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列傳一百九十八
Biography 198
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李鴻章
Li Hongzhang
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李鴻章，字少荃，安徽合肥人。 父文安，刑部郎中。 其先本許姓。 鴻章，道光二十七年進士，改庶吉士，授編修。 從曾國籓遊，講求經世之學。 洪秀全據金陵，侍郎呂賢基為安徽團練大臣，奏鴻章自助。 咸豐三年，廬州陷，鴻章建議先取含山、巢縣圖規复。 巡撫福濟授以兵，連克二縣，逾年復廬州。 累功，用道員，賞花翎。 久之，以將兵淮甸遭眾忌，無所就，乃棄去。 從國籓於江西，授福建延建邵道，仍留軍。
Li Hongzhang, courtesy name Shaoquan, was a native of Hefei in Anhui. His father Wen'an served as a secretary in the Ministry of Punishments. The family had originally borne the surname Xu. Hongzhang passed the jinshi examination in 1847, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. He studied under Zeng Guofan and devoted himself to statecraft and practical learning. When Hong Xiuquan held Nanjing, Vice-President Lü Xianji was appointed to organize militia in Anhui and recommended that Hongzhang assist him. In 1853, when Luzhou fell, Hongzhang proposed capturing Hanshan and Chaoxian first as the opening move toward recovery. Governor Fu Ji gave him troops; he took both counties in succession and, within a year, recovered Luzhou. For his accumulated merit he was appointed a circuit intendant and awarded the peacock feather. In time, commanding troops in the Huai region made him the object of widespread jealousy; with nothing accomplished, he resigned and withdrew. He followed Guofan to Jiangxi, was appointed intendant of the Yanjian and Shaowu circuit in Fujian, but stayed with the army.
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十一年，國籓既克安慶，謀大舉東伐。 會江蘇缺帥，奏薦鴻章可大用，江、浙士紳亦來乞師。 同治元年，遂命鴻章召募淮勇七千人，率舊部將劉銘傳、周盛波、張樹聲、吳長慶，曾軍將程學啟，湘軍將郭松林，霆軍將楊鼎勳，以行。 又奏調舉人潘鼎新、編修劉秉璋，檄弟鶴章總全軍營務。 時沿江賊屯林立，乃賃西國汽舟八，穿賊道二千馀裡，抵上海，特起一軍，是為淮軍。 外國人見其衣裝樸陋，輒笑之，鴻章曰：「軍貴能戰，非徒飾觀美。 迨吾一試，笑未晚也。」 旋詔署江蘇巡撫。
In the eleventh year, once Guofan had taken Anqing, he planned a major offensive to the east. Jiangsu was without a commander; he memorialized that Hongzhang should be given major responsibility, and gentry from Jiangsu and Zhejiang came pleading for troops as well. In the first year of Tongzhi he was ordered to raise seven thousand Huai Braves and take the field with his former subordinates Liu Mingchuan, Zhou Shengbo, Zhang Shusheng, and Wu Changqing, together with Cheng Xueqi of Zeng's army, Guo Songlin of the Xiang forces, and Yang Dingxun of the Ting forces. He also memorialized for the transfer of the presented scholar Pan Dingxin and the compiler Liu Bingzhang, and ordered his younger brother Hezhang to oversee all camp administration for the entire force. Rebel camps stood thick along the river. He chartered eight Western steamers, threaded more than two thousand li through enemy-held country to Shanghai, and there raised a separate army—the Huai Army. Foreigners, seeing their plain dress, laughed at them. Hongzhang said, "What matters in an army is that it can fight—not how fine it looks on parade. Wait until you have seen us fight—it will not be too late to laugh then." Soon afterward he was ordered to serve as acting governor of Jiangsu.
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是時上海有英、法二國軍。 美國華爾募洋兵數千，攻克松江、嘉定、青浦、奉賢，號南路軍； 學啟等將湘、淮人攻南匯，號北路軍。 四月，賊悉眾戰敗南路軍，嘉定、奉賢再陷，華爾棄青浦走保松江。 學啟將千五百人屯新橋，賊圍之數十重，踐屍進。 學啟開壁突擊，賊駭卻。 鴻章親督軍來援，賊大奔，乘勝攻泗涇，解松江圍。 外國軍見其戰，皆驚嘆。 自此湘、淮軍威始振。 詔促移師鎮江，鴻章請先圖滬而後出江。 既定浦東廳縣，偽慕王譚紹光來援，敗之北新涇，賊走嘉定。 九月，進克其城。 譚紹光率數十萬眾，連營江口，犯黃渡。 諸將分攻，簡精卒逾壕伏而前，斃數人，賊陣動，學啟乘之，裹創噪而進，賊大潰。 捷入，授江蘇巡撫。
At that time British and French troops were stationed in Shanghai. The American Ward raised several thousand foreign troops, took Songjiang, Jiading, Qingpu, and Fengxian, and styled his force the Southern Route Army; while Xueqi and others led Hunan and Huai troops against Nanhui as the Northern Route Army. In the fourth month the rebels mustered their full strength, routed the Southern Route Army, and retook Jiading and Fengxian; Ward abandoned Qingpu and fell back to defend Songjiang. Xueqi encamped at Xinqiao with fifteen hundred men. The rebels surrounded them in dozens of rings and pressed forward over the dead. Xueqi threw open the stockade and charged out; the rebels fell back in alarm. Hongzhang came in person to lead the relief; the rebels broke and fled, and he pressed the victory to attack Sijing and raise the siege of Songjiang. The foreign troops, watching them fight, were filled with admiration. From that point the reputation of the Xiang and Huai armies began to rise. An edict urged him to move his army to Zhenjiang, but Hongzhang asked to secure Shanghai first before advancing up the Yangtze. Once the districts east of the Huangpu were secured, the rebel Prince of Mo, Tan Shaoguang, came to reinforce; Hongzhang defeated him at Beixinjing and drove the rebels back toward Jiading. In the ninth month he advanced and captured the city. Tan Shaoguang led several hundred thousand men, pitched camp after camp along the river mouth, and struck at Huangdu. The generals attacked from several sides. Elite troops crossed the moat and crept forward, killing several men; the rebel line wavered. Xueqi seized the moment and, though wounded, pressed forward shouting; the rebels broke in complete rout. When the victory report reached the court, he was appointed governor of Jiangsu.
