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Transcriber's Note:

  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

  In the caption to the illustration facing page 370, KOLENGSOO
  should possibly be KULANGSU.




THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA




CHAP. XXIII.: Tsze-kung asked, saying, "Is there one word which may
serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?" The Master said, "Is
not RECIPROCITY such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do
not do to others."




  [Illustration: Mr Alcock, at the age of 34.
   from a drawing by L. A. de Fabeck, 1843.
   Walker & Cockerell ph. sc.]




     THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA
     DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA

     AS ILLUSTRATED IN
     THE CAREER OF
     SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK, K.C.B., D.C.L.
     MANY YEARS CONSUL AND MINISTER IN
     CHINA AND JAPAN

     BY
     ALEXANDER MICHIE

     AUTHOR OF
     'THE SIBERIAN OVERLAND ROUTE,' 'MISSIONARIES
     IN CHINA,' ETC.

     VOL. I.

     WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
     EDINBURGH AND LONDON
     MDCCCC

     _All Rights reserved_




PREFACE.


Reminiscences of the Far East called up by the death of Sir Rutherford
Alcock in November 1897 prompted the writer to send a contribution on
the subject to 'Blackwood's Magazine.' Being appreciated by the
family, the article suggested to them some more substantial memorial
of the deceased statesman, a scheme with which the writer fell in the
more readily that it seemed to harmonise with the task which friends
had been already urging upon him--that of writing some account of
occurrences in the Far East during his own residence there. For there
was no other name round which these events could be so consistently
grouped during the thirty years when British policy was a power in
that part of the world. As Consul and Minister Alcock was so
interwoven with the history of the period that neither the life of the
man nor the times in which he lived could be treated apart. And the
personal element renders his connection with Far Eastern affairs
particularly instructive, for, combining the highest executive
qualities with a philosophic grasp of the problems with which he had
to deal, he at the same time possessed the faculty of exposition,
whereby the vital relation between the theoretical and the practical
sides of Far Eastern politics was made plain. The student may thus
draw his lessons equally from the actions and the reflections of this
great official.

The life history of Sir Rutherford Alcock is that of the progressive
development of a sterling character making in all circumstances the
most of itself, self-reliant, self-supporting, without friends or
fortune, without interest or advantage of any kind whatsoever. From
first to last the record is clear, without sediment or anything
requiring to be veiled or extenuated. Every achievement, great or
small, is stamped with the hall-mark of duty, of unfaltering devotion
to the service of the nation and to the interests of humanity.

A copious and facile writer, he has left singularly little in the way
of personal history. The only journal he seems ever to have kept was
consigned by him to oblivion, a few early dates and remarks having
alone been rescued. When in recent years he was approached by friends
on the subject of auto-biography, he was wont to reply, "My life is in
my work; by that I am content to be remembered." We must needs
therefore take him at his word and judge by the fruit what was the
nature of the tree.

In the following work the reader may trace in more or less continuous
outline the stages by which the present relation between China and
foreign nations has been reached. In the earlier portion the course of
events indicated is comparatively simple, being confined to
Anglo-Chinese developing into Anglo-Franco-Chinese relations. In the
latter portion, corresponding roughly with the second volume, the
stream becomes subdivided into many collateral branches, as all the
Western nations and Japan, with their separate interests, came to
claim their share, each in its own way, of the intercourse with China.
It is hoped that the data submitted to the reader will enable him to
draw such conclusions as to past transactions as may furnish a basis
for estimating future probabilities.

The scope of the work being restricted to the points of contact
between China and the rest of the world, nothing recondite is
attempted, still less is any enigma solved. It is the belief of the
author that the so-called Chinese mystery has been a source of
needless mystification; that the relation between China and the outer
world was intrinsically simple; and that to have worked from the basis
of their resemblances to the rest of humanity would have been a
shorter way to an amicable understanding with the Chinese than the
crude attempt to accommodate Western procedure to the uncomprehended
differences which divided them. It needed no mastery of their
sociology to keep the Chinese strictly to their written engagements
and to deter them from outrage. But discussion was the invitation to
laxity; and laxity, condoned and pampered, then defiant and
triumphant, lies at the root of the disasters which have befallen the
Chinese Empire itself, and now threaten to recoil also upon the
foreign nations which are responsible for them. This responsibility
was never more tersely summed up than by Mr Burlingame in his capacity
of Chinese Envoy. After sounding the Foreign Office that astute
diplomatist was able to inform the Tsungli-Yamen in 1869 that "the
British Government was so friendly and pacific that they would endure
anything." The dictum, though true, was fatal, and the operation of it
during thirty subsequent years explains most that has happened during
that period, at least in the relations between China and Great
Britain.

