Part 13 (1/2)
No wonder the Manchoo Government repudiated this pretty arrangement, fleet and all, when it arrived in China. There is, however, another reason to account for the ignominious failure of the ”Vampyres,”--ignominious because they had neither right nor justification to be placed in the position of mercenaries, or to be subjected to dismissal by a barbarous court. The Imperialists were willing enough to receive a fleet upon _any_ terms when the success of the Ti-ping revolution was certain unless foreigners interfered; but when the ”Vampyres” did arrive, the dread of the avenging Ti-ping no longer existed. By English troops and English officers in command of Chinese disciplined legions, the revolutionists had been driven back from Shanghae and Ningpo, and were still retreating before the shock of foreign arms. Mr. Lay and Captain Osborne came too late. They could not become the slaves of the Manchoo, neither could they const.i.tute themselves his tyrants, and consequently Prince Kung repudiated all his obligations with characteristic treachery.
When the flotilla reached China the Imperial Government endeavoured to place it under the command of the provincial authorities, and by this determination they effected its dissolution. Captain Osborne refused to lower himself into the position occupied by British officers in the neighbourhood of Shanghae and Ningpo--that of filibusters, subordinate to the _local_ authorities--but the Tartars had the best of the argument, for the precedent existed in the terms upon which the military had taken service with them; they were therefore justified in applying the same reasoning to make the navy of England subservient to their inferior officials. Prince Kung and his colleagues were decided upon this point and the repudiation of other guarantees; Captain Osborne remained equally firm; consequently Mr. Lay lost his lucrative appointment as Inspector General of Chinese customs, Captain Osborne did not become a Manchoo Admiral, and the naval force of no nationality was sold, while the officers and men had to go back to where they came from.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer's magniloquent benediction, in which he prophesied of ”the day when its leaders would come back rich in professional fame, and bringing also with them fresh glory to their country,” vanished and disappeared in thin air, thanks to the failure of the attempt to ”spread peace” with rifled artillery. Mr. Lay, since his tardy appreciation of the Manchoo, in ”Our Interests in China,” thus describes the state of affairs which led to the failure of his regenerating scheme:--
”When I left China, the Emperor's Government, under the pressure of necessity,[34] and with the beneficial terror established by the allied foray to Pekin in 1860 fresh in their recollection, was in the best of moods, willing to be guided,” &c. ”What did I find on my return? The face of things was entirely changed.
There was the old insolent demeanour, the nonsensical language of exclusion, the open mockery of all treaties, the declared determination to yield nothing that could be evaded. In short, all the ground gained by the treaty of 1858 had been frittered away, and we were thrust back into the position we occupied before the war--one of helpless remonstrance and impotent menace.”
A pretty state of affairs truly! Re-established, too, by British politicians, who, by supporting the Manchoos, have perpetuated a system which the Ti-pings would have altered for ever.
Time has already proved the truth of the above a.s.sertion by Mr. Lay; time will yet prove the bitter hatred the present dynasty of China entertains towards Great Britain, the nation which has frequently chastised them, forced them to break their own laws and receive the obnoxious opium, humbled them before their people and compelled them to eat the fruit of humility, and worse than all, originated the once irresistible Ti-ping revolution by the importation of Christianity. They would not be men did they forget the blows (not always justifiable) they have received; they would not be Manchoo did they forget to revenge themselves _when_ able.
Financially considered, this Anglo-Manchoo expedition was rather a serious matter for the British Government. The only authentic estimate of the expenditure which is at present available shows that the portion consequent merely on the return of the flotilla when its services were rejected, amounted to 213,000 taels, or 71,000, which was advanced in the first instance from the Manchoo customs and subsequently refunded by England when receiving the quarterly payment of the Indemnity.
Here is what Captain Osborne says:--
”Dire necessity made Pekin accept our aid in a form likely to be beneficial to China and England. Reason or argument had nothing to do with it, so far as the mandarins were concerned. Most unexpectedly to them, our authorities repulsed the rebellion, without taking any guarantees from Pekin for future behaviour.
The mandarins were at once rampant; they are not such fools as to spend their revenue in maintaining order, if we Englishmen will do it for nothing. The fear of rebellion is past. Lay, I, and the force may return to England.”
