After surpasses all others, and, in my opinion, yields to no | he devoted himself almost wholly to study, in which writer of any age. His productions, the admiration he made great proficiency, and we are told "became and despair even of the most learned among the not only an experimental Christian but a learned learned, being of such extreme acuteness, that they man. He did not, however, contemplate becomexercise, excite, and sharpen even the brightest ing a clergyman till the time of the civil wars, in talents to a more sublime knowledge of divine ob- which he served as a captain. On one occasion, jects, it is no wonder that the most profound writers before joining battle with the English, he called his join in one voice, 'that this Scot, beyond all con- company together to prayer. Mr. David Dickson troversy, surpasses not only the contemporary theo-riding past, heard some one praying, drew near him, logians, but even the greatest of ancient or modern and was much struck with what he heard. times, in the sublimity of his genius and the immen- the service was finished he charged him, that as sity of his learning.' This subtle doctor was the as soon as the action was over, he should devote founder of the grand and most noble sect of the himself to the ministry, "for to that he judged the Scotists, which, solely guided by his doctrine, has Lord had called him." During the engagement so zealously taught, defended, amplified, and diffused Mr. Durham met with two remarkable deliverances, it, that, being spread all over the world, it is regarded and accordingly considered himself bound to obey as the most illustrious of all. From this sect, like the stranger's charge, "as a testimony of his grateful heroes from the Trojan horse, many princes of science and thankful sense of the Lord's goodness and mercy have proceeded, whose labour in teaching has exto him." plained many difficulties, and whose industry in writing has so much adorned and enlarged theological learning, that no further addition can be expected or desired." Here is another specimen of panegyric: "Scotus was so consummate a philosopher, that he could have been the inventor of philosophy, if it had not before existed. His knowlenge of all the mysteries of religion was so profound and perfect, that it was rather intuitive certainty than belief. He described the divine nature as if he had seen God; the attributes of celestial spirits as if he had been an angel; the felicities of a future state as if he had enjoyed them; and the ways of providence as if he had penetrated into all its secrets. He wrote so many books that one man is hardly able to read them, and no one man is able to understand them. He would have written more, if he had composed with less care and accuracy. Such was our immortal Scotus, the most ingenious, acute, and subtle of the sons of men. 991 These extracts may suffice to show the estimation, or rather adoration, in which the Subtle Doctor was once held; and it was not alone among his own disciples that he was venerated; for Julius Caesar Scaliger acknowledges, that in the perusal of John of Dunse he acquired any subtlety of discussion which he might possess; and Cardan, one of the earliest philosophers who broke the yoke of Aristotle, classes Scotus among his chosen twelve masters of profound and subtle sciences. In comparing the enthusiastic popularity in which Scotus and his works were once held with the undisturbed oblivion which they now enjoy, the mind adverts to the fleeting nature of all, even the most honourable, earthly aggrandizement. DURHAM, JAMES, "that singularly wise and faithful servant of Jesus Christ," was by birth a gentleman. He was descended from the family of Grange-Durham, in the shire of Angus, and was proprietor of the estate of Easter Powrie, now called Wedderburn. From his age at the time of his death, he appears to have been born in 1622. We have but few memorials of his early life. Leaving college before taking any degree, he retired to his paternal estate, where he lived for some years as a country gentleman. At an early period he married a daughter of the laird of Duntarvie; and soon afterwards, while on a visit to one of her relations, became deeply impressed with religious feelings. On his return home 1 Brukeri Hist. Philos. tom. iii. p. 828. 