wealthy quarter of the city. That was the first collision with the rebels, and he would refer the House to a remarkable passage in the address or proclamation of the rebel leader after our defence of Shanghai

"Should any of your honourable nation regret what has occurred, and hold friendly relations with our State to be best, they need have no apprehension in coming to consult with me. I treat people according to right principles, and will not certainly subject them to any indignities. Should, however, your honourable nation still continue to be deluded by the Imperialists, and follow their lead in all things without reflecting on the difference between you, you must not blame me if hereafter you find it difficult to pass along the channels of commerce, and if there is no outlet for native produce.'

This showed an alteration in the feelings of the people, brought about by the action of the British forces in China, and Mr. Forrest, writing from Nankin in March 1861, said

were opened, and the trade was confined to them. This was a concession which we had no right to demand, and one which the Chinese need not have granted. The whole river was opened for trade by notification by Admiral Hope and Mr. Parkes in March 1861, though it appeared from a memorandum of Mr. Bruce that at least half the provinces at the mouth of the river were in the hands of the rebels. They overrun vast tracts of land on both sides of the river, and Mr. Parkes described a remarkable scene at Hankow. News had arrived that the rebels were in the neighbourhood. Their emissaries poured into the town, spreading a report of their coming, on which the whole population of the city, amounting to a million souls, fled to the water side, and embarked in boats in the course of the evening. The city was evacuated, and the rebels walked in while the

whole population of three large cities was moving slowly up the stream. Mr. Bruce, in writing to Earl Russell in August 1862,

"I have heard, and believe it true, that the Taepings are making such efforts to take the Yangtze ports, on the idea, that if a foreign consul is once established in any of them, the same protection will be afforded to the place as is given to Shang-saidhai.”

On the very same day, August 18, that the French fired the suburb, Sir R. Napier led his troops to attack the northern forts, and a few days later Lord Elgin commenced his triumphal march to Pekin to extort a treaty of peace from the weak and defeated Emperor. Thus, while we were knocking down the Emperor of China with one hand, we were fighting his rebellious subjects, the Taepings, with the other, and loudly proclaiming neutrality as the only course to pursue. He had mentioned these matters that the House might know the exact state of feeling of the rebels at the period to which he was about to allude. The tactics of the Taepings appeared to be to possess themselves of towns and garrisons, and to expel the inhabitants, so that they might have fewer mouths to feed. Their great object was to possess themselves of the towns and ports on the Yang-tze river. By the 10th article of the Treaty of Tien-tsin, it was expressly provided, that inasmuch as the upper and lower valley of that great artery of Chinese communication were disturbed by outlaws, the opening of the river to trade should be conditional, and subsequent to the establishment of peace; and it was only after a considerable amount of negotiation and the most urgent demands of Mr. Bruce, addressed to Prince Kung in the autumn of 1860, that two ports

"The notice issued by the Admiral and Sir Henry Parkes, on their return from Hankow in the beginning of 1861, had thrown open rather hastily the whole course of the river Yang-tze to

trade."

In another passage he said—

"I look upon our position on the Yang-tze as provisional, so long as the insurrection is in force in that quarter. We have no right to be there at all. It is unreasonable to expect that trade can be carried on in a district which is the seat of civil war, without the inconvenience and restraints due to that unhappy situation.”

"

And, again, he said

I regret that the river was declared open in spite of the objection of Sieh (superintendent of and that the question was not referred to Pekin trade at Shanghai, who had protested against it), in the first instance."

The concession made by the Chinese was. that two ports, and two only, should be opened. What was the consequence of the opening of the river? The very conse. quences that were anticipated by Lord Elgin. An immense illegal trade sprung up-and as the Chinese Prime Minister foresawarms and munitions of war were supplied to the rebels. Illegal settlements were formed at all sorts of places, which had not been sanctioned by treaty, which were not under the superintendence of our consuis, and which were free from any control whatever. Lorchas, manned by pirates and adventurers of every class, and commanded by most unscrupulous personsmost of them Europeans-were employed

through these papers, he had arrived at the conclusion that the good sense of the Chinese Prime Minister had done more to prevent a collision between the British and Chinese authorities than any good ma

