FOOTNOTE:[12]Captain Hall of the Nemesis was at that time serving as midshipman under Capt. Basil Hall.
[12]Captain Hall of the Nemesis was at that time serving as midshipman under Capt. Basil Hall.
[12]Captain Hall of the Nemesis was at that time serving as midshipman under Capt. Basil Hall.
The abolition of the privileges of the East India Company in China, and the difficulties which soon resulted therefrom, concerning the mode of conducting our negotiations with the Chinese, will be remembered by most readers; and, whatever part the questions arising out of the trade in opium, may haveafterwardsborne in the complication of difficulties, there is little doubt that the first germ of them all was developed at the moment when the general trade with China became free. This freedom of trade, too, was forced upon the government and the company in a great degree, by the competition of the American interests; and by the fact, that British trade came to be carried on partly under the American flag, and through American agency, because it was prevented from being brought into fair competition in the market, under the free protection of its own flag.
The unhappy death of the lamented Lord Napier, principally occasioned by the ill treatment of the Chinese, and the mental vexation of having been compelled to submit to the daily insults of the Chinese authorities, in his attempts to carry out the orders of his government, will be remembered with deep regret. With the nature of those orders we have here nothing to do. No one can question Lord Napier's talent, energy, and devotedness to the object of his mission.
The attempts of Captain Elliot, when he afterwards took upon himself the duties of chief superintendent, to carry out the same instructions, were scarcely less unfortunate. And finding, as he publicly stated, that "the governor had declined to accede to the conditions involved in the instructions which he had received from her majesty's government, concerning the manner of hisintercoursewith his Excellency," the British flag was struck at the factories at Canton, on the 2nd of December, 1837, and her majesty's principal superintendent retired to Macao.
During the year 1838, very serious and determined measuresbegan to be adopted by the Chinese authorities, directed generally against the trade in opium; and imperial edicts threatened death as the punishment, for both the dealers in, and the smokers of the drug. Several unfortunate Chinese were executed in consequence. Attempts were now made to execute the criminals in front of the foreign factories along the river side, contrary to all former usage and public right. A remonstrance followed, addressed to the governor, who, in reply, gave them a sort of moral lecture, instead of a political lesson, and, then, condescendingly admitted, that "foreigners, though born and brought up beyond the pale of civilization, must yet have human hearts."
Nevertheless, in the following December, 1838, the insulting attempt was again repeated, close under the American flag-staff, which was not then placed, as it has since been, in an enclosure, surrounded with a brick wall, and high paling. The flag was immediately hauled down by the consul, in consequence of the preparations which were going on, for the erection of the cross upon which the criminal was to be strangled.
At first, a few foreigners interfered, and, without violence, induced the officers to desist from their proceedings. But, gradually, the crowd increased, and, a Chinese mob, when excited, is fully as unruly as an English one; and, thus, each imprudent act, as usual, led to another. No Chinese authorities were at hand to control the disturbance; stones began to fly in all directions; and the foreigners, who, by this time, had come forward, to the aid of their brethren, were at length, through the increasing numbers of the mob, fairly driven to take refuge in the neighbouring factories. Here they were obliged to barricade the doors and windows, many of which, were, nevertheless, destroyed, and the buildings endangered, before a sufficient force of Chinese soldiers had arrived to disperse the mob. In the evening, however, quiet was perfectly restored.
In the meantime, the alarm had spread to Whampoa, whence Captain Elliot set out, accompanied by about one hundred and twenty armed men, for Canton, and arrived at the British factory late in the evening. Both parties were now clearly placed in a false position, yet one which it would have been very difficult to have avoided. During many preceding months, the unfortunate Hong merchants had been in constant collision with their own government on the one hand, and with the foreign merchants, on the other. There was scarcely any species of indignity, to which they were not exposed, and they were even threatened with death itself. The Chinese government had daily become more overbearing towards all foreigners; and its habitual cold and haughty tone had grown into undisguised contempt and unqualified contumely. Their treatment of Lord Napier had been considered on their part as avictory; and their successful repulseof all Captain Elliot's advances, was viewed by them as an evidence of their own power, and of Great Britain's weakness.
It has been already stated in the first chapter, that Sir Frederick Maitland, who had a short time previously paid a visit to China, in a line of battle ship, had left those seas altogether, just before the collision took place; and, in proportion as the foreigners were left unprotected, so did the Chinese become more overbearing.
At the same time, it cannot be denied, that their determination to put a stop, as far as possible, to the opium-trade,was for the time sincere; though their measures might have been hasty and unwarrantable. A few days after the preceding disturbance, Captain Elliot distinctly ordered, that "all British owned schooners, or other vessels, habitually, or occasionally engaged in the illicit opium traffic,withinthe Bocca Tigris, should remove before the expiration of three days, and not again return within the Bocca Tigris, being so engaged." And they were, at the same time, distinctly warned, that if "any British subjects were feloniously to cause the death of any Chinaman, in consequence of persisting in the trade within the Bocca Tigris, he would be liable to capital punishment; that no owners of such vessels, so engaged, would receive any assistance or interposition from the British government, in case the Chinese government should seize any of them; and, that all British subjects, employed in these vessels, would be held responsible for any consequences which might arise from forcible resistance offered to the Chinese government, in the same manner as if such resistance were offered to their own or any other government, in their own or in any foreign country."
So far Captain Elliot evinced considerable energy and determination; but he, probably, had scarcely foreseen that the shrewd and wily government of China would very soon put the question to him, "if you can order the discontinuance of the trafficwithinthe Bocca Tigris, why can you not also put an end to itin the outer waters beyond the Bogue?"
As it seems scarcely possible to avoid all direct allusion to the difficult question of the traffic in opium, I shall take this opportunity of saying a few words upon this important subject. A detailed account of its remarkable history, and of the vicissitudes which attended it, both within and without the Chinese empire, would afford matter of the greatest interest, but could hardly find a place in this work.
In former times, as is well known, opium was admitted into China as a drug, upon payment of duty; and, even the prohibition which was ultimately laid upon it, was regarded by the Chinese themselves as a mere dead letter. Indeed, precisely in proportion to the difficulty of obtaining the drug, did the longing for it increase.
The great events which sprang out of this appetite of a whole nation for "forbidden fruit," on the one hand, and of thetemptationsheld out to foreigners to furnish it to them, on the other, may be considered as one of those momentous crises in a nation's history, which seem almost pre-ordained, as stages or epochs to mark the world's progress.
It is curious enough, that, at the very time when amercantilecrisis was growing up at Canton, apoliticalintrigue, or, as it might be called, a cabinet crisis, was breaking out at Pekin. In fact, strange as it may appear, it is believed in China, upon tolerably good authority, that there was actually a reform party struggling to shew its head at Pekin, and, that the question of more extended intercourse with foreigners, was quite as warmly discussed as that of the prohibition of the import of opium, or of the export of silver.
