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Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin
James, Eighth Earl of Elgin
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Title: Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin
Author: James, Eighth Earl of Elgin
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LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF
JAMES, EIGHTH EARL OF ELGIN
GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA,
ENVOY TO CHINA, VICEROY OF INDIA
EDITED BY THEODORE WALROND, C.B.
WITH A PREFACE BY ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D.
DEAN OF WESTMINSTER
PREFACE.
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Having been consulted by the family and friends of the late Lord Elgin as
to the best mode of giving to the world some record of his life, and
having thus contracted a certain responsibility in the work now laid
before the public, I have considered it my duty to prefix a few words by
way of Preface to the following pages.
On Lord Elgin's death it was thought that a career intimately connected
with so many critical points in the history of the British Empire, and
containing in itself so much of intrinsic interest, ought not to be left
without an enduring memorial. The need of this was the more felt because
Lord Elgin was prevented, by the peculiar circumstances of his public
course, from enjoying the familiar recognition to which he would else have
been entitled amongst his contemporaries in England. 'For' (if I may use
the words which I have employed on a former occasion) 'it is one of the
sad consequences of a statesman's life spent like his in the constant
service of his country on arduous foreign missions, that in his own land,
in his own circle, almost in his own home, his place is occupied by
others, his very face is forgotten; he can maintain no permanent ties with
those who rule the opinion, or obtain the mastery, of the day; he has
identified himself with no existing party; he has made himself felt in
none of those domestic and personal struggles which, attract the attention
and fix the interest of the many who contribute in large measure to form
the public opinion of the time. For twenty years the few intervals of Lord
Elgin's residence in these islands were to be counted not by years, but by
months; and the majority of those who might be reckoned amongst his
friends and acquaintances, remembered him chiefly as the eager and
accomplished Oxford student at Christ Church or at Merton.'
The materials for supplying this blank were, in some respects, abundant.
Besides the official despatches and other communications which had passed
between himself and the Home Government during his successive absences in
Jamaica, Canada, China, and India, he had in the two latter positions kept
up a constant correspondence, almost of the nature of a journal, with Lady
Elgin, which combines with his reflections on public events the expression
of his more personal feelings, and thus reveals not only his own genial
and affectionate nature, but also indicates something of that singularly
poetic and philosophic turn of mind, that union of grace and power, which,
had his course lain in the more tranquil walks of life, would have
achieved no mean place amongst English thinkers and writers.
These materials his family, at my suggestion, committed to my friend Mr.
Theodore Walrond, whose sound judgment, comprehensive views, and official
experience are known to many besides myself, and who seemed not less
fitted to act as interpreter to the public at large of such a life and
character, because, not having been personally acquainted with Lord Elgin,
or connected with any of the public transactions recorded in the following
pages, he was able to speak with the sobriety of calm appreciation, rather
than the warmth of personal attachment. In this spirit he kindly
undertook, in the intervals of constant public occupations, to select from
the vast mass of materials placed at his disposal such extracts as most
vividly brought out the main features of Lord Elgin's career, adding such
illustrations as could be gleaned from private or published documents or
from the remembrance of friends. If the work has unavoidably been delayed
beyond the expected term, yet it is hoped that the interest in those great
colonial dependencies for which Lord Elgin laboured, has not diminished
with the lapse of years. It is believed also that there is no time when it
will not be good for his countrymen to have brought before them those
ads:
statesmanlike gifts which accomplished the successful accommodation of a
more varied series of novel and entangled situations than has, perhaps,
fallen to the lot of any other public man within our own memory.
Especially might be named that rare quality of a strong overruling sense
of the justice due from man to man, from nation to nation; that
'combination of speculative and practical ability' (so wrote one who had
deep experience of his mind) 'which peculiarly fitted him to solve the
problem how the subject races of a civilised empire are to be governed;'
that firm, courageous, and far-sighted confidence in the triumph of those
liberal and constitutional principles (in the best sense of the word),
which, having secured the greatness of England, were, in his judgment,
also applicable, under other forms, to the difficult circumstances of new
countries and diverse times.
'It is a singular coincidence,' said Lord Elgin, in a speech at Benares a
few months before his end, 'that three successive Governors-General of
India should have stood towards each other in the relationship of
contemporary friends. Lord Dalhousie, when named to the government of
India, was the youngest man who had ever been appointed to a situation of
such high responsibility and trust. Lord Canning was in the prime of life;
and I, if I am not already on the decline, am nearer to the verge of it
than either of my contemporaries who have preceded me. When I was leaving
England for India, Lord Ellenborough, who is now, alas! the only surviving
ex-Governor-General, said to me, '"You are not a very old man; but, depend
upon it, you will find yourself by far the oldest man in India."' To that
mournful catalogue was added his own name within the brief space of one
year; and now a fourth, not indeed bound to the others by ties of personal
or political friendship, but like in energetic discharge of his duties and
in the prime of usefulness in which he was cut off, has fallen by a fate
yet more untimely.
These tragical incidents invest the high office to which such precious
lives have been sacrificed with a new and solemn interest. There is
something especially pathetic when the gallant vessel, as it were, goes
down within very sight of the harbour, with all its accumulated treasures.
But no losses more appeal at the moment to the heart of the country, no
careers deserve to be more carefully enshrined in its grateful
remembrance.
ARTHUR P. STANLEY.
_Deanery, Westminster:
March 4,1872._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS.
Birth and Parentage--School and College--Taste for Philosophy--Training
for Public Life--M.P. for Southampton--Speech on the Address--Appointed
Governor of Jamaica.
CHAPTER II.
JAMAICA.
Shipwreck--Death of Lady Elgin--Position of a Governor in a West Indian
Colony such as Jamaica--State of Public Opinion in the Island--Questions
of Finance, Education, Agriculture, the Labouring Classes, Religion, the
Church--Harmonising Influences of British Connexion--Resignation
--Appointment to Canada.
CHAPTER III.
CANADA.
State of the Colony--First Impressions--Provincial Politics--'Responsible
Government'--Irish Immigrants--Upper Canada--Change of Ministry--French
Habitans--The French Question--The Irish--The British--Discontents; their
Causes and Remedies--Navigation Laws--Retrospect--Speech on Education.
CHAPTER IV.
CANADA.
Discontent--Rebellion Losses Bill--Opposition to it--Neutrality of the
Governor--Riots at Montreal--Firmness of the Governor--Approval of Home
Government--Fresh Riots--Removal of Seat of Government from Montreal
--Forbearance of Lord Elgin--Retrospect.
CHAPTER V.
CANADA.
Annexation Movement--Remedial Measures--Repeal of the Navigation Laws
--Reciprocity with the United States--History of the Two Measures--Duty of
Supporting Authority--Views on Colonial Government--Colonial Interests the
Sport of Home Parties--No Separation!--Self-Government not necessarily
Republican--Value of the Monarchical Principle--Defences of the Colony.
CHAPTER VI.
CANADA.
The 'Clergy Reserves'--History of the Question--Mixed Motives of the
Movement--Feeling in the Province--In Upper Canada--In Lower Canada--Among
Roman Catholics--In the Church--Secularisation--Questions of Emigration,
Labour, Land-tenure, Education, Native Tribes--Relations with the United
States--Mutual Courtesies--Farewell to Canada--At Home.
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.
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--Chusan--Potou--Shanghae--Missionaries.
CHAPTER IX.
FIRST MISSION TO CHINA--TIENTSIN.
Advance to the Peiho--Taking of the Forts--The Peiho River--Tientsin
--Negotiations--The Treaty--The Eight of Sending a Minister to Pekin
--Return southward--Sails for Japan.
CHAPTER X.
FIRST MISSION TO CHINA--JAPAN.
Embark for Japan--Coast Views--Simoda--Off Yeddo--Yeddo--Conferences--A
Country Ride--Peace and Plenty--Feudal System--A Temple--A Juggler
--Signing the Treaty--Its Terms--Retrospect.
CHAPTER XI.
FIRST MISSION TO CHINA--THE YANGTZE KIANG.
Delays--Subterfuges defeated by Firmness--Revised Tariff--Opium Trade--Up
the Yangtze Kiang--Silver Island--Nankin--Rebel Warfare--The Hen-Barrier
--Unknown Waters--Difficult Navigation--Hankow--The Governor-General
--Return--Taking to the Gunboats--Nganching--Nankin--Retrospect--More
Delays--Troubles at Canton--Return to Hong-Kong--Mission completed
--Homeward Voyage
CHAPTER XII.
SECOND MISSION TO CHINA--OUTWARD.
Lord Elgin in England--Origin of Second Mission to China--Gloomy
Prospects--Egypt--The Pyramids--The Sphinx--Passengers Homeward bound
--Ceylon--Shipwreck--Penang--Singapore--Shanghae--Meeting with Mr. Bruce
--Talien-Whan--Sir Hope Grant--Plans for Landing.
CHAPTER XIII.
SECOND MISSION TO CHINA--PEKIN.
The Landing--Chinese Overtures--Taking of the Forts--The Peiho--Tientsin
--Negotiations broken off--New Plenipotentiaries--Agreement made--Agreement
broken--Treacherous Seizure of Mr. Parkes and others--Advance on Pekin
--Return of some of the Captives--Fate of the rest--Burning of the Summer
Palace--Convention signed--Funeral of the murdered Captives--Imperial
Palace--Prince Kung--Arrival of Mr. Bruce--Results of the Mission.
CHAPTER XIV.
SECOND MISSION TO CHINA--HOMEWARD.
Leaving the Gulf--Detention at Shanghae--Kowloon--Adieu to China--Island
of Luzon--Churches--Government--Manufactures--General Condition--Island of
Java--Buitenzorg--Bantong--Volcano--Soirees--Retrospect--Ceylon--The
Mediterranean--England--Warm Reception--Dunfermline--Royal Academy Dinner
--Mansion House Dinner.
CHAPTER XV.
INDIA.
Appointed Viceroy of India--Forebodings--Voyage to India--Installation
--Deaths of Mr. Ritchie, Lord Canning, General Bruce--The Hot Season
--Business resumed--State of the Empire--Letters: the Army; Cultivation of
Cotton; Orientals not all Children; Missionaries; Rumours of Disaffection;
Alarms; Murder of a Native; Afghanistan; Policy of Lord Canning;
Consideration for Natives.
CHAPTER XVI.
INDIA.
Duty of a Governor-General to visit the Provinces--Progress to the North-
West--Benares--Speech on the Opening of the Railway--Cawnpore--Grand
Durbar at Agra--Delhi--Hurdwar--Address to the Sikh Chiefs at Umballa
--Kussowlie--Simla--Letters: Supply of Labour; Special Legislation;
Missionary Gathering; Finance; Seat of Government; Value of Training at
Head-quarters; Aristocracies; against Intermeddling--The Sitana Fanatics
--Himalayas--Rotung Pass--Twig Bridge--Illness--Death--Characteristics
--Burial-place.
MEMOIR
OF
JAMES, EIGHTH EARL OF ELGIN,
&c. &c.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS.
BIRTH AND PARENTAGE--SCHOOL AND COLLEGE--TASTE FOR PHILOSOPHY--
TRAINING
FOR PUBLIC LIFE--M.P. FOR SOUTHAMPTON--SPEECH ON THE ADDRESS--
APPOINTED
GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA.
[Sidenote: Birth and parentage.]
James, eighth Earl of Elgin and twelfth Earl of Kincardine, was born in
London on July 20, 1811. His father, whose career as Ambassador at
Constantinople is so well known in connection with the 'Elgin Marbles,'
was the chief and representative of the ancient Norman house, whose hero
was 'Robert the Bruce.' From him, it may be said that he inherited the
genial and playful spirit which gave such a charm to his social and
parental relations, and which helped him to elicit from others the
knowledge of which he made so much use in the many diverse situations of
his after-life. His mother, Lord Elgin's second wife, was a daughter of
Mr. Oswald, of Dunnikier, in Fifeshire. Her deep piety, united with wide
reach of mind and varied culture, made her admirably qualified to be the
depositary of the ardent thoughts and aspirations of his boyhood; and, as
he grew up, he found a second mother in his elder sister, Matilda, who
became the wife of Sir John Maxwell, of Pollok. To the influence of such a
mother and such a sister he probably owed the pliancy and power of
sympathy with others for which he was remarkable, and which is not often
found in characters of so tough a fibre. To them, from his earliest years,
he confided the outpourings of his deeper religious feelings. One
expression of such feeling, dated June 1821, may be worth recording as an
example of that strong sense of duty and affection towards his brothers,
which, beginning at that early age, marked his whole subsequent career.
'Be with me this week, in my studies, my amusements, in everything. When
at my lessons, may I think only of them; playing when I play: when
dressing, may I be quick, and never put off time, and never amuse myself
but in playhours. Oh! may I set a good example to nay brothers. Let me not
teach them anything that is bad, and may they not learn wickedness from
seeing me. May I command my temper and passions, and give me a better
heart for their good.'
[Sidenote: School and college.]
He learned the rudiments of Latin and Greek under the careful teaching of
a resident tutor, Mr. Fergus Jardine. At the age of fourteen he went to
Eton, and thence, in due time, to Christ Church, Oxford, where he found
him self among a group of young men destined to distinction in after-life
--Lord Canning, James Ramsay (afterwards Lord Dalhousie), the late Duke
of Newcastle, Sidney Herbert, and Mr. Gladstone.
There is little to record respecting this period of his life; but a
touching interest attaches to the following extracts from a letter written
by his brother, Sir Frederick Bruce, in November, 1865.
'My recollections of Elgin's early life are, owing to circumstances,
almost nothing. In the year 1820 he went abroad with my father and mother,
and was away for two years. From that time I recollect nothing until he
went to Eton; and his holidays were then divided between Torquay, where my
eldest brother was, and Broomhall;[1] and of them my memory has retained
nothing but the assistance in his later holidays he used to give me in
classical studies.
We were together for about a year and a half at Oxford. But he was so far
advanced in his studies, that we had very little in common to bring us
together; and I hardly remember any striking fact connected with him,
except one or two speeches at the Union Club, when in eloquence and
originality he far outshone his competitors.[2]
'I do not know whether Mr. Welland is still alive: he probably, better
than anyone, could give some sketch of his intellectual growth, and of
that beautiful trait in his character, the devotion and abnegation he
showed o poor Bruce[3] in his long and painful illness.
'He was always reserved about his own feelings and aspirations. Owing to
the shortness of his stay at Oxford, he had to work very hard; and his
friends, like Newcastle and Hamilton, were men who sought him for the
soundness of his judgment, which led them to seek his advice in all
matters. He always stood to them in the relation of a much older man. He
had none of the frailties of youth, and, though very capable of enjoying
its diversions, life with him from a very early date was "sicklied o'er
with the pale cast of thought." Its practical aspect to him was one of
anxiety and difficulty, while his intellect was attracted to high and
abstract speculation, and took little interest in the every-day routine
which is sufficient occupation for ordinary minds. Like all men of
original mind, he lived a life apart from his fellows.
'He looked upon the family estate rather as a trust than as an
inheritance--as far more valuable than money on account of the family
traditions, and the position which in our state of society is given to a
family connected historically with the country. Elgin felt this deeply,
and he clung to it in spite of difficulties which would have deterred a
man of more purely selfish views.'
'It is melancholy to reflect,' adds Sir F. Bruce, 'how those have
disappeared who could have filled up this gap in his history.' It is a
reflection even more melancholy, that the loved and trusted brother, who
shared so many of his labours and his aspirations, no longer lives to
write that history, and to illustrate in his own person the spirit by
which it was animated.
The sense of the difficulties above referred to strongly impressed his
mind even before he went to Oxford, and laid the foundation of that habit
of self-denial in all personal matters, which enabled him through life to
retain a feeling of independence, and at the same time to give effect to
the promptings of a generous nature. 'You tell me,' he writes to his
father from college, 'I coin money. I uncoined your last order by putting
it into the fire, having already supplied myself.'
About the middle of his Oxford career, a studentship fell vacant, which,
according to the strange system then prevalent, was in the gift of Dr.
Bull, one of the Canons of Christ Church. Instead of bestowing it, as was
too commonly done, on grounds of private interest, Dr. Bull placed the
valuable prize at the disposal of the Dean and Censors, to be conferred on
the most worthy of the undergraduates. Their choice fell on James Bruce.
In announcing this to a member of the Bruce family, Dr. Bull wrote: 'Dr.
Smith, no less than the present college officers, assures me that there is
no young man, of whatever rank, who could be more acceptable to the
society, and none whose appointment as the reward of excellent deportment,
diligence, and right-mindedness, would do more good among the young men.'
A letter written about this time to his father shows that the young
student, with a sagacity beyond his years, discerned the germs of an evil
which has since grown to a great height, and now lies at the root of some
of the most troublesome questions connected with University Education.
In my own mind I confess I am much of opinion, that college is put off
in general till too late;[4] and the gaining of _honours_
therefore, becomes too severe to be useful to men who are to enter
into professions. It was certainly originally intended that the
degrees which require only a knowledge of the classics should be taken
at an earlier age, in order to admit of a residence after they were
taken, during which the student might devote himself to science or
composition, and those habits of reflection by which the mind might be
formed, and a practical advantage drawn from the stores of knowledge
already acquired. By putting them off to so late an age, the
consequence has been, that it has been necessary proportionably to
increase the difficulty of their attainment, and to mix up in college
examinations (which were supposed to depend upon study alone) essays
in many cases of a nature that demands the most prolonged and deep
reflection. The effect of this is evident. Those who, from
circumstances, have neither opportunity nor leisure thus to reflect,
must, in order to secure their success, acquire that kind of
superficial information which may enable them to draw sufficiently
plausible conclusions, upon very slight grounds; and [of] many who
have this _form_ of knowledge, most will eventually be proved (if
this system is carried to an excess) to have but little of the
_substance_ of it.
He had meant to read for double honours, but illness, brought on by over-
work, obliged him to confine himself to classics. All who know Oxford are
aware, that the term 'Classics,' as there used, embraces not only Greek
and Latin scholarship, but also Ancient History and Philosophy. In these
latter studies the natural taste and previous education of James Bruce led
him to take a special interest, and he threw himself into the work in no
niggard spirit.[5] At the Michaelmas Examination of 1832, he was placed in
the first class in classics, and common report spoke of him as 'the best
first of his 'year.' Not long afterwards he was elected Fellow of Merton.
He appears to have been a candidate also for the Eldon Scholarship, but
without success. In a contest for a legal prize it was no discredit to be
defeated by Roundell Palmer.
[Sidenote: Taste for philosophy.]
Some of his contemporaries have a lively remembrance of the eagerness with
which, while still a student, he travelled into fields at that period
beyond the somewhat narrow range of academic study. Professor Maurice at
one time, Dr. Pusey at another, were his delighted companions in exploring
the dialogues of Plato. Mr. Gladstone 'remembers his speaking of Milton's
prose works with great fervour when they were at Eton together;' and adds
the confession--interesting alike as regards both the young students--'I
think it was from his mouth I first learned that Milton had written any
prose,' This affection for those soul-stirring treatises of the great
advocate of free speech and inquiry he always retained: they formed his
constant companions wherever he travelled; and there are many occasions in
which their influence may be traced on his thought and language. 'I would
rather swallow a bushel of chaff than lose the precious grains of truth
which may somewhere or other be scattered in it,' was a sentiment which,
though expressed in much later life, was characteristic of his whole
career. In this spirit he listened with deep interest to the roll of
theological controversy then raging at Oxford, though he was never carried
away by its violence.
In after life he had little leisure to pursue the philosophic studies
commenced at Oxford; but they took deep and permanent hold on his mind,
and formed in fact the groundwork of his great practical ability. This is
well stated by Sir Frederick Bruce:--
In Elgin (to use the distinctions of Coleridge, whose philosophy he
had thoroughly mastered) the Reason and Understanding were both
largely developed, and both admirably balanced. And in this
combination lay the secret of his success in so many spheres of
action, so different in their characteristics, so alike in their
difficulties. The process he went through was always the same. He set
himself to work to form in his own mind a clear idea of each of the
constituent parts of the problem with which he had to deal. This he
effected partly by reading, but still more by conversation with
special men, and by that extraordinary logical power of mind and
penetration which not only enabled him to get out of every man all he
had in him, but which revealed to those men themselves a knowledge of
their own imperfect and crude conceptions, and made them constantly
unwilling witnesses or reluctant adherents to views which originally
they were prepared to oppose. To test the accuracy of their statements
and observations, and to discriminate between what was fact and what
was prejudice or misconception, he made use of the higher faculty of
cultivated Reason, which enabled him, by his deep insight into the
universal principles of human nature, of forms of government, &c., to
bring to the consideration of particular facts the light of an a
priori knowledge of what was to be expected under particular
circumstances. The result was, that in an incredibly short time, and
with little apparent study or effort, he attained an accurate and
clear conception of the essential facts before him, and was thus
enabled to strike out a course which he could consistently pursue
amidst all difficulties, because it was in harmony with the actual
facts and the permanent conditions of the problem he had to solve.
[Sidenote: Training for public life.]
The years which followed the completion of his academical studies--those
golden years which generally determine the complexion of a man's future
life--were not devoted in his case to any definite pursuit; for though he
entered himself of Lincoln's Inn in June, 1835, he does not appear to have
ever embarked in the professional study of law.
The scanty notices which remain of this period show him chiefly residing
at Broomhall, where, in his father's absence, he takes his place in the
affairs of the county of Fife; commands his troop of yeomanry; now
presides at a farmers' dinner, for which be has written an appropriate
song; now, at the request of Dr. Chalmers, speaks at a public meeting in
favour of church extension. At one time we hear of long solitary rides
over field and fell, during which the thoughts and feelings that stirred
in him would take the shape of a sonnet or a poem, to be confided to one
of his sisters; at another time he is keeping up a regular correspondence
on abstruse questions of philosophy with his brother Frederick, still at
Oxford.
In these pursuits, as well as in the somewhat harassing occupation of
disentangling the family property from its embarrassments, be was
preparing himself for future usefulness by the exercise of the same
industry and patience, the same grasp both of details and of general
purpose, which be showed in the political career gradually dawning upon
him. It was observed that, whatsoever his hand found to do, he did it with
all his might, as well as with a judgment and discretion beyond his years,
and a tact akin to genius. He was undergoing, perhaps, the best training
for the varied duties to which he was to be called--that peculiarly
British 'discipline of mind, body, and heart' to which observers like
Bunsen attribute the effectiveness of England's public men.
As early as 1834, when he had barely completed his twenty-third year, he
published a Letter to the Electors of Great Britain, with the view of
vindicating the policy and the position of the Tory leaders, more
especially of the Duke of Wellington. A similar motive, the desire of
protesting against a monopoly of liberal sentiments by the Whigs, and
showing in his own person that a Tory was not necessarily a narrow bigot,
impelled him to offer himself as a candidate at the election of 1837, on
the occurrence of an unexpected vacancy in the representation of
Fifeshire. But, coming forward at a moment's warning, he never had any
chance of success, and was defeated by a large majority.
[Sidenote: M.P. for Southampton.]
In the year 1840, George, Lord Bruce, the eldest son of Lord Elgin by his
first wife, died, unmarried, and James became heir to the earldom. On
April 22, 1841, he married Elizabeth Mary, daughter of Mr. C.L. Cumming
Bruce. At the general election in July of the same year he stood for the
borough of Southampton, and was returned at the head of the poll. His
political views at this time were very much those which have since been
called 'Liberal Conservative.' Speaking at a great banquet at Southampton
he said--
I am a Conservative, not upon principles of exclusionism--not from
narrowness of view, or illiberality of sentiment--but because I
believe that our admirable Constitution, on principles more exalted
and under sanctions more holy than those which Owenism or Socialism
can boast, proclaims between men of all classes and degrees in the
body politic a sacred bond of brotherhood in the recognition of a
common warfare here, and a common hope hereafter. I am a Conservative,
not because I am adverse to improvement, not because I am unwilling to
repair what is wasted, or to supply what is defective in the political
fabric, but because I am satisfied that, in order to improve
effectually, you must be resolved most religiously to preserve. I am a
Conservative, because I believe that the institutions of our country,
religious as well as civil, are wisely adapted, when duly and
faithfully administered, to promote, not the interest of any class or
classes exclusively, but the happiness and welfare of the great body
of the people; and because I feel that, on the maintenance of these
institutions, not only the economical prosperity of England, but, what
is yet more important, the virtues that distinguish and adorn the
English character, under God, mainly depend.
[Sidenote: Speech on the Address.]
Parliament met on August 19, and, on the 24th, the new member seconded the
amendment on the Address, in a speech, of great promise. In the course of
it he professed himself a friend to Free Trade, but Free Trade as
explained and vindicated by Mr. Huskisson:--
He should at all times be prepared to vote for a free trade on
principles of reciprocity, due regard being had to the interests which
had grown up under our present commercial system, without which, as he
conceived, the rights of the labouring classes could not be protected.
Much had been on various occasions said about the interests of the
capitalists and the landlords, but unless the measures of a Government
were directed equally to secure the rights of the working classes,
they never should be supported by a vote of his. It was true that the
landlord might derive some increased value to his property from the
increase of factories and other buildings upon it, and that the
capitalist might more advantageously invest his capital, or he might
withdraw it from a sinking concern; but the only capital of the
labourer was his skill in his own particular walk, and it was a
mockery to tell him that he could find a satisfactory compensation
elsewhere.
But the most characteristic part of his speech was that in which he
commented on the 'harsh, severe, and unjust terms' in which it had been
the fashion to designate those who had taken an opposite view on these
questions to that taken by Her Majesty's Government:--
In a day (he said) when all monopolies are denounced, I must he
permitted to say that, to my mind, the monopoly which is the most
intolerable and odious is the pretension to the monopoly of public
virtue.
The amendment was carried by a large majority. Lord Melbourne resigned,
and Sir Robert Peel became Prime Minister. About the same time, by the
death of his father and his own succession to the peerage, the young
Lord's brief career in the House of Commons was closed for ever; no
Scottish peer being eligible, according to the commonly received opinion,
to sit in the Lower House. He appears, indeed, to have had at one time an
idea of pressing the question; but he abandoned this intention on finding
that it had been entertained twenty-five years before by Lord Aberdeen,
and given up by him on the ground, that the majority of the Scottish Peers
looked upon the proposal as lowering to their body, and as implying
inferiority on their part to the English Peers.
[Sidenote: Governor of Jamaica.]
At this time it seemed as if the fair promise of eloquence and
statesmanship had been shown to public life only to be withdrawn from it;
but a path was about to be opened, leading to a new field of action,
distant, indeed, and often thankless, but giving scope for the exercise of
gifts, both of mind and character, which can rarely be exhibited in a
Parliamentary career. In March 1842, at the early age of thirty, he was
selected by Lord Stanley, who was then Secretary for the Colonies, for the
important post of Governor of Jamaica.
[1] The family seat In Fifeshire.
[2] The most distinguished of all those competitors has borne his
testimony to the truth of this expression. 'I well remember,' Mr.
Gladstone wrote after his death, placing him as to the natural gift of
eloquence at the head of all those I knew either at Eton or at the
University.'
[3] His elder brother.
[4] 'We are disposed, in fact, to regard the question, of
University extension, in this sense, as depending entirely on the
possibility of reducing the time required for a University degree, and
we should like to see more attention paid to this point.... The
opinion is strongly and widely entertained, that students now stay too
long at the Public Schools and Universities, and that voting men
ought not to be engaged in the mere preparatory studies of their life
up to the age of twenty-three or twenty-four.'--_Times_, May 22, 1869.
[5] There remains a memorandum in his handwriting of a systematic
course of study to be pursued for his degree, in which two points are
remarkable--1st, the broad and liberal spirit in which it is
conceived; 2ndly, that the whole is based on the Bible. Ancient
History, together with Aristotle's Politics and the ancient orators,
are to be read 'in connection with the Bible History,' with the view
of seeing 'how all hang upon each other, and develops the leading
schemes of Providence.' The various branches of mental and moral
science he proposes, in like manner, 'to hinge upon the New Testament,
as constituting, in another line, the history of moral and
intellectual development.'
CHAPTER II.
JAMAICA.
SHIPWRECK--DEATH OF LADY ELGIN--POSITION OF A GOVERNOR IN A WEST INDIAN
COLONY SUCH AS JAMAICA--STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION IN THE ISLAND--QUESTIONS
OF FINANCE, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE, THE LABOURING CLASSES, RELIGION, THE
CHURCH--HARMONISING INFLUENCES OF BRITISH CONNEXION--RESIGNATION
--APPOINTMENT TO CANADA.
[Sidenote: Shipwreck.]
[Sidenote: Death of Lady Elgin.]
Lord Elgin sailed for Jamaica in the middle of April 1842. The West Indian
steamers at that time held their rendezvous for the collection and
distribution of the mails not, as now, at St. Thomas, but at a little
island called Turk's Island, a mere sandbank, hedged with coral reefs. The
vessel in which Lord Elgin was a passenger made this island during the
night; but the captain, over anxious to keep his time, held on towards the
shore. They struck on a spike of coral, which pierced the ship's side and
held her impaled; fortunately so, for she was thus prevented from backing
out to sea and foundering with all hands, as other vessels did. Though the
ship itself became a total wreck, no lives were lost, and nearly
everything of value was saved; but from the shock of that night Lady
Elgin, though apparently little alarmed at the time, never recovered. Two
months afterwards, in giving birth to a daughter, now Lady Elma Thurlow,
she was seized with violent convulsions, which were nearly fatal; and
though, to the surprise of the medical men, she rallied from this attack,
her health was seriously impaired, and she died in the summer of the
following year.
[Sidenote: Position of a Governor in a West Indian colony]
There are probably few situations of greater difficulty and delicacy than
that of the Governor of a British colony which possesses representative
institutions. A constitutional sovereign, but with frail and temporary
tenure, he is expected not to reign only but to govern; and to govern
under the orders of a distant minister, who, if he has one eye on the
colony, must keep the other on home politics. Thus, without any power in
himself, he is a meeting-point of two different and generally antagonistic
forces--the will of the imperial government and the will of the local
legislature. To act in harmony with both these forces, and to bring them
into something of harmony with each other, requires, under the most
favourable circumstances, a rare union of firmness with patience and tact.
But the difficulties were much aggravated in a West Indian colony in the
early days of Emancipation.
[Sidenote: such as Jamaica.]
Here the local legislature was a democratic oligarchy, partly composed of
landowners, but chiefly of overseers, with no permanent stake in the
country. And this legislature had to be induced to pass measures for the
benefit of those very blacks of whose enforced service they had been
deprived, and whose paid labour they found it difficult to obtain. Add to
this that, in Jamaica, a long period of contention with the mother-country
had left a feeling of bitter resentment for the past, and sullen
despondency as regards the future. Moreover, the balance had to be held
between the Church of England on the one hand, which was in possession of
all the ecclesiastical endowments, and probably of all the learning and
cultivation of the island, and, on the other hand, the various sects,
especially that of the Baptists, who, having fought vigorously for the
Negroes in the battle of Emancipation, now held undisputed sway over their
minds, and who, as was natural, found it difficult to abandon the position
of demagogues and agitators.
Lord Elgin was at once fortunate and unfortunate in coming after the most
conciliatory and popular of governors, Sir C. Metcalfe. The island was in
a state of peace and harmony which had been long unknown to it; but the
singular affection, which Metcalfe had inspired in all classes, made them
look forward with the most gloomy forebodings to the advent of his
successor.
[Sidenote: State of opinion in the island.]
Moreover, to use Lord Elgin's own language, a tone of despondency with
reference to the prospects of the owners of property had long been
considered the test of a sincere regard for the welfare of Jamaica. He who
had been most successful in proclaiming the depression under which the
landed and trading interests laboured, had been held to be in the popular
acceptation of the term the truest friend to the colony.
Nothing could be more alien to the spirit of inquiry and enterprise which
leads to practical improvement. In an enervating climate, with a
proprietary for the most part non-resident, and a peasantry generally
independent of their employers, much encouragement is requisite to induce
managers to encounter the labour and responsibility which attends the
introduction of new systems; but, by reason of the unfortunate
prepossession above described, the announcement of a belief that the
planters had not exhausted the resources within their reach, had been
considered a declaration of hostility towards that class.
And truly (wrote Lord Elgin himself) the _onus probandi_ lay, and
pretty heavily too, upon the propounder of the obnoxious doctrine of
hope. Was it not shown on the face of unquestioned official returns,
that the exports of the island had dwindled to one-third of their
former amount? Was it not attested even in Parliament, that estates,
which used to produce thousands annually, were sinking money year
after year? Was it not apparent that the labourers stood in a relation
of independence towards the owners of capital and land, totally
unknown to a similar class in any fully peopled country? All these
were facts and indisputable. And again, was it not equally certain
that undeserved aspersions were cast upon the planters? Were they not
held responsible for results over which they could exercise no manner
of control? and was it not natural that, having been thus calumniated,
they should be somewhat impatient of advice?
From the day of Lord Elgin's arrival in the colony, he was convinced that
the endeavour to work a change on public opinion in this respect, would
constitute one of his first and most important duties; but he was not
insensible to the difficulties with which the experiment was surrounded.
He felt that a new Governor, rash enough to assert that all was not yet
accomplished which ingenuity and perseverance could achieve, might have
perilled his chance of benefiting the colony. Men would have said, and
with some truth, 'he knows nothing of the matter; his information is
derived from A. or B.; he is a tool in their hands; he will undo all the
good which others have effected by enlisting the sympathies of England in
our favour.' He would have been deemed a party man, and become an object
of suspicion and distrust.
It was soon found, however, that the new Governor was as anxious as his
predecessor had been to conciliate the good will and promote the interests
of all ranks of the community in a spirit of perfect fairness and
moderation. The agitation of vexed constitutional questions he earnestly
deprecated as likely to interrupt the harmony happily prevailing between
the several branches of the legislature, and to divert the attention of
influential members of the community from the material interests of the
colony to the consideration of more exciting subjects. 'I do not
underrate,' he said, 'the importance of constitutional questions, nor am I
insensible to the honour which may be acquired by their satisfactory
adjustment. In the present crisis of our fortunes, however, I am impressed
with the belief that he is the best friend to Jamaica who concentrates his
energies on the promotion of the moral well-being of the population, and
the restoration of the economical prosperity of the island.'
[Sidenote: Questions of finance]
The finances of the colony were at this time in a state to require the
most careful treatment. At a moment when the recent violent change in the
distribution of the wealth of the community had left the proprietary body
generally in a depressed condition, the Legislature had to provide for the
wants of the newly emancipated population, by increasing at great cost the
ecclesiastical and judicial establishments; and at the same time it was
necessary that a quantity of inconvertible paper recently set afloat
should be redeemed, if the currency was to be fixed on a sound basis.
Under these conditions it was not easy to equalise the receipts and
expenditure of the island treasury; and the difficulty was not diminished
by the necessity of satisfying critics at home. Before long an occasion
arose to test Lord Elgin's tact and discretion in mediating on such
questions between the colony and the mother-country.
Towards the end of 1842 a new tariff was enacted by the legislature of the
island. When the Act embodying it was sent home, it was found to violate
certain economical principles recently adopted in this country. An angry
despatch from Downing Street informed Lord Elgin that it was disapproved,
and that nothing but an apprehension of the financial embarrassments that
must ensue prevented its being formally disallowed. In terms almost
amounting to a reprimand, it was intimated that the adoption of such
objectionable enactments might be prevented if the Governor would exercise
the legitimate influence of his office in opposing them; and it was added,
'If, unfortunately, your efforts should be unsuccessful, and if any such
bill should be presented for your acceptance, it is Her Majesty's pleasure
and command that you withhold your assent from it.'
Lord Elgin replied by a temperate representation, that it was but natural
that traces of a policy long sanctioned by the mother-country should
remain in the legislation of the colony; that the duties in question were
not found injuriously to check trade, while they were needed to meet the
expenditure: moreover, that the Assembly was, and always had been,
extremely jealous of any interference in the matter of self-taxation:
lastly, that 'while sensible that the services of a Governor must be
unprofitable if he failed to acquire and exercise a legitimate moral
influence in the general conduct of affairs, he was at the same time
convinced that a just appreciation of the difficulties with which the
legislature of the island had yet to contend, and of the sacrifices and
exertions already made under the pressure of no ordinary embarrassments,
was an indispensable condition to his usefulness.'
The Home Government felt the weight of these considerations, and the
correspondence closed with the revocation of the peremptory command above
quoted.
[Sidenote: Education.]
The object which Lord Elgin had most at heart was to improve the moral and
social condition of the Negroes, and to fit them, by education, for the
freedom which had been thrust upon them; but, with characteristic tact and
sagacity, he preferred to compass this end through the agency of the
planters themselves. By encouraging the application of mechanical
contrivances to agriculture, he sought to make it the interest not only of
the peasants to acquire, but of the planters to give them, the education
necessary for using machinery; while he lost no opportunity of impressing
on the land-owning class that, if they wished to secure a constant supply
of labour, they could not do so better than by creating in the labouring
class the wants which belong to educated beings.
The following extracts from private letters, written at the time to the
Secretary of State, contain the freshest and best expression of his views
on these and similar questions of island politics:--
In some quarters I am informed, that less desire for education is
shown now by the Negroes than during the apprenticeship; and the
reason assigned is, that it was then supposed that certain social and
political advantages would accrue to those who were able to read, but
that now, when all is gained, and all are on a par in these respects,
the same zeal for learning no longer prevails. It has been suggested
that a great impulse might be given in this direction, by working on
the feeling which existed formerly; confining the franchise for
instance to qualified persons who could read, or by some other
expedient of the same nature. This being an important constitutional
question, I have not thought it right to give the notion any
encouragement; but I submit it as coming from persons who are, I
believe, sincere well-wishers to the Negro. It is not very easy to
keep children steadily at school, or to enforce a very rigid
discipline on them when they are there. Parents who have never been
themselves educated, cannot be expected to attach a very high value to
education. The system of Slavery was not calculated to strengthen the
family ties; and parents do not, I apprehend, exercise generally a
very steady and consistent control in their families. The consequence
is, that children are pretty generally at liberty to attend school or
not as they please. If the rising generation, however, are not
educated, what is to become of this island? That they have withdrawn
themselves to a considerable extent from field labour is, I think,
generally admitted. It is therefore undoubtedly desirable that all
legitimate inducements should be held out, both to parents and
children, to encourage the latter to attend school.
In urging the adoption of machinery in aid of manual labour, one main
object I have had in view has ever been the creation of an aristocracy
among the labourers themselves; the substitution of a given amount of
skilled labour for a larger amount of unskilled. My hope is, that we
may thus engender a healthy emulation among the labourers, a desire to
obtain situations of eminence and mark among their fellows, and also
to push their children forwards in the same career. Where labour is so
scarce as it is here, it is undoubtedly a great object to be able to
effect at a cheaper rate by machinery, what you now attempt to execute
very unsatisfactorily by the hand of man. But it seems to me to be a
still more important object to awaken this honourable ambition in the
breast of the peasant, and I do not see how this can be effected by
any other means. So long as labour means nothing more than digging
cane holes, or carrying loads on the head, physical strength is the
only thing required, no moral or intellectual quality comes into play.
But, in dealing with mechanical appliances, the case is different;
knowledge, acuteness, steadiness are at a premium. The Negro will soon
appreciate the worth of these qualities, when they give him position
among his own class. An indirect value will thus attach to education.
Every successful effort made by enterprising and intelligent
individuals to substitute skilled for unskilled labour; every premium
awarded by societies in acknowledgment of superior honesty,
carefulness, or ability, has a tendency to afford a remedy the most
salutary and effectual which can be devised for the evil here set
forth.
[Sidenote: Agriculture.]
With the view of awakening an interest in the subject of agricultural
improvements, Lord Elgin himself offered a premium of 100_l_. for the
best practical treatise on the cultivation of the cane, with a special
reference to the adoption of mechanical aids and appliances in aid or in
lieu of mechanical labour. In forwarding to Lord Stanley printed copies of
eight of the essays which competed for the prize, he wrote as follows:--
Much, I believe, is involved in the issue of this and similar experiments.
So long as the planter despairs,--so long as he assumes that the cane can
be cultivated and sugar manufactured at profit only on the system adopted
during slavery,--so long as he looks to external aids (among which I class
immigration) as his sole hope of salvation from ruin--with what feelings
must he contemplate all earnest efforts to civilise the mass of the
population? Is education necessary to qualify the peasantry to carry on
the rude field operations of slavery? May not some persons even entertain
the apprehension, that it will indispose them to such pursuits? But let
him, on the other hand, believe that, by the substitution of more
artificial methods for those hitherto employed, he may materially abridge
the expense of raising his produce, and he cannot fail to perceive that an
intelligent, well-educated labourer, with something of a character to
lose, and a reasonable ambition to stimulate him to exertion, is likely to
prove an instrument more apt for his purposes than the ignorant drudge who
differs from the slave only in being no longer amenable to personal
restraint.[1]
One of the measures in which Lord Elgin took the most active interest was
the establishment of a 'General Agricultural Society for the Island of
Jamaica,' and he was much gratified by receiving Her Majesty's permission
to give to it the sanction of her name as Patroness.
I am confident (he writes to Lord Stanley) that the notice which Her
Majesty is pleased to take of the institution will be duly
appreciated, and will be productive of much good.
You must allow me to remark (he adds) that moral results of much
moment are involved in the issue of the efforts which we are now
making for the improvement of agriculture in this colony. Not only has
the impulse which has been imparted to the public mind in Jamaica been
beneficial in itself and in its direct effects, but it has, I am
firmly persuaded, checked opposing tendencies, which threatened very
injurious consequences to Negro civilisation. To reconcile the planter
to the heavy burdens which he was called to bear for the improvement
of our establishments and the benefit of the mass of the population,
it was necessary to persuade him that he had an interest in raising
the standard of education and morals among the peasantry; and this
belief could be imparted only by inspiring a taste for a more
artificial system of husbandry. By the silent operation of such
salutary convictions, prejudices of old standing are removed; the
friends of the Negro and of the proprietary classes find themselves
almost unconsciously acting in concert, and conspiring to complete
that great and holy work of which the emancipation of the slave was
but the commencement.
[Sidenote: The labouring classes.]
On a general survey of the state of the labouring classes, taken after
he had been a little more than a year in the island, he was able to give
a most favourable report of their condition, in all that concerns material
prosperity and comfort of living.
The truth is (he wrote) that our labourers are for the most part in
the position of persons who live habitually within their incomes. They
are generally sober and frugal, and accustomed to a low standard of
living. Their gardens supply them in great measure with the
necessaries of life. The chief part, therefore, of what they receive
in money, whether as wages or as the price of the surplus produce of
their provision grounds, they can lay aside for occasional calls, and,
when they set their minds on an acquisition or an indulgence, they do
not stickle at the cost. I am told that, in the shops at Kingston,
expensive articles of dress are not unusually purchased by members of
the families of black labourers. Whether the ladies are good judges of
the merits of silks and cambrics I do not pretend to decide; but they
pay ready money, and it is not for the sellers to cavil at their
discrimination. The purchase of land, as you well know, is going on
rapidly throughout the island; and the money thus invested must have
been chiefly, though not entirely, accumulated by the labouring
classes since slavery was abolished. A proprietor told me the other
day that he had, within twelve months, sold ten acres of land in small
lots, for the sum of 900_l_. The land sold at so high a price is
situated near a town, and the purchasers pay him an annual rent of
50_s_. per acre, for provision grounds on the more distant parts
of the estate. Again, in most districts, the labourers are possessed
of horses, for which they often pay handsomely. A farm servant not
unfrequently gives from 12_l_. to 20_l_. for an animal which
he intends to employ, not for purposes of profit, but in riding to
church, or on occasions of festivity.
Whence then are these funds derived? That the peasantry are generally
frugal and sober I have already observed. But they are assuredly not
called to tax their physical powers unduly, in order to achieve the
independence I have described. Although the estate I lately visited is
well managed, and the best understanding subsists between employer and
labourers, the latter seldom made their appearance in the field until
some time after I had sallied forth for my morning walk. They work on
the estate only nine days in the fortnight, devoting the alternate
Fridays to the cultivation of their provision grounds, and the
Saturdays to marketing and amusements. On the whole, seeing that the
climate is suited to their constitutions, that they experience none of
the drawbacks to which new settlers, even in the most fertile
countries, are subject, that they are by disposition and temperament a
cheerful race, I much doubt whether any people on the face of the
globe enjoy as large a share of happiness as the Creole peasantry of
this island. And this is a representation not over-charged, or highly
coloured, but drawn in all truth and sobriety of the actual condition
of a population which was, a very few years ago, subjected to the
degrading, depressing influences of slavery. Well may you and others
who took part in the work of emancipation rejoice in the success of
your great experiment.
But was it possible to indulge the same feelings of exultation when
contemplating their condition morally, and marking the indications of
advance towards a higher state of civilisation? In the island itself
controversy was rife as to the degree in which such results had been
already achieved, and the promise of further progress. Some of the more
enthusiastic and ardent of that class of persons who had been the zealous
advocates of the interests of the Negro population at a former period,
were now disposed to judge most hardly of their conduct. Their very
sympathy with the victims of the system formerly prevailing, led them to
conceive unbounded hopes of the benefits, moral and social alike, which a
change would effect; the admirable behaviour of the peasantry at the time
of emancipation, confirmed such anticipations; and they were now beginning
to experience disappointment on finding that all they looked for was not
immediately realised. These feelings, however, Lord Elgin did not share.
On the whole (he said) I feel confident that the moral results
consequent on the introduction of freedom, have been as satisfactory
as could in reason have been expected; and, notwithstanding the very
serious pecuniary loss which this measure has entailed in many
quarters, few indeed, even if they had the power to do so, would
consent to return to the system which has been abandoned. It is
gratifying in the highest degree to observe the feelings now
subsisting between those who lately stood to each other in the
relation of master and slave. Past wrongs are forgotten, and in the
every-day dealings between man and man the humanity of the labourer is
unhesitatingly recognised.
[Sidenote: Religion.]
We have seen how zealously Lord Elgin exerted himself to realise his own
hopes for the prosperity of the colony, by encouraging the spread of
secular and industrial education. Not that he regarded secular education
as all-sufficient. His sympathies[2] were entirely with those who believe
that, while 'it is a great and a good thing to know the laws that govern
this world, it is better still to have some sort of faith in the relations
of this world with another; that the knowledge of cause and effect can
never replace the motive to do right and avoid wrong; that our clergymen
and ministers are more useful than our schoolmasters; that Religion is the
motive power, the faculties are the machines: and the machines are useless
without the motive power.'[3] But, as a practical statesman, he felt that
the one kind of education he had it in his power to forward directly by
measures falling within his own legitimate province; while the other he
could only promote indirectly, by pointing out the need for it, and
drawing attention to the peculiar circumstances of the island respecting
it. The following are a few of the passages in which he refers to the
subject:--
[Sidenote: The Church.]
Much has been done by the island legislature--more, I think, than
could reasonably have been looked for under the circumstances--towards
making provision for the religious necessities of the population. But
the daily formation of small mountain settlements, and the consequent
dispersion of large numbers in districts remote from the established
places of worship, adds greatly to the difficulty of extending to all
these humanising and civilising influences. The Church can keep its
footing here only by the exhibition of missionary zeal and devotion,
tempered by a spirit of Christian benevolence and conciliation. I
regret to say that some of the unhappy controversies which are vexing
the Church in England have broken out here of late. Discussions of
this nature are singularly unprofitable where the people need to be
instructed in the very rudiments of Christian knowledge, and where it
is so desirable to keep well with all who profess to have a similar
object in view.
A single bishop in a colony, where large funds are provided by the
State for Church purposes, and where he is beyond the reach of the
public opinion of England, exercises a very great and irresponsible
authority. If a zealous man, of extreme views on points of doctrine,
the clergy of the diocese, looking to him alone for advancement in
their profession, are apt to echo his sentiments; and the wide folding
doors of our mother Church, which she flings open for the reception of
so many, to use Milton's words, 'brotherly dissimilitudes that are not
vastly disproportioned,' are contracted, to the exclusion, perchance,
of some whom it were desirable to retain in our communion. If, on the
other hand, he be a man of but moderate piety, ability, and firmness,
the importunity of friends at a distance, who may wish to provide for
dependents or connections, and other considerations which need not be
enumerated, may tempt him to lower the standard of ministerial
qualification, of which he is, of course, the sole judge. It requires
a person of much Christian principle, and singular moderation,
discretion, and tact, to administer powers of this nature well. I have
every hope that the bishop whom you have sent us will prove equal to
the task. For the sake of humanity and civilisation, as well as for
the interests of the island, I fervently trust that I may not be
disappointed in my expectations on this head.
The complex and thwarting currents of interest and opinion that may exist
in a colony respecting the maintenance of a State Church are well
illustrated in the following extracts:--
Very soon after I arrived here, I felt satisfied that the conflicts of
party in the colony would ere long assume a new character. I perceived
that the hostility to the proprietary interests, which was supposed to
actuate certain classes of persons who had much influence with the
peasantry, was on the decline. Should a state of quiescence prove
incompatible with the maintenance of their hold on their flocks,
analogy led me to anticipate that the Established Church would, in all
probability, become an object of attack.
Considering the facility with which the franchise may be acquired, it
is not a little remarkable that the constituency should have hitherto
increased so slowly. This phenomenon has not escaped the notice of the
opponents of the union of Church and State, and they have ascribed it
to the true cause. They are sensible that all uneducated population in
easy circumstances, without practical grievances, are not likely to be
intent on the acquisition of political privileges. They have,
therefore, undertaken to supply them with a grievance, in order to
whet their appetite for the franchise, and also to provide them with
guides who shall instruct them in the proper use of it. But in
attempting to carry this scheme into effect they have encountered an
obstacle, which has, for the time, entirely frustrated their
intentions. The more educated and intelligent of the brown party
listen with disapprobation to the tone in which the Baptist ministers
and their adherents arrogate to themselves exclusively the title of
friends and leaders of the black population. Many persons of this
class have already embarked in public life; some, as members of
Assembly, have taken part in those transactions which are the object
of the bitterest denunciations of the Anti-Church party. A few are
Churchmen, others Wesleyans. The prospect of a Baptist oligarchy
ruling in undivided sway disquiets them. They have their doubts as to
whether, in the present stage of our civilisation, the peasantry of
this Island would evince much discrimination in their selection of a
religion if left in that matter entirely to themselves. In the
chequered array of colours which our religious world even now
presents, comprising every shade, from Roman Catholicism and Judaism,
to Myalism, and providing spiritual gratification for every eye, they
still think it, on the whole, desirable that predominance should be
given to some one over the rest. Many have experienced the bounty of
the legislature, which has been most liberal in affording aid to all
sects who have applied for it. They are not, therefore, as yet ready
for the overthrow of the Church Establishment. But I will not take
upon myself to affirm that, as a body, they are prepared to incur
political martyrdom in its defence.
But apart from the difficulties--social, moral, and religious--at which we
have glanced, there was enough in the political aspect of affairs to fill
the Governor of Jamaica with anxiety. The franchise being within the reach
of every one who chose to stretch out a hand and grasp it, might at any
time be claimed by vast numbers of persons who had recently been slaves,
and were still generally illiterate. And the Assembly for which this
constituency had to provide members exercised great authority within its
own sphere. It discharged a large portion of the functions which usually
devolve upon an Executive Government; it initiated all legislative
measures, besides voting the supplies from year to year. What hope was
there that a body so constituted would wield such powers with discretion?
[Sidenote: Harmonising influence of British institutions.]
Lord Elgin's answer to this question shows that he already cherished that
faith in the harmonising influence of British institutions on a mixed
population, which afterwards, at a critical period of Canadian history,
was the mainspring of his policy.
A sojourner in this sea of the Antilles, who is watching with
heartfelt anxiety the progress of the great experiment of Negro
emancipation (an experiment which must result in failure unless
religion and civilisation minister to the mind that freedom which the
enactments of law have secured for the body), might well be tempted to
view the prospect to which I have now introduced you with some
feelings of misgiving, were he not reassured by his firm reliance on
the harmonising influence of British connexion, and the power of self-
adaptation inherent in our institutions. On the one side he sees the
model Republic of Hayti--a coloured community, which has enjoyed
nearly half a century of entire independence and self-rule. And with
what issues? As respects moral and intellectual culture, stagnation:
in all that concerns material development, a fatal retrogression. He
beholds there, at this day, a miserable parody of European and
American institutions, without the spirit that animates either: the
tinsel of French sentiment on the ground of negro ignorance: even the
'sacred right of 'insurrection' burlesqued: a people which has for its
only living belief an ill-defined apprehension of the superiority of
the white man, and, for the rest, blunders on without faith in what
regards this world or that which is to come.
He turns his eyes to another quarter and perceives the cluster of
states which have formed themselves from the breakup of the Spanish
continental dominions. What ground of consolation or hope does he
discover there?
These illustrations of the working of free systems constructed out of
the wreck of a broken-down African Slave Trade are not indeed
encouraging; but neither do they, in my opinion, warrant despair. I
believe that by great caution and diligence, by firmness and
gentleness on the part of the parent state, and much prudence in the
instruments which it employs, a people with a heart and soul may be
built up out of the materials in our hands. I regard our local
constitution as a _fait accompli_, and have no desire to remove a
stone of the fabric. I think that a popular representative system is,
perhaps, the best expedient that can be devised for blending into one
harmonious whole a community composed of diverse races and colour, and
this conviction is strengthened when I read the observations of Sir H.
Macleod and Governor Light, on the coloured classes in Demerara and
Trinidad. In colonies which have no assemblies, it would appear that
aspiring intellects have not the same opportunity of finding their
level, and pent up ambitions lack a vent.
In studying the play of the various forces at work around him, and in
endeavouring to direct them to good issues, Lord Elgin found the best
solace for the domestic sorrow which darkened this period of his life. He
lived chiefly in retirement, at a country-house called Craigton, in the
Blue Mountains, with his sister, now Lady Charlotte Locker, and his
brother Robert, who was also his most able and efficient secretary; seeing
little society beyond that occasioned by official intercourse and
receptions, which were never intermitted at Spanish Town, the seat of
Government. The isolation and monotony of this position, broken only once
by a conference held with some of the neighbouring Governors on a question
of common interest respecting immigration, could not fail to be
distasteful to his active spirit; and when it had lasted over three years,
it was not unnatural that he should seek to be relieved from it. Early in
1845 we find him writing to Lord Stanley as follows:--
[Sidenote: Resignation.]
I am warned by the commencement of the year 1845 that I have filled
the situation of Governor of Jamaica for as long a time as any of my
predecessors since the Duke of Manchester. The period of my
administration has not been marked by striking incidents, but it has
been one of considerable social progress. Uninterrupted harmony has
prevailed between the colonists and the local Government; and it may
perhaps, without exaggeration, be affirmed, that the spirit of
enterprise which has proceeded from Jamaica during the past two years
has enabled the British West Indian colonies to endure, with
comparative fortitude, apprehensions and difficulties which might
otherwise have depressed them beyond measure. Circumstances have,
however, occurred since my arrival in the colony, unconnected with
public affairs, which have materially affected my views in life, and
which made me contemplate with much repugnance the prospect of an
indefinitely prolonged sojourn in this place. Without dwelling at any
greater length on these painful topics, I venture to trust that you
will acquit me of undue presumption when I assure you, that in my
present forlorn and isolated position, nothing enables me to persevere
in the discharge of my duties, except the hope that my humble services
may earn for me your confidence and the approbation of my Sovereign,
and prove not altogether unprofitable to the community over whose
interests I am appointed to watch.
He remained, however, at his post for more than a year longer, and quitted
it in the spring of 1846 on leave of absence, with the understanding that
he should not be required to return to Jamaica.
[Sidenote: Appointment to Canada.]
During nearly the whole period of his government the seals of the Colonial
Office had been held by Lord Stanley, to whom he owed his appointment; and
at the break-up of the Tory party, in the beginning of 1846, they passed
into the hands of his old schoolfellow and college friend, Mr. Gladstone.
But he had scarcely arrived in England when a new Secretary arose in the
person of Lord Grey, to whom he was unknown except by reputation. It is
all the more creditable to both parties that, in spite of their political
differences, Lord Grey should first have endeavoured to induce him, on
public grounds alone, to retain the government of Jamaica, with the
promise of his unreserved confidence and most cordial support; and shortly
afterwards, should have offered to him the still more important post of
Governor-General of British North America. 'I believe,' wrote his
Lordship, in making the offer, 'that it would be difficult to point out
any situation in which great talents would find more scope for useful
exertion, or are more wanted at this moment, and I am sure that I could
not hope to find anyone whom I could recommend to Her Majesty for that
office with so much confidence as yourself.'
So splendid an offer, made in a manner so gratifying, might well overcome
any reluctance which Lord Elgin felt to embark at once on a fresh period
of expatriation, and to resume labours which, however cordially they may
be appreciated by a minister, are apt to meet with little recognition from
the public.
He accepted it, not in the spirit of mere selfish ambition, but with a
deep sense of the responsibilities attached to it, which he portrayed in
earnest and forcible words at a public dinner at Dunfermline:--
To watch over the interests of those great offshoots of the British
race which plant themselves in distant lands; to aid them in their
efforts to extend the domain of civilisation, and to fulfil that first
behest of a benevolent Creator to His intelligent creatures--'subdue
the earth;' to abet the generous endeavour to impart to these rising
communities the full advantages of British laws, British institutions,
and British freedom; to assist them in maintaining unimpaired, it may
be in strengthening and confirming, those bonds of mutual affection
which unite the parent and dependent states--these are duties not to
be lightly undertaken, and which may well claim the exercise of all
the faculties and energies of an earnest and patriotic mind.
It was arranged that he should go to Canada at the end of the year. In the
interval he became engaged to Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, daughter of the
first Earl of Durham. They were married on November 7th, and in the first
days of the year 1847 he sailed for America.
[1] It is impossible not to be struck with the applicability of
these remarks to the condition of the agricultural poor in some parts
of England, and the question of extending among them the benefits of
education.
[2] Vide inf. p. 156.
[3] See the speech of Mr. W.E. Forster, at Leeds, May 20, 1869.
CHAPTER III.
CANADA.
STATE OF THE COLONY--FIRST IMPRESSIONS--PROVINCIAL
POLITICS--'RESPONSIBLE
GOVERNMENT'--IRISH IMMIGRANTS--UPPER CANADA--CHANGE OF MINISTRY--
FRENCH
HABITANTS--THE FRENCH QUESTION--THE IRISH--THE BRITISH--DISCONTENTS;
THEIR
CAUSES AND REMEDIES--NAVIGATION LAWS--RETROSPECT--SPEECH ON
EDUCATION.
[Sidenote: View of the state of Canada.]
In passing from Jamaica to Canada, Lord Elgin went not only to a far wider
sphere of action, but to one of infinitely greater complication. For in
Canada there were two civilised populations of nearly equal power, viewing
each other with traditionary dislike and distrust: the French
_habitans_ of the Lower Province, strong in their connexion with the
past, and the British settlers, whose energy and enterprise gave
unmistakable promise of predominance in the future. Canada had, within a
few miles of her capital, a powerful and restless neighbour, whose
friendly intentions were not always sufficient to restrain the unruly
spirits on her frontier from acts of aggression, which might at any time
lead to the most serious complications. Moreover, in Canada representative
institutions were already more fully developed than in any other colony,
and were at this very time passing through the most critical period of
their final development.
[Sidenote: Rebellion of 1837.]
[Sidenote: Lord Durham's Report.]
[Sidenote: Lord Sydenham.]
[Sidenote: Sir C. Bagot.]
[Sidenote: Lord Metcalfe.]
The rebellion of 1837 and 1838 had necessarily checked the progress of the
colony towards self-government. It has since been acknowledged that the
demands which led to that rebellion were such as England would have gladly
granted two or three hundred years before; and they were, in fact,
subsequently conceded one after another, 'not from terror, but because, on
seriously looking at the case, it was found that after all we had no
possible interest in withholding them.'[1] But at the time it was
necessary to put down the rebels by force, and to establish military
government. In 1838 Lord Durham was sent out as High Commissioner for the
Adjustment of the Affairs of the Colony, and his celebrated 'Report' sowed
the seeds of all the beneficial changes which followed. So early as
October 1839, when Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham, went out as
Governor, Lord John Russell took the first step towards the introduction
of 'responsible government,' by announcing that the principal offices of
the colony 'would not be considered as being held by a tenure equivalent
to one during good behaviour, but that the holders would be liable to be
called upon to retire whenever, from motives of public policy or for
other reasons, this should be found expedient.'[2] But the insurrection
was then too recent to allow of constitutional government being
established, at least in Lower Canada; and, after the Union in 1840, Lord
Sydenham exercised, partly owing to his great ability, much more power
than is usually enjoyed by constitutional governors. He exercised it,
however, in such a manner as to pave the way for a freer system, which was
carried out to a great extent by his successor, Sir Charles Bagot; who,
though bearing the reputation of an old-fashioned Tory, did not scruple to
admit to his counsels persons who had been active in opposing the Crown
during the recent rebellion; acting on 'the broad principle that the
constitutional majority had the right to rule under the constitution.'[3]
Towards the end of 1842, Sir C. Bagot found himself obliged by continued
ill-health to resign; and he was succeeded by Lord Metcalfe--a man, as has
been before noticed, of singularly popular manners and conciliatory
disposition, but whose views of government, formed in India and confirmed
in Jamaica, little fitted him to deal at an advanced age with the novel
questions presented by Canada at this crisis. A quarrel arose between him
and his Ministry on a question of patronage. The ministers resigned,
though supported by a large majority in the Assembly. With great
difficulty he formed a Conservative administration, and immediately
dissolved his Parliament. The new elections gave a small majority to the
Conservatives, chiefly due, it was said, to the exertion of his personal
influence; but the success was purchased at a ruinous cost, for he was now
in the position, fatal to a governor, of a party man. Even from this
situation he might perhaps have been able to extricate himself: so great
was the respect felt for his rare qualities of mind and character. But a
distressing malady almost incapacitated him for the discharge of public
business, and at length, in November 1845, forced him to resign. At this
time there was some apprehension of difficulties with America, arising
from the Oregon question, and, in view of the possibility of war, Mr.
Gladstone, who was then at the Colonial Office, appointed Lord Cathcart,
the commander of the forces, to be Governor-General.
[Sidenote: Lord Cathcart.]
When the Whig party came into power, and Lord Grey became Secretary for
the Colonies, the Oregon difficulty had been happily settled, and it was
no longer necessary or desirable that the colony should be governed by a
military officer. What was wanted was a person possessing an intimate
knowledge of the principles and practice of the constitution of England,
some experience of popular assemblies, and considerable familiarity with
the political questions of the day.'[4] After much consideration it was
decided to offer the post to Lord Elgin, though personally unknown at the
time both to the Premier and to the Secretary for the Colonies.
[Sidenote: Principles of Colonial Government.]
The principles on which Lord Elgin undertook to conduct the affairs of the
colony were, that he should identify himself with no party, but make
himself a mediator and moderator between the influential of all parties;
that he should have no ministers who did not enjoy the confidence of the
Assembly, or, in the last resort, of the people; and that he should not
refuse his consent to any measure proposed by his Ministry, unless it were
of an extreme party character, such as the Assembly or the people would be
sure to disapprove.[4] Happily these principles were not, in Lord Elgin's
case, of yesterday's growth. He had acted upon them, as far as was
possible, even in Jamaica; and in their soundness as applied to a colony
like Canada he had that firm faith, grounded on original conviction, which
alone could have enabled him to maintain them, as he afterwards did,
single-handed, in face of the most violent opposition, and in
circumstances by which they were most severely tested.
[Sidenote: Crossing the Atlantic.]
It was fortunate that Lord Elgin had arranged to leave his bride in
England, to follow at a less inclement season; for he had an unusually
stormy passage across the Atlantic--'the worst passage the ship had ever
made.'
Writing on the 16th of January to Lady Grey he says:
Hitherto we have had a very boisterous passage. On the 13th we had a
hurricane, and were obliged to lie to--a rare occurrence with these
vessels. It was almost impossible to be on deck, but I crept out of a
hole for a short time, to behold the sea, which was truly grand in its
wrath; the waves rolling mountains high, and the wind sweeping the
foam off their crests, and driving it, together with the snow and
sleet, almost horizontally over the ocean. We lay thus for some hours,
our masts covered with snow, pitching and tossing, now in the trough
of the sea, and now on the summit of the billows, without anxiety or
alarm, so gallantly did our craft bear itself through these perils.
The ship is very full, with half a million of specie, and a motley
group of passengers: a Bishop, an ex-secretary of Legation and an
ex-consul, both of the United States; a batch of Germans and of
Frenchmen; a host of Yankees, the greater part being bearded, which
is, I understand, characteristic of young America, particularly when
it travels; some specimens of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, and
the Rocky Mountains, not to mention English and Scotch. Every now and
then, at the most serious moments, sounds of uproarious mirth proceed
from a party of Irish, who are playing antics in some corner of the
ship. Considering that we are all hemmed in within the space of a few
feet, and that it is the amusement of the great restless ocean to
pitch us constantly into each other's arms, it is hard indeed if we do
not pick up something new in the scramble.
[Sidenote: First impressions.]
On the 25th of January he landed at Boston, and proceeding next day by
railway and sleigh, reached Montreal on the 29th. On the 31st he wrote
from Monklands, the suburban residence of the governor, to Lady Elgin:--
Yesterday was my great day. I agreed to make my entrance to Montreal,
for the purpose of being inaugurated. The morning was unpropitious.
There had been a tremendous storm during the night, and the snow had
drifted so much that it seemed doubtful whether a sleigh could go from
hence to town (about four miles). I said that I had no notion of being
deterred by weather. Accordingly, I got into a one-horse sleigh, with
very small runners, which conveyed me to the entrance of the town,
where I was met by the Mayor and Corporation with an address. I then
got into Lord Cathcart's carriage, accompanied by the Mayor, and a
long procession of carriages was formed. We drove slowly to the
Government House (in the town), through a dense mass of people--all
the societies, trades, &c., with their banners. Nothing could be more
gratifying. After the swearing in, at which the public were present,
the Mayor read another address from the inhabitants. To this I
delivered a reply, which produced, I think, a considerable effect, and
no little astonishment on some gentlemen who intended that I should
say nothing. I have adopted frankly and unequivocally Lord Durham's
view of government, and I think that I have done all that could be
done to prevent its being perverted to vile purposes of faction.
Various circumstances combined to smooth, for the time, the waters on
which Lord Elgin had embarked. The state of political parties was
favourable; for the old Tories of the British 'Family Compact' party
were in good humour, being in enjoyment of the powers to which they
claimed a prescriptive right, while the 'Liberals' of the Opposition
were full of hope that the removal of Lord Metcalfe's disturbing
influence would restore their proper preponderance. Something also was
due to his own personal qualities. Whereas most of his immediate
predecessors had been men advanced in years and enfeebled by
ill-health, he was in the full enjoyment of vigorous youth--able, if
need were, to work whole days at a stretch; to force his way through a
Canadian snow-storm, if his presence was required at a public meeting;
to make long and rapid journeys through the province, ever ready to
receive an address, and give an _impromptu_ reply. The papers soon
began to remark on the 'geniality and affability of 'his demeanour.'
'He is daily,' they said, 'making new 'friends. He walks to church,
attends public meetings, 'leads the cheering, and is, in fact, a man
of the people.' Before long it was added, 'Our new governor is 'the
most effective speaker in the province;' and, thanks to his foreign
education, he was able to speak as readily and fluently to the French
Canadians in French as to the English in English. Added to this, his
recent marriage was a passport to the hearts of many in Canada, who
looked back to the late Lord Durham as the apostle of their liberties,
if not as a martyr in their cause.
[Sidenote: Provincial politics.]
But though the surface was smooth, there was much beneath to disquiet an
observant governor. It was not only that the Ministry was so weak, and so
conscious of its weakness, as to be incapable even of proposing any
measures of importance. This evil might be remedied by a change of
administration. But there was no real political life; only that pale and
distorted reflection of it which is apt to exist in a colony before it has
learned 'to look within itself for the centre of power.' Parties formed
themselves, not on broad issues of principle, but with reference to petty
local and personal interests; and when they sought the support of a more
widespread sentiment, they fell back on those antipathies of race, which
it was the main object of every wise Governor to extinguish.
The following extracts from private letters to Lord Grey, written within a
few months of his arrival, reflect this state of things. Though the
circumstances to which they refer are past and gone, they may not be
without interest, as affording an insight into a common phase of colonial
government.
Hitherto things have gone on well with me, much better than I hoped
for when we parted. I should have been very willing to meet the
Assembly at once, and throw myself with useful measures on the good
sense of the people, but my ministers are too weak for this. They seem
to be impressed with the belief that the regular Opposition will of
course resist whatever they propose, and that any fragments of their
own side, who happen not to be able at the moment to get what they
want, will join them. When I advise them, therefore, to go down to
Parliament with good measures and the prestige of a new Governor, and
rely on the support of public opinion, they smile and shake their
heads. It is clear that they are not very credulous of the existence
of such a controlling power, and that their faith in the efficiency of
appeals to selfish and sordid motives is greater than mine.
Nevertheless, we must take the world as we find it, and if new
elements of strength are required to enable the Government to go on,
it is I think very advisable to give the French a fair opportunity of
entering the Ministry in the first instance. It is also more prudent
to enter upon these delicate negotiations cautiously and slowly, in
order to avoid, if possible, giving the impression that I am ready to
jump down everybody's throat the moment I touch the soil of Canada.
I believe that the problem of how to govern United Canada would be
solved if the French would split into a Liberal and a Conservative
party, and join the Upper Canada parties which bear corresponding
names. The great difficulty hitherto has been that a Conservative
government has meant a government of Upper Canadians, which is
intolerable to the French, and a Radical government a government of
French, which is no less hateful to the British. No doubt the party
titles are misnomers, for the radical party comprises the political
section most averse to progress of any in the country. Nevertheless,
so it has been hitherto. The national element would be merged in the
political if the split to which I refer were accomplished.
The tottering Ministry attempted to strengthen its position by a junction
with some of the leaders of the 'French' party; but the attempt was
unsuccessful:
I cannot say that I am surprised or disheartened by the result of
these negotiations with the French. In a community like this, where
there is little, if anything, of public principle to divide men,
political parties will shape themselves under the influence of
circumstances, and of a great variety of affections and antipathies,
national, sectarian, and personal; and I never proposed to attempt to
force them into a mould of my own forming.
You will observe that no question of principle or of public policy has
been mooted by either party during the negotiation. The whole
discussion has turned upon personal considerations. This is, I fancy,
a pretty fair sample of Canadian politics. It is not even pretended
that the divisions of party represent corresponding divisions of
sentiment on questions which occupy the public mind; such as
Voluntaryism, Free Trade, &c., &c. Responsible government is the only
subject on which this coincidence is alleged to exist. The opponents
of the Administration are supposed to dissent from the views held by
Lord Metcalfe upon it, though it is not so clear that its supporters
altogether adopt them. That this delicate and most debatable subject
should furnish the watchwords of party is most inconvenient.
In enumerating the difficulties which surround such questions as Union
of the provinces, Emigration, &c., you omit the greatest of them all;
viz.: the materials with which I have to work in carrying out any
measures for the public advantage. There are half a dozen parties
here, standing on no principles, and all intent on making political
capital out of whatever turns up. It is exceedingly difficult, under
such circumstances, to induce public men to run the risk of adopting
any scheme that is bold or novel.
Keenly alive to the evil of this state of things, Lord Elgin was not less
sensible that the blame of it did not rest with the existing generation of
Canadian politicians, but that it was the result of a variety of
circumstances, some of which it was impossible to regret.
Several causes (he wrote) co-operate together to give to personal and
party interests the overweening importance which attaches to them in
the estimation of local politicians. There are no real grievances here
to stir the depths of the popular mind. We are a comfortable people,
with plenty to eat and drink, no privileged classes to excite envy, or
taxes to produce irritation. It were ungrateful to view these
blessings with regret, and yet I believe that they account in some
measure for the selfishness of public men and their indifference to
the higher aims of statesmanship.
[Sidenote: Responsible government.]
The comparatively small number of members of which the popular bodies
who determine the fate of provincial administrations consist, is also,
I am inclined to think, unfavourable to the existence of a high order
of principle and feeling among official personages. A majority of ten
in an assembly of seventy may probably be, according to Cocker,
equivalent to a majority of 100 in an assembly of 700. In practice,
however, it is far otherwise. The defection of two or three
individuals from the majority of ten puts the administration in peril.
Thence the perpetual patchwork and trafficking to secure this vote and
that, which (not to mention other evils) so engrosses the time and
thoughts of ministers, that they have not leisure for matters of
greater moment. It must also be remembered that it is only of late
that the popular assemblies in this part of the world have acquired
the right of determining who shall govern them--of insisting, as we
phrase it, that the administration of affairs shall be conducted by
persons enjoying their confidence. It is not wonderful that a
privilege of this kind should be exercised at first with some degree
of recklessness, and that, while no great principles of policy are at
stake, methods of a more questionable character for winning and
retaining the confidence of these arbiters of destiny should be
resorted to. My course in these circumstances is, I think, clear and
plain. It may be somewhat difficult to follow occasionally, but I feel
no doubt as to the direction in which it lies. I give to my ministers
all constitutional support, frankly and without reserve, and the
benefit of the best advice that I can afford them in their
difficulties. In return for this I expect that they will, in so far as
it is possible for them to do so, carry out my views for the
maintenance of the connexion with Great Britain and the advancement of
the interests of the province. On this tacit understanding we have
acted together harmoniously up to this time, although I have never
concealed from them that I intend to do nothing which may prevent me
from working cordially with their opponents, if they are forced upon
me. That ministries and Oppositions should occasionally change places,
is of the very essence of our constitutional system, and it is
probably the most conservative element which it contains. By
subjecting all sections of politicians in their turn to official
responsibilities, it obliges heated partisans to place some restraint
on passion, and to confine within the bounds of decency the patriotic
zeal with which, when out of place, they are wont to be animated. In
order, however, to secure these advantages, it is indispensable that
the head of the Government should show that he has confidence in the
loyalty of all the influential parties with which he has to deal, and
that he should have no personal antipathies to prevent him from acting
with leading men.
I feel very strongly that a Governor-General, by acting upon these
views with tact and firmness, may hope to establish a moral influence
in the province which will go far to compensate for the loss of power
consequent on the surrender of patronage to an executive responsible
to the local Parliament. Until, however, the functions of his office,
under our amended colonial constitution, are more clearly defined--
until that middle term which shall reconcile the faithful discharge of
his responsibility to the Imperial Government and the province with
the maintenance of the quasi-monarchical relation in which he now
stands towards the community over which he presides, be discovered and
agreed upon, he must be content to tread along a path which is
somewhat narrow and slippery, and to find that incessant watchfulness
and some dexterity are requisite to prevent him from falling, on the
one side into the _neant_ of mock sovereignty, or on the other
into the dirt and confusion of local factions.
Many of his letters exhibit the same conviction that the remedy for the
evils which he regretted was to be found in the principles of government
first asserted by Lord Durham; but there is a special interest in the
expression of this sentiment when addressed, as in the following extract,
to Lord Durham's daughter:--
I still adhere to my opinion that the real and effectual vindication
of Lord Durham's memory and proceedings will be _the success of a
Governor-General of Canada who works out his views of government
fairly_. Depend upon it, if this country is governed for a few
years satisfactorily, Lord Durham's reputation as a statesman will be
raised beyond the reach of cavil. I do not indeed know whether I am to
be the instrument to carry out this work, or be destined, like others
who have gone before me, to break down in the attempt; but I am still
of opinion that the thing may be done, though it requires some good
fortune and some qualities not of the lowest order. I find on my
arrival here a very weak Government, almost as much abused by their
friends as by their foes, no civil or private secretary, and an
immense quantity of arrears of business. It is possible, therefore,
that I may not be able to bear up against the difficulties of my
situation, and that it may remain for some one else to effect that
object, which many reasons would render me so desirous to achieve.
[Sidenote: Irish immigration,]
With these cares, which formed the groundwork of the texture of the
Governor's life, were interwoven from time to time interests of a more
temporary character; of which the first in date, as in importance, was
connected with the flood of immigration consequent on the Irish famine of
1847.
During the course of the season nearly 100,000 immigrants landed at
Quebec, a large proportion of whom were totally destitute, and must have
perished had they not been forwarded at the cost of the public. Owing to
various causes, contagious fever of a most malignant character prevailed
among them, to an unexampled extent; the number confined at one time in
hospitals occasionally approached 10,000: and though the mortality among
children was very great, nearly 1,000 immigrant orphans were left during
the season at Montreal, besides a proportionate number at Grosse Isle,
Quebec, Kingston, Toronto, and other places.
In this manner 'army after army of sick and suffering people, fleeing from
famine in their native land to be stricken down by death in the valley of
the St. Lawrence, stopped in rapid succession at Grosse Isle, and there
leaving numbers of their dead behind, pushed upwards towards the lakes, in
over-crowded steamers, to burthen the inhabitants of the western towns and
villages.'[5]
The people of Canada exerted themselves nobly, under the direction of
their Governor, to meet the sudden call upon their charity; but he felt
deeply for the sufferings which it entailed upon the colony, and he did
not fail to point out to Lord Grey how severe was the strain thus laid on
her loyalty:--
[Sidenote: a scourge to the province.]
The immigration which is now taking place is a frightful scourge to
the province. Thousands upon thousands of poor wretches are coming
here incapable of work, and scattering the seeds of disease and death.
Already five or six hundred orphans are accumulated at Montreal, for
whose sustenance, until they can be put out to service, provision must
be made. Considerable panic exists among the inhabitants. Political
motives contribute to swell the amount of dissatisfaction produced by
this state of things. The Opposition make the want of adequate
provision to meet this overwhelming calamity, in the shape of
hospitals, &c., a matter of charge against the Provincial
Administration. That section of the French who dislike British
immigration at all times, find, as might be expected, in the
circumstances of this year, a theme for copious declamation. Persons
who cherish republican sympathies ascribe these evils to our dependent
condition as colonists--'the States of the Union,' they say, 'can take
care of themselves, and avert the scourge from their shores, but we
are victims on whom inhuman Irish landlords, &c., can charge the
consequences of their neglect and rapacity.' Meanwhile I have a very
delicate and irksome duty to discharge. There is a general belief
that Great Britain must make good to the province the expenses
entailed on it by this visitation. 'It is enough,' say the
inhabitants, 'that our houses should be made a receptacle of this mass
of want and misery: it cannot surely be intended that we are to be
mulcted in heavy pecuniary damages besides.' The reasonableness of
these sentiments can hardly be questioned--bitter indignation would be
aroused by the attempt to confute them--and yet I feel that if I were
too freely to assent to them, I might encourage recklessness,
extravagance, and peculation. From the overwhelming nature of the
calamity, and the large share which it has naturally occupied of the
attention of Parliament and of the public, the task of making
arrangements to meet the necessities of the case has practically been
withdrawn from the department of the Civil Secretary, and fallen into
the hands of the Provincial Administration. In assenting to the
various minutes which they have passed for affording relief to the
sick and destitute, and for guarding against the spread of disease, I
have felt it to be my duty, even at the risk of incurring the
imputation of insensibility to the claims of distress, to urge the
necessity of economy, and of adopting all possible precautions against
waste. You will at once perceive, however, how embarrassing my
position is. A source of possible misunderstanding between myself and
the colonists is furnished by these untoward circumstances, altogether
unconnected with the ordinary, or, as I may perhaps venture to term
them, normal difficulties of my situation.
On the whole, all things considered, I think that a great deal of
forbearance and good feeling has been shown by the colonists under
this trial. Nothing can exceed the devotion of the nuns and Roman
Catholic priests, and the conduct of the clergy and of many of the
laity of other denominations has been most exemplary. Many lives have
been sacrificed in attendance on the sick and administering to their
temporal and spiritual need. But the aspect of affairs is becoming
more and more alarming. The panic which prevails in Montreal and
Quebec is beginning to manifest itself in the Upper Province, and
farmers are unwilling to hire even the healthy immigrants, because it
appears that since the warm weather set in, typhus has broken out in
many cases among those who were taken into service at the commencement
of the season, as being perfectly free from disease. I think it most
important that the Home Government should do all in their power by
enforcing the provisions of the Passengers' Act, and by causing these
facts to be widely circulated, to stem this tide of misery.
* * * * *
What is to be done? Private charity is exhausted. In a country where
pauperism as a normal condition of society is unknown, you have not
local rates for the relief of destitution to fall back upon. Humanity
and prudence alike forbid that they should be left to perish in the
streets. The exigency of the case can manifestly be met only by an
expenditure of public funds.
[Sidenote: The charge should be borne by the mother-country.]
But by whom is this charge to be borne? You urge, that when the first
pressure is past, the province will derive, in various ways, advantage
from this immigration,--that the provincial administration, who
prescribe the measures of relief, have means, which the Imperial
authorities have not, of checking extravagance and waste; and you
conclude that their constituents ought to be saddled with at least a
portion of the expense. I readily admit the justice of the latter
branch of this argument, but I am disposed to question the force of
the former. The benefit which the province will derive from this
year's immigration is, at best, problematical; and it is certain that
they who are to profit by it would willingly have renounced it,
whatever it may be, on condition of being relieved from the evils by
which it has been attended. Of the gross number of immigrants who have
reached the province, many are already mouldering in their graves.
Among the survivors there are widows and orphans, and aged and
diseased persons, who will probably be for an indefinite period a
burden on Government or private charity. A large proportion of the
healthy and prosperous, who have availed themselves of the cheap route
of the St. Lawrence, will, I fears find their way to the Western
States, where land is procurable on more advantageous terms than in
Canada. To refer, therefore, to the 82,000 immigrants who have passed
into the States through New York, and been absorbed there without cost
to the mother-country, and to contrast this circumstance with the
heavy expense which has attended the admission of a smaller number
into Canada, is hardly just. In the first place, of the 82,000 who
went to New York, a much smaller proportion were sickly or destitute;
and, besides, by the laws of the state, ship-owners importing
immigrants are required to enter into bonds, which are forfeited when
any of the latter become chargeable on the public. These, and other
precautions yet more stringent, were enforced so soon as the character
of this year's immigration was ascertained, and they had the effect of
turning towards this quarter the tide of suffering which was setting
in that direction. Even now, immigrants attempting to cross the
frontier from Canada are sent back, if they are either sickly or
paupers. On the whole, I fear that a comparison between the condition
of this province and that of the states of the neighbouring republic,
as affected by this year's immigration, would be by no means
satisfactory or provocative of dutiful and affectionate feelings
towards the mother-country on the part of the colonists. It is a case
in which, on every account, I think the Imperial Government is bound
to act liberally.
[Sidenote: Lord Palmerston's tenants.]
Month after month, the tide of misery flowed on, each wave sweeping deeper
into the heart of the province, and carrying off fresh victims of their
own benevolence. Unfortunately, just as navigation closed for the season,
a vessel arrived full of emigrants from Lord Palmerston's Irish estates.
They appear to have been rather a favourable specimen of their class; but
they came late, and they came from one of Her Majesty's Ministers, and
their coming was taken as a sign that England and England's rulers, in
their selfish desire to be rid of their starving and helpless poor, cared
nothing for the calamities they were inflicting on the colony. Writing on
November 12, Lord Elgin says:--
Fever cases among leading persons in the community here still continue
to excite much comment and alarm. This day the Mayor of Montreal
died,--a very estimable man, who did much for the immigrants, and to
whose firmness and philanthropy we chiefly owe it, that the immigrant
sheds here were not tossed into the river by the people of the town
during the summer. He has fallen a victim to his zeal on behalf of the
poor plague-stricken strangers, having died of ship-fever caught at
the sheds. Colonel Calvert is lying dangerously ill at Quebec, his
life despaired of.
Meanwhile, great indignation is aroused by the arrival of vessels from
Ireland, with additional cargoes of immigrants, some in a very sickly
state, after our Quarantine Station is shut up for the season.
Unfortunately the last arrived brings out Lord Palmerston's tenants. I
send the commentaries on this contained in this day's newspapers.[6]
[Sidenote: The flood subsides.]
From this time, however, the waters began to subside. The Irish famine had
worked its own sad cure. In compliance with the urgent representations of
the Governor, the mother-country took upon herself all the expenses that
had been incurred by the colony on behalf of the immigrants of 1847; and
improved regulations respecting emigration offer ground for hope that the
fair stream, which ought to be full of life and health both to the colony
and to the parent state, will not again be choked and polluted, and its
plague-stricken waters turned into blood.
[Sidenote: Visit to Upper Canada.]
In the autumn of this year Lord Elgin paid his first visit to Upper
Canada, meeting everywhere with a reception which he felt to be 'most
gratifying and 'ncouraging;' and keenly enjoying both the natural beauties
of the country and the tokens of its prosperity which met his view. From
Niagara he wrote to Mr. Cumming Bruce:--
[Sidenote: Niagara.]
I write with the roar of the Niagara Falls in my ears. We have come
here for a few days' rest, and that I may get rid of a bad cold in the
presence of this most stupendous of all the works of nature. It is
hopeless to attempt to describe what so many have been describing; but
the effect, I think, surpassed my expectations. The day was waning
when we arrived, and a turn of the road brought us all at once in face
of the mass of water forming the American Fall, and throwing itself
over the brink into the abyss. Then another turn and we were in
presence of the British Fall, over which a still greater volume of
water seems to be precipitated, and in the midst of which a white
cloud of spray was soaring till it rose far above the summit of the
ledge and was dispersed by the wind. This day we walked as far as the
Table Rock which overhangs one side of the Horse-shoe Fall, and made a
closer acquaintance with it; but intimacy serves rather to heighten
than to diminish the effect produced on the eye and the ear by this
wonderful phenomenon.
The following to Lord Grey is of the same date:--
Our tour has been thus far prosperous in all respects except weather,
which has been by no means favourable. I attended a great Agricultural
Meeting at Hamilton last week, and had an opportunity of expressing my
sentiments at a dinner, in the presence of six or seven hundred
substantial Upper Canada yeomen--a body of men not easily to be
matched.
It is indeed a glorious country, and after passing, as I have done
within the last fortnight, from the citadel of Quebec to the Falls of
Niagara, rubbing shoulders the while with its free and perfectly
independent inhabitants, one begins to doubt whether it be possible to
acquire a sufficient knowledge of man or nature, or to obtain an
insight into the future of nations, without visiting America.
A portion of the speech to which he refers in the foregoing letter may be
here given, as a specimen of his occasional addresses, which were very
numerous; for though the main purposes of his life were such as 'wrote
themselves in action not in word,' he regarded his faculty of ready and
effective speaking as an engine which it was his duty to use, whenever
occasion arose, for the purpose of conciliating or instructing. In
proposing the toast of 'Prosperity to the Agricultural Association of
Upper Canada,' he said:--
[Sidenote: Speech at an agricultural meeting.]
Gentlemen, the question forces itself upon every reflecting mind, How
does it come to pass that the introduction of agriculture, and of the
arts of civilised life, into this and other parts of the American
continent has been followed by such astonishing results? It may be
said that these results are due to the qualities of the hardy and
enterprising race by which these regions have been settled, and the
answer is undoubtedly a true one: but it does not appear to me to
contain the whole truth; it does not appear to account for all the
phenomena. Why, gentlemen, our ancestors had hearts as brave and arms
as sturdy as our own; but it took them many years, aye, even
centuries, before they were enabled to convert the forests of the
Druids, and the wild fastnesses of the Highland chieftains, into the
green pastures of England and the waving cornfields of Scotland. How,
then, does it come to pass, that the labours of their descendants here
have been rewarded by a return so much more immediate and abundant? I
believe that the true solution of this problem is to be found in the
fact that here, for the first time, the appliances of an age, which
has been prolific beyond all preceding ages in valuable discoveries,
more particularly in chemistry and mechanics, have been brought to
bear, under circumstances peculiarly favourable, upon the
productiveness of a new country. When the nations of Europe were
young, science was in its infancy; the art of civil government was
imperfectly understood; property was inadequately protected; the
labourer knew not who would reap what he had sown, and the teeming
earth yielded her produce grudgingly to the solicitations of an
ill-directed and desultory cultivation. It was not till long and
painful experience had taught the nations the superiority of the arts
of peace over those of war; it was not until the pressure of numbers
upon the means of subsistence had been sorely felt, that the ingenuity
of man was taxed to provide substitutes for those ineffective and
wasteful methods, under which the fertility of the virgin soil had
been well-nigh exhausted. But with you, gentlemen, it is far
otherwise. Canada springs at once from the cradle into the full
possession of the privileges of manhood. Canada, with the bloom of
youth yet upon her cheek, and with youth's elasticity in her tread,
has the advantage of all the experience of age. She may avail herself,
not only of the capital accumulated in older countries, but also of
those treasures of knowledge which have been gathered up by the labour
and research of earnest and thoughtful men throughout a series of
generations.
Now, gentlemen, what is the inference that I would draw from all this?
What is the moral I would endeavour to impress upon you? It is this:
That it is your interest and your duty to avail yourselves to the
utmost of all these unparalleled advantages; to bring to bear upon
this soil, so richly endowed by nature, all the appliances of modern
art; to refuse, if I may so express myself, to convert your one talent
into _two_, if, by a more skilful application of the true
principles of husbandry, or by greater economy of management, you can
convert it into _ten_. And it is because I believe that societies
like these, when well directed, are calculated to aid you in your
endeavours to effect these important objects, that I am disposed to
give them all the protection and countenance, which it is in my power
to afford. They have certainly been very useful in other countries,
and I cannot see why they should be less serviceable in Canada. The
Highland Society of Scotland was the first instituted, and the proud
position which Scotland enjoys as an agricultural country speaks
volumes of the services rendered by that society. The Royal
Agricultural Society of England and the Royal Agricultural Society of
Ireland followed in its wake, and with similarly beneficial results. I
myself was instrumental in establishing an agricultural society in the
West Indies, which has already done much to revive the spirits of the
planters; and I shall be very much disappointed, indeed, if that
society does not prove the means, before many years are past, of
establishing the truth so important to humanity, that, even in
tropical countries, free labour properly applied under a good system
of husbandry is more economical than the labour of slaves.
[Sidenote: Change of Ministry.]
At the close of 1847 the Canadian Parliament was dissolved. When the new
Parliament met early in 1848, the Ministry--Lord Metcalfe's Ministry--
found itself in a decided minority. A new one was accordingly formed from
the ranks of the opposition, 'the members of both parties concurring in
expressing their sense of the perfect fairness and impartiality with which
Lord Elgin had conducted himself throughout the transactions' which led to
this result.[7]
[Sidenote: French _habitans_.]
The French Canadians, who formed the chief element in the new government,
were even at this time a peculiar people. Planted in the days of the old
French monarchy, and cut off by conquest from the parent state long before
the Revolution of 1789, their little community remained for many years
like a fragment or boulder of a distinct formation--an island enshrining
the picturesque institutions of the _ancien regime_, in the midst of
an ever-encroaching sea of British nineteenth-century enterprise. The
English, it has been truly said, emigrate, but do not colonise. No
concourse of atoms could be more fortuitous than the gathering of
'traders, sailors, deserters from the army, outcasts, convicts, slaves,
democrats, and fanatics,' who have been the first, and sometimes the only
ingredients of society in our so-called colonies. French Canada, on the
contrary, was an organism complete in itself, a little model of medieval
France, with its recognised gradations of ranks, ecclesiastical and
social.
It may, indeed, be doubted whether the highest forms of social life are
best propagated by this method: whether the freer system, which 'sows
itself on every wind,' does not produce the larger, and, in the long run,
the more beneficent results. But if reason acquiesces in the ultimate
triumph of that busy, pushing energy which distinguishes the British
settler, there is something very attractive to the imagination in the
picture presented by the peaceful community of French _habitans_,
living under the gentle and congenial control of their _coutumes de
Paris_, with their priests and their seigneurs, their frugal,
industrious habits, their amiable dispositions and simple pleasures, and
their almost exaggerated reverence for order and authority. Politically
speaking, they formed a most valuable element in Canadian society. At one
time, indeed, the restless anarchical spirit of the settlers around them,
acting on the sentiment of French nationality, instigated them to the
rebellion of 1837; but, as a rule, their social sympathies were stronger
than their national antipathies; and gratitude to the Government which
secured to them the enjoyment of their cherished institutions kept them
true to England on more than one occasion when her own sons threatened to
fall away from her.
By the legislative union of 1840 the barriers which had separated the
British and French communities were, to a great extent, broken down; and
the various elements in each began gradually to seek out and to combine
with those which were congenial to them in the other. But there were many
cross currents and thwarting influences; and there was great danger, as
Lord Elgin felt, lest they should form false combinations, on partial
views of local or personal interest, instead of uniting on broad
principles of social and political agreement.
Such were the antecedents of the party which now, for the first time,
found itself admitted to the counsels of the Governor. Well might he write
to Lord Grey, that 'the province was about to pass through an interesting
crisis.' He was required, in obedience to his own principles, to accept as
advisers persons who had very lately been denounced by the Secretary of
State as well as by the Governor-General, as impracticable and disloyal.
On the other hand he reflected, with satisfaction, that in these
sentiments he himself had neither overtly nor covertly expressed
concurrence; while the most extravagant assertors of responsible
government had never accused him of stepping out of his constitutional
position. He felt, therefore, that the _onus probandi_ would rest on
his new councillors if they could not act with him, and put forth
pretensions to which he was unable to accede. At least he was determined
to give them a fair trial. Writing on the 17th of March he says:--
The late Ministers tendered their resignations in a body on Saturday
4th, immediately after the division on the address, which took place
on Friday. I received and answered the address on Tuesday, and then
sent for Messrs. Lafontaine and Baldwin. I spoke to them in a candid
and friendly tone: told them that I thought there was a fair prospect,
if they were moderate and firm, of forming an administration deserving
and enjoying the confidence of Parliament; that they might count on
all proper support and assistance from me.
They dwelt much on difficulties arising out of pretensions advanced in
various quarters; which gave me an opportunity to advise them not to
attach too much importance to such considerations, but to bring
together a council strong in administrative talent, and to take their
stand on the wisdom of their measures and policy....
I am not without hopes that my position will be improved by the change
of administration. My present council unquestionably contains more
talent, and has a firmer hold on the confidence of Parliament and of
the people than the last. There is, I think, moreover, on their part,
a desire to prove, by proper deference for the authority of the
Governor-General (which they all admit has in my case never been
abused), that they were libelled when they were accused of
impracticability and anti-monarchical tendencies.
[Sidenote: News of the French revolution.]
It was only a few days after this that news reached Canada of the
revolution of February in Paris. On receipt of it he writes:--
It is just as well that I should have arranged my Ministry, and
committed the Flag of Britain to the custody of those who are
supported by the large majority of the representatives and
constituencies of the province, before the arrival of the astounding
intelligence from Europe, which reached us by the last mail. There
are not wanting here persons who might, under different circumstances,
have attempted, by seditious harangues if not by overt acts, to turn
the example of France, and the sympathies of the United States, to
account.
[Sidenote: Three difficulties.]
But while congratulating Lord Grey on having passed satisfactorily through
a crisis which might, under other circumstances, have been attended with
very serious results, and on the fact that 'at no period, during the
recent history of Canada, had the people of the province generally been
better contented, or less disposed to quarrel with the mother-country,'
Lord Elgin did not disguise from himself, or from the Secretary of State,
that there were ominous symptoms of disaffection on the part of all the
three great sections of the community, the French, the Irish, and the
British.
