A few days ago there passed away in much pain and suffering at his ancestral home of Hofei, \nhui province, one of the principal figures of the amall band of Chinese officio's who stood firm in their support of the Manchu dynasty during the great Taiping rebellion, and by their loyalty, influence, and courage Gwally succeeded' in crushing that dangerous upheaval, which at one time shook the Manchu fabric to its foundations and threatened to place a Cantonese Emperor on the Dragon Throne. We refer to the Into Li Han-chaag—elder brother of the more famous Li Hung-chan; ho died on the 11th of this month at eighty years of ago from a very painful cancer in the back.
The deceased official was the eldest of five brothers. The second brother died young; the third is the well-known Viceroy Li Hung-chang; the fourth, Li Wen-chang, who was blind, was the father of Li Hung-chang's adopted son, Li Chin-fang, known to foreigners as Lord" Li, Chinese Minister to Tokio prior to the late war with Japan; while the youngest brother, Li Peng-chang, although a Taotai in rank, never entered official life, being satisfied to remain at home looking after the ancestral acres and overseeing in general way the almost limitless lands of his "ldest and third brothers. The late Li Han-chang was an M.A., and entered political life a few years after his more famous younger brother, who in 1849/50 had obtained his Hanlin scholarship and had joined the stof of the famous first Marquis Tstng Kuo-fan, then Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial armies of the Liangkiang and Hukuang provinces. In 1853 Li Hung-chang, having proved to his patron his ability and courage, was recommended to the Throne and' accordingly appointed Commissioner of Defence for his native province of Anhui. He was instructed to enrol all his able-bodied fellow provincials into a militia to drive the Taiping rebels out of the province, for the Intter had over-run a large part of it, Naturally Li Han-chang became his brother'é right-hand man in those stirring times and in 1862 was appointed " substantive Taotai of Kiangsi province, a post which he had neither time nor opportunity to take up. The Anhui militia raised by the brothers Li became the nucleus of the famous "Army of the Linsi" which did very successful work in crushing Taipingdom under Li Hung-chang, but the tune of which was dragged into the dust by the infamous cowardice displayed by that army ce! in the fighting in Corea and Manchuria in 1894, against the Japanese, In the latter contingent of Anhui militia to assist the Imperial troops trying to make head against the Taiping rebels in Kuangtung rovinee. In the following year, between february and October, Li Han-chang was rapidly promoted from Grain Taotai of Kuangtung to Judge, and from Judge Treasurer of the same province, in token of the esteem of a gratified Government. for the ability and loyalty of the two brothers. The younger was by this time Governor of Kiangsu and nominal head of the Ever Victorious" Army under Colonel Gordon.
In 1865, owing to the outbreak of the Nienfei rebels—a large army of whom were hovering over the borders of Hunan—Li Han-chang was promoted to he Governor of that province, tubing with him his Anhui veterans to protect it. Two years later (1867), Kiangsu having been "pacified" by his younger brother, Li Han-chang was appointed to succeed him as Governor, Li Bung-chang having been promoted Viceroy of the Hakuang provinces. In 1868 Li Han-chang was transferred to the Governorship of the neighbouring province of Chekiang, a post which he held for nearly two years, after which he was appointed to the Viceroyship of Hukuang in succession to his younger brother who had been promoted to the Senior Viceroyship—Chihli, Li Han-chang held his last-named post for nearly six years, and in 1876 was transferred to the Viceroyship of Szechuan, which, however, he did not hold long. He was re-appointed to Hukuang in October of the same year. He remained in Wuchang another six years when, in 1882, he had to retire into mourning for his mother. Having completed his period of official life, did not apply to Peking for mourning, Tan chang, being tired of active employment, but in spite of this he was called upon in 1888 to take up the Director-Generalship of the Grand Canal Grain Transport, a post he only held about eight months, for in the following year he went back to his old province of Kuangtung, this time as Viceroy. He remained in Canton for six years, when ho become involved in the odium aroused against his younger brother for the disastrous results of ths war with Japan, and being also denounced for giving all the lucrative posts in his Viceroyship to his favourites, ho thought it time to put in the usual plea of sickness and prayer to be lowed to retire into private life. Meat while his brother Li Hung-chang had his Chihli Viceroyship, and all the power and influence embraced in the term, taken away from him, and had been called to remain at Peking—'' out of mischief."
Hence in May 1895 Li Han-chang having handed over his seals of office to Tan Chung-lin (who is still Viceroy of the Two Kuang), came to Shanghai with his family intending to settle in this port. He first lived in a foreign house on Kiangse Road, opposite Tientsin Road, until a la foreign house he had built on the Bubbling Well Road was completed, when he moved there with his wives and half a dozen younger sons, his three older sons by a former wife electing to live either in Wahu or the ancestral home at Hofei. Nearly two months ago Li Han-chang was attacked with a cancer and being told by native doctors that it would probably end fatally, in view of his great age, the ex-Viceroy felt a longing for the place of his nativity and so left with his whole family for HOfei, staying, however, " short time at Wuhu to get the advice of other celebrated native doctors. Finding his end near, however, he left Wahu sudd-nly for Hotel, where, as already above stated, he diet in much pain at about noon of the Lith of this month. Li Han-chang being the oldest representative of the Li family, all of his sons, nephews, grand-sons, grandnephews and great grand-nephews are now
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.