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 to the 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 the
_impossibility_ of 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, [by _Chinese_
officers,] 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 the value 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, and _four_ thousand chests were then
required.
Next, Mr. Dent, one of the principal merchants, was to be brought
before the commissioner _within_ the 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 a _line-of-battle ship_,) the only answer that Kwan
condescended to give to the _little_ Larne 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
within _ten days_--(should he not have demanded them _at 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 two _American 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 they _had
been_ so 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 next step
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 to _starve_ them 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 up _all_ the opium,
wherever it might be found. And yet it was clear enough that Captain
Elliot could not possibly know _where_ all 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 their _possession_, "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 against _their_ departure; 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 for the
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 then _not a single British ship of war_
of 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 of _indifference_ to 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 act _contrary_ to 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 had _prevented_ the
merchant ships of his country from entering the port of Canton."
Such gross inconsistency, probably, was never before presented to
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 the poppy 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
the _murderer_ to 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 resumed _outside_ the 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 enter _within_ the 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 by _Chinese 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 great umbrage 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, _declaredly_ sent 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.