047 
 
 ASIA 
 
 OLIPHANT 
 
 A visit to tke TaLi-blngs. 
 
 1863. 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023143799 
 

 
 
 z 
 
 
 ' ffioob faDtba ate inotlj murij anlr coal Ktlte."— Hcrtett. ('z' 
 
 GOOD WORDS 
 
 FOR 1863. 
 
 Hi^ 
 
 I I ...K- A1;Y 
 
 ^^(<i%.tJ 
 
Norman Maoleod, D.D.] 
 
 THE NIGHT-WALK OVER THE MILL STEEAM. 
 
 185 
 
 "F{>r service to-morrow?" mefihanioally re- 
 peated "Mr. Dudley. 
 
 " It will be the 1st of November, sir ; All 
 Saints' Da^" 
 
 In bis great trouble, tbe rector had positively- 
 forgotten the fkct. For once in his life the coming 
 day, marked' in the Church calendar, had slipped 
 his memory. " To be sure, to be sure," he cried. 
 " Clear the evergreehs out at once, John. It is 
 dusk now, and yovi may escape spectators." 
 
 Old John took the kfeys, and made the best of 
 his way to the church. He had barely entered it, 
 when a sharp knocking came sounding right in his 
 face, inside the vestry door. • 
 
 "Lawk a mercy ! " ejaculated he, startled half 
 out of his senses. 
 
 The knocking came again, sharj)^r than before. 
 It may be that a thought of ghosts teyossed John's 
 mind, causing him to hesitate ; to dciubt whether 
 he should not run out of the church,'^^)eIlowing, 
 and alarm the neighbourhood. But ghoS.ts don't 
 knock, or speak either ; and this one was ^■calling 
 out, iu unmistakably stentorian tones, " Let me 
 out ! Open the door !" 
 
 The vestry door — it has, however, been ex- 
 plained, that though called the vestry door, it was 
 only the door of a small place leading to the 
 vestry — opened from the oiitside alone. The clerk 
 turned the latch, ahd — saw Mr. OUiver. 
 
 " Heaven be good to us !" he repeated. " Then 
 — are — you — not at the bottom of the mill-stream/ 
 sir ?" / 
 
 "I hope not,'' replied Mr. OUiver. "AinTl 
 supposed to be there, John ?" / 
 
 "Well, yes," said John. "The drags Aave 
 been at work all day ; but they haven't fish/d you 
 ip yet." •: I 
 
 He sat down on a gravestone to overget his 
 
 ; astonishment, and stared at Mr. OUiyer. That 
 
 gentleman did not present a very reputable ap- 
 
 learanoe, inasmuch as the front of his black even- 
 
 . f . 
 
 ing suit was a mass of mud, which l^d dried on. 
 
 " Have you been in there all thiy'time, sir ?" 
 " Yes, I have ; since you qixitfted the church 
 ist night, after decorating it." 
 The story was soon told. It was a very simple 
 , ne. In passing over the bridge the previous 
 ight, Mr. OUiver by some means let fall his cane. 
 Caking a spring to catch it, he fell down upon the 
 ■ uddy bank, hands and knees and clothes, and 
 Slid downwards in the s^(ppery mud. The cane 
 went floating along tW stream, and Mr. OUiver 
 was a sight .to be seen lii his state of mud. There 
 was no time to loolt after the cane ; poor Mrs. 
 Key was in urgent need of her medicines, and 
 he hastened on by the path leading through the 
 churchyard. The lights and voices in the church 
 attracted him to enter ; he knew what they were 
 doing, that merry group, and he intended to treat 
 himself to a secret peep. But, at the same mo- 
 ment, the inner doors opened ; Georgina Balme 
 came forth ; and Mr. OUiver, not earing to be seen 
 
 in his muddy attire, slipped inside the open door, 
 of' the vestry passage. There he waited until the 
 coast should be clear again ; and there he got — 
 shut iu. Old John closed the door in .passing it ; 
 and it was only by the silence that supervened that 
 Mr. OUiver awoke at length to the,*npleasant fact 
 that he was fast, and the church efeipty. He tried 
 the vestry door, but that was eiJso fast — thanks to 
 the clerk's habit of locking/every place up ; he 
 shouted and knocked, but ;^thout much hope of 
 being heard. In fact, there was no probabiKty 
 that he could be heard ; the passage was an inner 
 passage, and any noise made in it would not be 
 likely to penetrate oiAside. And there he had re- 
 mained, with the bdst patience he could call up. 
 
