distrained upon, and that if his efforts were not sufficient to cover the amount, he himself was to be banished to Turkistan, and his brethren of the hong called upon collectively to make good the deficiency. Under such circumstances the hong were not contented with a legal profit, but loaded their clients with all sorts of exactions ; and these they attributed to the greediness of the higher officers, while to the mandarins themselves they declared that the discontent exhibited by the foreigners was owing solely to their ignorance and brutality. The mandarins, on the other hand, were instigated by the policy of the government to treat the unlucky traders with obloquy and contempt, so as to interpose an effectual barrier between them and the unruly populace of Canton; while the constant disputes among the Europeans themselves, but more especially the English and French, contributed not a little to place them all in a disagreeable and disreputable position. In 1750 the European ships at Canton were nine English, four Dutch, two French, two Swedish, and one Danish.

In 1755 a new attempt was made by the English to re-open trade at Ningpo; but notwithstanding some encouraging professions, the charges proved to be still greater than at Canton, and the reason was frankly assigned that by shipping goods so near where they were produced, the emperor lost the transit dues on their conveyance to a more distant port, This evinced a determination to prohibit trade altogether, except on such terms as would render it hardly worth pursuing; and Mr. Flint, a talented and energetic officer, who had acted as interpreter, proceeded in 1759, in defiance of the fulminations of the provincial government, to the neighbourhood of Peking, and laid the whole case before the emperor. The result was that the hoppo at Canton was

degraded, and many impositions of the local officers remitted,—and that when the European merchants were called together to hear the emperor's pleasure, they were thrown upon their knees by main force, and Mr. Flint committed to gaol near Macao, where his grateful countrymen allowed him to lie for nearly three years! The remark may here suggest itself to some persons that the Europeans had no right to force their trade upon the Chinese but in reality there was no force in the case. The trade was desired by the latter as well as by the former; and the sole reason why the emperor ordered it to be confined to Canton was that he might derive a greater benefit from the transit dues. The struggle was, commercially, against the frauds of the local officers, and politically against the oppression and insults of the government, which openly professed to "rule barbarians by misrule." Various instances occurred before the close of the century of British subjects being executed by the Chinese according to their own law (unintelligible to us) of homicide; but instead of the Europeans making a stand against this violence, the victims were actually delivered up to their executioners, in one case by the Portuguese and in another by the French. It ought to be remarked, however, that if the Chinese law was sanguinary, and to European judgments absurd, it was not partial; for the very same "justice" was dealt to unintentional delinquents of their own nation who had the misfortune to take the lives of foreigners. There were also some disputes respecting a debt, said to have amounted, including accumulations of enormous interest, to a million sterling,-which had been incurred by the hong merchants by borrowing at different times from the Europeans. A frigate was sent from England to remonstrate, and the money was in consequence recovered, and

an edict passed prohibiting the hong from borrowing in future from their clients: an edict which as usual remained a dead letter. In 1770, it may be noted, the supercargoes were directed by the Company instead of sailing in the vessels to reside permanently in China, and the factories began to assume the form they have since retained. Ten years after the Company's authority to order away any British subject they chose was legally established.

Notwithstanding the many disputes, the British trade with Canton continued to make some progress, till in 1792 an embassy was despatched to Peking, under Lord Macartney, to endeavour to reduce the exactions at the former port, and extend the intercourse to Ningpo, Chusan, Tien-tsin, and other places. The latter object of the mission failed; but upon the whole the Chinese became less capricious in their dealings, and presents were afterwards exchanged between the two governments-the emperor of course assuming that of his Britannic Majesty to be the tribute of a barbarian

state.

In 1802 the American flag was first added to those of the other European nations at Canton; and in the same year an armament sent from India to protect Macao, the settlement of our then allies the Portuguese, against the French republic, was indignantly informed by the Chinese that the town was theirs. The Portuguese took advantage of the circumstance to ingratiate themselves with their masters by misrepresenting the designs of the English. Soon after, in 1804, the Company's Chinese fleet proved itself to be capable of protecting its own cargoes from the whole world. These noble ships were now mounted with thirty guns and upwards, and when sailing homewards in a convoy of sixteen sail, carrying

property to the amount of sixteen millions sterling, fell in with a French squadron cruising in the Archipelago for the purpose of intercepting them. The merchant force was nothing daunted by the idea of coming into conflict with vessels of war, but forming in line of battle advanced gallantly-one of them engaging the French admiral's ship of eighty guns-and after a hard fight drove off the enemy, and pursued their voyage in triumph.

In 1805 a letter was addressed to the emperor by the King of England, to which the former in the following year replied by commending highly his Majesty for beholding reverentially from afar the glory of the Chinese empire, and respectfully admiring the perfection of its government. "With regard to those of your Majesty's subjects, however," the missive continues, "who for a long course of years have been in the habit of trading to our empire, we must observe to you that our celestial government regards all persons and nations with eyes of charity and benevolence, and always treats and considers your subjects with the utmost indulgence and affection; on this account, therefore, there can be no place or occasion for the exertions of your Majesty's government."

Soon after this the Europeans at Canton when moving about the river in their boats, began to experience some inconvenience from another kind of naval power. This was the Chinese pirates, known by the Portuguese term ladrones, who for several years ravaged the coasts of China without interruption. In 1810 they numbered six hundred vessels of all sizes from eighty to three hundred tons, the larger mounting about twelve guns, and carrying as many as two hundred men, with an armed boat for entering the creeks and rivers. Their guns, however,

varying from six to eighteen pounders, were laid immoveably upon solid timber, and could only be brought to bear upon an enemy by wearing the vessel. Such craft were of course not very formidable to European ships, but they were able to sweep the China Sea without opposition from the government navy. After the death of the pirate chief his wife succeeded to the command; but subsequently strife arose among her lieutenants, and the fleet was divided into two factions, and a bloody battle at length fought between the black and red squadrons. This was just the moment for the dynasty of edicts and cajolery to act; and a proclamation appeared offering an amnesty to all who would return to their allegiance. The weaker of the two parties accepted the terms, and its chief was received into the imperial service, and employed against his former associates. The lady chieftain held out for a while; but all were at length compelled to accept of the amnesty, and this extraordinary power melted gradually away.

In 1808, in the face of former experience, the British sent a new armament to protect the Chinese town of Macao against the French. The admiral seems to have had some indistinct notion that he could carry his point with the Canton authorities by means of blustering; but after having thoroughly committed and compromised himself with them-who are the best blusterers in the world-even to the extent of being fired at and one of his men wounded, he had the good sense to retire from the aggressive position he had taken up in defiance of the law of nations and of common sense. Some years after, the English and Americans carried their war into the Canton waters, which gave so much offence that the government, unable to interfere with ships of war, wreaked their vengeance in restrictions upon the mer