by Chinese traders to carry on the salt, the people, and the Chinese preferred trade, from which foreign nations were to allow these practices rather than precluded by treaty. By the employment make an effort to stop them. On looking of these lorchas, an immense amount of smuggling took place up and down the river; and the acts of these people were in consonance with the character of the trade they carried on; the Chinese Customs authorities were set at defiance; pay-nagement on the part of our officers. Anment of duties was refused, violence follow- other result of opening out to trade a ed, and bloodshed took place. Memorials district in a state of civil war was that were presented to Mr. Bruce, and complaints we were brought into collision with the were addressed to him by the Chinese. rebels. He did not wish to blame officers Mutual recriminations ensued, and the na- who acted under orders, but to point out tural result was that the Chinese officials that collision was incidental to the pobecame exasperated, and, in some in- sition of a Power which attempted, in stances, illegal seizures and the detention a period of civil war, to occupy however of bond fide cargoes took place on one small a portion of the country. We had occasion a cargo of tea was detained in the undertaken to give protection to British river; and he was afraid that on some of property and life in China, and to prothese occasions the conduct of our officers tect a certain space around the treaty had not been such as to allay the irrita- ports—a radius of as much as thirty miles tion which had been created. In one in the case of Shanghai-and hence we instance we had seized war junks which had been in constant conflict with the had been stationed at a barrier for its rebels in the neighbourhood of Shanghai protection, and we carried off the custom- and of Ningpo. He had no doubt that the house officer and other persons. He re- combined naval and military operations of ferred to this proceeding. which was the allies had been admirably performed, strongly condemned by Mr. Bruce, to and several towns had been captured, on show the consequences of attempting to the express condition that they should be open 600 miles of a river to trade, when garrisoned by Chinese troops. These the country was torn by civil war, and it troops, however, had either not been was difficult to say in whose hands it really forthcoming or insufficient; so that as was. Mr. Bruce had also condemned the soon we retired, the garrisons had use of force to obtain sites for our settle- been ejected by the rebels, who subments, the applicants refusing to give the jected the people of the towns to the price which the proprietors asked. That was greatest cruelties. Some of these towns what we were accused of; and Mr. Bruce had been captured and recaptured two himself condemned our proceedings. He or three times, and the reprisals had would now ask the House, was it wise on been horrible. In the operations around the part of a foreign nation, established Shanghai the English Admiral had been in a country against the wishes of the wounded, and had narrowly escaped being people for the purposes of trade, to en- taken prisoner; a French Admiral was force treaty stipulations at the cannon's killed, and General Ward was killed in mouth? and was such conduct likely to September 1862. Ningpo was captured reconcile the elements of opposition? Did by the rebels in the autumn of 1861; it not rather afford a handle to the party in May 1862 we re-captured it, and placed opposed to foreign intercourse? These the Imperialists in possession. Ningpo unscrupulous proceedings and illicit trade was opened to foreign trade in 1843; had produced numerous complaints from and it was not until six weeks after it the Chinese Prime Minister, and recrimi- fell into the hands of the rebels in Denations passed between him and our Mi-cember 1861, that Consul Harvey disnister; but the Chinese did not offer forci-covered we had no legal settlement there ble opposition, and did not even attempt to at all. "No definite foreign concession," check the outrages, as we had taught them he said, "had ever been obtained." Admiby bayonet and shell the consequences of interfering with foreigners. One of the great evils consequent on such a protectorate as we had assumed over China was that it was destructive of the authority of the Government and the self-reliance of Bruce

as

ral Hope, writing about the same time, said, "I found, on my recent visit to Ningpo, that no foreign settlement had ever been obtained at that port;" and in a state of some trepidation he wrote to Mr.

with rebels."

"I request that you will bring the measure, course, there was a great inducement on which is at present provisional, to the notice of the part of the foreign settlers to sell the Imperial Government at Pekin, in order that the land to natives. Every one of these the district set apart for the settlement may as soon as possible be made the subject of a joint natives making such a purchase claimed concession to the treaty Powers, in order to give to be ex-territorialized, as it was calledtheir consuls and subjects that legal status which that is, exempted from Chinese jurisdicis indispensable to their security and the continu- tion for any infraction of the law; and to ance of their rights." He wanted to know where the answer to ment had to obtain the permission of the punish one of them the Chinese Governthat despatch was. He could not find it, consul of the nation to a subject of which and he did not believe that any legal settle- the site which he had bought had been ment had ever been assigned to us by the Imperial authority. Writing to Earl Rus-tlements he saw a source of endless emgranted. In the position of these setsell, in January 1862, Mr. Bruce said- barrassment. He wished to hear from the "The Government has addressed me, request- Government how long they intended to ing me to warn British merchants to leave the place [Ningpo] as it will shortly be blockaded. keep up the policy of defending the radius They hope thus to prevent foreigners trading of thirty miles. Did they intend to form an Anglo-Chinese Empire? Did they mean Chusan to be a new Island of Bombay, Shanghai a second Fort George, and Ningpo another Fort William? The only parallel to our present position was to be found in the history of India. It was well known how the French and the Dutch and the Portuguese settlers had faded away before the energy of the Anglo-Saxon in India; and might not the same result follow here? The foreign element in the Chinese custom-house was a most unpleasant matter. There was growing up there a large civil service drawn from the diplomatic ranks of foreign countries; and the only excuse which could be urged for all this interference with the internal affairs of a foreign State, which he understood the noble Lord at the head of the Government to deprecate a week ago, was to give protection to trade. Were those connected with the Chinese trade satisfied with the Chinese customs regulations? On the contrary, the merchants complained, and the Hong-Kong Chamber of Commerce and the Shanghai merchants had memorialized Earl Russell, complaining of the despotic conduct of the custom-house officers, and showing that they stood in more need of protection than they did when the system was worked by Chinese officers only. Lord Elgin himself had borne testimony that the precautions which the mercantile body in their own interest requested the Government to take were directed against the difficulties which might be expected to arise from the introduction of the foreign element, American or British, into the Chinese custom-houses, and he added that the former administration of the Chinese custom houses was singularly liberal. That was a very extraordinary admission, coming from a man who, to use his own

