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being void of sympathy with them. There came with him also, as Colonial Secretary, Mr. Frederick Bruce, long afterwards to be the first to fill the high post of resident minister at Pekin. With the departure of Sir Henry Pottinger, and the installation of Mr. Davis, we shall be able to turn a little attention to those internal affairs of the Chinese Empire which not less than the development of its external relations affected its welfare.

Judged by the favourite standard of a Chinese ruler, the Emperor Taoukwang came up to the requirements of his exalted office in his sense of how much the people required of him, and also in his manner of giving expression to their wishes. But Taoukwang wanted the energy or the method of supervising the execution of his own orders, or of inspiring his officials with the conviction that they must be carried out without subterfuge. A period of confusion and misfortune always brings the elements of disunion to the surface, and in China, where things are kept quiet among the masses only for want of an opposite example, it has always happened that the smallest symptoms of rebellion are followed by frequent ebullitions of national discontent, which would produce formidable consequences were they better directed or more unanimous in their expression. On this occasion it was thought that China had passed through the crisis without any very untoward mishap, and many were the congratulations on the ground that with a tranquil China paying heed to the Emperor's mandates a profitable trade might be carried on. But although the internal dangers which had presented themselves with such force to the Imperial Cabinet before the signing of the Nankin Treaty, did not reveal themselves as promptly as had at one time appeared probable, the public discontent was deep-rooted and not to be permanently repressed.

To a defeated Government people pay only a reluctant obedience. If that government be an alien one there is a strong temptation to revolt. The authority of Taoukwang was exposed to the double peril. The corruption of the official class, combined with the need for an increased revenue, not merely to provide for the amount of the

indemnity, but also to meet the increased charges on the administration in the way of providing for the greater naval and military expenditure, aggravated the popular discontent, and left no room to hope that it could be allayed save by the removal of grievances which pressed most heavily on the industrious and the toilers. Taoukwang himself was not unaware of the evils existing in the state, nor was he disposed to press with undue harshness on subjects whom he was bound to regard in the light of children. But his officials had to reconcile the two conflicting recommendations in their instructions. They were to supply an increased revenue at the same time that they prolonged the period of paying the land-tax. Under such circumstances it is easy enough to understand the mode they adopted. They sent the stipulated amounts of revenue to the capital, and they praised the sovereign's desire for the welfare of his people; but of practical alleviation they accomplished none.

The Yellow River, despite the ex-Commissioner Lin's special personal attention, continued a source of misfortune to the people dwelling on its banks, and frequent inundations not merely thinned the population, but cut off the means of sustenance of the survivors. Of all forms of misrule and misfortune which affected the welfare of the people none pressed more heavily upon them than the increase in the robber-bands which haunted the country in many directions. The official "Gazette" contains frequent references to outrages by these desperadoes, and sometimes states the rewards conferred on those who distinguished themselves in their pursuit or capture. To such a pass had their depredations gone that it was asserted that a band of these marauders had even made their homes within the limits of the Imperial city itself; but it is not certain whether this language is to be accepted literally or as a figurative expression of the fact that those who supported these iniquities were harboured within the Imperial palace.

The inability of the executive to ensure order and to enforce respect was fully exemplified in Canton as well as at the capital. In the months of May and June a riot was got up by the mob on the excuse that a vane erected on

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the top of the flag-staff over the American Consulate interfered with the Fung Shui, or spirits of earth and air; and although it was promptly removed in deference to the clamour of the superstitious, the disturbance continued, and assumed the proportions of absolute riot. Personal encounters took place between Europeans and Chinese, and in one of these a native was killed. The circumstances were such as justified in every way the act of the European; but the Chinese authorities, led by a weak and vacillating governor, demanded the surrender of the man who fired the shot as a self-convicted murderer. That the Chinese authorities should make such a demand after they had formally accepted and recognized the jurisdiction of consular courts, must be set down as very strong proof that they had not mastered the lessons of the late war in the way that had been hoped and believed. The fortunate coincidence of the arrival of Keying to treat with the representative of the United States did more than anything else to allay the agitation; but the malice of the Canton mob required very little inducement to break forth, and all Keying's vigilance was needed in his capacity of Viceroy of the Two Kwang to effect his object of "amicably regulating the commerce with foreign countries."