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初，美人華爾所將兵名常勝軍，慈谿之役，歿於陣，其副白齊文懷異志，閉松江城索餉。 鴻章裁其軍，易以英將戈登，常勝軍始復聽節制，命出海攻福山，不克而還。 二年正月，兼署五口通商大臣。 初，常熟守賊駱國忠、董正勤舉城降，福山諸海口俱下。 偽忠王李秀成悉眾圍常熟，江陰援賊复陷福山。 鴻章牒諭國忠固守待援，而檄鼎新、銘傳攻福山，奪石城。 國忠知援至，開城猛擊，俘斬殆盡，遂解常熟圍，進复太倉、崑山。 因疏陳賊情地勢，建三路進軍之策：學啟由崑山攻蘇州； 鶴章、銘傳由江陰進無錫，淮、揚水軍輔之； 太湖水軍將李朝斌由吳江進太湖，鼎新等分屯松江，常勝軍屯崑山為前軍援。
At first the force led by the American Ward was called the Ever-Victorious Army. At the battle of Cixi he was killed in action; his deputy Burgevine turned disloyal, shut himself in Songjiang, and demanded back pay. Hongzhang reorganized the force, replaced Burgevine with the British officer Gordon, and the Ever-Victorious Army again came under control. He ordered it to attack Fukushan by sea, but the attempt failed and the troops returned. In the first month of the second year he was also appointed acting Commissioner for the Five Treaty Ports. Earlier the rebel defenders Luo Guozhong and Dong Zhengqin at Changshu had surrendered the city, and all the harbors around Fukushan had fallen. The rebel Loyal King Li Xiucheng mustered his full strength to besiege Changshu, and rebel reinforcements from Jiangyin retook Fukushan. Hongzhang sent word urging Guozhong to hold the city and await relief, while ordering Dingxin and Mingchuan to attack Fukushan and seize Shicheng. Guozhong, knowing relief had arrived, threw open the gates and struck hard, capturing and killing nearly all the besiegers. The siege of Changshu was lifted, and the army advanced to recover Taicang and Kunshan. He then memorialized on rebel strength and the terrain, proposing a three-pronged advance: Xueqi from Kunshan against Suzhou; Hezhang and Mingchuan from Jiangyin toward Wuxi, supported by Huai and Yangzhou river forces; the Lake Tai naval commander Li Chaobin from Wujiang into Lake Tai; Dingxin and others to hold separate posts at Songjiang; and the Ever-Victorious Army at Kunshan as a forward reserve.
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李秀成糾合偽納王郜雲官等水陸十萬，偪大橋角而營，鶴章擊之，敗走，九月，复集，連營互進。 鶴章立八營於大橋角，與之持。 源章以賊麕集西路，志在保無錫，援蘇州。 乃令鶴章、銘傳守後路，抽銳卒會學啟合破賊屯，蘇、錫之賊皆大困。 賊陷江寧、蘇、杭為三大窟，而蘇則其脊膂也，故李秀成百計援之。 譚紹光尤兇狡，誓死守，附城築長牆石壘，堅不可猝拔。 十月，鴻章親視師，以砲毀之，城賊爭權相猜，謀反正，刺殺譚紹光，開門納軍。 時降酋八人皆擁重兵，號十萬，歃血誓共生死，要顯秩。 學啟言不殺八人，後必為患。 鴻章意難之，學啟拂衣出，鴻章笑語為解。 明日，八人出城受賞，留飲，即坐上數其罪，斬之。 學啟入城諭定其眾，搜殺悍黨二千馀人。 捷聞，賞太子太保銜、黃馬褂。 十一月，鶴章等復無錫，進攻常州，以應江寧圍軍。 學啟出太湖，圖嘉興，以應浙軍。 鼎新等軍先入浙，收平湖、海鹽，賊爭應官軍，所至輒下。 三年二月，學啟急攻嘉興，親搏戰，登城，克之，中彈死。 四月，克常州，擒斬偽護王陳坤書，賞騎都尉世職。 常勝軍慚無功，戈登辭歸國，乃撤其軍。
Li Xiucheng rallied the rebel Prince of Na, Gao Yunguan, and others—one hundred thousand men on land and water—and pitched camp pressing Daqiaojiao. Hezhang attacked and drove them off; in the ninth month they gathered again and advanced camp by camp. Hezhang established eight camps at Daqiaojiao and held the line against them. Hongzhang judged that the rebels were massed on the western route, intent on holding Wuxi and relieving Suzhou. He ordered Hezhang and Mingchuan to guard the rear, detached elite troops to join Xueqi in breaking the rebel camps together, and the rebels at Suzhou and Wuxi were thrown into great distress. The rebels had made Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou their three great strongholds, and Suzhou was the backbone among them; Li Xiucheng therefore strained every means to relieve it. Tan Shaoguang was especially fierce and cunning; he swore to die in defense and built long walls and stone forts against the city, too strong to take by sudden assault. In the tenth month Hongzhang inspected the army in person. Cannon fire destroyed the outer works; inside the city the rebels quarreled over power, plotted to defect, assassinated Tan Shaoguang, and opened the gates to the imperial forces. At the time eight surrendered chieftains all commanded heavy forces, claimed one hundred thousand men, swore a blood oath to live and die together, and demanded high rank. Xueqi said that if the eight were spared they would surely cause trouble later. Hongzhang hesitated; Xueqi flung his robe aside and stalked out, and Hongzhang calmed him with smiles and gentle words. The next day the eight came out of the city to receive rewards. They were kept for a feast, their crimes were recited where they sat, and they were beheaded on the spot. Xueqi entered the city to pacify the people and hunted down more than two thousand hardened partisans. When news of the victory arrived, he was awarded the rank of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and the yellow riding jacket. In the eleventh month Hezhang and the others recovered Wuxi and pressed the attack on Changzhou to support the siege of Nanjing. Xueqi moved out through Lake Tai toward Jiaxing to support the Zhejiang forces. Dingxin's army entered Zhejiang first and recovered Pinghu and Haiyan; the rebels turned to meet the government forces, and wherever the army went towns fell. In the second month of the third year Xueqi pressed the assault on Jiaxing, fought hand to hand, scaled the wall, and took the city, but was killed by a bullet. In the fourth month Changzhou fell; the rebel Protector King Chen Kunshu was captured and executed, and Hongzhang was awarded a hereditary captaincy. Ashamed of having achieved little, the Ever-Victorious Army was withdrawn when Gordon resigned and returned home.