A word as to the orthography may be useful to the reader. The
impossibility of transliterating Chinese sounds into any alphabetical
language causes great confusion in the spelling of names. A uniform
system would indeed be most desirable, but common practice has already
fixed so many of them that it seems better, in a book intended for
general reading, not to depart too much from the conventional usage,
or attempt to follow any scientific system, which must, after all, be
based upon mispronunciation of the Chinese sounds.

As regards personal names, it may be convenient to call attention to
the distinction between Chinese and Manchu forms. In the case of the
former the custom is to write the _nomen_, or family name, separately,
and the _pre-nomen_ (which by Chinese practice becomes the
_post-nomen_) by itself, and, when it consists of two characters,
separated by a hyphen--_e.g._, Li (_nomen_) Hung-chang (_post-nomen_).
In the case of Manchus, who are known not by a family name, but by
what may be termed, for want of a better expression, their
_pre-nomen_, it is customary to write the name in one word, without
hyphens--for example, Kiying, Ilipu. As the Chinese name usually
consists of three characters or syllables, and the Manchu usually of
two, the form of name affords a _prima facie_ indication of the
extraction of the personage referred to. Polysyllabic names, as
San-ko-lin-sin, are generally Mongol.

The sovereign is not referred to by name, the terms Kwanghsu,
Tungchih, and so forth, being the Chinese characters chosen to
designate, or, as we might say, idealise the reign, in the same way as
impersonal titles are selected for houses of business.

I desire to express my deep obligation to Sir Rutherford Alcock's
stepdaughter Amy, Lady Pelly, without whose efficient aid the book
could not have been compiled. It is a subject of regret to all
concerned that Lady Alcock herself did not live to see the completion
of a task in the inception of which she took a keen and loving
interest.

To the other friends who have in different ways helped in the
production of the book, and particularly to Mr William Keswick, M.P.,
for the loan of his valuable Chinnery and Crealock drawings, my best
thanks are due.

     A. M.
     LONDON, _November 2nd, 1900_.


     _Postscript._--The legend on the front cover is a
     paraphrase of Chapter xxiii., Book xv., of the Analects of
     Confucius, Dr Legge's translation of which has been adopted
     by me as the motto of these volumes.




CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.


     CHAP.                                                    PAGE

         I. THE ARMY SURGEON--
              I. YOUTH                                           1
             II. THE PENINSULA, 1832-1837                        8
            III. ENGLAND, 1838-1844                             23

        II. SENT TO CHINA                                       29
            FOREIGN RELATIONS WITH CHINA                        31

       III. ANTECEDENTS OF THE WAR--
              I. THE OPIUM TRADE                                42
             II. THE SEQUEL TO THE SURRENDER OF OPIUM           55

        IV. THE FIRST CHINA WAR, 1839-1842                      60

         V. THE TREATY OF 1842                                  78

        VI. THE FRUITS OF THE WAR AND PROSPECTS OF PEACE        86

       VII. THE NEW INTERCOURSE: CANTON, 1842-1847              93

      VIII. THE NEW TREATY PORTS--FOOCHOW, AMOY, NINGPO        112

        IX. SHANGHAI                                           124
              I. THE TSINGPU AFFAIR                            129
             II. REBELLION                                     135
            III. THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS                  143
             IV. CREATION OF THE FOREIGN CUSTOMS               149
              V. MR ALCOCK'S DEPARTURE FROM SHANGHAI           156

         X. CONSUL ALCOCK'S VIEWS ON GENERAL POLICY            161

        XI. TRADE UNDER THE TREATY OF NANKING                  167
              I. TEA                                           178
             II. SILK                                          187
            III. OPIUM                                         191
             IV. CHINESE EXPORTS                               200
              V. BRITISH EXPORTS                               203
             VI. NATIVE TRADE                                  207

        XII. SHIPPING                                          211

       XIII. THE TRADERS--
              I. FOREIGN                                       248
             II. CHINESE                                       263

        XIV. HONGKONG                                          271

         XV. MACAO                                             287

        XVI. PIRACY                                            299

       XVII. THE ARROW WAR                                     308
              I. THE EARL OF ELGIN AND HIS MISSION             320
             II. LORD ELGIN'S SECOND MISSION                   349

      XVIII. INTERCOURSE UNDER THE TREATIES OF 1858 AND 1860--
              I. THE DIPLOMATIC OVERTURE                       361
             II. NEW PORTS AND OPENING OF YANGTZE              369
            III. ADMIRAL HOPE'S POLICY TOWARDS INSURGENTS      375
             IV. THE LAY-OSBORN FLOTILLA                       387
              V. THE END OF THE REBELLION                      392
             VI. EVACUATION OF CANTON                          396
            VII. DEATH OF THE EMPEROR                          397
           VIII. INFLUENCE OF THESE EVENTS ON PROGRESS OF
                       DIPLOMACY                               398


     APPENDIX.