Bear in mind that one-half of our population is of French origin, and
deeply imbued with French sympathies; that a considerable portion of
the remainder consists of Irish Catholics; that a large Irish
contingent on the other side of the border, fanatics on behalf of
republicanism and repeal, are egging on their compatriots here to
rebellion; that all have been wrought upon until they believe that the
conduct of England to Ireland is only to be paralleled by that of
Russia to Poland; that on this exciting topic, therefore, a kind of
holy indignation mixes itself with more questionable impulses; that
Guy Fawkes Papineau, actuated by the most malignant passions,
irritated vanity, disappointed ambition, and national hatred, which
unmerited favour has only served to exasperate, is waving a lighted
torch among these combustibles--you will, I think, admit, that if we
pass through this crisis without explosions it will be a gratifying
circumstance, and an encouragement to persevere in a liberal and
straightforward application of constitutional principles to
Government.
I have peculiar satisfaction therefore, under all these circumstances,
in calling your attention to the presentment of the grand jury of
Montreal, which I have sent you officially, in which that body adverts
to the singularly tranquil and contented state of the province.[8]
[Sidenote: The French question.]
With regard to the French he constantly expressed the conviction that
nothing was wanted to secure the loyalty of the vast majority, but a
policy of conciliation and confidence. In this spirit he urged the
importance of removing the restrictions on the use of the French
language:--
[Sidenote: Use of the French language.]
I am very anxious to hear that you have taken steps for the repeal of
so much of the Act of Union as imposes restrictions on the use of the
French language. The delay which has taken place in giving effect to
the promise made, I think by Gladstone, on this subject, is one of the
points of which M. Papineau is availing himself for purposes of
agitation. I must, moreover, confess, that I for one am deeply
convinced of the impolicy of all such attempts to denationalise the
French. Generally speaking they produce the opposite effect from that
intended, causing the flame of national prejudice and animosity to
burn more fiercely. But suppose them to be successful, what would be
the result? You may perhaps _Americanize_, but, depend upon it,
by methods of this description you will never _Anglicize_ the
French inhabitants of the province. Let them feel, on the other hand,
that their religion, their habits, their prepossessions, their
prejudices if you will, are more considered and respected here than in
other portions of this vast continent, who will venture to say that
the last hand which waves the British flag on American ground may not
be that of a French Canadian?
In the same spirit, when an association was formed for facilitating the
acquisition of crown lands by French _habitans_, he put himself at
the head, of the movement; by which means he was able to thwart the
disloyal designs of the demagogue who had planned it.
[Sidenote: French unionisation.]
You will perhaps recollect that some weeks ago I mentioned that the
Roman Catholic bishop and priests of this diocese had organised an
association for colonisation purposes, their object being to prevent
the sheep of their pasture (who now, strange as it may appear,
emigrate annually in thousands to the States, where they become hewers
of wood and drawers of water to the Yankees, and bad Catholics into
the bargain) from quitting their fold. Papineau pounced upon this
association as a means of making himself of importance in the eyes of
his countrymen, and of gratifying his ruling passion by abusing
England. Accordingly, at a great meeting convened at Montreal, be held
forth for three hours to the multitude (the bishop in the chair),
ascribing this and all other French-Canadian ills, real or supposed,
to the selfish policy of Great Britain, and her persevering efforts to
deprive them of their nationality and every other blessing.
In process of time, after this rather questionable start, the
association waited on me with a memorial requesting the co-operation
of Government, M. Papineau being one of the deputation.
In dealing with them I had two courses to choose from. I had nothing
for it, situated as I was, but either, on the one hand, to give the
promoters of the scheme a cold shoulder, point out its objectionable
features, and dwell upon difficulties of execution--in which case (use
what tact I might) I should have dismissed the bishop and his friends
discontented, and given M. Papineau an opportunity of asserting that I
had lent a quasi sanction to his calumnies; or, on the other, to
identify myself with the movement, put myself in so far as might be at
its head, impart to it as salutary a direction as possible, and thus
wrest from M. Papineau's hands a potent instrument of agitation.
I was tempted, I confess, to prefer the latter of these courses, not
only by reason of its manifest expediency as bearing upon present
political contests, but also because I sympathise, to a considerable
extent, with the views of the promoters of the movement. No one
object, in my opinion, is so important, whether you seek to retain
Canada as a colony, or to fit her for independence and make her
instinct with national life and vigour, as the filling up of her
vacant lands with a resident agricultural population. More especially
is it of moment that the inhabitants of French origin should feel that
every facility for settling on the land of their fathers is given them
with the cordial assent and concurrence of the British Government and
its representative, and that in the plans of settlement their feelings
and habits are consulted. The sentiment of French Canadian
nationality, which Papineau endeavours to pervert to purposes of
faction, may yet perhaps, if properly improved, furnish the best
remaining security against annexation to the States.
I could not with these views afford to lose the opportunity of
promoting this object, which was presented by a spontaneous movement
of the people, headed by the priesthood--the most powerful influence
in Lower Canada.
The official correspondence which has passed on this subject I hope to
send by the next mail, and I need not trouble you with the detail of
proceedings on my own part, which, though small in themselves, were
not without their effect. Suffice it to say, that Papineau has retired
to solitude and reflection at his seignory, 'La Petite Nation'--and
that the pastoral letter, of which I enclose a copy, has been read
_au prone_ in every Roman Catholic church in the diocese. To
those who know what have been the real sentiments of the French
population towards England for some years past, the tone of this
document, its undisguised preference for peaceful over quarrelsome
courses, the desire which it manifests to place the representative of
British rule forward as the patron of a work dear to French-Canadian
hearts, speaks volumes.
With the same object of conciliating the French portion of the community,
he lost no opportunity of manifesting the personal interest which he felt
in their institutions. The following letter, written in August 1848, to
his mother at Paris, describes a visit to one of these institutions, the
college of St. Hyacinthe, the chief French college of Montreal:--
[Sidenote: A French college.]
I was present, the other day, at an examination of the students at one
of the Roman Catholic Colleges of Montreal. It is altogether under the
direction of the priesthood, and it is curious to observe the course
they steer. The young men declaimed for some hours on a theme proposed
by the superior, being a contrast between ancient and modern
civilisation. The greater part of it was a sonorous exposition of
ultra-liberal principles, '_Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite,' 'Vox
populi, vox Dei_,' a very liberal tribute to the vanity and to the
prejudices of the classes who might be expected to send their children
to the institution or to puff it; with an elaborate _pivot a la
Lacordaire_--that the Church had achieved all that had been
effected in this genre hitherto. _Au reste_, there was the
wonderful mechanism which gives that church such advantages--the
fourteen professors receiving no salaries, working for their food and
that of the homeliest; as a consequence, an education, board and
lodging inclusive, costing only 15 _l._ a year; the youths
subjected to a constant discipline under the eye of ecclesiastics day
and night. I confess, when I see both the elasticity and the machinery
of this church, my wonder is, not with Lacordaire that it should do so
much, but that it should not do more.
[Sidenote: The Irish question.]
More formidable at all times than any discontent on the part of the quiet
and orderly French _habitans_ was the chronic disaffection of the
restless, roving Irish; and especially when connected with a threatened
invasion of American 'sympathisers.' When such threats come to nothing, it
is generally difficult to say whether they were all mere vapouring, or
whether they might have led to serious results, if not promptly met; but
at one time, at least, there appears to have been solid ground for
apprehending that real mischief was intended. On the 18th July, 1848, Lord
Elgin writes:--
[Sidenote: Irish republicans.]
At the moment when the last mail was starting a placard, calling an
Irish repeal, or rather republican, meeting was placed in my hands. I
enclosed it in my letter to you, and I now proceed to inform you how
the movement to which it relates has progressed since then.
An M.P.P.[9], opposed in politics to the present Government, waited on
me a few days ago and told me, that he had been requested to move a
resolution at the meeting in question by a Mr. O'Connor, who
represented himself to be the editor of a newspaper at New York, and a
member of the Irish Republican Union. This gentleman informed him that
it was expected that, before September, there would be a general
rising in Ireland; that the body to which he belonged had been
instituted with the view of abetting this movement; that it was
discountenanced by the aristocracy of the States, but supported by the
great mass of the people; that funds were forthcoming in plenty; that
arms and soldiers, who might be employed as drill sergeants in the
clubs, were even now passing over week after week to Ireland; that an
American general, lately returned from Mexico, was engaged to take the
command when the proper time came; that they would have from 700,000
to 800,000 men in the field, a force with which Great Britain would be
altogether unable to cope; that when the English had been expelled,
the Irish people would be called to determine, whether the Queen was
to be at the head of their political system or not. He added that his
visit to Canada was connected with these objects; that it was
desirable that a diversion should be effected here at the time of the
Irish outbreak; that 50,000 Irish were ready to march into Canada from
the States at a moment's notice. He further stated that he had called
on my informant, because he understood him to be a disappointed man,
and ill-disposed to the existing order of things; that with respect to
himself and the thousands who felt with him, there was no sacrifice
they were not ready to make, if they could humble England and reduce
her to a third-rate power.
The place originally selected for the monster meeting, according to
the advertisement which I enclose, was the Bonsecour Market, a covered
building, under the control of the corporation. When this was
announced, however, the Government sent for the mayor (a French
Liberal) and told him that they considered it unbecoming that he
should give the room for such a purpose. He accordingly withdrew his
permission, stating that he had not been before apprised of the
precise nature of the assembly. After receiving this check, the
leaders of the movement fixed on an open space near the centre of the
town for their gathering.
It took place last night, and proved a complete failure. Not a single
individual of importance among the Irish Repeal party was present.
Some hundreds of persons attended, but were speedily dispersed by a
timely thunder shower. O'Connor was violent enough; but I have not yet
ascertained that he said anything which would form good material for
an indictment. I am of opinion, however, that proceedings of this
description on the part of a citizen of another country are not to be
tolerated; and, although there is an indisposition in certain quarters
to drive things to an extremity, I think I shall succeed in having him
arrested unless he takes himself off speedily.
[Sidenote: The British question.]
But the French question and the Irish question were simple and unimportant
as compared with those which were raised by the state of feeling recently
created in a large and influential portion of the British population,
partly by political events, partly by commercial causes.
[Sidenote: The Family Compact.]
The political party, which was now in opposition--the old Tory Loyalists,
who from their long monopoly of office and official influence had acquired
the title of the 'Family Compact'--were filled with wrath at seeing
rebels--for as such they considered the French leaders--now taken into
the confidence of the Governor as Ministers of the Crown. At the same time
many of the individuals who composed that party were smarting under a
sense of injury and injustice inflicted upon them by the Home Government,
and by that party in the Home Government by whose policy their own
ascendency in the colony had, as they considered, been undermined. Nor was
it possible to deny that there was some ground for their complaints. By
the Canada Corn Act of 1843 not only the wheat of Canada, but also its
flour, which might be made from American wheat, had been admitted into
England at a nominal duty. The premium thus offered for the grinding of
American wheat for the British market, caused a great amount of capital to
be invested in mills and other appliances of the flour trade. 'But almost
before these arrangements were fully completed, and the newly built mills
fairly at work, the [Free-Trade] Act of 1846 swept away the advantage
conferred upon Canada in respect to the corn-trade with this country, and
thus brought upon the province a frightful amount of loss to individuals,
and a great derangement of the Colonial finances.'[10] Lord Elgin felt
deeply for the sufferers, and often pressed their case on the attention of
the Secretary of State.
[Sidenote: Discontent due to Imperial legislation.]
I do not think that you are blind to the hardships which Canada is now
enduring; but, I must own, I doubt much whether you fully appreciate
their magnitude, or are aware of how directly they are chargeable on
Imperial legislation. Stanley's Bill of 1843 attracted all the produce
of the West to the St. Lawrence, and fixed all the disposable capital
of the province in grinding mills, warehouses, and forwarding
establishments. Peel's Bill of 1846 drives the whole of the produce
down the New York channels of communication, destroying the revenue
which Canada expected to derive from canal dues, and ruining at once
mill-owners, forwarders, and merchants. The consequence is, that
private property is unsaleable in Canada, and not a shilling can be
raised on the credit of the province. We are actually reduced to the
disagreeable necessity of paying all public officers, from the
Governor-General downwards, in debentures, which are not exchangeable
at par. What makes it more serious is, that all the prosperity of
which Canada is thus robbed is transplanted to the other side of the
lines, as if to make Canadians feel more bitterly how much kinder
England is to the children who desert her, than to those who remain
faithful. For I care not whether you be a Protectionist or a
Free-trader, it is the inconsistency of Imperial legislation, and not
the adoption of one policy rather than another, which is the bane of
the colonies. I believe that the conviction that they would be better
off if they were 'annexed' is almost universal among the commercial
classes at present, and the peaceful condition of the province under
all the circumstances of the time is, I must confess, often a matter
of great astonishment to myself.
[Sidenote: How to be remedied.]
His sympathy, however, with the sufferings caused by the introduction of
Free-trade was not accompanied by any wish to return to a Protective
policy. On the contrary, he felt that the remedy was to be sought in a
further development of the Free-trade principle, in the repeal of the
Navigation Laws, which cramped the commerce Canada by restricting it to
British vessels, and in a reciprocal reduction of the duties which
hampered her trade with the United States. In this sense he writes to Lord
Grey:--
I am glad to see your bold measure on the Navigation Laws. You have no
other course now open to you if you intend to keep your colonies. You
cannot halt between two opinions: Free-trade in all things, or general
Protection. There was something captivating in the project of forming
all the parts of this vast British empire into one huge
_Zollverein_ with free interchange of commodities, and uniform
duties against the world without; though perhaps, without some
federal legislation, it might have been impossible to carry it out.
Undoubtedly, under such a system, the component parts of the empire
would have been united by bonds which cannot be supplied under that on
which we are now entering; though it may be fairly urged on the other
side, that the variety of conflicting interests which would, under
this arrangement, have been brought into presence would have led to
collisions which we may now hope to escape. But, as it is, the die is
cast. As regards these colonies you must allow them to turn to the
best possible account their contiguity to the States, that they may
not have cause for dissatisfaction when they contrast their own
condition with that of their neighbours.
Another subject on which I am very solicitous, is the free admission
of Canadian products into the States. At present the Canadian farmer
gets less for his wheat than his neighbour over the lines. This is an
unfortunate state of things. I had a long conversation with Mr.
Baldwin about it lately, and he strongly supports the proposition
which I ventured to submit for your consideration about a year ago,
viz. that a special treaty should be entered into with the States,
giving them the navigation of the St. Lawrence jointly with ourselves,
on condition that they admit Canadian produce duty free. An
arrangement of this description affecting internal waters only might,
I apprehend, be made (as in the case of Columbia in the Oregon treaty)
independently of the adjustment of questions touching the Navigation
Laws generally. I confess that I dread the effect of the continuance
of the present state of things on the loyalty of our farmers. Surely
the admission of the Americans into the St. Lawrence would be a great
boon to them, and we ought to exact a _quid pro quo_.
He was sanguine enough to hope that these measures, so simple and so
obviously desirable, might be brought into operation at once; but they
were not carried until many years later, one of them, as we shall see,
only by aid of his own personal exertions; and his disappointment on this
score deepened the anxiety with which he looked round upon the
difficulties of his position, already described. On August 16 he writes:--
The news from Ireland--the determination of Government not to proceed
with the measure respecting the Navigation Laws--doubts as to whether
the American Congress will pass the Reciprocity of Trade Bill--menaces
of sympathisers in the States--all combine at present to render our
position one of considerable anxiety.
Firstly, we have the Irish Repeal body. I need not describe them; you
may look at home; they are here just what they are in Ireland.
Secondly, we have the French population; their attitude as regards
England and America is that of an armed neutrality. They do not
exactly like the Americans, but they are the _conquered, oppressed
subjects_ of England! To be sure they govern themselves, pay no
taxes, and some other trifles of this description; nevertheless, they
are the victims of British _egoisme._ Was not the union of the
provinces carried without their consent, and with a view of subjecting
them to the British? Papineau, their press, and other authorities, are
constantly dinning this into their ears, so no wonder they believe it.
Again, our mercantile and commercial classes are thoroughly disgusted
and lukewarm in their allegiance. You know enough of colonies to
appreciate the tendency which they always exhibit to charge their
misfortunes upon the mother-country, no matter from what source they
flow. And indeed it is easy to show that, as matters now stand, the
faithful subject of Her Majesty in Canada is placed on a worse
footing, as regards trade with the mother-country, than the rebel
'over the 'lines.'
The same man who, when you canvass him at an English borough election,
says, 'Why, sir, I voted Red all my life, and I never got anything by
it: this time I intend to vote Blue,'--addresses you in Canada with 'I
have been all along one of the steadiest supporters of the British
Government, but really, if claims such as mine are not more thought
of, I shall begin to consider whether other institutions are not
preferable to ours.' What to do under these circumstances of anxiety
and discouragement is the question.
As to any aggressions from without, I shall throw the responsibility
of repelling them upon Her Majesty's troops in the first instance. And
I shall be disappointed, indeed, if the military here do not give a
very good account of all American and Irish marauders.
With respect to internal commotions, I should like to devolve the duty
of quelling them as much as possible upon the citizens. I very much
doubt whether any class of them, however great their indifference or
disloyalty, fancy the taste of Celtic pikes, or the rule of Irish mob
law.
Happily the dangers which there seemed so much reason to apprehend were
dispelled by the policy at once firm and conciliatory of the Governor:
mainly, as he himself was never wearied of asserting, owing to the healthy
and loyal feeling engendered in the province by his frank adoption and
consistent maintenance of Lord Durham's principle of responsible
government. It was one of the occasions, not unfrequent in Lord Elgin's
life, that recall the words in which Lord Melbourne pronounced the
crowning eulogy of another celebrated diplomatist:--'My Lords, you can
never fully appreciate the merits of that great man. You can appreciate
the great acts which he publicly performed; but you cannot appreciate, for
you cannot know, the great mischiefs which he unostentatiously prevented.'
[Sidenote: Navigation Laws.]
In the course of the discussions on the Repeal of the Navigation Laws, to
which reference is made in the foregoing letters, an incident occurred
which attracted some attention at the time, and which, as it could not be
explained then, ought, perhaps, to be noticed in this place.
Lord George Bentinck, who led the opposition to the measure, saw reason to
think that, in the published despatches from Canada on the subject, a
letter had been suppressed which would have furnished arguments against
the Government; and, under this impression, he moved in the House of
Commons for 'copies of the omitted correspondence.' The motion was
negatived without a division, on Lord John Russell's pointing out that it
involved an imputation on the Governor's good faith; but the Premier
himself was probably not aware at the time, how completely the mover was
at fault, as is shown in the following letter from Lord Elgin to Mr. C.
Bruce, who, being a member of Parliament and a strong Protectionist, had a
double interest in the matter:--
You ask me about this mare's nest of Bentinck. The facts are these:
the Montreal Board of Trade drew up a memorial for the House of
Commons _against the Navigation Laws_, containing _inter
alia_ a very distinct threat of separation in the event of their
_non-repeal_. My secretary (not my private secretary, mark, but
my responsible Government Secretary) sent _me a draft_ of a
letter to the Board containing very loyal and proper sentiments on
this head. I approved of the letter, and sent a copy of it home with
the memorial, _instead of a report by myself_, partly because it
saved me trouble, and partly because I was glad to show how perfectly
my liberal government had expressed themselves on the point. Two or
three weeks later, the Board of Trade, not liking Mr. Sullivan to have
the last word, wrote an answer, simply justifying what they had
already stated in their memorial, which had already gone with my
comment upon it to be laid before the House of Commons. To send such a
letter home in a separate despatch would have seemed to me worse than
absurd, because it would really have been giving to this unseemly
menace a degree of importance which it did not deserve. If I
_had_ sent it I must have accompanied it with a statement to the
effect, that my sentiments on the point communicated in my former
letter remained unchanged; so the matter would have rested pretty much
where it did before. Bentinck seems to suppose that, in keeping back a
letter which stated that Canada would separate if the Navigation Laws
were not repealed, I intended by some very ingenious dodge to hasten
their repeal![11]
[Sidenote: Speech on education.]
At the beginning of the winter season of 1848-9, Lord Elgin was present,
as patron, at a meeting of the Montreal Mercantile Library Association, to
open the winter's course of lectures. It was an association mainly founded
by leading merchants, 'with a view of affording to the junior members of
the mercantile body opportunities of self-improvement, and inducements
sufficiently powerful to enable them to resist those temptations to
idleness and dissipation which unhappily abound in all large communities.'
He took the opportunity of delivering his views on the subject of
education in a speech, parts of which may still be read with interest,
after all that has been spoken and written on this fertile topic. It has
at least the merit of being eminently characteristic of the speaker, whose
whole life was an illustration, in the eyes of those who knew him best, of
the truths which he sought to inculcate on the young merchants of
Montreal.[12]
After remarking that it was vain for him to attempt, in a cursory address,
to fan the fervour of his hearers' zeal, or throw light on subjects which
they were in the habit of hearing so effectively treated,
Indeed (he continued) I should almost be tempted to affirm that in an
age when education is so generally diffused--when the art of printing
has brought the sources of information so near to the lips of all who
thirst for understanding--when so many of the secrets of nature have
been revealed--when the impalpable and all-pervading electricity, and
the infinite elasticity of steam, have been made subservient to
purposes of human utility,--the advantages of knowledge, in an
utilitarian point of view, the utter hopelessness of a successful
attempt on the part either of individuals or classes to maintain their
position in society if they neglect the means of self-improvement, are
truths too obvious to call for elucidation. I must say that it seems
to me that there is less risk, therefore, of our declining to avail
ourselves of our opportunities than there is of our misusing or
abusing them; that there is less likelihood of our refusing to grasp
the treasures spread out before us, than of our laying upon them rash
and irreverent hands, and neglecting to cultivate those habits of
patient investigation, humility, and moral self-control, without which
we have no sufficient security that even the possession of knowledge
itself will be a blessing to us. I was much struck by a passage I met
with the other day in reading the life of one of the greatest men of
his age and country--Watt--which seemed to me to illustrate very
forcibly the nature of the danger to which I am now referring as well
as its remedy. It is stated in the passage to which I allude, that
Watt took great delight in reading over the specifications of
inventions for which patent rights were obtained. He observed that of
those inventions a large proportion turned out to be entirely
worthless, and a source of ruin and disappointment to their authors.
And it is further stated that he discovered that, among these abortive
inventions, many were but the embodiment of ideas which had suggested
themselves to his own mind--which, probably, when they first presented
themselves, he had welcomed as great discoveries, likely to contribute
to his own fame and to the advantage of mankind, but which, after
having subjected them to that rigid and unsparing criticism which he
felt it his bounden duty to apply to the offspring of his own brain,
he had found to be worthless, and rejected. Now, unquestionably, the
powerful intellect of Watt went for much in this matter:
unquestionably his keen and practised glance enabled him to detect
flaws and errors in many cases where an eye equally honest, but less
acute, would have failed to discover them; but can we doubt that a
moral element was largely involved in the composition of that quality
of mind which enabled Watt to shun the sunken rocks on which so many
around him were making shipwreck--that it was his unselfish devotion
to truth, his humility, and the practice of self-control, which
enabled him to rebuke the suggestions of vanity and self-interest,
and, with the sternness of an impartial judge, to condemn to silence
and oblivion even the offspring of his own mind, for which he
doubtless felt a parent's fondness, when it fell short of that
standard of perfection which he had reared? From this incident in the
life of that great man, we may draw, I think, a most useful lesson,
which we may apply with good effect to fields of inquiry far
transcending those to which the anecdote has immediate reference.
Take, for instance, the wide region occupied with moral and political,
or, as they are styled, social questions: observe the wretched half-
truths, the perilous fallacies, which quacks, greedy of applause or
gain, and speculating on the credulity of mankind, more especially in
times of perturbation or distress, have the audacity to palm upon the
world as sublime discoveries calculated to increase, in some vast and
untold amount, the sum of human happiness; and mark the misery and
desolation which follow, when the hopes excited by these pretenders
are dispelled. It is often said in apology for such persons, that they
are, after all, sincere; that they are deceived rather than deceivers;
that they do not ask others to adopt opinions which they have not
heartily accepted themselves; but apply to this reasoning the
principle that I have been endeavouring to illustrate from the life of
Watt, and we shall find, I think, that the excuse is, in most cases,
but a sorry one, if, indeed, it be any excuse at all. God has planted
within the mind of man the lights of reason and of conscience, and
without it, He has placed those of revelation and experience; and if
man wilfully extinguishes those lights, in order that, under cover of
the darkness which he has himself made, he may install in the
sanctuary of his understanding and heart, where the image of truth
alone should dwell, a vain idol, a creature of his own fond
imaginings, it will, I fear, but little avail him, more especially in
that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, if he shall
plead in extenuation of his guilt that he did not invite others to
worship the idol until he had fallen prostrate himself before it.
These, gentlemen, are truths which I think it will be well for us to
lay to heart. I address myself more particularly to you who are
entering upon the useful and honourable career of the British
merchant; for you are now standing on the lower steps of a ladder,
which, when it is mounted with diligence and circumspection, leads
always to respectability, not unfrequently to high honour and
distinction. Bear in mind, then, that the quality which ought chiefly
to distinguish those who aspire to exercise a controlling and
directing influence in any department of human action, from those who
have only a subordinate part to play, is the knowledge of principles
and general laws. A few examples will make the truth of this
proposition apparent to you. Take, for instance, the case of the
builder. The mason and carpenter must know how to hew the stone and
square the timber, and follow out faithfully the working plan placed
in their hands. But the architect must know much more than this; he
must be acquainted with the principles of proportion and form; he must
know the laws which regulate the distribution of heat, light, and air,
in order that he may give to each part of a complicated structure its
due share of these advantages, and combine the multifarious details
into a consistent whole. Take again the case of the seaman. It is
enough for the steersman that he watch certain symptoms in the sky and
on the waves; that he note the shifting of the wind and compass, and
attend to certain precise rules which have been given him for his
guidance. But the master of the ship, if he be fit for his
situation--and I am sorry to say that many undertake the duties of
that responsible office who are not fit for it--must be thoroughly
acquainted, not only with the map of the earth and heavens, but he
must know also all that science has revealed of some of the most
subtle of the operations of nature; he must understand, as far as man
can yet discover them, what are the laws which regulate the movements
of the currents, the direction of the tempest, and the meanderings of
the magnetic fluid. Or, to take a case with which you are more
familiar--that of the merchant. The merchant's clerk must understand
book-keeping and double-entry, and know how to arrange every item of
the account under its proper head, and how to balance the whole
correctly. But the head of the establishment must be acquainted, in
addition to this, with the laws which regulate the exchanges, with the
principles that affect the production and distribution of national
wealth, and therefore with those social and political causes which are
ever and anon at work to disturb calculations, which would have been
accurate enough for quiet times, but which are insufficient for
others. I think, therefore, that I have established the truth of the
proposition, that men who aspire to exercise a directing and
controlling influence in any pursuit or business, should be
distinguished by a knowledge of principles and general laws. But it is
in the acquisition of this knowledge, and more especially in its
application to the occurrences of daily life, that the chief necessity
arises for the exercise of those high moral qualities, with the
importance of which I have endeavoured, in these brief remarks, to
impress you.
[1] _Our Colonies_: an Address delivered to the members of the
Mechanics' Institute, Chester, Nov. 12, 1855, by the Right Hon. W. E.
Gladstone, M.P.
[2] See the _Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration_, by
Earl Grey: a work in which the records of a most important period of
colonial history are traced with equal ability and authority.
[3] MacMullen's _History of Canada_, p. 497.
[4] Lord Grey's _Colonial Policy_, &c., i. 207.
[5] MacMullen's _History of Canada_.
[6] A pamphlet was published by a member of the Legislative Council,
denouncing this and similar instances of 'horrible and heartless
conduct' on the part of landed proprietors and their 'mercenary
agents;' but it was proved by satisfactory evidence that his main
statements were not founded in fact.
[7] Lord Grey's _Colonial policy_.
[8] See Papers presented to Parliament, May, 1848; or Lord Grey's
_Colonial Policy_, i. 216.
[9] _I.e._ Member of the Provincial Parliament.
[10] Lord Grey's _Colonial Policy,_ i. 220. Lord Grey was one of the
few statesmen who were blameless in the matter, for he voted against
the Act of 1843, in opposition to his party.
[11] The personal annoyance which he felt on this occasion was only a phase
of the indignation which was often roused in him, by seeing the
interests and feelings of the colony made the sport of party-speakers
and party-writers at home; and important transactions in the province
distorted and misrepresented, so as to afford ground for an attack, in
the British Parliament, on an obnoxious Minister.--_Vide Infra_,
p. 113.
[12] 'A knowledge' wrote Sir F. Bruce, 'of what he was, and of the results
he in consequence achieved, would be an admirable text on which to
engraft ideas of permanent value on this most important question;' as
helping to show 'that to reduce education to stuffing the mind with
facts is to dwarf the intelligence, and to reverse the natural process
of the growth of man's mind; that the knowledge of principles, as the
means of discrimination, and the criterion of those individual
appreciations which are fallaciously called facts, ought to be the end
of high education.'
CHAPTER IV.
CANADA.
DISCONTENT--REBELLION LOSSES BILL--OPPOSITION TO IT--NEUTRALITY OF THE
GOVERNOR--RIOTS AT MONTREAL--FIRMNESS OF THE GOVERNOR--APPROVAL OF
HOME
GOVERNMENT--FRESH RIOTS--REMOVAL OF SEAT OF GOVERNMENT FROM
MONTREAL--FORBEARANCE OF LORD ELGIN--RETROSPECT.
[Sidenote: Commercial depression.]
The winter of 1848 passed quietly; but the commercial depression, which was
then everywhere prevalent, weighed heavily on Canada, more especially on
the Upper Province. In one of his letters Lord Elgin caught himself, so to
speak, using the words, 'the downward progress of events.' He proceeds:--
The downward progress of events! These are ominous words. But look at
the facts. Property in most of the Canadian towns, and more especially
in the capital, has fallen fifty per cent. in value within the last
three years. Three-fourths of the commercial men are bankrupt, owing
to Free-trade; a large proportion of the exportable produce of Canada
is obliged to seek a market in the States. It pays a duty of twenty
per cent. on the frontier. How long can such a state of things be
expected to endure?
Depend upon it, our commercial embarrassments are our real difficulty.
Political discontent, properly so called, there is none. I really
believe no country in the world is more free from it. We have, indeed,
national antipathies hearty and earnest enough. We suffer, too, from
the inconvenience of having to work a system which is not yet
thoroughly in gear. Reckless and unprincipled men take advantage of
these circumstances to work into a fever every transient heat that
affects the public mind. Nevertheless, I am confident I could carry
Canada unscathed through all these evils of transition, and place the
connection on a surer foundation than ever, if I could only tell the
people of the province that as regards the conditions of material
prosperity, they would be raised to a level with their neighbours. But
if this be not achieved, if free navigation and reciprocal trade with
the Union be not secured for us, the worst, I fear, will come, and
that at no distant day.
[Sidenote: Political discontent.]
Unfortunately, powerful interests in the one case, indifference and apathy
in the other, prevented these indispensable measures, as he always
maintained them to be, from being carried for many years; and in the
meantime a most serious fever of political discontent was in effect worked
up, out of a heat which ought to have been as transient as the cause of it
was intrinsically unimportant.
[Sidenote: Rebellion Losses Bill.]
Irritated by loss of office, groaning under the ruin of their trade,
outraged moreover (for so they represented it to themselves) in their best
and most patriotic feelings by seeing 'Rebels' in the seat of power, the
Ex-ministerial party were in a mood to resent every measure of the
Government, and especially every act of the Governor-General. When
Parliament met on January 18, he took advantage of the repeal of the law
restricting the use of the French language, to deliver his speech in French
as well as in English: even this they turned to his reproach. But their
wrath rose to fury on the introduction of a Bill 'to provide for the
indemnification of parties in Lower Canada whose property was destroyed
during the Rebellion in 1837 and 1838:' a 'questionable measure,' to use
Lord Elgin's own words in first mentioning it, 'but one which the preceding
administration had rendered almost inevitable by certain proceedings
adopted by them' in Lord Metcalfe's time. As the justification of the
measure is thus rested on its previous history, a brief retrospect is
necessary before proceeding with the account of transactions which formed
an epoch in the history of the colony, as well as in the life of the
Governor.
[Sidenote: History of the measure.]
Within a very short time after the close of the Rebellion of 1837 and 1838,
the attention of both sections of the colony was directed to compensating
those who had suffered by it. First came the case of the primary sufferers,
if so they may be called; that is, the Loyalists, whose property had been
destroyed by Rebels. Measures were at once taken to indemnify all such
persons,--in Upper Canada, by an Act passed in the last session of its
separate Parliament; in Lower Canada, by an ordinance of the 'Special
Council' under which it was at that time administered. But it was felt that
this was not enough; that where property had been wantonly and
unnecessarily destroyed, even though it were by persons acting in support
of authority, some compensation ought to be given; and the Upper Canada Act
above mentioned was amended next year, in the first session of the United
Parliament, so as to extend to all losses occasioned by violence on the
part of persons acting or assuming to act on Her Majesty's behalf. Nothing
was done at this time about Lower Canada; but it was obviously inevitable
that the treatment applied to the one province should be extended to the
other. Accordingly, in 1845, during Lord Metcalfe's Government, and under a
Conservative Administration, an Address was adopted unanimously by the
Assembly, praying His Excellency to cause proper measures to be taken 'in
order to insure to the inhabitants of that portion of the province,
formerly Lower Canada, indemnity for just losses by them sustained during
the Rebellion of 1837 and 1838.'
In pursuance of this address, a Commission was appointed to inquire into
the claims of persons whose property had been destroyed in the rebellion;
the Commissioners receiving instructions to distinguish the cases of those
persons who had joined, aided, or abetted in the said rebellion, from the
case of those who had not. On inquiring how they were to distinguish, they
were officially answered that in making out the classification 'it was not
His Excellency's intention that they should be guided by any other
description of evidence than that furnished by the sentences of the Courts
of Law.' It was also intimated to them that they were only intended to form
a 'general estimate' of the rebellion losses, 'the particulars of which
must form the subject of more minute inquiry hereafter under legislative
authority.'
In obedience to these instructions, the Commissioners made their
investigations, and reported that they had recognised, as worthy of further
inquiry, claims representing a sum total of 241,965_l_. 10_s_.
5_d_., but they added an expression of opinion that the losses
suffered would be found, on closer examination, not to exceed the value of
100,000_l_.
This Report was rendered in April 1846; but though Lord Metcalfe's Ministry
which had issued the Commission, avowedly as preliminary to a subsequent
and more minute inquiry, remained in office for nearly two years longer,
they took no steps towards carrying out their declared intentions.
So the matter stood in March 1848, when, as has been already stated, a new
administration was formed, consisting mainly of persons whose political
sympathies were with Lower Canada. It was natural that they should take up
the work left half done by their predecessors; and early in 1849 they
introduced a Bill which was destined to become notorious under the name of
the 'Rebellion Losses Bill.' The preamble of it declared that in order to
redeem the pledge already given to parties in Lower Canada, it was
necessary and just that the particulars of such losses as were not yet
satisfied, should form the subject of more minute inquiry under legislative
authority; and that the same, so far only as they might have arisen from
the 'total or partial unjust or wanton destruction' of property, should be
paid and satisfied. A proviso was added that no person who had been
convicted, or pleaded guilty, of treason during the rebellion should be
entitled to any indemnity for losses sustained in connection with it. The
Bill itself authorised the appointment of Commissioners for the purpose of
the Act, and the appropriation of 90,000_l_. to the payment of claims
that might arise under it; following in this respect the opinion expressed
by Lord Metcalfe's preliminary Commission of enquiry.
[Sidenote: Excitement respecting it.]
Such was the measure--so clearly inevitable in its direction, so modest in
its proportions--which, falling on an inflamed state of the public mind in
Canada, and misunderstood in England, was the occasion of riot and nearly
of rebellion in the Province, and exposed the Governor-General, who
sanctioned it, to severe censure on the part of many whose opinion he most
valued at home. His own feelings on its introduction, his opinion of its
merits, and his reasons for the course which he pursued in dealing with it,
cannot be better stated than in his own words. Writing to Lord Grey on
March 1, he says:--
A good deal of excitement and bad feeling has been stirred in the
province by the introduction of a measure by the Ministry for the
payment of certain rebellion losses in Lower Canada. I trust that it
will soon subside, and that no enduring mischief will ensue from it,
but the Opposition leaders have taken advantage of the circumstances
to work upon the feelings of old Loyalists as opposed to Rebels, of
British as opposed to French, and of Upper Canadians as opposed to
Lower; and thus to provoke from various parts of the province the
expression of not very temperate or measured discontent. I am
occasionally rated in not very courteous language, and peremptorily
required to dissolve the Parliament which was elected only one year
ago, under the auspices of this same clamorous Opposition, who were
then in power. The measure itself is not indeed altogether free from
objection, and I very much regret that an addition should be made to
our debt for such an object at this time. Nevertheless, I must say I
do not see how my present Government could have taken any other course
in this matter than that which they have followed. Their predecessors
had already gone more than half-way in the same direction, though they
had stopped short, and now tell us that they never intended to go
farther. If the Ministry had failed to complete the work of alleged
justice to Lower Canada which had been commenced by the former
Administration, M. Papineau would most assuredly have availed himself
of the plea to undermine their influence in this section of the
province. The debates in Parliament on this question have been
acrimonious and lengthy, but M. Lafontaine's resolutions were finally
passed by a majority of fifty to twenty-two.
Dissensions of this class place in strong relief the passions and
tendencies which render the endurance of the political system which we
have established here, and of the connection with the mother-country,
uncertain and precarious. They elicit a manifestation of antipathy
between races and of jealousy between the recently united provinces,
which is much to be regretted. This measure of indemnity to Lower
Canada is, however, the last of the kind, and if it be once settled
satisfactorily, a formidable stumblingblock will have been removed
from my path.
A fortnight later he adds:--
The Tory party are doing what they can by menace, intimidation, and
appeals to passion to drive me to a _coup d'Etat_. And yet the
very measure which is at this moment the occasion of so loud an
outcry, is nothing more than a strict logical following out of their
own acts. It is difficult to conceive what the address on the subject
of rebellion losses in Lower Canada, unanimously voted by the House of
Assembly while Lord Metcalfe was governor and Mr. Draper minister, and
the proceedings of the Administration upon that address could have
been meant to lead to, if not to such a measure as the present
Government have introduced.
I enclose a letter which has been published in the newspapers by A. M.
Masson, one of the Bermuda exiles,[1] who was appointed to an office
by the late Government. This person will be excluded from compensation
by the Bill of the present Government, and he positively asserts that
Lord Metcalfe and some of his Ministers assured him that he would be
included by them.
I certainly regret that this agitation should have been stirred, and
that any portion of the funds of the province should be diverted now
from much more useful purposes to make good losses sustained by
individuals in the rebellion. But I have no doubt whatsoever that a
great deal of property was wantonly and cruelly destroyed at that time
in Lower Canada. Nor do I think that this Government, after what their
predecessors had done, and with Papineau in the rear, could have
helped taking up this question. Neither do I think that their measure
would have been less objectionable, but very much the reverse, if,
after the lapse of eleven years, and the proclamation of a general
amnesty, it had been so framed as to attach the stigma of Rebellion to
others than those regularly convicted before the Courts. Any kind of
extra-judicial inquisition conducted at this time of day by
Commissioners appointed by the Government, with the view of
ascertaining what part this or that claimant for indemnity may have
taken in 1837 and 1838, would have been attended by consequences much
to be regretted, and have opened the door to an infinite amount of
jobbing, false swearing, and detraction.
[Sidenote: Petitions against it.]
[Sidenote: Neutrality of the Governor.]
Petitions against the measure were got up by the Tories in all parts of the
province; but these, instead of being sent to the Assembly, or to the
Legislative Council, or to the Home Government, were almost all addressed
to Lord Elgin personally; obviously with the design of producing a
collision between him and his Parliament. They generally prayed either that
Parliament might be dissolved, or that the Bill, if it passed, might be
reserved for the royal sanction. All such addresses, and the remonstrances
brought to him by deputations of malcontents, he received with civility,
promising to bestow on them his best consideration, but studiously avoiding
the expression of any opinion on the points in controversy. By thus
maintaining a strictly constitutional position, he foiled that section of
the agitators who calculated on his being frightened or made angry, while
he left a door open for any who might have candour enough to admit that
after all he was only carrying out fairly the principle of responsible
government.
In pursuance of this policy he put off to the latest moment any decision as
to the course which he should take with respect to the Bill when it came up
to him for his sanction. As regards a dissolution, indeed, he felt from the
beginning that it would be sheer folly, attended by no small risk. Was he
to have recourse to this ultima ratio, merely because a parliament elected
a year before, under the auspices of the party now in opposition, had
passed, by a majority of nearly two to one, a measure introduced by the
present Government, in pursuance of the acts of a former one?
If I had dissolved Parliament, I might have produced a rebellion, but
most assuredly I should not have procured a change of Ministry. The
leaders of the party know that as well as I do, and were it possible
to play tricks in such grave concerns, it would have been easy to
throw them into utter confusion by merely calling upon them to form a
Government. They were aware, however, that I could not for the sake of
discomfiting them hazard so desperate a policy: so they have played
out their game of faction and violence without fear of consequences.
The other course urged upon him by the Opposition, namely, that of
reserving the Bill for the consideration of the Home Government, may appear
to have been open to no such objections, and to have been in fact the
wisest course which he could pursue, in circumstances of so much delicacy.
And this seems to have been the opinion of many in England, who were
disposed to approve of his general policy; but it may be doubted whether
they had weighed all the considerations which presented themselves to the
mind of the Governor on the spot, and which he stated to Lord Grey as
follows:--
There are objections, too, to reserving the Bill which I think I shall
consider insurmountable, whatever obloquy I may for the time entail on
myself by declining to lend myself even to this extent to the plans of
those who wish to bring about a change of administration.
In the first place the Bill for the relief of a corresponding class of
persons in Upper Canada, which was couched in terms very nearly
similar, was not reserved, and it is difficult to discover a
sufficient reason, in so far as the representative of the Crown is
concerned, for dealing with the one measure differently from the
other. And in the second place, by reserving the Bill I should only
throw upon Her Majesty's Government, or (as it would appear to the
popular eye here) on Her Majesty herself, a responsibility which
rests, and ought, I think, to rest, on my own shoulders. If I pass the
Bill, whatever mischief ensues may probably be repaired, if the worst
comes to the worst, by the sacrifice of me. Whereas, if the case be
referred to England, it is not impossible that Her Majesty may only
have before her the alternative of provoking a rebellion in Lower
Canada, by refusing her assent to a measure chiefly affecting the
interest of the _habitans_, and thus throwing the whole
population into Papineau's hands, or of wounding the susceptibilities
of some of the best subjects she has in the province. For among the
objectors to this Bill are undoubtedly to be found not a few who
belong to this class; men who are worked upon by others more selfish
and designing, to whom the principles of constitutional Government are
unfathomable mysteries, and who still regard the representative of
royalty, and in a more remote sense the Crown and Government of
England, if not as the objects of a very romantic loyalty (for that, I
fear, is fast waning), at least as the butts of a most intense and
unrelenting: indignation, if political affairs be not administered in
entire accordance with their sense of what is right.
In solving these knotty problems, and choosing his course of action, the
necessities of the situation required that he should be guided by his own
unaided judgment, and act entirely on his own responsibility. For although,
throughout all his difficulties, in the midst of the reproaches with which
he was assailed both in the colony and in England, he had the great
satisfaction of knowing that his conduct was entirely approved by Lord
Grey, to whom he opened all his mind in private letters, the official
communications which passed between them were necessarily very reserved.
The following extract illustrates well this peculiarity in the position of
a British Colonial Governor, who has two popular Assemblies and two public
presses to consider:--
Perhaps you may have been annoyed by my not writing officially to you
ere this so as to give you communications to send to Parliament. All
that I can say on that point is, that I have got through this
disagreeable affair as well as I have done only by maintaining my
constitutional position, listening civilly to all representations
addressed to me against the measure, and adhering to a strict reserve
as to the course which I might deem it proper eventually to pursue. By
following this course I have avoided any act or expression which might
have added fuel to the flame; and although I have been plentifully
abused, because it has been the policy of the Opposition to drag me
into the strife, no one can say that I have said or done anything to
justify the abuse. And the natural effect of such patient endurance is
now beginning to show itself in the moderated tone of the organs of
the Opposition press. You will perceive, however, that I could not
possibly have maintained this position here, if despatches from me
indicating the Ministerial policy had been submitted to the House of
Commons. They would have found their way out here at once. Every
statement and opinion would have formed the subject of discussion, and
I should have found myself in the midst of the _melee_ a
partisan.
To counteract the violent and reckless efforts of the Opposition, Lord
Elgin trusted partly to the obvious reasonableness of the proposal under
discussion, but more to the growth of a patriotic spirit which should lead
the minority to prefer the rule of a majority within the province to the
coercion of a power from without. Something also he hoped from the effect
of the many excellent measures brought in about the same time by his new
Ministry, 'the first really efficient and working Government that Canada
had had since the Union.' Nor were these hopes altogether disappointed.
Writing on April 12 he observed, that a marked change had taken place
within the last few weeks in the tone both of the press[2] and of the
leaders of the party, some of whom had given him to understand, through
different channels, that they regretted things had gone so far. 'But,' he
adds, 'whether the gales from England will stir the tempest again or not
remains to be seen.'
[Sidenote: Opinions in England.]
And, in effect, the next post from England came laden with speeches and
newspaper articles, denouncing, in no measured terms, the 'suicidal folly
of rewarding rebels for rebellion.' A London journal of influence, speaking
of the British population as affected by the measure in question, said:--
'They are tolerably able to take care of themselves, and we very much
misconstrue the tone adopted by the English press and the English public in
the province, if they do not find some means of resisting the heavy blow
and great discouragement which is aimed at them.' Such passages were read
with avidity in the colony, and construed to mean that sympathy would be
extended from influential quarters at home to those who sought to annul the
obnoxious decision of the local Legislature, whatever might be the means to
which they resorted for the attainment of that end. It may be doubted,
however, whether any extraneous disturbance of this kind had much to do
with the volcanic outburst of local passions which ensued, and which is now
to be related.
[Sidenote: The Bill is passed,]
The Bill was passed in the Assembly by forty-seven votes to eighteen. On
analysing the votes, it was found that out of thirty-one members from Upper
Canada who voted on the occasion, seventeen supported and fourteen opposed
it; and that of ten members for Lower Canada, of British descent, six
supported and four opposed it.
These facts (wrote Lord Elgin) seemed altogether irreconcilable with
the allegation that the question was one on which the two races were
arrayed against each other throughout the province generally. I
considered, therefore, that by reserving the Bill, I should only cast
on Her Majesty and Her Majesty's advisers a responsibility which
ought, in the first instance at least, to rest on my own shoulders,
and that I should awaken in the minds of the people at large, even of
those who were indifferent or hostile to the Bill, doubts as to the
sincerity with which it was intended that constitutional Government
should be carried on in Canada; doubts which it is my firm conviction,
if they were to obtain generally, would be fatal to the connection.
[Sidenote: and receives the Royal Assent.]
Accordingly, when, on April 25, 1849, circumstances made it necessary for
him to proceed to Parliament in order to give the Royal Assent to a Customs
Bill which had that day passed the Legislative Council, he considered that,
as this necessity had arisen, it would not be expedient to keep the public
mind in suspense by omitting to dispose, at the same time, of the other
Acts which still awaited his decision, among which was the 'Act to provide
for the indemnification of parties in Lower Canada whose property was
destroyed during the Rebellion in 1837 and 1838.' What followed is thus
described in an official despatch written within a few days after the
event:--
[Sidenote: Riots.]
When I left the House of Parliament I was received with mingled cheers
and hootings by a crowd by no means numerous which surrounded the
entrance to the building. A small knot of individuals, consisting, it
has since been ascertained, of persons of a respectable class in
society, pelted the carriage with missiles which they must have
brought with them for the purpose. Within an hour after this
occurrence a notice, of which I enclose a copy, issued from one of the
newspaper offices, calling a meeting in the open air. At the meeting
inflammatory speeches were made. On a sudden, whether under the effect
of momentary excitement, or in pursuance of a plan arranged
beforehand, the mob proceeded to the House of Parliament, where the
members were still sitting, and breaking the windows, set fire to the
building and burned it to the ground. By this wanton act public
property of considerable value, including two excellent libraries, has
been utterly destroyed. Having achieved their object the crowd
dispersed, apparently satisfied with what they had done. The members
were permitted to retire unmolested, and no resistance was offered to
the military who appeared on the ground after a brief interval, to
restore order, and aid in extinguishing the flames. During the two
following days a good deal of excitement prevailed in the streets, and
some further acts of incendiarism were perpetrated. Since then the
military force has been increased, and the leaders of the disaffected
party have shown a disposition to restrain their followers, and to
direct their energies towards the more constitutional object of
petitioning the Queen for my recall, and the disallowance of the
obnoxious Bill. The proceedings of the House of Assembly will also
tend to awe the turbulent. I trust, therefore, that the peace of the
city will not be again disturbed.
The Ministry are blamed for not having made adequate provision against
these disasters. That they by no means expected that the hostility to
the Rebellion Losses Bill would have displayed itself in the outrages
which have been perpetrated during the last few days is certain.[3]
Perhaps sufficient attention was not paid by them to the menaces of
the Opposition press. It must be admitted, however, that their
position was one of considerable difficulty. The civil force of
Montreal--a city containing about 50,000 inhabitants of different
races, with secret societies and other agencies of mischief in
constant activity--consists of two policemen under the authority of
the Government, and seventy appointed by the Corporation. To oppose,
therefore, effectual resistance to any considerable mob, recourse must
be had in all cases either to the military or to a force of civilians
enrolled for the occasion. Grave objections, however, presented
themselves in the present instance to the adoption of either of these
courses until the disposition to tumult on the part of the populace
unhappily manifested itself in overt acts. More especially was it of
importance to avoid any measure which might have had a tendency to
produce a collision between parties on a question on which their
feelings were so strongly excited. The result of the course pursued
is, that there has been no bloodshed, and, except in the case of some
of the Ministers themselves, no destruction of private property.
The passions, however, which appeared to have calmed down, burst out with
fresh fury the very day on which these sentences were penned. The House of
Assembly had voted, by a majority of thirty-six to sixteen, an address to
the Governor-General, expressive of abhorrence at the outrages which had
taken place, of loyalty to the Queen, and approval of his just and
impartial administration of the Government, with his late as well as with
his present advisers. It was arranged that Lord Elgin should receive this
Address at the Government House instead of at Monklands. Accordingly, on
April 30, he drove into the city, escorted by a troop of volunteer
dragoons, and accompanied by several of his suite. On his way through the
streets he was greeted with showers of stones, and with difficulty
preserved his face from being injured.[4] On his return he endeavoured to
avoid all occasion of conflict by going back by a different route; but the
mob, discovering his purpose, rushed in pursuit, and again assailed his
carriage with various missiles, and it was only by rapid driving that he
escaped unhurt.[5]
None but those who were in constant intercourse with him can know what Lord
Elgin went through during the period of excitement which followed these
gross outrages. The people of Montreal seemed to have lost their reason.
The houses of some of the Ministers and of their supporters were attacked
by mobs at night, and it was not safe for them to appear in the streets. A
hostile visit was threatened to the house in which the Governor-General
resided at a short distance from the city; all necessary preparation was
made to defend it, and his family were kept for some time in a state of
anxiety and suspense.[6]
For some weeks he himself did not go into the town of Montreal, but kept
entirely within the bounds of his country seat at Monklands, determined
that no act of his should offer occasion or excuse to the mob for fresh
outrage.[7] He knew, of course, that the whole of French Lower Canada was
ready at any moment to rise, as one man, in support of the Government; but
his great object was to keep them quiet, and 'to prevent collision between
the races.'
[Sidenote: Firmness of the Governor.]
[Sidenote: Refuses either to use force,]
'Throughout the whole of this most trying time,' writes Major Campbell,[8]
'Lord Elgin remained perfectly calm and cool; never for a moment losing his
self-possession, nor failing to exercise that clear foresight and sound
judgment for which he was so remarkable. It came to the knowledge of his
Ministers that, if he went into the city again, his life would be in great
danger; and they advised that a commission should issue to appoint a
Deputy-Governor for the purpose of proroguing Parliament. He was urged by
irresponsible advisers to make use of the military forces at his command,
to protect his person in an official visit to the city; but he declined to
do so, and thus avoided what these infatuated rioters seemed determined to
bring on--the shedding of blood. "I am prepared," he said, "to bear any
amount of obloquy that may be cast upon me, but, if I can possibly prevent
it, no stain of blood shall rest upon my name."'
As might have been expected, the Montreal press attributed this wise and
magnanimous self-restraint to fear for his own safety. But he was not to be
moved from his resolve by the paltry imputation; nor did he even care that
his friends should resent or refute it on his behalf.
So little was he affected by it that on finding, some years afterwards,
that Lord Grey proposed to introduce some expression of indignation on the
subject in his work on the colonies, he dissuaded him from doing so. 'I do
not believe,' he said, 'that these imputations were hazarded in any
respectable quarter, or that they are entitled to the dignity of a place in
your narrative.'
[Sidenote: or to yield to violence.]
But if neither the entreaties of 'irresponsible advisers,' nor the taunts
of foes, could move him to the use of force, he was equally firm in his
determination to concede nothing to the clamour and violence of the mob.
Writing officially to Lord Grey on the 30th of April, when the fury of the
populace was at its height, he said:--
It is my firm conviction that if this dictation be submitted to, the
government of this province by constitutional means will be
impossible, and that the struggle between overbearing minorities,
backed by force, and majorities resting on legality and established
forms, which has so long proved the bane of Canada, driving capital
from the province, and producing a state of chronic discontent, will
be perpetuated.
[Sidenote: Tenders resignation.]
At the same time, he thought it his duty to suggest, that 'if he should be
unable to recover that position of dignified neutrality between contending
parties which it had been his unremitting study to maintain,' it might be a
question whether it would not be for the interests of Her Majesty's service
that he should be removed, to make way for some one 'who should have the
advantage of being personally unobnoxious to any section of Her Majesty's
subjects within the province.'
[Sidenote: Approval of Home Government.]
The reply to this letter assured him, in emphatic terms, of the cordial
approval and support of the Home Government. 'I appreciate,' wrote Lord
Grey, 'the motives which have induced your Lordship to offer the suggestion
with which your despatch concludes, but I should most earnestly deprecate
the change it contemplates in the government of Canada. Your Lordship's
relinquishment of that office, which, under any circumstances, would be a
most serious loss to Her Majesty's service, and to the province, could not
fail, in the present state of affairs, to be most injurious to the public
welfare, from the encouragement which it would give to those who have been
concerned in the violent and illegal opposition which has been offered to
your Government. I also feel no doubt that when the present excitement
shall have subsided, you will succeed in regaining that position of
"dignified neutrality" becoming your office, which, as you justly observe,
it has hitherto been your study to maintain, and from which, even those who
are at present most opposed to you, will, on reflection, perceive that you
have been driven, by no fault on your part, but by their own unreasoning
violence.
Relying, therefore, upon your devotion to the interests of Canada, I feel
assured that you will not be induced by the unfortunate occurrences which
have taken place, to retire from the high office which the Queen has been
pleased to entrust to you, and which, from the value she puts upon your
past services, it is Her Majesty's anxious wish that you should retain.'
[Sidenote: Support in the colony.]
While awaiting, in his retreat at Monklands, the _contrecoup_ from the
mother-country of the storm which had burst over the colony, Lord Elgin
found a great source of consolation in the numerous sympathetic addresses
which poured in from every part of the province: fortifying him in the
conviction that the heart of the colony was with him, and that the bitter
opposition at Montreal was chiefly due to local causes; especially 'to
commercial distress, acting on religious bigotry and national hatred.' One
of these addresses, coming from the county of Glengarry, an ancient
settlement of Scottish loyalists, appears to have touched the Scotsman's
heart within the statesman's. In reply to it he said:--
Men of Glengarry--My heart warms within me when I listen to your manly
and patriotic address.
I recognise in it evidence of that vigorous understanding which
enables men of the stock to which you belong to prize, as they ought
to be prized, the blessings of well-ordered freedom, and of that keen
sense of principle which prompts them to recoil from no sacrifice
which duty enjoins.
The men of Glengarry need not recapitulate their services. He must be
ignorant indeed of the history of Canada who does not know how much
they have done and suffered for their Sovereign and their country.
You inhabit here a goodly land. A land full of promise, where your
children have room enough to increase and to multiply, and to become,
with God's blessing, greater and more prosperous than yourselves. But
I am confident that no spell less potent than the gentle and benignant
control of those liberal institutions which it is Britain's pride and
privilege to bestow on her children, will insure the peaceful
development of its unrivalled resources, or knit together into one
happy and united family the various races of which this community is
composed.
On this conviction I have acted, in labouring to secure for you,
during the whole course of my administration the full benefit of
constitutional government. It is truly gratifying to me to learn that
you appreciate my exertions. Depend upon it, they will not be relaxed.
I claim to have something of your own spirit: devotion to a cause
which I believe to be a just one--courage to confront, if need be,
danger and even obloquy in its pursuit--and an undying faith that God
protects the right.
[Sidenote: Debates in the British Parliament.]
In the meantime the unhappy Bill, which had caused such an explosion in the
colony, was running the gantlet of the British Parliament. On June 14 it
was vehemently attacked in the House of Commons by Mr. Gladstone, as being
a measure for the rewarding of Rebels.[9] He, indeed, contented himself
with 'calling the attention of the House to certain parts' of the Bill in
question; but Mr. Herries, following out the same views to their legitimate
conclusion, moved an Address to Her Majesty to disallow the Act of the
Colonial Legislature. The debate was sustained with great Vigour for two
nights; in the course of which the Act was defended not only by Lord John
Russell as leader of the Government, but also, with even more force, by his
great opponent Sir Robert Peel. Speaking with all the weight of an
impartial observer, he showed that it was not the intention of the measure,
and would not be its effect, to give compensation to anyone who could be
proved to have been a rebel; that it was only an inevitable sequel to other
measures which had been passed without opposition; and, further, that its
rejection at this stage would be resisted by all parties in the colony
alike, as an arbitrary interference with their right of self-government. On
a division the amendment of Mr. Herries was thrown out by a majority of
141. And though, a few nights later, a resolution somewhat in the same
sense, moved by Lord Brougham in the Upper House, was only negatived, with
the aid of proxies, by three votes, the large majority in the House of
Commons, and the firm attitude of the Government on the subject, did much
to quiet the excitement in the colony.
The news from England (wrote Lord Elgin) has produced a marked, and,
so far as it goes, a satisfactory change in the tone of the Press; in
proof of which I send you the leading articles of the Tory papers of
Saturday. ... The party, it would appear, is now split into three; but
on one point all are agreed. We must have done, they say, with this
habit of abusing the French; we must live with them on terms of amity
and affection. Such is the first fruit of the policy which was to bring
about, we were assured, a war of races.
This satisfactory result was also due in part to the wise measures adopted
by the Ministry, under direction of the Governor-General, for giving effect
to the provisions of the much-disputed Bill.
We are taking steps (he wrote on June 17) to carry out the Rebellion
Losses Bill. Having adopted the measure of the late Conservative
Government, we are proceeding to reappoint their own Commissioners;
and, not content with that, we are furnishing them with instructions
which place upon the Act the most restricted and loyalist construction
of which the terms are susceptible. Truly, if ever rebellion stood
upon a rickety pretence, it is the Canadian Tory Rebellion of 1849.
[Sidenote: Fresh riots.]
Unhappily the flames, which at this time had nearly died out, were re-
kindled two months later on occasion of the arrest of certain persons
concerned in the former riots; and though this fresh outbreak lasted but a
few days, it was attended in one case with fatal consequences.[10] Writing
on August 20, Lord Elgin says:--
We are again in some excitement here. M. Lafontaine's house was
attacked by a mob (for the second time) two nights ago. Some persons
within fired, and one of the assailants was killed. The violent
Clubbists are trying to excite the passions of the multitude, alleging
that this is Anglo-Saxon blood shed by a Frenchman.
The immediate cause of this excitement is the arrest of certain
persons who were implicated in the destruction of the Parliament
buildings in April last. I was desirous, for the sake of peace, that
these parties should not be arrested until indictments had been laid
before the grand jury, and true bills found against them.
Unfortunately, in consequence of the cholera, the requisite number of
jurors to form a court was not forthcoming for the August term. The
Government thought that they could not, without impropriety, put off
taking any steps against these persons till November. They were,
therefore, arrested last week; all except one, who was committed for
arson, were at once bailed by the magistrates; and he too was bailed
the day after his committal by one of the judges of the Supreme Court.
All this is simple enough, and augurs no very vindictive spirit in the
authorities. Nevertheless it affords the occasion for a fresh
exhibition of the recklessness of the Montreal mob, and the
demoralisation of other classes in the community.
Again on the 27th he writes:--
We have had a fortnight of crisis consequent on the arrests which I
reported to you last week; which may perhaps be the prelude (though I
do not like to be too sanguine) to better times. A most violent
excitement was got up by the Press against M. Lafontaine more
especially, as the instigator of the arrests and the cause of the
death of the young man who was shot in the attack on his house. A vast
number of men, wearing red scarfs and ribands, attended the funeral of
the youth. The shops were shut on the line of the procession; fires
occurred during several successive nights in different parts of the
town, under circumstances warranting the suspicion of incendiarism.
Upon this the stipendiary magistrates, charged by the Government with the
preservation of the peace of the city, represented officially to the
Governor that nothing could save it but the proclamation of Martial Law.
But he told his Council that he 'would neither consent to Martial Law, nor
to any measures of increased vigour whatsoever, until a further appeal had
been made to the Mayor and Corporation of the city.'
[Sidenote: Quiet restored.]
This appeal was successful. A proclamation, issued by the Mayor, was
responded to by the respectable citizens of all parties; and a large number
of special constables turned out to patrol the streets and keep the peace.
Meanwhile the coroner's jury, after a very rigorous investigation, agreed
unanimously to a verdict acquitting M. Lafontaine of all blame, and finding
fault with the civic authorities for their remissness. This verdict was
important, for two of the jury were Orangemen, who had marched in the
procession at the funeral of the young man who was shot. The public
acknowledged its importance, and two of the most violent Tory newspapers
had articles apologising to Lafontaine for having so unfairly judged him
beforehand. 'From, these and other indications (wrote Lord Elgin) I begin
to hope that there may be some return to common sense in Montreal.'
[Removal of Government from Montreal.]
My advisers, however (he proceeds), now protest that it will be
impossible to maintain the seat of Government here. We had a long
discussion on this point yesterday. All seem to be agreed, that if a
removal from this town takes place, it must be on the condition
prescribed in the address of the Assembly presented to me last
Session, viz. that there shall henceforward be Parliaments held
alternately in the Upper and Lower Provinces. A removal from this to
any other fixed point would be the certain ruin of the party making
it. Therefore removal from Montreal implies the adoption of the system
(which, although it has a good deal to recommend it, is certainly open
to great objections) of alternating Parliaments. But this is not the
only difficulty. The French members of the Administration ... are
willing to go to Toronto for four years at the close of the present
Parliament, but they give many reasons, which appear to have in a
great measure satisfied their Upper Canada colleagues, for insisting
on Quebec as the first point to be made. Now I have great objection to
going to Quebec at present. I fear it would be considered, both here
and in England, as an admission that the Government is under French-
Canadian influence, and that it cannot maintain itself in Upper
Canada. I, therefore, concluded in favour of a few days more being
given in order to see whether or not the movement now in progress in
Montreal may be so directed as to render it possible to retain the
seat of Government there.
This hope was disappointed, and he was obliged to admit the necessity of
removal. On September 3 he wrote again:--
We have had, since I last wrote, a week of unusual tranquillity....
but I regret to say that I discover as yet nothing to warrant the
belief that the seat of Government can properly remain at Montreal.
The existence of a perfect understanding between the more outrageous
and the more respectable fractions of the Tory party in the town, is
rendered even more manifest by the readiness with which the former,
through their organs, have yielded to the latter when they preached
moderation in good earnest. Additional proof is thus furnished of the
extent to which the blame of the disgraceful transactions of the past
four months falls on all. All attempts, and several have been made, to
induce the Conservatives to unite in an address, inviting me to return
to the town, have failed; which is the more significant, because it is
well known that the removal of the seat of Government is under
consideration, and that I have deprecated the abandonment of Montreal.
The existence of a party, animated by such sentiments, powerful in
numbers and organisation, and in the station of some who more or less
openly join it--owning a qualified allegiance to the constitution of
the province--professing to regard the Parliament and the Government
as nuisances to be tolerated within certain limits only--raising
itself whenever the fancy seizes it, or the crisis in its judgment
demands it, into an '_imperium in imperio_,'--renders it, I fear,
extremely doubtful whether the functions of Legislation or of
Government can be carried on to advantage in this city. 'Show vigour
and put it down,' say some. You _may_ and _must_ put down
those who resist the law when overt acts are committed. But the party
is unfortunately a national as well as a political one; after each
defeat it resumes its attitude of defiance; and, whenever it comes
into collision with the authorities, there is the risk of a frightful
race feud being provoked. All these dangers are vastly increased by
Montreal's being the seat of Government.
There were other arguments also of no little force. He was assured that
some Members had declared that nothing would induce them to come again to
Montreal; and he himself felt that it must do great mischief to the members
from other parts of the Province, to pass some months of each year in that
'hot-bed of prejudice and disaffection.' Moreover, so long as Montreal
retained the prestige of being the Metropolis, it was impossible to prevent
its press from enjoying a factitious importance, not only within the
province, but also in England and in the States, where it would be looked
upon as the exponent of the sentiments of the community at large.
Ultimately, on November 18, Lord Elgin reported to the Home Government,
that after full and anxious deliberation he had resolved, on the advice of
his Council, to act on the recommendation of the Assembly that the
Legislature should sit alternately at Toronto and Quebec, and with that
view to summon the Provincial Parliament for the next session at Toronto.
This step, 'decided upon in this deliberate and unimpassioned manner,' gave
a useful lesson, which was not lost either upon Montreal or the rest of the
Province. Nor was this its only good effect. 'The arrangement,' wrote Lord
Grey in 1852, 'by which the seat of Government and the sittings of the
Legislature were fixed alternately at Toronto and Quebec, has contributed
not a little towards removing the feelings of alienation from each other of
the inhabitants of French and of British descent. The French Canadians have
thus been brought into closer communication than formerly with the
inhabitants of the Western division of the province, and an increase of
mutual esteem and respect, with the removal of many prejudices by which
they were formerly divided, have been the result of the two classes
becoming better acquainted with each other.'[11]
[Sidenote: Visit to Upper Canada.]
While these arrangements were under discussion, in the autumn following the
stormy events above described, in spite of the threats thrown out by the
extreme party, Lord Elgin, after a progress in Upper Canada in which he was
accompanied by his family, made a short tour in the Western districts, the
stronghold of British feeling, attended only by one aide-de-camp and a
servant, 'so as to contradict the allegation that he required protection.'
Everywhere he was received with the utmost cordiality; the few indications
of a different feeling, on the part of Orangemen and others, having only
the effect of heightening the enthusiasm with which he was greeted by the
majority of the population.
[Sidenote: Continued animosities.]
From this time we hear no more of such disgraceful scenes as it has been
necessary to record; but it was long before the old 'Family-Compact' party
forgave the Governor who had dared to be impartial. By many kinds of
detraction they sought to weaken his influence and damage his popularity;
detractions probably repeated in all sincerity by many who were honestly
incapable of understanding his real motives for forbearance. And as the
members of this party, though they had lost their monopoly of political
power, still remained the dominant class in society, the disparaging tone
which they set was taken up not only in the colony itself, but also by
travellers who visited it, and by them carried back to infect opinion in
England. The result was that persons at home, who had the highest
appreciation of Lord Elgin's capacity as a statesman, sincerely believed
him to be deficient in nerve and vigour; and as the misapprehension was one
which he could not have corrected, even if he had been aware how widely it
was spread, it continued to exist in many quarters until dispelled by the
singular energy and boldness, amounting almost to rashness, which he
displayed in China.
[Sidenote: Forbearance of Lord Elgin.]
The more we remember the vehemence with which these injurious reports were
circulated, the more remarkable appears the resolution not to yield to the
provocation they involved, and the determination to accept the whole
responsibility of the situation at whatever personal cost.
The following letters are among those which disclose the motives of his
resolute forbearance. The last of them, written to an intimate friend
nearly two years later, and summing up the feelings with which he looked
back on the struggles of 1849, may close the personal records of this
troubled year.
[Sidenote: Its motives.]
I do not at all wonder that you should be disposed to question the
wisdom of my course in respect to Montreal; I think it was the best I
could have taken under the circumstances; but I do not presume to say
that it may not be criticised--justly criticised. My choice was not
between a clearly right and a clearly wrong course: how easy is it to
deal with such cases, and how rare are they in life! But between
several difficulties, I think I chose the least. I think, too, that I
am beginning to reap the reward of my policy. I do not believe that
such enthusiasm was ever manifested towards anyone in my situation in
Canada, as has been exhibited during my recent tour. But more than
this. I do not believe that the function of the Governor-General under
constitutional government as the moderator between parties, the
representative of interests which are common to all the inhabitants of
the country, as distinct from those which divide them into parties,
was ever so fully and so frankly recognised. Now, I do not believe
that I could have achieved this if I had had blood upon my hands. I
might have been quite as popular, perhaps more so; for there are many,
especially in Lower Canada, who would gladly have seen the severities
of the law practised upon those from whom they believe that they have
often suffered much, unjustly. But my business is to humanize--not to
harden. At that task I must labour, through obloquy and
misrepresentation if needs be. At the same time I admit that I must,
not for the miserable purpose of self-glorification, but with a view
to the maintenance and establishment of my moral influence, recover
the prestige of personal courage of which some here sought to deprive
me. Before I have travelled unattended through the towns and villages
of Upper Canada, and met 'the bhoys' as they are called, in all of
them on their own ground, I think I shall have effected this object,
in so far as the province is concerned. To right myself in England
will be more difficult; but doubtless, if I live, the opportunity of
so doing, even there, will sooner or later present itself. Hitherto
any impertinences which have reached me from the other side have been
anonymous.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Afterthoughts.]
I believe that the sentiments expressed in the newspaper extract of
which you acknowledge the receipt in your last, with respect to the
merits of the policy of forbearance adopted by me at the great crisis,
are beginning to obtain very generally among the few who trace results
to their causes. But none can know what that crisis was, and what that
decision cost. At the time I took it, I stood literally _alone_.
I alienated from me the adherents of the Government, who felt, or
imagined (having been generally, in times past, on the anti-Government
side), that if the tables had been turned--if _they_ and not
_their adversaries_ had been resisting the law of the land, and
threatening the life of the Queen's representative--a very different
course of repressive policy would have been adopted. At the same time
I gained nothing on the other side, who only advanced in audacity; and
added the charge of personal cowardice to their other outrages. At
home, too, I forfeited much moral support; for although the Government
sustained me with that honourable confidence which entitles a
Government to be well served, they were puzzled. The logic of the case
was against me. Lord Grey and Lord J. Russell both felt that either I
was right or I was wrong. If the latter, I ought to be recalled; if
the former, I ought to make the law respected. And, lastly, I lost any
chance of moral support from the opinion of our neighbours in the
States; for, like all primitive constitutionalists, the ideas of
government they hold in that quarter are very simple. I have been told
by Americans, 'We thought you were quite right; but we could not
understand why you did not _shoot them down!_'
I do not, as you may suppose, often speak of these matters; but the
subject was alluded to the other day by a person (now out of politics,
but who knew what was going on at the time, one of our ablest men),
and he said to me, 'Yes; I see it all now. You were right--a thousand
times right--though I thought otherwise then. I own that I would
have reduced Montreal to ashes before I would have endured half what
you did; and,' he added, 'I should have been justified, too.' 'Yes,' I
answered, 'you would have been justified, because your course would
have been perfectly defensible; but it would not have been the _best
course_. Mine was a _better one_.' And shall I tell you
what was the deep conviction on my mind, which, apart from the
reluctance which I naturally felt to shed blood (particularly in a
cause in which many who opposed the Government were actuated by
motives which, though much alloyed with baser metal, had claims on my
sympathy), confirmed me in that course? I perceived that the mind of
the British population of the province, in Upper Canada especially,
was at that time the prey of opposing impulses. On the one hand, as a
question of blood and sensibility, they were inclined to go with the
anti-French party of Lower Canada; on the other, as a question of
constitutional principle, they felt that I was right, and that I
deserved support. Depend upon it, if we had looked to bayonets instead
of to reason for a triumph, the _sensibilities_ of the great body
of which I speak would soon have carried the day against their
_judgment_.
And what is the result? 700,000 French reconciled to England--not
because they are getting _rebel money_--I believe, indeed, that
no _rebels_ will get a farthing; but because they believe that
the British Governor is just. 'Yes;' but you may say 'this is
purchased by the alienation of the British.' Far from it; I took the
whole blame upon myself; and I will venture to affirm that the
Canadian British never were so loyal as they are at this hour; and,
what is more remarkable still, and more directly traceable to this
policy of forbearance, never, since Canada existed, has party-spirit
been more moderate, and the British and French races on better terms
than they are now; and this, in spite of the withdrawal of protection,
and of the proposal to throw on the colony many charges which the
Imperial Government has hitherto borne.
Pardon me for saying so much on this point; but _'magna est
veritas.'_
[1] _I.e._ one of the rebels of 1837, who had been banished to Bermuda
by Lord Durham.
[2] One of the Conservative papers of the day wrote:--'Bad as the payment
of the rebellion losses is, we do not know that it would not be better
to submit to pay twenty rebellion losses than have what is nominally a
free Constitution fettered and restrained each time a measure
distasteful to the minority is passed.'
[3] 'I confess,' he wrote in a private letter of the same date, 'I did not
before know how thin is the crust of order which covers the anarchical
elements that boil and toss beneath our feet.'
[4] 'When he entered the Government House he took a two-pound stone with
him which he had picked up in his carriage, as evidence of the most
unusual and sorrowful treatment Her Majesty's representative had
received.'--Mac Mullen, p. 511.
[5] 'Cabs, caleches, and everything that would run were at once launched in
pursuit, and crossing his route, the Governor-General's carriage was
bitterly assailed in the main street of the St. Lawrence suburbs. The
good and rapid driving of his postilions enabled him to clear the
desperate mob, but not till the head of his brother, Colonel Bruce,
had been cut, injuries inflicted on the chief of police. Colonel
Ermatanger, and on Captain Jones, commanding the escort, and every
panel of the carriage driven in.'--Mac Mullen, p. 511.
[6] In the midst of this time of anxiety and even of danger to himself and
his family, his eldest son was born at Monklands, on May 16. Her
Majesty was graciously pleased to become godmother to the child, who
was christened Victor Alexander.
[7] The motives, he afterwards said, which induced him to abstain from
forcing his way into Montreal, might be correctly stated in the words
of the Duke of Wellington, who, when asked why he did not go to the
city in 1830, is reported to have answered, 'I would have gone if the
law had been equal to protect me, but that was not the case. Fifty
dragoons would have done it, but that was a military force. If firing
had begun, who could tell when it would end? one guilty person would
fall and ten innocent be destroyed. Would this have been wise or
humane for a little bravado, or that the country might not be alarmed
for a day or two?'
[8] His valued Secretary, to whose personal recollections most of these
details are due.
[9] Some years afterwards, in the 'Address' already quoted, Mr. Gladstone
made something of an _amende_ for this attack; but he does not
appear to have been fully informed, even then, either as to the
intention with which the Act was framed, or as to the manner in which
it had been carried out.
[10] 'This,' observes Lord Grey, 'owing to the extreme forbearance of Lord
Elgin and his advisers, was the only life lost throughout these
unhappy disturbances.'
[11] Lord Grey's Colonial Policy, &c. i. 234. In 1858, however, this
'perambulating system' having proved expensive and inconvenient, the
Queen was asked to designate a permanent abode for the Legislature.
Her Majesty was graciously pleased to name Ottawa, the present capital
of the Dominion; and the selection of this central spot, with, its
singular facilities of communication, has greatly aided in the
consolidation of the province.
CHAPTER V.
ANNEXATION MOVEMENT--REMEDIAL MEASURES--REPEAL OF THE NAVIGATION
LAWS--
RECIPROCITY WITH THE UNITED STATES--HISTORY OF THE TWO MEASURES--DUTY
OF
SUPPORTING AUTHORITY--VIEWS ON COLONIAL GOVERNMENT--COLONIAL
INTERESTS THE
SPORT OF HOME PARTIES--NO SEPARATION!--SELF-GOVERNMENT NOT
NECESSARILY
REPUBLICAN--VALUE OF THE MONARCHICAL PRINCIPLE--DEFENCES OF THE
COLONY.
[Sidenote: Annexation movement]
The disturbances which followed the passing of the 'Rebellion Losses Bill'
have been described in the preceding chapter chiefly as they affected the
person of the Governor. But it may be truly said that this was the aspect
of them that gave him least concern. He felt, indeed, deeply the
indignities offered to the Crown of England through its representative. But
there was some satisfaction in the reflection that, by taking on himself
the whole responsibility of sanctioning the obnoxious Bill, he had drawn
down upon his own head the chief violence of a storm which might otherwise
have exploded in a manner very dangerous to the Empire. 'I think I might
say,' he writes, 'with less poetry but with more truth, what Lamartine said
when they accused him of coquetting with the _Rouges_ under the
Provisional Government: "_Oui, j'ai conspire! J'ai conspire comme le
paratonnerre conspire avec le nuage pour desarmer la foudre._"' But the
thunder-cloud was not entirely disarmed; and it burst in a direction which
popular passion in Canada has always been too apt to take, threats of
throwing off England and joining the American States. As far back as March
14, 1849, we find Lord Elgin drawing Lord Grey's attention to this subject.
There has been (he writes) a vast deal of talk about 'annexation,' as
is unfortunately always the case here when there is anything to
agitate the public mind. If half the talk on this subject were
sincere, I should consider an attempt to keep up the connection with
Great Britain as Utopian in the extreme. For, no matter what the
subject of complaint, or what the party complaining; whether it be
alleged that the French are oppressing the British, or the British the
French--that Upper Canada debt presses on Lower Canada, or Lower
Canada claims on Upper; whether merchants be bankrupt, stocks
depreciated, roads bad, or seasons unfavourable, annexation is invoked
as the remedy for all ills, imaginary or real. A great deal of this
talk is, however, bravado, and a great deal the mere product of
thoughtlessness. Undoubtedly it is in some quarters the utterance of
very sincere convictions; and if England will not make the sacrifices
which are absolutely necessary to put the colonists here in as good a
position commercially as the citizens of the States--in order to which
_free navigation and reciprocal trade with the States are
indispensable_--if not only the organs of the league but those of
the Government and of the Peel party are always writing as if it were
an admitted fact that colonies, and more especially Canada, are a
burden, to be endured only because they cannot be got rid of, the end
may be nearer at hand than we wot of.
In these sentences we have the germs of views and feelings which time only
made clearer and stronger;--indignation at that tendency, so common in all
minorities, to look abroad for aid against the power of the majority; faith
in the idea of Colonial Government, if based on principles of justice and
freedom; and, as regards the particular case of Canada, the conviction that
nothing was wanted to secure her loyalty but a removal of the commercial
restrictions which placed her at a disadvantage in competing with her
neighbours of the Union. To understand the scope of his policy during the
next few years, it will be necessary to dwell at some length on each of
these points; but for the present we must return to the circumstances which
gave occasion to the letter which we have quoted.
[Sidenote: Manifesto.]
While ready, as that letter shows, to make every allowance for the
utterances of thoughtless folly, or of well-founded discontent on the part
of the people, Lord Elgin felt the necessity of checking at once such
demonstrations on the part of paid servants of the Crown. Accordingly, when
an elaborate manifesto appeared in favour of 'annexation,' bearing the
signatures of several persons--magistrates, Queen's counsel, militia
officers, and others--holding commissions at the pleasure of the Crown, he
caused a circular to be addressed to all such persons with the view of
ascertaining whether their names had been attached with their own consent.
Some of these letters were answered in the negative, some in the
affirmative, and others by denying the right of the Government to put the
question, and declining to reply to it. Lord Elgin resolved, with the
advice of his executive council, to remove from such offices as are held
during the pleasure of the Crown, the gentlemen who admitted the
genuineness of their signatures, and those who refused to disavow them.
[Sidenote: Remedial measures.]
'In this course, says Lord Grey,[1] 'we thought it right to support him;
and a despatch was addressed to him signifying the Queen's approval of his
having dismissed from Her service those who had signed the address, and Her
Majesty's commands to resist to the utmost any attempt that might be made
to bring about a separation of Canada from the British dominions,' But the
necessity for such acts of severity only increased Lord Elgin's desire to
remove every reasonable ground of complaint and discontent; to shut out, as
he said, the advocates of annexation from every plea which could grace or
dignify rebellion. He felt, indeed, an assured confidence that, by carrying
out fearlessly the principle of self-government, he had 'cast an acorn into
time,' which could not fail to bring forth the fruit of political
contentment. But, in the meantime, for the immediate security of the
connection between the colony and the mother-country he thought, as we have
already seen, that two measures were indispensable, viz. the removal of the
existing restrictions on navigation, and the establishment of reciprocal
free trade with the United States.
Judging after the event we may, perhaps, be inclined to think that the
importance which he attached to the latter of these measures was
exaggerated; especially as the annexation movement had died away, and
content, commercial as well as political, had returned to the Province long
before it was carried. But we cannot form a correct view of his policy
without giving some prominence to a subject which occupied, for many years,
so large a share of his thoughts and of his energies.
Writing to Lord Grey on November 8, 1849, he says:--
[Sidenote: 'Reciprocity.']
The fact is, that although both the States and Canada export to the
same neutral market, prices on the Canada side of the line are lower
than on the American, by the amount of the duty which the Americans
levy. So long as this state of things continues there will be
discontent in this country; deep, growing discontent You will not, I
trust, accuse me of having deceived you on this point. I have always
said that I am prepared to assume the responsibility of keeping Canada
quiet, with a much smaller garrison than we have now, and without any
tax on the British consumer in the shape of protection to Canadian
products, if you put our trade on as good a footing as that of our
American neighbours; but if things remain on their present footing in
this respect, there is nothing before us but violent agitation, ending
in convulsion or annexation. It is better that I should worry you with
my importunity, than that I should be chargeable with having neglected
to give you due warning. You have a great opportunity before you--
obtain reciprocity for us, and I venture to predict that you will be
able shortly to point to this hitherto turbulent colony with
satisfaction, in illustration of the tendency of self-government and
freedom of trade, to beget contentment and material progress. Canada
will remain attached to England, though tied to her neither by the
golden links of protection, nor by the meshes of old-fashioned
colonial office jobbing and chicane. But if you allow the Americans to
withhold the boon which you have the means of extorting if you will, I
much fear that the closing period of the connection between Great
Britain and Canada will be marked by incidents which will damp the
ardour of those who desire to promote human happiness by striking
shackles either off commerce or off men.
Even when tendering to the Premier, Lord John Russell, his formal thanks on
being raised to the British peerage--an honour which, coming at that
moment, he prized most highly as a proof to the world that the Queen's
Government approved his policy--he could not forego the opportunity of
insisting on a topic which seemed to him so momentous.
It is (he writes) of such vital importance that your Lordship should
rightly apprehend the nature of these difficulties, and the state of
public opinion in Canada at this conjuncture, that I venture, at the
hazard of committing an indiscretion, to add a single observation on
this head. Let me then assure your Lordship, and I speak advisedly in
offering this assurance, that the disaffection now existing in Canada,
whatever be the forms with which it may clothe itself, is due mainly
to commercial causes. I do not say that there is no discontent on
political grounds. Powerful individuals and even classes of men are, I
am well aware, dissatisfied with the conduct of affairs. But I make
bold to affirm that so general is the belief that, under the present
circumstances of our commercial condition, the colonists pay a heavy
pecuniary fine for their fidelity to Great Britain, that nothing but
the existence to an unwonted degree of political contentment among the
masses has prevented the cry for annexation from spreading, like
wildfire, through the Province. This, as your Lordship will perceive,
is a new feature in Canadian politics. The plea of self-interest, the
most powerful weapon, perhaps, which the friends of British connection
have wielded in times past, has not only been wrested from my hands,
but transferred since 1846 to those of the adversary. I take the
liberty of mentioning a fact, which seems better to illustrate the
actual condition of affairs in these respects than many arguments. I
have lately spent several weeks in the district of Niagara. Canadian
Niagara is separated from the state of New York by a narrow stream,
spanned by a bridge, which it takes a foot passenger about three
minutes to cross. The inhabitants are for the most part U.E.
loyalists,[2] and differ little in habits or modes of thought and
expression from their neighbours. Wheat is their staple product--the
article which they exchange for foreign comforts and luxuries. Now it
is the fact that a bushel of wheat, grown on the Canadian side of the
line, has fetched this year in the market, on an average, from
9_d_. to 1_s_. less than the same quantity and quality of
the same article grown on the other. Through their district council, a
body elected under a system of very extended suffrage, these same
inhabitants of Niagara have protested against the Montreal annexation
movement. They have done so (and many other district councils in Upper
Canada have done the same) under the impression that it would be base
to declare against England at a moment when England has given a signal
proof of her determination to concede constitutional Government in all
its plenitude to Canada. I am confident, however, that the large
majority of the persons who have thus protested, firmly believe that
their annexation to the United States would add one-fourth to the
value of the produce of their farms.
I need say no more than this to convince your Lordship, that while
this state of things subsists (and I much fear that no measure but the
establishment of reciprocal trade between Canada and the States, or
the imposition of a duty on the produce of the States when imported
into England, will remove it), arguments will not be wanting to those
who seek to seduce Canadians from their allegiance.
Shortly afterwards he writes to Lord Grey:--
It is not for me to dispute the point with free-traders, when they
allege that all parts of the Empire are suffering from the effects of
free-trade, and that Canadians must take their chance with others. But
I must be permitted to remark, that the Canadian case differs from
others, both as respects the immediate cause of the suffering, and
still more as respects the means which the sufferers possess of
finding for themselves a way of escape. As to the former point I have
only to say that, however severe the pressure in other cases attendant
on the transition from protection to free-trade, there is none which
presents so peculiar a specimen of legislative legerdemain as the
Canadian, where an interest was created in 1843 by a Parliament in
which the parties affected had no voice, only to be knocked down by
the same Parliament in 1846. But it is the latter consideration which
constitutes the specialty of the Canadian case. What in point of fact
_can_ the other suffering interests, of which the _Times_
writes, do? There may be a great deal of grumbling, and a gradual
move towards republicanism, or even communism; but this is an operose
and empirical process, the parties engaged in it are full of
misgivings, and their ranks at every step in advance are thinned by
desertion. Not so with the Canadians. The remedy offered to them, such
as it is, is perfectly definite and intelligible. They are invited to
form a part of a community, which is neither suffering nor free-
trading, which never makes a bargain without getting at least twice as
much as it gives; a community, the members of which have been within
the last few weeks pouring into their multifarious places of worship,
to thank God that they are exempt from the ills which afflict other
men, from those more especially which afflict their despised
neighbours, the inhabitants of North America, who have remained
faithful to the country which planted them.
Now, I believe, that if these facts be ignored, it is quite impossible
to understand rightly the present state of opinion in Canada, or to
determine wisely the course which the British Government and
Parliament ought to pursue. It may suit the policy of the English
free-trade press to represent the difficulties of Canada as the
consequence of having a fool for a Governor-General; but, if it be
permitted me to express an opinion on a matter of so much delicacy, I
venture to doubt whether it would be safe to act on this hypothesis.
My conviction on the contrary is, that motives of self-interest of a
very gross and palpable description are suggesting treasonable courses
to the Canadian mind at present, and that it is a political sentiment,
a feeling of gratitude for what has been done and suffered this year
in the cause of Canadian self-government, which is neutralising these
suggestions.
Again, on December 29,1849, he writes as follows:--
[Sidenote: Free navigation.]
I believe that the operation of the free navigation system will be
what you anticipate, to a great extent at least, and that it will tend
materially to equalise prices on the two sides of the line. At the
same time I do think, that there are circumstances in this country
which falsify, in some degree, the deductions at which one arrives
from reasoning founded on the abstract principles of political
economy. One of these circumstances is the power which the farmers in
the Western States, having no rents to pay, have of holding back their
grain when prices do not suit them. You must have observed what hoards
they poured forth when they were tempted by the famine prices of 1847;
and I cannot but think that this power of hoarding, coupled with an
indifferent harvest, must account for the great disparity of price,
which has obtained during the course of the present year in the New
York market for bonded grain, and grain for the home consumption. I
fully expect, however, to see the price of Canadian grain, bonded at
New York, rise, now that it can be exported to Liverpool in the New
York liners, which will carry it for ballast. Nevertheless, I think
that Sir Robert Peel's _dictum_ with respect to the Repeal of the
Corn Laws, on the day on which he retired last from office, when he
observed that thenceforward, even when the poor suffered from the high
price of bread, they would not ascribe that suffering to the fact of
their bread being taxed, applies with at least equal force to the
reciprocity question as affecting the Canadian farmers. For sure am I
that, so long as there is a duty on their produce when it enters the
States, and none on the introduction of United States produce into
England, they will ascribe to this cause alone the differences of
price that may occasionally rule to their disadvantage.
The history of the two measures which Lord Elgin so ardently desired, and
which in the foregoing and many similar letters he so urgently pressed, was
eminently characteristic of the two Legislatures, through which they had
respectively to be carried.
[Sidenote: Repeal of Navigation Laws.]
In England, the repeal of restrictive Navigation Laws was contended for by
thoughtful statesmen on grounds of public policy. The protective and
conservative instincts of the old country, fortified by the never-absent
spirit of party, resisted the change. When fairly beaten by force of
argument in the House of Commons, they entrenched themselves ha the House
of Lords; and it was only after a hot struggle that the Act was passed in
June 1849, of which one effect was, by lowering freights, to increase the
profits of the Canadian trade in wheat and timber, and thus to advance, in
a very important degree, the commercial prosperity of the colony.
[Sidenote: Reciprocity Treaty.]
The delays which retarded the settlement of the Reciprocity Treaty were due
to causes of another kind. The difficulty was to induce the American
Congress to pay any attention at all to the subject. In the vast
multiplicity of matters with which that Assembly has to deal, it is said
that no cause which does not appeal strongly to a national sentiment, or at
least to some party feeling, has a chance of obtaining a hearing, unless it
is taken up systematically by 'organizers' outside the House. The
Reciprocity Bill was not a measure about which any national or even party
feeling could be aroused. It was one which required much study to
understand its bearings, and which would affect different interests in the
country in different ways. It stood, therefore, especially in need of the
aid of professional organizers; a kind of aid of which it was of course
impossible that either the British or the Canadian Government should avail
itself. Session after session the Bill was proposed, scarcely debated, and
set aside. At last, in 1854, after the negotiations had dragged on wearily
for more than six years, Lord Elgin himself was sent to Washington in the
hope--'a forlorn hope,' as it seemed to those who sent him--of bringing the
matter to a successful issue. It was his first essay in diplomacy, but made
under circumstances unusually favourable. He was personally popular with
the Americans, towards whom he had always entertained and shown a most
friendly feeling. They appreciated, moreover, better perhaps than it was
appreciated at home, the consummate ability, as well as the rare strength
of character, which he had displayed in the government of Canada; and the
prestige thus attaching to his name, joined to the influence of his
presence, and his courtesy and _bonhomie_, enabled him in a few days
to smooth all difficulties, and change apathy into enthusiasm. Within a few
weeks from the time of his landing he had agreed with Mr. Marcy upon the
terms of a Treaty of Reciprocity, which soon afterwards received the
sanction of all the Governments concerned.
The main concessions made by the Provinces to the United States in this
treaty were, (1) the removal of duties on the introduction, for consumption
in the Provinces, of certain products of the States; (2) the admission of
citizens of that country to the enjoyment of the in-shore sea-fishery; (3)
the opening-up to their vessels of the St. Lawrence and canals pertaining
thereto.
A good deal of misconception prevailed at the time as to the amount of the
concession made under the second head. The popular impression on this point
was, that a gigantic monopoly was about to be surrendered; but this was far
from being the case. The citizens of the United States had already, under
the Convention of 1818, access to the most important cod-fisheries on the
British coasts. The new treaty maintained in favour of British subjects the
monopoly of the river and freshwater fisheries; and the concession which it
made to the citizens of the United States amounted in substance to this,
that it admitted them to a legal participation in the mackerel and herring
fisheries, from illegal encroachments on which it had been found, after the
experience of many years, practically impossible to exclude them.[3]
The duration of the Treaty was limited to ten years, and has not been
extended; but it is not too much to hope that it has had some effect in
engendering feelings of friendliness, and of community of interest, which
may long outlast itself.
[Sidenote: Views of Government.]
It has been already noticed that the 'annexation movement' of 1849 died
away without serious consequences; and extracts which have been given above
sufficiently show to what cause Lord Elgin attributed its extinction. The
powerful attraction of the great neighbouring republic had been
counteracted and overcome by the more powerful attraction of self-
government at home. The centrifugal force was no longer equal to the
centripetal. To create this state of feeling had been his most cherished
desire; to feel that he had succeeded in creating it was, throughout much
obloquy and misunderstanding, his greatest support.
[Sidenote: Duty of supporting authority,]
From the earliest period of his entrance into political life he had always
had the strongest sense of the duty incumbent on every public man of
supporting, even in opposition, the authority of Government. The bitterest
reproach which he cast upon the Whigs, in his first Tory 'Letter to the
Electors of Great Britain' in 1835, was that when they found they could not
carry on the government themselves, they tried to make it impossible for
any other party to do so. Nor was he less severe, on another occasion, in
his reprehension of 'a certain high Tory clique who are always cavilling at
royalty when it is constitutional; circulating the most miserable gossip
about royal persons and royal entertainments,' &c.; busily 'engaged in
undermining the foundations on which respect for human institutions rests.'
Writing, in May 1850, to Mr. Gumming Bruce, a Tory and Protectionist, he
said--
I shall not despair for England whether Free-traders or Protectionists
be in the ascendant, unless I see that the faction out of power abet
the endeavours of those who would make the Government of the country
contemptible. Read Montalembert's speeches. They are very eloquent and
instructive. He had as full a faith in his religion, and what he
considered due to his religion, as you can have in your Corn Laws. Yet
observe how bitterly he now repents having aided those who have
undermined in the French public all respect for authority and the
powers that be.
If all that your Protectionist friends want to do is to put
themselves, or persons in whom they have greater confidence than the
present Ministry, in office, their object is, I confess, a perfectly
legitimate one. What I complain of is the system of what is termed
damaging the Government, when resorted to by those who have no such
purpose in view; or at least no honest intention of assuming
responsibilities which they are endeavouring to render intolerable to
those who are charged with them.
[Sidenote: especially in Colonies.]
