ARTICLE V.

RETROSPECT OF EVENTS IN CHINA, FOR THE YEAR 1875.

BY ARCHIBALD J. LITTLE, F.R.G.S.

THE

THE year just past has been marked by two events of great importance, in so far as this part of the world is concerned : the murder of Augustus Raymond Margary, assistant in H. B. M.'s Consular service, and the death of the Emperor known by the style of T'ung-chi. Both events created great excitement at the time and promised momentous changes in the foreign relations of the empire; but in the one case a mission of enquiry has staved off the impending trouble, and in the other case the succession to the throne has been peacefully transferred to the infant under whose reign of KWANG-SU we are now living.

The news of the death of Mr. Margary reached us on the fifth of April by the mail steamer from India, but the news was known to the Chinese in Peking some ten days earlier. The sad event occurred on the 21st February at a place called Manwyne, a walled village in the Sanda valley in the "Shan" territory, called by the Chinese, the land of the Pa i (A) or "eight barbarian" tribes. The attack is said to have taken place in the "Khyong" a sort of temple and "guest-house" which exists in all these towns. The Shans are feudatory to the Chinese. This city is often confounded with Momein in the Chinese jurisdiction of Teng yueh chow in Yunnan: the proper name for which is Teng-yueh-ting (

a town registered in the "Tsin-shen" or Chinese Civil List, as a residence of a "Ting" magistrate, under the prefecture of Yung ch'ang foo). Mr. Margary had, after a long and adventurous journey, already passed through both cities on his way westward; and had joined Colonel Browne, who had been appointed leader of the proposed expedition through the western provinces of China in Bhamo. It was on his return journey while prospecting in advance of the party that he was fallen upon and killed; report

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Vide Memorial" from the Tsungli Yamên, 28th August 1875. "The British Interpreter Margary and his party were proceeding from Burmah into Yunnan, when, at a town fifty li southwest from the seat of government at the Shan principality of Sanda, subject to the prefecture of Yung-chang they were attacked by troops in the service of the government and [Mr. Margary was] murdered," &c.

says under the direction of the high Chinese officials of Yunnan without whose connivance the Shaus, a semi-civilised race would not have ventured such an act: whether truly or not the investigations of the commission now on its way thither, will ere long inform us. The horror and disgust which this cold blooded crime inspired in the breasts of poor Margary's fellow-countrymen, and indeed of all foreigners throughout China, led people to look for war as the only means of duly avenging the murder on the native officials who were supposed to be its instigators, and on the literati class generally who are believed to approve it. As time wore on, however, these feelings calmed down and the complicity of the mandarins was no longer felt to be an absolute certainty. Meanwhile the joint commission was determined upon by our minister at Peking; and it was hoped and believed that the real truth would be ferreted out, and the guilty brought to punishment. This commission was composed, on the British side, of the Honourable T. G. Grosvenor, second secretary of H. M. Legation at Peking and Mr. Baber, consular interpreter; together with Mr. Davenport, the then vice-consul at Shanghai, attached as a sort of legal assessor and accompanied by Sung Pao hwa: on the Chinese side, of Li Han chang, governorgeneral of the two Hu. They were preceded by Liu and assisted by Chên, late judge of the Shanghai Mixed Court; altogether a body so constituted as to ensure a fair hearing and a thorough investigation. This party started on the fifth of October from Hankow, reached Shasi on the 25th November, Ichang on the 1st December and Kwei chow fu on the 13th of that month. Li Han chang and his colleagues arrived in Yunnan fu on the 13th November and immediately sent a report to the Peking government; who published an edict on the 9th day of December last, degrading the officials concerned in the outrage, preparatory to their formal trial.

Six months thus elapsed from the time the news of the murder was received to the final despatch of the commission to adjudicate upon it. The interval was filled with negotiations between the British government, represented by Mr. Wade, on the one part; and the Peking authorities, who deputed Li Hung chang, viceroy of Chihli as their plenipotentiary, on the other part. The agreement was not arrived at without enormous difficulty; and the greatest credit is due to Mr. Wade for his patience and pertinacity in bringing the negotiations to a successful issue, without having recourse to that force, which would have been the resource of a less able diplomatist. People at the time, especially his fellow

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Liu Yo-chao, Governor-General of Yunnan and Kweichow had gone to his native place in Hunan. He was now ordered to return and "cooperate with the Governor (Ts'en yü-ying) in selecting officials of intelligence and ability to deal with the matter as justice requires."

countrymen here in China, annoyed at the long delay in exacting retribution, hardly gave Mr. Wade that full credit for his action in the matter which time is beginning to award him; and which his government has deservedly acknowledged with a K.C.B. Mr. Wade, now Sir Thomas, had an extremely difficult task to fulfil; and a slight sketch of the negotiations, as far as known, will hardly be out of place; as showing the system pursued, and at the same time the great difficulty of obtaining redress from the Chinese government in dealing with foreign affairs.

News of the outrage reached Peking at the end of March; and H. B. M.'s minister at once demanded the despatch of a high Chinese commission to investigate the crime on the spot, and bring the guilty parties, whatever their position, to punishment: at the same time insisting that no one should be sentenced until a commission of foreigners, appointed by himself, should have had the opportunity of investigating the evidence and assuring themselves of the real guilt of the accused. The Chinese were long in yielding a general compliance to this demand; until a threat of hauling down his flag induced them to give way, and to appoint Li Han chang, viceroy of the two Hu and brother of Li Hung chang as special commissioner. Meanwhile a memorial was received at Peking from the governor of Yunnan, in which the attack upon Margary was attributed to a popular outbreak, and that the only blame due to the officials was an inability to foresee the disturbance, or quell it in time. On the 19th June the first notification on the subject appeared in the Peking Gazette; viz. the appointment of Li Han chang to proceed to Yunnan "to enquire into and settle a certain affair which had occurred in that province," no notice of foreigners or foreign troubles having been made. To this apparent disposition of the Chinese authorities to gloss over the matter, and let it seem to their own people one of comparative insignificance, must be attributed the hitch which about this time occurred; and which led to a renewal of negotiations and the postponement of the departure of the commission. At the same time too, the strongest orders appear to have been received from the home government by Sir Thomas Wade ordering a firm stand to be made for all the points demanded; viz. a full investigation, degradation and punishment of the guilty however high-placed; acknowledgment of the status of British subjects, and their right to travel in the country; the publication of these facts in the Government Official Gazette; and the establishment of direct intercourse with the Heads of Departments in Peking, in lieu of being limited to the Tsung-li yamên or department of Foreign Affairs as heretofore. Sir Thomas Wade spent the early summer in Shanghai, presumably in order to remain in telegraphic com