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 OF THE 
 
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 (IRAND SECRETARY, VICEROY OF CHIHLI, IMPERIAL 
 (O3IMISSI0NER FOR NORTHERN TRADE. 
 
 AT 
 
 Tientsin, February, 1892, 
 
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 The Tientsin Pkess. 
 
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 Research Library, The Getty Research Institute 
 
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CELEBRATION 
 
 OF THK 
 
 o<lSEYENTlETH BlRTHDAY^o 
 
 OF 
 
 i ifl«6-li«S6 
 
 GRAND SECRETARY, VICEROY OF CHIHLI, IMPERIAL 
 COMMISSIONER FOR NORTHERN TRADE. 
 
 &c., &c., &c., 
 
 AT 
 
 Tientsin, February, 1892. 
 
 TIENTSIN: 
 
 The Tientsin Press. 
 
 MDCCCXCII. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
 
 II. THE BANQUET at the Gordon Hall, Tientsin, 
 II til February, 1892. 
 
 III. EULOGISTIC ADDRESS by H.E. CHANG CHIH- 
 TUNG, Viceroy of the Hu Kwang, &c., &c., 
 and the Officials of those Provinces. 
 
THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 EI«, 
 
 T 
 
 HE occasion which brought the Grand Secretary 
 Li Huno'-chano' into the British Settlement on the 
 11th February, 1892, to meet the foreign residents in 
 Tientsin, was in all respects a memorable one. The 
 eminent position of the host, especially in connection with 
 the foreign aflairs of China ; his venerable age ; his un- 
 fliiling urbanity to strangers ; his long occupancy of the 
 most important viceroyalty in the empire ; his sympathy 
 with the progressive spirit of the age ; and the liberality 
 of his general policy ; had already earned for the Viceroy 
 Li the respect of all Avho came in contact with him or 
 who Avere acquainted with his public life. It needed only 
 such a conjuncture as the Seventieth Birthday, following 
 immediately after his recovery from a serious illness, to 
 impart entluisiasui to the congratulations which Avere 
 oilered to His Excellency on that day. 
 
 It is thirty years since Li Hung-chang assumed a 
 conspicuous position in contemporary history. At a time 
 when the Government of China seemed to many observers 
 to be at death-grips with the most formidable rebellion of 
 
2 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 modern times, Li Avas appointed to n taotnisliip m the 
 province v»hicli was tKeii tlie centre of the movement. 
 Tlie ordinary functions of the territorial ofHcials were of 
 necessity suspended, and tlieir energies devoted to the 
 national defence. It was a time when men of capacity 
 have their opportunity, and the administrative talent of 
 Li Hun^'-chang soon placed him in a de facto position 
 much above his titular rank. The military efforts in 
 Kianosu had been iitfid and ill -arranged Avhen I^i Avas 
 deputed to re-organize the forces which had been raised in 
 and about Shanghai and Sungkiang, the tract of country 
 comprised within the circle of a oO-mile radius round 
 Shano-hai being the base of operations against the rebel 
 strong-holds which lined the Grand Canal from LlangchoAV 
 almost to Chinkiang. 
 
 It was the distinguishing merit of Li Hung-chang 
 to perceive at a glance the value of that new element of 
 military strength which he found in the Ward force 
 which had been raised in Shanghai ; and from his sub- 
 sequent experience with that force under the leadership 
 of Gordon, to learn the lesson which has been the 
 foundation of his success in life. That lesson was the 
 vital importance of foreign science both to the defence and 
 the material progress of the country, the recognition of 
 which thenceforth became the controlling factor in his 
 public career. 
 
 Li had the special good fortune to draw to his 
 standard fn-eigners of the highest quality, such as Gordon, 
 Macartney, Giquel, and many others ; by whose assistance, 
 after the suppression, mainly through their aid, of the 
 rebellion, he was enabled to lay the foundatien of those 
 Government factories which have since become so im- 
 
LI IIUNG-CIIANG. 3 
 
 portant. It was at Shangliai and Xanking that foreign 
 macliincrv and scientiiic skill were first seriously em- 
 ployed by the Chinese Government ; and all the Arsenals 
 in China, at Foochow, Tientsin, and in various places in 
 the interior, as well as the aj.plication of foreign ap- 
 pliances generally, had their origin in the two Arsenals 
 which were founded or extended under the personal direc- 
 tion of Li Hung-chang. 
 
 II is successful conduct of the war against the Taiping 
 rebels, 18G2-5, brought honours and promotions thick 
 upon Li Hung-chang; it also brought excessive labour. 
 Recognizing him as the man of the hour, the Govern- 
 ment multiplied his functions, loading hiui with duties so 
 diverse as almost to recpiire him to be in several places 
 at once. And such has been his continuous experience 
 from that day to the present. Made acting, and then full 
 Governor of Kiangsu in 1862, he acted, in 1863, for 
 Hsueh-kuan as Imperial Commissioner for Foreign Trade, 
 and was soon officially appointed to the acting post ; in 
 1864 he was appointed Examiner for the ^I.A. degree in 
 the provinces of Kiangnan. During all this time he was 
 the active leader and moving spirit in the camjiaign 
 against the rebels : and in 186") he was made sole Imperial 
 Commissioner over the troops in Kiangnan. In 1864, 
 and airain in 1865 he was appointed acting Governor- 
 General of the Liang Iviang. whicli ofiice he held for two 
 years, notwithstanding' his being a native of Anhui, and 
 consec[uently by the settled custom of the Goveriiment, 
 disqualified for the post. As soon as his services could 
 be spared from Kiangnan he was made Governor-General 
 of the Flu Kwang, to which office were added, in no 
 long time, the duties of Governor of Hupei. He was not, 
 
THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 liowever, destined loiig- to enjuy the comparative ease of 
 a viceregal Yamen, for on the outbreak of tlie Xienfei 
 rebels in Shantuni^ and ITon:in the task of su!)i)ressin"' 
 them ^vas entrusted to him. To that campaign he took 
 with him such following of the foreign adventurers ^vho 
 had served in Kiangnan as he could collect, but he had 
 no longer the same choice of men as he had in the former 
 campaign, and it may also be admitted that his experience 
 of foreigners Avas not yet so ripe as to enable him to 
 exercise an infallible discrimination as regarded the merits 
 of the candidates for such services. His ultimate success 
 in quelling the insurrection, after two years of fluctuat- 
 ing fortunes, was doubtless contril)uted to by his native 
 generals more than by his foreign auxiliaries. After a 
 visit to Peking for Audience towards the end of 1868, 
 and a short period of retirement, Li Hung-chang returned 
 to his viceroyalty of Hu Kwang. 
 
