Chapter V: Part 5

Not the least remarkable feature of Old Canton life was the 'Factory,' as the common dwelling and common place of business of all the members, old and young, of a commercial house. The system begat mutual confidence. All affairs, past, present, and future, were discussed at the table, and became as familiar to the clerks as they were to the partners. While the latter imparted their own views and experiences, the former benefited by them. The knowledge thus acquired was applied, each in his special department, to a more intelligent co-operation, which contributed to a general harmony in current affairs or special enterprises. And so also in regard to other subjects. The younger members had the advantage through this daily 'family' intercourse of acquiring much useful information on a diversity of subjects. There were few if any Principals, who had not had in different parts of the world experience of men and things, who had not adventures to relate--how unexpected difficulties were overcome or chance advantages availed of. In daily exercises or pastimes all associated together; whether for walking, for boating, or sight-seeing, 'Tae-Pans' and 'pursers' shared them together. Should one of the former take the helm to-day, and one of the latter an oar, to-morrow saw the order reversed.

At length, as the elders retired, leaving, as was always the case, vast and important affairs in course of execution, they did so with the conviction that their successors possessed the qualifications to carry them on to a logical termination, as well as to initiate new ones.

* * * * *

Before leaving us Mr. Russell had placed me in charge of the books and accounts. We were excessively busy during the year, as, in addition to orders for teas, those for manufactured silks were unprecedentedly large. In May I was on the sick list; Doctor Bradford[71] sent me to Macao in July for change of air, whence I returned in October. A serious relapse took place in December, and, as a 'last chance,' passage was taken for me in a small ship called the 'Howard,' of about 400 tons, for New York. It was supposed the 'sea air' might have a good effect. I was carried to the ship in such a state as to leave small hope of reaching New York alive. We sailed from Whampoa early in February 1832. (To replace me in the office, George R. Sampson was engaged, afterwards Sampson & Tappan, Boston.) Down the China Sea the weather and progress were good; we passed out into the Indian Ocean between Pulo Crockatoa and Prince's Island, which took us ten days. We had a light 'trade' to the Cape; there we were met by a succession of north-westerly gales, which detained us twenty-two days. We were becalmed on the Equator a long time; but at length arrived at New York, on the 162nd day, my health perfectly restored.

I was delighted to meet again Mr. Samuel Russell, then at the 'Clinton Hotel,' as genial and kindly as always. He asked me to breakfast, to meet Mr. Joseph Coolidge, Junior, about to leave for the office at Canton, and afterwards I was invited to make him a visit at Middletown, where I had the pleasure to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Russell, a charming, quiet lady, whose reception of me was of the kindest.

The 'Roman' was now again fitting out for Canton, under my old shipmate, Captain Lavender. He had made several voyages in the 'America,' belonging to Mr. Thomas H. Smith. Mr. Olyphant consented to my going in the ship, and there was no other passenger on board. It was not yet the usage for China ships to take passengers, nor would they take general letters. We sailed on October 25, 1832, after a very short stay at home. This time we took the Gilolo passage into the Pacific. At five A.M. of March 5, 1833, we made Fo-Ki Point, on the coast of 'teas, silks, and cassia,' and at 5.30 P.M. anchored under the peak of Lantao, in the Lantao Channel, in 131 days' passage. Lavender despatched a fast boat to his agents at Canton, Messrs Olyphant & Co., advising his arrival, while I took another and arrived at the Factories in the evening of the 9th.

Thus ended a second 'run home' (as those trips were euphemistically called) of a year each. These 'runs,' however, were in reality nine months of listening to 'what the wild waves were saying,' 'and wandering about at home,' unknowing and almost unknown, for three months; to being subjected, while there, to sleep on mattresses and pillows filled with feathers in the summer months, with the thermometer at any height you please, instead of on the clean, cool, hard rattan mat or mattress of bamboo shavings, as in Canton, where it was rarely over 96° at midnight.

It was not until eleven more years had passed that I took another 'run.' This was from Macao in 1844 in the 'Prince of Wales,' of Bombay (Captain Jones), to Galle, then in the steamer 'Seaforth,' from Colombo, _viâ_ Cannanore and Mangalore, to Bombay, with a trip to Mahableshwar and Poonah for 'sight-seeing;' then to Aden and back to Bombay in the East India Company's steamer 'Atalanta;' thence to Macao, _viâ_ Singapore, in the splendid new clipper 'Mohr' of about 280 tons, belonging to Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, & Co., and commanded by 'my old friend,' Fraser, who was second officer of the 'Good Success' in 1825, to Singapore.

* * * * *

At the end of 1833 we had the misfortune to lose our estimable chief Mr. W. H. Low, whose health failed from incessant application to the duties of his responsible position. He took passage in the Company's ship 'Waterloo,' for England, with his family, and some months after we heard of his death at the Cape.

* * * * *

The same year was notable for the hitherto unprecedented event of the marriage at Macao of a young American lady, Miss Shillaber, of Boston, to Doctor Thomas R. Colledge, of the Company's 'Factory.' It was a brilliant affair, and celebrated with more than usual éclat from its novelty.

