The Commissioners Were
Dressed In Their Plainest Clothes, As They Explained, Because Imperial
Commissioners Are Supposed To Proceed In Haste
About their business, and
have no time to waste on their persons, but there is reason to believe
that they
Thought such clothing best consorted with the inauspicious
character for China of the occasion. The ceremony passed off without a
hitch, and four days later Sir Henry Pottinger paid the Chinese officers a
return visit, when he was received by them in a temple outside the city
walls. A third and more formal reception was held on the 26th of August in
the College Hall, in the center of Nankin, when Sir Henry Pottinger,
twenty officers, and an escort of native cavalry rode through the streets
of one of the most famous cities of China. It was noted at the time that
on this date an event of great importance had happened in each of the
three previous years. On the 26th of August, 1839, Lin had expelled the
English from Macao, in 1840 the British fleet anchored off the Peiho, and
in 1841 Amoy was captured. Three days after this reception the treaty
itself was signed on board the "Cornwallis," when Keying and his
colleagues again attended for the purpose. The act of signing was
celebrated by a royal salute of twenty-one guns, and the hoisting of the
standards of England and China at the masthead of the man-of-war. The
Emperor Taoukwang ratified the treaty with commendable dispatch, and the
only incident to mar the cordiality of the last scene in this part of the
story of Anglo-Chinese relations was the barbarous and inexcusable injury
inflicted by a party of English officers and soldiers on the famous
Porcelain Tower, which was one of the finest specimens of Chinese art,
having been built 400 years before at great expense and the labor of
twenty years.
The ports in addition to Canton to be opened to trade were Shanghai,
Ningpo, Amoy and Foochow, but these were not to be opened until a tariff
had been drawn up and consular officers appointed. As the installments of
the indemnity were paid the troops and fleet were withdrawn, but a
garrison was left for some time in Chusan and Kulangsu, the island off
Amoy. The attack and massacre of some shipwrecked crews on the coast of
Formosa gave the Chinese government an occasion of showing how marked a
change had come over its policy. An investigation was at once ordered, the
guilty officials were punished, and the emperor declared, "We will not
allow that, because the representation came from outside foreigners, it
should be carelessly cast aside without investigation. Our own subjects
and foreigners, ministers and people, should all alike understand that it
is our high desire to act with even-handed and perfect justice." Sir Henry
Pottinger's task was only half performed until he had drawn up the tariff
and installed consular officers in the new treaty ports. Elepoo was
appointed to represent China in the tariff negotiations, and Canton was
selected as the most convenient place for discussing the matter.
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of 191255