Memorials were presented to the emperor on both sides of the question; and his Majesty Taou-kwang, being old, and personally of feeble character, halted for a time "between two opinions," alternately yielding both to the one and to the other, until he at length settled down into his old bigotry againstchange, and felt all the native prejudices of a true son of Han, revive more strongly than ever within his bosom.
But the question of the Opium-trade, or Opium laws, which for some time had been almost apartymatter, like the corn laws in our own country, became at length a question of interest and importance to the whole nation, and was magnified in its relations by the very discussion of the points which it involved.
It is said that the head of the reform party (if it can so be called) in China was a Tartar lady, belonging to the emperor's court, remarkable for her abilities no less than her personal attractions, and possessed of certain very strong points of character, which made her as much feared by some as she was loved by others. She was soon raised even to the throne itself, as the emperor's wife, but lived only a few years to enjoy her power. Her influence soon came to be felt throughout the whole of that vast empire; it was the means of rewarding talent, and of detecting inability. She seemed to possess, in a marked degree, that intuitive discernment which sometimes bursts upon the female mind as if by inspiration. The tone and energy of her character were in advance of her age and of her country. She had many grateful friends, but she had raised up for herself many bitter enemies; party feeling ran high, and became at length too powerful even for an empress.
Gradually her influence diminished, the favour of the emperor declined, her opponent again got the upper hand, and at length she pined away under the effects of disappointment, and perhapsinjustice, and died. But her influence, so long as it lasted, was unbounded, and was felt through every province.
Her principal adherents and dependents naturally lost their power when that of their mistress was gone. The question of more extended trade with foreigners was now again set aside; the old feelings of bigotry and national pride resumed even more than their former vigour. Opium at once became the instrument, but ostensiblyPATRIOTISMbecame the groundwork of their measures. The old national feeling against foreigners throughout the empire was revived; and in the midst of it all, as if ordained to hasten on the momentous crisis which waited for its fulfilment,the son of the emperor himself died in his very palace, from the effects of the excessive use of opium.
Even before this unfortunate event, strong measures had began to be adopted in some parts of the empire against the preparers and smokers of the drug. As is usually the case when one party has become victorious over another after a severe struggle, the course which they advocate is followed up with even more than their former vigour. When once the advocates of a severe compulsion for stopping the use of opium, and with it the export of silver, had gained the upper hand in the cabinet, measures of a very stringent kind were immediately adopted, as if with the full determination of giving them a fair trial.
The evil had certainly reached a very high pitch; and from having been formerly confined to the wealthier and more indolent classes, it spread its deadly grasp among the lower grades, so that eventhe lowestat length came to be confirmed debauchees. Not that their fair earnings could generally enable them to procure enough of so costly an article, but because they were led to deprive themselves and their families of other comforts, and even necessaries, in order to obtain the means of gratifying their irresistible longing for the poison. Not unfrequently was even crime itself committed in order to obtain the means; and the opium shops, particularly in the maritime towns and villages, became the last resort of all the thieves, vagabonds, gamblers, and bad characters throughout the district.
The demand for opium, and consequently its price, increased remarkably, and the numerous statements which have been published under this head have not been by any means exaggerated. It penetrated the most secret haunts, in proportion as the danger of using it more publicly increased; and the more numerous were the edicts which were issued against it, the greater did the craving for the forbidden luxury, amounting almost to a nationalMANIA, go on increasing day by day. The moral lectures of the emperor, which appeared in the Pekin Gazette, were very pretty to read, but very futile in their effects. And if the great despoticruler over hundreds of millions of people, whose very word was law, still found himself totally unable to exclude the drug (even under the severest prohibitions) from hisown palace, is it to be wondered at that all his strongest measures should have totally failed in withdrawing the mass of the nation from the temptation?
The enormous profits derived from the clandestine sale of opium induced many of the Chinese to embark in it as a speculation, who neither used it themselves, nor were habituated to any other commercial traffic. Official men both smoked andsold it; hundreds of people gained a livelihood by the manufacture or sale of opium-pipes, and other apparatus connected with its use; and even the armed soldier often carried an opium-pipe in his girdle, with the same unconcern as he did the fan-case which is very commonly a part of his costume.
All this was going on throughout a great portion of the empire during the time that the question of its legalization or of its sterner prohibition was being so warmly debated at court, and discussed throughout the country. But the general impression was, that the importation of the drug would be legalized, and there was little apprehension of the violent persecution which soon commenced.
Instead of the foreigners imposing upon them the barter of opium as a condition of trade, it was the Chinese themselves who begged and prayed that it might be supplied to them; who sought out the opium-selling vessels at long distances, and were even then only permitted to receive it by paying hard cash for it. So determined were the Chinese to possess it at any cost, that they frequently were willing to purchase it forits own weightin silver, balanced fairly the one against the other in the scales. Boats belonging to the Custom House engaged in the traffic. The governor of Canton himself, Tang by name, was known to have employed his own boat to fetch it; and so publicly and undisguisedly was the traffic carried on, that a stipulated sum was paid to the officers for every chest landed, precisely as if it had been a bale of cotton or a box of glass.
It cannot be doubted, however, that after the death of the emperor's son, public attention throughout the empire became more strongly than ever directed to the increasing evils of the use and abuse of opium. Many instances of its pernicious effects now rose to the recollection of individuals who would otherwise have scarcely dwelt upon them. The agitation of the question had indeed led to party feeling upon the subject. The thunders of the emperor against foreigners began to take effect; measures of a severer kind now began to be adopted; and the reaction throughout the empire was almost universal. The shock had not been expected, and it came upon them like an earthquake.
Yet the justice of it appeared evident to many, for the evils had been concealed from none. It seemed as if all on a sudden the highroad to official favour and distinction could be found solely through the degree of energy shewn in ferreting out the lowest opium-smokers, and in publicly giving up the very pipes which were used; indeed it has been said that this enthusiasm was carried so far, that pipes were actuallypurchasedfor the purpose of giving them up to the officers, as if it indicated a voluntary surrender of a vicious habit. These were all displayed as emblems of victory, and the most zealous were the best rewarded, while the government itself became astonished at its own apparent success. It now thought itself irresistible, and despised the foreigners more than ever.
A grand crisis was produced by these proceedings in the interior of the country.All trafficof an extensive kind became nearly stopped; the prisons were filled with delinquents; and a great parade was made of the "stern severity" of the government, on the one hand, and of the obedient submission of the people, on the other. Yet, in spite of all this public display, that traffic itself was in reality as flourishing as ever, although perhaps it might have changed hands. Opium was more eagerly sought after than before; the price of it rose in proportion; and, precisely as had been predicted by the free trade or reform party in Pekin, it was found impossible to prevent its introduction into the country by the people themselves, even by the threat of death itself. Fishermen carried with them a single ball, and made a large profit by its sale; in short, the temptations and the profits were so large and irresistible, that hundreds of modes were discovered for conveying it from place to place, in spite of the penalties which awaited detection. The beheading of a few men, and the imprisonment of others, did not deter the mass; the delicious intoxication of the precious drug proved far too attractive to be controlled by the horrors of death or torture.
