correspondence-relating-to-china-1840 — Page 23

the result, that I may determine accordingly. At the same time, let them
enjoin my commands on the said Superintendent, for his information. Oppose
not these my commands.
Taoukwang, 18th year, 11th month, 13th day (29th December, 1838.)

True Translation.
(Signed) J. Robt. Morrison,
Chinese Secretary and Interpreter.




Inclosure 1 3 in No. 137.

Official Notice to Her Majesty's Subjects.

Circular. Canton, January I, 1839.
THE Chief Superintendent has to announce, that the senior Hong mer
chant has reported the commands of the Government to re-open the trade.
By order of the Chief Superintendent,
(Signed) EDWARD ELMSLIE,
Secretary and Treasurer to the Superintendents.



Inclosure 14 in No. 137.

Official Notice to Her Majesty's Subjects.

Canton, December 31, 1838.
THE Provincial Government having consented to communicate direct
with the Chief Superintendent on all important business, under the seals of the
Kwang-Chow-Foo and Kwang Hee, he has the honour to announce to Her
Majesty's subjects, that the public intercourse is renewed. And as there
appears to have been some misunderstanding with respect to the manner in
which his own addresses reach the Governor, he has to observe, that it had
already been formally conceded that his seals should always be broken by his
Excellency himself.
The paper marked No. 1 , is the copy of that part of the Chief Superinten
dent's late correspondence with the Governor, relating to the traffic in opium
conducted in small boats within the river. No. 2 is his Excellency's reply to
those observations.
2 X
- ' Her Majesty's subjects will perceive, that the motives and reasons which
had led the Chief Superintendent so urgently to enjoin the immediate cessation
of this state of things, are identical with those which form the ground of his
address to the Governor.
After the most deliberate reconsideration of this course of traffic (which
he heartily hopes has ceased for ever) the Chief Superintendent will once more
declare his own opinion, that in its general effects, it was intensely mischievous
to every branch of the trade ; that it was rapidly staining the British character
with deep disgrace; and, finally, that it exposed the vast public and private
interests involved in the peaceful maintenance of our regular commercial
intercourse with this empire, to imminent jeopardy.
Thus profoundly impressed (and after the failure of his own public entrea
ties and injunctions), the Chief Superintendent feels that he would have
betrayed his duty to his gracious Sovereign and his country, if he had hesitated
beyond the period he had formally fixed, effectually to separate Her Majesty's
Government from any direct or implied countenance of this dangerous irregu
larity. Looking steadily at its effects on British interests and British character,
he had further resolved to shrink from no responsibility in drawing it to a
conclusion; and he will as firmly use all lawful means in his power to prevent
its recurrence. It is a source of great support to him, that the general body of
the whole community, settled at Canton, strongly concur with him in the depre
cation of this peculiar mischief ; and he has not failed to afford Her Majesty's
Government the satisfaction of knowing that such is the case.
He takes this occasion to republish that part of the Act of Parliament and
the Orders in Council, upon which his instructions are founded. And whilst he
would respectfully observe, that it is out of his power to publish his instructions,
it is at the same time his duty to promulgate (as he has always done, and
always will) whatever it may concern the interests of Her Majesty's subjects
should be generally known.
In declaring, therefore, that Her Majesty's Government will give no
countenance whatever to proceedings of the kind which he has now been
noticing, he requests it may be plainly understood, that he is conveying the
unequivocal sentiments of his instructions. Events, over which he had no
controul, have cast on this occasion a difficult task on the Chief Superintendent ;
and devoting the most attentive consideration in his power to its suitable
performance, he can only aver that he has meant to do no more than his duty,
but certainly no less.
In the execution of such an office as his own, however, when decisions
must almost always be taken in moments of crisis, surrounded by embarrassing
circumstances, the possibility that illegalities may be committed (with the
sincerest intentions to avoid them) is not to be denied. It is only just, there
fore, to remind Her Majesty's subjects, that the 9th Clause of the Act of
Parliament has provided the manner of pursuing their legal remedy. His
official responsibility can always be fixed upon him by representation to the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to whom it is the Chief Superintendent's
duty to transmit all complaints or appeals against himself.
By order of the Chief Superintendent of the Trade of British Subjects in
China.
(Signed) EDWARD ELMSLIE,
Secretary and Treasurer to the Superintendents.
 No. 138.


Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.— (Received May 13, 1839.)



My Lord, Canton, January 2, 1839.
ON the occasion of transmitting these despatches I venture to address your
Lordship a few words in a private shape. I would, with great deference, take
the liberty to observe, that when I assumed this office recent Imperial commands
weie in existence (specially pointed at the British nation) to the effect that no
foreign officers should reside in this Empire. That chief obstacle lias been
removed ; and if what has since been accomplished seems for the present to carry
no considerable change in point of form, it nevertheless involves a principle of
great and comprehensive importance, namely, a permanent and direct official in
tercourse between the two countries. I shall offer no further excuse for the
moderate manner in which I have been content in the present emergency to
accept this concession, because I am sure your Lordship will make every allow
ance for the difficulty of peacefully extracting any formal relaxation from this
watchful government ; above all, relaxation upon the subject of constant official
relations with foreign Powers, which it has hitherto been the especial spirit of
Chinese policy to avoid.
These observations, my Lord, may perhaps serve to excuse the respectful
request I have now the honour to prefer. I humbly hope that Her Majesty's
Government (taking into its consideration the novel, responsible, and undefined
station I fill, and casting a thought upon the many embarrassing circumstances
which have beset me) would be pleased to determine whether 1 have a claim to
such an expression of support, as I may be permitted to publish to the Queen's
subjects in this empire.
There is certainly a spirit in active force amongst British subjects in this
country, which makes it necessary, for the safety of momentous concernments,
that the officer on the spot should be known to stand without blame in the
estimation of Her Majesty's Government ; and it is not less needful that he should
be forthwith vested with defined and adequate powers for the reasonable controul
of men whose rash conduct cannot be left to the operation of Chinese laws,
without the utmost inconvenience and risk, and whose impunity is alike injurious
to British character and dangerous to British interests.
It is my deliberate conviction, that the security of the China trade, and the
maintenance of our peaceful intercourse with this empire, depend upon the early
attention of Her Majesty's Government to this subject; and I take this occasion
to repeat, that the assent of the Chinese Government to institutions of this kind
is beyond all doubt; indeed, your Lordship will perceive from the Governor's
answer to my note of the 23rd ultimo, that he supposes they either actually are
in existence, or, at all events, that they ought to be.
It may be thought that it would be easy to place this point beyond dispute,
by addressing his Excellency specially upon the subject; but I take the liberty to
observe, that in the absence of the necessary machinery, that course would be
injudicious, for the Governor would immediately suspect that something more
was intended than the mere permission to exercise functions which it will be
difficult enough to make him understand need the sanction of any other
Government than our own.
Your Lordship may be assured that the theory is, even when they demand
a man in the case of a homicide, that we have already tried and convicted him
according to the forms of our own laws. I hope it will not be thought intrusive
if I mention that I have recently had a conversation with Howqua upon this
point, on which occasion I explained as carefully as I could, your Lordship's
reasoning in the debate in the House of Commons on the China Courts Bill.
He concurred in every word that was said, and particularly in the inexpediency
2X2
 340

