Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin Part 32

[Sidenote: Visit from Kung.]

_Pekin.--November 2nd._--Yesterday, after the mail had left, I mounted on horseback, and with an escort, and Parkes and Crealock, proceeded to the Imperial City, within which is the Imperial Palace. We obtained access to two enclosures, forming part of the Imperial Palace appendages: both elevated places, the one ascended by a pathway in regular Chinese rockwork on a large scale, and really striking in its way; and the other being a well-wooded park-like eminence, crowned by temples with images of Buddha. The view from both was magnificent.

Pekin is so full of trees, and the houses are so low, that it hardly had the effect of looking down on a great city. Here and there temples or high gateways rose above the trees, but the general impression was rather that of a rich plain densely peopled. In the distance the view was bounded by a lofty chain of mountains, snow-capped. From the park-like eminence we looked down upon the Imperial Palace--a large enclosure crowded with yellow-roofed buildings, generally low, and a few trees dotted among them. It is difficult to imagine how the unfortunates shut up there can ever have any exercise. I don't wonder that the Emperor preferred Yuen-ming-yuen. The yellow roofs, interspersed here and there with very deep blue ones, had, however, a very brilliant effect in the suns.h.i.+ne. After enjoying these views I went to the Russian Minister's, and found him installed in a house got up _a l'Europeenne_, and looking very comfortable, with his national stoves. He showed me his chapel also. This morning I got a letter from Gros telling me that, in opposition to my advice, he had been to see Prince Kung. I told him he ought to let the Prince come to him first; but the Jesuits think that they can curry favour with the Chinese by making him _condescend_. They are quite wrong, as I am sure the result will prove. The Prince came to see me to-day before returning Gros'

visit, which goes for something in this land of ceremony. I received the Prince with all honour, and had a good deal of talk with him through the interpreters, in a style which reminded me of the dialogue at the commencement of 'Eothen.' I have, I believe, secured the edict for which we have been waiting; so I have done everything except see the Emperor, which I am not likely to do, as he is at Jehol. We ended by photographing the Prince, a proceeding which I do not think he much liked.

[Sidenote: Return visit.]

_November 7th._--There has not been much to report since the 2nd. I returned Kung's visit the next day, and we had a more _coulant_ conversation than I have before had with any Chinese authority. It is something to get at men who are so high placed that they are not afraid--or at any rate are less afraid--of being denounced if they listen to foreigners. I dined the night before with the Russian Minister, who was very hospitable. On Sunday I went to see two temples in the Chinese city, the one being that to which the Emperor goes four times a year to offer sacrifices to Heaven, the other the Temple of Agriculture.

[Sidenote: Arrival of Mr. Bruce.]

[Sidenote: Interview with Prince Kung.]

_November 10th._--I had got so far when a note from Frederick reached me, saying that he had started at 1 A.M. on the 6th from Tientsin to ride to Pekin, and had been obliged, by fatigue, to rest at Ho-see- woo. We were to have left Pekin on the 8th, so I was obliged to send to beg one day's respite from the General. It was impossible to make Frederick start back to Tientsin on the very day following his arrival. At about noon he reached Pekin. It was a great relief to me, because I had been choosing a house for him, and there were other matters concerning which it was most important that he should be consulted. I found him very well disposed to stay on at Pekin, but on finding that both Gros and Ignatieff were opposed to leaving their legations there for the moment, we both agreed that it would be better to act as they had resolved to do. I therefore wrote to Prince Kung acknowledging the good faith which he had shown about the Emperor's edict and the publication of the treaty (both of which things have been done in the most complete manner), and adding that the English army would, in accordance with the terms of the convention, retire at once from Pekin. I went on to inform him that I proposed to call on him to take leave, and at the same time to introduce to him Mr. Bruce, who had just arrived at Pekin. We proceeded, accordingly, to his palace, at 4 P.M. on the 8th, with an imposing military escort. After we had conversed some time together, I told Parkes to explain to the Prince that in England the individual who represents the sovereign, whatever his personal rank, always takes precedence of all others; that, as my task in China was completed, Mr. Bruce would henceforward occupy that position, and that, therefore, with the Prince's permission, I would give up to him the seat of honour on which I was placed and take his seat instead. I then rose and changed seats with Frederick. This little bit of acting answered very well. It put Frederick into direct relations with the Prince, and did away with the impression (if it existed) of my having superior rank to him. The Prince was civil, and said, rather neatly, that he hoped they would conduct business satisfactorily, not only because he was British Minister, but brother to Lord Elgin, with whom he had had such pleasant relations. On the following day (the 9th), before we started, he came to our abode to return our visit. I made Frederick receive him, telling the interpreters to say that I had no business to speak of, but that I should come into the room before he left the house to take leave of him. The consequence was that Frederick had a long and, to all appearance, satisfactory conversation with him.

