such opprobrious and uncalled-for epithets as 'barbarians' and 'devils ;' expressions never used in such a sense, and the imputation of which tends only to create unjust, and utterly unfounded, prejudices against the high officers of the Chinese government.* But, passing over such nonsense, we will now state our notion of what will happen on the first opening of the trade to Canton. We shall suppose a king's superintendent or commissioner to be sent out from England to act on his own individual responsibility, which is always better than a divided one. He will go probably in a ship of war to save his dignity, which the

6

* Mr. Marjoribanks has certainly the authority of Dr. Morrison for rendering the character E by barbarian,'-but, though a profound Chinese scholar, the doctor is not always happy in his translation of epithets. The nearest signification of this character is that of foreigner,' and as the Chinese consider themselves the most enlightened nation in the world, foreigner' with them must be synonymous with persons less civilized than themselves;' but not, therefore, barbarians. Are not we ourselves pretty much in the same condition? Do not thousands of our countrymen consider a foreigner as inferior to themselves? Dr. Johnson tells us that the word barbarian' signified, at first, only foreign,' or foreigner.' Why, then, suppose that the Chinese mean anything else? Mr. Lindsay has, in fact, ascertained that they do not. He accused the mandarins of Foo-choo-foo of using the word E, 'bar. barian,' as an insult;' this they firmly denied, saying, that the word was merely equivalent to foreigner,' and that there was nothing offensive, nor meant to be, in the use of the term; and Lindsay admits that some distinguished Chinese scholars have hesitated in their opinion, whether the term could justly be objected to by us.' The same explanation precisely was given to him at Ning-po and Shang-hae, and he was told that if he did not like E, he should be styled yuen, as both implied the same thing-foreigner. This was, undoubtedly, a great concession to persons whose outrageous conduct might fairly have entitled them to the worst sense of the disputed term. The truth is, that Dr. Morrison has but recently adopted the word 'barbarian' -in all his early translations he rendered it foreigner.'

Oh, but, says Mr. Marjoribanks, there are people who maintain that,' as we have for a long term of years been called dogs at Constantinople, we may as well continue to be called devils at Canton and Pekin.'-(p. 4.) He is here again at fault: quei signifies spirits, or demons; and as they have both good and evil demons, it is probable enough that they may apply the latter to us; but who are they who make use of the expression fan-quei-foreign spirits-or devils, if it so please the late chairman of the select committee? Not the viceroy of Canton, but the very rabble of that place: we doubt if the expression is even known at Pekin. A Chinese gentleman would never think of applying it in speaking or writing. In Canton, it is just as in a French sea-port town, where, though the decent part of the inhabitants sometimes greet an Englishman with mi lord Anglais, he may be almost sure of being styled by the rabble and boys god-dam. The Chinese call Irish linen fan-quei-poo; but no one would think of ren. dering it foreign-devil-diaper.

The third and last supposed opprobrious epithet bestowed on Englishmen in China is Hung-mou-yin-red-bristled man,-originally, no doubt, given to some red-headed, stiff, harsh-haired Dane or Scotchman; but the use of this term means nothing offensive. The first mandarins at Pekin would frequently ask the gentlemen of Lord Macartney's embassy Hung-mou-yin ?-Are you an Englishman? How many words are made use of by us, even by ladies, in familiar conversetion, the literal meaning of which, if adverted to, would raise a blush? It should be observed, that, either through conceit, or, what is more probable, a defect in the organs of speech, the Chinese always employ their own words to express foreign proper names; and no wonder, when, for instance, if required to pronounce the word Englishman, it would be Hin-ge-li-se-yin, and the monosyllable strength' would be extended by a Chinese to five syllables,something like se-te-len-ge-te,

Chinese

Chinese will not care one farthing about, and do not in the least understand; she will proceed up to Whampo, her arrival will be announced, and the king's representative will demand an interview of the viceroy to deliver his credentials. The viceroy, in the first place, will order the ship immediately to leave the river, and the superintendent may be told that, whatever he may have to deliver, must come through the Hong merchants. His dignity will, probably, be offended, and a remonstrance made, accompanied by a demand to present his credentials in person. This will be as peremptorily refused,-perhaps Chinese courtesy may go so far as to allow the king's representative to wait an hour at the city gate, and then hand his credentials over to one of the viceroy's runners; a long, and perhaps an angry correspondence will ensue, but the Chinese will not give way. As a last resource, he may, perhaps, be driven to invite the captain of the ship of war to bring up a party of seamen, and then all trade will be forthwith suspended.