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廷議江寧久未下，促鴻章會攻，鴻章以金陵破在旦夕，託辭延師。 六月，曾軍克江寧，捷書至。 鴻章遂分軍令銘傳、盛波由東壩取廣德，鼎新、秉璋由松江攻湖州，松林、鼎勳由滬航海援閩。 賊平，封一等肅毅伯，賞戴雙眼花翎。
The court debated that Nanjing had long remained untaken and urged Hongzhang to join the assault, but he held that the city's fall was imminent and made excuses to delay moving his troops. In the sixth month Zeng's army took Nanjing, and the victory report arrived. Hongzhang then divided his forces, sending Mingchuan and Shengbo from Dongba toward Guangde, Dingxin and Bingzhang from Songjiang against Huzhou, and Songlin and Dingxun by sea from Shanghai to aid Fujian. When the rebels were pacified he was enfeoffed as Duke Su-yi of the first rank and awarded the double-eyed peacock feather.
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四年四月，科爾沁親王僧格林沁戰歿曹州，以曾國籓為欽差大臣，督其軍。 鴻章署兩江總督，命率所部馳防豫西，兼備剿京東馬賊、甘肅回匪。 鴻章言：「兵勢不能遠分，且籌餉造械，臣離江南，皆無可委託。 為今日計，必先圖捻而後圖回。 赴豫之師，必須多練馬隊，廣置車騾，非可猝辦。」 詔寢其行。 時曾國籓督軍剿捻久無功，命回兩江，而以鴻章署欽差代之，敗東捻任柱、賴文光於湖北。
In the fourth month of the fourth year Prince Sengge Rinchen of Horqin was killed in battle at Caozhou; Zeng Guofan was appointed Imperial Commissioner to take command of his army. Hongzhang served as acting Governor-General of the Two Jiangs and was ordered to lead his troops swiftly to defend western Henan while also preparing to suppress horse-bandits east of the capital and Hui rebels in Gansu. Hongzhang said, "Our military strength cannot be divided over great distances, and if I leave the south there is no one to whom the raising of funds and manufacture of arms can be entrusted. For the present we must deal with the Nian first and only afterward with the Hui. The force sent to Henan must train large cavalry detachments and procure many carts and mules; this cannot be done at once. The edict suspended his march. At that time Zeng Guofan had long led the campaign against the Nian without success; he was ordered back to the Two Jiangs, and Hongzhang served as acting Imperial Commissioner in his place, defeating the Eastern Nian leaders Ren Zhu and Lai Wenguang in Hubei.
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六年正月，授湖廣總督。 賊竄河南，渡運河，濟南戒嚴。 初，曾國籓議憑河築牆，遏賊奔竄。 鴻章守其策，而注重運西。 飭豫軍提督宋慶、張曜及周盛波、劉秉璋分守山東東平以上，自靳口至濟寧； 楊鼎勳分守趙村、石佛至南陽湖； 李昭慶分守攤上、黃林莊至韓莊、八牌； 皖軍黃秉鈞等分守宿遷、運河上下游：互為策應，使賊不得出運。 六月，抵濟寧，賊由濰縣趨竄登、萊。 鴻章复議偪入海隅聚殲之，乃創膠萊河防策，令銘傳、鼎新築長牆二百八十馀裡，會合豫軍、東軍分汛設守。 時賊集萊陽、即墨間，屢撲堤牆不得出。 七月，賊由海神廟潛渡濰河，山東守將王心安不及禦，膠萊防潰。 朝旨切責，將罷防，鴻章抗疏言：「運河東南北三面賊氛蹂躪，其受害者不過數府州縣，若驅過運西，則江、皖、東、豫、楚數省之地，流毒無窮。」 乃堅持前議，嚴扼運防。 令銘傳、松林、鼎勳三軍往來躡擊。 十月，追至贛榆，降酋潘貴升斃任柱於陣，捻勢漸衰。 賴文光挈眾竄山東，戰屢敗，遁入海濱，官軍圍擊之，斬獲三萬。 賴文光走死揚州。 東捻平，賞加一騎都尉世職。
In the first month of the sixth year he was appointed Governor-General of Huguang. The rebels fled into Henan, crossed the Grand Canal, and Jinan was placed under martial alert. Earlier Zeng Guofan had proposed building walls along the rivers to block the rebels' movements. Hongzhang kept to this plan but laid special emphasis on the west bank of the transport canal. He ordered the Henan commanders Song Qing and Zhang Yao, together with Zhou Shengbo and Liu Bingzhang, to hold the line from Dongping in Shandong upward, from Jinkou to Jining; Yang Dingxun held from Zhaocun and Shifo to Nanyang Lake; Li Zhaoqing held from Tanshang and Huanglinzhuang to Hanzhuang and Bapai; Anhui troops under Huang Bingjun and others held Suqian and the upper and lower reaches of the canal, supporting one another so that the rebels could not break out along the transport route. In the sixth month he reached Jining; the rebels from Weixian turned toward Dengzhou and Laizhou. Hongzhang again proposed driving them into a coastal corner for annihilation, devised the Jiao-Lai River defense plan, and ordered Mingchuan and Dingxin to build a long wall of more than 280 li, with Henan and Shandong troops posted in divided garrisons along it. The rebels were massed between Laoyang and Jimo and repeatedly charged the dike-walls but could not break out. In the seventh month the rebels secretly crossed the Wei River at Haishen Temple; the Shandong commander Wang Xin'an could not stop them, and the Jiao-Lai defense collapsed. The court rebuked him sharply and was about to abandon the defense; Hongzhang submitted a strong memorial: "East, south, and north of the canal the rebels ravage, but only a few prefectures and counties suffer; if we drive them west of the transport route, the lands of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei will suffer without end." He held firmly to his earlier plan and tightened the canal defenses. He ordered the three armies under Mingchuan, Songlin, and Dingxun to pursue and strike in rotation. In the tenth month, pursuing as far as Ganyu, the surrendered chief Pan Guisheng killed Ren Zhu in battle, and Nian power gradually waned. Lai Wenguang led his followers into Shandong, suffered repeated defeats, and fled to the seashore; government troops surrounded and attacked them, killing and capturing thirty thousand. Lai Wenguang fled and was killed at Yangzhou. When the Eastern Nian were pacified, he was awarded an additional hereditary captaincy.