of drawing the subject under the attention of this Government, till all things
were ready to go into operation. It was a source of the greatest surprise
to him that the Bill had been mainly arrested in its progress by Sir George
Staunton's objections ; and I found it hopeless to make him admit that he
understood the objects of Sir George's amendment. He referred me with
earnestness to the requests which had been made before the Company's mono-
ly was abolished, to make provision for the government of Her Majesty's subjects ;
and he desired to know what more was wanted, and how it was possible to
preserve the peace, if all the English people who came to this country were
to be left without controul? He further entreated me to remind "my nation's
great ministers," that this Government never interposed, except in cases of
extreme urgency, upon the principle that they were ignorant of our laws and
customs, and that it was unjust to subject us to rule made for people of totally
different habits, and brought up under a totally different discipline. I must
confess, my Lord, that this reasoning appears to me to be marked by wisdom
and great moderation, and at all events, convinced as I am that the necessity of
controul, cither by British or Chinese law, is urgent, I would most respectfully
submit these views to the attentive consideration of Her Majesty's Government.
My own anxiety on this subject will be more explicable, when I inform your
. Lordship, that till I am differently instructed, 1 should hold it to be my duty to
resist to the last, the seizure and punishment of a British subject by the Chinese
laWj be his crime what it might ; and crimes of the gravest character have lately
been of every day probability.
In fact, my Lord, if Her Majesty's officer is to be of any use for the
purposes of just protection, if the well-founded hope of improving things
honourable and established is not to be sacrificed to the chances which may cast
up by goading this Government into some sudden and violent assertion of its
own authority, there is certainly no time to be lost in providing for the defined
and reasonable controul of Her Majesty's subjects in China.
I could not have concealed these opinions without betraying my duty to
Her Majesty's Government and the British public
I have &c
(Signed) ' CHARLES ELLIOT.




No. 139.


Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—{Received May 13, 1839.)

My Lord, Macao, January 8, 1839.
WITH reference to my Despatch of December 2 of last year, cover
ing a Memorial from certain British creditors on the Hong merchants (a
subject to which I have been prevented from returning at an earlier moment
by other pressing business), I now take the liberty to submit a few
remarks for your Lordship's consideration.
It will disquiet Her Majesty's Government and the British commercial
community connected with this country, to learn that the new assessments
for the adjustment of these claims, will burden the foreign commerce with
additional charges, probably not at all understated at a million of dollars
per annum. As yet, however, the whole extent of taxation on this vast
trade is comparatively considered moderate: but this practice of leaving
the recurring claims of foreign creditors to be met by reiterated and dis
proportionate duties (rated solely by the native debtors) on all the princi
pal articles of the legal trade, both outwards and in, certainly demands
the serious attention of Her Majesty's Government.
An open trade upon our side with such an association as the Co-Hong
on the other, must always be a very unfortunate state of things to our
selves. But at all events, even so long as that mischief subsists, 1 believe
that the interests of this trade would be protected by the concession of
what it is only a delusion, to call, the guarantee of this Government for the
 341