2 The following account of his conversion is given in Wodrow's Analecta (MS. Adv. Lib.):-"He was young when he married, and was not for a while concerned about religion. He came with his lady to visit his mother-in-law, the Lady Duntarvie, who lived in the parish of the Queensferry. There fell at that time a communion to be in the Queensferry, and soe 3 With this resolution he came to the college of Glasgow, where he appears to have taken his degree, and to have studied divinity under his celebrated friend David Dickson. The year 1647, in which he received his license, was one of severe pestilence. The masters and students of the university removed to Irvine, where Mr. Durham underwent his trials, and received a recommendation from his professor to the presbytery and magistrates of Glasgow. Though now only about twenty-five years of age, study and seriousness of disposition had already given him the appearance of an old man. The session of Glasgow appointed one of their members to request him to preach in their city, and after a short period, "being abundantly satisfied with Mr. Durham's doctrine, and the gifts bestowed upon him by the Lord, for serving him in the ministry, did unanimously call him to the ministry of the Blackfriars' Church, then vacant. ." Thither he removed in November the same year. In 1649 Mr. Durham had a pressing call from the town of Edinburgh, but the General Assembly, to whom it was ultimately referred, refused to allow his translation. In his ministerial labours he seems to have exercised great patience and diligence, nor was he wanting in that plainness and sincerity towards the rich and powerful, which is so necessary to secure esteem. When the republican army was at Glasgow in 1651, Cromwell came unexpectedly on a Sunday afternoon to the Outer High Church, where Mr. Durham preached "graciously and well to the time as could have been desired,' according to Principal Baillie; in plainer language, "The 'he preached against the invasion to his face. 66 the Lady Duntarvie desired her son-in-law, Mr. Durham, to go and hear sermon upon the Saturday, and for some time he would by no means go, till both his lady and his mother-in law, with much importunity, at last prevailed with him to go. He went that day and heard very attentively; he seemed to He com 3 See Letter of Principal Baillie in M'Ure's History of Glasgow, ed. 1830, p. 364. 66 4 Wodrow's Life of Dickson, MS. p. xix. In the Analecta of this historian occurs the following curious particulars: tells me he had this account from old Aikenhead, who had it from the gentlewoman. That Cromwell came in to Glasgow, with some of his officers, upon a Sabbath-day, and came straight into the High Church, where Mr. Durham was story is thus concluded by his biographer:-" Next day Cromwell sent for Mr. Durham, and told him, that he always thought Mr. Darham had been a more wise and prudent man than to meddle with matters of public concern in his sermons. To which Mr. Durham answered, that it was not his practice to bring public matters into the pulpit, but that he judged it both wisdom and prudence in him to speak his mind upon that head, seeing he had the opportunity of doing it in his own hearing. Cromwell dismissed him very civilly, but desired him to forbear insisting upon that subject in public. And at the same time, sundry ministers both in town and country met with Cromwell and his officers, and represented in the strongest manner the injustice of his invasion." In the year 1650, when Mr. Dickson became professor of divinity at Edinburgh College, the commissioners for visiting that of Glasgow, appointed by the General Assembly, unanimously called Mr. Durham to the vacant chair. But before he was admitted to this office, the assembly nominated him chaplain to the king's family; a situation in which, though trying, more especially to a young man, he conducted himself with great gravity and faithfulness. While he conciliated the affections of the courtiers, he at the same time kept them in awe; "and when ever," says his biographer, "he went about the duties of his place, they did all carry gravely, and did forbear all lightness and profanity. The disposition of Charles, however, was little suited to the simplicity and unostentatious nature of the Presbyterian worship, and although Mr. Durham may have obtained his respect, there is little reason to believe that he liked the check which his presence imposed. Livingston mentions that Mr. Durham offered to accompany the king when he went to Worcesteran offer which, as may have been anticipated, was not accepted. The session of Glasgow, finding that he was again at liberty, wrote a letter to him at Stirling, in which they expressed the warmest feelings towards him. "We cannot tell," say they, "how much and how earnestly we long once more to see your face, and to hear a word from you, from whose mouth the Lord has often blessed the same, for our great refreshment. We do, therefore, with all earnestness request and beseech you, that you would, in the interim of your retirement from attendance upon that charge (that of king's chaplain), let the town and congregation, once and yet dear to you, who dare not quit their interest in you, nor look on that tie and relation betwixt you and them as dissolved and null, enjoy the comfort of your sometimes preaching. The first seat that offered him was P[rovost] Porterfield's, where Miss Porterfield sat, and she, seeing him an English officer, she was almost not civil. However, he got in and sat with Miss Porterfield. After sermon was over, he asked the minister's name. She sullenly enough told him, and desired to know wherefore he asked. He said, 'because he perceived him to be a very great man, and in his opinion might be chaplain to any prince in Europe, though he had never seen him nor heard of him before. She inquired about him, and found it was O. Cromwell." 