The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 16, 1858,

sedan chairs,. and a large body of naval officers in
full dress. A little later the French and-English
squadron 'of gunboats, 13 in number, simultaneously
dressed with flags and manned yards—a holiday
scene which called forth shouts of applause from
swarms of Chinese, whose shining polls and jet-
black tails thronged the banks as far as eye could
reach. Directly the sedan-chair in which the Am-
bassador was seated made its appearance the proces-
sion started. The French sailors cheered, the Eng-
lish responded in that deep bass which makes a
British hurrah ! so different to that of all other
nations, and the glorious strains of " God Save the
Queen," by the united bands of the allies, pealed
over the waters of the Pei-ho and Great Canal, and
re-echoed from the timeworn battlements of this
ancient city as if its old walls rejoiced in the tidings
of the better and more active future about to dawn
upon China. Marching down the bank ofthe canal
the procession crossed by a bridgetof boats to the
side on which the city stands, and then passed along
the river bank, until the open plain was reached
beyond the southern wall. Englishmen—it
is very evident—were never intended to be
carried about in sedan-chairs ; any one doubting
such an axiom had merely to look on the
hot and uncomfortable-looking mortals boxed
up in the wake of our ambassador—it was unneces-
sary to ask them, for all looked and felt as if they
would give the world to be allowed to get out and
walk, could such a proceeding have been consistent
with the dignity becoming so great an Occasion.
The only people who did not appear inclined to
suffer martyrdom on behalf of the dignity necessary
in full-dressed officials were those youthful naval
officers who had to walk for lack of sedan-chairs ;
and without desiring our countrymen to conform
to the rigid ceremonies laid down by the Board of
Rites, it must be acknowledged that the pulling of
dogs' tails, or " catching " plethoric Chinamen in
the wind, by vivacious midshipmen or engineers of
gunboats accorded but ill with the presence of the
representative of her Majesty.
Passing over a mile of plain, which was as level
as a table, and bounded only by the horizon, the
procession proceeded to an isolated yamun or joss-
house, which had been visited by Lord Elgin on the
day negotiations commenced (Julie 4). The crowds
of Chinese thinned off as the distance from the city
increased, and those who were present divided their
attention between curiosity to see the barbarians and
catching locusts for their next day's meal. During the
last fortnight all Tien-sin have been eating locusts
in a roasted state ; baskets full of them are seen at
every corner ; itinerant vendors - shout " Locusts,
fine fresh locusts !" all day long ; every bird (and
sparrows are as impertinent here as elsewhere) may
be seen with a locust in its mouth. Gunboats report
acres of drowned locusts having been seen floating
in the river, yet there is no diminution of
them, and with all thiS prodigious number of
insects, sweeping herbage and crops off the
face of the province of Chili the natives do
not complain as if it was an unusual visits•
tion. The sun went down as the procession swept,
to the tune of " Bonnie Dundee," round the angle
of the Temple of the " Glory of the Ocean" and
entered its southern portal. Like the major portion
of such edifices in this neighbourhood the Temple
stands on an artificial mound of earth raised some
15 feet above the level of the adjacent plain, as if
to avoid inundations. Four walls, facing most ac-
curately to the four cardinal points of the compass,
enclosed and hid from view an acre of ground,
covered with a series of temples and porches rich
with ornament and elaborate painting, tastefully
interspersed with open courts containing fine
trees, one of the few natural productions the Chi-
nese have good taste enough to properly appreciate.
The, grand entrance faced to the south, and at it a
number of mandarins and 'a Chinese band received
the procession, and cow/Acted it through the build-
ing •until the most northern court was reached.
There the Sappers, Marine Artillery, and Marines
formed round three sides of it, fronting a raised
place of audience evidently constructed for public
ceremonies. On the centro of the said platform,
which was most tastefully arranged, three tables
and chairs • were placed. In the left-hand one