Something of this kind will probably happen, unless the Chinese are previously prevailed on, by negociation, to concede the point of a personal interview, which we do not think they will do; in what a lamentable situation, then, will a king's representative be placed, a stranger to the customs and the language of the people, and appealed to on all sides by the disappointed and dissatisfied free-traders? What, then, it may be asked, would we recommend? Why, simply this, and we speak under a firm conviction of its being the only resource left us for preserving the trade to China-we understand there are two gentlemen belonging to the late factory who are not in any way implicated in the violent proceedings we have adverted to,-Mr. Plowden, who so highly disapproved of and remonstrated in the Baynes' affair, that he resigned the chair in disgust; and Mr. Davis, who protested against the expedition and the pamphlet of Mr. Marjoribanks. These two gentlemen are well acquainted with the customs, and the latter with the language, of China; a perfect confidence exists between them and the Hong merchants, through whose medium the views of his majesty's government might, as usual, be conveyed to the authorities of that port. If still there,

we should say let them be constituted consul and vice-consul, with Dr. Morrison as interpreter, and the change would thus be brought into operation as if no change had taken place; the alarm and jealousy at the first rush of free-traders might be explained or prevented, and things would go on as usual, giving time at home maturely to consider of ulterior measures, after ascertaining the feelings of the Chinese. We entertain a moral certainty that the success of the new measure, in so far as Canton

is

is concerned, will mainly depend on the first impression made on the Chinese authorities; and we are quite sure the gentlemen of the factory whom we have mentioned, are the persons, of all others, to make that impression a favourable one.

What then, say the ultra-liberal free-traders, would you continue the system on which the East India Company have carried on their commercial concerns? We say, without hesitation, yes; you may have succeeded in destroying our monopoly, but you will not succeed in putting an end to the Chinese monopoly; the contest will now be free-trade against monopoly, and the former will undoubtedly find its advantage, and suffer no loss, in giving way. Mr. Canning did not hesitate to avow, that though monopolies were objectionable, the East India Company's monopoly in the China trade was an exception, and might be defended. He warned the people of Liverpool not to expect that the trade at large would get all that the Company would lose by the new charter. That it was well conducted by them will be made evident, as soon as the free-trade teas are brought into the market-inferior in quality and higher in price than those now in use. Certain northern Seers, who call themselves political economists, have told us that prices will always be regulated by supply and demand. How then has it happened that, though the annual demand for tea has rapidly increased from twenty to thirty millions of pounds -the utmost difficulty of procuring the required supply being not only certain but admitted-how, we ask, has it happened that the prices have remained the same? And how has this anomaly, if it be one, been brought about? Why, by advances made to the Hong merchants, and by them to the poor tea-growers, to enable them to increase their plantations to meet this increased demand. But if there should be a scarcity now in the market, will Mr. Higginson of Hull, or Mr. Wiggins of Whitehaven, or Mr. Macgregor of Glasgow, supply the necessary funds in advance? or will the Hong merchants, on the faith of their reappearance the following year, prevail on the native tea-merchants to make those advances?-We say, decidedly not.

In every point of view, then, we conceive the wisest policy will be that of placing the interests of this country at large in the hands of those who have managed things so well for their late employers. There may have been, now and then, a wrong-headed person, as we have seen, at the head of the factory; but take the servants of the Company for a long series of years, and it will be found that their conduct has been most exemplary, and their management, frequently under considerable difficulties, skilful and discreet. Even Mr. Marjoribanks admits, in despite of himself and of his arguments against the exclusive privileges of the