 But there were still two rebellions on foot: one in 
 Kueichow and the other in the Xorth-Avest, both .Aloham- 
 medan. In the beginning of 1870 Li Huno'-chano- Avas 
 ordered to take charge of the Government troops in Kuei- 
 chow, and immediately afterwards, on the failure of Tso 
 Tsung-tang to subdue the Mohannnedans in Sliensi, he 
 was commissioned to lead his forces into that province. 
 This proved the easiest of all his campaigns, for the 
 ^[ohammedans, on hearing of the advance of Li Huno-- 
 Chang, promptly evacuated the territory without riskin^r 
 a single encounter. Before the close of that year Li 
 Hung-chang Avas invested with the Governor-Generalship 
 of Chihli in succession to Tseng Kuo-fan, in his abnormal- 
 ly long tenure of which otli(^e the traditions of the 
 nuperial ser\ice have been made to yield to the paramount 
 
LI HUNG-CHANG. 5 
 
 necessity of retaining the most capable Minister of the 
 Empire in the most important position. To the vice- 
 royalty ^vas added the Imperial Commissonership for 
 Trade previously held as an independent appointment 
 by Chunghow ; also that for Coast Defence, and later 
 the Vice-Presidentship of the Board of Admiralty, Direc- 
 tor-General of Railways, and other important offices, the 
 Government apparently considering that no burden could 
 be too heavy to lay on so broad a back. Added to 
 these specific duties, which were no sinecure. His Ex- 
 cellency has discharged the highest functions of State in 
 affairs concerning which he held no definable appoint- 
 ment. He has been the Foreign Minister in all matters 
 where responsible action was required, — the negotiator 
 of treaties, the virtual arbiter of war and peace, and 
 supreme adviser to the Throne. 
 
 Durino- these two-and-twentv years that Li Hun":- 
 chang has been conspicuously before the world and in 
 constant contact with foreigners of all classes, his de- 
 meanour and his policy have been entirely consistent 
 wuth his previous record, when the name of Li Futai, 
 the companion-in-arms of Gordon, shone out suddenly 
 and became a household word on the Coast of China. 
 One may therefore without much hesitation, and without 
 waiting for the posthumous revelations which have shed 
 such a kindly light over the personal character of Tseng 
 Kuo-fan, trace the leading motives and the fundamental 
 aims of one who may surely be set on a higher pedestal, 
 as a man of action, than even his honoured j)redecessor. 
 
 " Practical " has been the key note of Li Hung- 
 chang's career. In no depreciatory sense, but in the best 
 and most patriotic significance of the term, he has been 
 
6 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 all his life an Opportunist. Nought of the visionary or 
 the doctrinaire in his character has there been to prevent 
 him from economizinf,^ to the utmost his energies for such 
 schemes of public utility as Avere fairly practicable. 
 Hence Avhat he has achieved, in great as well as in small 
 things, has been of durable quality. 
 
 Coming into activ^e life at the close of a foreign 
 invasion which exposed the weakness of the empire, and 
 in the midst of a destructive rebellion, the prime need of 
 China appeared to him to be defence ; and that, he had the 
 perspicacity to perceive, could only be attained by the 
 annexation of Western science. Althouofh distinofuished 
 as a scholar, beino- a member of the Hanlin Academy, he 
 knew the secret of national security was not to be found 
 in classic lore, but in the inventions and appliances of 
 modern times. And as these could not be introduced 
 into China without the aid of competent foreigners, he 
 enrrao'ed them witliout stint. 
 
 The arsenals founded by Li Hung-chang, or organised 
 by him on an efficient basis, is itself an achievement of no 
 mean order. The fleet which last year so impressed that 
 most practical people, the Japanese, that they could not 
 rest until they had taken steps to increase the strength of 
 their own, and the elaborate defences of all the important 
 rivers and estuaries on the Coast, and of the strategical 
 points in the Gulf of Pechili Avhich have cost such 
 innnense sums of money, would alone constitute a 
 monument worthy of the greatest statesman. These 
 contributions to the national defence haye necessarily 
 been effected in the face of formidable difficulties, for 
 thev were all, in the way they were carried out, at 
 variance with national traditions, and required such 
 
LI HUNG-CHAXG. 7 
 
 outlnvs of money as the Board of Tiovonno liad l)ocn 
 AvhoUv unused to. 
 
 Neither, however, have the arts of peace been 
 neglected by His Excellency. The creation of the China 
 Merchants fleet was a bold attempt to utilize the resources 
 of foreign science and of business management, in order, 
 by the favour of the Imperial Government, to enrich the 
 Chinese and train them in foreim methods of manaofe- 
 ment. The enterprise cannot be said to have been a 
 failure, although the ineradicable customs of the people 
 have prevented it from realizing all the l)enefits which it 
 was calculated to confer. The extension of the Telegraph 
 service throughout the empire, long delayed, but pushed 
 forward the moment the circumstances were favourable; 
 the construction of railways whenever and wherever the 
 opposition to them could be overcome ; and the encourage- 
 ment given to mining enterprise everywhere, are all con- 
 spicuous examples of that material progress towards which 
 the Viceroy has never for a moment relaxed his efforts. 
 Nor have the results of this policy been restricted to 
 undertakings within his own control, for we see it copied 
 by one of the most influential Governor-Generals in China, 
 one, too, who long bore the character of being the most 
 bio^otted anti-foreio^ner, and who is now an avowed 
 convert to the principles of Li Hung-chang. And like 
 all proselytes, he errs, if at all, on the side of excess 
 of zeal. 
 
 In many less obtrusive ways also has the undeviat- 
 ing policy of the Viceroy Li been working towards reform, 
 as in the various teaching establishments he has setup: 
 the Torpedo School; the Military School; tlie "Naval 
 School ; the Telegraph School ; and the Medical School ; 
 
8 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY 01" 
 
 to Avhich may be added, ^vithin the last two years, a 
 Railway School. 
 
 In the work of introducing' Western science the 
 Viceroy has stood practically alone. The history, tradi- 
 tions, and the whole dead weight of the national conser- 
 vatism were against him, a force which the support of his 
 coadjutors and subordinates was inadequate to counteract. 
 Indeed, in the retrospect of thirty years of active public 
 service no feature is more noteworthy than the absence 
 of those auxiliaries who should have risen to eminence 
 under so distinguished a leader. The fact comes out as 
 time goes on with increasing clearness, that what Li 
 Hung-chang has done, he has, like Coriolanus, done alone, 
 standing between the halting co -operation of lukewarm 
 lieutenants unable to seize the w^ider bearings of his plans, 
 and the ever-vigilant censorship overhead, readier to 
 stifj-matize failures than to encouraofe success. In all the 
 ditficulties of an arduous life-service, however, one strong 
 support has never failed the Solitary Man, the unwaver- 
 ing loyalty of his Sovereign, to which may be added, 
 for Avhat it is worth, the appreciation of the civilized 
 world. 
 
