Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 366

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Review of Public Occurrences During the

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would stain the foreign character with constantly aggravating disgrace, in the sight of the whole of the better portion of this people; and lastly, that it would connect itself more and more intimately with our lawful commercial intercourse, to the great peril of vast public and private interests.

'Till the other day. my lord. I believe there was no part of the world where the foreigner felt his life and property more secure than here in Canton, but the grave events of the 12th ultimo have left behind a different impression. For a space of near two hours the foreign factories were within the power of an im- mense and excited mob, the gate of one of them was absolutely battered in, and a pistol was fired out, probably without ball, or over the heads of the people, for at least it is certain that nobody fell. If the case had been otherwise, her majes- ty's government and the British public would have had to learn that the trade and peaceful intercourse with this empire was indefinitely interrupted by a terri- ble scene of bloodshed and ruin. And all these desperate hazards have been incurred, my lord, for the scrambling and, comparatively considered, insignifi- cant gains of a few reckless individuals, unquestionably founding their conduct upon the belief. that they were exempt from the operation of all law, British or Chinese.

"I owe it to myself to say, that foreseeing the serious consequences which must arise from the further growth of this evil, I wrote more than a year and a half since, to the General Chamber of Commerce, moving them to use their best efforts to put it down. It is also an act of similar justice to that body, (and to the great majority of the foreign community settled here,) to state, that this peculiar form of the traffic has been practiced or countenanced by very few amongst them. But it was extending itself widely amongst persons not forming part of the resi dent society, and in no long lapse of time, it must have brought to Canton the refuse of all the countries in our neighborhood.

"Indeed. judging of the future from the past, I feel warranted in saying, that within the space of one year from this time, there would have been at least three hundred armed and lawless men carrying on this business in the very heart of our regular commerce. And if the extent of the mischief hourly impending, was in some sense susceptible of estimate, I must remark that no satisfactory course of remedy has ever yet presented itself to my mind. But that her majesty's go- vernment would have been driven into the necessity of very urgent, expensive, and hazardous measures upon the most painful grounds, appeared to me to be a certain result of the protraction of this forced traffic within the river, and at the factories; and with this conviction I resolved to use all lawful means in my power to draw it to a conclusion, and to prevent its recurrence.

I should observe in this place, that the remarkable vigor, not merely of the local, but of the general govern.nent, for some months back, furnished additional causes to apprehend some exceedingly serious dilemma. And regarding the subject in every point of view. I could not but perceive that a person in my station should lose no time in taking such a position as would give weight to his representations in any moment of emergency.

I made up my mind to incur the responsibility of making my communica- tions under the character pin, because I was sensible that it was vain to hope this government would consent to give way upon such a point, so long as there was an absence of really pressing necessity; and in that situation of affairs, I am as sure the change would pass without difficulty, and probably without conimeut.

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