WELLS WILLIAMS《The Middle Kingdom》19-23

CHAPTER XIX. CHBISTIAN MISSIONS AMONG THE CHINESE

The earliest recorded attempt to impart the knowledge of the true God to the Chinese ascribes it to the Nestorian church in the seventh century; though the voice of tradition, and detached notices in ecclesiastical writers of the Eastern Empire collated by Fabricius, lead to the belief that not many years elapsed after the times of the apostles before the sound of the gospel was heard in China and Chin-India. If the tradition contained in the breviary used among the Malabar Christians, that by Saint Thomas himself the Chinese were converted to the truth, be not received, Mosheim well remarks that ” we may believe that at an early period the Christian religion extended to the Chinese, Seres, and Tartars. There are various arguments collected from learned men to show that the Christian faith was carried to China, if not by the apostle Thomas, by the first teachers of Christianity.” Arnobius, a.d. 300, speaks of the Christian deeds done in India, and among the Seres, Persians, and Medes. The Nestorian monks who brought the eggs of the silk-worm to Constantinople(a.d. 551) had resided long in China, where it is reasonable to suppose they were not the first nor the only ones who went thither to preach the gospel. The extent of their success must be left to conjecture, but ” if such beams have travelled down to us through the darkness of so many ages, it is reasonable to believe they emanated from a brighter source.”

The time of the arrival of the Kestorians in China cannot be specified certainly, but there are grounds for placing it as early as a.d. 505. Ebedjesus Sobiensis remarks that ” the Catholicos Salibazacha created the metropolitan sees of Sina and Samarcand, though so e say they were constituted by Acbseus and Silas.” Silas was patriarch of the Xcstorians fi-oni a.d. 505 to 520 ; and Achneus was archbishop at Scleucia in 415. The metropolitan bishop of Sina is also mentioned in a list of those subject to this patriarch, published by Amro, and it is placed in the list after that of India, accordmg to the priority of foundation.

NESTOKIATs^ MISSION IN CHINA. 277

The only record yet found in China itself of the labors of the Nestorians is the celebrated monument which w’as discovered at Si-ngan fu in Shensi, in 1625 ; and though the discussion regarding its authenticity has been rather warm between the Jesuits and their opponents, the weight of evidence, both interiml and external, leaves no doubt regarding its vei’ity. It has been found quite recently to be in good preservation, and i-ubbings taken from it are nearly perfect. The Syi-iac characters composing the signatures of Olopun and his associates have made it an object of much interest to the natives; these, as Avell as the singular cross on its top (seen in the illustration), have doubtless contributed to its preservation. It was set up in 1850 by a Chinese who liad so much regard for it as to rebuild it in tlic brick wall where it had once stood outside of the city. The stone seems to be a coarse marble.

It has been often translated since the first attempt by Boime, published with the original by Kircher in Holland. In 1845 Dr. E. C. Bridgman published Kircher’s Latin translation with the French version of Dalquie, and another of his own, which brought it more into notice. The style is very terse, and the exact meaning not easily perceived even by learned natives. As Dr. Bridgman says, ” Were a hundred Chinese students employed on the document they would probably each give a different view of the meaning in some parts of the inscription.” This is apparent when four or five of them are compared. The last one, by A.Wylie, of the London Mission at Shanghai, goes over the whole subject with a fullness and care which leaves little to be desired.’

‘ Visdelou in Bthliotheque Oriental, Vol. IV. Kircher’s China Illustrata, Part I., Antwerp, 1667. Chinese Eejwsitory, XIV., pp. 201-329. Hue, Christianity in Chinti, I., pp. 49-58. Wylie, North China Herald, 1855, reprinted in Journal of Am. Oriental 8oc., Vol. V., p. 277. Archimandrite Palladius published a Russian version. Williamson, Journeys in North China, I., p. 382.Le (‘(itholicimne en Chine au VIIl” Sierle de notreere arec nne nourelle traduction de ^inscription de Sif-nr/a/ifoK, par P. D. de Thiersant, Paris, 1877.

TABLET EULOGIZING THE PROPAGATION OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS RELIGION IN CHINA, WITH A PREFACE; COMPOSED BY KINGTSING, A PRIEST OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH.

Behold the unchangeably true and invisible, who existed through all eternity without origin; the far-seeing perfect intelligence, whose mysterious existence is everlasting; operating on primordial substance he created the universe, being more excellent than all holy intelligences, inasmuch as he is the source of all that is honorable. This is our eternal true lord God, triune and mysterious in substance. He appointed the cross as the means for determining the four cardinal points, he moved the original spirit, and produced the two principles of nature; the sombre void was changed, and heaven and earth were opened out; the sun and moon revolved, and day and night commenced; having perfected all inferior objects, he then made the first man; upon him he bestowed an excellent disposition, giving him in charge the government of all created beings; man, acting out the original principles of his nature, was pure and iinostentatious ; his unsullied and expansive mind was free from the least inordinate desire ; until Satan introduced the seeds of falsehood, to deteriorate his purity of principle ; the opening thus commenced in his virtue gradually enlarged, and by this crevice in his nature was obscured and rendered vicious ; hence three hundred and sixty-five sects followed each other in continuous track, inventing every species of doctrinal complexity; while soYne pointed to material objects as the source of their faith, others reduced all to vacancy, even to the annihilation of the two primeval principles; some sought to call down blessings by prayers and supplications, while others by an assumption of excellence held themselves up as superior to their fellows ; their intellects and thoughts continually wavering, their minds and affections incessantly on the move, they never obtained their vast desires, but being exhausted and distressed they revolved in their own heated atmosphere ; till by an accumulation of obscurity they lost their path, and after long groping in darkness they were unable to return. Thereupon, our Trinity being divided in nature, the illustrious and honorable Messiah, veiling his true dignity, appeared in the world as a man; angelic powers promulgated the glad tidings, a virgin gave birth to the Holy One in Syria ; a bright star announced the felicitous event, and Persians’ observing the splendor came to present tribute; the ancient dispensation, as declared by the twenty-four holy men,’- was then fulfilled, and lie laid down great principles for the government of families and kingdoms; he established the new religion of the silent operation of the pure spirit of the Triune ; he rendered virtue subservient to direct faith ; he fixed the extent of the eight boundaries,”‘ thus completing the truth and freeing it from dross ; he opened the gate of the three constant principles, introducing life and destroying death ; he suspended the bright sun to invade the chambers of darkness, and the falsehoods of the devil were thereupon defeated ; he set in motion the vessel of mercy by which to ascend to the bright mansions, whereupon rational beings were then released; having thus completed the manifestation of his power, in clear day he ascended to his true station.

‘ Po-sz\ ‘ Persians.’ This name was well known to the Chinese at that time, being the designation of an extensive sect then located in the Empire, and the name of a nation with which they had held commercial and political intercourse for several centuries. The statement here is in admirable harmony with the general tradition of the early church, that the Magi or wise men mentioned in Matthew’s gospel were no other than philosophers of the Parsee sect.

‘ The ” holy men ” denote the writers of the books of the Old Testament.
”The “eight boundaries” are inexplicable; some refer them to the beatitudes
•The “three constant iiiiiiciplfs” may perhaps mean faith, hope, and charity.
‘ Exactly the number we have in the New Testament.

THE TABLET OF SI-NGAN FIT. 279

Twenty-seven sacred books have been left, which disseminate intelligence by unfolding the original transforming principles. By the rule for admission, it is the custom to apply the water of baptism, to wash away all superficial show and to cleanse and purify the neophytes. As a seal, they hold the cross, whose influence is reflected in every direction, uniting all without distinction. As they strike the wood, the fame of their benevolence is diffused abroad; worshipping toward the east, they hasten on the way to life and glory; they preserve the bea^d to symbolize their outward actions, they shave the crown to indicate the absence of inward affections ; they do not keep slaves, but put noble and mean all on an equality ; they do not amass wealth, but cast all their property into the common stock ; they fast, in order to perfect themselves by self-inspection ; they submit to restraints, in order to strengthen themselves by silent watchfulness ; seven times a day they have worship and praise, for the benefit of the liring and the dead; once in seven days they sacrifice, to cleanse the heart and return to purity.

It is difficult to find a name to express the excellence of the true and unchangeable doctrine; but as its meritorious operations are manifestly displayed, by accommodation it is named the Illustrious Religion. Now without holy men, principles cannot become expanded ; without principles, holy men cannot become magnified ; but with holy men and right principles, united as the two parts of a signet, the world becomes civilized and enlightened.

In the time of the accomplished Emperor Taitsung, the illustrious and magnificent founder of the dynasty, among the enlightened and holy men who arrived was the Most-virtuous Olopun, from the country of Syria. Observing the azure clouds, he bore the true sacred books; beholding the direction of the winds, he braved difficulties and dangers. In the year A.D. G35 he arrived at Chang-an; the Emperor sent his Prime Minister, Duke Fang Hiuenling ; who, carrying the official staff to the west border, conducted his guest into the interior; the sacred books were translated in the imperial library, the sovereign investigated the subject in his private apartments; when becoming deeply impressed with the rectitude and truth of the religion, he gave special orders for its dissemination. In the seventh month of the year A. D. G38 the following imperial proclamation was issued: “Right principles have no invariable name, holy men have no invariable station; instruction is established in accordance with the locality, with the object of benefiting the people at large. The Greatly-virtuous Olopun, of the kingdom of Syria, has brought his sacred books and images from that distant part, and has presented them at our chief capital. Having examined the principles of this religion, we find them to be purely excellent and natural; investigating its originating source, we find it has taken its rise from the establishment of important truths ; its ritual is free from perplexing expressions, its principles will survive when the framework is forgot ; it is beneficial to all creatures ; it is advantageous to mankind. Let it be published throughout the Empire, and let the proper authority build a Syrian church in the capital in the l-ning Way, which shall be governed by twenty-one priests. When the virtue of the Cliau dynasty declined, the rider on the azure ox ascended to the west ; the principles of the great Tang becoming resplendent, the Illustrious breezes have come to fan the East.”

Orders were then issued to the authorities to have a true portrait of the Emperor taken ; when it was transferred to the wall of the church, the dazzling splendor of the celestial visage irradiated the Illustrious portals. The sacred traces emitted a felicitous influence, and shed a perpetual splendor over the holy precincts. According to the Illustrated Memoir of the Western Regions, and the historical books of the Han and Wei dynasties, the kingdom ii Syria reaches south to the Coral Sea ; on the north it joins the Gem Mountains ; on the west it extends toward the borders of the immortals and the flowery forests; on the east it lies open to the violent winds and tideless waters. The country produces fire-proof cloth, life-restoring incense, bright moon-pearls, and night-lustre gems. Brigands and robbers are unknown, but the people enjoy happiness and peace. None but Illustrious laws prevail; none but the virtuous are raised to sovereign power. The land is broad and

ample, and its literary productions are perspicuous and clear.

The Emperor Kautsung respectfully succeeded his ancestor, and was still

more beneficent toward the institution of truth. In every province ho

caused Illustrious churches to be erected, and ratified the honor conferred

npon Olopun, making him the great conservator of doctrine for the preservation

of the State. While this doctrine pervaded every channel, the State

became enriched and tranquillity abounded. Every city was full of churches,

and the royal family enjoyed lustre and happiness. In the year A.D. (iD!) the Buddhists, gaining power, raised their voices in the eastern metropolis;

‘ in the year a.d. 713, some low fellows excited ridicule and spread slanders in the western capital. At that time there was the chief priest Lo-han, the Greatly virtuous Kie-leih, and others of noble estate from the golden regions, lofty minded priests, having abandoned all worldly interests; who unitedly maintained the grand princii)les and preserved them entire to the end.

The high-principled Emperor Iliuentsung caused the Prince of Ning and others, five princes in all, personally to visit the felicitous edifice; he established the place of worship ; .he restored the consecrated timbers which had been temporarily thrown down ; and re-erected the sacred stones which for a time had been desecrated.

In 742 orders were given to the great general Kau Lih-sz’, to send the five sacred portraits and have them placed in the church, and a gift of a hundred pieces of silk accompanied these pictures of intelligence. Although the dragon’s beard was then remote, their bows and swords were still within reach; while the solar horns sent forth their rays, and celestial visages seemed close at hand.’

‘ “Eastern metropolis” is Tiiiu/ Chan, literally ‘Eastern Chau.’ The Empire was at this time under the government of the Empress Wu Ze-tian, who had removed lu!r residence from Chang-an to Luoyang in Honan.

‘These personages are the first five Emperors of the Tang dynasty, Hiuentsung’s predecessors. Their portraits were so admirably painted that they seemed to be present, their arms could almost be handled, and their foreheads, or ” horns of the sun,” radiated their intelligence.

THE TABLET OF SI-NGAX FU. 281

In 744 the priest Kih-ho, in the kingdom of Syria, looking toward the star(of China), was attracted by its transforming influen, e, and observing the sun(i.e., Emperor), came to pay court to the most honorable. The Emperor commanded the priest Lo-han, the priest Pu-lun, and others, seven in all, together with the Greatly-virtuous Kih-ho, to perform a service of merit in the Hing-king palace. Thereupon the Emperor composed mottoes for the sides of the church, and the tablets were graced with the royal inscriptions ; the accumulated gems emitted their effulgence, while their sparkling brightness vied with the ruby clouds ; the transcripts of intelligence suspended in the void shot fortli their rays as reflected by the sun ; the bountiful gifts exceeded the height of the southern hills ; the bedewing favors were deep as the eastern Bea. Nothing is beyond the range of ri’rht principle, and what is permissible may be identified; nothing is beyiunl tin^ power of the holy man, and that which is practicable may be related.

The accomplished and enlightened Emperor Suhtsung rebuilt the Illustrious churches in Ling-wu and four other places ; great benefits were conferred, and felicity began to increase ; great munificence was displayed, and the imperial State became established.

The accomplished and military Emperor Taitsung magnified the sacred succession, and honored the latent principle of nature ; always, on the incarnation-day, he bestowed celestial incense, and ordered the performance of a service of merit ; he distributed of the imperial viands, in order to shed a glory on the Illustrious Congregation. Heaven is munificent in the dissemination of blessings, whereby the benefits of life are extended ; the holy man embodies the original principle of virtue, whence he is able to counteract noxious influences.

Our sacred and sage-like, accomplished and military Emperor Kienchung appointed the eight branches of government, according to which he advanced or degraded the intelligent and dull ; he opened up the nine categories, by means of which he renovated the illustrious decrees ; his transforming influence pervaded the most abstruse principles, while openness of heart distinguished his devotions. Thus, by correct and enlarged purity of principle, and undeviating consistency in sympathy with others; by extended commiseration rescuing multitudes from misery, while disseminating blessings on all around, the cultivation of our doctrine gained a grand basis, and by gradual advances its influence was diffused. If the winds and rains are seasonable, the world will be at rest; men will be guided by principle, inferior objects will be pure ; the living will be at ease, and the dead will rejoice ; the thoughts will produce their appropriate response, the affections will be free, and the eyes will be sincere ; such is the laudable condition which we of the Illustrious Religion are laboring to attain.

Our great benefactor, the Imperially-conferred-purple-gown priest,’ I-sz’, titular Great Statesman of the Banqueting-hou.se, Associated Secondary Military Commissioner for the Northern Region, and Examination-palace Overseer, was naturally mild and graciously disposed, his mind susceptible of sound doctrine, he was diligent in the performance ; from the distant city of Rajagriha,^ he came to visit China; his principles more lofty than those of the

‘ It was no rare occurrence for priests to occupy civil and military offices in the State during the Tang and preceding dynasties. Of the three titles here given, the first is merely an indication of rank, by which the bearer is entitled to a certain emolument from the State ; the second is his title as an officer actively engaged in the imperial service ; and the third is an honorary title, which gives to the possessor a certain status in the capital, without any duties or emolument connected therewith.

– WaiHj-s/ii’?!, literally ‘Royal residence,’ which is also the translation of the Sanskrit word Rajagriha, is the name of a city on the banks of the Ganges, thret:’ dynasties, his practice was perfect in every department; it first he applied himself to duties pertaining to the palace, eventually his name was inscribed on the military roll. When the Duke Koh Tsz’-i, Secondary Minister of State and Prince of Fan-yang, at first conducted the military in the northern region, the Emperor Suhtsung made him (1-sz’) his attendant on his travels; although he was a private chamberlain, he assumed no distinction on the march •, he was as claws and teeth to the duke, and in rousing the military he was as ears and eyes ; he distributed the wealth conferred upon him, not accumulating treasure for his private use ; he made offerings of the jewelry which had been given by imperial favor, he spread out a golden carpet for devotion; now he repaired the old churches, anon he increased the number of religious establishments; he honored and decorated the various edifices, till they resembled the plumage of the pheasant in its Hight ; moreover, practising the discipline of the Illustrious Religion, he distributed his riches in deeds of benevolence ; every year he assembled those in the sacred oflice from four churches, and respectfully engaged them for fifty days in purification and preparation ; the naked came and were clothed ; the sick were attended to and restored ; the dead were buried in repose ; even among the most pure and selfdenying of the Buddhists, such excellence was never heard of ; the white-clad members of the Illustrious Congregation, now considering these men, have desired to engrave a broad tablet, in order to set forth a eulogy of their magnanimous deeds.

ODE.
The true Lord is without origin,
Profoiand, invisible, and unchangeable ;
With power and capacity to perfect and transform,
He raised up the earth and established the heavens.
Divided in nature, he entered the world,
To save and to help without bounds ;
The sun arose, and darkness was dispelled,
All bearing witness to his true original.
The glorious and resplendent, accomplished Emperor,
Whose principles embraced those of i)receding monarchs,
Taking advantage of the occasion, suppressed turbulence ;
Heaven was spread out and the earth was enlarged.
When the pure, bright Illustrious Religion
Was introduced to our Tang dynasty,
The Scriptures were translated, and churches built,
And the vessel set in motion for the living and the dead;
Every kind of blessing was then obtained,
And all the kingdoms enjoyed a state of peace.

which occurs in several Buddhist works. As this was one of the most important of the Buddhist cities in India, it is natural to suppose that 1-sz’ was a Buddhist priest.

THE TABLET OF SI-NGAJS Fl’. 283

When Kautsung succeeded to his ancestral estate,
He rebuilt the edifices of purity ;
Palaces of concord, largo and light,
Covered the length and breadth of the land.
The true doctrine was clearly announced.
Overseers of the church wore appointed in due form;
The people enjoyed liappiness and peace,
While all creatures were exempt from calamity and distress.
When Hiuentsung commenced his sacred career,
He applied himself to the cultivation of truth and rectitude ;
His imperial tablets shot forth their effulgence,

And the celestial writings mutually reflected their splendors.

The imperial domain was rich and luxuriant.

While the whole land rendered exalted homage ;

Every business was flourishing throughout,

And the people all enjoyed prosperity.

Then came Suhtsung, who commenced anew,

And celestial dignity marked the imperial movements;
Sacred as the moon’s unsullied expanse,
While felicity was wafted like nocturnal gales.

Happiness reverted to the imperial household.

The autumnal influences were long removed;

Ebullitions were allayed, and risings suppressed.

And thus our dynasty was firmly built up.
Taitsung the filial and just
Combined in virtue with heaven and earth ;
By his liberal bequests the living were satisfied,

And property formed the channel of imparting succor.

By fragrant mementoes he rewarded the meritorious.

With benevolence he dispensed his donations ;

The solar concave appeared in dignity,

And the lunar reti-eat was decorated to extreme.

When Kienchung succeeded to the throne,

He began by the cultivation of intelligent virtue;

His military vigilance extended to the four seas.
And his accomplished purity influenced all lands.

His light penetrated the secresies of men,
And to him the diversities of objects were seen as in a mirror;
He shed a vivifying influence through the whole realm of nature,
And all outer nations took him for example.
The true doctrine how expansive I
Its responses are minute ;
How difficult to name it!
To elucidate the three in one.
The sovereign has the power to act f
While the ministers record ;
We raise this noble monument 1
To the praise of great felicity.

This was erected in the 2d year of Kienchung, of the Tang dynasty (A.D. 781), on the 7th day of 1st month, being Sunday.

Written by Lu Siu-yen, Secretary to Council, formerly Military Superintendent for Taichau ; while the Bishop Ning-shu had the charge of the congregations of the Illustrious in the East.

The two lines of Syriac, of which the following is a transcript, are in the Estrangelo character, and run down the right and left sides of the Chinese respectively :
Adam Kasiso Vicur-apiskupo in Papasi de Zinstun.

Beyumi aba dahaliotha Mar liana Jemia katholihi patriarcJds.

Kircher translates this as follows :

“Adam, Beacon, Vicar-episcopal and Pope of China.

In the time of the Father of Fathers, the Lord John Joshua, the

Universal Patriarch.”

The transcript of the Sjriac at the foot of the stone is given

here on the authority of Kircher :

Bemnatli alf utisaain vtarten diaranoie. Mor Jihuznd Kasiso Vcurapt’skupo de Cnmdan mediiialt malcutho bur niJih napso Militi Kama dincn Balehh medintho Tahhurstan Akim Luclio 7iono Papa dictabon bch medabarniitho dphirwkan Vcm’uzutJion dabhain didnat malclte dizinio.

” In the year of the Greeks one thousand and ninety-two, the Lord Jazedbuzid.

THE TABLET OF SI-NGAN FU. 285

Priest and Vicar-episcopal of Cumdan the royal city, son of the enlightened Mailas, Priest of Balach a city of Turkestan, set up this tablet, whereon is inscribed the Dispensation of our Redeemer, and the preaching of the apostolic missionaries to the King of China.”

After this, in Chinese characters, is ” The Priest Lingpau.”

Then follows:

Adam mesclmmschdno Bar Jiclbuzad Ciirapishupo.

Mar Snnju Kasiso, Vcurapiskiqyo.

8abar Jchiui Kasiso.

Oabriel Kasiso Varcodiakun, VriscJi medintho de Cumdan vdasrag.

* Adam the Deacon, sou of Jazeclbiizid, Vicar-episcopal.

The Lord Sergius, Priest and Vicar-episcopal.

Sabar Jesus, Priest. .

Gabriel, Priest, Archdeacon, and Ecclesiarch of Cumdan and Sarag.”

The following subscription is appended in Chinese:
” Assistant Examiner : the High Statesman of the Sacred rites, the Imperijilly-conferred-purple-gown Chief Presbyter and Priest Yi-li.”

On the left hand edge are the Sjriac names of sixty-seven

priests, and sixty-one are given in Chinese.

This trnly oriental writing is the most ancient Christian inscription

yet found in Asia, and shows plainly that Christianity

had made great progress among the Chinese. Kircher and Le

Comte claimed it as a record of the success of the Itomisli

church in China, but no one now doubts that it commemorates

the exertions of the Nestorians.

Timothy, a patriarch, sent Subchal-Jesus in 780, who labored in Tartary and China for many years, and lost his life on his return, when his place was supplied by Davidis, who was consecrated metropolitan. In the year 845 an edict of Wu-tsung commanded the priests that belonged to the sect that came from Ta Tsin, amounting to no less than three thousand persons, to retire to private life. The two Arabian travellers in the ninth century report that many Christians perished in the siege of Canfu. Marco Polo’s frequent allusions lead us to conclude that the Kestorians were both numerous and respected.

He mentions the existence of a church at Ilangchau, and two at Chinkiang, built by the prefect Marsarchis, who was himself a member of that church, and alludes to their residence in most of the towns and countries of Central Asia.

The existence of a Christian prince called Prester John, in Central Asia, is spoken of by Marco Polo and Montecorvino.

The exact position of his dominions, and the extent of his intluence in favor of that faith, have been examined by Col. Yule and M. Paiithier in their editions of the Venetian, and the glamour which once surounded him has been found to have arisen mostly from hearsay I’eports, and from eonfounding different persons under one name. When the conquests of (Tenghis khan and his descendants threw all Asia into commotion, this Prester John, ruler of the Kara Kitai Tartars in northern China, fell before him, a.d. 1203. The Xestorians suffered much, but maintained a precarious footing in China during the time of the Yuen dynasty, having been cut off from all help and intercourse with the mother church since the rise of the Moslems.

They had ceased long before this period to maintain the purity of the faith, however, and had apparently done nothing to teach and diffuse the Bible, which the tal)let intimates was in part or in whole translated by Olopun, under the Emperor’s auspices.

At the present time no works composed by their priests,

or remains of any churches belonging to them or buildings

erected by them, are known to exist in the Empire, though perhaps

some books may yet be found. The buildings erected by

the Nestorians for churches and dwellings were, of course, no

better built than other Chinese edifices, and would not long

remain when deserted ; while, to account still further for the

absence of books, the Buddhists and other opposers may have

sought out and destroyed such as existed, which even if carefully

kept would not last many generations. The notices of the

tablet in Chinese authors, which Mr. Wylie has brought together,

prove that those writers had confounded the King h’lao with Zoroastrianism and Manicheism, and such a confusion is not surprising. The records of futurity alone will disclose to us the names and labors of the devoted disciples and teachers of true Christianity in the Xestorian church, who lived and died for the gospel among the Chinese.’

The efforts of the Roman Catholics in China have been great, but not greater than the importance of the field demanded.

‘ Yvxle’s ‘Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 275, passim. N. 0. Ai^. Soc. Jonrnnl, Arch.

Palladius’ notes on it, Vol. X., pp. 20-2:5. Hue, (Un-isiiHuHy in Chiiiu, Chaj)

II. Pauthi.T’s )r,irro Polo, Chaps. XLVIII.-L. Yule, Cothuy and the Way

7 hither, \o\. I.,i)p. 174-1»:5.

TRACES OF THE NESTORlAN MISSIONARIES. 287

They have met with varied success, and their prudence in the choice of measures and zeal in the work of evangelizing have reflected the highest credit upon them, and would probably, if their object had simply been that of preaching the gospel, have gradually made the entire mass of the population acquainted with the leading doctrines of Christianity. The history of their missions is voluminous, and the principles on which they have been conducted can be learned from their own writings, especially the Lettres Edijiantes^ the Annales de la Foi, and in the elaborate works of Hue and Marshall in later times. The present sketch need embrace only the principal points, for which we shall depend chiefly upon those writers who have already examined these sources.

The first epoch of their missions in China is the thirteenth

century. Subsequent to the mission of John of Piano Carpini

to Kuyuk khan in 1246-47, there were several envoys sent by

one party to the other whose intercourse resulted in nothing

permanent. The first attempt which can be called a settled

mission was that of John of Montecorvino, from Nicholas T\.,

in 1288. Corvino arrived in India in 1291, and after preaching

there a twelvemonth, during which time he baptized a hundred

persons, he joined a caravan going to Catha}^ and was kindly

received by Kublai khan. The Nestorians opposed his progress,

and for eleven years he carried on the work alone, but not till

the latter part of this period with much success. He built a

church at Cambaluc, ” which had a steeple and belfry with

three bells that were rung every hour to summon the new eonverts

to prayer.” He baptized nearly six thousand persons

during that time, “and bought one hundred and fifty children,

whom he instructed in Greek and Latin and composed for them

several devotional books.”

‘Clement V., hearing of Corvino’s success, appointed him archbishop in 1307 and sent him seven suffragan bishops as. assistants. Two letters of his are extant in which he gives a pleasing account of his efforts to preach the gospel, but of the
‘ Chinese Bepositoi’y, Vol. III., p. 112; Vol. XIII., passim. Lowrie, Land of Sinim.

subsequent success of the endeavors made by him and his coadjutors to propagate the faith there are only imperfect records.

Corvino was ordei’ed to have tlie mysteries of tlie Bible represented

by pictures in all his churches, for the purpose of captivating

the eyes of the barbarians. He died in 1328, when about

eighty years of age, ” after having converted more than thirty

thousand iniidels.” One of the accounts relates that at his

funeral ” all the inhabitants of__Cambaluc, \vithout distinction,

mourned for the man of God, and both Christians and pagans

were present at the funeral ceremony, the latter rending their

garments in token of grief, . . . and the place of his

burial became a pilgrimage to which the inhabitants of Cambaluc

resorted with pious eagerness.” It is not easy to estimate

the real value of the labors of this priest and his successors, nor

to decide how much better they were than those of the Xestorians

in making known the Cross of Christ among the Mongols. The

short record preserved of Corvino speaks well of his character

and favorably of the toleration granted by the Mongols to his

efforts to instruct them. It is affec^ting to hear him say, ” It is

now twelve years since I. have heard any news from the West.

I am become old and grayheaded, but it is rather through labors

and tribulations than through age, for I am onlv lifty-eight

years old. I have learned tlie Tartar language and literature,

into which I have translated the whole New Testament and the

Psalms of David, and liave caused them to be transcribed with

the utmost care. I write and read and preach openly and freely

the testimony of the law of Christ.”

The Pope sent Nicholas to succeed Montecorvino at Peking,

and a company of twenty-six Franciscans with him, but no authentic

record of their arrival there has been preserved. In 1336

the last Mongol Emperoi-, Shunti, whose reign was then called

Chiyuen, sent Andre, a Frank, as his ambassador to the Pope,

to whom was also addressed a letter from the Alain Christians

asking for a bishop to take Corvino’s place, Nicholas not having

then reached his see. Benedict XII. sent four nuncios, one of

whom, John of Florence, returned to Europe in 1353, after

residing and travelling in China twelve years, bringing friendly

letters from the Emperor ^hunti. At this period there was

EOMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS—MONTECORVINO. 289

another bishopric among tlie Mongols at Ih’, or Kuldja, and a

letter from Pascal, a Spanish friar, dated from that city in 1338,

lias been preserved. It would seem that during the sway of the

Mongol princes these missionaries carried on their work chiefly

among their tribes. It is, if such was the case, less surprising,

therefore, that we hear nothing of them and their converts after

the Chinese troops had expelled Kublai’s weak descendants from

the country in 1368, since they would naturally follow them

into Central Asia. After the final establishment of the Ming

dynasty almost nothing is known concerning either them or the

Nestorians, and it is probable that during the wanderings of the

defeated Mongols the adherents of both sects gradually lapsed

into ignorance and thence easily into Mohammedanism and

Buddhism. There is no reasonable doubt, however, that during

the three centuries ending with the accession of Hungwu, the

greater part of Central Asia and Northern China was the scene

of many flourishing Christian communities.

The second period in the history of Romish missions in China

includes a space of one hundred and fifty years, extending from

the time when Matteo Ricci first established himself at Shanking

in 1582 to the death of the Emperor Ynngching in 1736.

Before Ricci entered the country there had been some efforts

made to revive the long-deferred work among the Chinese, but

the Portuguese and Spanish merchants were opposed to the extension

of a faith which their flagitious conduct so outrageously

belied. The Chinese government was still more strongly opposed

to the residence of the foreign missionaries. Francis

Xavier started from Goa in 1552 in company with an ambassador

to China, but the embassy was hindered by the Governor of

Malacca, who detained Pereyra and his ship, and Xavier was

obliged to go alone. He died, however, at Shangchnen, Sancian,

or St. John’s, an island about thirty miles south-west of Macao,

disappointed in his expectations and thwarted in his plans by

the untoward opposition of his countrymen. Other attempts

were made to accomplish this design, but it was reserved for

the Jesuits to carry it into effect. Valignani, the Superior of

their missions in the East, selected Michael Ruggiero, or Roger,

for this enterprise. He arrived at Macao in 1580 and com-

VoL. II.—19

290 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

menced the study of the language. Soon after he was joined

by Matthew Ricci, and aftgr a series of efforts and disappointments

they succeeded, in 1582, in obtaining lodgment at IShauking,

then the residence of the Governor of Kwangtung. He

granted them permission to build a house there, as they had

told him that ” they had at last ascertained with their own eyes

that the Celestial Empire was even superior to its brilliant

renown. They therefore desired to end their days in it, and

wished to obtain a little land to construct a house and a church

where they might pass their time in prayer and study, in

solitude and meditation, which they could not do at Macao on

account of the tumult and bustle which the perpetual activity

of commerce occasioned.” A beginning like this indicated the

policy which has marked the progress of their work during the

thi’ee centuries now passed. Xothing is said of making known

Christ and him crucified as the great theme of their preaching.

Hue tells us, too, that they took down the picture of the Virgin,

because ” the report had been spread that the strangers

worshipped a woman,” and replaced it by an image of the

Saviour; and in this also they set the example, which successive

ages have strengthened, of upholding the native idolatry. In

their intercourse with the people of all classes they won good

opinions by their courtesy, presents, and scientific attainments,

and Hue sums up their principles in his approving remark,

“they thought justly that the philosopher would make more

impression than the priest upon minds so sceptic and so imbued

with literary conceit.” The appointed means given by the

Founder of Christianity for its propagation are never mentioned

as their guide and authority, and the building corresponds to

the foundations laid.

In 151)-i Yalignani advised Ricci and his associates to exchange

their garb of Buddhist priests for the nu)re respected

dress of the literati ; and soon after he set out from Shauchau, in

the north of Kwangtung, for Tsanchang, the capital of Kiangsi,

and thence made his way to Nanking, still a place of great

importance, althougli not the capital of the Empire. He was

directed to depart, and returned to Nanchang, where he was

permitted to lay the foundation of a religious institution and

FATTTEK MATTEO RICCI. 291

establish his associates, lie tlien left again for ^Nanking, but

finding many obstacles proceeded to Suchau, the capital of

Kiangnan, and there, too, established a school. The times becoming

favorable, he appeared a third time at Xanking, in 1598,

where he was received with amity, frankness, and good breeding,

and his lectures on the exact sciences listened to with rapture. The

progress of the mission had been so considerable that Valignani

had appointed Ricci its Su])erior-General, which gave him power

to regulate its internal concerns, for which he was well fitted.

An officer whom he had known in Shauchau, and who had been

appointed President of the Board of Civil Office, was induced to

take him to Peking on his return there from a mission to Hainan

; but opposition arising this friend, Kwang, advised him

to return M’ith him to Nanking, as tlie officials at the capital

were much disappointed to find that he knew nothing about

making silver and gold, which w^as wanted to pay for the expedition

to Japan. After Kwang’s departure he and his colleague,

Cataneo, found themselves nearly penniless, and he decided

to return south, although it was wintei*. lie reached

Suchau in a very weak condition, but, having recovered, went

to Xanking in 1599, where the high provincial authorities visited

and aided him, heard his discourses on astronomy, and

enabled him to get a house.

Everything progressed favorably, and Cataneo had returned

from Macao with funds and presents. Eicci availed himself

of a timely proposal from a eunuch to go with him to Peking,

and started in a junk with his presents. The eunuch, however,

wished to keep the latter, and by misrepresentations contrived

to detain Ricci and his companion, Pantoja, at Tientsin for six

months, at the end of which the villany was exposed, and the

foreigners invited to court by imperial orders. They reached

Peking January 4, 1601, twenty-one years after Ricci landed

in Macao. The pleasing manners and extensive acquirements

of Picci, joined to a distribution of presents, gained him the

favor of men in authority. He soon numbered some of them

among his adherents, among whom Sii, baptized Paul, was one

of his earliest and most efficient co-operators, and assisted him

in translating Euclid.

292 THE MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

Tlie Emperor AVanleih received liini with kinJnos?, and allowed

him and Pantoja to be accommodated at the phvce where

foreign envoys usually remained ; he subsequently permitted

them to hire a house, and assigned them a stipend. In the

meantime other Jesuits joined him at Peking, and were also

settled in all the intermediate stations, where they carried on

the work of their missions under his direction with success and

favor. Paul Sii and his widowed daughter, M’ho took the baptismal

name of Candida, proved efficient supporters of the new

faith. The new religion encountered many obstacles, and the

officers who saw its progress felt the necessity of checking its

growth before it got strength to set at naught the commands

of government. Much excitement arose in 1005 between the

Portuguese and the officials at Canton in consequence of a

rumor of the former going to attack the city ; and it was carried

to such a height that the latter seized a convert named

Martinez and punished him so severely that he died. A decree

in 1617 ordered the missionaries to dejiart from court to

Canton, there to embark for Euro2)e, but, like many others of

the same import subsequently issued, it received just as much

v_5>bedience as they thought expedient to give it—and properly

too ; for if they were not disturbers of the peace or seditious,

they ought not to be sent out of the country. This edict hindered

their work only partially, and such Avas their diligence

• that by the year 163(3 they had published no fewer than three

hundred and forty treatises, some of them religious, but mostly

on natural philosophy and mathematics. Ilicci formulated a set

of rules for their guidance, in Avhicli he allowed the converts to

practise the rites of ancestral worship, because he considered

them purely civil in their luiture. The matter subsequently

became a bone of contention between the Jesuits and Franciscans.

The talented founder of these missions died in 1G1(», at the

age of tifty-eight, and for skill, perseverance, learning, and

tact, his name deservedly stands highest among their missionaries.

His withholding the l)ible fi’om the Chinese, and substitution

of image worship, ritualism, and ])riestly ordinances

for the pure truths of the gospel, have been maintained by his

M\S LI IF, AND ClIAHACTKR. 293

successors, for tliey are essential features of the churcli which

sent them forth. He lias been extolled by the Jesuits as a man

possessed of every virtue. Another writer of the same church

gives liim the following character : ” Ricci was active, skilful,

full of schemes, and endowed with all the talents necessary to

render him agreeal)le to the great or to gain the favor of

princes ; but at the same time so little versed in matters of

faith that, as the Bishop of Conon said, it was sufficient to read

his work on the time religion to be satistied that he was ignorant

of the first principles of theology. Eeiiig more a politician

than a theologian, he discovered the secret of remaining

peacefully in China. The kings found in him a man full of

complaisance ; the pagans a minister who accommodated himself

to their superstitions ; the mandarins a polite courtier

skilled in all the trickery of courts ; and the devil a faithful

servant, who, far from destroying, established his reign among

the heathen, and even extended it to the Christians. lie

preached in China the religion of Christ according to his own

fancy ; that is to say, he disfigured it by a faithful mixture of

pagan superstitions, adopting the sacrifices offered to Confucius

and ancestors, and teaching the Christians to assist and cooperate

at the worship of idols, provided they only addressed

their devotions to a cross covered with flowers, or secretly attached

to one of the candles which were lighted in the temples

of the false gods.” ‘ His work was described by Trigault in

1616, w’hen full materials were accessible, so that his actions

and motives are known more fully than many who have come

after him.

After his death his place was filled by Longobardi, whose

experience, learning, and judgment well fitted him for the

post. The efforts of many enemies caused a reaction in 1616,

and an edict was issued ordering all missionaries to leave the

country ; but they w’ere sheltered b}^ their converts, especially

through the exertions of Sii, who in 1622 obtained the reversal

of the edict of expulsion, and thereby caused the persecution

‘ Anecdotes de la Chine, Tome I., Pref. vi, vii. Hue, Christianity in China^

Vol. II., Chaps. II. toV. Remusat, Kouceaux MelaiKjcs, Tome II., p. 207.

204 THE MIDDLE KITfGDOM.

to cease.’ The talents and learning of Schaal, a German

Jesuit, who was recommended by Sii to the Emperor’s regard

in 162S, soon placed him at the head of all his brethren and

ranked him among the most distinguished men in the Empire.

The Dominicans and Franciscans also flocked to the land

which had thus been opened by the Jesuits, but they were not

welcomed by those who wished to build up their own power.

After the death of Wanleih, in 1620, and those converts

within the palace who had favored the cause, new influences

against it arose, and during the short reign of his young grandson,

Tienlii, troubles increased. Amid the breaking up of

the Ming dynasty and the establishment of the present family

on the throne (1630-1660), the missions suffered much, their

spiritual guides retired to places of safety from the molestations

of soldiers and banditti, and converts were necessarily left

without instruction. The missionaries in the north sided with

the Manchus, and Schaal became a favorite with the new monarch

and his advisers, by whom he was appointed to reform

the calendar. lie succeeded in showing the incompetency of

the persons who had the supervision of it, and after its revision

was appointed president of the Kin Tien Kien, an astronomical

board established for this object, and invested with the insignia

and emoluments of a grandee of the first class. He employed

his influence and means in securing the admission of other

missionaries, and to build two churches in the capital and

repair many of those which had fallen to decay in the

provinces.

The exertions of the native converts did nuich to advance

the cause of religion, and the baptismal names of Leon, Michel,

etc., have been preserved among these early confessors ; but

none are more famous than Sii and his daughter, Candida. He

gave his influence in its favor and his property to assist in

building churches, while his revision of their Avritings made

them acceptable to fastidious scholars. His daughter also spent

her life in good works. According to Du TIalde, she exhibited

the sincerity of her profession by building thirty-nine churches

‘Sii’s Apology is given in full in the CMnese Repository^ Vol. XIX., p. 118.

LABORS OF MISSIONARIES AND CONVERTS. 295

in different provinces, and printing one liundred and thirty

Christian books for tlie instruction of her countrymen. Having

hearcl that the pagans in several of the provinces were

accustomed to abandon their cliildren as soon as born, she established

a foundling hospital ; and seeing many blind people

telling idle stories in the streets for the sake of gain, she got

them instructed and sent fortli to relate the different events of

the gospel history. A few years before her death the Emperor

conferred on her the title of shojin, or ‘virtuous woman,’

and sent her a magnificent habit and head-dress adorned with

pearls, which it is said she gradually sold, expending the proceeds

in benevolent works. She received the last sacrament

with a lively faith of being united to that God whom she .had so

zealously loved and served. She and her father have since

been deified by the people, and are worshipped now at Shanghai

for their good deeds. The large mission establishment at

Sikawe (properly Su ITia-wei, or the ‘ Sii Family Hamlet ‘), situated

near that city, under the care of the Roman Catholics, now

covers the same ground once owned by this eminent man. Candida’s

example was emulated by another lady of high connections,

named Agatha, who was zealous in carrying on the same

works. We can but hope that although the worship of these

converts was mixed with much error, and Mary, Ignatius, and

others received their homage as well as Christ, their faith was

genuine and their works done by an actuating spirit of humble

love.’

The Romish missionaries had friends among the high families

in the land during the first hundred years of their labors,

besides converts of both sexes. Few missions in pagan countries

have been more favored with zealous converts, or tlieir missionaries

more aided and countenanced hy rich and noble supporters,

than the early papal missions to China. Le Comte speaks

of the high favor enjoyed by all the laborers in this work

through the reputation and influence of Scliaal at court. One

of those who obtained celebrity was Faber, whose efforts in

Shensi were attended with great success, and who wrought many

‘ Medhurst’s China, p. 188. Du Halde’s China, Vol. II., p. 8.

296 TiiK :^[ir)DLK kixgdom.

miracles during liis ministry in tliat province. Among otliera

lie mentions that ” the town of Hang ching was at a certain

time overrun with a prodigious multitude of locusts, which ate

up all the leaves of the trees and gnawed the grass to the very

I’oots, The inhabitants, after exhausting all the resources of

their own superstitions and charms, applied to Faber, who

promised to deliver them from the 2)lague provided they would

become Christians. When they consented he marched in ceremony

into the highways in his stole and surplice, and sprinkled

up and down the holy water, accompanying this action with the

prayers of the church, but especially with a lively faith. God

heard the voice of his servant, and the next day all the insects

disappeared. But the people refused to perform their promise,

and the plague grew worse than before. AVitli much contrition

they came to the father, confessing their fault and entreating

his renewed interposition ; again he sprinkled the holy water,

and the insects a second time disappeared. Then the Avhole

borough was converted, and many years afterward was reckoned

one of the devoutest missions in China. His biographer mentions

that Falser was carried over rivers through the air ; he

foretold his own death, and did several other such wonders

;

but the greatest mii-acle of all was his life, which he spent in

the continual exercise of all the apostolical virtues and a tender

devotion to the mother of God.”

The increase of churches and converts in the northern provinces

was rapid during the reign of Shunchi, but the southern

parts of the Empire not being completely subdued, the claimant

to the throne of Ming w^as favored by the missionaries there,

and his troops led on by two Christian Chinese otRcers, called

Thomas Kiu and Luke Chin. His mother, wife, and son were

baptized with the names of Helena, Maria, and Constantine,

and the former wrote a letter to Pope Alexander VH., expressing

her attachment to the cause of Christianity, and wishing

to put the country through him under the protection of God.

He kindly answered her, but the expectations of the llomanists

were disappointed by the death of Tunglieh, the Emperor.

During the reign of Shunchi Schaal and his coadjutors stood

high at Peking, and missions prospered in the provinces ; but

THE JESUIT FATHER ADAM SOHAAL. 297

on the Emperor’s deatli tlie administration fell into the hands

of four regents, and as they were known to be opposed to the

new sect, a memorial was sent to court setting forth the evils

likely to arise if it was not repressed. It should be mentioned

that several monks of the Dominican and Franciscan orders,

especially of Fuhkien province, where Capellas, a Spaniard, had

been martyred in 1648, had i-esumed the labors of Archbishop

John of Montecorvino at Peking, more than thirty years

before this date. ” Their presence had been resisted by the

Jesuits [so ran the memorial], and the strifes between these orders

about the meaning and worship of tien and shanfjti (words

used for the Supreme Being) revealed the important secret that

the principles of the new doctrine were made to subserve the purposes

of those who were aspiring to influence. It was remembered

also that while the Catholics continued in Japan, nothing

but intrigue, schism, and civil war was heard of, calamities that

might sooner or later befal China if the criminal eagerness of

the missionaries in enlisting people of all classes was not checked.

The members of the different orders wore distinctive badges of

medals, rosaries, crosses, etc., and were always ready to obey the

calls of their chiefs, who could have no scruple to lead them on

to action the moment a probability of success in subverting the

existing political order and the ancient worship of China should

offer.” The regents took the memorial into consideration, and

in 1665 the tribunals under their direction decreed that ” Schaal

and his associates merited tlie punishment of seducers, who announce

to the people a.false and pernicious doctrine.”

Notwithstanding the honora])le position Schaal held as tutor

of the young Emperor Kanghi, he was proscril)ed and degraded

with several high officers who had been baptized. Some of them

perished, Schaal himself dying of grief and suffering August

16th of the same year, at the age of seventy-eight, having been

thirty-seven years in imperial employ, under five monai-chs.

Verbiest and others were imprisoned, one of whom died ; and

twenty-one Jesuits, with some of other sects, were sent out of the

country. Magaillans says he himself was ” loaden for four whole

months together with nine chains, three about his neck, his arms^

and his legs ; he was also condenmed to have foi-ty lashes, and

298 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

to be banished out of Tartaiy as long as he lived. But a great

earthquake that happened at that time at Peking delivered both

him and the rest of his companions.’” ‘ Their relief, however,

was probably owing more to the favor of Kanghi on taking the

reins of government in 1671 than to the earthquake ; he soon

released Verbiest to appoint him astronomer, and allowed the

missionaries to return to their stations, though he forbade his

subjects embracing Christianity. This favorable change is partly

ascribed, too, to the errors Verbiest pointed out in the calendar,

which showed an utter ignorance of the commonest principles

of astronomy On the part of those who prepared it. An intercalary

month had been erroneously introduced, and the unfortunate

astronomers wei’e made to exchange places with the

imprisoned missionaries, while their intercalary month was

discarded and the year shortened, to the astonishment of the

common people. It may reasonably be doubted whether the

priest acted with sagacity and prudence in thus exasperating

those in high places by this public ridicule of their incompetency.

Verbiest also prepared an astronomical work entitled ” The

Perpetual Astronomy of the Emperor Kanghi,” which he graciously

received and conferred the title of tajln, or ‘ magnate,’ on

him, and ennobled all his kindred. ” He had no relatives in China,

but as the Jesuits called each other brother, they did not hesitate

to use the same title. Tiio gi-eatest part of the religious caused

it to be inscribed on the doors of their houses.*”‘

The favor of the Empei-or continued, and the missionaries re-

(piited his kindness with many signal services, besides those of

a literaiy and ustron(Mnicul nature, among which was casting

camion for his army. In 1636 Scliaal had made a mimber for

Tsungching, and Verbiest, his successor, cast several hundreds in

all for the Emperor Kanghi. On one occasion, in 1680, the })ieces,

three hundred and twenty of all sizes, were to be tested in the

presence of the coui’t; but before doing so Verbiest ” had an altar

prepared on which he placed a cross. Then, clothed in his surplice

and stole, he worshipped the true (Jod, prostrating himself nine

times, and striking the earth nine times with his forehead, in

‘ Magaillans’ C’hiinf, p. 147. Chinese Itepository, Vol. I., p. 434.

QUESTION OF THE KITES. 299

the Chinese manner of expressing adoration ; and after that he

read the prayers of the church and sprinkled the cannon with

holy water, having bestowed on each of them the name of a female

saint, which he had himself drawn on the breech.” ‘ Some

of the high othcers were still opposed to the toleration of

foreign priests, and the Governor of Chehkiang undertook to

cany into effect the laws against their admission into the country

and their proselyting labors ; but Verbicst, on informing the Emperor

of their character as excellent mathematicians and scholars,

obtained their liberation. Ko foreigner has ever enjoyed so

great favor and confidenee from the inilers of China as this able

priest. lie seems indeed to have deserved this for his diligence,

knowledge, and purity of conduct in devoting all his energies

and opportunities to their good. His residence of thirty years

at Peking (1G5S-1G8S) was passed under the eyes of suspicious

observers ; but his modesty in the end won their confidence as

his writings and devotions called forth their approval.

During all this time—or at least since the other sects came to

assist in the work—there had been constant disputes, as has already

been intimated, between the disciples of Loyola, Dominic,

and Francis, excited probably by rivalry, but ostensibly relating

to the rites paid to deceased ancestors and to Confucius. Ricci

had drawn up rules for the regulation of the Jesuits, in which

he considered these customs to be merely civil and secular, and

such as might l)e tolerated in their converts. Morales, a Spanish

Dominican, however, opposed this view, declaring them to be

idolatrous and sinful, and they were condemned as such by the

Propaganda, which sentence was confirmed by Innocent X. in

1645. This decree of the see at Home gave the Jesuits some

annoyance, and they set themselves at work to procure its revision.

Martinez was sent to Home as their principal agent in

this, and by nuiny explanations and testimonials proved to the

satisfaction of the tril)unal of inquisitors their civil nature, and

Alexander Yll., in 1050, approved this opinion. There were

thus two infallible decrees nearly opposed to each other, for

Alexander took care not to directly contradict the bull of Inno-

‘Hue, Christianity in Cliina, Vol. III., p, 81.

SOO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

cent, and worded his decision so that botli claimed it. When

all the missionaries were imprisoned or sent to Canton, a good

opportunity offered for mutual consultation and decision upon

these and other points. Twenty-three priests met in the Jesuit

seminary at Canton in 1665, and drew up forty-two articles to

serve hereafter for rules of conduct, all of which were unanimously

adopted. The one relating to the ceremonies was as

follows

:

In respect to the customs by whicli the Chinese worship Confucius and

the deceased, the answer of the congregation of tlie universal Inquisition,

sanctioned in 1(556 by his Holiness Alexander VII., shall be invariably followed

: for it is founded upon the most probable opinion, without any evident

proof to the contrary ; and this probability being admitted, the door of salvation

must not be shut against innumerable Chinese, who would abandon our

Christian religion were they forbidden to attend to those things that they may

lawfully and without injury to their faith attend to, and forced to give up

what cannot be abandoned without serious consequences.

One member of this meeting, the Dominican Navarette, soon

expressed his dissent, and the dispute was renewed as virulently

as ever. The opponents of the Jesuits complained that they

taught their converts that there was but little difference generallj^

between Christianity and their own belief, and allowed

them to retain their old superstitions ; they were chai’ged, moreover,

with luxurj^ and ambition, and neglecting the duties of

their ministry that they might meddle in the affaii’s of State.

These allegations were rebutted l)y the Jesuits, though it appears

from Mosheim that some of them partially acknowledged

their ti’uth. In 1098 Maigrot, a bishoj) and apostolic vicar living

in China, issued a mandate on his own authority diametrically

opposed to the decision of the Inquisition and the Pope,

in which he declared that tten signified nothing niore than the

material heavens, and that the Chinese customs and I’ites were

idolatrous. In 1699 the Jesuits l)r()ught the matter before the

Empei’or in the folhnving memorial :

We, your faithful subjects, although originally from distant countries, respectfully

supi)licate your Majesty to give us clear instructions on the following

points. The scholars of Euro])e have understood that the Chinese practise

certain ceremonies in honor of Confucius, that they o!Ter sacrifices to heaven,

and that tlicy oliserve peculiar rites toward their ancestors ; but persuaded

POPE CLEMENT XI. AXD KANGHI. 301

that these ceremonies, sacrifices, and rites are founded in reason, though ignorant

of their true intention, earnestly desire us to inform them. We have

always supposed that Confucius was honored in China as a legislator, and that

it was in this character alone, and with this view solely, tliat th(j ceremonies

established in his honor were practised. We believe that the ancestral rites

are only observed in order to exhibit tlie love felt for them, and to hallow tlie

remembrance of the good receive<l from them during their life. We believe

that the sacririces offered to heaven are not tendered to the visible heavens

which are seen above us, but to the Supreme Master, Author, and Preserver of

heaven and earth, and of all they contain. Such are the interpretation and

the sense which we liave always given to these Chinese ceremonies ; but as

strangers cannot be considered competent to pronounce on these ‘mportant

points with the same certainty as the Chinese themselves, we presume to request

your Majesty not to refuse to give us the explanations which we desire

concerning them. We wait for them with respect and submission.’

The Emperor’s reply in 1700 to this petition, and another

one presented to him, was sent to the Pope ; in it he decLared

that ” tien means the true God, and that tlie customs of China

are political.” The enemies of the Jesuits say that they ” confirmed

the sentiments expressed in the imperial rescript by the

oaths which they exacted from a multitude of Chinese, among

whom were many from the lowest classes, not only entirely

ignoi-ant of the meaning of many characters in their own

language, but even of Christian doctrine.” The strongest efforts

were made by both parties to influence the decision of the Pope,

but the Jesuits failed. In 1701: a decree of Clement XI. confirmed

the decision of Bishop Maigrot. It had been reached

after careful and candid “examination, and was substantially as

follows: ” As the true God cannot conveniently be named in

the Chinese language with European words, we must employ the

words Tien Chu, i.e., ‘ Lord of Heaven,’ in use for a long time

in China, and approved by both missionaries and their converts.

AVe must, on the contrary, absolutely reject the aj^pellation of

Tien (Heaven) and Shangtl (August Emperor) ; and for this

reason it must on no accoimt be permitted that tablets shall be

suspended in churches with the inscription King Tien (Adore

Heaven).” The court of the Vatican had already dispatched a

legate d latere and apostolic visitor to China in the person of

‘ Life of Saint-Manin, p. 292.

302 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

Tounion, who was consecrated Patriarch of Antioch in order to

give him a title of sufficient dignity in the distant regions to

which he was bound.

The legate landed at Macao in April, 17(>5, and was received

with a show of honor by the governor and bishop. He arrived at

Peking in December, but the Jesuits had already prejudiced the

Emperor against him, and at an audience accorded to him in

June, 1706, the former brought forward the subject to learn the

legate’s views. After some delay, however, the patriarch issued

the Pope’s mandate, which was contrary to the monarch’s decision.

Kanghi was not the num who would transfer to a pope

the right of legislating over his own subjects, and in December,

1706, he decreed that he would countenance those missionaries

who preached the doctrines of Ricci, but persecute those who

followed the opinion of Maigrot. Examiners were a])pointed

for ascertaining their sentiments, but Tournon, who had been

banished to Macao, forbade the missionaries, under ])ain of excommunication,

holding any discussion on these points with the

examiners. The Bishop of Macao conlined the legate in a private

house, and M-hen he used his ecclesiastical authority and

powers against his enemies, stuck up a monitory on the very

door of his residence, exhorting him to revoke his censures

within tliree days midcr pain of excommunication, and exhibit

proofs of his legation to his diocesan. This was re-echoed from

Tournon by a still severer sentence against the bishop. Three

new missionaries reached Macao at this jun(;ture in January,

1710, and one of them, l*cre Ilipa, gives an account of a nocturnal

visit they paid the legate in his })rison after eluding the

vigilance of his guards. Ripa renuirks that about forty missionaries

of different religious orders were confined with Tournon,

who had lately been nuide a cardinal, but he himself and

his companions were left at liberty. Ills eminence sent a remonstrance

to the Governor of Canton against his imprisonment,

and also a memorial to the Emperor stating that six

missionaries had arrived from Europe, three of whom were

acquainted with mathematics, music, and painting. Kipa, who

was to be the painter, says that he knew only the rudiments of

the art, and records his dissatisfaction at this change in his voQUARRELS

OF THE JESUITS AND DOMINICANS. 303

cation, Lut soon resigned himself to obedience. Touruon died

in his coniinenient in July of the same year.

The proceedings of Tournon were mainly confirmed by the

Pope, and in 1715 he dispatched Mezzabarba, another legate, by

way of Lisbon, who was favorably received at Peking, lie

” was instructed to express the Pope’s sincere gratitude to

Kanghi for his magnanimous kindness toward the missionaries,

to beg leave to remain in China as their head or as superior of

the whole mission, and to obtain from Kanghi his consent that

the Christians in China might submit to tlie decision of his

Holiness concerning the rites.” The Emperor evaded all reference

to the rites, and the legate, soon perceiving that his Majesty

would not surrender any part of his inherent authoiity,

solicited and obtained permission at his last audience to return

to Europe, which he did March 3, 1721. The first fifteen

years of the eighteenth century was the period of the greatest

prosperity to the Pomish missions in China. It is stated

that in the governor-generalship of Kiangnan and Kiangsi alone

there were one hundred churches and a hundred thousand converts.

The survey of the Empire was carried on by the Emperor’s

connnand from 1708 to 171S, under the direction of

ten Jesuits, of whom Pegis, Bouvet, and Jartoux were the most

prominent.’ It was a great work for that day, and considering

the instruments they had, the vast area they traversed, and tlic

imperfect education of their assistants, its accuracy and completeness

form the best index of the ability of the surveyors.

The disputes between the various orders of missionaries and

the resistance of some converts to the Emperor’s commands

respecting the ancestral rites, together with the representations

of his own ofiicers upon the tendency of the new religion to

undermine his own authority, gradually opened his eyes to the

true character of the propagandists. In 1718 he forbade any

missionary remaining in the country without permission from

himself, given only after their promise to follow tlie rules of

Picci. Yet no European missionary could repair to China

‘ An additional re-survey was made and presented to the Emperor Kienlung

in ITGl by Beuoit and AUerstein.

304 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

without subscribing a funnuhi in which he proniised fully and

entirely to obey the orders of Cleiiieut XI. upon these ceremonies,

and observe those injunctions without any tergiversation.

Kan^^hi was made acquainted with all these nuitters and took

his measures, gradually i-estraining the missionaries in their

work and keeping them about him at court, while he allowed

persecuting measures to be carried on in the provinces. Tho

work of Ripa affords evidence of this plan, and it was characteristic

of Chinese policy.

After the death of Kanghi in 1723 the designs of the govern

ment under his son Yungching were still more evident. In

172-i an order was promulgated in which every effort to propagate

the Tien C/m klao, or ‘ Religion of the Lord of Heaven,’

as it was then and has ever since been called, was strictly prohibited.

All missionaries not required at Peking for scientitic

purposes were ordered to leave the country, by which more than

three hundred thousand converts were deprived of teachers.

Many of the missionaries secreted themselves, and the converts

exhibited the greatest fidelity in adhering to them even at the

risk of death. AVhen the missionaries reached Canton, where

tliey were allowed to remain, they devised measures to return

to their flocks, and frequently succeeded. The influence of

those remaining at Peking was exerted to regain their former

toleration, but wdth partial success. Their enemies in the

provinces harassed the converts in order to extort money, and

found plenty of assistants who knew the names and condition

of all the leading adherents of the proscribed faith, and aided

in compelling them to violate their consciences or lose their

property.

The edict of Yungching forms an epoch in the Uoniish missions

in China. Since that time they have experienced various

degrees of quiet and storm, but on the whole decreasing in

number and influence until the new era inaugurated by the

treaties of 1S58. The troubles in France and Europe toward

the latter part of the eighteenth centui-y withdi-ew the a»ttention

of the supporters of missions from those in China, while in the

country itself the maintenance of the laws against the ])ropagation

of Christianity, and an occasional seizure of })i-iests and

THE CATHOLICS EXPELLED FUOM CHIXA. 30.”i

converts by a zealous officer, caused a still further diminution.

Tlie edicts of Kienluiig, soon after his accession in 1T3(), showed

that no countenance was to be expected from court ; the rulers

were thoroughly dissatisfied with the foreigners, and ready to

take almost any measures to relieve the country of them. Perhaps

their personal conduct had something to do with this

course of procedure, for Ripa, wlio cannot be accused of partiality,

says, when speaking of the number of converts, that

“if our European missionaries in China would conduct themselves

with less ostentation, and accommodate their manners to

persons of all ranks and conditions, the number of converts

would be immensely increased. Their garments are made of

the richest materials ; they go nowhere on foot, but always in

sedans, on horseback, or in boats, and with numerous attendants

following them. AVith a few honorable exceptions, all the missionaries

live in this manner ; and thus, as they never mix with

the people, they make but few converts. The diifusion of our

holy religion in these parts has been almost entirely owing to

the catechists who are in their service, to other Christians, or

to the distribution of Christian books in the Chinese language.

Thus there is scarcely a single missionary who can boast of having

made a convert by his own preaching, for they merely baptize

those who have been already converted by others.” ‘ But

this missionary himself afterward assigns a nnich better reason

for their not preaching, when he adds that, up to his time in

ITl-i, “none of the missionaries had been able to surmount the

language so as to make himself understood by the people at

large.” This remark must, however, be taken with some explanations.

There had l)een al^out five hundred missionaries sent

from Europe between 1580 and 172-1:, wliich was less than an

annual average of four individuals during a centurv and a half.

When the intentions of the new Emperor were known, there

Avould not lono; be wantino; occasions to harass the Christians.

In 1747 a persecution extended over all the provinces, and

Bishop Sanz and five Dominican priests in Fuhkien lost their

lives. All the foreign priests who could be found elsewhere were

‘ Residence at PeMnr/, p. 43.

Vol. II.—20

306 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

sent away—a mark of leiiiency tlie more striking wlien it was

supposed by the Chinese that some of them had ah’eady once

returned from banishment. The missions in Sz’cliuen and

Shansi suffered most, but througli the zeal of their pastors

maintained themselves better than elsewhere ; their bishops,

Mullener, and after him Pottier, contrived to remain in the

country most of the time between 1712 and 1792. The missions

in Yunnan and Kweichau were not so flourishing as that

in Sz’chuen. In this province M. Gleyo was apprehended in

1767, and endured nuich suffering for the faith he came to

preach ; he remained in prison ten years, when he was liberated

through the efforts of a Jesuit in the employ of government.

For several years after this the order enjoyed comparative

quiet, but in 1784 greater efforts than ever were made to discover

a*nd apprehend all foreign priests aiid their abettors,

owing to the detection of four Europeans in Ilukwang while they

were going to their mission. M. de la Tour, the procureur of

the mission at Canton, through whose instrumentality they were

sent tlirough the country, was apprehended and carried to Peking

; and the hong merchant who had been his security was

glad to purchase his own safety by the sacrifice of one hundred

and twenty thousand taels of silver.

Didier Saint-Martin, who was then in Sz’chuen, gives a long

account of his own capture, trial, and imprisonment, and many

particulars of the sufferings of his fellow missionaries. Eighteen

Europeans were taken away from the missions by it, but

none of them were actually executed ; twelve w-ere sentenced to

perpetual imprisonment, six having died, but for some reason

the Emperor revoked the decree soon after it was made, and

gave them all the choice to enter his service or leave the country

; nine of the twelve preferred to depart, the other three

joining the priests at the capital. This search was so close that

few of the foreigners escaped. Pottier was not taken, though

he was obliged at one time to conceal liimself for a month in a

small house, and in so confined a place that he hardly dared

either to cough or to spit for fear of being discovered. Saint-

Martin and Dufresse retired to Manila, where they were received

with great honors, and were enabled to return after a

PERSECUTION OF THE MISSIONARIES. ^ 307

time to Sz’cliuen. The former died in 1801 in peace, but Dufresse

was beheaded in 1814 ;

‘ in 1816 M. Triora was strangled

in Hupeh, and M. Clet three years after ; in the interval,

Schoeffler, Bounard, and Diaz perished, and Chapdelaine in

1856. But no data are available to show the number of native

priests and converts who suffered death, toiture, imprisonment,

and banishment in these storms. The records of constancy and

cheerful fortitude exhibited under tortures and cruel mockings,

given in the writings of the time, show their faith in Christ.

The details are summarized in Marshall’s work, and probably

the number may reasonably be estimated by hundreds.

The period which elapsed after the pronmlgation of the

edicts of 1767 up to 1820 contains less to interest the reader

than since the last date. At that time restored quiet in Europe

urged a resumption of the work ; and the Annalcs ds la Foi

henceforth continue the narratives of the missions, formerly

recorded in the Lettres Kdifiantes, with the approval of the

directors and bishops. It is not easy at any period to learn

their condition and number, for only vague estimates of hundreds

of churches, hundreds of thousands of converts, scores

of missionaries, schools, catechists, priests, and stations, comprise

the data given in the flourishing days of Verbiest and

Parennin. Perhaps many of the early statistics have perished,

yet it has never been easy to obtain accurate data, and

often they have been withheld from public knowledge. There

is no responsibility or reckoning required from the managers

of the missions by the body of the church as to wdiat is done

with the funds, as among Protestant missions. In 1820 an

estimate gives 6 bishops, 2 coadjutors, 23 foreign missionaries,

80 native priests, and 215,000 converts. In 1839 a table in

the Annales gives for that year, 8 bishops, 57 foreigners, ll-t

native priests, and 303,000 converts. In 1846 the record shows

12 bishops, 7 or 8 coadjutors, 80 foreign missionaries, 90 natives,

and 400,000 converts; 54 boys’ and 114 girls’ schools

are put down for Sz’chuen. In 1866 they report 20 bishops,

‘ Annales de la Foi, Tome I., pp. 25, 53, 68. Dufresse was afterward

canonized.

308 Tin; MIDDLE KINGDO^r.

233 foreign missionaries, 237 native priests, 12 colleges, 331

students in seven of them, and 363,000 converts ; these figures

include only those in the Eighteen Provinces. In 1870 the tahles

show 254 foreigners, bishops and missionaries, 13S native

priests in nine provinces, and 404,530 converts.

Lastly, from the Hong Kong Catholic liegister we learn that

the statistics in 1881 were : Bishops, 41 ; European priests,

664; native priests, 559 ; converts in toto^ 1,092,818 ; colleges,

34 ; convents, 34. The paper which publishes this summary,

” from a most reliable source,” gives no information as to where

the missions or colleges are located, or what numbers are found

in the different provinces. It is, moreover, somewhat difficult

to learn what constitutes a college, or whether the grade in

these institutions is uniform throughout the land. In addition

to the education imparted at home, a number of Chinese are

yearly sent to Tiome to be educated at the College of the Propaganda.

The total number of converts includes all the members

of the various families who give an outward adherence to

the rites of the church. In the persecutions which these adherents

have endured at various times, some have left the faith,

but a large number of the descendants of these early converts

have remained faithful, generation after generation, to the religion

which their ancestors had embraced under more favorable

auspices. Hence this estimate represents the number now

adhering to them, many of them being the descendants of early

converts ; and this number of followers has become so numerous

largely by natural increase. AVe have no information as

to the number of converts year by year. In one village of

South China, where there are some Poman Catholics resident,

it has been noted that the increase is almost entirely by natural

generation. The girls of Catholic families are only permitted

co-religionists. The men inarry heathen wives on the promise

that they will become Pomanists. One man and his wife of

this village first became converts. The number of adherents now

hei-e is over one hundred, all descendants of this first pair; and

this increase is entirely by natural descent and by marriage.

With the increased openings since the treaties of 1858 the

regulation of the missions has devolved on different societies,

STATISTICS OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CITIXA. 309

which liavc apportioned their hiborers in the provinces. The

Lazarists have Cliihh’, Iviangsi, and Chehkiang ; the Franciscans,

Sliantung, Shansi, Shensi, and llnkwang; the Jesuits,

Kiangnan and eastern Chihh ; tlie Dominicans, Fnhkien ; the

Gallic church, all the western and south-western rcirions, with

Manchuria; one society in Milan has charge of Ilonan, and

another in Belgium labors in Mongolia. The successful efforts

of M. Lagrend, the French envoy to China in 1844, to obtain

formal recognition of the Christian religion and protection to

its professors from their own rulers, entitle him to the thanks

of every well-Avisher of missions. The intention of the Chinese

authorities in tolerating such efforts was to limit them to the

newly opened ports, where alone churches could be erected, for

the missionaries are disallowed free entrance into the country.

This partial permission of 1844 prepared the way for the

toleration articles in the treaties of 1858, when the four

Powers present at Tientsin obtained a more explicit acknowledgment

from the Emperor of the rights of Christian laborers

and professors among the Chinese. Those articles have been

in force during the past twenty years, and have proved a safeguard

and a warrant for the faith of Christ and its adherents

even beyond the hopes of those who first proposed them.

