742 



VICTORIA. 



was observed. But on Sept. 3 the Britisli resi- 

 dency was attacked by mutinous troops; Sir Louis 

 Cavagnari, the British envoy, with most of the 

 others at the residency, was murdered. The 

 Ameer represented that he was not responsible for 

 the outbreak, but he was sent as a prisoner to 

 India after the British troops had again taken 

 ( aim!, at the close of the year. Abdurrahman 

 Khan was placed on the throne in July, 1880, 

 and received an annual subsidy of 1,200,000 ru- 

 pees, which lias since been increased to enable him 

 to hold his territory independently. A British 

 garrison held Candahar. 



When the new (iovernment came in it was an- 

 nounced that the troops would be withdrawn from 

 the country. Lord I'.eaconstield protested against 

 the Government "doing everything they could to 

 inform every being in Central Asia, and in every 

 other part of Asia, that they meant to cut and run 

 from the scene of a splendid conquest." Following 

 the British withdrawal there was a rebellion by 

 Ayoob Khan, in which the English troops did not 

 interfere; he was finally defeated, ana Abdurrah- 

 man kept the throne. 



In lss:i Itussia made some advances in the 

 neighboring country, and Great Britain thereupon 

 took measures to have the frontiers defined: this 

 was followed by more or less alarm in regard to 

 the designs of Russia before the delimitation was 

 accomplished. There was some trouble with the 

 Ameer in 18!)3-'J>4, and the boundary between the 

 British possessions and Afghanistan was more defi- 

 nitely settled. Various hill tribes on the frontier 

 have been subdued in recent years; the public 

 attitude of the Ameer has been neutral during 

 these wars. 



Relations "with China. The Opium War be- 

 gan in 1839 with the confiscation by the Chinese 

 authorities of a large quantity of opium brought 

 into China, contrary to Chinese law, by English 

 traders, who bought from the East India Company 

 the opium grown in India. The superintendents 

 appointed by the English Government to have 

 charge of the commerce between the countries gave 

 no aid to the Chinese authorities in their efforts 

 to stop the illicit traffic, and the Chinese believed 

 that the British Government intended to protect 

 it. Announcement was made, however, that her 

 Majesty's Government would not protect British 

 subjects in violating the laws of any country with 

 which they were trading, and that they themselves 

 must bear any loss they might meet in consequence 

 of such acts. Notwithstanding this, the Govern- 

 ment honored the request the chief superintendent 

 made after the opium was seized for as many 

 ships as the Governor General of India could spare. 

 Ships were sent, the island of Clmsan was taken, 

 Ningpo and Amoy fell, and the British troops were 

 before Nanking when the Chinese, who had fought 

 bravely, saw that resistance was useless and sued 

 for peace. My the treaty, in 1842, the island of 

 Hong-Kong was ceded to Kngland. five of the chief 

 jMirts were thrown open to Britisli traders, and the 

 right to establish consuls in them was conceded. 

 An indemnity of 4.500.000 sterling was exacted, 

 brides 1.250.000 to the merchants for the de- 

 stroyed opium. 



A second Chinese war broke out in 1857, in con- 

 sequence of the sei/iirc by the Chinese authorities 

 of the lorcha A now. a small boat or cutter, in 

 October. 1S5G, on a charge of piracy. The owners 

 claimed that it was a Mritish vessel, and it was -n 

 iercil: but the registration had been fraudu- 

 lently obtained. The Arrow was a Chinese ve el. 

 rtlifless. the cause of the owner- \\a- taken 

 up by the plenipotentiary at Hong Kong. Sir John 

 Bowrinp. At his demand the Chinese Governor 



of Canton, Yeh, sent back the men that had been 

 taken from the boat, and promised that in future 

 care should be taken not to interfere unlawfully 

 with British vessels; but he would not offer an 

 apology, which was demanded, for tne case of the 

 Arrow, because he maintained that it was not 

 properly a British vessel. Then Sir John Bow ring 

 ordered the bombardment of Canton by the Eng- 

 lish fleet, and Gov. Yeh retaliated by offering a 

 reward for every head of an Englishman. A mo- 

 tion censuring the acts of the British representa- 

 tives in China was defeated in the House of Lords 

 by a vote of 140 to 110; a similar motion was 

 carried in the Commons by 203 to 247. The 

 treaty of Tientsin was concluded after the British 

 had taken the Taku forts (1858); it granted an 

 indemnity of 4,000,000 and a reduction of transit 

 dues. The treaty was violated in 1859, when, after 

 some further hostilities, it was ratified. During 

 these hostilities, in which France took part, the 

 summer palace was pillaged and burned, destroy- 

 ing property, Gen. Gordon said, that could not be 

 replaced for 4,000,000 ; there were over 200 build- 

 ings, and the grounds covered an area 8 by 10 

 miles in extent. The destruction was in retalia- 

 tion for the murder of Englishmen. It was soon 

 after this that Major Gordon, " Chinese Gordon." 

 assisted the Chinese Government in putting down 

 the Tai-ping rebellion. 



In 1875 relations with China again became 

 strained in consequence of interference with trav- 

 elers and the murder of one on the frontier, and a 

 convention was entered into which guaranteed the 

 right of foreign travelers to protection. In 1886 

 England seized Port Hamilton at the time when 

 ;> war with Russia seemed imminent, but restored 

 it the following year on demand of the Chinese 

 Government. In later years the demand for con- 

 cessions has occasionally brought about trouble 

 between representatives of the nations. The events 

 of the year 1900 are given elsewhere in this 

 volume. 



Relations with France. The friendly rela- 

 tions between France and England were more or 

 less disturbed several times during the reign. Once 

 was in connection with the intrigues of Louis 

 Philippe to bring about the " Spanish marriages " 

 which were to give to France virtual control of 

 Spain. The first project was to marry the two 

 sons of Louis Philippe to the young Queen Isa- 

 bella and her sister: but this was too sure to bring 

 about trouble with other powers, and so the mar- 

 riage with the Queen was given up, but the other 

 took place in 1846: at the same time the Queen 

 was married to the Duke of Cadiz, the choice 

 also of the French King. This was deemed an 

 act of perfidy on his part, as he had declared to 

 Queen Victoria that he " would not hear of " his 

 son's marriage to the Infanta. 



Another incident that raised unfriendly feeling 

 between the two countries was that of Queen 

 Pomare. of the island of Tahiti, who appealed' 

 to Kngland for protection when her island was 

 sei/ed by a French admiral in retaliation for some 

 indignity shown to French residents by her sub- 

 jects, with whom the protectorate of France which 

 -lie had accepted was unpopular. There had been 

 feeling in England at the time when the protecto- 

 rate \\a> forced upon the island. Now the indigna- 

 tion was heightened by the sei/ure of a missionary. 

 Mr. Pritchard. who acted as British consul: he 

 \\as only released on condition of lii*- instantly 

 leaving the island. After some months of nego- 

 tiation the affair was settled. 1X4-1. by the pay- 

 ment of an indemnity to Mr. 1'ritchard by France. 



Louis Napoleon lived in obscuritv in London 

 from 1837 to 1840, and again from 1846 to 1848. 



