provinces, still they were disposed to stifle complaints to the Court upon
that subject, in order to stave off' searching inquiry into their own affairs
here. Tracing backwards, no doubt the opium will be found to be the
great primary cause of this change. But the immediate cause here, has,
I firmly believe, been the distribution of tracts. The opium ships might
have continued to visit the coasts with little more than former notice,
but the books alarmed the Court seriously.
This State Paper is a public confession that the Chinese cannot do
without our opium, and that being the case, the regulation of the
manner of its introduction in such wise as will render it least mischievous
to their policy of foreign exclusion, is no doubt a skilful measure, but I
greatly question its efficacy. It has been delayed too long. The officers
and the people have been accustomed to the feeling that the Government
is at once false and feeble. Sooner or later the feeling of independence,
which the peculiar mode of conducting this branch of the trade has
created upon the part of our countrymen in China, will lead to grave
difficulties. A long course of impunity will beget hardihood, and at
last some gross insult will be perpetrated, that the Chinese authorities
will be constrained to resent; they will be terrified and irritated, and will
probably commit some act of cruel violence that will make any choice
but armed interference, impossible to our own Government. The imme
diate effect of the legalization of the Opium, will be, 1 should suppose, to
stimulate production at Bengal ; there is some notion here that it will
encourage the growth of the poppy in China, and that home -produced
opium will thrust our own out of the market; eventually perhaps it may,
but results of that kind are of slow growth.
No. S3.
Captain Elliot to the Foreign Office.— {Received March 2, 1837.)
(Extract.) Macao, October 10, 1836.
WE are in expectation of soon receiving the final orders from Pekin for
the legalization of the opium. This is undoubtedly the most remarkable
ireasure which has been taken in respect to the Foreign Trade, since the accession
of this dynasty, when the ports on the coast were closed, and it had been pre
faced by a series of reports to the Emperor, strikingly worthy of attention. '1 bey
incline me to believe, that it wants but caution and steadiness to secure, at no
very distant date, very important relaxations.
139
No. 84.
Captain Elliot, Chef Sup rrintendent, to Viscount Palmerston. — (Received
May 1, 1837.)
(Extract.) Macao, December 14, 183G.
BY a ship upon the point of sailing, I have the honour to acknowledge
your Lordship's despatch, of June 15 of this year, to my address, accompanying
despatches from May 28 to June 15, to the address of Sir George Robinson.
In conformity with these Instructions, I have this day assumed the chief
place in the Commission. And with the expression of my thanks to your
Lordship, I beg to convey my assurance, that I shall endeavour to justify the
appointment, by a steady determination faithfully to discharge the duties
intrusted to me. I apply myself to that purpose with a strong persuasion, that
a conciliatory disposition to respect the usages, and, above all, to refrain from
shocking the prejudices of this Government, is the course at once most
consonant with the magnanimity of the British nation, and with the substantial
interests at stake, in the maintenance of peaceful commercial relations with this
Empire. Being thus impressed, my Lord, I hope it will be a source neither of
surprise nor dissatisfaction to you to learn, that I do not propose to protract
the actual interruption of our public communications, upon the ground that we
have a right to a direct official communication with the Viceroy.
1 will only add, that the very remarkable movements of this Government
in respect to the foreign trade actually in agitation, and the critical state of
uncertainty in which the results still remain, furnish me a strong additional
motive for desiring to place myself at Canton as soon as possible.
The manner in which I propose to re-open the communications with the
Viceroy, as the Select Committee was accustomed to conduct them, shall form
the subject of an early despatch to your Lordship.
No. 85.
Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—(Received May 1, 1837.)
My Lord, Macao, December 30, 1836.
IN my despatch to your Lordship of the 14th instant, I had the
honour to state, that I should endeavour to open the communications with the
provincial authorities forthwith ; and that I should take an early opportunity to
make known to your Lordship the means by which I hoped to accomplish that
object.
I perceived that the recent arrival of your Lordship's despatches would
afford me a favourable pretext for addressing myself to the Governor of the two
provinces; and I was mindful that any delay in the communication of my
appointment, might hereafter be construed into a point of a very suspicious
nature, extremely difficult of satisfactory explanation : I lost no time, there
fore, in drafting the accompanying note to his Excellency.
Another reason, too, had always presented itself to me, in recommendation
of this prompt application to the Governor. It seemed that a communication
forwarded on the very recent receipt of Instructions from His Majesty's Govern
ment, would of itself be a state of circumstances well calculated to dispose
the Governor to lend a reasonable attention to moderate and unsuspicious
overtures, respectfully submitted for his Excellency's adoption.
The translation of this paper was sealed up and directed in the same form in
which the Select Committee of Supracargoes had been accustomed to superscribe
documents to the Governor's address. In other words, the superscription
bore the Chinese character " Pin," carrying in our language the signification
of " an address from an inferior to a superior." It was then placed in an
open envelope to the address of the Senior Hon:* merchant, and the whole
T 2
140
inclosure was transmitted with the accompanying confidential letter to the
Agents of the East India Company at Canton, and to two members of the
principal British firms at that place.
These gentlemen were selected as being the most proper persons through
whom the first declaration of ray appointment and official character might be
made, with a view to the sufficient formal authenticity of the fact.
Upon the morning of the 25th instant, I had the satisfaction to receive an
official communication from the gentlemen to whom my address had been
confided, covering an Edict from the Governor in reply to it, together with a
note from Howqua.
Your Lordship will observe by the Governor's Edict, that he has required
me to remain at Macao pending instructions from His Imperial Majesty; and
further, that his Excellency commands certain officers and Hong merchants to
visit me here for the purpose of clearing up some doubts which had presented
themselves to his mind, as to the nature of my appointment, and the duties I
am to perform.