* * * * *

The quitting of Canton by the Honourable East India Company in 1833 was succeeded by the arrival of Lord Napier on July 25, 1834, as 'Chief Superintendent of the English Trade.' His lordship landed in a boat belonging to the country ship 'Fort William.' This vessel being secured by the Hong merchant 'Sun-Shing,' he was held responsible, conducted into the city and imprisoned. As Her Majesty's representative declined to correspond with the Viceroy through the Hong merchants, the latter issued a proclamation on September 5, in which he spoke of this 'contumacy' as a breach of the existing laws and regulations of the Empire--of his Lordship having come to Canton officially, without the permission of His Imperial Majesty, and requested him to return to Macao pending a reference to Pekin; adding that, if he refused to leave for Macao, no Chinese should serve him in any capacity. The proclamation being pasted on a thin board, was suspended at the gate of his Lordship's (the East India Co.) Factory and guarded by about twenty soldiers. No sooner was this done, than the Chinese within the building, half frightened to death, and fearing that the soldiers would enter, rushed upstairs and reported what had taken place. Lord Napier, who was at dinner with Sir George Best Robinson and others, instantly left the table and came down to the gate. The proclamation was at once removed, and, apprehensive of something serious, Lord Napier despatched a messenger to Captain Blackwood, of H.M.S. 'Imogene,' then outside the Bogue, to send him a guard of a dozen marines, and to come with his own vessel and her consort, the 'Andromache,' to Whampoa with all despatch. This being done, his lordship retired inside the Factory with his suite, and the gate was bolted. At midnight Sir George left Canton in a small cutter to join the two frigates. Very soon the marines arrived at the Factory, the Square was filled with Chinese soldiers, and war junks and boats were gathered on the river. All communication with the Whampoa shipping was cut off, and orders were issued that no English boats should come to the city. The Viceroy had also requested the American merchants not to allow boats from their vessels to come up except on urgent business. It is needless to add that the whole foreign trade of the port was entirely stopped. At the time the disturbance took place, one of our captains, Hepburn, of the ship 'Nile,' was in the Factory, and having been assured by the Linguist that he should be provided with a Chinese boat to take him to Whampoa, had sent his own back to the ship. On the 6th, when ready to start, we found that the Linguist could not procure one. I therefore ordered my own, a small schooner yacht, the 'Ferret,' to be made ready, and together we left Canton at four in the afternoon. We passed through a fleet of about fifty war boats, filled with men and armed to the teeth. Presently, to our surprise, we met a small English cutter, having on board Captain St. Croix, of the 'Alexander Baring,' just arrived from London, on his way up with our despatches. I told him it was useless to attempt to get through, and brought him with us to the 'Nile.'

The next day, September 7, Mr. Coolidge, Mr. A. A. Low, and Mr. Cabot made their appearance; they had pulled down for the 'Baring's' letters, having heard of her arrival soon after I left. The 'Union' schooner next hove in sight, coming from Macao, with Mr. George R. Sampson and a Dutch gentleman, Mr. Vandermulen, on board. I took them out and brought them to the 'Nile.'

Later in the day, Coolidge, Low, and Cabot started with the 'Baring's' letters, in the hope of being able to get to the Factories; but on arriving at 'Houqua's' Fort, about half-way, first one and then another ball flew over their heads, which brought them to. A war boat came alongside, with a Linguist on board; he told them it was useless to attempt going on, as, owing to these troubles with the English, the Viceroy had issued an additional order, that to prevent 'the innocent from suffering with the guilty,' no foreign boat could come to Canton. They pulled back to the 'Nile.' We found ourselves, therefore, all prisoners at Whampoa, including another American, named Gorham. We styled ourselves 'the Canton refugees,' and threw ourselves upon the hospitality of our friends the captains of the six American vessels then at the anchorage. And this rather eventful day closed with a dinner on board the 'Coliseum' (Captain Stoddard), with whist in the evening on board the 'Nile.' The next day we dined on board the 'India' (Captain Cook, of Salem), and quartered ourselves upon our friends as follows:--Coolidge, Vandermulen, and myself, on board the 'Nile;' Low on board the 'York;' Cabot, Sampson, and Gorham, on board the 'Coliseum.'

_September 26._--At last we have safely arrived back at our old quarters in the Factories, after being 'refugees' at Whampoa for just twenty days. The commotion is still great, and we are cautioned about going far from 'home.' The streets are full of rowdies and blackguards, who abuse us in words far from complimentary, and make signs as if beheading us! Nevertheless we are comfortable enough as far as 'Jackass Point' or Hog Lane, and can look up 'Old China Street' without bodily fear.

The return to Canton immediately after 'hostilities' had ceased by the departure of Lord Napier was worth making, if only to see the enormous preparations that had been made against an attempt by the boats of the frigates. We took the Junk river passage, and met with no obstructions until we had passed Houqua's Fort and got abreast of the 'Lob Creek' Pagoda. Here we were brought to and ordered to pull alongside of a large mandarin boat, crowded with a ferocious looking lot of fellows, and half-starved as well, to judge from the avidity with which they seized upon some biscuit we threw among them. We were in two boats--one with Captain Tonks, of the Bombay ship 'Lord Castlereagh,' Mr. Low, and Sampson, and my own small gig, with myself alone. A petty officer, wearing an opaque white button, got in Tonks's boat and directed him to a junk, on board of which was a Linguist, and I followed. We reached the Factories four and a half hours from Whampoa.

Correspondence between the Hong merchants (as intermediaries of the Viceroy) and Lord Napier, which his lordship would not comply with, was the only mode that could be expected under the existing foreign and Chinese relations. The Viceroy could not set aside that yet unrepealed system, nor enter into personal communication with any foreign representative. To do so, special authority from the Imperial Government was indispensable. The entire difficulty therefore was caused by Her Majesty's representative persisting in requiring of the Viceroy that which the latter could not grant. Naturally, the 'Napier War,' or, as locally called, the 'Napier fizzle,' was the result. It was coupled, too, with an entire stoppage of all foreign trade from September 2 to September 24, which was a very serious thing, and entirely unjustifiable in the absence of a declaration of war. The mortifying result was that Lord Napier had to renounce his expressed determination to remain at Canton. The British Government should either have obtained official recognition from Pekin for their representative, or simply have appointed a Consul whose dignity could not have been infringed upon by his being placed on the same footing as Consuls of other foreign nations.

