  and  the 
safety  of  the  foreign  quarter.  The  position  was, 
however,  a  very  difficult  one,  as  the  rebels  had  no 
idea  of  order  or  of  keeping  faith.  Indeed  the  problem 
of  protecting  British  subjects  while  observing  Lord 
Bussell's  neutrality  instructions  was  fast  becoming 
impossible,  for  tiie  conventions  made  with  the  Tai- 
ping  authorities  in  Nanking  were  disregarded  by  them, 
and  Shanghai  itself  was  threatened. 

The  admiral's  conception  of  what  was  required,  for 
the  protection  of  British  interests  was  all  the  while 
undergoing  steady  development,  and  in  January  he 
wrote  that  Kiukiang  and  Hankow  had  become  as 
essential  to  our  trade  as  Shanghai.  Writing  a  month 
later,  he  pressed  his  plans  still  more  definitely  upon 
the  Admiralty.  "  On  every  occasion,"  he  said  on 
February  21,   1862,   "on  which  I  have  reported  the 


378      hope's   policy   towards   insurgents,      [chap.  XVIII. 

state  of  Shanghai  since  my  return  here,  it  has  been 
my  duty  to  bring  the  devastation  and  atrocities  com- 
mitted by  the  rebels  in  its  immediate  vicinity  very 
prominently  under  their  Lordships'  notice.  These  pro- 
ceedings have  been  conducted  at  a  distance  much  too 
close  to  be  consistent  with  the  respect  due  to  the 
occupation  of  the  town  by  French  and  EngUsh  forces, 
or  to  leave  its  supplies  of  provisions  and  native  trade 
unaffected." 

The  tension  was  at  length  relieved  by  the  relaxation 
of  Earl  Russell's  restrictions.  He  had  already  said  that 
"it  might  be  expedient"  to  protect  the  treaty  ports, 
and  that  he  was  "  of  opinion  that  we  ought  to  defend 
Shanghai  and  Tientsin  as  long  as  our  forces  [the  garri- 
son left  from  the  Peking  campaign]  occupied  these 
ports."  But  now,  on  March  11,  1862,  he  took  a  more 
practical  view  of  the  whole  situation,  and  issued  her 
Majesty's  commands  that  "  Admiral  Hope  should  not 
only  defend  Shanghai  and  protect  the  other  treaty 
ports,  but  also  the  British  flag  and  the  Yangtze,  and 
generally  that  British  commerce  is  to  have  the  aid  of 
her  Majesty's  ships  of  war." 

During  the  winter  of  1861-62  matters  had  become 
very  critical  in  Shanghai.  The  rebel  chiefs  sent  an 
intimation  to  the  foreign  consuls  that  it  was  their 
intention  to  capture  the  town,  and  they  proceeded 
to  burn  the  villages  and  ravage  the  country  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  within  gun-shot  of  the  military  lines. 
Special  local  measures  of  defence  were  adopted  by  the 
residents,  and  fugitives  in  thousands  flocked  into  the 
only  asylum  where  their  lives  were  safe.  The  pressure 
of  these  events  led  to  yet  more  definite  action  on  the 
part  of  Sir  James  Hope,  who  perceived  that  the  eflec- 


1861-65.]  OFFENSIVE  DEFENSIVE.  379 

tive  defence  of  Shanghai  and  its  sources  of  supply 
involved  aggressive  movements  against  the  rebels  in 
order  to  drive  them  out  of  all  the  places  they  occupied 
within  the  thirty-mile  radius.  In  all  these  proceedings 
the  admiral  went  hand  in  hand  with  his  French  col- 
league, and  with  the  commanders  of  the  French  and 
British  military  forces.  An  agreement  signed  by  the 
four  on  February  13,  1862,  settled  the  immediate 
question  of  the  defence  of  the  city  of  Shanghai.  An 
appeal  to  the  British  Minister  completed  his  conver- 
sion to  a  "  forward  policy."  "  I  strongly  recommend," 
wrote  the  admiral  on  February  22,  "  that  the  French 
and  English  commanders  should  be  required  by  your- 
self and  M.  Bourboulon  to  free  the  country  from 
rebels  within  a  line " — specified ;  and  the  reply  was 
as  hearty  and  free  from  ambiguity  as  could  be 
wished :  "  We  can  no  more  suffer  Shanghai  to  be 
taken  by  famine  or  destroyed  by  insurrection  than  we 
can  allow  it  to  be  taken  by  assault ;  and  it  requires 
but  little  experience  in  China  to  be  assured  that  the 
effect  of  remaining  on  a  strict  defensive  within  the 
walls  is  to  convince  our  assailants  that  we  are  unable 
to  meet  them  in  the  field." 

The  plan  of  campaign  was  settled  in  an  agreement 
signed  by  Sir  James  Hope,  Admiral  Protet,  and  Briga- 
dier Staveley,  April  22,  1862,  and  was  carried  out  to 
the  letter  during  the  early  summer  and  the  autumn 
following.  At  an  early  period  of  the  operations 
Admiral  Protdt  was  killed :  his  loss  was  deeply  la- 
mented, most  of  all  by  his  British  colleague,  with 
whom  relations  of  exceptional  intimacy  had  sprung  up. 
"  The  extent  to  which  I  enjoyed  his  confidence  and 
regard  will  ever  prove  a  source  of  unmingled  satis- 


380      hope's   policy   towards   insurgents.      [chap.  XVIII. 

faction  to  me,"  wrote  Sir  James  Hope  on  the  day  of 
the  admiral's  death,  May  17,  1862,  himself  at  the 
time  confined  to  his  cabin  by  wounds. 

The  rebel  forces  in  Ningpo,  who  had  been  on  their 
good  behaviour  for  a  short  time,  became  aggressive  and 
insulting,  even  going  the  length  of  offering  rewards  for 
foreign  heads  in  the  good  old  mandarin  fashion.  It  is 
well  to  remember  that  even  in  their  unkempt  condition, 
and  with  everything  to  gain  from  the  goodwill  of 
foreigners,  the  Taiping  rebels  lacked  nothing  of  the 
most  arrogant  of  Chinese  assumptions.  The  preten- 
sions of  the  chief  far  exceeded  those  of  the  Emperors  of 
China.  The  Taipings  required  foreigners  to  be  subject 
to  their  jurisdiction,  and  they  habitually  applied  de- 
rogatory terms  to  foreign  countries.  Such  things  were 
regarded  much  as  the  eccentricities  of  a  lunatic  might 
be.  Nevertheless  they  were  a  faithful  reflex  of  what 
is  rooted  in  the  Chinese  mind. 

The  position  of  foreigners  and  the  foreign  ships 
there  having  thus  been  rendered  intolerable,  the  city 
was  recaptured  from  the  rebels  by  Commander  Roderick 
Dew  in  the  same  month  —  a  brilliant  feat  of  arms. 
After  the  capture  he  wrote  :  "In  the  city  itself,  once 
the  home  of  half  a  million  of  people,  no  trace  or  vestige 
of  an  inhabitant  could  be  seen.  .  .  .  The  canals  were 
filled  with  dead  bodies  and  stao-nant  filth."  The 
recapture  of  Ningpo  was  the  beginning  of  an  x^LUglo- 
Franco- Chinese  campaign  against  the  rebels  in  Che- 
kiang  which  was  carried  on  simultaneously  with  that 
round  Shanghai. 

It  is  needless  to  follow  in  detail  the  operations 
which  culminated  two  years  later  in  the  final  suppres- 
sion of  the  Taiping  rebellion ;  but  the  relations  which 


1861-65.]  THE   TAIPING   REBELLION.  381 

grew  up  between  the  British  and  French  commanders 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  Chinese  military  forces  which 
were  being  organised  on  the  other,  were  so  fruitful  in 
results  as  to  merit  their  being  held  in  particular 
remembrance.  Though  the  history  has  been  many 
times  written,  it  may  still  not  be  considered  super- 
erogatory to  trace  some  of  the  points  of  contact  be- 
tween the  native  and  foreign  motives  and  plans  of 
action,  and  the  evolution  of  the  defensive  idea  which 
was  the  product  of  the  combination. 

The  Taiping  rebellion  had  devastated  the  central 
and  southern  provinces  many  years  before  the  Chinese 
Government  roused  itself  to  a  serious  effort  to  resist  it. 
The  movement  of  repression  originated  with  the  Gover- 
nor-General of  the  Hu  provinces,  whose  chief  lieutenant 
and  successor  was  Tseng  Kwo-fan,  Governor- General 
of  Kiangnan  at  the  time  of  which  we  now  speak. 
His  brother,  Ts6ng  Kwo  -  chuan,  the  Governor  of 
Chekiang  province,  was  the  military  leader,  and  Li 
Hung-chang,  the  most  capable  and  energetic  of  them 
all,  was  governor  of  the  province  of  Kiangsu.  The 
imperialist  forces  had  been  gradually  closing  on 
Nanking,  and  it  was  thought  probable  that  this 
hemming-in  process  forced  the  rebels  to  seek  outlets 
and  new  feeding-grounds  in  the  populous  districts  of 
Kiangsu  and  Chekiang.  The  rebels  had  enlisted  a 
number  of  foreigners  in  their  ranks,  and  made  great 
efforts  to  supply  themselves  with  foreign  arms  and 
ammunition,  for  which  purpose,  among  others,  com- 
munication with  the  sea  was  most  important  for  them. 
lA.futai  (governor),  also  began  to  enlist  foreigners  and 
raise  a  special  corps,  drilled  and  armed  in  foreign 
fashion,  and  led  by  foreign  officers.     The  foreign  agent 


382      HOPES   POLICY   TOWARDS   INSURGENTS.      [chap,  xviii. 

in  this  enterprise  on  the  imperialist  side  was  Frederick 
Ward,  to  whom  Mr    Bruce   referred    in  May  1861  as 
''a   man  called   Ward,   an  ex  -  Californian   fillibuster." 
Within  a  year  Mr  Bruce  wrote,  "  In  the  Chinese  force 
organised  and  led  by  Mr  Ward  I  see  the  nucleus  of  a 
military  organisation  which  may  prove  most  valuable  in 
the  disturbed  state  of  China."     The  truth  is,  "  Ward's 
force,"  which  became  known  by  its  high-flown  Chinese 
title  of  the   '' Ever -Victorious  Army,"  was  seized  on 
from  its  origin  by  Sir  James  Hope,  whose  encourage- 
ment and  support  were  essentially  serviceable  to  it  in 
its  early  days.     The  admiral  treated  Ward  as  a  com- 
rade, fighting  by  his  side,  and  thus   giving  the  new 
levy  a  military  status.     While  the  Chinese  troops  were 
yet  raw  he  co-operated  with  them  by  capturing  posi- 
tions from  the  rebels  and  trusting  Ward's  men  to  hold 
them,  on  the  assurance  of  their  leader  that  they  were 
equal  to  that  duty.     Ward  himself  was  an  unpreten- 
tious, cool,  and  daring  man,  reckless  of  his  own  life. 
During  his  brief  campaign  he  was  riddled  with  bullets, 
one  of  which  entering  his  mouth  destroyed  the  palate 
and   impaired    his   speech,  and   before   long   the  fatal 
missile  reached  its  mark.      He  was  succeeded  in  the 
command  by  his  second,  Burgevine,  who,  though  a  good 
soldier,  lacked  Ward's  tact   and  moderation,  and  got 
into  trouble  with  his   paymasters,  to  whom   he   used 
violence  and  threats.     He  was  deposed  from  the  com- 
mand by  Governor  Li,  which  brought  about  a  serious 
crisis,  for  the  disciplined  force  of  foreigners  and  Chinese 
was  left  without  a  head.     In  this  emergency  Li  applied 
to  the  British  authorities  for  the  loan  of  an  ofiicer  to 
command  the  disciplined  force.     The  responsibility  of 
the  British  representatives,  naval  and  military,  became 


1861-65.]  GORDON.  383 

thus  extended  to  finding  a  suitable  Englishman  to 
replace  Burgevine.  Their  first  selection  was  Captain 
Holland,  KM.,  who  held  the  post  for  a  short  time, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Captain  C.  G.  Gordon,  E..E. 

Gordon  had  arrived  in  China  in  1860  in  time  to  share 
in  the  last  act  of  the  Peking  campaign ;  he  passed  the 
year  1861  at  Tientsin,  where  he  was  highly  esteemed 
as  a  model  man  and  meritorious  officer.  In  the  winter 
of  1861  he  had  conferences  with  Mr  Bruce  and  Prince 
Kung  on  the  question  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  ;  but 
none  of  their  ideas,  nor  the  policy  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, were  then  sufficiently  advanced  to  lead  to  any 
practical  result.  Gordon  accompanied  his  corps  to 
Shanghai  in  the  spring  of  1862,  and  was  engaged  in 
the  operations  for  clearing  the  thirty-mile  radius  under 
General  Staveley,  who  spoke  warmly  of  his  daring 
reconnoitring  services,  for  which  Gordon  had  been 
already  distinguished  in  the  Crimea.  In  the  following 
winter  he  was  busy  surveying  and  mapping  the  country 
which  had  been  reconquered  from  the  rebels,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1863  he  was  offered  by  his  chief  the 
leadership  of  Ward's  force.  Gordon's  was  no  doubt  the 
best  selection  that  could  have  been  made,  having  regard 
only  to  the  abilities  which  were  then  recognised  in  him  ; 
for  though  General  Staveley  knew  him  well  both  in 
Tientsin  and  Shanghai,  it  is  not  claimed  for  him,  or  any 
one  else,  that  he  had  prescience  of  those  transcendent 
qualities  and  that  magnetic  power  which  the  subsequent 
campaign  against  the  rebels  was  the  means  of  bringing 
to  light.  When  Gordon  took  command  of  the  "  Ever- 
Victorious,"  the  force  had  had  two  years'  training  and 
regular  campaigning,  and  the  men  were  entitled  to  rank 
as  veteran  troops.     Gordon,  however,  was  to  infuse  new 


384      hope's   policy   towards   insurgents,      [chap.  XVIII. 

life  into  the  corps  by  his  dynamic  personality  and  by 
the  diligent  use  of  the  regenerative  agency  of  "  Ser- 
geant What's -his -name."  The  number  of  foreigners 
actually  employed  in  the  force  is  doubtful,  but  detailed 
returns  of  killed  and  wounded  in  the  course  of  a  year's 
operations  gave  a  hundred  names.  Gordon's  faculty  of 
control  was  probably  more  severely  tested  by  his  man- 
agement of  that  motley  foreign  crew  than  of  the  whole 
indigenous  force  ;  but  the  best  of  which  it  was  capable 
was  got  out  of  this  fortuitous  concourse  of  men,  and 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  commander  several  names 
of  distinction  emerged  from  the  cosmopolitan  group. 

When  Gordon  took  over  the  command  in  March 
1863  it  was  six  months  since  the  thirty-mile  radius 
had  been  entirely  cleared  of  rebels,  and  the  first  duty 
of  the  "  Ever- Victorious  "  was  to  keep  that  area  clear  ; 
its  second  to  carry  the  war  as  far  as  it  was  able  into 
the  regions  beyond.  Its  efficiency,  especially  for  this 
latter  purpose,  depended  on  the  support  and  co-oper- 
ation of  the  British  and  French  commanders,  whose 
troops  remained  in  occupation  of  the  treaty  port  of 
Shanghai.  For  a  time  there  was  danger  of  a  lapse  in 
this  co-operation.  The  dismissed  General  Burgevine 
carried  his  grievances  to  Peking,  and  made  such  an  im- 
pression by  his  plausible  address  on  the  American  and 
British  Ministers  there,  that  Mr  Bruce  espoused  his 
cause  and  wrote  strong  despatches  to  the  British  com- 
mander, Staveley  (April  10,  1863),  urging  the  rein- 
statement of  Burgevine  and  the  suppression  of  Gordon, 
to  whom  it  was  to  be  explained  that  the  step  was  no 
reflection  on  him,  &c.  Again  and  again  the  Minister 
returned  to  the  charge,  both  to  the  commander  in 
Shanghai  and  to  the  Foreign  Office  at  home ;  but  the 


1861-65.]  MAJOR-GENERAL   BROWN.  385 

Governor  Li  was  firm,  and  adduced  such  cogent 
reasons  for  the  dismissal  of  Burgevine  that  Major- 
General  Brown,  who  had  just  succeeded  to  the  British 
command,  joined  Li  in  resolutely  protesting  against 
the  removal  of  Gordon,  whom,  it  may  be  remarked,  the 
English  general  had  never  yet  seen.  The  men  on  the 
spot  prevailed  against  the  man  who  was  theorising 
from  a  distance,  and  on  the  worst  data  conceivable, 
the  culprit's  own  account  of  himself  Mr  Bruce,  who, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  well  acquainted  with  Gordon, 
must  have  had  reasons  for  his  policy  not  given  in  his 
official  despatches,  for  these  were  inadequate  and 
narrow  for  a  man  of  his  large  capacity. 

We  have  said  Major-General  Brown  had  not  then 
seen  Gordon.  He  had  arrived  from  India  in  April  to 
relieve  General  Staveley  of  the  command  of  the  British 
troops  in  China.  He  was  a  wiry  man  and  of  an  active 
temperament,  and  rapidly  mastered  the  situation. 
Probably  to  him  is  due  the  credit  of  the  first  true  per- 
ception of  what  manner  of  man  this  young  engineer 
officer  was.  General  Brown  was  for  a  few  days  after 
his  arrival  a  guest  in  one  of  the  spacious  hongs  in  the 
Shanghai  settlement,  which  had  a  wide  verandah, 
giving  access  to  all  the  bedrooms.  One  morning  very 
early  the  general,  excited  by  a  message  that  had  just 
reached  him,  rushed  round  in  deshabille  calling  for  his 
host  with  a  piece  of  coarse  Chinese  paper  in  his  hand. 
"  Do  you  know  Major  Gordon  ?  "  he  said.  "  Why,  yes, 
a  very  nice  fellow,  and  reported  to  be  a  first-rate  offi- 
cer." "  But,"  exclaimed  the  general,  "  he  is  a  genius  ! 
Just  look  what  I  have  received  from  him  from  the 
front,"  and  he  unfolded  the  whitey-brown  paper  with 
some  rough  diagrams,  and  a  few  not  very  legible  pencil 

VOL.  I.  2  b 


386      hope's   policy   towards   insurgents.      [chap.  XVIII. 

notes  indicating  his  position  and  plan  of  attack  on 
Taitsan  (where  Captain  Holland  had  been  repulsed) 
and  Kuensan,^  both  cities  on  the  line  of  communication 
with  the  provincial  capital,  Soochow.  *'  The  man  is  a 
genius,"  reiterated  the  general,  "and  must  be  sup- 
ported." A  few  days  later  another  of  these  cryptic 
missives  arrived,  when  a  similar  scene  was  repeated 
with  redoubled  emphasis.  *'  I  tell  you  that  man  is  a 
military  genius ;  that's  what  I  call  him,  a  military 
genius,"  said  the  dapper  little  soldier  in  his  vivacious 
reiterative  manner.  "  I'll  support  him  for  all  I  am 
worth."  And  then  he  developed  his  own  plan  of  re- 
lieving the  "  Ever- Victorious  "  of  garrison  duty,  leav- 
ing the  whole  force — secure  of  its  base — free  to  engage 
in  aggressive  operations.  This  plan  of  giving  effective 
support  to  Gordon's  force  was  carried  out  to  the  letter, 
as  subsequently  described  by  the  general  in  his  official 
despatches  reporting  the  capture  of  Taitsan  and  Kuen- 
san:  "I  had  a  field  force  acting  in  conjunction,  as  a 
support,  moving  on  the  extreme  edge  of  our  boundary, 
.  .  .  which  was  of  great  assistance  to  Major  Gordon 
in  his  operations."  He  adds  :  "  Kuensan  having  fallen. 
Major  Gordon  now  proposes  to  make  it  his  head- 
quarters ;  .  .  .  and  as  the  fatal  intends  to  make 
Taitsan  his  headquarters,  I  shall  bring  it  within  the 
boundary,  thus  giving  the  imperialists  every  confidence 
to  hold  it,  knowing  they  could  receive  support  from  me 
at  any  moment."  How  vital  to  the  fortunes  of  the 
"  Ever- Victorious  Army  "  was  this  decided  action  of 
General  Brown  s  was  seen  when,  three  months  later. 
General  Burgevine  had  gone  over,  with  a  certain 
following  of  malcontents,  to  the  Taipings,  a  movement 

^  Kuiishan  or  Quinsan. 


