The I. G. in Peking: letters of Robert Hart, Chinese Maritime Customs, 1868-1907, Vol. 2 9780674443204

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|.a ESLES pieae SHG Hreeeee EeBeeDeke SeeGate eePEER EeIESe ee oe ea bey PU Ae ees i he Be a Egme i BOT2 ee SRNR. Sea esoo Enns — Con Saar SEI OE EE SS SASS EES a ppeeepere: a Ra im ay ip EAS PAAR eet Ea a aeas Bi ife Reeee Bern Reet. cence SR ae bade te Sera Ren Sie a ersten Tia Dis ENE R nie SUES Sera dc a a 7EEOC EER Pe erecta EE ORE ASO: BREESE Oe ORR | Toe ati eete bes 2S I am glad to hear the sum will suffice, and that there is a prospect of your being able to commence work before receipt of instructions. Your letter for further instructions is not yet to hand; my letter this morning came through the Legation, and our own mail will be up in the evening—perhaps your letter will be in it. Don t leave England for China until I tell

you to do so. . The preparation for Treaty Revision is just ending, and now the British Govt. will be asked by Sir R. if the concessions suffice. Not a word has been said about rail or telegraph! But a great advance on former treaties generally is made.°®

[41] DECEMBER 1868

The new U.S. Minister, Mr. Browne, is a very nice man, and has a charming family.’ Lady Alcock is confined to bed with bronchitis: Dr. Bretschneider has been in a dying condition—disease of the heart—for a long time back: Bishop Momilly died on the 5th; T.T. Meadows (Niuchwang) died on the 14th Nov.; de Rochechouart by mistake took a bottle of colchicum for gout, instead of 25 drops, and nearly killed himself—he is still in bed— a fortnight ago.® Glover is savage that he has not got Shanghai, and the newspapers pitch into me regularly now.’ There’s my budget of news. Ross is an excellent man, and can give us gas on Christmas Day if we like: the Peking people commence to think I am about to roast babies! I hope we’ll not have a row in the Kowlan Hutung!!° Medhurst has seized Tseng-Kuo Fan’s'' steamers and is now at Yangchow with 300 Marines.” Braves are pouring into the place from all quarters, and there’s quite a chance of another great local war in China! With kind regards,

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Campbell’s son, in his memoir, says that she died Hart refers here to the agreements reached by the

of accidental poisoning. mixed commission, which had worked with re-

markable smoothness, by the fall of 1868. From 2. Charlotte Hart (1842-1868) was married to the the work of this commission there came the Alcock Reverend Wesley Guard, a Methodist minister. Convention early in 1869 (see prefatory note to letter 13). 3. James Henry Hart, usually called Jem by his

older brother, had been in the Customs since 1867 7.J. Ross Browne had been appointed United States and was at this time acting Chinese Secretary at minister to Peking in 1868 in succession to Anson

the Inspectorate in Peking. Burlingame when the latter left China on his mission from the Ch’ing government to the Western powers.

4. Mrs. Hart had had a miscarriage in the previous | Browne was recalled in July 1869. year.

8. Emile Vasilievitch Bretschneider, a Sinologist 5. “Calf 5 6.7” is cable code for some message con- who was doctor to the Russian Legation from 1866 nected with the Emily affair (see letter 4n2). Hart’s to 1883, did not succumb to his heart condition journal entry for December 3 cites a telegram from until long after his retirement. He died in Petrograd Campbell to the effect that $300,000 would suffice in 1901. He was the author of a number of books, for “secret service money” and that “‘the business” among them: On the Knowledge Possessed by the

would probably begin shortly. Ancient Chinese of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies,

We do not know what cable code Hart and Camp- and Other Western Countries, Mentioned in Chinese bell used in their early correspondence. In letter Books (London, 1871), and Mediaeval Researches 29 (1872) Hart proposes a cipher based on a re- from Eastern Asiatic Sources (London, 1888). versed alphabet; beginning in 1873 they used Larra- Thomas Taylor Meadows, who had entered the bee’s “Cipher Telegraphic Code” (see letter 59). British Foreign Office in 1843, was the consul at Newchwang. He was the author of several books on 6. The Tientsin treaties of 1858 had called for re- | China, among them Desultory Notes on the Govern-

vision after ten years of those clauses that had ment and People of China, and on the Chinese proven inadequate in practice. The Tsungli Yamen Language (London, 1847), and his best known work, in January’ 1868 appointed two Ch’ing officials and The Chinese and Their Rebellions (London, 1856). Hart to represent it on a mixed commission to nego- Comte Julian de Rochechouart, French chargé tiate revisions with Britain, which was represented d’affaires in Peking, later served twice as French by two members of her consular service (Hugh minister to China (1869 and 1875). Fraser and Thomas Adkins). The subjects dealt

with related mainly to the foreign merchants’ de- 9. George B. Glover, an American who had joined sires for conditions more favorable to the expansion the Customs in 1859, was the commissioner at

and increased profit of foreign trade. They sought Canton. °

the opening of the Chinese interior to foreign resi-

dence and business enterprise, permission for for- 10. Captain R. Ross, British, had joined the Cuseigners to develop railways, telegraphs, and mines, toms Service in June 1868 as a gas engineer; he reand reduction of taxation on the foreign trade. The signed in September 1870.

Chinese feared railroads as a means of foreign The Kowlan hutung was the side street or lane in penetration; telegraphs they felt to be unimportant; Peking where Hart lived. mining they opposed, in part for geomantic reasons.

[42] THEI. G. IN PEKING 11. Tseng Kuo-fan was at this time a grand secre- Tseng’s eldest son was Tseng Chi-tse (known in tary and governor-general of Kiangsu, Anhwei, and the West as Marquis Tseng), China’s second minister Kiangsi (the Liang-Kiang provinces), although he was_ to London and an important figure later in the

shortly to assume the post of governor-general of letters. Chihli, to which he had been appointed in September 1868. Tseng was the principal Chinese official 12. On November 7, 1868, Consul Medhurst had

of the time, who had defeated the Taiping rebels returned to Nanking, this time with four British with his Hunan army (known to foreigners at the warships, and had secured Tseng’s acceptance of time as the Hunan Braves). He had also sponsored British demands. He then went on to Yangchow the Kiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai, where the first | with two gunboats and 300 British troops and resteamship of Chinese manufacture had been built mained there until all the British demands for

in 1868. reparation had been met.

27 January 1869 Dear Campbell,

Before you come out I want you to select five Germans (Northern Confederation) on the same terms as the Russians recently engaged by Forbes for fourth-class clerkships.1 They must be under 23 years of age and over 19; must speak and write English; they will each receive £200 on account of outfit and passage to China, and from date of arrival at Shanghai will receive pay at the rate of £400 a year and be lodged in the Customs’ Buildings. Of these gentlemen I want two to come out in September 1869, one in March 1870 and the other two in September 1870; I wish, however, to put all the names on my list as soon as possible; so as to complete the establishment to the end of that year. Blank appointments will go forward by next mail. See about this at once: and write the moment you have fixed

on anything. | .

Yours truly, Robert Hart Get sensible mild fellows: not pugnacious hot-headed men such as Kleinwachter and Detring. Real pucka North Germans: mind! Don’t re-engage Vernimb if he applies.” 1. Captain Charles Stewart Forbes was then marine Northern Ports, and grand secretary. Detring and

commissioner in the Customs Service. Hart, both wanting to act as confidential guides to the Chinese government, sometimes found them-

2. F. Kleinwdchter, a German who had joined the selves near to collision. Yet Hart, contrary to his Customs in 1863, was commissioner at Chinkiang. usual custom of rotating his Customs commissioners, Gustav Detring, a persistent figure throughout saw fit to let Detring remain at Tientsin during the correspondence, was a German who had joined virtually his entire Customs career (see letter 377 the Customs in 1865 and was to become a comis- for his reasons).

sioner in 1872. For nearly three decades (1877- J.F.W. Vernimb, a German, had joined the Service 1904) he was posted to Tientsin, where he became —_ on the recommendation of Commissioner F. Wilzer,

the trusted adviser to Li Hung-chang, governor- arriving at Shanghai in May 1865. He resigned in general of Chihli, superintendent of trade for the April 1866 while still a 4th class clerk.

[43] JANUARY 1869

30 January 1869 Dear Campbell,

I have your letters up to the 6th Nov. The Yamen! has not yet told me what it wishes Mr. de Mas to do, and I cannot send on instructions till next mail, which will leave this [place] on the 13th Feb.” The Yamen would “‘like to eat its cake and have it too”: it would like immensely to get hold of that place, but it would like, too, to get it without changing those Regulations. England and France took off the pressure in August last, just as the Yamen was about to yield, and, except that I have continually warned them that our other plan ~ depended on the change of those rules for success, the coolie business has not been negotiated apart from that day to this!* The Yamen is a very “Mr. Micawber”: always waiting for something “‘to turn up’’, and always missing its aim, or getting its head into chancery in consequence: O, the weariness and wearingness of serving China! I now send you my Circular anent Kuping a/c.* You will see from marginal notes that I have done away with some forms, and that the Commissioners themselves are to keep the ' Marine a/c. Kindly order for each office all that you think necessary for keeping accounts: account books, blank forms, etc., etc. etc. Do it completely and well, and let each office have precisely the same kind of books etc. If possible, get everything off from England in May, so that the offices may all be supplied before the end of July. Send the packages for the Southern ports to Hongkong, where the agent can distribute them, and those for the Northern ports to the Commissioner at Shanghai. Let this work be done by and through Batchelor and pass through his a/c, but under your supervision.> Aim at uniformity and complete thoroughness. In a separate note, I ask you to get five Germans. I was at first writing to Forbes, but then remembered you would still be in England. We want good men: of the Wilzer stamp, i.e. intelligent, self-possessed and quiet; we don’t want any more disputatious Kleinwdchters or irascible Detrings.®° The official appointments will go to you by next mail. I should like to © have these men’s names on my list as soon as possible; but as we want good men, try and make a good selection. If they are selected by the end of May or June, it will do. Hughes has made an awful mull of an affair at Tientsin. It’s now known as “the ‘Dragon’ case’”’.’ He nearly got us into a horrible demurrage scrape, and the Yamen and Sir Rutherford are still fighting it out. We have a technical right and a Consular wrong in our favour; but it is the worst fight I have ever had to fight. You'll be astonished when you come back

and see the contradictory despatches Hughes has written. I am horribly disappointed. Otherwise things go on well: the Tung Wen Kuan will, I fear, fall through.® Old von G. is still here, living with the Edkins folk.” I believe he is writing a book; I expect to be horribly mauled by it.!°

quite well. ,

A little girl was born here on the 31st Dec. Mrs. Hart and child are doing wonderfully, and

I’m sorry to place you in such a position vis d vis the mission people.'! But quoi faire? Ought it to be quoi or que, when written, by the way?

[44] THEI. G. INPEKING

I hope your father and mother have got over the shock caused by your poor sister’s death, and that Christian resignation enables yourself to bear your sorrow bravely. I don’t think you can leave Europe before June and perhaps not till Sept.: I advise you to make hay, and get up Chinese with Laurent’s aid.1? Why not bring a wife out with you?: You could have the house farthest to the east, all to yourself! Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The Tsungli Yamen was a committee of the world areas in need of cheap labor, chief among Grand Council which, at least until the mid-1880s, them the West Indies, Cuba, Peru, and Chile. The included the council’s principal members. It func- _— trade flourished as increasing antislavery sentitioned at Peking as an embryonic ministry of foreign ment cut off the supply of African slaves, and as

affairs. Under its direct command Hart as an em- improved transportation facilitated the shipment ployee of the Chinese government conducted the of coolies to more distant lands. Conditions of re-

affairs of the Maritime Customs Service. cruitment, detention, and transportation were bad, as were usually the working conditions. Emigration

2. Sinibaldo de Mas was the Spanish minister to from China was traditionally banned, but the Peking. He was also ‘“‘Emily.”’ He had left Chinaon Tientsin treaties had extended to Britain and France April 11 to return to Europe, having either resigned _ the right to recruit and transport Chinese laborers. (as he said) or been dismissed (as some others said). Britain sent them to the West Indies; the French reThe Tsungli Yamen, on Hart’s recommendation, cruited them for resale to speculators, and they also had empowered him to carry out a secret mission engaged heavily in their shipment. whose principal aim was to regain for China her In 1866 the evils of the traffic had led China to

control over Macao. | impose regulations governing not only recruitment

Macao at this time was in effect a self-governing and embarkation, but the laborers’ welfare after Portuguese settlement, with a flourishing trade their departure, and their eventual return to China. from which China gained no benefit. Macao was Although these regulations had been jointly arrived still Chinese territory, but Portugal had not paid her at by the Tsungli Yamen (with Hart’s help) and annual rent of T1s. 500 since 1848, and China no British and French consular officers, London and longer maintained a magistrate and customhouse Paris would not ratify them, thanks to pressure ~ there. In consequence, Macao had become a smug- from British planters and French shippers. Spain gling center, especially for opium, and it was the accepted them in 1867 because China would not center of the worst of the coolie trade (see note 3). otherwise give her the treaty she desired. De Mas’s mission was to try to arrange with the In April 1868 Alcock had submitted to China a Portuguese court a treaty whereby Macao would proposed redraft of the 1866 regulations, the result become a treaty port, Portugal would withdraw of very difficult British, French, and Spanish coopher troops there, and Chinese sovereignty would eration. China found it totally unacceptable, and be recognized. Reimbursement for Portugal’s loss despite recurrent periods of pressure from Britain of Macao was to cost China T1s. 1,300,000, of and France, never abandoned the 1866 regulations. which 1,000,000 was to go to Portugal, and the The coolie trade within China thus remained at remaining 300,000 to de Mas “‘and others” for least somewhat under Chinese control, but the smoothing the way for the settlement. Hart was barbarous coolie trade from Macao flourished, hopeful that such a settlement might be effected subject only to Portuguese control. at this moment, because Portugal was in severe

financial difficulties, and Hart was convinced that 4. The Kuping account would be the one involving

she was on the brink of being incorporated into Kuping (or Treasury) taels, in which all dues to the

Spain. government, other than Customs revenues, were Hart had devised a plan whereby the Yamen collected. In theory the Kuping tael was uniform

could raise the necessary funds, apparently by bor- throughout the empire. Customs revenues were rowing in Europe, for Campbell was sent princi- reckoned in Haikwan (customhouse) taels. pally to act as Hart’s agent in arranging loans, should The tael was the unit of account in handling silver

the mission succeed. bullion. Various tael units were in use in various

Campbell left China on July 31, accredited by places or trades, or for various purposes. Each tael the Yamen as secretary of legation to de Mas, and was defined in terms of its weight in silver of a

carrying de Mas’s letters of credence. specified fineness or purity. “That place” of the letter is Macao, and “‘those

regulations”’ are the Chinese regulations of 1866 5. Hency C. Batchelor, a British merchant, was the

governing the coolie trade (see note 3). Customs’ purchasing agent in London from July 1867 to March 1874, when Campbell took over. He

3. The coolie trade, which had developed in the worked only part-time for the Customs, and his late 1840s, sent Chinese laborers under contract to assignments were limited to the purchase and trans-

. [45] FEBRUARY 1869 mission of articles required from Europe. He had 9. Dr. Joseph Edkins was at this time with the Lonan office at 155 Cannon Street, London, later at 2 don Missionary Society. In 1881 he left the society King William Street, until the London Office of the to become a translator for the Customs InspectorInspectorate General was opened in March 1874 at _—_ ate General, first at Peking, and for the last fifteen

8 Storey’s Gate. years of his life at Shanghai, where he died in 1905. He was noted asa philologist with a wide knowledge

6. Franz Wilzer, who had joined the Customs in of Chinese literature, and the author of numerous 1857, resigned as commissioner in 1864 and re- books on the subject. turned to his native Hamburg, where he carried out

occasional personal commissions for Hart. 10. ‘Old von G.” was Johannes von Gumpach, a

. a professor at the T’ung-wen kuan, appointed by

7. George Hughes had joined the Service in 1862 Hart and subsequently dismissed by him. Campbell and was commissioner at Tientsin in 1868-1869. knew von Gumpach; they had been fellow passengers In May 1868 the British steamer Dragon hadtun _ en route to China in September 1866, and Campbell down a junk in Tientsin waters, causing the death had warned Hart that he would be troublesome. He of four Chinese, and Hughes had withheld clearance was; and in 1868 Hart discharged him. Von Gumpach for her departure, pending investigation. She de- brought suit, challenging Hart’s authority. His case parted without clearance, however, and when she was tried in Shanghai in the British Supreme Court, returned in October, the Chinese superintendent of — where a jury on March 22, 1870, awarded him

the port, under orders from the Yamen, refused damages of £1800. her admittance to Tientsin. Passengers were not to Since the suit had been brought against Hart as land, nor cargo to be removed. The dispute was a a British subject in a British court, it raised the long one, involving both the British consulate and question whether the Customs Service was truly the Customs, and the delay led to demurrage an arm of the Chinese government and under charges (payment for detaining a vessel beyond the — pyrely Chinese jurisdiction. Convinced that this

time allowed for her unloading). must be settled once and for all, Hart appealed

; to the Privy Council in London, seeking recogni-

8. The T’ung-wen kuan, or Interpreters College, tion of his position as an employee of the | came into being in 1862, after the Tientsin treaties Chinese government and his privilege when acting had made it clear that Chinese diplomats would in that capacity to be answerable solely to his have to familiarize themselves with Western lan- Chinese superiors and not to any Western power.

guages. It was originally a language school only,

teaching Russian, English, French, and German. In —

1866 the Tsungli Yamen, which was directly re- 11. The mission people were doubtless the memsponsible for the school, received imperial permis- bers of the Burlingame mission, which was in Paris

sion to add astronomy and mathematics to the at this time (see letter 9n4). The awkwardness was curriculum. The school seems to have been some- probably occasioned by Burlingame s ignorance of thing of a disappointment and to have reached its Campbell’s reason for being there. Burlingame _ nadir in the months preceding the assumption of its seems never to have known about the Emily mission presidency in November 1869 by W.A.P. Martin, at all. missionary and teacher, and translator into Chinese of Henry Wheaton’s Elements of International Law 12. Laurent was an office boy, presumably a Chi-

(London, 1836), Under his guidance, and with nese who worked for Campbell in China (see letter Hart’s support, an eight-year curriculum in Western 27). languages and sciences was developed.

13 February 1869 Dear Campbell,

I have yours of the 4th Dec. and approve of all it says about M. Pauthier and Shuen Chi - Yuan.' By last mail I sent you my a/c circular and the printed forms and asked you to get a/c Books and forms for all the offices. I now think it will be well for you to bring out a set of Books for this office for accounts: A. (Customs), B. (Confiscation), C. (Marine Department), & D. (Extraordinary Expenditure); each account will contain the totals, under the various heads of service, of the expenditure at all the ports, and also the totals under the heads of

[46] THEI. G. INPEKING

expenditure in the I.G.; and we can have a separate set of books corresponding to Port a/c Books for items of I.G. expenditure; thirdly there should be one grand ledger in which would be put the total annual expenditure of all the ports under the several heads, for the whole [of?] a/c’s A, B, C, D. See to this please and get the books ready to be sent out. A week ago (6th inst.) I received a telegram which I fancy left London about the middle of January. It contained the words “‘Emily 2.3.4”. Poor old man! I’m sorry to hear of his death just as his expatriation had ended, and I’m also sorry that it should have occurred just as he had a bit of work to do for us.? We are now in the New Years’ Holidays (today is the cheng-yueh ch’u san-jih) and the Yamen can give no instructions.? [ hope you have saved all the papers: the Yamen is anxious about the kuo-shu in yellow. I shall either have to tell you to come back,—to hand the affair to Mr. B.,—or to go on with it myself.* Emily’s great friend and trusted ally is called, I think, Ribeiro, and was a brother of a Minister at Lisbon; I have not the name in writing; but “Emily” used to stay with him, and I have a fancy that the name was either Ribeiro or Carrera. If you had to settle the match, and arrange the settlement, do you think you could do it (properly engrossed but not on yellow) on the same terms as “Emily” desired: either publicly without £100,000 fortune, or privately with full power to promise that sum in settlement?° Think over this; for you may possibly have to take it in hand. If you think you could do it, telegraph “Emily: 9.7.5.3’. If you think you

could not do it, telegraph “Emily: ten, eight, six, four’’.° : I am sorry you have been seedy but hope you are now better. I’m awfully busy, but quite well: busier than ever, and more worried, both from within and without—you know what all that means. The I.G.’s bed will never be of roses! We shall want ten Germans instead of five.

Robert Hart , |

Yours truly,

1. G. Pauthier was an early French Sinologue, nese characters are in the glossary. author of Histoire des relations politiques de la Chine avec les puissances occidentales (Paris, 1859), 4. Mr. B. was Burlingame, who was then in France.

and other works. Hart and the Yamen had seriously considered using Burlingame as their envoy, but Hart had settled on 2. Hart learned later, in a letter from Campbell, that | de Mas instead—in large part because Burlingame

de Mas had died in November. would have been hampered by language difficulties. The kuo-shu (lit., “‘state letter’) was a letter of

credence, and yellow was the Chinese imperial 5. The “£100,000 fortune” was the 300,000 taels . color. Hart describes de Mas’s kuo-shu in his journal: required by de Mas to smooth his path and compen“the Letters of Credence rolled up in yellow silk, sate his own efforts. De Mas had hoped to salvage and packed with yellow wadding in a box lined with _ for himself 100,000 taels. yellow paper.” Further, they bore the imperial seal,

making plain the imperial sanction of the secret 6. Hart’s journal for May 12, 1869, says that Campmission, bell wired back “Emily: 9.7.5.3,” but the Yamen felt it inappropriate to empower a mere Customs 3. Cheng-yueh ch’u san-jih: third day of the first commissioner to make a treaty. _. (lunar) month, i.e., in the New Year holiday. Chi-

26 February 1869 Dear Campbell,

The Yamen has not yet made up its many-headed mind as to the steps to be taken now that you have telegraphed ‘Emily 2.3.4”. The English and French Legations have commenced

[47] FEBRUARY 1869

the coolie onslaught again, and that difficulty will have disappeared in a few weeks.’ It is quite possible you may be asked to try and arrange the M. affair; for I don’t think they wish to put it into the hands of “Emily’s” other brother in Europe.” Before the end of May you will have your instructions, at all events. I shall be glad when you have your work over in Europe and are back here again; I miss you very much, not that Wieters is not a good Sec. (in fact he is first rate);> but I have so many woes and worries that I should like much to

have someone to talk them over with confidentially. I am in a dozen, or rather fourteen, | difficulties now, each of them big enough to cause a row! We were glad to get your second telegram stating that you had secured ‘“‘Emily’s” papers, etc. I find I shall in all likelihood have to give up those two houses to the T’ung Wen Kuan again; so unless you are “in for it”’ already, don’t marry on the strength of having a house to yourself! If the Professors are to occupy, I shall convert the Nan-Yuan into a Secretariat and bring no more students to Peking.* As regards the five or six Germans I wrote to you to engage,—if you have not got them yet, I wish to alter the terms, and to enlist them as fourth-class clerks (B) ona salary of £300 (Three Hundred a year) to begin with. Try to get good men: men that will be a credit to us, and who have the stuff in them from which good commissioners may be got in time. I should like you to bring out for my office some Manifold Writers. | cannot press-copy my letters satisfactorily, for my hand gets so small when I am in a hurry that a press-copy is soon illegible; but a Manifold Writer—such as I fancy Stuart of the O.B.C. uses—would just be the thing for me.* I could send my scrawls in duplicate and keep a triplicate for my own future use. Bring out a good supply of letter and note paper—just two sizes—for the said ‘Writer’. You know our wants in the office here, so I must give you carte blanche to pick up a lot of nick-nacks of the many kinds that come in usefully when least expected. Do you know Russell of the ‘‘Times’”’?® I have promised his son an appointment, commencing fourth-class A (£400 a year). I don’t want him before the end of the year. Glover is awfully savage with me for not giving him S’hai; Lord is away from Hankow; Hughes is in dreadfully hot water at T’tsin; Kleinwachter has got into another scrape at Swatow; Drew is doing admirably at K’kiang and so too, is Taintor at Tamsuy.’ To make room for Germans, I have to dismiss a dozen English employed originally as tidewaiters or from month to month in China; this will make an awful noise in another month or so—I mean a noise in China. All well here. Yours truly, Robert Hart Your last letter received was that of the 4th Dec. 1. This is a reference to renewed British-French 5. The O.B.C. was the Oriental Banking Corporaefforts to secure China’s agreement on revisions to tion. The development of the foreign trade had her 1866 regulations. This time they attacked at the created a need for financial institutions of a kind

provincial level, and with no success. that did not exist in China. (China’s first modern bank came into being in 1897). The Westerners

2. A reference to Burlingame, a brother-ambassa- consequently developed their own banks in the

dor in Europe? modern style, with branches in the various treaty ports. The first foreign bank to operate in China 3. Aug. A. Wieters, a Russian, joined the Customs was the Oriental Banking Corporation, which was in 1868, and was at this time acting chief secretary British in its origins and had branches in Hongkong

and auditor in the Inspector General’s office in (1845) and in Shanghai (1848). Stuart was its Peking. He held this post until his death in 1872. manager. Another such bank was the Hongkong and Shang-

4. The Nan-yuan (south courtyard) was the Cus- hai Banking Corporation (1865-), which enters

toms mess in Peking. the correspondence at a later date (see letter 113n3).

[48] THEI. G. INPEKING 6. (Sir) William Howard Russell, war correspondent was at this time acting commissioner in Hankow. for the London Jimes, is usually referred to by Hart E.B. Drew, an American and a Harvard graduate as ““Dr. Russell” (see letter 165n2). His son, W.B. of 1864, had joined the Customs in 1865, and was Russell, joined the Customs in October 1869, and in 1869 commissioner at Kiukiang.

died while commissioner at Swatow in 1898. E.C, Taintor, an American in the Customs Service since 1865, was at this time acting commissioner at 7. C.A. Lord, who had joined the Customs in 1859, | Tamsui. He committed suicide in China in 1878.

18 March 1869

Dear Campbell, | I asked the Yamen whether the matter should be placed in Mr. B.’s hands, or in your own,

. or whether you should be ordered back to China with the papers, etc. After long consideration, the Yamen has decided on the last; so you are to come back and bring the papers with you, and then we must be content to regard the affair as, for the present, a fait not

accompli,

If you have found out who Emily’s friends and allies were, it might be well to sound them, and tell them if P. will send out a special agent to this place, authorised to accept our terms, the matter could be arranged in a day.' This will reach you about the end of May. Will you please to make your arrangements for coming out in July. As to those five Germans I want you to get, if you can find two very good men you can give them third-class clerkships with £500 a year; the other three must be fourth-class with £300 a year. I shall want all five to be in China by the end of December next. The official appointments will go to you next mail. I don’t intend the Custom’s a/c to come in monthly; after all, quarterly accounts will suit us best. The eastern house will not be occupied by the T’ung Wen Kuan, and if you want it, for

double accommodation, you can have it. ,

I am not well: I don’t know whether it is liver or lumbago, but I can hardly move. I have had too much hard work the last two years, and I commence to have fancies that sooner or later paralysis will reward me for it. I shall be glad to see you back again. I hope your trip has improved your health, and that you will come out again fit for five or six years uninterrupted work. I shall probably want you at Shanghai in September; I cannot get away from this [place] sooner. Hughes is in an awful mess at Tientsin: I shall have to give him his choice between resignation or being put down to a second-class clerkship: I have recruited Huber, and hope to get Arendt—both good tranquil men.? I like the enclosed type of paper—I mean the material—uncommonly; I wish you would get me a lot of note and letter paper, ordinary sizes, of the same: with monogram. This paper on which I now write is abominable; hairs are always starting up and getting into my pen from it.

‘ ,Yours Roberttruly, Hart I have received yours of December 18 & 31, and Jan. 15.

[49] MARCH 1869

1. P. is Portugal. as assistant-in-charge.

Arendt was an interpreter attached to the Ger-

2. A. Huber, a Frenchman, joined the Customs in man Legation.

April 1869 and was sent immediately to Swatow

25 March 1869 Dear Campbell, °

I have nothing very new to tell you. Next week an order for stationery for all ports will go to you fo be reconsidered and then to be put into Batchelor’s hands; a year’s supply for each office wanted. Also a year’s supply for Peking; be prepared to go into the question in such a way as to secure good paper—good pens—good ink; and uniformity: not too many kinds, but all the best of their kind. I want you to spend about £20 for me on a necklet for Mrs. Hart. She wants a plain (i.e. only gold) one with little gold balls hanging round it—something of this sort. By plain I mean that the ornament is to have no stones—is to consist of gold only, but of course that gold is susceptible of many kinds of ornamentation. Let’s see what your taste can do in the matter. I have your letters of the 18th and 21st January anent the poor old man’s death. How odd it should have been so long in becoming known! De M. still in Paris—I fancy trying to get Mr. B. to nominate him Chinese Consul there.’ I have got Huber to join us,—a very nice Frenchman indeed—now interpreter in the Legation. He joins as 1st C.C. with promise of Commissionership in three years, more or less. I tried to get Arendt, but de Rehfues is not willing to let him join.* Kleinwachter is in another row at Swatow and I have all but made up my mind to cancel his promotion and send him as Ist C.C. to Amoy; he’s an awfully quarrelsome, pigheaded fellow—a first-rate clerk but a frightfully bad Commissioner!? At Tientsin Hughes has got into a horrible scrape; he almost deserves to be dismissed, but as I acquit him of intention and merely fix him with incapacity, and am moreover mindful of

, his former services, I shall give him the choice between resignation and a Ist C. Clerkship! Think of this! And he and I old friends, too! Drew is a sterling man, and does wonderfully well at K’kiang. I have sent Lord back as Ist C.C. to Canton; I could get nothing from him, and the office was going to the dogs. Hobson is now in charge there. Have you seen Porter— what is he about to do! Brett’s married; is he coming out again?* Make your arrangements for returning in July, please. All well here,

Yours truly, Robert Hart Will you bring with you the enclosed things for Adkins.* By last mail I sent you, c/o Batchelor, your six months pay, £800. 1. De M. may possibly be Baron Eugéne de Meritens Rehfues and who was listed as Baron de Rehfues in (see letter 23n1) who, having joined the Customs early lists of diplomatic personnel) was German in 1862, would be due for a sabbatical in 1869 and _— minister to Peking, 1864-1875. so might well have been in Paris at this time. 3. By “‘1st C.C.”? Hart means first-class clerk, an early

2. Von Rehfues (whom Hart always called de category already abandoned by the time the first

[50] THEI. G. IN PEKING Service Lists were published; it was a rank below paigns against the Taipings (see letter 10n1). acting commissioner or deputy commissioner. This James Porter, who had been Customs commiswas a relatively high point at which to enter the sioner at Tamsui, had resigned in 1867 and been service, as in Huber’s case, but a demotion for Klein- reappointed. In 1869 he was in London on leave. wachter, who had already become commissioner. Albert L. Brett, who had joined the Service in 1862, was on leave in England. He did return to

4, Herbert Elgar Hobson had joined the Customs in China, where he died in 1874.

, 1862 and was sent to Hankow in 1869 as clerk-incharge. Hobson, at Hart’s suggestion, had served as 5. Thomas Adkins belonged to the British consular

. “Chinese” Gordon’s interpreter during his cam- service (see letter 2n6).

15 April 1869 Dear Campbell,

I send this despatch for Batchelor through you, and tell him to take your instructions. The things required by each port appear in the column under the name of the port; articles for one specified port are not to be put in a box with things for another port; each port is to have its indent separately packed. If possible let the things come by a steamer round the Cape: don’t let them come overland.’ This is a first order, and I merely send for paper and ordinary miscellaneous articles in the first instance: when Revision is over and we know what work we shall have to do in the future, I shall see about Forms, Books, etc. etc. etc. We are not sure about values, and I send £1,000 on chance; Wieters made the estimate from some order sent in in sterling by Man, but we doubt its correctness: for instance, he says 1,000 quills £7.% Will you bring out with you a good list of prices of stationery and office articles generally; I suppose such things are to be found. Any things for the Inspectorate not now indented for, may be added by you if you think it well to get them. Sir R. leaves in Oct., when Wade is expected to arrive in Peking.° If you could manage to travel with Wade, you might find the acquaintance then formed of use to you here: I fancy he will leave in August. Will you tell Batchelor please, that Iam very much obliged to him for the long letters he writes privately, and the trouble he takes to keep me well informed; but that really my time is too much occupied to admit of my writing to him oftener or at greater length than the commission I write about itself demands. Slates Nos. 4 and 5 for the Billiard Table arrived broken: I want new ones. The broken ones were badly packed; the timber was light and soft, and the cases simply bent and cracked the slates inside across the centre. Tell this to Batchelor. Will you yourself select a dozen good cues. Of those that accompanied the table, there were only two straight ones; and all are so light as to give trouble to one attempting a fine stroke. Select straight, broadpointed, heavy ones; and look along them to see that the grain of the wood does not spoil the “sight.” Will you also get me two wire rat-traps with good springs, and half a dozen 3 or 4 holed mousetraps. Will you see Mr. Stephenson and tell him that our tank is pretty good but leaks largely near the top; I fancy a coating of Portland Cement would be the right thing for it inside. Ask him if it would suit, and also ascertain the quantity required for such a tank as ours is, 12 feet deep by 24 feet in diameter. If Portland Cement will keep the water in and he can give you a guess as to the quantity required, ask Batchelor to get it and send it out (a/c B).

[51] MAY 1869

If you are coming out overland and not through America, I want you to bring two Guinea hens. We have three cocks and one hen, but the hen is old and past laying; get two young ones,—females, mind—and pay a steward to look after them. Yours of the 29th January and 12th February arrived on the 12th instant. Mrs. Hart and baby, now three months old, are quite well; the little girl is called Evelyn Amy.—We are all here afraid China will not move as quickly as the mission has promised on her behalf; apart from this—the likelihood of mission-excited hopes being disappointed—things look as well as one would expect.*

, Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. The “overland” route was via the Suez Isthmus 4. The “mission” was the Burlingame mission. Anson (the Suez Canal was opened in November 1869). Burlingame had been United States minister to

: China since 1861. He and two co-envoys (one , cosa: Manchu, one Chinese) constituted China’s first

«4 Qk Si fone Lf -

Ss te fr —~ S° «8 —_——_ : ° &e Af, a SC SK - ree. bd ?

1. is to be Secretary’s office .

2." " " Bookkeeper’s office

3.” " " General " 4.” " " Chinese Sec’s ”

5. nowt ” " writer’s " 6." " " Store-room offices 1,2, and 4 are 15 feet 6 inches by 15°; office 3 is 30 feet by 15°; office 5 is 10 feet 4 inches by 15°.

[83] APRIL 1872

I should like to get good substantial oil-cloth carpets for each of these (5) rooms; thick and durable, and of as light a colour as possible. I also want to get four more desks, such as | Batchelor sent me out last year (like Lay’s old one) made in Scotland, of white oak; an office chair of white oak on wheels for each desk. I also want six easy chairs of white oak with light red morocco: two for each office 1,2 and 4. Ask Batchelor to order and send out these things, and to charge them to my account A. I shall write officially to him from Canton. I hear from Harwood that the Record of my case is in a very unsatisfactory condition. Any quantity of documents are missing! I hope what has gone forward will suffice. Come out as soon as you can; and telegraph to Dick, when starting. This is Saturday: on Monday, the 8th April, I leave this for the South. I shall not be back before the end of June. Any odds and ends that you think the office ought to have, you can order.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

18 April 1872, Shanghai! Dear Campbell,

Many thanks for your interesting letter of the 23rd Feb. How well Mrs. Campbell copies! It’s a pity female secretaries are not allowed! The Yamen protest has been deferred; it will not go in, until the P.C. judicial committee shall have dealt with the case. I can find nothing more here to send you, and you must go into court armed and equipped as you now stand. Remember, the most important point will be to get the judl. comtee. to issue instructions as to the point at which a British Court’s enquiry must cease. If a new trial is granted, or ordered, we must know where we can force the court to hold its hand. Yesterday an hour after my arrival a parcel came to me: it contained von G.’s book! On it is written “Robert Hart Esquire, from the author”. I am hesitating whether to send it back at once, and thus refuse to be cognisant (compliantly) of his attack,—or to simply keep it and say nothing more, thereby, as it were, ignoring him and paying no attention to it. He says his attention has been called to your proceedings from more quarters than one. Either you’re on a wrong scent, or his “brass” is stronger than the courage of mariners! Bring me out two good bows for the violin, with removable hair, and two spare sets of hair. I shall be detained here till the end of the month by Customs’ business. Brown (James) is going to take legal procedings! He thinks himself entitled to extra compensation for what he considers extra work done while Acting Commissioner. There’s trouble and worry all round, confound it! just as before! Send or bring out copies of the Customs’ Consolidated Act etc. and all customs publications that you think it would be useful to have out here.? Yours truly, Robert Hart

[84] THE I. G. IN PEKING

1. In his early years as Inspector General Hart, 2. James Leighton Brown had resigned in Decemthough permanently stationed in Peking, made the ber 1871 (his resignation effective as of September

rounds of the treaty ports each summer. In this 1871). It is never made clear what work he was year (1872), for instance, he was: during April in claiming remuneration for, though it may possibly Shanghai; during June at Hainan and Canton; in have had to do with the months he spent as comJuly back at Shanghai; by the end of August com- missioner-in-charge at Canton (November 1867 pleting visits to Newchwang and Chefoo; in Sep- to June 1868) before going on home leave. tember at Tientsin; and in October back at Peking. During his later years the press of business kept 3. What Hart wanted was publications on legisla-

him in Peking, to his regret. tion of the British government, relating to the _ British Customs.

27 April 1872, Shanghai My dear Campbell,

Iam still delayed here and shall probably have to wait another week. Mrs. Hart is writing to Mrs. Campbell to-day, and, amongst other things, is asking for a maid. Our Mrs. Penrose will not quite suit us, and we want to find an article of a more useful kind. I suppose, now that your house has a child in it,-on which I congratulate you—you are sure to bring out a nurse. If you are doing so, two women would be great company for each other, and company goes a long way toward making such folk live more contentedly at Peking. Don’t let them be too young, or they’ll be marrying off our hands; and, for heaven’s sake, don’t let them be too ugly! Ugliness in pants is allowable; ditto ditto in petticoats is intolerable. When will our law business come to an end? I hope most devoutly that the Committee will not only go the length of ordering a new trial, but trust it will reverse the finding of the Shanghai jury as well. I can do nothing for you more than has been done, and you must get the thing fought through with your present stock of ammunition. I hope you'll be in Peking by October next. With kind regards,

| Robert Hart Yours truly,

P.S. Bring out all sorts of office knick-knacks, and all sorts of Dictionaries and Books of Reference.

30 April 1872, Shanghai [Rcd. June 25, 1872] My dear Campbell,

I just find that I have omitted to send for sherry for the coming winter. I have not touched White's good sherry yet, but I have finished what the other man sent me. Will you kindly

[85| JUNE 1872

send me out ten dozen good sherry, not too dear, but really good: dry and not fiery. It ought to be in Shanghai before the end of October. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. I hope you'll be able to find a good maid for Mrs. Hart. If you should fall in with Victor anywhere, I should not be sorry to see him out here again on the same terms as before. With unlimited power to tapper. R.H.

16 June 1872, Canton My dear Campbell,

On my return from Hainan, I found yours of the 5th and 19th April on my table. I suppose by this time you will have had your last consultations and got the day fixed for the hearing. Von G. has published his book: over 800 pages: copies have been sent to the papers, and the reviewers agree in stating that there is too much animus to make his attack on me worth troubling one’s self about. Other people have not attained my pachydermatous condition, and there will be sore heads here and there: how will you like it, I wonder? Swift of Piccadilly is my tailor and has my measure. Will you kindly step into his place, and select the following things for me: 2 office suits for winter. Coat to be flannel lined. Materials to be of the warmest description, and at the same time the lightest—I mean least heavy. Coat to have no opening behind, and in the upper part of the front to be double-breasted so that the top button flap may come well across for the protection of the chest. 1 very warm, very loose, and very heavy Inverness cape; to be worn instead of a top-coat in the cart, when going out to dinner on cold nights.’ In addition to the ordinary collar, to have a sort of friar’s hood hanging on the back, large enough to be pulled over one’s hat, head, and ears etc. I pair cord trousers: broad stripe. I hope you will be able to find a good female servant for us: able to dress hair, do a little sewing, and make up fine linen etc. etc. etc. One of the lady’s maid kind will be more useful than a mere nurse. Tell Shee if you fall in with him that, in all probability he will find orders at S’hai to come on to Peking: in any case, he will have to furnish his own house, and, such being the case, it might be well for him to send out drawing room, dining room and bedroom furniture to S’hai, so that he may have it at hand to use either there, if there stationed, or at Peking. Is it true that Mayers has left the Consular Service? He was lately made Chinese Secretary, but the F.O. at the same time cut down the pay from £1,200 (which Wade drew) to £800.’ It is said this has disgusted Mayers. I wish I knew whether or not he has really resigned. If he should have done so, I should offer him something in the Customs. He is a man of great

[86] THE I. G. INPEKING

ability, and his Chinese scholarship is of so superior a kind, that it would be ten thousand pities to see him driven from China by any want of appreciation. Our trip to Hainan was on the whole enjoyable, but Mrs. Hart is somewhat knocked up by sight seeing. We are turning our faces northwards on the 18th, but I do not expect to reach Peking much before the end of August. I hope you will be out before the end of October: you cannot rely on finding steamers from S’hai after 20th Nov. Telegraph your departure.

| Yours truly, Robert Hart

I telegraphed to you to buy J. Hart’s best Stradivarius.> Enquire about the effects of climate. If likely to be injured by a voyage to China, leave it at home; if it can stand the voyage, pack it carefully and bring it out. If you leave it at home, pack it carefully and deposit it pro tem with Batchelor. Bring out two or three good bows, a dozen good bridges, some sets of the best strings, and two boxes resin. 1. Travel in Peking was by sedan-chair or by open secretary at the British Legation, 1861-1871. horse-drawn cart (the rickshaw had not yet been

imported from Japan). In the severe Peking winter 3. J. Thomas Hart (not related to Robert Hart) very warm clothing was obviously a travel necessity. wasa violin maker and dealer in musical instruments in London. 2. Reference here is to Wade’s salary as Chinese

28 July 1872, Shanghai | My dear Campbell, | The two youths whose nominations have gone forward, are country cousins of mine: R.E. Harte, and H. Lendrum.’ I have had them at school the last four years to prepare them for clerkships, but the reports of their progress have disappointed me horribly, and I do not expect that either of them will pass. I shall be excessively delighted if they do pass: but remember this—I do not want them to be passed unless you and Batchelor are quite of the opinion that they are fit for desks in an office, and that they will give satisfaction to such a chief as Dick. Lendrum’s father was a Methodist Preacher; Harte’s father is agent to Count de Salis, and has married thrice—the third wife had been his cook. Both the lads are wellprincipled good boys, and, when younger, I thought them bright and promising; but my father writes to say that their education, these last four years, has not progressed satisfactorily—that they have not fulfilled early promise as they have developed into manhood—that _ I will be disappointed in them—and that he fears they will not suit us. It would be pleasant to me to see the lads get on: it will be horrible to them to find £400 a year within their grasp and yet lost; and, finally, it would never do for them—my cousins— to be allowed to come out to join this service, unless they are fairly qualified now, and look like men from whom something may be expected by and by. Your need not show this to Batchelor; but do not pass the lads unless properly qualified. I am here having done the southern and Yangtze ports; Mrs. Hart went on to Chefoo when

[87] SEPTEMBER 1872 I went to Hankow. Business will keep me here a week. I then shall go on, via N’chwang, Chefoo, and Tientsin, to Peking: where I hope to be again established by the last week in August. Jones has a daughter: Smith a son: Brett do.: Leonard has resigned. Hannen and Cartwright going home in Autumn.” The summer has been a trying one so far, and a good many deaths have taken place. So far I am all right: and the establishment too. With kind regards,

Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Ask Batchelor to send me the Tientsin Massacre Blue Book and Lord Elgin’s Letters.* I hope all the office furniture has left; I want it at Peking before winter closes the river. 1. The country cousins did not pass the Customs been in the Customs since January 1863. A midexaminations. In a much later letter (October 2, shipman in the British navy, he had been recruited 1904) Hart commended Campbell’s impartiality by H.N. Lay for the Lay-Osborn fleet. On its in “properly” reporting “against Harte and Lendrum rejection, he had been appointed to the Customs

some thirty years ago.” indoor staff, where he quickly rose to prominence owing to his unusual proficiency in Chinese. It was

2. James Jones, who had joined the Customs in he who usually set the examinations in the Chinese 1862, was to resign in 1875 and return to England. language that were taken by young Customs personJames Smith, British, had joined the Customs in nel some months after their arrival in China. 1862 and was soon to be audit secretary. Albert L. Brett, another recruit of 1862, had mar- 3. Hart is asking here for Papers Relating to the tied while on leave in England in 1869, and was to Massacre of Europeans at Tientsin on the 21st June live only two years after his son’s birth. “Do.”’ is 1870, British Parliamentary Papers, vol. 70 (1871),

an abbreviation for “‘ditto.” and Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of

James Veith Leonard had joined the Customs in Elgin, ed. Theodore Walrond (London, 1872). The

1859. British Parliamentary Papers, published annually

William Cartwright, who was going on leave from _ by the British government, are known as Blue Books. his post as acting commissioner at Ta-kao, had

6 September 1872, Tientsin [Rcd. November 11, 1872] PRIVATE My dear Campbell,

I intend to close the Customs’ agency in London, and I now want you to think the matter over in order to be ready to carry out official instructions in a few weeks more. The experience of the last years shows that we want! 1°. a Lighthouse Agency

2°. " Lightship " 3°. "Stationery " 4°. " Gasworks "

5°. "Engineer "

6°. ” Marine " 7°. " Private " The first, a lighthouse agency, would supply lanterns for lights on shore with all the stores

| [88] THE I. G. INPEKING they require,—such as chimneys, wicks, spare glass, machinery etc.; and for it the Chance firm seems best suited.? The Second, a lightship agency, would supply lanterns for the ships and their stores; and for this Wilkins seems the best house. The third, a stationery agency, would have to supply all things wanted in offices—paper, pens, ink etc., etc., etc.; and for this Waterlow is suggested by you. The fourth, a gasworks agency, might be best placed in the hands of the Stevenson formerly consulted.° The fifth, an engineer agency, for putting out all iron orders (iron towers, buoys, beacons, etc.). and for passing the things supplied, would be best confided to the Stevensons of

Glasgow. 7

The sixth, a marine agency, for the supply of Ships’ stores of all kinds for lightships and revenue cruisers would involve work for which I cannot think of anyone in particular—unless it be Forbes. The seventh, a private agency, would work—not for the service but—for individuals, and would supply pickles etc.: each man to choose his own agent. But what J want to know is who would be a good one for me? King & Co.’s charges are high, and especially so in the matter of Books. What I should like to do is this: to arrange with each* of the above-named houses (7°. excepted) for the execution of orders for the parts approved of and countersigned by the I.G.:—the firm to procure the things ordered, ship them and send on bills of lading,—the firm to keep an account current with me, to be rendered half-yearly, and the balance due the firm at the end of one half-year to be remitted by me before the end of the succeeding half-year,—and the firm is not to charge interest on any unpaid money till the end of the second half-year and then (if still unpaid) to charge interest from date of the firm’s original payment; and 2°. to allow us in their charges the same discount they would allow “the Trade’. Think these points over, please. I shall write you officially in a fortnight or three weeks, and shall authorise you to call on them or other people and arrange for our supplies some-

what in accordance with the conditions above expressed. . I am now at Tientsin—up to the neck in work—but I trust my return to Peking will not be much longer delayed. I shall probably be in my own office by the 15th. I approve of all you did in examination matters. Judging from Fauvel’s essay I consider his the best intellect. Saul will not do; his appointment must be cancelled. Murray’s appointment was cancelled properly; but Iam vexed that Batchelor should have written that intemperate, ill-advised letter to Lord D. Brown sued me at S’hai,* but I won my point: viz. that I could not be thus caught en passant, and must be sued in my own district. I had to bind over Chinkiang Campbell “to keep the peace’’,> and had legal letters about two other matters while at S’hai. If the von G. affair is over at home before the end of the year, come out so as to arrive at Shanghai about the end of February, and to be in Peking before the 15th March. Telegraph the von G. finding very fully both by Kiachta and Shanghai. The “‘Fanny”’ has arrived, but your cart has not yet been landed. I advise Hannen to give it to Gibbs (who returns to Peking) who can try it for a month and send you a report on its qualities before you leave home. The Office staff will be Gibbs, Ohlmer and Rocher: yourself *T say each, for I want separate agencies—each agent giving a SPECIALTY —and not one general agent.

[89] OCTOBER 1872

and a Chinese secretary.® (I have not made a selection for the last just yet:—is Mrs. Campbell qualified?) If you buy the violin—best not bring it out. I hope you will bring all sorts of useful books and useful things for the office.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Hart was still thinking in terms of purchasing 25n2). agents, one for each category of goods instead of

having one handle all, as Batchelor had done. 5. Hart may refer here to A.J. Campbell, who had Campbell was still slated for a post in China. Hart’s _—_ been an assistant-in-charge at Chinkiang in 1863

plan changed gradually over the next year. and who was discharged from the Customs in 1865.

2. Chance Brothers was an English firm located in

Birmingham. 6. James Hobson Gibbs, an accountant who had been in the Service since 1861, was to be assistant

3. There are two Scottish firms here: D. and J. audit secretary at the Inspectorate in Peking. Stevenson of Edinburgh, and “the Stevensons of E. Ohlmer, German, who had joined the Service Glasgow,” of whom there is no further mention. in 1868, and Louis Rocher, French, who had joined

. in 4.1869, were assistants at the Inspectorate General. This was James Leighton Brown (see letter

12 October 1872 Dear Campbell,

I have just received yours of the 16th Augt. I am now in the middle of a lot of arrears, and hardly know which way to turn, or what end to take hold of. You are Commissioner—instead of Dept. Comr.—from the Ist Nov.; so, too, is Woodruff, who is to be Chinese Secretary;' in addition to you two, my office will have Gibbs as accountant and bookkeeper and Ohlmer (German) and Rocher (French) as clerks. We'll have a great deal of work on hand up to the end of 1874: but, by that time, things will be coming straight again. Man has taken your house in hand, and, if your furniture only arrives before you, Mrs. Campbell will not find the place so very dreadful, as you seem to apprehend. But, pray, prepare her mind for the worst, and don’t paint the gorgeous East in glowing hues. Woodruff will occupy the house next to you, and I hope we'll be a happy community. Mrs. Hart thinks her Piano good enough still: I don’t. It has been in use six years, and it is now a shrieker and a jingler. I hear Mrs. Campbell is a first-rate pianist. Would she kindly select another Piano for us? Our drawing-room will not admit of a Grand, so we must have one of the cottage shape; but I think there’s a variety of the cottage shape which gives length of string and “Grand piano results’. Our present one is a Pleyel. I think Id rather have one of Erard’s. You may go as far as £200; but if you can get a good one for £100, save the other £100. I want a really fine instrument, and don’t expect it to keep good more than two

[90] THE L G. IN PEKING

years. The peculiarity of our climate here is its dryness: the wood into which the screws are put contracts and the screws slip—and the strings constantly run down. Get a good one, pray, have it carefully tuned and very carefully packed (with lots of soft things to prevent jarring) and send it by one of Holt’s steamers. You can spend Christmas and New Year’s time at home; but I shall expect you at Peking by the end of March at the latest, next spring. With kind regards,

Yours truly, Robert Hart Courier is done up; he was lame when we came back here; Mrs. Wade had had him; and he was splitting blood; I have decided to sell him. He’s not worth his food, now.’ 1. F.E. Woodruff, American, had joined the Cus- of commissioner, to which he was now promoted. toms in 1865; he had already served once as Chi-

nese Secretary (1868-1869) but without the rank 2. Courier, a horse, was sold shortly thereafter.

25 October 1872 [Rced. December 23, 1872]

My dear Campbell,

Thanks for yours of the 30th Augt. I hope you will secure a Cremona for me, as I really want a fine-toned violin to practice on. About the piano,—examine the pedals well and see that they work properly; the soft pedal of our Pleyel moves the hammer board a little too far to the left, so that, in playing very Piano, the C hammer, e.g., strikes the B string! I shall be content with a piano that can be relied [on] to remain good two years: I like the clear, ringing, bell-like tone of the Grand Piano, but pray ask Mrs. Campbell to make what selection she deems best. The Emperor’s marriage has passed off quietly, and a decree has just directed a day in Feb. next to be selected for the beginning of H.I.M.’s personal rule. The minority will then be at an end, and the audience question and other points will be coming up. You will return at an interesting time: I hope not just in time to find another bit of work requiring your return to Europe! I have sent out three ponies to be disposed of this afternoon. One of them is Courier; he has aged considerably, and, though still a pet, is no longer of any use. Neither myself or Mrs. Hart have ever ridden him. If you see Simpson, tell him I have at last got Pepita (perfectly well again) and that Mrs. Hart finds her a capital mount. Wishing you a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[91] NOVEMBER 1872

21 November 1872 My dear Campbell,

I am glad to think that the time for ceasing to write to you is at hand. This letter will reach you about the middle of January, and, as I expect you to come along by the first mail in February, I shall probably send you only one other letter. On the 14th I received yours of the 20th Sept. I don’t know why, but you seemed to be out of spirits when writing. Was anything wrong? Wade is of opinion that Karslake will do better than Palmer, and is really more anxious about the settlement of the von G. case than Iam.' If you get the S’hai papers, you will see that Brown has failed in his attempt to attack me there: Harwood tells me the Plaintiff is wild at having to pay Defendant’s costs; I fancy he’ll petition the Queen and go home to conduct his appeal in person. As to von G. himself, one never hears of him nowadays; but,

as de Rehfues is on his way to Peking, I expect to see von G. turn up one of these fine morn- | ings, and start afresh as a German, taking the proper course, “diplomatic action’’:—I shall not add what I had intended to say. Batchelor telegraphed that the appeal would be heard on the 7th Nov. I am trying to keep quiet, but I cannot help being on the look-out every hour for a special messenger from T’tsin with a telegram stating the results. I hope you have been able to push all the three points, and not merely obtain an order for a new trial. If it comes to simply a new trial, I shall tell Harwood to do as he did in Brown’s case—have it taken off the Shanghai file, and then fight it out up here. You had better come armed to the teeth, for if there’s a weak point in your personal armour, he'll be into you! Make your arrangements, too, for leaving S’hai by the first steamer clearing for T’tsin after your arrival; don’t stay there for any purpose, or on any account, but come out of the place without delay. If you have not brought a Cremona for me, I hope you will bring me out a good violin—I don’t want a new one, but an instrument that has been played ona good deal and witha tone deprived of harshness and mellowed to some extent by age. Would you also please bring me some of the stuff used by violinists for glueing the pieces together, and a couple of clamps, to screw the parts glued tightly together and hold them there till they “bite” and dry. I still half fancy Hart’s Stradivarius would stand the journey, coming out in cool weather, and to be kept here ina dry climate:—but, with such an instrument, it would be a pity to run so great a risk. I have taken a great fancy to Dancla’s Music, and have asked Batchelor to send me some.” I hope too, that you have had time to select a really fine Piano, and that it is, by this time, shipped for China. By the way, the shirts and Blue Books have arrived; but there’s no sign of the winter suits from Swift’s, or the violin strings that were to come at the same time. The shirts have been here for a month; so I’m surprised at the non-arrival of the other things:—but they may turn up yet, and I hope they will, for I want winter clothes this year. Don’t neglect this opportunity of bringing out all sorts of things likely to be of use in the office here, and, indeed, in the establishment generally: you know the work and you know the place, and you may find many things for nothing at home for which you’d give half a hand in Peking.

[92] THE I. G. IN PEKING

As things go, there’s no reason why even Saul should not make a good tea taster. The principle on which the trade has been conducted these last three years is to buy tea at exorbitant rates here and sell it for half what it cost at home. A very commonplace man could soon arrive at even that pitch of ability! Mrs. Hart is writing to Mrs. Campbell about a maid. Our present woman Mrs. Penrose is improving in health and spirits, and will remain here. I shall telegraph to you in a few days to this effect. Your maid will have very comfortable quarters: two nice little rooms in a detached building, with bathroom. Man has been making all sorts of alterations in your house, and thinks the result will please you. I’m sure I hope so too! You must impress on Mrs. Campbell that we all live here in semi-savage style, and that the dirt and discomfort to be at first encountered in Peking are realities: let her have the satisfaction of finding things better instead of worse than you paint them. As for the garden, you'll arrive when there’s not a blade of grass between T’tsin and this, and a full month before trees begin to leaf: so you'll have to make it whatever you want it to be. Bring seeds and seedlings along with you. I don’t think you can expect a croquet-lawn: we might pave one for you with oyster shells, but we cannot have grass except in August and September—and then of a kind painfully suggestive of my whiskers—and also and alackaday!—hair! Your house contains a large dining room, a large drawing room, a good hall, a stranger’s bedroom with a bathroom attached, and three rooms (with two bathrooms) en suite for your own and Mrs. Campbell’s use. Your stable has four stalls—two for your use and two for the occupant of the other house (in this instance, the Chinese Sec. [also a Commissioner] Woodruff). Man has sent you all particulars and measurements, so that you'll be able to send your furniture ahead of you. ““Courier’’ has been sold: he was old and lame; neither I nor Mrs. Hart have even been on him! He fetched 7/s. 5, and was worth, I suppose, twice as much. On the enclosed sheet, you will find a Memo. concerning the mode I should like to adopt, to procure various supplies from Europe. I had intended to write to you officially, but have decided not to do so, and I now send you the Memo. to bring the matter again before you prior to your departure. I wish you to see the firms or parties concerned and ascertain whether they will take the Customs’ business on the conditions set forth, and, if not, what changes they would require in these conditions. I cannot,—or rather, don’t want to,—write to them and prefer your seeing them and learning whether this plan, or what other plan, would be feasible: keep one thing in remembrance: I do not wish to adopt the plan of authorising the O.B.C. to pay out from my a/c on presentation of Bills of Lading. I shall do nothing more in this direction till we meet. I have given young Grimani, Hornby’s nephew, an appointment. He has been getting on well at Chinese, so I bring him here for a year. I expect him to-morrow, Gibbs and Woodruff the day after, and in a week or so Russell and Fauvel. Our new men Ohlmer and Rocher are A-one-ers as office men; but some people think they are of a too bourgeois style. However, with them and Gibbs you'll have a good office team. One is French and the other German; the Chinese Secretary is American:—we shall thus be sufficiently cosmopolitan at our end of the line! There are two rather pretty, and presentable, missionary ladies in this quarter—Mrs. Holcome, and Mrs. Meech.° Mrs. H. dined with us last Thursday, and Mrs. M. dines with us to-night. It is pleasant to have some young women in the neighbourhood: these two are under 23 I should say.

[93] NOVEMBER 1872

Evey is growing quite a big girl; she always wants company, and she is delighted to hear you have a child coming with you. As your garden and ours will communicate by a back walk, the children can be together every day. Wade’s, Bismarck’s and Billequin’s boys are often here:—they’ll all be fighting for Evey, by and by.* I’m s0 sorry her brother is not here! Mrs. Wade, by the way, had just had her fourth son: what a rare “old boy” Wade is! He represents Her Majesty well—even in family matters—eh? Altogether there is pleasant society in Peking now, and among the dozen Secretaries of

Legation there are six or seven very nice fellows. :

To-day, the 21st Nov., the rain has been falling since daylight. How my Drawing-room carpet will catch it to-night! I have mats in every direction: mats wherever mats can be placed: but people avoid them as the Yankee did the spittoon! White’s wine (sherry) is good; Mackenzie’s last is very common-place. The curious thing is that the Pouilly, bought in 1866, of which I have still 20 bottles, keeps sound, and has developed into a very full-bodied wine not unlike Yquem! You remember how sharp it was. And the white Chambertin, bought that same year, makes Genl. Vly smack his lips!> My Brandy is all but done; if you are bringing out any good stuff for yourself, pray bring ten dozen/10 doz. for me. The Emperor becomes major on the 23rd Feb. You will arrive in time to see interesting doings. If you meet Mrs. Hart at S’hai,° you had better send Mrs. Campbell home too. There is greater probability of their fighting than of their giving in, if the Audience question is pushed. I am sorry to say it: but it is a fact that the reins are getting into the hands of greater fools than ever! If equilibrium could be preserved by any set of Ministers, it will be so by those now here: Wade’s excitability,—_de Geoffroy’s placid demeanour,—de Rehfues’s womanhood and bile,—the Spaniard’s Don-ishness,—Low’s practical common sense,—and Viangaly’s quiet Diplomacy, are of a kind to counteract each other and to preserve a state of stable equilibrium.’ But the other side makes and will make so many false moves, that the peace can only be preserved by letting them have their own way! However as the Chinese say: ““Man says “thus and thus’; Heaven says, ‘not so, not so’”’. Wishing you all the blessings of the home. Yours very truly, Robert Hart

22nd Nov. Last night the box arrived with things from Swift. : MEMO. concerning mode of procuring supplies from Europe. 1. The firm to keep an account current with the I.G. 2. The Account to be rendered half-yearly, and the balance due thereon to be paid to the firm on arrival of the Account and before the expiration of the succeeding half-year. 3. No interest to be charged on the half-yearly balances if paid before the expiration of

the succeeding half-year, but any balance then remaining unpaid to bear interest from the , date of the shipment of the goods, at the rate of ___._ per cent per annum. 4. The supplies to be charged for either according to the rates of the contracts for their delivery, or the rates which rule when such things are purchased in bulk for exportation by firms “‘in the trade” (i.e., that the ordinary discount shall be allowed, and that retail prices shall not be charged). 5. The Account to be rendered half-yearly for form’s sake even for half-years in which

there may have been no transactions. | 6. The supplies to be considered ordered on the receipt of an official despatch of the

[94] THEI. G. IN PEKING

special series from the I.G., enclosing a formal Requisition signed and sealed by the I.G., the I.G.’s responsibility to extend only to such requisitions as bear his seal and signature. 7. The supplies ordered to be packed, shipped, insured and forwarded as directed in the

| I.G.’s despatch, and when forwarded, one invoice (setting forth in detail the articles forwarded, their prices, shipping charges, insurances, freight, etc.) and one B/L to be sent to

the I.G. and another invoice to the Commissioner at the port of discharge.® 8. A percentage (____ per cent) to be charged by the firm on the total amount of each halfyearly account, and to be considered as a commission covering all charges for trouble, stationery, correspondence, postage, etc. 9. Where the I.G.’s despatch makes provision for such a course, articles, before shipment are to be inspected and passed by an Engineer or Agent named by the I.G. Such Agent or Engineer is to give the certificate in duplicate, and one copy of that certificate is to be sent to the I.G. with the invoice. 10. This Memo. is not a contract, but simply a guide for the general transaction of business. Robert Hart

1. For the offices: , KINDS OF SUPPLIES WANTED

Office furniture, books, stationery, etc: Query. Waterlow & Co. 2. For Lighthouses: Lanterns, and stores for lights etc.: Query. Chance & Co. 3. For Lightships: Lanterns and stores for lights etc.:

Query. Wilkins & Co. 4. For Buoys, Beacons, Ironwork and such constructions generally as require to be examined and passed by Engineers,

and for supplies for Gasworks at Peking: .

Query. D. & J. Stevenson, Edinburgh. 5. For Ships’ stores and ammunition, etc., for Lightships and Revenue Steamers: Query. Forbes, or some other Agent. Waterlow, Chance, Wilkins and Stevenson are the people to whom J should like the work to be given. As regards the 5th category, I don’t know whether the work would be best done by Forbes or by some other agent. R.H. 1. Sir John B. Karslake, Q.C., was in charge of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Hart’s appeal and presented his case before the Missions, who also acted as an interpreter and secPrivy Council, supported by Mr. Farrer Herschell. retary for the United States Legation. The earlier plan to engage Sir Roundell Palmer had

been abandoned. 4.C. Bismarck was an interpreter at the German Legation. One of the sons mentioned here, H.M.A.

2. Jean Baptiste Charles Dancla (1818-1907), a Bismarck, was to join the Customs in 1898, long

violinist. after his father had left China.

3. Mrs. Holcombe (though spelled Holcome by 5. Genl. Vly. is General A.G. Vlangaly, the Russian Hart) was probably the wife of Chester Holcombe, minister to China, 1863-1874. a clergyman with the North China Mission of the

[95] DECEMBER 1872

6. That is, if Mrs. Hart is in Shanghai en route to 1872-1875; the Spanish minister during 1871-1872 England, sent away from Peking in anticipation of was Senior Perera; Frederick F. Low was American

riots over the audience question. minister, April 1870-July 1873. 7. M. de Geofroy was French minister to China, 8. B/L, bill of lading.

Undated (late Nov. 1872) My dear Campbell,

The courier is just starting, and the English mail with yours of the 4th Oct. is just in. I have also your telegram of the 17th inst. This is the last letter I think of writing: I suppose you will be starting by the first mail after its arrival. I have only one other thing to write for. In my last I asked you to bring some of the glue used by violin makers, and a couple of clamps or vices. I now want you to get for me at Hart’s, and bring with you, two patent violin Holders, and a couple of posts long enough to bear cutting if they don’t fit my present instrument (an ordinary twenty-guinea Villaume).’ I fear there’s no chance of a Cremona this winter, but I hope you'll find one for me before I leave. I’m not a great musician, and I’m not music mad, but I do want a mellow instrument, and therefore an old one. Cartwright is going home on leave—not in very good health. Woodruff and Gibbs arrived yesterday. Fauvel expected to-morrow. Those “‘country cousins” of mine—have they shown themselves at all? I fancy they’re frightened, and are simply stay-at-home Goths. Poor boys! Hoping to see you early in April. Yours truly, Robert Hart Is H.N. Lay coming to S’hai to practise as a Barrister? Find out. P.S. Mrs. Hart does not want a maid: i.e. that’s her idea to-day. R.H. 1. The posts were sound-posts for his violin.