       I. NOTE ON OUR PRESENT POSITION AND THE STATE OF OUR
              RELATIONS WITH CHINA, BY CONSUL ALCOCK, JANUARY
              19, 1849                                         411

      II. CONFIDENTIAL DESPATCH BY CONSUL ALCOCK TO SIR GEORGE
              BONHAM, JANUARY 13, 1852                         428

     III. CONFIDENTIAL DESPATCH TO SIR GEORGE BONHAM, DATED JUNE
              17, 1852. (EXTRACT)                              432

      IV. ACCOUNT OF THE SALT TRADE ANNEXED TO MR PARKES' SUMMARY
              OF THE NATIVE MARITIME TRADE OF FOOCHOW,
              1846. (EXTRACTS)                                 439




ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME.


                                                                  PAGE

     MR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK AT THE AGE OF THIRTY-FOUR.    _Frontispiece_
          From a drawing by L. A. de Fabeck.

     MACAO                                                          48

     H.M. SHIPS IMOGEN AND ANDROMACHE PASSING BOCCA TIGRIS
          BATTERIES                                                 70

     THE LAKES, NINGPO                                             114

     THE FIRST CONSULAR RESIDENCE AT FOOCHOW                       116

     BRIDGE OVER RIVER MIN                                         120

     THE SECOND CONSULAR RESIDENCE AT FOOCHOW, 1848                122

     BAMBOO BRIDGE AT FOOCHOW                                      124

     COUNTRY WATERWAY NEAR SHANGHAI                                126

     ENTRANCE TO SZE-KING, NEAR SHANGHAI                           136

     RUSTIC SCENE NEAR SHANGHAI                                    156

     VILLAGE ON THE CANALS                                         200

     DENT'S VERANDAH, MACAO                                        294

     GEORGE CHINNERY                                               298
          From an oil-painting by himself.

     SIR FREDERICK BRUCE                                           348

     MR LOCH DEPARTS FROM PEKING FOR ENGLAND WITH CHINESE
          TREATY                                                   354

     MONSEIGNEUR MOUILLI                                           356

     FIRST BRITISH CONSULATE AT KOLENGSOO, 1844                    370


MAPS.

     MAP OF CANTON WATERS                                           62

     YANGTZE AND GRAND CANAL                                        75

     MOUTH OF YANGTZE AND CHUSAN ARCHIPELAGO                       132

     ROADS AND WATERWAYS BETWEEN PEKING AND TIENTSIN               331




THE ENGLISHMAN IN CHINA.




CHAPTER I.

THE ARMY SURGEON.


I. YOUTH.

     Birth at Ealing -- Motherless childhood -- Feeble health --
     Irregular schooling -- Medical education -- Student days in
     Paris -- Wax-modelling -- Admission to College of Surgeons
     -- House Surgeon at Westminster Hospital.

Born in the same year as Mr Gladstone, May 1809, John Rutherford
Alcock[1] predeceased that statesman by only six months. His
birthplace was Ealing, and he died in Westminster, after a residence
there in retirement of twenty-seven years. Being a delicate infant, he
was baptised in Ealing church when one day old. His childhood was
deprived of its sunshine by the loss of his mother, and it does not
appear that his father, a medical man of some note, and an artist to
boot, was equal to filling the void in the young life. Consequently
boyhood had for him none of the halo of a golden age, but was, on the
contrary, a grey and cheerless memory, furnishing tests of hardihood
rather than those glowing aspirations which generally kindle young
ambitions.

His early life was passed with relatives in the north of England, and
he went to school at Hexham, where he had for companions Sir John
Swinburne and Mr Dawson Lambton.

Of his school-days there is little to remark. Indeed his early
education seems to have been most irregular, having been subject to
long and frequent interruptions on account of ill-health, which
necessitated sea-voyages and other changes of air. Nevertheless the
diligence which was part of his nature compensated for these drawbacks
of his youth, and set its seal on his whole after-career.

