Beacon Lights of History Volume Xiv Part 8

John Ericsson lived in a period of rapid engineering development and change. Old ideals were pa.s.sing away, and the heritage which the Nineteenth Century was able to pa.s.s on to the Twentieth was in preparation. In this preparation Ericsson bore a large and most important part. So long as ships traverse the seas, Ericsson's name will be remembered for his work in connection with the introduction of the screw-propeller. So long as the memory of naval warfare endures, Ericsson's name will be remembered for the part which he bore in the transition from wood to iron, from unarmored ships to turrets and armor, from scattered to concentrated energy of gun-fire, and for his general share in the developments which have led to the ideal of a battleship prevailing at the opening of the Twentieth century. For these and for many other achievements he will be remembered, and his life and works should serve as a constant stimulus to those upon whom the engineering work of the present age has fallen, to see that with equal fidelity they live up to the possibilities of their endowments and opportunities, and serve with like fervency and zeal the needs of the age in which they are placed.

AUTHORITIES.

Contributions to the Centennial Exhibition: Ericsson, John.

The Life of John Ericsson: Church, W.C.

History of the Steam Engine: Thurston, R.H.

Steam Navy of the United States: Bennett, Frank M.

Who invented the Screw Propeller?: Nicol, James.

The Naval and Mail Steamers of the United States: Stuart, Charles B.

A Chronological History of the Origin and Development of Steam Navigation: Preble, Rear Admiral G.H.

A Treatise on the Screw Propeller, Screw Vessels, and Screw Engine as adapted for Purposes of Peace and War: Bourne, John.

LI HUNG CHANG.

1823-1901.

THE FAR EAST.

BY W.A.P. MARTIN, D.D., LL.D

INTRODUCTORY.

Five years ago Earl Li was at the head of the "Tsungli Yamen," or Foreign Office in Peking. The present writer, having known him long and intimately, called one morning to request a letter of recommendation to aid in raising money for an International Inst.i.tute projected by the Rev. Dr. Reid. "He's got one letter; why does he want another?" asked Li, in a tone of mingled surprise and irritation. "True," said I, "but that is from the Tsungli Yamen. n.o.body in America knows anything about the Yamen. What he wants is a personal letter from you; because the only Chinese name besides Confucius that is known outside of China is Li Hung Chang."

"I'll give it! I'll give it!" he exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear at the thought of his world-wide reputation.

This was taking him on his weak side; but it was fact, not flattery.

Over forty years ago Li's rising star first came to view in connection with operations against the rebels in the vicinity of Shanghai, and from that day to this, every war, domestic or foreign, has served to raise it higher and make it shine the brighter. It reached its zenith in 1901, when after settling terms of peace with several foreign powers he pa.s.sed off the stage at the ripe age of fourscore. What better type to set forth his age and nation than the man who, through a long career of unexampled activity, won for himself a triple crown of literary, military, and civil honors? In physique he was a n.o.ble specimen of his race, over six feet in height, and in his earlier years uncommonly handsome. The first half of his existence was pa.s.sed in comparative obscurity at Hofei in Anhui, a region remote from contact with foreign nations.

It was there his character was formed, on native models; there he carried off the higher prizes of the literary arena; and there he became fitted for the role of China's typical statesman.

His career in outline may be stated in a few words. His native province being overrun by rebels, he pa.s.sed from the school-room to the camp, and got his earliest lessons in the military art under the leadership of the eminent viceroy Tseng Ko Fan. The neighboring province of Kiangsu falling into the hands of rebel hordes a few years later, he won renown by recapturing its princ.i.p.al cities, by the aid of such men as the American Ward and the English Gordon. His success as a general made him governor of Kiangsu, and his success as governor raised him to the rank of viceroy, holding for many years a post at one or other of the foci of foreign trade north or south.

Beyond the borders of China he was twice sent on special emba.s.sies, and once he made the tour of the globe; but his most brilliant achievement was in twice making peace on honorable terms, when his country was lying prostrate before a victorious enemy.

It remains to expand this incomparable catalogue; but to make intelligible that remarkable series of events in which he bore such a conspicuous part, we must first invite our readers to accompany us in a historical retrospect in which we shall point out the opening and growth of foreign intercourse.

I.

INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA BY LAND.

Of the nature of that intercourse in its earlier period, there exists a monument that speaks volumes. That is no other than the Great Wall; which, hugest of the works of man, stretches along the northern frontier of China proper for one thousand five hundred miles from the sea to the desert of Gobi. Erected 255 B.C. it shows that even at that early date the enemies most dreaded by the Chinese were on the north. Yet how signally it failed to effect its purpose! For since that epoch the provinces of Northern China have pa.s.sed no fewer than seven centuries under Tartar sway. Two Tartar dynasties have succeeded in subjugating the whole empire, and they have transmitted beyond the seas a reputation which quite eclipses the fame of China's ancient sovereigns.

