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 mm 
 
I 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
...J-^^ 
 
 
THE 
 
 EISE AND PEOGRESS 
 
 OP 
 
 BKITISH OPIUM SMUGGLING; 
 
 THE 
 
 ILLEGALITY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S 
 MONOPOLY OF THE DRUG; 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS INJURIOUS EFFECTS UPON INDIA, CHINA, 
 
 AND THE CO]\IMEIlCE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE 
 EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. 
 
 / 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL R. ALEXANDE-t, 
 
 MADRAS ARMY. .^> 
 
 THIRD EDITION REVISED AND ENLAKiSED. ,. "^ 
 
 LONDON : 
 JUDD AND GLASS, 21 PATERNOSTER ROW, 
 
 AND AT THE OFFICES OF THE SOCIETY FOR ** SUPPRESSING OPIUM 
 SMUGGLING," 13 BEDFORD ROW, HOLBOEN. 
 
 1856. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 judd & glass, peintees, 
 geat's inn EOAD. 
 
b 
 
 /A Pj 
 
 vf 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 A6-7 
 
 1 . On the Institution of the Opium Monopoly, and its Effects upon 
 
 India . . . . . .1 
 
 2. Rise and Consequences of Smuggling in China . . 21 
 
 3. Effects upon the Commerce of Great Britain and China . 39 
 
 4. Testimonies against the Contraband Trade . . .55 
 
 5. Illegality of the Opium Monopoly in India, and Suggestions for its 
 
 Suppression . . . . .71 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 THE INSTITUTION OF THE OPIUM MONOPOLY, AND ITS 
 EFFECTS UPON INDIA. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 More than a year has elapsed since a 
 few gentlemen met in your Lordship's presence, to 
 consider the representations which have been so fre- 
 quently and forcibly made, regarding the progress, 
 extent, and evils of the contraband trade in opium 
 carried on by British subjects at the principal ports 
 and along the sea-coast of China. 
 
 Manv facts were then stated and authenticated; 
 but it was felt that information on the subject must be 
 collected and presented to the public in a manner as 
 concise as is compatible with a full apprehension of 
 the injury that is inflicted by means of this illegal 
 traffic on the population of China, on the commerce of 
 Great Britain, on the morality and prosperity of the 
 subjects of both nations, and though last mentioned, 
 what is first in importance and paramount to all on 
 the spread of true religion and the blessings of civil- 
 ization that follow in its train. 
 
 My Lord, I have no higher ambition in now ven- 
 turing to address you, than to collate these facts and 
 
Z OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 information, with the hope that in so doing, I may be 
 permitted to submit an humble foundation for mea- 
 sures which the statesmen and philanthropists of our 
 country will see fit to adopt, in justice to our national 
 character, and in compassion to a people comprising 
 one-third of the family of man. I shall use the pri- 
 vilege of quoting freely, with or without acknowledg- 
 ment, and generally verbatim et literatim, whatever I 
 may find necessary to my purpose of presenting a clear 
 narrative of facts in the plain language of truth. 
 
 Beginning with India, I find that previous to the 
 year 1 767, the quantity of opium exported from thence 
 did not exceed 200 chests yearly the trade was 
 carried on by the Portuguese in a legal manner, and 
 the drug, imported from Turkey, was admitted as a 
 medicine through the Custom-house in China by pay- 
 ment of a duty equal to 13s. English money on the 
 lOOlbs. In the year 1773, the East India Company, 
 acting upon the suggestion of a member of their 
 Council in Calcutta, entered upon this traffic and es- 
 tablished a depot for opium in vessels anchored in a 
 bay to the south-west of Macao. The trade so con- 
 ducted does not appear to have been profitable, nor 
 did opium become a source of revenue to the Com- 
 pany until, as well as I can trace, about the year 1798, 
 or 1800 ; it seems that about that period they ceased 
 to be exporters, and had by fiscal measures secured 
 a rigidly guarded monopoly of production in India ; 
 they thus not only relieved themselves from the risks 
 of commerce, but were better prepared to steer a de- 
 vious course through the political embaiTassments, 
 
ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. d 
 
 which it may be presumed, were foreseen as an in- 
 evitable consequence of forcing upon the unwilling 
 government of China an importation, against which re- 
 monstrances, or resistance by force of arms, have since 
 proved equally unavailing. It was part of the astute 
 policy of the Company, strictly to prohibit the cap- 
 tains and officers of their own ships from trading in 
 the drug, or allowing it to be received on board their 
 vessels ; they were not to be coM^t flagrante delicto, 
 and it devolved upon diplomacy to answer " Not 
 guilty," to nullify the evidence of complicity, and 
 screen its principal from the responsibility of being an 
 accessory before the fact : while on the other hand, 
 in the licenses granted for private ships trading to 
 China, there is a provision with penalty attached, that 
 no opium except that which the East India Com- 
 pany monopolizes shall be taken on board.* 
 
 A reference to the code of Regulations for the 
 Bengal Presidency shows that the first legislative 
 enactment for restraining illicit trade in opium was 
 passed in the year 1 795, and by its preamble, proves 
 that as the government grasped at monoj)oly, an an- 
 tagonistic principle devolved itself in the smuggling, 
 which had come into existence since the year 1767, 
 when the commerce, openly carried on by the Por- 
 tuguese, was legal both in India and China. 
 
 From the year 1795 until the year 1816, succes- 
 sive laws were enacted by the government in Bengal, 
 prohibiting the importation of the drug from the sur- 
 
 * Vide Appendix to Report of a Committee of the House of Common 
 on the trade with China. 1840. Pp. 176177. 
 
^ OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 rounding Independent States ; laying down rules for 
 the guidance of parties concerned in providing opium 
 for the government ; repressing the growth in some 
 provinces, fostering it in others, and passing more 
 stringent regulations for the repression of an increas- 
 ing illicit trade. In the last-named year, these laws 
 were embodied in Regulation XIII., and opium legis- 
 lation arrived at the state in which it is at the present 
 day ; codified in an Act containing ninety-eight sec- 
 tions, sixty-eight of which have direct reference to the 
 penalties to be inflicted on transgressors of the mono- 
 poly ; to legal processes peculiar to its circumstances ; 
 to punishment for frauds, oppression, and perjury ; and 
 to rewards for informers ; while the other sections 
 grant authority to opium agents, and are more gene- 
 rally declaratory and supportive of the system. 
 
 If a nation's laws are to be taken as an index to 
 the morality and civilization of its people, and to the 
 state of crime which especially calls for repression, the 
 whole tenor of this enactment bears testimony to the 
 evils that have been inflicted upon the population of 
 India by the growth of the opium monopoly. The zeal 
 of the loyal subject, the cupidity of the informer, and 
 the fears of the timid are excited to the utmost, while 
 the notorious profligacy and oppression of an Indian 
 police are recognized as existing, by penal clauses 
 which all experience proves to have been hitherto 
 ineffectual for the protection of the people. In illus- 
 tration of this, I will quote some sections of the 
 above regulation XIII. of 1816, marking in italics the 
 passages to which I would call particular attention. 
 
LEGISLATION IN SUPPORT OF IT. D 
 
 " Sect. XIV. In the event of the cultivator failing to deliver the 
 full quantity of opium agreed for by him in the manner specified in 
 Sect. XI. ; if the agent shall suspect or believe the cause of failure to 
 be in the wilful neglect of the ryot, he shall complain to the zillah, or 
 city judge, within whose jurisdiction the land of the ryot may be 
 situated ; and if it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the judge that 
 the failure has been owing to neglect, he is to award that the ryot shall 
 restore the proportional advance with interest, at the rate of 12 per 
 cent, per annum. The ryot so faihng to fulfil his contract shall like- 
 wise be Hable, at the discretion of the judge, to a further penalty, not 
 exceeding the amount of interest, to the payment of which he will be 
 liable under the above provision." 
 
 Need I remind your Lordship of the world-wide 
 character of Indian pohce and informers? and of 
 what might be the consequences to a helpless ryot if 
 suspicion or belief should be instilled into the mind of 
 a man of ordinary capacity or more than ordinary 
 susceptibility, supported by that false evidence which 
 it is the curse of India to find everywhere procurable ? 
 On this subject I need but refer generally to the 
 Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire 
 into the question of torture at Madras. 
 
 *' Sect. XXXII. All zemindars, talookdars, and other proprietors of 
 lands, whether malguzary or lakheraj, all sudder farmers, and under- 
 renters of land of every description, all dependent talookdars, all naibs, 
 gomastahs, and other local agents, all sezawuls, all tehsildars, and 
 other native officers employed in the collection of revenue and rents of 
 lands on the part of the Government or Court of "Wards, are hereby 
 declared accountable for giving the earliest informatim to the police, or 
 abkarry darogah, to the magistrates, collectors of revenue, or officers 
 in charge of the abkarry mehaul, collectors of customs, opium agents, 
 or their deputies, of all poppy which may be illegally cultivated within 
 tlie limits of the estate or farm held or managed by them. 
 
 " Sect. XXXIII. Any landholders, or other descriptions of persons 
 alove noticed, to whom such responsibility is declared to attach, who 
 
b OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 may wilfully or knowingly neglect to give the information hereby- 
 required to the nearest police, or abkarry darogah, the magistrate, the 
 collector of land revenue, or officer in charge of the abkarry mehaul, 
 the collector of Government customs, the superintendent of salt 
 chokies, the opium agent or his deputy assistant, shall, on proof of such 
 neglect before the collector of the land revenue, or other officer ii 
 charge of the abkarry mehaul. be liable to the penalty,* with the 
 exception of imprisonment, stated in Sect. XXXI.; for whatever 
 quantity of land shall be illegally cultivated with the poppy on their 
 respective estates or farms, or on the lands under their management, 
 unless it shall have been so cultivated without their knowledge or 
 connivance. 
 
 " Sect. XXXIV. All native officers of Government, of whatever 
 description, are hereby strictly enjoined, under pain of dismission from 
 office and such punishment as shall he specially prescribed, to give 
 immediate information to the authority under whom they are placed, 
 of all poppy which may be illegally cultivated within their knowledge." 
 
 Is it too much to affirm that such legislation as 
 this can find no parallel under the British crown ? 
 The legal net is so constructed that there is no escape 
 for landowner, renter, agent, farmer, or officer of 
 Government in any of its departments ; espionage and 
 inquisitorial search are evoked and pushed into all the 
 social relations of the people ; neglect is constituted 
 into positive crime, and may be adduced as a charge 
 against a cultivator when the seasons or unavoidable 
 circumstances have proved adverse to his crops ; there 
 is a power of " punishing specially" without definition 
 or limit ; no allowance is made for an absentee land- 
 owner or tenant ; ignorance or indiscrimination renders 
 
 * i.e. To a fine of twenty sicca rupees per begah for whatever quantity 
 of land shall have been so cultivated, and the destruction of the plants 
 if the opium has not been extracted ; if the opium shall have been extracted 
 and not seized, then the fine shall be thirty-two sicca rupees ; and in addi- 
 tion to the above penalties, the olfender shall be liable to six months' 
 imprisonment if the fine is paid, and to a year's if it is not. 
 
LEGISLATION IN SUPPORT OF IT. / 
 
 any one liable to the suspicion of knowledge or conni- 
 vance, which, if not disproved, subjects him to severe 
 punishment ; and all this train of evil may be set in 
 motion by police and Abkarry Darogahs and officials, 
 than whom, the merest tyro in India administration can 
 inform your Lordship, there is not a more false or 
 corrupt set of beings upon earth. 
 
 By Sect. XLV., a person to whom any quantity of 
 contraband opium may have been given or sold, is 
 liable to a fine of 500 rupees, at the discretion of the 
 officer, whose merit with the Goverment is to raise 
 the opium revenue. 
 
 Prohibitions, fines, imprisonments, and confisca- 
 tions by summary jurisdiction, meet at every turn the 
 inhabitant of a district in which the growth of poppy 
 may be legalized ; nor may a person relinquish the 
 purchased privilege of vending opium until, under the 
 provisions of Sect. LXVL, " he has paid to the col- 
 lector a sum equal to the daily tax of one month, over 
 and above the amount payable by him in the ordinary 
 course, under the engagements contracted with the 
 collector, or other officer in charge of the Abkarry 
 Mehaul, up to the date of the resignation of his 
 license. 
 
 The zeal of officials in stimulating the use of opium 
 is excited by a commission of five per cent on the net 
 amount realised by them on its sale, vide Sect. LXIX. 
 
 I must add one more reference to the Regulation 
 which provides so freely for fines to the amount of, 
 and exeeedifig 500 rupees, and imprisonment for even 
 trivial infractions of its rules. Of all the oppressive 
 
8 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 acts of Indian police, perhaps none is more common 
 than that of dragging an innocent man from his home 
 and business, to answer a false accusation at a distant 
 court. If this very usual tyranny should be inflicted 
 under the provisions of the Opium Law, the im- 
 prisoned victim, ^^who, after the investigation pre- 
 scribed by these rules, shall not have been convicted 
 of the offence with which he stood charged or suspected, 
 shall be immediately released, and the expense to 
 which he had been actually subject on account of the 
 inquiry, shall be paid to him by the collector or other 
 officer in charge of the Abkarry Mehaul on the part 
 of Government ; should it further appear that the in- 
 quiry originated in malice or in motives clearly vex- 
 atious and unwarranted on the side of the informant, 
 it shall be competent for the collector or other afore- 
 said officer to order such informant to discharge the 
 amount of any diet money which may have been paid 
 to the witnesses, and to pay to the party aggrieved 
 such moderate fine, not exceeding twenty rupees, as 
 may appear reasonable, or to be confined for a period 
 not exceeding fifteen days." 
 
 Here there is no hypothetical legislation against 
 merely imaginary grievance ; the judge is the officer, 
 whose sense of public duty is engaged in favour of a 
 rigid execution of the law under which a man is 
 arraigned, on possibly no other ground than suspicion 
 without distinct evidence ; if the '' suspicio?i" which is, 
 legally marked as distinct from " a charge," be not 
 converted into fact, and if the informajit has acted as 
 informants in such cases too often, and in general do 
 
RESTRICTS FREE TRADE IN INDIA. y 
 
 act, from "malicious, vexatious, and unwarranted 
 motives," and the almost impossible proof of a motive, 
 or disproof of a suspicion has been substantiated, then 
 the gratification of revenge, or the risk run for reward, 
 is to be estimated by the small amount of payment 
 of diet money to defendant's witnesses (the informant's 
 evidence being as usual, or in all probabihty, his 
 accomplices), and the comparative shght punishment 
 to which his guilt is amenable. 
 
 Opium is manufactured in Malwa, one of what are 
 termed the Independent States of India ; the Native 
 Government does not interfere with the cultivation of 
 the poppy, which the ryots are at liberty to grow as 
 they do rice, grain, or any other produce ; if, however, 
 Malwa opium could be brought into the export 
 market at a merely remunerative price to the grower 
 and manufacturer, it is obvious that high prices in 
 Calcutta could not be maintained against competition 
 in Western India. But as Malwa opium cannot reach 
 a seaport without passing through the territories of 
 the East India Company, the paramount power of the 
 latter secures its own monopoly price, by the simple 
 protectionist expedient of imposing a transit duty of 
 400 rupees upon every chest of opium, and the enact- 
 ment of a law of confiscation of the property, and 
 heavy penalties of fine against the smuggler, for 
 whose enterprise such high stimulant is created by 
 large profits upon his illicit trade ; the transit duty has 
 gradually been increased from 100 rupees a chest, and 
 is, of course, liable to be advanced as the interest of 
 the East India Company may require. 
 
10 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 In a statistical paper, printed for the Court of 
 Directors of the East India Company in 1853, the 
 first words are, " In Bengal the revenue from opium 
 is reahsed by means of a Government monopoly;" 
 and almost immediately thereupon follow these sen- 
 tences : ^^The ordinary consequences of monopoly, 
 increase of price to the consumer and restriction on 
 the employment of capital and industry, are not 
 wanting in the opium system ; the free cultivation of 
 the poppy would doubtless lead to the larger outlay 
 of capital, and to greater economy of production." It 
 is a pity for India, my Lord, that so sound and simple 
 an axiom in poHtical economy has ever been departed 
 from, and that now the consequences of such de- 
 parture from right principle have evolved those evils 
 which render retrogressive measures imperatively 
 necessary. 
 
 So completely is the production of opium in the 
 hands of the East India Company, that not a poppy 
 can be grown in the extent of their vast territories 
 without either the permission of the Government or 
 infraction of its laws. In Bengal only is the growth 
 allowed, and it is there carried on and the opium 
 collected under the management of two principal 
 agencies, at the head of which are officers, who, to 
 judge from the largeness of their salaries and extent 
 of their powers, must stand high in the confidence of 
 the authorities by whom they are appointed. Under 
 the opium agents is an immense staff of officials, 
 whose designations would be unintelligible to a mere 
 European reader, and whose multifarious duties 
 
INJURIOUS EFFCTS UPON THE PEOPLE OP- INDIA. 1 1 
 
 extend from making the advances of money to the 
 cultivators before the poppy-seed is sown ; watching 
 its growth and produce within the strictly-defined 
 boundaries of cultivation ; the delivery of opium at 
 the appointed places : its inspissation and preparation 
 for the taste of the Chinese consumers : its formation 
 into balls^ and packages in chests especially adapted 
 to the convenience of smuggling : and finally to its 
 conveyance to Calcutta, where it is put up to auction 
 at the Government sales, and passes from the hands 
 of the officers of the State into those of the specu- 
 lators in iUicit trade, and the daring contrabandists ? 
 who land it in China. 
 
 Another injury done to India by this monopoly is 
 to be found in the poverty of the ryots, by whom the - 
 rich opium producing lands are cultivated ; to them 
 the poppy fields yield but a bare subsistence, while 
 the profit upon opium, which ranges as the difference 
 between 250 rupees and from 1200 to 1600 rupees 
 a chest, goes to the Government, which exchanges 
 the drug for silver at the auction mart ; if this profit, 
 or a fair portion of it, was realised by the ryots, they 
 would become capitahsts, and consumers of British 
 manufactures; and if the profit was derived from 
 sugar, indigo, cotton, or products for which these 
 richest of all lands are best adapted, there would be 
 an abundant supply of raw material for the purposes 
 of reciprocally beneficial commerce between the two 
 countries. 
 
 There is a fallacy connected with the opium 
 monopoly and Abkaree system of India, which, while 
 
12 - OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 it is allowed to operate, must prove more and more 
 destructive to the social and commercial prosperity 
 of the people. As long as revenue is raised from, and 
 the respectability of legal sanction given to, the prin- 
 cipal causes of crime and misery ; as long as capital 
 is invited to be embarked in the sale of ardent spirits, 
 opium, and intoxicating drugs, under the safe-guard 
 of Government contracts for monopolies, and pro- 
 tection of penal laws in their support, so will intox- 
 ication in its different forms, continue to spread, as it 
 has spread, among millions, who, before they were 
 thus demoralized, were to be classed among the most 
 sober, and generally abstemious people upon earth. 
 This is not the place to enter upon such a subject in 
 extenso, nor will I do more than suggest that if the 
 revenue derived from the Abkaree system and opium 
 monopoly, was balanced with the expenses of crime, 
 disease, and idleness, as well as of misdirection of 
 capital, and loss of productive power consequent 
 thereupon, there is an appalling amount to be carried 
 to the account of moral deterioration and material 
 loss. With strict relevance, however, to the opium 
 question, let me quote, first, the report of Mr. C. A. 
 Bruce, Superintendent of the tea-plantation in Assam, 
 and then the opinions of two other authorities of the 
 highest order. Mr. Bruce's words are, 
 
 **I might here observe that the British Governmeut would 
 confex a lasting blessing on the Assamese and the New Settlers, 
 if immediate and active measures were taken to put down the 
 cultivation of opium in Assam, and afterwards to stop its importation, 
 by levying high duties on opium land. If something of this kind is 
 not done, and done quickly too, the thousands that are about to 
 emigrate from the plains into Assam will soon be infected with the 
 
INJURIOUS EFFECTS UPON THE PEOPLE OF INDIA. 13 
 
 opium mania ; that dreadful plague which has depopulated this 
 beautiful country, turned it into a land of wild beasts, with which it 
 is overrun, and has degenerated the Assamese from a fine race 
 of people, to the most abject, servile, crafty, and demoralized race 
 in India. / 
 
 " This vile drug has kept, and does now keep, down the 
 population ; the women have fewer children compared with those 
 of other countries, and the children seldom live to become old men, 
 but in general die at manhood ; very few old men being seen in this 
 unfortunate country in comparison with others. Few but those who 
 have resided long in this unhappy country know the dreadful and 
 immoral effects which the use of opium produces on the native. He 
 will steal, sell his property, his children, the mother of his children, 
 and finally even commit murder for it. Would it not be the highest 
 of blessings, if our humane and enlightened government would stop 
 these evils by a single dash of the pen, and save Assam, and all those 
 who are about to emigrate into it as tea- cultivators, from the dreadful 
 results attendant on the habitual use of opium ? We should in 
 the end be richly rewarded, by having a fine healthy race of men 
 growing up for our plantations, to fell our forests, to clear the land 
 from jungle and wild beasts, and to plant and cultivate the luxury of 
 the world. This can never be effected by the enfeebled opium-eaters 
 of Assam, who are more effeminate than women. I have dwelt thus 
 long on the subject, thinking it one of great importance, as it will 
 affect our future prospects with regard to tea ; also from a wish 
 to benefit this people, and save those who are coming here from 
 catching the plague, by our using timely means of prevention." ^ 
 
 This official report receives confirmation from a 
 letter received from a gentleman also holding an 
 official situation under the East India Company in 
 Assam. His allusion being only casual, is the more 
 striking : 
 
 "The cultivation of opium is free in Assam; the fearful results 
 from its use, which every day present themselves to notice, are 
 very painful to witness." 
 
 Mr. Henry St. George Tucker, Deputy-Chairman 
 
14 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 of the East India Company, protested against the 
 whole of the traffic, in a minute of dissent dated 
 October 1839, and has left on record, that, 
 
 " By promoting the growth of the poppy throughout central India, 
 as we have done, we become accessory to the probable extension of a 
 pernicious habit among a race of men whose well-being ought never 
 to be an object of indifference to us." 
 
 And the late Sir Stamford Raffles thus wrote of 
 the evil, which has fearfully increased since his 
 day: 
 
 "The use of opium, it must be confessed and lamented, has 
 struck deep into the habits, and extended its mahgnant influence 
 to the morals of the people, and it is likely to perpetuate its power in 
 degrading their character, and enervating their energies, as long as 
 the European Government, overlooking every consideration of policy 
 and humanity, shall allow a paltry addition to their finances to out- 
 weigh all regard to the ultimate happiness and prosperity of the 
 country." 
 
 To these I will add the testimony of the late 
 Lord Jocelyn, who, having visited the opium-shops 
 and smoking dens in the East, stated in ParHament, 
 
 *' He must acknowledge that the noble Lord (Ashley) had called to 
 his recollection scenes which he had witnessed of the lawless character 
 of the trade ; and that, in all he stated as to the moral, political and 
 physical evils, he concurred." 
 
 The following extract of authentic, and official 
 authority, on the subject, is so apposite, that, as I find, 
 so I quote it : 
 
 " The produce of this delicate plant, the poppy, is extremely uncer- 
 tain, being liable to frequent injury from insects, wind, hail, frost, and 
 unseasonable rain. To the poor man the advance is the chief induce- 
 ment. He takes it at first, perhaps, to obtain a sum of money when 
 
INJURIOUS EFFECTS UPON THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, 15 
 
 urgently wanted ; and having once become dependent upon this assist- 
 ance at a particular season of the year (as he barely ekes out enough 
 from his laborious occupation to pay his expenses), necessity compels 
 him to continue the cultivation. Only a small proportion of the 
 amount paid by the Government reaches the hands of the actual culti- 
 vator. It is stated by Langford Kennedy, assistant opium agent at j 
 Patna, and opium agent at Behar, from 1811 to 1829, in his evidence 
 before the Committee of the House of Commons in 1832, Nos. 721 
 and 722, that, ' advances were made by him to the gomastah, by the 
 gomastah to the suddor mattoo, by the suddor mattoo to the village 
 mattoo, and by the village mattoo to the ryot ;' and he adds, No. 757, 
 *the gomastah obtains a further income by a species of extortion/ 
 which must ultimately fall on the unfortunate ryot. 
 
 *' It is the interest of the deputy opium agent, who always did get, 
 and, in some instances, still gets, a commission on the Government 
 profits, to collect as much opium as possible. He is generally the 
 collector and magistrate of the district, possessing great power, and 
 from his situation, almost unbounded influence over the natives, which 
 it is not unfair to suppose he would exercise to promote the extended 
 production of the drug: in doing this, he would not only benefit 
 himself, but be acting in strict conformity with the instructions of his 
 employers. Moreover, the boundaries of land in some districts are 
 extremely ill defined, and disputes often arise as to who is the rightful 
 occupant. It frequently happens in such cases that one of the dis- 
 putants offers to grow poppy, and a decision in his favour is the almost t 
 invariable consequence. ^ 
 
 *' The statements contained in the last paragraph have been con- 
 firmed to me in the strongest manner by an eye-witness, Mr. Andrew 
 Sym, who resided eleven years at Gorakhpoer, and for about eighteen 
 months of that time had charge of the East India Company's branch 
 opium agency for that district. This gentleman, who has recently 
 returned from India, has permitted me to use the authority of his 
 name. 
 
 "Other and grievous sources of oppression, arising from the sur- 
 veillance of the custom-house searchers, and the extortions of the 
 officers of the chokees, or search-houses, are forcibly detailed in the 
 following letter, written by a gentleman of my acquaintance, who, from 
 long residence in the interior of India, possesses an intimate know- 
 ledge of the subject on which he writes ; this letter, though long, will 
 amply repay the perusal : 
 
16 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 " ' Tbe evils which the cultivation of opium entails upon our "^ellow- 
 subjects in India arises partly from the ryots in the opium districts of 
 Patna and Benares being compelled to give up fixed portions of their 
 lands for the production of poppy. It is true that the Honourable 
 Company pay fairly for the lands and labour thus wrested from the 
 ryot (farmer) ; and did the amount paid by the government find its way 
 honestly into the possession of these people, there might not be so 
 much cause of complaint in this matter; but the contrary is the 
 case. These payments have to pass through the hands of numerous 
 employes of the Government; and scace twenty per cent, of it 
 ever reaches the legitimate owner. The evils of the cultivation, 
 however, do not end here. In consequence of being obliged forcibly 
 to cultivate this highly-taxed drug, the peasant is constantly exposed 
 to a suspicion of retaining some part of the produce for sale ; the 
 surveillance of the police is, therefore, especially directed to these 
 unhappy creatures ; and the oppressions which they are subjected to 
 in this way surpass belief. They are exposed to every sort of annoy- 
 ance which the ingenuity of authorised plunderers (the police and 
 custom-house searchers) can devise, in order to extort bribes. The 
 privacy of their miserable abodes the sanctity of their females is in- 
 truded upon by these harpies of Government ; and no redress can be 
 given by the Government, unless they abolish the production of this 
 accursed drug. 
 
 ** ' The evils arising from Government's trade in opium to the 
 people of Bengal, Behar, and Benares arises from the necessary 
 protection against the smuggling of this article of monopoly, and the 
 right of search given to the custom-house officers, who are placed in 
 search-houses, or chokees, at short distances along the bank of that 
 main artery of Indian trade the Ganges, and allow no native boat 
 to pass, without bringing it to, for search. Before I proceed further 
 in this branch of the subject, I had better give some insight into the 
 character of the natives employed in these search-houses. They 
 consist of peons (pay ten shillings per month,) ameens (twenty-four,) 
 and writers (fourteen.) The writer is generally the more respectable 
 personage of the three ; he has charge of the rest ; his pay is seven 
 rupees per month ; his qualification is a knowledge of the Persian 
 language. He finds his own stationery, which costs him two rupees 
 per month, leaving five rupees for himself. He has to give security 
 for good behaviour, to the amount of five hundred rupees (50Z.) Tlie 
 five rupees which remain of his salary are not sufiicient to provide him 
 
INJURIOUS EFFECTS UPON THE PEOPLE OF INDIA. 17 
 
 with food. Yet these men generally live expensively (that is to say, 
 for natives,) and save money. Were there nothing beyond the 
 authorised emolument of the situation above-mentioned, it is obvious 
 that it would be impossible to get any one to accept such places. Yet 
 large sums are paid, as bribes, to those who are supposed to have 
 power with the European collector, in order to procure them. The 
 natural consequence is, that feelings of honesty and morality are 
 thrown aside, as incompatible with employes in the customs. In other 
 departments, in judicial offices, in the revenue, and even in the police, 
 honest native officers have been found, notwithstanding the British 
 Indian system (which seems as if it were devised with the view of 
 offering temptation to natives in authority to be dishonest) ; but, in the 
 customs, I never met with an honest native. Those who are employed 
 enter it with the sole intention of doing the best they can for them- 
 selves. Therefore, the bribery and perjury, apparent and acknow- 
 ledged in the system, is most lamentable. 
 
 " *I have already said, that the right of search is intrusted to 
 characters such as I have described. Therefore, all goods passing the 
 main artery of India- the Ganges are exposed to it. Now this right 
 is not in any way used to protect the Government ; it is held out by 
 the custom-house officers as a means of extorting bribes. This tax 
 upon goods is made in every search-house established along the line 
 they have to travel. Nor are merchant boats alone subjected to these 
 extortions. They fall heavily upon mere travellers especially pil- 
 grims, and those who travel with their families. The latter usually 
 have a separate apartment for their wives, sisters, and other females, 
 which the officers threaten to enter, under the pretext of suspecting 
 that opium is concealed there ; and we know that a respectable Hindoo 
 would sacrifice all he has in the world rather than expose his wives to 
 insult from these miscreant searchers. 
 
 " * The same system of extortion exists upon goods and persons 
 conveyed by land whenever they come within the limits of inland 
 custom-houses. 
 
 " ' To sum up the curse consequent on this right of search, which 
 springs from the Government trade in opium, I may say they are as 
 follows : The exactions and corruptions ; the grevious delay ; the 
 insolent exercise of low, ill-paid authority ; the interruption of commu- 
 nication, by shutting up ferries, roads, and routes ; the distress and 
 ruin resulting from false seizures and confiscations (got up by the 
 custom-house people to blind the Government) ; the diversion of trade 
 
 c 
 
18 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 into channels less impeded ; the advancement in price of all goods, by 
 reason of these checks and annoyances ; and, worst of all, the demorali- 
 zation of the habits of all parties connected with, or exposed to the 
 influence of, these oppressive and unjust measures. And we must 
 either submit to all these evils and hindrances, the happiness and pros- 
 pects, eternal as well as temporal, of the inhabitants of this large and 
 wealthy tract of country, teeming with industry and fruitfulness, or 
 annihilate the right of search, which, as it is exercised, is replete with 
 every curse that can be inflicted on millions of our unoffending fellow- 
 creatures, whom, by the laws of God and man, we are bound in every 
 way to protect and comfort/ 
 
 " But a stQl greater evil than the oppression of the natives, is the 
 
 EAPID DEMOBALIZATION OF THE VAST POPULATION OF InDIA, FROM 
 
 THE GROWING HABIT OF Opium-eating. Evcu the Hindoos, said to 
 be the most temperate people in the world, have caught the mania. I 
 must again refer the reader to the letters from Assam, p. 19, and request 
 him to reperuse the harrowing statement of Bruce ; but these distress- 
 ing effects are not confined to that province. In a written communica- 
 tion received from Mr. A. Sym, dated the 13th March, 1840, he 
 states, 
 
 " ' The health and morals of the people suffer from the production 
 of opium. Wherever opium is grown, it is eaten, and the more it is 
 grown the more it is eaten ; this is one of the worst features of the 
 opium question. We are demorahzing our own subjects in India; 
 
 ONE-HALF OF THE CRIME IN THE OPIUM DISTRICTS, MURDERS, RAPES, 
 AND AFFRAYS, HAVE THEIR ORIGIN IN OPIUM-EATING. 
 
 " * Both Hindoos and Musselmen eat the drug ; and its pernicious 
 effects are visible on the population of the opium districts, particularly 
 in the neighbourhoods of the depOts.' 
 
 *' It is important to remember that this gentleman speaks of what he 
 has actually seen, during a long residence in the opium districts. He 
 assured me that all the other evils of the opium trade, as far as India 
 was concerned, sink into insignificance, compared with the debasing 
 effect upon the population; he added this remarkable expression, 
 
 *OnE OPIUM-CULTIVATOR DEMORALIZES A WHOLE VILLAGE!' Com- 
 ment upon this is superfluous. 
 
 "Thus thousands of our fellow-creatures in India are 
 qppressed, and their health and morals destroyed, for 
 the sake of this 'infernal opium trade.'" 
 
INJURIOUS EFFECTS UPON THE PEOPLE OF INDIA. 19 
 
 Before leaving this part of my subject, I will state 
 the result of my own experience of the progressive 
 and destructive course of intoxication by opium, 
 drugs, and ardent spirits, for corroboration of which 
 I can confidently appeal to almost every civil and 
 military officer, and missionary throughout India. 
 The returns of courts-martial and defaulter-books of 
 the Madras army will show that the character of the 
 Sepoy is now tarnished by that \dce, which is the 
 one dark stain on the military superiority which his 
 European comrade bears over every other soldier in 
 the world. I have heard judges, magistrates, and 
 collectors, bear their testimonies to the rapid deteri- 
 oration of the native character in this respect, which 
 is more authoritatively proved by the records of their 
 courts and offices. Families feel it in their drunken 
 servants, and missionaries deplore it as an increasing 
 obstacle to the progress of the Gospel. During the 
 wars in Afghanistan and the Punjab, when it became 
 necessary to increase the native army, it fell under 
 my observation in the office which I then held as 
 Adjutant-general of the Army, that the commanding 
 officers of regiments represented very generally their 
 inability to procure the desired proportion of Mahom- 
 edan recruits, who were reported to be numerically 
 few, and physically inferior when compared with the 
 Hindoos. This induced me to make inquiries, not 
 only from our highly intelligent officers themselves 
 and other Europeans, but among the Mahomedans of 
 all ranks, civil and military, and I was much struck 
 with a fact that has also excited European attention,viz. 
 
20 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 that the race is apparently wasting away. The 
 Mahomedans universally acknowledged the fact, and 
 accounted for it in various ways, hut in every instance 
 adduced the use of opium and bhang^ as one cause of 
 the palpable diminution of the numbers and energies 
 of their people. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 R. ALEXANDER. 
 
 * The inspissated jiiice of hemp, used for intoxication, the sale of which 
 is under monopoly purchased from the Government, and protected by penal 
 laws. 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND CONSEQUENCES, OF OPIUM 
 SMUGGLING IN CHINA. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I now turn to the progress of the con- 
 traband trade of opium in China. 
 
 Until the year 1800, opium was admitted through 
 the custom-house as a medical drug. As I stated 
 before, the quantity imported previous to the year 
 1767 had not exceeded 200 chests, weighing about 
 133 lbs. each chest; nor did the powerful East India 
 Company enter upon the traffic until the year 1773, 
 when they established a depot near Macao. 
 
 In 1781, the Bengal Government sent an armed 
 vessel laden with opium to China, the proceeds of 
 the sales of which were to be paid into the treasury 
 of the East India Company at Canton ; the price of 
 the drug appears to have been then about <100 a 
 chest. 
 
 In 1794 the Company stationed a large vessel 
 laden with opium at Whampoa, the anchorage for the 
 port of Canton ; and, as I learn from the pamphlets 
 and publications from which I am quoting, it was in 
 
22 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 the year 1796 that the rapid progress of demoral- 
 ization was so apprehended by the Chinese Govern- 
 ment, that to arrest the vice it passed a law, that any 
 one found guilty of smoking opium should be 
 punished by being beaten with a bamboo, and 
 exposed in the streets with a wooden collar round 
 his neck, bearing an inscription of the crime for which 
 he was condemned. Thus early were the Chinese 
 alive to the consequences of the smuggling traffic, 
 and, according to their customs and rules of govern- 
 ment, energetic in their endeavours to suppress it. 
 
 The trade increased notwithstanding, and, in the 
 year 1800, the importation reached to the number of 
 2000 chests. From this period may be traced that 
 legislative and executive opposition of the Chinese 
 Government which eventually drew down upon the 
 nation the horrors of an unjust war, and the misery 
 under which its millions of opium victims now suffer. 
 Edicts were sent to the governors of provinces to take 
 stringent measures to suppress the use of the poison- 
 ous drug ; punishments were increased in severity 
 against those who indulged in the destructive habit, 
 even to the extent of banishment and confiscation of 
 property; still the vice, introduced and stimulated 
 by the English contrabandist, spread hke a contagious 
 disease, and the measures of the Chinese Government 
 were counteracted by an aggravation of the evils 
 inflicted upon the people ; the custom-house and 
 other officers at Whampoa and Macao were bribed 
 into connivance at the trade which the Emperor 
 was endeavouring to suppress, and the corruption 
 
PROGRESS IN CHINA. 23 
 
 of the public authorities was added as a fatally 
 necessary incident in the progress of national 
 demoralization. 
 
 Previous measures having proved ineffectual, the 
 Hong merchants, in the year 1809, were required to 
 give security for every vessel that came to Whampoa, 
 that she brought no opium, before she was permitted 
 to open her hatches ; and it was made known, that 
 if opium was found on board any vessel, she should 
 be sent away without being permitted to discharge 
 her cargo, and the security-merchant should be 
 punished. Both parties are seen at this period to be 
 pursuing their objects with equal earnestness, but 
 with different degrees of success. The Chinese 
 Government, according to its laws and customs, 
 endeavoured to suppress the traffic, which, nurtured 
 by the East India Company, in the days when Free 
 Trade was unknown, is gradually assuming gigantic 
 strength and proportions. In 1820, the number of 
 chests smuggled into China had increased to 5147; 
 owing to some flagrant instances of crime having 
 come to the knowledge of the Governor of Canton 
 in 1821, when 7000 chests were imported, the senior 
 Hong merchant was disgraced for remissness of duty, 
 and more stringent measures were put in practice 
 against the trade. At the same time, when the 
 Chinese punished their own subjects for infraction of 
 the laws, they addressed the most earnest remon- 
 strances to the foreign merchants who instigated 
 them to do so. 
 
 The only consequence, however, of this activity 
 
24 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 on the part of the Chinese was, that the depots for 
 opium were driven away from Whampoa and Macao, 
 and permanently estabhshed in armed vessels, which 
 lay at anchor under the island of Lin Tin, at the 
 entrance of the Canton river. From these armed 
 vessels the traffic was managed thus : The foreign 
 merchants resided in Macao or Canton. They 
 received the money in payment of the drug at their 
 counting-houses, and gave orders on the commanders 
 of the store-ships at Lin Tin. The Chinese pur- 
 chasers sent very fast boats, which were propelled 
 by forty or fifty stout rowers well armed, to the ship 
 to receive the opium, and smuggle it into Canton, or 
 wherever it was wanted; and these deliveries were 
 generally made at night, to avoid the observation of 
 the officers of Government. 
 
 Under such circumstances of impotent legislation, 
 disregarded remonstrances, and daring violation of 
 the laws, the trade went on. In 1824, the importa- 
 tion was 12,639 chests, and in the next ten years it 
 increased to 21,785. The insatiate craving of the 
 Chinese grew with what it fed upon to their de- 
 struction, so that in 1837 there was a succossful smug- 
 ghng of 39,000 chests, valued at 25,000,000 dollars. 
 
 That the Chinese Government was sincere in its 
 opposition to this contrabandism, is proved by the 
 consistency of its edicts, and the ineffectual severity 
 of its ill-executed laws. Charles Majoribanks, Esq., in 
 his evidence given before the House of Commons in 
 1830, states "he did not imagine that the Chinese 
 possessed any means of putting it down by any 
 
PROGRESS IN CHINA. 25 
 
 marine force which they had ; that the opium was 
 forced upon Whampoa^ where it was met by counter- 
 acting prohibitions and exactions of the Chinese 
 Government, and that the trade, entirely prohibited 
 by that Government, was compelled to take refuge 
 among the islands at the mouth of the Canton river, 
 where it was carried on to a very great extent." On 
 being questioned another day, the same gentleman 
 replied, '' that the Chinese have frequently interposed 
 by the strongest proclamations, and that he knew of 
 some instances in which opium boats had been seized 
 and the heads of their crews wei^e cut off," 
 
 Sir J. F. Davis, another able and experienced 
 officer of the East India Company's service in China, 
 was asked by the same Committee of the House of 
 Commons whether the Chinese had issued many 
 edicts against the opium traffic, and whether they 
 had been carried into force. He answered, '^ they 
 certainly have, to the utmost capability of the weak 
 Chinese Government, which had rather evinced its 
 hostility to the system than been effective in repress- 
 ing it." 
 
