China By Demetrius Charles Boulger































































 -  Not only did Commissioner Lin
and the Canton authorities claim the right to condemn and punish British
subjects, but they - Page 359
China By Demetrius Charles Boulger - Page 359 of 704 - First - Home

Enter page number    Previous Next

Number of Words to Display Per Page: 250 500 1000

Not Only Did Commissioner Lin And The Canton Authorities Claim The Right To Condemn And Punish British Subjects, But They Showed In The Most Insolent Manner That They Would Take Away Their Liberty And Lives On The Flimsiest And Falsest Pretext.

Captain Elliot, weak and yielding as he was on many points, declared that "this law is incompatible with safe

Or honorable continuance at Canton." Apparently the Chinese authorities acted on the assumption that so long as there remained even one offending European the mass of his countrymen ought to be hindered in their avocations, and consequently petty restrictions and provocations continued to be enforced. Then Captain Elliot, seeing that the situation was hopeless and that there was no sign of improvement, took the bold, or at least the pronounced, step of ordering all British subjects to leave Canton or to stay at their own peril. It was on this occasion that he explained away, or put a new interpretation on, his action with regard to the opium surrendered for destruction, which most of the merchants thought represented an irrecoverable loss. It will be best to give the precise words used in his notice of the 22d of May, 1839. "Acting on behalf of her Majesty's Government in a momentous emergency, he has, in the first place, to signify that the demand he recently made to her Majesty's subjects for the surrender of British-owned opium under their control had no special reference to the circumstances of that property; but (beyond the actual pressure of necessity) that demand was founded on the principle that these violent compulsory measures being utterly unjust _per se_ and of general application for the enforced surrender of any other property, or of human life, or for the constraint of any unsuitable terms or concessions, it became highly necessary to vest and leave the right of exacting effectual security and full indemnity for every loss directly in the queen." Unfortunately, Captain Elliot's language at the time of the surrender of the opium had undoubtedly led to the conclusion that he sympathized with Commissioner Lin, and that he took the same view as the Chinese officials of the moral iniquity of selling or using opium.

Enter page number   Previous Next
Page 359 of 704
Words from 97382 to 97749 of 191255


Previous 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 Next

More links: First 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300
 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400
 410 420 430 440 450 460 470 480 490 500
 510 520 530 540 550 560 570 580 590 600
 610 620 630 640 650 660 670 680 690 700
 Last

Display Words Per Page: 250 500 1000

 
Africa (29)
Asia (27)
Europe (59)
North America (58)
Oceania (24)
South America (8)
 

List of Travel Books RSS Feeds

Africa Travel Books RSS Feed

Asia Travel Books RSS Feed

Europe Travel Books RSS Feed

North America Travel Books RSS Feed

Oceania Travel Books RSS Feed

South America Travel Books RSS Feed

Copyright © 2005 - 2022 Travel Books Online