between the Crowns of Portugal and Great Britain, to whom the subject has been submitted.
In the "Portaria" above referred to it was stated that "although that law was only to be understood with regard to that part of the Peninsula of Macao which appertained solely to the Emperor of China, and not to the territory occupied by the Settlement which was subject to the supreme authority of the Crown of Portugal, which Settlement was governed by the laws of that realm and ruled by her magistrates; yet that, as the terms in which the said law was expressed, being ample and of a general nature, could also comprehend the city of the Holy Name of God of Macao* and its dependencies, which formed the Portuguese Settlement, and, being applied to the said Settlement, infringed the principles of the law of nations, and offended and disturbed the rights theretofore exercised by the Crown of Portugal in that territory, Her Majesty had commanded her Minister at the Court of London to request from the British Government an explanation of the tenour of the aforesaid law, and to obtain a declaration that it did not affect the Portuguese Settlement of Macao; and Her Majesty commanded that the said Governor was to understand that law only with reference to that part of the Peninsula of Macao which was within the sole dominion of the Emperor of China, not allowing the Tribunals and Justices of the Colony of Hong Kong to exercise any authority or jurisdiction in the Portuguese Settlement, nor even over British subjects, and preserving unaltered the former state of affairs upon this point."
* See Svo., 4449, p. 304.
† No such application would appear to have been made in writing. See Note of July 1845, p. 18.
May 23, 1844.
It is evident that at this time both Sir H. Pottinger and Mr. Davis were strongly of opinion that the sovereignty over the whole of Macao belonged to the Chinese and not to the Portuguese; for in a despatch to the Colonial Office Mr. Davis said:
"The Portuguese pseudo-Colony of Macao (I know from long acquaintance with it) is rather a beacon to shun than an example to follow. In fact it is not a Portuguese Colony, as the Chinese are acknowledged Sovereigns, and their people bear an overwhelming proportion to the Portuguese inhabitants. The latter pay an annual rent as the condition of their tenancy at will. A Chinese Mandarin of the lowest magisterial rank (Tso-tâng) issues at once his licences to the Chinese and his orders to the head of the soldiers, as he calls the soi-disant Governor, on the part of the Portuguese. A Chinese Collector of Customs receives the duties for the Emperor, and seizes Portuguese opium (when he can find any) in the streets of the town. The Portuguese had in vain endeavoured, when I left them, to meet the charges of their miserable establishment by duties on their still more miserable trade of four or five Portuguese ships and occasionally a Spanish one,* the opium trade having, by a short-sighted cupidity (a charge of 40 dollars per chest) been driven away in 1822 to flourish at Lintin in floating warehouses, independent alike of cognizance and taxation.
Mr. Davis;
December 21, 1843. (Inclosure in above.)
"The revolutions in the mother-country, and the deficiency of both funds and credit, led the Government of Portugal to make a ravenous attack on the ecclesiastical endowments, as well as the private property of its subjects, both at home and abroad; and the richest merchant at Macao (almost the only one that deserved the name) took refuge in London, where he now lives. The remaining prosperity of the place was dependent on the English residents, who rented the best houses and spent their money there; when the expulsion of the British trade from Canton in 1839, and the necessity for warehousing our merchants' goods, gave a short-lived prosperity to Macao, which, like the grafted tree, was surprised by the novos fructus et non sua poma.'
"But at the very moment when it so greatly benefited by the connection, and when the rare opportunity of asserting their independence of the Chinese would have been promptly met by British co-operation, the Portuguese silently acquiesced in the hostile preparation of Commissioner Lin against the persons of the English; and, when Captain Smith made his well-timed attack on the Chinese force at the barrier-wall, a portion of the enemy's troops marched from the town of Macao, at the same time that a principal part of the cannonade by which our troops were assailed proceeded from the (so-called) Portuguese side.
"The claims, then, of Macao to independence or neutrality, and our hopes from it, either as an ally or an example, may be considered as disposed of."
* No English vessel is permitted to enter the harbour.
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17
16
between the Crowns of Portugal and Great Britain, to whom the subject has been submitted."