6 December 1872 Dear Campbell,

Unexpectedly Mrs. Penrose has begun to talk about going home, and Mrs. Hart has accordingly come to my way of thinking, and to-day I have telegraphed to you “Wife wants a good maid’’. I sincerely hope you'll find some such commodity—English, French or German.

[96] THE I. G. IN PEKING

No furniture yet, I’m sorry to say; our “getting into order” here is thus put off for three months more. Hoping Mrs. Campbell and the youngster are quite well, and that you are all packed up and in good spirits for your start towards China, Yours truly, Robert Hart This is my real P.P.P.S. unless indeed I should have to telegraph to you to remain in Europe for any reason. 7 Dec. 1872 Mrs. Noetzli dead!! 1. This was the wife of G.H. Noetzli, a Swiss who time deputy commissioner-in-charge at Foochow. had joined the Customs in 1863 and was at this

My last from you are: 7th Feb. Telegram and 2nd Jany. letter. R.H.

7 March 1873 [Red. May 23, 1873]

My dear Campbell, | I last wrote to you in Nov. or early in December, and I then thought it quite possible that my letter might arrive in England after your departure for China. Your telegrams tell me you are still at home, and as my telegram of to-day tells you to wait for an April telegram I write this one letter, supposing it certain to catch you. I thought the judgment would never arrive! Now that it has come I can scarcely believe my eyes when you tell me that the P.C. have left the jurisdiction question open, and have gone into the merits of the case. From all I had heard in China, and from what you wrote me after you went home, I feared that the merits of the case would not be sifted and that the finding of the jury would not be touched; but I certainly did expect a definitive ruling on the jurisdiction point. Iam now glad that I insisted so much on having the whole case gone into. You remember that at Shanghai, I specially wanted Hannen to bring out all the facts, and after you went home, I always kept before you my desire to get the jury’s finding pronounced wrong, and von G. ordered to pay costs. I suspect Karslake’s way of opening the case had a good deal to do with the judgment; had he begun with the Jaw point, he might never have got the facts in. Herschell, too, deserves any amount of thanks for the way he got up the case and for his cleverness——in staying away the second day! My friends here are delighted with the result—but the believers in the enemy keep silence—not that they any longer believe, but because they feel ashamed of their former excess of faith. I need say no more now. In fact I can say no more; I must wait for the printed copy of the judgment.

On the receipt of it I shall go through it carefully, and if there are any points in it on which , I want further action or advice to be taken at home, I shall telegraph to you in April to

[97] MARCH 1873

“wait for despatches”; if Ido not see anything more called for to be done at home, I shall telegraph to you to “leave England in May”. Only one word more: I must thank yourself for the careful attention you have given to this affair, and specially for your self-denial in remaining in London, when the case was coming on, while Mrs. Campbell was so ill elsewhere. Of course it was official work for which you were paid, and which it was your first duty to attend to: but, personally, I am just as reconnaissant as if it were my own private affair. So, in a word, a thousand thanks! I have written to Dick to instruct Harwood, or his partner Wainwright, to do what is necessary when the judgment reaches S’hai, to have former finding discharged,—deposited money returned,—and costs recovered from von G. By the way, I don’t quite understand your telegram about costs: you seem to say that only costs of appeal are to be paid by him; but surely if the jury’s finding is set aside, he ought to pay the first costs too. I know he has no money and can pay nothing, and that I shall have to pay all; but all the same, I should have liked him to be ordered to pay all! You see, I’m not half-satisfied with even a whole

loaf—I want the butter—and the jam! .

We have got through winter here in the usual way; milder weather than usual, and about the same number of dull dinner parties. The event of the day is the coming of age of the Emperor: he has just begun the 12th year of his reign, and, with it, his Majority has been declared. On the 23rd Feb. the regency ended and the Emperor began to rule in person: not that this change changes the way of managing affairs much, but simply that it shifts responsibility. Now the Emperor is responsible vis-a-vis China and not China for all official acts; previously the [Grand] Council was responsible, and it stood in immense dread of its responsibility and of the reckoning it might have before it on the Emperor’s coming of age. On the 23rd Feb., the Yamen wrote to all the Ministers to say that the Emperor had begun to reign, and, on the 24th, the Ministers in a collective note, asked for an Audience.! They have not had an answer yet! I don’t think the question will itself breed bad blood: in fact, no European power would fight for such a thing, but I do think it quite possible that the Chinese haggling about it, putting it off, or refusing it except on not-to-be-accepted terms, will get [them] into hot water about other questions. The juncture is certainly a critical one; but we'll see how the cat is going to jump before your final instructions are sent from this. I cannot button any of my Beal & Inman’s shirts: 1°. they are too small round the neck, only 15 inches, and 2°. I can’t get any of my three sets of ordinary-sized studs into them. I am giving them to Jem, who has less fat about his “thrapple’’. I enclose a memo of things I want sent out as soon as possible; kindly attend to them for me. I don’t know how it is, one is always wanting more things of every sort. Some changes are taking place in my own office. Iam going to constitute my staff as follows:

Chief Secretary --- Campbell? .

Chinese “ --- Woodruff Peking.

Audit "22. Wright (To travel round (the ports..

Statistical “ --- Taintor Shanghai (Returns & Printing (at Shanghai.

Marine "++ Henderson? (Coast lights, etc. These men will be my Chiefs of Division, so to speak,and under them/i.e. me will work the Commissioners at the ports. Work has increased so much that organisation is necessary. I wish we had a married Chinese Secretary, so that we might have a lady society of our own at

[98] THEI. G. IN PEKING

this end of the town. Woodruff is a very good fellow, but not a marrying man. Taintor has delicate lungs and the north is too cold for him. Hainan isn’t open yet; my arrangements are thrown out accordingly.* Hobson goes, as Commissioner, to Tamsuy; de Champs to Tientsin; and Jem to Canton.° Hannen, Drew, Detring, Bowra and Cartwright constitute the Imperial Maritime Customs’ Commission, to visit the Vienna Exhibition and do all that’s needful there.® I shall have telegraphed to them and to you before this reaches, to decide on a uniform for the Service: 1°. very neat; 2°. very serviceable; 3°. not too gaudy; 4°. not too expensive. Get a good cloth and neat buttons and characteristic cap. I think on the top of the cap there ought to be an arrangement for wearing a button, such as Chinese official hats have; I shall send you a pattern next week. Clerks could wear a white, Commissioners a blue, and the I.G. a red button. Commissioner and I.G. ought, further, to have an additional coat with some/nottoo — much silver or gold braid (suggested by, but not resembling, Diplomatic uniforms) around neck and cuffs, for wearing on grand occasions—Audience, for example! No swords, and no lace on trousers, and no spurs. Not hussar-ish and Hughes-eyan. I have quite lost my run of your pay a/c; but I do not suppose you are in any fix, or you’d have mentioned it. If you are in want of money, you can get the O.B.C. to let you have whatever balance is due to you on a/c of salary (£1600 a year) from 1st Nov. 1870 to June 30th, 1873; and anything under £500 from my a/c Z, to pay for piano and violin, etc.; you can show this paragraph to Stuart. On second thoughts, I enclose a cheque on Z a/c for £500; you can account for the money by and by. (No. 59/89118 of this date.) Tell Batchelor to order two more desks and two more desk-chairs for the office, like those already sent out (a/c A). Mrs. Hart had almost decided to take a run home in March, but she has given up the idea. After seven years almost in China, she feels tired and would like change. By the way, it was this day seven years, the 7th March 1866, that I started from Peking on my first and only leave. I can scarcely believe that I have been almost 20 years in China: but so it is! I hope Mrs. Campbell is quite strong and well again. With kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Cable dead of fever, and Lorentz of Hydrophobia. Cartwright to examine candidates after you leave for China.’ R.H. LIST OF THINGS WANTED BY HART, PEKING 1. Shirts, 3 doz. Beal & Inman’s. Same quality as before. Round the neck to measure 16 1/3 (Sixteen and a third inches). At the back of the neck to have a hole (for a large-sized

collar stud), and not a button. Stud holes on breast of shirt not to be too small (last ones were just a pin’s breadth too short). 2. Collars, 3 doz., to suit shirts in size round the neck. All to turn down. 3. Neck-ties: six for summer wear (i.e. little or nothing round the neck, and a tie in front), blue, grey, or blue and white (red and black and green not wanted); and six for winter wear (i.e. a little band round the neck, and a scarf-like tie in front). 4. Two of Maelzel’s test Metronomes. (I think Cocks & Co. have them with a bell and without, costing from £2 to £4), one with a bell and one without it. (A Memo. of the value of the beats should accompany the Metronome.)

[99] MARCH 1873

5. A Piano-stool (unless one has been sent out with the Erard Piano). .6. Music stands/4 for a quartette party: metal, light and telescopic, preferred. 7. A dog-whip (for riding: handle to be about a foot long, and lash eighteen inches or so). 8. Will Mrs. Campbell kindly select some not too difficult quartettes? I think we can manage to have here my own poor self (violin), another man with the Flute and a third with the Violoncello, next year; the fourth instrument to be, of course, the piano. 9. Bring out some despatch boxes, with duplicate keys, for going between your office and mine: just large enough to put foolscap in. R.H.

N.B. Be particular about the shirts please, and reject any that do not fully measure 16 1/2 round from the hole for the stud on one Side to the hole on the other. R.H. 1. ““The ministers” are the foreign ministers in Customs the herculean task of mounting at such

Peking. See letter 25n4 and 45. great distance, and often with far too little time,

an exhibition worthy to represent China and intro-

himself. formed about her.

2. This was of course James Duncan Campbell duce her to a Western public that was all too uninCampbell was directly responsible for carrying

3. David Marr Henderson, who had joined the Cus- out in Europe Hart’s elaborate, and remarkably toms in 1869, was engineer-in-chief for many years. specific, instructions. He was not involved in the Philadelphia exhibition.

4. Kiungchow, the capital city of Hainan, and its Edward Charles M. Bowra, in the Customs port at Hoihow were opened to foreign trade in since 1863, was the second Westerner in the Pin-

March 1876. ch’un mission of 1866 (see letter 350n4). Now

commissioner at Canton, he was detached for the 5. Emile de Champs, French, had been in the Cus- special duty of planning and sending the collections toms since the early 1860s and was one of the two to Vienna from the various ports. He spent four

Westerners who had accompanied Pin-ch’un’s months touring the ports and supervising the mission to Europe in 1866 (see letter 350n4). Since assembling, packing, and recording of the exhibits. 1871 he had been commissioner at Tamsui, and Thanks to his efforts in China and Campbell’s at he never did go to Tientsin. The last mention of the European end, the Chinese exhibit was heralded him in the Customs records is, ““Mr. de Champs left as a brilliant success. the port very sick, transferring charge to Mr. Towell.”’ Hart says (letter 53) that de Champs has 7. Walter George Hobhouse Cable, British, had

falien ill and “bolted home.” He died later in the joined the Customs in 1862 as student interpreter;

year. he was first-class clerk 1873. B on his death in January 6. China participated in international exhibitions Richard Lorenz was a Russian, in the Customs in Vienna (1873), Philadelphia (1876), Paris (1878), since 1869; he died in February 1873.

and three in London: Fisheries (1883), Health That is, Cartwright, who was on home leave for (1884), and Inventions (1885). In each case the his health, would be available in London after Chinese government delegated to Hart and the Campbell might have left for China.

14 March 1873 . Dear Campbell,

I was just thinking this morning, that, if I could get someone who would suit me in the position of Chief Sec. as well as you do, you would make a capital agent in Europe; or to put it another way, what a catch it would be, if I could get someone like you, for general

[100] THE I. G. IN PEKING

work in Europe! I fancy there will always be something to be looked after in Europe requiring both an intelligent appreciation of conditions and ability to decide between different courses of procedure,—to say nothing of prudence, loyalty, painstaking, etc., etc., etc. As it is 1am sending you a small instalment of work this week, and, next week, I shall send you something of a very much more important kind. The “official’’, you will see, refers to Meteorological Stations.’ The Circular was one of the last written before we left Peking together in 1869, and since that time worry and work have kept me from carrying out what I then proposed to do. In the arrangements I am now working, the Statistical Secretary, to reside at S’hai, will have charge of all Customs’ Publications, trade returns, trade reports, medical reports, etc., etc., etc., and I shall put the Meteorological department jointly under him and the Marine Secretary (also to reside at Shanghai). But first of all the Meteorological Station must be established. Well, we have now lighthouses increasing in number along the coast, and the lightkeepers are fairly intelligent Europeans: steady men who can read and write and who will only be too glad to have something given them to do, to occupy the lonely hours of their isolated lives. The lighthouse sites—i.e. the outer lighthouses— are so situated as to suit admirably for meteorological stations. Thus we have the stations. Next we want the Instruments and Registers. See Sir G.E. Airey first;? his advice as regards Instruments and Registers can be acted on by you at once: that is to say, you can draw up a list of Instruments etc. for one station, and can then hand it to Batchelor, instructing him to procure twenty sets,—each set to be packed in a separate box—twelve boxes to be sent to Dick, eight boxes to Degenaer, for Northern and Southern Stations respectively .? Then I want you to see those other men, and my reason for this is to find out if there is any special line in which such stations can be made useful—either to established receptacles of knowledge or to isolated experimentalists, specialists, etc., etc., etc. All these people will, I am sure, be glad to hear of the establishment of such stations, covering such a coast and in such a comparatively unknown part of the world, and I want them to know what is being done, and I also want others to be made interested in the undertaking. I fancy the people whose names I have given you will suffice for you to consult personally, and if the President of the British Association makes the matter known to the heads of the Scientific Sections, the matter will have had sufficient publicity at the start. Maury is somewhere in the Southern States; if you write him a note and send him a copy of the Memo. it will suffice; I should like him to know what we are doing, and both ask him for suggestions and offer him, if he wishes for them, copies of all that may be published.* Eliminate—I mean reject from the Registers to be kept all unnecessary records: and then ascertain, of the observations to be taken, which will be the best hours to take them and what will be the very smallest number to be taken daily compatible with utility. To each Station I want to give two or three simple books on Meteorology etc., etc., etc., to both interest the keepers in the observations and make them better observers. This is March. You'll have the despatch and this letter about the middle of May. Tell Batchelor to be sure to have the sets of instruments and registers sent off before the middle of August, so that all may be in China, and at their northern destination especially, before the November frosts close the northern ports. I am very seedy. | am doubled up with lumbago; have had it a week; and just now a racking headache is coming on—so I must shut up.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

[101] MARCH 1873

15 March P.S. Horribly seedy yesterday; no sleep last night—acute pain; very weak and done up to-day. Last night Batchelor’s telegrams of 17th and 27th Feb. came in: thanks for the Cremona—it will be very welcome. Do you know any of the Treasury people? Could you get at Mr. Lowe?° I am going to send you a Memo. next week of a very confidential kind, that I should like to see dropped into

his hands: he would be more likely to act on it than any other. Audience negotiations not proceeding satisfactorily. R.H.

P.S. Next week and hereafter my letters will go to the care of the O.B.C. for you. 1. Hart’s Circular No. 28 of 1869 (November 12, 3. T. Dick was at this time Customs commissioner 1869) had announced his intention of establishing at Shanghai. Degenaer was an agent who acted for a meteorological station in connection with each the Customs in Hong Kong until 1880 (see letter

Customs office, and had expressed the hope that 306). “in a few years these meteorological stations will...

have at their head an observatory to be established ; in connection with the Peking college (T’ung Wen 4. vrornew F. Maury Saat ) was an American Kuan).” Hart now enlisted Campbell’s aid in pur- me officer, meteorologist, and pioneer oceanogchasing and dispatching instruments for the stations, Tapner. and also in making his plans known to those scien-

tists who might be interested and helpful. 5. Robert Lowe (later Viscount Sherbrooke) had been since December 1868 chancellor of the ex-

2. Sir George Airey, Astronomer-Royal, president chequer in Gladstone’s administration. His budgets (1872-1873) of the Royal Society of London for were meeting with harsh criticism and he was to Improving Natural Knowledge, an association of resign in only a few months—in August 1873. physical scientists, chartered in 1669.

29 March 1873 Dear Campbell,

I have yours of the 28th and 31st January, and I hope to receive the printed judgment before this day week. Meantime I have directed Wainwright (Harwood) to proceed against von G. to recover costs. The China papers don’t say a word about the case; the L. & C. Express is the only one that expresses any opinion and that, I am glad to say, holds that the new decision is right and that the former finding was “the worst ever made by a jury” I don’t think he is “‘scotch’d” yet: he’ll fight to the last, and you or I, or both, may have to enter the lists again. The important thing is the 1842 affair, will that London house swear to the photo, and, if not, what will it cost to bring someone to China to identify him?* We must not content ourselves with anything vague or smudgy: everything must be as clear, and as sharply cut as possible. Thanks for all you have done in the matter of the violin. As it is not varnish but tone that I want, I am not particular as to the maker; when I go home I may possibly get a Stradivarius for mere love of the beauty of its colours and lines. Don’t suppose from my fever to possess a first-rate violin that Iam a player: I love the instrument, and when I am alone | get all sorts of curious results pleasing to myself, but when I accompany the piano, or rather am

[102] THEI. G. IN PEKING

accompanied by it, I feel that I am not doing justice to anything—neither to the music nor to the pianist, nor to the violin, nor to my own power (small as it is), nor-to the listeners. But as Chambers says of a pretty girl: (Be she of Heaven or made of Shears), J love her, over head and ears! The Piano is at TungChow and will be here to-morrow, and in a fortnight we'll see how

Erard and “the go together!? The Memo. I intended to send you was duly written, and yet has not been sent. There are a dozen sheets of foolscap in my writing! It is a thing that will keep, and the heavens do not look propitious just now; so [’Il not let it go out to be drowned. Audience has not advanced a step. The Ministers have not yet had a reply to their collective note of the 24th Feb., and the Prince has not yet had the courage to propose the reception to the Emperor. The Yamen says: “Your usages will not let you kneel; ours will not let you stand. The very same thing that makes it right—defensible—sacred for you not to kneel, makes it right—defensible—sacred for us not to let you stand. Why not cry ‘quits’ and say no more?” That’s where we are now, and, as the Chinese know that the foreigner is not empowered to force the point, they are going on to tie the knot tighter: I expect their manipulations will in the end—but not immediately—make it Gordian. All well, otherwise. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The L. and C. Express was the London and 2. Hart may refer here to the affair connected with China Express, first published in London in 1859. the advertisement (“19 September 1843’’) he ran Published on the day of the outgoing mail, it offered in the Shanghai papers (see letter 22); 1842 may European news to its subscribers in China and re- be a misprint for 1843. ported on Chinese events as seen from European

capitals. 3. The blank is in the original letter; it should probably read “‘the Cremona.”

3 April 1873 | Dear Campbell,

The Piano arrived on the 31st March. In your letter, stating that one had been selected, you enclosed a slip of paper, on which was written “oblique Grand 95 gs. No. 5. in solid Mahogany’’, and on it there was also a drawing of a piano with a somewhat ornamental front. The Piano that has arrived has no ornamental part in front (and, in that respect, is preferable to the one shown in the drawing). Whether it is ‘‘in Solid Mahogany” or not I cannot say for outside it is coated with black varnish, and, inside, the look of the wood is hardly dark enough or hard enough for Mahogany, as I recollect it. The bass from == down and the

treble from = up are unobjectionable;' but in the intermediate part, from #= G to B #= in the treble, the hammers do not fly back but remain pressed against the strings—vibration is impossible—and the result is a dull thud. The instrument has no volume of tone, and, sitting in my office with the window open, I can hardly hear it when being played on in the

drawing room. ;

Inside the Piano is marked Krard’s Pa tent, and on a brass plate in front are the words:

[103] APRIL 1873

EP. O.G.PF. Manufactured for extreme climates, 18, Gt. Marlborough St. London. It has occurred to me, that, by some mistake in the store where you bought it, they have put in the packing case, not the Piano chosen by Mrs. Campbell, but another one; if it is the original one, its strings must have lost all their good qualities, and the hammers must have got out of sorts on the passage. You will be sorry to hear that it turns out, on arrival, to be such a very feeble, inferior kind of instrument. It was, besides, not as securely packed as it ought to have been for such a journey. When Mrs. Campbell is packing up her own, she ought to put it in blankets, and have it (in addition to the ordinary supports of rope and wood) laid on or in a good bed of tow.” Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. Hart inserted no notes on these staves. fibers that have been separated out from those to be used for spinning. 2. Tow consists of short, coarse flax or hemp

4 April 1873 [Red. June 4, 1873] Dear Campbell,

Many thanks for your long letter of the 7th Feb. enclosing the judgment in print and the draft diplomatic note in manuscript. I have only skimmed over the judgment: I see how decidedly it is in my favour: in the three or four back-handers it deals out for von. G., don’t you think it approached flippancy? It seems to me to be a much less sober document than I had looked for from Lordships so grave and reverend. The plea of privilege is allowed as far as I could have looked for. The wider question of jurisdiction, I could hardly have expected to see settled. So long as I am a British subject, and so long as the exterritorial privilege exists, just so long must I appear in any British court that summonses me; now what I wanted to establish was my right to say, “You have brought me here, but in this matter I claim privilege”, and the present judgment decides that I can appeal to privilege—that’s really all I care for. To get the Privy Council to say: “Hart is in China’s service, British Courts cannot summons him”’ is what cannot be expected; J must go into court, but, so long as Iam allowed to show cause why the court should then hold its hand, that’s enough. The judgment appears to me to give this. What surprises me is that the court went into the merits of the case: I was most anxious personally to have the future provided for, and least anxious to have the past justified. Now that the future has been fairly adequately provided for, I am, of course, much gratified to find the past so completely justified—that is, my past, 1 am very glad now that I insisted so persistently on having all the facts gone into, and on having even the money question (T/s. 173) looked into. To show how unfairly the S’hai people treat the matter and would treat me, I

[104] THE I. G. IN PEKING

may tell you what the Courier says:' “We print the judgment of the Council in order to give a warning to all who have business dealings with the I.G.”’ The meaning is that I shirk my obligations and screen myself by my official position and behind my official character: this, in the face of a judgment which deals so exhaustively with the merits of a case, is evidence of the kind of treatment J should ever have from a S’hai jury. Fortunately, in the Brown affair, Harwood managed to get the Judge to rule that I can only be prosecuted in the Consular district where I reside: i.e. T’tsin; this will save me from persecution at S’hai. I do not see in the judgment or in the draft letter any points on which I want advice or explanation. I have a nice job now before me: to put a complete history of the case into Chinese for the Yamen, and to translate the judgment. So long as I have only other people’s, or my own, thoughts to put into Chinese dress, it is easy enough; but when it comes to a legal bit of composition, like the judgment, which must be reproduced exactly and faithfully, the work of translating, especially into this queer language of China, becomes a difficulty. By the way, I have always felt ashamed of one thing: the English versions of my Chinese despatches. The translations were made (I think) by Margary and horribly uncouth they are!” I required to “erect an observatory”, and I’m made to say I refused to “raise a raised tower’’, for instance! I hope to goodness people won’t think my official writing is of that clumsy sort! I have thanked you before for all the care you have given to this case: I do so again. Besides I wish you would say to Messrs. Murray and Hutchins that professional fees apart I feel very much obliged to them for the way in which they have had the case worked out—the more especially as it had been sent home originally from S’hai in an inexcusably imperfect condition. It’s a great relief to me, after three years’ waiting, and with so much work to attend to, to get rid of this worry! I must now wait till the order mailed by you on the 7th March reaches Shanghai. We must see what von G. does, when gone at for costs, and then I shall be able to decide concerning your movements. I don’t suppose I shall have the Shanghai news on this point till the beginning of May. So, this letter is most likely to find you still at home. Clearly you cannot bring Mrs. Campbell and baby through the Red Sea in June, July or August. I shall therefore expect you either to come at once when I telegraph for you via America, or via Suez, but not till September (i.e. not leave home till September). I think you had better make up your mind to this last course, unless, for family reasons, you should plan to start sooner and come through the U.S. But, in one way or another, you must be here by the lst November at the very latest. The tables for the office just received are all of the wrong kind, quite too small. Enclosed is a drawing of my own with dimensions. Three weeks ago I wrote for two additional office desks: if none have been shipped, let

, the two be like my one—i.e. of the size etc. of the drawing enclosed. The sketch is rough, but the measurements given and the details respecting trays, pigeon-holes, drawers (5) closed by one piece of wood, etc., etc., etc. will remind them of the one they sold to Lay in 1863. The Emperor is out at the Tombs, but returns on the 8th.° With kind regards, Yours very truly, Robert Hart

P.S. If you do not use all that £500 for me, kindly pay the balance into my a/c Z at the O.B.C.

R.H.

[105] APRIL 1873 1. The Courier is the Shanghai Evening Courier, 3. The imperial tombs were in two groups: Eastern

published from 1868 to 1875. (Tung ling), about eighty miles east of Peking, with

the Great Wall as a northern boundary; and Western

2. Augustus Raymond Margary was an interpreter (Hsi ling), about an equal distance from Peking, in the British consular service, whose later murder but to the southwest. These mausolea contained the in 1875 on the Yunnan border was a serious diplo- tombs of the Manchu rulers from the Shun-chih

matic incident (see letter 136n1). Emperor (1644-1661) onward.

26 April 1873 My dear Campbell,

I have your letters, of the 7th March, and also the three covers that came by the preceding mail. I am now sending you £700 to pay the balance of the costs. As regards the von G. case, I have nothing to say, and, until I hear what he does when they try to get costs out of him at S’hai, I cannot send you any instructions respecting your movements. Meantime agency matters and meteorology will occupy your spare time somewhat. The Violin arrived safely; and I am well pleased with it; it will improve considerably when played on regularly. But here’s the strange thing—de Castro, a musical Portuguese tidewaiter at T’tsin, who came up to tune the new piano, brought the violin with him, and with it, he brought his own, as he put it, “‘to try its tone against mine”’. He had got his from the mate of a steamer. They had tossed whether the mate should give him his “fiddle”, or whether he should give the man his “chain’”’.' He won, and got the “‘fiddle’’. It is now mine. It is heavier and looks larger than the one you have sent for me, and it has a fuller, rounder, mellower, and more powerful tone. Back and belly each made in two pieces wonderfully put together; it is the flattest model I have seen, and it is in colour and outline just like the “Villaume copy” I have been playing on the last few years. Inside it has an old label:

Antonius Stradivarius Cremonens | Faciebat anno 1709 The instrument is certainly old; the model is certainly the Stradivarius model—and the best kind too, (the flattest), the varnish is somewhat rubbed from rough treatment, but where it is in good order it is deep and clear. I believe I have a real Stradivarius, and, if so, it is one made when he made the best instrument now known to remain of his handiwork. If you were to hear it and the Guadagnini, you would say that, while the latter is like a sweet little fife, the former is like a mellow clarinet. I am giving my Villaume and some tens of dollars for it. Tell Mr. McCaul about this. I shall describe the violin minutely, and ask Hart if he knows anything about it. Meanwhile I shall find the mate of the steamer—his name is McCrae, and get as much of its history as I can. The piano has improved perceptibly since taken out of its case, but though it has an organ-like roll, it is still somewhat feeble. By re-adjusting the little screws, we have got the hammers all right again. I’m not music-mad, but with all my troubles, I am glad I have such a resource as a liking for the violin!

My troubles! Did you hear about one of the last of them? I had given Halket his promotion and made him Dep. Comr. at F’chow.” So he had to leave

[106] THE I. G. IN PEKING

S’hai, and in handing over charge of the pay office, it came out that he had for a year and a half back been appropriating Customs’ money, and that he was then short of over 30,000 taels! We got 7000 out of him. The remaining 23,000 are not forthcoming, and J am personally responsible. He is now in gaol on a charge of embezzlement, and, ten to one, at Shanghai—with a Shai jury and S’hai anti-Customs sympathy—he’ll escape (at all events, severe) punishment. This pains me immensely—the whole case; but chiefly am I put out by Dick’s carelessness, which alone made such doings possible.° Then another man has been reported to me for some doings, which if true, will lead to his dismissal. I have always like him, and his pay is now £2000. Again a third man has just been reported (pay £1600) for something which will go far to smash him. And a fourth (£1600) has made such a mess of his last year’s accounts, that I shall probably cancel his Commissionership. “Business is business”, as Forbes says, and I must put sympathy and good feeling in a dark room, and work in the light with sternness and severity. These things have half dazed me, and I feel as if my brain had got clogged and would not work freely. On the top of it all, deChamps falls sick and bolts home. Man is so weak in Chinese that I cannot put him in charge; Woodruff is so useful (my work increases so much) that I cannot spare him; and all available men are on leave or at work from which they cannot be moved. I really hardly know which way to turn. Then there’s yourself. Iam much concerned to learn from Batchelor’s telegram that you were Seriously ill and would be “incapacitated” for so long a time as two months. This makes me begin to think that I shall not see you out here again, and I don’t see how I can afford to lose so valuable a Secretary. If you should be forced to stay at home, I shall of course give you the “representative” powers and general oversight of all that I may have going on at home. One must look at possibilities beforehand. | hope you will come out; if you cannot come out, I hope you will be strong enough to be utilized in the other way where you are. Mrs. Hart is not very desirous of having a maid sent out; but if a really suitable person should be found, she would like her to come with Mrs. Campbell. She writes on this subject. Mrs. Penrose is willing to stay, and we only want to make a change in the hope of getting a more useful person. Spencer Knight was not dismissed. He left the Customs of his own accord in 1866 when I was in England, and he subsequently got employment under Giquel.* While with us, he was eccentric, but not by any means mad. He was not sent home by us, nor have we had anything to do with him since May 1866, I wish you would let Sir Robert Carden know this, for, from the way Batchelor put it, he must think we really are the “‘wicked Customs” from which Specht over-heard a missionary pray the Chinese might be delivered!” The Express Article frightened me. It was one calculated to make things worse for us— rather than to help us by causing shame-facedness—at Shanghai. I wonder judge and jury don’t prosecute for libel. I have not yet seen the “‘Spectator’’. Lawyers’ fees are high but success can not be too well paid for. Telegraph the amount due to you on salary account up to 30th June 1873. I intend to have an assistant secretary, and Iam offering the post to Mrs. Hart’s brother Dr. Bredon, 97th Regt. (A.B.&M.B. of T.C.D.), one of the smartest fellows I know.® What about Mr. Keown?’ Time to shut up. With kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart

[107] MAY 1873

1. Possibly a watch chain of value. E. Specht, German, had joined the Customs in October 1869.

2. Richard Webb Halket joined the Customs in

1862 and in 1873 was tried and sentenced for em- 6. Dr. Robert E. Bredon, Mrs. Hart’s brother, whose

bezzlement. appointment in the Customs Service dates from

September 1873, had three degrees from Trinity 3. T. Dick was the Customs commissioner at Shang- College, Dublin (T.C.D.): M.Ch. (Master of Surhai. He resigned over the Halket affair and went to gery), 1866; M.A. (Master of Arts), 1872; and M.B.

Europe, but he returned in 1875 to rejoin the (Bachelor of Medicine), 1872. He served as surgeon

Customs as commissioner at Ningpo. to the 97th Regiment before taking his post in

China. He was to have a long career in the Customs,

4. Knight, listed in the Customs Service records as including service as deputy inspector general after J. Sparrow Knight, had joined in January 1864 and _— Hart’s departure from China in 1908. Hart’s giving

resigned in 1866. him a commissionership for his first appointment Prosper Giquel was one of the directors of the caused considerable comment.

Foochow dockyard (see letter 76n2). 7. Keown was a nominee for the Customs, but he 5. Sir Robert Walter Carden (1801-1888) was an failed the qualifying examinations. He may have M.P. first from Gloucester and later from Barn- been a son of the Keown, M.P., mentioned in letter staple. He had been Sheriff of Londonin185l and 55. Lord Mayor 1857-1858.

17 May 1873

My dear Campbell,

I have been very much concerned indeed, to hear you have been so ill. As Batchelor’s telegram of the 26th April does not allude to you, I infer from it—and very gladly I assure you— that at that date you were out of danger, and I trust that, as I write, you are well round the corner, and that, when this letter arrives, you'll be quite well and strong again. I have received yours of the 14th March and the 5 Memos. and have to-day written to Dick to telegraph the word safe to you. I have also received yours of the 21st March, in Mrs. Campbell’s handwriting, and hope that when you are convalescent, you will go into the supply question again. In addition to which I have more meteorological work to send you in a fortnight. You'll have heard of Halket’s affair. He has been carrying it on for a couple of years, and Dick, on the spot, never saw to it whether or not the balances payable to my a/c’s really reached the bank! I had promoted Halket and transferred him to F’chow, and then it all came out. Legal quibbles—a Shanghai jury—and the Customs as prosecutors—will, I believe, get him off without any punishment. The money lost is some 22,000 taels at the least: and I am personally responsible. Charges have since been brought against a man who draws £2000 and against another who — draws £1600, and what the result will be I can’t say. The work here increases every day. Iam going to turn students away from Peking and have a full office staff instead. I shall at once instal Wright as Audit Secretary and send him on a tour round the ports. Woodruff as Chinese Sec. is doing well, but he wants two competent assistants. When you are out as Chief Secretary and an assistant Secretary is at hand too, I think we shall keep things straight. Audience negotiations still going on. China rather perplexed about Japan.’

[108] THE I. G. IN PEKING

The piano has recovered and Mrs. Hart is well pleased with it. I like the violin very much, and find it a very handy instrument. I was afraid you would not buy me one, so I| telegraphed to you to buy me Hart’s best; now that I have one that suits me, you need not buy another. With kind regards and hoping you’re all right again.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. There were two reasons for China’s immediate created a problem in protocol in the event of an perplexity about Japan, both stemming from the audience, since he outranked the Western diplopresence in Peking of Soejima Taneomi, Japan’s mats. This was the first perplexity; the second conminister of foreign affairs, who had been sent there — cerned his mission, to which Hart refers in his next

in April as a special ambassador. His elevated rank letter (letter 55). “

23 May 1873 My dear Campbell,

I received your telegram of the 13th yesterday and was delighted to learn from it that you had weathered the storm and were fairly convalescent. I have pushed meteorology a step further out here. We (i.e. the Chinese Customs) are going to send weather-news by telegraph every morning from S’hai to H’kong, Amoy, Nagasaki and from each place to all the others. In addition to this, I have drawn up a general plan for the coast line from Posiet to Batavia, proposing establishment of stations for meteorological observations at Posiet, Yokohama, Nagasaki, Niuchwang, Hankow, Lamocks, Hongkong, Manila, Saigon, Bankok, Singapore, Batavia, and the interchange of weather-news daily by telegraph.’ I have written to the Governors of the places concerned, and hope to start something of a kind that shall interest the scientific world, form a nucleus for more to grow round, and fill up the gap that want of such establishments causes in this quarter. I shall send you printed memos. next week—they ought to be here today from S’hai. Now as to your own movements. I shall telegraph to you to prepare to come out in August, and in July I shall telegraph to say by what mail my last letters for you will leave China, and on the receipt of my letters by that mail I shall want you to come along at once. Von G. is at S’hai, at a small tavern called the Nucleus. I hear he has been turned out of a German house and is generally discredited. I have not yet heard of the result of the application for costs. When you come out, if you come via Hongkong, you will find letters at Degenaer’s: if by America you will find letters at the British Consulate, Nagasaki. If you come by Hongkong, pray let Mrs. Campbell travel thence alone to Tientsin, and do you yourself go from H’kong to Nagasaki where the FeiHoo will be waiting for you to take you to Chefoo.” In the same way, if you come by America, the FeiHoo will meet you at Nagasaki: Mrs. Campbell can cross to Shanghai and go to T’tsin by the ordinary steamers, while you can go in the FeiHoo to Chefoo. I propose this to save you from annoyance at S*hai. The FeiHoo is small and could not accommodate Mrs. Campbell; she will besides have to make the voyage from Nagasaki against the northerly monsoon and will be very wet. Nobody else will know about these plans, and the FeiHoo will leave port with sealed orders. Of course if von G. clears out from China as he may possibly do, the detour will not be necessary. The earlier you are here in October the better.

[109] MAY 1873 |

look after. ,

Apart from meteorology and supplies, I don’t see that there is anything more for you to

I am anxious to hear how Patterson has done,® and also the result of your confab with

a joke. :

Keown, M.P. Work here has simply quadrupled, and I am at my wits end to keep things up. I suppose I have too many irons in the fire. The Halket trial has not come off yet. When it’s over, I shall have to take the S’hai office in hand. A loss of 22,000 taels is enough to make one treat the matter as something else than

I think we shall have two violins, a ’cello, a flute and a piano here when you arrive. Will Mrs. Campbell kindly bring some trios, quartettes etc.: the violin you sent me is regaining its voice, but it is still a weaker instrument than the Stradivarius I have so strangely happened on. No audience yet, but Ministers expect it will be granted. The Japanese are here, and are ready to give trouble to China if the chance presents itself. I fancy theyll have Formosa before long.* Li is building a new fort at Taku, and all round Tientsin the troops are pretty

numerous.> :

Laurent has disappeared. His creditors were worrying him, and off he went. His demeanour before one’s face is all that could be wished for, but out of sight, I fancy he’s a rip! The “Carnarvonshire”’ is at Tientsin. I think she has furniture for you on board. As you may see my hand grows worse and worse; I have to exercise great strength of will to write carefully, slowly and legibly. With kind regards, Yours very truly, Robert Hart

P.S. Have you seen Mrs. Fitz Roy at all?° 1. Posiet is a Russian port between the Korean for their deaths. Soejima and Li Hung-chang had border and Vladivostok. Batavia, now Djakarta, conferred in April, and Li had accepted China’s the capital of Indonesia, is on the northwest coast responsibility and recommended that his governof Java. Lamocks, or the Lamock Islands, is off ment punish the Formosan tribes.

the coast of Kwangtung, near Swatow. Soejima was received in audience in June (see

letter 58). In July China disclaimed any control over

2. Frederic Degenaer, a merchant at 34 Peel Street, . the eastern half of Formosa. There the matter

until 1880. letter 90). .

Hong Kong, served as agent for the Customs rested for almost a year, until April 1874 (see The Fei Hoo, a revenue steamer commanded by

W.H. Clayson, was often used by Customs per- 5. The great Li Hung-chang, an almost constant

sonnel on trips between ports. figure in the correspondence up to his death in

1901, was at this time governor-general of Chihli,

3. Patterson, whose family was known to Hart, grand secretary, and superintendent of trade for failed his qualifying examination for the Customs. the Northern Ports. As one of the leaders of the Chinese “self-strengthening’”? movement, he was

4. The Japanese ambassador’s mission in Peking deeply interested in a very wide range of subjects was to press his government’s demands for redress relating to Chinese modernization, which he re-

for a massacre that had taken place in eastern garded as essential if China was to hold her own Formosa in December 1871, when fifty-four against an aggressive and technically superior West. shipwrecked Liu-ch’iu islanders had been killed by The letters reveal his interest in armaments and aboriginal mountain tribesmen. China claimed gunboats, steamships, shipbuilding and the developsuzerainty over Formosa and also over Liu-ch’iu, ment of a navy, the introduction into China of which since 1609 had been in the unenviable posi- the telegraph and of railways, and the training of tion of having to pay tribute also to Japan (Sat- young Chinese in modern—especially technical— suma han). Japan regarded the murdered sailors as subjects. As superintendent of trade for the Northher own subjects and hence was demanding redress ern Ports he was brought into contact with for-

. [110] THEI. G. IN PEKING eigners and was made cognizant of all the problems 6. The wife of Commissioner George Henry Fitz-

arising from the foreign trade. The letters make Roy, who had acted jointly with Hart as Inspector it clear that Li was a powerful political and diplo- General of the Customs during Lay’s absence from matic figure. As governor-general of Chihli for China in 1861-1863. twenty-five years, he was several times called upon to conduct delicate treaty negotiations.

29 May 1873 [Red. August 5, 1873] Dear Campbell,

I send you 1°. copy of a letter I have addressed to the Governors concerned, 2”. copy of two letters addressed to the Ministers concerned, and 3°. copy of the Memo. The letters refer to, concerning a/. Meteorological observations and b/. Weather news. I want you to get the letters printed in the order in which they are numbered (vide numbers on copies), and (in* a single sheet of foolscap); and I want you to send a copy of letters and memo. to the people you have consulted about Meteorological matters. The general plan I have proposed for the eastern half of Asia and the Pacific, and which covers the section between 100° and 180° East Longitude, will no doubt be acted on, both in respect of Meteorology and weather-news, and may possibly originate a comprehensive organisation for the prosecution of scientific research and for the Communication of scien- |

tific knowledge, observations and discoveries. If in time for the meeting of the British | Association, send a copy of the letter and Memo. to the Sections interested in Meteorology

and Navigation.! I think, too, it would not be out of place to send a copy to Mr. Plimsole.’ | In fact, I want what we are commencing to do to be brought to the knowledge of Scientific men everywhere, and it may be no harm to let the public generally know that, out here, in these seas, there is a movement under way, to assist science and give shipping the benefit of the information supplied by daily observations. The Medical Reports are a success, and will develope into a first-class medical journal;* the meteorological observations and Exchange of Weather-news, will in time, fill up the gap and help to give the West sets of facts concerning the East that must prove most useful to scientific men. Will you tell such men as you may meet, that we’ll only be too glad here to help research in any special directions that they may indicate. I shall be writing to Batchelor, in a month or two, to send out twelve sets of Instruments and Registers to the cosmopolitan stations my Memo. names. Will you look into the matter first, however, and find out what instruments and Registers are most likely, as being accepted by Science everywhere, to meet the views, and not hurt the national susceptibilities of the people engaged in the work. (For instance: at Saigon they might prefer the Centigrade to Fahrenheit.) We want “‘the greatest common multiple” in fact, or the instruments etc., which will suit English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Japs and Russians equally well. Let Batchelor know the results of your enquiries, so that, when my order reaches him, he may know 1°. what instruments and registers to get, and 2°. where to get them. This matter has lain over since 1869, but now I hope to start it, and also to prepare the way for a few more “‘irons’’. *vide P.S.

[111] MAY 1873

I shall never leave China contentedly unless I see mines at work, railways in operation, telegraphs spreading and—the audience question settled. These changes initiated, I don’t care how soon after I hand the reins over to a successor: I must confess I am growing tired of it all, and shall probably have to take a leave—a long leave I mean—and then come back here for another spell. It was, and continues to be, a great relief to me to know from your telegram of the 13th that you hoped soon to be about again as usual. You have had a hard time of it, but I hope this attack over, you'll be free for years to come and fit for another (I hope, this time, Jong) stay in China. J should much rather have you here than anyone else; but should you not be able to come, I should rather have you in London than any other person;—but I hope you'll come here. I fancy that I shall be writing a fortnight hence to ask you to come along at latest by the Ist September Mail. You must be here next winter: I cannot do without a chief secretary any longer. Private Audience not settled yet. It is doubtful whether any Minister is authorised to press for it, and the Chinese having an inkling of this, and yet not having the courage to say no right out, go on discussing and discussing. Wen Hsiang and the Prince are (I believe) anxious to get the matter properly and once for ever settled; but some of the old and too Conservative party,— notably the fifth and seventh Princes,—are against conceding the ceremonial.* The Japanese are here, and we wonder how they’ll affect China,—also how the position or “situation” at Peking will affect them. I hope Mrs. Campbell and baby are well. With kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart

P.S. On second thoughts, perhaps it would be well to print together: 1. my 1869 circular 2. my Memo. for your guidance 3. my letters to Ministers 4. my letters to Governors General 5. my last Memo. so as to have all the project together. It might be entitled: “Documents relating to: 1°. Establishment of Meteorological Stations in China, and 2°. Proposals for co-operation in the publication of Meteorological Observations and Exchange of Weather-news by Telegraph, along the Pacific Coast of Asia.

Follow that with an index of the papers 1 to S. Then give the papers; commencing each at the top of a right-hand page. The Charts or maps could easily be lithographed. Turn the thing out neatly, and with an official look. The plan is going to succeed, and it may as well be introduced to the public handsomely. I see the Westminster has an article on the “National importance of Scientific Research’’.

[112] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Find out who the writer is, and send him a copy of our Meteorological plans and projects. Give the thing as much publicity as you can. R.H. Telegraph the words “‘Meteorology one three five’’, on receipt, so that I may know you have received these papers safely. R.H. P.P.S. Mrs. Penrose stays.

, 1. The British Association for the Advancement of Service, with its widely scattered stations, had a Science was founded in 1831 as a means of pre- valuable opportunity to collect data on the local senting to the public the increasing importance of peculiarities of diseases that were rarely, if ever, science to the country’s economic and social encountered outside China. Accordingly in his Cirdevelopment. The 1873 meeting was to take place cular No. 19 of 1870 he had instructed commison September 17 in Bradford under the presidency sioners to request their medical officers to prepare of Professor Alexander W. Williamson. If Campbell each half-year a report on conditions in their terrimissed that meeting, the next was scheduled for tories. The result was a series so valuable that in Belfast on August 19, 1874, with Professor J. 1884 it was summarized and published in England

Tyndall as president. » (see letter 368).

2. Hart doubtless means Samuel Plimsoll (1824- 4. “The Prince” is Prince Kung. The fifth prince was 1898), an English M.P. He was responsible for the Prince Tun (I-tsung), who in 1862 had been “Plimsoll line” on the hulls of merchant ships, to named head tutor in Manchu to the emperor. The

mark their load limits. seventh prince was Prince Ch’un (I-huan).

By “‘conceding the ceremonial’? Hart means dis-

3. It had been suggested to Hart that the Customs pensing with the kotow.

20 June 1873 [Red. August 22, 1873] My dear Campbell,

~ How many last letters am I to write to you? , It is only the middle of June to-day, but, when you read this you will be in August. The river freezes in November, and, supposing you to remain as long as possible at home, you must be off by the last mail in September so as to get to me before the winter shuts us up from the rest of the world. I have nothing more for you to do at home, and your absence is an immense inconvenience to me here. The lawyers at S’hai did not, at first, think it politic to proceed against von G. for costs, for they feared that prosecution would be considered persecution and would make ~ Shanghai subscribe to put him in funds to pay costs and go on again for a fresh trial. I however wrote back to say that they must proceed, and must have it regularly placed on record, 1°. that he had been applied to for costs, and 2°. found unable to pay them. The result has not yet reached me. On the other hand, von G. has been giving out at S’hai that he has a great liking for me still—that he is as ready to compromise another as ever—and that he is coming up to Peking to see me; and, for passage-money, he is said to have sold most of his Chinese books. Here, this report of his visit to Peking is current; I have half-a-mind to believe that he is on the eve of bolting from S’hai in some other direction and that we’ll never see him here, or his friends at S’hai again. But again on the other hand, Loureiro (the

[113] JUNE 1873

man who “‘got two years” for destroying Dent & Co.’s a/c books) has started a printing press (which is paying) and an evening paper, and rumour says von G. is the Editor.’ If this last is a true report, von G. will be in S’hai for twenty years more (or till he quarrels with Pedro), and his paper will be “‘slanging” us all the time. Whether he is going or staying, I cannot go on without a Chief Secretary any longer: so you must make up your mind to come along at once. Telegraph the route you come by. If he is still here (or, rather, at Shanghai) Pll have a letter waiting for you at H’kong or at Nagasaki, and in it you’ll find full instructions. The pith of the plan is for Mrs. Campbell to — come alone the last part of the journey to T’tsin, and for you to come via Nagasaki where the FeiHoo (just large enough to carry you and one box) will pick you up and bring you to Chefoo. In this way you'll avoid Shai, and, once here, he’ll find it difficult to touch you. I don’t envy you the trip in the FeiHoo: it will be cold and (on deck) very wet! But I can’t think of any other equally good plan. So: consider it settled that you are to come along as soon as possible, and at the very latest before the beginning of October. * Halket has made away with more than 26,000 Haikwan taels. He gets two years’ imprisonment. Dick is resigning. I am responsible for the money, and shall have to pay up! It was Dick’s fault that the embezzlement was possible: he has now lost his confidence in human nature,—so he’ll clear out. Iam about to appoint Glover to S’Hai; Macpherson to FooChow: Hughes to Hankow; Jem to Amoy (from Swatow): Kleinwdchter to Canton: Huber to Tientsin: Novion to Chinkiang: H.O. Brown to Takow: and Hammond to Swatow. Wright to be audit Sec.; Taintor, Statistical Sec.; and (probably) Man to Niu Chwang.? The Emperor has conceded the Kowtow, and Sunday, the 22nd, is fixed for the audience. It will be thought possible that a hitch may occur, up to the last moment, and no one will believe in audience till it’s over and a fact. Meanwhile the unsettled state of affairs is very demoralizing, and it is almost as hard to settle down to work, as it is to get anything put through. I am awfully lazy, and, I fancy, in want of a thorough change: a thorough shaking up far from China. We are all well here, and, so far, the summer has not been very trying. With kind regards, Yours very truly, Robert Hart 1. Pedro Loureiro, author of the Anglo-Chinese 2. A. Macpherson, who had joined the Customs in Calendar, 1776-1876, was also the founder and September 1859, went to Foochow from Hankow, publisher of the Evening Gazette and the Celestial where he had been commissioner since 1871. Empire in 1873-1874. He had been in business with T.F. Hughes, in the Service since March 1865, Dent and Co. in Macao, but in 1866 had been ac- was now second assistant A. cused of embezzling funds and sentenced to jail. Huber attained his commissionership with this Upon a review of the case in 1869, however, he had assignment. received a full pardon. He subsequently went into H.O. Brown went instead to Chefoo as acting

business in Shanghai as Loureiro and Co. commissioner.

Dent and Company, the principal rival of Jardine, J.L. Hammond became commissioner for the

Matheson and Company, went out of business first time at Swatow in 1874. around 1867. In the 1840s and 1850s the two firms

had had a virtual duopoly of the opium trade. .

, [114] THEI. G. IN PEKING

5 July 1873 My dear Campbell,

The Audience actually came off on the 29th June at 9 A.M. in the Tszu-Kwang-Koh.' The Japanese was received first and alone, as being ambassador; and, after him and in a body, Vlangaly, Low, Wade, de Geofroy and Ferguson (Dutch) with Bismarck as interpreter. The Chargés d’affaires, not having letters to present, and the Secretaries of Legation, were not permitted to see the Son of Heaven. The ceremony passed off to everyone’s satisfaction, and although this is still far from putting ministers in Peking in the position they would occupy in Paris, still it is another step, another point scored in favour of progress. Things are already looking slightly more promising, and having made the plunge, they don’t find the water half so cold as they had dreaded. I have nothing special to write about, but I fancy you would like to hear even this much about the audience and our prospect of uninterrupted tranquility. Von. G. had a night auction of his books at Lane Crawford’s the other day; the next morning, our lawyer, Wainwright, popped round and “attached” the proceeds of the sale!” Von G. tells everyone that he is, privately, a great admirer of mine and that he is as ready for a compromise as ever! It is said, he’s coming up here, escorting Mrs. and Miss Sophie Williams. The beggar has a good eye for a pretty girl! Halket’s affair will take 15,000 taels out of my own pocket and 10,000 out of Dick’s. Pretty good that, eh? Everyone says it’s my own fault—that I ought to have an Auditor! With kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. June 29 was a Sunday. The foreign representa- of their arrival in Peking, Viangaly having been

tives met at 5:30 A.M. Chung-hou conducted there longest. them to one of the gates of the Imperial City, where The Tzu-kuang-ko was a garden pavilion outside they were met by Wen-hsiang. At 8:30 they were the Forbidden City, where envoys of tributary states

conducted to a marquee where Prince Kung re- were customarily received. ceived them. The emperor finally appeared at 9:00. The Western representatives were received in the 2. Lane Crawford and Company, a “carrying ; order here given, which was according to the date agency,” or shippers.

12 July 1873 My dear Campbell,

My last letter from you is dated 16th May, and I am glad to see from it that, at that date, you had got the length of being able to sign your name, and, as telegrams have told me your convalescence was going on favourably, I trust you are almost yourself again by this time. Before I forget I must ask you to thank Mrs. Campbell for me for all the trouble I have given her in copying things for you and looking after music, etc.: what a nice hand she writes! How would it do for her to take the Chief Secretaryship in Peking and you the Agency in London?

| [115] JULY 1873 How would you like that? It would be quite the right thing in these days of female emancipation! Seriously, the agency question puzzles me: and the approach of the winter makes it all the more difficult to decide. The Agency work will always require 1°. a careful business man and 2°.a reliable alter ego: both qualities combined in one person. I don’t know anyone that would suit better than yourself. At the same time (although I am making Wright Audit Secretary) the Chief Sec’s work will, from time to time, “break out in new places” and for it I shall want a thoroughly capable man: again I have to say that, for it, I know of no one more

fitted than yourself. To some extent, a less qualified person could be put up with, solong as you are to the fore in England (where, as agent, you would be a confidential Secretary detached so to speak). I cannot get on without someone in the position here: but what to do— for you must either start in September or not come this year—I don’t know! I have the telegraph as a reserve and in August I shall send you full instructions. Have you got Larrabee’s Cipher Telegraph Code with Hogg’s improvements, published by Van Nostrand, New York, 1871? You ought to get it. If messages can be transmitted by it from S’hai, I shall use it, and for key-word shall use the word mortal. I am to-day telegraphing to you via Shanghai/ Batchelor to procure this book, and via Kiachta/O.B.C. to tell you the key-word to be employed by us is Mortal. I shall write more fully about agency and Chief Sec.ship in a week or two. But be guided by my August telegram, which will be of later date than any letter. The audience is over, but it has not set the Peiho on fire. The truth is, Ministers instead of using it as a means, regard it as an end, and thus, nothing will come of it—except (I hope) Wade’s K.C.B.' There has been a grand intrigue going on these last six weeks with the object of either upsetting me, clipping my wings, or giving me a colleague: I think I have “sold” the enemy. If it comes to open fighting, I'll win, or die game. Man is still here working at Chinese; but he is again complaining about his head.” He is not in his element here. First of all, his head will not admit of a long-continued strain, especially with a sedentary life, and, secondly, his heart’s in the Highlands and all his tastes and aspirations and hopes and future are military. He does not know enough Chinese to take

charge, and he’s awfully “down on his luck’’ at the prospect of younger men going over his , head. He’s a good fellow and I like him, but I cannot do better than my best for him. Wright has gone to take charge temporarily at S’hai. I fancy Dick will resign: in which case I shall have to find another man for S’hai. The Vienna Statistics have given us a great deal of work, but I think they will be appreciated.? Hughes goes on leave next April. I thought you had paid for the first lot of shirts, but as a bill has come to me, I suppose you didn’t. I now enclose a cheque for £23/2/6 (No. 64/89123 a/c Z). Will you kindly send it to the right place (Beale & Inman). Our last news here is an increase in my family. A son was born on Tuesday the 8th inst.* The youngster is a very big, healthy boy. He weighed over 9 catties—almost 12 lbs. at birth! Mother and child are getting along splendidly; and I am teaching Evey the meaning of the phrase “‘nose out of joint”’. Your house is finished. I wonder will you ever occupy it? With kind regards,

; Yours Robert truly, Hart

[116] THEI. G. INPEKING

. 1. Wade became Knight Commander of the Bath He had at first supposed that the Customs commis-

in 1875. sioners in charge of arrangements in Vienna would complete such a catalogue, but-since they did not, 2. Man in fact resigned in 1881 to devote himself he had it finished and printed in China in 1874, to an army career. He became Lieutenant Colonel with an index by Alfred E. Hippisley of the Cus-

Stuart Man, C.B., C.M.G. (see letter 9n2). toms.

3. Hart probably refers here to the catalogue of 4. This was Hart’s only son Edgar Bruce Hart, born the Chinese exhibit at the 1873 Vienna Exhibition. July 8, 1873, died February 4, 1963.

2 August 1873 Dear Campbell,

I have your telegram telling me that you cannot come out this year. Iam really in a fix about a Chief Sec. My office, generally, is in fair working order: but without a Ch. Sec., the wheel is going round without a linch-pin. I think I shall make Wright Asst. Sec. till Spring 1874. By that time I shall have had your supply memo. and shall have come to a decision respecting future doings. Meantime I shall expect you to remain in Europe till the end of January next. I shall not write to change my existing arrangements till I have received and digested your supply memo. There is nothing new in the official world here, except that the Govt. is giving up the Grand Canal and ordering the grain to be sent by the sea-route.' This, after the Audience, is another step in the retreat commenced to be made from first positions: the audience signalises a retreat begun from a demand for universal supremacy, and the disuse of the Grand Canal means steam and other good things in China’s inner life. The Vienna Uniform is too gaudy for use here. We want a uniform of the very simplest kind: the greatest possible neatness combined with the greatest possible simplicity. An inch of gold lace on the trousers is out of the question. The main point is sameness of dress: that got, in material, colour and shape, then add a little characteristic decoration. We’re a cross between diplomatists, gaugers, and mercenaries. Our position is a delicate one, and any extravagance in dress would only make us ridiculous. The Piano is all right. Yours has arrived but is still in its case also some boxes ex “Carnarvonshire’’. By the way, taking it as possible that you may not come out, it might be well for you next mail to send me a list of the furniture you have sent out here. Did you spend a thousand Taels? As soon as the rains are over, I think I shall have it unpacked and put in your house. I hear there’s a bed 7 feet long by 21 broad: we’ll put this in the garden and build a mosquito house round it; it must be intended for a polygamously inclined person! By the way, my family was increased on the 8th July, a son. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The Grand Canal was an inland water route of the Manchu garrisons on the northern border. The long history designed for the safe transport of tribute canal protected the grain-carrying junks and

grain (tax grain) from China’s great rice basket in barges from the many hazards of sea travel between the lower Yangtze to Peking, to feed the Imperial the Yangtze and Tientsin. Household, the central government officials, and The development of steamships of course made

[117] AUGUST 1873 the canal grain route obsolete. In 1872 LiHung-chang The Grand Canal did not actually cease operation organized the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation until 1901, having been kept alive till then by

Company, which received an annual subsidy from vested interests. the Chinese government for hauling tribute rice.

16 August 1873 [Red. October 18, 1873] My dear Campbell,

I have received your telegram of the 5th August and am sorry to hear your health is still indifferent. I suppose the shake your consitution got requires time to pass away. I never sent on the Kiachta half of the Larrabee Telegram,’ but wrote to you to use the word Mortal. I want you to have Keown and King (Man’s nephew) examined at once.” If they pass, send them out to S’hai by the first French Mail in November: pay to commence from Ist January. Their letters of appointment will go home next week. As regards examinations generally, remember two things: I want to get fairly good men rather than wonderful scholars, and, while J am glad to hear that such and such an one has passed, I am thankful when told that such another has been rejected with these qualifications in view, “‘tutissimus ibis” .° I have nominated a Mr. de la Bastide, who will probably communicate with you.* He is one of de Rochechouart’s friends. I shall want him sometime next year. There are two Belgians and two Austrians coming out, but I leave it to Calice and t’Kint to supply good men.° Von G. has been before the Court and has declared that he has no funds. He sold some books by auction, realizing 130 tls., and our lawyers, under authority from the Court, seized the amount. I am not going to push matters any further. Wainwright, the attorney, does not think it politic to do so: prosecution would be read as persecution in S’hai, and a large subscription would soon put him in funds “‘to go to war again”. Whereas, if we keep quiet, and he seems to be getting funds, we can mulct him for the old debt. It is said he is getting Pedro Loureiro’s evening paper: Arcades ambo.° We are all well here, and there is nothing new to tell you about. What is a “silk hat with a green and yellow cockade’’? Is it

i oN

this , or , OF ~ ? All my Guinea-fowl are dead: if he could do so, I wish King or Keown would bring me out a pair of fancy rabbits with ears hanging down. I have for Evey’s amusement, a whole lot of rabbits in a yard—black, white, yellow and grey and now she wants some with hang-down ears—the queerer and odder, the better. I hope August will have gone off all right in your family. All quiet in China.

} Robert Hart Yours truly,

[118] THEI. G. IN PEKING 1. That is, a telegram in Larrabee’s telegraph code. 4. Henri de la Bastide, French, joined the Customs in March 1875, and was sent as 4th assistant B to

2. Paul H. King, Man’s nephew, had a long career Ningpo. in the Customs Service, beginning in January 1874

and ending in 1920 in London, where he had been 5. Heinrich von Calice, an Austrian baron, was non-resident secretary since 1914. He subsequently attached to the Austrian Office for Foreign Affairs

wrote In the Chinese Customs Service (London, in Vienna.

1924). Auguste t’Kint de Roodenbeke had been Bel-

gium’s envoy extraordinary to China, 1865-1871.

3. “The safest way” (Ovid Metamorphoses 2.136.7). 6. “Arcadians both” (Virgil Aeneid 7.4).

26 August 1873 Dear Campbell,

A fortnight ago I had a telegram from the Duke of Sutherland relating to the presents (Railway, etc.; Fire Engines, etc.) which an English Committee is preparing for the Emperor of China, and I telegraphed, in reply, that the Committee would do well to wait for letters from Peking, before spending the money.'! The Duke simply wished me to tell Chinese officials not to be affected by the Newspaper stories, adding that no concession is asked for in return for the presents. Mr. Wade was, at the same time, telegraphed to, and he has been sounding the Yamen (Chinese Foreign Office) and will, of course, be the one whose advice the Committee ought to follow. I don’t know the Duke, but I think it would be well if you would call and present this letter for perusal. The policy of the central Government in China is not to guide, but to follow events. Its . duty seems to be to keep records of past occurrences, legalise faits accomplis, and—strangle whatever comes before it in embryo. It recognises the grand truth that eyes have two uses,— to see, and not to see; and it, as a rule, pins its faith to not seeing. This way of looking at things has given unnatural strength to its sense of smell: the moment you force it to see a thing, it ‘“‘smells a rat’? and whips its head off! In plainer language, the Government wishes the Provincial Authorities, and the Provincial Authorities, in turn, wish the people to take the lead: what the people wish for—so long as it does not mean resistance to authority—the Government in the end sanctions. To come to the Government first and ask for its written permission to do anything, is simply to elicit an answer in the negative and to weight a scheme, at the very start, with an official prohibition. I could fill reams of paper with illustrations; two will suffice. Wade tried to get the Yamen’s permission to land the shore-ends of cables; they prohibited it: on the other hand, the Telegraph Company quietly landed its cable at Shanghai, asked no leave, bothered no officials, and to-day there is a land line of telegraph from Shanghai to Woosung! Everybody has been at the Yamen for authority to start railways: The Yamen has set forth in reply, everything that could be said against the fire-horse, and, in the face of its answer, no foreign official dare take on him to encourage capitalists to think of introducing railways in China; on the other hand, private individuals at Shanghai have clubbed together and bought a road from Shanghai to Woosung, which they are quietly and without opposition changing from road to tramroad, and will, as quietly, change from tramroad to railway! Now, to get at the Emperor, you have to act through the high officials of the Central Government; and, their modus operandi and general policy being of the nature above set forth, how do you think they will take to the idea of introducing to

[119] AUGUST 1873

the Emperor such presents as the Committee has been preparing? And, supposing the high officials in question did induce the Emperor to accept the presents, would his Railway, Electric Light, and steam Fire-engines be anything more than so many White Elephants in the Palace Yard? The only place the Emperor could run his train to would be the Yuenming- Yuen: how would it do for the British Congratulators to suggest that line to the Court?” What has been the history of my Gas-works? I have been using gas the last five years and—I bring my coal from England! Within thirty miles of me, there is coal to be had better than the best English gas-making coal. I once had 20 tons of it and then there was some difficulty, to settle which I applied to the Yamen; the Yamen made enquiry and said it was illegal to work that particular mine! Peking is the last place in China to select for the introduction of novelties, and the Central Government is the last authority to ask for support of any kind: local growth,—and that the farther from Peking the better,—is the only process

of development recognised, or to be relied on in this country. Well: talking about the Committee’s doings, when last at the Yamen, I said “No one could be more pleased than I if the Emperor would accept these things, and no one more delighted than lif the presents, when taken, could be made use of”’. To this the Ministers replied: “Precisely what we feel ourselves,—you know our circumstances”. The simple meaning of this, as read by me, was that the presents would only be received, if received at all, lest offence should be given,—that, if received, each article would only be another White Elephant ,—and that the officials would be much better pleased if the Committee would dissolve and return subscriptions to the subscribers. I think it quite possible that, if sent out, the officials will refuse to receive the presents; and I feel quite certain that if received, the presents will not be made use of. Besides as to the congratulatory address it is my belief that the bearers of it will be required to Kowtow. The Committee ought to be guided by the advice of Mr. Wade: he is British Minister; but, if J were in England and asked to become a member of the Committee, I should decline the honour, on the ground that—as far as my own knowledge of the men, place and time, goes—what the Committee proposes to do is more likely to obstruct the cause of progress than grease its wheels—to say nothing of the polite snub its representative may receive on explaining the object of his mission at Peking. Now I want you to call on the Duke of Sutherland, and present this letter for perusal. Its object is to, to some extent, explain my telegram, and to suggest to His Grace that Mr. Wade’s Letters ought to be waited for before the Committee spends a penny. This letter of mine is not for the Committee, and much less is it for publication; but I think it will give the Duke as complete a key, in shorthand, to the state of affairs in China as could well be put in the same space by anyone. I hope to see Railroads and many other good things in China, before I take my leave of the country: but neither the progress that the last ten years have seen—and that is really sreat—nor the progress the next ten years are likely to see—and that is likely to be still greater—neither what I have seen nor what I foresee, would allow me to say that the Committee is spending money wisely. The Committee don’t ask for any concessions in return for their presents and wish to congratulate the Emperor on his majority. If they decide to send on their congratulations, mirrors in blackwood frames, inlaid watches, musical clocks, and such like innocent trifles would be the most likely things to meet with acceptance and perhaps a kindly response, but as the idea of tribute has not yet left the minds of the Court completely, J am of opinion that it would be a dis-service to British interests in China to present either congratulations or address. On the other hand, if the Committee wants simply to put out a feeler, its £60,000 feather will undoubtedly show how the wind blows—(I fear I must add) with a vengeance. So far we have simply been preparing and piling the ground for the building Progress is to

[120] THE I. G. IN PEKING

put on it, and much hard work, many good plans, many hopes and prayers are now sunk below the surface and will never be seen or heard of more: those who come after us will put up the structure, and finding it stand, will say “what fools those fellows were-not to build before!” Just so: we and our foundation work out of sight, the then-generation will crow over its tower and steeple. But some day or other “Truth will spring from the earth’’. As to work in China: there is a movement, and I think I see it gaining momentum, but I am neither very sanguine nor very hopeless. Good work tells sooner or later, and some of us have had our shoulders pretty constantly to the wheels during the last twenty years. A last word: if the Duke thinks it right to show this letter to any member of the Committee (Pender is on it, is he not), well and good;? but it must not get into print. Yours very truly, Robert Hart P.S. You have to choose between coercion and assistance. If you decide to assist China to progress, you have again to choose between active assistance and non-interference. As far as we can see, the most likely plan to secure success is to pursue a policy made up of official non-interference at the Capital, and mercantile activity in the localities concerned. At the same time, we must not blind ourselves to the fact, that, without official authority from headquarters, there is no certain local security: the chances are that application to headquarters for authority will elicit a prohibition, and that activity in a given locality will in time become a recognised fait accompli, but, while the chances are thus, there is a risk to be run by local action, and that is, that, if it has not official authority at the start, it may, when on the point of succeeding, be upset by an official order. You must thus either coerce the central Govt., or let things take their chance: the central Govt. will consent to anything however damaging, if it sees you are determined to have it, and will prohibit anything, however useful, if you bring it before it as a friendly suggestion. I write, of course, in a general way; exceptions will crop up both ends of the line. I have just heard that the Taotai at S’hai has ordered the telegraph posts between S’hai and Woosung to be removed and has prohibited the conversion of the tramway into a railroad:* he has done this because an injudicious editor has praised him for his liberality (and thus damaged him in Chinese opinion) and explained how the tramway is to grow into a railway, and that again into changes of all kinds (thus bringing it before the authorities for their acceptance or rejection as an application at Peking would bring it). The Taotai, who had not said a word before, although he knew perfectly well what was going on, and rejoiced at it, too, being a liberal man, dare not assume the responsibility of tacit consent and superior enlightenment thrown on him by the leading articles referred to, and has had to come forth and oppose the growth which he had silently contemplated with satisfaction! The newspaper article, to him, is just what a ministerial application to the Yamen would be, to it—an offer to throw on it the responsibility of change, which, in the face of conservative China, it dare

not accept. The Newspapers are right enough in their criticisms of public men and public : acts, and in China their aims are always good: but—given the non-coercion policy, and the condition of affairs in China—Newspaper utterances are generally very indiscreet and very generally do harm instead of good.