On returning to his father's house at the age of fifteen, the boy began
his medical education, being, according to the fashion of the day,
apprenticed to his father, and at the same time entered as a student
at the Westminster Hospital and the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic
Hospital under that distinguished surgeon, G. J. Guthrie. His passion
for art had already asserted itself, and he was enabled to indulge it
by constant visits to Chantrey's studio, where, "amid the musical
sounds of the chisel on the marble, with snatches of airs from the
workmen, where all breathed a calm and happy repose, he passed
delightful hours." His half-holidays were spent at Chantrey's in
modelling.

In the following year he visited Paris, and seems ever after to have
looked back on the gay city as a kind of paradise, for there the world
first really opened to the young man of sixteen. Then began that life
of work and enjoyment, so blended as to be inseparable, which
continued without intermission for more than seventy years. In the
stimulating atmosphere of Paris, and its free and independent life,
the boy's faculties rapidly developed. He seemed, indeed, to expand
suddenly into full manhood. Destined for the medical profession, he
worked hard at anatomy, chemistry, and natural history, while taking
also a keen interest in artistic and literary subjects; mastered
French and Italian; and, in short, turned his twelve or eighteen
months' sojourn to highly practical account.

From a small pocket-book containing notes of the journey to France,
and part of his work in Paris, we give some extracts illustrative of
the boy's character and powers of observation.

It was on the 17th of August 1825 that the party embarked at the
Custom-House Stairs for Calais, the voyage occupying fourteen hours.
On landing the lad "amused himself by observing the effects in the sky
and the sea, and by picking up shells, bones of birds and animals,
which having remained in the sea until perfectly clean, looked
beautiful and white as ivory." Simple things interested him, and after
dinner at the Hotel Meurice in Paris he "listened with much pleasure
to a man playing airs on what he called an American flute"--which he
goes on to describe: "The tones were mellow in the extreme, and the
airs he played I think were much superior in sweetness to any I have
ever heard from an instrument so clear," and so on. Obviously a
subjective impression; it is his own emancipation that beautifies the
simplest things and inspires the simplest sounds. Like the
convalescent in Gray--

     "The meanest floweret of the vale,
     The simplest note that swells the gale,
     The common sun, the air, the skies,
     To him are opening Paradise."

On his first Sunday in Paris he was "much struck with the beauty of
the paintings and a great number of pieces sculptured in
_bas-relief_." Then he walked in the gardens of the Tuileries, "which
in extent, in statues and in fountains, in the appearance of it taking
it altogether, far exceeded anything my imagination had conceived
concerning it."

At Versailles he was "highly delighted with many of the paintings. The
gardens are extremely extensive and the fountains very numerous;...
but it is all extremely artificial, and therefore soon fatigues the
eye." In these slight observations are perceptible the artistic
instinct and sense of fitness, faculties which served him so admirably
in his future work, and might have won him distinction in other fields
than those in which his lot was ultimately cast.

He was in Paris for a serious purpose, the study of medicine and
surgery, and seriously he followed it. At the same time he mixed
freely in the artistic and literary society of the French capital, and
left none of his talents uncultivated. A characteristic incident in
his educational career was his mastering the art of modelling in wax
and in plaster. Following up his experiments in Chantrey's studio, he
took regular lessons in Paris, and attained such proficiency that,
young as he was, he was able to maintain himself while in that city by
the sale of his anatomical models. For one of these he mentions
receiving fifty guineas, and a few years after "for two arms and two
legs the size of life" he notes receiving 140 guineas. These also won
for him distinctions at home, for in the year 1825 he was awarded the
"Gold Isis Medal" of the Society of Arts, and in the following year
the "large gold medal" of that society, for original models in
 wax. And it may be mentioned as characteristic that although
in later years an active member of that society, Sir H. T. Wood, the
secretary, who knew him well, was unaware of Sir Rutherford Alcock's
having so early in life received the society's medals. "The fact is an
interesting one," he says, "and I am glad to have had my attention
drawn to it." Some of these works were preserved in the Museum of the
College of Surgeons, while others, prepared in special wax, were
bought by Government for the use of the Indian medical schools.