On September 21 Lord Napier quitted Canton with his suite for Macao. As the frigates proceeded towards the Bogue and Lintin, so did the two chop-boats of Lord Napier, _pari passu_, towards his destination by the inner passage. He was convoyed by several Chinese men-of-war boats. At length his Lordship arrived on the 26th. The humiliating end of his ineffectual attempt to correspond directly with the local government aggravated an illness brought on by the vexation and excitement he had undergone from the day of his landing from the 'Fort William's' boat, and on October 11 his Lordship died at Macao.

* * * * *

The years 1835 and 1836 were unmarked by any event out of the regular course. The business of the house was taking a great extension (purely as agency); but in 1837 occurred the failures in London of three important banking houses having a large American connection. We had negotiated their 'credits' for some of our constituents to a considerable amount for the payment of teas and silks. Those houses were Thomas Wilson & Co., George Wildes & Co., and Timothy Wiggin, commonly known as the three W's. These failures were within a short time of each other. On reference to our register of bills drawn, we found the total amount of which we had not yet received advice of payment or acceptance to be close upon 200,000_l._ They were all drawn on 'clean credits,' without 'collaterals' (which were not yet in vogue), and at six months' sight. We had confidence in our American constituents, but as the shipments occupied, say, four months in getting to market, and could only be sold at the usual credit of six months, very little margin of time existed. Our own credit, however, was the first consideration. One of our partners, then in Boston, had in his charge a very large amount belonging to Houqua, who gave us an order on the former to hold at our disposal any sum required. Enclosing this, we directed remittances to be made to Messrs. Barings of a sufficiency to cover all such bills on the W's as could not be relied upon for payment by those for whose accounts they had been drawn, and simultaneously we informed Messrs. Barings that remittances would be made to them to provide for such bills, so that our signature could be promptly honoured.

Communication with the Western world was long in those days; there were even no 'clipper' ships yet. Accustomed, however, to such delays, we waited patiently the result. Our first advices were from London. They informed us that the writers, Messrs. B. B. & Co., would honour all bills bearing our name on the three bankrupt houses in question. This was a gratifying thing, as they had not yet received our communication above referred to. Everything worked with regularity. Some of the firms for whose accounts the bills had been drawn were ready to meet them, others furnished securities, and the ultimate loss was inconsiderable on the whole account. So rapid had been remittances from our Boston partner that, when the final account current was received at Macao from London, 1840-41, the balance of interest was in our favour, while Houqua was recouped in full as payments were made to our home partner by American constituents.

If I am not very much mistaken, 1837 was the first of those years ending with '7' which have become proverbial as attended with great commercial troubles in the Western world.

* * * * *

In the year 1838 (November) Mr. William Jardine took his departure from Canton. He founded in 1832 the house of Jardine, Matheson, & Co., on the closing up of that of Magniac & Co., which until then had been under the management of Mr. Hollingworth Magniac. Mr. Jardine had been a surgeon in the marine service of the Honourable East India Company, and had made several voyages to Bombay and China. He had made the acquaintance of the celebrated 'Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy,' that prince of Eastern merchants, that philanthropist--the building of the hospital which now bears his name, and the construction of the Bund from the island of Bombay to Basseen, being amongst the numerous works which were carried out at his own expense for the comfort and welfare of his countrymen. He was, moreover, the first native inhabitant of the Presidency, and I think of India, on whom was conferred the dignity of Baronet by the British Government. The business transactions of Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy with Jardine, Matheson, & Co. became of a colossal scale.

The vast commercial operations of Mr. Jardine Seemed to be conducted with sagacity and judgment. He was a gentleman of great strength of character and of unbounded generosity. To him belongs the shipping of the first cargo of 'free teas' to London, at the end of the two hundred years of close monopoly of the East India Company. As a peculiarity of his character, it may be mentioned that, in his own private office in the Creek Factory, a _chair_ was never seen--a hint to any who may be bothered with gossips or idlers during business hours!

A few days before Mr. Jardine's departure from Canton, the entire foreign community entertained him at a dinner in the dining-room of the East India Company's Factory. About eighty persons of all nationalities, including India, were present, and they did not separate until several hours after midnight. It was an event frequently referred to afterwards amongst the residents, and to this day there are a few of us who still speak of it.

Mr. Jardine was succeeded in the management of the house by Mr. (the late Sir James) Matheson, who finally left China on March 10, 1842, after a residence of about fifteen years. He was a gentleman of great suavity of manner and the impersonation of benevolence. As the 'Chinese Repository,' in noting his departure from Macao, said: 'On his leaving the foreign community lost one of its most enterprising, able, and liberal members.'

* * * * *

On February 26, 1839, execution of a Chinese, said to be an opium-dealer, took place in front of the American Factory. The officers had chosen the hours of the afternoon when nearly all the foreigners were away in their daily walks or on the river. The man was tied up and strangled in a twinkling, and all had rapidly returned up Old China Street with the body. On landing from our boats we found the few who had not been away collected in the Square, and heard from them what had happened. The only public notice that could be taken of this affair was to discontinue the daily hoisting of the national flags before our doors; nor were they re-hoisted until March 22, 1842.