payment of the Hong debts. In its practical application, that form of
words is nothing else than a device for saddling the foreign commerce with
all the heavy consequences of most imprudent trading on both sides, with
all the losses occasioned by incapacity or extravagance upon the part of
the Hong merchants ; and if I may be pardoned for using the significant
jargon of the place, with all the " squeezes " which the local Government
can upon any pretext fasten upon the Co-Hong. The Consoo fund in fact
is the fountain from which the multifarious channels of drain on the
foreign trade are directly supplied. And yet with the late assistance there
can be no doubt that it will leave a handsome annual surplus to be divided •.
amongst the Hong merchants after every foreign claim, every payment to
the Government, just or unjust, and every expense of their respective
trading establishments, are fully met.
The mode of remedy which has suggested itself to me, is a direct
application to the Court on the part of Her Majesty's Government. I
would submit that the altered state of circumstances on our side should
be plainly explained, and that a request should be made for the very con
siderable extension of the number of persons licensed to trade with us :
Her Majesty's Government upon its part consenting to give up all direct
claim upon the Chinese Government for the future payment of foreign
debts on a single condition, namely, that special orders should be issued
by the Emperor to the Authorities at Canton to apprehend and punish
any native debtors who attempted to defraud their foreign creditors.
A change of this nature would immediately induce a cautious ad
herence to safe principles of trade on both sides ; and hence that confi
dence arising from attentive observation of each other's means and pru
dence, which has been found to be the best support of commercial stability
in all parts of the world. It may be possible indeed that some few cases of
successful fraud might happen, but I perceive no reason to believe that
they would be more easy or frequent on the side of the Chinese, than our
own.
Indeed, the more natural and healthy consequence would be to adjust
the trade on either side into those convenient proportions, limited by men's
interested, and therefore acute judgment, of the extent to which it would
be prudent or profitable to do business with each other.
The establishment of some simple but efficacious civil jurisdiction
would no doubt be a necessary accompaniment of this change of system,
and your Lordship may, I think, rely that the Chinese would readily
refer all contested points with Her Majesty's subjects to this tribunal,
either placing the disputed sum in deposit, or at least giving security that
it should be paid, if the decision were adverse to them.
I offer these opinions, because I am sure the Chinese have great
confidence in the good faith of the Europeans, and because too I believe
they are, in many important respects, the most moderate and reasonable
people on the face of the earth. Seeking nothing but justice (and no
people are more capable of clear perceptions upon the reality of what
they receive under that name), I am persuaded that they will have the
good sense, for the sake of mutual convenience, to take it at our hands ;
regarding, indeed, the form under which it is administered to them, with
feelings of perfect indifference.
1 would, in conclusion, beg your Lordship to remark that these views
upon the extreme mischief of the actual mode of settling foreign claims
are neither novel, nor peculiar to myself. In the year 1779, when Captain
Panton, of the Sea Horse, came to China by the order of Sir Edward
Vernon, for the recovery of debts due to certain British creditors, I find
the supracargoes clearly predicting the institution of this Consoo tax,
and all the evil consequences, both immediate and prospective, which
must ensue.
" By such a mode," say they, " and we think by such a mode only,
an annual sum may be- funded to discharge so much of the present debt
as the Mandarins shall decree to be just."
When Captain Panton declined to correspond with them on the
subject, they protested against Sir Edward Vernon and himself for all
losses, &c &c, which his proceedings might occasion ; and the result of his
interference verified their worst apprehensions, for in the next year the
Consoo system was established to the great and lasting injury of this
trade.
Throughout the subsequent course of the Company's monopoly, their
servants here on the several occasions of embarrassment amongst the
Hong merchants, put forward the same just arguments, and Her Majesty's
Government will readily admit, that if the system were dangerous to the
interests of the East India Company, it must be intensely more so to
those of the general and open trade.
The Agents upon the spot will always and naturally be anxious to have
their immediate difficulties solved ; and the future consequences on our
permanent commercial interests in this empire are little likely to bear
down that consideration.
I shall transmit your Lordship an authentic statement of the new
assessments as soon as it can be procured ; and in the mean time, I once
more take the liberty to recommend this subject to the earnest attention
of Her Majesty's Government.
I have &.c
(Signed)' CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.




No. 140.

Captain Elliot to Viscount Palnerston.—(Received May 18, 1839.)

My Lord, Macao, January 21, 1839.
THE departure of the ship William Jardine from these roads, affords
me a hurried opportunity to report the tranquil course of the trade since its
re-opening on the 31st ultimo.
In the mean time, however, there has been no relaxation of the vigour of
the Government, directed not only against the introduction of the opium, but
in a far more remarkable manner against the. consumers. A corresponding
degree of desperate adventure upon the part of the smugglers, is only a neces
sary consequence ; and in this situation of things, serious accidents, and
sudden and indefinite interruptions to the regular trade, must always be
probable events.
I return to Canton in a day or two, from this place, where I had lately
repaired for the purpose of making arrangements concerning the crew of a
shipwrecked vessel.
I avail myself of this occasion to acknowledge the receipt of your Lord
ship's despatches of the 2nd and 16th of June, 1838.
I have, &c,
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.




No. 141.

Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—(Received May 31, 1839.)

My Lord, Canton, January 30, 1839.
IN the present sinister aspect of circumstances here, Her Majesty's
Government will no doubt desire to receive frequent information from Canton;
and 1 avail myself of the opportunity of a fast ship, to report the uninterrupted
course of the regular trade to this date, since its re-opening, announced in my
despatch of the 31st December of last year.
 343

The stagnation of the opium traffic at all points, however, may be said to
have been nearly complete for the last four months. And it is now my duty to
signify to, your Lordship the expected arrival of a very high officer from the
Court, to hold equal rank with the Governor, and specially charged, as I am
this day informed by Howqua, with the general conduct of the measures lately
determined upon at Peking, for the suppression of the opium trade.
It must also be stated, that the Emperor has recently been advised to
command a total interruption of the foreign trade and intercourse, till the
introduction of opium shall be effectually stopped ; and an edict of great
moment, evidently founded upon that policy, has just been issued to the foreign
merchants, but not yet to myself. It shall be transmitted to your Lordship as
soon as Mr. Morrison has translated it; but it is probable the communication
will not be sent officially to me till the arrival of the High Commissioner from
Peking, which may be expected in the course of a few weeks.
There seems, my Lord, no longer any room to doubt that the Court has
firmly determined to suppress, or, more probably, most extensively to check the
opium trade. The immense, and it must be said, most unfortunate increase
of the supply during the last four years, the rapid growth of the East coast
trade, and the continued drain of the silver, have no doubt greatly alarmed the
Government ; but the manner of the rash course of traffic within the river,
has probably contributed most of all to impress the urgent necessity of
arresting the growing audacity of the foreign smugglers, and preventing their
associating themselves with the desperate and lawless of their own large cities.
In the excited temper of this extraordinary Government, it would be
unsafe indeed, to speculate upon the particular measures they may pursue: but,
at least, I am sure that my own altered position, and the course I took last
month, with respect to the forced trade within the river, will give much weight
to my remonstrances, in any moment of emergency.
Replying to Howqua's( suggestions to-day, that such proceedings must be
looked for, I said, I earnestly hoped not, because I was persuaded they would
be regarded by my own Government to be unjust and hostile in the very last
degree. I added, that I should be careful to clear myself of all responsibility,
by signifying these convictions to the Provincial Government, in respectful, but
most plain terms, directly that it adopted courses so certain, in my judgment, to
tend to an interruption of the peace between the two countries. He met this
observation by saying, that I had experience enough of the Chinese Government
to know that full time would be given before such extreme measures were
adopted. I answered, that the lapse of no interval of time could justify
aggression upon public and private interests embarked in this lawful trade, by
reason of the acts of smugglers, in a high degree encouraged by the chief
authorities of these provinces.
He dwelt earnestly upon the manifold mischiefs of the trade, and parti
cularly upon the alarming character of the late inside traffic, asking me what
my Government would do under such circumstances? I said, that no such
state of things could obtain in England, and he must give me leave to remark
three things concerning that part of the subject: — 1st. that it no longer
subsisted; 2nd. that it had been induced by the venality of the highest officers
of this province ; 3rd. that it had been put down by the effect of my repre
sentations and proceedings, as soon as ever I was in a condition to take steps
concerning it.
Whilst such a traffic existed, indeed, in the heart of our regular commerce,
I had all along felt the Chinese Government had a just ground for harsh mea
sures towards the lawful trade, upon the plea that there was no distinguishing
between the right and the wrong. But I told Howqua, that should never
happen again so long as the Governor enabled me to perform my duty ; and it
could not have happened at all, but for his Excellency's countenance.
I concluded by saying, that I had too much confidence in the justice and
wisdom of his Government, to apprehend such measures as he appeared to do,
and too much experience of the genius of my own, to doubt that their adoption
would be the sure precursor of a rupture.
He anxiously entreated me to press, in my despatches to my Government,
on the great and growing danger of this traffic to the lawful trade and peaceful
intercourse ; and he led me to understand, that some strong official communi
 344

