October 27th.—Nine A.M.—Loch tells me he must be off, so I must end my brief epistle. I take up my abode in Pekin to-day, in the palace of the Prince of I., who played me false at Tung-chow.
Pekin, Prince of I.'s Palace.—October 30th.—I have been in bed for two days with an attack of influenza, but I am better to-day, though not by way of going out. Here we (the General and I) are occupying a great enclosure containing a series of one-storied wooden buildings with covered passages and verandahs. There is a good deal of aristocratic seclusion about the place, as it is surrounded by walls, and entirely cut off from the world without; but there is little appearance of luxury and comfort about it. It rained yesterday and the day before, and I had considerable difficulty in reading in my bed, as my paper windows, which keep out the cold pretty well, keep out also a good deal of light. They are not transparent, so the view through them is not lively. To-day there is a beautiful sunshine, and I have been walking about a little in the court before my room door. The present arrangement is that we remain here till the 8th. I had some difficulty in obtaining this; but it is of great importance that, before the army goes, I should get a decree from the Emperor sanctioning the publication of the Treaty all over the empire. … The French General will not, however, consent to remain.
[Sidenote: Funeral of the murdered captives.]
October 31st.—Another fine day, but I have not left the house, partly from consideration for the remains of my cold, and partly because I have had letters to finish. I have had visits from both my colleagues, Gros and Ignatieff. The latter and I are always very good friends. Perhaps he takes advantage of my simplicity; but at any rate we always seem to agree remarkably. He is wide awake to the Jesuit intrigues here. By the way, I should mention that the French had a wonderful funeral on Sunday, in honour of the murdered captives. I could not attend, being in bed at the time. Several speeches in bad taste were delivered, and a remarkable series of performances took place. Among other things, each soldier (this is, I believe, the French practice on such occasions) fired his musket into the grave, so that the coffins were covered with cartridges. The Chinese say that it was because they were not sure whether the occupants were really dead. On the day following, they inaugurated the old Jesuit cathedral, which they have recovered from the Chinese Government; and the bishop who preached, in order to make amends for the omission of all reference to us at the ceremony of the funeral, complimented Queen Victoria and her digne représentant for having come to China to set up the Roman Catholic cathedral in Pekin. This reflection will comfort ——[11] when he comes to vote next year the balance of the £10,000,000 spent. I have no news of Frederick yet; so I am no further advanced with my own plans than I was when Loch left me.
[Sidenote: Imperial Palace.]
[Sidenote: Visit from Kung.]
Pekin.—November 2nd.—Yesterday, after the mail had left, I mounted on horseback, and with an escort, and Parkes and Crealock, proceeded to the Imperial City, within which is the Imperial Palace. We obtained access to two enclosures, forming part of the Imperial Palace appendages: both elevated places, the one ascended by a pathway in regular Chinese rockwork on a large scale, and really striking in its way; and the other being a well-wooded park-like eminence, crowned by temples with images of Buddha. The view from both was magnificent. Pekin is so full of trees, and the houses are so low, that it hardly had the effect of looking down on a great city. Here and there temples or high gateways rose above the trees, but the general impression was rather that of a rich plain densely peopled. In the distance the view was bounded by a lofty chain of mountains, snow-capped. From the park-like eminence we looked down upon the Imperial Palace—a large enclosure crowded with yellow-roofed buildings, generally low, and a few trees dotted among them. It is difficult to imagine how the unfortunates shut up there can ever have any exercise. I don't wonder that the Emperor preferred Yuen-ming-yuen. The yellow roofs, interspersed here and there with very deep blue ones, had, however, a very brilliant effect in the sunshine. After enjoying these views I went to the Russian Minister's, and found him installed in a house got up à l'Européenne, and looking very comfortable, with his national stoves. He showed me his chapel also. This morning I got a letter from Gros telling me that, in opposition to my advice, he had been to see Prince Kung. I told him he ought to let the Prince come to him first; but the Jesuits think that they can curry favour with the Chinese by making him condescend. They are quite wrong, as I am sure the result will prove. The Prince came to see me to-day before returning Gros' visit, which goes for something in this land of ceremony. I received the Prince with all honour, and had a good deal of talk with him through the interpreters, in a style which reminded me of the dialogue at the commencement of 'Eothen.' I have, I believe, secured the edict for which we have been waiting; so I have done everything except see the Emperor, which I am not likely to do, as he is at Jehol. We ended by photographing the Prince, a proceeding which I do not think he much liked.
[Sidenote: Return visit.]
November 7th.—There has not been much to report since the 2nd. I returned Kung's visit the next day, and we had a more coulant conversation than I have before had with any Chinese authority. It is something to get at men who are so high placed that they are not afraid—or at any rate are less afraid—of being denounced if they listen to foreigners. I dined the night before with the Russian Minister, who was very hospitable. On Sunday I went to see two temples in the Chinese city, the one being that to which the Emperor goes four times a year to offer sacrifices to Heaven, the other the Temple of Agriculture.
[Sidenote: Arrival of Mr. Bruce.]
[Sidenote: Interview with Prince Kung.]
November 10th.—I had got so far when a note from Frederick reached me, saying that he had started at 1 A.M. on the 6th from Tientsin to ride to Pekin, and had been obliged, by fatigue, to rest at Ho-see- woo. We were to have left Pekin on the 8th, so I was obliged to send to beg one day's respite from the General. It was impossible to make Frederick start back to Tientsin on the very day following his arrival. At about noon he reached Pekin. It was a great relief to me, because I had been choosing a house for him, and there were other matters concerning which it was most important that he should be consulted. I found him very well disposed to stay on at Pekin, but on finding that both Gros and Ignatieff were opposed to leaving their legations there for the moment, we both agreed that it would be better to act as they had resolved to do. I therefore wrote to Prince Kung acknowledging the good faith which he had shown about the Emperor's edict and the publication of the treaty (both of which things have been done in the most complete manner), and adding that the English army would, in accordance with the terms of the convention, retire at once from Pekin. I went on to inform him that I proposed to call on him to take leave, and at the same time to introduce to him Mr. Bruce, who had just arrived at Pekin. We proceeded, accordingly, to his palace, at 4 P.M. on the 8th, with an imposing military escort. After we had conversed some time together, I told Parkes to explain to the Prince that in England the individual who represents the sovereign, whatever his personal rank, always takes precedence of all others; that, as my task in China was completed, Mr. Bruce would henceforward occupy that position, and that, therefore, with the Prince's permission, I would give up to him the seat of honour on which I was placed and take his seat instead. I then rose and changed seats with Frederick. This little bit of acting answered very well. It put Frederick into direct relations with the Prince, and did away with the impression (if it existed) of my having superior rank to him. The Prince was civil, and said, rather neatly, that he hoped they would conduct business satisfactorily, not only because he was British Minister, but brother to Lord Elgin, with whom he had had such pleasant relations. On the following day (the 9th), before we started, he came to our abode to return our visit. I made Frederick receive him, telling the interpreters to say that I had no business to speak of, but that I should come into the room before he left the house to take leave of him. The consequence was that Frederick had a long and, to all appearance, satisfactory conversation with him.