P.P.S. 29th Augt. I have just been at the Yamen and have been told by the ministers that “China not having yet introduced a railway system, the Emperor could not receive such presents as the Committee propose to offer, and therefore the presents are to be declined in advance to obviate the unpleasantness that might arise from their being rejected on arrival’’. This is just as I expected it would be.

[121] AUGUST 1873

This reply has been communicated to Mr. Wade by the Yamen, and he will send it on to the Committee. I shall telegraph it to Stuart. Under the circumstances, there is no longer any need to trouble the Duke of Sutherland with the perusal of so long a letter. However it may be interesting to you, and therefore I let it go. But again I repeat it, that this letter is not to be Ross-Browne’'d—is not to get into print. China is going ahead, but at her own pace, by her own choice, and after her own fashion. It is not therefore to be wondered at if she says to all comers, who, with friendly faces now and gifts in their hands, had formerly boxed her ears very fiercely: “much obliged, I’m sure! But I know my own business best. Pray let me manage my own affairs: you don’t understand them in the least, and, to be plain with you, I reject your advice, reserving it to myself to do the thing should I hereafter see fit to do it, but in my own way, at my own time, and for my own purposes. Don’t interfere, pray. Very much obliged, I’m sure!” This is the position of China vis-4-vis advisers from outside. Notwithstanding this, she is advancing, and the next ten years will see immense changes: she does not love us in the

least, but on the other hand, she is not a strong hater—her condition is one of philosophic calm, and, let her go ahead as she likes, I don’t think she’ll ever threaten or thwart Western civilisation. It “‘riles’’ us on the spot to feel so unconscious of the movement, and to see so little doing: but what man is conscious of the whirling of the earth through space? Looking back ten years—what changes! Therefore one is encouraged to look forward, and, as I have said before, I think I can detect increasing momentum. So let’s rub along! “Fit via vi’’ is not the fashion.° R.H. 1. The Duke of Sutherland headed a committee risked £1000 in the transatlantic cable of 1857. He that had raised £60,000 with which to buy lavish subsequently founded the Anglo-American Telegifts honoring the Chinese emperor’s majority and graph Co. in 1865, and went on to foster cable marriage. Chief among the gifts proposed was a enterprises in all parts of the world. (see also letter

short railway line, a choice dictated by the com- 405).

mittee’s hope thus to overcome Chinese resistance to the railway, which the various Western powers 4. “Taotai” is the colloquial anglicized designation

were so eager to develop in China. of an intendant of a circuit, or tao (of which there were under the Ch’ing ninety-five in China proper),

2. The Yiian-ming-yiian was the Summer Palace, who had responsibility over several prefectures or about five miles northwest of Peking; it had been for certain functions, such as administration of

burned by the British under Lord Elgin in 1860. salt revenue or defense. Customs commissioners had frequent dealings with such officials, who

3. John Pender (1816-1896; later Sir John) was were usually the principal officials at the ports.

an early and major promoter of submarine cables. —_ wb pees

He was one of the 350 contributors who had each _ 5. “Violence finds a way” (Virgil Aeneid 2.494).

31 August 1873 My dear Campbell,

I have yours of the 4th July and am glad to see you can hold your pen again: I hope by the time this reaches you, you will no longer feel the effects of the painful operations you had to submit to. As far as my knowledge goes, and as far as my opinion formed on work done for me follows, I have no reason to fault with Batchelor. He has been exceedingly attentive to all my

[122] THEI. G. IN PEKING

wishes and very painstaking. But from almost all others I hear a different story: one complains of rudeness, another of neglect, and a third of something else. Still, putting aside the alacrity with which he has attended to my wishes, and the fault others find with him for inattention to theirs, I begin to feel what I want at home is an agent of another stamp. I had thought of putting the work of providing supplies in the hands of some half-dozen people, as I before wrote you—each man dealing with the speciality his business connected him most intimately with; and, supplies thus disposed of, I was looking about for some retired Commissioner to carry out my wishes in other directions. A combination of the two plans would I think be best: viz. the division of work as before suggested among a set of recognised or accepted supply-agents, and a non-business agent through whom the orders would be sent, and who would, in sundry ways, superintend the carrying of them out. However, all these points will in time settle themselves: the question now is, are you to stay at home, or are you to come out in spring? First of all remember this: I know no one who would suit me here as Chief Sec. as well as yourself,—I would rather have you here than anyone I know of—if you don’t come I shall suffer various kinds of inconvenience for some year or two more: (your absence during the last two years has been an immense nuisance—I would rather have paid von G. his £1800 down and had you here at your proper work!) Against my desire to have you here and your fitness for the post in Peking, I must remember that, from the way you have acted during the last two years at home, it is evident you would, in other important ways, be as useful to me at home as you could be here: and no strange man at home could be as useful to me as a man who knows China (as you do), and no one could be fully employed and usefully employed except a man thoroughly trusted by me (as you are) and personally loyal to me (as I fully believe you to be). You will see that the question gradually becomes one of “‘ways and means’’—of expenditure. I have to think how much I should feel justified in expending at home; you how much your services ought to command: and both of the differences generally between home rates of pay, and China rates. You think it would be necessary to have a couple of rooms in the City or in a conveniently central position,—a sharp London clerk,—and a messenger. Of course such an establishment would be very complete, but do we really require anything so expensive? Rooms, clerk, and messenger would cost £500 a year—that is, more by £100 than we pay Batchelor. Then there would be your own salary. By a fluke, you have been drawing Chinese pay for

, the last three years in Europe, and you naturally would not like that amount to which you have grown accustomed, diminished. But £1600 a year is more than one would be justified in paying an agent at home. And the question is, how much less would it be worth your while to stay at home for? What arrangement, for pay or advance of pay at home, would be equivalent to your income and prospects in China? Here in China, you have £1600 a year and a house: if you become strong enough in Chinese for the transaction of business, without the aid of an interpreter, you might possibly get one of the £2000-a-year posts in six or eight years’ time. At home, what would be the equivalent? Again, if you had remained in the Audit Office at home, how would you have got on? Would you have been an inspector with £800 a year in 1880, or Secretary on £1000 in 1890? or, with these rates of pay, would the Department have given you a house? Unfortunately you are not at hand to help me to © look round the question, and I have been too long away from Europe to be able to see things from your point of view, perhaps, or with London eyes. Luson would snap at £500 a year: Man, Wright, Hannen and some others would willingly take the billet for almost as little. But I don’t think any of them would suit the post as well as yourself, and even so, I don’t know how much you would be worth to me in it. If you were out here now in your

[123] AUGUST 1873

office and at work, I should not dream of letting you go home for such a billet; but as you have been over three years at home, and I don’t know when you are likely to come out, I cannot help thinking about the pros and cons and the ways and means. To enable me to make anything like a distinct proposition you must give me some more information than I have yet got hold of, and the sooner it is done the better. After you have thought the matter over carefully, I wish you would send me a telegram: worded to be thus understood—“offices in City will cost £__yearly; sharp London clerk £__yearly; messenger £___yearly; I myself am willing to take the appointment for £___yearly”’. But as it might be inconvenient to have the message coming in such an intelligible shape, suppose you send it thus: “offices two British Grecians:/hundred pounds. London one British Grecian: Runner Half British Grecian: Head Ten British Grecians’’. Or shorter still: “offices two: London one: Runner half: self ten”. This I should read as meaning that the office rent would be Two Hundred Pounds a year, the clerk’s pay £100, the messenger’s £50, and that you would want £1000 yourself. I shall easily understand the words offices, London, Runner and Head, and I shall take the numeral which follows each word as meaning the number of hundreds of pounds sterling which China would have to pay to each for services rendered by the year in London (Europe). Of course office furniture, office stationery, travelling expenses, etc., etc., etc., would have to be charged for separately. I shall telegraph back the words “‘accepted one three five’’, or the words “rejected two four six’’. If you get the “accepted’’ message, you can at once make a home for yourself; if you get the “‘rejected”’ message, J shall expect you at Tientsin by the first steamer in 1874 (the first steamers leave S’hai on the 25th February for Tientsin). If I send you the “accepted” message, you must wait for written instructions before hinting at any unsettlement of existing arrangements. I shall expect you, after the word Head, to put in the numeral which expresses your fixed determination,—which means that for that number of hundreds you will willingly and even preferably take the home appointment, and that for anything below that amount you would certainly not stay at home but would prefer to take up your Chief-Sec.ship out here. The office might be called an Agency of some kind or other, but I think I should keep your name on my list as Secretary on detached duty, Supply Secretary, Travelling Secretary, or something of that sort: to admit, if necessary, of your return, at some time or other, to duty in China. Make your calculations on the supposition that you pay your own rent, and that, in the event of retirement or other withdrawal from the Service, you would have the same privi-

leges as a man serving in China under the then-existing regulations of the Service. | In the telegram it may be well to add the word furniture with a numeral after it to express the number of hundreds it will take to furnish the office properly. Office hours 1 to 4/p.m., J presume?

I have just had a telegram from Bredon to say he is in London, has seen you, and will come along in Sept. Don’t let his accession influence you in the slightest degree; I have lots of work for him as Assistant, or rather Private Secretary, and, should you not come out, I shall either make him Sec. and add another Private Sec., or make another man Sec. and retain Bredon as private Secy. So, don’t let his coming influence you in any way. You have also to take into consideration that you will be a Govt. employe and not a mercantile agent—i.e. you will not be at liberty to take percentages, but will have to give Govt. the advantage of all discounts and things of that kind. You will have this by the middle of October and early in November I shall look for your telegram. Send it via Shanghai and Kiachta at the same time.

[124] THEI. G. IN PEKING

, One of your last letters said that you were sending me the printed Meteorological memo., but it has not reached me. I am also in a quandary about shirts: three weeks ago you said they would be ready next day, and I have heard no more about them yet. I believe de Castro’s violin is a real Strad: it is a superb instrument; but its weight and thickness of neck make it more tiresome to play on than the Guadagnini. The piano seems all right, but is rather a feeble instrument; its bell-like tone does not quite compensate for

want of volume. }

By the way, would not it be well for you to send out a list of furniture you sent on here, with prices etc., in case we want to take the things over bodily for the sec’s house? Mrs. Hart, Evey, and baby are all well. The youngster is a mighty boy. With kind regards, Yours very truly, Robert Hart

P.S. Of course, this letter means that I have made up my mind, and that if you and I can come to terms, you are to stay at home. Otherwise, another man will probably go home for the post from China. R.H.

12 September 1873 Dear Campbell,

I find portfolios more convenient than boxes or drawers, and I now want quite a lot of them—as many, in fact, as thirty,—according to the memo. enclosed. They should be neat and substantial, and are to be simple portfolios, with flap and tongue, and having the words that are to be put on each, on the side where the tongue passes into the loop, which side will lie uppermost most conveniently: neither locks nor buckles are wanted. The loop

through which the tongue passes >), ought to be sewn on very firmly. The P’folios will have to stand a good deal of handling in their day. If you send them out by a January steamer, I shall have them here in March. I have yours of the 11th July. Iam sorry Patterson did not pass, but, being what he was, I thank you for stopping him at the door. You cannot render me a greater service than by turning back incompetent men: and the greater the personal interest I feel in a man (e.g. Harte, Lendrum, and Patterson), the more obliged do I feel when, finding him unfit and not up to your standard, you prevent him from appearing out here as one of my subordinates. I hope that Keown, King and Hance will pass: we want more hands without delay.? As regards the Railway for the Emperor, I wrote you a long letter a fortnight ago, before I knew you had “assisted” at the meeting. Why Sir Rutherford should have joined in the project, I can’t understand.” I telegraphed to the Duke of Sutherland that the Committee ought to wait, before spending money, for letters from Peking, and to Stuart that the scheme

[125] SEPTEMBER 1873

was quixotic. You had better keep my long letter to yourself; its explanations would form texts for too many leading articles if it got into print. Batchelor has twice written to me to say that his friends are ready with money and iron if wanted: but I have never said a word to him, and should not be likely to go in that direction in such a matter! His letter to the Duke was a “bit of cheek” that I should have pulled him up for, had it come before me in another way.? Genl. Vlangaly leaves Peking to-morrow, and the Bismarcks next week. Low is gone too, and the year will see other changes—arrivals and departures. Dick goes home on leave: Glover to S’hai, Wright (pro. tem.) to F’chow, Man to N’chwang, O. Brown to Chefoo, Hart to Takow, Rubery to Swatow,* and Taintor to the Returns’ Depart. (statistical secretary). I hope your telegram will reach me before the 16th Nov., giving the figures I asked for in my last. How did you fare at Vienna? The Commission has been a good thing for the Service, and a laborious, but pleasant, bit of work for its members. I hope Mrs. Campbell and the children are all well. Yours truly, Robert Hart Were the Merchant Shipping Codes of 1870 and 1871 ever made law? I should like to have a copy of each. The Conservancy Enactment is important.°

1. T.A.W. Hance had to be rejected. as 2nd assistant. 2. Sir Rutherford Alcock, the former British min- 5. The approaches to Shanghai’s harbor were

ister to Peking. made difficult by the presence of the Wusung Bar

(see letter 70n3) and the need for dredging in the 3. Presumably Batchelor had written an unautho- Whangpu River. The foreign traders, through their rized letter to the Duke of Sutherland in connection envoys, brought this situation before the Chinese

with the gift committee. government late in 1873, and again in 1880. Noth-

ing was done until 1901, when the Boxer Protocol 4. H. Rubery, British, who had joined the Customs called for the creation of the Whangpu Conservancy. in 1863, had already been in Swatow for two years

18 September 1873 . Dear Campbell,

I send you the Stationery Requisitions for 1873. If you are to stay at home as “‘Supply Secretary’”’, take them in hand yourself. If not, send them to Batchelor and say that he is to go on with the order pending receipt of my despatch. Fill up these orders just as they stand. The things are wanted for 1874, and there’s no time for the Fa-tszu-Lao-yeh (as the Kow-lan-Hu-tung has it for you) to create novelties.’ The S’hai office sends specimens: i.e. it wants things of that kind or “‘thereabouts”’! The Amoy office sends Forms: on this occasion you may send what they have indented for, as far as their Forms go, where the Forms give out you cannot supply.” Next year, for Forms

[126] THE I. G. IN PEKING

etc., all offices will indent on the Shanghai Printing Office: and for general stationery on London. The offices have not filled up the line showing the estimated cost of their indents. As soon as you learn from W. & Sons, you can telegraph the cost, in round numbers.° I have some Coast Lights’ Requisitions in hand too. Henderson wants them sent to Barbier et Fenestre, Paris, and not to Chance Bros.* Could you find out from the latter, if they have “hurt Henderson’s feelings” in any way. Rumours are contradictory: on one hand— suppose—it is said that Chance has hurt his feelings by offering him a Commission, and on the other that Barbier has tempted his pocket by promising more. Whatever it is, I wish _you’d quietly find out whether there is any reason for leaving the English and going to the - French Manufacturer. Von G. is still at Shai. I fancy he is waiting for the arrival of the U.S. Scientific Expedition to observe the transit of Venus, and, that done, will take himself off with them.° Loureiro’s printing office was burnt down the other day. Von G. must be hard up, I should say. I wish he had taken his £600, and gone home in 1868! But then, if he had done that, perhaps you might still be a “miserable bird of freedom’’,—I mean bachelor. How curiously lives impinge and how oddly people are knocked about from one end of the earth to the other, to meet the right person—sometimes, to lose the right one too! The other day I was wondering what would be the next affair to occupy me after Vienna Exhibition, and had been vowing I’d “stick to my last” ad Saec @ Saec¥™. © Now there is a new iron in the fire. A mixed Commission is to meet in Cuba to enquire into and report on the conditions and treatment of Chinese coolies:’ with the Chinese Mandarin, go my men Macpherson and Huber, and probably Rubery and another.® What next? I wonder.

~ -Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Fa-tzu (scheme, method); lao-yeh (old master); French Customs commissioner, and a Spanish delehence ““Old master of how to do it,” “Mr. Fixit,” gate, as well as some Chinese who spoke the dialects

a nickname for Campbell. of the areas from which the coolies came (mostly the southern coastal provinces).

2. An indent is an official requisition or purchase Difficulties immediately arose between the

order. Yamen and Francisco Otin, the Spanish chargé

in Peking—apparently having to do with the makeup

3. ““W. and Sons” is Waterlow and Co., stationers. of the commission. It was November before the difficulties were resolved (see letter 69). The

4. Barbier et Fenestre (or Barbier et Cie.), Paris, mission reached Cuba on March 17, 1874, and left made lighting apparatus for lighthouses and light- there on May 8 for the United States, where it was

ships. to draft its report. The report, with substantiating documents (the whole totaling fourteen volumes)

5. That is, the transit of Venus across the sun’s was dated October 20. The mission was back in

disk, which occurs in June or December. China by late 1874.

6. Ad saecula saeculorum: “‘for centuries of cen- 8. The official appointed to head the mission was

turies; world without end.”’ Ch’en Lan-pin, a senior secretary of the Board of Punishments. Ch’en was already in the United

7. In December 1872 China had refused to allow States, having gone there in 1872 with Yung Wing, Spain to recruit more coolies for Cuba, because of in charge of an educational mission. reports of coolie abuse there. Spain was now seek- Ch’en was later (December 1875) appointed coing a new agreement regulating emigration. On envoy with Yung Wing to the United States, Spain, September 22, 1873, imperial sanction was given and Peru. In April 1882 he became a minister in for an investigatory mission to Cuba, to be headed the Tsungli Yamen, where he served until Septemby a Chinese official and to include a British and a ber 1884.

[127] OCTOBER 1873

9 October 1873

[Rcd. December 8, 1873] |

Dear Campbell,

Some years ago Lemaitre, 40, rue Coquilliére, Paris, designed four Chinese decorations (Chevalier, Officier, Commandeur and Grand Cordon) at the request of Brown and de Champs. The designs are very pretty, and I may possibly induce the Yamen to substitute them for the present kind. I wish you would communicate with Lemaitre and ascertain what the cost would be, say, for /0 of the highest, 20 of the second, 50 of the third and 100 of the fourth rank. In fact I want to know what each grade would cost singly, i.e. the single decoration, and in the lump: to be made plainly—that is, without using precious metals or precious stones.

My last letters from you are dated 25th July and 8th August. I have written to Patterson’s father to tell him I approve of your rejection of his son. It will be a sad blow to them all: but I will not knowingly admit incompetent men. Thanks for all the trouble you are taking in the matter of meteorology. Your discovery of the International Congress at Vienna was a lucky thing, for, coming on top of the Customs’ _ success at the Exhibition, the scientific appearance that you put in will be a good thing for the general status of the Service. Of course, I don’t expect meteorology to set the Yangtze on fire, but it will on the one hand, give some of our people an occupation and an interest for their idle hours (and it is odd how fond the solitary lightkeepers get of noting natural phenomena), and, on the other, furnish scientific people with all that can be got for the present from that kind of cow—an animal that lets her teats be pulled to any extent, gives but little milk, and not yet recognised as much of a butter producer! Our scheme has, at all events, the merit of being comprehensive and elastic, and, if comparative meteorology is to accomplish anything anywhere anyday, I fancy our Stations will be as near the front as any others. I seem to have kept it back till just the right moment! The Fifty Volumes sent through Batchelor have not arrived yet. He has not adivsed me of _ their despatch: nor did he of the despatch of the shirts, which I received ten days ago (and which “‘fit to a T’: many thanks to your care!) I fancy he grows careless, or has too much other work to attend to. What Mr. King is it you speak of—Man’s brother-in-law, or the Cornhill agent? I have not received any official account of the uniform, but Hannen wrote jokingly about gold lace, and I feared the thing was being over-done. For use in Europe, Poole’s designs seem well enough fitted.’ As regards China, the outdoor staff at all the ports have the loose jacket and brass buttons, and they must be let continue to wear it, for such an easy dress suits them better than a frock coat. For the indoor, I would leave it optional with people to wear either loose jacket or frock coat, but I think a single-breasted frock coat with a little stand-up collar would be much nicer than a double-breasted one; but the loose jacket ought to have a black silk Chinese knot to button with, and not a brass button—to distinguish it from the outdoor. The cocked hats are frightful! The cap ought to be of the French pattern,

i.e. with long straight peak -—4 , and to make it more uniform-like, I think, in addition to a band round the cap, there ought to be a band or binding round the peak

[128] THEI. G. INPEKING

«) ’ Ia -?). Kan i ahh). A ‘ J }/ a j ee e—“R

As for the button or ball on the top of cap, it is to be red for I.G., blue for Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, and white for clerks. It ought to be put on thus,

| al rs a fy f\ichacl * 4G

owt (~-

| | ar + jhe K MIY Bani be = == btacer ¢ r¢ °C, a9 ord,

— > -_ =, \ SS Dd. Cte br +f Oy RL:

|

Round the bottom of the button, I would put two or three rows of silk cord, and from them I would have an inch and a half of red silk cord jutting out as a fringe round the base of

the button and lying on the top of the cap.

The buttons might be of stained ivory / * ~

just like billiard balls: with a hole drilled y “ The H.K.S. Bank Loan is a real Govt. Loan: but whether the Bank lends its own money, or collects other people’s I don’t know. I consider it quite safe as an investment as far as China is concerned: it is an Imperial Loan, and has all proper authorisation: but the Bank is in such hot water now that I shall not be surprised to hear of difficulties some day or other for both borrowers and lenders.°®

Decorations not here yet: I expect them by the French mail, next week. You say you are making up your official a/c to the end of December. “Man alive!” We haven’t received your accounts for the September quarter yet! I wrote to the O.B.C. to send £2,000 to London; next week I shall make the amount payable to you. You'll have to send me an Annual Estimate, or a reminder of some sort so that you may never be left without funds. Next week’s official letter will authorise you to draw your April ’74 pay and your furniture allowance. Your furniture was “in the open” coming from T’tsin to Peking; but it was taken for granted that tin-lined cases were water tight:—If the outside wooden case is not strong enough to protect the tin, and if the inside contents are not so packed as not to injure the tin, what’s the use of a tin lining? As to examining the contents of cases immediately they are landed, it is simply out of the question—we could never attempt such a thing; even after reaching their destination, their packing cases may be the best place for them for weeks afterwards.

[190] THE I. G. IN PEKING

I have just asked if any of your despatches are missing, and am told “‘no: the series is complete, and the last accounts received are those despatched last January”. You must have forgotten your Sept. a/c! You are inundating us with letters advising postage of supplement to Lloyd’s list and Veritas list.’ Pray, stop these /etters; post the lists and supplements but don’t bother with letters about them. Jones has resigned and goes home soon; he’s a hard-working man, and, if he knows London, would make a good clerk for you. He has attended the “main chance”’ very carefully, and has now £1,100 a year of his own! Twinem, Moorhead/F’chow, Hippisley/Asst. Stat. Sec, and Imbert/Asst. Chin. Sec. made Dep. Commissioners; Novion made Commissioner.® Cartwright is to be Chinese Sec., Kleinwachter to Amoy, Hart to C’ton; Drew to F’chow; Man to Chefoo; Detring to N’chwang; Macpherson to N’po; Novion to H’kow; Woodruff to C’kiang.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Charles A. Winchester was a vice-consul in Can- to Tso’s troops. ton when Hart first came to China in 1854. His In all, Hu arranged five foreign loans for Tso in son seems not to have entered the Customs and is support of his northwestern campaigns. not mentioned again by Hart. 6. The Hongkong Bank was in very unsound con-

2. Thomas Edwin Cocker joined the Customs in dition at this time, having recently failed to pay January 1870 and was given command of the reve- _— any dividends. Before the year was out, however, nue steamer Ling Feng. In 1876 he went to England it was again paying dividends. to help bring back new gunboats, and after his re-

turn he was deputy coast inspector at Amoy. 7. The Customs Service subscribed to Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (containing particulars of all

3. D. Tyzack was the mining engineer (“‘one of known sea-going merchant ships of 100 or more ours’) Hart had asked Campbell to send out to tons gross) and the lists of Bureau Veritas (founded

and 119. Paris).

examine the Keelung mines. See letters 115, 117, in Antwerp in 1828 and moved four years later to 4. Dr. Fritsche was a professor at the T’ung-wen 8. R.B. Moorhead, British, joined the Customs in kuan from 1877 to 1881. Possibly Hart refused 1868, became deputy commissioner at Foochow him the post in 1875, when he felt the Russians in 1875, was acting commissioner in Kiukiang the were pushing too hard, but offered it to him two following year, and attained commissioner’s rank years later. When Dr. Fritsche left in 1881, Hart the year after that. Two of his sons, J.H.M. Moorasked Campbell for a replacement, “‘a Russian to head and T.D. Moorhead, also had long Customs teach Russian to one class and German to another.” careers beginning in the 1880s. Alfred E. Hippisley, British, had been in the Cus-

5. Hu Kuang-yung was a merchant-banker who toms since 1867. In a long career in China he held had been very closely associated with Tso since the posts of statistical secretary, Chinese Secretary, 1862. Between 1867 and 1884 he acted as Tso’s and postal secretary, as well as regular commispurchasing agent, heading Tso’s Shanghai Forward- _sionerships at various ports. ing Office, securing and forwarding all supplies

13 March 1875 Dear Campbell,

Did the Austrian Govt. re-arrange or scientifically describe any part of the Customs’ Collection? We are specially anxious to know what nomenclature they have used in their catalogues

[191] MARCH 1875

of our drugs and “medicines”. Could you find out? The enclosed Memo. of Jamieson’s will explain things.’ If the Consul General in London is Dr. Schutzer, he can help you to get the information, I fancy. I ought to have said in my other A letter that I have offered von Scala a £600-a-year appointment: if he accepts I intend to bring him here for my office. Pray do not continue to send me the Guardian. | really have not time to open it. Continue the Navy: it may be useful. Taintor says you don’t know what to do with the Trade Reports sent you. I want you to distribute them much in the same way as you did the Vienna Catalogue and Statistics: among Newspapers, Learned Societies, and Notabilities. I intend to give two appointments in October or December: to be competed for by Yorke, Bankes, Hance, Keown and some others.” The appointments I had promised before 1875 began will be given, without competition, to men who pass the test-examination. Duncan I regard as appointed: you can hand him his letter, to prevent accident, and he can come out in a year or two.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Dr. R.A. Jamieson joined the Customs in 1869 2. R.S. Yorke went to China as 4th assistant B at as consulting surgeon. Doubtless he had hada hand Hankow, but resigned in 1893. Bankes seems never

in whatever part of the Chinese exhibit at the to have entered the Service. Vienna Exhibition had dealt with medicine.

Z/25 13 March 1875 Dear Campbell,

J have your letters Z36, 37, 16th Dec., 39, and Z1 of Ist Jany. I am sorry to hear your father is dead: I had hoped, one day or other, to make his acquaintance. I trust money matters have been arranged to your satisfaction. Thanks for your statement of a/c to 31st Dec. 74. How money flies! I had no idea I had been spending so much sterling, or that I had overdrawn my a/c with yourself. I see I owe

you £289/6/4, and I now enclose a cheque for £400 on a/c. |

Everything you got for me was good. Evey’s dress alone did not do: it was too small, and would have fitted her two years ago. Mrs. Hart likes all that came for her from both places. In a late telegram to you I replied “singing indispensable’. As we want to have an addition to our society in the Governess to be got for Evey, I wish her—apart from what she may have to do as teacher—to be a thoroughly good musician, both playing and singing well. We don’t want a girl who has learnt a few “‘toons” or a few “songs’’, but one who is an adept in the calisthenics of music, one who has “‘time’’, “‘ear’’, “‘touch’’, and “‘taste’’. For an instrumentalist time is the first consideration, and for a singer ear. McClatchie’s death will be a sad blow to his friends in S’hai. Look out for another asst. Engineer, please. I have sent Smollett Campbell to N’po, and have given him a step.’ He says he is quieter now than on arrival: I hope so.

[192] THEI. G. INPEKING

I have no special news to give you—except that I’m in a “‘good” sulky fit this morning, and am disgusted with most things. Macpherson and Huber are still here waiting for the ending of the Cuban affair—it may end in a week, it may not end for two years!”

The Williams’ family go to Paris in April: Grosvenor is to marry Miss W.°? The Wades go (?) to Europe in May. Von Brandt, German, arrives to-day, and Faraldo, Spaniard, next week.* I’ll soon be “old Hart” with a vengeance! With kind regards, Yours truly,

: Robert Hart

P.S. When may we expect Copeland and Hannen to arrive in China? We are in no hurry for them, but I want to know the probable date of their arrival. R.H.

Did Sir R. Alcock receive a Jong letter from me dated Sth July, 1874? R.H. 1. The “step”’ was promotion to a 3rd assistantship. British Legation, was the man who in 1876 was sent to Yunnan as “observer” of the Chinese in-

2. The Cuban affair did not end, in fact, until vestigation of A.R. Margary’s murder (see letter November 17, 1877, when an agreement was finally 136n1). signed. Ratification did not come until December

1878, after six years of discussion. 4. M. von Brandt was German minister to Peking | from 1875 to 1893. Tiburcio Faraldo was the new 3. Hon. T.G. Grosvenor, second secretary at the Spanish minister to Peking.

Z/26 5 June 1875 My dear Campbell,

In 1866 I sent home my three wards (Anna, Herbert, and Arthur Hart) and Smith Elder & Co. committed them to the charge of their book-keeper’s wife, Mrs. Davidson, with whom they still remain. Time has been slipping away so fast that, in the midst of my occupation, I have put off longer than I ought the duty of arranging for the future of these youngsters, and, as Anna is now sixteen, I must take the affair in hand without further delay. As to the boys, no special difficulty presents itself. I want them both to be sent at once to Clifton College. Herbert is just thirteen and Arthur is almost ten years old,’ and at these ages the Junior School would, I suppose, be the right place for them, and when being placed at one of the boarding-houses I want it to be arranged that they shall spend their 1875-1876 vacations there. From the first I want it to be understood that they are to be trained for the Indian Civil Service, unless they either show no fitness for it, or develop a special talent in some other direction. As regards Anna, I want her to be sent for three years to a Protestant boarding school on the

[193] JUNE 1875

Continent where she can devote herself to music, French, and German, and where she will be comfortably lodged and kindly treated. I know no one to apply to for aid in this affair except yourself, and I now beg you will be kind enough to interest yourself in it on my private behalf. The boys ought to go to Clifton after the midsummer holidays. Nominations can be got from the College Council, and Certificates of character can be got for each lad, from the school they have been at, through Mrs. Davidson. As soon as you find a girls’ boarding school of the kind wanted, forward Anna to it—or take her there if you can spare the time. I fancy there are two or three such schools at Geneva. I want the child to have a comfortable home, carry on her general studies, acquire French and German, and become as proficient a musician as nature will allow her to be. Her vacations will also have to be spent at school. I take for granted your willingness to put yourself to this trouble for me, so I enclose notes to King & Co. and Mrs. Davidson and also a cheque for £300 to meet first expenses.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Hart’s children by his Chinese wife must there- about China a great deal, on business connected fore have been born in 1859, 1862, and 1865 re- with the opening of new treaty ports—among them spectively. In 1859 Hart was in Canton, having in Amoy, Hankow, and Kiukiang. In 1863, when he March 1858 transferred from his original post in became Inspector General, the Customs headNingpo to the Canton consulate, where he was quarters was at Shanghai; in 1865, the year Arthur secretary to the Allied Commission administering was born, the Inspectorate moved to Peking. In that city. This post he resigned in June 1859 to 1866, the year he sent the children to England, Hart join the Customs. During 1861-1863 he traveled married Hester Jane Bredon.

Z[27 10 June 1875

[Red. August 17, 1875]

Dear Campbell,

On the other side I give a list of stores Mrs. Hart would like to see out here before winter. This note will reach you about the end of July; if the things are got away early in September, they will arrive in time to save the river.

Yours truly, Robert Hart Stores for R. Hart, Peking, a/c Z

2% cwt. of Loaf sugar ¥% cwt. " brown soap

48 cakes " scented ”

4 Ibs. " ball blue 1 doz.bottles ” mustard

| ldoz. ” ""pepper 10 Ibs. currants

[194] THEI. G. IN PEKING

10 ” " raisins 1 doz. tins " raspberry jam 1” * ” strawberry ” 1” " marmalade 1" " " tapioca 1”""" "arrowroot sago 1" 1" " " blacking

2 doz. packages of gelatine 1" bottles ” essences: Vanilla, Lemon, Bitter Almond, etc.

4 " tins " preserved herrings . 1 doz. ” " parsnips 2" " " table salt

3" 9" " Abernethy Biscuits 6 hams weighing about 10 lbs. each

Also: A chimney-sweep’s apparatus

i.e. a sweeping brush with a jointed or extension rod, or set of rods (our chimney is straight and under 40 feet high).

11 June 1875 My dear Campbell,

I don’t see that I need add much to my official instructions in re gunboats; still there are two or three points I want you specially to note. 1. Telegraph to me at once the contract price of each steamer complete. 2. The big guns must pass the Govt. test. What is that test? Describe it minutely, for I shall have to explain it to the Chinese. 3. As Armstrong & Co. undertake to turn out a special kind of vessel, viz: seagoing and fighting one immense gun, I think they ought to be left to themselves and that we need not ask anyone to superintend the work, or examine their specifications. But when the work is completed, it may be well to get a professional man to establish the fact that the vessels as turned out for delivery agree with specifications, etc.

\a

\ ne -— 3 AL EI en aeoo ~~. nT ee ee ee —

[195] JUNE 1875

4. The accommodation provided ought to be plain and not gaudy; don’t let there be any “gimcracking”’, and let the style be Gothic rather than Elizabethan. Remember the vessels are for the Chinese to live in. Let A. & Co. consider what number of Englishmen would be an adequate crew for such a vessel (i.e. to fight the big gun and carry on the other work of the ship), and then, taking it for granted that three Chinese will be on board to do the work of two Englishmen and that five Chinese can be put in the quarters of four Englishmen, arrange accordingly. 5. The vessels ought to be arranged to carry double awnings.! 6. Do you remember the general cut of the FeiHoo and Ling-Feng?? They are the most comfortable boats of the kind for this coast, and I should recommend their overlapping sterns and bows turned up and over so as to form poop and forecastle to the attention of A, & Co.

7. Get the work a-going without delay. The smaller vessels ought to be off in March so as to have the calm April and May months for Indian Ocean etc; and the sooner the other two follow them, the better. 8. | had got authority for one 80-ton gun and steamer, but I made them hold on, being fearful at the last moment lest the gun should prove a failure. If the trials of the 80-ton guns now in progress are satisfactory, we shall order two. 9. If the steamers now ordered give satisfaction, we shall probably order ten or twelve more. 10. Be sure that the vessels are good sea-going craft—that their speed is as promised (9 knots)—and that their consumption of fuel is small. 11. Barque rig is the handiest for this coast. 12. As regards crews, passage out, flag, papers etc. etc. etc. I shall write to you separately

in a month or two. Meantime go ahead with the building of the vessels. , 13. How many rounds of assorted ammunition will each class of vessel be able to carry? 14. There ought to be great care taken to make the Powder-Magazines safe and in a convenient position. Let there be a pump connected with them, so that they can be flooded in a moment. Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. See letter 140. kind of flap at each end. This device adds immensely to the comfort of the vessels, making

2. On a separate page Hart enclosed a sketch of the them dry when steaming against a head wind, and Fei Hoo, under which he wrote: “The stern and bow _ snug and cosy in cold weather. If the size of the are simply brought up and turned over to form a gun is against barque rig, schooner rig will suit.”

Z/28 14 June 1875

[Rcd. August 17, 1875]

Dear Campbell,

Kindly tell the bootmaker to send me three pairs of boots as before. It will improve them to give them 1/10 of an inch in length at the toe: I find that with their present length they interfere with the nail of my big toe the moment it begins to grow.

[196] THEI. G. IN PEKING

I also want a pair of warm felt slippers for winter wear: they should be lined with flannel and shaped as below.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/29 30 June 1875

[Red. August 30, 1875]

My dear Campbell,

I enclose a note for Wilzer. If he sends you a box for me (things for our Christmas Tree),

please pay for it and pass it along. , I am getting awfully tired of China.

, Robert Hart Yours truly,

2 July 1875 [Rcd. August 30, 1875] My dear Campbell,

I am in rather a fix to-day about the Martini-Henry Rifles. Confusion exists somewhere, and, to get out of it, I shall have to consult, i.e. turn over many pages of your writing. In this connection, I think it well to drop you a hint while the idea is uppermost. There are some kinds of things about which it is advisable to write to me very detailedly, and there are others that need hardly be even referred to. For example, everything that you can hear about Ripley—he being still in transit—is worth communicating to me; while on the other hand, what you said to Mr. Bond, or Mr. Batty to Col. Dyer, or ____ need never have been written about. What I wanted was two M.H. Rifles (and only two) with 1,000 rounds of ball cartridges and one set of accoutrements. You have gone to a great deal of trouble to send me four rifles and you promise me still more, and you tell me all you are doing to get them—all your difficulties, all theirs, and what you say and what they say. Do condense please, and distinguish between what it’s important for me to know and what’s to me valueless. It may give you a deal of trouble to get a thing done—to me its only importance is that the thing is done: don’t add the trouble of doing to the fact that it is done.

[197| JULY 1875

It may seem ungracious of me to fly out at what gives you more trouble to write than me to read—but I want both to be saved trouble. What I’m in a fix about now is to find out

f 1. Whose rifles came by the ““Thibet’’— 2. Which cartridges fit which rifles—and 3. Whether the missing set of accoutrements belongs to the first or second sent rifles— The rifles were not for me: they were for Li’ to see at Tientsin, and, after taking every possible precaution to keep things straight, I now learn that so far as so small a number of things should get into a muddle, these are in it. To get out of this fix, I have to go through your semi-official A-letters: there is no ten-line despatch to refer to. Take the hint please, and don’t send me a long, neatly written, press-copied, rigmarole in defence! I have telegraphed to-day to engage Wellesley as an Assistant Engineer.” Give him much the same kind of training as McClatchie was put through: there’s no difficulty in building light towers out here, and what we want is a man who knows how the lanterns are put together—how the burners work—how height affects light—how buoys are placed—how screwpile beacons etc. are put together—how wrecks can be blown up etc. etc. etc. He writes an infamous hand by the way: I hope his drawings are of another kind.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. That is, Li Hung-chang. 1875 as assistant engineer. He went on leave in 1880 and did not return to China.

2. Gerald E. Wellesley joined the Customs in August

Z/30 2 July 1875

[Red. August 30, 1875]

Dear Campbell, , The Sampson family went home from Canton a month ago.! (He is Badham’s successor in the school there: is also West Indian Emigration agent and Naval accountant to the Gov. Genl.). Sampson married a Mrs. Carrall. Her son is J.W. Carrall, now a second-class clerk in our Service.” There is, besides, a daughter, Miss Emma W. Carrall—an exceedingly clever girl, and a great ally of mine. There is some trouble in the family, and Miss C., if she does not marry, will probably try to do something for her own support in England. One of her ideas was to become a Hospital Nurse (and do mother to Medical Students!), but I suggested that if she found she must work she ought to look in the direction of Savings’ Banks, Post Offices, Telegraph work, etc., and it then occurred to me to tell her to go and see you—so I gave her your office address. Now it is possible that she may never go near you—but it is also possible that she may: if she does go to see you, be quite practical with her—give her your best advice and, if she wants to know how to go about it to get any such employment, try and assist her, please. I wish her brother—not a bad lad by any means—had her brains! (I fancy “Samivel’s father’s” advice was not taken:? hinc illae lachrymae.) If we did not want a lady that can sing, Miss Shute would do very well; but we want our

[198] THE I. G. INPEKING

house-companion to have music at the tip of her tongue as well as the tip of her fingers. I fancy Evey will be a Grandmother by the time you find my rara avis! Mrs. Hart has positively declared that shell go home next spring: if she does, it will be as well not to have sent

anyone to us, and she seemed decided. Last year (as also in 1871 & 73) I wanted her to go, but she would not: my mother and father were then alive, and I should have liked them to see Evey; but now both are dead*—my mother a year and my father six months since—and home and life are all changed for me, and, the fact of being an ancestor and not a descendant being now uppermost, I’d rather keep Evey with me,—but if her Mamma goes (and it will

be good for her health, mentally and bodily, to do so) of course she’ll go too. The sky has put on a greyish-brown dress and come down to the roof of the house: the rain is falling merrily! Yours truly,

. Robert Hart

P.S. Z/8 of 14th May received. Thanks for the bows: but as they are coming with the Bayonets, what will Li think of them when he opens the box, and how will they turn out when they reach me? His man-atarms will think them murderous weapons—some new invention—and Li will direct the “Imperial Commissioner Wang” (Shopman, Paris) to investigate the mystery. Shades of Dodd and Tourte! If you could only look on, how you’d tear your hair and ma the great man!>

| R.H. Who is ““W. Blackmore’’?®

No invoice came forward with Z/23/p. 8 of May 7th. Six not arrived yet, but I expect to see it one of these days.

1. Sampson was Britain’s agent for the procure- 4. Hart’s father, Henry Hart (1806-1875) was ment of contract laborers (coolies) for shipment originally a spirit grocer (seller of food, wines, and to the West Indies. The school mentioned may spirits) in Portadown, county Armagh. His mother have been one for British children in Canton. was Ann Edgar, a farmer’s daughter of Scottish origin from Ballybreagh, Armagh. At the time of 2. J.W. Carrall, who had joined the Customs in her marriage she was living with her brother RichAugust 1868, was 2nd assistant B in 1875.1In 1876, ard Edgar in Portadown. while technically on leave, he accompanied Kuo

Sung-tao to England. 5. Ma: curse or swear. 3. Samivel is Sam Weller of Dickens’s Pickwick 6. In letter Z/8 of May 14, here acknowledged by Papers, whose father advised against second mar- Hart, Campbell had written, ““Mr. Blackmore told

riages: “If ever you gets to up’ards o’ fifty, and Duncan that he knew Genl. Ripley [see letter 129] feels disposed to go a-marryin’ anybody—no matter would not go to China unless Baring agreed to be who-jist you shut yourself up in your own room, his Paymaster.” if you’ve got one, and pison youself off-hand.”

[199] JULY 1875

* 9 July 1875 [Rced. September 15, 1875] Dear Campbell,

I am now sending you £2,000 for the Bowra family, and I am leaving it to you to arrange for its being placed in the way most likely to help to support the widow and orphans. If Mrs. B. marries again, her title to participate in this allowance ought to terminate: if she remains unmarried, the arrival of the children at an age to support themselves ought to see her continuing to share in the benefits derivable from the allowance. As the money does not belong to the estate of the deceased, but is an extra grant made by my own will—and which I could have withheld, I am at liberty to direct its application and I do so to this extent that I authorise you to consult with the friends of the deceased and make arrangements of the kind most likely to utilize this amount in assisting to support Mrs. Bowra, and to support and educate the children. In fact I give you full powers: but the best way to use them will be to decide in consultation with the friends or executors—or at all events, if not in consultation with, at least after having heard what they have to say or suggest. The rifles and cartridges fit after all, but the second set of accoutrements is missing—it need not be replaced and is not wanted. Li says the rifles etc. are very good, but Davidson (the man who is making inquiries about Mint, etc.) had previously offered him for £4/5/0 (packing included) the rifle which you invoice as costing £5/2/6. I tell Li in reply: “All right— buy through Davidson; what I undertook was to get you the best rifle—not the cheapest.” Sir W. Armstrong’s agents at Hongkong (Sharpe & Co.) have written me a lengthy letter, almost protesting against my having passed them by, and saying that Sir W.A. & Co. would rather receive my orders through them via H’kong, than direct from my own representative (yourself) in England. In reply I simply acknowledge receipt. I suppose the manufacturer has said to the agent: “‘pretty fellow you are not to catch it when there is an order given!” The uniforms have turned up: got stowed away among the duplicates of the Vienna collection! The weather is now damp and hot, so I don’t open the tin-lined case for the present. The Copeland affair will be settled next week: so I don’t explain it to-day.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/31 14 July 1875

Dear Campbell, : [Red. September 15, 1875]

On the other side I send a list of Books I should like to have out here before the river closes for the winter. Don’t ask for tenders please: just get the bookseller to send you the books, and then have them packed and forwarded by the first opportunity. If they leave England before the 10th

[200] THE I. G. IN PEKING

September they ought to arrive in S’hai in time for one of the last steamers of the T’tsin season. Yours truly, Robert Hart BOOKS FOR MR. HART, PEKING, a/c Z

Illustrated Travels, 6 vols. edited by Bates Capell, Peter & Galpin Katerfelto Chapman & Hall Vatican Decrees Murray

Shah’s Diary " Livingstone’s Last Journals "

Vaticanism "

Journal of Researcher, by Darwin " Communistic Societies of U.S., by Noedhoff "

Troy and Its Remains, by Schliemann ’

“As you like it”’: Prussia treated to a battle a la Prusse Ward Lock & Tyler Wild life in Florida Hurst & Blackett Aytoun’s Lays of the Scotch Cavaliers

Best illustrated Editions Blackwood & Sons Bon Gaultier’s Ballads " " Tales from Blackwood, 12 vols. " "

Economic Geology, by Page " " Songs of Our Youth, Set to Music, by author of John Halifax Daldy Whiholt

Social Pressure, by Helps Daldy Whiholt

Brigadier Frederic Smith Elder & Co. The King of No Land Tinsley Bros.

Jessie Trim " " Love’s Victory " " Rupert Redmond " ’

Arabian Nights, illustrated Tegg & Co. Essays from Spectator, Addison’s " " Lavater’s Essay on Physiognomy, with 400 profiles " " Baron Munchausen " "" Sale’s Koran " Beckford’s Vathek " "

History of Advertisements, by H. Sampson Chatto & Windus

The Curate of Shyre H.S. King & Co.

Heredity, by Ribot " "

Six Privy Council Judgments, by W.G. Brooke " " Missionary Life in Southern Seas, by Hutton " "

Vizcaya, the Land of the Carlists " " Studies in Political Economy, by Musgrave " " Malcolm, by George Macdonald" 44" Tales of the Zenana

Lays of a Knight Errant, by Genl. Eyre 4 " Picture Logic, by Swinburne Longmans & Co.

Hades, by Bartle " 4 Three Essays on Religion, J.S. Mill " "

[201] JULY 1875

Tyndall’s Belfast Address Longmans & Co.

The Philosophy of Modern Humbug " “ Recollections and Suggestions, by Earl Rupelt " "

translated by____ " "

On the Sensations of Tone, by Helmholtz,

The Debatable Land, by Owen Trubner & Co.

Echoes of the Foot-hills, by Bret Harte " "

Problems of Life and Mind, by Lewis, second vol. " " Fu Sang, or the Discovery of America (from the Chinese) " "

The Hanging of the Crane, by Longfellow Rutledge & Sons

The Great Tone-Poets, by Crowest Bentley & Son

The Frozen Deep, by Wilkie Collins , " "

Peacock’s Works, 3 vols. " " Shunkur: Tale of the Indian Mutiny Sampson Low

Harry Heathcote " " North-German Polar Expedition, 1869-70 4 "

Trespassers, by Rev. J.G. Wood Seely Jackson & Co.

Wrecked on a Reef, by Raynel Nelson & Sons

The Hunter and the Trapper, by Révoil " "

Govinda Samanta Macmillan First Lessons in Business Matters "

Plan of London ?

The Story of a Fellow Soldier " Map of London and Environs ? Hinduism and its Relations to Christianity, by Robson Oliphant & Co.

Mr. Smith: a Part of his Life Blackwood & Sons The Day after Death, by Figuier Bentley & Son

Iseulte " " 4

The Story of a Soul " " "

Janet Doncaster, by Mrs. Fawcett Smith Elder & Co.

Aristophanes’ Apology, Browning en Out of the Body, by Pollock Rivingtons

Alice Lorraine Sampson Low Herbert Spencer’s Essays, Third Series Music.

50 Fingered Exercises for the Violin, by Hubert Ries Boosey & Co. |

21 July 1875 [Rcd. September 15, 1875] My dear Campbell,

I don’t quite understand your telegrams of the 26th June anent Bourne and Hutchins. My guess is that you have told B. & Co. “they have no right to style themselves so and so”, and that, they having replied by asking you who you are, you have consulted Hutchins, who says “‘he doesn’t know, but you had better get me to say”’.

[202] THE I. G. INPEKING

Your office is simply the London office of the Inspectorate General of the Chinese Customs; you are the Secretary in charge of that office, and, as you are a secretary not present with your chief at Peking, you are, for shortness and distinction’s sake styled the ‘“‘“NonResident Secretary”’. Your duty of the positive kind is two-fold: 1. You are to carry out the I.G.’s orders and 2. You are to keep him supplied with information on all matters of interest (i.e. matters that your knowledge of his position and wants leads you to suppose he’d like to know about); and your duty of the negative kind is single and simple: you are to refrain from all initiative, etc., and, where you are without instructions, you are to ask for them and wait till you get them. If B. & Co. call themselves ““The Emperor’s Toothpick Makers”’, all right let them do so: it’s no affair of ours. If anybody asks you “‘Have B. & Co. the right to call themselves “The E’s T-makers?”’ say to them in reply that you have no official information to that effect. If Hutchins thinks your title indefinite, and your duties in want of notification to the Foreign Office:—all I need say is that he is in London and not in Peking. “Stick to your last’, and “Point de Zéle’’, if you please. When the Chrysalis condition is at an end and you put forth the glory of a celestial butterfly, you may fly as high as you please. Above all things avoid rows.

~ Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Point de zéle: no zeal; take it easy.

27 July 1875 [Rced. September 29, 1875] My dear Campbell,

Cartwright’s brother takes his degree in Nov., and it might throw him out of his College stride, were you to call him to London for an examination before that time. You can therefore fix the examination for the four appointments for the first fortnight in December: the successful candidates to come out to China by the first mail in February. Cartwright may possibly take a good degree, and it would be a pity to lessen his chances of doing so.'

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Cartwright’s brother did not enter the Customs

and is not mentioned in the letters again. |

[203] AUGUST 1875

10 August 1875 [Rcd. October 9, 1875] My dear Campbell,

Li Hung Chang sends the enclosed specimen of an electric wire: I don’t know whether it is intended for use as a marine cable or for Torpedo work. He wishes you to ascertain its cost per thousand yards: find out, please, and telegraph reply. Your telegram of the 24th July (reported cession of Formosa) via Kiachta was sent by the Kiachta agent to the German Legation here, and at the same time a cipher telegram for the German Legation was sent under cover to me. Mr. von Brandt and I have interchanged telegrams. Isn’t the incident amusing—and instructive? When you have anything important to say always put it in cipher, no matter what route you send by; but when you have a good, jolly, fat canard send it via Kiachta and don’t put it in cipher. It would not be a bad plan were someone here to supply you with telegrams to be sent here in plain English! I have your A/24 of the 18th June. As regards Shee: if he likes to come back to us, I shall willingly cancel his resignation.’ He is a somewhat hot-headed impulsive man, but he is a gentleman—has had a liberal education—and acquits himself well in society; temper apart, he has only one fault that I know of—he lacks the power of concentration. He cannot give himself thoroughly to the work of the moment, and J would not pass a paper of his as correct till I had gone through it myself. I always expected this fault to disappear as he steadied and grew older: its only effect on me was that it made me send him away from Peking, where I had brought him hoping he would make a good assistant sec. and develop in time into Chief Sec. But possessing many good qualities, he wanted just the one I look for in a sec.: thorough reliability as a worker. I have nothing but good will to the man, and, if he likes to come, I'll re-admit him. The only certificates we issue are bald certificates of service: they show that the individual served from ___to ___., and that, beginning on £___ a year, he had risen to £___, and that he held the appointment of ____ at the time he resigned. Shee has been sent such a certificate; there is no other issued. I thought he was making a mistake when he left, but his idea was to better himself. You ought to have left Bourne alone. I wonder he didn’t tell you to go to the devil! © Von Gumpach died on the 31st July in the General Hospital. He had very few friends at the end,—poor old man. John Meadows is also dead at Tientsin.”

Chung How appointed I.G.!!!!° You don’t mean to say so? First I heard of it! Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Archer Shee did not return to the Customs, Later he became a merchant.

though Hart offered him a specific post in 1880. :

3. Arumor circulated at this time that Ch’ung-hou 2. John A.T. Meadows, brother of Thomas Taylor was to replace Hart as I.G. He was currently senior

Meadows (see letter 2n8), had been interpreter vice-president of the Board of War and a minister at the British consulate in Ningpo in 1854 when in the Tsungli Yamen. Hart arrived there as a supernumerary interpreter.

[204] THEI. G. IN PEKING

: 15 October 1875 [Rcd. December 11, 1875] Dear Campbell,

I noticed that Henderson has always put forward the fact that Chance Bros. refuse to supply “circular glazing’’, while Barbier Fenestre supply it. Will you find out what the difference is between Flat and Circular glazing: what the advantages of the latter are: and why Chance Bros. decline to tender for “circular glazing’’. There has been great trouble with the Shantung Promontory Lamp, but I believe it has been caused by Henderson’s attempt to alter Chance’s lamp so as to burn B. & F.’s oil—not the oil they make, but the oil their lamps (Doty’s) are made to burn. Henderson gives one the idea of being a man who knows his work well, and, at all events, he is a hard worker—full of energy and activity. Whatever his defects—and I fancy a hatred of Birmingham is one of them—he has qualities that make him well worth his pay. Were he in other respects fit, I should long ago have made him Marine Sec., and put more initiative in his hands: as it is I can’t advance him, and he’s too valuable to be made “fugly” by superseding. Act II of the Yunnan affair has ended.! Grosvenor is now about to start with Baber to witness the “trial”. I hope he’ll get back safe: but I do not consider it a certainty. I think the Brit. Govt. wants to let the affair be forgotten—and so done with! Emperor and Empress—deceased, I mean,—are to be buried to-morrow. Poor T’ung Chih!— poor Alutai.? The new Emperor’s title Kuang Hsu I take to mean “He will make glorious his accession, i.e. although not of the direct line, his succession will not discredit the dynasty.”° I enclose letters from Towell and Fraser:* read the letter enclosed and forward. Yours truly, Robert Hart

P.S. You can understand now why I took it on me to warn Smollett what trouble after years would bring with them. 1. The “Yunnan affair’’ was the Margary case. tion on foreign trade. In letters 141 and 142 Hart Augustus R. Margary, an interpreter in the British speaks of his memorandum and recommendaconsular service, had been murdered in Yunnan on tions resulting from this investigation. February 21, 1875, while on official duty with a Grosvenor’s report of the trial, which had exonBritish expedition. The expedition, whose purpose erated Ts’en Y ii-ying, the acting governor of was to explore possible overland trade routes to Yunnan, and blamed the murder on hill tribes, southwest China from Bhamo, had been sanctioned infuriated Wade, who even threatened to break off by Wade and supplied with special passports by relations unless Ts’en was tried. Twice Wade left the Chinese government. Wade, far from wanting to | Peking for Shanghai in the course of the affair, to “let the affair be forgotten,” charged the central be in closer touch with the Foreign Office (Shanggovernment with responsibility for the murder; hai was the end of the telegraph line). he demanded an investigation in the presence of a Hart finally managed to arrange a meeting in British observer, and payment of an indemnity. Chefoo in mid-August between Wade and Li HungFurther, he seized this opportunity to impose de- chang, who went as a negotiator with plenary mands entirely extraneous to the murder, relating powers. By the end of August, Wade had ceased to to diplomatic rights and privileges, and improvement demand Ts’en’s trial, and all terms were shortly of trade conditions, especially with regard to thereafter agreed upon. The outcome was the

. -inland taxation on British trade (see letter 32n2). Chefoo Convention, signed September 12, 1876,

T.G. Grosvenor, secretary of legation, was ap- and ratified by China four days later. Britain, howpointed to observe the trial, assisted by E.C. Baber ever, did not ratify it until July 1885. and A. Davenport, both of the British consular For Hart’s account of the affair, see letters 141, service. The Yamen sought Hart’s advice and ap- 142, 146, 148-151, -153, 154. pointed him to do a full investigation of the taxa-

| | [205] NOVEMBER 1875 2. The emperor had now been dead for nine months 3. Hart here elucidates the meaning of the reign (see letter 25n3). According to Chinese custom of title Kuang-hsii (often translated “‘literally”’ as “‘glothe time, a burial site and an auspicious date must rious succession” or the like) by making kuang a be chosen before burial. Consequently it was not verb and thus giving the term more point. unusual for a coffin to remain unburied for some time, until the difficulties in the way of choosing 4. Hugh Fraser was the British chargé in Peking.

such a date were overcome. M.E. Towell was at this time a 1st assistant in the Customs’ Shanghai office.

4 November 1875

[Rcd. December 25, 1875] : , Dear Campbell,

IT enclose a note, open, for Mr. Stuart, anent Minting.’ Read it carefully, so that you may be “‘posted”’, and send it on to the O.B.C. If I can get the necessary information, and if they do not want the Chinese Government to do too many things for the protection of the Mint, I think we shall be able to make a commencement. A commencement once made, the coinage will meet with support everywhere.

: Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. Hart was greatly interested in the establishment Chefoo Convention. Presumably he was seeking of a national mint in China and standarization of here information from Stuart that would be useful her coinage. He speaks often and bitterly in the to him in the “report on commercial matters” that letters of Wade’s failure to support his recom- he was preparing for the Yamen in connection with mendations in this connection throughout the the Margary case (see letters 141 and 142), post-Margary negotiations that culminated in the

Z/32 23 November 1875 : : [Red. January 17, 1876] Dear Campbell,

Your letter Z/19 has just come in. [am sorry to hear you have had such a mischance with your tooth, but hope you have got over it by this time. I am disappointed in the youngsters’ educational achievements: but it can’t be helped.' Ask Mr. Bird to watch them carefully, and advise as to what they are likely to be best fitted for. Above all things, I’d like to get them into the Indian Civil Service: but I don’t want to push them for anything they are not likely to accomplish. What an ugly little beggar Arthur is! Anna is very like what her mother was when I first saw her in 1857: only her mother was not pock-marked. I want Anna to stay at school four years more, and I hope she will be a nice, presentable girl by that time. Her mother was one of the most amiable and sensible people imaginable. Her father thought he was a wise man once, but subsequently confessed, in his heart of hearts, that he was a fool!

[206] THEI. G. INPEKING

Pay Mrs. Davidson anything that is fair: err on the liberal side, please. She has evidently treated the youngsters kindly. They have not turned geniuses, it is true. From her letters too I judge her to be rather well taught herself. She expresses herself nicely—and punctuates! Everything’s quiet here now, and we’ll have a quiet winter. Mrs. Hart goes home by the 18 March mail, and I shall follow her (perhaps) in two years more—if I can get away. I have a note from Dick today.” I hope he understands he is to be at Ningpo by the Ist March at the latest: if not telegraph this to him. Hannen is to go to Swatow. Palm most probably to either Swatow, Kiukiang, or Tientsin: but I can’t say yet.” I enclose a cheque for £200. (No. a/c Z, O.B.C.). I don’t understand the word “‘term”’: does it mean six months—or three—or four? Many thanks for “Hart on the Violin’’. I am all but certain mine is a veritable Strad., and I believe it was brought to China by some fiddle-playing Roman Catholic Missionary (Italian or Spanish) a hundred years ago! Of course you know that von Gumpach is dead. So also is Lépissier. Lépissier fils turns out a capital clerk.* By the way, we are short-handed; send out the four new men as soon as possible. Wishing you a happy new year and a speedy recovery from Xmas plum pudding.

Yours very truly, Robert Hart 1. Campbell in his letters of September 16 and 24, home, “havea bad habit of dropping their H’s.” and in Z/19 of October 1 here acknowledged by On Dr. Percival’s recommendation, Campbell Hart, reported on his arrangements for Hart’s entered the boys at a small school in Clivedon three children by his Chinese common-law wife (see run by the Rev. Mr. Bird, a clergyman who never letter 124n1). Mr. Davidson, the bookkeeper whose took more than fourteen boys and “treated them wife had brought up the children since they were more as members of his own family.” Early in

sent to England in 1866, was annoyed at their October, the boys were sent there. sudden removal “‘and has refused to give her a single On November 3 Campbell started with Anna for penny to get anything for them, whilst her friends Vevey, a resort town in Switzerland, where he left have advised her not to give up the children with- her in a school with about “‘ten young ladies” to

out receiving compensation.”’ Campbell quieted study French and music. her, and gave her “£20 towards their outfits, but it will come to a good deal more, as they have only 2. T. Dick, who had been on leave, was to be coma few home-made clothes.” Campbell took the two _— missioner at Ningpo, 1876-1877. boys, Herbert and Arthur, to Clifton College for

the qualifying examination, which they were 3. J.L.E. Palm, British, had been in the Customs unable to pass. Dr. Percival, the headmaster, since January 1866 and was at this time a Ist strongly recommended that the boys be placed ina assistant B. As it turned out, he went to none of small private school and given individual attention. _ these ports, but rather to Ningpo. It would take Herbert, he thought, about a year to qualify for Clifton, Arthur perhaps a little less. 4. The elder Lépissier had been allowed to resign

Campbell noted that in “‘these Public Schools” with a year’s salary (see letter 18n2). His son, E.L. the examination functions as does the ballot in Lépissier, had joined the Customs in 1869 and was clubs: “if a boy is not unexceptionable in every now 3rd assistant A at Chinkiang. He remained way he will be plucked or blackballed.” He pointed in the Service well into the twentieth century. out that both boys, raised thus far in a lower-class

[207] DECEMBER 1875

This is to go to-day 9 December 1875

by our first overland [Rcd. February 5, 1876] courier for the season to Shanghai.

Dear Campbell, | I have your A letters up to A/42 of the 15th Oct., and your Z’s up to the same date. I have so many threads to keep hold of, that I fear Iam dropping stitches in all directions. Your furniture allowance and authority for back pay go forward to-day—before Xmas! Originally I told you to expend One Thousand Taels, but now send you a grant of £400, which will make up for various losses: at the same time, there is not much to show for the expenditure. The Yamen has just increased the Customs’ Grant from 748,200 to 1,098,200 taels a year: this means that China is satisfied with the results, and has no desire to do away with us. In ten years more the Service will be independent of me, but to-day, and for five years to come, } another hand at the helm could very easily capsize the ship. Mrs. Hart and the youngsters go home next spring for a couple of years: it is quite uncertain whether I shall join them in Europe in the course of 1878, or whether they’ll come out to rejoin me. I should like a run but it would be madness to go away yet awhile. The 80-ton gun vessel will not be ordered yet awhile. If the four now being built are approved of I expect two of the 80-ton kind will be immediately ordered. I don’t think A. & Co, acted wisely in suppressing their agency; an agent can always “‘tout”’ and ask for orders—I never do anything of the kind: on the contrary, I remonstrate and keep our friends from throwing away funds as much as possible.! Kuo and party will go to England in spring. I think they’ll go through America: accompanying Chen Lan Pin who, with our old friend Yung Heng (Yung Wing: the man that beat Albert Heard and took the first prize, for English composition, at Yale, now married to a Miss Kellog), is appointed a Minister at Washington.’ I don’t like the form in which your telegrams appear in the London papers. It will compromise me vis-a-vis the Legations here. “‘A telegram has been received from Peking stating etc.” will suffice: don’t put in your name or mine or—the L.O. of “‘Disembodied”—General of Customs.° If a man named Essex calls on you, tell him an appointment for him (£600 a year) goes forward next week. I am about to authorise you to send out twenty album-like books containing specimens of all English cotton and woollen manufactures: perhaps he could assist you in making the collection. All well here: but, Faraldo, the Spanish Minister, has followed Avery!* Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Whenever you receive a telegram from me, tell Lady Wade you “‘have had a Peking telegram”’.> She will know from that fact that up to date, all goes well. Is Wellesley a Pianist, or Violinist, or what?