1861-65.]  DEFECTION   OF   BUKGEVINE.  387 

which  suggested  to  Gordon  serious  misgivings  as  to  the 
loyalty  of  the  foreigners  remaining  in  his  own  force. 
Burgevine,  however,  had  no  success  in  the  rebel  camp, 
and  soon,  in  a  secret  interview  with  Gordon,  sued  for 
safe -conduct  and  amnesty.  Improving  his  acquaint- 
ance, however,  with  the  new  commander  of  the  *'  Ever- 
Victorious,"  Burgevine's  next  proposal  was  the  bold 
one  of  eliminating  as  between  themselves  all  questions 
of  conflicting  loyalty  to  the  respective  belligerents  by 
throwing  over  both,  and  by  joining  forces  on  their  own 
account,  to  capture  Soochow,  and  there  raise  an  army 
to  march  on  Peking.  It  was  a  partnership  which  did 
in  nowise  commend  itself  to  Gordon,  but  the  proposal 
served  to  show  how  shrewd  Li  Hung-chang  had  been 
in  his  estimate  of  the  deposed  leader. 


IV.  THE  LAY-OSBORN  FLOTILLA. 

Orders  sent  through  Mr  Hart  to  Mr  Lay — Fleet  equipped  under  Captain 
Osborn,  R.N. — Ratification  of  their  agreements  refused  in  Peking — 
Government  would  not  place  foreigners  in  a  position  of  authority — 
Misunderstandings  and  final  sacrifice  of  Mr  Lay — Ships  paid  ofi"  and 
sold — Crucial  question  the  recapture  of  Nanking. 

The  invincible  distrust  of  foreign  auxiliaries  which 
dominates  Chinese  policy  and  prevents  the  empire  from 
ever  having  an  army  or  a  navy,  received  another  signal 
illustration  in  the  same  year  in  the  great  fiasco  of  the 
Lay- Osborn  flotilla.  Mr  H.  N.  Lay,  Inspector-General 
of  Chinese  Maritime  Customs,  was  in  England  on  leave 
in  1861,  his  locum  tenens  in  Peking  being  Mr  (now 
Sir)  Bobert  Hart.  Conferences  with  the  Chinese  Min- 
isters on  the  naval  weakness  of  the  empire  resulted  in 


388  THE   LAY-OSBORX   FLOTILLA.  [chap,  xviii. 

a  very  important  decision,  in  consequence  of  which  Mr 
Hart  was  empowered  to  send  to  Mr  Lay  orders  for 
certain  armed  vessels  to  be  officered  and  manned  by 
Englishmen.  Mr  Lay  executed  the  rather  "  large 
order"  according  to  his  lights,  engaging  Captain 
Sherard  Osborn  to  command  the  fleet,  which  was 
equipped  on  a  war-footing.  The  foreign  enlistment 
difficulties  of  the  British  Government  were  overcome, 
as  the  Government  was  by  that  time  ready  to  go  to 
any  length  in  assisting  the  Government  of  China.  The 
fleet  duly  arrived  in  China,  and  Mr  Lay  and  Captain 
Osborn  presented  themselves  in  Peking  to  obtain  rati- 
fication of  their  agreements  from  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment. This  was  refused,  the  force  was  disbanded,  and 
the  ships  sold,  at  a  heavy  pecuniary  sacrifice  to  the 
Chinese,  for  they  made  no  demur  about  payment. 

The  rock  on  which  the  scheme  seemed  to  split  was 
the  contention  of  Mr  Lay  that  the  fleet  was  imperial, 
and  that  the  commodore  should  take  no  orders  from 
viceroys  or  provincial  authorities,  but  only  from  the 
emperor,  and  through  Mr  Lay  himself  This  was  a 
shock  to  the  very  edifice  of  Chinese  Government, 
conceived  of  as  feasible  only  under  the  belief  that  in 
its  helpless  condition  the  Government  must  accede 
to  anything.  But  the  scheme  was  really  impossible. 
So  also,  however,  was  the  alternative  of  provincial- 
ising the  naval  force,  as  has  been  shown  by  subse- 
quent failures  in  the  attempt  to  use  the  services  of 
British  officers  in  the  Chinese  navy.  Such  an  instance 
of  reckoning  without  your  host  was  never  heard  of  be- 
fore or  since.  It  was  like  a  practical  joke  on  a  titanic 
scale.  The  ships  were  actually  there,  manned,  officered, 
and  armed.     It  was  a  dangerous  knot,  which  had  to  be 


1861-65.]  THE   REJECTION    OF   THE   SCHEME.  389 

promptly  cut  or  untied.  Following  the  line  of  least 
resistance,  Mr  Lay  was  made  the  scapegoat,  on  whose 
head  the  Minister  "  laid  both  his  hands "  —  rather 
heavily — '*  confessing  over  him  the  iniquities  of  all," 
and  sending  him  away  into  the  wilderness.  In  the 
general  interest  the  sacrifice  of  Mr  Lay  was  perhaps 
the  safest  way  out  of  the  imbroglio,  for  he  was  a 
pugnacious  little  man  in  whose  hands  despotic  power 
might  have  been  attended  with  inconvenience.  Never- 
theless, the  blame  of  the  failure  belonged  to  all  the 
parties  concerned  —  to  Prince  Kung,  Wensiang,  Mr 
Hart,  Mr  Bruce,  and  the  British  Government.  They 
each  entered  into  the  scheme  with  different  ideas, 
more  or  less  vague,  except  Mr  Lay's  own,  which  had 
perforce  to  be  reduced  to  the  definite  when  he  came 
to  draw  up  contracts  with  British  naval  officers,  and 
to  meet  the  strict  requirements  of  British  law.  The 
Chinese  Ministers  of  course  could  have  no  conception 
what  a  foreign- equipped  navy  really  meant,  nor  had 
they  probably  fully  divulged  what  was  really  in  their 
mind  ;  Mr  Lay  and  Mr  Hart  were  young  men  with 
large  ideas,  but  without  experience ;  Mr  Bruce  was 
a  man  of  the  world  who  had  seen  service,  and  was, 
from  his  position,  the  most  responsible  of  them  all, 
and  therefore  the  most  culpable  in  deceiving  himself, 
and  allowing  the  British  Government  to  be  misled.  He 
approved  of  the  project,  or  it  could  never  have  been 
carried  out.  But  what  was  it  precisely  that  he  ap- 
proved of?  He  "saw  with  pleasure  that  Captain 
Osborn  was  about  to  reorganise  the  preventive  service" 
(October  6,  1862),  and  as  late  as  February  8,  1863,  he 
wrote  to  Prince  Kung  of  the  ''  speedy  arrival  of  the 
steam  flotilla  which  your  Imperial   Highness   has   so 


390  THE   LAY-OSBORN    FLOTILLA.  [chap,  xviii. 

wisely  ordered  " — as  if  it  were  a  pair  of  official  boots  ! 
Yet  on  the  arrival  of  the  flotilla  it  was  found  that 
everybody  concerned  was  at  cross-purposes,  and  the 
question  naturally  suggests  itself,  what  steps  her 
Majesty's  Minister  had  taken  to  satisfy  himself  as 
to  the  real  intentions  of  Prince  Kung,  whether  they 
had  been  properly  transmitted  by  Mr  Hart  and  cor- 
rectly interpreted  by  Mr  Lay  and  fully  communicated 
to  her  Majesty's  Government.  It  appears  that  Mr 
Bruce  had,  in  fact,  undergone  a  change  of  mind — 
induced,  no  doubt,  by  cogent  considerations — during 
Mr  Lay's  final  sojourn  in  Peking.  Having  received 
a  message  from  the  Minister  urging  a  stiff  attitude 
with  the  Chinese  Government  and  promising  the  full 
support  of  the  Legation,  Mr  Lay  proceeded  to  the 
Yamen  and  laid  down  the  law  strongly,  as  his  manner 
was,  in  the  full  assurance  that  he  had  the  British 
Minister  at  his  back.  But  after  thus  burning  his 
boats  he  found  himself  abandoned,  for  reasons  of  State 
which  he  was  unable  to  appreciate.  Such  was  the 
account  of  the  crisis  given  at  the  time  by  Mr  Lay 
himself  to  a  confidential  friend  then  residing  in  Peking. 
For  the  Chinese  Government  the  scheme  was  neces- 
sarily a  leap  in  the  dark.  For  the  British  Government 
it  involved  a  violent  reversal  of  recently  declared 
policy,  and  on  a  most  important  issue.  It  was  con- 
sequently a  case  where  extreme  and  minute  precautions 
against  possible  misunderstandings  would  not  have 
been  superfluous,  yet — so  far  as  has  yet  been  made 
public,  for  there  is  doubtless  a  missing  link  in  the 
record — such  seem  to  have  been  wholly  absent  from 
the  inception  of  the  enterprise. 

The  crux  of  the  question,  no  doubt,  was  the  position 


1861-65.]  LI    HUNG-CHANG    PROTESTS.  391 

of  Nanking.  The  lever  Mr  Lay  employed  to  secure 
acceptance  of  his  conditions  was  the  prospect  of  the 
immediate  capture  of  the  Taiping  capital,  against 
which  the  provincial  Government,  represented  by  the 
Viceroy  Tseng,  his  brother,  and  the  governor  of 
Kiangsu,  Li,  were  expending  their  forces.  The 
temptation  was  exceedingly  strong  to  close  with  Lay 
and  secure  the  services  —  probably  much  overrated 
for  that  particular  object  —  of  the  new  flotilla,  were 
it  even  by  recourse  to  some  ambiguous  phrase  which 
might  leave  a  loophole  of  escape  from  the  agreement 
when  its  immediate  object  had  been  served.  Some- 
thing like  this  might  have  been  attempted  but  for 
the  uncompromising  attitude  of  Li  Hung-chang,  for 
it  was  he  who  smashed  the  flotilla  scheme.  It  was 
true,  he  allowed,  that  the  assistance  of  the  ships 
would  enable  the  viceroy's  forces  to  capture  the  city 
at  once ;  but,  he  added  confidently,  we  shall  succeed 
in  time  by  our  own  resources,  and  it  were  better  to 
lose  the  city  and  the  province,  and  even  the  empire 
itself,  than  to  place  such  power  as  Lay  demanded 
in  the  hands  of  any  foreigner.  Burgevine  was  fresh 
in  the  futai's  mind  —  was  indeed  at  that  very  time 
in  the  rebel  camp  near  him.  Li's  arguments  clinched 
the  matter.  The  flotilla  was  never  commissioned. 
The  whole  chapter  of  experiences  of  the  campaign  in 
Kiangsu  has  left  a  vivid  impression  on  the  mind  of 
Li  Hung-chang :  it  was  the  most  interesting  period 
of  his  life,  but  no  incident  of  it  imparts  such  vivacity 
to  his  reminiscences  as  that  of  the  Lay-Osborn  fleet. 
Nothing  warms  him  to  dramatic  locution  like  a  ref- 
erence to  that  episode. 


392  THE   END    OF   THE    REBELLION.         [chap,  xviii. 


V.  THE  END  OF  THE   EEBELLION. 

Gordon's  brilliant  campaign  —  His  quarrel  with  Li  Hung-chang  —  And 
reconciliation — Other  French  and  English  officers  co-operate  in  sup- 
pression of  rebellion — Russian  aid  offered. 

Gordon's  campaigning  lasted  one  year  :  it  was 
marked  by  great  successes,  sundry  reverses,  more 
than  one  crisis,  and  many  discouragements.  The 
famous  quarrel  with  the  futai  Li  was  illustrative  of 
several  points  of  great  utility  to  be  borne  in  mind  in 
considering  the  working  relations  of  Eastern  and  Wes- 
tern peoples  ;  but  perhaps  its  chief  interest  lay  in  its 
revelation  of  the  independent  and  dominating  character 
of  Gordon  himself,  which  was  his  distinguishing  mark 
through  life.  After  a  confused  and  scarcely  intelligible 
bargain  with  the  rebel  chiefs  at  Soochow,  by  which 
their  lives  were  to  be  spared,  they  were  beheaded  by 
order  of  Li.  Gordon  resented  this,  and,  like  another 
Achilles,  withdrew  to  his  tent.  For  this  he  was 
warmly  applauded  by  General  Brown,  Mr  Bruce,  and 
the  Foreign  Office,  who  all  denounced  Li  as  the  most 
odious  criminal,  with  whom  no  further  communication 
should  be  held.  When,  two  months  later,  Gordon, 
without  consultation  with  any  of  these  parties,  but  not 
without  friendly  advice,  changed  his  mind,  resumed  his 
friendship  with  the  governor  and  active  operations  in 
the  field,  the  same  chorus  of  approval  greeted  his  action 
as  had  previously  been  pronounced  of  his  inaction. 
Mr  Bruce  wrote  on  February  10,  1864,  to  Prince 
Kung,  among  other  things,  that  "  Major  Gordon  is  to 
be   relieved   from   any  communication  with   Governor 


1861-65.]  DISBANDMENT   OF   GORDON'S    FORCE.  393 

Li."  Within  a  week  Gordon,  of  his  own  motion,  had 
abandoned  that  position,  leaving  to  the  Minister  to  ex- 
plain the  change  of  attitude  in  any  way  he  pleased, 
which  he  did  by  resort  to  that  token  coinage  of  dip- 
lomatic fiction  which  serves  the  domestic  purposes  of 
the  craft,  but  has  no  market-value  outside  its  conven- 
tional domain.  An  able  explanatory  letter  from  Mr 
Hart,  the  new  Inspector- General  of  Customs,  who  in- 
vestigated the  transaction  on  the  spot,  would  have 
afforded  to  the  Minister  colourable  grounds  for  "  re- 
vision "  of  the  earlier  judgment,  had  he  been  allowed  time 
to  avail  himself  of  it.  But  Gordon's  action  forced  his 
hand,  and  left  him  no  choice  but  to  acquiesce  first  and 
find  his  reasons  afterwards.  The  Foreign  Office,  how- 
ever, being  at  a  distance,  could  not  be  swung  back 
again  so  quickly,  and  they  had,  on  the  impulse  of  the 
first  advices,  withdrawn  their  sanction  for  Major  Gor- 
don's serving  the  Chinese  at  all.  This  order  reached 
him  after  he  had,  on  his  own  motion,  definitely  re- 
signed the  service,  so  that  there  was  no  further 
clashing  of  authorities.  Though  the  force  contributed 
materially  to  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  the 
final  act,  the  capture  of  Nanking,  was  left  to  the 
unaided  resources  of  the  Viceroy  Tseng. 

Not  the  least  of  Gordon's  successes  was  the  peaceable 
dissolution  of  the  force  when  it  had  done  its  work ;  for 
the  establishment  was,  for  its  size,  enormously  costly, 
and  it  was  a  two-edged  sword  in  the  hands  of  the 
Chinese.  The  "Ever-Victorious  Ai^my"  was  happy  in 
the  opportuneness  of  its  death.  A  prolonged  existence 
might  easily  have  dispelled  the  wonderful  prestige  it 
had  gained  in  its  short  career  and  limited  scope.  Per- 
haps, after  all,  its  place  in  history  owes  everything  to 


394  THE   END   OF   THE   REBELLION.         [chap,  xviii. 

the  personality  of  its  last  leader,  whose  legacy  to  man- 
kind is  not  so  much  a  catalogue  of  achievements  as  a 
life — immortal. 

The  renown  of  Gordon  and  the  brilliancy  of  his 
exploits  have  thrown  unduly  into  the  shade  the 
Anglo-Chinese  and  Franco-Chinese  campaign  in  the 
neighbouring  province  of  Chekiang,  which  had  Ningpo 
for  its  sea  base.  In  their  degree  these  operations  were 
no  less  essential  to  the  ultimate  overthrow  of  the  rebel- 
lion than  those  in  the  province  of  Kiangsu,  and,  among 
many  others,  the  names  of  Prosper  Giquel,  who  after- 
wards managed  the  arsenal  at  the  Pagoda  anchorage, 
Foochow,  and  of  the  large-hearted  bishop,  Mgr.  Dela- 
place,  afterwards  translated  to  the  metropolitan  see, 
where  he  died,  deserve  to  be  had  in  remembrance. 
Sundry  risings  in  other  provinces  caused  trouble  and 
apprehension ;  but  we  may,  for  the  purposes  of  this 
narrative,  consider  that  the  year  1864  witnessed  the 
closing  scene  of  the  great  rebellion. 

It  would  be  impossible,  within  any  reasonable  space, 
to  follow  even  in  outline  the  course  of  that  stupendous 
devastation,  exceeding  in  its  wanton  waste  of  human 
life  the  horrors  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  in  Germany  : 
our  concern  has  been  only  with  that  side  of  the  move- 
ment with  which  foreign  nations  were  forced  into  con- 
tact, with  its  political  bearing,  and  its  influence  on  the 
position  of  the  Chinese  Government.  It  happened  that 
only  two  of  the  Powers  were  directly  concerned  in  of- 
fensive operations  against  the  rebels,  but  in  the  task  of 
suppression  they  had  the  moral  support  of  them  all. 
Indeed,  but  for  the  French  and  English  activity  it 
seems  probable  that  Hussia  was  ready  single-handed  to 
undertake  the  whole  business.     The  Hussian  Govern- 


1861-65.]  BUSSIA's   ATTITUDE.  395 

ment  from  time  to  time  signified  its  approval  of  the 
action  taken  by  the  French  and  EngHsh  in  assisting 
the  Chinese  Government  to  put  down  the  rebellion. 
Russia  was  included  in  the  thanks  of  the  Chinese  to 
their  foreign  allies  ;  she  had  at  least  furnished  material 
in  the  shape  of  "  10,000  rifles  and  several  cannons." 
These  arrived  in  Peking,  after  a  protracted  journey, 
at  a  time  when  the  Russian  Minister  deemed  it 
expedient  to  explain  to  his  British  colleagues  that 
the  arms  had  reference  only  to  the  rebellion.  More- 
over, Russia  had,  or  professed  to  have,  serious  inten- 
tions of  sending  a  large  force  of  her  own  to  co-operate 
in  its  suppression.  M.  Petchroff,  a  member  of  the 
Russian  Legation,  spent  a  month  in  Shanghai  in  the 
autumn  of  1862  in  frequent  conferences  on  this 
subject  with  the  Chinese  authorities,  the  report  of 
which  he  carried  in  person  to  Admiral  Popoff,  who 
was  at  the  time  in  Japan.  M.  Petchroff  called  upon 
the  British  admiral  while  in  Shanghai,  and  informed 
him  of  this  project.  It  was  not  carried  out,  as  Prince 
Gortchakoff  explained  to  Lord  Napier,  because  the 
Russian  Government  had  not  force  enough  available 
to  render  effective  assistance,  but  they  wished  to  show 
the  Chinese  that  they  were  in  hearty  sympathy  with 
the  Anglo-French  policy,  and  might,  for  moral  effect, 
show  their  flag  in  co-operation,  so  far  as  prudence 
would  allow. 