The exclusive labors of the Roman Catholics among the

Chinese comprise a period of about two hundred and fifty years

from the date of Ricci’s reception at Peking. The various

works written l)y them during this period contained not only

the details of their labors, but nearly everything that was then

known relating to the Chinese. The essays, translations, histories,

travels, etc., of Visdelou, Mailla, Trigault, Semido,

Amiot, Le Comte, and scores of others, still remain to inform

those wdio seek to learn their acts.” Every reader must honor

the men who thus suffered and labored, prospered and died, in

the prosecution of their work. It is \vorthy of consideration,

as to the self-supporting character of this work, that their constant

experience has shown that, however numerous and zealous

the converts, the presence of European pastors and overseers is

Kemusat, Nouveaux Melanges, pp. 207 ff.

310 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

indispensable to their spiritual prosperity.’ “Whether this is

owing to the character of the Chinese mind, or to the little

Christian instruction and principle these converts really have,

cannot in most cases be easily decided. It can hardly be expected

that pagans should perceive much difference immediately

between their old worship and the cei’emonies of the new fait)-

in the presence of pictures, images, and crosses, before which

they were taught to prostrate themselves. The native priests

and catechists were not instructed to maintain the authority

of the law and word of God above all human teachings in this

respect, for the second commandment had been early expunged

from the Decalogue, and thus the connnand of God made

void, which prohibits man to make, to servo, or to bow down

to such things. It may be this defect in their religious training

which keeps these native priests in tutelage under the foreigners,

and prevents the maintenance of self-supporting, indigenous

churches under their oversight.

In former days the entrance of missionaries into the interior

of China was attended with considerable hazard, delay, and

uncertainty, arising from the weakness or ignorance of those

guides to whose care they were entrusted, and the risks they

ran if detected. This has now all passed awa}’^, and access to

all parts of the Empire is even more free than it was in the

days of the Emperor Kanglii. In those early times the development

of missionary work was not as well understood as it

is now after long experience, and less attention was paid to

education and self-support. Those points were not appreciated

even in Europe, and we should not look for stronger growth in

the branches of the tree than in its trunk. Within the last

twent}^ years, not only have the theological schools of the Romish

missions increa’Sed so that eighteen were open in 1859,

but with the introduction of the Sisters of Cliarity many thousands

of young children are taught needlework, reading, and

various handicrafts to prepare them for useful lives. These

schools and oi-phanages exert a widespread and lasting influence.

The baptism of children and adults has ever been a very

^Lettrea Mifiantes, Tome IV., p. 77.

THE BAPTISM OF DYING INFANTS. 3J 1

important work witli the Roman Catholic missionaries, and

especially (if its fre(nient mention is an evidence) the baptism

of uioribumh, or dying children of heathens. The agents in

this work are usually elderly women, says Yerolles, ” who have

experience in the treatment of infantile diseases. Furnished

with innocent pills and a bottle of holy water whose virtues

they extol, they introduce themselves into the houses where

there are sick infants, and discover whether they are in danger

of death ; in this case they inform the parents, and tell them

that before administering other remedies they must wash their

hands with the purifying waters of their bottle. The parents,

not suspecting this j}ieuse ruse, readily consent, and by these

innocent frauds we procure in our mission the baptism of seven

or eight thousand infants every year.*’ Another missionary,

Dufresse, one of the most distinguished of late years, says :

” The women who baptize the infants of heathen parents announce

themselves as consecrated to the healing of infants, and

to give remedies gratis, that they may satisfy the vow of their

father who has commanded this as an act of charity.” The

number of baptized children thus saved from perdition is carefully

detailed in the annual reports, and calculations are made

by the missionaries for the consideration of their pati-ons in

France and elsewhere as to the expense incun-ed for this branch

of labor, and the cost of each soul thus saved ; and appeals for

aid in sending out these female baptists are based upon the

tabular reports. It may, however, be a question, even with a

candid Romanist who believes that unbaptized infants perish

eternally, whether baptism performed by women and unconsecrated

laymen is valid ; and still more so, whether it is ritual

when done by stealth and under false pretences. The number

thus annually baptized in all the missions cannot be placed

much under fifty thousand, and some years it exceeds a hundred

thousand. Xo attention seems to be given to the child in ordinary

cases if it happen to live after this surreptitious baptism.

The degree of instruction given to the converts is trifling,

partly owing to the great extent of a single diocese and partly to

imperfect knowledge of the language on the part of missionaries.

The vexations constantly experienced urge them to be

812 THE MIDDLE KIXODOM.

cautious ; and truly if a missionai-y believes that baptism, confirmation,

confession, and absolution, are all the evidences of faith

that ai-e required in a convert to entitle him to salvation, it

cannot be supposed he will deem it necessary to give them longcontinued

instruction. The canses which usually bring the converts

into trouble with their CDuntrymen or the officials were

thus described many years ago by the Bishop of Caradre in

Sz’chuen ; they are still partly applicable.

First. Christians are frequently confounded with tlie members

of the Triad Society, or of the AVhite Lily sect, both by

their enemies and by persons belonging to those associations.

Second. The Christians refuse to contribute to the erection

or repair of temples, or subscribe to idolatrous feasts and superstitious

rites ; though, according to the A)i7iales, they sometimes

defray the charges of the theati’ical exhibitions which

follow, in order to avoid the malice of their adversaries.

Third. ” Espousals are ahnost indissoluble in China, and

whenever the Christians refuse to ratify them by proceeding

to a marriage already commenced, they are regarded as lawbreakers

and treated as such.” ‘ This is the most common

source of trouble, especially when the parents of the girl have

become converts since the beti-othment, and the other party

is anxious to fulfil the contract. These engagements are sometimes

broken in a sufficiently unscrupulous manner, and nothing

draws so much odium upon Christians as their refusal to

adhere to these conti-acts. On one occasion this bishop assisted

in breaking up such an engagment, when the parents, on the

death of a sister of the girl, asserted that the deceased was the

one who had been betrothed. He adds : ” I thirdc the faith of

the parents and the purity of their motives will readily excuse

them before God for the sin of lying.” On other occasions

the missionaries endeavor to dissolve these engagements by exhorting

the believing party to take voavs of celibacy.

Fourth. All connnunication with Europeans being interdicted,

the magistrates seek diligently for every evidence of their exist-

Lettres Edifiantes, Tome III., p. 37, wliere there appear two or three cases

wf this and Saint-Martin’s reasonini,’ on thu point.

GRIEVANCES AGAINST CATHOLIC CONVERTS. 313

eiicc in the country, by searching for the objects used in worship,

as crosses, breviaries, etc.

Fifth. The little respect the converts have for their ancestors

is always an offence in the eyes of the pagans, and leads

to recrimination and vexatious annoyances.

Sixth. As the converts are obliged to take down the ancesti-al

tablets in order to put u]> those of their own religion, they are

seldom forgiven in this change, and occasion is taken therefrom

to persecute.

Seventh. The indiscreet zeal of the neophytes leading them

to break the idols or insult the objects of public worship is

one of the most common causes of persecution.

Eightli. The disputes between the missionaries themselves,

regarding the ceremonies, have frequently excited troubles.

In addition to these causes, some of ‘which are now removed,

there are others which have grown up since the toleration

granted to Christianit}^ by the treaties, and which may develop

still more. They are discussed in the minute drawn up by the

Chinese government in 1871, after the Tientsin riot, in which

eight rules for their regulation are proposed. The grievances

refer to the seclusion of children in orphanages ; to the pi-esence

of w^omen in religious assemblies ; to missionaries interfering

in legal cases so as to screen criminals, and their interchanging

passports ; to the neophytes rescuing criminals from

justice ; to the missionaries affecting the style of native officials

;

and, lastly, to their demand for land alleged to have once belonged

to them, whatever ma\’ have been its ownership meanwhile.

This has since ceased, and the others have been somewhat

restrained.

Christians sometimes refuse to have their deceased friends

buried with the idolatrous ceremonies required by their relatives,

upon which the latter occasionally carry the matter

before the officers, or resort to petty annoyances. In order to

keep up the spirit of devotion among the neophytes, crucifixes,

reliquaries, and other articles were given them, and ‘” God

wrought several miracles among them to authorize the practice.”

These articles, in the estimation of both priest and people,

probably have no little influence over the demons which vex and

314 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

harass tlie pagans, l)nt wliicli never trouble Christians. Saint-

Martin, writing to liis father from the capital of Sz’chnen in

1774, says: “The most sensible proof for the pagans, and one

always in force, is the power the Christians have over demons.’

It is astonisliing how these poor infidels are tormented, and

they can find remedy onl}” in the prayers of Christians, by

whose help they are delivered and then converted. Seven or

eight leagues from this spot is a house which has been infested

with demons for a month ; they maltreat all who come near

them, and have set the dwelling on fire at different times. Tliey

have had recourse to all kinds of superstitious ceremonies,

calling in the native priests, but all to no effect ; and the master

of the family where I am staying has now gone to assist

them. He is a man of lively faith, and has already performed

many miraculous cures.”

“

It is interesting to compare with this the account of Friar

Odoric, ” How the friars deal with devils in Tartary.” In his

Travels we read that ” God Almighty hath bestowed such grace

upon the Minor friars that in Great Tartary they think it a

mere nothing to expel devils from the possessed, no more, indeed,

than to drive a dog out of the house. For there be many

in those parts possessed of the devil, both men and women,

and these they bind and bring to our friars from as far as ten

days’ journey off. The friars bid the demons depart forth

instantly from the bodies of the possessed, in the name of

Jesus Christ, and they do depart immediately in obedience to

this command. Then those who have been delivered from

the demon straightway cause themselves to be baptized ; and

the friars take their idols, which are made of felt, and carry

them to the fire, while all the people of the country round

assemble to see their neighbor’s gods burnt. The friars accordingly

cast the idols into the fire, but they leap out again. And

so the friars take holy water and sprinkle it upon the fire, and

that straightway drives away the demon from the fire ; so the

friars again casting the idols into the fire, they are consumed.

‘ retires ^diJian(£S, Tomes I., pp. 39 and 151, passim, and IV., p. 27.

^ TAfe of Didier Saint-Martin, p. 35.

CARTIISrG OUT DEVILS. 315

And then the devil in the air raises a shout, saying :

‘ See

then ! see then ! how I am expelled from my dwelling place !

‘

And in this way our friars baptize great numbers in that

country.”

‘

When persons educated in a country like France allow their

converts to entertain such ideas, even if they do not favor them

:>Ss^

Roman Catholic Altar near Shanghai.

themselves, and countenance their endeavors to exorcise the

possessed, we cannot look for a very high degree of knowledge

or piety. If they are l)rouglit out of pagan darkness, it is but

little if any better than into light hardly bright enough to enable

them even to distinguish trees from men.

The points of similarity between Buddhism and Romanism

have already been noticed, and the converts from one to the

» Yule, Cathay and tlie Way TJiitlier, Vol. I., p. 155.

31G THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

other see but little more change than they do when going from

Buddhism to the metaphysical speculations of the learned ju

Mao. If Romisli ])riests have allowed their converts to worship

before pagan images, provided a cross is put into the

candles, it would not be difficult for the latter to put the names

of their departed parents behind the ” tablets of religion,” and

worship them together. Similar to such a permission is the

combination of the cross and dragon carved on a Romish altar

near Shanghai, given on the preceding page, and at which both

pagans and Christians could alike worship.

Agnuses, crosses, etc., are easily substituted for coins and

charms, and it does not surely require much faith to believe the

former as effectual as the latter. The neophyte takes away the

tablet in his house or shop having shin, ‘aeon’ or ‘ spirit,’ written

on it,’ and puts up another, on which is written shin, chin

chu, tsaotien ti jin-wuh, or ‘ God, true Lord, Creator of heaven,

earth, man, and all things,’ and burns the same incense befoi-e

this as before that. Chinese demigods are changed for foreign

saints, with this difference, tha’^ now they worship they know

not what, while before they knew something of the name and

character of the ancient hero from popular accounts and historical

legends. They cease, indeed, to venerate the queen of

Heaven, holy mother ISFa tsupu, but Mhat advance in true religion

has been made by falling down before the Queen of

Heaven, holy mother Mary ? The people call the Buddhist

idols and the Romish images by the same name, and apply

nmch the same terms to their ceremonies. Such converts can

easily be numbered by thousands ; and it is a wonder, indeed,

when one considers the nature of the case, that the whole population

of China have not long since become ” devout confessors

” of this faith. Conversions depend, in such cases, on

almost every other kind of influence than that of the Holy

Spirit blessing his own word in an intelligent mind and a

quickened conscience. The missionaries write that ‘• being

forced in three or four months after their arrival to preach

‘ Converts in Sz’chuen sometimes steal tlie idols from the roadside. J.ettres

^difiantes, Tome I., p. 219.

CHARACTER OF CATHOLIC MISSIONARY WORK. 317

when they do not know tlie language sufficiently either to be

understood or to understand theniselves, they have seen tlieir

auditors inunediately embrace Christianity.”

We pass no decision upon these converts, except what is

given or drawn from the writings of their teachers. Human

nature is everywhere the same in its great lineaments, and the

effect of living godly lives in Christ Jesus will everywhere excite

opposition, calumny, persecution, and death, accordiug to

the liberty granted the enemies of the truth. There may have

been true converts among the adherents to Romanism ; but what

salutary effects has this large body of Chi-istians wrought in the

vast population of China during the three hundred years since

Ricci established himself at banking ? T^one, absolutely none,

that attract attention. The letters of some of the missionaries

written to their friends breathe a spirit of pious ardor and true

Christian principle worthy of all imitation. Among the best

letters contained in the Annales is one from Dufresse to his

pupils then at Penang. It is a long epistle, and contains

nothing (with one exception) which the most scrupulous Protestant

would not approve. The same may be paid of most of

the letters contained in the same collection written in prison

by Gagelin, a missionary who was strangled in Annam in

1833. It is hardly possible to doubt, when reading the letters

of these two men, both of whom were mai’tyred for the

faith they preached, that they sincerely loved and trusted in

the Saviour they proclaimed. Many of their converts also exhibit

the greatest constancy in their profession, preferring to

suffer persecution, torture, imprisonment, banishment, and

death rather than to deny their faith, though every inducement

of prevarication and mental reservation was held out to

them by the magistrates in order to avoid the necessity of proceeding

to extreme measures. If undergoing the loss of all

things is an evidence of piety, many of them have abundantly

proved their title to this virtue. But until there shall be a

complete separation from idolatry and superstitioTi ; until the

confessional shall be abolished, and the worship of the A^irgin,

wearing crosses and rosaries, and reliance on ceremonies and

penances be stopped ; until the entire Scriptures and Decalogue

318 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

be tauglit to tlie converts; until, in sliort, the essential doctrine

of justitication by faitli alone be substituted for the many

forms of justification l)y works, tlie mass of converts to liomanism

in China can liai’dly be considered as much better than

baptized pagans.’

Turn we now to a brief survey of tlie efforts of Protestants

among the Chinese, and the results which have attended their

labors. Hardly forty years have passed since the treaty of Nan^

king opened the five ports to their direct work in the Empire,

and the results thus far necessarily partake of the incompleteness

of new enterprises. The radical distinction between their

modes of operation and those of their predecessors is indicated

in the names ‘ Tvclioion of Heaven’s Lord ‘ and ‘ lteli»j;ion of

Jesus ;

‘ the Romanists depend much on their teachings and cere-

/ monies to convert men, the Protestants on the preaching of the

‘ word of God and a blessing on its vital truths.

The first Protestant missionary to China was Rev. Robert

Morrison, of Morpeth, England, who was sent out by the London

Missionary Society, lie arrived at Canton, by way of Xew

York, in Se])teniber, 1807, and lived there for a year, in a quiet

manner, in the factory of Messrs. Milner and Bull, of Xew York.

He early made the acquaintance of Sir George T. Staunton,

one of his firmest friends, and already well versed in Chinese

studies; Mr. Robarts, the chief of the British factory, advised

hijii to avow his intention to the Chinese of translating the Scriptures

into their language, on the ground that it was a divine

book which Christians highly esteemed and which the Chinese

should have the opportunity of examining. In consequence of

difficulties connected with the trade, he was obliged to leave

Canton in 1S08 with all British subjects and repair to Macao,

where he deemed it prudent to maintain a careful retirement in

‘ An exhaustive collection of the titles of every work of importance upon

Catholic missions in China, as well as a rhuine of their jieriodical publications,

may be found in M. Cordier’s Diction ihiirc hibii(H/riij)/iiqiU’ t/iK oiirrKijfK ChinotK,

Tome I., pp. IJ^O-.ITH, and following these pages are the works concerning

Protestant missions, pp. .ITH-G’J;}. Compare also Thos. Marshall, (Viristitui

Mmioun: their Afieittx it lul their lienidtn, London, IHO;^, and Chr. H. Kalkar,

Oetchichte der christlichen Mission uiit<:r den J/eiih n, (iiitiTsloh, 1879-80.

THE PROTESTANTS IN CHINA—DR. MORRISON. 319

order not to attract nndue notice from the Portuguese priests.

His associate, Dr. Milne, observed, with reference to these traits

in his character, that ” the patience that refuses to be conqnered,

the diligence that never tires, the caution that always trembles,

and the studious habit that spontaneously seeks retirement were

best adapted for the tirst Protestant missionary to China.”

He married Miss Mary Morton in 1809, and accepted the appointment

of translator under the East India Company, in whose

service he continued until 1834. His position was now a wellunderstood

one, and his official connexion obtained for him all

necessary security so that he could prosecute his work with diligence

and confidence. He no doubt did wisely in the circumstances

in wdiicli he was placed, for his dictionary could hardly

have been printed, or his translation of the Scriptures and other

works been so successfully carried on, without the countenance

and assistance of that powerful body. The entire Xew Testament

was published in 181-1:, about half of it having been translated

by Morrison and the remainder revised from a mamiscript

which had been deposited in 1739 in the British Museum.

Rev. W. Milne arrived in July, 1813, as his associate, and resided

in Canton, leaving his wife at Macao. In 1814 he sailed

for the Indian Archipelago, provided with about seventeen

thousand copies of Testaments and tracts for distribution among

the Chinese there. He stopped at Banca on his route, and then

proceeded to Java, where he was received by Sir Stamford

Raffles, a man far in advance of the times in his suppoi-t and

patronage of missions. Milne was enabled to travel over the

island and distribute such books as he had. From Java he

went to Malacca, then a Dutch settlement, afterward returning

to Canton, where he remained undisturbed, though a severe

persecution, in which Dufresse lost his life, was waging against

the Christians throughout the Empire. Milne, finding it difficult

to prosecute his labors in China (for the East India Company

would not countenance him), embarked for Malacca in 1815, accompanied

by a teacher and workmen for printing Chinese

books ; here he resided till his death in 1822.

The leading objects in sending Morrison to Canton, namely,

the translation of the Bible and preparation of a dictionary,

320 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

occupied the greater portion of his time. He soon commenced

a Sabbath service with his domestics and acquaintances in his

own apartments, which lie never relinquished, though it did not

expand into a regular public congregation dui-ing his lifetime.

He considered this as one of the most important parts of his

work, and was much encouraged when in 1814 one of his

audience, Tsai A-ko, made a profession of his faith and was

baptized. He was the first convert, and it is reasonably to be

hoped, judging from his after-life, that he sincerely believed to

salvation.

The compilation of the dictionary progressed so well that in

1814 a few members of the Company’s establishment, among

whom Mr. Elphinstone and Sir George Staujiton were prominent,

interested themselves in getting it printed. The Court of

Directors responded to the application on the most liberal scale,

sending out as printer P. P. Tlioms, together with a printing

office. The first volume was issued in 1817, and the whole was

completed in six quarto volumes, containing four thousand five

hundred and ninety-five pages, in 1823, at an expense of about

twelve thousand pounds sterling. It consisted of three parts,

viz., characters arranged according to their radicals, according to

their pronunciation, and an English and Chhiese part. This

work contributed much to the advancement of a knowledge of

Chinese literature, and its aid in missions has been manifold

greater. The plan was rather too comprehensive for one man

to fill up, and also involved much repetition ; a reprint of the

second part was issued in a smaller volume, in 1854, without

material addition.

While the dictionary was going through the press, the ti-anslation

of the Old Testament was progressing by the joint labors

of Morrison and Milne, and in November, 1818, the entire

Bible was published. Another version, by Dr. Marshman at

Serampore, was completed and printed with movable types in

1822. A second edition of the Baptist version was never struck

off, and comparatively few copies have ever been circulated

among the Chinese. Both these versions are such that a sincere

inquirer after the truth cannot fail to comprehend the

meaning, though both are open to criticisms and contain mistakes

LABORS OF MORKISOX AX I) MILNE. 321

incident to first translations. Tliev are now numbered anionosuperseded

versions like those of AViclif and Tyndal, the Italic

and I’liilas in other languages, but will ever be regarded Nvith

gratitude.’

During the years he was thus engaged Morrison published a

tract on Redemption, a translation of the Assembly’s Catechism,

church of England liturgy, a synopsis of Old Testament history,

a hymn book, and a Tour of the World ; altogether, nearly thirty

thousand copies were printed and distributed. He prepared a

Chinese grammar on the model of a common English grammar,

which was printed at Serampore in 1815 ; also a volume

of miscellaneous information on the chronolog}’, festivals,

geography, and other subjects relating to China, under the

title of View of China for Philological P>irj>oses. The list

of his writings comprises thirty-one titles, of which nineteen are

in English ; each work bears witness to his learning and piety.

In 1821 Mrs. Morrison died, and about eight months after he

visited Malacca and kSingapore, where he was nnich delighted

by what he saw. The Anglo-Chinese College was then under

the care of Collie, and this visit from its founder encouraged

both principal and students. In 1824 he returned to England

and was honorably received by his Majesty George IV., and

obtained the approbation of all wdio took an interest in the

promotion of religion and learning. He published a volume of

sermons and a miscellany called Ilorce Sinicw while in England ;

and having formed a second matrimonial connection, left his native

land again in May, 1826, under different circumstances from

the lirst time. During his absence the mission at Canton was

left in charge of the first native preachei-, Liang Kung-fah, or

Liang x\-fah, whom Morrison had ordained as an evangelist. This

worthy man carried on his useful labors in preaching and writing

until his death in 1855 at that city, from whence, in 1834,

he had been forced to flee for his life. He takes a deservedly

high position at the head of the native Pi-otestant Christian min-

‘ Medhurst’s CMnn, p. 217. Chinese Reposit/)ry, VoL IV., p. 249. Life of

Morrison, by his widow, passim, 2 Vols , London, 1839. Wylie in Chinese Recorder,

VoL I., pp. 121, 145. Lives of the I^eaders of our Church Universal.

p. 819, Phila., 1879.

Vol.. II.—21

322 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

istiy among the Chinese in respect to time, and his writings

have been highly. successful and beneficiah

During the years whicli elapsed between the return and

death of Morrison, he was principally occupied by his duties as

translator to the Coinpany and in literary labors. Uh Metnoirs

furnish all the particulars of their contents, as well as the details

of his useful and uneventful life. His last years were

dieered by the arrival of five fellow-laborers from the United

States, the first who had come to his assistance since Milne left

him in 1814. On the dissolution of the East India Company’s

establishment, in April, 1834, he was appointed interpreter to

the King’s Commission, but his death took place August 1,

1834, at the age of fift3′-two, even then nnich worn out with

his unaided labors of twenty-seven years.

Perhaps no two persons were ever less alike than the founders

of the Romish and Protestant missions to China, but no

plans of opei’ations could be more dissimilar than those adopted

by Ricci and Morrison. We have already sketched the lifework

of the former, obtained from friendly sources. When

Morrison was sent out the directors of the London Missionary

Society thus expressed their views of his labors : ” AVe trust

that no objection will be made to yoiw continuing in Canton

till you have accomplished your great object of acquiring the

language ; when this is done, you may pi’obably soon afterward

begin to turn this attainment into a direction which may be of

extensive use to the world ; ])erhaps you may have the honor of

forming a Chinese dictionary, more comprehensive and correct

than any preceding one, or the still greater honor of translating

the sacred Scriptures into a language spoken by a third pai’t of

the human race.” The enterprise thus connuitted to the hands

of a single individual was only part of a system which neither

the pi’ojectors nor their collaborator supposed would end there.

They knew that the great work of evangelizing and elevating a

mass of mind like that using the Chinese language reqnired

large preparatory labors, of whi(di those here mentioned were

among, the most important. China was a sealed country when

Morrison landed on its shores, and he could not have forced his

way into it if he had ti-ied, with any prospect of ultimate sueTHE

MISSIONARIES RICCI AND MORRISON. 323

cess, even by adopting the same plans which Ilicci did. It is

doubtful if he could have lived there at all had it not been for

the protection of the East India Company. After all his toil,

and faith, and prayer, he only saw three or four converts, no

churches, schools, or congregations publicly assembled ; but his

last letter breathes the same desires as when he first went out:

” I wait patiently the events to be developed in the course of

Divine Providence. The Lord reigneth. If the kingdom of

God our Saviour prosper in China, all will be M’ell; other matters

are comparatively of small importance.” He died just as the

day of change and progress was dawning in Eastern Asia, but

liis life was very far from being a failure in its results or influence.

The principles of these two missionaries have been followed

out by their successors, and we are quite willing to let their results

be the test of their foundation upon the Chief Corner

Stone.

Protestant missions among the Chinese emigrants in Malacca,

Penang, Singapore, Tihio, Borneo, and Batavia have never taken

much hold upon them, and they are at present all suspended or

abandoned. The first named was established in 1815 by Milne,

and was conducted longest and with the most efficiency, though

the labors at the other points have been carried on with zeal and

a degree of success. The comparatively small results which have

attended all these missions may be ascribed to two or three reasons,

besides the fewness of the laborers. The Chinese residing

in these settlements consist chiefly of emigrants who have fled

or left their native countries, in all cases without their families,

some to avoid the injustice or oppression of their rulers, but

more to gain a livelihood they cannot find so well at home. Consequently

they lead a roving life ; few of them marry or settle

down to become valuable citizens, and fewer still are sufficiently

educated to relish or cai’e for instruction or books. These communities

are much troubled by branches of the Triad Society,

and the restless habits of the Malays are congenial to most of

the emigrants who enter among them. The Chinese, coming as

they do from different parts of their own land, speak different

dialects, and soon learn the Malay language as a lingua franca

;

their children also learn it still more thoroughly from their

324 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

mothers, notwithstanding the education their fathers give them

in Chinese. The want of fixedness in the Cliinese population

therefoi’e pai’tly accounts for tlie little permanent impression

made on it in these settlements by missionary efforts.

It was at Malacca that the Anglo-Chinese College was established

in 1818 by Dr. Morrison, assisted by other friends of

religion. Its objects were to afford Europeans tlie means of acquiring

the Chinese language and enable Chinese to become

acquainted with the religion and science of the West. It was

productive of good up to the time of its removal to Hongkong

in 18M. About seventy persons were baptized while the mission

remained at Malacca, and about fifty students finished their education,

part of whom were sincere Christians and all of them respectable

members of society. Three or four of the converts have

become preachers. There is little hesitation, however, in saying

that the name and array of a college were too far in advance of

the people among whom it w’as situated. The efforts made in

it would probably have been more profitably expended in establishing

common schools among the people, in wdiich Christianity

and knowledge went hand in hand. It is far better among an

igiiorant pagan people that a hundred persons should know one

thing than that one man should know a hundred ; the M’idest

diffusion of the first elements of religion and science is most desirable.

The mission was not, however, large enough at any

one time for its members to superintend many common schools.

Among the books issued besides Bibles and tracts were a periodical

called the Indo-Chinese Gleaner, edited by Dr. Mihie ; a

translation of the Four Books, by Mr. Collie ; an edition of Premare’s

Not’dla IJngxm Srnicep^ a life of ]\Iilno, and a volume of

sermons by Morrison. The number of volumes printed in Chinese

was about half a million.

The mission at (reorgctown, in tlie island of Pcnang. like that

at Malacca, was established in 1810 by the Ldndon Missionary

Society, and continued till 1843, at which time it was suspended.

The mission at 8inga])(>i’e was commenced in Isl!) by INfr. Milton

; the colonial govei’ument granted a lot, and a chapel and

other buildings wei-e erected in the course of a few years.

Messrs. Smith and Tonilin came to the settlement in 1827, but

MISSIONS TO CHINESE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO. 325

did not remain long. Gutzlaff came over from the Dutch settlement

at lihio, but did not remain long enough to effect anything

: nor did Abeel, who came fi-om China in 1831 and left soon

after for Siam. The German missionary at this station, Thomsen,

when about to leave in 1834, sold his printing apparatus to

the mission newly established there under the American Board

by Tracy. The prospects in China appearing unpromising at

this time, it was designed by the directors of the American

society to establish a well-regulated school for both Chinese and

Malays, which was by degrees to become a seminary, and as

many primary schools as there were means to support ; besides

the usual labors in preaching and visiting, a type foundry and

printing office for manufacturing books in Chinese, Malay,

Bugis, and Siamese were also contemplated. In December,

1834, Tracy was joined by the Kev. P. Parker, M.D., who

opened a hospital in the Chinese part of the town for the

gratuitous i-elief of the sick ; in 1835 Wolfe arrived from

England, and tvVo years afterward Rev. Messrs. Dickinson,

Hope, and Travelli, and T^orth from the United States, to take

charge of the schools and printing office. The school established

by the American mission was carried on until 1844, when

the mission was removed to China and the Malay portion of it

given up.

The English mission, after the death of Wolfe in 1837, was

under the care of Messrs. Dyer and Stronach, the former of

whom had removed there from Penang and Malacca. Dyer

had been for many years engaged in preparing steel punches for

a font of movable Chinese type, and his patient labors had already

overcome the principal difficulties in the way when the

work was arrested by his death in 1843. He had, however,

finished matrices for so many characters of two fonts that the

enterprise needed only to be carried on by a practised mechanic

to assure its success. This was afterward done by Messrs. Cole

and Gamble of the American Presbyterian Board. Tn their

superior styles and the different sizes now in use wo must

not forget Dyer’s initiatory steps. .This gentleman labored

nearly seventeen years with a consecration of energy and singleness

of purpose seldom exceeded, and won the affectionate re326

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

spect of the natives wlierever lie lived. The mission was continued

until 1845, when the printing office was removed to

Hongkong, and nearly all pi’oselyting efforts in the colony by

British Christians suspended. This point of intiuence has peculiar

claims on them as a radiating centre for the various nations and

tribes which trade in Singapore.

The mission to the Chinese in Java was commenced by Slater

in 1819 and reinforced in 1822 by Medhurst, who continued in

charge of it, with some interruptions, until 1843, when he removed

to Shanghai. The Dutch churches have carried on

evangelizing work in all their colonies, aided and guided somewhat

by the government officials, but have done almost nothing

for the Chinese, except as they have been addressed in Malay.

Such labors in the Dutch colonies have been left to them, and

foreign societies have now withdrawn from the Archipelago in

a great measure. The efforts of the American missionaries

were confined to Borneo and Singapore up to 1844, when they

all removed to China. The suspicious and restrictive bearing

of the Dutch authorities toward such efforts had its influence

in making this change.

A summary of labors at the stations was given by Medhurst

in 1837, who refers in it almost exclusively to the English missionaries,

as the Americans had at that time only recently commenced

operations. ” Protestant missionaries, considering themselves

excluded from the interior of the Empire of China, and

findiuir a host of emic-rants in the various countries in the

Malayan Archipelago, aimed first to enlighten these, with the

hope that if properly instructed and influenced they would, on

their return to their native land, carry with them the gospel

they had learned and spread it among their countrymen. With

this view they established themselves in the various colonies

around China, studied the language, set up schools and seminaries,

wrote and printed books, conversed extensively with the

people, and tried to collect congregations to whom they might

preach the word of life. Since the commencement of their

missions they have translated the Holy Scriptures and printed

two thousand complete Bibles in two sizes, ten thousand Testaments

and thirty thousand separate books, and ujiward of half

THE MISSIONS WITHDRAWN. 327

a million of tracts in Chinese ; besides four thousand Testaments

and one hundred and fifty thousand tracts in the languages

of the archipelago, making about twenty millions of

printed pages. About ten thousand children have passed

through the mission schools, nearly one hundred persons have

been baptized, and several native preachers raised up, one of

whom has proclaimed the gospel to his countrymen and endured

persecution for Jesus’ sake.”

Since this was written the number of pages printed and circulated

has more than doubled, the number of scholars taught

has increased many thousands, and preaching proportionably

extended ; while a few more have professed the gospel

by baptism and a generally consistent life. All these missions,

so far as the Chinese are concerned, are now suspended,

and, unless the Dutch resume them, are not likely to be soon

revived. The greater openings in China itself, and the small

number of cpialified men ready to enter them, invited all the

laborers away from the outskirts and colonies to the borders,

and into the mother country itself. The idea entertained, that

the colonists would react upon their countrymen at home,

proved illusive ; for the converts, when they returned to dwell

among their heathen countrymen, were lost in the crowd, and

though they may not have adopted or sanctioned their old

heathen customs, were too few to work in concert and too

ignorant and unskilled to carry on such labors.’

When Robert Morrison died at Canton in 1S3-I-, the prospect

of the extension of evangelistic work among the people was

nearly as dark as when he landed ; in China itself during that

time only three assistants had come to his help, for there were

few encouragements for them to stay. Bridgman, the first missionary

from the American churches to China, in company with

D. Abeel, seaman’s chaplain at Whampoa, arrived in February,

1830. Abeel remained nearly a year, when he went to Singapore,

and subsequently to Siam. They were received in Canton

‘ Besides the regular publications of the societies engaged in this brancli of

missions wliich give authentic details, see the memoirs of Abeel, Dyer, Milne,

and Morrison, Tomlin’s Missionary Letters, and Abeel’s Residence in China and

the neighboring countries.

328 TIIK MIDDLE KIXGDOM.

by the house of Olypliaiit ik Co., in wliose establishment ono

or both were maintained during the first three years, and wliose

partners remained tlic friends and supporters of all efforts for

the evangelization of the Chinese till its close, fifty years afterward.

Bridgman took four or five boys as scholars, but his

limited accommodations prevented the enlargement of the school,

and in 183-i it was disbanded by the departure of its pupils,

whose friends feared to be involved in trouble.

During the summer of 1833 Liang A-fah distributed a large

number of books in and about Canton, a work which well suited

his inclinations. Many copies of the Scriptures and his own

tracts had reached the students assembled at the literary examinations,

when the ofiicers interfered to prevent him. In

1834 the authoriti,es ordered a search for those natives who

had ” traitorously” assisted Lord Xapier in publishing an appeal

to the Chinese, and Liang A-fah and his assistants were immediately

suspected. Two of the latter were seized, one of

whom was beaten with forty blows upon his face for refusing

to divulge ; the other made a full disclosure, and the police next

day repaired to his shop and seized three printers, with four

hundi’ed volumes and l)locks ; the men were subsequently released

by paying about eight hundred dollars. Liang A-fah

fled, and a body of police arrived at his native village to arrest

him, l)ut not finding him or his family they seized three of his

kindred and sealed up his house, lie finally nuide his way to

Macao and sailed to Singapore.

Few books were distributed after this at Canton until ten

years later, but numerous copies were circulated along the coast

as far noi’th as Tientsin, accompanied with such explanations as

could be given. The first and most interesting of these voyages

was made by Gutzlaff, on board a junk proceeding from Bangkok

to Tientsin, June 9, 1831, in which the sociable character

of the Chinese and their readiness to receive and entertain

foreignc’rs when they could do so without fear of their rulers

was plainly seen.’ After his an-ival at Macao, December 13th,

‘ For an account of a trip much like it, see Annates de la Foi, Tome VII^

p. 356.

gutzlaff’s voyages along the coast. 329

he was engaged by the enlightened chief of the English factory,

Charles Marjoribanks, as interpreter to accompany Lindsay in

the ship Lord Amherst, on an experimental commercial voyage

which occnpied about seven months (February 20 to September

5, 1832), and presented further opportunities for learning the

feelings of the Chinese officers regarding foreign intercoui’se.

Many religious and scientific books were distributed, among

which was one giving a general account of the English nation

that was eagerly received by all classes. Within a few weeks

after his return Gutzlaff started a third time, October 20tli, in

the Sylph, an opium vessel in the employ of a leading English

firm at (Janton, and went as far as Manchuria while the winds

were favorable. She returned to Macao April 29, 1833, visiting

many places on the downward trip. The interest aroused

in England and America among political, commercial, and religious

people, fifty years ago, by the reports of these three

voyages can now hardly be appreciated. They opened the prospect

of new relations with one-half of mankind, and the other

half who had long felt debarred from entering upon their rightful

fields in all these diversified interests prepared for great

efforts.

Great Ihitain took the lead in breaking down the barriers,

and the religious world urged on the work of missions. Contributions

were sent to Gutzlaff from England and America, encouraging

him to proceed, and grants were made to aid in

printing Bibles and tracts. Li 1835 he gave up his connection

with the opium trade and took the office of interpreter to the

English consular authorities on a salary of eight hundred pounds

sterling, which he retained till his death, August 9, 1851, aged

fortj’-eight. lie was a man of great industry and knowledge

of Chinese, and carried on a missionary organization at Hongkong

by means of native Christians for several years. His

publications in the Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, German, English,

Siamese, C/Ochinchinese, and Latin languages number eightyfive

in all ; they are now seldom seen.

Li 1835 Medhurst visited China, and, assisted by the house of

Olyphant & Co., embarked in the brig Huron, accompanied by

the American missionary Stevens and furnished with a supply

530 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

of books. During tlie three months of the voyage, tliey ” went

through various parts of four provinces and many villages, giving

away about eighteeTi thousand volumes, of which six thousand

were portions of the Scriptures, among a cheerful and

willing people, without meeting with the least aggression or injury

; having been always received by the people with a cheerful

smile, and most genei-ally by the officers with politeness and

respect.”‘ Medhurst’s ability to sj)eak the Amoy dialect introduced

him to the peo})le in the junks at all the ports on the

coast. Years after this voyage the Methodist missionaries at

Fuhchau found that some of the books given away on Ilaitan

Island had been read and rememl)ered, and thus j^repared the

people there for listening to further preaching.

The most expensive enterprise for this object was set on foot

in 1830, and few efforts to advance the cause of religion among

the Chinese have been planned on a scale of greater liberality.

The brig Himmaleh was purchased in ISTew York by the firm of

Talbot, Olyphant & Co., principally for the pui-pose of aiding

missionaries in circulating religious books on the coasts of

China and the neighboring countries, and arrived in August,

183G. Gutzlaff, who was then engaged as interpreter to the

English authorities, declined going in her, because in that case

he must resign his commission, and there was no other missionary

in China acquainted with the dialects spoken on the coast.

The brig remained unemployed, therefore, until December,

when she was dispatched on a cruise among the islands of the

archipelago under the direction of Mr. Stevens, accompanied

by G. T. Lay, agent of the Ih-itish and Foreign Bible Society,

recently arrived. This decision of Gutzlaif, who had again and

again urged such a measure, and had himself ceased his voyages

on the coast because of his implied connection thereby with the

opium trade, was quite unexpected. The death of Mr. Stevens

at Singapore, in January, threw the chief responsibility and direction

of the undertaking upon Capt. Fi’azer, who seems to

have been poorly qualified for any other than the maritime

part. Kev. Messrs. Dickinson and Wolfe went in Stevens’

place, but as none of these gentlemen understood the Malayan

language, less direct intercourse was had with the people at the

THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS. 331

places where they stopped than was anticipated. The Himiiialeh

reached China in July, 183T, and as there was no one

qualiiied to go in her, she returned to the Ignited States. An

account of the voyage was written by Lay and published

in Xew York, in connection M’ith that of the ship Morrison to

Japan in August, 1837, by C. W. King, of the tirni of Olyphant

& Co., under whose direction the trip of the latter was

taken for the purpose of restoring seven shipwrecked Japanese

to their native land. Gutzlaff accompanied this vessel as interpreter,

for three of the men were under the orders of the

English superintendent ; the expedition failed in its object, and

all the men were brought back. Probably fifty thousaud books

in all were scattered on the coast in these and other voyages,

and more than double that number about Canton, Macao, and

their vicinity.

This promiscuous distribution of books has been criticised by

some as injudicious and little calculated to advance the objects

of a Christian mission. The funds expended in printing and

circulating books, it was said by these critics, who have never undertaken

aught themselves, could have been nnich better employed

in establishing schools. To scatter books broadcast

among a people whose ability to read them was not ascertained,

and under circumstances which prevented any explanation of

the design in giving them or inquiries as to the effects produced,

was not, at first view, a very wdse or promising course.

But it must be remembered that prior to the treaty of Nanking

this was the only means of appi’oaching the people of the

country. The Emperor forbade foreigners residing in his borders

except at Canton, and Protestant missionaries did not believe

that it was the best means of recommending their teachings

to come before his subjects as persistent violators of his laws

;

God’s providence would open the way when the laborers M’ere

ready, Xo one supposed that the desire to receive books was

an index of the ability of the people to understand them or

love of the doctrines contained in them. If the plan offered a

reasonable probability of effecting some good, it certainly could

do almost no harm, for the respect for printed books assured

us that they would not be wantonly destroyed, but rather, in

332 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

most cases, carefully preserved. The business of tract distribution

and colportage may, however, be carried too far in advance

of other parts of missionary work. It is much easier

to write, print, and give away religious treatises, than it is

to sit down with the people and explain the leading truths

of the Bible ; but the two go well together among those who

can read, and in no nation is it more desirable that they should

be combined. If the books be given away without explanation,

the people do not understand the object and feel too little

interest in them to take the trouble to find out ; if the preacher

deliver an intelligible discourse, his audience will probably

remember its general purjwrt, but they will be likely to read

the book with more attention and understand the sermon

better when the two are combined ; the voice explains the

book and the book recalls the ideas and teachings of the

preacher.

It is not surprising that the fate of these books cannot be

traced, for that is true of such labors in other lands. On the

one hand, they have been seen on the counters of shops cut in

two for wra})})ing up medicines and fruit—which the shopman

would not do with the worst of his own Ijooks ; on llie other, a

copy of a gospel containing remarks was found on board the

adniirars junk at Tinghai, when that town was taken by the

English in 1840. Tliey certainly have not all been lost or contemptuously

destroyed, though perhaps most have been like

seed sown by the wayside. In missions, as in other things, it

is impossil)le to predict the result of several courses of action

before trying them ; and if it was believed that many of those

who receive books can read them, there was a strong inducement

to press this branch of labor, when, too, it was the only

one which could be brought to bear upon large portions of the

people.

In 1832 the Chinese Itepository was commenced by Bridgman

and encouraged by Morrison, who, with his son, continued

to furnish valual)le papers and translations as long as they lived.

Its object was to diffuse correct information concerning China,

while it foi-med a convenient rcjiertoiy of the essays, travels,

translations, and papers uf contriljutors. It was issued monthly

A MISSION HOSPITAL AT CANTON. 333

for twenty years under the editorship of Messrs. Bridgnian and

AVillianis, and contains a history of foreign intercourse and missions

during its existence. Tlie Chinese Recorder lias since

chronicled the latter cause and the China Review taken the

literary branch.

In 1834 Dr. Parker joined the mission at Canton, and opened

a hospital, in October, 1835, for the gratuitous relief of such

diseases among the Chinese as his time and means would allow,

devoting his attention chiefly to ophthalmic cases and surgical

operations. This branch of Christian benevolence was already

not unknown in China. Morrison in 1820 had, in connection

with Dr. Livingstone, commenced dispensing medicines at

Macao, while T. R. Colledge, also of the East India Company,

opened a dispensary at his own expense, in 1827, and finding

the number of patients rapidly increasing, he rented two small

houses at Macao, where in four years more than four thousand

patients were cured or relieved. The benevolent design was

encouraged by the foreign community, and about six thousand

five hundred dollars were contributed, so that it was, after the

first year, no other expense to the founder than giving his time

and strength. It was unavoidably closed in 1832, and a philanthropic

Swede, Sir Andrew Ljungstedt, prepared a short account

of its operations, and inserted several letters written to Dr. Colledge,

one of which is here quoted :

To knock head and tliank the great Englisli (hiotor. Venerahle gentleman :

May your groves of almond trees be abundant, and the orange trees make tlie

water of your well fragrant. As lieretofore, may you be made known to tlie

world as illustrious and brilliant, and as a most profound and skilful doctor.

I last year arrived in Macao blind in both eyes ; I liave to tliank you, venerable

sir, for having by your excellent methods cured me perfectly. Your

goodness is as lofty as a hill, your virtue deep as the sea; therefore all my

family will express their gratitude for your now-creating goodness. Now I

am desirous of returning home. Your profound kindness it is impossible for

me to requite ; I feel extremely ashamed of myself for it. I am grateful for

your favors, and shall think of them without ceasing. Moreover, I am certain

that since you have been a benefactor to the world and your good government

is spread abroad, heaven must surely grant you a long life, and you will enjoy

every happiness. I return to my mean province. Your illustrious name,

venerable sir, will extend to all time ; during a thousand ages it will not decay.

I return thanks for your great kindness. Impotent are my words to sound

your fame and to express my thanks. I wish you i!verlasting tranquillity.

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

Presented to the great Englisli doctor and noble gentleman ia the lltli year ol

Taukwang, by Ho Shuh, of the district of Chau-ngan, in the department of

Changchau in Fuhkien, who knocks head and presents thanks.

Another patient, in true Chinese style, returned thanks for

the aid he had received in a poetical effusion :

This I address to the English physician : condescend, sir, to look upon it.

Diseased in my eyes, I had almost lost my sight, when happily, sir, I met witli

you. You gave me medicine ; you applied the knife ; and, as when the clouds

are swept away, now again I behold the azure heavens. My joys know no

bounds. As a faint token of my feelings, I have composed a stanza in heptameter,

which, with a few trifling presents, I beg you will be pleased to accept.

Then happy, happy shall I be

!

He lavishes his blessings, but seeks for no return

;

Such medicine, such physician, since Tsin were never known

:

The medicine—how many kinds most excellent has he !

The surgeon’s knife— it pierced the eye. and spring once more I see.

If Tung has not been born again to bless the present age,

Then sure ’tis Sii reanimate again upon the stage.

Whenever called away from far, to see your native land,

A living monument I’ll wait upon the ocean’s strand.

When Dr. Parker\s scheme was made known to Howqna, the

hono; merchant, he readily fell in with it and let his huilding

for the purpose, and after the first year gave it rent free till its

destruction in 1856. It was opened for the admission of patients

Xovend)er 4, 1835. The peculiar circumstances nnder

which this enterprise was started imposed some caution on its

superintendent, and the hong merchants themselves seem to

have had a hu’king suspicion that so ])ui’ely a henevolent object,

involving so mnch expense of timt\ laboi’, and moiiev, must

have some latent object which it l)ehooved them to watch. A

linguist’s clei’k was often in attendance, partly for this purpose,

for three or fonr years, and made liimself very useful. The

patients, who numbered about a hundred daily, were often i-estless,

and hindered their own relief by not patienth’ awaiting

their turn ; but the habits of order in which they are trained

made even such a company amenable to rules. The surgical

operations attracted nnicli notice, and successful cui-es were

spoken of abroad and served to advertise and recommend the

institution to the hi<i;her ranks of native societv. It is difficult

SUCCESS OF Parker’s medical scheme. 33^5

at this date to full}- appreciate the extraordinary ignorance and

prejudice respectin<^ foreigners wliicli tlie Chinese tlien entertained,

and which could be best removed by some such form of

benevolence. On the other hand, the repeated instances of

kind feeling between friends and relatives exhibited among the

patients, tender solicitude of j)arents for the relief of children,

and the fortitude shown in bearing the severest operations, or

faith in taking unknown medicines from the foreigners’ hands,

all tended to elevate the character of the Chinese in the opinion

of every beholder, as their unfeigned gratitude for restored

health increased his esteem.

The reports of this hospital in Sin-tau-lan Street gave the

requisite information as to its operations, and means were taken

to place the whole system upon a surer footing by forming a

society in China. Suggestions for this object were circulated

in October, 1836, signed by Messrs. Colledge, Parker, and

Bridgman, in which the motives for such a step and the good

effects likely to result from it were thus explained

:

We cannot close these siiggestions without adverting to one idea, thougli

this is not the place to enlarge upon it. It is affecting to contemplate this

Empire, embracing three hundred and sixty millions of souls, where almost

all the light of true science is unknown, where Christianity has ncdredy shed

one genial ray, and where the theories concerning matter and mind, creation

and providence, are wofully destitute of truth ; it is deeply affecting to see the

multitudes who are here suffering under maladies from which the hand of

(diarity is able to relieve them. Now we know, indeed, that it is the glorious

gospel of the l)lessed God onl}’ that can set free the human mind, and that it

is only when enlightened in the true knowledge of God that man is rendered

capable of rising to his true intellectual elevation ; but while we take care to

give this truth the high place which it ought ever to hold, we should beware

of depreciating other truth. In the vast conflict which is to i-evolutionize the

intellectual and moral world, we may not underrate the value of any weai^on.

As a means, then, to waken the dormant mind of China, may we not place a

high value upon medical truth, and seek its introduction with good hope of

its becoming the liandmaid of religious truth ? If an inquiry after truth upon

any subject is elicited, is there not a great point gained ‘? And that inquiry

after medical truth may be provoked, there is good reason to expect ; for, exclusive

as China is in all her systems, she cannot exclude disease nor shut her

people up from the desire of relief. Does not, then, the finger of Providence

point clearly to one way that we should take with the people of China, directing

us to seek the introduction of the remedies for sin itself by the same door

througli which we convey those which are designed to mitigate or remove its

336 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

evils ? Although medical truths cauuot restore the sick and afflicted to the

favor of God, yet perchance the spirit of inquiry about it once awakened

will not sleep till it inquires about the source of truth ; and he who comes

with the blessings of health may prove an angel of mercy to point to the Lamb

of God. At any rate, this seems the only open door ; let us enter it. A faith

that worketh not may wait for other doors. Xcfne can deny that tlii.-i is a way

of charity that worketh no ill, and our duty to walk in it seems plain and

imperative.’

This paper was favorably received, and in Februarj’, 1838, a

public meeting was convened at Canton for the purpose of

forming a society, ” tlie object of which shall be to encourage

gentlemen of the medical profession to come and practise gratuitously

among the Chinese by aifording the usual aid of hospitals,

medicines, and attendants ; but that the support or remuneration

of such medical gentlemen be not at present within

its contemplation.” Some other rules were laid down, but the

principle here stated has been since adhered to in all the similar

establishments opened in other places. It has served, moreover,

to retain them under the oversight and their resident physicians

in the employ of missionary societies. Xo directions were

given by the framers of the first society concerning the mode

of imparting religious instruction, distributing tracts, or doing

missionary work as they had opportunity. The signers of the

original paper of suggestions also issued an address, further

setting forth their views and expectations:

To restore health, to ease pain, or in any way to diminish the sum of

human misery, forms an object worthy of the philanthrojiist. But in the

prosecution of our views we look forward to far higher results than the mere

relief of human suffering. We hope that our endeavors will tend to break

down the walls of prejudice and long-cherished nationality of feeling, and to

teach the Chinese that those whom they affect to despise are both able and

willing to become their benefactors. They shut the door against the teachers

of the gospel ; they find our books often written in idioms which they cannot

readily understand ; and they have laid such restrictions upon commerce that

it does not awaken among thein that love of science, that spirit of invention,

and that love of thought which it uniformly excites and fosters whenever it

is allowed to take its own cour.se without limit or interference. In the way of

doing them good our opportunities are few ; but among these that of practis-

‘ Chinese Repositoi’y, Vol. V., p. 372; Vol. VII., pp. 33-40. Lockhart’s Med’

iciU Missionary in China, 18G1, p. 134.

FORMATION OF MEDICAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 337

ing medicine and surgery stands pre-eminent. Favorable results have hitherto

followed it, and will still continue to do so. It is a department of benevolence

peculiarly adai)ti’d to China.

In the depaitnieut of benevolence to which our attention is now turned,

purity and disinterestedness of motive are more clearly evinced than in any

other. They appear unmasked ; they attract the gaze and excite the admiration

and gratitude of thousands, llcul the nirk is our motto, constituting alike

the injunction under which we act and tlie object at which we aim ; and

which, with the blessing of God, we hope to accomplish by means of scientific

practice in the exercise of an unbought and untiring kindness. We have

called ours a missionary society because we trust it will advance the cause of

missions, and because we want men to fill our institutions wlio to requisite

skill and experience add the self-denial and liigh moral qualities which are

looked for in a missionary.

The undertaking so auspiciously begun at Canton, in 1835,

has been carried on ever since, and was the pattern of many

similar hospitals at the stations afterward occupied. The

greatest part of the funds needed for carrying tliem on has

been contributed in China itself by foreigners, wlio certainly

would not have done so had they not felt that it was a wise and

useful charity, and known something of the way their funds

were employed. The hospital at Canton has exceeded even the

hopes of its founders, and its many buildings and wards attest

the liberality of the community which presented them to the

society. The native rulers, gentry, and merchants are now

well acquainted with the institution, and contribute to carry it

on. During the forty-five years of its existence it has been

conducted by Drs. Parker and Kerr nearly all the time, who

have relieved about seven hundred and fifty thousand patients

entered on the books ; tlie outlay has been over one hundred

and twenty-five thousand dollars. Several dispensaries in the

country have also been carried on with the society’s grants in

aid. A separate hospital was conducted in Canton from 1846

to 1856 by B. Ilobson, F.R.C.S., who iias left an enduring

record of his labors in eighteen medical works in Chinese,

many of them illustrated. J. G. Kerr, M.D., has also issued

several small treatises, and the publications of this kind in

Chinese suitable for the people, issued by them and other missionary

physicians, already number nearly fifty.

In these details of the inception of the plan of combining

Vol. II.—22

338 THE MIDDLE KINGDO^F.

medical labors witli the work of Cliristian missions in China,

it will be seen how the confined position of foreigners at Canton

proved to be an incentive and an aid to its prosecution for

some years—lo7ig enough to show its place and fitness. On

the cessation of hostilities between China and tireat Britain in

1842, other fields were opened, wliere its benefits were even

more strongly shown. The war had left the people amazed

and irritated at what they deemed to be a causeless and unjust

attack by superior power. This was the case at Amoy, where no

foreigners had lived until the British army took possession in

August, 1841. In February, 1842, Eevs. D. x\beel and W. J.

Boone went there and made the acquaintance of the people on

Kulang su, who were much pleased to meet with those who

could converse with them and answer their inquiries. Di-.

Gumming was able, by their assistance, as soon as he opened

his dispensary, to inform the people of his designs ; and the

missionaries, on their part, preached the gospel to the patients,

distributing in addition suitable books. The people were so

ready to accept tlic proffenid relief that it was soon impossible

for one man to do more than wait upon the blind, lame, diseased,

and injured who thi-onged his doors. A few months

more equally proved that while the phj^sician was attending

to the patients in one room, the preacher could not ask for a

better audience than those who were waiting in the adjoining

one. An invitation to attend more formal services on the

Sabbath was soon accepted by a few, whose curiosity led them

to come and hear more of foreigners and their teachings. The

reputation of the hospital was seen when taking short excursions

in the vicinity, for persons M’ho had been relieved constantly

came forward to express their heartfelt thanks. Thus

suspicion gave way to gratitude, enemies were converted to

friends, and those who had enjoyed no opportnnity of learning

the character of foreigners, and had been taught to regard

them as barbarians and demons, were disabused of tlicir (M-ior.

The favorable impression thus made at Amoy, forty years ago,

has never been suspended, and numerous native chnrchos have

been gathered in all that region. Just the same uuicn of

pi’eaching and practice was begun at iShaughai by Dr. W.

POPULARITY AND INCREASE OF HOSPITAL WORK. 339

Lockliart after the capture of that city in 1844, and has been

continued to this time. Ningpo and Fuhcliau received similar

benefits soon after ; tliese and many others have received aid

fi’om foreigners residing in the Empire. Several thousand

dollars were sent from Great Britain and the United States to

further the object, and one society was formed in Edinburgh

in 1S56 to develop this branch of missionary work.

The proposition in the original scheme of educating Chinese

youth as physicians and surgeons has not been carried out to a

great extent. The practising missionary has hardl}^ the time

to do his students justice, and unless they show great aptitude

for operations, the assistants get M^eary of the I’outine of attending

to the patients and go away. Dr. Lockhart speaks of

his own disappointments in this I’espect. Dr. Parker had only

one pupil, Kwan A-to, who took up the profession among his

countrymen. Dr. Wong A-fun received a complete medical

education in Edinburgh, and rendered efficient help for many

years in the hospital at Canton till his death. The college at

Peking has now a chair of anatomy and physiology, which will

aid in introducing better practice. Dr. Kerr gives some other

reasons for the small number of skilled physicians educated

in the missionary hospitals, yet some of his pupils had obtained

lucrative practice. Others had imposed themselves in

remote places on the people as such, who had only been employed

as students a few months—a gratifying index of progress.

It is not likely, however, that the Chinese generally

will immediately discard their own mode of practice and adopt

another from their countrymen so far as to support them in

their new system. They have not enough knowledge of medicine

to appreciate the difference between science and charlatanism

; and a native physician himself might reasonably

have fears of the legal or personal results of an unsuccessful or

doubtful surgical case among his ignorant patients, so far as

often to prevent him trying it.

The successive annual reports issued from the various missionary hospitals in China furnish the amplest information concerning their management, and numerous particulars respecting the people who resort to them. At the Missionary Conference in Shanghai (1877) Drs. KeiT and (iould presented papers relating to this branch of labor in all its various aspects. The latter discussed the advantages of hospital versus itinerary practice ; the modes of bringing the patients under religious instruction: how to limit their number so as to not wear out the physician; oversight of assistants and education of pupils; how far this gratuitous relief should be extended; what was the best mode of getting a fee from those natives who were able to pay something; and, finally, the reasons for not uniting the ministerial functions with the medical. These various points show clearly how the experience of past years had manifested the wisdom and foresight of those who originated the work, and the manner it has developed in connection with other branches. If kept as an auxiliary agency, there seems to be no reason for reducing the efforts now made by foreign societies until native physicians and surgeons are able to take up this work, just as native preachers are to oversee their own churches.

Another benevolent society, whose name and object was the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China, was established in December, 1834. The designs of the association were ” by all means in its power to prepare and publish, in a cheap form, plain and easy treatises in the Chinese language, on such branches of useful knowledge as are suited to the existing state and condition of the Chinese Empire.” It published six or eight works and a magazine during the few years of its existence, and their number would have been larger if there had been more persons capable of writing treatises. Since then this kind of mission work has been taken up by various agencies better fitted to develop its several departments, and, excepting newspapers, the preparation of suitable histories,

geographies, and scientific books has been done by Protestant

missionaries. The Chinese government has directed its employes

in the ai’senal schools to translate such works as will

fm-nish the scholars with good elementary books.

Their usefulness as aids and precursors of the introduction

of the gospel is very great. Among a less intelligent population

they are not so important until the people get a taste for

knowledge in schools ; but where the conceit of false learning

SOCIETY FOR DIFFUSION OF USEFML KNOWLEDGE. 341

and pride of literary uttaininents cause such a contempt for all

other than their own l)ooks, as is the case in Chinese society,

entertaining narratives and notices of otlier people and lands,

got up in an attractive form, tend to disabuse them of these

ideas (the offspring of arrogant ignorance rather than deliberate

rejection) and incite them to learn and read more. The

influence of newspapers and other periodical literature will be

very great among the Chinese when they begin to think for

themselves on the great truths and principles which are now

being introduced among them. They have already begun to

discuss political topics, and the great advantage of movable

tj’pes over the old blocks tends to hasten the adoption of

foreign modes of printing. It may, by some, be considered as

not the business of a missionary to edit a newspaper ; but those

who are ac(|uainted with the debased hiertness of heathen

minds know that any means which will convey truth and

arouse the people tends to advance religion. The influence

of the Dnyanodya in Bombay, and other kindred publications

in various places hi India, is great and good ; hundreds of the

people read them and then talk about the subjects treated in

them, who would neither attend religious meetings, look at the

Scriptures, nor have a tract in their possession. The same will

be the case in China, and it is not irrelevant to the work of a

missionary to adopt such a mode of imparting truths, if it be

the most likely way of reaching the prejudiced, proud, and

ignorant people around him. When the native religious community

has begun to take form, this mode of instruction and

disputation will be left to its most intelligent members.

In January, 1835, the foreign community in China established a third association, which originated entirely with a few of its leading members. Soon after the death of Dr. Morrison, a paper was circulated containing suggestions for the formation of an association to be called the Morrison Education Society, intended both as a testimonial of the worth and labors of that excellent man, more enduring than marble or brass, and a means of continuing his efforts for the good of China. A provisional committee was formed from among the subscribers to this paper, consisting of Sir G. 13. Robinson, Bart., Messrs. W. Jardine, D. W. C. Olypliant, Lancelot Dent, J. 11. Morrison, and Rev. E. C. Bridgnian ; live thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven dollars were immediately subscribed, and about one thousand five hundred volumes of books presented to its library. This liberal spirit for the welfare of the people among whom they sojourned reflected the highest credit on the gentlemen interested in it, as well as upon the whole foreign community, inasmuch as, with only four or five exceptions, none of them were united to the ‘jountry by other than temporary business relations.

The main objects of the Morrison Education Society were ^’ the establishment and improvement of schools in which Chinese youth shall be taught to read and write the English language in connection with their own, by which means shall be brought within their reach all the instruction rc(piisite for their becoming wise, industrious, sober, and virtuous members of society, fitted in their respective stations of life to discharge well the duties which they owe to themselves, their kindred, their country, and their (iod.” The means of accomplishing this end by gathering a library, employing competent teachers, and encouraging native schools were all pointed out in this programme of labors, whose comprehensiveness was ecpialled only by its phi-]anthroj)y. Applications were made for teachers both in England and America ; from the former, an answer was received that

there was no likelihood of obtaining one ; a person was selected

in the latter, the Tlev. S. II. Brown, who with his wife arrived

at Macao in February, 1839. In the interval between the formation

of the Society and the time when its operations assumed

a definite shape in its own schools, something was done in collecting

information concerning native education and in supporting

a few boys, or assisting Mrs. Gutzlaff’s school at Macao.

THE MOKRISOlsr EDUCATION SOCIETY. 343

The Society’s school was opened at Macao in November, 1839, with six scholars ; four years afterward it removed to INforrison Hill in Hongkong, into the connnodious quarters erected by its president, Lancelot Dent, on a site granted by the colonial government for the purpose. In 181-5 Brown had thirty pupils, who filled all the room there was in the house. He stated in his report of that year, as a gratifying evidence of confidence on their part, that no parent had asked to have his child leave during the year. ” When the school was coMiinenced,” observes Mr. Brown, ” few offered their sons as pupils, and even they, as some of them have since told me, did it with a good deal of apprehension as to the consequences. ‘ We could not understand,’ says one who first brought a boy to the school, ‘ why a

foreigner should wish to feed and instruct our children for nothing.

We thought there must be some sinister motive at the bottom

of it. Perhaps it was to entice them away from their parents

and country, and transport them by and by to some foreign

land.’ At all events, it was a mystery. ‘ But now,’ said the

same father to me a few weeks ago, ‘ I understand it. I have

had my three sons in your school steadily since they entered it,

and no harm has happened to them. The eldest has been qualified

for service as an interpreter. The other two have learned

nothing bad. The religion you have taught them, and of which

1 was so much afraid, has made them better, I myself believe

its truth, though the customs of my country forbid my embracing

it. I have no longer any fear ; you labor for others’ good, not

your own. I understand it now.’ “

This suspicion was not surprising, considering the connnon

estimate of foreigners among the people, and indicates that it

was high time to attempt something Avorthy of the Christianity

which they professed. The scliool was conducted as it would

have been if removed to a town in Xew England ; and when its

pupils left they were fitted for taking a high rank in their own

country. Their attachment to their teacher was great. One

instance is taken from the fourth report : ” Last spring the

father of one in the older class came to the house and told his

son that he could not let him remain here any longer but that

he must put him out to service and make him earn something.

His father is a poor miserable man, besotted by the use of opium,

and has sold his two daughter into slavery to raise money. The

boy ran away to his instructor and told him what his father

liad said, adding, ‘I cannot go.’ Willing to ascertain the sincerity

of the boy and the strength of his attachment to his

friends, his teacher coolly replied, ‘ Perhaps it will be well for

yon to go, for probably you could be a table-boy in some gentleman’s house and so get two dollars a month, which is two more than jou get here, where only your food is given yon.’ The little fellow looked at him steadily while he made these remarks, as if amazed at the strange language he used, and when he had done, turned hastily about and burst into tears, exclaiming, ‘ 1 cannot go ; if I go away from this school I shall be lost.’ He did not leave, for his father did not wish to force him away.”

Another case shows the contidence of a parent on the occasion

of the death of one of the pupils, his only child : ” He heard

of his son’s illness too late to arrive before he died, and when he

caiue it was to bury his remains. He was naturally overwhelmed

with grief at the affliction that had come upon him, and his apprehensions

of the effect of the tidings upon the boy’s mother

were gloomy enough. After the funeral was over, I conversed

with him. To my surprise he made not the least complaint as

to what had been done for the sick lad, either in the “way of

medical treatment or otherwise, but expressed many thanks for

the kind and assiduous attentions that liad been l)estowcd upon

him. He said he had entertained great hope of his son’s future

usefulness, and in order to promote it had placed him here at

school. But now his family would end in liimself. I showed

him some specimens of his son’s drawing, an annisement of

which he was particularly fond. The tears gushed faster as his

eyes rested on these evidences of his son’s skill. ‘Do not show

them tome,’ said he; ‘it is too much. I cannot speak now. I

know you have done well to my son. I pity yon, for all your

labor is lost.’ I assured him I did not think so. He had been

a very diligent and obedient learner, and had won the esteem of

his teachers and companions. He had been taught concerning

the true drod and the way of salvation, and it might have done

him everlastin<; ijood. As the old man was leavinc; me, he

turned and asked if, in case he should adopt another boy, I

would receive him as a pupil, to which I replied in the affirmative.”

An assistant teacher, Wm. A. Macy, joined Mr. Brown in

184G; the latter returned to America in 1847, and the school

was closed in 184J>, owing chiei^y to the departure of its early

patrons from China and the opening of new ])orts of trade,

scattering the foreign comnnmity so that funds could not be

ITS SUCCESSFUL OPERATION. 345

obtained. Mission societies began to enlarge their work at

tliese ports and occupy the same department of education as

tlie Morrison School. It, however, did a good work in its education

of half a score of men who now fill high places in their

country’s service, or occupy posts of usefulness most honorably

to themselves. The boy mentioned in a previous paragraph

afterward went through a medical course at Edinbui-gh, became

a practising surgeon and physician at Canton, and died there in

1878, honored by foreigners and natives during a life of usefulness

and benevolence. In that year Mr. Brown visited

China for his health, and M’as received hy this Dr. Wong and

others of his old pupils with marks of regard honorable and

gratifying to both ; they fitted up a house there for him, presented

him Avith a beautiful piece of silver plate, and paid his

passage up to Peking and back to Shanghai.

The efforts of Protestants for the evangelization of China

were largely of a preparatory nature until the j-ear 1842. Most

of the laborers were stationed out of China, and those in the

Empire itself were unable to pursue their designs without many

embarrassments. Mrs. Gutzlaff experienced many obstacles in

her endeavors to collect a school at Macao, partly from the

fears of the parents and the harassing inquiries of the police,

the latter of which naturally increased the former ; partly again

from the short period the parents were M’illing to allow

their children to remain. The Portuguese clergy and government

of Macao have done nothing themselves to impede Protestant

missionaries in their labors in the colony since 1833,

when the governor ordered the Albion press, belonging to Dr.

Morrison’s son, to be stopped, on account of his publishing a

religious newspaper called the Miscellanea /Sinicw / and this he

was encouraged to do from knowing that the East India Company

was opposed to its continuance. The governor intimated

to one of the American missionaries in 1839 that no tracts

nnist be distributed or public congregations gathered in the colony,

but no objection would be made to audiences collected in

his own house for instruction. Xo obstacle was put in the way

of printing, and the press that was interdicted in 1833 was carried

back to Macao in 1835, after the dissolution of the East India Company, under the diiection of the American mission. Several aids in the study of the Chinese language were issued from it during the nine years it was there under the author’s charge.

The city of Canton was long in China one of the most unpromising

fields for missionai-y labors, not alone when it was

the only one in the Empire, but until recently. This was owins

to several causes. The pui-suits of foreigners were limited

to trade. Their residence was confined to an area of a few

acres held by the guild of hong merchants allowed to trade with

them, and all intercourse was carried on in the jargon known as

Pi(Jeon-English. They were systematically degraded by the

native rulers in the eyes of the people, who knew no other appellation

for the strangers than fan-kicei^ or ‘ foreign devil.’

The opium war of 1839-42 had aroused the worst passions of

the Cantonese, and their conceit had been increased by the unsuccessful

attempts to take the city in 1841 and 1847 by the

English forces. Since 1858 the citizens have been accessible to

other infiuences, and learned that their isolation and ignorance

brought calamity on themselves.