1 Life prefixed to Treatise concerning Scandal. Cromwell seems to have received great plainness of speech" at the hands of the ministers of Glasgow. On a former occasion Zachary Boyd had railed on him to his face in the High Church: on the present, we are informed, that "on Sunday, before noon, he came unexpectedly to the High Inner Church, where he quietly heard Mr. Robert Ramsay preach a very good honest sermon, pertinent for his case. In the afternoon he came as unexpectedly to the High Outer Church, where he heard Mr. John Carstairs lecture, and Mr. James Durham preach graciously, and well to the time, as could have been desired. Generally, all who preached that day in the town gave a fair enough testimony against the sectaries."-Baillie, ut supra. very comfortable fellowship and ministry." From the letter it would appear, that Mr. Durham did not yet consider himself released from his appointment in the king's family; but with the battle of Worcester terminated all the fond hopes of the royalists. Finding the household thus broken up, there could be no objection to his returning to his former residence. He is mentioned as present in the session in April, and it was at this period that his interview with Cromwell took place, but for several months afterwards he seems to have withdrawn. In August a vacancy in the Inner High Church arose from the death of Mr. Robert Ramsay, and Mr. Durham was earnestly requested to accept the charge. He accordingly entered upon it in the course of the same year (1651), having for his colleague Mr. John Carstairs, his brother-in-law by his second marriage, and father of the afterwards celebrated principal of the university of Edinburgh. (See article CARSTAIRS.) In the divisions which took place between the resolutioners and protesters, Mr. Durham took neither side. When the two parties in the synod of Glasgow met separately, each elected him their moderator, but he refused to join them until they should unite, and a junction fortunately took place. The habits of severe study in which he had indulged since his entry into the ministry seem to have brought on a premature decay of his constitution. several months of confinement, he died on the 25th of June, 1658, at the early age of thirty-six.2 After Mr. Durham's first marriage has been noticed in the early part of this sketch. His second wife was the widow of the famous Zachary Boyd, and third daughter of William Mure of Glanderston in Renfrewshire. This lady seems to have survived him many years, and to have been a zealous keeper of conventicles. Several of her sufferings on this account are noticed by Wodrow in his History. It would be tiresome to the reader to enter into a detail of Mr. Durham's different works, and their various editions. He has long been, and still continues, one of the most popular religious writers in Scotland. DURIE, LORD. See GIBSON, SIR ALEXANDER. DURY, JOHN. This clergyman, who was of some note during the religious contentions of the seventeenth century, was born in Scotland, and educated for the ministry. In 1624 he went to Oxford, that he might avail himself of the advantages of the public library; and when the time was ripened for the accomplishment of what he considered his especial mission, he told his ecclesiastical superiors that he could serve the interests of religion better by travelling through the world than confining himself to one flock. His aim was to effect an agreement among the different Protestant churches; and his mind was stored with those arguments in favour of concord which he thought would prove irresistible. His proposal was favourably received, and his cru 2 "Mr. Durham was a person of the outmost composure and gravity, and it was much made him smile. In some great man's house, Mr. William Guthry and he were together at dinner, and Mr. Guthry was exceeding merry, and made Mr. Durham smile, yea laugh, at his pleasant facetious conversation. It was the ordinary of the family to pray after dinner, and immediately after their mirth it was put upon Mr. Guthry to pray, and as he was wont, he fell immediately into the greatest measure of seriousnesse and fervency, to the astonishment and moving of all present. When he rose from prayer, Mr. Durham came to him and embraced him, and said, 'O! Will, you are a happy man. If I had been soe daft as you have been, I could not have been seriouse, nor in any frame, for forty-eight hours."-Wodrow's Ana. iii. 133. 