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