 A reference to the Third Report of the Commons 
 Committee on India Affairs in 1830, will show, that 
 by dispatches from its factory in Canton, the East 
 India Company was kept aware of the undeviating 
 opposition of the Chinese Government, and of the 
 difficulties in which the legal trade became involved 
 by the pertinacity of the smugglers. The Emperor 
 and his ministers avowedly acted upon moral princi- 
 ples, and rejected every suggestion to replenish their 
 
26 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 treasury by a revenue that must accrue in proportion 
 as the population became demorahzed. About this 
 time the low average price of a chest of opium may 
 be taken at 700 dollars, and the annual importation, 
 at the very moderate estimate of 22,000 chests. Had 
 the Emperor consented to impose a duty of twenty- 
 five per cent., there was a revenue to be derived of 
 3,850,000 dollars. 
 
 In 1837 we fiad the Chinese Government exerting 
 all the vigour it possessed in issuing laws, edicts, pro- 
 clamations, and remonstrances, and punishing with 
 the greatest severity such of its own subjects as it 
 could apprehend. At this period, therefore, the state 
 of the affairs stood thus the East India Company 
 used its monopoly in India to produce any quantity 
 of opium that could be smuggled into China. 
 According to the evidence given before the House 
 of Commons, and recorded in its Blue Books, this 
 opium was not prepared for medical purposes, but 
 solely to suit the taste of the Chinese consumers ; 
 it was packed expressly for the convenience of the 
 smugglers, and sold by Government officers at 
 Government sales in Calcutta, for the known purpose 
 of being taken to China, there to be imported con- 
 trary to the laws of the empire. All this was done 
 with the knowledge and by the authority of the 
 Select Committee of the Court of Directors in 
 Leadenhall Street, the connivance or command of the 
 Board of Control, and carried practically into effect 
 by the Supreme Government of India in Calcutta, 
 with all the power of its legislative and executive 
 
E. I. C/S SHARE AND INTEREST THEREIN. 27 
 
 authority. So completely was the Indian Govern- 
 ment identified with the trade, that when heavy 
 losses were sustained in China, it bore its share 
 thereof as shown by the following Government noti- 
 fication issued in Calcutta : '' Shippers to China of 
 opium purchased at the sales of January, February 
 and March 1837, if the ship left before the 1st of 
 August last will receive at the rate of 140 rupees 
 per chest .... Upon opium of the sales of 
 January, February and March 1837, shipped from 
 this port to any port of the Straits, or Eastern Archi- 
 pelago before the 1st of May last, nothing will now 
 be paid ; but if it shall hereafter be proved by the 
 production of bills of lading, to the satisfaction of the 
 Board of Customs, Salt and Opium, that any part of 
 this opium has been sent on from Singapore, Malacca, 
 or Pinang, to China," (alas poor China !) " before 
 the 1st of January 1837, then the shippers thereof 
 will receive the same amount per chest as all other 
 shippers of opium of the said sales to China, viz., at 
 the rate of 140 rupees per chest." Then follows 
 other adjustments upon Profit and Loss, varying 
 from 150 to 300 rupees per chest. 
 
 The British Government having thus intimately 
 identified its interests with that of the smugglers, I 
 will quote from a pamphlet published by Mr. Fry in 
 1840, some specimens of the way in which the latter 
 carried on their part of the business : 
 
 Extract from a Letter dated Macao, 14:th June, 1839. 
 
 " The opium trade is not annihilated. It has only, as it were, 
 changed hands. It has passed only from the established houses in 
 
28 OPIUM SMUGGLING, 
 
 Canton, under whose management it has ever been conducted with 
 the greatest moderation, and in the most orderly and quiet manner, to 
 a class of men prepared to carry on the traffic at all hazards, to over- 
 come all obstacles that may oppose their progress by weapons of war, 
 and who for this purpose, at this time, both here, at Manilla, and 
 Singapore, are fitting out vessels in such a manner as will defy all the 
 naval power of China." 
 
 The above comes from a house extensively inter- 
 ested in the opium trade. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman at Macao to his 
 Friend in London. 
 
 " The profit upon opium is at this time so immense, that people are 
 tempted to continue smugghng it, although at a very great risk of 
 life. Even now, notwithstanding the merchants have signed a 
 paper declaring they would not bring any more opium to China, 
 vessels, armed to the teeth, are employed along the coast, and actually 
 forcing it into the country ; one of them was attacked by a Chinese 
 junk, two of the crew were killed, and about forty of the Chinese. 
 To say nothhig of the morality or immorality of the trade, I think 
 it disreputable from the first introduction of it ; and the manner in 
 which it has lately been carried on is disgraceful in the highest 
 degree. I consider all persons engaged in it, as much deserving 
 any punishment the Chinese may choose to inflict, as the smuggler 
 on our own coast is of that awarded him by the laws of England. 
 After so many warnings they have no right to complain of the 
 means used by the Chinese for the suppression." 
 
 From the Head of a Mercantile House. 
 
 " The smuggling trade, as now carried on, too closely approximates 
 to murder, even to defend the morality of it ; to fire upon parties who 
 endeavour to stay them, or to sell opium to men who risk their heads 
 for money, is neither a gentlemanly nor an honourable trade." 
 
 From a Correspondent in China. 
 
 " The Ann opium clipper having been up at a place called Tienpah, 
 in the neighbourhood of Amoy, had made arrangements with some 
 shore-boats to deliver a quantity of opium ; very fortunately she had 
 
HOW CARRIED ON BY OPIUM CLIPPERS. 29 
 
 remained under way when a large junk came out upon her, propelled 
 by oars, the wind being very light. This junk engaged the Ann for 
 four and a half hours, when one of the Ann's guns burst and killed 
 seven of her crew. Most fortunately the breeze by this time had 
 freshened, which enabled the Ann to make sail and get away from the 
 junk. The captain of the Ann said, that, had it fallen calm, he should 
 have been boarded to a certainty. 
 
 " To show you that more of such occurrences may be expected, 
 we conversed the other day with a gentleman just arrived from 
 China, who informed us that, before he left Macao, he had been in 
 company with four captains of opium vessels, who declared to him 
 that they had fully made up their minds to attack and sink all that 
 opposed them in any way whatever." 
 
 Extract from a Letter from Hong Kong, dated Oct, 9th, 1839. 
 
 (From the Head of a Mercantile House.) 
 
 " A report is afloat of another fight up the coast of four smuggling 
 schooners and brigs, owned by the Portuguese of Manilla, but all 
 commanded by Englishmen, and with some of the crews English, all 
 were armed (one of them carrying long 18-pounders), having been 
 attacked by the mandarin junks, which they beat off, and of which 
 eventually they burnt five. The lives lost are not mentioned." 
 
 A merchant at Bombay wrote to this firm in 
 London in December 1839, as follows : 
 
 *' The opium trade is carrying on with the greatest vigour. The 
 Lady Grant, a clipper, left this in September with 700 chests, and 
 was leaving Singapore for the coast of China, armed with twelve guns 
 and a crew of fifty-five men : the Red Rover, a clipper, had passed Sing- 
 apore with 1100 chests from Calcutta ; a letter from of the Vansit- 
 
 tart, dated from Hongkong, states that a vessel has just arrived from 
 Calcutta, carrying eighteen guns and forty Europeans, besides her 
 Lascar crew. Our last letter would inform you that the Bengal 
 Government put up 6000 chests on 4th January. This is the answer 
 Lord Auckland makes to Captain Elliott when he forwards expresses 
 to him for assistance. From the following extract of a letter from 
 the brother of the writer you will have a good idea of what is going 
 on at Hongkong. 
 
30 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 " * The opium trade is flourishing on the coast, and even at this 
 anchorage 850 dollars is offered for it here, and 1200 dollars is said 
 to be current on the coast. The Sir Edward Eyan has just arrived 
 with a full cargo, and fully armed and manned by a set of desperate 
 fellows, who burn and destroy everything that comes in the way of 
 their disposing of their opium. 
 
 *' Those parties who are now engaged in China in selling British 
 manufactures and purchasing teas, and in no way connected with the 
 opium traffic, now seeing clearly that their interests have all along been 
 sacrificed to those of the opium party, will stand it no longer ; for 
 while their business was at a complete stand- still, and their con- 
 stituents' interests at home sacrificed, the opium party were carrying 
 on an enormous profitable trade.' '* 
 
 The following, from a Hindoo, dated Calcutta, 
 August 1839, is particularly forcible and striking : 
 
 " The opium question is next treated by . If from what 
 
 was before known in England one book has been pubhshed ' On the 
 Iniquities of the Opium Trade,' there will be dozens when the people 
 in England know as much of this trade as we now know. The latter 
 circumstance I will relate myself. The Red Eover and Sir Edward 
 Ryan lately arrived from China, and they have both sailed within these 
 two or three days, the former with about one thousand chests, and the 
 latter with about seven hundred chests of opium. The agents of the former 
 
 are , and those of the latter are . They are armed to 
 
 the teeth and well manned. They have thus sailed out of a British 
 port, under the sanction of the British Government, with the avowed 
 object of landing their opium, and selling it at all hazards on the east 
 coast of China. Will it be hereafter believed that British merchants 
 in the nineteenth century could, in the face of the world, without a 
 cloak and without a blush, engage in such a nefarious and piratical 
 adventure for the sordid love of pelf?" 
 
 In November, 1855, I received from a friend a 
 letter, written by a gentleman of high character and 
 position in society, who is unwilling that his name 
 should be made pubhc ; no candid mind will, I 
 presume, reject the facts stated, nor be blind to the 
 
HOW CARRIED ON BY OPIUM CLIPPERS. 31 
 
 system with which they are connected ; the informa- 
 tion is as follows: ^'A vessel sailed out of the 
 harbour in broad daylight, well manned, of the very 
 finest build and rig which Aberdeen could furnish ; 
 built, launched, and equipped under the hght of 
 heaven, and before our eyes, and armed to the teeth 
 with every implement of war an opium smuggler 
 for poor China ! the schooner Vindex. She is about 
 
 160 tons, of clipper build, built for of 
 
 . A vessel of the same kind, named the 
 
 Wild Dayrell, was launched from a building-yard at 
 Cowes for the same trade, and as a companion for 
 the Vindex. The Captain of the Vindex is an 
 Englishman, and the officers and crew came down 
 from London ; but the Captain having gone to sea 
 with the crew and found them inefficient, he brought 
 the vessel back, and shipped a new company, officers 
 and all. I am not aware that there is any secret in 
 what I have told you, the thing has been done from 
 the beginning quite openly." 
 
 This, my Lord, connects the doings of the present 
 day with those of 1839, and I do not suppose that it 
 would be difficult to complete the links of the chain, 
 some of which would be afforded by one of the 
 richest public Companies ia London. 
 
 Authority for what follows is to be found in Blue 
 books and official records, published in this country 
 and in China. 
 
 In 1836, there had commenced one of the most 
 remarkable consultations which are on record in the 
 history of any nation. The Chinese Government 
 
32 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 had been trying to suppress a destructive vice 
 among its own people, and to put a stop to an 
 iniquitous traffic in a contraband poison carried on 
 by foreigners. 
 
 But its efforts had been nugatory. The armed 
 smuggHng continued, the fascinating vice was still 
 spreading, and .500,000 sterling of silver v^ere ex- 
 ported in payment of the drug ; in such an ex- 
 tremity, some advisers of the Emperor thought it 
 might be best to seek a remedy by legalizing the 
 traffic. The most distinguished statesman who re- 
 commended this policy was Heu Naitsi, and as it 
 was approved of by most of the foreign residents in 
 China, many of the Chinese at Canton thought it 
 would be adopted by the Emperor, and the more so, 
 as it had been concurred in by the Governor of 
 Canton, to whom, as well as the other governors, the 
 memorial of Heu Naitsi had been referred for their 
 consideration. In expectation of the trade being 
 legalized, measures were taken by foreigners to 
 secure an increased production of the deleterious 
 drug. The ruinous nature of this hue of policy 
 was, however, ably exposed by three very remark- 
 able state documents, drawn up by a Cabinet 
 Minister, Choo Tsun ; another by Hwang Tseotsze, 
 President of the Sacrificial Court ; and a third by a 
 sub-censor named Heu Kiu. The question of the 
 legalization of the traffic in opium, with these me- 
 morials against, it, was again submitted to all the 
 high officers of the empire for their consideration 
 and advice. After full and mature deliberation, ex- 
 
ITS PROGRESS AND CONSEQUENCES IN CHINA. 33 
 
 tending over a period of more than a year's dura- 
 tion, the nearly unanimous decision of the advisers 
 of the Emperor was, that, on account of the injuries 
 it inflicted on the people, the nefarious traffic should 
 not be legalised. At the same time it was resolved 
 to have recourse to yet more stringent measures to 
 suppress the seductive, but ruinous vice, and to put 
 a stop to the smuggling of the poison. Heu Naitsi, 
 who had recommended the legalisation of the traffic 
 in opium was disgraced, and the severity of the 
 punishments for smuggling by Chinese, and smoking 
 it, was increased. The names and residences of the 
 foreign merchants in Canton, who were concerned in 
 the traffic, having been reported to the Emperor, an 
 edict was issued, commanding their immediate de- 
 parture from China. To still further excite the at- 
 tention of foreigners to the stringency of the mea- 
 sures now taken by Government to put down the 
 traffic in opium and suppress its consumption, early 
 in 1838, a Chinese, who had been engaged in smug- 
 gling, was executed at Macao in presence of many 
 foreign and Chinese witnesses ; later in the same 
 year, another of the transgressors of the laws against 
 opium was executed near the foreign residences in 
 Canton; and again, early in 1839, a third Chinese 
 was executed in the same vicinity, and it was re- 
 ported that the upper lips of smokers in Hupeh 
 province were cut off to incapacitate them from in- 
 hahng the fascinating poison. These measures 
 checked the consumption to a degree that surprised 
 many foreign residents, who had witnessed the in- 
 
 D 
 
34 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 effectual manner in which previous edicts had been 
 carried into effect. But it having been reported to 
 the Emperor that the foreign merchants still con- 
 tinued to carry on the obnoxious traffic, and that the 
 store-ships still lay quietly at anchor at Lin Tin, the 
 Emperor*s patience was at length exhausted by this 
 contumacious disregard of his edicts and continued 
 trampling on his laws ; and in the latter part of 
 1838 he resolved to proceed to extremities. To this 
 end he clothed a trusted and valued public officer 
 with extraordinary powers, such as had only been 
 thrice delegated by the Emperors of this dynasty, 
 and sent him to Canton to put a stop to the traffic. 
 It is said that the Emperor gave his distinguished 
 servant, Lin, his instructions in person; and as he 
 spoke to him of the evils that had been inflicted 
 upon his people for these tens of years by this over- 
 flowing poison, his emotions checked his utterance. 
 He paused and wept ; then turning to the Commis- 
 sioner he said, '' How, alas ! can I die and go to the 
 shades of my imperial father and ancestors until 
 these direful evils are removed?" 
 
 Commissioner Lin arrived at Canton, March 10, 
 1839. He immediately made known the purpose of 
 the Emperor to put a complete stop to the opium 
 trade ; he addressed the most earnest remonstrances 
 to the foreigners to abandon this illegal traffic, that 
 the legitimate trade might continue uninterrupted; 
 and he demanded that this smuggled poison should 
 be quietly and immediately surrendered to him for 
 destruction. This proper and reasonable demand. 
 
LORD PALMERSTON'S DISAVOWAL THEREOF. 35 
 
 and which would have been enforced in every other 
 country, was refused. The Chinese Commissioner 
 then had recourse to more stringent measures, by 
 preventing the departure of all foreigners from Canton 
 till the opium was delivered to him by those who 
 owned it. The noble lord, the Secretary of State 
 for Foreign Affairs, Lord Palmerston, had signified 
 to the British merchants, that their country's pro- 
 tection would not be afforded to enable them to 
 violate the laws of the empire to which they traded. 
 His language is as explicit as the sentiment is just. 
 '^ No protection can be afforded to enable British 
 subjects to violate the laws of the country to which they 
 trade. Any loss, therefore, which such persons may 
 suffer in consequence of the more effectual execution of 
 the Chinese laws on this subject must be borne by the 
 parties who have brought the loss on themselves by their 
 own acts" 
 
 When the Chinese Commissioners had recourse 
 to more stringent measures for obtaining possession 
 of this forfeited property which was stored in the 
 vessels at Lin Tin, her Britannic Majesty's Superin- 
 tendent of Trade, Captain Elliot, stepped in to pro- 
 tect British subjects from the threatened losses, 
 which their own conduct had justly brought upon 
 them in direct contravention of the sentiments of the 
 noble lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Captain 
 ElHot called upon British subjects to deliver up the 
 smuggled opium to him for the use of the British 
 Government, and pledged the faith of that Govern- 
 ment to remunerate them. In answer to his call, the 
 
36 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 enormous amount of 20,283 chests were delivered 
 from the accumulated quantity on hand ; accumu- 
 lated, because owing to the stringent measures which 
 were in operation to suppress its consumption, the 
 amount of sales had been greatly lessened. This 
 quantity was delivered over to the Chinese Commis- 
 sioner by her Majesty's Superintendent under protest ; 
 and, on this authorised act of the Superintendent, 
 was based the claim afterwards made upon the 
 Chinese Government for the value of the opium, 
 which, at the then depreciated prices, was estimated 
 at about .1,800,000. At the same time, the Chinese 
 Commissioner required a bond of all foreign mer- 
 chants, that they would not hereafter engage in this 
 traffic. That pledge was given in the following 
 language : '' They beg to represent, that now being 
 made fully aware of the Imperial commands for the 
 entire abolition of the traffic in opium, the under- 
 signed foreign merchants hereby pledge themselves 
 not to deal in opium, nor to attempt to introduce it 
 into the Chinese Empire." 
 
 Lin having reported to the Emperor, that 20,283 
 chests had been delivered up, the Emperor sent down 
 his mandate that the whole should be destroyed. 
 This was most effectually done, in the presence of # 
 foreign witnesses, by mixing it with lime and salt in 
 large trenches ; after which process, the whole was 
 let out into the sea. The work occupied a period of 
 twenty days. Such was the Emperor's proceedings, 
 to show his regard for the lives and happiness of his 
 people, and to celebrate, as he supposed, the com- 
 plete success of his efforts to put a stop to this 
 
THE OPIUM WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, 37 
 
 desolating curse. The Superintendent of British 
 trade also announced to her Majesty's Government, 
 " that as all the opium on hand had been destroyed, 
 and all the foreign merchants had given bonds not 
 to deal in opium, nor to attempt to introduce it 
 into the Chinese empire, the traffic in opium was 
 entirely abolished ! " 
 
 The consequence of seizing and confiscating this 
 smuggled opium, and of other measures growing out 
 of it, was the war declared by England. When the 
 Emperor and his high officers became fully sensible, 
 by dear-bought experience, of their inability to resist 
 the prowess of the British arms, he concluded a 
 treaty, one article of which stipulated that the 
 Emperor of China should pay ^1,200,000 as indem- 
 nity for the contraband opium which he had, in 
 accordance with the usage of all nations, confiscated, 
 and 3,000,000 sterling for the expenses of the war ; 
 but in this treaty there was not any provision or 
 stipulation made against the traffic, on account of 
 which the two countries had been involved in a 
 destructive but unequal contest. After the high 
 Chinese Commissioners had signified their acceptance 
 of the terms, which were dictated to them by the 
 British envoy, ^' they eagerly requested to know why 
 we (the British) would not act fairly towards them 
 (the Chinese), by prohibiting the cultivation of the 
 poppy in our dominions." The British Envoy, Sir 
 Henry Pottinger, replied, "Your people must become 
 more virtuous, yoar officers incorruptible, and then 
 you can stop the opium coming into your borders. 
 Other people will bring it to you, if we should stop 
 
38 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 the cultivation of the poppy ;" and in conclusion, the 
 Envoy added, '* You cannot do better than legalise 
 it!" In order, however, to avert pubhc indignation 
 in this country, and present some palliative to the 
 outraged principles of the opponents of opium smug- 
 gling, there was inserted in a supplementary treaty a 
 proviso that, '' If any merchant vessels shall, in con- 
 travention of this agreement, and of a proclamation 
 to be issued by the British plenipotentiary, repair to 
 any other port or places (than the five ports), the 
 Chinese Government shall be at liberty to confiscate 
 both vessels and cargoes." But the Chinese Govern- 
 ment, having had to pay so dearly for confiscating 
 the cargoes of smuggling vessels in 1839, has never 
 dared to interfere with the traffic in opium since, so 
 that the practical result of the opium war has been 
 to secure perfect impunity to the contraband trade. 
 
 The matter is now very seldom referred to in the 
 Pekin Gazette. It was proposed to the young 
 Emperor, Hienfung, in 1853, when he was involved 
 in great financial embarrassment, that he should assist 
 his revenue by legalising the trade in opium ; it 
 being represented to him that the revenue therefrom 
 would be about 1,200,000 sterling. But after several 
 months' deliberation, the Emperor announced his in- 
 tention to continue the policy of his revered ancestors ; 
 thus have three Emperors in succession persevered 
 in views of moral rectitude, amid so many difficulties, 
 and so many allurements to induce the adoption of 
 an opposite policy. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 R. ALEXANDER. 
 
LETTER III 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE OPIUM MONOPOLY AND SMUGGLING 
 UPON THE COMMERCE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 It would be but an irrelevant digression to 
 enter upon the bloodshed and devastating circum- 
 stances of the opium war. If you will imagine the 
 military and naval organisation of Great Britain to 
 have been retrograded to what it was about the reign 
 of Richard II., and this country subjected to block- 
 ade and invasion by the line-of-battle ships and army 
 of France in their present perfection, you will be 
 able to form a fair idea of the comparative means 
 and resources of two such unequally matched belH- 
 gerents. When our troops came in collision with 
 the Tartars, they encountered an enemy whose half- 
 disciplined energy and desperate courage called forth 
 those high military qualifications of skill and valour 
 on our part, which triumphed over every resistance 
 that was offered; but, as regards the unwarlike 
 Chinese, I remember the expression of an old Ma- 
 homedan native officer of the Madras artillery, who 
 had served in the campaigns under the Duke of 
 
40 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 Wellington, and through the hard struggles of the 
 first Birmese war. " Then, Sahib, our hearts rose to 
 contend with men, but as for firing upon these Cheen 
 Logue,* it was like turning our guns upon flocks of 
 sheep." 
 
 The result of the war was, that having forced 
 the Chinese to pay for the contraband opium they 
 had confiscated, and the expenses of our unjust 
 invasion of their country, we entered into a treaty, 
 by which we recognise their right to seize and con- 
 fiscate the drug. The island of Hong Kong was 
 ceded to us, and five Chinese ports were opened for 
 legal trade, at which we were permitted to establish 
 consuls, for whom we engaged that they were to co- 
 operate with the Chinese authorities if any English 
 vessels should arrive within the range of their con- 
 sular jurisdiction with the contraband drug on board. 
 How these engagements have been fulfilled will be 
 seen as I proceed to show the effects of opium 
 smuggling upon the commerce and interests of Great 
 Britain, avaihng myself of some statements long 
 since published, and still, I believe, neither refuted 
 nor denied. 
 
 " The excess of exports from China to Great Britain over the im- 
 ports from Great Britain to Cliina, in 1837, according to the statements 
 of the Canton Chamber of Commerce, was about .3,200,000 sterHng, 
 and the excess of exports to the United States over the imports from 
 that countiy, for the same year, was about .860,000 sterHng, both 
 together making Jg4,060,000 sterling ! This excess of exports to, over 
 the exports from, tliese countries, has been about the same every 
 
 * Chinese people. 
 
INJURIOUS TO BRITISH COMMERCE. 41 
 
 successive year till 1852. The immense balance of .4,060,000 
 sterling in favour of China every year, on the legalised commerce, ought 
 to enable China to take an enormous quantity of Western manufactures, 
 and J 3, 200,000 ought to go to the purchase of the manufactures of 
 Great Britain. But what is the fact ? The smuggled opium comes in 
 and sweeps away aU this immense balance, and brings the Chinese in 
 debt to nearly an equal sum, nearly aU of which (J7,000,000) is taken 
 away in silver to fiU the coffers of the East Indian Government, and of 
 the opium merchant, to the prejudice of the upright and hard-working 
 manufactiu-er. But this is by no means the extent of the injury done 
 to the manufacturer. The Chinese have been so impoverished by this 
 continued drain upon their country of .4,000,000 sterling every year 
 for a long succession of years, that they cannot pay remunerating prices 
 for the quantity of Western commodities that they now take. It has 
 been estimated, that about J6 90,000,000 sterling have been taken away 
 from China in silver during this century in payment for opium. The 
 result is, that while the price of opium has been maintained or increased, 
 the price of Western manufactures has gradually fallen from one-half to 
 one-third of their former rates. In many cases, the prices are below the 
 cost of manufacture, not including the cost of transportation. A * Report 
 on the China Trade,' published in 1851, mentions as evidence of the 
 lowered prices of British manufactures, that ' long- cloths, valued, in 
 1836-7, at Ml sterling, are now (1851) quoted at from seven to eleven 
 shillings a-piece ; while opium, which has doubled in quantity, has 
 generally maintained its price.' This diminution in price is much more 
 on some other articles, especially on articles of luxmy and ornament. 
 It may then be asked if British manufactures are sold below remunera- 
 tive prices, how are the merchants able to continue importing them ? 
 The plan of operations is this : the merchants engaged in the Cliina 
 trade can place their funds in China for the purchase of teas and silks 
 by manufactured goods, even at these low prices, at a less discount than 
 they can by importing silver, or purchasing exchanges; and one reason 
 of this is, that they get manufactures on credit, and hope to get the 
 return of Chinese productions in" time to make payment for the manu- 
 factures, whereas the money would be at interest from the day they 
 despatched it. The merchants must then make up this loss incurred in 
 getting their funds to China, as weU as their jDrofits, by charguig high 
 prices for Chmese productions. Thus, in the long-run, the manufac- 
 turers and the consumers of tea and Chinese silks pay the revenue of 
 .3,500,000, which the East India Company derive from opium, by the 
 
42 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 loss sustained on manufactures sent to China, and by having to pay 
 enhanced prices on those articles imported from China. 
 
 " That the opium trade is injurious to every other commercial interest 
 with China, and prevents the Chinese from taking an increased quantity 
 of "Western manufactures, can be established by the testimony of the 
 highest authorities, and of those best acquainted with the China trade. 
 Mr. W. Norton gave the following testimony on this subject before the 
 Select Committee of the House of Commons, 20th April, 1847 : 
 * British general imports (British India included) [which was not 
 included in the statement given above] into China are .2,321,692 ; the 
 exports from China are j4,492,379, which would give a balance of 
 trade in favour of China of J2,170,687 ; and if that existed in reahty, 
 I can easily conceive that the trade in British manufactures would 
 increase to an enormous extent. But the purchase of opium to the 
 amount of J 5,400,000 (the cost in India, not reckoning the additional 
 cost in China) leaves a balance against China eventually of .3,229,313. 
 The Chinese, it is well known, are drained of their silver to an enormous 
 extent. It is a grievance, pressing upon China to such an extent, that 
 it may, in the end, oblige them to break off their intercourse, contrary 
 even to their own wiU, in order to stop it, for it is reducing them com- 
 paratively to a powerless state as regards their circulation.' 
 
 " The ' Friend of China,' in its issue for July 28, 1849, has the 
 following remarks : * The opium trade has interfered with the legiti- 
 mate trade to an unusual extent since the opening of the northern 
 ports. Silk in particular has been taken in barter for opium to a very 
 large extent. Before the treaty, the shipments of raw silk to Great 
 Britain were from 3,000 to 5,000 bales annually. In the last com- 
 mercial year, the export from Shanghae was upwards of 17,000 bales ; 
 the previous year it was 22,000 bales. This large increase in the silk 
 trade would have operated favourably upon the import of manufactured 
 goods ; but, unfortunately, the opium dealers cut in upon it. The silk 
 taken in barter for opium was shipped to England and sold at a profit ; 
 while Lancashke and Yorkshire goods the legitunate articles of ex- 
 change would have rotted in the stores at Shanghae, had the factors 
 not pushed them off for what they would fetch. Thus the larger con- 
 gumption of tea and silk in the British isles would be provided for by 
 the returns for opium. There is no way of getting over this difficulty. 
 The opium trade progresses steadily. The increased consumption of 
 teas and silk in Great Britain would merely result in the increase of the 
 opium trade ; the case of the British manufacturer is hopeless.' 
 
INJURIOUS TO BRITISH COMMERCE. 43 
 
 " Mr. Montgomery Martin says, * I inquired of the Taoutai at 
 Shanghae, what would he the hest means of increasing our commerce 
 with China ;' and his first answer to me, in presence of Captain Balfour, 
 Her Majesty's Consul, was, ' Cease to send us so much opium, and we 
 will be able to take your manufactures.' 
 
 " The Canton Circular, in 1846, observed, * Considering that the 
 prime cost of opium in Bengal is about 250 rupees per chest, and that it 
 is now sold by auction (in Calcutta) for 1,200 or 1,600 rupees a chest, 
 we need not ask the question, who have been chiefly benefited by the 
 war in China, justly termed the Opium War. With respect to the 
 opium trade, as at present conducted, it is certainly a great evil, and 
 indirectly injures the sale of other merchandise.' 
 
 " Mr. Montgomery Martin says, * The true remedy of our deficient 
 trade with China is not to be found in the reduction of j 1,000,000 or 
 J62,000,000 sterling of tea duties, but in a perfect freedom of inter- 
 course with China ; in facilities of access to the interior of that vast 
 country ; and in the abolition of the pernicious opium traffic, which 
 absorbs the money, .4,000,000 sterling, that would otherwise be 
 devoted to the purchase of British manufactures.' 
 
 " In an interesting article on * Tea and the Tea Trade,' published in 
 Hunt's * Merchant's Magazine' for January, 1850, 'Mjc. Gideon Nye, 
 junior, a leading American merchant in China, says, * Until the taste 
 for this pernicious drug (opium) had spread insidiously over the empire, 
 and the traffic in it had largely increased, China was the recipient of 
 the precious metals from the western nations, in the adjustment of the 
 balance of trade in her favour ; but since the expiration of the East 
 India Company's Charter (1834), the consumption of it has so largely 
 augmented, that, although the exports of China produce have also 
 greatly increased, yet the export of the precious metals in adjustment 
 of the balance adverse to China, has reached the annual sum of about 
 10,000,000 doUars, thus inflicting upon China a twofold injury in the 
 demoralization of her people, and the undermining of her pecuniary 
 resources, whose effects are of the most grave moment, as threatening 
 the very integrity of the empire.' 
 
 " As one of the impediments in the way of the prosperity of the tea 
 trade, the consideration of the influence of this immense traffic is in 
 nowise a digression ; nor can we consistently content ourselves with 
 merely an incidental allusion to it, although it is no part of our purpose 
 to discuss the moral question, for we find it greatly prejudicial to the 
 whole legal trade with China. It seriously distm-bs the financial affairs 
 
44 OPIUM SMUGGLING, 
 
 of the country, thus impairing confidence and directly depressing the 
 prices of all other articles of importation, whilst, at the same time, 
 raising those of export articles.' 
 
 " Mr. Nye quotes from a letter of August, 1849, from a mercantile 
 house at Shanghae, as follows : ' The country cannot take hoth goods 
 and drug, and thus the question is, so far as England is concerned, 
 which hranch of industry should be encouraged ? The East India 
 Company will never give up the drug, and probably the Government 
 would not, should the Company's charter not be renewed in 1854. It 
 appears to us, the difficulty must increase with the increasing quantity 
 of the luxury imported.' 
 
 " These authorities which might be definitely increased while they 
 differ as to the amount, according to the year in which their calcula- 
 tions were made, and the principles of reckoning the commerce, all 
 agree in these great and important facts, that the opium trade is 
 * intensely injurious' to the legitimate trade ; that it causes the prices at 
 which British manufactures can be sold to the Chinese to be depre- 
 ciated, and, in many cases, to be below the price of production ; that 
 it causes the prices of Chinese products to be enhanced to the British 
 purchasers, and that it deprives the British manufacturers of customers 
 that properly belong to them, who are ready to pm'chase to the enor- 
 mous extent of between three and four milMons sterhng. 
 
 " But, perhaps, some one may object and say, that the opium trade 
 does good in thus coming in to pay off the balance of trade, in favour 
 of China, in the legitimate commerce ; for otherwise the merchants 
 would have to import silver to pay it off, and it would be a heavy 
 drain upon Britain to export between three and four millions sterling 
 to Cliina in payment for her products. If the opium trade was to 
 stop suddenly, some treasure would of course have to be imported to 
 pay' the balance of trade ; but the trade would soon arrange itself. 
 And if the Chinese nation were prevented squandering the eight 
 millions sterling annually for the pernicious drug, they would very 
 soon not only take the whole of the present balance in manufactured 
 goods, but they would take them at improved prices, and the exports 
 and imports would gradually and greatly increase. For the limit is 
 not near reached yet to which Great Britain can consume Chinese 
 products ; and so also of Cliina, much less has she reached the limit to 
 which she could consume British products, if she was not so im- 
 poverished by this immense squandering for opium. But even if it 
 should be necessary to import treasure to pay the balance of trade, it 
 
INJURIOUS TO BRITISH COMMERCE. 45 
 
 would be a great deal cheaper than to pay it with opium ; for thereby 
 you would enrich one of your best customers, and thus in the end 
 enable them to take more goods and at better prices, and Chinese 
 products could be purchased at lower prices. 
 
 " The class of persons who are especially interested in the abolition 
 of opium smuggling, embraces the merchants in Great Britain, and of 
 the United States, and China, who are engaged only in the legal China 
 trade. The advantage which the opium dealer has over the honest 
 merchant can be seen at a glance. While the honest merchant has to 
 place his funds in China for the purpose of Chinese products, at a 
 greater or less discount, the opium dealer gets his funds there by opium 
 at, as it is said, a profit of 15 per cent. A still further advantage 
 that the opium dealers possess is, that they receive nearly all the pro- 
 ceeds of the opium in money, amounting nearly to .7,000,000 sterling* 
 which gives them a preponderating influence in the money market, 
 and in regulating the rates of exchange between China and Great 
 Britain, and China and India." 
 
 As, however, this important branch of my subject 
 must come under the consideration of others far more 
 competent to deal with it than I can pretend to be, 
 I will conclude with a short summary of the effects 
 of opium-smuggling on legal traffic. Your lordship 
 will perceive that there is a difference between some 
 of the figures taken from the table on the next page 
 and the Parhamentary Blue Book of 1854, and those 
 quoted from publications of earlier dates. 
 
 The trade with China has always been considered 
 by the Chinese as a barter trade, and it has been so 
 in Canton to a great extent. 
 
 China has no paper currency worthy of notice, 
 and, therefore, she is dependent on a clumsy metallic 
 currency, consisting of Spanish dollars and ingots of 
 silver. There is also a copper coin used by the 
 poorer classes. 
 
TABLE 
 
 Drawn up from Official Returns, showing the value of Opium Smuggling in 
 excess of the Legal Trade of India, and the drain of Specie from China to ^ 
 the detrmient of the Commerce of Great Britain ; the exchange calculated 
 10 rupees for Jgl sterling. 
 
 Imports. 
 Merchandise 
 
 1849-50. 
 
 1850-51. 
 
 1851-52. 
 
 1852-53. 
 
 1853-54. 
 
 187,099 
 797,917 
 
 153,445 
 441,627 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 223,797 
 888,318 
 
 224,176 
 1,189,480 
 
 246,403 
 148,875 
 
 Treasure 
 
 Total Imports 
 
 Exports. 
 Opium 
 
 985,016 
 
 3,171,761 
 49,579 
 60,356 
 
 595,072 
 
 2,777,518 
 
 267,773 
 
 20,000 
 
 1,112,115 
 
 2,713,469 
 508,259 
 None. 
 
 1,413,656 
 
 3,482,948 
 
 353,551 
 
 5,275 
 
 395,278 
 
 3,069,895 
 185,923 
 260,700 
 
 Other Merchandise 
 
 Treasure 
 
 Total Exports .... 
 
 Imports. 
 Merchandise 
 
 3,281,696 
 
 3,064,291 
 
 3,221,728 
 
 3,841,774 
 
 3,516,518 
 
 10,365 
 
 2,856 
 
 MADRAS. 
 8,995 16,030 
 
 14,268 
 
 1,783 
 
 Treasure , 
 
 Total Imports .... 
 
 Exports. 
 Merchandise 
 
 13,491 
 
 105,534 
 55 
 
 8,995 
 118,820 
 
 16,030 
 136,276 
 
 14,268 
 166,202 
 
 1,783 
 
 87,530 
 20 
 
 Treasure . . 
 
 Total Exports 
 
 Imports. 
 Merchandise 
 
 105,589 
 
 118,820 
 
 136,276 
 
 166,202 
 
 37,550 
 
 610,068 
 1,576,144 
 
 826,929 
 1,403,655 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 688,332 
 1,413,474 
 
 628,498 
 1,241,327 
 
 562,154 
 502,890 
 
 Treasure 
 
 Total Imports ..,. 
 
 Exports. 
 Merchandise 
 
 2,186,212 
 
 704,858 
 
 2,371,827 
 
 250 
 
 2,230,584 
 
 891,620 
 
 2,96,560 
 
 1,000 
 
 2,101,806 
 
 1,794,789 
 
 3,368,838 
 
 3,575 
 
 1,869,825 
 
 629,624 
 
 2,987,967 
 
 26,251 
 
 1,065,044 
 
 676,449 
 
 2,732,575 
 
 459,322 
 
 Opium 
 
 Treasure 
 
 Total Exports .... 
 
 3,076,935 
 
 3,189,250 
 
 5,167,202 
 
 3,643,842 
 
 3,868,346 
 
 Exports and Imports between Great Britain and China ; the former in the 
 best year (1852), being at the rate of about l\d. for each subject of the 
 Chinese Empire. 
 
 Exports to China 
 (British produce.) 
 
 Imports from China 
 
 1849. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1853. 
 
 885,140 
 6,170,672 
 
 965,95^ 
 5,849,025 
 
 1,528,869 
 7,971,495 
 
 1,918,244 
 7,712,771 
 
 1,373,689 
 8,255,615 
 
ITS -EFFECTS UPON CHINESE COMMERCE. 47 
 
 The opium trade, however, being contraband, the 
 natives who engaged in it found it most convenient, 
 for the purpose of secrecy and despatch, to pay silver, 
 which thus became the regular mode of payment for 
 opium. 
 
 The gradual extension of this trade from half a 
 million sterling in 1816 to three millions sterling 
 before the war, seriously embarrassed the internal 
 commerce and revenues of the country by withdraw- 
 ing annually so large a sum from the needed circu- 
 lation. Since the war of 1841-2, the importations of 
 opium have continued to increase, till it now costs 
 between six and seven millions sterling. Latterly, so 
 great has been the difficulty of getting silver, that 
 part of the China produce has been paid for the 
 opium, and dollars have been imported to reheve the 
 currency at the chief ports. 
 
 This will appear more clearly by looking at the 
 following figures : 
 
 Export of produce, China to Great Britain 8,255,615 
 
 Legal imports in part payment 1,373,689 
 
 Leaving to be paid by us ^6, 881, 926 
 
 Were there no opium trade, this balance would 
 be reduced : 
 
 First, By a better price being given for the same 
 quantity of our manufactures ; and, secondly, by an 
 increased demand for them. 
 
 But the opium trade entirely changes the face of 
 affairs, and we have the following as the state of the 
 whole China Trade . 
 
48 OPIUM SMUGGLING, 
 
 
 
 9,576,061 
 
 Legal imports, British and Indian ... 2,273,591 
 
 American 900,000 
 
 Others..., 600,000 
 
 3,773,591 
 Contraband opium, at its value in 
 
 India, say 5,802,470 
 
 Export of produce : 
 
 British and Indian 9,065,955 
 
 American 2,000,000 
 
 Others 500,000 
 
 11,565,955 
 
 The opium and legal trade are mixed up to a 
 great extent, but the following is a rough analysis : 
 
 British Legal Trade : 
 
 
 
 We receive from China produce, value, say 9,065,955 
 
 For this we pay in legal merchandise, say 2,273,591 
 
 *And there remains to he paid for in opium, or in 
 
 silver, the proceeds of opium, about ^6,792,364 
 
 American Legal Trade: 
 
 
 They receive from China produce, value, say 2,000,000 
 
 For this they pay in legal merchandise, say 900,000 
 
 And there remains to he paid for in opium, or silver, 
 
 the proceeds of opium, about i 1,100,000 
 
 Opium Trade : 
 
 
 We now, in 1856, sell to the Chinese not less than 
 
 75,000 chests, value above 6,000,000 
 
 The question now is, how does this annual im- 
 portation of more than six milHons sterling of opium, 
 and the annual large export of silver, affect China 
 and the legal trade ? 
 
 In three ways, 1st, in the destructive effect of 
 
 * A part of this bullion settlement is made m London, and the amount 
 is adjusted between India and Cliuia, by biUs on England. 
 
ITS EFFECTS UPON CHINESE COMMERCE. 49 
 
 opium-smoking on the Chinese ; 2d, in the derange- 
 ment of the circulation of the country ; and, 3d, in 
 an injurious influence on the legal foreign trade. 
 