But if this 'political profligacy' was, in his judgment, the bane of party
government at home, a still stronger but, perhaps, more excusable tendency
to it threatened to defeat the object of responsible government in Canada.
Accustomed to look abroad for the source and centre of power, a beaten
minority in the Colonial Parliament, instead of loyally accepting its
position, was never without a hope of wresting the victory from its
opponents, either by an appeal to opinion in the mother-country, always
ill-informed, and therefore credulous, in matters of colonial politics, or
else by raising a cry of 'separation' or 'annexation.'
The evil effects of this state of things need hardly be pointed out. On the
one hand the constant reference to opinion in England, not in the shape of
constitutional appeal but by ex-parte statements, produced a state of
chronic irritation against the mother-country. 'There is nothing,' wrote
Lord Elgin, 'which makes the colonial statesman so jealous as rescripts
from the Colonial Office, suggested by the representations of provincial
cliques or interests, who ought, as he contends, to bow before the
authorities of Government House, Montreal, rather than those of Downing
Street.' On the other hand it was not easy to know how to deal with
politicians who did not profess to own more than a qualified and
provisional allegiance to the constitution of the Province and the Crown of
England. The one hope in both cases was to foster a 'national and manly
tone' of political morals; to lead all parties alike to look to their own
Parliament, and neither to the London press nor the American hustings, for
the solution of all problems of Provincial government.
But while thus zealously defending, the fortress of British connection
committed to his care, Lord Elgin was dismayed to find that its walls were
crumbling round him? undermined by the operations of his own Mends; that
there had arisen at home a school of philosophic statesmen, strong in their
own ability, and strengthened by the support of the Radical economists,
according to whom it was to be expected and desired that every colony
enjoying constitutional government should aim at emancipating itself
entirely from allegiance to the mother-country, and forming itself into an
independent Republic. With such views he had no sympathy. The 'Sparta'
which had fallen to his lot was the position of a colonial governor, and
that position he felt it his duty to 'adorn' and to maintain. Moreover,
believing firmly in the vitality of the monarchical principle, as well as
in its value, he contended that it is an error to suppose that a
constitutional monarchy, in proportion as it becomes more liberal, tends
towards republicanism; and further, that if such tendency existed it would
be retrograde rather than progressive.
The views of Colonial Government, its objects and its difficulties, which
have been here briefly epitomised, are displayed in full in the following
letters, together with a variety of opinions on kindred topics. They are
given as characteristic of Lord Elgin; but they may, perhaps, have an
interest of their own, as bearing on important questions which still await
solution.
_To the Earl Grey._
November 16,1849.
[Sidenote: Maintenance of British connection.]
Very much, as respects the result of this annexation movement, depends
upon what you do at home. I cannot say what the effect may be if the
British Government and press are lukewarm on the subject. The
annexationists will take heart, but in a tenfold greater degree the
friends of the connection will be discouraged. If it be admitted that
separation _must_ take place, sooner or later, the argument in
favour of a present move seems to be almost irresistible. I am
prepared to contend that with responsible government, fairly worked
out with free-trade, there is no reason why the colonial relation
should not be indefinitely maintained. But look at my present
difficulty, which may be increased beyond calculation, if indiscreet
expressions be made use of during the present crisis. The English
Government thought it necessary, in order to give moral support to
their representative in Ireland, to assert in the most solemn manner
that the Crown never would consent to the severance of the Union;
although, according to the O'Connell doctrine, the allegiance to the
Crown of the Irish was to be unimpaired notwithstanding such
severance. But when I protest against Canadian projects for
dismembering the empire, I am always told 'the most eminent statesmen
in England have over and over again told us, that whenever we chose we
might separate. Why, then, blame us for discussing the subject?'
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
January 14,1850.
[Sidenote: Colonial interests the sport of home parties.]
I am certainly less sanguine than I was as to the probability of
retaining the colonies under free-trade. I speak not now of the cost
of their retention, for I have no doubt but that, if all parties
concerned were honest, expenses might be gradually reduced. I am sure
also that when free-trade is fairly in operation it will be found that
more has been gained by removing the causes of irritation which were
furnished by the constant _tinkering_ incident to a protective
system, than has been lost by severing the bonds by which it tied the
mother-country and the colonies together. What I fear is, that when
the mystification in which certain questions of self-interest were
involved by protection is removed, factions both at home and in the
colonies will be more reckless than ever in hazarding for party
objects the loss of the colonies.[4] Our system depends a great deal
more on the discretion with which it is worked than the American,
where each power in the state goes habitually the full length of its
tether: Congress, the State legislatures, Presidents, Governors, all
legislating and _vetoing_, without stint or limit, till pulled up
short by a judgment of the Supreme Court. With us factions in the
colonies are clamorous and violent, with the hope of producing effect
on the Imperial Parliament and Government, just in proportion to their
powerlessness at home. The history of Canada during the past year
furnishes ample evidence of this truth. Why was there so much violence
on the part of the opposition here last summer, particularly against
the Governor-General? Because it felt itself to be weak in the
province, and looked for success to the effect it could produce in
England alone.
And how is this tendency to bring the Imperial and Local Parliaments
into antagonism, a tendency so dangerous to the permanence of our
system, to be counteracted? By one expedient as it appears to me only;
namely, by the Governor's acting with some assumption of
responsibility, so that the shafts of the enemy, which are intended
for the Imperial Government, may fall on him. If a line of demarcation
between the questions with which the Local Parliaments can deal and
those which are reserved for the Imperial authority could be drawn,
(as was recommended last session by the Radicals), it might be
different; but, as it is, I see nothing for it but that the Governors
should be responsible for the share which the Imperial Government may
have in the policy carried out in the responsible-government colonies,
with the liability to be recalled and disavowed whenever the Imperial
authorities think it expedient to repudiate such policy.
* * * * *
_To the Duke of Newcastle._
Quebec: February 18, 1853.
[Sidenote: Distribution of honours.]
Now that the bonds formed by commercial protection and the disposal of
local offices are severed, it is very desirable that the prerogative
of the Crown, as the fountain of honour, should be employed, in so far
as this can properly be done, as a means of attaching the outlying
parts of the empire to the throne. Of the soundness of this
proposition as a general principle no doubt can, I presume, be
entertained. It is not, indeed, always easy to apply it in these
communities, where fortunes are precarious, the social system so much
based on equality, and public services so generally mixed up with
party conflicts. But it should never, in my opinion, be lost sight of,
and advantage should be taken of all favourable opportunities to act
upon it.
There are two principles which ought, I think, as a general rule to be
attended to in the distribution of Imperial honours among colonists.
Firstly, they should appear to emanate directly from the Crown, on the
advice, if you will, of the Governors and Imperial Ministers, but not
on the recommendation of the local executives. And, secondly, they
should be conferred, as much as possible, on the eminent persons who
are no longer actively engaged in political life. If these principles
be neglected, such distinctions will, I fear, soon lose their value.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
Toronto: March 23,1850.
[Sidenote: Speech of Lord J. Russell.]
[Sidenote: Colonial existence not provisional.]
Lord John's speech on the colonies seems to have been eminently
successful at home. It is calculated too, I think, to do good in the
colonies; but for one sentence, the introduction of which I deeply
deplore--the sting in the tail. Alas for that sting in the tail! I
much fear that when the liberal and enlightened sentiments, the
enunciation of which by one so high in authority is so well calculated
to make the colonists sensible of the advantages which they derive
from their connection with Great Britain, shall have passed away from
their memories, there will not be wanting those who will remind them
that, on this solemn occasion, the Prime Minister of England, amid the
plaudits of a full senate, declared that he looked forward to the day
when the ties which he was endeavouring to render so easy and mutually
advantageous would be severed. And wherefore this foreboding? or,
perhaps, I ought not to use the term foreboding, for really to judge
by the comments of the press on this declaration of Lord John's, I
should be led to imagine that the prospect of these sucking
democracies, after they have drained their old mother's life-blood,
leaving her in the lurch, and setting up as rivals, just at the time
when their increasing strength might render them a support instead of
a burden, is one of the most cheering which has of late presented
itself to the English imagination. But wherefore then this
anticipation--if foreboding be not the correct term? Because Lord John
and the people of England persist in assuming that the Colonial
relation is incompatible with maturity and full development. And is
this really so incontestable a truth that it is a duty not only to
hold but to proclaim it? Consider for a moment what is the effect of
proclaiming it in our case. We have on this continent two great
empires in presence, or rather, I should say, two great Imperial
systems. In many respects there is much similarity between them. In so
far as powers of self-government are concerned it is certain that our
colonists in America have no reason to envy the citizens of any state
in the Union. The forms differ, but it may be shown that practically
the inhabitants of Canada have a greater power in controlling their
own destiny than those of Michigan or New York, who must tolerate a
tariff imposed by twenty other states, and pay the expenses of war
undertaken for objects which they profess to abhor. And yet there is a
difference between the two cases; a difference, in my humble judgment,
of sentiment rather than substance, which renders the one a system of
life and strength, and the other a system of death and decay. No
matter how raw and rude a territory may be when it is admitted as a
state into the Union of the United States, it is at once, by the
popular belief, invested with all the dignity of manhood, and
introduced into a system which, despite the combativeness of certain
ardent spirits from the South, every American believes and maintains
to be immortal. But how does the case stand with us? No matter how
great the advance of a British colony in wealth and civilisation; no
matter how absolute the powers of self-government conceded to it, it
is still taught to believe that it is in a condition of pupilage from
which it must pass before it can attain maturity. For one I have never
been able to comprehend why, elastic as our constitutional system is,
we should not be able, now more especially when we have ceased to
control the trade of our colonies, to render the links which bind them
to the British Crown at least as lasting as those which unite the
component parts of the Union.... One thing is, however, indispensable
to the success of this or any other system of Colonial Government. You
must renounce the habit of telling the Colonies that the Colonial is a
provisional existence. You must allow them to believe that, without
severing the bonds which unite them to Great Britain, they may attain
the degree of perfection, and of social and political development, to
which organised communities of free men have a right to aspire.
Since I began this letter I have, I regret to say, confirmatory
evidence of the justice of the anticipations I had formed of the
probable effect of Lord John's declaration. I enclose extracts from
two newspapers, an annexationist, the _Herald_ of Montreal, and a
_quasi_ annexationist, the _Mirror_ of Toronto. You will
note the use they make of it. I was more annoyed however, I confess,
by what occurred yesterday in council. We had to determine whether or
not to dismiss from his offices a gentleman who is both M.P.P., Q.C.,
and J.P., and who has issued a flaming manifesto in favour, not of
annexation, but of an immediate declaration of independence as a step
to it. I will not say anything of my own opinion on the case, but it
was generally contended by the members of the Board, that it would be
impossible to maintain that persons who had declared their intention
to throw off their allegiance to the Queen, with a view to annexation,
were unfit to retain offices granted during pleasure, if persons who
made a similar declaration with a view to independence were to be
differently dealt with. Baldwin had Lord John's speech in his hand. He
is a man of singularly placid demeanour, but he has been seriously
ill, so possibly his nerves are shaken--at any rate I never saw him so
much moved. 'Have you read the latter part of Lord J. Russell's
speech?' he said to me. I nodded assent. 'For myself,' he added, 'if
the anticipations therein expressed prove to be well founded, my
interest in public affairs is gone for ever. But is it not hard upon
us while we are labouring, through good and evil report, to thwart the
designs of those who would dismember the Empire, that our adversaries
should be informed that the difference between them and the Prime
Minister of England is only one of time? If the British Government has
really come to the conclusion that we are a burden to be cast off
whenever a favourable opportunity offers, surely we ought to be
warned.'
I replied that while I regretted as much as he could do the paragraph
to which he referred, I thought he somewhat mistook its import: that I
believed no man living was more opposed to the dismemberment of the
Empire than Lord J. Russell: that I did not conceive that he had any
intention of deserting the Colonies, or of inviting them to separate
from England; but that he had in the sentence in question given
utterance to a purely speculative, and in my judgment most fallacious,
opinion, which, was shared, I feared, by very many persons both in
England and the Colonies: that I held it to be a perfectly unsound and
most dangerous theory, that British Colonies could not attain maturity
without separation, and that my interest in labouring with them to
bring into full play the principles of Constitutional Government in
Canada would entirely cease if I could be persuaded to adopt it. I
said all this I must confess, however, not without misgiving, for I
could not but be sensible that, in spite of all my allegations to the
contrary, my audience was disposed to regard a prediction of this
nature, proceeding from a Prime Minister, less as a speculative
abstraction than as one of that class of prophecies which work their
own fulfilment. I left the Council Chamber disheartened, with the
feeling that Lord J. Russell's reference to the manhood of Colonies
was more likely to be followed by practical consequences than
Lamartine's famous '_quand l'heure aura sonne_' invocation to
oppressed nationalities. It is possible, indeed, that I exaggerate to
myself the probable effects of this declaration. Politicians of the
Baldwin stamp, with distinct views and aims, who having struggled to
obtain a Government on British principles, desire to preserve it, are
not, I fear, very numerous in Canada; the great mass move on with very
indefinite purposes, and not much inquiring whither they are going. Of
one thing, however, I am confident; there cannot be any peace,
contentment, progress, or credit in this colony while the idea obtains
that the connection with England is a millstone about its neck which
should be cast off, as soon as it can be conveniently managed. What
man in his senses would invest his money in the public securities of a
country where questions affecting the very foundations on which public
credit rests are in perpetual agitation; or would settle in it at all
if he could find for his foot a more stable resting-place elsewhere? I
may, perhaps, be expressing myself too unreservedly with reference to
opinions emanating from a source which I am no less disposed than
bound to respect. As I have the means, however, of feeling the pulse
of the colonists in this most feverish region, I consider it to be
always my duty to furnish you with as faithful a record as possible of
our diagnostics. And, after all, may I not with all submission ask, Is
not the question at issue a most momentous one? What is it indeed but
this: Is the Queen of England to be the Sovereign of an Empire,
growing, expanding, strengthening itself from age to age, striking its
roots deep into fresh earth and drawing new supplies of vitality from
virgin soils? Or is she to be for all essential purposes of might and
power, Monarch of Great Britain and Ireland merely--her place and that
of her line in the world's history determined by the productiveness of
12,000 square miles of a coal formation, which is being rapidly
exhausted, and the duration of the social and political organization
over which she presides dependent on the annual expatriation, with a
view to its eventual alienization, of the surplus swarms of her born
subjects? If Lord J. Russell, instead of concluding his excellent
speech with a declaration of opinion which, as I read it, and as I
fear others will read it, seems to make it a point of honour with the
Colonists to prepare for separation, had contented himself with
resuming the statements already made in its course, with showing that
neither the Government nor Parliament could have any object in view in
their Colonial policy but the good of the Colonies, and the
establishment of the relation between them and the mother-country on
the basis of mutual affection; that, as the idea of maintaining a
Colonial Empire for the purpose of exercising dominion or dispensing
patronage had been for some time abandoned, and that of regarding it
as a hot-bed for forcing commerce and manufactures more recently
renounced, a greater amount of free action and self-government might
be conceded to British Colonies without any breach of Imperial Unity,
or the violation of any principle of Imperial Policy, than had under
any scheme yet devised fallen to the lot of the component parts of any
Federal or imperial system; if he had left these great truths to work
their effect without hazarding a conjecture which will, I fear, be
received as a suggestion, with respect to the course which certain
wayward members of the Imperial family may be expected to take in a
contingency still confessedly remote, it would, I venture with great
deference to submit, in so far at least as public feeling in the
Colonies is concerned, have been safer and better.
[Sidenote: 'Separation' and 'annexation.']
You draw, I know, a distinction between separation with a view to
annexation and separation with a view to independence. You say the
former is an act of treason, the latter a natural and legitimate step
in progress. There is much plausibility doubtless in this position,
but, independently of the fact that no one advocates independence in
these Colonies except as a means to the end, annexation, is it really
tenable? If you take your stand on the hypothesis that the Colonial
existence is one with which the Colonists ought to rest satisfied,
then, I think, you are entitled to denounce, without reserve or
measure, those who propose for some secondary object to substitute the
Stars and Stripes for the Union Jack. But if, on the contrary, you
assume that it is a provisional state, which admits of but a stunted
and partial growth, and out of which all communities ought in the
course of nature to strive to pass, how can you refuse to permit your
Colonies here, when they have arrived at the proper stage in their
existence, to place themselves in a condition which is at once most
favourable to their security and to their perfect national
development? What reasons can you assign for the refusal, except such
as are founded on selfishness, and are, therefore, morally worthless?
If you say that your great lubberly boy is too big for the nursery,
and that you have no other room for him in your house, how can you
decline to allow him to lodge with his elder brethren over the way,
when the attempt to keep up an establishment for himself would
seriously embarrass him?
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
Toronto: November 1, 1850.
Sir H. Bulwer spent four days with us, and for many reasons I am glad
that he has been here. He leaves us knowing more of Canada than he did
when he came. I think too that both he and Sir E. Head return to their
homes re-assured on many points of our internal policy, on which they
felt doubtful before, and much enlightened as to the real position of
men and things in this province.
[Sidenote: Self-government not republican.]
With one important truth 1 have laboured to impress them, and I hope
successfully. It is this: that the faithful carrying out of the
principles of Constitutional Government is a departure from the
American model, not an approximation to it, and, therefore, a
departure from republicanism in its only workable shape. Of the
soundness of this view of our case I entertain no doubt whatever; and
though I meet with few persons to whom it seems to have occurred (for
the common belief of superficial observers is that we are
republicanising the colonies), I seldom fail in bringing it borne to
the understanding of any intelligent person with whom I have occasion
to discuss it. The fact is, that the American system is our old
Colonial system with, in certain cases, the principle of popular
election substituted for that of nomination by the Crown. Mr. Filmore
stands to his Congress very much in the same relation in which I stood
to my Assembly in Jamaica. There is the same absence of effective
responsibility in the conduct of legislation, the same want of
concurrent action between the parts of the political machine. The
whole business of legislation in the American Congress, as well as in
the State Legislatures, is conducted in the manner in which railway
business was conducted in the House of Commons at a time when it is to
be feared that, notwithstanding the high standard of honour in the
British Parliament, there was a good deal of jobbing. For instance our
Reciprocity measure was pressed by us at Washington last session, just
as a Railway Bill in 1845 or 1846 would have been pressed in
Parliament. There was no Government to deal with. The interests of the
Union, as a whole and distinct from local and sectional interests, had
no organ in the representative bodies; it was all a question of
canvassing this member of Congress or the other. It is easy to
perceive that, under such a system, jobbing must become not the
exception but the rule.
Now I feel very strongly, that when a people have been once thoroughly
accustomed to the working of such a Parliamentary system as ours, they
never will consent to revert to this clumsy irresponsible mechanism.
Whether we shall be able to carry on the war here long enough to allow
the practice of Constitutional Government and the habits of mind which
it engenders to take root in these provinces, may be doubtful. But it
may be worth your while to consider whether these views do not throw
some light on affairs in Europe. If you part with constitutional
monarchies there, you may possibly get something much more democratic;
but you cannot, I am confident, get American republicanism. It is the
fashion to say, 'of course not; we cannot get their federal system;'
but this is not the only reason, there are others that lie deeper.
Look at France, where they are trying to jumble up the two things, a
head of the State responsible to the people who elect him, and a
ministry responsible to the Parliament.
* * * * *
_To the Duke of Newcastle._
March 26, 1853.
It is argued that, by the severance of the connection, British
statesmen would be relieved of an onerous responsibility for colonial
acts of which they cannot otherwise rid themselves. Is there not,
however, some fallacy in this? If by conceding absolute independence
the British Parliament can acquit itself of the obligation to impose
its will upon the Colonists, in the matter, for instance, of a Church
Establishment, can it not attain the same end by declaring that, as
respects such local questions, the Colonists are free to judge for
themselves? How can it be justifiable to adopt the former of these
expedients, and sacrilegious to act upon the latter?
The true policy, in my humble judgment, is to throw the whole weight
of responsibility on those who exercise the real power, for, after
all, the sense of responsibility is the best security against the
abuse of power; and, as respects the connection, to act and speak on
this hypothesis--that there is nothing in it to check the development
of healthy national life in these young communities. I believe that
this policy will be found to be not only the safest, but also (an
important consideration in these days) the most economical.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
Toronto: December 17, 1850.
Although, as you observe, it seems to be rather idle in us to
correspond on what may be termed speculative questions, when we have
so much pressing business on hand, I venture to say a few words in
reply to your letter of the 23rd ult., firstly, because I presume to
dissent from some of the opinions which you advance in it; and,
secondly, because I have a practical object of no small importance in
view in calling your attention to the contrasts which present
themselves in the working of our institutions, and those of our
neighbours in the States. My practical object is this: when you
concede to the Colonists Constitutional Government in its integrity,
you are reproached with leading them to Republicanism and the American
Union. The same reproach is hurled with anathemas against your humble
servant. Lord Stanley, if I rightly remember, in the debate on
Ryland's case last year, stated amid cheers, that if you were in the
habit of consulting the Ministers of the Crown in the Colony before
you placed persons on the colonial pension List, he had no hesitation
in saying you had already established a republic in Canada! Now I
believe, on the contrary, that it may be demonstrated that the
concession of Constitutional Government has a tendency to draw the
Colonists the other way; firstly, because it slakes that thirst for
self-government which seizes on all British communities when they
approach maturity; and, secondly, because it habituates the Colonists
to the working of a political mechanism, which is both intrinsically
superior to that of the Americans, and more unlike it than our old
Colonial system.
Adopting, however, the views with respect to the superiority of the
mechanism of our political system to that of our neighbours, which I
have ventured to urge, you proceed to argue that the remedy is in
their hands; that without abandoning their republicanism they and
their _confreres_ in France have nothing to do but to dismiss
their Presidents and to substitute our constitution without a King,
the body without the head, for their own, to get rid of the
inconveniences which they now experience; and you quote with
approbation, as an embodiment of this idea, the project submitted by
M. Grevy and the Red Republicans to the French Constituent Assembly.
[Sidenote: Value of the monarchical principle.]
Now here I confess I cannot go along with you, and the difference
between us is a very material one; for if the monarch be not an
indispensable element in our constitutional mechanism, and if we can
secure all the advantages of that mechanism without him, I have drawn
the wrong moral from the facts. You say that the system the Red
Republicans would have established in France would have been the
nearest possible approach to our own. It is possible, I think, that we
may be tending towards the like issues. It is possible, perhaps
probable, that as the House of Commons becomes more democratic in its
composition, and consequently more arrogant in its bearing, it may
cast off the shackles which the other powers of the State impose on
its self-will, and even utterly abolish them; but I venture to believe
that those who last till that day comes, will find that they are
living under a very different constitution from that which we now
enjoy; that they have traversed the interval which separates a
temperate and cautious administration of public affairs resting on the
balance of powers and interests, from a reckless and overbearing
tyranny based on the caprices and passions of an absolute and
irresponsible body. You talk somewhat lightly of the check of the
Crown, although you acknowledge its utility. But is it indeed so light
a matter, even as our constitution now works? Is it a light matter
that the Crown should have the power of dissolving Parliament; in
other words, of deposing the tyrant at will? Is it a light matter that
for several months in each year the House of Commons should be in
abeyance, during which period the nation looks on Ministers not as
slaves of Parliament but servants of the Crown? Is it a light matter
that there should still be such respect for the monarchical principle,
that the servants of that visible entity yclept the Crown are enabled
to carry on much of the details of internal and foreign administration
without consulting Parliament, and even without its cognisance? Or do
you suppose that the Red Republicans, when they advocated the
nomination of a Ministry of the House of Assembly with a revocable
_mandat_, intended to create a Frankenstein endowed with powers
in some cases paramount to, and in others running parallel with, the
authority of the omnipotent body to which it owed its existence? My
own impression is, that they meant a set of delegates to be appointed,
who should exercise certain functions of legislative initiation and
executive patronage so long as they reflected clearly, in the former
the passions, and in the latter the interests of the majority for the
time being, and no longer.
It appears to me, I must confess, that if you have a republican form
of government in a great country, with complicated internal and
external relations, you must either separate the executive and
legislative departments, as in the United States, or submit to a
tyranny of the majority, not the more tolerable because it is
capricious and wielded by a tyrant with many heads. Of the two evils I
prefer the former.
Consider, for a moment, how much more violent the proceedings of
majorities in the American Legislatures would be, how much more
reckless the appeals to popular passion, how much more frequently the
permanent interests of the nation and the rights of individuals and
classes would be sacrificed to the object of raising political capital
for present uses, if debates or discussions affected the tenure of
office. I have no idea that the executive and legislative departments
of the State can be made to work together with a sufficient degree of
harmony to give the maximum of strength and of mutual independence to
secure freedom and the rights of minorities, except under the
presidency of Monarchy, the moral influence of which, so long as a
nation is monarchical in its sentiments, cannot, of course, be
measured merely by its recognised power.
[Sidenote: Influence of a Governor, under responsible Government.]
Those who are most ready to concur in these views of Colonial Government,
and to admire the vigour with which they were defended, and the consistency
with which they were carried out, may still be inclined to ask whether the
maintenance of them did not involve a species of official suicide: whether
the theory of the responsibility of provincial Ministers to the provincial
Parliament, and of the consequent duty of the Governor to remain absolutely
neutral in the strife of political parties, had not a necessary tendency to
degrade his office into that of a mere _Roi faineant_. He had in 1849,
as Sir C. Adderley expresses it, 'maintained the principle of responsible
Government at the risk of his life.' Was the result of his hard-won victory
only to empty himself of all but the mere outward show of power and
authority?
Such questions he was always ready to meet with an uncompromising negative.
'I have tried,' he said, both systems. In Jamaica there was no responsible
Government: but I had not half the power I have here with my constitutional
and changing Cabinet.' Even on the Vice-regal throne of India, he missed,
at first, at least, something of the authority and influence which had been
his, as Constitutional Governor, in Canada.[5] He was fully conscious,
however, of the difficult nature of the position, and that it was only
tenable on condition of being penetrated, or _possessed_, as he said,
with the idea of its tenability. In this strain he wrote to his intimate
friend. Mr. Cumming Bruce, in September 1852, with reference to a report
that he was to be recalled by the Ministry which had recently come into
power.
As respects the _matter_ of the report, I am disposed to believe
that, viewing the question with reference to personal interests
exclusively, my removal from hence would not be any disadvantage to
me. But, as to my work here--there is the rub. Is it to be all undone?
On this point I must speak frankly. I have been possessed (I use the
word advisedly, for I fear that most persons in England still consider
it a case of _possession_) with the idea that it is possible to
maintain on this soil of North America, and in the face of Republican
America, British connection and British institutions, if you give the
latter freely and trustingly. Faith, when it is sincere, is always
catching; and I have imparted this faith, more or less thoroughly, to
all Canadian statesmen with whom I have been in official relationship
since 1848, and to all intelligent Englishmen with whom I have come in
contact since 1850--as witness Lord Wharncliffe, Waldegrave,
Tremenheere, &c. &c. Now if the Governor ceases to possess this faith,
or to have the faculty of imparting it, I confess I fear that, ere
long, it will become extinct in other breasts likewise. I believe that
it is equally an error to imagine with one old-fashioned party, that
you can govern such dependencies as this on the antiquated
bureaucratic principle, by means of rescripts from Downing Street, in
defiance of the popular legislatures, and on the hypothesis that one
local faction monopolises all the loyalty of the Colony; and to
suppose with the Radicals that all is done when you have simply told
the colonists 'to go to the devil their own way.' I believe, on the
contrary, that there is more room for the exercise of influence on the
part of the Governor under my system than under any that ever was
before devised; an influence, however, wholly moral--an influence of
suasion, sympathy, and moderation, which softens the temper while it
elevates the aims of local polities. It is true that on certain
questions of public policy, especially with regard to Church matters,
views are propounded by my ministers which do not exactly square with
my pre-conceived opinions, and which I acquiesce in, so long as they
do not contravene the fundamental principles of morality, from a
conviction that they are in accordance with the general sentiments of
the community.
It is true that I do not seek the commendation bestowed on Sir F. Head
for bringing men into his councils from the liberal party, and telling
them that they should enjoy only a partial confidence; thereby
allowing them to retain their position as tribunes of the people in
conjunction with the _prestige_ of advisers of the Crown by
enabling them to shirk responsibility for any acts of government which
are unpopular. It is true that I have always said to my advisers,
'while you continue my advisers you shall enjoy nay unreserved
confidence; and _en revanche_ you shall be responsible for all
acts of government.'
But it is no less certain that there is not one of them who does not
know that no inducement on earth would prevail with me to bring me to
acquiesce in any measures which seemed to me repugnant to public
morals, or Imperial interests; and I must say that, far from finding
in my advisers a desire to entrap me into proceedings of which 1 might
disapprove, I find a tendency constantly increasing to attach the
utmost value to my opinion on all questions, local or generals that
arise.
The deep sense which he entertained of the importance of a correct
understanding on this point is shown by his devoting to it the closing
words of the last official despatch which he wrote from Quebec, on December
18, 1854.
I readily admit that the maintenance of the position and due influence
of the Governor is one of the most critical problems that have to be
solved in the adaptation of Parliamentary Government to the Colonial
system; and that it is difficult to over-estimate the importance which
attaches to its satisfactory solution. As the Imperial Government and
Parliament gradually withdraw from legislative interference, and from
the exercise of patronage in Colonial affairs, the office of Governor
tends to become, in the most emphatic sense of the term, the link
which connects the Mother-country and the Colony, and his influence
the means by which harmony of action between the local and imperial
authorities is to be preserved. It is not, however, in my humble
judgment, by evincing an anxious desire to stretch to the utmost
constitutional principles in his favour, but, on the contrary, by the
frank acceptance of the conditions of the Parliamentary system, that
this influence can be most surely extended and confirmed. Placed by
his position above the strife of parties--holding office by a tenure
less precarious than the ministers who surround him--having no
political interests to serve but that of the community whose affairs
he is appointed to administer--his opinion cannot fail, when all cause
for suspicion and jealousy is removed, to have great weight in the
Colonial Councils, while he is set at liberty to constitute himself in
an especial manner the patron of those larger and higher interests--
such interests, for example, as those of education, and of moral and
material progress in all its branches--which, unlike the contests of
party, unite instead of dividing the members of the body politic. The
mention of such influences as an appreciable force in the
administration of public affairs may provoke a sneer on the part of
persons who have no faith in any appeal which is not addressed to the
lowest motives of human conduct; but those who have juster views of
our common nature, and who have seen influences that are purely moral
wielded with judgment, will not be disposed to deny to them a high
degree of efficacy.
[Sidenote: Defence of the colony,]
Closely akin to the question of the maintenance of the connection between
the Colony and Great Britain, especially when viewed as affected by the
commercial and financial condition of the former, was the question of
throwing upon it the expense of defending itself; a problem which was then
only beginning to attract the attention of liberal statesmen. For though it
may be true that the practice of defending the Colonies with the troops and
at the cost of the mother-country was an innovation upon the earlier
Colonial system, introduced at the time of the great war, it is not the
less certain that to the generation of colonists that had grown up since
that time the abandonment of it had all the effect of novelty. It was a
question on which, as affecting Canada, Lord Elgin was in a peculiar degree
'between two fires;' exposed to pressure at once from the Government at
home and from his own Ministers, and seeing much to agree with in the views
of both.
[Sidenote: against internal disorder;]
In the first place, as regards the preservation of order within the
province, he thought it clear that, as a general rule, the cost of this
should fall on the Colony itself wherever it enjoyed self-government; but
there were peculiar circumstances in Canada which made him hesitate to
apply the doctrine unreservedly there. Owing to the contiguity of the
United States, the abettors of any mischief in the Colony might count on
help constantly at hand, not indeed from the Government of the Union, which
never acted disloyally,[6] but from the Unruly spirits that were apt to
infest the borders; and it seemed to him at least doubtful, whether both
justice and policy did not require that Great Britain should afford to the
supporters of order some material aid to counterbalance this. Again, the
peculiar social and political state of Lower Canada, arising mainly from
the conditions under which it had passed into the hands of England, and
from the manner in which England had fulfilled those conditions, created
special difficulties as to the maintenance of internal quiet. On the one
hand England's respect for treaty obligations had induced her to resist all
attempts to break down by fraud or violence those rights and usages of the
French population, which had tended to keep alive among them feelings of
distinctive nationality; while on the other hand the effect of the working
of the old system of colonial administration had been to confer upon
British or American settlers a disproportionate share in the government of
the province. It followed that the French-Canadian majority and the Anglo-
Saxon minority were dwelling side by side in that section of the Colony
without, to any sensible extent, intermingling, and under conditions of
equilibrium which could never have been established but for the presence on
the same scene of a directing and overruling power. In this state of
things, while confidently hoping that an impartial adherence to the
principles of constitutional government would by degrees obliterate all
national distinctions, he saw reason to fear that the sudden withdrawal of
Britain's moderating control, whether as the result of separation or of a
change of Imperial policy, would be followed at no distant period by a
serious collision between the races.
[Sidenote: against foreign attack.]
Similarly, as regards defence against foreign attack, while agreeing that a
self-governing colony should be self-dependent, Lord Elgin felt that the
peculiar position of Canada, having no foreign attack to apprehend except
hi quarrels of England's making, made her case somewhat exceptional. And
any wholesale withdrawal of British troops he strongly deprecated, as
likely to imperil her connection with the mother-country, if it took place
suddenly, before the old notion--the 'axiom affirmed again and again by
Secretaries of State and Governors, that England was bound to pay all
expenses connected with the defence of the Colony'--had lost its hold on
men's minds, and a feeling of the responsibilities attaching to self-
government had had time to grow up.
His first letter on the subject is to Lord Grey, written so early as April
26,1848:--
The question which you raise in your last letter respecting the
military defence of Canada is a large one, and, before irrevocable
steps be taken, it may be well to look at it on all sides.
The first consideration which offers itself in connection with this
subject is this, 'Why does Canada require to be defended, and against
whom?' A very large number of persons in this community believe that
there is only one power from which they have anything to dread, and
that this power would be converted into the fastest friend, bone of
their bone, and flesh of their flesh, if the connection with Great
Britain were abandoned.
In this respect the position of Canada is peculiar. When you say to
any other colony 'England declines to be longer at the expense of
protecting you,' you at once reveal to it the extent of its dependence
and the value of Imperial support. But it is not so here. Withdraw
your protection from Canada, and she has it in her power to obtain the
security against aggression enjoyed by Michigan or Maine: about as
good security, I must allow, as any which is to be obtained at the
present time.
But you may observe in reply to this, 'You cannot get the security
which Michigan and Maine enjoy for nothing; you must purchase it by
the surrender of your custom houses and public lands, the proceeds of
which will be diverted from their present uses and applied to others,
at the discretion of a body in which you will have comparatively
little to say.' The argument is a powerful one, so long as England
consents to bear the cost of the defence of the Colony, but its force
is much lessened when the inhabitants are told that they must look to
their own safety, because the mother-country can no longer afford to
take care of them.
On the other hand very weighty reasons may be adduced in favour of the
policy of requiring the province to bear some portion at least of the
charge of its own protection. The adoption of free-trade, although its
advocates must believe that it tends to make the Colonies in point of
fact less chargeable than heretofore, will doubtless render the
English people more than ever jealous of expenditure incurred on their
behalf. I am, moreover, of opinion, that the system of relieving the
colonists altogether from the duty of self-defence is attended with
injurious effects upon themselves. It checks the growth of national
and manly morals. Men seldom think anything worth preserving for which
they are never asked to make a sacrifice.
My view, therefore, would be that it is desirable that a movement in
the direction which you Lave indicated should take place, but that it
ought to be made with much caution.
The present is not a favourable moment for experiments. British
statesmen, even Secretaries of State, have got into the habit lately
of talking of the maintenance of the connection between Great Britain
and Canada with so much indifference, that a change of system in
respect of military defence incautiously carried out, might be
presumed by many to argue, on the part of the mother-country, a
disposition to prepare the way for separation. Add to this, that you
effected, only a few years ago, a union between the Upper and Lower
Provinces by arbitrary means, and for objects the avowal of which has
profoundly irritated the French population; that still more recently
you have deprived Canada of her principal advantages in the British
markets; that France and Ireland are in flames, and that nearly half
of the population of this Colony are French, nearly half of the
remainder Irish.
That Canada felt no need of bulwarks except against England's foes was a
point on which he constantly insisted. On one occasion he wrote:--
Only one absurdity can be greater, pardon me for saying so, than the
absurdity of supposing that the British Parliament will pay L200,000
for Canadian fortifications; it is the absurdity of supposing that
Canadians will pay it themselves.
L200,000 for defences! and against whom? against the Americans. And
who are the Americans? Your own kindred, a flourishing swaggering
people, who are ready to make room for you at their own table, to give
you a share of all they possess, of all their prosperity, and to
guarantee you in all time to come against the risk of invasion, or the
need of defences, if you will but speak the word!
[Sidenote: Recommends gradual reduction of forces.]
On the whole he was of opinion that the Government should quietly, and
_sans phrase_, remove their troops altogether from some points, reduce
them in others, and 'aim at the eventual substitution of a Major-General's
command for that of a Lieutenant-General in Canada; but that nothing should
be done hastily or _per saltum_, so as to alarm the Colonists with the
idea that some new and strange principle was going to be applied to them.'
You may if you please (he wrote) largely reduce the staff, and more
moderately the men, leaving the remainder in the best barracks. I
think you may do this without, in any material degree, increasing the
tendency towards annexation; provided always that you make no noise
about it.... But, I repeat it, you must not, unless you wish to drive
the Colony away from you, impose new burdens upon the Colonists at
this time.[7]
The course thus sketched out he himself steadily pursued; and his last
letters on the subject, written early in 1853 to the Duke of Newcastle, who
had recently become Secretary for the Colonies, were occupied in
recommending a continuance of the same quietly progressive policy:
When I came here we had a Commander-in-Chief and two Major-Generals.
We have now only one General on the Station, and the staff has
undergone proportional diminution. If further reductions are to be
made, let them be effected in the same quiet way without parade or the
ostentatious adoption of new principles as applicable to the defence
of colonies which are exposed, as Canada is by reason of their
connection with Great Britain, to the hazard of assaults from
organised powers.
Continue then, if you will pardon me for so freely tendering advice,
to apply in the administration of our local affairs the principles of
Constitutional Government frankly and fairly. Do not ask England to
make unreasonable sacrifices for the Colonists, but such sacrifices as
are reasonable, on the hypothesis that the Colony is an exposed part
of the empire. Induce her if you can to make them generously and
without appearing to grudge them. Let it be inferred from your
language that there is in your opinion nothing in the nature of things
to prevent the tie which connects the Mother-country and the Colony
from being as enduring as that which unites the different States of
the Union, and nothing in the nature of our very elastic institutions
to prevent them from expanding so as to permit the free and healthy
development of social, political, and national life in these young
communities. By administering colonial affaire in this spirit you will
find, I believe, even when you least profess to seek it, the true
secret of the cheap defence of nations. If these communities are only
truly attached to the connection and satisfied of its permanence (and,
as respects the latter point, opinions here will be much influenced by
the tone of statesmen at home), elements of self-defence, not moral
elements only but material elements likewise, will spring up within
them spontaneously as the product of movements from within, not of
pressure from without. Two millions of people, in a northern latitude,
can do a good deal in the way of helping themselves when their hearts
are in the right place.
[1] Colonial Policy, i. 232.
[2] 'United Empire Loyalists,' i.e. descendants of the original Loyalists
of the American War.
[3] Despatch of the Earl of Elgin, Dec. 18, 1854.
[4] Compare _Junius_:--'Unfortunately for his country, Mr. Grenville
was at any rate to be distressed, because he was Minister: and Mr.
Pitt and Lord Camden were to be the patrons of America, because they
were in opposition. Their declaration gave spirit and argument to the
Colonies; and while, perhaps, they meant no more than the ruin of a
Minister, they in effect divided one half of the empire from the
other.'
[5] 'Perhaps I may see reason after a little more experience here to modify
my opinion on these points. If I were to tell you what I now think of
the relative amount of influence which I exercised over the march, of
affairs in Canada, where I governed on strictly constitutional
principles, and with a free Parliament, as compared with that which
the Governor-General wields in India _when at peace_, you would
accuse me of paradox.'--_Letter to Sir C. Wood, December 9,1862._
[6] Vide infra, p. 159.
[7] In entire accordance with this view, Be recommended that Great Britain
should take upon herself the payment of the Governor's salary, 'with a
view to future contingencies, and to calls which at a period more or
less remote we may have to make on the loyalty and patriotism of
Canadians.'
CHAPTER VI.
CANADA.
THE 'CLERGY RESERVES'--HISTORY OF THE QUESTION--MIXED MOTIVES OF THE
MOVEMENT--FEELING IN THE PROVINCE--IN UPPER CANADA--IN LOWER CANADA--
AMONG
ROMAN CATHOLICS--IN THE CHURCH--SECULARIZATION--QUESTIONS OF
EMIGRATION,
LABOUR, LAND-TENURE, EDUCATION, NATIVE TRIBES--RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED
STATES--MUTUAL COURTESIES--FAREWELL TO CANADA--AT HOME.
[Sidenote: The 'Clergy Reserves']
We have had frequent occasion to observe that the guiding principle of Lord
Elgin's policy was to let the Colony have its own way in everything which
was not contrary either to public morality or to some Imperial interest. It
was in this spirit that he passed the Rebellion Losses Act; and in this
spirit he watched the contest which raged for many years on the memorable
question of the 'Clergy Reserves.'
[Sidenote: History of the question.]
By the Canada Act of 1791 one-seventh of the lands then ungranted had been
set apart for the support of a 'Protestant Clergy.' At first these reserves
were regarded as the exclusive property of the Church of England; but in
1820 an opinion was obtained from the Law Officers of the Crown in England,
that the clergy of the Church of Scotland had a right to a share in them,
but not Dissenting Ministers. In 1840 an Act was passed in which the claims
of other denominations also were distinctly recognised. By it the Governor
was empowered to sell the reserves; a part of the proceeds was to be
applied in payment of the salaries of the existing clergy, to whom the
faith of the Crown had been pledged; one-half of the remainder was to go to
the Churches of England and Scotland, in proportion to their respective
numbers, and the other half was to be at the disposal of the Governor-
General for the benefit of the clergy of any Protestant denomination
willing to receive public aid.
But the old inveterate jealousy of Anglican ascendency, aggravated, it is
said, by the political conduct of Bishop Strachan, who had identified his
Church with the obnoxious rule of the Family Compact, was not content with
these concessions. Allying itself with the voluntary spirit, caught from
the Scottish Free Church movement in 1843, it took the shape of a fanatical
opposition to everything in the nature of a public provision for the
support of religion; and the cry was raised for the 'Secularisation of the
Clergy Reserves.' Eagerly taken up, as was natural, by the Ultra-radicals,
or 'Clear-grits,' the cry was echoed by a considerable section of the old
Tory party, from motives which it is less easy to analyse; and so violent
was the feeling that it threatened to sweep away at one stroke all the
endowments in question, without regard to vested interests, and without
even waiting for the repeal of the Imperial Act by which these endowments
were guaranteed. More loyal and moderate counsels however prevailed, owing
chiefly to the support which they received from the Roman Catholics of
Lower Canada, at one time so violently disaffected. In 1850 the Assembly
voted an Address to the Queen, praying that the Act referred to might be
repealed, and that the Local Legislature might be empowered to dispose of
the reserved lands, subject to the condition of securing to the existing
holders for their lives the stipends to which they were then entitled. To
this Address a favourable answer was returned by Lord Grey; who, while
avowing the preference of Her Majesty's Government for the existing
arrangement, by which a certain portion of the public lands of Canada were
applied to religious uses, admitted at the same time that the question of
maintaining it was one so exclusively affecting the people of Canada, that
its decision ought not to be withdrawn from the Provincial Legislature.
A Bill for granting to the Colony the desired powers was intended to be
introduced into Parliament during the session of 1851, but owing to the
pressure of other business it was deferred to the next year. It was to have
been brought forward in a few days, when the break-up of Lord John
Russell's Ministry caused it to be again postponed; and it was not till May
9, 1853, that the long looked-for Act received the Queen's assent.
No action could be taken in the matter by the Colonial Parliament for
that year, as its session closed on June 14; and when it met again next
year a ministerial crisis, followed by a dissolution and a change of
Ministers, caused a postponement of all legislation. Finally, on October
17, 1854, a Bill for the 'Secularisation of the Clergy Reserves' was
introduced into the Assembly. The more moderate and thoughtful men of every
party are said to have been at heart opposed to it; but it was impossible
for them to stand against the current of popular feeling. The Bill speedily
became law; the Clergy Reserves were handed over to the various municipal
corporations for secular uses; and though by this means 'a noble provision
made for the sustentation of religion was frittered away so as to produce
but few beneficial results,'[1] a question which had long been the
occasion of much heart-burning was at least settled, and settled for ever.
A slender provision for the future was saved out of the wreck by the
commutation of the reserved life-interests of incumbents, which laid the
foundation of a small permanent endowment; but, with this exception, the
equality of destitution among all Protestant communities was complete.[2]
The various stages through which this question passed may be traced in the
following letters, of which the first was written to Lord Grey on July 5,
1850:
Two addresses to the Queen were voted by the Assembly a few days ago
and brought up by the House to me for transmission. The one is an
address, very loyal in its tone, deprecating all revolutionary
changes.
[Sidenote: Address to the Queen.]
The other address is not so satisfactory. It prays Her Majesty to
obtain the repeal of the Imperial Act on the Clergy Reserves passed in
1840, and to hand them over to the Canadian Parliament to deal with
them as it may see fit--guaranteeing, however, the life interests of
incumbents. The resolutions on which this address was founded were
introduced by a member of the Government, which has treated the
question as an _open_ one.
You are sufficiently acquainted with Canadian history to be aware of
the fact, that these unfortunate Clergy Reserves have been a bone of
contention ever since they were set apart. I know how very
inconvenient it is to repeal the Imperial Act which was intended to be
a final settlement of the question; but I must candidly say I very
much doubt whether you will be able to preserve the Colony if you
retain it on the Statute Book. Even Lafontaine and others who
recognise certain vested rights of the Protestant churches under the
Constitutional Act, advocate the repeal of the Imperial Act of 1840:
partly because Lower Canada was not consulted at all when it was
passed; and, secondly, because the distribution made under that Act is
an unfair one, and inconsistent with the views of the Upper Canadian
Legislature, as expressed at the time but set aside in deference, as
it is alleged, to the remonstrances of the English bishops. Some among
the Anglo-Saxon Liberals, and some of the Orange Tories, I suspect,
share these views.
A considerable section is for appropriating the proceeds of the
reserves at once, and applying them to education, without any regard
to the rights either of individuals or of churches. These persons are
furious with the supporters of the address for proposing to preserve
the life interests of incumbents. The sentiments of the remainder are
pretty accurately conveyed by the terms of the address.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
Toronto, July 19, 1850.
[Sidenote: Reasons for agreeing.]
The 'Clear Grit' organs, which have absorbed a large portion of the
'Annexationists,' talk very big about what they will do if England
steps in to preserve the 'Clergy Reserves.' That party would be only
too glad to get up a quarrel with England on such a point. It is, of
course, impossible for you to do anything with the Imperial Act till
next session. A little delay may perhaps enable us to see our way more
clearly with respect to this most perplexing subject.
Lord Sydenham's despatch of January 22,1840, is a curious and
instructive one. It accompanies the Act on the 'Clergy Reserve'
question, which he induced the Parliament of Upper Canada to pass, but
which was not adopted at home; for the House of Lords concocted one
more favourable to the Established Churches. He clearly admits that
the Act is against the sense of the country, and that nothing but his
own great personal influence got it through, and yet he looks upon it
as a settlement of the question. I confess I see few of the conditions
of finality in measures which are passed under such circumstances.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
Toronto, March 18,1851.
I am far from thinking that the 'Clergy Reserves' will necessarily be
diverted from religious purposes if the Local Parliament has the
disposal of them. I should feel very confident that this would not be
the case, were it not that the tone adopted by the Church of England
here has almost always the effect of driving from her even those who
would be most disposed to cooperate with her if she would allow them.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
Toronto, June 14,1851.
On the whole the best chance for the Church interest as regards the
question, in my judgment, is that you should carry your empowering
bill through the Imperial Parliament this session, and that we should
get through our session and the general election, which is about to
follow, with as little excitement as possible. The province is
prosperous and the people contented; and at such a time, if no
disturbing cause arise, moderate and reasonable men are likely to be
returned. At the same time the 'Clergy Reserve' question is
sufficiently before the public to insure our getting from the returns
to Parliament a pretty fair indication of what are the real sentiments
of the people upon it. I need not say that there can be no security
for the permanence of any arrangement which is not in tolerable
conformity with those sentiments.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
July 12,1851.
[Sidenote: Movement not prompted by Roman Catholics.]
As to the insinuation that the movement against the endowments of the
Church of England is prompted by the Romans, events will give the lie
to it ere long. The following facts, however, seem to be wholly
irreconcilable with this hypothesis. Before the Union of the Provinces
there were very few, if any, Roman Catholic members in the Upper
Canada Parliament; they were all-powerful in the Lower. Now it is
recorded in history, that the Upper Canadian Legislative Assembly kept
up year after year a series of assaults on the 'Clergy Reserves;' in
proof of which read the narrative part of the Address to Her Majesty
on the 'Clergy Reserves' from the Legislative Assembly last year. And
it is equally a fact that the Lower Canadian Legislative Assembly
never meddled with them, except I think once, when they were invited
to do so by the Government.
Some months later, in the beginning of 1852, Lord John Russell's
Administration was broken up, and Lord Grey handed over the seals of the
Colonial Office to Sir John Pakington. One of the first subjects on which
the new Secretary asked to be furnished with confidential information was
as to the state of public feeling in Canada upon the question of the future
disposal of the 'Clergy Reserves.' Lord Elgin replied as follows:
[Sidenote: Feeling in the Province;]
You require, if I rightly understand your letter, that I should state,
in the first place, whether I believe that the sentiments of the
community in reference to the subject-matter of this Address are
faithfully represented in the votes of the Assembly. I cannot answer
this question otherwise than affirmatively. Not that I am by any means
disposed to under-rate the importance of the petitions which may have
been sent home by opponents of the measure. The clergy of the Church
of England and of that portion of the Presbyterian Church which
preserves its connection with the Established Church of Scotland, are
generally unwilling that the question of the reserves should be left
to the decision of the Local Legislature. They are, to a considerable
extent, supported by their flocks when they approach the throne as
petitioners against the prayer of the Assembly's Address, although it
is no doubt an error to suppose that the lay members of these
communions are unanimous, or all alike zealous in the espousal of
these views. From this quarter the petitions which appear to have
reached Lord Grey and yourself have, I apprehend, almost exclusively
proceeded. Other bodies, even of those which participate in the
produce of the reserves, as for example the Wesleyans and the Roman
Catholics of Upper Canada, have not, that I am aware of, moved in the
matter, unless it be in an opposite direction.
[Sidenote: in Upper Canada;]
[Sidenote: in Lower Canada;]
Can it then be inferred from such indications that public opinion in
the province does not support the cause taken by the Assembly in
reference to the 'Clergy Reserves'? or, what is perhaps more to the
purpose, that a provincial administration, formed on the principle of
desisting from all attempts to induce the Imperial Government to
repeal the Imperial statute on this subject, would be sustained? I am
unable, I confess, to bring myself to entertain any such expectation.
It is my opinion, that if the Liberals were to rally out of office on
the cry that they were asserting the right of the Provincial
Government to deal with the question of the 'Clergy Reserves' against
a Government willing, at the bidding of the Imperial authorities, to
abandon this claim, they would triumph in Upper Canada more decisively
than they did at the late general election. I need hardly add, that
if, after a resistance followed by such a triumph, the Imperial
Government were to give way, it would be more than ever difficult to
obtain from the victorious party a reasonable consideration for Church
interests. These remarks apply to Upper Canada. It is not so easy to
foresee what is likely to be the course of events in Lower Canada. The
party which looks to M. Papineou as its leader adopts on all points
the most ultra-democratic creed. It professes no very warm attachment
to the endowments of the Roman Catholic Church, and is, of course, not
likely to prove itself more tender with respect to property set apart
by royal authority for the support of Protestantism. The French-
Canadian Representatives who do not belong to this party are, I
believe, generally disinclined to secularisation, and would be brought
to consent to any such proposition, if at all, only by the pressure of
some supposed political necessity. They are however, almost without
exception, committed to the principle that the 'Clergy Reserves' ought
to be subject to the control of the Local Legislature. While the
battle is waged on this ground, therefore, they will probably continue
to side with the Upper Canada Liberals, unless the latter contrive to
alienate them by some act of extravagance....
I am aware that there lie, beyond the subjects of which I have
treated, larger considerations of public policy affecting this
question, on which I have not ventured to touch. On the one hand there
are persons who contend that, as the 'Clergy Reserves' were set apart
by a British Sovereign for religious uses, it is the bounden duty of
the Imperial authorities to maintain at all hazards the disposition
thus made of them. This view is hardly, I think, reconcilable with the
provisions of the statute of 1791; but, if it be correct, it renders
all discussion of subordinate topics and points of mere expediency,
superfluous.
[Sidenote: In the Church;]
On the other hand even among the most attached friends of the Church,
some are to be found who doubt whether on the whole the Church has
gained from the Reserves as much as she has lost by them--whether the
ill-will which they have engendered, and the bar which they have
proved to private munificence and voluntary exertion, have not more
than counter-balanced the benefits which they may have conferred; and
who look to secularisation as the only settlement that will be final
and put an end to strife.
Up to this time Lord Elgin appears to have entertained at least a hope,
that, if the Colony were left to itself, it would settle the matter by
distributing the reserved funds according to some equitable proportion
among the clergy of all denominations. But as time went on, this hope
became fainter and fainter. In his next letter he recounts a conversation
with a person (not named) 'of much intelligence, and well acquainted with
Upper Canada,' not a member of the Church of England, but favourable to the
maintenance of an endowment for religious purposes, who, after remarking on
the infatuation shown by the friends of the Church in 1840, expressed a
decided opinion that the vantage ground then so heedlessly sacrificed was
lost for ever, so far as colonial sentiment was concerned; and that
'neither the present nor any future Canadian Parliament would be induced to
enact a law for perpetuating the endowment in any shape.' The increasing
likelihood, however, of a result which he regarded as in itself undesirable
could not abate his desire to see the matter finally settled, or shake his
conviction that the Provincial Parliament was the proper power to settle
it. With his correspondent it was not so; nor can it be wondered at that
the organ of a Tory Government should have declined to accede to the prayer
of an Address, which could hardly have any other issue than secularisation.
But the decision was not destined to be left in the hands of the Tories.
Before the end of 1852 Lord Derby was replaced by Lord Aberdeen, and Sir J.
Pakington by Lord Elgin's old friend the Duke of Newcastle, who saw at once
the necessity of conceding to the Canadian Parliament the power of settling
the question after its own fashion. Accordingly on May 21, 1853, Lord Elgin
was able to write to him as follows:
[Sidenote: Empowering Bill passed.]
I was certainly not a little surprised by the success with which you
carried the Clergy Reserves Bill through the House of Lords. I am assured
that this result was mainly due to your own personal exertions. I am quite
confident that both in what you have done, and in the way you have done it,
you have best consulted the interests of the Province, the Church, and the
Empire. I trust that what has happened will have here the favourable moral
effect which you anticipate. It cannot fail to have this tendency.
As respects the measures which will be ultimately adopted on this vexed
subject, I do not yet venture to write with confidence. If the
representation of the Bishop of Toronto, as to the feelings which exist
among the great Protestant denominations on the question, were correct,
there could be no doubt whatsoever in regard to the issue. For you may
depend upon it the Roman Catholics have no wish to touch the Protestant
endowment; although, when they are forced into the controversy, they will
contend that it does not rest on the same basis as their own. But I confess
that I place no reliance whatsoever on these calculations and
representations. Almost the greatest evil which results from the delegation
to the Imperial Parliament of the duty of legislating on Colonial questions
of this class, is the scope which the system affords to exaggeration and
mystification. Parties do not meet in fair conflict on their own ground,
where they can soon gain a knowledge of their relative strength, and learn
to respect each other accordingly; they shroud themselves in mystery, and
rely for victory on their success in outdoing each other in hard swearing.
Many men, partly from good nature and partly from political motives, will
sign a petition spiced and peppered to tickle the palate of the House of
Lords, who will not move a yard, or sacrifice a shilling, on behalf of the
object petitioned for. I much fear that it will be found that there is much
division of opinion even among members of the laity of the Church, with
respect to the propriety of maintaining the 'Clergy Reserves;' and that,
even as regards a certain section of the clergy, owing to dissatisfaction
with the distribution of the fund and with the condition of dependence in
which the missionaries are kept, there is greater lukewarmness on the
subject than the fervent representations you have received would lead you
to imagine.
Meanwhile there is a very good feeling in the Province--a great absence of
party violence. Your course has tended to confirm these favourable
symptoms. We must prevent anything being done during this session of the
Provincial Parliament to commit parties with respect to the 'Clergy
Reserves,' and as respects the future we must hope for the best.
[Sidenote: The Reserves secularised.]
The result has been already stated. The 'Clergy Reserves' were secularised,
contrary, no doubt, to the individual wishes of Lord Elgin; but the general
principle of Colonial self-government had signally triumphed, and its
victory more than outweighed to him the loss of any particular cause.
One other measure remains to be noticed, on which Lord Elgin had the
satisfaction of inducing the Home Government to yield to the wishes of the
Colony, viz. the Reform of the Provincial Parliament.
[Sidenote: Reform of the Provincial Parliament.]
By the Constitution of 1840 the legislative power was divided between two
chambers: a council, consisting of twenty persons, who were nominated by
the Governor, and held their seats for life; and a House of Assembly, whose
eighty-four members were elected in equal proportions from the two sections
of the province. As the population of the Colony grew--and between 1840 and
1853 it nearly doubled itself--it was natural that the number of
legislators should be increased; and there were other reasons which made an
increase desirable.
[Sidenote: Increase of representation.]
The Legislative Assembly (wrote Lord Elgin early in 1853) is now
engaged on a measure introduced by the Government for increasing the
representation of the province. I consider the object of the measure a
very important one; for, with so small a body as eighty members, when
parties are nearly balanced, individual votes become too precious,
which leads to mischief. I have not experienced this evil to any great
extent since I have had a liberal administration, which has always
been strong in the Assembly; but, with my first administration, I felt
it severely.
To this change no serious opposition was offered, either in the Colony or
in the Imperial Parliament; and the members of the two Houses were raised
to one hundred and thirty, and seventy-two, respectively. It was otherwise,
however, with the proposal to make the Upper House elective; a measure
certainly alien to English ideas, but one which Lord Elgin appears to have
thought necessary for the healthy working of the constitution under the
circumstances then existing in the province. As early as March, 1850, he
wrote to Lord Grey:--
[Sidenote: Proposal to make the Upper House elective.]
[Sidenote: Reasons in favour.]
A great deal is said here at present about rendering our second branch
of the Legislature elective. As the advocates of the plan, however,
comprise two classes of persons, with views not only distinct but
contradictory, it is difficult to foresee how they are to agree on
details, when it assumes a practical shape. The one class desire to
construct a more efficient Conservative body than the present Council,
the other seek an instrument to aid them in their schemes of
subversion and pillage. For my own part, I believe that a second
legislative body, returned by the same constituency as the House of
Assembly, under some differences with respect to time and mode of
election, would be a greater check on ill-considered legislation than
the Council as it is now constituted. Baldwin is very unwilling to
move in this matter. Having got what he imagines to be the likest
thing to the British constitution he can obtain, he is satisfied, and
averse to further change. In this instance I cannot but think that he
mistakes the shadow for the substance. I admire, however, the
perseverance with which he proclaims, '_Il faut jeter l'ancre de la
constitution_,' in reply to proposals of organic change; though I
fully expect that, like those who raised this cry in 1791, he will
yet, if he lives, find himself and his state-ship floundering among
rocks and shoals, towards which he never expected to steer.
Three years later he held the same language to the Duke of Newcastle.
Writing on March 26, 1853, to inform him that the Bill for increasing the
representation had been carried in the Assembly by a large majority, he
adds:--
The Lords must be attended to in the next place. The position of the
second chamber in our body politic is at present wholly
unsatisfactory. The principle of election must be introduced in order
to give to it the influence which it ought to possess; and that
principle must be so applied as to admit of the working of
Parliamentary Government (which I for one am certainly not prepared to
abandon for the American system) with two elective chambers. I have
made some suggestions with this view, which I hope to be able to
induce the Legislature to adopt.
When our two legislative bodies shall have been placed on this
improved footing, a greater stability will have been imparted to our
constitution, and a greater strength, I believe, if England act
wisely, to the connection.
[Sidenote: The Act passed.]
The question did not come before the British Parliament till the summer of
1854, after Lord Elgin's visit to England, during which he had an
opportunity of stating his views personally to the Government. At his
instance they brought in a Bill to enable the Colonial Legislature to deal
with the subject; and the measure was carried, with few dissentients,
although vehemently denounced by Lord Derby in the House of Lords. The
principles of colonial policy which Lord Durham had expressed so powerfully
in 1888, and on which Lord Grey and Lord Elgin had been acting so
consistently for many years, had at last prevailed; and many of those who
most deprecated the proposed reform as a downward step towards pure
democracy, yet acknowledged that, as it had been determined upon by the
deliberate choice of the Colony, it ought not to be thwarted by the
interference of the mother-country.
[Sidenote: Speech of Lord Derby.]
In the course of the speech above referred to, Lord Derby made use of the
following eloquent words:--
I have dreamed--perhaps it was only a dream--that the time would come
when, exercising a perfect control over their own internal affairs,
Parliament abandoning its right to interfere in their legislation,
these great and important colonies, combined together, should form a
monarchical government, presided over either by a permanent viceroy,
or, as an independent sovereign, by one nearly and closely allied to
the present royal family of this country.
I have believed that, in such a manner, it would be possible to uphold
the monarchical principle; to establish upon that great continent a
monarchy free as that of this country, even freer still with regard to
the popular influence exercised, but yet a monarchy worthy of the
name, and not a mere empty shadow. I can hardly believe that, under
such a system, the friendly connection and close intimacy between the
colonies and the mother-country would in any way be affected; but, on
the contrary, I feel convinced that the change to which I have
referred would be productive of nothing, for years and years to come,
but mutual harmony and friendship, increased and cemented as that
friendship would be by mutual appreciation of the great and
substantial benefits conferred by a free and regulated monarchy.
But pass this Bill, and that dream is gone for ever. Nothing like a
free and regulated monarchy could exist for a single moment under such
a constitution as that which is now proposed for Canada.
From the moment that you pass this constitution, the progress must be
rapidly towards republicanism, if anything could be more really
republican than this Bill.
The dream has been realised, at least in one of its most important
features; the gloomy forebodings have hitherto happily proved groundless.
But the speaker of these words, and the author of the measure to which they
refer, would probably have been alike surprised at the course which events
have taken respecting the particular point then in question. For once the
stream that sets towards democracy has been seen to take a backward
direction; and the constitution of the Dominion of Canada has returned, as
regards the Legislative Council, to the Conservative principle of
nomination by the Crown.
* * * * *
It does not fall within the scope of this memoir to give an account of the
numerous administrative measures which made the period of Lord Elgin's
Government so marked an epoch in the history of Canadian prosperity. It may
be well, however, to notice a few points to which he himself thought it
worth while to advert in official despatches, written towards the close of
his sojourn in the country, and containing a statistical review of the
marvellously rapid progress which the Colony had made in all branches of
productive industry.
The first extracts bear upon questions which have lost none of their
interest or importance--the kindred questions of emigration, of the demand
for labour, and of the acquisition and tenure of land.
[Sidenote: Emigration.]
The sufferings of the Irish during that calamitous period [1847]
induced philanthropic persons to put forward schemes of systematic
colonisation, based in some instances on the assumption that it was
for the interest of the emigrants that they should be as much as
possible concentrated in particular portions of the territories to
which they might proceed, so as to form communities complete in
themselves, and to remain subject to the influences, religious and
social, under which they had lived previously to emigration. It was
proposed, if I rightly remember, according to one of those schemes,
that large numbers of Irish with their priests and home associations
should be established by Government in some unoccupied part of Canada.
I believe that such schemes, however benevolent their design, rest on
a complete misconception of what is for the interest both of the
Colony and of the emigrants. It is almost invariably found that
emigrants who thus isolate themselves, whatever their origin or
antecedents, lag behind their neighbours; and I am inclined to think
that, as a general rule, in the case of communities whose social and
political organisation is as far advanced as that of the North
American Colonies, it is for the interest of all parties that new
comers, instead of dwelling apart and bound together by the affinities
whether of sect or party, which united them in the country which they
have left, should be dispersed as widely as possible among the
population already established in that to which they transfer
themselves.
It may not be altogether irrelevant to mention, as bearing on this
subject, that the painful circumstances which attended the emigration
of 1847 created for a time in this Province a certain prejudice
against emigration generally. The poll tax on emigrants was increased,
and the opinion widely disseminated that, however desirable the
introduction of capitalists might be, an emigration of persons of the
poorer classes was likely to prove a burden rather than a benefit.
Commercial depression, and apprehensions as to the probable effect of
the Free-trade policy of Great Britain on the prosperity of the
Colonies, had an influence in the same direction. To counteract these
tendencies which were calculated, as I thought, to be injurious in the
long run both to the Mother-country and the Province, public attention
was especially directed, in the Speech delivered from the Throne in
1849, to emigration by way of the St. Lawrence, as a branch of trade
which it was most desirable to cultivate (irrespective altogether of
its bearing on the settlement of the country) in consequence of the
great excess of exports over imports by that route, and the consequent
enhancement of freights outwards. These views obtained very general
assent, and the measures which have been adopted since that period to
render this route attractive to emigrants destined for the West (the
effect of which is beginning now to be visible in the yearly
increasing amount of emigration by way of Quebec from the continent of
Europe), are calculated not only to promote the trade of the Province,
but also to make settlers of a superior class acquainted with its
advantages.[3]
[Sidenote: Ottawa Valley.]
This important region (the valley of the Ottawa) takes the name by
which it is designated in popular parlance from the mighty stream
which flows through it, and which, though it be but a tributary of the
St. Lawrence, is one of the largest of the rivers that run
uninterruptedly from the source to the discharge within the dominions
of the Queen. It drains an area of about 80,000 square miles, and
receives at various points in its course the waters of streams, some
of which equal in magnitude the chief rivers of Great Britain. These
streams open up to the enterprise of the lumberman the almost
inexhaustible pine forests with which this region is clothed, and
afford the means of transporting their produce to market. In improving
these natural advantages considerable sums are expended by private
individuals. L50,000 currency was voted by Parliament last session for
the purpose of removing certain obstacles to the navigation of the
Upper Ottawa, by the construction of a canal at a point which is now
obstructed by rapids.
[Sidenote: Demand for labour.]
From the nature of the business, the lumbering trade falls necessarily
in a great measure into the hands of persons of capital, who employ
large bodies of men at points far removed from markets, and who are
therefore called upon to make considerable advances in providing food
and necessaries for their labourers, as well as in building slides and
otherwise facilitating the passage of timber along the streams and
rivers. Many thousands of men are employed during the winter in these
remote forests, preparing the timber which is transported during the
summer in rafts, or, if sawn, in boats, to Quebec when destined for
England, and up the Richelieu River when intended for the United
States. It is a most interesting fact, both in a moral and hygienic
view, that for some years past intoxicating liquors have been
rigorously excluded from almost all the chantiers, as the dwellings of
the lumbermen in these distant regions are styled; and that,
notwithstanding the exposure of the men to cold during the winter and
wet in the spring, the result of the experiment has been entirely
satisfactory.
The bearing of the lumbering business on the settlement of the country
is a point well worthy of notice. The farmer who undertakes to
cultivate unreclaimed land in new countries, generally finds that not
only does every step of advance which he makes in the wilderness, by
removing him from the centres of trade and civilisation, enhance the
cost of all he has to purchase, but that, moreover, it diminishes the
value of what he has to sell. It is not so, however, with the farmer
who follows in the wake of the lumbermen. He finds, on the contrary,
in the wants of the latter, a ready demand for all that he produces,
at a price not only equal to that procurable in the ordinary marts,
but increased by the cost of transport from them to the scene of the
lumbering operations. This circumstance, no doubt, powerfully
contributes to promote the settlement of those districts, and attracts
population to sections of the country which, in the absence of any
such inducement, would probably remain for long periods
uninhabited.[4]
[Sidenote: Wild land.]
The large amount of wild land held by individuals and corporations,
renders the disposal of the public domain a question of less urgency
in this than in some other colonies. Opinion in the Province runs
strongly in favour of facilitating its acquisition in small lots by
actual settlers, and of putting all possible obstacles in the way of
its falling into the hands of speculators. This opinion is founded no
doubt in part on a jealousy of great landholders; but it is mainly, I
apprehend, attributable to a sense of the inconvenience and damage
which are experienced in young countries, when considerable tracts of
land are kept out of the market in the midst of districts that are in
course of settlement. To this feeling much of the hostility to the
'Clergy Reserves' was originally due. The upset price of Government
wild land in Canada varies from 7_s_. 6_d_. currency to
1_s_. currency an acre, according to quality, and by the rules of
the Crown Land Department now in force, it is conceded at these rates,
except in special cases, in lots of not more than 200 acres, on
condition of actual settlement, of erecting a dwelling-house, and
clearing one-fourth of the lot before the patent can be obtained. The
price is payable in some parts of the country in ten yearly
instalments; in others in five; with interest in both cases from the
date of sale.
I have little faith in the efficacy of such devices to compel actual
settlement. They hinder the free circulation of capital, are easily
evaded, and seem to be especially out of place where wild lands are
subject to taxation for municipal purposes, as is the case in Upper
Canada.[5]
[Sidenote: Seigniorial tenure.]
A good deal of land in Lower Canada is held in seigniory, under a
species of feudal tenure, with respect to the conditions of which a
controversy has arisen which threatens, unless some equitable mode of
adjusting it be speedily devised, to be productive of very serious
consequences. A certain class of jurists contend, that by the custom
of the country, established before its conquest by Great Britain, the
seigniors were bound to concede their lands in lots of about 100 acres
to the first applicant, in consideration of the payment of certain
dues, and of a rent which, never, as they allege, exceeded one penny
an acre; and they quote edicts of the French monarchs to show that the
governor and intendant, when the seignior was contumacious, could
seize the land, and make the concession in spite of him, taking the
rent for the Crown. The seigniors, on the other hand, plead the
decisions of the courts since the conquest in vindication of their
claim to receive such rents as they can bargain for. Independently of
this controversy, the incidents of the tenure are in other respects
calculated to exercise an unfavourable influence on the progress of
the Province; and its abolition, if it could be effected without
injustice, would, no doubt, be a highly beneficial measure.[6]
Still more important and interesting at this time is the following sketch
of the Educational System of Upper Canada; the 'Common Schools' and 'Public
School Libraries,' which have attracted so much the attention of our own
educationists. Nor is it uninstructive to note the contrast between what
had been achieved in the colony nearly twenty years ago, and the still
unsettled condition of similar questions in the mother-country: a contrast
which may perhaps call to mind the remarks of Lord Elgin already quoted, as
to the rapid growth which ensues when the seeds that fall from ancient
experience are dropped into a virgin soil.[7]
[Sidenote: Education.]
In 1847 the Normal School, which may be considered the foundation of
the system, was instituted, and at the close of 1853, the first volume
issued from the Educational Department to the Public School Libraries,
which are its crown and completion.... The term school libraries does
not imply that the libraries in question are specially designed for
the benefit of common school pupils. They are, in point of fact,
public libraries intended for the use of the general population; and
they are entitled school libraries because their establishment has
been provided for in the School Acts, and their management confided to
the school authorities.
[Sidenote: Public School Libraries.]
Public School Libraries then, similar to those which are now being
introduced into Canada, have been in operation for several years in
some states of the neighbouring Union, and many of the most valuable
features of the Canadian system have been borrowed from them. In most
of the States, however, which have appropriated funds for library
purposes, the selection of the books has been left to the trustees
appointed by the different districts, many of whom are ill-qualified
for the task; and the consequence has been, that the travelling
pedlars, who offer the most showy books at the lowest prices, have had
the principal share in furnishing the libraries. In introducing the
system into Canada, precautions have been taken which will, I trust,
have the effect of obviating this great evil.
In the School Act of 1850, which first set apart a sum of money for
the establishment and support of school libraries, it is declared to
be the duty of the chief superintendent of education to apportion the
sum granted for this purpose by the legislature under the following
condition: 'That no aid should be given towards the establishment and
support of any school library unless an equal amount be contributed or
expended from local sources for the same;' and the Council of
Instruction is required to examine, and at its discretion recommend or
disapprove of text books for the use of schools, or books for school
libraries; 'provided that no portion of the legislative school grant
shall be applied in aid of any school in which any book is used that
has been disapproved of by the Council, and public notice given of
such disapproval.'
[Sidenote: Common schools.]
The system of public instruction in Upper Canada is engrafted upon the
municipal institutions of the Province, to which an organisation very
complete in its details, and admirably adapted to develop the
resources, confirm the credit, and promote the moral and social
interests of a young country, was imparted by an Act passed in 1849.
The law by which the common schools are regulated was enacted in 1850,
and it embraces all the modifications and improvements suggested by
experience in the provisions of the several school Acts passed
subsequently to 1841, when the important principle of granting money
to each county on condition that an equal amount were raised within it
by local assessment, was first introduced into the statute-book.
[Sidenote: Local superintendence.]
The development of individual self-reliance and local exertion, under
the superintendence of a central authority exercising an influence
almost exclusively moral, is the ruling principle of the system.
Accordingly, it rests with the freeholders and householders of each
school section to decide whether they will support their school by
voluntary subscription, by rate bill for each pupil attending the
school (which must not, however, exceed 1_s_. per month), or by
rates on property. The trustees elected by the same freeholders and
householders are required to determine the amount to be raised within
their respective school sections for all school purposes whatsoever,
to hire teachers from among persons holding legal certificates of
qualification, and to agree with them as to salary. On the local
superintendents appointed by the county councils is devolved the duty
of apportioning the legislative grant among the school sections within
the county, of inspecting the schools, and reporting upon them to the
chief superintendent. The county boards of public instruction,
composed of the local superintendent or superintendents, and the
trustees of the county grammar school, examine candidates for the
office of teacher, and give certificates of qualification which are
valid for the county; the chief superintendent giving certificates to
normal school pupils which are valid for the Province; while the chief
superintendent, who holds his appointment from the Crown, aided in
specified cases by the Council of Public Instruction, has under his
especial charge the normal and model schools, besides exercising a
general control over the whole system..
The question of religious instruction as connected with the common
school system, presented even more than ordinary difficulty in a
community where there is so much diversity of opinion on religious
subjects, and where all denominations are in the eye of the law on a
footing of entire equality. It is laid down as a fundamental
principle, that as the common schools are not boarding but day
schools, and as the pupils are under the care of their parents or
guardians during the Sunday, and a considerable portion of each week
day, it is not intended that the functions of the common school
teacher should supersede those of the parent and pastor of the child.
Accordingly, the law contents itself with providing on this head,
'that in any model or common school established under this act, no
child shall be required to read or study in or from any religious
book, or to join in any exercise of devotion or religion, which shall
be objected to by his or her parents or guardians; provided always,
that within this limitation pupils shall be allowed to receive such
religious instruction as their parents or guardians shall desire,
according to the general regulations which shall be provided according
to law.' And it authorises under certain regulations the establishment
of a separate school for Protestants or Roman Catholics, as the case
may be, when the teacher of the common school is of the opposite
persuasion.
Clergymen recognised by law, of whatever denomination, are made _ex
officio_ visitors of the schools in townships, cities, towns, or
villages where they reside, or have pastoral charge. The chief
superintendent. Dr. Ryerson, remarks on this head:
[Sidenote: The clergy.]
'The clergy of the county have access to each of its schools; and we
know of no instance in which the school has been made the place of
religious discord, but many instances, especially on occasions of
quarterly public examinations, in which the school has witnessed the
assemblage and friendly intercourse of clergy of various religious
persuasions, and thus become the radiating centre of a spirit of
Christian charity and potent cooperation in the primary work of a
people's civilisation and happiness.'
He adds with reference to the subject generally, 'The more carefully
the question of religion in connection with a system of common schools
is examined, the more clearly, I think, it will appear, that it has
been left where it properly belongs--with the local school
municipalities, parents, and managers of schools; the Government
protecting the right of each parent and child, but beyond this, and
beyond the principles and duties of morality common to all classes,
neither compelling nor prohibiting; recognising the duties of pastors
and parents as well as of school trustees and teachers, and
considering the united labours of all as constituting the system of
education for the youth of the country.'
Lord Elgin himself had always shown a profound sense of the importance of
thus making religion the groundwork of education. Speaking on occasion of
the opening of a normal school, after noticing the zealous and wisely-
directed exertions which had 'enabled Upper Canada to place itself in the
van among the nations, in the great and important work of providing an
efficient system of general education for the whole community' he
proceeded:--
[Sidenote: What is education?]
And now let me ask this intelligent audience, who have so kindly
listened to me up to this moment--let me ask them to consider, in all
seriousness and earnestness, what that great work really is. I do not
think that I shall be chargeable with exaggeration when I affirm, that
it is _the_ work of our day and generation; that it is _the_
problem in our modern society which is most difficult of solution;
that it is the ground upon which earnest and zealous men unhappily too
often, and in too many countries meet, not to co-operate but to
wrangle; while the poor and the ignorant multitudes around them are
starving and perishing for lack of knowledge. Well, then, how has
Upper Canada addressed herself to the execution of this great work?
How has she sought to solve this problem--to overcome this difficulty?
Sir, I understand from your statements--and I come to the same
conclusion from my own investigation and observation--that it is the
principle of our common school educational system, that its foundation
is laid deep in the firm rock of our common Christianity. I
understand, sir, that while the varying views and opinions of a mixed
religious society are scrupulously respected, while every semblance of
dictation is carefully avoided, it is desired, it is earnestly
recommended, it is confidently expected and hoped, that every child
who attends our common schools shall learn there that he is a being
who has an interest in eternity as well as in time; that he has a
Father, towards whom he stands in a closer and more affecting, and
more endearing relationship than to any earthly father, and that
Father is in heaven; that he has a hope, far transcending every
earthly hope--a hope full of immortality--the hope, namely, that that
Father's kingdom may come; that he has a duty which, like the sun in
our celestial system, stands in the centre of his moral obligations,
shedding upon them a hallowing light, which they in their turn reflect
and absorb--the duty of striving to prove by his life and conversation
the sincerity of his prayer, that that Father's will may be done upon
earth as it is done in heaven. I understand, sir, that upon the broad
and solid platform which is raised upon that good foundation, we
invite the ministers of religion, of all denominations--the _de
facto_ spiritual guides of the people of the country--to take their
stand along with us; that, so far from hampering or impeding them in
the exercise of their sacred functions, we ask and we beg them to take
the children--the lambs of the flock which are committed to their
care--aside, and to lead them to those pastures and streams where they
will find, as they believe, the food of life and the waters of
consolation.
One more extract must be given from the despatch already quoted, because it
illustrates a feature in his character, to which the subsequent course of
his life gave such marked prominence--his generous and tender feeling of
what was due to subject or inferior races; a sad feeling in this case, and
but faintly supported by any hope of being able to do anything for their
benefit.
[Sidenote: Aboriginal tribes.]
It is painful to turn from reviewing the progress of the European
population and their descendants established in this portion of
America, to contemplate the condition and prospects of the aboriginal
tribes. It cannot, I fear, be affirmed with truth, that the difficult
problem of reconciling the interests of an inferior and native race
with those of an intrusive and superior one, has as yet been
satisfactorily solved on this continent. In the United States, the
course of proceeding generally followed in this matter has been that
of compelling the Red man, through the influence of persuasion or
force, to make way for the White, by retreating farther and farther
into the wilderness; a mode of dealing with the case which necessarily
entails the occasional adoption of harsh measures, and which ceases to
be practicable when civilisation approaches the limits of the
territory to be occupied. In Canada, the tribes have been permitted to
dwell among the scenes of their early associations and traditions, on
lands reserved from the advancing tide of White settlement, and set
apart for their use. But this system, though more lenient in its
operation than the other, is not unattended with difficulties of its
own. The laws enacted for their protection, and in the absence of
which they fall an easy prey to the more unscrupulous among their
energetic neighbours, tend to keep them in a condition of perpetual
pupillage, and the relation subsisting between them and the
Government, which treats them, partly as independent peoples, and
partly as infants under its guardianship, involves many anomalies and
contradictions. Unless there be some reasonable ground for the hope
that they will be eventually absorbed in the general population of the
country, the Canadian system is probably destined in the long run to
prove as disastrous to them as that of the United States. In 1846 and
1847 the attempt was first made to establish among them industrial
boarding schools, in part supported by contributions from their own
funds. If schools of this description be properly conducted, it may, I
think, be expected that, among the youth trained at them, a certain
proportion at least will be so far civilised, as to be capable of
making their way in life without exceptional privileges or restraints.
It would be, I am inclined to believe, expedient that any Indian,
showing this capacity, should be permitted, after sufficient trial, to
receive from the common property of the tribe of which he was a member
(on the understanding of course that neither he nor his descendants
had thenceforward any claim upon it), a sum equivalent to his interest
in it, as a means to enable him to start in independent life. The
process of transition from their present semi-barbarous condition
could hardly fail to be promoted by a scheme of this description if it
were judiciously carried out.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Relations with the United States.]
No sketch of a Governor's life in Canada would be complete which did not
contain some account of his relations with the great neighbouring republic.
We have seen that, at the beginning of his government, Lord Elgin's cares
were increased by threats, and more than threats, of interference on the
part of 'sympathisers' from some of the American States; and that he looked
upon the likelihood of lawless inroad, not to speak of the possibility of
lawful war, as affording solid reason for England's maintaining a body of
troops in the Colony. But it must not be supposed that his attitude towards
the Government or people of the States was one of jealousy or hostility.
The loyal friendliness of the Government in repressing the intemperate
sympathies of certain of its citizens, he cordially acknowledged; and with
the people he did his utmost to encourage the freest and friendliest
intercourse, social and commercial, not only in order that the inhabitants
of the two countries might provoke one another to increased activity in the
good work of civilisation, but also that they might know and understand one
another; and that he might have in the public opinion of the United States
that intelligent support which he despaired of finding in England, owing to
the strange ignorance and indifference which so unfortunately prevails
there on all colonial subjects.
The following letters refer to some of the occasion on which mutual
civilities were interchanged:
_To Mr. Crampton, British Minister at Washington._
Montreal, May 21, 1849.
[Sidenote: their loyal conduct in 1849.]
I am much indebted to you for your letter of the 10th, conveying an
intimation of the intentions of the American Government with reference
to improper interference on the part of American citizens in Canadian
affairs, which is so honourable to General Taylor and his cabinet. If
I should receive any information leading me to believe that any such
interference is contemplated, I shall not fail to communicate with you
at once on the subject. My impression is, that there is not at present
much to be apprehended on that score; for although there is unhappily
considerable excitement and irritation in Canada, the subject in
dispute[8] is not one which is likely to conciliate much sympathy
among our neighbours. I do not, however, less highly appreciate the
good feeling and cordiality evinced by the Executive Government of the
United States.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey_
Toronto, June 14,1850.
[Sidenote: Mutual Courtesies.]
Our expedition to the Welland Canal went off admirably, the only
drawback being that we attempted too much. Mr. Merritt, who planned
the affair, gave it out that we were to pass through the canal, and to
touch at Buffalo on our way from Lake Erie to the Falls of Niagara, in
one day. On this hint the Buffalonians made preparations for our
reception on the most magnificent scale.... As might have been
expected, however, what with addresses, speeches, and mishaps of
various kinds, such as are to be looked for in canal travelling on a
large scale (for our party consisted of some three hundred), night
overtook us before we reached Lake Erie, and Buffalo had to be given
up. I very much regret this, as I fear the citizens were disappointed.
Some of our party went there the next day, and were most hospitably
received.
* * * * *
_To the Earl Grey._
Toronto, August 16, 1850.
Our Session has closed with great _eclat_. On Thursday week our
Buffalo friends, with other persons of distinction from different
parts of the Union, arrived here, to the number of about two hundred.
They were entertained that evening at a ball in the City Hall, which
did great credit to the good taste and hospitality of the hosts. Next
day there was a review in the forenoon and a fete at my house, which
lasted from half-past four to twelve. I succeeded in enabling a party
of five hundred to sit down together to dinner; and, what with a few
speeches, fireworks, and dances, I believe I may say the citizens went
away thoroughly pleased.[9] On Saturday, at noon, many of the party
assisted at the prorogation.
These matters may seem trivial to you among the graver concerns of
state; nevertheless, I am sanguine enough to hope that the courtesies
which have passed this year between the Buffalonians and us will not
be without their fruit. The bulk of those who came here from Buffalo,
including the Mayor--a very able man and powerful speaker--are of the
democratic party, and held some years ago very different views from
those which they expressed on this visit. They found here the warmest
and most cordial welcome from all, Her Majesty's representative not
excepted. But they saw, I venture to say almost with certainty,
nothing to lead them to suppose that the Canadians desire to change
their political condition; on the contrary, the mention of Her
Majesty's name evoked on all occasions the most unbounded enthusiasm;
and there was every appearance of a kindly feeling towards the
Governor General, which the Americans seemed not disinclined
themselves to share.
'To render annexation by violence impossible, and by any other means
as improbable as may be,' is, as I have often ventured to repeat, the
polar star of my policy. In these matters, small as they may appear, I
believe we have been steering by its light. Again, as respects
ourselves. I trust that the effects of this Buffalonian visit will be
very beneficial. I took occasion in my speeches, in a joking way which
provoked nothing but laughter and good humour, to hint at some of the
unreasonable traits in the conduct of my Canadian friends. I am sure
that the Americans go home with very correct views as touching our
politics, and with the best sentiments towards myself. It is of very
great importance to me to have the aid of a sound public opinion from
without, to help me through my difficulties here; and, as I utterly
despair of receiving any such assistance from England (I allude not to
the Government but to the public, which never looks at us except when
roused by fear ignorantly to condemn), it is of incalculable
importance that I should obtain this support from America.
[Sidenote: Boston Jubilee.]
In the autumn of 1851, the inhabitants of Boston held a Three Days'
Jubilee, to celebrate the completion of various lines of communication, by
railroad and steamship, destined to draw closer the bonds of union between
Canada and the United States; and Lord Elgin gladly accepted an invitation
to be present. Writing on September 26, 1851, he mentions having 'met there
all the United States, President included;' and describes a 'dinner on the
Boston Common for 3,500 persons, at which many good speeches were made,
Everett's especially so.' He adds:--
Nothing certainly could be more cordial than the conduct of the
Bostonians throughout; and there was a scrupulous avoidance of every
topic that could wound British or Canadian susceptibilities.
To the general harmony and good feeling no one contributed more than Lord
Elgin himself, by his general courtesy and affability, and especially by
his speeches, full of the happiest mixture of playfulness and earnestness,
of eloquence and sound sense, of ardent patriotism with broad international
sympathies. 'It was worth something,' he wrote afterwards, 'to get the
Queen of England as much cheered and lauded in New England as in any part
of Old England;' and the reflection faithfully represents the spirit of
expansive loyalty which characterised all his dealings with his neighbours
of the States.
These qualities, added to the reputation of a wise and liberal Governor,
won for him an unusual amount of regard from the American people. At a
dinner given to him in London, during his short visit to England in the
spring of 1854--a dinner at which the Colonial Secretaries of five
different Governments, Lord Monteagle, Lord John Russell, Lord Grey, Sir J.
Pakington, and the Duke of Newcastle met to do him honour--no one spoke
more warmly or more discriminatingly in his praise than the American
Minister, Mr. Buchanan.
[Sidenote: Speech of Mr. Buchanan.]
'Lord Elgin,' he said, 'has solved one of the most difficult problems
of statesmanship. He has been able, successfully and satisfactorily,
to administer, amidst many difficulties, a colonial government over a
free people. This is an easy task where the commands of a despot are
law to his obedient subjects; but not so in a colony where the people
feel that they possess the rights and privileges of native-born
Britons. Under his enlightened government Her Majesty's North American
provinces have realised the blessings of a wise, prudent, and
prosperous administration; and we of the neighbouring nation, though
jealous of our rights, have reason to be abundantly satisfied with his
just and friendly conduct towards ourselves. He has known how to
reconcile his devotion to Her Majesty's service with a proper regard
to the rights and interests of the kindred and neighbouring people.
Would to Heaven we had such governors-general in all the European
colonies in the vicinity of the United States!'
[Sidenote: Reciprocity Treaty.]
A signal proof of his popularity and influence in America was given a few
months later, on the occasion already referred to, when he visited
Washington for the purpose of negotiating the Reciprocity Treaty; and,
chiefly by the effect of his personal presence, carried through, in a few
weeks, a measure which had been in suspense for years.
In returning from this visit he was received with special honours at
Portland, the terminus of the international railway which he had exerted
himself so much to promote; and he used the opportunity not only to please
and conciliate his entertainers, but also to impress them with the respect
due to the Canadians, as a flourishing and progressive, above all as a
loyal, people. Speaking of the alienation which had existed, a few years
earlier, between the Provinces and the States, he said:[10]
[Sidenote: Speech at Portland.]
When I look back to the past, I find what tended in some degree to
create this misunderstanding. In the first place, as I believe, the
government of these provinces was conducted on erroneous principles,
the rights of the people were somewhat restrained, and large numbers
were prevented from exercising those privileges which belong to a free
people. From this arose, very naturally, a discontent on the part of
the people of the Provinces, with which the people of the States
sympathised. Though this sympathy and this discontent was not always
wise, it is not wonderful that it existed.
What have we now done to put an end to this? We have cut off the
source of all this misunderstanding by granting to the people what
they desired--the great principle of self-government. The inhabitants
of Canada at this moment exercise an influence over their own
destinies and government as complete as do the people of this country.
This is the only cause of misunderstanding that ever existed; and this
cannot arise when the circumstances which made them at variance have
ceased to exist.
The good feeling which has been so fully established between the
States and the Provinces has already justified itself by its works. In
the British Provinces we have already had many evidences to prove your
kindness towards us; and within the last seven years, more than in any
previous seven years since the settlement of the two countries.
Let me ask you, who is the worse off for this display of good feeling
and fraternal intercourse? Is it the Canadas? sir, as the
representative of Her Majesty, permit me to say that the Canadians
were never more loyal than at this moment. Standing here, on United
States ground, beneath that flag under which we are proud to live, I
repeat that no people was ever more loyal than are the Canadas to
their Queen; and it is the purpose of the present Ministers of Her
Majesty's Government to make the people of Canada so prosperous and
happy, that other nations shall envy them their good fortune.
This was the last occasion of his addressing American citizens on their own
soil; nor did the course of his after-life bring him often in contact with
them. But the personal regard which he had won from them descended, some
years later, as a valuable heritage to his brother, Sir Frederick, when
appointed to the difficult post of Minister at Washington after the close
of the American Civil War.[11]
[Sidenote: Parting from Canada.]
The parting of Lord Elgin from Canada was spread, so to speak, over several
years; for though he did not finally quit its shores till the end of 1854,
from 1851 onwards he was continually in expectation of being recalled; and,
towards the end of 1853, he came to England, as we have already seen, on
leave of absence. The numerous speeches made, and letters written on the
occasion of these different leave-takings, contain ample proof how cordial
was the feeling which had grown up between the Colony and its Governor. It
may be enough to give here two specimens. The first is an extract from a
farewell speech at Montreal, listened to with tears by a crowded audience
in the very place where, a few years before, he had been so scandalously
outraged and insulted.[12]
[Sidenote: Farewell to Montreal.]
For nearly eight years, at the command of our beloved Queen, I have
filled this position among you, discharging its duties, often
imperfectly, never carelessly, or with indifference. We are all of us
aware that the period is rapidly approaching when I may expect to be
required by the same gracious authority to resign into other, and I
trust worthier, hands, the office of Governor-General, with the heavy
burden of responsibility and care which attaches to it. It is fitting,
therefore, that we should now speak to each other frankly and without
reserve. Let me assure you, then, that the severance of the formal tie
which binds us together will not cause my earnest desire for your
welfare and advancement to abate. The extinction of an official
relationship cannot quench the conviction that I have so long
cherished, and by which I have been supported through many trials,
that a brilliant future is in store for British North America; or
diminish the interest with which I shall watch every event which tends
to the fulfilment of this expectation. And again permit me to assure
you, that when I leave you, be it sooner or later, I shall carry away
no recollections of my sojourn among you except such as are of a
pleasing character. I shall remember--and remember with gratitude--the
cordial reception I met with at Montreal when I came a stranger among
you, bearing with me for my sole recommendation the commission of our
Sovereign. I shall remember those early months of my residence here,
when I learnt in this beautiful neighbourhood to appreciate the charms
of a bright Canadian winter day, and to take delight in the cheerful
music of your sleigh bells. I shall remember one glorious afternoon--
an afternoon in April--when, looking down from the hill at Monklands,
on my return from transacting business in your city, I beheld that the
vast plain stretching out before me, which I had always seen clothed
in the white garb of winter, had assumed, on a sudden, and, as if by
enchantment, the livery of spring; while your noble St. Lawrence,
bursting through his icy fetters, had begun to sparkle in the
sunshine, and to murmur his vernal hymn of thanksgiving to the
bounteous Giver of light and heat. I shall remember my visits to your
Mechanics' Institutes and Mercantile Library Associations, and the
kind attention with which the advice which I tendered to your young
men and citizens was received by them. I shall remember the undaunted
courage with which the merchants of this city, while suffering under
the pressure of a commercial crisis of almost unparalleled severity,
urged forward that great work which was the first step towards placing
Canada in her proper position in this age of railway progress. I shall
remember the energy and patriotism which gathered together in this
city specimens of Canadian industry, from all parts of the province,
for the World's Fair, and which has been the means of rendering this
magnificent conception of the illustrious Consort of our beloved Queen
more serviceable to Canada than it has, perhaps, proved to any other
of the countless communities which have been represented there. And I
shall forget--but no--what I might have had to forget is forgotten
already; and therefore I cannot tell you what I shall forget.
The remaining extract is from parting words, spoken after a ball which he
gave at Quebec on the eve of his final departure in December, 1854.
[Sidenote: Farewell to Quebec.]