cation on the subject must be expected as soon as the High Commissioner
arrived. ' '■
The immediate departure of this ship will be my excuse for a hurried
despatch.
I h&vc &c
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.




No. 142.

Viscount Palmerston to Captain Elliot.



Sir, Foreign Office, June 13, 1839.
YOUR despatches to the 31st of December of last year, and to the
30th of January of this year, have been received and laid before Her Majesty's
Government.
With reference to such of these despatches as detail the circumstances
which led to an interruption of the trade for a short period in December last,
and the steps which you took, in consequence, with a view to the re-opening
of the Trade, and to the re-establishment of your official communications with
the Chinese authorities, I have to signify to you the entire approbation of Her
Majesty's Government of your conduct on those matters. But I have at the
same time to instruct you not to omit to avail yourself of any proper oppor
tunity, to press for the substitution of a less objectionable character than the
character " Pin," on the superscription of the communications which you may
have occasion to address to the Viceroy.
I am, &c,
(Signed) PALMERSTON.




No. 143

Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.— (Received June 26, 1839.)


My Lord, Canton, February 8, 1839.
THE inclosure is the Proclamation to foreigners, adverted to in my
despatch of January 30, 1839. A direct address to the foreigners, by the heads of
the Government, (instead of the Hong merchants, for communication to them,)
is certainly a remarkable and unusual, though not an unprecedented proceeding;
and it furnishes, no doubt, strong evidence of the earnest feelings of the court
upon the subject in hand.
It should also be stated, that the senior Hong merchants applied to one of
the editors of the Canton prints, for several hundred printed copies of the transla
tion which appeared in his paper, and sent one of each, under their own covers,
to the foreign firms. They further declared, that they pursued this perfectly
new course at the express command of the Governor.
The period of the Chinese new year has now arrived, when the public
offices are closed, and there are general holidays for a week or ten days.
But I have the satisfaction to inform your Lordship, that a large portion of
the trade of the season has already been completed since the reopening of
business, reported in my despatch of December 31, 1838 ; and before the arrival
of the High Commissioner from Peking, which is not looked for in less than
' three weeks, I should hope that the rest will have been dispatched.
 345

The stagnation of the opium traffic still continues, and the consequent
locking up of the circulating medium is already producing great and general
embarrassment.
I have, &c,
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.



j Inclosure in No. 143.

Proclamation of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Canton to the
Foreign Merchants.

TANG, Governor of Kwangtung and Kwangse, &c, and E, the Lieutenant-
Governor of Kwangtung, &c, conjointly issue these orders to the foreign
merchants of the several nations, for their full information.
It is well known that the Celestial Court, during the period of two hundred
years that it has granted to every nation the privilege of commercial intercourse,
has deeply imbued you with its rich benefits, yielding you excellent advantages
and without limit. Nor is it possible you can yourselves be ignorant, how
much your life or death is herein involved, seeing that the tea and the rhubarb
of this inner land are things absolutely necessary to you outer foreigners. Is it
not then manifest, that to the Celestial Empire no need existed for a commercial
intercourse ? while, to your several nations, could one day's cessation of such
intercourse be sustained ? Yet during tens of years past, you have inconside
rately regarded opium as the special means of gaining sure profits ; and have,
without interruption, continued to hring it hither, and to store it up in your
warehousing- vessels ; causing depraved Chinese to combine with you in
disposing of it, and creating a taste for it among the simple clownish folk, till
habitual use has rendered it a constant indulgence, spreading with a rank
growth along the borders of the coast, and so pervading every province.
Some, in their animadversions on these things, have supposed that your
object and desire, is to exhaust the resources of the central land, and to do hurt
to the lives of the Chinese people. Ha! it is forgotten that the Celestial
Empire bears in its womb each precious metal ; that its coppers are full to
overflowing ! How can they by such feeble means be ever emptied or ex
hausted? But be it, that in bringing with you hither this vile thing, you are
actuated solely by the desire of amassing gain, yet what feud have the people of
this land with you, that you should so be willing to do them mortal injury ?
Though even gain-seeking desires have cauterized your souls, so that you have
given them the rein, fearless and without restraint, yet should you know, that
things pushed to extremes must surely meet with a recoil. Thus, that the
Celestial Court should one day be roused to fierce indignation, and should, with
the utter extirpation of the ingrowing opium, strictly stay also the outgoing of
the tea and rhubarb ; such is what the laws must surely require ; what matters
cannot but eventually come to ; on no account should you close your eyes
to the anxious contemplation of such a contingency.
In times past, edict after edict has been directed against opium ; and We,
the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, have often reiterated our commands, ,
and our monitions, to a third, yea, even to a fifth time. But even to the last,
gain alone has been your aim, and our words have but filled your ears as the
empty wind.
When you would come to Canton to trade, you all assume to yourselves ;
the name of good foreigners. Could any then have conceived of the recent
entrance of boats with opium into the river, which has been discovered by
repeated seizures, exposing to view all your impish trickery ? Can you now yet
call yourselves good foreigners, or say that you are pursuing each an honest
calling ?
At this time, the Great Emperor, in his bitter detestation of the evil habit,
has his thoughts hourly bent on washing it clean away. In the capital, he has
commanded the ministers of his court to deliberate, and, with severity, to draw
up plans for procedure. In the provinces, he has commanded the administra
tors over his dominions, to enforce vigorously the penalties prescribed by the
2'Y
 346