 1st. The consumption of this destructive drug is 
 just so much capital destroyed, besides involving 
 thousands of Chinese families annually in ruin, caus- 
 ing the death of many more, and spreading poverty 
 and crime over the land. 
 
 2d. The evils resulting from the derangement and 
 restriction of the circulation can scarcely be exagge- 
 rated. Suppose a country like our own suddenly 
 reduced to a state of barter, and this to continue for 
 a series of years by the withdrawal of paper credit, 
 while a very scanty quantity of metallic money 
 remained. All the evils that would thus accrue are 
 those which have fallen upon China. The whole 
 machinery of commerce is impeded and contracted 
 within the narrowest dimensions, poverty becomes 
 general, and, in the absence of efficient laws, crime 
 becomes rampant. Like the deteriorating of the 
 blood in the human system, the whole frame decays. 
 The current money annually removed from the 
 circulation of the country, through the consumption 
 of a destructive drug, the use of which is on the 
 increase, must inevitably lead the nation to ruin, 
 which can be but slightly, if at all, retarded, by the 
 inadequate supply of silver obtained from the mines 
 in China. 
 
 3d. The injurious influence on the legal foreign 
 trade is plain. Our own prosperity as a commercial 
 nation is wrapt up with the prosperity of the nations 
 with which we deal. As China becomes less and less 
 
so OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 able to bear the drain of silver^ she is gradually paying 
 for the opium with her produce, the drug thus sup- 
 planting the foreign legal merchandise. Did she 
 retain the silver to keep up a healthy circulation at 
 home, there cannot be a doubt she could consume 
 much more largely of our manufactures, besides 
 giving a better price for them. 
 
 A merchant resolved to keep himself clear of the 
 opium trade can scarcely maintain a position in 
 China. He cannot sell his manufactures for cash, 
 unless at a loosing price ; and he is constantly at a 
 disadvantage, in the difficulty of obtaining cash for a 
 favourable investment in China produce. 
 
 It has been argued that the trade is necessary to 
 keep up the commerce of the country from the 
 readiness with which it commands silver ; but this is 
 a fallacy, as has been already shown. The exchanges 
 of the East are no doubt facilitated by this trade, as 
 the larger the commerce in any part of the world, 
 the greater the facilities for exchange. Capitalists 
 in England send large sums of money out to India to 
 go to China, either in opium, or in bills on opium, 
 and to be returned home from China in bills or 
 produce, and thus the question of exchange has 
 become intricated with that of opium smuggling, and 
 affects now the general Eastern commerce of Great 
 Britain and America. It might be deemed pre- 
 sumptuous in me strongly to maintain before a 
 community like that of the British pubHc a direct 
 affirmative of the cause and evil consequences of the 
 present drain of bullion, and its effects upon the 
 monetary system of Europe. Standing, however, 
 
EXPORTATION OF BULLION. 51 
 
 upon what I consider the safe ground of facts and 
 authority, I avail myself of an extract from the Times* 
 newspaper of 23rd October, 1856. 
 
 The Board of Trade have lately published some particulars fur- 
 nished by Mr. Consul Eobertson, on the commerce of Shanghai, during 
 the past year, together with a statement of the peculiar condition of 
 that port as regards its silver currency and the premium on the 
 Carolus dollar. It appears that the imports in 1855, exclusive of 
 specie and opium, amounted to J61, 602,849, of which England sup- 
 plied jei,122,241 ; America, ^272,708; and other countries ^6207,900 ; 
 while the exports reached the extraordinary total of ^12,603,540, 
 of wHch .6,405,040 were to England, ^5,396,416 to America, and 
 j102,084 to other countries. The balance to be met was therefore 
 ieil,000,691. Towards this the treasure unported was ^62,335,017, 
 and the opium from India <3,174,949. As the two latter items 
 however amount only to .5,509,966, there is, according to these 
 figures, an additional sum of .5,490,725, which must have been 
 liquidated by some unexplained means. Discrepancies in the official 
 valuations would perhaps partly account for it, but it may be presumed 
 that at the end of the year a considerable sum remained to be dis- 
 charged by opium and silver which had yet to arrive. With regard to 
 the trade between China and the United States, the fact that while the 
 imports of American goods were only 272,708, the exports of teas, 
 silks, &e., to that country were ^65,396,416, illustrates the extent to 
 which England acts as the banking agent between them, a large pro- 
 portion of the remittances brought by each New York packet being to 
 meet the draughts from China on American account made payable in 
 London. During the year the general trade of Shanghai gave employ- 
 ment to 871 vessels, representing 311,139 tons, while the- revenue 
 derived from it by the Imperial Government in the shape of Customs* 
 duties was 62845,146. It is to be regretted that no opportunity exists 
 of making a comparative statement with previous years, accurate 
 returns not having been before obtainable. The behef is, that not- 
 withstanding the disorganized ' state of the empire, the import business 
 reached a fair average of satisfactory prices, and it appears that the 
 stocks held at the close of the year were not so heavy as had been 
 anticipated. The opium trade has lately been characterized by freedom 
 
 * Vide Abstract of Heports on the' trade of various counties and places 
 for the year 1855, presented to both Houses of Parhamcnt by command of 
 Her Majesty, 1856. Pp. 29 to 36. 
 
52 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 from the speculative fluctuations which were common when steam com- 
 munication with India was less regular, and the quotations dming the 
 past year have been steady ; but, owing to the disorganized state of 
 the interior, the Chinese dealers have restricted their investments as 
 much as possible. The tea produce of the season was very late, but 
 ultimately large supplies came down, and an extensive business took 
 place at full rates, although some of the medium classes were diverted 
 to the rising port of Foochow. 
 
 Three incidents are noticeable in this extract^ viz. : 
 the large amount of opium over British manufactures ; 
 the precarious state of the inland opium traffic ; and 
 the vigour w^ith which legal trade in tea and other 
 articles is carried on, and might be extended. 
 
 The antagonism of legal and contraband trade 
 being thus brought out, let me remind your Lordship, 
 that Lord Dalhousie in his published minute on his 
 administration of the Government of India, estimates 
 that the opium- monopoly will this year raise the 
 revenue to c5,000,000 sterling, dependent of course 
 upon increased smuggling into China. 
 
 The city article of the Times of the 18th Sep- 
 tember 1856, which discusses the question of ex- 
 change that I purposely avoid entering into, states 
 that the exportation of English goods to China 
 during the last three years, has averaged only about 
 1,300,000; with this I contrast the following state- 
 ment of the exportation of bullion, and adverting to 
 the present political and commercial state of China 
 leave others to decide whether opium smuggling is 
 or is not injurious to our manufactures, and whether 
 the income which the East India Company obtains 
 from the monopoly of the drug, is not drawn from a 
 source that ought to aliment our national prosperity 
 
COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 
 
 53 
 
 by the production of cotton, &c. for home manufac- 
 tures, and promotion of a larger demand for those 
 manufactures abroad. 
 
 EEPORT OF GOLD BULLION TO THE EAST. 
 
 FROM LONDON TO- 
 Calcutta 
 
 YEARS ENDING 7th JANUARY. 
 
 From 
 7 th Jan. to 
 7th Sept. 
 
 1852-1853. 
 
 1854. 
 
 1855. 
 
 1856. 
 
 1856. 
 
 300 
 20,950 
 
 24,207 
 2,400 
 
 133,310 
 
 120 
 310,629 
 
 350 
 
 17,889 
 
 1,232 
 
 276,912 
 
 769 
 8,327 
 1,500 
 
 136,517 
 
 
 
 Singapore, Penan g,&' 
 China J 
 
 Total .... 
 
 21,250 
 
 159,917 
 
 310,749 
 
 296,383 
 
 147,11S- 
 
 EXPORT OF SILVER BULLION TO THE EAST. 
 
 FROM LONDON TO- 
 Calcutta 
 
 YEARS ENDING 7th JANUARY. 
 
 From 
 7th Jan. to 
 7th Sept. 
 
 1852-1853. 
 
 1854. 
 
 1855. 
 
 1856. 
 
 1856. 
 
 1,266,098 
 106,979 
 948,206 
 
 117,397 
 
 985,516 
 
 228,882 
 
 1,667,976 
 
 2,084,445 
 
 125,758 
 
 26,392 
 
 108,755 
 
 2,943,411 
 
 2,372,145 
 
 177,640 
 
 2,369,315 
 
 1,419,913 
 
 2,525,114 
 
 191,833 
 
 2,955,430 
 
 2,652,268 
 
 ]VId.d.r^s 
 
 r?nmV>av 
 
 Singapore, Penang, & \ 
 China / 
 
 Total .... 
 
 2,438,680 
 
 4,966,819 
 
 3,204,336 
 
 6,339,013 
 
 8,324,645 
 
 EXPORT OF SILVER BULLION. 
 
 From MEDITERRANEAN 
 PORTS TO 
 
 Calcutta 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 From 
 January to 
 4th June. 
 
 From 
 Januarj- to 
 4th June. 
 
 1853. 
 
 1854. 
 
 1855. 
 
 1856. 
 
 1856. 
 
 88,517 
 
 175,561 
 
 5,785 
 
 643,612 
 
 No return 
 do 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 603,141 
 
 289,014 
 
 51,344 
 
 571,813 
 
 Gold. 
 
 >> 
 10,000 
 
 > 
 50,000 
 
 Silver. 
 
 88,099 
 101,663 
 
 31,885 
 
 348,797 
 570,444 
 
 Rnmhav ............ 
 
 Singapore, Penang, & \ 
 China / 
 
 Total 
 
 913,475 
 
 do 
 
 1,515,312 
 
 60,000 
 
54 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 A Committee of the House of Commons deputed 
 in 1847, to take into consideration the state of our 
 commercial relations with China, reported thus, 
 "We regret that the trade with that country has 
 been for some time in a very unsatisfactory condition, 
 and that the result of our extended intercourse has 
 by no means realised the just expectations which had 
 naturally been founded on a free access to so mag- 
 nificent a market." From the same report maybe 
 taken passim the following extracts ; " We find that 
 the difficulties of the trade do not arise from any 
 want of demand in China for articles of British 
 manufacture, or from the increasing competition of 
 other nations; the payment for opium from the 
 inordinate desire for it which prevails, and from the 
 unrecognised nature of the transaction, which 
 requires a prompt settlement of accounts, absorbs 
 the silver to the great inconvenience of the general 
 traffic of the Chinese, and tea and silk must in fact 
 pay the rest." 
 
 Another circumstance must be taken into consi- 
 deration, which is the probability that in the present 
 distracted state of China, bullion is withdrawn from 
 commerce and secreted by the people as a measure 
 of security against future vicissitudes. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 R. ALEXANDER. 
 
LETTER IV. 
 
 TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE CONTRABAND TRADE IN OPIUM. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I have felt the difficulty of condensing the 
 almost incredible operations of more than a half- 
 century's traffic, and their effects upon a people who 
 cling v^ith unenlightened pertinacity to customs 
 which they trace back, with national pride, through 
 long ages of ancestral history and tradition ; these 
 customs still remain, and, however barbarous we 
 may deem them, they witness against the boasted 
 enlightenment and Christianity of Great Britain, 
 who, by her intercourse vrith China, leaves their per- 
 manency unaltered, and has, as yet, introduced to 
 milHons of heathen men, women, and children, but 
 little beyond the lawless enterprise of contraband- 
 ism, and the unmitigated misery inseparable^ from its 
 success. 
 
 I here adduce some very competent native autho- 
 rities on the subject, beginning with the statement of 
 Kinshan, one of the Hterati of Nankin, in 1836 : 
 
56 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 " Opium is a poisonous drug, brought from foreign countries. At 
 first the smokers of it merely strive to follow the fashion of the day, but 
 in the sequel the poison takes effect, and the habit becomes fixed. The 
 sleeping smokers are like corpses, lean and haggard as demons ; such 
 are the injuries it does to life ; it throws whole families into ruin, dissi- 
 pates every kind of property, and destroys man himself. There cannot 
 be a greater evil than this. In comparison with arsenic, I pronounce it 
 to be tenfold the greater poison, for those who smoke the drug are 
 injured in many ways. 1st. It exhausts the animal spirits. Hence the 
 youth who smoke will shorten their days, and those in middle age who 
 smoke, will hasten the termination of their years. 2nd. It impedes the 
 regular performance of business. 3rd. It wastes the flesh and blood. 
 Flesh is gradually worn away and consumed from the robust who smoke, 
 and their skin hangs down like bags, the faces of the weak who smoke, 
 are black and cadaverous, and their bones are naked as billets of wood. 
 4th. It dissipates every kind of property. 5th. It renders the person 
 ill-favoured mucus flows from their nostrils, and tears from their eyes, 
 their very bodies are putrid and rotten. 6th. It promotes obscenity. 
 7th. It discovers secrets. 8th. It violates laws. 9th. It attacks the 
 vitals. lOtli. It destroys life. When he has pawned everything in his 
 possession, he wiU pawn his wife, and sell his daughters. Such are the 
 inevitable consequences." 
 
 Choo Tsun, in an able memorial, in which he 
 deprecates the legalizing of the opium trade, says : 
 
 " To sum up the matter, the wide-spreading and baneful influence of 
 opium, when regarded simply as injurious to property, is of inferior im- 
 portance, ^but when regarded as hurtful to the people, it demands most 
 anxious consideration ; for on the people lies the very foundation of the 
 empire." 
 
 Heu Naitsi, in a memorial to the Emperor, recom- 
 mending the legalizing of the traffic in opium, says : 
 
 " The population of this vast empire has increased from year to 
 year, but now the evil practice is spreading widely, and checking this 
 increase. All men smoke, the high and the low, the old and the 
 young, and life is degraded and shortened ; the subsistence of families 
 is wasted, and the wealth of the land is passing away." 
 
CHINESE REMONSTRANCES. 57 
 
 The following is a translation of a paper, written 
 to dissuade men from opium-smoking, which was 
 placarded in the streets of Canton ; 
 
 *' Of all the evils which afflict mankind, the greatest are those 
 which he perversely brings upon himself. In this life, he not only 
 follows up a line of conduct that leads him to a miserable death, but 
 he contentedly sinks down to the lowest of his species, and becomes 
 an object of hatred and scorn to his fellow-men. When people begin to 
 smoke, they at first observe no evil effects produced by it ; but having 
 smoked it still longer, the constitution gives way, the interior gradually 
 decays, thousands of worms and maggots gnaw the intestines, their 
 faces become discoloured, their teeth black, their appearance like char- 
 coal, their necks shrink in, and their whole frame is hateful as 
 that of a ghost or devil (which is the reason they are called' opium- 
 smoking devils), and, in fine, they insensibly hug their bane, till death 
 overtakes them in the very act. At first it was merely used by the 
 people of Canton and Tuhkien provinces, and those parts which border 
 on the sea ; now, however, it has gone East and West, it has crossed 
 the frontiers into Tartary ; nor is there a province in the empire where 
 it has not found its way. At first none but a few depraved wretches 
 of the male sex used it ; and now we find that even Buddhist and 
 Taonist priests, married women and young girls, are addicted to the life- 
 destroying drug. In every item, in every respect, the evil is becoming 
 more grave daily, more deeply-rooted than before ; so much so, that its 
 baneful influence seems to threaten, little by little, to degrade the whole 
 of the population of the Celestial Empire to a level with reptiles, 
 wild beasts, dogs and swine. Those foreigners, by means of their 
 poison, dupe and befool the natives of China. It is not only that year 
 by year they abstract thereby many millions of our money, but the 
 direful appearances seem to indicate a wish on their part utterly to 
 root out and extirpate us as a people. I repeat, that from the time of 
 our becoming a nation, until now, never did any evil, at first so bland^ 
 so enticing, blaze so fearfully as does this dreadful poison." 
 
 That distinguished Chinese statesman, the late 
 Commissioner Lin, in the extraordinary letter which 
 he addressed to the Queen of England, expresses 
 the following sentiments : 
 
58 OPIUM SMUOGLINO. 
 
 " That in the ways of heaven no partiality exists, and no sanction is 
 allowed to the injuring of others, for the advantage of one's self; that 
 in man's natural desires, there is not any great diversity (for where is 
 he who does not abhor death and seek life ?), these are universally 
 acknowledged principles. Though not making use of opium one's self, 
 to venture, nevertheless, on the manufacture and sale of it, and with it 
 to seduce the simple folk of this land, is to seek one's own livelihood 
 by the exposure of others to death to seek one's own advantage by 
 other men's injury ; and such acts are bitterly abhorrent to the nature 
 of man, are utterly opposed to the ways of Heaven." 
 
 The same Commissioner in his address to foreigners, 
 on the wickedness of smuggling opium, indignantly 
 asks : 
 
 " Why do you bring to our laud the opium which in your own lands 
 is not made use of? by it defrauding men of their property, and causing 
 injury to their lives ? I find that by this thmg you have seduced and 
 deluded the people of China these tens of years past ; and countless are 
 the unjust hoards that you have thus acquired. Such conduct rouses 
 indignation in every human breast ; and it is utterly inexcusable in the 
 eye of Celestial reason. It is then a traffic on which Heaven looks with 
 disgust ; and who is he that may oppose its wiU ? If, then, yom* laws 
 forbid it to be consumed by yourselves, and yet permit it to be sold that 
 it may be consumed by others, this is not in conformity with the prin- 
 ciple of doing unto others what you would they should do unto you." 
 
 Such remonstrances and statements of the evils 
 resulting to China from this traffic, might be largely 
 multiplied. But I will conclude them by repeating 
 the noble declaration of the late Emperor, made in 
 1844, when urged to legalize the trade a declara- 
 tion which is worthy of being inscribed on the ar- 
 chives of other empires and kingdoms than that of 
 China : " It is true, I cannot prevent the intro- 
 duction of the flowing poison; gain-seeking and 
 corrupt men will, for profit and sensuality, defeat my 
 
BRITISH TESTIMONIES AGAINST ITS EVILS. 59 
 
 wishes ; but nothing will induce me to derive a 
 
 revenue from the vice and misery of my people." 
 
 I now turn to the statements of Europeans, who 
 
 have witnessed these frightful and appalling evils. 
 
 The distinguished Missionary, the Rev. W. H. Med- 
 
 hurst, D.D., now of Shanghai, stated, at different 
 
 times, that 
 
 " Those wlio have not seen the effects of opium-smoking in the 
 Eastern World, can hardly form any conception of its injurious results 
 on the health, energies, and lives of those who indulge in it. The de- 
 bilitating of the constitution, and the shortening of life, are sure to 
 follow in a few years after the practice has been commenced. The 
 dealers in opium are little aware how much harm they are the instru- 
 ments of doing, by carrymg on this demorahsing and destructive traffic, 
 but the differences between the increase of the Chinese people before 
 and after the introduction of opium ought to open their eyes, and lead 
 them to ask themselves whether they are not accountable for all the 
 diseases and deaths of all those who have suffered by its introduction. 
 And, if it be true that the Chinese increased at the rate of three per 
 cent, per annum before the commencement of the traffic, and at the 
 rate of one per cent, per annum since, it would be weU for them to con- 
 sider, whether the deficiency is not to be attributed, in some degree, to 
 opium, and the guilt to be laid at the door of those who are instrumental 
 in introducing it. In putting down the slave-trade, it was not considered 
 too much to maintain a naval force on the coast of Africa ; and to 
 abolish slavery in the British dominions, the sum of ^20,000,000 
 sterhng was willingly sacrificed ; yet slavery was not productive of more 
 miserj'^ and death than the opimn traffic, nor were Britons more impli- 
 cated in the former than the latter. In the case before us, however, no 
 compensation-money could be demanded, and only a few light-armed 
 vessels would be required. The lands now employed in the cultivation 
 of the poppy, being necessarily rich and fertile, would, if laid out in the 
 raising of other productions, be equally valuable to the possessors ; and, 
 while the revenue was not duninished, the happiness, health, and 
 industry of the people, would be increased ; in addition to which, the 
 Divine blessing would, doubtless, be doubly bestowed on those who 
 renounced an apparent benefit to themselves in order to extend a real 
 good to others." 
 
60 OPIUM SMUCxGLING. 
 
 Mr. Majoribanks, President of the Select Com- 
 mittee at Canton, observed in reference to the use of 
 opium by the Chinese, 
 
 *' Opium can only be regarded, except when used as a medicine, as 
 a pernicious poison. To any friend of humanity it is a painful subject 
 of contemplation that we should continue to pour this black and en- 
 venomed poison into the sources of human happiness. The misery and 
 demoralization occasioned by it are almost beyond belief. Any man 
 who has witnessed its frightful ravages and demoralizing effects in 
 Cliina must feel deeply on this subject." 
 
 A British merchant, in an Essay on the Opium 
 Trade, writes ; 
 
 " There is but one point of difference between the intoxication of 
 ardent spirits and that of opium deserving of particular attention here, 
 and that is the tenfold force with winch every argument against the 
 former applies to the latter. There is no slavery on earth to compare 
 with the bondage into which opium casts its victims." 
 
 Mr. Montgomery Martin exclaims 
 
 " Why, the slave-trade was merciful compared with the opium- 
 trade ! We did not destroy the bodies of the Africans, for it was our 
 immediate interest to keep them alive ; we did not debase their natures, 
 corrupt their minds, nor destroy their souls. But the opium-seller 
 slays the body, after he has corrupted, degraded, and annihilated the 
 moral being of unhappy sinners ; while every hour is bringing new 
 victims to a Moloch which knows no satiety, and where the English 
 murderer and Chinese suicide vie with each other in offerings at his 
 sln-ine." 
 
 Captain John Shepperd, recently Chairman of 
 the East India Company, who has often been in 
 China, gave in evidence that 
 
 " The smoking of opium has the most demoralizing effects. To a 
 certain extent it destroys men's reason and faculties, and shortens life." 
 
OFFICIAL TESTIMONIES AGAINST ITS EVILS. 61 
 
 Sir R. Inglis, in the debate on opium in the 
 House of Parliament, April 4, 1843, stated that 
 
 " He held in liis hand a statement which had appeared in the 
 
 * Batavian Gazette,' being an account by an individual who had visited 
 one of the houses where opium was consumed. This individual said, 
 
 * I visited one of the opium-houses, and shall I tell you what I saw in 
 this ante-chamber of hell ? I thought it impossible to find anything 
 worse than the results of drinking ardent spirits, but I have succeeded 
 m finding something far worse.' He says he saw Malays, Chinese, 
 men and women, old and young, in one mass, in one common herd, 
 wallowing in their filth ; beastly, sensual, devilish, and this under the 
 eye of a Christian Government." 
 
 Captain ElHot, Her Majesty's Superintendent of 
 Trade at Canton, pointed out the necessity for the 
 occasional visits of vessels of war, to protect the 
 legal trade, on account of the embarrassments and 
 dangers arising from this ilHcit commerce. He wrote 
 to Lord Palmerston, Feb. 21, 1837 : 
 
 " The fact, that such an article should have grown to be by far 
 tlie most important part of our import trade, is of itself a source of 
 painful reflection. And the wide-spreading mischief which the manner 
 of its pursuit has necessarily entailed^ so ably and faithfully repre- 
 sented in some of the papers I have the honour to transmit to yom- 
 Lordship, aggravates the discomfort of the whole subject. 
 
 *' And, perhaps, your Lordship may be led to think that a gradual 
 check to OUR OWN growth and imports would he of salutary 
 effect. 
 
 " It cannot be good that the conduct of a great trade should be so 
 dependent upon the steady continuance of a vast prohibited traffic in 
 an article of vicious luxury, high in price, and liable to frequent and 
 prodigious fluctuation. In a mere commercial point of view, therefore, 
 1 believe it is susceptible of proof, that the gradual diversion of 
 British capital into other channels of employment than this, would be 
 attended with advantageous consequences.'''* 
 
 * Vide " Correspondence relating to Cliina, laid before the Houses of 
 ParHament m 1840." 
 
62 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 And in another letter to Lord Palmerston he 
 says : 
 
 " No man entertains deeper detestation of the disgrace and sin of 
 this forced traffic on the coast of China than the humble indi\ddual 
 who signs this despatch. I see little to choose between it and piracy." 
 
 Lord Broughton, when President of the Board of 
 Control, in the debate in Parliament on the opium 
 question, spoke thus : 
 
 ** Far be it from me to wish to say anything less than was deserved 
 of the unfortunate results of that traffic, or to palUate them. He 
 could not but deprecate it as a vice, for a great vice it was." 
 
 The Rev. E. B. Squire, who resided several years 
 in China, as an agent of the Church Missionary 
 Society, says of the opium dens in Canton : 
 
 " Never, perhaps, was there a nearer approach to hell upon earth, 
 than within the precincts of these vile hovels, where likewise, gaming 
 is carried on to a great extent." 
 
 He adds : 
 
 " Truly it is an engine in Satan's hand, and a powerful one ; but 
 let it never be forgotten that a nation professing Christianity supplies 
 the means, and that nation is England, through her possessions in 
 Hindostan." 
 
 Again, the Rev. Howard Malcolm, of the United 
 States, says: 
 
 " The great blot upon foreigners at Canton, though not upon all, is 
 the opium trade. We have little reason to wonder at the reluctance of 
 China to extend her intercourse with foreigners, when such intercourse 
 brings upon her pestilence, poverty, and crime, and distm^bance. No 
 person can describe the horrors of the opium trade. That the govern- 
 ment of British India should be the prime abettors of this abominable 
 traffic, is wrong, as we continue to introduce into China mth one Imud 
 
THE OPIUM SMOKERS. 63 
 
 our transcendantly pure Christian Gospel, but with the other the 
 destructive and demoralizing opium drug ! If ever the enterprising 
 spirit of our merchants shall succeed in breaking through the barrier 
 which ancient jealousies and habits still interpose to a free intercourse 
 with the interior of this vast empire, it will be by making the Chris- 
 tian missionary his pioneer, and by availing himself of that powerful 
 impulse which religious zeal in a righteous cause can alone confer and 
 sustain. The examples of disinterestedness and universal good-will 
 which our Christian missionaries and physicians have exhibited in 
 union, in China, in the free hospitals already established at Canton 
 and Hong Kong, are calculated to soften the obdurate hearts, and 
 have not been altogether thrown away, even upon the lawless and 
 hostile population of Southern China. It can hardly be necessary to 
 add that whatever thus raises the moral, rehgious, and social character 
 of foreigners in China, must tend, in an eminent degree, to a juster 
 appreciation amongst the Chinese of the advantages generally of 
 foreign intercourse." 
 
 From diiFerent parts of a narrative of an ex- 
 ploratory visit to each of the Consular cities of 
 China, in the Years 1844, 1845, 1846, by the Rev. 
 George Smith, now Bishop of Victoria. I extract 
 the following passages : 
 
 " Our own vessel, though not engaged in the opium trade, carried 
 750 chests, which were discharged on board one of the receiving ships 
 stationed at Woo Sung. My Cliinese boy more than once asked me 
 whether I knew there was opium on board, and what I should say in 
 reply to the Chinese, if, after hearing me speak about Yay-soo-taou-le, 
 * Jesus' doctrines,' they should ask why I had come in a ship that 
 brought opium, of wliich so many of his countrymen ate and perished?" 
 
 Again, at page 499 : 
 
 " The Chinese as a Government have been, during the last half 
 century, opposed to the introduction of opium into the country. Indi- 
 vidual officers have, for the sake of peace or bribes, doubtless connived 
 at the e\dl ; but, as a Government, they have prohibited the introduction 
 of opium by that inalienable, inviolable right, by wliich every Govern- 
 
64 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 ment can exclude articles of contraband trade. Consistently with the 
 prohibited importation of opium, its growth has been interdicted in 
 China itself, in six provinces of which it has at various times been 
 clandestinely raised. The Chinese Government have always had it in 
 their power to exclude foreign opium, by the simple process of 
 encouraging the growth on their own soil. They have, however, pursued 
 the opposite course ; no sHght evidence that the moral evils greatly, if 
 not principally, influenced the prohibition of opium by the Imperial 
 Government." 
 
 Did space permit, I would gladly quote the whole 
 of the 29th chapter of the Bishop's work. He thus 
 describes the opium smokers : 
 
 " They formed a motley group of sallow, sunken cheeks, and glassy, 
 watery eyes, as, mth idiotic look and vacant laugh, they volunteered 
 items of information, and described the process of their own degradation. 
 There was to be seen the youth who, just emerging from boyhood, had 
 only commenced the practice and was now hastening to premature old 
 age ; there was the man of middle age, who, for half his life a victun 
 of this indulgence, was bearing to an early grave the wreck of his worn- 
 out constitution ; there was the elderly man, whose iron strength of 
 frame could better ward off the slow but certain advances of decrepitude, 
 but whose bloated cheek and vacant stare told of the struggle that was 
 raging within ; there was, again, the early spectacle of old age ; and 
 the man of sixty lived to teU of forty years consumed in the seductions 
 of this vice. They all assented to the evils of their course, and pro- 
 fessed a desne to be freed from its power. They all complained of loss 
 of appetite of the agonizing craving of the early morning of prostra- 
 tion of strength, and of increasing feebleness ; but said they could not 
 gain resolution to overcome the habit. They all stated its intoxicating 
 effects to be worse than those of drunkenness, and described the extreme 
 dizziness and vomiting which ensued, so as to incapacitate them for 
 exertion. The oldest man, with strange inconsistency and candour 
 expatiated on the misery of his course. For three years he had 
 abandoned the indulgence, at the period of Commissioner Lin's edicts 
 and compulsory prohibition of opium. At the conclusion of the British 
 war, the foreign opium ships came unmolested to Amoy ; he opened an 
 opium shop for gain, and soon fell a victim to the drug. Some of the 
 
OFFICIAL TESTIMONY AGAINST ITS EVILS. 65 
 
 Chinese asked us to give them medicine to cure them of the habit. On 
 hearing that I was an English missionary, they exposed the inconsist- 
 ency of my rebuking them for smoking opium, while my countrymen 
 brought them the means of indulging it. 
 
 " The opium drain is severely felt in China, the more patriotic of their 
 scholars speak of the rapid decay of their cities from their ancient 
 wealth and splendour as the consequence of the system. This subject 
 is the great difficulty that will, sooner or later, embarrass the two Go- 
 vernments. Let then the Christian legislators of Great Britain look 
 to this evil, and boldly confront the danger. Let Indian revenues be 
 collected from other sources than from a nation whose Government we 
 liave humbled to the dust, and incapacitated for the vigorous enforce- 
 ment of her laws. Britain has displayed her power, the giant's 
 attribute. Let her also exhibit the noble spectacle of a Christian 
 Government, superior to the arts of oppression, and actuated by a 
 regard for the best interests of mankind." 
 
 Sir George Staunton, than whom there is no 
 higher authority in questions pertaining to China, 
 thus expresses his view of the subject : 
 
 ** Every friend of humanity must surely desire that the revenues 
 raised from the vast and fertile fields of India should be derived from 
 a produce beneficial to man, rather than from one which, however 
 ingeniously defended, or at least palliated, unquestionably leads him 
 morally, as well as physically, to his destruction. It is mere trifling to 
 defend the cultivation of opium on the score of its utility in medicine. 
 The drug used in medicine, and that prepared for the purpose of a 
 vicious luxury, are weU known to be totally and essentially different. 
 The same may be said of the attempt to place the abuse of opium upon 
 the same level with the abuse of spirituous liquors. It is the main 
 purpose in the former case ; but in the latter it is only the exception. 
 Nor can the opium farms be fairly justified on the ground of their 
 supposed analogy to our gin-shops. It is true that our government 
 tolerates gin-shops, but at least it does not build and maintain them. 
 I cannot, therefore, but think that if Mr. Ball shall have decided the 
 Government of India to persevere in their encouragement of the culti- 
 vation of the grateful, and at least innoxious, tea-shrubs, in place of 
 the seducing, but poisonous poppy, he will be entitled to the cordial 
 thanks of every genuine philanthropist." 
 
66 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 But what will our countrymen think of an extract 
 from Mons. Hue's '' Chinese Empire/' published at 
 Paris in 1855 : 
 
 " When we set off again, we remarked that our escort was much 
 more numerous than usual. Our palanquins proceeded between a 
 double line of lancers on horseback, whom it appeared the Governor of 
 Tchioung-tcheou had given us to protect us from robbers. These 
 robbers were the smugglers of opium, and we were informed that for 
 several years past they had come in great numbers to the province of 
 Yun-nan, and even as far as Birmah, to fetch the opium sent to them 
 from India. They came back with their contraband goods quite openly^ 
 but armed to the teeth, in order to be able to defy the mandarins who 
 might oppose their passage. Instances were mentioned to us, of 
 murderous conflicts in which both sides had fought desperately, the one 
 to keep, the other to get, the smuggled goods ; for Chinese soldiers are 
 only valiant against robbers and smugglers when they hope to get pos- 
 session of the booty themselves. When these armed bands of opium 
 traders meet any rich travellers on the road, they seldom fail to do a 
 little more business by attacking and plundering them. 
 
 " Everybody is aware of the unfortunate passion of the Chinese for 
 opium, and of the war this fatal drug occasioned in 1840, between 
 China and England. Its importance in the Celestial Empire is of 
 rather recent date, but there is no trade in the world the progress of 
 which has been so rapid. Two agents of the East India Company were 
 the first who, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, conceived the 
 deplorable thought of sending to China the opium of Bengal. Colonel 
 Watson and Vice-President Wheeler are the persons to whom the 
 Chinese are indebted for this new system of poisoning. History has 
 preserved the name of Parmentier; why should it not also those of 
 these two men ? Whoever has done either great good or great harm 
 to mankind ought to be remembered, to excite either gratitude or 
 indignation. 
 
 " At present China purchases annually of the English opium to the 
 amount of seven millions sterling ; the trafiic is contraband, but it is 
 carried on along the whole coast of the empire, and especially in the 
 neighbourhood of the five ports which have been opened to the Europeans. 
 Large fine vessels, armed like ships of war, serve as depots to the 
 English merchants, and the trade is protected, not only by the English 
 Government, but also by the mandarins of the Celestial Empire. The 
 
FRENCH TESTIMONY AGAINST ITS EVILS. 67 
 
 law which forbids the smoking of opium under pain of death, has indeed 
 never been repealed ; but every body smokes away quite at his ease 
 notwithstanding. Pipes, lamps, and all the apparatus for smoking 
 opium, are sold publicly in every town, and the mandarins themselves 
 are the first to violate the law and give this bad example to the people, 
 even in the courts of justice. During the whole of our long journey 
 through China, we met with but one tribunal where opium was not 
 smoked openly and with impunity. 
 
 " At Canton, at Macao, and at other ports open to European com- 
 merce, we have heard people attempt to justify the trade in opium, by 
 the assertion that its effects were not so bad as wa^ supposed ; and that, 
 as with fermented liquors and many other substances, the abuse only 
 was injurious. A moderate use of opium, it was said, was rather bene- 
 ficial to the feeble and lymphatic Chinese. Those who speak thus, 
 however, are commonly dealers in opium, and it is easy to suppose that 
 they seek by aU possible arguments to quiet then* consciences, which 
 can hardly fail to tell them they are committing a bad action. But the 
 spirit of trade and thirst of gold completely blind these men, who, with 
 this exception, are generous in thek conduct, keep their purses always 
 open to the unfortunate, and are prompt in every good work. These 
 rich speculators live habitually in the midst of gaiety and splendoxu*, and 
 thmk little of the frightful consequences of their detestable traffic. 
 When from their superb palace-lilte mansions on the sea shore, they see 
 their beautiful vessels returning from the Indies, gliding majestically 
 over the waves, and entering with all their sails spread into the port, 
 they do not reflect that the cargoes borne in these superb clippers are 
 bringing ruin and desolation to numbers of families. With the exception 
 of some rare smokers who, thanks to a quite exceptional organisation, 
 are able to restrain themselves within the bounds of moderation, all 
 others advance rapidly towards death, after having passed through the 
 successive stages of idleness, debauchery, poverty, the ruin of their phy- 
 sical strength, and the complete prostration of their intellectual and 
 moral faculties. Nothing can stop a smoker who has made much 
 progress in this habit ; incapable of attending to any kind of business, 
 insensible to every event the most hideous poverty, and the sight of a 
 family plunged into despair and misery, cannot rouse him to the 
 smallest exertion, so complete is the disgusting apathy in which he is 
 sunk. 
 
 " For several years past some of the southern provinces have been 
 actively engaged in the cultivation of the poppy and the fabrication of 
 
68 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 opium. The English merchants confess that the Chinese product is of 
 excellent quality, though inferior to that of Bengal ; but the English 
 opium suffers so much adulteration before it reaches the pipe of the 
 smoker, that it is not in reality as good as what the Chinese themselves 
 prepare. The latter, however, though delivered perfectly pure, is sold 
 at a low price, and only consumed by the smokers of the lowest class. 
 That of the English, notwithstanding its adulteration, is very dear, and 
 reserved to smokers of distinction; a caprice which, can only be 
 accounted for from the vanity of the rich Chinese, who would "think it 
 beneath them to smoke tobacco of native production, and not of a 
 ruinous price ; that which comes from a long way off must evidently 
 be preferable. 
 
 " ' Tutto il mondo e fatto come la nostra famiglia.* 
 
 " It may be easily foreseen, however, that this state of things cannot 
 last ; and it is probable that the Chinese will soon cultivate the poppy 
 on a large scale, and make at home all the opium necessary for their 
 consumption. The English cannot possibly offer an equally good article 
 at the same price ; and when the fashion, at present in their favour, 
 shall have altered, they will no longer be able to sustain the competition. 
 When that happens, British India will experience a terrible blow, that 
 may possibly even be felt in the English metropolis, and then, who 
 knows whether the passion of the Chinese for this fatal drug may not 
 decline. It would be by no means surprising if, when they can procure 
 opium easily, and at a low price, they should gradually abandon this 
 degrading and murderous habit. 
 
 " It is said that the people of London, and many of the great manu- 
 facturing towns of England, have been for some time addicted to the 
 use of opium, both in its liquid and solid form ; but the circumstance 
 has attracted little attention, though the progress of the habit is alarm- 
 ing. Curious and instructive would it be indeed, if we should one day 
 see the English going to buy opium in the ports of China, and their 
 ships bringing back from the Celestial Empire this deleterious stuff to 
 poison England. Well might we exclaim in such a case, ' Leave judg- 
 ment to God!'" 
 
 To add to such autliorities European, Ameri- 
 can, and Chinese would be superfluous: I will 
 therefore conclude my extracts with another of the 
 
OFFICIAL TESTIMONY AGAINST ITS EVILS. 69 
 
 emphatic statements of Mr. Montgomery Martin, 
 who, be it remembered, was Her Majesty's Treasurer 
 in China, and returned to England to lay before Her 
 Majesty's Government a Report on the state of our 
 affairs in that country. In the Minutes of Evidence 
 before the Select Committee of the House of Com- 
 mons, on commercial relations with China (1847) 
 are to be found the following question and answer : 
 
 " 3941. In what respect do you think the trade injurious to us in 
 our relations with China ? 
 
 " 3942. Politically, with reference to our position with the Govern- 
 ment of China. Had France, or America, or Russia, granted us an 
 island on their coast, as a commercial station, and had they prohibited 
 the use of opium, helie\dng it to be injmious, we dare not in that case 
 have made it a smoking-shop for the empire ; and I would not act to 
 the Chinese Government in a different manner than I would act to a 
 government in Europe. Then, socially speaking, I believe it is the 
 duty of this Government to uphold moral principles, and to disseminate 
 religious truth, and she cannot do that with one hand, while on the 
 other she is introducing into China an amount of opium which furnishes 
 17 grains a- day to each of three millions of people, and which, in the 
 language of Mr. Lay, her Majesty's late Consul at Amoy, is ' ham- 
 stringing the nation :' that was the expression of Mr. Lay. I think it 
 is desolating China, corrupting its government, and bringing the fabric of 
 that extraordinary empire to a state of more rapid dissolution. Com- 
 mercially speaking, it is injurious to us, because it prevents the extension 
 of our manufactures in China. Four or iive mercantile houses are 
 engaged in that traffic, and derive a large amount of income from it, 
 but the trade in England is materially cramped by the extension of 
 opium consumption in China, to the extent of at least four millions 
 sterling." 
 
 That the stigma of smuggling is peculiarly British 
 I prove by the facts of the Spaniards prohibiting the 
 export of opium from Manilla to China, and the 
 Dutch from Batavia. The Americans having, like 
 
70 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 ourselves, entered into a treaty by which smugghng 
 the drug is prohibited, no vessel of the United States 
 dare cover the contraband article with their star- 
 spangled banner in the presence of their Consular 
 authorities. The red-cross flag of England, my 
 Lord, flies over the ships of other countries while 
 engaged in their buccaneering traffic, and our na- 
 tional faith is not only habitually broken, but was 
 especially dishonoured, when so late as September, 
 1855, the English opium smugglers, at anchor at 
 Foo Choofoo, saluted with their cannon his Excel- 
 lency Sir J. Bowring, Her Britannic Majesty's repre- 
 sentative in China. 
 
