Robert Kennaway Douglas

“ Being the son and nephew of officers who had held high positions in the colonies and elsewhere, he at all times took a keen interest in foreign affairs; and when, after the peace of 1815, the English government turned their attention to the complaints of injustice and exactions on the part of the Chinese mandarins which reached them from time to time from the English merchants at Canton, Lord Amherst was chosen to proceed to Peking as British envoy, to represent to the Emperor Kea K'ing the wrongs which British subjects were suffering under his rule. ”

“ In the Cape parliament party feeling had reached a pitch which was well-nigh becoming dangerous to the state; the Transkei Kaffirs under Kreli were threatening the eastern colonies; the annexation of the Transvaal by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, which was publicly proclaimed twelve days after Frere's arrival at the Cape, was giving rise to agitation and unrest, and the Zulus were mustering armies which threatened the peace of Natal. ”

“ He thus gradually converted the people into an industrious and law-abiding peasantry. His attention was equally demanded by the political condition and social requirements of the tribes on the western frontier. He might either ignore them or endeavour to impress upon them a recognition both of the strength and amiable intentions of the British government. The first course would save immediate trouble, but in case of an outbreak in India would leave Sind exposed to a possibly hostile force on the frontier. It is needless to say that Frere adopted the second alternative. ”

“ He held that an essential condition of progress was the full power of the people to appeal to principles of justice. The judicial system of British India was, he considered, ‘too refined and elaborate, and too difficult of access for general utility in ordinary cases.’ ‘A system of law,’ he wrote, ‘is to the social system of a country as the skin rather than the clothing to the animal frame ”

“ Frere was nominated to Sattara during the reign of Shahjí, and for two years and a half he devoted his energies to improving the condition of the people. He directed especial attention to the improvement of the roads and the means of irrigation, and it was at his instigation that a tunnel, the first ever constructed in India, was made connecting a fertile valley with the town of Sattara. ”

“ It was due also to Frere that the unreasonable unpopularity of Lord Canning was greatly abated. He was able to enter into explanations on points of Lord Canning's administration impossible for Canning himself, and his genial hospitality to Europeans and natives served to break down prejudices and restore confidence in a way that no official acts or complacence could ever have done. ”

“ The choice of secretary was made unwisely, and under the weak administration of this gentleman, and the careless supervision of the directors, the conduct of the business of the bank was mainly conducted by a native broker named Premchund Roychund, who drew unlimited advances for himself and his friends without either offering or being asked for the proper security. Rumours of the reckless conduct of the bank managers were current in London and Calcutta before they reached the ears of Frere on the spot. ”

“ Having by these reverses had his eyes opened to the real strength of the British power in India, and fearing lest further disasters should overtake him, the king proposed terms of peace, and eventually agreed to cede to the English Tenasserim, Arracan, and Assam, and to pay the expenses of the war. No sooner had Lord Amherst thus succeeded in securing peace with Burmah than a case of disputed succession at Bhurtpore again taxed his statesmanship. The circumstances of this affair were of a kind well understood by students of Oriental history. ”

“ In 1872 the marriage of the Emperor T'ungchih led Wade and his colleagues to urge on the emperor's ministers the propriety of their master receiving the foreign representatives in audience, and on 29 June 1873 Wade and the other ministers were for the first time admitted into the imperial presence. In the following year a dispute arose between China and Japan, which threatened to end in war. Indeed, the Japanese envoy was on the point of leaving Peking when Wade on his own responsibility undertook that the Chinese government should accede to the terms put forward by Japan. ”

“ In 1850 the chief commissionership of Sind, vacant by the resignation of Mr. Pringle, was in the appointment of the government of Bombay. The territory, nearly as large as England and Wales, was bordered on the west by some of the most turbulent tribes in existence; the inhabitants were idle and debauched, and in the case of the Sayyids violent and revengeful; and the country was still in the throes of annexation. An important party in the Bombay council desired the appointment of a military man accustomed to deal with turbulent populations ”

“ Sir Theophilus Shepstone was sent by the English government to report on the condition of affairs in the Transvaal. He came to the conclusion that the continued existence of the republic was dangerous to the welfare of ‘her majesty's subjects and possessions in South Africa,’ and in virtue of the power given to him formally annexed the state in April 1877. No resistance to this measure was made by the Boers. The president, Mr. Burgers, ordered the people to be loyal to their new ruler, and directed the state secretary to hand over the keys of the government offices to Sir Theophilus Shepstone. ”

“ A short experience of the governor-general's council convinced him that a radical change was necessary in both the supreme and local governments. The council, as it was then composed, was in his opinion manifestly insufficient for the work it had to do. The official section of the community was alone represented, to the exclusion of the mercantile classes and the natives. In the presidencies this anomaly was even more apparent. Bengal was governed by three hundred foreigners, all of whom were crown officials. The consequent bitterness of feeling was a continual irritant. ”

“ It might reasonably be expected that he would be able to induce the inhabitants of South Africa to join a confederacy which would give to the inferior races all the protection and advantages of English rule, while preserving to them their national existences. Accordingly in 1877 Frere was appointed governor of the Cape and high commissioner for the settlement of native affairs in South Africa. But on landing at the Cape, Frere found that he had been set down at the very waters of strife. ”

