The affairs of India occupied considerable attention during the Session of 1860. Its finances had got into a state of confusion, the public debt was increasing every year, and it was found impossible, by those charged with the administration, to equalise the income and the expenditure. In these circumstances, the Home Government had, in the previous year, sent out Mr. James Wilson as financial member of the Legislative Council at Calcutta. On his arrival in India he devoted himself to the study of Indian finances; and when he had mastered the subject, he matured a plan for the reduction of expenditure, which, in connection with improvements in the system of taxation, would, he hoped, make matters right. He brought this plan before the Council in an able and elaborate speech. It was well received in India and also most favourably in Great Britain; but it did not meet the approbation of Sir Charles Trevelyan, who had been recently appointed Governor of Madras and considered himself a very high authority on Indian affairs. He was betrayed into the indiscretion of attacking Mr. Wilson's scheme. The conduct of a great public functionary in India, in thus openly assailing the measures of the Government under which he served, especially in the then critical state of Indian affairs, presented an example of imprudence so dangerous that it could not be tolerated; and, accordingly, the Home Government gave orders for the immediate recall of Sir Charles Trevelyan. He found able defenders—Mr. Bright among them—in Parliament. Afterwards, in a debate on Indian finance, which occurred on the 13th of August, the Secretary for India, Sir Charles Wood, stated that the recall of Sir Charles Trevelyan was the most painful duty of his public life. He then went into a discussion of the rival schemes and came to the conclusion that there must be new taxes. In fact, the classes best able to bear taxation had hitherto in a great measure escaped it; merchants and fund-holders could be reached only by means of an income-tax and this measure was therefore adopted. The result of Mr. Wilson's scheme realised the most sanguine expectations of its supporters. He was unfortunately removed by death in the midst of his labours, being cut off by cholera, at Calcutta, on the 11th of August, after a residence of about a year in India; but the system he inaugurated was ably carried out by his successor, Mr. Laing; in consequence of which the resources of India were very rapidly developed and the country entered upon a career of prosperity quite unprecedented in its history. Railways were constructed, irrigation works were restored, private enterprise was encouraged, and social progress was promoted in every direction; a remarkable instance of the good that may be effected by sound economic principles, honestly carried out.
An Act was passed this year for the reorganisation of the Indian army, which was one of the consequences of the transfer of the government from the East India Company to the Queen—a benefit to India of immense magnitude, resulting from the late mutiny. The India Council was opposed to the change in the army; but the Cabinet sustained Sir Charles Wood and Parliament sanctioned the measure. On the 12th of June Sir Charles Wood brought in a Bill to alter the regulation of her Majesty's local European forces in India. The East India Company had maintained three armies, one at each presidency, part of which consisted of Europeans, enlisted in Great Britain for local service in India, the proportion of which to the Company's native troops was two to one. After the mutiny had been put down, there was much discontent among the European soldiers with reference to the new arrangements; in consequence of which many of them were discharged and sent home. It was resolved, after much consideration, that our military power in India should consist of a uniform force, instead of the anomaly of two European armies. After a lengthened debate, Sir Charles Wood replied to the objections that had been made to the Bill, and the House divided, when the second reading was carried by a majority of 289 to 53. The Bill also encountered some opposition in the Lords, but the second reading was carried nem. con., and it quickly passed through the other stages and became law. Equally important was the vote for nine millions for coast defences, defended by Lord Palmerston in a masterly speech enumerating the dangers to which England was exposed. It caused great friction in the Cabinet, so much so that Lord Palmerston wrote to the Queen, "however great the loss to the Government by the retirement of Mr. Gladstone, it would be better to lose Mr. Gladstone than to run the risk of losing Portsmouth or Plymouth." The Chancellor of the Exchequer, however, remained in office, after a hard-hitting correspondence with the Premier. The Bill passed by large majorities.
The Session was brought to a close on the 28th of August. The Queen had gone to Scotland and the Royal Speech was delivered by the Lord Chancellor. It referred to frightful atrocities that had been committed by the Druses on the Christian population of Syria, who had been massacred in great numbers in the most treacherous and barbarous manner. Those atrocities inspired the Queen with the deepest grief and indignation and her Majesty had cheerfully concurred with the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the Prince Regent of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, in an engagement with the Sultan to send him military assistance, so long as it would be necessary, to re-establish order in that part of his dominions. The only one of the parties who fulfilled this engagement, however, was the Emperor of the French, whose Syrian expedition accomplished the mission assigned to it in a satisfactory manner. The Speech also alluded to a joint expedition of French and British forces sent to the Chinese seas, which were to advance to the northern provinces of the empire, in order to support the just demands of the Allied Powers, and to give all possible weight to the diplomatic action of Lord Elgin, who had gone out as special ambassador for this service. It was he who had negotiated the Treaty of Tientsin, the faithful and full performance of which was now demanded from the Emperor of China.