 Nor let any one imagine that England is allowed 
 to encourage crime with impunity. Retribution is 
 overtaking us, and the plague is spreading, es- 
 pecially among our working classes, and with the 
 votaries of fashionable life. Besides the use of 
 opium in other ways, I am informed by an eye- 
 witness that miscreants, who probably learned the 
 trade in China or India, have established smoking 
 dens in London, at which victims are intoxicated 
 cheaper than with gin. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c., 
 
 R. ALEXANDER. 
 
LETTER V. 
 
 the illegality of the opium monopoly, and 
 suggestions for its suppression. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 The last point which I undertake to 
 assert is, that not only is the opium traffic contraband 
 in China, but that the opium monopoly in India is as 
 contrary to the laws of this kingdom, as to the dictates 
 of humanity, and every sound principle of inter- 
 national policy and commercial economy. 
 
 To maintain this proposition, I turn to the Act 
 of Parliament 3 & 4 William IV, cap. 85, entitled 
 ^' An Act for effecting an arrangement with the East 
 India Company, and for the better government of 
 His Majesty's Indian territories (28th August 1833,) 
 by the third section of which is enacted, " that the 
 exclusive right of trading with the dominions of the 
 Emperor of China, and of trading in tea, continued 
 to the said Company by the Act of the fifty-third 
 year of King George the Third, shall cease." 
 
 Had legislation stopped here, it would have left 
 no alternative but for obedience to be rendered 
 according to the literal meaning of a positive com- 
 mand. But not only did Parliament enact that the 
 exclusive right of trading with China should cease, it 
 went on by the fourth section of the same Act 
 further to prescribe, that '' the said Company shall 
 
72 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 with all convenient speed after the 22nd day of April 
 1834, close their commercial business and make sale 
 of all their merchandise, stores and effects, at home 
 and abroad, distinguished in their account books as 
 commercial assets, and all their warehouses, lands, 
 tenements, hereditaments, and property whatsoever, 
 which may not be retained for the Government of the 
 said territories, and get in all debts due to them on 
 account of the commercial branch of their affairs, 
 and reduce their commercial establishments as the 
 same shall become necessary, and discontinue and 
 abstain from all commercial business which shall not 
 be incident to the closing of their actual concerns, 
 and to the conversion into money of the property 
 hereinto-before directed to be sold, or which shall 
 not be carried on for the purposes of the said 
 Government." 
 
 So fully in earnest was the mind of the nation 
 upon this important question : so determined in its 
 deliberate wisdom to put an end to the anomaly of a 
 Sovereign power being engaged in speculations and 
 unseemly competition with the interests of its subjects, 
 that by Section VI. of the above-named Act, the 
 Board of Control was authorised ^' to superintend, 
 direct, and control the sale of the said merchandise, 
 stores and effects, and other property herein-before 
 
 directed to be sold, and the said 
 
 Board shall and may appoint such officers as shall 
 be necessary to attend upon the said Board during 
 the winding up of the commercial business of the 
 said Company." 
 
ILLEGAL BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT. 73 
 
 Such was the law introduced by the Minister of 
 the Crown to the House of Commons, carried through 
 the Peers, and estabhshed by the concurrent autho- 
 rity of the three constitutional powers of the realm. 
 Its purposes and provisions were so fully apprehended, 
 that whatever fell under the vigilant observation of 
 the people of this country, was, with legal prompti- 
 tude carried into effect. The East India Company 
 parted with the finest commercial navy the world 
 had ever seen, and pensioned the officers of that de- 
 partment of their service : trade property was sold, 
 accounts closed, and warehouses disposed of; the 
 delegated sovereignty of the East was raised to its 
 proper dignity, and commerce, reheved from the 
 trammels in which it had been guided and restrained 
 since the year 1600, appeared to have a fair field for 
 free trade, to the reciprocal benefit of Great Britain, 
 China, and our empire in India. Parliament and 
 people, happy in this as in other instances, to think 
 that an important question had beeh satisfactorily 
 settled, confided in the obedient integrity of the 
 executive authorities, and turned their attention to 
 other subjects. That this national confidence has 
 not been justified is manifest in the fact, that though 
 the East India Company relinquished trade in tea, 
 and all that was deemed competitive in England, they 
 illegally retained two monopoHes by which free trade 
 and production were most effectually repressed 
 abroad. By the salt monopoly, the use of one of the 
 principal supports of human existence is restricted 
 in quantity and enhanced in price to 150,000,000 of 
 
74 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 our Indian fellow subjects ; and by the monopoly of 
 opium, a poisonous drug is cultivated for, and sold 
 by, the East India Company, for the purpose of so 
 ^' exclusively trading with the dominions of the Em- 
 peror of China," that no other opium shall be brought 
 into competition. 
 
 It is also to be remarked, that although under 
 the 33rd George III, cap. 52, sec. cxxxvi, the in- 
 land trade in salt, beetle nut, tobacco, and rice, was 
 granted to the East India Company, that of opium 
 was not included by what right, therefore, the local 
 Government maintained the odious monopoly of this 
 drug, or continued that of salt, after the Act 3 & 4 
 of WiUiam IV, cap. 85, was passed, is not to be 
 discovered by a perusal of the laws under which 
 India is, or should be, governed. All that appears by 
 them is, that of the two monopolies now in existence, 
 that of opium was never granted by the law of this 
 country, and both it and the monopoly of salt have 
 been exercised with more intense illegahty since the 
 year 1834, when the present corporation ceased to be 
 " the United Company of Merchants trading to the 
 East Indies," and by virtue of Sect, cxi, 3 & 4 
 William IV, cap. 85, became the '' East India Com- 
 pany" without either commercial charter, rights, 
 privileges, or designation. 
 
 If ambiguities were to be recognised in Acts of 
 Parliament, I confess that one might be suspected in 
 the concluding words of Sect, iv, 3 & 4 William IV, 
 cap. 85. To show, however, that "the purposes of 
 Government" there meant, are only such as might be 
 
BRITISH RESPONSIBILITY^ 75 
 
 lawfully carried on after the cessation of all trade 
 and the closing of all commercial accounts, reference 
 may be made to the explanatory note in the margin 
 of the Act, which, though not of judicial authority, 
 may in all fairness be taken to express the mind of 
 Parliament, as understood by the House and its own 
 officers, in these words, '' Company to close their 
 commercial business, and to sell their property not 
 retained for Government ; " this obvious meaning 
 is borne out by the evident necessity of so far quah- 
 fying the preceding part of the section, as to enable 
 the Company to retain unsold their house in Leaden- 
 hall Street, and the various Government houses, public 
 offices, and depots, which every State must possess 
 for transaction of its business, safe keeping of clothing 
 and arms for troops, ordnance material, provisions, 
 and grain. 
 
 It is only on the supposition that the East India 
 Company must have something to adduce in ex- 
 tenuation of their flagrant violation of the laws of their 
 country, and because I cannot discover any other 
 passage in the Acts of Parliament that could be used 
 as a peg on which to hang a plausibility in explanation 
 of their conduct, that I enter so fully upon what might 
 otherwise appear unworthy of argument. Let me, 
 however, if possible, exhaust the subject. 
 
 My argument is strengthened by the 5th section 
 of the above-named Act of William IV, which pro- 
 vides that " the Company may sell at the sales of their 
 own goods and merchandise by this Act described, or 
 authorised to be sold, such goods and merchandise 
 
76 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 the property of other persons, as they may now 
 lawfully sell at their public sales." By section i, no 
 commercial business, and consequently no sales, are 
 permitted to the Company except for the purpose of 
 winding up their trading business : by section 5, 
 they may sell at such sales, but at no others, the 
 goods of other persons : therefore, even though opium 
 should be incidentally included in this permission, it 
 is plainly only allowable to sell it at such sales as are 
 authorised by the Act itself whereas it is a patent 
 fact that the sales of opium are a distinct thing, and 
 in no way connected with the sale of any other 
 merchandize. 
 
 But admitting, merely on behalf of the East 
 India Company, that a British Parliament could 
 have been so lost to all feelings of legislative dignity, 
 as purposely to have left open a door for opium 
 smuggling to be driven through its Act, the futility 
 of such proceeding is palpable to every mind 
 acquainted with the fundamental principle of our 
 common law, that nothing can be recognised as legiti- 
 mate which is contrary to reason and religion. That 
 the opium traffic is under every aspect and in every 
 incident contrary to both, is simply proved by the 
 monopoly in India being arbitrary and impolitic, and 
 the trade in China contraband, carried on against the 
 known laws of the empire, and deeply dyed with the 
 blood of its victims and opponents. Reason and re- 
 ligion alike condemn its existence and its crime, and 
 both are happily combined in the dicta of the great 
 commentator on our laws. In Vol. I, of Blackstone, 
 
ILLEGAL BY ACT OF PARLL\MENT. 77 
 
 and in the third section, which treats of " The Laws 
 of England," we find among the rules given for the 
 construction of Statutes, that " One part of a Statute 
 must be so construed by another, that the whole may 
 (if possible) stand : ut res magis valeat, quam pereat,'' 
 We find also these words : " Lastly, Acts of Parliament 
 that are impossible are no validity; and if there 
 arise out of them collaterally any absurd conse- 
 quences, manifestly contradictory to common reason, 
 they are, with regard to these collateral consequences, 
 
 void Where some collateral matter 
 
 arises out of the general words, and happens to be 
 unreasonable, then the judges are in decency to con- 
 clude that this consequence was not foreseen by Par- 
 liament ; and therefore they are at liberty to expound 
 the statute by equity, and only quoad hoc disregard 
 it." Now, to such a construing of our laws, I gladly 
 commit the few concluding words of the section of 
 our Act of Parliament, well assured by common 
 reason, and every idea of decency, that it was not 
 foreseen by Parliament, that an Act for the cessa- 
 tion of legal commerce was to convey either sanction 
 or authority for the most outrageous contrabandism 
 by which humanity has ever been disgraced. 
 
 The limits of a pamphlet oblige me to omit from 
 these letters much that I desire to bring to the know- 
 ledge and consideration of its readers, who yet require 
 to be informed of the atrocities of the opium trade in 
 Cochin China, Siam, Borneo, Sumatra, and on the 
 coasts and islands of the Malay peninsula; of the 
 demorahzation that follows upon the gambling and 
 respondentia transactions connected with Government 
 
78 OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 sales in Calcutta, and opium speculations at Bombay, 
 as ruinous to individuals as are, in this country, the 
 risks upon horse racing to the victims of the turf 
 I could bring forward much more evidence from our 
 Parliamentary Blue Books, and also show to my 
 countrymen how such distinguished men as the 
 Count de Montalembert* and other French and 
 American writers hold up to the reprobation of 
 mankind a traffic, the opprobrium of which is at- 
 tached to our nation by the suicidal impolicy of the 
 East India Company and the oversight or connivance 
 of a Minister of the Crown. 
 
 But it may, and I presume it will, be asked, what 
 is the East India Company to do for the revenue 
 derived from this source ? I might answer. Let 
 the merchants and Parliament of Great Britain 
 answer that question ; or, taking a higher ground, 
 point to an example in our Bibles, recorded in the 
 Second Book of Chronicles, xxv. 9, "And Ama- 
 ziah said. But what shall we do for the two hundred 
 talents ? And the man of God answered. The Lord 
 is able to give thee much more than this." On the 
 authority of parties interested in the present system, 
 i, e, opium agents, whose writings I have before me, 
 I find that the poppy requires the richest lands in 
 India for its cultivation, and is a plant of extreme 
 delicacy, and liable to injury in many w^ays from 
 variations of temperature, changes of wind, a greater 
 or less quantity of dew, and other frequently occur- 
 ing causes. The soil best suited for its growth is 
 the best adapted for the richest productions of 
 * " The Political Euture of England," by Count de Montalembert, p. 219. 
 
MEANS OF SUPPRESSION. 79 
 
 the East^ such as sugar, cotton, indigo, and others, 
 for which this country can give her manufactures 
 in exchange. Why, my Lord, it seems to be an 
 insult to the administrative wisdom and moral 
 feelings of our nation to entertain for a moment 
 such a supposition, as that in the undeveloped 
 resources of the richest portion of the globe, inha- 
 bited by upwards of 150,000,000 intelligent subjects 
 of our gracious Sovereign, there are not sufficient 
 means of raising revenue* without having recourse 
 to an expedient as degrading as it is uncertain. By 
 such political economy we are exposed, not only to 
 the contempt of true statesmen and philanthropists, 
 but to that righteous retribution which both Divine 
 Revelation and the whole history of mankind show 
 to be inextricably involved in every unholy system 
 based upon false principles. The East India Com- 
 pany appear blind to the dangerous precariousness 
 of the profits upon which they rely, and to the fact 
 that with the growth of their monopoly has also 
 grown the impending element of its destruction, 
 either by success of the demand now made in the 
 name of justice and humanity for the abolition of 
 opium smuggling, or by the eventually certain climax 
 of its perishing under the weight and consequences of 
 accumulated misery and crime. 
 
 Let, however, the East India Company diminish 
 its advances for poppy cultivation by twenty or 
 twenty-five per cent per annum, maintaining its own 
 
 * See on this important subject Colonel Arthur Cotton's pamphlet, pub- 
 lished by Richardson & Co., " Profits on British Capital expended on Indian 
 Public Works;" also that officer's and Mr. Boui-nc's pamplilets, "Public 
 Works in India." 
 
80 OPIUM SMUGGLING. 
 
 imposed restrictions upon the growth, and in a few 
 years there would not be produced more than suffi- 
 cient opium for the purposes of legal trade and jus- 
 tifiable uses. Their government would thus free itself 
 from the odium of an illegal and impolitic monopoly ; 
 and, acting in accordance with the right principle, 
 which I quoted from a paper of their own publica- 
 tion, would afford opportunity for private capital to 
 be employed in those districts from whence mono- 
 poly excludes competition, and where the wealth of 
 the Government Treasury excites an unnatural de- 
 velopment ; in the ordinary course of events, this 
 would soon subside, and the legal cultivation and 
 trade in opium fall to their level in the relative value 
 and importance of sound commercial enterprise. 
 Most deeply are our manufacturers and merchants 
 interested in this question ; for there is not a poppy 
 field in which cotton might not be grown, nor a chest 
 of opium provided in India that does not render 
 Manchester and the trading cities and towns of 
 Great Britain more dependent upon the American 
 market for slave produce from the shores of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 One sentence, my Lord, from a despatch of the 
 East India Company, would, if acted upon in sin- 
 cerity, settle the whole question : 
 
 '^ Were it possible to prevent the use of the 
 drug altogether, except strictly for the purpose 
 of medicine, we would gladly do it in compassion 
 
 to mankind." 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 Your Lordship's most obedient Servant, 
 
 London Nov. 1856. R. ALEXANDER. 
 
WPIAT IS THE OPIUM TRADE 
 
 BY DONALD MATHESON, ESQ. 
 
 FORMERLY OF CHINA. 
 
 EDINBURGH; THOMAS CONSTABLE AND CO. 
 HAMH.TON, ADAMS, AND CO., LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCLVII. 
 
WHAT IS THE OPIUM TRADE! 
 
 As so little is known by the public generally on the subject 
 of the trade in Opium with China, and as erroneous and exag- 
 gerated views have been put forth in the absence of correct 
 information, it is hoped that the following plain statement of 
 facts may not seem uncalled for at the present time. 
 
 The first inquiry which naturally suggests itself is, What 
 is opium-smoking, for which this extensive trade exists ? 
 
 Opium-smoking, then, is not, as some suppose, similar to 
 tobacco-smoking, where the smoke is merely taken into the 
 mouth and forthwith puffed out again. In the case of opium, 
 the fumes are inhaled into the lungs by a deep-drawn breath, 
 and retained as long as possible. There they ''act on the ner- 
 vous fibres that are spread over the extensive membrane which 
 lines every cell of the lung," and the effect of this process on 
 the human system is even more injurious than that of eating 
 opium. In proof of this it may be stated, that the regular 
 smoker in China arrives at the same stage of delirium by the 
 use of about one-third of what is required by a regular opium- 
 eater in Turkey.* When a Chinese is about to partake of the 
 indulgence, he retires to a private apartment, and, reclining on 
 a couch, takes his pipe, made for the purpose, and placing upon 
 the bowl of it a little opium, about the size of a pea, he sets it 
 
 * Dr. Smith, while at Smyrna, took pains to observe what the doses of opium 
 taken by the Turks in general were. He found that three drachms in a day was 
 a cqmmon quantity among the larger eaters of it, but that they could take six 
 drachms a day without mischief. Rees' Encydopcedia. 
 
on fire at a small lamp, and then throwing himself back on the 
 couch, inhales the smoke at short intervals in a listless mood, 
 till he has attained the desired stimulus, or delirium, as the 
 case may be. If he is a confirmed victim, he usually falls into 
 a profound but restless sleep, till the effects of the indulgence 
 have passed oflp. In the latter case, the craving soon returns, 
 and with it all the languor and misery and pain, till the next 
 period of relief. 
 
 Evidence as to the pernicious eff'ects of this practice on the 
 population is sufficiently abundant.* ISTevertheless, being chiefly 
 gathered from what has been witnessed in the public smoking- 
 shops, and among the lower orders, it must be admitted that 
 this is but one phase of the case. The writer has inspected 
 some of these opium dens, and although more quiet prevails 
 there than in a London gin-palace, the grovelling sensuality is 
 greatly more painful to the visitor. On the other hand, as 
 practised in private houses, there is not the same outrage on 
 public decency as in the case of drunkenness. The victim 
 quietly sleeps off his debauch. But those who would compare 
 this with drinking wine, or ale, or even spirits, in moderation, 
 must be unwilling to look at it in its true light. The only 
 comparison that can be made is between opium-smoking and 
 drunkenness ; and we all know the wretchedness which that 
 produces in our own land. Opium, however, is unquestion- 
 
 * Dr. Little states, that in 1847 there was in Singapore a population of 40,000 
 Chinese, male and female, of whom about 15,000 of both sexes smoked opium ; the 
 average quantity being about twenty grains' weight per day for each person, 
 although ranging from 10 to 200 grains (the latter in rare cases) per day. In the 
 course of his investigations he visited eighty licensed smoking-shops, and examined 
 603 persons who smoked opium. The rate of wages for a labourer there is about 
 six dollars per month, or one shilling per day, and this sum is also about the ave- 
 rage sum daily expended on opium by the Chinese in that settlement ; the poorer 
 victims in some cases expending their whole earnings. Some of these had been 
 addicted to the vice for twenty-five years ; but a much shorter period produced 
 sickness and emaciation. He states as the result of his experience, that " the 
 habitual use of opium not only renders the life of the man miserable, but is a 
 powerful means of shortening that life." He adds, " I cannot suppose, after what 
 has been written, that one individual can be found to deny the evil effects of the 
 habit, the physical disease it produces, with the prostration of mind and the cor- 
 ruption of morals." - See Dr. Little's pamphlet on the Habitual Use of Opium in 
 Singapore. 
 
ably more seductive, and more tenacious in its grasp, than 
 spirits. 
 
 Dr. Little remarks, " A state of excitement, or one of seda- 
 tive tranquillity, is what is primarily desired by the opium- 
 smoker, and which, at first, is effected by a small quantity of 
 the drug. That small quantity soon loses its effect, and to 
 produce the same amount of excitement, the dose must be 
 doubled, and that again increased, till I have known the original 
 quantity multiplied one hundred-fold." 
 
 The writer has known men who have smoked opium for many 
 years without apparent injury, just as in this country we know 
 men who consume an alarming quantity of wine or spirits appa- 
 rently unscathed. Still, the Chinese, heathens as they are, un- 
 questionably look upon the indulgence as a vice, and not as a 
 harmless luxury. There are various ways in which the habit 
 takes root. A friend, who is suffering from headaches, is recom- 
 mended to try a whiff or two of the pipe, and finding it bring 
 relief, he recurs to it again and again, till the habit is formed, 
 and he is on the downward road to ruin. Others, again, take 
 a whiff or two to stimulate the faculties for the business of the 
 day, or to soothe the nervous irritation at the close of it. Others 
 begin the practice, as our young men at home, by imitating the 
 fashionable vices of their seniors. But in whatever way the 
 habit is formed, it has a fearful tendency to grow with what it 
 feeds upon. The truth is, the saying that a Chinese smokes 
 the " black dirt,'' is the same as that among ourselves, that 
 such a one is " fond of his glass." Whatever hopes of immunity 
 may mingle with present appearances, we all feel that it fore- 
 bodes future evil. 
 
 Of some cases which have come under the writer's observa- 
 tion, two may be mentioned. An opium-broker, called Bighead, 
 gave the following testimony : " He had been in the habit 
 of smoking the drug for three years past. He commenced by 
 tasting samples as a dealer, and cannot now give it up. He 
 knows it is very bad for him everybody knows that but he 
 cannot help himself. The Chinese say, when a man smokes 
 opium, ' that he is making his own coffin/ Formerly he had 
 been strong and muscular, now his arms and legs are thin and 
 
weak, and his face of a black unhealthy colour. A Chinaman 
 that smokes opium can do without rice (^. e. meals) for a time, 
 and without clothes too, but not without opium ; if he does not 
 get this, he wishes himself dead." 
 
 The career of a young man, named Keet-Kwan, was watched 
 with painful interest. He was a fine-looking man of about 
 twenty, with a wife and family, and with a singularly intelli- 
 gent, honest, and amiable countenance. He was employed 
 by a mercantile house in China to go to Bombay to inspect 
 the season's supply of the drug. A year passed, and he 
 returned from Bombay. His face had a darker complexion, 
 and he was somewhat thinner, which might have been occa- 
 sioned by ordinary ill-health. He went the next year on a 
 similar voyage, and on his return the second time he was much 
 altered for the worse. His fine full eye was sunk, and flashed 
 wildly, a livid hue appeared about his lips, and his whole face 
 was discoloured, as if he had been half-strangled. He had be- 
 come a confirmed opium-smoker. I remarked to his father 
 " Your son smokes opium, I fear." He replied " Ah ! that is 
 a bad business, we need not talk of that ; I would give a hun- 
 dred dollars for physic to cure my son, were that possible I" 
 Two months after this interview Keet-Kwan again made his 
 appearance, but now his eyes were lustreless, and a watery 
 rheum was secreted from them ; his features were thin, and 
 had a look of great delicacy, and his nose sharpened ; his neck 
 had lost all the volume of muscle which it formerly showed ; 
 his body was attenuated, and he stooped considerably. Two 
 years later I saw Keet-Kwan once more. It was now four 
 years since he commenced the habit. He seemed to have grown 
 twenty years older in the interval ! He was quite emaciated, 
 but retained his amiable expression. He was not a bad cha- 
 racter. He was a quiet respectable man, engaged in business ; 
 but he was hurrying to the grave, a victim to this fatally fas- 
 cinating drug. 
 
 But the injury done by this habit is not confined to the 
 individual ; it brings families to misery and ruin ; it tempts to 
 crime, and, being illegal, it leads to the demoralization of those 
 engaged in the retail trade ; and what is worst of all, it is 
 
spreading rapidly. In proof of this, two extracts may be given 
 from letters lately received from most trustworthy witnesses in 
 China. The first is from the Kev. W. C. Burns, who has been 
 more than eight years in that country, and who writes from 
 the neighbourhood of a station for opium vessels, called Namoa, 
 where the demoralizing influence of the traffic on the popula- 
 tion is more seriously felt than further inland. He writes, 
 under date July 16, 1856 : "The ravages of opium we meet 
 with here on every hand, and the deterioration of the morals of 
 the people generally, I cannot but ascribe, in great part, to the 
 use of this ensnaring and destructive drug. When will mea- 
 sures be taken by those in power to lay an arrest on the opium 
 traffic, which is inflicting such indescribable injury on this 
 people, and which threatens in its progress, by its direct, and 
 still more by its indirect eff'ects poverty and anarchy to sweep 
 away a great part of this nation from the face of the earth ?" 
 
 The second extract is from the Kev. Carstairs Douglas, of 
 Amoy, who had been little more than a year in China at the 
 date of his letter, namely, August 21, 1856. He writes : 
 " Friends at home often ask me about that question (opium- 
 smoking). I have been here too little time to say much upon 
 it. We do see plainly that the vice is exceedingly prevalent 
 and destructive, and that it is steadily on the increase. The 
 nature and effects of the trade more and more seem to me to be 
 like those of the liquor traffic at home, with the additional ele- 
 ment of unlawfulness. We also see that about the most common 
 objection brought against us when we go out to preach is, that our 
 nation grows, and sends, and sells the opium. It is also worthy 
 of remark, that so many persons are anxious to give up the use 
 of the drug, that the manufacture and sale of pills, which some- 
 what assist the attempt to give it up, forms almost a self-sup- 
 porting branch of our mission ; the sales of the medicine for 
 some months past averaging fifteen dollars a month, which just 
 about covers the necessary expenses." 
 
 It should also be borne in mind by those who contend that 
 this is only one form of pleasurable stimulus, of which every 
 nation upon earth possesses some kind or other, that opium is 
 not with the Chinese a national stimulant. They have had 
 
their national stimulants of tea, wine, spirits, and tobacco, for 
 aught we know, for the last 4000 years, whereas opium-smoking 
 is not a century old among them, and is as yet most in use in 
 the coast provinces. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it need not surprise us that the 
 Chinese Government has prohibited the importation as well as 
 the use of the drug throughout the empire, and although these 
 prohibitions are now little more than formal, there is no reason 
 to doubt its sincerity in the matter, as we may judge from the 
 severe measures enacted against its own subjects in 1838, im- 
 prisonment and death being then the penalties for smoking. 
 We have also the Emperor's steady refusal from first to last to 
 legalize the trade, even with the prospect of a large revenue. 
 The official reply of the Emperor Taou Kwang to such repre- 
 sentations on the part of our Government has been often 
 quoted : " It is true I cannot prevent the introduction of the 
 flowing poison ; gainseeking and corrupt men will, for profit 
 and sensuality, defeat my wishes ; but nothing will induce me 
 to derive a revenue from the vice and misery of my people." 
 At present, however, there is comparative immunity from 
 punishment, and this, with the cheapness of the drug, causes a 
 rapid increase in the number of smokers. Their number is 
 now variously estimated at from three to nine millions.* 
 
 Opium, which in Europe is one of our most valuable medi- 
 cines, but which in China feeds this depraved taste, is manufac- 
 tured from the juice of the white poppy ; a small quantity of 
 which is grown in Turkey and Persia, and in China itself; but 
 it is cultivated to the greatest extent in India, both in the 
 British dominions, and in the Independent native states. 
 The process of cultivation and manufacture may be shortly 
 described. The finest soil is required for the plant. The 
 seed is sown in November. The preparation of the ground, 
 and the subsequent weeding and watering, require much atten- 
 tion. The time for collecting the juice is in February and 
 March. The poppy heads are then cut or scratched with a 
 sharp instrument, and a milky juice exudes, which becomes 
 
 * The estimates differ according to the daily average a smoker is supposed to 
 consume, varying from twenty to sixty grains' weight of smokeable extract. 
 
brown in colour and thick in consistency by exposure to the 
 sun and air, and is carefully collected by the farmer and his 
 family. This is the crude opium. In Bengal this is delivered 
 by the small farmer to the agent of the East India Company. 
 It is then prepared under the inspection of these agents for the 
 China market. The principal districts in which the poppy is 
 grown are Patna, Benares, Behar, and Malwa, from which the 
 different kinds of drug derive their names. In Bengal it is 
 grown exclusively for the Government, under severe penalties 
 for any infraction of the laws. It is understood also to be a 
 forced production, which could not be entered upon with profit 
 to the farmers, but for advances in money made by the Govern- 
 ment. This point is disputed ; but the poppy has undoubtedly 
 occupied some of the finest land formerly used for indigo, sugar, i 
 and other produce. "^ 
 
 The opium is prepared by the Government agents for the 
 China market, by rolling it into large balls covered with a 
 coating of opium-paste and poppy leaves, so as to exclude the 
 air ; it is then packed in chests forty balls to a chest, 
 and transferred to the Government warehouses at Calcutta, 
 where the drug is put up to auction at the Government 
 sales, of which there are four each season, at intervals of 
 a month, commencing with December or January. At these 
 sales the drug sells at prices varying from 700 to 1600 rupees 
 a chest, containing 116 lbs. weight, and yielding a profit to the ' 
 Government of from 40 to 120 per chest. Their total 
 revenue from this source, including a transit duty on the 
 Malwa exported from Bombay, is estimated at five millions 
 sterling for the year 1857. Malwa opium is that grown in the 
 Independent native States. It must all pass through Bombay, 
 where, in order to keep down its production, it is charged with 
 a duty of 400 rupees (40) per chest. 
 
 The merchants in India purchase the opium either on their 
 own account or for mercantile houses in China or elsewhere, 
 and it is then shipped in fast-sailing vessels capable of carrying 
 from 500 to 1000 chests. Of late years the monthly steamers 
 of the Peninsular and Oriental Company have carried cargoes 
 of the drug to China. 
 
The quantity thus imported into China from both sides 
 of India now exceeds 70,000 chests, roughly estimated at 
 7,000,000 sterling. A portion also goes to Singapore for 
 consumption throughout the islands of the eastern Archipelago. 
 
 On arrival in China, say at Hong Kong, the opium is usually 
 transferred to large receiving ships stationary in the harbour, 
 the storing of opium on the island being prohibited by our 
 Government.-'-^ From these receiving ships, supplies are for- 
 warded in small schooners and other fast sailing craft to dif- 
 ferent points on the coast according to the demand. 
 
 At these coast stations there is no other trade carried on but 
 that in opium. The drug is transferred from the small 
 schooners to ships permanently anchored there, and the local 
 Chinese Government makes no attempt whatever to interfere, 
 as it is enriched by the bribes or fees of the native dealers. 
 These dealers come off in boats to purchase the opium, bring- 
 ing silver in payment ; but if the station be the outer anchorage 
 of one of the free ports, such as Shanghae, Fuh-Chow, Amoy, 
 or Canton, the sale is usually made on shore, in exchange for 
 silver or Chinese produce, and an order given on the ship for 
 delivery of the quantity sold. 
 
 The opium being thus conveyed into the country by the na- 
 tive dealers, it undergoes a process of boiling down to fit it for 
 smoking. This reduces the weight one-half, so that one chest 
 of the drug yields only half a chest of smokeable matter. It is 
 then retailed at smoking-shops, or purchased by the wealthier 
 classes for use at home. The laws against smoking are now so 
 completely in abej^ance, that the smoking shops in the free 
 ports are almost as numerous as our own public-houses. Al- 
 though this freedom from legal restraint exists, there is no 
 question that the moral feeling of the Chinese Government and 
 people is against the indulgence, and it is this which contri- 
 butes in some measure to keep down the consumption. 
 
 Let us now trace as shortly as possible the course of this 
 trade. Before the year 1800, only a small legal trade in opium 
 was carried on with China, but in that year the drug was 
 made contraband by the Chinese Government. This was done 
 in consequence of a memorial from a leading statesman, who 
 
 * Since the above was printed, this statement has been found incorrect. For some years past the 
 prohibition has been removed, and Opium is now stored largely on the island of Hong Kong. 
 
9 
 
 makes it '^ a subject of deep regret that the vile dirt of foreign 
 countries . should be received in exchange for the commodities 
 and the money of the Empire, and fearing lest the practice of 
 smoking opium should spread among all the people of the inner 
 land to the waste of their time and destruction of their pro- 
 perty/' he requests that " the sale of the drug should be 
 prohibited, and that offenders should be made amenable to 
 punishment." In spite of this the annual importations rose 
 gradually from 2000 chests in 1800 to 5000 in 1820. Till 1820 
 opium had been mixed up with the legal merchandise at the port 
 of Canton, but in that year the authorities again became alarmed 
 at the extent of the traffic, and obliged the merchants to give 
 security that no opium was on board before the ship could 
 discharge her cargo at Whampoa ; this led to the storing of 
 it in receiving ships at Lintin at the mouth of the Canton river, 
 and this system continued till the year 1834, w^hen the impor- 
 tations exceeded 20,000 chests. During the period from 1820 
 to 1834 occasional collisions took place between the native 
 smugglers and the Chinese authorities, arising out of disputes 
 as to the amount of fees, but none occurred between that Go- 
 vernment and the British receiving ships. In continuing this 
 narrative, we quote from Williams' "Middle Kingdom": 
 " Towards the close of the East India Company's charter, in 
 1834, the contraband trade in opium, off the Bogue and along 
 the coast eastward, had assumed a regular character. The fees 
 paid for connivance at Canton were understood, and the highest 
 persons in the province Avere not ashamed to participate in the 
 profits of the trade. The attempts to sell it along the eastern 
 coast had been mostly successful, and almost nothing else could 
 be sold. . . . The increasing demand at Namoa and Chinchew 
 (on the coast) led to the frequent despatch of small vessels, one 
 taking the place of another, and finally to stationing receiving 
 ships there, to afford a constant supply. The local authorities, 
 finding their paper edicts quite powerless to drive them aw^ay, 
 followed the practice of their fellow-officers at Canton, and 
 winked at the trade for a consideration. It is not, however, 
 right to say that the venality and weakness of these officers in- 
 validated the authenticity of the commands they received from 
 
 a2 
 
10 
 
 Court ; however flagitious their conduct in rendering the orders 
 of none eifect, it did not prove the insincerity of the Emperor 
 and his ministers in issuing them. By the year 1834 the efforts 
 of the local authorities to suppress the trade, resulted in a 
 periodical issue of vain prohibitions and empty threats of 
 punishment, which did not more plainly exhibit their own 
 weakness in the eyes of the peo[)le, than the strength of the 
 appetite in the smokers." 
 
 The opium vessels are all well armed, but chiefly as a pre- 
 caution against pirates, which swarm on that coast. Although 
 there has been more than one serious tragedy in conflict with 
 pirates, there does not appear to have been any actual encoun- 
 ter between the opium vessels and the authorities. 
 
 During the years 1837 and 1838 attempts were made by 
 some British merchants to snmggle the drug into the port of 
 Canton, which led to serious collisions and disturbances on the 
 river. Captain Elliot, H. M. Superintendent of Trade, took 
 measures, along with the Chinese authorities, to put a stop to 
 these highly irregular proceedings on the part of a few, and 
 these measures proved effectual. But meanwhile the Imperial 
 Court at Pekin was organizing plans of a much more extensive 
 kind to annihilate the whole trade, and to stop the smoking of 
 the drug. A Chinese statesman of the name of Heu Naetse 
 sent up a memorial to the Emperor, praying that opium might 
 be legalized, as the best method of dealing with an unavoidable 
 evil. Two other statesmen, Choo Tsun and Heu Kew memo- 
 rialized the Emperor in favour of an opposite course, requesting 
 that the existing laws should be put in force with the utmost 
 rigour. The prohibitory counsels prevailed with the Emperor, 
 and although these measures utterly failed, it has been well 
 said by a writer in the North British Revieio : " No man of 
 any humanity can read without a deep and very painful feeling 
 what has been reported of the grief, the dismay, the indignation 
 of men in authority, and the Emperor, on finding that their ut- 
 most efforts to save their people were defeated by the craft and 
 the superior maritime force of the European dealers, and by the 
 venality of their own official persons, on the coast." To proceed, 
 the prisons were soon crowded with victims, and death by 
 
11 
 
 strangling was inflicted in several instances on smoker's and 
 native dealers. An Imperial Commissioner, Lin, was sent to 
 Canton to proceed against the foreign merchants. On his 
 arrival there, in March 1839, he immediately put the mer- 
 chants under arrest, compelled them, through H. M. Superin- 
 tendent of Trade, to deliver up the whole of the opium then on 
 the coast, amounting to 20,283 chests, and formally destroyed 
 it by mixing it with lime and salt, and casting it into the 
 sea. For some months after this, opium was almost unsaleable, 
 and the prohibitory measures against smoking it were so effec- 
 tual, that the consumption fell to less than a tenth of \vhat it 
 had been. 
 
 The war which ensued, although it arose out of the seizure 
 of the opium as the immediate cause, really sprung from one 
 more deep-seated and more remote in point of time. This was 
 '^ the arrogant assumption of supremacy over the monarchs 
 and people cf other countries claimed by the Emperor of China 
 for himself and for his subjects, and our long acquiescence in 
 this state of things." The war thus commenced in 1840, and con- 
 cluded in August 1842, however, decided not only the superiority 
 of the British arms, but convinced the Imperial Court that fur- 
 ther attempts to put down the opium trade were vain. Thence-' 
 forward the law^s against smoking became more and more lax, 
 whilst the trade, nominally cor traband, went on with fewer 
 restrictions than before. At the present time, the trade has 
 assumed all the importance of an established recognised traffic, 
 and the merchants engaged in it, including nearly the whole 
 foreign community in China engaged in commerce, shelter 
 themselves under the plea of the sanction given to it by the 
 British Government, ani the alleged insincerity of the Chinese 
 in desiring to prohibit it. In China itself, also, the growth of 
 tlie poi)py has been extending with the connivance of the local 
 authorities. The quantity thus grown is not positively know^n, 
 but it was stated on good authority to be not less than 10,000 
 chests, so far back as 1847. It is inferior to the Indian drug, 
 and, being much cheaper, is used for mixing with it. 
 
 Having thus traced tbe progress of this traffic to the present 
 time, w^e proceed to inquire what have been its effects on legal 
 
12 
 
 commercej on our friendly relations with China, and on the 
 progress of the Gospel in that empire, that we may thus arrive 
 at the true character of the trade itself, and of the Indian 
 revenue derived from it. 
 
 And first, as to its effects on legal commekce. To the candid 
 reader it must appear quite evident that these effects are highly 
 injurious, and that the consumption of opium materially cur- 
 tails the means of the Chinese population for purchasing British 
 manufactures. In our own country, for instance, a drunken 
 family cannot afford to purchase more than the scantiest supply 
 of clothing, and we are warranted in saying the same of the 
 opium-smoker's family. But what is true of the individual is 
 true of the whole class, and hence we lose them as customers 
 for our manufactures, and to an extent even greater than the 
 value of the opium. For supposing the seven millions' sterling 
 worth of opium thrown into the sea, instead of passing through 
 their lungs as smoke, the loss would only affect their pockets ; 
 but the actual consumption not only sweeps away the seven 
 millions sterling, but incapacitates the victims for productive 
 and prosperous labour. The wealth thus destroyed, with which 
 they might purchase British manufoctures, cannot, of course, 
 be estimated, but must be considerable-. 
 
 It has been objected to this, however, that the purchase of a 
 hat by a man does not necessarily impoverish him so much as 
 to prevent his buying also a pair of shoes, or any other article 
 of clothing, and therefore the purchase of opium does not inca- 
 pacitate the Chinese from buying long cloths. Unfortunately 
 the hat and the opium are not parallel cases. In the purchase 
 of the hat,its value is more than returned in comfort, preservation 
 of health and industrial power, by which he may obtain more 
 means to buy a pair of shoes ; whereas, in the purchase of 
 opium, instead of any value being returned, he loses his money, 
 and, in the u e of the drug, he loses his comfort, his health, 
 and his industrial power to produce that with which he may 
 buy clothing. This is one of the simplest truths of political 
 economy, and need not be pursued further. The writer in the 
 North British Review has put this in a very plain form when 
 he says, " The.^e facts leave us no room to doubt that the 
 
13 
 
 opium-che?t, landed upon the whole liae of continental China, 
 and rapidly making its way inland upon the rivers and canals, 
 is not merely draining the country of its means as a customer 
 for our goods, but is actually destroying our customer himself 
 by thousands or by millions ; or it is bringing him down from 
 a condition which is improvable, to a condition of desperate 
 and irrecoverable wretchedness." 
 
 ^" If the British commercial policy were to be thought of as 
 a wTiole, as a devised scheme of national enterprise, what we 
 are doing, described in its naked reality, is just this, we are 
 drugging to the death the man whom we are hoping to see 
 enter our shop daily, purse in hand." 
 
 But it is again objected, supposing it possible to annihilate 
 the opium trade. What will you put in its stead to pay for 
 Chinese produce ? It may be replied : recover a drunken 
 family from habits of intemperance, and then let us picture the 
 numberless articles of food, furniture, and clothing that would 
 be introduced into the once empty home, for the benefit of the 
 family and of those with whom they deal. And then multiply 
 this unit by all the victimized families in China, and we arrive 
 at some conception of the enormous powers of healthy con- 
 sumption that would be created by the annihilation of the 
 opium traffic. Free access to the empire would then be more 
 readily acceded to us, and China, with her magnificent rivers 
 and canals and enterprising population, would soon exhibit a 
 development of wealth, with the aid of steam-power and 
 machinery provided by ourselves, that would enable her to take 
 from us in British goods the equivalent of her own tea and 
 silk. 
 