I wish I could address you in such strains as I have sometimes
employed on similar occasions, strains suited to a festive meeting;
but I confess I have a weight on my heart, and that it is not in me to
be merry. For the last time I stand before you in the official
character which I have borne for nearly eight years. For the last time
I am surrounded by a circle of friends with whom I have spent some of
the most pleasant days of my life. For the last time I welcome you as
my guests to this charming residence which I have been in the habit of
calling my home.[13] I did not, I will frankly confess it, know what
it would cost me to break this habit, until the period of my departure
approached; and I began to feel that the great interests which have so
long engrossed my attention and thoughts, were passing out of my
hands. I had a hint of what my feelings really were upon this point--a
pretty broad hint too--one lovely morning in June last, when I
returned to Quebec after my temporary absence in England, and landed
in the Coves below Spencerwood (because it was Sunday, and I did not
want to make a disturbance in the town), and when with the greetings
of the old people in the Coves who put their heads out of the windows
as I passed along, and cried 'Welcome home again,' still ringing in my
ears, I mounted the hill and drove through the avenue to the house
door. I saw the dropping trees on the lawn, with every one of which I
was so familiar, clothed in the tenderest green of spring, and the
river beyond, calm and transparent as a mirror, and the ships fixed
and motionless as statues on its surface, and the whole landscape
bathed in a flood of that bright Canadian sun which so seldom pierces
our murky atmosphere on the other side of the Atlantic. I began to
think that persons were to be envied who were not forced by the
necessities of their position to quit these engrossing interests and
lovely scenes, for the purpose of proceeding to distant lands, but who
are able to remain among them until they pass to that quiet corner of
the Garden of Mount Hermon, which juts into the river and commands a
view of the city, the shipping, Point Levi, the Island of Orleans, and
the range of Lawrentine; so that through the dim watches of that
tranquil night, which precedes the dawning of the eternal day, the
majestic citadel of Quebec, with its noble train of satellite hills,
may seem to rest for ever on the sight, and the low murmur of the
waters of St. Lawrence, with the hum of busy life on their surface, to
fall ceaselessly on the ear. I cannot bring myself to believe that the
future has in store for me any interests which will fill the place of
those I am now abandoning. But although I must henceforward be to you
as a stranger, although my official connection with you and your
interests will have become in a few days matter of history, yet I
trust that through some one channel or another, the tidings of your
prosperity and progress may occasionally reach me; that I may hear
from time to time of the steady growth and development of those
principles of liberty and order, of manly independence in combination
with respect for authority and law, of national life in harmony with
British connection, which it has been my earnest endeavour, to the
extent of my humble means of influence, to implant and to establish. I
trust, too, that I shall hear that this house continues to be what I
have ever sought to render it, a neutral territory, on which persons
of opposite opinions, political and religious, may meet together in
harmony and forget their differences for a season. And I have good
hope that this will be the case for several reasons, and, among
others, for one which I can barely allude to, for it might be an
impertinence in me to dwell upon it. But I think that without any
breach of delicacy or decorum I may venture to say that many years
ago, when I was much younger than I am now, and when we stood towards
each other in a relation somewhat different from that which has
recently subsisted between us, I learned to look up to Sir Edmund Head
with respect, as a gentleman of the highest character, the greatest
ability, and the most varied accomplishments and attainments.[14] And
now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have only to add the sad word Farewell. I
drink this bumper to the health of you all, collectively and
individually. I trust that I may hope to leave behind me some who will
look back with feelings of kindly recollection to the period of our
intercourse; some with whom I have been on terms of immediate official
connection, whose worth and talents I have had the best means of
appreciating, and who could bear witness, at least, if they please to
do so, to the spirit, intentions, and motives with which I have
administered your affairs; some with whom I have been bound by the
ties of personal regard. And if reciprocity be essential to enmity,
then most assuredly I can leave behind me no enemies. I am aware that
there must be persons in so large a society as this, who think that
they have grievances to complain of, that due consideration has not in
all cases been shown to them. Let them believe me, and they ought to
believe me, for the testimony of a dying man is evidence, even in a
court of justice, let them believe me, then, even I assure them, in
this the last hour of my agony, that no such errors of omission or
commission have been intentional on my part. Farewell, and God bless
you.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: At home.]
The two years which followed Lord Elgin's return from Canada were a time of
complete rest from official labour. For though, on the breaking up of Lord
Aberdeen's Ministry in the spring of 1855, he was offered by Lord
Palmerston the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a seat in the
Cabinet, he declined the offer, not on any ground of difference from the
new Ministry, which he intended to support; but because, having only
recently taken his seat in the House of Lords, after a long term of foreign
service, during which he had necessarily held aloof from home politics, he
thought it advisable, for the present at least, to remain independent. He
found, however, ample and congenial occupation for his time in the peaceful
but industrious discharge of home duties at Broomhall. Still his thoughts
were constantly with the distant Provinces in which he had laboured so
long.
Whenever he appeared in public, whether at a dinner given in his honour at
Dunfermline, or on occasion of receiving the freedom of the city of
Glasgow, or in delivering a lecture at the annual opening of the Edinburgh
Philosophical Institute--it was with the same desire of turning to account
the knowledge gained abroad, for the advantage of the Colonies, or of the
mother-country, or for the mutual benefit of both; with the same hope of
drawing closer the bonds of union between them, and dispelling something of
that cloud of ignorance and indifference which has often made the public
opinion of Great Britain a hindrance rather than a support to the best
interests of her dependencies.
[Sidenote: In the House of Lords.]
It was only very rarely that he took any part in the business of
legislation; and of the two occasions on which he was induced to break
silence, one was when the interests of Canada appeared to him to be
imperilled by the rumoured intention of Government to send thither large
bodies of troops that had just returned from the Crimea. He thought it his
duty to protest earnestly against any such proceeding, as likely, in the
first place, to complicate the relations of Canada with the United States,
and, in the second place, to arrest her progress in self-dependence.
[Sidenote: Crimean War.]
The other occasion of his speaking was in May 1855, when Lord Ellenborough
had moved an Address to the Crown, condemnatory of the manner in which the
Crimean War had been and was being conducted. Having been out of England
when hostilities were begun, he had not to consider the question whether it
was a glorious, or even a necessary, war in which we were engaged; and his
one feeling on the subject was that which he had previously expressed to
the citizens of Glasgow.
My opinion (he then said) [on the question of the war] I can easily
state, and I have no hesitation in avowing it. I say that now we are
in the war, we must fight it out like men. I don't say, throw away the
scabbard; in the first place, because I dislike all violent metaphors;
and, in the second place, because the scabbard is a very useful
instrument, and the sooner we can use it the better. But I do say,
having drawn the sword, don't sheathe it until the purpose for which
it was drawn is accomplished.
In the same spirit he now defended the Ministry against Lord Ellenborough's
attack; not on party grounds, which he took pains to repudiate, but on what
he conceived to be the true patriotic principle--viz. to strengthen, at
such a time, the hands of the existing Government, unless there be a
distinct prospect of replacing it by a stronger.
After mentioning that he had not long before informed Lord Palmerston, that
'while he was resolved to maintain an independent position in Parliament,
it was nevertheless his desire and intention, subject to that qualification
and reserve, to support the Government,' he proceeded:
I formed this resolution not only because I had reason to believe that
on questions of public policy my sentiments would generally be found
to be in accordance with those of the present Government, nor yet only
because I felt I owed to the noble Viscount himself, and many at least
of his colleagues, a debt of obligation for the generous support they
uniformly gave me at critical periods in the course of my foreign
career; but also, and principally, because in the critical position in
which this country was placed--at a time when we had only recently
presented to the astonished eye of Europe the discreditable spectacle
of a great country left for weeks without a Government, and a popular
and estimable Monarch left without councillors, during a period of
great national anxiety and peril; when there was hardly a household in
England where the voice of wailing was not to be heard, or an eye
which was not heavy with a tear--it appeared to me, I say, under such
circumstances, to be the bounden duty of every patriotic man, who had
not some very valid and substantial reason to assign for adopting a
contrary course, to tender a frank and generous support to the
Government of the Queen.
Having come to that determination, he had now to ask himself whether
circumstances were so altered as to make it his duty to revoke the pledge
spontaneously given? To this conclusion he could not bring himself.
It seems to me (he said) these Resolutions divide themselves naturally
into two parts. The first part has reference to what I may call the
general policy of the Government with respect to the war; and that
portion of them is conceived in strains of eulogy and commendation--I
may almost say in strains of exultation. The Resolutions speak of firm
alliances, of brotherhood in arms, of a sympathetic and enthusiastic
people; but not a word of regret for national friendships of old
standing broken--desolation carried into thousands of happy
homes--Europe in arms--Asia agitated and febrile--America sullenly
expectant.
This exuberance of exultation, he said, was amply met by the exuberance of
denunciation which characterises the latter part of the Address; but it was
to his mind even less just than the former.
But even (he continued) if I could bring myself to believe, which I
have failed in doing, that censure might be passed in the terms of
these Resolutions upon Her Majesty's present Government without
injustice, I should still be unwilling to concur in them, unless I
could find some better security than either the Resolutions themselves
afford, or, as I regret to be obliged to add, the antecedents and
recorded sentiments of Noble Lords opposite afford, that by bringing
about the change of administration which these Resolutions are
intended to promote, I should be doing a benefit to the public
service. My Lords, I cannot but think that at a time when it is most
important that the Government of this country should have weight and
influence abroad, frequent changes of administration are _prima
facie_ most objectionable. I happened to be upon the Continent when
the last change of Government in this country took place; and I must
say it appeared to me, that a most painful impression was created in
foreign states with respect to the instability of the administrative
system of this country by these frequent changes of administration. I
do think, indeed, that not the least of the many calamities which this
war has brought upon us is the fact, that it has had a tendency in
many quarters to throw discredit on that constitutional system of
Government of which this country has hitherto been the type and the
bright example among the nations.
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 4,000,000_l_., and his expenses about 2,000,000_l_.; so that he
has about 2,000,000_l_. 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.
[Sidenote: Summons to Yeh.]
_December 24th_.--My letter telling Yeh that I had handed the affair
over to the naval and military commanders, and Gros's to the same
effect, were sent to him to-day; also a joint letter from the
commanders, giving him forty-eight hours to deliver over the city, at
the expiry of which time, if he does not do so, it will be attacked. I
postponed the delivery of these letters till to-day, that the expiry
of the forty-eight hours might not fall on Christmas Day. Now I hear
that the commanders will not be ready till Monday, which the Calendar
tells me is 'the Massacre of the Innocents!' If we can take the city
without much massacre, I shall think the job a good one, because no
doubt the relations of the Cantonese with the foreign population were
very unsatisfactory, and a settlement was sooner or later inevitable.
But nothing could be more contemptible than the origin of our existing
quarrel. We moved this evening to the Barrier Forts, within about two
miles of Canton, and very near the place where the troops are to land
for the attack on the city. I have been taking walks on shore the last
two or three days on a little island called Dane's Island, formed of
barren hills, with little patches of soil between them and on their
flanks, cultivated in terraces by the industrious Chinese. The people
seemed very poor and miserable, suffering, I fear, from this horrid
war. The French Admiral sent on shore to Whampoa some casks of damaged
biscuit the other day, and there was such a rush for it, that some
people were, I believe, drowned. The head man came afterwards to the
officer, expressed much gratitude for the gift, but said that if it
was repeated, he begged notice might be given to him, that he might
make arrangements to prevent such disorder. The ships are surrounded
by boats filled chiefly by women, who pick up orange-peel and offal,
and everything that is thrown overboard. One of the gunboats got
ashore yesterday, within a stone's-throw of the town of Canton, and
the officer had the coolness to call on a crowd of Chinese, who were
on the quays, to pull her off, which they at once did! Fancy having to
fight such people!
_Christmas Day_.--Who would have thought, when we were spending that
cold snowy Christmas Day last year at Howick, that _this_ day would
find us separated by almost as great a distance as is possible on the
surface of our globe! and that I should be anchored, as I now am,
within two miles of a great city, doomed, I fear, to destruction, from
the folly of its own rulers and the vanity and levity of ours. We have
moved a little farther up the river this morning, and as we are, like
St. Paul, dropping an anchor from the stern, I have had over my head
for several hours the incessant dancing about and clanking of a
ponderous chain-cable, till my brains are nearly all shaken out of
their place.
_December 26th._--I have a second letter from Yeh, which is even more
twaddling than the first. They say that he is all day engaged in
sacrificing to an idol, which represents the God of Physic, and which
is so constructed that a stick in its hand traces figures on sand. In
the figures so traced he is supposed to read his fate.
Early on Monday the 28th the attack began; and Lord Elgin was reluctantly
compelled to witness what he had been reluctantly compelled to order--the
bombardment of an unresisting town. Happily the damage both to life and
property proved to be very much less serious than at the time he supposed
it to be.
[Sidenote: Bombardment.]
_December 28th, Noon._--We have been throwing shells, etc., into
Canton since 6 A.M., without almost any reply from the town. I hate
the whole thing so much, that I cannot trust myself to write about it.
_December 29th._--The mail was put off, and I add a line to say that I
hope the Canton affair is over, and well over.... When I say this
affair is over, perhaps I say too much. But the horrid bombardment has
ceased, and we are in occupation of Magazine Hill, at the upper part
of the city, within the walls.
[Sidenote: Capture of the city.]
[Sidenote: Looting.]
_H.M.S. 'Furious,' Canton River.--January 2nd, 1858._--The last week
has been a very eventful one: not one of unmixed satisfaction to me,
because of course there is a great deal that is painful about this
war, but on the whole the results have been successful. On Monday last
(the 28th) I was awakened at 6 A.M. by a cannon-shot, which was the
commencement of a bombardment of the city, which lasted for 27 hours.
As the fire of the shipping was either not returned at all, or
returned only by a very few shots, I confess that this proceeding gave
me great pain at the time. But I find that much less damage has been
done to the town than I expected, as the fire was confined to certain
spots. I am on the whole, therefore, disposed to think that the
measure proved to be a good one, as the terror which it has excited in
the minds of the Cantonese is more than in proportion to the injury
inflicted, and therefore it will have the effect, I trust, of
preventing any attempts on their part to dislodge or attack us, which
would entail very great calamities on themselves. At 10 A.M. on Monday
the troops landed at a point about two miles east of the city, and
marched up with very trifling resistance to Lin Fort, which they took,
the French entering first, to the great disgust of our people. Next
morning at 9 A.M., they advanced to the escalade of the city walls, and
proceeded, with again very slight opposition, to the Magazine Hill, on
which they hoisted the British and French flags. They then took Gough
fort with little trouble, and there they were by 3 P.M. established in
Canton. The poor stupid Chinese had placed some guns in position to
resist an attack from the opposite quarter--the quarter, viz. from
which Gough attacked the city; and some people suppose that if we had
advanced from that side we should have met with some resistance. My
own opinion is, that the resistance would have been no great matter in
any case, although, no doubt, if we had made the attempt in summer,
and with sailors only, as some proposed when I came here in July, we
should probably have met with disaster. As it is, my difficulty has
been to enforce the adoption of measures to keep our own people in
order, and to prevent the wretched Cantonese from being plundered and
bullied. This task is the more difficult from the very motley force
with which we have to work, composed, firstly, of French and English;
secondly, of sailors to a great extent--they being very imperfectly
manageable on shore; all, moreover, having, I fear, a very low
standard of morality in regard to stealing from the Chinese. There is
a word called 'loot,' which gives, unfortunately, a venial character
to what would, in common English, be styled robbery.... Add to this,
that there is no flogging in the French army, so that it is impossible
to punish men committing this class of offences.... On the other hand,
these incomprehensible Chinese, although they make no defence, do not
come forward to capitulate; and I am in mortal terror lest the French
Admiral, who is in the way of looking at these matters in a purely
professional light, should succeed in inducing our chiefs to engage
again in offensive operations, which would lead to an unnecessary
destruction of life and property. I proposed to Gros that we should
land on the first day of the year, and march up to Magazine Hill. He
consented, and the chiefs agreed, so we landed about 1 P.M. at a point
on the river bank immediately below the south-east angle of the city
wall, which is now our line of communication between the river and
Magazine Hill. As we landed, all the vessels in the river hoisted
English and French flags, and fired salutes. We walked up to the hill
along the top of the wall, which is a good wide road, and which was
all lined with troops and sailors, who presented arms and cheered as
we passed. We reached the summit at about three. The British quarter,
which is a sort of temple, stands on the highest point, the hill
falling pretty precipitously from it on all sides. The view is one of
the most extensive I ever saw. Towards the east and north barren hills
of considerable height, and much of the character of those we see from
Hong-kong. On the west, level lands cultivated in rice and otherwise.
Towards the south, the town lying still as a city of the dead. The
silence was quite painful, especially when we returned about
nightfall: but it is partly owing to the narrowness of the streets,
which prevents one from seeing the circulation of population which may
be going on within. We remained at the top of the hill till about
half-past five, during which time we blew up the Blue Jacket Fort and
Gough Fort, and got back to our ships about 8 P.M., having spent a
very memorable first of January, and made a very interesting
expedition; although I could not help feeling melancholy when I
thought that we were so ruthlessly destroying the prestige of a place
which had been, for so many centuries, intact and undefiled by the
stranger, and exercising our valour against so contemptible a foe.
_January 4th._--I have not given you as full a description as I ought
to have done of the views and ceremony of Friday, because I saw 'Our
own Correspondent' there, and I think I can count on that being well
done in the _Times_.... This day is a pour of rain, rather unusual for
the season.... Some of the Chinese authorities are beginning to show a
desire to treat, and some of the inhabitants are presenting petitions
to us to protect them against robbers, native and foreign.
[Sidenote: Capture of Yeh.]
_January 6th_.--Yesterday was a great day. The chiefs made a move
which was very judicious, I think, and which answered remarkably well.
They sent bodies of men at an early hour into the city from different
points, and succeeded in capturing Yeh, the Lieutenant-Governor of the
city, and the Tartar General, &c. This was done without a shot being
fired, and I believe the troops behaved very well, abstaining from
_loot_, &c. Altogether the thing was a complete success, and I give
them great credit for it. Yeh has been carried on board the
'Inflexible' steamer as a prisoner of war. He is an enormous man. I
can hardly speak to his appearance, as I only saw him for a moment as
he passed me in a chair on his way to his vessel. Morrison, who has
taken a sketch of him, speaks favourably of him; but it is the fashion
to abuse even his looks. The Lieutenant-General has been allowed to
depart, but the Lieutenant-Governor and Tartar General are still in
custody at head-quarters. At my suggestion a proposal was made to the
Lieutenant-Governor to-day to continue to govern the city under us;
but the stolidity of the Chinese is so great that there is no saying
what he may do. We have given him till to-morrow to determine whether
he will accept. My whole efforts have been directed to preserve the
Cantonese from the evils of a military occupation; but their stupid
apathetic arrogance makes it almost impossible to effect this object.
Yeh's tone when he was taken was to be rather bumptious. The Admiral
asked him about an old man of the name of Cooper, who was kidnapped.
At first he pretended that he knew nothing about him. When pressed he
said, 'Oh! he was a prisoner of war. I took him when I drove you away
from the city last winter. I took a great deal of trouble with him and
the other European prisoners, but I could not keep them alive. They
all died, and if you like I'll show you where I had them buried.'
Morrison says that when he saw him on board the 'Inflexible,' he was
very civil and _piano_. He takes it easy, eats and drinks well, &c. He
said to his captain, that if it was not an indiscreet question, he
would be glad to know whether it was likely that we should kill him.
The captain had no difficulty in re-assuring him on that point.
_January 8th_.--We had rather an important day's work yesterday. The
Lieutenant-Governor showed some symptoms of a willingness to govern on
our conditions. This gives some chance of our getting out of the
difficulties of our situation. You may imagine what it is to undertake
to govern some millions of people (the province contains upwards of
20,000,000), when we have _in all_ two or three people who understand
the language! I never had so difficult a matter to arrange.... Each
man has his own way of seeing things, and the real difficulties of the
question being enormous, and the mysteries of the Chinese character
almost unfathomable,... the problem is well nigh insoluble. However
yesterday we seemed to make some progress towards an understanding. We
walked up to the front along the wall as usual, and very hot it was;
but we returned through the town itself with the General and Admiral
and a large escort. I rode on a pony. It was a strange and sad sight.
The wretched-looking single-storied houses on either side of the
narrow streets almost all shut up, only a few people making their
appearance, and these for the most part wan and haggard, and here and
there places which the fire from our ships had destroyed, all
presented a very melancholy spectacle; and one could hardly help
asking one's self, with some disgust, whether it was worth while to
make all the row which we have been making, for the sake of getting
into this miserable place. However, I presume that the better part of
the population have either fled or hid themselves. I daresay if they
had returned, and the shops had been opened, the aspect of the town
would have been different.
[Sidenote: Establishment of a joint tribunal.]
_January 9th._--Yesterday I went up again to the front without Gros,
and pressed matters forward towards a solution. The result was, that
my plan of getting the Governor of the province to consent to return
to his Yamun and resume his functions, a board of our officers,
supported by a large body of troops, being appointed to inhabit his
Yamun with him, and to aid him in the maintenance of order,
prevailed.... To-day we went, Gros and I, in great procession to the
Governor's Yamun, to reinstate him in his office on the above
conditions. We were carried in chairs through the town, attended by a
large escort. The city seemed fuller of people than on the occasion of
my former visit, and they looked more cheerful.
_January 10th._--By a ludicrous mistake, no orders had been given to
release the Governor and Tartar General, so that, after waiting for
them for an hour, we heard that the sentry would not let them leave
the room in which they were confined. The consequence was that it was
getting late, and as I wished to get my escort out of the streets
before it was dark, we were obliged to hurry through the ceremony a
little. We began with a kind of squabble about seats; but after that
was over, I addressed the Governor in a pretty arrogant tone. I did so
out of kindness, as I now know what fools they are, and what
calamities they bring upon themselves, or rather on the wretched
people, by their pride and trickery. Gros followed, in a few words
endorsing what I had said. The Governor answered very satisfactorily.
I then rose, saying that we must depart, and that we wished him and
the Tartar General all sorts of felicity. They were good-natured-
looking men, the General being of great size. They conducted us to the
front door, where we ought to have found our chairs; but they had
disappeared, to the infinite wrath of Mr. Parkes.... I say the front
door; but in fact the house consisted of a series of one-storied
pavilions, placed one behind the other, and connected by a covered way
with trellis-work panels running through a sort of garden. We got at
last into the chairs, and hastened off to the city wall, which we
reached just as it was getting dark, having thus terminated about the
strangest day which has yet occurred in Chinese history,--the Governor
of this arrogant city of Canton accepting office at the hand of two
barbarian chiefs!
_Wednesday, January 13th._--You get the least agreeable picture of the
concerns in which I am engaged; because, as I write this record from
day to day, all my anxieties and their causes are narrated. On the
whole I think the last fortnight has been a very successful one. I
walked through the city to-day with the Admiral and an escort, and saw
evident signs of improvement in the streets. The people seemed to be
resuming their avocations, and the shops to be re-opening. My
'Tribunal' is working well. In short, I hope that the evils incident
to the capture of a city, and especially of a Chinese city, have been
in this instance very much mitigated. The season is very changing.
Three nights ago the thermometer did not fall below 72 deg., and last
night it fell to 40 deg.. There is a cold wind; and it was necessary to
walk briskly to-day to keep one's-self warm.
[Sidenote: Exodus.]
_January 16th._--Though I was able to send off the last despatches
with something of a satisfactory report, we are by no means, I fear,
yet out of the wood. I took a long walk in the city of Canton
yesterday. I visited the West Gate, where I found a stream of people
moving outwards, and was told by the officer that this goes on from
morning to night. They say, when asked, that they are going out of
town to celebrate the New Year, but my belief is that they are flying
from us. The streets were full, and the people civil. Quantities of
eating stalls, but a large proportion of the shops still shut. As we
got near the wall in our own occupation, some people ran up to us
complaining that they had been robbed. We went into the houses and saw
clearly enough the signs of devastation. I have no doubt, from the
description, that the culprits were French sailors. If this goes on
one fortnight after we have captured the town, when is it to stop?...
It is very difficult to remedy.... Nothing could, I believe, be worse
than our own sailors, but they are now nearly all on board ship, and
we have the resource of the _Cat_.... All this is very sad, but I am
not yet quite at the end of my tether. If things do not mend within a
few days I shall startle my colleagues by proposing to abandon the
town altogether, giving reasons for it which will enable me to state
on paper all these points. No human power shall induce me to accept
the office of oppressor of the feeble.
[Sidenote: A sober population.]
[Sidenote: Maintenance of order.]
_January 20th._--I hinted at my ideas as to the evacuation of the
city, and it has had an excellent effect.... There is a notable
progress towards quiet in the city. Still, I fear the tide of
emigration is going on. Parkes is exerting himself with considerable
effect, and he is really very clever. There were a great many more
shops open in the streets yesterday than I had seen before.... What a
thing it is to have to deal with a sober population! I have wandered
about the streets of Canton for some seven or eight days since the
capture, and I have not seen one drunken man. In any Christian town we
should have had numbers of rows by this time arising out of
drunkenness, however cowed the population might have been. The
Tribunal convicted a Chinaman the other day for selling 'samshoo' to
the soldiers. I requested Parkes to hand him over to the Governor
Pehkwei for punishment. This was done, and the arrangement answered
admirably. The Governor was pleased, he presented himself before the
Chinese as the executor of our judgments, and at the same time we, to
a certain extent, seemed to be conceding to the Chinese the principle
of exterritoriality which we assert as against them.... I have no
'responsible ministers' here, though the presence of a colleague, and,
since military operations began, the position of the naval and
military Commanders-in-Chief, have required me to act with some
caution, in order to make the wheels of the machine work smoothly and
keep on the rails. For this reason it was that I suggested a few days
ago the plan of evacuation. The maintenance of order in a city under
martial law was, I felt, an affair rather for the Commander-in-Chief
than for me, therefore I was in a false position when I meddled with
it directly. But the question of remaining in the city or not was a
political one. By letting it be known that I had there my lines of
Torres Vedras, upon which I should fall back if necessary, I obtained
the influence I required for insuring, as far as possible, the
adoption of satisfactory arrangements within the city. I must add that
this evacuation plan was not intended by me to be a mere threat. I
have it clearly matured in my mind as a thing feasible, and which
would be under certain circumstances an advisable plan to adopt. In
taking Canton we had, as I understand it, two objects in view: the one
to prove that we could take it; the other to have in our hands
something to give up when we come to terms with the Emperor,--'a
material guarantee.' I believe that the capture of the city, followed
by the capture of Yeh, has settled the former point. Indeed, from all
that I hear, I infer that the capture of Yeh has had more effect on
the Chinese mind than the capture of the city. I believe, therefore,
that we might abandon the city without losing much if anything on this
head. No doubt we should lose on the second head; we should not have
Canton to give up when a treaty was concluded, if we had given it up
already. Even then however we might, by retaining the island of Honan,
the forts, &c., do a good deal towards providing a substitute; so that
you see my threat was made _bona fide_. I certainly should have
preferred the loss to which I have referred, to the continuance of a
state of things in which the Allied troops were plundering the
inhabitants.
_January 24th._--Baron Gros and I were conversing together yesterday
on affairs in this quarter, and among other things he told me that we
were both much reproached for our laxity, and that I was more blamed
on that account than he. I said to him: 'I can praise you on many
accounts, my dear Baron, but I cannot compliment you on being a
greater brute than I am.'
Whatever was the feeling of the British residents, and whatever excuses may
be made for it, the consistent humanity shown both in the taking and in the
occupation of the city did not fail to strike Mr. Reed, the Plenipotentiary
of the United States, who wrote to Lord Elgin: 'I cannot omit this
opportunity of most sincerely congratulating you on the success at Canton,
the great success of a bloodless victory, the merit of which, I am sure, is
mainly due to your Lordship's gentle and discreet counsels. My countrymen
will, I am sure, appreciate it.' 'This,' observes Lord Elgin, from the
representative of the United States, is gratifying both personally and
politically.'
_January 28th._--I am glad to say that this mail conveys, on the
whole, a satisfactory report of the progress of affairs, though this
letter puts you in possession of all the ebbs and flows which have
taken place during the fortnight. I send a leaf of geranium, which I
culled in the garden of the Tartar general.
[Sidenote: Canton prisons.]
_January 31st._--I visited yesterday two of the Canton prisons, and
witnessed there some sights of horror beyond what I could have
pictured to myself. Many of the inmates were so reduced by disease and
starvation, that their limbs were not as thick as my wrist. One man
who was in this condition was in the receptacle for untried prisoners,
and said he had been there seven years. In one of the courts which we
entered, there was a cell closed in by a double row of upright posts,
which is the common style of gate at Canton, and I was attracted to it
by the groans of its inmates. I desired it to be opened, and such a
spectacle as it presented! The prisoners were covered with sores,
produced by severe beatings; one was already dead, and the rats,--but
I cannot go further in description. The others could hardly crawl,
they were so emaciated, and my conviction is that they were shut in
there to die. The prison authorities stated that they had escaped at
the time of the bombardment for which they had been punished as we
saw. If the statement was true, they must have been systematically
starved since their recapture. Our pretext for visiting the prisons
was to discover whether any Europeans, or persons who had been in the
service of, or had had relations with Europeans, were confined in
them. We took out some who professed to belong to the latter classes.
I went a step further, by taking out a poor boy of fifteen, whom we
found in chains, but so weak that when we took them off he was unable
to stand. I told Mr. Parkes to take him to Pehkwei from me, as a
sample of the manner in which his prisons are managed.
_February 2nd._--Pehkwei was very indignant at our visit to his
prisons, and hinted that he would make away with himself, in a letter
which he wrote to me on the subject. However, he was obliged to admit
that some of the things we found were very bad, and quite against the
Chinese law. On reviewing the whole I must admit, that, except in the
case of the one cell that I have described, it was rather neglect,
want of food, medical care, cleanliness, &c., than positive cruelty,
of which one found evidence in the prisons.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Move northwards.]
Canton the impregnable had been taken, and was in the military occupation
of the allied forces; Yeh, the Terror of Barbarians, was a captive beyond
the seas; so completely was all resistance crushed, that it was found
possible to raise the blockade of the Canton River, and to let trade return
to its usual channels. Still nothing was achieved so long as the Emperor
remained aloof, and could represent the affair as a local disturbance not
affecting the imperial power. To any permanent settlement it was essential
that he should be a party; the next step, therefore, was to move northwards
to Shanghae, and there open direct negotiations with the Court of Pekin;
and, for the success of these negotiations, it was obviously of great
importance that the envoys of England and France should have the co-
operation of the representatives of Russia and the United States.
_February 4th._--Still no letters. To-morrow, Frederick is to go to
Macao, to take to Messrs. Reed and Putiatine copies of all my
diplomatic correspondence with Yeh, &c., and an invitation to each
that he will join us in an attempt to settle matters by negotiation at
Shanghae. It is the commencement of the third act in this Chinese
affair.
_February 6th._--I have a letter from Mr. Reed, saying that he is
going to the North this day, so that perhaps Frederick will not find
him. This would be a great disappointment.
_Sunday, February 7th._--A month without news is very long to wait.
Perhaps time passes a little more quickly than when one was dawdling
and doing nothing at Hong-Kong; but still this life is tiresome
enough. I do not suppose that there ever was a town of the same
extent, or a population of the same number, more utterly uninteresting
than the town and population of Canton--low houses, narrow streets,
temples containing some hideous idols, which are not apparently in the
least venerated by their own worshippers. The only other resource is
the curiosity shops, and, as you know, I have not the genius for
making collections.
_February 9th._--Things have taken a better turn. F. by steaming at
night from Macao to Hong-Kong caught Reed about an hour before that
fixed for his departure for the North. He was delighted with my
communication, and has written undertaking to co-operate cordially
with us. This is, I think, a very great diplomatic triumph, because it
not only smooths the way for future proceedings, but it greatly
relieves our anxiety about Canton, as the Americans are the only
people who would be likely to give us trouble during the military
occupation.
_February 10th._--We have got Putiatine's letter for Pekin. It is very
good; perhaps better than any of the lot.... However, the _entente_ is
now established. My mind, too, is a good deal relieved to-day by
seeing the wretched junks, which have been shut up so long by the
blockade, with their sails set, gliding down the river. I sent Mr.
Wade to visit Yeh yesterday, to see how he took the notion of being
sent out of the country to Calcutta or elsewhere. He adhered to his
policy of indifference, real or affected, I cannot tell which. I
suppose it is a point of pride with him never to complain.
[Sidenote: Adieu to Canton.]
_H.M.S. 'Furious.'--February 20th._--I am now off from Canton, never I
hope to see it again. Two months I have been there--engaged in this
painful service--checking, as I have best been able to do, the
disposition to maltreat this unfortunate people.... On the whole I
think I have been successful. There never was a Chinese town which
suffered so little by the occupation of a hostile force; and
considering the difficulties which our alliance with the French
(though I have had all support from Gros, in so far as he can give it)
has occasioned, it is a very signal success. The good people at Hong-
Kong, &c., do not know whether to be incredulous or disgusted at this
policy.... I am told a parcel of ridiculous stories about arming of
Braves, &c. I heard that in the western suburb the people 'looked ill-
natured,' so I have been the greater part of my two last days in that
suburb, looking in vain into faces to discover these menacing
indications. Yesterday I walked through very out-of-the-way streets
and crowded thoroughfares with Wade and two sailors, through thousands
and thousands, without a symptom of disrespect.... I know that our
people for a long time used to insist on every Chinaman they met
taking his hat off. Of course it rather astonished a respectable
Chinese shopkeeper to be poked in the ribs by a sturdy sailor or
soldier, and told, in bad Chinese or in pantomime, to take off his
hat, which is a thing they never do, and which is not with them even a
mark of respect. I only mention this as an instance of the follies
which people commit when they know nothing of the manners of those
with whom they have to deal.... We are steaming down to Hong-Kong on a
beautiful fresh morning. I feel as if I was a step on my way home.
At Hong-Kong he remained nearly a fortnight, that his ship might be fitted
to go to the North: his letter for Pekin being sent on, in the meantime, to
Shanghae, by the hands of his secretary, Mr. Oliphant.[1]
_February 26th._--To-morrow this letter goes, and still no mail from
England. I think of starting in a few days, and calling at the other
ports--Foochow, Amoy, and Ningpo. I have a line from Oliphant, who
took up my letter to Shanghae, and made a quick though rough passage.
We shall be a good deal longer on the way, and my captain advises me
to be off, to anticipate the equinox. I have just written a despatch
to Lord Clarendon, to tell him that perhaps I may go direct from
Shanghae to Japan, and so home. It is almost too good a prospect to be
realised.
[Sidenote: Home news.]
_February 27th_.--I had Reed to dine with me yesterday. He is off this
morning to Manila, _en route_ for Shanghae. The Russian returns on
Monday, and we are going to Shanghae by the same route most
fraternally.... Your accounts of the boys make me feel as if I had
been an age away from home. God grant that I may get through this
business soon, and return to find you all flourishing!
_March 1st_.--I received your letters yesterday.... How I wish that I
had joined that merry dance on Christmas Day at Dunmore, and seen B.
and R. performing their reel steps, and F.[2] snapping his fingers!
You knew now how differently my New Year was passed--traversing that
vast city of the dead--meditating over that 28th December which Herod
had already hallowed.... These letters are my conscience and memory,
the only record I keep of passing emotions and events.... Depend upon
it the true doctrine is one I have before propounded to you: Do
nothing with which your own conscience can reproach you; _nothing_ in
its largest sense; _nothing_, including _omission_ as well as
_commission_; not nothing only in the meaning of having done no ill,
but nothing also in the meaning of having omitted no opportunity of
doing good. You are then _well with yourself_. If it is worth while to
be well _with others_--SUCCEED.
[Sidenote: Swatow.]
_H.M.S. 'Furious,' Swatow.--March 5th_.--I am again on the wide
ocean, though for the moment at anchor.... The settlement here is
against treaty. It consists mainly of agents of the two great opium-
houses, Dent and Jardine, with their hangers-on. This, with a
considerable business in the coolie trade--which consists in
kidnapping wretched coolies, putting them on board ships where all the
horrors of the slave-trade are reproduced, and sending them on
specious promises to such places as Cuba--is the chief business of the
'foreign' merchants at Swatow. Swatow itself is a small town some
miles up the river. I can only distinguish it by the great fleet of
junks lying off it. The place where the foreigners live is a little
island, barren, but nicely situated at the mouth of the river. A
number of Chinese are resorting to it, and putting up rather good
houses for Chinese. The population has a better appearance than the
Cantonese. The men powerful and frank-looking, and some of the women
not quite hideous. Our people get on very well with the natives here.
They have no consuls or special protection; so they act, I presume,
with moderation, and matters go on quite smoothly. I went into the
house of one of the 'Shroffs' (bankers or money-dealers) connected
with Jardine's house, and I found the gentleman indulging in his
opium-pipe. He gave us some delicious tea.... The Shroffs here are
three brothers. They came from Canton, their father remained behind.
The mandarins wanting money to carry on the war with us, called upon
him to pay 12,000 taels about 4,000_l_. They used him as the screw to
get this sum from his sons who were in foreign employ. Though the old
man had resolved to leave his home and his patch of ground rather than
pay, his sons provided the money and sent him back. Such cases are
constantly occurring here, and they show bow strong the family
affections are in China.
[Sidenote: Rough justice.]
Another case was mentioned to me yesterday, which illustrates the very
roundabout way in which justice is arrived at among us all here. The
coolies in a French coolie ship rose. The master and mate jumped
overboard, and the coolies ran the ship on shore, where the crew had
their clothes, &c., taken from them, but were otherwise well treated.
On this a French man-of-war comes, proceeds to Swatow, which is fifty
miles from the scene of the occurrence, and informs the people that
they will bombard the place immediately unless 6,000 dollars are paid.
They got the money, but the mandarins at once squeezed it out of these
same Shroffs, saying, that as they brought the barbarians to the spot,
they must pay for the damages they inflicted. Meanwhile, the
'foreigners' have it, I apprehend, much their own way. They are
masters of the situation, pay no duties except tonnage dues, which are
paid by them at about one-third of the amount paid by native vessels
of the same burthen!
[Sidenote: Mr. Burns.]
Hearing that Mr. Burns, a missionary, whose case is narrated in the
series of 'insults by the Chinese authorities' submitted to Parliament
(he having been in fact very kindly treated, as he himself
acknowledges), was at the island, I invited him to breakfast. I found
him a very interesting person, really an enthusiastic missionary, and
kindly in his feelings towards the Chinese. He wears the Chinese
attire, not as a disguise, but to prevent crowds being attracted by
his appearance. He does not boast of much success in converting, but
the Chinese are very willing to listen to him and to take books. They
approve of all books that inculcate virtue, morality, &c., but they
have no taste for the distinctive doctrines of Christianity. As Yeh
said, when a Bible was presented to him from the Bishop:--'I know that
book quite well, a very good book. It teaches men to be virtuous, like
the Buddhistic books;' and then turning very politely to his captain,
'Will you be good enough to take care of this book till I want it.'
The country in this neighbourhood is very lawless. Burns, a few days
before he was arrested, slept with his two companions, two native
Christians, in a large village. During the night the house he was in
was broken into, and all they had stolen. Nothing remained but a few
of their books, which they carried tied to sticks over their
shoulders. A peasant came up to him and said, 'I see you are not
accustomed to carry loads,' and took his burden and carried it for him
six miles, asking for nothing in return. Other natives bought the
books (they had previously given them gratuitously), and thus they got
money enough to go on with. When they got into this principal town,
and were arrested by the police, the authorities seemed rather to
regret it. They underwent some interrogatories which Burns seems to
have turned into a sort of sermon, for he went at length into
Christian teaching, and the judges listened most complacently. They
confined them in prison, but did everything they could to make Burns
himself comfortable. His companions were not so well treated. He
joined them at one time at his own request, under circumstances
curiously illustrative of Chinese manners. A subordinate of the gaoler
with whom he was lodged died from swallowing opium. The gaoler was at
once held responsible, and his house was mobbed. On which Mr. Burns,
not knowing the cause of the disturbance, asked to rejoin his
companions. He found them shut up in a very loathsome cell, with
several other prisoners; a place something like my Canton prisons; but
he said they did very well while there, for they were able to preach
to the other prisoners. At one of the interrogatories, one of his
companions, the more zealous of the two, on being asked why he had
brought a foreigner to the place, answered that it was because he was
a Christian, and that their books said, 'It is better to die with the
wise than to live with fools.' This sentiment was not considered
complimentary by the mandarins, who immediately ordered him to be
beaten, upon which he got ten blows on each side of his face with an
instrument like the sole of a shoe. Mr. B. told this story, but added
that he believed the beating had been determined on before, for his
other companion, who was the more worldly of the two, and who had
probably found his way to the heart of the gaoler, was told that he
too would be beaten that day, but that the blows would be laid on by a
friendly hand, and that if he kept his cheek loose, he would not feel
them much.
[Sidenote: Amoy.]
_March 8th._--We are entering Foochow; a most beautiful day; the sea
smooth as glass. We left Amoy last night. I went to church in the
forenoon at the Consulate. An American missionary preached. There are
several missionaries at Amoy. They have, as they say, about 300
converts. The foreigners and natives get on very well there. The town
is a poor enough place, and the island seems rocky and barren. How it
can sustain the great population which inhabits the villages that
cover it is a mystery.
_March 14th._--A vessel from Shanghae brought me this morning a letter
from Oliphant, which shows that he has got well through the business
which I entrusted to him.[3] He went with my letter for the Prime
Minister of the Emperor to a city named Soochow, which is not open to
foreigners, and which is moreover the seat of beauty and fashion in
the empire, and he seems to have been well received. This is a good
sign. An edict has moreover been issued by the Emperor degrading Yeh,
and moderate in its tone as regards foreigners. All this looks as if
there would be at Pekin a disposition to settle matters. God grant
that it may be so, that I may get home, and not be required to do
farther violence to these poor people.
[Sidenote: Foochow.]
The scenery of Foochow and its neighbourhood struck him as singularly
beautiful. Even in an official despatch we find him writing of it as
follows:--
With the exception perhaps of Chusan, I have as yet seen no place in
China which, in point of beauty of scenery, rivals Foochow. The Min
river passes to the sea between two mountain ranges, which, wherever
the torrents have not washed away every particle of earth from the
surface, are cultivated by the industrious Chinese in terraces to
their very summits. These mountain ranges close in upon its banks
during the last part of its course: at one time confining it to a
comparatively narrow channel, and at another suffering it to expand
into a lake; but in the vicinity of the Pagoda Island they separate,
leaving between them the plain on which Foochow stands. This plain is
diversified by hill and dale, and comprises the Island of Nantai,
which is the site of the foreign settlement. At the season of my
visit, both hills and plain were chiefly covered with wheat; but I was
informed that the soil is induced, by irrigation and manure applied
liberally, to yield in many cases, besides the wheat crop, two rice
crops during the year. We walked with perfect freedom, both about the
town and into the surrounding country. Nothing could be more courteous
than the people of the villages, or more quaint than the landscape,
consisting mainly of hillocks dotted with horseshoe graves, and
monuments to the honour of virtuous maidens and faithful widows,
surrounded by patches of wheat and vegetables. Kensal Green or Pere la
Chaise, cultivated as kitchen gardens, would not inaptly represent the
general character of the rural districts of China which I have
visited.
In some respects, however, the impression was not so satisfactory. In his
journal he says:--
The people whom we met in our peregrinations were perfectly civil. The
Consul, too, and Europeans were civil likewise. They were willing to
give me information. I do not know that I carried much away with me,
except the general impression, that our trade is carried on on
principles which are dishonest as regards the Chinese, and
demoralising to our own people.
[Sidenote: American missionaries.]
At Foochow, I saw one of the American missionaries, a very worthy man
I should think, but not of the stamp of Mr. Burns. He had been about
eight years at Foochow, and he computed the converts made by himself
and his brother missionaries at fifteen. He said that they were
particular as to the conduct of their converts; but I cannot affirm
that he satisfied me that they accepted in any very earnest way the
peculiar doctrines of Christianity. However, I daresay that these
missionaries do good, for the Chinese are not fanatics, and it must do
them a benefit to see among them some foreigners who are not engaged
exclusively in money-making.
[Sidenote: Chinhae.]
_March 16th._--We are at anchor off Chinhae at the mouth of the river
which leads to Ningpo. We have just returned from a walk on shore. We
passed through a small walled town, and climbed up a hill to a temple
on the summit, from which we had a magnificent prospect. On the east
and north, the sea studded with the islands of the Chusan group; on
the west, a rich plain, through which the river meanders on its way
from Ningpo; on the north, a succession of mountain ranges. We were
accompanied by some curious but good-natured Chinamen, who seemed
anxious to give us information. A very dirty lad, without a tail,
proved to be the priest. After looking about us for some time, we
entered the building; which contained a sort of central shrine, in
which were some gilt figures of large size, besides rows of smaller
gilt figures round the walls. I observed a number of slips of paper
with Chinese characters upon them; and being told that they were used
for divination purposes, I asked how it was done: upon which one of
the Chinamen took from before the shrine a thing like a match-holder,
full of bits of stick like matches, and kneeling down on a hassock,
began to shake this case till one of the bits of stick fell out. He
picked it up, and finding a single notch upon it, selected from the
slips of paper which I had noticed the one which had a corresponding
mark. We carried it away, and I intend to get Mr. Wade to translate it
that I may send it to you. The other Chinamen present seemed very much
amused at what was going on. They do not appear to have a particle of
reverence for their religion, and yet they spend a good deal of money
on their temples.
Wade's teacher (so the Chinaman who aids him in the work of
interpretation is styled) has told him that the lot which fell to me
at the Buddhist temple is the No. 1 lot, the most fortunate of all.
Their system of divination is rather complicated, but, as I understand
it, it appears to be that Noah, or some one who lived about his time,
discovered eight symbols on the back of a tortoise. These, multiplied
into themselves, make sixty-four, which constituted the Book of Fate.
It appears that my lot is the first of the eight, and therefore the
best that can be got!
[Sidenote: Ningpo.]
_Ningpo.--March 18th._--We arrived here yesterday, and I have been
walking both days about the town with Mr. Meadows, the author, who is
vice-consul here. I am disappointed with the city, of which I had
heard a great deal. But the people are even more amiable than at any
other place I have visited. Oliphant has rejoined us in high spirits,
after his visit to Soochow. I cross-examined a Church of England
clergyman about his converts. When pressed, he could only name one who
seemed to be conscious of the want which we believe to be supplied by
the Atonement. About 100, however, including children, attend churches
in Ningpo, of whom thirty have been baptized.
Ningpo was one of the places which had been treated with more than ordinary
severity in the last war. It was also one of the places in which the
natives showed the most friendly disposition towards foreigners. To the
resident traders the inference was obvious: the severity was the cause of
the friendly disposition, and it had only to be applied elsewhere to
produce the like results. With evident satisfaction Lord Elgin sets
himself, in an official despatch, to refute this reasoning. After observing
that the natives showed rather an exaggeration than a defect of the desire
to live peaceably with foreigners, he proceeds:--
The state of Ningpo in this respect furnishes their favourite and,
perhaps, most plausible argument, to that class of persons who
advocate what is styled a vigorous policy in China; in other words, a
policy which consists in resorting to the most violent measures of
coercion and repression on the slenderest provocations. They say,
'Remember what happened at Ningpo during the last war, and observe the
consideration and respect which is evinced towards you there. Treat
other towns in China likewise, and the result will be the same.' I
question the soundness of this inference. Ningpo is situated on the
south-eastern verge of the mighty valley of the Yang-tze-kiang, which
is inhabited by a population the most inoffensive, perhaps, both by
disposition and habit, of any on the surface of the earth. Their
amenity towards the foreigner is due, I apprehend, to temperament, as
much, at least, as to the recollection of the violence which they may
have sustained at his hands.
I have made it a point, whenever I have met missionaries or others who
have penetrated into the interior from Ningpo and Shanghae, to ask
them what treatment they experienced on those expeditions, and the
answer has almost invariably been that, at points remote from those to
which foreigners have access, there was no diminution, but on the
contrary rather an enhancement, of the courtesy exhibited towards them
by the natives.
[Sidenote: Missionary schools.]
_H.M.S. 'Furious.'--March 20th._--Yesterday, I called on a clergyman
to see Miss Aldersey,--a remarkable lady, who came out here
immediately after the last war, and has been devoting herself and her
fortune to the education and Christianisation of the Chinese at
Ningpo. She seems a nice person, but I could not get as much
conversation with her as I wished, because the Bishop, &c., were
present all the time. She has to pay the girls a trifle, as an
equivalent for what their labour is worth, for coming to her school,
or to board them and keep them, as it is not at all in the ideas of
the Chinese that women should be educated. She does not seem to have
got the _entree_ into Chinese houses of the richer class. Mrs. Russell
(wife of the English clergyman), who speaks the language, has obtained
it a little. I cannot make out that, when she visits them, they ever
talk of anything except where she got her dress, &c.; but on great
occasions, when they assemble for ceremonies in the temples, they seem
very devout. In private they treat these matters with great
indifference. I had some of the missionaries to dinner. They put the
converts at a larger number than I understood Mr. Russell to do, but
otherwise their report did not differ materially from his.
[Sidenote: Chusan.]
[Sidenote: French missionary.]
_Chusan.--March 21st._--This is a most charming island. How any
people, in their senses, could have preferred Hong-Kong to it, seems
incredible. The people too, that is to say, the lower orders, seem
really to like us. We walked through the town of Tinghae, and asked at
the shop of a seller of perfumed sticks for the 'Mosquito tobacco,'
but in vain. We then passed through the further gate of the city into
the country beyond, and seeing something like a chapel, made towards
it. A man, dressed as a Chinaman, came out to meet us. He addressed us
in French, and proved to be a Roman Catholic priest. He was very
civil, and asked us into his house, where he gave us some tea, grown
on his own farm. He has been here two years quite alone, and he was
ten years before in the province of Kiangsu. He says that he has some
200 converts. Some twenty boys, deserted children, he brings up, and
works on his farm. I saw them, and I must say I never beheld a more
happy and well-conditioned set of boys. In the town was an
establishment for younger children, chiefly girls, under the charge of
a Chinese female convert. After he had given us tea, the missionary
accompanied us in our walk. He first took us to a sort of cottage-
villa, belonging to one of the rich inhabitants, consisting of about a
couple of acres of ground, covered by kiosks and grottos and dwarf-
trees, and ups and downs and zigzags,--all in the most approved
Chinese fashion. From thence we clambered up a mountain of, I should
think, some 1,200 feet in height, from which we had a very extensive
view, and beheld ranges of hills, separated by cosy valleys, on one
side; on the other, the walled city of Tinghae, surrounded by rice-
fields; beyond, the sea studded with islands of the Chusan group. It
was a beautiful view, and we returned to the ship very much pleased
with our scramble.
[Sidenote: Scenery.]
_March 22nd._--I have just returned from a walk to the top of a hill,
on the opposite side of the flat on which the town is situated from
that which we mounted yesterday. The day is charming, clear, with a
fanning, bracing air. We had a finer view almost than yesterday. The
same character of scenery all round the island. Spacious flats on the
sea-board under irrigation; about one-half of the fields covered (now)
with water, and the other half in crop, chiefly beans, wheat, and
rape, which, with its yellow flower, gives warmth to the colouring of
the landscape; these flats, fringed by hills of a goodly height--say
from 600 to 1,200 feet,--which cluster together as they recede from
the sea-board, compressing the flats into narrow valleys, and finally
extinguishing them altogether. The hills themselves barren, with
patches here and there of Chinese cultivation and fir plantations, the
first I have seen in China. Turn your eyes to the sea, and you have
before you innumerable islands dotting its surface, the same in
character, though smaller in size, than that on which you are
standing. I have seldom seen a more delightful spot. In going on our
walk, we passed by the burying-ground of the British who died while we
occupied the island, and we did something to put order among their
neglected graves. On our return, we passed by a cottage where an old
lady was seated at her spinning-wheel. I entered. She received us most
courteously, placed chairs for us, and immediately set to work to
prepare tea. When she found that one of the party was a doctor, a son
(grown up) was produced who was suffering from ague. We brought him on
board, and gave him some quinine. He showed us the medicine he was
taking. It appeared to be a sort of mash of bits of bamboo and all
sorts of vegetable ingredients. The doctor who tried it said it had no
taste. I should mention that at the landing-place we met some of the
French, missionary's boys, who brought me a present of eggs and fowls
and salad from the farm, in return for a dollar which I gave them
yesterday to buy cakes withal.
[Sidenote: Potou.]
[Sidenote: Bonzes.]
_March 23rd._--We set off this morning to visit Potou.[4] After
lauding on the beach, we proceeded along a spacious paved path to a
monastery, in a very picturesque spot under the grey granite hills. We
entered the buildings, which were like all other Buddhistic temples
--the same images, &c.--and were soon surrounded by crowds of the most
filthy and miserable-looking bonzes, some clad in grey and some in
yellow. All were very civil, however, and on the invitation of the
superior--who had a much more intelligent look than the rest--we went
into an apartment at the side of the temple and had some tea. After a
short rest we proceeded on our way, and mounted a hill about 1,500
feet in height, passing by some more temples on the way. I never saw
human beings apparently in a lower condition than these bonzes, though
some of the temples were under repair, and on the whole tolerably
cared for. The view from the top of the hill was magnificent, and
there was glorious music here and there, from the sea rolling in upon
the sandy beach. We met some women (not young ones) going up the hill
in chairs to worship at the temples, and found, in some, individuals
at their devotions. In one there was a monk, hidden behind a great
drum, repeating in a plaintive tone, over and over again, the name of
Buddha, 'ameta fo,' or something like that sound. I observed some with
lumps on the forehead, evidently produced by knocking it against the
ground. The utter want of respect of these people for their temples,
coupled with this asceticism and apparent self-sacrifice in their
religion, is a combination which I cannot at present understand. It
has one bad effect, that in the plundering expeditions which we
Christians dignify with the name of war in these countries, idols are
ripped up in the hope of finding treasure in them, temple ornaments
seized, and in short no sort of consideration is shown for the
religious feelings of the natives.
The following notice of the same sacred island occurs in one of his
despatches:--
I trust that I may be permitted to offer one remark in reference to
Potou, an islet adjoining Chusan, which I touched at on my way from
the latter place to Chapoo. Little information, of course, was to be
gathered there on questions directly affecting trade or politics, for
it is a holy spot, exclusively appropriated to temples in tinsel and
bonzes in rags; but it was impossible to wander over it as I did,
visiting with entire impunity its most sacred recesses, without being
forcibly reminded of the fact that one, at least, of the obstacles to
intercourse between nations, which operates most powerfully in many
parts, especially of the East, can hardly be said to exist in China.
The Buddhistic faith does not seem to excite in the popular mind any
bigoted antipathy to the professors of other creeds. The owner of the
humblest dwelling almost invariably offers to the foreigner who enters
it the hospitable tea-cup, without any apparent apprehension that his
guest, by using, will defile it; and priests and worshippers attach no
idea of profanation to the presence of the stranger in the joss-house.
This is a fact, as I humbly conceive, not without its significance,
when we come to consider what prospect there may be of our being able
to extend and multiply relations of commerce and amity with this
industrious portion of the human race.
The private journal proceeds:--
_March 24th._--We are gliding through a perfectly smooth sea, with
islands on both sides of us, on a beautifully calm and clear day,
warmer than of late, but still tart enough to feel healthy. We passed
a fleet of some hundreds of junks, proceeding northward under convoy
of some lorchas of the 'Arrow' class, carrying flags which they
probably have no right to. These lorchas exact a sort of black mail
from the junks, and plunder them whenever it is more profitable to do
so than to protect them. They often have Europeans on board. Poor Yeh
has suffered severely for our sins in respect to this description of
craft. We are on our way to Chapoo now, a port not opened to trade,
but one which I am ordered by the Government to induce the Chinese to
open. As it is very little out of the way to Shanghae, I wish to look
at it in passing.
[Sidenote: Chapoo.]
_March 25th._--We reached Chapoo at about 5 P.M. I did not land, but
some of the party did, and mounted a hill from whence they looked down
upon a walled town of no great size, and a plain, perfectly flat,
stretching for any number of miles beyond it. The people, as usual,
were civil, and made no difficulties, although we have no right to
land there. The bay in which we anchored is open, and not in any
particular way interesting. At about three this morning we started,
and have been favoured with as good a day as yesterday. We have had
nothing of the bold coasts of previous days, and passed occasionally
islands flatter than those seen before. We are now in the mouth of the
Yang-tze-kiang, with a perfectly flat and low shore on one side, and
an equally flat one just discoverable with the aid of the telescope on
the other. A good many junks are sailing about us, their dark sails
filled with a lively breeze. Before us is a large man-of-war, which I
am just told is the American 'Minnesota.' So our cruise is coming to
an end, which I regret, as it has been a very pleasant break, and at
least for the time has kept me out of reach of the bothers of my
mission. We have reason too to be most thankful for the weather with
which we have been favoured, and if Mr. Reed is before me he cannot
complain, as I am here on the very day on which I said I should reach
Shanghae. This is a very strange coast. The sea seems to be filling up
with the deposits of the rivers. We have an island (inhabited) beside
us, which did not exist a few years ago. We have not during all
yesterday and to-day had ever more than eight fathoms of water.
[Sidenote: Shanghae.]
Shanghae had been named as the rendezvous for the Allied Powers. There, as
he had written to the Emperor's Prime Minister, 'the Plenipotentiaries of
England and France would be prepared to enter into negotiations for the
settlement of all differences existing between their respective Governments
and that of China with any Plenipotentiary, duly accredited by the Emperor,
who might present himself at that port before the end of the month of
March.' There he still fondly hoped to find his Hercules' Pillar. 'If I can
only conclude a treaty at Shanghae,' so he wrote when starting from Canton,
'and hasten home afterwards!'
The place was well chosen for the purpose; not only as the most northerly
of the Treaty ports, and therefore nearest to the capital, but also as the
most flourishing stronghold of European influence and civilisation then
existing in China. 'I was struck,' wrote Lord Elgin in one of his
despatches, 'by the thoroughly European appearance of the place; the
foreign settlement, with its goodly array of foreign vessels, occupying the
foreground of the picture; the junks and native town lying up the river,
and dimly perceptible among the shadows of the background; spacious houses,
always well, and often sumptuously, furnished; Europeans, ladies and
gentlemen, strolling along the quays; English policemen habited as the
London police; and a climate very much resembling that which I had
experienced in London exactly twelve months before, created illusions which
were of course very promptly dissipated.'
[Sidenote: Message from Pekin.]
Dissipated too was the hope in which he had indulged, of a speedy
termination to his labours; for he was met by a _message_ from the Prime
Minister, that 'no Imperial Commissioner ever conducted business at
Shanghae; that a new Commissioner had been sent to Canton to replace Yeh;
and that it behoved the English Minister to wait in Canton, and there make
his arrangements.' This, of course, was not to be thought of; and nothing
remained but to move onwards towards Pekin, and apply some more direct
pressure to the Emperor and his capital.
_March 29th.--Shanghae._--Here I am in the Consul's house, a very
spacious mansion. The climate, character of the rooms, &c., all make
me feel in Europe again. I reached this harbour on the 26th, but only
landed to-day. Mr. Reed and Count Putiatine arrived before me, but
Baron Gros has not yet made his appearance. The Prime Minister of the
Emperor says that he cannot write to me himself, but sends me a
message through the Governor-General of the province to say that a
Commissioner has been sent to Canton by the Emperor to replace Yeh,
and that I must go there and settle matters with him. This will never
do, so I must move on to the mouth of the Peiho. I am only waiting for
Gros and the Admiral before I start. The Shanghae merchants presented
an address to me to-day, and as I was obliged to say something in
reply, I thought that I might as well take advantage of the
opportunity to let the Chinese (who are sure to get a translation of
my answer) know, that there is no chance of my going back to Canton. I
also endeavoured to give the British manufacturers a hint that they
must exert themselves and not trust to cannon if they intend to get a
market in China.
The views to which he here refers were expressed in his reply in the
following forcible language:--
[Sidenote: Reply to merchants' address.]
In my communication with the functionaries of the Chinese Government,
I have been guided by two simple rules of action: I have never
preferred a demand which I did not believe to be both moderate and
just, and from a demand so preferred I have never receded. These
principles dictated the policy which resulted in the capture and
occupation of Canton. The same principles will be followed by me, with
the same determination, to their results, if it should be necessary to
repeat the experiment in the vicinity of the capital of the Emperor of
China.
The expectations held out to British manufacturers at the close of the
last war between Great Britain and China, when they were told 'that a
new world was opened to their trade so 'vast that all the mills in
Lancashire could not make stocking-stuff sufficient for one of its
provinces,' have not been realised; and I am of opinion that when
force and diplomacy shall have done all that they can legitimately
effect, the work which has to be accomplished in China will be but at
its commencement.
When the barriers which prevent free access to the interior of the
country shall have been removed, the Christian civilisation of the
West will find itself face to face, not with barbarism, but with an
ancient civilisation in many respects effete and imperfect, but in
others not without claims on our sympathy and respect. In the rivalry
which will then ensue, Christian civilisation will have to win its way
among a sceptical and ingenious people, by making it manifest that a
faith which reaches to Heaven furnishes better guarantees for public
and private morality than one which does not rise above the earth.
At the same time the machina-facturing West will be in presence of a
population the most universally and laboriously manufacturing of any
on the earth. It can achieve victories in the contest in which it will
have to engage only by proving that physical knowledge and mechanical
skill, applied to the arts of production, are more than a match for
the most persevering efforts of unscientific industry.
The journal proceeds as follows, under date of the 29th of March:--
I shall be a little curious to see my next letters. The truth is, that
the whole world just now are raving mad with a passion for killing and
slaying, and it is difficult for a person in his sober senses like
myself to keep his own among them. However I shall be glad to see what
Parliament says about Canton.
[Sidenote: Baths for the million.]
[Sidenote: Malevolence towards Chinese.]
_March 30th._--Baron Gros arrived to-day. I forgot to mention that I
visited the town of Shanghae yesterday, and among other things went
into a bathing establishment, where coolies were getting steamed
rather than bathed at rather less than a penny a head, which penny
includes, moreover, a cup of tea. So that these despised Chinamen have
bathing-houses for the million. With us they are a recent invention:
they have had them, I believe, for centuries. I am told that they are
much used by the labouring class. I was struck by an instance of the
malevolence towards the Chinese, which I met with to-day. Baron Gros
told me that a boat with some unarmed French officers and seamen got
adrift at a place called the Cape of Good Hope, as he was coming up
from Hong-Kong. They found themselves off an island, on the shore of
which a crowd of armed Chinese collected. Their situation was
disagreeable enough. Next day, however, the body of the Chinese
dispersed, and a few who remained came forward in the kindest manner
offering them food, &c. They stated that they came down in arms to
defend themselves, fearing that they were pirates, but that as they
were peaceful people they were glad to serve them. I have heard the
first part of this story from two other quarters, _but the latter part
was in both cases omitted._
[Sidenote: Burial practices.]
_April 3rd._--I took another walk yesterday into the country, and saw
a kind of tower where dead children, whom the parents are too poor to
bury, are deposited. It is a kind of pigeonhouse about twenty feet
high, and the babies are dropped through the pigeon-holes. After that
I walked into a spacious building where coffins containing dead bodies
are stored, awaiting a lucky day for the burial, or for some other
reason. The coffins are so substantial and the place so well
ventilated that there was nothing at all disagreeable in it. There is
something touching in the familiarity with which the Chinese treat the
dead.
[Sidenote: Roman Catholic mission.]
_Shanghae.--Easter Sunday._--I have been at church.... In the
afternoon I walked to the Roman Catholic cathedral, which is about
three miles from the Consulate. I found a really handsome, or at any
rate spacious, building, well decorated. The priests were very civil.
They count 80,000 converts (a considerable portion, I take it,
descendants of the Christian converts made by the missionaries ages
ago) in this province. It is impossible to help contrasting their
proceedings with those of the Protestants. They come out here to pass
the whole of their lives in evangelising the heathen, never think of
home, live on the same fare and dress in the same attire as the
natives. The Protestants (generally) hardly leave the ports, where
they have excellent houses, wives, families, go home whenever self or
wife is unwell, &c. I passed an American missionary's house yesterday.
It was a great square building, situated in a garden, and at the
entrance gate there was a modest barn-like edifice, large enough to
hold about twenty sitters, which on inquiry I found to be the church.
These people have excellent situations, good salaries, so much for
every child, allowances for sickness, &c. They make hardly any
converts, but then they console themselves by saying, that the Roman
Catholics who make all these sacrifices do it from a bad motive, teach
idolatry, &c. I cannot say, but I must admit that the priests whom I
met to-day talked like very sensible men, and that the appearance of
the young Chinamen (_seminaristes_) whom I saw was most satisfactory.
They had an intelligent, cheerful look, greatly superior to that of
the Roman Catholic seminarists generally in Europe. The priests bear
testimony to their aptitude in learning, their docility and good
conduct. They have an organ in the cathedral, the pipes of which are
all made of bamboo. It seems to have an excellent tone.
[Sidenote: and college.]
_April 7th._--I went on Monday to visit a college which the priests
have about six miles off, with about seventy scholars. It appeared to
be in good order. I walked back with a priest who had been in Canada
in our time. He was talkative, and gave me a good deal of information
about the Jesuits. It came on to rain very hard as we returned, but we
found our letters from home to reward us on our arrival.... No doubt,
as you say, one cannot help sometimes regretting that one is mixed up
with so bad a business as this in China, but then in some respects it
is a great opportunity for doing good, or at least for mitigating
evil.
[Sidenote: American missionary.]
I had a visit to-day from Dr. B., who is, I believe, the most eminent
of the American missionaries in China. He began by expressing his
gratitude to me for the merciful way in which matters had been
conducted at Canton, adding that they were _bad_ people, that they
insulted foreigners. He had lived among them fifteen years, and had
never been insulted when alone. He always went about without even a
stick, and they knew that he did not wish to injure them, &c. I then
asked him whether there was not some inconsistency in what he had said
about their treatment of himself and the epithet 'bad' which he had
applied to them. He said that perhaps the word was too strong, that he
was much attached to the Chinese, but that certain classes at Canton
were no doubt very hostile to foreigners, and that the chastisement
they had received was quite necessary. I really believe that what Dr.
B. said is pretty nearly the truth of the case, and it is satisfactory
to me that the fact that I laboured to spare the people should be
known, known not only by those who approve, but by those who abhor
clemency.
From the foregoing and similar extracts, it will be seen how much interest
he took in the labours of the missionaries, and at the same time with what
breadth and calmness of view he handled a subject peculiarly liable to
exaggeration on one side or the other. During his stay at Shanghae, it was
brought before him officially in the shape of an address from the
Protestant missionaries of the port, praying him, in the first place, to
obtain a separate decree of toleration in favour of Protestantism, distinct
from that which the French had already obtained for the 'Religion of the
Lord of Heaven;' and, in the second place, to procure for them greater
liberty of travelling and preaching in all parts of China. His reply
contained words of grave warning, which have a special interest when read
by the light of recent events. After saying that 'it certainly appeared to
him to be reasonable and proper that the professors of different Christian
denominations should be placed in China on a footing of equality,' he
proceeded as follows:--
[Sidenote: Reply to address of Protestant missionaries.]
I should be wanting in candour, however, if I were not to state that,
in my opinion, the demands which you prefer involve, in some of their
details and consequences, questions of considerable nicety.
Christian nations claim for their subjects or citizens, who sojourn in
the East under heathen Governments, privileges of exterritoriality.
They are bound, therefore, when they seek to extend their rights of
residence and occupation, to take care that those exceptional
privileges be not abused, to the prejudice of the countries conceding
them.
I cannot say that I think that the Christian nations who have
established a footing in China, under the sanction of treaty
stipulations obtained by others, or in virtue of agreements made
directly by the Chinese Governments with themselves, have in all cases
duly recognised this obligation.
Unless I am greatly misinformed, many vile and reckless men, protected
by the privileges to which I have referred, and still more by the
terror which British prowess has inspired, are now infesting the
coasts of China. It may be that for the moment they are able, in too
many cases, to perpetrate the worst crimes with impunity; but they
bring discredit on the Christian name; inspire hatred of the foreigner
where no such hatred exists; and, as some recent instances prove,
teach occasionally to the natives a lesson of vengeance, which, when
once learnt, may not always be applied with discrimination.
But if the extension of the privileges of foreigners in China involves
considerations of nicety, still more delicate are the questions which
arise when it is proposed to confer by treaty on foreign Powers the
right to interfere on behalf of natives who embrace their religion. It
is most right and fitting that Chinamen espousing Christianity should
not be persecuted. It is most wrong and most prejudicial to the real
interests of the Faith that they should be tempted to put on a
hypocritical profession in order to secure thereby the advantages of
abnormal protection.
[1] Mr. Oliphant's 'Narrative' contains an interesting account of
the places which he visited in the execution of this mission.
[2] Bruce, Robert, and Frederick, his three sons.
[3] See his 'Narrative,' vol. i. c. xi.
[4] A sacred island, in the 'sea of water-lilies.'
CHAPTER IX.
FIRST MISSION TO CHINA. TIENTSIN.
ADVANCE TO THE PEIHO--TAKING OF THE FORTS--THE PEIHO RIVER--
TIENTSIN--NEGOTIATIONS--THE TREATY--THE RIGHT OF SENDING A MINISTER TO
PEKIN--RETURN SOUTHWARD--SAILS FOR JAPAN.
The establishment of the principle of direct communication with the
Imperial Government at the capital had always been regarded as one of the
most important objects of Lord Elgin's mission. When, therefore, in reply
to his letter addressed to the Prime Minister, there came an answer from a
provincial officer, he returned it at once, and wrote again to the Prime
Minister, pointing out that, by refusing to correspond with him directly,
the Minister had broken the existing treaty, by which it was agreed that
'Her Britannic Majesty's Chief High Officer shall correspond with the
Chinese High Officers, both at the capital and in the provinces, under the
term "communication;"' and announcing that he should proceed at once to the
North, in order that he might place himself in more immediate communication
with the High. Officers of the Imperial Government at the capital.
Accordingly, he arranged with Baron Gros that they should meet in the Gulf
of Pecheli, at the mouth of the Peiho, backed by their respective fleets,
and with the moral support of the presence of the Russian and American
Plenipotentiaries.
In carrying out these plans everything depended, in his judgment, on acting
promptly; and he was therefore most desirous that the supporting force
should collect at once at the appointed spot, and that it should include a
considerable number of gunboats of light draught, capable of passing over
the mud-banks which form a bar at the mouth of the Peiho river. In this,
however, he was disappointed, and many weeks elapsed before any vigorous
measures could be taken. The delay, as may be supposed, caused him much
annoyance and anxiety at the time; and he especially regretted it
afterwards, because it prevented him from personally visiting Pekin, as he
might have done at this time under circumstances peculiarly favourable; and
thus left the delicate question of access to the capital to be settled by
his successor, with no such advantage.[1]
[Sidenote: Advance to the Peiho.]
_H.M.S. 'Furious,' at sea.--April 11th_.--Here we are, gliding through
the smoothest possible sea, with a gentle wind, and this time
favourable, which relieves us of all the smoke and ashes of the
funnel,--an advantage for our eyes as well as conducive to our
comfort. We are in the midst of the Yellow Sea, going about eight
knots, dragging a gunboat astern to save her coal. This is the only
gunboat I have got. I trust, both on private and public grounds, that
we may succeed, because otherwise the consummation might be put off
for a year, or at least till the autumn, and God knows what might
happen in the interval. The Russian Plenipotentiary, with his own
small vessel--dragging behind him, however, a junk well laden with
coals and provisions--sailed the day before me. I followed on the 10th
(yesterday). The French and American are to follow. It is amusing to
see how we play our parts. Putiatine and I are always together,
visiting every port, looking into everything with our own eyes. Our
colleagues, with their big ships, arrive sooner or later at the great
places of rendezvous.
[Sidenote: Aground.]
_April 13th, Nine P.M._--We had an adventure this afternoon. I was on
the paddle-box bridge watching, as we passed between the town of Tung-
Chow Foo (a long wall, as it seemed, stretching for about four miles,
with a temple at the nearest end) and the island of Meantau, when I
felt a shock,--and, behold! we were aground. Our gunboat, which we
towed, not being able to check its speed at a moment's notice, ran
foul of us, and we both suffered a little in the scuffle. We got off
in about two hours. On the whole, I am rather glad that we have a
gunboat with us, for if anything serious did happen, it would be
rather awkward, under existing circumstances, to be cast on the coast
of China. It is as well to have two strings to one's bow.
_April 14th._--This morning it was thick and pretty rough. It is now
(4 P.M.) very bright and comparatively smooth. We have seen no land
to-day, nor, indeed, anything but sea and a few junks. Shall we meet
any vessels at the rendezvous? A few hours will tell.
[Sidenote: The rendezvous.]
_April 15th._--We saw, at about 5 P.M. yesterday, Russian at anchor,
and went towards her, but were afterwards obliged to remove to some
distance, as we had not water enough where she is. While we were going
to our berth, the 'Pique' came in sight. So here we are--'Pique'
'Furious' and 'Slaney' (gunboat), in an open sea, land not even
risible. Captain Osborn started off this morning, in the gunboat, to
sound and find out what chance we have of getting over the bar at the
mouth of the Peiho. Putiatine came on board this morning. He has sent
to the shore a note announcing his arrival. I am not disposed to do
anything of the kind. The best plan, as it appears to me, is to move
steadily up the river as soon as we can get ever the bar, and let the
Chinese stop us if they dare. Putiatine says that he will follow me,
if I pass without any resistance being offered, but that he must not
go first, as his Government forbids him to provoke hostilities. This
division of labour suits me very well.
_April 19th._--I have nothing to write about. You may imagine what it
is to be at anchor in this gulf with nothing to do.... If I had had my
gunboats, I might have been up the Peiho ere this. I might perhaps
have brought the Emperor to his senses.... Meanwhile Reed is arrived.
Gros is last, but he is bringing his Admiral and force with him.
_April 21st._--Gros arrived last evening. He is very well disposed, and
ready to act with me. The French Admiral may be expected any day. We
are going to make a communication to Pekin to invite a Plenipotentiary
to meet us here, as we cannot go up to Tientsin.
About a week afterwards the bar was crossed; but it was not until three
more weeks had passed that the forts at the mouth of the river were taken,
in order to secure the passage of the Envoys up to Tientsin.
[Sidenote: Taking of the forts.]
_May 21st._--I have spent during the last three weeks the worst time I
have passed since 1849, and really I have not been capable of writing.
The forts were taken yesterday. The Chinese had had several weeks to
prepare, and their moral was greatly raised by our hesitations and
delays. The poor fellows even stood at their guns and fired away
pretty steadily. But as they hardly ever hit, it is of very little
consequence how much they fire. As soon as our men landed they
abandoned the forts and ran off in all directions. We have hardly had
any loss, I believe; but the French, who blundered a good deal with
their gunboats, and then contrived to get blown up by setting fire to
a powder magazine, have suffered pretty severely. I fancy that we have
got almost all the artillery which the Chinese Empire possesses in
this quarter.... This affair of yesterday, in a strategical point of
view was a much more creditable affair than the taking of Canton. Our
gunboats and men appear to have done well, and though they were
opposed to poor troops, still they were troops, and not crowds of
women and children, who were the victims of the bombardment at Canton.
_May 22nd._--Would that you had been a true prophet! Yet there is
something of inspiration in your writing on the 1st of March: 'I was
fancying you even now, perhaps, ascending the Peiho with a train of
gunboats!'
_May 23rd._--These wretched Chinese are for the most part unarmed.
When they are armed, they have no notion of directing their firearms.
They are timorous, and without either tactics or discipline. I will
venture to say that twenty-four determined men, with revolvers and a
sufficient number of cartridges, might walk through China from one end
to another.
_May 25th._--No news since I began this letter, except a vague report
that the Admirals are moving up the river slowly, meeting with no
resistance, rather a friendly reception, from the people. I am
surprised that we have not yet heard anything from Pekin. I hope the
Emperor will not fly to Tartary, because that would be a new
perplexity. I am not quite in such bad spirits as last week, because
at least now there is some chance of our getting this miserable war
finished, and thus of my obtaining my liberty again.... We ought to
have a mail from England any day.... Changes of Government have this
inconvenience, that of course the new-comers cannot possibly take time
to read over previous correspondence, so that they must be but
partially informed on many points,... but no doubt at this distance it
is practically impossible for Government to give instructions, and all
the responsibility must rest on the agent on the spot. At this moment,
when I am moving up to Pekin, I am receiving the despatches of the
Government commenting upon the Canton proceedings, and asking me: What
do you intend to do next?
_May 27th._--I have been pacing the deck looking at the dancing waves
sparkling under a bright full moon. It is the third time, I think,
that I have seen it since I have been in this gulf. I had a message
last night late from the Admiral, stating that he is within two miles
of Tientsin! I sent Frederick up that he might see what is going on,
and let me know when I ought to advance. I had also a communication
from the Chinese Plenipotentiaries, but it was not of much importance.
I do not think that these poor, timorous people have any notion of
resisting. I only trust that they may make up their minds to concede
what is requisite at once, and enable us all to have done with it.
_May 28th._--The last news from Canton shows that the kind of panic
which had been, in my opinion most needlessly, got up, is subsiding,
and the General has sent up a few men--for which I ought to thank him,
as he had only been asked whether he could supply any if wanted.
_May 29th._--I have a short despatch from the new Government, giving
me latitude to do anything I choose if I will only finish the affair.
Meanwhile Frederick writes from Tientsin to recommend me to proceed
thither, and I intend to be off this afternoon. There appears to be on
the part of the Chinese no attempt at resistance, but on the other
hand no movement to treat. This passivity is, of course, our danger,
and it is one which slowness on our part tends to increase. However,
we must hope for the best.
[Sidenote: On the Peiho.]
[Sidenote: Tientsin.]
_Yamun, Tientsin.--May 30th._--Only look at my date, does it not
astonish you? I hardly yet realise to myself where I am. I started at
about 4.30 P.M. yesterday from the 'Furious,' crossed the bar, at the
forts at the entrance of the river, picked up Gros and the French
mission, whose vessel could not get on, and moved on to this place.
The night was lovely--a moon nearly full. The banks, perfectly flat
and treeless at first, became fringed with mud villages, silent as the
grave, and trees standing like spectres over the stream. There we went
ceaselessly on through this silvery silence, panting and breathing
flame. Through the night-watches, when no Chinaman moves, when the
junks cast anchor, we laboured on, cutting ruthlessly and recklessly
through the waters of that glancing and startled river, which, until
within the last few weeks, no stranger keel had ever furrowed! Whose
work are we engaged in, when we burst thus with hideous violence and
brutal energy into these darkest and most mysterious recesses of the
traditions of the past? I wish I could answer that question in a
manner satisfactory to myself. At the same time, there is certainly
not much to regret in the old civilisation which we are thus
scattering to the winds. A dense population, timorous and pauperised,
such would seem to be its chief product. I passed most of the night on
deck, and at about 4 A.M. we reached a point in the centre of the
suburb of Tientsin, at which the Great Canal joins the Tientsin or
Peiho river. There I found the Admirals, Frederick, &c. Frederick had
got this yamun for us, half of which I have had to give to my French
colleague. It consists of a number of detached rooms, scattered about
a garden. I have installed myself in the joss-house, my bedroom being
on one side, and my sitting-room on the other, of the idol's altar. We
have a letter informing us that the Emperor has named two great
Officers of State to come here and treat, and our Admirals are in very
good humour, so that matters look well for the present.
_June 1st._--I found my joss-house so gloomy and low, that I have
returned to my first quarter in the garden, on a mound overlooking the
river. It consists, of a single room, part of which is screened off by
a curtain for a bedroom. It is hot during the day, but nothing much to
complain of. I took a walk yesterday. The country is quite flat,
cultivated in wheat, millet, &c. Instead of the footpaths of the
southern parts of China, there are roads for carriages, and wheeled
carts dragged by mules in tandem going along them. I have not been in
the town, but some of the party were there this morning, and one had
his pocket picked, which is a proof of civilisation. They say it is a
poor place, the people stupid-looking and curious, but not as yet
unfriendly.
_June 4th._--I am to have an interview with the Chinese
Plenipotentiaries to-day. I devoutly hope it may lead to a speedy and
satisfactory pacific settlement; but I am sending to Hong-Kong for
troops, in order to be prepared for all eventualities. In sum, my
policy has resulted in this:--I have complete military command of the
capital of China, without having broken off relations with the neutral
Powers, and without having interrupted, for a single day, our trade at
the different ports of the empire.
[Sidenote: Negotiations.]
_Tientsin.--June 5th_--After sending off your letter yesterday, I went
to have my first official interview with the Chinese
Plenipotentiaries. I made up my mind, disgusting as the part is to me,
to act the _role_ of the 'uncontrollably fierce barbarian,' as we are
designated in some of the confidential reports to the Chinese
Government which have come into our hands. These stupid people, though
they cannot resist, and hardly even make a serious attempt to do so,
never yield anything except under the influence of fear; and it is
necessary therefore to make them feel that one is in earnest, and that
they have nothing for it but to give way. Accordingly I got a guard of
150 marines and the band of the 'Calcutta,' and set off with all my
suite in chairs, _tambour battant_ for the place of rendezvous. It was
about two-and-a-half miles off, and the heat of the sun very great.
The road carried us through several narrow streets of the suburb, then
across a plain, till we reached a temple at which the
Plenipotentiaries were awaiting us. A dense crowd of Chinese men--I
saw not one woman--lined the route. Curiosity chiefly was depicted on
their countenances; some looked frightened; but I observed no symptoms
of ill-will. At the entrance of the temple were two blind musicians,
playing something like squeaking bagpipes. This was the Chinese band.
We marched in with all our force, which drew up in a sort of court
before an open verandah, where refreshments were set out, and the
dignitaries awaited us. I was received by the Imperial Commissioner,
and conducted to a seat at a small table covered with little plates of
sweetmeats, &c. One of the Chinese Plenipotentiaries sat on either
side of me. It was a very pretty scene, and the place was decorated in
very good taste with flowers, &c. As my neighbours showed no
disposition to talk, I began by asking after their health and that of
the Emperor. They then said that they had received the Emperor's
orders to come down to treat of our affairs. I answered, that although
I was much grieved by the neglect of the Prime Minister to answer the
letters I had addressed to him, yet as they had on their cards stated
that they had 'full powers,' I had consented to have this interview in
order that we might compare our powers, and see whether we could treat
together. I told them that I had brought mine, and I at once exhibited
them, giving them a translation of the documents. They said they had
not powers of the same kind, but a decree of the Emperor appointing
them, and they brought out a letter which was wrapped up in a sheet of
yellow paper. The chief Plenipotentiary rose and raised the paper
reverentially over his head before unfolding it. I thought the terms
of this document rather ambiguous, besides which I was desirous to
produce a certain effect; so when it had been translated to me, I said
that I was not sufficiently satisfied with it to be able to say on the
spot whether I could treat with them or not; that I would, if they
pleased, take a copy of it and consider the matter; but that I would
not enter upon business with them at present. So saying I rose, moved
to the front of the stage, and ordered the escort to move and the
chairs to be brought. This put the poor people into a terrible
fluster. They made great efforts to induce me to sit down again, but I
acted the part of the 'uncontrollably fierce' to perfection, and set
off for my abode. I had hardly reached it when I received two cards
from my poor mandarins, thanking me for having gone so far to meet
them, &c.
_June 12th._--I have gone through a good deal since we parted.
Certainly I have seen more to disgust me with my fellow-countrymen
than I saw during the whole course of my previous life, since I have
found them in the East among populations too timid to resist and too
ignorant to complain. I have an instinct in me which loves
righteousness and hates iniquity, and all this keeps me in a perpetual
boil.
[Sidenote: Treaty signed.]
_June 29th._--I have not written for some days, but they have been
busy ones.... We went on fighting and bullying, and getting the poor
Commissioners to concede one point after another, till Friday the
25th, when we had reason to believe all was settled, and that the
signature was to take place on the following day.... On Friday
afternoon, however, Baron Gros came to me with a message from the
Russian and American Ministers, to induce me to recede from two of my
demands--1. A resident minister at Pekin; and, 2. Permission to our
people to trade in the interior of China; because, as they said, the
Chinese Plenipotentiaries had told them that they had received a
decree from the Emperor, stating that they should infallibly lose
their heads if they gave way on these points.... The resident minister
at Pekin I consider far the most important matter gained by the
Treaty; the power to trade in the interior hardly less so.... I had at
stake not only these important points in my treaty, for which I had
fought so hard, but I know not what behind. For the Chinese are such
fools, that it was impossible to tell, if we gave way on one point,
whether they would not raise difficulties on every other. I sent for
the Admiral; gave him a hint that there was a great opportunity for
England; that all the Powers were deserting me on a point which they
had _all_, in their original applications to Pekin, demanded, and
which they all intended to claim if I got it; that therefore we had it
in our power to claim our place of priority in the East, by obtaining
this when others would not insist on it? Would he back me?... This was
the forenoon of Saturday, 26th. The Treaty was to be signed in the
evening. I may mention, as a proof of the state of people's minds,
that Admiral Seymour told me that the French Admiral had urged him to
dine with him, assuring him that no Treaty would be signed that day!
Well, I sent Frederick to the Imperial Commissioners, to tell them
that I was indignant beyond all expression at their having attempted
to communicate with me through third parties; that I was ready to sign
at once the Treaty as it stood; but that, if they delayed or
retracted, I should consider negotiations at an end, go to Pekin, and
demand a great deal more, &c.... Frederick executed this most
difficult task admirably, and at 6 P.M. I signed the Treaty of
Tientsin.... I am now anxiously waiting some communication from Pekin.
Till the Emperor accepts the Treaty, I shall hardly feel safe. Please
God he may ratify without delay! I am sure that I express the wish
just as much in the interest of China as in ours. Though I have been
forced to act almost brutally, I am China's friend in all this.
[Sidenote: Articles of the Treaty.]
It may be well here to recapitulate the chief articles of the Treaty thus
concluded, which may be briefly summed up as follows:--
The Queen of Great Britain to be at liberty, if she see fit, to appoint an
Ambassador, who may reside permanently at Pekin, or may visit it
occasionally, at the option of the British Government;
Protestants and Roman Catholics to be alike entitled to the protection of
the Chinese authorities;
British subjects to be at liberty to travel to all parts of the interior,
under passports issued by their Consuls;
British ships to be at liberty to trade upon the Great River (Yangtze);
Five additional ports to be opened to trade;
The Tariff fixed by the Treaty of Nankin to be revised;
British subjects to have the option of clearing their goods of all transit
duties by payment of a single charge, to be calculated as nearly as
possible at the rate of 2-1/2 per cent. _ad valorem_;
The character 'I' (Barbarian) to be no longer applied in official documents
to British subjects;
The Chinese to pay 2,000,000 taels (about 650,000_l._) for losses at
Canton, and an equal sum for the expenses of the war.
[Sidenote: Reasons for moderation.]
[Sidenote: Right of sending an ambassador,]
In bringing this Treaty to a conclusion Lord Elgin might have said of
himself as truly as of the brother who had so ably helped him in arranging
its terms, that he 'felt very sensibly the painfulness of the position of a
negotiator, who has to treat with persons who yield nothing to reason and
everything to fear, and who are at the same time profoundly ignorant both
of the subjects under discussion and of their own real interests.' Moreover
he had constantly to recollect that, under the 'most favoured nation'
clause, every concession made to British subjects would be claimed by the
subjects, or persons calling themselves the subjects, of other Powers, by
whom they were only too likely to be employed for the promotion of
rebellion and disorder within the empire, or for the establishment of
privileged smuggling and piracy along its coasts and up its rivers. In all
these circumstances he saw grounds for exercising forbearance and
moderation; and his forbearance and moderation were rewarded by the
readiness with which the Emperor sanctioned the Treaty, and the amicable
manner in which its details were subsequently settled. One exception there
was to this moderation on his part, and to this readiness on theirs; viz.
his insisting, against the earnest remonstrances of the Imperial
Commissioners, backed by the intercession of the Russian and American
envoys, on the right of sending an ambassador to Pekin. But it was an
exception of that kind which is said to prove the rule; for the stipulation
was one which could not lead to abuses, and which would be conducive, as he
believed, in the highest decree to the true interests of both the
contracting parties. He was convinced that so long as the system of
entrusting the conduct of foreign affairs to a Provincial Government
endured, there could be no security for the maintenance of pacific
relations. On the one hand the Provincial Governors were entirely without
any sentiment of nationality, caring for nothing but the interests of their
own provinces: nor were they in a position to exercise any independence of
judgment, their lives and fortunes being absolutely at the disposal of a
jealous Government, so that it was generally their most prudent course to
allow any abuses to pass unnoticed rather than risk their heads by
reporting unwelcome truths. On the other Land the central Government, in
which alone a national feeling and an independent judgment were to be
looked for, was profoundly ignorant on all questions of foreign policy, and
must continue to be so as long as the Department for Foreign Affairs was
established in the provinces. For these reasons he regarded the principle
that a British minister might henceforth reside at Pekin, and hold direct
intercourse with imperial ministers at the capital, as being, of all the
concessions in the Treaty, the one pregnant with the most important
consequences.[2]
[Sidenote: to be kept in reserve.]
But, the right once secured, he was very desirous that it should be
exercised with all possible consideration for the long-cherished prejudices
of the Chinese on the subject, who looked forward with the utmost horror to
the invasion of their capital by foreign ministers, with, their wives and
establishments; these latter being, as it appeared, in their eyes more
formidable than the ministers themselves. Accordingly, when the Imperial
Commissioners addressed to him a very temperate and respectful
communication, urging that the exercise of the Treaty-right in question
would be of serious prejudice to China, mainly because, in the present
crisis of her domestic troubles it would tend to cause a loss of respect
for their Government in the minds of her subjects, he gladly forwarded
their memorial to the Government in England, supporting it with the strong
expression of his own opinion, that 'if Her Majesty's Ambassador should be
properly received at Pekin when the ratifications were exchanged next year,
it would be expedient that Her Majesty's Representative in China should be
instructed to choose a place of residence elsewhere than at Pekin, and to
make his visits either periodical, or only as frequent as the exigencies of
the public service might require.' With much shrewdness he pointed out that
the actual presence of a minister hi a place so uncongenial, especially
during the winter months, when the thermometer falls to 40 deg. below zero,
might possibly be to the Mandarin mind less awe-inspiring than the
knowledge of the fact that he had the power to take up his abode there
whenever the conduct of the Chinese Government gave occasion; and that thus
the policy which he recommended would 'leave in the hands of Her Majesty's
Government, to be wielded at its will, a moral lever of the most powerful
description to secure the faithful observance of the Treaty in all time to
come.'
[Sidenote: Return southward.]
_At Sea, Gulf of Pecheli.--July 5th_.--At last I am actually off--on
my way home? May I hope that it is so? I got on Sunday the Emperor's
assent to the Treaty, in the form in which I required it; sent
immediately down to stop the troops, and set off myself on Tuesday at
noon for the Gulf. We sailed yesterday afternoon, with the intention,
if possible, of seeing the great Wall of China on our way to Shanghae,
but we have not been very successful, and have now put about, and are
moving southwards.... Frederick is going home with the Treaty, and I
proceed _via_ Japan....
_July 14th._--Frederick embarks to-night, and sails to-morrow morning
at four. I shall not know all that I lose, publicly and privately, by
his departure, till he is gone....
_Shanghae, Sunday, July 18th._--I have just returned from church. Such
an ordeal I never went through. If a benevolent lady, sitting behind
me, had not taken compassion on me, and handed me a fan, I think I
should have fainted.... Everyone says that the heat here surpasses
that felt anywhere else. They also affirm that this is an exceptional
season.
_July 19th._--Writing has been an almost impossible task during these
few last days. The only thing I have been able to do has been to find
a doorway, or some other place, through which a draught was making its
way, and to sit there reading.... In sending Frederick away, I have
cut off my right arm, but I think, on the whole, it was better that he
should take the Treaty home,... and of course he is better able than
anyone else to explain what has been the real state of affairs
here.... It is impossible to acknowledge too strongly the obligation I
am under to him for the way in which he has helped me in my
difficulties.
[Sidenote: Yeh]
_July 21st._--As for Yeh, I cannot say very much for him; but the
account given of him by the Captain of the 'Inflexible,' who took him
to Calcutta, differs as widely as possible from that of the _Times'_
Correspondent. He was very courteous and considerate, civil to
everybody, and giving no trouble. I suppose that there is no doubt of
the fact that he executed a vast number of rebels, and I, certainly,
who disapprove of all that sort of thing, am not going to defend that
proceeding. But it is fair to say that rebels are parricides by
Chinese law, and that, in so far as we can judge, nothing could have
been more brutal or more objectless than this Chinese rebellion. They
systematically murdered all--men, women, and children--of the dominant
race, and their supporters, on whom they could lay their hands.
Certain Americans and Europeans took them up at first because they
introduced a parody of some Christian doctrines into their
manifestoes. But these gentlemen are now, I think, heartily ashamed of
the sympathy which they gave them.
_July 26th._--I heard yesterday a good piece of news. The Emperor has
named my friends, the Imperial Commissioners, to come down here to
settle the tariff, &c. This, I think, proves that the Emperor has made
up his mind to accept the Treaty and carry it out. I hope also that it
will enable me to settle the Canton affair.
A few days later, finding that some weeks must elapse before the Imperial
Commissioners could arrive, he sailed for Nagasaki, in order to turn the
interval to account by endeavouring to negotiate a treaty with the Japanese
Government in accordance with the instructions which he had received when
leaving England.
[1] Those who remember the somewhat angry discussion which, arose
afterwards about this delay, its causes and its consequences, may be
struck with the fact that the subject is scarcely alluded to in any of
the extracts here given. The omission is intentional: Lord Elgin's
friends having no desire to rate up an extinct controversy which he
would have been the last to wish to see revived, and respecting which,
they have nothing to add to--as they have nothing to withdraw from--
what he himself stated in the House of Lords on February 21, 1860.
[2] Another article of the Treaty, though of less importance in
itself, has been brought by recent events into so much prominence that
it may be desirable to give in full the views of its author respecting
it. In his despatch of July 12, having mentioned, as one of the
principal commercial advantages obtained by British subjects, the
settlement of the vexed question of the transit duties, he proceeds:--
This subject presented considerable difficulty. As duties of octroi
are levied universally in China, on native as well as foreign
products, and as canals and roads are kept up at the expense of the
Government, it seemed to be unreasonable to require that articles,
whether of foreign or native production, by the simple process of
passing into the hands of foreigners, should become entitled to the
use of roads and canals toll-free, and should, moreover, be
relieved altogether from charges to which they would be liable if
the property of natives. On the other hand, experience had taught
us the inconvenience of leaving the amount of duties payable under
the head of transit-duties altogether undetermined. By requiring
the rates of transit-duty to be published at each port; and by
acquiring for the British subject the right to commute the said
duties for a payment of 2-1/2 per cent. on the value of his goods
(or rather, to speak more correctly, for the payment of a specific
duty calculated at that rate), I hope that I have provided for the
latter as effectual a guarantee against undue exactions on this head
as can be obtained without an entire subversion, of the financial
system of China.
CHAPTER X.
FIRST MISSION TO CHINA. JAPAN.
EMBARK FOR JAPAN--COAST VIEWS--SIMODA--OFF YEDDO--YEDDO--CONFERENCES--
A
COUNTRY RIDE--PEACE AND PLENTY--FEUDAL SYSTEM--A TEMPLE--A
JUGGLER--SIGNING THE TREATY--ITS TERMS--RETROSPECT.
[Sidenote: Embark for Japan.]
