They Saw The
Futility Of A Struggle With The English, And The Cantonese Had To Bear All
The Suffering For
The obstinacy of the Pekin government; but, on the other
hand, no one dared to propose concession to Taoukwang, who,
Confident of
his power, and ignorant of the extent of his misfortunes, breathed nothing
but defiance. After a few days' delay, it became clear that the Cantonese
had neither the will nor the power to conclude a definite arrangement, and
consequently their city was attacked with as much forbearance as possible.
The fort called Dutch Folly was captured, and the outer line of defenses
was taken possession of, but no attempt was made to occupy the city
itself. Sir Hugh Gough stated, in a public notice, that the city was
spared because the queen had desired that all peaceful people should be
tenderly considered. The first English successes had entailed the disgrace
of Lin, the second were not less fatal to Keshen. Keshen was arraigned
before the Board at Pekin, his valuable property was escheated to the
crown, and he himself sentenced to decapitation, which was commuted to
banishment to Tibet, where he succeeded in amassing a fresh fortune. The
success of the English was proclaimed by the merchants re-occupying their
factories on March 18, 1841, exactly two years after Lin's first fiery
edict against opium. It was a strange feature in this struggle that the
instant they did so the Chinese merchants resumed trade with undiminished
ardor and cordiality.
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Words from 101270 to 101520
of 191255