The truth is, however specious the edicts and writings of the Chinese may appearon paper, they are perfectly futile in reality, when the will of the people and the absence of any early prejudice is opposed to their accomplishment.
Without further pursuing a subject which, though deeply interesting, has been already so much a matter of discussion, we may at once come to the conclusion, that the passion of the Chinese for the pernicious intoxication of opium, was the first link in the chain which was destined to connect them at some future day with all the other families of mankind. The abolition of the privileges of the East India Company first opened the door for thegeneraltrade of all foreign nations upon an extended scale; but the trade in opium, which the Chinese were determined to carry on, in spite of all opposition of their owngovernment, and with a full knowledge of the pernicious consequences which resulted from it, was theinstrumentby means of which the haughty tone and the inapproachable reserve of their government were to be at length overcome.
We now come to the period of the famous Commissioner Lin's appointment to Canton. This was indeed the climax of all the perplexities. Lin himself was the Robespierre, the terrorist, the reckless despot, who represented a certain party in the empire, who conscientiously believed that they couldterrifynot only their own countrymen, but even foreign nations, into patient submission to their will.
This singular man seems to have been composed of good and bad qualities in equal proportions, but always of a violent kind. In any other country than China, he would have been either distinguished as a demagogue or branded as a tyrant, precisely as circumstances chanced to lead him into a particular channel. He was reckless of consequences, so long as he could carry out his will without control. He was violent, yet not selfish; changeable, yet always clinging to his original views; severe, and even cruel and inexorable, in the measures by which he sought to gain his ends; yet, in reality, he is believed to have meant well for his country, and to have had the interests and the wishes of the emperor, his master, always at heart. He certainly believed that he could control both the people under his own government, and the foreigners who came into contact with them,by force; and his very errors seem to have arisen from excess of zeal in the cause which he adopted. His talent was unquestionable.
Lin became intoxicated with his own success (for the time, at all events) in whatever he undertook; and expected all his orders to be executed with the same energy and facility with which he gave them utterance. It is said, moreover, that he procured a copy of a remarkable work called a "Digest of Foreign Customs, Practices, Manners," &c., in which bad deeds rather than good ones, and even the names of individual merchants, were brought forward; and that he studied this book with constant pleasure.
On the 10th of March, 1839, this redoubtable commissioner reached Canton, having travelled with extraordinary speed from Pekin, whither he had been called to receive his appointment at the hands of the emperor himself; who is said to have even shed tears, as he parted with him.
He lost not a moment, upon his arrival at Canton, in setting all the powerful energies of his mind to work, to devise means of accomplishing his ends. He determined to endeavour to put a complete stop to the traffic in opium, both on the part of his own people and on that of foreigners; and his great aimwas to "control, curb, and humble," the foreign community generally.
From this time forth, it became very evident, that great and complicated events must be looked for upon the political horizon. Even Captain Elliot himself could hardly hope that his little star of diplomacy could light the road to a solution of the difficulties, without an ultimate resort to arms.
It is true, that for a brief interval previous to Lin's arrival, the prospect seemed to brighten considerably. Captain Elliot had partially succeeded in establishing direct official intercourse with the governor of Canton; for it had been at length agreed, that all sealed communications coming from the chief superintendent, should be delivered into the hands of the governor, and the seal broken by him only. This was a great point gained; and Elliot seems to have managed it with considerable tact. Nevertheless, the correspondence could not be said even now, to be carried on upon terms of "perfect equality;" and even this concession was quite as much a matter of necessity to the governor, as it was to Captain Elliot; for the cessation of intercourse had been a source of equal embarrassment to them both.
This Governor Tang was a crafty, cringing, self-interested man; he derived immense sums from opium, and his own son was said to be employed in the clandestine traffic, against which, the father was uttering severe denunciations, followed by severer persecutions.
Lin afterwards suspected, and, perhaps, even discovered his delinquencies; and Tang became a willing and submissive instrument, if not a cringing sycophant. But his day of punishment came at last.
It is worthy of notice that, just previous to the arrival of Commissioner Lin at Canton, the opium-trade had received such a check, that it might be said to have been for the time almost entirely suspended. We have seen the strong measures taken by Captain Elliot against it, which proved that he looked upon it with no favouring eye; and, in short, at that time the opium vessels had left the river altogether. But Lin was not a man to do things by halves. He had formerly, when governor of a province, earned the character of the people's friend; and he seemed now more determined still to win the appellation of the foreigner's enemy. He had belonged to the party opposed tothe empress's influence, and, had she survived and continued in power, he would never have been sent on so dangerous a mission. But, when once the liberal party, and the advocates for the legalization of the opium trade, upon the grounds of theimpossibilityof excluding it by prohibition, had been defeated, it became almost a point of honour, certainly of pride with Lin, to shew how successfully he could carry out the views of the high Chinese, or exclusive party.
From the very moment of Lin's arrival, clothed with unlimited power, his restless energy, and his quick penetrating eye, made every officer of his government cower down before him. Indeed, there was hardly an officer of the province, from the governor downwards, who did not feel conscious of guilt, corruption, and peculation. From high to low, from rich to poor, Lin determined that a reign of terror should commence. He had lists prepared, containing observations upon the characters of all the public officers, of the Hong merchants, and even of the foreigners. He seemed determined to wage war with everybody. And, as a proof that his intentions against the foreign community were anything but conciliatory, within a few days after his arrival he sent round the Hong merchants to the different factories, to ascertain, by intrigue and persuasion,what weapons the foreigners were in possession of, and what means they had at hand for their own immediate defence.
Having privately arranged all his plans, and, believing that the foreigners were sleeping, Lin now ordered that all the opium in the inner waters, and also in the store ships in the "outer waters," should be given up to the officers of his government; and that a bond should be drawn up in "Chinese and foreign character, stating clearly that the ships afterwards to arrive there shall never, to all eternity, dare to bring any opium; or, if they did so, that their whole cargo should be confiscated, and all their people put to death, [byChineseofficers,] and, moreover, that they would willingly undergo it as the penalty of their crime."
This proclamation certainly caused a little panic in Canton, and it was precisely what the commissioner desired; and, the more the foreign merchants seemed disposed to meet his excellency's views, as far as lay in their power, so much the more did the demands of the commissioner rise. Every concession on the part of Captain Elliot, or the merchants, was to him a victory gained, and the forerunner of greater ones. Threats thundered forth against the heads of the Hong merchants rebounded in threats of all sorts, and alarming statements from them to the foreigners.
There seems to be some reason for supposing that, in the commencement of the business, it was intended by Lin that a certain compensation should be granted to foreigners for thevalue of the opium surrendered. Gradually, however, as he thought himself getting stronger, this intention was quite lost sight of; and almost at the same time an edict came out, forbidding all foreigners to apply for permission to go down to Macao—in fact, preventing them from leaving Canton or Whampoa.