The opinion I have formed of the tenor of his Excellency's Edict (which
it is material to observe, carefully abstains from all notice of the events in
1834), is, that the Provincial Government, and probably the Court, would be
well content to feel reassured in respect to the sentiments of His Majesty's
Government upon those matters; and I have no doubt there is a disposition to
draw to a close the present hazardous interruption of responsible communi
cation and supervision at Canton.
1 would in this place take the liberty to remark to your Lordship, that in
the consideration of Chinese official papers, with a view to the detection of
their real spirit, it has always seemed to me to be a point of principal moment,
to weigh the effect of any distinctly promised course of action, and to attach a
very subordinate degree of importance to their mere phraseology. I
would by no means be supposed to think that I hold the consideration of the
language to be without use for the due estimation of the intentions or dispo
sitions of this Government, but I certainly am of opinion that it will always be
found to be a sounder course steadily to look at the portions material of these
instruments, and to draw our conclusions from these, than from the manner in
which it is the custom of these people to dress or to cover up their purposes.
Testing the Governor's Edict by this principle, I would say that if his
Excellency had informed me 1 must abide at Macao, without making a distinct
specification of a line of proceeding upon his own part, I should have concluded
that it was determined to adhere rigidly to the rule that the Chief must be a
trading Chief. But coupled with the declaration, that the Chief ought to be a
trading Chief, and that I must remain here for the present, the Governor
signifies with great plainness, not only that he knows I am not a trading Chief,
but that he will seek the Imperial sanction to let me proceed to Canton ; and
in order to leave me in little doubt that this application will be successful, he
describes the steps he will take when that sanction arrives. This, in my manner
of considering the matter, is to acquaint me that it is determined to permit me
to repair to Canton. But at the same time, I conceive that his Excellency's
desire is to be permitted to work out that end in his own fashion ; that is
to say, with due regard to a respectable mode of setting aside difficulties which
it is so frequently the consequence of their jealous policy to create for them
selves, as well as for others.
This Edict, my Lord, has appeared to me to justify some hope, that a point
of no ordinary public moment is susceptible of attainment, namely, the direct
Imperial sanction of the official character of a person at Canton, wholly uncon
nected with trade, and I trust your Lordship will approve of the terms in which
I have replied to his Excellency's Edict with the intention to promote that
result.
Upon the morning of the 28th instant, I received a visit from the Hong
merchants, who had arrived at Macao with the Mandarins deputed by the
Governor to seek some further explanation as to the nature of my office and
duties, and upon the other matters noticed in his Excellency's Edict. These
persons opened their mission by proposing that I should visit the Mandarins;
a course, however, which I declined, upon the ground that 1 had no particular
communication to make to them ; I remarked at the same time, that these
141
officers must be in every respect better judges than myself of any necessity
which existed agreeably to the Goveinor's Kdict, that they should see me; at
all events, if they were of the mind that we ought to meet, I could assure them
that it would give me great pleasure to have the honour of receiving them at
my house; if they did not consider it requisite, I should be glad to suit their
convenience, by affording the merchants any verbal explanation in my power
upon those points which appeared to the Governor to need further explanation.
Renewed efforts were made in the course of the day to induce me to visit
the officers; but I had strong reasons for declining to accede to that proposition ;
and 1 felt much satisfaction, that an obstacle (not of my creation) had arisen
to prevent our meeting.
It occurred to me that there was a possibility the Mandarins might have
propounded questions, with respect to the particular ship of war in which I
came, and that the replies might have led us back to the consideration of events
much better kept out of sight. If, upon the other hand, I had declined to answer
such questions, it was to be apprehended, 1hat my silence might have been
constructed into arrogant disrespect towards the Governor, and have induced
inconvenient heats and suspicions. With the merchants, unembarrassed by
the presence of the Mandarins, I was aware I stood in a far more favourable
position. They would take all imaginable care to shape their questions in
such wise as would make the avoidance of disagreeable topics no difficult
matter.
Upon the occasion of this last visit to me on the night of the 28th, the
merchants entreated that I would give them something under my own hand to
show to the Mandarins ; and I then caused the accompanying Memorandum to
be translated, which I told them, they were at perfect liberty to hand to the
officers.
They wished me also to sign a string of answers which they had drawn
up from my conversation, and from the paper just referred to; but this I refused
to do, not that there was any violation of the truth in what they had said, but [
could not recognise their right to place me on examination on any subject
whatever. If the Mandarins thought fit to come, 1 remarked, we would
discourse at large upon any point of question they proposed; but I never
could consent to set my hand to questions put to me by persons in the situation
of the merchants.
When they found that this was my resolution, they left me, professing
that they thought the Mandarins ought to be satisfied with what I had said,
which I conclude they were, as I learnt that the whole deputation departed the
next day (the 29th instant) to return to Canton, and report to the
Governor.
I delivered to the merchants my reply to his Excellency's Edict. (See
Inclosure No. 7.)
It is proper to state to your Lordship, that I took occasion to tell the
merchants in strong terms, for communication to the authorities, that I could
not undertake, upon the part of His Majesty's Government, the least share of
responsibility, for the adjustment of any disputes or difficulties which might
arise at Canton, pending my protracted absence from that place, in conformity
with the Governor's desire.
His Excellency, in his wisdom and sense of justice, would admit, that it
was fit I should be placed in a situation to prevent and controul before I could
be called upon to manage and adjust. This was an argument very congenial to
the mode of general reasoning in this country upon all points of responsibility ;
and they assured me that it should be earnestly pressed upon the Gover
nor's attention.