In the "Portaria" above referred to it was stated that "although that law was only to be understood with regard to that part of the Peninsula of Macao which appertained solely to the Emperor of China, and not to the territory occupied by the Settlement which was subject to the supreme authority of the Crown of Portugal, which Settlement was governed by the laws of that realm and ruled by her magis- trates; yet that, as the terms in which the said law was expressed, being ample and of a general nature, could also comprehend the city of the Holy Name of God of Macao* and its dependencies, which formed the Portuguese Settlement, and, being ap- plied to the said Settlement, infringed the principles of the law of nations, and offended and disturbed the rights theretofore exercised by the Crown of Portugal in that territory, Her Majesty had com- manded her Minister at the Court of London to request from the British Government an explanation of the tenour of the aforesaid law, and to obtain a declaration that it did not affect the Portuguese Settlement of Macao; and Her Majesty commanded that the said Governor was to understand that law only with reference to that part of the Peninsula of Macao which was within the sole dominion of the Emperor of China, not allowing the Tribunals and Justices of the Colony of Hong Kong to exercise any authority or jurisdiction in the Portuguese Settle- ment, nor even over British subjects, and preserving unaltered the former state of affairs upon this point."
* See Svo., 4449, p. 304.
†
No such application would ap-
pear to have been made in
writing. See Note of July 1845, p. 18.
May 23, 1844.
It is evident that at this time both Sir H. Mr. Davis, No. 8; Pottinger and Mr. Davis were strongly of opinion that the sovereignty over the whole of Macao belonged to the Chinese and not to the Portu- guese; for in a despatch to the Colonial Office Mr. Davis said:
"The Portuguese pseudo-Colony of Macao (I know from long acquasntance with it) is rather a beacon to shun than an example to follow. In fact it is not a Portuguese Colony, as the Chinese are acknowledged Sovereigns, and their people bear an overwhelming proportion to the Portuguese inha- bitants. The latter pay an annual rent as the condition of their tenancy at will. A Chinese Mandarin of the lowest magisterial rank (Tso-tâng)
Mr. Davis;
December 21, 1843. (Inclosure in above.)
issues at once his licences to the Chinese and his orders to the head of the soldiers,' as he calls the soi-disant Governor, on the part of the Portuguese. A Chinese Collector of Customs receives the duties for the Emperor, and seizes Portuguese opium (when he can find any) in the streets of the town. The Portuguese had in vain endeavoured, when I left them, to meet the charges of their miserable establishment by duties on their still more miserable trade of four or five Portuguese ships and occasion- ally a Spanish one,* the opium trade having, by a short-sighted cupidity (a charge of 40 dollars per chest) been driven away in 1822 to flourish at Lin- tin in floating warehouses, independent alike of cognizance and taxation.
"The revolutions in the mother-country, and the deficiency of both funds and credit, led the Govern- ment of Portugal to make a ravenous attack on the ecclesiastical endowments, as well as the private property of its subjects, both at home and abroad; and the richest merchant at Macao (almost the only one that deserved the name) took refuge in London, where he now lives. The remaining prosperity of the place was dependent on the English residents, who rented the best houses and spent their money there; when the expulsion of the British trade from Canton in 1839, and the necessity for warehousing our merchants' goods, gave a short-lived prosperity to Macao, which, like the grafted tree, was sur- prised by the novos fructus et non sua poma.'
"But at the very moment when it so greatly benefited by the connection, and when the rare opportunity of asserting their independence of the Chinese would have been promptly met by British co-operation, the Portuguese silently acquiesced in the hostile preparation of Commissioner Lin against the persons of the English; and, when Captain Smith made his well-timed attack on the Chinese force at the barrier-wall, a portion of the enemy's troops marched from the town of Macao, at the same time that a principal part of the cannonade by which our troops were assailed proceeded from the (so. called) Portuguese side.
"The claims, then, of Macao to independence or neutrality, and our hopes from it, either as an ally or an example, may be considered as disposed of."
* No English vessel is permitted to enter the harbour.
[50]
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