 "I should thiiik you are hungry, sir," cried 
 John, unromantically. " What a blessed sight 
 yoii '11 be for Jiiss Annis !" 
 
 She — Annj^ — was stiU sitting on the sofa as her 
 father had |6ft her, alone in the room. Mr. OUi- 
 ver went in qiuetly ; he had gone straight up from 
 the church, in spite of his muddy clothes. 
 
 " Anhis !" 
 
 She started up at the voice, her eyes staring fit- 
 fully/ Bid she think it his ghost, — as perhaps old 
 Johfi had thought ? But there was no time to 
 gi/e way to fear, for Mr. OUiver caught her to 
 l^m, and sheltered her on his bosom. 
 / '^,1 am not dead, my darling. I hear you have 
 been'f earing it." And Annis burst into delicious 
 tears, ^i 
 
 The news spread through the house, and every- 
 body in it came flocking in. Mr. OUiver thought 
 his hand would have been shaken off. Lady 
 Katherine seized hold of him, and — gave him a 
 hearty kiss. 
 
 ' ' This past night and day have taught me to 
 appreciate you, Mk OUiver, if I never did before. 
 I shaU give her to yVu with all my whole heart." 
 
 He laughed with Measure, and grasped Lady 
 Katherine's hand in his. " Does anybody know 
 how Mrs. Key is ?" he irkguired. 
 
 " Better. She—" \ 
 
 A joyous peal of ringing, bells burst out from 
 the church, hard by. The ojerk, on his own re- 
 sponsibility, had set some ringers to work. But 
 he had not remained with thei^ for there was his 
 happy old face peeping into the room, and singling 
 out the rector. 
 
 " About them evergreens, sir ? Be they to be 
 cleared out now, or to be left for to-morrow morn- 
 ing ?" 
 
 Mr. Dudley turned his eyes on Mr. OlUver, on 
 his daughter's blushing face, and read the signs. 
 
 " You may as weU let them be, John," said he. 
 " I suppose a marriage celebrated on AU Saints 
 Day wfll stand good ?" 
 
 " I expect it wiU," repUed John. And he went 
 to help the ringers. 
 
 " How mercifvd has God been to me this night !" 
 was the concluding thought of Lady Katherine 
 Dudley. 
 
186 
 
 GOOD WORDS. 
 
 [Edited by 
 
 A VISIT TO THE TAIPINGS. 
 
 In the early part of June 1861, I founrl myself 
 unavoidably detained for some weeks at Shanghai, 
 and was glad to avail myself of the kind invitation 
 of Captain Dew, of H. M. S. " Encounter," to ac- 
 company him on a trip, one object of which was to 
 visit a city recently captured by the rebels, with 
 the view of communicating with their chief, an- 
 other to explore the country in the neighbourhood 
 of Ningpo, and ascertain the rebel position in that 
 district. For some time past rumours had been 
 current in Shanghai of the proximity of these 
 "troublesome insects," as the rebels are styled in 
 mandarin phraseology, and now the capture of the 
 town of Chapoo seemed to warrant the conclusion 
 that an advance on Ningpo was in prospect, as the 
 wealth of that city, and the immunity from rebel 
 attacks which it had enjoyed hitherto, rendered it 
 a tempting prize. Here had numbers of the inha- 
 bitants of the surrounding country found a refuge, 
 whatever was saved from the sack of Hangchow, 
 the capital of the province, now in possession of 
 the rebels, and one of the richest cities in the em- 
 pire, had been placed in Ningpo for security, and 
 the gradual approach of the rebels from different 
 quarters, but aU converging upon this rich centre, 
 filled the inhabitants with alarm. It was not, 
 however, to protect the accumulated wealth of the 
 province, or to inspire confidence merely into the 
 minds of its possessors, that an English man-of-war 
 was sent there ; the European community, though 
 not large, would be exposed to the utmost danger 
 in the event of the occupation of the city, and it 
 was considered advisable to inform the rebels that 
 the capture by them of a port open to foreign trade, 
 would be regarded by us as an act of hostility to- 
 wards foreigners. 
 
