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 have _afterwards_ borne 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 his _intercourse_ with 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 measures began 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 a
_victory_; and their successful repulse of 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, _within_ the 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 traffic _within_ the Bocca Tigris,
why can you not also put an end to it _in 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 the _temptations_
held 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 a _mercantile_
crisis was growing up at Canton, a _political_ intrigue, 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 against _change_, 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 a _party_ matter, 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 perhaps injustice, 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 ostensibly PATRIOTISM became
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 even _the lowest_ at
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 national MANIA, 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 despotic ruler 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 his _own 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 and _sold 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 for _its own weight_ in 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
actually _purchased_ for 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 traffic_ of 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 appear _on 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 the _general_ trade 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 own
government, and with a full knowledge of the pernicious consequences
which resulted from it, was the _instrument_ by 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 could _terrify_ not 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 aim was 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.