HAVING PAINFULLY ESTABLISHED the right for a British Minister to reside in Beijing, General Grant was now determined to get his men out of the city. It was November and if he did not do so quickly, the river to Tianjin would freeze and they would be stuck there until the spring. Parkes did not think he should be in such a hurry, because the treaty would be meaningless if there was no way of enforcing it. It felt as if they were going back to square one – fighting for the right to reside in Beijing and then not doing so. Parkes thought that someone should stay in Beijing to represent British interests. He suggested a ‘small officer’, whose lowly status would make him less of a target than the Minister himself. He, Wade, and Morrison all volunteered for this, but in the end, the officer left was very ‘small’ – Thomas Adkins, a junior interpreter. ‘By this arrangement,’ Parkes told Fanny, ‘we have just managed … I hope’ to prevent ‘the Chinese thinking that we have not established our Minister there out of fear of them.’1 Elgin and Bruce were swapping roles again, and Elgin was able to introduce his brother to Prince Gong as the British Minister on 8 November, thus formally handing over his responsibility – Parkes interpreted for them. The following day, they left with the British forces for Tianjin, just in time, because the river froze solid the day after.

Clearly, it would have been unwise for Bruce to remain in Beijing unprotected, but an equally important reason for him not staying there was that there was nowhere appropriate for him to live. Parkes spent a week searching for a residence, but Beijing was in a dilapidated condition and its grand buildings were in a state of decay. Eventually, they were allocated a palace that was very rundown, so they were able to explain to the Chinese that the Minister had to delay his residence in Beijing until it had been fixed up, and Adkins was there to manage the repairs. (It was a job which would have perfectly suited Parkes but probably Bruce thought he was too useful for other things.) It turned out to be a magnificent set of buildings and exceptionally convenient, being very close to Tiananmen Square.