 The most accessible rebel chief, under the cir- 
 cumstances, was the gentleman who had first 
 captured, and now commanded at Chapoo, and 
 that once important mercantile emporium was 
 our destination in the first instance. Situated on 
 the Bay of Hangchow, and connected with that 
 city, of which it was the port, by the Grand Canal, 
 it derived its importance partly from that circum- 
 stance, and partly from the fact of the Grand Canal 
 debouching at this point into the sea, so that it was 
 the southern terminus of that vast traffic which in 
 former times traversed the great internal artery of 
 the empire, and fed Pekin itself. For many years 
 past the navigation of the Grand Canal has been 
 completely destroyed, and the only commercial 
 privilege which still invested Chapoo with some 
 importance, was its Umited trade with Japan. This 
 was the only point upon the Chinese coast with 
 which the exclusive islanders permitted traffic, and 
 that only in the most restricted sense. Seven 
 junks annually sailed from Chapoo to Nagasaki, 
 where they were put under the strictest surveil- 
 
 lance, their crews jealously watched, and not, un- 
 less under very exceptional OTcumstanoes, allowed 
 to land. As soon as the cargoes, consisting usually 
 of sugar, had been landed, the junks reloaded with 
 edible seaweed, and other Japanese produce, and 
 returned to Chapoo, not to revisit the Empire of 
 the Sun untiL the following year. This traffic has 
 now come to an end ; but even under any circum- 
 stances the opening of Shanghai and Ningpo to 
 foreign trade must have been a death-blow to the 
 commercial prosperity of Chapoo. 
 
 Bounding a projecting promontory in the grey 
 dawn of morning, the first indication we received 
 of our proximity to Chapoo was rather significant 
 than encouraging. Here and there a swollen and 
 disfigured Chinaman floated face downwards on 
 the yellow waters of the Yang-tse, and reminded 
 me of those horrible sights so familiar to dwellers 
 on the banks of the Hoogly ; but these were the 
 evidences of rebel cruelty, not of a religious ob- 
 servance, and the rotting carcases which once or 
 twice grazed our bows were those of an innocent 
 peasantry who had fallen victims to Taiping 
 ferocity. The city of Chapoo is situated upon 
 a plain, but immediately to its right rise two 
 hills, three or four hundred feet high, one of 
 which is crowned with a small fort, its walla 
 now gay with the flaunting banners of the rebel 
 host. We dropped anchor immediately opposite 
 this fort, which was within range of our guns, 
 but the shallowness of the water did not permit 
 of too near an approach to the shore. Instantly 
 a great commotion was visible among the rebels ; 
 the unusual apparition of an English frigate and 
 gun-boat filled them vrith consternation. A crowd 
 assembled at the principal gateway, heads ap- 
 peared peeping over the walla, messengers passed 
 to and fro between the fort and the town ; their 
 doubt as to the object of our visit being only 
 equalled by our uncertainty as to the nature of 
 our reception. Former experience had warned 
 us that a flag of truce was not to be relied on in 
 our intercourse with these gentry. The last time^ 
 I had had the honour of communicating with* 
 them under the shadow of a white table-cloth, 
 we were received by a salvo of artillery, which 
 killed and wounded three of our number, and in- 
 volved a brisk action of an hour and a half ; and 
 not a fortnight before. Captain Dew had been fired 
 at when proceeding, under a flag of truce, in his 
 gig, to deliver a letter stuck in the fork of a 
 bamboo, and had been obliged to retrea* under 
 a heavy fire, with his mission unaccomplished. 
 In fact, opening communication with a rebel 
 chief was an operation by no means unattended 
 with danger. So the decks were cleared, the 
 guns run out, and in a few moments we were 
 prepared to meet the rebels on their own terms. 
 
Normau Macleod, D.D.} 
 
 A VISIT TO TIIE -TAIPINGS. 
 
 187 
 
 Captain Dew and Mr. Alabaster, the interpreter, 
 with a white flag prominently displayed, got into 
 the boat and pulled ashore, while we anxiously 
 |t watched his proceedings through our telescopes ; 
 and Mr. Cornwall, the first lieutenant, since un- 
 fortunately killed at the capture of Ningpo, kept 
 the guns accurately, trained upon a cr(5wd of 
 rebels so as to be able to resent, with a broadside, 
 any treachery to the captain. 
 