 We would here refer, in a single paragraph, to the difficulties 
 connected with the " leaking out" of the Sycee silver. This 
 was, no doubt, a strong objection to the opium trade on the 
 part of the Chinese Government ; for many years there was an 
 annual export of silver from China to pay for opium, averaging 
 2,000,000 sterling. This drain of silver seriously embarrassed 
 the internal commerce and revenues of a country destitute of a 
 silver coinage of its own, and possessing no paper currency. 
 The very continuance of this evil, however, has at length 
 
14 
 
 worked out its own cure, although at the cost of much incon- 
 venience to China. When China had no more silver to export, 
 Chinese produce began to be taken in barter for opium, and by 
 the year 1852, not only had the " leaking out" of the Sycee 
 entirely ceased, but the current had set in in the opposite 
 direction, and it is now our turn to feel the inconvenience of a 
 drain of the precious metals. As, however, this source of 
 anxiety to the Imperial Government of China has now ceased, 
 it need not be further discussed here. 
 
 If we now consider the effects of this trade on the progress of 
 Christianity in China, and on our friendly relations with 
 that empire, the consequences appear infinitely more disastrous. 
 The opium scourge has proved one of the greatest obstacles to 
 the reception of Christianity by the Chinese, and it is remark- 
 able that it rose simultaneously with modern Christian missions, 
 at the commencement of the present century, as if the Archfiend 
 were vigorously counterplotting the army of the Prince of Peace. 
 At a later period, there was a striking illustration of this at the 
 port of Fuh-Chow, where, for some years after it was opened, no 
 legal trade of any kind existed, and the only foreign influence 
 at work (if we except the consular officers), consisted of a con- 
 siderable band of Christian missionaries, and the contraband 
 opium trade ! The interests of Christianity and of the opium 
 trade were thus in open conflict on the same field, and in strong 
 contrast, as influences for good and for evil on the population. 
 But so far as the Chinese were able to discern, it was but one 
 party British Christians presenting the Bible with the one 
 hand, and opium to enslave them with the other. In proof of 
 this, we may simply state what has been repeated in almost 
 every missionary publication referring to China, that the con- 
 stant reply of the poor heathen to the missionary is : Why do 
 you bring us opium ? 
 
 In regard to friendly relations with this empire, both govern- 
 ment and people look upon us with an unfavourable eye ; and 
 although we do not lay the whole of this on the opium trade, 
 it is impossible to remove the impression while that trade 
 continues ; nor need we wonder at their jealous prohibition of 
 free access into their country for the same reason. "They 
 
15 
 
 must still be left to look at missionary stations, and at Bibles, 
 as seen over that mountain of opium- chests which is set 
 down furtively every year upon their coasts ; ' black dirt,' they 
 call it, and the fumes of this blackness darken all the objects 
 that are seen through it."* 
 
 As to the measure of responsibility resting on the different 
 parties implicated in this trade, it should, we think, be distri- 
 buted according to their power of removing the evil, and un- 
 questionably no small share of this rests on the British public. 
 
 The Chinese Government are morally and physically help- 
 less, the Chinese people are equally so for throwing off this 
 fatal habit, which has fastened on the very vitals of the nation, 
 and under which they groan, destitute of the moral and Chris- 
 tian energy that might break its thraldom. The position of the 
 British merchant, as will presently be shown, is a difficult one 
 also, and, at all events, the remedy is beyond the control of in- 
 dividuals of which a commercial community is composed. But 
 the British public have the power, through their Parliament, 
 and taking a large view of the subject, and acting on the broad 
 principles of humanity and justice, of using their influence with 
 the East India Company, that the cultivation of the poppy for 
 the Chinese market may cease, for the plain reason that it is 
 sent there to supply a vicious and illegal demand. The revenue 
 derived from spirituous liquors in Britain has been adduced as 
 a parallel to the Indian opium revenue ; and because the for- 
 mer is a good one, therefore the latter is also. But the parallel 
 is not complete. The revenue from spirits is the very best that 
 could be raised, because it enriches the Government while it 
 restrains the use of a dangerous article, by enhancing its cost. 
 The revenue from opium is obtained by the Government first 
 producing this destructive article, and then promoting its con- 
 sumption in spite of the prohibitions and remonstrances of a 
 weak and heathen nation, whose moral feelings are, neverthe- 
 less, outraged by our act. 
 
 It has been said that the position of the British merchants in 
 these transactions is a difficult one. In justice to these parties, 
 it must be stated that they are not, as many suppose, a set of 
 
 * " North British Review," No. Hi. p. .544. 
 
16 
 
 lawless buccaneers, but as respectable a class of merchants as 
 can be found in any part of the world, and their share of the 
 trade is conducted with regularity and business propriety. To 
 explain this apparent anomaly, it must be borne in mind that 
 practically the trade has become almost legalized. It enjoys 
 the dignity and importance of an established recognised traffic. 
 Indeed a merchant can hardly be engaged in trade in China at all 
 without being more or less mixed up with it. The very steamer 
 of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, by which he goes to 
 China, carries a cargo of the drug. If a ship is consigned to his 
 care, there is probably opium in it for himself on freight or for 
 sale. If he is to have any command of money, or to compete 
 with his neighbours in that market on anything like fair terms, 
 he must deal in opium ; and should he be so scrupulous as to 
 decline such a connexion, he may as well leave China. Now, 
 this is a distressing state of matters to a conscientious man, and 
 yet he is often driven to acquiesce in it, rather than leave a 
 position which he has occupied at considerable trouble and cost. 
 Then, in addition to the force of custom " which familiarizes 
 men's minds with systems where the greatest abuses prevail," 
 the merchants shield themselves under the plea that the trade 
 is not only countenanced by their own Government, but forms 
 one chief item of revenue to our Indian empire. It may be 
 added, that if we depart from the high standard of Christian 
 principle in judging of the traffic, the question easily admits of 
 being argued. Descending for a moment from the Christian 
 point of view, the merchant argues that opium is only poison to 
 those who abuse it ; that the British merchant does not smuggle 
 it into China, but merely brings it to its shores, to be purchased 
 by the natives under the very eye of their own Government, 
 with little more than a show of objection : and further, that 
 the merchant is a mere agent between supply and demand ; 
 and that when these two elements of industry are brought to 
 bear upon one another in any given field of commerce, their 
 consequences concern him no further than the extent to which 
 he can benefit himself by the interchange of the commodities. 
 But neither a Christian merchant nor a Christian nation can 
 rest satisfied with such views. And to those taking a manage- 
 
17 
 
 ment of, or having an interest in the trade, and who believe in 
 the Christian religion, it is submitted for their serious conside- 
 ration whether, in view of the foregoing statements, they do 
 not feel themselves called upon to cease from a course of action 
 which is plainly opposed to the spread of Christianity in China. 
 Let them consider whether any inducement, however lucrative, 
 would lead' them to incur the solemn responsibility of attempt- 
 ing to introduce this insidious scourge of opium-smoking into 
 a new and untried field like Japan (with which commercial 
 relations may be established at no distant date) ; for if it would 
 not, a grave responsibility rests upon them for participating in 
 an old-established evil in China, where its true character is 
 ascertained. lu short, every Christian who will examine the 
 matter, will find that the opium trade with China cannot for 
 one moment be defended on Christian principles ; and that by 
 applying such a test, it is at once disclosed to view as an evil 
 which is devastating the East, and of which he, if he is engaged 
 in it, should wash his hands at all hazards. 
 
 In appealing to the British public to do their duty in apply- 
 ing a remedy, we would place foremost the grand instrumentality 
 of Christian missions as going directly to the root of the evil. 
 The success that has of late years attended missions in China 
 has been so remarkable as to be of itself suflScient to stimulate 
 British Christians to increased efforts in that direction. The 
 entrance of the truth into the heart has been found to clear 
 away the habit of opium-smoking as light dispels darkness. 
 The medical missionary has also done, and may yet do, impor- 
 tant service in supplying the Chinese with medicinal means for 
 curing the habit. Let these aids be multiplied. The field is 
 all but a boundless one. Such efforts cannot fail in time to 
 commend themselves to the Government and people of China, 
 and encourage them to persevere in discountenancing the use 
 of the drug. 
 
 But to give efficiency to such measures on our part, and to 
 remove suspicions, it is absolutely necessary to show our since- 
 rity by removing, as far as in our power, the temptation itself. 
 The Bengal monopoly was originally established under Lord 
 Cornwallis, " as the best means of raising a revenue without 
 
18 
 
 aggravating the enormous evils contemplated," and '' to obtain 
 the largest amount of revenue from the smallest possible amount 
 of consumption." Again, on the opening of the China trade in 
 1834, the Indian Government expressly stated that they retained 
 the opium monopoly, not so much with a view to revenue, as to 
 restrain the use of this pernicious drug. But they appear to 
 have long since abandoned that humane policy, as we may 
 judge from the fact, that in 1848, when information reached 
 Calcutta that opium cultivation was extending in China, inqui- 
 ries were made of the British authorities in China as to the 
 truth of the statement ; and, with the view of driving the 
 Chinese drug out of the market, the supply from Bengal was 
 largely increased, and has been increasing ever since. But this 
 policy may not always be practicable. China may be induced 
 to grow all that is needed for her own consumption. She is 
 believed to be quite capable of doing so. Or, should the pre- 
 sent revolutionists in China succeed, they are determined oppo- 
 nents of opium-smoking, and although we have no faith in 
 physical force to cure such habits, who dare say, that a combi- 
 nation of religious and legal restraints, acting on the awakened 
 conscience of the nation, may not, to a large extent, accomplish 
 the object. "Without any such measures, the use of opium in 
 Turkey, once so prevalent, is now almost extinct. The revenue 
 is, therefore, at best a precarious one. To those who can only 
 see the ruin of our Indian empire in the loss of that revenue, we 
 recommend the perusal of an able article in the North British 
 Beview for this month, (February 1857.) The writer shows 
 that there is an elasticity in the resources of India which might 
 with ease more than recover any such loss in a few years. 
 Moreover, no sudden measure is' desirable. The following 
 remedy is merely suggested. 
 
 It is a fact well known to all connected with the trade, that 
 the consumption of opium is affected very much by its cost. 
 Whenever the price rises, consumption is checked ; and when 
 the price falls to a low figure in any given season, the consump- 
 tion is large. Applying this principle to the production of 
 opium in India, let the 70,000 chests now exported be annually 
 reduced by 5000 or 10,000 chests, and the East India Company 
 
19 
 
 may count on realizing nearly as large a revenue from the sale 
 of the reduced quantity from year to year as it does now, and 
 meanwhile it may be providing for its ultimate loss by develop- 
 ing its resources in some other direction. Let American cot- 
 ton, for instance, be more largely cultivated, encouraging this 
 by means of advances transferred from the poppy culture. On 
 the other hand, the higher price of opium in China will check 
 consumption, and annually reduce the number of smokers, till 
 it becomes confined to the select few who can afford it. Opium 
 can be supplied by no other nation in any quantity for a long 
 time to come. 
 
 We conclude this paper with an extract from the writer in 
 the No7ih British Bevieiv, already referred to : " But it is 
 said if the opium manufacture were abandoned, or were only 
 restricted in India, a stimulus would be given to the culture 
 elsewhere ; the people of China will destroy themselves in this 
 way, and the Indian Government may as well profit by their 
 infatuation. This is the old plea for all kinds of abominations. 
 It is, or it was, the argument of the slave trader ; it is the plea 
 of those who live and fatten upon detestable practices ; it is the 
 plea of all who live by the crimes and vices of others ; it is the 
 pretext of the receiver of stolen goods ; it is, and ever has been 
 the legend upon the rogue's escutcheon all the world over, ^ I 
 don't make the wickedness I only live by it.' It would be a 
 great wrong to suppose that such a doctrine should be taken 
 up and used either in Leadenhall Street or the Government 
 House, Calcutta. 
 
 " The time is passed, or it is passing away, in which courses 
 of conduct on the part of governments or corporations, which 
 the individual man would abhor, may be palliated, connived 
 at, and left to weigh upon the soul of the automaton, whose 
 business it is to sign official documents. That which is false 
 and wrong, and cruel and ruinous to the weak and the ignorant, 
 is coming to be scouted as a mistake in political economy, as 
 w^ell as a crime. 
 
 " The opium traffic of the East India Company with China 
 has come down to us along with many other evil things and 
 great mistakes, from times when atrocities and political errors 
 
20 
 
 hugged each other complacently, and were seldom called to 
 give an account of themselves. But the opium traffic, along 
 with other mischievous usages, must now be prepared to show 
 cause why it should not be condemned, not only as a source 
 and the direct cause of incalculable miseries, but as an enor- 
 mous error in international polity." 
 
 To this admirable extract we can but add the Scripture tes- 
 timony and appeal, " Woe unto the world because of offences ! 
 for it must needs be that offences come ; but woe to that man 
 by whom the offence cometh !" Matt, xviii. 7. 
 
 FsaiKUARY 1857. 
 
 BDINB0RGH : T CONSTABLB, PRINTER TO HBR MAJESTY. 
 
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 IN^DIAN KEVENUE FROM INDIAN OPIUM ', 
 CHINESE MONEY AT THE EXPENSE OF CHINESE LIFE ', 
 
 BRITISH HONOUR OR BRITISH DISGRACE ; 
 
 QUESTIONS WHICH SHOULD BE 
 CONSIDERED IN THE 
 
 TREATY TO BE CONCLUDED WITH CHINA. 
 
 fiY 
 
 CAPTAIN TYLER, R.E. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 JAMES RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1857. 
 
 (Price One Shilling',) 
 
L. ^y. //. Ae-^^ Wi'Ai'/ 
 
BRITAIN AND CHINA 
 
 On a recent well known occasion^ the Chinese Origin of ] 
 
 authorities boarded a vessel called the " Arrow/' hSlties { 
 
 belongings to a Chinese subject resident in Hong ^" China. | 
 
 Kong', which was trading* in the Canton river^ I 
 under British colours, under a British name, and 
 
 under a British master ; and, after hauling" down I 
 
 the British ensign, they carried off* twelve Chinese \ 
 
 subjects, out of the fourteen men who composed its j 
 
 crew, upon the plea that some of their number had | 
 
 been g'uilty of piracy. | 
 
 The ^^ Arrow" was in the habit of trading* at Registry j 
 
 Canton, under a licence from the Coldt^ Govern- "Arrow." ] 
 
 ment at Hong- Kong", renewable annually ; and the \ 
 term of that licence had expired efeven days before 
 
 the transaction referred to. The Chinese could not, J 
 
 however, have been aware of its expiration ; and | 
 
 there appears to be no doubt, that, thoug'h they | 
 
 objected to the ^ystem which had obtained, of g-rant- | 
 
 ing" British licence^:o the vessels of Chinese subjects, | 
 
 they yet acted on the belief that the ^^ Arrow " had | 
 
 a right, according* to British custom and British j 
 
 regulations, to British protection. 1 
 
 Conceiving-, therefore, that a gross insult had steps j 
 been offered to the British Flag-, the Officers bh^^iJ^ 
 
 A 2 I 
 
and cliaro'ed with the superintendence of British m- 
 
 Chmese 
 
 Authori- terests on the spot, demanded an apology for what 
 had occurred; as w^ell as an assurance that the British 
 Flag" should he respected for the future ', and these 
 demands not being** complied with to their satisfac- 
 tion, they seized upon a Chinese Junk by way of 
 reprisal. As the Imperial Commissioner still per- 
 sisted that he was in the rig-ht, and still neg-lected 
 to comply with the requirements of the British re- 
 presentatives, and as he refused to g"rant that much 
 coveted object a personal interview, either to the 
 chief Superintendent of Trade or to the Admiral 
 commanding", forts were taken, and hostilities were 
 thus commenced by the British forces. The Chinese 
 Commissioner protested ag'ainst these measures^ and 
 professed, on his part, the g-reatest moderation 5 but 
 his subjects retaliated to the best of their power, by 
 poison and assassination, and even offered, in a 
 public proclamation, a reward of 33,* for every 
 Eng'lishman that should be taken alive, or whose 
 head should be '^ cut off and delivered to the autho- 
 rities.^' 
 Opportii- In consequence of these proceeding's, the two 
 be offered nations are now at war in the Canton river, and 
 Treatj!^^ an Ambassador of hig-h rank and g*reat reputa- 
 tion is proceeding" to China with a considerable naval 
 and military force, for the purpose of continuing 
 hostilities, and of concluding' a peace when they 
 
 ^ Blue Book "Proceedings of H.M. Naval Forces at Can- 
 ton," p. 128. 
 
shall happily be terminated. As an opportunity 
 will thus be afforded for remodellino- the existing* 
 Treaties^ and making* a fresh one^ the present is a 
 most appropriate occasion for considering* seriously 
 the means by which the real interests of the two 
 empires may be best promoted. 
 
 In reflecting: upon this important subject, it must O"!* t^hief 
 
 1 1-1 IP objects in 
 
 not be forgotten^ that whilst we are the most favoured a new 
 nation on the face of the earth ; whilst our wealth, ^^^ ^* 
 our power, our maritime supremacy,our advancement 
 in civihzation, our freedom of intercourse, and, above 
 all, our possession of the light of the Gospel, and 
 our facilities beyond those of all other nations for 
 its extension, are so great ; whilst we possess all 
 these advantag'es, of which we are sufficiently ])roud, 
 and in which all of us who reflect must rejoice ; our 
 national responsibilities are at the same time strictly 
 proportionate to our national opportunities ; and it 
 is our solemn duty, in providing* for the increase of 
 our commerce, the safety of our countrymen, and 
 the honour of our flag*, not to lose sig'ht of, under- 
 value, or neg*lect those higher destinies with which 
 Providence has entrusted us : but to afford a con- 
 spicuous example, at once of firmness, justice, and 
 forbearance ; to promote, to the best of our power, 
 the fulfilment of just laws ; and to abstain, ourselves, 
 from o'iving* unnecessary offence to all other nations 
 whatsoever, whether they be weak, or whether they 
 be strong*. 
 
 These convictions should dictate the terms of all Oar mo- 
 our Treaties, and this spirit should guide their ob- action. 
 
6 
 
 servance. Then will our sway permaneiitl}^ extend^ 
 and then will our power be beneficial. Thus only 
 can we fulfil our hig-hest destinies^ and thus only 
 can we hope to meet with the approval, and escape 
 the rig-hteous judg-ments, of Him who ordereth all 
 things. Avoiding' undue intervention, we should 
 not, however, shrink from just wars ; but we should 
 exert all our streng-th, when necessary, in the de- 
 fence of that which is rig-ht, and in opposition to 
 that which is wrong* ; and, taking- " Dieu et mon 
 droit," in reality, as our national motto, we should 
 always remember that such wars, thoug-h the 
 greatest of temporary evils, are intended ultimately 
 to answer good purposes, and that they have been 
 not only permitted, but enjoined, from the earliest 
 ages. If we ourselves abstain from wrong and in- 
 jur}' to the Chinese, we have always strong reasons 
 for war with them so long as they refuse to treat us 
 as equals, and to afford to us those facihties for 
 intercourse and commerce which nations have no 
 right to deny to each other. But we must keep 
 our own hands clean while claiinino- these our 
 rights. We must give the Chinese no just cause for 
 refusing to admit us into their country, or for declin- 
 ing to grant suitable means for carrying on the trade 
 which has sprung up between the two nations, upon 
 an equitable footing, 
 General There are many who wish that the nominal cause 
 on thT^ of the hostilities now pending was a more unexcep- 
 present tio^able one, but there are few who are not in favour 
 of a vigorous prosecution of jthe war that has re- 
 
suited. It has happened that a majority of the 
 Lower House of Parliament has condemned the 
 proceeding's of the British officers in China^ while 
 the mass of the country has approved of them ; and 
 sufficient cause may be assig*ned for this difference 
 of opinion^ without attributing* it to the party feeling-, 
 or to the factious combinations^ that have been so 
 much insisted on. The representatives of the 
 country^ who studied more minutely the papers that 
 were placed before them^ came to the conclusion that 
 the insult offered by the Chinese did not render ne- 
 cessary the violent measures that were adopted^ and 
 desired that an officer of higher rank should be 
 dispatched to the scene of action^ with full powers ; 
 the merchants on the spot^ with strong* feeling-s in 
 reg"ard to other matters^ and deeply interested, them- 
 selveS; in humbling- the Chinese authorities and the 
 inhabitants of Canton, believed that such measures 
 would ultimately improve their position; and the 
 nation at large, less informed upon the abstract ques- 
 tion, always ready to uphold the honour of the 
 British Flag", and with a strong feeling that war 
 only would improve its relations with a people that 
 refuse foreign intercourse, despise foreign com- 
 merce, and oppose all progress, gave credit to the 
 officers employed, for acting with as much humanity 
 as the case permitted, for being actuated by proper 
 motives, and for using sound judgment. 
 
 It may be regarded as certain that the English Go- 
 vernment would never have been placed in a minority 
 upon this question, either if Sir John Bo wring had 
 
8 
 
 Policy of more fully explained the real cause of his proceeding's, 
 Bowrin^. orifthe course which was afterwards adopted had in 
 the first instance been taken^ of sending" a Plenipo- 
 tentiary to the Chinese waters. Sir John Bowring* 
 has been much blamed for insisting- in his communi- 
 cations with Commissioner Yeh, that the " Arrow " 
 was a British vessel, while he admitted to Consul 
 Parkes that she had no rig'ht to be considered as 
 such 5 and the question of the rig'ht of the vessel to 
 British protection has thus been too prominently 
 causes of brought forward. The real causes of quarrel with 
 quarrel. ^^^ Chinese were, that they acted under the belief 
 that the '^ Arrow " was a British vessel, according' 
 to the Colonial reg'ulations, that they intended to 
 break the 9th article of the supplementary treaty, 
 that they intended to insult the British Flag', and 
 that they refused to make the apology for the past, 
 and g'ive the assurance for the future, that was in 
 consequence required from them ; and if Sir John 
 Bo wring* had represented these simple facts to the 
 Chinese Commissioner, had told him the exact cir- 
 cumstances connected with the reg-istry of the 
 ^- Arrow,'' and had informed him that the necessary 
 satisfaction for the intended insult would be required ; 
 he would then have had a clear case, and a g'ood 
 cause, and have been saved from much animadver- 
 sion. Sir John Bo wring* no doubt committed an 
 error of judgement, in not thus entering* into more 
 ample exphmation with the Chinese Commissioner, 
 but no harsher term can properly be applied to his 
 conduct of the neg'ociations. 
 
Bilierent opinions may be, and are entertained, Object of 
 on these subjects ; but, whatever be thoug-bt of pamphlet. 
 the justice or injustice of the present war, there 
 can be no disag-reement on one point. All must 
 desire that the Treaty to be concluded at its termi- 
 nation, should contain such provisions as will tend to 
 forward the real interests of British commerce, to 
 promote friendly intercourse on equal terms between 
 the two nations, and to extend the blessing's of 
 Christianity. It is not to be doubted that the great 
 body of the nation, would, if their feelings were con- 
 sulted, and their opinions taken, pronounce as dis- 
 tinctly for the abandonment of any course of action 
 that should be calculated seriously to interfere with 
 these objects, to sully the British name, or to inflict 
 real evils upon others, as they have done for the 
 prosecution of the war; that they would be as 
 anxious to preserve the honour of the British Flag- 
 in the one case as in the other ; as desirous to avoid 
 the giving- of just cause of offence to others as they 
 are ready to demand redress for insults offered to 
 themselves. Under the full conviction that such is 
 the temper of the British nation, and under the be- 
 lief that the present moment while a Treaty is pend- 
 ing- is auspicious for bringing- forward the subject, 
 the author desires to make an appeal to his fellow- 
 countrymen, in addition to those which have already 
 been laid before them, against the Opium traffic 
 which is being- carried on between their Indian pos- 
 sessions and the coasts of China ; to sug-g-est to 
 them the course that should be taken bv themselves 
 
10 
 
 for the removal of a national diso-race ; and to uro-e 
 
 them to obtain a settlement of this much vexed 
 
 question. A g-reat deal has alread}^ been published 
 
 on this subject^ both in the numerous general works 
 
 that have appeared on China and the Chinese, and 
 
 in various reviews and pamphlets specially devoted 
 
 to its consideration , and the author only endeavours 
 
 now to collect^ and repeat as concisely as he is able, 
 
 the leading- features of the case ; and to lay before the 
 
 public, as forcibly as he may, the conclusions to which 
 
 they lead. 
 
 Cultiva- Opium is prepared from the juice of the white 
 
 supply of pt^ppj; which is cultivated for commercial purposes 
 
 opium. -^ jj^^-g^ Qjj-j^g^ Persia, and Turkey. In China the 
 
 cultivation is prohibited by the Government; but 
 since the war of 1842, and the rebellion of Tae Ping* 
 Wang-, the Imperial authority has not been suffi- 
 ciently strong- to enforce its prohibition ; and the 
 annual yield of opium, which is rapidly increasing', 
 is now supposed to amount to some thousands of 
 chests. In Persia and Turkey the production is 
 comparatively small, and need not be further re- 
 ferred to. In India the poppy is ^rown, both in 
 British and independent territory. In Beng-al 
 there were sold in 1855,* 53,319 chests of 164 lbs. 
 each ; and the exports from Bombay in 1854-5 
 reached 27,688 chests, of 140 lbs. each; and, 
 as nearly the whole of this quantity was for the 
 Chinese market, the total amount supplied by India 
 
 * '* The Opium Eevenue of India," pub. by Allen and Co. p. 1 0. 
 
11 
 
 to China in J 855 is admitted to be nearly 80,000 
 chests, even by the upholders of the trade. Calcu- 
 lating- roug-hly^ 50,000 chests, or 8,200,000 lbs. from 
 Beng-al, furnish 47,000,000,000 grains of opium, or 
 23,500,000,000 of smokeable extract, as it is called ; 
 and 27,000 chests, or 3,780,000 lbs. from Bombay, 
 furnish, in like manner, 22,773,000 g-rains of opium, 
 or 1 1,400,000,000 g-rains of smokeable extract. The 
 Bengal export supplies, therefore, 3,200,000 custom- 
 ers, at 7,300 grains a year of smokeable extract, or 20 
 grains (equal to 40 grains of opium) a day ; and the 
 Bombay export, 1,500,000 customers, at the same rate. 
 
 The opium shipped from Bombay is grown princi- Bombajr I 
 pally in Malvva. The Indian Government, since the P^"^- 
 subjugation of Sindh, has been able to prevent it 
 from being carried to the Portuguese ports of Din 
 and Demaun ; and now levies a duty of 40. per 
 chest upon it. 
 
 The Bengal opium must, as the average produce Bengal 
 is about 22 lbs. per acre, be gathered from 400,000 
 acres of the richest land in the British territo- 
 ries. The Government agents advance money to 
 the r^^ots, or native farmers, for the cultivation of 
 the poppy ; they compel them to sell the juice, which 
 is extracted from the poppy -head on the fall of the 
 flower, at a fixed rate ; they prepare it and flavour it 
 specially for the Chinese market ; they carry it to Cal- 
 cutta, and there sell it to the speculators who convey 
 it to the Chinese coasts. 
 
 The 7iet opium revenue derived by the Indian Go- Opium 
 vernment in 1854-5 was 3,282,401, the costs or ofTiidia. 
 
12 
 
 Minute, 
 28 Feb. 
 1856. 
 
 / 
 
 charges amounted to i,5S6,2i6, and the gross re- 
 venue for that year was therefore 4^818,647. The 
 gross opium revenue for the 3'ear 1856 was estimated 
 by Lord Dalhousie at 5^000^000^ or about one- 
 sixth of the whole revenue of the Indian empire. 
 
 Of the net revenue for 1854-5^ 2^187,449; or 
 about two-thirds^ was derived from the Government 
 monopoly of Bengal, and 1,094,952 or about one- 
 third from the duty levied in Bombay. The cost or 
 charges on the monopoly revenue^ which was in 
 gross rather more than three and a half millions, 
 amounted to nearly a million and a half. The 
 prices obtained for the opium vary considerably, 
 but it may be stated, roughly, that each of the 50,000 
 chests of monopoly opium Avhich go to China, is sold 
 by the cultivator for 25, by the Government for 
 100, and by the speculator for, perhaps, 150. 
 
 The following* tables will be interesting to the 
 
 reader: 
 
 Table I. 
 
 McGre- 
 
 gor'sCom- 
 
 mercial 
 
 Statistics, 
 
 vol. V. p. 
 
 75. 
 
 Quantities of Opium exported 
 
 from Calcutta 
 
 arid Bombay to 
 
 China akd other Countries. 
 
 
 Calcutta. 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 1795-96 
 
 5,183 
 
 
 
 
 1796-97 
 
 5,644 
 
 
 
 1797-98 
 
 3,503 
 
 
 
 1798-99 
 
 3,342 
 
 
 
 1799- 1800 
 
 3,926 
 
 
 
 1800-1801 
 
 4,788 
 
 
 
 1801-1802 
 
 3,467 
 
 
 
 1802-1803 
 
 3,068 
 
 
 
 1803-4 
 
 3,053 
 
 
 
 1804-5 
 
 3,358 
 
 .... 
 
 
13 
 
 Table I {continued. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Calcutta. 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 Total 
 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 1805^6 
 
 3,657 
 
 
 
 1806-7 
 
 4,384 
 
 
 
 1807-8 
 
 4,255 
 
 
 
 1808-9 
 
 4,639 
 
 
 
 1809-10 
 
 4,246 
 
 
 
 J810 11 
 
 4,909 
 
 
 
 1811-12 
 
 4,713 
 
 
 
 1812-13 
 
 4,832 
 
 
 
 1813-14 
 
 4,272 
 
 
 
 1814-15 
 
 3,872 
 
 
 
 1815-16 
 
 3,848 
 
 
 
 1816-17 
 
 4,325 
 
 
 
 1817-18 
 
 3,708 
 
 
 
 1818-19 
 
 4,299 
 
 
 
 1819-20 
 
 3,091 
 
 
 
 1820-21 
 
 5,147 
 
 2,278 
 
 7,425 
 
 1821^22 
 
 2,591 
 
 3,855 
 
 6,446 
 
 1822-23 
 
 4,100 
 
 5,535 
 
 9,635 
 
 1823-24 
 
 5,209 
 
 6,063 
 
 11,272 
 
 1824-25 
 
 7,076 
 
 5,563 
 
 12,639 
 
 1825-26 
 
 5,165 
 
 5,565 
 
 10,730 
 
 1826-27 
 
 6,568 
 
 4,504 
 
 11,072 
 
 1827-28 
 
 7,903 
 
 7,709 
 
 15,612 
 
 1828-29 
 
 6,554 
 
 8,099 
 
 14,653 
 
 1829-30 
 
 9,678 
 
 12,856 
 
 22,534 
 
 1830-31 
 
 7,069 
 
 9,333 
 
 16,402 
 
 1831-32 
 
 7,427 
 
 14,007 
 
 21,434 
 
 1832-33 
 
 9,485 
 
 11,715 
 
 21,200 
 
 1833-34 
 
 11,930 
 
 11,678 
 
 23,608 
 
 1834-35 
 
 11,050 
 
 12,933 
 
 23,983 
 
 1835.36 
 
 14,807 
 
 11,724 
 
 26,531 
 
 1836-37 
 
 12,734 
 
 21,073 
 
 33,807 
 
 1837-38 
 
 19,317 
 
 10,627 
 
 29,944 
 
 1838-39 
 
 18,221 
 
 17,515 
 
 35,736 
 
 1839-40 
 
 18,510 
 
 5,292 
 
 23,802 
 
 1840-41 
 
 17,410 
 
 15,762 
 
 33,172 
 
 1841-42 
 
 19,739 
 
 16,356 
 
 36,095 
 
 1842-43 
 
 16,670 
 
 18,321 
 
 34,991 
 
 1843-44 
 
 17,774 
 
 
 
 1844-45 
 
 18,794 
 
 
 
14 
 
 Mccul- 
 loch's 
 Commer- 
 cial Dic- 
 tionary, 
 1850. Ar- 
 ticle, 
 Opium. 
 
 Tablb 2. Bifa-ent Species of Indian Opium importedinto Chiyia- 
 
 Statisti- 
 cal paper 
 printed 
 for the 
 Court of 
 Directors 
 oftheEast 
 India 
 Company 
 in 1853,* 
 quoted 
 from paore 
 76,Churh. 
 Mission- 
 ary Intel- 
 ligencer, 
 April 
 1857. 
 
 
 Patna 
 
 
 
 
 
 and Benares. 
 
 Malwa. 
 
 Total 
 
 Value 
 
 Years. 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 No. of Chests. 
 
 in Dollars. 
 
 1816-17 
 
 2,670 
 
 600 
 
 3,270 
 
 3,657,000 
 
 1817-18 
 
 2,530 
 
 1,150 
 
 3,680 
 
 3,904,250 
 
 1818-19 
 
 3,050 
 
 1,530 
 
 4,580 
 
 4,159,250 
 
 1819-20 
 
 2,970 
 
 1,630 
 
 4,600 
 
 5,583,200 
 
 1820-21 
 
 3,050 
 
 1,720 
 
 4,770 
 
 8,400,800 
 
 1821-22 
 
 2,910 
 
 1,718 
 
 4,628 
 
 8,314,600 
 
 1822-23 
 
 1,822 
 
 4,000 
 
 5,822 
 
 7,988,930 
 
 1823-24 
 
 2,910 
 
 4,172 
 
 7,082 
 
 8,575,100 
 
 1824-25 
 
 2,655 
 
 6,000 
 
 8,655 
 
 7,679,625 
 
 1825-26 
 
 2,442 
 
 6,179 
 
 8,621 
 
 7,608,205 
 
 1826-27 
 
 3,661 
 
 6,308 
 
 9,969 
 
 9,610,085 
 
 1827-28 
 
 5,134 
 
 4,401 
 
 9,535 
 
 10,425,075 
 
 1828-29 
 
 5,905 
 
 7,771 
 
 13,736 
 
 12,535,115 
 
 1829-30 
 
 7,143 
 
 6,857 
 
 14,00(? 
 
 12,057,157 
 
 1830-31 
 
 6,660 
 
 12,100 
 
 18,760 
 
 11,904,263 
 
 1831 32 
 
 5,672 
 
 7,831 
 
 13,503 
 
 10,934,695 
 
 1832-33 
 
 8,167 
 
 15,403 
 
 23,570 
 
 15,322,759 
 
 1833-34 
 
 8,672 
 
 11,114 
 
 19,786 
 
 13,056,540 
 
 1834-35 
 
 7.767 
 
 8,747 
 
 16,514 
 
 9,655,010 
 
 1835-36 
 
 6,173 
 
 10,612 
 
 16,785 
 
 10,539,875 
 
 1836-37 
 
 8,078 
 
 13,430 
 
 21,508 
 
 14,287,330 
 
 1837-38 
 
 6,165 
 
 1.3,875 
 
 20,040 
 
 10,883,157 
 
 esent century the exports of Opium 
 chestaof 149-^ lbs. each. IIcOul- 
 
 N.B. During the first ten years of the pr 
 from India to China averaged about 2500 
 loch's Com. Diet. 18.50. 
 
 Table 3. Statement exhihiting the Number of Chests of Opium 
 sold in Bengal or exported from Bombay from 1840 to 1849. 
 
 
 Number of Chests 
 
 Number of Chests 
 
 
 of 164 lbs. each. 
 
 of 140 lbs. each. 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 1840-41 
 
 17,858 
 
 16,773 
 
 1841-42 
 
 18,827 
 
 14,681 
 
 1842-43 
 
 18,362 
 
 24,337 
 
 1843-44 
 
 15,104 
 
 13,563 
 
 1844-45 
 
 18,350 
 
 20,660 
 
 1845-46 
 
 21,437 
 
 12,635 
 
 1846-47 
 
 21,648 
 
 18,602 
 
 1847-48 
 
 30,515 
 
 15,485 
 
 1848-49 
 
 36,000 
 
 16,509 j 
 
15 
 
 Table 4. 
 
 Quaniity and Value of Opium exported from Bengal and Bombay in 
 each of the years ending 30th April 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, 1855. 
 ( Calculated at 2s the Company's rupee). 
 
 Years.! 5fg^ I ^^^- 
 
 Chests. 
 
 1851 
 1852 
 1853 
 1854 
 1855* 
 
 24,16213,155,075 
 23,274 3,137,781 
 36,178|4,020,094 
 41,9l7j3,688,963 
 53,319|3,711,137 
 
 Bombay 
 
 Chests. 
 
 Value. 
 
 . I 
 19,200 2,304,060! 
 28,242 3,377,433! 
 25,2193,013,981 
 26,258 2,748,135 
 27,688! 
 
 Total 
 
 Chests. 
 
 Total value 
 
 . 
 
 43,362|5,459,135 
 52,96616,515,214 
 
 61,397 
 68,175 
 81,007 
 
 7,034,075 
 6,437,098 
 
 Table 5. 
 
 Board of 
 
 Trade 
 
 Returns. 
 
 Pamphlet 
 "The 
 Opium 
 Revenue 
 of India," 
 p. 10. 
 
 Quantity and Value of Opium exported from British India, by sea, in the 
 year ending 30th April, 1853, and the countries to which it was sent. 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 Pegue. 
 
 China. 
 
 Penang, Singa- Coast of 
 pore, Malacca. | Africa. 
 
 i 
 
 Total. 
 
 Quan- 
 tities. 
 
 28 
 
 Value. 
 
 . 
 3,097 
 
 Quan- 
 tities. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quan- 
 tities. 
 
 ^'-- S; 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quan- 
 tities. 
 
 Value. 
 
 31,433 
 
 . 
 
 3,482,948 
 
 4,717 
 
 . 
 534,049 
 
 nil. 
 
 1 
 
 nil. 
 64 
 
 36,178 
 
 . 
 4,020,094 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 nil. 
 
 nil. 
 
 24,979 
 
 2,987,967 
 
 239 
 
 25,950 
 
 25,219 
 
 3,013,981 
 
 Board of 
 
 Trade 
 
 Returns. 
 
 N.B. The above return does uot include the quantities shipped to 
 ports in British India, or to Ceylon. 
 
Board of 
 Trade 
 Returns, 
 Part I. 
 1856, 
 p. 13. 
 
 Opium 
 
 Trade 
 
 with 
 
 Chinn. 
 
 Board of 
 
 Trade 
 
 Blue 
 
 Book, 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1856, 
 
 p. 361. 
 
 16 
 
 Table 6. 
 
 Gross and net amount of Revenue derived from Opium, and net 
 Revenue from other sources in British India, in each year 
 ending SOth April, from 1840 to 1854. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Opium. 
 
 Total net 
 Receipts from 
 other sources. 
 
 Gross Receipts 
 
 Charges. 
 
 Net Receipts 
 
 1840 
 1841 
 1842 
 1843 
 1844 
 1845 
 1846 
 1847 
 1848 
 1849 
 1850 
 1851 
 1852 
 1853 
 1854 
 
 
 784,266 
 1,430,499 
 1,599,628 
 2,087,696 
 2,638,766 
 2,848,786 
 3,578,002 
 3,678,207 
 2,735,129 
 3,913,091 
 4,497,254 
 3,795,300 
 4,259,778 
 5,088,184 
 4,777,231 
 
 
 
 446,489 
 
 556,221 
 
 580,862 
 
 511,114 
 
 613,940 
 
 667,498 
 
 774,652 
 
 792,005 
 
 1,071,745 
 
 1,067,328 
 
 966,974 
 
 1,044,952 
 
 1,120,532 
 
 1,370,252 
 
 1,418,211 
 
 
 
 337,777 
 874,278 
 1,018,766 
 1,576,582 
 2,024,826 
 2,181,288 
 2,803,350 
 2,886,202 
 1,663,384 
 2,845,763 
 3,530,280 
 2,750,348 
 3,139,246 
 3,717,932 
 3,359,020 
 
 
 17,029,595 
 17,695,487 
 18,447,223 
 19,261,739 
 20,119,254 
 20,154,863 
 20,766,111 
 22,527,831 
 21,162,423 
 21,781,395 
 23,917,625 
 23,904,690 
 23,945,300 
 24,376,833 
 23,681,842 
 
 The opium is conveyed from India to China in 
 well armed^ well manned^ clipper ships^ and of late 
 years even in the Peninsular and Oriental Company's 
 monthly steamers ; and on its arrival it is stowed to 
 a o-reat extent in receiving- ships^ from whence it is 
 conveyed to different parts of the ccpst^ according- to 
 the demand. The official returns from the colony of 
 Hong- Kong" show that as many as 36,499 chests of 
 opium were imported into that island in 1853, and 
 
17 
 
 46^7^5 chests in 1854, in the steamers of the Penin- 
 sular and Oriental Compan}-. 
 
 In order to g"ive an insig*ht into the proportion of Relative 
 leg^al and illegal trade carried on between the Bri- tion of 
 tish and Chinese empires^ it ina}^ be stated^ that the mf^al 
 value of the opium imported from India is equal to ^''^^^ 
 three times the value of all other British imports^ 
 (exclusive of bullion and specie,) and that it amounts 
 to three-quarters of the value of all the produce that 
 "we receive from China ; so that more than half of 
 the whole trade W'hich passes between the two 
 empires is contraband. 
 