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七年正月，西捻張總愚由山右渡河，北竄定州，京師大震。 詔奪職，鴻章督軍入直，疏言：「剿辦流寇，以堅壁清野為上策。 東捻流竄豫東、淮北，所至民築圩寨，深溝高壘以御之。 賊往往不得一飽，故其畏圩寨甚於畏兵。 河北平原千里，無險可守。 截此則竄彼，迎左則趨右，縱橫馳突，無處不流。 且自渡黃入晉，沿途擄獲騾馬愈眾，步賊多改為騎，趨避捷，肆擾尤易。 自古辦賊，必以彼此強弱飢飽為定衡。 賊未必強於官軍，但彼騎多而我騎少。 今欲絕賊糧、斷賊騎，惟有嚴諭紳民堅築圩寨。 一聞警信，即收糧草牲畜老弱壯丁於內。 賊至無所掠食，兵至轉可買食。 賊雖流而其計漸窮，或可剋期撲滅也。」 二月，鴻章督軍進德州，敗賊安平、饒陽。 三月，賊竄晉州，渡滹沱河，南入豫，复折竄直隸，撲山東東昌； 四月，趨茌平、德平，出德州，西奔吳橋、東光，偪天津。 下部議處，命總統北路軍務，限一月殄滅。
In the first month of the seventh year the Western Nian leader Zhang Zongyu crossed the Yellow River from Shanxi and fled north toward Dingzhou, throwing the capital into alarm. An edict stripped him of rank; Hongzhang led his army into Zhili and memorialized, "In suppressing roaming bandits, the best strategy is to strengthen walls and clear the countryside. The Eastern Nian roamed through eastern Henan and northern Huai; wherever they went the people built stockades with deep ditches and high ramparts to resist them. The rebels often could not get a full meal, and so they feared the stockades more than they feared the troops. In the thousand-li plains of Hebei there is no terrain that can be defended. Block them here and they flee there; meet them on the left and they rush to the right—charging in every direction, with nowhere they do not roam. Since crossing the Yellow River into Shanxi they have captured ever more mules and horses along the way; many foot soldiers have turned into cavalry, making evasion swift and plunder all the easier. Since ancient times, suppressing bandits has always depended on weighing the relative strength, hunger, and satiety of the two sides. The rebels are not necessarily stronger than government troops, but they have more cavalry while we have less. To cut off the rebels' grain and break their cavalry, the only way is to order gentry and people strictly to build stockades. At the first alarm they should gather grain, fodder, livestock, the aged, the weak, and able-bodied men inside. When rebels arrive there is nothing to plunder; when troops arrive they can still buy food. Though the rebels still roam, their stratagems grow exhausted, and they may perhaps be destroyed within a set time. In the second month Hongzhang led his army to Dezhou and defeated the rebels at Anping and Raoyang. In the third month the rebels fled to Jinzhou, crossed the Hutuo River, entered Henan to the south, then turned back into Zhili and struck Dongchang in Shandong; In the fourth month they pressed toward Chiping and Deping, came out at Dezhou, fled west through Wuqiao and Dongguang, and threatened Tianjin. The Ministry deliberated on punishment; he was ordered to take overall command of northern-route military affairs with a one-month limit for complete annihilation.
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鴻章以捻騎久成流寇，非就地圈圍，終不足制賊之命。 三口通商大臣崇厚及左宗棠皆以為言，而直隸地平曠，無可圈圍； 欲就東海南河形勢，必先扼西北運河，尤以東北至津、沽，西南至東昌、張秋為鎖鑰。 乃掘滄州迤南捷地壩，洩運水入減河。 河東築長牆，斷賊竄津之路。 東昌運防，則淮軍自城南守至張秋，東、皖諸軍自城北守至臨清，並集民團協防。 閏四月，以勦賊逾限，予嚴議。 時賊為官軍所偪，奔突不常。 以北路軍勢重，銳意南行，迴翔陵縣、臨邑間，旁擾茌平、德平，犯臨清運防。 鴻章慮久晴河涸，民團不可恃，且晝夜追奔疲士卒，議乘黃河伏汛，縮地紮圈。 以運河為外圍，以馬頰河為裡圍。 其時官軍大敗賊於德州揚丁莊，又追敗之商河。 張總愚率悍黨遁濟陽，沿河北出德州犯運防，上竄鹽山、滄州。 官軍扼截之，不得出，轉趨博平、清平。 適黃、運暨徒駭交漲，東昌、臨清、張秋、徬河水深不可越。 河西北岸長牆綿亙，賊竄地迫狹，勢益困。 鴻章增調劉銘傳軍，期會前敵。 分屯茌平之桃橋、南鎮，至博平、東昌，圈賊徒駭、黃、運之內，而令馬隊週回兜逐，賊無一生者，張總愚投水死。 西捻平，詔復原官，加太子太保銜，以湖廣總督協辦大學士。 八月入覲，賜紫禁城內騎馬。
Hongzhang held that Nian cavalry had long become roaming bandits and that unless they were encircled on the spot, one could never finally master their fate. The Commissioner for the Three Ports Chonghou and Zuo Zongtang all said the same, but Zhili was level and open with nowhere to encircle; to use the terrain of the eastern sea and southern rivers one must first control the northwest canal, especially from the northeast at Tianjin and Tanggu to the southwest at Dongchang and Zhangqiu as the key points. He therefore dug the Jiedi Dam south of Cangzhou and diverted canal water into the Jian River. East of the river he built a long wall to cut off the rebels' route of flight toward Tianjin. For the Dongchang canal defense, Huai troops held from the south of the city to Zhangqiu, eastern and Anhui forces held from the north to Linqing, and militia were gathered for joint defense. In the intercalary fourth month, because suppression exceeded the time limit, he received severe censure. At the time the rebels, pressed by government troops, shifted their charges without pattern. Because northern-route forces were heavy, they turned sharply south, wheeling between Lingxian and Linyi, raiding Chiping and Deping on the side, and attacking the Linqing canal defense. Hongzhang feared prolonged clear weather would dry the rivers, that militia could not be relied on, and that day-and-night pursuit would weary the troops; he proposed using the Yellow River's summer flood to shorten the encirclement. The Grand Canal would be the outer ring and the Majia River the inner ring. At that time government troops greatly defeated the rebels at Yangdingzhuang in Dezhou and pursued them to defeat again at Shanghe. Zhang Zongyu led hardened partisans to flee to Jiyang, came out along the north bank of the Yellow River at Dezhou to attack the canal defense, and fled upward through Yanshan and Cangzhou. Government troops blocked them so they could not break out, and they turned toward Boping and Qingping. Just then the Yellow River, Grand Canal, and Tuhai all rose together; at Dongchang, Linqing, Zhangqiu, and along the canal the water was too deep to cross. On the north bank of the river a long wall stretched unbroken; the rebels' ground grew narrow and their plight more desperate. Hongzhang added Liu Mingchuan's army and set a date to join the front. They garrisoned from Taoqiao and Nanzhen in Chiping to Boping and Dongchang, encircling the rebels within the Tuhai, Yellow, and canal rivers, while cavalry wheeled round in pursuit; not one rebel survived, and Zhang Zongyu drowned himself. When the Western Nian were pacified, an edict restored his original rank, awarded the rank of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and made him Grand Secretary while retaining the post of Governor-General of Huguang. In the eighth month he entered audience and was granted the privilege of riding within the Forbidden City.
