After all, what is chiefly valuable to nations as well as to individuals, and the loss of which alone is irreparable, is character; and it appears to me that, viewed in this light, many of the other calamities which we have had to deplore during the course of this war have been already accompanied by a very large and ample measure of compensation. To take, for instance, the military departments: notwithstanding the complaints we have heard of deficiencies in our military organisation, I believe we can with confidence affirm, that the character of the British soldier, both for moral qualities and for powers of physical endurance, has been raised by the instrumentality of this war to an elevation which it had never before attained. In spite of the somewhat unfavourable tone which, I regret to say, has been adopted of late by a portion of the press of America, I have myself seen in influential journals in that country commentaries upon the conduct of our soldiers at Alma, at Balaklava, and at Inkerman, which no true-hearted Englishman could read without emotion: and I have heard a tribute not less generous and not less unqualified borne to the qualities of our troops by eminent persons belonging to that great military nation with which we are now so happily allied. To look to another quarter—to contemplate another class of virtues not less essential than those to which I have referred to the happiness and glory of nations—I have heard from enthusiastic, even bigoted, votaries of that branch of the Christian Church which sometimes prides itself as having alone retained in its system room for the exercise of the heroic virtues of Christianity,—I say I have frequently heard from them the frank admission, that the hospitals of Scutari have proved that the fairest and choicest flowers of Christian charity and devotion may come to perfection even in what they are pleased to call the arid soil of Protestantism. But, my Lords, can we flatter ourselves with the belief that the character of our statesmen, of our public men, and of our Parliamentary institutions has risen in a like proportion? Is it not, on the contrary, notorious that doubts have been created in quarters where such doubts never existed before as to the practical efficiency of our much-vaunted constitution, as to its fitness to carry us unscathed through periods of great difficulty and danger? I believe, my Lords, that there is one process only, but that a sure and certain process, by which these doubts may be removed. It is only necessary that public men, whether connected with the Government or with the Opposition, whether tied in the bonds of party or holding independent positions in Parliament, should evince the same indifference to small and personal motives, the same generous patriotism, the same disinterested devotion to duty, which have characterised the services of our soldiers in the field, and of the women of England at the sick-bed. And, my Lords, I cannot help asking in conclusion, if—which God forbid—it should unhappily be proved that, in those whom fortune, or birth, or royal or popular favour has placed in the van, these qualities are wanting, who shall dare to blame the press and the people of England, if they seek for them elsewhere?

From the tone of this speech it will be seen that Lord Elgin had not at this time joined either of the two parties in the State. He was, in truth, still feeling his way through the mazes of home politics to which he had been so long a stranger, and from which, as he himself somewhat regretfully observed, those ancient landmarks of party had been removed, 'which, if not a wholly sufficient guide, are yet some sort of direction to wanderers in the political wilderness.' While he was still thus engaged, events were happening at the other ends of the earth which were destined to divert into quite another channel the current of his life.

[1] Mac Mullen's History of Canada, p. 527.

[2] It Is a singular fact, as illustrating the tenacity and coherence of the Church of Rome, that while all Protestant endowments were thus indiscriminately swept away, no voice was raised against the retention, by the Roman Catholic clergy, of the vast possessions left to them by the old French capitulation.—Mac Mullen, p. 528.

[3] Despatch of December 18, 1854.

[4] Despatch of August 16,1853

[5] Despatch of December 18, 1854.

[6] Despatch of December 18,1854. The abolition was shortly afterwards, satisfactorily effected.

[7] Vide supra, p. 48.

[8] The Rebellion Losses Bill.

[9] Some years afterwards, when speaking of these festivities, the Mayor of Buffalo said: 'Never shall I forget the admiration elicited by Lord Elgin's beautiful speech on that occasion. Upon the American visitors (who, it must be confessed, do not look for the highest order of intellect in the appointees of the Crown) the effect was amusing. A sterling Yankee friend, while the Governor was speaking, sat by my side, who occasionally gave vent to his feelings as the speech progressed, each sentence increasing in beauty and eloquence, by such approving exclamations as "He's a glorious fellow! He ought to be on our side of the line! We would make him mayor of our city!" As some new burst of eloquence breaks from the speaker's lips, my worthy friend exclaims, "How magnificently he talks! Yes, by George, we'd make him governor—governor of the state!" As the noble Earl, by some brilliant hit, carries the assemblage with a full round of applause, "Ah!" cries my Yankee friend, with a hearty slap on my shoulder, "by Heaven, if he were on our side, we'd make him President—nothing less than President!"'

[10] The report of his words is obviously imperfect, but their substance is probably given with sufficient accuracy.

[11] The great abilities of Sir F. Bruce, and the nobility of his character, fitted him in a singular manner for this post. He died suddenly at Boston, on September 19, 1867, too early for extended fame, but not unrecognised as a public servant of rare value. The Times, which announced his death, after commenting on the calamitous fate by which, 'within a period of four years, the nation had lost the services of three members of one family, each endowed with eminent qualifications for the important work to which they severally devoted their lives,' proceeded thus with regard to the youngest of the three brothers. 'The country would have had much. reason to deplore the death of Sir Frederick Bruce whenever it had happened; but his loss is an especial misfortune at a time when, negotiations of the utmost intricacy and delicacy are pending with a Government which is not always disposed to approach Great Britain in a spirit of generosity and forbearance. Seldom has a citizen of another country visited the United States who possessed so keen an insight into the political working of the Great Republic, and at the same time ingratiated himself so thoroughly with every American who approached Him.... Although naturally somewhat impulsive in temperament, he invariable exhibited entire calmness and self-command when the circumstances of his position led him into trial.... This imperturbable temperament in all his official relations served him well on many occasions, from the day when he succeeded to the laborious duties relinquished by Lord Lyons; but never was it of greater advantage than in the protracted and difficult controversy concerning the Alabama claims. This discussion it fell to the lot of Sir F. Bruce to conduct on the part of Her Majesty; and we divulge no secret when we state that it was in accordance with the late Minister's repeated advice and exhortations that a wise overture towards a settlement was made by the present Government. He had succeeded in establishing for himself relations of cordial friendship with Mr. Seward and the President, and probably there are few outside the circle of his own family who will be more shocked at the tidings of his death than the astute and keen-eyed old man with whom he had sustained incessant diplomatic fence.'

[12] It certainly was not without truth, that one of the local papers most opposed to him remarked that 'Lord Elgin had, beyond all doubt, a remarkable faculty of turning enemies into friends.'

[13] Spencerwood, the Governor's private residence.

[14] Sir Edmund Head, who succeeded Lord Elgin as Governor-General of Canada in 1854, had examined him for a Merton Fellowship in 1833. Those who knew him will recognise how singularly appropriate, in their full force, are the terms in which he is here spoken of.



CHAPTER VII.

FIRST MISSION TO CHINA.—PRELIMINARIES.

ORIGIN OF THE MISSION—APPOINTMENT OF LORD ELGIN—MALTA—EGYPT—CEYLON— NEWS OF THE INDIAN MUTINY—PENANG—SINGAPORE—DIVERSION OF TROOPS TO INDIA —ON BOARD THE 'SHANNON'—HONG-KONG—CHANGE OF PLANS—CALCUTTA AND LORD CANNING—RETURN TO CHINA—PERPLEXITIES—CAPRICES OF CLIMATE—ARRIVAL OF BARON GROS—PREPARATION FOR ACTION.

'The earlier incidents of the political rupture with the Chinese Commissioner Yeh, which occurred at Canton during the autumn of 1856, and which led to the appointment of a Special Mission to China, were too thoroughly canvassed at the time to render it necessary to renew here any discussion on their merits, or recall at length their details. As the "Arrow" case derived its interest then from the debates to which it gave rise, and its effects on parties at home, rather than from any intrinsic value of its own, so does it now mainly owe its importance to the accidental circumstance, that it was the remote and insignificant cause which led to a total revolution in the foreign policy of the Celestial Empire, and to the demolition of most of those barriers which, while they were designed to restrict all intercourse from without, furnished the nations of the West with fruitful sources of quarrel and perpetual grievances.'

These words form the preface to the 'Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan,' by Laurence Oliphant, then private secretary to Lord Elgin. To that work we must refer our readers for a full and complete, as well as authentic, account of the occurrences which gave occasion to the following letters. A brief sketch only will here be given.

[Sidenote: Origin of the Mission.]

On October 8, 1856, a lorcha named 'Arrow,' registered as a British vessel, and carrying a British flag, was boarded by the authorities of Canton, the flag torn down, and the crew carried away as prisoners. Such was the English account. The Chinese denied that any flag was flying at the time of the capture: the British ownership of the vessel, they maintained, was never more than colourable, and had expired a month before: the crew were all their own subjects, apprehended on a charge of piracy.

The English authorities refused to listen to this. They insisted on a written apology for the insult to their flag, and the formal restitution of the captured sailors. And when these demands were refused, or incompletely fulfilled, they summoned the fleet, in the hope that a moderate amount of pressure would lead to the required concessions. Shortly after, finding arms in their hands, they thought it a good opportunity to enforce the fulfilment of certain 'long-evaded treaty obligations,' including the right for all foreign representatives of free access to the authorities and the city of Canton. With this view, fort after fort, suburb after suburb, was taken or demolished. But the Chinese, after their manner, would neither yield nor fight; and contented themselves with offering large rewards for the head of every Englishman.