He wished to speak with every respect of Captain Dew; but he must express his opinion that the gallant officer required a very wide area for his operations. Under the pretext of protecting a settlement which we did not possess, he moved his vessel into the direct line of the fire of a rebel battery erected to defend the place against the Imperialists; and when the Imperialists came up, being in the direct line of fire, of course his vessel was struck by some musket-balls -an injury which was at once resented by the bombardment of the town. The position of China at this moment was a remarkable one. As an author said, Russia overshadowed China in the north, France sapped up to her from the south, while England was calmly planted in her centre. But a fourth Power was in the field, and the position of America there was more secure than that of any other country, for it had been obtained by conciliation and forbearance. Here were four of the greatest Powers in the world contending for commercial supremacy in a country torn by civil war, and where no government deserving the name existed. We had assumed a joint protectorate, and was it not likely to lead to complications? The foreign settlements in China were sites of land originally granted in consequence of the Chinese dislike to foreign intercourse, so as to isolate the places of business and the residences of foreign merchants; but, in these times of anarchy and confusion, these settlements had become crowded by enormous Chinese populations, who sought safety under the protection of foreign bayonets. There were 72,000 Chinese located within the Ningpo settlement. The price of land had risen to an enormous extent; and, of

words, had extorted at the mouth of the | had left these shores; but he wished to cannon a treaty of peace and commercial remind the House, that when application privileges from the Chinese Government. He believed that the Chinese were natural traders. He did not want to defend the excessive claims of the foreign traders, but he would say that the only justification that could be offered for a military and naval occupation of China was to obtain facilities for trade, and the facts which he had submitted to the House would show that the Chinese, if left to themselves, would give all the facilities that could be desired, provided we did not mix up politics with trade. How very differently our trade was conducted with China before 1833, and after that date, when the Company's charter expired. During the time that the East India Company's charter existed commercial operations were conducted peacefully, but after 1833 we sent a Commissioner to China, who mixed up politics with trade; and this brought on all the subsequent embarrassments. Yet we still continued the same system. The merchants also had added to the confusion by their precipitancy, and had sought to plant themselves where they would be beyond consular control, in the interior of the country, in opposition to the provisions of the Treaty of Tien-tsin. Let it be remembered that two-fifths of the Chinese custom-house revenue was paid over by way of indemnity for the last war, and the English taxpayer was told that in this way he was being recouped the costs of the war; but the merchants told a very different tale. The Shanghai Chamber of Commerce told us, that in consequence of the additional duty levied for war purposes in the interior, on silk and other articles, the burden fell not upon the Chinese Government, but upon the foreign trade. And therefore the British taxpayer was in this position-that he was actually paying in increased prices the indemnity which he was getting for his expenses in the Chinese war. If it were not for the seriousness of the question, he should say that the position of the English taxpayer was ludicrous. He should like to see put in one column of the account the cost of our fleets and armies in China-the cost of the navy, he believed, was at least £300,000 annually, and probably the cost of the army was about the same-and the amount of indemnity received in another column, and then we should see on which side the balance lay. They had heard a good deal about an expedition fitting out for China, and he believed almost all the ships composing it

VOL. CLXX. [THIRD SERIES.]