*

One of Keying's first engagements was to arrange the treaty with the special envoy sent by Louis Philippe and M. Guizot to extend French commerce and influence in the Far East; and the arrival of M. de Lagrenée and his brilliant suite at Macao followed almost immediately the departure of Mr. Caleb Cushing. A whole month was given up to the discussion in that town of an equitable arrangement; and Keying being now thoroughly sincere in his wish to arrange matters with the foreigners, and the French having no further concessions to demand beyond those obtained by the English for all, it naturally followed

* Keying was appointed at this time both Governor-General of the Two Kwang, and also a High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs-in itself a fact of the greatest importance, as showing that those affairs had already become so important as to constitute the work of a special department.

that the negotiations proceeded briskly and without a hitch. The treaty between France and China was signed on the 23rd of October, 1844, and Keying is reported to have told M. de Lagrenée that France was a great nation which did not think of questions of trade. The capacity of being ironical is not denied even to the Chinese.

The Chinese Government showed a spirit of concession and moderation in more than one point; but perhaps none was more striking or noteworthy in itself than the tolerant views which suddenly began to prevail in Taoukwang's cabinet on the subject of the Christian religion. There is no doubt that the credit of this change of opinion was largely due to the representations of M. de Lagrenée, who obtained the marked concession of an Imperial edict ordaining the toleration of the Christian religion as being one that inculcated principles of virtue. The practical value of this concession was much enhanced by the right conceded at a later period to religious bodies of holding land.

Meanwhile, the day for the evacuation of Chusan and Kulangsu was approaching. An instalment of the indemnity was paid in July, 1845, leaving only one more to be received; and when that fell due, some appeared to think that what was held a short delay invalidated the terms of the treaty, and afforded an opening for the retention of Chusan. But it was soon discovered that the Chinese had not left themselves open to any adverse criticism on the score of not being up to time. By the terms of the treaty the last instalment was to be paid in the twelfth month of the Chinese year, which corresponds to the month of January, not December, and it was paid in the most punctual manner. The English Government personally expressed its admiration at the honourable way in which the Chinese had complied with all the stipulations of the treaty. But the local officials at Canton seemed unable to enforce the clause giving foreigners right of entry into that city, and for several months after the payment in full of the indemnity English troops remained in occupation of both Chusan and Kulangsu.

There was another reason for this hesitation in abandoning the former place, which many thought preferable to

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Hongkong as the permanent site of British power, and that was the current belief that the French would have hastened to appropriate the island for themselves on the withdrawal of the English troops. Probably this had no better foundation than the fact of the French navy being strongly represented at the time in Chinese waters, but that circumstance sufficed to give point to international jealousy. It was not until the spring of 1846, several months after the English troops should all have been withdrawn, that an arrangement was come to for the evacuation of Chusan and for the concession of the right for foreigners to enter Canton; but the execution of the latter right was to be postponed until "the population of Canton shall be more under the control of the local government." This was considered as almost a surrender on our part by those who did not believe that the Chinese could be too much humbled, and who would have allowed them the exercise of their independence only on sufferance; but a consideration of the following summary of events which had occurred at Canton before this arrangement will at once show that there was really no other course to be pursued save that of facilitating instead of hindering the assertion of Taoukwang's authority.

The Cantonese needed but little excuse to break out into disorder, and all Keying's tact and authority did not avail to make peace a matter of assurance. When affairs seemed likely to settle down, the whole progress of the relations was complicated and thrown back by the violent death of a native at the hands of an American, and the details of the occurrence went to show that the act was scarcely to be justified on the ground of adequate aggravation. The death of another Chinaman at the hands of a foreigner stirred up the popular passion to a dangerous pitch, and even the moderate Keying was obliged to bend before the wave of national indignation, and to make a forcible remonstrance and an explicit demand for reparation on the American representative. What Keying demanded was that "the law be executed on the proper person by a forfeiture of his life." But after a long and heated correspondence which continued to the end of the year, the matter