 A personage so powerful, not through successful am- 
 bition, but through having greatness thrust upon him all 
 his life, might, on a iirst impression, have been expected 
 to modify the political atmosphere of his country, and 
 to make his principles of progress and reform prevail 
 over the outworn fashions of the public service. But 
 it is not the work of any single individual, however 
 influential, to eflect radical changes in the ways of a 
 people. Confucius and Mencius, Avith all their prestige, 
 failed when they attempted to reform the administration, 
 
Li hung-chang. 9 
 
 and that too within a very circumscribed area com2")ared 
 with that of the present Chinese empire ; and they had 
 to content themselves with imparting* their instructions 
 to a select fcAV, after the manner of philosophers. The 
 man of affairs follows a different method, that of doing 
 whatever lies to his hand diligently and with all his 
 mifdit, thus makinii; tan^^ible contributions to the im- 
 
 O / CD CD 
 
 provement of the State. For a practical man to expend 
 his vital energy on schemes of general reform would be 
 like shovelling at a mountain of sand while the labour 
 so employed might have been productively bestowed 
 on the cultivation of a given plot of ground. It has 
 been the merit of Li Hung-chang to go with the stream, 
 as far as he could get it to carry him in the desired 
 direction ; but to court no hopeless struggles ; to avoid 
 insuperable obstacles ; and to watch for opj^ortunities. 
 By thus following the dictates of empirical wisdom and 
 common sense he has accomplished something substantial 
 for his country in his own life-time, while the ideal 
 reformer might only have left a name in literature. 
 
 So far as personal example can go Li Hung-chang 
 has come out boldly before his own people, above and 
 below him, burst the bonds of convention and braved the 
 reproach of being the friend of foreigners ; has, in fact, 
 swept away the social barriers which hindered the 
 execution of his plans. It is not altogether easy for 
 strangers to realize the degree of moral courage required 
 for any Chinese official to break through established 
 customs and maintain free intercourse with foreiofners. 
 The urbanity for which the Viceroy has been through- 
 out his life distinguished, while it has enabled business 
 of all kinds to go smoothly, has materially served the 
 
10 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 interests of China, an object Avhich His Excellency seems 
 never for a moment to have lost sight of. Free converse 
 Avith visitors from every corner of the world has been 
 mdeed a means of education to the A^iceroy in cosmopolitan 
 aflairs, and he has unquestionably laid himself out for it 
 with that end in view. These visitors are generally im- 
 l^ressed with the pertinence of his interrogatories, and 
 those who come to gain information often end by imparting 
 much more. 
 
 The liberal-mindedness of the Viceroy, evidenced by 
 his demeanour towards foreigners, is a quality which has 
 been of the highest consequence in the management of the 
 great affairs of State. The cajoacity for looking at both 
 sides, the instinct for conciliation, the subordination of 
 the speculative to the practical, have made him the great 
 mediating and moderating force in the foreign relations 
 of China. AVhile in all things upholding the interest 
 and prestige of his country, he would never risk a quarrel 
 on a punctilio, and, bearing always in mind the real pro- 
 portions of things, Avould sacrifice the minor to gain the 
 major advantage. He alone, apparently, among Chinese 
 statesmen of the first rank possessing the requisite balance 
 of mind, it is to his hands that all difficult negotiations 
 are entrusted, and even when not directly engaged it is 
 still his counsel that is invoked in emergencies. 
 
 Space scarcely admits of even the outlines of illustra- 
 tion of the sagacity and breadth of view which have 
 always marked the diplomatic acts of Li Hung-chang. 
 The time has not indeed yet arrived when the true 
 history of his two principal negotiations with foreign 
 powers can be fully understood. But enough is known 
 to establish his reputation as an able negotiator. In the 
 
LI HUNG-CHANG. H 
 
 discussions which preceded the Chefoo Convention of 
 1876 he had the difficult task to perform of frustrating 
 the demands of his opponent while avoiding the con- 
 sequences which were threatened ; and it is generally 
 conceded that out of a most embarrassing situation he 
 secured advantages to his country which have proved to 
 be of a very substantial character; and by fixing his 
 eye steadflistly on the main object and disregardino- 
 trifles, he managed to convert a treaty which was intended 
 to be punitive into an instrument for the aggrandise- 
 ment of China. 
 
 If the negotiations with France between 1883 and 
 1885 did not result so satisfactorily to China, that was 
 simply because the prudent arrangements of Li Hung- 
 chang were overruled, largely, it may now be said, from 
 personal motives. The Convention first concluded with 
 Monsieur Bourree would have saved the territory and 
 the subsequent war, but it was refused ratification bv 
 the French Government, while it was at the same 
 time condemned by Chinese Chauvinists. It is usually 
 held to be a proof of the equity of a judgment when 
 it gives dissatisfaction to })Oth contending j^arties. Later, 
 when after their victory at Bacninh, Canton lay at the 
 mercy of the French, and the plans for the capture of that 
 city had been already elaborated with the utmost detail 
 and would have been promptly carried out, Li Hung- 
 chang succeeded in averting that imminent danger by 
 drawing the French into negotiations in the North. 
 
 The result was that he concluded with Captain 
 Fournier, on 11th May, 1884, a Convention which, though 
 at once ratified by the Emperor, displeased, once more, 
 the Chauvinists ; and mfluences were brought to bear 
 
12 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 in hi<^h quarters to prevent the stipulations of the treaty 
 being carried out. The peace which the Viceroy had 
 secured was, at the instance of the malcontents, aided 
 possibly by suggestions from without, Avantonly broken ; 
 and the year that followed that transaction was perhaps 
 the most trying in his whole career. For the personal 
 feeling of some who stood near the Throne became 
 involved in the prosecution of a war which could lead 
 to no satisfactory result for China. History yet un- 
 written will vindicate the loyalty, political sagacity, and 
 the extraordinary self-control which the Viceroy showed 
 durino: the whole of that crisis. But his foresio^ht was 
 soon justified by the event, for after a year's Avar, 
 which cost the country 60 million Taels, and the destruc- 
 tion of the Min fleet, China was glad to accept the 
 identical terms that Li Hung-chang had previously 
 obtained, Avith the 60 millions and the fleet saved. 
 
 Emero-encies test the realities of thinf^s, and nothin": 
 could have so vividly demonstrated the value of the 
 A'iceroy Li to the State than his alarming illness during 
 the past winter. On previous occasions he has been 
 compelled by imperial pressure to forego his family 
 duties. The prescribed three years of retirement, Avhile 
 mourning for his mother, were, after repeated applications, 
 denied to him, and only with difficulty could he obtain 
 one hundred days for the performance of the rites. The 
 ground for this forcible interference with the pious 
 ceremonies was declared to be the Viceroy's indispensa- 
 bility. The same indispensability, which has grown rather 
 than diminished, weighted the anxiety of the Court and 
 the public during the few days when the Viceroy was 
 passing through the crisis of his recent malady ; and it was 
 
LI HUNG-CHANG. I3 
 
 the rebound from that anxiety which inspired the feeling 
 of jubilation over the double event of his restoration to 
 health and the occurrence of his Seventieth Birthday. 
 