3 Abridged from a Memoir of Durham prefixed to his Treatise concerning Scandal. Glas. 1740, 12mo. sade recommended by several influential ecclesiastics, among whom was Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, while he was assisted by Bedel, Bishop of Kilmore, and Dr. Joseph Hall, Bishop of Exeter. In 1634, Dury, after publishing his plan of union, commenced his active operations; but as these could scarcely be otherwise than unsuccessful, a brief notice of them may suffice. In the year above mentioned he attended a famous assembly of the evangelical churches of Germany at Frankfort. In the same year, also, the churches of Transylvania sent him their advice and counsel. From this period until 1661 he seems to have been employed in incessant action, moving in every direction, negotiating with the clergy of Denmark and Sweden, consulting the universities, and communicating their answers; and although, after so much labour, the prospect of religious union appeared as hopeless as ever, he neither abandoned hope, nor remitted in his exertions. The elasticity of belief, however, which such an enterprise was calculated to create, was manifested in his own career: as a Presbyterian, he was one of the members of the Assembly of Divines, and one of the preachers before the Long Parliament, but subsequently he became an Independent. But let him change or accommodate his creed as he might, his purpose remained unchanged; and, directing his pilgrimage to Germany, he previously applied to the clergy of | Utrecht for an authentic testimony of their good intentions towards his scheme of religious accommodation; and, to encourage them, he informed them of the hopeful state in which he had left the affair with the King of Great Britain and the Elector of Brandenburg, of what had been transacted at the court of Hesse, and the measures which had actually been taken at Geneva, Heidelberg, and Metz. Having obtained from the clergy of Utrecht the desired testimonial, which he might show to the Germans, he annexed it to a Latin work which he published in 1661 at Amsterdam, under the title of Johannis Dura Irenicorum Tractatuum Prodromus, &c. Having visited Germany, and being at Frankfort in April, 1662, his conversation with some gentlemen at Metz about M. Ferri, an amiable enthusiast of their city, who, like himself, laboured to reconcile religious differences, inspired him with the resolution to visit Metz; but here two difficulties occurred-he must accommodate himself to the fashions of the place by shaving off his large white square beard, and dressing himself in the French costume. These, however, important though they might appear to others, were small difficulties to one who for the sake of a righteous enterprise was willing to become all things to all men; and on his arrival at Metz, M. Ferri was so transported with the distinction which such a visit | conferred upon him, that he went out to meet Dury in a "complete undress." [Such is the phrase used by his biographer, but its meaning we cannot clearly understand.] The delight of that meeting was mutual, and the good men had a long conference upon the subject of religious union which each had so much at heart. In this brief summary we have comprised the history of the labour of forty years, at the end of which Dury found that he had only sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. The religious world was as little prepared for conviction by argument in the seventeenth century as it had been by the sword of Charles V. in the sixteenth; and the Lutheran and Calvinistic churches were still as far apart and still as irreconcilable as ever. Thus Dury found them in 1674, when the fire of his enterprise was exhausted, and when he was too old to work. It was only then also that his bold heart yielded to the conviction that all had been done in vain. Still hopeful, however, that truth would ultimately prevail, and the world, although at a remote period, be at one, Dury suspected that he had gone the wrong way to work, and hastened to change his tactics. It was no longer the union merely of the Calvinistic and Lutheran churches which he sought, but of all the Christian churches at large, and this he conceived might be best effected by giving a new exposition of the Apocalypse. This he did in a little treatise written in French, and published at Frankfort in 1674. It was his last morsel of bread cast upon the waters, and he hoped it might appear and be available on earth after he had passed to the more perfect union in heaven. He had now, however, obtained an honourable shelter, where he could spend the rest of his days in comfort, and die in peace. This was from Hedwig Sophia, Princess of Hesse, and regent of the principality, who assigned him a commodious lodging, with a liberal table, and a free postage for his letters, so that he might carry on his extensive correspondence; and here he died, but in what year we are unable to discover. Of the piety and sincerity of Dury there can be no doubt, whatever may be thought of his wisdom and discretion. The world as yet was not fully aware of the difficulty of reconciling contending churches; and he failed by prematurely attempting to accomplish what our own day is still unable to effect. Much writing as well as travelling occupied his long and active life; and his published works, of which the following is a list, show the shades and changes of opinion which his mind underwent in his impossible work of reconciling all parties to one standard:-Consultatio Theologica super Negotio Pacis Ecclesiast. Lond. 1641, 4to.