Series 4 > William Melrose in China, 1845-1855

Ixvi
WILLIAM MELROSE IN CHINA
there were days, and occasionally weeks, when little business was
transacted. And however assiduous he was in his conduct of the
trade, he was equally able to appreciate and enjoy hours of quiet
leisure. William does not seem to display, at least during his second
sojourn in China, the hectic, nervous drive that propels more
aggressive business men. The frequent references to retirement and
the plans to travel with his father suggest that William was not
prepared to give his whole life to business. His very serious illness
may have left an indelible imprint; it was, in fact, to shorten his
life. If not a prey to morbid fears, William had a healthy regard
for his physical and spiritual well-being. It is not perhaps without
significance that two of his closest friends in China were physicians -
Dr Watson, a Scotsman, in Macao and Dr Kenny in Canton - and
that of the four executors named in his will two were medical men.
On the other hand, it is equally possible that their style of life
and not their medical knowledge was the greater attraction. While
William had many long ‘ cracks ’ with business acquaintances in his
cool, comfortable house in the old hong of Mowqua,1 he seems to
have preferred the company of those who lived a quiet family life
and enjoyed reading, music and drama. In fact, he enrolled himself
as an admirer and student of George Chinnery, the painter, and
tried his hand at painting. If he had many of the characteristics of a
dilettante, there was also a moral earnestness in his approach to
art as his advice to a younger brother David shows. Such interest he
thought would be a shield against the debilitating influence of ‘ bad ’
company and prevent him from becoming involved in gambling and
drinking. And although he did not describe in detail the lovely
countryside of Macao, he fully appreciated the attractive climate
of this most beautiful port of the east.2 There he could enjoy
the simple pleasures of country life: riding, shooting and taking
long walks in a manner hardly distinguishable from life at
Pendreich.
Macao, the oldest European settlement in China, had not yet
1 The building may be located in a graphic map in Hunter, The ‘Fan Kwae’, 25;
for Mowqua, see below, p. 54, n.2.
2 See works referred to above, p. 21, n. 2; Robert Elliot, Views of the East (2
vols. London, 1833), ii; and Alexander Michie, The Englishman in China during the
Victorian Era (2 vols. London, 1900), esp. i, 287fF.