 Such is the nature, and such the extent of the 
 Indian opium trade with China j and such are the 
 leading- facts connected with the cultivation of opium 
 in our Indian territories. The Indian Government 
 enjoys what is believed to be an illegal monopol}- in 
 producing- and manufacturing* the drug-, specially 
 prepares it for contraband purposes, and, by publicly 
 selling- it in Calcutta for the Chinese market, does 
 its best to encourag-e a lawless race in an unlawful 
 calling-. It must next be stated what are the effects 
 of this opium upon the Chinese, and what means the 
 Chinese Government has adopted to prevent its 
 importation. 
 
 Well known as a valuable medicine, opium is in Effects of 
 many countries employed as a narcotic, but when ^P^""^' 
 thus used -it has always produced lamentable eifects 
 upon its votaries. It is sometimes eaten and 
 
 B 
 
IS 
 
 sometimes smoked^ the effect being* somewhat similar 
 in both cases ; but the process of smoking* produces 
 a more immediate result^ and appears to be more 
 seductive and more hurtful than that of eating- it. 
 It has been stated that opium smoking' and alcohol 
 drinking maybe considered much in the same lig-ht, 
 and that opium smoking- is in one respect the lesser 
 of the two evils, inasmuch as the alcohol drinker is 
 led on to criminal actions^ and is an offence to societ}^, 
 while the opium smoker stupifies himself^ and is 
 harmless to his neig'hbours. But this is not altoge- 
 ther coiTect. Opium has exciting qualities^ though 
 not to the same extent as alcohol 5 the want of it to 
 a regular opium eater^ or opium smoker^ leads to the 
 commission of the worst crimes^ as wxll as the use 
 of it ', and it acts differently upon different disposi- 
 tions and temperaments^ and according to the amount 
 of the dose. We may see in this country^ and un- 
 fortunately too often^ some stupid, others furious^ 
 and others again who are amusing under the influence 
 of alcohol J and^ in fact, any qualities that a man 
 ** Cherais- may happen to possess are liable to be exaggerated 
 c^m^mon when he is intoxicated. So also in other countries 
 V'^^-" may be seen the Tartar, who. by the use of the stimu- 
 
 John&ton, "^ >- y ./ 
 
 Toi. ii. lant opium, is enabled to perform enormous journeys 
 
 ^* * upon scanty fare and without rest } and the '^ Cut- 
 
 ^^ chee horseman who shares his store of opium with 
 
 " his flagging steed." We read of the excitement 
 
 of the Mala}^, and also of the Javanese, who rushed 
 
19 
 
 under its influence upon the pike's pointy and eonti- Mr. Sim's 
 nued fig^hting" with the weapon in his body^ utterly Is^Marc^ 
 reofardless of his wounds. We hear that in 1840, i840,p. 
 " one-half ot the crime ni the opium districts (of Aiexan- 
 '^ India)^ murders^ rapes^ and affi-ays^ had their pamphlet. 
 '^ origin in opium eating'/' We are told that con* 
 firmed opium eaters will commit any crime, will sell 
 their wives and property, and even be g'uilty ofvidep.22. 
 murder, in order to obtain their accustomed dose. 
 
 There are strong reasons why alcohol cannot Alcohol 
 compare with opium in reg^ard to the injury which compared! 
 it inflicts. Alcohol is taken by whole nations in 
 various forms, and is productive, no doubt, of much 
 crime and evil : but a state of habitual, constant 
 drunkenness, is the exception among'st those who 
 drink spirituous liquors. Opium is indulg-ed in by 
 vast numbers of Chinese, Indians, and others ; but 
 the exceptions amongst its votaries appear to be 
 those who can eat it, or, more particularly, smoke it 
 for any length of time in moderation, and without 
 becoming more or less victims to it. Alcohol af- 
 fords, in diflferent forms, a luxurious beverage, and 
 sometimes a beneficial, and even a necessary one. 
 Opium is only admissible as a medicine, and the 
 constant use of it for other than strictly medicinal 
 purposes, is a vice. A regular partaker of beer, wine, 
 or other spirits, may be, and is generally, a sober 
 man ; and he can give up his stimulants at any time, 
 when it may be necessary for him to do so j but the 
 
 B 2 
 
20 
 
 opium smoker, when once he has become habituated 
 to the practice^ loses his life if suddenly deprived of 
 his drug"^ and can only be broken of the habit by 
 means of such an ordeal as few can be induced 
 to underg'o, however much they may lament the 
 P 6 Mr ^^^^ *^^^ possesses them^ and fear its ultimate conse- 
 Matthe- quences. The Rev. Carstairs Doug-las^ of Amoy^ in 
 pamphlet, writing" to Eng"land in 1856, stated that so many of 
 these unhappy opium smokers were anxious to give 
 up the habit^ that the manufacture and sale of pills 
 which somewhat assisted the attempt to abstain from 
 it, covered the necessary expenses of the mission. 
 The only fair comparison between alcohol and opium 
 iS; as has often been stated^ that which places the 
 habitual drunkard, and not the habitual partaker of 
 wane, beer^ or spirits^ in moderation, on a par with 
 the reg'ular opium smoker. 
 
 It is impossible to do more here than lay before 
 
 the reader a few extracts from the writing's of those 
 
 who have testified to the effects of opium ; but 
 
 further evidence on this subject will be found in the 
 
 several w^orks which are referred to at the end of the 
 
 present pamphlet ; and under the head of Narcotics^ 
 
 in Johnston's " Chemistry of Common Life," may 
 
 be seen an able and impartial description of opium 
 
 and its effects. 
 
 Forbes In an official report, dated Hong Kong-^ 8th 
 
 Yelrsm Aug-ust, 1845, Mr. Consul Alcock says, ^^The use of 
 
 China," u [^ (opium) in China seems to extend to the very 
 
81 
 
 ^^ lowest classes ; coolies and even beg-g-ars are in 
 
 ^^ the habit of taking- a pipe^ thoug'h it may often be 
 
 " at the price of their meal of rice. They alleg-e 
 
 '^ that having" once commenced the practice^ they 
 
 ^^ become unable to follow their avocations if the daily 
 
 *^ stimulus be withdrawn/' 
 
 A Chinese paper says : ^^7^^^^^^ 
 
 " I have learned that those who smoke opium, pub.,i846, 
 
 ^^' ^^*- P* 
 ^^ and eventually become its victims, have a periodi- 204. 
 
 " cal long-ing- for it, which can only be assuag-ed by 
 
 ^' the application of the drug at the reg-ular time. 
 
 ^^ If they cannot obtain it when that daily period 
 
 ^^ arrives their limbs become debilitated, a discharg-e 
 
 ^^ of rheum takes place from the eyes and nose, and 
 
 ^^ they are altogether unequal to any exertion ; but 
 
 ^^ with a few whiffs their spirits and strength are 
 
 ^' immediately restored in a surprising manner. 
 
 ^^ Thus opium becomes to opium smokers their very 
 
 ^^ life : and when they are seized and brought before 
 
 ^^ the magistrates, they will sooner suffer a severe 
 
 ^^ chastisement than inform aofainst those who sell 
 
 " it." 
 
 A quotation in No. 52 of the North British "<^'''''*^ 
 
 . . . Keposi- 
 
 Review is thus 2'iven : tory,"for 
 
 1836 
 
 ^^ There is no slavery on earth to be compared quoted in 
 " with the bondage into which opium casts its victim, pamphlet! 
 " There is scarcely one known escape from its toils. 
 ^^ when once they have fairly enveloped a man." 
 
 Mr. Marjoribanks, who was president of the select p^^^^eg^^ 
 
22 
 
 of British Committee at Canton^ is thus quoted by General 
 
 smuS^ Alexander : 
 
 f ^6(f '" ^* Op^"^^ ^^^ ^^^h' ^6 regarded, except when used 
 ^^ as a medicine, as a most pernicious poison. To 
 * " any friend of humanity it is a painful subject of 
 '' contemplation that we should continue to pour 
 ^' this black and envenomed poison into the sources 
 " of human happiness. The misery and demorali- 
 ^' zation occasioned by it are almost beyond belief 
 " Any man who has witnessed its frig"htful ravag-es 
 " and demoralizing- effects in China^ must feel deeply 
 '^ on this subject." 
 
 Mr. Bruce, too, the Superintendent of the tea 
 plantation in Assam, was quoted in 1840, and has 
 several times been quoted since, in proof of the evils 
 that opium has inflicted upon Assam. Amongst 
 other statements on the subject he makes the fol- 
 lowing*: 
 
 ^^ Few but those who have resided long- in this 
 " unhappy country know the dreadful and immoral 
 " effects which the use of opium produces on the 
 " native. He will steal, sell his property, his chil- 
 ^^ dren, the mother of his children, and, finally, even 
 ^' commit murder for it f also, " That dreadful 
 " plague (opium) which has depopulated this beau- 
 " tiful country .... And has deg'enerated 
 ^^ the Assamese from a fine race of people, to the 
 " most abject, servile, crafty, and demoralized race in 
 '' India." 
 " The rpj^g author of a pamphlet published in the course 
 
 opium ^ ^ ^ 
 
^3 
 
 of the present year^ for the express purpose of sup- Teyenue ^^ 
 porting" the opium monopoly^ sa3"s: p.s. * 
 
 '' The condition of the Rajpoots of Central India 
 ^^ is univ^ersaily held up as 2a\ evidence of the demo- 
 ^^ ralizino-j enervating, life-desti-o^ang' ^flect of this 
 '' dru^.'^ 
 
 These extracts have been oiven as bearino- most ^P'^ions 
 
 . ? . in favour 
 
 strongiy against the use of opium as a narcotic ] of the use 
 and it is only right to add, on the other side, that as a^na^ 
 Mr. Meadows, Dr. Burnes, Dr. Eatwell, and others '''**''^ 
 who have seen much of those who use opium, re- 
 present that it does not produce such bad effects 
 as have been attributed to it, and that it appears to 
 be used without much ill effect by great numbers of 
 people. Mr. Meadows, however, who is our latest 
 authority, admits that the ^* daily whiff,'' must be 
 obtained when the habit has been once contracted ; 
 and that the Chinese Court, the Opium merchants, 
 and the Tae Pino- rebels, equally discourae-e the use Meadows, 
 
 P . T 1 11 1 "Chinese 
 
 or opium amongst their own people ; as well as that and their 
 he ^^ never heard opium smokers, themselves, justify nons," p. 
 the practice." ^^- 
 
 The bad effects may have been exag-p-erated by^"^^"" 
 
 a r>T> J sions 
 
 many who have written on the subject ; but few from th 
 w^ho take the trouble to study the evidence on both 
 sides of the question, and seriously to consider it, 
 will have any doubt that the use of opium as a 
 narcotic, is an ensnaring, a seductive, and a dele- 
 terious habit 5 and most Englishmen would deeply 
 regret to hear that there was a prospect of its being 
 
24 
 
 broug-ht into constant use amongst any class of 
 their own countrymen. The rio-ht-thinker and the 
 true Christian^ also, of whatever nation, must deeply 
 lament the spread of such a vice, either in his own 
 or in an}^ other country, and must regard with but 
 little respect those who, for the sake of pecuniary 
 profit, promote, and, still more, are employed in in- 
 creasing* the evils which it occasions. 
 The But, what are w^ doing*? For more than fifty 
 
 war. years our fellow-countrymen have been eng'ag'ed 
 in smuggling" this pernicious drug* into China, in 
 direct opposition to the wishes and utmost efforts of 
 the Chinese Government. Ever since the 3ear ]800 
 the trade has been contraband; but the annual 
 importations from British India into China have 
 g-raduall}^ increased from 2000 up to 80,000 chests. 
 By the year 1834 the trade had assumed a regular 
 character, and the Chinese Government had become 
 much alarmed, both on account of the increased 
 consumption of the drug*, and in consequence of 
 the drain of silver which it occasioned. They there- 
 fore made strenuous efforts to put a stop to it j and 
 the violent measures which they adopted in pub- 
 licly strangling one of their own subjects in front 
 of the Canton foreign factories for participation 
 in the trade ; in virtually imprisoning- the British 
 merchants, as well as the Chief Superintendent of 
 Trade, who hastened to their rescue j and in destroy- 
 ing" 20,000 chests of opium which they induced him 
 to deliver up to them ; were the principal causes 
 that led to the Chinese war of 1841-2. 
 
2 
 
 K 
 
 We were successful in that war; we upheld our its result, 
 smug-glers with a strong- hand ; we made the Chi- 
 nese pay for the opium that they had destroyed ; and 
 we still furnish them with the same ^^ black dirt," 
 as they call it^ in continually increasing quantities. 
 
 Since the termination of that war the Chinese state of 
 authorities have made no great effort against the tra^de^^""^ 
 opium traffic. Torn by internal dissensions^ and in ^.a^of ^ 
 want of mone}^, they are powerless to prevent, and i^^^-^- 
 are even compelled to allow their mandarins to 
 profit by encouraging it ; and the result is, that it 
 has acquired more than three times the dimensions 
 it had at the time of that war, and has almost as- 
 sumed the appearance of a regular authorised trade. 
 British merchants of great respectability are en Matthe- 
 gaged in it, and we are even told that if they did ^^"' ^* 
 not join in it they would be unable to compete with 
 their neighbours, and would be compelled to leave 
 China altogether. This helplessness on the part of 
 the Chinese cannot, however, be brought forw^ard as 
 any excuse for ourselves. On the contrary, the 
 greater their inability to carry out their just prohibi- 
 tion against an injurious trade, the more blameable 
 and the less worth}' of the British nation is our 
 infrinoement of it. 
 
 The Chinese have been accused of insincerity in Bisinte- 
 their attempts to put down this traffic ; and it has conduct 
 been alleged against them that they cared not so ?f *^^ 
 much for the opium that was imported, as for the 
 silver that went out of the country to pay for it ; as 
 
S6 
 
 well as that, after having" once prohibited it^ their 
 pride alone has prevented them from retracting- that 
 prohibition. But the arguments that have been 
 broug-ht forward in reply to this accusation are of 
 an overpowering" nature. It is stated^ on the other 
 hand^ that if the Chinese Government had chosen 
 to leg-alise the admission of opium upon payment of 
 a fixed duty, they might all along* have made a 
 Vide Nar- large revenue out of it ; that if they had not most 
 Bev.^G. materially checked the gTowth of the poppy in their 
 P^slnt own country, enoug'h opium might have been pro- 
 Bishop of Juced there, at one-fifth of the price the}^ now pay 
 quoted by for it, for internal consumption 3 and that the drain 
 ander, of silver that they so lamented might thus have 
 ^* ' been effectually stopped. Looking- at their conduct 
 in this lig'ht, it w^ould really appear that their efforts 
 have been most disinterested, and that they have 
 patriotically and persistingly striven, to their own 
 detriment, and solely for the g-ood of their people, 
 to check a national evil of vital importance. The 
 well known reply of the Chinese Emperor is deeply 
 striking- : '^ It is true, I cannot prevent the intro- 
 ^^ duction of the flowing- poison ^ g-ain-seeking- and 
 ^^ corrupt men will, for profit and sensuality, defeat 
 '' my wishes ; but nothing- will induce me to derive 
 ^' a revenue from the vice and miser}^ of my people." 
 Dr. Morrison says, too, on this subject : 
 Quoted in ^^ It is a principle of the Chinese Government not 
 Chinese," ^^ to licence what they condemn as immoral. I 
 114*/' ^* ^' know they glory in the superiority, as to principle. 
 
27 
 
 " of their own Government^ and scorn the Christian 
 ^^ Governments that tolerate these vices^ and convert 
 " them into a source of pecuniary advantage^ or 
 " public revenue." 
 
 How different our own conduct ! While the Our dif- 
 Chinese Emperor has been so larg-ely sacrificing- pe- licy and 
 cuniary interests to his people's welfare^ our Indian ^^ "^'' 
 Government has been involving- our coimtrymen in^ 
 and inciting them to, a smuggling trade ; has been 
 sacrificing: its native subjects, and has been itself ^^^^ ^?^^ 
 flavouring the pernicious substance^ so as to make it 5, et seq. 
 as tempting as possible to its wretched customers. 
 How great, too, our ingratitude ! The Chinese fur- 
 nish us with the most harmless, the most refreshing, 
 the most pleasant, for constant use, of all beverages 
 with a beverage which is equally appreciated by 
 our young* sportsmen in distant countries, and our 
 old women at home which is in almost universal 
 use amongst us, which we designate proverbially as 
 the " cup that cheers but not inebriates," and the 
 loss of which to our poorer classes would be one of 
 the greatest evils that a general war could produce : 
 they thus contribute largely to our comforts, and 
 even to our daily necessities, and we smug'gle into 
 their country, in return, a drug which is poisoning 
 more or less slowly vast numbers of their people. 
 
 It is, of course, impossible to determine the exact The 
 
 1 r 1 1 /^-i . .1 amount of 
 
 number oi regular opmm smokers ni Chma, or the the injury 
 number of smokers of Indian opium. But an ap-^u*^^ ^ 
 proximation to these numbers has been already given 
 
28 
 
 at pag-e 11, where it appears that, allowing* 20 g-raina 
 a day for an averag'e smoker, the Bengal monopoly 
 of the Indian Government would supply 8,200,000 
 victims, and the Bombay opium 1,500,000 more. It 
 may therefore be estimated that the Indian opium is 
 continually in process of poisoning 4,700,000 Chi- 
 nese. The averag'e life of an opium smoker is stated 
 at 10 years, after he has contracted the habit ; but, 
 if twice that term of hfe be allowed him, it may 
 even then be further estimated that the Indian Go- 
 vernment, with the Beng-al monopoly alone, kills its 
 customers at the rate of 160,000 a year, and derives 
 a net profit of 14 from each victim during* his 
 20 3^ears of opium smoking* existence. But this 
 is not all, for the evil is an increasing* one. It 
 has increased fort3-fold in the last half centur}^, 
 four-fold in the last 20 years, and two-fold in the 
 last 10 years ; and the production of the Govern- 
 ment monopoly has been more than doubled in the 
 last four years. If the evil be not now checked, it 
 is impossible to estimate to what further extent it 
 may be made to grow. 
 
 This, then, is the Christian forbearance that has 
 Profes- o-uided for a series of years the policy of those 
 
 sion and , . . , x i- /-. 
 
 practice who have admmistered our Indian Government, 
 Govern-" and this the respect that the}^ have shown for the 
 ^^^^' rig'hts and liberties of the Chinese nation. They 
 Matthe- cxprcssly Stated in 1834 that they retained the 
 son, p. . Qpj^j^^ monopoly, not so much for the purpose of 
 revenue, as to restrain the use of this pernicious 
 
29 
 
 drug-. They said, '' Were it possible to prevent tlie Alexan- 
 '' use of the drug' altogether^ except strictly for the ^^' ^' 
 " purpose of medicine^ we would gladly do it iu com- 
 ' passion to mankind f but between 1834 and 1857 
 they have nearly quadrupled their exportation. 
 
 In spite of the strup-ffles that the Chinese autho- Their 
 
 . . present 
 
 rities formerly made to avoid the ruin thus brought policy. 
 upon their country^ and fifteen years after the ter- 
 mination of the war which was mainly caused by their 
 violent efforts to stop the contraband importation of 
 opium, the Indian Government still persists not 
 merely in winking at, or tacitly permitting, but ab- 
 solutely in conducting the manufacture of this drug, 
 for the express purpose of selling it to those who 
 import it into their helpless country. There can be 
 no question about this fact, no dispute about it. The 
 opium thus manufactured by the Indian Govern- 
 ment is quite different from that which is prepared 
 for medicine. In this case, let it be repeated, they 
 flavour the drug in the most tempting manner^ and 
 make it as attractive as possible ; they prepare it in 
 the most approved form for smuggling, that it may 
 elude what little vigilance and opposition the Chi- 
 nese Government is yet able to exercise ; they thus 
 encourage and enable those to whom they sell it to 
 carry on an illegal, a hurtful, and an iniquitous 
 trade, little less demoralizing to those employed in it 
 than it is destructive to their Chinese victims ; and 
 they depend upon opium receipts for a sixth part of 
 their whole revenue. 
 
30 
 
 Its ten- Could Commissioner Yeh diso-race the British 
 
 dency. t^ 
 
 Empire^ or dishonour the British Flag*^ to the same 
 extent; by any means within his power ? Does not 
 the Indian Goverament^ by persisting- in^ increas- 
 ing-, and profiting' by^ this wretched traffic, do more 
 to dishonour the British name, to demoralize British 
 commerce, and to injure Christ's religion, than all 
 that the Chinese Commissioner has done, or can do ? 
 Does it not do more real permanent injury to the 
 British nation^ than all the insults that all the 
 nations of the world could offer us ? 
 Official The Noble Lord now at the head of Her Majesty's 
 
 opinion. "* ^ 
 
 Government once wrote as follows on the subject of 
 the opium trade : ^^ No protection can be afforded to 
 ^^ enable British subjects to violate the laws of the 
 Alexan- " country to which they trade.'^ That principle has 
 der, p. 35. gj^ce been departed from ; let it now be returned to ; 
 let us no long'er permit our Indian Government to 
 act in opposition to it, or promote its violation. 
 Captain Elliot, who was Her Majest3^'s Superinten- 
 dent of Trade at Canton, said in a despatch to his 
 Ibid. own Government, " No man entertains a deeper de- 
 '^ testation of the diso-race and sin of this forced 
 *^ traffic on the coast of China than the humble indi- 
 '^ vidua 1 who signs this despatch. I see little to 
 '^ choose between it and piracy/' But since this des- 
 patch was written the traffic referred to has more 
 than trebled in amount, and it has become, there- 
 fore, the more important that some steps should be 
 taken in reg-ard to it. 
 
31 
 
 The Spaniards have prohibited the export of opium Conduct 
 
 of other 
 countries. 
 
 to China from Manilla^ the Dutch from Batavia. ^" ^^^'' 
 
 The Americans^ who are^ in common with ourselves^ 
 under treaty to prohibit the smug-g-ling* of opium into 
 China^ do not employ their clippers in this trade. . . . 
 It is the British flag' the flag- that ought to be the Alexan- 
 sig-n of civilization^ honour^ and Christianity the ^^'^' 
 flag that we all love the flag" that we wish others 
 to respect^ which is thus dishonoured. We are 
 rig'ht to love our flag*^ we are right to cause it to be 
 respected 5 but we should also be particular about 
 what it covers and protects. The Chinese now fear 
 not opium from other countries^ nor under other co- 
 lours. The '' Union Jack '^ is its protector in the 
 waters of Canton^ the British ensig-n its emblem on 
 the coasts of China. Every vessel under British 
 colours is associated by the Chinese with the demo- 
 ralization and ruin of their country ; every British 
 subject reminds them of the dinig- which he repre- 
 sents. All good Chinese^ Imperialists as well as Chinese 
 Insurrectionists^ dislike the British, who bring- ruin towards 
 to so many of their countrymen ; and all bad ones ^^. . , 
 hate the British^ by whom they are ruined. The 
 merchant is cursed for it, the man is detested for it, 
 the missionary is reproached for it, and applied to for 
 remedies to counteract it. Let Englishmen reflect 
 on these things, and approve them if they can. 
 
 The British and Chinese empires contain together Our Mer- 
 more than half the population of the whole world ] and^our 
 the former possessing 200,000,000, and the latter ^Jg''^''^" 
 
39 
 
 from 350 to 400,000^000 inhabitants ; an eio'hth part- 
 of the former being- Protestants^ and hardly any of 
 the hitter Christians. To the nation which has g-iven 
 its name to the former^ has been entrusted the privi- 
 lege, the responsibility, the duty, of extending- civili- 
 zation, and promoting' Christianity. The people of 
 the latter, ig-norant, thoug-h hig-hly educated, and 
 barbarous, though old in civilization, vast in number, 
 and capable of g-reat utilities and mig-hty improve- 
 ments, present the larg'est, the most unoccupied, the 
 most fertile field for the exercise of these duties, 
 responsibilities, and privileges. In obedience to 
 their destiny, our countrymen visit China either as 
 merchants or missionaries ; either in the cause of 
 commerce, or in that of Christianity ; either for their 
 own pecuniary profits, or for the religious benefit of 
 their fellow- creatures. In the capacity of merchants, 
 they are engaged in a most useful and highly 
 honourable calling, so long as they obey the just laws 
 of the country with which they trade, promote 
 friendly intercourse Avith it, and tend to improve the 
 condition of its inhabitants ] but they bring discredit 
 on their profession, and disgrace on their nation, 
 when they infringe those just laws, and injure those 
 inhabitants. As zealous missionaries, they receive 
 but little of this world's goods, but they are ho- 
 noured by all good men, and they look for a higher 
 reward. 
 Their It is of the greatest importance to ourselves as a 
 
 domgs.^^^ nation to consider well the proceedings of our coun- 
 
83 
 
 trymen in this distant part of the g-lobe. Our 
 merchants are amassing* wealth there: are they 
 doing" so with advantag-e to themselves and their 
 customers ? Our missionaries are enofaofed in their 
 holier calling- : what are the principal difficulties 
 in their path? Let us answer these questions 
 fairl}^, and without exag-geration. The merchants 
 are amongst the most respectable of their class, and 
 they rank hi^h in our commercial nation ; but they 
 carry on a trade, half of which is illegal 3 they pro- 
 cure from the Chinese that which is most beneficial, 
 and has become a necessity to us ; and they supply 
 to them, in return, in large and increasing* quan- 
 tities, a substance which is hurtful, and even 
 destructive to them as individuals, and demo- 
 ralizing to them as a nation. The missionaries 
 complain, and apparently with great justice, not 
 that the Chinese will not hear them, not that their 
 task is rendered impossible by the laws, customs, or 
 insensibility of the Chinese themselves ; but that 
 the almost overwhelming- difficulties which they en- 
 counter, are placed before them by their own 
 countrymen ; that the opium manufactured by the 
 Indian Government, carried to the coasts of China 
 in British vessels, and supplied by British mer- 
 chants, has so awful an effect upon the minds and 
 bodies of those to whom they preach, and prejudices 
 the minds of their would- be -con verts so strongly 
 against everything coming from their country, that 
 their task becomes nearly an impossible one. Dr. 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 " China, Medhurst telLs us, that " almost the first word ut- 
 
 its State 
 
 and Pros- " tered by a native, when urged to believe in Christ, 
 Med- "" " ^^y ^ Why do Christians bring- us opium, and bring" 
 hurst, (c i j^ directly in defiance of our own laws ? That 
 " ^vile drug has poisoned my son, has ruined my 
 " ^ brother, and well nig-h led me to beg-g-ar my wife 
 '^ ' and children. Surely those who import such a 
 ^^ ^ deleterious substance, and injure me for the sake 
 " ^ of g*ain, cannot wish me well, or be in possession 
 ^^ ^ of a relig-ion that is better than my own. Go, 
 '^ ^ firstj and persuade your own countrymen to re- 
 " ^ linquish this nefarious traffic ; and g-ive me a 
 " ^ prescription to correct this vile habit, and then I 
 " ^ will listen to your exhortations on the subject of 
 " ^ Christianity.^ ^' The statement of the Amoy 
 missionary, who provided for the necessary expenses 
 Vide p.20. of his mission by the sale of pills which he manu- 
 factured, which somewhat assisted the attempt to 
 Quoted at 8"^^'^ ^P opium smoking*, has alread}^ been quoted. 
 p.85,No.xhe Eev. W. Welton, also, writing- in Feb. 1856, 
 ofChurchsavs, " When recommending- Gospel truth to this 
 
 Misssion- " I'li* 
 
 ary Intel- '^ people, wc are constantly taunted with bemg- the 
 igencer. ^^ jntroduccrs of this noxious drug- ; and when we 
 ^^ endeavour to dissuade them from the use of it, 
 ^^ they say, ^ You bring- it to us, and yet tell us 
 ^' ' not to use it,' venting their indignation at our 
 '^ apparent hypocrisy in so doing ; and it is very 
 " difficult to convince them of the contrary." The 
 same gentleman, alluding to the evils and effects 
 of opium smoking, and the ph3^sic which he also 
 employed to assist the victims to break them- 
 
35 
 
 selves of it, says^ " This has given me more in- 
 ^^ fluence among* the Chinese than all my other 
 ^^ practice combined. The natives themselves areibid.p.si. 
 " most anxious to devise means to relinquish the 
 ^' habit; without suffering- the dreadful and distress- 
 ^^ ing bodily ailments and symptoms already detailed. 
 ^^ In proof of thiS; at the time I write this, nu- 
 ^' merous handbills are posted in every direction in 
 ^^ the streets^ pretending to have discovered some 
 ^^ such precious antidotes to the evil effects of the 
 ^^ drug\ Empirics, as in England and America, 
 ^^ avail themselves of the credulity and urgent ne- 
 " cessities of their countrymen, by advertising a 
 " nostrum for the evils of this vice, pretending to be 
 ^^ derived from America, Spain, India, the Red 
 ^^ Haired Country, Western Ocean Country, &c. 
 " Handbills for six of these different nostrums are 
 " now to be seen in the streets and suburbs of this 
 ^^ city; and the natives tell us missionaries how 
 " anxious they are to be rid of this appalling vice, 
 " and ask whether these pretended nostrums, with 
 " our country's name and letters attached, are 
 " genuine. I have had the anxious, solicitous wife 
 ^^ accompany the husband, enfeebled by the practice 
 " of opium smoking to my house, to see him deposit 
 " the opium pipe with me, and obtain the remedy \ 
 " and then leave with joy at the prospect of being 
 " freed from the greatest of all curses. I have seen 
 " the husband dying with incurable diarrhoea, in- 
 '^ duced by the inability to obtain the drug any 
 
 c 2 
 
36 
 
 " longer^ the poor surviving' wife left to earn a scanty 
 " pittance by making baskets. Missionaries never 
 " commend themselves nor their work to the Chinese 
 ^* in so favourable a light as when they denounce 
 " the evil of opium smoking, and exhort them to 
 " desist from it. The interest upon such occasions 
 " is genuine, and accompanied by earnest requests 
 " whether the missionar^^ has medicine to aid in 
 *^ breaking off the habit. Missionaries find, as the 
 " Chinese declare and fully know, that those who 
 " smoke opium are useless as servants, or in busi- 
 ^' ness, or in any responsible situation, and cannot 
 " be trusted or depended upon. A person engaged 
 ^^ in the sale of opium at this port, an Englishman, 
 ^^ lately told me that he w^ould not keep a servant, 
 " i,e, a native, whom he knew to smoke opium, as 
 ^^ one quite unworthy of credit and confidence.'^ 
 TieiiViou3 Unfortunately, there can be no manner of doubt 
 
 bearing- " 
 
 of the that our merchants are spreadmg vice m China, by 
 
 question. n i 'ji i 
 
 means 01 opmm, much more rapidly and more ex- 
 tensively than our missionaries can introduce anti- 
 dotes to it, either physical or moral. Our country- 
 men at present go to China " with their Bible in 
 one hand and their opium in the other.'' They 
 teach the Chinese, amongst the other command- 
 ments, " Thou shalt do no murder," but they pro- 
 vide them with a drug which, as Dr. Medhurst 
 says, and as all other testimony goes to prove, 
 Medhurst, ^^ annually destroys myriads of individuals." They 
 teach them to say, " Lead us not into temptation," 
 
37 
 
 while they are pandering* to their vices. They preach 
 to thera^ ^^ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," ^^tt. 
 while they shew to them that they care much for 
 their money and little for their lives. They proclaim 
 to them, " Woe unto him that giveth his neig-h- Hab. ii. 
 hour drink/' while they present to them the means 
 of intoxication. They tell them not to ^' do evil that Rom. m. 
 good may come/' while they themselves do evil that 
 money may come. They echo to them the memor- 
 able words, '^ It must needs be that offences come, Matt. 
 but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh /' 
 and at the same time they appear before them in 
 the character of gross, unmistakable, persevering" 
 public offenders, ag'ainst principles human and di- 
 vine. Truly, the individuals who persist in this 
 course will receive their rewards : the missionaries, 
 for the g'ood they have preached; the manufac- 
 turers, the merchants, and the speculators, for the 
 evil they have practised 3 and the nation, itself, 
 which knowingly allows this course to be continued, 
 and neglects to employ the constitutional means 
 within its power for stopping* it, must not expect to 
 escape the just veng-eance of an avenging* Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 It will be seen by the following* paragraph that Opium at 
 opium smugg-ling* is believed to have been the im- 
 mediate cause of the horrible transactions at Sara- 
 wak, of which the news has just reached us: 
 
 ^^ The immediate cause of this frightful attempt '^7^^^ 
 " to destroy the whole of the Government European 29 April, 
 
88 
 
 quoted " authorities at Sarawak^ is stated to be the stringent 
 "Straits' " measures which Sir James Brook has found it 
 of 2r " expedient to adopt^ to prevent opium smug-g-ling*. 
 March, u ^q^q heavj fiues have been levied on the smug-- 
 '' g'lers, the amount being* paid by the Kungsi^ and 
 ^^ latterly some of the offenders have been impri- 
 ^^ soned ] but these seem scarcely sufficient to ac- 
 ^^ count for such ruthless slaug'hter and destruction, 
 ^^ not sparing* ag^e or sex." 
 and Mel- And the latest accounts from Australia bring- 
 news of an " opium question " there also. The fol- 
 lowing- letter on the subject appears in the " Mel- 
 bourne Arg-us" of the 20th December, 1856: 
 
 " Sir, There has been a great deal written and 
 ^^ said about the propriety of imposing a heavy duty 
 " on opium imported into this colon}^, and there 
 " seems to be a certainty that Government contem- 
 " plates a measure of this kind. I should be sorry 
 ^^ to see opium taxed merely because its chief, and 
 '^ almost only, consumers are Chinamen, but I would 
 " heartily applaud the total prohibition of this ener- 
 " vating' drug-, on account of its demoralizing- influ- 
 " ence both on mind and body. 
 
 " Is it in the delicious swoons produced by this 
 " infamous drug- that our missionaries and advocates 
 " of the Gospel expect to convert to Christianity the 
 ^' infidel hordes now squatted on our shores ? 
 
 " Mauritius, with her numerous Malay and Chi- 
 '' uese population, might add considerably to her 
 '' revenue by admitting- duty-paid opium : but, con- 
 
39 
 
 ^^ scious of the evil produced by its use^ she strictly 
 ^^ prohibits its introduction. 
 
 "The punishment for smug-g-ling*, as you are 
 " aware^ is very severe there ; and any captain 
 " caug'ht in the act not only forfeits his ship, but is 
 " sent on the roads for several years. 
 
 " Is there no one here who would agitate this 
 " most important question ? It seems to me that a 
 " law to this effect could meet with no opposition^ 
 " either on the part of our Legislature or the public. 
 
 " Feeling" confident that by mooting* this question 
 " you will confer a lasting* benefit^ not only on the 
 " colony g*enerall3^^ but also on the well disposed 
 " portion of our Chinese population, I trust that the 
 " sug*g'estion may find a place in your valuable 
 " columns I remain^ Sir, &c. &c. 
 
 " Vox POPULI. 
 
 ''Melbourne, Dec. 13th, 1856." 
 
 As no account of opium admitted into the Mauritius Govem- 
 appears in the statistical returns of that colony, the con"is-^" 
 above statement in reg*ard to it would appear to be *^^*y- 
 true. Shall we deny to the Chinese that privileg*e of 
 prohibiting the importation of opium which we exer- 
 cise ourselves, throu<>'h the Colonial Government of 
 the Mauritius, for the good of our subjects there ? Is 
 it not a strange anomaly that one branch of our Im- 
 perial Government should be occupied in excluding 
 from one portion of our empire, on account of its 
 hurtfulness, a substance which is manufactured for 
 the sake of profit by another branch of our Imperial 
 Government ? 
 
40 
 Speech to The iioble words of our noble Premier still ring* 
 
 coiisti" 
 
 tuents, in the ears of the country. " I also/^ said he^ 
 *^ Times," " want Peace^ but I want Peace with honour and 
 ^857^^^^^' '^ safety, Peace with the maintenance of national 
 " rights. Peace with security to our fellow-country - 
 " men in foreig-n lands." England wants all this, 
 and even more than this. England wants also 
 Our duty peace with i/if^rnational honour, peace with inter" 
 the ^ Chi- iiational justice. All her good patriots wish Eng- 
 nese. ^^^^ ^^ f^]gJ jjgj. fiigJiest destiuies, and not to be con- 
 tent with providing for her national rights, while 
 she persists in her national wrongs. No, let her by 
 all means secure her national rights there is for- 
 tunately little fear at present of her not doing so 
 but let her also avoid all wrong to other nations. 
 She does so in the case of the strong, let her do so 
 also in the case of the weak. Lord Clarendon 
 judiciously refrained from doing all that he might 
 have done, in order to avoid the risk of giving' offence 
 to the Government of the United States, when re- 
 cruits were required for the Russian war j let him now 
 adopt a similar policy when it becomes his duty to 
 conclude a Chinese peace. Let him declare to the 
 Chinese victims of the Indian Government, that their 
 case has at length been favourably considered ; that 
 from this time forth, the importation of opium into 
 China from British India will gradually cease. Our 
 Ambassador will otherwise be placed in a false posi- 
 tion, when it becomes his duty to enter upon terms 
 of peace : for thus, and thus only, can we have 
 peace with honour to our countr}-. 
 
41 
 
 The first step that should be taken is an obvious Course to 
 one. As the Government monopoly for the manu- ted. 
 facture of opium in India is a disg-race to us as 
 a nation_, so we should as a nation unite for its 
 suppression. No question of revenue, no question of 
 policy, should be allowed to influence us in the 
 matter. The monopolv is a Pfrievous national sin, Monopoly 
 
 , . . . , . - /to be 
 
 and a g'rievous international wrong- : therefore it abolished, 
 should be put down : therefore a limit should be 
 assig'ned to it : therefore it should be decreed, that 
 in say five years time^ it should be no more. The 
 Indian Government has no just claim to compensa- 
 tion. It has inflicted a grievous injury upon its own Videp.ii. 
 subjects, and upon the Chinese, for a number of 
 years, and it should be compelled to refrain from 
 such a course for the future. If any compensation 
 be due in the matter, it is from the Indian Govern- 
 ment itself, for the wrong* it has so long- perse- 
 vered in. 
 
 Not a poppy can be grown in British India with- Cuitiva- 
 out the permission of the Indian Government; and the checked. 
 next object, as well for the sake of our Indian popu- 
 lation, as for their Chinese customers, is to prevent 
 all cultivation of the poppy, and manufacture of 
 opium, for other than medicinal purposes. 
 
 The exportation of Malwa opium from Bombay, Exporta- 
 is also under the control of the Indian Government 3 cease. 
 and the third step to be taken, is gradually to put a 
 stop to this branch of traflac. It should be limited 
 to, say 10 years, after which time all exportation of 
 
49 
 
 opium from British India should cease. The 
 3/250^000 of net revenue that the East India 
 Company would thus lose^ should be made up^ 
 partly by more honest means^ and better employ- 
 quoted ' ment of the 400,000 acres which are now under 
 British poppy Cultivation ; and^ for the rest, Lord Dal- 
 Feb!i8:V ^ousie's advice should be adopted, loans of British 
 p. 537. capital should be properly invited and freely obtained, 
 and it should no long-er be attempted to defray out 
 of the income of the Indian Empire the expense of 
 ^^ the innumerable and g'ig'antic works which are ne- 
 " cessary to its due improvement.'^ The opium 
 monopoly^ the opium cultivation^ and the opium ex- 
 portation^ are a sin and a wrong*. They should cease. 
 Probable jj^g Chinese are well aware that the manufacture 
 
 effect on 
 
 the of opium in Central India is a Government mono- 
 
 poly, and a larg-e source of revenue. Such know- 
 ledge is intensely ag'g-ravatin^ to them ; and it 
 would be the g*reatest satisfaction to them to be 
 informed that the monopoly was about to cease, and 
 the exportation from British India to be checked. 
 If, therefore^ they were informed of these facts, it is 
 by no means improbable that they would g'ladly 
 avail themselves of the opportunity that would be 
 thus afforded them, of saving* their pride, and bene- 
 fiting- their people ; and that they mig'ht be induced 
 to admit, upon payment of duty, for the next few 
 years^ the opium that they cannot keep out of their 
 country. If such duty were not fixed at too hig-h 
 a rate, smugg-ling- would be no long-er advantag-eous, 
 
4d 
 
 and would necessarily cease ; and a great obstacle to 
 amicable intercourse would be removed. But^ even 
 if the Chinese should refuse to consent to such an 
 arrang-ement^ the duty of gradually putting* a stop 
 to the opium monopoly^ and gradually suppressing* 
 the growth of the poppy^ and the exportation of 
 opium^ is not a whit the less imperative upon the 
 British nation. The first step to be taken^ there- 
 fore, is the abolition of the Government monopoly ; 
 the second, the gradual cessation and final prohibi- 
 tion of the cultivation of the poppy ; and the third, 
 the prevention, by degrees, of the exportation of 
 opium from British territory. 
 