With regard to the failure of the Osborne, Lay, and Gladstone theory, we can only say that it was deserved. Mr. Lay was dismissed from the service of the Manchoo, through the ”Vampyre” embroglio. The many years that he had faithfully and energetically served them were lost sight of in the squabble arising from this unparalleled affair. He most likely was sincere in his efforts to regenerate Tartars; he has certainly been badly treated by them. Lay's motive in undertaking the notorious flotilla scheme seems to have been his philanthropical idea (brightened by the receipt of 5,000 a year), of regenerating China. Some people say he was a puppet in the hands of ”taller men” behind, who worked the wires. Osborne's acceptance of the command without a commission may be ascribed to the erratic notions of that gallant officer, and _his_ natural philanthropy.
The arrival of the ”Vampyre” fleet was hailed with general disapprobation upon the part of the foreign community at Shanghae; its flight, without spreading peace, with no less satisfaction. During the short time the would-be mercenaries--the cream of the British navy, as they were loudly proclaimed to be, by ultra-philo-Imperialist papers and people--remained at that port, they managed to create no little ill feeling against themselves. Although they possessed neither warrant nor Imperial authority for their position and action, they nevertheless had the audacity to const.i.tute themselves into a sort of police by _land_ and water. No business could be transacted on sh.o.r.e, no vessel move upon the waters of the harbour, or work its cargo, unmolested by their inquisition. Vessels were seized, and their crews imprisoned in irons, upon the merest suspicion that they might be destined to a.s.sist the Ti-pings; houses were broken into and searched throughout the British and American settlements for supposed Ti-ping refugees, by parties armed to the teeth. They took, however, particular care not to venture upon the French settlement, as the Gallic authorities had given their own police orders to arrest them if they went there; and, if they resisted, to shoot them. The whole place was thrown into a regular ferment and uproar by their proceedings.
Just previous to the ignominious flight of the ”cream of the British navy,”--which, by the way, possessed an extraordinary sympathy for another sort of cream peculiar to the Shanghae rum mills,--I happened to become personally acquainted with some of their piratical outrages, while visiting Shanghae for medical advice, and other reasons which will transpire by-and-by.
General Burgevine, successor to Ward in command of the disciplined Chinese contingent, having been badly treated and cas.h.i.+ered by his Manchoo masters, had joined the Ti-pings at Soo-chow. At the time of my visit to Shanghae, Burgevine was supposed to be there also; and, using this as their pretext, the ”Vampyres” made a descent upon the house of my friend, Mr. Tarrantt (Editor of the _Friend of China_), where we were pa.s.sing the evening with a social party. The dwelling was situated in a compound, also containing the house of the American Marshal; and, while walking round the grounds with my friend and another gentleman, we were suddenly pounced upon in the dark by a party of ”the cream of the British navy,” hitherto concealed in the shrubbery. At the same moment other detachments rushed into the adjoining houses with a zeal and alacrity tending to prove what capital burglars they were becoming, and, making prisoners of all the men they could find, marched them up to the position we had already been conducted to, in the broad colonnade extending along the front of the American Marshal's house. It was very fortunate neither myself nor any of our company were armed, otherwise, from the suspicious and sudden circ.u.mstances under which they had made their appearance, we might very naturally have mistaken the men who sprang upon us for the a.s.sa.s.sins, or robbers, whom they so strongly resembled. The ”Vampyres” were commanded by a Lieutenant Ridge, the most ungentlemanly and discourteous British officer it has ever fallen to my lot to meet.
When our friends were all a.s.sembled under the guns of his men, he turned to the latter and distinctly gave them this order, at least in substance: ”Now then, men, allow none of these gentlemen to leave this place; _if they attempt to do so, shoot them down_!” This spirited British officer then led off a party bristling with rifle, bayonet, cutla.s.s, and revolver, himself with sword in hand and a huge ”Deane and Adams” slung round his neck, and proceeded to tear up the flooring of Mr. Tarrantt's printing-office, in order to search for arms destined for the dreaded Ti-ping! Of course none were found. The man and his men then proceeded to the sanctum of the editor, and ransacked this and the adjoining rooms, emptying and breaking open boxes of letters, papers, and other editorial correspondence, leaving the whole scattered about the floor in a state of inextricable confusion, after their fruitless search for some trace of Burgevine or his doings.
When this gallant exploit had been brought to a termination by the fact that no private place under lock and key remained to be broken into, the leader of the outrage turned his attention to the neighbouring mansion.
Having rummaged every nook and corner from top to bottom with a fruitless result, excepting indeed a spoil of two old muskets, a fowling-piece in good order, and another without any barrels, which they carried off in triumph, the ”Vampyres” released us from the unpleasantness of their presence and took themselves off, visibly disappointed at their want of success.
