Page:American Diplomacy in the Orient - Foster (1903).djvu/95

 was ransomed from assault by the payment of $6,000,000. Amoy, Ningpo, and Shanghai successively fell into British hands. Chinkiang was taken by assault, sacked, and destroyed with horrible slaughter. Nanking was invested, and when about to be attacked the Chinese sued for peace.

All the boasted prowess of their generals had come to naught. They had been overwhelmingly defeated in every encounter with the British, and to save their ancient capital from destruction the emperor's plenipotentiaries made haste to accept the terms dictated by the victors. The treaty, signed August 29, 1842, provided for the opening of the ports of Canton, Amoy, Fuchau (Foo-chow), Ningpo, and Shanghai to British trade and residence; the island of Hongkong was ceded; $21,000,000 was to be paid as a war indemnity, of which $6,000,000 was for the opium destroyed, and $3,000,000 for debts due British subjects; a tariff of import and export duties was to be agreed upon, and official correspondence was to be conducted on terms of equality.

A singular feature of the treaty was that no attempt was made in it to adjust the matter which had been the immediate occasion of the war,—the importation of opium. After the treaty was signed it appears that there was some discussion of the subject between the negotiators, initiated by the British plenipotentiary, who