celebrated by a royal salute of twenty-one guns, and the hoisting of the
standards of England and China at the masthead of the man-of-war. The
Emperor Taoukwang ratified the treaty with commendable dispatch, and the
only incident to mar the cordiality of the last scene in this part of the
story of Anglo-Chinese relations was the barbarous and inexcusable injury
inflicted by a party of English officers and soldiers on the famous
Porcelain Tower, which was one of the finest specimens of Chinese art,
having been built 400 years before at great expense and the labor of
twenty years.
The ports in addition to Canton to be opened to trade were Shanghai,
Ningpo, Amoy and Foochow, but these were not to be opened until a tariff
had been drawn up and consular officers appointed. As the installments of
the indemnity were paid the troops and fleet were withdrawn, but a
garrison was left for some time in Chusan and Kulangsu, the island off
Amoy. The attack and massacre of some shipwrecked crews on the coast of
Formosa gave the Chinese government an occasion of showing how marked a
change had come over its policy. An investigation was at once ordered, the
guilty officials were punished, and the emperor declared, "We will not
allow that, because the representation came from outside foreigners, it
should be carelessly cast aside without investigation. Our own subjects
and foreigners, ministers and people, should all alike understand that it
is our high desire to act with even-handed and perfect justice." Sir Henry
Pottinger's task was only half performed until he had drawn up the tariff
and installed consular officers in the new treaty ports. Elepoo was
appointed to represent China in the tariff negotiations, and Canton was
selected as the most convenient place for discussing the matter. Within
two months of the resumption of negotiations they seemed on the point of a
satisfactory termination, when the death of Elepoo, the most sincere and
straightforward of all the Chinese officials, caused a delay in the
matter. Elepoo was a member of the Manchu imperial family, being descended
from one of the brothers of Yung Ching, who had been banished by that
ruler and reinstated by Keen Lung. That the Pekin government did not wish
to make his death an excuse for backing out of the arrangement was shown
by the prompt appointment of Keying as his successor. At this stage of the
question the opium difficulty again rose up as of the first importance in
reference to the settlement of the commercial tariff. The main point was
whether opium was to appear in the tariff at all or to be relegated to the
category of contraband articles. Sir Henry Pottinger disclaimed all
sympathy with the traffic, and was quite willing that it should be
declared illicit; but at the same time he stated that the responsibility
of putting it down must rest with the Chinese themselves. The Chinese were
not willing to accept this responsibility, and said that "if the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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