The  importance  of  putting  an  end  to  the  rebellion, 
and  the  value  of  foreign  aid  in  doing  so,  were  fully 
realised  by  the  Peking  Government.  Of  this  the 
abortive,  but  costly,  Osborn  flotilla  furnished  proof 
enough  ;  and  the  honours  bestowed  on  Gordon  by 
imperial  decree  were  an  expression  of  the  unspeakable 


396  EVACUATION   OF   CANTON.  [chap,  xviii. 

relief  which  was  felt  in  the  palace  at  the  dispelling  of 
the  hideous  nightmare.  A  final  decree  summing  up 
the  movement,  in  a  tone  of  restrained  sincerity  not 
usual  in  these  conventional  documents,  says  :  "  Words 
cannot  convey  any  idea  of  the  misery  and  desolation 
he  [the  Taiping  chief]  caused ;  the  measure  of  his 
iniquity  was  full,  and  the  wrath  of  both  gods  and  men 
was  roused  against  him." 


VI.   EVACUATION    OF    CANTON. 

Good  feeling  and  compliments  on  both  sides — Mr  Parkes's  able 
administration  of  the  city. 

An  event  which  passed  off  without  the  slightest 
sensation,  because  without  hitch,  was  the  evacuation 
of  Canton  by  the  Allied  troops  in  October  1861. 
Were  it  only  for  one  clause  in  the  proclamation  issued 
by  the  high  Chinese  authorities  on  the  occasion, 
this  transaction  would  form  a  valuable  historical 
landmark  : — 

During  the  occupation  of  Canton  by  the  allied  troops  of 
England  and  France  during  a  period  of  four  years,  their  con- 
duct has  never  been  otherwise  than  friendly  towards  the 
military  and  people  of  the  whole  city,  and  the  military  and 
people  having  also  corresponded  with  courtesy  and  friendship, 
harmony  has  been  maintained  from  first  to  last.  Now  that 
the  troops  are  being  withdrawn,  the  consuls  of  England  and 
France  will  continue  to  reside  within  the  city,  while  the 
merchants  and  people  of  all  nations  will  constantly  pass  in 
and  out,  or  reside  therein  at  their  pleasure.  It  remains  the 
duty  of  yourselves,  the  military  and  people,  to  continue  to 
them  the  same  respectful  and  courteous  relations  that  have 
prevailed  during  the  occupation. 


1861-65.]        EMPEROR   HSIENFIiNG   DIES    IN    RETREAT.         397 

Compare  this  with  the  state  of  things  existing  only 
three  years  before  !  Much  of  the  success  of  the 
occupation  and  its  good  permanent  results  were  un- 
questionably due  to  the  high  qualities  of  Parkes,  the 
British  commissioner,  who  thus  modestly  refers  to  the 
matter  in  his  despatch  :  "  The  confidence  of  the  people 
in  a  strong  and  inoppressive  Government,  added  to 
their  own  governable  character,  materially  facilitated 
the  task  of  maintaining  order  in  a  vast  and  most 
intricate  city  containing  a  population  of  upwards  of 
1,000,000  inhabitants."  The  "Canton  question"  was 
thus  finally  disposed  of  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
parties. 


VII.  DEATH   or  THE   EMPEROR. 

His  flight  from  the  capital — Succession  of  his  son — Regency  of  the  two 
empresses — Prince  Kung's  sanguinary  coup  d'etat. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  suppression  of  the 
Taiping  rebellion,  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Hsienfeng 
marked  the  period  we  are  now  considering.  That 
unfortunate  monarch,  who  deserted  his  capital  against 
the  strongest  remonstrances  of  his  advisers,  on  the 
approach  of  the  Allied  forces,  died  at  his  hiding-place 
in  August  1861,  and  his  only  son  was  proclaimed  in 
his  stead  under  the  style  of  Tungchih.  The  new 
emperor  was  a  child,  and  provision  had  to  be  made  for 
a  regency.  How  this  regency  fell  into  the  hands  of 
two  empresses — one  the  mother  of  the  young  emperor, 
the  other  the  true  widow  of  the  deceased — was  not 
very  well  understood  by  the  foreigners  then  in  the 
capital.      Prince   Kung's   coup   d'etat,    by   which    the 


398  INFLUENCE   OF  THESE   EVENTS.       [chap,  xviii. 

three  male  members  of  the  regency  were  elaborately 
arraigned  and  then  assassinated,  was  not  organised  to 
get  rid  of  any  imaginary  "  anti-foreign  faction,"  as  was 
too  easily  assumed  at  the  time,  but  simply  and  solely 
to  place  the  empire  at  the  feet  of  himself  and  the 
emperor's  mother.  "  Parties  "  in  Peking  have  always 
been,  and  are  to  this  day,  a  puzzle  to  foreigners, 
who,  having  seldom  at  the  moment  any  trustworthy 
means  of  informing  themselves,  are  apt  to  be  carried 
away  by  ''  cries,"  sometimes  got  up  for  the  purpose  of 
misleading  them, — for  the  Chinese  are  not  at  all  averse 
from  turning  to  account  the  half  knowledge  on  which 
foreigners  are  prone  to  form  their  opinions. 


VIII.  INFLUENCE  OF  THESE  EVENTS  ON  PROGRESS 
OF  DIPLOMACY. 


Inadequacy  of  foreign  diplomacy — Absence  of  sovereign — Allies  committed 
to  protection  of  China — Coercion  impossible — Large  outlook  of  Mr 
Bruce — The  provincial  versus  imperial  administration — Attempt  to 
force  Central  Government  to  coerce  provincial — Contemptuous  attitude 
of  Chinese  Ministers — Sir  F.  Bruce's  despair — He  clutches  at  various 
straws — General  reaction  of  Chinese. 


How  did  these  various  occurrences  influence  the 
progress  of  diplomatic  relations  with  the  Government  ? 
We  have  seen  that  diplomacy  in  Peking  was  a  venture 
launched  on  imported  capital,  which,  meeting  with  no 
indigenous  support,  was  doomed  from  the  first  to  feed 
upon  itself.  There  was  no  dialect  through  which  the 
foreign  idea  could  translate  itself  to  Chinese  compre- 
hension, no  medium  by  which  Chinese  political  concep- 
tions could  be  made  intelligible  to  the  foreigner.    When 


1861-65.]        OBSTACLES  TO  INTERCOURSE.  399 

Gordon  could  not  get  his  meaning  filtered  through 
an  interpreter,  he  called  for  a  dictionary  and  put  his 
finger  on  the  word  "idiotcy" — and  the  most  orthodox 
interpreting  could  not  get  much  beyond  this  point 
in  establishing  a  common  currency  for  the  interchange 
of  national  ideas.  The  initial  difficulty  in  imposing 
foreign  forms,  foreign  terms,  foreign  procedure  —  of 
revolutionising  at  a  stroke  a  system  of  administration 
petrified  by  ancient  usage — would  have  existed  even 
if  the  statesmen  of  China  had  been  sincere  converts  to 
the  innovation.  The  contrary  was,  of  course,  the  case  : 
they  were  as  much  opposed  to  the  new  relations  as 
they  had  been  to  the  military  invasion  itself  No 
help,  therefore,  was  to  be  expected  from  the  Chinese 
side  in  creating  a  workable  scheme  of  international 
intercourse.  They  desired  nothing  of  that  kind,  their 
ambition  soaring  no  higher  than  the  creation  of  a 
buffer  against  which  external  impulsion  might  ex- 
pend its  force.  That  buffer  was  the  Tsungli-Yamen. 
Foreign  diplomacy,  therefore,  if  it  were  to  subsist  at 
all,  must  subsist  on  its  own  resources,  the  foundation 
of  which  was  force.  The  force  that  brought  foreigners 
to  Peking  must,  either  in  esse  or  in  posse,  for  an 
indefinite  time  keep  them  there  and  render  them 
efficient.  Force  no  doubt  would  have  enabled  the 
foreign  Ministers  to  bring  about  even  those  structural 
changes  in  the  Chinese  system  which  were  necessary 
to  clear  the  ground  for  the  operation  of  their  diplomacy. 
But  if  there  was  one  thing  more  than  another  of  which 
Western  Governments  were  determined  to  convince 
themselves,  it  was  that  the  law  of  force  was  finally 
abrogated  in  China ;  that  on  a  certain  day  at  a  certain 
hour,  coincident  with  the  signing  (by  force)  of  a  sheet 


400  INFLUENCE    OF    THESE   EVENTS.       [chap,  xviii. 

of  paper,  the  spirit  of  hostility  had  departed  from  the 
Chinese  mind ;  and  that  the  law  of  love  and  reason 
was,  without  preamble,  to  take  the  place  of  that 
which  had  brought  about  the  new  relations.  Whether 
believed  in  or  not,  this  curious  paradox  was  to  be  the 
rule  of  all  future  action. 

The  game  that  opens  with  the  "  king  "  off  the  board, 
and  is  afterwards  continued  with  the  "  queen "  pro- 
tected, is  an  obviously  impossible  one.  The  foreign 
Ministers  had  to  do  with  a  Government  of  irresponsi- 
bility, and  instead  of  teaching  its  members  from  the 
outset  to  recognise  their  new  obligations  —  training 
them  as  children,  which  as  regards  foreign  matters 
they  really  were  —  the  foreign  Ministers  began  by 
treating  the  Chinese  Government  rather  as  an  infant 
too  delicate  for  discipline,  with  the  familiar  results 
of  such  treatment.  The  diplomats  betrayed  so  much 
anxiety  to  lure  the  sovereign  back  to  his  palace,  that' 
the  Chinese  Ministers  soon  learned  to  exploit  this 
feeling  for  their  own  ends.  That  such  and  such  a 
concession  "  would  have  a  good  effect  at  J^ho "  was 
inducement  enough  to  the  foreign  representatives  to 
waive  one  point  after  another  in  the  transaction  of 
public  business.  When  the  emperor  died,  after  six 
months  of  this  regime  of  indulgence,  the  position  was 
changed  materially  for  the  worse, — for  the  diplomats 
had  now  a  veritable  infant  on  their  hands,  with  a 
female  regent  "  behind  the  curtain."  No  prospect 
thenceforth  of  even  the  initial  formality  of  delivering 
letters  of  credence  until  the  child  should  grow  up, 
by  which  time  many  things  might  happen.  Thus  the 
European  scheme  of  diplomacy,  which  was  to  have 
been  imposed  bodily  on  the  Court  of  Peking,  stumbled 


1861-65.]  SIR   FREDERICK   BRUCE's   OUTLOOK.  401 

heavily  on  the  threshold,  and  never  recovered  Itself. 
But  the  Chinese  recovered.  Their  fear  of  the  "  fierce 
barbarians  "  disappeared  as  they  saw  them  throw  away 
their  weapons,  and  the  process  was  resumed  by  which 
the  fruits  of  the  war  and  of  the  treaties  of  peace  were 
gradually  nibbled  away. 

And  of  course  the  whole  idea  of  coercing  the  Im- 
perial Government,  even  had  it  ever  been  entertained, 
was  openly  reduced  to  nullity  when  the  foreign  Powers 
interfered  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  The 
Allies  could  not  knock  down  with  one  hand  what 
they  were  propping  up  with  the  other,  and  thus 
the  Imperial  Government  not  only  enjoyed  immunity, 
but  knew  that  they  possessed  it, — that  their  late  con- 
querors were  now  fully  committed  to  the  upholding 
of  the  integrity  of  China  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
dynasty.  Any  liberties  might  consequently  be  taken  : 
remonstrances  from  the  foreigfners  would  be  loud  in 
proportion  to  their  hollowness,  but  the  barbarians 
could  not  attack  a  citadel  full  of  their  own  hostages. 

Although  remoteness  from  the  scene  of  action  and 
imperfect  acquaintance  with  local  requirements  were 
apt  to  invalidate  his  conclusions  on  points  of  detail, 
and  to  compel  him  occasionally  to  follow^  where  he 
might  have  been  expected  to  guide  the  action  of 
his  subordinate  executive,  yet  whenever  Sir  Frederick 
Bruce  delivered  his  mind  on  the  position  of  China 
and  her  foreign  relations  as  a  whole,  his  views  were 
large,  luminous,  and  statesmanlike.  He  foresaw  from 
the  first  what  the  degradation  of  the  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment must  inevitably  lead  to.  His  outlook  is  re- 
vealed in  a  brief  sentence  in  one  of  his  earlier  de- 
spatches :    "The   weakness   of  China  rather  than  her 

VOL.   I.  2  c 


402  INFLUENCE    OF   THESE   EVENTS.       [chap,  xviii. 

strength  is  likely  to  create  a  fresh  Eastern  question 
in  these  seas."  There  need  be  little  doubt  that  that 
idea  dominated  his  Chinese  diplomacy.  Severity,  or 
even  strictness,  may  well  have  seemed  on  the  face 
of  the  matter  inconsistent  with  the  pious  wish  to 
strengthen  China,  yet  we  now  know  that  what  she 
then  most  needed  was  to  be  braced  up  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  her  obligations  as  a  necessity  of  her  own 
wellbeing. 

The  field  of  diplomacy  in  the  orthodox  sense  being 
closed,  and  there  being  no  foreign  interests  in  Peking, 
the  subject-matter  for  the  Ministers'  activity  was  fur- 
nished entirely  from  the  trading-ports.  Of  these  there 
were  fifteen  open  in  1861.  The  kind  of  questions 
which  arose  may  be  generally  defined  as  claims  arising 
out  of  breaches  of  treaty  by  provincial  ofiicials,  for 
which  redress  was  sought  from  the  Central  Govern- 
ment. This  was  a  reversal  of  Chinese  methods,  which, 
even  had  the  Government  been  well  disposed,  would 
not  have  been  easy  to  effect ;  and  as  the  Government 
was  hostile,  difiiculty  became  impossibility.  The  Brit- 
ish Minister  after  a  year's  trial  began  to  realise  the 
magnitude  of  his  Sisyphean  task.  "In  a  country 
like  China,"  he  wrote  to  the  Foreign  Ofiice  in  July 
1862,  "where  the  principles  of  administration  differ 
entirely  from  those  practised  by  us,  the  conclusion 
of  a  treaty  is  the  commencement,  not  the  termination, 
of  difficulties." 

To  a  consul  he  wrote  at  the  same  time :  "The 
important  result  to  be  gained  by  the  establishment 
of  direct  relations  with  the  Government  of  Peking 
is  the  avoidance  of  local  acts  of  violence.  .  .  .  Time 
will  elapse  before  the  new  system  will  work  smoothly 


1861-65.]  HIS    "IDEAL   POLICY."  403 

and  efficiently,  .  .  .  but  you  must  not  go  beyond 
pacific  efforts  to  remedy  the  abuses  complained  of." 
A  few  months  later,  in  a  general  circular  to  consuls, 
he  thus  carefully  recapitulated  the  instruction  : — 

The  object  to  be  attained  is  that  of  forcing  the  local  officials 
to  observe  the  treaty  .  .  .  through  the  pressure  brought  to 
bear  upon  them  by  the  Peking  Government,  and  thus  escape 
from  the  false  position  in  which  we  have  hitherto  been  placed 
of  coercing  the  local  authorities  and  people,  and  thus  doing  the 
work  of  the  Imperial  Government.  To  initiate  this  new 
system  of  relations  is  a  task  which  can  only  be  effected 
gradually  and  patiently;  but  the  attempt  must  be  steadily 
and  perseveringly  made,  in  order  that  the  Chinese  Government 
may  be  forced  to  teach  its  people,  &c. 

And  at  the  same  time  he  summed  up  the  situation  to 
the  Foreign  Office  in  these  words  :  "  Our  relations  with 
China  cannot  be  put  upon  a  safe  footing  until  the 
Imperial  Government  itself  compels  its  local  officers 
to  observe  treaties" — a  matter  in  which  the  Central 
Government  itself  most  needed  compulsion ! 

But  all  this  about  "forcing"  the  local  officials  and 
"forcing"  the  Imperial  Government,  without  using  any 
force,  recalls  the  ancient  Chinese  maxim  of  "  ruling 
barbarians  by  misrule."  The  world  rested  securely 
enough  on  the  tortoise,  but  what  did  the  tortoise  itself 
rest  on?  With  grim  satisfaction  must  the  Chinese 
Ministers  have  watched  the  foreigners  entering  on  a 
desert  campaign  where  they  would  exhaust  their 
strength  without  reaching  the  enemy.  The  warnings 
and  threats  which  alone  the  Minister  allowed  himself 
to  use  to  enforce  his  demands  or  his  admonitions,  as 
the  case  might  be,  were  to  the  Chinese  mere  blank 
cartridge.       Prince  Kung,    replying   to   one    of    those 


404  INFLUENCE    OF   THESE   EVENTS.        [chap,  xviil. 

minatory  despatches,  "  imagines  that  his  Excellency 
uses  this  outspoken  language  for  the  purpose  of 
stimulating  the  Chinese  Government  to  activity.  His 
Highness  is  sure  that  it  is  not  his  Excellency's  desire 
to  act  in  the  manner  indicated."  And  so  on  in- 
definitely. The  impression  made  on  the  Chinese 
Government  by  the  force  of  foreign  diplomacy  was 
likened  by  an  American  Minister  twenty  years  after- 
wards to  "  boxing  a  feather-bed."  The  policy  above 
described,  inaugurated  by  Mr  Bruce  and  followed 
consistently  by  the  British  Government,  was  pithily 
termed  by  Lord  Salisbury,  when  in  Opposition,  as  an 
"  ideal  policy  "  in  pursuit  of  which  the  concrete  inter- 
ests of  the  country  were  allowed  to  lapse. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  trace  in  detail  the  process  of 
disintegration  of  treaty  rights  which  followed  these 
interesting  overtures.  It  will  be  more  to  the  purpose 
to  cite  the  British  Minister  s  review  of  the  results 
twelve  months  later  in  a  despatch  to  Prince  Kung. 
This  despatch  and  the  reply  to  it  were  deemed  so 
important  at  the  time  that  they  were  separately  called 
for  by  the  House  of  Commons,  and  were  published  as 
independent  Blue  Books  (Nos.  6  and  8,  1864) : — 

Sir  Frederick  Bruce  wished  the  Prince  of  Kung  to  under- 
stand that  he  had  reason  to  be  greatly  dissatisfied 

1.  With   the   general   disregard   of   treaty   provisions   mani- 

fested at  the  ports. 

2.  With    the    tone    of    the   Government    generally   towards 

foreigners. 

It  is  entirely  due  to  the  exertions  of  the  Allied  forces  that 
Shanghai  and  Ningpo  are  not  now  in  rebel  possession.  Had 
Shanghai  fallen,  the  imperial  authority  would  have  received  a 
blow  from  which  it  could  never  have  recovered. 

Sir   F.   Bruce   did   not   look  for   any  extraordinary  demon- 


1861-65.]      CORRESPONDENCE   WITH    PRINCE   KUNG.  405 

stration  of  gratitude  for  these  services,  but  he  had  hoped  that 
the  Central  Government  would  at  least  have  insisted  on  the 
faithful  observance  of  the  treaty  at  the  ports.  He  had  hoped 
also  that  it  would  have  addressed  itself  with  some  increase  of 
vigour  to  the  organisation  of  a  competent  executive. 

These  expectations  have  not  been  realised.  At  several  of 
the  ports  the  treaty  is  daily  broken  in  matters  great  and  small ; 
and  the  Central  Government,  if  not  unwilling,  shows  itself 
unable  to  enforce  a  better  order  of  things.  The  orders  sent 
by  the  Foreign  Board,  when  Sir  Frederick  Bruce  complains, 
are  not  carried  out,  either  because  the  local  authorities  do  not 
stand  in  awe  of  the  Foreign  Board  or  because  they  do  not 
believe  the  Foreign  Board  issues  them  in  earnest. 