In this early stage of my correspondence with your Lordship's department,
I would presume to observe, that I am not prone to attach easy credit to what
I hear in respect to the temper and the views of the high native authorities.
But upon this occasion, I certainly have a belief in the general rumour, that my
approaches have been acceptable to the Governor, both in point of manner
and matter.
The translation of my first note was executed with all the care that the
Interpreters could give to it. And it i< said by the Chinese to have drawn
from his Excellency unequivocal marks of satisfaction.
142
I have to express my great obligations to Messrs. Astell and Clarke, for the
zealous and very judicious manner in which they assisted me in the delicate task
I felt myself called upon to impose on them ; and I am also indebted to Messrs.
Jardine and Dent, for their prompt concurrence in that transaction.
I have thus, my Lord, once more opened the communications with this
Government; and I sincerely trust your Lordship will see no reason to disap
prove of my motives, or of the manner of my proceeding. I have acted under
a strong persuasion, that all hope of peacefully carrying the point of direct
official intercourse was futile ; that the actual condition of circumstances
was hazardous ; that the Instructions in my hand do not warrant the assump
tion, that 1 have any high political or representative character; and, finally,
that the course itself which I have pursued is neither derogatory to the
national honour, nor at variance with sound principles of public propriety and
utility.
I shall venture to trouble your Lordship by an early occasion, with a few
ideas as to the mode by which, in my opinion, it would be judicious to preface
and accompany an attempt to carry the point of direct official communication
not only to the Governor, but from the Governor, whenever it shall
appear that sufficiently urgent public grounds exist for achieving such a
concession.
Your Lordship will hear with satisfaction, that the trade at Canton is
proceeding in tranquillity.
I have &c
(Signed) ' CHARLES ELLIOT,
Senior Superintendent.
Inclosure 1 in No. 85.
Captain Elliot to the Governor of Canton.
Macao, December 14, 1836.
THE Undersigned has the honour most respectfully to announce to his
Excellency the Governor of the two Provinces, that he has this day received
despatches from the English Government, appointing him to the station of
Chief English Authority in China.
In the actual condition of circumstances, with no English authority at
Canton, and with great numbers of English ships in the river, having on board
many hundreds of sea faring persons, and others little acquainted with the laws
and customs of this empire, the Undersigned believes his Excellency will be of
opinion, that he should be permitted to repair to Canton, with as little delay as
possible, for the purpose of fulfilling the (lut e; confided to his management.
The Undersigned has, therefore, the honour to request, that his Excellency
will be pleased to issue orders to furnish him a passport to proceed to the
Provincial City.
In using his most earnest efforts to maintain and promote the good
understanding which has so long and so happdy subsisted between this ancient
and great empire and his own distant country, the Undersigned can assure hi3
Excellency, that he is only conforming to the strong instructions of his own
Government.
The Undersigned hopes he may permit himself to observe, in this place,
that no task could be more agreeable to his own disposition, than the duty of
diligently seconding these wise objects, by the sincerest personal desire to con
ciliate the good will of his Excellency.
The Undersigned has once more to offer his Excellency the sentiments of
his most prolbund respect, and will conclude with the expression of an ardent
hope, that his Excellency's administration of these provinces may be long and
prosperous.
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Senior Superintendent.
143
Inclosure 2 in No. 86.
Captain Elliot to Howqua, Senior Hong Merchant.
December 15, 1836.
ELLIOT, Director of Affairs of the English Nation, presents his com
pliments to Howqua, and requests him to present lor him the accompanying
address to his Excellency the Governor.
Inclosure 3 in No. 85.
Captain Elliot to Messrs. Astell, Clarke, Jurdine, and Dent.
Gentlemen, Macao, December 16, 1836
I TAKE the liberty to confide to your care a communication to his
Excellency the Governor of the two provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangse,
under an envelope to the .Senior Hong Merchant.
The purpose of this address is to announce to his Excellency my appoint
ment, by His Majesty's Government, to the station of Chief British Authority
in China, and to request that a passport may be furnished to me to repair to
Canton
I would thank you, as soon as it may suit your convenience, to arrange a
meeting with the Senior Hong Merchant, and, after stating in a general term
the circumstance of my nomination, and the nature of this address; I will beg
you to deliver it to him, with a request, that no time may be lost in placing it in
his Excellency's hands. It would, perhaps, he desirable to remark incidentally,
that I shall remain at Macao pending the expression of his Excellency's
pleasure.
1 offer you no apology for the task I am imposing upon you, because I am
persuaded it will afford you great satisfaction to lend me your best assistance on
this and all other occasions involving the furtherance of the public service.
Several considerations dispose me to ask, that this letter may be deemed
confidential for the present.
I have, &c,
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Senior Superintendent.
F.S. I will beg you to do me the favour to signify to Howqua, that four
gentlemen, belonging to this establishment, would accompany me to Canton.
Inclosure 4 in No. 85.
Messrs. Astell, Clarke, Jardine, and Dent, to Captain Elliot.
Sir, Canton, December 23, 1836.
WE have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your confidential
communication of the 16th instant, inclosing an address to his Excellency
the Governor of Kwangtung and Kwangse, requesting us to deliver the
same to the Senior Hong merchant for presentation.
In conformity with your wishes, we forthwith requested the
attendance of the Senior Hong merchant, Howqua, and formally placed in
his hands your communication. He inquired the nature of your appoint
ment, to which we answered in brief and general terms; he then took his
leave for the purpose of proceeding immediately into the city.
In the course of that day, we received a visit from Howqua and
Mowqua, requesting information regarding one or two expressions in
your address: we explained the matter as far as we were able, and in a
manner apparently satisfactory to the merchants.