From the small pocket-book to which we have already referred, and
which contains concise notes of his course of instruction in modelling
under a M. Dupont, we extract the note of his first lesson. It shows
thoroughness of mind, keenness of observation, and the instinct for
accuracy which enabled him so soon to attain to excellence in the art,
and led to success in all the other pursuits of his life:--

     _Sept. 1._--To-day my first lesson in modelling began. I
     saw M. Dupont work upon a mask of a little boy's face in
     wax. He opened the eyes, but did not in my opinion make
     them quite correct. The only thing I observed in particular
     was his using oil very freely with his tool. I afterwards
     saw three moulds of a thigh near the hip after amputation,
     cast in wax. One was soaked in water, another was rubbed
     with soft-soap, and a third was well oiled. The one that
     was oiled produced the most perfect cast, but I should have
     thought both water, soap, and oil were used much too
     freely. They were all cast in wax of a deep red colour, and
     one of them was placed in the stump of one of the thighs of
     the model on which M. Dupont was engaged. It was not quite
     large enough for the thigh in some places, and too large in
     others. This he altered without scruple, so that when the
     stump was finished, though it looked extremely natural, it
     was by no means accurate.

Before quitting the life in Paris the following sample of its popular
amusements as they presented themselves to the young student may be
interesting to readers, and it is unfortunately the last entry in the
pocket-book, and almost the last assistance we shall get from journals
during the seventy years of crowded life which followed:--

     I went yesterday [Sunday, September 10, 1826] to the Swiss
     Mountain, very extensive gardens on the Boulevards, where
     the most respectable part of the pleasure-seeking Parisians
     assemble on Sunday: you pay ten sous admittance. Here there
     is a large establishment for dinners where you may dine as
     at the restaurateurs, in a public room, or there are a long
     suite of apartments for parties of four, six, or twelve
     each, looking out into the gardens, and immediately before
     the windows was the space enclosed by trees, which form a
     canopy over it, and which is allotted to dancing. On one
     side is the orchestra; and when I heard it there was a very
     excellent band of musicians in it. It was rather
     unfavourable weather, as there were in the course of the
     day several very heavy showers, yet there seemed to be a
     very great number of elegantly dressed females and
     respectable-looking men; and some even highly-dressed,
     which is a wonder, I think, for the gentlemen in Paris seem
     to dress as much inferior to us as the French ladies dress
     better than the English. Indeed it is quite delightful to
     see the great taste with which they dress and the elegance
     of contour in all their figures. I don't know how it
     happens, but I never recollect seeing a French woman that
     was at all above the lowest class of society that was a
     slovenly or slattern figure, and very few that were not
     really elegant, though their faces are, generally speaking,
     plain.

     After having dined I went to see the Swiss Mountain, which
     had made a noise whilst I was at dinner that very much
     resembled distant thunder. I had no idea what it was; my
     surprise may therefore be conceived when, on coming
     suddenly in sight of it, I saw a man, apparently sitting on
     a chair, whirl past me with a velocity more resembling the
     speed of lightning than anything I had before seen,--so
     much so, that though from the top to the bottom where they
     drop might be about 200 feet, I had merely time to
     perceive that there was a man seated on some sort of
     vehicle like a chair.

     The mountain consisted of boards raised at an angle of
     about from 60 deg. to 70 deg. with the ground, and gradually
     becoming level. The distance from where they set off to
     where they stop I have before stated, I think, to be about
     200 feet.

     This platform is sufficiently broad to allow three of the
     vehicles to go down and one to return up at the same
     time--that is to say, there are four iron grooves
     accurately fitted to the small wheels on which the vehicles
     move. There are horses as well as chairs for both ladies
     and gentlemen. I saw several gentlemen on horseback and one
     lady. The horses appear to me to be real horses' hides,
     perhaps covering a wooden horse. They are accoutred with
     saddle, stirrups, and bridle. One person who came down on
     one of these horses rose and fell in his stirrups as though
     riding a real horse; it created much laughter, and the
     people surrounding immediately called out "Un Anglais! un
     Anglais!" I believe he was an Englishman. It had a
     ridiculous effect to observe the anxiety depicted on the
     countenances of the heroes, and compare them, with the
     knowledge of their perfect safety, with the laughing groups
     that surrounded them. Sometimes a veteran hero would mount
     one of the horses and come down with triumph in his
     countenance; the effect then became still more ridiculous,
     for he seemed like a great baby mounted on a hobby-horse
     proportionately large. But so it is through life, I think;
     one sees people capable of being elated as much by actions
     little in themselves, but enlarged for the instant by
     circumstances, as, for instance, in this case--the rapidity
     of motion, the gay crowd, and the distant music--as they
     would have been by an action really great in itself but
     unembroidered by outward show.

