or was
he mentioned in the decree. He was not dismissed, but was virtually
superseded. Britain, America, and other powers took alarm for the
safety of interests involved, and united in a protest. The Government
explained that it was merely substituting one tribunal for another,
creating a dual headship for the customs service instead of leaving
it under the Board of Foreign Affairs, a body already overburdened
with responsibilities. They gave a solemn promise that while Sir
Robert Hart remained there should be no change in his status or
powers; and so the matter stands. The protest saved the situation
for the present. Explanation and promise were accepted; but the
Government (or rather the two men who got themselves appointed
to a fat office) remain under the reproach of discourtesy and
ingratitude. The two men are Tieliang, a Manchu, and Tang Shao-yi,
a Chinese. The latter, I am told on good authority, is to have
L30,000 per annum. The other will not have less. This enormous salary
is paid to secure honesty.

In China every official has his salary paid in two parts: one called
the "regular stipend," the other, a "solatium to encourage honesty."
The former is counted by hundreds of taels; the latter, by thousands,
especially where there is a temptation to peculate. What a rottenness
at the core is here betrayed!

[Page 209]
A new development worthy of all praise is the opening, by imperial
command, of a school for the training of officials for the customs
service. It is a measure which Sir Robert Hart with all his public
spirit, never ventured to recommend, because it implies the speedy
replacement of the foreign staff by trained natives.

Filling the sky with a glow of hope not unlike the approach of
sunshine after an arctic winter, the reform in the field of education
throws all others into the shade. By all parties is recognised
its supremacy. Its beginning was feeble and unwelcome, implying
on the part of China nothing but a few drops of oil to relieve
the friction at a few points of contact with the outside world.

The new treaties found China unprovided with interpreters capable
of translating documents in foreign languages. Foreign nations
agreed to accompany their despatches with a Chinese version, until
a competent staff of interpreters should be provided. With a view to
meeting this initial want, a school was opened in 1862, in connection
with the Foreign Office, and placed under the direction of the
In