At this period, not ten days had elapsed since Lin's arrival at Canton, and there had not been sufficient time even to reply to his proclamation,only issued the preceding day, respecting the opium and the bond. Lin's impatience hurried on one event upon another, in his headlong career; he issued orders, without waiting to see whether his previous ones had been attended to. Whatever unfortunate results may have ultimately sprung from his policy, it can never be questioned that for the time his darling object was, not only to "humble the foreigners," but to carry out, to the letter, the express directions of his Emperor, which were delivered to him in these words:—"to scrub and wash away the filth, and to cut up the opium-evil by the roots, and to remove calamities from the people."
Within a few days after his arrival, we have seen that Lin was embroiled with the whole foreign community; and, in the short space of twenty-four hours, edicts appeared, as has been stated, commanding the surrender of all the opium, whether strictly in the Chinese waters or not; and placing under arrest every foreigner, both at Canton and Whampoa, without alleging any grounds for the proceeding.
The drama was now fast spreading out into its different acts and scenes. An agreement that one thousand chests should be delivered up, only led to the demand for more, andfourthousand chests were then required.
Next, Mr. Dent, one of the principal merchants, was to be brought before the commissionerwithinthe city; and, in order to save, as he believed, the heads of some of the Hong merchants, he agreed that he would go, provided that he should receive beforehand a safe-conduct from the imperial commissioner himself, guaranteeing his safe return; but upon any other condition he refused to put himself voluntarily in his power. The reply to this was, "that, if he did not come of his own free will, he should be dragged out of his house by force;" and the threat was added, that, in that case, the high commissioner would assuredly kill him.
A circular from Captain Elliot now required that "all ships belonging to her Majesty's subjects at the outer anchorages should proceed at once to Hong-Kong, since her Majesty's subjects were then detained at Canton against their will." It will scarcely be credited, that at this time the only British man-of-war in the Chinese waters was the small sloop, the Larne. This was perfectly well known to the Chinese, who, consequently,conceived themselves strong enough to proceed to the highest degree of violence and indignity. And, when the Larne afterwards went up to the Bogue, and demanded certain explanations of the Admiral Kwan, (who, we have before seen, was on friendly terms with Sir Frederick Maitland, on a previous occasion, when he visited the Bogue in aline-of-battle ship,) the only answer that Kwan condescended to give to thelittleLarne was, "that she (or rather her captain) ought to know her own weakness, and be reverentially obedient, as Maitland had been before."
At the critical juncture I have above described, Captain Elliot resolved to come up to the British factory in person, in a small open boat, and, for a moment, our flag was again hoisted, when all were virtually prisoners, whom the flag could not protect. He now declared his intention of demanding passports for all her Majesty's subjects withinten days—(should he not have demanded themat once?) but, having no armed force that he could call to his aid, all he could do was to say, "that, if they were refused for the period of three days after his application, he should be forced into the conclusion that British subjects were all to be violently detained as hostages, in order that they might be intimidated into unworthy concessions."
Lin now had Elliot completely in his power, and was doubtless much surprised himself at the success of all his schemes. At that moment, neither the flag nor the guns of England could protect her people: they were prisoners in their own halls; and it is a positive fact that, for some time, the only chance of relief or protection which they had to look to, was the expected arrival of twoAmerican ships of war, which were known to be on their way out, having been applied for by the consul of that country, upon the first appearance of the difficulties.
This was a grand opportunity for pushing their fortunes in that quarter, which the Americans knew well how to profit by. In reality, the whole foreign trade was for a time in jeopardy; but the Americans profited precisely in proportion to the increase of our difficulties, and their trade increased exactly as ours declined. The moment was an advantageous one for proving to the Chinese that Americans were not Englishmen; although they cleverly made them understand that theyhad beenso once, but at last had conquered for themselves a name, a flag, and a nation.
It has been said that, at a later period, an American merchant had more than one interview with Lin, in which various suggestions were made as to the measures to be adopted; but, whether they were of a favourable or unfavourable nature to English interests, it is impossible to say with confidence. The results of the conference were kept very secret.
Having secured all the foreigners within his grasp, Lin's nextstep was to withdraw all the native servants from the factories, and to forbid the sale of provisions to foreigners in any shape. Armed men were posted on every side, to prevent any one from attempting to escape, while the river was blockaded, and all the foreign boats which could be found were drawn up high and dry on shore, or else destroyed. In the meantime, however, no provisions were supplied by Lin himself; consequently, the foreign prisoners were in a worse plight, in that respect, than the actual malefactors in the cells of the public prisons of the town; and his object was evidently tostarvethem into compliance with his wishes, if, indeed, he knew himself what the full extent of his wishes really was.
Captain Elliot was now called upon to deliver upallthe opium, wherever it might be found. And yet it was clear enough that Captain Elliot could not possibly knowwhereall the opium was, or how much it might be; and, having already agreed to the demand for, first, one thousand, and then four thousand chests, it would clearly be necessary to stipulate some quantity as a satisfactory equivalent for all.
Even in their present dilemma a more decided show of firmness, and a threat of the retribution which would fall upon him hereafter for his violent proceedings, might, possibly, have restored to the commissioner some little portion of his reasonableness, if not his reason. Nevertheless, as the whole community of foreigners (not the English only) were now under a course of starvation and imprisonment, and were in a degraded position in the eyes of all Chinamen, it is difficult to say if any other course could have been adopted than the one chosen by Captain Elliot. A bond was signed, under the influence and by the compulsion of existing circumstances, by all the parties, that they would not deal any more in opium; but they did not accede to the penalty of death, &c. &c., which Lin had originally attempted to impose. And, at the requisition of Captain Elliot, they agreed to deliver up all the opium then in theirpossession, "for the service of her Majesty's government."
The quantity of opium to be delivered was not stipulated at the time. But, after returns had been very honourably and equitably sent to Captain Elliot, it appeared that he could command the enormous quantity of 20,283 chests; and he accordingly agreed that that immense number should be delivered up to officers deputed by Lin to receive it. It was also stipulated that, as soon as one-fourth should be given up, the servants should be restored; that, after one-half had been delivered, the passage-boats should run as usual down to Macao; that trade should be opened as soon as three-fourths had been given up; and that, when the whole of it had been surrendered, "things should go on as usual."
As yet scarcely three weeks had elapsed since Commissioner Lin had come down, with this enormous power upon his shoulders; and yet it had sufficed to enable him to effect this vast change in the relations which existed between the Chinese and the foreign community, and to astonish even his own countrymen by the energy and rashness of his measures.
The commissioner was perfectly surprised at his own success, and equally so at the enormous quantity of opium which Elliot declared himself able to procure. But, in point of fact, there were not so many as 20,000 chests of opium in the "Chinese waters" at that time, although that amount was at last procured, for vessels were sent to a distance even to seek for it, and to purchase it for Captain Elliot. Some of it was lying at Manilla, whence it was brought over for the purpose.
The next step in Lin's political delinquency was, that he broke the very agreement he had just made; and, instead of allowing the passage-boats to pass down to Macao, as usual, as soon as one-half of the stipulated number of chests had been surrendered, as agreed, he selected the names of sixteen gentlemen out of the whole community, and issued the strictest orders againsttheirdeparture; and directed that every one of the passage-boats should be examined, to see if any of these gentlemen were on board, and to prevent their escape.