144
The 21st and 22nd instants passed without any interview.
This morning we have received a reply to your communication,
delivered in person by Howqua, which we have now the honour to trans
mit to you.
In conclusion, we beg to assure you, that we shall at all times
consider it our duty to use our best exertions in the furtherance of the
public service.
We hava, &c,
(Signed) J. H. ASTELL,
H. M. CLARKE,
Agents to the Honourable
East India Company.
W. JARDINE.
LAUCT. DENT.
Inclosure 5 in No. 86.
The Governor of Canton to the Hong Merchants.
December 22, 1836.
TANG, Governor of Kwangtung and Kwangse, &c, hereby issues
orders to investigate certain matters.
I received, on the 13th day of the llth month in the 16th year of
Taoukwang (20th December), a petition forwarded from Macao by the
English foreigner, Elliot, of the following tenor:
[The address' of December 14, is here inserted.] 1 .
On the receipt of the above, I made examination, and find that since
the English nation has had commercial intercourse here, it has, hitherto,
established a Company, and appointed a Chief, Second, Third, and Fourth
Supracargoes to come to Canton, and manage the trade. The foreign
ships of the Company successively reached Canton on the 7th and 8th
months of every year; and their cargoes having been changed, left the
port and returned home in the course of the 12th month, and of the
1st and 2nd months of the following year. After the departure of all the
foreign Company's ships out of the port, the Chief Supracargo of the
Company, and all the foreign merchants cf the said nation, requested
permits to proceed to Macao and reside there. Then in the 7th and 8th
months, when the merchant ships of the said nation again reached Canton,
the Chief Supracargo and the others, requested permits to repair again to
the provincial city, to transact the affairs of trade. This, the former mode
of practice, continued for a long period to be the unvarying rule.
Not long since, in consequence of the dissolution of the Company,
and the non-arrival of the Chief Supracargo, owing to which a man was
wanting to take the general direction of these affairs, my predecessor in
this Government addressed a memorial to the throne, and received the
following Imperial Edict, that he should immediately command the Hong
merchants to direct the private merchants to send home a letter, calling
for the re-appointment of a Chief Supracargo, to repair hither to super
intend the affairs of commerce, in order that the old ordinances might
be complied with. Respect this! In respectful obedience hereto, my
predecessor issued directions, and also commanded that a barbarian
Eye [or headman] should not be again sent. This is on record.
Now, the said foreigner, Elliot, having addressed to me the above-
cited information, it is doubtless my duty to report the same to the throne,
for instructions how to act. But in the petition, I observe, that the said
foreigner designates himself " an officer from afar," which appears like
the designation of a foreign Eye, and is not at all that of a Chief Supra
cargo. This being wholly inconsistent with the mode in which things
were heretofore conducted, and the following points not having been at
all distinctly stated by him, it becomes highly important to inquire, before
acting, whether, in consequence of the dissolution of the said Company,
145
the said nation has made a change in her regulations? What office the
said foreigner actually holds at present from the said nation ? Whether
his object in coming to Canton is in truth merely to controul the several
unconnected merchants ; and if he is not at all to transact commercial
business? and lastly, whether the despatches which he states that he has
received from home, are sent by the said nation's King or not?
To make these inquiries, I send, as my deputy, Ghang Sing, Magis
trate of the district Yang-shan ; I send also the Sub-Prefect stationed at
Macao, and the Magistrate of the district Heang-shan. I, furthermore,
issue this order to the senior merchants, requiring them on receipt
hereof, as soon as possible to take their departure ; and, in instant
obedience hereto, to proceed speedily to Macao, that in the suite of my
deputy, and of the local territorial officers above-named, they may
investigate these particulars, viz. :—What office the said foreigner, Elliot,
now holds from the said nation? In what respects he would come to
Canton to superintend the foreign merchants ? Why a Chief Supracargo
does not come from the said nation, in place of a foreign Eye being sent ?
Whether he has really received written credentials from the said nation's
King ? Whether he has any ulterior aim ? And what is the number of
individuals in his suite? On all these points the real facts must be
speedily made [known] to me, that I may examine and decide accordingly.
If, on examination, no covert purpose appear, then let orders be
immediately enjoined on the said foreigner to reside for a time at Macao,
and wait there till I, the Governor, shall have sent in a memorial to the
Great Emperor. And as soon as I shall learn His Majesty's gracious
pleasure, I will then address a communication to the Superintendent of
Maritime Customs, calling on him to grant a passport for the said foreigner
to come up to Canton, and over-see matters. When he thus comes up,
he must comply with the old regulations, having a residence at Canton
and another at Macao, and coming and going at the regular seasons.
This is a law and ordinance of the Celestial Empire. The phraseology
and subject-matter of the said foreigner's address are reverential and
submissive. It seems that he understands matters, and he will, therefore,
doubtless be implicitly obedient in all things. During the residence of
the said foreigner, for the present, at Macao, the local officers should still
keep a diligent and faithful watch on him, day and night; and they must
not allow the said foreigner to presume to leave Macao a single step, or
to hold any communication or intercourse with people unconcerned. This
is of the utmost importance. With trembling anxiety obey this, and
oppose it not. A special order.
Taoukwang, 16th year, 11th month, 15th day (22nd December, 1836.)
Inclosure 6 in No. 85.
The Hong Merchants to Captain Elliot.
December 23, 1836.
A RESPECTFUL communication. The other day we received the
Petition which you sent for delivery to his Excellency the Governor.
We immediately presented it, and have now received a public reply, of
which, as is our duty," we transmit a copy, hoping, Sir, that you will
examine and act accordingly. This is our prayer.
Signed by thirteen Hong merchants.
