170 e x p e d i t i o n t o j a p a n .
audience, while the rest of the company followed. The Commodore was
placed, in accordance with Chinese ceremony, at the side of the Taou-tai
on a platform raised a little above the floor.
On entering and departing from the government house, the party passed
through an open apartment, adorned with a bold representation of a gigantic
Chinese deity on the wall, and furnished with large wooden chairs, stuffed
with red cloth cushions, which were ranged along the sides. A table standing
in the apartment, and holding the vessel containing the pieces of bamboo
which are thrown by the hand of the Chinese judge to the executioner,
to indicate the number of strokes to be applied to the convicted criminal,
showed the ordinary purposes of the chamber, which was that of a hall of
justice.
Refreshments, consisting of teas, liquors, (including champagne,) cake,
and so forth, were handed round to the visitors in succession; and, after a
stay of an hour, the Commodore and his party returned in the same manner
as they came. Entering again their sedan chairs, and traversing the narrow
streets of Shanghai in long procession, and jostling everyone who obstructed
the way, they finally reached the American consulate.
While Commodore Perry was at Shanghai, the revolution, which is still
in progress, had made great headway. Although new developments have
taken place since, which have altered very much the position of affairs, it
may not be amiss to give the results of the Commodore’s observations of a
civil commotion, which naturally excited his deepest interest. He writes on
the spot, at the date of May, 1863: “ The political condition of China at
the present time is very unsettled; the whole empire seems to be in a state
of agitation arguing some mighty revolution; one-half of the country is in
occupation of an insurgent force, which claims to represent the old Chinese,
who were dispossessed a long time since by the present ruling dynasty. At
the head of the rebel force is a very sagacious man, who from disappointment,
or some imaginary wrong, growing out of his examination for literary
honors, (so highly prized by the Chinese,) became disgusted, and at once
showed his disaffection, and finally raised the flag of open rebellion. At
first he had only a few followers, but in the course of time multitudes flocked
to his standard; and now, after overrunning a great many provinces, he is
quietly in possession of the great city of Nanking.
“ This man denounces the prevailing religion, and has caused to be
destroyed numerous Buddhist temples. He professes a faith somewhat similar
to that of the Mormons in America, and gives forth that he has constant
communion with God, and has been acknowledged as his Son. His ignorant
and lawless followers profess to believe in his pretended revelations, and
with them he has acquired great power by his religious devices. He pretends
to fraternize with Christians, and argues that all Christian nations, by
reason of similar faith, should aid him in driving out of the empire the
T H E A M E R I C A N S IN; C H I N A . 171
present usurping family, and putting upon the celestial throne a true son of
heaven, a believer of the decalogue, and a scion of the old Chinese monarchs.
He does not pretend to any claims himself to the imperial diadem; but it
may be well imagined, from his professed dogmas of religion, that when the
time comes he will turn out to be the proposed great Celestial on Earth.”
In the state of agitation produoed by these civil disturbances it was
natural that the foreign merchants who had large interests at stake should be
anxious about the security of their property; accordingly, the American
commercial houses established at Shanghai addressed a letter to the Hon.
Humphrey Marshall, minister of the United States to China, in which they
stated that the amount of their property at a fair valuation, then at risk
in the port of Shanghai, was $1,200,000, and that they considered it fairly
entitled to protection, which the rumored withdrawal of the naval force
would seem to deprive them of. Commodore Perry, regarding the interests
of American citizens in China, and at the same time not forgetting the great
purpose of his expedition, resolved to leave the Plymouth to protect his
countrymen and their property, but not otherwise to interfere with his own
mission or the affairs of China. The request of the American commissioner
to have a vessel of war to convey him to the mouth of the Peiho, in order
to secure a recognition on the part of the Chinese government of his official
presence, was not complied with by the Commodore, who declined not only
on the score of policy, but from the necessity of concentrating all the naval
force he could on the expedition to Japan.
The Mississippi had arrived at Shanghai on the 4th of May, and the
interval between that date and the 17th of the same month, was chiefly
employed in transferring the Commodore to the Susquehanna, which then
became his flag-ship, and in taking in the usual supplies of coal and provisions
for the voyage. No less than five tons of Chinese “ cash,” * to be dispensed
in the Lew-Chew islands, was rather an unusual addition to the
ship’s stores.
On Monday morning, May 16th, 1853, the Mississippi moved down the
river, and was followed the next day by the Commodore in the Susquehanna,
while the Plymouth was left behind, for a short time, to await the course of
events in the rebel camp, her commander having orders to follow as soon as
he could do so consistently with the safety of American interests at Shanghai.
The day of departure was unusually clear, and the cultivated banks of
the river, with their orchards and fields of grain, never appeared more beautifully
green. With the fine day, which gave a bright, cheerful aspect to
every object, the inspiriting music of the band, which struck up a succession
of lively airs, the crowds of spectators on the shore, and the natural enthusiasm
of all on the prospect of carrying out the enterprise which was the
* The “ cash” is a small copper coin, about the twelve-hundredth part of a dollar.