“ And they were enough, though mutinies broke out at Shikarpur, Hyderabad, and Karàchi. Without exception these outbreaks were put down at once, and so slight a hold did the poison of disaffection get in Sind that at Karàchi the leaders in the revolt were tried by a court-martial composed of native officers, who dealt out exemplary punishments to the accused. But Frere was able to do more than give away the force he already had. He was able to create regiments, and when all natives were generally distrusted he raised troops who were as loyal as Europeans throughout the crisis. ”

“ By the terms of the treaty Englishmen were entitled to enter the city, but with obstinate persistency the Chinese refused to acknowledge the right, and Sir John Davis, after having exhausted his diplomatic skill in trying to induce them to give way, left the dispute to his successor in much the same condition in which he in his turn had received it. ”

“ For upwards of forty years he devoted all his spare time to investigating the vegetation of China, displaying rare ability in mastering the technicalities of structural and descriptive botany, at the same time enriching the scientific journals in England with accounts of new plants of great interest, in a botanical and economic point of view. ”

“ In February 1849 Bonham met the viceroy Sü at the Bogue Forts to discuss the point, and declared his determination to insist on his right of entry. On this becoming known within the city the literati became so threatening that the English government directed Bonham to abstain from his intention. At this time the attitude of the Chinese towards foreigners was very hostile, and the assassination of Senhor Amaral, the governor of the Portuguese city of Macao, showed the lengths they were prepared to go to rid themselves of any European officials who were inclined to oppose their policy. ”

“ The position of Sattara was defined by a treaty made on the conquest of the Marathá territory in 1818. Pertâb Sahib, the then rajá, a descendant of Sivaji, who established the Marathá power in 1644, was the nominal ruler, but for several generations the imperial authority had been allowed to fall into the hands of the peshwas or mayors of the palace. By the treaty of 1818 the greater part of the southern Marathá territory was annexed by the East India Company, Sattara being especially reserved for the rajá. ”

“ On condition that the Boers dispersed, Frere undertook to represent their complaints to the English government, and to urge the fulfilment of the promises which had been made to them.
Meanwhile in England the time for the general election was approaching. Many causes combined to make the Zulu war a favourable subject for attack. Frere was unsparingly assailed. The government met this by a despatch censuring Frere for his conduct in relation to the Zulu war, and announced what they had done in the House of Commons before informing the high commissioner of the fact. ”

“ He opened relations with the khan of Khelat and established fairs at Sukkur and Karàchi, to which the frontier tribes were invited. The institution of these fairs is in accordance with the best traditions of oriental policy. The Chinese have long held similar gatherings on the Tibetan frontier, and with most beneficial consequences. The tribes mixed in the bazaars with the Sindis, and learned to respect the justice of English rule and the weight of English power. In Frere also they found a firm and just governor. ”

“ The government of India refused to sanction this transaction, and the shares on which 200,000l. had been paid up were sold in the market for 1,060,000l. When high mercantile authorities were carried away by this excitement, it is not surprising that Frere should have partially adopted their view, or that the directors of the Bank of Bombay, among whom were always two ex-officio members of the government, should have sanctioned advances to individuals whose business profits at the time were admitted to be enormous. ”

“ Frere at the same time reiterated the demand for satisfaction for certain outrages committed on British subjects, and asked for assurances that Cetewayo would carry on his government in the spirit of the promises he had made when he was crowned by Sir Theophilus Shepstone. Frere specially demanded full satisfaction for the murder of two black women and for the detention of two English surveyors. He further required that the king should introduce a settled form of government into the country; should abolish the existing military system ”

“ At the age of seventeen (1844) , when he had already begun the study which was to make his name famous, he entered the civil service of Hongkong, from which in 1854 he was transferred to the superintendency of trade in China, and shortly afterwards to the British consulate at Canton. There, during the riots consequent upon the Arrow affair, he lost valuable collections of books and botanical specimens. During the war which followed Hance was stationed again at Hongkong; but on the conclusion of the treaties he returned to the consulate at Canton. ”

“ The people regained confidence. The spare land was eagerly taken up, and the district became one of the most prosperous in India. The obvious effects of this policy led to its wide extension throughout the Bombay presidency, as well as to Sind, Mysore, and Berár. Frere's zeal and ability thus gained for him promotion to the post of assistant revenue commissioner. This office he held until 1842, when he was appointed private secretary to Sir George Arthur [q. v.] , the newly arrived governor of Bombay. ”

“ These views were supported by a majority in the court of directors, and Sattara was consequently annexed as British territory. Though Frere had not hesitated to urge officially an opposite opinion, he was selected as the officer most competent to discharge the duties of commissioner in the newly annexed province. In the exercise of his new powers he promoted cultivation by introducing cotton seed from New Orleans and sugar canes from Mauritius. He reformed the sanitary condition of the towns and villages, and provided them with abundant supplies of good water. ”

“ To raise the fallen, to instruct the ignorant, and to help the needy were objects which he had pursued throughout his career, and it came, therefore, as a familiar employment when he found himself advocating from platforms in England the claims of charitable institutions, educational establishments, and religious societies. ”

“ He therefore decided to take the Talifu route to Bamò. He struck southwards, following the valley of the Lan-ts'ang and reached Tse-ku on the western bank of that river—the most westerly point that has been reached by any traveller from China in the region of the great rivers north of Bamò. At this point he was within a hundred miles of Manchi, on the Upper Irawadi, which was visited by Wilcox from India in 1826. ”