1542
Last Ten Years, from 1832 je 1×jí
250
lu a late visit of a British ship-of-war to the coasts of Fukien, upon public business, his excellency the governor of that province communicated his pleasure concerning those affairs, to certain officers of the province, and commanded them to take a copy of his edict, and to deliver it, under their seal, to the commander of the British ship. That document is now in possession of the undersigned, and a translation of it will be laid before the king, so that the gracious benevolence of the emperor to the distressed subjects of his kingdom may be made known to his majesty. If your excellency, in your wisdom, shall judge fit to conform to this same practice, whenever it be desired to lay communications before his ma- jesty, all difficulty upon the subject will be removed.
'The undersigned will conclude this address, by observing, that his gracious sovereign has never yet been approached with representations setting forth the existence of irregularities by the subjects of his kingdom ou these coasts; and that his majesty, therefore, can know nothing of any such allegation, or of the plea- sure of the emperor in respect to them. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to your excellency the sentiments of his highest conside- ratious.
1 am. &c.,
-Corresp. pp. 236-237.
(Signed)
CHARLES ELLIOT.“
28th. Their excellencies, the governor and lieutenant-governor, replied to the foregoing, declaring the address of the superintendent to be merely a specious document,' yet are willing to adapt their proceedings to the occasion," and therefore they command the pre- fect and the chief military officer of the department to communicate the orders under their seals directly to captain Elliot, that he may forward the same to his king.`
29th. Accordingly, under this date those two officers communi- cated to captain Elliot the following document.
Chú, prefect of Kwangchau fú, and Tá, commander of the forces of Kwáng. chau, issue these commands to the English superintendent, Elliot, that he may render himself acquainted therewith. On the 28th September, we received from their excellencies the governor and lieutenant-governor, the following official document :-
"On the 3d of August, we received from the Grand Council of State, copy of an imperial edict, of date July 14th, of the following tenor :—
***Owing to the exportation of silver carried on from all the ports along the coast, and in consideration of the important bearing of this upon the national resources and the livelihood of the people, we have already, in repeated instances, declared our pleasure, requiring all the governors and lieutenant-governors of the provinces, faithfully to make examination and to act in this matter.
To-day again, the sub-censor Li Pankiú, has laid before us a memorial to this effect, that there are above ten English warehousing vessels, which first, in the year 1821, entered the anchorage of Kápshuymin, and thence m 1833, re. moved their anchorage to Kumsingmún; that the importation of opium, and the exportation of silver, depend wholly on these warehousing vessels, which form also a general refuge for absconders; that a set of worthless fellows, in boats alled fast-crabs,' going and coming from morn to night, find means to make their way stealthily into every ereek and milet that there are depraved dealer-