China: Its History, Arts, and Literature/Volume 2/Chapter 6
Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/262 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/263 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/264 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/265 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/266 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/267 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/268 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/269 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/270 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/271 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/272 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/273 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/274 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/275 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/276 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/277 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/278 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/279 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/280 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/281 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/282 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/283 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/284 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/285 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/286 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/287 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/288 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/289 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/290 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/291 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/292 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/293 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/294 Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/295 to raise the siege until the contraband article had actually passed into his hands, or at least until its receipt had become a practical certainty. That condition was not fulfilled until the forty-eighth day of the foreign merchants' confinement, and in consequence of the delay Captain Elliot described Lin's conduct as "false and perfidious." Before acknowledging the propriety of such epithets the Chinese commissioner's point of view must be considered. On the eve of repairing to Canton Captain Elliot had promised the Chinese authorities in writing that he would use " his sincere efforts to fulfil the pleasure of the great Emperor as soon as it was made known to him." Almost before the ink on that despatch was dry he had requisitioned an English man-of-war's protection for British life and property; had ordered all British ships, whether opium-smugglers or regular traders, to rendezvous at Hongkong and prepare to resist acts of aggression; had openly defied the attempts of the Chinese commissioner to get possession of the person of one of the most prominent among the opium-importers, and had shown, in short, that his promise to fulfil the great Emperor's pleasure must not be read too literally. Commissioner Lin was certainly not guilty of either falsehood or perfidy when he subsequently declined to take any of Captain Elliot's assurances on trust. Besides, the surrender of the opium did not satisfy all Lin's demands; he required also bonds pledging their signatories never again to traffic in the drug under penalty of death. Doubtless having obtained the opium which represented an immediate sacrifice of large dimensions, he anticipated no serious difficulty about the bonds, and thought that they could be secured by exercising a little further pressure. Ultimately, however, he seems to have deemed it inexpedient to continue the confinement of the foreigners on that account, and the siege was raised independently of the bonds. But it appears hardly just to call him "false and perfidious" because, guided by the light of experience, he declined to attach any value to foreign promises pending their fulfilment.