The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume X, No. 6 [‎126r] (104/186)

OBITUARY.
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received the appointment of Consul at Fn-chau,one of the ports then lately thrown
open to foreign commerce by the treaty of Nan-king. After two years’ service
there, he was appointed to the same post at the still more important port of Shanghai.
Here he remained eight years, the latter of which fell within the troublous times
of the Taeping rebellion. A serious rising took place at Shanghai in 1853, and the
European settlement was for some time in considerable danger. The energy dis
played by Mr. Alcock, however, helped much towards the organization of an efficient
defence, and, though the Chinese city fell into the hands of the rebels, no attack
was made on the foreign quarter. During his service at Shanghai, he was instru
mental both in founding the excellent municipal government of the foreign settle
ment, and also in establishing the commission for the collection of dues on foreign
trade, which afterwards became known far and wide as the Imperial MaritimeCustoms.
In 1854 he was transferred to Canton, where difficulties had already arisen between
Sir John Bowring and the Chinese officials with regard to the opening of the city
to Europeans, and where the events soon afterwards occurred which led to the
second foreign war. In this, however, Mr. Alcock had no part, as he had returned
home on leave before the outbreak of hostilities, being succeeded in the Canton
Consulate by Mr., afterwards Sir Harry, Parkes.
This closed Mr. Alcock’s first period of service in China, for in 1858, Lord
Elgin having concluded a treaty of intercourse with the Empire of Japan, he was
selected as the first British minister to that country. In this capacity perhaps his
most important public services were performed, for Japan was in an unsettled
state, and both tact and firmness were needed for the successful maintenance of
British influence in the country. The bulk of the people were opposed to foreign
intercourse, and the Government itself was anxious to draw back from the course
of concession it had already entered upon. Murderous attacks on foreigners were
frequent, and on at least two occasions an armed mob attacked the British Legation
itself. The minister, however, was firm in his determination to maintain the treaties,
and to let no outrage on British subjects go unpunished. It was in this spirit that
he more than once took severe measures of retaliation against the perpetrators of
such outrages, a course which laid him open to much criticism at home, though he
was able ultimately to disarm it, and to secure the general approbation of his
countrymen for his services. In 1862 he was made a k.c.b.
Apart from his political services, Sir Rutherford Alcock did much to extend our
knowledge both of the country and people of Japan, and may be said to have led the
way in the modern exploration of that empire. In the Society’s Journal he has left
valuable records of journeys in the interior of the country, made at a time when
that interior was still almost a terra incognita. In the volume for 1861 he described
one such journey, which included an ascent of the great mountain Fusiyama and a
visit to the sulphur baths of Atami; and in the following volume we have the
account of a journey from Nagasaki to Yeddo, with a description of the great com
mercial city of Osaka. Both of these papers contain many details on the natural
features of the country, the conditions of life in it, the prospects of trade, and so
forth. In his book entitled ‘ The Capital of the Tycoon,’ published in 1863, Sir
Rutherford entered more fully into these subjects, and showed clearly the sort of
difficulties to be faced in opening up intercourse with the Japanese people. In 1878
he published a work on ‘ Art and Art Industries in Japan,’ a subject in which he
took a great interest. It was entirely through his exertions that Japanese arts and
industries were represented at the International Exhibition of 1862, in which he was
unable to induce either the Japanese Government or people to take part.
In 1865 Sir Rutherford was appointed British Minister at Peking, where his
career was less eventful than it had been in Japan. He was for the most part