East

East India Company, that they alone among foreigners in China have abstained from acts admitted to be at variance with strict principle; that for the last ten years no foreign merchants, except the East India Company, have traded in conformity with Chinese proclamations; and though he thinks that all acts of subserviency, which have proved injurious to our national character, have invariably proved detrimental to our commercial interests,' yet he proves that, even if acts of subserviency may occasionally have been committed, our commercial interests, so far from suffering by them, have continued to flourish and increase; and no one knows better than he does, that acts of a contrary tendency have sometimes endangered the continuance of the trade. Mr. Marjoribanks ably describes the odious illicit traffic' in opium, now carrying on at Linting, and observes,

I know no reason whatever why a similar trade should not be carried on with other parts of the empire. It might involve a very delicate question as one of international convention, but the Chinese government proudly and haughtily disdains entering into any treaties with you whatever. It must take the consequences.'

Now, we think that one place is quite enough for an 'odious and illicit traffic' to be carried on; and as to 'consequences,' one of the first of these was, the expedition of Mr. Lindsay up the China seas. We are ready to admit, that the delicate trust committed to Mr. Lindsay' was very ably (though, as we have seen, not very discreetly) fulfilled; but we must, nevertheless, and we do so with some regret, cordially concur in the lesson read to him and the promoter of the voyage by the Court of Directors.

But what other consequences,' we would ask, will follow a renewal of such attempts? This is the main question, and Mr. Marjoribanks, who originated the expedition, and of course eulogizes it, has answered it in the following special warning given to Mr. Grant: You must expect, however, before long, to hear of collision with the natives, or seizures of British subjects, and be prepared to deal with them accordingly. This is alarming enough, and no less true than alarming. Mr. Marjoribanks foretels that one of the immediate consequences of a free-trade will be, a 'seizure of the persons of British subjects'—that is to say, that outrages of all others the most intolerable-such as the firm and dignified, though at the same time moderate, just, and conciliatory policy of the Company's servants has, for the last fifty years, invariably averted-will be among the first of the new grievances which his majesty's representative must have to deal with on his arrival in China.

This is certainly a gloomy prospect. It will signify little what powers or instructions may be given to the King's representative

personal

personal violence is an outrage to which no British commercial com. munity can or ought to submit. From the moment that our violation of the Chinese law is of such a nature, as to drive the Chinese government to the extreme measure of seizing the persons of the offending parties, the die is cast, and we fear that hostilities will become inevitable. The last instance of the kind that occurred was in the year 1784, when one of the supercargoes of a private ship was seized to answer for a homicide, and subsequently, after a great deal of blustering and preparations for commencing hostilities, was redeemed by the surrender of another individual equally innocent, though of a humbler station. Much as we regret the probability of a rupture with the Chinese, we fervently hope we may never see it averted by such another disgraceful compromise, which has only for its parallel one made by the Americans a very few years ago, when an innocent Italian was given up to be strangled, to save the life, it has never been denied, of a guilty American.

We have not much apprehension, however, that things will be brought to this extremity, provided the trade be restricted to Canton, and under the eye of the King's representative, the choice of whom, if one is to be sent from home, cannot be too well considered; he should unite dignity of manner with firmness of character; considerable ability with great activity; patience with perseverance; he should be a man not easily to be ruffled by the importunities of the traders on the one hand,-or the seeming indignities put upon him by the Chinese on the other-in short, he must keep his temper. And with regard to the owners of ships that may have been intended for the eastern sea of China, we would most earnestly warn them, if they value their own property and the lives of the crews, to confine their speculations to Canton, at least in the first outset; for, if they should come in collision, as they most assuredly will, with the constituted authorities, when at a distance from that port, the consequence will be that British subjects will be seized.' It is easy to say, send men-of-war for their protection,-to encourage them, we suppose, in smuggling transactions, and otherwise acting in violation of the laws and regulations of the country, or else to commit hostilities; one or other the King's ship so sent must do. Is China, then, we would again ask, because she refuses to enter into commercial intercourse with foreigners, to be put without the pale of international law? There was a time, when it was a boast in the naval service, that a British ship-of-war carried with her the British laws wherever she went;'-this doctrine, however, received its death-blow by the luminous exposition of that highly-distinguished civilian Sir William Scott, who, by the

most