What is the opium trade / by Donald Matheson.

Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: What is the opium trade / by Donald Matheson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    confine the quarrel to Canton, and bring it to a speedy and satis- factory termination. It is certain that the Court of Pekin is not in a position to enter on a general war with us. The reasons are obvious. The Imperial Treasury is empty, the country is convulsed by internal revolution, and they have a wholesome dread of our arms. Nevertheless, our plenipotentiary will doubtless proceed to Pekin, ready for peace or for war. But when he has fought his way, not through armed hosts of Tartars, but through the more formidable barriers of Chinese etiquette, to the Imperial presence, will he then be prepared to deal with this Opium Question as be- comes the representative of a Christian nation? Is he then to plead with the Emperor for the legalization of the trade, or, what is worse, to coerce him into such a measure? Surely this would be altogether unworthy of the British nation. Nor is it by any means certain that legalization will accomplish what the advocates of that mea- sure expect, as in such case there would be no further restriction on native grown opium, thus enabling them to dispense with the Indian supplies. We should also, by such a course, find ourselves ranged along with a wretched, worn-out dynasty, tottering to its fall, against the powerful revolutionary party, and all the good men in China who will then flock to their standard. A late letter from a missionary in China has this statement:— The better and higher classes revolt at the idea of legalizing the introduction of opium, and the Imperial Government, although hard pressed for money to carry on the defence of the dynasty, dare not sanction such a step, knowing that it would at once seal their fate as a Government. But should the Emperor resolutely refuse, as he has hitherto done, to legalize the trade, let us see to it that our plenipotentiary is furnished with instructions to meet them fairly on this question. At present the Indian Government prepares the opium for China, the British Government provides an island on the coast of China for storing supplies, and the British flag is degraded in many ways in support of this contraband trade. While, then, we ai-e opening up China by force of arms to the benign influences of Christianity, civilisation, and legal commerce, and thus providing for the removal of one source of misunderstand- ing by dispelling the ignorant prejudices of the Chinese, would it