The  Foreign  Board  has  gone  through  the  form  of  issuing 
instructions,  but  the  causes  of  complaint  remain  as  they  were, 
either  because  the  local  authorities  do  not  fear  or  because  the 
Foreign  Board  does  not  care.  Seeing  that  none  of  the  author- 
ities complained  of  have  been  punished  or  removed,  that  officials 
notoriously  hostile  to  foreigners  have  been  appointed  to  places 
in  which  they  have  increased  opportunity  of  indulging  in  their 
anti-foreign  tendencies,  while  officials  of  friendly  disposition 
have  been  withdrawn,  Sir  Frederick  Bruce  is  induced,  how- 
ever reluctantly,  to  infer  that  if  the  Imperial  Government  be 
not  adverse  to  friendly  intercourse,  it  is,  at  all  events,  indis- 
posed to  do  what  is  necessary  to  teach  the  people  and  local 
authorities  that  China  is  sincerely  desirous  of  friendly  relations 
with  foreign  Powers. 

It  is  for  the  Chinese  Government  to  consider  whether  it  will 
listen  to  these  warnings,  &c. 

Prince  Kung's  Reply,  l^th  June  1863. 

With  reference  to  the  proposition  on  which  the  British 
Minister's  note  insists,  that  the  treaty  should  rank  with  the 
law,  the  Prince  has  to  observe  that  the  principle  that  the 
treaty  is  identical  with  the  laws  of  the  Imperial  Government, 
and  that  breach  of  treaty  is  the  same  thing  as  violation  of  the 
law,  is  the  principle  on  which  the  Government  of  China  pro- 
ceeds, and  its  only  desire  is  that  foreign  nations  should  regard 
the  treaty  in  the  same  light. 

As   regards  the  cases  still   undetermined   in   the   provinces, 


406  INFLUENCE   OF   THESE   EVENTS.       [chap,  xviii. 

the  Prince  hopes  that  the  British  Minister  will  refer  to  the 
record  and  inform  him,  case  by  case,  of  the  particulars  of  each, 
and  the  Yamen  will  at  once  write  to  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ments concerned  to  hurry  them  with  the  cases  enumerated.  .  .  . 

Sir  Frederick  Bi^lccs  Ueyly,  July  2,  1863. 

Your  Imperial  Highness  states  in  explicit  terms  that  the 
Government  of  China  recognises  the  treaties  as  the  law  of  the 
empire  in  its  relations  with  foreigners,  and  that  breaches  of 
treaty  are  considered  violations  of  those  laws.  But  the 
despatch  of  your  Imperial  Highness  contains  nothing  to  show 
that  this  principle  will  be  carried  out  in  practice.  I  stated 
instances  in  which  the  authorities,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances 
of  her  Majesty's  consul,  had  deliberately  set  aside  the  letter 
of  the  treaty  for  no  other  object  than  to  curtail  the  privileges 
of  her  Majesty's  subjects.  Your  Imperial  Highness  in  your 
reply  does  not  allude  to  these  cases,  nor  do  you  inform  me  that 
any  steps  have  been  taken  to  remedy  these  grievances  or  to 
prevent  a  repetition  of  such  conduct.  I  am  simply  requested 
to  send  in  a  list  of  the  grievances  complained  of ;  and  I  am 
informed  that  the  local  authorities  will  be  urged  to  settle  them 
with  speed.  Such  a  proposal  is  entirely  unsatisfactory ;  for 
what  reason  have  I  to  suppose  that  the  instructions  now  to 
be  sent  by  your  Imperial  Highness  will  be  attended  to,  when 
I  see  that  the  orders  which  I  am  assured  were  given  by  your 
Imperial  Highness  for  the  redress  of  outrages  such  as  .  .  . 
have  been  disobeyed  ? 

In  these  State  Papers  the  relations  present  and 
prospective  between  China  and  the  outer  world  are 
accurately  represented.  Putting  aside  local  and  tem- 
porary questions,  the  despatches  might  be  dated  1873, 
1883,  or  1893,  for  the  position  remained  substantially 
the  same  during  the  three  decades. 

The  attitude  of  the  British  Minister  we  see  to  be 
one  of  hopeless  pleading  and  vague  admonition  ;  of  the 
Chinese  Ministers,  elastic  resistance.  One  wonders 
how  far,  under  the  mask  of  dull  decorum,  the  Chinese 


1861-65.]  "co-operative"    POLICY.  407 

entered  into  the  real  humour  of  the  situation :  for- 
eigners chafing  impotently,  but  with  their  teeth  drawn, 
occupying  themselves  largely  with  the  preservation 
of  China  and  the  dynasty ;  urging  reforms,  military, 
financial,  and  administrative,  while  putting  up  with 
the  non-fulfilment  of  the  commonest  obligations. 

Sir  F.  Bruce  was  much  too  wise  a  man  not  to  be 
perfectly  conscious  of  the  negative  result  of  foreign 
diplomacy  in  Peking.  His  private  letters,  some  of 
which  were  published  by  Mr  Lay  in  1864,  are  more 
emphatic  on  the  point  than  his  public  despatches.  He 
saw  it  was  a  case  for  desperate  remedies,  but  unfortun- 
ately he  had  no  remedy  except  such  as  aggravated 
the  disease.  Like  a  drowning  man.  Sir  Frederick 
Bruce  clutched  at  one  straw,  then  another — first  at 
the  inspectorate  of  customs,  then  at  the  collective  body 
of  his  colleagues — to  redress  the  balance  which  lay  so 
heavily  against  him.  We  see  in  the  despatch  of  June 
12,  1863,  the  inception  of  what  became  known  as  the 
"  co-operative  policy."  That  was  an  arrangement  by 
which  the  cause  of  one  foreigner  was  to  be  made  the 
cause  of  all,  so  that  the  treaty  Powers  might  present 
a  solid  front  to  the  Chinese.  Unfortunately  such  a 
policy  bears  no  fruit,  since  half-a-dozen  Powers  with 
separate  interests,  and  of  varying  tempers,  can  only 
unite  in  doing  nothing.  The  co  -  operative  policy, 
therefore,  by  tying  the  hands  of  all  the  Powers,  ren- 
dered the  Chinese  more  secure  than  ever  from  outside 
interference. 

From  Sir  Frederick  Bruce's  despatches  it  may  be 
gathered  that  the  reason  for  the  non- success  of  the 
Peking  diplomacy  was,  that  it  was  not  founded  on  fact. 
It  assumed   that  the  Government  of  China  was  cen- 


408  INFLUENCE   OF   THESE   EVENTS.       [chap,  xviii. 

tralised  instead  of  decentralised ;  that  the  administra- 
tion of  the  empire  hinged  on  the  initiative  of  Peking, 
from  which  distant  point  the  resident  Ministers  could 
protect  their  respective  national  interests  throughout 
the  empire.  This  hypothesis,  which  might  have 
graced  an  academic  debate,  was  acted  upon  as  if  it 
was  a  reality,  and  the  struggle  to  make  it  so  has 
absorbed  the  resources  of  diplomacy  for  forty  years. 
The  real  fact,  however,  was  quite  otherwise.  The 
distinctive  character  of  Chinese  Government  is,  not 
autocracy,  but  democracy  and  provincial  autonomy. 
The  springs  of  action  work  from  below,  not  from 
above,  and  to  reverse  this  order  of  the  ages  was  to 
convert  a  court  of  appeal  into  a  court  of  first  instance  : 
to  sue  for  a  tradesman's  debt  before  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, requiring  the  legal  machinery  to  be  first  turned 
upside  down.  Diplomacy  in  China  has  thus  been  a 
disheartening  effort  to  drive  in  a  wedge  by  its  thick 
end  without  adequate  leverage.  It  is  possible,  indeed, 
that  force  might  have  accomplished  even  as  much  as 
that,  but  force  was  the  one  thing  the  use  of  which 
was  proscribed. 

The  redress  of  grievances  being  sought  not  where 
it  could  have  been  exacted,  at  the  point  affected,  but 
in  the  capital,  the  Central  Government  was  called  on 
to  exercise  over  the  provincial  officials  a  kind  of  con- 
trol which  had  never  been  exercised  before.  The 
provincial  officials,  relieved  from  the  local  pressure 
which  they  respected,  easily  evaded  the  novel  and 
unconstitutional  interference  of  the  capital,  and  vio- 
lated the  treaties  with  an  impunity  unknown  in  the 
days  before  the  admission  of  the  foreign  Ministers 
to  Peking.      The  treaties,  no  doubt,  had  become  the 


1861-65.]  FAILUEE   OF   DIPLOMACY.  409 

**law  of  the  land"  so  far  as  a  mere  barbarian  phrase 
could  make  them  so,  but  a  full  -  grown  tree  of 
Western  legality  could  not  so  easily  transplant  itself 
to  an  alien  and  refractory  soil.  The  argument  from 
legality  appealed,  therefore,  to  the  ear  only.  The 
practical  conclusion  to  which  Sir  Frederick  Bruce  was 
led  is  very  simply  stated  in  two  paragraphs  of  his 
letters  to  Prince  Kung  :  "  My  object  has  been  to  seek 
redress  through  the  Imperial  Government,  and  to  do 
away  with  the  necessity  of  seeking  redress  by  forcible 
demonstrations  at  the  ports.  But  it  is  evident  that 
the  reluctance  of  your  Imperial  Highness  to  enter 
frankly  into  this  policy  renders  my  efforts  ineffectual." 
*'  Either  the  Imperial  Government  is  unwilling  to  use 
its  influence  to  cause  the  treaties  to  be  fairly  carried 
out,  or  it  has  not  the  power  to  cause  its  orders  to  be 
obeyed."  Sir  Frederick  would  have  hit  still  nearer 
the  mark  if  he  had  omitted  the  "  either,"  "or,"  and  said 
simply  the  Imperial  Government  was  hoth  unwilling 
and  unable. 

Notwithstanding  these  definite  views,  the  experi- 
ment of  forcing  a  centralisation  which  would  have 
been  a  revolution  on  the  unintelligible  Government 
of  China  had  to  be  continued  through  many  weary 
years  that  were  to  follow,  during  which  time  the  rights 
conferred  by  treaty  on  foreigners  fell  more  and  more 
into  abeyance. 

The  progress  in  that  direction  made  in  the  two  first 
years  is  thus  summarised  by  Mr  H.  N.  Lay,  the  first 
Inspector-General  of  Customs,  on  his  return  to  China 
in  1863  :— 

When  I  left  China  the  emperor's  Government,  under  the 
pressure  of  necessity,  and  with  the  beneficial  terror  established 


410  INFLUENCE   OF   THESE   EVENTS.        [chap,  xvili. 

by  the  Allied  foray  to  Peking  in  1860  fresh  in  their  recol- 
lection, was  in  the  best  of  moods,  willing  to  be  guided,  grateful 
for  help,  and  in  return  for  that  help  prepared  to  do  what  was 
right  by  the  foreigner.  What  did  I  find  on  my  return  ?  The 
face  of  things  was  entirely  changed.  There  was  the  old  in- 
solent demeanour,  the  nonsensical  language  of  exclusion,  the 
open  mockery  of  all  treaties.  ...  In  short,  all  the  ground 
gained  by  the  treaty  of  1858  had  been  frittered  away,  and  we 
were  thrust  back  into  the  position  we  occupied  before  the  war, 
— one  of  helpless  remonstrance  and  impotent  menace;  .  .  . 
the  labour  of  years  lost  through  egregious  mismanagement. 
The  Foreign  Board  looked  upon  our  European  representatives 
as  so  many  rois  faineants.  .  .  .  Prince  Kung  was  no  longer 
accessible.  ...  He  professed  to  be  engaged  with  more  im- 
portant matters. 


APPENDIX  I. 

NOTE  ON  OUR  PRESENT  POSITION  AND  THE  STATE  OF  OUR 
RELATIONS  WITH  CHINA,  BY  CONSUL  ALCOCK,  JANUARY 
19,    1849. 

Section  I. 

The  lesson  of  the  past  is  very  legibly  written  in  the  history 
of  our  relations, — oppression  in  the  Chinese,  increased  by  sub- 
mission in  the  English.  Eesistance  of  the  latter  followed  by 
concession  in  the  former  may  be  read  in  every  stage,  and  the 
influence  of  the  late  war,  beyond  the  tangible  effects  embodied 
in  the  provisions  of  the  treaties,  has  been  limited  very  much 
to  outward  forms :  there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  the  policy  of 
the  Chinese  has  been  masked,  not  changed. 

The  same  arrogant  and  hostile  spirit  exists,  and  their  policy 
is  still  to  degrade  foreigners  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  to 
offer  every  obstacle  which  may  with  safety  be  interposed  to  any 
extended  intercourse, — objects  which  they  seek  to  carry  out  by 
various  covert  and  indirect  means.  In  this  sense  the  letter  of 
the  treaty  is  often  quoted,  but  any  large  interpretation  can  only 
be  secured  under  a  moral  compulsion,  as  the  least  objectionable 
alternative.  This  may  not,  perhaps,  be  wholly  owing  to  bad 
faith,  for  distrust  and  fear  of  foreigners  probably  influences  the 
result.  Hence  all  the  principal  advantages  enjoyed  under  the 
treaty  are  only  held  by  a  species  of  personal  tenure  of  pre- 
carious character,  and  a  consul  at  one  of  the  ports  may  lose 
more  in  a  week  than  her  Majesty's  Government  may  find  it 
easy  to  recover  with  costly  and  embarrassing  efforts  in  a  year. 
Our  present  relations  consist  in  a  never-ceasing  struggle,  under 
veiled  appearances  of  amity ;  and  the  treaty  extorted  by  force 
is  generally  sought  to  be  eluded  by  cunning.  They  have  no 
objection  to  the  foreign  trade  as  one  of  the  elements  of  their 


412  APPENDIX   I. 

own  prosperity,  though  they  much  underrate  its  importance  ; 
but  to  make  it  wholly  acceptable  [to  them],  the  former  humili- 
ating conditions  are  wanting. 

The  whole  effort  of  the  Chinese  rulers  seems  to  be  limited  to 
preserving  peace  as  the  first  object,  and,  so  far  as  may  be 
compatible  with  this,  to  assimilate  our  present  to  our  ancient 
position  as  the  second. 

From  the  general  bearing  of  our  relations  in  connection  with 
the  past  and  the  future,  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  dis- 
advantages under  which  we  labour  may  be  easily  deduced : — 

1.  Local  insecurity  to  person  and  property  at  Canton. 

2.  Want  of  access  to  the  first  markets  and  of  the  means  of 

pushing  and  verifying  the  consumption  of  our  manu- 
factures in   the  interior. 

3.  Ill-adjusted  rates  of  duty  on  several  important  articles. 

4.  Want  of  reciprocity  and  equality  in  our  political  relations, 

and   a   certain   inferiority   in   our   position    social   and 
political. 

By  the  first  we  are  menaced  with  perpetual  danger  of  fatal 
collision  and  interruption  to  our  commerce,  while  our  general 
position  is  at  the  same  time  prejudiced.  By  the  second  we  are 
deprived  of  any  large  market  for  our  goods,  and  pay  dearer  for 
native  produce.  By  the  third  the  Straits,  Indian,  and  the 
native  carrying  trade  are  all  impeded  in  their  growth  and 
dwarfed  in  their  proportions ;  and  by  the  fourth  insuperable 
difficulties  in  remedying  abuses  or  amending  our  relations  are 
encountered,  our  only  means  of  action  being  upon  Canton  and 
its  governor,  acting  as  an  imperial  commissioner. 

The  full  and  rapid  development  of  our  commerce,  a  new  and 
profitable  field  for  our  manufactures,  and  a  better  guarantee  for 
the  maintenance  of  our  friendly  relations,  are  the  chief  ad- 
vantages to  be  sought  in  the  removal  of  these  disabilities. 

The  practicability  of  maintaining  our  relations  on  their 
present  unsatisfactory  footing  in  the  south  must  be  very 
doubtful,  nor  is  there  much  hope  that  any  of  the  essential 
advantages  above  specified  may  be  gained  incidentally  in  the 
natural  progress  of  time,  and  still  less  that  the  grounds  of 
alarm  should  of  themselves  disappear.  The  causes  of  all  that 
is  bad  in  our  position  spring  from  too  deep  a  source,  and  may 
be  traced  too  far  back,  to  admit  of  any  such  hope :  a  rooted 
conviction    in  the  minds   of  a  whole  population,  derived  from 


IMPROVEMENT    DEPENDS   ON    EMPEROR's   WILL.       413 

traditional  knowledge  of  the  humiliating  and  derogatory  posi- 
tion voluntarily  accepted  by  foreigners,  cannot  be  effaced  by  a 
treaty,  or  even  a  short  successful  war  which  passed  over  the 
city  that  was  the  offending  cause  almost  harmless.  How  far  it 
may  be  possible  to  convert  popular  contempt  and  dislike  into 
respect  and  fear,  we  cannot  judge  from  experience :  hitherto,  in 
the  steps  taken  to  that  end,  either  too  much  or  too  little  has 
been  attempted. 

There  are  practical  difficulties  of  a  peculiar  and  altogether 
local  character  [it  is  obvious]  to  any  immediate  amelioration  of 
our  position  at  Canton  which  do  not  exist  elsewhere.  Setting 
aside  these  considerations,  it  will  be  found  that  all  that  is  most 
valuable  and  important  in  the  advantages  to  be  desired  are  of 
a  nature  to  be  granted  by  the  sole  exercise  of  the  emperor's 
will :  greater  freedom  of  access,  the  modification  of  half-a-dozen 
items  in  the  tariff,  even  the  exchange  of  envoys  between  the 
two  Courts,  if  this  were  deemed  expedient,  are  all  matters  to 
be  decided  by  a  stroke  of  the  vermilion  pencil.  No  hostile 
populations  interpose  a  practical  negative  to  concessions  such 
as  these.  The  grounds  upon  which  we  may  claim  the  revisal 
of  some  of  the  provisions  of  existing  treaties  are  derived  from 
the  well-established  conditions  of  all  permanent  relations  of  a 
friendly  and  commercial  character  between  sovereign  States  in 
the  civilised  world. 

We  may  claim  of  right  a  modification  of  the  basis  of  our 
relations  on  the  injury  resulting  to  our  interests  from  the  bad 
faith  or  impuissance  (it  matters  little  which)  of  the  Chinese 
Government  in  giving  execution  to  the  treaties  in  force.  We 
may  insist  upon  prejudicial  limits  being  abolished,  since  they 
have  plainly  failed  in  their  ostensible  object  to  secure  freedom 
from  molestation  or  injury  which  was  the  condition  of  their 
acceptance. 

If  it  be  the  traditional  policy  of  the  Tartar  dynasty  to  keep 
foreigners  at  the  outer  confines  of  the  empire  and  in  a  de- 
grading position,  it  may  with  better  justice  be  the  policy  of 
Great  Britain  to  obtain  a  direct  action  upon  their  centre,  and 
freedom  from  idle  and  vexatious  restrictions.  The  right  of  a 
nation  to  interdict  intercourse  and  commerce,  and  therefore  to 
determine  upon  what  conditions  it  shall  exist,  is  but  an  im- 
perfect right,  and  subject  to  such  modifications  as  the  rights  of 
other  nations  to  the  use  of  innocent  objects  of  utility  dictate  i 


414  APPENDIX   I. 

and  the  refusal  of  a  common  right  is  an  abuse  of  the  sovereign 
power,  and  an  injury  to  be  resisted. 

