MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 389 



interests, incline them to be men of peace. They are satisfied that their in- 

 terests — that is. the interests of the nation— may be effectually secured with- 

 out it, and that our commercial intercourse with China may be easily, spee- 

 dily, and peaceably placed upon an honourable and secure footing. Great 

 Britain need show herself to the Chinese, not in a threatening, but simply a 

 resolute attitude, in order to secure that grand desideratum, — a direct access to 

 the court at Pekin, where such cogent representations might be made to the Em- 

 peror, — such a demonstration of the weak and embarrassed state of his king- 

 dom, of the solid and permanent advantages he may reap by conceding our 

 few and reasonable demands, and the serious consequences of persisting in an 

 obstinate and insolent disregard of them, as would, in all human probability, 

 lead to the happiest results. Could the Emperor but be made to see that his 

 brother monarch of Great Britain — the King of a great and independent na- 

 tion — was perfectly in earnest about the matter, — that at length he was tired 

 of the tyranny and injustice to which his subjects at Canton have been so 

 long subject, and resolved upon obtaining satisfaction for the deep insult of- 

 fered to him through his representative Lord Napier, — the whole history of 

 China shows that the Emperor would not be long in deciding which of the al- 

 ternatives to adopt, or finding a suitable and stately pretext for making the 

 requisite concessions. We desire him to drop for ever the arrogant and offen- 

 sive language so long adopted by himself and his ministers, in speaking of the 

 King of Great Britain and his subjects ; to give reparation for the fatal insults 

 offered to Lord Napier, and to the national honour, in firing at her flag — as 

 well as remuneration for the losses we sustained by the detention of our ships 

 during the stoppage of our trade on that occasion ; to extend to our fellow 

 subjects at Canton the full protection of the Chinese laws ; to forbid the 

 longer infliction by the local authorities of the intolerable indignities and im- 

 positions under which our traders have so long suffered, and to accecie to com- 

 mercial arrangements that may be reasonable and mutually beneficial. This 

 is the short sum of all that it is desired our Government should demand from 

 that of China. The honour and interests of the country equally require it. It 

 is ignorant trifling to talk of " treating the rodomontade and verbiage of the 

 Chinese with the contempt it deserves." It cannot be denied that, as stated 

 by the Canton merchants, in their " Petition" to the King in Council, the dis- 

 abilities and restrictions under which our commerce now labours may be 

 traced to a long acquiescence in the arrogant assumption of supremacy over 

 the people and monarchs of other countries, claimed by the Emperor of China 

 for himself and his subjects ;" — and that " they are forced to conclude, that no 

 essentially beneficial result can be expected to arise out of negociations in 

 which such pretensions are not decidedly repelled-" . . . "That they 

 most seriously apprehend that the least concession or waiving of this point, 

 under present circumstances, could not fail to leave us as much as ever 

 subject to a repetition of the injuries of which we have now to com- 

 plain." It might have been deemed politic, in our early intercourse with the 

 Chinese, to acquiesce in their assumptions — to pass over their vain-glorious 

 and bombastic phraseology, or treat it as an amusing absurdity. We had 

 then to gain a footing where we had not a tittle of claim even to be tolerated 

 on or near their shores ; where we were strictly " tenants by sufferance," — 

 and besides, could not have contemplated the effects such acquiescence would 

 have produced practically upon their treatment of us. Now, however, cir- 

 cumstances are indeed changed. We have learned by the severe experience 

 of two centuries, the truth of the representations above made : and mav de- 

 pend upon it, that so long as the Chinese find us tolerate their styling ourKing 

 " a reverently submissive tributary" and his subjects " profligate barbarians," 

 they will treat us accordingly. Hence the absolute necessity of demanding 

 the discontinuance of such language — even suj)posing it to be consistent with 

 the dignity and honour of Great Britain to submit to the degradation of car- 

 rying on trade upon such terms." 



Mr. Matheson is an able and intelligent writer, and the pamphlet before us 

 adds considerably to our stock of knowledge regarding China and the Chinese. 



M.M.— No. 4 2E 