 The serious illness of the Viceroy also severely 
 tested the stability of his own principles. In his weakest 
 moments the pressure of tradition, of the ancient supersti- 
 tions, the sorceries and soothsayings, and the Avorld 
 of occult influences which haunt the sick-beds of the 
 great, combined with the appeals of affection, to bend 
 his resolution. But he had long since pinned his fliith 
 to the true science, the science of things, not of words 
 and dreams, and to no branch of true knowledge had he 
 paid more willing homage than to the medical art. In 
 those trying moments, medical science stood as the 
 representative of all the sciences, and his trusted phy- 
 sician was the representative of medicine. To him 
 therefore, he clung with the confidence of a child, and 
 when the clouds rolled away from the sick-bed it is not 
 difficult to imagine the warm feelings with which the 
 convalescent would o-reet Dr. Irwin and returnino- health, 
 feelings which generously overflowed in the compliment- 
 ary speech made at the grand banquet on 11th February. 
 
 It seemed an unhappy coincidence that a quasi- 
 rebellion within his jurisdiction should have broken 
 out at the very time of the Viceroy's illness ; but in the 
 event the suppression of the rising has redounded to the 
 credit of himself, his military subordinates, and the rank 
 and file of his troops. The generals proved to be capable, 
 the troops efficient, and though their movements were 
 directed from a sick-bed, their marches were so rapid 
 and well co-ordinated that they accomplished their task 
 in spite of the severity of the cold, from which they 
 
14 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 suffered intensely, in the time within which tlie Viceroy 
 had undertaken to quell the insurrection. Such a result 
 was scarcely expected by the majority of onlookers, and 
 as an evidence of the mobility of the force which has 
 been or^^anized by him the campaign sheds a lustre 
 on the name of Li Huno'-chang. 
 
 The Seventieth Birthdav is an occasion of oTeat 
 rejoicings in any Chinese f imily ; and the attainment of 
 this age by Li Hung-chang was signalized by the 
 homage tendered to him by his friends and brother offi- 
 cials in every part of the empire, who vied with each 
 other in the gifts which they sent, the aggregate value 
 of which is said to l)e represented by a very large sum. 
 His Imperial Majesty crowned all by a choice selection 
 of precious things, silk, brocades, embroideries, and many 
 other objects, which were exhibited in a Hall set ai)art 
 for the purpose in the Viceroy's Yamcn, and were visited 
 by the whole concourse of officials who came to ofter 
 their congratulations on the Xew Year and on the 
 l)irthday. Being assured that foreigners also took a deep 
 interest in the anniversary the Viceroy bethought himself 
 of a plan by which they might take part in the festivities 
 proper to the occasion, that the good relations so long 
 subsisting between the Chinese Authorities and the 
 Foreiofn residents miirht be still further cemented. 
 
 THE BANQUET. 
 
 The Gordon Hall, the only room capable of receiving 
 a large company, having been placed at his disposal by 
 rlie British Municipality, His Excellency issued invitations 
 to a bantpiet to as many as could be seated in the Hall — 
 
LI HUXG-CHANG. 
 
 15 
 
 about eiglity foreigners of all nationalities, of all occupa- 
 tions, and of all positions. The Hall Avas })roniptly fitted 
 with a stage and proscenium for the accommodation of 
 the Chinese theatrical troupe who were to perform at the 
 feast; the walls were completely covered with rich em- 
 broideries, scrolls and other objects in brilliant colours 
 hung round the Hall, and the vaulted roof was gaily 
 festooned with flags. The effect of the whole was an 
 indescribable harmony which extorted the admiration 
 of every one who entered, and for several days before 
 the feast the decorations attracted a constant stream 
 of Chinese visitors from the city. The credit for this 
 most artistic arrangement is understood to be largely due 
 to the Municipal Sarvevor and Secretarv, Mr. Bellino-ham 
 On the evening of the banquet the whole length of street 
 between the Viceroy's Yamen and the Gordon Hall was 
 illuminated by red Chinese lanterns, the Town Hall 
 itself was brilliantly lighted with gas, while the outside 
 of the building was festooned from the tops of the towers 
 Avith lanterns, the whole effect being most picturesque 
 and pleasing to the eye. 
 
 Punctually at 5 o'clock His Excellency arrived, 
 escorted by his body guard and official suite, and by 
 an immense concourse of people Avho completely filled 
 the street. He was received at the Hall by Mr. Detring, 
 Chairman of the Municipal Council, by whom the Viceroy 
 was conducted to the ante-room, where he received as 
 many of his guests as could be conveniently jDresented 
 to him. 
 
 On entering the great Hall His Excellency was wel- 
 comed with a ringing cheer, and the Town Band played 
 the Grand March composed for H.I.M. the Sultan by 
 
16 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 Prof. Terschak. The erect carriage and vigorous ap- 
 pearance of His Excellency attested his complete restora- 
 tion to health. 
 
 The tables having been arranged so that a Chinese 
 official of rank should occupy the ends and centre of 
 each division, the guests seated themselves in the order 
 shown in the diagram annexed, and the banquet, con- 
 sisting of alternate Chinese and European dishes, was 
 served in an admirable manner. 
 
 During the repast Mr. Brenan, H.B.M. Consul, pro- 
 posed the health of His Majesty, the Emperor of China, 
 Avhich was responded to on the part of H.E. the A'iceroy, 
 by his second son, Li Ching-mai, who in return proposed 
 the healths of the Sovereigns of the various friendly States. 
 
 The toast of the evening was next proposed by Mr. 
 
 Brenan in the following words : — 
 
 As the one among my colleagues who has been longest in 
 office in Tientsin, it is my privilege to speak in their name, 
 and in the name of our respective nationals, in proposing the toast 
 of the evening. When we consider, gentlemen, the occasion which 
 H.E. the Viceroy has chosen for inviting us to this banquet, we 
 not only appreciate the high honour, but we feel ourselves fortunate in 
 having the opportunity of personally offering to H.E. our congratula- 
 tions on his attaining his 70th year, and that, gentlemen, attended by 
 circumstances which must cause H.E. the greatest satisfaction ; for he 
 findshimself in possession of the complete confidence of his sovereign — 
 one of the highest positions it is possible to hold — the respect and 
 admiration of all his countrymen, and a great reputation throughout the 
 civilised world. If we remember, gentlemen, the unceasing toil which 
 Chinese official life entails, the many arduous duties H.E. has performed 
 and the great services he has rendered to the State during the last thirty 
 years, we rejoice to see him in such robust health, and such mental 
 vigour and energy as are seldom associated with threescore and ten. 
 In the course of his long official career, gentlemen, the Viceroy has 
 served during the reign of four different emperors, and with such zeal, 
 ability, and unchequered success, that to-day it is face to face with a 
 