'acing our guard sat the Mantchoo " Kweiliang,"
Senior Commissioner and Chief Secretary of State ;
on the right was the Mongol " Hwashana," Second
Commissioner and President of the Civil Board,
while the:vacant seat and table between them was
for the British Ambassador. On either side from
this centre a row of chairs had been placed for the
officers of the suite, &e., and when the Imperial
Commissioners had, in conformance to Chinese
etiquette, handed Lord Elgin from his sedan-chair
to his seat in the centre, and all had taken their
respective places, the coup d'ccil was most striking.
The ambassadors of the high contracting Powers
were not in full dress, but behind them and
on either hand stood fully a hundred officers
of the two nations glittering in gold and gay
colours, the rich silks and embroidery of the
Chinese contrasting pleasingly with the lace and
broadcloth of the English and French. In one
respect there was a striking difference ; it was
in the English portion of the audience being all
armed ; each one carried either musket or sword,
whereas a fan was the most formidable weapon
worn by bold mandarins who, from the number of
peacocks' feathers attached to their caps, must have
been perfect Cids in a fray. Wherever the eye
lighted upon a space free from groups of men or
officers, the background was found to be elaborately
filled up with ornaments very characteristic of the
land we were in. Highly peaked and fretted roofs,
turned up according to Chinese rules, supported
huge-mouthed demons, griffins, or dragons, and
screened from the-weather, elegant panels, rich in
scrollwork, or oyerloaded with elaborate carvings of
pomegranate, lotus, and citron. Among the red
coats came out in strong relief a most awe-inspiring
lion, chiselled quaintly out of stone ; such teeth,
such claws, such a tuft to the tail and Calmuck-like
expression of countenance as only a Chinese artist
could have conceived. _ Curious paintings hung
from the walls, and handsome scarlet cloth screens,
most elaborately embroidered in floss silk of brilliant
colours, covered every chair, table, or otherwise
bare space of woodwork, and over all the light of
the moon and a small number of pretty lanterns
shed a richly picturesque effect. In this picture,
of which I can only convey a very feeble impres-
sion, sat the three Commissioners in strong relief ;
and as we looked upon them, and the eye glanced
from Kweiliang to Lord Elgin, the idea involun-
tarily arose that, after all, a civilisation which only
dated from the year 50 8.C., when that much to be
lauded standard bearer of the Tenth Legion
struggled with a set of naked Painted savages on
Deal beach, decidedly carried off the palm against
one which went back beyond the deluge—aye, half-a-
dozen deluges--for the intellect and vigour stamped
upon every look, word, and action of the Scottish
Earl formed a fine contrast to the highly polished
surface which ill concealed the subtle cunning of
the Pekinese official.

Kweiliang, now 74 years of age, has fine features,
with a generally plcasin4. expression of counte-
nance. Polished in address, and with a high re-
putation for intelligence, there is still something
wanting to convince one of his sincerity,
in which respect the Mongol Hwashana has
considerably the advantage of hint. He, Hwa_
shana, the Second Commissioner, is a stout, thick-
set man, in age a little over 50 years. His counte-
nance is coarse, but betokens far more character
than is usually met with in the Stolid features of
the sons of Ham. Hwashana's nose has been unani-
mously declared to be a facsimile of that of the
Protector Cromwell ; thosp who believe in noses
may at once put him down as a Republican, regi-
cide, and fanatic. I should merely think him a
man of strong will, with some honesty, counter-
acted by sensuality, and a fear of the sword his
Imperial master keeps hanging over all his ser:

vants. Grouped around these two high function-
aries stood a number of inferior mandarins rejoic-
ing in decorations of peacock's feathers and squir-
rel's tails, attached with the coloured ball distinc-
tive of their rank to the crown of their conical
summer hats. Of these alone deserving notice was
Pien, the private secretary of Kweiliang, a very
clever young mandarin, on whom has fallen all the
detail and labour of the negotiations, and who ap-
peared to have great influence with his superiors ;
the other was a general, attached to Hwashana,
whom our Transatlantic friends had made so much
of, in consequence of the discovery that he was a
" viscount" by birth, that he at one time, in the
early stage of the negotiations, became intolerably
saucy, and had to be taken down a whole flight of
steps by one of the able sinologues attached to the
British Embassy. By the side of Lord Elgin stood
his two Chinese secretaries, Mr. Wade and Mr. N.
Lay; they were intrusted with the Chinese ver-
sion of the treaty, and the English version was
under the care or Mr. D. Cameron, senior Attache.
To the left of Kweiliang—the left being the seat of
honour in China—sat Admiral Sir M. Seymour
and the Hon. Mr. Bruce, Secretary of Legation ;
the names or places of the rest baffle all power of
description, beyond that I saw Captains Sir F.
Nicolson, W. K. Hall, S. Osborne, and Roderick
Dew, together with Messrs.L. Oliphant, H. B. Lock,
Geo. Fitzroy, Dr. Saunders, an artist named, we
believe, Morrison, all of Lord Elgin's Staff making
a gallant struggle for places with a crowd of
lieutenants, midshipmen, engineers, and domestics,
who were evidently bent on proving to thelmperial
Commissioners how " fierce and uncontrollable" was
the natural disposition of that Western tribe the
" Ying-keih-lee." Without, however, waiting for
any order to be established, or may be despairing of
it, the higher Powers at once proceeded to business,
after a short overture, in which the most tender in-
quiries as to the state of health of not only the
respective Commissioners was gone into, but her
Most Gracious Majesty and, the Emperor Hienfung
were likewise both reported to be as well as could
be expected. Lord Elgin then suggested that he
would sign and seal tbe English copy of the Treaty,
while the Commissioners did as much to the Chinese
version ; they assented, and the work proceeded
rapidly. Owing to the pressure of business, Mr.
Wade had been obliged to compile the final copy of
the Treaty in.-Chinese with much haste, a haste
which added in no small degree to that industrious
Sinologue's anxiety that his document should be a
perfect one and bear the test of Chinese and Euro-
pean criticism. One article, relating to the indem-
nity for losses at Canton and the expenses of the
war, was separate from the Treaty. After Kwieliang
had attached his signature to the articles which
were filed together, Mr. Lay placed the indemnity
one before him. Chinaman like, he at once saw a
possibility of escaping from even one little part of
his contract, and immediately made an attempt to
do so. " What is this ?" said he, looking the pic-
ture of innocence at Mr. Lay, " What's this ?
Never mind it ; I don't know anything about it ;"
and he gently pushed it aside. "It is one of the
articles," said Mr. Lay, " and here," pointing at a
particular spot, " you must sign it." The faithful
" Pien" now came to his master's assistance.
" What is it ?" appealed Kweiliang to his secre-
tary ; "Aml to sign it ? Do you know what it
is ?" " No, I know nothing about it," said the
polished Pien in his most silvery tone. " Au,
au," smiled Kweiliang faintly, " never mind it,
never mind it," and again the article was gently
pushed aside, to be again brought up by Mr.
Lay, who, calm and unruffled, still pointed perse-
veringly at the blank spot at the foot of the sheet
of paper, and reiterated in still more silvery Pe-
kinese, " It is the article touching the indemnity,
and you must sign here, sir." Pien was quicker
than his superior in seeing that the barbarian was
not to be outmanoeuvred, and in a moment under-
stood all about the article in dispute. "Oh, yes, it
is all right ; sign," said he to Kweiliang,. The old
man quietly drew the paper towards him, and at
once attached his signature. The respective Sec-
retaries now advanced to a small table, and then
the great seal, especially struck for this occasion,
the sole credential indeed of the Imperial Commis-
sioners, was stamped in vermilion on every copy
of the Treaty, and then Mr. Wade officially re-
ported to his Lordship that the Treaty of Tiensin
was duly signed and sealed.
A vast deal more satisfaction was expressed in
the countenance of the British Ambassador at this
announcement than could be detected in those of