'On the last day of July, 1858,' writes Mr. Oliphant, we embarked on board
the "Furious," delighted, under any circumstances, to escape from the
summer heats of Shanghae, were it only for a few weeks; but our
gratification increased by the anticipation of visiting scenes which had
ever been veiled in the mystery of a jealous and rigid seclusion.'... There
was a charm also in the very indefiniteness and uncertainty of the objects
of the expedition. 'I do not exactly know,' wrote Lord Elgin, 'what I shall
do when I get to Nagasaki; but, at any rate, I shall ascertain what my
chances are of making a satisfactory treaty with Japan.'
The 'Furious' was accompanied by the 'Retribution' and by the 'Lee'
gunboat; and it was arranged that the Admiral should join them at Nagasaki.
_Nagasaki.--August 3rd._--We have had beautiful weather, and have
reached this point,--a quiet, small-looking town, fringing the bottom
of a bay, which is itself the close of a channel passing between
ranges of high volcanic hills, rugged and bold, but luxuriant with
vegetation and trees, and cultivated in terraces up to their summits.
I have seen nothing so beautiful in point of scenery for many a long
day. No sort of difficulty has been made to our progress up to the
town. The only symptom of objection I observed was an official in a
boat, who waved a fan, and when he saw we took no notice, sat down
again and went on with a book which he seemed to be reading. On both
sides of the channel, however, there is a very formidable display of
cannons and works of defence, which I apprehend would not be very
formidable in action. I have heard little in the way of news yet, but
I am disposed to believe that nothing can be accomplished here, and
that if anything is to be done we must go on to Yeddo. It is still
hot, but the air, which comes down from these lofty hills, is, I
think, fresher than that which passes over the boundless level in the
vicinity of Shanghae.
_August 4th_.--I have just had a visit from the Vice-Governor of
Nagasaki. One of his own suite did the interpretation. These are the
nicest people possible. None of the stiffness and bigotry of the
Chinese. I gave them luncheon, and it was wonderful how nicely they
managed with knives and forks and all other strange implements. The
Admiral arrived this forenoon. He now finds that his instructions
direct him to send the 'Emperor' yacht (which is to be a present) to
Yeddo. I shall take advantage of this and go to Yeddo myself at once.
I may do something, or find out what I can do.
_August 5th.--Four P.M._--The heat yesterday, and for the two nights
at Nagasaki, was very great. It must be a charming place when the
temperature is low enough to admit of walks into the country. As it is
we have just passed into the sea, through what Captain Osborn calls a
succession of Mount Edgecumbes. I went ashore yesterday and this
morning, chiefly to make purchases. Things here are really beautiful
and cheap. The town is wonderfully clean after China. Not a beggar to
be seen. The people clean too; for one of the commonest sights is to
see a lady in the front of her house, or in the front-room, wide open
to the street, sitting in a tub washing herself. I never saw a place
where the cleanliness of the fair sex was established on such
unimpeachable ocular evidence.
[Sidenote: Gales.]
_August 6th.--Four P.M._--At anchor off the southernmost point of
Japan. It has been blowing hard all day, and our captain proposed,
that instead of rounding this point and facing the sea and wind,
against which we should not be able to make any way, we should creep
in under it and anchor. We intend to remain till the gale abates.
Nothing can be finer than the coast. We have passed to-day some very
high hills, one especially on an island to the right, and a conical-
shaped one on the left, on the Japan mainland. I see little sign of
population on this coast off which we are anchored: only one little
fishing village. There were a good many junks yesterday. It is very
hot though, and I find it difficult to sit at my table and write.
_August 7th.--Three P.M._--Still at anchor in the same spot. The storm
has not abated, and the wind is dead against us. My time is so short
that I cannot well afford to lose any.
_August 10th.--Ten A.M._--I wonder if I shall be able to write a few
lines legibly. There is still a good deal of motion, but a cool
breeze, which is such a relief after the sweltering six weeks we have
spent. Ahead of us is a great conical-shaped mountain, the sacred
mountain of Fusiama (etymologically 'the matchless mountain'), and
somewhere nearer on the long range of bold coast which we are
approaching, we expect to find Simoda. But I must tell you of our two
past days--days of suffering. At about twelve during the night of the
7th, the wind shifted and began to blow into our anchorage, so as to
make it unsafe to stay there, and to promise us a fair wind if we
proceeded on our way; so off we started. We have had our fair wind,
but a great deal of it; and as the 'Furious' is both a bad sailer and
a good roller, we have passed a very wretched time,--every hole
through which air could come closed. However, we have made good
progress and burnt little coal, which is good for the public interest.
We see now in the distance two sails, which we suppose may be our
consorts, the 'Emperor' and 'Retribution.' We have travelled some 1000
miles since we left Shanghae, besides spending two days at Nagasaki.
[Sidenote: Coast view.]
_Same day.--Noon_.--It is a magnificent prospect which we have from
the paddle-box. Immediately before us a bold junk, its single large
sail set, and scudding before the breeze. Beyond, a white cloud,
slight at the base, and swelling into the shape of a balloon as it
rises. We have discovered that it rests on a mountain dimly visible in
the distance, and which we recognise as the volcanic island of Oosima.
Towards the right the wide sea dotted with two or three rocky islets.
On the left of the volcano island a point of land rising into a bold
and rocky coast, along which the eye is carried till it encounters a
mighty bank of white clouds piled up one upon another, out of which
rises clear and blue, with a white streak upon the side which seems to
tell of perpetual snow, the cone-shaped top of Fusiama. Passing on the
eye from this magnificent object to the left still farther, the rocky
coast is followed till it loses itself in the distance. What is almost
more charming than the scene is the fresh breeze which is carrying off
the accumulated fever of weeks.
[Sidenote: Simoda.]
_August 12th._--At sea again. (Grouse day. I am following different
game.) We dropped anchor in the harbour of Simoda on the 10th at about
3 P.M. I went off immediately to see the American Consul-General, Mr.
Harris, the only foreigner resident at Simoda. I found him living in
what had been a temple, but what in point of fact makes a very nice
cottage, overlooking the bay. As soon as we anchored we began to feel
the heat, though not so great as at Shanghae. I found that the Consul
had contrived to make a pretty good treaty with Japan, evidently under
the influence of the _contrecoup_ of our proceedings in China. He had
had an interview with the Emperor, but it transpired that he had a
letter of credence, which I have not, and that Putiatine, not having
one, is not permitted to go to Yeddo. I also learnt that there is no
way of communicating with the Japanese officials except through the
Dutch language. Being without a Dutch interpreter, and without letters
of credence, my case looked bad enough. However, I made great friends
with the American, and the result is that he has lent me his own
interpreter, who is now beside me translating into Dutch a letter from
me to the Foreign Minister of the Japanese Emperor. You see how I was
situated. The problem I had to solve was:--How to make a treaty
without _time_ (for I cannot stay here above a few days),
_interpreter_, or _credentials_ !! When I say credentials, I do not
mean _full powers_. _These_ I have, but prestige is everything in the
East, and I should not like to be prevented from seeing the Emperor,
now that the American has been received. We shall see how we can get
out of all this.
The lack of credentials was practically supplied by the steam-yacht
'Emperor,' which he had to present to the Tycoon as a gift from her
Majesty; and the duties of interpreter were discharged for him throughout
in the most efficient manner by the gentleman above referred to, Mr.
Heusken, the American Secretary, whom he found 'not only competent for his
special work, but also in the highest degree intelligent and obliging.'
[Sidenote: Amiability.]
[Sidenote: Cleanliness.]
[Sidenote: Temples.]
_Same date._--Simoda is a pretty place, lying on flat ground at the
head of a short bay, with rocky volcanic-looking hills, covered with
fine trees and intersected by valleys all around. The people seem the
most amiable on earth. Crime and pauperism seem little known. All
anxious to do kindnesses to strangers, and steadily refusing pay.
There are innumerable officials with their double-swords, but they
appear to be on the most easy terms with the people. To judge from the
amount of clothing worn by both sexes, it does not seem likely that
there will be any great demand for Manchester cotton goods. I cannot
say what it may be in winter, but in summer they seem to place a very
filial reliance on nature. They are the cleanest people too. The
floors of their houses are covered with mats which are stuffed
beneath, and which serve for beds, floors, tables, &c. It is proper to
take off the shoes or sandals on entering the houses or temples. I
looked into one or two bathing-houses, which are most unlike those I
saw at Shanghae;--an inner room which is a kind of steam-bath, and an
outer room where the process of drying goes on. The difference in
China is, that it is only the men that clean themselves there, whereas
the rights of the fair sex on this point are fully recognised in
Japan, and in order that there may be no inequality in the way they
are exercised, all bathe together. I visited some temples. Though
Buddhistic, they had not the hideous figures which are seen in the
Chinese temples. They were generally prettily situated near the foot
of the rocky and wood-covered cliffs, with flights of steps running up
to shrines among the rocks. They were surrounded by numerous monuments
to the departed, consisting generally of little pilasters, squared on
the sides, and bearing inscriptions, surrounded by a coping or ball.
On the pedestal, &c., in front of the pilaster, generally, were one or
two branches of what looked like myrtle stuck into pieces of bamboo
which serve for flower-pots. These monuments, crowded together around
the temples and overshadowed by the lofty trees, had a very graceful
effect.
We have just committed an act of vigour. In place of going into the
harbour of Kanagawa where Count Putiatine is at anchor, I have
determined to proceed to a point several miles higher up nearer to
Yeddo. We completely foil by our audacity all the poor Japanese
officials. I have said nothing of the bazaar of Simoda, where there
were a great many pretty things, of which I bought some, nor of a
visit which the Governor paid to me. He was a very jolly fellow, liked
his luncheon and a joke. He made the conventional protests against my
going on, &c., but when he saw it was of no use, he dropped the
subject. The Japanese are a most curious contrast to the Chinese, so
anxious to learn, and so _prevenants_. God grant that in opening their
country to the West, we may not be bringing upon them misery and ruin.
[Sidenote: Off Yeddo.]
[Sidenote: Sanctity of custom.]
_Off Yeddo.--August 14th._--We moved yesterday to within about one
mile of the shore off the suburb of Yeddo. The shore is flat, and the
buildings of the town, interspersed with trees and enclosures, seem to
stretch to a great distance along the crescent-shaped bay. Immediately
in front of the town and opposite to us are five large batteries. Four
Japanese men-of-war built on European models are anchored beside us.
Three princes came off to see me yesterday. They were exceedingly
civil, but very anxious to get me to go back to Kanagawa, a port about
ten miles down the bay, from which they said they would convey me by
land to Yeddo. Of course I would not agree to this. They were very
much puzzled (and no wonder) by my two names. I complimented the
prince on the beautiful Fusiama, calling it a high mountain. 'Oh!' he
said at once, 'I have seen a scale of mountains, and I know that there
are many much higher than Fusiama.' There were persons in the suite
taking down in shorthand every word that passed in conversation, and I
thought I saw in one of their note-books a sketch of my face. No doubt
these were spies also, to watch and report on the proceedings of the
officials, for that seems to be the great means of government in
Japan. Still there is no appearance of oppression or fear anywhere. It
seems to be a matter of course that every man should fill the place
and perform the function which custom and law prescribe, and that he
should be denounced if he fail to do so. The Emperor is never allowed
to leave the precincts of his palace, and everybody, high and low, is
under a rigid rule of _convenances_, which does not seem to be felt to
be burdensome. I am afraid they are not much disposed to do things in
a hurry, and that I must discover some means of hastening them, if I
am to get my treaty before returning to Shanghae.
[Sidenote: Hereditary princes.]
_August 16th._--Princes, five in number, arrived on board yesterday at
about 3 P.M. Among them was the Lord High Admiral, a very intelligent
well-bred man. It was agreed that I was to land to-day, and some
discussion took place as to the house I was to inhabit. They said that
they could give me the choice of two, but that they recommended the
one farthest from the palace as being in best repair. I chose the one
nearest the palace, because one is always obliged to be on one's guard
against slights, but it has ruined so much to-day that I have sent to
say that I will not land till to-morrow, and to inquire where I can
really be best lodged. I have handed to the authorities a draft of my
treaty. The chief interpreter, by name Moriama (the 'wooded
mountain'), a very acute and smooth-spoken gentleman, who told one of
my party yesterday that the princes who have come off to me are Free
Traders, and that this is the spirit of the Government, but that some
of the hereditary princes are very much opposed to intercourse with
foreigners, and that some little time ago it was apprehended that they
would raise a rebellion against the Government, in consequence of the
concessions it is making. The official princes are named by the
Emperor for life, but the hereditary ones are great feudal chiefs
owing rather a qualified allegiance to the Emperor. Moriama pretended
that he and his friends had seen the arrival of our ship with
pleasure, but of course one never knows whether to believe a word they
say.
[Sidenote: Yeddo.]
[Sidenote: The 'Castle.']
_Yeddo.--August 18th, Seven A.M._--Here I am installed in a building
which forms the dependence of a temple. It consists of some small
rooms forming two sides of a square, with a verandah running in front
of them. From the verandah you step into a garden not very well kept,
with a pond and trees, and some appearance of care in laying it out.
In the centre is the temple, with a back-door opening into the garden.
I entered it yesterday, and found a 'buddha' coming out of the lotus,
looking very freshly gilt and well cared for. There were in the temple
two or three priests, who seem to live there; at any rate, one was
asleep on the matting, which, as I told you, is in Japanese houses
laid on the top of a bed of straw. They are charmingly soft and clean,
as all shoes are put off on entering. The natives use neither tables,
chairs, nor beds. They lie, sit, and feed on this matting. They have
made considerable exertions, however, to fit up our houses on European
principles. We landed yesterday at noon. The day was fine, and the
procession of boats imposing. An immense crowd of good-natured,
curious people lined both sides of the streets along which we passed.
The streets are wide and handsome. We were preceded and accompanied by
officers to keep off the crowd, but a blow with a fan was the heaviest
penalty that I saw inflicted on anyone breaking the line. At every
fifty yards, or so, the street was crossed by large gates, which were
closed as soon as our procession passed through, which prevented a
rush after us. On arriving, as I had nothing else to do, I proposed a
ride through the town, to the considerable consternation of our
attendants. We set off on saddles made of hard and rather sharp bits
of wood, stirrups which I can't undertake to describe, and our knees
in our mouths. However, we made our way to the quarter of the Palace
or Castle. As we approached it, we passed through streets inhabited by
princes. I did not enter any of their houses, but they seem to be
constructed somewhat on the principle of the _entre cour et jardin_
houses in parts of Paris. On the street front the offices,
substantially built, and often with very handsome gateways. The
'Castle' is surrounded by three concentric enclosures, consisting of
walls and moats. They are at a considerable distance from each other,
and the Emperor resides in the innermost enclosure, from which he
never goes out. The intervals between the enclosures are filled up
with handsome houses, &c. We passed over the first moat, and rode up
to the second. When we came up to the second we discovered a spectacle
which was really very grand. The moat was some forty or fifty yards
wide; beyond it a high bank of grass nicely kept, with trees rather
like yews every here and there dropped upon it. The crest of the bank
seemed to be crowned by a temple, surrounded by trees. The stone wall
was on a grand scale, and well finished. In short, the whole thing
would have been considered magnificent anywhere. After China, where
everything is _mesquin_, and apparently _en decadence_, it produces a
great effect. I did not see a single beggar in the streets; and as in
this ride of yesterday we took our own way, without giving any notice,
we must have seen the streets in their usual guise.
My poor, dear friends, the Japanese, object to everything and always
give way.[1] It is a bad plan, because it forces one to be very
peremptory and overbearing. Nothing can be milder than their
objections, but they lose time. I have told them that I must see the
Foreign Minister to-day, and that I must have another house, as the
situation of this one is not sufficiently aristocratic. I do not know,
however, whether I shall press the latter point, as it will put myself
to much inconvenience.
_August 19th._--In the evening, I visited the Foreign Minister, or
rather, the two Foreign Ministers (I believe there are three, but one
is unwell). I took my whole staff, but only my secretary and
interpreter remained in the room when we came to talk of business.
There has been a change of Government, and the present Foreign
Secretaries seem stupid enough. The Government seems to be a sort of
oligarchy in the hands of the hereditary princes. Count Putiatine, who
has just been with me, tells me that he does not consider the
officers, with whom we are negotiating, princes at all. They have the
title of _Kami_, but it is not hereditary, and they are altogether
inferior to the others. Both have the title of _Kami_, but the
hereditary princes are also called _Daimios_.
[Sidenote: Conference.]
[Sidenote: A country ride.]
_August 21st._--On the 19th, the Plenipotentiaries appointed to treat
with me came. They are six in number. We exchanged our full powers,
and I made some difficulty about theirs, but was satisfied by their
explanations. After the _seance_, I went out riding through the
streets. I had not given notice, and we went through a densely peopled
quarter, which gave me an opportunity of seeing something of the
popular feeling. We were followed by immense crowds, among whom some
boys took to hooting, and by degrees to throwing stones. This got
rather disagreeable, so at length we took to stopping at the gates,
turning right about, and facing the mob with our horses, until the
gates were shut. It proves to me, however, that it is not prudent to
go about without a good Japanese escort. Yesterday we had a most
charming expedition into the country. We started at about 11 A.M.,
rode first to the road I have already described, and which runs along
the moat of the second enclosure of the Emperor's domain. We passed
alongside of this enclosure. The effect of the domain within, with its
dropping trees (not yews, I see, but pines of some sort, many of them
with spreading branches like cedars), being somewhat that of a
magnificent English park. This, mind you, in the centre of a city of
two or three millions of inhabitants.
_Sunday, August 22nd._--We then passed through the gate of the
outermost enclosure on the opposite side, and entered some crowded
streets beyond, through which we made our way, passing on our right
the palace of the greatest of the hereditary princes, really an
imposing mass of building. Beyond, we got into the country, consisting
at first of a sort of long street of quaint cottages with thatched or
tiled roofs, embosomed in gardens, and interspersed with avenues
conducting to temples. Further on were cultivated fields, with
luxuriant crops of great variety: rice, sweet potato, egg-plant, peas,
millet, yams, taro, melons, &c. &c. At last, we reached a place of
refreshment, consisting of a number of kiosques, on the bank of a
stream, with a waterfall hard by, and gardens with rock-work (not
_mesquin,_ as in China, but really pretty and in good taste) opposite.
Here we had luncheon. Fruits, and a kind of Julienne soup; not bad,
but rather _maigre,_ served to us by charming young ladies, who
presented on their knees the trays with the little dishes upon them.
The repast finished, we set out on our return (for we had overshot our
mark), and visited the gardens, which were the object of our
expedition. They had the appearance of nursery gardens, with rows of
pots containing dwarf-trees and all manner of quaint products; all
this, moreover, in a prettily _accidente_ country, abounding in forest
trees and luxuriant undergrowth. We got back at about 7 P.M., having
met with no mishap.
[Sidenote: Peace and plenty.]
[Sidenote: Good temper.]
On the whole, I consider it the most interesting expedition I ever
made. The total absence of anything like want among the people; their
joyous, though polite and respectful demeanour; the combination of
that sort of neatness and finish which we attain in England By the
expenditure of great wealth, with tropical luxuriance, made me feel
that at last I had found something which entirely surpassed all the
expectations I had formed. And I am bound to say, that the social and
moral condition of Japan has astonished me quite as much as its
material beauty. Every man, from the Emperor (who never leaves his
palace) to the humblest labourer, lives under a rigid rule, prescribed
by law and custom combined; and the Government, through its numerous
agents, among whom are hosts of spies, or more properly inspectors
(for there is no secresy or concealment about this proceeding),
exercises a close surveillance over the acts of each individual; but,
in so far as one can judge, this system is not felt to be burdensome
by any. All seem to think it the most natural thing in the world that
they should move in the orbit in which they are placed. The agents of
authority wear their two swords; but, as they never use them except
for the purpose of ripping themselves up, the privilege does not seem
to be felt to be invidious. My interpreter, a Dutchman, lent to me by
the United States Consul-General, has been two years in the country,
and he assures me that he never saw a Japanese in a passion, and never
saw a parent beat a child. An inexhaustible fund of good temper seems
to prevail in the community. Whenever in our discussions on business
we get on rough ground, I always find that a joke brings us at once
upon the level again. Yesterday, at a formal audience with the Foreign
Ministers (to settle about the handing over of the yacht), they began
to propose that, in addition to the Commissioners, I should allow some
other officers (probably spies or inspectors) to be present at our
discussions on the clauses of the Treaty. After treating this
seriously for some moments, without settling it to their satisfaction,
I at once carried the day, by saying laughingly, that as they were six
to one already, they ought not to desire to have more chances in their
favour. This provoked a counterlaugh and a compliment, and no more was
said about the spies. When the Commissioners came yesterday afternoon
to go through the clauses of the Treaty with me, I was much pleased
with the manner in which they took to their work, raising questions
and objections in a most business-like manner, but without the
slightest appearance of captiousness or a desire to make difficulties.
Their interpreter, Moriama, is a very good Dutch scholar, and, of
course, being a remarkably shrewd gentleman withal, has a leading part
in the proceedings; but all seem to take an intelligent share.
[Sidenote: Temples.]
I went into the temple of which this building forms a part, this
morning. Two priests came up to me, knelt down, and laid before me two
pages of paper, holding out to me at the some time the painting-brush
and Indian inkstand, which is the inseparable companion of every
Japanese, and making signs which I interpreted into a request that I
would write down my name. I sat down on the floor, and complied with
their request, which seemed to please them. The priests appear by no
means so wretched here as in China, and the temples are in much better
case. I have not, however, seen many of them.
[Sidenote: Political condition.]
It is difficult, of course, to speak positively of the political
condition of a country of which one knows so little; but there seems
to be a kind of feudal system in vigour here. The hereditary princes
(Daimios), some 360 in number (I doubt much their being all equally
powerful), exercise extensive jurisdiction in their respective
domains. A Dutch officer, who visited one of these domains in a
Japanese man-of-war, found that the chieftain would not allow even the
officers of the Japanese Emperor to land on his territory. The only
control which the Emperor exerts over them is derived from his
requiring all their wives and families to live at Yeddo permanently.
The Daimios themselves spend half the year in Yeddo, and the other
half at their country places. The Supreme Council of State appears to
be in a great measure named by the Daimios, and the recent change of
Government is supposed to have been a triumph of the protectionist or
anti-foreign party. There is no luxury or extravagance in any class.
No jewels or gold ornaments even at Court; but the nobles have
handsome palaces, and large bodies of retainers. A perfectly paternal
government; a perfectly filial people; a community entirely self-
supporting; peace within and without; no want; no ill-will between
classes. This is what I find in Japan in the year 1858, after one
hundred years' exclusion of foreign trade and foreigners. Twenty years
hence, what will be the contrast?
_August 27th._--Here I am at sea again. It is 9 P.M. I have just been
on deck. A lovely moon, nearly full, gliding through cloudless blue,
spangled here and there with bright twinkling stars. I begin to feel
as if at last I was really on my way home. Both my treaties are made,
and I am steering westwards! Is it so or am I to meet some great
disappointment when I reach China? I feel a sort of terror when I
contemplate my return to that place. My trip to Japan has been a green
spot in the desert of my mission to the East.
[Sidenote: A temple.]
[Sidenote: A juggler.]
But I must tell you how I have been spending my days since the 22nd,
when I last added a word to this letter. On the afternoon of that day,
I had a long sitting with the Japanese Plenipotentiaries, and we went
over the clauses of the Treaty which we had not reached on the
previous day. On the 23rd they returned, and we agreed finally on all
the articles. It was also settled that the signature should take place
on the 26th (the very day two months after the signature of the Treaty
of Tientsin), and that the delivery of the yacht should take place on
the same day; the Japanese agreeing to salute the British flag with
twenty-one guns from their batteries--a proceeding unheard of in
Japan. On the 24th, we took a ride into the country, in the opposite
direction to our former ride. We passed through a long suburb on the
shore of the sea, and eventually emerged into a rural district, rich
and neat as that we had formerly visited; but as the country was flat,
it was hardly so interesting. The object of our visit was a temple,
far the finest I have seen either in China or Japan. We had some
luncheon in a tea-house, and got back at about 7 P.M. On the 25th, we
went to another temple, through the most crowded part of the city
(where we were stoned before). We were followed by large multitudes,
but nothing disagreeable took place. At the temple we found a scene
somewhat resembling Greenwich Fair. Immense numbers of people amusing
themselves in all sorts of ways. Stalls covered with toys and other
wares; kiosques for tea; show places, &c. &c. Life seems an affair of
enjoyment in Japan. We made some purchases, and got home by about 5
P.M., in order to receive a party. I had invited the Imperial
Commissioners to dine with me, and requested that they would send a
juggler to perform before dinner. They tried to fight shy after having
accepted, I suppose because they considered it _infra dig._ to attend
at the performance of the juggler; but they came at last, and enjoyed
the dinner part of the affair thoroughly. The juggler was good, but
one particular feat was beyond praise. He twisted a bit of paper into
the shape of a butterfly, and kept it hovering and fluttering,
lighting here or there, on a fan which he held in his other hand, on a
bunch of flowers, &c.,--all by the action on the air, produced by a
fan which he held in the right hand. At one time he started two
butterflies, and kept them both on the wing. It was the most graceful
trick I ever saw, and entirely an affair of skill, not trick. The
juggler was succeeded by the dinner, which I wound up by giving sundry
toasts, with all the honours, to the great amusement of my
Commissioners. Thursday morning was occupied in paying bills, which
was a most difficult matter, as the Government will not allow the
people to take money in the shops, and the complication of accounts
was very great. The accuracy of the Japanese in these matters is,
however, very great.
[Sidenote: Signing the Treaty]
At 1 P.M. the Commissioners came to sign the Treaty. We have agreed to
make the Dutch copy the _original,_ as it is the language both parties
understand. The Dutch copy, written by their man Moriama, was so
beautifully written, that I have kept it to send to England. After the
signature, I lunched on a dinner sent me by the Emperor; not so bad,
after all. About 3 P.M. I set off to go on board the 'Emperor' yacht,
which I reached at about 5; immediately after which the Japanese fort
saluted the British flag with twenty-one guns (ten-inch guns); as good
a salute as I ever heard, an exact interval of ten seconds between
each gun. The Japanese flag was then hoisted on the 'Emperor,' and
saluted by the 'Retribution' and 'Furious' with twenty-one guns each.
We ended the day with a collation on board the 'Retribution,' and trip
in the 'Emperor;' and as I was pacing the deck of the 'Furious,'
before retiring to rest, after my labours were over, to my great
surprise I observed that the forts were illuminated! Imagine our
daring exploit of breaking through every _consigne,_ and coming up to
Yeddo, having ended in an illumination of the forts in our honour! At
4 A.M. this morning we weighed anchor, and are now some 140 miles on
our way to Shanghae.
[Sidenote: Articles of the Treaty.]
The principal advantages secured to England by this Treaty, so amicably and
rapidly settled, were the following:--
Power to appoint a Diplomatic Agent to reside at Yeddo, and Consuls at the
open ports;
Ample recognition of Consular jurisdiction and of the immunities of
exterritoriality;
The opening to British subjects, at specified periods, of several of the
most important ports and cities of Japan;
Power to land and store supplies for the use of the British navy at
Kanagawa, Hakodadi, and Nagasaki, without payment of duty;
Power to British subjects to buy from and sell to Japanese subjects
directly, without the intervention of the Japanese authorities;
Foreign coin to pass for corresponding weights of Japanese coin of the same
description;
Abolition of tonnage and transit dues;
Reduction of duties on exports from 35 per cent. to a general rate of 5 per
cent. _ad valorem_.
The concessions obtained from the Japanese by the Treaty of Yeddo were not,
in some important particulars, so considerable as those which had been made
by China in the Treaty of Tientsin. It was, however, a material advance on
all previous treaties with Japan, and it opened the door to the gradual
establishment of relations of commerce and amity between the people of the
West and that of Japan, which might become, as Lord Elgin hoped and
believed, of the most cordial and intimate character, 'if the former did
not, by injudicious and aggressive acts, rouse against themselves the fears
and hostility of the natives.'
[Sidenote: Retrospect.]
_August 30th.--Eleven A.M._--We are again plunging into the China Sea,
and quitting the only place which I have left with any feeling of
regret since I reached this abominable East,--abominable, not so much
in itself, as because it is strewed all over with the records of our
violence and fraud, and disregard of right. The exceeding beauty
external of Japan, and its singular moral and social picturesqueness,
cannot but leave a pleasing impression on the mind. One feels as if
the position of a Daimio in Japan might not be a bad one, with two or
three millions of vassals; submissive, but not servile, because there
is no contradiction between their sense of fitness and their position.
[1] Not so, however, in the actual work of negotiating. In a despatch of
later date he writes: 'I was much struck by the business-like manner
in which they did their work; making very shrewd observations, and
putting very pertinent questions, but by no means in a captious or
cavilling spirit. Of course their criticisms were sometimes the result
of imperfect acquaintance with foreign affairs, and it was
occasionally necessary to remove their scruples by alterations in the
text which were not improvements; but on the whole, I am bound to say
that I never treated with persons who seemed to me, within the limits
of their knowledge, to be more reasonable.'--See also _infra_, p. 270.
CHAPTER XI.
FIRST MISSION TO CHINA. THE YANGTZE KIANG.
DELAYS--SUBTERFUGES DEFEATED BY FIRMNESS--REVISED TARIFF--OPIUM TRADE--
UP
THE YANGTZE KIANG--SILVER ISLAND--NANKIN--REBEL WARFARE--THE HEN-
BARRIER--
UNKNOWN WATERS--DIFFICULT NAVIGATION--HANKOW--THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL--
RETURN--
TAKING TO THE GUNBOATS--NGANCHING--NANKIN--RETROSPECT--MORE DELAYS--
TROUBLES AT CANTON--RETURN TO HONG-KONG. MISSION COMPLETED--
HOMEWARD
VOYAGE.
[Sidenote: Delays.]
Arriving at Shanghae on the 2nd of September, Lord Elgin found that the
Imperial Commissioners whom he came to meet had not yet appeared, and were
not expected for four or five weeks. All this time, therefore, he was
obliged to remain idle at Shanghae, hearing from time to time news from
Canton which made his presence there desirable, but unable to proceed
thither till the arrangements respecting the Treaty were completed.
_Shanghae.--Sunday, September 5th._--I wish to be off for England: but
I dread leaving my mission unfinished.... I feel, therefore, that I am
doomed to a month or six weeks more of China.
_September 6th._--It is very weary work staying here really doing for
the moment little. But what is to be done? It will not do to swallow
the cow and worry at the tail. I have been looking over the files of
newspapers, and those of Hong-Kong teem with abuse;--this,
notwithstanding the fact that I have made a Treaty which exceeds
everything the most imaginative ever hoped for. The truth is, they do
not really like the opening of China. They fear that their monopoly
will be interfered with.
_September 11th._--I am amused with the confident way in which the
ladies here talk of going home after five years with fortunes made.
They live in the greatest luxury,--in a tolerable climate, and think
it very hard if they are not rich enough to retire in five years.... I
do not know of any business in any part of the world that yields
returns like this. No wonder they dislike the opening of China, which
may interfere with them.
[Sidenote: Arrival of Commissioners.]
It was not till the 4th of October that the arrival was announced of the
Imperial Commissioners, including among their number his old friends
Kweiliang and Hwashana. While they were on the road, circumstances had come
to Lord Elgin's knowledge which gave him reason to fear that they might be
disposed to call in question some of the privileges conceded under the
Treaty, and that they might found on the still unsettled state of affairs
in the South a hope of succeeding in this attempt. He thought it better to
dispel all such illusions at once, by taking a high and peremptory tone
upon the latter subject. Accordingly, when his formal complaint against
Hwang, the Governor-General of the Two Kiang, for keeping up hostilities in
spite of the Treaty, was met by a promise to stop this for the future by
proclamation, he refused to accept this promise, and demanded the removal
of Hwang and the suppression of a Committee which had been formed for the
enrolment of volunteers; intimating at the same time, through a private
channel, that unless he obtained full satisfaction on the Canton question,
it was by no means improbable that he might return to Tientsin, and from
that point, or at Pekin itself, require the Emperor to keep his
engagements. This had the desired effect. The Commissioners at once
undertook, not only to issue a pacific proclamation couched in becoming
terms, but also to memorialise the Emperor for the recall of the Governor-
General, and the withdrawal of all powers from the Committee of Braves. It
may be added, that the immediate success which attended the proclamation
afforded striking confirmation of what Lord Elgin had always said, that the
best way of suppressing provincial disturbances was by bringing pressure to
bear on the Imperial power.
[Sidenote: Subterfuges,]
[Sidenote: defeated by firmness.]
_Shanghae.--Sunday, October 10th._--We have not done much yet, which
is the cause of my having written less than usual during the last few
days. I have reason to suspect that the Commissioners came here with
some hope that they might make difficulties about 'some of the
concessions obtained in the Treaty, with a kind of notion perhaps that
they might continue to bully us at Canton. If I had departed, I think
it probable enough that everything would have been thrown into
confusion, and the grand result of proving that my Treaty was waste
paper might have been attained. I have thought it necessary to take
steps to stop this sort of thing at once, so I have sent some very
peremptory letters to the Commissioners about Canton, refusing to have
anything to say to them till I am satisfied on this point, &c. I have
also, through a secret channel, had the hint conveyed to them, that if
they do not give me full satisfaction at once I am capable of going
off to Tientsin again,--a move which would no doubt cost their heads
to both Kweiliang and Hwashana. I have already extorted from them a
proclamation announcing the Treaty, and I have now demanded that they
shall remove the Governor-General of the Canton provinces from office,
and suppress the War Committee of the gentry.
_October 16th._--Yes, the report of the conclusion of a Treaty which
was conveyed so rapidly overland to St. Petersburg was true, and yet I
am not on my way home!... Do not think that I am indifferent to this
delay. It is however, for the moment, inevitable. Everything would
have been lost if I had left China. The violence and ill-will which
exist in Hong-Kong are something ludicrous.... As it is, matters are
going on very fairly with the Imperial Commissioners, and I expect an
official visit from them this day at noon. The English mail arrived
yesterday.... The visit of the Commissioners went off very well. I
think that they have accepted the situation, and intend to make the
best of it.
_October 19th_.--Yesterday I returned the visit of the Commissioners,
going in state, with a guard, &c., into the city. We had a Chinese
repast--birds'-nest soup, sharks' fins, &c. I tried to put them at
their ease, after our disagreeable encounters at Tientsin. They seemed
disposed to be conversable and friendly. The Governor-General of this
province, who is one of them, is considered a very clever man, and he
appears to have rather a notion of taking a go-ahead policy with
foreigners.
[Sidenote: The tariff.]
The chief matter that remained to be arranged was the settlement of certain
trade-regulations, supplemental to the Treaty, involving a complete
revision of the tariff.
[Sidenote: The opium trade.]
A tariff is not usually a matter of general interest; but this tariff is of
more than mere commercial importance, as having for the first time
regulated, and therefore legalised, the trade in opium.[1] Hitherto this
article had been mentioned in no treaty, but had been left to the operation
of the Chinese municipal law, which prohibited it altogether. But the
Chinese would have it; there was no lack of foreign traders, chiefly
British and American, ready to run the risk of smuggling it for the sake of
the large profits to be made upon it; and the custom-house officials, both
natives and foreign inspectors, hardly even kept up the farce of pretending
to ignore the fact. At one port, indeed, the authorities exacted from the
opium traders a sort of hush-money, equivalent to a tax about 6 per cent.
_ad valorem_. It might well be said that 'the evils of this illegal,
connived at, and corrupting traffic could hardly be overstated; that it was
degrading alike to the producer, the importer, the official, whether
foreign or Chinese, and the purchaser.'
To remedy these evils two courses were open. One was effective prohibition,
with the assistance of the Foreign Powers; but this, the Chinese
Commissioners admitted, was practically hopeless, mainly owing to the
inveterate appetite of their people for the drug. The other remained:
regulation and restriction, by the imposition of as high a duty as could be
maintained without giving a stimulus to smuggling. It was not without much
consideration that Lord Elgin adopted the latter alternative; and it was a
great satisfaction to him that his views on this subject were ultimately
shared by Mr. Reed, the Envoy of the United States, who had come to the
country with the intention of supporting the opposite opinion.
In the course of the conferences on these points, which were carried on in
the most friendly spirit, Lord Elgin induced the Commissioners to make a
separate agreement that he should be permitted, irrespectively of the
conditions imposed by the Treaty, to make an expedition up the great river
Yangtze Kiang; a permission of which he gladly availed himself, not only
for the sake of exploring a new and most interesting country, but even more
with the view of marking how entirely and cordially his Treaty was
accepted.
_Shanghae.--November 2nd._--You will, I am sure, see how necessary it
has been for me to protract my stay to this time. The systematic
endeavour to make it appear that my work was a failure could be
counteracted only by my own presence. The papers, &c., from England
are complimentary enough about the Treaty, but some of the accounts
which have gone home are somewhat exaggerated, and perhaps there will
be a reaction.... More particularly, I find a hope expressed that we
have plundered the wretched Chinese to a greater extent than is the
case.... Meanwhile, I have achieved one object, which will be, I
think, the crowning act of my mission. I have arranged with the
Imperial Commissioners that I am to proceed up the river Yangtze. The
Treaty only provides that it shall be open when the Rebels have left
it. I daresay this will give rise to comments. If so, I shall have
anticipated them, by going up the river myself. I shall take with me
my own squadron (what I had in Japan). The weather is beautiful; quite
cool enough for comfort. We shall visit a region which has never been
seen, except by a stray missionary. I shall lose by this move some
three weeks, but I do not think they will be really lost, because it
will give so very complete a demonstration of the acceptance of the
Treaty by the Chinese authorities, that even Hong-Kong will be
silenced.
_November 6th._--I hoped to have started to-day, but am obliged to
put off till Monday, as the tariff is not yet ready for signature. I
grieve over every day lost, which protracts our separation. I see that
in the very flattering article of the _Times_ of September 7th, which
you quote, it is implied that when I signed the Treaty, I had done my
work, and that the responsibility of seeing that it was carried out
rests with others. If this be true--and you will no doubt think so--I
might have returned at once, at least after Japan. But is it true?
Could I, in fairness to my country, or, in what I trust you believe
comes second in the rank of motives with me, to my own reputation,
leave the work which I had undertaken unfinished?... Besides, I own
that I have a conscientious feeling on the subject. I am sure that in
our relations with these Chinese we have acted scandalously, and I
would not have been a party to the measures of violence which have
taken place, if I had not believed that I could work out of them some
good for them. Could I leave this, the really noblest part of my task,
to be worked out by others? Anyone could have obtained the Treaty of
Tientsin. What was really meritorious was, that it should have been
obtained at so small a cost of human suffering. But this is also what
discredits it in the eyes of _many_, of _almost all_ here. If we had
carried on war for some years; if we had carried misery and desolation
all over the Empire; it would have been thought quite natural that the
Emperor should have been reduced to accept the terms imposed upon him
at Tientsin. But to do all this by means of a demonstration at
Tientsin! The announcement was received with a yell of derision by
connoisseurs and baffled speculators in tea. And indeed there was some
ground for scepticism. It would have been very easy to manage matters
here, so as to bring into question all the privileges which we had
acquired by that Treaty. Even then we should have gained a great deal
by it; because when we came to assert those rights by force, we should
have had a good, instead of a bad _casus belli_. But I was desirous,
if possible, to avoid the necessity for further recurrence to force;
and it required some skill to do this. This has been my motive for
protracting my stay.
[Sidenote: The tariff signed.]
_H.M.S. 'Furious.'--November 8th_.--I write a line to tell you that I
got over the signature of my tariff, &c., very satisfactorily this
morning, and set off in peace with all men, including Chinese
Plenipotentiaries, and colleagues European and American, on my way up
the Yangtze Kiang. We are penetrating into unknown regions, but I
trust shortly to be able to report to you my return, and all the
novelties I shall have seen.
[Sidenote: Afloat on the Yangtze Kiang.]
This morning at ten, I went to a temple which lies exactly between the
foreign settlement and the Chinese town of Shanghae, to meet there the
Imperial Commissioners, and to sign the tariff. We took with us the
photographs which Jocelyn had done for them, and which we had framed.
They were greatly delighted, and altogether my poor friends seemed in
better spirits than I had before seen them in. We passed from
photography to the electric telegraph, and I represented to them the
great advantage which the Emperor would derive from it in so extensive
an empire as China; how it would make him present in all the
provinces, &c. They seemed to enter into the subject. The conference
lasted rather more than an hour. After it, I returned to the
consulate, taking a tender adieu of Gros By the way. I embarked at 1,
and got under weigh at 2 P.M.... The tide was very strong against us,
so we have not made much way, but we are really in the Yangtze river.
We have moored between two flats with trees upon them; the mainland on
the left, and an island (Bush Island), recently formed from the mud of
the river, on the right. Though the earth has been uninteresting, it
has not been so with the sky, for the dark shades of night, which have
been gathering and thickening on the right have been confronted on
the left by the brightest imaginable star, and the thinnest possible
crescent moon, both resting on a couch of deep and gradually deepening
crimson. I have been pacing the bridge between the paddle-boxes,
contemplating this scene, until we dropped our anchor, and I came down
to tell you of this my first experience of the Yangtze. And what will
the sum of those experiences be? We are going into an unknown region,
along a river which, beyond Nankin, has not been navigated by
Europeans. We are to make our way through the lines of those strange
beings the Chinese Rebels. We are to penetrate beyond them to cities,
of the magnitude and population of which fabulous stories are told;
among people who have never seen Western men; who have probably heard
the wildest reports of us; to whom we shall assuredly be stranger than
they can possibly be to us. What will the result be? Will it be a
great disappointment, or will its interest equal the expectations it
raises? Probably before this letter is despatched to you, it will
contain an answer more or less explicit to these questions.
_Sunday, November 14th.--Six P.M._--We have just dropped anchor, some
eighty miles from Woosung. I wish that you had been with me on this
evening's trip. You would have enjoyed it. During the earlier part of
the afternoon we were going on merrily together. The two gunboats
ahead, the 'Furious' and 'Retribution' abreast, sometimes one,
sometimes the other, taking the lead. After awhile we (the 'Furious')
put out our strength, and left gunboats and all behind. When the sun
had passed the meridian, the masts and sails were a protection from
his rays, and as he continued to drop towards the water right ahead of
us, he strewed our path, first with glittering silver spangles, then
with roses, then with violets, through all of which we sped
ruthlessly. The banks still flat, until the last part of the trip,
when we approached some hills on the left, not very lofty, but clearly
defined, and with a kind of dreamy softness about them, which reminded
one of Egypt. Altogether, it was impossible to have had anything more
charming in the way of yachting; the waters a perfect calm, or hardly
crisped by the breeze that played on their surface. We rather wish for
more wind, as the 'Cruiser' cannot keep up without a little help of
that kind.
[Sidenote: Aground.]
[Sidenote: Silver Island.]
_November 16th.--Noon_.--A bad business. We were running through a
narrow channel which separates Silver Island from the mainland, in
very deep water, when all of a sudden we were brought up short, and
the ship rolled two or three times right and left, in a way which
reminded me of a roll which we had in the 'Ava' immediately after
starting from Calcutta. On that occasion we saw beside us the tops of
the masts of a ship, and were told it had struck on the same sand-
bank, and gone down about an hour before. Our obstacle on this
occasion is a rock; a very small one, for we have deep water all
around us. However, here we are. I hope our ship will not suffer from
the strain. It is curious that in this narrow pass, where fifty ships
went through and returned in 1842, this rock should exist and never
have been discovered. _Six P.M._--The sun has just set among a crowd
of mountains which bound the horizon ahead of us, and in such a blaze
of fiery light that earth and sky in his neighbourhood have been all
too glorious to look upon. Standing out in advance on the edge of this
sea of molten gold, is a solitary rock, about a quarter of the size of
the Bass, which goes by the name of Golden Island, and serves as the
pedestal of a tall pagoda. I never saw a more beautiful scene, or a
more magnificent sunset; but alas! we see it under rather melancholy
circumstances, for after six hours of trying in all sorts of ways to
get off, we are as fast aground as ever. We are now lightening the
ship. Silver Island is a kind of sacred island like Potou, but very
much smaller.[2] I went ashore, and walked over it with a bonze, who
conversed with Lay. He told us that the people in the neighbourhood
are very poor, and will be glad that foreigners should come and trade
with them. The bonzes here are much like their brethren of Potou, the
most wretched-looking of human beings. Our friend told us that they
have no books or occupation of any kind. Four times a day they go
through their prayers. He had twelve bald spots on his head, which,
were the record of so many vows he had taken to abstain from so many
vices, which he enumerated. I gave them five dollars when I left the
island, which seemed to astonish them greatly. I asked him what would
happen if he broke his vows. He said that he would be beaten and sent
away. If he kept them he hoped to become in time a Buddha.
_November 17th.--Six P.M._--After taking 150 tons out of the ship,
we have just made an attempt to get her off--in vain. The glorious sun
has again set, holding out to us the same attractions in the west as
yesterday, in vain! Here we remain, as motionless as the rock on which
we are perched. I have not been quite idle, however. I landed about
noon on the shore opposite Silver Island, and walked about three miles
to the town of Chin-kiang. It was taken by us in the last war, and
sadly maltreated, but since then it has been captured by the Rebels
and re-captured by the Imperialists. I could hardly have imagined such
a scene of desolation. I do not think there is a house that is not a
ruin. I believe the population used to be about 300,000, but now I
suppose it cannot exceed a few hundreds. The people are really, I
believe, glad to see us. They hope we may give them free trade and
protection from the Rebels. A commodore and post-captain in the
Chinese navy came off to us this afternoon. They were very civil,
offering to do anything for us they could. They tell us we can go in
this ship to Hankow and the Poyang Lake. We have found another rock
beside us, and only think that this should not have been known by our
Navy!
[Sidenote: Afloat again.]
_November 18th.--Eight P.M._--At about 6 P.M. I was crossing on a
plank over a gully, on my return from an expedition to Golden Island,
when three rounds of cheers from the 'Furious,' about a mile off,
struck my ear. Three rounds of cheers, followed by as many from the
other ships. She was off the rock! Some 250 tons were taken out, and
when the tide rose she came off--nothing the worse! and our time has
not been quite lost, for this is an interesting place, if only because
of the insight which it gives into the proceedings of the Rebels.
Golden Island is about five miles from here. It was a famous Buddhist
sanctuary, and contained their most valuable library. Its temples are
now a ruin.
_November 20th.--Noon._--Yesterday I took a long walk, not marked by
any noteworthy incidents. We went into some of the cottages of the
small farmers. In one we found some men smoking opium. They said that
they smoked about 80 cash (fourpence) worth a day: that their wages
when they worked for hire were 120 cash (sixpence). The opium was
foreign (Indian): the native was not good. I asked how they could
provide for their wives and families if they spent so much on opium.
They said they had land, generally from two to three acres apiece.
They paid about a tenth of the produce as a tax. They were very good-
humoured, and delighted to talk to Wade and Lay. They appear to
welcome us more here than in other places I have visited in China.
[Sidenote: Fired on from Nankin.]
_Eight P.M._--We have been under fire. The orders given on our
approach to Nankin were, that the 'Lee' should go in advance; that if
fired on, she should hoist a flag of truce; if the flag of truce was
fired on, she was not to return the fire until ordered to do so. It
was a lovely evening, and the sun was sinking rapidly as we approached
Nankin, the 'Lee' about a mile in advance. I was watching her, and saw
her pass the greater part of the batteries in front of the town. I was
just making up my mind that all was to go off quietly, when a puff of
smoke appeared from a fort, followed by the booming of a cannon. The
'Lee' on this hoisted her white flag in vain; seven more shots were
fired from the forts at her before she returned them. Then, to be
sure, we began all along the line, all the forts firing at us as we
came within their range. I was on the paddlebox-bridge till a shot
passed very nearly over our heads, and Captain Osborn advised me to go
down. We were struck seven times; one of the balls making its way into
my cabin. In our ship nobody was hit; but there was one killed and two
badly wounded in the 'Retribution.' We have passed the town; but I
quite agree with the naval authorities, that we cannot leave the
matter as it now stands. If we were to do so, the Chinese would
certainly say they had had the best of it, and on our return we might
be still more seriously attacked. It is determined, therefore, that
to-morrow we shall set to work and demolish some of the forts that
have insulted us. I hope the Rebels will make some communication, and
enable us to explain that we mean them no harm; but it is impossible
to anticipate what these stupid Chinamen will do.
[Sidenote: Retribution.]
_November 21st.--Eleven A.M._--We had about an hour and a half of it
this morning. We began at 6 A.M. at the nearest fort, and went on to
two or three others. We pounded them pretty severely, and very few
shots were fired in return. They seemed to have exhausted themselves
in last night's attack. As soon as my naval chiefs thought that we had
done enough for our honour, I begged them to go on, as I did not want
to have to hand over the town to the Imperialists, who are hemming it
round on every side. I am sorry that we should have been forced to do
what we have done; but I do not think we could have acted with greater
circumspection.... A set of Imperialist junks set to work to fire at
the town as we were leaving off, throwing their shot from a most
wonderfully safe distance.
[Sidenote: Apologies.]
_November 22nd._--Last night a letter came off from our 'humble
younger brother' (the Rebel chief), praying us to join them in
annihilating the 'demons' (Imperialists). I sent them in reply a sort
of proclamation which I had prepared in the morning, intimating that
we had come up the river pacifically; had punished the Nankin forts
for having insulted us, from which persons repeating the experiment
would learn what they had to expect. Later at night a present of
twelve fowls and two pieces of red bunting came to the river bank,
from some villagers, I believe. When Captain Ward was on shore
surveying, two Chinamen came to him, stating that an express had come
from Nankin to say that the attack on us was a mistake, and we were
taken for Imperialists, &c. &c. I hope, therefore, that we shall have
no more trouble of this description.
[Sidenote: Woohoo.]
_November 23rd.--Six P.M._--Arrived off Woohoo at about 3 P.M. We
passed the town, and anchored just above it. It is in the hands of the
Rebels, but no hostility was shown to us. Wade has been on shore to
communicate with the chiefs, who are very civil, but apparently a low
set of Cantonese. The place where he landed is a kind of entrenched
camp; the town about three miles distant. An Imperialist fleet is
moored a few miles up the river. I sent Lay to communicate with the
commanding officer, and he recommends the 'Retribution' to go a little
farther on to a place in the possession of the Imperialists.
[Sidenote: Rebel warfare.]
_November 24th.--Ten A.M._--We set off this morning at about 6 A.M. In
passing the fleet we begged from the commander the loan of a pilot. He
proves to be a Cantonese, so that the active spirits on both sides
seem to come from that quarter. We asked him why the Imperialists do
not take Woohoo. He says they have no guns of a sufficient size to do
anything against the forts, but that about twice a month they have a
fight on shore. They cut off the heads of Rebels, and _vice versa_,
when they catch each other, which does not seem to happen very often.
The war, in short, seems to be carried on in a very soft manner, but
it must do a great deal of mischief to the country. While I was
dressing I was called out of my cabin to see a fight going on, on the
right bank of the river. The Rebels occupied some hills, where they
were waving flags gallantly, and the Imperialists were below them in a
plain. We saw only two or three cannon shots fired while we passed. As
things are carried on, one does not see why this war should not last
for ever. My friends, the Commissioners, seem to have acted in good
faith towards me, for the Chinese naval authorities all inform me that
they had been forewarned of our coming, and ordered to treat us with
every courtesy.
[Sidenote: The Imperial fleet.]
_November 25th.--Ten A.M._--We have just passed a bit of scenery on
our left, which reminds me of Ardgowan,--a range of lofty hills in the
background, broken up by deep valleys and hillocks covered with trees;
dark-green fir, and hard wood tinted with Canadian autumn colours,
running up towards it from the river. With two or three thousand
acres--what a magnificent situation for a park! There are so many
islets in this river that it is not easy to speak of its breadth, but
its channel still continues deep, and, with occasional exceptions,
navigable without difficulty. _Six P.M._--A very pretty spectacle
closed this day. The sun was dropping into the western waters before
us as we approached a place called Tsong-yang, on the left bank. We
knew it was the station of an Imperial fleet, and as we neared it we
found about thirty or forty warjunks, crowded with men and dressed in
their gaudiest colours. Flags of every variety and shape. On one junk
we counted twenty-one. You cannot imagine a prettier sight. We
anchored, supposing that the authorities might come off to us. As yet,
however, they have shown no disposition to do so. I presume, however,
that the display is a compliment. Figure to yourself the gala I have
described at the mouth of a broad stream running at right angles to
the river Yangtze, and up which the town lies, about two miles off--
the river, plains, town and all, surrounded by an amphitheatre of
lofty hills--and you will have an idea of the scene in the midst of
which we are anchored, and from which, the golden tints of sunset are
now gradually fading away.
[Sidenote: Under fire again.]
_November 26th.--Noon._--We have just had another sample of this very
unedifying Chinese warfare. About an tour ago we came off the city of
Nganching, the capital of the province of Aganhoci--the last station
(so we are assured) in the hands of the Rebels. As we neared a pagoda,
surrounded by a crenelated wall, we were fired upon two or three
times. We thought it necessary to resent this affront by peppering the
place for about ten minutes. We then moved slowly past the town,
unassaulted till we reached the farther corner, when the idiots had
the temerity to fire again. This brought us a second time into action.
It is a sorry business this fighting with the people who are so little
a match; but I do not suppose we did them much harm, and it was, I
presume, necessary to teach them that they had better leave us alone.
Osborn, who was aloft, saw from that point a curious scene. The
Imperialists (probably taking advantage of our vicinity) were
advancing on the town from the land side in skirmishing order, waving
their flags and gambolling as usual. The Pagoda Rebels ran out of it
as soon as we began to fire, and found themselves tumbling into the
arms of the Imperialists. We passed this morning a narrow rocky
passage, otherwise the navigation has been easy.
[Sidenote: A pilot.]
_Six P.M._--Anchored off Tunglow, a walled town, nicely situated on
the river. The sun is sinking to his repose through a mist, red and
round, like a great ball of fire. The pilot is the most vivacious
Chinaman I have seen,--inquiring about everything, proposing to go to
England, like a Japanese. It was from the naval commander at Kiewhein
that we got him. Lay was present when the commodore sent for him. He
fell on his knees. The chief informed him that he must go up the river
with us, and pilot us. 'That is a public service,' says the man, 'and
if your Excellency desires it I must go; but I would humbly submit
that I have a mother and sister who must be provided for in my
absence.' 'Certainly,' said the chief. 'Then,' answered our man, 'I am
ready;' and without further a-do he got into the boat with Lay and
came off to us.
_November 27th.--Eight A.M._--We started well, but there is such a fog
that we are obliged to stop till it clears. Our pilot went ashore last
night at Tunglow, and has returned with the front part of his head
cleanly shaved. I asked him what the people had thought of our
appearance. He answered that they were greatly afraid lest we should
fire upon them, and their hearts at first went pit-a-pat; but when
they heard from him how well we treated him, and that we were no
friends to the Rebels, they said 'Poussa' ('that's Buddha's doing' or
'thank God').
[Sidenote: Sand storm.]
_November 28th.--Eleven A.M._--The morning began as usual: calm, fair,
and hazy. At about nine it began to blow, and gradually rose to a
gale, causing our river ripple to mimic ocean waves, and the dust and
sand to fly before us in clouds, obscuring earth and sky. About ten we
approached a mountain range, which had been for some time looming on
the horizon. We found we had to pass through a channel of about a
quarter of a mile wide; on our left, a series of barren hills, bold
and majestic-looking in the mist; on the right, a solitary rock,
steep, conical-shaped, and about 300 feet high. On the side of it a
Buddhist temple, perched like a nest. The hills on the left were
crowned by walls and fortifications built some time ago by the Rebels,
and running over them in all manner of zigzag and fantastic
directions. I have seldom seen a more striking bit of scenery. When we
had passed through we found more hills, with intervals of plains, in
one of which lay the district city of Tongtze, enclosed by walls which
run along the top of the hills surrounding it. The inhabitants crowded
to the shore to witness the strange apparition of foreign vessels.
[Sidenote: The 'Hen Barrier.']
I mentioned a rocky passage through which we passed on the morning of
the 26th. Ellis, in his account of Lord Amherst's Embassy, speaks of
it as a place of great difficulty. A series of rocks like stepping-
stones run over a great part, and the passage is obtained by sticking
close to the left bank. Our pilot tells us that it is named the 'Hen
Barrier,' and for the following reason: Once on a time, there dwelt on
the right bank an evil spirit, in the guise of a rock, shaped like a
hen. This evil spirit coveted some of the good land on the opposite
side, and proceeded to cross, blocking up the stream on her way. The
good spirits, in consternation, applied to a bonze, who, after some
reflection, bethought himself of a plan for arresting the mischief. He
set to work to crow like a cock. The hen rock, supposing that it was
the voice of her mate, turned round to look. The spell was instantly
broken. She dropped into the stream, and the natives, indignant at her
misdeeds, proceeded into it and cut off her head!
I have been skimming over a Chinese book, translated by Stanislas
Julien: the travels of a Buddhist. It is full of legends of the
character of that which I have now narrated.
[Sidenote: Peasants.]
_November 29th.--12.30 P.M._--We have been very near the bank this
morning. I see more cattle on the farms than in other parts of China.
They are generally buffaloes, used for agricultural purposes; and when
out at pasture, a little boy is usually perched on the back of each to
keep it from straying. _Six P.M._--I went ashore to pass the time, and
got into conversation with some of the peasants. One man told us that
he had about three acres of land, which yielded him about twenty
piculs (1-1/3 ton) of pulse or grain annually, worth about forty
dollars. His tax amounted to about three-fourths of a dollar. There
was a school in the hamlet. Children attending it paid about two
dollars a year. But many were too poor to send their children to
school. We went into another cottage. It was built of reeds on the
bare ground. In a recess screened off were two young men lying on the
ground, with their lamp between them, smoking opium.
[Sidenote: Unknown waters.]
[Sidenote: Kew-kiang.]
_November 30th._--We are now in waters which no Englishman, as far as
is known, has ever seen. Lord Amherst passed into the Poyang Lake
through the channel I described yesterday, and so on to Canton. We are
proceeding up the river Yangtze. Hue came down this route, but by
land. I mentioned the sand-drifts two days ago. Some of the hills here
look like the sand-hills of Egypt, from the layers of sand with which
they are covered. What with inundations in summer and sand-drifts in
winter, this locality must have some drawbacks as a residence.
_Noon._--Anchored again. We have before us in sight the pagoda of Kew-
kiang; one of the principal points which we proposed to reach when we
embarked on this expedition.... We have not much to hope for from our
Chinese pilot. Our several mishaps have disheartened him. He said to-
day with a sigh, when reminded that we had found no passage in the
channel he had specially recommended: 'The ways of waters are like
those of men, one day here, another there, who can tell!'--a promising
frame of mind for one's guide in this intricate navigation! _Five
P.M._--We found a channel in about an hour, and came on swimmingly to
Kew-kiang. From the water it looked imposing enough. An enclosing wall
of about five miles in circuit, and in tolerable condition. I landed
at 3 P.M. What a scene of desolation within the wall! It seems to have
suffered even more than Chin-kiang Foo. A single street running
through a wilderness of weeds and ruins. The people whom we questioned
said the Rebels did it all. The best houses we found were outside the
city in the suburb. We were of course very strange in a town where the
European dress has never been seen, but the people were as usual
perfectly good-natured, delighted to converse with Lay, and highly
edified by his jokes. We did some commissariat business. We had with
us only Mexican dollars, and when we offered them at the first shop
the man said he did not like them as he did not know them. Lay said,
'Come to the ship and we will give you Sycee instead.' 'See how just
they are,' said a man in the crowd to his neighbour; 'they do not
force their coin upon him.' This kind of ready recognition of moral
worth is quite Chinese, and nothing will convince me that a people who
have this quality so marked are to be managed only by brutality and
violence.
[Sidenote: Difficult navigation.]
[Sidenote: Highland scenery.]
_December 1st.--1.30 P.M._--We have just anchored. About an hour ago,
we turned sharply to our left, and found on that hand a series of red
sand-bluffs leading to a range of considerable blue hills which faced
us in the distance; the river, as has been the case since we left the
Rebel country, was covered with small country junks, and here and
there a mandarin one, covered with flags, and with its highly-polished
brass gun in the prow. The scene had become more interesting, but the
navigation more difficult, for the gunboats began hoisting '3' and
'4,' and all manner of ominous numbers. So we had: 'Hands to the port
anchor,' 'slower,' and 'as slow as possible,' 'a turn astern,' and
after a variety of fluctuations, 'drop the anchor.' _Six P.M._--We had
to go a short way back, and to pass, moreover, a very shallow bit of
the river; that done we went on briskly, and bore down upon the
mountain range which we descried in the forenoon. At about four we
came up to it and turned to the right, with the mountains on our left
and the town of Wooseuh on our right, while the setting sun, glowing
as ever, was throwing his parting rays over one of the most beautiful
scenes I ever witnessed. The whole population crowded to the river
bank to see this wonderful apparition of the barbarian fire-ships. The
hills rising from the water had a kind of Loch Katrine look. We have
made some thirty-five miles to-day, but have still, I fear, about 100
to go.
_December 2d.--Eleven A.M._--A very prosperous forenoon. Mountains
soon rose to the right, similar to those on the left. We cut our way
through deep calm water, amid these hills of grey rock and fir woods,
for some three hours and might really have imagined ourselves in the
finest loch scenery of the Highlands. Numbers of little boats dotted
the river, and moved off respectfully to the right and left as we
approached. At about ten we passed out of the mountain range, and soon
after neared Chechow, from which the population seemed to be moving,
as we inferred from the numbers of small-footed women hobbling along
the bank with their household effects. We were boarded by a mandarin-
boat, the officer of which informed me that he had been sent by the
Governor-General to pay his respects. He said that the Rebels were at
no great distance, and the people were flying for fear of their
attacking the town. He added, however, that they (the Imperialists)
had a large force of cavalry in the neighbourhood, and that they would
check the exodus of the inhabitants. Between Imperialists and Rebels,
the people must have a nice time of it. His best piece of news was
that we are only about fifty miles from Hankow. I trust that it may be
so, for, despite my love of adventure, I shall be glad when we are
able to turn back and proceed homewards.
[Sidenote: Popular view of the religion of the Rebels.]
The reason which the pilot assigns for the destruction of the temples
by the Rebels is the following: 'At present,' says he, 'the rich have
a great advantage over the poor. They can afford to spend a great deal
more in joss-sticks and other offerings, so that, of course, the gods
show them a very undue allowance of favour. The Rebels, who do not
approve of these invidious distinctions, get rid of them by destroying
the temples altogether.' This is evidently a popular version of the
religious character of the Rebel movement. A Buddhist priest, whom I
saw at Kew-kiang, said that the Rebels had destroyed some forty
temples there. 'They do not worship in temples,' he said, 'but they
have a worship of their own.' The room in which Mr. Wade saw the Rebel
chief at Woo-how was said to be their place of worship. It had no
altar, nor anything to distinguish it as such.
_December 4th.--Six P.M._--Anchored again for the night, not half a
mile farther than yesterday. An island in process of formation,
covered at high water, separates the two anchorages. We had to go
back, &c., and ended the day's work by getting through a very tight
place in a most masterly manner; leadsmen sounding at the bow and
stern, as well as at the two paddles, and the 'Lee' and 'Cruiser'
stationed as pivots at the edges of the shoal. We had to perform a
sort of letter S round them, and we passed by the latter so near, that
we might have shaken hands with the crew. I should be amused with
these triumphs, were it not for the reflection that we have to repeat
them all in returning, with a favouring current, which will make our
task more difficult.
[Sidenote: Hankow.]
_December 6th.--Three P.M._--At Hankow; four weeks, almost to a
minute, since we left Shanghae. We have brought this ship to a point
about 600 miles from the sea,--a feat, I should think, unprecedented
for a vessel of this size. We have reached the heart of the commerce
of China. At first sight, I am disappointed in the magnitude of the
place. I am anchored off the mouth of the river Han, which separates
Hankow and Han-yang on the left bank of the Yangtze. On its right bank
is Ouchang Foo. I do not see room for the eight millions of people, at
which rumour puts the population of these three towns. The scene is
very animated. We are surrounded by hundreds of boats, and the banks
are a sea of heads. My gentlemen are gone ashore. I think I shall get
through the streets more conveniently to-morrow morning.
_December 7th.--Four P.M._--I have just returned from a walk through
Hankow. Like all the places we have visited on this trip, it seems to
have been almost entirely destroyed by the Rebels; but it is
recovering rapidly, and exhibits a great deal of commercial activity.
The streets are wider and shops larger than one generally finds them
in China. When 'foreign' parties landed yesterday, they were a good
deal pestered by officious mandarin followers, who, by way of keeping
order, kept bambooing all the unhappy natives who evinced a desire to
see the foreigners. In order to defeat this plan, which was manifestly
adopted with the view of preventing us from coming in contact with the
people, I landed near Han-yang, on the side of the river Han opposite
to Hankow, and walked in the first instance to the top of a hill where
there is a kind of fortress, from which we had a good view of Ouchang,
Han-yang, and Hankow. The day was rather misty, but we saw enough to
satisfy us that there must have been great exaggeration in previous
reports of the magnitude of these places. Some of the mandarin
satellites tried to accompany us on our walk, but we soon sent them
about their business. After seeing all we wished of the view, we
descended and crossed the river Han in a sampan to Hankow, where we
walked about for some hours, followed by a crowd of perfectly
respectable people. As some hint was conveyed to me implying, that it
was hoped we would not go to Ouchang, I have sent a letter to the
Governor-General of the Two Hoo, who resides there, informing him that
I intend to call upon him to-morrow. I shall go with as large an
escort as I can muster. These Chinamen are such fools that, with all
my desire to befriend them, I find it sometimes difficult to keep
patience with them. They are doing all they can to prevent us from
having any dealings with the people; refusing our dollars, sending us
supplies as presents, &c. I have sent back the presents, stating that
I must have supplies, and that I will pay for them.
_December 8th.--Eleven A.M._--An officer has been off from the
Governor-General, proposing that my visit should take place to-morrow,
in order that there may be sufficient time for the preparations. He
was very profuse in his protestations of good-will, but as usual there
were a number of little points on which it was necessary to take a
half-bullying tone. 'I could not have a chair with eight bearers; such
a thing had never been seen at Ouchang. There were not thirty chairs
(the number for which we had applied) in the whole place.' 'Lord Elgin
won't land with less, do as you please,' was the answer given. Of
course, the difficulties immediately vanished. Considerable
indignation was expressed at the fact that some of our officers had
been prevented from entering the town of Ouchang yesterday. A hope was
expressed that nobody would land on the Ouchang side to-day; all would
be arranged by to-morrow to our satisfaction, &c. &c. So, after an
interview, in which there was the necessary admixture of the bitter
and the sweet, the officer was sent back to his master. Supplies are
coming off in abundance to the ships. In short, the people are most
desirous to buy and sell, if the authorities will only leave them
alone. _Six P.M._--I have had a long walk on the same side of the
river as yesterday. We first went through the whole depth of Hankow,
on a line parallel with the river Han. We estimated our walk in this
direction at about two miles, but a good deal of it was along a single
street flanked on both sides by ruins. We then embarked in a sanpan
and came down the Han, passing through a multitude of junks of great
variety in shape and cargo. We landed near its mouth on the Han-yang
side, and walked to that town, which is a Foo or prefectoral city, and
walled. It contains the remains of some buildings of pretension,
triumphal arches, &c., which, imply that it must have been a place of
some distinction, but it has been sadly maltreated by the Rebels.
_December 9th.--Four P.M._--The day is rainy, and the purser complains
of difficulty in making his purchases yesterday, and that coal is not
coming off to us as promised, &c.; so I thought it expedient to do a
little in the bullying line to keep all straight. When the Governor-
General therefore sent off this morning to say that he was ready to
receive me, I despatched Wade and Lay to inform him in reply that the
day was too bad for me to land, and that I had to complain of the
difficulties put in my way about money, &c. He received them in
person, and was very gracious; said that he had been at Canton; that
he understood all about us; that if he had been there, Yeh would never
have behaved as he did; that in former days the Chinese Government had
bullied us; that we had bullied them of late years; that it was much
better that henceforward we should settle matters reasonably; that he
was desirous to show me every attention in his power; that when the
port should be open he would do all he could to promote commerce and
good understanding. In short, he spoke very sensibly. It is
exceedingly probable that if he had not got a little check, he might
have kept us at as great a distance as possible; but, be that as it
may, it is just another proof of how easy it is to manage the Chinese
by a little tact and firmness. We are now loading coal, flour, &c., as
fast as we can take it on board.
[Sidenote: Visit to Governor-General.]
_December 10th.--Six P.M._--This day broke fine and clear, so I sent
off to the Governor-General to tell him that if he would receive me I
would visit him at 2 P.M. We went with considerable pomp. A salute
going and returning. A guard of eighty marines and sailors, and a
party of about thirty in chairs. We passed through about a mile of the
town of Ouchang Foo, and were received by the Governor-General and his
suite, dressed in their best. The ceremony was as usual; conversation
and tea in the front room, followed by a more substantial repast in
the second. I have never, however, seen a reception in China so
sumptuous, the authorities so well got up, and the feeding so well
arranged. The Governor-General is a good-looking man, less artificial
in his manner than Chinese authorities usually are. He is a Mantchoo.
It is rather hard to make conversation when one is seated at the top
of a room surrounded by some hundred people, and when, moreover, one
has nothing to say, and that nothing has to be said through an
interpreter. However, the ceremony went off very well. After it, I got
rid of my ribbon and star, and took a stroll _incog._ through Hankow,
where we bought some tea. Ouchang seems a large town with some good
houses and streets, but sadly knocked about by the Rebels. We are
getting all our supplies, &c., on board, and hope to start to-morrow
evening.
[Sidenote: Return visit.]
_December 11th.--Six P.M._--This day the Governor-General paid me a
return visit. We received him with all honour; manned yards of all
four ships, and gave him a salute of three guns from each. It has been
a beautiful day, and the scene was a striking one when he came off in
a huge junk like a Roman trireme, towed by six boats, bedizened by any
number of triangular flags of all colours. A line of troops, horse and
foot, lined the beach along which he passed from the gate of the city
to the place of embarkation; quaint enough both in uniform and
armament, but still with something of a pretension to both about them.
I have seen nothing in China with so much display and style about it
as the turn-out of the Governor-General of the Two Hoo, both to-day
and yesterday. We showed him the ship, feasted him, photographed him,
and entertained him one way or another for upwards of three hours.
After he had departed, I landed on the Ouchang side, and walked
through the walled city. Some objection was made to our entering, as
we went through a side instead of the main gate, but we persevered and
carried our point. The city is a fine one, about the size of Canton,
but much in ruins. To-morrow at six, please God, we set forth on our
return. I may mention as an illustration of the state of Ouchang, that
in walking over a hill in the very centre of the walled town, we put
up two brace of pheasants!
[Sidenote: Retro-sum.]
_December 12th.--Eleven A.M._--We are on our way back to Shanghae. I
am very glad of it, because we have accomplished all the good we could
possibly expect to effect at Hankow, and I am becoming very tired of
the length of time which our expedition has lasted. It is a feat to
have reached this point with these big ships at this season of the
year, and I think the effect of our visit will be considerable. The
people evidently have no objection to us, and the resistance opposed
by the authorities can always be overcome by tact and firmness.
_December 13th.--Nine A.M._--At about eight we heaved anchor, having
carefully buoyed this very awkward passage. The current ran about four
miles an hour, and at some points where the leadsmen were calling out
sixteen and seventeen feet, the channel was not much greater than the
width of the ship, and we draw about fifteen and a half feet of water,
so it was a nervous matter to get through. To make the vessel answer
the helm it was necessary to go faster than the current, and difficult
to do this without proceeding at such a rapid rate as would, if we had
chanced to take the ground, have stuck us upon it immovably. We
skirted our several buoys in a most masterly manner, and are now
anchored till they have been picked up.... _Six P.M._--'Where we had
eighteen feet as we came up, we cannot find fourteen now,' are the
ominous words which Captain Osborn has just addressed to me as he
reached the deck from a surveying expedition.... It looks a little
serious, for I fear there is a worse place beyond.
[Sidenote: Peasantry.]
_December 14th.--Six P.M._--I went on shore this morning when there
was no prospect of moving.... We took a long walk, conversing with the
peasants who live in a row of cottages with their well-cultivated
lands in front and rear of their dwellings; the lands are generally
their own, and of not more than three or four acres in extent I should
think, but it is difficult to get accurate information from them on
such points. We found one rather superior sort of man, who said he was
a tenant, and that he paid four out of ten parts of the produce of his
farm to the landlord. They gave me the impression of being a well-to-
do peasantry. Afterwards I walked through the country town of Paho,
which is built of stone, and seemingly prosperous. The Rebels had
destroyed all the temples.
_December 15th.--Four P.M._--At about one we had passed the village of
Hwang-shih-kiang, and were entering that part of the river I described
as a fine site for a Highland deer forest, when the 'Lee' hoisted the
'negative' (the signal to stop). She had got on a rock, where, on our
way up, we had found no bottom at ten fathoms. I landed immediately,
and found the people engaged in quarrying and manufacturing lime from
the hills on the right bank. We had a pleasant walk; the day being
beautiful, and the scenery very fine. They sell their lime at about
17$. per ton (200 cash a picul), and buy the small coal which they
employ in their kilns at about 25$. (300 cash a picul). I wish I could
do as well at Broomhall!
[Sidenote: Hunting for a channel.]
[Sidenote: Literary degrees.]
_December 17th.--Ten A.M._--The gunboats are hunting for a channel....
I am going ashore. On this day last year I embarked on board this ship
for the first time. What an eventful time I have spent since then!
_Four P.M._--I have returned from my walk, but, alas! no good news to
greet me. Only eleven feet of water, where we found seventeen on the
way up.... Our walk was pleasant enough, though it rained part of the
time. Some of the gentlemen shot, for the whole of China is a
preserve, the game hardly being molested by the natives. We went into
the house of a small landowner of some three or four acres; over the
door was a tablet to the honour of a brother who had gained the
highest literary degree, and was therefore eligible for the highest
offices in the State. The owner himself was not so literary, and had
bought the degree of _bachelor_ for 108 taels (about 35_l_.). If he
tried to purchase the degree of _master_ he would have, he said, 1,000
taels to pay, besides passing through some kind of examination. We
asked him about the Rebels. He said that when they visited the rural
districts, they took whatever they pleased, saying that it belonged to
their Heavenly Father. Before meat they make a prayer to the Heavenly
Father, ending with a vow to destroy the 'demons' (Imperialists).
'But,' added my informant, 'they are poor creatures, and their
Heavenly Father does not seem to do much for them.' We also visited a
manufactory where they were extracting oil from cotton-seed.
_December 18th.--Six P.M._--We are to try a channel, such as it is,
to-morrow morning. I landed for a walk. Wade took a gun with him. We
saw quantities of waterfowl of all kinds. The plain on the left bank
of the river is bounded on the other side by a pretty lake. The plain
is subject to inundations, and seems to be covered by a bed of sand of
about five feet in thickness. The people cultivate it by trenching for
the clay beneath, and mixing it with the sand.
_December 19th.--10.30 A.M._--The 'Cruiser' went through this bad
passage safely. We followed, and are now aground. Anchors are being
laid out in hopes of dragging the ship over.
[Sidenote: Pressing through the mud.]
_December 20th.--Eleven A.M._--Our difficulty yesterday was not
unexpected,... but we were compelled to make the attempt. The mud was
very soft, and as we pressed against it, kept breaking away; but the
difficulty was, that as we moved the shoal, the tide was forcing us
towards it, and preventing our getting clear of it. At night we fixed
the ship securely by three anchors, and left it to make its own way,
which it did so effectually, that at 4 A.M. we slipped into deep
water. We did not get off till 10 A.M., and the first thing we had to
do was to turn in a channel which was exactly the length of the ship,
and not a foot more. This very clever feat we performed with the help
of an anchor dropped from the stern, and are now in the main river....
_Two P.M._--We have anchored below Kew-kiang, at the spot where we
anchored on November 30th. The 'Dove' met us an hour ago with the
ominous signal, 'Afraid there is no passage.' _Six P.M._--Captain
Osborn has returned from an exploration, which will be continued to-
morrow. It would be very sad if the 'Furious' had to be left behind.
Meanwhile I landed and took a walk. It is a pretty country, on the
right bank, consisting of wooded hillocks with patches of cultivated
valley, and sometimes lakes of considerable size. Cosy little hamlets
nestle in most of the valleys; the houses built of sun-dried bricks,
and much more substantial than those we saw yesterday, &c., where the
walls generally were made of matting, probably because of the
inundations.
[Sidenote: Taking to the gunboats.]
_December 23rd.--Noon._--At about six Captain Osborn returned from an
exploration of the north channel, which he found rocky, and twelve
feet of water the utmost that could be found. Captain Bythesea was
disposed to try and lighten the 'Cruiser;' but I determined that I
would run no risk of the kind. As yet no harm has happened to any of
our ships, and the delay at this point of some of the squadron for
three months, is more an inconvenience to me than a disadvantage in
any other way. On public grounds it will even be attended with
benefit, as it will insure the Yangtze being kept open; for supplies
will be sent up to them from Shanghae, and they will have an
opportunity of examining the Poyang Lake besides. If any of the
vessels were lost or seriously injured, it would be a very different
matter. I have therefore resolved that we shall all pack into the
'Lee' (the 'Dove' being crammed already), and with the aid of two
junks for servants and baggage, make our way to the 'Retribution.' We
shall have to pass Nganching, but it is to be hoped that the Rebels
will not repeat the experiment they made when we were on our way up.
_Au reste, Dieu dispose._
_December 24th.--Noon._--On board the 'Lee.'_--We have just passed the
shallow behind which we were anchored for three days; but we have
passed it only by leaving our big ships behind us. At 10 A.M. I had
all the ship's company of the 'Furious' on deck, and made a short
farewell speech to them, which was well received by a sympathetic
audience. The whole Mission is on board this gunboat, pretty closely
packed as you may suppose: the servants in a Chinese boat astern, and
the effects in another, astern of the 'Dove.' The 'Dove' leads, and we
follow. It is raining and blowing unpleasantly. I am very sorry to
have left the 'Furious.'... If the Rebels let us pass them unattacked,
it will be well; if they do not, we shall be obliged in self-defence
to force a passage through their lines, in order to carry supplies to
our ships. Either way, the object of opening the Yangtze will be
attained. Yesterday the Prefect of Kew-kiang came on board the
'Furious.' He was very civil, and undertook to supply Captain Osborn
with all he wanted.... In the little cabin where I am now writing,
five of us are to sleep!
_Christmas Day._--Many happy returns of it to you and the children!...
It is the second since we parted.... We are now (3 P.M.) approaching
Nganching. I have resolved to communicate with the authorities to
express my indignation at what happened when we passed up the river,
and tell them that if it is repeated I shall be obliged reluctantly to
take the town. This may seem rather audacious language, considering
that my whole force now consists of two gunboats. However, I think it
is the proper tone to take with the Chinese.
[Sidenote: Ngan-ching.]
_December 26th.--One P.M._--It grew so dark before we anchored near
Nganching last night, that we abandoned the idea of communicating till
this morning, and found, when day broke, that we were nearer the town
than we had anticipated. It was raining heavily, with a slight
admixture of sleet, and some of the heights in rear of the town were
covered with snow. We heaved anchor at about seven, and dropped it
again at about half a mile from the wall of the city. Wade went off in
a boat. He steered to a point where there was an officer waving a flag
somewhat ominously, and a crowd behind him, generally armed with red
umbrellas. When he got to the shore, he was informed that the officer
was third in command, and a Canton man, as the other chiefs also
appeared to be. He told them that it was our intention to pass up and
down the river; that I had come with a good heart (i.e. without
hostile intentions); that nevertheless we had been scandalously fired
at, &c. &c. They at once, in the manner of Chinamen, confessed their
error, and said that the firing had been a mistake; that it was the
act of some of the local men, who did not know the ships of 'your
great nation:' that it should not happen again, &c. Wade told them
that the same thing had occurred at Nankin, and that we had destroyed
the peccant forts. They answered that they were aware of what had then
happened. He added, that we did not wish to interfere in their
internal disputes, but that they must know, if we were driven to it,
we should find it an easy matter to sweep them out of the city. They
admitted the truth of all he said, offered presents, begged him to go
into the city and see their chief (both which proposals he declined);
in short, they were contrite and humble. On his return to the 'Lee,'
she and her consort lifted their anchors, and we steamed quietly past
the city, under the very walls, and within easy gingall shot, for so
we were compelled to do by the narrowness of the channel.
[Sidenote: Nankin.]
_December 29th.--11 A.M._--We are now approaching Nankin. I have sent
Oliphant, Wade, Lay, and a Mr. W. (a missionary) ahead in the 'Dove,'
to land, if possible, at the first fort, with the view of going into
the town and calling on the authorities. The 'Dove' will then proceed
past the other forts to an anchorage on the farther side of the city,
to which point the 'Lee' and 'Retribution' will follow her. My
emissaries will inform the Nankin authorities that I am pleased that
they should have apologised for their scandalous conduct towards us on
our way up; that we have no intention of meddling with them if they
leave us alone; but that we intend to move ships up and down the
river, and that they must not be molested. They have sent me a letter
written on a roll of yellow silk, about three fathoms long. It seems
to be a sort of rhapsody, in verse, with a vast infusion of their
extraordinary theology. It is now snowing heavily, so we cannot see
far ahead. It would, I think, be awkward for me to have any
intercourse with the Rebel chiefs, so I do not, as at present advised,
intend to land.
[Sidenote: Wildfowl.]
_December 30th._--About 7 P.M., the 'Dove' rejoined us with the
emissaries. It appears that they had a long way to go on horseback,--
some seven or eight miles--before they reached the Yamun of the chief,
who received them. They do not seem to have learnt much from him. He
professed to be third in the hierarchy of the Rebel Government of
Nankin, but was a rather commonplace person. He said that our
bombardment had killed three officers and twenty men, and that they
had beheaded the soldiers who fired at us! Arrangements were made for
the free passage of vessels communicating with the 'Furious.' They
describe their ride through Nankin as if it had been one through a
great park,--trees, and the streets wider than usual in China; but no
trade is allowed, and the place seems almost deserted. There was not
quite so much appearance of destruction, but more of desolation, than
in any town previously visited by us. The officer who guided them to
the Yamun asked Wade to take him away with us, and on being told that
was impossible, applied for opium, saying that he smoked himself, and
that about one in three of the force in Nankin did the same. Whether
the original Taiping chief, 'Hung-Seu-Cheun,' is still alive or not,
we have not been able to discover. Some say he remains shut up with
about 300 wives. At any rate he is invisible.... The only thing
remarkable which I have observed to-day is the quantity of wildfowl. I
saw one flock this morning which was several miles long. It literally
darkened the sky. I suppose the cold weather is driving them inwards
from the sea.
[Sidenote: Aground once more.]
_December 31st.--Five P.M._--I hardly expected to have to record
another grounding, but so it is. We have been going on gallantly all
day, leaving the other ships some ten miles behind us. We had passed
the Lunshan Hills, off which we spent two days, and from which I sent
you my last letter. We were abreast of Plover Point, when suddenly the
water shoaled so much that we had to drop anchor. Alas! the ebbing
tide was too strong for us, and drove us on a bank, where we are now
sticking. If we get off before morning it will not matter much; but if
the 'Retribution' comes down and finds us here, we shall look
horribly small.
[Sidenote: Reach Shanghae.]
_January 1st, 1859._--Many, many returns of the New Year! It is a
beautiful day, and we are just anchoring at Shanghae, at 3 P.M. As
soon as the tide rose (about midnight) it lifted us off our shoal. We
had to go cautiously sometimes to-day; but we have closed this
eventful expedition successfully.
The general results and chief incidents of the interesting expedition thus
happily completed, were reported to the Government in England in a
despatch, dated January 5th, 1859, from which are taken the following
extracts:--
[Sidenote: Difficulty of getting at facts.]
The knowledge of the Chinese language possessed by Messrs. Wade and
Lay enabled me to enter, without difficulty, into communication with
the inhabitants of the towns and rural districts which we visited. At
various points in our progress we wandered, unarmed and unattended, in
parties of three or four, to a distance of several miles from the
banks of the river, and we never experienced at the hands of the
natives anything but courtesy, mingled with a certain amount of not
very obtrusive curiosity. Notwithstanding, however, these favourable
opportunities, the budget of statistical facts which I was able to
collect was hardly as considerable as I could have desired. Chinamen
of the humbler class are not much addicted to reflection, and when
subjected to cross-examination by persons greedy of information, they
are apt to consider the proceeding a strange one, and to suspect that
it must be prompted by some exceedingly bad motive. Moreover, having
been civilised for many generations, they carry politeness so far,
that in answering a question it is always their chief endeavour to say
what they suppose their questioner will be best pleased to hear. If,
therefore, the knowledge of a fact is to be arrived at, it is, above
all things, necessary that the inquiry bear a tint so neutral that the
person to whom it is addressed shall find it impossible to reflect its
colour in his reply. He will then sometimes, in his confusion, blunder
into a truthful answer, but he does so generally with a bashful air,
indicative of the painful consciousness that he has been reluctantly
violating the rules of good breeding. A search after accurate
statistics, under such conditions, is not unattended with difficulty.
[Sidenote: Exaggerated reports of population.]
I am confirmed, by what I have witnessed on this expedition, in the
doubts which I have long entertained as to the accuracy of the popular
estimates of the amount of the town population of China. The cities
which I have visited are, no doubt, suffering at present from the
effects of the rebellion; but I cannot bring myself to believe that,
at the best of times, they can have contained the number of
inhabitants usually imputed to them. M. Hue puts the population of the
three cities of Woo-chang-foo, Han-yang-foo, and Hankow, at
8,000,000. I doubt much whether it now amounts, in the aggregate, to
1,000,000; and even when they were flourishing, I cannot conceive
where 3,000,000 of human beings could have been stowed away in them.
[Sidenote: Rural population.]
[Sidenote: Town population.]
What 1 have seen leads me to think that the rural population of China
is, generally speaking, well-doing and contented. I worked very hard,
though with only indifferent success, to obtain from them accurate
information respecting the extent of their holdings, the nature of
their tenure, the taxation which they have to pay, and other kindred
matters. I arrived at the conclusion that, for the most part, they
hold their lands, which are of very limited extent, in full property
from the Crown, subject to certain annual charges of no very
exorbitant amount; and that these advantages, improved by assiduous
industry, supply abundantly their simple wants, whether in respect of
food or clothing. In the streets of cities in China some deplorable
objects are to be met with, as must always be the case where mendicity
is a legalised institution; but I am inclined to think that the rigour
with which the duties of relationship are enforced, operates as a
powerful check on pauperism. A few days ago a lady here informed me
that her nurse had bought a little girl from a mother who had a
surplus of this description of commodity on hand. I asked why she had
done so, and was told that the little girl's husband, when she
married, would be bound to support the adopting mother. By the
judicious investment of a dollar in this timely purchase, the worthy
woman thus secured for herself a provision for old age, and a
security, which she probably appreciates yet more highly, for decent
burial when she dies.
[Sidenote: Manufactures.]
My general impression is, that British manufacturers will have to
exert themselves to the utmost if they intend to supplant, to any
considerable extent, in the native market, the fabrics produced in
their leisure hours, and at intervals of rest from agricultural
labour, by this industrious, frugal, and sober population. It is a
pleasing but pernicious fallacy to imagine, that the influence of an
intriguing mandarin is to be presumed whenever a buyer shows a
preference for native over foreign calico.
In returning to Shaughae, Lord Elgin had hoped to find the objects of his
mission so far secured, that there would be nothing to prevent, his sailing
for England at once: but nearly two more months elapsed before he was able
to turn his back on the Celestial Empire.
_Shanghae.--January 17th._--The 'Furious' and 'Cruiser' arrived here
safely on the 10th.... I have just accomplished the Herculean task of
looking over a two-months' supply of newspapers, and this occupation,
interlarded with a certain number of letters and visits to and from
the Imperial Commissioners, and, to-day, an address from the British
community of Shanghae, has pretty fully occupied my time.[3] The home
mail is due to-day, and 1 am anxiously waiting to learn from it what
the Government intends to do about relieving me.... I trust that your
many disappointments as to my return may have been somewhat relieved
by the conviction that I am following the right course. This opening
up of the East is not a light matter.... The comet was most
magnificent here. Did I ever mention it in my letters? During the
whole period of its visit in this quarter it had night after night a
clear blue cloudless sky, spangled with stars innumerable, to disport
itself in.... Canton is coming round to tranquillity as fast as we
ever had any right to expect; but the absurd thing is that these funny
people at Hong-Kong are beginning to praise me!
[Sidenote: Troubles at Canton.]
_January 20th._--I had hardly written the words 'Canton is coming
round to tranquillity.' when I heard that there had been fighting
there again. It is a good thing in my opinion, as it will enable us to
demonstrate our superiority to the Braves, if the General and Admiral
improve the opportunity properly; not by a great deal of slaughter,
that is quite unnecessary, but by promptitude, and striking a blow at
the right moment. The Chinese do not care much about being killed, but
they hate being frightened, and the knowledge of this idiosyncrasy of
theirs is the key of the position. I have just written a letter to my
friends the Imperial Commissioners here, which will, I think, shake
their nerves considerably, and bring them to a manageable frame of
mind.
In fact, when he found that Governor-General Hwang had not been recalled,
nor the Committee of Gentry suppressed, and that the Canton Braves were
still making war upon our troops, he felt that the Chinese were trying to
evade the performance of their promises, and that there was nothing for it
but to 'appeal again to 'that ignoble passion of fear which was unhappily
the one _primum mobile_ of human action in China.'[4] Accordingly he wrote
to the Imperial Commissioners that, as the Emperor did not carry out what
they undertook, he would have nothing more to say to them on the subject;
that the English soldiers and sailors would take the Braves into their own
hands; and that he or his successor would in a month or two have an
opportunity of ascertaining at Pekin itself whether or not the Emperor was
abetting the persons who were creating disturbances in the South.
The journal continues, under date of January 20:--
[Sidenote: Town of Shanghae.]
Yesterday I took a walk through the town of Shanghae with a missionary
who is a very good _cicerone_. We went into a good many _ateliers_ of
silversmiths, ribbon-makers, tobacco-manufacturers, carvers in wood,
and the like. The Chinese are skilful manipulators, but they are
singularly uninventive. Nothing can be more rude than their labour-
saving processes. We visited also a foundling establishment. There was
a drawer at the entrance in which the infants are deposited, as is, I
believe, the case at Paris. The children seem tolerably cared for, but
there were not many in the house. The greater portion are given out to
nurse. We went also into a large inn or lodging-house, frequented by a
respectable class of visitors--silk merchants, &c. The rooms seemed
comfortable, quite as good as the accommodation provided for
commercial travellers at an English inn. A good many books seemed to
form part of the luggage of the occupant of each room that we entered.
It is curious that I should have been engaged in so many enterprises
of rather an out-of-the-way character since I have been out here. I
confess that in my own opinion the voyage up the Yangtze is not the
least important one.
_January 22nd._--Mail arrived. Frederick's appointment[5] is very
satisfactory, and I am sure it is the best the Government could have
made for the public interest. It is a great comfort to me to know that
he will wind up what I cannot finish.
[Sidenote: Return to Hong-Kong.]
_Shanghae.--January 25th._--After full consideration I have resolved
to go at once to Hong-Kong, and take the Canton difficulty in hand. A
variety of circumstances lead me to the conclusion that the Court of
Pekin is about to play us false. Ho, the Governor-General of the Two
Kiang; the Tautai of this port; and the Treasurer of the district, all
well-disposed to foreigners, have been gradually removed from the
councils of the Commissioners. Some papers which we have seized also
indicate that the Emperor is by no means reconciled to some of the
most important concessions obtained in the Treaties. This row at
Canton is therefore very opportune. I have taken a high tone, informed
the Commissioners that I am off to the South to punish disturbers of
the peace there, and that when I have taught them to respect treaties,
I (or my successor) will return to settle matters still pending here,
pacifically or otherwise as the Emperor may prefer. It is to be hoped
that this language will bring them to their senses, or rather bring
the Court to its senses, for I do not suppose that the Commissioners
are so much to blame. I had already asked all the society here to a
party this evening, so it will be a farewell entertainment, and I
shall embark as soon as it is over.
[Sidenote: Pirate-hunting.]
_At Sea, near Hong-Kong.--Tuesday, February 1st._--Two war-steamers
and a gunboat have just passed us on some expedition after pirates. It
may be all right, but I fear we do some horrible injustices in this
pirate-hunting. The system of giving our sailors a direct interest in
captures is certainly a barbarous one, and the parent of much evil;
though perhaps it may be difficult to devise a remedy. The result,
however, is, that not only are seizures often made which ought not to
be made at all, but also duties are neglected which do not bring grist
to the mill. B. once said to me, in talking of the difficulty of
exercising a police over even English vessels which carry coolies to
foreign ports:--'Men-of-war have orders to seize vessels breaking the
law; but as they are not prizes, and the captain if he seizes them
wrongfully is liable to an action for damages, how can you expect them
to act?'
[Sidenote: March into the interior.]
_February 11th._--I ought to tell you that on the 8th, a body of
troops about 1,000 strong started on an expedition into the interior,
which was to take three days. I accompanied or rather preceded them on
the first day's march, about twelve miles from Canton. We rode through
a very pretty country, passing by the village of Sheksing, where there
was a fight a fortnight ago. The people were very respectful, and
apparently not alarmed by our visit. At the place where the troops
were to encamp for the night, a cattle fair was in progress, and our
arrival did not seem to interrupt the proceedings.
_February 13th._--The military expedition into the country was
entirely successful. The troops were received everywhere as friends.
Considering what has been of yore the state of feeling in this
province towards us, I think this almost the most remarkable thing
which has happened since I came here. Would it have happened if I had
given way to those who wished me to carry fire and sword through all
the country villages? Or if I had gone home, and left the winding-up
of these affairs in the hands of others?... I say all this because I
am anxious that you should appreciate the motives which have made me
prolong my stay in this quarter.
On the 15th he started, intending to join General Straubenzee in an
expedition up the West River; but finding that his presence would be of no
use, and might be an embarrassment, he resolved instead to spend the time
in visiting the port of Hainan, the southernmost port opened by the new
Treaty. Unfortunately, when he arrived off Hainan, a wind blowing on shore,
and very imperfect charts, prevented his entering the port; but on his way
he had an opportunity of revisiting one of the few places on the coast
possessing any historical interest, namely Macao, the residence of Camoens;
and also of touching at St. John, the scene of the labours and death of
Francis Xavier.
[Sidenote: Macao.]
_February 11th._--We reached Macao yesterday morning. I visited the
garden of Camoens, and wandered among the narrow up-and-down streets,
which with the churches and convents, and air of quiet _vetuste_,
remind one of a town on the continent of Europe.
[Sidenote: St. John.]
_February 20th.--Sunday._--We have just anchored in a quiet harbour,
on the island of St. John, or Sancian, as Huc calls it; the first
place in China where the Portuguese settled. Here, too, St. Francis
Xavier died. I should land and look at his tomb if I thought it was in
this part of the island, but it is late (5 P.M.), and a long way to
pull.
On returning to Hong-Kong he found that his letter to the Chinese
Government had had the effect which he desired and anticipated.
