The Consulates Were Duly Appointed,
The Necessary Land For The Foreign Settlements Was Acquired, And The War
Indemnity Being Honorably
Discharged, Chusan was restored to the Chinese.
With regard to the last matter there was some maneuvering of a not
Altogether creditable nature, and although the Chinese paid the last
installment punctually to date, Chusan and Kulangsu were not evacuated for
some months after the stipulated time. It was said that our hesitation in
the former case was largely due to the fear that France would seize it;
but this has been permanently removed by the expressed assertion of our
prior right to occupy it. A far more gratifying subject is suggested by
the harmony of the relations which were established in Chusan between the
garrison under Sir Colin Campbell and the islanders, who expressed deep
regret at the departure of the English troops. The first members of the
consular staff in China were as follows: Mr. G. T. Lay was consul at
Canton, Captain George Balfour at Shanghai (where, however, he was soon
succeeded by Sir Rutherford Alcock), Mr. Henry Gribble at Ainoy, and Mr.
Robert Thorn at Ningpo. Among the interpreters were the future Sir Thomas
Wade and Sir Harry Parkes. Various difficulties presented themselves with
regard to the foreign settlements, and the island of Kulangsu at Amoy had
to be evacuated because its name was not mentioned in the treaty. At
Canton also an attempt was made to extend the boundaries of the foreign
settlement by taking advantage of a great conflagration, but in this
attempt the Europeans were baffled by the superior quickness of the
Chinese, who constructed their new houses in a single night. These
incidents showed that the sharpness was not all on one side, and that if
the Chinese were backward in conceding what might be legitimately
demanded, the Europeans were not averse to snatching an advantage if they
saw the chance.
The turbulence of the Canton populace, over whom the officials possessed
but a nominal control, was a constant cause of disagreement and trouble.
In the spring of 1846 a riot was got up by the mob on the excuse that a
vane erected on the top of the flagstaff over the American Consulate
interfered with the Fung Shui, or spirits of earth and air; and although
it was removed to allay the excitement of the superstitious, the
disturbance continued, and several personal encounters took place, in one
of which a Chinese was killed. The Chinese mandarins, incited by the mob,
demanded the surrender of the man who fired the shot; and that they should
have made such a demand, after they had formally accepted and recognized
the jurisdiction of consular courts, furnished strong evidence that they
had not mastered the lessons of the late war or reconciled themselves to
the provisions of the Treaty of Nankin. The fortunate arrival of Keying to
"amicably regulate the commerce with foreign countries" smoothed over this
difficulty, and the excitement of the Canton mob was allayed without any
surrender. It was almost at this precise moment, too, that Taoukwang made
the memorable admission that the Christian religion might be tolerated as
one inculcating the principles of virtue. But the two pressing and
practical difficulties in the foreign question were the opening of the
gates of Canton and the right of foreigners to proceed beyond the limits
of their factories and compounds. The Chinese wished for many reasons,
perhaps even for the safety of the foreigners, to confine them to their
settlements, and it might be plausibly argued that the treaty supported
this construction. Of course such confinement was intolerable, and English
merchants and others would not be prevented from making boating or
shooting excursions in the neighborhood of the settlements. The Chinese
authorities opposed these excursions, and before long a collision occurred
with serious consequences. In March, 1847, a small party of Englishmen
proceeded in a boat to Fatshan, a manufacturing town near Canton which has
been called the Chinese Birmingham. On reaching the place symptoms of
hostility were at once manifested, and the Europeans withdrew for safety
to the yamen of the chief magistrate, who happened unfortunately to be
away. By this time the populace had got very excited, and the Englishmen
were with difficulty escorted in safety to their boat. The Chinese,
however, pelted them with stones, notwithstanding the efforts of the chief
officer, who had by this time returned and taken the foreigners under his
protection. It was due to his great heroism that they escaped with their
lives and without any serious injury.
The incident, unpleasant in itself, might have been explained away and
closed without untoward consequences if Sir John Davis had not seized, as
he thought, a good opportunity of procuring greater liberty and security
for Englishmen at Canton. He refused to see in this affair an accident,
but denounced it as an outrage, and proclaimed "that he would exact and
require from the Chinese government that British subjects should be as
free from molestation and insult in China as they would be in England."
This demand was both unreasonable and unjust. It was impossible that the
hated foreigner, or "foreign devil," as he was called, could wander about
the country in absolute security when the treaty wrung from the emperor as
the result of an arduous war confined him to five ports, and limited the
emperor's capacity to extend protection to those places. But Sir John
Davis determined to take this occasion of forcing events, so that he might
compel the Chinese to afford greater liberty to his countrymen, and thus
hasten the arrival of the day for the opening of the gates of Canton. On
the 1st of April all the available troops at Hongkong were warned for
immediate service, and on the following day the two regiments in garrison
left in three steamers and escorted by one man-of-war to attack Canton.
They landed at the Bogue forts, seized the batteries without opposition
and spiked the guns.
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