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the throne, and in the auspicious proclamation issued on the commencement of his reign, he dwelt on the difficulty of his task, expressing the hope that he would be able to continue what was admirable in the conduct of his predecessors, while an appeal for assistance concluded in the following terms: "Then do ye, O princes and ministers, civil and military, aid us in the service we have undertaken, that we may add stability to the mighty line, the succession of which has devolved upon us. Let each one give evidence of his fidelity, aiding us by his counsels to the attainment of perfection, that boundless blessings may be manifested to this realm for a thousand million of years." This call for general support was followed by the bestowal of titles upon his younger brothers, men who, in their way, were destined to exercise a profound influence on the policy of China during the thirty years that followed the death of Taoukwang. His next brother, Yih-su, was made Prince Kung; the next, Yih-tah, Prince Shun; the third, Yih-hoh, Prince Chun; and the youngest, Yih-hwui, Prince Fu. They were also distinguished by their numerical order as the sons of Taoukwang, so that Prince Kung ranked and was sometimes known as the Fifth Prince; while Prince Chun, father of the Emperor Kwangsu, was often called the Seventh.

Vigorous measures were taken against those who ventured to circulate false news as to the events which had happened at Pekin, and the hawking about of baseless rumours for the purpose of disturbing the public mind was to be punished at once with decapitation. The very strong measures thus adopted against those who discussed or described the fire in the apartment of the Sixth Prince showed that there was something in the reports, although it was soon made evident that the struggle for power was over, and that Hienfung's rivals and enemies had been silenced. Among the first acts of the new ruler, Su, the viceroy, was ordered to remain at his post in Canton, in order to "manage the important concerns of the frontier," while the arrival of a British steamer off the Peiho, with a letter of congratulation from Governor Bonham, afforded additional proof that the new reign would see no lull in the foreign question, rendered

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more complicated by the sudden emigration of several thousands of Chinese subjects to the newly-discovered goldfields of California. There was not as much reason to entertain surprise at this movement as people seemed to think, seeing that the Chinese had shown, by their going to the Straits Settlements, the Philippines, and Siam, that they had no objection to seek profitable employment abroad.

Hienfung came to the throne at the time of great dearth and public suffering; but his administration energetically strove to alleviate the general distress, and by means of voluntary subscriptions-a very common mode of raising money in China-succeeded in supplying the more pressing wants of the population. The spring of 1850 proved to be exceedingly fine and propitious, so that abundant crops contributed to rapid recovery from the depressing condition to which a large part of the country had been reduced. The obituary ceremonies of the late Emperor shared with ministerial changes the attention of the capital. Muchangah and Keying were removed from their offices, the former because, as it was proclaimed, "his overthrow of those of a different policy from himself when the barbarian question was first raised is matter of the deepest indignation." Nor was Keying's crime less heinous in the eyes of his new prince. "The unpatriotic tendency of Keying, his cowardice and incapacity, are very greatly to be wondered at." Both were only saved from death out of regard for their long services ; but while Muchangah was deprived of all his rank and offices, and forbidden to expect any future employment, Keying was reduced to the lowest grade, it is true, but left

* Muchangah had been for a great many years employed in the public service. He was considered the oldest civilian in the service. As far back as the year 1818 he was a junior vice-president of the Board of Trade and General of the Manchu White Banner. In 1823 he became senior vice-president, and was then employed on several special commissions to different parts of the Empire. In 1836 he was appointed honorary tutor to the Heir Apparent, and in the same year he was rewarded with a seat in the Cabinet. He was soon made the Governor-General of Pechihli―an office not so important then as it has appeared to be since the time of Li Hung Chang. On the death of Changling, in 1838, Muchangah became premier, or, more correctly, first Grand Secretary.

with the hope that he might regain his former position as well as the confidence of his sovereign. The fall of these two ministers, who had enjoyed a longer tenure of office than usually falls to the lot of Chinese officials, showed the instability of rank and reputation among the ministers of the Dragon Throne. Their policy had fallen out of favour, and as their views had become unpalatable, neither their age nor their services could avert their complete ruin and disgrace. The most powerful official in China can never feel certain as to where he will be to-morrow. One day he is the supposed arbiter of the Empire's destiny; the next he has often been reduced to a lower rank than the least important of his secretaries, and he may esteem himself fortunate if he manages to save his life.