The massacre of the Maronite Christians in Syria, referred to in the Royal Speech, was one of the most frightful occurrences of the kind on record. Lord Dufferin, who was appointed British Commissioner in Syria, describes some of those scenes in his despatches to Sir H. Bulwer, the British Ambassador at Constantinople. He attributed the massacres and all the wars, quarrels, and disturbances that had agitated the Lebanon for the last fifteen years, to the dissatisfaction of the Turkish authorities with the measure of self-government enjoyed by the Christians. Their policy was to prove the scheme adopted by the Great Powers in 1845 as impossible. With this object they stimulated, as occasion served, the chronic animosity existing between Maronites and Druses. In proportion as foreign influences exalted the arrogance and fanaticism of the Christians, their independence became more insufferable to the Turks, and a determination was arrived at to inflict on them, through the instrumentality of the Druses, a severer chastisement than they had yet received. But he states also, that the Christians had been long meditating an onslaught on the Druses, which was to end in the overthrow of the Turkish authority in Lebanon. On the 28th of May a general attack was made on the Maronite villages in the neighbourhood of Beyrout and Lebanon, and they were burnt to the ground. Next day Hasbeya, a large town under Mount Hermon, was attacked by the Druses. The Turkish commander told the inhabitants that if they laid down their arms he would protect them. They did so, and were sent under a small escort towards Damascus, and were seized on the way by a body of Druses. Having got rid of the armed men, the treacherous commander abandoned the place; and, on the 5th of June, the Druses rushed in and murdered indiscriminately the whole male population in the most revolting circumstances, the Turkish soldiers assisting in the work of slaughter. Several other towns were treated in the same manner. The number of killed in this horrible massacre has been variously estimated; some say that 900, and others that 1,800 persons were slain. Beyrout itself was threatened by the infuriated and victorious Druses; and the presence of an English pleasure-yacht in the harbour, with a single gun, is supposed to have had more effect in averting the danger than all the troops of the Turkish Pasha, whose conduct, in fact, showed that he connived at the massacres. On the 9th of July similar outrages began at Damascus. A mob of the lowest order of Moslem fanatics assembled in the streets, and instead of being dispersed by the Turkish troops—of whom there were 700 in the town, under the command of Ahmed Pasha—they were allowed to increase until they began a general attack upon the houses in the Christian quarter and committed many murders. The soldiers sent to quell the disturbance joined the mob and next day the work of destruction was renewed with greater violence. On the 11th of July there were about 18,000 or 20,000 Christian inhabitants in the city, and 7,000 or 8,000 poor refugees from other quarters. Between 11,000 and 12,000 were collected in the castle and fed by the Government.
These deplorable events, of course, caused strong representations to be made to the Sultan by the ambassadors of the Christian Powers, in consequence of which he sent Fuad Pasha, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, with a strong force, to Syria, to execute summary justice upon the guilty parties. He did so with a vengeance. At Beyrout he hanged and shot a great number of Moslems; and the following despatch, transmitted by him to Constantinople from Damascus, dated August 4, will show the vigour with which he executed his task:—"Yesterday I arrested 330 persons guilty of having taken part in the massacres. To-day the number of arrests exceeds 400. By the day after to-morrow, at the latest, the principal persons who are seriously compromised will have been apprehended." The French expedition was under the command of General Beaufort d'Hautpoul, and left Marseilles in the beginning of August. It numbered about 12,000 men and met with little resistance. By a later convention between the Great Powers, the stay of the French troops was prolonged till the 26th of June, 1861, to enable a plan to be formed for the organisation of the government of the Lebanon and to secure the tranquillity of Syria. Lord Palmerston was alarmed at this, and believed that Napoleon was determined on a permanent occupation of the country. From these and other causes he went so far as to tell the French Ambassador, Count Flahault, that it was impossible to trust the Emperor any longer, and that if war was forced on England, England would fearlessly accept it. However, at the end of July Lord Dufferin was appointed to act as British Commissioner, in conjunction with commissioners on the part of France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. The object of the commission was to inquire into the origin of the disturbances and outbreak, to alleviate the sufferings and losses of the Christians, and to make arrangements for the future administration of Syria, so as to prevent, as far as possible, a recurrence of similar calamities.