[Sidenote: Mission completed.]
_Hong-Kong.--February 23rd._--I have good news from the North. As I
was walking on the deck this morning at 8 A.M., Mr. Lay suddenly made
his appearance. He had come by the mail-packet from Shanghae, with a
letter from the Imperial Commissioners, announcing that the seal of
Imperial Commission had been taken from Hwang, the Governor-General of
this province, and given to Ho, the Governor-General of the provinces
in which Shanghae is situated. Lay further states that his friend the
Tautai informed him that they are prepared to receive the new
Ambassador peacefully at Pekin, when he goes to exchange
ratifications. If so, I think that I shall be able to return with the
conviction that the objects of my mission have been accomplished.
The details of his Treaty having been now definitively arranged, Canton
pacified, and its neighbourhood overawed by the peaceful progress through
it of a military expedition, there remained nothing to detain him in the
East.[6]
[Sidenote: Homeward bound.]
[Sidenote: Hong-Kong factory.]
_Canton River.--March 3rd._--I am really and truly off on my way to
England, though I can hardly believe that it is so. The last mail
brought me not a word either from Frederick or about his plans; only,
what was very satisfactory, the approval of the Government of my
arrangement respecting the residence of the British Minister in China.
I have, however, determined to start, and to take my chance of meeting
him somewhere _en route_. Unless I were to go back to Shanghae, I
could not do much more here now; and if I put off, I shall have the
monsoon against me, and great heat in the Red Sea. Having resolved on
this course, I invited the Hong-Kong merchants to come up with me to
Canton, to look at the several factory sites. In their usual way they
have been dictating the choice of a site to me, abusing me for not
fixing upon it; and I found out that very few of them had even taken
the trouble of looking at the ground. In short I found that, in my
short visits, I had seen a great deal more of the sites than they had
done, who live constantly on the spot, and are personally interested
in the matter. I started from Hong-Kong yesterday morning, and to-day
I went over the ground with them. The rain poured, and I got a good
wetting.... As I was starting from the town in a gunboat to rejoin my
ship, I met the military and naval expedition, which has been absent
for more than two weeks, returning. I had not time to communicate with
the officers, but they seemed in good spirits. It is a curious wind-up
of this most eventful mission, that as I am starting from China, I
should meet an Anglo-French force returning from a pacific invasion
into the very heart of the province of Kwan-tung!--the _pepiniere_ of
the Canton Braves, of whom we have heard so much.
_March 4th.--Eleven A.M._--I have been calculating that if Frederick
does not leave England till the mail of the 25th of February, I may,
by pushing on, catch him at Galle. This would be a great point. I must
push on and take my chance.
[Sidenote: Pulo Sapata.]
_March 8th._--We are passing Pulo Sapata, a bald, solitary rock,
standing in the midst of the China Sea, the resort of seafowl, as is
indicated by its guano-like appearance. There it stands day after day,
and year after year, affronting the scorching beams of this tropical
sun. All ships pass by it between Singapore and China. So I am looking
at it for the fourth time--the last time, we may hope. We have made
fully 200 miles a day--a great deal for this ship.
_March 10th._--We are now very near the Line, and the breeze has
nearly failed us; so you may imagine we are not very cool, but we hope
to reach Singapore to-morrow. These Tropics are very charming when
they do not broil one; and I passed a pleasant hour last night on the
top of the paddle-box, with a balmy air floating over my face from the
one side, a crescent moon playing hide-and-seek behind a cloud on the
other, and right above me a legion of bright stars, shining through
the atmosphere as if they could pierce one with their glance.
_March 11th._--We have passed the Horsburgh lighthouse, and entered
the Straits. Wooded banks on either side, diversified by hillocks, and
a ship or two, give some animation to the scene. It is very hot, and I
have been on the paddle-box getting what air I can, and watching a
black wall of cloud covered with fleecy masses, which rests on the
bank to our right, and seems half inclined to sweep over us with one
of those refreshing pelts of which we had a succession last night. It
is this habit of showers which renders the vicinity of the Line more
bearable than the summer heat of other parts within the Tropics.
However, the cloud sticks to the shore, so I have come down to write
this line to you.
[Sidenote: Singapore.]
_Singapore.--Sunday, March 13th, Seven A.M._--This place looks
wonderfully green and luxuriant after China. The variety of costumes
and colours too, Malay, Indian, Chinese, &c., and the pretty villas
perched on each hillock among flowering trees, give it a festival air.
Heavy showers of rain also keep the temperature down.... 3.30 P.M.--I
went to church and embarked immediately after; and here we are, about
ten miles from Singapore, going well through a calm sea, with a slight
breeze rather against us. Twenty months ago I left this place at about
the same hour with poor Peel for Calcutta.
_March 21st.--Six A.M._--I have been an hour on deck watching the
great bright stars eclipse themselves, and the sun break through the
clouds right astern of us. It is a lovely day, and we are a little
bent over by a breeze from the shore of Ceylon, along which we are now
running. _Noon._--Just anchored at Galle, after a run of about 270
miles in twenty-four hours.... We are surrounded by curious boats
about two feet wide, prevented from capsizing by _outriggers_--beams
of wood _floating_ on the water on one side of them, and attached to
them by poles of about eight feet in length. I believe these boats are
wonderfully fast and safe.
[Sidenote: Ceylon.]
_Colombo.--Sunday, March 27th._--We came yesterday to this place. A
drive of seventy-two miles through an almost uninterrupted grove of
cocoa-nut trees, interspersed with bread-fruit, jack-fruit, and other
foliage, with occasional gleams of the _Gloriosa superba_. The music
of the ocean waves hissing and thundering on the shore accompanied us
all our journey. The road was good and the coach tolerable, so it was
pleasant enough. To-day the heat is very great; hardly bearable at
church. All Sir H. Ward's family are on the hill--Newra Elyia--some
6,000 feet above the sea; this being the hottest season in Ceylon. My
writing is not very good, for I cannot sit still for the heat. I am
walking about the room in very light attire, taking up my pen from
time to time to indite a few words.
_H.M.S. 'Furious.'--At Sea, April 9th._--Will this letter be delivered
to you by the post or by the writer in person? _Chi sa?_... You will
like to have a complete record of my experiences during my long
absence. I am now again at sea, and I cannot say how this fact
rejoices me. I was tired of Ceylon; and my longing to get home
increases as the prospect of my doing so becomes more real. I was ill,
too, at Ceylon. The heat was very great; and I was, I fear, somewhat
imprudent. On the day after I despatched my last letter to you from
Colombo, I started for Kandy, a pretty little countrytown seated in
the centre of a circle of hills. I reached it at 5 P.M., time enough
to walk about the very beautiful grounds of the 'Pavilion,' the
Governor's residence. Next day, after seeing the shrine which contains
the famous tooth of Buddha, I set off for the mountains, and reached a
coffee estate of Baron Delmar's at about 6 P.M. We found ourselves in
a fine cool climate, at about 3,000 feet above the sea. That night,
however, I felt a shiver as I went to bed. I had a bad headache next
morning, and when I arrived at Newra Elyia, the famous sanatarium,
6,000 feet above the sea, I was obliged to go to bed, and send for the
doctor. I could not remain quiet, however, as the packet from England
might be at Galle on the 3rd; so I had to hurry down on Friday from
the mountain to Kandy and Colombo, where I arrived on Saturday evening
more dead than alive. Sir H. Ward's doctor declared me to be labouring
under an attack of jungle fever.... I sent for the 'Furious,' which
conveyed me from Colombo to Galle on Monday the 4th. Frederick did not
arrive till the 6th; so all ended well. It was an unspeakable comfort
to me to meet Frederick at last We had a day to talk over our affairs,
as he did not proceed till the afternoon of the 7th.... I am pleased
with Ceylon, notwithstanding my mishaps. For a tropical climate it is
healthy and bearable; but we happened to be there at the very hottest
season. At Newra Elyia it is really cold, and, at the height of the
coffee estates, very tolerable to vegetate in.
The rapid homeward journey along a beaten route offered little of interest
to write about, especially as he was likely to be the bearer of his own
letter. On the 19th of May he reported to the Foreign Office his arrival in
London.
[1] The text of the Article respecting opium is as follows:--'Opium will
henceforth, pay thirty taels per picul import duty. The importer will
sell it only at the port. It will be carried into the interior by
Chinese only, and only as Chinese property; the Foreign trader will
not be allowed to accompany it. The provisions of Article IX. of the
Treaty of Tientsin, by which British subjects are authorised to
proceed into the interior with passports to trade, will not extend to
it, nor will those of Article XXVIII. of the same Treaty, by which the
transit-dues are regulated; the transit-dues on it will be arranged as
the Chinese Government see fit; nor, in future revisions of the
Tariff, is the rule of revision to be applied to opium as to other
goods.'
[2] In an official despatch he describes it as 'a solitary rock of about
300 feet in height, picturesquely clothed with natural timber and
ruined temples, around which are to be seen, at all hours of the day,
groups of bonzes, in their grey and yellow robes, devoutly lounging,
and conscientiously devoting themselves to the duty of doing
absolutely nothing.'
[3] His reply to the Merchants' address contained the following passage:
'Allow me to express the satisfaction which it gives me to find that
you specify the benefits that are likely to accrue to the inhabitants
of these countries themselves, as among the most important of the
results to be expected from our recent treaties with China and Japan.
On this head we have no doubt incurred very weighty responsibilities.
Uninvited, and by methods not always of the gentlest, we have broken
down the barriers behind which these ancient nations sought to conceal
from the world without the mysteries, perhaps also, in the case of
China at least, the raps and rottenness of their waning civilisations.
Neither our own consciences nor the judgment of mankind will acquit us
if, when we are asked to what use we have turned our opportunities, we
can only say that we have filled our pockets from among the ruins
which we have found or made.'
[4] Despatch of Jan. 22, 1859.
[5] As Minister at the Court of Pekin.
[6] In a parting letter he pointed out to the Admiral how desirable it was
that the ambassador who went to Pekin to exchange the ratifications of
the Treaty should be supported by an imposing force, and suggested
that with this view a sufficient fleet of gunboats should be
concentrated at once at Shanghae.
CHAPTER XII.
SECOND MISSION TO CHINA. OUTWARD.
LORD ELGIN IN ENGLAND--ORIGIN OF SECOND MISSION TO CHINA--GLOOMY
PROSPECTS
--EGYPT--THE PYRAMIDS--THE SPHINX--PASSENGERS HOMEWARD BOUND--
CEYLON--
SHIPWRECK--PENANG--SINGAPORE--SHANGHAE--MEETING WITH MR. BRUCE--
TALIEN--
WHAN--SIR HOPE GRANT--PLANS FOR LANDING.
[Sidenote: Lord Elgin in England.]
When Lord Elgin returned, in 1854, from the Government of Canada, there
were comparatively few persons in England who knew or cared anything about
the great work which he had done in the colony. But his brilliant successes
in the East attracted public interest, and gave currency to his reputation;
and when he returned from China in the spring of 1859 he was received with
every honour. Two great parliamentary chiefs, Lord Derby and Lord Grey,
from opposite sides of the House of Lords, contended for the credit of
having first introduced him into public life. Lord Palmerston, who was at
the time engaged in forming a new Administration, again offered him a place
in it, and he accepted the office of Postmaster-General. The students of
Glasgow paid him the compliment of electing him as their Lord Rector; and
the merchants of London showed their sense of what he had done for their
commerce, first by the enthusiastic reception which they gave him at a
dinner at the Mansion House, and afterwards by conferring upon him the
freedom of their city.
Lord Elgin was not one of those men, if any such there be, who are
indifferent to the appreciation of their fellows. He could, indeed, in a
mock-cynical humour, write of what a man must do 'if he thinks it worth
while to stand well with others:'[1] but in himself there was nothing of
the cynic, and to stand well with others was to his genial nature a source
of genuine and undisguised gratification. It was well said of him
afterwards in reference to the honours paid to him at this period, that
while he did not require the stimulus of praise, or even sympathy, to keep
him to his work, but would have worked on for life, whether appreciated or
overlooked, still 'he whose sympathies were always ready and warm enjoyed
himself being understood and valued; and that welcome in the City was very
cheering to him after his long experience of English indifference about
Canada and what he had done there.'
He was not destined, however, to enjoy for long either the tranquil
dignities of his new position or the comfortable sense of a work
accomplished and completed. Fresh troubles broke out in the East; and, on
the 26th of April, 1860, within less than a year after his arrival in
England, he was again crossing the Channel on his way back to China.
[Sidenote: Origin of Second Mission to China.]
The Chinese Government, tractable enough under the present influence of a
bold and determined spirit, had returned to its old ways when that pressure
was removed. It had been agreed that the Treaty of Tien-tsin should be
formally ratified within the year, that is, before the 26th of June, 1859;
and, when the time approached, Mr. Bruce was commissioned to proceed to
Pekin for the purpose of exchanging the ratifications. On arriving,
however, at the mouth of the Peiho, he found the Taku forts, which guard
the mouth of the river, fortified against him; and when the men-of-war
which accompanied him went forward to remove the barriers that had been
laid across the river, they were fired upon from the forts. As no such
resistance had been expected, no provision had been made for overcoming it;
and Mr. Bruce had no choice but to return to Shanghae, and report to the
Government at home what had occurred.
For some time it seems to have been hoped that the Emperor of China, when
fully informed of the misconduct of his officers in firing upon British
ships without notice, would have been ready to make the proper _amende_;
but when this hope was dispelled, it became clear that such an outrage must
be summarily dealt with. A large force, both naval and military, was
ordered from England and India to the China seas, to co-operate there with
forces sent by the French, who felt themselves scarcely less aggrieved than
the English by the repudiation of the common Treaty.
For the command of this expedition there was one man whom all parties alike
regarded as marked out at once by character and ability, and by previous
experience. On the 17th of April, 1860, Lord Russell, who was then Foreign
Secretary, wrote officially to Lord Elgin that 'Her Majesty, resolved to
employ every means calculated to establish peace with the Emperor of China,
had determined to call upon him again to give his valuable services to
promote this important object, and had signified her intention of
appointing him to proceed to China as her Ambassador Extraordinary to deal
with these matters.' His instructions were necessarily of the vaguest.
After touching upon some of the awkward contingencies that might arise,
Lord Russell proceeded: 'In these circumstances your 'Lordship and your
enlightened colleague, Baron Gros, will be required to exercise those
personal qualities of firmness and discretion which have induced Her
Majesty and her Ally to place their confidence in you and the French
Plenipotentiary.' The only conditions named as indispensable were, (1) an
apology for the attack on the Allied forces at the Peiho; (2) the
ratification and execution of the Treaty of Tientsin; (3) the payment of an
indemnity to the Allies for the expenses of naval and military
preparations.
To be called away from the happy home which he so rarely enjoyed and
enlightened, and to be sent out again to the ends of the world on such a
service, was no light sacrifice even to his patriotic spirit; and the
feeling of this was perhaps aggravated by the half-hope cherished during
the first few weeks, that any day he might be met by tidings that the
Chinese had made the required concessions, and that the affair was settled.
The following extracts from his Journal reflect something of this.
[Sidenote: Gloomy prospects.]
_Sunday, April 29th.--Off Sardinia._--So much for my chronicle; but I
write it with a certain feeling of repugnance and self-reproach. It
was very well on the occasion of my first voyage, when I wished to
share with you whatever charm the novelty of the scenes through which
I was passing might supply to mitigate the pain of our separation. But
this time there is no such pretext for the record of our daily
progress. I am going through scenes which I have visited before, on an
errand of which the issue is almost more than doubtful. When I see my
friend Gros I feel myself doubly guilty, in having consented to
undertake this task, and thus compelled him to make the same
sacrifice. And Frederick--what will he think of my coming out? It is a
dark sky all around. There is only one bright side to the picture. It
is very unlikely that my absence can be of long duration. If such
ideas were to prevail in England as those which are embodied in an
article on China, which is to appear in the forthcoming _Blackwood_, I
might be detained long enough in that quarter; but these are not the
views of the public or the statesmen of England. What is desired is a
speedy settlement, on reasonable terms--as good terms as possible; but
let the settlement be speedy. This, I think, is the fixed idea of all.
Gros tells me that when he took leave the Emperor grasped both his
hands, thanked him with effusion, and said that not one man in fifty
would make such a sacrifice as he (Gros) was doing.
_Monday, 30th._--I do not know whether I shall do much more to this
letter before I reach Malta, for we are both rolling and pitching,
which is not favourable to writing, the climate has now changed. It is
very near perfection in point of temperature. If we could only keep it
so all the way! We expect to reach Malta this evening, and remain
about four hours. Where are you now?... Have you returned to your
desolate home? I think I see B. looking up to you with his thoughtful
eyes, and dear little L. putting pointed questions, and, in her arch
way, saying such kind and tender words!... You must continue to write,
as you did last time, all you are doing and thinking, that I may
reproduce, as faithfully as I can, the life which you are living. I do
the same by you, though it is with a more leaden pen than formerly....
Poor Gros has retired to his cabin in order to take a horizontal
position. Many of my companions are in the same way.
[Sidenote: Old letters.]
_May 3rd._--Are you still shivering in the cold, while I am gliding
through the calm sea under an awning, and going against a breeze
sufficiently light to do no more than fan us pleasantly? If it would
never go beyond this, there is certainly something very delightful in
such a climate; the clear atmosphere, bright stars, light nights, and
soft air; and to be wafted along through all this, as we now are, at
the rate of some twelve miles an hour, with so little motion that we
hardly know that we are making progress. It will be a different story,
I fear, when we get into the Red Sea, where we may expect a wind
behind us, and around us the hot air of the Desert!... I have been
employing myself for a good part of to-day in a sad work. I took with
me a number of letters of very old date, and have been looking over
them, and tearing up a great part of them, and throwing them
overboard. I thought it would be an occupation suited to this heavy
tropical sea-life. I shall be sorry when it is over, as it is also
soothing, and brings back many pleasing memories which had nearly
faded away. Some few I keep, because they are landmarks of my past
life.
[Sidenote: The Pyramids.]
[Sidenote: The Sphinx.]
_Steamer 'Simla.'--May 9th._--I had only a few moments to write before
we left Suez, and my writing, such as it was, I performed under
difficulties, as the bustle of passengers finding their cabins, and
conveying to them their luggage, or such portions of it as they could
rescue from its descent into the hold, was going on all around me. I
had, therefore, only time to tell you that our visit to the Pyramids
has been a success. It was one of the greatest which I ever achieved
in that line. It came about in this way. When Baron Gros and I,
accompanied by _Betts Bey_, the chief director of the railway, were
journeying in our pachalic state-carriage from Alexandria to Cairo, a
question arose as to how we were to spend the few hours which we
should have to remain at the latter place. I expressed a desire to see
the Pyramids, as I had witnessed all the other lions of Cairo. But
Betts Bey observed, that to go there during the day, at this season of
the year, was a service of considerable danger, the risk of sunstroke
being more than usually great. We were, in fact, traversing Egypt
during the period (of about six weeks' duration) when the wind from
the south blows, and the only air one receives is like the blast of a
furnace heavily charged with sand. He added, however, that it was not
impossible to go to the Pyramids at night, remain there till dawn, see
the sunrise from the summit, and return before the great heats of the
day. When I found myself at Cairo, I proposed to my _entourage_ that
we should undertake this expedition. My proposal was eagerly accepted,
especially by 'Our own Correspondent,' Mr. Bowlby, who is a remarkably
agreeable person, and has become very much one of our party. It was
arranged that we should dine at the _table d'hote_ at 7 P.M., start at
9, in carriages to the crossing of the Nile (about four miles), and on
donkeys from Gieja (about six miles). The Pasha's state-coach came to
the door at the appointed hour; we started, our own party, Mr. Bowlby,
Captain F., and M. de B., Gros' secretary. Gros himself, having twice
seen the Pyramids, declined going with us. The moon was very nearly
full, and but for the honour of the thing we might have dispensed with
the torch-bearers, who ran before the carriage and preceded the
donkeys, after we adopted that humbler mode of locomotion. Our row
across the river to the chant of the boatmen invoking the aid of a
sainted dervish, and our ride through the fertile borders of the Nile,
covered with crops and palm-trees, were very lovely, and, after about
an hour and a half from Cairo, we emerged upon the Desert. The
Pyramids seemed then almost within reach of our outstretched arms, but
lo! they were in fact some four miles distant. We kept moving on at a
sort of ambling walk; and the first sign of our near approach was the
appearance of a crowd of Arabs who poured out of a village to offer us
their aid in various ways. We had been told before we started, that a
party who had visited the Pyramids the night before had been a good
deal victimised by these Arabs, who, alas! in these degenerate days,
have no other mode of indulging their predatory propensities than by
exacting the greatest possible amount of 'backshish' from travellers
who visit the Pyramids. We pushed on over the heaps of sand and
_debris_, or probably covered-up tombs, which surround the base of the
Pyramids, when we suddenly came in face of the most remarkable object
on which my eye ever lighted. Somehow or other I had not thought of
the Sphinx till I saw her before me. There she was in all her imposing
magnitude, crouched on the margin of the Desert, looking over the
fertile valley of the Nile, and her gaze fixed on the East as if in
earnest expectation of the sun-rising. And such a gaze! The mystical
light and deep shadows cast by the moon, gave to it an intensity which
I cannot attempt to describe. To me it seemed a look, earnest,
searching, but unsatisfied. For a long time I remained transfixed,
endeavouring to read the meaning conveyed by this wonderful eye; but I
was struck after a while by what seemed a contradiction in the
expression of the eye and of the mouth. There was a singular
gentleness and hopefulness in the lines of the mouth, which appeared
to be in contrast with the anxious eye. Mr. Bowlby, who was a very
_sympathique_ inquirer into the significancy of this wonderful
monument, agreed with me in thinking that the upper part of the face
spoke of the intellect striving, and striving vainly, to solve the
mystery--(What mystery? the mystery, shall we say, of God's universe
or of man's destiny?)--while the lower indicated a moral conviction
that all must be well, and that this truth would in good time be made
manifest.
We could hardly tear ourselves away from this fascinating spectacle to
draw nearer to the Great Pyramid, which stood beside us, its outline
sharply traced in the clear atmosphere. We walked round and round it,
thinking of the strange men whose ambition to secure immortality for
themselves had expressed itself in this giant creation. The enormous
blocks of granite brought from one knows not where, built up one knows
not how; the form selected solely for the purpose of defying the
assaults of time; the contrast between the conception embodied in
these constructions and the talk of the frivolous race by whom we were
surrounded, and who seemed capable of no thought beyond a desire for
daily 'backshish,'--all this seen and felt under the influence of the
dim moonlight was very striking and impressive. We spent some time in
moving from place to place along the shadow cast by the Pyramid upon
the sand, and observing the effect produced by bringing the moon
sometimes to its apex and sometimes to other points on its outline. I
felt no disposition to exchange for sleep the state of dreamy half-
consciousness in which I was wandering about; but at length I lay down
on the shingly sands, with a block of granite for a pillow, and passed
an hour or two, sometimes dozing, sometimes wakeful, till one of our
attendants informed me that the sun would shortly rise, and that it
was time to commence to ascend the Pyramid, if we intended to witness
from its summit his first appearance. We had intended to spend the
night in the tombs, but it was so hot that we were only too glad to
select the spot in which we could get the greatest amount of air. A
very soft and gentle breeze, wafted across the Desert from an unknown
distance, fanned me as I slept. The ascent was, I confess, a much more
formidable undertaking than I had anticipated; and our French friend
gave in after attempting a few steps. The last words which had passed
between him and me before we retired to rest, were interchanged as we
were standing in front of the Sphinx, and were characteristic: _Ah!
que c'est drole!_ was the reassuring exclamation which fell from his
lips while we were there transfixed and awestruck. As far as the
ascent of the Pyramid was concerned, I am not sure but that I was
sometimes tempted to follow his example, when I found how great was
the effort required to mount up, in the hot air, the huge blocks of
granite, and the unpleasantness of feeling every now and then with
what facility one might topple downwards. This sensation was most
disagreeably felt when, as generally happened at any very critical
place, my Arab friends, who were helping me up, began to talk of
'backshish,' and to insinuate that a small amount given at once, and
before the ascent was completed, would be particularly acceptable.
However, after a while the summit was reached. I am not sure that it
repaid the trouble; at any rate, I do not think I should ever wish to
make the ascent again. We had a horizon all around tinted very much
like Turner's early pictures, and becoming brighter and more
variegated as the dawn advanced, until it melted into day. Behind, and
on two sides of us, was the barren and treeless Desert, stretching out
as far as the eye could reach. Before us, the fertile valley of the
Nile; the river meandering through it, and, in the distance, Cairo,
with its mosques and minarets, the highest, the Citadel Mosque,
standing out boldly upon the horizon. It was a fine view, and had a
character of its own, but still it was not in kind very different from
other views which I have seen from elevated points in a flat country.
It does not stand forth among my recollections as a spectacle unique,
and never to be forgotten, as that of the night before does. Very soon
after the sun rose the heat became painful on our elevated seat, and
we hastened to descend-an operation somewhat difficult, but not so
serious as the ascent had been. We mounted our donkeys, and after
paying a farewell visit to the Sphinx, we returned to Cairo as we had
come, all agreeing that our expedition was one of the most agreeable
and interesting we had ever made. I confess that it was with something
of fear and trembling that I returned to the Sphinx that morning. I
feared that the impressions which I had received the night before
might be effaced by the light of day. But it was not so. The lines
were fainter, and less deeply marked, but I found, or thought I found,
the same meaning in them still.
[Sidenote: Passengers homeward bound.]
_May 10th._--We are now passing some islands, nearly opposite to Mocha:
to morrow at an early hour we shall probably reach Aden. Shall we find
any Chinese news there? And if we do, what will be its character? We
have not yet heard a syllable to induce us to think that matters will
be settled without a conflict, but then we have seen nothing official.
We met, at the station-house on the Nile, between Alexandria and
Cairo, the passengers by the last Calcutta mail-steamer. There were
some from China among them, but I could gather from them nothing of
any interest. It was a curious scene, by the way, that meeting: 260
first-class passengers, including children, pale and languid-looking,
thrown into a great barn-like refectory, in which were already
assembled our voyage companions (we ourselves had a separate room),
jovial-looking, and with roses in their cheeks, which they are
doubtless hastening to offer at the shrine of the sun. These two
opposing currents, bearing such legible records of the climes from
which they severally came, met for a moment on the banks of the Nile,
time enough to interchange a few hasty words, and then rushed on in
opposite directions. As I am not like the Englishman in 'Eothen,' who
passes his countryman in the Desert without accosting him, I had as
much talk as I could with all the persons coming from China whom I
could find, though, as I said, without obtaining any information of
value.
[Sidenote: Perim.]
_May 11th.--Seven A.M._--Before I retired last night, I saw, through
the starlight (we have little moon now) Perim. On the right is an
excellent safe channel, eleven miles wide; so that it will be
impossible to command the entrance of the Red Sea from Perim. There is
a good anchorage on this side, so says our captain; but of course we
could not see it. I am sorry we passed it so late, as I should have
liked Gros to have seen it, in order that he might calm the
susceptibilities of his Government in respect to its formidable
character. I enclose a little bit of a plant which I gathered on my
return from the Pyramids. The botanist on board says it is a species
of camomile. It is a commonplace plant, with a little blue flower, but
I took a fancy to it, because it had the pluck to venture farther into
the Desert, and to approach nearer the Pyramids than any other which I
saw.
[Sidenote: Aden.]
_On Shore at Aden.--Noon._--I am at the house of Captain Playfair, who
represents the Resident during his absence. A very pleasant breeze is
blowing through the wall of reeds or bamboo, which encloses the
verandah in which I am writing. I am most agreeably disappointed by
the temperature; and, strange to say, both Captain P. and his wife do
not complain of Aden! So it is with all who live here. And yet, when
one looks at the place, dry as a heap of ashes, glared upon by a
tropical sun, without a single blade of grass to repose the eye, or a
drop of moisture from above to cool the air, save only about once in
two years, when the sluices of Heaven are opened, and the torrents
come down with a fury unexampled elsewhere, one feels at first
inclined to doubt whether it can be possible for human beings to live
here. I suppose that it is the reaction, produced by finding that it
is not quite so bad as it appears, that reconciles people to their
lot, and makes them so contented. We have got some scraps of China
news; and what there is, seems to be pacific.
[Sidenote: Books.]
_At Sea.--May 15th._--If we go on to China, if we take the matter in
hand, then I think, _coute que coute_, we must finish it, and finish
it thoroughly. I do not believe that it will take us long to do so;
but the indispensable is, that it should be done. This is my judgment
on the matter, and I tell it to you as it presents itself to my own
mind; but how much wiser is Gros, who does not peer into the dim
future, but awaits calmly the dispersion of the mists which surround
it!... He has been reading the book on Buddhism (St. Hilaire's), which
I got on your recommendation, and have lent him. I have myself read
Thiers; the _Idylls_ over again; some other poems of Tennyson's, &c.
&c. The first of these is very interesting. The passion of the French
nation for the name of Napoleon seems more and more wonderful when one
peruses the record of the frightful sufferings which he brought upon
them; and yet, at the time when his reign was drawing to its close,
the disgust occasioned by his tyranny seemed to be the ruling
sentiment with all classes. As to the _Idylls,_ on a second perusal I
like 'Enid' better than on the first; 'Vivien' better; 'Elaine' less;
and 'Guinevere' still best of all. Nothing in the volume can approach
the last interview between Arthur and the Queen.
_May_ 19_th._--We are to reach Galle to-morrow or next day.... I think
of you and the dear small ones, to whom I feel myself drawn more
closely than ever; for, in spite of my preoccupations, I became better
acquainted with them during my last eleven months at home, than ever
before-dear B.'s full and thoughtful eye; L.'s engaging and loving
ways. Oh that I could be at home and at peace to enjoy all this!
[Sidenote: Ceylon.]
_Ceylon, May_ 21_st._--Last night was black and stormy, and when I came
on deck this morning, I was told that we did not know exactly where we
were; that we had turned our ship's head homewards, and were searching
for Ceylon. We found it after a while, and landed in a pelt of rain at
about noon.... On landing, I asked eagerly for China news. Hardly any
to be obtained; little more than vague surmises. Nothing to justify
an arrest of our movements, so we must go on. I do not know how it is,
but I feel sadder and more depressed than I have felt before. I cannot
but contrast my position when in this house a year ago with my present
position. Then I was returning to you, looking forward to your dear
welcome, complete success having crowned my mission to China, I am now
going from you on this difficult and unwelcome errand.... I feel as if
I knew every stone of the place where I passed so many weary hours,
waiting for Frederick, with a fever on me, or coming on. Gros is in
the next room bargaining for rubies and sapphires; but I do not feel
disposed to indulge in such extravagances.... The steamer in which we
are to proceed to-morrow looks very small, with diminutive portholes.
We shall be a large party, and, I fear, very closely packed.
[Sidenote: Russell on the Indian Mutiny.]
_May 22nd._--Have you read Russell's book on the Indian Mutiny? I have
done so, and I recommend it to you. It has made me very sad; but it
only confirms what I believed before respecting the scandalous
treatment which the natives receive at our hands in India. I am glad
that he has had courage to speak out as he does on this point. Can I
do anything to prevent England from calling down on herself God's
curse for brutalities committed on another feeble Oriental race? Or
are all my exertions to result only in the extension of the area over
which Englishmen are to exhibit how hollow and superficial are both
their civilisation and their Christianity?... The tone of the two or
three men connected with mercantile houses in China whom I find on
board is all for blood and massacre on a great scale, I hope they will
be disappointed; but it is not a cheering or hopeful prospect, look at
it from what side one may.
[Sidenote: Shipwreck.]
_Galle, May 23rd_.--L'homme propose, mais.... I ended my letter
yesterday by telling you that I was about to embark for Singapore amid
torrents of rain and growlings of thunder; but I little thought what
was to follow on this inauspicious embarkation. We got on board the
Peninsular and Oriental steamer 'Malabar' with some difficulty, there
was so much sea where the vessel was lying; and I was rather disgusted
to find, when I mounted the deck, that some of the cargo or baggage
had not yet arrived, and that we were not ready for a start. I was
already half wet through, and there was nothing for it but to sit
still on a bench under a dripping awning. About twenty minutes after I
had established myself in this position, the wind suddenly shifted,
and burst upon us with great fury from the north-east. The monsoon,
now due, comes from the south-west, and therefore a gale from the
north-east was unexpected, though I must say that, as we were being
assailed by constant thunderstorms, we had no right, in my opinion, to
consider ourselves secure on any side against the assaults of the
wind. Be this however as it may, the gale was so violent that I
observed to some one near me that it reminded me of a typhoon. I had
hardly made this remark, when a severe shock, accompanied by a grating
sound, conveyed to me the disagreeable information that the stern of
the vessel was on the rocks. Whether we tad two anchors out or one;
whether our cables were _hove taut_ or not; whether we had thirty
fathoms out or only fifteen, are points still in dispute; but at any
rate we had no steam; so, after we once were on the rock, we had for
some time no means of getting off it. During this period the thumping
and grating continued. It seemed, moreover, once or twice, to be
probable that we should run foul of a ship moored near us. However,
after a while, the engines began to work, and then symptoms of a panic
manifested themselves. The passengers came running up to me, saying
that the captain was evidently going to sea, that there were merchant
captains and others on board who declared that the certain destruction
of the ship and all on board would be the consequence, and begging me
to interfere to save the lives of all, my own included. At first I
declined to do anything,--told them that I had no intention of taking
the command of the ship, and recommended them in that respect to
follow my example. At last, however, as they became importunate, I
sent Crealock[2] to the captain, with my compliments, to ask him
whether we were going to sea. The answer was not encouraging, and went
a small way towards raising the spirits of my nervous friends around
me. 'Going to sea,' said the captain, 'why, we are going to the
bottom.' The fact is that we were at the time when that reply was
given going pretty rapidly to the bottom. The water was rising fast in
the after-part of the ship, and to this providential circumstance I
ascribe our safety. The captain started with the hope that he would be
able to pump into his boilers all the water made by the leak. If he
had succeeded, the chances are that by this time the whole concern
would have been deposited somewhere in the bed of the ocean. The leak
was, however, too much for him, and he had nothing for it but to run
over to the opposite side of the anchorage, where there is a sandy
bay, and there to beach his ship. We performed this operation
successfully, though at times it seemed probable that the water would
gain upon us so quickly as to stop the working of the engines before
we reached our destination. If this had happened we should have
drifted on some of the rocks with which the harbour abounds. When we
had got the stern of the vessel into the sand we discovered that we
had not accomplished much, for the said sand being very loose, almost
of the character of quicksand, and the sea running high, the stern
kept sinking almost as rapidly as when it had nothing but water below
it. The cabins were already full of water, and the object was to land
the passengers. As usual, there was the greatest difficulty in
launching any of the ship's boats, and none of the vessels in the
harbour, except one Frenchman (and one English I have since heard, but
its boat was swamped, and therefore I did not see it), saw fit to send
a boat to our assistance. In order to prevent too great a rush to the
boats, I thought it expedient to announce that the women must go
first, and that, for my own part, I intended to leave the ship
last.[3] This I was enabled to do without unnecessary parade, as the
first boat lowered was offered to me,--and no doubt the announcement
had some effect in keeping things quiet and obviating the risk of
swamping the boats, which was the only danger we had then to
apprehend. Such were our adventures of yesterday afternoon. I had a
presentiment that something would happen at Galle, though I could
hardly have anticipated that I should be wrecked, and wrecked within
the harbour!... _Five P.M._--I have just been on the beach looking at
our wreck. The stern, and up to the funnel is now all under water. A.
jury of 'experts' have sat on the case, and their decision is, that
nothing can be done to recover what is in the after part of the vessel
(passenger's luggage and specie) until the next monsoon sets in--some
five or six months hence! A wardrobe which has spent that period of
time under the sea will be a curiosity!
This untoward accident detained him for a fort-night at Galle, occupied in
superintending and pressing on the operation of fishing up what could be
saved from the wreck. By the aid of divers, his 'Full Powers' and his
decorations were recovered, together with most of his wearing apparel; but
his 'letter of credence' was gone, and he had to telegraph to the Foreign
Office for a duplicate.
[Sidenote: News from China.]
In the meantime the lingering hope which he had cherished of an immediate
return to England was dispelled by accounts from China, which made it clear
that he must proceed thither and go through with the expedition.
_May 28th.--Seven A.M._--This will be a sad letter to you, and I write
it with a heavy heart, though we have much to be thankful for in the
issue of this adventure.... I trust that Providence reserves for us a
time of real quiet and enjoyment. I go to China with the
determination, God willing! to bring matters there to a speedy
settlement. I think that this is as indispensable for the public as
for my own private interest. Gros is of the same opinion. I still
hope, therefore, that with the change of the monsoon we may be wending
our way homewards.
[Sidenote: Missionary station.]
_June 3rd._--Nothing has occurred to mark the lapse of time except a
visit we paid two days ago to a place called Ballagam, some ten miles
from here. It is a missionary station, built by the money of the
Church Missionary Society, or by funds raised through the Society. It
is situated on rising ground, and consists of an excellent bungalow
for the missionary, a church, and a school. A good part of the
building is upon an artificial terrace supported by masonry, and must
have cost a great deal of money. It appears that at one time, while
the work was going on, and cash was abundant, the congregation of so-
called Christians numbered some 400. It is now reduced to thirty
adults and about fifty children. The European missionary has left the
place, and it is in the hands of a native missionary. It gave me a
lively idea of the way in which good people in England are done out of
their money for such schemes.
_June 4th._--This morning I was awakened by the appearance of Loch in
my room, carrying a bag with letters from England. I jumped up and
opened yours, ended on the 10th of May. Your letter is a great
compensation for our shipwreck and delay, and it is at once a strange
coincidence and contrast to what happened on the last occasion. Then
your first letters to me were shipwrecked, and delayed a month in
reaching me. This time I have been shipwrecked myself almost in the
same place, and I have got your dear letter a month sooner than I had
anticipated. How differently do events turn out from our
expectations!... I suppose we shall get off to-morrow, though the
steamer for China is not yet arrived.... I have saved a considerable
portion of my effects, some a good deal damaged. But some of my staff
have lost much more, as they travel with a greater quantity of
clothing, &c., than I do.
At last, on the 5th of June, they were able to leave
Ceylon; and they reached Penang, after a rough passage,
on the 11th.
[Sidenote: Penang.]
_Steamer 'Pekin,' Straits of Malacca.--June 12th._--You may perhaps
remember that, when I first visited Penang in 1857, the Chinese
established there mustered in force to do me honour. There was a
sketch in the 'Illustrated News,' which portrayed our landing. No
similar demonstration took place on this occasion; whether this was
the result of accident or design, I cannot tell.... I have every
inducement to labour to bring my work to a close; to reach sooner that
peaceful home-life towards which I am always aspiring.... I think that
I have a duty to perform out here; but as to any advantage which will
accrue to myself from its performance, I am, I confess, very little
hopeful.... It is terrible to think how long I may have to wait for my
next letters. If we go on to the North at once, we shall be always
increasing the distance that separates us. It is wearisome, too,
passing over ground which I have travelled twice before. No interest
of novelty to relieve the mind. Penang and Ceylon are very lovely, but
one cares little, I think, for revisiting scenes which owe all their
charm to the beauties of external nature. It is different when such
beauties are the setting, in which are deposited historical
associations, and the memories of great deeds or events. I do not feel
the slightest desire to see again any even of the most lovely of the
scenes I have witnessed in this part of the world. Indeed, so tired am
I of this route, that I sometimes feel tempted to try to return by way
of the Pacific, if I could do so without much loss of time.... This is
only a passing idea, however, and not likely to be realised.
[Sidenote: Singapore.]
_June 13th.--Singapore._--We arrived at about noon. I find a new
governor, Colonel Cavanagh.... I am to take up my abode at the
Government House. Not much news from China, but a letter from Hope
Grant, asking me to order to China a Sikh regiment, which has been
stopped here by Canning's orders, and I think I shall take the
responsibility of reversing C.'s order, with which the men were very
much disgusted.
The next day he was afloat again, on his way to Hong-Kong.
_June 14th._--When you receive this, you will be thinking of dear
Bruce's school plans. Would that I could share your thoughts and
anxieties!... I have been reading a rather curious book--the 'Life of
Perthes,' a Hamburg bookseller. It reveals something of the working of
the inner life of Germany during the time of the first Napoleonic
Empire. It might interest you.
[Sidenote: Books.]
_June 17th_.--Another Sunday. How many since we parted? I cannot count
them. It seems to me as if a good many years had elapsed since that
sad evening at Dover. But here I am going on farther and farther from
home! We hope to reach Hong-Kong on Thursday next; but that is not the
end of my voyage, though it is the beginning of my work. I am still
comparatively idle, ransacking the captain's cabin for books. The last
I have read is Kingsley's 'Two Years Ago.' I do not wonder that you
ladies like Kingsley, for he makes all his women guardian angels.
_June 19th_.--I have read Trench's 'Lectures on English' since
yesterday. I think you know them, but I had not done more than glance
at them before. They open up a curious field of research if one had
time enough to enter upon it. The monotony of our life is not broken
by many incidents. Tennyson's poem of the 'Lotus-Eaters' suits us
well, as we move noiselessly through this polished sea, on which the
great eye of the sun is glaring down from above. We passed a ship
yesterday with all sails set. This was an event; to-day a butterfly
made its appearance. In two days I may be forming decisions on which
the well-being of thousands of our fellow-creatures may be contingent.
_June 20th_.--Still it is sad, sometimes almost overwhelming, to think
of the many causes of anxiety from which you may be suffering, of
which for months I can have no knowledge, and with which these letters
when you receive them may seem to have no sympathy.... I can only pray
that you may have in your troubles a protection and a guidance more
effectual than any which I could afford when I was with you.... As to
my own particular interests, I mean those connected with my mission, I
can hardly form any conjectures.... I am glad that the time for work
is arriving, though I cannot but feel a little nervous anxiety until I
know what I shall learn at Hong-Kong respecting our prospects with the
Chinese, &c. &c.
Arrived at Hong-Kong on the following day, he found letters from his
brother Frederick--'generous and magnanimous as ever'--giving him some hope
of there being an opening for diplomacy, and a chance of settling matters
speedily. In this hope he pressed on to Shanghae, whither the naval and
military authorities with whom he was to act had preceded him.
_Steamship 'Ferooz.'--At Sea.--June 27th_.--We are rolling a great
deal and very uncomfortably,--a more disagreeable passage than I made
last time in the month of March. So much for all the talk about the
monsoon.... Writing is no easy matter; and I shall probably also have
little time after reaching Shanghae to-morrow, as the mail is likely
to leave on Saturday next, and I may have despatches to send which
will occupy my time.... I cannot go much farther, for already I am
separated from you by nearly one-half of the globe. I sometimes think
of how I am to return for a change,--by the Pacific, by Siberia. It
would be rather a temptation to take this overland route. Thurlow,[4]
it appears, has already written to St. Petersburg to ask leave for
himself and Crealock to return through Russia. Alas! these are castles
in the air, very well to indulge in before we reach Shanghae and the
stern realities of the mission.
[Sidenote: Shanghae.]
At Shanghae he had the happiness of meeting his brother, and the benefit of
hearing from his own lips a full account of the past, and discussing with
him their common plans for the future. The noble qualities of that brother,
shining out the more brightly in adverse circumstances, filled him with
admiration which his affectionate nature delighted to express.
[Sidenote: Mr. Bruce.]
_Shanghae.--June 30th._--Frederick is a noble-hearted man; perhaps the
noblest I have ever met with in my experience of my fellows.... He has
had a most difficult task here to perform, and to the best of my
judgment has performed it with great ability.
_Shanghae, July 1st._--Frederick, partly from generosity of
character, and partly from sympathy with the Admiral and admiration of
his valour, abstained from stating in his own justification all the
circumstances of the unfortunate affair at the Peiho last year.
Moreover, Frederick's policy at the mouth of the Peiho was one which
required success to justify it in the eyes of persons at a distance.
After the failure, no matter by whose fault, he could not have escaped
invidious criticism, however clear might have been his demonstration
that for that failure he was not directly or indirectly responsible.
Therefore I think it probable that the result will prove that, in
following the dictates of his own generous nature, he adopted the
course which in the long-run will be found to have been the wisest....
I do not like to speak too confidently of the future. Of course their
victory of last year has increased the self-confidence of the Chinese
Government, and rendered it more arrogant in its tone. Nevertheless, I
am of opinion that the result will prove that I estimated correctly
their power of resistance; that we have spent in our armaments against
them three times as much as was necessary; and that, if we have
difficulties to encounter, they are likely to be due not to the
strength of the enemy, but to the cumbrous preparations of ourselves
and allies, and the loss of time and hazards of climate, and other
embarrassments which we are creating for ourselves. My last remark to
Lord Palmerston was, that I would rather march on Pekin with 5,000 men
than with 25,000.
_On board the 'Ferooz.'--July 5th_.--Four P.M._--We have passed out
of the Shanghae river into the Yangtze-kiang. It is delightfully cool,
and the wind which is now against us will be with us when we get out
to sea, and direct our course to the North. ... Frederick's conduct
has won for him, and most justly, general admiration. A hint was given
to me before I started, that an ambassador would meet me at the mouth
of the Peiho as soon as I arrived. If a proceeding of this nature on
the part of the Court of Pekin precedes our capture of the forts, it
will be a great embarrassment to me. The poor old 'Furious' was lying
at anchor at Shanghae. To see her brought back many feelings of 'auld
lang syne.' Shanghae altogether excited in my mind a good deal of a
home feeling. It was the place at which, during my first mission, I
tad enjoyed most repose. ... Frederick remains there until I have
completed my work in the North, and I think he is right in doing so,
although I should have been glad of his company and assistance.
_July 6th._--It does not do to be sanguine in this world, still I have
cause to hope that our business in the North will be speedily settled,
if we can only get the French to begin at once. What I have to
consider is how best to prevent my mission from impairing in any
degree Frederick's authority and prestige. As regards his own
countrymen there is little danger of this result; he already stands so
high in their esteem. With the Chinese there may be more fear of this
result; but it is so much in accordance with their notions that an
elder brother should take the part which I am now doing, that I do not
think the risk is great, and were it so, even, I should find some
means of counteracting the evil.
[Sidenote: Talie-Whan]
The place appointed for the assembling of the English forces was the bay of
Talien-Whan, near the southern extremity of a promontory named Regent's
Sword, which, running down from the north into the Yellow Sea, cuts off on
its western side a large gulf, of which the northern part is known by the
name of Leao-Tong, the southern by the name of Pecheli. The _rendezvous_ of
the French was at Chefoo, about eighty miles south of Talien-Whan, on the
opposite side of the strait which forms the entrance of the large gulf
already mentioned. Both places are about 200 miles distant from the mouth
of the Peiho, which is at the western extremity of the gulf.
It was on the 9th of July that Lord Elgin reached the shores where lay
already congregated the formidable force, for the employment of which, as
the secular arm of his diplomacy, he was henceforth to be responsible.
_July 9th.--Eight A.M._--It is a calm sea and scorching sun, very hot,
and it looks hotter still in that bay, protected by bare rocky
promontories and islets, and backed by hills, within which we discover
a fleet at anchor. What will this day bring forth? How much we are in
the hand of Providence 'rough-hew our ends as we may!' In little more
than an hour we shall probably be at our journey's close for the time.
[Sidenote: Country-people.]
I have just heard a story of the poor country-people here. A few days
ago, a party of drunken sailors went to a village, got into a row, and
killed a man by mistake. On the day following, three officers went to
the village armed with revolvers. The villagers surrounded them, took
from them the revolvers (whether the officers fired or not is
disputed), and then conducted them, without doing them any injury, to
their boat. An officer, with an interpreter, was then sent to the
village to ask for the revolvers. They were at once given up, the
villagers stating that they had no wish to take them, but that as one
of their number had been shot already, they objected to people coming
to them with arms.
_July 10th_.--What will the House of Commons say when the bill which
has to be paid for this war is presented? The expense is enormous: in
my opinion, utterly disproportionate to the objects to be effected.
The Admiral is doing things excellently well, if money be no object.
_July 12th_.-We are in a delightful climate. Troops and all in good
health. I shall not, however, dilate on these points, because I am
sure you will read all about it in the _Times_. 'Our Own
Correspondent' is in the next cabin to me, completing his letter. I
leave it to him to tell all the agreeable and amusing things that are
occurring around us. My letters to you are nothing but the record of
incidents that happen to affect me at the time; trifling things
sometimes; sometimes things that irritate; things that pass often and
leave no impression, as clouds reflected on a lake.
[Sidenote: Cavalry camp.]
[Sidenote: Sir Hope Grant.]
_Talien-Whan Bay.--July 14th_.--Yesterday, at an early hour, the
French Admiral and General arrived. It was agreed that they should go
over to the cavalry camp on the other side of the bay, some ten miles
off, and that I should accompany them. No doubt you will see in the
_Times_ a full account of all that took place on the occasion. Nothing
could be more perfect than the condition of the force, both men and
horses. The picturesqueness of the scene; the pleasant bay, with its
sandy margin and background of bleak hills, seamed by the lines of the
cavalry tents; the troops drawn up in the foreground in all their
variety of colour and costume, from the two squadrons of H.M.'s
Dragoon Guards on the right to the two squadrons of Fane's light-blue
Sikh Irregulars on the left; the experiments with the Armstrong
guns--from one of which a shell was fired which went over the hills
and vanished into space, no one knows whither--will all be described
by a more graphic pen than mine. The weather was excellent. Enough
covering over the sky to prevent the rays of the sun from striking us
too fiercely, and yet no rain. The proceedings of the day terminated
by some _tours de force_ of the Sikh cavalry and their officers;
wrenching tent-pegs from the ground with their lances, and cutting
oranges with their sabres when at full gallop. Everything went to
confirm the favourable opinion of the state of the army here which I
expressed in my last letter. Hope Grant seems very much liked. It can
hardly be otherwise, for there is a quiet simplicity and kindliness
about his manner which, in a man so highly placed, must be most
winning. I am particularly struck by the grin of delight with which
the men of a regiment of Sikhs (infantry) who were with him at
Lucknow, greet him whenever they meet him. I observed on this to him,
and he said: 'Oh, we were always good friends. I used to visit them
when they were sick, poor fellows. They are in many ways different
from the Mohammedans. Their wives used to come in numbers, and walk
over the house where Lady Grant and I lived.' The contrast with what I
saw when I was in China before, in regard to the treatment of the
natives, is most remarkable. There seems to be really no plundering or
bullying. In so far as I can see, we have here at present a truly
model army and navy: not however, I fear, a cheap one.
The Admiral told me last night he had written to the Admiralty to say
that, looking to the future, he believed there were two distinct
operations by which the Pekin Government could be coerced,--either by
a military force on a large scale such as this, or by a blockade of
the Gulf of Pecheli, undertaken early in the year, &c. I was glad to
hear him say this, because I recommended the latter course immediately
after we heard of the Peiho disaster, with a view to save all this
expenditure; and I still think that if the measures which I advised
had been adopted, including the sending up to the north of China two
or three regiments (enough, with the assistance of the fleet, to take
the Taku Forts), much of this outlay might have been spared.
_Sunday, July 15th._--I have been on board the Admiral's ship for
church. Afterwards I had some talk with him in regard to future
proceedings. ... The problem we have to solve here is a very difficult
one; for while we are up here for the purpose of bringing pressure to
bear on the Emperor, as a means of placing our relations with China on
a proper footing, we have news from the South which looks as if the
Government of the Empire was about to pass out of his feeble hands
into those of the Rebels, who have upon us the claim that they profess
a kind of Christianity.
[Sidenote: A birthday.]
_July 20th._[5]--I know that you will not forget this day, though it
can only remind you of the declining years and frequent wanderings of
one who ought to be your constant protector, and always at your side.
It is very sad that we should pass it apart, but I can say something
comforting upon it. The Admiral and General came here yesterday, and
agreed with the French authorities that the two fleets are to start
for the _rendezvous_ on the 26th. Ignatieff, the Russian, who made his
appearance here to-day, said, 'After your force lands, I give you six
days to finish everything.' If he says what he thinks, it is a
promising view of things. Six days before we start, six days to land
the troops, and six days to finish the war! Eighteen days from this,
and we may be talking of peace. Alas! what resemblance will the facts
bear to these anticipations?
[Sidenote: Chefoo.]
[Sidenote: Plans for landing.]
_Talien-Whan.--July 21st._--Now for a word about Chefoo. I had agreed
to dine with the General, Montauban, on the night of my arrival, so,
after visiting Gros, I went to his headquarters. I found him in a very
well-built, commodious Chinese house. I must tell you that, as we were
entering the bay, we descried a steamer a-head of us, and it turned
out to be a vessel sent by the French to examine the spot (south of
the Peiho Forts), which had been selected for the place of their
debarkation when the attack comes off. On the evening of our dinner,
the General did not enter into particulars, but gave me to understand
that the result of the exploration had been very unsatisfactory, and
that his scheme for landing was altogether upset. I heard this with
considerable dismay, as I feared that it might be employed as a reason
for delay. Before we parted that night, I agreed to land next morning,
to see his artillery, &c. He read me the unfavourable report of his
exploring party, which was headed by Colonel Schmid, a great friend of
the Emperor's, and the best man (so they say) they have got here. He
contends that all along the line of coast there is a band of hard
sand, at a considerable distance from low-water mark; that the water
upon it is very shallow; and that, beyond, there is an interval of
soft mud, over which cannon, &c., could not be carried. The French are
no doubt very much behind us in their preparations, but then it is
fair to say that they have not spent a tenth part of the money, and
with their small resources they have done a good deal. It was
wonderful how their little wild Japanese ponies had been trained in a
few days to draw their guns. After the review we took a ride to the
top of a hill, from whence we had a very fine prospect. It is a much
more fertile district than this, beautifully cultivated, and the
houses better than I have seen anywhere else in China. The people
seemed very comfortable, and their relations with the French are
satisfactory, as we may infer from the abundant supplies brought to
market. On the following morning the English Admiral and General
arrived. They had their interview with the French authorities, and
settled that on the 26th the fleets should sail from Talien-Whan and
Chefoo respectively to the _rendezvous_, somewhere opposite Taku. From
that point the Admirals and Generals are to proceed on a further
exploration, and to effect a disembarkation on the earliest possible
day. So the matter stands for the present. The state of Europe is very
awkward, and an additional reason for finishing this affair.[6] For if
Russia and France unite against us, not only will they have a pretty
large force here, but they will get news _via_ Russia sooner than we
do, which may be inconvenient.
_July 22nd, Sunday._--The thirteenth since we parted. It seems like as
many months or years. Some one said to-day at breakfast that it is the
last quiet one we are likely to have for a while. In one sense I hope
this may turn out to be true.... To-morrow our cavalry and artillery
are to be embarked. This takes place on the other side of this bay,
and I intend to go over to see the operation.
_July 26th.--Noon._--I am now starting (having witnessed the departure
of the fleet) for the scene of action in the Gulf of Pecheli. The
sight of this forenoon has been a very striking one, just enough
breeze to enable the vessels to spread their sails. We have about 180
miles to go to the point of _rendezvous_.... Meanwhile, one has as
usual one's crop of small troubles. The servants threatened to strike
yesterday, but they were soon brought to reason.
[Sidenote: The _rendezvous_.]
[Sidenote: Jesuit letters.]
_July 27th.--Ten A.M._--We have reached our destination after a most
smooth passage, during which we have followed close in the wake of the
Admiral.... I am reading the 'Lettres edifiantes et curieuses,' which
are the reports of the Jesuit missionaries who were established in
China at the commencement of the last century. They are very
interesting, and the writers seem to have been good and zealous
people. At the same time one cannot help being struck by their
puerility on many points. The doctrine of baptismal regeneration
pushed to its extreme logical conclusions, as it is by them, leads to
rather strange practical consequences. Starting from the principle
that all unbaptized children are certainly eternally lost, and all
baptized (if they die immediately) as certainly saved, they naturally
infer that they do more for the kingdom of heaven by baptizing dying
children than by any other work of conversion in which they can be
engaged. The sums which they expend in sending people about the
streets, to administer this sacrament to all the moribund children
they can find; the arts which they employ to perform this office
secretly on children in this state whom they are asked to treat
medically; and the glee with which they record the success of their
tricks, are certainly remarkable. From some passages I infer that, in
the Roman Catholic view of the case, the rite of baptism may be
administered even by an unbeliever.
[Sidenote: The Pey-tang.]
_Two P.M._--Hope Grant has teen on board. He tells me that the mouth
of the Pey-tang is not staked, and that the 'Actaeon's' boat went
three miles up the river. This river is seven or eight miles from the
Peiho, and the Chinese have had a year to prepare to resist us. It
appears that there is nothing to prevent the gunboats from going up
that river.
_July 28th--Eleven A.M._--The earlier part of last night was very hot,
... and I got feverish and could not sleep. Towards morning the good
luck of the leaders in this expedition came again into play; a breeze
sprang up from the right quarter, so that the whole of the sailing
ships have been helped marvellously on their way. When I went on deck
the whole line of the French fleet--it consists almost exclusively of
steamers--was coming gallantly on, Gros at the head. He is quite
cutting me out this time. The farther distance was filled by our
sailing transports scudding before the wind. They have been filing
past us ever since, dropping into their places, which are rather
difficult to find, as the Admiral has changed all his dispositions
since his arrival here. The captain of the 'Actaeon' dined here
yesterday. He told me he had gone a mile or two up the Pey-tang river,
been allowed to land, seen the fort, which is quite open behind, and
contains about a hundred men. Thirty thousand English (fleet and army)
and ten thousand French ought to be a match for so far-sighted an
enemy. However, I suppose we must not crow till we see what the Tartar
warriors are. _Three P.M._--The French Admiral has just been here. He
tells me that we are to move from the anchorage to a place nearer Pey-
tang on Monday, and that on Tuesday a _reconnaissance_ in force is to
be made on that place, with the intention, I presume, of taking it.
[1] Vide _supra_, p. 226.
[2] Colonel Crealock, military secretary to the Embassy.
[3] 'The absence of any panic was very creditable to the passengers. It,
however, was mainly due to the conduct of the two Ambassadors, who,
during the whole time, remained quietly seated on the poop conversing
together, as if no danger 'impended.'--_Personal Narrative of
Occurrences during Lord Elgin's Second Embassy to China_, by H.B. Loch
Private Secretary.
[4] The Honourable T.J. Hovell Thurlow, attache to the Embassy.
[5] His birthday.
[6] The reference apparently is to the uneasiness produced in Europe by the
annexation of Savoy to France.
CHAPTER XIII.
SECOND MISSION TO CHINA. PEKIN.
THE LANDING--CHINESE OVERTURES--TAKING OF THE FORTS--THE PEN TIENTSIN--
NEGOTIATIONS BROKEN OFF--NEW PLENIPOTENTIARIES--AGREEMENT MADE--
AGREEMENT
BROKEN--TREACHEROUS SEIZURE OF MR. PARKES AND OTHERS--ADVANCE ON
PEKIN-
-RETURN OF SOME OF THE CAPTIVES--FATE OF THE REST--BURNING OF THE
SUMMER
PALACE--CONVENTION SIGNED--FUNERAL OF THE MURDERED CAPTIVES--IMPERIAL
PALACE--PRINCE KUNG--ARRIVAL OF MR. BRUCE--RESULTS OF THE MISSION.
[Sidenote: The landing.]
On the 1st of August the landing of the allied troops was effected in
perfect order, without the slightest opposition on the part of the
inhabitants, at the point already mentioned, viz. near the little town of
Pey-tang which is situated at the mouth of a river of the same name, about
eight miles north of the mouth of the Peiho. What Lord Elgin saw of the
operations is described in the following letter:--
_August 2nd._--There have been a few days' interval since I wrote, and
I now date from Pey-tang, and from the General's ship the 'Granada,' a
Peninsular and Oriental steamer; for I owe it to him that I am here. I
need hardly tell you the events that have occurred--public events I
mean--since the 28th, as they will all be recorded by 'Our Own.' We
moved on the 29th to a different anchorage, some five miles nearer
Pey-tang. ... All the evidence was to the effect that the Pey-tang
Forts were undefended, at least that there were no barricades in the
river, and therefore that the best way of taking them would be to pass
them in the gunboats as we did the Peiho Forts in 1858, and as we also
passed Nankin that year ... but it was resolved that we should land a
quantity of men in the mud about a mile and a half below them. This
was to have taken place on the 30th, and those of my gentlemen who
intended to leave me, as better fun was to be found elsewhere, kept up
a tremendous bustle and noise from about 4 A.M. However, at about 6,
they were informed that the orders for landing were countermanded, on
the plea that there was too much sea to admit of the horses being
transferred from the vessels to the gunboats. Next day, the 31st, it
was raining, and the sea seemed rougher in the morning. However, at
about 9, the gunboats began to move. The General had agreed that I
should have his ship, and that I should move either over the bar or as
near to it as I could manage. ... I anchored the 'Granada' outside the
bar, and as I did not choose to lose the sight of the landing, I got
into my row-boat ... going at last on board the 'Coromandel,' the
Admiral's ship. The landing went on merrily enough. It was a lovely,
rather calm evening. We were within a long-range shot of the Forts;
and if shot or shell had dropped among the boats and men who were
huddled up on the edge of the mud-bank, it would have been
inconvenient. Our enemy, however, had no notion of doing anything so
ungenerous; so the landing went on uninterruptedly, the French
carrying almost all they wanted on their backs, our men employing
coolies, &c., for that purpose. We saw nothing of the enemy except the
movements of a few Tartar horsemen out of and into the town, galloping
along the narrow causeway on which our troops were to march. At
midnight eight gunboats--six English and two French--steamed past the
Forts. It was a moment of some excitement, because we did not know
whether or not they would be fired at. However, nothing of the kind
took place; and, about an hour after they had started, three rockets
that soared and burst over the village intimated that they had reached
the place appointed to them. Having witnessed this part of the
proceedings I lay down on the deck with my great-coat over me; but not
for long, for at half-past two, Captain Dew (my old friend)[1] arrived
with the announcement that, having been on an errand to the lines of
the troops, he had met a party of French soldiers who were obliging
some Chinese to carry a wooden gun which they had captured in the
fort, declaring that they had entered it, found it deserted, and
possessed of no defences but two wooden guns. It turned out that they
had not entered first, but that an English party, headed by Mr.
Parkes, had preceded them. This rather promised to diminish the
interest of the attack on the forts which had been fixed for half-past
four in the morning. But there was another fort on the opposite side
of the river, perhaps there might be some resistance there. Alas! vain
hope. Three shots were fired at it from the gunboats which had passed
through during the night, and some twenty labourers walked out of it
to seek a more secure field for their industry in some neighbouring
village. Afterwards our troops went in and found it empty as the
other; so ended the capture of Pey-tang.
We came over the bar in the evening, and I went to see Hope Grant at
the captured fort, where he has fixed his abode. While there we
discovered a strongish body of Tartar cavalry, at a distance of about
four miles along the causeway which leads from this to Tientsin and
Taku. I urged the General to send out a party to see what these gentry
were doing, lest they should be breaking up the causeway, or doing any
other mischief; and I heard from him this morning that he had arranged
with General Montauban to do so, and that a party of 2,000 men started
on that errand early. The Tartars seem to be in greater force than was
supposed. The officer in command (rightly or wrongly, I know not
which) resolved to consider the expedition merely a reconnaissance,
and to retire after staying on the ground a short time. Of course the
Tartars will consider this a victory, and will he elated by it; but
perhaps this is a good thing, as it may induce them to face us on the
open. The ground on which they were found is firm and fit for cavalry,
and is about four miles from the Peiho Forts. This is a very nasty
place. The country around is all under water, and it is impossible to
get through it except by moving along the one or two causeways that
intersect it. The military are, therefore, glad to find sound footing
at no great distance.
[Sidenote: Chinese overtures.]
Up to this time no communication of any kind had passed between the Special
Ambassadors and any Chinese officials. An _ultimatum_ had been presented by
Mr. Bruce in March, demanding an apology for the attack on our ships of
war, the immediate ratification of the Treaty, and prompt payment of the
indemnity of 4,000,000 taels, as therein stipulated. As these demands had
been formally refused by the Chinese Government, there was no room for
diplomacy. Even the bare announcement of his arrival Lord Elgin feared they
might interpret as an invitation to treat, and use as an excuse for
dilatory and evasive negotiations. The justice of this view was proved by
what took place on the 5th of August. Having occasion to station one of his
ships near the shore for the purpose of getting water, the Admiral sent a
flag of truce to warn some Tartar troops posted near the spot, that 'his
ship had not gone there with the view of making an attack, but that it
would fire on the Tartars if they approached too near it.' The Governor-
General at once took advantage of the opening this gave him. Affecting to
believe that the flag of truce came from Lord Elgin, he addressed to him a
despatch full of professions of amity, and saying that he 'had received
instructions to discuss and dispose of all questions with the British
Minister,' but containing no mention of the _ultimatum_. To this and
numerous similar missives, which came for a time in rapid succession, Lord
Elgin had but one reply--that he could discuss nothing until the demands
already made had been satisfied.
_August 9th._--My diplomacy began yesterday, for I received in the
morning a communication from the Governor-General of the province, not
frankly conceding our demands, but making tolerably plausible
proposals for the sake of occasioning delay. I have refused to stay
the march of the military on such overtures; but the great slowness of
our operations is likely to lead me into diplomatic difficulties. The
Chinese authorities, if they become frightened, are clever enough to
advance propositions which it may be impossible to accede to without
compromising the main objects of this costly expedition, and by
refusing which I shall, nevertheless, expose myself to great
animadversion. There was a reconnaissance again this morning, and I
hope from the report of Crealock (who accompanied it, and who is doing
very well) that the enemy will prove quite as little formidable as I
have always expected. The serious advance was positively to have taken
place to-morrow, but I almost fear there will be another delay. I am
anxious to conclude peace as soon as possible after the capture of the
Peiho Forts, because, from what I have seen of the conduct of the
French here, I am sure that they will commit all manner of atrocities,
and make foreigners detested in every town and village they enter. Of
course their presence makes it very difficult to maintain discipline
among our own people.
[Sidenote: Taking of the forts.]
The 'serious advance' took place on the 12th, and was completely
successful. On that day the Allies took possession of the little town of
Sinho: two days later they occupied Tangkow. The forts, however, which
guarded the entrance of the Peiho--the Taku Forts, from which the British
forces had been so disastrously repulsed the year before--remained untaken.
Opinions were divided as to the plan of operations. The French were for
attacking first the great fortifications on the right or southern bank of
the river; but Sir Robert Napier urged that the real key to the enemy's
position was the most northerly of the forts, on the left or northern bank.
Happily his counsels prevailed. On the 21st this fort was taken by assault,
with but little loss of life; and the soundness of the judgment which
selected the point of attack was proved by the immediate surrender of all
the remaining defensible positions on both sides of the river.
During the greater part of this time Lord Elgin was on board the 'Granada,'
moored off Pey-tang, suffering all the anxieties of an active spirit
condemned to inactivity in the midst of action: responsible generally for
the fate of the expedition, yet without power to control any detail of its
operations; fretting especially at the delays which are, perhaps,
necessarily incident to a divided and subdivided command. Writing after the
surrender of the Taku Forts he said:--
I have torn up the earlier part of this letter, because it is needless
to place on record the anxieties I felt at that time. To revert to the
portion of my history which was included in the part of my letter that
I have destroyed, I must tell you that it was on the 12th that the
troops first moved out of Pey-tang. I saw them defile past, and in the
afternoon rode out to the camp, but was turned back by a large body of
Tartar cavalry, who menaced my flank, and as some of my people had
just discovered, in the apartment of the Tartar General at Sinho, a
letter stating that they were determined to capture the 'big barbarian
himself' this time, I thought it better to retrace my steps. The
second action took place on the 14th, and on the 15th I rode out to
see the General, and had a conference with him. On the 17th I went to
the gulf to see Gros. I have had dozens of letters from the Chinese
authorities, and I have answered some of them, not in a way to give
them much pleasure. All these details were given at full length in my
annihilated letter, but already they seem out of date.
_Tangkow.--August 23rd._--Grant has been marvellously favoured by the
weather, for the rain, which arrests all movements here, stopped the
day before he moved out of Pey-tang, and began again about an hour
after he had taken the Taku Fort, which led to the surrender of the
whole. I must also say that the result entirely justified the
selection which he made of his point of attack, and, as this was
against the written opinion of the French General, it is a feather in
Grant's cap. The Chinese are just the same as they were when I knew
them formerly. They fired the cannons with quite as little accuracy,
but there was one point of difference in their proceedings. On
previous occasions we have always found their forts open on one side;
so that, when they were turned, the troops left them and escaped. In
this instance they were enclosed with ditches, palisades, stakes, &c.,
so that the poor fellows had nothing for it but to remain in them till
they were pushed out by bayonets. Almost all our casualties occurred
during the escalade. I went through the hospitals yesterday, and found
very few who had been struck by round shot. A very small portion of
the force was engaged, so that my opinion of its unnecessary magnitude
is not shaken. I need not describe the action for you, as you will no
doubt see elsewhere a detailed account of it. My own personal history
will not be indifferent to you. I left the 'Granada' at about 5.30
P.M. on the 20th (Monday). Found some dinner and a tent at the camp at
Sinho. Started next morning at about 5.30 A.M.; rode into Tangkow,
where I now am, and mounted to the top of the Head-quarters' House,
whence I had a very good view of the operations. I was dislodged after
a while, because a battery opened fire at about fifteen hundred yards
from us, and some of the balls fell so near, that we began to think
they were perhaps firing at me. On being dislodged from my Belvidere,
I took some breakfast to console myself; and soon after, seeing the
British flag on the fort which we had been attacking, I rode over to
it. We met a good many of our own wounded, and all round the fort were
numbers of the poor Chinamen, staked and massacred in all sorts of
ways. I found the two Generals there, and soon after the Admiral came
up from his ship under a flag of truce. Two letters came to me from
the Chinese; but, true to my policy of letting the fighting men have
all the prestige of taking the Forts, I would not have anything to say
to them. The messengers were told that they must give up the forts to
the Commanders-in-Chief before I would listen to them; and that, in
the meantime, the army would proceed with its operations. They moved
on accordingly, and I returned to my post of observation at Tangkow. I
had hardly reached it when the rain began, and in about an hour the
roads had become absolutely impassable for artillery, and nearly so
for everything else. The troops met with no resistance at the second
fort, and the indefatigable Parkes having gone over to the unfortunate
Governor-General, extorted from him a surrender of the whole, which he
brought to the Commanders-in-Chief on the morning of the 22nd, having,
I believe, dictated its terms. Of course, Grant's triumph is complete,
and deservedly so. ... The system of our army involves such an
enormous transportation of provisions, &c., that we make, however, but
slow progress. I have, therefore, urged the Admiral, who has got
through the barriers at the mouth of the Peiho (and who is not
unwilling to go ahead), to proceed up the river with his gunboats: if
he meets with any obstructions which are serious, he can stop his
progress, and await the arrival of troops. If he meets none, he will
soon reach Tientsin.
_August 24th._--This morning, at about four, Grant awoke me with a
letter from the Admiral, saying that he had experienced in going up
the river exactly what we did in 1858--the poor people coming down in
crowds to offer submission and provisions, and no opposition of any
kind. He wrote from ten miles below Tientsin, which place he was going
to occupy with his small gunboat force. The General has agreed to
despatch a body of infantry in gunboats, and to make his cavalry march
by land; and I am only awaiting the return of the Admiral to move on.
So all is going on well. Grant has also agreed to send a regiment to
Shanghae in case there should be trouble there. ... It really looks
now as if my absence would not be protracted much beyond the time we
used to speak of before I started. ... At the same time, I do not like
to be too confident.
[Sidenote: The Peiho.]
_August 25th.--Noon._--High and dry at about fifteen miles below
Tientsin. This must remind you of some of my letters from the Yangtze,
two years ago. We started this morning at 6.30 in the 'Granada:' the
General and I, with both our staffs. We had gone on famously to this
point, scraping through the mud occasionally with success. In rounding
a corner, however, at which a French gunboat had already stuck before
us, we have run upon a bank. It is very strange to me to be going up
the Peiho river again. The fertility of the plain through which it
runs strikes me more than it did formerly. The harvest is at hand, and
the crops clothe it luxuriantly. The poor people in the villages do
not appear to fear us much. We treated them well before, and they
expect similar treatment again. The Admiral did his work of occupying
Tientsin well.... He has great qualities.
[Sidenote: Tientsin.]
_Tientsin.--Sunday, August 26th._--We reached this place about
midnight. It was about the most nervous operation at which I ever
assisted, going round the sharp turns with this long ship by
moonlight. I had a moment of painful _saisissement_ when I felt almost
certain that we should run into my dear colleague Gros, who had
grounded in a little gunboat at one of the worst bends of the river.
We only saved him by dropping an anchor from the stern, and going
backwards full speed. The Yangtze was bad enough, but we never used to
go on at night, and there was no danger of collisions. This ship looks
also as if she would go head over heels much more easily than the
'Furious.' I am waiting for Parkes and the General before I decide as
to landing, &c. Is it not strange to be here? Immediately ahead of us
is the yamun where Gros and I spent the eventful weeks in 1858, which
preceded the signature of the treaties of Tientsin! _Two P.M._--We are
to have the yamun in which Reed and Putiatine were lodged in 1858; a
much better quarter than our old one; and the General, Gros, and I are
all to lodge in it together.
[Sidenote: Chinese yamun.]
_Tientsin.--August 27th._--I had a very bad headache after I had sent
off the mail yesterday. ... Our ship had, moreover, got aground, and
was lying over so much on one side that it seemed possible that she
might topple over altogether. Under these circumstances, and having
the prospect of a very noisy night on board, I determined to land and
sleep in my yamun. The portion of it dedicated to me consists of a
regular Chinese garden, with rockwork and bridges, and ponds full of
lotus leaves, and flowerpots of all dimensions with shrubs and flowers
in them, surrounded on two sides by wooden buildings, containing rooms
with carved woodwork and other Chinese neatnesses. It is the only
house of a Chinese gentleman I have ever inhabited, for when I was
here before I dwelt in a temple. The mosquitoes were a little
troublesome at first, but I got my net up, and slept tolerably, better
than I should have done here; for the iron ships get so heated by the
sun during the day that they are never cool, however fresh the night
air may be.
[Sidenote: Negotiations.]
_August 29th._--I intended to have told you that I was sending a stiff
letter to my old friend Kweiliang; but, in fact, it has taken some
time and consultation with Gros to settle its terms, and it is only
now being translated. Yesterday afternoon the long-expected mail
arrived. ... Shall I really eat my Christmas dinner with you? Really
many things are more improbable than that. I hoped at one time that
this letter might be despatched from Pekin; but as we have to meet
Commissioners here, and to make a kind of supplementary treaty before
proceeding thither, it is doubtful whether we shall accomplish this. I
am not sure that I like my present domicile as well as I did my
domicile here in 1858, because, although it is a great deal more
_orne_, it is proportionably hotter, being surrounded by walls which
we cannot see over. It is a great place, with an infinite number of
courts and rooms of all sizes. I should think several families must
live in it, unless the establishment of a Chinese gentleman is very
large indeed. If Kweiliang and Co. come into our terms, my present
intention is to send at once to Frederick officially, and request him
to come on to Pekin. ... He has been having some very troublesome work
at Shanghae with the Rebels; indeed, there is at present work enough
for both of us in China.
_September 1st._--Kweiliang arrived last night, and sent me a hint
that he intended to call on me to-day. I sent one in return, to say
that I would not see him until he had answered my letter. I fear a
little more bullying will be necessary before we bring this stupid
Government up to the mark. Both yesterday and to-day I took a ride in
the morning with Grant. I rode a horse of his, a very nice one. The
sun becomes powerful very early, but it is a charming climate now. The
abundance of all things wonderful: beef and mutton at about threepence
a pound; peaches, grapes, and all sorts of vegetables in plenty; ice
in profusion. I daresay, however, that in six weeks' time it may be
very cold.
At one moment, on the 2nd of September, it really seemed as if the object
of the mission was achieved; for the Imperial Commissioners--one of whom
was the same Kweiliang who had conducted the negotiations in 1858--in a
formal despatch gave a positive assurance that the Treaty of Tientsin
should be faithfully observed, and that all the demands hitherto made
should be conceded in full. A draft of convention was accordingly prepared
on this basis; but, when it came to the point, Kweiliang and his colleagues
declared that they had no authority to sign it without referring to Pekin;
and it became obvious that he either did not possess, or did not at that
moment wish it to be supposed that he possessed, powers equal to those
which he held in 1858, although his previous language had been calculated
to convey the opposite impression.
[Sidenote: Broken off.]
Here was clearly a deliberate design to create delay, with the view of
dragging on negotiations into the winter. It was indispensable, Lord Elgin
thought, to check this policy by an act of vigour; and accordingly, with
the concurrence of Baron Gros, he intimated to the Imperial Commissioners
that, in consequence of the want of good faith exhibited by them in
assuming the title of Plenipotentiaries when they could not exercise the
authority which it implied, and of the delays which the alleged necessity
of constant reference to Pekin would occasion, he had determined to proceed
at once to Tung-chow, in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital, and to
enter into no further negotiations with them until he should have reached
that place.
_September 8th._--I am at war again! My idiotical Chinamen have taken
to playing tricks, which give me an excellent excuse for carrying the
army on to Pekin. It would be a long affair to tell you all the ins
and outs, but I am sure from what has come to pass during the last few
days, that we must get nearer Pekin before the Government there comes
to its senses. The blockheads have gone on negotiating with me just
long enough to enable Grant to bring all his army up to this point.
Here we are, then, with our base established in the heart of the
country, in a capital climate, with abundance around us, our army in
excellent health, and these stupid people give me a snub, which
obliges me to break with them. No one knows whether our progress is to
be a fight or an ovation, for in this country nothing can be foreseen.
I think it better that the olive-branch should advance with the sword.
I am afraid that this change in the programme--a hostile instead of a
peaceful march on Pekin--will keep me longer here, because I cannot
send for Frederick till peace is made; and I cannot, I suppose, leave
Pekin till he arrives there.
_Sunday, September 9th._--Kweiliang and Co. wanted very much to call
on me yesterday, but I would not receive them. The junior
Commissioner, who was at Canton with Parkes, and knows him well, told
him that, in fact, the people here had been urging them to make an
effort to prevent war, saying: 'If we were sure that the foreigners
would have the best of it, we should not care; but if they are worsted
they will fall back on us, and wreak their vengeance upon us.' This
does not seem a very formidable state of mind as far as we are
concerned. We have behaved well to the people, except at Peytang and
Sinho, and the consequence is that we can move through the country
with comparative ease. If the people tried to cut off our baggage, and
refused us supplies, we should find it very difficult to get on. ...
_Noon_.--I have just returned from a service on board the 'Granada,'
where the clergyman administered the sacrament to a small
congregation. At four we march to the wars; but as I go to bear the
olive, it is not so bad a Sunday's work. You may very likely hear
through Siberia of the result of our march before you receive this
letter announcing that it is to take place. I shall not, therefore,
speculate upon it.
_Yang-tsun, about twenty miles above Tientsin.--September 10th.--Two
P.M._--This morning we started at about five, and reached this
encampment soon after seven. A very nice ride, cool, and through a
succession of crops of millet; a stiff, reedy stem, some twelve or
fourteen feet high, with a tuft on the top, is the physiognomy of the
millet stalk. It would puzzle the Tartar cavalry to charge us through
this crop. As it is, we have seen no enemy; and Mr. Parkes has induced
the inhabitants to sell us a good many sheep and oxen. Our tents were
not pitched till near noon; so I sat during most of the forenoon under
the shade of a hedge. There has been thunder since, and a considerable
fall of rain. I hope it will not make the roads impassable; but if it
fills the river a little it will do us good, for we may then use it
for the transport of our supplies, and it is now too low. We do not
know much what is ahead of us, but we hear of Tartar troops farther
on; and at Tung-chow it is said that a large army is collected under
Sang-ko-lin-sin himself (their great general). I am now enjoying the
life of a camp; writing to you seated on my portmanteau, with my desk
on my only chair. It is perhaps better than my hothouse at Tientsin.
[Sidenote: New Plenipotentiaries.]
_September 11th.-Six A.M._--Parkes and Wade have just been in my tent
with a letter from two new Plenipotentiaries--really some of the
highest personages in the empire--stating that they are under orders
to come to Tientsin to settle everything, and deprecating a forward
movement.[2] I shall of course stick by my programme, and decline to
have anything to say to them till I reach Tung-chow. Of course this
proceeding on their part augurs well for peace. It poured all last
evening, and the General determined not to march this morning; but as
it is fine now, I think we may start at noon, and make out our
allotted march. It is cooler this morning, and I think it not
improbable that the thunder of yesterday may close the hot season.
However, the sun is coming out in his strength, so one cannot say what
the day may bring forth. _Ten_ A.M.--All our cart-drivers, with their
animals, disappeared during last night, leaving the carts behind them.
Probably they got a hint from the Chinese authorities. I am sorry for
it, for if we begin to resort to measures of violence to supply
ourselves, we may entirely alter the footing on which we have hitherto
stood with the people. We are putting all our surplus goods into
junks, in order to reduce our baggage.
[Sidenote: Chinese gentleman-farmer.]
_Nan-tsai-tsun.--September 12th._--Where will this letter be sent
from? It is begun at a small town on the close of our march of to-day,
which ought to have been our march of yesterday. It was a very mild
one--about eight miles--through a nice country, more wooded than
former marches, and with bright sunshine, and a fresh, almost frosty
air. The sunshine we had not at first, for we started before the sun
had appeared on the horizon. Instead of trusting to our tents, we have
this day taken up our abode in the house of a Chinese gentleman-
farmer, the owner of about 1,000 acres. It is nearly as large as the
house I occupied at Tientsin; at least it has nearly as many courts.
The gentleman has a good library, in which I have established myself;
and he seems, poor man, very anxious to accommodate us, though his
appearance is not that of a man entirely at his ease. As I was
starting this morning I got a second letter from the new
Plenipotentiaries, rather more defiant in its tone, and saying that
there are troops at our next station, with whom we shall come into
collision, if we advance with an army. Parkes is gone on with an
escort, and we shall soon know from him what the state of the case
really is.
[Sidenote: Ho-see-woo.]
[Sidenote: Monastery.]
_Ho-see-woo.--September 14th._--We had a charming march to this place
yesterday morning. The country much more beautiful than before, and
hills in the distance. All around us the most luxuriant crops, and
hamlets embosomed in clumps of willows. The temperature was delicious;
almost too cold at starting, but, later, a fresh breeze in our faces
gave the requisite coolness and no more. Our march was about twelve
miles, and on reaching its close I was conducted to a temple where I
now am. It is a monastery, with very nice apartments, and quantities
of stabling, grain, agricultural implements, &c., all indicative of a
very prosperous community. I have seen no _bonzerie_ on anything like
so comfortable a scale. I had a second letter from my Commissioners in
the evening of the last day on which I wrote a page of this journal,
more humble in its tone then the preceding one, and as my General was
getting uneasy about his supplies, &c., I thought it necessary to make
a kind of proposition for an arrangement. ... Our soldiers do so
little for themselves, and their necessities are so great, that we
move but slowly. Our present party consists of about 1,500 fighting
men; but we count about 4,000 mouths, and all must have abundantly of
the best. The French (I admit that they take more out of the country,
and sometimes perhaps by rougher methods) carry on their backs several
days' provisions. They work in all sorts of ways for the army. The
contrast is, I must say, very striking. ... I therefore thought it
better to send Wade and Parkes to the new Imperial Commissioners, to
see whether they intended to resist or not, and to make a proposal to
test this. They set out last night, and I have just heard from them,
that, as they did not find the Commissioners at the place they
expected (Matow), they are gone on to Tung-chow, the place where I
intend to sign the Convention. Parkes is one of the most remarkable
men I ever met; for energy, courage, and ability combined, I do not
know where I could find his match; and this, joined to a facility of
speaking Chinese, which he shares only with Lay, makes him at present
_the_ man of the situation.
[Sidenote: Terms agreed to.]
After eight hours' discussion the Chinese Commissioners conceded every
point; agreeing among other things that the army should advance to a place
called Five-li Point, within six miles of Tung-chow, and there remain while
the Ambassador proceeded with an escort of 1,000 men to Pekin. In the high
character and standing of the two Commissioners, one the Minister of War,
the other a Prince of the Blood Imperial, and in their repeated assurances
that 'what they signed was as though the Emperor signed it,' and that 'no
comparison could be drawn between the authority vested in them and that
held' by previous Commissioners, there appeared to be everything necessary
to justify the belief that their word might be trusted. Unhappily the
confidence which the Allies were thus led to repose in them was destined to
be deceived; not however, so far as appears, owing to bad faith on their
part, but owing to the fact that their pacific influence at court was
overborne on this occasion by that of the war party, headed by the
Commander-in-Chief, Sang-ko-lin-sin.[3]
On the return of the two secretaries from the conference, Lord Elgin at
once acquainted Baron Gros and Sir Hope Grant with its results; and it was
agreed that the Commanders-in-Chief should move forward on Monday the 17th
from Ho-se-woo to the place already mentioned, Five-li Point, which they
expected to reach in two days' march; and that, at the same time, or rather
before the departure of the army, Mr. Parkes and some members of the
Ambassador's suite should proceed to Tung-chow to prepare for his
reception, and to procure means of transport, accompanied by an officer of
the Quarter-master General's Department, and another of the Commissariat,
and escorted by a small body of troops.[4]
_Sunday, September 16th_.--We have had service in my temple. The
General and Staff attended. ... Wade and Parkes did good work at Tung-
chow. It is arranged now that the General and bulk of the force
proceed to-morrow on their way to the point at which (if the Chinese
Plenipotentiaries come in to all our terms) we are to stay the
progress of the main body, going on from that point with an escort of
1,000 men. This place is about five miles from Tung-chow, and twenty
from Pekin; and so I hope to effect my pacific entry into Pekin. ...
This place has been, I am sorry to say, much maltreated, for the
people ran away, and when that takes place, it is impossible to
prevent plundering. The present plan is, that I remain here till the
army has taken up its new position, and all is arranged for my
reception at Pekin and Tung-chow, when I shall move on. Gros is here.
He has just been with me, and is in a great state because our
soldiers, in their zeal to drive away all Chinese robbers, have driven
away all his coolies.
_September 17th_.--I rode out very early this morning to see my
General before he started, and to give him a hint about the _looting_,
which has been bad here. He disapproves of it as much as I do. ...
Parkes went off again this morning to Tung-chow, with another missive
from me to my Prince (the new Plenipotentiary), rather stiff and
plain-spoken; and Loch is gone with him to get carts, &c., as I have
no means of conveying my goods and chattels. I shall probably hear to-
morrow whether there is any hitch; but even if all be right, I hardly
expect to get on before Thursday, for want of transport.
[Sidenote: Agreement broken.]
_September 18th.--Noon._--There is firing in front of us; and I have a
letter from Parkes from Tung-chow, stating that the Prince and his
colleagues made great difficulties about an _audience_ with the
Emperor. If I was sure that Parkes and Co. were well out of Tung-chow,
and that we should push on well, I should not regret the firing.
_Five P.M._--M. de Bastard, Gros' secretary, has just returned from
Tung-chow. He reports that the Tartars this morning were in possession
of the ground on which, according to the understanding entered into
with the Prince and Co., we were to have encamped. He had to ride
through their army, to his no small alarm; but he met Parkes (who
knows not what fear is) riding back to Tung-chow to tell the Prince,
&c., of the position of the Tartar army, and that they should be held
responsible for the consequences. Loch was with the General. I wonder
he is not come to inform me of what has happened.
[Sidenote: Treacherous seizure of Mr. Parkes and others.]
At the time when these words were written, nearly the whole of the party
which had ridden forth the morning before, 'in high spirits at the prospect
of an early and successful termination of the war,' had been treacherously
seized by the soldiers of Sang-ko-lin-sin, and Mr. Parkes and Mr. Loch were
being violently hurried off, with their hands tied behind their backs, in a
rude springless cart, over a badly-paved road, to the prisons of Pekin. The
details of their capture and imprisonment, together with such particulars
as could afterwards be ascertained of their companions' fate, may be read
in the very interesting narrative of one of the victims.[5] We can here
touch only upon those points in which their story is mixed up with public
events.
[Sidenote: Cause of the change.]
As to the origin and cause of the renewal of hostilities, it is impossible
to speak with certainty; nor is it probable that we shall ever arrive at a
better opinion on the subject, than that which was formed by Lord Elgin on
the spot. In his report to the Government he wrote:--
To hazard conjectures as to the motives by which Chinese functionaries
are actuated is not a very safe undertaking; and it is very possible
that further information may modify the views which I now entertain on
this point. I am, however, disposed at present to doubt there having
been a deliberate intention of treachery on the part of Prince Tsai
and his colleague; but I apprehend that the General-in-Chief, Sang-ko-
lin-sin, thought that they had compromised his military position by
allowing our army to establish itself so near his lines at Chang-kia-
wan. He sought to counteract the evil effect of this by making a great
swagger of parade and preparation to resist when the Allied armies
approached the camping-ground allotted to them. Several of our people,
Colonel Walker, with his escort, my private Secretary, Mr. Loch, Baron
Gros' Secretary of Embassy, Comte de Bastard, and others, passed
through the Tartar army during the course of the morning on their way
from Tung-chow without encountering any rudeness or ill-treatment
whatsoever. At about a quarter to ten, however, a French Commissariat
officer was assaulted by some Tartar soldiers under circumstances
which are not very clearly ascertained; and this incident gave rise to
an engagement, which soon became general. On the whole, I come to the
conclusion that, in the proceedings of the Chinese Plenipotentiaries
and Commander-in-Chief in this instance, there was that mixture of
stupidity, want of straightforwardness, suspicion, and bluster, which
characterises so generally the conduct of affairs in this country; but
I cannot believe that, after the experience which Sang-ko-lin-sin had
already had of our superiority in the field, either he or his civil
colleagues could have intended to bring on a conflict in which, as the
event has proved, he was so sure to be worsted.
[Sidenote: Firm measures.]
Late on the night of the 18th, Lord Elgin received at the same time the
report of a successful engagement, and the intelligence of the capture of
his friends. From this moment he felt that, until the prisoners were given
up, there could be no further negotiation. A notification was at once
issued, that 'all English and French subjects were required to return to
the head-quarters of their respective armies; and that if any impediment
was put in the way of their return, the city of Pekin would forthwith be
attacked and taken.' Even when offers came that they should be restored on
condition of his withdrawing his troops, he refused to listen to such
terms; convinced that any sign of yielding on his part would be as
dangerous to their safety as it would be fatal to all hope of success in
the objects of his mission.[6]
_September 23rd_.--I have had a very busy time since I last wrote in
this journal. I have, moreover, been separated from it, and from all
my effects. On the 21st we had another battle with the Tartars. I
accompanied the army, and saw it all. Considering that the Tartars are
so wretchedly armed and led, they did pretty well. We are now about
six miles from Pekin, but I believe the Generals will not move for a
week. We learn that Parkes and his companions, viz. Loch, De Norman,
Bowlby, Captain Brabazon, Lieutenant Anderson, nineteen Sikhs, and one
of the Dragoon Guards, are in Pekin, but we have had no communication
with them yet.
[Sidenote: Pali-chiao]
_Pali-chiao.--September 27th_.--I closed my last letter somewhat in
haste, for I had been separated for three days from it and my desk,
and when we met again, I was busy with my despatches, &c. The arrest
of Parkes and the others is a very disagreeable incident, and we do
not yet know what it may lead to. I sent word yesterday to the
Emperor's brother, who is now named to treat with me, that unless they
are returned to the camp within three days' time, and a pledge is
given that the Convention I drew up at Tientsin is signed, Pekin will
be assaulted. We are anxious, until we receive an answer to this
_ultimatum_. It was a reply to a letter from the Prince to me, in
which he coolly stated that the prisoners should be returned when our
army and fleet had retired from the country. ... Meantime we have an
army in excellent health, abundantly supplied, and which, in five
actions with the enemy, has lost some twenty killed! ... I think I
told you at the close of my last letter, that at midnight on the 18th
I received a note in pencil from the General, telling me what had led
to the conflict of that day. At 3.30 A.M. I sent an answer by
Crealock, and at five set off with an escort of thirty Irregulars, to
ride about twenty miles to the General's camp.
We then agreed that the Commanders-in-Chief should send a notification
to the chief mandarin of Tung-chow, to the effect that, unless our
countrymen were forthwith restored, Pekin would be assaulted. No
notice was taken of this. So on the 21st we advanced, and attacked a
large body of Tartars, encamped between Tung-chow and Pekin. I
accompanied the infantry and artillery during the day's proceedings.
We encamped after the battle, where we now are, among some trees. We
sleep in tents, but we have a house where we mess. I am living with
the General, as my establishment has not yet been brought up from Ho-
see-woo. I rode over yesterday to see the Russian Minister, who, with
his sixteen Cossacks, is occupying the village, or rather town, of
Chin-kia-wan, which was taken after the affair of the 18th. It is a
sad scene of desolation. General Ignatieff was very obliging and
friendly, as I have indeed found him to be throughout. He and I
entirely agree as to how the Chinese should be fought. ... I may be
very near the close of this China business, or I may be at the
commencement of a new series of difficulties. All is very uncertain at
present. ... The climate is pleasant here, were it not for the
quantity of dust, which is overwhelming. We have abundance of grapes,
and some other good fruit.
_September 29th._--At midnight of the 27th I was roused by Wade, who
brought me a letter from Prince Kung (the Emperor's brother), a good
deal milder than the last, but still implying that Parkes, &c., were
not to be returned until the treaty, &c., was signed. The comparative
mildness of the tone of this communication was clearly attributable to
the firmness of my last letter, and I therefore induced those with
whom I act to agree to nay adhering to it in my reply. I accordingly
wrote to say that the army would advance unless the prisoners should
return in the course of to-day; but that I do not intend to add to the
Convention which I have already furnished to the Chinese
Plenipotentiaries, and that I will sign that at once, and close the
war, if they choose. I hardly expect to see our friends to-day. The
Generals will not advance to-morrow, but they say they will on Monday.
Meanwhile it is raining; a sort of English rain, not tropical; and if
we have not too much of it, it will do good.
_October 1st._--Yesterday morning came another letter, proposing that
the army should retire to Chin-kia-wan, and that then the treaty
should be signed and the prisoners restored. This was clearly
inadmissible, as the Chinese would infer from it that whenever they
had a difficulty with us they had only to kidnap some of our people to
bring us to terms. So we have again handed the matter over to the
Generals, from whose hands indeed it would not now have been taken if
they had not urged me to make this last overture to Prince Kung. I do
not know when they will advance.
_October 3rd_.--We have moved about two miles, and are now lodged in a
mosque--a nice building, a good deal ornamented--which is for the
nonce turned to profane uses. The army was to have advanced to attack
Sang-ko-lin-sin's force to-morrow, but now I am told the French are
not ready. ... These delays give the Chinese fresh heart, and they are
beginning to send people to fire on our convoys, &c., coming up from
Tientsin. ... There was a letter sent to me yesterday by Prince Kung,
signed by Loch and Parkes. Loch managed in his signature to convey to
us in Hindostanee that the letter was written under compulsion. As it
was in Chinese the information was hardly necessary. It said that
_they two_ were well treated, complimented Prince Kung, and asked for
some clothes. We have heard nothing about the others who are missing.
