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致毕德格小姐
北京 1902年11月13日
你写信询问关于你兄弟的事。谈到你兄弟，令人悲欣交集。我十分尊敬并钦佩他(To your letter of inquiry about your brother, whom we hold in the highest esteem, respect, and admiration, I respond with sad pleasure)。他是在我们心中占有重要地位的在京的美国人之一。他意志坚强，学识宝贵，风度翩翩，谦逊文雅（His strong mind was stored with most valuable information, which was dressed in the grace of culture and modest refinement)。我们，以及他的许多朋友都很喜欢他。他不仅是中美两国人民真正的朋友，也是留在这里的其他国家人们的好朋友。只要有人求于他，他都真诚相助(Each and all turned to him, and he responded, but never in disloyalty)。他了解中国人和他们的习俗，曾多年担任李鸿章的顾问。他精通汉语，对中国繁复的传统文化有很深的造诣(He knew their language, and dug deep into Chinese knotty traditions)。
我有时会说：“噢，毕德格先生，那事看起来很糟糕！”这时，他会不紧不慢地对我说：“你还没有完全明白。”然后他会耐心地给我解释。听他做解释是一种享受。我时常会拿一件刺绣，景泰蓝，黄铜器或瓷器(a piece of embroidery, cloisonné,brass, or porcelain)去问他上面写了什么。在中国艺术里，一片叶子，一朵花，一个水果，一头动物，一只昆虫都有其潜在的含义。他研究过这些含义，由于这些含义结合成整体时具有更深的内涵，因此他随时乐意为我们解释一通。从他那里，我开始对中国人的特性有了更多的了解，从他非凡的见识中我发现了很多值得我钦佩的东西。
他对中国人的失望和他在近期动荡中的努力工作令他身心受创（His disappointment in the Chinese, and his active work during the late troubles, seemed to wear upon him)。他过去一直过着平静的生活，可我们被围困后，他就再也闲不住了。由于他熟悉汉语和了解中国人(He had lived a quiet physical life for years, and when the siege was upon us he did not spare himself in any way)，他整天被召来唤去的，就算是比他强壮的人也承受不了(His knowledge of the Chinese language and the people called him on duty beyond the strength of a stronger man)。但当时大家都在全力以赴，因此也就疏忽了这一点(We did not realize this, as all were doing their best)。在围困之中和之后，有很多人倒下了，他就是其中的一个。
那段可怕的日子过后他就再也没有好起来。他好像总是不能痊愈，每次旧病复发都会让他更加痛苦(He did not seem to rally permanently, and each relapse added to his sufferings)。他的中国仆人们一直在他身边侍候他，他们是极其和善的人。在他生病的最后几周里，军队的护士整天守侯在他身旁，照顾他。好在他不是始终都在受苦，他在凡间生命的最后几个小时过得很平静（He did not seem to be a constant sufferer; the last of his earthly hours were were spent in quiet)。
他被安放在外国人专用的棺材里，送到美国公使馆举行葬礼。朋友们送来了许多美丽的鲜花。各个房间里挤满了他的朋友，大家轻轻地把他安放到他最后的安息之地，轻轻地将他掩埋，留下一大堆美丽的鲜花（The rooms were filled with his friends, and loving hands tenderly placed him in his last earthly bed, covered him over, and left behind them a mound of rich, beautiful flowers)。
毕德格（Pethick William N ？－1902）美国人。同治十三年（1874年）来华，任美国驻天津副领事。后因仰慕李鸿章而辞去领事职务，入李鸿章幕府，为其出谋划策，辅助筹划修建关内外铁路等。 毕德格熟悉汉语和法、德等国语言，便成了李鸿章重要的私人秘书、翻译和顾问。
中文名 毕德格
外文名 Pethick William N
逝世日期1902年
