O

THE OPPOSITION IN CHINA

NE man's inventive originality, impelled by no vanity or ambition but by the

stress of an outward appeal to his humanity, had within the first year of his assumption of a great task won the consent of his countrymen to place China upon the same footing as other nations, and induced England publicly to caution her agents there to refrain from aggressive acts at the expense of Chinese authority in the empire. He had touched the pride and aroused the ideals of America, where the materialism of a democratic people has always been imbued with a certain capacity for abstract conceptions of righteousness that profoundly influences their policy. Though this sentiment soon clashed with the supposed interests of workingmen in the United States, and was extinguished for a time by narrow mercenary considerations, it reappeared in the crisis of China's recent career when Secretary Hay, in 1900, renewed Mr. Burlingame's appeal to the conscience of his countrymen, and America once more stood for a policy of fair play. As to

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Great Britain, a hand-to-mouth arrangement begun in the days of the East India Company at Canton had been perpetuated by the cupidity of her traders in China under the plea that obdurate mandarins made it necessary to maintain a precarious foothold there by intimidating the natives. Thus a handful of Englishmen in that country, who were accounted experts in dealing with Asiatics, but who were generally ignorant of the language and genius of the people, dictated the course of England's relations with one of the great divisions of mankind. If Mr. Burlingame was only partially successful in checking a procedure to which long custom had given sanction, his failure may be attributed to the removal of his personal influence before his work of directing the Mission was accomplished, and to the strength and cohesion of the forces arrayed against him. Yet much had been really achieved. While the plan of the liberal ministry of 1868 languished in the reaction which followed the series of riots subsequent to 1870 in China, Great Britain never officially countenanced a renewal of the Palmerston tradition; and in the emergency of the boxer madness she joined America to save her national existence.

On the first day of the new year Mr. Burlingame acknowledged the receipt of Lord Claren

don's dispatch, expressing his conviction that "this policy acted upon, will make wars with China impossible, or they will not occur without sufficient cause, and only after mature deliberation." The same day he transferred the Mission to Paris. The French empire had less sympathy, perhaps, with projects for maintaining the integrity of China than any state in Europe at that time, but pressing problems at home made it willing to follow the lead of Great Britain in matters of general intercourse. In reply to his indorsement of the Chinese Mission through the British ambassador at Paris, that gentleman was able to write the Earl of Clarendon, on January 5, that "the Marquis de Lavalette begged me to convey his thanks to your lordship, and expressed in general terms the disposition of the government of the Emperor to act in this, as in other matters, in accordance with her Majesty's Government." Napoleon III could not well refuse to receive the Mission after his esteemed ally Queen Victoria had given it audience, and the same precedent seems to have been accepted as valid in bringing other European courts to a similar conclusion. M. de Lavalette, in response to Mr. Burlingame's request for an opportunity to present his credentials to the Emperor, expresses the determina

tion of his sovereign to demand similar courtesy from the Son of Heaven, but, like Secretary Seward, admits his minority as sufficient excuse for delay in insisting upon the right at present:

En votre qualité d'ancien agent diplomatique, vous savez aussi bien que personne, Monsieur, que la forme de réception d'agents diplomatiques se règle suivant la réciprocité. C'est à raison de la minorité du Souverain du Céleste Empire que le cabinet français n'a point insisté pour que les mains de l'Empereur de la Chine, et que sa Majesté Napoléon III recevra directement aujourd'hui vos lettres de créance, bien que la même étiquette n'ait pas suivie jusqu'ici pour les envoyés français à Péking. Je vous prie de vouloir bien transmettre cette observation préjudicielle à votre gouvernement. . . .1

The address of the envoy upon delivering his credentials in the Tuileries, January 21, briefly

1 H. Cordier, "Histoire des relations de la Chine avec les puissances occidentales," I, Paris, 1901, p. 300. M. Cordier insists that Mr. Burlingame was only granted solemn audience with the various sovereigns of Europe because he concealed the conditions of his appointment. This did not transpire, he says, until in reply to a request from the foreign envoys in Peking for an audience in the palace the French chargé received the following from Prince Kung (September 19, 1869): "Before the departure of Burlingame we respectfully asked instructions (from the Emperor) which we received to the following effect: Upon the arrival of Burlingame in a country the credentials which he carries should be confided to the intermediary of the proper ministers, without his needing to insist upon placing them in their own hands. If a country (a sovereign), considering Burlingame as an Occidental, wishes in accordance with the customs of the Occident to treat him with the highest respect, Burlingame should declare beforehand, to the end

explained the object of his mission as "the expression of a sincere desire on the part of China to enter into the family of nations, to submit her questions, as you submit your questions, to the enlightened judgment of mankind, and to avail herself of the privileges while she is called upon to accept the obligations of international law. This desire was the outgrowth of a better appreciation of the civilisation of the West resulting from a considerate policy established and maintained by the representatives of the treaty powers on coming into more immediate relations with great men of the empire at Peking. That policy was the substitution of fair diplomatic action for the caprice of interest and the rude energy of force." 1

that it may not be supposed in the issue that China does not know how to recognise such proceedings, that the Chinese ceremonial is not the same as that of the West." It is difficult to discover in this communication any basis for the allegation. Mr. Burlingame had no need to explain to European courts the well-known fact that the Chinese Emperor had as yet declined all overtures for audience with the representatives of foreign powers. They received him in the hope that an audience with the first accredited envoy from China might establish a precedent that would be useful when the matter was again argued in Peking, but in being received "as an Occidental” he made no promises, and committed that sovereign to nothing. On Chung-how's arrival in France in November, 1871, on his mission of apology, M. Thiers at first refused to receive him personally, because Mr. Burlingame's audience with the Emperor had not been accepted as a precedent for conceding a similar ceremony to the French minister by the court in Peking, but the point was not pressed.

1“Official Papers of the Chinese Legation," p. 47. The reply of the Emperor, which was formal and perfunctory, does not appear to have been preserved.