U
146
Inclosure 7 in No. 85.
Captain Elliot to the Governor of Canton.
Mmao, December 28, 1836.
THE Undersigned has the honour respectfully to inform his Excel
lency the Governor, that he will continue to reside at Macao, pending the
signification of His Imperial Majesty's gracious pleasure, that he should
be received at Canton for the due performance of his duties.
The perfect fitness of this course, the Undersigned presumes to
observe, is very apparent to him. In the mean time, it has been a source
of great satisfaction to the Undersigned, to afford the honourable officers
deputed by his Excellency, all the explanation required as to the nature
of his duties, and the other points adverted to in his Excellency's
Edict.
The Undersigned avails himself of this occasion to offer his Excel
lency the renewed expressions of his highest respect.
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Senior Superintendent.
Inclosure 8 in No. 85.
Captain Elliot to the Hong Merchants:
Macao, December 28, 1836.
IN the conversation I had with the Hong merchants this morning, I
took occasion to explain to them very fully all points connected with my
arrival, and the nature of my public occupations since I have resided
here.
If my name has been improperly reported, it must be owing to some
mistake of the pilots.
My Commission of authority is signed by my Gracious Sovereign;
but my despatches lately received, as to the performance of my duties, are
signed by His Majesty's Minister.
My duty at Canton will be, to conduct the public business of my
nation, and by all possible means to preserve the peace which so happily
subsists between the two countries.
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Senior Superintendent.
No. 86,
Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.— (Received May 1, 1837.)
My Lord, Macao, December 31, 1836.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge your Lordship's despatch- of the
28th May, to the address of Sir George Robinson.
In conformity with those Instructions, the accompanying Notice has this
day been issued ; and it is necessary that I should explain to your Lordship the
reasons which induced me to take the liberty of inserting the last paragraph in
this Instrument.
The despatches of my predecessor will have announced that the Governor
of Macao has always refused to reply to our public communications, upon the
ground that he has never been instructed' by his own Government to recognise
us in any official station here.
If, therefore, this Notice, dated at Macao, were published without some
previous understanding with his Excellency, I felt assured that it would have
drawn from him some strong public denial of a right upon our parts, to exercise
147
any manner of authority under Instruments done at Macao. The very con
siderable degree of public inconvenience which would have attended such a
course upon his Excellency's part, need only be mentioned to be appreciated.
It is not my province to judge whether the arguments upon which his
Excellency has founded his refusal to communicate officially with us, are
perfectly sound. But I certainly did feel it was my duty to take all possible
pains to carry your Lordship's highly necessary instructions upon the subject
before me into efficacious, as well as immediate operation ; and it was easy to
«et aside the first difficulty which would have arisen, if I had addressed him in
writing, by the adoption of the course of personal communication.
In the commencement of our conference, his Excellency was still disposed
to insist that the absence of instructions from his Government would make
it incumbent upon him in a public manner, to deny our right to exercise public
functions in Listruments dated at Macao. 1 explained to him, that the sole
object of the present extension of our powers, was to give to our acts dated
from this place, the same authority which they hitherto had, being dated within
the limits of the Port of Canton ; and in order to satisfy him that there was no
wish upon our parts to exercise any independent authority in Macao itself, or in
the anchorages subject to it, which might interfere with the just rights of Her
Most Faithful Majesty, I proposed to insert the last paragraph.
After some time, I had the satisfaction to convince his Excellency that this
was sufficient, and he then gave me his assurance that he would in no way
interpose to disturb the state of things which the Notice announced.
Although I felt it expedient for the reasons I have now given, to make a
declaration, that no acts done by us at Macao, are to be taken to be in prejudice
of the just rights, authority, and sovereignty of Her Most Faithful Majesty, I
can by means undertake to define to your Lordship the nature or the extent of
those rights, or of that authority.
It were certainly to be wished that the first were better understood by the
foreign strangers in the settlement, and as respects the Chinese, that the last
were more consistently asserted, and more effectually supported.
X hsv6 &c
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT.
Inclosure in No. 86.
PUBLIC NOTICE.
PURSUANT to instructions from the Right Honourable the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, dated in London, on the twenty-eighth day of May,
in the year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and thirty- six, Public
Notice is hereby given, that from the date of this notification, the powers of
the Superintendents of the Trade of British subjects in China, over British
subjects and ships, are extended so as to include Lintin and Macao.
And the authority of the Superintendents over British subjects and ships,
is to be considered to extend to Macao, and to be of equal force and validity,
being exercised within these extended limits, as it has hitherto been within the
limits of the Port of Canton.
All this, without prejudice to the just rights, authorities, and sovereignty
of the Government of Her Most Faithful Majesty the Queen of Portugal, at
Macao and the anchorages thereto subject.
Given under our hands and Seal of Office, at Macao, in China, this thirty-
first day of December, in the year of our Lord, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-six.
(L. S.) (Signed) CHARLES ELLTOT,
R. A. JOHNSTON,
Superintendents of the Trade cf
British subjects in China.
U 2
148
No. 87.
Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—(Received June 1, 1837.)
(Extract.) Macao, January 12, 1837.
IN respect to the Chinese character " Pin," upon the address of the
communications to the Governor from persons in my station, I take the
liberty to forward to your Lordship the accompanying Memorandum by
Mr. Morrison, the Interpreter to this Commission.
It will be observed, that it is the identical character used by officers
of the Chinese Government in their reports to superior officers. And
having regard to the radical character under which it is classed, (Shee, to
admonish, enjoin, or produce,) perhaps it may be rather thought to mean
the respectful exhibition of information, than a distinct signification of
the ideas, involved in our word " Petition."
Inclosure in No. 87.