-A Summary Discourse concerning the Work of Peace Ecclesiastical. Camb. 1641.-Petition to the House of Commons for the Preservation of True Religion. Lond. 1642, 4to.Certain Considerations, showing the Necessity of a Correspondency in Spiritual Matters betwixt all Professed Churches. Lond. 1642, 4to.—Epistolary Discourse to Thomas Godwin, Phil. Nye, and Sam. Hartlib. Lond. 1644, 4to. Of Presbytery and Independency, &c. 1646, 4to.-Model of the Church Government. 1647, 4to.-Peace makes the Gospel Way. 1648, 4to.-Seasonable Discourse for Reformation. 1649, 4to.—An Epistolary Discourse to Mr. Thomas Thorowgood concerning his Conjecture that the Americans are descended from the Israelites, &c. 1649, 4to.-Considerations concerning the Engagement, 1650, with two other Pamphlets on the same Subject, in answer to an Antagonist.-The Reformed School. 1650, 12mo, with a Supplement in 1651.-The Reformed Library Keeper, 1650, 12mo, to which is added Bibliotheca Ducis Brunovicensis et Lunenburgi et Wolfenbuttel. -Conscience Eased, &c. 1651, 4to.-Earnest Plea for Gospel Communion. 1654.—Summary Platform of Divinity. 1654. E. EDMONDS, COLONEL. This gallant soldier of fortune, who was born in Stirling about the close of the sixteenth century, was of humble origin, being the son of a baker (or as it was called, a baxter) in that ancient town. While a young boy, he ran away from his parents, from what cause is not recorded, and after finding his way to the Low Countries, enlisted as a common soldier in the army of Maurice, Prince of Orange. In this capacity he so highly distinguished himself by his valour and good conduct, that at last he attained the rank of colonel. After he had risen to this distinguished position, he was one day in company with several of his fellow-officers, when a man came to him who spoke Scotch. Edmonds, warming at the sound, was eager to hear the last news from Scotland, upon which the man, desirous of securing the colonel's favour, answered, "Your cousin, my lord, is well, also your cousin -;" and afterwards followed a string of high-titled names, all of whom the rogue made out to be the colonel's near kinsmen. Indignant at this device to ennoble him among strangers, where the fraud might have passed unquestioned, Edmonds sharply rebuked the fellow, ordered him out of his presence, and then told the brilliant company that he had no such high relationship, but was nothing more than the son of a poor baxter of Stirling. and Mr. Gladstone were his fellow-collegians; and while a student at the university, he was known by the title of Lord Bruce, his father being still alive. His proficiency as a scholar was attested by his being of the first-class in classics in 1832, after which he became a fellow of Merton College. His public and political life did not commence until he had reached the ripe age of thirty, when, in 1841, he entered parliament as member for Southampton, and a supporter of Sir Robert Peel. In the same year, by the death of his father, he succeeded to the earldom; but, being a Scottish peer, he could still retain his seat in the House of Commons; this, however, he resigned in 1842, in consequence of being appointed to the governor-generalship of Jamaica. In 1846 more important political duties awaited the Earl of Elgin. At this time our important colony of Canada had many grievances both real and imaginary to complain of; but the greatest of all was the apprehended passing of the corn-law bill, at that time under the consideration of the imperial parliament. Should the bill pass into law, the principle of protection would be annihilated, and that of "buying in the cheapest market" be established in its room. In this case, how would the interests of Canada be affected? It was feared, that if the difHaving won fortune as well as military rank, the ferential duties on the import of colonial and foreign colonel returned to his own country; but although grain into Great Britain should be abolished, it would now a man of some mark, the same proud humility be impossible for the colony to compete with the still abode with him. On returning to Stirling, the United States. This the colonists represented in an magistrates and some of the principal inhabitants earnest petition to her majesty, expressed in the folwent out to meet him, and conduct him to his lodg-lowing words:-"Situated as Canada is, and with a ings; but he would reside in no house but that of his climate so severe as to leave barely one half of the parents, who were still alive. When the Earl of year open for intercourse by the St. Lawrence with Mar also invited him to dinner or to supper, he re- the mother country, the cost of transporting her profused, unless his father and mother were also invited, ducts to market is much greater than is paid by the and placed above him at table. inhabitants of the United States; and, without a measure of protection or some equivalent advantage, we cannot successfully compete with that country.' A hint of a bolder and more significant character followed:-"It is much to be