laws. His heaven-derived firmness will form its own resolves ; and what his
will determines, that surely shall be done.
We, the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, have already in respectful
obedience to the Imperial commands, strictly required of each naval fleet,
division, and squadron, to draw together their forces ; to complete their arma
ments ; and along the central, eastern, and western lines, severally, to array
themselves in close connexion, for the purpose of secure prevention, so that
they pursue and take every lawless boat engaging in the clandestine traffic, and
may drive forth all the foreign vessels cruising about. We have also given
instructions to each general and regimental division of the land force, that the
commanding officers should, at the head of all their subordinates, make search
after, and take possession of, every building for the preparation, or for the
smoking of opium ; as well as seize all criminal parties found selling or inhaling
the drug. Thus, having set in operation both the naval and the land forces,
and having inspired severity into all, from the head even to the tail, consecutive
reports of seizures have been the result, to the number of many hundreds.
Those reprobates, who, by the long habituation to the seeking of their purely
selfish ends, have acquired a conscience fearless of death, having been severally
subjected to a severe trial have been adjudged and punished. The plain
evidence hereof is to be found iu the cases of the afore executed criminals, Lew
Aying and Ho Laukin. Others have been variously subjected to correction.
And in consequence of such measures, the minds of all have been greatly
affected with a wholesome alarm : and those who have restrained themselvea
from smoking, and have delivered up their opium pipes, may now be num
bered by tens of thousands. Still more numerous too, are they, who, dreading
the laws, have, of their own act, cast away their opium, and the instruments
for smoking it; as also the depraved reprobates, who, with ruined fortunes, have
fled far away for safety. Such are the measures now in operation in Kwang-
tung, and such the existing visible effects on the popular mind. We have thus
carefully and minutely laid them open to you, that you may strive to reflect
thereon, that you may consider what a time is this ; and what sort of proceed
ings are these if they leave you any longer room for hope? or any further
prospect of aggression ? And if the very people of the land, when they offend,
are thus subjected to instant and severe punishment, shall you, giving your
selves up, with open eyes and daring presumption to follow the depraved
suggestions of your own minds, be yet made the recipients of a perverted and
partial forbearance and leniency ? Nay, but you shall surely receive in like
manner the corrective penalties of the law, and so be made to know the celestial
terrors. You have worked your vessels hither over a vasty deep, with no
other object than that of seeking a gain upon your outlay. Ah ! why will vou
for gain merely lose your own selves? And at this moment, when the people
have, as one man, abandoned the use of opium ; when even the traces of the
clandestine dealers arc ceasing to appear ; when the officers, having taken in
hand the stern enforcement of the laws, the people, too, in fear of penalties, pay
implicit obedience, not only in all avenues lor disposing of it entirely shut up,
but even the gain you seek for is no longer to be found. The people of China
have many of them lost their lives in consequence of this thing, and all now
regard it as an enemy most hateful ; they throw it away on every road, and
view it just as a filthy drug. In truth, then, what have you yet to hope for?
and can repentance still find no place within your hearts?
We proceed hereon to issue, with intense earnestness, our commands.
Upon their reaching the said foreign merchants, let these immediately wash out
their past defilements; and let them speedily send away to their countries one
and all of the warehousing vessels now anchored in the outer seas. Those
ships too, which, though they be not warehousing vessels, yet neither are they
laden with merchandize for importation, must not pass at random to and from
the various offings, anchoring wherever it may please them. It must be the
business of all, to rest in the pursuit of an honest commercial business, that all
may enjoy together happy gains, with peace and tranquillity. But if as. you
have begun so you continue obstinately blind, and do not awaken, still
retaining covetous and avaricious expectations, in that case you will be alien
ating yourselves from the nurture and protection of the laws. We, the
Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, will not then deem it worth our while to
bestow labour and toil, to be continually exercising measures for prevention,
 347