When Morrison died, Dr. Bridgman and the writer of these

pages were the oidy fellow-laborers belonging to any missionary

society then in China; the Christian church formed in 1835

contained only three members. It was indeed a day of small

things, but from henceforth grew more and more bright. The

contrast even in twelve years is thus described in Dr. llobson’s

report of his hospital ; the extract shows the little freedom then

enjoj^ed in comparison with what it now is, nearly forty years

after:

MISSIOX AT CANTON. 347

The average attendance of Chinese has been over a hundred, and nono have been more respectful and cordial in their attention than those in whom aneurism has been cured or sight restored, from whom the tumor has been extirpated or the stone extracted. These services must be witnessed to understand fully their interest. Deep emotions have been awakened when contrasting the restrictions of the first years of Protestant missions in China with the present freedom. Then, not permitted to avow our missionary character and object lest it might eject us from the country; nor could a Chinese receive a Christian book but at the peril of his safety, or embrace that religion without hazarding his life. Now he may receive and practise the doctrines of Christ, and transgress no law of the Empire. Onr interest may he more easily conceived than expressed as we have declared the truths of the gospel, or when looking upon the evangelist Liang A-fah, and thought of him fleeing for his life and long banished from his native land, and now ruturned to declare boldly the truths of the gospel in the city from which he had fled. Well did he call upon his audience to worship and give thanks to the God of heaven and earth for what he had done for them. With happy effect he dwelt upon the Saviour’s life and example, and pointing to the paintings suspended on the walls of the room, informed his auditors that these were performed by his blessing and in conformity to his precepts and example. Portions of the Scriptures and religious tracts are given to all the hearers on the Sabbath, and likewise to all the patients during the week, so that thousands of volumes have been sent forth from the hospital to scores of villages and to distant provinces.

Before the capture of the city the people had become quite friendly to all missionary labors, through the ameliorating influences of the hospitals. While the city was beleaguered by the insin-gents in 1S55, the wounded soldiers were attended to by Dr. Hobson, who sometimes had his house full. After Canton was occupied by the allies in 1858 there was an enlargement of mission work in the city and envh-ons, which has been growing in depth and extent till the changes draw the attention of the most casual observer. Foreigners are now seldom addressed £LS yan-hvei, and their excursions into the country and along the streams are made in safety. The Germans have established

stations in many places between Canton and Hongkong,

and easterly along the river up to I\ia-ying, where the

people are more turbulent than around the city or toward the

west.

The occupation of Hongkong in 1841 induced the American

Baptists to make it a station immediately, and Messrs. Roberts

and Shuck began the mission work, followed by the London

Mission two years after, when Dr. Legge removed there from

Malacca. The Roman Catholic missionaries also moved over

from Macao at the earliest date. The colonial authorities in

time began a system of common schools for all their subjects, so

that mission schools have been less necessary since that date,

but are still opened to some extent. The benevolent labors by

German, British, and American missionaries in Plongkong and

its vicinity have been zealously carried on in harmony, and there are fully fifty separate stations on the mainland northerly from the island which are worked from this colony. The number in the whole province of Kwangtung amounts to more than seventy-five, all of them efficiently established since 1858.

The mission at Amoy was commenced in 1842 by Messrs.

Abeel and Boone under the most favorable auspices. Tlie

English expedition took that city in August, 1841, and on leaving

it stationed a small naval and military force on the island

of Kulang su. The people of Anio}’ and its environs cared perhaps

little for the merits of the war then raging, but they knew

that they had suffered much from it, and no intei-j^reters were

available to carry on communication between the two parties.

Both these gentlemen could converse in the local dialect, and

were soon applied to by many desirous of learning something of

the foreigners or who had business with them. The Chinese

authorities were also pleased to obtain the aid of competent interpreters, and the good opinion of these dignitai-ies exercised considerable influence in inducing the people to attend upon the ministrations of the missionaries. Both officers and ]n-ivate gentlemen invited them to their residences, where they had opportunity to answer their reasonable inquiries concerning foreign

lands and customs, and convey an outline of the Christian

faith. One of these officers was Sen Ki-yu, afterward governor

of the province and author of the Jlmj Ilwan CIn Lioh, in

which he mentions Abeel’s name and speaks of his indebtedness

to him in preparing that work. The number of books given

away was not great, but part of every day was spent in talking

with the people; when the hospital was opened by Dr. Cumming,

greater facilities were afforded for intercourse. The iri’itation

caused by what the people naturally looked upon as an unprovoked

outrage was gradually allayed. There had been no long

education of intercommunication between natives and foreigners

in Amoy as at Canton. The work so pleasantly begun in 1842 in

Kulang su lias extended over most parts of the province of

Fuhkien, and westward into the prefecture of Chauchau in

Kwangtung. There are more converts, native pastors, and

schools in this province than any other in China.

MISSIONS IlSr AMOY AND FUHCHAU. o49

Its capital was never visited by a foreign enemy, nor did it siiflFer from the Tai-ping rebels, so that the gentry of Fuhchau have never been scattered nor their influence broken, like those of many other provincial centres. The mission work was commenced there in 1847 by Kev. Stephen Johnson, from Bangkok, who was soon joined by other American and English colleagues. He speaks of the great prejudices against all foreigners among the citizens in consequence of the evil effects of opium-smoking, which destroyed the people who would not cease to buy it. An experience of thirty years has not altogether removed this dislike, which even lately found an opportunity to exhibit itself in removing the Church Missionary Society’s mission from the Wu-shih Hill, where it had rented buildings for that period and ” injured the good luck of the city.” These prejudices will gradually give way with a new generation of scholars and merchants, and we can afford to be patient with them when we reflect on their slow progress in other things.

The American Board, American Methodist, and Church Missionary

Societies have each extended their stations beyond the

city into the country almost to the borders of Chehkiang and

Kiangsf, occupying in all nearly two hundred localities with

their assistants. Besides these agencies, the China Inland mission

has occupied three cities on the eastern coast and about

sixteen other stations. The whole number of places in the

province of Fuhkien where Protestants have opened their woi k

in one form and another is now over two hundred and fifty,

under seven separate societies. In most of these towns the

good will of the people has remained with them when their objects

have been fully imderstood ; and the contrasts of destroying

their chapels or book-shops, as at Ivien-ning, have been found tt)

be mixed up with other causes. Since the year 18G3 the island

of Formosa has been occupied by two or three British societies,

and the work of their missionaries in the cliief towns has been

greatly prospered. Dr. Maxwell has carried on his hospital at

Taiwan with eminent success as a means of winning the good

opinion of suspicious natives and aborigines and inclining them

to listen to the gospel. Native churches have been gathered in

various parts remote from the coast, and thirty-five stations are

now worked by the two British societies which have taken up this field. This progress has not been without opposition, for two of the converts were martyred a few years ago by their countrymen.

The first missionary efforts north of Canton of a permanent nature were made in ISiO by Dr. Lockhart, in the establishment of a hospital at Tinghai in Chusan. They were resumed by Milne in 1842, and while the island was under the control of British troops. Gutzlaff occupied the office of Chinese jnagistrate of Tinghai in 1S42, and endeavored to hold meetings.

Milne left Xingpo in June, 1843, and came to Hongkong overland

dressed in a native costume. After his departure, some

time elapsed before his place was supplied. The journal of his

residence in that city indicated a great willingness on the part of

people of all ranks to cultivate intercourse with such foreigners

as could converse with them. Drs. Macgowan and McCarty

went there in 1S43 and 1844 to open a hospital, and were followed

by Messrs. Lowrie, Culbertson, Loomis, and Cole, the latter

in charge of a printing office of English and Chinese type and a type foundry. Keligious services are held at the hospitals in that city, and Dr. IMacgowan says: “Each patient is exhorted to renounce all idolatiy and wickedness and to enibruce the religion of the Saviour. They are aduiitted by lens into the prescribing room, and before being dismissed are addressed by the physician and the native Christian assistant on the subject of religion.

Tracts are given to all who are able to read.” The more such labors are carried on the better will the prospect of peace and a profitable intercourse between China and western nations become ; the more the people learn of the science and resources, the character and designs, and partake of the religion and benevolence of western nations, the icss chance will there be of collisions, and the more each party will respect the other. The fear is, however, that the disruptive and disorganizing influences will preponderate over the peaceful, and precipitate new outbreaks before these influences obtain much hold upon the Chinese.

MISSIONS IN CHEHKIANG PROVINCE. 351

The occupation of Ningbo in 1841 by the British troops, and their excursions into the country, had the effect of preparing the people of Zhejiang province to listen to foreigners. The mission work begun at Ningbo by three or four societies in 1842-4S has been carried on with marked success and completeness in its agencies. The various missions have taken different parts of the province for their particular fields, and by means of chapels, hospitals, schools, printing offices, itinerating and preaching excursions, and the sale of religious books, have made known the truth. A large part of the province was ravaged by the Tai-ping rebels, and after their dispersion in 18G7 Hangzhou and Shanking were occupied. These two cities were well high destroyed, but their inhabitants are learning that no force or governmental influence accompanies the preaching of the doctrines of Jesus. This idea has considerable strength among all the Chinese, and no disclaimer or explanations have much effect at first. The people of Zhejiang province have less energy and individuality than their countrymen in the southern provinces, but they have received the faith in simplicity, maintaining its ordinances and bearing its expenses in many cases without foreign aid. In the seventy stations now occupied by six societies from England and America, the advance is seen to be great since the capture of Ningbo and Tinghai forty years ago, even by the confession of those who still hold aloof. The good reputation of the missionaries was shown in the amicable settlement of an irritating question in Ilangchau city in 1874. It arose

from the occupation of the hillside by the Americans, who had

bought the spot when it was bare of houses and erected their

own dwellings. These were deemed to be detrimental to its

prosperity, and a riot arose which was quelled by the authorities.

A proposal was then made l)y the gentry to remove them by getting

another site in the lower city, and this harmonized all parties

while establishing a good precedent for future observance.

The great city of Shanghai was almost unknown to foreign

nations until the treaty of Nanking opened it to their trade in

1842. Its inhabitants suffered greatly at its capture, but the

growing commerce ere long brought prosperity. As soon as arrangements could be made the London Mission moved its hospital from Chusan Island to Shanghai (in 1844), and Dr. Lockhart immediately commenced his work. Ilis rooms were thronged, and it is stated that ten thousand nine hundred and seventy eight patients were attended to between May, 1844, and June, 1845. The knowledge of this charity spread over the province of Kiangsu, and removed much of the ill-will and ignorance of the people toward foreigners. One effect in the city was to incite the inhabitants to open a dispensary during four summer months, for the gratuitous relief of the sick. It was called iS/d I Kuiig-kluJi, or ‘ Public Establishment for Dispensing Healing.’

” It was attended by eight or nine iiative practitioners, who saw

the patients once in five da\’S ; this attendance was gratuitous

on the part of some of them, and was paid for in the case of

others. The medicines are supplied from the different apothecary

shops, one furnishing all that is wanted during one day,

which is paid for by subscriptions to the dispensary. The patients

vary from three hundred to five hundred. The reason

given for the recent establishment of this dispensary for relieving

the sick is that it has been done by a foreigner who came

to reside at the place, and therefore some of the wealthy natives

wished to show their benevolence in the same way.” Such a

spirit speaks well for the inhabitants of Shanghai, for nothing

like competition in doing good has ever been started elsewhere,

nor even a public acknowledgment made of the benefits conferred

by the hospitals.

During the voyage along the coast of China made by Messrs. Medhurst and Stevens, in 18l>5, they visited Shanghai ; and an abstract of Medhurst’s interview with the officers on that occasion is taken from his journal. lie had already been invited by them to enter a temple hard by the landing-place, to the end that they might learn the object of the visit, and was conversing with them.

The party was now joined by another officer named Chin, a hearty, rough-looking man, with a keen eye and a voluble tongue. He immediately took the lead in the conversation, and asked whether we had not been in Sliantung and had communication with some great officers there ? He inquired after

Messrs. Lindsay and GutzlafF, and wished to know whither we inttjnded to

proceed. I told him these gentlemen were well ; but we could hardly tell

where we should go, quoting a Chinese proverb, “We know not to day what

will take place to-morrow.” But, I continued, as your native conjurors are

reckoned very clever, they may perhaps be able to tell you. ” I am conjuror

enough for that,” said Chin ; ” but what is your profession V ” I told him that I

ENTRY OF MISSIONS INTO SnANGHAI. 35J?

was a toachor of religion. . . . AfttT a little time a great noise was heard outside, and the arrival of the chief magistrati; of the city was announced, when several officers came in and requested me to go and see his worship.

He appeared to be a middle-aged man, but assumed a stern aspect as I entered, though I paid him the usual compliments and took my seat in a chair placed opposite. This disconcerted him much, and as soon as he could recover himself from the surprise at seeing a barbarian seated in his presence, he ordered me to come near and stand before him, while all the officers called out, ” Rise ! Rise! ” I arose accordingly, and asked whether I could not be allowed to sit at the conference, and as he refused, I bowed and left the room. I was soon followed by Chin and Wang, who tried every effort to persuade me to return ; this, however, I steadfastly refused to do unless I could be allowed to sit, as others of my countrymen had done in like circumstances. . .

Having been joined by Mr. Stevens (who had been distributing books

among the crowd without), we proceeded to converse more familiarly and to

deliver out books to the officers and their attendants, as well as to some

strangers that were present, till they were all gone. A list of such provisions

as were wanted had been given to Wang, whom we requested to purchase them

for us, and we would pay for them. By this time tlie articles were brought

in, which they offered to give us as a present, and seeing that there was no

other way of settling the question, we resolved to accept of the articles and

send them something in return. The rain having moderated, we aro.se to take

a walk and proceeded toward the boat, where the sailors were busy eating

their dinner. Wishing to enter the city we turned o3E in that direction, but

were stopped by the officers and their attendants, and reluctantly returned to

the temple. After another hour’s conversation, and partaking of refreshments

with the officers, they departed. On the steps near the boat we observed

a basket nearly full of straw, and on the top about half a dozen books

torn in pieces and about to be burnt. On inquiry, they told us that these

were a few that had been torn in the scuffle, and in order to prevent their

being trodden under foot they were about to burn them. Recollecting, however,

that Chin had told his servant to do something with the books he had

received, it now occurred to us that he had directed them to be burned in our

presence. On the torch being applied, therefore, we took the presents which

were lying by and threw them on the fire, which put it out. The policeman, taking off the articles, applied the torch again, while we repeated the former operation ; to show them that if they despised our presents, we also disregarded theirs. Finally the basket was thrown into the river and we left, much displeased at this insulting conduct.’

‘ China: Its State and Prospects, pp. 371-377. Chinese Repository, Vol. IV.,pp. 330, 331.

This extract might be thouffht to refer to an event which took place in the days of Hicci instead of one within the memory of the living. The progress and changes since it occurred in that city typify what has been going on throughout the whole land. Medhurst came back to Shanghai to live, within nine years after this incident, and when his failing health compelled his retirement in 1856, he closed an honorable service of thirty-nine years in the mission field. His dictionaries, translations, and writings in Chinese and English (ninety -three in all) indicate his industry ; and through them he, being dead, yet speaketh to the Chinese upon his favorite themes of redemption.

The work which he began was reinforced by colleagues from Groat Britain and America until the whole population was reached, and towns lying south of the Yangzi river were all visited. After the rebellion was quelled in 1867 other cities were occupied, until about forty-five localities in all parts of Kiangsu are now held as preaching stations. People are returning to their deserted homes, and lands that lay fallow for years are retilled ; thither foreign and native preachers and colportors bring the living word without hindrance.’

The consequences of the introduction of the gospel into China are likely to be the same that they have been elsewhere, in stirring up private and public antagonism to what is so opposed to the depravity of the human heart. There are some grounds for hoping that there will not be much systematic opposition from the imperial government when once the chiefs of

the nation learn the popular sentiments and will. The principal

reasons for this are found in the character of the people,

who are not cruel or disposed to take life for opinions when

those opinions are held l)y numbers of respectable and intelligent

men. The fact that the officers of government all spring from

the body of the people, and that these dignitaries are neither

governed nor influenced by any State hierarch}’—by any body

of pi’iestly men, who, feeling that the progress of the new faith

will cause the loss of their influence and position, are determined

to use the power of the State to put it down—leads us to

hope that such officers as may adopt the new faith will not, on

account of their profession, be banished (»r disgraced. Such

was the case with Sii, who assisted and countenanced Ricci.

‘ In this connection the work of Dr. Lockhart {.}f<‘(h’riil 3fmionnry in China, London, IHCil) may prolitably be read for the details and results of mission labors in Shanghai.

PROSPECTS FOR CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA. 355

The general character of the Chinese is irreligious, and they

care much more for money and power than they do for religions

ceremonies of any kind ; they would never lose a battle as

the Egyptians did because the Persians placed cats between the

annies. There are no ceremonies which they consider so binding

as to be willing to tight for them, and persecute others for

omitting, except those pertaining to ancestral worship ;—these

are of so domestic a nature that thousands of converts miirht

discard them before much would be known or done by the people

in relation to the matter. The conscientious Christian

magistrate would be somewhat obnoxious to his master, and

liable to be removed for refusing to perform his functions at

the ching-hivang iniao before the tutelar gods of the Empire.

These and other reasons, growing out of the character of the people

and the nature of their political and religious institutions, lead

to the hope that the leaven of truth will permeate the mass of

society and renovate, purify, and strengthen it without weakening,

disorganizing, or destroying the government. There

are, also, some causes to fear that such will not be the case,

arising from the ignorance of the people of the proper results

of Christian doctrines; from a dread of the government respecting

its own stability from foreign aggression ; from the

evil consequences of the use of opium, and the drainage of the

precious metals ; and from the disturbing effects of the intercourse

with unscrupulous foreigners and irritated nati^’es often

leading to riots and the interference of government authorities.

The toleration of the Christian religion had been allowed throughout the Empire by imperial edicts issued in the reign of Shunchi and his son ; and often and often discountenanced and persecuted after those dates. The governmental policy had been long settled to disallow its profession by its subjects or the residence of the Koman Catholic missionaries in its borders.

In 1844 the French envoy, M. de Lagrene, brought their disabilities to the notice of Kiying, who memorialized the throne and received the following rescript, which reversed the bloody decrees of 1722 and later years. For his efforts in this matter he deserves the thanks and remembrance of every friend of Christianity and the Chinese.

Kiying, imperial fonimissioner, minister of State, and governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, respectfully addresses the throne by memorial.

On examination it appears that the religion of the Lord of Heaven is that professed by all the nations of the West ; that its main object is to encourage the good and suppress the wicked ; that since its introduction to China during

the Ming dynasty it has never been interdicted ; that subsequently, when

Chinese, practising tliis religion, often made it a covert for wickedness, even

to the seducing of wives and daughters, and to the deceitful extraction of the

pupils from the eyes of the sick,’ government made investigation and inflicted

punishment, as is on record ; and that in the reign of Kiaking special clauees

were first laid down for the punishment of the guilty. The prohibition, therefore,

was directed against evil-doing under the covert of religion, and not

against the religion professed by the western foreign nations.

Now the request of the French ambassador, Lagrene, that those Chinese

who, doing well, practiise this religion, be exempt from criminality, seems

feasible. It is right therefore to make the request, and earnestly to crave

celestial favor to grant that, henceforth, all natives and foreigners without

distinction, who learn and practise the religion of the Lord of Heaven, and do

not excite trouble by improper conduct, be exempted from criminality. If

there be any who seduce wives and daughters, or deceitfully take the pupils

from the eyes of the sick, walking in their former paths, or are otherwise

guilty of criminal acts, let them be dealt with according to the old laws. As

to those of the French and other foreign nations who practise the religion, let

them only be permitted to build churches at the five ports opened for commercial intercourse. They must not presume to enter the country to propagate religion.

Should any act in opposition, turn their backs upon the treaties, and rashly overstep the boundaries, the local officers will at once seize and deliver them to their respective consuls for restraint and correction. Capital punishment is not to be rashly inflicted, in order that the exercise of gentleness may be displayed. Thus, peradventure, the good and the profligate will not be blended, while the equity of mild laws will be exhibited.

This request, that well-doers practising the religion may be exempt from criminality, I (the commissioner), in accordance with reason and bounden duty, respectfully lay before the throne, earnestly praying the august Emperor graciously to grant that it may be carried into effect. A respectful memorial. DaoGuang, 24th year, 11th month, 19th day (December 28, 1844), was received the vermilion reply : ” Let it be according to the counsel [of Kiying].”

This is from the Emperor.’-‘
‘ Tills is thus explained by a Chinese : ” It is a custom with the priests who teach this religion, when a man is about to die, to take a handful of cotton, having concealed within it a sharp needle, and then, while rubbing the individual’s eyes with the cotton, to introduce the needle into the eye and puncturi! the pupil with it ; the humors of the pupil saturate the cotton and are afterward used as a medicine.” This foolish idea has its origin in the extreme unction administered by Catholic i)riw5ts to the dying. See, moreover, th«

Lettrca FjIiJitiiittK, Tome IV., p. 44.

‘^ Chiiieite lifj)Oiiitorij, Vol. XIV., p. 195.

TOLKKATIOli OBTAINED THKOUGII KITING. 357

This rescript <2,rniito(l toleration to the Christians already in the country, known only by the term Tien Cha k!ao, or ‘ Keligion of the Lord of Heaven/ and referring only to those persons who profess Catholicism. Subsequently the French minister was asked to state whether, in making this request of the Chinese officers, he intended to include Christians of all sects, as there had been some doubts on that point, he therefore brought the subject again before Qiying, who issued an explanatory notice, without making a second appeal to his sovereign. It is not necessary to quote the entire reply, which granted as conq:)lete toleration to all Christian sects as its writer was able to do from his knowledge of their differences. The term Vesii, kiao, since adopted for Protestants, was not then current. After quoting the purport of M. de Lagj’enc’s communication, Qiying thus sums up his conclusions :

Now I find that, in the first place, when the regulations for free trade were agreed upon, there was an article allowing the erection of churches at the five ports. This same privilege was to extend to all nations ; there were to be no distinctions. Subsequently the commissioner Lagrene requested that the Chinese who, acting well, practised this religion, should equally be held blameless. Accordingly, I made a representation of the case to the throne, by memorial, and received the imperial consent thereto. After this, however, local magistrates having made improper seizures, taking and destroying crosses, pictures, and images, further deliberations were held, and it was agreed that these [crosses, etc.] might be reverenced. Originally I did not know that there were, among the nations, these differences in their religious practices. Now with regard to the religion of the Lord of Heaven—no matter whether the crosses, pictures, and images be reverenced or be not reverenced—all who, acting well, practise it, ought to be held blameless. All the great western nations being placed on an equal footing, only let them by acting well practise their religion, and China will in no way prohibit or impede their so doing Whether their customs be alike or unlike, certainly it is right that there should be no distinction and no obstruction.—December 22, 1845.

The sentence in this document which speaks of local magistrates making improper seizures probably refers to something which had occurred in the country. At Shanghai the intondant of circuit issued a proclamation in November, lS-i5. based upon the Emperor’s rescript, in which he defines the Tien Chu Mao ” to consist in periodically assembling for unitedly worshipping the Lord of Heaven, in respecting and venerating the cross, with pictures and images, as well as in reading aloud the works of the said religion ; these are customs of the said relio-ion in question, and practices not in accordance with these cannot be considered as the religion of the Lord of Pleaven.”

The varions associations and sects found throughout China are all included under the vague name of klao, or ‘ doctrine ;

‘ they are an annoyance to the government and well disposed people, and are referred to and excepted against in this proclamation.

In a decree received by Qiying at Canton, February 20, 1846, relating to the restoration of the houses belonging to Romanists, the views of the Chinese government respecting the foreign missionaries were further nuxde known.

On a former occasion Qiying and others laid before Us a memorial, requesting immunity from punishment for those who doing well profess the religion of Heaven’s Lord; and that those who erect churches, assemble together for worship, venerate the cross and pictures and images, read and explain sacred books, be not prohibited from so doing. This was granted. The religion of the Lord of Heaven, instructing and guiding men in well-doing, differs widely from the heterodox and illicit . ects ; and the toleration thereof has already been allowed. That which has been requested on a subsequent occasion, it is right in like manner to grant.

Let all the ancient houses throughout the provinces, which were built in the reign of Kanghi, and have been preserved to the present time, and which, on personal examination by proper authorities, are clearly found to be their bona fide, possessions, be restored to the professors of this religion in their respective places, excepting only those churches which have been converted into temples and dwelling-houses for the people.

If, after the promulgation of this decree throughout the provinces, the local officers irregularly prosecute and seize any of the professors of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, who are not bandits, upon all such the just penalties of the law shall be meted out.

If any, under a profession of this religion, do evil, or congregate people from distant towns, seducing and binding them together; or if any other sect or bandits, borrowing the name of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, create disturbances, transgress the laws, or excite rebellion, they shall be punished according to their respective crimes, each being dealt with as the existing statutes of the Empire direct.

Also, in order to make apparent the proper distinctions, foreigners of every nation are, in accordance with existing regulations, prohibited from going into the country to propagate religion.

GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARD MISSIONARIES. 359

For these purposes this decree is given. Cause it to be made known.
From the Emperor.'(‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 155, where the original is given.)

The directors of Protestant missions did not think it right to violate the Last paragraph in this rescript, and confined their efforts to the open ports, where their agents had much preliminary work to do. This went on quietly, and on the whole peaceably, as the inhabitants found that the missionaries were their friends. Chapels^ schools, hospitals, printing offices, and dwellings were erected at all the ports, bo that by the year 1858 about one hundred Protestants were carrying them on. The number of converts was few, and there was not much result to show in tabular lists. It was a time of seed-sowing.

In 1849 the adherents of Hong Xiu-quan began to make trouble in the west of Kwangtung, and to be called the Shangdihui / and the Peking authorities were unable to distinguish them from Protestants, who had thus rendered the name for God in the version of the Bible used by these misguided men. Their rapid successes against the imperial troops soon roused the utmost energies of the government to suppress them and retake Nanking. In 1856 a more dangerous struggle was precipitated by the impolitic action of Yeh Ming-chin, the governor-general at Canton, in respect to the Arrow, a snniggling lorcha carrying the British flag, which ended in a declaration of war against China. When hostilities ceased in 1858 by signing treaties of peace at Tientsin with envoys of the four nations there assembled, it was deemed to be a favorable time to introduce some definite stipulations respecting the toleration of Christianity in China. The rescripts of the Emperor DaoGuang in 1844 had never carried any real weight among rulers or people, nor had the Romanists ever been able to re-possess their old churches and other real estate taken from them. The largest part had long been occupied or destroyed.

Any opposition to such a proposal was not likely to be very persistent on the part of the Chinese plenipotentiarie^s in face of the force at the call of those who had just captured the forts at Taku and held the city of Tientsin under their guns. The four nations. Great Britain, France, the United States, and Russia, were, as representatives of Christendom, in the providence of God brought face to face with China, the representative of paganism. They came to demand an arrangement of commercial, diplomatic, civil, and ex-territorial rights, and the introduction of religious privileges did not enter into their plans.

The war on the part of the two first-named powers had no reference to religion, and their two colleagues wuuld doubtless have omitted the articles on toleration if the Chinese had held out on those alone. At this singular and most unexpected correlation of moral and physical forces among the nations of the world, involving the greater part of its inhabitants, the freedom of the rising church of Christ in China was quietly secured by the four following articles of toleration inserted in the treaties signed in June, 1858. They are here given in the order of their dates:

Russian. Art. YIII.—The Chinese government having recognized the fact that the Christian doctrine promotes the establishment of order and peace among men, promises not to persecute its Christian subjects for the exercise of the duties of their religion; they shall enjoy the protection of all those who profess other creeds tolerated in the Empire. The Chinese government, considering the Christian missionaries as worthy men who do not seek worldly advantages, will permit them to propagate Christianity among its subjects, and will not hinder them from moving about in the interior of the Empire. A certain number of missionaries setting out from the open ports, or cities, shall be provided with passports signed by Russian authorities.

American. Art. XXIX.—The principles of the Christian religion, as professed by the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, are recognized as teaching men to do good, and to do to others as they would have others do to them. Hereafter, those who quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be harassed or persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether, citizen of the United States or Chinese convert, who according to these tenets peaceably teaches and practises the principles of Christianity, shall in no case be interfered with or molested.

TREATY STIPULATIONS RESPECTING CHRISTIANITY. 361

British. Art. VTTI.—The Christian religion, as professed by Protestants or Roman Catholics, inculcates the practice of virtue, and teaches man to do as he would be done by. Persons teaching it or professing it, therefore, shall alike be entitled to the protection of the (‘liinose authorities ; nor sliull any siicli, peaceably pursuing their calling, and not offending against the laws, be persecuted or interfered with.

French. Art. XIII.—La religion Chretienne, ayant pour objet essentiel, de porter les honinies a la vertu, les niembres de toutes communions Ohretiennes jouiront d’une entiere securite pour leurs personnes, leurs proprietes, et le libre exercice de leurs pratiques religieuses ; et une protection efficace seia donnee aux missionnaires qui se rendront pacifiquement dans I’interieur du pays, munis des passeports reguliers dont il est parle dans TArticIe VIII. Aucune entrave ne sera apportee par les autorites de TEmpire Cliinois au droit qui est reconnu a tout individu en Chine d’einbrasser, s’il le vent, le Christianisme et d’en suivre les pratiques, sans etre passible d’aucune peine intiigee pour ce fait. Tout ce qui a etc precedemment ccrit, proclame, ou public en Chine par ordre du gouvernement centre le culte Chretien, est compK’tement abroge, et reste sans valeur dans toutes les pi’ovinces de I’Empire.

An article similar to these in its general import has been

inserted in nearly all the treaties subsequently signed with the

Chinese. They contain as nmch freedom of faith and practice

by converts as could be desired by any reasonable man ; but

many missionaries were disappointed that their provisions were

violated or disregarded by native officials. These sanguine persons

often forgot that forbearance and time were both needed

to bring the people and their rulers up to an appreciation of tlie

new liberties and obligations contained in the treaties, and that

their ignorance would be best and thoroughly removed by the

living evidences of the purity and power of Christianity among

its converts. These have already begun to show their faith by

their works.

The only additional action of the Chinese government in this direction that needs to be noticed is Article YI., agreed upon with the French envoy and contained in the convention signed at Peking in October, 1860, in relation to the restoration of property once o^^^^ed by the Romanists. The translation is as follows :

Art. VI.—It shall be promulgated throughout the length and breadth of the land, in the terms of the imperial edict of February 20, 1846, that it is permitted to all people in all parts of China to propagate and practise the teachings of the Lord of Heaven, to meet together for preaching the doctrines, to build churches and to worship; further, all such as indiscriminately arrest [Christians] shall be duly punished, and such churches, schools, cemeteries, lands, and buildings as were owned on former occasions by persecuted Christians shall be paid for, and the money handed to the French representative at Peking for transmission to the Christians in the locality concerned.

It is in addition permitted to French missionaries to rent and purchase land in all the jyovinces, and to erect buildings thereon at jpleasure^

In carrying out the details of this article, so much injustice and violence were exhibited by native Ilomanists, supported by the missionaries in claiming lands alleged to have belonged to them as far back as the days of Ilicci and in the Ming dynasty, and forcing their owners and occupants to yield them without any or sufficient compensation, that riots and hatreds arose in many parts of China. Temples, houses, and shops which had been in the legal possession of natives for one or two centuries were claimed under this stipulation, and they forcibly resisted the surrender. The discontent became so great that the French minister at last issued a notice, about 1872, that no more claims of this kind would be received from the missionaries, and further complaints ceased. The imbroglio was heightened by the murder of two or three missionaries in Kweichau and Sz’chnen during the previous years, and the escape of the guilty parties into other provinces.

‘ This sentence in italics is not contained in the French text of the convention; hut as that Language is made, in Art. Ill of the Treaty of Tientsin, the oiiUi authoritative text, the surreptitious insertion of this important stipulation in the Chinese text makes it void. The procediu-e was unworthy ofa great nation like France, whose army environed Peking when the convention was signed.

REVISION OF THE BIBLE IN CHINESE. 363

The feelings of all the llomish missionaries at the removal of the many disabilities under which they had long lived and bravely suffered were expressed by the Bishop of Shantung in an encyclical letter to his people, in which he exhorts them to “maintain and diligently learn the holy religion. . . . Let them also pray that the holy religion may he greatly promoted, remembering that the kind consideration of the Emperor toward our holy religion springs entirely from the favor of the Lord of Heaven. After the reception of this order, let thanks be oifered up to God for his mercies in the churches, for three Lord’s days in succession. While the faithful rejoice in this extraordinary favor, let Ave Marias be recited to display grateful feelings.”

The subject of the thorough revision of the Chinese Bible had long occupied the thoughts of those best acquainted with the need of such a work; and when the English missionaries met at Hongkong in 1843, a general conference of all Protestant missionaries was called to take measures for the preparation of so desirable a work. The version of Morrison and Milne was acknowledged by themselves to be imperfect, and the former had begun some corrections in it before his death. Messrs. Medhurst, Gutzlaff, Bridgman, and J. R. Morrison had united their labors in revising the New Testament, and published it in 1836.

The greatest harmony existed at this meeting, and the books

of the New Testament were distributed among the missionaries

at the several stations without regard to denomination. Some

discussion arose as to the best word for haptt’sm, for all agieed

that it could not well be transliterated. The question was referred

to a committee, which, finding itself unable to agree upon

a term, recommended that in the proposed version this word

should be left for each party to adopt which it liked. The

term si I’l, wdiich had been in use to denote this rite since the

days of Ricci, by Romanists of all opinions, had been taken by

Morrison and Medhurst, and by those associated with them.

Marshman preferred another word, tsan^ which was so unusual

that it would almost always require explanation ; and in fact

could only be fully explained by the ceremony itself. Some of

the American Baptist missionaries have taken Marshman’s term,

and others have proposed a third one, yuh. Their joint action

with their brethren in regard to a common version was after* ward repudiated by the societies in the United States, which directed them to prepare separate translations.

The question of the proper word for God in Chinese was also referred to a committee at this mooting in Hongkong, which reported its inability to agree; and this point, like the word for baptism, was therefore left to the decisiuns of the respective missions, after the version itself was finished. The delegates on the projected translation were chosen by the body of missionaries at each station, and met at Shanghai in June, 1847. They consisted of Eev. Messrs. Medhurst, J. Stronach, and Milne from the London Missionaiy Society, and Rev. Messrs. Bridgman, Boone, Shuck, Lowrie, and Culbei’tson from American societies ; of the last five, Culbertson took Lowrie’s place after his death, and Bp. Boone was never able to take an active share in the work, The New Testament was finished July 25, 1850, and was published soon after with different terms for God and Spirit.

The Old Testament was translated by the three first named in 1853 ; while another, more adapted to common readers, was completed in 1862 by Messrs. Bridgman and Culbertson.

(jiitzlaff also issued two or three revisions by himself. In 1805

a committee was formed in Peking for the purpose of making

a version of the SS. in the Mandarin dialect, especially that

prevalent in the northern provinces. It was done by Rev.

Messrs. Blodget, Edkins, Burdon, and Schereschewsky ; the New Testament was completed by them jointly in 1872, and the Old Testament in 1874 by the last named alone. It made the sixth complete translation of the Bible into Chinese during this century. Other translations have been made into the five southern patois of several books of the liible—and at ]S’ingpo and Amoy they are issued in the Romanized letters, and not in the Chinese character. These last, of course, are unintelligible to all natives not taught in mission schools.

PROGRESS IN EVANGELIZING THE CHINESE. 365

The influence and labors of female missionaries in China is, from the constitution of society in that country, likely to be the only, or principal means of reaching their sex for a long time to come, and it is desirable, therefore, that they should engage in the work by learning the language and making the acquaintance of the families jirouiid them. No nation can be elevated, <)!• (In’istian institutions placed upon a pci’nianent basis, until fenuiles are taught their rightful place as the companions of men, and can teach their children the duties they owe to their God, themselves, and their country. Fenuile schools arc the necessary complement of boys’, and a heathen wife soon carries a man back to idolatry if he is only intellectually convinced of the truths of Christianity. The comparatively high estimation the Chinese place upon female education is an encouragement to nniltiply girls’ schools. The formation of mission boards in western lands, conducted entirely by women, has made these schools and medical work among women in China both practical and necessary. No large mission is now regarded as complete without one or more women to carry on such parts of the work as belong to them ; and this is true of the Komish missions as well as Protestants.

The advance in the work of evangelization since the opening of the Empire in 1842 by the Treaty of Nanking has been in the highest degree encouraging. It was soon ascertained that the hatred and contempt of foreigners which were supposed to dwell in the minds of all Chinese, needed only to be met with kindness and patient teachings to give place to respect and confidence.

The sufferings from the war with England, and the evils resulting from the snuiggling and use of opium among the people, had embittered the minds of dwellers along the coast ; but as most of this was local, the enlargement of mission work did nuich to remove the ignorance which nursed the dislike. The free relief of disease and pain in the hospitals aided greatly to improve intercourse, so that at this day the natives in and around the open ports have become entirely changed in their feelings.

This outline of Protestant mission work in China may be closed by a notice of the conference held at Shanghai in May, 1877, at which one hundi-ed and twenty-six men and women, connected wath twenty different bodies, assembled to discuss their common work in its various departments. The report of their proceedings gives fuller statistics of the work then going on than is to be found elsewhere, and the twenty-seven papers read and discussed in the three -days’ sessions contain the ripened views of competent thinkers upon the most serious questions connected with the welfare of China. The following table has been taken from this report, and exhibits a remarkable development in education and preaching, considering that most of the stations have been opened since 1860.

STATISTICS or PROTESTANT MISSIONS TO CHINA FOR THE YEAR 1877.

Branches of Mission Work.

Stations where missionaries reside

Out-stations

Organized churches

{i<) Wholly self-supporting

(b) Partially self-supporting

Communicants,

-j g^^es ‘.’.’.’.’.’.[[‘.’.][‘.’.

Pupils in 31 boj’s’ boarding-schools

” 177 boys’ day-schools

” 39 girls’ boarding-schools

” 82 girls’ day-schools

” 21 theological schools

” 115 Sunday-schools

Pastors and preachers ordained

Assistant preachers

Colportors

Bible women

Church buildings for worship

Chapels and preaching places

In-patients / .^^^^ i.ospitals, 187G …\

Out-puticnts, \ f f^

Patients treated in 24 dispensaries, 1876.

Medical students

Contributions of native Christians, 1876..

American British

Missions. Missions.

41 215 150 11

115

3,117

2,183

347

1,255

464

957

94

2,110

42

212

28

62

113

183

1,390

47,635

25,107

19

$4,482

43

290

156

7

149

4,504

2,440

154

1,470

206

335

120

495

28

273

46

28

118

249

3,905

41,170

16,174

13

$5,089

Continental Missions.

8

27

12

687

584

146

265

124

15

22

“”*3

34

3

2

15

Total,

92

532

318

18

264

8,308

5,207

647

2,991

794

1,307

236

2,605

73

519

77

92

246

457

5,295

88,805

41,281

33

$9,571

STATISTICS OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS TO CHINA. 367

The total number of men who have joined the Protestant missions to the Chinese up to 1876, as nearly as can be ascertained, has been 484. Of these 41 were laymen, chiefly physicians, and no women or natives are included. Twelve American societies had sent out 212 ordained missionaries, and the same number of British societies had sent 196 ; all the agents of the 8 or 10 continental societies amounted to 35. The number in 1847 was 112 of all nations; in 1858, this figure had increased to 214 ; and a table made out in 1877 by the Shanghai Conference gives 473 as the total number of persons then engaged in active missionary work in China, including 15 not employed by any of the 25 societies enumerated. Of these 210 belonged to 10 American, 242 to 13 British, and 26 to 2 German societies; 172 of the whole number being wives of missionaries, and 63 unmarried females.

No one acquainted with the practical evangelical work in

China needs to be told that these statistics give no idea of the

cliaracter and attainments of the fourteen thousand converts

which have joined native churches, or the extent and thoroughness

of the education given the five thousand seven hundred

children counted in. Those who look for more than the

merest beginnings of faith and culture in the minds of natives

just brought out of the ignorance, sottishness, and impurity of

heathenism into tlie brightness of Christianity, or those who

.harshly criticise these results of mission work, will do well to

examine for themselves more fully the limitations and nature

of all its branches.

‘No mention is made in these items of the amount of printing

done at mission presses, for those particulars are scattered

over hundreds of reports issued during the last score or two

years. The presses formerly conducted by Williams, Wylie,

and Cole at Canton, Slianghai, and Hongkong during an aggregate

of nearly forty years, have been superseded by more and

larger establishments ; moreover, the facilities for transporting

books render their issues more available at the remotest parts

of the country. The manufacture of Chinese and Japanese

types by the Presbyterian Mission press and foundiy furnishes

native workmen with the means of printing newspapers and

books, which otherwise could never have been done (so as to

become self-supporting) by means of blocks. At this establishment

over thirty millions of pages are annually sent forth,

and this amount is more than doubled by all the other mission

presses. The effects of this literature upon the native mind,

which these agencies are scattering wider every year, will be

apparent in the near future.

The worth and labors of many men comprised in this number of missionaries have long been known to the Christian publie. Milne and Collie ardently longed and labored diligentlv for the comino; and extension of the kingdom of Christ in China, though not allowed to live in its borders. Few men in the missionary corps have exceeded Edwin Stevens in sound judgment and steady pursuit of a well-formed purpose, which in his case was to aid in perfecting the version of the Bible, he was employed nearly three years as seamen’s chaplain at Whampoa before entering the service among the Chinese, and his labors in that department were highly acceptable to those who frequented the port.

The warm-hearted, humble piety and singleness of purpose

of Samuel Dyer were also well known to every one engaged

with him. His long and assiduous labors to complete a fount

of Chinese metallic type, amid many obstacles and hindrances,

were prompted by the hope that, when once finished, books

could be printed M’itli more elegance, cheapness, and rapidity

than in any other way. He lived to see it brought into partial

use, and to satisfy himself concerning the feasibility of this

plan. If the impulses of private friendship and the esteem

generally entertained for David Abeel should prompt a notice

of his character and labors, it would soon extend to many

pages ; they have been well worthy the fuller notice which is

given in his memoir. Among other biographies may be mentioned

those of Walter M. Lowrie, William C. Burns, D. Sandeman,

J. Henderson, Samuel Dyer, E. C. Bridgman, and W. Aitcheson, which will furnish information upon the details of their labors. Female missionaries have also done much, and will do more, in this work, which recpiires minds and labors in large variety. Mrs. Maiy Morrison, Mrs. Sarah Boone, Mrs. Theodosia Dean, Mrs. L\icy J]all, IVIrs. Henrietta Shuck, Mrs. Doty, and Mrs. Pohlman, all died in China before 184G—the first of scores of honorable women who have since thus ended their lives.

JTOTICES OF FORMER PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES. 369

Before closing this brief sketch of Christian missions among the Chinese, it may be well to mention some of the peculiar facilities and difficulties which attend the work. The business of transforming heathen society and reconstructing it on diristian principles is a great and proti’;u*tt'(l undertaking, and is to be commenced in all communities by working on individuals. The opposition of the iinregenerate heart can be overcome only by the transforming influences of the Spirit, but the intellect must be enlightened, and the moral sense instructed by a system of means, before the truths of the Bible can be intelligently received or rejected. This opposition is not peculiar to China, but it will probably assume a more polemic and argumentative cast there than in some other countries. The proud literati are not disposed to abase Confucius below the Saviour, but rather inclined to despise the reiteration of his name and atonement as a seesaw about “one Jesus who was dead, whom we affirm to be alive”. Medhurst notices a tract written against him by

a Chinese, in which it is argued that ” it was monstrous in barbarians

to attempt to improve the inhabitants of the Celestial

Empire when they were so miserably deficient themselves.

Thus, introducing among the Chinese a poisonous drug, for

their own benefit to the injury of others, they were deficient in

benevolence ; sending their fleets and armies to rob other nations

of their possessions, they could make no pretentions to

rectitude ; allowing men and women to mix in society and walk

arm in arm through the streets, they showed that they had not

the least sense of propriety ; and in rejecting the doctrines of

the ancient kings they were far from displaying wisdom ; in

deed, truth was the only good quality to which they could lay

the least claim. Deficient, therefore, in four out of the five

cardinal virtues, how could they expect to renovate others ?

Then, while foreigners lavished money in circulating books for

the renovation of the age, they made no scruple of trampling

printed paper under foot, by which they showed their disrespect

for the inventors of letters. Further, these would-be exhorters

of the world were themselves deficient in filial piety, forgetting

their parents as soon as dead, putting them off with deal coffins

only an inch thick, and never so much as once sacrificing to

their manes, or burning the smallest trifle of gilt paper for their

support in the future world. Lastly, they allowed the rich and

noble to enter office without passing through any literary examinations, and did not throw open the road to advancement to the poorest and meanest in the land. From ^JJ these, it appeared that foreigners were inferior to Chinese, and therefore most unfit to instruct them.”

To these arguments, which commend themselves to a Chinese with a force that can hardly be understood by a foreigner, they often add the intemperate, immoral lives and reckless cupidity of professed Christians who visit their shores, and ask what good it will do them to change their long-tried precepts for the new-fangled teachings of the Bible? The pride of learning is a great obstacle to the reception of the humiliating truths of the Gospel everywhere, but perhaps especially in China, where letters are so highly honored and patronized. The language is another difficulty in the way of the diffusion of the Gospel, both on the part of the native and the missionary. The mode of education among the Chinese is admirably fitted for the ends they propose, viz., of forming the mind to implicit belief and reverence for the precepts of Confucius, and obedience

to the government which makes those precepts the outlines of

its actions, but it rather weakens the intellect for independent

thought on other subjects. The language itself, as we have

had opportunity to observe, is an unwieldy vehicle for imparting

new truths, either by writing or speaking, chiefl}’ because of

the additional burden every new character or term imposes upon

the memory. The immense number, who read and speak this

language, reconciles one, however, to extra labor and patience

to become familiar with its forms of speech, and ascertain the

best modes of conveying truth.

When the five ports were opened in 1845 to practical missionary

work among the two or three millions of people living

in and around them, it was soon found that they were tolerably

well-disposed to foreigners when they understood what was said

to them. Fifteen years of constant labor changed the ignorance

and suspicion with which they regarded the first missionaries,

into respectful regard if not acceptance of their message. At

the end of this period, the capture of Peking and the ratification

of the treaties of Tientsin completed the opening of China

to such labors as far as diplomatic agency could go. Congregations

are now collected, and truth explained to them with a

good degree of acceptance every Sabbath, and all that is wanted

CHECKS AND PROMOTIONS IN CHINESE MISSIONS. 371

to get more congregations is more preachers ; long before missionary labors are accomplished in all the ports, the whole land will afford every choice of climate and position. Facilities for learning the language are constantly increasing. Dictionaries, vocabularies, phrase books, grammars, and chrestomathies in all the dialects will soon be prepared ; and the list now is not small. They have all, with few exceptions, been made and printed by Protestant missionaries.

Churches have increased since the first one was formed in Canton in 1835, and some of them are served by native evangelists, two of whom, Liang A-fali and Tsin Slien, of the London Mission, deserve mention as among the first of their countrymen who became educated, earnest preachers of the gospel. The future is full of promise, and the efforts of the church with regard to China will not cease until every son and daughter of the race of Ilan has been taught the truths of the Bible, and has had them fairly propounded for reception or rejection. They will progress until all the cities, towns, villages, and hamlets of that vast Empire have the teacher and professor of religion living in them; until their children are educated, their civil liberties understood, and political rights guaranteed; their poor cared for, their literature purified, their condition bettered in this world by the full revelation of another made known to them. The work of missions will go on until the government is modified, and religious and civil liberty granted to all, and China takes her rank among the Christian nations of the earth, reciprocating all the courtesies due fi-om people professing the same faith.

CHAPTER XX.  COMMERCE OF THE CHINESE

It is probable that the applications made in remote times to the rulers of China for liberty to trade with their subjects, partook in their opinion very much of the nature of an acknowledgment of their power; the presents accompanying the request were termed I’ung, and regarded as tribute, while the traders themselves also looked upon the intercourse in somewhat the same light. The chapter of the Book of Records, called the ” Tribute of Vu,’” is one of the most ancient documents in existence relating to the products of a country, and indicates a trade in them of no small extent. Silk, lacquer, furs, grass-cloth, salt, gems, gold, silver, and other metals, ivory and manufactured goods are enumerated ; they are mostly identified with articles still produced, as Legge has shown in his translation. The records of the origin and early course of this trade are lost to a great extent, but the Chinese annals furnish proof of similar traffic for two thousand years after the days of Yu. It had the effect of extending the influence of Chinese institutions among less civilized neighbors, and of making foreign commerce a means of benefit to all parties. The restrictions and charges upon all trade were of small amount at this early period ; as it extended, the cupidity of local officers led them to burden it with numerous illegal fees, which gradually reduced its value, and finally, in some instances, drove it away altogether.

TIIADE WTTIT nillSrA. 373

The materials in Chinese literature for investigating this subject after the period of the Han dynasty are abundant, and they will reward the careful analysis of foreign scholars. Mairo Polo, the two Arab travelers in a.d. 850 and 878, and Ibn BaAXCIENT tuta, in 1330, have each contributed their narratives, hinting therein more than they could carefully investigate of the wide ransre and value of the Chinese forei2;u commerce. During; the Ming dynasty this trade fell off, owing to the impoverishment of the land by the Mongols ; but when (about 1000) the stimulus of European ships along the coast began to develop and reward native manufactures, foreign nations and merchants appreciated the fact that it was more profitable to trade with China than attack her.

The principal items of export and import have not materially changed during the last century ; the splendid fabrics of Chinese looms, their tea, lacquered ware, and products of their kilns, being still bartered for the cottons, metals, furs, and woolens of the west. Such articles as possess peculiar interest, and have not been already described, together with a few notices respecting the present extent and mode of conducting the trade, will suffice to explain its general features.’ The history of the cultin-e and trade in tea by Samuel Ball of Canton in 1835, may yet be considered as an authority upon the subject.

The growth in the use of tea is instructive, too, rising from an importation of about eighty pounds into England in 1670, till it had so well vindicated its virtues and enlarged its use among that people, that in ISSO one hundred and eighty million pounds were required to supply them ; and more than that was exported elsewhere from China.

The first item which attracts attention in the table of trade with China is opium, whose growth and momentous consequences require a detailed account. The use of opium as a medicine has not long been known to Chinese doctors, though, from the way the poppy is mentioned in the Hcrhal, there is reason to suppose it to be indigenous. The drug is called apien, in imitation of the word ojnum, while the plant is called qfuipinjj, a transliteration of the Arabic name Afi/un, from which country it was brought about the ninth century. It has many

‘Ample materials are now provided in the full reports of the Custom’s .service and the Exhibition Catalogues of Vienna, Paris, Philadelphia, etc. ; the reports of Rondot, Iledde, and other members of the French Legation in 1844 are still valuable.

names, as great smoke, ‘black commodity black earthy foreign medicine; the last is the term used in the tarifP. The compiler of the llerhal^ who wrote two centuries ago, speaks of the plant and its inspissated juice, saying that both were formerly but little known ; he then concisely describes the mode of collecting it, which leads to the inference that it was then used in medicine. None was imported coastwise for scores of years after that date, but the poppy is now grown in every province and in Manchuria, and no real restraint is anywhere put on its cultivation. The juice is collected and prepared by the people for their own consumption in much the same manner as in India; as long ago as 1S30 we find one official observing in respect to the cultivation, which was extending, that it was ” not only bringing injury on the good, but greatly retarding the work of the husbandmen.”

The mode of raising the poppy in the Patna district in India

is thus described : The ryot or cultivator havhig selected a

piece of ground, always preferring {cceter’is paribus) that which

is nearest his house, fences it in. He then, by repeated ploughings

and manuring, makes it rich and fine, and removes all

the weeds and grass. Xext. he divides the field into two or

more beds by small dikes of mould, running lengthwise and

crosswise according to the slope and nature of the ground, and

again into smaller squares by other dikes leading from the

principal ones. A tank is dug about ten feet deep at one end

of the field, from which by a leathern bucket, water is raised

into one of the principal dikes and carried to every part as

required ; this irrigation is necessary because the cultivation is

carried on in the dry weather. The seed is sown in November,

and the juice collected in February and March, during a period, usually, of about six weeks ; weeding and watering commence as soon as the plants spring up, and are continued till the poppies come to maturity. Cuts are then made in the capsule with a niishtur or notched iron instrument made of three or four sharp laiicet-likc plates; this is done at sunrise, and the exudation is scraped off next morning by a scoop or slttuJia, and deposited in the dish hanging at the ryot’s side. He takes it home and after draining it dry in a large shallow dish, turns

OPIUM CULTIVATION IN INDIA. 375

it over and over in the air for a month till the mass is equally dried, and it is lit to carry to the godown. Here it is thrown into a great tank, and kneaded to a uniform consistence; when ready it is rolled into balls according to the size of a brass bowl; these balls are covered with a coating of popp}’ petals, and stored in a drying-house till ready for jjacking. The quality of the article depends very much upon the care taken in the drying and covering with Ikoa or opium paste when the ball is prepared.

The cultivator must deliver a certain quantity at the stipulated

price to the collector, the amount being fixed by a survey

of the field when in bloom ; he receives about one dollar and

sixty-five cents for a seer (one pound thirteen ounces) of the

poppy juice, which must be of a certain consistence. The ryot

has, in most cases, already received the advance money, and if

he sell this crude opium to any other than the collector, or if

he fail to deliver the estimated quantity, and there is reason for

supposing he has embezzled it, he is liable to punishment. In

all parts of India, the cultivation of the poppy, the preparation

of the drus, and the traffic in it until it is sold at auction for

exportation, are under a strict monopoly. Should an individual

undertake the cultivation without having entered into

engagements with the government to deliver the produce at the

fixed rate, his property would be immediately attached, and he

compelled either to destroy the poppies, or give security for

the faithful delivery of the product. The cultivation of the

plant is compulsory, for if the ryot refuse the advance for the

year’s crop, the simple plan of throwing the rupees into his

house is adopted ; should he attempt to abscond, the agents

seize him, tie the advance up in his clothes, and push him into

his house. There being then no remedy, he applies himself as

he may to the fulfilment of his contract. The chief opium district is on the Ganges valley, occupying the best land in Benares and Behar, to the extent of about a thousand square miles. The northern and central parts of India are now covered with poppies, while other plants used for food or clothing have nearly been driven out. In Turkey, Persia, India, and China many myriads of acres and millions of people are employed in the cultivation of poppies.’ The growth has extended so much in Persia that opium has lately come from thence to China.

The preparation of the opium is superintended by official examiners, and is a business of some difficulty, from the many substances put into the juice to adulterate or increase its weight.

Wetting it so that the mass shall be more fluid than it naturally is, mixing sand, soft clayey mud, sugar, coarse molasses, cowdung, pounded poppy-seeds, and the juice of stramony, quinces, and other plants, are all resorted to, though with the almost certain result of detection and loss. When the juice has been dried properly, to about seventy per cent, spissitude, it appears coppery brown in the mass, and when spread tliin on a \vhito plate, shows considerable translucency, with a gallstone yellow color and a slightly granular texture. When cut with a knife it exhibits sharp edges without drawing out into threads ; and is tremulous like strawberry-jam, to which it has been aptly compared. It has considerable adhesiveness, a handful of it not dropping from the inverted hand for some seconds.

‘ Chinese Eepository, Vol V. , p. 472.

PREPARATIOiSr AND SALE OF OPIUM. 377

All the opium grown is brought to Calcutta and stored in government warehouses, until it is exposed for sale at auction, at an upset price, graduated according to the market price in China. It is supposed not to cost much more than seven hundred rupees a chest, and is sold at as high an advance as it will bear. Great care is taken to suit the taste of the Chinese ; on one occasion, the East India Company refunded part of the price on a lot which had been differently prepared, to try whether that people would prefer it. There are several sorts of opium : Turkey and Persian, which sell cheapest, and reach China from Aden ; Patna and Benares which are sold at Calcutta ; and Malwa, which is cultivated out of British jurisdiction. In order to equalize its competition, an export duty was until 1812 put on each chest of one hundred and twenty-five rupees, which has been increased to six hundred rupees. The drug is rolled in balls, and then packed in strong boxes, weighing from one hundred and sixteen pounds for Patna, to one hundred and thirty-four pounds or one hundred and forty pounds for Malwa. .Mahva opium is grown and prepared by natives, and is often extensively adulterated ; between four hundred and five hundred cakes are in a chest, and the cultivator there receives double the wages of the ryot in Bengal.

Opium chests are made of mango wood in Patna and Benares and consist of two parts, in each of which there are twenty partitions; the balls are carefully rolled in dry poppy leaves.

The chest is covered with hides or gunny bags, and the seams closed so as to render it as impervious to the air as possible. After the drug is sold at auction, there is no further tax on it. The revenue from this monopoly has become so great and important, that its continuance is described by a leading editor in India as a matter of life and death to the Government. In 1840, the income was somewhat over two millions sterling; it has since steadily increased, till in 1872 it amounted to £7,657,000; the average annual sum between the years 1869 to 1876 was £6,524,000, and it has been over five millions ever since the peace of Tientsin. The purity and flavor of the drug has been carefully maintained by competent scientists, and by this date the prejudice in its favor has become so strong among the Chinese, as to induce them to pay an enormous premium for the Indian article over any native product.

The use of opium among the Chinese two centuries ago must

have been very little,^ or tjie writings of Bomish missionaries,

from 1580 down to the beginning of the nineteenth century,

would certainly have contained some account of it. It was not

tdl the year 1767 that the importation reached a thousand chests,

and continued at that rate for some years, most of the trade

being in the hands of the Portuguese. The East India Company

made a small adventure in 1773 ; and seven years after, a depot

of two small vessels was established by the English in Lark’s Bay, south of Macao ; the price was then about $550 a chest.

In 1781 the company freighted a vessel to Canton, but were obliged to sell the lot of 1,600 chests at 8200 a chest, to Sinqua, one of the hong-merchants, who, not being able to dispose of it to advantage, reshipped it to the Archipelago. The price in 1791 was about ,$370 a chest, and was imported under the head of medicine at a dutv of about seven dollars a hundredweight, including charges. The authorities at Canton began to complain of the two ships in Lark’s Bay in 1793, and their owners being much annoyed by the pirates and revenue boats, and inconvenienced by the distance from Canton, loaded the opium on board a single vessel, and brought her to AVhampoa, where she lay unmolested for more than a year. She was then loaded and sent out of the river, and the drug introduced in another ship ; this practice continued until 1820, when the governor-general and collector of customs issued an edict, forbidding any vessel to enter the port in which opium was stored, and making the pilots and Hang-merchants responsible for its being on board. The Portuguese were also forbidden to introduce it into Macao, and every officer in the Chinese custom-house there was likewise made responsible for preventing it, under the heaviest penalties. “Be careful,” says his excellency in conclusion, ” and do not view this document as mere matter of form, and so tread within the net of the law, for you will find your escape as impracticable as it is for a man to bite his own navel.”

The importation had been prohibited by the Emperor JiaQing in 1800, under heavy penalties, on account of its use wasting the time and destroying the property of the people of the Inner Land, and exchanging their silver and commodities for the ” vile dirt ” of foreign countries. The supercargoes of the Company therefore recommended the Directors to prohibit its shipment to China from England and India, but this could not be done ; and they contented themselves by forbidding their own ships bringing it to China. The Hang-merchants were required to give bonds, in 1809, that no ship which discharged her cargo at Whampoa had opium on board ; but they contrived to evade the restriction. The traffic was carried on at Whampoa and Macao by the connivance of local officers, some of whom watched the delivery of every chest and received a fee; while their superiors, i-emote from the scene of smuggling, pocketed an annual bi’ibe for overlooking the violation of the imperial orders.

SMUGGLIiS”G TRADE IN OPIUM. 379

The system of bribery and condoning malpractices, so common

in China, Is well illustrated bj a case which occurred in connection

with this business. In September, 1S21, a Chinese inhabitant

of Macao, who had been the niediuni of receiving from

the Portuguese, and paying to the Chinese officers the several

bribes annually given for the introduction of opium, was arrested

by government for hiring banditti to assault one of his personal

opponents. Having got the man in their power, quicksilver was

poured into his ears, to injure his head without killing him;

they also forced him to drink a horril)le potion of scalding tea

mixed with the short hairs shaved from his head. The vile

wretch who originated this cruel idea and paid the perpetrators

of it, was a pettifogging notary, who brought gain to tlie officials

by intimidating the people, until he was the pest and terror of

the neighborhood. An official enemy at last laid his character

and doings before the governor, who had him seized and thrown

into prison, when he turned his wrath on his former employers,

and confessed that he held the place of bribe-collector, and that

all the authorities received so much per chest, even up to the

admiral of the station. The governor, though doubtless aware

of these practices, was now obliged to notice them ; but instead

of punishing those who were directly guilty, he accused the senior Hang-merchant, a rich man, nicknamed the ” timid young lady,” and charged him with neglecting his suretyship in not pointing out every foreign ship which contained opium. It was in vain for him to plead that he had never dealt in opium, nor had any connection with those who did deal in it; nor could lie search the ships to ascertain what was in them, or control the authorities who encouraged and protected the smuggling of opium: notwithstanding all his pleas, the governor was determined to hold him responsible. He was accordingly disgraced, and a paper, combining admonition, with exhortation and entreaty, was addressed by his excellency to the foreigners, Portuguese, English, and Americans. The gods, he said, would conduct the fair dealers in safety over the ocean, but over the contraband smugglers of a pernicious poison, the terrors of the royal law on earth, and the wrath of the infernal gods in hades were suspended. The Americans brought opium, he observed, “because they had no king to rule them.” The opium ships thus being driven from Wkanipoa, and the Portuguese unwilling or afraid to admit it into Macao unless at a high duty, the merchants established a floating depot of receiving-ships at Lintin, an island between Macao and the Bogue. In summer, the ships moved to Kumsing moon, Kapshui moon, Hongkong, and other anchorages off the river, to be more secure against the tyfoons ; remaining near Lintin during the north-east monsoon, until 1S39.’

The mode of introducing opium into the country, when the prohibitions against its use were upheld by the moral approval of the best portion of the native society, has hardly any interest now, except as a matter of history. It is a sad exhibition of power, habit, skill, and money all combining to weaken and overpower the feeble, desultory resistance of a pagan and ignorant people against the progress of what they knew was destroying them. The finality of such a struggle could hardly be doubted, and when the tariff of 1858 allowed opium to enter by the payment of a duty, the already enfeebled moral resistance seemed to die out with the extinction of the smuggling trade in opium, now raised to a licensed commerce. The rise and course of the trade up to that year can be learned from the volumes of the Chinese Repository and newspapers issued in China.

‘ CMnetse RejMisitonjj Vol. \., ]ip. 546-553.

PREPAEING THE DllFCi FOR SMOKING. 381

The utensils used in preparing the opium for smoking, consist chiefly of three hemispherical brass pans, two bamboo filters, two portable furnaces, earthen pots, ladles, straining-cloths, and sprinklers. The ball being cut in two, the interior is taken out, and the opium adhering to or contained in the leafy covering is previously sinnnered three several times, each time using a pint of spring water, and straining it into an earthen pot; some cold water is poured over the dregs after the third boiling, and from half a cake (weighing at first about twenty-eight pounds, and with which this process is supposed to be conducted), there will be about five pints of liquid. The interior of the cake is then boiled with this liquid for about an hour, until the whole is reduced to a paste, which is spread out with a spatula in two pans, and exposed to the fire for two or three minutes at a time, till the water is driven off; during this operation it is often broken up and re-spread, and at the last drying cut across with a knife. It is all then spread out in one cake, and covered with six pints of water, being allowed to remain several hours or over night for digestion. When sufficiently soaked, a rag filter is placed on the edge of the pan, and the whole of the valuable part drips slowly through the rag into a basket lined with coarse bamboo paper, from which it falls into the other brass pan, about as much liquid going through as there was water poured over the cake. The dregs are again soaked and immediately filtered till found to be nearly tasteless ; this weaker part usually makes about six pints of liquid.

The first six pints are then briskly boiled, being sprinkled

with cold water to allay the heat so as not to boil over, and removing

the scum by a feather into a separate vessel. After

boiling twenty minutes, five pints of the weak liquid are poured

in and boiled with it, until the whole is evaporated to about

three pints, when it is strained through paper into another pan,

and the remaining pint thrown into the pan just emptied, to

wash away any portion that may remain in it, and also boiled

a little while, when it is also strained into the three pints. The

wliole is then placed over a slow fire in the small furnace, and

boiled down to a pi-oper consistency for smoking ; while it is

evaporating a ring forms around the edge, and the pan is taken

off the fire at intervals to prolong the process, the mass being

the while rapidly stirred with sticks, and fanned until it becomes

like thick treacle, when it is taken out and put into small

pots for smoking. The boxes in which it is retailed are made

of buffalo’s horn, of such a size as easily to be carried about the

person. The dregs containing the vegetable residuum, together

with the scum and washings of the pans, are lastly strained and

boiled with water, producing about six pints of thin, brownish

licpiid, which is evaporated to a proper consistence for selling to

the poor. The process of seething the crude opium is exceedingly

unpleasant to those unaccustomed to it, from the overpowering narcotic fumes which arise, and this odor marks every shop where it is prepared and every person who smokes it.

The loss in weight by this mode of preparation is about one half. The Malays prepare it in much the same manner. The custom in Penang is to reduce the dry cake made on the first evaporation to a powder, and when it is digested and again strained and evaporated, reducing it to a consistence resembling shoemaker’s wax.

The opium pipe consists of a tube of heavy wood furnished at the head with a cup which serves to collect the residuum or ashes left after combustion; this cup is usually a small cavity in the end of the pipe, and serves to elevate the bowl to a level with the lamp. The bowl of the pipe is made of earthenware, of an ellipsoid shape, and sets down upon the hole, itself having a small rimmed orifice on the fiat side. The opium-smoker always lies down, and the impossible picture given by Davis of a ” Mandarin smoking an opium-pipe,” dressed in his official

robe.s and sitting up at a table, becomes still more singular if the

author ever saw a smoker at his pipe. Tying along the couch,

lie holds the pipe, aptly called yen tsiang, i.e., ‘ smoking-pistol,’

60 near the lamp that the bowl can be brought close up to the

flame. A pellet of the size of a pea being taken on the end of

a spoon-headed needle, is put upon the hole of the l)owl and set

on fire at the lamp, and inhaled at one whiff so that none of the

smoke shall be lost. Old smokers will retain the breath a long

time, filling the lungs and exhaling the fumes through the nose.

The taste of the half-lluid extract is sweetish and oily, somewhat

like rich cream, but the smell of the burning drug is rather

sickening. When the pipe has burned out, the smoker lies listless

for a moment while the fumes are dissipating, and then

repeats the process until he has spent all his purchase, or taken

his prescribed dose. When the smoking commences, the man

becomes loquacious, and breaks out into boisterous, silly merriment,

which gradually changes to a vacant paleness and shrinking

of the features, as the quantity increases and the narcotic

acts. A deep sleep supervenes fi’om half an hour to

three or four hours’ duration, during which tlie pulse becomes

slower, softer, and smaller than before the debauch. No refreshment

is felt from this sleep, when the person has become

a victim to the habir, but a universal sinking of the .powers

of the body and mind is experienced, and complete reckless ness of all consequences, if only the craving for more can be appeased.

MANNER OF SMOKING OPIUM. 383

A novice is content with one or two wliiffs, which produce vertigo, nausea, and headache, though practice enables him to gradually increase the quantity; “temperate smokers,”‘ warned by the sad example of the numerous victims around them, endeavor to keep within bounds, and walk as near the precipice as they can without falling over into hopeless ruin. In order to do this, they limit themselves to a certain quantity daily, and take it at, or soon after meals, so that the stomach may not be so much weakened. A ” temperate smoker”(though this term is like that of a tenvperate robber, who only takes sliillings from his employer’s till, or a tenvperate bloodletter, who only takes a spoonful daily from his veins) can seldom exceed a mace weight, or about as much of prepared opium as will balance a pistareen or a franc piece ; this quantity Mill fill twelve pipes. Two mace weight taken daily is

considered an innnoderate dose, which few^ can bear fur any

length of time ; and those who are afraid of the effects of the

drug upon themselves endeavor not to exceed a mace. Some

persons, who have strong constitutions and stronger resolution,

continue the use of the drug within these limits for many

years without disastrous effects upon their health and spirits

though most of even these moderate smokers are so nmch the

slaves to the habit that they feel too wretched, nerveless, and

imbecile to go on with their business without the stimulus.

The testimony regarding the evil effects of the use of this pernicious drug, which deserves better to be called an ” article of destruction ” than an ” article of luxury,” are so unanimous that few can be found to stand up strongly in its favor. Dr. Smith, a physician in charge of the hospital at Penang, says: “The baneful effects of this habit on the human constitution are particularly displayed by stupor, forgetfulness, general deterioration of all the mental faculties, emaciation, debility, sallow complexion, lividness of lips and eyelids, languor and lacklustre of eye, and appetite either destroyed or depraved, sweetmeats or sugar beino; the articles that are most reiished.’*

These synq)toms appear when the habit has weakened the physical powers, but the niiliappy man soon begins to feel the power cf the drug in a general languoi- and sinking, which disables him, mentally more than bodily, from carrying on his ordinary pursuits. A dose of opium does not produce the intoxication of ardent spirits, and so far as the peace of the community and his family are concerned, the smoker is less troublesome than the drunkard; the former never throws the chairs and tables about the room, or drives his wife out of

doors in his furious rage ; he never goes reeling through the

streets or takes lodgings in the gutter ; but contrariwise, he is

quiet or pleasant, and fretful only when the effects of the pipe

are gone. It is in the insupportable languor throughout the

whole frame, the gnawing at the stomach, pulling at the shoulders,

and failing of the spirits that the tremendous power of

this vice lies, compelling the *’ victimized ” slave “to seek it yet

again.” There has not yet been opportunity to make those

minute investigations respecting the extent opium is used

among the Chinese, what classes of people use it, their daily

dose, the proportion of reprobate smokers, and many other

points which have been narrowly examined into in regai’d

to the use of alcohol ; so that it is impossible to decide the

(question as to which of the two is the more dreadful habit.