 Meantime the Taipings seemed to watch our 
 proceeding,? with no leas interest and curiosity ; 
 and as Captain Dew, attended only by Mr. Ala- 
 baster, and the coxswain, bearing the flag of truce, 
 began to scale the hiU, a number of warriors, car- 
 rying j^ingalls, matchlocks, and flags in bright- 
 coloured garments, came Tapouring out after the 
 usual manner of warhke Chinamen, and apparently 
 in no very amicable mood. Steadily the three 
 Englishmen clambered up the hill, while the rebels 
 seemed uncertain whether to fire at them or not. 
 Anxiously we strained our eyes through our tele- 
 scopes. Every man was at his place at the guns. 
 We could see the rebel nearest Captain Dew blow- 
 ing the fusee of his matchlock, and the coxswain 
 deprecatingly waving his fiag, and more rebels 
 with warhke attitudes closing round ; but still 
 they did not fire. Then we saw Captain Dew 
 extend his hand to the man with the matchlock 
 and the fusee. Was he begging for mercy ? No ! 
 he had seized the lighted fusee ; he was lighting 
 his cigar with it. The rebels were probably as 
 much astonished as ourselves by the coolness of 
 this proceeding ; at all events, it produced the 
 desired effect of restoring confidence ; and in a 
 few minutes more Captain Dew had disappeared 
 within the gateway, and we saw him no more. 
 Shortly after, the boat came back with a message 
 inviting a small party of ua on shore. 
 
 Three yeara had elapsed since I had explored the 
 suburb of Chapoo, then composed of crowded, busy 
 lanes, now a mass of blackened ruins, deserted save 
 by a mangy cur or two. Then I had stood on 
 the summit of the hiU from which the rebel flags 
 were now waving, and looked over a boundless 
 plain of yellow crops, soon to be gathered in by 
 an industrious and peaceful population ; now, far 
 as eye could reach on every side, the crops had 
 again ripened, but the coimtry was deserted. Not 
 a wreath of blue smoke curled heavenward through 
 all the broad landscape. The food of thousands 
 was rotting where it grew, and thousands who 
 had abandoned their homesteads were dying for 
 want of it. Death at the hands of the rebels, or 
 death by starvation, had been the only alterna- 
 tives of this wretched peasantry, and they chose 
 the latter. There is probably, at ifk& best of 
 times, more poverty and abject misery in China 
 than in any other country on the face of the globe ; 
 and it was heart-rending to think that the teeming 
 produce of thousands of acres of this rich alluvial 
 land would reUeve none of it. How little could 
 those who had hopefully planted in the early 
 
 spring have foreseen such a catastrophe ! How 
 many years will suffice to repair the injuries of 
 days ! Stumbhng over the blackened embers of 
 burnt houses, picking our way through brickbats 
 and miscellaneous rubbish as best we might, with 
 here and there a human bone or a tattered gar- 
 ment protruding, to tell of deeds of violence, we 
 passed through the demolished suburb, without 
 meeting a soul or seeing a single house in a state 
 of preservation. On approaching the city walls, 
 the scene was very different. They were swarm- 
 ing with workmen. Those of the peasantry who 
 had not escaped or been killed were impressed 
 by the rebels into their service, and were now 
 working hard at the fortifications. Men, women, 
 and children were crawling up smd down the steep 
 inclines with baskets full of earth, excavating, 
 pulling down, or building vip. The rebels them- 
 selves, with long matted hair (for a pigtail is an 
 abomination to a rebel), countenances brutalized 
 by long familiarity with scenes of blood, and 
 garments of the brightest colours, made free use 
 of sticks as they urged the wretched labourers to 
 the work. They regarded us with ill-favoured 
 glances, and, though not venturing to ofi'er op- 
 position, allowed us to scramble to the top of the 
 walls as best we might, by means of shppery lad- 
 ders and steps cut in the muddy bank of the sur- 
 rounding moat, which we traversed on a single 
 plank. More working parties were engaged on 
 the top of the walls, and the conquerors were 
 evidently determined that no future army shoidd 
 take the city as easily as they had done themselves. 
 At last we found a man to pilot us aljjng the 
 ruined and deserted streets to the Yamun or public 
 building in which the chief held his court ; a small, 
 half-ruined collection of rooms and courts, all 
 crowded with filthy Taipings, who did not abstain 
 from pressing after us into the chamber in which 
 the great man received us. Dressed in a long 
 robe of yellow, with a handkerchief round his 
 head, and a valuable pearl in it, he differed in no 
 respect from the ordinary type of low caste China- 
 man. His manners were rude and unpolished, 
 and his evident desire was to impress upon our 
 minds his own importance, and the perfect indif- 
 ference with which he regarded the foreigner. He 
 offered us tea and chairs, but had no more idea 
 of good breeditig, according to the Chinese stand- 
 ard, than if he had been a New York rowdy. A 
 fortnight had scarcely elapsed since he had taken 
 the city, and he was still elated by his recent 
 success. In reply to my inquiiy of the number of 
 persons slaughtered, he said that he had no accu- 
 rate idea, but that his men had been employed for 
 two whole days, from sunrise to sunset, in putting 
 the population of the city to death. "But," I 
 said, " I suppose you spared the women ?" " Oh, 
 no," he answered, "we killed them all." "And 
 how many did you lose ?' " Four or five of my 
 men were killed." 
 