The removal of Muchangah and Keying, who were the ministers principally identified with the pacific settlement of the foreign question, could not fail to be generally interpreted as signifying a change of view on the part of the new Emperor as to the mode of dealing with what he designated the affair of the outer barbarians. And whether Hienfung really meant his act to have that effect or not, it gave a fresh impulse to the sentiments hostile to Europeans, and encouraged those who hoped that the day of concessions had gone by. Among no class did Hienfung's early proceedings produce greater excitement than among those literati who, having passed the necessary examinations, become aspirants to office and fame. These saw in the disgrace of Keying, and the exaltation of the Viceroy Su, the certain precursors of a return to that policy of superiority which not merely flattered their vanity, but was perhaps really necessary to the maintenance of their position among their own people.

The effects of this change were first revealed at Foochow, where in the summer of 1850 an attempt was suddenly made to prevent foreigners residing in that town. It was said that the foreigners had the right to come only to trade, and that, therefore, they could not claim to reside within the limits of the city. That privilege had been conceded with much reluctance to the consul, but the merchants were to reside at the mouth of the river. The immediate cause of

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disagreement was the acquisition by purchase of some land on the part of the missionaries who intended building a place of residence and a chapel. The matter had received the sanction of the local magistrate, when the mob, incited by literati of the town, and encouraged, it was more than suspected, by the exhortation of Commissioner Lin, who chanced to be living close to it, made a hostile demonstration in front of the missionaries' new residence. The officials of Foochow were fortunately actuated by more friendly feelings than the people, and in their hands the matter passed out of the sphere of mob violence into the more satisfactory region of regular discussion. It became clear that the Chinese had the best of the controversy. Reference to the treaty showed that the place of residence had been specified as the kiangkan, or mart, at the mouth of the river, and not at the ching, or town, itself. The Chinese were, therefore, shown to be within their right; and the question had to be left for future settlement as one of convenience and good-will.

The mention of Lin's name will serve to introduce the last passage of his eventful career. He had lived down the loss of office which had followed the failure of his plans at Canton, and it really looked as if the wheel of fortune were again turning in his favour. Certainly Hienfung was well disposed towards both the man and his policy, and when the rebels in Kwangsi grew more daring it was on Lin that his choice fell to bring them into subjection. It is far from clear that Lin was the best man for this kind of work, as his experience was altogether of a peaceful character; but the result of the experiment could never be known, as he died on the 22nd of November, 1850, on his way to the scene of the struggle. Although Commissioner Lin failed to achieve any of the objects which he placed before himself, he was thoroughly convinced of the wisdom and necessity of the policy, despite the fact that he never made it successful. His sincerity was above challenge, but he was always more of a moralist than of a statesman. He has been called a statesman, but the claim will not be allowed at the bar of history. He was rather a typical representative of the order of literary officials to which he belonged. Statesmanship is in their eyes the

carrying out of political plans in strict obedience to a groove of action laid down in antiquity, and the able man is he who can most eloquently enunciate great moral truths which he probably does not carry out in his own life, and which without practice and the demonstration of vigour will avail but little to keep an empire together, or to impose obedience to the laws upon a vast population. Nothing, perhaps, showed more clearly the direction in which the young Emperor was drifting than the fact that he conferred on this man, the High Commissioner Lin, the enemy of the English, the posthumous title of the Faithful Duke.

About the same time six portals of honour were erected at Canton to the Viceroy Su for his victory over the English, in having successfully resisted their attempt to force their claims of admission into the city. There was nothing in this to excite any surprise. The authorities felt that their hold upon the respect of the people rested on far too insecure a foundation to allow them to neglect so favourable an occasion of showing that the Government still retained some of its strength. The simple country-folk expressed their admiration for their rulers by attacking and maltreating two American gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Canton. The Viceroy replied that the Americans had brought their misfortune upon themselves by going into the country without a guard, but that he would do everything in his power to capture and rigorously punish those who were guilty.

The first years of Hienfung's reign witnessed what was an entirely novel event in Chinese history-the exodus on a large scale of the Chinese people to lands across the sea. There had in earlier stages of their history been emigrations to Siam, Malacca, and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. The Philippines had owed no fleeting prosperity to their toil. Their trading-junks had passed the Sunda straits, and many of the Emperor's subjects enjoyed wealth and prosperity in lands then and now subject to the sway of England. The Chinaman only requires a sufficient inducement to attract him from his own country, and in 1852 that inducement had been supplied in a way that it had never before been by the discovery of the gold-fields in California and Australia.

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