The appointment of a 'Kin-Chae', or Imperial Envoy, to Canton, for the express purpose of putting a stop to the opium trade, had now become known. This appointment--only made on an occasion calling for extreme measures--was conferred upon Lin-Tsih-Soo, and involved control not only over all the Canton authorities, but those of the southern and south-eastern provinces. His Excellency 'Lin' was the son of an independent gentleman of Tseuen-Chow in the province of Fuh-Keen who lived on the revenues of a porcelain manufactory, in which he himself had worked as a day labourer it was said.

The 'Kin-Chae' at length arrived at Canton on Sunday morning, at half-past eight o'clock of March 10. Two gentlemen and myself went on board of a small schooner lying off the Factories to witness his arrival. He was seated on board of a large official boat, with a few red- and blue-button Mandarins standing a little to the rear, so that we had an excellent view of him personally. He had a dignified air, rather a harsh or firm expression, was a large, corpulent man, with heavy black moustache and long beard, and appeared to be about sixty years of age. His own boat was followed by a great many others, on the sides of which, on a black ground, were painted in gold letters the rank of the principal occupants, while flags of various colours were displayed abaft. The crews were neatly dressed in new uniforms of red trimmed with white, and conical rattan hats of the same colours. These boats contained the principal officers of the city, civil and military, from the Viceroy to the Superintendent of the Salt Department. The walls of the 'Red Fort,' nearly opposite the Factories on the Honam shore, were lined with soldiers, as were those of the 'Dutch Folly,'[72] arrayed in bright new uniforms. Both shores of the river, every door and window, and every spot of standing ground, were thick with people. Everyone was observing the novel scene quietly and as curiously as ourselves. No other boat of any description was moving about; all were lying close to the shores, and a universal silence prevailed. Besides my companions and myself, not a 'foreign barbarian' was to be seen in the vast gathering.

On the 17th the Hong merchants, the Linguists, and the Compradores (except our own) were summoned to an audience of the 'Kin-Chae.' They obeyed it with fear and trembling. The object was to ascertain who, amongst the foreigners duly registered as occupying the Factories, and whose names had been forwarded to Pekin eighteen months before, were still present and in the opium 'business.' Russell & Co. not having been included, our Compradore was not 'invited,' at which he appeared particularly delighted.

On the 18th the Kin-Chae sent for the Hong merchants. They were charged with having connived at the opium trade, and his Excellency threatened to strangle some of them if it was not _instantly_ put a stop to! They were also accused of allowing foreign dealers in 'smoke' to reside in their Factories, and were very much frightened, as one of them said, 'No hav see so fashion before.' Forthwith they met in 'Consoo' to deliberate, and remained until late in the night.

On the same day the first edict from the 'Kin-Chae' to foreigners was issued. It ordered all Opium held by them to be surrendered, and that they should sign bonds to discontinue the trade, 'under penalty of death.' It became very clear that his Excellency was not to be trifled with.

On the 19th, Messrs. Matheson, Dent, Green, Wetmore, Dadabhoy Rustomjee, and Daniell met the Hong merchants at the Consoo House, and were informed by them verbally of the commands of the 'Kin-Chae,' which were a repetition of the foregoing, with the addition that the opium was to be destroyed. Moreover, if his Excellency's orders were not complied with, the consequences would be serious. There were at this time 15,000 chests on board of the 'receiving ships' at Lintin, and 5,000 chests at the coast stations, and the cost of all over $12,000,000.

The foreign community thought to propitiate the 'Kin-Chae,' after the receipt by them of his '_unalterable_' commands, by offering to give up a _certain_ quantity. This had been suggested by the Hong merchants, who, no more than ourselves, supposed the 'Kin-Chae' to be serious in insisting upon _all_ that was held. A meeting was therefore convened in the Danish Hong, on the night of March 21, at which nearly everyone was present, as were also the Hong merchants, who assembled in an adjoining room. They were as anxious as we were to avert the threatened troubles, should the 'Kin-Chae' not listen to 'reason,' as they expressed it. In fact, throughout, while we were prisoners in the Factories, as will be seen, for six weeks, under threat of death and constant, unheard-of pressure, they did what they could to alleviate our condition through appeals to the 'authorities of the City.' All this was done with very great risk to themselves. Their presence at the meeting was from a desire to know the decision to which it might come, that they could report it to the 'Kin-Chae' as quickly as possible, and, in fact, we saw by his reply that it had been made known to him between five and seven on the morning of the 22nd.

An hour or two before the meeting, Houqua made his appearance at our office, and requested Mr. Green, the then chief, to add 150 chests of opium to the quantity he intended to offer on behalf of Russell & Co. to the general subscription, for which he himself would pay. The cost of these chests would have been $105,000! The gentlemen present at the meeting, on behalf of their firms subscribed 1,034 chests in all, of the value of $725,000. These were offered to the 'Kin-Chae,' but disdainfully refused. All communication with the shipping at Whampoa was then cut off; quantities of soldiers collected near the Factories, as well as on the river, while several days before, all the gates opening to the rear of the Factories had been bricked up.

