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CHAPTER XIX.

THE REGENCY.

KWANGSU'S installation had been followed by a conflict of authority between the two Empresses and the Palace eunuchs. The latter appear to have come to the front during the brief reign of Tungche, but Tse An's vigorous measures soon shattered their power and destroyed their growing confidence.

The new ruler had scarcely been placed in the seat of power when a great catastrophe occurred in reference to the foreign relations of China. For the moment it threw every other matter into the shade, and seemed to render the outbreak of war between England and China a matter of almost complete certainty. In the year 1874 the Government of India, repenting of its brief infatuation for the Panthay cause, yet still reluctant to lose the advantages it had promised itself from the opening of Yunnan to trade, resolved upon sending a formal mission of explory under Colonel Horace Browne, an Anglo-Indian officer of distinction, through Burmah to that province. The difficulties in the way of the undertaking were comparatively few, as the King of Burmah was then friendly and seemed disposed at that time to accept his natural position as a dependent of Calcutta. The Pekin authorities, if not enthusiastic on the subject of frontier trade, were still outwardly not opposed to the journey; and if opposition were to be encountered anywhere, it would obviously be on the part of the local officials, which could only be ascertained by making the experiment.

It was thought desirable, with the view of preparing the officials and the public generally for the appearance of this

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foreign mission, as well as to better ensure the success of the undertaking, that a representative of the English embassy at Pekin, having a knowledge of the language and of the ceremonial etiquette of the country, should be deputed to proceed across China and meet Colonel Browne on the Burmese frontier. The officer selected for this delicate and difficult mission was Mr. Raymond Augustus Margary, who to the singular aptitude he had displayed in the study of Chinese added a buoyant spirit and a vigorous frame that peculiarly fitted him for the long and lonely journey he had undertaken across China. His reception throughout was encouraging. The orders of the Tsungli Yamen, specially drawn up by the Grand Secretary Wansiang, were explicit, and not to be lightly ignored. Mr. Margary performed his journey in safety; and, on the 26th January, 1875, only one fortnight after Kwangsu's accession, he joined Colonel Browne at Bhamo. Apparently—or perhaps, more strictly speaking, to those who thought that the Chinese would object as little to the arrival as to the departure of foreigners—there seemed no further obstacle to be overcome. Mr. Margary's arrangements promised to ensure a safe and honourable reception for the mission from the Government of India.

A delay of more than three weeks ensued at Bhamo, which, if inevitable, cannot be characterized otherwise than as unfortunate. Time was given for the circulation of rumours as to the approach of a foreign invader along a disturbed frontier held by tribes almost independent, whose predatory instincts were excited by the prospect of rich plunder at the same time that their leaders urged them to oppose a change which threatened to destroy their hold on the caravan route between Bhamo and Talifoo. Had it only afforded the opportunity for the collection of these tribes, this delay would have been attended with danger; and when on the 17th of February Colonel Browne and his companions—Dr. Anderson, Mr. Fforde, Messrs. Allen and Margary, 15 Sikhs, and 150 Burmese soldiers-approached the limits of Burmese territory, they found themselves in face of a totally different state of affairs from what had existed when Mr. Margary passed safely across the frontier three weeks before. The

preparations for opposing the English had been made under the direct encouragement, and probably the personal direction of Lisitai, a man who had been a brigand and then a rebel, but who at this time held a military command on the frontier, in which he afterwards, despite his unconcealed guilt, attained a still higher rank.

When Colonel Browne renewed his preparations to advance, he was met with rumours of the opposition that awaited him. At first these were discredited, but on the renewed statements that a large Chinese force had been collected to bar the way, it was determined that Mr. Margary should ride forward and ascertain what truth there was in these rumours. The first town on this route within the Chinese border is Momein, which, under the name of Tengyue, was once a military station of importance, and some distance east of it again is another town, called Manwein. Mr. Margary set out on the 19th of February, and it was arranged that only in the event of his finding everything satisfactory at Momein was he to proceed to the latter place; and on the first suspicious occurrence he was to retreat at once to the main body.