China,  however  disposed  its  rulers  may  be  to  deny  the  fact, 
is  one  of  a  community  of  nations  with  common  rights  and 
obligations,  and  any  claim  to  exemption  from  the  recognised 
terms  of  national  intercourse  is  inadmissible  in  the  interest  of 
all  other  countries.  To  admit  such  a  right  of  exemption  would 
be  to  allow  the  arrogated  superiority  in  power  and  civilisation, 
and  to  pamper  the  hostile  conceit  of  her  people. 

So  long  as  the  sovereign  States  of  Europe  will  permit  so 
obvious  an  inference  it  cannot  be  matter  of  surprise,  and 
scarcely  subject  of  reproach,  to  the  Chinese,  that  they  should 
be  so  ready  to  assert  and  so  pertinacious  in  acting  upon  it. 

But  even  if  exclusion  from  the  territories,  from  all  trade  and  in- 
tercourse, were  an  absolute  right  in  the  first  instance,  the  Chinese 
have  forfeited  all  claim  to  its  exercise — first,  by  voluntarily 
entering  into  relations  political  and  commercial  in  ages  past  with 
other  States  and  people,  by  exchange  of  embassies,  by  opening 
their  ports  and  territories  and  encouraging  trade ;  and  secondly, 
by  aggressive  wars  and  invasion  of  the  territory  of  Europe  by 
the  Tartar  and  Mongolian  races  who  have  ruled  the  country. 

China  preserves  her  undoubted  right  of  self-preservation  as 
a  political  society  and  an  empire,  but  this  does  not  involve  the 
incidental  right  of  interdicting  intercourse,  because  her  own 
history  shows  that  danger  does  not  necessarily  follow  unlimited 
access,  since  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century  such  free  com- 
munication existed  with  foreigners ;  and  secondly,  because  the 
right  of  decision  must  be  shared  by  the  interdicted  party. 

Section  II. 

It  is  not  enough,  however,  to  determine  the  abstract  prin- 
ciples upon  which  a  policy  may  be  founded — that  which  is  just 
may  not  always  be  most  expedient,  and  if  both  the  one  and  the 
other,  it  may  not  be  practicable. 

The  chief  difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  any  attempt  to 
place  our  relations  on  an  improved  basis  may  be  traced  to  three 
principal  sources : — 

The  Canton  popular  traditions  and  hostility. 

The  treaties  in  force. 

The  contraband  trade  in  opium. 


RELATIONS   AT   CANTON    AND   SHANGHAI.  415 

The  characteristic  features  of  our  position  at  Canton  and 
their  origin  are  too  well  known  to  require  illustration.  To  our 
political  relations  before  the  war,  and  the  humble  and  in  every- 
way derogatory  attitude  assumed  towards  the  Chinese,  is  clearly 
to  be  traced  their  present  insolence,  assumed  superiority,  and 
hostility  on  finding  it  questioned. 

The  principle  of  narrow  boundaries  and  restricted  limits 
confirmed  by  the  Treaty  of  Nanking  virtually  sanctioned  the 
tradition  of  the  past,  which  no  mere  verbal  assertion  of  equality 
thus  practically  contradicted  can  modify.  The  repudiation  of 
this  principle  and  the  establishment  of  a  different  footing  seem 
to  be  essential  to  our  political  equality,  which  would  form  the 
best  foundation  of  an  improved  social  and  commercial  position, 
most  especially  in  the  south.  Were  our  chief  political  relations 
with  the  Chinese  Government  not  centred  at  Canton,  it  is  very 
evident  that  that  port  would  lose  much  of  the  importance 
which  now  attaches  to  the  sayings  and  doings  of  its  turbulent 
mob  and  impracticable  authorities.  Were  the  centre  of  our 
political  action  anywhere  else,  the  local  difficulties,  troublesome 
as  they  are,  must  soon  merge  into  comparative  insignificance, 
and  such  a  measure  as  this  would  seem  an  easier  task  to 
accomplish  than  to  change  the  habits  and  the  prejudices  of  a 
whole  population. 

If  we  turn  from  Canton  and  its  unsatisfactory  history  of 
oriental  insolence  and  presumption  on  the  one  side,  and  undue 
submission  to  their  exigencies  on  the  other,  and  consider  the 
exemption  from  all  such  characteristics  at  Shanghai,  the  respec- 
tive infiuences  of  the  treaties  and  of  local  circumstances  may  be 
deduced  by  a  comparison  of  the  two  chief  ports. 

The  various  concurring  circumstances  terminating  in  the 
Tsingpu  outrage,  which  threatened  to  approximate  the  position 
of  the  British  at  Shanghai  to  that  occupied  at  Canton,  have 
been  detailed  in  the  correspondence  of  the  period.  The  position 
was  seriously  affected  by  the  comparative  immunity  of  whole 
villages  participating  in  the  murders  at  Canton  in  the  previous 
year,  by  the  atrocious  features  of  the  crime  itself,  and  by  the 
assumed  necessity  of  the  consul's  inaction  pending  a  reference 
to  her  Majesty's  plenipotentiary,  occupying  several  weeks. 

Prompt  redress  was  imperiously  demanded  by  the  interests 
at  stake  and  the  sinister  aspect  of  affairs,  and  to  enforce  this 
coercive  means  were  employed,  leaving  nothing  to  be  desired. 


416  APPENDIX   I. 

The  most  important  of  the  results  obtained  was  the  demon- 
stration of  a  power  to  shift  the  centre  of  action  from  a  port 
where  no  progress  could  be  made  to  a  vulnerable  point  nearer 
to  Peking  where  immediate  attention  could  be  commanded,  and 
this  was  supplied  by  the  mission  to  Nanking. 

From  these  two  circumstances — the  serious  deterioration  of 
our  position,  and  the  prompt  and  efficacious  remedy  provided — 
an  important  conclusion  may  be  drawn  as  to  our  means  of 
effecting  any  required  change  in  our  relations. 

In  an  empire  vast  in  area  as  China,  with  an  overflowing 
population,  it  is  no  slight  advantage  to  be  enabled,  without 
a  single  battle,  to  invest  and  vigorously  blockade  the  capital ; 
and  this  it  is  in  our  power  to  effect  by  a  small  squadron  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Grand  Canal  in  the  early  spring,  when  Peking 
is  dependent  for  its  supplies  for  the  year  on  the  arrival  of  the 
grain  and  tribute  junks  by  that  channel.  A  more  effective 
means  of  coercion  this  than  the  destruction  of  twenty  cities 
on  the  confines  of  the  Chinese  territory  or  on  the  coast.  With 
a  starving  Court  and  population  around  him,  flight  or  concession 
appears  to  be  the  emperor's  only  alternatives. 

The  facility  and  the  certainty  with  which  this  object  may 
be  attained  are  important  considerations.  The  insurmountable 
obstacles  to  the  advance  of  a  European  army  into  the  interior 
are  rendered  nugatory  and  altogether  unimportant  by  the  know- 
ledge of  this  highroad  to  the  heart  of  the  empire. 

The  maintenance  of  our  present  relations  is  probably  in  no 
slight  degree  due  to  the  secret  consciousness  of  their  weakness 
at  this  point. 

In  any  future  policy  that  may  be  adopted,  therefore,  these 
facts  and  views  are  calculated  to  supersede  the  necessity  for 
active  hostilities,  and  must  tend  to  avert  from  a  peaceful  and 
industrious  population  all  the  worst  calamities  of  war,  at  the 
same  time  that  they  free  her  Majesty's  Government  from  the 
embarrassment  of  a  costly  and  protracted  war  in  prospectu. 

A  simple  and  ready  resource  for  commanding  attention  to 
any  just  demands  is  indeed  invaluable  in  China,  and  without  it 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  the  Chinese  rulers  would  still 
be  the  most  impracticable  of  Orientals.  With  such  a  power,  no 
insuperable  obstacles  exist  to  the  satisfactory  solution  of  diffi- 
culties without  either  costly  effort  or  interruption  to  the  trade 
of  the  five  ports  ;  and  it  was  the  long-matured  conviction  of  our 


INFLUENCE    OF   THE   OPIUM    TRADE.  417 

powerful  action,  by  means  of  a  command  over  the  necessary 
supplies  for  Peking,  that  dictated  the  course  followed  in  the 
Tsingpu  affair. 

The  Chinese  view  of  the  opium  trade  and  our  agency  in  it 
forms  perhaps  the  chief  obstacle  to  our  taking  that  high  ground 
with  the  rulers,  and  good  position  with  the  people,  which  the 
extension  of  our  commercial  interests  demands.  Let  us  look, 
then,  to  this  opium  traffic  and  the  influence  it  actually  exercises 
upon  our  position  in  China. 

It  is  no  question  here  whether  opium  should  be  classed  in 
the  category  of  medicines,  stimuli,  or  fatal  poisons  ;  the  Chinese 
have  decided  that  for  themselves,  and  regard  it  only  as  a  poison, 
and  the  British  as  the  great  producers,  carriers,  and  sellers  of 
the  drug,  to  our  own  great  profit  and  their  undoubted  im- 
poverishment and  ruin.  Nor  does  their  conviction  end  here : 
they  believe  to  maintain  this  traffic  we  made  war  and  dictated 
a  humiliating  peace,  and  that  we  are  prepared  to  do  so  again,  if 
they  ventured  on  any  interference  to  its  prejudice. 

These  opinions  may  be  false  or  true  in  their  foundation,  that 
is  not  the  question,  but.  What  is  the  influence  they  are  cal- 
culated to  exercise  ?  Hostility  and  distrust  can  alone  be 
traced  to  this  source.  No  other  feelings  flow  from  it,  and  the 
consequences  will  meet  us  at  every  turn  of  our  negotiations,  in 
our  daily  intercourse,  and  every  changing  phase  of  our  relations. 
As  it  overshadows  with  a  sinister  influence  the  whole  field  of 
our  political  action,  so  must  it  be  seriously  taken  into  account 
and  calculated  upon  as  an  adverse  element  in  all  we  attempt  in 
China. 

Accepted  as  un  fait  accompli,  the  best  means  of  neutralising 
and  counteracting  its  bad  effects  are  alone  to  be  considered, 
since  the  enormous  capital,  large  revenue,  and  inseparable  con- 
nection of  our  legitimate  trade  with  opium,  as  a  means  of  laying 
down  funds  in  China,  involved  in  the  traffic,  precludes  all  idea 
of  its  cessation  or  removal. 

The  effective  protection  lent  to  the  chief  opium-dealers,  in 
their  capacity  of  British  merchants,  resident  at  the  ports  under 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  and  the  manifest  inability  of  the 
Chinese  either  to  bring  the  legal  proof  we  should  require  against 
these  principals,  or  of  attacking  by  force  their  agents  in  the 
glaring  infraction  of  the  Chinese  laws,  at  the  opium  stations, 
no  doubt  flings  an  air  of  insincerity  over  all  our  protestations 

VOL.  I.  2d 


418  APPENDIX   I. 

of  non-intervention,  while  there  is  mockery  in  the  invitation 
to  assail  large  fleets  of  heavily-armed  European  vessels.  Even 
if  the  Chinese  for  a  single  moment  believed  in  the  honesty 
of  our  declarations,  they  know  the  utter  futility  of  any  means 
of  attack  they  possess  against  such  superior  force  as  the  opium 
fleets  present.  This  is  the  view  taken  by  the  Chinese,  who, 
though  they  do  not  confess  their  own  weakness,  do  not  disguise 
or  deny  it  to  themselves. 

The  obstacles  which  these  opinions  create  and  fling  in  our 
path  whenever  advantages  are  sought  at  the  hands  of  the 
Chinese  in  furtherance  of  our  national  interests  are  to  be 
overcome  before  any  progress  can  be  made.  There  are  three 
modes  of  dealing  with  them : — 

1.  By  arguments  to  prove  the  fallacy  of  their  assumption 
that  we  were  either  the  original  cause  of  this  traffic,  or  have 
now  tlie  power  to  put  an  end  to  it,  or  finally,  that  it  is  an 
unmixed  evil. 

2.  By  a  modification  in  the  demands  we  should,  without  this 
consideration,  be  entitled  to  insist  upon. 

3.  By  a  mixture  of  kindness  and  decision,  of  instruction  and 
intimidation,  and,  in  last  resort,  by  coercion  for  the  attainment 
of  all  just  and  necessary  concessions. 

And  as  we  should  naturally  begin  with  the  first,  and  may 
eventually  find  ourselves  compelled  to  resort  to  the  last,  so 
no  doubt  it  will  be  expedient  many  times  to  combine  all  the 
different  methods  of  overcoming  the  active  or  inert  resistance 
we  encounter  in  the  Chinese  rulers. 

As  to  any  remedy  to  be  applied  to  the  evils  of  the  opium 
trade,  tliere  seems  to  be  none  open  to  either  Government  but 
its  legalisation,  which  would  strip  it  of  its  contraband  character, 
and  remove  from  the  emperor  the  open  reproach  to  his  autho- 
rity, while  it  might  be  made  to  yield  a  large  revenue  to  his 
treasury. 

If  on  a  question  of  national  policy  or  morality,  this  measure, 
as  the  lesser  of  two  evils,  is  declined,  there  seems  to  be  no  help 
for  the  mischief  which  must  accrue  to  us  from  being  the  chief 
agents  in  the  traffic.  But  it  is  useless  to  disguise  from  our- 
selves the  injurious  influence  it  will  unfailingly  exercise  upon 
our  political  action,  when  any  rights  on  our  part  are  weighed, 
and  it  is  this  which  may  entail  the  necessity  of  our  flinging 
the   weight   of   the   sword   into   the   opposite   scale — sheathed 


COLLISION    OF   RIVAL   CIVILISATIONS.  419 

it   may   be,   but   not   the   less   significant   and   compulsory   in 
its  effect. 

The  opium  grief  and  the  Canton  hostility  thus  work  together 
and  dovetail  into  each  other  to  our  manifest  prejudice,  that 
port  continuing  to  enjoy  its  old  privilege  of  being  the  great 
exponent  and  centre  of  both.  There  we  meet  in  their  least 
veiled  form  the  national  adverseness  to  foreigners  concentrated 
and  localised — the  conviction  of  injury  and  loss  at  our  hands 
from  opium,  heightened  into  asperity  and  bitterness  by  the 
arrogance  of  their  tempers  and  the  consciousness  of  their 
weakness. 

In  no  other  port  does  it  seem  likely  the  same  overt  expres- 
sion and  concentration  of  adverse  feelings  will  ever  be  experi- 
enced. It  would  appear  the  more  important,  therefore,  to  modify 
the  virulent  form  they  assume  at  Canton,  and  remove  the  bad 
precedent  and  example  incessantly  furnished  by  the  Cantonese. 

The  entrance  into  the  city  is  obviously  a  question  of  prin- 
ciple, not  of  any  direct  practical  advantage  in  a  commercial 
sense.  The  freedom  from  annoyance,  and  security  to  property, 
are  more  truly  so,  and  of  these  two  the  latter,  by  far  the  most 
essential  and  important  to  our  interests,  seems  only  to  require 
more  storage  room  for  goods,  away  from  a  dense  Chinese  suburb 
which  renders  insurance  from  risk  of  fire  impossible,  and  entails 
upon  our  merchants  all  the  additional  danger  of  fraud  in  the 
Chinese  warehouse-keepers,  who  are  of  necessity  the  custodians 
of  our  goods. 

We  cannot  hope  that  any  effort  of  ours  or  of  the  emperor 
will  suffice  to  change  at  once  the  character  and  habits  of  a 
people,  or  even  of  the  population  of  a  city.  But  the  last  war 
has  shown  that  with  us  it  rests  to  bring  at  any  time  the  preten- 
sions of  the  Chinese  rulers  down  to  a  nearer  level  with  their 
military  power ;  and  if  they  cannot  from  inherent  weakness  do 
all  that  may  be  desirable,  neither  are  they  in  a  position  to  refuse 
any  concession,  clearly  at  their  option  to  grant,  and  such  are 
these  which  it  would  seem  most  important  to  Great  Britain  to 
secure  :  the  nature  of  our  demands  and  the  circumstances  under 
which  they  shall  be  preferred  are  considerations  of  policy  and 
expediency.  But  the  real  question,  and  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant, it  will  be  obvious,  is  rather  what  it  may  be  wise  to 
demand,  than  what  it  may  be  possible  to  obtain.  The  danger 
of  collision  between  the  rival  civilisations  of  the  East  and  West 


420  APPENDIX   I. 

has  long  been  foreseen,  instinctively  felt  by  the  Chinese,  and 
more  clearly  discerned  by  Europeans  in  the  result  of  the  late 
war ;  and  the  larger  commercial  interests  growing  up  under,  and 
in  spite  of,  the  present  system  of  restrictions,  has  only  tended, 
by  partially  extending  the  points  of  contact  without  placing  our 
relations  on  a  plain  basis  of  reciprocity  and  equality,  to  increase 
the  chances.  It  can  only  be  hoped  that  the  gradual  introduc- 
tion of  European  arts  and  ideas  and  their  fructification  may  in 
some  degree  fuse  and  harmonise  the  discordant  elements  before 
the  course  of  events  which  otherwise  tend  to  precipitate  a 
violent  and  disastrous  collision  are  beyond  our  control.  To 
such  a  peaceful  and  beneficial  termination  of  the  difficulties 
which  unavoidably  beset  our  relations  with  China,  the  efforts  of 
all  Western  Powers  should  in  the  common  interest  be  directed. 

These  considerations  must  act  as  the  most  powerful  checks  to 
any  initiative  measures  of  a  large  and  comprehensive  character 
for  the  improvement  of  our  position  and  the  more  rapid  develop- 
ment of  our  commerce. 

In  this  point  of  view  the  two  greatest  obstacles  to  any 
advance  are  the  large  commercial  interests  and  national  revenue 
at  stake,  and  the  danger  of  being  followed  by  the  envoys  of 
other  foreign  Powers  who,  having  no  such  great  interests  to 
jeopardise,  are  without  this  beneficial  and  most  needful  check, 
and  may  therefore  be  induced  to  repeat  at  a  semi- barbarian 
Court  the  intrigues  and  counter-projects  for  the  destruction  of 
our  influence  and  the  injury  of  our  trade  in  the  East  which  are 
at  work  in  our  own  times  in  every  capital  in  Europe,  as  formerly 
in  India  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago. 