Before the promulgation of the 'Kin-Chae's' proclamation to foreigners, I was invited by the senior Hong merchant to translate from English into Chinese a communication that had been prepared by his Excellency, conjointly with the Viceroy[73] and Lieutenant-Governor of Canton, addressed to Her Majesty the Queen of England. This arose from the original having been translated into English, and the Imperial Envoy was desirous to judge for himself if the latter version conveyed the sense of the Chinese. Having consented, I passed four hours of a very cold day at the Consoo House in accomplishing the task. There were present a delegate from the Commissioner, a Mandarin of the fourth rank (light blue button), an inferior officer, Houqua's grandson, Mouqua and Kingqua, and two Linguists. The document was a most extraordinary one. Prominent is the bombastic style, the outcome of ages of dominion, ignorance of Western official forms through an absence of diplomatic intercourse. It said: 'In dealing in opium, regardless of the injury it inflicts upon the Chinese people, an inordinate thirst for gain controls the actions of these foreign merchants.' With an idea that the use of it was prohibited in England: 'We have heard that England forbids the smoking of opium (within its dominions) with the utmost rigour; hence it is clear that it is deleterious. Since, then, the injury it causes has been averted from England, is it not wrong to send it to another nation, and especially to China?' Then there is an appeal to personal feeling: 'How can these opium-sellers bear to bring to our people an article which does them so much harm, for an ever-grasping gain? Suppose those of another nation should go to England and induce its people to buy and smoke the drug--it would be right that You, Honoured Sovereign, should hate and abhor them. Hitherto we have heard that You, Honoured Sovereign, whose heart is full of benevolence, would not do to others that which you would not others should do to yourself.' The grandiloquent then appears: 'Our great Emperor maintains Celestial lands and foreign nations in equal favour; he rewards merit and punishes vice; and, as is the heart of heaven and earth pure and incorruptible, so is his own. The Celestial Dynasty rules over ten thousand[74] nations, and in the highest degree sheds forth its benign influence with equal majesty.' This is in the sense of grandeur or stateliness. It ended thus: 'By manifesting sincere and reverential obedience[75] mutually will be enjoyed the blessings of great peace! Heaven will protect your Majesty; the Gods bless you, lengthen your years, and grant you a happy and an honourable posterity.' I never heard if this document reached its destination.

On March 23, every Chinaman in the Factories, from the Compradore to the cook, left by order of the 'Kin-Chae,' and were threatened with decapitation if they dared to return. The day before, Mr. Lancelot Dent, chief of Messrs. Dent & Co., had been _invited_ to enter the city and meet his Excellency, which he declined to do. Other but ineffectual attempts by the authorities to induce him to go were also made, when, on the 24th, Captain Charles Elliot, Her Majesty's Superintendent of Trade, arrived from Macao, and immediately assumed charge, on behalf of the English residents, of the perplexing question of the 'total surrender of the opium.' The street in rear of the Factories was now filled with soldiers, a strong guard was also placed in the 'Square,' and a triple cordon of boats drawn up from the Creek to the Danish Factory. The whole community were thus prisoners in the hands of the Chinese. Provisions were not allowed to be brought in, no one was permitted to go beyond the 'Square,' and matters assumed a decidedly serious aspect. We overcame the difficulty of provisions in this way. The Chinese soldiers being entirely unaccustomed to foreigners, there was a danger that 'trouble would arise;' the Hong merchants therefore represented this to the City authorities, and offered to send their _own coolies_ to keep watch at the different gates of the Factories.[76] This was agreed to, and the double object was gained in supplies of firewood and provisions, which were at night stealthily brought to us by them.

On March 27, on the 'Kin-Chae's' demand to Her Majesty's Superintendent 'that all the opium under the control of the English merchants should be given up,' 20,283 chests were tendered and accepted, and 'Chunpee' fixed upon as the place of delivery. To control the delivery, Mr. Alexander Johnston, Deputy Superintendent, was furnished with a conveyance, and left Canton on April 3. The 'receiving ships' moved up to the Bogue, where the entire quantity was handed over to officers (appointed by the 'Kin-Chae'), who caused it to be destroyed in deep trenches on Chunpee heights. Thus 'reverent obedience' was shown. Captain Elliot remarked, in his despatch to her Majesty's Government, dated March 30, 1839: 'This is the _first time, in our_ _intercourse with this Empire_, that its Government has taken the _unprovoked_ (?) initiative in aggressive measures against British _life_, _liberty_, and _property_, and against the dignity of the British Crown.' No words could more strongly confirm everything herein said in relation to the safety of property and life which we had enjoyed at Canton. But the despatch contained not a word of the provocation given by foreigners in continuing the condemned traffic under constantly repeated injunctions against doing so, and persistent warnings to discontinue it. I, of course, do not blame my brother merchants at Canton, no matter to what nation they belonged, as we were all equally implicated. We disregarded local orders, as well as those from Pekin, and really became confident that we should enjoy perpetual impunity so far as the 'opium trade' was concerned.

The night of March 24 was one of unusual brilliancy in its cloudless sky and full moon. The Factories, forcibly abandoned by several hundred Chinese (estimated at eight hundred) at a moment's notice, resembled somewhat places of the dead! Their foreign occupants were thus left literally in a complete state of destitution as regards service of any kind, not even a scullion being allowed to remain. The consequence was that they were compelled, in order to _live_, to try their own skill in cooking, to make up their own rooms, sweep the floors, lay the table, wash plates and dishes! It may be supposed that it produced discontent, complaints, and impatience. Not at all; we in the Suy-Hong--and it was the same with our fellow-prisoners in the other Factories, with few exceptions--made light of it, and laughed rather than groaned over the efforts to roast a capon, to boil an egg or a potato. We could all clean knives, sweep the floors, and even manage to fill the lamps. But there were mysteries which we could not divine; our chief, Mr. Green, after a vain attempt to boil rice--which, when prepared, resembled a tough mass of glue--proved a most wretched cook, and took to polishing the silver, but abandoned that and finally swept the floor! Mr. Low conscientiously did all he could, but after toasting the bread to death, and boiling the eggs till they acquired the consistency of grape-shot, he abandoned that department, and took to one not exacting so much exercise of mind, and 'laid the cloth' dexterously and well. The rest of us, from modesty or a feeling of sheer incapacity, did no more than was absolutely necessary. It would have been unfair to rob the others of their laurels! Some one had to fill the pitchers; anyone could draw a cork, or even boil water. Thus, by hook or by crook, we managed to sustain life--of which the 'bread' was nightly supplied to us by Houqua's coolies. They also brought (made up in bags, as if 'personal effects' or 'blankets to keep off the dew,' thus passing the guards) edibles of all sorts.

