be effected by the forcible assertion of the central authority in face of the expressed opposition of the populace; and in order to be effectual there would have to be the sustained effort which could alone bend the people to the Emperor's will. The commotion among the militant Chinese had been great; and it was only suspended in order to await the arrival of the Emperor's commands. Taoukwang's reply, if ambiguous, was favourable to the pronounced wishes of the more patriotic of the Cantonese. "That," he wrote, " to which the hearts of the people incline is that on which the decree of Heaven rests. Now the people of Kwantung are unanimous and determined that they will not have foreigners enter the city, and how can I post up everywhere my Imperial order and force an opposite course upon the people?" There was much benevolent expression towards the foreigners, and of a desire that the two nations should be at peace and in harmony with each other. But for the time it was clear that Taoukwang's declaration settled the question, and the settlement was in direct opposition to the arrangement concluded between Keying and Sir John Davis two years before. The English Government had realized that the growth of foreign rights must be slow, and that a good case would only be injured by precipitation. It refrained from opposing, or indeed from challenging, Taoukwang's decision, and the matter was allowed to drop for the time. But although waived for the moment, the right acquired by treaty and the Keying Convention was not surrendered.

The moderation which the people of Canton showed over what might have been considered a great national triumph, did much towards its being tacitly acquiesced in by both the official and commercial sections of the foreign community. Every one felt that the special circumstances at Canton justified the reluctance of the Chinese officials to open its gates, while the after knowledge acquired, that Taoukwang had never formally ratified Keying's promise in 1847, left aloop-hole for regarding the matter as involving no distinct breach of faith. To press the matter home was to provoke fresh disagreement, perhaps hostilities. It could only embitter diplomatic relations and hamper trade. Convenience

as well as a sense of justice suggested that the question of the Canton gates was one that could be dropped with dignity and advantage. The Cantonese were able to give tokens of their grateful feeling to their gods at the same time that they erected tablets of honour to Viceroy Su, whose name was identified with what seemed to the popular mind the first successful stand made against the encroachments of the Western peoples.

These causes of possible disagreement being thus satisfactorily settled or removed, it seemed probable that the progress of friendly relations would continue unchecked, and that the defences of Chinese exclusiveness would one by one be removed or beaten down. Much of the energy which had been devoted to the single purpose of coercing the Canton Government was turned, after this incident, to the attainment of an object which was beneficial to all alike. Several causes had combined to make the career of piracy more attractive and profitable to the maritime population. A time of war induces all to think more flatteringly of pursuits in which the sword counts of most service. The fire of patriotism was kindled to a fiercer glow by the prospect of the rich prizes to be landed in the capture of opium vessels. The Bogue was never completely free from those capable and willing to commit a profitable outrage; and periodically they rallied under some more than usually successful leader. As they had done under Apotsai in 1810, and under many of his predecessors at earlier periods, so did they in the year 1849 under a leader whose name may be given as Shapuntsai. Unwonted success made him unusually daring, and from the Tonquin Gulf to the coast of Fuhkien his junks levied black-mail on the coast, and plundered every trading vessel, Chinese or European, that did not seem able to defend the rich cargo in its hold.

Had Shapuntsai and his chief lieutenant, Tsu Apoo, left European vessels alone, they might have continued to plunder with impunity the villages and junks of their fellowcountrymen, for the Canton officials had no force with which they could bring them to reason. But English vessels fell to their prey, and the murder of English officers called for

summary redress and active measures of punishment. In September of the year 1849 one war-ship began the pursuit of these marauders as the preliminary of still more active proceedings. Her commander, Captain Hay, had in a short time the satisfaction of bringing fourteen junks of the pirate fleet to action in circumstances especially favourable to their chances of escape, but this did not prevent his inflicting some merited chastisement upon them. Four junks were destroyed, and the remaining ten, much injured, were obliged to seek shelter and a place of refitment in a small bay, which was guarded by Captain Hay until the arrival of reinforcements should enable him to attack. In the course of six months fifty-seven piratical vessels were captured and destroyed by English men-of-war, and more than a thousand of their crews were either killed, drowned, or taken prisoners. Captain Hay resumed his operations on being joined by another vessel, and had the satisfaction of destroying the remaining junks, the buildings which had been erected on shore, and of dispersing the followers of Tsu Apoo.