[Sidenote: Leaves Pekin.]

After this we set out for Tung-chow. We had to wait there all night, as our boats were not ready, and we are now (_10th November, noon_) gliding down the river, each in a _chop_ boat (a little boat with a very convenient cabin, in which one can sleep, read, write, &c.), on a lovely autumn day, low temperature, and bright suns.h.i.+ne. I think that this wind-up at Pekin was very promising. It is probable that there may be some reaction when the Emperor and the bad advisers whom he has about him return, and even Ignatieff did not choose to remain at Pekin during that moment of reaction. At the same time, it is evident that Kung, who is his brother, has committed himself to the peace policy, and that his intercourse with us has been much more satisfactory to him than he at one time expected. It is probable that the Emperor will for once hear something of the truth. Kung will claim credit for having induced us to remove from Pekin to Tientsin, while the fact that we are still as near as Tientsin will be an _in terrorem_ argument in support of his policy of conciliation. If Kung weathers the difficult moment which he will have to traverse when the Emperor returns, I have hopes that all the benefit which I have expected to derive from our minister's residence at Pekin will be achieved. Our _Sinologues_ are fine fellows. It is refres.h.i.+ng to see their spirit and pluck. Wade, Parkes, and Morrison, all put their services at our disposal, and offered to remain alone at Pekin. My choice, however, fell on a younger man, of whom I have a very good opinion, and who has been with me as a.s.sistant-interpreter.[12] I thought it better, for many reasons, to leave a person who had smaller pretensions than any of those I have named. The gossip is that the Emperor is occupying his time at Jehol by marrying a fourth wife (a rather expensive proceeding) and getting tipsy. I am afraid he is not much worth; although, if the papers in the vermilion pencil, which we found in the Summer Palace, are his writing, he is not such a fool as people suppose. ... Frederick brought with him your letters to September 10th. I pray that you may now be rejoicing in the belief that Bruce is getting on well and happily at school.

[Sidenote: Tientsin.]

[Sidenote: Its climate.]

_Tientsin.--November 14th._--Here I am again in the house which I occupied two and a half months ago, and which is by far the nicest Chinese house I have seen, and its exposure to the sun is now most agreeable. The climate is at present charming. If nothing else had been done by these recent proceedings, the fact of placing our troops and emba.s.sy here, instead of in the south of China, would have been almost worth the trouble. It is also a much drier climate than that of Shanghae. We have had about seven days of rain in all, since I left Shanghae in July. Frederick had nineteen days consecutively just before he left Shanghae. He was not well himself then, but he is all right now. His ride to Pekin--eighty miles in thirty hours--set him up again. I found the Admiral very cordial. ... Gros is not yet come, and I do not like to depart from here without seeing him.

He was detained at Tientsin for several days, arranging a variety of matters of detail; and it was not till the morning of the 26th of November that he found himself once more afloat on the Gulf of Pecheli, on board the 'Ferooz,' homeward bound.

[Sidenote: Results of the mission.]

The general results obtained by the mission thus happily terminated cannot be better summed up than in the words of the despatch in which the Foreign Minister, Lord J. Russell, conveyed to Lord Elgin Her Majesty's 'full approbation of his conduct in the various particulars' above described.

'The convention,' he wrote, 'which you concluded with the Prince of Kung on the 24th of October is entirely satisfactory to Her Majesty's Government.

It records the reparation made by the Emperor of China for his disregard in the previous year of his Treaty engagements; it sets Her Majesty's Government free from an implied engagement not to insist in all particulars on the fulfilment of those engagements; it imposes upon China a fine, in the shape of an augmented rate of indemnity; it affords an additional opening for British trade; it places on a recognised footing the emigration of Chinese coolies, whose services are so important to Her Majesty's colonial possessions; it relieves Her Majesty's colony of Hong Kong from a source of previous annoyance; and it provides for bringing generally to the knowledge of the Chinese the engagements into which the Emperor has entered towards Great Britain.

'These are all solid advantages; and, coupled with the provisions of the Treaty of Tientsin, they will, it may be hoped, place the relations between the two countries on a sound footing, and insure the continuance of peace for a long period to come.'

[1] Captain Roderick Dew had been engaged at the capture of Canton in December, 1857, and also in May, 1858, at the taking of the Taku forts.

[2] The new Plenipotentiaries were Tsai, Prince of I., a cousin of the Emperor, and Muh-yin, President of the Board of War: with whom was joined Hang-ki, a member of the previous commission.

