Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/57

Rh CHAPTER VIII. The First Chinese War—Expeditionary Force under Sir Gordon Bremer occupies Chusan—Operations in the Canton River—Sir Hugh Gough assumes Command—Submission of the Chinese—Temporary Resumption of Trade—Renewed Outbreak of Hostilities—Canton at the Mercy of the Expeditionary Force—Arrangement of Terms with the Chinese—Arrival of Sir Henry Pottinger as Sole Plenipotentiary—Continuance of the War—Occupation of Amoy—Attacks on Chinhai and Ningpo—Attack on Shanghai—Expedition in the Yangtse Valley—Conclusion of Peace—The Treaty of Nanking. had now become perfectly clear that the situation had got beyond the reach of diplomatic action. To the force used by the Chinese force must be opposed if British prestige was not to be irretrievably compromised. In the Queen's speech at the opening of the Parliamentary Session in 1840 reference was made to the strained character of the relations between the British and the Chinese in the Far East, and later it was known that an expedition was in preparation, as Lord John Russell explained on behalf of the Government, to obtain reparation for insults and injuries offered to British subjects, to secure for British merchants in China indemnification for the loss of their property incurred by threats of violence, and "to obtain a certain security that persons and property in future trading with China shall be protected from insult or injury and that their trade and commerce be maintained upon a proper footing." The expeditionary force, which was mainly drawn from India, consisted of fifteen ships of war, four steam vessels, and twenty-five transports with four thousand troops on board, Under the command of Sir Gordon Bremer it arrived off the mouth of the Canton River in June, 1840. Lin, so far from being intimidated by this display of power, was only stimulated by it to more outrageous acts. He issued edicts offering rewards proportioned to the rank of the victims for the killing or capture of individual Britishers, and holding out tempting promises to those who would prove bold enough to seize a ship. Inspired by the proclamations, some of the more daring Chinese did capture a number of British subjects, who were handed over to the authorities and carted about the country in cages as proofs of the valour of the all-conquering Chinese. Amongst the number of these unfortunates was a female who it was at first proposed should be dressed up in rich clothes and represented as a sister of the late Queen Victoria. This design was not carried out as it was thought that even the confiding Chinese would not accept quite such an audacious lie, but the wretched woman nevertheless was subjected to the indignity of public exposure in a cage on the ground of her influential status.

Sir Gordon Bremer instead of carrying the war directly into the enemies' country—the particular enemy of the moment being Lin installed in arrogant plenitude of power at Canton—went with his expeditionary force northwards to the beautiful island of Chusan, which he occupied without difficulty on the 5th of July. The island made an admirable depôt for the British force, and from this point of view there was no doubt a great deal to be said for its occupation. But the need of the moment was for vigorous action in the vicinity of Canton, and the fact that such was not undertaken led to misconception on the part of the Chinese and undoubtedly stiffened their opposition to all demands. The idea of Sir Gordon Bremer seems to have been to open up communication with the authorities at Peking at the earliest possible moment, the assumption being that if this could be done a settlement might be made over Lin's head. In furtherance of this idea Her Majesty's ship Blonde was despatched to Amoy, but on a boat being sent ashore with a flag of truce it was fired on by the Chinese and the inmates narrowly escaped death. A similar contretemps attended a further effort to open communications at Ningpo. Nor did a better fate attend an elaborately prepared effort, conducted under the cover of an imposing naval force, to open up negotiations by way of the Peiho River. The squadron arrived off Taku on the 9th of August, and Captain Elliot proceeded by steamer to Tientsin. There he entered into negotiation with Keshen, the Viceroy of the province, who had just been appointed Imperial High Commissioner. Keshen was a wily diplomat, who proved more than a match for the straightforward and too confiding British official by whom he was confronted. The great object of the Chinese was to get the British fleet out of the Peiho at all cost. To this end Keshen beguiled Captain Elliot with visions of a possible settlement if only the negotiations were directed from Canton. The British negotiator fell into the trap, and by the end of October the fleet was back at Chusan. While the bulk of the force had been engaged in this barren attempt to force the front door of the Chinese Empire, another section of the fleet had been carrying on active hostilities against the Chinese forces encamped outside Macao. The trouble arose owing to the capture and removal to Canton of Mr. Vincent Stanton, a British subject. As no reply was made to repeated demands for the release of this gentleman, it was decided to attack the Chinese camp. The business was carried through in a workmanlike manner by Her Majesty's ships Hyacinth and Larne. After a destructive bombardment of the forts and war junks, a force of four hundred bluejackets was landed and the camp was rushed. There were very few casualties on the British side, and the Chinese fled too precipitately to lose heavily. There was, however, a considerable capture of guns and the demolished forts constituted a satisfactory outward and visible sign of British prowess.

The return of the fleet southward was followed by a period of inaction. Lin had fallen under the imperial ban and been replaced by Keshen at Canton, and Mr. Vincent Stanton had been released, but otherwise the position was unchanged. All attempts made to secure an arrangement proved abortive. Keshen substituted for the truculence of Lin an evasiveness which was about as irritating, and as far as the end