discovery, and apprehension, but will simply have to lay before the throne our
requests, that the ports may be closed, and the trade brought forever to an end.
And when once the ports are thus closed, it will no longer be a question,
whether opium is brought or not, but even the tea and the rhubarb of the inner
land will be withheld from exportation. Thus are the lives of all you foreigners
held within our grasp.
It will be found that all the Sovereigns of the nations aforesaid, have been
habitually reverent and dutiful, and that their laws for the rule of the foreigners
are severe and rigorous. Should such an entire stoppage of the export of tea
and rhubarb take place, lead them to search back to find the cause, it is to be
apprehended that even though you slip through the meshes of the law of the
Celestial Empire, it will yet be hard for you to escape the laws of your own lands.
Besides all this, the Great Emperor has just now appointed a high officer as
his special Commissioner, to repair to Canton in order to examine and adopt
measures in reference to the affairs of the sea-ports. From morn to eve his
arrival may hourly be looked for. His purpose is to cut off utterly the source
of this noxious abuse, to strip bare and root up this enormous evil: and
though this axe should break in his hand, or the boat should sink from beneath
him, yet will he not stay his efforts till the work of purification be accomplished.
If then you will blindly rush upon sharp weapons, and will not be induced
to turn again your faces, you will bring on yourselves grief and sorrow,
exceeding in severity even what in this proclamation we have pointed out to
you. We, the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, are indeed roused by your
blind perversity and lack of intelligence to a sense of deep pain and abhorrence :
but, still cherishing thoughts and feelings of kindness, we cannot forbear from
warning you yet again with intense earnestness, and in our partiality calling
upon you to save yourselves.
Would that you might each regard and attend to us ! Oh ! lay not Up for
yourselves a store of after-repentance ! A Special Edict.
Taoukwang, 18th year, 12th moon, day. (January, 1839.)

True Translation.
(Signed) J. Robt. Morrison,
Chinese Secretary and Interpreter.




* Y »
 348


No. 144.

Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—{Received August 5, 1839.)

My Lord, Macao, February 21, 1839.
WITH reference to my Despatches upon the subject of the bankrupt
Hongs, I have now the honour to transmit a statement of the additional
charges lately imposed upon the trade, with the alleged purpose of form
ing a fund to meet the foreign claims.
It has been a task of considerable difficulty, and of reference in many
quarters, to collect the data upon which this paper is founded. But I feel
warranted in assuring your Lordship, that its general accuracy may be
relied upon.
The Inclosure No. 2, exhibits the effects of such assessments upon
what may be taken to be a year of an average amount of foreign trade
with this empire.
The delusion of such a mode of adjusting foreign claims is so obvious,
and has so recently been drawn under your Lordship's notice, that it can
not be necessary to dwell upon the subject.
I ought to add, that instalments to the amount of about two lacs of
dollars have already been paid to the creditors of the Hingtae, and King-
qua's Hongs.
I have, &c,
(Signed; CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.



Inclosure 1 in No. 144.

Charges on Exports and Imports in Foreign Vessels imposed at Canton
by the Co-Hong of Hong Merchants, for the alleged purposes of meet
ing the payment of the foreign debts of the Co-Hong, arising from the
bankruptcy of Hing-tae, and insolvency of Kingqua, and of defraying
in part the expenses of the respective Hongs, viz. 1838.

EXPORTS.
Taels. M. c. c.
Tea of all kinds - Rate per Pecul . 1 4 0 0
Sugar Candy n n 2
Soft Sugar - n n 1
Raw Silk, Nankin M 7 2
Do. Canton W 2 0

IMPORTS.
Raw Cotton - - Kate per Pecul 6
Cotton 7'wist - 1
Long Cloths, No. 2 per Piece 3
Do. No. 3 1 8
Cotton Cloth, Twilled 3 6
Broad Cloths - 7
Long Klls - » 9J 1
Tin, Banca — per Pecul 5
Lead - » i> 1
Quicksilver - It H 4
Iron - » n 1
Pepper - n m 2 8 8
Betel Nut - f* it 1 4 4
Rattans - — » » 1 4
Blackwood - n » 1 4
Sandal Wood - >» n 7 0
Elephant's Teeth w » 4 0
Do. small — ii » .'! 0
Shark's Fins - r> n 7 0
Fish Mawi - 1 0
(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.
 Inclosure 2 in No. 144.

IMPORTS 1st July, 1836, to 30th June, 1837. Proposed additional Duty.

British Yarn ------ 18,431
American do. _____ 4,232
22,663 Pcculs at 3 doll, are - 67,989
Long Cloths, per British Ships - 140,989
„ per American do. - 106,462 200,000 at 25 cents. \,_
247,451 Pieces 47,451 at 50 cents. ) '
Long Ells, per British Ships - 89,124
„ per American do. - 34,472
123,596 Peculs at 50 cents. - - 61,798
Woollen Cloths, per British Ships 68,000
„ per American do. 13,860
81,860 Pieces at 1 doll. - - 81,860
Cotton, Peculs _____ 677,557 at 6 Mace are Taels 406.410.6 - 564,459

849,831
EXPORTS, 1st July, 1836, to 30th June, 1837.

Tea - -- -- -- - 425,641 at Taels 1.4 are Taels 595.897
Silk, Nankin - - - - - 14,172 at ,. 7. „ 99,204
Do. Canton ------ 6,635 at „ 2. „ 13,270
708,371 - 983,849
Dollars 1,833,680

(Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.




No. 145.


Captain Elliot to Viscount Palmerston.—[Received August 5, 1839.)


My Lord, Macao, March 22, 1839.
THE inclosure has this moment reached me from Canton, and I have only-
time to transmit it by the Viscount Melbourne, on the point of sailing.
It will be very satisfactory to your Lordship to know that Her Majesty's
sloop Larne is here ; and Her Majesty's Government may be assured, that
I will take the most prompt measures for meeting the unjust and menacing
dispositions of the High Commissioner and the Provincial Authorities.
I have already forwarded a note to the Keun-Min-Foo and the Governor of
Canton, desiring to know whether it is the purpose of the Chinese Government
to make war on the ships and men of my country ; and I shall proceed to
morrow to the Bocca Tigris to demand some plain and definite explanation upon
the whole subject.
I have no doubt, that a firm tone and attitude will check the rash spirit of
the Provincial Authorities ; but I should not omit to mention to your Lordship,
that I have, at the same time, offered to use my best efforts for fulfilling the
reasonable purposes of this Government, whenever they are authentically made
known to me.
The completion of the great portion of the trade of this year has relieved
me of a very embarrassing addition to the difficulties of my situation.
I have &c
(Signed) ' CHARLES ELLIOT,
Chief Superintendent.
 350


Inclosure 1 in No. 145.

Edict from the Imperial Commissioner, addressed to Foreigners of all Nations.