Eussia,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Holland,  and  America,  with 
their  several  jealousies  and  united  rivalry  with  England,  their 
missionary  enterprises  or  commercial  and  political  schemes 
clashing  in  their  aim  and  development,  are  all  capable  of 
creating  such  turmoil,  strife,  and  disturbance  throughout  the 
empire,  if  free  access  to  the  Court  and  the  provinces  were 
insisted  upon  by  Great  Britain,  as  could  only  end  in  the  ejection 
of  Europeans  from  China  as  formerly  from  Japan,  or  an  intestine 
war  in  which  European  power  would  probably  be  involved  on 
opposite  sides,  and  to  their  mutual  destruction  as  States  with 
commercial  interests  in  the  country.  These,  again,  might  lead 
to  attempts  at  territorial  possession,  suggested  in  the  first  in- 
stance, as  in  India,  in  self-defence,  and  afterwards  continued 


POLICY    OF   EXTENDED   INTERCOURSE.  421 

from  necessity.  With  Russia  spreading  her  gigantic  arms  to 
the  north  and  east,  Great  Britain  on  the  south  and  west,  Spain, 
Holland,  and  Portugal  with  their  colonies  in  the  Chinese  and 
Indian  seas,  a  struggle  for  superiority  on  the  soil  of  China  for 
exclusive  advantages  or  predominant  influence  might  be  centred 
in  Peking  and  embroil  the  whole  of  Europe  in  hostile  relations. 
The  same  objection  applies  to  all  efforts  to  enlarge  our  inter- 
course and  remove  limitations,  and  has  ever  prevailed.  It  was 
recognised  as  an  objection  to  the  last  war.  The  course  of  events 
urged  on  by  the  opium  trade  left  but  little  alternative  at  the 
last,  or  there  can  be  no  doubt,  with  the  additional  fear  of  the 
uncertain  result  of  a  struggle  with  a  vast  empire  like  China, 
the  resources  of  which  were  so  imperfectly  known,  the  British 
Government  would  have  been  deterred  from  any  onward  step,  as 
these  motives  did  in  effect  prevent  any  hostile  aggression,  so  long 
as  it  was  possible  to  avoid  it,  without  the  sacrifice  of  our  trade. 
The  war  over,  it  again  prevailed,  and  we  are  once  more  in 
a  position  to  accept  as  final  the  increased  but  limited  advan- 
tages resulting,  or  to  try  for  more,  and  by  our  policy  to  avert 
or  provoke  disturbing  causes  which  must  lead  to  change.  The 
moderation  which  marked,  and  the  policy  which  dictated,  our 
treaties  carried  us  back  to  the  old  ground  of  a  nation  trading 
by  sufferance,  under  limitations  and  restrictions  which  kept 
us  at  the  boundaries  of  the  empire,  and  with  us  the  rest  of 
the  Western  world,  the  only  difference  being  enlarged  facilities 
and  better  guarantees  for  the  pursuit  of  trade  on  the  coast-line, 
and  within  the  restricted  limits  of  the  five  ports  selected.  It 
is  now  for  the  British  Government  to  determine  whether  we 
should  rest  content  with  the  revenue  derived  from  an  import 
of  some  60  million  lb.  of  tea  and  the  export  from  India  of 
40,000  chests  of  opium,  netting  together  some  7  millions 
sterling  to  the  British  and  Indian  Government,  together  with 
the  incidental  advantage  of  the  raw  produce  of  silk,  promising 
to  render  us  independent  of  Europe  and  the  adjoining  markets 
for  the  supply  of  this  staple  of  an  important  branch  of  our 
manufactures  at  a  cheaper  rate,  and  the  market  for  Indian 
cotton,  the  circumstances  which  lend  to  China  nearly  all  its 
importance  ;  or  take  measures,  not  free  from  danger  and 
difficulty,  of  great  prospective  magnitude,  both  in  a  political 
and  commercial  sense,  to  make  China  a  great  market  for  our 
manufactures  also.     At  present  the  Chinese  take  considerably 


422  APPENDIX   I. 

less  than  2  millions  sterling  in  annual  value  out  of  an  aggregate 
production  of  sorae  70  millions.  In  this  respect  they  are  of 
less  importance  to  us  as  customers  than  the  West  India  colonies, 
the  Italian  States  and  islands,  or  one  of  the  larger  European 
States,  so  small  a  fraction  do  they  absorb.  The  prospect  that 
would  urge  us  on  should  be  the  hope  of  seeing  China  take 
of  our  manufactures  as  large  a  share  as  all  Europe,  and  instead 
of  a  couple  of  millions,  create  a  demand  for  more  than  twenty. 
The  produce  of  tea  and  silk  we  have,  the  market  for  opium 
and  Indian  cotton  is  ours.  We  want  an  equally  large  and 
beneficial  market  for  our  manufactures — our  cotton  fabrics, 
woollens,  linen,  and  cutlery,  for  which  our  powers  of  production 
are  all  but  unlimited. 

Two  questions  suggest  themselves,  therefore,  on  the  solution 
of  which  the  decision  should  depend,  it  being  assumed  as 
unquestioned  that  something  of  risk  and  danger  to  that  which 
we  have  must  attend  all  effective  efforts  to  win  that  which 
is  as  yet  wanting. 

To  the  first  four  great  commercial  objects  involved  in  our 
relations  with  China,  as  above  specified,  shall  we  sacrifice  the 
fifth? 

Or  shall  we  peril  all  for  the  attainment  of  the  fifth,  by  the 
endeavour  to  create  a  market  for  our  manufactures  which  at 
present  exists  only  in  its  rudiments,  and  to  a  small  fractional 
value  ? 

If  the  extreme  exiguity  of  the  market  for  manufactures  be 
not  held  to  justify  the  voluntary  incurrence  of  great  risk  or 
danger  to  our  tea,  silk,  opium,  and  raw  cotton  trade,  which 
form  the  great  bulk  of  our  commerce  as  it  exists  at  the  present 
day,  British  and  Indian,  it  will  only  remain  to  be  determined 
what  are  the  various  secondary  means  at  our  disposal  for  the 
improvement  of  this  fifth  or  manufacturing  branch  as  the 
primary  object,  and  their  respective  chances  of  success  on  the 
one  hand  and  dangers  attending  their  adoption  on  the  other. 
For  the  dangers,  it  must  be  well  understood,  are  of  two  kinds 
— those  attending  failure,  and  those  which  may  be  consequent 
upon,  and  the  ulterior  results  of,  success  in  the  first  instance. 

It  being  borne  in  mind  that  whatever  we  ask  and  obtain 
will  be  claimed  and  enjoyed  by  others,  it  is  necessary  to 
consider  to  what  use  they  are  liable  to  be  turned  by  foreign 
Powers  over    whom    we   can   exercise   no   control,   and   whose 


S1*EC1F1C    MEASURES.  423 

interests  or  national  jealousies  may  clearly  be  adverse  to  our 
position  in  China  and  the  advancement  of  our  commerce.  To 
these  various  heads  of  a  subject  in  every  point  of  view  great 
and  important,  and  surrounded  by  doubts  and  difficulties  of 
the  most  embarrassing  character,  the  best  information  that  can 
be  brought  by  any  one  individual  is  insufficient  for  a  perfectly 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  questions  which  must  be  discussed. 
All  that  can  be  attempted  is  to  throw  some  additional  light 
upon  the  general  bearing  of  the  whole,  and  to  contribute  such 
data  and  practical  inferences,  illustrative  of  our  present  position 
and  its  future  prospects,  as  may  help  to  suggest  a  safe  con- 
clusion as  circumstances  develop  new  phases  in  our  relations 
and  call  for  action. 

Section  III. 

Assuming  the  present  basis  of  our  relations  to  continue,  the 
best  course  to  be  pursued  in  actual  circumstances,  more  especially 
for  the  maintenance  of  our  advantageous  position  in  the  north, 
is  worthy  of  consideration.  The  instructions  lately  received 
from  her  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  are  of 
a  nature  to  suggest  inquiry  under  the  three  heads  to  which 
they  refer : — 

1.  Eecourse  to  the  authorities  by  British  subjects  in  danger 
of  popular  violence. 

2.  Eeference  in  all  cases  to  her  Majesty's  plenipotentiary  for 
instructions. 

3.  The  verification  of  the  punishment  awarded  to  Chinese 
offenders. 

In  reference  to  tlie  instructions  under  the  first  of  these  heads, 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  even  with  such  unusual  facilities  as 
some  of  the  older  missionaries  possess  who  speak  the  dialect, 
and  are  often  familiar  with  the  localities  they  visit,  the  resource 
indicated  cannot  be  counted  upon  as  available. 

In  the  Tsingpu  affair,  as  soon  as  they  actually  became 
sensible  of  danger,  it  was  clearly  impossible,  nor  in  one  case 
in  a  hundred  is  it  probable,  that  such  a  resource  will  be  in  their 
power. 

In  these  cases  the  authorities  keep  out  of  the  way,  they  and 
all  their  ragged  staff  of  runners  and  police ;  and  if  otherwise, 
moved  by  a  fear  of  worse  consequences  from  the  acts  of  the 
nearest  British  authority,  the  means  they  take  to  rescue  a  mal- 


424  APPENDIX   I. 

treated  foreigner  are  miserably  ineffective  and  uncertain  in  their 
results.  Whoever  will  read  the  details  of  the  species  of  rescue 
effected  in  the  Tsingpu  business  will  see  that  it  was  by  the 
merest  chance  the  three  Englishmen  had  not  their  brains  beaten 
out,  either  before  the  arrival  of  the  disguised  runners  or  while 
they  were  waiting  an  opportunity  of  stepping  in  to  render  the 
unfortunate  sufferers  any  service. 

It  must  be  clear,  therefore,  that  access  to  the  authorities  in 
emergencies  of  this  nature  must  always  be  difficult  and  generally 
impracticable  for  a  foreigner.  Retreat  to  a  boat  or  other  place 
of  safety  is  as  little  likely  to  be  attainable. 

A  salutary  dread  of  the  immediate  consequences  of  violence 
offered  to  British  subjects,  the  certainty  of  its  creating  greater 
trouble  and  danger  to  the  native  authorities  personally  than 
even  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to  protect  the  foreigner  and  seize 
their  assailants  will  entail,  seems  to  be  the  best  and  only  pro- 
tection in  this  country  for  Englishmen.  When  the  Chinese 
authorities  of  all  ranks,  from  the  viceroy  at  Nanking  to  the 
lowest  police  runners,  are  thoroughly  imbued  with  this  feeling, 
it  will  not  only  rouse  them  to  greater  energy  but  find  its  way 
to  the  populace  by  certain  steps,  and  render  such  exertion  un- 
necessary, and  the  nationality  of  an  Englishman  will  become 
his  safeguard.  Hence  the  impolicy,  not  to  say  impossibility,  of 
treating  instances  of  personal  outrage  such  as  that  of  Tsingpu 
as  police  cases,  and  leaving  redress  to  the  ordinary  administra- 
tion of  Chinese  laws.  Where  justice  exists  only  nominally,  and 
her  image  should  be  represented  not  only  blind  but  deaf,  deplor- 
able consequences  would  result  from  such  a  course.  There 
seems  to  be  a  democratic  spirit  among  the  Chinese  which 
renders  the  authorities  especially  averse  to  risk  collision  with 
the  populace  or  any  popular  feeling.  The  Chih-hsien  is  himself 
exposed  to  insult  and  violence  if  he  attempt  to  enforce  the 
collection  of  the  taxes  in  a  bad  season,  and  but  lately  he  was 
besieged  here  in  his  own  yamen.  Not  ten  days  ago  the  Taotai  paid 
1600  taels  of  silver  to  secure  a  piece  of  building-ground  at  the 
urgent  demand  of  the  French  consul,  rather  than  exert  his 
authority  to  compel  the  owners  to  take  the  fair  value  of  $400 
offered,  and  upon  the  posts  put  up  to  mark  the  boundaries  these 
parties  did  not  hesitate  to  prohibit  its  appropriation.  The 
principal  check  upon  the  people,  and  safeguard  for  the  authori- 
ties in  cases  of  popular  disturbance,  seems  to  be  the  conviction 


NO   REDRESS   FOR   INJURIES.  425 

under  which  every  Chinese  quails,  of  the  terrible  vengeance  that 
may  pursue  them  and  their  families,  the  tumult  once  over,  if 
they  should  have  been  marked  or  recognised.  In  proportion 
as  the  magistrate  is  helpless  before  numbers,  is  his  power 
large  of  wreaking  summary  and  vengeful  punishment  upon  each 
of  the  individuals  that  may  form  the  mob,  once  separated  from 
each  other. 

Considerations  such  as  these  necessarily  influence  her 
Majesty's  consul  on  the  spot,  who  each  day  has  under  his  eyes 
these  significant  details,  national  and  administrative.  Where 
danger  threatens  to  involve  the  persons  or  the  property  of 
British  subjects,  his  sole  direct  resource  is  to  fall  back  upon  the 
treaty,  and  to  cover  with  the  aegis  of  national  inviolability 
individual  interests.  By  any  other  course  he  falls  inevitably 
into  the  hopeless  condition  of  one  waiting  for  such  redress  as 
the  common  course  of  justice  in  China  usually  affords,  where 
everything  assuming  its  form  is  venal  and  arbitrary. 

The  result  of  all  efforts  made  to  secure  the  apprehension  of 
thieves  or  the  recovery  of  property  stolen  from  foreigners  is 
conclusive  as  to  the  kind  of  security  to  be  obtained  for  British 
subjects  where  infractions  are  dealt  with  as  affairs  of  police  in 
which  justice  is  to  take  its  ordinary  course.  In  scarcely  one 
instance  has  any  redress  been  obtained  since  the  port  was 
opened.  If  thieves  are  overtaken,  it  is  only  that  they  may 
disgorge  their  booty  for  the  benefit  of  the  police  sent  after 
them,  and  the  larger  the  amount  the  less  chance  is  there  of 
either  apprehension  or  restitution.  Witness  Mr  Hubertson's 
robbery,  where  his  servant  went  off  with  nearly  $10,000  in 
gold  and  silver,  and  he  was  promptly  traced  and  pursued. 

Then  in  reference  to  the  standing  orders  that,  in  case  of 
difficulty  arising,  reference  shall  invariably  be  made  to  her 
Majesty's  plenipotentiary  for  instructions.  Instances  have  been 
very  numerous  showing  the  nullity  of  any  means  of  action  on 
the  local  authorities  here  through  the  Imperial  Commissioner  at 
Canton,  not  only  in  these  matters,  but  in  those  treated  on 
higher  grounds,  and  affecting  our  political  position.  Last  year 
(1847)  not  only  a  list  of  cases  where  no  satisfactory  exertion 
had  been  made  to  obtain  redress  for  property  stolen  was  for- 
warded, but  the  consul  urged  upon  Sir  John  Davis,  her  Majesty's 
plenipotentiary  at  the  time,  the  urgent  necessity  for  the  removal 
of  the  then  acting  magistrate  at  Shanghai,  who  had   openly 


426  APPENDIX  I. 

reviled  a  consulate  servant  for  taking  the  service  of  the 
barbarians,  and  dismissed  him  without  redress.  The  only- 
answer  to  be  obtained  from  his  Excellency  Kiying  was  to  the 
effect  that  the  Chih-hsien,  as  a  territorial  officer,  was  not  under 
his  jurisdiction.  Fortunately  he  was  removed  very  shortly  for 
misconduct  in  the  management  of  Chinese  affairs, — for  however 
injurious  his  proceedings  to  the  British,  it  was  obvious  neither 
redress  nor  assistance  was  to  be  obtained  from  Canton  and  the 
Imperial  Commissioner. 

The  paramount  necessity  of  protecting  its  subjects  in  distant 
countries  is  of  course  well  understood  by  her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment, and  in  an  oriental  State  this  can  only  be  effected  by 
letting  it  be  known  and  felt  that  whoever  attacks  one  of  the 
solitary  subjects  will  be  held  to  have  attacked  the  sovereign 
and  the  nation.  By  this  policy  a  firman,  far  more  potent  than 
the  Grand  Seignior's  in  his  own  territory,  is  given  to  every 
Englishman  abroad,  ensuring  his  freedom  from  injury  all  over 
the  world. 

The  treaty  viewed  in  this  light  becomes  a  real  and  efficient 
bulwark  against  encroachments,  and  without  such  safeguard, 
with  Chinese  management,  it  would  at  no  distant  period  in  all 
its  most  important  provisions  become  null  and  void.  No  doubt 
inconvenience  results  from  the  necessity  of  treating  casualties  of 
collision  between  subjects  of  different  countries  as  infractions  of 
a  solemn  treaty ;  but  the  oriental,  and  in  some  respects  very 
peculiar,  character  of  the  Chinese,  and  our  relations  with  them, 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  and  the  lesser  of  two  evils  chosen  with 
such  discretion  and  judgment  as  the  circumstances  imperatively 
demand. 

At  a  distant  and  isolated  port  like  Shanghai,  where  a  brig  of 
war  is  by  no  means  permanently  stationed,  the  consul  is  left  to 
his  own  resources,  separated  by  an  interval  of  many  weeks  from 
the  assistance  of  her  Majesty's  plenipotentiary.  When  difficul- 
ties and  emergencies  supervene,  it  is  only  by  prompt  demands 
for  redress,  and  firm  resistance  to  any  virtual  negation  of  the 
rights  and  privileges  guaranteed  by  treaty,  that  he  can  hope 
successfully  to  defend  the  very  important  interests  confided  to 
his  charge. 

As  regards  the  practicability  and  expediency  of  verifying  the 
punishments  of  any  Chinese  offender  by  the  presence  of  a 
British  officer  when  a  sentence  is  carried  into  execution,  the 


PRACTICAL   DIFFICULTIES   IN    PUNISHMENTS.        427 

iustruction  received  could  only  have  been  partially  applicable  to 
the  Tsingpu  offenders  had  it  been  earlier  received,  for  the  most 
serious  punishment  was  banishment  to  a  penal  settlement  in 
Tartary. 

But  the  whole  subject  is  one  of  peculiar  difficulty,  nor  can 
any  hope  be  entertained  of  submitting  in  this  place  a  satis- 
factory solution.  It  has  long  been  felt  that  of  all  the  provi- 
sions of  the  two  treaties,  that  which  provided  for  the  due 
administration  of  the  laws  on  Chinese  offenders  was  the  most 
nugatory.  The  chief  difficulty  consists  in  a  British  officer 
being  present  at  all  during  a  trial  in  a  Chinese  court,  assuming 
the  right  were  to  be  granted  by  treaty.  Where  the  ordinary 
mode  of  questioning  is  by  torture,  a  process  utterly  repugnant 
to  our  notions  of  justice  and  our  sense  of  what  is  due  to 
humanity  and  truth,  are  we  by  our  presence  to  sanction  and  be 
made  parties  to  such  proceedings  ?  Or  are  we  to  interfere  and 
insist  upon  justice  being  administered  not  according  to  their 
usages,  but  ours  ?  The  objection  to  both  courses  seems  equally 
valid,  and  yet  without  the  presence  of  an  efficient  officer  there 
is  no  guarantee  whatever  for  the  due  administration  of  justice. 

As  regards  the  presence  of  an  officer  at  punishments,  unless 
he  is  in  a  position  to  identify  the  criminal,  which  must  often 
from  the  circumstances  of  the  case  be  impossible,  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  our  national  character  is  not  in  danger  of 
being  compromised  without  the  real  object  of  such  risk  being 
attained.  Nothing  could  more  effectually  tend  to  lower  us  in 
the  opinion  of  the  Chinese  than  to  be  imposed  upon  by  the 
jugglery  of  a  substituted  criminal,  or  the  punishment  of  an 
innocent  man  at  our  instigation,  or  even  the  illegal  and  excess- 
ive punishment  of  a  real  offender.  Yet  to  all  these  we  are 
exposed  when  we  take  upon  ourselves  to  watch  the  course  of 
justice  and  verify  the  execution  of  the  sentences.  It  may 
finally  be  observed  that  there  are  punishments  recognised  in 
the  Chinese  code  revolting  for  their  brutality,  which  an  English 
officer  could  scarcely  sanction  with  his  presence  without  dis- 
credit to  our  national  feeling.  A  lesser  objection  exists  in  the 
frequency  of  minor  punishments  for  theft  and  petty  misde- 
meanours, so  that  an  interpreter  would  be  required  for  this 
duty  alone. 

These  are  some  of  the  practical  difficulties  to  the  effective 
exercise  of  any  check  upon  the   proceedings   of  the   Chinese 


428  APPENDIX    II. 

authorities  in  criminal  informations  against  Chinese  subjects, 
and  to  devise  a  remedy  may  require  more  consideration  than 
has  probably  yet  been  given  to  the  subject. 

From  this  review  of  our  actual  position  at  the  most  favourably 
situated  of  the  northern  ports,  and  the  means  by  which  it  has 
been  preserved  from  deterioration,  and  in  many  essential  points 
materially  improved,  a  correct  inference  may  be  drawn  of  the 
injurious  consequences  of  any  retrograde  influence  from  Canton, 
direct  or  indirect. 


APPENDIX    11. 


CONFIDENTIAL    DESPATCH    BY    CONSUL   ALCOCK    TO    SIR    GEORGE 
BONHAM,    JANUARY   13,  1852. 

