would have been the less surprising, as he would have had the members of his force heartily with him, and as he could have easily recruited it from the rowdy European population of Shanghai. His victories were obtained in the cause of order and for the sake of a suffering people. Each of them was a blow levelled at the realisation of the scheme that had passed through the brains of Burgevine and the other idlers of the treatyports. He fought not for himself, nor for any love of empty fame or reputation. He only saw that the opportunity was afforded him of doing a great and sterling service to humanity and to his own Government. He also realised the innate self-respect and other virtues of the Chinese character. He perceived that their improvement must and would come from within, and not from without. His courage, * his energy, his uprightness, all impressed the Chinese with a sense of the grandeur of his character, as they had never been impressed before by any other European, and as probably they never will be again. Even after his defeats at Waisso and Changchow their faith in him never wavered for an instant. Those defeats were accidents, which they never doubted would be promptly retrieved. Li Hung Chang had at first regarded him with suspicion. He saw in him a possible rival, a more capable executor of the policy which Burgevine had contemplated. Time was needed to reveal to him the consistent simplicity * During_all_these battles and attacks on fortified places he never carried any weapons. He was always at the front leading his men with a little cane, which his simple men called "Gordon's wand of Victory." of a character which even to his own countrymen is almost unintelligible. With much of the temper and energy of Cromwell, Gordon has given the brightest example, in the annals of either his own country or of China, of what, to use the words of one of his lieutenants, the Christian soldier ought to be.* *The following is the Imperial decree issued on his receiving the Yellow Jacket-an order, said Li Hung Chang, instituted by Kanghi for victorious generals on the occasion of the suppression of Wou Sankwei's revolt:-" On the representation of the assistance rendered by Gordon, Temporary Tsungping of Kiangsu, in the recapture of Changchow, We decreed him the rank of Titu, Standards of Honour, and a Decoration as especial marks of distinction, and directed that Li should memorialize again when he had arranged the affairs of the Force. We have now received a memorial from Li that he has done this in a most admirable manner and requesting some further mark of our favour. It appears that last spring Gordon, conjointly with Imperial Forces, recaptured Fushan and relieved Chanzu, that he subsequently recaptured the Chow city of Taitsung, the district cities of Quinsan and Wukiang, and the provincial city of Soochow; that this year he has recaptured Thsing and Piaoyang, driven back the rebels who had broken out from Yangchow, and recaptured the Fu city of Changchow, for which services we have at various times decreed him honours. He has now arranged the affairs of the Ever-Victorious Force in an admirable manner. His services are of long standing, and the benefits arising from them are abiding; he has throughout behaved as a gallant soldier, and shown himself to have duly appreciated the importance of friendly relations between Chinese and foreigners, and we therefore decree that in addition to his present honours he be honoured with the Yellow Jacket and peacock's feathers, and that four Titu's full-dress uniforms be presented him as a mark of the affection and honour with which he is regarded. Respect this." In a letter written home at the time the recipient of these honours said characteristically: "Some of the buttons on the mandarin hats are very valuable. I am sorry for it, as they cannot afford it over well. It is, at any rate, very civil of them." CHAPTER XVI. THE DEATH OF HIENFUNG AND THE ACCESSION OF - TUNGOHE. The Last Days of Hienfung.-The Tsungli Yamen.-Arrival of English Minister at Pekin.-The Leang-kung-foo.-Emperor refuses to leave Jehol.-Thoughts of making it the Capital.— His Life at Jehol.-His Favourites.-Prince Tsai.-Dissatisfaction at Emperor's Absence.-The Imperial Clan.-Story of the Heir Apparent." This is not the Capital."—Foreign Relations.-Prince Kung and Wansiang.-The Emperor's Study of England.-" Always at War or preparing to go to War."-Hienfung's Health.-Bad Reports.-Cannot live beyond Six Months.-A Comet.-Prince Kung goes to Jehol. -Prevalent Anxiety.-Hienfung's Death.-The Board of Regency. The new Emperor.-Chiseang.-Affairs at Pekin. Kweiliang. The Return to Pekin.—A Crisis.—Prince Kung or Prince Tsai.-The Entry into Pekin.-The Plot.-An Imperial Edict.-Deposition of Board of Regency.-Arrest of its Members.-Order to bring them to Trial.-Elevation of Prince Kung-The original Edicts.-Hienfung's Body.Prince Chun.-Empress Regent.-Precedents for it. The Capture of Sushuen.-His Threats.-His Improprieties.Execution of the deposed Regents.-Alteration of Imperial Style. Chiseang becomes Tungche.-"The Union of Law and Order."-Iching Wang.-Prince Kung's Supporters rewarded.-Ceremonial Visit on Death of Prince Consort.China's Foreign Officials.-Mr. Horatio Lay.-Mr. Hart's Suggestion. The Purchase of a Fleet.-Captain Sherard Osborn. The History of the Osborn-Lay Flotilla.-Unfor tunate Mismanagement.-The Chinese View.-Delays and Inaction.-Breaking-up of the Fleet.-Sent back to Europe. THE Emperor Hienfung did not long survive the establishment of formal intercourse with the foreign Governments. While his brother, Prince Kung, was engaged in the delicate task of arranging the affairs of the Tsungli Yamen,* and the still more difficult operation of showing that China had abandoned all intention of lagging behind the rest of the world, the Emperor himself continued to remain at Jehol whither he had fled in the first moment of alarm on the approach of the foreign armies to Yuen Min Yuen. He refused to so much as return to Pekin, and to witness the presence of those Europeans who detracted as he considered from his dignity. Had it been possible, there is no *This board of foreign affairs was formed in January 1861. On the 22nd of March in the same year Mr. Bruce left Tientsin to take up his residence at Pekin with Mr. Thomas Wade as Secretary of Legation. The quarters of the English ministry had been fixed at the palace of the Duke of Leang, a scion of the Imperial family (Leang-kung-foo). This building is let "in perpetuity" to the English authorities for 1,500 taels a year. Soon after their instalment a staff of six student interpreters was brought out from England. Among these may be mentioned Mr. R. K. Douglas, the well-known sinologue and instructive writer on all Chinese matters. question that he would have sought a remedy for the evil by commanding the removal of the capital; but the transfer of the Imperial residence to any city in the south was not only at that particular moment impossible on account of the rebellion, but always to be deprecated on dynastic grounds as tending to destroy the individual character of the Tartar regime. For a moment there seemed an inclination to entertain the idea that Jehol* itself might be transformed into a capital, but this hope, if it was ever seriously cherished, had to be abandoned as chimerical. Hienfung's absence affected the prosperity of the Pekinese; it could not deprive their city of its natural position as the northern metropolis. Hienfung showed his personal dislike to the new arrangement in more ways than by absenting himself from the capital. He collected round his person the most bigoted men of his court and family. He preferred those who had learnt nothing from recent events, and who, without even the courage of resistance, wished to claim undiminished privilege and superiority. Prominent among his closest friends was Tsai, Prince of I, who had taken so discreditable a part in the incidents that had culminated at Tungchow and Chanchia-wan. With him were associated several members of the Imperial Family, men of passion and prejudice. They undoubtedly meditated the recovery, at the earliest possible moment, of what they considered to Several references were made in the "Pekin Gazette," during 1861, to the fact that quite a town was springing up round Jehol. |