1

most desirable. Two of its clauses, noted below, not only made the further progress of the Taepings unprofitable, but absolutely made their simple existence most objectionable to all Europeans who hoped to open trade with those provinces lying adjacent to the upper waters of the Yang-zte. When Lord Elgin proceeded to Hankow, he evidently looked upon them as a mere body of rebels, sooner or later to be suppressed by government, and that they in the interval interfered with the due carrying into execution of the terms of his treaty. Consequently he was not inclined to show them much favour.

All these various causes combined have tended to render the Taeping government decidedly unpopular, both at home and abroad. The accounts received of the misery in those provinces occupied by its adherents,

1 Treaty signed at Tientsin, June 26th, 1858 :

Art. IX. 66 British subjects are hereby authorised to travel, for their pleasure or for purposes of trade, to all parts of the interior under passports which will be issued by their consuls and countersigned by the local authorities. These passports, if demanded, must be produced for examination in the localities passed through. To Nankin, and other cities disturbed by persons in arms against the government, no pass shall be given until they shall have been recaptured.

Art. X. "British merchant-ships shall have authority to trade upon the Great River (Yang-zte). The upper and lower valley of the river being, however, disturbed by outlaws, no port shall be for the present opened to trade, with the exception of Chin-kiang, which shall be opened in a year from the date of the signing of this treaty. So soon as peace shall have been restored, British vessels shall also be admitted to trade at such ports as far as Hankow, not exceeding three in number, as the British minister, after consultation with the Chinese Secretary of State, may determine shall be the ports of entry and discharge."

The treaty of 1860 on these points is precisely similar with the above.

together with the cruelties committed by them, have unquestionably deepened this feeling. But as regards these two points, the imperialists have proved themselves equally to blame, and it would require a delicate balance to show to which side was attached the greater sum of barbarity.

CHAPTER XII.

State of the country between Nankin and Shanghae - Mr. Muirhead's visit — Letter from Mr. Roberts giving reasons for leaving Nankin. In the previous chapter two communications are noticed, one from Mr. John, relative to the state of the country between Shanghae and Soo-chow, the other from Mr. Holmes, the American missionary, giving a history of his visit to Nankin. The latter returned to Shanghae, much prejudiced against the Tien-Wang and his followers, and in the summing up of his opinions about them, expresses himself in not very measured language.1 Some months subsequently, Mr. Muirhead, a member of the London Mission, and a gentleman of much experience in all matters relating to China, spent some weeks at Nankin, and, in a letter to the secretary of his mission, gave an interesting and exhaustive account of the religious aspect of the Taepings, as judged from his somewhat, perhaps, too partial point of view. Another communication written shortly afterwards by Mr. Forrest, one of our consular staff in China, describes the country between Soo-chow and Nankin, thus supplementing the account of Mr. John. Mr. Forrest writes from Nankin in March, 1861, having arrived there by land from Shanghae. His letter gives most valuable

1 Parliamentary Papers, 1859-60.

information upon the political character of the Taeping system of government in those districts passed through by him that were under its rule. "Words cannot convey," he writes, "any idea of the utter ruin and desolation which mark the line of Taeping march from Nankin to Soo-chow. The country around the last unfortunate city will soon be covered with jungle, while the vast suburbs, once the wonder of even foreigners, are utterly destroyed; a few miserable beings are met with outside the gates selling bean-curd and herbs, but with these exceptions none of the original inhabitants are to be found, and we' actually flushed teal in the city moat, where, only a year ago, it was barely possible to find a passage from the immense number of boats actively engaged in commerce and traffic. The interior of the city is equally desolate; the whole of the housefronts have been torn down, and the numerous watercourses are filled with broken furniture, rotten boats, and ruin. The same may be said of all cities on the canal, and as for the villages and places unprotected by walls, they have been burned so effectually and carefully that nothing but the blackened walls remain.

"A very large body of rebels was engaged in the erection of defences outside the Chang gate of Soo-chow. The forts have for object the protection of the entrance to the Grand Canal, which was crowded with boats laden with foreign arms, furniture, and goods of all sorts. Great preparations, we were informed, were being made for the storming of Hang-chow, against which place the Kan-wang and seventy thousand newly arrived

1 Mr. Edkins of the London Mission accompanied him.

Cantonese had proceeded. The mass of boats, with the utmost civility and with infinite trouble, made a passage for our boats, and we entered on the Grand Canal.

"The same sad story everywhere suggested itself. Devastation marked our journey. The land on either bank was waste to the distance of a mile from the bank, while the towing-path, which is also the grand rebel highway, was like an upturned churchyard. Human remains were lying about in all directions. During the retreat of the imperialists after the fall of Woo-si,1 the rebels followed them on horseback; no quarter was given to the fugitive troops, whose ranks were augmented by the frightened peasantry; they were slain as overtaken, and if the towing-path yet shows the signs of slaughter, the waters of the canal conceal the remains of by far the greater number of victims.

66

:

Large numbers of Taeping soldiers were passed every day in fact there was one continuous stream of these going from Nankin to Soo-chow and Chin-keang-foo, against which last place the insurgents are making great efforts. We heard the roar of the guns at and near Tam-yang, and the chief at that town told us that they should undoubtedly take the city very soon. could see by the smoke of the burning houses in which direction Chin-keang lay, and remarked at the same time that the rebels had in no way changed their usual destructive habits.

66

We

"I had heard, and believe it true, that the Taepings are making such efforts to take the Yang-zte ports, in

1 Fell when the Taepings burst out from Nankin, and were capturin the towns between that and Soo-chow, 1860 (May).