The Chinese Authorities Could Not Help Being Encouraged In Their
Opinions And Course Of Proceeding By The Attitude Of The English.
Their
most sweeping denunciations of the iniquity of the opium traffic elicited
a murmur of approval from the most influential among the foreigners.
No
European stood up to say that their allegations as to the evil of using
opium were baseless and absurd. What is more, no one thought it. Had the
Chinese made sufficient use of this identity of views, and shown a desire
to facilitate trade in the so-called innocent and legitimate articles,
there is little doubt that the opium traffic would have been reduced to
very small dimensions, because there would have been no rupture. But the
action of Commissioner Lin revealed the truth that the Chinese were not to
be satisfied with a single triumph. The more easily they obtained their
objects in the opium matter the more anxious did they become to impress
the foreigners with a sense of their inferiority, and to force them to
accept the most onerous and unjust conditions for the sake of a
continuance of the trade. None the less, Captain Elliot went out of his
way to tie his own hands, and to bind his own government, so far as he
could, to co-operate with the emperor's officials in the suppression of
the opium traffic. That this is no random assertion may be judged from the
following official notice, issued several months after the surrender of
the stores of opium. In this Captain Elliot announced that "Her Majesty's
flag does not fly in the protection of a traffic declared illegal by the
emperor, and, therefore, whenever a vessel is suspected of having opium on
board Captain Elliot will take care that the officers of his establishment
shall accompany the Chinese officers in their search, and that if, after
strict investigation, opium shall be found, he will offer no objection to
the seizure and confiscation of the cargo."
The British expedition arrived at the mouth of the Canton River in the
month of June, 1840. It consisted of 4,000 troops on board twenty-five
transports, with a convoy of fifteen men-of-war. If it was thought that
this considerable force would attain its objects without fighting and
merely by making a demonstration, the expectation was rudely disappointed.
The reply of Commissioner Lin was to place a reward on the person of all
Englishmen, and to offer $20,000 for the destruction of an English man-of-
war. The English fleet replied to this hostile step by instituting a close
blockade at the mouth of the river, which was not an ineffectual retort.
Sir Gordon Bremer, the commander of the first part of the expedition, came
promptly to the decision that it would be well to extend the sphere of his
operations, and he accordingly sailed northward with a portion of his
force to occupy the island of Chusan, which had witnessed some of the
earliest operations of the East India Company two centuries before. The
capture of Chusan presented no difficulties to a well-equipped force, yet
the fidelity of its garrison and inhabitants calls for notice as a
striking instance of patriotism. The officials at Tinghai, the capital of
Chusan, refused to surrender, as their duty to their emperor would not
admit of their giving up one of his possessions. It was their duty to
fight, and although they admitted resistance to be useless, they refused
to yield, save to force. The English commander reluctantly ordered a
bombardment, and after a few hours the Chinese defenses were demolished,
and Tinghai was occupied. Chusan remained in our possession as a base of
operations during the greater part of the war, but its insalubrity rather
dissipated the reputation it had acquired as an advantageous and well-
placed station for operations on the coast of China. Almost at the same
time as the attack on Chusan, hostilities were recommenced against the
Chinese on the Canton River, in consequence of the carrying off of a
British subject, Mr. Vincent Stanton, from Macao. The barrier forts were
attacked by two English men-of-war and two smaller vessels. After a heavy
bombardment, a force of marines and blue-jackets was landed, and the
Chinese positions carried. The forts and barracks were destroyed, and Mr.
Stanton released. Then it was said that "China must either bend or break,"
for the hour of English forbearance had passed away, and unless China
could vindicate her policy by force of arms there was no longer any doubt
that she would have to give way.
While these preliminary military events were occurring, the diplomatic
side of the question was also in evidence. Lord Palmerston had written a
letter stating in categorical language what he expected at the hands of
the Chinese government, and he had directed that it should be delivered
into nobody else's hands but the responsible ministers of the Emperor
Taoukwang. The primary task of the English expedition was to give this
dispatch to some high Chinese official who seemed competent to convey it
to Pekin. This task proved one of unexpected difficulty, for the
mandarins, basing their refusal on the strict letter of their duty, which
forbade them to hold any intercourse with foreigners, returned the
document, and declared that they could not receive it. This happened at
Amoy and again at Ningpo, and the occupation of Chusan did not bring our
authorities any nearer to realizing their mission. Baffled in these
attempts, the fleet sailed north for the mouth of the Peiho, when at last
Lord Palmerston's letter was accepted by Keshen, the viceroy of the
province, and duly forwarded by him to Pekin. The arrival of the English
fleet awoke the Chinese court for the time being from its indifference,
and Taoukwang not merely ordered that the fleet should be provided with
all the supplies it needed, but appointed Keshen High Commissioner for the
conclusion of an amicable arrangement.
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