When this state of matters was reported to England, it was brought before the House of Commons on a motion by Mr. Cobden, condemnatory of 'the violent measures resorted to at Canton in the late affair of the "Arrow."' The motion, supported by Mr. Gladstone in one of his splendid bursts of rhetoric, was carried against the Government by a majority of sixteen, in a full and excited house, on the morning of February 26, 1857. But Lord Palmerston refused to accept the adverse vote as expressing the will of the people. He appealed to the constituencies, candidly telling the House that, pending that appeal, 'there would be no change, and could be no change, in the policy of the Government with respect to events in China.' At the same time he intimated that a special Envoy would be sent out to supersede the local authorities, armed with full powers to settle the relations between England and China on a broad and solid basis.

[Sidenote: Appointment of Lord Elgin.]

But where was the man who, at a juncture so critical, in face of an adverse vote of the House of Commons, on the chance of its being rescinded by the country, could be trusted with so delicate a mission; who could be relied on, in the conduct of such an expedition against a foe alike stubborn and weak, to go far enough, and yet not too far—to carry his point, by diplomatic skill and force of character, with the least possible infringement of the laws of humanity; a man with the ability and resolution to insure success, and the native strength that can afford to be merciful? After 'anxious deliberation,' the choice of the Government fell upon Lord Elgin.

How, on the voyage to China, he was met half-way by the news of the Indian Mutiny; how promptly and magnanimously he took on himself the responsibility of sacrificing the success of his own expedition by diverting the troops from China to India; how, after many weary months of enforced inactivity, the expedition was resumed, and carried through numberless thwartings to a successful issue—these are matters of history with which every reader must be acquainted. But those who are most familiar with the events may find an interest in the following extracts from private letters, written at the time by the chief actor in the drama. They are taken almost exclusively from a Journal, in which his first thoughts and impressions on every passing occurrence were hurriedly noted down, from day to day, for transmission to Lady Elgin.

[Sidenote: Malta.]

H.M.S. 'Caradoc'—May 2nd.—I have just returned to my ship after spending a few hours on shore and visiting Lord Lyons in his magnificent Prince Albert.... How beautiful Malta is with its narrow streets, gorgeous churches, and impregnable fortifications. I landed at about six, and walked up to the Palace, and wrote my name in the Governor's book, who resides out of town. I then took a turn through the town, and went to the inn to breakfast....

[Sidenote: Chance meetings.]

By way of conversation with the waiter, I asked who were in the house: 'Only two families, one of them Lord Balgonie[1] and his sisters.' I saw the ladies first, and, at a later hour, their brother, in his bed. Poor fellow! the hand of death is only too visibly upon him. There he lay; his arm, absolutely fleshless, stretched out: his large eyes gleaming from his pale face. I could not dare to offer to his broken- hearted sisters a word of comfort. These poor girls! how I felt for them; alone! with their brother in such a state. They go to Marseilles by the next opportunity, probably by the packet which will convey to you this letter, and they hope that their mother will meet them there. What a tragedy! ... I had been incog. at the hotel till Sir W. Reid[2] found me there. When the innkeeper learned who I was, he was in despair at my having been put into so small a room, and informed me that he was the son of an old servant at Broomhall, Hood by name, and that he had often played with me at cricket! How curious are these strange rencontres in life! They put me in mind of Heber's image, who says that we are like travellers journeying through a dense wood intersected by innumerable paths: we are constantly meeting in unexpected places, and plunging into the forest again!

[Sidenote: Alexandria.]

Alexandria.—May 6th.—I made up my letter last night, not knowing how short the time of my sojourn at Alexandria might be. But at about one in the morning I received a letter from Frederick,[3] telling me that the steamer due at Suez had not yet arrived, that an official reception was to be given me, and that I had better not land too early.... Notwithstanding which, washing decks, the morning gun, and a bright sun, broke my slumbers at an early hour, and I got up and dressed soon after daybreak. At about 6.30 A.M. a boat of the Pacha's, with a dignitary (who turned out to be a very gentleman-like Frenchman), arrived, and from him I learnt that the Governor of Alexandria, with a cortege of dignitaries and a carriage and four, was already at the shore awaiting my arrival; but Frederick did not come till about half-past nine, and it was nearly ten before I landed. I was then conducted by the authorities to the palace in which I am now writing, consisting of suites of very handsome rooms, and commanding a magnificent view of the sea. About a dozen attendants are loitering about and watching every movement, not curiously, but in order to supply any possible want. At this very moment a mild-looking Turk is peeping into my bed-room where I am writing this letter, and supposing that I may wish to be undisturbed, has drawn a red cloth portiere across the open doorway. This palace, which is set apart for the reception of distinguished strangers, is situated in the Turkish quarter of the town, and all the houses around are inhabited by Mussulmans. The windows are all covered with latticed wooden shutters, through which the wretched women may, I suppose, peer as they do through the grating at the House of Commons, but which are at least as impermeable to the mortal eye from without. The streets are very empty, as it is the Ramadan, during which devout Turks fast and sleep throughout the day, and indemnify themselves by eating, drinking, and amusing themselves all night.

Cairo.—May 7th.—Most of yesterday afternoon was spent in drinking coffee and smoking long pipes, two ladies partaking of the latter enjoyment after dinner at Mr. Green's. One of them told me that she had dined with the Princess (the Pacha's wife) a few days ago. She went at seven and left at half-past twelve, and with the exception of a half hour of dinner, all the rest of the time was spent in smoking and drinking coffee. After dinner, the mother of the Pacha's only child came in and joined the party. She was treated with a certain consideration as being the mother of this child, although she was not given a pipe. The Princess seemed on very good terms with her. This child (a boy three years old) has an English nurse, and this nurse has persuaded the Pacha to allow her to take the child to England on a visit. The mother, who has picked up a little English from the nurse, said to Mrs. Green, 'I am very unhappy; young Pacha' (her boy) 'is going away.' The mother is no more thought of in this arrangement than I am. What a strange system it is!... We passed through the wonderful Delta to-day, and certainly the people looked more comfortable than those of Alexandria. The beasts too, camels, oxen, donkeys, showed signs of the fertility of the soil in their sleekness. What might not be made of this country if it were wisely guided!

[Sidenote: Crossing the Desert.]

Steamer 'Bentinck.'—Sunday, May 10th.—I write to you from the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai, which we passed at an early hour this morning, gliding through a sea of most transparent glass, with so little motion that there is hardly an excuse for bad writing.... I must, however, take you back to Cairo. We began to move at a very early hour, about three, on Saturday (yesterday) morning. We were actually in the railway carriages at half-past four. I was placed in a coupe before the engine, in order that I might see the road; and in this somewhat formidable position ran over about forty miles of the Desert in about an hour and a half. It is a wonderful sight this strange barren expanse of stone and gravel, with here and there a small encampment of railway labourers, after passing through the luxuriant Valley of the Nile, teeming with production and life, animal and vegetable. In the morning air there was a healthy freshness, which was very delightful. At the end of our hour and a half we reached the termination of the part of the railway which is already completed, and embarked in two-wheeled four-horse vans (such as you see in the Illustrated News), to pass over about five miles of trackless desert, lying between the said terminus and a station on the regular road across the Desert, at which we were to breakfast. This part of our journey was rough work, and took us some time to execute. Our station was really a very nice building; and while we were there a caravan of pilgrims to Mecca, some women in front and the men following, all mounted on their patient camels, passed by. After we were refreshed we started for Suez; and you will hardly believe me when I tell you, that we travelled forty-seven miles over the Desert in a carriage as capacious and commodious as a London town coach, in four hours and a half, including seven changes of horses and a stoppage of half an hour. In short, we got over the ground in about three hours and three-fourths. We had six horses to our carriage, and a swarthy Nubian, with a capital seat on horseback, rode by us all the way, occasionally reminding our horses that it was intended they should go at a gallop.

[Sidenote: Retrospect of Egypt.] [Sidenote: Egyptian ladies.]

May 11th.—I am glad to have had two days in Egypt. It gave one an idea at least of that country; in some degree a painful one. I suppose that France and England, by their mutual jealousies, will be the means of perpetuating the abominations of the system under which that magnificent country is ruled. They say that the Pacha's revenue is about 4,000,000l., and his expenses about 2,000,000l.; so that he has about 2,000,000l. of pocket-money. Yet I suppose that the Fellahs, owing to their own industry, and the incomparable fertility of the country, are not badly off as compared with the peasantry elsewhere. We passed, at one of our stopping-places between Cairo and Suez, part of a Turkish regiment on their way to Jeddah. These men were dressed in a somewhat European costume, some of them with the Queen's medal on their breasts. There was a hareem, in a sort of omnibus, with them, containing the establishment of one of the officers. One of the ladies dropped her veil for a moment, and I saw rather a pretty face; almost the only Mahommedan female face I have seen since I have reached this continent. They are much more rigorous, it appears, with the ladies in Egypt than at Constantinople. There they wear a veil which is quite transparent and go about shopping: but in Egypt they seem to go very little out, and their veil completely hides everything but the eyes. In the palace which I visited near Cairo (and which the Pacha offered, if we had chosen to take it), I looked through some of the grated windows allowed in the hareems, and I suppose that it must require a good deal of practice to see comfortably out of them. It appears that the persons who ascend to the top of the minarets to call to prayer at the appointed hours are blind men, and that the blind are selected for this office, lest they should be able to look down into the hareems. That is certainly carrying caution very far.

