The
Peremptory Instructions Given To Commissioner Lin, As He Is Historically
Known, Were "To Cut Off The Fountain Of Evil,
And, if necessary for the
attainment of his object, to sink his ships and break his caldrons, for
the indignation
Of the great emperor has been fairly aroused at these
wicked practices - of buying and selling and using opium - and that the
hourly thought of his heart is to do away with them forever."
Before Lin reached Canton there had been frequent friction between Captain
Elliot and the local mandarins, and more than one interruption of the
trade. Less than six months after his installation at Canton his official
relations were broken off, and he wrote home to his government a dispatch
complaining of the difficulty of conducting any sort of amicable relations
with the local mandarins, and indorsing the growing demand for the right
of dealing direct with the Pekin government. Captain Elliot, acting under
instructions from home, issued a public notice warning all English
subjects to discontinue the illicit opium trade, and stating that "her
Majesty's Government would not in any way interfere if the Chinese
Government should think fit to seize and confiscate the same."
At this juncture Commissioner Lin, whose fervor and energy carried him
away, appeared upon the scene, and, whereas a less capable or honest man
would have come to an arrangement with Captain Elliot, his very ability
and enthusiasm tended to complicate the situation and render a pacific
solution unattainable. Commissioner Lin, on taking up his post, lost no
time in showing that he was terribly in earnest; but both his language and
his acts proved that he had a very much larger programme than was included
in his propaganda against the opium traffic.
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Page 356 of 704
Words from 96536 to 96826
of 191255
