Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/27

 the thought that the compunction and the fear with which the Chinese authorities regarded their treatment of the Envoy was in itself a pledge that the interests of our enterprise would sustain no prejudice from the diplomatic disappointment. Apart from the official aspect of the matters chronicled, the diary shows Lord Amherst's character in a most pleasing light. Home was constantly in his thoughts. Even the most fantastic scenery on the route suggests to the mind of the wanderer some parallel from the quiet scenes of English towns and fields. Though he does not pose as a naturalist, he took loving note of plants and flowers; and without any pretence to be a connoisseur, he shows a fine appreciation of art in its application to the uses of life. To the charms of landscape he was keenly alive, and of that human nature which his eventful journey presented to him in such bewildering and sometimes repulsive variety, he was a genial student. In everything we see, on the part of Lord Amherst, a high conscientiousness and humble anxiety to support worthily the honour of his country.

The chapter of misfortunes was not ended with the departure from Canton. A visit to Manilla was a pleasant incident in the early part of the homeward voyage, but in passing through the Straits of Jaspar, His Majesty's Ship Alceste, which bore the sacred person of the Ambassador, struck on a sunken rock and was lost. Leaving the officers to guard the baggage on the island to which fortunately the whole company were able to scramble, the 'gentlemen' had to