New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-28

Nearly every European who has exercised
much influence in Asia has been found either by
himself by others 70 be an object OF super
stitious regard. Sir Harry Parkes vas no eX-
ception to the rule. He became known by the
hearsay OF the people to the remotest boundaries
OF China Three years after Sir Harry's death
A. r. Pratt author Of book Of travel en-
titled Ito the Shows Of Tibet" found his NoY-
age on the upper reaches Of the Yang tse kiang
relieved Of all the troubles and dangers and de-
lays which he had anticipated. He learned that
this was due to a flag which his boatman raised
with great ceremony But when he came to
Ichang. whe~e there was a British Consul. the
mystery was explained The English official
came aboard the boat 10 say that he had been
visited by a deputation of leading townsmen
who wished to pay their respects to the BRUSH
Minister. and ne demanded to know the cause OF
the misunderstanding. on investigation it turned
out that the black characters on the white nag
which the Chinese boatman handled with SO much
care were those of Sir Harry Parkes. Appar-
entity he KEPT the secret as to the way he OBJ
tanned the ma gc pennant hut he remarked. with
a grin Of satisfaction that it was ono. piece
flag" Nobody can guess how many provincial
smugglcrs there may be in the Middle Kingdom
who awe the native customs officers with
forgery In bunting. 1t would be impossible to
explain incidents Of this sort from the person
atty Of Parkcs as il appears to Occidental eyes
in the pages Of the biography in hand. Brave.
resourceful and self-reant as he was. he could
not be deemed romantic figure From first To
last he was prosaic and practical and business
like. But he was almost always successful IN
his enterprises and il his lifelong fortune
to be by when something important was TO
happen. Thus his public career may be sad 10
have begun when he fourteen years of age
1afe
phan the only friends who cared to take charge
of him lived at Macao. and the only hope for his
future was in the British service in the East.
But fate so timed his arrival from England. and
his studies for the duties that to be his.
that he took part as boy in the frs; English
expedition up the Yang tse Kiang. He thought
himself then rather backward in his Chinese,
but he had words enough for useful purposes as
was shown by his assistance to the Commits
sariat of the expedition. 1T was said. remarks
Mr. Poole. that no could manage to get 50
many bullocks out of the coy vendors as the
youthful volunteer of the COmmissariat.' True. !
the people were not averse to taking money
even from the invaders Of their country. They |
understood we'll enough that they had only an
indirect concern in the disputes between their |
Government and the foreigners. But they We're |
shy of the grown-up British officers, and it was |
odd enough to find that supplies were obtained |
by the energetic arguments in broken Chinese of
a boy of fourteen, who did not ever belong to
the commissariat department. and had but an |
indefinite official connection with the expedition
1t was an excellent training for the future inter
prefer however. and his successful forays were |
rewarded with the unstinted appreciation of the |
authorities" Such an achievement attracted the |
attention of every body whose good opinion was |
worth having. But young Parkes to the |
fora in thor mat a
he made OF certain official papers which hap
pened to be in his possession as a messenger. TO |
be present at the ccremonous reception Of Chi |
nese Commissioners by the English Admiral |
Parker and General Cough. 1t historic |
moment. The English land force supported by |
seventy ships of war. about to attack Nan
king after the capture of Chapu Woosung and |
Chinkiang. The pageant on board the flagship |
of the expedition the signal that
over. and that a treaty of some sort was about
to be concluded The Chinese Commissioners
were received in state on board the flagship |
CORVALLIS by the English Plenipotentiary. Sir
Henry Pottinger supported by the Admiral and
the General The deck was abaze with Off
GERS in full-dress uniforms: the marines pre-
scented arms; the band played. as the three man
darins set foot for the first time on a British
man-of-war." Through all this pomp and pa
geantry Of court and Harry Parkes made
his way 4 spot near the Admiral and the
General. "a beautiful, place" as he wrote in his
journal. "where | could hear and see everything
that went on" His persistence and good-naturcd
forwardness had been noticed with pleasure by
the officers high and low. In this case his
temerity the risk Of being rcbuked. But
General Cough CHANGING at the boys eager face
handed him his terrible large cooked hat and
feathers to put down in place for him." and
thus gave him visible excuse for his presence
among the notabilities of the day. This was on
August 90 1872 From this day for more than
forty years" adds his biographer, there were
few events in the history Of British relations in
the Far East in which he did not play a con-
spcuous part till the lad who carried chops and
dispatches for Sir Henry Pottinger at Marking
in 1912 ended his busy life in 1855 in the high
station of Her Majesty's Minister TO the Court
Of Picking"
From youth up he was acquainted with the
Orient But he never became Oriental himself in
the smallest degree. 1t as an Engshman
that he studied the Chinese and japanese. and he
S. perhaps the most marked example on record
Of skill in exploiting other nations for the benefit
OF ones own Government. He did this without
harming the nations with which he dealt and
without personal gain for himself. In fact. he
showed that after many years of service as Min
lister to Japan he was worse off than when no
began. But the point is that he was trained to
watch for all the foibles Of the people among
whom he was placed. All their peculiarit!es and
weaknesses contributed to his success as a public
functionary of his own nation. Whether or not
the inroads Of western civilization are Of per-
manent benefit to races that have grown old
under another form of enlightenment can only ne
decided by long experience Certainly from tboir |
own point Of view the Chinese had little need |
for foreign advice in the management Of their !
own country. But it is not from their own pont
Of view that their rights have been considered | :
Speaking of certain claims for damages against ,
China. Mr.. Poole remarks that Sir Harry Parkes |
settled them after infinite trouble "by the sheer
force Of that pertinacty which so often stood him