Ch. XX.] EFFECT OF TBADE "WITH CHINA. 345 



Lord Elgin's treaty was drawn up in a way which reflects 

 the profoundest credit upon his qualities as a statesman and 

 a philosopher. No treaty could have been more difficult to 

 frame than that one which was forced upon an obstinate and 

 half-civilised nation like the Chinese by a power which they 

 regarded in the light of a hostile race of inferior, but tem- 

 porarily victorious, barbarians, whom it was necessary to treat 

 with cunning forbearance, but against whom they felt the 

 most inveterate hatred. But Lord Elgin succeeded to ad- 

 miration ; and his treaty, drawn up with such care and skill 

 that scarcely any ambiguity has ever been detected in it to 

 cause a difficulty, has at the same time worked smoothly 

 and harmoniously till the present time. But while the ad- 

 vantages to this country have been great in the interchange 

 of commerce and the employment of capital, the results to 

 those employed in direct commercial transactions have been 

 by no means so satisfactory. Before the treaty of 1858 the 

 trade of China was in the hands of a few great and wealthy 

 houses, which, holding a monopoly of Chinese trade, regu- 

 lated the markets and made immense profits upon the mer- 

 chandise which they foimd at the ports where they were 

 allowed to trade, and beyond which they knew little and 

 cared less about the country. Their vast transactions, 

 and the golden returns which they exhibited, invited numer- 

 ous eager aspirants to break the monopoly, and to share in 

 the commerce which made the few merchants truly princes 

 as regarded wealth. The treaty did amply what these re- 

 quired, and China was thrown open to all, without restric- 

 tion ; but the results have not verified the dreams of 

 prosperity which floated before the imaginations of those who 

 were anxious to share in the benefits of free-trade. Com- 

 petition, doubtless good in the main, has entailed much 



