with such a force on the spot it seemed scarcely probable that the Chinese would long hold out against the reasonable demands of the English representative.* Such an anticipation was destined to be soon dispelled, as the reply of Commissioner Lin to this display of force was to place a reward, not merely on the persons of English officers and men, but also on their ships. The establishment of a blockade was a not ineffectual mode of replying to the empty threats of the Emperor's officials, but it was becoming clear that the most energetic action at Canton alone would not avail to obtain a settlement of the question. The difficulty could only be satisfactorily arranged by direct communication with the Pekin Government; and consequently Sir Gordon Bremer proceeded northwards after the arrival of the whole of his troops. For a time the destination of the fleet remained obscure, but it was soon made known that its object was to effect the occupation of the island of Chusan, which had been praised by more than one English captain for the salubrity of its climate and the convenience of its harbours, and on which as far back as the middle of the seventeenth century the East India Company had established stations.

*The Queen's Speech for the year 1840 contains the following passage relating to the Chinese imbroglio :-" Events have happened in China which have occasioned an interruption of the commercial intercourse of my subjects with that country. I have given, and shall continue to give, the most serious attention to a matter so deeply affecting the interests of my subjects and the dignity of my crown." Lord John Russell summed up the whole policy of England, not only on this particular occasion, but generally, towards China in the following words :-" The expedition was authorised for the purpose of obtaining reparation for the insults and injuries offered to Her Majesty's Superintendent and Her Majesty's subjects by the Chinese Government; and in the second place they were to obtain for the merchants trading with China an indemnification for the loss of their property incurred by threats of violence offered by persons under the direction of the Chinese Government; and, in the last place, they were to obtain a certain security that persons and property in future trading with China shall be protected from insult or injury, and that their trade and commerce be maintained upon a proper footing." Macaulay called the war "a most rightful quarrel," and Sir George Staunton thought it was a just and fitting war."

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† One hundred dollars were to be paid for an English prisoner, and twenty for each killed. Twenty thousand dollars for an English man-ofwar of eighty guns; others in proportion.-Canton Register.

The operations of the English expedition commenced, therefore, in a way calculated to impress the Chinese authorities at Canton with the idea that the foreigners were so far in earnest that they would treat the integrity of China with scant respect. The occupation of Chusan was intended to convey this lesson to the Celestials quite as much as to supply our force with a convenient base. Its prompt execution left no room to doubt that the English possessed the power to execute what was necessary. The capture of Chusan presented no difficulties to well-trained troops and a formidable navy; yet the fidelity of the inhabitants to their charge afforded a touching, and by no means isolated, instance of patriotism and courage. To the summons to surrender, the officials at Tinghai replied that they could not yield, although they admitted resistance to be useless. Their duty to the Emperor, and their military pride, would not allow of their acquiescing in the loss of one of their master's possessions. It was their duty to fight, and the enemy must overcome them by force. The English commander resorted with reluctance to extreme measures against so insignificant, if gallant, a foe; but the obstinacy of the Chinese left him no choice. Tinghai was subjected to a brief but destructive bombardment; the troops were landed, and the island of Chusan passed into the possession, for a time, of the Queen of England.

The first act in the drama was promptly followed by another, not less important in itself, and still more striking in its attendant features. An English subject, Mr. Vincent Stanton, had been carried off from Macao as a prisoner to Canton, and the reiterated demands for his surrender had failed to obtain any satisfactory answer. At the same time the Chinese forces were more than doubled in the permanent camp outside Macao, the junks were collected for the defence of the barrier, and all the able-bodied men of the coast were summoned to wage war by sea and land against the barbarians. There was no alternative save to assume the offensive and to arrest the hostile preparations of the Chinese before they had attained a more advanced stage of strength and efficiency. The first action with the barrier forts was

carried out by two English war-ships and two smaller vessels. The bombardment was for a time heavy, and 400 blue-jackets and sepoys were landed to complete its effect. The objects of the attack were obtained with trifling loss, and the dismantled forts and ruined barracks brought home to the minds of the Chinese that the hour of foreign moderation had passed by, and that it only remained for them to prove themselves the stronger, or to accept, with as much resignation as they could muster, the portion of the weaker. As it was said at the time, "China must either bend or break."