13
八年二月，兼署湖北巡撫。 十二月，詔援黔，未行，改援陝。 九年七月，剿平北山土匪。 值天津教堂滋事，命移軍北上。 案結，調直隸總督兼北洋通商事務大臣。 十月，日本請通商，授全權大臣，與定約。 十二年五月，授大學士，仍留總督任。 六月，授武英殿大學士。 十三年，調文華殿大學士。
In the second month of the eighth year he concurrently acted as governor of Hubei. In the twelfth month an edict ordered aid to Guizhou; before he marched the order was changed to aid Shaanxi. In the seventh month of the ninth year he suppressed the bandits of the northern hills. When trouble arose at the Tianjin church, he was ordered to move his army north. When the case was closed he was transferred to Governor-General of Zhili and Commissioner for Northern-Coast Trade. In the tenth month Japan requested trade; he was appointed plenipotentiary and concluded a treaty. In the fifth month of the twelfth year he was appointed Grand Secretary while retaining the governorship. In the sixth month he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Hall of Military Glory. In the thirteenth year he was transferred to Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Glory.
14
國家舊制，相權在樞府。 鴻章與國籓為相，皆總督兼官，非真相。 然中外系望，聲出政府上，政府亦倚以為重。 其所經畫，皆防海交鄰大計。 思以西國新法導中國以求自強，先急兵備，尤加意育才。 初，與國籓合疏選幼童送往美國就學，歲百二十人。 期以二十年學成歲歸為國效用，乃未及終學而中輟。 鴻章爭之不能得，隨分遣生徒至英、德、法諸國留學。 及建海軍，將校盡取才諸生中。 初在上海奏設外國學館，及蒞天津，奏設武備海陸軍，又各立學堂，是為中國講求兵學之始。 嘗議製造輪船，疏言：「西人專恃其砲輪之精利，橫行中土。 於此而曰攘夷，固虛妄之論。 即欲保和局，守疆土，亦非無具而能保守之也。 士大夫囿於章句之學，苟安目前，遂有停止輪船之議。 臣愚以為國家諸費皆可省，惟養兵設防、練習槍砲、製造兵輪之費萬不可省。 求省費則必屏除一切，國無與立，終無自強之一日矣。」
By the old system of the state, real power lay in the Grand Council. Hongzhang and Guofan as Grand Secretaries were both concurrently governors—not true prime ministers. Yet China and foreign powers looked to them; their voices rose above the government, and the government also relied on them as weighty. What they planned were all great measures of coastal defense and foreign relations. They sought to guide China by Western new methods toward self-strengthening, first urgently building military preparedness and especially cultivating talent. At first, together with Guofan, they memorialized selecting young boys to study in the United States, one hundred twenty each year. They expected that in twenty years they would finish their studies and return yearly to serve the state, but before the program ended it was cut short. Hongzhang argued in vain; he then sent students in separate groups to study in Britain, Germany, France, and other countries. When the navy was built, officers were all drawn from among these students. At first in Shanghai he memorialized establishing a foreign-language school; on reaching Tianjin he memorialized establishing land and sea military academies and separate schools—this was the beginning of China's study of military science. He once discussed building steamships and memorialized, "Westerners rely solely on the excellence of their gunboats and steamers to dominate China. To speak of expelling the barbarians on this basis is empty talk. Even to preserve peace and guard the frontier, one cannot conserve them without the proper means. Scholar-officials confined by classical learning, content with the present, then proposed stopping steamship construction. Your servant believes that every state expense may be cut, but the expenses of maintaining troops, setting defenses, practicing firearms, and building warships must never be cut. Seek economy and one must cast everything aside; the state cannot stand, and there will never be a day of self-strengthening."
15
光緒元年，台灣事變，王大臣奏籌善后海防六策。 鴻章議曰：「歷代備邊多在西北，其強弱之事，主客之形，皆適相埒，且猶有中外界限。 今則東南海疆萬馀裡，各國通商傳教，往來自如。 陽託和好，陰懷吞噬，一國生事，諸國構煽，實為數千年來未有之變局。 輪船電報，瞬息千里，軍火機器，工力百倍，又為數千年來未有之強敵。 而環顧當世，餉力人才，實有未逮，雖欲振奮而莫由。 易曰：'窮則變，變則通。 '蓋不變通，則戰守皆不足恃，而和亦不可久也。 近時拘謹之儒，多以交涉洋務為恥，巧者又以引避自便。 若非朝廷力開風氣，破拘攣之故習，求制勝之實際，天下危局，終不可支； 日後乏才，且有甚於今日者。 以中國之大，而無自強自立之時，非惟可憂，抑亦可恥。」
In the first year of Guangxu, because of trouble in Taiwan, princes and ministers memorialized six policies for post-crisis coastal defense. Hongzhang argued, "Past dynasties defended the frontier mostly in the northwest; questions of strength and weakness, host and guest, were roughly balanced, and there was still a boundary between inner and outer. Now the southeastern coast extends more than ten thousand li; every country trades and preaches, coming and going freely. Outwardly they profess friendship while inwardly they harbor swallowing intent; if one country makes trouble, others stir it up—a change without parallel in thousands of years. Steamships and telegraphs span a thousand li in an instant; firearms and machines multiply labor a hundredfold—an enemy without parallel in thousands of years. Yet looking around the age, funds, strength, and talent are truly insufficient; though one wishes to rouse oneself, there is no way. The Changes says, 'When exhausted, then change; when changed, then penetrate. If there is no change, neither war nor defense can be relied on, and peace cannot last either. Recently narrow Confucians have mostly taken dealing with foreign affairs as shameful; the clever use avoidance for convenience. Unless the court forcefully opens the climate, breaks old habits of constraint, and seeks real means of victory, the perilous situation of the realm cannot be sustained; and in future the lack of talent will be even worse than today. For so great a China to have no time of self-strengthening and self-reliance is not only lamentable but also shameful."
