December 9th.—­Baron Gros came here on Monday.  We have been busy, and all our plans are settled.  I sent up this evening to the Admiral my letter to Yeh, which is to be delivered on Saturday the 12th.  He is to have ten days to think over it, and if at the end of that time he does not give in, the city will be taken.  We are in for it now.  I have hardly alluded in my ultimatum to that wretched question of the ‘Arrow,’ which is a scandal to us, and is so considered, I have reason to know, by all except the few who are personally compromised.  I have made as strong a case as I can on general grounds against Yeh, and my demands are most moderate.  If he refuses to accede to them, which he probably will, this will, I hope, put us in the right when we proceed to extreme measures.  The diplomatic position is excellent.  The Russian has had a rebuff at the mouth of the Peiho; the American at the hands of Yeh.  The Frenchman gives us a most valuable moral support by saying that he too has a sufficient ground of quarrel with Yeh.  We stand towering above all, using calm and dignified language, moderate in our demands, but resolute in enforcing them.  If such had been our attitude from the beginning of this controversy it would have been well.  However, we cannot look back; we must do for the best, and trust in Providence to carry us through our difficulties.

[1] One of his Fifeshire neighbours.

[2] The Governor of the island.

[3] His brother, then Consul-general of Egypt.

[4] His eldest son.

[5] His birthday, and also his father’s.

[6] Narrative of the Earl of Elgin’s Mission, i. 55.

[7] Life of Lady Rachel Russell.

[8] The death of his elder sister, Lady Matilda Maxwell.

CHAPTER VIII.

FIRST MISSION TO CHINA.  CANTON.

IMPROVED PROSPECTS—­ADVANCE ON CANTON—­BOMBARDMENT AND CAPTURE—­JOINT
TRIBUNAL—­MAINTENANCE OF ORDER—­CANTON PRISONS—­MOVE NORTHWARD—­SWATOW—­MR.
BURNS—­FOOCHOW—­NINGPO—­CHU-SA
N—­POTOU—­SHANGHAE—­MISSIONARIES.

[Sidenote:  Improved prospects.]

On the same day on which the ultimatum of the Envoys was delivered to Yeh, i.e. on the 12th of December, 1857, the glad news reached Lord Elgin that Lucknow had been relieved:  the more welcome to him as carrying with it the promise of speedy reinforcement to himself, and deliverance from a situation of extreme difficulty and embarrassment.  ‘Few people,’ he might well say, ’had ever been in a position which required greater tact—­four Ambassadors, two Admirals, ’a General, and a Consul-general; and, notwithstanding ‘this luxuriance of colleagues, no sufficient force.’  And what he felt most in the insufficiency of the force was not the irksomeness of delay, still less any anxiety as to the success of his arms.  ’My greatest difficulty.’ he wrote, ’arises from my fear that we shall