These statistics have, heretofore, been impossible to obtain in

(“hina, and it will be very difficult to obtain them, even when

a person who may have the leisure and abilities shall undertake

the task.

Various means have been tried by benevolent natives to dissuade their countrymen from using it, such as distributing tracts showing its ruinous effects, compounding medicines for the smoker to take to aid him in breaking off the habit, and denouncing the smoking-shops to government. A painter at Canton made a series of admonitory pictures, showing the several steps in the downward course of the opium-smoker, until beggary and death ended the scene; one of them, showing the young debauchee at his revels, is here introduced.

DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF THE HABIT. 385

Manner of Smoking Opium.

A Chinese scholar thus sums up the bad effects of opium, which, ‘le says, us taken at first to raise the animal spirits and prevent lassitude i ” It exhausts the aninuil spirits, impedes the regular performance of business, wastes the flesh and blood, dissipates every kind of property, renders the person ill-favored, promotes obscenity, discloses secrets, violates the laws, attacks the vitals, and destroys life.” Under each of these heads he lucidly shows the mode of the process, or gives examples to uphold his assertions: “In comparison with arsenic, I pronounce it tenfold the greater poison ; one swallows arsenic because he has lost his reputation, and is so involved that he cannot extricate himself. Thus driven to desperation, he takes

the dose and is destroyed at once ; but those who smoke the

drug are injured in many ways. It may be compared to raising

the Avick of a lamp, which, while it increases the blaze,

hastens the exhaustion of the oil and the extinction of the light.

Hence, the youth who smoke will shorten their own days and

cut off all hopes of posterity, leaving their parents and wives

without any one on whom to depend. From the robust who

smoke the ‘flesh is gradually consumed and worn away, and the

skin hangs like a bag. Their faces become cadaverous and

black, and their bones naked as billets of wood. The habitual smokers doze for days over their pipes, without appetite ; when the desire for opium comes on, they cannot resist its impulse. Mucus flows from their nostrils and tears from their eyes; their

very bodies are rotten and putrid. From careless observers the

sight of such objects is enough to excite loud peals of laughter.

The poor smoker, who has pawned every article in his possession,

still remains idle ; and when the periodical thirst comes

on, will even pawn his wives and sell his daughters. In the

province of Xganhwui I once saw a man named Chin, who, being

childless, purchased a concubine and got her with child; afterward, when his money was expended and other means all failed him, being unable to resist the desire for the pipe, he sold her in her pregnancy for several tens of dollars. This money being expended, he went and hung himself. Alas, how painful was his end ! “‘

The thirst and burning sensation in the throat which the wretched sufferer feels, only to be removed by a repetition of the dose, proves one of the strongest links in the chain which drags him to his ruin. At this stage of the habit his case is almost hopeless; if the pipe be delayed too long, vertigo, complete prostration, and discharge of M’ater from the eyes ensue; if entirely withheld, coldness and aching pains are felt over the body, an obstinate diarrhoea supervenes, and death closes the scene.

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 108.

MISERABLE CONDITION OF TTIE SMOKER. 387

The disastrous effects di the drug are somewhat delayed or modified by the quantity of nourishing food the person can procure, and consequently it is among the poor who can least afford the pipe, and still less the injury done to their energies, that the destruction of life is the greatest. The evils suffered and crimes committed by the desperate victims of the opium pipe are dreadful and multiplied. Theft, arson, muder, and suicide are perpetrated in order to obtain it or escape its effects. Some try to break off the fatal habit by taking a tincture of the opium dirt in spirits, gradually diminishing its strength until it is left off entirely; others mix opium with tobacco and smoke the compound in a less and less proportion, until tobacco alone remains. The general belief is that the vice can be overcome without fatal results, if the person firmly resolve to forsake it and keep away from sight and smell of the pipe, laboring as much as his strength will allow in the open air until he recovers his spirits and no longer feels a longing for it. Few, very few, however, emancipate themselves from the tyrannous habit which enslaves them; they are able to resist its insidious effects until the habit has become strong, and the resolution to break it off is generally delayed until their chains are forged and deliverance felt to be hopeless.

Swallowing opium is commonly resorted to as a means of suicide; the papers published in China constantly report cases where physi(;ians have tried to save the patient by injections of atrophine before life is gone, and the number of these applications painfully show how lightly the Chinese esteem life. A comparison is sometimes drawn between the opium-smoker and drunkard, and the former averred to be less injured by the habit; but the balance is struck between two terrible evils, both of which end in the loss of health, property, mind, influence, and life. Opium imparts no benefit to the smoker, impairs his bodily vigor, beclouds his mind, and unfits him for his station in society ; he is miserable without it, and at last dies by what he lives upon.

The import having been legalized in 1858, under the pressure

of war, it was useless fo.v the imperial government longer to

prevent the cultivation of the poppy, and the growth has rapidly

extended throughout the provinces. Since all the opium brought,

to China reaches it through Hongkong, and the consumption upon

that island must be comparatively insignificant, the table on the

following page, taken from the Chinese Customs Reports, will

convey a very fair idea of the amount and value of the import

during the past six years.

Although it is difficult to make a general statement regarding an import of such varying quantity and value, the average total may be safely enough put at between twelve and thirteen million pounds, the approximate value of which is something over sixty million dollars, per annum. The prices range from $540 to $580 per pecul for Benares, $740 for Malwa, $560 for Patna, $540 for Persian, and nearly $1,500 for the prepared drug. The imports of Persian and Tnrkisli, though steadily increasing, amount as yet to hardly one-fiftieth of the total. But the merest guesses can be made at the production of native opium.

TOTAL IMPORT OF OPIUM AT HONGKONG.

Year.

VALUE OF THE OPIUM TRADE. 389

do without now,” said a British minister once in a soiTOwing

mood, as he acknowledged its evils ; l)ut there are many other

commodities, and a survey of the native and foreign conmierce

will exhibit the extent and variety of the resources of the Empire.

The Chinese trade with foreign ports in native vessels is

at present nearly extinct, in consequence of the increase of foreign

shipping and advantages of insurance enabling the native

trader to send and receive commodities with less risk and more

speed than by junks. The facilities and security of commerce

in a country are atnong the best indices of its government being

administered, on the whole, in a tolerably just manner, and on

those principles which give the mechanic, farmer, and merchant

a good prospect of reaping the fruits of their industry. This

security is afforded in China to a considerable degree—far more

than in Western Asia—and is one of the most satisfactory proofs,

amid all the extortions and depravity seen in their courts and

in society at large, that the people, generally speaking, enjoy the

rewards of industry. Tranquillity may often be owing to the

strong arm of power, but trade, manufactures, voyages, and

large commercial enterprises must remunerate those Mdio undertake

them, or they cease. The Chinese are eminently a trading

people ; their merchants are acute, methodical, sagacious, and

enterprising, not over-scrnpulous as to their mercantile honesty

in small transactions, but in large dealings exhibiting that regard

for character in the fulfilment of their obligations which

extensive commercial engagements usually produce. The roguery

and injustice which an officer of government may commit Nvithout

disgrace would blast a merchant’s reputation, and he undertakes

the largest transactions with confidence, being guaranteed

in his engagements by a combination of mercantile security and

responsibility, which is more effectual than legal sanctions.

These are like the rings and. guilds, the corporations, patents,

co-operative societies, etc., which are fonn<l in Europe and America,

and enter into nil branches of industry.

The coasting trade is disproportionately small compared with the inland commerce ; large junks cross the seas, but smaller ones proceed crAitionsly along the coast from one headland to another, and sail chiefly by day. Their cargoes consist of rice, stockfish, vegetables, timber, poles, coal, stones, and other bulky articles. Between the unopened ports the native trade still employs thousands of small craft, whose crews know no other homes; but the progress of steam and sailing ships has gradually turned the coasting trade into foreign bottoms.

The foreign ports now visited by Chinese junks are Singapore,

Labuan, Borneo, IJangkok and elsewhere in Siam, Manila, Corea,

and Japan. The cargoes carried to these places comprise

coarse crockery, fruits, cottons, cheap silks, and metallic articles

of great vai’iety. European goods are not brought to any great

amount by junks, but the variety of articles of food or domestic

use and raw materials for manufactures, known under the general

denomination of Straits2yrodtice, is large. Rice is the chief

import from Bangkok and Manila ; i-attans, pepper, and betelnut

from Singapore and Borneo; biclK’-de-mer from the Sulu

Sea. Of the amount of capital embarked iji this commerce, the

number of vessels, the mode in which it is carried on, and the

degree of risk attending it, little is known. It is gradually decreasing,

and all the valuable portions are already transferred to foreign bottoms.

The natural facilities for inland navigation in China are, as the first chapters of this work have pointed out, unusually great, and have been, moreover, improved by art for travel and transportation.

INTERNAL TRADE AND TRANSIT DUTIES. 391

It will be a hazardous experiment for the peace of the country to hastily supplant the swarms of boats on its rivers and canals by shallow-draught steamers and launches, and throw most of their poor and ignorant crews out of employment. The sugar, oil, and rice of the southern provinces, the tea, silk, cotton, and crockery of the eastern, the furs, grain, and medicines of the northern, and the metals and minerals of the western, are constantly going to and fro and demand myriads of boats; add thereto the immense number of governmental boats required for the transportation of salt and the taxes paid in kind, the passage-boats plying in great numbers between contiguous towns, the pleasure and cfflcial barges and revenue cutters, and lastly, the far greater number used for family residences, and the total of the inland shipping, it will be seen, imist be enormous. It is, however, impossible to state the amount in any satisfactory

manner, or give an idea of the proportion between the different

kinds of boats. The transit duties levied on the produce carried

in these vessels partake of the nature of an excise duty, and

afford a very considerable revenue to the government, the greatest

so, probably, next to the land tax. It was estimated that

the additional charges for transit duty and transportation on

only those teas brought to Canton overland for exportation

amounted to about a million of dollars. Whenever a boat loaded

with produce passes the custom-house, the suj^ercargo presents

his manifest, stating his name and residence, the name of the

boat and its ci’ew, and the description of the cargo, and when

the charges are paid proceeds on his voj-age. The tariff on

goods at these places is light, but their number in a journey of

any length, and the liability to imforeseen detention and exaction

by the tidewaiters, greatly increase the expense and delay.

Since the treaties of 1842 and 1858, the Chinese and British

authorities have been in constant dispute about the right and

mode of levying transit dues on foreign and native produce

going through the country—a dispute which involves and disturbs

the whole revenue system of the country.

The mode of conducting the foreign trade with China now

presents few of those peculiarities which formerl}” distinguished

it, for the monopoly of the hong merchants and of the East India

Company- both being abolished, native and foreign traders

are free to choose with whom they will deal. The introduction

of regular printed permits, clearances, and other customs blanks

to facilitate trade, followed the treaty of 18-12, and their acceptance

has now extended to every port. The employment of

foreigners to conduct the details of the trade in connection with

native officers and clerks has worked easily, and its extension

to all commerce is gradually perfecting.

The articles of trade are likely to increase in variety and amount, and a brief account of the principal ones, taken from the Chinese Commercial Guide, may be interesting to those unacquainted with the character of this commerce. The foreign export and import trade divides itself into two branches, that between India and the Archipelago and China, and that beyond the Isthmus of Suez ; the former comprises the greatest variety, but its total value is much less. Alum of an inferior quality is sent to India to use in dyeing, making glass, and purifying water. Aniseed stars, seeds of many sorts of anioniaiii, euhehs, and tarrtieric are all sought after for their aromatic properties. The first is the small five-rayed pod of the lUicium anisatum / the pods and seeds are both prized for their aromatic qualities, and a volatile oil, used in perfumery and medicine in Europe, is obtained from them; the Asiatics employ them in cooking, Ciihths^ the produce of a vine (d/hcha ofic/’/tah’s), are externally distinguished from black pepper chiefly by their lighter color, and a short process where the seed is attached to the stalk.

The taste is warm or pungent and slightly bitter, with a pleasant

aromatic smell ; the Chinese article goes to India, the consumption

of Europe being supplied from Java. Turmeric is

the root of the CiircuDui longa^ and is used over the Archipelago

and India for its coloring and aromatic properties, and for

food. The roots are uneven and knotty, of a yellowish-saffron

color ; the smell resembles ginger, with a bitterish taste; and the

two are usually combined in the composition of curry-powders.

Its color is too fugacious for a dye, no mordant having yet been

found to set it.

Cassia and cassia oil are sent abroad in amounts far exceeding

the whole of the preceding; cassia buds also form an article

of commerce. Cassia oil is used for confectionery and perfumery,

and the demand is usually much greater than the supply.

Arsenic is exported to India for medicinal purposes, and the

native sulphuret or orpiment is sometimes shipped under the

Hindustani name of harfalL as a A^ellow colorinii; druij;.

Wrist and ankle rings, known by the Hindu name of Ijangles,

ai’e exported largely, with false pearlsj coral, and beads ; the

Chinese imitate jade and chalcedony in their mamifacture, iu

which the Hindus do not succeed so well. The universal use

and brittle nature of these ornaments render their consumption

enormous in Eastern Asia. Ilrans foil., or tinsd, is made into

the kin hwa, or ‘golden flowers,’ M-hich are placed before

shrines and adorn the rooms of houses, imitating bouquets and

tableaux with cuiming art ; it is also used for coatings of toys.

Bones and horiis are manufactured into buttons, opium-boxes,

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS FROM CHINA. 393

hair-pins, etc., some of which go abroad. Many kinds of use^

fill and fancy articles are made from bamboo and rattan, and

their export forms an item of some importance. Chairs, baskets,

canes and umbrella handles, fishing-rods, furniture, and

similar articles are still made in vast variety. The same may

be said of the great assortment of articles comprised under the

head of cui-‘tosities, as vases, pots, jars, cups, images, boxes, plates,

screens, statuettes, etc., made of copper, iron, bronze, porcelain,

stone, wood, clay, or lacquered-ware. During tlie last twenty

years the native shops have been nearly cleared of the choicer

specimens of Chinese art and skill in these various departments.

Caj)oo)’ cutchefy, corrupted from the Hindu name Aafur.

Jcuchri, or camphor root, is the aromatic root of the Iledychiwn,

and also of the K(jemj)ferla ; it goes to Bombay for perfumery,

plasters, and other medicinal ends, as well as preserving clotlies

from insects. It is about half an inch in diameter, and cut up

when brought to market ; it has a pungent, bitterish taste.

Galangal is another aromatic root exported for perfumery and

medicine. The name is probably a corruption of Kaoliang, or

Ko-loiig, meaning ‘ mild ginger,’ from Ivauchau, in the southwest

of Kwangtung, where the best is found. It is the dried

root of the Alplnia qfficinarurii (liance) and other species, and

thousands of peculs reach Europe and America, wdiere it is

used as a cordial and tonic. There are two or three sorts ; the

smaller is a reddish-colored root, light and firm in texture, with

an acrid, peppery taste.

The larger is from a different plant (Kmmpferia galanga), and inferior in every respect. Both are used as spicery, and the powder is mixed in tea among the Tartars, and to flavor a liquor called nastoihi drank in Russia. All the plants whose roots have the aromatic sliai’p taste of ginger are prized by the Chinese. China-7’oot is a commercial name applied to two different products, for which the native namefuh-ling rather misleads.

One is the root of Smilax China, a vine-like dodder in appearance ; it is a knotty and jointed brown tuber, white and starchy when cut, and sweetish. The other is a curious fungus(Pachyma) produced by fir roots apparently as it is found under that tree. The article is whitish and reddish when cut, ])itter isli and sharp to the taste, and eaten hot as a stomachic in rice-cakes where it is cheap. It is similar to the Indian bread, oi tuck-ahoo, of the Carolinas.

The exportation of porcelain and ch’uiaware, which was so

great last century, dimiiushed as European skill produced finer

sorts at cheaper rates, and ceased altogether about twenty-five

years ago, when the Tai-ping rebellion dispersed the workmen

in Kingteh chin. Since the peace, those kilns have resumed

work, and the demand for their finest pieces has arisen once

more from western lands, so that China bids fair to regain her

original reputation. She still supplies most parts of Asia with

coarse stoneware and crockery for domestic use. Glue of a

tolerabl}’ good quality, made from ox-hides, supplies the Chinese

and furnishes an article for export to India. IsinglasSy or

fisli-ii;lue, is nuide from the sounds and noses of sturo;eons and

other sorts of fish, as the bynni carp, or l^oli/neniiis ^ it is used

in sizing silk and in cookery, as well as in manufacturing of

India-ink, water-colors, and false pearls.

A kind of parasol, made of oiled paper, or silk called /i/'(tt/^ol {i.e., (juitte sol), is exported to India ; the article is durable, considering its material, and its cheapness induces a large consumption.

Tobacco, one of the most widely cultivated plants in China (for men, women, and children smoke), is also sent to the Indian Islands in considerable quantity, for use among the natives. Ware made from ivory, tortoise-shell, mother-o’-pearl, and gold and silver constitutes altoo-ether a considerable item in the trade, for the beautiful c;irving of the Chinese always commands a market. The workmen easily imitate new patterns for boxes, combs, and buttons of mother-o’-pearl or tortoiseshell, while the cheapness and beauty with which silver table furniture is made cause a large demand. Lacqtiered-icare is not so much sent abroad now as fornuM-ly, the foreign imitations of the trays and tables having nearly superseded the demand, for the Chinese ware. Marhle dahn of a clouded lilue limestone are wrought out in Kwangtung province for floors, and some go abroad ; square tiles are used everywhere for pavements, roofing, brick stoves, and drains. In the southern provinces they are well biii-iied and make serviceable floors.

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS FROM CHINA. 395

2Iats of rattan for table furniture, and of grass for floors, are

all made by liand. The latter is manufactured of two or three

sorts of grass in different widths and patterns, and though the

amount annually sent to the United States and elsewhere exceeds

five million yards, it forms a very small proportion to the home

consumption. Floor matting is put up in rolls containing

twenty mats, or forty yards. Musi; though still in demand, is

often and much adulterated, or its quality impaired by disease.

It comes in bags about as large as a walnut; when good, it is of a dark purplish color, dry and light, and generally in concrete, smooth, and unctuous grains; its taste is bitter and smell strong; when rubbed on paper the trace is of a bright yellow color, and the feel free from grittiness. A brown unctuous earth is sometimes mixed with it, and the bags are frequently artificial; the

price is about forty-five dollars a pound for the best quality.

Nanl’eeii is a foreign name given to a kind of reddish cotton

cloth manufactured near Xanking and Tsungming Island ; it was

once largely exported, but the product has now nearly ceased.

It is the most durable kind of cotton cloth known, and its excellence

always repays the cultivator. The opening of the country

to foreigners, and the disorders ensuent on the Tai-ping rebellion,

altered the character of the silh trade. The loss of capital

and dispersion of workmen in the vicinity of Canton nearly

destroj’ed the export of raw silk and piece-goods formerly made

at Fatshan, and the pongees once woven there are seldom seen.

The elegant crape shawls and scarfs, gauzes and checked lustrings, satins and lining silks, which were sent abroad from Canton, have all dwindled away. Raw silk makes the bulk of the export, amounting to over a hundred thousand bales, of which nearly two-thirds goes to Great Britain. The annual average for the six years ending 1860 was seventy-eight thousand five hundred bales ; in 1836 it was twenty-one thousand the price of the best sorts was about five hundred and fifty dollars a pecul. Silk goods are exported to the annual value of about two million taels ; they consist chiefly of gauzes, pongees, handkerchiefs, scarfs, sarsnet, senshaws, levantines, and satins; ribbons, sewing-thread, and organzine, or thrown silk, are not much shipped. The silk trade is more likely to increase than any other branch of the commerce, after tea, and the Chinese can furnish ahnost any amount of raw and manufactured silks, according to the demand for them. Soij is a name derived from the Japanese sho-ya • it is made by boiling the beans of the Dol’ichos soja, adding an equal quantity of wheat or barley, and leaving the mass to ferment; a laj^er of salt and three times as much water as beans are afterward put in, and the whole compound stirred daily for two months, when the liquid is pressed and strained. Another method of making the condiment has already been mentioned in Volume I., p. 365.

Besides the articles above-mentioned, there are many others which singly form very trifling items in the trade, but their total exportation annually amounts to man}^ lacs of dollars. Among them fire-crackers, and straw braid Moven in Shantung from a variety of wheat, are both sent to the United States. Among other sundries, vermilion, gold leaf, amber, sea-shells, preserved insects, fans, ginger, sweetmeats and jellies, rhubarb, gamboge, camphor, grass-cloth, artificial flowers, insect wax, fishing-lines, joss-sticks, spangles, window-blinds, vegetable tallow, and pictures arc the most deserving of mention. Some of them may perhaps become important articles of commerce, and all of them, except vermilion, gamboge, and i-attans, are the produce of the countiy.

The inq)orts make a much longer list than the exports, for almost everything that should or might sell there is from time to time offered in the market ; and if the Chinese at Canton had had any inclination or curiosity to obtain the productions or manufactures of other lands, they have had no want of specimens. It will only be necessary to mention articles of import whose names are not of themselves a sufficient description. ()})ium, rice, raw cotton, long cloths, domestics and sheetings among manufactured cottons, ginseng, tin, lead, bar, rod, and hoop iron, and woolen goods, constitute the great bulk of the import trade. Rice is brought from southern islands, and a bounty used to be paid on its importation into Canton by taking oft” the tonnage dues on shi})s laden with this alone—a bonus of about three thousand dollars on a large vessel.

IMPORTS FROM THP] ARCHIPELAGO. 397

The importations from the Indian Aix’liipelago comprise a large variety of articles, though their total amount and value

are not very great. Ayar-ayar, or ayal-agal, is the Malay name

for the Plocarla tena,i\ Gnicillarla^ and other sorts of seaweed ;

it is boiled and clarified to make a vegetable glue which is

largely employed in lantern and silk manufacture instead of

isinglass ; it is also made into a jelly, but the seaweed {Lalnihiarla)

from Japan has supplanted it. Betel-nut is the fruit of

the areca palm, and is called hetel-nat because it is chewed with

the leaf of the betel pepper [Chavlca) as a masticatory. The nut

is the only part brouglit to China, the leaf being raised along

the southern coast ; it resembles a nutmeg in shape and color,

is a little larger, and the whole of the nut is chewed. They

are boiled or eaten raw, the former being cut into slices and

boiled with a small quantity of cutcli and then dried. Those

brought to China are simply deprived of the husk and dried.

AVhen chewed, a slice of the nut is wrapped in the fresh leaf

smeared with a mixture of gambler or shell-lime colored red,

and the whole masticated to a pulp before spitting it out. The

teeth become dark red from using it, but the Chinese are careful

to remove this stain. The taste of the fresh pepper leaf is

herbaceous and aromatic with a little pungency, and those who

chew have it seldom out of their mouths ; the habit is not

general where the fresh leaf cannot be obtained.

Birlie-(h-iiiei\ i.e., slug of the sea, or tripang, is a marine gasteropod {Ilolothui’la) resembling, when alive, a crawling sausage more than anything else ; it is sometimes over a foot long and two or three inches through ; it inhabits the shallow waters around the islands of the Pacific and Indian Archipelago, and is obtained by diving or spearing, and prepared by cleansing and smokirjg it. In the market it appears hard and rigid, of a dirty brown color ; when soaked in water it resembles porkrind, and when stewed is not unlike it in taste. The Chinese distinguish nearly thirty sorts of hal sung—’sea ginseng;’ in commerce, however, all are known as white or black, the prices ranging from two dollars up to eighty dollars a pecul.

Birds’ nests., sJiarks\ti)is, and JisJi-uKUrs are three other articles of food prized by Chinese epicures for their supposed stimidating quality, and they readily fetch high prices. The tii’st is the nest of a species of swallow {Collocalia)^ which makes the gelatinous fibres from its own crop out of the seaweed (Gelidlum) it feeds on. These nests resemble those of the chinmey swallow in shape, and are collected in most dangerous places along the cliffs and caves in the Indian Islands.

The article varies from thirty dollars to three dollars a pound, and its total import is hardly five hundred peculs a year. The taste of the Chinese for the gelatinous fins and stomachs of the shark aids in clearing the seas of that ferocious fish even as far as the Persian Gulf. The soup nuide from the fins resembles that from isinglass, and is worthy of acceptance on other tables. Amhe?’ is found on various eastern shores, along the Mozambique coast, in the Indian Islands, and localities in Annam and Yunnan. The consumption for court beads and other ornaments is great, and shows that the supply is permanent, for none is brought from Prussia. The Chinese use the powder of amber in their high-priced medicines. Their artists have also learned to imitate it admirably in a variety of articles made of copal, shell-lac, and colophony.

The hezoars, or biliary calculi from ruminating and other animals, always find a ready market in China for drugs ; that from the cow is most prized, and is often imitated with pipeclay and ox-gall mixed with hair, or adulterated by the camel bezoar. The Mongols prize these substances very highly ; the pure goat and cow bezoars are ground for paints by the Cantonese.

Outeh, or terra japonica, is a gummy resin, obtained from a species of areca palm and the Acacia catechu, and was for a long time supposed to be a sort of earth found in Japan ; it is called aotc/i from the Ilunn of Cutch, near which the tree grows. The best is fi-iable between the fingers, is of a reddish-brown color, and used in China as a dye. There are two kinds, black andjf>«Zd y the former is made by boiling the heartwood of the acacia and putting the resin into snutll cakes ; it is now brought in small quantities, as gambler has supplanted it.

IMPORTS FROM THE ARCHIPELAGO, 399

Rose-maloes, corruj)ted from rasaiiiala, the Javanese name of the Altingia excelsa^ is a liquid storax obhined from the Styrax ; it is a scented gummous oil (tf the consistency of tar, and is 1)ronglit from Bombay to China for medicine. Guruhemoin, or henjamin, is one of the gnm-resiiis brouglit from abroad, and highly prized by Chinese doctors; its Chinese name indicates that it came from Partliia ; but it is collected from the Styrax henzoin in Snmatra and Borneo by making incisions in the bark in much the same manner as opium, until the plant withers and dies. It comes to market in cakes, which in some parts of those islands formerly served as standards of value.

Good benzoin is full of clear light-colored spots, marbled on the broken surface, and giving off an agreeable odor when heated or rubbed ; ‘it is the frankincense of the far East, and has been employed by many nations in their religious ceremonies; for what was so acceptable to the worshippers was soon inferred to be equally grateful to the gods, and sought after by all devotees as a delightful perfume. The quantity of benzoin imported is, however, small, and the Arabian frankincense, or olihanion, is more commonly seen in the market, and is employed for the same purposes. This gum-resin exudes from the Boswellia thurifera cultivated in Coromandel; the drops have a pale reddish color, a strong and somewhat unpleasant smell, a pungent and bitterish taste, and when chewed give the saliva a milky color ; it burns with a pleasant fragrance and slight residuum. Dragon”s hlood is probably an equivalent of the Chinese name lung-yen hiang, given to this resin from its coming to market in lumps formed from the agglutinated tears.

It is the gummy covering of the seeds of a rattan palm (D(jemonoroj)S draco) common in Sumatra, which is separated by shaking them in a basket or bag ; an inferior sort is made by boiling the nuts. It is used in varnishing, painting, and medical preparations. ‘

Cloves are consumed but little by the Chinese, and mostly in expressing an oil which forms an ingredient in condiments and medicines, like the oil of peppermint made by themselves. Pepper is much more used than cloves, the tea being considered beneficial in fevers ; the good effects as a febrifuge seem to be doubted lately, for the importation is only twenty thousand peculs, not one-half what it was fifty years ago.

Barooa camj^hor is still imported from Borneo, the people supposing that the drops and lumps found in the fissures of the tree (Dryohalanops) in that island are more powerful than their own gum; the proportion between the two, both in price and quantity, is about eighteen to one.

Gamhier is obtained from the gambier vine {Uncar’ai) by boiling the leaves and inspissating the decoction ; a soapy substance of a brownish-yellow color remains, which is both chewed with betel-nut and forms a good and cheap material for tanning and dyeing. Putchuch is the root of a kind of thistle {Aio’I.-landla) cultivated in Cashmere ; it comes in dry, brown, broken pieces, resembling rhubarb in color and smell, and affording an agreeable perfume when burned ; the powder is employed in making; incense-sticks and the thin shaviiiics mixed in medicines.

Cornelians, agates, and other stones of greater or less value are purchased by the Chinese for manufacturing into official insignia, rings, beads, and other articles of ornament; they are brought chiefly from India or Central Asia. 8eed jpearls^ to the amount of three hundred thousand dollars, are annually brought from Bombay to Canton, where they are run on strings to be worn in ladies’ head-dresses ; coral is also a part of cargoes from the Archipelago. Mother-of-pearl shells and tortoise-shell are brought from the same region and the Pacific islands, Muscat, and Bombay, a large part of which is re-exported in the shape of buttons, combs, and other productions of Chinese skill.

‘ The elegant plumage of the tiirquois kingfisher and some other birds is aiso worked into ornaments and head-dresses.

GEMS, IVORY, AND WOODS IMPORTED. 401

Jvorij still comes from Africa via Bombay, and ^Nfalaysia, mostly from Bangkok ; the fossil ivory of Siberia has furnished the material for the inlaid tables of Ningbo ; but the cost of fine ivory has prevented the manufacture of many articles once common at Canton. Rhinoceros’ horns are all brought to China to be carved into ornaments, or served in remedies and tonics.’ But the principal use of these horns is in medicine and for amulets, for only one good cup can be carved from the end of each horn ; the parings and fragments are carefully preserved to serve for the other purposes. The teeth of the sperm whale, walrus, lamantine, and other phocine animals, form an article of import in limited quantities under the designation of ” sea-horse teeth; ” these tusks weigh from sixteen to forty ounces, their ivory being nearly as compact though not so white as that of the elephant.

Several kinds of wood are brought for cabinet and inlaid work, medical preparations, and dyeing. Among these are ebomj and cainagon {^inao tsz’), both obtained from species of Diosjr//ros growing in India and Luzon ; they are often very cleverly imitated by covering teak and other hard woods with a black stain.

Galiru icood—also called eagle oragila wood (Aquilaria)—furnishes the calambak timber, highly prized for its perfume ; the diseased heart-Avood of this tree is the precious aloes wood, the lign aloes of the Bible.’ Among dye-stuffs the laka wood (^Tanarius) from Sumatra, mangrove bark, sapan wood {Coesal2>ini(i), and redwood are important articles; the imports of sandal wood for incense, rosewood, satin wood, amboyna or knot wood, camphor and hranjee are employed in various ways for junks, buildings, and furniture.

The greater facilities of trade with foreign countries since 1860 have vastly enlarged the list of imports and exports, and brought many new and useful articles within reach of the natives living far from the ports. In their fear and ignorance the Chinese associated everything dreadful with the name and coming of those whom they called devils and barbarians, and knew chiefly in connection, with war and opium. By degrees,

however, they are learning the benefits of a wider commercial

as well as intellectual intercourse. One of the ]nost notable

among the imports, which carries with it something of this

broadening influence, is kerosene; the traveller in China, as well

as in Algeria, Greece, and Egypt, can hardly fail to note with

interest the multitude of benefits arising from the introduction

of a cheap and brilliant lamp into a house whose only light

before has been a water-lamp or tallow candle. Electric lighting

is now employed in certain of the foreign settlements, and will

doubtless become as popular in the far East as among Western

nations. It is needless, however, to enumerate the novelties in

which the Chinese are constantly urged and tempted to invest.

The mode of conducting the trade is described in the author’s

‘ Chinese Commercial Guides Fifth Edition, p. 106.

Chinese Ccmimercial Guide (fifth edition, Ilonglcong, 1863), which contains the treaties, tariffs, regulations, etc., of other nations as well as of China. A peculiar feature of this trade is the fact that the natives have always conducted it in English,—that is, they do business in the jargon called jrlyeon-English, whose curious formation has already received some attention in a previous chapter. The Chinaman using it deems no sentence complete until it contains the same number of words and in thensame idiom as its equivalent phrase in his own language. A sample of this hybrid lingo, with its melange of Chinese, Portuguese, and Malay words and grammatical constructions, may

not be out of place here. We will suppose a shopkeeper is

soliciting custom from a foreigner : ” My chin-chin you,” he

says, “one good fleen [friend], tahe care for \ny [patronize me];

‘spose you wanchee any first chop ting, my can catch ee for you

[obtain]. I secure sell ’em plum cash [prime cost], alia same

cumsha [present] ; can do ?” The foreigner, with great gravity,

replies : ” Just now my no wanchee anyting ; any teem [time]

‘spose you got vel}’^ number one good ting, p’rhaps I come you

shop look see.” After hearing for a few days such sentences,

the foreigner begins to imitate them, soon learning to adapt his

speech to his interlocutor’s, and thus perpetuating the jargon.

Other nationalities are also obliged to learn it, and the whole

trade is conducted in this meagre gibberish, which the natives

suppose, however, to be correct English, but which hardly enables

the two parties to exchange ideas upon even household

subjects. Much of the misunderstanding and trouble experienced

in daily intercourse with the Chinese is doubtless owing

to this iniperfect medium.’

The trade at the five ports opened by the treaty of Nanking

in 1842 was conducted by native custom-house officers,

as it had been previously at Canton, but under regulations

which insured more honesty and efficiency. In lSr>;>, however,

the capture of Shanghai by insurgents throw tlic whole trade

into such confusion that the collector, who had been formerly

‘ Mr. Scluiyler mentions hearing some Chinese residents at Vierny speaking” pigeon-Kiissian.” Tiirkt)it(tii,\o\. If., p. 147.

PRESENT MANAGEMENT OF TRADE IN CHINA. 403

A mongrel with the Russian officers ol the post, which might be called a Hang merchant at Canton, called in the aid of foreigners to carry on his duties. A trio of inspectors was nominated for this purpose by tlie British, American, and French ministers from their nationalities ; and so well did it work in honestly collecting the revenue for the imperial coffers, that when the city was recaptured the system was made permanent for that port. In the negotiations growing out of the treaties of Tientsin in 1858, the Chinese government felt so much confidence in the feasibility of the plan, that it was extended to all the ports and placed under the entire control of an inspector-general.

By thus utilizing the experience and integrity of foreign employes in carrying on this important branch of its administration, the rulers broke through their long seclusion and isolation, and opened the way for removing the impediments to their own progress in every branch of polity.

The following tables, compiled or abridged from the so-called

” Yellow Books,” or Trade Reports, issued by the Imperial

Maritime Customs, will furnish a general idea of the foreign

trade with China and some statistics concerning its domestic

commerce. It is hardly necessary to add, however, that concerning

the latter when unconnected with foreigners, there are

almost no figures of value attainable. The Ilaihwan tael^ it

may be well to repeat, is valued at $1.36|^, or 5s. Qh,d. The

jpecul weighs 133| pounds.

ANNUAL VALUE OF THE FOREIGN TRADE OF CHINA. 1871 TO 1881.

Ybab.

CUSTOMS REVENUE, 1871 TO 1881.

Year.

1871

1872

1873

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1881

Duties on Native Produce

Exported to—

Foreign Countries.

Ilk. Tls.

5,246,467

5,840,261

4,978,179

5,535,041

5,640,062

5,772,709

5,703,321

5,803,485

5,958,176

6,696,290

6,869,486

Chinese Ports.

Ilk. Th.

138,116

099,724

158,938

147,686

291,923

222,860

140,442

306,118

426,894

572,392

460,182

Total Revenue fkom—

Foreign Trade. Home Trade. TotaL

Ilk. Tls.

9,508,972

10,029,050

9,238,675

9,775,743

10,030,226

10,318,631

10,356,415

10,.524,811

11,391,329

11,899,995

12,494,889

Ilk. Tls.

1,707,174

1,649,-586

1,738,407

1,721,529

1,937,S83

1,834,290

l,710,()ti3

1,956,177

2,140,341

2,3.58,588

2,190,273

Ilk. Tls.

11,216,146

11,()7S,636

10,977,083

11,497,273

11,968,109

12,152,921

12,067,078

12,483,988

13,.53 1,670

14,2.58,583

14,685,163

EXPORT OF TEA FROIM CHINA DURING TEN YEARS.

Ybar.

TRADE STATISTICS. 405

EXPORT OF NATIVE CHINESE GOODS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES,

1880 AND 1881.

Description of Goods.

Silk, all kinds
Tea, all kinds
Bags, all kinds
Bamboo, all kinds
Beans and beancake
Cassia lignea\ Camphor \ Chinaware and pottery\ Coal\ Clothing, boots, and shoes\Cotton, raw and waste\Cnrios
Dyes, colors, and paints
Fans, all kinds\Fish, provisions, and vegetables\Fire-crackers\Flour, grain, and pulse\Fruits, all kinds
Grasscloth
Hemp

Hides and hoops

Indigo

Lung-ngans

Mats and matting

Medicines

Metals, manufactured

Metals, unmanufactured

Nankeens and wool

Nutgalls and preserves

Oil, all kinds

Paper, books, tin, and brass foil

Rattans and rattanware

Rhubarb

Skins, all kinds

Straw braid

Sugar, white, brown, candy…

Tobacco

Vermicelli and macaroni

Sundries, unenumerated ClasKifier of Quantity.

1880. 1881.

Peculs.

Pieces.

Value.

Peculs.

Value.

Peculs.

Value.

Peculs.

Pieces.

Peculs.

Pieces.

Peculs.

Total value.

Pieces.

Peculs.

Value.

Quantity 114,831 3,097,119 749, S83 154,645 38,785 12,337 75,143

161 30,315 Value. Quantity.676 6,387,989 68,940 37,051 149,394 73,720 1,1S5 19,548 30,786 3,847 8,080 384,680 S8,676i 14,284 217

6,511 47,690 3,692

43,581

2,085

6,153

344.193

48,970

1,138,196 19,077 26,991 Bk. Tls. 1 29,831,444 35,728,169 *20,555 74,597 159,996 225,692 100,679 379,574 34 337, .548

182.918 44,948

3,196 38,881

165,922 260,010

139,653 92,913

104,719 160,602

2.53,.548 13,768;

34,669′ 533,027 i

194,451

147,405 i

8751

122,815

432,774

70,295

.512,720 8.975 212,.537 152,486 1,227,670 3,263,889 167,931 13.5,432 2,366,290 Vahie. 77,883,587

CHAPTER XXI.  FOREIGN INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA

The most important notices which the research of authors had collected respecting the intercourse between China and the West, and the principal facts of interest of a political and commercial nature down to the year 1834, are carefully arranged in the first three chapters of Sir John Davis’ work.’ In truth, the terms intercourse and ambassies, so often used with reference to the nations of Eastern Asia, indicate a peculiar state of relations with them ; for while other courts send and receive resident ministers, those of China, Japan, Corea, and Cochinchina liav^e until very recently kept themselves aloof from this national interchange of civilities, neither understanding its principles nor appreciating its advantages. Embassies have been sent by most European nations to the two first, which have tended rather to strengthen their assumptions of supremacy than to enlighten them as to the real objects and wishes of the courts proposing such courtesies. The commercial intercourse has, like the political, either been forced upon or begged of these governments, constantly subject to those vexatious restrictions and interruptions which might be expected from such ill-defined arrangements; and though mutually advantageous, has never been conducted on those principles of reciprocity and equality which characterize commerce at the West. As yet, the rulers and merchants of oriental nations are hardly well enough acquainted with their own and others’ rights to be able or willing

^ The Chinese, 2 Vols., Harper’s Family Library, 1837. See also Murray’s China, Vol. I., 1848. Montgomery Martin’s Chiu(t, passim, 1847. Memoires conr. les Chino/K, Tome V., pp. 1-23. T. W. Kingsmill in iV’. C. Br. M. A.Soc. Jourml, N. S., No. XIV., 1879.

ISOLATION AND SUSPICION OF THE CIIIXESE. 407

to enter into close relations with European powers. Both magistrates

and people are ignorant and afraid of the resources, power,

and designs of Christian nations, and consequently disinclined

to admit them or their subjects to unrestrained intercourse.

When western adventurers, as Pinto, Andrade, Wcddell, and

others came to the shores of China and Japan in the sixteenth

and seventeenth centuries, they found the governments disposed

to traffic, but the conquests subsequently made by Europeans in the neighboring regions of Lu9onia, Java, and India, and their cruel treatment of the natives, led these two powers to apprehend like results for themselves if they did not soon take precautionary measures of exclusion and restriction.

Nor can there be much doubt that this policy was the safest measure, in order to preserve their independence and maintain their authority over even their own subjects. Might made right more generally among nations then than it does now, and the belief entertained by most Europeans at that period, that all pagan lands belonged justly to the Pope, only wanted men and means to be everywhere carried into effect. Had the Chinese and Japanese governments allowed Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English colonists to settle and increase within their borders, they would, probably, long since have crumbled to pieces and their territories have been possessed by others.

The data brought together by Davis in 1838 on this subject has since been enlarged and illustrated by Col. Yule in his admirable ” Preliminary Essay ” of 18GG, prefixed to ddJiay and the Way Thither, and by Richthofen, the latter half of whose first volume on China is devoted to an exhaustive treatise upon the ” Development of the Knowledge of China.” ‘ A digest of these elaborate works would be too long for our purpose here,

‘ China, Ergehnisse eigener Beisen und darnvf gegriindeter Studien, Berlin,1877. This author’s arrangement of the subject into ” Periods ” is as follows :

I.—Legendary notices of intercourse before the year 1122 B.C.
II.—From the accession of the Chans to the building of the Great Wall (1122-213 B.C.).
III.—From the building of the Great Wall to the accession of the Tangs (212B.C.-619 A.D.).
IV.—From the Tangs to the Mongols (619-1205).
V.—From the rise of the Mongol power to the arrival of the Portuguese in China (1205-1517).
VI. —From the arrival of the Portuguese to the present time.

where only the most interesting points can be noticed. The first recorded knowledge of China among the nations of the West does not date further hack than the geographer Ptolemy, a.d. 150, who seems himself to have Ijeeii indebted to the Tyrian author Marinus. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, however, refers to the same land under the name ©Iv, or 77iin, at perhaps an earlier date. Previous to this time, moreover, accounts of the existence of the land of Confucius, and an appreciation and demand for the splendid silks made there, had reached Persia, judging from the legends found in its writers alluding to ancient w^ars and embassies with China, in which the country, the government, people, and fabrics are invested with a halo of power and wealth which has not yet entirely vanished. These legends strengthen the conclusion that the Prophet Isaiah has the first mention now extant of the FloMcry Land under theimmeSinujK

The interchange of the initial in China, Thina or Tina, and Sitia ought to give no trouble in identifying the land, for such changes in pronunciation are still common in it ; e.g., Chun-cha^b fu into Tlt-chiu hu.

The Periphis of Ari-ian places the city of Thina perhaps as far east as Si-ngan, but too vaguely to be relied on ; that great city must certainly have then been known, however, among the trader’s of Central Asia, who probably were better acquainted with its geography than the authors who have survived them. Under the term Seres the Chinese are more clearly referred to at even an earlier date than Sina, and among the Latin writers it was about the only term used, its association with the silks brought thence keeping it before them. The two names were used for different regions,’ the Seres being understood as lying to the north. Mela places them between the Lidians and Scythians; Ptolemy calls the country Seriee and the capital Sera, but regarded them as distinct from the Slna>, precisely as a Chinese geograplier might confuse Britain and England. He says there

‘ The diflFerent appellations soeiu to have been employed according as it was

regarded as the terminus of a southern sea route for a journey across the continent.

In the former aspect the name has nearly always beim some form of

Sin, (Jhiii, Hinjc, Cliina ; in the latter, to the ancients as the land of the Seres,

to the middle ages as the Empire of Catlxnj.—Yule.

EARLIEST NOTICES OF CHINA. 409

was a long and dangerous land route leading to Sera through

Persia to Bactria, over mountain deiiles and perilous patlis,

wliicli occupied the largest part of a year. Besides Ptolemy,

there are notices by Pliny of the Seres, and these two authors

furnished their successors with most of their knowledge down

to the reign of Justinian. Col. Yule concisely summarizes the

knowledge of China down to that date among the Romans:” The region of the Seres is a vast and populous country, touching on the east the ocean and the limits of the habitable world; and extending west nearly to Imaus and the confines of Bactria.

The people are civilized men, of mild, just, and frugal temper; eschewing collisions with their neighbors, and even shy of close intercourse, but not averse to dispose of their own products, of

which raw silk is the staple, but which include also silk stuffs,

furs, and iron of remarkable quality.” lie further explains how

authors writing at Pome and Constantinople were quite unable

to traverse and rectify what was said of the marts and nations

spoken of in the farthest East, and place them with any precision.

They wei”e, in truth, in the same difficulty in coming to an accurate

conclusion that the Chinese geographer Sen Ki-yu was when writing at Fulichau in 1847 ; he could not explain the discrepancies he found between llhodes and its colossus and Rhode Island in the United States.

Among the marts mentioned in the various authors, Greek,

Roman, and Persian, only a few can be identified with even fair

])robability. The ” Stone Tower ” of Ptolemy seems to have

denoted Tashl-eiul, a name of the same meaning, and a town

still resorted to for trade. His port of Cattigara may have

l)een a mart at the mouth of the Meinani, the Meikon, the Chu

Kiang, or some other large stream in that region, where seafaring

people could exchange their wares with the natives, then

quite independent of the Chinese in Shensf, who were known

to him as Seres. Cattigara is more probably to be looked for

near Canton, for its annals state that in the reign of 11wan ti

(a.d. 147-168) ” Tienchuh (India), Ta-tsin (Rome, Egypt or

Arabia), and other nations came by the southern sea with

tribute, and from this time trade was carried on at Canton with

foreigners.” During the same dynasty (the Eastern Han), foreigners came from Cantoo, Lu-li\vaiig-clii, and other nations in the south. The nearest was about ten days’ journey, and the farthest about iive months’.’

On the hind frontier, the Chinese annals of the Ilan dynasty

record the efforts of Wu ti (b.c. 140-86) to open a communication

with the Yuehchi, or Getji?, who liad driven out the Greek

rulers in Bactria and settled themselves north of the lliver Oxns,

in order to get their help against his enemies the Huns. He

sent an envoy, Chang Kiang, in 135, who was captured by the

Iluns and kept prisoner for ten j^ears, when he escaped with

some of his attendants and got to Ta-wan, or Ferghana, and

thence reached the Yuehchi further south. He was unsuccessful

in his mission, and attempted to return home through

Tibet, but was re-taken by the Huns, and did not succeed in

reporting himself at Chang-an till thirteen years had elapsed.

The introduction of the vine into China is rather doubtfully

ascribed to this brave envoy.

De Guignes concludes that this notice about trade at Canton

refers to the embassy sent in a.d. IGG by the Emperor Marcus

Aurelius (whom the Chinese call An-tun), which entered China

by the south at Tongking, or Canton. The Latin author Florus,

who lived in Trajan’s reign, about fifty years before, has a passage

showing, as proof of the universal awe and veneration in

which the power of Rome was held under Augustus, that ambassadors

fi-om the remotest nations, the Seres and the Indians,

came with presents of elephants, gems, and pearls—a rhetorical

exaggeration quite on a par with tlie Chinese account of the

tribute sent from An-tun, and not so well authenticated.

AVhether, indeed, the Ta-tsin kwoh mentioned by Chinese writers

meant Judea, Home, or Persia, cannot now be exactly ascertained,

though Yule concludes that this name almost certainly

means the Roman Empire, otherwise called the Kingdom

of the Western Sea. The title was given to these regions be

cause of the analogy of its people to those of the Middle King-

‘ Chinese Eeiiository, I., p. 365. Heeren, Addtir Ri’HeairhcH, IT., pp. 285-295.

Murray’s China, I., p. 141. Yulo’s Cathay, Vol. I., pp. xli-xlv. Smith,

Claaskal Dictionary, Art. SicuES.

INTERCOUIlSK RKTWKEX MOMV. AXD CHINA. 411

dom.’ The envoys sent to tliut coiintiT repoi-ted that ” beyond

the territoi-y of the Tuu-slii (perhaps tlie Persians) there was

a great sea, by wliicli, sailing; (hie west, one might arrive at tlie

country where tlie sun sets.” like most attempts of the kind

in subsequent days, the mission of Antoninus appears to liave

been a faihn-e, and to have returned without accomplishing

any practical benefit to intercourse or trade between the two

greatest empires in the world. It was received, no doubt, at

Lohyang, then the capital, with ostentatious show and patronizing

kmdness, and its occurrence inscribed in the national i-ecords

as another evidence of the glory and fame of the Son of

Heaven. That a direct trade between Home and China did

not result at this period may have been largely due to the

jealousy of the Parthian merchants, who reaped great profits

as middle-men in the traffic, and disposed of their own woven

and colored stuffs to the Romans, all of which gain they knew

would have passed over their heads had the extreme East and

West come into more intimate relations.

It is worthy of observation how, even from the earliest times,

the traffic in the rich natural and artificial productions of India

and China has been the great stimulus to urge adventurers to

come from Europe, who on their part offered little in exchange

besides precious metals. The Scrk-a ‘vestls, whether it was a

silken or cotton fabric, and other rarities found in those regions,

bore such a high price at Pome as to tempt the merchants to

undertake the longest journeys and undergo the greatest hardships

to procure them ; and such was the case likewise during

the long period before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope.

The existence of this trade early enabled the Xestorian missionai’ies

to penetrate into those remote regions, and keep up a

communication with their patrons at home ; the more extended

‘ Cathay and iJie Way Thilher, p. Ivi. Klaproth, Tahleanx IIistoriqne>i de

VAsie (Paris, 182G), p. 68. So Richtliofen {China, Bd. I., p. 470), who adds : ” It

is accepted now, by almost all those who have written on the subject, that the

Chinese by Ta-tsin meant to denote ‘Great-China,’ and through this, on the

other hand, we have a proof that the Chinese called their own country Ti^in.

It will hardly do, however, to suppose that so prejudiced a people as they would recognize another folk as greater. The; appellation Ta (great) is given, to every nation whoso power the Chinese feel to be considerable.” voyages of modern comniorce likewise assist benevolent poisons in reaching the remotest tribes and carrying on their labors, through their patrons on the other side of the world, probably with less danger and delay than a mission at Cadiz could have been directed from Jerusalem in the days of the apostles.

The notices in Cosmas (a Greek monk who had been a merchant,

and wrote his ” Universal Christian Topography” between

530 and 550 a.d.) of China and its products refer to the

maritime trade under the Byzantine emperors. This country

he locates very correctly as occupying the extreme east of Asia,

and calls Tzinista^ a name probably picked up from the Persians

or old Hindus, and nearly similar to the Tsinisthan of the

tablet at Si-ngan. Another Greek, Theophylact, in the next

century describes the internal intercourse in Central Asia, and

a great Turkish people, the Taugas, whom he was unaware were

the Chinese. It may be that he miswrote Taiig in a grecized form

for the dynasty just about that time settling its power. The

indirect commerce between China and the Greek Empire increased

by sea and land until the i-ise of the Moslem power.

The same indifference on the part of the Chinese respecting

the power, resources, and position of other lands is seen through

all their notices of those western kingdoms. The products carried

west were silk in various forms, but the demand for this

article diminished after the worms had been successfully taken

to Greece about a.d. 550. Cotton fabrics, medicines, and spices

went westward as well as silk, but it is impossible to distinguish

the trade with China from that with India. The leaf

called raalcibathrum in the Periplus was not a Chinese plant,

but the tamalapatra, a kind of cassia {Cinnamonutm liitidum,

whose leaves were purchased in Rome for three hundred denarii

per pound), and now called Malabar leaf ; it was probably mixed

or confounded with tlie Indian nard and with camphor. The

people called SesaUe in the Periplus are probably to be looked

for in Assam or Sikkim, where wild cassia grows, and where

the real tea plant is native ; but neither tea nor betel-leaf can

be regarded as the ancient malabathrum.’

‘Heeren’s Asiatic Researches, II., p. 294; Yule’s Cathciy, pp. xlvi, cxliv.

co:\rMrNiCATiox wnii tiik greek empire. 413

Witliin the last few years the translations of the travels of

Buddhist ])ilgrinis hetweon China and India have furnished

more satisfactory details of the peoples iidiahiting the central

and western parts of Asia than all the Greek and Latin authors.

Those of Fahian (309-414), of Iliucn-tsang (628-645), and of

Ilwui-sing (518), are the most extensive. Further researches into

conventual libraries in China and Tibet are encouraged by

what has been found on their shelves, and from them enough

has already been gained to .reward the labor. Of greater worth

than these, perhaps, are the official histories of the Han, Tsin,

and Tang dynasties, reaching from b.c. 200 to a.d. 900, only

portions of which have yet been made accessible in full. Their

trivialties are so numerous that their entii-e translation intoEng;-

lish would hardly repay the printing, as the experiment by

Mailla, in 1785, oitheTang Klen. Kang-mnh, in thirteen volumes

quarto, shows. These histories, on the whole, supply more accurate

information about Syria, Pei-sia, Greece, and Parthia,

than the Avriters of those countries give about China ;—for

example, the notices of FuUn, or Constantinople, are more

minute than any account of Chang-an in western writers. But

as Yule well remarks, there is much analogy between the fragmentary

views each party had, the same uncertainty as to exact

position, and the same application of facts belonging to the

nearer skirts of a half-seen empire to the whole land. It can

M^ell be paralleled by reading some of our own travellers who

applied all that they saw and heard at Canton to the Eighteen

Pi-ovinces. Only a few emljassies from Ta-tsin and Falln are

enumerated by Pauthier in his Chine as coming down to the year

1091 ; but the tractate by Dr. E. Bretschneider, of the Russian

Legation at Peking,’ shows how constant were the visits of the

Arabs down to the Sung (a.d. 1086), and especially during the

Tang dynasty. During the Tsin and Wei dynasties the visits

of envoys from Ceylon were frequent, all of them an outgrowth

of Buddhism, but repaid in more ways than one by the trade

and its results—as shown by Sir E. Tennent in his H’lMory of

Ceylon. In 1266 the King of Ceylon had Chinese soldiers in

‘ On the Knmdedge of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies possessed by the Ancient Chinese, London, 1871.

his service, and envoys came to liiiii to \n\\ Iluddlia’s sacred

alms-disli. In 14(»5 tlie Emperor Ynngloh of the Ming dynasty,

taking underage at the indiginties offered to liis re[)resenlative

by Wijayabahu IV., despatclied Ching IIo with a Heet of sixtytwo

ships and a hind force to cruise along the coasts of Cambodia,

Siam, and other places, demanding ti-ihnte and conferring

gifts as the successor of the throne held by the great

Kublai. Going again the next year as far as Ceylon, Ching

IIo evaded a snare set by the king, and captured him and his

whole familv and officials, carrvini>; them all to Pekinj;. In

1411 the latter were set free, but a new king was appointed

to the vacant throne, who reigned fifty jears and sent tribute

till 1459 ; this was only thirty-eight years before Gama arrived

at Calicut. It was the last attempt of the Chinese to assert their sway beyond the limits of the Middle Kingdom seaward.’

‘Tennent’s Ccijlov, I., pp. 607-62G. Yule’s Cathay, pp. Ixvi-lxxvi.

– Relation des Voyar/es faitit par l(‘« Anihes ct Ics JVi-nans (hum Vlnde et dla Chine dans le IX”” Siede de Ver’ Chretienitc, 2 Vols., Paris, 1845.

NOTICES OF ARAB TRAVELLERS. 41fi

One intimation of a continuance of the intercourse with China from the time of Justinian to that of the Arab travelers Wahab and Abu Zaid, is the Xestorian inscription (page 277). The narratives of the Arabs (a.d. 850 and 877) are trustworthy in their general statements as to the course pursued in the voyage, the port to which they sailed in China, the customs of the people there, and the nature and mode of conducting the trade; they form, in fact, the first authentic accounts we have of the Chinese from western writers, and make us dinibt a little whether others like them have not been lost, rather than suppose that such were never written. These interesting relics were translated by Reinaud in 1845, with the text and notes.” The second traveler speaks of the sack of the city of Canfu, then the port of all the Arabian merchants, in which one hundred and twenty thousand Mohannnedans, Jews, Christians, and Magians, or Parsees, engaged in traffic, were destroyed. This shows the extent and value of the trade. Canfu was Kanpu, a fine port near the modern town of the same name, twenty-five miles from HangZhou, and near Chapu on the Bay of Hangzhou ; the Gates of China were probably in the Chusan Arcliipelago and its nmnerons channels. Much of the statement made 1)V >\bn Zaid respecting the wealth, extent, and splendor <»f Canfu really refers to the city of Hangzhou. The bore in the Qiantang river makes it impossible for ships to lie off that place, and this had its effect in developing Kanpn. The destruction of the capital in 877 contributed to direct part of the trade to Canton, which even then and long after was comparatively a small place, and the people of that part of the country but little removed from gross barbarism. In Marco Polo’s time Ganpu was frequented by all the ships that bring merchandise from India.’

Prior to the date when he reached the confines of the Pacific,

the ravages of the Mongols, under Genghis and his successors, in

the regions between the Mediterranean and Caspian, and their

great victory near Lignitz, April 12, 1241, had aroused the fears

of the Pope and other potentates for their own safety. After

the sudden recall of the hosts of Okkodai, in the same year, at

his death, and their retreat from Bohemia and Poland to the

Dneiper, the Pope determined to send two missions to the Tartars

to urge them to greater humanity. One was a Franciscan

monk, John of Piano Carpini, wdio carried the following letter

to Batu klian on the Wolga:

INNOCENT, BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD, TO THE KING AND PEOPLE OF THE TARTARS.

‘ Chinese ReposiUrry, Vol. I., pp. G, 42, 2.’)2 ; Vol. III., p. 115. Yule’s ilfarctf Pdo, Vol. II., pp. 149, 1.50. Catltiiy^ p. uxciii.

Since not only men, but also irrational animals, and even the mechanical mundane elements, are united by some kind of alliance, after the example of superior spirits, whose liosts the Author of the universe has established in a perpetual and peaceful order, we are compelled to wonder, not without reason, how you, as we have heard, having entered many lands of Christians and others, have wasted them with horrible desolation, and still, with continued fury, not ceasing to extend further your destroying hands, dissolving every natural tie, neither sparing sex nor age, direct indifferently against all the fury of the sword. We therefore, after the example of the Prince of Peace, desiring to unite all mankind in unity and the fear of God, warn, beseech, and exhort you henceforth to desist wholly from such outrages, and especially from the persecution of Christians ; and since, by so many and so great offences, you have doubtless grievously provoked the wrath of the Divine majesty, that you make satisfaction to him by suitable penitence ; and that you be not so daring as to carry your rage further, because the omnipotent God has hitherto permitted the nations to be lai<l prostrate before your face. He sometimes thus passes by the proud men of the age; but if they do not humble themselves, he will not fail to inflict the severest temporal punishment on their guilt.

And now, behold, we send our beloved brother John, and his companions, bearers of these presents, men conspicuous for religion and honesty, and endued with a knowledge of sacred Scripture, whom we hope you will kindly receive and honorably treat as if they were ourselves, placing confidence in what they may say from us, and specially treat with them on what relates to peace, and fully intimate what has moved you to this extermination of other nations, and what you further intend, providing them in going and returning with a safe conductor, and other things needful for returning to our presence.

We have chosen to send to you the said friars, on account of their exemplary eonduct and knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, and because they would be more useful to you as imitating the humility of our Saviour, and if we had thought they would be more grateful and useful to you, we would have sent ither prelates or powerful men.’

M. D’Avezac’s essay contains a full account of the travels

and proceedings of Carpini and his companion, Benedict, in

their hazardous journey of a hundred days from Kiev, across

the plains of Russia and Bokhara, to the court of Kuyuk, who

had succeeded Okkodai. They were first sent forward by the

commanding ofiicers of the several posts to Batu’s camp, where

the Pope’s letter was translated ; from hence they were again

despatched at the most rapid rate, on horseback, to Kara-korum,

M’here they arrived July 22, 124G, almost exhausted. After

they had been there a few days the election was decided, and

all ambassadors were introduced to an audience to the khan,

when the Pope’s envoys alone werf^ without a present. The

letter was read, and an answer ret’:<i-ned in a few weeks in the

same style. These two potentates, so singularly introduced to

each other in tlieir mutual ignorance by the letters carried by

John, had much more in common in their pretensions to universal

dominion by the command of God than they suspected.

‘ Murray’s Marco Polo, p. 49. Yule’s CatJuty, p. cxxiii ff. D’Avezac’s essay in the liecueU de Voyages, IV. , p. 399,

MISSION OF THE POPE TO BATU KUAN. 417

LETTER OF THE KING OF THE TARTARS TO THE LORD POPE.

The khan’s letter was as follows :
The strength of God, Kuyiik kliiui, the ruler of all men, to the great Pope. You and all the Christian people who dwell in tlie West have sent by your messengers sure and certain letters for the purpose of making peace with us. This we have heard from them, and it is contained in your letter. Therefore, if you desire to have peace with us, you Pope, emperors, all kings, all men powerful in cities, by no means delay to come to us for the purpose of concluding peace, and you will hear our answer and our will. The series of your letters contained that we ought to be baptized and to become Christians ; we briefly reply, that we do not understand why we ought to do so. As to what is mentioned in your letters, that you wonder at the slaughter of men, and chiefly of Christians, especially Hungarians, Poles, and Moravians, we shortly answer, that this too we do not understand. Nevertheless, lest we should seem to pass it over in silence, we think proper to reply as follows: It is because they have not obeyed the precept of God and of Genghis khan, and, holding bad counsel, have slain our messengers;’ wherefore God has ordered them to be destroyed, and delivered them into our hands. But if God had not done it, what could man have done to man V But you, inhabitants of the West, believe that you only are Christians, and despise others ; but how do you know on whom he may choose to bestow his favor ? We adore God, and, in his strength, will overwhelm the whole earth from the east to the west. But if we men were not strengthened by God, what could we do ?”

‘ Allusion is here made to Tartar ambassadors, whom the Russians murdered before the battle of Kalka.

”Murray’s Marco Polo, p. 59.

The khan took the precaution, which the Pope did not, of putting his reply into an intelligible language, and when it yvaa written in Tartar he had it carefully explained to the friars, who translated it into Latin, and were soon after dismissed.

They left the court on November 13, 1246, and ” travelled all winter through a wide open country, being commonly obliged to sleep on the ground after clearing away the snow, with which in the morning they often found themselves covered.” They reached Kiev the next June, and Carpini was rewarded for his hardships by being appointed Archbishop of Antivari in Dalmatia. As Yule remarks, “they were the first to bring to western Europe the revived knowledge of a great and civilized nation lying in the extreme East upon the shores of the ocean.”

Louis XL of France having heard that Sartach, the son of Batu, then commanding on the w^estern frontier, was a Christian, sent z mission to liini, consistin<5 of the friar AVilliani Rubrnquis ‘ and three companions. They left Constantinople May 7, 1253, and proceeded to the Crimea, from wlience they set ont with a present of wines, frnits, and biscuits intended for the khan. In three days they met the Tartars, who conducted them first to Scacatai, a chieftain by whom, after considerable delay and vexation, they were furnished with everything necessary for a journey across the plains of southei-n Russia to the Wolga and the camp of Sartach. The monks attempted to convert the rude nomads, but igno.ance of the language and

suspicions of their intentions interposed great obstacles on

both sides. On arriving at the end of their journey, they were

disappointed at finding the ruler of these warriors a besotted

infidel, who expected all persons admitted into his presence to

bring him costly presents. A Nestorian named Cojat, whom

Rubruquis regarded as. no better than a heretic, was high in

authority, and the only medium of counmmication with the

khan. He told the friar to bring his books and vestments

and make himself ready to appear before the khan on the

mori’ow ; their elegance was such that at the close of the audience

Cojat seized most of them under an idle pretext that it

was improper to appear in them a second time before Batu

khan, to whom Rubruquis and his companions were to be sent.

Their journey was soon after prosecuted by following up the

Wolga some distance, and when they arrived at the encampment

of Batu khan, he made many inquiries about the resources and

power of the French king and the war he was waging with the

Saracens. On his introduction, ” the friar bent one knee, but

finding this unsatisfactory did not choose to contend, and dropped

on both. Misled by his position, instead of answering questions

he began a prayer for the conversion of the khan, with

warning of the dreadful consequences of unbelief. The prince

merely smiled ; but the derision which was loudly expressed by

the surrounding chiefs threw him into a good deal of confusion.”

‘ Or, more correctly, Rubruk, as D’Avezac lias pointed out {Bull. <1e hi Soc. de Geof/i:, 18G8), and in whose conclusions Yule joins {Marco Polo, second edition, p. 536).

EMBASSY OF KUBRUQUIS TO MANGU KlIAI^. 419

The interview was followed by an order to proceed to the court of Mangu, who had succeeded Kuyuk as Grand khan. This long journey occupied four months, through the high hind of Central Asia (farther eastward than where Carpini found Kuyuk’s court), and subjected them to severe hardships. Mangu received the mission hardly with civility, but having been examined by some Xestorian priests, they were admitted to an audience. The same ceremonies were required as at Batu’s court, and inquiries made as to the possessions of the French king, especially the number of rams, horses, and oxen he owned, which, the friar was amazed to learn, were soon to be attacked by the Tartars. Xo permission to remain could be obtained, but he was furnished with a house and allowed to tarry till the cold mitigated. In this remote region he found a European architect, William Bourchier, and his wife, from Mentz, besides many Armenians, Saracens, and Xestorians, all of whom the khan received, he accompanied the coin-t to Kara-korum, where he nearly became involved in dangei’ous religious disputes, and on the approach of milder weather was conqjelled to return to Batu khan, by whom he was sent on, in a south-westerly direction, until he entei’ed Armenia, and thence found his way to Iconium, having been absent nearly two years.

These ambassadors had not the aid of printing to diffuse their narratives, and it was perhaps chiefly owing to the high standing of those who sent them that their relations have been preserved. In the case of many travellers of humbler origin or pretensions, there Avas no inducement to write what they had seen ; these therefore only told their stories, which were lost with the narrators.

Even the travels of Marco Polo would perhaps never have been given to the world if the leisure of captivity had not induced him to adopt this method of relieving its tedium. Every examination of his record has added to its reputation for accuracy, both in the position of the cities he mentions or visited and in the events he details ; and when it is considered that he dictated it several years after his return to a fellow-prisoner, Rusticiano of Pisa, who wrote it in French, his accuracy is wonderful.

The edition by Marsden in 1818 remained for fifty years the chief authority, but the recent editions by Pauthier and Yule, with their full notes, have made the traveller’s record vastly better understood, while adding iiiiich to our knowledge of mediaeval Asia.

Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, was the son of ]Sieolo Polo, who with his brother Matteo, nobles and merchants of Venice, first left that city about 125-i, and Constantinople in 1260, on a mercantile voyage to the Crimea, from which point a series of events led them eastward as far as China, then lately conquered by Kublai, the Grand Khan and successor of Mangu khan, whom Rubruquis visited. They were favorably received, and when they left Kublai it was under a promise to return, which they did about December, 1274, bearing letters from

Gregory X., and accompanied by young Marco, then about sixteen

years old. He soon became a favorite with the Emperor,

and was able to travel to many parts of the country, spending in

all about twenty-one years in the East ; the three Polos reached

Venice again in 1295. Marco was prefect at Yangchau on the

Grand Canal for three years, and this involves a knowledge of

Mongolian and Chinese speech and writing, without which he

could hardly have administered its ofHcial duties. His possession

of these accomplishments was nearly indispensable to the

post, though Col. Yule infers, from an easily explained mistake

in Chapter LXXV., that he did not have them. On reaching

Venice, by way of India and Persia, the long-lost travellers appeared

so completely altered that their friends and countrymen

did not recognize them. Their wealth and entertainini>- recitals,

however, soon restored them to the highest ranks of society.

The industry of recent editors has probably brought togethei- all

that can be learned of their subsequent history, which is now so

well known as to require no further words here.

NARRATIVES OF POLO AND OF KING TTAYTON. -t21

In the year 1254, Ilethum, or Hayton, king of Little Armenia, undertook a journey to Mangu khan, to petition for an abatement of the tribute which he had been obliged to pay the Mongols. Having first sent forth his brother, Senipad, or Sinibald (in 1240), to Kuyuk khan, Hayton himself set out upon the accession to the throne of his successor. Passing through Kars and Armenia Proper to the Wolga, he was there received by Patu and foi-warded by a route to the north of that traversed by Carpini to Kara-korum and the Grand khan. At the end of a six weeks’ sojourn with the court, during which time he appears to have been kindly received, Ilayton commenced his homeward journey via Bishbalig and Song-aria to Samarkand, Bokhara, Khorasan, and thence to Tabriz. The accounts of these two embassies, wherein are described many wonderful things concerning the heathens of the East and barbarians upon the route, made up, doubtless, a large part of the ” History ”(written in 1307) by the king’s relative, Ilayton of Gorigos.’