16
鴻章持國事，力排眾議。 在畿疆三十年，晏然無事。 獨究討外國政學、法制、兵備、財用、工商、藝業。 聞歐美出一新器，必百方營購以備不虞。 嘗設廣方言館、機器製造局、輪船招商局； 開磁州、開平煤鐵礦、漠河金礦； 廣建鐵路、電線及織佈局、醫學堂； 購鐵甲兵艦； 築大沽、旅順、威海船砲台壘； 遴武弁送德國學水陸軍械技藝； 籌通商日本，派員往駐； 創設公司船赴英貿易。 凡所營造，皆前此所未有也。 初，鴻章辦海防，政府歲給四百萬。 其後不能照撥，而戶部又奏立限制，不令購船械。 鴻章雖屢言，而事權不屬，蓋終不能竟厥功焉。
Hongzhang held state affairs and forcefully overrode public opinion. For thirty years in the capital region he remained quietly without incident. He alone investigated foreign government, law, military systems, finance, industry, commerce, and crafts. Whenever Europe or America produced a new device, he would contrive in every way to purchase it against need. He established the Guangfangyan Hall, machine-manufacturing bureau, and China Merchants Steam Navigation Company; opened coal and iron mines at Cizhou and Kaiping and gold mines at Mohe; widely built railways, telegraph lines, textile mills, and medical schools; purchased ironclad warships; built forts and batteries at Dagu, Lüshun, and Weihai; selected military officers to study land and sea arms and techniques in Germany; arranged trade with Japan and dispatched officials to reside there; founded a company whose ships traded with Britain. Everything he built was what had never existed before. At first, when Hongzhang managed coastal defense, the government gave four million taels yearly. Later it could not pay in full, and the Board of Revenue also memorialized limits forbidding purchase of ships and arms. Though Hongzhang spoke repeatedly, authority did not rest with him, and in the end he could not complete his work.
17
三年，晉、豫旱災，鴻章力籌賑濟。 時直隸亦患水，永定河居五大河之一，累年漫決，害尤甚。 鴻章修復金門徬及南、上、北三灰壩。 盧溝橋以下二百馀裡，改河築堤，緩其溜勢。 別濬大清河、滹沱河、北運河、減河，以資宣洩，自是水患稍紓。
In the third year drought struck Shanxi and Henan; Hongzhang strove to organize relief. At the time Zhili also suffered from water; the Yongding River is one of the five great rivers and had burst its banks year after year with especially severe harm. Hongzhang repaired the Jinmen embankment and the southern, upper, and northern ash dams. Below the Lugou Bridge for more than two hundred li he changed the river course and built dikes to slow the current. He separately dredged the Daqing River, Hutuo River, North Canal, and Jian River to aid discharge, and the water calamity was somewhat eased.
18
五年，命題穆宗毅皇帝、孝哲毅皇后神主，賞加太子太傅銜。 六年，巴西通商，以全權大臣定約。 八年，丁母憂，諭俟百日後以大學士署理直隸總督，鴻章累辭，始開缺，仍駐天津督練各軍，並署通商大臣。 朝鮮內亂，鴻章時在籍，趣赴天津，代督張樹聲飭提督吳長慶率淮軍定其亂，鴻章策定朝鮮善後事宜。 九年，復命署總督，累乞終制，不允。
In the fifth year he was ordered to inscribe the spirit tablets of Emperor Muzong and Empress Xiaozheyi and was awarded the rank of Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. In the sixth year Brazil opened trade; as plenipotentiary he concluded a treaty. In the eighth year he mourned his mother; an edict ordered that after one hundred days he should act as Grand Secretary and Governor-General of Zhili; Hongzhang declined repeatedly before a vacancy was opened, yet he still remained at Tianjin training troops and acting as trade commissioner. When Korea fell into civil strife Hongzhang was at home; he was hurried to Tianjin to replace Governor Zhang Shusheng in ordering Commander Wu Changqing to lead Huai troops to settle the disorder, and Hongzhang devised the post-crisis arrangements for Korea. In the ninth year he was again ordered to act as governor; he repeatedly begged to complete mourning but was not permitted.
19
十年，法越構兵，雲貴總督岑毓英督師援越。 法乃自請講解，鴻章與法總兵福祿諾議訂條款，既竣，而法人伺隙陷越諒山，薄鎮南關，兵艦馳入南洋，分擾閩、浙、台灣，邊事大棘。 北洋口岸，南始砲台，北迄山海關，延袤幾三千里，而旅順口實為首衝。 乃檄提督宋慶、水師統領提督丁汝昌守旅順，副將羅榮光守大沽，提督唐仁廉守北塘，提督曹克忠、總兵葉志超守山海關內外，總兵全祖凱守煙台，首尾聯絡，海疆屹然。 十一年，法大敗於諒山。 計窮，复尋成。 授全權大臣，與法使巴德納增減前約。 事平，下部議敘。 是年朝鮮亂黨入王宮，戕執政大臣六人。 提督吳兆有以兵入護，誅亂黨，傷及日本兵。 日人要索議統將罪，鴻章嚴拒之，而允以撤兵寢其事。 九月，命會同醇親王辦理海軍。
In the tenth year France and Vietnam went to war; Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou Cen Yuying commanded troops to aid Vietnam. France then asked for negotiations; Hongzhang and French commander Fournier agreed on terms, but after completion the French seized Lang Son in Vietnam by surprise, pressed Zhennanguan, sent warships into the southern seas, and raided Fujian, Zhejiang, and Taiwan—the border crisis grew acute. Northern-coast ports from the southern forts north to Shanhaiguan stretch nearly three thousand li, and Lüshunkou is truly the foremost strategic point. He ordered Commander Song Qing and naval commander Ding Ruchang to hold Lüshun, Deputy Commander Luo Rongguang Dagu, Commander Tang Renlian Beitang, Commanders Cao Kezhong and Brigadier Ye Zhichao the inner and outer defenses at Shanhaiguan, and Brigadier Quan Zukai Yantai. The line from end to end was linked, and the coast stood firm. In the eleventh year the French suffered a crushing defeat at Lang Son. With their options exhausted, they sought peace again. He was appointed plenipotentiary and, with the French envoy Patenotre, revised the earlier agreement. When the affair was settled, the Ministry deliberated on rewards. That year rebel factions in Korea stormed the royal palace and killed six chief ministers of state. Commander Wu Zhaoyou entered with troops to protect the court, executed the rebels, and wounded Japanese soldiers in the process. The Japanese demanded that the commanding general be tried and punished; Hongzhang firmly refused, but agreed to withdraw the troops and let the matter drop. In the ninth month he was ordered to assist Prince Chun in managing the navy.