[Sidenote: Aden.]

Steamship 'Bentinck,' off Socotra.—May 19th.—I left my last letter at Aden. We landed there at about four P.M., under a salute from an Indian man-of-war sloop and the fort, to which latter place I was conveyed in a carriage which the Governor sent for me. It was most fearfully hot. The hills are rugged and grand, but wholly barren; not a sign of vegetation, and the vertical rays of a tropical sun beating upon them. The whole place is comprised in a drive around the hills of some three or four miles, beyond which the inhabitants cannot stray without the risk of being seized by the Arabs. I cannot conceive a more dreary spot to dwell in, though the Governor assured me that the troops are healthy. He received me very civilly, and insisted that I should remain with him until the steamer sailed, which involved leaving his abode (the cantonment) at about half-past three in the morning. He took me to see some most extraordinary tanks which he has recently discovered, and which must have been constructed with great care and at great expense, at some remote period, in order to collect the rain-water which falls at rare intervals in torrents. These tanks are so constructed that the overflow of the upper one fills the lower, and in this way, when the fall is considerable, a great quantity can be gathered. They were all filled with rubbish, and it is very possible that there may be many besides these which have been already discovered, but when they are cleared out they are in perfect preservation. Some of them are of great capacity, and it is difficult to understand how they come to have been filled up so completely. The Governor told me that he had, a few months before, driven in his gig over the largest, which I went with him to see. At that time he had no idea of its existence.

[Sidenote: Gloomy prospects.]

May 22nd.—As each of these wearisome days passes, I cannot help being more and more determined that, in so far as it rests with me, this voyage shall not have been made for nothing. However, the issues are in higher hands.

Sunday, 24th.—We are now told we shall reach Ceylon in two days.... I have got dear Bruce's[4] large speaking eyes beside me while I am writing, and mine (ought I to confess it) are very dim, while all these thoughts of home crowd upon me. There is nothing congenial to me in my present life. I have no elasticity of spirits to keep up with the younger people around me. It may be better when the work begins; but I cannot be sanguine even as to that, for the more I read of the blue-books and papers with which I have been furnished, the more embarrassing the questions with which I have to deal appear.

[Sidenote: First news of the Indian Mutiny.]

It was at Ceylon that he caught the first ominous mutterings of the terrible storm which was about to burst over India, and which was destined so powerfully to affect his own expedition. The news of the first serious disturbance, the mutiny of a native Regiment at Meerut on the 11th of May, had just been brought by General Ashburnham, the commander of the expeditionary force, who had left Bombay a few hours after the startling tidings had been received through the telegraph. Lord Elgin's first feeling was that these disturbances in India furnished an additional reason for settling affairs in China with all possible speed, so as to be free to succour the Indian Government. It was only when fuller intelligence came from Lord Canning, with urgent entreaties for immediate help, that he determined, in consultation with General Ashburnham, who cordially entered into all his views on the subject, to sacrifice for the present the Chinese expedition, in order to pour into Calcutta all the troops that had been intended for Canton.

Galle, Ceylon.—May 26th.—This is a very charming place, so green that one almost forgets the heat. Ashburnham is here; we go on together to Singapore this evening. Bad news from India. I think that I may find in this news, if confirmed, a justification for pressing matters with vigour in China, and hastening the period at which I may hope to see you again.

Steamship 'Singapore.'—May 27th.—General Ashburnham brought with him a report of a most serious mutiny in the Bengal army. Perhaps he sees it in the worst light, because he has always (I remember his speaking to me on the subject at Balbirnie) predicted that something of the kind would occur; but, apart from his anticipations, the matter seems grave enough. The mutineers have murdered Europeans, seized the fort and treasure of Delhi; and proclaimed the son of the Great Mogul. There seems to be no adequate European force at hand to put them down, and the season is bad for operations by Europeans. Such is the sum and substance of this report, as conveyed by telegraph to Elphinstone, the evening before Ashburnham left Bombay. I was a good deal tempted to remain at Galle for a few hours, in order to await the arrival of the homeward-bound steamer from Calcutta, and to get further news; but, on reflection, I came to the conclusion, that the best course to take was to view this grave intelligence as an inducement to press on to China. I wrote officially to Clarendon to say, that if this intelligence was confirmed, it might have a tendency to lower our prestige in the East, and to increase the influence of the party opposed to reason in China; that this state of affairs might make it more than ever necessary that I should endeavour to bring matters in China to an issue at the earliest moment, so as to anticipate this mischief, and to place the regiments destined for China at the disposal of Government for service elsewhere.

May 29th.—We are now near the close of our voyage, and the serious work is about to begin. Up to this point I have heard nothing to throw any light upon my prospects. It is impossible to read the blue-books without feeling that we have often acted towards the Chinese in a manner which it is very difficult to justify; and yet their treachery and cruelty come out so strongly at times as to make almost anything appear justifiable.

[Sidenote: Penang.] [Sidenote: Bishop of Labuan.] [Sidenote: Character of Chinese.]

Penang.—June 1st.—We have just returned to our vessel after a few hours spent on shore; or, rather, I have just emerged from a bath in which I have been reclining for half an hour, endeavouring to cool myself after a hot morning's work. We made this place at about eleven last night, running into the harbour by the assistance of a bright moon. The water was perfectly smooth, and I stood on the paddle-box for some hours, watching the distant hills as they rose into sight and faded from our view, and the bright phosphorescent light of the sea cut by our prow, and which, despite the clearness of the night, was sometimes almost too brilliant to be gazed at. When we dropped our anchor, the captain still professed to doubt whether or not he would have to proceed immediately; but he gave me to understand that, if he could not accomplish this, he would not wish to leave until twelve to- day, so that I should in that case have an opportunity of landing and ascending the mountain summit. On this hint I had a bed prepared on deck (fearing the heat of the cabins), and tried, though rather in vain, to take a few hours' sleep. At five A.M. I was told that the Resident, Mr. Lewis, was on board, that carriages and horses were ready, and that, if I wished to mount the hill, the time had arrived for the operation. I immediately made a hasty toilette, and set forth accompanied by the General, some of the others following. We were conveyed in a carriage three miles, to the foot of the hill, and on pony-back as much more up it, through a dense tropical vegetation which reminded me of my Jamaica days. At the end of the ride we arrived at the Government bungalow, and found one of the most magnificent views I ever witnessed; in the foreground this tropical luxuriance, and beyond, far below, the glistening sea studded with ships and boats innumerable, over which again the Malay peninsula with its varied outline. I had hardly begun to admire the scene, when a gentleman in a blue flannel sort of dress, with a roughish beard and a cigar in his mouth, made his appearance, and was presented to me as the Bishop of Labuan! He was there endeavouring to recruit his health, which has suffered a good deal. He complained of the damp of the climate, while admitting its many charms, and seemed to think that he owed to the dampness a very bad cold by which he was afflicted. Soon afterwards his wife joined us. They were both at Sarawak when the last troubles took place, and must have had a bad time of it. The Chinese behaved well to them; indeed they seemed desirous to make the Bishop their leader. His converts (about fifty) were stanch, and he has a school at which about the same number of Chinese boys are educated. These facts pleaded in his favour, and it says something for the Chinese that they were not insensible to these claims. They committed some cruel acts, but they certainly might have committed more. They respected the women except one (Mrs. C., whom they wounded severely), and they stuck by the Bishop until they found that he was trying to bring Brooke back. They then turned upon him, and he had to run for his life. The Bishop gave me an interesting description of his school of Chinese boys. He says they are much more like English boys than other Orientals: that when a new boy comes they generally get up a fight, and let him earn his place by his prowess. But there is no managing them without pretty severe punishments. Indeed, he says that if a boy be in fault the others do not at all like his not being well punished; they seem to think that it is an injustice to the rest if this is omitted. I am about to do with a strange people; so much to admire in them, and yet with a perversity of disposition which makes it absolutely necessary, if you are to live with them at all, to treat them severely, sometimes almost cruelly. They have such an overweening esteem for themselves, that they become unbearable unless they are constantly reminded that others are as good as they.... The Bishop seemed to think that it would be a very good thing if the Rajah were to go home for a time, and leave the government to his nephew, whom he praises much.... When we came down from the mountain we went to the house of the Resident on the shore, and there I found all the world of Penang assembled to meet me; among them a quantity of Chinese in full mandarin costume. It was not easy, under the circumstances, to make conversation for them, but it was impossible not to be pleased with their good-humoured faces, on which there rests a perpetual grin. We had a grand 'spread,' in which fresh fish, mangosteen, and a horrible fruit whose name I forget (dorian), but whose smell I shall ever remember, played a conspicuous part. After breakfast we returned to our ship to be broiled for about an hour, then to bathe, and now (after that I have inserted these words in my journal to you) to finish dressing.

[Sidenote: Singapore.]

June 3rd.—Just arrived at Singapore. Urgent letters from Canning to send him troops. I have not a man. 'Shannon' not arrived.