Nevertheless, at this time the commissioner would seem to have had some misgivings about the posture of affairs, and became at one time inclined to recommend the "obedient" foreigners to the notice of the Emperor, for the purpose of having some mark of favour conferred upon them. This was thought to point at some kind of compensation for the value of the opium surrendered, but nothing further was heard of it.
On the 21st of May, 1839, the last portion of the stipulated quantity of 20,283 chests of opium was delivered up at the Bogue, where the rest of it was stored, awaiting the Imperial pleasure. Many questions arose as to how it was to be disposed of, but at last Lin himself hit upon the clever expedient of destroying it by lime and oil, in pits dug for the purpose, and then pouring the fluid compound into the sea. Double guards were placed to prevent any of the drug from being stolen, and death was to be the punishment of every delinquent. There were checks and spies in all directions, and the process of destruction was carried on with great parade. Nevertheless, it is believed that some of it was purloined, both on shore and on its way from the ships to the landing-place, where mandarin-boats and war-junks were collected in great number.
As soon as possible after he had regained his liberty, Captain Elliot sent intelligence of all these occurrences to Bombay, (for the overland mail,) by a fast sailing vessel, hired expressly forthe purpose, called the Ariel; and, at the same time, H.M. sloop Larne was despatched to Calcutta, to report them to the governor-general of India. Consequently, there was thennot a single British ship of warof any description in the Chinese waters, for the protection of British life and property. Luckily, the arrival soon afterwards of the American ships of war, the Columbia and the John Adams, served to reassure the drooping spirits of the whole foreign community.
Other acts of atrocity and bad faith had also been committed by the Chinese authorities; but it is remarkable that Captain Elliot, whose personal courage and natural ability have never been questioned, seems to have entered no public protest, nor addressed any strong remonstrance to the commissioner, either upon this subject, or upon that of his own imprisonment, or rather confinement, at Canton. The probability is, that he thought it useless to do so, unless he were prepared to back his remonstrance by a demonstration of force. Nevertheless, after the foreigners were released, he issued a notice that all trade on the part of his countrymen with the Chinese should be stopped. And this notice was repeated in still stronger terms after the departure of the Larne; for he declared that "he saw no prospect of such an arrangement of existing difficulties as to admit of British ships proceeding within the Bocca Tigris, under the sanction of his authority, until the opinion of her Majesty's government could be made known to him." And at a later period, he thought it necessary to warn all the merchants, (dated the 29th of July,) "that he had moved her Majesty's and the Indian governments to forbid the admission of tea and other produce from China into Great Britain and India, during the existence of the preceding prohibition in Canton, unless their manifests were signed in his presence."
The stoppage of the trade by Captain Elliot irritated Lin excessively. It was turning the tables against himself, defeating him with his own weapons; it savoured of presumption in his sight; and, moreover, it materially diminished his revenue. It proved that, however bombastic and ridiculous their professions ofindifferenceto the trade of foreigners might be, they really stood very much in need of it themselves, and, in fact, they felt the stoppage of it on our part quite as much as we ever did on theirs. It made Lin actually spiteful; he tried every art to induce the English to actcontraryto Elliot's orders; and, subsequently, when he went down to Macao to see with his own eyes what the Portuguese were about, he went so far as to make it a matter of accusation against Elliot, that "he hadpreventedthe merchant ships of his country from entering the port of Canton."
Such gross inconsistency, probably, was never before presentedto view in so short a period of time by any public man. Lin was, in fact, completely at bay, and he, moreover, had probably heard by this time that more than one British man-of war was expected. Nevertheless, he by no means relaxed in his feelings of bitter hostility; he listened to everything that was said or written against the English and against opium; he so alarmed the Portuguese, as to make them expel all the English, out of the town, (or, what is the same thing, he threatened to attack the town if the English remained in it;) and he made them prohibit the importation of opium, which had formerly been permitted upon payment of duty; though, to this day, the traffic is continued by them in full vigour at the outer anchorages, and in the Typa near Macao, although it is prohibited to be landed at the town, under the eye of the authorities. Nevertheless, a sufficient quantity of it is brought into the town for local consumption.
Lin now appeared to have reached the pinnacle of his power. He flattered himself that his schemes had been all successful; his power appeared irresistible, because no effectual opposition to it had yet been offered. The more concessions were made to him, the more exacting he became; and having got the English out of Macao, and made the Portuguese submissive to his will, he then assumed a very bland and condescending tone.
In the interim, it was very evident that a storm of a new kind was brewing, which was likely soon to burst upon his head. Moreover, all the attempts he had made to control his own people failed; his executions, his denunciations, and his moral lectures, were alike unavailing. He gave the people a year, within which they were to break off the habit by degrees, and to reform their manners; and, at the end of that time, he vowed he would execute every man amongst them that persisted in it. In the meantime, he hit upon the last and darling expedient of every Chinese statesman and philosopher, that of making men mutually responsible for each other. Thus the whole people were to be divided into tens, as they were elsewhere in the days of Alfred the Great, and each one of the party was to be made personally responsible for the good behaviour of all the rest with whom he was associated.
Notwithstanding all these strong measures, urged with all the sincerity of an enthusiast, they both failed at the time, and have failed ever since to eradicate the evil. The demand for the drug increased with the difficulty of procuring it; the indulgence became dearer owing to the danger which attended it; and, after all that was said and done, opium continued to be sought and enormously paid for. It was more generally used than ever; and even attention became directed to the cultivation of thepoppy on Chinese soil, when the difficulty of procuring it from abroad became more urgent.
Lin rose into high favour, for a time, with the Imperial court, as might naturally be expected, and he was appointed governor of the second province in the empire. But long before the time came for him to remove to his new post, his star began to wane, his difficulties increased, and ultimately his fall was as great as his rise had been rapid.
For several months, as I have before stated, no British ship of war was present in the Chinese waters. It was in this interval—namely, in the month of July, 1839—that the great difficulty arose which excited so much attention at the time, and has done so since, arising out of the death of a Chinaman, by name Lin Wiehe, at Hong-Kong, during an affray with some British merchant seamen. This event was eagerly taken advantage of by the commissioner to attempt to enforce certain claims against the foreigners. Without entering into tedious details, many of which are already well known, it will suffice to mention that the man's death was really occasioned by a drunken row at a village near Hong-Kong; that the commissioner, in accordance with what had formerly been done on a similar occasion at Canton, demanded the surrender of themurdererto be tried by Chinese judges, and that Captain Elliot denied the jurisdiction altogether; but, at the same time, he himself preferred an indictment for murder against a seaman before a British grand-jury at Hong-Kong, who ignored the bill. But several men were ultimately found guilty of an assault only, and it appeared that one party was just as much to blame as the other.
The commissioner then grew more angry than ever: he caused the few English who still remained at Macao to be still further persecuted, and it was only through the friendly assistance of individual Portuguese families that they were enabled to obtain their daily food. The result was, that the whole British community left the place, together with Captain Elliot, and went to live on board the different merchant ships in harbour.