We may discern the sanguine hopes of the intrepid explorer who sees himself within reach of a long-expected goal, yet we cannot make any charge of foolhardiness, in the confident tones of the letter which Mr. Margary addressed to Colonel Browne from Momein, reporting that all was quiet at that place, and that there were no signs whatever of any meditated resistance. The letter was the last news ever received from Mr. Margary. On the 19th of February he started from Momein, and the information subsequently obtained left no doubt that he was treacherously murdered on that or the following day at Manwein. An ominous silence followed, and Colonel Browne's party delayed its advance until some definite news should arrive as to what had occurred in front, although the silence was sufficient to justify the worst apprehensions. Three days later the rumour spread that Mr. Margary and his attendants had been murdered. In order to furnish some means of proving its accuracy, was also stated that a Chinese army was advancing to

it

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attack the small English expedition; and on the 22nd of February a large Chinese force did make its appearance on the neighbouring heights. There was no longer any room to doubt that the worst had happened, and it only remained to secure the safety of the expedition. The Chinese numbered several thousand men under Lisitai in person, while to oppose them there were only four Europeans and fifteen Sikhs. Yet superior weapons and steadfastness carried the day against greater numbers. The Sikhs fought as they retired, and the Chinese, unable to make any impression on them, abandoned an attack which was both useless and full of peril.

The news of this outrage did not reach Pekin until a month later, when Mr. Wade at once took the most energetic measures to obtain the amplest reparation in the power of the Pekin Government to concede. The first and most necessary point in order to ensure not merely the punishment of the guilty, but also that the people of China should not have cause to suppose that their rulers secretly sympathized with the authors of the attack, was that no punitive measures should be undertaken, or, if undertaken, recognized, until a special Commission of Inquiry had been appointed to investigate the circumstances on the spot. Mr. Margary was both an accredited officer of the British Government, and he was also travelling under the special permission and protection of the Tsungli Yamen. The Chinese Government could not expect to receive consideration if it failed to enforce respect for its own commands, and the English Government had an obligation which it could not shirk in exacting reparation for the murder of its representative. The treacherous killing of Mr. Margary was evidently not an occurrence for which it could be considered a sufficient atonement that some miserable criminals under sentence of death, or some desperate individuals anxious to secure the worldly prosperity of their families, should undergo painful torture and public execution in order to shield official falseness and infamy.

Although no one ever suspected the Pekin Government of having directly instigated the outrage, the delays in instituting an impartial and searching inquiry into the affair

strengthened an impression that it felt reluctant to inflict punishment on those who had committed the act of violence. Very probably this arose as much from the fear of stirring up the embers of discord among an unsettled people as from sympathy with the deed; but it certainly produced a feeling among the foreign community, partly of apprehension and partly of indignation, which did not augur well for harmonious relations, and which certainly increased the importance of the Yunnan affair. Nearly three months elapsed before any step was taken towards appointing a Chinese official to proceed to the scene of the outrage in company with the officers named by the English minister; but on the 19th of June an edict appeared in the Pekin Gazette ordering Li Han Chang, Governor-General of Houkwang, i.e. Hoonan and Hoopeh, to temporarily vacate his post, and "repair with all speed to Yunnan to investigate and deal with certain matters." Even then the matter dragged along but slowly. Li Han Chang, who, as the brother of Li Hung Chang, was an exceptionally well-qualified and highly-placed official for the task, and whose appointment was in itself some guarantee of sincerity, did not leave Hankow until August, and the English Commissioners, Messrs. Grosvenor, Davenport, and Colborne Baber, did not set out from the same place before the commencement of October. The intervening months had been employed by Mr. Wade in delicate and fluctuating negotiations with Li Hung Chang at Tientsin and with the Tsungli Yamen at Pekin. The end of the year was reached before the Commission to ascertain the fate of poor Mr. Margary had begun its active work on the spot.

The result was unexpectedly disappointing. The mandarins supported one another. The responsibility was thrown on several minor officials, and on the border-tribes or savages. Several of the latter were seized, and their lives were offered as atonement for an offence they had not committed. The furthest act of concession which the Chinese Commissioner gave was to temporarily suspend Tsen Yuying the Futai for remissness; but even this measure was never enforced with rigour. The English officers soon found that it was impossible to obtain any proper reparation on the spot,

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