feared," the petition added, "that should the inhabitants of Canada, from the withdrawal of all protection to their staple products, find that they cannot successfully compete with their neighbours of the United States in the only market open to them, they will naturally and of necessity begin to doubt whether remaining a portion of the British empire will be of that paramount advantage which they have hitherto found it to be." Between the urgency of the corn-bill at home and the threat of secession held out by the most important of our colonies, the British ministry were in a great dilemma; and their choice of Lord Elgin to settle the difficulty shows the esteem in which he was held, and the confidence that was reposed in him. In 1846 he was appointed governor of Canada, and he cheerfully undertook the difficult commission. It is not our purpose to enter into the history of his government during the eight years over which it extended: it is enough to state that it was one of firmness tempered with peaceful conciliation, and that it was sufficient for the crisis. Adopting the policy of his father-in-law, Lord Durham, he preserved a neutrality between all parties that naturally made him the umpire of them all; and he secured their confidence, by promoting the welfare of all In public spirit and liberality to his native town, Edmonds was not wanting. Among his other deeds of this nature, he either wholly built, or materially enlarged the manse of Stirling, a large three-storied edifice, having the baker's arms placed on the east end of the building; and this manse continued until 1824, when it was taken down. He also presented the pair of colours which the town afterwards used in its public meetings and processions. The date of his death is unknown. His daughter married Sir Thomas Livingston of Jerviswood, Bart.; and her eldest son of the same name was colonel of a regiment of dragoons, a privy-councillor, commanderin-chief in Scotland, and finally raised to the peerage by William III. in 1698, under the title of Viscount Teviot; but as he died without issue, the title became extinct. ELGIN, EARL OF. As a Scottish nobleman, this eminent statesman is entitled to a place in our records, although his birth-place was not in Scotland. James Bruce, eighth Earl of Elgin and twelfth Earl of Kincardine, was born in London on the 20th of July, 1811, and was the eldest son of Thomas, the seventh Earl of Elgin, by his second marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of James Townshend Oswald of Dunnikier, Fifeshire. He was educated first at Eton, and afterwards at Christ Church, at which the late Marquis of Dalhousie, Lord Canning, Lord Herbert of Lea, alike in developing the commercial and agricultural | yacht from the Queen of Great Britain to the Emperor interests of the colony. This conduct, and the sub- of Japan. He persisted also in conveying this gift stantial benefits that accrued from it, were of such of his royal mistress to Jeddo, the capital, notwitha pacificatory character, that the colonists no longer standing the endeavours of the Japanese to arrest his talked of secession from the mother state, while at progress, but they were awed into compliance by the home his services were so justly appreciated, that sight of the formidable steamships of war by which in 1849 he was raised to the British peerage by the the British ambassador was attended. He and his title of Baron Elgin of Elgin. suite were welcomed on shore, and the result of this embassy was a treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce between the Tycoon of Japan and the Queen of Great Britain, which was ratified at Jeddo, July 11th, 1859. Although these treaties both with China and Japan were as much owing to force as persua sion, and were made with two great nations who would be certain to reject them as soon as an oppor tunity occurred, the blame is not to be imputed to Lord Elgin. All that prudence, wisdom, and skilful diplomacy could effect with a people so insincere, he had used on the occasion; and it became the business of his government to see that they were kept inviolate, and to punish their infraction. It was much, also, that two such vast empires, hitherto so inaccessible for ages, and which, on that account, had become "dead seas of man," should be opened to European intercourse and civilization, although this entrance had been so rough, and might prove to be nothing more than a commencement of the attempt. It was Scarcely had his lordship rested at home on his return from Canada, when a new commission awaited him. Our wonted quarrels with the Chinese had broken out into a regular war, and although the enemy was contemptible in an open field, the result of such a contest was doubtful, more especially as the Europeans composed but a handful, while the Chinese are supposed to constitute nearly a third of the whole human race. The contest, also, on the part of the enemy, had been aggravated by the perfidy and barbarities of the notorious Yeh, the imperial commissioner. To bring such an