sought—the discomfiting of the barbarian—quite as effective. The patience of the British representatives was at length exhausted. Towards the end of 1840 it was recognised that the only way to bring the Chinese to reason was to give a practical demonstration of British power in a quarter where the weight of the blow would be felt. On January 7, 1841, operations were opened by an attack on the Bogue forts. The outer forts of Chuenpee and Tae-cok-tow were reduced without difficulty, and the rest would have followed had not Captain Elliot, with strange disregard of the teachings of Chinese warfare, accepted overtures for a truce. The cessation of hostilities was followed by numerous excesses on the part of the Chinese. Edicts were issued by the Canton authorities putting a price upon the bodies of Englishmen dead or alive; generally it was made manifest that peaceful measures would not meet the exigencies of the situation. The British held their hand until an opportunity had been afforded for the Chinese to ratify the conditions of peace which Keshen had provisionally accepted; and which included a large indemnity, the cession of Hongkong, and direct official intercourse between the two Governments. But when it became evident that there was no intention on the part of the Chinese Government to confirm the arrangement, the attack on the Bogue forts was resumed. On the 26th of February the assault was commenced, and by the 1st of March the whole of the forts were in our hands. Admiral Kwan and a host of Chinese fell in the bombardment and the subsequent assault, and a vast quantity of guns and war munitions were captured. The British losses were trivial owing to the excellent dispositions made and the cowardice displayed by the Chinese garrison. On the 2nd of March Sir Hugh (afterwards Lord) Gough, who had been sent out from England to take over the command of the land forces, arrived. At this time Canton was practically at the mercy of the British fleet, but yielding to the urgent entreaties of the local officials hostilities were suspended, the British commander contenting himself with the occupation of the foreign factories and Fort Napier. A proclamation was issued on the 6th of March to the people of Canton promising to spare the city from bombardment if the Chinese authorities refrained from offering opposition to the invading force. Meanwhile, a decree arrived from the Emperor ordering Keshen's return to Peking to suffer the extreme penalty of the law. He was subsequently tried and condemned to death, but by an act of special favour the sentence was commuted, and he was banished to Tibet, where he resumed his official career as resident at Lhassa.
(From Allom & Wright's "China.")
(From Allom & Wright's "China.")
Commercial relations were now resumed at Canton with eagerness on both sides, and some visits of ceremony paid by leading local officials to Captain Elliot appeared to offer a hope of an amelioration of the diplomatic situation. But it soon became evident that the successes of the British, so far from bringing conviction of the necessity of the acceptance of the demands made had only increased the Emperor Taoukwang's determination to drive the hated foreigner out of his dominions. The officials who had waited on Captain Elliot acted, it was found, without any authority whatever from Peking. The real power was vested in three commissioners and a governor who had been specially charged by the Emperor to inquire into the position of affairs more with a view to the concocting of measures for the driving out of the British than the satisfaction of their claims. It was not long before the British discovered the true position of affairs. Their suspicions were aroused when they found that the new commissioners held studiously aloof from them; and as the days wore on they had reason for serious apprehensions in the fact that ominous preparations were being made all round them obviously with the design of re-commencing hostilities. Captain Elliot's eyes were completely opened on the 11th of May when he paid what was intended to be a friendly visit to the Prefect of Canton. His discourteous reception on that occasion, and the evidences which confronted him on all sides of military arrangements, so impressed him that he proceeded forthwith to Hongkong to concert measures with Sir Hugh Gough to meet the crisis which he felt certain was impending. The storm burst on the night of May 21st. When darkness had set in batteries which had been erected on the river banks by the Chinese opened fire on the factories and the ships, and simultaneously fire rafts were sent in amongst the latter with the hope and intention of destroying them. The British, who were prepared for attack, had no difficulty in frustrating the designs of the enemy. One ship—the Nemesis—burned upwards of sixty of the fire rafts, and some smaller war vessels effectually disposed of the batteries. All the available troops were now called up from Hongkong,