20
十二年，以全權大臣定法國通商滇粵邊界章程。 十三年，會訂葡萄牙通商約。 十四年，海軍成船二十八，檄飭海軍提督丁汝昌統率全隊，週曆南北印度各海面，習風濤，練陣技，歲率為常。 十五年，太后歸政，賞用紫韁。 十七年，平熱河教匪，議敘。 十九年正月，鴻章年七十，兩宮賜「壽」。 二十年，賞戴三眼花翎，而日朝變起。
In the twelfth year, as plenipotentiary, he fixed the regulations for French trade on the Yunnan-Guangdong border. In the thirteenth year he concluded a treaty of trade with Portugal. In the fourteenth year the navy completed twenty-eight ships. He ordered naval commander Ding Ruchang to lead the full fleet on annual cruises through the seas north and south of India to master wind and waves and drill battle formations, making this an annual routine. In the fifteenth year the Empress Dowager returned power to the throne; he was granted use of the purple bridle. In the seventeenth year he pacified sectarian bandits in Rehe, and rewards were deliberated. In the first month of the nineteenth year Hongzhang turned seventy; the two palaces bestowed the character for longevity. In the twentieth year he was awarded the triple-eyed peacock feather, even as trouble broke out between China and Japan.
21
初，鴻章籌海防十馀年，練軍簡器，外人震其名，謂非用師逾十萬，不能攻旅順，取天津、威海。 故俄、法之警，皆知有備而退。 至是，中興諸臣及湘淮軍名將皆老死，鮮有存者。 鴻章深知將士多不可恃，器械缺乏不應用，方設謀解紛難，而國人以為北洋海軍信可恃，爭起言戰，廷議遂銳意用兵。 初敗於牙山，繼敗於平壤，日本乘勝內侵，連陷九連、鳳凰諸城，大連、旅順相繼失。 复據威海衛、劉公島，奪我兵艦，海軍覆喪殆盡。 於是議者交咎鴻章，褫其職，以王文韶代督直隸，命鴻章往日本議和。 二十一年二月，抵馬關，與日本全權大臣伊藤博文、陸奧宗光議，多要挾。 鴻章遇刺傷面，創甚，而言論自若，氣不少衰。 日皇遣使慰問謝罪，卒以此結約解兵。 會訂條款十二，割台灣畀之，日本悉交還侵地。 七月，回京，入閣辦事。
At first Hongzhang had spent more than ten years on coastal defense, training troops and selecting arms. Foreigners were awed by his reputation and said that without an army of more than one hundred thousand one could not attack Lüshun or take Tianjin and Weihai. Therefore when Russia and France raised alarms, all knew he was prepared and withdrew. By this time the great ministers of the Restoration and the famous generals of the Xiang and Huai armies had mostly died, and few remained. Hongzhang knew well that most officers and men could not be relied on and that arms were lacking and unserviceable. He was still devising plans to resolve the dispute when the country believed the Beiyang Navy could truly be trusted, voices clamored for war, and the court grew eager to fight. They were defeated first at Asan, then at Pyongyang. Japan seized the advantage to invade inland, capturing Jiulian, Fenghuang, and other cities in succession, and Dalian and Lüshun fell one after another. They seized Weihaiwei and Liugong Island as well, captured our warships, and the navy was nearly annihilated. Thereupon critics blamed Hongzhang on all sides. He was stripped of office, Wang Wenshao replaced him as governor of Zhili, and Hongzhang was ordered to go to Japan to negotiate peace. In the second month of the twenty-first year he reached Shimonoseki and negotiated with Japan's plenipotentiaries Itō Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu, who drove a hard bargain. Hongzhang was shot and wounded in the face. The wound was severe, yet he spoke calmly and his spirit did not flag. The Japanese emperor sent envoys to express sympathy and apologize. In the end a treaty was concluded and the armies were withdrawn. Twelve articles were agreed. Taiwan was ceded to Japan, and Japan returned all territory it had invaded. In the seventh month he returned to the capital and took up work in the Grand Secretariat.
22
十二月，俄皇加冕，充專使致賀，兼聘德、法、英、美諸國。 二十二年正月，陛辭，上念垂老遠行，命其子經方、經述侍行。 外人夙仰鴻章威望，所至禮遇逾等，至稱為東方畢士馬克。 與俄議新約，由俄使經總署訂定，世傳「中俄密約」。 七閱月，回京復命。 兩宮召見，慰勞有加，命直總理各國事務衙門。
In the twelfth month, for the Russian emperor's coronation, he served as special envoy to offer congratulations and also paid courtesy calls in Germany, France, Britain, the United States, and other countries. In the first month of the twenty-second year, at his audience of farewell, the throne, mindful that he was old and traveling far, ordered his sons Jingfang and Jingshu to accompany him. Foreigners had long admired Hongzhang's prestige. Wherever he went he received exceptional courtesy, and some even called him the Bismarck of the East. He negotiated a new treaty with Russia. The Russian envoy finalized it through the Zongli Yamen, and it passed into history as the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty. After seven months he returned to the capital to report. The two palaces summoned him, comforted him with special kindness, and ordered him to take charge of the Zongli Yamen.
23
二十三年，充武英殿總裁。 二十四年，命往山東查勘黃河工程。 疏稱遷民築堤，成工匪易，惟擇要加修兩岸堤埝，疏通海口尾閭，為救急治標之策。 下其奏，核議施行。
In the twenty-third year he served as director of the Hall of Military Glory. In the twenty-fourth year he was ordered to go to Shandong to inspect Yellow River works. He memorialized that relocating people to build dikes would be hard to complete. He proposed repairing only key sections of dikes on both banks and dredging the river mouth and lower reaches as an urgent palliative measure. His memorial was sent down for deliberation and implementation.