The different positions held by these men and the Polos naturally led each of them to look upon the same people and events with vastly different feelings. The efforts of John of Montecorvino to propagate Christianity in China were undertaken just as the Polos returned, but no detailed accounts of his labors(beyond what Col.Yule has gathered in his Cathay) have been preserved.

Among the most important mediaeval travelers in Asia was the Moor, Ibn Batuta, who at the age of twenty-one set out(in 1325) upon his journeys, from which he did not return until thirty years later.” Abu-Abdullah Mahomed (nicknamed Ibn Batuta, ” The Traveller “) commenced his wanderings, which were contemporaneous with those of the more doubtful Englishman, Sir John Mandeville, by a series of pilgrimages to the sacred places of his religion ; among other excursions, he found time at one period to continue three years in Mecca. Going from one city to another, along the shores of the Mediterranean, and in the countries between it and the Caspian, he at length reached Delhi, where he resided eight years, enjoying—until the latter end of his stay—high favor from the Sultan Mahomed.

‘ The chapter concerning Cathay appears in Yule’s Cathay, p. cxcv. A translation of the elder Hayton’s narrative is given by Klaprotli in the Journal Asiatique, IV” Scries, Tome XII., pp. 273 ff.

‘ His work has been very ably edited and translated into French by M. Defremery and Dr. Sanguinetti (four volumes, Paris, 1858-5!)), under the patronage of the Asiatic Society of Paris. Several partial translations of the journal have appeared from time to time within the present century.

The versatile Moor occupied the position of judge, though there is good reason to doubt his serious attention to any business while at this magnificent court, other than that of spending his master’s money. In the spring of 1342, having recovered tVoin a temporary disgrace, he was despatched on an ambassy to

China hy tlie Sultan. It seems that a (“liincse envoy had arrived

at Delhi to request permission for the natives to rebuild

a temple in Butan, as they were poor and dependent upon the

inhabitants of the plain, and had besought the Chinese government

to intercede for them. Ibn Batuta was sent with lavish

presents to the Emperor, but a refusal to assist in the building

project uidess that sovereign would go through the form of

paying a poll-tax to the Sultan. This embassy was attacked by

a body of Hindus when scarcely out of Delhi, and obliged to

return. Again it was sent out, going to Calicut on the Malabar

coast, where were found fifteen Chinese vessels or galleys at

anchor, whose crews and guard amounted to a thousand men

each. The envoy embarked his attendants on one of these

ships, but while he remained on shore to pray for a prosperous

voyage, a storm sunk the vessel and all on board. After this

second mishap the luckless Moor was afraid to return to Ids

master, and went to Sumatra, from whence he found his way

to China, landing at Zayton, the present Chinchew, in Fuhkien.

Though it is doubtful if Ibn Batuta, notwithstanding his description

of the place, ever reached Peking, his spirited accounts

of Zayton, Sinkalan (Canton), Khansa (Hangchau), Kanjanfu,

and other centres of trade in the soutli, are both entertaining

and important. Spite of exaggerations, confusion of names

and dates, and certain cases of positive fiction, one can hardly

fail to put faith in the generality of his statements and conclude

in favor of his veracity and genuine character. He mentions

that tlie circulation of paper money, wliich Marco Polo thought

so excellent a device for a king to raise funds, had entirely

driven out the use of metallic currency. In every large town

lie found Mohammedans, ruled by officers of their own persuasion.

TRAVELS OF IBN BATUTA AND FRIAR ODORIC. 423

The journal of Friar Odoric (1286-1331) contains much of interest in connection with China of the middle ages. This worthy priest landed at ” Censcalan ” (Canton), after a long and tedious trip from Bagdad round by Sumatra and thence northeast by land to Zayton. Here, says he, ” we friars minor have two houses, and there I deposited the bones of our friars who suffered martyrdom for the faith of Jesus Christ.” He had brought these relics from Tana, near Bombay. Thence he journeyed to Fnlichau, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, going on northward to Peking, where the aged archbishop, (Jorvino, was still living, and remained there three years. His return journey as far as H’lassa was not very different from that of Hue and Gabet in 184-3 ; from the Tibetan capital he probably continued on a westerly course to Cabul and Tabriz, reaching Venice in 1330, after an absence of thirteen years. His itinerary was taken down the following year by William of Solagna, a brother of the order, at Padua.

In this narrative there is mention of a number of characterise tics of the Chinese, well known to all the world of to-day, but left wholly unnoticed by other travellers of his age. “His notices of the custom of fishing with cormorants, of the habits of letting the finger-nails grow long, and of compressing the women’s feet, as well as of the divisions of the khan’s Empire into twelve provinces, with four chief vizirs, are peculiar to him, I believe, among all the European travellers of the age.

Polo mentions none of them. The names which he assigns to the Chinese post-stations, and to the provincial Boards of Administration, the technical Turki term which he uses for a sack of rice, etc., are all tokens of the reality of his experience.’”

• Yule, Catlmy and the Way Tliither, p. 31.

On the other hand, the influence of superstition upon their own minds rendered most of the religious travellers into Central Asia—Odoric as well as the others—less trustworthy and observant than they would perhaps have been either centuries before or after that period. Everything of a religious sort they regarded as done under the direct agency of the powers of darkness, into whose dominions they were venturing. Too fearful, moreover, to examine candidly or record accurately’ what they beheld, these pious adventurers were constantly misled by endeavors to explain any uncommon experience by referi-ing the same to their own imperfect or erroneous conceptions. This is true as well of the Bomish priests connected with the Peking mission, a few of whose letters have been preserved and recently made known to the public by Col. Yule; among tlieso are Friar Jordanus, Bishop Andrew of Zayton, Pascal of Vittoria, together with the Ai-chbisliop of Soltania, author of the “Book of the Estate and Governance of the (Ireat Caan of Cathay.” ‘

But much fairer than these missionaries, in his reputation

for veracity, was tlie Jesuit Benedict Goes, wlio in the centui-

y preceding what nva,y be termed the modern period of our

knowledge of China, undertook a journey across the desert,

to die on the threshold of the Empire. Born in one of the

islands of the Azore group. Goes spent his youth in the profession

of a soldier on board of the Portuguese fleet. Becoming

suddenly converted, he entered the service of the Jesuits as a

lay brother—which humble i-ank he i-esolutely held during the

rest of his career—and was sent to the court of Akbar, His

residence in India gained hijn a high reputation for courage,

judgment, and skill in the Persian tongue, the linguafranca

of Asia at that date. He was selected, therefore, to undertake

a journey to the Cathay of Marco Polo, in the capital of which

Jerome Xavier thought he had hopes of finding the Christian

ruler and descendant of Prester John. Goes set out from

Agra in 1602, joined a company of merchants, and with them

took a route passing through Cabul, the Hindu kush, along

the River Oxus to its head-waters on the Pamir table-land,

and so to Yangi Hissar, Yarkand, Aksu, and Suh-chau, where

he was detained seventeen months, and finally died, shortly

after assistance had been sent him from the mission at Peking.

‘ About 13:30. See ibid., pp. 238-250.

JOURNEY OF BENEDICT GOES. 425

De Christiana Ej’pedit’wne apiul /Sinas.’ To Benedict Goes

His journey was full of terrible hardships, and it was to these as well as to the careless treatment he suffered in Suhchau that he owed his untimely end. Could we have Goes’ own narrative of his experience, the information concerning the unknown regions of Central Asia over which he toiled would be of priceless worth. His journals, however, were either lost or destroyed during his miserable detention at the frontier town, and nothing remained save a few meagre notes

and his faithful Armenian servant Isaac, whose language no one at Peking could understand. Such as it was, an account was compiled from these soun-es by Ilicci himself, and published soon after that missionary’s death in the work of Trigautius, we may give the credit of the discovery that Cathay and China(Sina) were in reality one and the same land. It is a curious illustration of the condition of intercommunication between distant parts of the world in those days, that this fact must have been known to the earliest Jesuit missionaries in Peking, though the friars of the same order stationed in India held to a belief in Cambaluc and its Christian prince until far into the seventeenth century.

In many particulars the practical descriptions of Abu Zaid, Masudi,” Ibn Wahab, and Marco Polo stand in decided contrast to the details noted down by such as Rubruquis and Odoric. The accounts of all these writers convey the impression that China was in their time free to all travellers. Ibn Wahab, speaking of the regulations practised under the Tang dynasty, observes:

If a man would travel from one province to another, he must take two passes with him, one from the governor, the other from the eunuch [or lieutenant]. The governor’s pass permits him to set out on his journey and contains the names of the traveller and those also of his company, also the ages of the one and the other and the clan to which he helongs. For every traveller in China, whether a native or an Arab, or other foreigner, cannot avoid carrying a paper with him containing everything by which he can be verified.

‘ A translation of this notice appears in Col. Yule’s oft-quoted CatJuiy and the Wiiy Thither, pp. 529-591. Trigautins’ work appeared in 1615, and was subsequently translated into all the continental languages. Compare Purchas, His PiUjriiites, Vol. III., pp. 380, ff.—A Ducourse of the Kingdonte of Ghimi, tnken ont of Eiecivs and I’rif/avfivii, rontayning the Conntrey, People, Gotiernmevt, etc., etc. ° Reinaud, Relation des Voyaf/e,i, etc. MM. Barbier de Meynard and Favet de Courteille, Les Prariex d’Or, Paris, 1801-OG.

The eunuch’s pass specifies the quantities of money or goods wliich the traveller and those with him take along ; this is done for the information of officers at the frontier places where these two passes are examined. Whenever a traveller arrives at any of them, it is registered that ” .Such a one, son of such a one, of such a calling, passed here on such a day, month, and year, having sufii things with him.” The governmpnt resorts to this means to prevent danger to travellers in their money or goods ; for should one suifer loss or die, everything about him is immediately known and lie himself or his heirs after his death receive whatever is his. ‘

The same writer speaks of the Mabed, a nation dwelling in Yunnan, on the south-west, who sent ambassadors every year with presents to the Emperor; and in return he sent presents annually to them. These embassies, indeed, were simply trading companies in disguise, who came from the Persians, Arabs, and other nations, with every protestation of respect and humility, bearing presents to the Son of Heaven. The dignity of the Emperor denumded that these should be returned with gifts three or four times the value of this ” tribute,” and that the ambassadors should be royally entertained during their sojourn at the capital. It is needless to add that such missions were repeated by the merchants as often as circumstances would permit. Entrance into the country overland otherwise than by some such ruse seems to have been withheld after the fall of the Mongol dynasty.

It was, however, not until the subjugation of the Empire by

the Manchus that foreign trade was limited to Canton, the

jealous conduct of the present rulers being to a certain extent

actuated by a fear of similar reprisals from some quarter, which

the Mongols experienced. The outrageous behavior of foreign

traders theujselves must, moreover, be regarded as a chief

cause of the watchful seclusion with which they were treated.

” Their early conduct,” says Sir John Davis, referring to the

Portuguese, ” was not calculated to impress the Chinese witli

any favorable idea of Europeans ; and when in course of time

they came to be com])etitors with the Dutch and the English,

the contests of mert;antile avarice tended to place them

all in a still worse point of view. To tliis day the character of

the Europeans is represented as that of a race of men intent

alone on the gains of commercial traffic, and regardless altogether

of the means of attainment. Struck by the perpetual hostilities which existed among these foreign adventurers, aslleinaud, siiiiilated in other respects by a close resemblance in their costumes and manners, the government of the country became disposed to treat them with a degree of jealousy and exclusion which it had not deemed necessary to be exercised toward the more peaceable and well ordered Arabs, their predecessors.” ‘

IkUition, Tome I., p. 41.

THE empire: closed to foreigners. 427

These characteristics of avarice, lawlessness, and power have been the leading traits in the Chinese estimate of foreigners from their first acquaintance with them, and the latter have done little to effectually disabuse orientals upon these points.

The following record of their first arrival, taken from a Chinese work, is still good authority in the general opinion of the natives:

During the reign of Cliingtili [1506], foreigners from the West, called Fahlan-ki [Franks], who said that they had tribute, abruptly entered the Bogue, and by their tremendously loud guns, shook the place far and near. This was reported at court, and an order returned to drive them away immediately and stop their trade. At about this time also the Hollanders, who in ancient times inhabited a wild territory and had no intercourse with China, came to Macao in two or three large ships. Their clothes and their hair were red; their bodies tall; they had blue eyes, sunk deep in their heads. Their feet were one cubit and two-tenths long; and they frightened the people by their strange appearance. “‘

‘ The Chinese, Vol. I., p. 20.- The term hong-mao, or * red-haired,’ then applied to the Dutch, has sLuc« been transferred to the English.

The Portuguese Hafael Perestrello sailed in a junk for China in 1516, five 3’ears after the conquest of IVIalacca, and was the first person who ever conducted a vessel to China under a European flag. Ferdinand Andrade came in the next year, in fcjur Portuguese and four Malay ships, and gave great satisfaction to the authorities at Canton by his fair dealings; his galleons were allowed to anchor at Shangchuen, or St. John’s Island. His brother Simon came the following year, and by his atrocious conduct entirely reversed the good opinion formed of his countrymen; the Chinese besieged him in port and drove him away in 1521. Others of his countrymen followed him, and one of the earliest ships accompanied some Chinese junks along the coast, and succeeded in establishing a factory at 2singpo; trade was also coiicliicted at Amoy. In 1537 there were three Portuguese settlements near Canton, one at St.

John’s, one at a smaller island called Lanipa9ao (Lang-peh-kau), lying north-west of the Grand Ladroncs, and the third just l)eirun on Macao.’ In 1542 traders had left St. John’s for

Lainpa9ao, and ten years afterward, at the time of Xavier’s

death, trade was concentrated at the latter, where five or six

hundred Portuguese constantly resided in 1500. Macao was

connnenced under the pretext of erecting sheds for drying goods

introduced under the appellation of trihute, and alleged to have

been damaged in a storm. In 1573 the Chinese government

erected a barrier wall across the isthmus joining Macao to the

island of liiangshan, and in 1587 established a civil magistracy

to rule the Chinese. By their ill conduct at Ningbo the Portuguese

drew upon them the vengeance of the people, who rose

upon them and ” destroyed twelve thousand Christians, including

eight hundred Portuguese, and burned thirty-five ships and

two junks.” One of their provocative acts is stated to have

been going out in large parties into the neighboring villages

and seizing the women and virgins, by which they justly lost

their privileges in one of the provinces and ports best adapted

to European trade. Four years later, in 15-19, they were also

driven from their newly formed settlement at Chinchew.

‘ There stood originally on tlio site of tins town an idol known as Avia. Amau-gau, or Ama-kdu, then, meant the ‘Harbor of Ama,’ which in Portuguese was written Amiicuo, and afterward shortened to Marao. Conip. Trigautius, Be OJiristiana E.vjmHtione apvd S/iiks, Hiir). Nieuwhof, Niivirhriiru;e Bes’-Jiryrivf/e nivH Gosandarhitp, etc., Amsterdam, ^CtGA. Sir A. Ljungstedt, Historical Sketch of the Portii (pi cue Settlements in China, Boston, 18^(5. Chinese Commercial Guide, lifth edition, i^. 22’J.

PORTUGUESE RELATIONS WITH CHINA. 429

The Portuguese have sent four embassies to the Emperor of China. The first envoy, Thome Pires, was appointed by the Governor at Goa, and accompanied Ferdinand Andi-adc lo Canton, in 1517, where he was received and treated in the usual style of foreign ambassadors. When his mission was reported at Peking the Emperor Chingtih was infiuenced against it by a subject of the Sultan of Malacca, and detahied Pires at Canton three years; the flagitious conduct of Andrade’s brother

and the character of the Portuguese induced the Emperor to

appoint a court to examine whether the embassy was legitiujate

or spurious, and Pires and his companions were adjudged to be

spies and sent back to Canton to be detained till Malacca was

restored. This not being done, he and others suffered death in

September, 1523 ; other accounts lead to the inference that he

died in 2)rison. Thus the innocent were made to suffer for the

guilty. The next embassy was undertaken in 155’2, at the suggestion

of Xavier, by the Viceroy of Goa, but the mission proceeded

no farther than Malacca, the governor of that towTi

refusing to allow it to leave the place—a significant intimation

of the degree of subordination and order maintained by the

Portuguese in the administration of their new colonies. The

third was also sent from Goa in 1667, in the name of Alfonso

YL, on occasion of the suspension of the trade of Macao by

Kanghi ; the expense was defrayed by that colony (about

forty thousand dollars), and ” the result of it so little answered

their expectations that the Senate solicited his Majesty not to

intercede in behalf of his vassals at Macao with the government

of China, Avere it not in an imperious and cogent case.”

A good opportunity and necessity for this, it was thought, presented itself in 1723, when Magaillans returned to China carrying the answer of the Pope to Kangxi, to send an envoy, Alexander Metello, along with him to Peking, lie arrived at court in May, 1727, and had his audience of leave in July, receiving in exchange for the thirty chests of presents which he offered, and which Yungching received with pleasure ” as evidences of the affection of the King of Portugal,” as many for his master, besides a cup of wine and some porcelain dishes, sent from the Emperor’s table, and other presents for himself and his retinue, which were ” valuable solely because they were the gifts of a monarch.” No more advantage resulted from this than the embassy sent a century previous, though it cost the inhabitants of Macao a like heavy sum. Another and last Portuguese embassy reached Peking in 1753, conducted and ending in much the same maimer as its predecessors ; all of them exhibiting, in a greater or less degree, the spectacle of humiliating submission of independent nations through their envoys to a I’oiirt which took pleasure in arrogantly exalting itself on the homage it received, and studiously avoided all reference to the real business of the embassy, that it might neither give nor deny anything. But in estimating its conduct in these respects, it must not be overlooked that the imperial court never associated commercial equality and regulations with embassies and tribute.

The influence and wealth of the Portuguese in China for the last century and a half have gradual decreased. A Swedish knight. Sir Andrew Ljungstedt, published a historical sketch of their doings down to 1833, including an account of the colony, which is still the fullest book on the subject. In 1820 the opium trade was removed to Lintin, and that being the principal source of income, the commerce of the place for many years was at a low ebb. The imperial commissioner Iviying granted some additional privileges to the settlement in 1844, among others, permitting the inhabitants to build and repair new houses, churches, and ship’s without a license, and to trade at the five ports open to foreign commerce on the same terms as other nations ; it was just three centuries before this that the Portuguese were driven away from Ningbo. The anchorage of the Typa was included in the jurisdiction of Macao, but the application of the Portuguese commissioner to surcease payment of the anmial ground-rent of five hundred taels to the Chinese met with a decided refusal. Its advantages as a summer resort and its accessibility to a densely peopled region M^est invite visitors and traders to some extent, but the proximity and wealth of Hongkong make it secondary to that. Its short-lived prosperity in 1839-50, during the opium war and curly days of Hongkong, was followed b}’ the enlargement of the coolie trade, which for twenty-five years was the only real business.

EMBASSIES AND TRADE. 431

The Chinese have never ceded the peninsula to the Portuguese crown, although they were powerless to prevent the export of coolies; the relations now between the two countries are not distinctly defined. In 1862 a treaty was negotiated at Peking by Governor Guimaraes, in which the supremacy of the Portuguese authority over the ten-itory within the Barrier was implied rather than declared in Article IX., wherein the ecpial apTHEIR pointment of consular officers was mutually agreed to. The Chinese found out, however, that this virtually acknowledged the independence of the colony, and refused to i-atify the treaty without an express stipulation asserting their right of domain to the peninsula. It has never been ratified, therefore, but trade is unfettered, and the Chinese inhabitants continue to increase; no rental has been paid for the ground-tax since 1849. The cessation of the coolie trade in 1873 has reduced Macao lower than ever, and it now hardly pays its own officials; all the thrifty or wealthy foreign citizens have removed elsewhere.

The trade between the Spaniards and Chinese has been

smaller, and their relations less important than most other

European nations. The Spanish admiral Legaspi conquered

the Philippines in 1543, and Chinese merchants soon began to

trade with Manila ; but the first attempt of the Spaniards to

enter China was not made until 1575, when two Augustine

friars accompanied a Chinese naval officer on his return home

from the pursuit of a famous pirate named Li-ma-lion, whom

the Spaniards had driven away from their new colony. The

missionaries landed at Tansuso, a place on the coast of Kwangtung,

and went up to Canton, where they were courteously received.

The prefect sent them to the governor at Shanking,

by whom they were examined ; they stated that their chief object

was to form a close alliance between the two nations for

their mutual benefit, adding at the same time what their countrymen

had done against Li-ma-hon ; a second object was their

wish to learn the language of China and teach its inhabitants their religion. The governor kept them in a sort of honorable bondage several weeks, and at last sent them back to Manila, doubtless by orders from court, though he alleged as a reason that the pirate Li-ma-hon was still at large. After the return of this mission the governor of the Philippines deemed it advisable to let the trade take its own course, and therefore refused the proposal of a body of Franciscans to enter the country.

They, however, made the attempt in a small native vessel, and passed up the river to Tsiuenchau, where they were seized and examined as to their designs. Not being acquainted with the language, they were both themselves deluded and misrepresented to the prefect by a |)r()fes.se(l native friend who understood Portuguese; after many months’ delay they were mortified to learn that no permission to remain would be given, and in 1580 they returned to Manila, not at all disposed to renew the enterprise.

Philip II,, however, having received the suggestion made by

the Chinese admiral that he should send an embassy to Peking,

had already ordered the governor to undertake such an enterprise.

He fitted out a mission, therefore, in 1580, at the head

of which was Martin Ignatius. It gives one a low idea of the

skill of navigators at that day to learn that in this short trip,

the vessel being carried np the coast northward of Canton, the

party thought it better to land than to try to beat back to their

destination. The envoy and all with him were brought before

the Chinese officers, who, probably entirely misunderstanding

their object, imprisoned them ; after considerable delay they

were brought before a hio;her officer and sent on to Canton,

where they were again imprisoned ; the Portuguese governor of

Macao subsequently obtained their liberation. This unlucky

attempt, if Mendoza is right in calling it an embassy, was the

only one ever made by the Spanish government to communicate

with the court of Peking nntil the mission of Don Sinibaido de

Mas in 1847 and his treaty of 18G4. The pecular feature of that treaty was the piivilege, first granted to Spanish merchants, of engaging coolies as contract lal)orcrs for Cuba. The harsh treatment they received there led the Chinese to send a commission of inquiry in 1873, aiul to suspend the validity of this article until the truth could be ascertained. This procedure has resulted in a cessation of imported Chinese laborers at Havana.

INTERCOUKSE BETWEEN HOLLAND AND THE EAST. 43.J

The Chinese have carried on a valuable trade at Manila, but the Spaniards have treated them with peculiar severity. They are burdened Avith special taxes, and their immigration is rather restrained than encouraged. The harsh treatment of Chinese settlers there excited the attention and indignation of one of their countrymen many years ago, and on his return to Canton he exercised all his inHuence with officers of his own government, making what he had seen the model and the mative to induce them to treat all foreigners at Canton in the same way. It ended in perfecting the principal features of the system of espionage and restriction of the co-hong which existed for nearly a century, until the treaty of 1842;—another instance of the treatment requited upon foreigners for their own acts.

The Dutch commerce with the East commenced after their successful struggle against the Spanish yoke, and soon after completing their independence they turned their arms against the oriental possessions of their enemies, capturing Malacca, the Spice Islands, and other places. They appeared before Macao in 1622 with a squadron of seventeen vessels, but being repulsed with the loss of their admiral and about three hundred men, they retired and established themselves on the Pescadores in 1624. Their occupation of this position was a source of great annoyance both to the Spaniards and to the Chinese authorities in Fuhkien. According to the custom of those days, they began to build a fort, and forced the native Chinese to do their work, treating them with great severity. Many of the laborers were prisoners, whom the Dutch had taken in their attacks.

Alternate hostilities and parleys succeeded, the Chinese declaring that the Dutch must send an envoy to the authorities on the mainland ; they accord higly despatched Yon Mildert to Amoy, and the sub-prefect forwarded him to Fuhchau to the governor. He decided to send a messenger to the Dutch to state to them that trade would be allowed if they would remove to Formosa, but this proposition was refused. However, after a series of attacks and negotiations, the Chinese constantly increasing their forces and the Dutch diminishing in their supplies, the latter acceded to the proposition, and removed to Formosa, where they erected Fort Zealandia in 1G24. It is recorded that the Chinese landed five thousand troops on one of the Pescadore Islands ; and their determined efforts in repelling the aggressions or occupation of their soil by the Dutch probably raised their reputation for courage, and prevented the repetition of similar acts by others. It was doubtless a good stroke of policy on their part to propose the occupation of Formosa to the Dutch in exchange for the Pescadores, for they had not the least title to it themselves, aiul hardly knew its exact size at the character of the inhabitants. The Dutch endeavored ta extend their power over it, but with only partial success; in the villages around Fort Zealandia they introduced new laws among the inhabitants, and instead of their councils of elders, constituted one of their chief men supervisor in every village, to administer justice and report his acts to the governor of the island.

The moral interests of the natives were not neglected, and in 162G George (Jandidius, a Protestant minister, Avas appointed to labor among them, and took great pains to introduce Christianity. The natives were ignorant of letters, their superstitions resting only on traditions or customs which were of recent origin; the prospects, therefore, of teaching them a better religion were favorable. In sixteen months he had instructed over a hundred in the leading truths of (,’hristianity. The work was progressing favorably, churches and schools were multiplying, the interniarria£o:es of the colonists and natives M-ere brinfofufiitr them into closer relationship with each other, and many thousands of the islanders had been baptized, when the Dutch governors in India, fearful of offending the Japanese, who were then persecuting the Christians in Japan—in which the Dutch helped them, to their lasting disgrace—restricted these benevolent labors, and discouraged the further conversion of the islanders. Thus, as often elsewhere in Asia, the interests of true religion were sacrificed upon the altar of mammon, and the trade thus bought died from inanition.

During the struggles ensuent upon the overthrow of the Ming dynasty, many thousands of families emigrated to Formosa, some of whom settled under the Dutch, while others planted separate colonies ; their industry soon changed the desolate island into a cultivated country, and increased the produce of rice and sugar for exportation. The immigration went on so rapidly as to alarm the Dutch, who, instead of taking wise measures to conciliate and instruct the colonists, tried to prevent their landing, and thereby did much to irritate them and lead them to join in any likely attempt to expel the foreigners.

DUTCH OCCUPATION OF FORMOSA. 435

Meanwhile, their trade with China itself was trifling compared with that of their rivals, the Portuguese, and when the undoubted ascendancy of the Manchus was evident, the government of Batavia resolved to despatch a deputation to Canton to petition for trade. In January, 1653, Schedel was sent in a richly freighted ship, but the Portuguese succeeded in preventing any further traffic, even after the envoy had spent considerable sums in presents to the authorities, and obtained the governor’s promise to allow his countrymen to build a factory.

Schedel was informed, however, that his masters would do well to send an embassy to Peking, a suggestion favorably entertained by the Company, which, in 1055, appointed Goyer and Keyzer as its envoys. The narrative of this embassy by Nieuwhof, the steward of the mission, made Europeans better acquainted with the country than they had before been—almost the only practical benefit it produced, for as a mercantile speculation it proved nearly a total loss. Their presents were received and others given in return ; they prostrated themselves not only before the Emperor in person, but made the kotow to his name, his letters, and his throne, doing everything in the way of humiliation and homage likely to please the new rulers. The only privilege their subserviency obtained was permission to send an embassy once in eight 3’ears, at which time they might come in four ships to trade.

This mission left China in 1657, and very soon after, the Chinese chieftain, Ching Ching-kung (Koshinga, or Koxinga as his name is written by the Portuguese), began to prepare an attack upon Formosa. The Dutch had foreseen the probability of this onset, and had been strengthening the garrison of Zealandia since 1G50 while they were negotiating for trade ; Koxinga, too, had confined himself to sending emissaries among his countrymen in Formosa, to inform them of his designs. He set about preparing an armament at Amoy, ostensibly to strengthen himself against the Manchus, meanwhile carrying oil his ordinary traffic with the colony to lull all apprehensions until the council had sent away the admiral and force despatched from Java to protect them, when in June, 1661, he landed a force of twenty-five thousand troops, and took up a stroll”” position. The coinmniiicatinn hctweoii tlic forts being cnt off, the governor sent t\v<> ImiKbvd ami forty nien to dislodiTc the enemy, only luilf of whom retiirneil alive ; one (»f the four ships in the luirbor was burned by the Chinese, and another hastened to Batavia for reinforcements. Koxinga fol-\o\voa\ u\> these successes by cutting off all communication between the garrison and the surrounding country, and compelling the surrender of the garrison and cannon in the small fort.

Fort Zealandia was now closely invested, but finding himself severely galled, he turned the siege into a blockade, and vented his rage against the Dutch living in the surrounding country, and such Chinese as abetted them. Some of the ministers and schoolmasters were seized and crucified, under the pretext that they encouraged their parishioners to resist ; others were used as ao-ents to treat concerninG; the surrender of the fort. Yalentyn has given a clear history of the occupation of Formosa by his countrymen in his great work, and especially of their defeat at Zealandia. He narrates an incident of Rev. A. Ilambroek, as does also ^^ieuwhof, from whose travels it is quoted.

Among the Dutch prisoners taken in the country, was one Mr. Hambroek, a minister. This man was sent by Koxinga to the governor, to propose terms for surrendering the fort ; and that in case of refusal, vengeance would be taken on the Dutch prisoners. Mr. Hambroek came into the castle, being forced to leave his wife and children behind him as hostages, which sufficiently proved that if he failed in his negotiation, they had nothing but death to expect from the chieftain. Yet was he so far from persuading the garrison to surrender, that he encouraged them to a brave defence by hopes of relief, assuring them that Koxinga had lost many o” his best ships and soldiers, and began to be weary of the siege. When ho had ended, the council of war left it to his choice to stay with them or return to the camp, where he could expect nothing but present death; every one entreated him to stay. He had two daughters within the castle, who hung upon his nock, overwhelmed’ with grief and tears to see their father ready to go where they knew he must be sacrificed by the merciless enemy. But he represented to them that having left his wife and two other children as hostages, nothing but death could attend them if he returned not: so unlocking himself from his daughters’ arms, and exhorting everybody to a resolute defence, he returned to the camp, telling them at parting that he hoped he might prove serviceable to his poor fellow-prisoners, fvoxinga received his answer sternly ; then causing it to be rumored that the prisoners excited the Formosans to rebel, he ordered all the Dutch male prisoners to be slain ; some being beheaded, others killed in a more barbarous manner, to the number of five hundred, th ir b di .> .sviijipcd quite naked and buried; nor were the women and children spared, many of them. likewise being slain, though some of the best were preserved for the use of the commanders, and the rest sold to the common soldiers. Among the slain were Messrs. Hambruik, Mus, Wiiisam, Ampzingius, and Campius, clergymen, and many schoolmasters.

KOXIXCiA DRIVES THEM FROM TIIK ISLAND. 4’17

A force of ten ships and seven hundred men arriving from Batavia, the besieged began to act on the offensive, but were nnal)le to drive Koxinga from the town, though they checked his operations and brought down the garrisons from Kihmg and Tamsui to their aid. A letter from the governor of Fuhkien to Coyet, the Dutch governor, came soon after, suggesting a junction of their forces to drive Koxinga away from the coast, after which both could, easily conquer him in Formosa. This proposal was followed, but no sooner had the five vessels gone than Koxinga made his advances so vigorously that the garrison was forced to surrender, after a siege of nine months and the loss of one thousand six hundred men. Thus ended the Dutch rule in Formosa, after twenty-eight years’ duration.’

^ Chinese Repository, Vols. I., p. 414, and XX., p. 543. Journal N. C. Br.R. As. Soc, Vol. XI. (1876), Art. I. Moreau de St.-Mery, Vot/iu/e de VArnbassade de la ComjMignie des Iiuks orientales Ilolldnduises vers V Einpereur de la Chine, tire dujoiirtnd d^Andre Evcnird van, Branm Houckc/eest, translated and published in London, 2 Vols., 1798. J. Nieuwhof, JVamrkenrir/c Beachryrincie ran’t Oesandschap der NederlandtscJie Oost-Lidische Compagnie van Batavia nar Peking in Sina, door de Ileeren Pieter de Ooyer en Jacob de Keyser, Amsterdam,1G64.

This loss induced the council at Batavia to prosecute their former enterprise against Anioy, where Koxinga still had a garrison. Twelve vessels were fitted out under Bort, who arrived, in 1662, at the mouth of the River Min, where he was visited by deputies from the governor, and induced to send two of his officers to arrange with him concerning operations. The governor was in the country, and the two officers, on reaching his camp, soon saw that there could be no cordiality between their leaders ; this proposal of a foreign power to assist them against the Chinese was too much like that of Wn San-kwei to their chieftains in 1644 for the Manchus to entertain it. Bort, desirous of doing something, commenced a series of attacks on the fleet and garrisons of Koxinga, burning and destroying them in a piratical manner, that was nut less ineffectual toward regaining Formosa and obtaining privilege of trade at Canton than harassing to the Chinese on the coast. lie returned to Batavia in 1663, and was despatched to Fnhkien in a few months with a stronger force, and ordered to make reprisals on both Manchus and Chinese, if necessary, in order to get satisfaction for the loss of Formosa. The governor received him favorably, and after a number of skirmishes against the rebellious Chinese, Amoy was taken and its troops destroyed, which completed the subjugation of the province to the Manchus. As a reward for this assistance, the real value of which cannot, however, be easily ascertained, the governor lent two junks to the Dutch to retake Formosa, but Koxinga laughed at the pitiful force sent against him, and Bort sailed for Batavia.

These results so cliagrined the council that they fitted out no more expeditions, preferring to despatch an embassy, under Van lloorn, to Peking, to petition for trade and permission to erect factories, lie landed at Fulichau in 1664, where he was received in a polite manner. The imperial sanction had been already received, but he unwisely delayed his journey to the capital until his cargo was sold. While discussing this matter the Dutch seized a Chinese vessel bringing bullion from Java contrary to their colonial regulations, and the governor very properly intimated that until restitution was made no amicable arrangement could be completed ; consequently Van lloorn, in order to save his dignity and not contravene the orders of his own o;overnment, was obliged to allow the bullion to be carried ofp, as if by force, by a police officer.

EMBASSIES OF VAN IIOORN AND VAN BRAA:\r. 439

These preliminary disputes were not settled till nearly a year had elapsed, wdien A^an lloorn and his suite left Fulichau, and after a tedious journey up the River Min and across the mountains to llangchau, they reached the canal and Peking, having been six months on the way, ” during which they saw thirty seven cities and three hundred and thirty-five villages.” The same succession of prostrations before an empty throne, followed by state banquets, and accompanied by the presentation and conferring of presents, characterized the reception of this embassy as it had all its predecessors. It ended with a similar farce, alike pleasing to the haughty court which received it, and unworthy the Christian nation which gave it; and the “only result of this grand expedition was a sealed letter, of the contents^ of which they were wholly ignorant, but which did not, in fact, grant any of the privileges they so anxiously solicited.” They had, by their performance of the act of prostration, caused their nation to be enrolled among the tributaries of the Grand khan, and then were dismissed as loyal subjects should be, at the will of their liege lord, with what he chose to give them. It was a fitting end to a career begun in rapine and aggression toward the Chinese, who had never provoked them.

The Dutch sent no more embassies to Peking for one hundred and thirty years, but carried on trade at Canton on the same footing as other nations. The ill success of Macartney’s embassy in 1793 induced Van Braam, the consular agent at Canton, to propose a mission of salutation and respect from the government of Batavia, on the occasion of Kienlung reaching the sixtieth year of his reign. He hoped, by conforming to Chinese ceremonies, to obtain some privileges which would place Dutch trade on a better footing, but one would have supposed that the miscarriage of former attempts might have convinced him that nothing was to be gained by new humiliations before a court which had just dismissed a well-appointed 3mbassy. The Company appointed Isaac Titsingh, late from lapan, as chief commissioner, giving Van Braam the second place, and making up their cortege with a number of clerks and interpreters, one of whom, De Guignes, wrote the results of his researches during a long residence in Canton, and his travels with the embassy to Peking, under the title of Vo;/-arjen d Peking. It is needless to detail the annoyances, humiliations, and contemptuous treatment experienced by the embassy on its overland journey in midwinter, and the degrading manner in which the Emperor received the envoys : his hauteur was a befitting foil to their servility, at once exhibiting both his pride and their ignorance of their true position and rights.

They were brought to the capital like malefactors, treated when there like beggars, and then sent back to Canton like mountebanks to perform the three-times-three prostration at all times and before everything their conductors saw fit; avIio on their part stood by and hiughed at their embarrassment in mailing these evolutions in their tight clothes. They were not allowed a single opportunity to speak about business, which the Chinese never associate with an embassy, but were entertained with banquets and theatrical shows, and performed many skillful evolutions themselves upon their skates, greatly to the Emperors gratification, and received, moreover, a present of broken victuals from him, which had not only been honored by coming from his Majesty’s own table, but bore marks of his teeth and good appetite;” they were upon a dirty plate, and appeared rather destined to feed a dog than form the repast of a human creature.” Van Braanrs account of this embassy is one of the most humiliating records of ill-requited obsequiousness before insolent government lackeys which any European was ever called upon to pen. The mission returned to Canton in April, 1706, having attained no more noble end than that of saluting the Emperor, and this, indeed, was all the Chinese meant should be done when themselves suggesting the entire performance; for in order to understand much of their conduct toward their guests, the feelings they entertained toward them must not be lost sight of.

In 1843 the governor-general at Batavia sent T. Modderman to Canton to make inquiries respecting trade at the newly opened ports and establish consulates. The council there had, in 1839, forbidden Chinese to settle in any of their Indian colonies, owing to their skill in engrossing the native trade; but when this prohibition was removed about 1875, the Chinese showed no disposition to emigrate to Java. In 1803 a treaty was negotiated by M. Van der Ilooven at Tientsin, which placed the trade on the same footing as other nations.

RELATIONS OF FRANCE AND KTTSSIA WITH CHIXA. 441

The French Government has never sent a formal mission to the capital to petition for trade and make obeisance, though thnjugii their missionaries that nation has made Europeans better acquainted with China and given the Chinese more knowledge of western countries than all other Christian nations together. In the year 12S!) Pliilij) the Fair received a letter from Argun khan in Persia, and in 1305 another from Oljaitu, both of them proposing joint action against their enemies the Saracens. The originals are still to be seen in Paris. In 1G88 Louis XIV. addressed a letter to Ivanghi, whom he called “Most high, most excellent, most puissant, and most magnaniuious prince, dearly beloved good friend ; ” and signed himself “Your most dear and good friend, Louis.” Li 1844 diplomatic relations were resumed by the appointment of a large mission, at the head of which was M. Lagrenc, by whom a treaty was formed between France and China.’

The Russians have sent several embassies to Peking, and

compelled the Chinese to treat them as equals. The first recorded

visit of Russian agents at Peking is that of two Cossacks,

Petroff and Yallysheff, in 1567, who, however, did not

see the Emperor Lungking, who succeeded to the throne that

year, because they had brought no presents. In 1619 Evashko

Pettlin i-eached that city, having come across the desert from

Tomsk ; but he and his companion, having no presents, could

not see the ” dragon’s face,” and were dismissed with a letter,

which all the learning at Tobolsk and Moscow could not decipher.

Thirty-four years after, the Czar Alexis (1653) sent his

envoy Baikoff, who refused to prostrate himself before the

Erapei-or Shunchl, and was promptly dismissed. This repulse

did not interfere with trade, for in the years 1658, 1672, and

1677 three several trading embassies reached Peking. During

j»ll this time Russian and Chinese subjects and soldiers frequently

quarrelled, especially along the banks of the Amur, and

the necessity of settling these disturbances and pretexts for

trouble by fixing the boundary line being evident to both nations,

commissioners were appointed and met at Xipchu, where,

on August 27, 1689, they signed the first treaty ever agreed

upon by the court of Peking. The principal points in it were

the retirement of the Russians from Albazin and Manchuria,

where they had held their own for thirty-eight years, the fj-eedom

of trade, and defining the frontier along the Daourian

Mountains. The missionary Gerbillon was mainly instrumental

‘ CMnese Repository, Vol. XIX., pp. 526-535. Yule’s CatJiay, p. cxxx. Re*muriut in Mem. de I’AacJ. Ins., Vol. VII., pp. 367, 391 ff.

ill settling these disputes, and neitlier party would probably

have lowered its ari-ogaut claims if it had not been through his

influence ; the Chinese were far the most difficult to please.’

Peter sent Ysbrandt Ides in 1G92 as his envoy to Peking to

exchange the ratitications. llis journey across the wilds and

wastes of Central Asia took up more time than a voj^age by

sea, for it was not till a year and eight months that “he could

return thanks to the great God, who had conducted them all

safe and well to their desired place.” Ides’ own account of his

mission contains very slight notices regarding its object or how

he was received ; but it is now credibly believed that he performed

the kotoio before the Emperor. About twenty years

after iiis departure, Kanghi sent a Manchu envoy, Tulishen,

through Russia to confei” with the khan of the Tourgouth Tartars

about their return to China, which a portion of them accomplished

some years after. Tulishen executed his mission so

well that he was sent again as envoy to the Czar about 1730,

and reached Petersburg in the reign of Peter II. In 1719 Peter the Great despatched another embassy, under Ismailoif, to arrange the trade then conducted on a precarious footing—an account of which was drawn up by John Bell in 17G3. Ismailoff refused to prostrate himself until it was agreed that a Chinese minister, whenever sent to Petersburg, should conform to the usages of the Russians ; a safe stipulation, certainly, to a court which never demeans itself to send missions. The evident desii-ableness of keeping on good terms with the Russians led the Chinese to treat their envoys with unusual respect and attend to the business they came to settle. One of the most instructive books on the kind of intercourse carried on during this period is the Journal of Lange, who went first in 1716, and thrice afterward, and has left an account of his residence at Kangxi’s capital.’

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. VIII., pp. 417, 500. Du Halde, Description geo’gi’fiphiqiie, historiqne, chronologique, ]iulitique el phyHique iJe V Empire tie la Chine”t deht, T(trf(irie chinoiHC, 4 vols., Paris, 1735. G. Timkowski, Travels of the liiisKian Mission through Mongolia to China, etc., 2 vols., London, 1827. Klaproth, Memoires stir I’ A.sie, Tome I., pp. 1-81.

” Published in one volume with Bell: Joitritcy froni St. Petersburgh in Ruatin to Ispahan in Persia, etc., London, 1715.

RUSSIAN MISSIONS TO PKKIXG. 443

In 1727 a fifth mission was sent by the Empress Catherine under Count Vladishivitcli, which succeeded in establishing the intercourse on a still better basis, viz., that a mission, consisting of six ecclesiastical and four lay members, should remain at Peking to study the Chinese and Manchu languagea, so that in terpreters could be prepared and communications carried on satisfactorily; the members were to be changed decennially. The caravans, which had been the vehicles of trade, were regulated about 1730 by the establishment, at Kiakhta and Maimaichin, of two marts on the frontier, where it could be brought under regulations; the last reached Peking in 1755. This embassy was the most successful of all, and partly owing to the Emperor Yungcliing”s desire to counterbalance Jesuit intrigues by raising up other interpreters. This treaty, signed August 27, 1727, remained in force till June, 1858—the longest lived treaty on record.

The narrative of George Timkowski, who conducted the relief sent in 1821, gives an account of his trip from Kiakhta across the desert, together with considerable information relating to the Kalkas and other Mongol tribes subject to China. The archimandrite.

Hyacinth Batchourin, has given a description of Poking, but such works as the members of the Russian college have written are for the most part still in that language. Up to the present date there have been sixteen archiniandrites (1736 to 1880) and many monks attached to the ecclesiastical mission in Peking.’

The intercourse of the English with Chiria, though it commenced

later than other maritime nations of Europe, has been

far more important in its consequences, and their trade greater

in amount than all other foreign nations combined. This intercourse

has not been such as was calculated to impress the Chinese

with a just idea of the character of the British nation as a

leading Christian people ; for the East India Company, which

had the monopoly of the trade between the two countries for

nearly two centuries, systematically opposed every effort to diffuse

Christian doctrine and general knowledge among them down to the end of their control in 1834.

‘ Dudgeon’s monograph on Russian Intercourse with China contains notices of all events of any importance between the two nations, digested with great care, pp. 80, Peking, 1872. Also, Martin’s China, Vol. I., p. 386.

The liri^t English vessels anc-liored oft Macao in July, 1G35

under the coiumand of AVeddell, who was sent to China in ac

o’ordance witli a “truce and free trade” which liad been entered

into between the Enghsh merchants and the viceroy of Goa, wlio

gave letters to the governor of Macao. The iieet was coldlj

received and AVeddell deluded with vain promises until the

Portuguese fleet had sailed for Japan, when he was denied permission

to trade. Two or three of his officers having visited

Canton, he was very desirous to participate in the traffic, and

proceeded wi’di his whole fleet up to the Bogue forts, where

this desire was made known to the commanders of the forts,

who promised to return an answer in a week. Meanwhile the

Portuguese so misrepresented them to the Chinese that the

commander of the forts concluded to end the matter by driving

them away. Having made every preparation during the j^eriod

the fleet M’as waiting, an attack was first made upon a wateringboat

by firing shot at it when passing near the forts.

” Herewith the whole fleet, being instantly incensed, did, on

the sudden, display their bloody ensigns ; and, weighing their

anchors, fell up with the flood, and berthed themselves before

the castle, from whence came many shot, yet not any that

touched so much as ludl or rope ; wdierenpon, not being able to

endure their bravadoes any longer, each ship began to play

furiously upon them with their broadsides ; and after two or

three hours, perceiving their cowardly fainting, the boats were

landed with about one hundred men : which sight occasioned

them, w’ith great distractions, instantly to abandon the castle and

fly ; the boats’ crews, in the meantime, without let, entering the

same and displaying his Majesty’s colors of Great Britain upon

the walls, having the same night put aboard all their ordnance,

fired the council-house and demolished wdiat they could. The

boats of the fieet also seized a juidv laden with boards and timber,

and another wuth salt. Another vessel of small moment

was surprised, by whose boat a letter was sent to the chief

mandarins at Canton, expostulating their breach of truce, excusing

the assailing of the castle, and withal in fair terms r&

i[uiring the liberty of trade.” ‘ This letter was shortly answered,

‘ Staunton’s E^mbassy^ Vol. I.

, y\>. 5-12.

COMMENCEMENT OF J5KIT1SII INTEKCOUKSE. 44^

and after a little explanatory negotiation, hastened to a favorable

conclusion on the part of the Chinese by what they had

seen, trade was allowed after the captured guns and vessels

were restored and the ships supplied with cargoes.

No other attempt to open a trade was made till 1G64, and

during the change of dynasty which took place in the interim,

the trade of all nations with China suffered. The East India

Company had a factory at ijantam in Java, and one at Madras,

but their trade with the East was seriously inconnnoded by tlie

war with the Dutch ; when it was renewed in 1664, only one

ship was sent to Macao, but such v/ere the exactions imposed

upon the trade by the Chinese, and the effect of the misrepresentations of the Portuguese, that the ship returned without

effecting sale. This did not discourage the Company, however,

who ordered their agents at Bantam to make inquiries respecting

the most favorable port and what commodities were most

in demand. They mentioned ” Fuhchau as a place of great

resort, affording all China commodities, as raw and wrought

silk, tutenague, gold, china-root, tea, etc.” A trade had been

opened with Koxinga’s son in Formosa and at Amoy, but this

rude chieftain had little other idea of traffic than a means of

helping himself to every curious commodity the ships brought,

and levying heavy imposts upon their cargoes. A treaty was

indeed entered into with him, in which the supercargoes, as

was the case subsequently in 1842, stipulated for far greater

privileges and lighter duties than Chinese goods and vessels

would have had in English ports. Besides freedom to

go where they pleased without any one attending them, access

at all times to the king, liberty to choose their own clerks

and trade with whom they pleased, it was also agreed ” that

what goods the king buys shall pay no custom ; that rice

imported pay no custom ; that all goods imported pay three

per cent, after sale, and all goods exported be custom free.”

The trade at Amoy was more successful than at Zealandia, and a small vessel was sent there in 16TT, which brought back a favorable report. In 1078 the investments for these two places were $30,000 in bullion and $20,000 in goods ; the returns were chiefly in silk goods, tutenague, rhubarb, etc.; the trade was continued fur several years, ajiparently with considerable profit, though the Manchus continually increased the restrictions under which it labored. In 16S1 the Company ordered their factories at Anioy and Formosa to be withdrawn, and one established at Canton or Fuhchau, but in 1685 the trade was renewed at Amoy.

The Portuguese managed to prevent the English obtaining a footing at Canton until about 10S4 ; and, as Davis remarks, the stupid pertinacity with which they endeavored to exclude them from this port and trade is one of the most striking circumstances connected with these trials and rivalries. It is the more inexplicable in the case of the rortuguese, for they could carry nothing to England, nor could they force the English to trade with them at second hand ; theirs M’as truly the ” dog in the manger” policy, and they have subsequently starved upon it.

In 10S9 a duty of five shillings per pound was laid upon tea imported into England ; and the principal articles of export are stated to have been wrought silks of every kind, porcelain, lacquered-ware, a good quantity of fine tea, some fans and screens.

Ten years after, the court of directors sent out a consul’s commission to the chief supercargo, Mr. Catchpoolo, which constituted him king’s minister or consul for the whole Empire of China and the adjacent islands. In ITOl an attempt was made by him to open a trade, and he obtained permission to send ships to Chusan or Ningbo; an investment in three vessels, worth £101,300, was accordingly made, but he found the exactions of the government so grievous, and the monopoly of the merchants so oppressive, that the adventure proved a great loss, and the traders were compelled to withdraw. The Company’s hopes of trade at that port nuist, however, have been great, for their investment to Amoy that year was only ,£34,400, and to Canton £40,800. In 1702 Catchpoole also established a factory at Pulo Condore, an island near the coast of Cochin China which had been taken by the English. The whole concern, however, experienced a tragical end in 1705, when the Malays rose upon the English, murdered them all, and burned the factory. The Cochin Chinese are said to have instigated this treacherous at tack to regain the island, which was claimed by them.

EARLY EFFORTS IX ESTABLISHING A TRADE. 447

The extortions and grievances suffered by the traders at Canton were increased in 1T02 by the appointment of an individual who alone had the right of trading with them and of farming it out to those who had the means of doing so. The trade seems hardly, even at this time, to have taken a regular form, but by 1720 the number and value of the annual commodities had so much increased that the Chinese established a uniform duty of four per cent, on all goods, and appointed a body of native merchants, who, for the privilege of trading with foreigners, became security for their payment of duties and good behavior. The duty on imports was also increased to about sixteen per cent, and an enormous fee demanded of purveyors before they could supply ships with provisions, besides a heavy measurement duty and cumshaw to the collector of customs.

These exactions seemed likely to increase unless a stand was taken against them. This was done by a united appeal to the governor in person in 1728 ; yet the relief was only temporary, for the plan was so effectual and convenient for the government that the co-hona; was ei-e lono- re-established as the only medium through which the foreign trade could be conducted. An additional duty of ten per cent, was laid upon all exports, which no efforts were effectual in removing until the accession of Kienlung in 1736. This apparently suicidal practice of levying export duties is, in China, really a continuation of the internal excise or transit duties paid upon goods exported in native vessels as well as foreign.

The Emperor, in taking off the newly imposed duty of ten per cent, required that the merchants should hear the act of grace read upon their knees ; but the foreigners all met in a bodv, and each one ao;i’eed on his honor not to submit to this slavish posture, nor make any concession or proposal of accommodation without acquainting the I’est. The Emperor also required the delivery of all the arms on board ship, a demand afterward waived on the payment of about ten thousand dollars.

The Hang merchants shortly became the only medium of communication with the government, themselves being the exactors of the duties and contrivers of the grievances, and when complaints were made, the judges of the equity of their own acta

In 1734 only one English ship came to Canton, and one waa sent to Anioy, but the extortions there were greater than at the other port, whereupon the latter vessel withdrew. In 1736 the number of ships at Canton was four English, two French, two Dutch, one Danish, and one Swedish vessel ; the Portuguese ships had been restricted to Macao before this date.

Commodore Anson arrived at Macao in 1742, and as the Centurion was the first British man-of-war which had visited China, his decided conduct in refusing to leave the river until provisions were furnished, and his determination in seeking an interview with the governor, no doubt had a good effect. A mixture of decision and kindness, such as that exhibited by Anson when demanding only what was in itself right, and backed by an array of force not lightly to be trifled with or incensed, has always proved the most successful way of dealing with the Chinese, who on their part need instruction as well as intimidation. The constant presence of a ship of war on the coast of China would perhaps have saved foreigners nnich of the personal vexations, and prevented many of the imposts upon trade which the history of foreign intercourse exhibits, making it in fact little better than a recital of annoyances on the part of a government too ignorant and proud to understand its own true interests, and recriminations on the part of traders unable to do more than protest against them.

EXERTIONS AND PUNISHMENT OF MR. FLINT. 449

In consequence of the exactions of the government and the success of the co-hong in preventing all direct intercourse with the local authorities, the attempt was again made to trade at .Vmoy and jSingpo. The llardwicke was sent to Amoy in 1744, and obliged to return without a cargo. Messrs. Flint and Harrison were despatched to Tsingpo in 1755, and were well received ; but when the Ilolderness subsequently came to trade, it was with difficulty that she procured a cargo, and an iuq)erial edict was promulgated soon after restricting all foreign ships to Canton. In 175i> the factor}- at IS’ingpo was demulished, so that Mr. Flint, who repaired there that year, was imable to do anything toward restoring the trade. This gentleman was a person of uncommon perseverance and talents, and had mastered the difficulties of the Chinese language so as to act as interpreter at Canton twelve years before lie was sent on his mission, ” The ungrateful return which his energy and exertions in their service met with from his employers,” justly observes Sir erolin Davis, ” was such as tended in all probability, more than any other cause, to discourage his successors from undertaking so laborious, unprofitable, and even hazardous a work of supererogation.”

On his arrival at Ningpo, Mr. Flint, finding it useless to attempt anything there, proceeded in a native vessel to Tientsin, from whence he succeeded in making his case known to the Emperor Kienlung. A commissioner was deputed to accompany him overland to Canton ; Mr. Flint proceeded to the English factory soon after his arrival, and the foreigners of all nations assembled before the commissioner, who informed them that the hoppo had been superseded, and all duties remitted over six per cent, on goods and the cumshaw and tonnage dues on ships. The sequel of Mr. Flint’s enterprise was unfortunate, and the mode the Chinese took to bring it about thoroughly characteristic.

It proved, however, that these fair appearances were destined only to be the prelude to a storm. Some days afterward the governor desired to see Mr. Flint for the purpose of communicating the Emperor’s orders, and was accompanied by the council of his countrymen. When the party had reached the palace, the Hang merchants proposed their going in one at a time, but they insisted on proceeding together ; and on Mr. Flint being called for, they were received at the first gate and ushered through two courts with seeming complaisance by the officers in waiting ; but on arriving at the gate of the inner court they were hurried, and even forced into the governor’s presence, where a struggle ensued with their brutal conductors to force them to do homage after the Chinese fashion until they were overpowered and thrown down. Seeing their determination not to submit to these base humiliations, the governor ordered the people to desist ; and then telling Mr. Flint to advance, he pointed to an order, which he called the Emperor’s edict, for his banishment to Macao, and subsequent departure for England, on account of his endeavoring to open a trade at Ningpo contrary to orders from Peking He added that the native who had written the petition in Chinese was to b^ beheaded that day for traitorously encouraging foreigners, which was performed on a man quite innocent of what these officers were pleased to call a crime. Mr. Flint was soon after conveyed to Tsienshan, a place near Macao, called Casa Branca by the Portuguese, where he was imprisoned two years and a half and then sent to England. ‘

‘Davis, Chinese, Vol. I., p. 58.

Mr. Flint stated to the Company that a fee of one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars to the governor would set him at liberty, but they contented themselves Avith a petition. The punishment he received from the Chinese for this attempt to break their laws would not have been considered as unmerited or unjust in any other country, but the neglect of the Company to procure the liberation of one who had suffered so much to serve them reflects the greatest reproach upon that body.

The whole history of the foreign trade, as related by Auber

In his chronological narrative, during the one hundred and fifty years up to 1842 is a melancholy and curious chapter in national intercourse. The grievances complained of were delay in loading ships and plunder of goods on their transit to Canton; the injurious proclamations annually put up by the government accusing foreigners of horrible crimes ; the extortions of the underlings of office ; and the difficulty of access to the high authorities. The Hang merchants, from their position as traders and interpreters between the two parties, were able to delude both to a considerable extent, though their responsibility for the acts and payments of foreigners, over whom they could exercise no real restraint, rendered their .situation by no means pleasant. The rule on which the Chinese government proceeded in its dealings with foreigners was this :

*’ The barbarians are like beasts, and not to be ruled on the same principles as citizens. AYere any one to attempt controlling them by the great maxims of reason, it would tend to nothing but confusion. The ancient kings well understood this, and accordingly ruled barbarians by misrule ; therefore, to rule barbarians by misrule is the true and best way of ruling them.”

The same rule in regard to foreign traders was vii-tuallj^ acted on in England during the reign of Henry A”II., and the ideas among the Chinese of their power over those who visit their shores are not unlike those which prevailed in Europe before the Reformation.

ANOMALOUS POSITION OF FOREIGNERS IX CHINA. 451

The entire ignorance of foreign traders of the spoken and written language of China brought them into contempt with all classes, and where all intercourse was carried on in a jargon which each party despised, the results were often misunderstanding, dislike, and hatred. Another fruitful source oi difficulty was the turbulent conduct of sailors. The French and English seamen at Whanipoa, in 1754, carried their national hatred to such a degree that they could not pursue their trade without quarrelling; and a Frenchman having killed an English sailor, the Chinese stopped the trade of the former nation

until the guilty person was given np, though he was subsequently

liberated. The Chinese allotted two different islands

in the river at Whampoa for the recreation of the seamen of each

nation, in order that such troubles might be avoided in future,

A similar case occurred at Canton in 17S0, when a Frenchman

killed a Portuguese sailor at night in one of the merchants’

houses and fled to the consul’s for refuge. The Chinese demanded

the criminal, and after some days he was given up to

them and publicly strangled ; this punishment he no doubt merited,

although it was the fii’st case in which they had interfered

where the matter was altogether among foreigners. In 1784

a native was killed by a ball left in a gun when firing a salute,

and the Chinese, on the principle of requiring life for life, demanded

the man who had fired the gun. Knowing that the

English were not likely to give him up, the police seized Mr. Smith, the supercargo of the vessel, and carried him a prisoner into the city. On the seizure of this gentleman the ships’ boats were ordered up from Whampoa with armed crews to defend the factories, A messenger from the Chinese, however, declared that their purpose in seizing Smith was simply to examine him on the affair, to which statement the captive himself added a request that the gunner should be sent up to the authorities and submit to their questions. Trusting too much to their promises, the man was allowed to go alone before the officials within the city walls, when Mr. Smith was immediately liberated and the unhappy gunner strangled, after some six weeks’ confinement, by direct orders of the Emperor. The man, probably, underwent no form of trial intelligible to himself, and his condemiuition was the more unjust, as by Section CCXCII. of the Chinese code he was allowed to ransom himself by a fine of about twenty dollars. As a counterpart of this

tragedy, the Chinese stated (and there was reason for believing

tliein) tliat a native who had accidentally killed a British sea

man about the same time was executed for the casualty.

The Chinese mode of operations, when it was inipracticablo

to get possession of the guilty or accused party, was well exhibited

in the ease of a homicide occurring in 1807. A party

of sailors had been drinking at Canton, when a scuffle ensued,

and the sailors put the populace to flight, killing one of the

natives in tlie onset. The trade was promptly stopped, and the

liong merchant M’ho liad sccxred the .ship lield responsible for

the delivery of the offender. Eleven men were arrested and a

court instituted in the Company’s hall before Chinese judges,

Captain Rolles, of II. B. M. ship Lion, being present with the

committee. The actual homicide could not be found, but one

Edward Sheen \vas detained in custody, which satisfied the

Chinese M’hile he remained in Canton ; but when the committee

wished to take him to Macao with them they resisted, imtil

Captain Holies declai’cd that otherwise he should take the ])risoner

on board his own ship, which he did. Being now beyond

their reach, the authorities were fain to account for the affair

to the supreme triljunul at the capital by inventing a tale, stating

that the prisoner had caused the death of a native by raising

an upj)er window and accidentally dropping a stick npon

liis head as he was passing in the street below. This statement

was reported to his Majesty as having been concurred in by the

English after a full examination of witnesses who attested to

the circumstances ; the imperial rescript affirmed the sentence

of the Board of Punishments, which ordered that the prisoner

should be set at liberty after paying the nsual fine of twenty

dollars provided by law to defray the funeral expenses. The

trade was thereupon resumed.’

‘ Sir G. T. Staunton, Penal Code of Chiiut^ p. 516.

CIIIXKSK ACTION IN CASP:S OF nOMIClDE. 453

Another case of homicide occurred at AVhampoa in 1820, when the authorities reported that the butcher of another ship, who had committed suicide the day of the inquest, was the guilty person. The court of directors very properly blamed their agents at Canton for their complicity in this subterfuge, and spoke of ” the paramount advantages which must invariably be derived from a strict and inflexible adherence to truth as the foundation of all moral obligations.” ‘

Other cases of murder and homicide have since occurred between foreigners and natives. In the instance of the British frigate Topaze at Lin tin Island in 1822, whose crew had been attacked on shore, her captain successfully resisted the surrender of a British subject for the death of two natives in the affray.

The dignified and united action of the British authorities on this occasion was a striking contrast to the weakness of the Americans the year before in the case of Terrariova. It proved the beneficial results of a stand for the I’ight, for no foreigner has since been executed by the Chinese. It also proved the necessity and advantages of competent interpreters and translators, inasmuch as the case owed much of its success to Dr. Morrison’s aid, which had been rejected by the Hang merchants the previous year.”

These cases are brought together to illustrate the anomalous

position which foreigners once held in China. They constituted

a community by themselves, sui)ject chiefly to their own

sense of honor in their mutual dealings, but their relations wdth

the Chinese were like what lawyers call a ” state of nature.”

The change of a governor-general, of a collector of customs, or

senior hong merchant, involved a new couree of policy according

to the personal character of these functionaries. The committee

of the East India Company had considerable power over

British subjects, especially those living in Canton, and could

deport them if they pleased ; but the consuls of other nations

had little or no authority over their countrymen. Trade was

left at the same loose ends that politics were, and the want of

an acknowledged tariff encouraged sniuggling and kept up a

constant spirit of resistance and dissatisfaction between the native

and foreign merchants, each party endeavoring to get along

as advantageously to itself as practicable. IS or was there any

acknowlediied medium of communication between them, for the

‘ Auber, Chirm: An Outline of its Oovernment, Tmws, Policy, etc., p. 286,London, 18;M.

– ChhuHi’ Repository, Vol. II., pp. 513-515. Moriison’s Memoirs, Vol. XL.App., p. 10- Auber, China, its Government, etc., pp ~88-309.

(•(.iit^iils, not being credited by the Chinese Government, came

and went, hoisted or lowered their flags, without the slightest

notice fi’oni the authorities. Trade conld proceed, perhaps,

without involving the nations in war, since if it was unprofitable

it would cease ; but while it continued on such a precarious

footing national character suffered, and tlic misrepresentations

produced thereby rendered explanations dilficult, inasmuch as

neither party understood or believed the other.

The death of the unfortunate gunner in 1784, and the large

debts owed to the English by the hong merchants, Avhich there

seemed no probability of recovering, induced the British Government

to tnrn its attention to the situation of the king’s subjects in

China with the purpose of placing their relations on a better

footing. The flagitious conduct of a Captain M’Clary, who seized

a Dutch vessel at Whampoa in 1781, which Davis narrates,”

and the inability of the Company to restrain such proceedings,

also had its weight in deciding the crown to send an embassy to

Peking. Colonel Cathcart was appointed envoy in 1788, but his

death in the Straits of Sunda temporarily deferred the mission,

which was resumed on a larger scale in 1792, when the Earl of

Macartney was sent as ambassador, with a large suite of able

men, to place the relations between the two nations, if possible,

on a well-understood and secure footing. Two ships were appointed

as tenders to accompany his Majesty’s ship Lion (04),

and nothing was omitted, either in the composition of the mission

or the presents to the Emperor, to insure its success. Little

is known regarding its real impression upon the Chinese ;

they treated it with great consideration while it remained in

the country, although at an estimated cost of $850,000, and probably dismissed it with the feeling that it was one of the most splendid testimonials of respect that a tributary nation had ever paid their court. The English were henceforth registered among the nations who had sent tribute-bearers, and were consequently only the more bound to obey the injunctions of their master.”

‘ The Cfiitirsr, Vol. I., p. 03.

‘Sir G. L. Staunton, Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, 3 vols., London, 1798.

EMBASSY OF LOIID MACA KINKY, 45.0

To the European world, as well as to the British nation, however, this expedition may be said to have opened China, so great was the interest taken in it and so well calculated were the narratives of Staunton and Barrow to convey better ideas of that remote country. ” Much of the lasting impression which the relations of Lord Macartney’s embassy leave on the mind of his reader,” to quote from a review of it, ” must be ascribed, exclusive of the natural effect of clear, elegant, and able composition, to the number of persons engaged in that business, the variety of their characters, the reputation they already enjoyed or afterward acquired ; the bustle and stir of a sea voyage; the placidity and success which finally characterized the intercourse of the English with the Chinese ; the splendor of the reception the latter gave to their European guests ; the walks in the magnificent gardens of the ‘ Son of Heaven ; ‘ the picturesque and almost romantic navigation upon the imperial canal; and perhaps, not less for the interest we feel for every grand enterprise, skillfully prepared, and which proves successful, partly in consequence of the happy choice of the persons and the means by which it was to be carried into effect.” This impression of the grandeur and extent of the Chinese Empire has ever since more or less remained upon the minds of all readers of Staunton’s narrative ; but truer views were imparted than had before been entertained concerning its real civilization and its low rank among the nations.

That the embassy produced some good effect is undeniable, though it failed in most of the principal points.. It also afforded the Chinese an opportunity of making arrangements concerning that future intercourse which they could not avoid, even if they would not negotiate, and of acquiring information concerning foreign nations which would have proved of great advantage to them. Their contemptuous i-ejection, ignorant though they decided to remain of the real character of these courtesies, of peaceful missions like those of Macartney, Titsingh, and others, takes away much of our sympathy for the calamities which subsequently came upon them. With characteristic shortsightedness they looked upon the very means taken to arrange existing ill-understood relations as a reason for considering those relations as settled to their liking, and a motive to ^\\\\ further exactions.

For many years subsequent to this endjassy the trade went on without interruption, though the demands and duties were rather increased than diminished, and the personal liberty of foreigners more and more restricted. The government generally, down to the lowest underling, systematically endeavored to degrade and insult foreigners in the eyes of the populace and citizens of Canton, in order, in case of any disturbance, to have their co-operation and sympathy against the ” barbarian devils,” The dissolute and violent conduct of many foreigners toward the Chinese gave them, alas, too many arguments for their aspersions and exactions, and both parties too frequently considered the other fair subjects for imposition.

In 1S02 the English troops occupied Macao by order of the governor-general of India, lest it should be attacked by the French, but the news of the treaty of peace arriving soon after, they re-embarked almost as soon as the Chinese remonstrated.

The discussion was revived, however, in 1808, when the French again threatened the settlement ; and the English, under Admiral Drury, landed a detachment to assist the Portuguese in defending it. The Chinese, who had previously asserted their complete jurisdiction over this territory, and which a little examination would have plainly shown, now protested against the armed occupation of their soil, and immediately stopped the trade and denied provisions to the ships. The English traders were ordered by the Committee to go aboard ship, and the governor refused to have the least communication with the admiral until the troops were withdrawn. He attempted to proceed to Canton in armed boats, but was repulsed, and finally, in order not to implicate the trade any further (a step not at all apprehended in protecting the Portuguese), he wisely withdrew his troops and sailed for India. The success of the native authorities greatly rejoiced them ; a temple was built on the river’s bank to commemorate their victory, and a fort, called ” Ilowqua’s Folly ” by foreignerb(since washed away), erected toguai’d the river at that point.

ATTITUDE OF CHINESE TUWAKD FOREIGN TKAUEKS. 457

The Chinese, ignorant of the principles on which international intercourse is regulated among western powers, regarded every hostile deinoiistratiuii between them in their waters as directed toward themselves, and demanding their interference. Though often powerless to defend themselves against their own piratical subjects, as has been manifested again and again—for example, in 1810, and also in 1(500, when Koxinga ravaged the coast—they still assume that they are able to protect all foreigners who ” range themselves under their sway.” This was exhibited in 1814, when the British frigate Doris, against all the acknowledged rights of a nation over its own waters, and simply because it could be done with impunity, cruised off the port of C’anton to seize American vessels. The provincial authorities ordered the Committee to send her away, saying that if the English and Americans had any petty squabbles they must settle them between themselves and not bring them to China.