But the main difficulty was still to obtain some means of direct communication with Pekin, and to place Lord Palmerston's official letter in the hands of Taoukwang's ministers. The first attempt to effect this object at Amoy had failed, and almost resulted in the massacre of the officer and boat's crew sent under the white flag to establish communications with the local mandarins. Amoy itself was bombarded in retaliation by an English man-of-war, but the incident did not bring our authorities any nearer to the realization of their object. Nor did the occupation of Chusan facilitate the matter, for the authorities at Ningpo stood upon their dignity, and refused to forward to the capital any document from a people in hostile possession of a part of Chinese soil. No other course remaining, the fleet sailed northward for the mouth of the Peiho, where Lord Palmerston's communication was at once delivered to Keshen, one of Taoukwang's principal ministers, and forwarded to Pekin.

Taoukwang's indignation was aroused by Keshen's representations, although he could no longer deny the necessity of making some concession in form to the English. The English fleet was supplied with everything it required by his order, and payment was for a time emphatically declined, while the main object of the expedition seemed to be obtained by the nomination of Keshen as High Commissioner to treat with the English for a satisfactory adjustment of the difficulty. But the suppleness of the Tartar official secured an honourable issue from his dilemma, and Captain Elliot, whose work at Canton has been described, proved to be no match for the wily Keshen. Even at Peiho there were delays; yet the

LIN'S DISGRACE.

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English representative was weak enough to allow himself to be persuaded that the despatch of business would be more expeditious, and attended with greater advantage, if the scene were shifted to Canton. After a short negotiation, it was decided that the fleet would withdraw from the Peiho, and that Keshen should proceed to Canton to conduct the negotiations for some definite arrangement.

Meantime the operations in Chusan, and the blockading of Canton, Amoy, and Ningpo, had spread confusion along the coast, and even disturbed the equanimity of the Imperial ruler. The first contact with the Europeans had exposed the defencelessness of the kingdom. It brought to light also the corrupt state of the public service, whose members had grown rich on the treasure that should have been expended on the administration; and the indignation of the Emperor found expression in several edicts from his own pencil. The first burst of the Imperial wrath fell upon the man who had seemed the most fortunate individual in China, because allowed to be the favoured executioner of the high morality of the Boards and Cabinet of Pekin. Lin had been entrusted with a task of extreme difficulty, and he had proceeded towards its effectual performance with zeal and devotion. The most exacting master could not have complained of his being lukewarm or negligent in the carrying out of his commission. Honours had been showered upon him, in the belief that the whole question was settled, that the supplies of "the flowing poison," opium, had ceased, and that the foreigners were possessed with a due sense of their subordination. For a few months Lin was the object of official envy; but the arrival of the English fleet dispelled these expectations, and showed that Lin's action, far from reducing the foreigners to submission, had roused their resentment and opposition. Lin had stirred up a hornet's nest, and Taoukwang's indignation was in proportion with the annoyance he felt at having to deal direct with the foreigners, and to make his own arrangements for the future. Lin was removed from all his posts, and ordered to proceed with "the speed of flames" to Pekin, there to meet with his deserts.

But even Lin's disgrace and the arrival of Keshen at

Canton did not produce that satisfactory arrangement which had been too confidently expected. Keshen's first official act was to send the Emperor a memorandum approving, if not of the method, at least of the objects which his predecessor had pursued; and the Pekin Cabinet, relieved of its most pressing fears, resumed the arrogant tone which was its habit. The days of delay outside the Taku barriers lengthened into weeks of inaction before the river forts of Canton, and, although Mr. Stanton was released from imprisonment, the question was not much advanced towards settlement at the close of the year 1840. Sir Gordon Bremer had again succeeded to the command, through the enforced departure of Admiral Elliot* on account of ill-health, but, although six months had elapsed since the arrival of the expedition, the results accomplished by it remained invisible. Keshen's tactics were the same at Canton as they had been at Taku. Procrastination in the north had saved the dignity of the Emperor; in the south it would give time for all the levies to be raised, and for the maritime provinces to be placed in a condition of defence. It might be harsh, under all the circumstances, to apply to this policy the term of treacherous; but certainly, in the eyes of those who were to suffer by it, none would be more appropriate. In the alternations of negotiation and violence which constituted English action at the time, Keshen's wilful neglect to carry out the conditions of his appointment made it again evident that the moment had arrived for resorting to that force which had been fitfully but vainly applied before.

The first week of the year 1841 witnessed, therefore, the preparations for the attack on the Bogue forts, which had been strongly and skilfully constructed on the many islands that dot the intricate channels leading to Canton. Those who regarded them with the unprejudiced eyes of scientific knowledge saw that they were formidable obstacles, and that, if defended by brave and capable troops, they could not be forced without heavy loss to the assailant. Fortunately for

* Rear-admiral the Honourable George Elliot, son of 1st Earl of Minto, not to be confounded with the superintendent, Captain Charles Elliot.