LI HUNG-CHANG. 17 
 
 statesman who has attained to the very highest position in the official 
 hierarchy that we have the honour to sit. We as foreigners have special 
 cause to congratulate ourselves in finding our lot cast within the limits 
 of H.E.'s jurisdiction, for all foreigners who have occasion to come in 
 contact with the Viceroy, from the Plenipotentiary charged to negotiate 
 an important treaty, to the humble individual occupied with more 
 modest affairs, all have invariably found H.E. ready to extend to them a 
 courteous reception, and to give their requests and representations a 
 patient and reasonable consideration. I will not go so far, gentlemen, as 
 to say that everyone leaves the Viceregal yamen entirely satisfied with 
 the result of his interview. To give satisfaction to everybody is not 
 within the power of any man, and H.E. has doubtless often had to bear 
 in mind the words of Mencius, who says: "If a Governor will try to 
 please everybody, he will find the days not sufficient for his work." 
 What the work is in the case of the Viceroy but few of us have 
 any conception. Each of the high posts which H.E. fills, as Viceroy 
 of the province, as Imperial Commissioner for Northern Trade, as 
 Imperial Commissioner for Northern Defences, and as Director of the 
 Naval Board — every one of these high offices implies such an amount 
 of attention and anxiety that we are left to marvel how all this work 
 can be done, and done with such conspicuous success by our illustrious 
 host, who can yet find time to come into our midst and entertain us in 
 this sumptuous manner, and thus give one more proof of the friendly 
 feelings by which he is animated. It is our sincere wish that our noble 
 host may long be spared to give his valuable services to his country. 
 May he long enjoy the favour of his sovereign ; may his great reputation 
 still grow greater; and in the future may his sons and grandsons have 
 as brilHant careers as their distinguished sire! Gentlemen, I invite 
 you to drink to the health of H.E. the Viceroy! 
 
 The toa.<t linving first been delivered in Chinese and 
 subsequently in Eno-Ush, and been drunk by the company 
 with enthusiasm, Mr. Li Ching-mai replied for the Viceroy 
 as follows : — 
 
 My father wishes me to reply for him to the words just spoken in 
 recognition of his services to the Emperor and people of China, and to 
 the foreign nations who have wished to be friendly with us on the basis 
 of mutual regard and fairness. Above all, I am to thank you, gentlemen, 
 for the hearty approval with which you have received the sentiments 
 expressed by Mr. Brenan. My father is very happy indeed to be 
 among you, because he likes to show his friendly feeling towards all 
 
18 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 classes of foreigners represented to-night under this roof He 
 appreciates the interest you have taken in the celebration of 
 his 70th birthday, and especially thanks you for your sympathy in the 
 serious illness through which he has just passed. Accepting your 
 congratulations and kind wishes for his long life and good health, 
 my father takes this opportunity to pay a public tribute to western 
 medical science, to which he owes his presence among you. I am 
 to couple this expression of the Viceroy's feeling with the name of 
 Dr. Irwin. To his skill, care, and patience my father, my family, and 
 our friends are deeply indebted. In my father's name, I call upon 
 you, gentlemen, to lift your glasses and drink in honour of Dr. Irwin, 
 his colleagues, and their noble profession. 
 
 Towards the close of the repast the theatrical troupe 
 were introduced and performed several comedies of which 
 explanations in English were circulated among the guests. 
 The tables were then dismantled and the hall re-arran^red 
 with the chairs in rows for the audience to witness the 
 various entertainments which were given them on the 
 stage, H.E. the Viceroy taking his seat in the middle of 
 the guests. The fact that the banquet had nothing of 
 an official or commercial character about it put host and 
 guests equally at their ease, and there was a sincerity 
 in the congratulations offered and a heartiness about the 
 whole entertainment such as is rarely seen on occasions 
 when host and ofuests are of different nationalities. 
 
 The party broke up about ten o'clock, Avhen the 
 Viceroy with his official suite left the Hall. A dense 
 but very orderly crowd almost blocked the main 
 thoroughfare of Victoria Road. 
 
 The Viceroy was highly pleased with the ovation he 
 received ; and when he heard of the great admiration 
 which had been expressed of the rich and beautiful things 
 he had lent to decorate the Hall he generously presented 
 the whole to the Municipality as a souvenir of the happy 
 occasion. 
 
to Iarl h 0^ ^ihmmo^ THE Ige or 
 
 f HHEE SOORE IeARS mH f EIS. 
 
 Translated by 
 C. H. Brewitt-Taylok. 
 
 During the eighteen years of His Majesty's reign the 
 influence of your councils has been perceptible in every act 
 of state, and your position is now firmly established as first 
 among statesmen. Surely you are He that Hofei was 
 destined to bring forth ! Councillor, Governor- General of 
 the Metroplitan Province, Xaval Minister, Superintendent 
 of Trade ; we see you engaged in these quadruple duties, 
 and in each facile princeps. You have vindicated your 
 ri2"ht to all vour titles. Our Prince is indeed fortunate 
 in the possession of such a Minister. 
 
 This year on the fifth day of the first month you 
 enter upon your eighth decade, and His Majesty, regarding 
 your welfare as bound up with his own, has honoured you 
 as befitted your age and rank, bestowing on you his 
 autograph and precious jewels, even as of old Kung Kuan 
 received a staff to support his faltering steps and Vang 
 Piao the crown of wisdom. You have held office under 
 four Emperors, and restored a dynasty of which the fate 
 
20 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 hung trembling in the balance. By common consent you 
 are acclaimed worthy of such tokens of respect and of these 
 high honours. The inhabitants of this great empire seek 
 good words in which to felicitate you. Your family has 
 indeed become illustrious, and songs and choruses in its 
 eulogy resound through the land ; the ear is ever hearing, 
 the hand tires of writing your praises. Why need I then 
 rej^eat them ? 
 
 I indeed regard our Sovereign as the Illuminant of 
 the Universe, the brawny-shouldered Atlas, the Ruler 
 Superior to the famous Xine, the Xourisher of Creation. 
 His ennobling influence spreads afar, even into the realms 
 of fancy. In Corea dwell our envoys and Yerbiest was 
 one of our courtiers ; Tu Li-ch'en's mission reached the 
 Siberian hills and the Ghoorkas came from the confines of 
 the south. Our influence extends from the land of horses 
 to the domains of the Lord of the AYhite Elephant ; even the 
 regions where the reindeer and dog are pressed, as beasts 
 of burden, into man's service are not beyond it. Men of 
 all nations fly to our shores yearning to wear our dress and 
 win distinction in our service, liroad is the land, yet those 
 on its borders are not beyond the fatherly sway of our 
 Emperor. 
 
 Of old, golden vessels came to Ts'in; and the woollen- 
 clad ones had intercourse with Han. The envoys of Rome 
 came to us while the T'an2:s ruled, and under the Yuan 
 dynasty Chu Ch'ang-ch'un (Fa Hsien) travelled toward 
 the west. The records of these events are not very complete, 
 and we can only glean scant particulars from casual notes 
 and glosses, and from the itineraries of a few ambassadors. 
 The very name of the Loo-choo Islands is doubtful. It 
 has been left to Our Dynasty to establish the fixed points to 
 
LI HUNG-CHANG. 21 
 
 which all the others may be referred. Harmony now prevails 
 amon<^^ the peoples of the earth, and con f^^ra tula tions are 
 exchanged in many tongues. The demons of To-su trouble 
 us no more. Foreign treasures in the form of taxes and 
 tribute flow into our land, while the art of buildino: the 
 ships that convey them has been stolen from us. These 
 outside men, however, have developed along their own lines 
 and they have various literatures among them, as Sanskrit 
 and its off-shoot Latin, in which successive moral codes 
 have been written culminatinfy in the Mosaic Decaloo-ue. 
 Their multi-coloured flags be-deck the seas and their coined 
 money, bearing the effigies of various princes, abounds 
 in commerce. Our land has dealt with them in its 
 righteousness, correcting the faithless and treating true 
 friends with kindness. Further, Ave have exchanged 
 solemn treaties and Royal Messengers. 
 