[208] THE I. G. INPEKING 1. Armstrong’s agents in Hong Kong had been Sharpe the Connecticut Valley. On February 24, 1875, and Co., who had already protested to Hart for Yung Hung had married Mary Louisa Kellogg, the sending orders direct to Campbell in Europe rather daughter of a New England physician. than through their office. 3. That is, Hart wanted the Inspector General to 2. Kuo Sung-tao had been appointed Chinese remain invisible and never be quoted directly.

minister to Britain. He was China’s first resident

minister to a foreign country. 4. See letter 123n4. Ch’en Lan-pin and Yung Hung were appointed

envoys to the United States, Spain, and Peru. 5. The Wades were to have gone to England in Yung Hung (also known as Yung Wing) was the May (see letter 123), but these plans were altered first Chinese graduate of an American university by the Margary murder and its aftermath. Wade (Yale, 1854). He and Ch’en had been associated remained in China, but his wife and family apparsince 1872 in directing the educational mission that ently did go home. brought Chinese students to study in Hartford and

9 December 1875 Dear Campbell,

The position selected for the Water Closets in the gun-boats is very bad. They ought not to be on the quarter deck: the best place for them is on either side of the funnel under the

bridge amidships. , _ This is the arrangement we have for Ling Feng and Fei Hoo, and it is most convenient: on one side Lamp on the other | W.C. Bath Store W.C. Bath and Room

pipe to run down below water-line.

: When I spoke of double awnings, I meant that the supports for awnings, the iron rods that will enter the holes in the rail and be removable at pleasure, ought to have two eyes—so that if double awnings are required they can be put up: thus

|:o:

To balance the rings there ought to be a space of 18 inches. As the boilers are above water, let the coal bunkers be so arranged as to give them all possible protection. A larger steamer with boilers below water would have been preferable. What is the smallest size for steamer, and what A. & Co.’s price, to carry 36-ton gun, and have boilers below water? Of course it is too late to change, but for future work it will be well to know. A war-boat ought not to have boilers thus exposed.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

[209] JANUARY 1876

17 January 1876

[Rced. March 17, 1876] |

My dear Campbell,

I’m awfully busy: seemingly there’s no end to work in this confounded capital! Perhaps I’ll send home Cocker and Clayson and Chinese crews to bring out the gunboats.’ If I don’t do this, can you find people to bring them out? In addition to sending the boats out there is another bit of work to be done: to teach the Chinese how to use the big guns, and more especially the hydraulic machinery. Will Messrs Sir W.A. & Co. send out a couple of mechanics in each vessel or allow a couple of men to be trained for each vessel in their yard? To come out with each vessel and to remain by her for a couple of years we want: One Naval instructor (i.e., a naval officer well up in seamanship and gunnery) One Engineer (instructor) One Gunner (instructor) and One (or two) mechanics for keeping in order the gun machinery specially See about the best way of getting these and telegraph replies to these three queries: 1. Can you arrange to send out the vessels? 2. Can you engage and send with them the instructors and mechanics? 3. What will the annual pay of the four or five men for each boat amount to in round numbers? We don’t engage for more than two years, and we want to be liberal but not extravagant. I am very sorry to hear of Stuart’s death. Who is there to take his place, and what man has the O.B.C. possessing either his experience, his solidity, or his calmness? It’s a great loss

all round. My letter of 3rd Nov. may be given to his successor. |

My Report on Commercial difficulties goes to the Yamen in a day or two.” I make some sweeping proposals. I have been over it so often that I have “whipped it” out instead of “into” shape, and it reads flat and “‘poverty-stricken”’: it will at all events start a good many hares, and those who wish to write on China may go in for unlimited coursing! I doubt if the Yunnan affair will end quietly: but I hope we’ll hear no more of it for six months to

come. | -_

Our increased Customs’ allowance means that the Yamen wishes to keep up the Service: so I think you are all safe at last—although I don’t think it prudent to put the helm in any other man’s hands yet awhile. I was glad to be able to give you the increase: the state of the funds did not permit of it before.

Yours Robert truly, Hart , ; 1. William Hughes Clayson, British, joined the 353-401 (in English), 402-454 (in Chinese). It is Coast Staff of the Customs Service in January called ‘“‘Proposals for the Better Regulation of 1870 and in 1872 became commander of the Commercial Relations: Being a Memorandum

revenue steamer Fei Hoo. Called for by the Tsungli Yamen (Board of Foreign Affairs, China), and Drawn Up by the Inspector

2. This report appears in the official Customs pub- General of Customs, Peking, 23rd January 1876.” lication, Origin, Development, and Activities, VI,

[210] THE I. G. IN PEKING

I 42. 26 January 1876 [Rced. March 23, 1876] Kwang Hsu, Second Year, First Month, First Day

Dear Campbell,

I have been excessively busy since October, but as I yesterday got off my Report to the Yamen—the Report promised for Sir T. Wade in the Yunnan connection—I begin to breathe again. It covers some thirty sheets of foolscap, does the said Report, in my cramped writing, and as I had to go over it very often, and be at once very full and very concise, very much to the point and not too brusque, and make the document one that could be laid before not only the Chinese, but all the Treaty Powers,—and as I had also to put it into Chinese myself, you can understand what a relief it is to get it off my hands. It occupied me so much that I had simply to let other work and all correspondence “‘slide’’. Steamers:—I am to-day writing you about the crews that are to bring out the steamers. It just occurs to me that in my despatch I have neglected to say that the vessels are to be fully insured. We want reliable men to bring them out safely, and sober, intelligent men to remain by them as instructors afterwards. Let your arrangements be as complete as possible, so that I may have no disputes or differences to deal with here. Ripley:—Is Ripley still in England? Rumour has it that he is in China, but we cannot say

where. Perhaps with Tso en route for Kashgar?! / : Assistants:—We are likely to be short-handed this year, so I want you to write to the following addresses and say that you have a nomination for Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Kerr, and that you want the young gentlemen for whom they are intended to present themselves for examination without delay as they are required in China.” Telegraph result. If the lads pass, send them out at once: don’t mind if they are a little under 19.

Hugh Montgomery, Esquire, Rev. J.A. Kerr

45, Berkeley Square, c/o Geo. McAuliffe, Esquire.

London 23, Calender St. Belfast

Customs’ Allowance:—I kept back my application for an increase till I thought the right time had arrived, and the Yamen at once authorised an increase of 350,000 taels. This proves that it does not intend to “‘wipe out” the Service yet awhile. I consider it good for twenty certainly, perhaps for fifty years to come. Your Pay:—I was glad to be able to give you the increase. You do your work uncommonly well, and it is a great satisfaction to me to know I have such a reliable man in England to look after all the odds and ends to be there attended to. Customs’ Publications:—I am ordering the Stat. Sec. to send you 25 copies of every publication, and 50 copies of every Notice to Mariners. You will send two copies of each of the Notice to Mariners, “‘with I.G.’s compliments’”’ to each European Admiralty, and also to the U.S.A., and you will send the other publications to such newspapers, magazines, societies, and official departments as you think ought to keep acquainted with our continued existence and what we are doing. You had better have a lot of slips printed: “With I.G.’s compliments”’; and paste them on each volume or notice sent out. Letters Rec’d:—I have your letters of the A series from No. 22 of 4th June to No. 48 of 25th Nov. (There are two No. 33’s.) Copeland:—The Yamen has backed out of its desire to have a professor of Astronomy, and

[211] JANUARY 1876

says we must wait. I tell them they have lost such a chance as they’ll never have again. They reply, ““There’s corn in Egypt’’. MacDonnell:—The F.O. has written to Wade, but he is too busy with other matters to take up the H’kong affair just now. There is nothing new to be said on the subject: we are “as we were’’—i.e. willing to treat (i.e. willing to remove all pressure round H’kong), if the colony will give us the little standpoint I ask for inside.” Lights:—Henderson still cries out against everything from Chance Bros., and is as loud in praise of all that B. & F. send out. Just now there’s a row on between him and Beazeley. It’s a pity Hen. should have any bad points: for, for energy and acquaintance with his business, he is not to be beaten, I think. Stuart:—I’m awfully sorry to hear of Stuart’s death. It is a great loss all round—to the Bank, to the public, and to ourselves. Who succeeds? Mint:—Tell Stuart’s successor that Iam not trying to push this Mint affair: if the Chinese prefer to do it through Henderson they may do so: all that I want is to see it done. I got a chance of advocating the measure: and IJ used it. The probability is that a mint will be established: the probability also is that it will be established through me; but the Chinese act so slowly, that I cannot tell when it will come off, and there are so many advisers knocking about now that some other than myself may be at hand at the fortunate moment. My own wish is to see the work done by the O.B.C. in partnership with the Chinese Government. Rifles:—Only one set of accoutrements arrived; but it is no use going into this matter again. I see that the Martini-Henry rifle is easily injured by dust and sand: it would not stand this place long, if this report is true. Chung How:—I don’t know who starts the reports about my resignation and Chung How's appointment, but considering the difficulty the Yamen will have in getting all powers to accept any one man as my successor, I think a plan of this sort (i.e. a Chinese Inspector General) would work very well—provided he did not interfere too much and left appointments and discipline in the hands of his European Secretary. (The arrangement I have made here is this: that if I fall sick or die, the Chief Sec. and Chinese Sec. are conjointly to carry on the I.G.’s duties till the Yamen sees fit to make other arrangements. I got the Yamen to approve of this in a despatch: it did so, but reluctantly—“‘O King! Live for Ever!” was its first reply. But this is not public as yet.) Mint Again:—The telegram from Stuart did not tell me what the annual cost of working the establishment would be. I wish specially to know this. Telegraph reply, please. ““Seagoing”:—By this word I meant: “‘not merely fair-weather, smooth-water, river-boats, but boats able to take their chances at sea on a voyage from port to port, and fight their

guns inabreeze”’. | Telegram Wire:—Specimens received but not yet opened. It is for the Chinese officials that I want them. 80-Ton Gun:—Is it or is if not advisable to carry out my first project: i.e. to order two steamers each carrying an 80-ton gun? Iam anxious to get hold of this weapon, if it can be depended upon. Steamer Boilers and Water Closets:—The W.C. ought not to be aft on the quarter deck. They ought to be amidships, near the funnel. The fact of the boilers being above the waterline must be neutralised as much as possible: either by arranging the coalbunkers to surround them, or by plating of some kind or other. Had we known at starting that the boilers would be exposed, we’d have ordered larger vessels: we don’t so much want a “Staunch”’ as a vessel carrying, like the “Staunch”’, one smashing big gun.’ It’s too late to change now, but do contrive some appearance of protection for the projecting boiler-heads. Chandos House:—The Chinese Legation (Kuo and Hsti and Staff) will start for England in

[212] THE I. G. IN PEKING

March, but I think they will go through America, travelling slowly, to have a peep at it and the Centennial.* They want to make their own arrangements about houses on arrival, and, as they are in no hurry and have lots of money, we need not trouble ourselves till they ask us again to do something. (Private: —Wade’s telegram was wrong. He spoke to Li Hung Chang about a special mission and a letter of apology: but not to the Yamen. Kuo and Hsii are not a “‘special mission’’—they go to establish a permanent legation, and they do not carry a letter

of apology.)® :

Telegrams:—If you ever communicate any telegrams of mine to Under-Secretaries, etc., do so in the “Whisper” form, and not officially. The latter way of doing it would rile Wade too much and would get me into difficulty sooner or later. If you are on proper terms with anyone, you can let out anything I don’t mark “Silence’’. I give you another word: “Circulate’:—when you find this beginning and the word “gossip” ending a message, you are to let it all out as “‘a telegram from ‘China’” that you have “seen’”’; but if it can be neither traced to you nor ascribed to me, so much the better. Steamers Again:—Double Awnings:—As there will be only Chinese on board, and as there is a difficulty about stowage, single awnings will do. It’s a pity the ships can’t carry their hundred rounds. How will you send out the other 50 rounds for each vessel? Mr. Simpson:—I dare say he would suit us very well; but I shall say nothing more till he is entitled to his pension. My wish is to give the billet to some of our out-here people going back to England: but, as yet, Wright is the only one I can think of at all fitted for the post.” Bourne & Co.:—Don’t trouble yourself about these gentlemen or others of the same kidney.

Bank a/c:—Exchange is so bad, I cannot remit. / Hannen:—When Hannen comes out, if you have reason to put anyone in charge, call upon

James H. Hart, who goes home in April, to take charge. Offices:—I have just appointed H.O. Brown Commissioner at Hainan, so we have a new port.®

Centennial:—Chinese collection will be well worth seeing. The commission is composed of Hart, Huber and Hammond, with whom are joined merchants Cunningham, Parkin, and Knight.’ Japan:—Japan is evidently getting into a row with Corea. China may be drawn into it too.!° If we had our four gunboats out, we should have little fear of their iron-clads. I must say I like and admire the Japs, but I always like to see my own side able to “hit out” when occasion requires it—and that we cannot do now. 20-Pounders:—Sir W.A. & Co. took too long a time over those 20-pounders. I hope they are at H’kong by this. No. 36 Commission Moneys:—I shall answer this separately next week. No more time for more to-day.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Tso Tsung-t’ang, sponsor of the Foochow Arsenal 2. P.H.S. Montgomery, the son of Hugh Montand a renowned military leader who had fought with gomery, joined the Customs in July 1876 and distinction against the Taiping and the Nien rebels, served in China until his death in 1902.

was at this time a grand secretary. He had been J.A. Kerr eventually joined the Customs, though assigned the task of pacifying China’s troubled he seems initially to have done poorly in the examnorthwest, bringing Chinese Turkestan back under inations. During 1880, however, he was on proChinese control (see letters 71n2 and 113n2). This bation in the London Office, and in 1881 Hart sent task he completed early in 1878, and in recogni- instructions for him to come at once to Amoy. He tion was appointed to the Grand Council and the remained in the Service until his death in 1897.

| Tsungli Yamen.

[213] FEBRUARY 1876 3. Sir Richard Graves Macdonnell had been gover- 5. Hsii Ch’ien-shen did not go to England; instead nor of Hongkong from 1865 to 1872; he was suc- he was appointed envoy to Japan in September ceeded by Arthur Edward Kennedy from 1872 to 1876. He was replaced as Kuo’s associate envoy by

1877. Liu Hsi-hung. The party sailed not in the spring, Hongkong, being a free foreign port, not subject but on December 1, 1876.

to Chinese tariffs or controls, had inevitably be-

come a center for smuggling—mainly of opium 6. Though Hart states flatly here that Kuo carried and salt. Beginning in 1867 the Canton Hoppo no letter of apology, Kuo on February 8, 1877,

(the Chinese superintendent of maritime customs presented Queen Victoria with “‘his letter of :

and head of all native customs offices in Kwang- credence and an imperial letter of regret.” tung) had established stations along the mainland

from which armed boats patrolled outside Hong- 7. The billet was as Campbell’s chief clerk and his kong waters, levying taxes on Chinese junks trading deputy whenever Campbell had to be absent from with Hongkong. The Hongkong merchants dubbed __ the office. this a ““blockade.’’ When Customs cooperation was Clare Lenox Simpson, then deputy commissioner sought, Hart was unwilling to interfere with Chi- at Shanghai, was the man under discussion; he had nese controls over Chinese traders in non-British been in the Customs since 1861.

waters. The Foreign Office also endorsed China’s . right to collect duties from her subjects. In 1871 8. The port of Kiungchow, on the island of Hainan, the Customs agreed to put foreign officers on opened officially on March 27, 1876; it was the board the patrol boats, but solely to restrain the fifteenth treaty port (see letter 25n6). patrols from any illegal action.

In 1876 the “blockade” remained in force,a con- 9. America’s centennial celebration was held in tinual source of trouble for which various solutions Philadelphia from May to November 1876. It was had been offered but none adopted. Hart, presuma- an international exhibition, the first in the United ably while engaged in his post-Margary researches, States.

had suggested that a commissioner of Chinese Edward Cunningham (1823-1889), American, Customs be stationed in India to collect there in was Russell and Co.’s managing partner in Shanghai

advance the revenue (duty and likin) due the through 1877. Chinese government on opium shipments to China.

China in return would lift the “blockade” and 10. This is a reference to the domestic Japanese give Hongkong treat-porty status in the matter of policy struggle over the proposal of expansionists trans-shipment privileges. His plan was favored by to move militarily against Korea. Macdonnell and by Lord Carnarvon, then head of In 1875 the Japanese had displayed their naval the Colonial Office, and also by Li Hung-chang. forces along the Korean coast. They repeated this The Foreign Office, however, would have none of move in January 1876, there was a brief military

it. encounter, and the Koreans agreed to the treaty

The “‘little standpoint .. . inside”? may refer to of Kanghwa (February 27, 1876). The treaty Hart’s desire to place a Chinese Customs officer opened Chemulpo and Wonsan to Japanese trade in Kowloon, the mainland peninsula opposite (Pusan was already open to them); it also asserted Hongkong that had been British property since the | Korea’s independence, but Korea’s tributary rela-

Peking convention of 1860. tionship, demonstrated by the sending of annual tribute missions to China, remained unchanged.

4. The Staunch was a new gunboat built by Arm- See letter 146. strong & Co.

17 February 1876 [Red. April 14, 1876] Dear Campbell,

Tell Huber to be sure and get a uniform if he goes to Philadelphia: same style as Hannen and others wore at Vienna. Yours truly, Robert Hart

* [214] THE I. G. IN PEKING

3 March 1876 [Red. April 24, 1876] My dear Campbell,

Bucheister & Co. (i.e. Bidwell) have got out two little twin-screw gunboats, Staunch type, for F’chow.' I am told the boats cost the firm, laid down at F’chow, £20,000 each, and that the Chinese pay for them £32,000 apiece. I believe that Laird supplied the ships and Vavasseur the guns. Try and find out what they really cost. We are very short-handed. Send out any men you pass without delay. Ship them to Shai, but tell each one to call on Dagenaer at Hongkong to ask if there are any orders awaiting them there. Mrs. Hart goes home by the French mail of the 31st March. She will probably linger a day or two in France, and pass through London three or four days after the delivery of the mail. My brother and Jamieson (and probably Twinem, O’Brien, Leslie, and Edgar) will be with her, so that she’ll be sufficiently well looked after:? she will try and find time to look in on Mrs. Campbell for half an hour, but does not wish to make any other visits on this occasion of passing through homewards. Kindly tell your clerk to give any assistance she may want in the matter of clearing luggage at the Customs, etc. The Prussian affair of the ““Anna”’ is not looking well. The Legation has exhausted “‘pleasant” talk, and on the 5th von B. is to dance a war-dance at the Yamen.? Our chiefs here go on trusting in the chapter of accidents and will “‘come a cropper” one of these days!

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. “Bucheister & Co.”: see letter 102n1. 3. The Anna was a German schooner that had sailed from Amoy in September 1875. Near Foo2. M.J. O’Brien had been professor of English at chow her Chinese crew had beached and plundered

the T’ung-wen kuan since 1867. her and murdered her two German officers.

S. Leslie, British, who had joined the Customs Von B. is von Brandt, the German minister in in 1868 and was now 3rd assistant A in Foochow, Peking. was going on leave for two years.

16 March 1876 My dear Campbell,

Considering the long delay of Sir W.A. & Co. in the matter of the 20-pounders, I never expected them to turn out the steamers in the time promised. This and the former probability that there would be a Chinese Minister in England in April made me delay final arrangements. Wade has been notified by the Yamen of the purchase of these vessels and of your appointment to equip and send them out, and has been requested to communicate the fact to the F.O. and Admiralty: I am telegraphing this to you to-day, so that there will be no secrecy and all will be above board.

[215] MARCH 1876 ; I have still got 50,000 taels of the money allowed for these steamers in Hongkong, but exchange is so bad that I hesitate to send any part of it home. I suppose the O.B.C. will give you an advance if you want it; but I don’t know whether you will require more in England. If the O.B.C. gives letters of credit to the Captains to get such and such things at places en route, the amounts expended according to their letters could be refunded at Hongkong. Of course, this difficulty will not be felt in connection with the two first vessels, for you have the balance of funds for the two larger still in hand. I shall look up the account however, and remit a little more as soon as the exchange looks better (in May). From a despatch which ought to reach you in March you will see all I have had to say about crews and instructors.’ It is now decided that I am not to send crews to England to bring the vessels out; you must find officers and crews. I tried hard to get you made Consul. but the Yamen funked it, and would only make you a steamer-buying Wei- Yuan: but whether it is deputy ad hoc or deputy in the matter of munitions generally, I cannot say.” At all events this despatch is addressed direct to yourself by the Chinese F.O., and is communicated to the British Minister; and as it is the only despatch of the kind in existence it constitutes you an agent—and the one and only one—of the Chinese Government in England. It may lead to something by and by. The exchange is going to ruin us all; if it does not rally, all who go on leave will lose 20 per cent on their half pay remitted! What is the meaning or cause of it, and is the cause likely to disappear soon? Jamieson remains here as acting Chief Sec. six months more, and Bredon goes to Canton.°

Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S.

1. I see the gunboats are to cost £112,800. 2. I sent to the Bank for this Service a/c D £126,482/13/5. 3. When Sir W.A. & Co. are paid there will remain £13,682/13/5. 4. Will this sum suffice to send out all four gunboats, or ought I to send more? and if so, how much? R.H. 1. The dispatch referred to was No. 121 of January Ch’ing for supernumerary officials appointed 26, 1876, in which Hart gave details for the delivery usually to handle designated matters for their of the ships to China: “The steamers are to come supervisors but without increasing the table of

out in pairs, the smaller ones first, and the larger organization.

later. All are to come by the Suez Canal, and are to .

call at every port by the way for fuel. On arrival 3. In other words, Colin Jamieson, mentioned only at Hongkong the Customs’ Agent there will name two weeks earlier as one of Mrs, Hart’s traveling

the port to which they are to proceed and the companions on her voyage home, had had his leave officials they are to be delivered to. Arrangements postponed six months—a fate not unusual in the have to be made (1) to engage the necessary crews Customs, where a man frequently had to fit his

and (2) to lay funds at ports of call.” schedule to that of his replacement. Jamieson went 2. Wei-yuan, a term used increasingly in the late

on leave, according to the records, in 1877.

[216] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Z/33 16 March 1876 Dear Campbell,

Mrs. Hart and the youngsters leave this on the 19th, so as to go on from S’hai by the French Mail of the 31st. Consequently they will be passing through London about eight or ten days after you receive this. We are much obliged to you for your offer of rooms, but we could not think of thus taking you by storm with such a large party. Most likely Mrs. Hart will go to the Cork Hotel, Albemarle Street: but whatever hotel she puts up at, my brother Jem will look you up in your office and Mrs. Hart will run round to see Mrs. Campbell. Mrs. Hart thinks it will be most convenient for her to have a deposit a/c in her own name at the O.B.C. Will you kindly open such an account for her with the enclosed cheque (£700 alc Z, No. 100) and have a cheque book in readiness to hand her when she arrives. The day of their departure is so near, and the parting is such a considerable one, that I can hardly settle to anything to-day: at times, I realise the separation suddenly and then feel as if I were just about to “‘walk the plank”, or be hung! I can hardly believe that ten years have actually gone by since our party sailed eastwards in the Alphée; what changes! The Corean scare is over: a treaty is made with Japan and three ports are to be opened to Japan (and I presume, the rest of the World). The Yunnan affair is “pending”; we are now waiting for Grosvenor’s Report. Kuo would have gone to England long ago, were it not that Wade objects to his going till the affair is settled. I don’t think there will be war, but we'll have some more stirring scenes here before all is finished. The Yamen is nibbling about a loan, three million stlg., but has not yet got to the point of saying the thing must be done. As for the Mint—they won’t be hurried, but I think we’ll be asked to make it “go”’ in course of time. In China one has generally to talk ten years before accomplishing anything! Yours truly,

| Robert Hart

27 March 1876 (Red. June 2, 1876] Dear Campbell,

I have yours of the 4th Feb. Wellesley will do well to look into two things. We shall probably put up a couple of towers on Breaker Point and Shaluitien. Each will have to be about 100 feet high, but the conditions are different. At Breaker Point the foundation will be all that could be wished for, but the tower will have to stand three or four typhoons every year.’ At Shaluitien, there are no typhoons, but when you shovel away the surface sand you come on water two feet below the surface. What sort of work would have to be done to make the foundation secure for the tower, and what kind of open-work tower would be the best to live safely through typhoons at the former place? To these two points he will do well to give attention ,—of course, I have plans and projects from Henderson, but Wellesley may get a wrinkle at home of a kind

[217] APRIL 1876

to enable him to superintend the doing of such work on the spot here all the more efficiently. As for Duncan, take him into your office for three months’ work, and then send him out: pay to commence, as in other cases, from arrival in China. He will thus be due at S’hai in October. We are rather short-handed, and I want new men quickly. The 20-pounder guns have arrived and Cocker writes: “I am not over pleased with them. The carriages are ugly. The guns are not properly fitted, Holes have to be bored in them for the half cock and the vent bit”. Seeing that A. & Co. took so long to finish them, I am surprised these guns should be taken objection to thus. I am therefore telegraphing you to-day, to have the four steamers and four big guns carefully surveyed and tested, and have proper certificates made out and signed. The guns ought also to be fired two or three times on board: to show that the arrangements are perfect and that the various holdings will stand the strain and shock. Be very careful to do all this for our security. I enclose an open letter for Sir Richard Macdonnell. Read it, close it, and send it on: or if you like hand it to him open. The Colonial Office has frightened him, I suppose. The result will be one of two things: either the Colony will ask for my arrangement, or, from opium changes, the matter will cease to be worth Customs notice.” Sir Douglas Forsyth is here. Is he to succeed Wade, and is that part of the Lytton Gov.generalship idea, to enable Dizzy to work out his Eastern policy?° Telegrams are dreadfully expensive; cut down as much as possible, please. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Who is Consul at St. Thomas’s? Is it the Palgrave who did Arabia?* What is his age, and what his pay? Has Wellesley any talent for languages? If he has I might give him a year at Peking to work up Chinese and put himself in a position to be the Engineer of the future and there will be a grand future for engineering in China! R.H. 1. Breaker Point was in the Formosa Strait, its light- maining years to directing Indian railway com-

keeper based at Amoy. The light went into opera- panies.

tion in 1881. See letters 235n2 and 313n2. Edward Robert Bulwer, Ist Earl of Lytton, was viceroy (governor-general) of India, 1876-1880,

2. See letter 142n3. during Disraeli’s second ministry (1874-1880).

3. Sir Thomas Douglas Forsyth (1827-1886) had 4. William Gifford Palgrave, F.R.G.S., after a milihad a distinguished diplomatic career in India and tary career in India traveled in Arabia and Turkey in 1875 had become Britian’s envoy to the king of during the 1850s. In 1873 he was appointed consul Burma. He resigned in 1877 and devoted his re- for the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix.

5 April 1876 [Red. June 2, 1876] Dear Campbell,

Poor Porter appears to be in a bad plight, and I am willing to do something for him; but there is no use in his accepting my offer unless he is fit for work mentally and bodily.‘ The

[218] THEI. G. IN PEKING

work in the Statistical Department is dry and unceasing, and I could not afford to put on an extra hand if unfit for such labour. I therefore enclose my letter for Porter to you, and leave it for you to send it on, or return it. If you find yourself forced to return it to me, telegraph the words ‘‘Porter letter returned’’. I hope for his sake you'll be able to let him come along; but I should be still gladder to know that he has found something better at home. You can read him what precedes. We also want a printer for the Printing office, to work under Palamountain.* We want a man of some experience,—knowing all the work, intelligent, accurate and sober. We would give him say 75 taels a month the first year, 100 the second and third, 125 the fourth and fifth, and 150 afterwards. He would also have a lodging allowance of not exceeding 25 taels a month—i.e. whatever amount he might have to pay under that sum. We must have among the conditions liberty to discharge him if through laziness, negligence, or insobriety unfit for work. If you can get a promising man, send him along; it is not necessary that he should be young—anywhere from 20 to 50 will do, but it will be all the better if he is not married, as far as family life in Shai is concerned. Night work is very rarely— scarcely ever—called for. If Cattaneo is a fairly good English scholar, and is a good accountant and a neat writer, I shall be glad to enlist him. If Buckley is not as good as the average, or if in any way unpromising looking, do not pass him: you can just say he is “‘not up to the required standard’’, and give no more explanations; at the same time, if he is a good man, it will please my brother-in-law (that bull-dog-countenanced man who invaded your office, with my

youngest brother Geoffrey [by the way, what sort of a youth did Geoff. appear to be?] ) to know that he is accepted.° Germany is beginning her revision, and Grosvenor is just heard of from Yunnan-foo; the probability therefore is that Pll be kept here again for months to come—though I dare say we'll have to go through much “hot water’ before we get to the end of either business. The desire to borrow money here is not so prominent now as it was a month back, and in Mint matters I can do no more till I know what the yearly expenditure will be (salaries, wages, wear and tear, etc.). Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. James Porter was the first in three generations of 2. From 1859 to 1864 the annual trade returns had his family to serve in the Customs. His own check- been printed locally at each port, but since 1865

ered career is difficult to trace in its beginnings such work had centered at Shanghai, first at the because the first Customs Service List was not pub- customhouse and subsequently, in 1873, at the lished until 1875, at which point he had risen to Statistical Department, under the charge of a comcommissioner at Tamsui, resigned (1867), rejoined, missioner designated as statistical secretary. B. Palaand in 1871 again resigned (see letters 23 and 25). mountain, who had joined the Customs in 1871

Hart’s caution thus becomes understandable. as Printing Office manager, now needed an assistant. Porter did rejoin this second time and was in China in October 1876. All went well until his wife died 3. Cattaneo and Buckley are not mentioned again;

in Canton in 1881; less than six months later he presumably they did not pass muster with Campbell. himself died insane at Penang while on his way Geoffrey Milburne Hart (1856-1884) was the

home with his children. youngest of the nine children.

[219] APRIL 1876

21 April 1876 [Red. June 19, 1876] Dear Campbell,

In re steamers, Memo. of Agreement says projectile of big gun/38-ton is to weigh 800 lbs. and powder charge //0 lbs.; whereas specifications state 700 lbs. and 130 lbs.: we are just putting these things in Chinese for Li and the Yamen, and are thrown out by the discrepancy. Which set of figures are we to take? My questions anent the two FooChow steamers don’t mean that I want build or buy, but simply that I want answers to those questions: the steamers with their guns are worth, I

believe £20,000 or thereabouts, and China was about to pay £34,000. The F’chow officials are now refusing to pay, and Bucheister (Bidwell’s partner) is threatening to take the vessels to H’kong and auction them, and I sincerely hope he’ll execute his threat! The Stat. Sec. sent you some copies of the Cuban Report lately. One edition for “Customs Archives” contains my instructions to Macph. and Huber. The other has only the report. Do not distribute any of the copies containing my despatch. The other copies are to be distributed by you among Newspapers, etc., to be used by them in such a way as to call as much attention as possible to the dreadful treatment the coolies receive. Send one copy to Sir Rutherford Alcock, and two (or at most three) to Turner (Sec. to Anti-Opium Society).’ Distribute the remaining copies (Reports) as you think best. Spain is just now sending a Minister here to arrange the Cuban business, and we shall be glad to know the Newspapers are taking up the question.” Send one copy to New York Nation. I hope the steamers come out supplied with Nolan’s Range Finders. No report from Grosvenor yet, but appearances here go to show that Wade is likely to have considerable trouble in effecting the kind of settlement he would think satisfactory. I expect we’ll have all last autumn’s excitement, and more, over again. Seward arrived last night.* The general belief on the coast is that he’ll do me damage; but he himself has disavowed such hostile intentions—saying he only differs from me on some public questions—and has expressed himself personally friendly. Hainan is open, and German revision is commencing. I begin to fear I am tied here for another year.

I have not yet found time to write my promised letter about the percentage allowed by Sir ® A.W. & Co., but I ought to say here that my instinct is against every one of the ways you suggest for its expenditure.* Loan dropped for the present, and Mint hanging fire. I telegraphed to you the other day to say that Kinder had better accept the Japanese offer: our affair may be delayed and is still an uncertainty.” Ought not we (Bank and Customs) to pay K. something for his trouble?

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The Anglo-Oriental Society for the Suppression Opium Policy and Its Results in India and China

of the Opium Trade was founded in England in (London, 1876). 1874. It was led by Lord Shaftesbury and had strong religious support, especially from Quakers. Its early | 2. Don Carlos Antonio de Espafia was Spanish

sponsors included several former China mission- minister to Peking, 1876-1880. He died in Peking

aries, among them James Legge. F.S. Turner, the on October 1, 1880, after being thrown by a pony. . society’s secretary, in this year published his British

[220] THEI. G. IN PEKING

3. George F. Seward was American minister to ment. Its first portion opened on June 30, 1876.

Peking, 1876-1880. In November 1877 the backers sold the line to the government, assuming that it would continue 4. Sir A.W. & Co. is most probably a slip of the operation and lead to the building of other lines. pen; it should read Sir W.A. & Co., referring to Instead, the line was torn up and its rails and

Armstrong. rolling stock shipped off to Formosa, to no pur- . pose.

5. Claude W. Kinder was a railway engineer who Japan, on the contrary, already had two lines in was later (1878-1881) to play an important part operation and was extending the second. Both lines in the development of a railway to haul coal from had been built by the government and were con-

the Kaiping mines. trolled by the government. Kinder had had con-

China, unlike Japan, was very slow to accept the siderable experience on Japan’s railways before railway. The first line in the country —Shanghai to coming to China, and Japan was apparently seeking Wusung—was at this point under construction, his services again, possibly in connection with having been financed by a private company and their extension of the Kobe-Osaka line, which built without permission from the Chinese govern- reached Kyoto in 1877.

Z/34 12 May 1876

[Red. July 8, 1876]

My dear Campbell,

I have a letter to enclose for White to-day, and, having a few minutes to spare, I drop you a line or two.! German revision has begun and will most likely occupy the whole summer. The foreign demand is chiefly in the direction of additional ports; on their side, the Chinese will try to get what is through vagueness construed against them put to rights. Wade is now at the Yamen telling them his opinion of the judicial doings in Yunnan. He is eminently dissatisfied, and will give us all sorts of anxiety for weeks to come. He does not yet know what he’ll demand; but what he is in search of is that ignis fatuus; a something that shall guarantee the future! On the top of all this, the good folk in SzChuen have just given the French reason to join with England or Germany. They have burned 200 Roman Catholic. houses and murdered some 5 or 6 R.C. converts, and have done this to show their disapproval of the civility with which the Bishop (Monseigneur Désfleches) greeted and entertained Grosvenor’s party on their way to Yunnan. I suppose it was this riot that occasioned the rumours afloat some months ago about an accident the party had met with. Wen Hsiang is still on sick leave and is either very ill, or is shamming to keep out of the scrimmage. Kuo, the Minister for England, does not want to go with such a companion as Hsii, and is also shamming sick and begging permission to retire. Kuo is a learned, able, well disposed, right-thinking man. His attempt to back out is a significant comment on the policy of the Govt. Hsii is a scamp and ought not to be let go in such a position.” Meantime my own affairs are going along swimmingly. Three or four months ago, we secured an increased allowance of 350,000 taels a year, and yesterday I got the Yamen’s consent to issue to each Employee a gratuity of one year’s pay after each seventh year’s service. This for a retiring allowance scheme is better than “‘a year’s pay after ten, or two after twenty’’, payable when men are forced by sickness to quit China. All who have served fourteen years are to be paid two years’ pay at present rates this year, and all who have served over seven years are to get a year’s pay at current rate in 1877, and after that, as each period of seven years ends, each individual, if working to the I.G.’s satisfaction, is to receive a

[221] JUNE 1876

year’s pay. As you were out of employ in 1864 and 1865, I shall have you treated as serving from the spring of 1863, so that your fourteen years’ term will end next year, 1877.° Most men will serve four seven-year periods (28 years) and will receive four gratuities; they can invest their gratuities as received, and in this way have a fairly good sum to retire with at whatever period they withdraw. Still no rain—none, save a few drops, since last October! The heat is intense; I looked at my thermometer in the verandah with a northern exposure a minute ago, 3 P.M., and it gave me 101°, and in my office here it is cool comparatively, 81°. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. F.W. White was on leave in England 1874-1876. Hsu Ch’ien-shen, an expectant taotai in Chihli, In the Customs since 1859, his most recent post did not actually go with Kuo. had been as commissioner in Ningpo.

3. See prefatory note to letter 1. 2. Wen-hsiang died on May 26, 1876.

Z/35 27 June 1876

My dear Campbell, | I have not written to you for some time back, partly because there has been nothing on your side of the water waiting for words from me, partly because I have no spare time, and partly because my 23rd summer in China is telling me that I have not the “go”’ for initiative of some years back: I feel relaxed, lazy, and of a ‘“‘what’s the use of taking the trouble?”’ way of thinking, and it’s only when I receive your weekly letter—well expressed, neatly written, carefully turned out, and almost erring on the side of thoroughness—that I am sufficiently conscience-stricken to feel that you deserve more than that I should write only

when there’s business to be written about. We have had another month of “agony” here,and —although the trouble it has given me has been of little value in the end—I am not yet quite out of the worry, for I have not yet got the record of my own doings off my hands. On the 14th I had the Yunnan case almost disposed of:—on the 15th Wade refused to continue negotiations and went to S’hai to put the affair before the F.O. and ask for instructions. I don’t see that these instructions can now take the form of aught save an ultimatum, and I doubt very much if we’ll pull through without war. I have hardly the heart to go into or on with anything! Wade had said to the Yamen: take your choice,—either 1°. this settlement which is for the Yunnan outrage alone and touches nothing else, or 2°. this other settlement which I hold out as a pont d’or, and which, while it settles a few other things, hardly touches the Yunnan matter at all. The Yamen preferred the second:—I advised the Yamen, seeing how lucky it was to have such an escape made for it, to accept the terms liberally—but it would not be liberal and thought it smelt weakness in the offer: I advised Wade, seeing that he was dropping the Yunnan case itself, to be brave in giving way while seeking for as many good things as possible—his mind was not quite made up about certain points, and he insisted on categorical answers within the twenty-four hours on certain matters which called for weeks of thinking out. Still I got the two flaps together and had stitched them, as I thought securely, leaving it for another hand to cut off the end of the thread, when—he cut

[222] THEI. G. IN PEKING

off the knotted end, out ran the thread—and, in fine, now Wade’s at Shanghai! His position was peculiar: he must have thought that either I, or the Yamen, or Mayers (his interpreter) lied:' He would not change first or last, but did change the second showing that that was trifling with the business and with him: and off he went. The truth is Mayers used two sentences in an absolute sense, and the Yamen’s reply showed that it used them in a relative, and thus the two mutually misunderstood each other. I have cleared up the cause of the misunderstanding—but too late, for Wade is off. I have not given up all hope of bringing things round again, but the Yamen people cannot yet believe that any offer is generous or any person disinterested: if I make an advance, they’ll conclude that I’m doing it for Wade and that they have only to hold off a while to get better terms—and if anything is proposed to them, showing generosity as seen by others, they think it means weakness, and at once make things worse than ever by stepping back from some promise previously made in another connection. That they should be so weak and yet so venturesome, so ignorant of the outside world and yet so skillful in finesse, is a thing I wonder at every day; and every time they get into a scrape they fall on their feet! The Franco-German War saved them in 1870 after the T’tsin massacre, and to-day what makes Wade hold back so long and throw out so many chances to them is the state of Europe, and his desire not to force a Chinese difficulty on England’s hands at such a juncture. His main demand now is that the Yunnan officials (the Governor, 7s’en Fu-tai, included) shall be brought to Peking for trial; nothing else he could ask would be more thoroughly distasteful to the Govt. of China and why?? Because nothing else would force it to step out to the same extent before all China and say that the foreigner is a personage to be respected, and there is no other demand that could be less easily hid or burked! As an Englishman, I don’t think he could devise a better demand and I’d have him stick to it; but as 1G. of Customs, I know that China would rather do anything else, and that the Dynasty will go to pot rather than consent to this without war—and after a successful war Ts’en and all the others will commit suicide rather than be brought to Peking to please the foreigner. The Chinaman of all others to-day most anxious for a settlement and most desirous of peace, is—the fighting fellow, the friend of Vavasseur and Krupp, Li Hung Chang himself! He knows what a thrashing he’ll get, and he knows that one defeat will deprive him of all his honours, and an unsuccessful war strip him of all he has! It is a horrible nuisance that all this row should come on just now: for, after getting the Customs’ annual allowance increased, and procuring the authority for the issue of one year’s pay after each seven years of service, it is far from agreeable to find that the quiet one was calculating on should be smashed up in this way! By the way, you are to be treated as if you had joined on the 31st Dec. 1862, and served continuously since then: so that having completed two seven-year periods, you will receive (on retiring allowance account) two years’ pay at the end of this year.—I trust we shan’t have *“burst’’ before that date!

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. W.F. Mayers was Chinese Secretary at the British 2. Ts’en Fu-tai is Ts’en Yii-ying; fu-t’ai is a colloquial Legation. form of address for a governor.

[223] AUGUST 1876

Z/36 29 June 1876 Dear Campbell,

I enclose a list of books etc., which I shall be obliged if you will get for me. Just put it in some bookseller’s hands, and let him collect the lot and send it to you for shipment before the middle of September. Black as things are looking, it is best to lay in one’s usual stock just as if the skies were serene and Yunnan forgotten.

, I am in a horrible fix for clothes, and, if I can find time to measure myself etc., I shall also enclose a list of the things I want. The last lot from Swift’s were altogether too tight: instead of taking the new measurements I sent him, the man must have looked up his /866 notes and made for me as I then stood. Thus the waistcoat and frockcoats sent me for summer wear—and which I particularly asked him to make loose—are so tight that I can’t make them even meet! And all the cloth trousers were equally uncomfortable. The quantity of scarcely used, and never to be worn clothes in my press is frightful to look at: I wish I could get a quarter of an hour in London if it were only to rush to a tailor’s and get measured again! I also enclose a cheque for my Z account with you, £300 No. 103/4135527 on a/c Z. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Chefoo 24 August 1876 [Rcd. October 24, 1876] Dear Campbell,

The telegrams you will receive from this date on will probably surprise you. Sooner or later you'll have an explanation of the situation, but just now, for fear of accident, I cannot trust pen and ink. A clear line of action has been decided upon, and very vigorous it will be: I have been in nothing so like real work during my whole previous career, and my hands are now so free that I feel easy and cheerful to an extent I never knew before. By my advice the great Li has been sent here with “large powers” to treat with Wade, and we'll do all we can to settle things here: the main concern of the moment is to get the Yunnan affair out of the way, and we'll do our best to arrange things here. But Wade does not seem willing or able to settle things—or rather he is not willing to accept our settlement, and he does not seem to have power to fix on any terms for himself. This will force me to do another thing,

and the telegrams are preparing the way for that other thing. Wade’s attitude threatens war: ; his chief adviser, Mayers, is bellicose and is, on all hands, said to be more Parkes-ian than Sir Harry himself:' we cannot stand this, for we want peace, and, accordingly, we must do what we are preparing for: that is, we must do it if Wade cannot be brought to terms here,

[224] THEI. G. IN PEKING

and first of all we'll try to bring him to terms—personally I’d like him to have the settling of it, and all of us would rather see the affair arranged here, at once, than let it remain open any longer. Unfortunately for many things, the relations between Wade and myself are no longer what they were: he has taken offence and we are merely on bowing terms now; I regret this privately for I like the man and respect him, and I also regret it for some Customs’ considerations. But, in the present crisis nothing could be better for me: it relieves me of all worry, for, no longer a go-between, dodging between both fires, I am plainly on one side and am able to work boldly and with energy. I send you these lines as a kind of keynote: I cannot put our plans on paper at this stage. Thanks for all you have done in the Gunboat matter: you appear to have done your share thoroughly and well.

: Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. On Sir Harry Parkes see letter 73n1.

Z/37 Shanghai

3 October 1876 [Rcd. November 20, 1876]

Dear Campbell,

Mrs. Hart’s whereabouts will not be known to me for some time to come, so I’ll send

| letters for her to you; kindly complete the address and send them on. I have just had a note from the Yamen to say that China accepts the Chefoo arrangement: so that, as far as China is concerned, the “Yunnan affair” is closed. I don’t suppose England will care to upset the agreement signed by Wade.’ I shall want some men in March for the new ports, and, on getting back to Peking, shall send you the necessary information. The Customs come out of this affair stronger than ever: and I don’t think there’s the slightest chance of capsize for twenty years to come! I begin to think I have steered the ship pretty well after all: but it will not do to be indulging in complacency too soon—“Mene salis placidi vultum fluctusque quietos ignorare iubes? Mene huic confidere monstro?”? I have just come in from Dr. Winn—from a fourth sitting: He stopped and polished my teeth at the first three, and at the fourth, an hour ago, he extracted the stumps of four molars! I can tell you it was no joke to sit still and let him go on with the job, as he lanced, twisted and pulled them, one after the other! However, he tells me I’m all right now, and have only to be careful to keep my mouth in proper order for the future. Wright has just come in from Peking: to examine the Shanghai account for the period August 1863 to December 1863. Fancy what a joke this is—the very period when I was myself in charge!. The death of Davies, the upset of the fleet, my appointment as [.G., etc., etc., etc., all combined to make the account of the period something I did not pay much attention to, and now J am being queried—serve me right!* I intended to go north in the ‘“ShingKing” to-night: I shall now wait a few days longer for the “‘Chihli”’.* Your telegram saying the steamers had reached Galle was a great relief: but till yesterday,

[225] NOVEMBER 1876

2nd Oct., they had not got to Singapore. I fear they’ll not [get] to T’tsin before the river closes, and this will disappoint Li immensely. My trip has done me much good: I am in better health and spirits and seem to have shaken off several ailments. I don’t want to go back to office work at all—I have got quite a liking to gadding about and idling! Of course, I’ll be happy to be a Godfather to the young gentleman: what do you call him?° With kind regards to Mrs. Campbell and yourself and best wishes for the last arrived,

Yours truly, . Robert Hart Porter looks “‘all right” and Mrs. P. is charming.” 1. England, in fact, did not ratify the Chefoo Con- letter 120n1. vention for another nine years—in July 1885. 5. The Chihli, owned by the Shanghai Steam Navi-

2. “[Are you asking] me to fail to understand the gation Co. (managed by Russell and Co.), sailed belook of the calm salt sea and the restful waves? to tween Shanghai and Tientsin. See letter 169n2. put my trust in such a fearful thing?” (Virgil

Aeneid 5. 848-849). 6. Hart’s godson was Campbell’s fourth child, Archibald Neil Campbell. He had a career in the army 3. Stopped; i.e., filled. during the Boer War and then in mining enterprises in Africa.

4.H. Tudor Davies, the first Customs commissioner at Shanghai, had died in July 1863, and Hart, who 7. Mrs. Porter was Cécile Kleczkowsky, daughter of

had become Inspector General on November 15, Count Kleczkowsky, formerly of the French Lega1863, had taken charge of the Shanghai office tion in Peking. In March 1860 he had become a from September 12, 1863 to January 9, 1864. See Customs commissioner; he died in 1867.

Peking 9 November 1876

My dear Campbell,

This note will be handed to you by His Excellency Kuo Ta Jen, the Chinese Minister to England.' In another letter of this date, I have written to you to make some arrangements for the temporary accommodation of himself and suite till he can decide on and find suitable permanent quarters. I now give His Excellency this note at his own request to serve as an introduction. You are of course not in any way under his orders, but he is an excellent man and anything you would do for any friend of mine, you will, Iam sure, do for him. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Kuo Ta-jen is Kuo Sung-tao.

[226] THEI. G. INPEKING

17 November 1876 [Red. January 3, 1877] Dear Campbell, The Minister to England, Kuo Ta-jen,—accompanied by the Assistant Minister Liu Ta-jen, two Secretaries of Legation (second and third Secs.) four attachés, four interpreters, two doctors, and six military men (petty officers of the sergeant class to act as orderlies), and having also his wife (or rather one of his wives) and three female servants, and men servants for the party to the number of forty or thereabouts,—started from here last week.’ He will probably get away from S’hai by the mail of the 8th December and arrive in London towards the end of January. If he goes to a hotel with his suite the expense will be ruinous, and that is what he must do unless you can find him lodgings to occupy for a month or two till he can procure a suitable place for a Legation and settle down permanently.” I am telegraphing to you to look out for such lodgings, and, taking it for granted that you'll be certain to find them, I supplement my telegram by this letter which will arrive before Kuo, so that you may understand more fully what he wants for temporary purposes. The whole forty men-servants can be huddled away in two rooms to begin with. They carry their own bedding, can spread it on the floor and will.pack as close as herrings. The six orderlies can similarly be put in one room. The two doctors can be put in one room. For the four interpreters two rooms will be wanted: and for the four attachés, two more. The Secretaries ought each to have a room to himself. Liu Ta-jen will require two rooms: sitting and bedroom. Kuo Ta-jen will require two bedrooms and two sitting rooms. A general dining room, and a kitchen for cooking in, will also be wanted. Thus there will be wanted thirteen sleeping rooms for all classes, three sitting rooms, and one dining room. I doubt if you can find one house large enough for the whole party, but you could probably find two houses in the same neighbourhood, or three or four: and either divide the Legation into two parts, under Kuo and Liu respectively: or into four parts under Kuo, Liu and the two Secretaries. Best of all would be one house, but better than three or four would be two. These houses will not be wanted for a longer period than three months, say from January 15th to April 15th or thereabouts. The very commonest kind of furniture will do. The party will be rather dirty on arrival and will not clean up or come out at all till Kuo gets his own Legation. What is mainly wanted is a place for them to go into the moment they arrive in London. They will want some foreign servants, so you had better have, say, four men-servants of the generally useful kind ready, and, if you get any women servants, let them be old and ugly. As to the permanent Legation, a Yamen will eventually be built. Meantime Kuo wants to be where all the other Ministers are: if other Representatives live in the country, he will do so too, but if they are in town he will want to be in town too. For comfort, a country residence would probably be the best but, for sight-seeing and learning, a town house would be preferable: so, try and fix him in town. After he arrives in London, take him and one interpreter out for a drive in a carriage, and show him where the other Representatives live: that done, get him to say in what quarter he’d like to find a house, or houses; and, after that, do your best to get him a good house as quickly as possible.

[227] NOVEMBER 1876

I have given Kuo a letter to you, and it will be well for you to find him out as soon as possible after arrival. Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. Liu Ta-jen is Liu Hsi-hung. hai, “‘China’s Diplomatic Service to be Maintained by Appropriation from Customs Revenue,” tells 2. Despatch No. 624, November 10, 1876, from exactly what sums are to be designated for what Hart to George B. Glover, commissioner at Shang- purposes (Origin, VI, 462-463).

Confidential 17 November 1876 [Red. January 3, 1877]

Dear Campbell, Kuo at first wanted Customs people as interpreters but someone put him against it, and he now goes taking with him only Chinese and a man named Macartney for whom, removed from the Arsenal at Nanking, Li wanted to find a billet.! The probability is that Kuo will find that he wants foreign interpreters, and some of the Chinese-speaking people in England (Holt, Douglas, Sinclair, Payne, Lay etc. etc. etc.) may try to get hold of him. We must be beforehand and prevent 1. his getting into bad hands, and 2. the growth of a class of foreign employes connected with Legations drawn from other than Customs’ sources. I accordingly authorise you at once to summon Twinem and either Schjoth or Carrall to London (Schjoth preferably, if you can find him): send Twinem on to meet Kuo in Paris and attend on him till he gets into his lodgings in London, and keep Twinem yourself at hand till Kuo settles down into his London pace.” In this way you’ll prevent accident or necessity forcing Kuo into getting hold of, or being got hold of by, outsiders; but as Kuo is possibly afraid that we may interfere with his affairs, don’t force Twinem on him too visibly: just keep Twinem at hand, let him see Kuo occasionally and do various things for him in a not-too-obtrusive manner. I want you to do this, not merely to keep off adventurous outsiders, but to make Kuo free of the F.O. and Wade, etc. You need not send for Schjoth or Carrall unless you think you'll want them. After you have acted on this, you can apply to me and I’ll authorise some acting pay for whoever is called on by you for this duty. I have only time to give you this “nod”: let it be as good as a “wink.” Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Dr. Samuel Halliday Macartney (later Sir Halli- erable power for the next thirty years. day) had been in the service of the Chinese govern-

ment since November 1862, when he had resigned 2. James Twinem, then a deputy commissioner, as a surgeon in the British army to join the Ever- was on leave in England during 1876-1877. Victorious Army. In 1865 Li Hung-chang made F. Schjéth, Norwegian, who had been in the him the director of the arsenal at Nanking, a post Customs since 1866, had just gone to Europe on he held for ten years, resigning in 1875. He went to _ leave from his post as 2nd assistant A at Swatow. London with Kuo as his English secretary. He later J.W. Carrall, who was also a 2nd assistant A—but became counselor in the Chinese Legation in at Tientsin—was likewise on leave in 1876-1877. London, where he occupied a position of consid-

[228] THE I. G. INPEKING

Z/38 17 November 1876

[Red. January 3, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

I enclose a cheque in your own favour for £600 which I hope will keep Z above water some time. Those “‘wards”’ are frightfully expensive, poor children! I also enclose a cheque for £900 which please place to the credit of Mrs. Hart’s a/c. The gunboats were at S’hai on the 8th, and I am going down to T’tsin on Sunday (19th) to meet and take them over.! They will just save the winter! If you look at the logs sent you from Gibraltar, you will find that the boats cannot steam against a head wind. I hope the ‘““Gamma”’ and “Delta” will do better. If these boats are approved of, I shall probably order a pair of eighty-ton ones to complete the half dozen. When I first decided on this class of vessel, I thought that, going about in pairs, they would be able, with Nolan’s rangefinder, to know to a yard where to deposit their projectiles: the Range-finder is a failure, or cannot be used by ordinary folk; the boats will not be so formidable as I calculated on. Have I told you that I willingly accept the honours and responsibilities of god-fathership? I hope the youngster thrives: what name have you given? Wade went away ten days ago. He walked into my library in the usual way the day before, but our relations have lost the cordiality they once had. I cannot congratulate him on his treatment of “‘the Margary affair’. The substantial good is the opening of the new ports, four, and the arrangement for landing and shipping goods along the Yangtsze.” He was offered a Mint and Postal establishment, but he decided not to have them—or forgot about

them!?

I think of going home in 1878. From this till then I shall be moving about a good deal; but I am now going to winter at Peking. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

: Robert Hart

Yours very truly,

Enclosures: Cheques Nos. 109/A13533 of 17 Nov. for £600 a/c Z. Nos. /10/A135534——£900— 1. Alpha and Beta had left Newcastle-on-Tyne on 3. Hart was an early advocate of a national postal June 19, 1876, and for the journey had been fitted | service—a thing unknown in China, where several with auxiliary sails, rigged as schooners. Their safe different and mutually exclusive postal systems arrival in China was regarded by the Admiralty asa were in operation: the J-chan (the remarkable great achievement, as it was most unusual to send horse-post system for official Chinese mail only),

out such small gunboats with the heavy guns letter hongs (commercial establishments handling

mounted. non-official Chinese mail), and foreign post-offices for dispatching foreign mail. The Customs had a

2. The four new ports were Ichang, Wuhu, Wen- courier postal system of its own (see letter 184n3).

chow, and Pakhoi. A national postal service did not come into being until 1896.

[229; DECEMBER 1876

Tientsin 3 December 1876 My dear Campbell,

The Gunboats arrived here on the 20th and 21st Nov. and were inspected by the Viceroy at Taku on the 27th, 28th, and 29th. They arrived in good order and have given us all satisfaction: but they came in at a bad time of year, and, the vessels being of iron, their English crews are suffering horribly from the cold. They are to go to FooChow to-morrow, and the Chinese flag will there be hoisted and the English crews discharged and sent home. If he will come out you can employ La Primandage again: let him have charge of both ‘““Gamma”’ and ‘‘Delta”; but do not employ either Hamilton or Beaver.’ Lap. is perhaps a little too offhanded, but I don’t think he has any harm in him; Ham. is snappish and more inclined to make difficulties than to ease a situation. I know nothing against any of the others. We are keeping Forster, Corbett, and Mitchell for the Alpha (now named the Leng-Hsiang) and Appleton and Gibson for the Beta (now the Hu-Wu).’ Forster is argumentative, Mitchell is homesick: I fancy Corbett and Gibson will give most satisfaction as instructors. Iam going back to Peking on the 4th or 5th and I shall then send you surveys. There are a few little things it would be well to change or remedy in the other boats. The other boats ought to leave about the end of February, and are to go to FooChow first of all. Send them out just as you did the Alpha and Beta, but, if you like, let one Captain have command of the other. I am telegraphing to you to-day about Kuo’s mission, and also about the wages, allotments etc. My last telegram from you is dated 14th Nov. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The officers in charge of the Alpha and the Beta kept by the Chinese navy on board the ships; they were La Primandaye (who is also spelled LePriman- are not included in the Customs lists. dage and La Primandage in the letters) and Blair Hamilton, both retired British naval commanders. 2. The ships were initially named after the Greek

As it happened, neither officer brought out any alphabet and sailed to China under the British flag,

more ships. with British officers and crew. On arrival they Forster, Corbett, Mitchell, Appleton, and Gibson, acquired Chinese names.

whom Hart says “‘we are keeping,” were presumably

Z/39 Peking

14 December 1876 [Red. February 10, 1877]

My dear Campbell,

Things are just “‘as bad as bad can be” here. The Yamen narrowly escaped a breach with von Brandt, and to do so “knuckled down” in a most embarrassing manner! And is now ina fix with de Espana, who has “broken off” negotiations: I shall not be at all surprised if we

[230] THE I. G., IN PEKING | step into a row with Spain! The Yamen will do something stupid, and de Espana will put affairs in his Admiral’s hands, and his Admiral will have a party landed on Formosa or Hainan (both near Manila) before China has time to turn round.' Box of books for office, 8th Oct., arrived a week ago. Box of books for self, 7th Sept., not yet heard of, and now shut out for the winter. I wonder where “‘the deuce” it can have gone! I think one box of Bowra’s books is also missing. Li has memorialised reporting arrival of steamers, and says they are excellent. The Yamen told me to thank you for all your trouble and pains. I hope the “Gamma” and “Delta” will come along quickly. In haste,—mail just going off by the first overland courier ,—

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. On December 4, 1876, Hart had informed the coolie trade regulations and seizure of merchant

Yamen that Spain was preparing to dispatch ships. military forces to China over the matter of the

Z/40 21 December 1876

[Red. February 17, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

Here it is—courier-starting day again, and so busy have I been these last seven days that it appears to me as if I had been writing to you last only yesterday. The Kiachta mail last received brought me telegram from Vapereau but none from you: did you despatch a telegram on the 14th November?! I expect it has been detained somewhere, and that it communicated some important doings in Europe—probably a declaration of war. Here our German and Spanish troubles continue, and I hardly know how they’ end. If the Yamen feels sure either Minister is in earnest, it will “knuckle down” and eat any amount of “humble pie”’; but it will not believe in such a possibility till the very last minute, and, before it knows what it is about, it may find a Minister gone (as was the case when Wade went off in June last) and on the other hand, a Minister may put affairs in the hands of an Admiral (as the Spaniard will probably do) and the Admiral may act at once and so “‘engage”’ the two countries to a course which may end very unpleasantly for China,—the advice the leading men give the Empresses is “Fight: we know we'll be beaten! But we can make terms more honourably after a fight, and can make a more lasting peace, than if we give way now. If we give way now, they'll always be harassing and trying to frighten us. If we fight they'll avoid running us till we ‘stand at bay’ again.” I almost agree with them, and would do so wholly if I could be only sure, where, having once begun, Spain would—stop! I am about to send you some queries for legal opinions.” I want the views of the present Govt.’s attorney and solicitor general, and also the last’s. And also those of the two most eminent international lawyers of the day. I tell you this in advance, but I don’t want you to let Wade, Alcock or any other know that such a consultation is on the boards. I have telegraphed you to engage Taylor.’ Send him on to Peking before summer. I want him in the office here. Or, if you could send him out at once, I would give him six months at Shai, which would make him all the more useful here afterwards.

| [231] DECEMBER 1876 We have awful wars socially here. Butzow’s and mine are the only houses to which everybody can go.

Yours truly, Robert Hart The new appointments are: Dick to Ichang, Woodruff to WuHu, Hobson to WenChow, Daae to Tamsuy, and McKean to PakHoi.* 1. C.E. Vapereau, who had been professor of China’s sovereignty over her waterways and her French at the T’ung-wen kuan since 1870, was now __ right, through her agents in her Customs Service,

on leave. to berth or remove all vessels, including hulks, in a Chinese open port. The case was not settled until 2. Hart was preparing to seek legal opinion in the February 6, 1879, when the Foreign Secretary matter of the Cadiz, a hulk owned by the China (Lord Derby) communicated the findings to Kuo Navigation Co. (Butterfield & Swire), which had in London. (Hart was then in Europe, on leave.) become the center of considerable tension. The Wade was home on leave 1877-1878; hence hulk was moored in February 1874 in the Yangtze Hart’s warning to Campbell about him. off Chinkiang and connected to the British con- On the Cadiz case see letters 169, 181, 188, 210, cession there by a pontoon bridge. During the sum- 222, and 258. mer of 1874 a whirlpool developed which scoured

a deep hole in the riverbed and led to serious land- 3. F.E. Taylor, who in a long Customs career was slides along the bund. Local Chinese authorities, to serve as officiating Inspector General, statistical

and the Customs, requested that the hulk be secretary, and deputy postal secretary, joined in moved to another berth experimentally, so that it January 1877. Though Hart wanted him sent at might be determined whether the Cadiz was re- once to Peking, Campbell had no one to replace sponsible for the scouring, as some experts con- him in the London Office, and it was actually 1881

tended. The British diplomatic community, before he arrived in China. repeatedly appealed to, refused to order the hulk’s

removal to another berth, and denied the right of 4. What Hart does not say, but Campbell would the Chinese local authorities, and of the Customs understand, was that three of. these men were officials, to issue any orders for her removal. The getting their first appointments as commissioners. case, like the von Gumpach case and the later case F.E. Woodruff and Edward McKean were to open of the Taiwan (see letter 215), thus became a test the new ports of Wuhu and Pakhoi, respectively. of a principle. In all three cases the findings of the Ivar Munthe Daae, a Norwegian who had joined British courts on the scene were reversed in China’s | the Customs in July 1867, had been acting deputy favor by the highest legal authorities in England. commissioner at Canton for the past two years and In the Cadiz case, authorities in England affirmed | was now to go to Tamsui as commissioner.

Z/41 27 December 1876

[Rcd. February 26, 1877]

My dear Campbell,

Your telegram of the 4th Dec. reached me on the 22nd, and the missing telegram (which | suspected had been detained somewhere), dated 25th Nov., came to me from the Russian Legation last night. Yesterday, the 26th, I sent you a cover via Kiachta containing survey-reports on Alpha and Beta, and a cover for Mrs. Hart; I am curious to know in what condition and on what date it will reach you—please tell me when you next write. I also sent you the following telegram, concerning my own private affairs:— For Wife, Dresden. 16th October letter received. Authorise Attorney Taylor to make best possible private bargain for whole property, not exceeding £60,000.’ Oriental Bank will pay

[232] THEI. G. IN PEKING

that amount to your order. If you purchase, deposit Title Deeds in Ot. Bk., taking duplicate

receipt for all papers. Telegraph result .—

For Manager (Campbell) Oriental Bank.* Referring to letter 29th June and your reply

28th September, I authorise my wife to purchase. If she purchases, supply her with funds ~ not exceeding £60,000 and charge my a/c Z.— For yourself. Assist wife please. Peking, 25th December The assistance I ask you to render Mrs. Hart in this matter is chiefly in connection with the Bank. She may have to visit it to deposit the Title Deeds. Kindly help her if she wants any other aid or advice. Affairs here are still nasty looking. The German Revision worries the Yamen: the Spanish affair may produce—I don’t know what: and, now, a quarrel with Seward has just been begun. Socially, we have an extraordinary state of affairs. The British Chargé (Fraser) has had a

; row with all the Legations, and the ladies are all on non-meeting terms. I am wading slowly through the arrears that have accumulated since May last. Yours truly, Robert Hart

P.S. As regards Macartney, he is rather the courier than the Interpreter of the Legation. I don’t know him at all. Do not help to magnify his position. R.H. 1. William Taylor was Hart’s attorney in Ireland. the estate as was at that time available (see letter The property was probably Kilmoriarty, an 263). It is possible that his reference here to “‘the estate in county Armagh. There was a family tra- whole property” means that Mrs. Hart was now to dition that the Harts were descended from a Captain purchase the remainder of the estate. See also Hardt, or van Hardt, a Dutch officer in the army letter 178. of William III who, for his services in the Irish

campaign of 1690, had been granted the townland 2. Peter Campbell (who seems to have had no conof Kilmoriarty. Because of this background Hart nection with J.D. Campbell) succeeded Stuart as had purchased during 1869 and 1870 as much of manager of the Oriental Banking Corporation.