Memorandum by Mr. Morrison.
Macao, January 13, 1837.
IN reference to your inquiry respecting the style in which the
subordinate officers of the Chinese Government address the chief provin
cial authorities, and the signification of the terms by which their mutual
addresses are distinguished, I hasten briefly to reply.
All officers holding subordinate jurisdiction, who are below the third
rank, (of whom the highest may be regarded as corresponding in station to
the prefects and sub-prefects of departments in France,) when addressing
the chief authorities of the province, make use of the word " Pin," and
they receive from the same authorities, documents denominated " Yu."
The signification of these words I subjoin, as extracted from the Chinese
Dictionary of Dr. Morrison [Part II. Vol. I. page 671].
" ' Pin,' commonly used to denote a clear statement of any affair
made to a superior. Pin, is to state to a superior, whether verbally, or by
writing, whether petitioning something, or to give information of ; whether
from the people to an officer of Government, or from an inferior officer to
a superior several degrees higher. * * * Commands are called ' Yu,'
which, word is used by superiors in the Government to express their
orders, given to inferiors, or to the people."
These are the words which have always been used by foreigners in
their correspondence with the Government ; and " Pin" is the word
which the Governor, in 1834, required Lord Napier to make use of.
As the ranks of officers approach more closely together, several other
terms are used, marking either equality or minute grades of difference.
My notes in regard to these are at Canton, and consequently I am unable
at present to refer to them.
J. Robt. Morrison,
Chinese Secretary and Interpreter.
149
No. 88.
Viscount Palmerston to Captain Elliot.
(Extract.) Forcigi Office, June 12, 1837.
I HAVE received your despatch of December 30, 1836, detailing the
particulars of a communication into which you had thought proper to enter
with the authorities of the Chinese Government at Canton, through the Hong
merchants; and 1 have also received your despatch of January 12, 1837,
in which you state the course which you intended to pursue until the arrival of
further instructions from this Department.
I have now to desire that, upon the receipt of this despatch, you will
forthwith inform the Hong merchants and the Viceroy that His Majesty's Go
vernment cannot permit that you, an officer of His Majesty, should hold
communications with an officer of the Emperor of China, through the
intervention of private and irresponsible individuals. You will, therefore,
request that any communications which the Governor may have to make
to you in future, may be sent to you direct; and that the Governor
will consent to receive directly from you any communications on public
affairs which the interests of the two Governments may require you to make
to him. You will also explain, that if in future your written communi
cations should not be endorsed with the character which is usually adopted by
subordinate officers in China, when addressing representations to superior Chinese
Authorities, this alteration will not arise from any want of respect on your part
towards the Governor ; but will simply be the result of the established usages of
England, which do not admit that an officer commissioned by the King of
England should so address an officer commissioned by any other Sovereign.
No 89
Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—(Received July 17, 1837.)
My Lord, Macao, January 27, 1837.
THE InclosureNo. 1, which I have now the honour to transmit, is an
Edict from his Excellency the Governor of the Two Provinces, sent to me
to-day, in acknowledgment of my note of December 28, 1836, already
forwarded to your Lordship,—Inclosure No. 7 of my despatch of December
30, 1836.
I have at the same time been fortunate enough to procure, through a
private native channel, a copy of his Excellency's memorial to the
Emperor, upon this subject.
It is in every respect, my Lord, a remarkable paper.
His Excellency plainly signifies that he is sensible the formal admis
sion of an officer is a novel principle, but he nevertheless urges its adop
tion, upon the ground that it is needful to waive something in point of
form and ancient custom, for the sake of preserving a state of peaceful
order at Canton. , ■.
The allusion to what has been collected at Macao by the deputation,
in respect to my general dispositions, is a significant proof that both the
court and the provincial authorities, have far less indifferent feelings to
the great convenience of maintaining a good understanding with His
Majesty's Government, than it is ordinarily their vain-glorious assumption
to affect in those public papers which are intended for the eyes of"
foreigners.
The Governor would hardly have adverted to such a point in a report,
to the Emperor, unless it had been felt that it was a consideration
calculated to have weight with His Imperial Majesty.
I believe your Lordship may assure yourself that the Imperial plea
sure to furnish me a passport will soon be announced. And when I am
once in the Provincial City under such a sanction, I have a strong hope
150
that by steadily taking advantage of favourable opportunities, I shall find
no insuperable difficulty in carrying the point of direct official intercourse,
without the intervention of the Hong merchants.
In the transmission of our■ papers to the Governor, the Hong mer
chants indeed, are already merely messengers, for they unquestionably
convey the papers to his Excellency's hands, sealed up. But in the pas
sage of papers from the Governor to us, in a sealed shape, or at least
through a respectable officer of the Government, there remains a substan
tial point to be gained.
Your Lordship may rely upon my best efforts to obtain this con
cession ; and I hope I shall be excused for repeating in this place, that
the actual turn of circumstances appears to render it easier of accom
plishment than it has ever yet been.
This and all other advantages susceptible of quiet acquisition, seem
to me to be less likely of accomplishment by direct applications for relax
ation, than by placing ourselves unobtrusively in a situation which shall
induce approaches from the Chinese authorities. The moment may be
at hand when it will be in my power to signify to his Excellency the
Governor, at a great advantage, and in the most deferential terms, that I
should be glad to interpose in any particular task he may desire to put
upon me, but that it is a business of great moment, and that I could not
venture to do so except his Excellency's pleasure were either addressed
directly to me in a sealed shape, or through some responsible officer of the
Government.
The unsuspicious form and conciliatory terms in which I have
approached the Governor, will, 1 am strongly disposed to think, soon draw
his Excellency towards me.
