Meantime The Chinese Were Much
Encouraged By The Lull In Hostilities, And For The Time Being Yeh Himself
Was Not Dissatisfied With The Result.
The Cantonese saw in the destruction
of the foreign settlement and the withdrawal of the English fleet some
promise of future victory, and at all events sufficient reason for the
continued confidence of the patriot Yeh.
Curiously enough, there was peace
and ostensible goodwill along the coast and at the other treaty ports,
while war and national animosity were in the ascendant at Canton. The
governor-generals of the Two Kiang and Fuhkien declared over and over
again that they wished to abide by the Treaty of Nankin, and they threw
upon Yeh the responsibility of his acts. Even Hienfung refrained from
showing any unequivocal support of his truculent lieutenant, although
there is no doubt that he was impressed by the reports of many victories
over the English barbarians with which Yeh supplied him. As long as Yeh
was able to keep the quarrel a local one, and to thus shield the central
government from any sense of personal danger, he enjoyed the good wishes,
if not the active support, of his sovereign. But, unfortunately for the
success of his schemes, only the most energetic support of the Pekin
government in money and men could have enabled him to hold his own; and as
he did nothing but report victories in order to gain a hearing for his
policy, he could not grumble when he was not sent the material aid of
which he stood most in need. His unreasonable action had done much to
unite all foreign nations against China. French, American and Spanish
subjects had been the victims of Chinese ignorance and cruelty, as well as
English, and they all saw that the success of Yeh's policy would render
their position untenable.
On the receipt of Sir Michael Seymour's request for a force of 5,000 men,
it was at once perceived in London that the question of our relations with
China had again entered a most important and critical phase. It was at
once decided to send the force for which the admiral asked; and, while
1,500 men were sent from England and a regiment from the Mauritius, the
remainder was to be drawn from the Madras army. At the same time it was
considered necessary to send an embassador of high rank to acquaint the
Pekin authorities that, while such acts as those of Yeh would not be
tolerated, there was no desire to press too harshly on a country which was
only gradually shaking off its exclusive prejudices. Lord Elgin was
selected for the difficult mission, and his instructions contained the
following five categorical demands, the fourth of which was the most
important in its consequences:
Those instructions were conveyed in two dispatches of the same date, April
20, 1857. We quote the following as the more important passages: "The
demands which you are instructed to make will be (1), for reparation of
injuries to British subjects, and, if the French officers should co-
operate with you, for those to French subjects also; (2) for the complete
execution at Canton, as well as at the other ports, of the stipulations of
the several treaties; (3) compensation to British subjects and persons
entitled to British protection for losses incurred in consequence of the
late disturbances; (4) the assent of the Chinese government to the
residence at Pekin, or to the occasional visit to that capital, at the
option of the British government, of a minister duly accredited by the
queen to the emperor of China, and the recognition of the right of the
British plenipotentiary and chief superintendent of trade to communicate
directly in writing with the high officers at the Chinese capital, and to
send his communications by messengers of his own selection, such
arrangements affording the best means of insuring the due execution of the
existing treaties, and of preventing future misunderstandings; (5) a
revision of the treaties with China with a view to obtaining increased
facilities for commerce, such as access to cities on the great rivers as
well as to Chapoo and to other ports on the coast, and also permission for
Chinese vessels to resort to Hongkong for purposes of trade from all ports
of the Chinese empire without distinction." These were the demands
formulated by the English government for the consent of China, and seven
proposals were made as to how they were to be obtained should coercion
become necessary. It was also stated that "it is not the intention of her
Majesty's government to undertake any land operations in the interior of
the country."
An event of superior, and, indeed, supreme importance occurred to arrest
the movement of the expedition to Canton. When Lord Elgin reached
Singapore, on June 3, 1857, he found a letter waiting for him from Lord
Canning, then Governor-general of India, informing him of the outbreak of
the Indian Mutiny, and imploring him to send all his troops to Calcutta in
order to avert the overthrow of our authority in the valley of the Ganges,
where, "for a length of 750 miles, there were barely 1,000 European
soldiers." To such an urgent appeal there could only be one answer, and
the men who were to have chastised Commissioner Yeh followed Havelock to
Cawnpore and Lucknow. But while Lord Elgin sent his main force to
Calcutta, he himself proceeded to Hongkong, where he arrived in the first
week of July, and found that hostilities had proceeded to a still more
advanced stage than when Sir Michael Seymour wrote for re-enforcements.
The Chinese had become so confident during the winter that that officer
felt bound to resume offensive measures against them, and having been
joined by a few more men-of-war, and having also armed some merchant ships
of light draught, he attacked a main portion of the Chinese fleet
occupying a very strong position in Escape Creek.
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