 The atmosphere, moral and physical, was too 
 
ISS 
 
 GOOD WORDy. 
 
 [Editocll.y 
 
 pestilential to remain in this ruffian's company 
 longer than necessary, and 'while Captain Dew 
 was concluding the intervicTT, I amused my- 
 self buying jade ornaments, and other articles 
 which the rebels had looted. Some of these 
 men produced bags with plundered jewellery and 
 women's ornaments, but I saw nothing of great 
 value, though the prices asked proved that money 
 was abundant among them, and that they had 
 sacked the unfortunate city of Chapoo to no small 
 advantage. The sickening stench, the prevalence 
 of cutaneous diseases, and the impudent familiarity 
 with which they crowded round one, induced me 
 to curtail my researches into their stolen property. 
 Indeed, every now and then, the idea of one's 
 utterly helpless condition, two miles away from 
 the ship, in the midst of a horde of savages, who 
 lived on murder and rapine, and regarded all 
 foreigners as their natural enemies, obtruded itself 
 rather disagreeably. On our way back to the 
 ship by another route, we passed the place of 
 public punishment. There was standing a crucifir, 
 upon which a man had been recently crucified, and 
 two wretched victims were undergoing the punish- 
 ment of the Kung, which consisted in their sitting 
 with their heads passed through the centre of a 
 large board. Except the rebel host, numbered by 
 their leader at 5000 men, and the country people 
 pressed into service on the fortifications, the city 
 was totally deserted. A month before it had 
 contained a population estimated at nearly 100,000. 
 It is part of the rebel policy to commit the most 
 awful atrocities wherever they go, as by this 
 means they inspire so much terror beforehand, 
 that at the very first rumour of their approach, the 
 whole country is abandoned by the terrified pea- 
 santry ; and the imperial troops, infected by the 
 imiversal panic, too often lose heart, desert their 
 posts, and the cities fall an easy prey into the 
 hands of the rebels. 
 
 During the first years of the rebellion in China, 
 delusions prevailed in this country with reference 
 to the religious tenets of the Taipings, which have 
 fortunately been long since dispelled. We received 
 vague rumours of a sect of Christian propagandists, 
 whose chief object was to overturn the existing 
 system of philosophy and superstition, and sub- 
 stitute in its stead a pure and ennobHng creed. 
 The natural effect of this impression was to create 
 in our minds a strong feeling of sympathy in their 
 favour ; and witnessing as they did constant in- 
 stances of cruelty and misrule on the part of the 
 Government, a large section of the British com- 
 munity in China watched with interest the progress 
 of the rebellion throughout the provinces. A 
 closer acquaintance with the Taipings proved how 
 utterly erroneous had been the impressions con- 
 ceived of their mission. Their leader, a man of 
 low origin, who had picked up the outlines of the 
 Christian scheme, grafted them upon a miserable 
 and blasphemous fabrication of his own, and arro- 
 gating to himself a divine origin and supernatural 
 