The Committee stated their inability to control the proceedings of men-of-war, whereupon the Chinese began a series of annoyances against the merchants and shipping, prohibiting the employment of native servants, entering their houses to seize natives, molesting and stopping ships’ boats proceeding up and down the river on business, hindering the loading of the ships, and other like harassing acts so characteristic of Asiatic governments when they feel themselves powerless to cope with the real object of their fear or anger. These measures proceeded at last to such a length that the Committee determined to stop the British trade until the governor would allow it to go on, as before, without molestation, and they had actually left Canton for Whampoa, and proceeded down the river some distance, before he showed a sincere wish to arrange matters amicably. A deputation from each party accordingly met in Canton, and the principal points in dispute were at last gained. In this affair the Chinese would be adjudged to have been altogether in the right according to international law. At this time the governor general conceded three important points to the Committee, viz., the right of corresponding with the government, under seal, in the Chinese language, the unmolested employment of native servants, and the assurance that the houses of foreigners should not be entered without permission ; iior were these stipulations evei retracted or violated.

The proceedings in this affair were conducted with no little apprehension on both sides, for the value of the traffic was of such importance that neither party could really think of stepping it. Besides the revenue accruing to government from duties and presents, the preparation and shipment of the articles in demand fur foreign countries give employment to millions of natives in different parts of the Empire, and had caused Canton to become one of the greatest marts in the world. The governor and his colleagues were responsible for the revenue and peaceful continuance of the trade; but through their ignorance of the true principles of a prosperous commerce, their fear of the consequences ]’esidting from any innovation or change, or the least extension of privileges to the few half-imprisoned foreigners, they thought their security la}’ rather in restriction than in freedom, in a haughty bearing to intimidate, and not in conciliation to please their customers. On the other hand, the existence of the East India Company’s charter depended in a good degree upon keeping a regular supply of tea in England, and therefore the success of the Committee’s bold measure of stopping the trade depended not a little upon the ignorance of the Chinese of the great power a passive course of action would give them.

The government at home, on learning these proceedings, resolved to despatch another ambassy to Peking in order to stato the facts of the case at court, and if possible agree upon somo understood mode of conducting trade and communicating with, the heads of government. Lord Amherst, who like Lord Macartney had been governor-general of Lidia, was appointed ambassador to Peking, and Henry Ellis and Sir George T. Staunton associated with him as second and third commissioners.

A large suite of able men, with Dr. Morrison as principal interpreter, accompanied the ambassy, and the usual quantity and variety of presents.’ The mission reached the capital August 28, 1816, but was summarily dismissed without an audience, because the ambassador would not perform the kotow

‘ Ellis, Embassy to China, London, 1840. Sir J. F. Davis, Sketclies of China, 2 Vols., London, 1841. Clarke Abel, Ndrrative of a Journey in the Interioi of Chiiiii (111(1 a Voyaae to (iiid from that Country in 1816 and 1817, London,1»18. II. Morrison, A View of China, etc., Macao, 1817. LOKI> AMHEKST’s embassy TO I’KKING. 459

or appear before his Majesty as soon as he un-ived ; tlie intrigues

of the authorities at Canton with the high officers about

the Emperor to defeat the ambassy by deceiving their master

have also been adduced as reasons for its faihire. Its real failure,

as we can now see, was owing to the utter misconception

of their true position by the Emperor and his officials, arising

from their ignorance, pride, isolation, and mendacity, all combining

to keep them so until resistless force should open them

to meliorating influences. It was the last attempt of the kind,

and three alternatives only remained : the resort to force to

compel them to enter into soine equitable arrangement, entire

submission to wdiatever they ordered, or the withdrawal of all

trade until they proposed its resumption. The course of events

continued the second until the flrst was resorted to, and eventuated

in laying open the whole coast to the enterprise of western

nations.

At the close of the East India Company’s exclusive rights in China, the prospect for the continuance of a peaceful trade was rather dubious. The enterprising Mr. Marjoribanks despatched a vessel to ascertain how far trade could be carried on along the coast, which resulted in satisfactorily proving that the authorities were able and determined to stop all traffic, however desirous the people might be for it. The contraband trade in opium was conducted in a manner that threatened ere long to

involve the two nations, but the Company nominally kept itself

aloof from it by bringing none in its ships: the sajne Company,

however, did everything in India to encourage the

growth and saleof the drug, and received from it at the time of

its dissolution an annual revenue of nearly two millions sterling.

During its whole existence in China the East India Company stood forward as the defenders of the rights of foreigners and humanity, in a manner which no community of isolated merchants could have done, and to some extent compelled the Chinese to treat all more civilly. As a body it did little for the encouragement of Chinese literature or the diffusion of Christian truth or of science among the Chinese, except the printing of Morrison’s Dictionary and an annual grant to the Anglo-Chinese College; and although Dr. Morrison was their official translator for twenty-five years, the directors never gavb liiiii the empty compliment of enrolling him in the list of tlieii servants, nor contributed one penny for carrying- on his great work of translating and printing the Bible in Chinese. They set themselves against all such efforts, and during a long existence the natives of that country had no means put into their hands, by their agency, of learning that there was any great difference in the religion, science, or civilization of European nations and their own.

The trade of the Americans to China commenced in 1784, the first vessel having left New York February 22d of that year, and returned May 11, 1785 ; it was commanded by Captain Green, and the supercargo, Samuel Shaw, on his return, gave a lucid narrative of his voyage to Chief Justice Jay. His journal, published in 1847, contains the only lecord of this voyage, and furnishes many curious facts about the political and social relations existing between foreigners then in China. Our trade with China steadily increased after this date, and has been the second in amount for many years. The only political event in the American intercourse up to 1842 was the suspension of trade in October, 1821, in consequence of the homicide of a Chinese by a sailor at Whampoa. The American merchants were really helpless to carry the trial of Terranova to a just conclusion against the Chinese law, which peremptorily required life for life wherever foreigners were concerned, and gave him up on the assurance that his life was in no danger.

They are stated, in a narrative published in the North American lieview, to have told llowtpia at the trial on board the Emily at Whampcja, “We are bound to submit to yowY laws while we are in your waters; be they ever so unjust, we will not lesist them.” The poor man was taken out of the ship by force, while all the Americans present protested against the unfair trial he had had ; he was then promptly carried to Canton and strangled at tlif public execution ground (October 25) ; his body was given up next day, and the trade reopened.’

‘Shaw’s Jonrnal, Boston, 1847. North Anirrtrm) Ifrvicir, Jannary, IS’^iry. ChiiirKP /iVyw.v/Vo/v/, So])t(‘ml)(‘r, 18:50 Kir Geo. T. Staiiutou’s iVWi’aa <>/ Ohiiuif Becond editiuii, pp. 4()’J—lo2, 1850.

AMERICAN TKADE WITH CHINA. 461

The American Government neither took notice of this affair nor made remonstrance against its injustice, but still left the commerce, lives, and property of its citizens wholly unprotected, and at the mercy of (Chinese laws and rulers. The consuls at Canton were merely merchants, having no salary from their government, no funds to employ interpreters when necessary, or any power over their countrymen, and came and went without the least notice or acknowledgment from the Chinese.

The trade and intercourse of the Swedes, Danes, Russians, Italians, Austrians, Peruvians, Mexicans, or Chilians, at Canton, have been attended with no peculiarities or events of any moment. None of these nations ever sent ” tribute ” to the court of the Son of Heaven, and their ships traded at Canton on the same footing with the English. The voyage of Peter Osbeck, chaplain to a Swedish East Indiaman, in 1753, contains considerable information relating to the mode of conducting the trade and the position of foreigners, who then enjoyed more liberty and suffered fewer extortions than in later years.’

The termfaii-l’wel, by which they were all alike called by the Cantonese, indicated the popular estimation, and this epithet of foreign deviV did much, in the course of years, to increase the contempt and ill will which it expressed, not only there but throughout the Empire, for they were thereby maligned before they were known. Another term, /’, has been raised into notice by its condenmation in the British Treaty as an epithet for British subjects or countries. This word, there rendered ‘ harharian,” conveys to a native but little more than the idea that the people thus called do not understand the Chinese language and usages, and are consequently less civilized. This epithet harharian meant to the Greeks those who could not speak Greek, as it did to Shakespeare those who were not English; likewise among the Chinese, under ^were included great masses of their own subjects. By translating icai i as ‘ outside harhai’imis,” foreigners have been misrepresented in the status they held among educated natives, which was not that of savages but of the illiteracy growing out of their ignorance of the language and writings of Confucius.

‘ A Voyage to China and the East Indies, translated from the Germun b^Joliu R. Forster, 2 vols. , London, 1771.

The ancient Chinese hooks speak of four wild nations on the four sides of the country, viz., the fan, i, tih, man / the first two seem to have been applied to traders from the south and west, and grew into more distinct expressions because these traders often acted so outrageously. Other terms, as ” western ocean men,” ” far-travelled strangers,” and ” men from afar,” have occasionally been substituted when i was objected to. When used as a general term, without an opprobrious addition, i is as well adapted as any to denote all foreigners ; but the most recent usage gives prominence to the terms ical hwok and yangjdn (‘outside country’ and ‘ocean man’). Among educated natives the national names are becoming more and more common, as Ying A-wo/i, Fah l-woh, Jlei hoohy Teh kwoh^ for England, France, Americaj Germany, etc.

CHAPTER XXII.  ORIGIN OF THE FIRST WAR WITH ENGLAND

The East India Company’s commercial privileges ceased in 1834, and it is worthy of note that an association should have been continued in the providence of God as the principal representative of Christendom among the Chinese, which by its character, its pecuniary interests, and general inclination was bound in a manner to maintain peaceful relations with them, while every other important Asiatic kingdom and island, from Arabia to Japan, was at one time or another during that period the scene of collision, war, or conquest between the nations and their visitors. Its monopoly ceased when western nations no longer looked upon these regions as objects of desire, nor went to Rome to get a privilege to seize or claim such pagan lands as they might discover, and when, too. Christians began to learn and act upon their duty to evangelize these ignorant races.

China and Japan were once open to such agencies as well as trade, but no effective measures were taken to translate or distribute the pure word of God in them.

Believing that the affairs of the kingdoms of this world are ordered by their Almighty Governor with regard to the fulfilment of his promises and the promulgation of his truth, the first war between England and China is not only one of great historical interest, but one whose future consequences cannot fail to exercise increasing influence upon many millions of mankind.

This war was extraordinary in its origin as growing chiefly out of a commercial misunderstanding ; remarkable in its course as being waged between strength and weakness, conscious superiority and ignorant pride ; melancholy in its end as forcing the weaker to pay for the opium within its borders against all its laws, thus paralyzing the little moral pcrsi its feeble government could exert to protect its subjects ; and momentous in its results as introducing, on a basis of acknowledged obligations, one-half of the world to the other, without any arrogant demands from the victors or humiliating concessions from the vanquished. It was a turning-point in the national life of the Chinese race, but the compulsory payment of six million dollars for the opium destroyed has left a stignui upon the English name.

In 1834 the select Committee of the East India Company repeated its notice given in 1831 to the authorities at Canton, that its ships would no longer come to China, and that a king’s officer would be sent out as chief to manage the affairs of the British trade. The only ” chief ” whom the Chinese expected to receive was a commercial headman, qualified to communicate with their officers by petition, through the usual and legal medium of the Hang merchants. The English Government justly deemed the change one of considerable importance, and concluded that the oversight of their subjects and the great trade they conducted required a commission of experienced men.

The Tit. Hon. Lord Xapier was consequently appointed as chief

superintendent of British trade, and ari’ived at Macao July 15,

1834, where were associated with him in the commission John

F. Davis and Sir G. B. Bobinson, formerly servants of the

Company, and a number of secretaries, surgeons, chaplains, interpreters,

etc., whose miited salaries amounted to $91,000.

On arriving at Canton the tide-waiters officially repoi’ted that

three ” foreign devils ” had landed. As soon as Governor Lu

had learned that Lord Xapier had ]-eached Macao, he ordered

the hong merchants to go down and intimate to him that he

nuist remain there until he obtained legal permission to come

to Canton ; for, having received no orders from couit as to the

manner in which he should treat the English su[)erintendent,

lie thought it the safest plan to adhere to the old regulations.

Lord Napier had been ordered to report himself to the governor

at Canton 7j>/ lette/’. A short extract from his instructions

will show the intentions of the English (iovei’iiment in constituting

the connnission, and the entirely wrong views it had of

lORD NAriKK Sri’EllINTENDENT OK HKI’ilSII I’KADK. 465

the notions of the Chinese respecting foreign intercourse, and the character they gave to the English authorities. Lord Palmerston says: In addition to the duty of protecting and fostering the trade of his Majesty’s subjects with the port of Canton, it will be one of your principal objects to ascertain whether it may not be practicable to extend that trade to other parts of the Chinese dominions. . . . It is obvious that, with a view to the attainment of this object, the establishment of direct communications with the jiort of Peking would be desirable ; and you will accordingly diiect your attention to discover the best means of preparing the way for such communications, bearing constantly in mind, however, that j)ecnliar caution and circumspection will be indispensable on this point, lest you should awaken the fears or offend the prejudices of the Chinese Government, and thus put to hazard even the existing opportunities of intercourse by a precipitate attempt

to extend them In conformity with this caution you will abstain from entering

into any new relations or negotiations with the Chinese authorities, except

under very urgent and unforeseen circumstances. But if any opportunity for

such negotiations should appear to you to present itself, you will lose no time

in reporting the circumstance to his Majesty’s government, and in asking

for instructions ; but previously to the receipt of such instructions you will

adopt no proceedings but such as may have a general tendency to convince the

Chinese authorities of the sincere desire of the king to cultivate the most

friendly relations with the Emperor of China, and to join with him in any

measures likely to promote the happiness and prosperity of their respective Bubjects.

(jrovernor Lu’s messengers arrived too late to detain the

British superintendent at Macao, and a military officer despatched

to intercept liun passed him on the way ; so that the

first intimation the latter received of the governor’s disposition

was in an edict addressed to tlie hong merchants, from which

two paragraphs are extracted :

On this occasion the barbarian eye, Lord Napier, has come to Canton

witliout having at all resided at Macao to wait for orders ; nor has he requested

or received a permit from the superintendent of customs, but has hastily come

up to Canton— a great infringement of the established laws! The customhouse

waiters and others who presumed to admit liim to enter are sent with a

communication requiring their trial. But in tender consideration for the said

barbarian eye being a new-comer, and unacquainted with the statutes and laws

of the Celestial Empire, I will not strictly investigate. . . . As to liis object

in coming to Canton, it is for commercial business. The Celestial Empire appoints

officers, civil ones to rule the people, military ones to intimidate the

-nicked. The petty affairs of commerce are to be directed by the merclianta

themselves : the officers have nothing to hear on the subject. … If any

affair is to be newly commenced, it is necessary to wait till a respectful memorial be made, clearly reporting it to the great Emperor, and hi? mandate h?

received ; the great ministers of the Celestial Empire are not permitted to have intercourse by letters with outside barbarians. If the said barbarian eye throws in private letters, I, the governor, will not at all receive or look at them. With regard to the foreign factory of the Company without the walls of the city, it is a place of temporary residence for foreigners coming to Canton to trade ; they are permitted only to eat, sleep, buy and sell in the factories; they are not allowed to go out to ramble about.’

How unlike were these two docunients and the expectations

of their writers ! The governor felt that it was safest to wait

for an imperial mandate before commencing a new affair, and

refused to receive a letter from a foreign officer. Had he done

so he would have laid himself open to reprimand and perhaps

punishment from his superiors ; and in saying that the superintendent

should report himself and apply for a permit before

coming to Canton, he only required what the members of the

Company had always done when they returned from their sum

mer vacation at Macao. Lord Xapier thought he had tlie same

liberty to come to Canton without announcing himself that

other and private foreigners exercised ; but an officer of his

rank would have pleased the Chinese authorities better by observino;

their regulations. He had thought of this contingencv

before leaving England, aiid had requested ” that in case of

necessity he might have authority to treat with the government

at Peking ;

” this request being denied, he desired that his appointment

to Canton might be announced at the capital ; this

not being granted, he wished that a connnunication from the

home authorities might be addressed to the governor of Canton

; but this was deemed inexpedient, and he was directed to

” go to Canton and report himself by letter.” These reasonable

requests involved no loss of dignity, but the court of St. James

chose to send out a superintendent of trade, an officer partaking

of both ministerial and consular powers, and ordered him to

act in a certain manner, involving a violation of the regulations

of the country where he was going, without providing for tlic

alternative of his rejection.

‘ (Jorrcspondenee relatimj to China (Blue Book), p. 4. Chinese Bepository, Vol. III., p. 188 ; Vol. XL, p. 188.

HIS LETTER REJECTED I5Y GOVERNOR LU. 467

To Canton, therefore, he came, and the next day reported himself by letter to the governor, sending it to the city gates. His lordship was directed to have nothing to do with the Hang merchants ; and therefore when they waited upon him the morning of his arrival, with the edict they had been sent down to Macao to ” enjoin upon him,” he courteously dismissed them, with an intimation that “he would communicate immediately with the viceroy in the manner befitting his Majesty’s commission and the honor of the British nation.” The account of the reception of his communication is taken from his correspondence: On the arrival of the party at the city gates, the soldier on guard was despatched to report the circumstance to his superior. In less than a quarter of an hour an officer of inferior rank appeared, whereupon Mr. Astell offered my letter for transmission to the viceroy, which duty this officer declined, addiner that his superior was on his way to the spot. In the course of an hour several officers of nearly equal rank arrived in succession, each refusing to deliver the letter on the plea that higher officers would shortly attend. After an hour’s

delay, during which time the party were treated with much indignity, not

unusual on such occasions, the linguists and hong merchants arrived, who entreated

to become the bearers of the letter to the viceroy. About this time

an officer of rank higher than any of those who had preceded him joined the

party, to whom the letter was in due form offered, and as formally refused.

The officer having seen the superscrijition on the letter, argued, that “as it

came from the superintendent of trade, the hong merchants were the proper

channels of communication : ” but this obstacle appeared of minor importance in their eyes, upon ascertaining that the document was styled a letter, and not & petition. The linguists requested to be allowed a copy of the address, which was of course refused.

About this time the kicang-hielt, a military officer of the rank of colonel, accompanied by an officer a little inferior to himself, arrived on the spot, to whom the letter was offered three several times and as often refused. The senior hong merchant, Howqua, after a private conversation with the colonel, requested to be allowed to carry the letter in company with him and ascertain

whether it would be received. This being considered as an insidious attempt

to circumvent the directions of the superintendents, a negative was made to

this and other overtures of a similar tendency. Suddenly all the officers took

their departure for the purpose, as it was afterward ascertained, of consulting

with the viceroy. Nearly three hours having been thus lost within the city,

Mr. Astell determined to wait a reasonable time for the return of the officers, who shortly afterward reassembled ; whereupon Mr. Astell respectfully offered the letter in question three separate times to the colonel and afterward to the other officers, all of whom distinctly refused even to touch it; upon which the party returned to the factory.’

* Chinese Bepositori/, Vol. XI. , p. 27.

The goveriKir ]e})orted this oecurreiu’e at court in a meinorial, in which, after stating that his predecessor had instructed the Company’s supercargoes to malce arrangements tluit “a ?’«//7<;ni[or supercargo, the word. being applied to all foreign consuls] acquainted with affairs should still be appointed to come to Canton to control and direct the trade,” he states what had occurred, and adds:
The said Larbarian eye would not receive the Hang merchants, but after-M’ard repaired to the outside of the city to present a letter to me, your Majesty’s minister, Lu. On the face of the envelope the forms and style of equality were used, and there were absurdly written the characters Ta Thuj kiroh [‘Great English nation’]. Now it is plain on the least reflection, that in keeping the central and outside [people] apart, it is of the highest importance to maintain dignity and sovereignty. Whether the said barbarian eye has or has not official rank there are no means of thoroughly ascertaining. But though he be really an officor of the said nation, he yet cannot write letters on equality with the frontier officers of the Celestial Empire. As the thing concerned the national dignity, it was inexpedi’^nt in the least to allow a tendency to any approach or advance by which lightness of esteem might be occasioned.

Accordingly orders Mere given to Ilan Shau-king, the colonel in command of the military forces of this department, to tell him authoritatively that, by the statutes and enactments of the Celestial Empire, there has never been intercourse by letters with outside barbarians ; that, respecting commercial matters, petitions must be

made through the medium of the hong merchants, and that it is not permitted

to offer or present letters. . . . On humble examination it appears that

the commerce of the English barbarians has hitherto been managed by the

hong merchants and taipans ; there has never been a barbarian e^-e to form a

precedent. Now it is suddenly desired to appoint an officer, a superintendent,

which is not in accordance with old regulations. Besides, if the said nation

has formed this decision, it still should have stated in a petition the affairs

which, and the way how, such superintendent is to manage, so that a memorial

miglit be presented requesting yovir Majesty’s mandate and pleasure as to what

should be refused, in order that obedience might be paid to it and the same be

acted on accordingly. But tlie said barbarian eye, Lord Napier, wjthout having

made any plain nqiort, suddenly came to the barbarian factories outside the

city to reside, and presumed to desire intercourse to and fro by official documents and letters with the officers of the Central Flowery Land; this was, indeed, far out of the bounds of reason.’

‘^ Chinese Bepouionji Vol. III., p. 327.

CONTEST BETWEEN THE COVEIINOR AXD NAPIER. 460

The governor here intimates that the intention of his government in requesting a taijpan to come to Canton was only to have a responsible officer with whom to communicate. In refusing to receive an ‘eye,” or superintendent, therefore, he did not, in his own view of the case, suppose that he was refusing, nor did he or the court of Peking intend to refuse, the residence of a supercargo, for they were desirous to have responsible heads appointed over the connnerce and subjects of every ration trading at Canton. These occurrences were discussed by the Hon. John Quincy Adams in his lecture upon the war with China, delivered in 1841, in which he alleged that the rejection of Lord JSTapier’s letter and mission was a sufficient reason for the subsequent contest, he showed the impolicy of allowing the Chinese ideas of supremacy over other nations, and exhibited their natural results in the degraded position of foreigners. He had, however, only an imperfect conception of the strength of this assumption,

but it was not debated in this contest between Governor Lu and

Lord Napier. The former was not blameworthy for endeavoring

to carry the laws of his own country into execution, while

the latter was doing his best to obey the instructions of his own

sovereign. The question of the propriety of those laws, involving

as they did the supremacy of the Emperor over the English,

or the feasibility of those instructions, could only he discussed

and settled by their principals. Whether this assumption was

a proper ground of hostilities is altogether another question.

When Lord Napier’s letter was rejected he would probably have

referred home to his government for further instructions if it

had intended to settle the question of supremacy, but he did not

do so, nor did the ministry refer to it or remonstrate against the

unhandsome treatment their representative received.

The refusal of Lord Napier to confer with the hong merchants,

and of the governor to receive any communication except

a petition, placed the two parties in an awkward position.

In his letter the former stated the object of his coming to Canton,

and requested that his excellency Avould aecoi-d him an interview

in order that their future intercoui’se might be arranged ;

and considering the desirableness of giving him accurate views,

the party at the gate would have acted M’isely in permitting the

hong merchants to take it to him. The governor was irritated

and alarmed, and vented his anger upon the unfortunate hong

merchants. These had two or three interviews with Lord Na’pier after the rejection of the letter, but as they now said it

Mould not be received unless superscribed _^??’;i, or ‘ petition.’

they were dismissed. Having heard that there was a party

among the British residents in Canton who disapproved of the

proceedings of the superintendent, they vainly endeavored to

call a meeting of the disaffected on the 10th of August, while his

lordship assembled all of his countrymen next day, and found

that they generally approved of his conduct. On the 14th he

reviews his position in consequence of the rejection of his letter

ivad the subsecpient conduct of the governor. After recommending

the renewal of the effort to open better understood relations with the court of Peking by a demand upon the Emperor to allow the same privileges to all foreigners residing in China which Chinese received in foreign countries, he goes on to say:

My present position is, in one point of view, <a delicate one, because the trade is put in jeopardy on account of the difference existing between the viceroy and myself. I am ordered by his Majesty to ” go to Canton and there report myself by letter to the viceroy.” I use my best endeavors to do so ; but the viceroy is a presumptuous savage, and will not grant the same privileges to me that have been exercised constantly by the chiefs of the committee.

He rakes up obsolete orders, or perhaps makes them for the occasion ; but

the fact is, the chiefs used formerly to wait on the viceroy on their return

from Macao, and continued to do it nntil the viceroy gave them an order to

wait upon him, whereupon they gave the practice iip. Had I even degraded

the king’s commission so far as to petition through the liong merchants for an

interview, it is quite clear by the tenor of the edicts that it would have been

refused. Were he to send an armed force and order me to the boat, I could

then retreat with honor, and he would implicate himself; but they are afraid

to attempt such a measure. What then remains but the stoppage of the trade

or my retirement ? If the trade is stopped for any length of time the consequences to the merchants are most serious, as they are also to the unoffending

Chinese. But the viceroy cares no more for commerce, or for the comfort

and happiness of the people as long as he receives his pay and plunder, than

if he did not live among them. My situation is different ; I cannot hazard

millions of property for any length of time on the mere score of etiquette. If

the trade shall be stopped, which is probable enough in the absence of the frigate, it is possible I may be obliged to retire to Macao to let it loose again.

Then has the viceroy gained his point and the commission is degraded. Now, my lord, I argue that whether the commission retires by force of arms or by the injustice practised on the merchants, the viceroy has committed an outrage on the Britisli crown which should be equally chastised. The whole system of government here is that of subterfuge and shifting the blame from tlia

oppositp: vikus of the two parties, 471

shoulders of the one to the other. … I shall not go, however, without jiublishini; in Chinese and disseminating far and wide the base conduct of the viceroy in oppressing the merchants, native as well as foreign, and of my having taken the step out of pure compassion to them. I can only once more implore your lordship to force them to acknowledge my authority and the king’s commission, and if you can do that you will have no difficulty in opening the ports at the same time.’

Such were the sentiments and desires which filled the mind of the English superintendent. He is in error in saying that the governor would not grant him the same privileges as had been accorded to the chiefs of the Company. The present question was not about having an interview, but regarding the superscription of his letter ; for the chiefs of the Company sent their sealed communications through the Hang merchants as petitions. The governor stopped the English trade on the 16th, and two days after issued an explanatory paper in reply to the report that his orders on that subject had been carried into effect. This document sets forth his determination to uphold the old regulations, and a few sentences from it are here introduced as a contrast with the preceding despatch. The conviction of the governor in the supremacy of his Emperor over all foreign nations which had sent embassies to his court, and his own official position making him responsible for successfully maintaining the laws over foreigners, must be borne in mind :

To refer to England : slrould an official personage from a foreign country proceed to the said nation for the arrangement of any business, how could he neglect to have the object of his coming announced in a memorial to the said nation’s king, or how could he act contrary to the requirements of the said nation’s dignity, doing his own will and pleasure? Since the said barbarian eye states that he is an official -personage, he ought to be more thoroughly acquainted with these principles. Before, when he offered a letter, I, the governor, saw it inexpedient to receive it, because the established laws of the Celestial Empire do not permit ministers and those under authority to have private intercourse by letter with outside barbarians, but have, hitherto, in commercial affairs, held the merchants responsible; and if perchance any barbarian merchant should have any petition to make requesting the investigation of any affair, [the laws require] that by the said ttiipiiu a duly prepared petition should be in form presented, and an answer by proclamation awaited.

* Chinese Repository, Vol. XV., p. 68.

There has never been such a thing as outside barbarians sending in a letter.

He then says that there had iic’ver been any official correspondence to and fro between the native officers and the barbarian merchants ; by this he means a correspondence ol equality, which the Chinese Government had indeed never yielded. The idea of supremacy never leaves him—witness, for example, the following strain, peculiarly Chinese :

The Hang merchants, because the said barbarian eye will not adhere to the old regulations, have requested that a stop should be put to the said nation’s commerce. This manifests a profound knowledge of the great principles of dignity. It is most highly praiseworthy. Lord Napier’s perverse opposition necessarily demands such a mode of procedure, and it would be most right immediately to put a stop to buying and selling. But considering that the said nation’s king has hitherto been in the highest degree reverently obedient,

he cannot in sending Lord Napier at this time have desired him thus obstinately

to resist. The some hundreds of thousands of commercial duties yearly

coming from the said country concern not the Celestial Empire the extent of

a hair or a feather’s down. The possession or absence of them is utterly unworthy

of one careful thought. Their broadcloths and camlets are still more

unimportant, and of no regard. But the tea, the rhubarb, the raw silk of the

Inner Land, are the sources by which the said nation’s people live and nuiiutain

life. For the fault of one man, Lord Napier, must the livelihood of the

whole nation be precipitately cut off? I, the governor, looking up and embodying

the great Emperor’s most sacred, most divine wish, to nurse and tenderly

cherish as one all that are without, feel that I cannot bring my mind to

bear it ! Besides, all the merchants of the said nation dare dangers, crossing

the seas myriads of miles to come from far. Their hopes rest wholly in the

attainment of gain by buying and selling. That they did not attend when

summoned by the hong merchants to a meeting for consultation, was because

they were under the direction of Lord Napier ; it assuredly did not proceed

from the several merchants’ own free will. Sliould the trade be wholly cut

off in one morning, it would cause great distress to many persons, who, having

travelled hither by land and sea, would by one man, Lord Napier, be

ruined. They cannot in such case but be utterly depressed with grief. . . .

I hear the said eye is a man of very solid ai\d expansive mind and placid speech. If he consider, he can himself doubtless distinguish right and wrong: let him on no account permit himself to be deluded by men around him. . . . Hereafter, when the said nation’s king liears respecting these repeated orders and official replies, [he will know] that the whole wrong lies on the barbarian eye ; it is in nowise owing to any want on the part of the Celestial Empire of extreme consideration for the virtue of reverential obedience exercised by the said nation’s king.’

‘ Chinese Bejwsitori/, Vol. III., p. 235.

CHINESE IDEAS OV SUPREMACY. 473

He consequently sent a deputation of officials to Lord Napier to inquire ‘why he had come to Canton, what business he was appointed to perform, and when he would retire to Macao. The letter was again handed them, but the superscription still remained, and they refused to touch it. They, however, leariuKl enough to be able to inform their master what he wished to know : the real point of dispute between the two could only be settled between their sovereigns. The governor by this deputation showed a desire to make some arrangement, and the trade would probably have been shortly reopened had not Lord Kapier carried out his idea, two days after, of appealing to the people in order to explain the reasons why the governor had stopped the trade and brought distress on them. The paper simply detailed the principal events which had occurred since his arrival, laying the blame upon the*” ignorance and obstinacy “of the governor in refusing to receive his letter, and closino; with—” The merchants of Great Britain wish to trade with all China on principles of mutual benefit ; they will never relax in their exertions till they gain a point of equal importance to both countries; and the viceroy will find it as easy to stop the current of the Canton River as to carry into effect the insane determination of the hong.”

In many of the former proceedings between the Chinese and foreigners, based as they were upon incorrect ideas, the rules of diplomacy elsewhere observed formed no guide ; but the publication of this statement was unwise and dangerous. Not only did it jeopardize the lives and property of British subjects, but of all other foreigners residing at Canton, to whose safety and interests, as involved with his own dispute. Lord Napier makes no reference in his despatches. Happily, Governor Lu did not appease his irritation by letting loose the populace of Canton, which was highly excited, but by imprisoning members of the co-hong for allowing the superintendent to come to the city.

The governor and his colleagues stopped the English trade on September 2d, in a proclamation containing many inaccurate statements and absurd reasonings, in which he forbade either natives or foreigners to give aid or comfort to Lord Xapier. Communication with the shipping at AV^hampoa was also interdicted, so that, in reality, the entire foreign trade was interrupted. A guard of Chinese troops was placed near tlio (\)nipany’s factoiy, but no personal distress was felt on account of the interdict. 11. B. M. frigates Andromache and Imogene were ordered up to protect the shipping and persons of British subjects, and the two vessels anchored at Whanipoa on the 11th.

In their passage through the Bogue they returned the fire from the forts, with little damage to either ; and on anchoring, a lieutenant and boat’s crew were despatched to Canton to protect the English factory. These decisive proceedings troubled the native authorities not a little, who, on their part, prepared for stronger measures by blocking up the river and stationing troops about Whampoa, but were relieved when they found that the ships remained* at their anchorage.

Lord Xapier sent a protest against the proceedings of the

governor in stopping the trade, through the Chamber of Commerce

and hong merchants ; but at this juncture his health gave

way so rapidly that three days after the frigates had anchored

he decided to return to Macao and wait for insti’uctions. Tlie

Chinese detained him on his passage down until the ships were

out of the river; but he sank and died October 11th, a fortnight

after reaching that city. As soon as he left Canton the

trade was reopened. On hearing that the ships had reached

AVhampoa, the Emperor degraded or suspended all the officials

who had been in any way responsible ; but when he learned

that ” Lord Xapier had been driven out, and the two ships of

war dragged over the shallows and expelled,” he restored most

of those whom he had thus punished. The governor also vented

his indignation upon ten of his subordinates, by subjecting them

to torture in order to “ascertain if they were guilty of illicit

connection with foreigners.” The drama was closed on the part

of the Chinese by an imperial mandate : ” The English barbarians

have an open market in the Inner Land, but there has

hitherto been no interchange of official communications. Yet

it is absoluteh’ requisite that there should be a person possessing

general control, to have the special direction of affairs; wherefore let the governor immediately order the Hang merchants to command the said separate merchants, that they send a letter back to their country calling for the appoint ineiit of luiotlier person as taqxin^ to come for the couti’ol and direction of conunercial affairs, in accordance with the old regulations.”

STOPPING OF THE TP.ADK AND IJKA’III OF XAI’IKK. 475

The principles on which the Chinese acted in this affair are

plainly seen. To have granted official intercourse bv letter

would have been to give up the whole question, to consider the

king of England as no longer a tributary, and so release him

and his subjects from their allegiance. To do so would not only

permit them to come into their borders as equals, subject to no

laws or customs, but would fui’ther open the door for resistance

to their authority, armed opposition to their control, and ultimate

in possession of their territory. The governor hints at

this when speaking of the necessity of restraining the barbarian

eye: “AVith regard to territory, it would also have its consequences.”

These would be the probable results of allowing

such a mode of address from the Kalkas, or Tibetans, and the

Emperor felt the importance of irs concession in a way that

Lord Xapier himself could not appreciate. Xcvertheless, with

the inconsistency of children, the Son of Heaven and his courtiers,

in the mandate just quoted, yi(;ld their obligations to justly

govern the far-travelled strangers, by requiring them to get a

countryman ” to exercise general control ” and live among them

—thus establishing the principle of ex-territoriality within their

borders which they now find so irksome.

It is pitiable, and natural too, that the Chinese should have had notions so incorrect and dangerous, for it led them to misinterpret every act of foreigners. Their entire intercourse with Europeans, since the Portuguese first came to their shores, had conspired to strengthen the opinion that all traders were crafty, domineering, avaricious, and contumacious, and must be kept down in every possible way to insure safety to the Chinese natives. The indignation of the Emperor on hearing of the entrance of the ships of war was mixed with great apprehension,

” lest there were yet other ships staying at a distance ready to bring in aid to him ” [Lord Xapier]. Ignorant as he was of the true character of the embassies which had been received at Peking, he was still more likely to take alarm at any attempt to open an equal intercourse, and disposed to resist it as he would a forcible occupation of his territory, of which it was, in his view, only the precursor.

That these were the feelings of the rulers at Peking cannot be doubted; and we must know what views and fears actuated them in order to understand their proceedings. If the position of England in the eyes of the Chinese had been fully known in London, the unequal contest imposed upon Lord Xapier would either have been avoided or directed against the imperial government.

The offer of an amicable intercourse was given to the Chinese, but through the inapplicable instructions which his lordship received this offer was not made to the weaker and ignorant party in such a way as not to excite its fears, while it fully explained the real position and intentions of England, and through her all Christendom, in seeking intercourse with China. Yet so long as the court of Peking, in virtue of the Emperor’s vicegerency over mankind, claimed supremacy’ over other nations, the struggle to maintain that assumption was sure to come. This false notion did, however, really continue among them for about forty years, till five foreign ministers had their first audience with the Emperor Tungchl, June, 1873, and stood before his throne as they presented their credentials.

The Pritish residents at Canton saw the point of difficulty clearly, and in a petition to the king in council, dated December 4, 1834, recommended that a commissioner be sent to one of the northern ports with a small fleet to arrange the matter of future intercourse. In this petition they ” trace the disabilities and restrictions under which Pritish connnerce now labors to a long acquiescence in the arrogant assumption of supremacy over the monarchs and people of other countries claimed by the Emperor of China for himself and his subjects,” and conclude that ” no essentially beneficial result can be expected to arise out of negotiations in which such pretensions are not decidedly repelled.”

PETITION OF BRITISH MERCHANTS TO TIIK KING. 477

The recommendations of the petitioners were disregarded in England. The cabinet disapproved of the spirit of Lord Napier’s despatches, and intimated to him that it was “not by force and violence that his Majesty intended to establish a commercial intercourse between his subjects and China, but by conciliatory measures.” After the events of 1834 if a commissioner, backed by a small fleet, had Leen iininediatelj appointed to Peking to arrange the terms of future intercourse, the subsequent wai might have been averted, though it is more likely that the imperial court would have rejected all overtures until compelled to treat by force.

As things were situated at Canton, it was really impossible for

the Chinese Government to carry on a line of policy with respect

to foreign intercourse wdiich would at once maintain its assumptions,

avoid the risk of a rupture, squeeze all the money possible

out of the trade, and repress the complaints of the Bi-ilish

merchants. The cessation of the Company’s monopoly, as well

as its control over all British subjects, had weakened the leverage

of the local authorities to manage them, to a greater degree

than they were aware.

The trade was conducted during the next season to the satisfaction

of all parties. That of other nations had been practically

stopped with that of the English, but the suspension was at a

dull season of the 3’ear. Their consuls took no official part in

the dispute, though they had some ground for complaint in the

suspension of their trade and the imprisonment of their countrymen.

The Chinese shopkeepers known as “outside merchants”

having been interdicted trading at all with foreignei’s, went to

the governor’s palace in a laige body and soon obtained a removal

of the restriction. The hong mei’chants themselves instigated

this decree, for these shopkeepers, while deriving large

profits from their business, were almost free from the extortions

which the monopolists suffered. All the extraordinary expenses

incurred by the provincial exchequer in the late affair were i”equired

of these unfortunate men ; and the}^ 7)iifst get it out of

the trade in the best way they could. Amelioration could not

be expected from such a system ; for as soon as the foreigners

began to complain, the hong merchants were impelled by every

motive to misrepresent their complaints to the governor and

quash every effort to obtain redress. The situation of foreigners

there was aptly likened by a wi’iter on the subject to the inmates

of the Zoological Garden in Regent’s Park : ” They [the animals]

have been free to play what pranks they pleased, so that

they made no uproar nor escaped from confinement. The keepers looked sharply after them and tried to keep them (Hiiet, because annoyed by the noise tliey made and responsible for the mischief they miglit commit if they got at Hberty. They might do what was right in their own eyes with each other. The authorities of China do not expect from wild and restless barbarians the decorum and conduct exemplified in their own great family.”

The peculiar position of the relations with the Chinese and the

value of the trade, present and prospective, was so great that

these events called out many pamphleteers both in England and

the East. The servants of the Company naturally recommended

a continuance of the peaceable system, nrging that foreigners

should obey the laws of tlie Empire where they lived and not

interfere with the restrictions put upon them. Others counselled

the occupation of an island on the coast, to which Chinese

“traders would immediately resort, and which was to be held

only so long as the Emperor refused to open liis ports and allow

a fair traffic with his people. Othei’S deprecated resort to force

until a commissioner to Peking had explained the designs and

wishes of his government, demanded the same privileges for

foreigners in China that the Chinese enjoyed abi’oad, and then,

in the event of a refusal, compel acquiescence. Some advised

lettiuii: thing’s take their own course and conducting trade

as it could be at Canton until circumstances compelled the

Chinese to act. ” That which we now require is not to lose the

enjoyment of what w^e have got,” said the Duke of Wellington,

and his advice was followed in most respects. A few thought it

would be the wiser way to disseminate juster ideas of the position,

power, and wishes of England and all foreign nations among the

Chinese in their own language. They argued very properly that

ignorance on these points would neutralize every attempt to

bring about a better state of things ; that although the Chinese

were to blame for their uncompromising arrogance, it was also

their great misfortune that they really had had little opportunity

to learn the truth respecting their visitors. All these suggestions

looked forward to no long continuance of the present undefined,

anomalous relations, and all of them contained much pertinent

advice and many valuable items of information ; but ii

CONTINUATION OF THE TRADE. 479

was a question not more difficult than important what course of

procedure was the best. AVliile the point of supremacy seemed

to be settled in favor of the Son of Heaven, the virus of the

contraband opium trade was working out its evil effects among

his subjects and hastening on a new era.

The British superintendents now lived in Macao pending the

action of their government, merely keeping a clerk at Canton

to sign manifests. The foreign residents established the Society

for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and other benevolent

projects mentioned in a previous chapter ; they also sent two

or three vessels along the coast to see what openings existed for

entering the countrj’, preaching the gospel, or living on shore.

The results of the voyages fully proved the impossibility of entering

the country in an open manner without the permission

of the rulers, and the limited intercourse with the people also

showed that the character of foreigners was generally associated

with the opium trade. The dwellers immediately on the coast

were eager for an extension of the traffic, because it brought

them large gains, and the officers at the principal ports were

desirous of participating in the emoluments of their fellows

at Canton ; but those who had the good of the countiy at

heart (and there are many such in China) thought that the extension

of foreign trade would bring with it unmitigated evil

from the increased use of opium.

Sir G. B. Robinson, the superintendent, remained at Lintin

on board a cutter among opium ships anchored there during the

season of 1835-30, and was so well satisfied with his position

that he recommended his government to purchase a small ship

for the permanent acconunodation of the commission there beyond

the reach of the Chinese officers, and to vest its powers in

a single individual. He also expressed his conviction that there

was little hope of establishing a proper understanding with the

Chinese Government, except by a resort to force and the occupation

of an island off the mouth of the river:

I see no grounds to apprehend the occurrence of any fearful events on the north-east coast, nor can I h\arn what new danger exists. I am assured from the best authority that the scuffles between different parties of smugglers and mandarins, alike engaged and competing in the traffic, are not more serious or frequont than in this province. In no case have Europeans been engaged in any kind of conflict or affray : and while this increasing and lucrative trade is in the hands of the parties whose vital interests are so totally dependent ou its safety and continuance, and by whose prudence and integrity it has been brought into its present increasing and flourishing condition, I think little apprehension may be entertained of dangers emanating from imprudence on their part. Should any unfortunate catastrophe take place, what would our

position at Canton entail upon us but responsibility and jeopardy, from which

we are now free ? On the question of smuggling opium I will not enter in

this place, though, indeed, smuggling carried on actively in the government

boats can hardly be termed such. Whenever his Majesty’s government directs

us to prevent British vessels engaging in the traffic, we can enforce any order

to that effect, but a more certain method would be to prohibit the growth of

the poppy and the manufacture of opium in British India ; and if British

ships are in the habit of committing irregularities and crimes, it seems doubly

necessary to exercise a salutary control over them by the presence of au authority

at Lintin.

Taking all things into consideration, this is a remarkable despatch

to be sent by the representative of a Cliristian government

writing from the midst of a fleet of smugglers on the

shores of a pagan country. ” The scuilles caused by the introduction

of opium are,” he remarks, ^’not more serious or frequent

on the coast than about Canton ; ” though even there,

l)i-obably, not one-half which did occur were known ; but Europeans

never personally engaged in any of them. They only

brought the cause and object of these collisions where the people

could get it, and then quietly looked on to see them fight

about it. Tlie ” prudence and integrity ” of the merchants were

engaged in cherishing it to a high degree of prosperity, and

they were not likely to act imprudently. The orders of the

supreme government for its officers on the coast to stop the

traffic were utterly powerless, through the cupidity and venality

of tho.se officers and their underlings ; yet their almost complete

failure to execute them does not impugn the sincerity of

the court in issuing them. There is not the least evidence to

show that the couii of Peking was not sincere in its desire to

suppress the trade, from the first edict in 1800 till the war broke

out in 1840. The excuse that the government smuggled because its revenue cruisers engaged in it and the helpless provincial authorities winked at it, is no more satisfactory than to make the successful bribery of custoui-liousc officers in Enghiiul or elsewhere a proof of the corruption of the treasury department.

SIR GEORGE ROBINSON ON OPHT^r-SM (tggF.IXG. 481

The temptation of an ” increasing and lucrative ” trade was as strong to the unenlightened pagan Chinese smuggler as it was to the Christian merchants and monopolists who placed the poisonous drug constantly within his reach. It would have been far more frank on the part of the British superintendent to have openly defended a traffic affording a revenue of more than two millions sterling to his own government, and suggested that such an ‘” increasing and lucrative ” business should not be impeded, than to say that he could stop British ships enji:ao;iiio: in it as soon as he received orders to that effect.

The existence of tlie commission at the outer anchoi-ages was

fully known to the authorities at Canton, but no movement

toward reopening tlie intercourse was made by either party.

Lord Palmerston instructed the superintendent not to comnmnicate

with the governor-general through the hong merchants,

nor to give his written connnnnications the name of

petitions. Captain Elliot succeeded Sir George in 183G, and

innnediately set about reopening the connnunication with the

Chinese officei’s in the same way that the supercargoes of the

Company had conducted it. lie defended this course upon

the grounds that he had no right to direct official communication with the governor, and that the remarkable movements of the Chinese and the state of uncertainty in respect to the whole foreign trade rendered it desirable to be at Canton. The successor of Lu, Tang Ting-ching, M’illingly responded to this proposition by sendiug a deputation of three officers to Macao with the hong merchants to make some inquiries before memorializing the Emperor. In his report the governor avoided all reference to Lord Napier, and requested his Majesty’s sanction to the present request as being in accordance with the orders that the English merchants should send home to have a supercargo come out to manage them. It was of course granted; and the British connnission, having received a ” red permit “

from the collector of customs, returned to Canton April 12,

1837, after an absence of about thirty months. In his note to

the governor upon receiving the imperial sanction, Captain Eliot says: “The undersigned respectfully assures his excellencj’ that it is at once his duty and his anxious desire to conform in all things to the imperial pleasure ; and he will therefore heedfully

attend to the points adverted to in the papers now before

him.” This language was decided, and his excellency after-

Mard called upon the superintendent to do as he had promised.

The remarkable movements of tlie supi’eme government here

referred to grew out of a memorial from IIu Xai-tsi, formerly

salt commissioner and judge at Canton, proposing the legalization

of the opium trade. In this paper he acknowledges tliat

it is impossible to stop the traffic or use of the drug ; if the

foreign vessels be driven from the coast, they will go to some

island near by, where the native craft will go off to them ; and

if the laws be made too severe upon those who smoke the drug

they will be disregarded. By legalizing it, he says, the drain of

specie will be stopped, the regular trade rendered more profitable

and manageable, and the consumption of the drug regulated.

He proposes instant dismissal from office as the penalty for all

functionaries convicted of smoking, while their present ineffectual

attempts to suppress the trade, which i-esulted in general

contempt for all law, would cease, and consequently the dignity

of government be better maintained. The ti-ade on the coast

would be concenti’ated at Canton, and the fleet at Lintin broken

up, thereby bringing all foreigners more completely under

control.

This unexpected movement at the capital caused no little stir

at Canton, and the hong merchants presently advertised the foreigners

that soon there would no longer be any use for the receiving-

ships at Lintin. Captain Elliot wrote that he thought

legalization had come too late to stop the trade on the coast, and,

with a prescient eye, adds that the “feeling of independence

created among British subjects from the peculiar mode of conducting

this bi’anch of the trade,” would ere long lead to graver

difficulties and acts of violence requiring the armed interference

of his govennncnt. The impression Avas general at Canton

that the trade would be legalized, and increased preparations

were accordingly made in India to extend the cultivation. The

governor and his colleagues reconnnended its legalization on the

PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE TFIE OPIUM TRADE. 483

grounds that ” the tens (»f millions of precious money which

now annually ooze out of the Empire will be saved,” the duties

be inei’eased, the evil practices of transporting contraband goods

by deceit and violence suppi-essed, numberless quarrels and litigations

arising therefrom and the crimes of wortliless vagrants

diminished. They also deluded themselves with the idea that if

the officers were dismissed as soon as convicted, the intellif^ent

part of society would not indulge their depraved appetites, but

let the ” victims of their own self-sacrificing folly,” the poor

opium-smokers, be found only among the lower classes. In connection

with this report, the hong merchants replied to various

inquiries respecting the best mode of carrying on the opium

trade in case it should be legalized, and their mode of conducting

commerce generally ; adding that it was bej-ond their power to

control thesnniggling traffic or restrain the exportation of sycee,

and showed that the balance of trade would naturally leave the

country in bullion. These papers are fairly drawn up, and their

perusal cannot fail to elevate the character of the Chinese for

consideration, carefulness, and business-like procedure.’

There were other statesmen, however, who regarded Ilii Xaitsi’s

memoi’ial as a dangerous step in the downward path, and

sounded the alarm. Among these the foremost was Chu Tsun,

a cabinet minister, who sent in a counter-memorial couched

in the strongest terms. He advised that the laws be more

strictly maintained, and cited instances to show that when the

provincial authorities earnestly set about it they could put the

trade down ; that the people would soon learn to despise all laws

if those against opium-smoking were suspended ; and that recreant

officers should be superseded and punished. His indignation

warms as he goes on : ” It has been represented that

advantage is taken of the laws against opium by extortionate

underlings and worthless vagrants, to benefit themselves. Is it

not known, then, that when government enacts a law, there is

necessarily an infi-action of that law ? And though tlie law

should sometimes be relaxed and become ineffectual, yet surely

it should not on that account be abolished ; any more than we

‘ Chinese Eepositoi-y, Vol. V., pp. 139, 259, 385 fiE.

eliould altogether cease to eat because of stoppage of the throat

The laws which forbid the people to do wrong may be likened

to the dikes which prevent the overflowing of water. If any

one urging, then, that the dikes are veiy old and therefore useless,

we should have them thrown down, w hat words could ex-

]u-ess the consequences of the impetuous lush and all-destroying

overflow! Yet the provincials, when discussing the subject of

opium, being perplexed and bewildered by it, think that a prohibition

which does not iiUerhj prohibit is better than one which

does not effectually prevent the importation of the drug. . . .

If we can l)ut prevent the importation of o])ium, the exportation

of dollars will then cease of itself, and the two offences will both

at once be stopped. Moreover, is it not better, by continuing the

old enactments, to find even a partial remedy for the evil, than by

a change of the laws to increase the importation still further? “

lie then proceeds to show that the native article could not

compete with the foreign, for it would not bo as well luainifactured,

and moreover ” all men prize what is strange and undervalue

whatever is in ordinary use.” Its cultivation would occupy

rich and fertile land now used for nutritive grains : ” To draw

off in this way the waters of the great fountain requisite for the

production of food and raiment, and to lavish them upon the

root whence calamity and disaster spring forth, is an eri-or like

that of the physician who, when treating a mere external disease,

drives it inward to the heart and centre of the body. Shall

the fine fields of Kwangtnng, ^vhich produce their three crops

every year, be given up for the cultivation of this noxious Meed ‘i”

He says the question does not concern property and duties, but the welfare and vigor of the people ; and quotes from the 7//,vtory of Formosa a passage showing the way in which the natives there were enervated by using it, and adds that the purpose of the English in introducing opium into the country has been to weaken and enfeeble it. Kanghi long ago (1717) remarked, he observes, ” There is cause for apprehension, lest in the centuries or millenniums to come China may be endangered by collisions with the various nations of the AYest who come hither from beyond the seas.” And now, in less than two centuries, “weseo the commencement of that danger which he apprehended.”

CIIU T8UN OPPOSES THE PROPOSITION. 485

The suggestion of II ii Nai-tsi, to allow it to the people ami interdict the officers, is called bad casuistry, ” like shutting a woman’s ears before you steal her earrings/’ He shows that thi& distinction will be vain, for it will be impossible to say who is of the people and who are officers, for all the latter are taken from the body of the former. The permission will induce people to use it who now refrain from fear of the laws ; for even the proposal has caused ” thieves and villains on all hands to raise their heads and open their eyes, gazing about and pointing the finger under the notion that wheu’once these prohibitions

are repealed, thenceforth and forever they may regard themselves

far from every restraint and cause of fear.” He asserts

that nothing l)ut strong laws rigidly carried into effect will restrain

them from their evil ways, and concludes by recommending

increased stringency in their execution as the only hope of

reformation.

This spirited paper was supported by another fvom a sub-censor,

Hii Kiu, on the necessity of checking the exportation of

silver, and reconnnending that a determined officer be sent to

punish severely the native traitors, which would add dignity to

the laws ; and then the barbarians would be awed and consequently

reform and be entirely defeated in their designs of conquering

the country. He cites several instances of their outrageous

A’iolation of the laws, such as levelling graves in Macao

for the purpose of making a road over them, landing goods

there for entering them at Canton in order to evade the duties

and port charges, and even riding in sedans with four bearers,

like Chinese officers. Force needed only to be put foi’th a little

and they would again be humbled to subjection ; but if they

still brought the pernicious drug, then inflict capital punishment

upon them as well as upon natives. The sub-censor agrees with Chu Tsun regarding the designs of foreigners in doing so, that they wished first to debilitate and impoverish the land as a pi-cparatory measure, for they never smoked the drug in their own country, but brought it all to China. This prevailing impression was derived mainly from the abstinence of foreign merchants and seamen.

Both these papers were transmitted to Canton for deliberation, although the local officers had already sent a memorial to the cabinet approving the suggestions of Hii Nai-tsi. At this time, however, it was properly remarked that ” there had been a diversity of opinion in regard to it, some requesting a change in the policy hitherto adopted, and others recommending the continuance of the severe prohibitions. It is highly important to consider the subject carefully in all its bearings, surveying at once the whole field of action so that such measures may be adopted as shall continue forever in force, free from all failure.”

This subject, the most important, it cannot be doubted, which had ever been deliberated upon by the Emperor of China and his council, was now fairly brought before the whole nation ; and if all the circumstances be taken into consideration, it was one of the most remarkable consultations of any age or country.

A long experience of the baneful effects of opium-smoking upon the health, minds, and property of those who used it, had produced a deep conviction in the minds of well-wdshers of their country of the necessity of some legal restraint over the people; while the annual drainage of specie at the rate of three or four million sterling for what brought misery and poverty in its train, alarmed those who cared only for the stability and prosperity of the country. The settlement or management of the question was one of equal difficulty and importance, and the

result proved that it was quite beyond the reach of both their

power and wisdom. Fully conscious of the weak moral principle

in themselves and in their countrymen, they considered it

right to restrain and deter the people by legislative enactments

and severe penalties. Ignorant of the nature of commercial

<lealings, they thought it both practicable and necessary to limit

the exportation of specie; for not having any substitute for

coin or any system of national credit, there was serious hazard,

otherwise, that the government would ultimately be bankrupted.

It is unjust to the Chinese to say, as was argued b}’ those who

had never felt these sufferings, that all parties were insincere in

their efforts to put down this trade, that it was a mere affectation

of morality, and that no one would be more chagrined to see it

stop than those apparently so strenuous against it. This assertion

was made bv Lord Palmerston in Parliament and re-echoed

THE MATTER REFERRED TO CANTON”. 487

by the Indian officials ; but those who have candidly examined

the proceedings of the Chinese, or have lived among the people

in a way to learn their real feelings, need not be told how incorrect

is the remark. The highest statesman and the debilitated,

victimized smoker alike agreed in their opinion of its bad effects,

and both were pretty nnich in the position of a miserable lamb

in the coil of a hungry anaconda.

The debate among the Chinese excited a discussion among

foreigners, most of whom were engaged in the traffic. Here

the gist of the question turned upon the points whether opium

was really a noxious stinnilant 2^^^ ^^1 ^.nd whether the Chinese

government was sincere in its prohibitions in the face of the

notorious connivance of the officers along the coast from Hainan

to Tientsin. One writer conclusively proved its baneful effects

upon the system when taken constantly, and that its habitual

use in the smallest degree almost certainly led to intemperate or

uncontrollable use ; he then charges the crime of nuirder upon

those who traffic in it, and asserts that ” the perpetuating and

encouraging and engaging in a trade which promotes disease, misery, crime, madness, despair, and death, is to be an accomplice

with the guilty principals in that tremendous pursuit.” He

exposes the fallacy, liypocrisy, and guilt of the question whether

it be less criminal for a man to engage in a pursuit which he

knows to be injurious to his fellow-men, because if he does not

do so some one else will. The Court of Directors, even, whom

all the world knows to be chief managers of the cultivation,

manufacture, and sale of the drug, says in one of its despatches

that ” so repugnant are their feelings to the opium trade, they

would gladly, in compassion to mankind, put a total end to the

consumption of opium if they could. But they cannot do this,

and as opium will be grown somewhere or other, and will l)e

largely consumed in spite of all their benevolent wishes, they

can only do as they do ” !

Another Englishman engaged in the traffic defended it on the ground that what is bad now was always bad ; and the Emperor and his ministers had doubtless other grounds for their sudden opposition. He asserts that opium is ” a useful soother, a harmless luxury, and a precious medicine, except to those wli “abuse it,” and that while a few destroy themselves, the prudent many enjoy a pleasing solace, to get which tends to produce the persevering economy and the never-ceasing industry of the Chinese. He estimates that at a daily allowance of one and onethird ounce not more than one person in three hundred and twenty-six touches the pipe, and that there were not inore than nine hundred and twelve thousand victimized smokers in the Empire. He also remarked that the present mode of conducting the trade by large capitalists kept it respectable, and that if their characters were held up to odium and infamy it would get into the hands of desperadoes, pirates, and marauders. He looked upon the efforts to put it down as utterly futile as the proclamations of Elizabeth were to put down hops, or the Counterl) laste of James to stop tobacco.

This rejoinder was responded to by two M’riters, who clearhcxhil)

ited its nnsoundness and ridiculed the plea that the trade

should be kept in the hands of gentlemen and under the direction

of a monopol}’. The smuggler brought his vessel on the

coast, and there waited till the people came oif for his merchandise,

disposing of it without the least risk to himself, ” coolly

commenting on the injustice of the Chinese government in refusing

the practice of international law and reciprocity to countries

whose subjects it only knows as engaged in constant and

gross infraction of laws, the breaking of M’hich affects the basis

of all good government, the morals of the country.” The true

character of the smu”-“;lini»; trade is well set forth :

Reverse the picture. Suppose, by any cliaucc, that Cliinese junks were to

import into England, as a foreign and fashionable luxury, so harmless a thing

as arsenic or corrosive sublimate ; that after a few years it became a rage ; that

thousands, yea, hundreds of thousands used it, and that its use was, in consequence

of its bad effects, prohibited. Suppose that, in opposition to the prohibition,

junks were stationed in St. George’s Channel with a constant supply,

taking occasional trips to the Isle of Wight and the mouth of the Thames when

the officers were sufficiently attentive to their duty at the former station to prevent

its introduction there. Suppose the consumption to increase annually,

and to arouse the attention of the government and of those sound-thinking

men who foresaw misery and destruction from the rapid spread of an insidious,

unprofitable, and dangerous habit. Suppose, in fact, that, muUiUy vomive, all

which has been achieved here had been practised there. Suppose some con-

Beivators of the public morals to be aroused at last, and to remonstrate againsJ

DISCUSSION AMONG THE FOREIGNERS. 489

its use and increase ; and that among the nation sending forth this destroyer to prey on private happiness and pnhlic virtue, one or two pious and wellmeaning bonzes were to r’jiuonstrato with their countrymen on the enormity of their conduct : —how wonderfully consolatory to one party, and unanswerable to the other, must be the remark of Ihe well-dressed and well-educated Chinese merchant: ” Hai ya ! my friend, do not you see my silk dress and the crystal knob on my cap; don’t you know that I have read and can quote Confucius, Mencius, and all the Five Books ; do you not see that the barbarians are passionately

fond of arsenic, that they will have it, and even go so far as to pay for

it ; and can you, for one moment, doubt that it would not be much worse for

tliem if, instead of my bringing it, it were left to the cliance, needy, and uncertain

supply which low men of no capital could afford to bring V ” ‘

Tlie writer sliows that instead of only one person in every

three hiindi-ed and twenty-six using the pipe, it was far more

probable that at least one out of every one hundred and fifty

(or about two million five hundred thousand in all) of the population

was a victimized smoker. The assertion of its being a

harmless luxury to the many, like wine or beer, is disputed, and

the sophisticated argument of its use as a means of hospitality

exploded. ” What would a benevolent and sober-minded

Chinese think,” he asks, ” were the sophistry of the defendei’s

of this trade translated for him ? Where would he find the

high-principled and high-minded inhabitants of the far-off

coimtry ? How could he be made to comprehend that the believers

in and practisers of Christian morality advocated a trade

so ruinous to his country ? That the government of India compelled

the growth of it by unwilling ryots; and that, instead of

its being brought to China by ‘ desperadoes, pirates, and marauders,’

it was purveyed by a body of capitalists, not participating

certainly in what they carry, but supplying the Indian revenue

safely and peaceably ; that the British government and others

encouraged it ; and that the agents in the traffic M-ere constantly

residing at Canton, protected by the government whose

laws they outraged, but monstrously indignant, and appealing to

their governments, if No. 2 longcloths are classed as No. 1 through the desperate villany of some paltry custom-house servant ?”

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol V., p. 409.

The other writer exposes the sinful fallacy of the argument of expediency, and then proceeds to show how great an obstacle it is in the way of diffusing the gospel among the Chinese. We nnist refer to their own remarks’ for the fuller development of the arguments, but this one showed the earnestness of his convictions by offering a premium of £100 for the best essay ” showing the effects of the opium trade on the commercial, political, and moral interests of the nations and individuals connected therewith, and pointing out the course they ought to pursue in regard to it.” There was, however, so little interest in the subject that this premium was neverawarded, though the proposal was extensively advertised both in China and England.

The governor of Canton and his colleagues soon learned that

the feeling at court was rather against legalizing the drug,

though they were directed to report concerning the amount of

duty proper to be levied on it ; and to show their zeal, arrested

several brokers and dealers. A-ming, one of the linguists, M’as

severely tortured and exposed in the cangue for exporting

sycee ; others escaped similar treatment by absconding. The

chief superintendent naively expressed his opinion that ” the

legalization of the trade in 0})ium would afford his ]\[ajesty’s

government great satisfaction,” but suggested that the gradual

diversion of British capital into other channels would be attended

with advantageous conse(piences. To one situated between

his own government, which promoted the preparation

and importation of opium, and the Chinese government, which

was now making extraordinary efforts to regulate it, and

deeply sensible of the injury resulting from its use to the

people around him, and to the reputation of his own and all

foreign nations from the constant infraction of the laws, the proposed

step of legalization offei-cd a timely relief. Xo one was

more desirous of putting a stop to this destructive traffic than

Captain Elliot, but knowing the impossibility of cheeking it by

laws, he naturally wished to see the nniltitude of political and

commercial evils growing out of snuiggling done away with.

There were, indeed, many things to urge in favor of this

‘ Chinese liepository, Vol. V., pp. 407, 41o, uud passim.

TUE PKOHIBITOKY LAWS ENFORCED. 491

course ; but the fact ought never to be lost sight of, and be

mentioned to the lasting credit of the Emperor Taukwang and

his advisers, in the midst of their perplexity and weakness, that

he would not admit opium because it was detrimental to his people.

The conflict was now fairly begun ; its issue between the

parties, so unequally matched—one having almost nothing but

the right on its side, the other assisted by every material and

physical advantage—could easily be foreseen. Captain Elliot,

as the recognized head of the British trade, received an order

through the Iiong merchants from the provincial authorities to

drive away the i-eceiving-ships from Lintin, and send the Emperor’s

commands to his king, that lieneeforth they be prohibited

coming. He replied that he could not transmit any orders

to his own sovereign which did not come to him direct from

the government, and quoted the recent instance of the governor-

general of Fuhkien communicating directly M’ith the captain

of a British ship of w^ar. The governor was therefore

forced to send his orders to the prefect and colonel of the

department to be enjoined on Captain Elliot. He replied by

promising to send it to his country, and adds, in true diplomatic

style, unworthy of himself and his nation : ” He has already

signified to your excellency, with truth and plainness, that his

commission extends only to the regular trade with this Empire ;

and further, that the existence of any other than this trade has

nev’eryet been suljmitted to the knowledge of his own gracious

sovereign.” Captain Elliot transmitted with these “orders” a

minute account of the condition of the opium trade, and a

memorandum respecting the desirableness of opening comnnmication

with the court. Lord Palmerston, in reply, intimates

that “her Majesty’s government do not see their way in such a

measure with sufficient clearness to justify them in adopting it

at the present moment.” He adds that no protection can be

afforded to ” enable British subjects to violate the laws of the

country to which they trade. Any loss, therefore, which such

persons may suffer in consequence of the more effectual execution

of the Chinese laws on this subject, must be borne by the parties who have brought that loss on themselves by their own acts.” A most paradoxical but funvonient position for this ‘• honorable ” officer of the Englisli goveriiuieiit to assiiiiie, and worthy to be recorded in contrast to the utterances from J-‘eking.

^’ear the close of 1837 the British flag was again hauled

down at Canton, and the superintendent returned to Macao because

he refused to superscribe tlie word p/’/iyOr ‘petition,’ upon

his communications, according to his instructions, and the governor

declined to receive them without it. In July, 1838, Sir

Frederick Maitland arrived in the Wellesley (T-l), and was

brought into correspondence with the Chinese Admiral Kwan,

in consequence of the forts firing upon an English schooner

passing the Bogue and stopping her to inquire Nvhether he or

any of his crew or women were on board. The Wellesley and

her two consorts were anchored near the forts, and the Chinese

admiral made a full apology for the mistake ; his conduct in

the affair was very creditable both to liis judgment and temper.

As soon as Sir Fj-ederick arrived, Captain Elliot vainly

endeavored to reopen correspondence with the governor by

sending an open letter to the city gates, which was received

and taken to him, but returned in the evening because it had

not the requii’cd superscription.

INCREASE OF SMl’GGLIXG AND AFFRAYS. 493

Having now fully taken the sense of the Empire in the replies received from all its highest officials, the Emperor DaoGuang increased his efforts to suppress the trade. In April, 1838, a native named Kwoh Si-ping was publicly strangled at Macao by express command of the Emperor, as a warning to others not to engage in exporting sycee or introducing opium. The execution was conducted by the district magistrate and subprefect with dignity and order in the presence of a crowd of natives and foreigners. More than fifty small craft under the English or American flag were constantly plying off the port of Canton, most of them engaged in smuggling. Sometimes the government exerted its power ; boats were destroyed, smugglers seized and tortured, and the sales checked ; then it M-enton again as briskly as ever. These boats were easily caught, for the government could exercise entire control over its own subjects; but when the foreign schooners, heavily urmcd and manned, sailed up and down the river delivering the drug, the revenue

cruisers vvei’e afraid to attack them. The hong merchants addressed

a note to all foreign residents concerning them, the close

of which vividly exhibits their unlucky position as the ” responsible

advisers’” of the barbarians : “Lately we have repeatedly

received edicts from the governor and lioppo severely reprimanding

us ; and we have also written to you, gentlemen of the different

nations, several times, giving you full information of the

orders and regulations, that you might perfectly obey them and

manage accordingly ; but you, gentlemen, continue wholly regardless.”

Collisions became more and more frequent between the Chinese

and their rulers, in consequence of the increased stringency of

the orders from court. In September, in an affray near Whampoa

between the militarj’ and villagers, several persons were

killed and scores arrested. The retailers at Canton were imprisoned,

and those found in other places brought there in

chains. In Ilupeh it was reported that the officers had punished

arrested smokers by cutting out a portion of the upper lip

to incapacitate them from using the pipe. Still, such was the

venality of the officers that even at this time the son of Governor

Tang himself was engaged in the traffic, and many of the

underlings only seized the drug from the smuggling-boats to retail

it themselves. The memorial of Hwang Tsioh-tsz”, advising

the penalty of death, was promulgated in Canton ; and the

Empd’or’s rescript urged to stronger measures. In a rapid survey

of the ill effects from the use of the drug, Hwang aeknoMdedges

that it had extended to Manchuria, and pervaded all ranks

of official and humble life. The efflux of silver “into the insatiate

depths of transmarine regions ” had caused the rate of

exchange for cash to rise until it was difficult to carry on the

business of government. lie then reviews the different plans

proposed for checking the cause of all this evil, such as guarding

the ports, stopping the entire foreign trade, arresting the smugglers,

shutting up the shops, and, lastly, encouraging the home

growth. lie confesses that the bribes paid the coast-guard service

and the maritime officei-s are so great as entirely to prevent

their vigilance; and that the home-prepared drug does not yield the same stimulus as the foreign article. As a last resort, he proposes to increase the penalties upon the consumers, laying all the blame upon them, and advises death to be awarded all who smoke opium after a year”s warning has been given them. The well-known subdivision of responsibility was to be made doubly strong by requiring bonds of every tithing and hundred that there were no smokers within their limits. Officers found guilty were not only to be executed, but their children deprived of the privilege of competing at the public examination. One cannot withhold a degree of sympathy for the helpless condition of the officers and statesmen of a great Empire sincerely desirous of doing their country service, and yet so sadly ignorant of their false position by their assumption of supremacy over the very nation whom they could not restrain, and whose officials they rejected for a formality. They might as well have tried to concert a measure to stop the YangZi Jiang river in its impetuous flow, as to check the opium trade by laws and penalties.

