HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
the Chinese territories; abandoning 
his factory and unfinished concerns, 
until the return of the ships the fol- 
lowing year. It was seldom, and 
with the utmost difficulty, that fo- 
reigners could, in any case, obtain 
justice. The English at Canton, 
especially, who were not in the 
possession of any means of defend- 
ing their own cause on the spot, 
were subjected to much oppression, 
and even many personal insults. 
They did not, however, ascribe 
such treatment to the Emperor, nor 
even suppose that it was known to 
him; and therefore several of the 
East India Company’s agents, em- 
ployed in the Chinese trade, sug- 
gested the propriety of an embassy 
to his Imperial Majesty, to repre- 
sent their grievances, in the hope 
that he mightissueorders for|redress. 
The trade between the subjects of 
the two countries amounted annu- 
ally to several millions sterling; and 
_ might be extended to almost an in- 
definite extent. Every motive of 
policy or commerce, it was suppos- 
ed by the sanguine patrons of an 
embassy to China, that led to the 
maintenance of ministers from 
Great Britain at European courts, 
and even in Turkey, might be ap- 
plied with equal force to a similar 
establishment, if practicable at Pe- 
kin. Asuccession of British subjects 
residing in a dignified station at Pe- 
kin, whose cautious conduct and 
courteous manners would be calcu- 
lated to gain the estee:n of the up- 
per and the respect of the lower 
classes of the Chinese, might by dis- 
petticg their prejudices, and conci- 
iating their good-will, produce the 
confidence necessary to an alliance. 
It was true, that a British subject in 
the service of the East India Compa- 
ny, who had acquired the language 
! 
[179 
of the country, was punished by ex- 
press orders from Pekin, for having 
attempted to penetrate to that capi- 
tal, for the purpose of presenting, 
in obedience to his superiors, a me- 
morial of grievances from the Brit- 
ish factory. Butit was presumed that 
better success might attend an en- 
voy of rank, invested with a royal 
commission, which commands re- 
spect in every civilized society; and 
accordingly the late Colonel Cath- 
cart,a gentleman of noble birth and 
dintinguished merit, in 1787, under- 
took to make the experiment; but 
the expedition was interrupted by 
his premature decease in the course 
of the voyage outward: an event, 
however, which, thoughit retarded, 
did not finally prevent the enter- 
prize originally intended. 
The conduct of the expedition, 
or the embassy to China, was now 
entrusted to Lord Macartney, who 
had, at an early period of his life, 
been employed as envoy to the 
court of Petersburgh; and at dif- 
ferent periods since, held a govern- 
ment in one of the British West 
India islands, and that of Madras in 
the East Indies. Sir George Staun- 
ton, who had been private secre- 
tary to his Lordship, both in the 
West and East Indies, was promot- 
ed to the station of his Britannic 
Majesty’s secretary of legation, and 
eventuai successor to the Ambassa- 
dor. A sixty-four gun ship, the 
Lion, was fixed on to carry the 
Ambassador out and home. A mi- 
litary guard also was allowed, ac- 
cording to the manner of the east, 
to attend the Ambassador; not nu- 
merous, but consisting of picked 
men from the infantry, as well as 
from the artillery, with light field- 
pieces; the rapid exercise of which, 
agreeably to the recent improve- 
{[N] 2 ments 