3 January 1877 [Red. March 2, 1877] Dear Campbell,

I have telegraphed to you to give an appointment to young Taylor as suggested in your

A/82. It will be an advantage to us here to have a man who knows something about the working of your office: but to be of real use here he ought also to have a spell of work at a port. I wish you could send him out so as to arrive in S’hai and go to work there on the Ist July: he could go through all the “desks” there between that and November, and then join us here, aquinius instar,’ before the close of the open season. I hope he is a nice presentable fellow: I am rather proud of my Staff here, and I don’t want an inferior man on it. I think I shall also do as you propose about Wellesley: make him Marine Secretary to begin with, and let him “take a shy” at Chinese (as Mercer put it). I want him to meet me at Hongkong on the Ist June. I shall then be going to Pakhoi and thence up the coast calling

[233] JANUARY 1877

at all the lights etc., and he can come along with me and make acquaintance with his “board” and see the light-keepers. He ought therefore to start from England by an April mail: and if he arrived at Hongkong first, let him await me there, or go to Degenaer for orders. I hope you have found me a dozen competent light-keepers. We cannot get trained men out here, and the untrained we pick up don’t learn, or take to the minutiae of the work in the way men from home will have been accustomed to. And those mechanics, I trust Wellesley has got hold of them. What we want are simply men who can put the lanterns together, and who can rivet iron plates and put up iron towers: we want superior blacksmiths in fact. Chinese mechanics can’t do this kind of work, and low-class English mechanics will drink: we want decent men who will work well and try to rise. I am badly in want of a private secretary: I don’t see anybody I like well enough for that kind of work. However my time will soon be up, “please the pigs!”’, and my successor may look out for that kind of luxury. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Aquinius instar: “‘just like Aquinius.”

Z/42 11 January 1877 Dear Campbell,

I enclose a couple of chits for Mrs. Hart and O.B.C. We are awfully busy here officially, and fighting a most deadly fight socially. The Prince and Ministers of the Yamen, divided into three parties, went on three successive days to say “Happy New Year”, and were on this occasion accompanied by the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Boards. This is another big step towards improved intercourse. Li Hung Chang has just had small gas-works put up in his Yamen at T’tsin. Retorts and pipes were made from foreign models (got through me by Yang) at the T’tsin Arsenal.—This is another step. Hobson is busy with his mines at Keelung.' The Wusung Railway is now running.” The FooChow authorities have of themselves moved the Pagoda Anchorage Telegraph wire from its bad position at highwater mark to a better position on the hills. Thus, gas, mines, Rail, wire, Audiences, Representation abroad, Extension of Customs, __ increase in ports, Merchant steamers, Ships of war, etc., etc., etc., are all “under weigh’’. I really think China begins to move! And I’m glad I have held out to see so much done. We only want the Mint now, and if Wade had accepted it, when offered him at Chefoo, it would have been all right too. I have just made McLeavy Brown Commissioner at Chinkiang, and Clayson, of the Feihoo, (formerly boy, fore-top-man etc., etc., etc., R.N.), deputy Commissioner at Canton! I am now going to the Yamen to breakfast and discuss business. The snow is still on the ground and the wind is howling: it’s awfully cold!

Yours truly, ‘Robert Hart

[234] THEI. G. IN PEKING 1. Herbert Elgar Hobson, commissioner at Ta-kao 2. See letter 149nS. (1877-1879), was in charge of operations at the Keelung coal mines.

165 18 January 1877 {Red. March 16, 1877] Dear Campbell,

I have telegraphed to you to say we don’t want Instructors for the ““Gamma”’ and “Delta’’. The men who have remained by the other two boats will suffice for all four. The Hongkong Bank is sending £14,000 to a/c D.! I shall send you a lot of nominations before the end of the month. Make your preparations for examining—say a dozen candidates about the middle of April: successful men to report in China before Ist July. Watch the Spanish news please. We are afraid that Espana may be pouncing on us before we can turn round: the Yamen takes it all quietly, having weathered many a storm, but there are volcanoes under weigh in both German and Spanish Legations! Wade’s absence is a great ____ relief! His ebullitions of temper and his fears for China and his wrath etc. etc. etc. are all well out of the way. I have also telegraphed to you to “buy that newspaper if still for sale’’.? When it offered I could not make up my mind, but, just when your time went by, things occurred here which made it seem a desirable thing to do. Beware of Macartney. Watch him. Don’t give him any “face”. He’s opposed to us—I am told

| on all sides. I generally prefer to use rather than ignore people: in this case I think the other course will be the wisest. Don’t give him the run of your office, and don’t give him your confidence or my news.

Yours truly, Robert Hart I enclose P. & O. explanation received from S’hai.* Worry them a little please. “Important books” etc. etc. etc. ought to have been at Peking end of October, and must now stay at S’hai till March!!! worry them well! R.H. 1. Accounts A, B, C were regular Customs accounts; special moneys and was used for extra luxuries D was supplementary to A, B, C, for such things like gunboats. An Account Z, with deposits of as gunboats; G was extraordinary (not really Cus- Hart’s own funds, was used by him for such pertoms), i.e., Paris Exhibition (even Campbell could sonal matters as travel expenses for his daughter,

draw on G only when expressly authorized); O gifts, etc. (only temporarily used) was the account for the London Office. A, B, C, D were all called Inspector 2. Hart was interested in acquiring a publication General’s Accounts (the Inspector General’s Account abroad through which he could supply the Western

A, etc.) and differed in the origin of their funds public with reliable accounts of affairs in China and sometimes in the uses to which the surpluses and elsewhere in the Far East. He had asked Campwere put. As: Account A was for office expendi- bell to consult Dr. William Howard Russell, war tures, B came from fines and confiscations, C from correspondent for the Times (see letter 6n6). tonnage dues, D from fees (such as permit fees for Russell recommended that the Chinese governnight and holiday working of vessels) and from ment purchase a weekly newspaper that was then

[235] JANUARY 1877 for sale, The United States Gazette, make Russell the scheme was a failure, and Campbell sold the

its editor, and gradually transform it into an paper in August 1878, on Hart’s orders. See letter authoritative outlet for Far Eastern news—con- 204.

cealing from the public, however, the fact of its Chinese government ownership. Campbell was 3. P. & O. stands for Peninsular and Oriental Co., a authorized to purchase the paper for £2000, but British transoceanic steam line.

25 January 1877 [Rced. March 25, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

I know nothing about these nominees, and I don’t care who succeeds or who fails. I like the photos of Rickman and Pole-Carew: Strange has probably had a good training: Hardy writes a good letter: so does Houndle.' Send me the five likeliest men: the men most likely to do themselves and the Service credit. A 20th man will probably come to you from Scotland: he is nominated by Mr. Richardson of Swatow—his nephew, I think. If he turns up examine him at the same time, and then there will be four candidates for each appointment (20 + 5). I must try and write a letter about the Newspaper next week. The work here increases daily; I cannot overtake arrears or keep up current work! I feel half inclined to “bolt”’.

Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Try and make Twinem necessary and Macartney unnecessary to Kuo: but, work quietly, and don’t show that such is your object. 1. Of all these possible recruits, only C. LeBas Rickman joined the Service and went to China. He filled various assistantships and resigned in 1901.

25 January 1877 [Rcd. April 9, 1877] Dear Campbell,

I enclose letters for Mr. Berthemy (formerly Minister here) and his nephew Mr. Galembert: if Mr. G. is qualified, send him out at once.! Also for Mrs. Davies: if her son is qualified send him along. As he is an old Commissioner’s son, I don’t want him to compete: it will suffice to see that he is qualified. The same as regards Mr. Galembert: recommended by Mr. Berthemy, he is sure to be the right kind of man. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[236] THEI. G. IN PEKING

1. Jules F.G. Berthemy was French minister to Gustave de Galembert, began his Customs career Peking from 1863 to June 1865. His nephew, P.M. in 1878 as 4th assistant at Shanghai.

Z/43 1 February 1877 | [Red. April 9, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

Kindly tell that bootmaker to send me three pairs of boots made as before for ordinary use and one pair for evening wear. Secondly send me a supply of stationery: ruled paper of this colour with this monogram— three sizes, letter, note and chit, with three sizes of envelopes 1000 each, and large envelopes

250. .

I shall write about the Paper next week. We don’t want it to occupy itself exclusively or ordinarily with China, and all we require is to have a paper which will at once publish any bit of news or any not-libellous criticism we may have to put before the World. I understand from what you wrote that R. is to have the profits for his pains, but Iam not clear about the working expenses: do we pay or does R. or can that money be relied on to come from the sale of the paper? Over and above the £2000 expended for Plant and Copyright, have we to issue any more money either regularly at stated periods, or spasmodically

as R. may call for it? : Young Russell can come out: as he is married I am giving him the pretty little bungalow at Chefoo.' I hope he’ll now be steady and wise. He is a smart nice fellow, but deficient in

: concentration and industry: will matrimonial cares beget these new qualities in him? Iam afraid Spain is going to play us a trick. The Yamen has acted stupidly in refusing to accept the decision of the Legations, and thus has opened the whole question again, and thrown support into the Spanish Camp. They learn from nothing except reverses, confound their conceit! Send Burnaby’s Khiva. ” This is mail-morning. I have a bad headache. At twelve Mrs. Pirkis and Mrs. Marsh come to breakfast. At 2 I go to Yamen on business. At 7% Wright, Cartwright and Jamieson dine with me, and we play billiards after. This programme is a bad lookout for my head! Goodbye!

| Robert Hart Yours truly,

1. “Young Russell” (W.B. Russell, see letter 6n6) 3. Mrs. Pirkis was probably the wife of Albert Edreturned to China (see letter 180, postscript) and mondes Pirkis of the British consular service. He was 2nd assistant A at Chefoo for three years. had been acting auditor-general in Hongkong in 1867-1868 and had come to the British Legation 2. Captain Frederick Burnaby was the author of at Peking as an accountant in 1870. A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia (London, 3rd ed. 1876).

a)

[237] FEBRUARY 1877

Z/44 8 February 1877 . [Red. April 9, 1877] Dear Campbell,

I have not got this confounded C’kiang hulk case ready to go forward yet. It has given me immense worry! Woodruff, I am sure, is quite right in principle: and he had gone so far, that, when it came to me, I was from that—principle—as a starting point, forced to back him up and go on with his action; but all the while I felt that a more inexpedient or unnecessary course of action could not have been entered upon.’ When the matter came before the Yamen, I put it so that it could turn round and say “‘the principle is approved of, but circumstances have changed and the course of action is now no longer necessary”’; but instead of that, the Yamen “got its back up” too, and said “‘go on with the action”, and the Yamen has thus accepted all the responsibility :—at the same time, if we are in the end wrong, I shall have my “‘ears boxed”—metaphorically. When I told Wade in July last that I must support Woodruff’s action, he was beside himself with passion, said he had never been so outraged in his life, and swore “by the living God that he’d be damned if he’d stand it’’—that he’d take it to the F.O.—that he’d take it to Parliament—that he’d take it to the country—that he’d resign—that he’d smash us, etc., etc., etc. Well as we can’t give in here, the affair will have to go to the F.O. and the Yamen is now preparing its instructions for Kuo. 1 am also getting the case ready for you to get legal opinions on. I want three sets of opinions: 1°. the Conservative Attorney General and Solicitor General with Herschell: 2°. the Liberal exAttorney General and ex-Solicitor General with Stephens: 3°. some international authority such as Harcourt and another with Herschell and Stephens. I don’t want H. and S. to know they are being both consulted till they meet with the third set of lawyers.—But even if we win, we (the Customs) lose the support of the English Legation, and may perhaps have to face its opposition. The China Merchants have bought out Russell & Co., so that they will have most of the Yangtsze and Coast trade in their own hands now.” Many of our people at the ports are much alarmed and predict a speedy collapse of the Customs—and no doubt many Chinese will look for and try to bring such a result about; but I do not think we are on our last legs yet. The Yamen has just authorised me to move from the Kow-lan-Hu-tung to a site nearer the Legations and to spend money freely on new quarters, and it seems to be about authorising two or three other things proposed by myself years ago, and for these things it must have us. So I think we shall hold our own for many a day to come. I want all those young men out by the Ist July. Thanks for the news about Turkish ironclads: I have sent it on to Li. “Shunt” Hillier & Co. as much as possible: don’t let them make themselves necessary to him.?

Yours truly, , Robert Hart 1. In June 1876 Woodruff, then commissioner at 2. The China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Co. Chinkiang, had withheld Customs permits for the was set up in 1872 by Li Hung-chang and was subhandling and examining of cargo on the Cadiz (see sidized in part by the central government, because

letter 161n2). This meant that any of the China it transported tribute rice (see letter 60n1). Russell Navigation Company’s cargo ships coming into and Co., the great American firm in the China trade Chinkiang were to bypass the hulk, going straight and chief American rival of the British firm of

to the Customs jetty. Jardine, Matheson and Co., had dominated the

[238] THEI. G. INPEKING Yangtze carrying trade since 1862 through its man- _ eventually lost out to British lines because the agement of the Shanghai Steam Navigation Co.—a latter were more judicious in the management of

company organized in 1862 by Russell partner their profits. Edward Cunningham, with capital secured from

Russell partners in the United States, foreign 3. “Hillier & Co.”: presumably E. Guy Hillier of merchants in China, and Chinese merchants and the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, London office. compradors. It was not until 1872 that competi- He later took charge of its Peking office when it tive British steamship lines began to enter the was opened in 1885. His brother, Walter Caine

Yangtze trade. Hillier, was a long-time assistant in the British lega-

China Merchants in 1877 already had seventeen tion, first at Hong Kong, then in Peking. ships when it bought out the Russell line. It thus “Him,” to whom Hillier was not to become essenbecame the biggest line in Chinese waters, but it tial, was Kuo Sung-tao (see letter 166).

Z/45 15 February 1877

[Red. April 16, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

I am sending you another nomination. It is for a Mr. Deacon.’ His application and photo have won my heart and I shall be glad if he pulls one of the prizes: he is 26 years of age, but no matter—he is too good a man to reject on that score, and 26 is almost as young as twenty-three.—If, after selecting five, you still see among the other candidates one man to whom you would very much like to give an appointment, you may issue a sixth; but his sixth is not for a proxime accessit, but to enable you to gratify taste or instinct, or a feeling of preference not allowable in an examiner.” In these examinations, remember, we are like people who offer work: we do not propose to take the lowest offer; we do not propose to give the appointments to the best answerers,—we only want to be aided by the examination in discovering who, amongst a number of candidates, are, for us, the best and most likely men. I want all those people out by the 1st July: telegraph names of accepted candidates to Degenaer for me: I shall be at Hongkong during April and May. I hope the “Gamma” and “Delta’’ are on their way out by this time. To-morrow I telegraph to you for more ammunition, i.e. in addition to the hundred rounds already supplied, we want 500 rounds for each gun: that is in all for each gun 600 rounds, or for the four guns 2400 rounds. I am now sorry we did not go ahead with the 80-ton gunboat. I fear I shall not have enough work here for a Marine Secretary: so that Wellesley may have to go to a port as Assistant Engineer after all. 1 shall not decide till I see him at Hongkong, and then perhaps if I take to him I may bring him here to study Chinese and prepare him for general work in his own line in China. What about Mechanics and Lightkeepers? Has Wellesley found any good men?

| Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. E.A. Deacon joined the Service in July 1877 and 2. Proxime accessit: “he came next in order of went to Foochow as 4th assistant B. He died in merit’’; honorable mention. 1881 after returning to China prematurely from sick leave (see letter 347). .

[239] FEBRUARY 1877

Z/46 22 February 1877

[Red. April 21, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

At the Hsiao-chan encampment near Taku, the Honan troops had not received rations for five months or pay for two: so last week a thousand men (two Ying, or camps or regiments) turned round, knocked their General on the head, killed their Officers, murdered some sellers of rice in the vicinity, and marched off in full revolt.’ It is feared their comrades, 7000 men, will follow them, and that they will be joined by the troops at Ma-ch ang, to which they have directed their course marching southwards. The Ma-ch’ang men are 4000 or 5000 strong. It is not known whether these fellows will go to their own province and disperse, or, fearful of results, beat up recruits and make a big movement. If they go into Shantung, where people are starving and dying by hundreds, they will be joined by an immense rabble, and will give the Govt. considerable trouble. Of course, we’ll have to “‘go for” them; but really it is the Govt. that is to blame, first of all for not paying its troops and

driving them in their despair to rebellion, and secondly for opposing improvement to such an extent that when there is famine in one part of the country, there is no way of getting the superfluous grain of other parts carried there quickly.—To-day we all pay our New Year’s visit to Prince Kung, for, although we are at the end of February almost, to-day is only the 10th of the First Moon for Chinese, and as H.H. will be surrounded by the officers of the Boards—in fact, minus the Emperor, the Govt. of China will be in the room—I think I shall speak out, and go in for denunciation and recommendation for the million-and-first time. To do this will probably make them all angry with me and will not help the improvement a bit: but my sermon would be a text for many talks, and its results might appear “after many days’’. I have not a coin in my possession—so I cannot toss to decide.—A propos of coins, the Mint is to appear as a concession in the German Revision. I think I told you Wade refused it and Postal Establishment, though offered to him at Chefoo! Whether I shall have anything to do with it or not remains to be seen. I am surprised not to hear by telegram that the y and 6 are off: seeing that your letters report them to have been in so forward a condition in Dec., I should have thought they’d have got off ere this; I hope they will be at Chefoo before the Ist June. Do you know anything of my brother Jem?? I have not heard from him since July last! Hoping you and yours are well and with kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Spring 1876 to the fall of 1878 was a period of roused the relief efforts of private Chinese as well devastating natural calamities. In the south, ex- as foreign missionary agencies. The drought lasted cessive rainfall led to floods in five provinces; in until May 1878, and famine was not relieved until the north, prolonged drought, accompanied by September, when a fair crop was harvested.

plagues of locusts, brought the inhabitants of nine

provinces, especially Shansi, to desperation. The 2. James Hart was on leave for 1876-1877. prolonged crop failure and famine in Shansi

[240] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Z/1 Shanghai 5 April 1877 [Red. May 21, 1877] . My dear Campbell, I am here on my way round the ports—and am beseiged by candidates for office who think it very hard that, with them on the spot, I should still import employes! You must be glad to have got the gunboats off your hands. I don’t know when an order for more is likely to go. But I suppose Kuo will keep you going in some new direction.

Interrupted: must close for the mail, and go to Taotai. Yours truly, Robert Hart Lost last number, so begin afresh Z/1.

Peking 11 April 1877 [Rcd. May 24, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

Jamieson takes home the Yamen’s instructions to Kuo in the matter of the hulk case at Chinkiang, and, in eight or ten weeks, I hope to send you the case for legal opinion. Meantime I send you a Memo. as to the course he will do well to follow. This Memo. ought to be carefully explained to him, and it ought to be put into Chinese. The main thing is to regard the demand of China as one which will necessarily be assented to and about the propriety of which there can be no possible question, the moment it is at headquarters, put before the (foreign) Secretary of State: and all side issues ought to be avoided. Kuo must decide on his own course: but he will do well to master the case first of all, and then think out a plan of action before in any way committing himself. Jamieson knows the case—or ought to know it well, and he can talk it out with Kuo. As to Wade—of course he’ll rush to the front: I fancy Kuo would do well to refuse to discuss the affair with him—but Kuo may not think it good natured to refuse. If these two do begin a discussion, Wade will go wild over it, and Kuo will find it hard to stick to the main point, viz: China’s original, and never-given-up right to berth and re-berth vessels, and to do this directly and not through foreign authorities. I am sending you 20 copies of the case (part 1); I shall send you as many of part 2 (action at Peking) when printed. Do not let these out till Kuo gives a copy to the F.O. For getting legal opinions you will require 12 copies: so, if you give away a few, hold on to that number (12). Whether a ship moves or does not move, is a little affair in itself: but the pretensions of

[241] APRIL 1877

the English Legation are enormous, and there is a principle at stake, and a right to be maintained; so that we must fight this out tooth and nail—“‘to the last man and last shilling’. The affair is unfortunate and anything but what expediency could desire; still, it has gone beyond the stopping point, and we must fight it out.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/2 Inspectorate General of Customs Shanghai 16 April 1877

[Red. June 9, 1877] Dear Campbell,

I want to make Mrs. Hart a present on her birthday, 21st June, and on this occasion I wish to give her a writing case. You may go as high as a hundred pounds (£100) for which I enclose cheque, and I trust you will get something very nice, well fitted, and, at the same time, fit for every day use. On the outside put Mrs. Hart’s monograph H./.H. and the date 21st June 1877; and send it to her, so that she will have it on or about that day. I wish the present to be a very nice one, and I suppose the figure I name will procure about as nice an article of the kind as can be got. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/3 Shanghai

18 April 1877

My dear Campbell,

Kindly procure for me and send to me at Shanghai the following music: Collection Litolff:—(Fr. Kistner, Leipzig, or Enoch & Co., London) 389 Lanner Aibum, Piano & Violin

581 582 \ Le Concert au Salon, " 851-856 Duos Dramatiques, ° Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Just starting for Nanking: all well.

[242] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Z/4 Ling 28 Fung, Yangtsze Private April 1877River [Red. June 18, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

I never saw a seedier looking set of men than those of the Alpha and Beta, and, Le Primandage apart, there was not one that anybody would care to show any civility to— i.e. judging from appearance and bearing when first seen.’ If the Gamma and Delta people are nice fellows, everybody will be civil to them: if they are not nice fellows, no one here will put himself out of his way to make things specially agreeable for them. You forget how matter-of-fact we are in China, and also the horror with which naval men here seem to be looked on by the people on whom they (i.e. some bad specimens of them) have “sponged” in China, and afterwards “‘cut” in Europe. Le Primandage handed a loaded rifle to one of his fellows when Li was on board: the ass let it go off, and the bullet passed close to Detring’s ear and over Li’s head: Li was fortunately sitting or he’d have been shot, and had he been shot—the consequences are too horrible to think of! Socially he was the nice fellow of the lot, but, apart from the fact that they brought out the vessel safely, there was nothing else to thank them for. I write this much in reply to a late letter of yours, from which [infer that you were nettled to learn so little had been made of the officers of the Alpha and Beta. It is of no importance to let Li see the Gamma and Delta’s crews handle them once: if he could stay a week on board it would be a good thing—but that can’t be expected. So I think Pll pay them off at FooChow. Anything you want from the Statistical Secretary, Taintor, write to him direct for. Presented by Kuo!—what fun! Did you wear our uniform, or English Court Dress? I never saw Macartney to my knowledge and have never had a row with him; but he has been a sort of adventurer or “‘free lance”’ always in China, and, as such, I have distrusted him, and I don’t think he’s the right stamp of man for his present position. Affairs are going along satisfactorily but I doubt if Pll be free to go to Paris next year. If I don’t go home next year, I shall have five years more of China, and shall probably want you to come out for one winter. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Le Primandage is also spelled La Primandage

and Le Primandaye in the letters.

[243] JUNE 1877

Z/6' Hongkong My dear Campbell, | 2 June 1877 [Red. July 18, 1877]

We are just back from Pakhoi, and have barely time to get a line scrawled for the outgoing mail closing at ten this morning. Yours of the 20th April, Z/53, awaited me here. Sorry you lost Easterbrook.* Employ Twinem in the office: and continue issue of half-pay to him (£50 monthly) till I call him back to China. Liu, as you know now, is appointed to Germany: that’s why I told you to introduce H.O. Brown.* Whisper to Brown that German Revision has broken down, and that Liu is to explain matters, and prevent von Brandt from doing anything hostile without Berlin authority. No “Gamma” or “Delta” yet. Youw’ll not have hard examination work more than once a year. We'll not build [a] Pagoda, but we'll put up a light and bright Chinese Pavilion.* We'll send workmen in Autumn with materials (i.e. many of them) ready made. Chinese exhibitors coming forward freely. I don’t see what else you need do save a/. secure and retain space and b/. get for us all the circulars etc., the Exhibition authorities issue. No trade yet at new ports: merchants have no money and are not fond of risks, except in tea, nowadays. Must close. Hope you’re well and yours.

| Robert Hart . Yours truly,

P.S. Please send me violin strings: 20 E’s 10A’s

10 D’s RH. 10 G’s

) Also two spare tail-pieces, and two spare finger-boards: also two sets spare pegs: and a thing for damping the sound—forget the technical name.

1. Letter Z/5 is missing. letter 18n4). 2. J.H. Esterbrook was a clerk in the London Office 4. China was invited to participate in the interfrom August 1876 to April 1877, when he resigned. national exhibition to be held in Paris in 1878. See letter 48n6. 3. Brown was on leave during 1876-1877 (see

[244] THE I. G. IN PE*..NG

Z/7 .Hongkong 18 June 1877

[Red. July 31, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

By the outgoing mail (French, H’kong, 23rd June) Falconer & Co. will send you a small parcel containing some valuable jewellery, which I want Mrs. Hart to receive on the 22nd August (the 11th anniversary of our marriage). The parcel is addressed to you, and is marked R.H./Z. Kindly send it and the enclosed letter, to Mrs. Hart, so as to reach her on or before, but not later than the 22nd August. I had a telegram from you two days ago about D-money. Before this arrives, I'll have remitted by telegraph. The same telegram asked would I buy the “T.Y. Pelican, Ell. A.” property. For the life of me I cannot grasp at the locality these words indicate. What I want is the Antrim property, near Carrickfergus: if it can’t be got, Mrs. Hart may use her own discretion as to any other investment. Pray excuse all the private trouble I am giving you:—remember I am keeping the public interest safe by sticking to my post here. That’s the only excuse I can offer for asking you to attend to so many private commissions. My thanks, please, to Mrs. Campbell for your photos. Yours, I fancy, is a little flattering, but hers, [am sure, does not do her justice. What a fine child your little girl is: so well grown, so healthy-looking, and so serious! Wellesley arrived all right and is now preceding me in the FeiHoo. The mechanics arrived and so have six lightkeepers. I hope they'll all do well. The a and 6 are at Formosa, and the

. y and 6 have safely reached Foochow.’ Iam going on to Foochow to-morrow. Young Hext becomes second officer of the Feihoo: he’s a nice lad, but I had nothing else to offer him.* Pay 75 taels a month and 25 taels mess allowance (£400 a year). I begin to wonder how Kuo (Lord Kuo, as [Captain] Ching calls him) takes hold of the Cadiz case. If Ching were here, by the way, he’d ask me to send a nautical salute to Mrs. Campbell: “Split your mainbrace and shiver your timbers!!!” They say a typhoon is brewing: I hope to Heaven we’ll not have to go through it on the

Ling Feng. a

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Gamma and Delta had left Plymouth on March 2. G. Hext, British, had a varied career in the Cus1, 1877, and were to be handed over to Chinese toms Service, starting in July 1877 as second offi-

authorities in Foochow on June 25. The captains cer on the Fei Hoo. After attaining the rank of in charge were William M. Lang (Gamma) and first officer, he was detached to serve in 1882-1883 Lawrence Ching (Delta), both on the British navy’s as interpreter for Lang and to help bring ships from active list. Captain (later Admiral) Lang subse- England. In 1888 he was transferred to the In-door quently played an important part in the develop- Staff as 2nd assistant A at Shanghai. In 1893 he

ment of China’s own navy. went on leave for two years and resigned without returning to China.

[245] JULY 1877

Z/7 Foochow

1 July 1877

My dear Campbell,

Cartwright came on in advance to this port and had paid off the crews, sent the men home, and transferred the y and 6 before my arrival. I saw the vessels in Hongkong. To my eye, they had not arrived in point of neatness and cleanliness, in as respectable a condition as the a and 8 were in on reaching Tientsin, and, although their officers made a more favourable impression than those of the a and 8, their crews were far behind the a’s and f’s in appearance. Their engineers were the roughest looking lot of low-class mechanics I have met out here, and one of the chiefs (Vickers), already well known for dipsomania in Hongkong, was more or less drunk all the way out: he was drunk between Newcastle and Plymouth and ought never have left England. We refused to retain him as instructor, and he made no objection, simply remarking “TI expected as much”. The 6’s gun was all out of gear at H’kong, but it was all right at the inspection here. Their breadth of beam makes the 6 and y look very large once you are on deck, and gives more accommodation below than the a and 6 afforded, and they are pronounced to be excellent sea-boats, fairly fast, buoyant and dry. I question whether it is an improvement to have all the levers for working the gun, steering, etc., behind the screen: if not perfectly cool, a man might seize the wrong one, and, in action, one shot from the enemy might carry them all away. Both 6 and y have the appearance of being down by the head: (Lang says they ought to be ten feet longer); I fancy something has gone wrong in the builder’s calculations—we’ll have to put ten or twelve tons of iron Kentledge at the stern to enable them to carry their “50 rounds” with their noses out of water.’ Seeing the condition they were in on arrival at H’kong and after talking with their officers and noting the look of the crews, I decided not to send them to Tientsin: Li would not have been specially impressed by them; and the account of their inspection here—although it went off without a hitch— satisfies me I did right to make the voyage terminate at FooChow. I saw the Alpha and Beta a few days ago at the Pescadores and found them in fairly good order; the instructors were all well and were well spoken of by the Chinese, and they, in turn, said they had no complaints to make and seemed satisfied with the way the crews took hold of the work. What is really wanted is an English Commanding Officer, to take command of the four vessels: but China will not employ a commander—she only wants instructors, and, this being the case, these vessels will never be thoroughly efficient. I have not been to see the Viceroy or Governor yet, but am to see them both to-morrow. I hear they wish to have four more Gammas: in view of China’s position, I fancy small vessels of this class are more suitable than others. If anything comes of to-morrow’s interview I shall of course wire it to you long in advance of this letter. Your telegram of 20th June was received here. It was the Bank Balances and not yours, that I wanted to know: i.e. the balance of my own accounts A, C, D, & Z at the O.B.C. Iam curious to know what rejoinder Kuo made to Derby in the Hulk case.” Kuo ought to treat it,—not as a case that the Chargé had referred to England for the consideration of the Govt., but—as a demand that he has to make on the part of China. When leaving S’hai in May (20th), I told Taintor to send you two copies of the C’kiang statement without delay. They ought to have arrived before this—unless they went by the ““Meikong’’, lost near Aden.

[246] THE I. G. INPEKING

I hope to be in S’hai about the middle of the month. The year is a bad one in China: famine and typhus in the north—locusts along the Yangtsze,—disastrous floods in the south (they had 15 feet of water at the city gate here!),—Cholera at Amoy,—plague (!) at Pakhoi. When will Wade’s Memorandum be finished? I suspect never! All the same, I suppose the Chefoo agreement will be acted upon to a certain point, and the affair allowed to die down

without any formal ratification.

: The Hongkong Bank has bargained to lend China 5,000,000 taels for seven years at ten per cent, and Hu, the Chinese agent in the transaction, undertook that the Edict should be out in September: failing that, Hu to forfeit 300,000 taels.* At this moment, there is no imperial authority for the loan, but I think it very probable Hu will get the Edict asked for:—at the same time, the Yamen may possibly put in a condemnatory memorial. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Kentledge is pig iron used as permanent ballast. 3. Hu Kuang-yung (see letter 121n5).

2. The Earl of Derby was then Foreign Secretary. .

Z/8 Chinkiang | 5 August 1877 [Rcd. September 25, 1877]

My dear Campbell,

Instead of going in for Irish land, I am putting all the money I can scrape together into this new China Loan. I have paid from Z to D to meet ammunition purchase £21,000, and by the O.B.C. exchange of the day 31st July 5/3. I take 80,000 taels from a/c D at Shai: that is, I shall take it when it is in funds, for Li and friends have not yet paid in the monies for the order. I hear from Bredon that he had got tls. 20,000 at Canton and sent it to D/Lby telegraphic transfer.' This will right matters and enable you to repay the Bank’s advances and meet the call for the final instalment. The only other big pull on you will be the y and 5 wages, but as a/c C/L is in funds, the Bank will not object to D/L being slightly out again. During the winter, we shall get these gunboat a/c’s closed, and in 1878 start fair again. Ting talks of buying four more Gammas, but the matter is not settled.” The a and 8 cost laid down at Foochow about $300,000, and the two boats sent out there before by Bidwell cost $370,000: as ours are bigger, better and cheaper, we have gained considerably in the estimation of all honest-dealing officials,—and yet, all the same, there are many who would rather buy through Bidwell than through me. Glover said he was “looking out for you”’, i.e. investing some money for you in the Loan. It is for 7 years and at 10%; but, of course, the H’kong Bank will not issue it at that rate to the general public; it will probably be issued at £95 as a seven % Loan. I am putting in it Tls. 100,000 and hope to see that sum doubled by the transaction at the end of the seven years,—that is, if I live so long, which I am not certain about. * Twas amused to hear how Ladies Wade and Alcock received Mrs. Hart. I considered it

[247] AUGUST 1877

Mrs. H’s duty to go and see the ladies she had known in Peking, and, instead of regarding her as “snubbed” by their not returning the visit, etc., I merely think that the ‘“‘credit balance” is in our favour, and that they have shown themselves ill-natured and ill-mannered. We have just bought the property of Civis Britannicus (Canny) at Chinkiang, who has “burst up” and “cleared out’”’. How odd that his should be the property to fall into Customs’ hands. The Hulk case may shake the Customs to its foundations, but, since my split with Wade, we are far stronger in China: the Chinese support us more strongly, and the Legations treat us with less coldness; and, as for myself, I feel young, and bright now that, “going in a one-er’’ for China alone, I am freed from the worry of trying to please two parties, and have got beyond caring whether the Legations are pleased or displeased. I hope Macartney will “chang himself’ by intimacy with Hillier & Co.; “give him rope’’, but warn Twinem against the same policy. Iam glad Liu will take O. Brown to Germany: his duplicate credentials etc. are being got ready, and 20,000 taels have been sent to him, so I hope he’ll be in a good humour and see that we are friends of his.—As Kuo is “fearful” and does not like to write strongly I shall get the Yamen to write him a despatch to read to Lord Derby and leave a copy of. Meantime, I hope he will not have given in. I don’t wonder at Wade’s being “‘in a hell of a rage”’, as Hillier says: ““Her Majesty’s most able Minister in China” will find things different now that China has a Legation in London! When will that Memo. come out? I hope someone will ask for it again in Parliament. I hardly expect England will ratify formally the Chefoo agreement: I fancy the Yamen question will drop,— the new ports will remain open,—and other matters will be left to be attended to at the next Revision,—which, by the way, comes on again next year (1878). I am half-inclined to suggest to the Yamen to give notice first and say its Minister will revise in London!—Von Brandt is not doing much with his revision; he began boldly and asked for many things. He said his Govt. had given him Carte blanche (and so it had). He read his brief to mean that whatever he would demand or threaten his Govt. would back up and execute; but his Govt.’s meaning was that it would accept whatever he could get, however little! The result is rather a fiasco. Von B. “left” Peking some weeks ago, but Li promised him something at T’tsin and he went back again. All the Legations are to talk over Likin matters at the Yamen in Oct., and he hopes to pull through in that way,—but I don’t think he’ll make much of it!* Iam now on my way to /Chang from which I shall be back in S’hai about the end of the month. I shall try and spend Sept. at Chefoo for sea-bathing and rest, and get back to my own diggings in Oct.—in time for the Likin pow-pow. Dick had to leave IChang: he had fever which he is supposed to have brought from N’po with him: he was doing ““Banting”’ there, and the malaria got into him when starving himself.* He is now at C’foo dangerously ill, and he may possibly not recover. Ting was anxious to arrange for doing a lot of things on Formosa, so I left Wellesley and Cartwright with him: but I begin to think again of taking W. to Peking. Our C a/c grows very slowly, and I fear I shall have to cut down largely or stop building lighthouses. The new men will all do.* I think Johnston and Stokes the least objectionable of the lot. Davies is awfully conceited, and Deacon is a terrible man to jaw. Rickman reminds me of Luson. I have put Philips at Canton, Touzalin at Amoy, Davies at Tamsuy, Rickman at N’po, Johnston and Stokes at S’hai, Deacon at WuHu, and Oiesen (from U.S.) at Chefoo. Brown’s boy says breakfast is ready: so “‘goodbye’”’. After breakfast I’m off to WuHu.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

[248] THE I. G. IN PEKING

P.S. Did you guarantee Russell’s I.0.U. for passage to S’*hai? The Messageries say you did and so we have paid it! I think it would be well to avoid actions of that kind. R.H. 1. Account C/L refers to Account C deposits in troversy, in part because they came under the purLondon, D/L to account D deposits in London, etc. view of provincial officials and thus were not

On accounts, see letter 165nl. susceptible of control by the central government.

The provincial officials tended always to limit their

2. Ting Jih-ch’ang, currently governor of Fukien, issue of transit passes, with the aim of collecting had long been associated with Li’s efforts to de- more likin for their provincial treasuries. The velop a navy. He had headed the Kiangnan Arsenal foreign legations tended to band together in opposiand (briefly) the Foochow dockyard. His special tion to this practice. See, for example, letter 213n1. interest was the development of Formosa, but his plans there seem always to have been hampered 4. William Banting, a London undertaker, was the

by lack of funds. originator of a reducing diet.

3. See letter 32n2. The Tientsin Treaty provisions 5. These eight newcomers—J.C. Johnston, R. had by no means settled the /ikin issue; it remained Stokes, C.W. Davies, E.A. Deacon, C. LeBas Rick-

for years to come a source of annoyance and a man, E.V. Touzalin, G.J. Philips, and J.F. Oiesen— stumbling block to international agreement. Likin all joined the Customs on their arrival in China taxes and transit passes to exempt foreign-owned in July 1877. Though Hart speaks of Oiesen as goods from such taxation lent themselves to con- being ‘“‘from U.S.,” he was Danish.

Z/9 Shanghai Dear Campbell,

30 August 1877 [Rcd. October 22, 1877]

I enclose a cheque for £900 (a/c Z, No. 119), which I wish to be placed to Mrs. Hart’s a/c at the Bank. I suppose she will be somewhere on the Continent when this arrives; I hope I have not sent her the money too late for her plans. Moving about as I have been doing it is difficult to keep, of all things, the run of one’s accounts. You will have been surprised to see that H.N. Lay was to be paid £3000 from a/c Z. He wrote to me for help, and I had not the heart to say no; but I doubt very much whether his affairs will improve so as to admit of repayment. How unfortunate he has been—always running off the line! My work here is almost through and in a week I hope to be working my way north. I shall be glad—even for regular work’s sake—to be settled down again in my own “‘diggins’’. I have not had any legal advice anent the “‘Cadiz” case and have simply fought it out on first principles. If Kuo yields or is befooled, his act will hurt China’s sovereignty and will not in any degree spoil my face. He’s foolish to let Wade draw him into any side-issues; I hope you have stopped him. As for Mac - y; Kuo ought simply to discharge him and report his action—however that’s his affair; meantime we can wait, and we will do well to let Kuo know more of our people. Please, therefore, introduce any of our Chinese-speaking men, especially Jamieson and Hippisley; indeed, it would be well for Jamieson to take Twinem’s

place occasionally, so that Kuo may not get into the way of considering any one man indispensable. If you see Liu again advise him to have nothing to do with Kleinwdchter (Kang-fa-ta). K1.

[249] SEPTEMBER 1877

is honest and reliable enough, but has no tact, and, in a week he would embroil Liu with all around. Warn H.O. Brown too. His duplicate credentials went on the 4th. As there are no students who can talk German well, I advise the Yamen to send three men, one speaking English and one speaking French and one studying German: I believe it will be done. Boots and music to hand, but, I believe, no note-paper yet. Has it not been despatched?

Yours truly, Robert Hart Lowden receipt dated 7th Aug. Mrs. Hart is always telling me how kind you are and how many things you do so willingly

for her:—a thousand thanks!

Z/10 Shanghai

6 September 1877 [Red. October 23, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

The weather has been too much for my Lupot, and the neck has sunk. On Ibury’s advice I send it to Monsieur Edmond Daniel, Luthier 30, rue du Paradis, Marseille

to be put in order, as far as possible, and returned by first steamer. I am at a loss how to pay him. Kindly communicate with him—pay his bill—and urge him to have the violin back in S’hai (in time to come north) by the end of November. You will be sorry to hear that poor Dick is given up. The Doctors say he must die. Weakened by malarious fever and diarrhoea, he is now dying of an abscess of the liver that burst internally. We are all very sorry. Coming so soon after Madame Mouillesaux’s death, this gives Chefoo a black name: Mouillesaux himself was in danger, too, but I think he has got round the corner now.' The summer has been unusually, in fact unnaturally cool, and consequently unhealthy. I am off to Chefoo in the Ling Feng, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Glover, on the 8th.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. A. Mouillesaux de Berniéres (in the Customs also as de Berniéres), a Frenchman, had been in the Lists as A. Mouillesaux until 1880, and thereafter Service since April 1867. At the time of his wife’s as A.M. de Berniéres, and later referred to by Hart death he was 2nd assistant A at Tientsin.

[250] THE I. G. IN PEKING

Z/\1 Chefoo

18 September 1877 [Rcd. November 6, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

A thousand thanks for holding back appendix A! Of course it was only intended for our own lawyers, to enable them to understand certain terms in the statement itself. I thought Twinem had more gumption. Kuo, you know, tells everything and shows everything to Wade, and we must fight with that factor distinctly before our minds. You will receive part II (English version) almost immediately. I want three sets of opinions: 1°, three independent lawyers, 2°, the law officers of the ate Government,

3°," " present ” —and there are

three main questions: 1°, Had China the right of berthing before treaties? 2°, Did she give it up in treaties? 3°, In acting on it in the Hulk case, did she not act (not only within her rights, but) ~ moderately? Poor Dick is dead. Iam worried for men; for Li, for territorial purposes at Tientsin,— Ting for industrial purposes on Formosa,—and Liu for diplomatic purposes at Canton,—all want special men, whom J wish to use elsewhere :—confound it all!" I have just got in here from N’chwang, and can only scribble this line to catch the steamer that is to catch the mail.

| Robert Hart Yours truly,

1. Liu K’un-i, best Known as an associate of Tseng 1879. In December 1879 he was returned to his Kuo-fan in defeating the Taipings, was governor- earlier post as governor-general of Liang-Kiang. general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi from 1875 to

Peking

25 October 1877 [Rcd. December 17, 1877] Dear Campbell,

I am back here ten days and have got the length of beginning to feel unpacked. As usual there is plenty of work ahead. I owe you some explanations, and the best way to go at them is to re-read your telegrams for some time back. “Cadiz” case:—I am glad to receive the legal opinions and to find them so strongly on our side. I think Kuo was wrong to send the opinions to Lord Derby; he ought simply to have

[251] OCTOBER 1877

acted on and said nothing about them. The second part of the case (Diplomatic Action at Peking) must have gone forward from S’hai long ago. It consists chiefly of the arguments I put in the Yamen’s mouth to defend our action and prove the position we had taken up correct. My despatches read better in Chinese than in English. If the decision is not out by the 1st January, I shall move the Yamen to withdraw the privileges again or perhaps order our own people to remove the hulk. The question of fact, i.e. damage or no damage, must not be argued by Kuo with Lord Derby: damage or no damage, the hulk must move. If our experiment convinces our professional adviser that the hulk is doing little or no damage, we shall use our discretion and probably allow her to resume her original position. Twinem:—I am glad to hear that Kuo is gradually turning towards our people, but I am hesitating whether to let Twinem stay on another year or order him out in April at the end of his leave; I think it will be best for him to come out and Jamieson to take his place for the next year. Remember if / order him out, out he must come: he must not let Kuo detain him, nor must he delay pending further reference. H.O. Brown:—All right about his pay, but does attendance on Liu increase the expense of living for him so very much? My chief reason for giving Liu Brown’s services was to keep

off some others—notably Kleinwachter; warn Liu against him in particular—he would be sure ) to get Liu into hot water. Chinese Writer:—I think I shall send you a man for your office. Exhibition:—What we wanted your section of the Commission to do by way of preparing preliminary work was simply /. to put yourselves and keep in communication with the authorities, and 2. to secure the space we require, and 3. to form a link of communication between the authorities in Paris and the Section in China. De Sombreuil and d’Arnoux, two

of the secretaries to the Commission, are now going home—the one with Detring’s plans | for the Pavilion and setting up of the Northern Collection, and the other with Bredon’s views for the Southern part.’ Chinese workmen and materials will go forward in a month, and our collection will follow. Weather permitting, our Pavilion will be ready by the Ist May, and barring accidents, the collection will be in its place by that date. The exhibit will be good. [ll go if I can, and will try to be in Paris before the 1st May. The Paris mission is not yet decided upon. Ironclads:—I saw a Memo. from Giquel at Li’s. It said the two vessels were to cost contract price £250,000 each, and that Giquel could secure them for China at £270,000 each; it added that you were acting with Giquel in the matter, and gave it to be understood that you approve of purchasing at that figure!? I told Li you could have got them a year ago for £160,000 each, and that when Giquel was writing his Memo. you could have got them for £200,000 each, and added that he might employ whom he liked to buy, and that it was very kind of China to put £140,000 into the Agent’s pocket! I also said to Li, that, although you knew what Giquel was doing in the matter, you were not in any way acting with him. More Gammas:—Two were wanted for FooChow and would have been ordered at once had it not been for your telegram (N.B.) stating A. & Co. could not build for £5,000 less. The order was then definitely postponed. It may possibly, but not certainly, be repeated:— in which case you would merely have to make the best terms possible. The Alpha and Beta arrived in quite as good condition as the G and D, and their crews looked much better, being both clean and uniformly dressed: the G and D men were neither one nor the other. But in the matter of officers, the G and D were ahead of the A and B, although the engineers on all four were a rough lot. I hope we shall soon be receiving your final a/c’s, as Li is asking me for them. He and all who speak of you express themselves in the highest terms of the way you have attended to this work. Loan:—The H’kong Bank secured the 5-million-tael loan. Govt. pays the go-between (Hu-Kwang-Yung) 15% interest: he pays the bank 10%: the Bank pays the public 8%. I

[252] THEI. G. IN PEKING

have put into it all I could scrape together, viz: Tls. 100,000: I pay for this 95,000 and will draw interest 8,000 taels a year. Why did the O.B.C. people let it slip? The H’kong Bank will make a good thing of it. As regards Formosa, I can easily get the £200,000 from the H’kong Bk., but I wished to deal with the O.B.C. and therefore wired you that question. We are going /. to put up a telegraph line from Tamsuy to Taiwanfu or thence to the Naval Station at Fisher Island: 2. to build a railway line from Taiwanfu to Takow, and 3. to dredge the Takow Harbour. These will be beneficial from an industrial point of view, and I | willingly try to get money for such works and I will assist Ting Futai as much as possible. I am now waiting for your telegram to say whether the O.B.C. will lend or not. I don’t see that the O.B.C.’s condition (‘‘to have the refusal of the future loans for industrial purposes’’) could be acceded to. I should advise China not to tie her hands after any such fashion. Telegrams:—Your two long telegrams of the 14th Oct. arrived on 21st. Don’t you think, considering what telegrams cost, that money has been wasted on these two? London Office:—I expected Taylor here long ago: his non-arrival has thrown me out somewhat as I kept the Peking place open for him. As you have no one to replace him you can only hold on to him for the present. Postal Matters:—Many thanks for de la Rue’s long report.* We'll get our stamps made there, but I don’t want to follow the sanguine Detring too rashly. I must feel my footing to be secure before attempting to push on. Berlin Mission:—Three interpreters are just starting. They take a note to you. If Liu is at

| Berlin they are to join him there: if in England they are to join him in England. De Sombreuil takes charge of them as far as Marseilles: you ought to have a letter there to tell him where Liu is to be found, and advise him to employ a courier to take the youths on thence to their destination. They leave S’hai by the French mail of the 9th Nov.,—a week after this. Mint:—The mint matter “hangs fire’’, but still the day for minting is coming along. I find it generally takes ten years’ talk to get anything accomplished here, and as we have only been four or five years actually urging the establishment of a Mint, I shall not be disappointed if it does not come about for five or six years more. If you see Campbell of the O.B.C. please tell him from me that the Chinese are considering the question seriously and have been collecting the opinions and advice of officials all through the country: some are for, and many are against the Mint, but I have no doubt the pros will carry the day; if Wade had said “yes” at Chefoo, we’d have had a Mint at work in 1878, but, as he did not say “‘yes’’, the Chinese who wish for it are not able to say they are bound to establish it. (I hear Wade told Seward that he objected to accept Mint and Post because it was putting too many things—too much power and too much patronage—into my hands!!!) Newspaper :—I authorised the purchase of the paper simply to have a paper which would publish anything we might want published: at other times it need not say a word about China. I have been thinking that a precis of the Cadiz case would make a good backbone for a useful and powerful article’ now that I am back here I shall probably send you a few articles this winter—meantime, could you not put the hulk before the public? Retiring Allowances:—The fund accumulates slowly and I have only been able to arrange for paying two years’ pay to 21 of the men (in order of seniority) who, Indoor, have served over fourteen years—i.e. more than two septennial periods. Statistical Dept:—Pray write to the Stat. Sec. for all you want. The Dept. is instructed to supply you with all you write for.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

[253] NOVEMBER 1877 1. For the commission, Hart was thinking of sucha taking a mounted courier about ten days. By this group as had gone to the Vienna Exhibition—a time, the Customs postal service (which also carried working corps of Customs officers and a few Chi- the legation mails) was well established in several nese dignitaries described as “‘delegates.”’ As time ports. went on, however, he abandoned the larger group In 1878 Hart assigned to Detring the task of exin favor of a small group of active workers (see panding that service: daily runs between Peking and

letter 190). Tientsin were inaugurated, and postal departments

H. de Sombreuil and G. d’Arnoux, both French, were created at the customhouses in several more joined the Customs in 1870 and 1867, respectively. ports. Late in 1878 the Customs made its postal D’ Arnoux, who had for a time been professor of facilities available to the general public, though

French at the T’ung-wen kuan, was now 2nd the Chinese were slow to use it and it continued assistant B at Swatow. De Sombreuil was 2nd to serve mainly the foreign community.

assistant A at Kiukiang. It was also in 1878 that the Customs, for the

first time, issued its own stamps. Detring designed

2. Giquel seems to have been retained asa purchas- a stamp and seemingly was insistent upon rushing ing agent by the Foochow Arsenal after his contract into production without proper equipment or there expired in February 1874. In 1877 he took a —_ expertise, and without waiting for Hart’s approval.

group of Chinese who had been trained at the Campbell, whose brief career in the British Post Foochow shipyard to France, to complete their Office was now to prove useful, had sought the training. He spent part of his time arranging pur- best professional advice on the design and producchases of ships for China in England and Germany. tion of stamps—and the advice he received ran counter to Detring’s plans.

3. Customs mail was carried by mounted courier In December 1879 Hart announced a further, from Peking to Tientsin, and thence by sea to gradual extension of the service to even more Shanghai. In the winter months, when Tientsin was _ ports, and he appointed Detring concurrently comice-locked, an overland route was used between missioner in charge of postal matters. Tientsin and Chinkiang, a distance of 778 miles,

2 November 1877 [| Rcd. December 29, 1877] Dear Campbell,

Customs’ work, properly speaking is so heavy that I have no special desire to go outside for other jobs; still, to keep our friends straight when striking out in a new direction, and also to keep birds of prey at a distance, I am always ready to undertake anything that pushes

its way to the front. Loans:—The Central Govt. will not yet step forward to ask for money for itself, and it will go on authorising provincial officials to do the best they can to get whatever sums they want from time to time. Thus 7so has got authority for his five million taels; the Govt. pays the go-between 15%, the go-between pays the bank 10%4,—and the Bank is issuing it at 95 and with 8%. Another man, Ting, the Gov. Genl. of Szechuen has now asked for 300,000 taels, and Ting, the Governor of Fuhkien, wants 600,000; as the O.B.C. will not help me in these matters, I am forced to go to the H’kong and S’hai Bank.’ Gradually the borrowing will come into my hands, and the big loan of the future will be put through by the I.G.; but meantime I must either help them in this ‘‘from hand to mouth” way of living, or see the work get into less scrupulous hands. I wished, for many reasons, to put it through with the O.B.C., but I fancy the O.B.C. will not assist in the small way that the beginning requires. Gunboats:—There is no order going forward at present. A. & Co. are free to do business with anyone. As for commissions, I think it would be better not to take them. Exhibition:—I have sent your telegram to Detring, but I don’t think we can make more haste than we intended.

[254] THE I. G. IN PEKING

Cadiz:—Don’t let Kuo go into the question of fact discussion. Our people say there is harm done, and we want the Hulk moved. (I suppose we shall have to move her ourselves.) Legations:—If Kuo asks for a Customs’ man, he can have one (but he must leave it to the I.G. to say who it is to be). I think Brown is doing too much for Liu and looks too much like his courier: this may do at first, but it is not the position I want him to occupy. I shall have to send a Memo. on this subject. Peking News:—I hear the Yamen has just given in to de Espana’s demand, and will pay what he claims for the wrecked ship provided he signs the Cuban convention.” Von Brandt’s revision will amount to nothing. I think I shall come home in the spring.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The governor-general of Szechwan was Ting tended that the ship had been plundered by pirates Pao-chen; the governor of Fukien was Ting Jih- and her crew held for ransom, and over the inter-

ch’ang. vening years she had periodically demanded an

indemnity. The affair had never been settled, and de

2. The wrecked ship was the Sovrana, a Spanish Espana now urged its settlement as a condition of ship that had been driven ashore on Taiwan over his acceptance of the Cuban convention (signed at thirteen years before—in early 1864. Spain con- last on November 17, 1877).

8 6 9 November 1877 [Rced. December 29, 1877]

Dear Campbell,

We are likely to introduce a bonding system at S’hai, and I want a capable man to look after its introduction and to arrange its working details; so I telegraphed to you to look out for a smart fellow conversant with bonding in all its phases,—a smart man with sufficient flexibility to accommodate experience to circumstances, and not a red-tapist.' I don’t want you to conclude any arrangement, but merely to J. find such a man, and 2. report on what terms he’d come out. Of course he would be a subordinate of the S’hai Commissioner’s, but his advice would be very largely taken. I also asked you in the same telegram to send Evey a birthday present: I suggested a handsome work box, as I suppose with doll’s clothing to look after, and sewing of her own to attend to, she will find such a thing useful and be proud to have one of her own all to herself.

I besides advised you to keep economy in view in the Exhibition matters. We have very little money to go on, and we must make it go far. We are sending home d’Arnoux and de Sombreuil as Secretaries, and they know how the buildings are to go up and how things are to be arranged. My own going is still an uncertainty, and will not be decided upon till the very last minute. I want a change, and yet I dread the Paris life. I have not enough “go” in me for such a busy time or so gay a place. I have nothing specially new to tell you. Our affairs are all going along quietly and satisfactorily, and officially, there is very little to trouble or worry me nowadays. Wish you and yours a happy New Year, Yours truly, Robert Hart

[255] NOVEMBER 1877

P.S. Please finish your steamer a/c’s (A, B, G, & D) and send them on quickly.” Also send a separate statement of moneys promised as house allotments to Instructors’ families. R.H. 1. The foreign merchants had long wanted a bond- however, until 1888, when it was tried on an oping system, which would allow them to store tax- tional basis, and only in government godowns, able goods imported into China in specially licensed creating a government monopoly that was not given

warehouses, deferring duty payments until the up until 1895. (See letter 623n3.) goods were claimed, and tax or duty on them paid.

Opium was the commodity that brought the 2. A, B, G, D: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. matter to a head. Bonding was not put into effect,

Z/12 16 November 1877

[Red. January 2, 1878]

Dear Campbell,

Your letters A/139 and Z/64, of 28th Sept., just in. , Had A. & Co. simply said “‘yes”’ the two additional Gammas would at once have been ordered. The matter is now in abeyance, and if an order again is talked of, you can arrange new terms. As for loans, the O.B.C. does not run after them as did the H’kong and S’hai Bank, and naturally, when the pressure came, the H’kong and S’hai Bank dictated its own terms. I have not yet written my newspaper memo. No hurry. As to going home—I want to go, but difficulties about the nomination of the men who are to carry on work in my absence may make it expedient to give up the trip. You mentioned in one of your letters, a wife, five children and “five servants”: seeing you live in that way, I don’t wonder you use up all your official income. Lay has not written a word by way of either acknowledgment or thanks. But no matter:

he appealed to me for help, and I would not refuse it to him. He was very kind to me in the . early days, and there is something in “auld lang syne’’. Under this category, I am rather out of pocket I see, as I look through my a/c. Thanks for the pads. I am very well, but very lazy. I sleep, eat and digest well: my only trouble is lumbago, and when a press of work comes I am bowled over by a bad headache occasionally. I had no ill feeling towards Dick, but I had changed my opinion of his value as a Commissioner. He lost flexibility and was taking a more and more contracted view of the work he ought to do for China. The Halket affair was a costly one for all three: for Halket, for Dick and for myself; and it came about through want of care on Dick’s part. I was angry and disappointed, but I still felt the same friendly feelings towards Dick as before. I shall try and have a letter for Tommie next week: is he pretty well off?! I don’t think Detring can make more haste than he does, and I hope, as our things will go forward in an advanced state of readiness for setting up, that we shall not be so very late after all. I hope Mrs. Campbell and baby (for I presume the baby has arrived before this) are all right. Yours very truly, Robert Hart

[256] THE I. G. IN PEKING

1. For Commissioner Dick and the Halket affair, later visited Hart in Peking (see letter 1282). see letters 53 and 54. Tommie was his son, and

Z/13 30 November 1877

[Red. January 27, 1878]

Dear Campbell,

Yours of the 5th Oct. from Paris arrived yesterday. I am sorry my brother did not communicate with you, for, as you have the same business to look after, you ought certainly to take advantage of such an opportunity as being together in Paris affords, to shang-liang: but J.HLH. is taking life easily, and I despair of getting him to work seriously.’ I don’t know how Detring will take to the Fan-tien idea.” It would be so much trouble to get cooks, servants, cooking utensils, sauces, materials for Chinese dishes, etc., sent forward, that I think the suggestion can hardly be acted upon. Paris, however, would probably be the best place in the world for such an experiment,—what amusing dishes they could be made to swallow! Detring is now at S’hai, and will be up at T’tsin next week; we shall then arrange things finally. But our funds are so very limited that we require to be immensely economical: don’t forget this—if you forget it for a moment, we shall have a fiasco. De Sombreuil and d’Arnoux have gone forward. They are to be secretaries to the Paris section of the Commission. D’Arnoux has seen the Southern collection and knows how it is to be put up, and de Sombreuil has seen the Northern and is besides primed by Detring with all his ideas about building, etc., etc., etc. I have not yet decided who are to be the members of the Paris Section, but there must be one good working man among them: Detring suggests Jamieson, but Kopsch wants to go. There may be some Chinese on the Commission—notably Ma the Prefect of T’tsin, and possibly the son of the celebrated Tseng-Kuo-fan: but nothing is decided on as yet. It is now almost certain that I shall go myself. I have written to Mrs. Hart to take it for | granted that I am going, and to make whatever arrangements she likes or thinks called for. I have told her to beware of you, as you are an ‘“‘expensive rascal”: you do things well, but, by jove, you make the money hop! I have telegraphed to you to let Hughes know he is to go to Niuchwang,—also Huber to Swatow, Hammond to Kiukiang, and Carrall to Tientsin. Twinem’s leave will be up too, and, if you do not hear from me that he is to stay, he is to come out by the first February mail. He will find orders as to his location with Degenaer at

Hongkong.

Your “Engineering Opinion” telegram is a pleasant surprise; but don’t let Kuo dwell too much on it:—the primary right of China to be obeyed is what we are fighting to get recognized. The Bund and the damage to it are “small potatoes’’. I think I shall draft a despatch for the Yamen to address to Kuo, telling him to read it to Lord Derby in the ordinary diplo-

matic way. |

It is awfully cold here: for a fortnight we have had neither sun or wind, and the thermometer is down every night to 12°, 14°, or 18° Fahrenheit! Yours truly, Robert Hart

[257] DECEMBER 1877

1. Shang-liang: have a talk, discuss at length. served as secretary to the Chinese Legation in Paris, and in 1882 was to aid Ytian Shih-k’ai in Korea.

2. Fan-tien: now hotel; here, evidently restaurant. Still later, in 1896, he accompanied Li Hung-chang to the coronation of Czar Nicholas II. 3. Ma was presumably Ma Chien-chung, who later

Z/14 7 December 1877

[Rced. February 2,.1878]

Dear Campbell,

My mind has been mainly exercised on one point this last week, and I have not yet come to any decision. On Section C, i.e. the to-be-at-Paris part of the Exhibition Commission, we must have one working man: I have thought of yourself as the man who would do best in that capacity, but, at the same time I have been loath to take you for so long a period from the London Office, and I have also supposed it possible that you might not care for the constant occupation the working member is sure to have. I shall telegraph my decision via Russia on the 16th: so you'll have it long before the arrival of this letter. If I send you in this position to Paris, I shall put Jamieson in the London Office till November next. If I do not select yourself, I shall most probably make Jamieson the man. My experience of Vienna and P’delphia shows me that one man must be charged with the work to be done: a Commission composed of several members looks well enough on paper, but to get its duties promptly and satisfactorily performed, they must be centralised in the hands of one individual. Next to yourself, Jamieson is the best available man for the billet: I should have liked to name James H. Hart for the post and its chances, but he is fond of fun and I can’t depend on him for all the work I see there’s to be done. Some Chinese want to go: but I hesitate to ask the Yamen to put them on the Commission. I do not want the foreign section to be swamped by the native element. It is almost certain now that I shall be able to go myself: however, if I go I assure you it’s not to work, for what I want is a holiday. My duties are varied enough here, and I do not find relaxation in change of work, so much as I did formerly: what I want now is rest and—fun, and I must have both if I go to Europe in Spring. Bredon is now back here: if I go away, the most likely arrangement will be that the I.G.’s secretaries at Peking will be authorised to carry on the I.G.’s work, under special instructions from myself, till my return—just as some of them carried on part of it while I was going the round of the Ports this year. This will be our last mail via T’tsin. Next week the overland carriers commence, and they are not likely to catch any mail leaving S’hai before the 4th Jany. So when you next get a letter from me, towards the end of February, I shall probably, at this end of the line, be

packing up for my journey home. |

There’s no special news here except that a raid is commencing against opium-smoking officials, as you’ll see from the appended leaf,—which you can show Kuo.

:

| , Yours truly, Robert Hart

[258] THEI. G. INPEKING

Z/15 14 December 1877

[Rcd. February 10, 1878]

My dear Campbell,

As you will have learned from my telegram of Dec. 16th, I have made Jamieson the working member of the C Section, Paris Commission. He is about the best man I could select for the work, and I hope next week to make his position and duties perfectly intelligible in the official instructions that are to go forward. As regards Commissions, I have never liked the idea, and I am glad to see that old Hutchins speaks out so plainly. You rather force my hand in the matter by arranging for a sum and also settling an official way of spending it:' so I let the question drop for the moment, intending to take it up, think it out, and instruct you one way or the other officially at some future time. As far as Giquel is concerned—or anyone else: I don’t care whether the Govt. works in these matters through them or not—provided they act honestly and get the best article. [am not taking any steps to secure such orders for myself, or keep them away from

. others; and whenever I have an opportunity of saying a good word for a man, I say it just as readily as I would a damaging one. I think A. & Co. have shown a little awkward consciousness in their way of changing front: but that does not matter—in supplying the a, 6, y, & 6 they did very good work and gave good service and they thereby did even more than I

wanted. ,

I hope your steamer a/c will have come in before I start for Europe: I want to close this a/c in particular before going away. I am concerned to hear you do not feel quite sure of your health: I hope you will have less to do for some months to come, and that in either quiet or play you'll find the right road towards recuperation. But everyone gets reminders that he is not to live for ever: now it is an ache in one’s self, and then it is news of another’s death. Who would have thought when I was leaving this in March to go round the Ports that I’d never see Dick or Madame Mouillesaux, or Mrs. Edkins again,—or that all these would be in their grave before Christmas? We simply have to go along the path that two forces, conditioned. by surrounding circumstances, make for us individually: the one force is to work as if we were to live forever—the other is to live as if we could not be sure of a minute. If this life is all, what does it matter how soon it ends: if this life is not all, much less does it matter how soon we are to flit! Of course, one shrinks from the idea of death—for darkness and gloom and sorrow and parting and physical agony are all suggested by it: But—“‘I know that my Redeemer liveth” and “I believe in the life everlasting!’’ Wishing you many happy new years here and

not-here.