TRADE STOPPED AT CANTON”. 495

On December 3, 1SB8, about two peculs of opium were seized while landing at the factories, and the coolies carried into the city. They declared that they had been sent to Whampoa by Mr. Lines, a British merchant, to obtain the opium from an American ship consigned to Mr. Talbot. The governor ordered the Hang merchants to expel these two gentlemen and the ship within three days, on the garbled testimony of the two coolies. Mr. Talbot sent in a communication, stating that neither the ship nor himself had anything to do with the opium, and obtained a reversal of the order to leave. The Hang merchants were justly irritated, and informed the Chamber of Commerce that they would not rent their houses to any who would not give a bond to abstain from such proceedings, and refusing to open the trade until such bonds were given; they furthermore declared their intention to pull Mr. Innes’ house down if he refused to depart. The Chamber protested that ” the inviolability of their personal dwellings was a point imperatively necessary ” for their security ; the Hang merchants then )-esorted to entreaty, stating their difficult position between their own rulers on one side, who held them responsible for executing their orders, and the foreigners on the other, over whom they had little or no power. The Chamber could only express its regret at the unjust punishment inflicted on a Hang merchant, Punhoyqua, for this, and reassert its inability to control the acts of any foreigner.

The governor had put himself in this helpless condition by

refusing Captain Elliot’s letters ; and it is remarkable that he

hesitated to arrest Mr. Innes, when one word would have set

the populace on the factories and their tenants, and destroyed

them all. As an alternative, he now resolved to show foreigners

what consequences befel natives who dealt in opium ; and

while Mv. Innes still remained in Canton, he sent an otRcer

with fifteen soldiers to execute Ilo Lau-kin, a convicted dealer,

in front of the factories. The officer was proceeding to carry

his orders into effect near the American flag-stafP, when the

foreigners sallied out, pushed down the tent he was raising, and

told him in loud tones not to execute the man there. Quite

unprepared for this opposition, he hastily gathered up his implements

and went into a neighboring street, where the man

was strangled. Meanwhile a crowd collected to see these extraordinary

proceedings, whom the foreigners endeavored to

drive away, supposing that a little determination would soon

scatter them. Blows, however, were returned, the foreigners

driven into their factories, and the gates shut ; the crowd had

now become a mob, and under the impression that two natives

had been seized, they began to batter the fronts and break the

windows with stones and brickbats. They had had possession

of the square about three hours, and the danger was becoming

imminent, when the Pwanyu hien, or ‘ district magistrate,’ came

up, with three or four other officers, attended by a small body

of police. Stepping out of his sedan he waved his hand over

the crowd, the lictors pouncing upon three or four of the most

active, whom they began to chastise upon the spot, and the

storm was quelled. About twenty soldiers, armed with swords

and spears, took their stand in a conspicuous quarter ; the magistrate

and his retinue seated themselves, leaving the hong

merchants and the police to disperse the crowd. The foreigners

were also assured that all should be kept quiet during the

night, but not a word was said to them regarding their conduct in interfering with the execution or their lolly in bringing this danger upon themselves. This occurrence tended to impress both the government and people with contempt and hatred for foreigners and their characters, fear of their designs, and the necessity of restraining them. The majority of them Avere engaged in the opium trade, and all stood before the Empire as violators of the laws, while the people themselves suffered the dreadful penalty.

There is no room for the details and correspondence connected with this remarkable incident.’ Captain Elliot now reappeared in Canton, and at a general meeting expressed his conviction of the cause of these untoward events in the snniggling traffic on the

river, declaring his intention of ordering all the British-owned

vessels to leave it within three days ; he moreover expressed tlie

hope that the further step of opening connnunication with the

provincial authorities to obtain their co-operation to drive them

out would be prevented by their speedy departure. Injunctions

and entreaties to his countrymen were, however, alike unavailing,

and he accordingly addressed the governor, stating liis wish to

co-operate in driving them out. In a public notice he remarked

that ” this course of traffic was rapidly staining the British

character with deep disgrace ” and exposing the regular commerce

to innninent jeopardy, and that he meant to shrink from

no responsibility in drawing it to a conclusion. The governor,

as was expected, praised the superintendent for his offer, but

left him to do the whole work; lenuirking, in that peculiar

strain of Chinese conceit which so effectually forestalls our

sympathy for their difficulties, that ” it may well be conceived

that these boats trouble me not one iota :”—as if all he had to

do was to arise in his majesty, and they were gone. The boats,

hoM’ever, gradually left the river. Mr. Innes retired, and the

regular trade was j-esumed in January.

Chinese Jtepositai’y, Vol. VII. , pp. 437-456.

ArPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONER LIN. 497

No British consular officer has been placed in a more difficult and humiliating dilemma, and Captain Elliot did himself honor in his efforts. The English newspapers ridiculed him as a tidewaiter of the Chinese custom-house, a man who aided the cowardly authorities to carry their orders into effect, thereby staining the honor of her Majesty’s commission. Although ho did not intend to draw a line between the heinousness of the opium trade inside of the I’ogue and its harmlessness beyond that limit, still there were good reasons, under his peculiar position, for some action to show the Chinese government that British power would not protect British subjects in violating the laws of China.

At this period the Peking govermnent had taken its course

of action. Reports had been received from the provincial authorities

almost unanimously recommending increased stringency

to abolish the traffic. History, so far as we know, does

not record a similar example of an arbitrary, despotic, pagan government taking the public sentiment of its own people before

adopting a doubtful line of conduct. It was a far more momentous

and difficult question than eyen the cabinet deemed it to

be, while their conceit and ignorance incapacitated them from

dealing with it prudently or successfully. There can be no reasonable

doubt that the best part of his people and the moral

power of the nation were with their sovereign in this attempt.

Hii Xai-tsi was dismissed for proposing legalization, and three

princes of the blood degraded for smoking opium ; arrests, fines,

tortures, imprisonments, and executions were frequent in the

provinces on the same grounds, all showing the determination

to eradicate it. The governor of llukwang, Lin Tseh-sii, was

ordered to proceed to Canton, with unlimited powers to stop the

traffic. The trade thei’e was at this time almost suspended, the

deliveries being small and at losing pi-ices. Many underlings

were convicted and summarily punished, and on February

2Gth Fung A-ngan was strangled in front of the factoi-ies

for his connection with opium and participation in the affray

at Whampoa. The foreign flags, English, American, Dutch,

and French, were all hauled down in consequence. The entire

stoppage of all ti-ade ^yas thi-eatened, and the governor urged

foreigners to send all opium ships from Chinese waters.

Commissioner Lin arriyed in Canton March lOth. The Emperor sent him to inquire and act so as thoroughly to remove the source of the evil, foi-, says he, ” if the source of the evil lie not clearly ascertained, how can we hope that the stream of pernicious consequences shall be stayed? It is our full hope that the long-indulged habit will be forever laid aside, and every root and o-erni of it entirely eradicated : we would fain think that our ministers will be enabled to substantiate our wishes, and so remove from China the dire calamity/’ It was reported in Canton that the monarch, when recounting the evils which had long afflicted his people by means of opium, paused and wept, and turning to Lin, said : ” How, alas ! can I die and go to the shades of my imperial father and ancestors, until these direful evils are removed ! ” Such was the chief purpose of this movement on the part of the Chinese government, and Lin was invested with the fullest powers ever conferred on a subject. Although long experience of the ineffectiveness of Chinese edicts generally lead those residing in the country to regard them as mere verbiage, still, to say that they are all insincere and formal because they are ineffectual, is to misjudge and pervert the emotions of common humanity. Lin appears to have been well fitted for the mission , and if he had been half as enlightened as he was sincere, he would perhaps have averted the war which followed, and been convinced that legalization was the most judicious step he could recommend.

The connnissioner spent a week making inquiries, during

which time nothing was publicly heard from him; while natives

and foreigners alike anxiously speculated as to his plans. It was

not until March 18th that his first proclanuitions were issued to

the hong merchants and foreigners ; that to the latter required

them to deliver up all the opium in the storeships, and to give

bonds that they would bring no more, on penalty of death.

The poor hong merchants were, as usual, instructed regarding

their responsibility to admonish the foreigners, and strictly

charged to procure these bonds, or they would be made examples

of. Three days were allowed for compliance with these demands.

Thehoppo had already issued orders detaining all foreigners

in Canton—in fact, making them prisoners in their own

houses; comnnmication with the shipping was suspended, troops

were assembled about the factories, and armed cruisers stationed

on the river. The Chamber of Commerce wrote to the hong

LIN DEMANDS A SURRENDER OF OPII’M. 499

merchants on the 20th^ through their chamiian,W. S, Wetniore,

an American, stating that they would send a definite reply in

four days, and adding that ” there is an almost unanimous feeling

in the community of the absolute necessity of the foreign

residents of Canton having no connection with the opium traffic/’

This paper was taken to the commissioner, and ahout ten

o’clock P.M. the hong merchants again met the Chaniber, and

told them that if some opium was not given up two of their

number would be beheaded in the morning. The merchants

present, including British, Parsees, Americans, and others, acting

as individuals, then subscribed one thousand and thirtyseven

chests, to be tendered to the commissioner ; but the hong

merchants reported next morning that this amount was insufficient.

In the afternoon Lin sent an invitation to Mr. Dent, a

leading English merchant, to meet him at the city gates, who

expressed his willingness to go if the commissioner would give

him a safe-warrant guaranteeing his return within a day. The

hong merchants returned without Inm ; and the next morning

two of them, Howqua and Mowqua, came again to his house

with chains upon their necks, having been sent with an express

order for him to appear. They repaired to the Chamber of

Commerce then assembled, but all soon returned to Mr. Dent’s

house, where an animated debate took place, which resulted in

the unanimous decision on the part of the foreign residents

that he should not go into the city without the safe-warrant.

This unexpected demand caused much discussion among foreigners, as it was doubtless a contrivance to secure a hostage; and the refusal of the former to give a written safe-warrant would probably have ended in seizing Mr. Dent and imprisoning him, if Ilowqua, the senior hong merchant, had not allowed everything to wait over one day till Monday. Mr. Dent’s partner had that day seen i\\e a7i-chah sz\ or ‘provincial judge,’ in the city to explain why he hesitated to go to Lin.

On the 22d Captain Elliot sent a note to the governor expressing his readiness to meet the Chinese officers, and use ” his sincere efforts to fulfil the pleasure of the great Emperor as soon as it was made known to him.” The Chinese could hardly draw any other conclusion from this admission than that he had the power, as well as the inclination to put down the opium trade, which he certainly could not do ; it tended therefore to deceive them. This note was followed by a letter to Captain Blake, of the Larne, requesting his assistance in defending British property and life, and by a circular ordering all British ships, opium and others, to proceed to Hongkong and prepare themselves to resist every act of aggression. A second circular to British subjects detailed the reasons which compelled him to withdraw all conlidencc in the “justice and moderation of the provincial government,”‘ and demand passports for all his countrymen who wished to leave Canton, while counselling every one to make preparations to remove on board ship. Elliot

now proceeded to Canton, which he safely reached about sunset

Sunday evening, dressed in naval uniform and closely attended

by cruisers watching his movements. The British flag was

then hoisted, and Captain Elliot, conducting Mr. Dent to the

consulate in the most conspicuous manner, summoned a public

meeting, read his notice of the previous day, and told the hong

merchants to inform the commissioner that he was willing to

let Mr. Dent go into the city if he could accompany him.

His coming up the river had excited the apprehensions of

the Chinese that he meant to force his way out again, and

oi’ders were issued to close every pass around the factories. By

nine o’clock that evening the foreigners, about two hundred

and Feventy-fi\e in number, Avere the only inmates of their

houses. Patrols, sentinels, and officers, hastening hither and

thither, with the blowing of trumpets and beating of gongs,

added confusion to the darkness of the night.

THE FOKEIGNEKS IMPRISONED IN THE FACTORIES. 501

On the 25th most of the foreign merchants of all nations signed a paper pledging themselves ” not to deal in opium, nor to attempt to introduce it into the Chinese Empire : ” how many of the individuals subsequently broke this pledge on the ground that it Avas forced from them cannot be stated, but part of the firms which signed it afterward actively engaged in the trade. Captain Elliot applied for passports for himself and countrymen, and requested the return of the servants, avoiding all reference to his promise of three days before, or mention of the cause of these stringent proceedings. His requests were refused ; no native was allowed to bring food or water to the factories; letters could not be sent to AVlianipoa or Macao, except at ininiiucnt risk ; the continciiient was complete, and had been effected without the least personal harm. The heavy punishment which had fallen on Kwoh Si-ping, Ho Lau-kin, and Fung A-ngan had now come near to the foreign agents of the traihc ; but not an individual had been touched.

The commissioner next issued an exhortation to all foreigners,

urging them to deliver the drug on four grounds, viz., because

they were men and had reason ; becanse the laws forbade its

use, nnder severe penalties ; because they should have feelings

for those who suffered from using it ; and because of their

present duress, from which they would then be released. This

paper, as were all those issued by Lin, was characterized by an

uimsual vigor of expression and cogency of reasoning, but betrayed the same arrogance and ignorance which had misled his predecessors. One extract will suffice. Under the first reason why the opium should be delivered up, lie says that otherwise the retribution of heaven will follow them, and cites some cases to prove this: Now, our great Emperor, being actuated by the exatted virtue of heaven itself, wishes to cut off this deluge of opium, which is the jilainest proof that such is the intention of high heaven! It is then a traffic on which heaven looks with disgust, and who is he that may oppose its will ? Thus in the instance

of the English chief Robarts, who violated our laws ; he endeavored to

get possession of Macao by force, and at Macao he died! Again, in 1834, Lord

Napier bolted through the Bocca Tigris, but being overwhelmed with grief and

fear he almost immediately died : and Morrison, who had been darkly deceiving

him, died that very year also! Besides these, every one of those who have

not observed our laws have either been overtaken with the jiidgments of heaven

on returning to their country, or silently cut off ere they could return

thither. Thus then it is manifest that the heavenly dynasty may not be opposed I Two communications to Captain Elliot, from Lin through the prefect and district magistrates, accompanied this exhortation,

stating his view of the superintendent’s conduct in contumaciously

resisting his commands and requiring him to give np the

opium. For once in the history of foreign intercourse with

China, these commands were obeyed, and after intimating his readiness to comply, Captain Elliot issued a circular on Marcb

27th, which from its important results is quoted entire :

I, Charles Elliot, chief superintendent of the trade of British subjects in

China, presently forcibly detained by the provincial government, together with

all the merchants of my own and the other foreign nations settled liere, without

supplies of food, deprived of our servants, and cut off from all iutercoui’se

with our respective countries (notwithstanding my own official demand to be

set at liberty that I might act without restraint), have now received the commands

of the high commissioner, issued directly to me under the seals of the

honorable officers, to deliver into his hand all the opium held by the people

of my own country. Now I, the said chief superintendent, thus constrained by

paramount motives affecting the safety of the lives and liberty of all the foreigiu’rs

here present in Canton, and by other very weighty causes, do hereby,

in the name and on the behalf of her Britannic Majesty’s government, enjoin

and require all her Majesty’s subjects now present in Canton, forthwith to

make a surrender to me for the service of her said Majesty’s government, to be delivered over to the government of China, of all the opium under their respective control : and to hold the British ships and vessels engaged in the opium trade subject to my immediate direction : and to forward me without delay a sealed list of all the British-owned opium in their respective possession.

And I, the said chief superintendent, du now, in the most full and unreserved manner, hold myself responsible for, and on the behalf of her Britannic Majesty’s government, to all and each of her Majesty’s subjects surrendering the said British-owned opium into my hands, to be delivered over to the Chinese government. And I, the said chief superintendent, do further especially caution all her Majesty’s subjects here present in Canton, owners of or charged with the management of opium the property of British subjects, that failing the surrender of the said opium into my hands at or before six o’clock this day, I, the said superintendent, hereby declare her Majesty’s government wholly free of all manner of responsibility in respect of the said British-owned opium.

And it is specially to be understood that proof of British property and value of all British-owned opium surrendered to mo agreeable to this iu)tic(>, shall bedetermined upon principles, and in a manner liereafter to be defined by her Majesty’s government.

‘The guarantee offered in this notice was deemed sufficient by

the merchants, thoui2;h Captain Elliot had no authority to take

such a responsibility, and exceeded his powers in giving it ; being

the authorized agent of the crown, however, his government

was responsible for his acts, though the notice did not, nor

could it, set any price npon the sui-rendercd property.

At the time it was given it could not l)e honestly said that

‘ Cliinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 633.

CAPTAIN ELLIOT S CIRCULAR. 503

tlic lives of foreigners were in jeopardy, and Lin liad promised

to reopen the trade as soon as the opium was delivered and the

bonds given. What the other ” very weighty causes ” were

nnist be guessed ; but the requisition was promptly answered,

and before night twenty thousand two hundred and eighty-three

chests of opium had been surrendered, which Captain Elliot the

next day tendered to the connnissioner. Their market value at

tlie time was not far from nine millions of dollars, and the cost

price nearly eleven millions. Directions were sent to twentytwo

vessels to anchor near the Bogue, to await orders for its

delivery, the commissioner and the governor themselves going

down forty miles to superintend the transfer. On April 2d the arrangements for delivering the opium were completed, and on May 21st it was all housed near the Bogue.

When the guard M-as placed about the factories, no native

came near them for three days, but on the 21>tli a supply of

sheep, pigs, poultry’, and other provisions was “graciously bestowed

” upon their inmates, most of whom refused them as

gifts, which impressed Lin with the belief that they were not

actually suffering for food. On May 5th the guards and boats

M-ere removed, and communication resumed with the shipping.

Sixteen persons, English, Americans, and Parsees, named as

principal agents in the opium trade, were ordered to leave the

country and never return. On the 24th Captain Elliot left

Canton, accompanied by the ten British subjects mentioned

among the sixteen outlawed persons. In order still further to

involve her Majesty’s ministers in his acts, he forbade British

ships entering the port, or any British subject living in Canton,

on the ground that both life and property were insecure; there were, however, no serious apprehensions felt by other foreigners remaining there ; and the propriety of the order was questioned by those who were serious sufferers from its action.

This success in getting the opium encouraged Lin to demand the bond, but although the captains of most of the ships signed it when the port was first opened, it was not required long after. The British merchants at Canton prepared a memorial to the foreign secretary of their government, recapitulating the aggressive acts of the Chinese government in stopping the legal trade, detaining all foreigners in Canton until the opium was surrendered, and requiring them to sign a hund not to bring it again, which involved their responsibility over those whom they could not control; but nothing was said in it of their own unlawful acts, no reference to their promises of a few months before, no allusion to the causes of these acts of aggression. Its burden was, however, to urge the government to issue a notice of its intentions respecting the pledge given them by the superintendent in his demand for the opium.

Lin referred to Peking for orders concerning the disposal of

the opium, and his Majesty commanded the Mhole to be destroyed

by him and his colleagues in the presence of the civil

and military officers, the inhabitants of the coast, and the foreigners,

” that they may know and tremble thereat.” Captain

Elliot, on the other hand, before it had all been delivered, wrote

to his government, April 22d, his belief that the Chinese intended

to sell it at a high price, remunerating the owners and

pocketing the difference, ])reparatory to legalizing the traffic,

and making some arrangements to limit the annual importation

to a certain number of chests ; consequently he recommended

an ” innnediate and strong declaration to exact complete indemnity

for all manner of loss ” from the Chinese. lie calls Lin “false and perfidious,” though it is difficult to see why he applies these epithets to one who seems to have sincerely endeavored to carry out instructions, while his own communicfttions certainly tended to mislead him. The sense of the responsibility he had assumed, and the irritating confinement under which it was written, account, in a measure, for this despatch, so different in its tenor from his previous declarations.

THE OPIU.>r YIELDED AND DESTROYED. 505

The opium was destroyed in the most thorough manner, by Hiixiiig it in parcels of two hundred chests, in trenches, with lime and salt water, and then drawing off the contents into the adjacent creek at low tide. Overseers were stationed to prevent the workmeunor villagers from ])urloining the opium, and one man was summarily executed for attempting to carry away a small quantity. No doubt remained in the minds of persons who visited the place and examined the operation, that the entire quantity of twenty thousand two hundred and ninety-one eliests received from the English(eiglit nioi-e having been sent from Macao) was completely destroyed:—a solitary instance in the history of the world of a pagan monarch preferring to destroy what would injure his subjects, rather than to fill hisown pockets with its sale. The whole transaction M’ill ever remain one of the most remarkable incidents in human history for its contrasts, and the great changes it introduced into China.’

The course of events during the remainder of the year 1839 presents a strange mixture of traffic and hostility. The British merchants were obliged to send their goods to Canton in ships sailing under other Hags, which led the commissioner to issue placards exhorting British captains to bring their ships into port. This procedure brought out a rejoinder from Captain Elliot, giving the reasons why he had forbidden them to do so, and complaining of his own unjust imprisonment as unbecoming treatment to the “officer of a friendly nation, recognized by the Emperoi*, who had always performed his duty peacefully and irreproachably.” Captain Elliot’s own correspondence shows, however, that this is an unfair statement of the political relations between them.

While this matter of trade was pending, a drunken affray occurred at Hongkong with some English sailors, in which an inoffensive native named Lin Wei-lii lost his life. The commissioner ordered an inquest to be held, and demanded the nnn–derer, according to Chinese law. The superintendent empanelled a regular court of criminal and admiralty jurisdiction at Ilongicong, to try the seamen who had been arrested. He also offered’ Sir Robert Peel declared that this property was obtained by her Majesty’s agent without any authority ; but when the six millions of dollars were received from the Chinese as indemnity, the British government made its subjects receive their money in London, charged them with all expenses insteal of paying it in China, and priced the opium at scarcely half what the East India Company had received from it, by taking the market rates when the trade at Canton was nominal. The merchants lost, with accruing interest, about two millions sterling, and “Sir R. Peel transferred a million sterling from their pockets to the public treasury.”—Chinese liepositon/, Vol. XIIL, p. 54 (from London paper).

CHAPTER XXIII. PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF THE FIRST WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND CHINA

On June 22, 1840, before the advance part of the British force reached China, Sir Goi’don Bremer published a notice oi the blockade of the port of Canton. The Americans living There had requested Lin to let all their ships arriving before it was laid on come directly up the river, lie granted the application, but declared it ” to be an egregious mistake, analogous to an audacious falsehood, that the English contemplated putting on a hlo’^kade.”” Captain Elliot also issued a manifesto to the people, which was widely dispersed, setting forth the grievances which had been suffered by the English at the hands of Lin, and assuring them that noliarm would come while they pursued their peaceful occupations—for the quarrel was entirely between the two governments, and the Queen had deputed high officers to make known the truth to the Emperor.

Sir Gordon Bremer’s force of live ships of war, three steamers,

and twenty-one transports reached Tingliai harbor July 1th. In

reply to a summons to surrender, the Chinese officers declared

their determination to resist as far as their means allowed ; but

complained of the hardship of being made answerable for

wrongs done at Canton, upon which place the blow should properly

fall. The attack was made on Sunday, July 5th, when the

Wellesley (74) opened her guns on the town, which were

answered by the juidcs and batteries. A few minutes sufficed

to silence the latter, and three thousand men landed and

menaced Tinghai, whose walls were lined with soldiers. The

town was. evacuated dm-ing the night, most of the respectable

inhabitants going to NingBo ; many of the Chinese high officials were killed, which, with the experience of the terrible foreign force brought against them, disheartened their troops beyond measure.

AERIVAL OF THE J5KITISH—FALL OF TINGIIAI, 515

Two days after this attack tiie joint plenipotentiaries, Admiral G. Elliot and Captain Elliot, arrived in the Melville (74) at Cliusan. To the authorities at Amoy and Ningbo they sent copies of Lord Palmerston’s letter to the Emperor, with a request to forward them to Peking ; the officials declined, however, undertaking any such responsibility.

The prefect of Ningbo took measures to prevent the people of Chusan from ” aiding and comforting” their conquerors by sending police-runners to mark those who supplied them ; a purveyor from Canton was seized and brought back. An idea that the Chinese people wished to throw off the Manchu yoke, and a desire to conciliate the islanders, led the British to take less decided measures for supplying themselves with provisions than they otherwise would. A small party was sent to recapture the puwvyor, but its unsuccessful trip over the island showed the unwillingness of the people to have anything to do with their invaders, while their dread was increased by the arrest of several village elders. Mr. Gutzlaff was stationed at Chusan, doing his best to reassure the people ; and as he went around exhorting them to act peaceably, some of them asked him, ” If you are so desirous of peace, why did you come here at all ?”

After arranging the government of the island, the stations of

the troops, and blockading of Amoy, Ningpo, and the mouths

of the Min and Yangtsz’ Rivers, the two plenipotentiaries left

Tinghai and anchored off the Pei ho August 11th, Captain Elliot

went ashore, and finding that Kislien, the governor-general of

Chilli], was at Taku, delivered the letter to his messenger, who

returned with a request for ten days’ delay in which to lay it

before the Emperor. During this interval the ships visited the

coast of Liautung to procure provisions, which they obtained

with some difficulty. No message coming ofp, a strong boat force was sent ashore on the 28th, with a menacing letter to Kishen, wdien it was ascertained that the reply had in reality been awaiting the return of the ships during several days. Arrangements were now made for a personal interview at Taku between Kisheu and Captain Elliot, on Sunday, August 30th, in a large tent. Kislien argued his side of the question with great tact and ability, sincerely urging the argument that his master had the most unquestionable right to treat the English

as he had done, for they were and had em-olled themselves his

tributary subjects. He could not treat definitely on all the

points in dispute, and obtained a further delay of six days in

order to refer again to Peking. The conclusion was the reasonable

arrangement that Kishen should meet the English

plenipotentiaries at Canton, where the truth could be better

ascertained ; and on September 15th the squadron returned to Chusan.

While these things were taking place at Taku, there had occurred a few skirmishes elsewhere. A shipwrecked crew had fallen into Chinese hands and been carried to 3s’ingpo, and some foraging parties were roughly handled. Lin tried to inspirit his troops by offering large rewards for British ships and subjects, and a force of about one thousand two hundred men was stationed in and around the Barrier at Macao. Captain Smith, however, moved two sloops and a steamer near their position, and soon drove the soldiers away, destroying their guns and barracks.

Lin was busy enlisting volunteers and preparing the defences

of Canton, but in the sunnner he was ordered to return ” with

the speed of flames ” to Peking. His Majesty was uimeccssarily

severe upon his servant : ” You have not only proved

yourself unable to cut off their trade,” he says, ” but you have

also proved yourself unable to seize perverse natives. You

have but dissembled with empty words, and so far fi’om having

been any help in the affair, you have caused the waves of confusion

to arise, and a thousand interminable disorders are

sprouting ; in fact, you have been as if your arms wei’c tied,

without knowing what to do : it appears, then, you are no bettor

than a wooden image. When I meditate on all these things,

J am lilled with anger and melancholy.” Trade was carried on

notwithstanding the blockade, by sending tea and g(Kxls thi’ough

Macao ; and many ships loaded for England and the United

States.

INTERVIEW BETWEEN ELLIOT AND KISIIEN. 517

Admiral Elliot entered into a truce with Tlipu, governorgeneral

of (“lielikian*;, by wliicli each party agreed to observe

certain boundaries. ISickness and deatli had made sad inroads

into the health and numbers of the troops at Tinghai, owing to

their bad location, malaria, and iiii]>ro{)er food ; more than four

hundred out of the four thousand landed in July having died,

and three times that number being in the hospitals. The

people dared not reopen their shops until after the truce ; the

visits paid to various parts of the island better informed the

inhabitants of the personal character of their temporary rulers,

and a profitable trade in provisions encouraged them to farther

acquaintance.

The two plenipotentiaries returned November 20th, and immediately sent a steamer bearing a despatch from Ilipu to Kishen; the vessel was fired upon by an officer unacquainted with the meaning of a white flag—the intent and privileges of which were after this understood; Kishen made an ample apology for this mishap. Negotiations were resumed during the month of December, but the determination of the Chinese to resist rather than grant full indemnity for the opium was more and more apparent.

Kishen probably found more zeal among the people for a fight than he had supposed, but his own desires were to settle the matter ” more soon, more better.’” What demands were made as a last alternative are not known, but one of them,

the cession of the island of Hongkong, he refused to grant, and

broke off the discussion. Commodore Bremer thereupon attacked

and took the forts at Chuenpi and Taikok-tau on January

7th, when the furthei- progress of his forces was stayed bv

Kishen, who was present and saw enough to convince him of

the folly of resistance.

On January 20th the suspended negotiations had proceeded so far that Captain Elliot announced the conclusion of preliminary arrangements upon four points, viz., the cession of the island and harbor of Hongkong to the British crown, an indemnity of six millions of dollars in annual instalments, direct official intercourse upon an equal footing, and the immediate resumption of English trade at Canton. By these arrangements Chusan and Chuenpi were to be immediately restored to the Chinese, the prisoners at Ningbo released, and the English allowed to occupy Hongkong. One evidence of Kishen’s

” scrupulous good faith,” mentioned in Captain Elliot’s notice,

is the edict he put up on Hongkong, telling the inhabitants

they were now under English authority. Two interviews took

place after this, at the last of which it was plain that two of the

four stipulations, viz., the first instalment of a million of dollars,

and opening of trade by February 1st, would not be fulfilled.

The intimations of the designs of the court were so

evident that the treaty was probably never even presented to

the Emperor for ratification.

Kishen carried his negotiations thus far, with the hope perhaps

that an adjustment of the ditficulties on such terms would

be accepted by his imperial master. On the other hand, Lin

and his colleagues memorialized him as soon as Kishen came to

Canton against peaceful measures, and their reconnnendations

as to the necessity of resistance were strongly backed by the

mortifying loss of Cliusan. The approach of a large force to

the Pei ho alarmed his Majesty, and conciliatory measures were

taken, and a reference to Canton proposed before settling the

dispute ; when the men-of-war left, he was inclined for peace,

and issued orders not to attack the ships while the discussions

were going on. But the memorials had already changed iiis

mind, and war was determined on at the date of signing the

treaty. It is probable if, instead of seizing Chusan, which had

given no cause of provocation, the English had gone up the

Yangtsz’ kiang and Pei ho, and stationed themselves there until

their demands were granted, peace would have been soon made.

But, in that case, would the vain notion of their supremacy have

left the Chinese ?

Looking back forty years, one can recognize the benefit to

both parties whicli resulted from the failure of this treaty. The

great desire of Chi’istian people, who believed that China was

finally to receive the gospel, was that it might be opened to

their benevolent effoi’ts, l)ut this treat)’ left the country as closed

as ever to all good influences, commercial, political, social, and

religious, while the evils of smuggling, law-breaking, and opium-

Bmoking remained unmolested. The crisis which had brought

FAILURE OF NEGOTIATIONS AT THE BOGUE. 519

out this expedition was not likely soon to recur, and if this

failed to break down its seclusiveness, no other nation Mould

attempt the task. Every well-wisher of China cherished the

hope that, since this unfortunate conflict nnist needs be, its outcome

would leave the entire land fully accessible to the regenci–

ating, as well as shielded from the evil influences of Christian

nations.

Captain Elliot appreciated the dilemma into which the Emperor

had been brought by the acts of Lin, and knew that

ignorance was much more the misfortune than the fault of

both ; he acted humanely, therefore, in pui’suing a mild course

at first, until the points at issue had been fairly brought before

the people as well as the cabinet. However justly some parts

of his conduct may have merited criticism, this praiseworthy

feature of his policy by no means earned the torrent of abuse

he received for consistently pursuing such a course. His countrymen

would have had him burn, kill, and destroy, as soon as

the expedition reached the coast, before even stating his

demands at court ; and during his negotiations with Ivishen,

and when Chusan was restored, a smile of contempt at his supposed

gullibility was everywhere seen. The treaty of the Bogue, though formed in good faith by both commissioners, was rejected by both sovereigns, though for opposite reasons; by Victoria, because it did not grant enough, by Taukwang, because it granted too much.

The Emperor issued orders to resume the war, collect troops

from the provinces upon Canton and Tinghai, in order to ” destroy

and wipe clean away, to exterminate and root out the

rebellious barbarians,” and urged the people to regard them

with the same bitterness they did their personal enemies. His

mandate is couched in strong terms, saying that his enemies

have been rebellious against heaven, opposing reason, one in

spirit with the brute beasts, ” beings that the overshadowing

vault, and all-containing earth can hardly suffer to live,” obnoxious

to angels and men, and that he must discharge his

heaven-conferred trust by sweeping them from the face of the

earth. This decree exhibited the true principles of action of

this proud government, which deliberately rejected the offer of peace, and determined to npliold its fancied supremacy to the utmost. China nnist now win or hi’eak.

Ilostih} intentions had become so evident that Captain Elliot

announced that Commodoi’e l>i-emer would return to the Bogue

with tlie force ; the boats of the Nemesis were fired upon while

sounding, and the battery near Anunghoy was attacked the

same day that Clnisan was evacuated. Rewards of $50,000

were ofPered for Elliot, Bremei-, Morrison, and other ringleaders,

and all the defences put in the best condition. On Februarv

20th the Bogue foi’ts were all taken. Admiral Kwan falling

at his post. The British had nine ships, assisted by less than

five Inmdred troops, and two steamers. The Chinese force was

prol)ably over three thousand, but it made no resistance after

tlie batteries were taken ; the total loss Avas supposed to be not

far from a thousand. The forts were built so solidly that few

were kihed by tlie broadsides of tlie ships, and their magazines

so well protected that no explosions took- place; the powdeifound

in them was nsed to demolish the walls. There were in

all eight large forts on the sides of the river and AVangtong

Island, forming altogether a line of batteries which would have

been impregnable in the hands of European troops, and was not

without reason deemed to be so by the Chinese themselves.

The next day the small ships moved up to the First Bar, where

a long fortification on the river bank, and an intrenched camp

of two thousand troops, defended by upward of a hundred

cannon, with a strong raft thrown across the river, showed a

resolution to make a stand. The ships and steamers opened a

hot tire upon the batteries and camp, which returned it as well

as they could, but the loss of life was greatest when the English

landed. Many instances of personal bravery showed that the

Chinese were not all destitute of courage, but without discipline

and better weapons it was of no avail. Nearly one-fourth

were killed, their camp burned, the Chesapeake and all her

stores blown up, and most of the crew killed. The raft was

easily removed b}^ the steamers, to the mortification of the

Chinese, who had trusted that this might prove a permanent

barrier to the approach of ships to the city. From this point

the way was open to within five miles of Canton, and when the forts at that place were taken, the prefect met Captain Elliot on March od with a Hag of truce proposing a suspension of hostilities for three days.

CAPTURE OF THE APPKOACIIES TO CANTON”. 621

Kishen had already been ordered to return to Peking to

await his trial; his nieniorial’ on hearing of his degradation

does him credit. Iliang was left in command of the province

until four general officers, leading large bodies of troops, should

arrive. The highest of these was Yihshan, a nephew of the

Emperor, assisted by “i’ang Fang, Lungwan, and Tsishin. On

the part of the English, Major-dreneral Sir Hugh Gougli arrived

fi’om India to take command of the land forces, and Sir Gordon

Bremer sailed for Calcutta to procure recruits. Bodies of troops

were gathering in and around Canton to the amount of five

or six thousand, most of whom had come from the North-West Provinces, and were not less strange and formidable to the citizens than were their foreign” enemies.

After the truce, had expired the English moved toward Canton

by both the channels leading to the city, the iron steamer

Nemesis proceeding up the Irmer Passage, subduing all obstacles

in her way until every fort, raft, battery, camp, and stockade

between the ocean and Canton had been taken or destroyed,

and the city lay at their mercy. The factories had been kept

safely, and were occupied by British troops just two years

after Lin had imprisoned the foreigners there. A second truce

was agreed upon March 20th, by which trade was allowed to

proceed on the old mode ; merchant ships accordingly advanced

up the river, and for about six weeks trade went on uninterruptedly—one party getting their tea and the other their duties.

The new governor, Ki Kung, together with the “rebel-quelling general ” Yihshan, then arrived, and the people, thinking that a slight cause would disturb the truce, took advantage of it to remove their effects, well aware how much they would suffer from their own army in case of trouble.

^Chinese Repository, Vol. X., p. 335.

Toward the middle of May the hostile intentions of the Chinese were manifest, though cloaked under professions of amity; and on the 21st Captain Elliot notilied all foreigners to go

aboard ship. The secret prepai-ations for attack were very extensive. Large fire-boats and rafts were prepared, masked batteries erected along the river, troops quartered in the temples, and large camion placed in the streets. The day before the notice of Captain Elliot was issued, the prefect had the impudence to publish a proclamation assuring all classes of the

peaceful intentions of the commissioners. Finding their prey

gone, a night attack was made by land and water on the ships,

but none were seriously injured. As daylight advanced the

Xemesis went in pursuit of the fire-boats and junks, and burned

upward of sixty, while three men-of-war silenced the batteries

along shore. Meantime the Chinese troops searched the factory

buildings for arms and pillaged three of the hongs, to the

consternation of the prefect, who told the commissioner that he

would be forced to pay for losses thus sustained. On the 24th

the land and naval forces under Sir Hugh Gongh and Sir Fleming

Senhouse arrived from Hongkong and prepared to invest

the city. Most of the troops debarked above it, at Xeishing,

under the personal directions of Sir Fleming, M’ho had provided

many boats in which the force of two thousand six hundred

men, besides followers, guns, and stores, were toM’ed about

twelve miles. A detachment landed and took possession of the

factories. Sir Hugh Gough remained near the place of debarkation

till the next morning, when the whole body moved

onward to attack the forts and camps behind the city. As the

English advanced the Chinese found that their shot did not

reach them, so that after an hour”s firing they began to collect

outside of the forts, preparatory to retiring. The advance

puslied on, and sent them scampering down the hills toward

the city ; the intrenched camp was cai’ried with considei’able

loss to its defenders, who everywhere ran as soon as the fight

came to close quarters ; but in the forts there were many furious

struo;o;:les.

THE CITY RANSOMED. 523

On the 20th a driving rain stopped all operations ; and a ])arley was also requested from the now deserted city walls by two officers, who agreed to send a deputation to make arrangements for surrender. Night came on before any heralds appeared, so that it was not till morning that the troops were in position, the guns loaded and primed, port-fires lighted, and

everything in readiness to open lire, when a messenger arrived

from captain Elliot, desiring fm-ther operations to be

delayed until he had concluded his negotiations. The terms

were : that the forces should remain in position until a ransom

of $(),000,000 was paid ; that the three imperial commissioners

and all their troops should march sixty miles from the city; that compensation for the loss of property in the factories and

burning the Spanish brig Bilbaino should be at once handed

over or secured ; and that the Chinese troops, nearly fifty thousand

in number, should evacuate the city. Captain Elliot ought

indeed to have demanded a personal apology from Yihshan and

his colleagues for their infamous treachery before letting them

go. His acceptance of this ransom and sparing the city from

capture were sharply criticised at the time, and the contemptuous

bearing of the citizens during the sixteen ensuing years

of their possession proved that it was an ill-timed mercy. How

nuich influence the ordeis from home to be careful of the teatrade

had in this course cannot be learned.

While the English forces were occupying the heights the

lawless soldiers from Kweichau and Kwangsi began to plunder

the citizens, who retaliated till blood was shed and more than a

thousand persons were killed in the streets ; a patriot mob of

v^illagers, numbering about fifteen thousand, attacked the few

British troops left on the hills north of the city, but a prompt

advance on the part of Sir Hugh drove this rabble a rout of

some three miles. Upon their reappearance next day, the prefect

was told that if they were not instantly dispersed the city

would, be bombarded ; the threats and persuasions of the commissioners,

aided by a British officer, finally induced the mob to

retire. The superiority of discipline over mere numbers was

probably never more remarkably exhibited ; though the Chinese

outnumbered the English more than forty to one, not a single

foreigner was killed.

On the 31st the prefect furnished five hundred coolies to assist in transporting the guns and stores to the river side^ and ten days after Captain Elliot’s first notice everything was restored to the Chinese. The casualties among the British forces were fourteen killed and one hundred and twelve wounded, but about three hundred died from sickness. The losses of the Chinese from first to last could hardly have been much under five thousand men, besides thousands of cannon, ginjals, and

matchlocks. In posting their forces, placing their masked batteries,

and equipping their troops and forts, the Chinese showed

considerable strategy and skill, ])ut lack of discipline and confidence

rendered every defence unavailing. Yihshan and his associates

memorialized the Emperor, detailing their reasons for

ransoming the city and requesting an inquiry into their conduct.^

The sickness of the troops compelled the British force to

remain at Hongkong to recruit and wait for reinforcements.

Commodore 13remer returned as joint plenipotentiary, bringing

additional forces from Calcutta, and the expedition was on the

point of sailing northward when both he and Captain Elliot

were wrecked in a tyfoon, and this detained the ships a few

days longer. Before they sailed Sir Henry Pottinger and ^Vdmiral

Sir William Parker arrived direct from England to supersede

them both. Sir Henry announced his appointment and

duties, and also sent a communication to the governor of Canton,

assuring him that the existing truce would be observed as

long as the Chinese did not arm their forts, impede the regular

trade, which had been lately reopened to British ships by imperial

command, or trouble the merchants residing in the factories.

The trade went on at Canton, after this, without any

serious interruption during the M-ar, the usual duties and

charges being paid as if no hostilities existed.

The expedition moved northward, August t^lst, under the

joint conniiand of Sii” Hugh Gough and Admiral Parker, consisting

of two seventy fours and seven other ships of war, four

steamers, twenty-three transports, and a surveying vessel, carrying

in. all about three thousand five hundred troops. Six ships

and four or five liundicd Indian troops remained off (‘anton

and at Hongkong, to compel the observance of the tmice. The

force reached Amoy, and after a hasty reconnoissance attacked

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. X. (p. 402), in which, and in Vols. “VIII., IX., and XI., most of the official papor.s issued from the Chinese and English authorties during the war are contained.

FALI OF AMOY AND TINGHAI. 5*25

all its defences, which were carried without inuch loss of life on

either side. The city was taken on the 27t]i, and all the arms

and public stores, wall-pieces, ginjals, matchloc-ks, shields, uniforms,

bows, arrows, spears, and quantities of powder were destroyed

; five hundred cannon were found in the forts. AVlien

II. M. S. Blonde came into this harbor, fourteen months previous,

to deliver the letter for Peking, the fortifications consisted

only of two or three forts near the city, but every island and pro

tecting headland overlooking the harbor had since been occupied

and arn.ed, while a line of stone wall more than a mile long, with

embrasures roofed by large slabs covered with earth to protect

the guns, had been built, and batteries and bastions erected al

well-chosen points. The broadsides of the ships had little effect

liere, and it was not until the troops landed and drove out tha

garrisons, who “stood right manfully to their guns,’” that the

fire slackened, and the Chinese retreated. The city was completely

pillaged by native robbers, who ran riot during several

weeks until the craven authorities came back and resumed tliei.v

functions. The island of Kulang su was garrisoned by a detachment

of five hundred and fifty troops, and three ships left

to protect them. The British found one two-decker among the

war junks, built on a foreign model, launched and i-eady for

sea, canying twenty guns; all were bui-ned.

The English fieet again entered the harbor of Tinghai, September

29th, and found the beach much altered since February.

Stone walls and fortifications extended two miles in front of the

suburbs, besides sand-bags and redoubts thrown up q}\ well-selected

positions. They were taken after a defence marked with

unusual courage ; the general connnanding the battery and all his

suite were killed at their posts, and many hand-to-hand confiicts

took place. But bravery and numbers were alike unavailing,

and in two hours their defences were cleared, the walls of the

town escaladed, the whole force scattered, and the island subdued,

with the estimated loss to the Chinese of a thousand men.

Great quantities of oitlnance, among which were forty brass guns made in imitation of foreign howitzers, with military stores and provisions in abundance, were seized. A detachment was sent throughout the island to drive oft’ the enemy’s troops, and announce to the inhabitants that they were now under English authority. They evinced none of the alarm they had done the year before; provisions came in, shops were opened, and confidence in these proclamations generally exhibited. A military government was appointed, and a garrison of four hundred men left to protect the island.

The military operations in Chehkiang were conducted by

Yukien and Yu Pu-yun ; l)<)th these men had urged war, and

had done all they could to fortify Tinghai and Chinhai, whose

batteries and magazines showed the vigor of their operations.

The English fleet proceeded to Chinhai October 9th, and a force

of about two thousand two hundred men, with twelve field

pieces and mortars, landed next morning to attack the citadel

and intrenched camp. There were nearly five thousand men in

this position, who formed in good order as the English advanced,

opening a well-directed fire upon the front column, but (piite

neglecting two detachments on their flanks ; as the three opened

upon them nearly simultaneously, their force was completely

bewildered, and all soon broke and fled. Knowing nothing of

the mode of asking for quarter, while some fled into the country,

the greater part retreated toward the watei’, pursued by the

three colunms, hundreds being shot and hundreds drowned. Sir

Hugh (lough sent out a flag with Chinese written upon it, to

inform them that their lives >vould be spared if they yielded, but

not more than five hundred either could or would throw down

their arms. The water was soon covered with bodies, and fully

fifteen hundred soldiers lost their lives. The town and its

defences Avere bombarded, and the troops driven out. Yukien

endeavored to drown himself on seeing the day was lost,

but being ])revented he retreated to Yiiyau, whiere he comnntted

suicide, as was said, by swallowing gold leaf. lie was a

Manchu, and could not brook his master’s displeasure; but his

atrocious crueltv to two Englishmen who fell into his hands,

one of whom was flayed and tlien burnt to death, had aroused

general detestation against him. About one hundred and flfty

pieces of brass ordnance, with great quantities of gunpowder

and other military stores, were destroyed. Tlie guns and carriages

in the fort and batteries were so well made and phiced

CAPTURE OF CIIINIIAI AND NINGPO. 527

that ill some cases the victors on eutering turned tlieni against

the flying Chinese. The frame of a wlieel vessel, intended to

he moved hy human power, was found near Chinhai, sliowing,

as did the brass guns, traversing carriages, and frigate at Amoy,

that the Chinese were ah-eady imitating tlie machinery of war

from their foes.

Niiigpo was taken without resistance on the 13th. Many of

the people left the city, and those who remained shut themselves

in their houses, writing ,sA?^H nihi, ‘submissive people,’

on the doors. Captain Anstruther took possession of his old

prison—where he found the identical cage he had been carried

in—and released all the inmates to make way for his detachment

of artillery. About !5lOO,000 in sycee were found in this building,

upward of $70,000 in the treasury’, many tons of copper

cash in the mint, and rice, silk, and porcelain in the public

stores, forming altogether the most valuable prizes yet secured.

Sir Henry Pottinger intended at first to burn the city, but, happily

for his reputation, he decided to occupy it as winter quarters.

Leaving a garrison at Chinhai, he returned to Hongkong

in February, 1842, Sir Hugh and the admiral remaining at the

north.

The fall of Anioy, Tinghai, Chinhai, and Xingpo, instead of

disheartening the Emperor, served rather to inspirit him. His

commissioners, generals, and high officers generally did the best

their knowledge and means enabled them to do, and when defeated,

endeavored to palliate the discomfiture they could not

entirely conceal by misrepresenting the force brought against

them, and laying the blame upon the common people, the elements,

the native traitors who aided the British, or the inefficiency

of the naval armaments. The troops sent home Avith

tokens of victory from Canton stimulated the war spirit in the

western provinces. After they had gone Yihshan concocted

measures of defence, one of wliich was to enlist two or

three thousand volunteers, or “village braves,” near the city.

and place them under their own officers. The people having

been taught to despise foreigners were easily incensed against

them, and several cases of insult and wantonness were repeated

and magnified in order to stir up a spirit of revenge. These patriots supposed, nioi-eover, tliat it” the great Emperoi had failed on Mt-y/’, instead of entrusting the conduct of the (piarrel to truckling traitorous polti’oons like Kishen and the prefect, they could li ve av ^ -^ l»iin of his enemies.

Consequently the truce was soon broken in an underhand

manner by sinking hundreds of tons of stones in the river.

II. M. S. lloyalist levelled ;;:he fortifications at the Bogue, and

Captain Is ias destroyed a number of boats at Whampoa. After

the destruction of these forts and his retirement from the rivci\

Yihshan directed his attention to erect in o- forts near the citv,

casting guns, and drilling the volunteers, v.-ho numbered nearly

thirty thousand at the new year. He also gave a public dinner

to the rich men of the city, in order to learn their willingness

to contribute to the expenses of these measures. However,

since no serious obstacles were placed in the way of shipping

teas by the provincial officers, from the duties on which they

chiefly derived the funds for these undertakings, the Britisli

officers deemed it advisable to let them alone.

The case was different at other ))oints. The imperial government

had supposed that Amoy would be attacked, because the

visit of the Blonde showed that the barbarians, “sneaking in

and out like rats,” knew of its existence ; but the people of that

province, except near Amoy, took no particular interest in the

dispute, and probably knew far less of it than was known in

most parts of England and the United States; no newspapei\s,

with “own correspondents” to write the “latest accounts from

the seat of war,” narrated the progress of this struggle, which to

them was like the silent reflection of distant lightning in their

own quiet firmament. The sack of Amoy was a heavy blow to

its citizens, but the plunderers were mostly their countiymen; and when Captain Smith of the Druid had been there a short

time in command, and his character became known, they returned

to their houses and shops, supplied the garrison with provisions,

and even brought back a desei’ter, and assisted in chasing

some ])irates. Rumors of attack were always bi’ought to

him, and his decthwations allayed their fears, so that after the

sulj pi’efect resumed his authority no distui’bance occurred. The

p.xplanations of the missionaries on Kulang su, in diffusing a

better understanding of the object in occupying that island, also contributed to this result.

DETERMINED MEASURES OF DP:FKN(n:. 529

The loss of Chinhai and Xingpo threw the eastern parts of

Chehkiaug open to the invaders, and alarmed the couit far more

tlian the destruction of Canton would have done. The Emperor

appointed his nephew, Yihking, to be ” majesty-bearing genei-alissimo,” and with him Tih-i-shun and Wunwei, all Manchus, to

command the grand army and arouse the dwellers on the seacoast

to arm and defend themselves. ” Ministers and people !

Inhabitants of our dominions ! Ye are all the children of our

dynasty ! For two centuries ye have trod our earth and eaten

our food. Whoever among you has heavenly goodness nnist

needs detest these rebellious and disordei-ly barbarians even as

ye do your personal foes. On no account allow yourselves to be

deceived by their wiles, and act or live abroad with them.”

Such was the closing exhortation of an imperial proclamation

issued to encourage them. In order to raise funds for its operations,

the government resorted to the sale of office and titles

of nobility, and levied benevolences from rich individuals and

contributions from the people ; which, when large in amount,

were noticed and rewarded. Kishen, who had been tried at

Peking and sentenced to lose his life, was for some reason reprieved

to be associated with Yihking as an adviser, but never

proceeded beyond Chihli. Lin was also recalled from Ili, if

indeed he ever went be^’ond the Great “Wall, and Ih’pu, whose

treatment and release of the prisoners at Xingpo had gained

him the good-will of the English, was also sentenced to banishment,

but neither did he go beyond the Desert,

Defences were thrown up at Tientsin and Taku to guard the

passage to the capital, but the bar at the mouth of the Pei ho

was its sufficient protection. Fearing tliat the English would

advance upon the city of Ilangchau, the troops of the province

and all its available means were put into requisition. Sir Hugh

Gough could only approach it by a land march from Kingpo,

and deemed it advisable to wait for reinforcements, his available

force being reduced to six hundred men on entering that city.

The rewards given to the families of those who had fallen in

battle, and the posthumous honors conferred by the Emperor, stimnfated others to deeds of valor and a determination to accomplish their master’s vengeance. Yukien, ” who gave his

life for his country, casting himself into the water,” received

high titular honors in the hall of worthies, and his brother was

permitted to bring his corpse within the city of Peking. The

names of humbler servants were not forgotten in the impei-ial

rescripts, and a place was granted them among those whom the

“king delighteth to honor.” Thus did the Chinese endeavor

to reassert their supremacy, though their counsels and efforts

to chastise the rebellious barbarians were not unlike the deliberations of the rats upon ” how to bell the cat.”

The occupation of Ningpo was an eyesore to the Chinese

generals, but the citizens had learned their best interests and

generally kept quiet. They showed their genius in various contrivances

to carry off plunder, such as putting valuable articles

in coffins and ash-baskets, wrapping them around corpses, packing

them under vegetables or rubbish. One party overtook two

persons near Ningpo running off with a basket between them; on overtaking and recovering it, a well-dressed lady was found

coiled up, who, however, did not scream when detected. Another

was found in a locker on board a junk, and as the captain was

desirous of examining the mode of bandaging her feet, he told

his men to lift the body out of the closet, when a scream explained

the trick ; she was dismissed, and the money she had

endeavored to hide put into her hands. Opium M^as found in

most of the official residences ; its sale received no serious check

from the war, and no reference was made to it by either party.

Toward the end of the year 1841, information was received

of the collection of a large force at Yiiyau. Two iron steamei’S

soon landed seven hundred men, who took up a position for the

night, intending to escalade the walls in the morning ; but their

defenders evacuated the ])lace. The marines and seamen took

the circuit of the walls, and found the troops, about a thousand

strong, drawn up in array ; and the two, after exchanging their

fire, started on the run. The ])ublic stores wore destroyed, and

the town left to the care of its citizens, without inncli loss of life

on either side. On his return the general visited Tsz’ki, l)Ht

the troops and the authorities had decani])eth The rice found in

CHINESE ATTEMPT TO RECAPTURE NINGPO. 581

Hie granaries was distributed to the townsmen, and the detachment

returned to Ningpo December 31st. On u simiUir visit to

Fimghwa it was found that the authorities and troops liad fled,

so that to destroy the government stores and distribute the rice

to the people was all that remained to be done. These two

expeditions so terrified tlie ” majesty-bearing genei-alissimo,”

Yihking, and his colleagues, that they fled to Suchau, in

Kiano-su. With such leaders it is not strano;e that the villagers

near Ningpo wished to enrol themselves under British rule;

and the effect of the moderation of the English troops was seen

in the people giving them little or no molestation after the first

alarm was over, and supplying their wants as far as possible.

The force had fairly settled in its quarters at Kingpo, when

the Chinese opened the campaign, March 10th, by a well-concerted

night attack on the city. During the preceding day,

many troops entered the city in citizen’s clothes, and stationed

themselves near the gates ; and about three o’clock in the morning

the western and southern gates were attacked and driven

in. Colonel Morris ordered a party to retake the south gate,

which was done, wnth considerable loss to the enemy ; as usually

happened, the moment the Chinese were opposed their main

object was forgotten, and every man sought his own safety,

thereby exposing himself more fully to destruction. On the

approach of daylight the garrison assembled at the western

gate, and dragging two or three howitzers through it, came

upon the main force of the enemy drawn up in compact form,

headed by an officer on horseback. The volleys poured into

this dense mass mowed them down so that the street was choked

with dead bodies, and the horse of the leader actually covered

with corpses, from which he was seen vainly endeavoring to

release himself. Those who escaped the fire in front were

attacked in rear ; at last about six hundred were killed, and the

whole force of five thousand scattered by less than two hundred

Europeans, with the loss of one man killed and six wounded.

The British then prepared to attack an intrenched camp of

eight thousand troops near Tsz’ki, and about twelve hundred

w^ere embarked in the steamers. The Chinese had chosen their

ground vs^ell, on the acclivity of two hills behind the town, and ill Older to confound and dispei’se their enenij completely, tlia attacking force was divided so as to fall upon them on three

sides siniultane(»usly, which was done with great slaughter. The Chinese did not run until they began to close in with their opponents, when they soon found that their intimidating gesticulations and cheers, their tiger-faced shields and two-edged swords, were of no avail in terrifying the barlnirians or resisting their pistols, bayonets, and furious onset. In these cases,

emulation among the different parties of English troops to

distinguish themselves occasionally degenerated into unmanly

slaughter of their flying enemy, who were looked u})(>n i-ather

as good game than fellow-men, and pursued in some instances

several miles. INIost of the Chinese troops in this engagement

and in the attack on Ningbo were from the western proviriCes, and

superior in size and bodily strength to those hitherto met. They

had been encouraged to attack Ningbo by a bounty to each man

of four or five dollars, and pieces of sycee were found on their

bodies. The Chinese lost a thousand slain on the field, many by

their own act ; the English casualties were six killed and thirty seven wounded.

The conquerors set fire to the Chinese camp in the morning,

consuming all the houses used as arsenals, with arms and amnninition

of ever}’ kind. The force then proceeded to the Changki

pass, a defile in the mountains, but the imperialists had abandoned

their camp, leaving only ” a considerable (juantity of

good bread.” In his despatch Sir Hugh speaks of the forbearance

shown by his men toward the inhabitants ; and efforts

were taken by the English, throughout the war, to spare the

people and respect their property. The English thus dispersed

that part of the Grand Army which had been called out by the

Emperor and his ” majesty-beariiig generalissimo” to annihilate

tlie rebels. The fugitives spread such dismay among their

comrades near Ilangchau that the troops began to desert and

exhibit symptoms of disbanding altogether; the spirit of dissatisfaction

was, moreover, increased by the people, who very

naturally grumbled at being obliged to support their unsuccessful

defenders, as well as submit to their tyrannous exactions.

The Chinese near Isingpo and Chinhai had so nmch confi

CAPTUKE OF TSZ’kI AXD CIIAPl’, , 533

deuce in the Englitli, luid were so greatly profited by tlieir

presence, that no disturbances took place. The rewards offered

by the Cliinese generals for prisoners induced the people to lay

in wait for stragglers. One, Sergeant Campbell, was seized

near Tinghai, put into a bag to be carried to the coast, where he

was shipped in a junk and landed at Chapu, before being relieved

of his hood. One of his ears was cut off with a pair of

scissors, but after reaching ilaugchau he was well treated.

During his captivity there he was often questioned by the Chinese

ofiicers as to the movements, forces, and arms of his countrymen,

and received a high idea of their intelligence from the

character of their inquiries.

The entire strength with Sir Hugh Gough, in May, consisted

of parts of four English regiments, a naval brigade of two hundred

and fifty, and a few Indian troops, in all about two

thousand five hundred men ; the fleet comprised seven ships of

war and four steamers. On the ITth the whole anchored in

the harbor of Chapu, about forty miles above Chinhai. About

six thousand three hundred Chinese troops and one thousand

seven hundred Manchus were posted herein forts and intrenched

camps. The English landed in three columns, as usual without

opposition, and promptly turned the orderly arranged army and

garrisons of their opponents into a mass of fugitives, each man

throwing away his arms and uniform and flying upas de geant.

A body of three hundred Manchus, seeing their retreat cut

off, retired into an enclosed temple, whose entrance was both

narrow and dark. Every one who attempted to enter it was

either killed or wounded, one of whom was Lieutenant-Colonel

Tomlinson. At length a part of the wall was blown in, which

exposed the inmates to the rifles of tlieir foes, and a rocket or

two set the building on fire, by which the inmates were driven

from their position to the rooms below ; when resistance ceased

only fifty were taken prisoners, the others having been burned

to death or suffocated. The total loss of the invaders was thirteen

killed and fifty-two wounded.

The defences of Chapu being carried, with a loss to the

enemy of about one thousand five hundred, the English moved

on the city. This was the first time the Manchus had really come in contact with the English ; and either fearing that indiscriminate slaughter would ensue on defeat, as it would have

done had they been the victors, or else unable to brook their

disgrace, tliej destroyed themselves in great numbers, first immolating

their wives and children, and then cutting their own

throats. Scores of bodies were found in their quarters, some

not entirely dead ; others were prevented from self-destruction,

and in many instances, young children were found attending

upon their aged or infirm parents, awaiting in dread suspense

the visit of the conquerors, from whom they expected little less

than instant destruction. The English sui-geons endeavoi-ed to

bind up the wounds of such Chinese as fell in their waj-, and

these attentions had a good effect upon the high Chinese officers,

Ilipu himself sending a letter in which he thanked the

general and admiral for their kindness in giving the hungry

rice to eat and caring for the wounded. The old man endeavored

to requite it by making the condition of his prisoners as

easy as he could, and paid them money on their release. When

the English generals, having destroyed all the government

stores, re-embarked, the prisoners were released with a small

present, and on their retui-n to Hangchau loudly proclaimed

their praises of the foreigners.

The expedition proceeded northward to the mouth of the

Yangtsz’ kiang, and reached the embouchure of the AVusung,

where the ships took their allotted positions, June 16th, before

the well-built stone batteries, extending full three miles along

the western banks of the river. One of these works enclosed

the town of Paushan and mounted one hundred and thirty-four

guns ; the others counted altogether one hundred and sevent}’–

five guns, forty-two of which were brass. These defences wei-e

manned by a Avell-selected force, under the command of Chin

Hw^a-ching. The ships had scarcely taken their stations when

the battei-ies opened, and both sides kept up a caimonading for

about two hours, the Chinese w^orking their guns with nnich

skill and effect. When the marines landed and entered, they

bravely nieasui-ed weapons with them, and died at their posts.

Among the war junks were several new wheel-boats, having two

wooden paddle-wheels turned by a capstan, which interlocked

FALL OF THE WUSUNG BATTERIES. 535

its cogs into those upon the shaft, and was worked by men on

the gun-deck. These were paddling out of danger, when the

steamers overtook and silenced them. The number of Chinese

killed was about one hundred, out of not less than live thousand

men composing the garrison and army. The governor-general,

Kiu Kien. who was present, in reporting the loss of the forts

and dispersion of the troops, says he braved the hottest of the

light, ” where cannon-balls innumerable, ilying in awful confusion

through the expanse of heaven, fell before, behind, and

on either side of him ; while in the distance he saw the ships

of the rebels standing erect, lofty as the mountains. The fierce

daring of the rebels was inconceivable ; officers and men fell at

their posts. Every efPort to resist and check the onset was in

vain, and a retreat became inevitable.”

Among the killed was General Chin, who had taken unwearied

pains to drill his troops, appoint them to their places, and

inspirit them with his own courageous self-devotion. In a

memoir of him, it is said that on the mcyningof the attack “he

arrayed himself in his robes of state, and having prayed to

heaven and earth, ordered all his ofiicers and soldiers to get

their arms and ammunition ready.” JS^iii Kien^s conduct was

not such as to cheer them on, and most of the officers ” came

forward and begged to retire ” when they saw the dilapidated

state of the batteries. Chin’s second suggested a retreat when

the marines entered the battery, but he drew his sword upon

him, saying, ” My confidence in you has been misplaced.” He

again inspirited his men, himself loading and firing the ginjals,

and fell pierced with wounds on the walls of the fort, bowing

his head as he died in the direction of the Emperor’s palace.

His Majesty paid him high honors, by erecting shrines to him

in his native village and at the place where he fell ; in the

Ching-hwang miao at Shanghai there is a sitting image of him

in his robes of state, before which incense is burned. A reward

of a thousand taels was given his family, and his son was made

a k’d-jin by special patent. In this notice it is stated as a current

rumor in Shanghai, that about a fortnight after his death

Chin sent down the news through the divining altar at Sungkiang,

that he had been promoted by the Supreme Kuler of

536 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

Heaven to the rank of second general-in-eliief of the Board of

Thunder, so tliat although he coukl not, while alive, repay the

imperial favor by exterminating the rebels, he could still afford

some aid to his country.

The stores of every kind ‘.vere destroyed, except the brass

pieces, among which were one Spanish gun of old date, and

a Chinese piece more than three centuries old, both of them

of singular shape, the latter being like a small-mouthed jar.

The British landed on the 19th, two thousand in all, and proceeded

to Shanghai by land. After the capture of “Wusung,

Mr. Gutzlaff, who accompanied the admiral as interpreter, succeeded

in reassuring the people and inducing them to stay in

their dwellings ; he was also employed in procuring provisions.

The ships silenced two small batteries near the city with a

single broadside, and the troops entered it without resistance.

The good effects of previous kindness shown the people in

respecting their property were here seen. Captain Loch says

that on the march along the banks he passed through two villages

where the shops were open, with their owners in them,

and that groups of people Avere assembled on the right and left

to see them pass. The troops occupied the arsenals, the pawnbrokers’

shops, and the temples, destroying all the government

stores and distributin<; the rice in the granaries among the

people. The total number of caimon taken was three lumdred

and eighty-eight, of which seventy-six M’ere of brass ; some of

the latter were named ” tamer and subduer of the barbarians ;”

others, “the robbers’ judgment,” and one piece twelve feet long

was called the ” Barbarian.” The citizens voluntarily came

forward to supply provisions, and stated that there had been a

serious affray in the city a few days befoi’c between them and

their officers, who wished to levy a subsidy for the defence of

the city, which even then they w’ere on the point of abandoning.

The boats before the walls were crowded with inhabitants ffying

with their property, many of whom returned in a few days.

The troops retired from Shanghai June 23d, leaving it less

injured than any city yet taken, owing chiefly to tlie efforts

made by the people themselves to protect their property. The

eight hundred junks and upward lying off the town were unSHANGHAI

TAKEN. 631

lianiied, but their owners no doubt were made to contribute

toward the 8300,000 exacted as a ransom. Sir Henry Pottiiiger

now rejoined the expedition, accompanied by Lord Saltoun,

with hii-ge reinforcements for both arras, and immediate preparations

were made for proceeding up the Yangtsz’, to interrupt

the con^nnmication by the Grand Canal across tliat river.

Tiie Chinese officers, unable to read any European language,

learned the designs of their enemy chiefly by rumors, which

natives in the employ of the English brought them, and consequently

not unfrequently misled his Majesty—unwittingly, in

mentioning the wrong places likely to be attacked, but wilfully

as to their numbers and conduct in the hour of victory. The

fall of Shanghai and the probable march upon Sungkiang and

Suchau greatly alarmed him, and he now began to think that

the rebels really intended to proceed up to Kanking and the

Grand Canal, which he had been assured was not their purpose.

He accordingly concentrated his troops at Chinkiang, Nanking,

Suchau, and Tientsin, four places which he feared were

in danger, and associated Kiying and llipu as commissioners

M-ith the governor-general, Xiu Ivien, to superintend civil affairs;

military matters were still left under the management of the

imbecile Yihking. Only a few places on the Yangtsz’ kiang

offered eligible positions for forts, and Xiu Kien wisely declined

to stake the Great River at Chinkiang, lest it should alarm the

inhabitants. Fire-rafts and boats were, however, ordered for

the defence of that city, and reinforcements of troops collected

there and at XaiAing, some of whom were encamped witliuot

the city, and part incorporated with the garrison. The

tone of the documents which fell into the hands of the English

showed the anxiety felt at court regarding the result of this

movement up the river.

The British plenipotentiary published and circulated a manifesto

at this date for ” the information of the people of the

country.” In this paper he enumerated, in much the same

manner as Captain Elliot had done, the grievances the English

l)ad suffered at Canton from the spoliations, insults, and imprisonment

inflicted upon them by Lin in order to extort opium,

which was given up by the English superintendent to rescue

538 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

himself and Ins countiTnien from deatli. . The tluplicity of the

Chinese government in sending down Kislien as a commissioner

to Canton to arrange matters, and then, while he was negotiating,

to break off the treaty and treacherously resort to war, was

another “gi-and instance of oifence against England.” The bad

treatment of kidnapped prisoners, tlie mendacious reports of

victories gained over the English, wliicli misled the Emperor

and retarded the settlement of the war, was another cause of

offence. The restriction of the trade to Canton, establishment

of the monopoly of tlie hong merchants, the oppressive and unjust

exactions imposed upon it tlirongh their scheming, and

many other minor grievances which need not be enumerated,

formed the last count in this indictment. Three things must

be granted before peace could be made, viz., tlie cession of an

island for commerce and the residence of merchants ; compensation

for losses and expenses ; and allowing a friendly and

becoming intercourse between the officers of the two countries

on terms of equality. This proclamation, however, nnide no

mention of the real cause of the war, the opium trade, and in

that respect was far from being an ingenuous, fair statement of

the question. It was much more like one of Xapoleon’s bulletins

in the Moniteur, and considering the moral and intellectual

condition of Great Britain and China, failed to uphold the high

standing of the former.

While Sir Henry Pottinger knew that the use of this drug

was one of the greatest evils which afflicted the people, he

should have, in a document of this natui’e, left no room for the

supposition, on the part of either ruler or subject, that the war

was undertaken to uphold and countenance the opium trade.