I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
Excellency's  confidential  despatch  of  the  l7th  ultimo,  and 
although  the  departure  of  the  Audax  within  three  days  of  its 
receipt  leaves  me  but  little  time  for  consideration  or  inquiry,  I 
have  devoted  so  much  time  and  thought  to  the  subject  during 
the  last  five  years  that  I  venture  to  reply  without  delay. 

On  the  general  scope  of  coercive  measures  adapted  to  ensure 
success  in  any  negotiations  with  the  Chinese  Government,  and 
more  especially  on  the  blockade  of  the  Grand  Canal  as  a  very 
cogent  means,  I  have  already  in  my  confidential  report  of  January 
19,  1849,  and  subsequently  in  another  of  February  13,  1850, 
submitted  the  opinion  I  had  formed  after  long  and  careful  study 
of  our  position  in  China ;  and  further  inquiries  and  experience 
of  the  people  we  have  to  deal  with  have  only  served  to  confirm 
the  views  contained  in  those  reports. 

I  took  the  responsibility  of  sending  Mr  Vice- Consul  Eobert- 
son  with  the  Espiegle  to  Nanking  in  the  spring  of  1848  with 
the  strong  conviction  that  at  that  particular  season,  with  the 
tribute  of  grain  uncollected  and  a  thousand  of  these  grain-junks 
actually  under  an  embargo  at  Shanghai,  any  demonstration  of 
force  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Grand  Canal  would  command 
immediate  attention,  and  the  result  went  far  to  establish  the 


MEANS  OF  COERCINa  CHINA.  429 

accuracy  of  the  conclusion.  Circumstances  since  then  have, 
however,  altered  both  in  a  favourable  and  an  adverse  sense. 
Taokuang,  with  his  humiliating  experience  of  the  superiority 
of  our  arms  and  his  known  and  acknowledged  desire  to  avoid 
any  further  collision  during  his  reign,  is  no  longer  on  the 
throne ;  and  his  young  successor,  untaught  by  the  experience 
of  his  father,  has  given  very  unequivocal  signs  of  disposition  to 
enter  upon  a  different  policy.  On  the  other  hand,  a  protracted 
and  serious  insurrection  in  the  southern  provinces  has  drained 
his  treasury,  weakened  his  authority,  and  now  threatens,  unless 
he  finds  means  by  force  or  bribery  to  put  the  insurgents  down, 
at  no  distant  period  to  afifect  the  stability  of  his  throne.  If 
the  arrogance  of  youth  in  the  new  sovereign  should  therefore 
dispose  him  on  the  one  side  to  venture  on  a  crusade  against 
Western  Powers,  his  perilous  position  in  regard  to  his  own 
provinces  cannot  fail  to  impress  upon  him  the  prudence  of  at 
least  temporising  until  a  more  convenient  season.  I  am  led  to 
think,  therefore,  from  all  I  can  learn,  that  the  two  contrary 
forces  will  go  far  to  neutralise  each  other,  and  that  Hsienf^ng, 
with  all  his  hostile  feeling,  will  be  at  the  present  moment  as 
accessible  to  reason,  from  the  peculiarly  embarrassing  position 
in  which  he  is  placed,  if  backed  by  coercive  means,  as  was  his 
predecessor  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war. 

From  this  your  Excellency  will  perceive  that  I  deem  the 
present  time,  from  the  political  condition  of  China,  more 
favourable  than  any  later  period  may  be  for  the  success  of 
coercive  measures.  As  regards  the  season  of  the  year  to  be 
selected,  both  in  reference  to  the  navigation  of  the  Yangtze- 
kiang  and  the  transmission  of  the  grain  tribute,  the  blockading 
should  not  be  commenced  later  than  April.  During  the  summer 
the  sun  melts  the  snow  on  the  mountains  and  sends  down  the 
freshets,  swelling  the  river  until  it  overflows  its  banks  with  great 
accession  of  violence  to  the  current.  When  the  fleet  sailed  up 
in  July  1842  many  of  the  soundings  taken  were  over  paddy- 
fields,  and  altogether  out  of  the  bed  of  the  river,  as  the  sound- 
ings and  observations  of  the  Espi^gle  clearly  demonstrated. 
The  tribute  also  begins  to  be  sent  up  to  Peking  from  some  parts 
as  early  as  April.  A  fleet  of  grain-junks  were  at  the  mouth  of 
the  canal  when  the  Espiegle  made  her  appearance  at  the  end  of 
March  in  1848. 

How  far  a  blockade  at  the  present  time  would  have  the  desired 


430  APPENDIX    II. 

effect — that  is,  if  made  effective  before  the  month  of  May — is  a 
question  upon  which  I  cannot  feel  any  doubt.  Much  would  of 
course  depend  upon  the  suddenness  of  the  descent,  and  therefore 
upon  the  previous  secrecy  observed ;  much  upon  the  available 
nature  of  the  force  employed.  Besides  two  or  three  large-class 
vessels,  I  am  strongly  persuaded  there  should  be  at  least  two 
small  steamers  of  light  draught  of  water,  and  one  or  two  brigs, 
which  would  be  quite  as  effective  against  any  force  the  Chinese 
could  bring  to  bear,  and  far  more  manageable  and  serviceable, 
as  well  as  less  costly,  than  larger  vessels.  If  the  result  aimed 
at  were  not  very  promptly  attained,  it  might  be  necessary  to 
retake  Chinkiang-fu  as  a  base  of  operations,  and  to  detach  two 
or  three  small-class  vessels  to  watch  the  entrances  of  water- 
courses and  canals  nearer  the  moutli  of  the  Yangtze-kiang,  of 
which  there  are  at  least  four,  and  through  them  junks  with 
tribute  might  otherwise  pass  to  the  north  and  into  the  Grand 
Canal  at  some  point  above  the  Yangtze-kiang,  and  between  it 
and  the  Yellow  river.  There  is  also  a  very  free  communication 
with  all  the  lowland  districts  south  of  the  Yangtze-kiang  and 
the  north  above  Nanking  by  means  of  the  Seu  ho,  which  runs 
from  Soochow  west  into  tlie  Yangtze-kiang  at  W^t  Hu  and 
Taiping.  But  from  this  point  northward  there  does  not  appear 
to  be  any  good  water  communication  leading  to  the  Grand  Canal 
without  descending  the  Yangtze-kiang  as  far  as  Iching  and 
Kwachow  on  the  two  mouths  of  the  Grand  Canal  at  its  junction 
with  the  Yangtze-kiang  below  Nanking.  These  secured  would 
therefore  stop  the  main  traffic  by  the  Seu  ho  route  to  the  north 
for  the  relief  of  Peking.  My  own  impression  is  that  if  no 
warning  were  given,  nor  time  allowed  for  previous  preparation, 
our  demands  would  be  granted  within  one  month  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  blockade.  If  from  any  unforeseen  cause, 
however,  the  negotiations  were  protracted,  and  the  Chinese 
Government  had  leisure  to  recover  from  its  panic  and  adopt 
plans  for  obtaining  tribute  and  grain  by  circuitous  routes,  it 
would  be  in  that  case  that  Chinkiang-fu  might  be  required, 
together  with  a  good  watch  on  the  various  tributaries  of  the 
Yangtze-kiang  below  and  eastward  of  Nanking  already  referred 
to ;  and  perhaps  on  the  coast  towards  the  Yellow  river  and  the 
Peiho  two  or  three  cruisers  might  be  required  to  intercept  junks 
sent  hy  sea  with  tribute.  Such  in  effect  is  the  intention  of  the 
Chinese  Government  at  the  present  moment,  without  any  refer- 


BLOCKADE   OF   GRAND    CANAL.  431 

ence  to  us.  The  grain  to  be  collected  from  the  eight  provinces, 
divided  into  upper  and  lower,  consists  of  the  common  grain  and 
of  white  rice,  the  latter  for  the  consumption  of  the  emperor  and 
his  Court,  which  it  is  intended  shall  be  sent  this  season  by  sea 
from  Shanghai, — a  circumstance  peculiarly  favourable  to  the 
success  of  any  blockading  measures,  since,  as  it  would  be  neces- 
sary under  any  contingencies  to  cover  Shanghai  and  our  large 
interests  there  with  an  effective  force,  the  same  means  would 
enable  her  Majesty's  Government  to  lay  an  embargo  on  a  large 
and  especially  important  portion  of  the  tribute  already  collected 
in  the  port.  I  do  not  imagine  it  would  be  contemplated  to 
abandon  Shanghai,  and  I  am  far  from  thinking  it  would  be 
either  necessary  or  expedient — though  at  Ningpo,  Foochow,  and 
perhaps  Amoy,  it  might  be  considered  well — to  withdraw  the 
few  foreigners  for  a  time.  At  Canton,  no  doubt,  it  would  be 
imperative  either  to  give  adequate  protection  or  to  abandon  the 
place.  On  this  point  I  am  scarcely  called  upon  to  offer  an 
opinion.  It  probably  does  not  enter  into  any  plans  contem- 
plated to  strike  a  blow  at  Canton,  or  to  adopt  any  measure 
necessarily  entailing  bloodshed  and  heavy  loss :  were  it  other- 
wise, no  doubt  the  fall  of  Canton  and  the  humiliation  of  the 
Cantonese  would  in  itself  go  far  to  read  a  salutary  lesson 
throughout  the  empire,  and  especially  at  Peking,  where  there 
is  reason  to  believe  they  look  upon  Canton  and  the  Cantonese 
as  affording  the  great  barrier  to  our  progress,  from  our  inability 
to  make  any  impression  either  upon  the  city  or  the  people. 

I  do  not,  of  course,  presume  to  offer  these  suggestions  on  the 
general  measures  which  might  be  found  needful  for  the  protec- 
tion of  British  interests  along  the  coast,  and  the  distribution  and 
economising  of  our  forces  while  a  blockade  on  the  Yangtze-kiang 
was  being  effected,  as  better  informed  than  your  Excellency  on 
such  points,  but  merely  refer  to  them  incidentally  as  necessary 
parts  of  any  plan  for  demanding  redress  by  coercive  measures 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Grand  Canal. 

For  the  better  illustration  of  the  points  touched  upon  in  this 
despatch  in  reference  to  the  different  points  of  access  to  the 
Grand  Canal,  either  coastwise  or  by  tlie  Yangtze-kiang  below 
Nanking  and  the  two  mouths  of  the  canal,  which  will  have  to 
be  borne  in  mind,  I  beg  to  enclose  a  very  rough  and  hasty  plan 
of  the  main  channels,  taken  chiefly  from  the  elaborate  map  of 
the  empire  published  under  the  Jesuits,  and  which  Mr  Medhurst, 


432  APPENDIX   III. 

when  my  last  confidential  report  was  in  hand,  was  good  enough 
at  my  suggestion  to  work  at  on  an  enlarged  scale,  availing  him- 
self of  all  the  additional  information,  by  comparison  of  maps, 
itineraries,  &c.,  that  was  accessible. 

I  shall  be  glad  if  in  this  somewhat  hasty  reply  to  your 
Excellency's  despatch  I  have  been  able  to  afford  such  informa- 
tion as  you  have  desired ;  but  if  not,  or  upon  any  other  points 
it  should  appear  that  further  inquiries  can  be  prosecuted  advan- 
tageously and  without  creating  suspicion,  I  shall  be  happy  to 
give  my  best  efforts  to  carry  out  your  Excellency's  instructions. 


APPENDIX    III. 


CONFIDENTIAL    DESPATCH    TO    SIR    GEORGE    BONHAM,    DATED 
JUNE    17,    1852.       (EXTRACT.) 

If  I  might  without  presumption  express  an  opinion  on  our 
general  policy  in  China,  I  should  add  that  it  seems  in  danger  of 
being  paralysed  by  the  two  antagonistic  forces  [alluded  to  in 
the  preamble],  and  by  necessities  difficult  to  reconcile.  The 
magnitude  and  extreme  importance  of  our  interests  in  the  East 
— in  commerce  and  revenue  (for,  as  I  have  shown,  the  China 
trade  is  the  connecting-link  between  Great  Britain  and  India, 
and  necessary  to  complete  the  circle  of  trading  operations) — 
suggest  on  the  one  hand  the  necessity  of  avoiding  all  measures 
that  may  rashly  jeopardise  such  interests,  yet  nevertheless  make 
it  imperative  on  the  other  to  adopt  firmly  and  unhesitatingly 
whatever  steps  may  be  necessary  to  prevent  loss  or  deteriora- 
tion. How  these  can  best  be  reconciled  is  the  problem  to  be 
solved.  As  late  as  the  last  war,  throughout  all  our  previous 
intercourse  the  attempt  had  been  made  to  arrive  at  the  solution 
by  a  system  of  temporising  and  concession,  even  to  that  which 
was  unjust  and  injurious,  and  this  steadily  carried  out,  with  a 
few  rare  and  brief  exceptions.  Our  policy  since  the  treaty  has 
manifested  a  tendency  to  an  opposite  course,  encouraged  no 
doubt  by  the  result  of  the  first  determined  stand  made.     It  has, 


NEED    OF   A    FIRM   POLICY.  433 

nevertheless,  been  so  hesitatingly  developed  that  we  appear  to 
halt  between  the  two.  In  words  we  have  asserted  resistance  to 
insult  or  wrongful  treatment,  but  in  acts  we  have  not  seldom 
temporised  and  submitted.  The  fruit  of  this  policy  we  now  are 
beginning  to  reap.  Principles  of  action  have  sometimes  been 
asserted  and  then  abandoned,  instead  of  being  persisted  in  until 
the  end  was  accomplished.  In  dealing  with  the  Chinese,  how- 
ever, nothing  appears  to  be  so  necessary  as  to  keep  the  ground 
once  assumed.  If  this  be  true,  there  cannot  be  too  much 
caution  used  in  first  asserting  or  contending  for  a  right ;  but 
that  step  once  taken,  there  is  no  safe  halting-place  between  it 
and  full  success.  A  course  of  alternate  opposition  and  submis- 
sion cannot  do  otherwise  than  end  in  defeat ;  and  defeat  in  this 
country  is  never  limited  to  its  immediate  consequences.  It  has 
appeared,  on  looking  back  through  the  ten  years  which  have 
now  elapsed  since  the  termination  of  the  war,  that  the  first  half 
of  the  period  was  passed  in  comparative  security  under  the 
strong  influence  its  events  were  calculated  to  exercise  on  the 
Chinese  mind ;  but,  true  to  their  invariable  policy,  they  have 
never  ceased  to  seek  by  every  means  in  their  power  to  make 
the  British  authorities  develop  under  what  instructions  they 
were  acting  and  to  penetrate  into  their  true  spirit,  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  limits  to  which  our  sufferance  would  extend  and 
the  nature  of  the  powers  of  resistance  or  retaliation  her 
Majesty's  Government  were  ready  to  authorise.  I  think  it 
cannot  be  matter  of  doubt  to  any  one  resident  in  China 
throughout  this  period,  that  during  the  latter  portion  the 
Chinese  have  felt  assured  of  the  essentially  pacific  determina- 
tion of  our  Government  and  the  policy  of  endurance  and  suffer- 
ance in  all  cases  of  minor  wrongs.  And,  assured  under  such  a 
system  (with  the  known  impossibility  of  any  direct  action  in 
Peking),  they  have,  during  the  last  two  years  more  especially, 
felt  emboldened,  systematically,  by  a  series  of  apparently  small 
encroachments  and  aggressions,  to  undermine  our  position,  and 
to  restore,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  the  state  of  things  existing  be- 
fore the  war,  extending  the  system  to  all  the  ports. 

With  this  conviction  I  have  thought  it  desirable  to  bring  be- 
fore her  Majesty's  plenipotentiary  in  detail  many  illustrations 
of  the  deteriorating  influences  at  work  at  this  port,  and  now 
venture  to  pass  these  rapidly  in  review,  that  their  collective 
evidence  may  not   be  wanting.     And  in  order  that  I  may  be 

VOL.  I.  2  E 


434  APPENDIX    III. 

brief,  I  shall  merely  note  in  the  margin  the  number  and  dates  of 
various  despatches  bearing  upon  similar  matters,  without  further 
reference  to  their  contents.  By  these  I  think  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  general  current  and  tendency  of  all  the  official  acts  for 
the  last  two  years  upon  which  I  have  frequently  commented  as 
they  occurred  has  been  distrust,  and  strongly  adverse  alike  to 
our  trade  and  the  stability  of  our  position. 

Evidence,  I  think,  will  be  found  in  these  records  to  establish 
the  fact  that  the  present  Taotai  Wu  (or  Samqua,  as  he  is  more 
familiarly  known,  of  Canton  trading  memory)  has  been  especially 
selected  as  the  chief  agent  to  initiate,  and  the  fit  instrument  for 
carrying  out,  a  retrograde  policy :  his  character,  means,  and  the 
general  direction  of  his  efforts  to  damage  our  local  position, 
territorial  and  social — to  cripple  and  restrict  our  trade,  and  to 
Cantonise  the  whole  of  our  relations  both  with  people  and 
authorities  in  the  north — are  all  in  keeping  with  this  mission, 
and  incomprehensible  on  any  other  supposition. 

The  steps  of  his  progress  have  been  carefully  watched,  and 
in  the  despatches  noted  in  the  margin  traced,  together  with 
their  effects — neither  very  apparent  on  the  surface.  These  may 
perhaps  best  be  considered  by  aid  of  a  somewhat  arbitrary 
division  as  to  subjects  rather  than  chronologically,  for  they 
have  generally  run  on  conterminous  and  parallel  lines.  Starting 
from  the  Tsingpu  affair,  in  the  spring  of  1848,  and  his  baffled 
efforts  to  pluck  from  us  the  best  fruit  of  the  risks  incurred  to 
vindicate  an  important  principle,  from  which  date  he  hung 
about  the  place — in  the  background  it  is  true,  but  not  the  less 
busy  as  a  spy  from  Nanking,  between  which  place  and  Shanghai, 
occasionally  acting  Taotai,  at  others  absent,  he  oscillated  until 
the  fit  time  appeared  to  have  arrived.  After  the  accession  of 
the  new  emperor,  Lin  was  displaced  from  the  Taotai  office,  and 
he  was  finally  installed  by  "  imperial  appointment "  to  put  his 
hand  to  the  work  before  him.  His  steps  may  be  traced  in  the 
sinister  influences  and  obstruction  brought  to  bear  upon  all  our 
interests. 

The  land  tenure  and  regulations  under  which  a  foreign  colony 
had  rapidly  risen  covering  more  than  a  hundred  acres  of  land, 
as  an  element  of  strength  and  independence  to  the  British  more 
especially,  seems  to  have  excited  both  the  jealousy  and  the  fears 
of  the  Chinese  authorities.  There  seemed  no  limit  to  its  pro- 
gress  and   development ;  each   year  saw  more  and  more  land 


A    DIFFICULT   SITUATION.  435 

occupied,  while  houses  of  a  large  and  costly  description  rapidly 
filled  up  the  vacant  spaces. 

Before  Wu  came  ostensibly  upon  the  scene  some  progress 
had  been  made  in  the  creation  of  difficulties,  and  the  authorities 
having  in  the  spring  of  1849  granted  a  large  and  absurdly 
disproportionate  tract  to  the  French,  over  which  the  French 
consul  claimed  a  territorial  jurisdiction,  the  national  suscepti- 
bilities of  the  Americans  gave  the  opportunity  of  bringing  French 
and  Americans,  and  the  latter  and  the  English,  into  collision, 
and  they  were  not  slow  to  profit  by  it  to  set  the  land  regulations 
practically  aside  while  officially  appearing  to  uphold  them. 