Yours very truly, Robert Hart 1. In the Hart materials deposited in the School of China. When Armstrong was given orders to build Oriental and African Studies in London, there is the gunboats, for example, Campbell promptly a confidential letter from Campbell to Hart dated sold his sizable holdings in the company~at conOctober 26, 1877, in which Campbell gives a com- siderable loss to himself. plete account of a 2 1/2% commission that he had The Campbell memoir (p. 92) quotes a letter accepted on an order placed with Armstrong and from F.E. Taylor to Campbell, as follows: “‘He Co. This commission he planned to use for defray- |Detring| told me he does everything for Li through ing expenses incidental to the order, not for per- agents, who get their 5% and save all bother about sonal gain. Campbell seems never to have accepted getting authority from the I.G. and so on.” personal commissions when he placed orders for

[259] JANUARY 1878

3 January 1878 [Rced. March 8, 1878]

My dear Campbell,

I enclose letters for Stephenson, Forsyth and de Meritens: I send these open in order that you may read them and know what they refer to. When read, close and send them on. If Stephenson has any reply before the 15th March, wire it to me at Shanghai: if the reply is sent to you on or after that date, keep it for me till I reach Paris—unless you hear that I cannot get home, in which case you can mail it in the ordinary way. The Govt. here is again at me for a Loan; but it has been “‘at me” a dozen times before, and then went elsewhere—so whether this time anything will come of it or not, I cannot say, but certainly the Govt., having had “rope”’ hitherto, is now seeing more clearly that, in such

things, it would be wisest to act through me. Your telegram of the 14th Dec. received last night, comes very appropriately, but it is now a question whether it would not be best to act through the Hongkong (and not the Oriental) Bank, seeing that 1. the Hongkong Bank has done a good deal of business for the Govt. already, and 2. the Hongkong Bank shows itself of a more obliging disposition, and understands China better, than the O.B.C. The advice I give the Govt. here is: to make an existing foreign Bank a Chinese Govt. Bank, and transact all its business through it. Were this advice to be followed, we need not go to Europe for money at all—we could borrow heaps and heaps from Chinese, and in this way, all our loans being silver, we could keep clear of the Exchange and depreciation difficulties. If Brazier’s eldest son is fit to go to work, I wish you could take him into the London Office for six months from the 1st April.’ My movements are very uncertain; it looks to-day as if business would not let me go away this spring, but I shall not be able to know for certain before the end of Feb. Meantime I am preparing as if certain to go, and, if I am to go, I shall leave this on the 1st and Shanghai on

the 15th March, and hope to be in Paris on the 28th April. | The winter appears to me to be an abominably cold one: either that or I can’t stand the cold. I can neither work nor play to my satisfaction. The others, however, appear to enjoy it, and, the night before last, all Peking, (myself, M. Brenier and Mr. von Brandt excepted) were rinking by torchlight from 10 to 12.? Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. James Russell Brazier, eldest son of Professor 2. M. Brenier was Vicomte Brenier de MontmoBrazier of Aberdeen University, joined the Cus- rand, French minister to Peking from April 1876 toms in April 1878. His younger brothers, Henry to January 1880. W. and William, also joined the Service, somewhat later.

[260] THE I. G. INPEKING

Z/16 5 January 1878

[Red. March 5, 1878]

Dear Campbell,

You remember I wrote to you some time ago about accompaniments for some music I had written for the violin. When you sent me those specimens in reply, I decided not to be in a hurry lest I should make a fool of myself by appearing as the “Father” of something very verdant indeed. I have now however got together ten pieces (in Sonata style), and shall take them with me if I go in March. Will you in the meantime keep your eyes and ears open in this connection: I don’t want you to take any trouble in the matter, but merely to take a note of anything likely to be of use to me in my search for a musical partner. I don’t want a mere accompaniment, but some such composition for the piano, founded on (and to go

, with) what I have written for the violin, as shall interest piano players at least as much as I hope mine will interest violin-amateurs of moderate force. What I have written will, I think, be liked by anyone whose tastes are in the classic—rather than in the ““Rub-a-dub-dub”’’— direction, and the melodies are, I also think, original. To make a pun, my compositions are I think scholarly, but not masterly. I enclose notes for Brown (cover containing letter for Liu, Berlin) and for Mrs. Hart, and also send a cheque for £900 for Mrs. Hart’s account (No. 120, in my account Z). You will be on the Paris Commission, Section C,—so you can make your arrangements for spending part of the summer in Paris. My own intention is, if I go home, to spend all the time in Paris and go in for a surfeit of Parisian life—so I suppose we’ll be a good deal together. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/17 12 January 1878

[Red. March 12, 1878]

Dear Campbell,

The English mail, in last night, brought a letter from Novion of the 9th Nov. about houses, and I shall telegraph to you via Kiachta on the 16th to request you to take a house for me for the season. Novion sends me a list of houses drawn up by Arthur & Cie.: opposite each the agent has written ‘“‘can be furnished for about -,000 -francs’’, but there is nothing to tell me whether the “‘can be had” means for a month, a quarter, a year or the season. What I want is a house from the 20th April to the close of the Exhibition: I don’t want to pay more than £2,000 for the use of the house and furniture: I want the house to be a house, and not merely a suite of apartments in another’s house: I should like it to have a bit of garden for the children to go into: and it must have at least two or three “‘sitting’’ rooms, and five or six bedrooms. From the agent’s descriptions, I judge the place that will suit me best will be either what he calls No. 42 or No. 2—the one in the Avenue de I’ Imperatrice, the other in the Avenue Bosquet, or some such house: he puts down opposite these “can be had for

[261] JANUARY 1878 | 40,000 francs’. If his “can be had” means by the year, and a six months’ lease could be got, then his No. 45 in the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré would be well worth paying £2,000 for, relatively speaking. As you'll have to act on my telegram, however, I shall make it as clear as possible.—There is no Govt. appropriation for the expenses of the Commission at Paris: we simply get our full pay. In your case, of course, travelling expenses, etc., will be allowed.—If I go, intend to spend my time in Paris: I shall not gad about, and therefore I want a house for myself, which shall be at once comfortable and as showy as the Service would like to see its chief in on such an occasion. I suppose four men and four maids will suffice in the way of servants, and I shall hire two carriages from some first-class Establishment for the period. I have not yet had time to go into your S a/c, but Iam sorry to infer from the tone of your letters that the affair has worried you so much.’ We have had an awful calamity at T’tsin. A famine refuge was burnt down on the 6th. There were 2,800 women and children in it, and of these there were burnt alive 2,287! Isn’t it horrible? The famine in the north is assuming alarming proportions: in Honan there are six millions and in Shansi four millions of people receiving their daily pittance from official stores: people are dying by the thousand daily!

| Robert Hart Yours truly,

P.S. I enclose a letter for Kuo ta-jen. 1. By S a/c Hart probably meant the steamer ac- record expenditures from the lump sums sent him counts kept by Campbell in the London Office to for building and outfitting the Chinese ships.

Z/18 26 January 1878

[Red. March 30, 1878]

My dear Campbell,

Your telegram of the 4th Jany. is not very intelligible and | am puzzled to understand how my a/c has only £2524 to the good while a/c D is £9938 to the bad! However, by the time this reaches you I’ll have received your explanations. Another thing has puzzled me lately: you always close your letters (which are certainly both numerous and long enough) hurriedly:—what puzzles me is why you can be so hurried?

I don’t appear to have sent you anything special to do for an age! | I am glad to hear Mrs. Campbell and the “last” baby (you say it’s time to stop)! were all right: many thanks for the photos. To my mind, judging from photos simply, R.R.C. is the brightest of the lot.’ Your eldest boy suggests a photo I once saw of your father. I am telegraphing to you to get some Jace made.” Glover and self (and I suppose Jamieson and Novion) will want uniforms for the 1st May: so I telegraphed for lace in advance. I shall send you my measures next week. I thought of writing to Vienna, but finally decided to ask

you to get Poole to fit me out. ,

If I go, I start this day five weeks; but the Yamen people put on a long face the other day,

and said I could only go in the event of there being nothing going on here: I fear they'll stop

[262] THEI. G. IN PEKING

me at the last moment. If you have taken a house for me, telegraph its address to Shanghai before the 14th March. Ting jih ch’ang (Governor of Fuhkien) is still on leave: until he comes out, or “‘caves in” completely, Formosa experiments are in abeyance. We have got through the English and Russian New Year festivities, and now those of the Chinese New Year are coming on: crackers and fireworks on all sides! Yours truly, Robert Hart

the Memoir. uniforms.

1. R.R.C. was Robert Ronald Campbell, author of 2. “Lace” in this instance is ornamental braid for

Z/19 1 February 1878

[Red. April 8, 1878]

Dear Campbell,

We must make a brave show on the Ist May, and, if | am there, I must get into uniform like the rest. You will have received before this a telegram requesting you to get lace and buttons in readiness, and stating that the Vienna recommendations are to be acted on, i.e. we are to wear the same kind of uniform as the Vienna Commission wore. I originally thought of asking you to send to Vienna to get mine made there; but there is not time for that now, and I suppose Poole can turn it out well enough. Now for the measurements—I have been constantly changing in girth these last few years, but on the whole I am to-day not much stouter than I was a dozen years ago. As regards height and length of arm and legs, I presume I am unchanged. Well, in 1866 (May) Swift measured me, and of course his measurements in the matter of lengths are the best to go by. But round the chest and waist and belly, I am stouter than I was then, and his 1866 measurements for those regions will no longer do: so I send you a Shanghai measurement of May 1877: and what I want you to do is this. Go to Swift and get him to write out a new set of figures 1°. adhering to his own measurements of 1866 for length of arms and legs, and 2°. adopting the Shanghai measurements of 1877 for round the belly, round the waist, and round the chest, and also for length of waistcoat, and 3°. adhering to his own figures for the measurements round each individual arm and each individual leg. The result will be a set of figures that will fit me as I am to-day. Then, measurement figures written out correctly, please: 1°. Order at Swift’s two lounging suits suitable for a chilly person in London May: don’t let him give me any mixture that has either blue or yellow among its components; and 2°. Order at Poole’s a/. a uniform for I.G., b/. a dress-suit, c/. a morning suit, and d/. an over-coat. Kindly take care that these things are in good taste and not “loud”: and have them in Paris, awaiting my arrival, on the 25th April. Will you also get two dozen shirts made for me: to be comfortable they must be 17 inches

[263] FEBRUARY 1878

round the neck. Also order two or three dozen collars (turn down): these, not to crumple the neck of the shirt, ought to be 17 1/3 inches round. The shirts to have a button hole (not a button) at the back of the neck: I fasten on my collar with a moveable stud. These things will do me to start with. I can get other necessaries after arrival; but kindly have these things ready for me on the 25th April in Paris. As regards the “uniform for I.G.”’, it is much the same as a Commissioner’s, except that it has a double row of lace-leaves round the neck and cuffs and a broader stripe on the trousers. The Sword that I have seen with Detring is too heavy, and the handle would be better

_ on ™ thus aio a than Sess ,

Another point: the uniform coat ought to be prepared for carrying the grand star of the “Francis Joseph” order, and the cross (chevalier) of ““Gustav Vasa’’. You, Glover, Novion, Jamieson, will have to wear Commissioner’s uniforms. D’Arnoux and de Sombreuil will have to wear Assistant’s uniforms: tell all concerned to get their things ready please.

This is the last day of the Chinese Year, and our people are awfully busy, for I have a host of despatches and enclosures going to the Yamen tonight. If I go, I start to-morrow four weeks. Only four weeks more—hurrah!, hurrah!!, hurrah!!! But they may stop me at the very last moment! Whether I go or not—and of course you'll hear by telegram before this arrives—get these things made for me: for perhaps I may go home a month or two later and stay longer. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. [have had my puzzle in connection with the O.B.C. balances explained. We sent £15,000 from Hongkong by a six-months bill which would only be maturing about this time: so that that amount was not given credit for in the Ist Jany. A a/c balance. R.H.

P.P.S. I forgot the cocked hat. I am round the head somewhat under 23 inches (say 22 3/4). A felt hat that fits me well measures over its silk band, on the outside, 23 1/8 inches round. R.H.

[264] THE I. G. INPEKING

Z/20 9 February 1878

[Red. April 8, 1878]

Dear Campbell, The 7th Dec. Mail is the last we have received here. Your “mortal” message puzzled me:—each letter ought to be separate—thus (hp) might be either (up), (rip), (hp), or (lip): the best way to write it would be h-p. I don’t see how that man’s report can influence a jurist’s exposition of the law: though it might guide a Minister to say whether the legal step is politic or not.! In your steamer account you have mixed together three separate accounts: 1°. steamers: 2°. additional ammunition: 3°. Instructor’s part pay in England: I fear your final account will not be here before my departure. How the deuce did Arthur come to style himself as he did?” Thanks for all your trouble in this connection. Have you read “Aurora Leigh’”’?? I read it years ago: one or two lines in it often recur to me—to this effect. ““There’s not a sin that’s rung upon the counters of the world but takes its change out.” After all, it is another way of saying “What you sow, that you'll reap”. But youngsters don’t think of these things! Some of our Germans who had intended, and got leave, to go home this spring, are crying off: they think Germany will be at war before the year’s out. I wish to God that French Exhibition had never been talked of: it’s a nuisance from first to last! I go very unwillingly: I intend, once gone, to get as much fun as possible out of the trip, but my anticipations are not all couleur de rose! I enclose duplicate of my last week’s letter Z/19. I hope you will have all these things awaiting me in Paris on the 25th April at the latest. | am to see the Prince on the Monday (11th Feb.), and I suppose I shall then be able to judge pretty clearly as to the chance I have of getting off. I have taken my passage by the mail of the 14th. The Glovers will go by the same mail. Will you kindly get some cards for me. I want two kinds:

Robert Hart Mr. Robert Hart Inspector General of Imperial Maritime Customs, China at the bottom of each kind, I want the Paris address of the house I’m to live in, printed. The official card ought to be about the size of the enclosed: the private card ought of course to be smaller. I say “about” the size: leaving it to you to decide the exact size, and best style of thing for such an occasion. I hope to follow this in a fortnight:—(at this moment, I feel more inclined to close that bit of the sentence by the exclamation “‘d—n it!” than by the other “thank heaven!”’).

Robert Hart :

Yours truly,

[265] FEBRUARY 1878 1. This is most likely a reference to the engineer’s beth Barrett Browning (1857):

report about the Cadiz mentioned in letter 188. **... There’s not a crime Campbell must have referred to it in a cable. But takes its proper change out still in crime

2. See letter 138n1. If once rung on the counter of this . world” (Book iii, 870). 3. The lines from which Hart quotes are by Eliza-

Z/21 16 February 1878 Dear Campbell,

I saw the Prince on the 11th and was told that I might take the run home: so, unless something strange and unforeseen happens between this and this day fortnight, I hope to be out of Peking on the 2nd March, away from S’hai on the 14th, and in Paris on or soon after the 25th April. Your telegram of the 24th January came in yesterday. It amuses me. Why does W. write? Is it because we are winning the Hulk case? Or does he begin to acknowledge, that, although [ have been guilty of the heinous offence of differing from his views and opposing him, I have been doing my duty. As for the opposition at Paris—don’t be alarmed! We are going to show ourselves just for what we are, and we'll pull through well enough, you'll see. Let me congratulate you on being a Ta-jen.' The Yamen has made all Commissioners third rank and all deputy do. fourth rank. And this is to be the rule for the future. This is another push up for the Service, and also another anchor down to windward. Hoping soon to see you (what a funk you were in when I last saw you arranging with Simpson for your hasty departure in 1870!) Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Send a note for me to the c/o Messageries Office at Marseilles telling me the address of

the house I am to go to in Paris. |

R.H. 1. In February 1878 the Tsungli Yamen conferred Class (ssu p’in hsien). Commissioners were now enupon Customs commissioners the brevet civil rank titled to be styled ta-jen (the term used for high of Third Class (san p’in hsien), and upon deputy Chinese officials); deputy commissioners as ta-lao-

commissioners the brevet civil rank of Fourth yeh, a term that was a bit less elevated.

[266] THEI. G. INPEKING

| 23 February 1878 Dear Campbell,

To the list of recipients of Customs publications, please add the Bremen Geographical

Society.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

Paris' 12 to 14 May 1878 Dear Campbell,

Thanks for yours of the 11th and the Bank’s Memo. I don’t see that I want anything more. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Hart had sailed from China in March for what Paris Exhibition, and four on leave. He resumed was to be a thirteen-month stay in Europe—nine his duties in Peking in May 1879. months officially on duty in connection with the

Paris 19 May 1878

Dear Campbell,

Telegraph the following words to Bredon:' “Discontinue Hammond salary”, and to Wright, Customs, S’hai, the following figures:—

23408 22180 21337 03327 09390 23809

22059 17013 .

The telegram from Wright told me that Porter had been suspended, and that Taintor had shot himself (suicide) on the 16th! Worry on worry, Yours truly, Robert Hart

[267] JULY 1878 1. Hart left two men in charge of the Inspectorate until he went on leave in September 1878, when during his absence: Robert Bredon and William I.M. Daae, commissioner at Chinkiang, took over. Cartwright. Bredon, who had been commissioner F.E. Wright was audit secretary until September officiating at Canton in 1876-1877, became chief 1878, James Smith assistant audit secretary after

secretary. Cartwright, who had been Chinese that. Secretary since May 1875, continued in that post

Paris

9 July 1878 Dear Campbell,

I have yours of the 8th,—H/11 and H/12.' Let the Gunboat reply wait, and don’t fash yourself about Easterbrook.” _ Thad a pleasant journey and had as queer a meeting as any that preceded on board the steamer. All my people well here. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. During Hart’s absence from China (March 1878 A and Z letters. to May 1879) Campbell numbered his letters in an

H series; on Hart’s return to Peking he resumed the 2. “Fash” is Scottish for vex.

Paris

9 July 1878: Dear Campbell,

Kindly send me back the enclosed sheet after you have got Henderson to write replies to the queries it contains. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Paris

10th July 1878 Dear Campbell,

I have yours of the 9th:—also one from Mr. P. Campbell of the O.B.C. Please tell Mr. Campbell that I have no official knowledge of the Loan he refers to, but

[268] THEI. G. INPEKING

that Hu Tao-tai was promised that an Edict would be issued on his completing arrangements to get the money: the loan, however, was to have been a Chinese loan (i.e. was not to have gone to the foreign market), and the Bonds were not to have been sealed by our offices. In such a loan I should not care to risk my money: perhaps the Govt. may repay Bondholders (Chinese) in buttons and not in sycee! What made me talk to you of the loan as safe was that Robertson’s telegram (i.e. the one Lamond told me of on the 6th of July)’ said that the loan was to have been of the same kind as before—that is, be by Edict and the Bonds signed by Customs’ Commissioners. Issued by Edict and with Bonds signed by Customs’ Commissioners, a Chinese loan is the safest investment going: issued without Edict and Bonds not signed by Commissioners, | yet think the money would be repaid supposing Prince Kung were to write to Legation that he had authorised it—that is, safe during his life-time. The only formalities the Bank should hold out for are 1°. Edict, 2°. Signatures of Customs’ Commissioners, and 3°. Seal of Govt. of Province,—but these it ought to have; on the other hand, Bonds receivable in payment of Customs’ duties, sealed by the Imperial Commissioner and Taotais concerned, would be fairly good (but not the best) security. Anything short of these two ways of doing it, would be accepting a risk and not obtaining a security. Show this to Mr. Campbell. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Lamond was on the staff of the Oriental Banking Corporation in London.

Paris | 13 July 1878

Dear Campbell,

I have your H/15 of the 12th. The H. & S. Bank Loan of 1877 was duly authorised by Imperial Edict. R’s telegram can only be explained in three ways:— 1°. There is some confusion at the bottom of it. The new loan (i.e. the one that is now being negotiated) was probably the one his interlocutor referred to; or 2°. R. is playing against the H. & S. Bank; or 3°. R. is speculating for a fall in the 1877 stock, and is trying to bring a fall about. _ An Edict never leaves the Palace; it is only a copy that goes out. Thus the H. & S. Bank has not the Edict in its possession, but an Edict was certainly put on record in the Palace to sanction the Loan. I have a good lump of money in the loan in question, and I am in no degree Or manner uneasy about it. I cannot understand how R. could have sent home such a telegram, and, as I do not believe him to be either a fool or a knave, I am puzzled as to where to locate him!

[269] JULY 1878

I have also your H/14 of the 11th. Russell’s letter calls for no reply. I have nothing to add to you to what I said before: I want to get rid of the paper with the least possible delay— and, of course, with as little loss as possible. Do what you think best, but do not give R. (or anybody else) any hold on us! If McKean asks you where I am to be about the 20th July, you can say in Paris. If any parcel from the Statistical Office reaches you for the Commission here (containing Catalogues) send it over quickly. Kindly send me four copies of the Yamen’s circular letter (English, French, German and Chinese).’ Weather here cold and wet, and I’m coughing again. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Early in 1878 Hart had drafted for the Yamen extraterritoriality, and the most-favored-nation a circular to be presented to those governments clause. The Yamen endorsed the circular and sent having treaties with China. His purpose was to it out as an official despatch to its newly estabmake clear the Chinese position on four subjects lished ministers abroad. involved in treaty revisions: transit trade, likin,

Paris

13 July 1878 Dear Campbell,

Kindly send the accompanying telegram to Bredon. Yours truly, Robert Hart From I.G. Telegraph approximate tonnage balances a/c C Hongkong and S’hai on first August. Bring Daae to Peking before September. Ohlmer has forgotten to send exact measurements of rooms etc. in new house. Too late now.

Paris

18 July 1878 Dear Campbell,

As arule my letters are posted the day after they are written: i.e. this dated 18th will be posted 19th.

[270] THE I. G. IN PEKING

Kindly send appended telegram to Bredon.

, Robert Hart Yours truly,

From I.G. Wu-Hu Hemp Case: Whether conjointly or alone resume and complete the investigation, giving formal or official notice of intention to do so to both Legation and local Consulate. Do not omit to prove and establish every point referred to in despatch to Woodruff and observe my sequence. R. Hart

20 / Paris

26 July 1878

Dear Campbell,

Will you kindly get me a Passport. If they can be made out in such a way, it may be well for mine to be for myself, wife and two children; but if one cannot be got for all, one for myself will suffice as Mrs. Hart has one and the children would probably be allowed to go on without any such document. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. My age is 43: Height 5’8”: Birthplace Portadown.

208 Paris

27 July 1878

Dear Campbell,

I have your H/22. Don’t correspond further with Easterbrook. We would not enforce the fine if we did not feel sure of mala fides: but we want to be told that manifests are false (i.e. simply not wilfully false) where anything is omitted that ought to be manifested.’ I shall probably start for Ischl on Tuesday the 30th.” My right hand and right arm fell asleep in the train on Thursday morning last and I really feared that paralysis might be more of a probability in the future than I had been counting on. I have not the slightest objection to being snuffed out in a second if the law will let them

[271] JULY 1878

bury me immediately; but I should be very unwilling to be a helpless invalid on the hands of my friends for even a month! I hope Mrs. Campbell is off the sick list. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Hart refers here to the case of the Taiwan. The Once again the Yamen, through Hart and CampTaiwan was a British steamer from Hongkong which bell, sought the opinion of eminent legal counsel

arrived in Foochow February 21, 1878, and was in England, and once again the consular court’s discovered to be carrying about 3 cwt. of opium finding was overturned. Two groups of distinguished that was not listed in the ship’s manifest. C. London lawyers decided in China’s favor in August Hannen, the Customs commissioner, asked the 1878. The case was not closed, however, until British consulate to impose on the captain a fine August 1882, when Wade fined the captain. of T1s. 500, the amount stipulated by treaty. The The principle established by the case was that ship’s cook and steward (both Chinese), who had the manifest presented on entering a port must smuggled the opium in, were arrested and turned contain an accurate account of all goods on board, over to the British consul, as servants of Britons. without exception, whether liable to duty, proThe captain maintained that his ignorance of the hibited, or duty free, and whether with bills of concealed opium excused him from the charge of lading or not (see letter 215). having submitted a false manifest, and hence from

payment of the fine. The British consular court 2. Bad Ischl is near Salzburg, in the Salzkammer-

found him not guilty, and the British chargé in gut, Austria. Peking (Hugh Fraser) upheld the verdict.

Paris

28 July 1878 Dear Campbell,

I enclose or rather append a telegram for Bredon.

Robert Hart ,

Yours truly,

Telegram for Bredon:

From I.G. Firstly. Gun vessels. If ordered this year Alpha class two will cost each twentysix thousand one hundred and fifty pounds, four will cost each twenty-five thousand five hundred pounds; Gamma class two will cost each thirty-three thousand three hundred pounds, four will cost each thirty-two thousand five hundred pounds. Recent improvements enable builder to supply safer and faster vessels and more powerful guns for above prices than the four already supplied. Secondly. Chinese Legation in Russia.’ Best man to accompany Minister Chung is Professor Hagen.” Peking College vacancy employ Hagen’s friend Telegraph Office Siberia.

| [272] THEI. G. IN PEKING Thirdly. Move Yamen send first-rate man to London if Kuo returns to China. I think Ting jih Chang would willingly come. Also say that my bodily condition is unsatisfactory. Medical men advise me not to work. Fourthly. Tell Ohlmer to send a/c system by Wright for Campbell inspection. Also send me general plan and detailed measurements of new ground and buildings. Accept Harrington resignation but do not grant any allowance.’ Retain Kopsch at Kiukiang. Do not appoint acting audit Secretary on Wright leaving.

| Hart

28/8/78"

1. In July 1878, Chinese Turkestan having been at the T’ung-wen kuan; he was to be replaced there brought back under Chinese control, Russia was by “his friend in the Telegraph Office Siberia.” informed that China was now ready to resume her administration of Ili. To this end Ch’ung-hou 3. Harrington had been appointed professor of was being sent to St. Petersburg to negotiate a astronomy at the T’ung-wen kuan in 1877.

treaty. He did not actually arrive there until Janu- |

ary 1879. 4. By aslip of the pen Hart dated his telegram incorrectly; it should have been 28/7/78.

2. Professor Hagen had taught Russian and German

Paris

28 July 1878 Dear Campbell,

I have your H/23 and now return “‘the case” and your query-paper with my replies and remarks. Mr. Hutchins may think it small—and indeed most questions at first are small—but, for us in China, it is important to have the best opinion possible: so, get two sets, and let us have such Counsels’ opinion as shall carry authority among a/official, b/ commercial, and c/ shipping people. Glad to hear Mrs. Campbell is seemingly better. We are all going to Ischl and hope to be arrived there and housed before the end of the week. Yours truly, Robert Hart

, 30 July 1878 Paris

Dear Campbell,

Thanks for H/24 and 25. What you say is quite right: I am looking at the C’s publication from another point of

[273] JULY 1878

view.’ It is sure to find its way out, and I wanted to put the public on the right scent in the matter of the interpretation of its intent and signification. All things considered it will be best to do as you say, i.e. not publish it. In getting the Yamen to write and Kuo to read it our chief end has already been accomplished. Please give Kuo four copies of the four-language printed version: one for his English and one for his French interpreter and, if he sees his way to sending them as more convenient for use than the written version already sent, one for the English and another for the French F.O.

We start on Thursday, Ist August, and hope to sleep at Ischl on Friday night. |

What is Kuo doing in England? | Please send on enclosed in your next cover to Peking.

Yours truly, : Robert Hart 1. This letter refers to the Yamen circular to its foreign ministers (see letter 204n1).

Paris

31 July 1878 Dear Campbell,

Thanks for H/26. When you again see Kuo tell him he is altogether mistaken. I have felt no coldness and have consciously shown none—I do not talk French well and know nothing of Paris or its people, and as Giquel seemed inclined to do the honours of the place, I thought it best to leave it to him—a Frenchman—to do so. I enclose Martin’s telegram (it came in duplicate) for your file of Peking news. I shall telegraph or write you my address once I am settled at Ischl. We are now all packed up and will be off direct to-morrow morning. Afong and Laurent return next week, to China. Charles stays here to look after the house till the end of September, and then Jamieson will take charge of my spare boxes pro tem.’ Answer enclosed letter, please. No vacancies. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Laurent had been an office boy in the Peking office; Chan Afong and Charles were servants.

[274] THEI. G. INPEKING

No. 74 Hotel Bauer Ischl

7 August 1878 Dear Campbell,

It is amusing to find Kuo so anxious to obtain ratification for what the Yamen feigned to value so little; but why does he want you to draft the letter to ““Limerick”? Has he not some ideas or arguments of his own to communicate? He cannot expect to make Limerick act, and his despatch must be therefore only “empty thunder” for the Yamen to receive and re-echo: why then does he want you to brew the thunder? Is it to be able to say, when it is proved to be empty, that it was brewed by—not himself? However this may be, beware of all unnecessary responsibility. I have telegraphed in reply that the opportunity appears favourable for communicating the printed copy of the circular and for remarking that it is the Chinese interpretation of existing stipulations: to this, the remark ought to be added that native trade is immense, and that, as treaties tie the hands of the Govt. wherever foreign trade is concerned, Governmental requirements and native merchants’ interests alike require that native trade shall be duly considered when foreign trade wants concessions or is legislated for. This will prepare the way to throw in the remark that consequently, while China is ready to hear what Europe has to say about Likin and is anxious to meet as far as possible Europe’s wishes, China can only do so as far as is really possible—that is to say the Govt. cannot tie its hands together, for, to meet special emergencies, to protect native merchants, it must not legislate so unfairly as to let foreign kill native traders. The Govt., to be able to exist, must have money, and, to be entitled to exist, must think for its own people. So that China’s own view of Likin is of more importance than even the collective view of treaty powers. Likin is not a tax: it is a staple article of food on the Government Menu. As regards opium: K should say, 1°. China would, of all things, be glad to see its importation ended. 2°. This unobtainable, the next best thing would be to stop smuggling it in, and that this can best be done by letting the Customs at the ports collect the entire tax on arrival.’ This place is very beautiful. I am sorry I did not come two months sooner. truly, | RobertYours Hart 1. According to Section III of the Chefoo conven- stances of each.” tion of 1876, opium was to be treated differently Taxes collected at the port of entry by the Cusfrom other imports: (a) it was to be bonded on toms Service went to the central government; taxes arrival; (b) the importer was to pay the customs collected along the way through a province were duty, the purchaser the likin; and (c) the amount collected by local officials and went to the provinof likin was to be decided by the different pro- cial treasury. See letters 32n2 and 180n3. vincial governments “‘according to the circum-

{275] AUGUST 1878

Ischl 10 August 1878

Dear Campbell, }

I wrote you a longish letter about a week ago, and, since I came here I have received your H/27, 28, and 29. When W. said that the ratification only concerned himself and Li, why did not Kuo shut him up? The affair concerns England and China, and the people authorised to talk about it are Kuo in London and Fraser at Peking. W. and Li are only by courtesy allowed to touch

the matter at this moment.’ | The articles wanted for Peking are for 1°/ the I.G.’s house, and 2°/ the office buildings. I don’t know what sizes are asked for, but, as to quality good quality is wanted. I am glad you see your way to disposing of the paper.

I shall probably stay here till the 23rd and at Garsten till the 14th (Sept): after that, whether I shall make a sudden bolt for China or go back to London leisurely, I cannot today say. I think Iam improving: but it is a constant worry to hear a language I don’t understand, and to have to speak in another that I’m not master of! Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Wade was on home leave from November 1876 2. Garsten is in Austria, about fifty miles north-

to September 1878 (see letters 158 and 223). east of Bad Ischl.

Ischl 15 to 19 August 1878

Dear Campbell,

I have your letters H 30, 31, and 32. The legal opinions are all that one could wish.' They must have astonished Mr. Hutchins somewhat! At the same time I’d as soon they had been against us, for then we could have acted otherwise. I enclose plan of the house, to be returned when done with: I have no plans of the office buildings.

I can give no information about the Locks (except that the handles ought to be strong and not easily broken) or about the grates (except that I presume that ordinary-sized grates are wanted). Kindly send appended telegram to Bredon and enclosed letter to its address. My headaches begin on the slightest provocation, and the doctor here tells me to keep quiet and to avoid every kind of reading or writing! Absolute rest, he says, is what I want;

otherwise I am very well. .

[276] THEIL. G. IN PEKING

Of the three letters to ““Limerick”’, the /egal draft was the best, and K’s own the worst. K.’s was very bad. But I think the legal one was too legal to elicit any reply. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. We hope Mrs. Campbell is all right again and that the children are well. R. H.

P.S. Send manifest case and legal opinions in official letter of ordinary I.G. series to Peking, please. R.H.

For Bredon. From I.G. Manifest must state all cargo, and the word cargo signifies every article of merchandise conveyed by ship no matter whether dutiable, duty-free or prohibited, and no matter whether with or without Bill of Lading. Legal opinion strongly supports Customs and condemns consular interpretation of 37th article of British Treaty. Moreover legal opinion says Captain ought not to be allowed to correct any but clearly clerical errors after Customs discover omission. Move Yamen to send the Taiwan manifest case to Chinese Minister in London if Fraser rejects Customs’ interpretation, and state the case chronologically, clearly and fully. Tell Yamen I am still ailing and am ordered absolute rest and quiet by Doctors. Am now at Ischl. Query: who will succeed Kuo? R. Hart 15 August 1878 1. These must be the opinions of the two sets of

lawyers consulted on the Taiwan case.

Ischl

21 August 1878 Dear Campbell,

Kindly take a run down to Widmore Lodge and look at it and if you, by telegraph, report favourably, Pll take a run over at once and see it. I like that neighbourhood, and a house with a bit of ground round it is what I want. Are the surroundings pretty and is the house

oo (apparently) of a fairly durable kind? I think Li means business,—but don’t go ahead without the money! At the same time, it will be well to tell A. & Co. that an order is almost certain so that they may have the plans thought out.’ The telegram means that all four are wanted in spring. Tell A. & Co. that the

[277] AUGUST 1878

cabin for the engineers ahead of the shell-room, is not wanted in China, and that the range of houses on either side of the funnel ought to be lengthened. I have got a wonderful appetite and can walk a good deal without being tired, but headache results immediately if I read or write. I wonder why James Hart telegraphed to ask about my movements. The Loan is all right. Edicts are never sent out: the Yamen concerned receives a despatch from the Secretariat of the Emperor notifying that an Edict to such and such an effect has reached it from the Emperor. In the Loan case the Secretariat sent the usual communication to the Yamen, and the Yamen communicated the fact of the issue of the Edict to the Legation and to the Customs, and to all the others concerned. J am sure it is quite in order; the Loan is an Imperial or National loan. In the other case—where the Hongkong Bank agrees to lend to Hu Kwang Yung—it is simply an affair between the Bank and Hu.

I cannot lay my hand on the American Light Firm’s letter: I told McKean to look them up and ascertain if they are substantial people, and I fear I put their letter with the papers I left in Paris.?

It’s too late for Garsten and I don’t know where to go after the end of August—perhaps to Baden-Baden. If the Yamen wants me out, I'll go, of course. I hope you’re all well.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The official order for four more vessels of the 2. Edward McKean, commissioner at Pakhoi, was Gamma type, dated August 16, 1878, was already in America during 1878 to collect Customs money on its way from Bredon, acting for the Inspector from J.L. Hammond in Salem, Massachusetts (see

General in Peking, to Campbell. letter 224).

Ischl 21 August 1878 Dear Campbell,

Kindly send the appended telegram to Bredon.

| | Robert Hart Yours truly,

For Bredon. From I.G. Inform Yamen that I have suffered from torpor and headache since arrival. Best Medical advisers prescribe absolute rest from all brain work and recommend outside exer-

[278] THEI. G. INPEKING

cise; they further advise me to remain in Europe till spring. Ask Yamen if I may do so, but add that if wanted specially I will, according to promise, return at once. The Ischl baths dis-

| pel torpor but reading or writing make head ache. Telegraph Yamen’s reply quickly. Query: Is Daae at Peking? Query: who succeeds Kuo? Do not allow Hammond to assume charge.! Retain Kopsch at Kiukiang till spring. Hart 1. J.L. Hammond, an American in the Customs several times during the next year or so whether since 1859, had been commissioner at Swatow Hammond has sent remittances, though we do not during 1874-1875. He went on leave in 1876 and know for what these remittances were due. apparently did not return to China. Hart asks

Ischl 22 August 1878

Dear Campbell,

I got your two telegrams last night.—Thanks for your trouble in re Widmore Lodge: you are doing just what I am glad to have done.—As for Li,—I did not expect the order so soon, and I don’t know how they came to make up their minds so quickly! I am glad it comes so soon after our last enquiries at A. & Co.’s, and also that it comes through us, and, in that way, lets some of the gas out of G. & Co.’s balloon.’ I am telegraphing to you to-day to say that I think it would be well to keep the news of this order to ourselves (i.e., A. & Co., the O.B.C., you and me), and not communicate it to either Legation or G. I advise this to keep G. off the scene, otherwise he will be running to and fro, superintending—suggesting—and playing the part of (an impossible) busy-body in many a way: and it would be well to warn A. & Co. to give no information to anyone, and to remember that no one but ourselves have any say in the matter. The Legation will not hear of it in writing for six weeks more, and possibly Kuo may be off by that time: at all events. I’d not volunteer the information for many a day to come. Does B.P. & Lepper’s Register contain anything of a likely to be more acceptable or suitable kind than Widmore Lodge? Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. “G. and Co.” are Giquel and his associates, who were rival agents.

[279] AUGUST1878 |

Ischl 24 August 1878

Dear Campbell,

I have H/36 and 37. a/. As regards Easterbrook, I enclose a S/O note that may be of some use to you.’ Don’t make any concessions and don’t let Kuo touch the affair. b/. As regards gunboats, go ahead: but keep the affair to yourself. I don’t want Kuo or Giquel or Li Feng Pao, etc., etc., etc. to touch the work.” I suppose ‘“‘Lodgment made” refers to the payment of the first instalment by the Taotai to the O.B.C. (At first I thought the words ought to have read ““Lowder dead’’!) c/. As regards Widford Lodge, kindly have a look at it. I think it would suit me to a “T”’. d/. 1am now almost four weeks here. It is too late for Garsten, and we think of BadenBaden. (I am sure J should have done wiser had I remained at Newcastle in Ireland: this place is very relaxing, and my headaches are again troublesome.) If you report well of Widford Lodge, we'll ““work homewards’”’—see the place—leave Evey at Bournemouth and arrange future plans (pending Bredon’s and Yamen’s reply to my telegram).? e/. I wish you’d telegraph to Jim and ask this question: “Why do you want to know the I.G.’s movements?’”* There’s more in his question than appears on the surface.

Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. To write a history of the Customs’ Service could only be done from manuscripts in my possession at Peking—or from long Memos to be supplied by me. Capt. B. can find a reliable account of its early days in a Blue-Book in the Memorandum I wrote for Sir Frederick Bruce in 1864-5. g/. It would not be worth Lang’s while to throw up the “Magpie” but if he were at home, he’d be a good man to take out all four.° I don’t think any of G’s Lieutenants quite up to the mark yet. It will be time enough to look for men after the launch—will it not? R.H.

1. S/O stands for semi-official. who had brought the Gamma out to China in 1877 (see letter 179) and whom Hart would have

2. See letter 221. liked to bring out the new ships, was now at sea in command of the Magpie, a British naval vessel.

3. Evey was left at a school in Bournemouth when Lang was in fact persuaded to bring out the ships

the rest of the family returned to China in 1879. in 1879 (see letters 253 and 260). By “G’s lieutenants” Hart means the Chinese

4. James Hart was commissioner at Shanghai at trained under Giquel at Foochow (see letter 76n2)

this time. and then brought to England and France for further naval training.

5. Captain William M. Lang of the British navy,

[280] THE I. G. IN PEKING

Ischl

27 August 1878

Dear Campbell, The last from you is No. 39, and I have also received your audit sec. telegram and the telegram to say that Widmore Lodge is unsuitable. a/. Gunboats: part of the condition is that they shall go out in the spring of 1879. The idea of “studying the novelty” is a little antiquated now. So hurry. And as regards telling—tell when you are asked and not sooner. Sign contracts as before. b/. Audit Sec. has another cipher—not the same as yours—so send me his figures please. The only intelligible word to me in the telegram (so far) is 26069: which you could not make out. c/. I think Chislehurst the nicest and most suitable locality for settling in.’ Anything under £20,000 but over that I could not go: that figure includes both “‘camel’”’ and “gnat’’. If I could get nicely planted ground in a fairly good position at £100 an acre, I should like from 30 to 50 acres, and I could build myself; failing this I should not like to have less than 10 to 15 acres round any house bought ready built. A nice neighbourhood and a good view.

We shall leave this on the Ist Sept. so do not write to this address after the 28th. We shall probably go to Baden-Baden; but as soon as we settle anywhere I shall telegraph my address. Hope you are all well. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Chislehurst is southeast of London, in Kent.

Hotel Victoria Baden-Baden 5 September 1878 Dear Campbell,

a/. I have your Nos. 42, 43, 45 and 46, and expect No. 44 from Ischl in a day or two. b/. I shall probably be here till the 20th. In the matter of health I am only “‘so-so”’. c/. The son of the great Tseng Kuo Fan (the “‘Hereditary Marquis”) succeeds Kuo, and Li Feng Pao goes to Berlin vice Liu, returning to Peking, as Chargé d’affaires.’ The first is a capital appointment. d/. From A. & Co.’s former letters the Chinese suppose that y-s can always be built in five months. With the four now in hand the great point will be to have them in Hongkong before the end of July, Kuo going, will not ask: Li, at Berlin, will not interfere: so keep it, as I said before, to yourself till Tseng arrives.

[281] SEPTEMBER 1878

e/. Chislehurst. I am in no special hurry to find a place: so don’t trouble yourself making searches, please: but if by chance you hear of anything likely in the market, let me know. f/. You can invite tenders from Chance and Barbier; on McKean’s return we’ll try the American. g/. 1 am glad to hear you have ended the newspaper affair. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Tseng Chi-tse, known in the West as Marquis dents in England and France in 1876-1877, while Tseng, was appointed minister to Britain and also acting as a purchasing agent for Li Hung-chang. France. He left Shanghai November 22, 1878, He continued his purchasing activities throughout arrived in Paris January 4, 1879, and presented his ministerial appointment to Germany until he his credentials six days later. He went on to En- was dismissed in 1884 for making personal gains of

gland early in February. over a million taels on ship orders. Li Feng-pao had supervised a group of naval stu-

Baden-Baden 10 September 1878

Dear Campbell, ) I have received No. 44 from Ischl, and also yours Nos. 47 and 48. A. & Co. in giving the second “‘Gatling”’ act liberally. Sheng has all sorts of people making enquiries, and I don’t think we ought to do more than get things for him, and then only when he sends the money.’ Kindly send appended telegram to Bredon. If any cover reaches you from Adele, Vienna, appearing to contain Photos, please Keep it till we reach London. This place is much better than Ischl: and I am fairly well as long as I am idle, but I require,

to be well, to be left to myself and not called upon to play or work. Glad to hear Mrs. Campbell and the children are all the better for their trip. Yours truly, Robert Hart For Bredon. From I.G. Has the Hulk moved? If not yet moved, request Yamen to instruct Kuo by telegraph to inform F.O. that Consular opposition is still continued. Do not send either B. or D. with Chung How.” When will he start?

| Hart

P.S. Kindly ask the Secretary of the Athenaeum when my name is likely to come up for bal-

lot. Sir Rutherford put it down for me some six or eight years ago. R.H.

[282] THE I. G. IN PEKING

1, Sheng Hsiian-huai, the director of the China 2. B. may refer to H.O. Brown, who had gone to Merchants’ Steam Navigation Co. (see letter 169n2), Germany with Liu Hsi-hung as an interpreter in

frequently acted as an agent for Liin purchasing 1877 (see letter 18n4). D. may be Detring. matters.

Baden-Baden 11 September 1878

Dear Campbell,

Your official report, as far as it goes, is all right, but I think it would be well to add a paragraph to explain why 25- and 35-ton guns, instead of 26%4- and 38-ton, are given. Is the diameter (the mouth and barrel) the same, or smaller? I append a telegram for Bredon. It’s odd there’s nothing more from McKean! Yours truly, Robert Hart For Bredon. From I.G. Do not make any changes in the Inspectorate Staff. If Hagen will not suit, try Piry (Peri) or Schjoth (Shoot).’ Wade returns next week. Hart

1. P. Piry, French, had joined the Customs in enced. Also, the record indicates that A.T. Piry November 1857; his son, A.T. Piry, had joined in stayed at Pakhoi between 1877 and 1880. On the April 1874. Hart may be referring to either one, Piry family see letter 282n6. though probably the former as the more experi-

Baden-Baden 12 September 1878

Dear Campbell,

I have your H/50, and agree with all you say about Mining Plant orders, etc. You can send the appended telegram to Bredon. I also append a telegram for McKean: I know no other address.

Do you happen to know Glover’s whereabouts or intended movements? Also do you know a man in the Home Office named Roupell? Look up the List please, and let me know what he is. We see a good deal of him here, and find him a pleasant companion at the Table-d’‘hote.

[283] SEPTEMBER 1878

Is Kuo in London or in Paris? I suppose he’ll hardly get away in time from Europe “to save” the Tientsin river this season. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Kindly inform Major Kinder, c/o O.B.C., that I know of no engineering vacancy in China for his son. R.H.

For Bredon. From I.G. Inform Engineer Crookstown that London Secretary Campbell cannot attend to his wants unless when requisitions are sent through the Inspectorate General.’ Do not send on such requisitions unless money for payment is lodged. How long were Tientsin clerks absent on famine relief errand? Hart To Edward McKean, Essex House, Salem,

US. Demand payment in writing. If refused, ask for refusal to be put in writing. Whether obtained or not, return to London when convenient. Hart 1. A.W. Crookston (erroneously spelled Crooks- in April 1877 as mining engineer and was stationed town in the letter), British, had joined the Customs at Kiukiang.

Baden-Baden 13 September 1878

Dear Campbell,

I have your No. 53. a/. Tell Mr. Jnnocent (not Millicent) that I cannot give him a nomination. (We have one of that ilk already and one is quite enough.)' b/. Bredon’s telegram, received last night, tells me I may remain in Europe, and adds that the “Taiwan case”’ (false manifest) is referred to England. c/. Kindly wire the appended to Hammond.

[284] THEI. G. IN PEKING

The weather is very good here: I spend eight hours daily in the open air and fancy [am _ feeling better. Yours truly, Robert Hart To James Lennard Hammond, Chinese Customs Commissioner, Salem,

US. The order is peremptory. Either hand balance to McKean or remit to London as previously directed on receipt of this telegram. Hart Inspector General 1. The “one of that ilk” was J.W. Innocent, an 1877. Possibly one of his brothers was asking for Englishman who had entered the Customs in July a nomination.

Baden- Baden 24 September 1878

Dear Campbell,

If you know any of the functionaries at the Athenaeum and can set it agoing I shall be very glad to be made a member before my name comes up—ten years hence(!). We leave this on the Ist Oct. and remain in Paris on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th. We go on to London on the 5th October (Saturday). Kindly call in at the St. James’ Hotel and tell them I shall want a sitting room and four beds on the first floor (if possible) to be ready for occupation on Saturday the 5th at 6 P.M. Kindly send on enclosed to Bredon. Ask McKean to await my arrival in London. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Hotel du Louvre Paris

3 October 1878

Dear Campbell, ,

We have a terrible lot of luggage—more than four cabs could carry! Will you kindly tell your Office-keeper to find some sort of a trap—something like the kinds of omnibus for hire

[285] NOVEMBER 1878

here—and be at the Cannon St. station with it before the arrival of the mail train from Dover on Saturday evening, about half past five. Tell him to be on the platform to meet us: he can then get the luggage and take it to the St James’ Hotel at leisure, while we go on in advance. I have again caught cold, and I don’t want to have to loiter about the platform long on an October evening. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Paris

13 October 1878 Dear Campbell,

Kindly wire appended telegram to Bredon. | Yours truly, Robert Hart For Bredon. From I.G. You must yourself visit Tientsin and see Li and Detring. First: inform Li four new steamers will differ slightly from but will be superior to ““Gamma” and new gun will be better than old. New gun is lighter but longer; throws a smaller shot but burns more powder; aim surer, penetrating power greater. New vessels and guns will be best afloat. Such valuable boats and guns ought not be sent by contract, no guarantee for care: Inspectorate could not safely undertake such responsibility. Second; see Detring. Read Jamieson’s despatch 21 to Detring of 17th May; obtain and wire concisely before leaving Tientsin complete answers to all its queries also our exact position with carpenter Sung concerning office framework and facade; instruct Detring besides to write forthwith. N.B. Go down at once and fully finish before returning to Peking. Health much as before. Hart

Brighton 3 November 1878 Dear Campbell,

Your telegram just in. I shall call for you at your office between three and four to-morrow afternoon, on my way to Paris: so don’t come down here, please. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[286] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Brighton 17 November 1878 Dear Campbell,

Please add to the list of men nominated the names of the first Blair (wot Murray) and | Horneck.’ I am writing to the other Blair to say “‘no”’. The remittance through the outside Bank leads me to suppose either that James Hart or Robertson have had a difference, or that the latter refused to remit. Any reply yet about the second instalment for the gunboats? If not, send on a query to James Hart at once.’ Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Neither Murray Blair nor his brother is heard of 2. James Hart was at this time commissioner in the again, and Horneck failed to pass the qualifying Shanghai office, which included the audit office. examinations.

Brighton 17 November 1878

Dear Campbell, | Kindly send on the enclosed, and, in another cover, Mr. Murray Blair’s photo and testimonials:—also write to his brother and to Mr. Horneck that you have put their names on the nominated list. Any word of Captain Lang’s return from China? The sun has actually come out—the first time I have seen it for ten days!

Yours truly, Robert Hart

7

Brighton 20 November 1878 Dear Campbell,

Herewith Blair’s other papers, and a letter for China. Jamieson telegraphs “‘all the decorations have come”’: so I suppse that affair is all right.

| [287] NOVEMBER 1878 I left papers and letters on your office mantel-piece the other day: also Ohlmer’s plan of the Inspectorate Grounds (new). Kindly send them down here. I also enclose the Shantung map bill. We don’t want the stoves, and the amount is (I believe) as agreed on. It can be paid and put to Statistical a/c. We have fine weather here, but I am kept in the house by my heel. Dr. Macrae has sent me another inhaler, but I have not used it yet.’ When do you go north?

. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Dr. Macrae was the Harts’ London physician, ined men on sick leave; he helped write the Cuswho continued over the years to send Robert Hart toms medical reports; he lectured at the Health pills, prescriptions, and advice. He also had various Exhibit in London in 1884. connections with the Customs Service: he exam-

Brighton 21 November 1878 Dear Campbell,

a/. Don’t take the trouble to pen a Memo. about your office work: 1°. you must have all necessary assistance, 2°. J must have someone at hand competent to take your place if you break down or if I call you to China, and 3°. we ought to use it to give a little training to some of our men. b/. You may send for Kerr and keep him for a year or so from the end of Dec.’ c/. Did they make Novion officier?? d/. I shall send you a telegram for Bredon in a few days. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. J.A. Kerr failed the qualifying examinations in 2. Hart is asking here whether A. Novion had been 1879 but in 1880 was taken on probation into the made Officier de la Légion d’Honneur for his work London Office, where he was reported to be doing on the Chinese exhibit at the Paris Exhibition. good work in 1881. He is listed as having offi- Actually, though Hart speaks in his next letter of cially joined the Service in January 1879. He went Glover, Detring, and Bredon as having received on to various positions in China, where he died in this honor, and ‘“‘Novion promised,” the Customs

1897. Service Lists record this distinction for only Bredon and Detring.

[288] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Brighton

| 26 November 1878 Dear Campbell,

Kindly send on the appended telegram to Bredon. Yours truly, Robert Hart For Bredon. Telegram.— Newspaper list incomplete: Glover, Detring and Bredon also receive decoration with officer

rank, and Novion promised. Inform Detring, and add: postal extension letter received, but too late to be acted on.’ State further that that letter ought have been sent through Peking Secretary. Date all further telegrams. Hart 26th Nov. 1878 1. See letter 184n3.

Brighton 28 November 1878

Dear Campbell,

a/. | have No. 70 of the 27th. What a lot of letters you have written! b/. Tallack’s report reads well; but I think he goes at the work in a way that relieves Sir W.A. & Co. from the moral responsibility I put on them.’ c/. Breaker Point, of course, must stand over.”

d/. It is too cold in the north for me to go up now. e/. When you next see Kuo ask him for his Chinese version of Wade’s despatch, and say that if he will put down alongside the translation what he did say or did not say, I shall help him out of the difficulty at Peking. For 1°/. I certainly may have misunderstood him. 2°/. Wade may have misunderstood or mis-reported me, and 3°/. I never made any report of the talk to Wade, but simply, in a general conversation with him about “‘the situation’, said that Kuo had said so-and-so when calling on me. Wade wrote his regrets to me long ago and said he never intended this despatch to be published. f/. Col. Duncan called the other day. g/. Dubois is to be paid from your office (like Hippisley) for Nov. and Dec.* Jamieson will give you particulars. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[289] DECEMBER 1878

1. Tallack was the Customs Service’s forwarding lightkeeper. See letter 313n2. agent in London.

3. J.F. Dubois, French, had been a member of the

2. Hart had plans for a lighthouse on Breaker Customs’ Out-door Staff since 1865. He now held Point, near Amoy. The reason for its delay is not the rank of assistant examiner and had apparently clear, but it was finally functioning for the first been on home leave, so he was to collect his halftime, and pronounced by Hart a success, in Janu- pay from the London Office. He later became a ary 1881. C.M. Peterson, Swedish, was its first chief boat officer.

Brighton 13 December 1878 Dear Campbell,

1°. Ihave not yet written to Kuo. 2°. 1am sorry E’brook is ‘‘worrying” you. 3°. Jones and Craven have already been answered. Why say “‘no” twice? 4°. Kerr must either take “no”? now, or come up again in a year’s time. 5°. I should like to settle account Z with you up to 31st Dec., so as to commence clear again from Ist January 1879. 6. I shall be in London on way to Bournemouth on Thursday next, and again, on way back on Saturday 21st. 7°. Head not right yet: I can read longer, but the worry of deciding between “yes” and “no” very quickly gives pain.

, Robert Hart Yours truly,

Dear Campbell, : 18 December 1878

I enclose your Z Passbook, and also a cheque for £100 which I want, please, to be cashed for me: £50 in £5 Bank Notes, and the remainder (£50) in Sovereigns and Half-Sovereigns. Mrs. Hart and I may possibly peep into your office about one o’clock to-morrow on our way from the Victoria to the Waterloo Station.

: Yours truly, Robert Hart

The Pills sent me by Kirby and Co. at Dr. Macrae’s request have apparently done me much good; my head has been stronger these last few days. Kindly send your messenger to ask for six dozen more and let him pay for the three dozen sent (3/6d) a/c enclosed. R.H.

[290] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Brighton

27 December 1878

Dear Campbell, | I have given a nomination to a Mr. Giles Lloyd (to a limited competition Examination): if he applies, you can give him the information usually placed at the disposal of candidates. I return Dr. R’s letter: glad we have done with the affair.' I also enclose a letter for O’Brien, whose address I don’t know. I also enclose a crossed cheque” in your favour on a/c Z, No. 156, for £305/18/5. Jamieson has some suggestions to make concerning various people and offices in France: he thinks they ought to be sent our Customs’ publications regularly. Please communicate with him and procure his list. D’ Arnoux and de Sombreuil (like Dubois) wish to have their half pay from the London Office for Nov. and Dec. This can be done for them.° 1. Dr. R. was Dr. Russell, whose “‘affair’’ was the cates that it must be deposited in a bank account

Customs newspaper (see letter 221). in the name of the recipient. It can not be honored

. in any other way.

2. The writer of a crossed check, by drawing two

parallel lines obliquely across the check face, indi- 3. This letter has no closing and no signature.

[Brighton] 5 January 1879 Dear Campbell,

I suppose Kuo may now soon be looked for,—so I send my reply to wait his return, or (if you think he’ll not be back soon) to be forwarded to Paris. I send it open for your perusal: pray seal and send it on and don’t take any more trouble in the matter. I drafted the reply a fortnight ago, but only copied it out again to-day. I am in the dentist’s hands too, and can sympathise with your sufferings to some extent. The “Thunderer”’ explosion did not surprise or alarm me.’ Such things must happen, and, no matter how much better Sir W. A. & Co.’s guns are, one of them will sooner or later do the same thing. I should rather not be one of the people about it on such an occasion! [’ll have a telegram for Bredon this week, and we’ll put your sentence in.

' Tseng can of course go to the trial trip etc., but such a launch would not be worth visiting. You can tell Kleinwachter Junior that he will not be wanted for seven or eight months to come: let him present himself for examination in August.” Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. I return Bredon’s letter.

[291] JANUARY 1879 1. H.M.S. Thunderer, a 9,330-ton ship, the levia- “younger.” G.H.J. Kleinwachter was the younger than of the British Navy, carried the heaviest guns brother of Customs commissioner F. Kleinwachter. then afloat—two 12-inch 38-ton muzzle-loaders. He entered the Service in December 1879 but had a stormy career, being subject to melancholia, and

2. “Junior” in this instance means simply was discharged in 1885.

Lion Mansion, Brighton. 9 January 1879 Dear Campbell,

I have your H/88 of the 8th. Better nurse your jaw than go north in such weather—unless you think the trip will do you good. I shall probably spend February in London. All my business matters must then be gone

into and settled. Do you know anything about the “Clarendon” Hotel? I enclose a letter for Mrs. Maze and append a telegram for Bredon.’

Yours truly, , Robert Hart

For Bredon, Wellesley 9 October report means Hulk plus bridge piles did the damage. This sufficiently supports Henderson’s opinion. Accordingly Hulk must not resume old berth under former conditions: i.e. if old berth is resumed, pile bridge must be removed. Order Noetzli resume charge Returns Desk Shanghai Customs. ““Thunderer”’ burst gun constructed on Woolwich cheap plan disapproved by Armstrong.” Telegraph all official balances round numbers first instant. Health improving but plans still unsettled.

Robert Hart 1. Hart’s sister Mary was Mrs. James Maze. 2. The royal military academy and arsenal were at Woolwich, a borough of London.

Brighton 12 January 1879 My dear Campbell,

You worry yourself unnecessarily: Li has not recurred to the “send them out by contract like merchant ships” idea,and Bredon was/is merely writing a second letter about what, telegraphed then/now reached usa couple of months ago. If possible, we'll get these youngsters

[292] THEI. G. IN PEKING

subjected to a Board of Trade examination, and then send them out as supernumeraries.’ But it will be time enough to go about this when—i.e. a month before the vessels are ready to start for the East. The boats are too small for mixed crews where officers must be duplicated: so we'll just send them as we did the last time—Captain Engineer and Gunner—to stay by each one month after transfer. You need not send the proposed telegram. Don’t order the spare ammunition till the funds are in hand. (P.S. my recollections are rather hazy, and I don’t know whether you have or have not ordered it already: if ordered, all right/i.e. go on and telegraph—if not, wait for the funds.) Please send the appended telegram to Bredon.

| Yours truly, Robert Hart

P.S. Jamieson is to send my Sévres Vases to Storey’s Gate: pray let them remain there

for me. .

R.H.

For Bredon. Yours 20 November. Hope to reach Peking May or June. Will not occupy new house till October. Cartwright can leave first June. Special instructions concerning Kleinwachter sent you by mail. Hart 12 Jany. 1879 1. Mariners’ licenses were issued by the Board of training in Europe. See letter 76n2. Trade. ““These youngsters’? were presumably young Li Hung-chang would have liked the ships to be

Chinese naval students now furthering their brought out under Chinese officers.

Brighton 13 January 1879 Dear Campbell,

Kindly address and send on the enclosed cover to Lord Hammond (formerly Mr. Hammond of the Foreign Office). I don’t know his address.* Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Kindly remind Mr. Rendel about the ““Athenaeum”’ when the proper time comes round.” R.H.

| [293] JANUARY 1879 1. Edmund Hammond had been undersecretary of 2. Stuart Rendel was a member of Armstrong &

state from 1854 to his retirement in 1873; he Co., and later a baron and M.P. See letter 279n2. became Lord Hammond in February 1874.

17 January 1879 Dear Campbell,

Kindly read, close and send. (Letter to Kuo). Yours truly, Robert Hart

Brighton 19 January 1879 Dear Campbell,

Kindly add to the list of men who are to receive “competitive” nominations the following

names:1 1. Gilbert Augustus Cope, and 2. Mowbray Morris, and 3. Ernest Maltby.

I intend to give you six months’ pay for Exhibition Services, and also to make your salary £2000 a year from the first insant—not so much on account of length of service as for work well done: I think your office does immense credit not only to your own willingness, industry and intelligence, but to the Service itself. I enclose a Chinese card: kindly send it to Kuo ta-jen on the Chinese New Year’s day with my compliments and congratulations. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. None of these men seems to have entered the Service, however.

[294] THEI. G. IN PEKING

. Portadown 15 February 1879 Dear Campbell,

My address will be Shelborne Hotel, Stephen’s Green, Dublin, till Tuesday on which day I go back to London to the Langham. Has the Athenaeum Election come off yet?

| Yours truly, Robert Hart

If you know the address of von Fries (Vienna) or of von Scala, kindly write a note to either requesting von Fries to defer his return and to go out with us by the mail of the 25th March from Naples.’ 1. L. von Fries, Austrian, had joined the Customs Newchwang before going on leave.

in November 1873 and had been an assistant at ,

Shanghai 6 May 1879 [Red. June 19, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

We arrived yesterday morning, and are resting a day or two before going on. We had ExPresident Grant and party with us from Singapore, and, on the whole, had a fairly pleasant passage out.’ I have been seedy ever since we left Singapore—fever, diarrhoea, and head; and I now find several not very agreeable questions for myself to deal with. I am reinforcing my Peking staff, and going up with the firm intention to do no work myself that I can get another to do: so I hope to carry on the war for some time to come. Wade has not yet got this far; he is at Foochow; I hear he has told people that the law officers informed him he was altogether wrong in the ““Cadiz”’ case. Von Brandt has gone on to Peking, but not in good health. So I shall see the first moves of the diplomatists in the new revision and anti-Likin campaign.—I confess I had rather be growing cabbages in the north of Ireland! Kindly send on the enclosed.”

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Ulysses S. Grant was on his world tour. 2. There is no indication of what was enclosed.

[295] JUNE 1879

S/O Peking

3 June 1879 [Rcd. August 2, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

Please inform Novion and Jamieson that if they wish to do so they can remain in Europe, i.e. absent on half-pay till the 30th June 1880, but that, whether they return sooner or not (about which they can decide for themselves), I shall require them both to report for orders on, at latest, the 1st July 1880 at Shanghai. Will you also inform Hippisley, d’Arnoux and de Sombreuil that the latest date for them to report at Shanghai will similarly be the 1st January 1880. I am sending a telegram for Man to tell him that he will be required to take charge at Wuhu on the /st July 1879. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/\ 6 June 1879 Dear Campbell,

I recommence my Z letters, and this is No. 1 of a new series.’ We arrived here on the 26th May, all fairly well. I was seedy from Singapore to Tientsin; I think Malaria had got hold of me when sleeping on shore, and for a fortnight I felt much pulled down: I now begin to feel better. There’s a lot for me to do here, and a dozen difficult or nasty questions have been kept over for me. I shall make chief Sec. and Chinese Sec. carry on ordinary routine work, and I have brought up Porter to be Private Sec.; he speaks French and German and knows everyone in the Service and its history,—so I hope to make good use of him presently.” I myself am quite determined to do no unnecessary work; I shall never do what I can get another to do for me. In this way I hope to hold on for a few years more without sustaining any damage. I hope Mrs. Campbell and your youngsters are all well. With kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Enclosed is a cover for Mrs. Maze. R.H. 1. For a time now Hart numbered his letters in two matters. (See Editorial Note.) series: a resumption of the Z personal letters; and

an A series (in the following letter) for official 2. See letter 148n1.

[296] THEI. G. IN PEKING

A/1 9 July 1879

[Rcd. August 3, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

I have promised a nomination to Mr. Alick Henry Herbert Maclean (born Oct. 29th 1863: now at The Dutch House, Winchfield, Hants) and have requested him to put himself in communication with you in order that you may deal with him as you did with young Mr. Wadman—put him through a preliminary examination to test his present condition and find out what he promises to be, and let me know the result—so that he may either continue to look forward to a Customs’ career, or lose no time in directing his attention to something else.’ If you consider that he is promising enough to continue to prepare for us, give him some hints of a general kind as to the studies you think he ought to pay most attention to.

, Robert Hart Yours truly,

1. Alick Henry Herbert Maclean joined the Cus- friend at Ningpo, joined the Service in 1881, but toms in September 1882 but had a rather short whether it was Horace or his brother Hubert is not

career in China, resigning in 1891. clear (see letter 304). A man named H.E. Wadman, son of Hart’s old

Z/2 16 July 1879

[Rced. September 8, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

I have been here seven weeks. I only work in the office four hours daily: 9 to 12 and 3 to 4: and my health improves. That is, I am generally better than when I arrived; but anything like worry or overwork brings on headaches. The simple Bromide solution has twice freed me from already begun and very threatening headaches. I have got all the unanswered Port despatches answered; but I have not yet had time to look at the despatches answered by Bredon before my return, so that I have not yet got the doings of the past year into my head. I hope to take up your despatches tc-morrow; there are six or eight to be answered; and also to make some remarks on your telegrams and A letters (rec. to No. 161). Some of my A letters will probably go to you in Porter’s handwriting; I have made him Private Secy., and find him very useful. Bredon left us this morning to go to Frisco for his bride; he’ll be back in Nov.’ Meantime I have ordered up James Hart to do Chief Sec’s. work. Our household keeps well, and Bruce is becoming a fair fiddler and a good rider.” Wade escaped the ““Yesso”’ shipwreck, but was in that of the “Shun-lee”’,—the steamer we came up in from S’hai. He and I have exchanged “‘calls”, but talked no business. I hear he is very wroth about the “‘Cadiz”, and that he talks as angrily about the “Taiwan” (but does not seem to know that the Yamen has sent the ““Taiwan”’ case to England yet!).

[297] JULY 1879

I hope the O.B.C. will have found a second Stuart in its new Manager. Certainly poor S’s mantle had not fallen on the shoulders of either C. or L!° I hope Mrs. Campbell and your youngsters are all well. With kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart. P. S. Has Sir Rutherford’s article on the-Customs’ Service appeared yet? I enclose a note for ) Evey.

1. San Francisco; Bredon married an American month. girl,

3. C. is presumably Peter Campbell; L. is probably

2. Bruce Hart had turned six on the eighth of this Lamond, who was also with the O.B.C.

A/2 19 July 1879

[|Rcd. September 20, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

On the other side I give you your a/c S statement and the O.B.C.’s statement of my a/c D. You will see that in your account S there is a sum of £597/13/10 on the Dr. side “‘repaid Gunboat a/c’’, and that in the Bank’s a/c D there is a similarly entered amount (£597/13/10) paid to you from D funds. Kindly tell me where I am to find the items of which this sum is the total; so that I may be in a position to account for the expenditure to Li. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/3 27 July 1879

[Rcd. September 20, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

1°. If Jamieson gives you francs 110.20 please put them to credit of my a/c Z with yourself.