     Hearing the music and wishing to see the dancing I had
     heard so much of, I approached the dancers. We read that
     the French enjoy dancing with great zest; certes, to see
     them dance a quadrille, one would not say so: 'tis true it
     is a dance in which custom has forbidden much exertion,
     still the entire listlessness they show induced me to think
     it was a task rather than a pleasure. But when a lively
     waltz struck up and the waltzing began, I....

Here the notes break off.

Of the student's life of four years from 1828 to 1832 there is little
which can or need be said. For two years and a half out of the four he
was house surgeon at the Westminster Hospital and the Ophthalmic
Hospital, having received, at the age of twenty-one, the diploma from
the Royal College to practise surgery. During this period he continued
modelling, and took pupils in that art. Writing for periodicals also
occupied some of his leisure time.

No sooner was his student career ended than an opening presented
itself which determined the future course of his life, but in a way
very different from what could possibly have been anticipated.


II. THE PENINSULA, 1832-1837.

     Dynastic quarrel in Portugal -- Foreign legion -- Mr Alcock
     enters the service, 1832 -- Character of the force and its
     leaders -- Colonel Shaw -- Incidents of the campaign --
     Important medical services of Mr Alcock -- Joins the
     Spanish Foreign Legion, 1836 -- Termination of the
     campaign.

There were troubles in Portugal. The usurper Dom Miguel was on the
throne. It was proposed to seat the rightful sovereign, Donna Maria,
there--her father, Dom Pedro, ex-Emperor of Brazil, who assumed the
title of Duke of Braganza, heading the movement.

Sympathy was excited in France and England, in both of which countries
irregular forces were levied to co-operate with the constitutional
party in Portugal led by his imperial majesty. It was a kind of
service which tempted alike young bloods and old soldiers who had been
languishing in peace and idleness since 1815, and a small army of
"Liberators" was got together in England, with a corresponding naval
force.

It has been mentioned that young Alcock had studied under the eminent
army surgeon Guthrie. Feelings of regard had sprung up between the two
which extended far beyond the professional sphere. Not only had the
boy been a favourite pupil whose aptitude reflected credit on his
teacher, but it is quite evident that a personal affection which
lasted their respective lifetimes was rekindled during the years they
subsequently spent together in Westminster. When, therefore, Mr
Guthrie was applied to by Mr O'Meara, who had been in attendance on
Napoleon at St Helena, to recommend a surgeon for the British-Portuguese
force, Guthrie sent at once for Alcock and discussed with him his
professional prospects. The upshot was that as, considering his
youth,--he was then only twenty-two,--it was useless for him to think
of beginning practice in London, a few years might be most
advantageously passed in military service abroad. The young man was
only too eager to close with the offer then made to him, which not
only afforded the prospect of active professional work, but seemed to
open the way for adventures such as the soul of a young man loveth.
Within twenty-four hours of accepting the offer Alcock was on the way
to Portsmouth and the Azores. For some time after his arrival there he
did duty on board ship. His ambition being cramped by this restricted
service, however, he was anxious to be transferred to the military
force. He accordingly applied to Colonel Hodges, who commanded the
marine battalion, to be taken on his staff. The colonel looked at him
with some hesitation owing to his extremely youthful appearance, but
on hearing that he had been specially recommended by Guthrie, said,
"Oh, that is a different matter; come along."

Of the Peninsular expeditions of 1832-37 the interest for the present
generation lies less in their origin, aims, and results, than in their
conduct and incidents. They were episodes which have left no marks on
the general course of history visible to the ordinary observer, and
are memorable chiefly for their dramatic effects, the play of
character, the exhibitions of personal courage, capacity, and
devotion; of jealousy, intrigue, and incapacity; of love and hate; and
of the lights and shadows that flit across the theatre of human life.
Interferences in other people's quarrels naturally bring to the
surface all the incongruities. The auxiliaries are sure to be thought
arrogant whether they are really so or not, and the _proteges_ are no
less certain to be deemed ungrateful. Each party is apt to
underestimate the exploits of the other and to exaggerate his own.
They take widely different views of the conditions under which their
respective services are rendered; they misconstrue each other's
motives, assessing them at their lowest apparent value. Each side
looks for certain sentimental acknowledgments from the other, while
daily frictions and inevitable misunderstandings continually embitter
the disappointment felt at their absence. And there are not two
parties, but many. There are wheels within wheels; sections playing on
each other tricks which savour of treachery on the one side, while on
the other side there may be sulks which are constructive mutiny. The
question of pay is naturally a constant source of bitterness, for
countries that need foreign assistance are impecunious and