Mrs. Pindar, the wife of the American Marshal, told us that Lieutenant Ridge had even penetrated into her bed-room and ransacked the drawers of her toilet table, &c. That Yankee lady accompanied him during his impertinent and unwarrantable intrusion, and a.s.sisted him by suggesting that he had better explore the chimney pots, have the carpets lifted to see whether Burgevine was hidden there, or perhaps he would like to search her pockets, &c. The ”Vampyre” officer wore a uniform of unknown nationality, consisting of simple anchor b.u.t.tons and a British naval badge with the crown cut off! When asked by Mr. Tarrantt for his authority, he produced an informal warrant from the British consul, which could only have been legally used by a consular constable. When this was explained to him, he agreed to the justice of the fact and pleaded orders from his commanding officer. He was thereupon asked for his commission, and he navely admitted he had none. He was next asked upon what authority his commanding officer was acting, and his reply was, upon Captain Sherrard Osborne's commission from the Emperor of China (this in ludicrously pompous language and manner). He was then asked whether he was aware that Captain Osborne did _not_ possess any such commission, and confessed that, although he believed the reverse, he thought the Commander-in-chief might have gone to Pekin to obtain it!
The judicial proceedings that would have been inst.i.tuted against the ”Vampyres” but for their fortunate retreat from China, would almost certainly have found them guilty of unqualified piracy, not only in the case I have just described, but in several others equally outrageous.
About this time, and while it was fully expected that the flotilla would shortly proceed to attack Nankin, the following squib appeared as an advertis.e.m.e.nt in the _Friend of China_:--
”WANTED:
”Several first-cla.s.s s.h.i.+ps, to convey several thousand rebels from Nankin to Labuan.
”Apply to ”LAE, HORSEBORN, & CO.”
Many foreign merchant vessels were in the habit of flying long pennants from the main truck, a practice indulged in by some of the s.h.i.+pping at Shanghae. This proved offensive to the ”Vampyre” officers, who chose to consider that it was an infringement of their _quasi_ right to the man-of-war emblem. They consequently amused themselves by boarding sundry easy-going Dutchmen, who, alarmed by their bra.s.s-bound appearance and peremptory orders to strike the obnoxious pennant, generally complied very quietly. Upon one occasion, however, while I was at Shanghae, the would-be Tartar martinets caught a Tartar of the implied characteristics, if not literal nationality.
An American vessel with a particularly extensive pennant, which it was afterwards rumoured had been rigged up on purpose, happened to attract the ”fe fi fo fum” sense of a ”Vampyre” commander. Instantly a cutter was despatched with a lieutenant to humble the offending parties. The officer proceeded on board and ordered the chief mate to haul down the pennant. Mr. Mate immediately sang out, ”Cook, bring a bucket of hot water aft,” but before this could be brought, the ”Vampyre” was over the gangway ”like a streak of greased lightning,” as the Yankee mate afterwards related to an admiring audience on sh.o.r.e, and shouting with might and main to his boat's crew: ”Give way, men!” in order to escape the warm reception preparing for him.
By such acts the ”cream of the British navy” made few friends and many enemies, and the lament of few indeed accompanied their ignominious departure. During their stay some of the gallant tars deserted and went over to the enemy, and I cannot forget a very characteristic fact related by a friend of mine who was present. While pa.s.sing a certain rum shop in the ”model settlement” of Shanghae, my friend, with several companions, became mixed with a crowd of the tars, who were on leave, and had just issued from the shop. Willing to see a little of the sort of men represented as the _elite_ of the finest navy in the world, my friend got into conversation with a warrant officer, although the man and his companions had evidently been indulging their creamy propensities. The result was that when questioned as to their feelings for the service they had engaged in, the leader of the party made this exposition of principle: ”D'ye see, my hearty, so long as we gets the dollars and can make a haul, d---- my toplights if we cares who we fights for, the himperor of Chiny or his hinemies the t'other longsh.o.r.e Chinymen.”
Organized upon principles of wrong and injustice, the Anglo-Chinese flotilla came to an unregretted, disreputable, and premature end. In the words of the same friend who communicated the above incident we will dismiss the subject: ”Captain Sherrard Osborne, like Caesar, may exclaim, 'I came, I saw;' unlike Caesar, 'I did _not_ conquer.' The fleet was equipped, set sail, arrived, and--was not wanted.”