 It would appear, then, that an occasion has arrived, Summary 
 on which this opium question may be most appro- 
 priately re-discussed. Hostihties having* broken 
 out, a new treaty with China will be required. The 
 British nation has, through its Indian Government, 
 been manufacturing opium, for a series of years, 
 for Chinese smoking*; and its subjects have been 
 conveying* it to the Chinese coast, for the supply of 
 a contraband trade. It has thus been inflicting* a 
 grievous wrong', and an illegal injury upon the 
 helpless Chinese people. It has supplied the means 
 for breaking, and the temptation to evade the 
 Chinese laws, and it has pandered to the vices which 
 consume great numbers of the Chinese inhabitants. 
 It will now be afforded an opportunity of g-racefully 
 declaring*, in the plenitude of power, and in the 
 hour of victory, that such a course shall no long-er 
 
sion 
 
 44 
 
 be pursued. It would thus act in a manner credit- 
 able to itself, and extricate itself from the false and 
 unworthy position which it at present occupies ; and 
 it w^ould thus^ also^ in all probability^ conciliate the 
 Chinese^ and form relations with them more amicable 
 than any which it has hitherto been found possible 
 to establish. 
 Conclu- So long- as the opium stumbling--block remains, 
 the Chinese cannot but look upon us with deep 
 feeling's of animosity : they must regard us as their 
 bitterest enemies, individually and nationall}^ It 
 can never be otherwise, whether the reig'n of the 
 present dynasty be continued, or whether the insur- 
 rectionists gain the upper hand. For every genuine 
 reason of state policy, for the sake of humanity^ for 
 the cause of legitimate commerce^ for the honour of 
 the country, for consistency of religious profession, 
 on every other account but that of temporary pecu- 
 niary profit, this offence should be discontinued. 
 Unite, then, my countr3'men, as a nation, for its 
 suppression ! You, who have done so much towards 
 abolishing the trade in negro bodies, let it be your 
 object and your pleasure, as it is your duty, to put 
 an end to a traffic which has such pernicious effects, 
 mentally and physically, on a considerable propor- 
 tion of the vast Chinese nation. Employ all the 
 constitutional means that are placed within your 
 reach, for this great object ; and you cannot but 
 succeed. If your voice be lifted up, it will at once 
 be heard. You will thus have the satisfaction of 
 
45 
 
 promoting amicable intercourse between the two 
 nations which tog-ether form half the population of 
 the world , of extending* commerce between them ; 
 and of assisting", more than by any other means in 
 your power^ in the spread of the Gospel from the 
 25,000,000 Protestants, that your own empire now 
 contains, to the 850,000,000 subjects of the empire 
 with which you are at war. 
 
 The following recent publications on the subject 
 of the Opium Trade are recommended for perusal. 
 
 " The Rise and Progress of British Opium Smug- 
 gling," by Major-General Alexander. Judd and 
 Glass, Paternoster Row. 
 
 ^^ Contraband Opium Smuggling," by the same. 
 Seeley, Jackson and Haliday. 
 
 "What is the Opium Trade," by Donald Matthe- 
 son, Esq. Hamilton, Adams and Co. 
 
 " The Trade in Opium,'' article in the North Bri- 
 tish Review, No. LII. 
 
 " The Opium Question," article in the Church 
 Missionary Intelhgencer for April 1857. 
 
 And particularly, 
 
 " The Opium Revenue of India," pubhshed by 
 Wm. Allen and Co. Leadenhall Street, with the 
 replies to it which have been published by Major- 
 General Alexander and Mr. Lewin. 
 
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OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 In a pamphlet on the Opium Revenue of India, the anonymous 
 author commences with a somewhat energetic outburst against that 
 ignorant impatience of taxation which characterises the people of 
 Great Britain. He tells us that direct taxation has been found 
 worse than indirect, and gives us the comforting assurance, that 
 " no ministry will dare to propose a new tax of either class/' 
 Had such an harbinger given us his name, it might have inspired 
 more confidence; but if even his susceptibility should have been 
 imposed upon in this instance, he will find many tax- payers who 
 will think that when they have brought the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer to that point in which '' it will be as much as he can do 
 to maintain a sufficiency of existing resources to meet existing 
 wants, without adding to debt," they will have accomplished the 
 great economic desideratum of providing for the necessary expenses 
 of the State, and allowing no scope for waste or superfluities. So 
 far then there will be much agreement as to his conclusions, though 
 not improbably some difi'erence regarding the way in which they 
 are arrived at. 
 
 Turning from British finance we find our Anonymous less tole- 
 rant towards a party which, according to his description, is composed 
 of most heterogeneous minds ; not only devoted to inquiries aff'ecting 
 their own welfare within the encircling seas of our native isles, but 
 venturing to expose the errors of principle and demoralising ten- 
 
4 OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 dency of taxes levied on our Indian fellow-subjects, thousands of 
 miles off, with which neither these agitators nor the Parliament 
 and public whom they address have any direct concern. To this, 
 I believe, we may demur. Principles for good and evil are the same 
 in all lands, and are but differently expressed in various languages ; 
 the discordance which he deprecates is the evidence of incremental 
 error, and constitutes the cry or groan of violated harmony for a 
 restitution of its rights. India has been by no exaggerated 
 metaphor termed the brightest colonial jewel in the British crown, 
 and whatever affects the spiritual and temporal welfare of its 
 150,000,000 people, is not only a legitimate object of interest to 
 our higher qualities and feelings, but is most intimately inter- 
 woven with our whole system of national advancement and pros- 
 perity. Our author may be as right in his denunciation of tyros 
 in political economy, and unfledged statesmen, as he is delicate 
 and refined in his allusions to those whom he would instruct by 
 his wisdom and warn by his experience ; but after all, it is rather 
 with their arguments than their personalities that the public has 
 to deal ; and gladly would I borrow from the plumage of his know- 
 ledge a feather with which to endorse the words that he some- 
 what hypothetically utters, viz. " that monopoly of production is 
 " opposed to free-trade principles ; that opium is noxious ; that 
 " the Government of China has condemned and prohibited its use; 
 " and that the Government of India, by increasing the supply, is 
 " helping to poison the population of a nation,^^ with which we 
 profess a friendly alliance. 
 
 The question that our author propounds is, " Is it right to 
 take three millions sterling from the Chinese beyond the cost 
 price of the drug, as the condition of their enjoying the forbidden 
 indulgence of opium smoking ?^^To which I unhesitatingly answer, 
 No, it is not right ; and proceed to prove the wrong. 
 
 A generation of the human race has hardly passed away since 
 there was so small an opium trade between India and China, that 
 200 chests, admitted through the Chinese custom-house at a mode- 
 rate duty, constituted the whole. In the latter part of last century, 
 when the East India Company was a trading corporation of mer- 
 
 ^. .. r.^/>i^^^ ^_ ;^./'^-/.-<^- ./^'-^-^ 
 
 .A.t c/^^-^ 
 
 c 
 
ITS ANTAGONISM IN INDIA AND CHINA. 5 
 
 chants, entrusted also with something more than viceregal power, 
 they established for their own profit a monopoly of the drug. 
 Avarice suggested, aod despotism enabled that suggestion to be 
 carried into efi^ect, that a rigid monopoly of production and capa- 
 bility of supplying demand to any extent to which it might be 
 stimulated, would afford a more certain income than could be relied 
 upon from the ordinary course of commercial export on account of 
 the East India Company. 
 
 In a few years, the result more than bore out the most sanguine 
 expectations that had been formed ; the monopoly, as shown in 
 evidence before Parliament by the servants of the East India Com- 
 pany, extended over all India; and Lord W, Bentinck when 
 Governor-General, informed the Court of Directors that " the final 
 effect of an increase, beyond assignable limit, in the quantity of the 
 drug exported to China from both sides of India, is a result beyond 
 the power of our foresight to discover, or even at present to hazard 
 any speculation upon.^' 
 
 But while this progress was contemplated with such compla- 
 cency in India and the councils of Leadenhall Street, there was a 
 very different view taken of it by the Imperial authority and states- 
 men of China. The demoralisation of the people became alarmingly 
 rapid, and its ratio might be estimated by that of the increased 
 importation of opium, prepared, not as formerly for medicinal 
 purposes, but expressly for the indulgence of a vicious propensity. 
 The drug was declared to be contraband by law ; penalties were 
 enacted against its importation and deleterious use; and in the 
 course of diplomatic intercourse between friendly nations, every 
 law, edict, and proclamation promulgated by the Chinese, was 
 communicated to the authorised representatives of Great Britain, 
 with strong remonstrances against the traffic, and earnest entreaties 
 that it might be suppressed. 
 
 In order to keep before my readers the simplicity of the great 
 principles at issue, I shall put aside as much as possible all details, 
 and avoid entering into particulars regarding the manner in which 
 the opium traffic has been conducted in China for more than half 
 a century. It dates no further back than I have intimated, and is 
 
 b2 
 
6 OPIUM BEVENUE. 
 
 not one of those sources of revenue which our instructor on this 
 occasion describes to be " as old as the hills." 
 
 We have two great nations that ought to be reciprocally bene- 
 ficial to each other, in direct antagonism upon one point. Great 
 Britain having caused, stimulated, and supplied the demand for 
 what is injurious to the moral and commercial prosperity of China, 
 derives in one branch of her many sources of revenue and to the 
 detriment of others, an annual income stated by our author to be 
 3,000,000/. sterling. China, too weak to offer successfully an 
 armed resistance to our armies and navy, and incapacitated by the 
 demoralisation of her people from presenting such an opposition to 
 unjust measures as was exhibited by the fathers of American in- 
 dependence, when they made virtuous self-denial the means of 
 counteracting arbitrary taxation, has hitherto pleaded in vain for 
 pity or relief. England and the world are unhappily too familiar with 
 the blood-stained atrocities of the Opium war, and circumstances 
 are now forcing upon public attention the question, whether the 
 measures that caused that w^ar, and continue to disturb the even 
 course of commercial intercourse, are to be abolished or continued. 
 
 In the debates in Parliament, in the many publications on the 
 subject, in all that has been alleged by those interested in or 
 opposed to opium-smuggling in China, I do not remember to have 
 met with one instance in which there has been such an attempt as 
 this to deny its immorality, or prove that the monopoly and its 
 consequences are sound in principle, and, like all legitimate com- 
 merce, beneficial to mankind. The small number of merchants 
 who are more or less engaged, either on their own account or as 
 almost involuntary agents for others, palliate as they best may 
 what none can justify, and which several would most gladly be 
 emancipated from. The East India Company or, more properly 
 speaking in the present day, the President of the Board of Control 
 pleads nothing but a miserable and short-sighted expediency 
 and 3,000,000/. sterling of income, in answer to the overwhelming 
 proofs that the income is illegal and precarious; that it is derived 
 from a source injurious not only to Great Britain, but to India and 
 China, and bearing on its front the certain condemnation that what 
 
IMMORAL AND PRECARIOUS. 7 
 
 is religiously and morally wrong never can be politically right, 
 honourable, nor eventually advantageous. 
 
 I concede at once that the opium revenue has increased, is 
 increasing, and while affairs continue as at present, will for a time 
 increase still more. I admit that it is an important far too 
 important source of Indian revenue. I am quite of opinion that 
 an equal revenue cannot, while circumstances remain as they now 
 are in India and China, be realised with such facile readiness. But 
 thus admitting all that its advocates plead for as expedient, I say 
 at once that the degrading immorality of the whole system cries to 
 God and man for its condemnation, and the merest dictates of 
 prudent foresight and common sense imperatively require that the 
 stability of the finances of our Indian empire shall be placed on a 
 sounder basis. 
 
 The advocates of the system urge that monopoly is in its nature 
 restrictive, and therefore operates as some check to extended use. 
 Lord Cornwallis argued thus when he stated that maximum taxa- 
 tion would ensure minimum consumption. Now, instead of 
 bewildering ourselves with theories, look to results. Lord W. 
 Bentinck has shown us the object and anticipations which Lord 
 Dalhousie, in his celebrated minute on his own administration, 
 proves to have been so largely realised. The East India Company's 
 monopoly is used, not for restriction, but for obtaining the largest 
 profit on the largest quantity of opium for which the largest demand 
 can be excited. Opium agents are allowed a per-centage upon 
 what they can sell, or cause to be sold, in India; and if Lord Dal- 
 housie's estimate is to be reached, there ought now to be an impor- 
 tation of not less than 1^0,000 chests annually into China. 
 
 It is as impossible to calculate the amount of opium used by 
 each individual in China as it would be to know from the aggre- 
 gate Excise returns the quantity of gin drunk by single persons 
 here. If the opponents to opium smuggling mention large quan- 
 tities, and count consumers by millions, they are accused of igno- 
 rance and exaggeration ; while, on the other hand, such reasoners 
 as our unknown author, plead for the harmlessness of moderation. 
 Some of them have argued that this is evinced in the common use 
 
8 OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 of the drug by all classes, and that cases have been known where 
 three hundred grains a-day have been smoked and the man still 
 lived. From what has been published on the subject, it seems that 
 six grains a-day may be taken as the quantity used by a beginner or 
 a very moderate smoker. The same authorities tell us almost unani- 
 mously that moderation in opium-smoking"^ is, as a general rule, 
 an impossibility. Some of them have thought that from seventeen 
 to twenty grains a-day will represent a fair average. Now this, at 
 the rate of importation in 1855-6, would give, in round numbers, 
 about 8,000,000 of smokers of the pure drug in China ; but, from 
 the same sources of information, we learn that very few and those 
 only among the richest of the people can afford to smoke the 
 drug as it arrives with the brand of the East India Company. As 
 soon as it gets into the hands of the native dealers, it is adulte- 
 rated ; and thus calculation of the number of smokers from this 
 data is baffled. The melancholy experience of hospital practice, 
 however, affords a nearer approximation to accuracy in the statistics 
 of mortality. There is a very general accordance, that though 
 some men have smoked opium for more than thirty years, yet the 
 general duration of life from the time that a person commences the 
 habit, does not average more than ten years. Some writers set it 
 down at less. 
 
 There is a charge of inconsistency brought against those who 
 would abolish the monopoly and retain restriction upon growth and 
 production. The author under consideration points to the baneful 
 
 Perhaps few instances of roundabout reasoning can exceed that of Mr. 
 Meadows', quoted approvingly by our author as authority for the harmlessness of 
 opium smoking. I will put his facts in juxta-position : " Smoking a httle opium 
 daily is like taking a pint or two of ale, or a few glasses of wine daily ; smoking 
 more opium is like taking brandy as well as beer and wine ; smoking very much 
 opium is like excessive brandy and gin drinking, leading to delirium tremens and 
 premature death. When once the habit of opium-smoking is taken vp [the Italics are 
 mine], the discontinuance of the daily whiff thus habitually taken as a luxury, 
 produces discomfort in the extreme ; so that, howsoever the price of the article 
 may be raised, the opium-smoker will still not deny himself the luxury, so long as 
 hy any means he can purchase the drug : " and so Mr. Meadows recommends that 
 the price may be lowered, and the drug rendered more generally and easily acces- 
 sible. Our author says, that " this is the most unexceptionable and best testimony 
 of an official personage ; " and there I leave it. 
 
INJURIOUS TO THE RESOURCES OF INDIA. 9 
 
 effects of unrestricted produce in Rajpootana and Assam, and asks, 
 " If more opium were grown in India, is enlarged consumption 
 a good?^' No, I reply; it is because I would not inflict or 
 allow these evils that I would abolish monopoly and maintain 
 restriction ; and if I may be permitted an analogy, I would point 
 to what is done in a country where no Minister of the Crown dare 
 propose a monopoly, and in which the people would not bear with 
 the milder application of the system that existed under the disguise 
 of Corn-laws. In England the restriction is imposed for fiscal 
 reasons; I claim it for India and China, on the higher grounds of 
 religious principle and moral right. 
 
 In Ireland, and in many parts of England and Scotland, 
 tobacco might be grown to any extent, and yet the laws of Britain 
 prohibit the cultivation of a single plant. Moreover, they impose 
 a duty of, I believe, about 300 per cent on the imported leaves. 
 Now let what is here legally and on justifiable principle done to 
 assist the revenue, be applied to the moral benefit of the East; 
 prohibit the growth of poppies, and put any duty you please upon 
 foreign opium. 
 
 Our author asks, at page 7, what is to be substituted for the 
 existing system with its machinery ? I have already elsewhere 
 said, the cultivation of cotton, tea, sugar, indigo, and other com- 
 mercial reproductives, without any such machinery or government 
 interference as now exists. Let me show what this last is, from the 
 select records of the Bengal Governnient. 
 
 An Indian having a certain number of cultivators under him, 
 obtains from the Government an advance of money, for which he is 
 bound, under severe penalties, to give at a fixed price a certain 
 quantity, and all other opium above that quantity, produced on his 
 lands. To encourage the extension of poppy cultivation, larger 
 advances are given to those who bring new lands under the crop, 
 and themselves under the privileges of that peculiar legislation, 
 which I have indicated in a pamphlet " On the Rise and Progress 
 of Opium Smuggling ;^^ and which (the legislation, not the 
 pamphlet) seems to find no disfavour in my critic^s eyes. 
 
 In the Benares district alone, in 1849-50, there were 107,823 
 
10 OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 beegahs of land under poppy cultivation. The first officer in what 
 our author calls the machinery is the opium agent. The agency is 
 marked out into eight divisions, each under a sub-agent. In every 
 district in which there is a sub-agency, the Government collector 
 of revenue (and I hope my readers know what his powers are) is 
 ex-qfficio a deputy agent, charged with a supervision of the sub- 
 agent, and with the investigation of all suits that may arise in re 
 Opium. Vide Regulation XIII. of J 816, Bengal Code of Regu- 
 lations, for the law upon the subject. 
 
 Every division is again partitioned out under Gomashtas, under 
 each of whom is a treasurer and suitable establishment. The 
 Gomashta pays the advances to the Ryots or farmers, measures 
 their lands, receives and weighs their produce, and is responsible 
 for its delivery. To assist in this department he has under him 
 Jemadars and Zillahdars, whose duty it is to watch the ryots. 
 Apart from these, there is in each division, custos custodium, a 
 Mohotonim, who exerts a general supervision of every thing trans- 
 acting therein, making frequent reports of every event that occurs. 
 In short, this machinery presents to us the agricultural popula- 
 tion of a district amounting to about 128,000 farmers and labourers, 
 watched over in their daily occupations by 150 native officers of 
 the first class, and about 1200 officials and paid servants in con- 
 stant employ, besides the superior European officers. During the 
 manufacturing season there are often upwards of 600 extra hands 
 employed in the Ghazeepoor factory alone, including from fifteen to 
 twenty European assistants and boys. 
 
 We are told, on the high authority from which I have taken the 
 above, that all connected with the opium monopoly is " most 
 wise," and all "works smoothly and well;" if so, this wisdom is 
 still far east of Great Britain, and the well-working would be more 
 easily accepted if it did not "afford the pabulum," upon which, 
 according to our Unknown, " spare ingenuity will occupy itself,'^ 
 and which furnishes food for meditation on such a passage as the 
 following. Writing of the arrears into which the cultivators fall, 
 the official selector from the records of Bengal lets this incident 
 crop out from the rich field of happiness enjoyed in opium districts. 
 
RAISED UNDER TYRANNICAL LAWS. 11 
 
 Government being the creditor in the case : " It is clear that, when 
 such balances become so large that the cultivator cannot discharge 
 them, he is no longer a free agent, but is perfectly subservient to 
 the will of his creditor, for whom he must cultivate whether he de- 
 sire it or not. Such burdens may even be handed down from 
 father to son/' And yet our author asserts that " the poppy cul- 
 tivation is not, and never has been compulsory." 
 
 The advocates of opium monopoly and traffic delight in a com- 
 parison of the intoxication caused by the drug and by gin. I 
 rather incline, if we must select a preference in such miserable 
 degradation, to agree with them that opium smoking, though more 
 destructive to its victims, is less dangerous to bystanders ; under its 
 effects the unhappy wretch sinks into helpless insensibility to all 
 external objects, until waking from his sensual dream he needs the 
 nursing that abates the horrors of delirium tremens. Those who 
 have read or seen what running a " muck " is, or a Mahomedan 
 Soonee population during the last three days of a Moharum, know 
 well what are the effects of opium eating. My object, however, now 
 is to suggest that the admirers of our laws of bankruptcy, chancery, 
 &c., may contemplate hereditary insolvency and perpetual debt 
 with its consequences, and institute as reasonable a comparison as 
 between the results of gin-drinking and the use of opium. Taking 
 these things also into consideration, I am constrained to repeat my 
 "INo"'^ to the* author's question, and plead for India and the 
 Chinese. 
 
 At pp. 8 and 9 of his pamphlet, the Anonymous admits an 
 agreement with what I have stated regarding the unrestricted 
 growth and sale of opium in Eajpootana and Assam. His own 
 words are: "The condition of the Rajpoots of Central India, 
 where the growth of the poppy is free, is universally held up as an 
 evidence of the demoralising, enervating, life-destroying effect of 
 this drug." I only ask to apply this description to the 300,000,000 
 millions of China ; and again, as a Christian and an Englishman, 
 to answer his question with sorrowful indignation No No 
 No! 
 
 Our author is perfectly correct in saying, at page 9, that it is 
 
12 OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 not free production and free sale of opium in India that is advocated 
 by the opponents of monopoly. There is evidently a confusion in 
 his mind on the subject of free-trade principles. They are only 
 applicable to what is just, right, and reciprocally beneficial : they 
 cannot be brought in accordance with African slave-trade or opium 
 smuggling in China, both being so irremediably unclean, that a 
 clean commercial system can neither be brought out of, nor inter- 
 woven with them. Most truly does he state a fact and principle, 
 neither of which, I fear, he either fully comprehends or appreciates : 
 " Free production benefits are secondary with them (myself and 
 such-like) to high moral considerations.'^ But only free produc- 
 tions of evil are so deemed secondary, because we hold that the 
 freest production of what is unquestionably and reproductively 
 beneficial to mankind, is not only compatible, but absolutely iden- 
 tical, with the highest principles of our nature, whether developed 
 in the duties of religion or the legitimate pursuits of legislation, 
 science, political economy, and commercial intercourse. Is not 
 our author aware, that in this country where trade principles are, 
 according to his view, " running upon wild freedom,^^ there is no 
 such unrestricted traffic in intoxication as he and others would 
 impose as the alternative for abolition of a monopoly ? No one 
 can sell beer, wine, or spirits except under permission of a restrictive 
 license, which magistrates may withhold from an immoral cha- 
 racter; or refuse, if they think that the shops within their juris- 
 diction are too numerous for the general good of the inhabitants. 
 Nay, more : there is even a restriction upon the evil freedom of 
 the subject in this freest of all lands, and if my vis-d-vis should 
 unhappily indulge too freely in what demoralises our population, 
 he would render himself amenable to restrictive law, and liable to 
 a penalty for an enjoyment correlative with that which he would 
 sell so largely to the Chinese. 
 
 At pages 10, 11, I find a mystification about the opium mono^ 
 poly and free trade, which I will endeavour to clear up in a few 
 words. The science of political economy, like all other sciences, 
 proceeds upon sound data and just principles. Introduce an error 
 or incongruity, and you can never arrive at correct results. If you 
 
SELF-DESTRUCTIVE IN ITS CONSEQUENCES. 13 
 
 try to compound from the dicta of arbitrary power, the selfishness 
 of monopolised trade, and the violation of the laws of two nations, 
 a system of commerce such as we have by these means established 
 against, not with, China; then I say that you have but to leave 
 these elements to work out their inevitable results, and the de- 
 struction of the compound is as certain as the analytic solution of 
 substances in whose properties there is neither chemical affinity 
 nor cohesion. There is a question of time, none of eventuality. 
 
 It is not, as our author would lead us to believe, a plain matter 
 of demand and supply, the one healthily and reproductively ali- 
 menting the other ; but the whole thing is false and artificial. It 
 is a vicious demand, originated and supplied by a government whose 
 connexion with trade at all is an illegal intromission, and would be, 
 even under better circumstances, an improper and unseemly com- 
 petition with its subjects : it furnishes another opportunity to 
 reply to the Unknown, No No No. 
 
 The best answer I can give to what, according to our author, is 
 not " twaddle,^^ (vide page 12,) is this : Go down to some den of 
 drunken debauchery and degradation ; select which you will of the 
 miserable objects before you, of whom there are thousands in this 
 country more or less wretched than the millions of opium victims in 
 China ; and learn the practical lesson in political economy which our 
 author suggests. "Why is that poor creature, hatless, shoeless, 
 shirtless, sunk from the high dignity of a being created to hold 
 communion with his God, to a sad spectacle of humanity bru- 
 talised below the protective instinct of beasts ? There is the very 
 climax in a man, to which the opium trade is rapidly bringing 
 China. As he gave his money for gin instead of wholesome food 
 and clothes, so China gives her bullion for opium instead of British 
 manufactures. And as the drunkard sinks into a dishonourable 
 grave, no longer capable of consuming that which caused his ruin, 
 so must China in her present course become impoverished and 
 unable to pay for the opium which is now destroying her vitality. 
 I need but refer my readers to the admirable argument on this 
 head which is to be found in the just-published number of the 
 " North British Review.'' 
 
14 OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 The author asserts that it is a fallacy to suppose that the pay- 
 ment for opium in silver deranges the monetary system of China. 
 A select committee of the House of Commons, Mr. Montgomery 
 Martin, and numerous authorities, mercantile and other, English, 
 American, and Chinese, assert the contrary, and there I leave the 
 question. The monetary system of China, however, is deranged; 
 and if not by opium, then by what other cause ? 
 
 As regards the Government being the very head and front of 
 the system of smuggling, I must again borrow a feather from the 
 author's plumage to record his own words, and then leave them to 
 the support of his own vindication. "Now the Government is a 
 contrabandist, because the article cannot reach the consumers 
 except through the smuggler's intervention ;" and, "the smuggler 
 cannot get the opium except from the Government." That the 
 Government provides and sells opium for the sake of the profit 
 are the Unknown's ipsissima verba. 
 
 Our author adduces Napoleon's Milan decree in support of 
 his argument. There is, however, one trifling difference which he 
 overlooks. Napoleon's Milan and Berlin decrees were issued to 
 shut out the manufactures of a nation with which he was at war. His 
 object was to ensure his own success, and, if possible, to bring about 
 a peace by means intended to be more efficacious and which w^ere 
 less dreadful than bloodshed and devastation. Britain's opium 
 smuggling is carried on to intrude a contraband drug upon 
 a people with whoui she is at peace : against the laws of both 
 countries, and enforced by those vindictive horrors which Napo- 
 leon's measures were meant to bring to a speedier termination. I 
 confess that I cannot see any objection, moral, commercial, or poli- 
 tical, to the open lawful sale of English manufactures in Heligoland, 
 or any British colony or possession, under any circumstances, or 
 at any time. The articles alluded to were those of sound legiti- 
 mate commerce, and so far from being injurious were, wherever 
 they found sale and use, beneficial to mankind. Let us deal as 
 honestly with China, and leave her emperor as we left the first 
 Napoleon, and still leave the third, to regulate his tariffs, and pro- 
 tect his coasts against invading contrabandists. We simply dare 
 
INJURIOUS TO BRITISH COMMERCE. 15 
 
 not deal with France, nor any European or American power, as we 
 have dealt, and still continue to deal, with the Chinese. 
 
 The author, at page 25, argues that the endeavour to get rid of 
 the salt monopoly, "in deference to the known prejudices of the 
 British public, will fail,'^ because a considerable capital is required 
 to prepare works for independent manufacture, or to make advances 
 for produce. But at page 27 he urges, that if the monopoly of 
 opium were abolished, and a duty levied on its export, so much 
 capital would be embarked that we should have the poppy growing 
 everywhere. Now it requires much more capital for the more 
 precarious cultivation of the poppy than for the certainly profitable 
 manufacture of salt ; and from whence is the capital to come for 
 that? 
 
 Notwithstanding the difference of our views, I feel no inclina* 
 tion to retract what my opponent calls "the summing up of my 
 pamphlet,'^ nor to withhold my acknowledgment of the perhaps too 
 flattering designation which he gives it. I am glad that it is con- 
 sidered in any degree oracular ; and as it is little else than a com- 
 pilation of arranged facts, presented to the public for consideration 
 and discussion, so far is it from my desire that when I speak no 
 dog should bark, that I will hail with pleasure the music of the 
 cry that shall hunt down even my own errors. Only let me ob- 
 serve, however, that the meaning which the Unknown puts upon 
 my expression at pp. 35 and 36 of his book is his, not mine. So far 
 from thinking that the suppression of the opium monopoly and 
 smuggling will take one rupee from every five of the population 
 of India, I do most firmly believe that it would be the means not 
 only of enriching them to a much larger amount, but of affording 
 increased wealth to Great Britain through her merchants and 
 manufacturers. In this I am not singular, inasmuch as a Com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons reported, in 1 847, that, unless 
 we can look forward to an increased consumption of those pro- 
 ducts in which China has the means of paying England for her 
 manufactures, the adjustment of the balance of trade can only be 
 made at the cost of largely-diminished exports and of restricted 
 employment to every branch of industry connected with them ; 
 
16 OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 or, in other words, unless we take from China the products of her 
 industry in exchange for our linens, woollens, hardware, &c. &c., 
 instead of her current silver for East India Company's non-repro- 
 ductive opium, our mills, factories, and operatives must be re- 
 stricted in their employment. As this is the recorded opinion of 
 the Parliament, I believe we may both respectfully subscribe 
 Q. E. D. 
 
 There is an attempt to excite alarm, that if the East India Com- 
 pany, or President of the Board of Control, is forced into obedience 
 to the Act of Parliament for the government of India, there must 
 be a cessation of public works and improvement, that the progress 
 of education will be stopped, and a doubt will remain whether the 
 armies can be paid. Do not occurring events give a significant 
 refutation to this fear ? We have money enough to undertake two 
 transmarine wars, unless the moral dignity of the country arises to 
 prevent that in China which is neither politically expedient nor 
 morally just. 
 
 If capital is wanted for legitimate purposes, look at the Indian 
 railway companies, from whom money to any amount can be ob- 
 tained on interest guaranteed at lower rates than is usual in India, 
 and whose shares are at premium. The money paid into the 
 Leadenhall Street treasury by those companies tends in some 
 degree to relieve the extraordinary efflux of specie to the East, as 
 it defrays the home expenses, for which funds would otherwise 
 have to be remitted from India and enlarge the vacuum there. 
 We have English capital in Indian banks, and vested in under- 
 takings to navigate her rivers and irrigate her lands. We have a 
 demand for English capital and enterprise to turn her waste and 
 unimproved and worse than either her poppy fields into cotton 
 grounds, tea gardens, and sugar plantations ; to extract from the 
 beegah of 27,225 square feet of India's richest soil, something 
 more and better than about 141bs. of opium, worth about 4/. 
 sterling, per annum, cost of production included, which is the 
 present outturn. 
 
 If a reduction of 20 or 25 per cent is made on the advances 
 to opium-ryots, and the amount of opium thus annually diminished. 
 
MUST EVENTUALLY FAIL. 17 
 
 while the restrictive laws are maintained, the price of the drug 
 will be enhanced as it is gradually being withdrawn from use. 
 This will facilitate the transition of the East India Company's 
 finances from a vicious to a sound state ; and as the ryots will, in 
 all probability, require assistance in turning to other pursuits, 
 let the Government for a limited, but sufficient time, make them 
 advances for the cultivation of cotton and other products of raw 
 material, tobe exchanged for English goods in due course of trade. 
 
 But if this or some better course is not adopted, what must 
 soon be the result ? Already the poppy is largely grown in China, 
 wherever the Imperial authority is so weakened by rebellion within, 
 and British aggression from without, that its laws can no longer 
 be enforced. The native opium sells at about one-fifth of the price 
 of the imported drug, and its manufacture is rapidly extending. 
 
 Again, the rebels, or patriots, or whatever they may be, under 
 Tae Ping Wang, most rigidly prohibit the use and admission of 
 opium wherever they have rule. These circumstances place our 
 smuggling and revenue on two stools, between which we must 
 eventually come to the ground. If cultivation goes on, we shall 
 be beaten out of the market by a cheaper drug; if either the 
 Imperial authority, or that of its rival, Tae Ping Wang, should be 
 enabled to enforce a law common to both, then our revenue must 
 be destroyed on that alternative. Sooner or later the Indian 
 revenue must, if left in its present iniquitous and insecure state, 
 collapse; and when that takes place, it may be too late to find 
 the remedy which is now so plainly before us. 
 
 There is another plea for opium smuggling, in itself so curious 
 that I must just touch upon it. Its advocates reply to Chinese 
 remonstrances, and advance in the House of Commons, that if 
 England did not carry on this wretched trade, other nations would. 
 Then, why do they not ? We cannot prevent them. In Southern 
 America, and many other genial climes and soils, the papaver som- 
 niferum could be cultivated to any desired extent. The Americans 
 know something about the traffic ; they have capital and enterprise 
 for any undertaking that promises to turn out well ; and we find 
 them, not raising a competition, but availing themselves princi- 
 
18 OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 pally, I believe, for the purposes of exchange of such facilities as 
 the British system affords of enriching a few speculators in con- 
 traband, and I believe I may say ahnost necessitates, for the con- 
 venience of remittances in the general course of trade. If this 
 argument of our opponents is good for anything, it only indicates 
 another danger to our Indian revenue, whenever the Americans, 
 French, Spaniards, or Dutch, in their countries or colonies, choose 
 to encourage or allow their subjects to emulate, and thereby 
 destroy our iniquitous policy and unsound basis of finance. 
 
 I believe I have now touched upon all that is necessary to 
 reply to in the question propounded all that is essential to the 
 subject, though not all that is irrelevant to it in the book. 
 
 It may be inferred that the author has been in India ; and with 
 a laudable desire to render himself useful to his country has, like 
 Lord Stanley, Mr. Danby Seymour, and others, sought information 
 in the East. We are not the less indebted to his public spirit for 
 the readiness with which he imparts the knowledge he has acquired, 
 though we may observe that it is not so accurate as on the subject 
 of British taxation, with which he is evidently more familiar. 
 
 After the controversial courtesy with which he has noticed my 
 endeavours on a subject of interest to us both, I would in con- 
 clusion assure him, and all to whom he has addressed himself, that 
 neither I, nor those with whom I associate, look upon the system 
 by which " India has been won, and by which it is held and pre- 
 served, as one of unmitigated evil.^^ So far from thinking '* the 
 civil functionaries of India overpaid, pampered, and corrupt extor- 
 tioners,^^ it is my happiness after much opportunity of witnessing 
 their conduct, and forming the friendship of many, to believe, 
 that as a body they are, for accomplished ability, self-denying, 
 and I may add often self-destructive zeal, and the strictest integrity, 
 unsurpassed, if not um^qualled in the world; in my humble opinion 
 to which the author refers, it is to be regretted that more of them 
 do not return to this country rich enough to enter public life on 
 their own accounts, nor sufficiently well known to be brought 
 forward by others. I do believe, that among them, those with 
 corrupt hearts and minds of inferior order have oppressed the 
 
IMPEDES IMPROVEMENT. 19 
 
 natives, and impeded the development of the resources of the 
 country. I do believe that there is much sound principle in some 
 of the many systems of Indian taxation ; and if my opponent will 
 make himself master of what Lord Harris has done at Madras, he 
 will perceive how that which is defective can easily be remedied. 
 He will see the beautiful problem worked out, that relief from 
 oppressive taxation and legislation emancipates and gives elasticity 
 to the energies and industry of the people, and increases the riches 
 of the kingdom and the revenues of the State. 
 
 London : Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St. Leicester Sq. 
 
*fe.' 
 
CONTRABAND OPIUM TRAFFIC, 
 
 THE 
 
 DISTURBING ELEMENT IN ALL OUR POLICY AND 
 DIPLOMATIC INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA. 
 
 BY 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ALEXANDER. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, FLEET STREET; 
 
 BENTON SEELEY, HANOVER STREET. 
 
 1857. 
 
The following Letters were all written and sent to the 
 Newspaper to which they are addressed before the 
 meeting of Parliament. The Editor could only publish 
 them as Parliamentary and other intelligence afforded 
 opportunity and space in his columns. The debates 
 that have taken place in both Houses do not in any 
 way alter or weaken the important question that is at 
 issue, regarding the Opium Monopoly and its conse- 
 quences ; which are substantive evils, to be dealt with 
 according to their own demerits. 
 
 It would be manifest injustice to impute the sole 
 blame for the iniquity and impolicy of the opium traffic 
 to any particular individual, or set of statesmen, who 
 have been in power during the present century. Whig 
 or Tory, Liberal or Conservative, Free-Trader or Pro- 
 tectionist, each in succession has received the system as 
 it was before them ; and the same may be said of the 
 Directors of the East India Company. I beheve that 
 I can trace in the Blue Books and other authentic 
 sources of information, an outline of pohcy indicated 
 by Lord Palmerston, which, had it not been for the 
 continually disturbing influence of the opium contra- 
 bandism, would have maintained a peaceful and highly 
 beneficial intercourse with China. Of Members of the 
 
Court of Directors, and Officers of the East India Com- 
 pany, with whom I have had conversations, and to 
 wbom I am indebted for information, I can but say 
 that, whatever may be their views on this subject, 
 whether they agree with me in part, altogether, or not 
 at all, so far as the best years of a life spent in a 
 country and among a people to whom I am gratefully 
 and sincerely attached, enables me to form a judg- 
 ment England has never had a body of gentlemen 
 sitting in Leadenhall Street, among whom there were 
 individuals more capable of administering the aflPairs of 
 our Eastern Empire, were they entrusted with sufficient 
 power and responsibility for such an important duty. 
 
CONTRABAND OPIUM TRAFFIC, 
 
 No. I. 
 
 To the Editor of the Morning Advertiser. 
 
 Sir, As this country is, or is about to be, engaged in another 
 war with China, the moral guilt and material expense of which 
 must fall upon the professedly Christian and most really tax- 
 paying population of Great Britain, it may be well to review the 
 policy that led to the former, which is generally known as the 
 opium war, in order that the community may be enabled to bring 
 the powerful influence of sound public opinion to bear upon 
 their representatives in Parhament on the present occasion. 
 
 There are already before the public proofs taken, not only 
 from Parliamentary Blue Books and official documents, but from 
 the most unquestionable personal authorities, that the East India 
 Company maintains an illegal monopoly of opium in India, for 
 the sole purpose of indolently raising a smaller revenue where 
 larger might be obtained ; and that this revenue is principally 
 derived from the opium sold for the notorious purpose of being 
 smuggled into China, contrary to the laws of that empire. 
 
 Additional evidence that the East India Company is illegally 
 engaged in trade will help to bring the subject more clearly 
 before your readers. By an Act of Pailiament, 3 and 4 
 Wm. IV. cap. 85, it was distinctly decreed that the East India 
 Company of Merchants, trading to the East Indies, shall close 
 their commercial affairs, sell all their merchandise and ware- 
 houses, and abstain from all commercial business. The charter 
 
6 
 
 under which they had hitherto been privileged to trade was 
 taken from them ; and, ceasing to be merchants, they became 
 what now the East India Company is a Board of Adminis- 
 tration for carrying on the government of India, as directed or 
 permitted by the Board of Control. With only a semblance of 
 power for good or evil, the East India Company, as now consti- 
 tuted, is little else than a buffer to bear the odium which should 
 fall upon the Ministers of the Crown for the continuance of 
 monopolies and the cause of unjust war. 
 
 Not only is the proof of the East India Company being 
 engaged in trade palpable in the notoriety of the illegal salt and 
 opium monopolies, but it is irrefutably borne out by the evidence 
 of its own officers. Mr. W. Prideaux, holding high and re- 
 sponsible office in the India House, was examined before a 
 Select Committee of the House of Commons on the 3rd of June, 
 1847; and speaking with reference to a return that had been 
 laid before the House in the preceding session, he stated, " The 
 return is not the value of opium exported, but of opium sold by 
 the East India Company in Bengali He then shows that of 
 the opium exported from India, roughly estimated at the amount 
 of five or six millions sterling, the quantity " sold by the East 
 India Company^' amounted to about 2,577,500/. ; the remainder 
 of the revenue must, therefore, have been derived from the opium 
 grown in independent native states, upon which the East India 
 Company levies a duty of about 40/. a chest, in order to keep up 
 the price of their own drug in Bengal. Mr. Prideaux was asked 
 by Mr. Moffatt, M.P., (q. 4670), " Is it your belief that that 
 quantity of opium goes exclusively to China ? " and his reply 
 was, "It is all exported; and by far the greater part goes to 
 China.^' 
 
 Mr. Prideaux was questioned by Mr. Harcourt, M.P., 
 (q. 4679), " Is the amount realised from the opium sold by the 
 Company to be considered as revenue derived by the Company, 
 or does that include the cost?" Answer "It includes the 
 cost." And the next question in the Blue Book elicits the cost 
 and sale prices in the East India Company's illegal traffic; it 
 shows also the amount of revenue derived from the measure of 
 imposing a duty, which, taken separately, may be justified. The 
 simple fact is, that the Indian Government under the East India 
 
Company derives a fiscal revenue from a duty on opium grown 
 in foreign states, and 2i profit from the illegal monopoly of, and 
 trade in, the drug produced in its own territories. 
 