Singapore.—June 5th.—I am on land, which is at any rate one thing gained. But I am only about eighty miles from the equator, and about two hundred feet above the level of the sea. The Java wind, too, is blowing, which is the hot wind in these quarters, so that you may imagine what is the condition of my pores. I sent my last letter immediately after landing, and had little time to add a word from land, as I found a press of business, and a necessity for writing to Clarendon by the mail; the fact being, that I received letters from Canning, imploring me to send troops to him from the number destined for China. As we have no troops yet, and do not well know when we may have any, it was not exactly an easy matter to comply with this request. However, I did what I could, and, in concert with the General, have sent instructions far and wide to turn the transports back, and give Canning the benefit of the troops for the moment.

[Sidenote: Diversion of troops to India.]

The importance of the determination, thus simply announced, can hardly be exaggerated. 'Tell Lord Elgin,' wrote Sir William Peel, the heroic leader of the celebrated Naval Brigade, after the neck of the rebellion was broken, 'tell Lord Elgin that it was the Chinese Expedition that relieved Lucknow, relieved Cawnpore, and fought the battle of the 6th December.' Nor would it be easy to praise too highly the large and patriotic spirit which moved the heads of the Expedition to an act involving at once so generous a renunciation of all selfish hopes and prospects, and so bold an assumption of responsibility. Proofs were not wanting afterwards that the sacrifice was appreciated by the Queen and the country; but these were necessarily deferred, and it was all the more gratifying, therefore, to Lord Elgin to receive, at the time and on the spot, the following cordial expressions of approval from a distinguished public servant, with whom he was himself but slightly acquainted—Sir H. Ward, then Governor of Ceylon:—

"You may think me impertinent in volunteering an opinion upon what in the first instance only concerns you and the Queen and Lord Canning. But having seen something of public life during a great part of my own, which is now fast verging into the "sere and yellow leaf," I may venture to say that I never knew a nobler thing than that which you have done in preferring the safety of India to the success of your Chinese negotiations. If I know anything of English public opinion, this single act will place you higher, in general estimation as a statesman, than your whole past career, honourable and fortunate as it has been. For it is not every man who would venture to alter the destination of a force upon the despatch of which a Parliament has been dissolved, and a Government might have been superseded. It is not every man who would consign himself for many months to political inaction in order simply to serve the interests of his country. You have set a bright example at a moment of darkness and calamity; and, if India can be saved, it is to you that we shall owe its redemption, for nothing short of the Chinese expedition could have supplied the means of holding our ground until further reinforcements are received."

For the time the disappointment was great. His occupation was gone, and with it all hope of a speedy end to his labours. Six weary months he waited, powerless to act and therefore powerless to negotiate, and feeling that every week's delay tended to aggravate the difficulties of the situation in China.

Singapore.—June 5th.—It is, of course, difficult to conjecture how this Indian business may affect us in China, and I shall await our next news from India with no little anxiety. Await it, I say, for there is no prospect of my getting on from here at present. There is no word of the 'Shannon' and till she arrives I am a fixture.

[Sidenote: Convict establishment.]

June 6th.—This morning the Governor took me on foot to the convict establishment, at which some 2,500 murderers, &c., from India are confined, and some fifty women, who are generally, after about two years of penal servitude, let out on condition that they consent to marry convicts. I cannot say that their appearance made me envy the convicts much, although some of them were perhaps better-looking than the women one meets out of the prison. In truth, one meets very few women at all, and those that sees are far from attractive. Au reste, the convicts go about apparently very little guarded, with a chain round the waist and each leg. The church, which we afterwards visited, is rather an imposing edifice, and is being built by convict labour, at the cost of the Indian Government.

[Sidenote: Opium-shops.]

June 8th.—This morning I visited, in my walk, some of the horrid opium-shops, which we are supposed to do so much to encourage. They are wretched dark places, with little lamps, in which the smokers light their pipes, glimmering on the shelves made of boards, on which they recline and puff until they fall asleep. The opium looks like treacle, and the smokers are haggard and stupefied, except at the moment of inhaling, when an unnatural brightness sparkles from their eyes. After escaping from these horrid dens, I went to visit a Chinese merchant who lives in a very good house, and is a man of considerable wealth. He speaks English, and never was in China, having been born in Malacca. I had tea, and was introduced to his mother, wife, and two boys and two girls. He intends to send one of his sons to England for education. He denounces opium and the other vices of his countrymen, and their secret societies. All the well-to-do Chinese agree in this, but they have not moral courage to come out against them. Indeed, I suppose they could hardly do so without great risk.... Alas! still no sign of the 'Shannon.'

[Sidenote: Captain Peel.] [Sidenote: Ignorance of the Chinese language.]

June 11th.—At half-past four this morning the 'Shannon' arrived. Captain Peel came up to breakfast. He has made a quick passage, as he came almost all the way under canvas: such were his orders from the Admiralty. He says that his ship is the fastest sailer he has ever been on board of; that he has the best set of officers; in short, all is very cheery with him. I told him I should not start till after the arrival of the steamer from England, and he requires that time to get ready, as it appears that he had only twelve hours' notice that he was to take me when he left England. On Tuesday, at noon, the Chinese arrived with an address to me. I had a reply prepared, which was translated into Malay, and read by a native. It is a most extraordinary circumstance that, in this place, where there are some 60,000 or 70,000 Chinese, and where the Europeans are always imagining that they are plotting, &c., there is not a single European who can speak their language. No doubt this is a great source of misunderstanding. The last row, which did not end in a massacre, but which might have done so, originated in the receipt of certain police regulations from Calcutta. These regulations were ill translated, and published after Christmas Day. The Chinese, believing that they authorised the police to enter their houses at all periods, to interfere with their amusements at the New Year, &c., shut up their shops, which is their constitutional mode of expressing dissatisfaction. It was immediately inferred in certain quarters that the Chinese intended, out of sympathy with the Cantonese, to murder all the Europeans. Luckily the Governor thought it advisable to explain to them what the obnoxious ordinances really meant before proceeding to exterminate them, and a few hours of explanation had the effect of inducing them to re-open their shops, and go on quietly with their usual avocations. Just the same thing happened at Penang. There too, because the Chinamen showed some disinclination to obey regulations of police which interfered with their amusements and habits, a plot against the Europeans was immediately suspected, and great indignation expressed because it was not put down with vigour!

[Sidenote: The Sultan of Johore.] [Sidenote: Freres Chretiens.] [Sidenote: Soeurs.]

June 13th.—I have just been interrupted to go and see the Sultan of Johore. These princes in this country, and indeed all over the East, are spoilt from their childhood, all their passions indulged and fostered by their parents, who say, 'What is the use of being a prince, if he may not have more ghee, etc. etc. than his neighbours?' I do not see what can be done for them. At the school I visited this morning are two sultan's sons (of Queddah), but they were at home for some holidays, when they will probably be ruined. During my morning's walk I heard something like the sound of a school in a house adjoining, and I proposed to enter and inspect. I found an establishment of Freres chretiens, and one of them (an Irishman) claimed acquaintance, as having been with Bishop Phelan when he visited me in Canada. We struck up a friendship accordingly, and I told him that if there were any Soeurs I should like to see them. He introduced me to the Vicar Apostolic, a Frenchman, and we went to the establishment of the Soeurs. I found the Superieure a very superior person, evidently with her heart in the work, and ready for any fate to which it might expose her, but quiet and cheerful. I told her that a devout lady in Paris had expressed a fear that my mission to China would put an end to martyrdom in that country. She smiled, and said that she thought there would always be on this earth martyrdom in abundance. The Sisters educate a number of orphan girls as well as others. All the missionary zeal in these quarters seems to be among the French priests. Some one once said that it was not wonderful that young men took away so much learning from Oxford as they left so little behind them. The same may, I think, be said of the French religion. It seems all intended for exportation.

[Sidenote: View from Singapore.]

June 15th.—I see from my window that a French steamer has just come into the harbour and dropped her anchor. This reminds me that I have not yet told you what I see from this window—if I may apply the term window to a row of Venetian blinds running all round the house or bungalow, for this residence is not dignified by the title 'house.' I am on an eminence about 200 feet above the sea; immediately below me the town; on one side a number of houses with dark red roofs, surrounded with trees, looking very like a flower-garden, and confirming me in my opinion of the beauty of such roofs when so situated; on the other, the same red-roofed houses without trees, which makes all the difference. Beyond, the harbour, or rather anchorage, filled with ships, the mighty 'Shannon' in the centre—a triton among the minnows. Beyond, again, a wide opening to the sea, with lowish shores, rocky, and covered with wood, running out on either side. Such is the prospect ever before me, a very fine one during the day, still more interesting at night when it all sparkles with lights, and the great tropical moon looks calmly down on the whole.

[Sidenote: On board the 'Shannon.']

H.M.S. 'Shannon.'—June 24th.—I daresay you will consider me an object of envy when I describe to you where I am,—on board of a magnificent ship-of-war, carrying sixty 68-pounders, our foremast and mainmast sails set, and gliding through the water with just motion enough to tell us that the pulse of the great sea is beating. The temperature of the air is high, but the day is somewhat cloudy, and the sails throw a shadow on the deck. The only thing I regret is, that having no poop, the high bulwarks close us in and shut out both the air and prospect. One can only get these by climbing up on a sort of standing-place on the side.... Our departure from Singapore was very striking.... Not only were all the troops and volunteers under arms, with Chinamen and merchants in crowds, but (may I mention it) the fair ladies of Singapore were drawn up in a row to give us a parting salute. We moved off in our boats, under a salute from the battery, which was repeated by the 'Spartan' as I passed her, and by the 'Shannon' when I got on board, both these vessels manning yards. The French admiral honoured me also with a salute as I passed him after getting under weigh, although the sun had already set.

