The Chinese Were Not Left Long In Doubt As To The Significance Of This
Change.
In December, 1833, a royal commission was issued appointing Lord
Napier chief superintendent of trade with China, and two assistants under
him, of whom one was Sir John Davis.
The Chinese had to some extent
contributed to this appointment, the Hoppo at Canton having written that
"in case of the dissolution of the Company it was incumbent on the British
government to appoint a chief to come to Canton for the general management
of commercial dealings, and to prevent affairs from going to confusion."
But in this message the Hoppo seems to have expressed his own view rather
than that of the Pekin government or the Canton viceroy; and certainly
none of the Chinese were prepared to find substituted for "a chief of
commercial dealings" an important commissioner clothed with all the
authority of the British ruler. How very different was the idea formed of
this functionary by the Chinese and English may be gathered from their
official views of his work. What the Chinese thought has been told in the
words of the Hoppo. Lord Palmerston was more precise from his point of
view. His instruction to Lord Napier read, "Your lordship will announce
your arrival at Canton by letter to the viceroy. In addition to the duty
of protecting and fostering the trade at 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.
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