The  desire  of  the  community  to  carry  out  an  extravagant  and 
not  very  practicable  scheme  for  a  new  park  or  exercise-course 
that  should  enclose  nearly  the  whole  arable  ground  and  villages 
within  our  limits  afforded  the  next  opportunity,  and  the  arrogant 
humour  and  superstitions  of  the  Fukein  clans  supplied  the  ready 
instruments  for  inflicting  a  second  blow  upon  the  rights  and 
security  of  the  foreigner  at  Shanghai  connected  with  the  occu- 
pation of  land. 

These  attacks  and  aggressions  have  since  been  perseveringly 
followed  up — popular  commotions,  abusive  and  menacing  placards, 
having  all  been  used  in  turns  to  the  damage  of  our  position, 
and  the  result  has  been  discredit,  broken  regulations,  divided 
and  antagonistic  pretensions  between  the  two  most  numerous 
classes  of  foreign  residents — the  British  and  American — and 
between  all  foreigners  and  the  Fukein  clans,  the  most  turbulent 
and  aggressive  of  the  native  population  at  the  port, — a  result 
of  which,  looking  to  all  the  present  embarrassment  and  future 
danger  to  our  interests  it  is  calculated  to  produce,  I  am  bound 
to  say  I  think  Samqua  may  well  be  proud.  The  national  vanity 
of  the  French  leading  them  to  an  absurd  and  useless  acquisition, 
the  love  of  exercise  of  the  British  leading  the  equestrians  to 
press  an  ill-advised  and  impracticable  scheme  for  a  three-mile 
racecourse,  and  the  national  susceptibilities  of  the  Americans 
leading  them  to  dispute  the  land  tenure  which  hitherto  had 
been  the  condition  of  their  own  security, — all  have  been  adroitly 
turned  to  the  greatest  advantage,  to  the  profit  of  the  Chinese 
and  the  serious  detriment  of  the  foreigner. 

The  progress  made  in  creating  obstacles  to  our  commerce  has 
been  not  less  worthy  of  remark.  For  a  system  of  total  laxity 
in   the  custom  -  house   administration   under   Lin   a   capricious 


436  APPENDIX    III. 

alternation  of  vigilance  and  neglect,  under  which  oppressive  acts 
of  partiality  and  injustice  are  frequently  perpetrated,  has  been 
substituted,  to  the  great  derangement  of  operations  in  trade. 
The  carrying  trade  has  been  harassed  and  impeded,  and  the 
Taotai  is  now  actively  engaged  in  efforts  to  get  the  cargo- boats 
under  his  exclusive  control,  and  to  organise  a  cohong  of  five 
firms  on  the  model  of  the  ancient  establishments  at  Canton, 
while  already — I  believe  at  his  suggestion  (indeed  he  scarcely 
denies  it) — information  has  reached  me  that  a  new  transit  duty 
of  seven  mace  per  picul  has  been  levied  at  Chung- An  on  the 
produce  proceeding  thence  from  the  Black  Tea  districts  to 
Shanghai.  A  duty  of  over  7  per  cent,  in  violation  of  one  of  the 
most  important  of  our  treaty  stipulations,  with  a  monopoly  of 
cargo-boats,  a  right  to  levy  new  transit  duties,  and  a  cohong — 
the  three  leading  advantages  secured  by  the  treaty  vanish.  It 
is  vain  to  disguise  the  fact,  for  nothing  can  be  clearer  or 
more  certain.  On  these  points  I  have  been  collecting  detailed 
information,  and  shall  shortly  be  enabled  to  write  more  fully  on 
the  subject.  I  beg  your  Excellency  in  the  meantime  to  rest 
assured  that  the  main  facts  have  already  been  placed  beyond 
doubt.  In  connection  with  these,  freedom  of  access  to  different 
points  in  the  interior  and  with  Ningpo  by  the  inland  route  as 
advantages  long  enjoyed  have  also  attracted  attention,  and  some 
more  feeble  effbrts  have  been  made  to  throw  obstacles  in  the 
way. 

In  the  administration  of  justice  perhaps  more  than  in  any 
other  directions  adverse  influences  have  been  brought  to  bear 
with  complete  effect.  Eedress  for  any  injury  inflicted  on  a 
foreigner,  protection  from  frauds,  or  recovery  of  debts,  are  all 
wholly  unattainable.  The  action  of  the  Chinese  tribunals  in 
our  behalf  is  null  and  void,  and  the  course  taken  by  the 
authorities  in  all  cases  referred  to  there  amounts  to  a  total 
denial  of  justice.     The  act  of  the  Taotai  in  seizing  and  flogging 

Mr  's  boatmen  was  only  wanting  to  withdraw  from  the 

foreigners  all  protection  dependent  upon  the  Chinese  laws  and 
their  administration  under  our  treaties. 

Under  these  three  heads,  therefore,  I  would  sum  up  the 
progressive  and  evident  deterioration  in  our  position  here.  The 
tenure  of  land,  the  operations  of  trade,  the  administration  of 
justice,  have  all  been  objects  of  attack,  and  with  serious  pre- 
judice.     That,  however,   which  is  at   present   evident   as   the 


HOW   TO   RECOVER   LOST   GROUND.  437 

effect  of  the  steps  taken,  forms  but  a  small  part  of  the  injury 
which  will  in  a  very  short  period  be  too  manifest  to  be  over- 
looked if  no  determined  steps  are  taken  to  reverse  the  policy 
now  pursued.  The  time,  I  am  firmly  persuaded,  has  arrived 
for  meeting  by  energetic  action  these  insidious  attacks — as  the 
least  dangerous  course — if  our  most  important  interests  here  are 
really  to  be  defended  with  any  effect. 

How  this  may  best  be  done  I  feel  your  Excellency  is  entitled 
to  demand  from  the  officer  who  seeks  so  earnestly  to  impress 
you  with  a  conviction  that  action  is  necessary,  and  I  have  no 
wish  to  shrink  from  the  responsibility  of  suggesting  measures 
by  which  I  conceive  some  positive  good  may  be  effected,  to 
repair  the  mischief,  and  much  impending  evil  at  all  events 
averted. 

In  reference  to  the  land,  also,  it  would  seem  very  desirable 
that  some  understanding  should  be  come  to  with  the  United 
States  charge  d'affaires  by  which  any  participation  in  the 
advantages  of  the  British  location,  consistent  with  the  security 
of  all,  should  be  freely  conceded,  while  anything  incompatible 
with  this  condition  must  be  as  certainly  resisted,  in  their  interest 
not  less  than  ours.  If  Dr  Parker  prove  impracticable  I  see  no 
resource  but  a  reference  home,  when  I  trust  all  the  real  im- 
portance of  the  questions  at  issue  to  the  interests  of  British 
trade  and  the  British  position  at  this  fort  will  be  steadily  kept 
in  view ;  nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  in  its  maintenance  all 
foreign  States  are  deeply  interested,  whatever  the  Americans 
for  the  moment  may  think.  Any  injury  to  our  position  must 
recoil  with  double  force  upon  so  weak  and  small  a  minority 
as  they  are  when  left  to  stand  alone. 

As  regards  the  measures  now  in  progress  for  organising  a 
cohong,  levying  new  transit  duties,  and  creating  a  monopoly  of 
cargo- boats,  all  tending  in  the  most  serious  degree  to  fetter 
our  trade,  in  indirect  violation  of  the  express  stipulations  of 
our  treaty,  I  confess  there  seems  to  be  but  one  course  con- 
sistent with  the  credit  of  our  Government  or  the  defence  of 
our  interests,  and  that  is  resolutely  and  firmly  to  resist  them 
as  infractions  of  treaty.  Two  modes  of  doing  this,  however, 
suggest  themselves.  The  one  is  by  active  proceedings — prohibit- 
ing the  payment  of  any  maritime  duties  by  British  subjects  until 
satisfaction  is  obtained,  and  a  distinct  intimation  that  if  this 
does    not   suffice   other   and   more  determined   measures  should 


438  APPENDIX   III. 

follow.  The  other  involves  a  system  of  negatimi  that  would 
be  peculiarly  embarrassing  to  the  Chinese  local  authorities,  and 
eventually  to  the  Government  at  Peking.  This  may  be  carried 
out  by  simply  holding  the  treaty  to  be  in  abeyance  by  their 
own  acts,  and  declining  to  take  any  steps  with  British  subjects 
to  enforce  the  conditions — whether  as  regarded  customs,  access 
to  the  interior,  the  purchase  of  land,  or  the  administration  of 
justice — so  long  as  the  measures  objected  to  were  persisted  in. 

In  reference  to  these  two  courses,  I  will  not  hesitate  to  say 
that,  if  left  to  my  discretion,  I  should  adopt  the  first;  but  the 
condition  of  ultimate  success  would  be  the  certainty  that,  if  the 
object  was  not  attained  by  such  means,  her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment would  feel  pledged  to  send  a  squadron  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Grand  Canal  next  spring  with  an  imperative  demand  for 
the  Taotai's  disgrace  and  the  reversal  of  all  this  obnoxious 
policy,  and  authority  to  resort  to  coercive  measures  if  not 
listened  to. 

If,  however,  it  should  be  deemed  preferable  to  incur  the 
risk  of  doing  nothing — or  what,  I  confess,  appears  to  me  even 
more  dangerous,  to  make  protests,  or  demonstrations  which 
there  is  no  serious  intention  of  following  up  to  their  legitimate 
conclusion — the  negative  policy  is  of  course  the  only  one  to 
be  attempted.  The  responsibility  of  the  initiative  would  then 
be  thrown  upon  the  Chinese  themselves.  The  tables  would  be 
turned,  and  the  Chinese  will  be  left  to  right  themselves  as  they 
best  could,  while  a  large  revenue  will  slip  through  their  hands 
and  manifold  complications  and  embarrassments  in  their  rela- 
tions with  foreigners  arise  to  their  confusion.  The  task,  in 
fine,  they  now  assign  to  us  w^ould  devolve  upon  them,  and 
their  sole  remedy,  if  they  did  not  choose  to  give  way,  would  be 
to  stop  the  trade ;  but  as  that  would  be  a  plain  and  ostensible 
casus  belli,  they  will  not  attempt  it. 

If,  on  the  other  side,  nothing  effective  be  done,  I  must 
frankly  state  my  conviction  that  our  position  in  the  north 
will  rapidly  deteriorate,  and  our  relations  be  embroiled,  if  not 
irreparably  injured.  I  believe  means  for  the  amelioration  of 
both  may  be  safely  taken,  and  have  long  been  required ;  but  I 
feel  still  more  strongly  convinced  that  at  no  distant  period  they 
miist  be  taken,  and  the  longer  they  are  delayed  the  greater  will 
be  the  ultimate  cost,  and  the  more  imminent  the  hazard  to  our 
future  trade  and  relations  with  China. 


DETAILS   OF   SALT   TRADE.  439 

If  I  am  correct  in  these  inferences,  the  conclusion  of  the 
whole  must  be  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  it  will  be  no 
longer  safe  to  defer  strong  and  effective  measures  in  defence  of 
our  interests,  and  that  there  is  a  clear  necessity  for  present 
action  to  avert  at  no  distant  period  a  costly  war  and  a  shock 
to  this  empire  it  is  so  ill  capable  of  sustaining,  that  it  must 
of  necessity  be  attended  with  great  peril  not  only  to  the 
present  dynasty  but  to  the  existing  social  organisation  of  the 
country. 


APPENDIX    IV. 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  SALT  TRADE  ANNEXED  TO  MR  PARKES  SUM- 
MARY OF  THE  NATIVE  MARITIME  TRADE  OF  FOOCHOW,  1846. 
(EXTRACTS.) 

They  have  constituted  the  sale  of  salt  a  monopoly,  which 
they  place  in  the  hands  of  a  set  of  merchants  whom  they  hold 
liable  for  the  payment  of  a  fixed  amount  of  tax.  This,  in  some 
instances,  falls  ratlier  heavy  upon  them,  but  proves  an  easy 
measure  to  the  authorities,  who  have  thus  but  little  trouble 
or  expense  of  collection.  All  the  supplies  of  salt  are  drawn 
from  the  sea-shore,  and  consequently  there  is  an  appointment 
of  salt  inspector  in  every  maritime  province,  who  superintends 
everything  connected  with  the  gabelle :  he  holds  a  high  rank 
and  receives  good  emoluments  from  the  Government,  3000 
taels  per  annum.  It  also  forms  one  of  the  duties  of  the 
governor-general  of  the  province  to  act  as  chief  superintendent 
of  salt  excise. 

Most  of  the  supplies  from  Fukien  have  to  be  sent  into 
the  interior  and  the  adjacent  province  of  Kiangsi  vid  Foochow. 
The  salt  is  made  all  along  the  shore  to  the  southward.    .    .    . 

The  salt  is  made  at  these  places  by  people  belonging  to  the 
various  localities,  and  the  manufacture  gives  employment  to 
numbers  of  individuals,  who  in  those  sterile  districts  have  few 
other   means  of   subsistence.      The   general   method  of   manu- 


440  APPENDIX   IV. 

facture  is  to  collect  the  saturated  loam  from  the  beach  in 
heaps,  and  thence  to  draw  off  the  brine  by  drainage  into  large 
but  shallow-built  vats,  when  crystallisation  is  effected  by  expo- 
sure to  the  natural  heat  of  the  sun.  The  brine  being  all 
extracted  from  the  heap,  it  is  removed  to  the  beach,  and  the 
same  earth,  having  been  immersed  in  the  salt-tide,  can  again 
be  used.  In  fine  weather  great  quantities  can  thus  be  expe- 
ditiously manufactured,  but  a  succession  of  rain  stops  the  works, 
and  a  scarcity  in  the  supplies  is  the  consequence.  The  pro- 
ducers are  exempted  from  all  taxes  or  charges  on  the  part  of 
the  Government,  on  the  consideration  tliat  they  are  in  mean 
labouring  circumstances,  though  many  of  the  salt-farms  are 
very  extensive,  and  some  of  their  conductors  possessed  of  better 
competence  than  the  merchants,  on  whom  the  whole  burden 
of  taxation  falls.  Junks  are  despatched  to  these  places  by  the 
salt  merchants  for  freights. 

The  Government  system  of  exacting  a  fixed  annual  amount 
of  gabelle  is  very  defective,  and  places  the  trade,  which  might 
prosper  under  other  management,  on  an  unhealthy  basis.  When 
the  trade  is  dull,  it  becomes  still  more  depressed  by  the  nature 
of  the  liabilities  that  the  merchants  have  at  all  times  equally 
to  bear,  and  which  then  become  burdensome ;  and  again,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  case  of  a  thriving  season,  the  revenue  is  in 
no  way  advantaged.  Their  wretched  executive,  however,  pre- 
vents any  improvement.  They  therefore  content  themselves 
with  fixing  a  stated  sum,  upwards  of  300,000  taels  per  annum ; 
and  if  they  can  secure  the  requisite  number  of  persons  to  under- 
take to  dispose  of  a  certain  quantity  of  salt  that  will  yield 
excise  to  this  amount,  they  are  content.  Thus  each  merchant 
is  bound  to  conduct  the  sale  of  the  quantity  that  he  undertakes, 
or  rather  is  held  responsible  for  the  amount  of  duty  due  on 
such  quantity,  and  having  once  paid  this  up,  should  he  be  so 
disposed,  he  is  at  perfect  liberty  to  transport  and  sell  more 
salt  on  his  own  account,  duty  free ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand, 
should  he,  from  a  glut  in  the  market  or  other  circumstances, 
not  be  able  to  dispose  of  the  quantity  of  which  he  had  under- 
taken the  sale,  he  has  still  to  pay  duty  on  the  whole  at  a  fixed 
unalterable  rate. 

It  is  therefore  the  imminent  risk  attending  salt  speculations 
that  causes  people  of  property  to  be  so  averse  towards  entering 
them.      They  involve  a  great  outlay  of  capital,  with  continual 


THE    SALT   MERCHANTS.  441 

liability  but  uncertain  remuneration.  Thus,  if  a  man  embarks 
the  whole  or  greater  part  of  his  means  in  speculations  which 
do  not  succeed,  he  becomes  instantly  embarrassed  with  the 
Government,  and,  with  no  incomings  to  relieve  him,  may  per- 
haps not  succeed  in  recovering  his  first  failure.  Most  of  the 
merchants  being  men  who  are  selected  merely  on  account  of 
their  capital,  the  management  of  their  business  is  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  those  they  employ,  for  whose  honesty  or  capacity 
they  are  mainly  dependent  for  success.  The  charges  and 
expenses  connected  with  carrying  on  a  salt  business  are  very 
great.  Yet  there  are  several  instances  of  old  merchants  employ- 
ing good  managing  men,  and  possessing  plenty  of  supporting 
capital,  having  amassed  large  fortunes  in  the  trade,  though,  on 
the  contrary,  cases  are  much  more  numerous  of  speculators 
having  suffered  losses  and  contracted  debts  with  the  Govern- 
ment. A  debt  to  the  State  of  no  less  than  1,450,000  taels  by 
the  salt  dealers  of  Foochow  has  thus  gradually  collected. 

The  nomination  of  salt  merchants  is  almost  invariably  com- 
pulsory, and  no  one  can  retire  from  the  business  without  he  is 
totally  unable  from  want  of  means  to  continue  in  it.  In  these 
cases  the  reflection  that  they  were  obliged  to  undertake  the 
transactions  that  led  to  their  ruin  must  add  increased  poignancy 
to  their  losses.  When  once,  however,  they  have  undertaken  a 
transaction,  they  are  much  favoured  by  the  authorities,  who  give 
them  entertainments  and  confer  honours  and  distinctions  upon 
them.  There  are  head  merchants  appointed,  who  hold  some 
control  over  the  proceedings  of  the  others.  To  be  a  head 
merchant  a  man  must  be  of  known  character  and  not  owing 
anything  to  the  Government.  They  are  responsible  for  all 
the  other  merchants,  who,  however  trustworthy,  have  all  to 
be  secured  by  the  head  merchants.  In  case  of  any  merchant 
becoming  in  arrears  with  the  payment  of  his  duties,  the  salt 
inspector  orders  the  head  merchants  to  limit  him  to  a  certain 
time  in  which  to  liquidate  all  charges.  According  as  the  case 
needs,  the  head  merchants  convene  and  consult  as  to  whether 
they  should  pray  for  an  extension  of  the  term  or  require  some 
of  the  other  merchants  in  substantial  circumstances  to  lend  the 
necessary  amounts,  or  perhaps  they  may  proceed  to  pay  it 
themselves.  If  also  they  find  that  any  of  the  other  merchants 
are  incompetent,  from  want  of  means,  to  manage  their  business, 
they  represent  the  same  to  the  salt  inspector,  that  they  may  be 


442  APPENDIX    IV. 

allowed  to  retire.  At  present  there  are  four  head  merchants 
out  of  a  total  of  sixty-one.    .    .    . 

Smuggling  is  also  carried  on  to  some  extent.  As  this,  how- 
ever, affects  the  vital  interests  of  the  salt  merchants,  they  show 
great  vigilance  in  investigating  and  reporting  to  the  authorities 
any  instances  that  may  come  within  their  knowledge,  and  for 
this  purpose  fit  up  and  maintain  several  small  vessels  which 
keep  up  a  constant  watch  against  contraband  proceedings. 

There  are  a  multiplicity  of  fees  and  charges  which  prove 
very  onerous  to  the  merchants.  [Here  follows  a  list  of  forty- 
seven  separate  fees,  dues,  and  charges,  amounting  to  15,300 
taels,  or  about  £5000  sterling,  on  900,000  lb.  weight,  or  about 
one-eighth  of  a  penny  per  lb.] 


END   OF  THE   FIRST   VOLUME. 


PRINTED  BY  WILLIAM   BLACKWOOD  AND  SONS. 


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