Things could not remain long in such a state of embarrassment; and, fortunately, on the 11th of September—that is, about three months and a half after the Larne had left those seas—the Volage, under Captain Smith, arrived. That gallant officer immediately perceived that active steps of some kind must be taken, and he accordingly issued a notice of blockade of the port of Canton, upon the ground "that the regular supplies of food had been prohibited to her Majesty's subjects; that the Chinese people had been ordered to fire upon and seize them wherever they went; and that certain of her Majesty's subjects had been actually cut off."
The immediate effect of this notice was to bring the Chinese, in some measure, to their senses; their proclamations against Englishmen were withdrawn—provisions were no longer prohibited; and, consequently, Captain Smith very properly withdrew his notice of blockade. Negotiations were entered into, and it was at length agreed that trade should be resumedoutsidethe port of Canton.
Yet, all on a sudden, even this arrangement was violated by the Chinese; and, on the 26th October, notice was issued that they now required that ships should enterwithinthe port of Canton—that is, within the Bocca Tigris. They repeated the demand for the murderer of Lin Wiehe to be given up, and that a bond should be signed by all, agreeing to be tried byChinese officers for offences declared by them, before trial, to be capital. If this mandate were not obeyed, the whole of the foreign ships were to depart within three days, under a threat of immediate destruction.
The whole fleet, therefore, was now recommended to anchor in Tongkoo Bay, or Urmston's Harbour, which afterwards became the rendezvous of all the ships of war.
It is not necessary here to enter into minute details; it will be sufficient for the full understanding of the future operations to state that difficulties continued to increase on both sides, without much prospect of any solution. The Hyacinth having now arrived and joined the Volage on the 29th October, these two vessels proceeded with Captain Elliot to Chuenpee, some distance below the Bogue, to endeavour to obtain from the commissioner some explicit declaration of his intentions. On the 3rd of November they were attacked by the Chinese admiral with twenty-nine sail of war-junks, which, of course, they soon beat off: and thus occurred the first direct hostile encounter between the armed forces of the two nations. War now became more than ever inevitable. Yet, at the end of the following month, these two ships of war were again compelled to proceed to the Bogue, in consequence of the seizure of a British subject by the Chinese (not engaged in selling opium) at the anchorage of Tongkoo Bay.
The blockade of the river and port of Canton was therefore renewed by Captain Smith on the 15th January, 1840; but the gentleman who had been seized, Mr. Gribble, was at once restored, and the blockade was consequently raised.
Scarcely had this taken place, when down came to Macao a new Chinese governor of that district, and issued a positive edict for the immediate expulsion of all the English. Captain Smith, with becoming spirit, instantly ordered the Hyacinth, Captain Warren, to proceed into the inner harbour for the protection of his countrymen, which measure seemed to give greatumbrage to the Portuguese governor, Da Silveira Pinto; and, in consequence of his representations, she was withdrawn on the following morning.
Occasion was taken to make as much as possible out of this occurrence, as if the Portuguese really possessed some authority in the place beyond that over their own countrymen, and very futile appeals were made to treaties with the Chinese government. After all, the utmost that could be said of it was, that if it was a little deficient in courtesy towards the Portuguese governor, the latter should have rather volunteered his consent to it. Nevertheless, the energetic spirit which it evinced undoubtedly tended to check the presumption of the Chinese authorities, and thus far to give some little security to British subjects. Captain Smith very properly put it upon the ground of its strengthening the Portuguese governor's hands, which in reality it did, and which that functionary stood greatly in need of. At the same time, Captain Smith very laudably expressed a hope that the language in which his Excellency would "demand the immediate removal of the Chinese forces,declaredlysent here to seize or destroy my countrymen, (to the deep insult of the Portuguese crown,) will be not less stringent, and as successful in its operation, as that in which your Excellency has been pleased to order the withdrawal of the Hyacinth."
During the whole of this time, preparations were being made by the Chinese for future operations in the Canton River; fireships were prepared, guns collected, and troops exercised.
On the 24th March, 1840, the fine frigate the Druid, commanded by Lord John Churchill, arrived off Macao, and thence proceeded to Tongkoo Roads, a most welcome reinforcement. About this time, also, the Chinese purchased the English merchant ship the Cambridge, intending to turn her into a man-of-war, and built some strange-looking little schooners upon a European model, with the view of employing them in some novel way or other against the British ships.
It is said that, at one time, Commissioner Lin got up a sort of sham fight at the Bogue, and dressed some of the assailants in red clothes, in order to habituate the defenders to the sight of the colour of the enemy's costume. Of course the red gentlemen were thoroughly beaten. Matters had now proceeded so far, that it was impossible that any solution of the enigma could be arrived at without speedy employment of force. The success of their first measures, and the helpless condition in which foreigners then found themselves, had emboldened the Chinese beyond reason, and had fed their presumption even till it burst with its own self-applause.
Lord John Churchill, who was now, of course, senior officer, unhappily died, after a few weeks' illness, on the 3rd of June.Few days had elapsed before the Chinese sent a number of fireships to endeavour to destroy the English merchant-ships collected at the anchorage of Capsingmoon, but they proved a complete failure.
The British naval force now rapidly gained accession to its strength. The tidings of the events at Canton had spread to all parts of the world. Preparations had been immediately commenced in England and elsewhere for the coming contest. The Alligator, from New South Wales, under Sir Gordon Bremer, arrived about this time, as also did the Honourable Company's steamer, Madagascar, and likewise the Wellesley, 74, in which Sir Gordon Bremer hoisted his broad pendant; and, on the 28th of June, 1840, Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer established a blockade of the port and river of Canton and all its entrances, by command of her Majesty's government. Ships of war now continued to arrive as fast as possible; the force in the Chinese waters was considerable; and, within two or three days after the commencement of the blockade, the chief command was assumed by Rear-Admiral the Honourable George Elliot, who had just arrived in the Melville, 74.
It will be generally admitted by all who have seen the Canton river, or, as the Chinese call it, Choo-keang, that, in point of size, depth, and picturesque character, it is one of the finest navigable rivers in the world. Merchant ships of the largest size, perhaps the proudest which float, have navigated it for nearly two hundred years, to within a distance of nine or ten miles from Canton, with little difficulty, and very inconsiderable danger. No foreign commerce with any one port has been so valuable, so extensive, or carried on with so much facility. The difficulties of our intercourse, which have arisen within the last few years, have formed an epoch in the world's history, and stand forth as a leading beacon in the stream of time, pointing towards greater eras yet to come.
An archipelago of numerous islands, most of them rocky, and only partially productive, warns you of the approach to this celebrated river. Strictly speaking, only that portion of it above the Bocca Tigris has been called the river; while all below that point, even from beyond Macao upwards, (the latter lying at the distance of from forty to fifty miles from the Bogue forts,) has been called the outer waters; nevertheless, it ought properly to be included within the precincts of the river itself.