 powers, succeeded to some extent at iarst in im- 
 posing upon the credulity of his followers. I 
 doubt, however, whether a single Taiping believes 
 anything now. In various conversations which I 
 have had with individuals qp the subject, I have 
 not found one who could give any definite idea 
 of his creed, beyond the fact that they offered 
 some prayer before eating. The religious publi- 
 cations of the Taipings are absurd incomprehen- 
 sible effusions, embodying no grand sentiments, 
 transparently the productions of ignorant and 
 uneducated men who have mixed up texts of the 
 Bible with their own puerile composition. There 
 is an absence of that fanaticism among them 
 which has always distinguished religious pro- 
 pagandists. However erroneous their creeds, 
 some persons are always to be found who are 
 sincere and enthusiastic. So far from there being 
 a proselytizing spirit among the Taipings, they 
 demand from those they spare nothing but work. 
 No Chinaman who has been a captive knows more 
 of their religion when he leaves them, than he did 
 at first. Eeligious instruction is unknown among 
 them ; nor, so far as I could learn, do they ever 
 meet for worship. I am willing to believe that in 
 the earlier stages of the rebellion some honesty of 
 pohtical purpose may have animated some of the 
 chiefs ; and such at that period was the weakness 
 and corruption of the existing Government, that, 
 had the movement been conducted by wise and 
 patriotic men, it would have achieved without 
 difficulty the overthrow of the dynasty. If there 
 were any nobler aspirations connected with it than 
 those of plunder, they were soon extinguished, 
 the country-people who would at that time gladly 
 have accorded their sympathies to the founders 
 of a new dynasty, found themselves the victims 
 of the most frightful jjersecution. The scum 
 of a, population of four hundred millions rallied 
 round standards which waved them on to mur- 
 der and rapine. The Taipings soon became 
 as destitute of political as of religious prin- 
 ciple. The chiefs quarrelled among themselves. 
 The original objects of the movement, if it ever 
 had any, were forgotten amid internal dissensions, 
 but stiU, like vultures fiocking to a carcase, crowds 
 of ruffians poured in to join them, and the would- 
 be founders of the Taiping dynasty degenerated 
 into robber- chiefs, whose only difficulty now was 
 to find subsistence for their hosts. Like locust- 
 swarms they move over the face of the country ; 
 the new creed and the new dynasty, which at first 
 gave a semblance of dignity to the movement, are 
 things of the past. If ever there were men of re- 
 spectabihty or intelligence to be found among them, 
 they have been all extinguished. The chiefs are 
 coolies, their followers outcasts, who were enemies 
 to society from the first. Moving in vast numbers, 
 they crush all opposition by the impetuosity of the 
 rush with which they sweep over a fresh country 
 with fire and sword, carrying desolation before them. 
 The captive women they divide among themselves ; 
 
Jforraan Macleod, D.D.] 
 
 A VISIT TO THE TAIPINGS. 
 
 189 
 
 the meu are put into the front rank, and sacrificed 
 whenever fighting becomes necessary. I have 
 looked over a country where heavy clouds of smoke, 
 ascending from burning homesteads, hung over it 
 like a paU, and I have seen a whole population, 
 men, women, and children, abandoning all they 
 held dear, and flying, panic-stricken, from the de- 
 struction that was overtaking them. "When they 
 have entirely exhausted the resources of one tract 
 of coimtry, they move on to another. The great 
 terror they inspire, the large masses in which they 
 ' move, and a certain reckless daring engendered by 
 their lawless life, almost always insure success : 
 large towns are deserted before they are attacked, 
 flight, not defence, is the instinct alike of people 
 and of troops; the mandarins and chief authori- 
 ties lead the way, and there is a general sauve qui 
 peut. At the end of a year or so, the country is 
 exhausted, the rebels move elsewhere, and the Go- 
 vernment, with a great flourish of trumpets at 
 having ejected them, resumes possession of the de- 
 solated waste. 
 
 We may always be sure that wherever there are 
 I rebels there are a certain number of Imperial troops 
 ,1 swaggering in the neighbourhood, who have not 
 the slightest intention, however, of risking their 
 skins. Thus, on our return to the ship, a, fleet of 
 sixteen Imperial war-junks, which had been lying 
 for some time past in a secure nook on the coast, 
 sailed bravely up, and informed us that they would 
 be delighted to co-operate in the capture of the 
 town, if we would lead o£f. This proposal Captain 
 Dew of course declined, and the Imperial fleet re- 
 turned to their anchorage, to draw their pay and 
 write magniloquent descriptions of imaginary com- 
 bats with the rebels, not unlike those we have been 
 in the habit of receiving occasionally from another 
 q^uarter. 
 
 At mid-day on the following day, we were an- 
 chored beneath the walls of Ningpo, and, as on the 
 occasion of my former sojourn in that city I had ne- 
 glected to visit an interesting monastery in the neigh- 
 bourhood, we hired a couple of native boats, stocked 
 them with the necessary provender, and started 
 one night, after dinner, on our trip. These boats 
 or sampans as they are called, are covered 
 in, and we can manage to make very com- 
 fortable beds by spreading mattresses on the 
 floor. Our rest, however, is not destined to be 
 undisturbed ; first we have tO'get from the river, 
 through a (3hinese lock, into the canal. The pro- 
 cess consists of winding the boat, by means of 
 a windlass, up an inclined plane to the required 
 height, — a less exciting proceeding than going 
 down on the return voyage, when we plump into 
 the river with a rush. Having safely accom- 
 phshed this feat, our nerves receive sundry shocks 
 as we bump against other boats in the dark, or 
 run against the buttresses of narrow bridges. How- 
 ever, with the dawn of day, our troubles come to 
 an end, only, how:ever, to be renewed in another 
 form ; for now comes the difficulty of finding moun- 
 
