Page:Chinese account of the Opium war (IA chineseaccountof00parkrich).pdf/94

 Tls. 20,000 for each ship, and Tls. 40 for each torpedo. On this the Emperor ordered the building of a new Canton fleet to be confided to him, quite free of all official interference, so as to prevent peculation; but, owing to the obstacles thrown in the way by the high authorities, the matter dropped. Thus China was neither without allies or internal zeal in the pirate war: but she had no one to take the reins in hand; and so her dependent barbarians were driven over to aid her enemy, and her brave people were turned into disloyalists: her patriots were even denounced as obstinate persons.

Of late, with the trade all along the coast, the opium business is greater than ever; and, at the recommendation of the Canton Governor, the prohibitions against Roman Catholicism have been relaxed throughout the Empire. The foreigners in possession of Ting-hai and Kulang Sü put pressure on the officials, and harbour all sorts of outlaws; whilst the man at Wu-shih Shan in Foochow [i.e. H.B.M. Consul] occupies the very heart of the capital, and can look over the whole city. The Governor-General and the Governor look helplessly on, and represent to the Emperor "that they have only given him a tumble-down temple