Chapter XIII: Second Mission to China. Pekin (2)

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 Attaché, 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 représentant_ 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
£10,000,000 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 _à l'Européenne_, 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.