Since the questions connected with the opium-trade have been brought so prominently forward, it has been maintained by some, that the "outer waters" ought not properly to be considered within Chinese jurisdiction. But this position would hardly seem to be tenable; and there can be no sound reason for maintaining that these waters should not be considered as much, andeven more, within their jurisdiction as the sea-coast or river islands of any part of Europe are within the jurisdiction of the country to which they belong, to the distance of a certain number of miles from the land itself. In reality, the little peninsula of Macao on the west, and the island of Lintao (not to be confounded with Lintin) on the east, may be considered as the proper boundaries of the entrance to the Canton River.
These points are about fifteen to twenty miles apart, while between them lie several small islands, through which are the two principal navigable passages (the western and the Lintao passages) into the river itself. But the island of Lintao, called Tyho by the Chinese, is a long, narrow, mountainous piece of land, broken up into numerous bays and projecting points, stretching from south-west to north-east, separated at the latter extremity from the mainland only about the distance of a mile. The passage and anchorage between them is called Capsingmoon, and is made use of occasionally even by large vessels, which pass towards the river or across from Macao towards the island of Hong-Kong, which lies off the mainland at about five or six miles to the eastward of Lintao.[13]
The anchorage of Tongkoo Bay, towards which the Nemesis was to proceed to rejoin the fleet, and which is also known by the name of Urmston's Harbour, from having been recommended by Sir James Urmston, formerly President of the Company's factory at Canton, is situated about six miles due north from Lintao, between the little islands called Tongkoo and Sowchow, near the mainland, as you proceed upwards within the outer waters of the Canton River, along its eastern shores. It was here that the fleet anchored in 1823, in consequence of some discussions with the Chinese, arising out of the affair of the Topaze frigate, which occurred in the preceding year.[14]
About five miles distant from Tongkoo Bay, more towards the centre of the river, and a little to the northward, is the small island of Lintin, terminating in a very remarkable, high, conical peak, which is a guide to all vessels passing up or down. It has become famous as a place of rendezvous for the opium vessels, particularly within the last few years; and a merchant brig, bearing its name, has been recently sold to the Chinese as a man-of-war, though old and not very serviceable. This island must not be confounded with that of Lintao, before alluded to, and from which it is about eight or nine miles distant.
Having now got fairly into Tongkoo Bay with the fleet, and feeling something of the interest and excitement which were awakened in the breasts of all who were brought together in such a place and at such a time, we will next proceed to recount a few of the remarkable events of the year 1840, reserving the description of the other parts of the river for those portions of the narrative with which they are connected.
Towards the end of July, 1840, the British force assembled in China had become considerable: comprising no less than three line-of-battle ships, with a Rear-Admiral and a Commodore; thirteen other ships of war, of different kinds, and a large troop-ship; together with four armed steamers, belonging to the East India Company. To these must be added twenty-seven transports, having on board the 18th, 26th, and 49th regiments, a body of Bengal volunteers, and a corps of Madras sappers and miners. The marines and seamen were of course prepared to co-operate on shore. This was undoubtedly a formidable force, especially when we reflect that little more than a year had elapsed since there wasno armed force whateverin the Chinese waters, and the flag of England had ceased to wave even upon the Factories.
The measures adopted by the Governor-general of India, when once the crisis had arrived, were sufficiently energetic and decisive. The consequences of the rupture were now easily foreseen; and the interest which the state of our relations with China had begun to awaken, both in England and in India, was daily becoming more general.
On the first arrival of the large force mentioned below,[15]it did not appear to alarm Commissioner Lin, and his obsequious satellite, Governor Tang, nearly so much as might have been expected. On the contrary, Lin continued to organize means of defence, to enlist soldiers, and to arm his forts. It was, moreover, at this moment that he hit upon his notable expedient of offering immense rewards for the destruction, in any manner whatever, of British ships, either men-of-war or merchant vessels, and also for the capture or slaughter of British officers. But the reward for taking them alive was to be greater than for killing them. There was also a reward for taking soldiers ormerchants, but only one-fifth of the sum if they were killed. A reward was also to be given for the capture ofcoloured people, soldiers, or servants, although its amount was not mentioned.
All this followed after the declaration of blockade by Sir Gordon Bremer, and after a public complaint had been made by Captain Elliot against Lin and Tang, for various treacherous acts, such as attacking our vessels at night (merchant vessels), poisoning the water, and preventing supplies of food from being brought to the factories, &c.
It was now very evident, that although no formal declaration of war had been made on our part, it had become impossible to avoid warlike operations on an extended scale, and at no distant time.
Rear-Admiral Elliot had now been associated with Captain Elliot in his diplomatic functions, and they were nominated Joint-Plenipotentiaries for settling the matters in dispute with the Emperor. That object appeared little likely to be attained by wasting time in negotiations with irresponsible and overbearing public officers at Canton; it was, therefore, wisely resolved to take advantage of the best season of the year while it still lasted, and to proceed northward with the bulk of the force, in order to bring the emperor and his ministers to their senses, by exciting alarm as near as possible to the imperial capital. The Peiho river, therefore, which commands one of the great channels of intercourse with the metropolis, and is connected with the Grand Canal, through which all the wealth of China flows to Pekin, was now avowedly the chief point to which the expedition was to be directed.
This movement was by no means a mere demonstration for the purpose of giving éclat to the conduct of the negotiations, but was in reality ahostileoperation; at all events, it became so as it proceeded, and the results of it may, in reality, be called the First Campaign in China. It was commonly called the first "China Expedition;" but the appellation was afterwards changed to the "Eastern Expeditionary force," which was also applied to the second expedition, as will be afterwards seen.
A small force being left at the Bogue to maintain the blockade,the bulk of the expedition, together with the two plenipotentiaries, sailed to the northward at the end of June; part of the force above mentioned did not arrive until after the rest had sailed, but it soon followed the rest.
The first encounter with the Chinese took place at Amoy, in the beginning of July, 1840. The Blonde, forty-four, Captain Bourchier, was sent into the harbour of Amoy, to endeavour to hand over a letter from the English naval commander-in-chief, addressed to the "Admiral of the Chinese nation." This high officer was not there, and the local mandarins refused to receive it, and fired upon a boat which was sent to the beach bearing a flag of truce at the bow, and conveying Mr. Thom, as interpreter, for the purpose of delivering the letter to the mandarins, for transmission to the Chinese admiral. The officers and crew of the boat had a narrow escape, for, besides being received with every possible indignity, the boat was fired at andstruck, while preparations were evidently being made for an attack upon the frigate itself. Indeed, nothing could possibly be more hostile and insulting than the conduct of the Chinese officers, who met Mr. Thom at the landing-place. They shewed some inclination even to seize the boat in which he came, and declared they neither feared him nor the ship either.
The result of their hostile bearing and of the attack on the boat was, that the guns of the Blonde were directed with terrific effect upon the Chinese batteries and the war-junks, immediately the boat reached the frigate. By this fire great damage was done, and the Chinese troops, who had assembled on the beach, were dispersed in all directions. Having inflicted this merited chastisement, as an example to the Chinese, the Blonde again set sail to join the main body of the force, in order to report the circumstances to the admiral.