 tain chairs and bearers. These are most primitive 
 contrivances, and consist of two wooden boards, 
 like the seats of a swing, suspended between two 
 bamboos, and carried by two men. The little 
 vOlage at which we stop is considerably agitated 
 by our pertinacity in insisting upon these being 
 forthcoming ; but after aU we do not avail our- 
 selves very readily of this mode of conveyance, 
 for the air is fresh, the scenery charming, and we 
 walk briskly along the paved causeway between 
 fields of rice and groves of bamboos, now and 
 then obtaining, from the tops of the hills, lovely 
 views over the country stretching below. At the 
 end of a six-mile walk we reached Tien-tung, where 
 we found a picturesque rambhng building, with 
 some pretensions to architecture, nestling among 
 hiUs, embowered amid shady groves of lofty trees, 
 filled with greasy monks, who set a room apart 
 for our accommodation, instructed us in the 
 mysteries of Bhuddist monastic life, and showed 
 no indisposition to receive remuneration for their 
 services. Except in the solemn grandeur of its 
 woods, and the beauty of its situation, Tien-tung 
 offered no feature of interest to the visitor fami- 
 liar with similar institutions, which are to be seen 
 to greater perfection in the sacred island of 
 Pootoo, and I anticipated more excitement from 
 an expedition projected to the town of Yu-yao, 
 said to be in possession of the rebels, and distant 
 by river about thirty miles from Ningpo. 
 
 Our return voyage, which occupied a night, was 
 unmarked by any incident ; and on the following 
 day we proceeded to make the arrangements neces- 
 sary to carry out the expedition. As the naviga- 
 tion of the river was intricate and Httle known, 
 the "Encounter" was followed by the "Kestrel;" 
 and we soon excited the curiosity of the people on 
 the shores, who had not seen a devil ship pass 
 their retired hamlets for twenty years. The 
 French Admiral, since killed in operations against 
 the rebels near Shanghai, accompanied us in one 
 of his own gun-boats, and we followed the wind- 
 ings of the little known river untQ the hiUs 
 closed in upon it, and charming valleys opened up 
 on either side, their slopes clothed with the grace- 
 ful feathering bamboo. Here the depth of water 
 did not suffice for the further progress of the " En- 
 counter," and we proceeded the remaining distance 
 in a gnn-bdat. 
 
 Yu-yao is distant from Ningpo about thirty- 
 five miles, and was the furthest point reached 
 by our troops in 1841 ; since that time it has 
 been rarely visited by foreigners, and the arri- 
 val of two gun-boats produced some commo- 
 tion among the iahabitauts. We were glad to 
 learn that the reports of rebel proximity were 
 false, and the chief authority, although he ad- 
 mitted his inability to defend the place, did not 
 seem to anticipate an attack. Yu-yao is a smaU, 
 somewhat ddapidated-looking town, and owes its 
 importance chiefly to its position as a good base 
 from which to operate against Ningpo. It was 
 
]90 
 
 GOOD WOKDS. 
 
 [Edited by 
 
 useless to waru the Chinese authorities to prepare 
 for rebel attacks ; nothing could rouse them from 
 their apathy short of the appearance of the 
 Taipings, when they invariahly deserted their 
 posts, without attempting to defend them. In 
 vain did we impress upon the Prefect of Ningpo, 
 on our return to that city, the importance of 
 having ammunition as well as gmis. In vain did 
 we point out to him that guns which were not 
 mounted, or had their vents plugged up, or their 
 trunnions broken off, were useless. It was a 
 thankless task to ^how him portions of the wall 
 which wanted repair, to reconmiend him to driU 
 his troops, and have the walls permanently 
 manned. He shrugged his shoulders and sipped 
 tea, and the result was, that in a very short time 
 after our visit, Yn-yao and Ningpo were both in 
 the hands of the rebels, who perpetrated the 
 greatest cruelties on the inhabitants, enriched 
 themselves by wholesale plundering, until at last 
 their conduct towards foreigners compelled Cap- 
 tain Dew to take the city by storm, and drive 
 them out of it. 
 