There are many causes at work which must form the subject of early
despatches to your Lordship that may lead to that state of circumstances.
I have &c
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT.
Inclosure 1 in No. 89.
The Governor of Canton to the Hong Merchants.
January 24, 1837.
TANG, Governor of the provinces Kwangtung and Kwangse, &.c, &c,
issues this order to the Hong merchants, requiring their accurate ac
quaintance therewith.
The foreigner Elliot, English director of affairs, has presented an
address, as follows :—
[Here follows Captain Elliot's address of December 28, promising to
remain at Macao.]
This coming before me, I have looked at the subject, and find, that
this foreigner having before presented an address to me, I immediately
sent a deputy, and commanded him and the military and civil officers of
the district, and the Hong merchants, to examine him faithfully and report
to me. They have now examined and reported ; and I, the Governor,
have accordingly announced the facts to His Majesty. When I receive
information that it is the gracious pleasure of the Great Emperor to allow
his admission, I will then forward a communication to the Superintendent
of Maritime Customs, that he may grant a passport for him to come to
Canton, to take the direction of affairs.
1,1 1 forthwith make this known to you. On this order reaching the
senior merchants, let them transmit directions to the said foreigner to act
accordingly. Oppose not. A special edict.
l€th year of Taoukwang, 12th month, 17th day (January 24, 1837.)
{ } • : Translated from the Chinese.
' '■[' 1 ' '" 1 {Signed) J. Robt. Morrison,
Interpreter.
151
Inclosure 2 in No. 89.
Extract of a Memorial from the Governor of Canton to the Emperor,
asking permission to allow Captain Elliot to reside at Canton.
SINCE it was first permitted to the various nations of foreigners,
without the Empire's pale, to have commercial intercourse with Cantony
the English trade has always been the largest. Heretofore the direction
of that nation's trade was in the hands of a Company, by which, Chief,
Second, Third, and Fourth Supracargoes were appointed to reside in
Canton. All the Company's foreign vessels successively reached China
during the 7th and 8th months of every year; and having exchanged
their commodities, left the port during the course of the 12th month, and
of the 1st and 2nd months of the following year. Having all left, the
Supracargoes forthwith requested passports to proceed to Macao, and
resided there until the return of their foreign vessels in the 7th and 8th
months, when they again requested passports to come to Canton to transact
their affairs This is the way in which formerly, and for a long time
past, these affairs were regulated.
At a later period, the Company having been dissolved, no Chief
Supracargo was sent ; and another person was directed to take the
controul of affairs*. Your Majesty's Minister, Loo, then the Governor,
having represented this, received your Majesty's commands, " immediately
to direct the Hong merchants, to desire the said private merchants to
send a letter home to their country, calling for the renewed appointment
of a Chief Supracargo who should come to Canton to direct commercial
affairs, and thus should conform to the old enactments. Respect this."
In respectful obedience hereto, directions were given, as is on record.
Now in the 11th month of the present year, I, your Majesty's
Minister, have received from an English foreigner, Elliot, an address
forwarded from Macao, to this effect :—" I have received despatches from
my Government, specially appointing me to come to Canton, for the
general controul of the merchants and seamen of my nation. Under
present circumstances, there being very many ships in the port, and the
merchants and seamen at Canton and Whampoa being very numerous>
and many of them little acquainted with the laws of the Celestial Empire,
I am apprehensive lest any difficulties should arise; and I intreat,
therefore, permission to proceed to Canton for the direction of affairs;"
Observing that this foreigner, in his address, calls himself an officer,
which appears to be the designation of a barbarian head-man, and not at
all of a Chief Supracargo; and that he does not plainly state in his address,
what rank he now holds from his own nation ; whether the purpose of his;
coming is simply to apply himself to the controul of the merchant* and
seamen, or whether he is also to transact commercial business,■ and
whether he has credentials from his Government or not,■ I immediately
sent a deputy to Macao, whom I directed to proceed thither with speed,
to take with him Hong merchants ; and, in conjunction with the local,
civil, and military officers, to ascertain fully the truth on all these points.
This having been done, the deputy and the others reported to me in
the following terms :—" In obedience to the orders we received, we took
with us the Hong merchants, and questioned the foreigner, Elliot, on each
point distinctly. His information was that he, Elliot, was an English
officer of the fourth grade; that in the autumn of the 14th year of
Taoukwang, he came to China in a cruizer, as was at the time reported by
the pilots; that he had remained two years in Macao, his business being
to sign the papers of English merchant vessels ; that now, the Company
not having been re-established, and there being no Chief Supracargo, he
had received his King's commands, through a letter from a great Minister
* This is an unofficial copy obtained through a private channel, and liable therefore to mistakes.
There seems to be a mistake here : it should probably be read, " and there was no person to take the
controul of affairs,"
152
of the first rank, informing him that he is appointed to controul the
merchants and seamen,—not to controul commerce ; that he has creden
tials, commanding him to hold the direction of affairs at Canton ; and
that in case of any disturbances, he alone is answerable. We also learned
that the foreigner, Elliot, has brought with him a wife and a child, and a
retinue of four persons. On inquiry, we found that the foreign barbarians
at Macao, and the foreign merchants of his nation, all represented Elliot
as a very quiet and peaceable man, and as having no ulterior object to
effect."
This report having come before me, I find that since the dissolution of
the English Company, a Chief Supracargo has not come hither ; that of
late, the ships' papers of foreign merchants returning home have been
signed by this foreigner, who has resided at Macao for the purpose, and is
represented to have quietly attended to his duty ; and that at this present
time, ships are constantly and uninterruptedly arriving, and the merchants
and seamen are indeed very numerous. It would be well, promptly to
relax the unimportant restraints in order to preserve peace and quiet.
