VARIETIES. 
269 
and  it  is  asserted  that,  as  a  general  rule,  a  person  does  not  live  more  than 
ten  years  after  becoming  addicted  to  the  use  of  this  drug. 
The  Chinese  government  have  made  strong  efforts  to  cut  off  or  restrict 
the  traffic  in  this  drug.  Public  attention  was  directed  to  its  injurious 
effects  in  1799,  and  in  1809  an  edict  was  issued  requiring  all  ships  dis- 
charging their  cargoes  at  Whampoa,  to  give  bonds  that  they  had  no  opium 
on  board.  Still  more  stringent  laws  were  adopted  in  1820.  In  1834  an 
edict  was  issued,  declaring  that  the  injury  done  by  the  influx  of  opium, 
and  by  the  increase  of  those  who  inhaled  it,  was  nearly  equal  to  a  general 
conflagration,  and  denouncing  upon  the  seller  and  smoker  of  the  poison  the 
bastinado,  the  wooden-collar  imprisonment,  banishment,  confiscation  of 
property,  and  even  death  by  public  decapitation  or  strangulation.  But 
notwithstanding  all  this,  the  trade  kept  increasing,  until  at  length  an  Im- 
perial Commissioner  was  appointed,  clothed  with  the  highest  authority,  to 
proceed  to  Canton  and  endeavor  to  effect  an  utter  annihilation  of  the  trade. 
In  carrying  out  this  determination,  he  seized  and  destroyed  some  20,280 
chests  of  opium,  and  compelled  the  merchants  to  sign  a  bond  that  they 
would  forever  cease  trading  in  the  article. 
This  bold  and  decided  measure  on  the  part  of  the  Commissioner  led  to 
the  war  with  England,  which  is  commonly  known  as  the  opium  war,  the 
result  of  which  is  well  known  to  all  our  readers.  The  Chinese  were  de- 
feated, and  subjected  to  terms  which  reflected  anything  but  honor  upon 
their  conquerors ;  one  of  which  was  the  forcing  of  this  traffic  upon  the 
Chinese — a  traffic  which  they  had  always  considered  contraband  and  illegal, 
and  had  striven  by  every  means  in  their  power  to  annihilate  and  protect 
their  people  from.  "When  urged  to  legalize  the  trade,  the  Emperor  replied 
in  these  memorable  words — "  It  is  true,"  said  he,  "  I  cannot  prevent  the 
introduction  of  the  flowing  poison  ;  gain-seeking  and  corrupt  men  will,  for 
profit  and  sensuality,  defeat  my  wishes  ;  but  nothing  will  induce  me  to  derive 
a  revenue  from  the  vice  and  misery  of  my  people.'" 
One  result  of  the  war  was  the  ceding  of  the  island  of  Hong  Kong  to  the 
English.  In  this  island,  after  passing  into  the  hands  of  the  victors,  the  trade 
in  opium  was  legalized,  and  twenty  shops  for  its  sale  immediately  licensed, 
within  gunshot  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  where  such  an  offence  is  punishable 
with  death.  Thus  the  war,  instead  of  putting  an  end  or  check  to  the  system, 
through  the  cupidity  of  the  English,  resulted  in  affording  greater  facilities 
than  ever  for  its  prosecution.  The  Chinese  dare  not  impose  the  penalties 
affixed  to  a  violation  of  their  laws  restricting  the  trade,  which  have  never 
been  abrogated  or  repealed,  for  fear  that  if  they  should  do  so  it  might  be 
made  the  groundwork  for  another  war,  which  would  result  in  their  being 
despoiled  of  still  larger  portions  of  their  territory  and  possessions. 
It  is  stated  upon  the  highest  authority,  that  the  British  government  in  India 
could  not  be  sustained  without  the  immense  revenues  derived  from  this 
trade.  This  revenue  for  the  last  six  years,  it  is  said,  has  amounted  to  nearly 
$80,000,000.    It  is  also  estimated  that  the  immense  sum  of  $400,000,000  of 