LIN, High Imperial Commissioner of the Celestial Court, a Director of the
Board of War, and Governor of Hookwang, issues his commands to the
foreigners of every nation, requiring of all full acquaintance with the tenour
thereof.
It is known that the foreign vessels, which come for a reciprocal trade to
Kwangtung, have derived from that trade very large profits. This is evidenced
by the facts,—that, whereas the vessels, annually resorting hither, were for
merly reckoned hardly by tens, their number has of late years amounted to a
hundred and several times ten : and that whatever commodities they have
brought, none have failed to find a full consumption; whatever they may
have sought to purchase, never have they been unable readily to do so. Let
them but ask themselves, whether between heaven and earth, any place afford
ing so advantageous a commercial mart is elsewhere to be found? It is because
our Great Emperors, in their universal benevolence, have granted you commer
cial privileges, that you have been favoured with these advantages. Let our
ports once be closed against you, and for what profits can your several nations
any longer look ? Yet more,—our tea and our rhubarb—seeing that, should
you foreigners be deprived of them, you therein lose the means of preserving
life,—are without stint or grudge granted to you for exportation, year by year,
beyond the seas. Favours never have been greater !
Are you grateful for these favours ? You must then fear the laws, and in
seeking profit for yourselves, must not do hurt to others. "Why do you bring
to our land the opium, which in your lands is not made use of, by it
defrauding men of their property, and causing injury to their lives? I find
that with this thing you have seduced and deluded the people of China for tens
of years past : and countless are the unjust hoards that you have thus acquired.
Such conduct rouses indignation in every human heart, and it is utterly
inexcusable in the eye of celestial reason.
The prohibitions formerly enacted by the Celestial Court against opium,
were comparatively lax ; and it was yet possible to smuggle the drug into the
various ports. Of this the Great Emperor having now heard, his wrath has been
fearfully aroused, nor will it rest till the evil be utterly extirpated. Whoever
among the people of this inner land deals in opium, or establish houses for the
smoking of it, shall be instantly visited with the extreme penalties of the laws ;
and it is in contemplation to render capital also the crime of smoking the drug.
Having come into the territory of the Celestial Court, you should pay
obedience to its laws and statutes, equally with the natives of the land. I, the
High Commissioner, having my home in the maritime province of Fuhkeen,
and, consequently, having early had intimate acquaintance with all the arts and
shifts of the outer foreigners, for this reason have been honoured by the Great
Emperor with the full powers and privileges of a High Imperial Commis
sioner, who, having frequently performed meritorious services, is sent to settle
the affairs of the outer frontier."
Should I search closely into the offences of these foreigners, in forcing for
a number of years the sale of opium, they would be found already beyond the
bounds of indulgence. But, reflecting that they are men from distant lands, and
that they have not before been aware that the prohibition of opium is so severe,
I cannot bear, in the present plain enforcement of the laws and restrictions, to
cot them off without instructive monition.
I find that on board the warehousing vessels, which you now have lying at
anchor in the Lintin and other offings, there are stored up several times ten
thousand chests of opium, which it is your purpose and desire illicitly to dispose
of by sale. You do not consider, however, the present severity of the measures
in operation for seizure of it at the ports. Where will you again find any
that will dare to give it escort ? And similar measures for the seizure of it,
are in operation also in every proviuce. Where else then will you yet find
opportunity of disposing of it ? At the present time, the dealings in opium are
brought utterly to a stand, and all men are convinced that it is a nauseous
poison. Why will you be at the pains then of laying it up on board your
 351

foreign store-ships, and of keeping them long anchored on the face of the open'
sea,—not only spending to no purpose your labour and your wealth, but exposed
also to unforeseen dangers from storms or from tire.
1 proceed to issue my commands. When these commands reach the said
foreign merchants, let them with all haste pay obedience thereto ; let them
deliver up to Government every particle of the opium on board their store-ships.
Let it be ascertained by the Hong merchants, who are the parties so delivering
it up, and what number of chests, as also what total quantity in catties and
taels, is delivered up under each name. Let these particulars be brought toge
ther in a clear tabular form, and be presented to Government, in order that the
opium may all be received in plain conformity thereto, that it may be burnt
and destroyed, and that thus the evil may be entirely extirpated. There must
not be the smallest atom concealed or withheld.
At the same time, let these foreigners give a bond, written jointly in the
foreign and Chinese languages, making a declaration to this effect: —"That
their vessels, which shall hereafter resort hither, will never again dare to bring
opium with them ; and that should any be brought, as soon as discovery shall
be made of it, the goods shall be forfeited to Government, and the parties shall
suffer the extreme penalties of the law: and that such punishment will be
willingly submitted to."
1 have heard that you foreigners are used to attach great importance to
the word " good faith." If then you will really do as I, the High Commisioner,
have commanded,—will deliver up every particle of the opium that is already
here, and will stay altogether its future introduction,—as this will prove also,
that you are capable of feeling contrition for your offences, and of entertaining
a salutary dread of punishment, the past may yet be left unnoticed. I, the
High Commissioner, will, in that case, in conjunction with the Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor, address the throne, imploring the Great Emperor to
vouchsafe extraordinary favour, and not alone to remit the punishment of your
past errors, but also, as we will further request, to devise some mode of bestowing
on you his imperial rewards, as an encouragement of the spirit of contrition and
wholesome dread thus manifested by you. After this, you will continue to
enjoy the advantages of commercial intercourse ; and, as you will not lose the
character of being " good foreigners," and will be enabled to acquire profits and
gain wealth by an honest trade, will you not, indeed, stand in a most honourable
position ?
If, however, you obstinately adhere to your folly, and refuse to awake ; if
you think to make up a tale covering over your illicit dealings, or to set up as a
pretext, that the opium is brought by foreign seamen, and the foreign merchants
have nothing to do with it ; or to pretend craftily that you will carry it back to
your countries, or will throw it into the sea ; or to take occasion to go to other
provinces in search of a door of consumption ; or to stifle inquiry by delivering
up only one or two-tenths of the whole quantity : in any of these cases, it will
he evident that you retain a spirit of contumacy and disobedience, that you
uphold vice and will not reform. Then, although it is the maxim of the
Celestial Court to treat with tenderness and great mildness men from afar, yet,
as it cannot suffer them to indulge in scornful and contemptuous trifling with
it, it will become requisite to comprehend you also in the severe course of
punishment prescribed by the new law.
On this occasion, 1, the High Commissioner, having come from the Capital,
have personally received the sacred commands, that wherever a law exists it is
to be fully enforced. And as I have brought these full powers and privileges,
enabling me to perform whatever seems to me right,—powers with which those
ordinarily given, for inquiring and acting in regard to other matters, are by no
means comparable,—so long as the opium traffic remains unexterminated, so
long will I delay my return. I swear that I will progress with this matter
from its beginning to its ending, and that not a thought of stopping half way
shall for a moment be indulged.
Furthermore, observing the present condition of the popular mind, I find
so universal a spirit of indignation aroused, that, should you foreigners remain
dead to a sense of contrition and amendment, and continue to make gain your
sole object, there will not only be arrayed against you the martial terrors and
poweriul energies of our naval and military forces ; it will be but necessary to
call on the able-bodied of the people, [the militia, or posse comitatus,] and
 352