During the day we met in the Square, which became 'High 'Change' of experiences in desperate efforts to roast, boil, or stew. Some went the length of considering it great fun; others heaped unheard-of blessings upon the heads of His Celestial Majesty, Taou-Kwang, and his envoy 'Lin.'

No two men were so unctuously abused; _as if_ the vilifiers themselves had always followed strictly the 'Eight Regulations' under which they lived! What amusement all this created.

By May 2, 15,501 chests had been given up, when the servants were allowed gradually to return, and the whole quantity, 20,283 chests,[77] completed on the 21st. On the 27th Captain Elliot returned to Macao, and on the 30th the opium clipper 'Ariel' left for Suez direct with despatches for the British Government. She returned on April 2, 1840.

Between May 6 and 21 many foreigners were permitted to leave the city, and went to Macao or Whampoa. Captain Elliot, before going himself, on the 22nd issued a notice to British subjects that they also were to leave, and by the end of the month they had left; and there remained no foreigners but Americans, about twenty-five in number. On the 29th I left with all books, papers, &c., not actually required at Canton, in company with six other boats for Macao, containing Parsees and several English, including Doctors Cox and Dickson. On the way down we were joined by four large chop-boats with Messrs. Lindsay & Co.'s establishment, and John Shillaber and others from Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, & Co.'s. The trip was most enjoyable; we dined or passed the day with one another, and arrived nearly at the same time at Macao on the night of June 1. The Mandarins who came on board at Che-Nae and at Heang-Shan were civil as usual, and seemed perfectly indifferent to what had passed at Canton.

* * * * *

The surrender of the 'British-owned opium' was followed by events to which the foreign trade had from its foundation at Canton been a stranger. Now were initiated political relations between the vast and unknown Empire of China and European nations--the first that had existed. No treaty had yet been entered into, except with Russia for regulating its trade and arranging boundaries. Russian and Chinese commercial relations had existed between two frontier towns (separated but by the boundary line) well known as Kiachta and 'Mae-Mae-Ching.'[78]

No Western officer was yet officially recognised, even of the rank of Consul or Vice-Consul, and all communications between one or the other and the Canton Government were through the intermediary of the Co-Hong. The consequences, therefore, that might grow out of the delivery of the opium filled the foreign community with anxiety. The Americans had not delivered any American-owned opium, of which we held at the time of surrender about fifty cases of Turkey, but they determined to remain in the Factories and continue their business. The English on leaving placed theirs in charge of the American houses. A large share of it fell under the control of Russell & Co., and, to facilitate negotiations with its new constituents outside, one of the partners opened an office on board the English ship 'Heroine,' at 'Kow-Lung,' and subsequently, when all foreign vessels were driven away from that anchorage, at Toon-Koo. Several ships of the firm, including the 'Lintin,' were kept running between these places and Whampoa with British goods at thirty to forty dollars per ton, and Indian cotton at seven dollars per bale, and receiving on board no freight unless consigned to the house. A very active business was carried on under the American flag, greatly to the convenience of English friends, as well as to their profit. Teas were the returns for these inward cargoes, which were brought down to the anchorage and shipped from Toon-Koo for England.

While the shipments were going on an English vessel of about 900 tons arrived from Singapore, named the 'Cambridge' under the command of Captain Douglas. Being offered for sale, she was purchased by Russell & Co., and her name changed to 'Chesapeake' of eventful memory. Loaded with British goods, valued at 150,000_l._, with her deck full to the top of the rail, she was despatched for Whampoa, in charge of Captain Gilman. She had of course been put under the American flag. There was very little time to spare, as a blockade was to commence in a few days. On June 22, 1840, H.M.S. 'Volage,' and subsequently the 'Hyacinth,' took up their positions off Chunpee[79] at the moment the 'Chesapeake' sailed by. She was the last vessel that entered the port. She arrived at her destination and delivered her cargo, which was landed at Canton in regular course.

The Chinese had thrown a great raft across the river just above the second bar, in anticipation of hostilities with the English. They then thought the best thing to do was to purchase a large foreign ship, arm and man her, and anchor her above the raft, as an additional protection against the barbarian war ships. Application being made to Mr. Delano, the then chief of Russell & Co., who had never left Canton, a bargain was concluded for the 'Chesapeake.' The American flag and papers were removed, and she was made over to the Mandarins. Her 'Cumsha and Measurement' charges, amounting to about _$_8,000, were abandoned. The Mandarins took charge and began to fit her out as an 'auxiliary defence' to the raft, and thus stop 'English men-of-war' which 'from vainglory or conceit might dare to attempt the inner waters.' Two great eyes were painted on her bows. Great streamers hung from every mast to the deck, a multitude of flags of all colours and shapes--bearing such words painted thereon as 'Courage,' the 'Yang-Yin,' and the 'Pā-Kwa,'[80] together with the rank of the officer in command--were arranged around the taffrail. In short, she became the Chinese emblem of everything 'mighty and victorious!' She would strike would-be assailants with consternation and despair!