July 1st.—Another month begun. Last night, at dinner, we were startled by hearing that we seemed to be running on a rock or shoal, where no rock or shoal was known to exist. We backed our screw, and finally went over the alarming spot, and on sounding found no bottom. The sea was discoloured, but whether it was by the spawn of fish or sea-weed we could not discover. Peel took up water in a bucket, but could discover nothing. If we had not been a screw, and had had nothing but sails to rely on, we should have kept clear of this apparent danger, and the result would have been that a shoal would have been marked on the charts, where, in point of fact, no shoal exists. Captain Keppel's adventure makes captains cautious.

[Sidenote: Arrival at Hongkong.]

Hong-Kong.—July 3rd.—I am headachy and fagged, for I have had some hours of the most fatiguing of all things—a succession of interviews, beginning with the Admiral, General, &c,... I found the Admiral strong on the point that Canton is the only place where we ought to fight.... However, I hope we may get off to the North in about ten days,—as soon as we have sent off these letters, and got (as we ought) two mails from home.

July 9th.—An interval ... during which I have been doing a good many things, my greatest enjoyment and pleasure being the receipt at last of two sets of letters from home.... I have a great heap of despatches, some of which seem rather likely to perplex me. I daresay, however, that I shall see my way through the mist in a day or two.... I had a levee last evening, which was largely attended. The course which I am about to follow does not square with the views of the merchants, but I gave an answer to their address, which gave them for the moment wonderful satisfaction.... A document, taken in one of the Chinese junks lately captured, states that 'Devils' heads are fallen in price,'—an announcement not strictly complimentary, but reassuring to you as regards our safety.

[Sidenote: Change of plans.]

Up to this time Lord Elgin had not entirely given up the hope that the troops which he had detached to Calcutta might be restored to him before the setting in of winter should make it impossible to proceed, as his instructions required, to the mouth of the Peiho, and there open negotiations with the Court of Pekin. But on the 14th of July came letters from Lord Canning, written in a strain of deeper anxiety than any that had preceded; and giving no hope that any troops could be spared from India for many months to come. At the same time Lord Elgin learned that the French, on whose co-operation he counted, could not act until the arrival of the chief of the mission, Baron Gros, who was not expected to reach China till the end of September. In this state of things, to remain at Hong-Kong was worse than useless. The sight of his inaction, and the knowledge of the reasons which enforced it, could not fail to damage the position of England with the public of China, both Chinese and foreign. He formed, therefore, the sudden resolution to proceed in person to Calcutta, where he would be within easier reach of telegraphic instructions from England; where he would have the advantage of personal communication with Lord Canning, and of learning for himself at what time he might expect to have any troops at his command; and where, moreover, his appearance might have a moral effect in support of the Government greater than the amount of any material force at his disposal.

[Sidenote: Sails for Calcutta.]

H. M. S 'Shannon'—July 19th.—I wonder what you will think when you receive this letter; that is, if I succeed in despatching it from the point where I wish to post it. Will you think me mad? or what will your view of my proceedings be?... Here I am actually on my way to Calcutta! To Calcutta! you will exclaim in surprise. The reasons for this step are so numerous, that I can hardly attempt to enumerate them. I found myself at Hong-kong, without troops and without competent representatives of our allies (America and France) to concert with; doomed either to aborder the Court of Pekin alone, without the power of acting vigorously if I met a repulse, or to spend three months at Hong-kong doing nothing, and proclaiming to the whole world that I am waiting for the Frenchman; i.e. that England can do nothing without France. I considered the great objections which existed to either of these courses. Sur ces entrefaites, came further letters from Canning, begging for more help from me, and showing that things are even worse with him than they were when I first heard from him. It occurred to me that I might occupy the three months well in running up to Calcutta, taking with me what assistance I can collect for him and obtaining thereby an opportunity of conferring with him, and learning from him what chance I have of getting before the winter the troops which I have detached to his support. Sir M. Seymour approved the plan warmly. It occurred to me on Tuesday evening, and on Thursday I was under weigh. Alas! l'homme propose, mais Dieu dispose! The monsoon is against us, and as this ship is practically useless as a steamer, as she can only carry coals for five days, we are beating against the wind, and making little progress. Perhaps my whole plans may fail, because I have the misfortune to be in one of H.M.'s ships instead of in a good merchant steamer, which would be going at ten miles an hour in a direct line, while we are going at six in an oblique one. However, we must hope for the best.

Whether we are to have peace or war with China, either object will be much more effectually accomplished, when the European forces are acting together, than when we are alone; the Russians meanwhile, no doubt, hinting to the Emperor that we are in a bad way in India. The plan, then, if we can accomplish it, is this: To run up as fast as I can to Calcutta, and to return so as to meet Baron Gros, who is not expected till the middle of September. There will just be time to communicate with the Court of Pekin before winter. I have mentioned the reasons for these proceedings, derived from my own position; but, of course, I am mainly influenced by a consideration for Canning. In both his letters he has expressed a desire to see me, and I am told that my appearance there with what the Indian public will consider the first of a large force, will produce a powerful moral effect. I ought to be there at least two months before he can receive a man from England.

[Sidenote: Birthday.]

July 20th.[5]—Would that I were at home to-day! You say that I do not appreciate anniversaries, but it is chiefly because it is so sad when the days come when they cannot be celebrated as of yore. 'Nessun maggior dolore.' Do not anniversaries stir this great fountain of sadness? I feel sad when I look at this inhospitable sea, and think of the smiling countenances with which I should have been surrounded at home, and the joyous laugh when papa, with affected surprise, detected the present wrapped up carefully in a paper parcel on the breakfast table. Is it not lawful to be sad?

July 25th.—The consequences of being at so great a distance from head-quarters are very singular, e.g. in this case I shall not hear whether the Government approve or not of this move of mine until it has become matter of history; until, in all probability, I have carried out my plan of visiting the Peiho with the French Ambassador. It certainly contrasts very strongly with the position of a diplomatic functionary in Europe now, when reference is made by telegraph to headquarters in every case of difficulty.... This seems a very solitary sea. We have passed in all, I think, two ships. This morning once or twice we have met a log floating with one or two birds standing upon it. Yesterday great excitement was created by the discovery of a cask floating on the surface of the sea. Telescopes were braques from every part of the ship upon this unhappy cask, which went bobbing up and down, very unconscious of the sensation it was creating. This incident will convey to you an idea of how monotonous our life is.

July 27th.—At about four yesterday another excitement, greater than that created by the floating cask. Peel informed me that there was a steamer in sight, coming towards us. Many were the speculations as to what she could be. It was generally agreed that she was the 'Transit,' as she was due about this time. As we neared her, however, she dwindled in size, and proved a rather dirty-looking merchant-craft with an auxiliary screw. On asking whence she came, she informed us that she was from Calcutta, and that she had a letter for me. It proved to be from Canning, in no respect more encouraging than his former letters, and therefore, in so far, confirmatory of the propriety of my present move.

July 31st.—En route for Calcutta. We reached Singapore on the 28th, at about two P.M. I landed and went to my old quarters at the Governor's. I found it deliciously cool, much more so than it was during my former visit.... My friends at Singapore were very cordial in their welcome of me, and the merchants immediately drew up an address expressive of their satisfaction at my move on Calcutta. We have taken on board 100 men of the detachment of the 90th which was on board the 'Transit,' and put the remainder into the 'Pearl,' so that we are crammed to the hilt. Please God we may reach Calcutta in about a week or less, and then a new chapter begins. Just as we were starting yesterday, an opium-ship from Calcutta arrived, and brought me a letter and despatch from Canning, more urgent and gloomy than any of the preceding ones. The 'Simoom' and 'Himalaya' had both arrived, but he was clamorous for more help, and broadly tells me that I must not expect to get any of my men back. So here I am deprived of the force on which I was to rely in China!... Canning's letter is dated the 21st, and therefore contains the latest intelligence. Nothing can be worse. I am happy to say that I have already sent to him even more than he has asked.... I trust that I may do some good, but of course things are so bad that one fears that it may be too late to hope that any great moral effect can be produced by one's arrival. However, I have with me about 1,700 fighting men, and perhaps we may have more, if we find a transport in the Straits, and take it in tow.

[Sidenote: Arrival at Calcutta.]

On the 8th August the 'Shannon' reached Calcutta. Her arrival is thus described by Mr. Oliphant[6]:—

'As we swept past Garden Reach, on the afternoon of the 8th August, the excitement on board was increased by early indications of the satisfaction with which our appearance was hailed on shore. First our stately ship suddenly burst upon the astonished gaze of two European gentlemen taking their evening walk, who, seeing her crowded with the eager faces of men ready for the fray, took off their hats and cheered wildly; then the respectable skipper of a merchant-man worked himself into a state of frenzy, and made us a long speech, which we could not hear, but the violence of his gesticulations left us in little doubt as to its import; then his crew took up the cheer, which was passed on at intervals until the thunder of our 68-pounders drowned every other sound; shattered the windows of sundry of the 'palaces;' attracted a crowd of spectators to the Maidan, and brought the contents of Fort William on to the glacis.