On the 5th of July, the town of Tinghai, the capital of the island of Chusan, the principal of the group of islands bearing that name, fell to her Majesty's arms after a very slight resistance. But as this and other operations to the northward, during this brief season, have been well described by Lord Jocelyn, it will be sufficient merely to allude to them in a cursory way, particularly as they were of minor importance compared with subsequent events.
The failure of the attempt to deliver a letter from Lord Palmerston to some of the authorities at Ningpo, to be transmitted to the cabinet at Pekin, became a matter of serious importance, after what had taken place at Amoy, and, in consequence, a blockade of the coast was established from Ningpo to the mouth of the Yangtze River, the most frequented and most commercial part of the whole sea-board of China.
Nothing was more likely to make a deep impression upon theChinese government than the stoppage of this valuable trade, upon which the daily sustenance of a large part of the population of the interior actually depended. The ultimate conclusion of peace, which was brought about by the more active prosecution of these very measures, will be sufficient to prove their wisdom at that time; and it is due to Captain Elliot to mention, that the blockade of the Yangtze River was at all times one of his most favourite projects.
About the middle of August, the bulk of the squadron arrived off the mouth of the Peiho, below Tientsin, having been preceded two or three days by Captain Elliot, on board the Madagascar steamer.[16]Lord Palmerston's communication was there at length received, by an officer deputed for that purpose by Keshen, the governor of the province, and was forwarded to the emperor. Subsequently, a conference was held on shore between Keshen and Captain Elliot; and, whatever the results may otherwise have been, it is well known that the plenipotentiaries were persuaded, by the ingenuity of Keshen, that the future negotiations could be conducted with more satisfaction at Canton (provided a new commissioner were sent down from Pekin for that express purpose) than within a hundred miles of the emperor's palace.
In the meantime, however, while an answer was expected from the emperor to the communication addressed to his ministers by Lord Palmerston, the principal part of the squadron, which had come up to the Peiho, sailed further northward, up the gulf of Petchelee, to the great wall of China, which has so long been classed among the wonders of the world. The effect of the emperor's answer, and of the negotiations with Keshen was, that this squadron withdrew from the neighbourhood of the capital; and Keshen himself was appointed Imperial Commissioner, to proceed at once to Canton, to open negotiations with the plenipotentiaries. He was to supersede Lin, whose course seemed almost run, and who was ordered to Pekin in haste, to answer for his conduct. Nevertheless, he was subsequently allowed to remain as viceroy, or governor, at Canton, but never succeeded in obtaining the higher government which had been previously promised to him elsewhere, in the heyday of his favour.
By the end of September, the squadron had returned to Chusan from the Peiho. A truce was about this time announced and published at Chusan; and a common impression prevailed that a general armistice had been concluded at Tientsin with Keshen, pending the result of the negotiations to be carried on at Canton. This, however, was soon found to be erroneous; for, in a letter addressed to the merchants by Admiral Elliot, in Tongkoo Bay, on the 26th of November, (the very day after the Nemesis had reported her arrival to the admiral,) it was publicly declared that "the truce had been only entered into with Elepoo, the governor-general of that province [Che-keang], and did not extend further." It must, however, have included the port of Ningpo, and other parts of the coast of the mainland, within the limits of the governor's authority.
The plenipotentiaries, Captain Elliot and the Honourable George Elliot, returned to Macao on the 20th of November. It was on the following day that The Queen steamer was fired at and hit, as she passed the Chuenpee fort with a flag of truce. She had orders to proceed up to the Bogue, to deliver a letter which had been entrusted to her captain from "Elepoo," (probably concerning the truce he had concluded,) addressed to the Imperial Commissioner Keshen at Canton. In return for this attack, she threw a few shells and heavy shot into the fort, and went back to Tongkoo Bayre infectâ. This was the second time a flag of truce had been fired at, although the Chinese perfectly understood the peaceful purpose which it denoted. The despatch, however, was forwarded the same evening to Keshen at Canton, through the sub-prefect of Macao, into whose hands it was delivered by Captain Elliot. It was also reported that the commandant at Chuenpee sent up some of The Queen's heavy shot, which had lodged in the fort, as a present to the authorities at Canton, probably to shew how brave he had been to withstand such weighty missiles. He did not lose the opportunity to claim a victory for havingdrivenher off!
A heavy force was by this time collected at the mouth of the Canton River, reinforced as it had been by the arrival of the Calliope and Samarang, and also of the Nemesis, and by the addition of a fresh regiment, the 37th Madras native infantry.
Keshen arrived at Canton on the 29th of November, and sent an official notification to that effect to the plenipotentiaries; and it is remarkable that, almost at the same moment, Admiral Elliot was compelled to resign the command of the fleet, and also his duties as joint-plenipotentiary, through sudden and severe illness. A few days afterwards he embarked for England in the Volage, leaving Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer as commander-in-chief, and Captain Elliot for the time as again the sole plenipotentiary.
In order to render complete the general sketch of passing events to the close of 1840, I must not omit to mention the gallant affair at Macao under Captain Smith, commanding the Druid, which happened in the month of August, at the period when the main body of the expedition was engaged in the operations to the northward, already alluded to. It will be remembered that Captain Smith had once before thought it necessary to sail into the Inner Harbour, for the protection of Britishsubjects, but had retired upon a representation being made to him by the Portuguese government.
In the month of August, however, strange rumours of a rather threatening character began to prevail, but not of a very definite kind. One of the principal Chinese officers of Macao had been absent for some time at Canton, and, on his return, accompanied, or rather followed, by a body of troops, it became very evident that some hostile measure was in contemplation. A number of war-junks were likewise collected in the Inner Harbour, having troops on board. A considerable body of men were also encamped upon the narrow neck of land which separates Macao from the mainland, and across which there is a so-called Barrier, which forms the line of demarcation, beyond which the Portuguese have no jurisdiction.
This Barrier is composed of a wall, with parapets and a ditch running across the isthmus, and having a gateway, with a guard-house over it, in the centre. Beyond the Barrier the Chinese had very recently thrown up a flanking field-work, mounting about twelve guns, with a view of protecting the rear of the Barrier from the attack of an enemy attempting to land in boats. The war-junks were also placed so close in shore, in the Inner Harbour, as to be able to protect the Barrier on that side.
These movements were quite sufficient to prove that some attack was actually contemplated upon Macao itself, and the result of it, if successful, cannot be thought of without horror. But the promptitude and energy of Captain Smith anticipated the designs of the Chinese, and, by a most decisive and admirably combined movement, he soon scattered the whole Chinese forces like chaff before the wind. Taking with him the Larne and Hyacinth, with the Enterprise steamer and the Louisa cutter, he sailed boldly up towards the Barrier, and ran in as close as the shallowness of the water would permit. He then opened a spirited fire upon the whole of the Chinese works and barracks, which the Chinese returned. Their soldiers were seen mustering from different points, for the defence of the position.