[Sidenote: Advance on Pekin.]
_October 5th._--We left our mosque this morning at about seven. The
whole army was drawn up in contiguous columns of regiments, and had a
good appearance. The cavalry on the right, then the artillery, and
then the infantry. The French were on our left. In this way we
advanced about four miles, when we reached a place from which we saw
one of the gates of Pekin at about a mile and a half distance. We met
with no enemy, but we heard of him about three miles farther on.
However, the French declined to go any farther; so here we remain for
the night, and we have got into a joss-house, which is lucky, for we
have no tents with us--only a very light kit and three days'
provisions for each person. We hear that the Emperor has left for
Tartary, which is very probable. We might have stopped him if we had
marched on immediately after the 21st ultimo; but that was, in the
judgment of the Generals, impossible.
[Sidenote: Suburbs.]
_October 6th.--Five P.M._--We are lodged in a _Lamaserie_ in the
north-west suburb of Pekin. Our move began at seven. We streamed along
narrow roads in a long line. I got a scolding from the General for
outflanking the skirmishers, which I did to get out of the dust. At
about nine we reached a brick-kiln, from whence we had a view of
Pekin, and of a mound, behind which, as we were assured, Sang-ko-lin-
sin and his army were encamped. We halted for some time and then
advanced; we on the right, the French on the left, towards these
supposed camps. The French were to attack in front, we were to take
the enemy in flank. I was with the second division of our force. When
we arrived abreast of the entrenchment we could see nothing of an
enemy. After a while I rode to the top of the mound at the corner of
the entrenchment, and found the French General and Staff. The Tartars
had all decamped the night before. I then rejoined our army and
advanced with it to this point. With the exception of a few shots
exchanged with a picket of the enemy, we know of no fighting which has
taken place to-day; but, strange to say, our cavalry which went off
far to the right in the morning has not been heard of yet, and we
cannot discover what has become of the French. It is a nice country,
covered with clumps of trees and suburban villas. The temperature of
the air is cool, but the sun was very hot all day.
[Sidenote: The Summer Palace.]
_Sunday, October 7th._--We hear this morning that the French and our
cavalry have captured the Summer Palace of the Emperor. All the big-
wigs have fled, nothing remains but a portion of the household. We are
told that the _prisoners_ are all in Pekin. ... _Five P.M._--I have
just returned from the Summer Palace. It is really a fine thing, like
an English park--numberless buildings with handsome rooms, and filled
with Chinese _curios_, and handsome clocks, bronzes, &c. But, alas!
such a scene of desolation. The French General came up full of
protestations. He had prevented _looting_ in order that all the
plunder might be divided between the armies, &c. &c. There was not a
room that I saw in which half the things had not been taken away or
broken to pieces. I tried to get a regiment of ours sent to guard the
place, and then sell the things by auction; but it is difficult to get
things done by system in such a case, so some officers are left who
are to fill two or three carts with treasures which are to be sold....
Plundering and devastating a place like this is bad enough, but what
is much worse is the waste and breakage. Out of 1,000,000 _l_. worth
of property, I daresay 50,000 _l_. will not be realised. French
soldiers were destroying in every way the most beautiful silks,
breaking the jade ornaments and porcelain, &c. War is a hateful
business. The more one sees of it, the more one detests it.
[Sidenote: Return of some of the captives.]
Pressed thus closely up to the walls of the capital, the Chinese
Regent--for the Emperor had retired to Tartary, 'being obliged by law to
hunt in the autumn'--yielded at last to save the storming of the city. In
the afternoon of the 8th of October the English and French prisoners
detained in Pekin, numbering eight in all, were sent into the camp.[7]
_October 9th._--Yesterday at 4 P.M., Parkes, Loch, and one of Fane's
Irregulars arrived. With them were four French soldiers and M.
d'Escayrac (the head of a scientific commission). The hands and wrists
of the latter were in a sad condition, they had been so hurt by the
cords tied round them. Bowlby, De Norman, and the rest, do not seem to
be in Pekin as we had hoped. Parkes and Loch were very badly treated
for the first ten days; since then, conciliation has been the order of
the day, and, I have no doubt, because I stood firm. If I had wavered,
they would have been lost; because the Chinese, finding they had a
lever with which they could move us, would have used their advantage
unsparingly. Parkes and Loch have behaved very well under
circumstances of great danger. The narrative of their adventures is
very interesting, but I cannot attempt to give it in this letter. They
seem to be in good health notwithstanding the hardships they have gone
through.
In a public despatch of the same date, announcing the restoration of the
captives, he wrote:-
To no one of their numerous friends is the return of these gentlemen a
matter of more heartfelt gratification than it is to me. Since the
period of their arrest, I have been compelled, by a sense of duty, to
turn a deaf ear to every overture for their restoration which has
involved the slightest retrograde movement of our army, or the
abandonment of any demands previously preferred by me against the
Chinese Government. I have felt that any such concession on my part
would have established a most fatal precedent, because it would have
led the Chinese to suppose that by kidnapping Englishmen they might
effect objects which they are unable to achieve by fair fighting or
diplomacy. I confess that I have been moreover, throughout, of
opinion, that in adopting this uncompromising tone, and boldly setting
the national above the personal interest, I was in point of fact best
consulting the welfare of our friends who were in durance. But it was
not to be expected that all persons would view in the same light a
question of policy so obscure; and apart from the warm personal
interest which I feel in their safety, your Lordship can well
understand that it relieves me from a great load of anxiety to learn
from the result that the course which I have followed was not ill-
calculated to promote it.[8]
Later in the same despatch he expressed himself anxiously yet hopefully
about the captives who were still missing:--
It is a matter of great concern to me, that we know as yet nothing
certain respecting the fate of Mr. Bruce's Attache, Mr. de Norman, Mr.
Bowlby, the special correspondent of the _Times_, and the nineteen
troopers (consisting of eighteen Sikhs and one Dragoon) who formed the
escort, and were under the command of Lieutenant Anderson, of Fane's
Irregular Horse. This portion of the party became separated from
Messrs. Parkes and Loch, when the latter, at the commencement of the
conflict of the 18th ultimo, were taken up to Sang-ko-lin-sin, for the
ostensible object of obtaining a safe-conduct from him. Since that
time we have heard nothing authentic about them, but we are assured
that, though they are not now in Pekin, they will soon be restored to
us.
[Sidenote: Fate of the rest.]
Unhappily the hopes thus raised were not destined to be realised. On the
12th of October nine more prisoners were returned to the camp--eight
troopers of Fane's Irregular Horse and one French soldier; but the evidence
given by them left no doubt that two at least of the remainder, Lieutenant
Anderson and Mr. De Norman had perished, having sunk under circumstances of
much suffering from the consequences of the maltreatment to which they were
subjected. 'I was not personally acquainted' wrote Lord Elgin, 'with
Lieutenant Anderson, but he is spoken of by all who knew him as an
excellent officer. Mr. De Norman was a young man of remarkable promise.
With considerable abilities, great assiduity, singular steadiness of
character, and courage of no mean order, he had every promise of achieving
eminence in his profession. We all mourn most bitterly his untimely
end.'[9]
There were others whose fate remained at that time unknown; among them Mr.
Bowlby, the correspondent of the _Times_, whose corpse was afterwards
recovered and recognised. The warmth of regard which Lord Elgin had learnt
to feel for him, is shown in many passages of his journal. Officially he
wrote, 'I deplore his loss, not only because he was a highly-accomplished
and well-informed gentleman, but also because, from the conscientious and
liberal spirit in which he addressed himself to the investigation of the
singularly complicated problems presented by the moral, social, political,
and commercial condition of China, I had conceived the hope that he would
be the means of diffusing sound information on many points on which it is
most important for the national interests that the British public should be
correctly informed.'[10]
The journal, during these anxious and troubled days, is naturally
imperfect. One brief entry sums up his feeling on the main subject.
_Camp near Pekin.--October 14th_.--We have dreadful news respecting
the fate of some of our captured friends. It is an atrocious crime,
and, not for vengeance, but for future security, ought to be severely
dealt with.
[Sidenote: Burning of the Summer Palace.]
The form which the retribution took is well known. The Palace of Yuen-ming-
yuen, the Summer-palace of the Emperor, the glory and boast of the Chinese
Empire, was levelled with the ground.
The reasons which led Lord Elgin to decide upon this act are fully stated
in a despatch dated the 25th of October. After dwelling on the necessity of
inflicting some punishment at once severe and swift, that should leave
Pekin untouched (for he had engaged not to harm the city) and should fall
specially on the Emperor, who was personally responsible for the crimes
that had been committed, he goes on to discuss the different courses that
were open to him. He might inflict a fine; but it could not be exacted
except by appropriating a further portion of the Chinese revenue, already
seriously trenched upon by our previous demands. Or he might require the
surrender of the individuals guilty of violating the flag of truce: but if
he named no one, some miserable subordinates would be given up; if he
specified the real culprit, Sang-ko-lin-sin, the demand would infallibly be
refused and could not be enforced. Dismissing these alternatives he
proceeds:--
Having, to the best of my judgment, examined the question in all its
bearings, I came to the conclusion that the destruction of Yuen-ming-
yuen was the least objectionable of the several courses open to me,
unless I could have reconciled it to my sense of duty to suffer the
crime which had been committed to pass practically unavenged. I had
reason, moreover, to believe that it was an act which was calculated
to produce a greater effect in China, and on the Emperor, than persons
who look on from a distance may suppose.
It was the Emperor's favourite residence, and its destruction could
not fail to be a blow to his pride as well as to his feelings. To this
place he brought our hapless countrymen, in order that they might
undergo their severest tortures within its precincts. Here have been
found the horses and accoutrements of the troopers seized, the
decorations torn from the breast of a gallant French officer, and
other effects belonging to the prisoners. As almost all the valuables
had already been taken from the palace, the army would go there, not
to pillage, but to mark, by a solemn act of retribution, the horror
and indignation with which we were inspired by the perpetration of a
great crime. The punishment was one which would fall, not on the
people, who may be comparatively innocent, but exclusively on the
Emperor, whose direct personal responsibility for the crime committed
is established, not only by the treatment of the prisoners at Yuen-
ming-yuen, but also by the edict, in which he offered a pecuniary
reward for the heads of the foreigners, adding, that he was ready to
expend all his treasure in these wages of assassination.
On Thursday, the 18th of October, the extensive buildings of the palace
were given to the flames; and during the whole of the 19th they were still
burning. 'The clouds of smoke,' says Mr. Loch, 'driven by the wind, hung
like a vast black pall over Pekin;' well calculated to enforce with their
lurid gloom the lesson conveyed to the citizens in a proclamation which
Lord Elgin had caused to be affixed in Chinese to all the buildings and
walls in the neighbourhood, to the effect 'that no individual, however
exalted, could escape from the responsibility and punishment which must
always follow the commission of acts of treachery and deceit; and that
Yuen-ming-yuen was burnt as a punishment inflicted on the Emperor for the
violation of his word, and the act of treachery to a flag of truce.'
[Sidenote: Convention signed.]
Five days later, on the 24th of October, the Convention, which had been the
subject of so much dispute, was finally signed, and Lord Elgin exchanged
with the Emperor's brother the ratifications of the Treaty of Tientsin.
_Camp near Pekin.--October 26th._--This will be one of the shortest
letters which you have received from me since we parted, and yet
perhaps it will not be the one which you will welcome the least,
because it will convey to you the news that I have signed my treaty,
and that the specific object for which I came out is therefore
accomplished. I have not written my daily journal lately, because it
would have been filled with my difficulties. ... However, I have
succeeded at last in a sort of way. Loch is going home with the
treaty, and will make a point of seeing you, and giving you all our
news. ... I cannot decide as to my own return until I see Frederick.
... The deaths of poor Bowlby and the others who were with him were
very sad! Loch's escape was most providential. With 5,000 men led on
without delay, as ought to be done in China, nothing of this kind
would have occurred. I told Palmerston so before I started; but the
delays incident to conveying so large an army as ours without risking
anything, have nearly made the whole thing break down.
_October 27th.--Nine A.M._--Loch tells me he must be off, so I must
end my brief epistle. I take up my abode in Pekin to-day, in the
palace of the Prince of I., who played me false at Tung-chow.
_Pekin, Prince of I.'s Palace.--October 30th._--I have been in bed for
two days with an attack of influenza, but I am better to-day, though
not by way of going out. Here we (the General and I) are occupying a
great enclosure containing a series of one-storied wooden buildings
with covered passages and verandahs. There is a good deal of
aristocratic seclusion about the place, as it is surrounded by walls,
and entirely cut off from the world without; but there is little
appearance of luxury and comfort about it. It rained yesterday and the
day before, and I had considerable difficulty in reading in my bed, as
my paper windows, which keep out the cold pretty well, keep out also a
good deal of light. They are not transparent, so the view through them
is not lively. To-day there is a beautiful sunshine, and I have been
walking about a little in the court before my room door. The present
arrangement is that we remain here till the 8th. I had some difficulty
in obtaining this; but it is of great importance that, before the army
goes, I should get a decree from the Emperor sanctioning the
publication of the Treaty all over the empire. ... The French General
will not, however, consent to remain.
[Sidenote: Funeral of the murdered captives.]
_October 31st._--Another fine day, but I have not left the house,
partly from consideration for the remains of my cold, and partly
because I have had letters to finish. I have had visits from both my
colleagues, Gros and Ignatieff. The latter and I are always very good
friends. Perhaps he takes advantage of my simplicity; but at any rate
we always seem to agree remarkably. He is wide awake to the Jesuit
intrigues here. By the way, I should mention that the French had a
wonderful funeral on Sunday, in honour of the murdered captives. I
could not attend, being in bed at the time. Several speeches in bad
taste were delivered, and a remarkable series of performances took
place. Among other things, each soldier (this is, I believe, the
French practice on such occasions) fired his musket _into_ the grave,
so that the coffins were covered with cartridges. The Chinese say that
it was because they were not sure whether the occupants were really
dead. On the day following, they inaugurated the old Jesuit cathedral,
which they have recovered from the Chinese Government; and the bishop
who preached, in order to make amends for the omission of all
reference to us at the ceremony of the funeral, complimented Queen
Victoria and her _digne representant_ for having come to China to set
up the Roman Catholic cathedral in Pekin. This reflection will comfort
----[11] when he comes to vote next year the balance of the
L10,000,000 spent. I have no news of Frederick yet; so I am no further
advanced with my own plans than I was when Loch left me.
[Sidenote: Imperial Palace.]
[Sidenote: Visit from Kung.]
_Pekin.--November 2nd._--Yesterday, after the mail had left, I mounted
on horseback, and with an escort, and Parkes and Crealock, proceeded
to the Imperial City, within which is the Imperial Palace. We obtained
access to two enclosures, forming part of the Imperial Palace
appendages: both elevated places, the one ascended by a pathway in
regular Chinese rockwork on a large scale, and really striking in its
way; and the other being a well-wooded park-like eminence, crowned by
temples with images of Buddha. The view from both was magnificent.
Pekin is so full of trees, and the houses are so low, that it hardly
had the effect of looking down on a great city. Here and there temples
or high gateways rose above the trees, but the general impression was
rather that of a rich plain densely peopled. In the distance the view
was bounded by a lofty chain of mountains, snow-capped. From the
park-like eminence we looked down upon the Imperial Palace--a large
enclosure crowded with yellow-roofed buildings, generally low, and a
few trees dotted among them. It is difficult to imagine how the
unfortunates shut up there can ever have any exercise. I don't wonder
that the Emperor preferred Yuen-ming-yuen. The yellow roofs,
interspersed here and there with very deep blue ones, had, however, a
very brilliant effect in the sunshine. After enjoying these views I
went to the Russian Minister's, and found him installed in a house got
up _a l'Europeenne_, and looking very comfortable, with his national
stoves. He showed me his chapel also. This morning I got a letter from
Gros telling me that, in opposition to my advice, he had been to see
Prince Kung. I told him he ought to let the Prince come to him first;
but the Jesuits think that they can curry favour with the Chinese by
making him _condescend_. They are quite wrong, as I am sure the result
will prove. The Prince came to see me to-day before returning Gros'
visit, which goes for something in this land of ceremony. I received
the Prince with all honour, and had a good deal of talk with him
through the interpreters, in a style which reminded me of the dialogue
at the commencement of 'Eothen.' I have, I believe, secured the edict
for which we have been waiting; so I have done everything except see
the Emperor, which I am not likely to do, as he is at Jehol. We ended
by photographing the Prince, a proceeding which I do not think he much
liked.
[Sidenote: Return visit.]
_November 7th._--There has not been much to report since the 2nd. I
returned Kung's visit the next day, and we had a more _coulant_
conversation than I have before had with any Chinese authority. It is
something to get at men who are so high placed that they are not
afraid--or at any rate are less afraid--of being denounced if they
listen to foreigners. I dined the night before with the Russian
Minister, who was very hospitable. On Sunday I went to see two temples
in the Chinese city, the one being that to which the Emperor goes four
times a year to offer sacrifices to Heaven, the other the Temple of
Agriculture.
[Sidenote: Arrival of Mr. Bruce.]
[Sidenote: Interview with Prince Kung.]
_November 10th._--I had got so far when a note from Frederick reached
me, saying that he had started at 1 A.M. on the 6th from Tientsin to
ride to Pekin, and had been obliged, by fatigue, to rest at Ho-see-
woo. We were to have left Pekin on the 8th, so I was obliged to send
to beg one day's respite from the General. It was impossible to make
Frederick start back to Tientsin on the very day following his
arrival. At about noon he reached Pekin. It was a great relief to me,
because I had been choosing a house for him, and there were other
matters concerning which it was most important that he should be
consulted. I found him very well disposed to stay on at Pekin, but on
finding that both Gros and Ignatieff were opposed to leaving their
legations there for the moment, we both agreed that it would be better
to act as they had resolved to do. I therefore wrote to Prince Kung
acknowledging the good faith which he had shown about the Emperor's
edict and the publication of the treaty (both of which things have
been done in the most complete manner), and adding that the English
army would, in accordance with the terms of the convention, retire at
once from Pekin. I went on to inform him that I proposed to call on
him to take leave, and at the same time to introduce to him Mr. Bruce,
who had just arrived at Pekin. We proceeded, accordingly, to his
palace, at 4 P.M. on the 8th, with an imposing military escort. After
we had conversed some time together, I told Parkes to explain to the
Prince that in England the individual who represents the sovereign,
whatever his personal rank, always takes precedence of all others;
that, as my task in China was completed, Mr. Bruce would henceforward
occupy that position, and that, therefore, with the Prince's
permission, I would give up to him the seat of honour on which I was
placed and take his seat instead. I then rose and changed seats with
Frederick. This little bit of acting answered very well. It put
Frederick into direct relations with the Prince, and did away with the
impression (if it existed) of my having superior rank to him. The
Prince was civil, and said, rather neatly, that he hoped they would
conduct business satisfactorily, not only because he was British
Minister, but brother to Lord Elgin, with whom he had had such
pleasant relations. On the following day (the 9th), before we started,
he came to our abode to return our visit. I made Frederick receive
him, telling the interpreters to say that I had no business to speak
of, but that I should come into the room before he left the house to
take leave of him. The consequence was that Frederick had a long and,
to all appearance, satisfactory conversation with him.
[Sidenote: Leaves Pekin.]
After this we set out for Tung-chow. We had to wait there all night,
as our boats were not ready, and we are now (_10th November, noon_)
gliding down the river, each in a _chop_ boat (a little boat with a
very convenient cabin, in which one can sleep, read, write, &c.), on a
lovely autumn day, low temperature, and bright sunshine. I think that
this wind-up at Pekin was very promising. It is probable that there
may be some reaction when the Emperor and the bad advisers whom he has
about him return, and even Ignatieff did not choose to remain at Pekin
during that moment of reaction. At the same time, it is evident that
Kung, who is his brother, has committed himself to the peace policy,
and that his intercourse with us has been much more satisfactory to
him than he at one time expected. It is probable that the Emperor will
for once hear something of the truth. Kung will claim credit for
having induced us to remove from Pekin to Tientsin, while the fact
that we are still as near as Tientsin will be an _in terrorem_
argument in support of his policy of conciliation. If Kung weathers
the difficult moment which he will have to traverse when the Emperor
returns, I have hopes that all the benefit which I have expected to
derive from our minister's residence at Pekin will be achieved. Our
_Sinologues_ are fine fellows. It is refreshing to see their spirit
and pluck. Wade, Parkes, and Morrison, all put their services at our
disposal, and offered to remain alone at Pekin. My choice, however,
fell on a younger man, of whom I have a very good opinion, and who has
been with me as assistant-interpreter.[12] I thought it better, for
many reasons, to leave a person who had smaller pretensions than any
of those I have named. The gossip is that the Emperor is occupying his
time at Jehol by marrying a fourth wife (a rather expensive
proceeding) and getting tipsy. I am afraid he is not much worth;
although, if the papers in the vermilion pencil, which we found in the
Summer Palace, are his writing, he is not such a fool as people
suppose. ... Frederick brought with him your letters to September
10th. I pray that you may now be rejoicing in the belief that Bruce is
getting on well and happily at school.
[Sidenote: Tientsin.]
[Sidenote: Its climate.]
_Tientsin.--November 14th._--Here I am again in the house which I
occupied two and a half months ago, and which is by far the nicest
Chinese house I have seen, and its exposure to the sun is now most
agreeable. The climate is at present charming. If nothing else had
been done by these recent proceedings, the fact of placing our troops
and embassy here, instead of in the south of China, would have been
almost worth the trouble. It is also a much drier climate than that of
Shanghae. We have had about seven days of rain in all, since I left
Shanghae in July. Frederick had nineteen days consecutively just
before he left Shanghae. He was not well himself then, but he is all
right now. His ride to Pekin--eighty miles in thirty hours--set him up
again. I found the Admiral very cordial. ... Gros is not yet come, and
I do not like to depart from here without seeing him.
He was detained at Tientsin for several days, arranging a variety of
matters of detail; and it was not till the morning of the 26th of November
that he found himself once more afloat on the Gulf of Pecheli, on board the
'Ferooz,' homeward bound.
[Sidenote: Results of the mission.]
The general results obtained by the mission thus happily terminated cannot
be better summed up than in the words of the despatch in which the Foreign
Minister, Lord J. Russell, conveyed to Lord Elgin Her Majesty's 'full
approbation of his conduct in the various particulars' above described.
'The convention,' he wrote, 'which you concluded with the Prince of Kung on
the 24th of October is entirely satisfactory to Her Majesty's Government.
It records the reparation made by the Emperor of China for his disregard in
the previous year of his Treaty engagements; it sets Her Majesty's
Government free from an implied engagement not to insist in all particulars
on the fulfilment of those engagements; it imposes upon China a fine, in
the shape of an augmented rate of indemnity; it affords an additional
opening for British trade; it places on a recognised footing the emigration
of Chinese coolies, whose services are so important to Her Majesty's
colonial possessions; it relieves Her Majesty's colony of Hong Kong from a
source of previous annoyance; and it provides for bringing generally to the
knowledge of the Chinese the engagements into which the Emperor has entered
towards Great Britain.
'These are all solid advantages; and, coupled with the provisions of the
Treaty of Tientsin, they will, it may be hoped, place the relations between
the two countries on a sound footing, and insure the continuance of peace
for a long period to come.'
[1] Captain Roderick Dew had been engaged at the capture of Canton in
December, 1857, and also in May, 1858, at the taking of the Taku
forts.
[2] The new Plenipotentiaries were Tsai, Prince of I., a cousin of the
Emperor, and Muh-yin, President of the Board of War: with whom was
joined Hang-ki, a member of the previous commission.
[3] 'A prisoner taken on the 21st of September, in the course of
conversation, volunteered the remark that the fighting was all the
doing of Sang-ko-lin-sin, who was as anxious for it as Prince Tsai was
opposed to it. This accords with other reports.'--Mr. Wade's
Memorandum.
[4] In view of the tragic events which followed, the reflection will
naturally arise that, if this party had not been thus sent forward in
advance of the army, those events would not have occurred. On the
other hand it must be borne in mind, (1) that it was a matter of
necessity that some one should go forward to arrange with the Chinese
authorities as to the place where the Allied armies were to encamp;
(2) that the practice of sending one or other of the Chinese scholars
within the enemy's lines had long been habitual, having been followed,
with the best results, on many occasions, not only in this but in
former expeditions; and that the Chinese, whatever might be their
faults, had never shown any disposition to disregard a flag of truce;
(3) that, accordingly, no one concerned appears to have had any idea
that there was danger to be braved; and that, putting aside Lord
Elgin, Baron Gros, and Sir Hope Grant, the readiness of Mr. Parkes,
not only to go himself--that in one who 'knew not what fear was'
proves nothing--but to take with him several friends who were not
called by duty, shows that, in the judgment of a man of great
shrewdness and unrivalled knowledge of the Chinese character, who was
moreover fully cognisant of all the circumstances, there existed no
ground for apprehension; (4) lastly, that all the evils that followed
were due, so far as it is possible now to judge, to a circumstance
which no one could have foreseen at the time, viz. to a change of
policy and of party within the Chinese Government.
[5] 'Personal Narrative of Occurrences during Lord Elgin's Second Embassy
to China,' 1860. By Henry Brougham Loch, Private Secretary to the Earl
of Elgin.
[6] With generous candour, Mr. Loch, in his 'Narrative,' bears testimony
to the correctness of this view.
[7] The British subjects thus restored were Mr. Parkes, Mr. Loch, and a
trooper of Probyn's Horse; the French subjects were M. l'Escayrac de
Lauture, who was at the head of a scientific mission, and four
soldiers.
[8] In a subsequent letter, Lord Elgin paid to Mr. Parkes this well-merited
tribute. 'Mr. Parkes' consistent refusal to purchase his own safety by
making any pledges, or even by addressing to me any representations
which might have embarrassed me in the discharge of my duty, is a rare
example of courage and devotion to the public interest; and the course
which he followed in this respect, by leaving my hands free, enabled
me to work out the policy which was best calculated to secure his own
release, as well as the attainment of the national objects entrusted
to my care.'
[9] The language used by Mr. Bruce, in reporting to the Foreign Office Mr.
De Norman's death, is still more striking; and it has an additional
interest as being eminently characteristic of the writer: 'It has not
been my fortune,' he says, 'to meet with a man whose life was so much
in harmony with the Divine precept, "not slothful in business, serving
the Lord." With a consistency unparalleled in my experience he brought
to bear on the discharge of every duty, and to the investigation of
every subject however minute, the complete and undivided attention of
the sound abilities, the good sense, and the indefatigable industry
with which God had endowed him. A character so morally and
intellectually conscientious, striving to do everything in the most
perfect manner, neglecting no opportunity of acquiring fresh and of
consolidating previous knowledge, promised a career honourable to
himself, and, what he valued far more, advantageous to the public, had
it pleased God to spare him.
'Now there remains to those who knew him intimately only this
consoling conviction, that death, however sudden, could not find him
unprepared.'
[10] The only English prisoner ultimately unaccounted for was Captain
Brabazon, Deputy-Assistant Quarter-Master-General of Artillery, an
officer whose finished talent and skill in drawing had often been of
the greatest service in taking sketches of the country for the
military operations. His body was never found; but it was believed
that he had been beheaded by order of a Chinese General in his
exasperation at a wound received in the action of the 21st of October.
[11] A well-known Protestant M.P.
[12] Mr. Adkins.
CHAPTER XIV.
SECOND MISSION TO CHINA. HOMEWARD.
LEAVING THE GULF--DETENTION AT SHANGHAE--KOWLOON--ADIEU TO CHINA--
ISLAND OF
LUZON--CHURCHES--GOVERNMENT--MANUFACTURES--GENERAL CONDITION--ISLAND
OF
JAVA--BUITENZORG--BANTONG--VOLCANO--SOIREES--RETROSPECT--CEYLON--THE
MEDITERRANEAN--ENGLAND--WARM RECEPTION--DUNFERMLINE--ROYAL ACADEMY
DINNER--
MANSION HOUSE DINNER.
The first part of the homeward voyage, along coasts already so well known,
offered little to dwell upon except the thankful recollection of what had
been accomplished, and the joyful anticipation of happy meetings to come.
The journal contains the following entries:--
[Sidenote: Leaving the Gulf.]
_'Ferooz,' Gulf of Pecheli.--November 27th._--So far on my way home. I
left Tientsin on the 25th at about 7 A.M. We had to plough our way
through ice until we reached the Taku Forts, at 8.30 P.M. We found the
Admiral in the 'Coromandel.' He was very civil, and would have given
me accommodation for the night; but I had so many people with me, that
I thought it better to push on; so at about midnight we crossed the
bar of the Peiho river. There was so much broken ice on the inner side
of it, that it reminded one of some of the pictures of the arctic
voyages. We forced our vessel through--a little Indian river-boat--and
found on the outside enough sea to make us very glad when we reached
the 'Ferooz' at 2.30 A.M. It was about 4 A.M. when I was able to lie
down to rest. Since then we have been waiting for Parkes, who stayed
at Tientsin for a letter from Pekin about the opening of the Yangtze
river, which I am anxious to take with me to Shanghae. ... Yesterday
was a lovely day; a bright sun, and the air frosty enough to stimulate
one to walk briskly. This morning there was a strong gale from the
north-west, but it subsided after midday. I had a very satisfactory
time at Tientsin. We got through a good deal of business; and, what is
most pleasant to me, Frederick seems perfectly satisfied with the
whole affair, and the part I have taken in it. ... The Admiral, who is
very strong in support of me, had given orders that the whole fleet
should be illuminated with blue lights, if I reached the 'Ferooz' at
night. This I did not know, or I should not have chosen so
unseasonable an hour. The consequence was that the illumination was
not complete, but it had a fine effect so far as it went. Scores of
transports have taken their departure, which is a great blessing, for
they have been costing fabulous sums. Too many troops are still left;
but I hope soon to get them reduced.
_November 28th.--Two P.M._--We are off. All the vessels in the
English fleet here manned yards and saluted as we passed; and, when we
reached the French fleet, all the yards were manned, and the Admiral
saluted. I thought we could not do less than return the latter. It was
all a very fine sight, the day being favourable. Parkes arrived last
night while we were at dinner, but without the letter which he had
waited for. The latter, however, reached me this morning, and is very
satisfactory; so that I shall have accomplished the great object of
opening the Yangtze to trade.
After a few days of 'lovely weather,' enjoyed to the full in the 'Ferooz'--
'certainly a most splendid yacht--such a fine deck, and quieter than a
Royal Navy vessel'--he reached Shanghae on the 3rd of December.
[Sidenote: Shanghae.]
_Shanghae.--December 4th._--We reached this place at 3 P.M. yesterday.
I have received your letters to October 9th. How I grieve for your
anxiety about Bruce's illness! How glad I am he is near the ----'s. He
could not be watched over by kinder friends.
Eagerly as he desired to hurry homewards he found it necessary to stay at
Shanghae for some weeks, in order to complete the detailed arrangements for
opening the river Yangtze to British traders, and also to settle the
awkward question of the relations which should subsist between the British
residents, and the Chinese Rebels in their neighbourhood.
_Shanghae.--December 14th._--I am a good deal puzzled about my
departure. The opening of the Yangtze and the Rebel question are
serious matters, and I do not like to leave them unsettled: on the
other hand, I can hardly, even if I were so inclined, remain here till
they are settled. I think it will end in my staying till the next mail
comes in from the North.
_Sunday, December 16th.--Eight A.M._--The mornings are lovely here
now; a bright sun, rising about half-past six; and not exactly frost,
but a mere hint of its presence in the air. I take walks, and have
just returned from one; generally the tour of the race ground, which
is the only walk here. While I humbly pace along, the clerks of the
_Hongs_--such of them at least as are careful of their healths, and
moderate in their supper arrangements--flaunt past me on their
chargers. I march on, thinking whether it would not in a new existence
be advisable to begin life as a tea-taster.
_December 21st._--The wind has changed to the north, and my walk this
morning was a colder one. Yesterday I made a tour of the town of
Shanghae, and find that the French, by way of protecting it, burnt
down about one-half of the suburbs during the summer. They have
destroyed it to a greater extent than we destroyed Canton in 1857 by
our bombardment. 'Save me from my friends,' the poor Chinaman may well
say. The French have some method in their madness, for they want the
ground of the burnt district, and they insist on having it now at the
cost of the land, 'as there are no houses upon it.' At Canton, in the
same way, they have seized land in the most unjustifiable way, to
build churches on.
_Shanghae.--December 31st._--Yesterday was a torrent of rain, and I
never left the house. As I have a comfortable room, and no great
interruptions, I get through a good deal of my reading. ... There was
a fortnight of the 'Times' to begin with. The Reviews. ... Trollope's
novel of 'Dr. Thorne;' 'Aurora Leigh' (which I admire greatly); then
Sir Robert Wilson's 'Russian Campaign,' which contains some curious
revelations; Darwin's 'Origin of Species,' which is audacious; &c. &c.
In short, you will allow that I have not been quite idle during the
fortnight.
_January 1st,_ 1861.-This is the first time I sign the new year. May
it bring much happiness to you!... It was introduced here by
dancing. But I was not in a lively humour, and retired as soon as I
could.... No mail yet, and I would start without it, were it not that
I expect three mails by it.
[Sidenote: Hong-Kong.]
At length, on the 4th of January, he writes, 'Hurrah! I am off, with a fair
wind.' On the 8th he reached Hong-Kong, where he found little to detain
him; the most important matter being the formal taking possession, in the
Queen's name, of the recently ceded peninsula of Kowloon.
_Hong-Kong.--January 10th._--I presume, from the apologetic tone of a
speech (very civil in itself) made by Lord J. Russell in the city, and
quoted in the 'Home News,' that I was being well abused in England
when the mail left. It is all miserable enough, but I had rather that
it had blown over before I reach home, as I might seem to reflect on
others if I defended myself, and you say truly that we have had enough
of that kind of thing.
_January 15th._--I find that the new Factory site [at Canton], about
which I had such a fight with the merchants last time, is a great
success.[1] Its merit is now acknowledged by the blindest.
In a subsequent letter, referring to the last days of his stay at Hong-
Kong, he wrote:-
[Sidenote: Kowloon.]
We had a sort of ceremonial on Saturday the 19th. I went to Kowloon,
and proclaimed formally the annexation of that territory to the
dominions of the Queen. This acquisition, the good site at Canton, and
the opening-up of the North of China and Japan, have added at least
twenty per cent. to the value of European life in China.
[Sidenote: Adieu to China.]
On the 21st of January he bade a final adieu to the shores of China, and
directed his course to Manila; desiring to avoid this time the dreary line
to Singapore which he had traversed so often, and attracted also by the new
fields which the Spanish and Dutch colonies offered for his observation.
[Sidenote: Manila.]
_At Sea, near Manila.--January 24th._--I wrote a very shabby line to
you as I was leaving Hong-Kong, but it may not perhaps be an unwelcome
one, as it informed you I had started. We have had rough weather, and
I take up my pen to-day for the first time. We are now under the lee
of some of the Philippines, so we get less of the great swell which
has been rolling down from the north-east, and of the gale which blows
during this monsoon down the channel that separates the island of
Formosa from the Philippines as through a funnel.
_Manila.--January 26th, Eight A.M._--I sent off a few lines to you
yesterday, to tell you of my very inopportune arrival off this town,
at a moment when all the world, functionaries, &c., are on tiptoe
expecting a new Captain-General to make his appearance at any hour.
However, Castilian hospitality is not to be taken in default, and at 4
P.M. we landed with great ceremony, and after being conducted to the
palace, and exchanging a few glances with the acting Governor, who
cannot speak a word of any language known to me, I was shown a
magnificent suite of apartments destined for me and my following, and
then conveyed for a drive in one of the carriages-and-four (_vide_ Sir
J. Bowring's book), escorted by a guard of lancers. It is very curious
to see a state of things so different from ours. Such a number of
troops; gens-d'armes on horseback; not a person meeting us (the
Governor-General was with me) who did not take off his hat. At dinner
I sat next the Admiral, who also speaks nothing but Spanish; so we
passed our time in looking at each other unutterable things.
[Sidenote: Churches.]
_Ten A.M._--I have just got rid of my uniform, in which I thought it
proper to attire myself in order to receive all the officers, naval
and military, who came at nine o'clock to pay their respects. I had
strolled out much earlier _incognito_, and wandered into several
churches. They abound here, as do monks of all orders. The decorations
seemed tinselly enough, but _there_ was the Catholic ritual, with its
sublime suggestions and trivial forms, repeating itself under the
equator in the extreme East, as it repeats itself at Paris or Madrid,
and under Arctic or Antarctic circles. And _here_, as _there_, at
these early morning services, were a few solitary women assisting;
some of them commonplace-looking enough, but others, no doubt, with a
load of troubles to deposit at the altar, or in the ear of the monk in
the box, heavy enough to furnish the burden of many such romances as
those which thrill the public sensibilities in our days. After all,
when the horrors which have brought about the result are past and
forgotten, there _is_ something gained by that truculent Spanish
system which forces the faith upon all who come within its reach.
_Fais-toi chretienner, ou je t'arrache l'ame_, as Charlemagne (not a
Spaniard, by the way, so there my illustration halts) said to his
heathen enemies. There is something, I say, gained by it when the
origin is forgotten, because the bond of a common creed _does_ do a
little towards drawing these different races together. They are not
separated from each other by that impassable barrier of mutual
contempt, suspicion, and antipathy, which alienates us from the
unhappy natives in those lands where we settle ourselves among
inferior orders of men. An administrative net of a not very flexible
nature encloses all, and keeps each member of the body politic pretty
closely to the post allotted to him; but the belief in a common
humanity, drawn perhaps rather from the traditions of the early, than
from the practice of the modern church, runs like a silken thread
through the iron tissue. One feels a little softened and sublimated
when one passes from Hong-Kong, where the devil is worshipped in his
naked deformity, to this place where he displays at least some of the
feathers which he wore before he fell. So you must pardon me, if my
letter reflects in some measure the phase through which my mind is
passing.
[Sidenote: State of the Island.]
I found next me at breakfast the Chief of the _Secretariat_, an
intelligent man, speaking French. He confirmed a good many of the
impressions which my own observations had led me to form respecting
the state of affairs here. The army is composed of natives; officers
and non-commissioned officers, Spanish. The artillery, or a portion of
it, also Spanish. The native Indians pay a capitation tax of $1 a
head; half-castes double; Chinese $50, $30, or $12. As usual, my poor
Chinamen are hated and squeezed. They are not obliged to become
Catholics, but the native Indian women can/will not marry them
unless they are, and they are not allowed to make public profession of
any other religion.... After breakfast came in an English merchant,
who made the passage from Suez to Singapore with me in 1857. He says
foreigners are very well treated here, but they have some difficulties
about customs duties, which I have asked him to state in writing to
me, that I may say a word about them if occasion offers. The greater
part of the trade here is in English hands.
[Sidenote: Indian women.]
To pass from the higher thoughts which suggested themselves when I
visited the churches this morning, I may tell you that I saw some of
the devout Indian women when they left the churches on their return.
They were generally very plain, to say the least of it. Round their
waists and over their under-dress they pass a piece of silk, which is
wrapped tight round the person. The result is as nearly as possible
the opposite to the effect produced by a crinoline.
[Sidenote: Cigar making.]
I have returned from a very hot drive to visit a sugar refinery and a
cigar manufactory. I saw little to interest at the former, except the
process of making chocolate by mixing cocoa, cinnamon, and sugar. At
the latter, some 8,000 girls were employed, not very pretty, but
cheerful-looking. A skilful worker can make 200 a day, so that these
young ladies can poison mankind to the tune of 1,600,000 cigars a day.
[Sidenote: The cathedral.]
_Sunday, January 27th.--Ten A.M._--In my early morning's walk I again
visited the churches, which were in greater activity than yesterday.
In the cathedral I came in for a sermon which began 'Illustrissimo
Senor' so I suppose the Archbishop was present, and probably had me in
his eye. I could understand very little, so I did not stay it out. It
was delivered without notes (having evidently been learnt by heart),
in rather a monotonous way; with a sort of little action, all confined
to a slight movement of the hands and flipping of the fingers.... The
Archbishop is, I am told, very bigoted. He did not come to dinner
yesterday (a grand full-dress dinner given in my honour), and some say
it was because of my being a heretic. I take it I was in error
yesterday in speaking of the Spanish system of compelling conformity
of belief as necessarily beginning in harshness. I fancy the monks
have won over the simple Indians here to a great extent by gentle
methods. They protect them, and manage their affairs, and know all
their secrets through the confessional, and amuse them with no end of
feast-days, and gewgaws, and puerile ceremonies. The natives seem to
have a great deal of our dear old French Canadian _habitans_ about
them, only in a more sublime stage of infantine simplicity.
[Sidenote: A pueblo.]
_January 28th._--I drove this morning to a village (_pueblo_) about
seven miles off, starting at 5.30. The weather nice and cool. The
country very rich. The cottages of bamboo and leaves, and all raised
on bamboo posts of about ten feet in height, seemed very comfortable.
I never saw a more cheerful-looking rural population. All nicely and
modestly dressed. The women completely emancipated from all eastern
seclusion. I visited in this _pueblo_ another great cigar manufactory;
8,000 girls employed. I must say that this colony appears to be a
great success, as far as the natives are concerned, and I almost
regret that I am not going to see something more of the interior.
Crealock has been through the barracks, which he says are in admirable
condition. The native soldiers appear to be very well treated. We
dined yesterday with the Admiral. Just before we set out for this
dinner, a procession was announced, and I went to the balcony to see
it. The students of a college, some 350 in number, were escorting
about two spangled and sparkling images of the Virgin, and a variety
of flags. Each carried a lighted torch, and they lined both sides of
the road, the interval between their rows being occupied by the
images, three or four bands of music, the flags, &c. As all the bands
played at once, and as loud as they possibly could, the noise was
tremendous, and the cathedral bell helped, by tolling its deepest
tone as the procession passed. These processions are the great
religious stimulant here, and they form another point of resemblance
with the French part of Canada.
After little more than three days' stay among the Spaniards of Luzon, he
embarked again on the 29th on board the 'Ferooz,' and passing by Sarawak
and the north-west coast of Borneo, crossed the Line to visit the Dutch
settlement of Java.
[Sidenote: Crossing the Line.]
_February 6th_.--A fine morning, and we are going through the Gaspar
Strait in about 2 deg. 30' south, not very far from where Lord Amherst was
wrecked in the 'Alceste.' We anchored again last night, but in a calm.
Yesterday morning Neptune made his appearance, and those of us who had
not passed the Line had to pay the penalty. I compounded for his
claims on me, and the crew had a good lark in shaving with tar and
ducking some other novices. We are now in mid-summer, having passed at
a bound from mid-winter. There is little difference, however, in these
latitudes, between one part of the year and another. The principal
difference consists in the rainy and dry seasons, and as near the Line
as this there is, I suppose, always more or less rain. _Two P.M._--I
went on deck this morning at eight, after writing, to discover why we
were stopping, and I found that a squall had closed in all around us,
and hid the land. It lasted only about an hour, when we set off again,
passing through a great many little islets all covered with trees, so
different from the barren Pulo Sapata and Pulo Condor, which we pass
on the route between Singapore and Hong-Kong! The weather is
delicious, and I am confirmed in my doctrine, that if you are
compelled to be in or in the vicinity of the Tropics, the nearer the
Line the better. You have not the interminably long summer days which
you have at more remote points, and constant showers veil the sun and
cool the air. This makes Singapore comparatively so bearable, and I
suppose Sarawak has some of the same advantages.
[Sidenote: Java.]
[Sidenote: Residence of the Governor-General.]
_Java.--February 8th. Three P.M._--Here I am looking out from my
window upon a piece of park-like scenery,--a sheet of water, drooping
trees, and deer feeding among them. The only drawback is that it is
raining, and this is not an unqualified evil, because the rain cools
the air. The place I am at is the residence of the Governor-General of
Java (or of the Indies, I believe his title is), about forty miles
from Batavia, the chief town, at which I landed yesterday, at 5 P.M.,
with much honour in the way of salutes, &c. We were conveyed in
carriages-and-six, with an escort, to the Governor's town palace,
which I was told to consider placed at my disposal. It consists
chiefly of a very spacious room on the ground-floor, paved in marble,
and looking very brilliant, lit up with wax candles in chandeliers.
Some of the high officials came to dinner, and we were waited on by
black servants in state liveries and bare feet, who moved noiselessly
over the marble floor. The original town of Batavia is unhealthy for
Europeans, so they live in villas which extend from the town for some
miles, on both sides of the main road into the interior. The villas
looked very nice, and white women seemed to abound in them. It was
hinted to me that the Governor-General would like to see me at his
residence, so I set out for this place at about seven this morning,
performing thirty-six miles in two hours and fifty minutes, in a
comfortable carriage drawn by six ponies, changed every five miles. I
need hardly say that we always went at full gallop. The country was
not very interesting, being chiefly low and rice-bearing, nor did I
see the cheerful firm-looking maidens who struck me so much at Manila.
This island is _exploite_ entirely for the Government and dominant
race, and with no little success, for I am told that the surplus
revenue last year was L6,000,000, L4,000,000 of which were remitted to
Holland. I shall end by thinking that we are the worst colonisers in
the Eastern world, as we neither make ourselves rich, nor the governed
happy.
[Sidenote: Botanic Garden.]
[Sidenote: Monument to Lady Raffles.]
_February 9th_.--I took a drive at six this morning, and then a walk
through the botanic garden, which is attached to this house and has a
great reputation. I am no judge, as you know, but everything seems in
beautiful order, and it is of great extent. After a light repast I got
a carriage to take me down to a spacious swimming-bath, paved with
marble and shaded by magnificent trees, in which I felt rather tempted
to spend the day. I should mention that, before dinner yesterday, when
the rain slackened, I went into the garden, and was arrested as I
wandered along the paths musingly, by a monument with an English
inscription. It is to the wife of Sir Stamford Raffles, who died here
in 1814, while the colony was in our hands; died _here_, that is, at
Buitenzorg, for this inscription has taught me the name of the place,
which I had not been able to catch before. I see little of my host. We
dined at half-past six; nobody but his staff and daughter and my
rather numerous following, who are not, I fear, all as well dressed as
he approves of; a short _seance_ after dinner, and then to our private
apartments. Today we met in the same stiff way at twelve, for
breakfast. I have not seen a book or a paper in the house, but that
may be because I am not admitted to the parts of the mansion where
they are to be found. An expedition has been organised for me, and I
start tomorrow morning. It will occupy four days, but it would be
absurd to come to such a place as this, and to leave it without seeing
anything. The Governor-General has spent thirty-one years of his life
here, but for a time (six years) he was colonial minister in Holland.
His daughter's husband was killed by a native running _a'muck_ (this
is a Javanese expression) some years ago. She seems a gentle person,
and has a daughter eight years old. We all speak French, which is an
improvement on my Manila experiences.
They started at six on the morning of the 10th, in three carriages-and-six,
and slept the first night at a place called Chipana, where they 'were to
have ascended' a mountain 9,000 feet high, but were prevented by the
'rain.' The next day's journey brought them to the high table-land of
Bantong.
[Sidenote: Bantong.]
[Sidenote: Javanese _soiree_.]
_February 11th.--Bantong_.--About 120 miles from Batavia, on a plain
about 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. The weather comparatively
cool, though this is the hot season. I have just (10 P.M.) returned
from a Javanese _soiree_. The Regent (a sort of native lord-
lieutenant) invited me to his house to see some dancing. This Regent
is very rich, about L12,000 a year, which he receives from a tithe
paid to him by all producers in his regency. The dancing was performed
by four girls wearing strange helmet-shaped head-dresses, and garments
of a close-fitting stiff character reaching to the ground. They swayed
their bodies to and fro in a melancholy way to a very monotonous
plaintive sort of music, but their chief art consisted in the
wonderful success with which they twisted their arms and fingers. In a
second dance they carried bows and arrows, and went through a kind of
pantomimic fight. After this was over, as I had expressed a wish to
see more of his house, I was taken across a court to another ground-
floor room, and was startled by finding myself suddenly introduced to
_Madame la Regente_, an odd little woman, with a wizened face, and
mouth and teeth blackened by betel nut. I was rather put into a
difficulty in finding conversation for her, for I did not know whether
she would like being complimented on the _ballet_ we had just seen. I
then went to look at the musicians and their instruments, the latter
consisting chiefly of coffee canes struck by a sort of gong-sticks.
The sound at a distance was bell-like and not unpleasing. I was
informed that the Regent had paid L500 for his set of instruments.
After this I returned to my inn in my carriage. How I got to this
place I shall tell later. I must now go to bed, as we start at 5 A.M.
on an expedition to see an active crater.
[Sidenote: A crater.]
_February 12th.--Six P.M._--We started nearly as early as was
proposed. Two hours of carriage work along a road made heavy by rain,
and about two hours more of riding up a steep mountain side, covered
with tall trees sinking under a load of creepers and orchideous
plants, not so wild and bold as the mountain scenery of Jamaica, but
with somewhat of the same character. We ascended about 4,300 feet from
our starting-point, so that when we reached our goal we were 6,500
feet above the sea. Our goal was a covered shed overlooking a crater,
not in a very active state, but puffing sulphurous smoke from numerous
chinks and chasms. Beyond this first crater was a second very similar
to it; and beyond both, far below, the plain of Bantong, where we now
are, lay green and smiling. We could not see a great extent of it, for
the heavy clouds were already mustering for the rain which at this
season falls always in the afternoon. (It is now pouring, with thunder
and lightning.) But the scene was very striking, and the clouds added
to the mystery. We returned through a quinine plantation, which is an
experiment, and promises to be a successful one, and then through a
coffee plantation, different, and much prettier to look at than those
of Ceylon and Jamaica, for here the bushes are allowed to grow to
their full height (about twenty feet), and have a graceful pyramid-
like shape; whereas there they are all pruned down to about five feet
in height. There are also here some large trees left to give shade to
the coffee bushes. I can conceive nothing more lovely than these
plantations must be at the time of flowering. We got back to our hotel
at 2 P.M., since when I have had breakfast, hath, and reading, and am
now preparing for dinner.
[Sidenote: A second _soiree_.]
_Ten P.M._--Another Javanese _soiree_. No ladies this time. To begin
with: two kinds of marionettes; the first behind a kind of crape
screen,--strange figures cut very beautifully out of buffalo hide, and
jumping about to a very noisy vocal and instrumental accompaniment.
The second, something like Italian marionettes, worked by a man's
fingers, but without any attempt to conceal the operator. Both sets, I
believe, represented historical subjects. When we had had enough of
these, we went into another room, where were assembled a priest, and a
whole lot of followers from a mosque. The amusement here consisted in
seeing boys from the mosque stick into their cheeks, &c., daggers and
pointed weapons, which the priest blessed, and which were therefore
innocuous; a milder specimen of the supernatural I certainly never
witnessed. All took place at the Regent's palace, from which I have
just returned. His son, a boy of about fourteen, was present to-night
and last night. A rather nice-looking boy. He never came near his
father without crouching on his heels or knees, and putting his hands
up to his face in an attitude of submission, if spoken to by him.
[Sidenote: Chipana.]
_February 13th.--Ten P.M.--Chipana_.--(The place we slept at on the
night of the 10th.) On this, as on the former occasion, the population
make a sort of festival of my visit, and turn out to perform dances,
&c. The performances are not so refined as at the Regent's, but they
are more picturesque and lively. The ladies move about in the same
dreamy way about lamps, or rather torches, but here they have partners
to dance with them. The noise is tremendous, and has not yet ceased,
although I have retired, on the understanding that the entertainment
is to come to an end, as we again start to-morrow at 6 A.M. To-night,
all the dancing has been in the open air. It was a wild, barbarous-
looking scene; but I do not know that I should much care to see it
again. We started this morning at six, and travelled, as we have
always done, at full gallop on the level or down hill, and with the
aid of four buffalos in front of our six ponies when we came to mount
steep hills, of which there are many. The roads are excellent. They
are made by forced labour, and, what seems rather hard, the natives
with their carts, &c., are not allowed to use them. I found here a
bath formed by a hot iron or sulphur spring, into which I plunged
before dinner. These Javanese seem the most timorous of mankind. A11,
men and women, crouch on their heels and knees when our carriage
approaches; and they do this, I believe, to all white people, as well
as to their own chiefs. But it is not only this crouching; they have,
moreover (especially the women), a way of turning their heads aside,
as if they were afraid to look at one. The natives of the eastern part
of the island are said not to be so timid.
Starting from Chipana early on the following morning, they continued their
rapid descent by Buitenzorg to Batavia; and on the 16th embarked again on
board the 'Ferooz,' for Ceylon, where he expected to find an accumulation
of four mails. 'Two months of news!' (he wrote). 'I always feel nervous as
to what so long an interval may bring forth.'
[Sidenote: Strait of Sunda.]
'_Ferooz,' at Sea.--February 16th.--One P.M._--We are entering the
Strait of Sunda, which separates Java and Sumatra. When through it we
have a clear sea-way to Galle. _Two_ P.M.--We have just passed the
high land which forms the north-western point of Java, and is called
Cape St. Nicholas. It is beautifully rich-looking; the bright green of
its grass and crops embroidered over by the darker green of the clumps
of trees which are scattered upon it. Farther down to the south, on
the same side, is the flat promontory known as Angen Point. On the
other side we have the coast of Sumatra, wooded and broken, with
mountains in the background, and green islets tossed out from it upon
the ocean, in the foreground; and a sailing ship moving along it in
the same direction with ourselves, her sails flapping idly in the
calm.
_Sunday, February 24th_.--We have just had service on deck, under a
double awning. A little fanning breeze from the north-east seemed to
say that we are at last getting back into the region of that monsoon
which we left when we went to the south of the Line. I have been some
days without writing, for there has been nothing to tell, and we have
had a good deal of bad weather, rain, and rolling and pitching; but we
must not complain, as it was more convenient to have it here in the
open sea, than if we had encountered it in a narrow passage, such as
we have passed through. We expect to reach Galle in three days, and I
cannot but feel a little nervous as to the news I may find there. We
are in God's hands, and this sort of doubt makes us feel the more that
we are so.
[Sidenote: Retrospect of Java.]
Altogether, I was much interested by Java. As I have said, it is ruled
entirely for the interest of the governing race. No attempt is made to
raise the natives. I _believe_ that the missionaries are not allowed
to visit the interior. I asked about schools, and ascertained that in
the province of which the regency of Bantong forms a part, and which
contains some 600,000 inhabitants, there were five; not, I suspect,
much attended. It was clear from the tone of the officials that there
was no wish to educate the natives. There is a kind of forced labour.
They pay a tithe of the produce of their rice-fields; are obliged (in
certain districts) to plant coffee, and to sell the produce at a rate
fixed by the Government; in others, to work on sugar estates, and, in
all, to make roads. Nevertheless, I am not satisfied that they are
unhappy, or that the system can be called a failure. In those
districts which I visited there was no appearance of their being
overworked; and I was assured that, on the sugar estates, the
proprietors have no power of punishing those who do not work; that it
rests with the officials exclusively to do so. The tone of the
officials on the subject is, that no punishment is necessary, because,
although they are so lazy that if they had the choice they would never
do anything, they do not make any difficulty about working when they
are told to do so. Economically it is a success. The fertility of the
island is very great, so that the labour of the natives leaves a large
surplus after their own subsistence is provided for. There are twenty
provinces, in each of which the chief officer is the president--a
Dutchman; but the native chief (Regent) has the more direct relations
with the people, arranges about their labour, &c. The Dutch officials
look after him, and see that he does not abuse his power.
[Sidenote: Ceylon.]
Pressing eagerly forward, he reached Ceylon, the scene of so many anxieties
and disasters, on the last day of February.
_Ceylon, March 2nd._--I found here your letters to January 10th, and
am relieved... Where is our meeting to be?... If I can, I shall take
the route through Trieste and Paris.
On the 20th he writes from the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai:--
[Sidenote: Sinai.]
_March 20th.--Noon._--We are now in the Gulf of Suez. On the right
side a row of arid mountains with serrated crests, and a margin of
flat dry sand at the base, and behind them what is reputed to be Mount
Sinai. Only a glimpse of the latter can, however, be caught at one
point, where there is a depression in the nearer range. On the left
there are mountains of a similar character, overtopped by one 10,000
feet high. The sea is deeply blue and the sun scorching, but the air
cool--almost cold. We have had a good deal of wind and sea against us
for the last three days; but we passed the Straits of Jubal early this
morning, and hope to be at Suez during the night.
On the 24th he was once more enjoying the fresh and invigorating breezes of
Europe:--
[Sidenote: The Mediterranean.]
_Sunday, March 24th.--On board H.M.S. 'Terrible.'_--Here is a change of
scene! The last words of this journal were written in the Gulf of
Suez, on board the 'Ferooz.' I now write from the Mediterranean, off
the island of Candia, whose snow-capped mountains are looking down
upon us; very different from the parched ranges of hills wrapped in
perpetual heat haze, which I described to you four days ago.
[Sidenote: Greece.]
_March 26th.--Seven A.M._--I have been about two hours on deck. A
beautiful morning, and smooth sea. On our right the coast of Albania,
hilly and wooded. On our left the land is low, and covered apparently
with olive trees. Before us the southern end of Corfu, which we are
approaching. Farther on, the channel along which we are gliding seems
to be closed in as a lake, the Corfu mountains and those of Greece
overlapping each other. The snow-covered crests of some of the latter
gleam in the sunshine. It is a lovely scene. Yesterday we passed Cape
Matapan, Zante, &c., all on our right; but there was a good deal of
wind and sea, and an unusual amount of motion for the 'Terrible.'
Navarino, too, we passed; but I did not know it at the time. We
propose to call in at Corfu, take in coal, and see what can be seen
during the day. But I hope to be off for Trieste to-morrow morning.
[Sidenote: Corfu.]
_March 27th._--We found at Corfu three line-of-battle ships and
Admiral Dacres, who came on board to see me. I landed at 11 A.M., and
went to the Government House, where I found Sir H. Storks. He took me
a drive of about thirteen miles, to the top of a pass in the mountains
called Pantaleone, from which there is a very extensive view. It is a
beautiful island. The day bright and sunny. Nothing can be more
picturesque than the town. The people, too, seem to me very handsome.
I saw this morning the captain of a sloop-of-war who has been visiting
various ports in the Adriatic. He was received at Ancona with a
_furore_ of enthusiasm, and exceedingly well treated at Venice,
Trieste, &c., by the Austrians, who are burning to revenge themselves
on the French, and anxious to ally themselves with us for that
purpose.... We have been steaming through a narrow channel, with the
snow-covered mountains of Albania on our right; but we are now
emerging into the open Adriatic.
[Sidenote: England.]
By Trieste and Vienna he travelled rapidly to Paris, where he was met by
Lady Elgin; and on the 11th of April 1861, within a few days of the
anniversary of his departure, he found himself once more on British soil.
[Sidenote: Warm reception.]
[Sidenote: Dunfermline.]
The reception which awaited him at home was even warmer than that which he
had met with two years before. What gratified him, perhaps, more than any
of the many similar expressions of good-will was the cordial welcome with
which he was greeted by his old friends and neighbours at Dunfermline:
friends from whom he had been, as he told them, so long an unwilling
absentee. His answer to their address was the simple and natural expression
of this feeling.
It is pleasant (he said)--perhaps it is one of the sweetest flowers we
cull on the path of this rugged life--to find ourselves among old
friends after a long absence, and to find their hearts beat as true
and warm as ever. I am deeply gratified by the flattering terms in
which my public services have been referred to in this address, but I
am still more gratified by the welcome which you have tendered to me
to-day.... Gentlemen, I have been for many years very much, perhaps
too much of a wanderer, and it has been my fortune to receive from our
countrymen established in different parts of the world tokens of their
regard and consideration. The very last address of felicitation I
received before I landed at Dover the other day was from a body of my
countrymen established in the Philippines--a group of Spanish islands
in the far East, near the equator. But allow me to say that among all
these tokens, those most grateful and agreeable to me are those which
I receive from friends and neighbours at home. And, perhaps, I
appreciate these tokens the more highly, because I am conscious that
the very fact of my having been so much of a wanderer, has prevented
me from acquiring some of those titles to their personal regard which
I might have hoped to establish if I had been constantly resident
among them.
[Sidenote: Royal Academy dinner.]
About the same time he was received with marked distinction at the annual
banquet of the Royal Academy in London; and the words which he spoke on
that occasion have more than a mere passing interest, as illustrating the
speaker's frank and straightforward manner of dealing with a question of
great delicacy, and also as containing some striking and suggestive remarks
on certain mental and moral peculiarities of the Chinese people.
I am especially gratified (he said) by the great and very unexpected
honour which you have done to me in drinking my health, because I
trust that I may infer from it that in your judgment, Sir, and in that
of this company, I am not so incorrigibly barbarous as to be incapable
of feeling the humanising influences which fall upon us from the noble
works of art by which we are surrounded. And, as I have ventured to
approach so nearly to the margin of a burning question, I hope that I
may be allowed to take one step more in the same direction, and to
assure you that no one regretted more sincerely than I did the
destruction of that collection of summer-houses and kiosks, already,
and previously to any act of mine, rifled of their contents, which was
dignified by the title of Summer Palace of the Chinese Emperor. But
when I had satisfied myself that in no other way, except, indeed, by
inflicting on this country and on China the calamity of another year
of war, could I mark the sense which I entertained, which the British
army entertained--and on this point I may appeal to my gallant friend
who is present here this evening, and who conducted that army
triumphantly to Pekin with so much honour to himself and to those
under his command--and which, moreover, I make bold in the presence of
this company to say, the people of this country entertained--of an
atrocious crime, which, if it had passed unpunished, would have placed
in jeopardy the life of every European in China, I felt that the time
had come when I must choose between the indulgence of a not unnatural
sensibility and the performance of a painful duty. The alternative is
not a pleasant one; but I trust that there is no man serving the Crown
in a responsible position who would hesitate when it is presented to
him as to the decision at which he should arrive.[2] And now, Sir, to
pass to another topic, I have been repeatedly asked whether, in my
opinion, the interests of art in this country are likely to be in any
degree promoted by the opening up of China. I must say, in reply, that
I do not think that in matters of art we have much to learn from that
country, but I am not quite prepared to admit that even in this
department we can gain nothing from them. The distinguishing
characteristic of the Chinese mind is this--that at all points of the
circle described by man's intelligence, it seems occasionally to have
caught glimpses of a heaven far beyond the range of its ordinary ken
and vision. It caught a glimpse of the path which leads to military
supremacy when it invented gunpowder, some centuries before the
discovery was made by any other nation. It caught a glimpse of the
path which leads to maritime supremacy when it made, at a period
equally remote, the discovery of the mariner's compass. It caught a
glimpse of the path which leads to literary supremacy when, in the
tenth century, it invented the printing press; and, as my illustrious
friend on my right (Sir E. Landseer) has reminded me, it has caught
from time to time glimpses of the beautiful in colour and design. But
in the hands of the Chinese themselves the invention of gunpowder has
exploded in crackers and harmless fireworks. The mariner's compass has
produced nothing better than the coasting junk. The art of printing
has stagnated in stereotyped editions of _Confucius_, and the most
cynical representations of the grotesque have been the principal
products of Chinese conceptions of the sublime and beautiful.
Nevertheless, I am disposed to believe that under this mass of
abortions and rubbish there lie hidden some sparks of a diviner fire,
which the genius of my countrymen may gather and nurse into a flame.
[Sidenote: Dinner at the Mansion House.]
A few days afterwards, at a dinner given at the Mansion House in his
honour, he was again greeted with more than common enthusiasm. In
responding, after giving an account of the objects that had been sought and
the results that had been achieved in the East, he concluded his speech by
impressing on the merchants of England, in words which may be regarded as
his final and farewell utterance on the subject, that with them must now
chiefly lie the responsibility of aiding or retarding the development of
China, and thus of determining the place she shall hold in the commonwealth
of nations.
My Lord Mayor (be said), I should be very much to blame if, having an
opportunity of addressing an assembly in this place, I omitted to call
attention to the fact that the occasional misconduct of our own
countrymen and other foreigners in China is one of the greatest,
perhaps the very greatest, difficulties with which the Queen's
representatives there have to deal. We send out to that country
honourable merchants and devout missionaries, who scatter benefits in
every part of the land they visit, elevating and raising the standard
of civilisation wherever they go. But sometimes, unfortunately, there
slip out from among us dishonest traders and ruffians who disgrace our
name and set the feelings of the people against us. The public opinion
of England can do much to encourage the one class of persons and
discourage the other. I trust that the moral influence of this great
city will always be exerted in that direction. In addressing the
merchants of Shanghai some three years ago, at the time when I
announced to them that it was my intention to seek a treaty in Pekin
itself if I could not get it before I arrived there, I made this
observation--that when force and diplomacy should have effected in
China all that they could legitimately accomplish, the work which we
had to do in that empire would still be only in its commencement. I
repeat that statement now. My gallant friend who spoke just now has
returned his sword to the scabbard. The diplomatist, as far as treaty-
making is concerned, has placed his pen on the shelf. But the great
task of construction--the task of bringing China, with its extensive
territory, its fertile soil, and its industrious population, as an
active and useful member, into the community of nations, and making it
a fellow-labourer with ourselves in diffusing over the world happiness
and well-being--is one that yet remains to be accomplished. No persons
are more entitled or more fitted to take a part in that work than the
merchants of this great city. I implore them, then, to devote
themselves earnestly to its fulfilment, and from the bottom of my
heart I pray that their endeavours towards that end may be crowned
with success.
[1] Vide supra, p. 310.
[2] It may not be out of place here to quote the words used later
in the evening by Sir Hope Grant, in returning thanks for his own
health: 'With regard (he said) to what Lord Elgin has said about the
destruction of the Summer Palace of the Emperor of China, I must say
that I do candidly think it was a necessary act of retribution for an
abominable murder which had been committed, and the army, as Well as
myself, entirely concurred with him in what he did.'
CHAPTER XV.
INDIA.
APPOINTED VICEROY OP INDIA--FOREBODINGS--VOYAGE TO INDIA--INSTALLATION--
DEATHS OF MR. RITCHIE, LORD CANNING, GENERAL BRUCE--THE HOT SEASON--
BUSINESS RESUMED--STATE OF THE EMPIRE--LETTERS: THE ARMY; CULTIVATION
OP
COTTON; ORIENTALS NOT ALL CHILDREN; MISSIONARIES; RUMOURS OF
DISAFFECTION;
ALARMS; MURDER OF A NATIVE; AFGHANISTAN; POLICY OF LORD CANNING;
CONSIDERATION FOR NATIVES.
From this time forward the story of Lord Elgin's life is no longer a record
of stirring incidents, of difficulties triumphantly overcome, or novel and
entangled situations successfully mastered. The career indeed is still
arduous, and the toil unremitting, but the course is well-defined. Compared
with the varied conflicts and anxieties of the preceding period, there is
something of the repose of declining day, after the heat and dust of a
brilliant noon; something even, young as he was in years, of the gloom of
approaching night. It seems almost as if a shadow, cast by the coming end,
rested upon his path.
[Sidenote: Vice-royalty of India.]
He had not been more than a month at home when the Vice-royalty of India,
about to be vacated by Lord Canning, was offered to him, in the Queen's
name, by Lord Palmerston. The splendid offer of the most magnificent
Governorship in the world was accepted, but not without something of a
vague presentiment that he should never return from it. This feeling was
expressed with his usual frankness and simplicity, when in the course of an
address delivered at Dunfermline, some months before his departure, after
referring to former partings, uniformly followed by happy meetings, he
said:--
[Sidenote: Forebodings.]
But, Gentlemen, I cannot conceal from myself, nor from you, the fact
that the parting which is now about to take place is a far more
serious matter than any of those which have preceded it; and that the
vast amount of labour devolving upon the Governor-General of India,
the insalubrity of the climate, and the advance of years, all tend to
render the prospect of our again meeting more remote and uncertain.
Independently of any such forebodings, there were sorrows on which it is
hardly necessary to dwell, but which were felt keenly by one so devoted to
'that peaceful home-life towards which he was always aspiring;'[1] the pain
of tearing himself again from the children now growing up to need in an
especial manner a father's presence, and of leaving the mother of these
children, for a time at least, to contend alone with cares and anxieties
from which it would have been his greatest happiness to shield and protect
her. Something, too, there may have been of the depression which breathes
in the poet's complaint, 'the roll of mighty poets is made up'--a feeling
that the work of pacifying and settling India had been so thoroughly
accomplished by Lord Dalhousie and Lord Canning, that the field no longer
contained any laurels to be reaped by their successor. 'I succeed,' he used
to say, 'to a great man and a great war, with a humble task to be humbly
discharged.'
[Sidenote: Visit to Osborne.]
[Sidenote: Sails for India.]
But these thoughts and feelings, though they may have dimmed the brightness
of his anticipations, could not for long overcloud that 'unfailing
cheerfulness' which contributed much to make him throughout life so
successful himself, and so helpful to others: still less could they for a
moment check the alacrity with which he set himself to prepare for his new
duties. For some time he remained in London; after which he spent several
pleasant months in Scotland, laying up a store of happy recollections to
which his thoughts in after days often turned. Early in January 1862,
accompanied by Lady Elgin, he went to Osborne on a visit to the Queen; who
even in those early days of widowhood, roused herself to receive the first
Viceroy of India ever appointed by the sole act of the Crown. On the 28th
of the same month he quitted the shores of England; and, after a rapid and
uneventful journey, reached Calcutta on March 12. As Lady Elgin was unable
to accompany him, he resumed the habit of conversing with her, so to speak,
through the medium of a journal; from which some brief extracts are here
given, less for the sake of the few incidents which they record, than for
the glimpses which they give into the mind and heart of the writer:-
[Sidenote: Man overboard!]
_H.M.S. 'Banshee.'--Marseilles.--January 31st._--Only think of my
writing again from Marseilles! I was breakfasting yesterday, when
there was a cry of 'A man overboard!' We went on deck. After a while,
the man--who had enormous water-boots on, but who was fortunately a
good swimmer--appeared on the surface, caught hold of a life-preserver
which had been thrown out to him, was picked up by a boat, and hoisted
on board. After a bumper of brandy, he seemed none the worse. But in
the meantime we had sprung our _rudder-head_ (the same sort of
accident as befell the 'Great Eastern'). It must have been bad, or it
could not have gone as it did. The captain said to me: 'We may go on
for a few hours, and see what we can do, and then return if
necessary.' I did not see the fun of this plan, and suggested that we
had better at once find out what was the matter. We returned to port,
and, after a long deliberation, a scheme of patching was resolved
upon.... It is most vexatious to be doing nothing, when my moments
have been of late so precious and so hurried.
* * * *
_'Ferooz.'--Gulf of Suez.--February 9th._--When I got on board this
morning my heart smote me a little for having discouraged your coming
out with me, for nothing can be more comfortable than this ship has
been made, with a view to the accommodation of poor Lady Canning and
you. _Eight P.M._--It is very lonely to be spending this Sunday
evening by myself, after the many happy ones I have enjoyed with you
and the children during the past three months; and yet I would not
forego the recollection of those happy days though it deepens the
gloom of the present. Surely, whatever may happen to us all, it is
something gained to have this retrospect in store.
[Sidenote: Old MSS.]
_February 12th._--Going on as smoothly as ever.... I have been reading
over some old manuscript books, written from twenty to twenty-five
years ago, and containing a record of my thoughts and doings at that
remote time. It is very interesting and useful to look back. I was
working very hard during those years, searching after truth and right,
with no positive occupation but that of managing the Broomhall
affairs, and riding at a sort of single anchor with politics. Would it
have been better for me if I had had more engrossing positive work?
There is something to be said on both sides in answering that
question. However, these books will not be again read by me, for I
shall consign them to the Red Sea.
_February 13th._--The breeze is freshening and dead ahead.... I have
been thinking of the past, and remembering that just twenty years ago,
at this same season, I set out on my first visit to the Tropics. What
a strange career it has been! How grateful I should be to Providence
for the protection I have enjoyed! How wild it seems, to be about, at
the close of twenty years, to begin again.
[Sidenote: A gale.]
_Sunday, February 16th._--A bad time since I last wrote. We have had a
very strong gale.... There is less motion to-day, probably because we
are under the lee of the Arabian coast. I could not wish that you had
been with me while we were undergoing this misery; and we have made
slow progress, but may reach Aden to-morrow. It has been a sad
time.... I could not read, and have been lying down, thinking over so
many things!... But there may, please God, be a good time beyond. I
have been thinking of the little party in your room on this day, and
endeavouring to join with you all.
[Sidenote: A moonlight night.]
_February 19th.--Gulf of Aden.--Seven A.M._--I have just had my first
walk on deck for this day. It is fine, and the head wind keeps up a
cool draught of air for us. The night was pleasant and cool, and I
spent an hour before I went to bed, walking up and down the bridge,
between the paddle-boxes, looking at a great moon, a little past the
full, climbing up the heavens before us, and (as Coleridge says, I
think in the notes to the _Ancient Mariner_, of the stars) entering
unannounced among the groups of stars as a guest certainly expected
--and yet there is a silent joy on her arrival.
_February 27th.--Near Ceylon._--According to the account of our
captain, who hails from Bombay, the Governor there must be very well
off as regards climate. He has the sea air at Bombay itself; 2,000
feet of elevation at Poonah; and 5,000 on a mountain accessible in two
days from Bombay. So that his family may always live in a cool
climate, and he can join them when business permits. Perhaps at some
future time the convenience of the situation of Bombay, its greater
vicinity to England, &c., may place the Governor-General there; but
this will not happen in our time.
[Sidenote: White ants.]
As I went into my cabin yesterday before dinner, I observed a swarm of
white flies with long wings, by the side of one of my open ports. I
found out that they were white ants which had burst through the wood-
work, and which seem to be provided with wings under such
circumstances, in order that they may migrate. The wood-work inside
near the place from which they burst out, was completely destroyed by
them, and reduced to a pulp. It appears that there are quantities of
these creatures in this ship. It is believed that they are only in the
scantling or upper wood-work. It is to be hoped that this may be so;
for they devour timber with wonderful rapidity, and ships have been
lost by their eating away portions under water.
[Sidenote: Madras.]
_March 7th.--Madras._--Reached the anchorage at 4.30 P.M. We soon got
into one of the country boats made for landing in the surf (without
nails, and all the planks sewn together). We were hoisted by the waves
upon the beach, and found there a considerable crowd, with the
Governor, Sir W. Denison; Sir H. Grant, etc., and a guard of honour,
to receive us; Sir W.D. drove me out to this place, Guindy, which is
about eight miles from the town, and consists of a charming airy
house, in a large park. There was a full-dress dinner party and
reception last night.... I have decided to proceed to Calcutta to-
morrow.
_'Ferooz.'--March 9th.--Sunday._--It was very hot during the service
under the awning. But you and the little ones were remembered on this
sweltering Bengal sea.... My visit to Madras was pleasant, and an
agreeable change.... And I collected there papers and official
documents enough to keep me going till I reach Calcutta.
[Sidenote: Calcutta.]
[Sidenote: Installation.]
It was on the evening of March 11th that the 'Ferooz' anchored in 'Diamond
Harbour,' the same anchorage at which, in the 'Shannon,' he had spent the
night of August 8, 1857. The following day he was formally installed as
Viceroy and Governor-General; receiving every kindness from Lord Canning,
whom he describes as not looking so ill as he expected to find him, 'but,'
he adds, 'those about him say he is far from right in health.' Six days
later Lord Canning took his departure, and Lord Elgin was left to enter
upon his new duties.
[Sidenote: Death of Mr. Ritchie.]
He had not been a fortnight in office when the uncertainty of life in
Calcutta was brought home to him in a striking and ominous manner by the
sudden death of an esteemed member of his Legislative Council, Mr. Ritchie.
Writing on March 23 to Sir Charles Wood, who was then Secretary of State
for India, he said:--
We are truly here in the case of the women grinding at the mill. Who
would have supposed a few days ago that poor Ritchie would have been
the first summoned? About two days before Canning's departure, I asked
him to come and see me; he talked with me for an hour. In the evening
a note was received from his wife to say that they could not dine at
Government House, as he was seriously indisposed. He appears to have
felt the first symptom of his malady while he was sitting with me.
This afternoon I attend his funeral. He is a great loss; he seems to
have been very much liked and esteemed.
The death of Mr. Ritchie, followed by the appointment of Sir B. Frere to
the Government of Bombay, the promotion of Mr. Beadon to the Lieutenant-
Governorship of Bengal, and the retirement of Mr. Laing owing to ill
health, left only Sir R. Napier remaining of the five members of Council
whom Lord Elgin found in office; and, though the vacant places were soon
afterwards most ably filled, the change of councillors necessarily added to
the labours of a new Governor-General. He did not, however, during the
first comparatively cool months, find the work too much for him. 'On the
contrary,' he wrote, 'time would be heavy on hand if I had not enough to
fill it.'
[Sidenote: Mode of Life.]
The days (he wrote to Lady Elgin) are very uniform in their round of
occupations, so I have little to record that is interesting. As long
as one has health, it is easy to do a good deal of work here, because
for twelve hours in the day (from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M.) there is no
inducement to leave the house. I have hitherto had a little exercise
before and after those hours. I rush into the garden when I awake, and
return when the sun appears, glowing and angry, above the horizon.
In another letter he describes the plan, characteristic of his sociable and
genial temperament, which he adopted in order at once to get through his
work, and to obtain a competent knowledge of persons whose opinions were
worth having.
I have two or three people to dine with me on every day on which I
have not a great dinner. By this means I get acquainted with
individuals, and if my bees have any honey in them I extract it at the
moment of the day when it is most gushing.[2] It is very convenient,
besides, because it enables me to converse by candlelight with persons
who want to talk to me about their private affairs, instead of wasting
daylight upon them. Unless I get out of sorts, I hope to become
personally acquainted in this way with everyone, whose views may be
useful to me, before I leave Calcutta, even to go to Barrackpore.
As the season went on, the heat became greater. 'For the last few days,' he
wrote on June 1, 'it has been _very_ hot; quite as hot, they say, as it
ever is. I am longing for the rains, which are to cool us, I am told.' The
rains came, and, so long as they continued to fall, the temperature was
lower: but 'the heavy, dull, damp, calm heat between the falls,' he found
most trying.
[Sidenote: Death of Lord Canning.]
On July 6 came a fresh shock to his feelings--a fresh omen of evil to
himself--in a telegraphic report of the death of the friend whose place he
had so recently taken. At first he could hardly bring himself to credit the
news.
Is it indeed true (he wrote to Lady Elgin)? The last rumour of the
kind was the report of my death, when I was mistaken for Eglinton; but
this time I fear it is only too true! It will add to the alarm which
India inspires. But poor Canning certainly never gave himself a good
chance; at least not during the last year or two of his reign here. He
took no exercise, and not even such relaxation of the mind as was
procurable, though that is not much in the situation of Governor-
General. When I told him that I should ask two or three people to dine
with me daily, in order to get acquainted with all the persons I ought
to know, and to talk matters over with them by candlelight, so as to
save daylight for other work, he said: 'I was always so tired by
dinner-time that I could not speak.' Perhaps he was only referring to
his later experience; but still it was enough to break down any
constitution, to wear oneself out for ever by the same train of
thought, and the same routine of business. I think there was more in
all this than met the eye, for work alone could not have done it. We
shall have no confirmation of this rumour in letters for a fortnight
or more.... Poor Canning! He leaves behind him sincere friends, but no
one who was much dependent on him.
In another letter he wrote:--
So Canning and his wife, as Dalhousie and his, have fallen victims to
India! Both however ruled here in stirring times, and accomplished
great things, playing their lives against a not unworthy stake. I do
not think that their fate is to be deplored.
A few days later he wrote from Barrackpore, where he had gone to seek the
change of air which his health now began imperatively to require:--
This place looks wonderfully green. At the end of the broad walk on
which I am gazing from my window, is Lady Canning's grave; it is not
yet properly finished. Who will attend to it now? Meanwhile, it gives
a melancholy character to the place, for the walk which it closes is
literally the only private walk in the grounds. The flower garden,
park, &c., are all open to the public.... Although Canning did not die
at his post, I thought it right, as his death took place so soon after
his departure from India, to recognise it officially, which I did by a
public notification, and by directing a salute of minute guns to be
fired.
While still oppressed with these sad thoughts, he received a blow which
went even deeper home, in the intelligence of the death of his brother
Robert, so well-known and so highly valued as Governor of the Prince of
Wales.
[Sidenote: Death of General Bruce.]
_Barrackpore.--July 26th._--I went into Calcutta on the morning of the
23rd, in time to write by the afternoon packet; but I did not write,
for I was met on my arrival by a telegraphic rumour, which quite
overwhelmed me.... I should hardly have allowed myself to believe that
the sad report could be true, had it not been for the account of
Robert's illness, which your last letters had conveyed to me.... Next
day another telegram by the Bombay mail of the July 3rd left no doubt
as to the name.... A week, however, must elapse before letters arrive
with, the intelligence.... I hurried over my business, and came back
here yesterday evening. It is more quiet than Calcutta; and sad, with
its _one_ walk terminating (as I have told you) at Lady Canning's
grave. Poor Robert, how little did I think when we parted that I was
never to see him again! How little at least, that he would be the
defaulter! He has left few equals behind him: so true, so upright, so
steady in his principles, and so winning in his manners. Of late years
we have been much apart, but for very many we were closely together,
and perhaps no two brothers were ever more mutually helpful. Strange,
that with Frederick and me in these regions, he should have been
carried off first, by a malady which belongs to them.[3]... I write at
random and confusedly, for I have nothing to guide me but that one
word. And yet how much in that one word! It tells me that I have lost
a wise counsellor in difficulties; a stanch friend in prosperity and
adversity; one on whom, if anything had befallen myself, I could
always have relied to care for those left behind me. It tells, too, of
the dropping of a link of that family chain which has always been so
strong and unbroken.
In writing to his second boy he touched the same chords in a different
tone.
You have lost (he said) a kind and good uncle, and a kind and good
godfather, and you are now the only Robert Bruce in the family. It is
a good name, and you must try and bear it nobly and bravely, as those
who have borne it before you have done. If you look at their lives you
will see that they always considered in the first place what they
ought to do, and only in the second what it might be most pleasant and
agreeable to do. This is the way to steer a straight course through
life, and to meet the close of it, as your dear Uncle did, with a
smile on his lips.
[Sidenote: The hot season.]
From this time his journal contains more and more frequent notices of the
oppressive heat of the weather, and its effects upon his own health and
comfort. He remained, however, at his post at Calcutta, with the exception
of a brief stay at a bungalow lent to him by Mr. Beadon at Bhagulpore; his
pleasantest occupation being the arrangement of plans for smoothing the
path of Lady Elgin, who had settled to join him in India.
_August 2nd._--Yesterday, I received your letter, with all the sad
details.... It was truly a lovely death, in harmony with the life that
preceded it.... It is indeed a heavy blow to all.... This is a sad
letter, but my heart is heavy. It is difficult to make plans, with
such a break-down of human hopes in possession of all my thoughts.
_Calcutta.--August 8th._--It is now dreadfully hot.... In search of
something to stay my gasping, I mounted on to the roof of the house
this morning, to take my walk there, instead of in my close garden,
where there are low shrubs which give no shade, but exclude the
breeze. I made nothing, however, by my motion, for no air was stirring
even there. I had a solitary and ghastly stroll on the leads,
surrounded by the _adjutants_,--a sort of hideous and filthy vulture.
They do the work of scavengers in Calcutta, and are ready to treat one
as a nuisance, if they had a chance.... There is much sickness here
now.
_August 9th._--... The 'Ferooz' will not reach Suez till about the
middle of November, so you had better not arrive there till after that
time. You will have the best season for the voyage, and time to rest
here before we go up the country.
_Calcutta.--August 17th._--... I told you that I was feeling the
weather.... I am going to-morrow for change of air, to a place about
300 miles from Calcutta, on the railway. It is not cooler, but drier,
and the doctor strongly recommends the change. This is our worst
season, and I suppose we may expect six weeks more of it. If this
change is not enough, I may perhaps try and get a steamer, and go over
to Burmah. But there is some difficulty in this at present.
[Sidenote: Bhagulpore.]
_Bhagulpore.--August 19th._--We made out our journey to this place
very well yesterday. The morning was cloudy, with drizzling rain, and
much cooler than usual, and we had the great advantage of little sun
and no dust all day. At the station of Burdwan, the inhabitants of the
station, some of them ladies, met us, and in a very polite manner
presented flowers. We kept our time pretty well in our special train,
and reached our abode at about 7 P.M. The air here is sensibly fresher
than at Calcutta.... The house is a regular bungalow,--a cottage, all
on the ground-floor. It is situated on a mound overlooking the Ganges.
There is no garden about it, but a grass field, with a few trees here
and there. Between the window at which I am writing and the river is
an open shed, in which two elephants are switching their tails, and
knocking about the hay which has been given them for their breakfast.
This is a much more quiet and rural place than any which I have
visited since I have been in India; for Barrackpore is a great
military station, and the park, &c., there are quite public. Here
there are not altogether above five or six European families.... We
have a train twice a day from Calcutta, so I can get my boxes as
regularly as I do there.
[Sidenote: Monghyr.]
_Bhagulpore.--August 25th._--On Saturday, we made an expedition to a
place called Monghyr, about forty-five miles from here, where there is
a hot spring, and something like _hills_. (I am told also, that on a
particularly clear day I can see from here the highest mountain in the
world.) We did not leave this till 3 P.M., and were back again by 8
P.M., having travelled some ninety miles by rail, and driven in
carriages about ten or twelve more,--the fastest thing, I should
think, ever done in India. There has been a good deal of rain, and I
still feel well here, but I suppose on the 29th I must return to the
Calcutta steam-bath. This forenoon I paid a visit to a school, one of
the Government schools. The boys (upwards of 200) are not of the
lowest class. They all read English very well and when asked the
meaning of words, gave synonymes or explanatory phrases with
remarkable readiness. During their early years, I should certainly say
that they are quicker than English children. They fall off when they
get older.
_August 31st.--Calcutta._--We returned to this place on Thursday. It
is cooler than when I left, but I fear we have not done with the heat
yet. All agree that September is about the worst month in the year
here.
_Calcutta.--September 8th._--I do not think that Dr. M. is
particularly proud of the way in which I am bearing up against this
oppressive and depressing season.... I wish that we were going to the
Neilgherries instead of to Simla. The climate is, I believe, better,
and the place more agreeable, but it is entirely out of the way of
business for me now, whereas Simla is a natural stage to the most
important part of my government.
_September 17th._--... I have given up my morning walks. It is now
always sultry before sunrise, and the dullness of pacing up and down my
garden at that hour is intolerable. So I walk till daylight in my
verandah....
_September 23rd._--... It seems strange to think that this is one of
the last letters which you will receive from me in England, but yet it
is still a long time before I can hope to see you here. The poor boys!
You will be preparing to part from them, and all will be sad. Give
them my love and blessing.
[Sidenote: Business revived.]
In the month of November the sittings of the Legislative Council, which had
been suspended during the hot weather, were resumed, and the monotonous
routine of the autumn was exchanged for more active, though hardly more
laborious, work in maturing legislative measures. As President of this
Council Lord Elgin threw himself with his usual zeal and assiduity into the
discussion of the various administrative questions which demanded solution.
As the cold weather came on, he suffered much from the transition. Writing
on the 4th of November to Sir C. Wood, he says: 'At the commencement of the
cool season, on which we are now entering, we suffer from all manner of
minor ailments; so I hope you will excuse a short letter.' And again on the
9th: 'I am half blind and rather shaky from fever still, so that again I
shall be brief in my epistle to you.' Soon, however, these ailments
disappeared, and in the cooler temperature he regained to a great extent
his usual health.
[Sidenote: Arrival of Lady Elgin.]
A few weeks later the long dreary months of separation from all that he
most loved were happily ended by the arrival of Lady Elgin, who with his
youngest daughter, Lady Louisa Bruce, reached Calcutta on the 8th of
January 1863.
[Sidenote: State of India.]
In passing from the personal narrative of these months, to their public
history, it is necessary to bear in mind what was the state of the Indian
Empire at the moment when Lord Elgin undertook its government.
[Sidenote: Peace.]
'India,' to use his own words, 'was at peace; at peace in a sense of
the term more emphatic and comprehensive than it had ever before borne
in India. The occurrences which had taken place during the period of
Lord Dalhousie's government had established the prestige of the
British arms as against external foes. Lord Canning's Vice-royalty had
taught the same lesson to domestic enemies. No military operations of
magnitude were in progress, to call for prompt and vigorous action on
the part of the ruling authority, or to furnish matter for narrations
of thrilling interest. On the contrary, a hearty acquiescence in the
belief that no such opportunities existed, and that it was incumbent
upon him, by all practicable means, to prevent their recurrence, was
the first duty which the situation of affairs prescribed to a new
Governor-General.'
[Sidenote: Questions to be solved.]
There were indeed grave questions awaiting solution; questions of great
perplexity and embarrassment, though of a domestic and peaceful character;
some of them the more perplexing because they bore upon 'those jealousies
of race which are the sources of almost all our difficulties in India.' But
as regards such questions his habitual caution, as well as the philosophic
turn of his mind, led him to study very carefully all the conditions of
each problem before attempting to propound any solution of his own; and in
the meantime he felt that his duty was to employ any personal influence
which he could acquire in smoothing the course of such measures as had been
set in operation by the authority of others. 'The first virtue,' he said to
one of his colleagues, 'which you and I have to practise here at present is
Self-denial. We must, for a time at least, walk in paths traced out by
others.'
But though, for the reasons above stated, it would be a mistake to look in
the records of the time for any great measures, executive or
administrative, on which he had set his mark, his various speeches and
letters, more especially the full and frank communications which he
addressed from time to time to the Secretary of State for India, Sir
Charles Wood, show with what keenness of interest, as well as with what
sagacity, he approached the study of Indian questions. A few extracts from
his correspondence are here given to illustrate this; and as affording some
indication of the unremitting industry with which he laboured at this
period, searching into and maturing his views upon one difficult subject
after another, as well as the whole plan of Indian government.
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Calcutta, April 9th, 1862.
[Sidenote: The Army.]
Now for the Army. I must observe, in the first place, that in the
reasoning employed here in favour of the maintenance of a large army,
native and European, there is a good deal that is circular, and
puzzling to a beginner.
When I ask why so considerable a native army is required, I am told
that the native must bear a certain proportion to the European force;
that Europeans cannot undertake cantonment duties, or, speaking
generally, any of the duties which the military may from time to time
be called to render in support of the civil power, during peace; that
in war, again, they are admirable on the battle-field, but that they
cannot turn their victories to account by following up a discomfited
foe, unless they have the aid of native troops, nor perform many other
services which are not less indispensable than great battles to
success against an enemy who knows the ground and is inured to the
climate.
This line of argument very naturally raises the question, wherefore
then is the maintenance of so large a European army necessary?
Rebellion has been crushed, and European troops are not suited for the
repression of such local disturbances as occasionally occur. There is
little present prospect of war from without, though Persia is moving
towards Herat, and apparently preparing for Dost Mohammed's death. The
answer which I invariably receive is this--'You cannot tell what will
happen in India. Heretofore you have held the Sikhs in subjection by
the aid of the Sepoys, and the Sepoys by means of the Sikhs. But see
what is happening now. The Sikh soldiers are quartered all over India.
They are fraternising with the natives of the South--adopting their
customs and even their faith. Half the soldiers in a regiment lately
stationed at Benares were converted to Hindooism before they left that
holy place. Beware, or you will shortly have to cope in India with a
hostile combination more formidable than any of those which you have
encountered before.' If you draw from all this the inference that what
you really dread is your native army, you get into the vicious circle
again.
Do not suppose that I am tempted by these logical paradoxes to run to
hasty conclusions. I am aware that for many reasons we must now
entertain, and probably shall long find it necessary to entertain, a
large army, native and European, in India. Practically, what we have
to do is to endeavour, by a judicious system of recruiting,
organisation, and distribution, to render our army as serviceable and
as little a source of peril as may be. But I do think that they go far
to prove that, notwithstanding our vast physical superiority to
anything which can be brought against us, we should find it a
difficult task to maintain our authority in India by the sword alone;
and that they justify a very jealous scrutiny of all schemes of
expenditure for military objects which render necessary the imposition
or maintenance of taxes which occasion general discontent, or deprive
the Government of the funds requisite for carrying on works of
improvement that have the double advantage of stimulating the growth
of wealth in the country, and increasing the efficiency of the means
of self-defence which we possess.
* * * * *
_To a Friend in Scotland, interested in the Cultivation of Cotton._
Calcutta, May 21st, 1862.
[Sidenote: Cultivation of cotton.]
I beg to assure you that I do not yield to yourself in my desire to
promote the extension of cotton cultivation in India, and, above all,
improvement in the quality of the staple. I consider that the
interests of India are involved in this improvement to a greater
degree even than those of Great Britain; for, no doubt, if the quality
of the Indian product were so far raised as to admit of its competing
on terms approaching to equality with that of America, it would obtain
a permanent footing in the great market to which it has access now
only at moments of extraordinary dearth.
Moreover, I do not scruple to confess to you that I am not so bigoted
in my adhesion to the dogmas of political economy, as to be unwilling,
at a season of crisis like the present, to entertain proposals for
accelerating this result, merely because they contravene the
principles of that science. On the contrary, I receive thankfully
suggestions for accomplishing an object which I have so much at heart,
more especially when they emanate from persons deeply interested and
thoroughly conversant with the subject, like yourself--even when they
fall within the category of what you style 'extraordinary measures.'
But you will surely allow that the _onus probandi_ lies very heavily
on a Government which adopts measures of this class; and that if, by
abnormal interference, it checks the natural and healthy operation of
the laws of demand on capitalists and cultivators, it incurs a weighty
responsibility.
Even as regards the specific recommendation which you have made, and
which has much to justify it in my eyes--because I would go great
lengths in the direction of aiding the Ryots to improve their staple,
if I could see my way to effect this object without doing more harm
than good--I must observe that there are questions which have to be
very gravely and carefully examined before it can be acted upon.
In the first place, it is right that I should tell you that the
opinion which obtains here respecting the result of recent operations
in Dharwar, in so far as the case furnishes a precedent for the
interference of Government officers in such matters, differs widely
from that entertained by you.
But, setting this point aside, and assuming for the sake of argument
that the interposition at Dharwar was attended by unmixed benefit to
all concerned, does it follow that corresponding success would
accompany the mission of fifty military officers to the cotton
districts of India for the purpose of inducing the Ryots to substitute
exotic for native cotton in their cultivation?
In order to do this exotic cotton justice, it must be treated with
some care, especially at the time of its introduction into districts
where it has been previously unknown. Conditions of climate as well as
of soil must be taken into consideration in determining the time and
method of cultivation. The climate of Dharwar, where the monsoons
meet, differs widely from that of many parts of India, where the
seasons are divided between a deluge of rain and a period of baking
heat. Am I likely to find fifty young military officers who would be
competent to advise the Ryots on points of so much delicacy? And if
the Ryots, following their counsels, were disappointed in the
expectations which they had been led to form, what would be the effect
on the prospects of cotton cultivation in India?
