CHINA. 



237 



History. 

 A.D.*1S<:J 



Success of 

 the mis- 

 tionaiies, 

 and pro- 



criptiun 



t>: lii.rUtia- 

 aity. 



Vaccina- 

 tion intro- 

 duced. 



Misundcr- 

 landing 

 between 

 the Chi- 

 nese and 

 Briti~h at 

 Canton. 



permitting the Roman Catholic missionaries to reside in 

 any part of his dominions, within 20 miles of his court ; 

 and some thousands of children, with a few adults, had 

 been baptized. In 1805, they are said to have had not 

 less than 64 Christian seminaries of education, chiefly in 

 the province of Se-tchuen ; but, in 1SOO', Christianity 

 was again proscribed ; a Catholic missionary in Pekin 

 was condemned to perpetual imprisonment ; a number 

 of civil and military officers were subjected to punish- 

 ment, for permitting or aiding the labours of the mis- 

 sionaries ; all the native converts were sent into banish- 

 n.mt or slavery, and their books, papers, and printing 

 blocks publicly burned. The truths of revelation, how- 

 ever, had been taught in numerous churches; and are 

 supposed to have made impressions upon the minds of 

 the natives, which even the persecutions, to which they 

 have been exposed, will not speedily efface. About the 

 same time, Sir George Staunton succeeded, with the as- 

 sistance ot Mr Pearson, surgeon to the British factory 

 at Canton, in establishing the practice of vaccination in 

 that populous city. The virus was obtained from Ma- 

 r.i'.l.i, through the medium of the Spaniards. Mr Pear- 

 son wrote a concise treatise on the discovery and the 

 mode of operation, with figures of the vaccine pustule ; 

 of the arm, with the proper place of puncture ; of the 

 lances charged with the matter, &c. This treatise, the 

 first English work published in China, was translated by 

 Sir G. Staunton, into the language of the pountry, and 

 was gratuitou.ily distributed at the cxpence of the East 

 India Company, with the assistance of a Chinese sur- 

 geon. So far have the Chint.se overcome their preju- 

 dices against European customs in this ins-tance, that a 

 general inoculation for the cow pox took place in Can- 

 ton, and a large subscription was raised by the natives, 

 for establishing an institution in that city, by means of 

 which the matter may be disseminated into every pro- 

 vince of the empire. 



In the month of October 1806, a serious misunder- 

 standing was occasioned between the Chinese government 

 and the British factory it Canton ; which originated in a 

 scuffle on board an East India ship, between a native of 

 the country and one of the erew, in which the former 

 received a blow from a handspike, which afterwards oc- 

 casioned his death. The Chinese government demand- 

 ed, that the Englishman sh< uld be given up for capital 

 punishment, or at least another of the same nation in his 

 place, according to tile hv.v> of tlu-ir country. But the 

 offender had absconded, and all the British sailors denied 

 any knowledge either of the deed itself, or of the person 

 who had been the perpetrator. This answer, however, 

 did not satisfy the Chinese ; and all the British subjects 

 were ordered to go on board their ships, and to quit 

 Canton without delay. But the English commanders, 

 having expostulated strongly upon the injustice of these 

 measures, and supported their representations with some 

 valuable donations to the relations of the deceased, the 

 matter was at length amicably adjusted, and the usual 

 intercourse again restored. In all the transactions, which 

 occurred during this season of partial hostility, a Portu- 

 guese priest, named Father Rodrigo, who acted as inter- 

 preter to Admiral Drury, bore a very active and prom:- 

 nent part. This person, possessed of great courage and 

 enterprise, had, previous to this event, succeeded in ma- 

 lting his way, under the disguise of a Tartar, to the city 

 of Pekin ; and, after residing a considerable time in that 

 capital without being discovered, returned in safety to 

 Macao. Thin clandestine visit afterwards becoming 

 known to the government at Canton, the Chinese man- 

 darins expressed the strongest indignation, on account of 



the imposition and insult which had been practised upon 

 them ; and their resentment against the offender was ren- 

 dered doubly inveterate, by his zealous interference in 

 support of the British interests, especially by his spirit- 

 ed conduct upon the occasion of Admiral Dairy's visit 

 to Canton with the armed boats of his fleet. When 

 the Chinese opened a fire from their fort and war boats 

 upon the admiral's barge, Rodrigo stoc d erect upon the 

 stern sheets, and, taking his cowl in hand, cheered with 

 three loud huzzas ; intending, as the Chinese alleged, 

 and as was probably the truth, to incite the seamen to 

 an immediate attack. The Chinese silently remarked 

 his hostile demeanour towards them in the whole course 

 of the dispute, and determined to seize the first oppor- 

 tunity of inflicting vengeance. As soon, therefore, ai 

 the British ships and troops had taken their departure, 

 the father was treacherously enticed beyond the Portu- 

 guese boundaries, and carried prisoner to Canton ; where 

 the Chinese, glorying in the p< ssession of their captive, 

 unequivocally evinced their determination to make him 

 atone, with his life, for the insults, which he had offered 

 to the dignity of their empire. The Portuguese govern- 

 ment, however, at Macao, feeling the necessity of pro- 

 tecting their subjects, and perceiving, that nothing but 

 an appeal to force could effect the liberation of Rodri- 

 go, commanded a ship of war and an armed brig to be 

 moored, as close as the water would admit, to the two 

 neighbouring Chinese forts ; and, at the same time, 

 marched their troops out of Macao, to invest the for- 

 tresses on the land side. Mr Roberts, also, the senior 

 British supercargo, issued orders to all the company'* 

 ships to suspend their intercourse with the shore, and 

 to prepare for such offensive measures as might appear 

 requisite. These arrangements having been made, the 

 Father was demanded in due form, with ao explicit de- 

 claration, that unless he was delivered up without inju- 

 ry, and without delay, the Chinese forts should instant- 

 ly be assaulted, and every man in the garrison) made 

 responsible, with his life, for the safety of Rodrigo. The 

 Chinese officers, whose unreasonable caprices require to 

 be occasionally met with proper firmness, perceiving the 

 determination of the Portuguese to carry their threats 

 into execution, prudently acquiesced in the demand ; and 

 Rodrigo was triumphantly restored to hia freedom and 

 friends. 



It is asserted, that, notwithstanding the restoration of 

 our commercial intercourse at Canton, the principal 

 mandarins of that place have conceived a rooted preju- 

 dice against the British, which may not easily be remo- 

 ved ; that they attribute every misfortune which befals 

 any of their people in their transactions with us, to a 

 systematic intention on our part to do them an injury ; 

 and that, upon the slightest pretext being afforded for 

 complaint, they represent the matter to their superior 

 tribunals in the most exaggerated form. 



Five emperors of the Tartar race in succession, and 

 all of them men of good understanding and vigorous 

 minds, have now continued, without interruption, to rule 

 over the Chinese empire ; and have thus, it may be sup- 

 posed, completely established their family in the supreme 

 power. Recent occurrences, however, begin to indicate 

 a more unsettled state of things in that country, and at 

 least to shew, that the administration of so vast an em- 

 pire is becoming daily a more difficult task. The Tar- 

 tars, increasing in security, have become less attentive to 

 conciliate the Chinese ; and all the high offices are filled 

 with the countrymen of the sovereign. It 19 suspected, 

 that the government entertain a design of introducing the 

 Man-tchoo language into general use, instead of the Chi. 



Histor 



Their jea- 

 lousy of the 



iirilkh. 



State of the 

 Chinese 

 govern- 

 ment. 