 Of all the dashing achievements which have 
 
 signalized our naval operations iu China, nothing^ 
 has happenefl more brilliant than this exploit. 
 With the assistance of only two gun-boats, besides 
 his own ship's crew, Captain Dew did not hesitate 
 to storm the city walls, though defended by thou- 
 sands of rebels, and succeeded, after a short but 
 bloody struggle against odds almost overwhelm- 
 ing, in putting them to fl^tt, and handing tlje 
 place over once more to the Chinese autjhoritiss. 
 The task of protecting their cities for them, and 
 covering the incapacity of their own officials, wiU, 
 however, no longer fall upon our Government; , 
 Th« Chinese Government has lately determined 
 to maintain, at their own ecspense, an effioiei^j 
 fleet, to be officered by foreigners. It is very 
 flattering to Captain Shei'ard Osborn, whose ex- 
 perience in the exploration of Chinese rivers is so 
 well known, that the Government of Pekin should 
 have selected him for the command of this force ; 
 and there can be no doubt that, with the means 
 thus placed at his disposal, he will very soon rid 
 the country of a scourge, the terrible nature of 
 which can only be realized by those who have ' 
 witnessed its disastrous effects. '' 
 
 LA.TTSEK'CE OLITHJ^^T. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE PRIVATE MEMOIRS OF A PERSON EST A PUBLIC SITUATION 
 
 On looking back at what I have written, and ob- 
 serving how large a proportion of those I have had 
 occasion to mention, I have been obliged to speak 
 of with reprobation or contempt;, it occurs to me 
 to ask myself, how is this ? Is it that the world 
 is really so much worse than most people think ? 
 Or that I look at it with a jaundiced eye ? 
 
 On reflection, I am satisfied that it is merely 
 this, that I have been miach concerned in impor- 
 tant public transactions ; and that it is in these 
 that a man can xender himself so much more, and 
 more easily, conspicuous by knavery or folly, or 
 misconduct of some kind, than by good conduct. 
 "The wheel that's weak is apt to creak." As 
 lamg as matters go on smoothly and rightly, they 
 attract little or no notice, and furnish, as is pro- 
 verbial, so little matter far history, that fifty yeairs 
 of peace and prosperity will not occupy so many 
 pages as five of wars and troubles. As soon as 
 anything goes wrong, our attention is called to it ; 
 and there is hardly any one so contemptible in 
 ability, or even iu situation, that has it not in his 
 power to cause something to go wrong. Ordinary 
 men, if they do their duty well, aittract no notice 
 except among their personal intimates. It is 
 only here and there a man possessing very extra- 
 ordinary powers — amd that, too, combined with 
 peculiar opportunities — that can gain any distinc- 
 tion among men by doing good. " Inventas aut 
 qui vitam exeoluere per artes, q^uique sui memores 
 alios feofire merendo." But on the other hand, 
 almost everybody has both capacity and opportu- 
 nities for doing mischief. " Dead flies cause the 
 
 precious ointment to stink." A ploughman who 
 lives a life of peaceful and honest industry is never 
 heard of beyond his own hamlet ; but arson or 
 murder may cause him to be talked about ovct 
 great part of the kingdom. And there is many 
 a quiet and highly useful clergyman labouring 
 modestly in his own parish, whom one would 
 never have occasion to mention in any record of 
 public affairs ; but two or three mischievous 
 fanatics or demagogues, without having superior 
 ability, or even labouring harder, may fill many a 
 page of history. 
 
 It is not, therefore, to be inferred from what I 
 have written, either that knaves and fools are 
 much more abundant than men of worth, and 
 sense ; nor yet again that I think worse of man- 
 kind than others do ; but that I have been en- 
 gaged in a multitude of public transactions, iu 
 which none but men of very superior powers, and 
 not alwaiys they, could dtstmgttisJi themselves for 
 good; while, for mischief, almost every one has ca- 
 pacity and opportunities. As for those who take 
 what is considered as a more good-hiumoured view 
 of ttie world, and seldom &>d fault with any one, 
 as far as my observation goes, I should say that 
 most of them thinic far worse of mankind thsSn I 
 do. At first sight this is a paradoK ; but if any 
 one examines closely, he will find tliat it is so. 
 He will find that the majority of those who are 
 pretty well satisfied witii men as they find them, 
 do in reality disbelieve tiie existence of such a 
 thing as an honest man ; I mean, of what really 
 deserves to be called so. They censure none but 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DS 759.047 
 
 A visit to the Taipings. 
 
 Ill 
 
 3 1924 023 143 799