In fact, that which first made China known to the western world was its conquest by the Mongols in the thirteenth century. Barbarous nomads, with longing eyes forever directed to the sunny plains of the south, they also conquered India, bringing under their sceptre the two richest regions of the globe. Of Genghis and Kubla, it may be a.s.serted that they realized a more extended dominion than Alexander, Caesar, or Napoleon ever dreamed of. But

"Extended empire, like expanded gold, Exchanges solid strength for feeble splendor."

Their tenure of China was of short duration,--less than a century. In India, however, their successors, the great Moguls, continued to maintain a semblance of sovereignty even down to our own times, when they were wiped from the blackboard for having taken part in the Sepoy mutiny.

Liberal beyond precedent, Kubla Khan encouraged the establishment of a Christian bishopric, in which John de Monte Corvino was the first representative of the Holy See. He also welcomed those adventurous Italians, the Polos, and sought to make use of them to open communication with Europe. Yet we cannot forbear to express a doubt, whether, aside from the Christian religion, Europe in that age had much in the way of civilization to impart to China.

Three of the native dynasties, which preceded the Mongol conquest, made themselves famous by advancing the interests of civilization. The house of Han (B.C. 202-A.D. 221) restored the sacred books, which the builder of the Great Wall had destroyed in order to obliterate all traces of feudalism and make the people submit to a centralized government. Even down to the present day, the Chinese are proud to describe themselves as "sons of Han." The house of Tang, A.D. 618-908, is noted above all for the literary style of its prose-writers and the genius of its poets. In South China the people are fond of calling themselves "sons of Tang."

The house of Sung, A.D. 970-1127, shows a galaxy of philosophers and scholars, whose expositions and speculations are accepted as the standard of orthodoxy. More acute reasoners it would be difficult to find in any country; and in the line of erudition they have never been surpa.s.sed.

It is reported that in 643 the Emperor Theodosius sent an envoy to China with presents of rubies and emeralds. Nestorian missionaries also presented themselves at court. The Emperor received them with respect, heard them recite the articles of their creed, and ordered a temple to be erected for them at his capital. This was in the palmy period of the Tangs, when the frontiers of the Empire had been pushed to the borders of the Caspian Sea.

If China in part or in whole was sometimes conquered by Tartars, it is only fair to state that the greatest of the native sovereigns more than once reduced the extramural Tartars to subjection. Between the two races there existed an almost unceasing conflict, which had the effect of civilizing the one and of preventing the other from lapsing into lethargy.

About B.C. 100, Su Wu, one of China's famous diplomatists, was sent on an emba.s.sy to the Grand Khan of Tartary. An ode, which he addressed to his wife on the eve of his perilous expedition, speaks alike for the domestic affections of the Chinese and for their ancient literary culture.

"Twin trees whose boughs together twine, Two birds that guard one nest, We'll soon be far asunder torn As sunrise from the west.

"Hearts knit in childhood's innocence, Long bound in Hymen's ties, One goes to distant battlefields, One sits at home and sighs.

"Like carrier dove, though seas divide, I'll seek my lonely mate; But if afar I find a grave, You'll mourn my hapless fate.

"To us the future's all unknown; In memory seek relief.

Come, touch the chords you know so well, And let them soothe our grief."

II.

INTERCOURSE BY SEA.

In 1388 the Mongols were expelled. The Christian bishopric was swept away, and left no trace; but a book of the younger Polo, describing the wealth of China, gave rise to marvellous results. Together with the magnetic needle, which originated in China, it led to centuries of effort to open a way by sea to that far-off fairyland. It was from Marco Polo that Columbus derived his inspiration to seek a short road to the far East by steering to the West,--finding a new world athwart his pathway. It was the same needle, if not the same book, that impelled Vasco da Gama to push his way across the Indian Ocean, after the Cape of Good Hope had been doubled by Bartholomew Diaz. A century later the same book led Henry Hudson to search for some inlet or strait that might open a way to China, when, instead of it, he discovered the port of New York.

The mariner's compa.s.s, which wrought this revolution on the map of the world, is only one of many discoveries made by the ancient Chinese, which, unfruitful in their native land, have, after a change of climate, transformed the face of the globe.

The polarity of the loadstone was observed in China over a thousand years before the Christian era. One of their emperors, it is said, provided certain foreign amba.s.sadors with "south-pointing chariots," so that they might not go astray on their way home. To this day the magnetic needle in China continues to be called by a name which means that it points to the south. It heads a long list of contraries in the notions of the Chinese as compared with our own, such, for example, as beginning to read at the back of a book; placing the seat of honor on the left hand; keeping to the left in pa.s.sing on the street, with many others, so numerous as to suggest that the same law that placed their feet opposite to ours must have turned their heads the other way. To the Chinese the "south-pointing needle" continued to be a mere plaything to be seen every day in the sedan chair of a mandarin, or in wheeled vehicles. If employed on the water, it was only used in coasting voyages.