LI HUNG CHANG

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1639, 4 January 1913, Page 14

LI HUNG CHANG

LEAVES FROM HIS DIARY. IJIPBESBIONS 01? LONDON. • i l ? During the first four days in England, Li Hung Chang's timo was eo fully occu- ' pied—as he himself puts it, "to busy with E email tilings and great, small people and famous"—tnat he hnd no tiniß ior his i- memoirs, Then ho writes:— :s ii At Hawarden. j 0 Hawurdeu. Eleventh day of the Pcaw- , i'ul Jade liinperor. Only Here, in the '' homo ot the greatest livms Englishman, have I found real rest since leaving tlio |_ uout ut iwver. Hero 1 have eujoyeu for 1 a day such a rest as 1 have not known J; since bidding good-bye to China; for it is ,f a pleasurable rest to see and know this 0 "Grand Old Man." It is delightful to [1 learn his thoughts and see things of this r world as he sees them. It is the highest prize of public seri vice to bo able to retire to such a home e lite as his is, amid ' the respect of the i. world and the love and admiration of hie 0 countrymen. If I could bo any other e person than Li Hung Chang 1 would S want to be William Ilwart Gladstone, the r Grand Old Man of England.- And I b would like best of all women, even now 1 before the 'I'saritsa, one of Founder's 1 lovely daughters. Mr. Gladstone met me at the handsome " green-covered station upon my arrival. A ' great crowd of his country people were there, and hats were raised and handker- [ chiefs fluttered while our party descended from the train. Then there was long and ' hearty applause as wo shook hands/both j of us. bareheaded. I do not know when before in public I was,seen without a [. head covering. ' • ] Mr. Gladstone's Welcome. , )' Mr. Gladstone—he is only "Mister," for i he hns.relused the highest titles the British Queen could bestow—was much stronger in appearance than I had expected to'find'hini; yet, when wewere close together and sat face to face, I could see i that'he was an old man; much older in [ "his face thin 1,, although there are but i nine years' difference, i believe, in our ages. . . _ • i At.once he apologised for'not having . come to London to meet me. But he said that if ho had made the trip -he would have very likely been ill for a.week or ■ two. Ho had sent a telegram to mo at Windsor Castle to this same etfect two days before, and «o 1 had determined to 'visit .him at Hawarden, even at the expense of offending a number of the entertainment committee and several members of the House of Lords who had given me strong invitations to visit their homes. _ The Viceroy on a later date gives a list of the different personages in England who he thought might be offended because he had chosen to go "of his own will" to visit Gladstone at Hawarden and neglected to accept the'many other urgent invitations to prominent houses. He asks;— What had these other peoplo to' offer me? Bread and wine and musical entertainments? I had never heard of them, any of them, and what would I bo spending my time with them for ? The Queen, Her Majesty Victoria of England and Ireland,, her son'who will be King if he lives, Mr. Gladstone, Mr, Morlcy, . Lord Tennyson, and the Houses of Parliament —those were what interested me in England, and the ships. .. . •'.•'■ Homo Rule and Tree-Foiling Continuing his narrativo at ■ Hawarden, ho says:— • ' '' ' . Mr. Gladstone and myself; accompanied only by Leh and Bruce [interpreters and secretaries], took a long stroll over:, his estate and talked of ihany matters removed from State'affairs. ,1' was surprised how well he knew my'life, and he expressed the same feeling when I told him' that which I knew regarding himself. Ho' spoke about tho Queen, about Indian affairs, and of Homo Uulo for Ireland; and I was certain that he hoped to sco that unhappy country governed better before ho died. . • ___ : "They have given /their best to England," he 'said, and in. return havo been, given only England's worst.",: Ho pointed, out some tree stumps to mo; and said that in eight years he had kept his health good and muscles strong . by this,chopping exercise. It amused mo very much and I told him I would like to 6ce him strike a ,bloiv, so he took up the.instrument for cutting and made seve- ; ■ ral'great'dents in ono of the trees'. Then lie turned to mo and said:—. "Lord Li, did you ever cut down a tree'?," .•.:•'. I told him, I had niany a'time when T : was a boy, but' that, like many other boyish habits I had outgrown this one also. But he wanted mo to try and I did. However, it was awkward work, for the handlo of the instrument caught in my. sleeve and I nearly cut my foot. On the Train: Hour of the Crow. I slept two hours during my visit to Mr. Gladstone, and ho slept also during ■ that time: .. ■ .'..■' , When we mot again a nice little lunch ■ was served—rare , oolong, some 'Chinese crackers, and cold fowl. Mr. Gladstone and myself ate alono this time. Then, just before leaving,- wo sat .together and : were photographed. I could not get,one of the pictures, although I would willingly pay any price for it. Still; I am told • it will be in all tho London papers in tho morning. ■ During tho following two days the memoirs, oontain only.the briefest comments on the. dinner given in his honour by the Lord Mayor of London, his visit'to the Tower, and the. Houses of Parliament, and finally a carriage ride .through tho poorest sections' of the city, ■■ Referring to' this last, ho says,, among other things:— In the East End, ■ Of course, it. is but natural that tho hosts of our party want to show us only. the beautiful, and: prosperous in their ' realm, ; >I saw great grandeur and much • wealth at Moscow and St. Petersburg, the ' temples,' parks and fine avenues.: I saw also tho strength nnd greatness of'Ber- ' lin, and the wonderful activity 'of Essen, Bremerhaven; Munich, and other cities. Nevertheless, my eyes Were constantly engaged for insights into the real conditions of .the people, and I saw things thaLsomehow told me that all was not sunshine and glory. '■'..■' ~ , 'And it is so with London and England. I dined as the guest of Wr Majesty at the Castle, nnd great officers of Slate took mo to the-Parliament and to tho forts and arsenals. I saw the fine parks of London and some of the great thoroughfares; yet I could see in the vast crowds so many 'people who were poor. Even in the short time of my journey I have learned to distinguish between tho different classes of peoplo by tho clothes they wear. . . My entertainers were not overpleased, I fear, by my desire' nna request to bo taken for even a brief period through the poorer sections. "We, have poor in China, millions of them, and the sight of rags is not new to me, but I havo scen,so many grand sights that I am afraid unless you grant my wish that to leave in my present frame of mind would mean that I had not a true conception of life in England." It was this way that I talked to them. And finally I v;as shown, hurriedly, some of tho more wretched parts of the. city. .' The Seamy Side. , ■ T cannot tell now of all I saw, nor of my fullest impressions, but I know that I have come to the conclusion that undor a grand show many of the countries with great armies and fleets of ships have much misery hidden from the eyes '. of tho world. China is not the only country where there are rags and hunger. The Chinaman cries out when his stomach is empty and his throat dry,.but in foreign lands the hungry man steals from his neighbour or breaks into his house. Often, very often, as I havo learned in these few but eye and mind-opening weeks, he is ready to make silent war with bomb or knife upon the Government he blames for his hopeless condition. The more I see and learn of tho lower classes of people in Europe the greater is my love and pity of tho miserable poor of my own country,: for by comparison tho latter arc less vicious, I bow low in respect to all China—from her illustrious Majesty and the Court.to the river men of Canton. On tho Ship Ready to Sail for Now York. Good-bye to you, Tsar and Tsarina, and to you, Russia; good-bye to you, Kaiser, Bisuiai'ck, and my friend Herr Krnpp of ] Essen; good-bye to Happy and Gracious] la Belle France; good-bye to Victoria, Urn Queen, und the Grand Old Man. I'sjn coins? to Grant's country.