was first made to select men and to permit officers to engage in the service of the Emperor of China, the Home Office had not regarded the project with favour. They had described Mr. Ley's request as an unusual one. He looked upon the matter with the eye of a civilian, and as an English subject he felt sorry that the services of such distinguished officers as Captain Osborne and those who accompanied him should be lost to Her Majesty for an indefinite term-not to say anything of the 600 picked men who accompanied them. These men wore Her Majesty's uniform, with the exception of the crown on the button, and even wore the same kind of lace as the Royal navy. What would the Admiral commanding on the Chinese station think, when he knew that the Anglo-Chinese Admiral was receiving a larger salary than himself? He did not know whether this was to be looked on in future as one of the prizes of the naval profession. But he wanted to know what this magnificent expedition, with such fine officers, such picked men, and with such improved arms, was required to do? He presumed that one object for which they would be required would be to control the Chinese navy, of which a notorious pirate was at present commander-in-chief; and he supposed another object would be to put down English smuggling in the Yang-tze-Kiang. Why was it, when the Foreign Enlistment Act was being carried into execution against honest English traders with a rigour that was offensive to the feelings of the people, that it was to be set aside by Royal proclamation in favour of the Emperor of China? He had always thought that mercenaries were looked upon with disfavour in this country, and discouraged from enlisting in quarrels where neither their religion, their laws, nor their liberty was concerned. Yet here we have an expedition setting out in aid of the Emperor of China, under the command of a distinguished British officer, and relieved from the penalties of the Foreign Enlistment Act. No doubt the stake for which we were playing was a high one. He believed that the Chekiang province, of which Hang chow was the capital and Ningpo the port, with a population of 26,000,000, and the Kiang-su province, of which Nankin was the capital and Shanghai the port, with a population of 38,000,000, formed two of the finest trading sites in the world. But a higher than human power controlled human events

3 M

and the success or failure of an enterprise amounted, he believed, to £1,000,000 sterdepended materially on the justice of the ling per annum, and it behoved the repremeans employed to carry it out. He had not sentatives of the people to see whether ventured to approach the international part that large sum, which amounted to an of this question-he would not say whether additional penny of income tax, was or they had violated neutrality-he would not was not being wisely expended. It besay whether or not we had kept our pro- hoved hon. Members also to learn what mises and pledges; but this he would say, was the end proposed to be attained by all that much would be said and written by high those desultory military and naval operations legal authorities and historians on the inter- in China, and what were the views with national bearings of this question. Sooner or regard to them of Her Majesty's Governlater our conduct in all these matters must ment. Any one who had read the desbe brought before the searching tribunal of patches of the noble Lord the Secretary public opinion, and much, no doubt, would be for Foreign Affairs on the subject, must, said before a verdict is pronounced decisively he thought, have arrived at the conclusion, in our favour. Under these circumstances, that when the Chinese war was brought to he asked the House of Commons to weigh a close, and when the joint occupation of well the responsibility which attached to Tien-tsin by the allied forces terminated, our present position in China. For himself, it was the intention of the Government to he believed, that unless we changed our withdraw all our forces from the Chinese policy in China, that civilization which we Empire. Such, however, did not appear proposed to extend there, instead of being to have been the view entertained by the the pioneer of peace and progress, would Emperor of the French. He had sent a be accompanied with the stain of blood. large body of troops to that distant part That trade, from which we expected such of Asia for the purpose of punishing benefits, would be a permanent burden the Tartar Government of China for upon our resources, and irritation and dis- atrocities committed on the persons of content would be created in the minds of a certain French priests; and having sucnaturally peaceful and contented people. ceeded in accomplishing that object, He would now conclude by moving, by way when the time arrived for the evacuof Amendment, that an Address be pre- ation of Tien-tsin by the allies, a portion sented to Her Majesty for Copies of all fur- of the French troops were sent to Shangther Correspondence relating to this subject. hai, with the ostensible aim of defending the mercantile establishments of that place from the threatened attack of the Taepings. What the real object of the French Government in thus inaugurating a crusade against the Taepings was it was difficult to understand. By some, it was attributed to religious motives. It was alleged that the Taepings had embraced a spurious Christianity from the teachings of certain Protestant missionaries, and had imbibed a hatred against the ceremonials of the Roman Catholic religion which they did not hesitate on all occasions to display. But if the Taepings had incurred the hatred of the French on account of their fanaticism, they had no less incurred the hostility of the Anglo-Indian opium merchants because of their rigorous and successful prohibition of the use and consumption of that pernicious drug. Both the parties to which he referred, therefore, might feel themselves aggrieved by the Taepings; but why Her Majesty's Government should have set themselves in opposition to the Taepings, unless to redress the wrongs of the French and the opium merchants, he was at a loss to discover. They had displayed

Another Amendment proposed,

an

To leave out from the word "That" to the end of the Question, in order to add the words " humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, that She will be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House, Copy of a Letter, dated the 24th day of March 1863, and addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, by Colonel Sykes, M.P., together with a Translation of Copy of the Taeping Customs Tariff accompanying the said letter; Copies of all instructions given to Captain Dew, of Her Majesty's Ship Encounter,' by Admirals Hope and Kuper; Copies of all Communications received from or addressed to Admiral Kuper by the Board of Admiralty relative to Naval operations in China; Copies of all Communications between Sir Frederick Bruce and the Chinese Government at Pekin relative to the Foreign Settlement at Ningpo; and, Copies of all further Correspondence relating to China, in continuation of Papers pre

sented in 1863," -instead thereof.

MR. H. BAILLIE said, he was not at all surprised that his hon. Friend should have brought the subject to which he had just drawn attention under the notice of the House. The cost of maintaining a military force in China at the present moment