unpleasant war to a speedy termination, the British government resolved to send a plenipotentiary to China, armed not only with full authority to negotiate a peace, but, if necessary, with military resources to compel it; and for this important double office Lord Elgin | was selected. He set sail for our Chinese settlement at Hong-Kong, which he reached in the beginning of July, 1857; but on the voyage had been met at Singapore with tidings of the sudden outburst of the Indian mutiny, and a request from Lord Canning, the governor-general, to send him whatever troops he could spare. As the loss of our Indian empire was imminent, and would have been fatal to Britain, Lord Elgin complied. Soon after, on finding that the mutiny had attained greater magnitude, he followed in person with additional troops from HongKong, wisely judging that in such an emergency the Chinese war was an affair of trivial moment. necessary, indeed, that our handful of troops in India should be reinforced with every bayonet that could be spared, when the whole country had risen in arms against them. Having thus done what he could for the preservation of our Indian empire, Lord Elgin returned to Hong-Kong, and addressed himself with diminished resources to the objects of his Chinese mission. It was soon found, however, that negotiations were useless, on account of the delays and duplicity of the Chinese statesmen, and his lordship was obliged to have recourse to his ultimate argument. This he could the more effectually do, as he had been joined by a French naval and land force, and was seconded by the representatives of Russia and the United States, who had a common interest in the quarrel. Hostilities were commenced by a movement of the English and French armaments into the Canton River; the large island of Honan, situated in the river and opposite Canton, was occupied by the confederate European troops, and Canton itself was bombarded and taken. These sharp measures, and the consciousness of the Chinese that they were no match for the "barbarians" in the arts of war, compelled them to a humiliating peace, by the terms of which trade was opened between China and Europe, and the property, safety, and rights of the foreigners in China guaranteed. All was granted which Lord Elgin demanded; and, after this successful embassy, he turned his attention to the neighbouring empire of Japan, from which a still stricter jealousy than that which prevailed in China had hitherto excluded not only European commerce, but European visitors. To obtain the opening of its ports to our traffic was the purpose of his visit, while the apology for his entrance into the Japanese waters was, that he was commissioned to present a steam. Events in China soon showed that there at least nothing more than a commencement had been made. One of the conditions of the late treaty was, that a British minister and his suite should be permanently established at Pekin; and for this office of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, the Honourable Mr. Bruce, brother of the Earl of Elgin, to whom this treaty was mainly owing, was appropriately nominated to the office. Every precaution also was adopted to spare the sensitive pride and suspicion of the Chinese, and, by the advice of Lord Elgin, Mr. Bruce was instructed by our government to fix the residence of the British mission at Shanghai, and only require that it should be received occasionally at Pekin. His right, however, to reside permanently in the capital was to be recognized, by his repairing to Pekin, presenting his credentials to the emperor in person, and obtaining their recognition-and forestalling the obstacles that would be thrown in his way, the British admiral commanding our naval forces in China was appointed to enter the mouth of the Peiho, and secure the safety of the mission to Pekin. And then commenced those difficulties and delays by which the Chinese had resolved to reduce the treaty to a dead-letter, Mr. Bruce, on reaching Shanghai with the French plenipotentiary, was met with a proposal from the Chinese government to have the ratifications of the treaty exchanged at that place instead of Pekin; and, on the refusal of the ambassadors, it was proposed that they should travel from Shanghai to Pekin by land, a journey of two months, instead of going to the capital by the river Peiho. But they adopted the latter mode of transit, and the Chinese fortified the river against them. The disasters that befell the British squadron in its attempts to force the passage of the Peiho are too well known to require further mention: their attacks both by land and water were defeated, and the over-confident invaders were driven back with considerable loss, and still greater disgrace, to Shanghai. On the arrival of these tidings in England, it was felt that not a moment should be lost in our endeavours to repair the disaster, and that none was so fit for the purpose as the Earl of Elgin. He was therefore once more appointed British plenipotentiary in China; and accompanied by Baron Gros, the |