He could not have been ignorant that the Emperor and his

ministers supposed the unequal contest they were waging was

caused b\’ their unsuccessful efforts to supjiress the traffic ; and

that if they were defeated the opium trade must goon unchecked.

The question of supremacy was set at rest in this proclamation ;

it must be given up ; but no encouragement was held out to

reassure the (vhinese government in their lawful desire to restrain

the tremendous scourge. Wh}^ should he ? If he encouraged

any action against the trade, he could expect little promotion or

PROCLAMATIONS ISSUED BY BOTH PARTIES. 539

.•eward from liis superiors in Indiii or England, who looked to

it for all the revenue it could be made to bring ; or consideration

from the merchants, who would not thank him for telling

the Chinese they might attack the opium clippers wherever the}’

found them, and seize all the opium they could, and English

•power would not interfere.

The Emperor issued a proclamation about the same time,

recapitulating his conduct and efforts to put a stop to the war,

stating what he had done to ward off calamity and repress the

rebels. The opium ti-ade, and his efforts for a long time to

repress it, and especially the measures of Lin, are in this papei

regarded as the causes of the war, which concludes by expressing

his regrets for the sufferings and losses occasioned his subjectl

by the attacks of the English at Amoy, Chusan, Xingpo, and

elsewhere, and exhorting them to renewed efforts. It is a mat

ter of lasting regret that the impression has been left upon the

minds of the Chinese people that the war was an opium war,

and waged chiefly to uphold it. But nations, like individuals,

must usually trust to might more than right to maintain their

standing ; and when conscious weakness leads them to adopt

underhand measures to regain their rights, the temptation which

led to these acts is rarely thought of in the da}’ of retribution.

The money demands of England were not deemed at the tijiie

to be exacting, but she should, and could at this time in an

effectual manner, through her plenipotentiary, have cleared herself

from all sanction of this traffic. If Lord jVIelbourne could

wish it were a less objectionable traffic. Sir Henry Pottinger

might surely have intimated, in as public a manner, his regret at

its existence. He probably did not deem the use of opium very

deleterious.

The number of ships, steamers, transports, and all in the

expedition, when it left Wusung, July Otli, was seventy-two,

most of them large vessels. They were arranged in five divisions,

with an advance squadron of five small steamers and tenders to

survey the river, each division having a frigate or seventy-four

at its head. The woild has seldom seen a more conspicuous

instance of the superiority of a small body possessing science,

skill, and discipline, over immense nmltitudes of undisciplined.

540 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

ignorant, and distrustful soldiers, than was exhibited in this bold

manoeuvre. ]^ot to speak alone of the great disparity in numbers,

the distant quarters of the globe whence the ships were

collected, the many languages and tribes found in the invading

force, the magnitude of their ships, abundance of their supplies,

and superiority of their weapons of war, the moral energy and

confidence of power in this small troop over its ineffective adversary

was not less conspicuous. The sight of such a fleet sailing

up their Great River struck the inhabitants with mingled astonishment

and dread.

Chinkiang lies half a mile from the southern bank of tha

Yangtsz’, surrounded by a high wall four miles in circuit, and

liaving hills of considerable elevation in its rear. The canal

conies in from the south, close to the walls on its western side,

and along the shores of both river and canal are extensive suburbs—

at this time completely under the command of the guns

of the ships, which could also bombard the city itself from some

positions. A bluff hill on the north partly concealed the town

from the ships, and it was not till this hill- top had been gained

that the three Chinese encampments behind the city could be

seen. The general divided his small foi-co of seven thousand

men into three brigades, under the connnand of ]\rajor-Generals

Lord Saltoun, Schoedde, and Bartlcy, besides an artillery brigade

of live hundred and seventy rank and file, under Lieutenant-

Colonel Montgomerie. The Chinese encampments contaiiR'(l

moi-e than three thousand men, most of them soldiers from

IJupeh and Chehkiang provinces. The Manchu garrison within

the city consisted of one thousand tw^o hundred regular troops

and eight hundred Mongols from Ivoko-nor, together/ with eight

hundred and thirty -five Chinese troops, making altogether from

two thousand six hundred to two thousand eiglit hundred fighting

men ; the entire force was under the command of Hailing,

who had made such a disposition of his troops and strengthened

his means of defence as well as the time allowed. lie closes his

last communication to the Emperor with the assurance that “he

cannot do otherwise than exert his whole heart and sti-ength in

endeavors to repay a small fraction of the favors he has enjoyed

from his ijcovernment.”

ATTACK UPON CHINKIANG. 541

The right brigade, under Lord Saltoun, .sdou drove tlie imperialists

out of their camp, who did not Avait for his near

approach, but brolve and dispersed after firing tliree or four distant

volleys. Captain Loch says that while the i)arty of volunteers

were approaching the camp, they passed through a small

hamlet on the liills; “the village had not been deserted; some

of the houses were closed, while the iidiabitants of others were

standing in the streets staring at us in stu})id wonder ; and

although they were viewing a contest Ijetween foreigners and

their fellow-countrymen, and in danger themselves of being

shot, were coolly eating their meals.”‘

The centre brigade, under ]\Lijor-General Schoedde, landed

on the northern corner of the city, to escalade the walls on that

side and prevent the troops from the camp entering the gates.

He was received by a w^ell-sustained iii-e, his men placing their

ladders and mounting in the face of a determined resistance ; as

soon as they gained the parapet they drove the Tartars before

them, though their passage was bravely disputed. While they

were mounting the walls a fire was kept up on the city on the

northern and eastern sides, under cover of which, after clearing

the ramparts, they proceeded to the western gate, conquering

fill opposition in the northern part (tf the city, and driving the

Tartars to the southern quarter.

The left brigade, under Major-Genei-al Bartley, did not i-each

the western side as soon as was expected, being delayed by the

canal, here between seventy and eighty feet broad, which formed

a deep ditch on this side. The western gate was blown in, the

blast carrying before it a high pile of sand-l)ags heaped against

the inside to strengthen the bars. While this work was going

on, seven boats carrying artillerymen entered the canal to proceed

up to the gate ; but when nearly opposite they were repulsed

by a severe lire from the walls, and the men compelled to abandon

the three leading boats and take refuge in the houses along

the banks ; the others halted under cover of some houses until

their comrades rejoined them, when all j-eturned to the ships.

Two hundred marines now landed, and with three iiundred

sepoys soon recovered the boats and carried back the M^ounded

men. The party then planted their ladders in the face of a

f)42 THK MIDDLE KINGDOM.

spirited fire from the walls, and succeeded in carrying them

against all opj)Ositioii.

All resistance at the three gateways having been overcome, it

was supposed that the city was nearly subdued. Sir Hugh consequently

ordered a halt for his men on account of the heat, and

despatched a small force to proceed along the western ramparts

to occupy the southern gate. This squad had proceeded about

half a mile when it met a body of eight hundred or one tliousand

Taitars regularly drawn up in an open space. They fired

with steadiness and regularity, but their bi-avery was of no

avail, for the party, giving them one volley, charged down the

bank and scattered them immediately, though not without some

resistance. The dispersed Tartars, however, kept up a scattering

fire along the streets and from the houses, wliicli served

chiefly to irritate their enemies and increase their own loss.

The heat of the day having passed, the commander-in-chief,

guided by Mr. Gutzlaff and some Chinese, marched with two

regiments into the southern quarter of the city. The scenes of

desolation and woe which he met seem to have sickened the

gray-haired warrior, for lie says in his despatches, “finding dead

bodies of Tartars in every house we entoi-ed, principally women

and children, thrown into M’ells or otherwise murdered by their

own peo]>le, I was glud to withdraw the ti’oops from this frightful

scene of destruction, and place them in the northern quarter.”

It was indeed a terrific scene. Captain Loch, who accompanied

Sir Hugh, says they went to a large building thought to be the

prefect’s house, which was forced open and found entirely

deserted, thougli completely furnished and of great extent

;

” we set fire to it and marched on.” What the object or advantage

of this barbarous act was he does not say. Leaving the

general, he turned down a street and burst open tlie door of a

large mansion ; the objects which met his view were shocking.

After we had forced our way over piles of furniture placed to barricade

the door, we entered an open court strewed with rich stuffs and covered with

clotted blood; and upon the steps leading to the hall of ancestors there were

two bodies of youthful Tartars, cold and stiff, who seemed to be brothers.

Having gained the threshold of their abode, they had died where they had

fallen from loss of blood. Stepping over those bodies we entered the hall, and

TRAGIC SCENES IN THE CITY. 5-J3

met face to face three women seated, a motlier and two daughters, and at their

feet lay two hodies of elderly men, with their tliroats cut from car to ear, their

senseless heads resting upon the feet of their relations. To the right were two

young girls, heautiful and delicate, crouching over and endeavoring to conceal

a living soldier. In the heat of action, when the blood is up and the struggle

is for life between man and man, the anguish of the wounded and the .sight of

misery and pain is unheeded ; humanity is partially obscured by danger ; hut

when excitement subsides with victory, a heart would be hardly human that

could feel unaffected by the retrospection. And the hardest heart of the oldest

man who ever lived a life of rapine and slaughter could not have gazed on

this scene of woe unmoved. I stopped, horror-stricken at what I saw. The

expression of cold, unutterable despair depicted on the mother’s face changed

to the violent workings of scorn and hate, which at last burst forth in a paroxysm

of invective, afterward in floods of tears, which apparently, if anything

could, relieved her. She came close to me and seized me by the arm, and

with clenched teeth and deadly frown pointed to the bodies, to her daughters,

to her yet splendid house, and to herself ; then stepped back a pace, and with

firmly closed hands and in a husky voice, I could see by her gestures, spoke of

lier misery, her hate, and, I doubt not, her revenge. I attempted by signs to

explain, offered her my services, but was spurned. I endeavored to make her

comprehend that, however great her present misery, it might be in her unprotected

state a hundredfold increased ; that if she would place herself under

my guidance, I would pass her through the city gates in safety into the open

country ; but the poor woman would not listen to me, and the whole family

was by this time in loud lamentation. All that remained for me to do was to

prevent the soldiers bayoneting the man, who, since our entrance, had attempted

to escape.’

The destruction of life was appalling. Some of tlie Manchus

slmt the doors of their houses, while through the crevices persons

could be seen deliberately cutting the throats of their

women, and destroying their children by throwing them into

wells. In one house a man was shot while sawing his wife’s

throat as he held her over a well into which he had already

thrown his children ; her wound was sewed up and the lives of

the children saved. In another house no less than fourteen

dead bodies, principally women, were discovered ; while such

was their terror and hatred of the invadei’s, that every JManchu

preferred resistance, death, suicide, or flight, to surrender. Out

of a Manchu population of foui thousand, it was estimated that

not more than five hundred survived, the greater part having

perished by their own hands.

‘ Capt. G. G. Loch, Narrative of Events in China, p. 109.

544 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

The public offices were ransacked and all anus and stores

destroyed ; oulj §60,000 iu sjcee were fouud iu the treasury

The populace began to pillage, and in one instance, fearing a

stop might be put to their rapacity, tliey set fire to the buildings

at each end of a street in order to plunder a pawnbroker’s

shop without interference. The streets and lanes were strewed

with silken, fur, and other rich dresses Avhich the robbers had

thrown awa}^ when they saw something more valuable, and the

sepoys and camp-followers took what they could find. Parties

were accordingly stationed at the gates to take everything

from the natives as they went out, or which they threw over the

walls, and in this way the thieves M’ere in tlieir turn stripped.

Within twenty-four hours after the troops landed, the city and

suburbs of Chinkiang were a mass of ruin and destruction;

part of the eastern wall was subsequently blown iu and all the

gates dismantled to prevent any treachery. The total loss of

the English was thirty-seven killed and one hundred and thirtyone

wounded.

A cui’ious contrast to the terrible scenes i-‘oin*:; on at Chinkiang

was seen at Iching hien, on the northei’u side of the river.

Four days before, the approach of the steamer Nemesis had

caused no little consternation, and iu the evening a Chinese

gentleman came off to her with a few presents to learn if thei-e

was any intention of attacking the town, lie was told that if he

would send supplies of meat and provisions no huiin would be

done, and all he brought should be paid for. In the morning

])rovisi(>ns were furnished, and he remained on board to see the

steamer chase and bring junks to; being nnich amazed at these

novel operations, which gave him a new idea of the energy of

the invaders. In the evening connnands were given him to

bi-ing provisions in larger quantities, and three boats went up to

the town to procure them. The people showed no hostility,

and through his assistance the English opened a market in the

courtyard of a temple, at which supplies were purchased, put

aboard snudl junks, and conveyed to the fleet. On the 21st the

same person came, according to agi’cement, to accompany a large

])arty of English from the ships to his house, where he had

prepared an entertaimnent for them. Through the medium of

RECEPTION OF THE ENGLISH AT ICHING. 545

a Chinese boj commniiicatiou was easily carried on, and tlie

alarms of the townspeople quieted ; a proclamation was also

issued stating that every peaceable person would be unharmed.

This gentleman had invited a large company of his relatives and

friends, and served up a collation for his guests ; all this time

the firing was heard from Chinkiang, where the countrymen of

those so agreeably occupied were engaged in hostile encounter.

On returning to their boats an additional mark of I’espect was

shown by placing a M’ell-dressed man each side of every officer

to fan him as he walked. At the market-temple another entertainment

was also served up. Xo injury was done by either

side, and the forbearance of the English was not without good

effect. Such queer contrasts as this have frequently characterized

the contests between the Chinese and British,

Some of the large ships were towed up to Nanking, and the

whole fleet reached it August 9th, at which time preparation

had been made for the assault ; but desirous of avoiding a repetition

of the sad scenes of Chinkiang, the British leaders had

also sent a communication to Kiu Kien, oifering to ransom the

city for iB3,00(»,000.

This celebrated city lies about three miles south of the river,

but the north-east corner of an outer wall reaches within seven

hundred paces of the water ; the western face runs along the

base of w^ooded hills for part of its distance, and is then continued

through flat grounds around the southern side, both being

defended b}- a deep ditch. The suburbs are on this low ground,

M-here Sir Hugh Gough intended to bombard the place and

make an entrance on the eastern side, M’liile diversions at other

points perplexed the garrison. Ills force consisted of only four

thousand five hundred effective men ; there were, as nearly as

could be learned, six thousand Manchu and nine thousand Chinese

troops within the city. On the 11th Lord Saltoun’s brigade

landed at a village from whence a j)aved road led to one of the

eastern gates, and other detachments were stationed in the

neighborhood. Everything was in readiness for the assault by

daylight of August loth, and the governor-general was told

that it would assuredly be made unless the commissioners produced

their authority for treating.

546 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

In the interval between the downfall of Chinkian”; and in^

vestment of Nanking, several eonnnnnications were received

from the Chinese officers, and one from Kiying, couched in

conciliatory language, and evincing a desire for peace. Sir

Henry Pottinger replied in the same strain, deploi’ing tlie war

and calamities caused by its continuance, but stating that he

could have no interview with any individual, however exalted,

M’ho was not properly connnissioned to treat for peace. It is

probable that the Emperor did not receive any suggestion from

his ministers in regard to making peace until after the fall of

Chinkiang, and it was a matter of some importance, therefore,

for Ilipu and his colleague to delay the attack on Nanking until

an answer could be received from the capital. The usual doubts

in the minds of the English as to their sincerity led them to

look npon the whole as a scheme to perfect the defences, and

gain time for the people to retire ; consequently the pi-eparations

for taking the city went on, in order to deepen the conviction

that if one party was practising any deception, the other

certainly was in earnest.

On the night of the l-4th, scarcely three hours before the

artillery was to open, Ilipu, Kiying, and Niu Ivien addressed a

joint letter to Sir Henry Pottinger requesting an interview in

the morning, Mhen they M’ould produce their credentials and

arrange for furtlier proceedings. This request was granted with

some reluctance, for the day before the jyuehing .sz’ and Tartar

commandant had behaved very unsatisfactorih’, refusing to exhibit

the credentials or discuss the terms of peace or ransom.

The distress ensuent upon the blockade was becoming greater

and greater ; more than seven hundred vessels coming from the

south had been stopped at Chiidciang, and a large fleet lay in

the northern branch of the canal, so that some possibility

existed of the whole province falling into anarchy if the pressure

were not removed. The authorities of the city of Yangchau,

on the canal, had already sent half a million dollars as

the )-ansom of that place, while Niu Kien would only offer a

third of a million to ransom the capital.

The Eni])eror*’s authority to treat with the English was, however,

exhibited at this meeting, and in return Sir Henry’s was

ARRANGEMENTS EOIl CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. 547

fully explained to them. The delegates on the part of the

conmiistiioners were Hwang ^S’gun-tiing, secretary to Kiying,

and Chin, the Manchii commandant, while Major Malconi,

secretary of legation, and Mr. J. 11. Morrison acted on the part

of the plenipotentiary. Captain Loch, who was present, humorously

describes the solemn manner in which the Emperor’s

commission was brought out from the box in wdiich it was deposited,

and the dismay of the lower attendants at seeing the

foreigners irreverently handle it and examine its authenticity

with so little awe. The skeleton of the treaty was immediately

drafted for Hwang to take to his superiors. General Chin

laughingly remarked that though the conditions were hard,

they were no more so than the Chinese would have demanded

if they had been the victors. The bearing of these officers

was courteous, and Hwang especially found favor with all who

were thrown into his company.

The utmost care being requisite in drawing up the articles,

most of the work falling upon Mr. Morrison, it was not till late

at night on the 17th that the final draft was sent to the

Chinese. The plenipotentiary, on the 18th, desired the general

and admiral to suspend hostilities, at which time arrangements

were also made for an interview the next day between the representatives

on both sides. The English officers meantime explored

the vicinity of the city, and the demand for provisions

to supply the force caused a brisk trade highlj’ beneficial to the

Chinese, and well calculated to please them.

On the 19th Kiying, tlipu, and jS^iu Kien, accompanied by a

large suite, paid their first visit to the English. The steamer

Medusa brought them alongside the Cornwallis, and Sir Henry

Pottinger, supported by the admiral and general, received them

on the quarter-deck. The ship was decked with flags, and the

crowd of gayly dressed officers in blue and scarlet contrasted

well with the bright crapes and robes of the Chinese. This

visit was one of ceremon\’, and after partaking of refreshments

and examining the ship the commissioners retired, expressing

their gratification at what they saw. They conducted themselves

with decorum in their novel position, and Kiying and

llipu, though both brought up in the full persuasion of the

54:8 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

Bupremacj of their sovereign over the rulers of all other nations,

and particularly over the English, manifested no ill-concealed

chagrin. They liad previously sent up a report of the prugj’uss

of the expedition after the capture of Chinkiang, rec[uesting

in it that the demands of the invaders might be conceded ; the

inefficiency of their troops is acknowledged, and a candid statement

of the impossibility of effectual resistance laid before his

Majesty, with cogent reasons for acceding to the demands of the

Englisli as the wisest course of procedure. The further disasters

which will ensue if the war is not brought to a close

are hinted at, and the concession of the points at issue considered

in a manner least humbling to imperial vanity. The sum

of $21,000,000 to be paid is regarded by them as a present

to the soldiers and sailors before sending them home

;

partly as the liquidation of just debts due from the hong merchants,

whose insolvency made them chargeable to the government,

and partly as indemnification for the opium. Trade at

the five ports was to be allowed, because fonr of them had already

been seized, and this was the only w’ay to induce the

invaders to withdraw, while Hongkong could be ceded inasnnich

as they had already built houses there. The memorial is a

curious effort to render the bitter pill somewhat palatable to

themselves and their master.

The English plenipotentiary, accompanied by a large concourse

of officers, returned the visit on shore in a few days, and were

met at the entrance of a temple by the commissioners, who led

them through a guard of newly uniformed and unarmed soldiers

into the building, the bands of both nations striking up their

music at the same time. This visit continued tlie good understanding

which prevailed ; the room had been carpeted and ornamented

with lanterns and sci-olls for the occasion, while the

adjacent grounds accommodated a crowd of natives. On the 20tli

Sir Henry Pottinger and his suite, consisting of his secretary,

]\[ajor Malcom, Messi-s. Morrison, Thorn, and Gutzlaff, the three

interpreters, and three other gentlemen, proceeded about four

miles to the landing-place on the canal, where they were met by

a brigadier and two colonels; the banks of the canal wei’c lined

with troops. The party then took their horses, and, preceded

AKTICLES OF THE TIJEATY OF NANKING. 549

by a mounted escort, were received at tlie city gate by the secretaries

of llipu ; the procession advanced to the place of meeting,

guarded by a detachment of Manchu cavahy, whose shaggy

ponies and llowing dresses presented a singular contiast to the

envoy’s escort and their beautiful Arabs, lie himself was conducted

through the outer gate, up the court and through the

second gateway, ascending the steps into the third entrance,

where he dismounted and entered the building with the commissioners

and governor-general. The room had been elegantly

fitted up, and a crowd of official attendants dressed in their ceremonial

robes stood around. Sir Henry occupied the chief seat

between Kiying and Ili’pu, their respective attendants being

seated in proper oi’der, with small tables between every two

persons, while dinner was served up in usual Chinese style.

These formalities being over, the thirteen articles of this most

important treaty were discussed :

I.—Lasting peace between the two nations.

II.—The ports of Canton, Amoy, Fuhchau, Kingpo, and

Shanghai to be opened to British trade and residence, and trade

conducted according to a well-understood tariff.

III.—” It being obviously necessary and desirable that British

subjects should have some port whereat they may careen and

refit their ships when required,” the island of Hongkong to be

ceded to her Majesty.

lY.—Six millions of dollars to be paid as the value of the

opium which was delivered up ” as a ransom for the lives of

II. B. M. Superintendent and subjects,” in March, 1839.

Y.—Three millions of dollars to be paid for the debts due to

British merchants.

YI.—Twelve millions to be paid for the expenses incurred in

the expedition sent out ” to obtain redress for the violent and

unjust proceedings of the Chinese high authorities.”

YIL—The entire amount of $21,000,000 to be paid before

December 31, 1845.

YIII.—All prisoners of war to be immediately released by

the Chinese.

IX.—The Emperor to grant full and entire amnesty to those

of his subjects who had aided the British.

J^O THE MIDDLE KINGDOM

X. —A regular and fair tariff of export and import customs

and other dues to be established at the open ports, and a transit

duty to be levied in addition whicli will give goods a free conveyance

to all places in China.

XI.—Official correspondence to be hereafter conducted on

terms of equality according to the standing of the parties.

XIl.—Conditions for restoring the places held by British

troops to be according to the payments of money.

XIII.—Time of exchanging ratifications and carrying the

treaty into effect.

The official English and Chinese texts of this compact and a

literal translation of the Chinese text are given in the (JJunese

Repodtoi’ij^ Vols. XIII. and XIV.; in that serial is also to be

found a full account of the struggle which was thus brought to

a close. Looked at in any point of view, political, commercial,

moral, or intellectual, it will always be considered as one of the

turning points in the history of mankind, involving the welfare

of all nations in its wide-reaching consequences.

When matters connected with the treaty had been arranged,

Sir Henry proposed to say a few words upon ” the great cause

that produced the disturbances which led to the war, viz., the

trade in opium.” But upon hearing this (Captain Loch says)

they unanimously declined entering upon the subject, until they

were assured that he had introduced it merely as a topic for

private conversation.

The}’ then evinced much interest, and eagerly requested to know why wB

would not act fairly toward them by prohi1)iting the growth of tlie poppy in

our dominions, and thus effectually stop a traffic so pernicious to the human

race. This, he said, in consistency with our constitutional laws could not he

done ; and he added that even if England chose to exercise so arbitrary a

power over her tillers of the soil, it would not check the evil, so far as the

Chinese were concerned, while the cancer remained uneradicated among themselves,

but that it would merely throw the market into other hands. It, in

fact, he said, rests entirely with yourselves. If your people are virtuous, they

will desist from the evil practice ; and if your officers are incorruptible and

obey your orders, no opium can enter your country. The discouragement of

the growth of the poppy in our territories rests principally with you, for nearly

the entire produce cultivated in India travels east to China ; if, however, the

habit has become a confirmed vice, and you feel that your power is at present

inadequate to stay its indulgence, you may rest assured your people will pro*

DISCUSSION OF THE OPIUM t^UESTION. 551

cure the drug in spite of every enactment. Would it not, therefore, he better at

once to legalize its importation, and by thus securing the co-operation of the

rich and of your authorities, from whom it would thus be no longer debarred,

thereby greatly limit tlie facilities which now exist for smuggling ? They

owned the plausibility of the argument, but expressed tliemselves persuaded

that their imperial master would never listen to a word upon the subject.

To convince them that what he said was not introduced from any sinister

wish to gain an end more advantageous for ourselves, he drew a rapid sketch

of England’s rise and progress from a barbarous state to a degree of wealth and

civilization unpai’alleled in the history of the world ; which rajiid rise was

principally attributable to benign and liberal laws, aided by commerce, which

conferred power and consequence. He then casually mentioned instances of

governments having failed to attain their ends by endeavoring to exclude any

particular objects of popular desire ; tobacco was one of those he alluded to,

and now that it was legalized, not only did it produce a large revenue to the

crown, but it was more moderately indulged in in Britain than elsewhere.’

To the well-wisher of his fellow-iueu this narrative suggests

many melancholy reflections. On the one hand were fonr or

five high Chinese officers, who, although pagans and unacquainted

with the prhiciples of true virtue, had evidently sympathized with

and upheld their sovereign in his fruitless, misdirected endeavors

to save his people from a vicious habit. ” Why will you not

act fairly toward us by prohibiting the growth of the poppy ?

“

is their anxious inquiry ; for they knew that there was no moi’al

principle among themselves strong enough to resist the opium

pipe. ” Your people must become virtuous and your officers

incorruptible, and then you can stop the opium coming into your

borders,” is the reply ; precisely the words that the callous

rumseller gives the broken-hearted wife of the besotted drunkard

when she beseeches him not to sell liquor to her enslaved

husband. ” Other people will bring it to you if Ave should stop

the cultivation of the poppy ; if England chose to exercise so

arbitrary a power over her tillers of the soil, it would not check

the evil,” adds the envoy; “you cannot do better than legalize

it.” Although nations are somewhat different from individuals

in respect to their power of resisting and suppressing a vice,

‘ Loch’s Events in China, p. 173, London, 1843. This same point is slightly

referred to by Lieutenant Ouchterlony, on page 448 of his Chinese War, where

he states that Sir Henry had prepared a paper for the information of the Chinese

officials, proposing to them to permit the traffic in opium to be by barter

552 Tin-: MIDDLE KINGDOM.

and Sir Henry did riglit to speak of the legal difficnlty in the

way of restraining labor, yet how heartless was the excnse,” if we

do not bring it to you others will.”” Xo suggestion was made

to them as to the most judicious mode of restraining what they

were told they could not prohibit; no hint of the farming

system, which would have held out to them a medinm path between

absolute freedom and prohibition, and probably been

seriously considered by the court ; no frank explanation as to

the real position the English government itself held in respect

to the forced growth of this pernicious article in its Indian territories.

How much nobler would that govermnent have stood

in the eyes of mankind if its head and ministers had instructed

their plenipotentiary, that when their other demands were all

paid and conceded no indemnity should have been asked for

smuggled opium entirely destroyed by those who had seized it

within their borders under threats of worse consequences. That

government and ministry which had paid a liundred millions for

the emancipation of slaves could surely aiford to release a pagan

nation from such an imposed obligation, instead of sending their

armies to exact a few millions which the revenue of one year,

derived from this very article alone, M’ould amply discliarge to

their ONvn subjects. For this pitiful sum nnist the great moral

lesson to the Emperor of China and his subjects, which could

have been taught them at this time, be lost.

Sir Henry inquired if an envoy would be received at Peking,

should one be sent from England, which Kiying assured him

Mould no doubt be a gratification to his master, though what

ideas the latter connected with such a suggestion can only be

inferred. The conference lasted thi-ee or four hours, and when

the procession returned to the barges, through an immense

crowd of people, nothing was heard from them to indicate dislike

or dread ; all other tlioughts were merged in overpowering

curiosity. It was remarkable that this was the anniversary of

the day when English subjects, among Avhom were the three

interpreters here present, left Macao in 1831), by order of Lin;

on August 26, 1840, the plenipotentiaries entered the Pei ho to

seek an interview with Kishen ; that day, the next year, Amoy

and its extensive batteries fell ; and now the three years’ game

THE TREATY SIGNED AND RATIFIED. 653

is won and China is obliged to bend, her magnates come down

from tlieir eminences, and her wall of supremacy, isolation, and

conceit is shattered beyond the possibility of restoration. Iler

rulers apparently submitted with good grace to the hard lesson,

which seemed to be the only effectual means of compelling

them to abandon their ridiculous pretensions ; though it cannot

be too often repeated that the effect of kindness, honorable

dealing, and peaceful missions had not been fairly tried. ‘

Arrangements were made on the 29tli to sign the treaty on

board the Corn wall is. After it was signed all sat down to

table, and the admiral, as the host in his flagship, gave the

healths of their Majesties, the Queen of England and the Emperor

of China, which was announced to the fleet and army by

a salute of twenty-one guns and hoisting the Union Jack and a

yellow flag at the main and mizzen. The treaty was forwarded

to Peking that evening. The embargo on the rivers and ports

was at once taken off, the troops re-embarked, and preparations

made to return to Wusung. The six millions were paid without

much delay, and on September 15th the Emperor’s ratification

was received. The secretary of legation, Major Malcom,

immediately left to obtain the Queen’s ratification, going by

steam the entire distance (except eighty miles in Egypt) from

Kanking to London—an extraordinary feat in those days.

The imperial assent was also published in a rescript addressed

to Kiying, in reply to his account of the settlement of affairs, in

which he gives directions for disbanding the troops, rebuilding

such forts as had been destroyed, and cultivating peace as Avell

as providing for the fulfilment of the articles. It is, on the

whole, a dignified approval of the treaty, and breathes nothing

of a spirit of revenge or intention to prepare for future resistance.

The fleet of ships and transports returned down the river and

reassembled at Tinghai, at the end of October, not a vessel

having been lost. Even before leaving Xanking, and in the passage

down the river, the troops and sailors, especially the Indian

regiments, were reduced by cholera, fever, and other diseases,

some of the transports being nearly disabled ; the deaths

amounted to more than a thousand before reachini; Ilono-kons.

554 THE .MIDDLE KINGDOM.

On arriving at Anioy tlio plenipotentiary was highly ineented

on hearing of the melancholy fate of the captive crews of the

Xerbudda and Ann, wrecked on Formosa. The first, a transport,

contained two hundred and seventy-four souls, and when she

went ashore all the Europeans abandoned two hundred and

forty Hindus to their fate, most of whom fell into the liands of

the Chinese. The Ann was an opium vessel, and lier crew of

fifty-seven souls were taken prisoners and carried to Taiwan fu.

The prisoners were divided into small parties and had little

conmumieation with each other during their captivity, M’hich

was aggravated by Mant of food and clothing, filthy lodgings,

and other hardships of a Chinese jail, so that many of the Indians

died. The survivors, on August loth, with the exception

of ten persons, were carried out to a plain near the city, one of

whom, ]Mr. Xewman, a seacunnie on board the Ann and the

last in the procession, gave the following account

:

On being taken ont of his sedcan, to have his hands shackled beliind his back,

he saw two of the prisoners with their irons otf and refusing to have them

put on. They had both been drinking and were making a great noise, crying

out to him that tliey were all to have their heads cut off. He advised them to

submit quietly, but they still refusing, he first wrenched off his own and then

j)ut them into theirs, to the great pleasure of the soldiers, but when the soldiers

wished to replace liis he declined. As they were on the point of securing

him he accidentally saw the chief officer seated close to him. Going befoi’e

him he threw himself on his head and commenced singing a few Chinese

words which he had fretjiiently hoard repeated in a temple. The officer was

HO pleased with this procedure that he turned round to the soldiers and ordered

them to carry him back to the city. All the rest, one hundred and ninetyseven

in number, were i)laced at small distances from each other on their

knees, their feet in irons and hands manacled behind their backs, thus waiting

for the executioners, who went round and with a kind of two-handed

sword cut off their heads without being laid on a block. .Afterward their

bodies were thrown into one grave and their heads stuck up in cages on the

seashore.’

A journal was kept by Mr. Gully to within tliree days of his

death, and another by Captain Denham of the Ann, one of the

prisoners saved to send to Peking.* Both contain full accounts

Chinese Reponit^yry, Vol. XII., p. 248.

” Journah of Mr. GvUi/ and CapUiin Denlutni during a Cajdivity in China in

1842. London : Chapman & Hall, 1844.

MASSACRE OF SIIIIMV P.ECKIJD CREWS ON FORMOSA. 555

of the treatment of the luihuppy captives, and diminish the

synipathy felt for tlie defeat of the government whicli allowed

such shuighter. It was said to have been done by orders from

court, grounded on a lying report sent up by the Mancliu commandant,

Tahuiigah. When their sad fate was learned Sir

Henry l*ottinger published two proclamations in Chinese, in

which the principal facts were detailed, so that all might know

the truth of the matter; a demand nuide fur the degradation and

punishment of the lying officers who had superintended it, and

the confiscation of their property for the use of the families of the

sufferers, lliang, the governor-general, expressed his sincere regret

to the English envoy at what had taken place, and examined

into the facts himself, which led to the degradation and

banishment of the conmuuidant and intendant. While the prisoners

were still at Taiwan fu, II. M. S. Serpent was sent over

from Anioy to reclaim them, by which expedition the truth of

the barbarous execution was first learned ; this vessel afterward

went tiiere to receive the shipwrecked crew of the Ilerculaneum

transport.

The citizens of Amoy, jSiingpo, and Shanghai hailed the cessation

of the war and the opening of their ports to foreign

trade ; but not so at Canton. The discharged volunteers still

remained about the city, notwithstanding orders to return home

and resume their usual employments, most of whom probably

had neither. Scheming demagogues took advantage of a rumor

that the English army intended to form a settlement opposite

the city, and issued a paper in the name of the gentry, calling

upon all to combine and resist the aggression. The enthusiasm

it caused was worked up to a higher pitch b}^ an inflannnatory

manifesto, in which desperate measures were plainly intinuited ;

but the district magistrates took no steps against them. An

invitation was circulated for the citizens and gentlemen from

other provinces to meet at the public assembly hall to consult

upon public affairs. A counter but less spirited manifesto was

pasted up in the hall, which had the effect of inducing about

half the people to disperse. The writers of this paper dissuaded

their countrymen from hasty measures, by telling them’ that no

556 THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.

land could be taken or dwellings occupied without periuission

from the provincial authorities, and urged upon them to live at

peace with tlie English, in accordance Avith the injunctions of

their wise sovereign.

A brawl occurred in Hog Lane on December Gth, between

some hucksters and lascars, who -were pursued into the Square,

where the mob rapidly increased, and about two o’clock began

pulling down a brick wall around the Company’s garden and

forcing open one of the factories, which was speedily pillaged,

the inmates escaping through the back doors. The British flagstaff

was fired by a party which kept guard around it, and the

flames connnunicating to the verandah, other parts soon caught,

and by midnight the three hongs east of Ilog Lane were burning

furiously. The ringleaders, satisfied with firing the British

consulate, endeavored to prevent thieves carrying away the

plunder ; but they were forced to escape about midnight. These

wretches soon began to quan-el among themsch’es for the dollars

found in the ruins, and it was not till noon that the police

and soldiers ventured to attack the knotted groups of struggling

despei’adoes and arrest the most conspicuous, and with the aid

of boats’ crews from the shipping recapture some of the specie.

Full compensation was subsequently made to the foreigners for

the losses sustained, amounting to $67,397, and some of the

ringleaders were executed.

A. large part of the officers in the army and navy engaged in

the war received promotion or honorary titles. Sir Hugh was

made a baronet, and, after more service in India, elevated to

the peerage, with the title of Lord Gough, Baron of Chinkiang

fu ; the plenipotentiary and the admiral obtained Grand Crosses

of the liath. The three interpreters, Messrs. Morrison, Thorn,

and Gutzlaff, whose services had been arduous and important,

received no distinctive reward from their government. The

amount of prize money distributed among the soldiers and

sailors was small. The losses of the English from shipwreck,

sickness, and casualties dm-ing tlie war amounted to more than

three thousand ; the mortality was greatest among the Indian

regiments and the European recruits, especially after the opei”

ations behind Canton and the capture of Chinkiang.

SETTLEMENT OF COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. 557

While the English goveniiiieiit lewarded its officers, the Emperor

expressed his displeasure at the conduct of the major

part of his surviving generals, but distributed posthumous

honors to those who had died at their posts. Hailing, with liis

wife and grandson, were honored with a fane, and his sons promoted.

Kiying was appointed governor-general at ]^anking.

Tliougli many civil and military officers were condemned to

death, none actually lost their lives, except Yu Pu-yun, the

governor of Chehkiang, who fled from JS^ingpo in October,

1841.

The settlement of the duties and regulations for carrying

on foreign commerce immediately engaged the attention of the

plenipotentiary. He called on the British mei’chants for information,

but so utterly desultory was the manner in which the

duties had been formerly levied, that they could give him little

or no reliable information as to what was really done with the

money. The whole matter was placed by both parties in the

hands of Mr. Tliom, who had been engaged in business at Canton,

and Hwang Ngan-tung, secretary to Kiying. To settle these

multifarious affairs and restore quiet, Ilipu was sent to Canton

as commissioner. On his arrival, he set about allaying the popular

discontent at the treaty, and his edict ‘ is a good instance of

the mixture of flattery and instruction, coaxing and connnanding,

which Chinese officers frequently adopt when they are not

sure of gaining their end by power alone, and do not wish to irritate.

In this instance it did much to remove misapprehension

and allay excitement, but its author had not long been engaged

in these arduous duties before he ” made a vacancy,”

aged seventy-two, having been more than half his life engaged

in high employments in his country’s service ; his conduct and

foresight in the last two years did credit to himself and elevated

his nation. Ilis associate, Kiying, took his place and exchanged

the ratifications of the treaty of Nanking at Hongkong with Sir

Henry Pottinger, ten months after it had been signed by the

same persons. The island was then taken possession of on behalf

• Chinese Repository, Vol. XXL, p. lOG.

of the Queen by proclamation, and the warrant read appointing Sir Henry governor of the colony. Its influence on +he well-being of China since that period has been less than was anticipated by those who looked to the higher welfare and progress of a British colony so near to it as likely to be an example for good. A free port has encouraged smuggling to a degree that constantly irritates and baffles the native authorities on the mainland, and leads to armed resistance to their efforts toward collecting lawful revenue, especially on opium ; while the influx of Chinese traders, attracted by its greater security, is gradually converting the island into a Chinese settlement protected by British rule. The peninsula of Kowhmg, on the north side of the harbor, was added in 1860, to furnish ground for the

commissary departments of the forces. The influence of a wellordered

Christian government exercising a beneficent rule over

a less civilized race under its sway, is soon neutralized by licensing

the opium farms and gambling saloons and lending its moral

sanction to smuggling.

The tariff and commercial regulations were published July 22d.

In this tariff, all emoluments and illegal exactions superimposed

upon the imperial duties were prohibited, and a fixed duty

put on each article, which seldom exceeded five per cent, on

the cost ; all kinds of breadstuffs were free. ( ‘ommercial dealings

were placed on a well -understood basis, instead of the

former loose way of conducting business ; the monopoly of the

hong merchants was ended, the fees exacted on ships were abolished,

and a tonnage duty of five mace per ton substituted ; the

charge for pilotage was reduced so much that the pilots were

nearly stripped of all they received after paying the usual fees

to the tidewaiters along the river. Disputes between English

and Chinese were to be settled by the consuls, and in serious

cases by a mixed court, when, upon conviction, each party was

to punish its own criminals.

The proclamation giving effect to these i-egulations was one

of the most important documents ever issued by the Chinese

government ; as an initiation of the new order of things, it

was creditable to the people whose rulers were of themselves

and could utter such words to them. After referring to the war

and treaty of peace, Kiying goes on to say, respecting the tariff,

THE NEW TARIFF PROCLAIMED. 559

that as soon as replies shall be received from tlie Buai-d of Tlev^

enue, “it will then take effect witli refei-ence to the commerce

with China of all countries, as well as of England. Henceforth,

then, the weapons of war shall forever be laid aside,

and joy and profit shall be the perpetual lot of all ; neither sli<i;ht

nor few will be the advantages reaped by the merchants alike

of China and of foreign countries. From this time foi-ward,

all must free themselves frou] prejudice and suspicions, pursuing

each his proper avocation, and careful always to retain no inimical

feelings from the recollection of the hostilities that have

before taken place. For such feelings and i-ecollections can luive

no other effect than to hinder the growth of a good understanding

between the two peoples.” It should be moreover added, as

due praise to the imperial government, that none of the many

liundreds who served the English on ship and shore against

their country were afterward molested in any way for so doing.

Many were apprehended, but the commissioner says he ” has

obtained from the good favor of his august sovereign, vast and

boundless as that of heaven itself, the remission of their punishment

for all past deeds ; » . . they need entertain no appi-

ehension of being hereafter dragged forward, nor yield in

consequence to any fears or suspicions.”

‘These new arrangements pleased the leading Chinese merchants

better than they did the hoppo and others who had lined

their pockets and fed their friends with illegal exactions. The

never-failing sponge of the co hong could no longer be sucked,

but for a last squeeze the authorities called upon the merchants

for five millions of dollars, which they refused to pay, and

withdrew from business with so much determination and union

that the hoppo and his friends were foiled ; they finally contributed

among themselves about one million seven hundred

thousand dollars, which was nearly or quite their last benevolence

to their rulers. Ilowqua, the leading member of the body during

thirty years, died about this time, aged seventy-five ; he was,

altogether, the most remarkable native known to foreigners, and

while he filled the difficult station of senior merchant, exhibited

‘ Chinese Repository, Vol. XII., p. 443.

great shrewdness and ability in jiumaging the deHcate and difficult

affairs constantly thrown upon him. lie came fi-oni Amoy

when a voung man, and his property, probably over estimated

at four millions sterling, passed quietly into the hands of his

children.’

Tlie foreign community also suffered a great loss at this time

in the death of John Ilobert Morrison, at the age of twentynine,

lie was born in China, and had identified himself with

the best interests of her people and their advancement in

knowledjre and Christianity. At the age of twenty, on his

father’s decease, he was appointed Chinese secretary to the

British superintendents, and filled that responsible situation

with credit and efficiency during all the disputes with the proyincial

authorities and commissioner Lin, and of the war, until

peace was declared. His intimate acquaintance with the policy

of the Chinese government and the habits of thought of its officers

eminently fitted him for successfully treating with them,

and enlightening them upon the intentions and wishes of foreign

powers ; while his unaffected kindness to all natives assured

them of the sincerity of his professions. The successful conduct

of the negotiations at Xanking depended very much upon him,

and the manner in which he performed the many translations

to and from Chinese, connected with that event, was such as to

secure the confidence of the imperial connnissioners, in their

ignorance of all foreign languages, that they were fairly dealt

with.

He was eminently a Christian man, and whenever opportunity

allowed, failed not to speak of the doctrines of the Bible to his

native friends. The projected revision of the Chinese version

of the Scriptures by the Protestant missionaries engaged his

attention, and it was expected would receive his assistance.

With his influence, his pen, his property, and his prayers, he

contributed to the welfare of the people, and the confidence felt

in him by natives who knew him was often strikingly exhibited

‘ Compare The Fan Kwae at Canton before Treaty Days, by an Old Residejit

(Mr. W. C. Hunter), London, 1882; a little volume which, besides many personal

reminiscences of the characters mentioned in this narrative, furnishes an interesting picture of life in Canton a half century ago.

DEATH OF JOHN K. MOKKISON. 561

at Canton durin*^ tlio coniinotions of 1841 and the negotiations

of 1843. lie died at Macao August 29th, a jear after the treaty

of i^anking was signed, and was l)nried by the side of liis

parents in the Pi’otestant burying-gronnd. Sir lleiny Pottinger

announced his death as a “positive national calamity,” and it was so received ‘by the government at home, he also justly added that ” Mr. Morrison was so well known to every one, and so beloved, respected, and esteemed by all wdio had the pleasure and happiness of his acquaintance or friendship, that to attempt to pass any panegyric upon his private character would be a mere waste of words ;” while his own sorrow was but a type of the universal feeling in which his memory and merit are embalmed. As a testimony of their sense of his worth, the foreign community, learning that he had died poor,

leaving a maiden sister who had been dependent upon him, and

that his official accounts were in some confusion, immediately

came forward and contributed nearlj’ fourteen thousand dollars

to relieve his estate and relatives from all embarrassment.

The negotiations were concluded by the English and Chinese

plenipotentiaries signing a supplementary treaty on October 8th

(the day was a lucky one in the Chinese calendar), at the Bogue.

This treaty provided, among other things, for the admission of

all foreigners to the iive open ports on the same terms as English

subjects ; it was inserted at the request of Kiying, that all

might appreciate the intentions of his government ; for neither

he nor his master knew anything of that favorite phrase, ” the

most favored nation,” and expected and wished to avoid all controversy by putting every ship and flag on the same footing.

It might have been expected that the Chinese government

would have now taken some action upon the opium trade, which

was still going on unchecked and unlicensed. Opium schooners

were passing in and out of Hongkong liarbor, though the drug

sold by the Indian government at Calcutta was not allowed by

the colonial British government at Hongkong to be stored on

shore. Yet no edicts wei-e issued, few or no seizui-es made, no

notice taken of it ; no proposition to repress, legalize, or inanage

it came from the imperial commissioner. The old laws denouncing

its use, purchase, or sale under the penalty of deati* still remained on the statute book, but no one feared or cared for them. This conduct is fully explained by the supposition that, having undergone so much, the Emperor and his ministers thought safety from future trouble with the British lay in enduring what was past curing ; they had already suffered greatly

in attempting to suppress it, and another war might be caused

by meddling with the dangerous subject, since too it M^as now

guarded by well-armed British vessels. Public opinion was still

too strong against it, or else consistency obliged the monarch to

forbid legalization.’

Sir Henry Pottingcr, hearing that persons were about sending

opium to Canton under the pretense that unenumerated articles

were admissible by the new tariff at a duty of five per

cent., issued a proclamation in English and Chinese, to the intent

that such proceedings were illegal. lie also forbade British

vessels going bej-ond lat. 32° X., and intimated to the Chinese

that they might seize all persons and confiscate all vessels found

above that line, or anywhei*e else on the coast besides the five

ports ; and, moreover, published an order in council wdiich

restricted, under penalty of $500 for each offence, all British

vessels violating the stipulations of the treaty in this respect.

All this was done chiefly to throw dust in their eyes, and put

the onus of the contraband traffic on the Chinese government

and the violation of law on those who came off to the smuggling

vessels, and these proclamations and orders, like their edicts,

were to be put ” on record.” This was shoAvn when Captain

Hope, of II.M.S. Thalia, for stopping two or three of the opium

vessels proceeding above Shanghai, was recalled from his station

and ordered to India, where he could not “interfere in such a manner

with the undertakings of British subjects “—to quote Lord

Palmerston’s despatch to Captain Elliot. This effectually deterred

other British officers from meddling with it.

Yet the commercial bearings of this trade were clearly seen

in England, and a memorial to Sir Bobert Peel, signed by two

hundred and thirty-five merchants and manufacturers, was drawn

‘ Montgomery Martin, China ; Political, Commercial, and Social, Vol. II.,

Chap. IV. (London, 1847)—a chapter containing some most suggestive reflections

on this subject by a member of her Majesty’s government at Hongkong.

RENEWAL OF THE OPIUM DISCUSSION. 563

np, in which they proved that tlie ” commerce with China cannot^r

be conducted on a permanently safe and satisfactory basis so long

as the contraband trade in opium is permitted. Even if legalized,

the trade would inevitably undermine the commerce of Great

Britain with China, and prevent its being, as it otherwise might

be, an advantageous market for our manufactures. It would operate

for evil in a double way: first, by enervating and impoverishing

the consumers of the drug, it would disable them from becoming

purchasers of our productions ; and second, as the Chinese

would then be paid for their produce chiefly as now in opium, the

quantity of that article imported by them having of late years

exceeded in value the tea and silk we receive from them, our

own manufactures would consequently be to a great extent precluded.”

The memorial shows that between 1803-08 the annual

demand for M’oollens alone was nearly $750,000 more than

it was for «Z^ products of British industry between 1834—39 ; while

in that interval the opium trade had risen from three thousand to

thirty thousand chests annually. Nothing in the annals of commerce

ever showed more conclusively how heartless a thing trade

is when it comes in contact with morality or humanity, than

the discussions respecting the opium traffic. These memorialists

plead for their manufactures, but the East India Company

would have been soi-ry to have had their market spoiled : what

could Sir Robert Peel, or even Wilberforce, if he had been

premier, do against them in this matter ? The question was

which party of manufacturers should be patronized. But none

of these “merchants and manufacturers of the highest standing

and respectability ” refer to the destruction of life, distress of

families, waste of mind, body, and property, and the many other

evils connected with the growth and use of opium, except as connected

with the sale of their goods. One paper, in order

to compound the matter, recommended the manufacture of

morphine to tempt the Chinese, in order that, if they would

smoke it, they might have a delicate preparation for fashionable

smokers.

The conduct of the ministry in remunerating the merchants

who had surrendered their property to Captain Elliot was appropriate

to the character of the trade. The $6,000,000, instead of being divided in Cliina aiijOiig those m’Iio were to receive it —as could have been done without expense—was cariied to England to be coined, which, with the freight, reduced it considerably. Then by the manner of ascertaining the market value at the time it was given up, and the holders of the opium script got their pay, they received scarcely one-half of what was originally paid to the East India Company, either directly or indirectly, thereby reducing it nearly a million sterling. Furthermore, by the form of payment they lost nearly one-fifth even of the promised sum, or about one million two hundred thousand dollars. Then they lost four years” interest on their whole capital, or about four million dollars more. What the merchants lost, the government profited. The Company gained during these four years at least a million sterling by the increased price of the drug, while Sir Eobert Peel also transferred that amount from the pockets of the merchants to the public treasury. It was an imdignified and pitiful haggling with the merchants and owners of the opium, whom that ministry had encouraged for many years in their trade along the Chinese coast, and then forced to take wdiat was doled out.

Public opinion will ever characterize the contest thus brought

to an end as an oj/ium war, entered into and cai’ried on to

obtain indemnity for opium seized, and—setting aside the niceties

of western international law, M’liich the Chinese government

knew nothing of—most justly seized. The British and American

merchants who voluntarily subscribed one thousand and

thirty-seven chests to Commissioner Lin, acknowledged themselves

to be transgressors by tliis very act. Yet war seemed to

be the only way to break down the intolerable assumptions of

the court of Peking ; that a Avar M’ould do it was quite plain

to every one acquainted with the character of that court and the

genius of the j^eople, and the result has shown the expectation

to have been M’cU based. Members of Parliament expi’cssed

their gratification at being at last out of a bad busines^s ; their

desire, frequently nttered, that the light of the gos])(‘l and the

blessings of C’hristian civilization might now be introduced

among the millions of China, was a cheap peace-offering of good

wishes, some^\llat in tin- manner t)f the old Hebrews sacrificing

treatip:.s mith otiieu powers. 565

a kid when tbej liad eoniniitted a trespass. Tlie short but pithy

digest of the whole war by Justin McCarthy, in Chapter X. of

the Ilisturij of Our Ocn Times, brings out its leading features

in a fairly candid manner.

The announcement of the treaty of Xanking caused considerable

sensation in Europe and America, cliictly in commercial

circles. M. Augusto Moxhet, the Belgian consul at kSingapore,

was sent on to China to make such inquiries for transmission to

his government as would direct it in its efforts to open a trade.

The Xetherlands government sent orders to the authorities at

Batavia, who despatched M. Tonco Modderman for the same

purpose. The king of Prussia appointed ]\I. Grube to proceed

to China to prosecute researches as to the prospect of finding

a market for German mamifactnres. The Spanish ministry,

through the authorities at Manila, designated Don Sinibaldo de

Mas in this new sphere. The governor of Macao, M. Pinto,

before returning home, was appointed commissioner on behalf

of II. M. F. Majesty, to treat respecting the rights and privileges

of Macao under the new order of things, and succeeded in

obtaining some stipulations favorable to the trade of the place,

but could not get the Chinese to cede it to Portugal. These

gentlemen arrived in China during the latter part of 1S43, and

most of them had interviews or communication with Kiying before

he returned to court in December.

The governments of the United States and France early appointed

ministers extraordinary to the court of Peking. Caleb Cushing, commissioner on behalf of the United States, brought a letter from the President to the Emperor, which is inserted in full as an instance of the singular mixture of patronizing and deprecatory address then deemed suitable for the Grand Khan by western nations :

LETTER TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

I, John Tyler. President of the United States of America -which States are: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, ^Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan—send you this letter of peace and friendship, signed by my own hand.

I hope your healtli is good. China is a great Empire, extending over a great

part of the world. The Chinese are numerous. You have millions and millions

of subjects. The twenty-six United States are as large as China, though

our people are not so numerous. The rising sun looks upon the great mountains

and great rivers of China. When lie sets, he looks iipon rivers and

mountains equally large in the United States. Our territories extend from

one great ocean to the other ; and on the west we are divided from your dominions

only by the sea. Leaving the mouth of one of our great rivers, and

going constantly toward tlie setting sun, we sail to Japan and to the Yellow

Pea.

Now, my words are that the governments of two such great countries should

be at peace. It is proper, and according to tlie will of lieaven, that they should

respect each other, and act wisely. 1 therefore send to your court Caleb Cushing,

one of tlie wise and learned men of this country. On his first arrival in

China, he will iiujuire for your health. He has strict orders to go to your

great city of Peking, and there to deliver this letter. He will have with him

secretaries <tnd interpreters.

The Chinese love to trade with our jteople, and to sell them tea and silk, for

which our people pay silver, and sometimes other articles. But if the Chinese

and the Americans will trade, tliere shall be rules, so that they shall not break

your laws or our laws. Our minister, Caleb Gushing, is authorized to make a

treaty to regulate trade. Let it be just. Let there be no unfair advantage on

either side. Let the people trade not only at Canton, but also at Anioy, Ningpo,

Shanghai, Fuhchau, and all such other places as may o.Ter profitable exchanges

both to China and the United States, provided they do not break your

laws nor our laws. We shall not take the part of evil-doers. We shall not

uphold them that break your laws. Therefore, we doubt not that you will be

pleased that our messenger of peace, with this letter in his hand, shall come

to Peking, and there deliver it ; and that your great officers will, by your order,

make a treaty with liim to regulate a.fairs of trade—so that nothing may

happen to disturb the pea(;e between China and America. Let the treaty be

signed by your own imperial hand. It shall be signed by mine, by the authority

of our great council, the Senate.

And so may your health be good, and may peace reign.

Written at Washington, this twelfth day of July, in the. year of our Lord

one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. Your good friend.

Mr. Gushing arrived in Cliiiia in the frigate Brandy wine,

Commodore Parker, February 24^, 1844. The announcement

of tlie general objects of lii.s mission, and the directions he had

to proceed to Peking, was made to Governor Cliing, who instantly

informed the com-t of his arrival ; and with a promptitude

indicative of the desii-e of the Emperor to give no cause

of offence, Kiying was reappointed commissioner, with highei

EMBASSY FROM THE UNITED STATES TO CHINA. 567

powers than before. The frigate had brought out a flagstaff

and vane for the consulate at Canton ; the vane was in the

form of an arrow, and as it turned its barb to tlie four points of

the compass, the superstitious people tliought it conveyed destructive

influences around, transfixing all the benign operations

of heaven and earth, and thereby causing disease and calamitv

among them. An unusual degree of sickness prevailed at tliis

time in the city and its environs, which the geomancers and

doctors declared would not cease until the deadly arrow was removed.

The people accordingly w^aited on the consul, Mr. Forbes, to request the removal of the arrow, which he acceded to, and substituted a vane of another shape. The gentry issued a placard the next day, connuending its removal, and requesting the people to harbor no ill-will toward the Americans as the cause of the sickness.

Kiying having announced his appointment and jxnvers to the

people, proceeded to the Bogue to meet Sir Henry Pottinger,

and be introduced to Governor Davis, from whence he went to

Macao and took up his residence in the village of Wanghia, in

the suburl)S of that city. lie had associated three assistants

with himself, viz., Hwang Ngan-tung, Pwan Sz’-shing, one of

the late hong merchants, and Chau Chang-ling, a prefect. II.

E. Hon. Caleb Cushing was sole commissioner and envoy extraordinary; Fletcher AVebster, Esq., was secretary ; Rev. E.

C. Bridgman, D.D., and Pev. Peter Parker, M.D., were joint

Chinese secretaries, and Dr. Bridgman, chaplain ; Messrs. J. H.

O’Donnell, R. Mcintosh, S. Hernisz, T. R. AVest, and John R.

Peters, Jr., were attached to the legation.

Mr. Cushing had already prepared the general outline of the

treaty, which greatly abridged the negotiations, and the few

disputed or doubtful points in the draft having been modified

and settled, it was signed at AVanghia on July 3, 1844, by the

two plenipotentiaries, Commodore Parker, and a few other

Americans, a large company of Chinese being present. Its fulness

of details and clear exhibition of the rights conceded by

the Chinese government to foreigners dwelling within its borders,

made it the leading authority in settling disputes among

them until 1860.

Soon after Ki’ying left Canton the populace began to show

signs of disturbance. A party of gentlenieu wei’e walking in

the Company’s garden, when the gate was burst open by a mob

and they were obliged to escape by boats. On the next evening

the mob again collected, with the intention of getting possession

of the large garden, but were driven out of the passage without

much opposition. Two or three Americans, in escorting one of

their countrymen to his house, were attacked by missiles on

their return ; whereupon one of them fired low to drive the

people back, but unhappily killed a native, named Sil A-mun.

The case was investigated by the district magistrate, and a

report made by the governor to Kiying; but Cliing took no

pains to send a sufficient force to repress the populace. In a

communication to the American consul he says, after ordering

him to deliver up the murderer : ” It has been ascertained that

the man who was killed was from the district of Tsingyuen,

having no relatives in Canton. But if he had been a citizen, it

would have become at the moment an occasion for attack, for it

would have been told to the populace, and they would have revenged

it by again setting fire to the factories and plundering

their contents, or something of that sort. The people are highly

irritated against the offender, and it is impossible but that they

have constant debates among themselves until they are revenged.”

A party of marines from the corvette St. Louis came up to

Canton the next day, and qiiiet was restored. Kiying brought

the case before Mr. Cushing, stating it to be his conviction that

“the murderer ought to forfeit his life,” and begging him to

give orders for a speedy examination of the ease. In his reply

Mr. Cushing expressed his regret at what had occurred, his

willingness to institute an inquiry, and added a few remarks

upon the necessity of better protecting foreigners at Canton,

in order to prevent the recurrence of such scenes, and embroiling

the two counti’ics. Kiying replied in a considerate maimer,

still upholding the authority of his government and laws: “It

seems from this that, regarding our nations and their subjects,

the people of our land may be peaceful, and the citizens of the

United States may be peaceful, and yet, after their governments

CASES OF RIOT AND HOMICIDE IN CANTON. 569

luive become amicable, that tlien tlieir people may become inim

ical ; and albeit the authorities of the two governments may

day after day deliberate upon friendship, it is all nothing but

empty M-ords. Thus, while we are deliberating and settling a

treaty of peace, all at once the people of our two countries are

at odds and taking lives.” lie also speaks of the overbearing

and violent character of the people of Canton :

Since the period when the English brought in sohiiers, these ladrones have been banding together and forming societies ; and while some, taking advantage of their strength, have plundered and robbed, others have called upon the able-bodied and valiant to get their living. Therefore, employing troop&, which is the endangering of the authorities and [peaceable] people, is the profit of these miscreants ; peace and good order which traders, both native and foreign, desire, is what these bad men do not at all wish. … I have heard that usually the citizens of Canton have respected and liked the officers and people of the United States, as they were peaceable and reasonable ; that they would, even when there was a cause of difference, endeavor to settle it, which is very unlike the English. But unexpectedly, on the 16th instant, a cause for animosity was given in the shooting of Sii A-mun. I have heard different accounts of this affair ; I judge reasonably in thinking that the merchants oi your country causelessly and rashly took life. But the populace are determined to seek a quarrel, and I very much fear lest they will avail of this to raise commotion, perhaps under the pretence of avenging his death, but doubtless with other ideas too.

The American minister referred in a subsequent commnnication

to the death of the boy Sherry, in May, 1841, when the

boat’s crew from the ship Morrison was captured. This affair

had been already bronght to the notice of the Chinese government

by Commodore Kearny, and a sum of $7,800 paid for

losses and damages sustained ; but the present was a fitting

opportunity for reviving it, since it and the case of Sii A-mun

furnished a mutual commentary npon the necessity of securing

better protection for foreigners. Kiying made an investigation

of the case, and reported the successive actions of his predecessor,

Ki Knng ; so thoroughly indeed was his reply divested of all

the rhodomontade usnally seen in Chinese state papers, that one

could hardly believe it was written by a governor-general of

Canton. The exciting circumstances of the first casualty did

indeed go far to extenuate it; though now both Kiying and his

superiors could not but see that the time for demanding life foi life had passed away. The commissioner was, however, in a

dilemma. He could only appease the populace by stating in his

proclamations that he was making every effort to ascertain who

was the murderer and bring him to justice, and they must leave

the management of the case in the hands of the regular authorities.

On the other hand, the arguments of Mr. Cushing and

the stipulations in the English treaty, both convinced him that

foreign nations would not give up their treaty right of judging

their own countrymen. He finally escaped the trouble by deferring

the petitioners and relatives of the deceased awhile, and

then appeasing them by a small donation.

In conducting these negotiations, and settling this treaty “between

the youngest and oldest empires in the world,” Mr. Cushing

exhibited both ability and knowledge of his subject. In his

instructions he was directed to deliv^er the President’s letter to

the Emperor in person, or to an officer of rank in his presence; and, therefore, on his arrival he informed the governor that he had been sent to the imperial court, and being under the necessity of remaining a few weeks at Macao, he improved the first opportunity to inquire after the health of his Majesty. Whether

he regarded the mere going to court as important camiot be inferred

from his correspondence, but if so, he should have gone

directly to the mouth of the Pei ho and waited there for a commissioner to be sent to meet him. Vet the real advantages of

such a proceeding at this time would have been trifiing, and its

risks and contingencies very serious; as the Emperor was not

dis])osed to forego that homage required of all who appeared

before him, however willing he might be to grant commercial privileges, it was undesirable to excite discussions on this point.

^Moreover, the appointment of Kiying with such unusual powers

indicated a favorable disposition toward the Americans. It was

fortunate that the two plenipotentiaries wei-e at hand when the

riot and homicide occurred, while the discussion which grew out

of those events was no snuill benefit to the local government.

The secret of nmch of the ])ower of the Emperor of China consists

in the acknowledgment by his subjects of his sacred character

as the Son of Heaven ; and although that lofty assumption

uuist come down before the advance of western civilization, and

CONCLUSION OF THE FKKNCIl TKEATV. 571

will ere long criiinble of itself, to have asked for an audience

when tliis formalitj was known to be inadmissible would have

irritated him, and put the foreign minister in an indefensible

position. The subsequent discussions proved how deeply rooted

in the Chinese mind was this attribute ; the peaceful settlement

of the question in 1873 could not have been anticipated

hi 1844.

The French ambassador, II. E. Th. de Lagrene, arrived in

China August 14th. In addition to the two secretaries, MM. le

Marquis de Ferriere le Yoyer and le Comte d’liarcourt, five

other gentlemen were sent out to make investio-ations into the

commerce, arts, and industrial resources of the Chinese. M. de

Lagrene took possession of the lodgings prepared for him at

Macao, in the same building which Mr. Gushing had occupied.

Kiying immediately made arrangements for opening the negotiations

by sending his three associates to congratulate the French minister on his arrival; he himself reached Macao September 29th. The gratification of the Chinese statesmen at finding that the missions from the American and French governments were not sent, like the English expedition, to demand indemnity and the cession of an island, was great. Their arrival had been foreshadowed among the people of Canton, the number of ships of war had been exaggerated, and the design of the

ambassadors strangely misrepresented as including the seizure

of an island. These reports could hardly fail to reach and have

some effect upon the highest officers in the land. The time,

therefore, was favorable, not merely to obtain the same political

and commercial advantages which had been granted to England,

but further to explain to the Chinese officers something of the

relations their nation should enter into with the other powers of

the earth. The first interviews between Kiying and M. de Lagrene

were held in October, and the treaty of Wanghia taken as

the basis of agreement. The negotiations were amicably settled

by the signing of the treaty at Whampoa on October 23d.

This act may be said to have concluded the opening of China,

so far as its government was prepared for the extension of this

intercourse.

The instalments due according to the treaty of NanJing were not yet all paid, but the Chinese had shown their desire to fulfil their engagements, and the $.21,000,000 were received by the English within a short period of the specified time. This was a minor consideration, however, in comparison with the great

advantages gained by England for herself and all Christendom

over the seclusive and exclusive system of former days, which

had now received such a shock that it could not only never

recover from it, but was not likely even to maintain itself where

the treaties had defined it. The intercourse begun by these

treaties went on as fast as the two parties found it for tlieir

benefit. The war, though eminently nnjust in its cause as an

opium war—and even English officers and authors do not try to

disguise that the seizure of the opium was tlie real reason for an

appeal to arms, though the imprisonment of Captain Elliot and

other acts was the pretext—was still, so far as human sagacity

can perceive, a wholesome infliction upon a government which haughtily refused all equal intercourse with other nations, or explanations regarding its conduct, and forbade its subjects having free dealings with their fellow-men.

‘ If in entering upon the conflict England had published to the

world her declaration of the reasons for engaging in it, the

merits of the case would have been better understood. If she

had said at the outset that she commenced the struggle with the

Emperor because he would not treat her subjects resorting to

his shores by his permission with common humanity, allowing

them no intercourse with his subjects, nor access to his officers;

because he contemptuously discarded her ambassadors and consular agents, sent with friendly design ; because he made foolish

regulations (which his own subjects did not observe) an occasion

of offence against others when it suited him, and had despoiled

them of their property by strange and arbitrary pi-occcdings,

weakening all confidence in his equity ; lastly, because he kept

liimself aloof from other sovereigns, and shut out his people

from that intercourse with their fellow-men which was their

privilege and right ; her character in this war would have appeared

far better. But it is the prerogative of the Governor of

nations to educe good out of evil, and make the wrath, the

avarice, and the ambition of men to serve his purposes and advanco his own designs, although their intentions may be far otherwise.

CONDITION OF CIIIXA AFTER THE WAR. 573

The external and internal relations of the Chinese Empire at

the close of the year 1844 were in a far better state than one

M’onld have snpposed they conld have become in so short a time

after such a convulsion. The cities and provinces where the

storm of war had beat most violently were i-eviving, the authority

of the officers was becoming re-established, the bands of

lawless desperadoes were gradually dispei’sing, and the people

resuming their peaceful pursuits. No ill-will was manifested in

Amoy on account of the losses its citizens had sustained, nor at

Ningpo or Shanghai for their occupation by Englisli troops.

The English consuls at the five ports had all been received, and

trade was connnencing under favorable auspices. The opium

trade—for this dark feature everywhere forces itself into the

prospect—was also extending, and opium schooners plying up

and down the coast, and anchoring on the outside limits of

eveiy port to deliver the drug.

The citizens of Canton, however, maintained their hereditary

ill-will toward foreigners, and proceeded to such lengths that

the local government became powerless to carry the stipulation

of the British treaty, to enter its city gates, into effect. Governor

Davis proceeded to Canton in May, 1847, with several

vessels of war, capturing all the guns at the Bogue in his progress

up the river, and compelled the authorities to grant a

larger space for residences and wai-ehouses on the south side of

the Pearl River, to be occupied as soon as arrangements could

be made. It was also agreed that the gates should be unconditionally

opened within two years, so that foreigners might have

the same access to this city as to the other four ports. When

the time came for this to be carried out, the Emperor ordered

Governor-General Sli to mind the voice of the people and disregard

this engagement, which had probably never received his

sanction. A careful examination of the Chinese text of all the

treaties showed that an explicit permission to enter the citadel

{c/iin(/), or walled portion of the marts opened to foreign commerce,

was not given. In consequence of this vagueness the

Hongkong authorities, acting under instructions from London,

did not press the point, and the gates of Canton remained inviolate

till January, 1858.”

• C/iinese Repositoiy, Vols. XVIII. , pp. 216,275; XV., p. 40 ff. Davis,Cfiina durinff the War (tiul mice the Peace, 1852. Vol. II., Chaps. V. and VI ,passim. Among other authorities on the war may be mentioned Lord Jocelyin,Six Months with ilte Chinese Expedition, London, 1841 ; K. Stewart Mackenzie,Narrative of the Second Campaign in China, London, 1842; Col. Aithur Cunynghame,liecoUections of Service in China, 1853 ; Lieut. John Ouchterlony,The Chinese War, 1844 ; The Last Tear in China to the Peace of Xaiding, by a Field Officer, London and Philadelphia, 1848 ; Auguste Haussmann, L<iChine, resume historiqiie, etc., Paris, 1858 • Ad. Barrot in the Revue des DeuxMondes for February 15, March 1, June 1, and July 1, 1842.