24
十月，出督兩廣。 二十六年，賞用方龍補服。 拳匪肇亂，八國聯軍入京，兩宮西狩。 詔鴻章入朝，充議和全權大臣，兼督直隸，有「此行為安危存亡所繫，勉為其難」之語。 鴻章聞警兼程進，先以兵剿畿甸匪，孑身入京，左右前後皆敵軍，日與其使臣將帥爭盟約，卒定和約十二款。 二十七年七月，講成，相率退軍。
In the tenth month he went out to govern the Two Guangs. In the twenty-sixth year he was granted use of the square-dragon supplementary robe. The Boxers rose in rebellion. The allied armies of eight powers entered Beijing, and the two palaces fled west. An edict ordered Hongzhang to enter court, appointed him plenipotentiary for peace while also governing Zhili, with the words, "This journey bears on safety and survival; strive to do what is difficult." On hearing the alarm Hongzhang hurried forward. First he used troops to suppress bandits in the capital region, then entered Beijing alone with enemy forces on every side, daily disputing treaties with their envoys and generals, until he finally fixed twelve articles of peace. In the seventh month of the twenty-seventh year negotiations were concluded and the armies withdrew together.
25
大亂之後，公私蕩然。 鴻章奏陳善後諸務。 開市肆，通有無，施粥散米，中外帖然。 並奉詔行新政，設政務處，充督辦大臣，旋署總理外務部事。 積勞嘔血薨，年七十有九。 事聞，兩宮震悼，錫祭葬，贈太傅，晉封一等侯，諡文忠。 入祀賢良祠，安徽、浙江、江蘇、上海、江寧、天津各建祠以祀，並命於京師特建專祠。 漢臣祀京師，蓋異數也。
After the great disorder, public and private affairs were utterly swept away. Hongzhang memorialized on various matters of recovery. He opened markets, restored exchange, distributed gruel and rice, and Chinese and foreigners alike grew calm. He also received an edict to carry out the new policies, established the Office of Government Affairs as supervising minister, and soon acted as head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Worn out by accumulated labor he vomited blood and died at seventy-nine. When news arrived the two palaces were shaken with grief. He was granted funeral rites, posthumously made Grand Tutor, promoted to Marquis of the first rank, and given the posthumous name Wenzhong. He entered the Temple of Worthies. Temples were built to worship him in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Tianjin, and a special temple was ordered built in the capital. For a Han minister to be worshipped in the capital was an exceptional honor.
26
鴻章長軀疏髯，性恢廓，處榮悴顯晦及事之成敗，不易常度，時以詼笑解紛難。 尤善外交，陰陽開闔，風采凜然。 外國與共事者，皆一時偉人。 及八國定盟，其使臣大將多後進，視鴻章皆丈人行也，故兵雖勝，未敢輕中國。 聞其薨，咸集弔唁，曰：「公所定約不敢渝。」 其任事持大體，不為小廉曲謹。 自壯至老，未嘗一日言退，嘗以曾國籓晚年求退為無益之請，受國大任，死而後已。 馬關定約還，論者未已，或勸之歸。 鴻章則言：「於國實有不能恝然之誼，今事敗求退，更誰賴乎？」 其忠勤皆類此。 居恆好整以暇，案上置宋搨蘭亭，日臨摹百字，飲食起居皆有恆晷。 長於奏牘，時以曾、李並稱雲。 鴻章初以兄子經方為子，後生子經述，賞四品京堂，襲侯爵； 經邁，侍郎。
Hongzhang was tall with a sparse beard and a magnanimous nature. Whether in honor or disgrace, prominence or obscurity, success or failure, he did not change his usual manner, and often used jest to resolve disputes. He was especially skilled in diplomacy, opening and closing with measured force, his bearing stern and commanding. The foreigners who worked with him were all great men of their time. By the time the eight powers fixed their alliance, most of their envoys and generals were juniors who regarded Hongzhang as an elder. Though their armies had won, they did not dare take China lightly. On hearing of his death they all gathered to mourn and said, "The treaties the Duke fixed we dare not violate. In handling affairs he held to the larger pattern and did not fuss over petty scruples. From youth to old age he never spoke of retirement for a single day. He once said Zeng Guofan's request to retire in his later years was a useless plea: having accepted the state's great charge, one serves until death. When he returned from fixing the Shimonoseki treaty, critics had not ceased, and some urged him to withdraw. Hongzhang said, "Toward the state I truly cannot be indifferent. Now that affairs have failed, if I seek to retire, on whom else can it rely? His loyalty and diligence were all of this kind. In daily life he liked order and leisure. On his desk he placed a Song rubbing of the Lanting Preface and copied one hundred characters each day; eating, drinking, rising, and resting all kept fixed hours. He excelled at memorials and dispatches; at the time Zeng and Li were spoken of together. At first Hongzhang took his elder brother's son Jingfang as his son. Later he bore Jingshu, who was awarded fourth-rank Beijing official and inherited the marquisate; Jingmai became a vice-president.
27
論曰：中興名臣，與兵事相終始，其勳業往往為武功所掩。 鴻章既平大難，獨主國事數十年，內政外交，常以一身當其衝，國家倚為重輕，名滿全球，中外震仰，近世所未有也。 生平以天下為己任，忍辱負重，庶不愧社稷之臣； 惟才氣自喜，好以利祿驅眾，志節之士多不樂為用，緩急莫恃，卒致敗誤。 疑謗之起，抑豈無因哉？
The commentator says: Great ministers of the Restoration whose careers began and ended with military affairs often have their achievements overshadowed by martial glory. After Hongzhang had pacified the great calamity, he alone directed state affairs for decades. In domestic government and foreign relations he often bore the brunt alone. The state relied on him for weight; his name filled the globe; China and foreign lands looked up in awe—a thing without parallel in recent times. Throughout his life he took the realm as his own charge, bearing humiliation and heavy burdens. He may fairly be called a minister worthy of the altars of state; yet he delighted in his own talent and liked to drive the multitude with salary and rank. Men of firm principle were mostly unwilling to serve him; in crisis there was no one to rely on, and defeat and error followed in the end. That suspicion and slander arose—was there not cause for it?