 Hugh Stark, Esq., Chief of the llevenue department of the 
 India Board, shows the nature of the East India Company\s 
 connexion with opium in the following words : " The opium 
 monopoly exists all over India; the cultivation has been largely 
 extended, with a view of competing in Eastern markets with 
 the opium of Malwa and Turkey. The Company have relaxed 
 in their price of opium ; their object is now to sell at a low 
 price, to enable merchants, who buy at the Calcutta sales, to 
 compete with the merchants who procure supplies from Malwa 
 and Turkey, for the China markets;" and Lord W. Bentinck, 
 in a letter to the Court of Directors, dated 21st September, 1830, 
 which was produced before the Parliamentary Committee, in 
 1840, writes : " The final ejffect of an increase beyond assign- 
 able limit in the quantity of the drug exported to China, from 
 both sides of India, is a result beyond the power of our foresight 
 to discover, or even at present to hazard any speculation upon." 
 That of which Lord W. Bentinck could not foresee the final 
 effect, has been borne onward by monopoly, until, as Lord 
 Dalhousie shows in his celebrated minute on his administration 
 in India, the revenue in 1856 was anticipated to realise 
 5,000,000/. sterling, which would require an importation, into 
 China, of not less than 120,000 chests of opium. 
 
 To put the question still farther beyond dispute, we have 
 the evidence of Mr. Jardine, one of the principal merchants in 
 China, who, when examined before a committee of the House 
 of Commons, in 1840, stated, " In Calcutta the Company^s 
 sales are recorded, and there is no difiiculty in getting the price- 
 currents ; the highest and lowest prices are given, and the ave- 
 rage struck by their own servants." Mr. Colquhoun, a mem- 
 ber of the committee, asked him, '' Have you ever had any 
 communication with the Board of Salt and Opium in Calcutta 
 on the subject?" Answer '^ Yes, we have had musters 
 (samples) of opium sent on to us in small quantities, packed in 
 different ways, with a request that we would sell it, ascertain 
 the kind of package that suited the Chinese market best, and 
 report on the same to the board." The correspondence was 
 
8 
 
 official, " signed by the secretary by authority of the board/' 
 and, as Mr. Jardine believed, emanating from the Supreme 
 Government of India. There was also laid before the House 
 of Commons that same year extracts from a letter from W. H. 
 Fleming, Esq., formerly a judge of circuit and inspector of 
 opium, in which that gentleman states, " that the system of 
 monopoly, even in a commercial point of view, appears to me 
 beneficial, as being perhaps the only means of ensuring a sup- 
 ply of the pure drug of a uniform quahty, and prepared in a 
 particular manner to suit the Chinese, which, if not attended 
 to, would, I apprehend, greatly injure the trade.-*' 
 
 Having thus established the fons et origo malum in the fact 
 of the East India Company's illegal exercise of monopoly, I 
 shall proceed in other letters to show the consequences that 
 led to the crisis of the first opium war, and give an insight into 
 British diplomatic relations with the Chinese. 
 I am. Sir, yours, &c. 
 
 R. A. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Sir, In the latter years of the last century opium was a 
 legal import to China on payment of a moderate duty, and the 
 drug used for medicinal purposes did not exceed in quantity 
 about 200 chests a-year. 
 
 About the year 1773 the East India Company of Merchants 
 entered upon this trade, and, exercising delegated sovereignty 
 in India, they instituted a monopoly of the drug. So rapidly 
 did the importation increase, and so fatal was the use of opium 
 to the morality and prosperity of the Chinese, that in a few 
 years the Emperor made it contraband, and published laws to 
 restrain his subjects from the deleterious use of it. As it has 
 always been a principle of Chinese policy to avoid and forego 
 every claim of jurisdiction over foreigners, even in Chinese 
 territory, while the Emperor and his officers legislated for and 
 punished his own subjects, remonstrances and admonitions only 
 
9 
 
 were addressed to the English authorities, through the channels 
 of communication recognised by both nations. In those days 
 the only British authorities in China were the factors and 
 agents of the East India Company ; and as the Company was 
 determined, in spite of remonstrances and expostulations, to push 
 on the contraband trade, the difficulty soon arose of reconciling 
 this with the political good faith to be observed towards a 
 friendly power. The diplomatic course followed by the Com- 
 pany was to ignore and disclaim the trade which their monopoly 
 had so suddenly increased, and by which alone it was sustained. 
 Not a grain of opium was allowed to be taken to China in their 
 own ships; the captains and officers were prohibited, under 
 heavy penalties, from engaging in the traffic ; and when they 
 petitioned to be allowed to participate in what affiirded such 
 large profits, they received a peremptory refusal of their request. 
 This sufficiently indicates the policy of the East India Company 
 of Merchants, and that they acted under a perfect knowledge of 
 the illegal nature of the opium trade, and of the political em- 
 barrassments which were always to be apprehended. The 
 excuses made by the East India Company have been and are, 
 that they do not export opium, nor smuggle it into China, and 
 that the profit upon their illegal monopoly comes in aid of the 
 revenue, and aff'ords relief to their finances. But, qui facit 
 per alium, facit per se ; and the subterfuges to which I shall 
 show that our diplomatists have been driven, brands our nation 
 with the indelible stigmas of false policy, immorality, cruelty, 
 and deceit. 
 
 In order to arrive at subsequent facts, I sketch but an 
 outl-'ne of what has been perpetrated in defiance of Chinese 
 laws, and is now carried on in continuous violation of our own 
 Acts of Parliament. In 1840, a Select Committee appointed 
 by the House of Commons to inquire into the trade with China, 
 and report thereupon, concluded that important duty with these 
 words: " Your Committee feel that they shall best discharge 
 their duty by laying before the House, without any observation 
 on their part, the evidence which they have taken on the sub- 
 ject;^' sxich evidence having gone largely into the opium 
 question, and the political embarrassments in which it had 
 embroiled us. 
 
10 
 
 In 1847 another Select Committee, appointed to take into 
 consideration the state of our commercial relations with China, 
 did furnish the House with a report upon the subject, from 
 which I extract these passages : " The difficulties of the trade 
 do not arise from any want of demand in China for articles of 
 British manufacture, or from increasing competition of other 
 nations." " The payment for opium^ from the inordinate desire 
 for it which prevails, and from the unrecognised nature of the 
 transaction, absorbs the silver, to the great inconvenience of 
 the general traffic of the Chinese." 
 
 " Unless we can look forward to an increased consumption of 
 those products in which China has the means of paying, the 
 adjustment (of the balance of trade) can only be made at the cost 
 of largely diminished exports, and of restricted employment to 
 every branch of industry connected with them." 
 
 With regard to Ningpo and Foo-chow-foo, the Committee 
 reports that '' the British trade has hitherto proved but triding. 
 The opium trade, however, flourishes at Foo-chow-foo, with its 
 usual demoralising influences on the population, and embar- 
 rassing eflfects upon the monetary condition of the place ; the 
 latter would be diminished by the legalisation of the traffic; 
 the former, we are afraid, are incontestible and inseparable from 
 its existence." Opposed to the suggested diminution, not entire 
 removal, of a monetary inconvenience, and the continuance of a 
 demoralising traffic, we have the noble declaration of him whom 
 the opium smugglers call the barbarian Emperor of a barbarous 
 nation, that " nothing will induce him to derive a revenue from 
 the vice and misery of his people." 
 
 The expressions of Lords W. Bentinck and Dalhousie do but 
 ill accord with the intentions of Lord Cornwallis, about the time 
 that the monopoly was instituted. That benevolent, but often 
 much mistaken, nobleman, justified the measure on the grounds 
 of a maximum taxation restricting to a minimum the consump- 
 tion of the drug. Lord Cornwallis seemed to have been as un- 
 conscious as many economists of the present day are, of the 
 fallacy that vice will not bear any amount of taxation, so long as 
 you invest it with the sanction of a legal recognition. Licensed 
 gaming-houses on the Continent of Europe, and many places of 
 public entertainment in England, afford a practical illustration 
 
11 
 
 of what is common to every immorality which finds impunity in 
 the protection that is paid for it in taxes or for license. 
 
 The vigilance with which the East India Company and its 
 Government v/atched over the strictness of their monopoly, is 
 exemplified in the following extract of a despatch from the 
 Governor-General of India to the Court of Directors: "We 
 had anticipated the suggestion contained in the seventh para- 
 graph of your despatch, having already, on the occasion of the 
 importation of a large quantity of Turkish opium, given direc- 
 tions for inserting in the licenses to trade to China a condition 
 that such license shall be void in case any foreign, or other 
 opium than opium sold by the Company at their public sales in 
 Bengal, be laden on board the ship in any part of the voyage, 
 or imported into China on board of it/' 
 
 In the licenses granted for thus smuggling opium into 
 China there was this clause : The East India Company " do 
 hereby require and command all persons within or belonging to 
 this Government, under our jurisdiction, and we do desire all 
 persons that are subjects, friends, and allies to his Majesty, to 
 sufi'er the said ship to pass,'' &c. &c. 
 
 In my next letter I will enter upon Anglo-Chinese diplo- 
 macy. 
 
 Yours, &c. R. A. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Sir, In the year 1833 a Royal Commission was issued to 
 Lord Napier and others, in which were these words : " And we 
 do further declare our pleasure to be, that one of you the said 
 Superintendants shall be specially charged with the duty of 
 ascertaining, by all practicable ways and means, and with the 
 utmost attainable precision, the state of the trade carried on 
 between our subjects, or the subjects of any other foreign power, 
 with the inhabitants of China, and especially the number of 
 vessels annually arriving . . . from the territories of the said 
 
12 
 
 Ccmpany in India, and the tonnage of such vessels . , . and 
 the amount and nature of the goods from time to time imported 
 in such vessels into China . . . together with all material facts 
 illustrative of the course and nature of such trade, and of the 
 difficulties by which the same may be impeded." Again, in 
 section 19 : " And we do require you constantly to bear in 
 mind and impress, as occasion may oifer, upon our subjects resi- 
 dent in or resorting to China, the duty of conforming to the 
 laws and usages of the Chinese empire, so long as such laws 
 shall be administered in justice and good faith^ and in the same 
 manner in which the laws are or shall be administered towards 
 the subjects of China/^ &c. In announcing his arrival to the 
 Governor of Canton, Lord Napier, on the 26th of August, 183^, 
 informed that functionary that, "as bearer of a Royal Commis- 
 sion, he was empowered to promote and protect British trade. 
 .... The exclusive privileges and trade hitherto enjoyed by 
 the East India Company having ceased and determined by the 
 will and power of his Majesty the King and Parliament of Great 
 Britain. '^ Here let me beg that particular attention may be 
 paid to the above extracts, and that they may be carefully re- 
 membered as I proceed with my subject. 
 
 The short period of Lord Napier's administration in China 
 may be described as of that professional diplomacy which is only 
 admirable in naval officers in times of war, when civil negociation 
 having ceased, the simplest alternatives are offered, and shortest 
 periods for deliberation allowed. Venij vidi, and Lord Napier 
 summarily proposed, with the help of some frigates and a few 
 hundred British soldiers, to wage a triumphant war with China, 
 and add the vici. The Chinese, howeyer, adhered to their laws 
 and usages, to which Lord Napier was instructed to conform, 
 and the British representative, baffled in his endeavours to 
 enforce a change of Chinese policy, and having caused a sus- 
 pension of all intercourse, was obliged to succumb, and leave 
 Canton before the Chinese would allow legal trade to be resumed. 
 
 On the death of Lord Napier, Sir George Robinson assumed 
 the direction of affairs, and he thus described the conduct of our 
 countrymen, in the following extract from a despatch to Lord 
 Palmerston, dated 13th of April, 1835: "It now becomes a 
 painful but imperative duty to express unfeigned regret at the 
 
13 
 
 dissensions and violent party spirit that has so fatally prevailed, 
 and even now exists to a fearful extent, amongst the commercial 
 community at Canton. Your Lordship will, I feel certain, 
 acquit me of any other feeling save a sense of duty, when I call 
 your attention to the dangerous state of society, and express my 
 conviction that the untoward reception at, and disastrous re- 
 moval of his Majesty^s commission from Canton, was mainly 
 attributable to the bitter party feeling which, I am sorry to 
 assert, reigned at the very moment when general unanimity and 
 cordial co-operation should have aided and strengthened the 
 efiforts of its officers/^ 
 
 Sir George Robinson's despatches show that during the time 
 he held office, between the time of Lord Napier's death and the 
 arrival of his successor. Captain Elliott, opium smuggling was 
 the insuperable disturbing element in all our intercourse with 
 China. In writing to Lord Palmerston, from Lintin, on the 
 10th of December, 1835, about the embarrassment caused by 
 the lawless conduct of British subjects, of whom Sir George says 
 the Chinese " are ever in dread," and with allusion to " in- 
 numerable causes of dispute and altercation," he observes, " to 
 one point alone it is possible that their (the Chinese) attention 
 may be attracted, and that is the circumstance of my being in 
 the neighbourhood of the great and increasing emporium of the 
 outside {i.e. the contraband opium) trade. In the event of their 
 remarking on this part of the measure, I conceive it will be easy 
 to remove their objections, simply by changing my position to 
 Chuen-pee, the legal and usual anchorage to which the resort of 
 our men-of-war has usually been sanctioned." 
 
 Here we have the British representative marking his own 
 position as illegal. He informs Lord Palmerston that he will 
 still remain there, " should no great opposition occur," and 
 informs him that " he has seen upwards of fifty ships assembled 
 here on one occasion," and that there were " between twenty- 
 five and thirty ships, constantly lying here in full and active 
 employment," smuggling opium, for which Lintin was the grand 
 depot ! 
 
 Much as the East India Company and Ministers of the 
 Crown wish to keep the opium traffic out of sight, as the cause 
 of our troubles in China, the truth will intrude. Sir George 
 
14 
 
 Robinson, in another despatch, emphatically points out the bane 
 and antidote of Britain's commerce : " Whenever his Majesty's 
 Government direct us to prevent British vessels engaging in the 
 traffic, we can enforce any order to that effect ; but a more 
 certain method would be to prohibit the growth of the poppy 
 and the manufacture of the opium in British India." Despatch 
 to Lord Palmerston, dated Lintin, Feb. Sthj 1836. 
 
 Sir G. Robinson was succeeded by Captain Elliott, who, on 
 the 2nd of February, 1837, wrote thus to the Governor-General 
 of India regarding the opium and general trade at Canton : 
 " It must be quite unnecessary to press upon your lordship's 
 attention the many extremely important considerations con- 
 nected with this subject ; and I trust I shall be excused for 
 submitting the most hopeful means which suggest themselves 
 to me to draw to a close so disquieting a state of things." The 
 Captain then suggests means very similar to those which his 
 bellicose predecessor had recommended, and in asking for a 
 man-of-war and some Company's cruisers to be sent to his aid, 
 he informs Lord Auckland that " he had solicited the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief to send a man-of-war to these seas, with in- 
 structions to afford such countenance to the general trade as 
 may be practicable without inconveniently committing his Majesty's 
 Government upon any delicate question" or, in plain, undiplo- 
 matic English, the very indelicate question of opium smuggling. 
 
 In his letter to the Admiral on this occasion, the represent- 
 ative of the Majesty and people of Great Britain is driven to 
 the humiliating necessity of providing an excuse for the appear- 
 ance of a naval force ; so he trumps up the case of a brig that 
 had been plundered two years before by some pirates, out of 
 sight of the roads to which European vessels resorted, " as a plea 
 that I can have no doubt the provincial Government would find 
 itself obliged to accept !" 
 
 In the first year of his administration, Captain Elliott in- 
 formed the Minister of the Crown that there was some hope 
 that the importation of opium to China might be legalized, as 
 formerly, for medical purposes, under strict rules and severe 
 penalties ; and, though he could not but think that this would 
 afford his Majesty's Government much satisfaction, yet the 
 " fact that such an article should have grown to be by far the 
 
15 
 
 most important part of our import trade is of itself a source of 
 painful reflection ; and the wide-spreading* public mischief which 
 the manner of its pursuit has entailed, so ably and faithfully 
 represented in some of the papers I have had the honour to 
 transmit to your lordship, aggravates the discomfort of the 
 whole subject." The papers alluded to as having been trans- 
 mitted to the Minister of State, were written by the Chinese 
 authorities ; and, so far as they have been published by order 
 of Parliament, they, by the superiority of their commercial, 
 political, and moral arguments, put to shame and confusion the 
 short-sighted policy, shuffling diplomacy, and eventually suicidal 
 expediency by which our national character is so lowered in 
 comparison with the conduct of the Chinese so-called Barba- 
 rians. Take an incident in illustration of this : Fifteen British 
 subjects were landed on the coast of China by some mutineers, 
 and abandoned to what might be their fate ; in despatching a 
 man-of-war to their rescue. Captain Elliott feeling, it is to be 
 presumed, the twitches of political conscience, instructs Captain 
 Quin of the Royal Navy : " But upon this topic I will pre- 
 sume to say that it would be well to avoid those parts of the 
 coast upon which the opium ships are usually anchored." Here 
 there is an ample, though indirect, confession of the guilt of 
 smuggling, of its possibly evil influence even in the cause of 
 common humanity, and of another of its embarrassing effects in 
 our intercourse with the Chinese. Now, mark the contrast be- 
 tween this caution to the captain of a British man-of-war and 
 the report made to Lord Palmerston of the result of the expedi- 
 tion : " The fifteen people belonging to the late brig Fairy 
 were despatched to Canton by the Governor of Fuh-kein, and 
 they were all safely delivered over to my hands by the autho- 
 rities of this province. Their generous treatment by the Chinese 
 authorities has been in the highest degree honourable to the 
 humanity of this Government, and I have not failed to convey 
 my respectful sense of such conduct to his Excellency the 
 Governor." Captain Elliott to Viscount Palmerston, August 
 29th, 1837. At the very time that the Chinese were thus 
 acting, they were addressing remonstrances against the opium- 
 smuggling on the coast of Fuh-kein, and urging Captain Elliott 
 to apply to his Sovereign to prevent it ! 
 
16 
 
 In November, 1837, we find, with shame and sorrow, a 
 palpable falsehood addressed to the Chinese, in these words, 
 sent in reply to an edict dated in September: "He (Captain 
 Elliott) has already signified to your Excellency, with truth and 
 plainness, that his commission extends only to the regular trade 
 with this empire ; and further, that the existence of any other 
 than this trade has never yet been submitted to his gracious 
 Sovereign/^ This paper was written on the 17th of November, 
 and on the 19th of that month Captain Elliott commences 
 a long despatch to Lord Palmerston on the opium trade, com- 
 mencing thus : " I now beg leave to resume the subject of my 
 despatch of yesterday^s date." He enters fully into details of 
 the opium trade ; and after informing Lord Palmerston that 
 " We have now arrived at a stage in the passage of circum- 
 stances when it appears necessary that the subject should once 
 more be drawn under your lordship^s serious attention," he 
 adds, " Setting aside the interference of the mandarins, it is not 
 to be questioned that the passage of this valuable article in 
 small and insignificantly armed vessels affords an intense 
 temptation to piratical attack by the many desperate smug- 
 glers out of employment, and by the needy inhabitants of the 
 neighbouring islands. And another Ladrone war directed 
 against Europeans, as well as Chinese, is a perfectly probable 
 event. That the main body of the inward trade (about three- 
 fifths of the amount) should be carried on in so hazardous a 
 manner to the safety of the whole commerce and intercourse 
 with the empire, is a very disquieting subject of reflection. But 
 I have a strong conviction that it is an evil susceptible of easy 
 removal." Both Sir G. Robinson and Captain Elliott had, as 
 we have seen, already indicated this easy removal to be the 
 abolition of the East India Company^s illegal monopoly of 
 opium. 
 
 Painful as it is to contemplate the above departure from 
 truth, it is remarkable that, however fully the distant represent- 
 atives of the British Crown enter into the details and circum- 
 stances of the opium trade, our more astute diplomatists in this 
 country do not, in any of their replies that have been published, 
 commit themselves to either knowledge or recognition of the 
 fact. In July, 1836, Captain Elliott had warned Lord Palmer- 
 
Iv 
 
 ston, '^ Sooner or later, the feeling of independence which the 
 peculiar mode of conducting this branch of the trade has created 
 upon the part of our countrymen in China, will lead to grave 
 difficulties. A long course of impunity will beget hardihood, 
 and at last some gross insult will be perpetrated that the 
 Chinese authorities will be constrained to resent they will be 
 terrified and irritated, and will probably commit some act of 
 cruel violence that will make any choice but armed interference 
 impossible to our Government." Outrages by the English are 
 smoothed off under the term '^ gross insult;" but the legal 
 acts of Chinese self-defence, not so cruel as were the laws of 
 this country less than half a century ago, are described as " acts 
 of cruel violence, necessitating the horrors of vindictive war." 
 I am, Sir, yours, &c. R. A. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 SiR^ On the 20th April, 1838, Captain Elliott addressed 
 the following Report to our Minister for Foreign Affairs : "In 
 the course of the last two months the number of English boats 
 employed in the illicit traffic between Lintin and Canton has 
 vastly increased, and the deliveries of opium have frequently been 
 accompanied by conflict of fire-arms between these vessels and 
 the Government preventive craft. It is plain that British sub- 
 jects and property engaged in these pursuits are within easy 
 grasp of the provincial authorities, whenever it may suit their 
 purpose, or they may be driven by the Court to act with vigour. 
 In the edicts forwarded to your lordship in my despatch of 
 November 18, 1837, the Governor had already charged me with 
 countenancing the outside trade ; and in the event of disaster 
 there can be no doubt he would immediately connect the growth 
 of these last irregularities with my own departure from Canton." 
 
 Bear in mind that the English are the aggressors, and that 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 their Government has always had the power of putting an end 
 to the smuggling, as now carried on on such a gigantic scale, 
 by the simple abolition of the opium monopoly by which the 
 trade is supplied. 
 
 I will continue Captain Elliott's instructive despatch. For, 
 as he writes, '' the purpose of being prepared for such devices,^' 
 as the above, he turns from the subject of trade and smuggling, 
 and enters upon a long-pending controversy about the Chinese 
 word '^pin '' being written on the envelopes of official letters. 
 Having informed Lord Palmerston of this stroke of diplomacy, 
 he reverts to his ever-present difficulty, the opium smuggling, 
 and proceeds : '^ Should any serious disaster ensue, threatening 
 the lives of her Majesty's subjects engaged in these pursuits 
 (and in my judgment this result is perfectly probable), I shall 
 not fail to found the strongest remonstrances against such ex- 
 treme measures upon the Governor's rejection of these last pro- 
 posals ;'' that is, upon the use of the monosyllable ''pin," and 
 other points of red-tapery, about which there had been discus- 
 sion for many years, in which the Chinese were not inclined to 
 make changes, and regarding which Lord Palmerston at last 
 du-ected Captain Elliott ^' to avail himself of any proper oppor- 
 tunity to press for the substitution of a less objectionable 
 character on the superscription of communications which you may 
 have to address to the Viceroy." This, therefore, did not involve 
 a casus belli, and we learn from a subsequent report that the 
 mighty events which hung upon a "pin" were satisfactorily 
 disposed of, when the British representative reported " that, in 
 return for a substantial concession, I have agreed to incur 
 the responsibility of communicating with his Excellency under 
 the character 'pin.'" And this grand coup winds up with a 
 consignment of it to the department of rites, buttons, peacocks' 
 feathers, and points of etiquette. 
 
 Now, will it be believed in Great Britain, that up to the out- 
 break of the opium war there was no authority granted for the 
 control of British subjects in China ? no British tribunal or 
 magistracy to which they were amenable, or by which they could 
 be restrained ? nor any jurisdiction recognised, but that which 
 was indicated by the Royal Commission, quoted in my last 
 letter ? The consequences of this will be apparent as I carry 
 
19 
 
 on my narrative in the historical language, which I take from 
 Parliamentary Blue Books and Reports. 
 
 Again, referring to Captain Elliott's despatches, and passing 
 on from the episodical " pin/' our diplomatist, forgetful of an 
 old proverb regarding honour, threatens to peach or split upon 
 the Governor of Canton, for taking the bribes, which our 
 smugglers had so systematically given that they have actually 
 argued that their receipt by corrupted officers is equivalent to a 
 duty paid to the State another of the many proofs of Chinese 
 barbarism and British integrity in our intercourse with that 
 people. 
 
 Ireland was a trifling difficulty to Sir Robert Peel compared 
 with opium smuggling to our representative to the Chinese. 
 Captain Elliott having to contend with such disheartening ano- 
 maUes, without legal power to act summarily, or organise either 
 judicial, fiscal^ or commercial administration, thus touchingly 
 depicts the embarrassments in which he is involved. He had 
 been warned by the Minister of the Crown against assuming 
 authority in criminal cases, and he well knew the storm of vitu- 
 peration that was ready to crush him if he should allow the 
 most flagrant crime to be adjudicated upon by the Chinese tri- 
 bunals. On the 2nd of January, 1839, he writes: ^' 1 would 
 with great deference take the liberty to observe, that when I 
 assumed this office, recent Imperial commands were in existence 
 (specially pointed at the British nation) to the effbct that no 
 foreign officers should reside in this empire. That chief obstacle 
 has been removed, and .... it involves a principle of great 
 and comprehensive importance; namely* a permanent and direct 
 official intercourse between the two countries. I shall off'er no 
 further excuse for the moderate manner in which I have been 
 content in the present emergency to accept this concession, 
 because I am sure your lordship will make every allowance for 
 the difficulty of peacefully extracting any formal relaxation from 
 this watchful Government. 
 
 " These observations, my Lord, may perhaps serve to excuse 
 the respectful request I have now the honour to prefer. I 
 humbly hope that her Majesty's Government (taking into con- 
 sideration the novel, responsible, and undefined situation I fill, 
 
20 
 
 and casting a thought upon the many embarrassing circum* 
 stances which have beset me) would be pleased to determine 
 whether I have a claim to such an expression of support as I 
 11 ay be permitted to publish to the Queen's subjects in this 
 country. 
 
 ^' There is certainly a spirit in active force among British 
 subjects in' this country^ which makes it necessary for the safety 
 of momentous concernments that the officer on the spot should 
 be known to stand without blame in the estimation of her Ma- 
 jesty's Government ; and it is not less needful that he should 
 be forthwith vested with defined and adequate powers for the 
 reasonable control of men whose rash conduct cannot be left to 
 the operation of Chinese laws, without the utmost inconvenience 
 and risk, and whose impunity is alike injurious to British cha- 
 racter, and dangerous to British interests. 
 
 " It is my deliberate conviction, that the security of the 
 Chinese trade, and the maintenance of our peaceful intercourse 
 with this empire, depend upon the early attention of her Ma- 
 jesty's Government to this subject ; and T take this occasion to 
 repeat, that the assent of the Chinese Government to institutions 
 of this kind is beyond all doubt ; indeed, your lordship will 
 perceive from the Governor's answer to my note of the 23rd 
 ultimo, that he supposes they either are actually in existence, 
 or, at all events, that they ought to be/' 
 
 Captain Elliott, after remarking that it would be difficult to 
 make the Chinese understand that their permission was neces- 
 sary for British officers and courts to exercise authority over 
 British subjects, which authority they actually thought to be in 
 existence, informs Lord Palmerston "Your lordship maybe 
 assured that the theory is, even when they demand a homicide, 
 that we have already tried and convicted him by our laws." He 
 then recounts a conversation with one of the Chinese authorities, 
 How Qua, who '' referred me with earnestness to the requests 
 which had been made before the Company's monopoly was abo- 
 lished, to make provision for the government of her Majesty's 
 subjects ; and he asked me what more was wanted, and how it 
 was possible to preserve the peace, if all the English people who 
 came to this country were to be left without control. He fur- 
 
2i 
 
 therm ore entreated me to remind my nation's great Ministers, 
 that this Government never interposed, except in cases of ex- 
 treme urgency, upon the principle that they were ignorant of 
 our laws and customs, and that it was unjust to subject us to 
 rules made for people of totally different habits, and brought up 
 under a totally different discipline. I must confess, my Lord, 
 that this reasoning seems to me to be marked by wisdom and 
 great moderation j" a confession in which most men will agree 
 with Captain Elliott, whatever his superiors may have felt on 
 the question. 
 
 But that estimable officer's words in conclusion are very 
 emphatic. "In fact, my Lord, if her Majesty's officer is to be 
 of any use for the purposes of just protection if the well- 
 founded hope of improving things honourable and established is 
 not to be sacrificed to the chances which may cast up by goading 
 this Government into some sudden and violent assertion of its 
 own authority, there is certainly no time to be lost in providing 
 for the reasonable and defined control of her Majesty's subjects 
 in China. I could not have concealed these opinions without 
 betraying my duty to her jMajesty's Government and the British 
 public." 
 
 In another despatch on the subject of an important dispute 
 which had arisen between the Chinese and English are the fol- 
 lowing passages : " The establishment of some simple but 
 efficacious civil jurisdiction would no doubt be a necessary 
 accompaniment of this change of system, and your lordship 
 may, I think, rely, that the Chinese would refer all contested 
 points with her Majesty's subjects to this tribunal, either placing 
 the disputed sum in deposit, or at least giving security that it 
 should be paid, if the decision were adverse to them. I offer 
 these opinions because I am sure the Chinese have great con- 
 fidence in the good faith of Europeans, and because, too, I 
 believe they are, in many important respects, the most moderate 
 and reasonable people on the face of the earth." Thu'teen days 
 after these words were written, Captain Elliott informs Lord 
 Palmerstou, by a " hurried opportunity," that '' in the mean- 
 time, however, there has been no relaxation in the vigour of the 
 Government, directed not only against the introduction of opium, 
 but in a far more remarkable manner against the consumers. A 
 
22 
 
 corresponding degree of desperate adventure on the part of the 
 smugglers is only a necessary consequence ; and in this situation 
 of things serious accidents, and sudden and indefinite inter- 
 ruptions to the regular trade, must always be probable events/' 
 I am, Sir, yours, &c. 
 
 R. A. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 Sir, Enough has, I think, been written to show the true 
 nature of our conduct and diplomacy towards the Chinese. I 
 must hasten to a catastrophe and to a conclusion. For further 
 information, and for facts not stated in these letters, I must refer 
 your readers to a pamphlet published by Judd and Glass, of 
 Paternoster Row, entitled, " The Rise and Progress of British 
 Opium Smuggling,^' &c. 
 
 On the 22d of March, 1839, Captain Elliott reported to the 
 Secretary of State that he had received edicts from High Com- 
 missioner Lin, who had been invested with extraordinary powers 
 by the Emperor, for the especial purpose of putting down the 
 opium contraband traffic, and that he, Captain Elliott, having a 
 man-of-war at Macao, " would take the most prompt measures 
 for meeting the unjust and menacing dispositions of the High 
 Commissioner." He had also forwarded a note to know, 
 " whether it was the purpose of the Chinese Government to 
 wage war on the ships and men of my country." 
 
 Commissioner Lin's edicts are to be found from pp. 350 to 
 355 of the correspondence relating to China, laid before Par- 
 liament in a Blue Book of 1840, and ought to be read by every 
 Englishman who takes a patriotic interest in the pending crisis. 
 He commences by reminding of the length of time and extent to 
 which legal trade had been carried on, and of the benefits of 
 reciprocity in cosnmerce. He points out the illegality and evil 
 effects of opium smuggling, and proclaims, that as every other 
 measure had failed, as the laws of China were violated, and 
 
23 
 
 edicts, remonstrances, and requests had all been disregarded, he, 
 by order of the Emperor, had come to demand that the opium 
 actually in the dominions of the Emperor, stored at Lintin and 
 other ports, should be delivered up, in order that it jnight be 
 destroyed, and that the foreigners should give a bond "that 
 their vessels which shall hereafter resort hither will never again 
 dare to bring opium with them,'' under penalty of amenability 
 to the law and confiscation of the drug. 
 
 " I have heard,'' writes the Commissioner, " that you fo- 
 reigners are used to attach great importance to the words 'good 
 faith '/^' and, notwithstanding the object of his mission, he pro- 
 ceeds with us as if it was a reality, and promises " that if the 
 English will deliver up the contraband drug, and relinquish for 
 ever the unlawful traffic, he will implore the Emperor to vouch- 
 safe extraordinary favour, and not alone to remit the punishment 
 due to past errors, but also we will further request to devise some 
 method of bestowing on you his Imperial rewards. After this 
 you will continue to enjoy the advantages of commercial inter- 
 course; and as you will not lose the character of being 'good 
 foreigners,' and be enabled to acquire profits, and gain wealth by 
 an honest trade, will you not stand in a most honourable posi- 
 tion ?" Lin informs the foreigners that he has an exact account 
 of all the contraband opium, knows the names of its owners and 
 where it is stored, and that he is prepared to discriminate be- 
 tween the foreigners who deal in it and those who trade lawfully. 
 Such was the conduct of a so-called barbarian, and the evidence 
 before Parliament shows that some of the merchants in Canton 
 inferred from the above proclamation, that it was the Commis- 
 sioner's intention to have petitioned the Emperor to restore the 
 drug after it had been given up, on condition that it should be 
 taken out of the country, and the trade put an end to for ever. 
 
 Captain Elliott, in a despatch dated 30th March, 1839, 
 reports: "Resolved, in any pressure of emergency actually 
 threatening the continued peaceful intercourse of this empire, to 
 incur most heavy responsibilities regarding the ships engaged in 
 tliis illicit traffic, 1 had also determined to resist sudden aggres- 
 sion upon British hfe and British property at all hazards." 
 Captain Elliott, then, without one iota of authority, called upon 
 the smugglers to give up their opium to him, and pledged his 
 
Government to indemnify their loss. ' To carry this out he had 
 come up from Macao to Canton, and having* placed himself under 
 the embargo placed upon his countrymen for violating the laws 
 of the empire, he addressed to them these words : " The justi- 
 fication of this immense responsibihty will need more full develop- 
 ment than it would be desirable, or indeed practicable, to make 
 in my present condition. I am without doubt, however, that a 
 great mass of human life hung upon my determination ; for if I 
 had commenced with a denial of my control over the subjects of 
 Great Britain, the High Commissioner would have seized that 
 pretext for reverting to his measures of intimidation against indi- 
 vidual merchants, obviously the original intention, but which my 
 sudden appearance had disturbed." 
 
 If tenacity to rank and emoluments is considered justifica- 
 tory of all the degradation through which a member of our diplo- 
 matic disservice must struggle, it may seem hard to hold the 
 Captain too strictly responsible foi* the particular plank to which 
 he might cling amidst such a shipwreck of national honour, com- 
 mercial interests and honesty, and Christian morality. The 
 representative of our country chose his difficulty, though warned 
 by a friend that he was acting without authority. He stepped 
 between the Chinese and their just dealings with the smugglers, 
 and engaged to indemnify the latter for the loss that Lord Pal- 
 merston had before warned them they would have to bear if 
 ever it should occur. Vide his lordship's despatch, dated 18th 
 June, 1838. 
 
 When the news of these events reached England, so great 
 was the doubt that the Government would recognise Captain 
 Elliott's assumed responsibility, that his bills for payment of the 
 opium fell to a heavy discount, and their holders were driven to 
 great exertions to insure their being honoured. In an ably 
 written anonymous pamphlet, the author, who was evidently a 
 merchant in or connected with China, thus argues with much 
 apparent justice: '^On the other hand, it is not asserted that 
 no moral responsibility attaches to a participation in a traffic of 
 evil consequences to the morals of the people among whom it is 
 carried on. This is a question into which the present claimants 
 have no occasion to enter, great as are the prejudices existing 
 against them on no other grounds. The parties primarily con- 
 
25 
 
 cerned in keeping such a traffic alive are the consumer and the 
 producer, and upon them, if conscious agents in the matter, the 
 higher degree of responsibility may well be supposed to rest/' 
 And Mr. Jardine informed the House of Commons, "when the 
 East India Company were growing and selling it, and there was 
 a declaration of the Houses of Parliament, with all the bench of 
 bishops at their back, that it was inexpedient to do it away, I 
 think our moral scruples need not have been very great/' 
 I am, Sir, yours, &c. 
 
 R. A. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 Sir, Sir John Bowring is, though more concise, hardly more 
 clear in exposing the injustice of battering down Canton and 
 slaughtering its unwarlike inhabitants, because the police had 
 taken Chinese pirates out of a Chinese vessel, lying in a Chinese 
 river, than is Captain Elliott in his history of our national pro- 
 ceedings, which has been laid before your readers in his own words. 
 
 I shall make but one more quotation, which will be a fitting 
 pendent to the instructions to Capt. Quin, R.N. ; to the Pin 
 controversy; to the denial of the existence of opium smuggling 
 being known to the sovereign power of England; and to the 
 bullying note demanding to know whether Commissioner Lin, 
 when he, in terms as friendly as could well be used, demanded 
 the contraband drug to be quietly given up, " intended to make 
 war upon the ships and people of his country?'' Finding that 
 Lin was not to be frightened, we have the representative of the 
 majesty, honour, and dignity of Great Britain, eating the words 
 of one of his own haughty, overbearing communications in the 
 following very edifying specimen of Ancient Pistol-ism : 
 
 "Elliott, &c. sincerely anxious to fulfil the pleasure of the 
 Great Emperor, as far as it may be in his power, and as soon as 
 may be authentically made known to him, requests that your 
 Excellency will be pleased to depute an ofiicer to visit him this 
 
26 
 
 day, to the end that all matters may be peaceably adjusted. And 
 if Elliott is left at liberty to communicate with the men and ships 
 of his nation at Whampoa, he will solemnly pledge himself, that 
 he will take care that they do not repair to the provincial city, 
 under the apprehension that he and all the people of his nation 
 are prisoners and without food, thus producing conflict and dis- 
 turbance. 
 
 " Elliott, therefore, moves your Excellency to let the native 
 servants return to their occupations, to permit the supply of pro- 
 visions, and to remove all the barriers from before the factories. 
 By such means, confidence and tranquillity will be restored in the 
 minds of all men, both native and foreign. 
 
 " Elliott has, in all respects, since he filled the station of super- 
 intendent, manifested his earnest desire to keep the peace, and 
 fulfil the pleasure of your Excellency ; and, as an ofiicer of his 
 country, he now asks for reasonable treatment for himself and all 
 the men of his nation, and claims your Excellency's confidence in 
 his peaceful dispositions on this occasion of perilous jeopardy. 
 
 " It may sometimes happen, when Elliott addresses your 
 Excellency concerning affairs, that unsuitable terms find place 
 in his communications; and whenever that be the case, he entreats 
 your Excellency to believe that the circumstance is attributable 
 to the want of perfect familiarity with the native language, and 
 never to any intention to manifest disrespect to the high officers of 
 his Government, which would expose him to the severe displeasure 
 of his own Sovereign. 
 
 " And he has now to request that your Excellency will be 
 pleased to return him the address he submitted this morning. 
 " With highest consideration, &c. 
 
 (Signed) "CHARLES ELLIOTT." 
 
 Now, would it be believed if unseen, that by the last paragraph 
 the British representative withdrew a note of the same date, 
 demanding that passports should be given for all English ships 
 and persons to leave Canton, and that if in three days that was 
 not done, this same respectful Elliott, without consideration for 
 the pleasure of the Great Emperor, or for the high officers of his 
 Government, " would be reluctantly driven to the conclusion 
 that the men and ships of his nation are forcibly detained, and 
 would act accordingly ?" 
 
27 
 
 I have thus endeavoured to bring before the public facts from 
 our parliamentary records which are of importance at the present 
 crisis, and may assist in the formation of sound opinion regard- 
 ing our intercourse with China, and the butchery and devastation 
 with which its inhabitants are threatened. 
 
 The Chinese have faithfully carried out their part of the 
 treaty, by the cession of Hong-Kong, and by opening four ports 
 fully to legal trade, in every one of which our smugglers are im- 
 porting opium, contrary to the treaty ; there is an imperfect 
 fulfilment of the treaty at Canton, where we have free opportunity 
 to trade, but not access to the city, outside of which our factories 
 and dwellings are conveniently situated. This state of things 
 arises from the hatred which the inhabitants bear to the English, 
 the cause of which is, I think, made evident by Captain Elliott 
 and other diplomatists. For peace sake, and to avoid any inter- 
 ruption to legal commerce. Sir George Bonham had amicably 
 condoned with the Governor of Canton, that that part of the 
 treaty should remain in abeyance ; and there most certainly is 
 now no reason why we make a pretext, as frivolous and unjust 
 in itself as it is dreadful in its consequences, to carry by force of 
 arms what is open to friendly negociation and justifiable pressure. 
 China has its faults, and its exclusive system is far behind Euro- 
 pean ideas of international intercourse ; but on a fair comparison 
 with the passport regulations of the Continent, that empire is 
 hardly more behind Russia, France, Austria, and Italy, than 
 those countries fall short of our free ingress and egress ; and 
 yet we do not dream of destroying Cronstadt, Cherbourg, Trieste, 
 or Civita Vecchia, because the policy of their sovereigns is less 
 liberal than our own. 
 
 I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 R. A. 
 
 London : Printed by G. Bakclay, Castle St. Leicester 8q. 
 
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