 AVhen our country was troubled within and threatened 
 without we had indeed such trusty and able councillors, 
 as Hu Wen-chung^-, Tseng Wen-cheng--, and Tso AVen- 
 chiang^-, yet our griefs were not entirely removed. They 
 knew well how to repair the house against the threatening 
 tempest, but internal troubles left no time for external de- 
 fence. They indeed knew, but cotild not act ; their measures 
 were incomplete. It was left to You to finish their task. 
 You restored the Empire and secured our Sovereign Lord. 
 Far seeing, cautious in action, careful in plans, you 
 preserved the Son of Heaven. Y^our genius devised schemes 
 and worked out details : nothing is too trivial for the 
 sage's notice. Kuan Chung advised his master; to him 
 
 1. Hu Lin-i. 
 
 2. Tseng Kuo-fan. 
 
 3. Tso Chung T'ang. 
 
^j^ THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 the future was an open book ; Tzu Ch'an's generation was 
 the better that he had lived. Your name is in men's 
 mouths as was Chou Yen's of old, and you have managed 
 foreign affairs like Hua Yi. Men from afar have come to 
 be our neighbours ; you have treated them as the Great 
 Teacher advised, and like Ch'cng Kan you know their 
 dwelling places. You are altogether admirable, in litera- 
 ture deep, in war-craft terrible, in perception acute, in 
 genius sublime, you are entrenched en every side, unas- 
 sailable. 
 
 The Odes say : 
 " Let us cherish this centre of the kingdom." * 
 
 and ao-ain : 
 
 " He will keep all these countries in order." * 
 
 and it is written in the Yi-king : 
 
 " They carried through the necessarily occurring changes, so that 
 the people did (what was required of them) without being wearied. Yea, 
 they exerted such a spirit like transformation that the people felt 
 constrained to approve their (ordinances) as right."* 
 
 You quelled the Taiping rebels and earned your title 
 of Minister of the North and South. For twenty years you 
 have faultlessly conducted foreign relations, so that we 
 shall surely enjoy peace for evermore. Thus I add my 
 feeble testimony to history. 
 
 The Tano-uts succumbed to force alone. Political 
 prescience is the safeguard against misfortunes. The 
 wranolinir border tribes used to infest the roads on our 
 west ; like fishes leaping the waves came the barks of the 
 eastern sailors. In the reigns of Tao Kuang and Hsien 
 Feng heaven glowed in anger, and our leaders showed 
 
 * Legge's Translations. 
 
LI HUNG-CHANG. 23 
 
 their prowess. In our righteousness we struck, but we 
 did not destroy. In truth we were at a disadvantage 
 in weapons and we did not proceed to extremes nor 
 fill the land with tombs. 
 
 Ch'ih Yu was the first who fashioned lethal weapons, 
 and Hsiian, though victorious over him, failed to destroy 
 them. Arrows used to reach us from the Amoor, shafts of 
 wood and flint heads. The Chous did not despise the 
 good swords from Tsan Lu, nor did the kings of Ts'in 
 value them lightly. The knives of the Turflms, of 
 temper to cut jade, were esteemed by lAIu Tan above 
 jewels. We know of bows shooting multiple arrows, of 
 the cross-bow and the ballista, speedily surpassed by the 
 thunderous fire. The Franks first used the marvellous 
 cannon at Hsi-ching. After the days of the Mings, these 
 reached us from the south. In the charge of P'an Keng 
 we read: " Get rid of obsolete weapons, seek new." And 
 again in Jang Tsu's book : " Let the spearmen cover the 
 billmen." AVe have long had these instructions, and You 
 have now tauo^ht our armies to use breech -loadino' cannon 
 and magazine rifles. 
 
 Of old the talent of Ch'u was employed in the service 
 of Ch'in, and the weapons of Yiieh rescued Wu. Cordially 
 assisting each other all are benefitted, Avhile quarrels close 
 markets and restrict intercourse. Each country has its 
 own sharp weapons and each thing its uses which may 
 be learned. Did it behove us to stand idly by dependent 
 upon others ? Though by Heaven's favour no land is 
 more gifted than ours, yet other races may be more 
 ingenious, even to the verge of being dangerous, and 
 we, in these days, mast observe and deduce. All things 
 have a tao of construction, and facility is only developed 
 
24 THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 by practice. Chang Heng was a marvellous inventor, Li 
 Yell wrote a treatise on geodesy. In our day we see 
 various new manufactures and new arts. We see tools as 
 gigantic in tlieir way as an ox-seething cauldron, as 
 microscopic as if designed to carve a peach stone. Xow 
 we see you engaged in strange combinations of elemental 
 vapours, anon measuring the courses of the stars. Control 
 of enormous masses is perfect ; delicate measures are 
 made more accurate than the eye can perceive. ^lachines 
 are constructed of parts numerous as the stars, which, when 
 fitted together, do not permit a grain of corn to joass 
 between their surfaces. To manufacture bows and spears 
 is easy; to use them fittingly, difficult. You established 
 workshops and factories that weapons might not fail us. 
 You have built walls in the fiice of difficulties stern as 
 those of Wei's when the recalcitrant sand could only be 
 frozen together, and as firm as those of Tung AVang who 
 steamed the clay. Your prescience has fortified vulnerable 
 points ; for us earth supplies material, heaven workmanship. 
 Kruj^p guns protect every river, masked batteries lurk in 
 unsuspected spots, one fort supports another, hills are cut 
 through, towers are raised, soldiers hide Avithin the walls, 
 secret passages provide exit. Possible enemies circle 
 round us even as the Great Bear round the Polar Star; 
 right and left we face as the changing moon. Pet enemies 
 advance, you are protected on every side. The very winds 
 ilivour you ; you are able to dive into the depths, or wing 
 your way to the skies. The submission of three cities was 
 commemorated by the Yi-ching Tower, but what are three 
 to You ? Every port is guarded by impregnable fortresses. 
 To place us on a ])ar with other nations, You established 
 modern schools and secured the services of experienced 
 
LI HUNO-CHANG 25 
 
 technical In>triiCiV)rs,?io that now "flym_£r clonfl<^" ranrrc the 
 ocean iira-ed by submerijed wheels. They ride on the whirl- 
 Avind and lano-li at the storm. Canoes and coracles served 
 our earlier needs, but they are useless aoamst the thunder 
 and lio'htnino- of modern warfare ; opposed to our latter-day 
 ships, tliey would be crushed like eo-o-s. Seven-fold armour 
 is not comparaV)le with our steel, which even the ten -fold 
 sun could not melt. In motion they are under perfect 
 control ; at rest they are as firm as a solid wall. 
 Their batteries are thunder, their lights vie with the sun 
 and moon. The leviathans advance heedless of the rollino- 
 waves ; swift are they in their course able to carry thou- 
 sands of men ; yet we think them too small ! These ships 
 despise the breath of the mirage-breathing monster, and he 
 retires, not they. Li Pin fought the supernatural with 
 like arts : Li Tui-yu's vessels chased away the forest 
 sprites. A journey to K'un-shen ia now a mere excursion, 
 and You procured for us these immense ships. 
 