[3] 'A prisoner taken on the 21st of September, in the course of conversation, volunteered the remark that the fighting was all the doing of Sang-ko-lin-sin, who was as anxious for it as Prince Tsai was opposed to it. This accords with other reports.'--Mr. Wade's Memorandum.

[4] In view of the tragic events which followed, the reflection will naturally arise that, if this party had not been thus sent forward in advance of the army, those events would not have occurred. On the other hand it must be borne in mind, (1) that it was a matter of necessity that some one should go forward to arrange with the Chinese authorities as to the place where the Allied armies were to encamp; (2) that the practice of sending one or other of the Chinese scholars within the enemy's lines had long been habitual, having been followed, with the best results, on many occasions, not only in this but in former expeditions; and that the Chinese, whatever might be their faults, had never shown any disposition to disregard a flag of truce; (3) that, accordingly, no one concerned appears to have had any idea that there was danger to be braved; and that, putting aside Lord Elgin, Baron Gros, and Sir Hope Grant, the readiness of Mr. Parkes, not only to go himself--that in one who 'knew not what fear was'

proves nothing--but to take with him several friends who were not called by duty, shows that, in the judgment of a man of great shrewdness and unrivalled knowledge of the Chinese character, who was moreover fully cognisant of all the circ.u.mstances, there existed no ground for apprehension; (4) lastly, that all the evils that followed were due, so far as it is possible now to judge, to a circ.u.mstance which no one could have foreseen at the time, viz. to a change of policy and of party within the Chinese Government.

[5] 'Personal Narrative of Occurrences during Lord Elgin's Second Emba.s.sy to China,' 1860. By Henry Brougham Loch, Private Secretary to the Earl of Elgin.

[6] With generous candour, Mr. Loch, in his 'Narrative,' bears testimony to the correctness of this view.

[7] The British subjects thus restored were Mr. Parkes, Mr. Loch, and a trooper of Probyn's Horse; the French subjects were M. l'Escayrac de Lauture, who was at the head of a scientific mission, and four soldiers.

[8] In a subsequent letter, Lord Elgin paid to Mr. Parkes this well-merited tribute. 'Mr. Parkes' consistent refusal to purchase his own safety by making any pledges, or even by addressing to me any representations which might have embarra.s.sed me in the discharge of my duty, is a rare example of courage and devotion to the public interest; and the course which he followed in this respect, by leaving my hands free, enabled me to work out the policy which was best calculated to secure his own release, as well as the attainment of the national objects entrusted to my care.'

[9] The language used by Mr. Bruce, in reporting to the Foreign Office Mr.

De Norman's death, is still more striking; and it has an additional interest as being eminently characteristic of the writer: 'It has not been my fortune,' he says, 'to meet with a man whose life was so much in harmony with the Divine precept, "not slothful in business, serving the Lord." With a consistency unparalleled in my experience he brought to bear on the discharge of every duty, and to the investigation of every subject however minute, the complete and undivided attention of the sound abilities, the good sense, and the indefatigable industry with which G.o.d had endowed him. A character so morally and intellectually conscientious, striving to do everything in the most perfect manner, neglecting no opportunity of acquiring fresh and of consolidating previous knowledge, promised a career honourable to himself, and, what he valued far more, advantageous to the public, had it pleased G.o.d to spare him.

'Now there remains to those who knew him intimately only this consoling conviction, that death, however sudden, could not find him unprepared.'

[10] The only English prisoner ultimately unaccounted for was Captain Brabazon, Deputy-a.s.sistant Quarter-Master-General of Artillery, an officer whose finished talent and skill in drawing had often been of the greatest service in taking sketches of the country for the military operations. His body was never found; but it was believed that he had been beheaded by order of a Chinese General in his exasperation at a wound received in the action of the 21st of October.

[11] A well-known Protestant M.P.

[12] Mr. Adkins.

CHAPTER XIV.

SECOND MISSION TO CHINA. HOMEWARD.

LEAVING THE GULF--DETENTION AT SHANGHAE--KOWLOON--ADIEU TO CHINA--ISLAND OF LUZON--CHURCHES--GOVERNMENT--MANUFACTURES--GENERAL CONDITION--ISLAND OF JAVA--BUITENZORG--BANTONG--VOLCANO--SOIReES--RETROSPECT--CEYLON--THE MEDITERRANEAN--ENGLAND--WARM RECEPTION--DUNFERMLINE--ROYAL ACADEMY DINNER-- MANSION HOUSE DINNER.

The first part of the homeward voyage, along coasts already so well known, offered little to dwell upon except the thankful recollection of what had been accomplished, and the joyful antic.i.p.ation of happy meetings to come.

The journal contains the following entries:--

[Sidenote: Leaving the Gulf.]