Meanwhile her armament was sent on board. Cannon of every available size were ranged on her two decks; round shot, stones, and other missiles were accumulated in quantities; nor were bows and arrows forgotten, nor quantities of muskets, flint-lock and percussion, and the more familiar matchlock. Her crew consisted of Whampoa Chinese (amongst many others)--these were accustomed to foreign vessels, and no better sailors than they--Manila men, Seedies,[81] and Lascars, runaways from country ships. There were probably four or five hundred men on board.

Thus equipped she was towed down to her appointed station amidst an inconceivable beating of gongs, the explosion of fire crackers, flying serpents, and fiery dragons--thanks to which and her two bow 'eyes' she arrived in safety and anchored.

This was a few days before February 26, 1841, when the Bogue Forts were captured by Sir Gordon Bremer. The 'Unconquerable' was then taking powder on board in large quantities, packed in jars, which were promiscuously stowed on deck and between decks, as usual. She was so engaged also on the 27th, having a great number of chop-boats and other small craft alongside. Suddenly appeared the smoke of a steamer approaching from the Bogue! It turned out to be H.M.'s ship 'Nemesis,' Captain Hall. She had the 'singular audacity to approach the barrier,' and when within an easy distance, the 'unheard-of temerity' to try the effect of a Congreve rocket on the emblem of 'victory and might.' The aim was true, and like a flash--or in a 'flash'--ship, crew, and contents, boats, all disappeared from the face of the waters! The explosion was terrific, and was distinctly heard at Canton, a distance of thirty miles. Not a human creature was reported to have survived! For years after there was to be seen on the left bank of the river the bottom of the ship. It had been separated from the hull as if sawn off in all its length; and it gradually disappeared through the combined efforts of Chinese boatmen, who broke up and carried it piecemeal away.

The English forces having moved up to Canton, a suspension of hostilities was agreed upon on March 20, 1841, and the port was again free. Local disturbances, however, broke out, and, on May 22 following, a mob of Chinese plundered and burnt down the East India Company's new Factory, the Dutch, and the Creek. On the 25th, Sir Hugh Gough landed near Pwantingqua's country house and took possession of the heights overlooking the city. The authorities then ransomed it for six millions of dollars, of which five millions were paid on the 31st, when the forces left Canton and foreign vessels again entered the port.

The carrying trade on the river now ceased. Lying in the outer waters we had the 'Lintin,' the 'Lantao' the 'Lema,' and the 'Ladrone.' The former commenced her career in China as Russell & Co.'s 'receiving ship' in 1830. She was well constructed to carry a large cargo, and her sailing qualities were fair. Her career and ultimate fate were singular. With the exception of shifting stations during the taiphoon seasons, her anchors were never raised for nine years, when in 1839, as related, she resumed her original vocation of a sailing ship up and down the 'Pearl' River.

During this state of idleness for our ships, I received information from Mr. Delano that Houqua was disposed to send orders to India for cotton. Prices had naturally fallen there during the blockade and troubles at Canton, while the non-importation for several months had caused a great rise. Three of the ships were despatched and 100,000_l._ remitted to Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. The funds were in East India Company's bills on Calcutta. The 'Lintin' sailed for Madras, the 'Lantao' for Calcutta, and the 'Lema' for Bombay, thus securing so much tonnage for the cotton, while other vessels were to be chartered at those ports. The first vessel, however, that arrived with a portion of the purchases was the Swedish ship 'Calcutta,' and she had anchored in the Taypa only a few days when she was driven on shore in a taiphoon. In due time our own ships arrived. The 'Lintin' was then despatched a second time, but got no further than Singapore, when her captain, Townsend, in direct breach of orders, and under various pretexts, took in a cargo of rattans and returned to Macao! His 'accounts' being refused, he brought an action against us in the Macao court.

It was still going on when I left Macao in 1844. The legal papers had so accumulated that they seemed sufficient to 'dunnage' the ship. Asking the clerk of the court one day if he thought it would _ever_ be settled, he made the same reply that he had repeated for years: 'Se senhor, mā, hum poco tiempŏ!' ('Certainly, sir, but it requires a little time').

The 'Lintin,' however, was sent to Whampoa. The first English treaty with the Chinese having been broken, further preparations were made for defence, and the authorities, not discouraged, sought for another foreign ship--this time for service nearer the city. They took a fancy to the 'Lintin;' she was sold to them, and towed up the river by a great fleet of small boats. An eye[82] was painted on each bow; she was completely unrigged to her lower masts, and, amidst a confused noise of gongs and fireworks, she was anchored just below the Dutch Folly, opposite the city.

On the day appointed for 'making her over' various high Mandarins with many followers came on board. Captain Endicott, who was in charge, had caused certain refreshments to be laid out on the cabin table with which to regale these officers. They consisted of several junk bottles of gin and brandy, a jug or two of water, hard biscuits and cheroots! Before accompanying them over the ship, he invited them to the cabin.

As he said when relating the circumstance to us, 'after drinks all round and a weed' we returned on deck to look about the vessel; next we visited the between-decks, and the Mandarins pronounced everything highly satisfactory. Seeing a Scuttle-Butt[83] pump, it attracted the attention of one of them, who took it to be an 'engine of war,' and asked to be informed as to the manner of its use! They soon after took leave and returned to the city. 'Thank heaven,' said Captain Endicott to a gentleman whom he had asked on board to see the Chinese officials, 'that's over; now that they are off, let us go down and take a drink and a smoke.' On getting to the cabin they found that _everything_--the gin and brandy, cigars, biscuits, even the water-jug, pitcher, and tumblers--had all been walked off with by the followers of the high dignitaries! A Chinese crew and naval Mandarin took possession, as Captain Endicott pulled away from his 'old home' for so many years. She was then duly turned into a Chinese man-of-war. There were the usual insignia of invincibility, triangular flags, on which were figures of dragons swallowing the moon, the 'Yin and Yang,' circles and zigzag lines, emblematical of thunder and lightning.

