Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 103

1842.

Sketches of China.

85

as in the case of the Dutch, would only aggravate our ill-treatment), than by a manly appeal to the justice of the emperor against the insolence and extor- tions of his officers at Canton, and by a decent maintenance of our national independence. The Chinese are so ignorant of foreign nations, and there- fore so illiberal, that their good opinion, and consequent good offices, are not to be gained by undue concessions in essential points. These they always regard as necessary acts of deference to their immense superiority, and therefore nothing extraordinary; while a contrary line of conduct, tending to dispel their absurd illusions, causes them to consider us on a footing of great- er equality. At the same time, none but the most ignorant or wrongheaded would ever, in the first instance, withhold from them that conciliatory tone of demeanor and language, a failing in which lowers us to a level with the Chinese themselves.' pp. 52-57.

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Thus it was determined, "to consider the matter entirely as a question of expediency," to manage by hook or by crook,' as they best could. This they did; and thus, A. D. 1816, on the 28th of August, in the dead of night, the embassy found the gates of Peking shut against them; at dawn of day, on the 29th they had attained their destination;' and on the same day says our author, we set off on our return, at four in the afternoon, nearly in the same man- ner as we had come.

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This was indeed the noble reward of expediency! No wonder the embassador and many of his companions became sick. Many of the party returned, as they went, in carts: "the motion was bearable till we came on the paved road, when the jolting became intolerable; it was a repeated dislocation of every part of the frame; each jolt seemed sufficient to have destroyed life, which yet remained to un- dergo the dreadful repetition. The elements combined with the im- perial displeasure to annoy us; the rain fell in torrents; not, however, so violently as to deter the spectators from indulging their curiosity, by thrusting lanterns into the chairs and carts to have a full view of our persons. I certainly never felt so irritated in my life. To be exposed to such indecent curiosity, while suffering considerable pain from the jolting, was too much for the best tempers to hear patiently, and produced in me something not far removed from frenzy." Such were the feelings of Mr. (now the right honorable) Henry Ellis, as described in his Journal by himself at that time. The pomp of imperial favor no longer attended us," says Mr. Abel; "the crowd of mandarius and soldiers, that had hitherto attended us, disappeared, and were not replaced by a single responsible person.

** The carriage with the sick was obliged to stop all night on the road, near Peking, in consequence of not being supplied either with guides or