_'Ferooz,' Gulf of Pecheli.--November 27th._--So far on my way home. I left Tientsin on the 25th at about 7 A.M. We had to plough our way through ice until we reached the Taku Forts, at 8.30 P.M. We found the Admiral in the 'Coromandel.' He was very civil, and would have given me accommodation for the night; but I had so many people with me, that I thought it better to push on; so at about midnight we crossed the bar of the Peiho river. There was so much broken ice on the inner side of it, that it reminded one of some of the pictures of the arctic voyages. We forced our vessel through--a little Indian river-boat--and found on the outside enough sea to make us very glad when we reached the 'Ferooz' at 2.30 A.M. It was about 4 A.M. when I was able to lie down to rest. Since then we have been waiting for Parkes, who stayed at Tientsin for a letter from Pekin about the opening of the Yangtze river, which I am anxious to take with me to Shanghae. ... Yesterday was a lovely day; a bright sun, and the air frosty enough to stimulate one to walk briskly. This morning there was a strong gale from the north-west, but it subsided after midday. I had a very satisfactory time at Tientsin. We got through a good deal of business; and, what is most pleasant to me, Frederick seems perfectly satisfied with the whole affair, and the part I have taken in it. ... The Admiral, who is very strong in support of me, had given orders that the whole fleet should be illuminated with blue lights, if I reached the 'Ferooz' at night. This I did not know, or I should not have chosen so unseasonable an hour. The consequence was that the illumination was not complete, but it had a fine effect so far as it went. Scores of transports have taken their departure, which is a great blessing, for they have been costing fabulous sums. Too many troops are still left; but I hope soon to get them reduced.

_November 28th.--Two P.M._--We are off. All the vessels in the English fleet here manned yards and saluted as we pa.s.sed; and, when we reached the French fleet, all the yards were manned, and the Admiral saluted. I thought we could not do less than return the latter. It was all a very fine sight, the day being favourable. Parkes arrived last night while we were at dinner, but without the letter which he had waited for. The latter, however, reached me this morning, and is very satisfactory; so that I shall have accomplished the great object of opening the Yangtze to trade.

After a few days of 'lovely weather,' enjoyed to the full in the 'Ferooz'-- 'certainly a most splendid yacht--such a fine deck, and quieter than a Royal Navy vessel'--he reached Shanghae on the 3rd of December.

[Sidenote: Shanghae.]

_Shanghae.--December 4th._--We reached this place at 3 P.M. yesterday.

I have received your letters to October 9th. How I grieve for your anxiety about Bruce's illness! How glad I am he is near the ----'s. He could not be watched over by kinder friends.

Eagerly as he desired to hurry homewards he found it necessary to stay at Shanghae for some weeks, in order to complete the detailed arrangements for opening the river Yangtze to British traders, and also to settle the awkward question of the relations which should subsist between the British residents, and the Chinese Rebels in their neighbourhood.

_Shanghae.--December 14th._--I am a good deal puzzled about my departure. The opening of the Yangtze and the Rebel question are serious matters, and I do not like to leave them unsettled: on the other hand, I can hardly, even if I were so inclined, remain here till they are settled. I think it will end in my staying till the next mail comes in from the North.

_Sunday, December 16th.--Eight A.M._--The mornings are lovely here now; a bright sun, rising about half-past six; and not exactly frost, but a mere hint of its presence in the air. I take walks, and have just returned from one; generally the tour of the race ground, which is the only walk here. While I humbly pace along, the clerks of the _Hongs_--such of them at least as are careful of their healths, and moderate in their supper arrangements--flaunt past me on their chargers. I march on, thinking whether it would not in a new existence be advisable to begin life as a tea-taster.

_December 21st._--The wind has changed to the north, and my walk this morning was a colder one. Yesterday I made a tour of the town of Shanghae, and find that the French, by way of protecting it, burnt down about one-half of the suburbs during the summer. They have destroyed it to a greater extent than we destroyed Canton in 1857 by our bombardment. 'Save me from my friends,' the poor Chinaman may well say. The French have some method in their madness, for they want the ground of the burnt district, and they insist on having it now at the cost of the land, 'as there are no houses upon it.' At Canton, in the same way, they have seized land in the most unjustifiable way, to build churches on.

_Shanghae.--December 31st._--Yesterday was a torrent of rain, and I never left the house. As I have a comfortable room, and no great interruptions, I get through a good deal of my reading. ... There was a fortnight of the 'Times' to begin with. The Reviews. ... Trollope's novel of 'Dr. Thorne;' 'Aurora Leigh' (which I admire greatly); then Sir Robert Wilson's 'Russian Campaign,' which contains some curious revelations; Darwin's 'Origin of Species,' which is audacious; &c. &c.

In short, you will allow that I have not been quite idle during the fortnight.