The commanding officer of all this destructive paraphernalia, with the peacock's feather in his cap, a large silk umbrella held over his head, seated himself comfortably in a bamboo chair, smoking his pipe.

Other formidable preparations for war were duly made in a provision of worm-eaten guns, matchlocks, spears, and shields. She would soon have been ready for an encounter with any of the English sloops, whether the 'Modeste' or the 'Algerine,' perhaps even the 'Herald;' but one night a great freshet took place. The violence of the tide was such that she swerved at her anchor from right to left, struck on the rocks close to the 'Folly,' slid off, and went down in deep water! The Chinese then set to work and unshipped her masts, leaving a stump of the foremast about seven feet above the deck, and placed upon it a diminutive lantern. This served thenceforth as a 'lighthouse' to guide boats up and down the river! It was the _first_ lighthouse in Canton waters 'on record.' When I last saw the stump of the mast, twenty-eight years after, a great bank of mud had formed around the hull, and a faint glimmer from a penny dip in a small paper lantern marked the last resting-place of the 'Lintin.'

* * * * *

The seizure of the opium in its consequences was _the_ feature in the breaking up of the exclusive conditions of foreign trade at Canton, as it had existed since 1720. The peculiar conditions also of social life were doomed, as was that perfect and wonderful organisation, the Co-Hong.

On August 10, 1841, Sir Henry Pottinger arrived at Macao as Her Majesty's sole plenipotentiary and Minister Extraordinary. Negotiations with the Mandarins were carried on simultaneously with the capture of cities on the coast. The material losses and destruction of life to the Chinese were incalculable, particularly through suicide by those helpless people. An English officer who was present at the taking of Chā-Po in May 1842 wrote to a friend at Macao that on landing, about 3,500 strong, under cover of the men-of-war, the most terrible enormities were committed. He then goes on to say: 'After the city had been captured, I entered more than a hundred houses, and in each there were not less than two, and in many eight, persons found dead. They were the bodies of mothers and daughters who had committed suicide from a dread of becoming prisoners; 1,600 dead were buried after the battle, of which more than one-half were Tartar soldiers, who in despair of repelling the enemy, and preferring death to defeat, had _nearly all_ destroyed themselves. Is not this a splendid exhibition of patriotism?'

The losses of the English on this occasion by the official accounts were one colonel, one sergeant, and seven men killed, seven officers and forty-seven men wounded; and so on to the end, the pigmy against the giant!

At length the treaty of Nanking, in which the Chinese consented to pay an indemnity of _$_21,000,000, was signed off that city, on board of H.M.S. 'Cornwallis,' on August 29, 1842, by his Excellency Sir Henry Pottinger, the Imperial Commissioners Ke-Ying and E-Leepoo, and New-Keen, the Viceroy of Keang-Nan and Keang-Se. And thus concluded the first European war with China, one of the most unjust ever waged by one nation against another.

The next treaty was that of the United States, which was signed at the village of Mong-Hā (Macao) on July 3, 1844, by Mr. Caleb Cushing and Ke-Ying. Together they were the 'knell, the shroud, the mattock, and the grave' of Old Canton.

* * * * *

The Chinese had not looked with satisfaction upon the concessions they had been obliged to make to an overwhelming military and naval force, which had caused them the loss of myriads of lives, often under circumstances of great atrocity, of unheard-of suffering, as well as of many millions of dollars independently of the war indemnity. The ordeal was a terrible one; but they gained by it the, to them, unenvied _privilege_ of falling in with Western ideas. Encouraged by the confidence inspired by so _great_ a _privilege_, they now contract for loans of money, they build vessels of war on European models, and drill their soldiers in foreign tactics; they provide themselves with Western arms of precision--in short, they are putting on their armour. They are in full career of a diplomacy in which Ambassadors or Ministers--that is to say, 'spies upon one another'--watch over the interests of their respective countries. With the sword at their throat they have become members of what is facetiously called the 'Brotherhood' of Nations!

MESSRS. RUSSELL & CO., CANTON. 1823 TO 1844.

The house of Russell & Co. was constituted on January 1, 1824, in succession to that of Samuel Russell & Co., which had existed from December 26, 1818, to December 26, 1823. It is known amongst the Chinese as 'Kee-Chang-Hong.' It confined itself strictly to agency business. From January 1, 1824, until the middle of 1830 the sole partners were Mr. Russell and Philip Ammidon. In September 1829 Mr. Wm. H. Low arrived from Salem in the ship 'Sumatra' (Captain Roundy); and in November 1830 Mr. Augustine Heard, Senior, arrived from Boston in the bark 'Lintin' (Captain R. B. Forbes). These two gentlemen (Mr. Low and Mr. Heard) became partners in the house, the first until the end of the year 1833, when, having been obliged to leave Canton from ill health, he was landed and died at the Cape of Good Hope.

During the term of 1834-5-6, consequent upon the death of Mr. Low, were admitted Mr. John C. Green (special agent at Canton of Messrs. N. L. and G. Griswold, of New York), Mr. John M. Forbes, who had arrived in the 'Lintin' to join the office in 1830, and Mr. Joseph Coolidge, who arrived in 1832; and Mr. Heard retired.