78
BRITISH POSITION
cut off, and finally the Chinese Government was compelled to sue for peace, and to pay the whole of the then estimated expenses of the war; to permit resort to four other ports as well as to Canton; to reduce their customs duties and port charges; and to cede an island to Great Britain, on which a colonial establishment could be maintained for the protection of British commerce, for the development of civilization on the frontiers of the Chinese empire, and which would not only serve as a guarantee for the future, but which would aid in preserving peace between the two countries.
British and Chinese loss, &c.-(continued).
British
Chinese.
and Indian force.
Date.
Name of Action.
Brought forward
-
1842
Mar. 9 Ningpo, night attack
Mar. 10 Chinghai, ditto
1
5
about
6 500 Very great
about None None None
Ma ny.
800
1000
1000 to 1500
Mar. 15
Tsekee (Segoan) May 18 Chapoo
-
3 22 25
92
13 52 65
June 16
Woosung batteries June 19 Shanghai
250
2 25 27
49 None None None
July 21 Chinkeangfoo
30 126 156
Total
2118
69
REMARKS.
89
451 520
32
to
200 to 250
Unknown.
Slaughter terrific.
Estimated at 18,000 to 20,000
The
OF *
(1 and 2) The general tone of the despatches during the war may be illustrated by the following words from the official reports on the actions: The Chinese have suffered severely; their loss, including that on board the war junks, cannot be estimated at less than 500 to 600, out of a force calculated at 2000 men. slaughter in the lower fort, when carried by storm, was considerable.”
The loss of the enemy, from the number of killed lying in every direction, must have been most severe."
* "The service has been performed with trifling loss on the part of Her Majesty's forces."
* * "The loss on our side has been small, and would have been less but for the explosion of an expense magazine in the fort, after capture."-(General Orders, Fort William, February 24, 1841; and Sir Gordon Bremer's despatches.)
*
Thus it will be seen that the British forces, army and navy, had not one man killed, and but for the magazine explosion, which was accidental, there would not have been a dozen wounded, even slightly. The killed alone of the Chinese is supposed to have been at least five hundred men in the action! This may be viewed as a fair sample of the whole Chinese war.
AND PROSPECTS IN CHINA.
79
English interests are now therefore irrevocably interwoven with those of China; we hold the largest stake at issue as regards her peaceful prosperity and national independence; and whatever strengthens our power, extends our commerce, and permanently enlarges our influ- ence, is equally beneficial to China and to England. Other nations have since come forward to claim a participation in the concessions obtained by Britain: treaties have been arranged with the United States and with France; and China for the first time has entered into the social compact which kingdoms, as well as individuals, find necessary for their protection, and which, rightly understood, is indispensable to their tranquillity and to their improvement.
The far-seeing politician must therefore admit, that sooner or later China (whose inhabitants it is estimated number one-third of the human race) will exercise an important influence on the affairs of Europe. How this influence will be primarily manifested, whether through India or through Russia, or by reason of European nations contending for a dominant power in this immense empire, it seems impossible to predicate; but this much is evident, that no nation is so deeply interested in the "Chinese Question" as Britain; that this interest must daily increase, on political, maritime, and mercantile considerations; and that a solemn responsibility has devolved on Great Britain in relation to China, which cannot be neglected without involving serious and perhaps irretrievable calamities.
There probably never was a period in our history when greater civil, intellectual, and moral efforts were necessary for the preservation of our position among competitive surrounding nations. And it is advantageous for us that these efforts should be made. Britain cannot remain stationary; she must either retrograde or advance: happily her advancement, rightly directed, is beneficial to all mankind, by enabling her to maintain the peace of the world, to promote civilization, to reclaim the savage, to till the waste regions of the earth, and to fulfil her high vocation by a wide-spread dissemination of the inestimable blessings of Christianity.
A republic of nations is as utopian in the existing selfishness of mankind as a republic of individuals, and the elevation of one kingdom sufficiently supreme to protect weaker kingdoms, to preserve order, to uphold the reign of law, and to inculcate by precept and by example the duties which the possession of great power involves, is essential to the steady and triumphant progress of true civilization.
No nation is so well adapted for this supreme controul as Britain; by reason of her insularity, her tolerant religion, her free institutions, her distant and varied colonial possessions, her non-alliance with conti- nental intrigues, her obvious policy to maintain peace, and her maritime superiority, which leaves no desire for continental aggrandizement in Europe.
Whether these views be acquiesced in or not by other nations, it is equally the duty of Britain to maintain this supreme controul.
To do
so she must take fair advantage of every circumstance which may con tribute to its maintenance, by extending her commerce, and by estab- lishing her influence in new and distant regions.
To this course of policy Britain is also urged by domestic consider- ations, namely, by the increasing pressure of population on the means
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