2°. T enclose a “Swift” dun. Kindly pay it, £9/9/0. 3°. I think it will be best to keep up the Hanover Square Club connection; so please hand the enclosed order (to O.B.C. to pay annual subscription, £2/2/0) to the Secretary for me. 4°. I enclose notes for Mrs. Maze and Jamieson. 5°. I am working fairly well; headache does not trouble me much unless I tempt it, but I notice the stiffness again to some extent in my right hand.

[298] THEI. G. IN PEKING

6. Bredon has gone to Frisco for his bride, and James Hart is on his way here to officiate as Chief Sec. 7°. Do you know anyone well up in general acquaintance with postal work in England—

not a mere letter sorter, though knowing details, and yet not very old or very high up though acquainted with the superior kind of work. I may want such a man. 8°. We have decided “‘Cadiz’’ must not re-occupy old berth. 9°. Brazier must come out next spring.' He’ll do well to spend January to March in France,—away from English people. 10°. I shall want Taylor out in spring of 1881; 1 shall send you a man in Nov.—a good one —to work in Brazier’s place, one year under Taylor, and then take charge for two years, and then return to China. It will be best to give you tried men, and not simply men to try. 11°. IT enclose a bill of Adele’s (it’s paid, but I want you to send it to him and ask him to send you twelve large size and twenty-four small sized copies of the group (Mr. and Mrs. Hart and two children) taken by him at /sch/ in August 1878. About their disposal, I shall write you later on. 12°. I find Porter useful, but I have not worked him up to bursting point yet. I am sorry to hear you and Mrs. Campbell had to go to Matlock, but I trust you are all right again.” We are fairly well, but the season is a trying one. With kind regards, Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Was Man in London all the time, or was he up again drilling in Aberdeen before coming away? R.H.

Yours, last, received is No. 87/Z of 6th June. 1. James Russell Brazier was a member of the 2. Matlock Bath, in Derbyshire, had been cele-

. talented family of Professor Brazier of Aberdeen, brated for its three medicinal springs since the end three of whose sons entered the Customs Service. of the seventeenth century. James, the eldest, had joined in April 1878 and had been in the London Office.

A/2 12 August 1879

[Red. October 2, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

I have received your A letters from No. 155 of 4th April to No. 163 of 20th June. Examination:—I am excessively sorry young Murray failed. Chinese Officers:—Li was very angry to know the steamers are coming without the Chinese Officers, but I explained very fully and he is now satisfied.

[299] AUGUST 1879

Li Feng Pao:—Of course you must not forget he is Chinese Minister in Berlin; but he is also a “trader in arms’’, and you must not let him or his affairs spoil your reputation or interfere with our business. When you make enquiries for him, let the inquired-of know it will lead to nothing, and let him know in reply that the inquired-of simply say so and so. Torpedo-Boat:—You could not well refuse assistance when applied to, but I hope my letter to Li Feng Pao will keep him from troubling you with dirty or unfinished jobs. Lease of Chinese Legation:—\ am glad the Bank has done what was needful. Lang:—I question if you have not been guilty of a bit of sentimentality in giving double

pay.’ .

Gunboats:—I expect to have to send you a wigging for allowing the steamers to be so late in leaving. They ought not to have started a day later than the 30th June. They’ll have awful weather in the China Sea and they'll arrive at Tientsin in the frost. Confound it!!! Russell:—You are right to send him as I wished by the French Mail.” Bourne:—I hope he has had rope enough to hang himself! Abernethy’s a/c:—What a squeeze! False Manifest:—I think the despatch to Lord Salisbury very good; a telegram is just in and is being made out.* I believe its beginning looks unfavourable to our views:—I’ll hear—and say—more in an hour. Kerr:—On his father’s account I hope he will satisfy you; but if he does not improve, we really cannot have him out here. I wish you would let his father know how the case really stands; I recollect he seemed astonished and was not aware from his son that the youth was still on probation. Easterbrook:—I was of course glad to hear you had done with him; but why did you take the trouble to compose, or go to the expense of sending so lengthy a telegram, on so small a provocation? New Cruiser:—Tell Mr. Stuart Rendel that it is quite possible I may want two such vessels;

but £100,000 apiece is a deal of money! By the way, I do not think this either was a matter for a telegram, considering what telegrams cost, and how little one can do except by way of

finale by wire. : I enclose notes for H. O. Brown and Evey.

Remember what I told you: J do not want Commissioners on leave to have the run of your office.

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Captain Lang had finally been persuaded to on the Out-door Staff.

bring the Epsilon gunboats to China. .

3. See letter 133.

2. This is probably H.C. Russell, British, who

joined the Service in July 1879, became a pro- 4. Lord Salisbury was foreign secretary in Disbationary tidewaiter at Kiukiang, and by the mid- raeli’s second ministry (1874-1880). 1880s was an assistant examiner, both posts being

[300] THE I. G. IN PEKING

Z/4 } 24 August 1879

[Red. October 18, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

J am excessively sorry to be giving you and Mr. Hutchins so much trouble; but what a worry this affair is to myself—it is always coming up in some heart-breaking manner!—I have your Z/88, and feel quite put out.—I think, on the whole, anywhere rather than London, and any people rather than the Davidsons.—If the boy is not fit for an office, let him go to sea or some such way of gaining his livelihood: I mean the youngest. Of course I want to do the best possible for these youngsters: but we cannot go beyond possibilities, and they must rough it.’ I fear they have been to too high-class schools hitherto. I do hope you’ll manage some way of settling them. All that is necessary is to find something for them to do by which, with what they have got, they may live. They must go among the “rank and file” of breadwinners and bread-eaters, and cannot be placed among the Commanders. If necessary apprentice them in shops: you can make a druggist of one, a woollen-draper of the other. Anything you like,—only give them something real to think about—something real to do— and somebody to obey, as soon as possible: I repeat, I am of opinion that away from London and not with the Davidsons might be best. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Hart’s wards were now at the following ages: 124n1 and 138n1. Anna, 20; Herbert, 17; and Arthur, 14. See letters

Z/5 26 August 1879

[Red. October 18, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

You take an interest in young Duncan, so I send you extract from Hannen’s Confidential report.’ You'll see he’s going to be a “‘Character’’, but, though likely to be fairly efficient, his other peculiarities will tell against him throughout his career. I think you may show it to the father of the youth, so that, without referring to Hannen or myself or the report, he may take an opportunity of giving him serviceable advice in any form likely to produce a wholesome effect. By the way, this young gentleman will now be under Man at Wuhu. Yours truly, - Robert Hart 1. See letter 80n1. Hannen had been commissioner assistant B during 1877-1879. at Foochow during Duncan’s tenure there as 4th

[301] SEPTEMBER 1879

A/3 4 September 1879

[Rcd. November 1, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

An Assistant Examiner, named Geo. Ballantine, who joined as Tidewaiter in 1863, died last spring at: Kiukiang; after so long a service, I should not like to refuse to issue some sum in the shape of retiring allowance if he had left any deserving relative dependent on him. Some three months ago it was hinted to me that an application might possibly be made by his wife, but that for several reasons she ought not to be helped. A week ago an application came from her, signed E. Ballantine, dated 10th July, 1879, from 10 Richmond Place, West Brompton, London S.W. I now want you to find out who or what she is: how she is supported: etc., etc., etc. You are not to go to herself, nor are you to let her know she is being inquired about, or your agent why or for whom you are making the enquiry. It is possible that a certain plan of mine may go into operation this autumn, in which case I shall want most probably:! Two naval Lieutenants well up in gunnery

Two ” " " —" "seamanship

Two ” Engineers ” ” " gun machinery

Two " " " " —" EBngine-room work Two gunners well up in gunners’ work with both large and small guns

Two Medical men of the naval surgeon class , These are to form the officers of two corvettes to be commanded by two men of my own choosing, who are to rank as captains in the Chinese navy, and are to take in hand the gunboats got out from Sir W.A. & Co., drill their crews into a state of efficiency,—inspect vessels, guns and machinery regularly,—and see that all, men and ship, are always ready for action. It is probable two fleets will be formed, each under a high Chinese Official with whom will be associated a Commissioner (just as a Customs Commissioner is associated with a Taotai); the two Commissioners will be the Captains of the Corvettes, and they will serve © “under me in a new post likely to be created, to be called the Inspectorate General of Coast Defence: my title in it would be simply Tsung-Hai-fang-Sszu, and my chiefs would be the Yamen and the Viceroys (2) charged with the coast defence.” The plan is now before the Emperor and Council, and will very likely be acted upon, and for a beginning I shall probably want the dozen men already described. I don’t want any engagements to be signed: retention to depend on 1°. the continued working of the scheme and 2°. the continued efficiency of the employed: pay, Lieutenants and Engineers, two at 200 and two at 150 taels a month; juniors 100 taels a month; surgeons 150 taels a month and an allowance each of tls. 25 monthly for messing. We want the engineers to see that the machinery is kept in order, the gunners to see that the guns and gunnery stores are kept in order,—the Lieutenants to see that ships and men are always efficient, and to teach the men to use the guns effectively and not be afraid of their surroundings. These people, if sent for, are to serve under me in much

[302] THE I..G. IN PEKING

the same way as members of the Customs’ staff. Will you look about quietly: say nothing about me or my scheme: and see if you can find men likely to suit. I enclose a letter for Glover. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Hart’s plan was for a unified national command _ of its acceptance. In 1879 there was talk of estabof China’s naval resources, which were now being lishing a national naval command with Hart as its purchased and commanded by a variety of provin- chief, but the plan was stopped by Li Hung-chang cial officials, to China’s disadvantage. In letter 422 and Shen Pao-chen. (June 1883) Hart refers to a plan for an admiralty he had submitted ‘“‘seven or eight years ago.”” This 2. Tsung hai-fang szu (lit., ““general sea defense ofmay be the plan he describes here, in anticipation ficer’’), Inspector General of the Navy.

A/4 8 September 1879

[Rcd. November 1, 1879]

My dear Campbell,

As soon as convenient after receipt of this, send for Mr. W.S. Brazier’ c/o Professor Brazier Aberdeen

and Mr. Horneck c/o J. Taylor Esq. Trinity Chambers 41 Dame Street Dublin and put them through a qualifying examination. Telegraph result to me, and tell the pair of them to be ready to come to China early in the spring of 1880. You will find both names,— | and addresses too, I suppose,—on the list I left with you of nominations. If you know of the whereabouts of Clayson and Kleinwachter, you may tell them, they will be wanted in China before 1st April 1880. As I before told you, a clerk from China will be with you in December, to take the place of Brazier, senior, who is to quit your office on his arrival, and after three months to be spent at a non-English-speaking place in France, is to come on to China in spring. The clerk I send you will take Taylor’s place in the spring of 1881. Taylor is then to come out, and another clerk from China will take the place of the one I] am now about to send you. Some people say Wright has no intention of coming out again.” I wish you to ascertain from him if there is any foundation for this rumour, and if not, whether I am to expect him

| out in spring, 1880: for Smith wants to go home on long leave in spring or soon after. At the late examinations, young Pennington appears to have done best.* He is a very neat and accurate office man, and his Chinese is very promising: Wright will like to hear this. ’'m sorry I cannot give you a similar account of your namesake, Smollett C. He has done no

[303] SEPTEMBER 1879

Chinese: he writes a good hand—and when you have said that you have said about all—and he is represented as being abominably conceited. I don’t think you have yet answered my query about Man: was he on the sick list in London, or doing duty with that Militia Regiment in Aberdeen before coming out in July last? He has remained in Ceylon, by the way.

Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. We are sending you A cheque £2000 by this mail. Ask the O.B.C. whether Hammond has as yet sent any money for my accounts. R.H. 1. William S. Brazier, the second son of Professor audit secretary at Shanghai; he went on leave in

Brazier and younger brother of James R. Brazier, 1881. did not officially enter the Customs until January : 1889, when he was given command of the revenue 3. Hart refers here to the Chinese-language examisteamer Likin. The second Brazier actually to have nations which were held after assistants had studbeen called to the London Office for examination ied for at least a year in Peking, and which were would seem instead to be Henry W. Brazier, who administered by a member of the Service, usually

joined the Customs in April 1881. the Chinese Secretary. A knowledge of Chinese Hart’s “Brazier senior’ is of course James R. was required of Customs personnel; in fact, those few who lacked it appeared in one of the Customs 2. F.E. Wright was on leave during 1879-1880. He Service lists with an asterisk to a footnote, “Has did return to China, but remained only a couple of not studied Chinese.”’

years. C.A. Pennington had joined the Customs in James Smith had been filling in for Wright as 1876; in 1879 he was 4th assistant B in Shanghai.

A/5 17 September 1879

[Rcd. November 6, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

I am sending you an American, Morse, from my office here, to take Brazier’s place: he is a capital office man, and after you have improved his writing a little, you will find him faultless.’ Through him you had better strike up an acquaintance with the U.S. Legation in London. His pay is £500, and we shall have to give him quarters—bedroom and sitting room. I shall advise him to take Brazier’s, so as to work up his French. His Chinese is very good, and

he has a good acquaintance with our work generally. | As I intend to send you a man every year from China, it will be necessary for you to warn him on entering your office that the work there is confidential and must not be talked or written about to either Customs’ people or outsiders: for this purpose I enclose a few words that you are to read to each man on arrival. It will be well to copy them into some book in your office, and let each man sign the book after reading the warning. I have received A/164 and A/165. My last news of the Squadron was that it had reached Aden on the 31st August and would start in five days. The stay at each place is too long; their arrival in Chinese waters will be too late. I have also your telegram about the £45,000. I

, [304] THE L G. IN PEKING am disappointed to learn that you had not included everything. It is much easier to get authority for a big sum at start than to get the most trifling amount added to it afterwards. I think we are at the end of the “Cadiz” difficulty; the bridge is being removed and the British Legation has told the agent to take up the new berth assigned by the Customs. But the affair is not yet reported concluded from Chinkiang. I wonder how we’ll come out of the False Manifest business; I fear the F.O.’s looking at it through its political and diplomatic spectacles rather than through its legal glasses! Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Hosea Ballou Morse, Harvard 1874, had joined ended in 1909, when he resigned because of ill the Customs in August 1874 and had been 4th as- heaith. After his retirement he became a principal sistant, first in Shanghai and then in Tientsin. He historian, one of his best-known works being the went to the London Office as 3rd assistant in 1880 — three-volume /nternational Relations of the Chibut was back in China two years later with another nese Empire (London, 1910-1918). promotion. His distinguished career in the Customs

Z/6 . 17 September[Rcd.1879 November 6,1879] Dear Campbell,

I was quite concerned the other day to hear you and Mrs. Campbell had been thrown from your carriage at Brighton, but it was cheering to be told at the same time you had escaped with a few bruises. I hope it has been attended with no bad effects of any kind, and that

it will merely be an adventure to talk about and tell of in the future. . I am keeping wonderfully well; I have only had one headache, but it was of three days’ duration, the last six weeks, and I feel light and clear-headed. The worst of it is, however, that I cannot take or feel any real interest in anything! I can’t get up a “hobby” of any kind: unless it be attending to Bruce’s fiddle practice and morning rides. I suppose Jimmie is quite a fine performer by this time: his first doings were certainly full of promise.’ Jimmie however is round the corner on the way from babyhood to boyhood, on the boyhood side, and Bruce is still in the babyhood region; in another year, I expect he will begin to do really well. All the Ministers are flocking into Peking, to go with von Brandt in the Likin Discussion with the Yamen. J don’t expect they’ll take much by it! I doubt if they know what the ills really are they have to complain of, or have any proposal of a practical or practicable kind

for getting out of them. | Will you kindly send £7/16/9 to Hoffmann, Bordeaux: a/c Z. Remember me to Dr. Macrae please and Mr. Stuart Rendel, and give my kind regards to Mrs. Campbell.

| Yours truly, Robert Hart

[305] OCTOBER 1879 1. Jimmie was Campbell’s musically gifted oldest in China. son, who was later to have a tragically brief career

Z/7 5 October 1879

[Rcd. November 29, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

I was much surprised to receive a cover with Salisbury in the corner about a fortnight ago, telling me that he had “‘the great pleasure to inform me that the Queen has been graciously pleased to confer upon me the Companionship of the most distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George, in recognition of the many public services rendered by me in China.” Before I opened the cover, I was amused at the motto, sero sed serio.’ My feelings are of a very mixed kind: gratification and disappointment. As long as there was no Governmental recognition, I was content that there should be none; but now that recognition comes, I am not sure that the honour will be considered much of a compliment to the I.G., on his work or the Government he serves. I am wondering who could have asked for this for me; and unless W. has hit upon this way of “damning me with faint praise”, I cannot account for it.” I have telegraphed to you to try and find out quietly who recommended my name for the honour, and also to ask you has it been gazetted. I hope you will be able to find some light for me. Will you also kindly send me out the Decoration; I presume the insignia can be bought in London. Will you also inquire whether there is any fee to be paid or any formality to be gone through at the office where such orders are recorded: please do for me whatever is necessary to be done, and see that my name appears in whatever list or directory the Decoration gives an entry to. If there are any small specimens of the cross, kindly send me one to add to the chain you once got for me in Paris. I have not got off my reply to Lord S. yet; once that is off my hands, ’ll be at the end of this “much ado about nothing’’!— Has Hammond sent my remittance yet to any of the a/c’s I have at the O.B.C. London? I ask this question in the same telegram.— We are now on the eve of quitting the Kow-lan Hu-tang to occupy the new house,—and a nice bit of business this moving is!* I am very sorry to leave the old place, and I wish I had got through the next fortnight and were settled in my new quarters! The Admiral and General—both Irishmen, Coote and Donovan—are now at the Legation, and Ching (Delta) is here with me: he is now Commander on board the Flagship, the “Iron Duke’’.* Strange to say, one of Osborne’s men—Pitman—is also here, with Porter.” Wade is suffering from lumbago, and all the Ministers have assembled to discuss Likin and other matters: it will be amusing to see what their collective wisdom will make of it!—Lang is making a fairly quiet voyage, but he left home a month too late: I have sent James H. Hart to meet him at Hongkong and to come up the coast with him, so as to have a landsman’s report on the behaviour of the boats against the monsoon.— We are all fairly well here, and trust you and Mrs. Campbell and the children—to whom kind regards—are enjoying good health.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

[306] THE I. G. IN PEKING

1. The C.M.G. Servo sed serio; “late but in the Jron Duke, the flagship of the British Far East-

earnest.” ern fleet currently off Tientsin and headed by Admiral Coote.

2. W. is presumably Wade.

5. Pitman was presumably one of the officers who

3. See letter 169. The new house was in the Lega- had assisted Captain Sherard Osborn in bringing

tion Quarter on the corner of Marco Polo Street the Lay-Osborn flotilla to China in 1863. and what later became known as Rue Hart. Porter is doubtless James Porter, who was already in China as a first assistant at the time of the ar4. Lawrence Ching, who had brought out the Delta _ rival of the flotilla. in 1877 (see letter 178n1), was now commander of

Z/8 11 October 1879

[Rcd. November 29, 1879]

Dear Campbell,

Shen Pao chen, for many years Chinese chief of the Arsenal at Foochow, and now Gov. Genl. at Nanking, reports against the big-gun gunboats:! he says they cannot steam against a head-wind or sea and cannot go fast with wind and tide in favour—further, that they cannot work their guns except in smooth water, and that they are not fit for deep water fighting, etc., etc., etc. I have sent James Hart to Canton to show the boats to Liu, the Viceroy there, and to come up the coast afterwards with Lang to Tientsin:? so I shall get a reliable report from him of what the boats can really do against the monsoon, and the extent to which the guns can be depended on when the water is rough. Shen is possibly inspired by Giquel and naturally he does not like to see the Foochow Arsenal deserted and war vessels coming forward from quite another quarter: he is, besides, not on the very best terms with Li Hung Chang—and yet he is to-day a power in the empire, and an adverse opinion of his is a deadweight when encountered. I’m very sorry the boats did not get away a fortnight or a month earlier. Don’t encourage Tseng to write such nonsense as his letter thanking Lang and officers

contains. |

We have moved into our new house, but are not quite established in it yet; in another fortnight I suppose we shall have all our things arranged. It is astonishing what a quantity of rubbish collects round one when once settled in any house for any length of time: so many things that one does not like to throw away, either because sentimentally connected with some past or possibly fit for some future use, and which yet one never uses again—and such a lot of duplicates! I enclose my reply to Lord Salisbury’s letter. I have officially written to tender my most respectful thanks, but I have added a private note in which I say, that, while I appreciate the honour individually and as an individual, I must admit that it (a simple C.M.G.) will very generally be looked upon as no compliment to my work, my position, or the Govt. I serve. Seeing that the British Govt. has thought fit to recognise my services, J am not disposed to rate them as of so small a value. Kindly send on the cover to the F.O. The rain is falling and the day is so chilly I can scarcely hold my pen. No fires yet. German Revision admits a special article to say that, whether with or without Bills of Lad-

[307] NOVEMBER 1879

ing, omission to manifest anything requiring a permit for shipment or discharge constitutes a false manifest. Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. See letter 76n2. 2. Liu K’un-i (see letter 183n1).

Z/9 9 November 1879

[Red. January 12, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

J sent Jem down to Canton to show the “E” squadron to the Viceroy there and to come up with Lang to T’tsin, that I might have a landsman’s report of the performance of these craft in China waters and against the monsoon. A jolly time he must have had of it, for we have just had a fortnight of northerly blows one after the other and to-day it is bitterly cold. Fancy after sweating at Canton to come up in the teeth of such weather on the bridge of the ““R’’! It’s a hundred thousand pities the boats did not start a fortnight earlier; had they done so, they would have carried southerly winds with them the whole way up to Tientsin. Lang expected leaving H’kong on 25th Oct. to be at Taku on 7th Nov.: but I have not heard of his arrival yet. Another arrival expected is that of the maker of the Kuldja treaty: poor Chung How! there’s a “‘rod in pickle” for him “‘with a vengeance!’’—A Chinese visitor’s card, confound him—and this Sunday too!—Well, he’s gone—after half an hour’s nonsense: his brother was the Luh Tai-ye who followed the Canton Hoppo as Men-sheng (or deputy), and the last Hoppo he followed, named Chung Li, was yesterday appointed one of the Ministers of our Yamen.' Luh Tai-Ye | liked very much, but he’s dead; for “‘auld lang syne” I must be civil to his brother—but he’s a bore!— The LooChow affair,” —differences between Shen Paochen (Nanking Viceroy) and Li Hung Chang,—boastfulness of Tso tsung tang (conqueror of Kashgar) and his breach with Li, —a desire amongst Peking officials to sit on Li when chance offers,—the Kuldja treaty,’ — foreign treaty revision,—these and a few other things are seething in our pot and promising to boil over in a way that must put fat in the fire and burn many fingers! I fear J shall have some trouble about the extra expenditure you authorised on the gun vessels. You did wrong to go in for anything over and above the reported contract price, and should have left it for a future order. But it can’t be helped! My household was increased on the 1st November by the arrival of a little girl; mother and child are in first-rate condition.* We had been fortunately able to get settled in our new house before the baby was born, and we are now fairly comfortable. It’s a great thing to be snug in our new quarters instead of having still ahead of us the dismal prospects of a midwinter flitting. It took us just twenty days to get all things removed from one house to the other. Is not Evey to spend Christmas holidays with you? I have not spoken of this before, but I understood that there was some such understanding—that Mrs. Campbell had been good

, [308] THEI. G. IN PEKING enough to ask her. If so, kindly go down for her to Bournemouth and take her back again, and charge your expenses in Z a/c. Also will you kindly buy her three presents: not to cost more than £1 each: J from her Mamma for “‘Christmas box’’, 7 from Bruce for New Year’s Gift, and / from her sister for her Birthday (31st December), and also give her £5 pocket money from myself. With kind regards and hoping you are all well, and wishing you merry Christmas and happy New Year, ~ Yours truly,

Robert Hart

R.H. |

P.S. Mrs. Edward St. Aubyn is Mrs. Fitz-Roy that used to be—Spencer Chapman’s sister, you know.

1. Lu Ta-yeh (His Excellency Lu); Ta-yeh is a col- China the fact of her overlordship. In 1875, how-

loquial form of respectful address. ever, Japan had ordered the islands to cease tribute Ch’ung-li was to do several tours of duty as a payments to China. The Liu-ch’iuans had appealed Yamen minister, in addition to serving at various to China for help, thus formally apprising China times on the Board of Rites, the Board of Reve- for the first time of Liu-ch’iu’s vassalage to Japan.

nue, and the Grand Secretariat. Liu-ch’iu had thus become a source of Sino-

7 Japanese friction and it remained such until 1881,

2. The island kingdom of Liu-ch’iu (Ryukyu) had when China finally recognized Japan’s suzerainty. been a tributary of China since the fourteenth cen-

tury. In 1609 Japan’s Satsuma han had invaded 3. The “Kuldja treaty”’ was the treaty negotiated and annexed it. Satsuma, while exercising actual by Ch’ung-hou at Livadia. Kuldja was the main city control over the kingdom, had allowed its tribute of the Ili region. See letter 266. trade with China to continue (see letter 55n4). Indeed, she had encouraged the trade and had re- 4. This was Hart’s daughter Mabel Milbourne Hart, sorted to extraordinary measures to conceal from called Nollie.

Z/10 18 November 1879

[Red. January 12, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

Some eight or ten years ago my father deposited with the O.B.C. London for safe keeping, and also as security for whatever of the Bank’s advances I had not at the time repaid, the Title Deeds of the land I bought in Ireland: 1°. Kilmoriarty in Co. Armagh, and 2°. Bentra and Aldfreck in Co. Antrim. Lamond gave him receipts for the documents deposited, and I hold certified copies of those receipts sent to me here. Judge of my astonishment when I received a letter from the Bank last night, dated 26th Sept. last, in which, replying to a letter of mine explaining that my Z a/c is my own private—and not an official—account,—the bank says: “In the letter under reply you speak of the Title Deeds of your Irish Estates being in our hands. We beg to say

, [309] DECEMBER 1879 that we cannot discover any such documents; but suppose they may be enclosed in a box in our custody,—contents unknown to us,—on which the words “Title Deeds’ are painted.” [ now enclose copies of the Bank’s receipts for the Documents, which, you see, are named in detail; and I beg you to go to the Bank some day, show the receipts, and ascertain whether the box marked “Title Deeds” contains the Documents named in the recipts, and, if not, try and find out what has become of them. If they are there, kindly request the Bank to put

them where they will be kept safely and not lost or mislaid. | I enclose a note to the Bank stating I have asked you to make enquiry for me. Yours truly, Robert Hart

A/ 10 December 1879

[Red. February 2, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

My last from you is A/172 received yesterday. I have sent you two telegrams telling you that two vessels of Rendel’s new cruiser type have been authorised, and I have to-day drafted a long despatch on the same subject, of so full a kind that I have but little left to say. We trust Sir W.A. & Co. will go to work at once without waiting for the first third and that the vessels will be ready to come out in the spring of 1881. Remember this one point in particular: they must go more than fifteen nautical miles an hour when tried in quiet water at the measured mile, so as to ensure a speed of at least fifteen knots at sea in ordinary weather. I have decided to ask for muzzle-loading 25ton guns and not breachloaders, and we expect the vessels to be so strong and so well arranged at the bow for ramming that we can rely on them to dispose of an ordinary ironclad by ramming: J would add, without injury to themselves, and Li Chung Tang? would like this too, but he looks ferocious and says that that doesn’t so much matter provided one ironclad really goes down. You know that torpedoes are Li’s hobby, and you will therefore understand why he lays so much stress on the speed of the Torpedo boats with which each cruiser is to be fitted. I think it likely that Rendel did not intend to supply anything more than a very ordinary Torpedo launch, but if it is possible to furnish something of a very su- perior kind, and very fast, I hope we'll get it: something that will go 17 or 18 knots is what [Li] thinks of, and he admits that he made a mistake in allowing himself to be tempted by low prices to go to the people he sent Li-feng-pao to on Betts’ recommendation. In my telegram I added a query about the O.B.C., and I now wish to ask you whether we are to remit through the O.B.C. or through several other banks, and whether we should lodge the money with the Bank of England or elsewhere: advise me by telegraph. The Epsilon Squadron arrived in good order, screws excepted. As far as I can make out steel screws in vessels of a light draught are so often out of the water that oxidation sets in and honeycombing results. The Squadron ought at once to be supplied with a set of gunmetal screws: it was a mistake to use steel. The crews were paid up to the 30th Nov.; a month’s pay was given to officers and men,

[310] THE I. G. IN PEKING

and to Lang I gave £200 and to Paul, Bell and Walker £100 each. We have given the crews money orders on you amounting to about £5,500: have you any balance over? Bell and Walker did not behave nicely at the end; they joined some of the engineers and crews in demanding pay for the 1st December (fancy—one day’s pay), and displayed a mercenary and unaccommodating spirit I did not like to see the naval officer exhibit in dealing with a German Commissioner, after our liberal treatment.°* If you again employ naval officers tell all of them (mates as well as Commanders) to be sure to call on Commissioner and Commissioner’s wife: the Epsilon party rather avoided being civil, or receiving civilities. I enclose a note for Rendel: I hope it will put him on his mettle! Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Under the usual agreement with Armstrong, 2. Li Hung-chang: Chung-t’ang is a colloquial desigChina paid the first third of the cost upon signing nation for a grand secretary, an honorary rank the contract, the second third when construction accorded to governors general.

reached the half-way mark, and the last third upon

completion. 3. The “German commissioner” was presumably Detring at Tientsin.

Z/11 21 December 1879

[Red. February 18, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

My last letter from you was A/172, received a fortnight ago; and it was on the 17th and 29th November I received your Z/92 and Z/93. I am sorry to hear Kerr has failed to prove himself fitted for our Service; it will be a great blow to his father. On the other hand, I am glad to find that Brazier has given you satisfaction.’ I hope you will like Morse, he is a very intelligent, well educated man, and does his work thoroughly well. As regards Taylor, my desire to bring him out here is to let him learn Chinese and so have a chance of a Commissionership by and by; otherwise I should leave him with you, but left with you a thousand a year and a first assistant’s rank would probably be as high as he could expect to climb. ' Tam very sorry the Maze family is in such distress but I really don’t see my way to doing anything useful for them. He will not suit us in any position, and his wife and children must naturally look to him for support. They have had too much of my money as it is, and all I can do for them will be to give such a minimum of help as shall keep starvation from the door. What worries me is the feeling that as long as J make them at all comfortable, he will not do anything. It is wonderful what a lot of worry I have made for myself, or have to let others make for me!

To come back to the question of the day, ships. I got them here to defer ironclads and go . in for the new kind of cruiser; I think we shall probably be ordering eight more gunboats and two more cruisers before we touch ironclads. I hope A. & Co. will do their very best for us with the two ships now ordered: great strength of build and great speed are the main points, and to please Li (whose hobby it is) special attention must be given to the Torpedo launch. I fancy a 1400-ton cruiser could not conveniently carry one Thornycroft 10%-ton boat, much

[311] DECEMBER 1879

less two! But A. & Co. must give us the best and fastest kind of Torpedo boat such cruiser can carry. The cruisers must go over 15 knots at the time of trial; this is all-important. I shall probably supply you with engineers and crews from China to bring them out. Two of our Customs’ Chief Engineers are going home on leave, Kirkwood and Wolfenden: excellent and most presentable men, both of them, and I shall probably let them come out as Chief Engineers on this occasion.” I have told them to leave their addresses with you and shall recur to this subject. Meantime I want you to ask Sir Wm. A. & Co. one question: If I send home half a dozen Chinese engineers and a dozen greasers before the ships are ready—say in November next—will A. & Co. give them an opportunity in their yard to learn a little about the engines and guns—the hydraulic machinery in particular. They could learn more in three months there, than an instructor will teach them in three years here. If this is done, I should send Kirkwood and Wolfenden to take charge of them. Do you know the Mitchells? What kind of Shipbuilding Yard have they? Who designs? What is the extent of the place? What other ships have they built? We appear to be on the eve of several moves forward here, things seem to be coming into my hands again, just as they were in the spring of 1863 when, Lay’s fiasco checkmated me, in addition to ruining himself, and stopping “‘progress in China” for a score of years. Unfortunately I have lost interest in the work and have not one tithe of the “go” in me I used to possess, and if it were not that my disappearance would cause a “devil of a hubbub”’, I would almost think it my duty to make way for a younger, fresher and more energetic man. My health has improved immensely, and I suppose I may work here for five years more, but certainly, not longer. My worst symptom now is that I do not sleep well, and feel fatigued before the day is over, but I am good for six hours’ office work every day without any headache. Did I tell you that I have another daughter, born on the Ist November? Her mother is very well pleased with her, but to me she seems a peculiarly ugly child. She is thriving and her mother is quite well. Bruce is growing a big fellow and satisfies me with his violin performances. How does Jimmie get on? Tell Mrs. Campbell to keep him to the scales, playing its minor after each major, as much as possible: there is no better practice. Bruce and I begin our work every day thus and we only leave exercises aside and have pleasant duets, as a treat, on Sundays. We are comfortably fixed in the new house: two drawbacks show themselves, one being the want of gas, and the other that the grates do not heat the rooms. There’s nothing can surpass that grate we went into the city to see. When I send you a telegram to go on with the gas order, I hope you’ll take it in hand quickly; we'll want the gas-holder out early to get it fitted in the reservoir while the weather is good; as one man here will have to do everything, he’ll be kept busy to have the new plan in working order before next year’s frosts set in.* So hurry the things out and send us nice fittings for the Drawing rooms. If you should pass Hart’s—I mean Hill’s—Wardour Street,—to get anything for Jimmie, please tell him he gave me a lot of bridges for Bruce’s little violin when I was last in without charging for them. I hope the old man keeps well. A lot of fellows go on leave in spring: McLeavy Brown, Drew, Simpson, Hobson, T.F. Hughes, Mouillesaux de Berniéres, Clayson, Ohlmer, etc., etc., etc. I shall therefore be glad to see the men now at home reappearing. I see my Z a/c is getting in debt to you; so I enclose a cheque No. 194/A192547 for £300. I hope Hutchins has made some satisfactory arrangements. I infer he has from your telegram received a month ago. Bredon is back married; his wife is very lively and very good natured—dresses well but is not strikingly good looking; she has him wonderfully well in hand!

. [312] THEI. G. INPEKING Wishing you and yours a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year, and with kind regards to Mrs. Campbell. Yours very truly, Robert Hart — Remember me to Dr. Macrae; I hope he is quite well again.

1. This was James Russell Brazier. to expire on March 31, 1881, but Wolfenden seems not to have returned to China.

2. J. Kirkwood, British, who had joined the Cus- |

toms’ Coast Staff in May 1872, was a first engineer 3. Hart’s new house was to be lighted by gas. The on the Fei Hoo; Richard Wolfenden, also British “one man here [who] will have to do everything” and in the Customs since June 1873, was first engi- | was Thomas Child, the Customs’ gas engineer. neer on the Ling Feng. Both had leaves which were

Z/12 1 February 1880

[Red. April 1, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

My last from you is A/177, but I have also your telegram of the 14th January telling me the C.M.G. had been gazetted and the Title Deeds found. I am glad to hear the Deeds are all right; but the other bit of news is not of as cheering a kind. I have received your Z letters Nos. 94 to 99, and am specially glad to get 95. Of course I have not the slightest intention of ordering Commissioners etc. not to visit the Chinese Minister in London: but I certainly shall come down on them heavily if they touch what they ought not, or give bad advice, or show any want of discretion. But they must not have the run of your office—none of them—Cartwright has no orders to co-operate with you, but if you can get any assistance from him I don’t object. He is a smart fellow, but he is not thorough all-round; we have much worse men but we have also better. His ability is one thing, and his command of the Chinese language quite another. Young Duncan has been seriously ill but is convalescent; young Davies is going to the dogs fast; Deacon has not broken down yet, but he is too fond of wine;—of the lot that came out together, the added man, Stokes, is the best, but Johnston is also very good. Campbell (Smollett) is a mixture: lots of ability and lots of conceit—work that is likely to be in-

spected, beautifully done, and work likely to escape notice, not to be relied on. | I hope you'll be sending out four or five men in the spring: we want them. Now that men

. have begun to go on leave more regularly, our numbers are found not to be too great. I shall be curious to hear of Geo. Lowder’s doings at home.’ I wonder will they try to get him a billet under Tseng? If they do, tell T. to reply that he will apply to the Yamen. You will have been surprised to hear of Chung How’s reception.” The day he arrived at Peking, but before he had officially reported to the Emperor, an Edict came out stripping him of office for leaving Russia without awaiting orders from Peking, and directing his Treaty to be reported on by a large Commission (all the Boards, etc.); the first reports have since been referred to a second Commission, smaller and more select, with which the Chi Ye (Emperor’s father) is associated,’ and a second Edict has directed the arrest of Chung How. His

[313] FEBRUARY 1880

ex-Excellency is now in the Hsing-Pu prison* (and his fees to the jailors to secure pleasant treatment—to say nothing of the entrance fee, a huge one—are 300 taels a day!), and death may possibly be the sentence. As for the treaty, everyone is against it: its cession of territory is denounced as traitorous and its commercial concessions as dangerous; so it will probably not be ratified. But what will result from non-ratification? The Russians will hold on to Ili and will strengthen their position there: the military on the frontier can scarcely escape an accidental collision, and the Russian spirit—for war and for territory—will follow up a fight or row on the spot in such a way as to embroil the two powers. Even if war does not thus come out of it, Russia will want more money for military expenditure, and will not be satisfied with less territory. Chung How negotiated badly! Add to all this the state of relations with Japan, and the attitude of that power. I see a special envoy is to come here in March; I fancy he will require China to say that Lewchoo is not Chinese, and if China hesitates, the Japs will go the length of occupying Formosa or some place on the mainland without delay. We have a stormy time ahead of us I fear, and my remonstrances and warnings run off the backs of the big men here like water off a duck! They adopt links, but they will not have the whole chain, and thus their ship, quiet in the quiet water and seemingly anchored, will be driven on the rocks, or God knows where, the moment the blow comes on! Really the times are serious, and this year of 1880 will probably be a queer one in China’s history. A big scheme of mine is just now under consideration: if they’d adopt it, they could carry it out and it would make them safe; but the thing they trust most in is chance—and, it must be allowed chance has stood their friend hitherto: some fine morning, the wind will come from another quarter! Another queer way the Govt. has of looking at affairs is that it regards so and so as responsible, and it thinks that his responsibility, and his having to bear the blame and punishment, will afford Govt. grounds for resignation and in that way compensate for

its loss! ,

How are the two big steamers getting on? I hope A. & Co. will push them ahead smartly and give us two “rippers’’! No decision has yet been come to about others. Li Hung Chang is now supreme, but I think the accident to the (?) Zeta at Tientsin has alarmed him: A steamer backed into her and struck her with her screw, taking a plate out of her; she nearly sank at anchor. This causes Li to fear these boats can be sunk easily. I believe one adverse criticism is that they are not subdivided into a sufficient number of water-tight compartments. As regards the new steamers, remember they must go over fifteen knots and must be able by ramming to sink anything. — We are all well and getting through the winter well—but so quickly! If war breaks out, Mrs. Hart will of course have to go home. Meanwhile, as I shall have to stay and want a little light reading, kindly send me by first steamer the books named on the enclosed list.

Yours truly, | Robert Hart

1. George Glass Lowder, Sir Rutherford Alcock’s indemnity. Ch’ung-hou was arrested on his return stepson, had joined the customs in August 1863. to Peking and sentenced to decapitation. China reHe was Ist assistant B in Shanghai when he went fused to ratify the treaty, even at the risk of war, on leave in 1880 to England, where he died in Oc- which seemed imminent in the coming months.

tober of the same year. See letter 209n1. |

2. Ch’ung-hou had negotiated the Treaty of Li- 3. The ch i-yeh (“seventh prince’’) was Prince vadia, to China’s outrage. The treaty gave Russia Ch’un, the emperor’s father (see letter 119n1).

the richer part of the Ili Valley, strategic passes , through the T’ien-shan, trade concessions, and an 4. The Hsing-pu was the Board of Punishments.

[314] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Z/13 : 5 February 1880

[Red. April 6, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

When I married, my Father (since deceased) and brother-in-law, R. E. Bredon, were made trustees for my wife’s marriage settlement. The surviving trustee (R.E.B.) has sent a letter to the O.B.C. through you, making some enquiries which I beg you will see are answered for him in the Bank’s reply. Another point now comes up about which it will be well to take legal advice:—can I (or anyone else) now appoint another trustee to take the place of the deceased, and what steps must be taken to appoint such? Will you kindly ascertain what we shall have to do, and send or describe whatever document I shall have to sign. Yours very truly, Robert Hart

A/8 12 March 1880

[Red. May 3, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I have had no occasion to write you an A letter for a long time, and Peking winters are not the best to work in. Short days, a cold that freezes one’s brains, and late parties two or three times a week suggesting procrastination and preventing fulfilment, jump one across the gulf from December to March with astonishing rapidity and little result. Since my return from Tientsin early in December, I have received your A letters 169 to 183.

False Manifest:—I hope your Christmas consultation with Hutchins will be the last. It is as well to go through—to fight it out on this line even if its only effect should be to draw another “non possumus”’ from the F.O. What we want is that the F.O. shall either decidedly

] adhere to its own, or accept our interpretation; if it elects to do the latter, all right—if the former, all right too! In fact I should almost prefer to find that the F.O. sticks to its own view: but I want a very full case against that view made out and recorded. This, you are doing: and doing very well. The Marquis is waiting for instructions;' but I am withholding them (the Yamen asks me to say what is now to be done) until we hear the result of your last shot, i.e. the one you were at work on at Christmas.

| New Cruisers:—The river was closing and we had either to defer the order for six months, or ask you to try and get A. & Co. to go on at once. | thought our relations with that firm and the O.B.C. were good enough to make it certain you would be able to hit on a way of working. I am glad to see I argued correctly —though I am, of course, aware I have to thank

[315] MARCH 1880

you for taking the right steps, and A. & Co. and the O.B.C. for acting at once sensibly and accommodatingly. I could have paid the first third at Tientsin the day I sent you the telegram; but I could not send the money to either S’hai or London. I am again going to Tientsin in a fort-night, and possibly an increase to the big-gun fleet will then be decided upon; if so, we shall most probably want you to do the same thing again,—Hutchins’ advice (a London view) to the contrary notwithstanding.

Squadron a/c:—The sum paid to a/c D (£2,547/13/11) has nothing to do with Gunboats: it is an Exhibition recovery.” To make matters simpler for the future I am opening a new a/c (G) at the O.B.C., into which I shall pay all such moneys—i.e. moneys received from sources, and not intended for objects, of the Custom-House kind.-G will be a class name for the special and separate accounts (consecutively numbered) paid for from extraordinary (i.e. not Customs) funds. D will be the supplementary or complementary a/c of Customs a/c’s A, B& C. You will have authority to draw on G, and that authority will be renewed for, and closed with every new transaction. The present (and possibly any boats to be ordered when | go to Tientsin) will be the first G transaction. You may as well number it in your accounts G/1: I say in your accounts, for I have not asked the O.B.C. to number it. The Bank will let you overdraw your 0 account for any small balances: but I wish to keep you in funds in advance and do not at all like overdrawn accounts. Crew Allotments:—The telegram I sent you was the one I was requested (by Lang, I believe) to send. Breaker Point:—I have made no arrangements. Since your No. 182 came in, I have written to Henderson to push on with the keeper’s quarters; but I fear his idea of the position the

: quarters ought to occupy may interfere with the requirements of the tower. Farrow will probably be in charge of the steamer (“Ling Feng’’) on that station if he comes out in spring.*

Candidates :—\ am grieved to hear Horneck failed; but judging from his papers, I don’t see how you could possibly have passed him. I am glad Sowdon has passed; he is Adkins’ brother-in-law, and Adkins, as Consul, has always been fair to the Customs. I have since telegraphed to you to send out, if fairly qualified and notwithstanding their being possibly under our age (not yet nineteen) George Montgomery and Hugh Lyall: don’t reject these if at all a likely sort of men.* Changes:—Man and Wellesley are both likely to leave us. Porter has satisfied me and is now Dep. Comr. and Asst. Sec. here. McL. Brown, Hobson, Simpson, Drew, de Berniéres, T.F. Hughes, Rocher, Ohlmer, Smith—all going home. Again I repeat: do not give any man on leave the run of your office. Postal:—We have got through the winter’s work without any trouble, and are going on.° Gas:—Hurry out what I wrote for (300-lights’ plant). The globes for lamps ought to be completely of clouded glass with only a few stars on each. Flowers and plain glass are abominable. Chung How:—The sentence is “‘decapitation after the Autumn assize”’. This holds out the hope of reprieve. How wonderfully Russia’s internal troubles are seconding the stand China has made:° the Japs will probably think twice too before going too far to turn back!

Yours truly, Robert Hart

[316] THEI. G. IN PEKING

don. sistant B.

1. The Marquis is Minister Tseng Chi-tse in Lon- April 1880 and was assigned to Canton as 4th asGeorge Montgomery and Hugh Lyall, though so

2. See letter 165n1. young, both came to China that July as 4th assis-

' tants, 3.the former to Peking, the latter to Foochow. John Farrow, British, is listed in the Customs Service records as “retired and rejoined” in April 5. See letter 184n3. 1880. He was commander of the Ling Feng. 6. Russia at this time was plagued by popular dis-

4. A.M. Sowdon, British, joined the Customs in content and revolutionary terrorism.

A/9 20 March 1880

[Rced. May 13, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I have bought a lot on the concession at T’tsin, part of which I think of converting into a large shed for examining goods and storing cargo. The lot is 170 by 330 feet. It occurs to me that Iron pillars and Iron roofing might be cheaper than bricks and timber. I want you therefore to inquire for me and wire the result in round numbers (for 325 say 350: for 370 say 400, etc.). The question I want answered is this:—what will be the cost of the iron portions of a building 120 feet long, 40 feet broad and 20 feet high at the sides? The iron portions would be the pillars for supporting the roof and the framework of the roof itself to carry

tiles, together with sundry bits of railing to do duty as sides. ,

— AAA —- =’ *’ n- »“Wa ?

eight inches apart. , | This is not drawn to scale of course, The x x x x represent iron railing, the rails being six or

I wish to have some idea of what iron would cost, before deciding whether to put up a simple brick building, or attempt a composite structure.

Li, the Viceroy, sends me a message to say that he wants five more Epsilons and that the money is ready for them.’ I shall probably go down to Tientsin next week about this and other things. Can A. & Co. undertake so many vessels at a time? In addition to these five, I think five more and four cruisers will be authorised. Meantime I[ hear there’s influence at work in another—in two other quarters. Li Feng Pao (Giquel) has gone on preaching /ron-clads, and it is all but decided to buy two Turkish Ironclads, paying Tls. 2,000,000. I am against this waste of money, but I fear I can’t stop it. In the South again, the Gov. Genl. of Canton, Liu-Kwen-I (since transferred to Nanking as Shen Pao Chen’s successor), who had two of the Epsilon squadron up to look at, reports that he, at Canton, can build better boats, etc., for less money. I have said: Encourage native talent

[317] MARCH 1880

by all means—prefer economy to extravagance! So I hope “‘the rope” he is to be given will demonstrate his inability to produce an article worth having. Latterly we have heard little about the Chung How affair; the men in office are resolved not to ratify the Treaty. I fancy Chung How will not lose his head: but he may! Revision hangs fire here. In short, Ministers, Wade included, don’t know what they want! The tendency is in the direction of the Alcock Convention!!?

: Robert Hart Yours truly,

A/184 arrived on the 17th. 1.Only three seem to have been ordered, however: 2. The Alcock Convention was signed in Peking in

the lota, Kappa, and Lambda. 1869, but ratification was refused in London (see prefatory note to letter 13).

Z/14 20 March 1880

[Red. May 13, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

The river is again open and this last fortnight we have been deluged with letters and overwhelmed with work. I have your Z letters up to No. 106. I shall make a note of Mr. McCarthey’s support of Capt. Thompson’s application referred to in your Z/102; but I don’t know when there will be any more vacancies.’ Thanks for the news in Z/103 that the Title Deeds are safe. I was quite anxious.

from the Chancery of the order. , I have received the cover which came with Z/104. It was the notification of the C.M.G.

As regards Lowder, you were right. I declined to issue his Retiring Allowance, and he declined to take his leave.” Finally when issuing a lot, I put in his name for a portion, and he then went on leave. He is a capital clerk, but he has simply ruined himself. Thanks for all your kindness to Evey. She evidently enjoyed her visit immensely. Poor child! It is very hard to let her stay so far away from ourselves, and everybody else. Her sister here—the new arrival, not yet christened—is doing well. In fact we are all well. This week I did six hours’ office work each day with no bad effect, and I do not suffer specially from blues, headache or lumbago. The Mazes are still doing nothing. Had I been he, I would have been a Railway guard or

[318] THEI. G. IN PEKING

Postman before this. He now threatens me with legal proceedings, and I shall have to devote

a letter to that disagreeable subject one of these days. ,

Day before yesterday was warm and springlike: yesterday snow fell and the thermometer went down some thirty degrees; still, the winter is over. With kind regards and hoping you are all well. Yours very truly, Robert Hart I enclose letters for Mrs. Maze, Mrs. Miller and Miss Cassell.* Please send on. 1. W. H. Thompson, British, joined the Customs in month leave in March 1880. August 1881 as third officer on the Ling Feng. 3. Mrs. Maze and Mrs. John Miller were Hart’s

2. George G. Lowder, whose last post had been that _ sisters. of 1st assistant B at Shanghai, went on eighteen-

Z/15 26 March 1880

[Rcd. May 18, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

charged to my a/c Z.'

On the other side I send you a list of books, etc., which I beg you will order for me: to be

: Yours Robert truly, Hart P.S. The cards are to be got in a stationer’s shop (I think the first) East of St. James’ Hotel, near Swift’s. 1. The list of books is missing from the holograph letters.

A/10 23 April 1880

[Red. June 16, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I have your A/188 and am a little frightened when, re Gasworks, you tell me you will adopt “the most recent improvements” etc. Child, having had ten years’ experience of work here, fears that you will send out something 1°. difficult to transport from Tungchow to

[319] APRIL 1880

Peking, and 2°. difficult for Chinese employees to work with safely.’ His specifications, etc., were from his own experience and lists furnished him in 1877 and 1878. The sizes specified will, we hope, have been adhered to by you. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Please send me a supply of paper like the enclosed. R.H.

P.P.S. Li wants a despatch boat, to go from 20 to 25 knots an hour. Speed not armament the main consideration. Consult several builders and ascertain what such a boat—sea-going, of course— will cost. Telegraph cost, and write approximate dimensions and draught of water etc. R.H.

P.P.P.S. 1°. Have you seen the Hotchkiss gun?” I fear such a weapon would soon riddle the Epsilon! 2°. Have you seen Mr. Balmain’s invention for lighting purposes?? Thlee and Horne of Aldermanbury have the patent, and the Admiralty is using the light. The lamps are sheets of glass painted at the back with a peculiarly prepared composition: and are brilliantly luminous in the dark without fire! They are of five sizes, costing from 3/- to 21/-. I think it would be well to send out a specimen of the gun for Li Chung Tang with 100 rounds, and specimens of the lamp for myself.

I to-day received yours of the 5th March, A/189 and Z/107. R.H. 26.1V.80. 1. T’ung-chou, some fifteen miles east of Peking, min Hotchkiss (1820-1885); specifically, the airwas the trans-shipment point at the head of the ca- cooled, gas-operated machine gun then in use in

nal from Tientsin, where Grand Canal shipments the French army. and other goods coming to Peking by water were

landed and transported overland to the city. ' 3. Probably William H. Balmain, an English chemist known for his work on phosphorescence, who

2. The Hotchkiss gun was a small semiautomatic had published in 1844 a textbook, Lessons on cannon designed by the American inventor, Benja- Chemistry.

A/11 24 April 1880 Pa

[Red. June 16, 1880]

Dear Campbell, Have John Arthur’s claims against Paris Legation and Berlin Attaché Tcheng been satisfied?’ If not, kindly send me out “true copies”’ of the papers therewith connected.

. [320] THEI. G. IN PEKING I have telegraphed to you to offer Shee the Assistant Secretaryship here, Tls. 300 monthly, conditional on his arrival before August.” If he is out of employment and wishes to rejoin, I would keep his berth open for him till the end of October; but it would suit me better to see him out before August. Mind you, I am not inviting, persuading, or exhorting him to come: but if he is hard up, I want to do him a good turn—I do not want him to think that he is conferring a favour on me or putting me under any obligation. He was civil enough to come and see us on the way through the Suez Canal, and I fancy he would be as suitable a man for this post as I am likely to find. Those last applicants Ogilby, Kerr, and Wade seem to be the right kind of men for us.* We have too many “unfledged feathers” in our ranks. Boys remain boys if they arrive before developed into men. Thanks for the “‘Shipways”’ for getting the gunboats out of the water. We have a simpler fa-tszu* —a dock at Tientsin. The a, 6, y and 6 are said to be in bad order—not having been attended to properly. We have got Cocker associated with the Taotai and Tituh who manage the Northern Squadron e, ¢, n, and 6, and Clayson is appointed to take charge of a training ship and start a Naval school at T’tsin.” Both know to speak Chinese, and also can get along with Chinamen; and I trust they’ll do some good. Li Chung Tang wishes Sir Wm. Armstrong & Co. to allow the Chinese Naval Students in Europe to see the cruisers while being built. I replied that perhaps A. & Co. don’t allow outsiders to go through their works; but Li urged his request so I said I’d send it on to you, feeling sure that if it could be done it would: I added that you would give each student a pass, and that such passes would not cover any foreigners they might be accompanied by. I hear Giquel comes out again this autumn. Does he bring a staff with him, or come

alone? oe

Everybody out at a pic-nic today in the hot sun—I enjoying the cool shade and quiet, and the melodious scratching of a used-up pen on paper I detest. Good-bye! Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. Tcheng was possibly Ch’ing-ch’ang, an attache discharged in April 1883 while a 3rd class tideat the Berlin embassy for some time after 1878, waiter. J.A. Kerr was at this time in the London who was borrowed by Ch’ung-hou to accompany Office as 4th assistant B on probation. his mission to Russia in 1879-1880. Ch’ing-ch’ang

in 1897 became minister to France. 4. Fa-tzu: method. — | 2. Archer Shee, who had resigned from the Cus- 5. Ti-tu: provincial commander-in-chief, or general-

toms in 1875, did not return. in-chief; also used for naval commanders-in-chief, shui-shih t’i-tu.

3. Ogilby seems never to have entered the Customs This was the beginning of Li’s naval training acadService. T.H.S. Wade, American, joined the Out- emy, patterned on the training school at Foochow. door Staff in May 1880 as a watcher, but was

[321] MAY 1880

A/12 26 April 1880

[Rced. June 16, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I think it well to let you know that Krupp has sent out a special agent to see Li Hung Chang and other high Chinese Officials (a man named Menzhausen), and the German Consuls introduce and support him. Li, ever since 1870, is a great believer in Germany and in Krupp’s guns! This Menzhausen has come to Li specially to offer to build gunboats something like the a, y, € series, but armed with Krupp’s 30-ton breach-loading guns. He promises to supply the very best style of boat etc., etc., etc., somewhat shorter than ours and only drawing 7 feet, and his price is under 100,000 taels: ours for the € on the Tyne was over 118,000 taels. Li has not lost faith in us, but it is possible he may give this man an order. Of course one thing is certain: boats shorter than ours, and only drawing 7 feet, will not do for outside work. If the Rams do not accomplish 16 knots at the measured mile—you may sell them!’ I’m sure Li will refuse them if they go an inch less. Of course, we don’t want to inconvenience anybody, or be disagreeable: but 16 knots is really a sine qua non. I hardly think we’ll carry out the idea of sending home engineers and gunners for instructions. The fact is we have got a rough lot out here who work by rule of thumb, and the utility of sending such fellows home is questionable.

Yours Roberttruly, Hart .| 1. The rams were the two Armstrong cruisers or- they were capable of ramming an ironclad and dered by Li in December 1879, so called because sinking it.

Z/16 5 May 1880 |

[Red. June 25, 1880] :

Dear Campbell,

The C.M.G. Warrant, Insignia, etc., arrived safely. I now enclose replies to Cox and Hubert: kindly fully address the envelopes and add what is wanting to the address at the bottom of the first page of each letter. Cox and Hubert may be sir somebody somethings or Honourables: and I leave it to you to make their titles whatever they ought to be. I am sending you an order for two more Epsilons for Shantung. I am also sending you a despatch reporting 29 of the Palliser chilled shot cracked: this is a misfortune!’ How come Sir W.A. & Co. to send off, or your surveyor to pass, anything with a defect in it? Yours truly, Robert Hart

[322] THE LG. IN PEKING

} 1, Captain W. Palliser had in 1863 patented a sys- the shot in cold iron molds instead of hot sand. tem for manufacturing chilled metal shot; he cast

A/13 7 May 1880

Dear Campbell, / [Red. June 30, 1880]

The spare ammunition for the Epsilon Squadron was sent on from S’hai to T’tsin, and is now being examined. The Palliser chilled shot are split and the shells leak when tried with water! What is the meaning of this? It will do A. & Co. harm out here, and will be wind in the sails of Krupp’s agent now cruising about the coast. T’tsin will send you a specimen. We'll be expected to make good the defective shot and shell—that for certain. I shall write you at greater length by and by when I get more information, but I now send

you this line that you may start the inquiry at once. , Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/17 21 May 1880

[Red. July 16, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

Kindly go to the O.B.C. and have a talk on my behalf. Before the end of this year I shall have £30,000 in London, not invested: i.e. £10,000 in July, £10,000 in Sept., and £10,000 in Dec. or soon after. I intend to put £10,000 in the Three per cents. but I want to get a better rate of interest for the remaining £20,000, say 4%, 5%, and 6%. But I want the investment to be as “‘absolutely safe” as possible. What I want you to get for me at the Bank is the Bank’s advice as to the investments in which I ought to put the £20,000,—say five investments, £4,000 each or something of the sort. I should like a list of, say, ten safe investments to choose from. Kindly reply by post as soon as possible. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[323] MAY 1880

A/14 24 May 1880

[Red. July 14, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

We don’t want a steam-hammer to kill a mosquito! You don’t appear to take in the fact that we want to know the price of a very fast seagoing steamer for the China coast—not to fight, but to “fly” —not to carry many men, but to find out news ahead, carry despatches and occasionally a Mandarin and suite. Li Chung Tang asks for a boat of 11 feet draught because he wants her to cross the Taku Bar; but I doubt if a fast sea-boat, to draw on eleven feet, can be built.! To my mind a boat like one of the Holyhead mailboats (Ulster, Munster, etc., etc., etc.,) would be the right thing; but we want a twenty-knot boat if possible, and we want her to keep up that rate all the way from T’tsin to C’ton: is that possible? If possible what will it cost? Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The water over the Taku Bar (a sand bar at the mail boats plied between N.W. Wales and Holyhead entrance to the Peiho en route to Tientsin) varied Island, in St. George’s Channel.

in depth from two feet to fifteen. The Holyhead

A/15 25 May 1880

[Red. July 14, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

Li Chung Tang writes to say he has a letter from Berlin from Li Feng Pao stating that Giquel has visited Berlin specially to remonstrate against arming the new cruisers with 25ton guns. According to Giquel, the first authorities in France and Germany have calculated it out, and are against that particular gun. Instead, he advises the use of the 11-ton gun, which is so much lighter and yet is (according to him) as powerful as the 25-ton gun, firing twelve inches (sic)—of iron. I replied to Li that other men than Li Feng Pao or Giquel had gone into designs and calculations fully before I presumed to advise the purchase of such cruisers: that the 25-ton gun is more formidable than the 11-ton gun, and that the cruisers are to carry 25-ton guns, and go sixteen knots at the measured mile. Why does Giquel thus remonstrate? What amount of good sense is there in his recommendation?—Sometimes the givers of unasked-for advice are to be classed with the—“‘et dona ferentes”' —J put G. & Co. there on this occasion. I want two lines from Rendel to show Li in reply:

[324] THEI. G. INPEKING

{°. to say that the weight of the 25-ton gun will not interfere with ship’s speed, or general handiness, and

2°. to say that the 25-ton gun will pierce inches, while the 11-ton gun will only go

through inches of ordinary armour. Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. If China should desire to buy the cruiser building for Chile, could A. & Co.—not able to deliver to Chile—sell her to China?* and what price? R.H. 1. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes: “I fear the was also a member of the Armstrong firm, and later Greeks even bearing gifts” (Virgil, Aeneid, III). became a baron and an M.P. Since George was the

. engineer, it is likely that he is the one meant here.

2. George Wightwick Rendel and Stuart Rendel

were the sons of James Meadows Rendel,afamous 3, Apparently Armstrong was building a ship for construction engineer. George, the elder, was a Chile but was unable to deliver it because Chile was

partner in Armstrong & Co., whose ordinance then at war with Peru and Bolivia (the War of the works he directed until 1882. Stuart, the third son, _ Pacific, 1879-1883). See letter 420.

A/16 25 May 1880

[Red. July 14, 1880]

Dear Campbell, , Yesterday morning as I handed Bredon the outwards telegram book he handed me the inwards do.; my telegram to go out was inviting Gordon to come to China’ —the telegram was yours, via Kiachta, saying that Gordon goes with Lord Ripon to India! How strange that the two plans for using the same man—in the heart of Africa the other day—should thus meet in my desk in Peking on the Queen’s birthday! If Gordon is still in England go and see him, and ask him, from me, to come here if only for a month fo see the situation, and then make up his mind to go or stay. There is an opportunity now opening up of doing good work on a grand scale, and China invites him to undertake it. To do it, will be to do good work for China, good work for England, good work for the World! I hope and pray he’ll not refuse to come. Position, terms, conditions, etc., etc., etc., can all be arranged here: both to his and to my satisfaction. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. “Chinese” Gordon’s advice was being sought by June 4 he received Hart’s telegram inviting him to the Chinese, in the event of war with Russia over Peking. Ili. Gordon at this point was in India as private sec- Gordon had been governor-general of the Sudan retary to Lord Ripon, who had been appointed from 1874 to 1879; hence Hart’s reference to “the viceroy to India in the spring. Gordon found the heart of Africa.” position uncongenial and resigned on June 2. On

[325] JUNE 1880

A/17 25 May 1880

Dear Campbell, | [Red. July 14, 1880]

Thanks for going into the Ballantine business so thoroughly.’ I write a line in advance of official despatches to say all the money issued will go to the boy: so, please get him apprenticed to his favourite trade among his own class and not above

his position. The total grant will be about £300; £100 ought to pay Mr. and a fee for his apprenticeship, and the other two hundred might be invested, so as to give him a nice little capital for a nest-egg to fall back on after he ends learning and begins to work for himself.

I don’t see that any of the funds I hold for the good of all ought to go to her—married in °77, a widow in ’78, and again married in ’80.

) Robert Hart Yours truly,

1. George Ballantine was a tidewaiter who had died 2. This blank is in the original letter. on May 5, 1878, after long service in the Customs.

A/18 1 June 1880 Dear Campbell,

My last A letter from you is A/192. I have since received your telegram of 22nd May, telling me you had signed agreements for three additional Epsilons. The money is being remitted all right.

this. .

Can A. & Co. possibly finish the cruisers earlier than they contract for without increase of price? The doings of next spring may make it desirable to have these boats away from England before any application from Russia or Japan to stop them is put in. For the same reason, there must be no public attention called to them—no fete—no review. Remember

We nearly lost the Zeta on a rock the other day, and she has to go to S’hai to get a new

plate put in just under the boilers. There were over twenty fathoms of water at bow and | stern, and only a little more than one where she got caught amidships. I am telegraphing for ten steel plates to keep in store for repairing any such damages in future. This accident helps my naval plans, and shows Li that whatever theory a few Chinese have learnt, they are not yet able to cope with the difficulties of actual sea-going.'

I enclose open letters to Novion, Jamieson, and Kopsch.” Read them: then close and forward. I want you to see what I say about their leaves and appointments.

[326] THE LG. IN PEKING I have telegraphed to you to send out Ogilby and Wade. I may perhaps want Kerr and Liot also: but the latter is old to begin at the foot of the list.° I presume James and Herschell, having taken Chinese fees, will not give.opinions on Chinese cases at F.O.* Remember we don’t want to fine the “Taiwan” more than a few taels to mark the breach of regulation: but we do want a clear understanding about cargo and false manifest for the future. German Revision—not yet ratified, however—settles the point for Germany:° whatever requires a permit for shipment or discharge—B/L or no B/L—is cargo, and to omit it is to present a false manifest. I am bringing Hippisley as Asst. Sec. (vice Porter, who goes to Canton as Dep. Commr.) and also Piry and Spinney to Peking. The work here increases every day. M.B. Bredon is to be Private Secy.°®

I fear Chung How will lose his head.

Tell Sir Rutherford, if you meet him, that the revising foreign representatives, when asked what they actually wanted by the Yamen, have had nothing for it but to go as near accepting his convention as possible. It’s a monstrous pity England did not ratify it ten years ago. The new ports begin to pay. Wenchow to my surprise hangs fire, and Pakhoi heads the list. I hear we are to have lots of new work this autumn: American Commissioners—Brazilian Mission—a Spanish question—Macao, and Bourée’s frontier (Cochin-China) plans.’ Fortunately my health improves, and I have been doing six or seven hours office work daily the last six weeks without a single headache. But I ride daily—Bruce and I were in the saddle last night from 5% till 7.50!—and take bromide of P. occasionally. Hoping you are all well.