'As soon as the smoke cleared away, the soldiers of the garrison collected there sent up a series of hearty cheers; a moment more and our men were clustered like ants upon the rigging, and, in the energy which they threw into their ringing response, they pledged themselves to the achievement of those deeds of valour which have since covered the Naval Brigade with glory. After the fort had saluted, Lord Elgin landed amid the cheers of the crowd assembled at the ghaut to receive him, and proceeded to Government House, gratified to learn, not merely from the popular demonstrations, but from Lord Canning himself, that though happily the physical force he had brought with him was not required to act in defence of the city, still that the presence of a man of war larger than any former ship that ever anchored abreast of the Maidan, and whose guns commanded the city, was calculated to produce upon both the European and native population a most wholesome moral effect, more especially at a time when the near approach of the Mohurrum had created in men's minds an unusual degree of apprehension and excitement.'

Speaking afterwards of this scene, Lord Elgin himself said, 'I shall never forget to my dying day—for the hour was a dark one, and there was hardly a countenance in Calcutta, save that of the Governor-General, Lord Canning, which was not blanched with fear—I shall never forget the cheers with which the "Shannon" was received as she sailed up the river, pouring forth her salute from those 68-pounders which the gallant and lamented Sir William Peel sent up to Allahabad, and from those 24-pounders which, according to Lord Clyde, made way across the country in a manner never before witnessed.'

[Sidenote: Peel's naval brigade.] [Sidenote: Lord Canning.]

Calcutta.—August 11th.—Here I am, writing to you from the Governor-General's palace at Calcutta! Altogether it is one of the strangest of the peripeties of my life.... I think my visit has entirely answered as regards the interests of India. I have every reason to believe that it has had an excellent effect here. I have agreed to give up the 'Shannon,' in order that Peel and his men may be formed into a naval brigade, and march with some of their great guns on Delhi. Peel, for this work, is, I believe, the right man in the right place, and I expect great things from him. He is delighted, and Canning and Sir P. Grant have signified in strong terms their appreciation of the sacrifice I am making, and the service I am rendering. They are in great want of artillery, and no such guns as those of the 'Shannon' are in their possession. The vessel itself, with a small crew, will remain in the river opposite Calcutta, able, if need were, to knock all the city to bits. I shall get a steamer for myself, probably one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's, to convey me to Hong-kong, and to remain with me till I am better suited. Canning is very amiable, but I do not see much of him. He is at work from five or six in the morning till dinner-time. No human being can, in a climate like this, and in a situation which has so few delassements as that of Governor-General, work so constantly without impairing the energy both of mind and body, after a time.... Neither he nor Lady C. are so much oppressed by the difficulties in which they find themselves as might have been expected.

[Sidenote: Treatment of inferior races.]

August 21st.—It is a terrible business, however, this living 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. There are some three or four hundred servants in this house. When one first passes by their salaaming one feels a little awkward. But the feeling soon wears off, and one moves among them with perfect indifference, treating them, not as dogs, because in that case one would whistle to them and pat them, but as machines with which one can have no communion or sympathy. Of course those who can speak the language are somewhat more en rapport with the natives, but very slightly so, I take it. When the passions of fear and hatred are engrafted on this indifference, the result is frightful; an absolute callousness as to the sufferings of the objects of those passions, which must be witnessed to be understood and believed.

August 22nd. —— tells me that yesterday, at dinner, the fact that Government had removed some commissioners who, not content with hanging all the rebels they could lay their hands on, had been insulting them by destroying their caste, telling them that after death they should be cast to the dogs, to be devoured, &c., was mentioned. A rev gentleman could not understand the conduct of Government; could not see that there was any impropriety in torturing men's souls; seemed to think that a good deal might be said in favour of bodily torture as well! These are your teachers, O Israel! Imagine what the pupils become under such leading!

[Sidenote: Fears for Lucknow.]

August 26th.—The great subject of anxiety here now is Lucknow, where a small party of soldiers, with some two hundred women and an equal number of children, are beleaguered by a rebel force of 15,000. The attempts hitherto made to relieve them have failed; and General Havelock, who commands, says he can do nothing unless he gets the 5th and 90th Regiments, the two I sent from Singapore on my own responsibility. The men of the 'Pearl' and 'Shannon' and the marines are guarding Calcutta, or on their way up to Allahabad, so that it is impossible to say what would have become of Bengal if these reinforcements had not come.

August 30th.—The mail from England has arrived. No letters, of course, for me. I gather from the newspapers and Canning's letters that some troops, though only to a small extent, I fear, are to be sent to Hong-kong, to replace those which have been diverted to India. From Palmerston's speeches I gather that he adheres to the policy of my first visiting the North, and making amicable overtures; and, secondly, taking Canton, if these overtures fail. I believe I have adopted the only mode of carrying out that policy. It is rather perplexing, however, and sometimes a little amusing, to be working at such a distance from head-quarters, as one never knows what is thought of one's proceedings until it is so much too late to turn to account the criticisms passed upon them.

[Sidenote: Return to China.]

There remained now nothing to keep him longer at Calcutta; a body of troops was on its way to Hongkong, to take the place of those that had been diverted to India, and the end of September was the time at which he had arranged to meet Baron Gros in the China seas. On the 3rd of September, therefore, he turned his face once more eastward, to resume the proper duties of his mission.

[Sidenote: Fever.]

Steamer 'Ava'—September 10th.—I have had a very bad time of it since I finished my last letter on my way down the Hooghly. Probably it may have been something of the Calcutta fever brought with me.... But on the second night after our departure, it came on to blow hard towards morning. I was in my cot on the windward side. First, I got rather a chill, and then the ports were shut, leaving me very hot. I remained all day in a state of feverish lethargy, unable to rise, and constantly falling off into dreamy dozes; kaleidoscopes, with the ugliest sides of everything perpetually twirling before my eyes. I panted so for air that they opened my ports towards evening as an experiment. It turned out better than might have been expected. A sea washed in, and filled my cot half full of water, which decided me on rising. No gentler hint would have mastered my lethargy. After I got on deck, as you may imagine, it was about as difficult, or rather more so, to overcome the vis inertiae which fixed me there. So a bed was made for me under the awning. I remained on deck for four nights; the fourth, in a cot slung up to the boom, and though I slept little, it was cool. Last night I came down to the cabin again. I have taken the turn, and am on the mend, though I do not yet feel the least inclination for food, and my nerves are so shaky that I can hardly write. That little pretty book[7] of Guizot's which you sent me, I have been trying to read, but I find that it is too touching for me, and I have been obliged to lay it aside.

September 11th.—I am now at Singapore again, which is my kind of oasis in this desert of the East; the only place where I have felt well or comfortable, and where there has been a sort of cordiality in the people, which makes one feel somewhat at home. I shall stay here two days, to gain a little strength before plunging again into the sea.

[Sidenote: Perplexities.]

Hong-Kong.—September 20th.—I did not attempt to write on my way from Singapore to this place, because, though we were much favoured by the weather (as this is the worst month in the China seas and the most subject to typhoons), the motion of the screw in the 'Ava' is so bad, that it is almost impossible to write when she is going at full speed. However, I may now tell you that we made out our voyage in six days of beautiful weather, and that I have gone on gradually recovering my health, which I lost between Calcutta and Singapore. I believe I do not look quite as blooming as usual; but it is of no use my claiming sympathy on this score, for, as the Bishop of Labuan appears to have said, I always have a more florid appearance than most people, and never therefore get credit for being ill, however ill I may feel. I found two mails from home.... The Government approves of my having sent my troops to India, and Clarendon's letter seems to imply that they are not quite insensible to the difficulties of my position.... As it is, I now find myself in a very puzzling position. If I go to the North I shall lose prestige, and perhaps also time; it is even possible that I may force the Emperor to declare himself against us, and to direct hostilities against us at the northern ports, where hitherto we have been trading in peace. On the other hand, if I do not go to the North, and make pacific overtures to the Emperor, I shall go dead against my instructions, and against the policy which Palmerston has over and over again told Parliament I am to pursue.

[Sidenote: Hong-kong.]

Hong-Kong.—September 25th.—I used to dislike to begin writing a letter, when I thought I should receive one from my correspondent before it was finished; but I have got over all these scruples now. Our correspondence is kept up in a kind of constant flow, and our letters so cross each other, that we hardly know where one is begun or ended. Therefore, although I sent off one this forenoon, and although I may calculate on hearing from you again before this is despatched, I feel that it is quite natural to take up my pen, and to have some talk with you this evening before I retire to my cot. I have been dining with the Admiral quietly, at 3 P.M., and I went on shore with him afterwards to take a walk. We strolled through the Chinese part of the town, crowded with Chinese all returning from their work, and looking good-humoured as usual. The town is more extensive than I had supposed it to be; but it was close and hot, and I was rather glad when we got into our boat again to pull off to our ship, which is lying about 2- 1/2 miles from the shore. It was calm and cool on the water; and after reaching my ship, I have sat down to my writing desk, having placed one of the ship's attendants (a disbanded sepoy, I believe) at the punkah which has lately been fitted up in my cabin. It is wonderful what a comfort these punkahs are! I was suffocated with heat before my sepoy began to pull, and every now and then I have to halloo to him when he seems disposed to take a nap....

[Sidenote: Caprices of climate.]