It would seem as if the difficulties with China were destined never to have an end. The Treaty of Tientsin provided for the appointment of ambassadors on the part of Great Britain and China to reside at their respective Courts, and for the permanent establishment of the British Minister at the Court of Pekin. The Honourable Mr. Bruce, brother of Lord Elgin, was accordingly sent out in March, 1859. Anticipating the usual obstacles of Chinese diplomacy in the way of the plenipotentiary to the metropolis, he was required to do his duty firmly and admit of no excuses; but insist on the right of presenting his credentials to the Emperor in person and to require the literal fulfilment of the treaty with regard to the establishment of the mission permanently at Pekin. A sufficient naval force was to accompany him to the mouth of the Peiho. He arrived at Hong Kong in the month of May, and was joined there by M. de Bourboulon, the French Ambassador. When they reached Shanghai, it was proposed to them by the Chinese authorities that the ratifications should be exchanged there, or that, if they must go to Pekin, it should be by land, a journey of two months, instead of ascending the river Peiho. They, however, insisted on the latter route, and were escorted by a squadron of gunboats and some other vessels under the command of Admiral Hope. Proceeding in advance to reconnoitre the fortifications, he found those demolished last year now strengthened by additional ditches, with an increased number of more powerful booms. Few guns were visible, but there were numerous embrasures masked with matting. After waiting for some days, tantalised with false promises and evasive answers, Admiral Hope was resolved to force his way up the river. The first barrier was penetrated, when a tremendous fire suddenly opened from the forts, where guns of large calibre had been concealed. The Plover was disabled, the Kestrel sunk in her position, and the admiral was severely wounded. He then determined to take the forts by coup de main. A landing was effected, in obedience to his orders, on the evening of the 21st of June, but the attempt completely miscarried.
In consequence of this humiliating repulse, Lord Elgin was again sent out as British Plenipotentiary, with a powerful expedition, to enforce the execution of the treaty of which he was the author. General Hope Grant, then in India, was appointed to the chief command, and several Sikh regiments volunteered their services. Baron Gros, the French Plenipotentiary, accompanied Lord Elgin. They arrived at Hong Kong on the 21st of June, 1860. On the 25th of July the French expedition joined the British near the mouth of the Peiho river; disembarking at Pehtang, where they remained encamped to the 12th of August. In the meantime an ultimatum had been sent to Pekin, demanding satisfaction for the treacherous attack on the British, the immediate ratification of the treaty at Pekin, permission to proceed in a British vessel to Tientsin, and an escort to conduct the British Ambassador with due honour to Pekin. The French Ambassador joined in these demands, which also included an indemnity for the losses sustained. The Great Council answered this despatch, stating that its contents had filled them with the greatest astonishment, and that they were altogether contrary to "decorum."
THE IMPERIAL PALACE, PEKIN, LOOKING NORTH.
Nothing now remained for the Allies but to fight their way to the metropolis. They advanced along the banks of the Peiho, constructing bridges over the creeks and ditches, till, arriving within a mile of Taku, they encountered the enemy's batteries, which they carried by storm, routing the Chinese garrison, and capturing forty-five guns. They then advanced against the Taku forts, which they assailed with Armstrong guns at 2,000 yards' range, the Chinese firing upon the troops from all their forts within range so effectively that our sappers were unable to lay down the bridge, the men who carried it being knocked over and the pontoon destroyed. A breach, however, was soon made, our men swarming across and entering single file in the most gallant manner. At the same time the French effected an entrance, the garrison was driven back step by step and hurled pell-mell through the embrasures on the opposite side. After an hour's desperate fighting, the whole of the forts on both sides of the river hauled down their war banners and hoisted flags of truce, but they refused to surrender. In the course of the evening, however, they abandoned all their positions, leaving 400 guns in the hands of the Allies. Admiral Hope then advanced to Tientsin, which he occupied. There he found a placard posted on the walls, announcing that the barbarians were defeated, and were suing for peace, and that the inhabitants need not be alarmed. Negotiations were then opened by fresh commissioners of high rank, whom Messrs. Parkes and Wade were sent to meet at Tangchow, twenty-five miles distant. On the 15th of September they returned, having made satisfactory arrangements for Lord Elgin's reception; and camping-ground had been assigned to the British forces. On arriving at the spot, however, they found it occupied by a large Chinese army; while batteries had been hastily thrown up and armed so as to flank the proposed site of the British camp. Mr. Parkes started back to Tangchow to see the High Commissioners, and ask the reason of this move. He was accompanied by Mr. de Morgan, attaché to the British Legation, and by Mr. Bowlby, correspondent of the Times. Meanwhile, the Chinese cavalry, which were very numerous, had almost entirely surrounded the British forces. Sufficient time had elapsed for the party to arrive from Tangchow. While anxiously waiting for them, a sudden attempt was made to assassinate Colonel Walters and others, including some French officers. Mr. Parkes and his companions, however, did not return. They were all taken prisoners by the Chinese, carried off into the interior, and treated with frightful cruelty; their hands and feet being so tightly bound with cords that in some instances the flesh burst and mortification ensued.