光绪七年（1881年）十月，毕德格会同施医处官医生马根济上书李鸿章，拟办北洋医学馆，挑选聪颖少年子弟随同学习西医，以备考取医官，分赴军营、战舰充当军医，并拟订章程十一条。这一建议得到李鸿章的允准和大力支持，为北洋海军培养出了一批医务人才。
毕德格在华活动较突出的是在外交方面所扮演的角色。他凭藉自己的外交历练、语言基础和顾问身份，经常参与李鸿章主持的外交活动。甲午战争爆发后，随着清军在战场上的节节败退，清政府加快了同日本的议和步伐，乞请列强从中斡旋、联合调停。日本以“事态的发展尚未达到足以保证在谈判上得到令人满意的结果”为由，拒绝了英国倡导的联合调停，决定在攻占辽东半岛后再谈和议问题，并照复英国，拒绝其调停建议的第二天，从鸭绿江、花园口两路进攻辽东半岛。十月六日，回国休假期满后重返天津的毕德格到达日本横滨，日本外务省派遣其顾问德尼逊（Denison Henry W）专程前往横滨，邀请毕德格到东京一行，毕德格也想摸清日本的议和条件，便应邀前往。初七日，日本外务省官员与毕德格会见，主动提出和议问题，指出日本拟在得到旅顺口后方肯开议，并回答毕德格议和条款的大概情况：赔款；朝鲜自主；割让地；江宁、杭州所杀倭人应令赔偿；以后所有在华之倭人应享权利与欧洲各国之人无异。这五条既原作又颇具弹性。日本政府通过李鸿章的顾问毕德格向中国抛出“五条”，透露了其用意是要直接与清政府议和。十月二十二日，毕德格返回天津，向李鸿章禀陈了与日本外务省官员的谈话节略，日军占领刘公岛后，清政府决定派李鸿章赴日乞和，二十一年（1895年）二月十七日，毕德格随同李鸿章自天津登轮，赴日和谈。
甲午战争后，李鸿章被解除了任期长达二十五年之久的直隶总督兼北洋大臣职务，奉命赴京入阁办事，栖居贤良寺，“苟有事至使馆，必使之（毕德格）往”，视为得力助手。二十三年（1896年）德国强占胶州湾，毕德格奉命会晤俄国驻华公使巴布罗斯，欲请俄国从中干涉，因种种原因而未能成功。
史料记载， 毕德格跟从李鸿章二十余年，深得李鸿章的信任与倚重，对李鸿章的思想也颇有影响。据濮兰德（Bland John Otway Percy）所写的《李鸿章传》说，毕德格自任李鸿章英文秘书后，每天写日记，但其日记于1902年临死前被盗，实为可惜。毕德格还曾充任过李鸿章的家庭教师，“公子伯行（李经方）从之习英文”，“季皋（李经迈）朝夕与游，亦从问学”。
《纽约时报》对毕德格去世的报道：AMERICAN WHO ADVISED LI-HUNG-CHANG IS DEAD.; William N. Pethick Was Private Secretary to the Great Viceroy for Thirty Years.
https://www.nytimes.com/1901/12/21/archives/american-who-advised-lihungchang-is-dead-william-n-pethick-was.html
美国国务院档案网站中毕德格的中国报告
No. 142.
Mr. Angell to Mr. Evarts.
Mr. Angell to Mr. Evarts.
Legation of
the United States,
Peking, December 3, 1880. (Received January 31, 1881.)
No. 65.]Peking, December 3, 1880. (Received January 31, 1881.)
Sir: After the departure of the two commissioners, my colleagues, I received from Mr. William N. Pethick, of Tien-tsin, a letter which contains some interesting statements addressed to the commission. I have thought it well to forward you a copy.
Mr. Pethick’s views are of interest, not only because of his intelligence and his long residence in China, during a portion of which he has held official positions under our government, but especially because of his close and confidential, perhaps we may say official or semi-official, relations with Li-Hung Chang, the grand secretary and viceroy of this province. It is by no means a violent presumption that Mr. Pethick’s letter reflects the views of the viceroy, and so gains a value which makes it worthy of transmission to you.