I do not say all this in condemnation of your scheme, but in order to
point out to you how much has to be thought of before it can be acted
upon.
Meanwhile there are measures for promoting the interests of cotton
cultivation in India, which the Government can adopt without
abandoning its proper sphere of action; not only without danger, but
with a high probability, perhaps I might say a certainty, of benefit
to the great cause which we have in hand.
We can facilitate the establishment in India of European cultivators
and landholders, who are the natural and legitimate advisers of the
native peasantry on such questions as those to which I have been
referring.
We can improve communication so as to render the transport of the raw
material to the ports of shipment more cheap and rapid.
To these and similar measures the attention of the Government of India
is earnestly directed; with every disposition to take such further
means of stimulating production as prudence may justify.
I have written at some length, but the importance of the subject and
my respect for your opinion are my excuse.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Calcutta, May 9th, 1862.
[Sidenote: Orientals not satisfied with show of power.]
I know that it is customary with certain people whose opinions are
entitled to respect, to act on the assumption that all Orientals are
children, amused and gratified by external trappings and ceremonies
and titles, and ready to put up with the loss of real dignity and
power if they are only permitted to enjoy the semblance of it. I am
disposed to question the correctness of this assumption. I believe, on
the contrary, that the Eastern imagination is singularly prone to
invest outward things with a symbolic character; and that relaxations
on points of form are valued by them, chiefly because they are held
necessarily to imply concessions on substantial matters.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Calcutta, June 21st, 1862.
[Sidenote: Imprudence of a missionary.]
You may be interested by reading a letter (of which I enclose a copy)
written by the officer commanding the cavalry at Delhi on the subject
of an alleged assault by a native trooper on a missionary. I should
think that the cause of Christian truth and charity would be as well
served by preaching in a church or a building of some sort, as by
holding forth in the streets in a city full of fanatical unbelievers.
If I am told that the Apostles pursued the latter course, I would
observe that they had the authorities as well as the mob against them,
and took not only the thrashings of the latter, but also the judicial
penalties inflicted by the former, like men. It is a very different
matter when you have a powerful Government to fall back upon, and to
quell any riots which you may raise. However, these are burning
questions, and one must handle them cautiously.
* * * * *
_To Mr. Edmonstone, Lieut.-Governor of the N.W. Provinces._
Calcutta, May 27th, 1862.
[Sidenote: Rumours of disaffection.]
I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 19th inst., and I beg
that you will make a habit of writing to me whenever anything occurs
respecting which you may desire to communicate with me confidentially.
I do not, I confess, attach any great importance to such incidents as
the circulation of the prophecy which you have enclosed to me. It is
quite as probable that it may be the act of some mischievous person
who desires to keep alive excitement in the popular mind, as the
indication of an excitement already existing.
It must, moreover, be observed that the English press throughout India
has taken advantage of the advance of Sooltan Jan on Furrah to
descant, at great length and with much fervour, on all perils, present
and prospective, to which British rule in India is, or may be,
exposed. That the Mahommedan mind, thus stimulated and encouraged,
should altogether eschew such speculations, could hardly be expected.
It is impossible, however, to be too vigilant in watching these
manifestations of opinion; and I trust that you will not fail to put
me in possession of all the symptoms of disquietude which may reach
you, however trivial they may seem to be.
I need hardly point out to you how important it is that your inquiries
should be so conducted as to give no countenance to the impression
that they are prompted by any nervous anxiety, or that we should be
much discomposed even if the 12th Imaum himself were to make his
appearance.
For my own part, I am firmly resolved to put down with promptitude and
severity any attempt at disturbance which may be made in any part of
India, and I do not care how generally my determination on this point
is known. I shall pursue this policy, not because I fear for the
stability of our empire in the East, but because tranquillity is
essential to the progress of the country, and because lenity to the
guilty originators of such machinations leads invariably to the
severest punishment and suffering of misguided followers.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Calcutta, June 17th, 1862.
[Sidenote: Groundless alarms at Delhi.]
The follies which are committed by the military panicmongers in the
North-west are very vexatious, and pregnant with mischief of all
kinds.... I made up my mind yesterday to set off in person and go
straight to Delhi, if the thing goes on. As a rising of troops against
us in places where the Europeans have all the artillery, and at least
equal the native forces in number, is rather too strong a dose even
for the weakest nerves, the stock in trade now is the existence of
designs for the assassination of Europeans.... These topics are
probably the conversation at every mess-table, indulged in before the
native servants, who would be the agents in such plots if they were to
be carried out. It is a remarkable fact that, although secret murder
by poison and otherwise is not unknown among natives between
themselves, as directed against Europeans, it is, I believe, almost
entirely unexampled. It is not impossible, however, that constant
discussions on the subject may familiarise the native mind with the
idea.
But talking is not all. The commanding officer at Agra has acted on
these suspicions, and, in the face of the native population, taken
extraordinary precautions on the assumption that the wells are
poisoned. We have no report as yet on the subject. All we know is from
the newspapers; but of the fact, I fear, there can be little doubt. If
there be disaffected persons in that locality (and no doubt there are
many such), it will be strange indeed if they do not profit by so
broad a hint. Then again, this panic beginning with the officers
spreads to the men. Some cases of terrorism have occurred at Delhi
which are a disgrace to our race. And of course we know what follows.
Cowardice and cruelty being twins, the man who runs terror-stricken
into his barrack to-night because he mistook the chirp of a cricket
for the click of a pistol, indemnifies himself to-morrow by beating
his bearer to within an inch of his life.
All this is very bad, and very difficult to control. After the lesson
of 1857 it will not do for me to adopt the happy-go-lucky tone, and to
pooh-pooh what professes to be information. To preach common sense
from a safe distance is equally futile. It therefore occurred to me
that the only thing practically to do, would be to go to the head-
quarters of the panic, surround myself by native troops, and put a
stop to the nonsense by example.
If I had been anywhere else except in India, I should have acted upon
this determination at once; but here there are such enormous physical
difficulties in the way, that one is obliged to think twice before
setting out on such an expedition. However, I have not abandoned the
intention, and shall certainly carry it out, if this sort of thing
goes on. We cannot afford to have the progress of the country arrested
by such _miseres_. The alarmists succeeded in bringing down the price
of our stocks a few days ago.
By the bye, last night was fixed upon by my anonymous correspondents
for my own assassination.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Calcutta, June 22nd, 1862.
[Sidenote: The murder of a native.]
I have had, this week, a very painful matter to deal with. A man of
the name of Budd, a soldier who had obtained his discharge in order to
accompany an officer of the name of ---- to Australia, killed a native
in the Punjab some months ago under the following circumstances. He
was desired by ---- to procure a sheep for him. He went to a native,
from whom he appears to have procured sheep before, and took one. The
native protested against his taking this particular sheep, because it
was with lamb, but said he might take any other from the flock. Budd
paid no heed to this remonstrance, put the sheep on the back of
another native, and marched off. The owner followed, complaining and
protesting. On tins Budd first fired two barrels over his head, then
threw stones at him, and finally went into the house, brought out
another gun, fired at him, and killed him on the spot. Besides
imploring that his sheep might be restored to him, it does not appear
that the native did anything at all to provoke this proceeding.
The perpetrator of this outrage being a European, the case could not
be tried on the spot. It was accordingly transferred to Calcutta;
witnesses, &c., being sent 1,000 miles at the public expense. Before
it came on, however, the counsel for the defence requested a
postponement in order to obtain further evidence. The request was
granted, and the trial deferred till another term.
[Sidenote: Punished by death.]
The trial came on a few days ago, and the jury, much to their honour,
found the prisoner guilty. On this an agitation was got up to obtain a
commutation of the sentence of death which had been passed by the
judge. A petition, with a great number of signatures, was presented in
the first instance to the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal; but he was
advised that, the crime having been committed in the Punjab, he had
nothing to do with the case. It was then transmitted to me. There was
quite enough doubt as to my power of acting, to have justified me in
referring the case to the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. But I
felt that the delay, and, above all, the appearance of a desire to
shrink from the responsibility of passing a decision on the case,
which this step would involve, would be so mischievous, that, having
obtained from the Advocate-General an opinion that I had the requisite
authority, I determined to take the matter into my own hands. The
verdict was clearly borne out by the evidence. The sentence was in
accordance with the law, and the judge, to whom I referred, saw no
reason to question it. The decision of the Governor-General in Council
was, that the law must take its course.
[Sidenote: Little value put on native life.]
It is true that this murder was not committed with previous
preparation and deliberation. It had not, therefore, this special
quality of aggravation. But it was marked by an aggravation of its
own, not less culpable, and unfortunately only too frequently
characteristic of the homicides perpetrated by Europeans on natives in
this country. It was committed in wanton recklessness, almost without
provocation, under an impulse which would have been resisted if the
life of the victim had been estimated at the value of that of a dog.
Any action on my part which would have seemed to sanction this
estimate of the value of native life, would have been attended by the
most pernicious consequences.
It is bad enough as it is. The other day a station-master, somewhere
up country, kicked a native who was, as he says, milking a goat
belonging to the former. The native fell dead, and the local paper,
without a word of commiseration for the victim or his family,
complains of the hardship of compelling the station-master to go to
Calcutta, in this warm weather, to have the case inquired into. Other
instances in which the natives have died from the effect of personal
chastisement administered by Europeans have occurred since I have been
here.
I have gone at some length into this case, both because you may hear
of it, and also because it exemplifies what is really our greatest
source of embarrassment in this country--the extreme difficulty of
administering equal justice between natives and Europeans.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
July 16th, 1862.
[Sidenote: Against interference in Afghanistan.]
I am very much averse to any interference on our part in the quarrel
which is now on foot in Afghanistan; and, indeed, I do not very well
see my way as to how any such interference can be managed without
entailing responsibilities which we may regret at a later period. You
are doubtless aware that we have no agent with the Dost. He
particularly requested that no one should be sent to his court in that
capacity, and we assented to his views on this point. All we know of
what is going on there is derived from the reports of a native vakeel,
who reports more or less faithfully what he hears and sees, but who is
not, and I apprehend, could not be employed to speak on our behalf to
the Ameer. In order, therefore, to communicate with him, we must
either send a special agent, or write. Now it must be observed that in
this affair the Dost has not been the aggressor. The Herat chief
attacked him without any provocation. We offered him no assistance,
made no remonstrance, and left him to take care of himself. He has
asked us for nothing, and we have given him nothing. It is now
proposed that we should inform the Dost that if he goes beyond a
certain point, and Persia comes into the field to support Herat, he
must not expect any assistance from us. If we had an agent there it
would be easy to instruct him to make such an intimation; and if the
Dost were to ask us for any support, an answer which would convey this
hint might be given. But situated as we are, we must move cautiously
in this matter. If the Dost stops on our suggestion, and if (as is
frequently the case with Orientals), the enemy, ascribing his
moderation to weakness, presses him with increased vigour, what are we
to do then? Are we to stand by and laugh at our dupe, telling him that
though our advice got him into the scrape, he must find his own way
out of it? or are we to set to work to check his opponents? and if we
undertake the latter task, how far will it lead us?
It is quite impossible in these affairs, and with people of this
description, to say what an hour may bring forth. A shower of rain may
convert a victorious army into a baffled one, and an advance into a
retreat. The death of a man of eighty years of age will probably throw
all Afghanistan into confusion, convert friends into foes and _vice
versa_. Instructions framed in Calcutta to meet one set of
circumstances may arrive in Afghanistan when the whole scene has
changed. I own that I am strongly of opinion that our true policy is
to leave these kinds of neighbours as much as possible alone; to mix
ourselves up as little as may be in their miserable intrigues, which
generally entail obligations which bind us and not them, and not
unfrequently lead to most unexpected issues. We should only speak when
we have a case of self-interest so clear that we can speak with
determination, and follow up our talk if necessary with a blow.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
August 9th, 1862.
[Sidenote: Withdrawal of vakeel.]
After a good deal of consideration as to how I can, with least risk of
getting this Government into trouble, put a spoke into the Dost's
wheel in his progress towards Herat, I have despatched to Sir R.
Montgomery the telegram of which I enclose a copy. The order sent to
our vakeel, desiring him to leave the Ameer's camp, and return to
India, if the Dost proceeds to extremities against Herat, will
sufficiently show that we discountenance any such proceeding; while at
the same time the measure commits us to nothing, gives the Dost no
such claim upon us as he would naturally have if we tendered advice to
him, and induced him to abandon his own projects in order to follow
it, and leaves us free to shape our policy as the shifting current of
events may prescribe. I pointed out to you in my letter of July 16,
that we are awkwardly situated for interfering with the Ameer. He is
our friend, and we said nothing when he was attacked. He has set to
work to redress his own injuries, asking us for no aid, and paying his
own way. We are quite entitled to say, 'Your hostile advance on Herat
has not our approval, and we must show that you are making it without
our sanction.' This we do in the most emphatic manner, by withdrawing
the only British official who is with him. But I do not like to go
farther in the direction of interference. It is impossible to say how
matters may terminate in Afghanistan. It is possible that the Ameer
may get the whole country into his hands. It is possible that he may
come to an understanding with Sultan Jan, who is his connection by
marriage. It is very desirable that we should be free to accept the
_status in quo_, whatever it may be.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Calcutta, September 9th, 1862.
[Sidenote: Lord Canning's policy.]
A doubt naturally suggests itself as to whether the received notion
respecting the relations which Canning sought to establish between the
native chiefs and the British Government in India be altogether
correct, or, (as it perhaps would be more accurate to say) altogether
complete--whether, in short, that portion of it which was a policy of
circumstance has been duly distinguished from that which was a policy
of principle: a doubt by no means unimportant, now that this policy,
whatever it be, is crowned by the double aureole of success and death;
so that while, on the one hand, it is naturally set up as an example
for imitation, on the other, we have not the author to refer to when
difficulties arise respecting its application.
[Sidenote: (1) Clemency.]
In approaching the consideration of this very momentous question we
must, in the first place, be careful lest we suffer ourselves to draw
erroneous conclusions from the warm expressions of gratitude and
affection lavished upon Canning by the natives generally. If I were to
venture to compare great things with small, I should say that their
feelings towards him were due to causes somewhat similar to those
which earned for me the good will and confidence of the French
Canadians in Canada. Both he and I adopted on some important points
views more favourable to the subject races than those which had been
entertained by our respective predecessors. So far we established
legitimate and substantial claims on their regard. But it was not so
much the intrinsic merit of those views, still less was it the extent
to which we acted upon them, which won for us the favour of those
races; we owed that mainly to the uncompromising hostility, the bitter
denunciations, and the unmeasured violence which the promulgation of
those views provoked from those who were regarded by them as their
oppressors. I used often to say to my Scotch friends in Lower Canada,
when they were heaping every indignity upon me, and even resorting to
open violence (for there they did not hold their hands off), 'You are
playing my game. I want to win the confidence of the French Canadians;
but I know the nature of that people: they are touchy and suspicious
as races who feel that they are inferior, and believe that they are
oppressed; invariably are. By measures of simple justice towards them
(and beyond that line I do not intend to proceed an inch), I despair
of being able to effect my object; but if you continue for a year to
act as you are now acting, denouncing me as your enemy and their
friend, and proving the sincerity of your belief by outrage and
violence, you will end by convincing them that I am to be trusted, and
I shall win the day.'--The result proved the accuracy of this
prediction.
The feeling of the natives of India towards Canning was in some
measure due to a similar cause. The clamour for blood and
indiscriminate vengeance which raged around him, and the abuse poured
upon him because he would not listen to it, imparted in their eyes to
acts which carried justice to the verge of severity the grace of
clemency.
[Sidenote: (2) Consideration for native chiefs.]
I could give you plenty of proofs of this.... The following sentences
occur in a letter written from Delhi during our recent panic, by an
officer.... 'The native force here is much too small to be a source of
anxiety, and unless they take the initiative it is my opinion that
there can be no important rising. The Mussulmans of Delhi are a
contemptible race. Fanatics are very rare on this side of the Sutlej.
The terrors of that period when every man who had two enemies was sure
to swing are not forgotten. The people declare that the work of Nadir
Shah was as nothing to it. His executions were completed in twelve
hours. But for months after the last fall of Delhi, no one was sure of
his own life or of that of the being dearest to him for an hour.' The
natives not unnaturally looked with gratitude to the man who alone had
the will and power to put an arrest on this course of proceeding, and
to prevent its extension all over the land. No doubt, as I have said,
Canning earned a substantial claim to the gratitude of the native
chiefs by adopting a more liberal and considerate policy towards them
than that pursued by his predecessor. It was perhaps not surprising
that he should have done so. Situated as we are in this country--a
small minority ruling a vast population that differs from us in blood,
civilisation, colour and religion, monopolising in our own territories
all positions of high dignity and emolument, and exercising even over
States ostensibly independent a paramount authority--it is manifest
that the question of how we ought to treat that class of natives who
consider that they have a natural right to be leaders of men and to
occupy the first places in India, must always be one of special
difficulty. If you attempt to crush all superiorities, you unite the
native populations in a homogeneous mass against you. If you foster
pride of rank and position, you encourage pretensions which you cannot
gratify, partly because you dare not abdicate your own functions as a
paramount power, and, partly, because you cannot control the arrogance
of your subjects of the dominant race. Scindiah and Holkar are
faithful to us just in proportion as they are weak, and conscious that
they require our aid to support them against their own subjects or
neighbours: and among the bitterest of our foes during the Mutiny were
natives who had been courted in England.... Canning saw the evils
which the crushing policy of his predecessor was entailing, and he
reversed it. It was a happily timed change of policy. The rebellion
broke out while it was yet recent; and no doubt, the hopes and
gratification inspired by it had their effect in inducing a certain
number of chiefs to pause and to require more conclusive proof that
the British Raj was to kick the beam, before they cast their weight
into the opposite scale of the balance.
After the rebellion was suppressed, the inducement to persevere in
this line of policy was still more stringent. To grant to native
Potentates who were trembling in their shoes, and ready to receive the
boon on any terms which you might prescribe, the reversion of States
which had become vacant because you had, of your own authority and
mere motion, hanged their chiefs, and declared them to be escheated,
was a wise, a graceful, and under the circumstances a perfectly safe
policy. The same may be said of the measures taken to put the
talookdars of Oude on their legs, and which were preceded by the
confiscation of all their properties. I believe that this policy, like
the policy of Clemency, was sound and right in principle; but in
forming a just estimate of its success and of its applicability to all
seasons and emergencies, it is necessary to take into account the
specialities of the time to which I have referred.
[Sidenote: (3) Assertion of British sovereignty.]
What then was the scope and extent of application which Canning in
action was prepared to give to this policy? Here is the important
question, and it is not altogether an easy one to answer. For like
most wise administrators, Canning dealt with the concrete rather than
the abstract, and it would not be difficult to cull from his decisions
sentiments and sentences which seem to clash. When you meet with an
individual ruling which appears not to tally with what you have
assumed to be his general principles, you say it is 'unnatural.' This
is one way out of the difficulty. But is it the right way? My own
opinion is, that Canning never intended to let the chiefs get the bit
into their mouths, or to lose his hold over them. It is true that he
rode them with a loose rein, but the pace was so killing during the
whole of his time, that it took the kick out of them, and a light hand
and silken thread were all that was required. His policy of deference
to the authority of native chiefs was a means to an end, the end being
the establishment of the British Raj in India; and when the means and
the end came into conflict, or seemed likely to do so, the former went
to the wall. Even in the case of the chieftainship of Amjherra, he
looked, as the Yankees say, 'ugly,' when Scindiah, having got what he
wanted, showed a disposition to withhold the grants to loyal
individuals which he had volunteered to make from the revenues of the
chieftainship. It is true that the ostensible ground of Canning's
dissatisfaction was the violation of a promise, but what title had he
to claim this promise, or to exact its fulfilment, if the escheat
belonged as of right to Scindiah? Again, when I came to this country,
I found that he was walking pretty smartly into a parcel of people in
Central India who were getting up a little rebellion on their own
account, a tempest in a teapot, not against us, but against their own
native rulers. In this instance he interfered, no doubt, as head
policeman and conservator of the peace of all India. But observe, if
we lay down the rule that we will scrupulously respect the right of
the chiefs to do wrong, and resolutely suppress all attempts of their
subjects to redress their wrongs by violence, which, in the absence of
help from us, is the only redress open to them, we may find perhaps
that it may carry us somewhat far--possibly to annexation--the very
bugbear from which we are seeking to escape. Holkar, for instance,
unless common fame traduces him, has rather an itching for what Mr.
Laing calls 'hard rupees.' His subjects and dependents have decided,
and not altogether unintelligible, objections to certain methods which
he adopts for indulging this propensity. When they--those of them more
especially who have Treaty claims to our protection, come to us to
complain, and to ask our help--are we to say to them:--'We have too
much respect for Holkar's independence to interfere. Bight or wrong
you had better book up, for we are bound to keep the peace, and we
shall certainly be down upon you if you kick up a row'? In the
anomalous position which we occupy in India, it is surely necessary to
propound with caution doctrines which, logically applied, land us in
such dilemmas.
[Sidenote: Problems for a time of peace.]
At a future time, if I live, and remain here, it is possible that I
may take the liberty of submitting to you some views of my own on
these questions. It may perhaps turn out that a time of peace is
better fitted than one of revolution for the discovery of the true
theory according to which our relations with native States ought to be
conducted; or, it may be, for the discovery that no theory can be
framed sufficiently elastic to fit all those relations and the
complications which arise out of them, and that, after all, we must in
a great measure rely on the rule of common sense and of the thumb.
When the circumstances of the time are such that it is deemed right
and proper to abrogate all law, and to establish over the land a reign
of terror and of the sword--to pour out, in deference to the paramount
claims of the safety of the state, public money, whether obtained from
present taxation or the mortgage of posterity, with profusion
absolutely uncontrolled--to decree confiscation on a scale of
unprecedented magnitude; it is obvious that a reputation for clemency,
economy, and respect for the native rights of property, is obtainable
under conditions that are not strictly normal. If you want to
ascertain whether your system will stand in all weathers, you must
test it when the rule of law and order have replaced that of arbitrary
will--when men present themselves, not as the scared recipients of
bounty, but as the assertors of admitted rights. We shall see how far,
in such piping times, it may be possible for the Governor-General to
enforce on the British local authorities the claims of public economy,
without resorting to any interference which can be supposed to
militate against the hypothesis that the said authorities understand a
great deal better than he does what their wants are, and how they
ought to be supplied; or to maintain the peace of India without
questioning the indefeasible title of the native chiefs to do what
they like with their own.
Meanwhile all I want as regards this matter is, to learn what
Canning's policy really was, and to follow it out faithfully. It is
neither fair to him nor to the cause, that we should misjudge its
character by founding our estimate of it on a partial or incomplete
induction.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Calcutta, December 23rd, 1862.
[Sidenote: Consideration of the natives.]
As to consideration of the natives, I can only say that during a
public service of twenty years I have always sided with the weaker
party, and it is so strongly my instinct to do so, that I do not think
the most stringent injunctions would force me into an opposite course
of action. But I am quite sure that it is not true kindness to the
weaker party, to give the stronger an excuse for using to the utmost
the powers of coercion which they possess, by seeming to be unwilling
to listen to any statement of grievances which they may desire to
make, or to suspect their motives when they suggest remedies.... It is
quite possible that such views as you instance may prevail to a
considerable extent with our agitating people; but it is equally
certain that many who join them would indignantly repudiate the
imputation of being actuated by any motives of the kind. My study
always is, to keep those who _profess_ moderate and reasonable views
right, and to prevent them from going over arms and baggage to the
enemy, by taking for granted that they mean what they profess, and,
when they propose objectionable remedies, arguing against them on
their own premises. Some, of course, would rather abandon their sound
premises than their illogical conclusions, when they are driven in
this way to the wall; but a large number come over to the right side
when they find that the consideration of their alleged grievances is
approached without any prepossession against them. Of course, this is
all a matter of tact, and cannot be reduced to any definite formula.
But you speak of our Press as hopeless on some of these subjects. Have
you observed the comparative mildness of its tone lately,
notwithstanding the action of Government in the matter of the Waste
Lands, and Contract Law? Does not that argue a better state of feeling
in the European Community; and do not you think that it is for the
benefit of the Ryots, that their interloping landlords should not be
in a humour to employ vindictively the vast powers which, whether you
disallow Contract Laws or not, they, as proprietors, possess over
them?
[1] Vide _supra_, p. 329.
[2] It was sometimes complained that on these occasions he was so
little communicative: drawing out the opinions of others, without
expressing his own. But it requires very little reflection to see that
this complaint is really a commendation.
[3] He died in London from the effects of a fever caught in the
East.
CHAPTER XVI.
INDIA.
DUTY OF A GOVERNOR-GENERAL TO VISIT THE PROVINCES--PROGRESS TO THE
NORTH-
WEST--BENARES--SPEECH ON THE OPENING OF THE RAILWAY--CAWNPORE--GRAND
DURBAR AT AGRA--DELHI--HURDWAR--ADDRESS TO THE SIKH CHIEFS AT UMBALLA--
KUSSOWLIE--SIMLA--LETTERS: SUPPLY OF LABOUR; SPECIAL LEGISLATION;
MISSIONARY GATHERING; FINANCE; SEAT OF GOVERNMENT; VALUE OF TRAINING
AT
HEAD-QUARTERS; ARISTOCRACIES; AGAINST INTERMEDDLING--THE SITANA
FANATICS--
HIMALAYAS--ROTUNG PASS--TWIG BRIDGE--ILLNESS--DEATH--CHARACTERISTICS--
BURIAL PLACE.
[Sidenote: Duty of a Governor-General to visit the Provinces.]
At a very early period of his stay in India, Lord Elgin formed the opinion,
which was indeed strongly impressed upon him by Lord Canning, that it was
'of the greatest importance to the public interest that the Governor-
General should see as much as possible of men and things, in all parts of
the vast empire under his control; and that a constant residence in the
narrow atmosphere of Calcutta had a tendency to impair his efficiency.'
Writing to Sir C. Wood on the 17th of September, 1862, he said:--
No man can govern India in ordinary times, such as those in which we
are living, if he is to be tied by the leg to Calcutta, and prevented
from visiting other parts of the Empire. Canning, although he lived in
times by no means ordinary, and although he was compelled by
circumstances to be more stationary than he would otherwise have been,
was as clear on this point as anyone. He urged me most strongly to
proceed northwards at the earliest moment at which I could contrive to
do so. When I referred to the difficulty which the assembling of the
Council for legislative purposes might occasion, he assured me that he
had never intended to make himself a slave of the Council; that he had
taken the chair at the commencement of the proceedings, but that he
should certainly have objected to the establishment of the principle
that his presence was indispensable to its deliberations. He was
especially anxious that I should tour, in order that I might satisfy
myself as to how his arrangements affecting natives, &c., worked,
before modifying them in any degree. And, apart from Canning's opinion
altogether, this is a point on which I have had some personal
experience. I have been now steadily in Calcutta for a whole hot
season. No man, I venture to affirm, in the situation I occupy, has
ever been more accessible to those who have anything to say, whether
they be civilians, soldiers, or interlopers. But there is a blot on my
escutcheon which can easily be hit by anyone dissatisfied with a
judgment pronounced in my name. It can always be said: "What does Lord
Elgin know of India? He has never been out of Calcutta. He is
acquainted only with Bengal civilians and other dwellers in (what is
irreverently styled) 'the ditch.'" Indeed, I fear that I am exposed to
the same reproach in your circle. I see no remedy for this evil, if I
am to remain constantly here.
[Sidenote: Projected tour.]
Starting from these premises he came to the conclusion, that 'it was better
to organise a tour on a comprehensive scale, even though it involved a long
absence from Calcutta, than to attempt to hurry to distant places and back
again during successive winters.' Accordingly, it was arranged that as soon
as the business of the Legislative Council was concluded, he should start
for the north, and travel by easy stages to Simla, visiting all the places
which he ought to see on his way. After spending the hot weather at the
Hills, he was to proceed early in the next winter to the Punjab, inspecting
it thoroughly, and returning before the summer heats either to Simla again,
or to Calcutta, as public business might determine. For the Session, if so
it might be called, of 1863-4, he was to summon his councillors to meet him
somewhere in the north-west, at some capital city, 'not a purely military
station, but where the Council might obtain some knowledge of local and
native feeling such as did not reach Calcutta.' The spot ultimately fixed
upon was Lahore, the capital of the large and loyal province of that name.
The earlier part of the tour was to be made chiefly by railway, with a
comparatively small retinue; but for the latter part of it he was to be
accompanied by a camp, furnished forth with all the pride, pomp, and
circumstance belonging to the progress of an Eastern Monarch, and necessary
therefore in order to produce the desired effect on the minds of the
natives.
[Sidenote: Railway to Benares.]
It was on the 5th of February, 1863, that the Vice-regal party left
Calcutta. They travelled by railway to Benares, which they reached on the
evening of the 6th. The first phenomenon which struck them, as Lord Elgin
afterwards wrote, was the 'very sensible change of climate which began to
make itself felt at some 250 miles from Calcutta.'
The general character (he said) of the country continued to be as
level as ever; but the air became more bracing, the surface of the
soil more arid, and the vegetation less rank. Hot mid-days, and cold
nights and mornings, are substituted for the moist and comparatively
uniform temperature of Lower Bengal, to a greater and greater degree
with every step that the traveller takes towards the north.
The railway, with the exception of a portion near Calcutta, is a
single line; but it is perfectly constructed, and with no great regard
to cost. The vagaries of the water-floods, which, during the rainy
season, sometimes pour down in unmanageable force from the Ganges and
sometimes rush towards it from the opposite side of the railway line,
have constituted the great engineering difficulty of the work. Some
very remarkable bridges and other constructions of this class, to
permit the free passage of water under the line, have been built. The
most critical point has been to obtain a secure foundation in the
sandy soil for these erections; and, strange to say, the principle
adopted by our engineers, under the name of the 'Sunken Well' system,
is the same as that followed by the great architects who built the
famous 'Taj' of Agra. It will, it is to be hoped, prove successful;
and these important works will remain an enduring monument of the
benefits conferred on India during the present reign. Nothing that has
been done by the British in India has affected the native mind so
powerfully, and produced so favourable an impression, as these railway
undertakings.
[Sidenote: Durbar.]
On the day after his arrival at Benares he held a Durbar--his first truly
Oriental Durbar--which, though not comprising any independent chiefs, was
attended by several native gentlemen of high consideration and large
possessions. In addressing them, he took the opportunity of dwelling upon
the improvement which recent measures had effected in their position, and
the consequent increase of their responsibilities:
'It is the desire (he said) of Her Majesty the Queen that the native
gentlemen of India should be represented in the Council of the
Governor-General, in order that when laws are made for India their
opinions, and wishes, and feelings may receive due consideration. It
is my intention and duty to do everything in my power to give effect
to Her Majesty's gracious intention in this respect. Among the rajahs
and gentlemen here to-day are many who have large estates in the
neighbourhood and along the line of railway which we travelled over
yesterday. The value of those estates will be greatly enhanced by the
completion of the important work of which we are about to-day to
celebrate the opening. I need hardly remind them that they will owe
this advantage to the introduction of British engineering skill and
British capital into this country. I trust that the consideration of
this fact, and of similar facts which are of daily occurrence, will
tend to produce a kindly feeling between the races, by showing them to
what an extent they may be mutually useful to each other. Meanwhile, I
hope that the gentlemen whom I am addressing will turn these
advantages to account by doing their utmost to improve their
properties, and to promote the happiness and welfare of their ryots
and dependents.'
[Sidenote: Railway dinner.]
In the afternoon of the same day he was present at a dinner given in
celebration of the opening of the railway from Jumalpore to Benares. In the
course of a speech which he made on that occasion, after referring to the
fact that both his predecessors had taken part in similar celebrations, he
said:--
In looking over the published report of these proceedings a few days
ago, my attention was arrested by an incident which brought forcibly
home to my mind one painful circumstance in which my position here to-
day contrasts sadly with that which Lord Canning then occupied. At a
stage in the proceedings of the evening, corresponding to that at
which we have now arrived, he departed from the routine prescribed by
the programme, and invited the company to join him in drinking the
health of his noble predecessor, the Marquis of Dalhousie, who had, as
he justly observed, nursed the East Indian Railway in its infancy, and
guided it through its first difficulties. It is not in my power to
make any similar proposal to you now. A mysterious dispensation of
Providence has removed from this world's stage, where they seemed
still destined to play so noble and useful a part, both the proposer
of this toast, and its object. The names of both are written in
brilliant characters on some of the most eventful pages of the history
of India, and both were removed at a time when expectation as to the
services which they might still render to India was at its height. I
shall not now dwell on the great national loss which we have all
sustained in this dispensation; but, perhaps, I may be permitted to
say that to me the loss is not only a public one, but a private and
personal calamity likewise. Both of these distinguished men were my
contemporaries, both, I believe I may without presumption say, my
intimate friends. It is a singular coincidence that three successive
Governors-General of India should have stood towards each other in
this relationship of age and intimacy. One consequence is that the
burden of governing India has devolved upon us respectively at
different periods of our lives. Lord Dalhousie when named to the
Government of India was, I believe, the youngest man who had ever been
appointed to a situation of such high responsibility and trust; Lord
Canning was in the prime of life; and I, if I am not already on the
decline, am at least nearer to the verge of it than either of my
contemporaries who have preceded me. Indeed, when I was leaving
England for India, Lord Ellenborough, who is now, alas! the only
surviving ex-Governor-General of India, said to me, 'You are not a
very old man, but depend upon it, you will find yourself by far the
oldest man in India.'
Passing from these personal topics, after noticing the good fortune which
had placed the formation of the railway system of India in the hands of a
man who had in a special manner made that subject his own, he proceeded to
speak of the future of Indian Railways, insisting especially on a point
about which he felt very strongly, the necessity of their ceasing to depend
on a Government guarantee, and adding some practical hints for their
development and extension:
[Sidenote: Future of Indian railways.]
But, Gentlemen, however interesting it may be to refer to the past and
to dwell upon the present, the most important questions which we have
to answer relate to the future, and the most important of all in my
opinion is this--to what agency are we henceforward to look if we
would desire to extend as widely as possible, to all parts of India,
the benefit of this potent instrument of modern civilisation? I have
no hesitation in affirming at once, in answer to this question, that
we must not look to an indefinite extension of a system of Government
guarantees for the accomplishment of this object. In the first place,
it would be wholly unjustifiable for any one object, however
important, to place such a strain upon our finances as this policy
would involve. In the second place, however justifiable and necessary
a system of Government guarantees may be in certain circumstances, it
is essentially an expensive one, because by securing to shareholders a
minimum rate of interest on their capital it weakens in them the
motives to economy, and because by dividing the responsibility for
expenditure between Government and Railway Officials, it diminishes in
the latter the sense of responsibility. Moreover, the indefinite
extension of a system of Government guarantees is wholly incompatible
with the endeavour to bring private enterprise largely into play for
the execution of these works; while there is an unlimited call for
capital for works enjoying the protection of a Government guarantee,
it is not to be expected that capital will be forthcoming to any
extent for similar works which have not that protection. For the
accomplishment, therefore, of the great object to which I am
referring, we must henceforward, I apprehend, look to private
enterprise; not perhaps to private enterprise wholly unaided by the
State, but at any rate, to private enterprise not protected by
Government guarantee. But if so, what are the conditions which will
entitle railway enterprises of this class to the countenance and
encouragement of the Government? I lay it down as a fundamental
principle, that we ought to look to the eventual establishment of one
uniform railway gauge for the whole of India. The experience of
England is conclusive as to the inconvenience of a double or
conflicting railway gauge. After the expenditure of an untold amount
of money in Parliamentary conflicts, the broad gauge of England has
been compelled to take the narrow gauge on its back, and the whole
capital expended upon the former may be said to have been thrown away.
But what does this resolution in favour of an uniform gauge imply? It
will, I think, be admitted that the main object of an uniform railway
gauge is to enable the several railway lines to exchange their plant
in order to avoid transhipment of freight. But if the plant of the
subsidiary line is to be transported along the main lines, it must be
sufficiently well finished to be fitted to travel in safety at high
speed; and if the plant of the main lines is to travel along the
subsidiary lines, the latter must have rails sufficiently heavy, and
works of construction sufficiently substantial, to support it.
Moreover, where streams or rivers are encountered they must be
bridged. In short, the subsidiary lines must be built in a manner
which would make them nearly as expensive as the main lines; in other
words, railways must not be introduced into any part of India where we
cannot afford to spend from 13,000_l_. to 15,000_l_. a mile upon them.
I am not prepared to accept this conclusion. I have been a good deal
in America, and I know that our practical cousins there do not refuse
to avail themselves of advantages within their reach, by grasping at
those which are beyond it. In 1854, I travelled by railway from New
York to Washington. We had several ferries to cross on the way, but we
found that the railway with the ferries was much better than no
Railway at all. In short, in America where they cannot get a _pucka_
railway, they take a _kutcha_ one instead. This, I think, is what we
must do in India. There are many districts where railways costing
3,000_l_. or 4,000_l_. a mile might be introduced with advantage,
although they would not justify an expenditure of from 10,000_l_. to
15,000_l_. a mile. We have only to be careful that _kutcha_ lines are
not mistaken for _pucka_ ones--that they are not allowed to set up a
rival system as against the main lines, or to occupy ground which
should be appropriated by the latter.
[Sidenote: Carriage dak to Allahabad.]
As the railway from Benares to Allahabad was not yet complete, Lord Elgin
and his suite performed this part of the journey by carriage dak. They
travelled by night; 'each individual of the party occupying his own
separate carriage, and being conveyed along at a hand gallop by a
succession of single ponies, relayed at stages of four to five miles in
length.' In the letter which describes this, he adds the characteristic
remark:
'These ponies do not lead very happy lives, and, here as elsewhere, a
diminution in the sufferings of the brute creation will be one of the
blessings attending the introduction of a railway system.'
At Allahabad he inspected, among other things, the works which were in
progress for making a railway bridge across the Jumna.
This is (he wrote) in some respects the most interesting of that class
of engineering operations which has been already mentioned: because
whereas in other cases clay has been found beneath the sand, and the
foundation wells have been sunk into it, no bottom has been discovered
to the sand which constitutes the bed of the Jumna; and the wells in
question are required to stand firm in this most unstable of all
foundations.
[Sidenote: Cawnpore.]
From Allahabad Lord Elgin proceeded by railway to Cawnpore; where, on the
11th of February, he took part in the impressive ceremony of the
consecration of the Well, and other spots in its vicinity, containing the
remains of the victims of the dreadful massacres which occurred at that
place in 1857.[1]
He had intended from this point to visit Lucknow: but finding that time
would allow of his doing this only in a very hasty manner, which he thought
objectionable, he invited some of the principal Talookdars to come over to
see him; which they accordingly did, under the guidance of Mr. Wingfield,
the Chief Commissioner of Oude.
[Sidenote: Agra.]
From Cawnpore Lord Elgin journeyed, again by rail, to Agra, the 'key of
Hindostan.' The following description of his arrival there is borrowed from
his private secretary, Mr. Thurlow:[2]--
'Arrived at the railway station, Lord Elgin met with a reception
worthy of the East. The road, thickly lined with native troops,
crossed the Jumna by a bridge of boats, and wound along the river's
bank beneath those lofty sandstone walls; then, mounting a steep hill
and leaving the main entry into Agra Fort upon the right, the Taj
remaining to the left, it led, through miles of garden ground, thickly
studded with suburban villas, to the Viceroy's camp, that occupied
the centre of an extensive plain, where tents were pitched for the
accommodation of the Government of India, and an escort of ten
thousand men. Beyond these were ranked, according to priority of
arrival, the far-spreading noisy camps of those rajas the number of
whose followers was within some bounds; and beyond them again
stretched miles and miles of tents containing thousands upon thousands
of ill-conditioned-looking men from Central India, and the wildest
part of Rajpootana, the followers of such maharajas as Jeypoor, who
marched to meet the Viceroy with an army of thirty thousand strong,
found in horse and foot and guns, ready for the field.'
The six days spent at Agra Lord Elgin was 'disposed to rank among the most
interesting of his life.'
Perhaps (he wrote) months of the monotony of a Calcutta existence may
render the mind more sensitive to novelty and beauty; at any rate, the
impressions experienced on visiting Agra at this time have been
singularly vivid and keen. The surpassing beauty of the buildings,
among which the Taj stands pre-eminent; the vast concourse of chiefs
and retainers, combining so many of the attributes of feudal and
chivalrous times with the picturesqueness in attire and gorgeousness
in colouring, which only the East can supply; produced an effect of
fairyland, of which it was difficult to divest oneself in order to
come down to the sterner realities of the present. These realities
consisted mainly in receiving the chiefs at private and public
Durbars, exchanging presents and civilities with them, and returning
their visits. The great Durbar was attended by a larger number of
chiefs than ever before assembled on a similar occasion.'
[Sidenote: Grand Durbar.]
The Grand Durbar, or 'Royal Court,' was held on the morning of the 17th of
February: a grander gathering, it was said, than even the great one held by
Lord Canning in 1859. The scene was one of remarkable splendour--a
splendour alien to the simple and unostentatious tastes and habits of the
chief actor in it, but which he knew how to use with effect when taking his
place as Suzerain in an Assembly of Princes. To aid us in conceiving it, we
must have recourse to the picture sketched at the time in one of the Indian
Newspapers.
'It is difficult to describe--without seeing it it is impossible to
conceive,--a scene like that presented at a grand Durbar of this kind.
One may imagine any amount of display of jewels, gold and glitter,
gorgeous dresses, splendid uniforms, and handsome faces. You may see
far more beautiful sights in the shape of court grandeur at our
European palaces, at Versailles and St. James's; but nothing that will
give you an idea of an Indian Durbar. The exhibition of costly jewels,
the display of wealth in priceless ornaments and splendid dresses, the
strange mixture of wealth and poverty, the means of accomplishing
magnificence and splendour enjoyed to such profusion, yet rendered
almost void to this end from want of taste! "Barbaric wealth," indeed,
you behold; barbaric from its extent and profusion, and barbaric in
the hideous use made of it. The host of chiefs, who sat on the right
side of the huge Durbar tent, close packed in a semi-circle, and who
rose as one man when the band outside began "God save the Queen," and
the artillery thundered forth the royal salute, were a blaze of
jewels. From underneath head-dresses of every conceivable form and
structure--the golden crown studded with rubies and emeralds, the
queer butterfly-spreading Mahratta cap, the close-fitting Rajpoot
turban, the common _pagree_ of the Mohammedan Chief, ordinary in shape
but made of the richest material--from under each and all there are
peering dark faces, and bright glancing eyes, eager to catch the first
view of the great Lord Paramount of Hindostan. What a multitude of
different expressions one notices while scanning that strange group of
princes of royal descent, whose ancestors held the very thrones they
now hold far back beyond the range of history. The scheming
politician, the low debauchee, the debased sensualist, the chivalrous
soldier, the daring ambitious descendant of a line of royal robbers,
the crafty intriguer, the religious enthusiast, the fanatic and the
sceptic side by side, you can trace in each swarthy face the character
written on its features by the working of the brain within.'
'In the midst of such a scene, seated on a massive gold throne, with
crimson velvet cushion, two lions of the same precious metal forming the
arms; the whole standing on a square platform raised about ten inches from
the ground, covered with a carpet of gold,' Lord Elgin addressed his
princely audience; his voice 'clear and distinct, so that he could be heard
easily at the further corner of the tent; every word seeming to be weighed
and uttered as if he meant what he said:'
[Sidenote: Vice-Regal speech.]
Princes and Chiefs.--In inviting you to meet me here, it was my wish
in the first place to become acquainted with you personally, and also
to convey to you, in obedience to the gracious command which I
received from Her Majesty the Queen, upon my departure from England,
the assurance of the deep interest which Her Majesty takes in the
welfare of the Chiefs of India. I have now to thank you for the
alacrity with which, in compliance with my request, you have, many of
you from considerable distances, assembled at this place.
Having received, during the course of the last few days, many of the
principal personages among you in private Durbar, where I have had the
opportunity of communicating my views on matters of interest and
importance, I need not detain you on this occasion by many words.
Before taking leave of you, however, I desire to address to you
collectively a few general remarks upon the present state of affairs
in India, and upon the duties which that state of affairs imposes upon
us all.
Peace, I need hardly remind you of the fact, now happily prevails
throughout the whole extent of this vast empire; domestic treason has
been crushed; and foreign enemies have been taught to respect the
power of the arms of England.
The British Government is desirous to take advantage of this
favourable opportunity, not to extend the bounds of its dominions, but
to develop the resources and draw forth the natural wealth of India,
and thus to promote the well-being and happiness both of rulers and of
the people.
With this view many measures of improvement and progress have already
been introduced, and among them, I may name, as most conspicuous, the
railway and electric telegraph, those great discoveries of this age
which have so largely increased the wealth and power of the mightiest
nations of the West.
By diffusing education among your vassals and dependents, establishing
schools, promoting the construction of good roads, and suppressing,
with the whole weight of your authority and influence, barbarous
usages and crimes, such as infanticide, suttee, thuggee, and dacoitee,
you may, Princes and Chiefs, effectually second these endeavours of
the British Government, and secure for yourselves and your people a
full share of the benefits which the measures to which I have alluded
are calculated to confer upon you. I have observed with satisfaction
the steps which many of you have already taken in this direction, and
more especially the enlightened policy which has induced some of you
to remove transit and other duties which obstructed the free course of
commerce through your States.
As representing the Paramount power, it is my duty to keep the peace
in India. For this purpose Her Majesty the Queen has placed at my
disposal a large and gallant army, which, if the necessity should
arise, I shall not hesitate to employ for the repression of disorder
and the punishment of any who may be rash enough to disturb the
general tranquillity. But it is also my duty to extend the hand of
encouragement and friendship to all who labour for the good of India,
and to assure you that the chiefs who make their own dependents
contented and prosperous, establish thereby the strongest claim on the
favour and protection of the British Government.
I bid you now, Princes and Chiefs, farewell for a time, with the
expression of my earnest hope that, on your return to your homes,
health and happiness may attend you.
[Sidenote: Muttra.]
Proceeding northwards from Agra, up the valley of the Jumna, they arrived,
after three days' march, at Muttra.
The mornings (he wrote) are cool, almost cold; and were it not for
clouds of dust, the marching would be pleasant, although the country
traversed is flat, and not very interesting.... Muttra itself is
interesting from the sanctity which the Hindoos attach to it. Special
blessings are earned by those who bathe in the river here; and the
town is consequently largely resorted to by pilgrims. A great many
fairs are held at Muttra during the year, which enables the Hindoos
who resort thither to combine devotion and business. To ride through
the narrow streets of the sacred town on an elephant, and find oneself
on a level either with the upper stories of the houses which are
frequently decorated with elaborately carved oriel windows, or with
the roofs on which holy monkeys in great numbers are disporting
themselves, is a very curious spectacle.
[Sidenote: Delhi.]
On the 23rd of February the camp left Muttra; on the 3rd of March it was
pitched under the walls of Delhi--'unquestionably the place of greatest
interest' visited in this part of the tour.
The approach to it through ten miles of a desolate-looking campagna,
thickly strewn with funereal monuments reared in honour of the
sovereigns and mighty men of former dynasties, reminded me of Rome.
The city itself bears traces of more recent calamities. The Palace has
been a good deal maltreated, and the Jumma Musjid (Great Mosque), a
magnificent building, has only just been restored to the worshippers.
Beyond the town, and over the place where the camp was pitched, lay
the heights which were occupied by the British troops, and signalised
by so many deeds of valour, during the eventful struggles of 1857.
[Sidenote: Hurdwar.]
After resting for two days at Delhi, he pursued his course north-eastward,
through Meerut to Hurdwar, on the Ganges--
a sacred place, near the point at which the great Ganges Canal leaves
the river; resorted to by pilgrims, in vast crowds, from the Punjab,
Rajpootana, and other extensive districts in India. The Sikhs, who are
a reformed Hindoo sect, hold Hurdwar in especial reverence. To this
spot was conveyed, in order that it might here be cast into the sacred
water of the Ganges, what remained, after its cremation, of the body
of the great Sikh Chief, the Maharaja of Puttialla, whom Lord Canning
placed in the Council of the Governor-General.
In another letter, written from the immediate neighbourhood of this place,
he took a more practical and utilitarian view of its capabilities and
prospects:
Hurdwar, where I have been spending two days, is a most interesting
place. It is curious to see the old Faith, washing itself in the
sacred waters of the Ganges, and the new Faith, symbolised in the
magnificent works of the Ganges Canal. One regrets that these canals
should be so little used for navigation purposes, or as sources of
mechanical power; but there is some difficulty in combining navigation
with irrigation works. Moreover, in passing through districts which
are dependent on irrigation, one cannot help being deeply impressed
with a sense of the danger which will ensue if canals are entrusted to
private companies, unless they are bound by the most stringent
conditions to keep their works in good order, and to supply water at
reasonable rates. In the absence of such precautions, the population
of whole districts might be, especially in famine years, entirely at
the mercy of those companies.
[Sidenote: Umballa.]
From this point the vast camp took a north-westerly direction towards the
military station of Umballa, which was reached on the 27th of March. On the
following day Lord Elgin received in private Durbar a large number of
influential Sikh chiefs, at the head of whom was the young Maharaja of the
neighbouring state of Puttialla, the son and heir of the prince above
mentioned. In addressing these chiefs, he showed his usual tact in adapting
his words to the character and disposition of his hearers:--
The Sikhs (he afterwards wrote) are a warlike race, and the knowledge
of this fact gave a colour to the advice tendered to them. It was my
wish to recognise with all due honour their martial qualities, while
seeking to impart a more pacific direction to their energies. The
capture of half the capitals of Europe would not have been, in the
eyes of the Sikh, so great an event, or so signal a proof of British
power, as the capture of Pekin. They are proud of the thought that
some of their race took a part in it; and more inclined than
ever--which is an important matter--to follow the British standard
into foreign lands, if they should be invited to do so.
He was careful also to make as much as he could of some feeble indications
of a disposition to educate their sons, and even their daughters, which had
been exhibited by the Sirdars in some parts of the Punjab; thinking that
'if an impulse in this direction could be imparted to the ruling classes
among the natives, great results might be anticipated.'
The text of this address--the last address which he delivered--is as
follows:--
[Sidenote: Address to the Sikh chiefs.]
Colonel Durand,--I beg that you will express to the native gentlemen
who are assembled here my regret that I am unable to address them in
their own language, and inform them that I am charged by Her Majesty
the Queen to convey to them the assurance of Her Majesty's high
appreciation of the loyalty and devotion to Her Majesty's person and
Government which has been exhibited on various occasions by the Sikh
rulers and people. Not many days ago it was my pleasing duty to
determine that the medal granted to Her Majesty's troops who were
engaged at Delhi in 1857, should be conferred on the followers of the
Sikh chiefs who took part in the noble achievements of that period;
and I can personally bear testimony to the good services of the
officers and men of the Sikh regiments who, in 1860, co-operated with
the British troops in placing the British flag on the walls of Pekin,
the capital of the vast empire of China.
But, in order to be truly great, it is necessary that nations should
excel in the arts of peace as well as in those of war.
Look to the history of the British nation for an example. Most
assuredly the British people are powerful in war, but their might and
renown are in a great measure due to their proficiency in the works
which make a time of peace fruitful and glorious.
By their skill in agriculture, they have converted their country into
a garden; by their genius as traders, they have attracted to it a
large share of the wealth of other lands.
Let us take advantage of this season of tranquillity to confer similar
benefits on the Punjab.
The waters which fall on your mountain heights and unite at their base
to form mighty rivers, are a treasure which, duly distributed, will
fertilise your plains and largely augment their productive powers.
With electric telegraphs to facilitate communication, and railways and
canals to render access to the seaports easy and expeditious, we shall
be able to convey the surplus produce of this great country to others
where it is required, and to receive from them their riches in return.
I rejoice to learn that some of the chiefs in this part of India are
taking an interest in these matters, which are of such vital
importance to the welfare of this country and the prosperity of the
people. It affords me, moreover, sincere gratification to find that,
under the able guidance of the Lieutenant-Governor, the Sikh Sirdars
in certain districts of the Punjab are giving proof of their
appreciation of the value of education by making provision for the
education of their sons and daughters.
Be assured that in so doing you are adopting a judicious policy. The
experience of all nations proves that where rulers are well informed
and sagacious, the people are contented and willingly submissive to
authority. Moreover, it is generally found that where mothers are
enlightened, sons are valiant and wise.
I earnestly exhort you, therefore, to persevere in the course on which
you have entered; and I promise you while you continue in it the
sympathy and support of the British Government.
At Umballa Lord Elgin left the camp with which he had been travelling, and
struck up, nearly due northwards, into the Hills. The 1st of April found
him at Kussowlie, from which point he visited two places which greatly
interested him--the 'Lawrence Asylum' and the Military Sanitarium at
Dugshai.
[Sidenote: Lawrence Asylum.]
The 'Lawrence Asylum' (he wrote) is an institution originally
established and endowed by the late Sir Henry Lawrence, but now
transferred to Government, and maintained on an enlarged scale. It
receives and educates the children of European soldiers, both male and
female; and, considering what they are exposed to while they remain
with the regiments, or are left as orphans, it is an immense boon to
them, physically and morally. I found about 600 children at the
institution; and, so far as I could judge on a transient inspection,
the condition of things generally seemed satisfactory. Looking to the
returns, however, it did not appear that the sanitary state of the
school was quite as good as it might be, considering the fineness of
the climate; and I desired that some inquiries might be made on this
head. It is probable that the children may in many cases bring bad
constitutions with them; but it also appeared that the dormitories
were somewhat crowded, and that the uneven character of the surface
rendered it difficult to provide playgrounds--both of which
circumstances may be unfavourable to the health of the children.
[Sidenote: Dugshai station.]
The Military Station of Dugshai is situated on the pinnacle of a
mountain about 7,000 feet high. It looks bare and bleak, from the
total absence of trees; but the 42nd Regiment, now quartered there,
had all the appearance of health, and there were few men in the
hospital. The bad cases were those of men who had contracted at Agra,
when they were stationed in the plains, dysentery and fever of a
serious type, which were constantly recurring. The troops quartered on
these hills not only enjoy a congenial climate, but are also kept out
of the way of much mischief which they encounter on the lowlands. On
the other hand, it appears that they suffer a little from want of
occupation. It is curious to hear that hunting for butterflies is a
favourite pastime of the British soldier at Dugshai. The colonel,
however, informed me that the library and reading-room were much
frequented by the men; he observed also that many of the patches of
flat ground which lie scattered among the precipitous crags on which
the station is perched, had been converted by them into gardens.
[Sidenote: Simla.]
On the 4th of April,--Easter Eve--he reached Simla, which was to be his
home for the next five months. His impressions of this 'paradise of Anglo-
Indians' were given shortly afterwards in the following words:--
The houses which form the settlement are situated on three or four
heights, which are the crest of a mountain that lies among other
mountains of about the same elevation, scattered around it in groups
and rows, intersected by valleys, and closed in on the north by a
range covered with everlasting snow, and glittering from morning to
evening in the rays of a tropical sun. The hills on which Simla stands
are well clothed by trees, not of great stature generally, though of
much beauty; ilexes of a peculiar kind, deodars, and rhododendrons
being conspicuous among them; but there is little wood on the
surrounding mountains. No doubt the special charms of Simla are
enhanced by this contrast: and perhaps also by the character of the
scenery which the traveller meets on the whole route from Calcutta.
Nothing can he well imagined more uninteresting. On leaving Lower
Bengal, even the luxuriant tropical vegetation which distinguishes
that part of India disappears,--and the rest of the journey is
performed through a country perfectly flat, and apparently barren; for
notwithstanding occasional groups of trees, and good crops here and
there, the wide-spreading dusty plains give but faint indications of
the fertility which cultivation and irrigation can no doubt evolve
from them. Even when the mountains are approached, and the ascent
commences, the same character of barrenness attaches to the scene, for
their sides are almost bare of trees, and there is little to relieve
them, except the patches of vegetation which lie snugly in the
valleys, or creep in terraces up the slopes.
No doubt the greater luxuriance in foliage and vegetation which adorns
Simla is in some measure due to the presence of the European visitors
who prevent the trees from being cut, and protect in other ways the
amenity of the place.
But the climate and soil have also, it may be presumed, a good deal to
do with it. For the trees at Simla are not only more abundant, but
also different from those which are met with on the mountains nearer
to the plains. This probably accounts for what otherwise seems
strange,--namely, that Europeans, wishing to escape from the heat of
the lowlands, should have fixed on a spot among the Hills so distant
from the plains. It is not as inaccessible now as it was in former
days, because a road has been made which is practicable for carts. But
by this road the distance from the foot of the Hills to Simla is
fifty-six miles, and the journey for most people occupies three or
four days; whereas we ascended from the foot of the Hills to
Kussowlie, which is at an elevation nearly as great as that of Simla,
in a little more than two hours. It used to be supposed that mountains
overhanging the lowlands were less healthy than those farther removed
from them, but whether this be the case or not may be doubtful.
However, whatever may have been the reasons for the original selection
of Simla, it certainly has now greater attractions as a residence than
any spot lying between it and the plains.
In this pleasant retreat, with its 'dry climate, and temperature from 60 deg.
to 70 deg. in the shade,' he resumed with fresh vigour his ordinary official
work; corresponding constantly with the Secretary of State, with the
subordinate Governments, and with the members of his Council, gathering
ever fresh stores of information, and forming ever clearer views of the
problems that lay before him; looking forward to the great meeting to be
held next spring at Lahore, not only as an important experiment, but also
as in a manner the real commencement of his reign. Some extracts from his
letters of this period are subjoined.
_To Sir Charles Trevelyan._
Camp, Jeyt: February 23, 1863.
[Sidenote: Supply of labour.]
No doubt there is a deficiency of labour in some parts of India, and
an excess in others. Moreover, there are moral and physical obstacles
which put difficulties in the way of the transfer of labour from
places where it is redundant to those where it is wanting. But to
affirm generally of a country where labour-saving machines are, in
consequence of the cheapness of labour, as little used as in India,
that there is a 'want of labour' seems to me to be a paradox.
I will give an example:--If, in America, the climate made it necessary
that every private white soldier should have a punkah pulled over him
day and night, do you think that no agency but that of the human hand,
in its rudest and most direct application, would be employed in this
task? And why is it otherwise in India? Because labour is so cheap
that necessity, the mother of invention, does not stimulate the
ingenuity of man here as it does there.
Far from deprecating the introduction of capital, I should be
delighted to hear that the amount to be spent in India this year was
to be three times what it promises to be. I do not say to be spent by
Government, for to this there are objections, altogether irrespective
of the question of the amount of labour available.
The first effect of this enlarged expenditure would no doubt be to
raise the wages of labour. This would be in itself a blessing, for
which I should thank God.
But its second and more permanent effect would be to increase the
number of the class of skilled labourers, which the patient, sober,
and ingenious population of India is fitted to supply in so great
abundance, if due encouragement be given; and further, to drive
capitalists to the substitution of machinery for brute human labour to
a greater extent than is the practice now.
The ultimate result would, therefore, be to render the existing
stock of labour doubly productive; the fruits of this increased
productiveness being divided in proportions more or less equitable
between the labourers and capitalists.
I believe that the Railway expenditure is already exercising a
sensible influence of this salutary character. Bodies of navvies are
becoming attached to the companies, who follow them from place to
place, and render them comparatively independent of the local supply
of labour; and above all, by calling forth native talent in the form
of skilled labour, they are imparting that kind of education which
will, I believe, do more for the elevation of the masses than any
other which we can provide in India.
* * * * *
_To H. S. Maine, Esq._
Camp, Hodul: February 25, 1863.
[Sidenote: Special legislation.]
While I entirely concur in the opinion that the _onus probandi_ rests,
and rests heavily too, on the proposers of exceptional or particular
legislation, an assumption runs through ------'s letter to you which I
am by no means prepared to admit. He assumes that in such matters as
those with which we are now dealing, this _particular legislation_
must be in the exclusive interest of the landlord, and calculated to
increase in his hand powers which may be abused, and the abuse of
which is restrained by moral influences which operate less strongly
where landlords and tenants are of different races than where they are
homogeneous. He cites, strangely enough, Ireland, where these moral
influences, which are of themselves generally sufficient in England
and Scotland, are supplemented by wholesale evictions on one side and
murders on the other. But the law of landlord and tenant is, I
believe, the same in Ireland as in England, and it is quite possible
that a little _particular_ legislation, which would have given either
of the parties the protection of positive law against injuries which
can now be redressed only by a rude process of reprisals (one outrage
balancing another until the account is squared), might have proved
ultimately a benefit even to the party against which this particular
legislation seemed to be, in the first instance, directed.
The planters say, we have a grievance attributable to special
circumstances arising out of our relations with our ryots; unless you
give us a special remedy to meet our special grievance, we fall back
on our general powers as landlords. Are we quite sure that in refusing
the special remedy, we are consulting the interest of the weaker
party, viz. the ryot?
Of course, this is all general. There will remain the questions: Is
there a grievance at all? Is it one which has any claim to a special
remedy? I quite agree that the _onus_ of answering these questions
satisfactorily rests on the advocate of special legislation.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Roorkee: March 19, 1863.
[Sidenote: Duty of officials in missionary matters.]
The religious question is, no doubt, a very difficult one; and I am
glad that you approved of the course which I took with reference to
the great missionary gathering at Lahore. I spoke to Sir R. M---- on
the subject when I met him at Delhi. He seemed to think that it had
done more harm than good to the missionary cause, as the presence of
high officials was sure to raise suspicions in the minds of the
natives. I told him that as regarded the acts of officials in such
matters, my opinion was this:--If an official says to me, 'I think
that I may, with perfect propriety, in my character of official, do so
and so, or take such or such a part in furtherance of an object which
I believe to be right,' I am quite ready to meet him on this ground,
and to join issue with him if I differ from him on the particular
point raised. But if he says to me, 'I know that it would be wrong in
me to do this as an official, but I do it in my private character,' I
can have no discussion with him; because I deny that it is possible to
establish any such distinction in the East, and I am inclined to
distrust either the honesty or the intelligence of the man who
proposes to act upon it.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Simla: March 19, 1863.
[Sidenote: Financial credit.]
I am as desirous as you can be, perhaps even more desirous, to give no
excuse for the charge of cooking accounts, or making things look
pleasanter than they ought, because I am quite confident, that if we
can keep the peace and show an unimpeachable balance-sheet, we shall
soon have more capital sent to India than we know what to do with. I
could not help giving, a few days ago, a hint concerning my Canadian
experience on this point. When I was appointed to Canada, the first
Canadian official to whom I was introduced was the Finance Minister,
who was walking about the streets of London with L60,000 of Canadian 6
per cent. debentures in his pocket, which nobody would take. In 1849,
two years later, the Montreal merchants drew up an elaborate address
recommending annexation to the United States, alleging as one of their
principal reasons that so long as they remained colonists, they could
obtain no credit in England for public objects, and citing, in proof
of this allegation, the fact that in the United States several
thousand miles of railway had been constructed, in Canada only thirty
miles. Within three years from the date of this address, we had 2,000
miles of railway in Canada in course of construction, and our
Government debentures (6 per cent.) were selling in London at 119,
higher than those of the United States Government; in fact, we had
more credit than we could always employ properly. Now, how was this
change effected? Simply by showing a good balance-sheet, an improving
country, and a contented people, and leaving capitalists to draw their
own inferences from these phenomena. I do not despair of seeing a
similar state of things in India; and it was with the view of giving
an impulse in this direction that I stated publicly, at Benares the
other day, that we must look for the further development of our
railway system to _bona fide_ private enterprise, aided, perhaps,
where circumstances required it, by Government, but not to the
extension of Government guarantees. Unguaranteed companies cannot get
money while guaranteed companies are competing with them as borrowers.
Therefore, if we intend to encourage the former, we must let
capitalists know that a limit will be put on the operations of the
latter.
[Sidenote: Seat of Government.]
As to the seat of Government question, I am strongly of opinion that
the proper thing to do at present is to give practical effect to the
provision in the Indian Councils Act, which authorises the Governor-
General to call his Council together in other parts of India besides
Calcutta. This would give to the Supreme Government a more catholic
character than it now possesses, and perhaps in some degree diminish
the jealousy of Calcutta influence which obtains so extensively.
I do not see my way towards recommending the entire abandonment of
Calcutta. It is an important place, and has certain traditional claims
which it is not quite easy to set aside. Moreover, although the
Calcutta community may have its faults and wayward tendencies, it is
an influential element in our body corporate and politic, and a
Government which knows its duty may effect a great deal of good, and
derive no little benefit, by coming into contact with it For the
present, therefore, I think that Calcutta should continue to be the
headquarters of Government; but that we should meet from time to time
at other places for Legislative purposes, so as to qualify Calcutta
local associations with other local associations. This plan will be
attended of course with some trouble and expense. I intend to make
some inquiries to ascertain what the latter is likely to be. I do not
see why we should not legislate in camp, if there be difficulty in
providing house accommodation.... I should like, if possible, to hit
upon a plan which would give us a sufficient range in choosing and
varying our places of meeting. More on all this hereafter.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Roorkee: March 19, 1863.
[Sidenote: Value of training at headquarters.]
I confess I think it very important that the heads of the local
Governments should have had some training at headquarters. It is much
easier for an intelligent officer who has been so trained, to supply a
lack of local knowledge, than for one who has been constantly employed
in a particular province to grasp in a sufficiently comprehensive
spirit the general interests of the Empire, and duly to appreciate the
relative claims of its component parts. Already, among the high
officers in the Provinces, there is a considerable disinclination to
face the climate and labour of Calcutta. Situations in the Provinces,
where the work is lighter, where the summers can be spent on the
Hills, and where the holders are in a much greater degree monarchs of
all they survey, are naturally preferred to the sweltering metropolis.
This preference would be strengthened if it were supposed that this
provincial career was the road to the Lieutenant-Governorship.
Moreover, it is to be remembered that the patronage exercised by these
Lieutenant-Governors is very great indeed. It is important that it
should not fall too absolutely into the hands of the same local
cliques. So much on the abstract question of general _versus_ local
experience.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Simla: May 6, 1863.
In a general way, I must say that I am inclined to give a preference,
in disposing of these high offices, to persons who have served in the
offices of the Supreme Government or in the Governor-General's
Legislative Council. I would not, of course, exclude men of proved and
eminent qualities because they had been employed only in the Provinces
or minor Presidencies; but my impression is that the work is lighter,
and that reputations are more easily won, in the service of the minor
than in that of the Supreme Government. Moreover, I think it desirable
that the best men should be attracted to the latter service; and I
observe a growing disinclination to abandon good opportunities under
local governments for those which the Supreme Government has to offer.
A local Government, with plenty of hill stations, &c., has many
attractions for persons who can contrive to be on good terms with the
Lieutenant-Governor. I think that something is due to those who face
the climate and the competition of Calcutta; not to mention the fact,
that they have opportunities of becoming conversant with the general
business of the country, beyond those which are enjoyed by persons
whose service has been confined to any one locality.
I think that the Legislative branch of the Governor-General's Council
should be a channel through which officers of the other Presidencies
may be introduced into the Secretariat and Council at Calcutta.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Simla: May 21, 1863.
[Sidenote: Aristocracies.]
I have no objection _prima facie_ to an aristocracy, and I am quite
ready to admit that conflicting claims of proprietorship in the same
lands are an evil; but I also know that, even in our old Christian
Europe, there are not many aristocracies that have had salt enough in
them to prevent them from rotting. And when I consider what Oriental
society is; when I reflect on the frightful corruption, both of mind
and body, to which the inheritors of wealth and station are
exposed--the general absence of motives to call forth good instincts,
or of restraints to keep bad in check--I own that I do not feel quite
sure that, even if we could sweep away all rights of sub-proprietors
or tenants, and substitute for the complications incident to the
present system an uniform land-tenure of great proprietors and tenants
at will, we should be much nearer the millennium than we are now....
[Sidenote: Against intermeddling in foreign politics.]
I am wholly opposed to that prurient intermeddling policy which finds
so much favour with certain classes of Indian officials. It is
constantly thrusting us into equivocal situations, in which our acts
and our professions of respect for the independence of other nations
are in contradiction, and in which our proceedings become tainted with
the double reproach of inconsistency and selfishness. Nothing, in my
opinion, can be more fatal to our prestige and legitimate influence.
My modest ambition for England is, that she should in this Eastern
world establish the reputation of being all-just and all-powerful;
but, to achieve this object, we must cease to attempt to play a great
part in small intrigues, or to dictate in cases where we have not
positive interests which we can avow, or convictions sufficiently
distinct to enable us to speak plainly. We must interfere only where
we can put forward an unimpeachable plea of right or duty; and when we
announce a resolution, our neighbours must understand that it is the
decree of fate.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Trevelyan._
Simla: June 17, 1863.
[Sidenote: Council to meet at Lahore.]
On the first occasion of transferring the Council from Calcutta to
another place, we ought to select some considerable town--the capital
of a Province or local Government, if possible. What we wish to do is
to give effect to the scheme embodied in the ninth clause of the
Councils Act, and we should do so in such a manner as to carry public
opinion with us. If the plan answers, we may exercise a greater
liberty of choice on future occasions.
I adhere to the opinion which I first expressed, that, on the whole,
Lahore is the place which unites the greatest number of advantages. It
is the capital of a province which is loyal, which is under the
Government of India, and which, moreover, has a good many special
characteristics of its own, with which it may be well that the Supreme
Legislature should acquaint themselves on the spot. Against these
recommendations is to be set the greater distance from Calcutta, which
does not affect communication by telegraph, and, for more bulky
communications, as compared with Delhi, is only a question of a few
hours.
I have no wish to legislate at a purely military station; my object is
to select a place of meeting where we may obtain some knowledge of
local and native feeling, which does not reach Calcutta.
* * * * *
_To Sir Charles Wood._
Simla: August 30, 1863.
After reaching this place, I soon came to the conclusion that the
reasons for meeting at Lahore were much more forcible than those which
could be advanced in favour of any other place; and circumstances
which have occurred since then have tended strongly to confirm me in
this opinion. Independently of the prestige which attaches to the
province of which it is the capital, and to the Sikh population which
inhabit it, the state of affairs in Afghanistan, and on our frontier,
would render a demonstration which would at once afford evidence of
our military strength and gratify the pride and self-importance of the
Sikh chiefs, at this moment especially opportune.
I have arranged with the Commander-in-chief to hold his camp of
exercise there; the Lieutenant-Governor is to have a great
Agricultural Exhibition, which I am to open; and if we mean to
establish ourselves for a couple of months there in our legislative
capacity while all this is going on, I think that it will have an
excellent effect both on our own people and on our neighbours.
[Sidenote: Sitana fanatics.]
Late in the month of September, during the last days of Lord Elgin's stay
at Simla, occurred the only break in the otherwise peaceful tenor of his
government, in the shape of an outburst of certain Wahabee fanatics
inhabiting a frontier district in the Upper Valley of the Indus. The
outburst is not without historical interest, as connected with similar
disturbances which have assumed more serious proportions; but it is noticed
here chiefly as illustrating the view which Lord Elgin took of the policy
and duty of the British Government in such cases.
It was not without the greatest reluctance that he was induced to take up
the quarrel at all: for he had the strongest aversion for warlike
operations in the existing state of India, and particularly on the
frontiers of Afghanistan; and he had no small distrust of those military
tendencies and that thirst for opportunities of distinction which are apt
to characterise the ablest Governors of frontier provinces. But he had
prevented a Sitana expedition in the previous year; he was assured that the
recent inroads of the fanatics were the direct consequence of his last
year's supineness; and he was told that if he again held back, the
disturbances would be renewed another year with usury. Moreover, he was
assured that the projected expedition would secure the peace of the
frontier for a long period; and that the operation would be little more
than a military promenade, and would be over before his camp reached
Peshawur.
It was scarcely possible for a civil Governor to resist such a pressure of
professional opinion; and he consented to take measures of repression.
Writing to Sir Charles Wood on the subject, he said:--
The overt acts charged consist in the return of the fanatics to
Sitana, whence they were driven out by us some years ago; and the
frontier tribes in question are held to be guilty because they have
allowed them to return to this place, although bound by treaty with us
to refuse to admit them.... On a review of all the circumstances, and
looking to the well-known character and designs of the Sitana
fanatics, I came to the conclusion that the interests both of prudence
and humanity would be best consulted by levelling a speedy and
decisive blow at this embryo conspiracy.
Accordingly it was arranged that the Punjab Government should at once take
the necessary measures for expelling the fanatics from Judoon, where they
had congregated, and then, if circumstances permitted, proceed to destroy
their place of refuge at Mulka.
But it is well known that in India, to use Lord Elgin's own expression,
'rising officials are instinctively in favour of a good row.' Some of those
around him were urgent that the expedition should be deferred until the
spring, and should then be organised on a larger scale, and with more
comprehensive objects. Lord Elgin set his face decidedly against this.
I wish (he wrote) by a sudden and vigorous blow to check this trouble
on our frontier while it is in a nascent condition. The other plan
would give it several months to fester and to extend itself; and, if
there be among the Mohammedan populations in these regions the
disposition to combine against us which is alleged, and which is
indeed the justification of the measure proposed, how far might not
the roots of the conspiracy stretch themselves in that time? The
Afghans in their distracted state might furnish sympathisers; we
should be invited to interfere in their internal affairs, in order to
oppose those among them who were abetting our Mohammedan adversaries;
in short, there is no end to the complications in which this
postponement of active operations might involve us. Everything is more
or less uncertain in such affairs; but in the absence of any very
palpable blunder, what we actually propose to do would appear to be a
pretty safe proceeding. The main purpose is to expel the fanatics from
Judoon; and it is hardly possible that we should fail in this, as they
are within easy reach of us there. The further objects--of punishing
other tribes, and destroying the refuge of the fanatics at Mulka--may
be abandoned if it be deemed advisable, without any loss of prestige,
though of course with some abatement of the completeness of the
movement. I therefore thought it necessary to adhere to my original
resolution.
[Sidenote: The Himalayas.]
On the 26th of September Lord Elgin left Simla _en route_ for Sealkote,
where he was to rejoin his camp and proceed with it to Peshawur, the most
distant station on the North-West frontier, before making his way to the
great _rendezvous_ at Lahore. On the way to Sealkote he was to traverse the
upper valleys of the Beas, the Ravee, and the Chenab, and the mountains
that divide them; his main object being to inspect the great tea
plantations, public and private, recently set on foot in those parts, and
to ascertain for himself what facilities or possibilities the country
afforded for commercial intercourse with Ladak and China.
For the first week his route lay nearly northwards, through scenes very
similar to those which he had left at Simla. 'We are going through a
beautiful country,' he wrote on the 4th of October, 'and the people seem
cheerful and well-to-do.' Shortly afterwards, having passed over the Sutlej
at Komharsen, he crossed a considerable range of mountains by the Jalouri
Pass, and found himself in the fertile basin of the Beas. Directing his
course still northwards, he followed this river up to its source among the
hills; and thence crossed by the steep and high Rotung Pass from the valley
of the Beas into that of the Chenab--from the rich and smiling country of
Kuloo into a rugged and inhospitable tract called Lahoul. He did not,
however, remain long in these desolate regions; but, after crossing the
Twig Bridge across the Chandra, an affluent of the Chenab, and inspecting a
wooden bridge which had just been constructed to take its place, he
retraced his steps southwards to Sultanpore, on the Beas river. From
thence, on the 18th of October, he wrote as follows to Sir Charles Wood:--
[Sidenote: Kuloo.]
[Sidenote: Rotung Pass.]
[Sidenote: Twig Bridge.]
Thus far our expedition through the mountains has been very pleasant
and interesting. The scenery has been magnificent and the climate
enjoyable, though the changes of temperature have been considerable.
We are now at Sultanpore, in Kuloo, at an elevation of about 4,000
feet above the sea. But a few days ago we (the men of the party)
scaled the Rotung Pass, which divides Kuloo from Lahoul, and attained
in so doing a height of 13,000 feet, with a temperature low in
proportion. This pass is on the road from these provinces to Ladak and
China, and I visited, on the other side of it, a new bridge over the
Chandra, which will be a great convenience to traders. Hitherto, if
the traders used mules or other animals of this magnitude, they could
cross the river with them only by making them swim; or, if sheep were
their beasts of burden, by driving them over a twig bridge, through
the meshes of which many fell into the river. I crossed the twig
bridge myself; and I found it about the most difficult job I ever
attempted. The new bridge will be completed in a few weeks. This road,
however, useful though it will doubtless be when improved, leads
through Ladak, and the merchandise transported along it becomes
subject to the exactions of the ruler of Cashmere. The desideratum
would be a road which would be clear of his territory altogether.
The people in these regions seem good-humoured and merry-hearted,
producing for themselves all that they want; growing their own food,
making their own clothes; not much given to exchanges, and extremely
averse to labour. I asked a manager of a tea plantation the other day
how he was off for labour. He said that he contrived to induce
labourers to come to his plantation for a few days at a time, chiefly
for the purpose of earning money enough to pay the Government
assessment of their land; but his opinion was that, if there were no
assessment, no labour would be procurable. We have not yet come across
much tea. The plantations we have seen are on a very small scale, and
in a nascent condition; but they are promising. There seems no reason
to doubt that the climate and a certain portion at least of the soil
in this district are suited to the growth of tea. The climate, too,
does very well for the European constitution, though it is hardly as
healthy as I expected to find it. Both natives and Europeans are
subject to fever at certain seasons, especially in the valleys; but I
have no doubt that the latter may do well as employers of labour. This
place (Sultanpore) is only about 4,000 feet above the level of the
sea, and I have little doubt that, were the state of cultivation and
trade to justify the outlay, a cart road might be made to it without
great difficulty from the plain. This would greatly develop both its
natural resources and its capabilities as a commercial route.
The state of the forests which we have encountered during our route
has also engaged my attention. It is sad to see how they have been
neglected, and how much waste of valuable timber has ensued. The
natives have a practice of girdling fine trees, at a few feet from the
root, in order to strip off as much of the bark as they can
conveniently reach. It is rather a difficult practice to check; but,
if we can manage to draw a line between the woods in which the
villagers have rights and the public forests, we may impose heavy
penalties on the perpetrators of such offences.... The deodar forests
cease at the Rotung Pass. There are no forests of any value in Lahoul
and Spitti--scarcely indeed any wood at all.
We are now proceeding towards the Kangra Valley, where we expect to
find tea plantations in a more advanced condition.
[Sidenote: Illness.]
In this letter, and others of the same date, there is no hint of suffering
or of ill-health; but when they were written he had already received the
stroke which was to lay him in the grave. Before the departure of the next
mail symptoms had appeared of serious disease of the heart, probably long
lurking in his constitution, and now brought out into fatal activity by
fatigue and the keen mountain air; and on the 4th of November, having with
difficulty reached Dhurmsala, a station in the Kangra Valley,[3] he wrote
to Sir Charles Wood in an altered tone, yet still hopeful and cheerful; and
intent to the last in India, as at the first in Jamaica, and afterwards in
Canada and China, on mitigating so far as lay in his power the evils which
man brings on man.
[Sidenote: Last letter.]
You will not expect (he wrote, in this his last letter) to hear much
from me by this mail when you hear how I am situated. The Hill
expedition, of which I gave you some of the details in my last, had an
unexpected effect upon me; knocking me down prostrate to begin with,
with some symptoms of an anxious character behind, which require
looking into. The nature and extent of the mischief are not
sufficiently ascertained yet to enable me to say positively whether my
power of doing my duty is likely to be in any degree impaired by what
has happened. But Lady Elgin has brought up from Calcutta the medical
man who attended me there, and he arrived this morning; so that a
consultation will take place without delay. Meanwhile I have got over
the immediate effects sufficiently to enable me to do such business as
comes before me now. No change has taken place in our plans. We move
rather more slowly, and I have given up the idea of going to Peshawur;
but this is rather occasioned by the desire to confer with the Punjab
Government, while these affairs on the frontier are in progress, than
by my mishap.
I think that the expedition (against the Sitana fanatics) will be a
success; and I labour incessantly to urge the necessity of confining
its objects to the first intentions. Plausible reasons for enlarging
the scope of such adventures are never wanting; but I shall endeavour
to keep this within its limits.
Lady Elgin is bearing up courageously, under a great pressure of
labour and anxiety.
The sad story of what follows cannot be told in other words than those in
which it has already been given to the world, with all the skill of an
artist combined with the tenderness of a brother, and with that fulness of
authentic detail which only one source could supply.[4]
'Although he had suffered often from the unhealthy and depressing climate
of Calcutta during the summer and autumn of 1862, and thus, to the eyes
that saw him again in 1863, he looked many years older than when he left
England, yet it was not till he entered the Hills that any symptom
manifested itself of the fatal malady that was lurking under his apparently
stout frame and strong constitution. The splendid scenery of those vast
forests and snow-clad mountains inspired him with the liveliest pleasure;
but the highly rarefied atmosphere, which to most residents in India is as
life from the dead, seemed in him to have the exactly reverse effect.
'It was on the 12th of October that he ascended the Rotung Pass, and on the
13th he crossed the famous Twig Bridge over the river Chandra. It is
remarkable for the rude texture of birch branches of which it is composed,
and which, at this late season, was so rent and shattered by the wear and
tear of the past year as to render the passage of it a matter of great
exertion. Lord Elgin was completely prostrated by the effort, and it may be
said that from the exhaustion consequent on this adventure he never
rallied. But he returned to his camp, and continued his march on horseback,
until, on the 22nd, an alarming attack obliged him to be carried, by slow
stages, to Dhurmsala. There he was joined, on the 4th of November, by his
friend and medical adviser, Dr. Macrae, who had been summoned from
Calcutta, on the first alarming indications of his illness. By this time
the disorder had declared itself in such a form as to cause the most
serious apprehensions to others, as well as to himself the most distressing
sufferings. There had been a momentary rally, during which the fact of his
illness had been communicated to England. But this passed away; and on the
6th of November Dr. Macrae came to the conclusion that the illness was
mortal. This intelligence, which he communicated at once to Lord Elgin, was
received with a calmness and fortitude which never deserted him through all
the scenes which followed. It was impossible not to be struck by the
courage and presence of mind with which, in the presence of a death
unusually terrible, and accompanied by circumstances unusually trying, he
showed, in equal degrees and with the most unvarying constancy, two of the
grandest elements of human character--unselfish resignation of himself to
the will of God, and thoughtful consideration, down to the smallest
particulars, for the interests and feelings of others, both public and
private.
'When once he had satisfied himself, by minute inquiries from Dr. Macrae,
of the true state of the case, after one deep, earnest, heartfelt regret
that he should thus suddenly be parted from those nearest and dearest, to
whom his life was of such inestimable importance, and that he should be
removed just as he had prepared himself to benefit the people committed to
his charge, he steadily set his face heavenward. He was startled, he was
awed; he felt it "hard, hard, to believe that his life was condemned;" but
there was no looking backward. Of the officers of his staff he took an
affectionate leave on that day. "It is well," he said to one of them, "that
I should die in harness." And thenceforth he saw no one habitually, except
Dr. Macrae, who combined with his medical skill the tenderness and devotion
at once of a friend and of a pastor; his attached secretary, Mr. Thurlow,
who had rendered him the most faithful services, not only through the
period of his Indian Vice-royalty, but during his last mission to China;
and Her who had shared his every thought, and whose courageous spirit now
rose above the weakness of the fragile frame, equal to the greatness of the
calamity, and worthy of him to whom, by night and day, she constantly
ministered.
'On the following day, the clergyman whom he had ordered to be summoned,
and for whose arrival he waited with much anxiety, reached Dhurmsala, and
administered the Holy Communion to himself and those with him. "We are now
entering on a New Communion," he had said that morning, "the Living and the
Dead," and his spirit then appeared to master pain and weakness, and to
sustain him in a holy calm during the ceremony, and for a few hours
afterwards. "It is a comfort," he whispered, "to have laid aside all the
cares of this world, and put myself in the hands of God;" and he was able
to listen at intervals to favourite passages from the New Testament. That
evening closed in with an aggravation of suffering. It was the evening of
the seventeenth anniversary of his wedding-day.
'On the following morning, Lady Elgin, with his approval, rode up to the
cemetery at Dhurmsala to select a spot for his grave; and he gently
expressed pleasure when told of the quiet and beautiful aspect of the spot
chosen, with the glorious view of the snowy range towering above, and the
wide prospect of hill and plain below.
'The days and nights of the fortnight which followed were a painful
alternation of severe suffering and rare intervals of comparative
tranquillity. They were soothed by the never-failing devotion of those that
were always at hand to read to him or to receive his remarks. He often
asked to hear chosen chapters from the Book of Isaiah (as the 40th and
55th), sometimes murmuring over to himself any striking verses that they
contained, and at other times repeating by heart favourite Psalms. At times
he delighted to hear his little girl, who had been the constant companion
of his travels, repeat some of Keble's hymns, especially those on the
festivals of St. John the Evangelist and of the Holy Innocents.
'Until his strength failed him, he was carried at times into the verandah,
and showed by words and looks his constant admiration at the grand
evidences of God's power and goodness in the magnificence of the scenery
before him; and on one such occasion was delighted with the sublime
description of the wonders of nature in the 38th and 39th chapters of the
Book of Job.
'At times he was able to enter into conversation and argument on serious
subjects. When, under the pressure of his sufferings, he was one night
entreating to be released--"O that God would in mercy come and take me"--
Dr. Macrae reminded him of the dread of pain and death which seems to be
expressed in the account of the Agony of Gethsemane, and he appeared to
find much comfort in the thought, repeating once or twice that he had not
seen it in this light before, and several times saying with fervour, "Not
my will, but Thine be done." At other times, he could even be led, by way
of steadying his wandering thoughts amidst the distraction of restlessness,
to fix them on his school and college days, to tell anecdotes of his hard
reading, or to describe the visit to Oxford of his venerable friend Dr.
Chalmers. He dwelt in this way on a sermon of Dr. Chalmers at Glasgow,
which he remembered even in detail, and from which he quoted some eloquent
passages, bringing out the general scope of the sermon, to the effect that,
rather than teach people to hate this bad world, we should teach them to
love and look up to a better one.[5]
'It will naturally be understood that long converse was nearly impossible.
As occasions rose, a few words were breathed, an appropriate verse quoted,
and a few minutes were all that could be given at any one time to discourse
upon it. It is characteristic of his strong, cheerful faith, even during
those last trying moments, that he on one occasion asked to have the more
supplicatory, penitential Psalms exchanged for those of praise and
thanksgiving, in which he joined, knowing them already by heart; and in the
same strain of calm yet triumphant hope, he whispered to himself on the
night when his alarming state was first made known to him, "Hallelujah; the
Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. We shall all meet again."
'That thought was raised to its highest pitch by the sight of a portrait of
a beloved son, who had died in England during his absence. It arrived in
the close of those sad days. He recognised it with a burst of tenderness
and delight which at once lifted his mind above the suffering of his mortal
illness. Again and again he desired to see it, and to speak of it, with the
fixed conviction that he and his "angel boy," as he called him, would soon
meet in a better world. "Oh, when shall I be with you?" "You know where he
is; we shall all go to him; he is happy."
'Every care had been taken for the public interests, and for the interests
of those still nearer and dearer to him. He had laid the most solemn charge
on his faithful secretary to conduct Lady Elgin home on her mournful and
solitary voyage. He had given to Dr. Macrae, with the tenderest marks of
affection, a turquoise ring: "We have had a long struggle together; keep
this in memory of it." He had dictated a telegram to the Queen resigning
his office, with a request that his successor might be immediately
appointed.
'With this exception, public affairs seem to have faded from his mind. "I
must resign myself to doing no work. I have not sufficient control over my
thoughts. I have washed my hands of it all." But it was remarkable that, as
the end drew nearer, the keen sense of public duty once more flashed up
within him. It was on the 19th that he could not help expressing his wonder
what was meant by his long lingering; and once, half wandering, he
whispered, "If I did not die, I might get to Lahore, and carry out the
original programme." Later on in the day he sent for Mr. Thurlow, and
desired that a message should be sent, through Sir Charles Wood, expressive
of his love and devotion to the Queen, and of his determination to do his
work to the last possible moment. His voice, faint and inaudible at first,
gained strength with the earnestness of the words which came forth as if
direct from his heart, and which, as soon as pronounced, left him prostrate
with the exertion. He begged, at the same time, that his "best blessing"
might be sent to the Secretaries of the Indian Government, and also a
private message to Sir Charles Wood in England.
'These were his last public acts. A few words and looks of intense
affection for his wife and child were all that escaped him afterwards. One
more night of agonized restlessness, followed by an almost sudden close of
the long struggle, and a few moments of perfect calm, and his spirit was
released.
'His death was on the 20th of November, and on the 21st he was privately
buried, at his own request, on the spot selected beforehand.'
* * * * *
He was cut off, as those felt most keenly who were most capable of judging,
'just at the moment when his best qualities were about to show themselves;'
just when the information and experience which he had accumulated were
beginning to ripen into confidence in his knowledge of the country; and to
the historian his figure must remain as an unfinished _torso_ in the
gallery of our Indian rulers. But those who have read the foregoing pages,
more especially the fragments which they contain of his own words and
writings, will have derived from them some impression of the varied
ability, the steady conscientious industry, the genial temper, the
'combination of fertility of resource with simplicity of aim,' of firmness
with tact, of cautious sagacity with prompt resolution, which might have
found even larger scope in the government of India than in the active and
eventful life which has been described.
These attributes, however, do not make up the man, such as he lives in the
memory of those who saw him most nearly. Beneath the manifold outward
workings of his strong and capable nature there flowed a 'buried life' of
depth more than proportionate.
After his death, one who had known him long and intimately, on being asked
what he considered to be the most distinguishing characteristic of his
deceased friend, answered at once, 'Disinterestedness: he seemed utterly
incapable of regarding any subject except with a view to the interests of
his country. And next to that,' he added, 'affectionateness; I never can
forget the grief he showed at the death of his first wife; I thought he
never would have held up his head again.' How this tenderness deepened and
mellowed in the husband and father of later years, some slight indications
may be found in the letters that precede.
Disinterested devotion to public duty; tender and affectionate sympathies;
a passionate love of justice, showing itself especially in a religious
regard for the rights of the weak; all resting on the foundation of a firm
and loving trust in God; these, far more than his ability or his eloquence,
are the qualities that made him what he was: the qualities, by the exercise
and imitation of which, those who seek to do him honour may best perpetuate
his memory.
There is one spot from which that memory is not likely soon to pass away:
the spot towards which, in his most distant wanderings, his thoughts turned
with even more than the ordinary longing of a Scotsman for the place of his
birth, and always with the fond hope that he might be permitted--
life's long vexation past,
There to return, and die at home at last.
'Wherever else he was honoured' (to borrow again from the author already
quoted), 'and however few were his visits to his native land, yet Scotland
at least always delighted to claim him as her own. Always his countrymen
were proud to feel that he worthily bore the name most dear to Scottish
hearts. Always his unvarying integrity shone to them with the steady light
of an unchanging beacon above the stormy discords of the Scottish church
and nation. Whenever he returned to his home in Fifeshire, he was welcomed
by all, high and low, as their friend and chief. Here at any rate were
fully known the industry with which he devoted himself to the small details
of local, often trying and troublesome business; the affectionate
confidence with which he took counsel of the fidelity and experience of the
aged friends and servants of his house; the cheerful contentment with which
he was willing to work for their interests and for those of his family,
with the same fairness and patience as he would have given to the most
exciting events or the most critical moments of his public career. There
his children, young as they were, were made familiar with the union of
wisdom and playfulness with which he guided them, and with the simple and
self-denying habits of which he gave them so striking an example. By that
ancestral home, in the vaults of the Abbey Church of Dunfermline, would
have been his natural resting-place. Those vaults had but two years ago
been opened to receive the remains of another of the same house, his
brother, General Bruce, whose lamented death--also in the service of his
Queen and country--followed immediately on his return from the journey in
which he had accompanied the Prince of Wales to the East, and in which he
had caught the fatal malady that brought him to his untimely end.... How
little was it thought by those who stood round the vault at Dunfermline
Abbey, on July 2, 1862, that to those familiar scenes, and to that hallowed
spot, the chief of the race would never return. How mournfully did the
tidings from India reach a third brother in the yet farther East, who felt
that to him was due in great part whatever success he had experienced in
life, even from the time when, during the elder brother's Eton holidays, he
had enjoyed the benefit of his tuition, and who was indulging in dreams
how, on their joint return from exile, with their varied experience of the
East, they might have worked together for some great and useful end.[6]
'He sleeps far away from his native land, on the heights of Dhurmsala; a
fitting grave, let us rejoice to think, for the Viceroy of India,
overlooking from its lofty height the vast expanse of the hill and plain of
these mighty provinces--a fitting burial beneath the snow-clad Himalaya
range, for one who dwelt with such serene satisfaction on all that was
grand and beautiful in man and nature--
Pondering God's mysteries untold,
And, tranquil as the glacier snows,
He by those Indian mountains old
Might well repose.
'A last home, may we not say, of which the very name, with its double
signification, was worthy of the spirit which there passed away--"the Hall
of Justice, the Place of Rest." Rest, indeed, to him after his long
"laborious days," in that presence which to him was the only complete Rest
--the presence of Eternal Justice.'
[1] One of the Indian journals of the day described the ceremony as
follows:--'On Wednesday afternoon, the few Europeans in the station
collected at five o'clock in the Memorial Garden and Monument. None,
who had seen the spot after the subsidence of the Mutiny could
recognise in the well-planned and well-kept garden, with its two
graveyards, and the beautiful central Monument on its grassy mound,
the site of the horrid slaughter-house which then stood in blood-
stained ruin about the well, choked with the victims of the foulest
treachery the world has ever seen.... The ceremonial was as simple as
it well could be, and few ceremonies could be more impressive.... The
Viceroy advanced to the top of the steps of the Memorial, and, through
the Commissioners, formally requested the Bishop to consecrate that
spot, and the adjacent burial-places. The Bishop, taking his place,
then headed a procession of the clergy and the people present, and
proceeded round the two burial-places and the interior of the Memorial
itself, with music playing and soldiers chanting the 49th, 115th,
139th, and 23rd Psalms. After this, his chaplain read the form of
consecration, which was signed by the Bishop; and, the 90th Psalm
having been sung, he shortly addressed those present in most feeling,
manly, and impressive terms befitting the occasion; and the ceremonial
concluded with prayers read by the chaplain of the station, closing
with the benediction by the Bishop.' The Bishop was the lamented
George Cotton. See his Life, p. 286.
[2] _The Company and the Crown._ By the Hon. T. J. Hovell-
Thurlow.
[3] One of the side valleys which run up northwards from the main
valley of the Beas.
[4] For permission to use this narrative the Editor has to thank
not only its author, Arthur Stanley, Dean of Westminster (and it is
but a small part of the obligations to him connected with this work),
but also the proprietors of the _North British Review_, in which it
appeared.
[5] 'The Expulsive Power of a New Affection.'--_Commercial
Discourses_, No. IX.
[6] That third brother, Sir Frederick Bruce, was laid in that same
vault, when his remains were brought home from Boston, where he was
suddenly cut off in 1867 at his post as Minister to the United States.
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