There remained the more arduous task of dealing with the pirate chief Shapuntsai, who had established his headquarters in the neighbourhood of Hainan and the Gulf of Tonquin. As he had captured and plundered an English vessel, there was the greater necessity to deal with him, and Captain Hay was commissioned to proceed against him. At Hainan it was ascertained that Shapuntsai had recently retired to the Gulf of Tonquin after a successful raid along the coast. The mandarins in that island were in extreme fear of the marauder, and gladly co-operated with the English when they found them able and anxious to inflict punishment on the common enemy. The piratical fleet succeeded in baffling pursuit for several days, and want of fuel was nearly compelling the return of the squadron when the pirates were discovered at anchor in a bay. In the engagement which followed, nearly sixty junks were destroyed, and Shapuntsai only succeeded in escaping with four vessels. The victory was complete, and Shapuntsai's band ceased to be formidable. In its distress it found neither allies nor sympathizers, and the mandarins were stirred to

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activity to compass the complete overthrow of the man they had feared so long. The Cochin-Chinese troops, that is to say, the forces of the late King Tuduc, combined in chasing the remnants of a band that had been the terror of the land and seas.

In the year 1850 there was a revival of piratical violence, chiefly remarkable for the fact that the Chinese authorities invited the assistance of an English steamer, which was readily granted. Another band of pirates was then broken up without loss, and the Chinese authorities were informed that the English Government would be happy at all times to afford such aid.

To those who believed that the prevailing calm was delusive, and that the Chinese were only biding their time to revert to a policy more in accordance with their convictions than was possible by strict compliance with the terms of the Nankin Treaty, the murder in open daylight of the Portuguese Governor of Macao seemed to come as the most expressive and unqualified confirmation. Governor Amaral was taking his usual ride with an aide-de-camp when a man struck him in the face with a long bamboo stick, and on his remonstrating with him, six men armed with swords, concealed in their sleeves, rushed out upon him, and, as he had lost his right arm, easily dragged him from his horse and murdered him on the high-road. The event naturally produced the greatest excitement, and led to a hostile encounter between the Portuguese garrison and the Chinese troops quartered in the fort beyond the barrier. The fort was carried by a vigorous charge, and the Chinese hastily evacuated their position, leaving ten or twelve dead behind. This operation of open war fortunately did not produce the serious consequences that might have been expected. The murder of Governor Amaral gave rise to a lengthened correspondence, and reinforcements were sent from Lisbon to China, but in the end matters reverted to their original position. One man who accused himself of the crime, but who was not confronted by any witness of the deed, was publicly executed at Canton. There was every reason to believe that he was not one of the criminals, and that he either voluntarily accepted death, in

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return for a sum of money to his family, or, being under sentence for some other crime, was made use of by Viceroy Su for the purpose of allaying the indignation of the Portuguese. These explanations were not held to be sufficient, and after several months' litigation the question was settled in a more satisfactory manner than at one time seemed possible, by the discovery of the real culprits, and by their being handed over to the hands of justice. Some had subsequently fallen in a piratical fray with the English, but the survivors were publicly executed.

At Foochow, Shanghai, and Formosa, events of happier augury occurred throughout this year. At the first-named place the most amicable relations were preserved with not merely the Government, but also with the people of the province. More than one trip into the interior was accomplished in safety. The scenery of the river Min, among the most picturesque in China, was surveyed with a sense of agreeable security by English residents, and here the rule as to a twenty-four hours' absence was relaxed without inconvenience or untoward circumstances. Nor were matters less auspicious at Shanghai. While the allotment of a piece of ground as a site for the French Consulate signified the extension of the foreign relations of China, the superior advantages of that town as a place of trade were obtaining ready recognition. Here, too, the day rule was frequently relaxed or ignored, and the Chinese officials began to regard with growing indifference the more frequent violation of it by the Europeans during their visits to the hills some thirty miles west of Shanghai.. The attitude of the people was on these occasions noticed to be friendly, and the worst tourists had to fear was from their importunate curiosity. The visit of an American war-vessel to Formosa, whence the report of its vast coal-fields was broughtback, and the residence of a missionary in the islands of Loo Choo, showed that the foreigners were all agreed as to the necessity of breaking down the barrier of Chinese exclusiveness, and of throwing fresh light on the dark places of an Empire of such untold wealth and unlimited resources.*

* Dr. John Bowring arrived at Canton, to fill the vacant post of