Now this foreigner having received credentials from his country, appoint
ing him to the general controul of merchants and seamen : though he is not
precisely the same as the Chief Supracargo hitherto appointed, yet the dif
ference is but in name, for in reality he is the same. And, after all, he is
a foreigner to hold the reins of foreigners ; and if not allowed to interfere
in aught else, it would seem that an alteration may be admitted ; and that
he may be permitted to come to Canton and direct affairs, according to
the same regulations under which the Chief Supracargoes have hitherto
acted. I have, for the 'present, commanded the said foreigner to remain
temporarily at Macao, waiting until I shall have announced the facts to
your Majesty. If your Majesty's gracious assent be vouchsafed, I will
then write to the Superintendent of Maritime Customs to grant a passport
for his admission to Canton. Thereafter, he shall be required to change
his residence from Canton to Macao and back again, according to the
season, just as under the former regulations ; and he shall not be allowed
to overpass the time, and linger about at the capital, so as gradually to
effect a settlement here. I will besides command the local, civil, and mili
tary officers, and the Hong merchants, from time to time, truly to watch
and examine his conduct, and if he exceeds his duty, and acts foolishly,
or forms connexions with traitorous Chinese, with a view to twist the laws
to serve private interests, he shall be immediately driven forth, and sent
back to his country. Thus will the source of any illegalities be closed up.
It is my duty to lay this before your Majesty, that the correctness or■
incorrectness of my views may be determined ;■ and for this purpose I sub
join to my memorial these remarks. Prostrate imploring your sacred
Majesty to grant me instructions.
A respectful memorial.
[Without date.]
Translated from the Chinese.
(Signed) J. Robt. Morrison,
Interpreter.
153
No. 90.
Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—(Received July 17, 1837.)
My Lord, Macao, February 2, 1837.
I HAVE now the honour to transmit to your Lordship as remarkable a
series of papers as has ever yet emanated from the Government of this country
in respect to the foreign trade. They are arranged in the order in which they
came into our hands.
Vague reports had reached the factories several months before the Memo
rial of Heu-Naetse, No. 1, fell into our possession, to the effect that the Court
was seriously contemplating the legalization of the opium trade. Little credit,
however, was attached to these rumours. But I confess I was one amongst the
very few persons who thought they were well founded ; and notwithstanding all
the actual degree of rigorous prohibition, I am still of opinion that the legal
admission of the opium may be looked for.
The first paper I ever saw which led me to reason that such a measure
had been entertained at Peking, is a striking Memorial from the late Governor
and Lieutenant-Governor of these Provinces to the Emperor. It is without
date, but it came into the possession of the foreigners so remotely as the
year 1832.
In this document there is a forecast of the scheme of legalization ; and it
is difficult to believe that the high officers of such a Government as this, would
have ventured to shadow it forth, even in far more obscure terms than these, if
they had not been sensible that there was already a powerful party in favour of
the measure. This hint drew down upon their Excellencies, indeed, the formal
censure of His Imperial Majesty, but still the idea will present itself that the
policy must have had its influential advocates, even at that distant date. " We, —-
your Ministers," say the memorialists, "after humble consideration, are of
opinion that opium having become prevalent in the country, vagabonds who
smoke it to the injury of their lives and of their constitutions, do so entirely
from their own stupidity, and refusal to be aroused, and are therefore unworthy
of regret. But the loss of wealth, and waste of treasure, are exceedingly great,
and the evil suffered is not indeed light. If at this time it were 'suffered to be
brought in and publicly used, with legal permission, as a medicine, this would
prevent the foreigners from raising the price to an enormous height. Thus also
might a silent impediment" (probably the encouragement of native growth may
be here implied,) " be placed in the way of their avaricious plans and large
profits."
At this point, the memorialists inquire with an abruptness which might
induce some impression that it was their purpose to recommend increased
vigour in the prohibition system,
" Still, then, would not this be a sudden acquiescence in, and give
unlimited license to, the evil?"
But this reflection, on the contrary, is the preface to a strong and faithful
picture of the mischief, and the hopelessness of all proceedings of that kind.
The forts might be strengthened, additional forces stationed at the passes ; the
traffic, they observe, would but remove to other places ; and what would be the
effect of the renewed vigilance of the Government? Only "to open a way to
piratical banditti to assume the appearance of Government runners, in order to
stop and clandestinely search boats. In Canton Province of late years," con
tinue the memorialists, " the plunderers of trading boats on the coasts and
rivers, and the plunderers of travelling merchants on land, who have, under the
pretence of searching for opium, wantonly troubled others, and involved them
in the prevalent illegality, are more than can be told. And the quantities of
opium dirt which civil and military officers have at various times been sent to
burn and destroy are incalculable. Yet, after all, we do not know in what
respect the illegality has been repressed."
But, my Lord, vast as the mischief of this system must have grown to be,
a system of most extensive law-breaking, carried on under the sanction of the
154
Emperor, and wii.h the active connivance of the high officers of these Pro
vinces, yet in my opinion, it is not to motives arising from such grounds of con
sideration, that the contemplated change must be ascribed. There is little
reason to conclude that the recommendation of such a policy as this would ever
have been allowed to be published, still less that the policy itself would be
worked out, if there were no more urgent incentives to its adoption than are to
he found in the awakening spirit of public virtue upon the part of the Chinese
Government.
The opium trade only commenced, or subsisted, as its present state of stag
nation indisputably proves, by reason of the hearty concurrence of the chief
authorities of these provinces, and, indeed, also of the Court. No portion of
the trade to this country more regularly paid its entrance than this of the