October 1st.—What a climate! after raining cats and dogs for forty- eight hours incessantly, it took to blowing at about twelve last night, rain still as heavy as ever. Our captain, who is a man of energy, apprehending that he might run ashore or foul of some ship, got up steam immediately, and set to work to perform the goose step at anchor in the harbour. You may imagine the row,—wind blowing, rain splashing, ropes hauled, spars cracking, everybody hallooing:—'A stroke a-head! ease her! faster! stop her!' and other variations of the same tune. All this immediately over my head! After expending the conventional number of hours in my cot, in the operation of what is facetiously called sleeping, I mounted on deck at about 5 A.M.... I wish I could send you a sketch of that gloomy hill at the foot of which Victoria lies, as it loomed sullenly in the dusky morning, its crest wreathed with clouds, and its cheeks wrinkled by white lines that marked the track of the descending torrents. It was still blowing and raining as hard as ever, but I took my two hours' exercise notwithstanding, clad in Mackintosh. Frederick and Oliphant, who went on shore the day before yesterday to dine with Sir J. Bowring, have not yet returned.

[Sidenote: After the storm.]

Seven P.M.—The weather cleared about noon. I remained in my cabin as usual till after five, when I ordered my boat and went on shore. There were signs of the night's work here and there. Masts of junks sticking out of the water, and on land verandahs mutilated, &c. Loch accompanied me, and we walked up the hill to a road which runs above the town. The prospect was magnificent—Victoria below us, running down the steep bank to the water's edge; beyond, the bay, crowded with ships and junks, and closed on the opposite side by a semi-circle of hills, bold, rugged, and bare, and glowing in the bright sunset.... When we got beyond the town, the hill along which we were walking began to remind me of some of the scenery in the Highlands—steep and treeless, the water gushing out at every step among the huge granite boulders, and dashing with a merry noise across our path. After somewhat more than an hour's walk we turned back, and began to descend a long and precipitous path, or rather street, for there were houses on either side, in search of our boat. By the time we had embarked the tints of the sunset had vanished, a moon nearly full rode undisputed mistress in the cloudless sky, and we cut our way to our ship through the ripple that was dancing and sparkling in her beams.

[Sidenote: Better news from India.]

Hong-kong.—October 8th.—On the 6th, I went to the anchorage of the French fleet, about twelve miles off. On our way back we made the tour of the island. Every spot at the foot of the hills on which anything will grow is cultivated by the industrious Chinese, whose chief occupation in these parts seems, however, to be fishing. Last evening I dined with our own admiral. An opium-ship from India had just arrived, so we had a plentiful crop of topics of conversation. The news from India is rather better. The whole of Bengal was dependent not only on the China force, but on that portion of it which I took or sent them on my own responsibility. The 5th and 90th regiments are marching to the relief of Lucknow. The crews of the 'Shannon' and 'Pearl' are protecting other disturbed districts, and the marines garrisoning Calcutta.... It cannot therefore be said that I have not done Canning a good turn. I think, however, that there is a disposition, both in Calcutta and in England, to underrate our needs in China, and I am disposed to write to Canning a despatch which will bring this point out.... If we take Canton by naval means alone, we shall probably not be able to hold the city; in which case we shall probably occasion a great deal of massacre and bloodshed, without influencing in the slightest degree the Court of Pekin.

[Sidenote: Continued perplexities.]

October 9th.—I do not think that the naval actions here have really done anything towards solving our questions, and perhaps they may have been injurious, in so far as they have enabled the Government and the Press to take up the tone that we could settle our affairs without troops. All these partial measures increase the confidence of the Chinese in themselves, and confirm them in the opinion that we cannot meet them on land. They have never denied our superiority by sea.

October 13th.—No steamer from England yet. I have just despatched letters to Canning, in the sense I have already explained to you.... General Ashburnham's position is a very cruel one,—at the head of a whole lot of doctors and staff-officers of all kinds, without any troops. The enormous amount of supplies sent out passes belief. Oceans of porter, soda-water, wine of all sorts, and delicacies that I never even heard of, for the hospitals. I am told, even tea and sugar, but that may be a calumny. This is the reaction, after the economies practised in the Crimea, and will be persevered in, I suppose, till Parliament gets tired of paying, and then we shall have counteraction the other way.

On the 16th of October the French ambassador reached Hong-kong, having been delayed by the breaking down of an engine, which made it necessary for him to stay at Singapore to refit. The relations of the two ambassadors, at first somewhat distant and diplomatic, soon ripened into mutual feelings of cordial regard.

[Sidenote: Arrival of Baron Gros.]

October 18th.—The instructions brought by the last mail give me much greater latitude of action; in fact, untie my hands altogether. I hope I shall get Baron Gros to go with me; but if not, I shall go at Canton alone. The Admiral is quite ready for the attempt, as soon as his marines arrive.

[Sidenote: A sister's death.]

October 30th.—How little was I prepared for the sad intelligence brought to me by your last![8] How constantly we shall all feel the absence of that good genius!—that Providence always on the watch to soothe the wretched and to console the afflicted. I had never thought of her early removal by death; and yet one ought to have done so, for she complained much of suffering last year, and all who knew her well must have felt that to make her complain her sufferings must have been great. She is gone; and she will leave behind her a blank in many existences.... Many years ago we were much together. She was then in the full vigour of her faculties.... I had ample opportunity then of appreciating the remarkable union of heart and head and soul which her character presented. Many of her letters written in those days were of rare excellence.... I feel for you.

October 31st.—I shall hardly recognise Scotland without her, so much did she, in her unobtrusive and quiet way, make herself the point to which, in all difficulties and joys, one looked.... Poor Maxwell has the satisfaction of knowing that all that was great and lovable in her flourished under his protection and with his sympathy. Perhaps that is the best consolation which a person bereaved as he is can enjoy. It is not a consolation which will arrest his progress along the path which she has trodden before, but it is one which will strew it with flowers.... Already, when this letter reaches you, the green weeds will have begun to creep over the new-made grave, and the crust of habit to cover wounds which at first bled most freely. It is also a soothing reflection that hers was a life of which death is rather the crown than the close; so that it will not be in gloom, but in the soft sunset light of memory that they who have been wont to walk with her, and are now deprived of her companionship, will have henceforward to tread their weary way. I see in that sunset light the days when we were much together—when she used to call herself my wife. In those days her nervous system was stronger than it was when you became acquainted with her. Her soul spoke through more obedient organs. Nothing could exceed the eloquence and beauty of her letters in those days, when written under the influence of strong feeling. She is gone. I do not expect ever to see her like again.

November 1st.—Poor Balgonie, too. It is another loss; very sad, though different in its character. When I saw him at Malta, I had not a conception that he would last so long.... On November 1st I am reading your thoughts of September 1st. How far apart this proves us to be!... I sympathise deeply in all those feelings.... To whatever side one looks there is the sad blank effected by her removal; even in my public interests, I cannot say how much, since I returned home, I owed to her thoughtfulness and affection.... Cut off as we are here at present from all immediate contact with home interests, it is difficult to realise her removal and its consequences to the full. It is a stunning blow from which one recovers gradually to a consciousness of a great and undefined loss. God bless you!... and grant that you may share her inexpressible comfort.

[Sidenote: Visit to Macao.]

November 8th.—I have been absent for four days on a tour.... I liked Macao, because there is some appearance about it of a history, —convents and churches, the garden of Camoens, &c. The Portuguese have been in China about three hundred years. Hong-kong was a barren rock fifteen years ago. Macao is Catholic, Hong-kong Protestant. So these causes combined give the former a wonderful superiority in all that is antique and monumental.

November 14th.—I have received your letters to September 24th.... The Government approve entirely of my move to Calcutta, and Lord Clarendon writes very cordially on the subject.

November 15th.—I have seen the Russian Plenipotentiary.... He has been at Kiachta and the mouth of the Peiho, asking for admission to Pekin, and got considerably snubbed at both places, as I should have been if I had gone there. It will devolve on me, I apprehend, to administer the return, which is not, I think, a bad arrangement for British prestige in the East.

[Sidenote: Beginning of serious work.]

Steamer 'Ava,' Hong-kong.—November 17th.—My serious work is about to begin. I must draw up a challenge for Yeh, which is a delicate matter. Gros showed me a projet de note when I called on him some days ago. It is very long, and very well written. The fact is, that he has a much better case of quarrel than we; at least one that lends itself much better to rhetoric. An opium-ship came in from Calcutta yesterday. It brought me nothing from Canning. It is clear, however, that things are getting better with him. I think it probable that my despatch anticipating a favourable turn of affairs there, and founding on that anticipation a demand for reinforcements, will reach England at the very time when the news from India justifying that anticipation will be received.... The Government and public in England would not believe there was any danger in India for a long time, and consequently allowed the season for precautionary measures to pass by, and then made up for their apathy by the most exaggerated apprehensions. My mind has been more tranquil, for it has not presented these phases. As soon as I heard of Canning's difficulties, I determined to do what I could for him; but it never occurred to me that we were to act as if the game was up with us in the East.

[Sidenote: How to govern a democracy.]

The secret of governing a democracy is understood by men in power at present. Never interfere to check an evil until it has attained such proportions that all the world see plainly the necessities of the case. You will then get any amount of moral and material support that you require; but if you interfere at an earlier period, you will get neither thanks nor assistance! I am not at all sure but that the time is approaching when foresight will be a positive disqualification in a statesman. But to return to our own matters. The Government and public are thinking of nothing but India at present. It does not however follow, that quite as strong a feeling might not be got up for China in a few months. If we met with anything like disaster here, that would certainly be the case.

