408 REMARKS ON THE PRESENT POSITION ANU 



government the necessity of sending to China " a direct armet] in- 

 terference to demand redress (of the Chinese) for past injuries, 

 and security for the future ;" or " that a person of no preten- 

 sions should be sent out as agent for the Customs, whose sole 

 duties should consist in registering ship's papers and counter-signing 

 manifests." This latter mode Mr. Lindsay thinks would highly em- 

 barrass the Chinese, for, on the very first difficulty or dispute, they 

 would most anxiously enquire " why no such authority existed." 

 Our reply then is obvious. " It is your own fault, for, when we 

 sent one to you, you treated him with insult," &c. Probably Mr. 

 Lindsay imagines that the Viceroy would then send another letter to 

 our government for a person to come and take charge of the 

 trade. But suppose the Viceroy, in the absence of any one acting 

 for the king of England, should enact fresh laws, and make individu- 

 als thus unprotected amenable to his own decisions, based on the 

 Emperor's letter to our King in 1806, "That our Celestial Govern- 

 ment regards all persons and nations wilh eyes of charity and bene- 

 volence, and always treats and considers your subjects with the ut- 

 most indulgence and affection. On this account, therefore, there can 

 be no need for the exertions of your Majesty's Government," — 

 would he recommend that persons thus awkwardly situated should 

 patiently wait till redress be sent from England ? 



At page 7, Mr. L. says, supposing demands of a hostile nature to 

 be necessary, they should be no more than " a commercial treaty on 

 terms of equality, giving us the liberty of trading at two or more of 

 the northern ports ;" also, " that there shall be a discontinuance of all 

 those insulting expressions, implying national superiority, in which 

 the Chinese have indulged so largely, and which," he maintains, 

 "the Chinese use in the most offensive and insulting sense, and wilh 

 no object but the deeply rooted one of persuading tiiemselves that 

 all foreigners are beings morally degraded and inferior to the 

 Chinese, nor can we reasonably expect better treatment so long as 

 the impression is allowed to remain." To substantiate this Mr. L. 

 says, " I could quote numerous passages from Confucius, in which 

 the term E, which we translate ' barbarian,' is found to denote those 

 out of the pale of the Chinese empire, and always in a derogatory 

 and contemptuous sense. I cannot resist quoting one sentence, 

 written by a classical Chinese author, and one of the most dis- 

 tinguished commentators on Confucius. 



" Sootungpo, the author above alluded to, in defining the identical word E, 

 says : — 



' The E and the Teih cannot be governed by the same rules of government 

 as those of the central nation (the Chinese). They are hke tfie brute creation : 

 if liberal rules of government were applied to them, it would infalliblj' give 

 rise to rebellious confusion. The ancient kings knew this well, and therefore 

 ruled them without law. This method of government is decidedly the most 

 judicious mode of governing them.' 



" 11. Can any one who reads this, doubt the gross insultwhich is conveyed 

 in the constant repetition of this word ? I therefore maintain that it would 

 have the greatest moral effect, were the discontinuance of this and all other 

 insulting expressions made imperative, in all future negociations with the 

 Chinese. 1 feel confident that insisting on this point would greatly facilitate 