Moreover, the figures which he gives in elucidation of the disastrous influence of the opium trade in China, in a purely commercial point of view, are very impressive. When we see that China pays more for opium annually than she receives for her whole exportation of silk, or than she receives for her whole crop of tea, we can understand why intelligent Chinese statesman, like the viceroy of this province, regarding the importation only as a business transaction, deeply regret it.
[Page 217]But no figures can give even an approximate idea of the ruinous effects upon the health and the demoralizing effects upon the character which are produced by the rapidly increasing use of opium in this empire. One must live here and see the wretched condition of the victims of the drug to appreciate what a curse it is to this nation. It is a matter of congratulation that so few of our citizens suffer themselves to be engaged at all in its importation or sale.
In this connection I beg leave to refer you to Mr. Low’s dispatch No. 46, of January 10, 1871, which contains some very interesting statistics and comments on the subject.
I have, &c.,
JAMES B. ANGELL.
[Inclosure in No. 65.]
Mr. Pethick to the
United States special commissioners to
China.
Tien-tsin, China, November 22,
1880.
Your Excellencies: I cannot deny myself the liberty of writing to offer my congratulations upon your success at Peking. A long official career in China and my present relations with the grand secretary and viceroy Li, enable me to say with confidence that the success which has crowned your efforts will have a marked effect upon the welfare of humanity and civilization, at least in this part of the world.
The question of Chinese immigration to the United States has been settled in a way that will give satisfaction to both countries. But though the solution of that vexed question was the end and aim of your mission, I leave what has been accomplished to speak for and commend itself to our people, as its bearings will be so well understood by them. My present concern is with opium, a subject not quite so well understood at home as the other.
It is a mistake to say that since the opium war with England in 1842, the Chinese Government has never shown a genuine desire to limit or suppress the opium traffic. The printed laws of the empire, imperial, edicts, memorials from the members of the government at Peking and from the provincial authorities, and remarks by the ministers of the Chinese foreign office, addressed to the representatives of foreign governments in documents and in conversation, fully attest the fact that China has never consented to bear, without murmur, this great wrong which was forced upon her. Nor because imperial edicts are set at naught, and the cultivation of the poppy connived at by officials in some parts of the country, is it fair to tax the government with indifference to the spread of this evil. Blood and treasure were spent freely in combating its introduction, and, though defeated in war, the government has not remained a silent or unfeeling witness of this blight extending over the country. The public archives down to the present time bear witness to the fact. American merchants formerly shared in this traffic, and American ships are ready even now to carry opium from place to place in China. But the trade has fallen largely into the hands of Jews and Parsees, British subjects, from India. Very few English mercantile firms of reputation are concerned with it, save by employing their vessels to carry it about. Yet the Chinese people make no such nice distinction as to principals and accessories in this trade. They know that opium was forced on the country by a war, that all foreign merchants and their ships have engaged in the trade, and that any foreign vessel will carry opium now. The common name with them for opium is “yang yao” (foreign drug), and the simple facts ever present in their minds are that foreigners first brought opium into the country and bring it still; and the efforts of their authorities to put it down have no manner of effect upon foreigners. Thus Americans, as foreigners in this country, and being free to deal in opium, come in for their share of the opprobium equally with English merchants, and bring the fair fame of Western civilization into disrepute.
To give a clear idea of the present extent of the foreign opium trade in China, I will here quote some statistics, taken from the latest official report of the foreign customs service of the Chinese Government; Chinese weights and values are reduced, for convenience, into our own weights and currency.