the Imperial Commissioners, yet they looked like
anything but men who had made a disgraceful
treaty. Indeed, in spite of all the undoubtedly
great concessions made by them on the present
occasion, it is very certain that the Treaty of Nan-
kin struck more directly at the fundamental laws
of this empire, and that, too, at a time when the
power of Western nations was far less known and
feared than at present. Keying then ceded not
only Hongkong in perpetuity, but acknowledged
our right to Chusan so long as the treaty was not
fulfilled, an alienation of the territory of the central
nation which caused his impeachment, and, as we
are still writing, his death. He it was who first
acknowledged the perfect equality of all nations,
and that there were more sons of Heaven than he
of Pekin. Those principles have now received a
very great development, it is true, but it would be

unfair to say that we have been oppressive in our
demands, or obtained that from China which we
will not cheerfully reciprocate.

Lord Elgin expressed his fervent hope that the
peace just concluded might be a lasting one, and
beneficial to both nations, which the Commissioners
appeared cordially to echo ; and then, after some

poetical allusions to the moon, which was smiling
upon them from the blue vault overhead, the atten-
dants were desired to bring in some slight refresh-
ments. His lordship and the Commissioners re-
spectively proposed the health of each other's Sove-
reign, and at last, with many expressions of mutual
esteem, the Ambassador of England rose to take his
leave. Again the Marines presented arms, again
the air of " God save the Queen" rolled through
the many courts of the Temple of the Glory of the
Sea ; scaring bats from their quiet corners, and
birds in their numbers from tree and roof; again
the Coolies shouldered their sedan-chairs, and away
we all went at a killing pace over the moon-lit
plain, jostling now through narrow streets redolent
of everything that is foul on God's earth, with a
strong smack of opium and garlic in addition, now
skirting the grey ,walls of the city, and frightening
from heaps of offal numbers of yelping dogs, which
added their cries to the shouts of the bearers, warn-
ing their countrymen to clear the road for the
" fierce ;.nd intractable ones"—indeed from the
scampering away from our front and slamming of
doors we feel firmly convinced that the bearers
shouted " That the devils were coming!" and, al-
though not complimentary, it decidedly proved
highly efficacious in rendering our route unimpeded
through a densely-populated suburb. A whiff of
pure air told us we had reached the water at the
bridge over the great canal, and in a few minutes
we again stood on the steps of the yamun of the.
British Embassy.

P.S.—I open my letter to add that this day, July
4, 1858, a decree has been ',received from the Em-
peror, in which he, not only says that he has seen
the Treaty of Tien-sin, but agrees to ratify it ! The
American and Russian Ministers being exceedingly
credulous, simple-minded individuals—of course we
must give them credit for being sincere—were at
one time very well satisfied with a simple acknow-
ledgment of the Treaty by his Imperial Majesty
Hienfung, and wished the Chinese to infer Lord
Elgin was very exacting in requiring a ratification
on the spot. You at home will, of course, think
with us, that his lordship did perfectly right in
obtaining every guarantee from the Court of Pekin.
Lord Elgin and suite emba,rked on, the 6th of July