Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 433 | Page 7

very
wives were sold by auction; and he who had been one of the richest
men in the empire, had not the means of buying himself a jacket.
Elepoo, the imperial commissioner at Ning-poo, opposite Chusan, was
also denounced. His crime was, that he had, according to the terms of
the truce, surrendered the English prisoners, notwithstanding the
counter-orders he had received to send them to Peking as trophies of
victory, to be cut to pieces according to custom. Among them was a
captain's wife, who had been wrecked, and had thus fallen into his

power. A happy thought struck some of the mandarins--that she might
be passed off as the sister of the barbarian Queen. She was accordingly
put into a cage, and carried about for exhibition; but Elepoo delivered
her from the excruciating death she would have suffered as Queen
Victoria's sister, and restored her to her countrymen. The whole cabinet
was indignant; he was summoned to appear immediately before his
exasperated sovereign, and sentenced to transportation to the deserts of
Manchooria.
When it came to fighting in earnest, and there was for the Chinese, as
we know, nothing but utter defeat, still there was no report sent to court
but of victory. But as million after million of taëls vanished, and
grandee after grandee disappeared, the emperor was obliged to be
informed of the real state of affairs, and his wrath knew no bounds. In
vain he threatened utter destruction to the barbarians, if they did not
instantly leave the coasts; in vain called on the people to arm
themselves en masse, and protect their lives and property: no one
stirred, and the emperor resorted to new counsellors for new plans of
defence. It was now gravely proposed, to build a fleet three times as
powerful as that of the British, and station it near Singapore and Anjeer,
to intercept the British vessels ere they reached China, and annihilate
their fleet piecemeal. The forests were to be felled to supply materials:
the only thing wanting was some English men-of-war, to serve as
models. Again, Hou-chunn, the Marshal Ney of China, was ready to
face the whole British fleet if he had but a steamer to carry 6000 men,
half divers, half gunners; the divers would jump into the water, and
sink the English ships by boring large holes in them, while the gunners
would keep up an incessant fire. Striking as this plan appeared, the
emperor doubted its practicability. Imitation steamships had been
attempted already; but though they looked quite like the foreign ones,
they would not move: the paddles had to be turned like a treadmill.
Another great suggestion, was to march 300,000 men right through the
Russian territories to London, and put a stop to all further operations by
crushing the English at home!
Meanwhile, the British arms prevailed; and when the fleet reached the
first bend in the Yang-tse-kiang, there happened a solar eclipse; it was

impossible not to see that the sun of China had set for ever!
When Taou-Kwang found that the danger actually threatened his throne
and his person, he hastily packed up his effects, and prepared to fly to
some of the interior provinces; but being assured that peace might yet
be obtained, he gave carte blanche for its conclusion. 'One can form no
adequate idea,' says Dr Gutzlaff, 'of the utter amazement of the Chinese
on perceiving that the "son of heaven" was not invincible; and that he
was even fallible; a revulsion of feeling took place, such as had never
been known before; and the political supremacy which China had so
proudly asserted, was humbled in the dust.'
As soon as peace was concluded, the first care of Taou-Kwang was to
punish the champions who had clamoured for war, but proved cowards
in the fight. Some had already died of grief, some had committed
suicide, and others had fled. But those who remained within the
monarch's grasp, besides many civil and military officers who had been
compelled to surrender their cities, were treated with merciless severity.
Keshen's extreme sentence was reversed, and he was made pipe-bearer
to the emperor.
A new era had now commenced. It had been proved to a demonstration,
that the mandarins were common mortals, and that the great emperor
did not sway the whole world. Democratic assemblies rose in every
part of the land; the people must be consulted where their happiness
was concerned; the citizens and peasants turned politicians; and if in
any case remonstrance failed, they proceeded, en masse, to the
government offices, and carried by force what was denied to courtesy.
The emperor learning these movements, instantly took the popular side;
laid all the blame on the mandarins, and superseded those who had
given offence. The taxes which had been refused, he remitted