and while the noble lord had stoutly refused to fall upon both knees in presence of his Celestial Majesty, he had consented to bow on one knee, and this fact was urged upon the American envoy. But Mr. Ward was obdurate; in the spirit of the Southern cavalier he answered, "I kneel only to God and woman." "The emperor," rejoined the Chinese, "is the same as God." The republican representative was not convinced, and he said that he would do only that which was required by the President of his own country in receiving foreign ministers; he would bow respectfully, and do nothing more.
It seems strange at this day that a discussion of this character should be prolonged through weeks, and in the end result in the dismissal from the capital of the representative of a great nation, but the question was regarded by the Chinese as one of supreme importance. Their ruler was in their eyes of divine origin and authority, and the ceremony of prostration in his presence had been practiced for countless ages as an act not only of respect but of worship, and of recognition of his exaltation above all earthly powers. Lord Elgin wrote the British government that to disregard the ancient customs, "in the opinion of the Chinese, would shake the stability of the empire, by impairing the emperor's prestige." It would do great violence to the education and national pride of the court councilors to agree to forego the kotou, and it was regarded by them as a great concession, a mark of gracious condescension, and the highest evidence of friendship, to admit the American minister into the emperor's presence with the simple act of an obeisance upon one knee.