Yours truly, Robert Hart P.S. Please forward enclosed notes for Rendel and Giquel. R.H. 1. Li’s dream was of an entirely Chinese navy. 4. Sir Henry James, R.E. Webster, and A. Young Hart, conscious of China’s inadequacies, felt that constituted the second group of distinguished lawforeign direction would continue to be essentialfor | yers consulted in London on the Taiwan case (see some time to come. His hope was to keep that letter 208n1). Farrer Herschell, who had appeared

direction in British hands. for Hart in the von Gumpach case in 1873, was not in either group. 2. Novion, Jamieson, and Kopsch, all on leave,

were to return to the foliowing ports: Novion as 5. German treaty revision, after three years of necommissioner at Ta-kao, Jamieson as commissioner gotiating, had culminated on March 31, 1880, ina at Swatow, and Kopsch as commissioner at Pakhoi. “supplementary convention.” Included was an agreement on ship manifests. 3. Edwin Liot, British, joined the Customs in Sep-

tember 1880 and was private secretary to the 6. Three generations of the Piry family from Inspector General throughout his career. He was France served in the Customs. P. Piry had joined in given the rank of commissioner on retirement in 1857 and was now Ist assistant A at Ningpo. His 1896. In 1891 he changed his name from Liot to son, A.T. Piry (or T. Piry; he dropped the “‘A”’ af-

Ludlow. ter his son Alphonse joined), was in 1880 2nd

[327] JUNE 1880 assistant B at Pakhoi, but was soon to become act- 7. A commission of three Americans was sent to ing assistant Chinese Secretary in the Peking Office. Peking in October 1880 for discussions on the im-

The grandson, Alphonse Piry, did not join until migration of Chinese laborers to the United States.

1905. In the Pacific coast states, particularly, consider-

W.F. Spinney, an American who had joined the able antipathy had developed toward the Chinese Customs in August 1874, was 4th assistant at immigrants, who were willing to work harder for Amoy; he came to Peking in 1880 as 3rd assistant less money than their American counterparts. Two A. Spinney was one of four members of Harvard’s treaties were signed in Peking on November 17. class of 1874 to join the Customs. The others were A treaty with Brazil was signed on October 3, H.F. Merrill, H.B. Morse, and Charles C. Clarke. 1881 (see letter 298), Matthew Boyd Bredon, Mrs. Hart’s younger Albert Bourée was French minister to Peking, brother, joined the Customs in July 1880; during 1880-1883. his first three years in China he was private secretary to the Inspector General.

Z/18 22 June 1880

[Rced. August 13, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I have received Z/110 of 7th May and A/195. We don’t want an Jris: we don’t want a fighting vessel: we want a yacht:—surely English builders can produce a fast sea boat, 500 to 1000 tons, drawing 12 to 15 feet, and going 15 to 20 knots, without any prodigious difficulty!

Your office a/c for Dec. and March quarters have not yet reached us. Where are they? When did you send them off?

The Gas alterations are made on the supposition that the works are to be extended. That supposition ought not to have guided you. Attending to it you have increased the outlay, and have given us pipes which do not fit the ones already placed in grounds and houses. The outlook here is very serious. If Russia attempts coercion, China will fight, and, if not materially aided by foreigners, will be thrashed. The settlement to be made after such a thrashing will wipe a large slice out of Chinese territory:—the Customs will probably come to grief in the scrimmage.

Kindly send on the enclosed to Bank: it contains a cheque. Also send to Brighton to Foster and Else for a dozen tooth-brushes of the size and kind drawn on the enclosed paper. (Dr. Gibbon’s Brushes). All family well here; but we are thinking seriously of a flitting for Mrs. Hart and children before a blockade shuts us in, and street rioting makes residence dangerous. Perhaps it will all blow over—but “‘there’s danger on the deep”’. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[328] THEI. G, IN PEKING

Z/19 2 July 1880

[Red. August 27, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

| An Edict has “temporarily reprieved” Chung How to remove the impression that China wishes to insult Russia and wants war. This “act of grace” stops far of being complete, and, like everything Chinese, comes out “‘late in the day” and loses in grace. If Russia wants to back out of the stand she has taken up, the Edict will help her to do so; but if she is determined to play out her game, the Edict will only make her the more furious seeing that in it China in effect says: “If you are amiable perhaps we’ll spare Chung How; if you are not amiable off goes his head!” If were a Russ. I should say: “Chung How be d - d! I’ll thrash you all the harder for trying to put the onus of your murder on me!”’ On the strength of this Edict, England and France are to try and induce Russia to re-open the negotiation with 7seng. The Marquis will do as well, I suppose, as any other Chinaman, but I don’t regard him as inheriting much more than a great name from his able father. If war breaks out, you may prepare for a complete smash, I fear. France wants to keep Russia out of fighting for a while; Germany seems trying to get her embroiled. Your Dec. a/c arrived: don’t hold them back so long again. Krupp offers to supply Epsilons going 14 knots for 20,000 taels less apiece than A. & Co. I think Li turns his face in that direction somewhat. When the boats now building are coming out, you must not spend an unnecessary penny, or employ more hands than are absolutely required to bring them out. The voyage expenses of a and @ have been tremendous!

Yours truly, , Robert Hart P.S. Forward enclosed to Mr. Grant Duff’ and Evey. Kindly send Evey £1 (one £) for pocket money. R.H. 1. Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff was the M.P. for Elgin, Scotland.

Z/20 7 July 1880

[Red. August 27, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I enclose a cover for the O.B.C. containing two cheques and my Pass-book. Kindly send it on safely.

[329] JULY 1880

I am paying off some more money on account of Retiring Allowances.’ A cheque for £2000 goes to you for your first septennial period 1863-1870. There is not money enough in hand to pay yourself and others of the same standing for the second period 1870-1877; but there will be before the end of the year—unless Russia smashes us or confiscates our

accounts! |

I am puzzled about Gordon.” If he came along from Galle, he ought to be at Tientsin ‘ before this day week. I must meet him there although he will not serve; but if I thought his telegram of the 16th from Galle meant that he would not come on to China, I might spare myself a disagreeable trip at this season.-If Russia will re-open the negotiations with Tseng, I think we may pull through;-but we don’t know what Russia is up to (I think she wants plunder) and I believe the Russian Legation here is completely in the dark too; but I just hear from Chefoo that a Russian gunboat has arrived there and gives out that two Admirals and thirteen ships will join her in a few days, and, if this is true, we may have the “‘fat in the fire’ any day! I hope you are all well. With kind regards to Mrs. Campbell, and the children.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. The Customs retirement system for its employ- ually, since the Service had to wait for funds to ees had developed gradually. Hart’s first circular on accumulate.

the subject (No. 25 of 1869) provided for one In circular No. 47 (second series) of 1878, Hart year’s pay after ten or more years of service to any explained the delays in payment, which were member of the In-door Staff who was forced by ill apparently distressing some of the employees. He health to leave China. There was no provision for again pointed out that payments could be made allowances to the families of deceased employees only as funds accumulated and that there were no

or to employees who resigned for reasons other arrangements for adding interest “to this free and than health. Hart’s circular No. 5 (second series) of — generous gift of the Government.”

1876 made further provisions: members of the Campbell, whose annual salary was £2000, was Revenue Department were to receive one year’s now to receive the £2000 due him for his first pay at the end of every seventh year of service, the seven years in office, but he could not yet be paid Out-door Staff and Marine Department after each for his second seven years. tenth year, and the Chinese staff after each twelfth year. The issue of such funds, however, was op- 2. Gordon had proceeded to China despite the War tional with the Inspector General, who might with- Office’s initial refusal to grant him a requested hold them if “either conduct or work fail to give year’s leave. He went to Tientsin, where he consatisfaction.” In the event of death, the retiring ferred at length with Li Hung-chang, then on to . allowance might be issued to the family of the de- Peking, where he met with the Tsungli Yamen. ceased (with the same stipulation). The issuance of Hart he never saw. On August 7 he left Peking for amounts due was to commence as of 1876, be- England, having decided that there was really nothginning with employees who had already served ing for him to do in China. through two periods, but it would proceed grad-

A/19 23 July 1880

|Rcd. September 21, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

_ Tenclose a draft of a despatch we propose to send to you, but I let you have it this way in advance in order that you may make any remarks you consider called for before I sign it and at the same time begin your preparations to give effect to its instructions.

[330] THE I. G. INPEKING

I want to interfere as little as possible with the careful system you have built up for keeping the a/c of your office, and I have nothing but Praise to give you for what comes under my eye here. Still, we want to have the a/c of the London Office rendered in the same way and on the same forms as those of the other offices, and you will please to arrange for doing so from the beginning of 1881. As Smith is at home now, it may be well to have a talk with him on this subject; he can explain to you, more fully than I, how great a labour it is to get your a/c reshaped so as to

- fit into our general I.G. account.’ The delay in the arrival of the Dec. and March a/c’s caused great inconvenience here. You

must try and not let it occur again. :

Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. This was James Smith, assistant audit secretary.

Z/21 7 August 1880

[Red. October 1, 1880]

Dear Campbell, ,

Please send on the enclosed to Mr. Taylor (my Attorney in Ireland), and ask him to acknowledge its receipt to you: in your next telegram put in the word Attorney at the end, and I shall then know that this cover, which is important, has reached Mr. Taylor. Awfully hot to-day. Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/22 8 August 1880

[Rcd. October 1, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I enclose a note for the bootmakers, Bowley & Co.; kindly send it on, and have the boots it orders despatched in time to reach me before winter—i.e. sent off by the second mail in October. The last boots made for me on the measurements the man took in the shop are too small; I can get them on, but they are so tight that they put me in a fever. I want him to destroy the new measurements and block, and go back to the old, for it is comfort I want and not “the curves of beauty’’.

[331] AUGUST 1880

Awfully hot, as I said yesterday, in the day time, but cool at night. A week more will see us through the summer.

Robert Hart

Yours truly,

P.S. I am just starting inquiries about 7421, which box of books has never reached me yet. 3)

R.H.

Z/23 10 August 1880

[Red. October 1, 1880]

Dear Campbell, , I enclose a lot of letters (5) to be forwarded. Please, give Medhurst and Furse any information they may ask for anent our Competitive examinations.’ Gordon is still at T’tsin. Very eccentric. Spending hours in prayer, and then acting on inspiration. He came to Peking—preached the weakness of China, strength of Russia, and necessity for peace to not very sympathetic ears at the Yamen—never came near me—regards me as the cause of all the trouble—has written to French and English Ministers to denounce me—has thrown up his Commission—and will probably have a row and then throw up Li in a few days more! As for the look-out, I don’t know what to make of it. Russia talks peace and amity here; but elsewhere war is on every tongue, and her force on the coast, means something when ready. Perhaps it is Corea they’re after; but if it is China, we'll catch it pretty roughly! Did you see that most indiscreet article in the Courier of the 29th July (A Political Forecast)??

The paper ought to be suppressed and the Editor drawn and quartered! It may do immense harm:—although, like most China paper leaders, it may pass unnoticed. The Gas-plant is arriving. You have put us to the greatest possible inconvenience by sending things suited to extension. We have to root up piping everywhere, even out of our carefully puddled tank.* Our measurements were exact,—we wanted just what we wrote for, —and the chief object in passing the requisition through an Engineer’s hands at home was to provide for inspection and also guard against omission. Further, retorts of two sizes were specified—some being for the old, others for the new works: but your man knows better than ourselves, and sends all of the same size! Child is very much put out, and with our limited space for works, and with what had already been done, the bother and pulling to pieces now to be undertaken is too aggravating. Madame du Mailly is closing; so Evey is to go to Miss Reilly at Bray.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

[332] THE I. G. INPEKING

Medhurst* Furse Purser Jamieson Cartwright 1. W.H. Medhurst (see letter 1n2) had retired in by the use of a mixture of clay and sand called 1876, and may have had nominees to suggest for puddle. the Customs Service.

4. Names listed at the end of this and subsequent 2. The Shanghai Courier and China Gazette—as it letters are of those people for whom Hart enclosed was called after 1875, when it was bought by letters. Hart’s custom was to note their names at Frederic Henry Balfour—had been one of the major __ the head of his letters to Campbell. We have trans-

newspapers in China since its founding in 1868. ferred them to the end and, whenever possible, Thomas Preston was its publisher at the date of have supplied, or suggested identifications. In Hart’s letter, and possibly also its editor. Alexander many instances, of course, we have been unable to

Michie was a leading contributor. do either.

Professor John Purser was at Queen’s College,

3. A puddled tank is one made impervious to liquids Belfast (see letter 312).

Z/24 | 11 August 1880 Dear Campbell, |

[Rced. October 1, 1880]

Your telegrams of the 3rd are in, and I am glad to see Tseng’s campaign appears to begin favourably at St. P’burg.’ I trust the news of Gordon’s doings will not have done much damage. Gordon, poor fellow, after throwing up his Commission to throw in his lot with Li, has now said good-bye to Li and is on his way home again, and after waiting to denounce me at the Legations, and refusing to come near me when in Peking, has now written to withdraw his letters, as he found he was mistaken. Much as I like and respect him, I must say he is “not all there’. Whether it is religion, or

. vanity, or softening of the brain—I don’t know; but he seems to be alternately arrogant and slavish, vain and humble, in his senses and out of them. It’s a great pity. What about Col. Pym’s son?” I have never heard a word from him since we shook hands that morning at Dover. I wish to help the lad. It is still very hot; but the man to be pitied is Child—your changes in his requisitions have played the deuce with all our arrangements! I enclose a few letters to be forwarded.

Payne :

Yours truly, Robert Hart

Brazier Burton Badham Duncan

[333] AUGUST 1880 1. Tseng had gone from London to St. Petersburg 2. E.T. Pym, Colonel Pym’s son, joined the Cusin July, accompanied by Macartney and Giquel toms in September 1882 and remained in the (neither of whom was present at the actual nego- Service until 1903, when he died of cholera. tiations).

Z[25 : 17 August 1880

[Red. October 7, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

Thanks for your Z/112. |

When you next see Mr. Anderson of the O.B.C., show him these lines. Mr. Maze is my brother-in-law; I am not in any way indebted to him, and he has no authority from me to use my name or our relationship for any purpose whatsoever. Mr. Anderson cannot do me a greater dis-service than by allowing anyone to make use of my name, or connection with me, to get a hearing at, or assistance from, the O.B.C. Unless an applicant produces a letter bearing my signature and addressed to the Chief Manager of the O.B.C., the Bank will do best—in its own interests and mine—to regard unauthorised use of my name as a special reason for refusing to accommodate, and for being on its guard against, the persons so using it, no matter who he, she or they may be. Of course all this is very vexatious, but I trust my words are plain enough for the Bank’s guidance. You will do well to leave a copy with Mr. Anderson.

Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/26 17 August 1880 , [Rcd. October 7, 1880] | Dear Campbell,

In a telegram I sent a week ago I put in the words: “For Miss Bredon Portadown. Place Evey Hart with Miss Reilly, Bray. Inform Madame and Campbell.” Madame, i.e. Mde. de Mailly, is leaving Bournemouth so we must place Evey elsewhere; . we want her to be near her Aunt (Miss Bredon), and have decided on Bray. Please pay Miss

Reilly’s bills as you did Mde. de Mailly’s. , Gordon has gone homewards. We do not want H.O. Brown now.’

Boyd Bredon is now my private Secretary—not Postmaster General. Is Wade still strong at F.0.? Who is likely to succeed him?—Mallett or an outsider?

Books, 16th April, found here in office! | |

[334] THE I. G. INPEKING

Tseng’s telegrams are very numerous, and he evidently thinks he is getting on well. I fear the Russian is only “playing his fish” and that we’ll have it hot here in a month or two! I enclose a Z a/c cheque in your favour for £400. I hope Gordon will save his commission. “Times are out of joint” —so am I to-day. Excuse me if my letter reflects my want of hinges.

Yours truly,

Robert Hart P.S. Look at the S’hai Courier July 26th to August 6th report of Bandinel’s bankruptcy. The $960 item—$40 a month is amusing. The P’delphia Commissioner is put in anything but nice colours! Finally, I shall be glad to see Rendel’s hint (“‘will be made all right’’) come true. R.H.

Old Edkins (58) is going to marry Dudgeon’s Governess Fraulein Schmidt, a dashing German of “‘thirty”’. 1. H. Octavius Brown had been on leave in Europe __ eral times about a possible return. since 1876, some of the time in Germany with Minister Liu Hsi-hung. Although he had resigned in 2. Sir Louis Mallett was in the India Office. December 1879, he apparently put out feelers sev-

Z[27 25 August 1880

[Rcd. October 14, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

After throwing up his Commission, Gordon threw up Li, and started for Zanzibar. At S’hai, the W.O. telegram ordering him home met him, but he said he’d disregard it and go his own way. I hope to goodness, for his own sake, he’ll change his mind and go home straight. I have therefore telegraphed to you to move Col. Grant to have the order repeated to meet him on board the “Ravenna” on arrival at Aden.' I assure you it is an immense relief to Li and myself to know that his resignation was not accepted, and to feel that our invitation has not cost him, in his generosity, his Commission! I enclose a letter for him; read, close and forward. He wrote me in a friendly way before he left S’hai,—thought he might have been unjust ,—was sorry for his harsh expressions,—said he had a right to his own views as I to mine,—and assured me he remained as much my friend as ever. I am sorry we did not meet; for surely, if any two ought to have had a talk, it was Gordon and myself!? The Russian Transport “Asia’’ put in to Chefoo the other day and then went on to Ta-lienwan with 500 troops on board.° I fancy these fellows will land and entrench themselves and be joined by the entire fleet from Japan in a week or two. An ultimatum cannot be long deferred, if they thus form a base. For the moment China has nothing there to oppose them, and by the time forces can be collected the Russians will be inside their own fortifications

[335] AUGUST 1880 , there. How often, these last twenty years, have I advised the Yamen not to neglect Ta-lienwan!

Bredon goes on two years’ leave from Ist October. I don’t yet know who is to be Chief Secretary instead. I am telegraphing to you to send out William G. Lay (son of late Consul) as Fourth Assistant B.* Do not be surprised if Mrs. Hart and family arrives some day: if the row thickens, I can’t let them stay here, and, if they can’t stay here, they must go home, wintering probably at Brighton. Deuce take it all! Yours truly, Robert Hart Gordon Medhurst 1. Colonel Grant was deputy adjutant general at interpreter, effected a reconciliation. Later in the

the War Office (W.O.) in London. spring Hart at Gordon’s invitation spent two weeks with him at Changchow to be present on May 11

2. Hart and Gordon had first met and become at its fall which, as Gordon promised, was “‘a sight friends in 1864 when Hart at 28 was the newly worth seeing,” after a charge he personally led. appointed I.G. and Gordon at 31 was leading the Gordon left China in November 1864, and since Ever-Victorious Army against the Taipings. In that time the two had not met. December 1863 Soochow had surrendered to

Gordon and Li Hung-chang, and eight defeated 3. Ta-lien (Dairen) Bay. Taiping leaders were beheaded by order of Li in

violation of a promise of mercy previously given; 4. William George Lay, son of William Hyde Lay

whereupon Gordon resigned his command. On and nephew of Horatio Nelson Lay, entered the January 19, 1864, Hart at the request of the Yamen Customs in November 1880 and served in China inleft Shanghai to act as mediator. He saw Li in to the 1920s, His father, a British consul, had died Soochow on the 23rd, Gordon in Kunshan on the in 1876. His grandfather was George Tradescant 29th. On February 1 he and Gordon went to con- Lay, first British consul at Canton in 1843 and at fer with Li at Soochow; Hart, replacing Gordon’s Foochow in 1844,

Z/[28 27 August 1880

[Rcd. October 19, 1880]

Dear Campbell, McL. B. is a man for whom personally J have always had a great liking, and for whose abilities and full head I have a great appreciation.’ We are, face to face, on the best of terms. But everyone tells me he is not my friend: and when he went away on leave he did not write a line to say good-bye, nor has he since sent me a line of any kind. With most people I am, as I said above, face to face on good terms, but everyone has some one or other who tells me to take care as so and so is not my friend. I simply say to myself: “‘all right! I can’t force people to like me, although naturally they’ll be civil to me; but as long as they do their work to my satisfaction, I shall not fall out with them for not loving me, or even for having ends of their own in view.” And this cool philosophy of mine saves me a great deal of worry. Of course I am always on my guard. People who explain how B. likes me, would be sure to say, that, if anyone in the F.O. talks to him of me—my work—or my C.M.G., he will as certainly tell them the first is over-rated, the second over-valued, and the third more than | deserve. If

[336] THEI. G. INPEKING

he is what others say he is, he will praise me while he pumps you. Of his ability there can be no doubt. But whether he or other Customs’ employees are concerned, remember you have one rule to go by: my affairs public or private, and your office, are not to be at their

disposal. Diverge from this and you'll go astray. ,

Burlingame certainly had talks with the Yamen about the ““Alabama”’, and induced China to declare her ports closed to her; but as to the “Trent” I don’t think she was named.” Both then and at other times, various Ministers at Peking have talked about the desirability of neutralising Chinese waters and the China Sea; but nothing ever came of such talks. Would it be fair to China, internationally speaking, to deprive her, in the interests of foreign trade, of the inestimable advantages of the right to make every headland a Cape St. Vincent, and save land for agricultural purposes by burying her sons, slain in naval conflict, by the thousand in the neighbouring seas? It would be hard on Russia, too, to oppose operations on the China seaboard where she could kill so many birds with one stone, and restrict her to fighting at Ili where there is so much difficulty, so little glory and such useless gain. These considerations apart, general trade would be highly advantaged if the China Sea and Chinese waters were neutralised. America and Germany were, I think, the strongest speakers in this direction. You can tell this to Sir Chas. Dilke.> The Treaty Powers might be induced to act in . concert. I think I shall telegraph a hint in this sense to-morrow. I don’t think blockade was talked of by Burlingame, but it certainly was discussed in Legation circles in 1873 a propos of Japanese doings. Your doings with Hutchins in re ““Taiwan’’ begin to alarm me. Is the mole-hill worth so much mountaineering?

The “Asia” Russian Transport, with 500 men is said to have gone to Talienwan,; if this is true, we are nearer a crash than it is pleasant to think. China is willing to do what is fair—is Russia? China is willing to have the worst of the bargain—will Russia be content with anything short of something better than the best? Yours truly, Robert Hart

| R.H.

P.S. I think I have sent you two Z/26, one of the 17th with £400 and one of the 24th with cover for Medhurst. So I make this Z/28.

P.P.S. I am re-arranging Slater, striking out all useless words (such as adipose and adorable) and, instead of numbers, using letters for those retained thus: AAA, AAB, AAC, AAD, AAE, etc., etc., ABA, etc., BAA, etc., CAA, etc., DAA, etc. This will give us over 1 7000 words. I shall send you one copy before the end of year. R.H.

P.P.P.S. I enclose a curious cutting from a China Mail just received.* This surely cannot be your daughter? We had not heard of her birth! R.H.

[337] SEPTEMBER 1880 1. McL. B. was J. McLeavy Brown, on leave from Britain and France in 1861 when she was stopped 1880 to January 31, 1882. He had been statistical by a Union steamer and the two commissioners

secretary in Shanghai prior to his departure. removed. 2. Burlingame had been United States minister to 3. Sir Charles Dilke, M.P. for Chelsea from 1868 to China during the American Civil War. The Alabama 1886, was under-secretary for foreign affairs from

was one of the most successful of a fleet of Con- 1880 to 1882. |

federate cruisers whose avowed aim was the

destruction of the North’s merchant marine. She 4. The China Mail, published in Hong Kong, had was sunk in 1864. The Trent was a British ship that been founded in 1845 as a weekly but became a was conveying two Confederate commissioners to daily in 1867.

Z/[29 18 September 1880

[Rcd. November 13, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

Many thanks for the “Investor’s Manual” and your letter Z/116 of 23rd July, and three enclosures. I enclose a letter for the O.B.C. Will you kindly take it to Mr. Anderson and talk it over; I

appoint the Chief Manager my Attorney, but I ask him to consult with you as may be advisable. I want as much interest as possible, but I do not desire to put my savings in anything that is not secure. I hope the Consols will be below 98." Kindly put the Bank’s receipt for the securities in your safe, and send me a duplicate or copy. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. Consols (consolidated annuities) were British funded government securities.

Z/30 21 September 1880 | Dear Campbell,

I see some papers do not speak very favourably of New Zealand Bonds. I already have some money invested there; so perhaps, instead of putting £2,000 more into them, it would be better to invest elsewhere. Kindly tell Mr. Anderson this. We have had no telegrams since yours of the 7th, the line being broken between H’kong and S’hai, and we are wondering if Tseng has any good news for us. The limit for ratification expires to-day, and, so far as I can learn, the Yamen will not ratify: we may therefore prepare to face the worst, but whether Russia will strike this autumn or only next spring, I.

: [338] THEI. G. INPEKING can’t say.’ My view is that Butzow will talk platitudes all winter,_then say he has wasted time to no purpose in spring,—and just before the river opens hand in an ultimatum and clear out; but the French Admiral now here says his talks with Russians lead him to expect a winter campaign. All the Russian Officers speculate on loot for themselves and immense wealth for their Govt. as the ending! It is a pretty kettle-of-fish certainly! Christopher A. Mears, Junr., 83, Thames St., Greenwich, is Child’s Brother-in-law, and comes out as a kind of handy-man, understanding house fitting and to assist in and eventually take charge of, the Gas works.” We hope to light up the last week in Oct. Bredon goes on two years’ leave day after to-morrow. For the moment Daae will sign instead; but the new Chief Secretary is not yet appointed. A week ago we were in white trousers: to-day we could stand a fire! Miss Reilly’s bills for Evey are to be paid by you just as were Mde. de Mailly’s. Hoping you’re all well. Yours truly, Robert Hart Martin? Miller O.B.C.

1. Ratification was of the Treaty of Livadia. works. In 1902 Britain awarded him a war medal Butzow had been recalled to Russia in 1879 to and clasp, ““Defence of Legations,”’ for his activ-

assist in the negotiations with Ch’ung-hou. He had ities during the Boxer Uprising. been ordered back to Peking in August 1880 and

was now en route through Europe. 3. Enclosures: W.A.P. Martin was on leave and went to England, though he was an American (see

2. Christopher A. Mears joined the Customs in De- letter 310). cember 1880 as a “‘fitter.”” He served for many Miller is probably John Miller, the first husband years as handyman at the Inspectorate General of Hart’s sister Sarah Jane. under various titles, the last in 1908 being clerk of

Z/31 26 September 1880

[Rcd. November 15, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

We really don’t know how we stand, for the Chinese keep to themselves their intentions and the instructions they send the Marquis. We infer, however, that Russia found the Marquis had not authority to concede what was wanted, or powers to take up points on which Russia had demands to be satisfied, and consequently decided to transfer negotiations to Peking; and we presume Russia intends to have not only the whole treaty of Livadia but very much more. On the other hand we know China refuses to accept that treaty and is not likely to consent to go beyond it. China cannot calculate the expediency, but only insists on the rights of the question. Consequently she will prefer to “‘go out’’ and take her chance in the field, thinking it more dignified to do that and then lose a hundred points, than to knuckle down now and only lose ten: but her decision to act thus is because her own people

[339] OCTOBER 1880

—ignorant of Russia’s strength and full of conceited belief in their own superiority—advise Govt. to make a stand, and expect it will be successful. To say the least, there will be a big bill to be paid, but our fear is that when the bear tastes blood there will be no holding him. Some people think it is Corea that is coveted: others, that preparations are made to meet England or other powers in these waters: others that Corea will be annexed and China pay the expenses: etc., etc., etc. Then, if there is to be war, will there be a winter campaign, or will nothing be done till spring, and will Peking mobs spare or destroy all foreigners indiscriminately? These questions are one day answered one way, and the next another, and those who have wives and children here are anxious. Will it be best to be laughed at for sending the women, etc., away when the future may show they could have stayed safely, or for keeping them to be destroyed in the trap? The least anxious are the Chinese themselves: they don’t realise the situation a bit, and they believe in themselves and in their luck—and in their right: and I heartily sympathise with them.

Robert Hart :

Yours truly,

With such uncertainty ahead it is very hard to do the work of to-day properly. Philosophy is one thing; practice quite another! P.S. Please send me in next Peking box—no hurry—a Harron’s Knockabout Bag price 10/2 (320, High Holborn) and one of their illustrated catalogues.

Note paper just received. R.H.

P.P.S. Espana thrown from his pony at my gate yesterday: completely paralysed, within and without, from nape of neck down: not expected to live till to-morrow. Was to have dined with me to-night.

27th Sept. 1880

Z/32 4 October 1880

Dear Campbell, |Rcd. November 24, 1880]

A telegram from St. P’burg of 24th Sept. says Butzow had just been ordered back (from Lucerne) to resume negotiations with the Marquis.’ If this is a fact, I hope we'll pull through. I believe the Yamen dreads negotiations here, and will consent to anything not too unreasonable to effect a settlement at St. P’burg.

Espana, the Spanish Minister, was thrown from his pony at my gate on the 26th Sept. and taken up completely paralysed, inside and outside, from nape of neck down, but perfectly

[340] THEI. G. INPEKING

conscious and able to talk in all languages; he died on the Ist inst. The last message the body sent to the brain before falling remained till the end; he knew he was in bed, but said he felt he was on horseback. He had used his spurs roughly, and the brute—a vicious one,—bucked. The Brazilians have concluded a treaty. The Minister, Callado, is staying here with me.”

| I have your Kiachta anent Bridgford.° Will it pay? Respecting Mountain Guns, A. & Co’s memo is confidential. Now how am I to use it? Li wants to see it, but it has to be translated, and he is sure to show it to others. If I keep it to myself, it came uselessly; if I give it to Li, it may lead to business—but it will cease to be altogether confidential. When A. & Co. say anything is confidential, what do they wish me to do with it? I hope Lay and Mears have started. Lay is Wm. Lay (Consul)’s son. Mears is Child’s brother-in-law. The alphabetical code will go to you next week. Begin to use it from 1st December. I shall not use it till I receive a telegram in its form from you!

We are all pretty well; the weather is colder than normal for the season, and we expect an early winter. Yours truly, Robert Hart 1. The Russians had threatened to transfer nego- 2. Eduardo Callado was Brazil’s envoy extraortiations to Peking; Butzow was already on his way dinary and minister plenipotentiary. to Peking for this purpose. He had reached Lucerne when the Russians changed their minds and re- 3. Major Bridgford, formerly of the Royal Marine called him to St. Petersburg to resume negotiations Artillery, was an agent for Armstrong and Co.,

there. who had sent him to China with instructions to do business through Jardine, Matheson and Co.

A/20 9 October 1880

[Rcd. November 29, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

| In another cover I send you one copy of Slater’s code arranged for transmitting words by alphabetical groups consisting of three letters each, instead of numbers. By using the alphabet in groups of three we have, from AAA to ZZZ, some 17,576 groups. I put my pen through all the words in Slater I thought unlikely to be used and added a few words of a kind we are likely to want, and in so doing I used up groups AAA to XVZ; we have accordingly XWA to ZZZ or 1,456 groups available for any supplementary groups or useful phrases, but I have not taken up this part of the work yet. I shall arrange the phrases alphabetically from “‘Are you coming” to “You need not come till next year”’:—have you any phrases in stock?

[341] OCTOBER 1880

At the end of Slater there are a thousand names; I have utilised these by cutting out the two first, and retaining the last three figures in each, viz. from 001 (Aaron) to 000 (Zurich); and I have appended the 420 sounds in the Chinese syllabary for transmitting Chinese words, using alphabetical letters A, B, C, D for hundreds, and ordinary figures for numbers under a hundred (thus 55 is A55,—155 is B55,—255 is C55, and so on). The Telegraph Company at S’hai charges per group: for figures or letters the same amount, —for compound groups (e.g. 45.5) double: three letters or three figures form a group (AAA or 999). I suppose the recent convention imposes the same rules on the companies at your end of the line. I enclose a specimen telegram, and I don’t think I need give you any more by way of explanation. I shall not use this code till I hear from you in it: I shall then know you have received your copy and are ready to operate. By the way, I find I ought to say one thing more: Do not attempt any transposition, as the letters stand for the words they adjoin—thus AAA is really to mean “A”’,—BBB, “‘apprehended”’ ,—CCC, “Breaker” ,—DDD, “Colonising’’,—910, “Kentucky” ,—999, “Zion”’,—D99 ‘““Wang’’,—and so on.

Commissioners at Shai, Amoy, and Canton will have similar codes and use them in the same natural manner. Yours truly, Robert Hart

P.S. Deposit this copy in office, and have another copy prepared to carry about.

Mrs. Russell’ . S. Osborne ; R.H.

A/20 Specimen Telegram for guidance of Non-Res-Sec.

Last-Telegram-received No. 71. In reply to your telegram No. 69. :

071 069

Request = Li Feng Pao not to employ William M

SLC B88 A88 C63 NQE WAP FwWi 149 LYA

Smith Spence. Pay Armstrong £ 15725 only

UKG 291 XVT OVE BDW- VDF — PZL 157 25Z Date-of-this-telegram-is 10th. October-and-its-number-No. 72. |

010 072 072

N.B. 1. Invariably begin each telegram by giving the number of telegram last received, and

continue repeating till you have received another.

[342] THEI. G. IN PEKING

2. Invariably end each telegram by three groups day of the month, month, and number of the telegram. In this position, the first three letters of the month (APR for April, DEC for December) are to be used; but in any other position the Code-group for the month is to be used (thus for April BBY, and for December EKO). 3. Z, ZZ, or ZZZ after figures means only, as on cheques, thus— Pay 355.ZZZ i.e. Pay 355 only.

" 355.6ZZ" " 3,556”

" 355.66Z " " 35,566 " —— " 355.666 ZZZ" 355,666 ”

1. Enclosures: Mrs. Russell may have been the wife The Reverend S. Osborne was the husband of of Dr. Russell of the Times and mother of W.B. Hart’s sister Amy. Russell of the Customs.

Z/33 10 October 1880

Dear Campbell, [Rced. November 29, 1880]

Your telegram of 27th September saying Butzow has been stopped, is a relief. The Yamen, pestered with questions and tired of advice, has kept its recent instructions to itself: it probably has acted on advice, but its modus operandi is to let things be known when they are done—and not sooner, and then to look as if it had acted of itself and not on advice. I believe they have authorised 7seng to give in, and I hope they have done so: for notwithstanding China is in the right, she is not a bit ready to fight, and if thrashed, as she most certainly would be, the last loss would be infinitely greater than the first. The “expediency argument”’ has, I trust, gained the day, and if so, matters will be arranged with Russia at St. P’burg. Russia will have gained her point—her “‘two birds” in fact: a settlement with China, and a naval establishment in these seas ready to go against Corea, Japan, or all-comers when necessary. Some good is already coming out of the shaking, and a telegraph line from S’hai, via Soochow and Nanking, to Tientsin is part of it.’ I hope we are now to have a quiet winter. As it is, the populace at the northern ports has begun to be excited, and hostile and inflammatory placards are appearing; a little more suspense, and the excitement may become too much for the officials to control—but the resumption of negotiations at St. P’burg will take the spring out of the movement.

| Jamieson has written about his extension of leave without pay as if he were “‘under the circumstances (!)” being treated most unfairly.” I am immensely surprised at this revelation of character. Dr. Aitken died between Singapore and Hongkong.

I hope you have started young Lay before this. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[343] OCTOBER 1880

11th Oct. Yours of 27th August/Z 121, acknowledging mine of 7th July, came yesterday. An answer in writing in three months and three days is sharp work! R.H. 1. The St. Petersburg negotiations finally per- ber 1881, and the extension to Peking came three suaded the Chinese of the need to bring Peking years later. into direct telegraphic communication, extending the line north from Shanghai, where it now ended. 2. Colin Jamieson had been in Europe since 1877,

Building of the new line was assigned to a Danish part of the time active for the Customs at the Paris concern, the Great Northern Telegraph Co. The Exhibition. line from Shanghai to Tientsin opened in Decem-

A/21 23 October 1880

[Rcd. December 23, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

We trust, that, as Tseng was still at St. P burg negotiating on the 14th instant, there is ground for hoping the Russo-Chinese affair will be settled quietly. If itis, I shall not be surprised to see a strong friendship come out of it or an arrangement that the world will some future day have reason to consider a strong combination. The state of Europe looks threatening and perhaps this is a factor in R’s considerations in favour of a quiet settlement of the [li question. Just as I sent off my telegram inquiring about the Yarrow torpedo cruiser, I received your despatch 771 with photo and details of that very vessel together with other information.’ Li is the most ardent admirer of and strongest believer in Torpedoes, and the thing itself is an old Chinese idea: I have drawings and descriptions that I got from Yeh’s Yamen at Canton in 1858! The Torpedo is a terrible instrument of warfare, but it is hardly a reliable or manageable one as yet. I shall not be surprised if Li, who is now considering the matter, should send an order shortly:—he has also the Shipway plan, and the Mountain guns’ papers in his possession conditionally. I do not approve at all of the Light-tender planned on Farrow’s advice, and if I ever want such a vessel—though I hope to make the Ling Feng and Fei Hoo last out my time—I shall probably go to Copenhagen for her.

If a Torpedo-boat can be built to go over twenty miles for £6,000 to £8,000, why could not a despatch steamer—a vessel to carry letters or special messenger, or do lookout work, and not to fight or carry troops—be built able to go twenty miles in ordinary weather (and be able to live in any sea) for a reasonable sum? The tenders you send me contemplate a kind of gigantic ship we never dreamt of! We have bad—very bad weather—occasionally—in China; but 300 days out of 365, the sea is perfectly quiet and calm. Could not a light boat of 400 to 500 tons be so constructed as to draw little water—go fast—and cost £25,000? Don’t be misled by her being called a Viceroy’s yacht or a despatch steamer into supposing she must be a Livadia or a fighting vessel: a fast steamer to carry letters etc., up and down the Chinese

[344] THEI. G. IN PEKING

coast is all we want—but we want one that will be very fast in fine weather and in comparatively quiet water. Yours truly, Robert Hart Lady Alcock? Mr. Miller Mr. Muller 1. Yarrow’s shipyard in Glasgow specialized in gun- 2. Enclosures: G.F. Muller, German, had been in

boats. the Customs since 18691881.and was on leave 1880-

A/22 23 October 1880

[Red. December 23, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

I have received your telegram No. 25, again urging the substitution of two steam cutters for one Torpedo-boat on each of the two new cruisers (Rams), and I have consulted the Viceroy, Li Hung Chang. The decision come to is now going to you by telegram, and it is to do as you propose: Do not provide the one Torpedo-boat originally thought of for each ram, but, instead, supply each Ram with two steam-cutters, and let these steam cutters be arranged for discharging spar-Torpedoes. Another point I want to attend to is this: if it is possible to make arrangements for the Rams themselves to carry and discharge spar-Torpedoes, do so: I presume the cost will be but trifling. Further, as soon as I hear from you about the price of Nordenfeldts and proper supply of ammunition, I shall probably telegraph to you to supply each Ram with two, and send out some in the Rams for the gun vessels already arrived: these will be in addition to

Gatlings. |

There is another point I ought to advert to: are the anchors raised by steam or by hand on board the Rams? If possible, arrange for them to be raised by steam (and also by hand). Further, if steam power can be applied for lifting the steam-cutters in a gentle and manageable manner, it will be well to arrange for that also. We have telegraphed to you (in reply to No. 19 received 13th October) to send out the gun vessels for Canton and Chefoo through the P. & O. Co. (or a Captain guaranteed by it), provided you are satisfied that the plan affords reasonable grounds for believing it to be worthy of confidence. Otherwise, the old naval plan must again be resorted to; but in this latter case some further effort must be put forth to secure economy. It has not yet been decided how the Rams are to come, but a decision will be come to on the receipt of the first telegram despatched after the Ist November by the Marquis. If we don’t send Chinese, I’ll try and secure Lang; if Chinese are employed, our (i.e. your own, A. & Co.’s, and mine) responsibility will cease with the delivery of the vessels at Newcastle.

[345] OCTOBER 1880

If they come out under the English flag, their names had best be given from the signs of the Zodiac: the ‘““Ram’’ (nature) and “‘Bull” (native place) will be very appropriate for the first two.

, Yours truly, Robert Hart

Dr. Martin

Z/34 27 October 1880

[Rcd. December 23, 1880]

Dear Campbell,

Kindly send me the books, music and paper asked for on the enclosed: a/c Z. I hope they will arrive in March next—and I also hope (in the sense however of “‘wish”’ rather than “expect”) Russia will let me read and use them quietly here in Peking. Nov Ist. Bridgford arrived here on the 29th Oct. I did not “put him up” for special reasons. His arrival is regarded by the Legations as a political move and is much talked of, and secondly I should be charged with a want of proper cosmopolitanism as I.G. if I were to take in A. & Co.’s agent—and not do the same for all other wandering munitions vendors. B. has breakfasted and dined with me, and is one of the pleasantest men I have met for years: he is well informed, has been about a good deal,—has seen much and met many,—and can reproduce all in better English than one usually hears. I have enjoyed his gossip immensely but I have nothing for him to do in particular. J shall ask Detring to introduce him to Li, and also get his advice about storing the projectiles, etc., etc., etc. By the way, he is the same man who gave his opinions against Henderson’s in the Cadiz case. The Yamen expects to receive some definite news from the Marquis this week: viz. either that Russia will accept his terms there, or send and make her own here. I fear the latter will be the news we shall receive, and if so I don’t see how we are to get through 1881 in peace. From a “feather” I saw in the air last week, I think there is news to that effect in Russian circles in China already.

I wrote a short note to congratulate Rendel on getting into Parliament and sent it through you in A/18 in June last. Did he get it? We have good letters from Evey: she likes her new school and is very happy there. Please send her £2 for Christmas and New Year’s pocket money, a/c Z. We hope to have our gas burning in a couple of days more. Child has got over all his difficulties. After driving all the rivets in the gas-holder, he could have struck a hard enough blow to fell an ox! Your telegram No. 27 via Kiachta is just being deciphered. My last letter from you is

[346] THEI. G. IN PEKING

A/213. When we ordered the two cruisers, we specified Torpedo-boats and muzzle-loaders because Rendel’s original memo specified the first and spoke of muzzle, or breech-loaders: Li believes in Torpedoes, and really I think he half ordered the cruisers because they were to carry Torpedo-boats, and I specified muzzle-loaders because I know the Chinese will not keep parts and pieces in order. Hinc illae lachrymae!—Fei Hoo pay: Capt tls. 200, 1° Officer tls. 100, 2° officer tls. 75 (with mess allowance of tls. 25 each); 1° engineer tls. 150, 2° tls. 100: but this is China pay. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours! Yours truly, Robert Hart

Z/35 7 November 1880 Dear Campbell,

We have had no telegrams or European news now for ten or twelve days, and we are expecting a treat to-morrow or next day. Definitive intelligence ought to arrive from the Marquis: he was to have decided one way or other on 31st October, and we look for his Ist November telegram with considerable interest, I can assure you! The Yamen and Li seem hopeful, but till all is “signed sealed and delivered’’ we cannot be sure the lute is without a rift. I hope you have passed young Wadman.’ If you have, start him off for Peking in January: giving him permission to spend a fortnight or so with his family at Ningpo en route. We have gas burning in the new house now; but the fittings are all leaky, and the smell is abominable! Iam almost barefooted: | trust that Charing Cross man—Bowley—has sent me the boots I wrote for in August. | Wishing you again a merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Yours truly, Robert Hart Mrs. Maze Muller 1. Horace Edwin Wadman, the son of an old friend reer in China. There was also some talk of an of Hart’s who was a merchant in Ningpo, entered opening for Hubert, the younger son, but he did the Customs on April 1, 1881, and had a long ca- not enter the Service; see letter 319.

[347] NOVEMBER 1880

A/23 18 November 1880

[Red. January 5, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

The Retiring allowance in Ballantine’s case is to be invested for the son, and no portion of it is to go to the re-married widow. Deal with it in such a way as to prepare the lad for earning his own bread and start him in life. You had better consult with Mr. Hutchins and also Storey, Hill’ and the lad himself; but as the money forms no part of the deceased’s estate, you are not answerable to anybody but myself for the disposal of it. In Lowder’s case it will be best to consult Sir R. Alcock: but remember that the permanent benefit of widow and children—especially children—is what you are to aim at.” In Murray’s case, a German girl to whom he had promised marriage, who had lived with him some few years, and whose savings have been lost to her because placed to his account in the Bank, applies to me for aid: I shall probably pay her £200; but you need not explain this to his mother and sister.° The Penrose and Wheatley payments are simply to be handed to their respective widows.* I enclose a note for Wellesley; open, peruse and close it, and send it on.* If he comes out again, he will be under Henderson, and will have to work to H’s satisfaction. He never satisfied H. before, and when I asked for work H. said he could not get it out of W. I can’t stand this in future, and I have placed H. in the position to say to each of his Engineer Staff, Assistant Engineers as well as mechanics, ““Your work is not satisfactory, and your services are no longer required’’. If W. asks your advice, explain this to him as an arrangement I have made in the interest of work, and not as having a special reference (although applicable) to himself. I have asked Harding to stay in China, but we don’t want Stokes.°®

The Breaker Point Lantern did not arrive in first-class condition, and the reason is because Chance’s people did not pack it properly. All that we get from Chance is complained of: a/. The packing is bad; hence breakage. b/. The putty is bad; hence efflorescence. c/. There is no room for the play of the glass in the frames; hence cracking. d/. The clockwork is bad; hence jarring etc. e/. The lamps leak; hence dirt and danger. f/. Plans are altered: etc., etc., etc.,

, On the other hand the work done by B. & F-. satisfies the Lightkeepers all round. Li is pleased with Bridgford, and says A. & Co. do well, in addition to supplying good guns, etc., to send out a competent man to see that Customers use them and Keep them as they ought to be used and kept.

, Yours truly, Robert Hart

[348] THEI. G. IN PEKING Wellesley

Aubert

family? since 1872.

1. A firm of lawyers acting for the Ballantine since 1864, in the post of tidesurveyor at Ningpo

2. George Glass Lowder had died in October 1880 5. Wellesley did not return to China. while on home leave. 6. John Reginald Harding joined the Customs in

3. This is probably D.G. Murray, British, who had December 1880 as assistant engineer at Shanghai. been in the Customs since 1867 and had been in He became engineer-in-chief in 1898 and held that

1877 2nd assistant A at Canton. post until he resigned in May 1908.

The Stokes referred to here is not Russell Stokes, 4. J.H. Penrose, British, had been in the Customs who had been in China since 1877, but another since April 1861; his most recent post had been as man who was applying for a position in the Marine

boat officer at the Amoy station. Department. E. Wheatley, also British, had been in the Service

A/24 8 December 1880 .

[Red. January 25, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

In your Slater’s Code page 6.24/12, strike out the words Bequest, Bereavement, Beseech, Beseeching, Beseem and Beset; then Bequeathed will be BTQ, Berth BTR, and Beside BTS. We have just discovered our mistake. Also in the N.B. at the beginning read 4th XWA to ZZZ = useful phrases (2132 groups) Your latest telegram is the 27th Nov. We knew the Russian terms a week sooner, but did not know whether an understanding was being approached till your telegram came in. The bill is a big one, and the guarantee may give trouble.’ Your telegram telling us that the small vessels will require six and the big ones nine weeks beyond contract time to be fitted out for the voyage has staggered us, I assure you! We expected the vessels to leave England within a fortnight from the contract date of completion. I don’t like the “Ross” business or rather the way his charges have developed.’ I first told Li, the cost would be £8,800, and now I have to go and tell him that sum 1°. does not include £2000 for return passages, and 2°. does not include £ - ? - for Insurance. With the Chinese outside sums must be stated first: any addition is always hard to get and hard to explain. We are in for more legal business. Page, a watcher at Canton, shot a Chinese smuggler; the Consul arrested him and committed him to trial for manslaughter, and subpoena’d Commissioner and others to give evidence.? We are employing lawyers at H’kong and S’hai 1°. to defend in case of “Consul v. Page’, and 2°. to attack in case of ‘Page v. Consul” (demanding Page’s release and damages for illegal confinement); but as H’kong and S’hai judges and juries will go against us, we shall have to appeal and fight it out “to the death” at home.

[349] DECEMBER 1880

I have dispensed with Degenaer’s services as Customs’ Agent at Hongkong. Something wrong in his manipulation of monies.

Wright is not here yet,* and the river already frozen. To-day a shockingly cold wind is blowing. Private and confidential pro tem. We are sending home our own Chinese crews to bring out the Rams. Clayson and Admiral Ting go first; when they know exactly how soon the Rams will be ready for starting, they will telegraph to S’hai and Johnstone will then take the crews to England in one of the China Merchant Co.’s steamers: they'll go right up to Newcastle, and if possible turn round a day or two after in the Rams.” We want to act quietly and make no display. The crews are very fine men and they and the appearance of the Chinese merchant flag in European waters will startle people! Aid Clayson and Ting, both very good fellows. Yours truly, Robert Hart Martin Shillington 1. The Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on Feb- some Chinese opium smugglers. Shots had been ruary 24, 1881, and ratified six months later. By it fired and a Chinese had been killed. The consul at China regained most of the Ili Valley, including the Canton was A.R. Hewlett; the commissioner was

passes, but “‘the bill’ was an indemnity of Edward McKean. The issue was once again whether

9,000,000 roubles. a British court had the right to sentence an employee of the Chinese government for an act performed 2. Captain Ross of the British Mercantile Marine in its service.

was under contract to bring to China three of the ©

five “‘epsilons”’ ordered for Li in March 1880 (see 4. F.E. Wright had been on leave in England. See

letter 269). He was to take delivery of the ships letter 257. (the Jota, Kappa, and Lambda) from the builders, provision them, and engage officers and crews. For 5. Admiral Ting Ju-ch’ang had been a provincial delivering them safely to China he was to receive land commander-in-chief before Li Hung-chang

£8,800, plus £2,000 for taking the crews back chose to make him commander of his Peiyang

home. (Northern) fleet. Ting made no pretense of being a naval expert. See letter 328.

3. Edward Page, British, was a watcher on the Can- S.J. Johnstone, first officer on the Fei Hoo, had ton Customs staff. On October 26 he had been on joined the Customs Coast Staff in March 1880. night duty with a patrolling party that encountered

Z/36 9 December 1880

[Red. February 2, 1881]

Dear Campbell, Kindly send me the following articles as soon as possible: 1°. A goat carriage and harness for two goats, such as one sees for Children at Brighton and in Paris. The carriage to seat driver and one or two small children: to drive a pair. (This is for Bruce’s delectation.)

[350] THEI. G. IN PEKING

2°. Two violoncellos: one, ordinary size, for myself and one for Bruce of a smaller size if such is to be got. (I don’t want anything very good, or very expensive: simply what will stand a year’s practice, and help to introduce Bruce to the ’cello before he says goodbye to me in China.) With a proper supply of string, resin, pegs and bridges and two bows for each: carefully packed.

3°. Chappell’s Instruction book for Violoncello. Auspach & Miné’s Methode Elementaire “

Dotzaner’s. Etudes Journaliéres " Offenbach’s Cours methodiques de duos " op. 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54. Franchomme Trois Nocturnes op. 14 and also op. 15.

to 47. et 4

] Bohrer (fréres) op. 41 Duos pour violon

Offenbach, 4 livres " " " A. Miné, Duettini trés faciles for Piano

Nos. 1 to 16. and "

Chez Shonenberger, Boulevard Poissonniere, 28 Paris.

This will reach you in January; I shall be glad to see these things, if possible, arrive in March. I am sending you King vice Morse, vice Taylor: if Taylor can leave his wife at home for a couple of years, he’ll do well to do so. How is Kerr doing? if possible, bring “probation” to a close and pass him.’ Yours truly,

Robert Hart oO

1. J.A. Kerr was sent out to Amoy in March 1881 tant A at Shanghai. and the following year was promoted to 4th assis-

A/25 10 December 1880

[Red. February 2, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

Please send me the books named on the other side by book post, and charge them to a/c A. Yours truly, Robert Hart

[351] DECEMBER 1880

a/c A. For I.G. Peking. Science Primers: (Macmillan & Co.) All that have been published.

History Primers: ( do. ) All that have been published concerning History or Geography: but not those concerning literature. R.H.

A/25, 10th December, to be sent by Book Post.

A/26 14 December 1880

[Rcd. February 2, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

Please find as quickly as possible three young Russians for our service. I want men like Hagen but I don’t want you to ask his aid or take his nominees.’ He came from Riga and I should like these three to be also from the German Provinces: German-speaking Russians are better educated and better behaved than the others. As soon as you have found them, give them three months in London, and send them from Southampton by the P. & O.; I want them to acquire a little English to start with. As for education—the better theirs is the more satisfactory it will be; but what I really want in them is ability to write neatly and legibly, and to figure —plain arithmetic work—quickly and correctly; I want them to be young and bright—I mean likely to learn—that is, likely to learn how to live in China, how to get on with messmates, how to talk to the public. To be Fourth Assistants B. In addition to these, I want a fourth for the Tung-Wen-Kwan: to teach Russian to one class and German to another, and to give in these languages the elementary education ordinary schoolboys receive: terms £200 for passage out (London to Peking), £400 a year for lst and 2nd years, £500 for 3rd and 4th, £600 for 5th and 6th, £700 for 7th and 8th, £800 for 9th and 10th; then a year’s leave on full pay: £900 a year for 12th and 13th and 14th and £1000 a year from 15th on: with one year’s leave on full pay after the second decennial period of active service (i.e. 12th and 21st years of employment). This gentleman—to be “Professor of Russian and German”’—ought not to be less than 21 years of age: and it will be well to give him three months in London, to study English, also. Arrived at Peking, he will have a house (unfurnished) allotted to him. Please lose no time in getting these four, and, the moment you have them in London, telegraph their names to me. Russia begins to notice that there are many Russian merchants and no Russian Customs’ employes, and I must get out of the difficulty this is preparing for me before the trap snaps: so, look alive. Youthful, likely men, able to read, write and count, and likely, i.e. young enough to learn more: that, in a word, is all I want. So don’t start with one glass slipper, and spend years in looking for a Cinderella! Yours truly, Robert Hart

[352] THE I. G. IN PEKING

P.S. I shall telegraph a word to-day in advance so as not to lose time. R.H.

J.D. Campbell, Esq. 1. Hagen seems to have left China for posts in Europe about 1878.

Z/37 30 December 1880

[Rced. February 28, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

I hope you have had “fa merry Christmas’’, and now, I wish you and yours “a happy New Year”’!

We are in the midst of very cold weather—Christmas trees—Russian troubles—diplomatic dinners—Legation breakfasts, etc., etc., etc.;and we have got another Customs’ case on which will probably go to England both judicially and through the F.O. A Canton t’waiter, Page, shot a Chinese smuggler: the Chinese Govt. says he did right: the Consul, Hewlett, had him arrested and is now sending him to Shanghai to be tried for murder or manslaughter and has sub-poena’d some half-dozen of the Canton staff to go there as witnesses. Wade says that as the Consul is acting judicially, he, the Minister, cannot inter-

| fere: so I have ordered lawyers to be retained Ist to defend Page, and 2nd to prosecute _ . Hewlett for illegal arrest, etc. Diplomatically Wade will be loath to strengthen us or weaken Consuls. But we must fight it out on both lines to the nth!

it into Chinese. ,

I hope you are not making your “false manifest” case too long? remember, we have to put

Boots have arrived: came by last steamer—specially transshipped at Woosung—and that steamer is now hard and fast in the ice at Taku!

By the way, did Wilzer (or Palm, Hamburg) send you any parcels for Frida (Fraulein Franke)?! Have you seen anything of Dr. Martin? What has he been doing in England? I wrote to you a few days ago for a goat-carriage and two violoncellos. Will you kindly send me, in addition, a velocipede, for Bruce: a three-wheeler. I don’t know whether they are made for children in England, but at Leipzig they are to be got, and if you can’t get one in England please get one (through Wilzer) from Germany. Bruce, you know, is not yet eight, and he is just of average size for his age: height four feet. Will you also send me (Z/a/c) Burke’s Landed Gentry, and Burke’s General Armoury.

[353] JANUARY 1881

I enclose notes for Mr. Grant Duff and Mr. Taylor.

. Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. Frida Franke was presumably a governess sent request (see letter 119). from Germany by Wilzer, in response to Hart’s

Z/38 5 January 1881

[Rced. February 28, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

Do you send copies of all our Customs’ publications to Mr. Grant Duff? I believe I have more than once asked you to do so, but I cannot remember your saying that they are sent: are they? If not, send them regularly, please, in future. We decided not to send our stationery orders to Waterlow because on the last three occasions their paper and envelopes proved so bad. They have too much to do. Your office ought to keep all necessary musters, so that no matter who the order goes to there need be no difficulty about immediately supplying the right thing. Taylor will do best to come out without his wife—for at least two years, and better still if he could make it three. I am glad to hear Kerr is now doing well. Keep him hard at it for eight or ten months to come, please.

Thanks for the books you sent with the Boots. Charge the Naval books (2) to a/c A, and

‘the others to a/c Z, please. I append a list of music etc. I want to get. Kindly attend to it. Yours truly, Robert Hart Mr. Hart PEKING a/c Z 1. Der junge Geiger: par G. Wichtl. Op. 10.

Parts I, I, I. 2. Duos pour deux Violons. Apollo choix d’ouvertures et d’airs d’operas. Nos. 1 to No. 80. 3. A. Brand’s op. 4, Trois duos instructifs 4. Bruni. op. 6, op. 34, op. 35, 18 duos.

5. Hering. Duo-Serenade in 7 Nos. op. 54. ,

[354] THEI. G. IN PEKING

6. Pleyel 29. op. 8, 23, 24, 48, 59, 61, 63. Duos. 7. Haydn J. op. 99. 3 duos faciles. 8. Vauxhall, J. 6 duos progress””.

9. Bruni 36 Etudes—Cah.1) 6+ one violin. 36 Etudes—Cah. 2) (The above Publi¢e par Jean André a Offenbach S.M.)

Z/39 8 January 1881

[Red. February 28, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

In my letter Z/23 of the 9th August I sent or intended to send the following letters (N.B., they are all registered in my note-book as being therein sent), viz. Jamieson 1, Purser 1, Medhurst 1, Cartwright 1, Furse 1. Yours Z/122 of 1st Oct. acknowledged my letters Z/21 to 24, and opposite Z/23 you say “‘T have forwarded your letters to Medhurst, Furse, Jamieson and Cartwright”’, making no mention of the letter to Purser.

Purser himself has not yet acknowledged receipt. . I now enquire about this letter because I forwarded in it a cheque payable to Purser for £105 (Subscription to the Andrews testimonial).’ Will you kindly inquire at the Bank if this cheque (No. 203, a/c Z) of 9th August for £105, payable to John Purser Esq. has been presented for payment, and also write a note to Professor Purser, Belfast, and ask him if he duly received my letter. Yours truly,

Robert Hart

P.S. I am very seedy to-day: Heart, Liver, Lungs; Stomach—all out of order. R.H. 1. Thomas Andrews had been professor of chem- he had earned worldwide recognition through his istry at Queen’s University since before Hart’s day; research on ozone.

Z/40 24 January 1881

Dear Campbell, . [Red. March 22, 1881]

I suppose I shall have a telegram from you one of these days to tell me Tseng has signed, for a fortnight ago the Yamen authorised him to close, the Russians having reached the utmost limit of concession on their side (as they said). But no sooner are we out of this, than

[355] JANUARY 1881

another difficulty is up: the Japanese Minister, Shishido, left Peking on the 20th not absolutely breaking off, but almost breaking off relations! The preparations made for Russia will enable China to face Japan, but I don’t think we shall come to blows: China is not at all aggressive, and her common sense is so great that she will not stand at bay for a trifle. England will—I mean the Govt.—be glad to get this Eastern difficulty arranged, and, if the Ministry is in a good humour, they might be reckless enough to throw another letter of the alphabet in this direction! Trade has been very good this last year and the Revenue will be over fourteen millions of taels. The Breaker Point Light is a success, and I have induced Harding to stay: he is a promising man. Chance’s people pack very badly: prisms invariably arrive chipped, and panes of glass cracked. We are now going to put lights on South Cape of Formosa, Steep Island, Bonham Pass, Chefoo Bluff, Saracen Head, etc. (7 in all), and if I live two years longer, the outer line of Lights along the coast will have been completed.? Dr. Edkins has left the Missionary Society, and I have engaged him as a translator for the LG.

Bredon has gone home, Daae and Wright are going: I’m in a fix, consequently, for Chief, Chinese and Audit Secretaries. Much additional work will be thrown on my own shoulders for a year to come. I don’t know how to replace these men. In “the Page case” at Canton, Judge French is going to Canton to try it (he shot a Chinese smuggler, being on duty as a Chinese Customs’ officer; the Consul arrested and imprisoned him; we hold unjustly, and the Chinese authorities say Page did his duty). For Page’s defence at Canton we have engaged Hayllar, Q.C., O’Malley (the H’kong Attorney General) and McKean,’ and we have commenced an action against the Consul (Hewlett) in the H’kong Court (Hayllar and McKean) Page v. Hewlett, for wrongful arrest and imprisonment, damages claimed $20,000. Wade told me that as Hewlett acts Judicially, he (Wade) cannot interfere: so I have told the Canton Commissioner to fight like fury judicially—to. leave no stone unturned for Page’s defence, or unthrown for Hewlett’s head. Probably

both cases will go against us: we shall then appeal, and you'll have to engage the very best . possible men for us (can Herschell be one? a Law officer of the Crown?). We shall also fight it out diplomatically as well. (I should tell you that Hewlett is a man for whom, among the Consuls, I have the greatest liking and respect: he is able, fair, intelligent and a gentleman; but we must strike out for our lives in this instance!) When Clayson telegraphs to S’hai for the Chinese crews intended for the Rams to go home to England, do you also telegraph to me so that I may have early news of the call. Don’t make too much of Clayson or Ting, but be useful and civil to them. As regards Kirkwood and Wolfenden, I am convinced of one thing: better or more intelligent engineers are not to be found, and I’m sure you never saw two engineers equally presentable. We want the three gunboats (Ross’s lot) to come together, and the two cruisers (Clayson’s lot) to come—not with the gunboats; but—in company. The Gunboats can start, say in April, and the cruisers in May. I have sent you a long telegram asking questions about Loans. It is not certain China will borrow at all, or borrow through me; but the Yamen wants to be prepared, and, with : approximate answers to my questions in its hands, it will know where it is. I fancy the result will be again a silver loan through the H’kong Bank at high interest for a short period; but it will be well to have the O.B.C.’s views in reply. I hope you will simply answer my questions and not go into any lengthy explanations or advice.

[356] THEI. G. INPEKING

, The Iron-clad from Stettin is a fact. Li acknowledges it very unwillingly.* The fact is I had always talked so strongly against Iron-clads, that Li and others did not like to ask me to get one or let me know they were ordering it. There is also talk of a frigate from the Thames, to be armed with Krupp guns. Li pins his faith to Krupp guns, and is the most enthusiastic torpedo-ist I ever met! I have started enquiries about the destination of the rifles and cartridges Tallack lighted on being shipped per ““Glenfalloch” by Moller; when I can trace them and find out their cost, Pll open fire on Li’s financing. If telegrams go to you from Provincial Officials for arms etc., you must only treat them with a kind of friendly neutrality: I can’t stop them, and perhaps our way of doing things may in the end command admiration and secure adherents. All I want is to let the Chinese see that we will always get the best articles for them, and charge them no more than the real price. I enclose for the Bank a letter (with a cheque). I suppose there will be six or seven thousand pounds and some hundreds at credit of a/c Z. I want the thousands invested in the three percents, and the hundreds kept to credit of a/c Z at the Bank, please. I also enclose a note for Lady Colvile. I see Sir James is dead. I also enclose a list of Books I want. The ““Romola’”’ I want is the Edition de Luxe.

Send out Kerr to Amoy by first mail in March, and take on H.W. Brazier, a boy of 17 to 18, on probation in London Office from Ist April. Hoping you are all well,

Yours truly, Robert Hart

1. That is, award Hart another honor. the Gulf of Peichihli, in the direct track of steamers between Chefoo and Taku; and one on Dodd

2. Breaker Point, about thirty miles south of Island, close to the coast about twenty-five miles Swatow, was one of the most dangerous turning- northeast of Amoy, on a dangerous reef known as points on the China coast. The light erected there Dodd Ledge. in 1880 had a tower of exceptional height, because

the site was low. It was 92 feet to the lantern gal- 3. This seems not to be Edward McKean of the

lery, 120 feet to the vane. George Rendel designed Customs, but a lawyer. |

the tower. Th. C. Hayllar had served repeatedly in Hong-

The South Cape of Formosa was first lighted in kong as attorney general and puisne judge. He left 1883, by an unusual, fortified lighthouse, because the colony in January 1882 to continue his legal it was built in a district inhabited by savages. In career in England (see letters 391 and 449). the same year revolving lights were erected on

Steep Island and Bonham Island in the Chusan 4. Through Li Feng-pao in Germany (see letter Archipelago, on the main trade route to Shanghai. 221n1), Li Hung-chang had ordered a 7500-ton Two other lights, built in 1882, may have made battleship from a German shipyard. ~ up Hart’s “‘7 in all’’: the light on Howki Island in

[357] JANUARY 1881

Z/41 24 January 1881

[Red. March 22, 1881]

Dear Campbell,

I want various articles for Christmas, Birthday and Good-bye presents to be given to various friends of mine, old and young, here and along the coast. Will you kindly procure what I want and send all in one parcel insured some time before the middle of April: so as to be here before 10th June.

First of all, I want for Mrs. Hart’s birthday (21st June) a little morocco case, lettered outside “H.J.H., 21st June 1881”,’ containing a pair of Diamond Ear-rings,—I think they

are called Solitaires,—like this "oi >) and about this size, and either one or

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