these alone will be more than adequate to the placing all your lives within my
power. Besides, either by the temporary stoppage of your trade, or by the
permanent closing of the ports against you, what difficulty can there be in
effectually cutting off your intercourse? Our central empire, comprising a
territory of many thousands of miles, and possessing in rich abundance all the
products of the ground, has no benefit to derive from the purchase of your
foreign commodities ; and you may therefore well fear, that from the moment
such measures are taken, the livelihood of your several nations must come to
an end. You, who have travelled so far to conduct your commercial business,
how is it that you are not yet alive to the great difference between the
condition of vigorous exertion and that of easy repose,—the wide distance
between the power of the few, and the power of the many ? ■
As to those crafty foreigners, who, residing in the foreign factories, have
been in the habit of dealing in opium, I, the High Commissioner, have early been
provided with a list of them by name. At the same time, those good foreigners
who have not sold opium, must also not fail to be distinguished. Such of them
as will point out their depraved fellow-foreigners, will compel them to deliver
up their opium, and will step forth among the foremost to give the required
bonds, these shall be regarded as the good foreigners. And I, the High
Commissioner, will at once, for their encouragement, reward them liberaliy. It
rests with yourselves alone to choose, whether you will have weal or woe,
honour or disgrace.
I am now about to command the Hong merchants to proceed to your
factories, to instruct and admonish you. A term of three days is prescribed
for an address to be sent in reply to me. And, at the same time, let your duly
attested and faithful bonds be given, waiting for me, in conjunction with the
Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, to appoint a time for the opium to be
delivered up. Do not indulge in idle expectations, or seek to postpone
matters, deferring- to repent until its lateness render it ineffectual. A special
Edict.
Taoukwang, 19th year, 2nd mouth, 4th day. (March 18, 1839.)

True Translation.
(Signed) J. Robt. Morrison,
Chinese Secretary and Interpreter.


Inclosure 2 in No. 145.

Edict from the, Imperial Commissioner to the Hong Merchants.
LIN, High Imperial Commissioner, Director of the Board of War, and •
Governor of Hookwang, issues his commands to the Hong merchants,
requiring of them full acquaintance with the tenour thereof.
The commercial intercourse subsisting in Kwangtung between the
Chinese and foreigners has continued for a period of more than three
hundred years. What was there to render impossible a free commercial
interchange of goods between these parties themselves? Nothing. It
was then the desire of preventing an illicit intercourse, and of guarding
against contraband commodities, that rendered necessary the establishment
of a class of Hong merchants.
Respectfully searching, I find, under date the 2 1st year of Keaking
(1816), an Imperial Edict,—"rendering the Hong merchants responsible
for the ascertainment of the question, whether or not any foreign vessel
imports opium ; and, in case of her so doing, for the rejection of all her cargo,
for the refusal to let her trade, and for the driving of her back to her own
country." Respect and obedience being paid thereto, this Edict was duly
recorded. And I find, that on each occasion of a foreign vessel entering
the port, the said Hong merchants have always given bonds that she
brought no opium with Tier.
In consequence of such bonds, vessels have been allowed to enter the
port and break bulk ; nor has any vessel ever been sent back. And even
now, while the opium is pervading and filling, with its poisonous influence,
the whole empire, the said Hong merchants still continue indiscriminately
 353

to give such bonds, declaring that the ships that resort hither have
brought none of it. Are they not indeed dreaming, and shoring in their
dreams ?
If they say, that the opium which they bring is discharged before
hand, and left on board the warehousing vessels at Lintin, and that the
bonds given, as to their bringing none, have reference to the vessels as
entering the port, what is this but to " shut the ears whilst the jingling
bell is being stolen," to provide for themselves a ground for excuse? The
feelings that prompt such conduct will still less bear scrutiny. It is as if
a man, to guard his house at night, should appoint a watchman, and that,
nevertheless, his property should be bundled up and carried away, while
yet the watchman should declare that there had been no thief. If this
would not be regarded as combination in the theft, as what then would it
be regarded?
Moreover, the foreign factories are built by the said Hong merchants,
angl by them are rented to the foreigners as residences ; the Hongmen
and all the working people in the factories are hired by the same mer
chants ; and the " Macheen," (or outside shopmen) are in their employ ;
the neighbouring Shroff shops, too, are those with which the Hong mer
chants nave dealings. Yet for more than ten years past, there has not
been a Shroff shop that has not given bills, nor a "Macheen " that has
not had transactions with the opium-preparers, nor a Hongman or other
workman that has not had connexions with the fast boats. There have