 The deeds of antiquity may be read, and one may 
 learn even to slaughter dragons. Li Kuang. the " flying 
 (Tcneral.'" did not confine himself to ordinary methods of 
 warfare. Weapons and strategy were changed at Ching, 
 and the Kao vase has yet a significance. Kou Chien 
 devoted great attention to his naval force, and his armies 
 were composed of veterans ; their training was on the plans 
 of Pa<> nud Yii. Chariots were drawn up at Yen Ling. 
 The wise man examines all system.- of >trategy. The 
 men of the west are used to warfitre : it i> to them as 
 ploughing and sowing. They spend untold treasure in 
 their military establishments, and devote seven years to 
 the training of a common soldier. They have field guns 
 and tloatino' batteries : thev have theii* own svstems. 
 
26 THE SEVHXTIRTTT BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 cumbersome, perhaps, and slow in advance and retreat. 
 They devote much tmie to militarv science, studying ])v 
 means of sketches and plans. They take mechanics into 
 the field as well as fighting men. They arrange for 
 one corps to support another just as in our books. AVe 
 know that Cheng Tzfi used to admire the discipline of 
 the bonzes, which was based upon that of the ancients : and 
 that Hsiian enquired into the means used by barbarian 
 chiefs to maintain their authority. Aliens have frequently 
 been appointed to office, and armies have succeeded 
 through purchasing the secrets of victory, as when AVu 
 Chien introduced chariot fighting into our army of old. 
 In our days we use fire in various forms, and nor least is 
 the modern torpedo, dashing over and through the waves, 
 able to pierce the strongest armour. And You established 
 schools for our instruction in these matters. 
 
 Thunder is produced l)y strife between the two 
 essential elements, and the shock of collision between the 
 Viii and the Wang produces lightning. The Bam])oo 
 i^)Ooks state, though erroneously, that a flash of lightning 
 ])laying through the Great Bear was the cause of the birth 
 oi'the first Emperor, and the Record of the Supernatural 
 says that thunder is the sound of laughter of the gods at 
 [)lay. In " T'ang Ch'uan " lightning is the essential heat 
 l)ecome visible ; in Chung Yuan it is condensed sunlight. 
 But we use electricity now to convey sympathy in manner 
 more marvellous than the Lo bell's answering to the riven 
 T'ung Hill and quicker than Teng Liu's pursuit of Helion. 
 Like the strings of a mammoth monochord, like an 
 Imperial marking line, the wires edge the roads, stretching 
 from pole to pole. With amazing swiftness to and fro fly 
 inessaires in the language of those who write on parchment. 
 
LI HUNG-CHANc;. 27 
 
 Tzu Chino; tore oft* a part of his dress to write upon ; but 
 we have no need of niigratino- swallows. Chii Yuan 
 would now need no pigeons to mobilise his troops. Lan 
 Tzu's dictum that the world could be known to him with- 
 out moving from his study, and Sakyamuni's that he 
 could circle the globe in a moment are now realized. The 
 King's orders are given direct to his Ministers ; the Court 
 extends to Po-ti. AVe sit and await news of victory ! nay. 
 battles are fought and won in our very presence. The 
 bounds of our perceptions are unlimited. And the Tele- 
 graph System, by which this is secured, is Yours in design 
 and execution. 
 
 Yii fed the teeming people and taught them to barter. 
 Li. Feudal Prince of Yiieh. wrote a treatise on trade. The 
 people of Ch4 were Ushers and miners. The T'angs used 
 waterways. ** Guard our possessions, strive to increase." 
 should be our motto. In the old days Roman ships came 
 hither, and Persian merchants were met in Tang's capital. 
 " "Nibble away at the husk and you Avill at last reach the 
 grain" — this was the guiding principle of the foreigners 
 who came across the seas and entered our ports. We 
 admitted them and they were guests. Presently the posi- 
 tions were reversed : we were guests and they masters. 
 AVishing to stop the drain we had to turn to ourselves for 
 aid. The Wu rice comes from the south, hemp from Shuh, 
 in the west. We saw how Ave could turn the sea to our 
 advantage and have ships for defence. Now our ships 
 carry the skins of Ch'cng to the markets of Chow. 
 Produce of every kind pours into every land, and foreign 
 cloth and gold are piled in heaps in our provincial stores. 
 There is plenty for all and poverty ceases to exist. A\ e 
 hold our own and more — *' the water begins to return from 
 
28 Tllli SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 the st'a." These advantages arc* clue to Vou. fur the 
 lorinatioii of the Steamship Company was Your work. 
 
 At the present day one might l)elieve the emj^yrean 
 .1 furnace, and the Yin and Yan^- fuel, b^ire is necessary 
 to cast metals and bake pottery. AVliat should we do 
 \\ itliout our iron plonghs and cookin<>'-j)ots ? Wlien we 
 neglected our coal it was as sand and mud: now it has be- 
 'Oine precious as our daily food. Tung Fan discovered 
 what were thought to be the ashes of old-time lires. Su-shih 
 ( Su Tung-po) sent in a memorial relating to the smelting 
 of iron. Xow avc dig deep into the lowest fountains, and 
 "uly the basic stone of the solid earth stops ns. We 
 l)enetrate into the nethermost hell, and the deep-down 
 caves of the winds. We erect strong machinery and pump 
 up rivers of water needing bridges like the rainbow arch. 
 The valleys of the earth are not large enough to serve as 
 store-houses. .Eolus fans our tires. The icy north defied 
 our piles of firewood, but now the lx)undless stores of 
 luel dug from the earth renders us proof against the chills 
 of heaven. Chuang Tzu's fuel never ceases to gloAv; Yii 
 Hsif s camp fires might be still more numerous. Ice and 
 snow may cover the earth; we need not call upon the 
 Ijlower of the /// to warm our valleys ; smoke streams from 
 every chimney, yet we do not laboriously gather firewood. 
 The forge and the fierce furnace never cease to glow. 
 And You opened the K'aip^ing Collieries and laid bare its 
 wealth. 
 
 In the words of Ku Liang, "The distant is dim and 
 indistinct." Ying Ping knew that personal acquaintance 
 was worth more than endless ([uestionings. If we wish 
 to impose our ways on the north and south, and influence 
 the east and west, we need the gift of many-tongued 
 
LI HUXG-CHANC. 29 
 
 CIiLi Vii. Y'dw^ Cliuaii's trawls in ])Lirsuit of Buddhist 
 literatiuv I'urnished us \\itli some ethnolo^o-ical and topo- 
 ^^•ra})liical kiiowlcduf. IJiit as travellers have been few, 
 speculation has supplied the lack of observation, and false 
 notions are manifold. Wrbiest's ueooraphieal works tire 
 liir from accurate, and the Western Directory gives but 
 scanty information. The best of these older books are 
 but rough approximations to the truth, and they are by no 
 means exhaustive. However, recently, we have had Wei's 
 maps and newer geographies; we have translations of 
 astronomical and scientiiic works ; we have accounts of 
 the manners and customs of various peoples, the rise and 
 i'all of nations, discoveries and inventions ; we have all 
 these translated from the most reliable foreign books by 
 the Translation Dei)artnient organized by You. 
 