[Page 218]Imports into China from foreign countries during the year 1879.
| Value. | ||
| 1. | Opium (from India, under monopoly of the British Government, 11,073,333 pounds) | $50,700,000 |
| 2. | Cotton goods (from England and the United States) | 31,400,000 |
| 3. | Woolen goods (chiefly from England) | 7,000,000 |
| 4. | Metals (chiefly from England) | 5,700,000 |
| 5. | Matches (chiefly from Europe) | 550,000 |
| 6. | Kerosene oil (from the United States) | 1,000,000 |
| 7. | Sundries (from all countries) | 18,000,000 |
| Total value of all imports | $114,350,000 |
Exports from China to foreign countries during the year 1879.
| Value. | ||
| 1. | Tea, 265,000,000 pounds | $46,000,000 |
| 2. | Silk | 40,000,000 |
| 3. | Sugar | 3,000,000 |
| 4. | Sundries | 11,200,000 |
| Total value of exports | $100,200,000 | |
| Value of whole foreign trade, export and import, for the year 1879 | $215,000,000 | |
The total quantity of foreign opium imported during the year 1879 reached a figure never attained before, namely, 83,050 piculs (11,073,333 pounds, over 5,000 tons), representing a value of 36,536,617 taels, or about $ 51,000,000, and this formed very nearly one-half of the whole foreign import trade. The amount imported has steadily and rapidly increased from 52,000 peculs in 1864 to 82,000 in 1879. In 1879 the import was 11,000 piculs (one picul, 133⅓ pounds) more than the previous year.
This will show that the use of foreign opium is steadily and rapidly increasing in China. To this is to be added the amount consumed in Hong-Kong, and the amount re-exported thence for the use of the Chinese in California, Australia, and elsewhere; and estimating 21,919 piculs as smuggled from Hong-Kong into China, the customs authorities state that “the total importation of opium into China would therefore appear to have amounted in 1879 to 104,970 piculs,” (13,995,000 pounds over 6,000 tons).
This single article (opium) equals in value all the other goods brought to China from foreign countries. Its value is greater than all the tea sent out of China, or all the silk. For the 265,000,000 pounds of tea China sends abroad, she is given 11,000,000 pounds of opium, and still has $5,000,000 to pay for this opium in other goods, the opium being worth nearly $51,000,000 and the tea but $46,000,000.
These figures establish quite enough for my purpose, which is to show that the black stream of pollution which has so long flown out of India into China has been increasing in volume and spreading its baneful influence wider and wider. If this stream be not checked, the world may soon despise China as a nation of opium-smokers, even as Judah was reviled by the prophet for her abominations.
I take it for granted that the ill-effects, physical and moral, of opium-smoking are known and admitted by intelligent and unprejudiced people, and notwithstanding the fine-spun theories of various apologists for the habit, it is enough here to refer to the positive condemnatory testimony of native victims of the habit; to all intelligent and respectable Chinese; to foreigners who have had much experience in the country, and to the united opinion of the foreign medical faculty in China from the earliest date of foreign intercourse to the present. The British Government long ago abandoned its defense of the trade on moral grounds, and now sustain it simply and confessedly for financial reasons.
Your excellencies have appeared in China at this juncture, and while seeking to remedy a misfortune suffered by our country at the hands of the Chinese, you have been mindful to redress a wrong long sustained by China from the United States, for we have been more or less involved in the opium trade in common with other foreign countries. This is an act of common justice and national equity. It fulfills a moral obligation which has rested upon our country to make amends for the wrong which has so long had our tacit and implied approval. The United States by a bold and noble declaration against opium now stand in the right before the world and the God of nations.
It would be premature to forecast the good results which should follow this act. You are aware of the profound effect it has had upon the government at Peking and [Page 219] upon the Viceroy Li. That effect, I feel certain, is not transitory. It has encouraged long deferred hope; confirmed oft-defeated determination; it has nerved the arm of the government with new strength, and we shall see China once again grappling with the monster that is stealing away the prosperity and energies of her people.
I feel proud to belong to a country capable of such an act of magnanimity to a weaker one. It is an act of peace and good-will such as exalts a nation, if we believe Holy Writ, far more than the conquests and triumphs of war; and your excellencies will doubtless come to reflect upon your work, so happily accomplished, with the pleasing consciousness of a great duty performed before God and man in behalf of our country.
I have the honor to be your excellencies’ obedient servant,
WM. N. PETHICK.