32 THE FIFTEENTH WAR : THE SECOND CHINA WAR. 



British protection ; and under this pretence she was licensed to carry 

 on a large smuggling trade in opium, in open violation of the laws of 

 China. 



Even Sir John Bowring, the British Ambassador at Hong-Kong, 

 acknowledged : 

 " That it appears on exarnination that the ' Arrow ' had no right 

 to hoist the British flag ; the Hcense to do so had expired, from 

 which date, she has not been entitled to protection." 

 And yet, in face of this declaration. Sir John Bowring cooly de- 

 manded from the Chinese Government an apology and an assurance 

 that the British flag should in future be respected. 



Well might Perronnet Thompson declare in the House of Commons 

 that there was evidence of a foregone conclusion to quarrel with the 

 Chinese ; a wretched and dishonourable subterfuge was got up about 

 a miserable boat. "It was a War,'' cried the honorable gentleman, "for 

 the British Flag, the British Lion, and the British Flag, and evidence 

 had now come there was no British Flag at all." 



For this tremendous insult to the British Flag, the British Squadron, 

 under command of Admiral Seymour, attacked the river forts at 

 Canton, sunk or burned twenty-three Vessels belonging to the Chinese 

 Navy, and bombarded the City of Canton, crowded with one and a half 

 millions of inhabitants, packed like sheep in a pen. 



A writer in the Friend of China thus describes the bombardment. 

 " Firing commenced from the Men-of-War, of shot and ball as fast 

 as it could be thrown into the City, and this terrific bombard- 

 ment continued for five hours." 

 "And then followed the next day a second and more terrible 

 bombardment, which by firing shot and shell into the City all 

 night caused widespread ruin and death." 

 If anyone had told Sir John Bowring twenty years before, when he 

 was prominent in philanthropy, and peace, and humanity, that the 

 time would come when he would be the man to direct the bombard- 

 ment with shot and shell of a populous and defenceless commercial 

 City, involving the wholesale slaughter of men and women and 

 children, and that on the most trivial and contemptible excuse ever 

 assigned as a justification of hostilities, he might have exclaimed, 

 " Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?" And yet he 

 did do it, under the blind fanaticism of his officialism. 



But we will draw the curtain over so pitiable a spectacle, and see 

 the result of the War. 



By the Treaty of Peace, signed at Tien-sin, 26th June, 1858, it 



