Lord Elgin was not one of those men, if any such there be, who are indifferent to the appreciation of their fellows.  He could, indeed, in a mock-cynical humour, write of what a man must do ’if he thinks it worth while to stand well with others:’[1] but in himself there was nothing of the cynic, and to stand well with others was to his genial nature a source of genuine and undisguised gratification.  It was well said of him afterwards in reference to the honours paid to him at this period, that while he did not require the stimulus of praise, or even sympathy, to keep him to his work, but would have worked on for life, whether appreciated or overlooked, still ’he whose sympathies were always ready and warm enjoyed himself being understood and valued; and that welcome in the City was very cheering to him after his long experience of English indifference about Canada and what he had done there.’

He was not destined, however, to enjoy for long either the tranquil dignities of his new position or the comfortable sense of a work accomplished and completed.  Fresh troubles broke out in the East; and, on the 26th of April, 1860, within less than a year after his arrival in England, he was again crossing the Channel on his way back to China.

[Sidenote:  Origin of Second Mission to China.]

The Chinese Government, tractable enough under the present influence of a bold and determined spirit, had returned to its old ways when that pressure was removed.  It had been agreed that the Treaty of Tien-tsin should be formally ratified within the year, that is, before the 26th of June, 1859; and, when the time approached, Mr. Bruce was commissioned to proceed to Pekin for the purpose of exchanging the ratifications.  On arriving, however, at the mouth of the Peiho, he found the Taku forts, which guard the mouth of the river, fortified against him; and when the men-of-war which accompanied him went forward to remove the barriers that had been laid across the river, they were fired upon from the forts.  As no such resistance had been expected, no provision had been made for overcoming it; and Mr. Bruce had no choice but to return to Shanghae, and report to the Government at home what had occurred.

For some time it seems to have been hoped that the Emperor of China, when fully informed of the misconduct of his officers in firing upon British ships without notice, would have been ready to make the proper amende; but when this hope was dispelled, it became clear that such an outrage must be summarily dealt with.  A large force, both naval and military, was ordered from England and India to the China seas, to co-operate there with forces sent by the French, who felt themselves scarcely less aggrieved than the English by the repudiation of the common Treaty.