 The Chous distinguished contracts by the use of red, 
 and the Duke of Ts'in swore by the clear water. Our 
 treaties, with conditions of various kinds, have been 
 made with many nations. At one time the King's com- 
 mands were conveyed by special envoys, at another the 
 Feudal Dukes met in assembly. At one time a jade pi 
 was given as security for territory, at another a vase was 
 the witness of a contract. The Tu-fans raised a stone 
 tablet with conditions sculptured in three styles of 
 writing. ]]y uur treaties we have opened ports and 
 granted concessions, to wdiich foreigners flock like busy 
 ants. Yet demand follows demand. Before the oath- 
 blood is dry upon their lips the contract is broken 
 and the pledged jewel threatened with destruction. Now 
 they (juarrel with each other, now pledge friendship in 
 deep cups. J*recedence, or perchance the meaning of a 
 word, has been excuse enough for a quarrel. But now our 
 
30 THE SEVENTIKTH BrRTllDAY OF 
 
 ciivovs are sent, and tlieirs received, and peace reiu'ns. 
 The arrangement of these many treaties is also Vonr 
 work. 
 
 (iood ship timber used to <svo\v in Chou, and Ivao's 
 marine forces Avere famous. The Hans had a traming- hike 
 at Iv'un Mino-, and at Hsi-tu was the first naval ti^ht. 
 Our naval forces won the dav at \jO J^ano* and Po Hsieh. 
 The tattooed barbarians used to o-uard onr frontier. 
 Our capital is (nir chief care, and our ablest strategist 
 can in no l)etter way turn his talent to account. Our 
 shijis visit far-off lands, and keep enemies from our shores. 
 AVei Chiao's people ne\'er see the rolling signal fires : and 
 the garrison at Ti-tao have nothing to do. Shandiai-kuan 
 is Avithin the lines, .and Chefoo is securely guarded by 
 the torpedoes of AVei-hai-wei. The control of these mat- 
 ters rests with lloard of Admiralty, which was instituted 
 I in Your advice. 
 
 In the old da}s the Annam envoys pursued their 
 route by the compass, while the sounding drum recorded 
 the miles traversed. The sage-like Chou and Hsieh Tu 
 could not boast of their own handwork. s(3 our records of 
 these contrivances are scanty. AVe only know they 
 existed and were effectual. The flying chariot of Ch'i 
 Hung and Hu's miraculous shortenings of distances ; — 
 what know we of these beyond that there were such things? 
 As Tien Fan. the destroyer, seated in his armoured chariot 
 passed over the face of the earth, so now, on branching and 
 interlacing ways, the snorting iron de\'ils, whose breath is 
 lightning and sighs thunder, tears from place to place 
 l)eating down hills and filling valleys that perchance 
 might impede his course. No latter-day K'ung Ming 
 would be content with "running horses and wooden oxen." 
 
LI HUNG-CHANG. 3I 
 
 Our mo?t famous chargers cannot be compared in speed 
 with our railway carriages. In a moment of time we 
 reach tlie capital from the uttermost parts of the earth. 
 Troops, may be, are needed, and in one day they move 
 from the land of sunrise to the hills of the setting sun. 
 supplies follow as if on wings, and generals seem to drop 
 from the sky. The King's way must be peace, rebellion 
 can no more raise its head — and we have attained this ])\ 
 means of the Railways, which You introduced. 
 
 All these great deeds, engaging all tlie arts mid 
 sciences, benefit all peoples and all ages, and urge (un- 
 people to greater efforts in competition with tlieir foreign 
 neighbours. You, as did the sages of old, unite in 
 yourself all talents, and, as they, are worthy of the tiger's 
 skin and sounding bells. Some have conciliated the 
 barbarians that they may serve as guards to keep our 
 others ; some have closed our doors against all-comers : 
 some, having made peace in a district, have taken the 
 credit of pacifying the world; some have applied Nestoriim 
 Avisdom to explain the gaml^ols of a calf How thev 
 differ, the narrow^ and the Avide, the small and the oreatl 
 As I stand beside you in the Han-lin I feel how small 
 T am, how^ little able to grapple with the great mattei-s 
 met with in my province on the great commercial higli- 
 way. In You we have perfect confidence, and I earnestlv 
 desire to learn from You. Compared with You, I am as a 
 simple peasant to a picked archer ; a poor jade to a fleet 
 racer. You are men's ideal. You, like K'ang Hon, enjoy 
 the confidence of our Sovereign ; Yours is the glory of 
 Chang the Councillor. You are the cynosure of all eyes. 
 By common consent, at once the record and reward of 
 service, is the inscribed vase. 
 
32 THE SEVExXTIETH BIRTHDAY OF 
 
 Clmnn: Chih-tuiio\ 
 
 novornor-Goneral of Hnnnn nn«1 Hnpoi. 
 tlic autlior of the al)ovp nddrcss. jiiid 
 T'aii Clii-lisiiii, 
 
 Govonior. t!i<' wi'ircr. 
 
 with: 
 
 K'nno- Hsiano'-liii. 
 ^A^allo• Cliili-clruii. 
 MlS^'H Pao-clrrii. 
 Villi Tsii-i. 
 Cli'ii Tvino'-sliao, 
 K'uiio' Cll'iDo--fll. 
 
 Fan Kuno'-chao. 
 
 Chu Ch'i-hsiian. 
 
 Hsi Chan a'. 
 
 Cli'r'n J 11 -fa 11, 
 
 T'sao Naii-yiiio-, 
 
 P'cno- Sliih-luia. 
 
 Wano' Ilsi-lisiaii^r, 
 
 Knnnr' Chao. 
 
 Chiang Lin-jui. 
 
 Veil IIan-clianii\ 
 
 F.i Cliia-lan, 
 Tfs'ai Hsi-yiiiio-. 
 Chao Pin-ycii. 
 Lin Pao-lin, 
 Ch'en Chan-ao. 
 Li FaniT-yii, 
 Shrii rao-lisiaiii;-. 
 Shih Shn-ch4no-, 
 Wang I-ch'ino'. 
 
LI HUXG-CHAXG. 83 
 
 Hsii Yu-lin, 
 Wang Yuan-ch'ing, 
 Ch'un Hou, 
 Shu Hui, 
 F^eng yUn-ku, 
 Ngo-le -heng-ngo, 
 Yen Tsu-ch'ang, 
 Chih K'o-ch'uan, 
 Ch'en Kuei-lin, 
 
 our colleaiTues, offer sincere conocratulations. 
 
 :^^^'-^_ 
 
'j^\<X 
 
 
 IHE GETTY CENTER