[Sidenote: Description of Hong-kong.]

Head-Quarters House, Hong-kong.—November 22nd.—I wish you could take wings and join me here, if it were even for a few hours. We should first wander through these spacious apartments. We should then stroll out on the verandah, or along the path of the little terrace garden which General Ashburnham has surrounded with a defensive wall, and from thence I should point out to you the harbour, bright as a flower-bed with the flags of many nations, the jutting promontory of Kowloon, and the barrier of bleak and jagged hills that bounds the prospect. A little later, when the sun began to sink, and the long shadows to fall from the mountain's side, we should set forth for a walk along a level pathway of about a quarter of a mile long, which is cut in its flank, and connects with this garden, and from thence we should watch this same circle of hills, now turned into a garland, and glowing in the sunset lights, crimson and purple, and blue and green, and colours for which a name has not yet been found, as they successively lit upon them. Perhaps we should be tempted to wait (and it would not be long to wait, for the night follows in these regions very closely on the heels of day), until, on these self-same hills, then gloomy and dark and sullen, tens of thousands of bright and silent stars were looking down calmly from heaven.

Macao.—December 2nd.—Baron Gros and I have been settling our plans of proceeding, which we are conducting with a most cordial entente.... As he is well versed in all the forms and usages of diplomacy, he is very useful to me in such points.... I have been living here in the house of Mr. Dent, one of the merchant princes of China. He is very obliging, and I have remained at his request a day longer than I intended. I return, however, to-day. I like Macao with its air of antiquity, in some respects almost of decadence. It is more interesting than Hong-kong, which has only existed fifteen years, and is as go-a-head and upstart and staring as 'one of our cities,' as my American friend informed me a few days ago.

Hong-kong.—December 5th.—When I went out to walk with Oliphant, I was informed by a person I met in a very public walk just out of the town, that a man had been robbed very near where we were. I met the person immediately afterwards. He was rather a mesquin-looking Portuguese, and he said that three Chinamen had rushed upon him, knocked him down, thrown a quantity of sand into his eyes, and carried off his watch. This sort of affair is not uncommon. I have bought a revolver, and am beginning to practise pistol-shooting.

[Sidenote: Preparation for action.]

December 9th.—Baron Gros came here on Monday. We have been busy, and all our plans are settled. I sent up this evening to the Admiral my letter to Yeh, which is to be delivered on Saturday the 12th. He is to have ten days to think over it, and if at the end of that time he does not give in, the city will be taken. We are in for it now. I have hardly alluded in my ultimatum to that wretched question of the 'Arrow,' which is a scandal to us, and is so considered, I have reason to know, by all except the few who are personally compromised. I have made as strong a case as I can on general grounds against Yeh, and my demands are most moderate. If he refuses to accede to them, which he probably will, this will, I hope, put us in the right when we proceed to extreme measures. The diplomatic position is excellent. The Russian has had a rebuff at the mouth of the Peiho; the American at the hands of Yeh. The Frenchman gives us a most valuable moral support by saying that he too has a sufficient ground of quarrel with Yeh. We stand towering above all, using calm and dignified language, moderate in our demands, but resolute in enforcing them. If such had been our attitude from the beginning of this controversy it would have been well. However, we cannot look back; we must do for the best, and trust in Providence to carry us through our difficulties.

[1] One of his Fifeshire neighbours.

[2] The Governor of the island.

[3] His brother, then Consul-general of Egypt.

[4] His eldest son.

[5] His birthday, and also his father's.

[6] Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission, i. 55.

[7] Life of Lady Rachel Russell.

[8] The death of his elder sister, Lady Matilda Maxwell.



CHAPTER VIII.

FIRST MISSION TO CHINA. CANTON.

IMPROVED PROSPECTS—ADVANCE ON CANTON—BOMBARDMENT AND CAPTURE—JOINT TRIBUNAL—MAINTENANCE OF ORDER—CANTON PRISONS—MOVE NORTHWARD—SWATOW—MR. BURNS—FOOCHOW—NINGPO—CHU-SAN—POTOU—SHANGHAE—MISSIONARIES.

[Sidenote: Improved prospects.]

On the same day on which the ultimatum of the Envoys was delivered to Yeh, i.e. on the 12th of December, 1857, the glad news reached Lord Elgin that Lucknow had been relieved: the more welcome to him as carrying with it the promise of speedy reinforcement to himself, and deliverance from a situation of extreme difficulty and embarrassment. 'Few people,' he might well say, 'had ever been in a position which required greater tact—four Ambassadors, two Admirals, 'a General, and a Consul-general; and, notwithstanding 'this luxuriance of colleagues, no sufficient force.' And what he felt most in the insufficiency of the force was not the irksomeness of delay, still less any anxiety as to the success of his arms. 'My greatest difficulty.' he wrote, 'arises from my fear that we shall be led to 'attack Canton before we have all our force, and led 'therefore to destroy, if there is any resistance, both life 'and property to a greater extent than would otherwise 'be necessary.' The prospects of immediate reinforcements from India diminished his fears on this score, and sent him forward with a better hope of bringing the painful situation to a speedy and easy close.

[Sidenote: Changed quarters.]

H.M.S. 'Furious,' Canton River.—December 17th.—You see from my date that I am again in a new lodging. It promises to be, I think, more agreeable than any of our previous marine residences. We have paddles instead of a screw. Then the captain has not only given up to me all the stern accommodation, but he has also done everything in his power to make the place comfortable.... He is the Sherard Osborn of Arctic regions notoriety. I am on my way to join Gros, in order to decide on our future course of action. I mentioned yesterday that Honan was occupied, and that I had received a letter from Yeh, which must, I suppose, be considered a refusal. This was the fair side of the medal. The reverse was an ugly quarrel up the river, which ended in the loss of the lives of some sailors and the destruction of a village,—a quarrel for which our people were, I suspect, to some extent responsible. I fear that, under cover of the blockade instituted by the Admiral, great abuses have taken place.... It makes one very indignant, but unfortunately it is very difficult to bring the matter home to the culprits. All this, however, makes it most important to bring the situation to a close as soon as possible. It is clear that there will be no peace till the two parties fight it out. The Chinese do not want to fight, but they will not accept the position relatively to the strangers under which alone strangers will consent to live with them, till the strength of the two parties has been tested by fighting. The English do want to fight.

[Sidenote: Yeh's reply.]

December 18th.—This does not promise to be a lively sojourn. We are anchored at present at a point where the river forks into the Whampoa and Blenheim reaches. We have the Blenheim reach, and my suite wish me to go up it to the Macao Fort, from which they think they would have a good view of what goes on when the city is attacked. I wish, however, to be with Gros, and he will go up the Whampoa reach as far as his great lumbering ship will go. Meanwhile we are here confined to our ships, as it would not of course do for me to go on shore to be caught. Poor Yeh would think me worth having at present. What will he do? His answer is very weak, and reads as if the writer was at his wits' end; but with that sort of stupid Chinese policy which consists in never yielding anything, he exposes himself to the worst consequences without making any preparations (so far as we can see) for resistance. Among other things in his letter he quotes a long extract from a Hong-kong paper describing Sir G. Bonham's investiture as K.C.B., and advises me to imitate him for my own interest, rather than Sir J. Davis, who was recalled. Davis, says Yeh, insisted on getting into the city, and Bonham gave up this demand. Hence his advice to me. All through the letter is sheer twaddle.

[Sidenote: Advance on Canton.]

December 22nd.—On the afternoon of the 20th, I got into a gunboat with Commodore Elliot, and went a short way up towards the barrier forts, which were last winter destroyed by the Americans. When we reached this point, all was so quiet that we determined to go on, and we actually steamed past the city of Canton, along the whole front, within pistol-shot of the town. A line of English men-of-war are now anchored there in front of the town. I never felt so ashamed of myself in my life, and Elliot remarked that the trip seemed to have made me sad. There we were, accumulating the means of destruction under the very eyes, and within the reach, of a population of about 1,000,000 people, against whom these means of destruction were to be employed! 'Yes,' I said to Elliot, 'I am sad, because when I look at that town, I feel that I am earning for myself a place in the Litany, immediately after "plague, pestilence, and famine."' I believe however that, as far as I am concerned, it was impossible for me to do otherwise than as I have done. I could not have abandoned the demand to enter the city after what happened last winter, without compromising our position in China altogether, and opening the way to calamities even greater than those now before us. I made my demands on Yeh as moderate as I could, so as to give him a chance of accepting; although, if he had accepted, I knew that I should have brought on my head the imprecations both of the navy and army and of the civilians, the time being given by the missionaries and the women. And now Yeh having refused, I shall do whatever I can possibly do to secure the adoption of plans of attack, &c., which will lead to the least destruction of life and property.... The weather is charming; the thermometer about 60 deg. in the shade in the morning; the sun powerful, and the atmosphere beautifully clear. When we steamed up to Canton, and saw the rich alluvial banks covered with the luxuriant evidences of unrivalled industry and natural fertility combined; beyond them, barren uplands, sprinkled with a soil of a reddish tint, which gave them the appearance of heather slopes in the Highlands; and beyond these again, the white cloud mountain range, standing out bold and blue in the clear sunshine,—I thought bitterly of those who, for the most selfish objects, are trampling under foot this ancient civilisation.