Chapter 7

"The merchants and shop-keepers of Canton are prompt, active, obliging, and able. They can do an immense business in a short time, and without noise, bustle, or disorder. Their goods are arranged in the most perfect manner, and nothing is ever out of its place. These traits assimilate them to the more enterprising of the Western nations, and place them in prominent contrast with the rest of the Asiatics. It is confidently asserted by those who have had the best opportunities of judging, that as business men, they are in advance of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese merchants.

"There is a variety of amusing inscriptions on the scrolls hung up in the interior of some of the shops, which serve at the same time to mark the thrifty habits of the traders. A few specimens are subjoined:--'Gossipping and long sitting injure business.' 'Former customers have inspired caution--no credit given.' 'A small stream always flowing.' 'Genuine goods; prices true.' 'Trade circling like a wheel,' et cet."

In addition to the above models, the collection includes an almost innumerable variety of specimens of the fine arts and manufactures, comprising almost every article of use and luxury--furniture, modern and antique porcelain, models houses, pagodas, boats, junks, and bridges; pieces of silk, linen, cotton, grass-cloth, and other fabrics manufactured in China for home consumption; books and drawings, costume, idols, and appendages of worship; weapons, musical instruments, signs, mottoes, and entablatures, and numerous paintings, which last, it is justly observed, "will satisfy every candid mind that great injustice has been done to the Chinese artists, in the notion hitherto entertained respecting their want of skill. They paint insects, birds, fishes, fruits, flowers, with great correctness and beauty; and the brilliancy and variety of their colors cannot be surpassed. They group with considerable taste and effect, and their perspective--a department of the art in which they have been thought totally deficient--is often very good."

Many of the paintings represent actual scenes and occurrences; and thus, like the models before mentioned, bring living China before the mind's eye. The following is a good example.

"910. _View of the interior of the Consoo House, with the court in session, for the final decision of the charge of piracy committed by the crew of a Chinese junk on a French captain and sailors, at a short distance from Macao_.

"The French ship, Navigatre, put in to Cochin China in distress. Having disposed of her to the government, the captain, with his crew, took passage for Macao in a Chinese junk belonging to the province of Fokien. Part of their valuables consisted of about 100,000 dollars in specie. Four Chinese passengers bound for Macao, and one for Fokien, were also on board. This last apprised the Frenchmen in the best manner he could, that the crew of the junk had entered into a conspiracy to take their lives and seize their treasure. He urged that an armed watch should be kept. On reaching the Ladrone Islands, the poor Macao passengers left the junk. Here the Frenchmen believed themselves out of danger, and exhausted by sickness and long watching, yielded to a fatal repose. They were all massacred but one, a youth of about nineteen years of age, who escaped by leaping into the sea, after receiving several wounds. A fishing boat picked him up and landed him at Macao, where information was given to the officers of government, and the crew of the junk, with their ill-gotten gains, were seized, on their arrival at the port of destination in Fokien.

"Having been found guilty by the court, in their own district, they were sent down to Canton, by order of the Emperor, to the Unchat-see, (criminal judge) to be confronted with the young French sailor. This trial is represented in the painting. The prisoners were taken out of their cages, as is seen in the foreground. The Frenchman recognized seventeen out of the twenty-four; but when the passenger, who had been his friend, was brought in, the two eagerly embraced each other, which scene is also portrayed in the painting. An explanation of this extraordinary act was made to the judge, and the man forthwith set at liberty. A purse was made up for him by the Chinese and foreigners, and he was soon on his way homeward. The seventeen _were_ decapitated, in a few days, in the presence of the foreigners; the captain, was to be put to a 'lingering death,' the punishment of traitors, and the stolen treasures were restored."

I do not quote the above for the sake of the anecdote, though the relation is authentic, but as, affording a striking illustration of the advanced civilization of the Chinese. It shows that the supremacy of the law is universal, and its administration efficient. The criminals, in this instance, are promptly seized, tried, and condemned on strong evidence; but, before they are executed, reference is made to the distant metropolis, Pekin. Here it is observed, that the most important witness was not 'confronted with the prisoners,' and they are forthwith directed to be conveyed to Canton, to be examined in his presence. Seventeen are recognized by him and are executed. The rest escape. Now this is just what might have taken place under the best ordered governments of Europe. The humane maxims of British jurisprudence, if not acknowledged in theory, may be here witnessed in practical operation, and the single circumstance of referring capital convictions to the Emperor, in his distant metropolis, for confirmation, before they are carried into effect, shows a respect for human life, even in the persons of criminals, which is one of the surest tokens of a high state of civilization. Such is the criminal jurisprudence of China, in practice; in theory, its just praise has been awarded, some years ago, by an able writer in the Edinburgh Review. He says:--

"The most remarkable thing in this code, is its great reasonableness, clearness, and consistency; the businesslike brevity and directness of the various provisions, and the plainness and moderation of the language in which they are expressed. It is a clear, concise, and distinct series of enactments, savoring throughout of practical judgment and European good sense. When we turn from the ravings of the Zendavesta, or the Puranas, to the tone of sense and of business of this Chinese collection, we seem to be passing from darkness to light--from the drivellings of dotage to the exercise of an improved understanding; and, redundant and minute as these laws are in many particulars, we scarcely know any European code that is at once so copious and so consistent, or that is nearly so free from intricacy, bigotry and fiction."

In addition to what have been noticed, the Chinese exhibition includes a copious and very interesting collection of specimens of the natural history of China.

I trust the extended notice I have given to the subject, will at least prove that this is not an ordinary exhibition, but a representation of a distant country and remarkable people, in which amusement is most skilfully and philosophically made subservient to practical instruction. A beneficent Creator has implanted within us a thirst for information about other scenes and people. To be totally devoid of this feeling would argue, perhaps, not merely intellectual but moral deficiency. Such being the case, the founder of the "Chinese collection" deserves to be regarded as a public benefactor, for, by spending a few hours in his museum, with the aid of the descriptive catalogue, one may learn more of the Chinese than by the laborious perusal of all the works upon them that have ever been written.[A]

[Footnote A: While the above was passing through the press, I have learned that this interesting Collection has arrived for exhibition in this country.]

I cannot dismiss this subject without expressing my deep regret that the British public should appear to view with indifference, or complacency, the cruel and unjust war which our Government is now waging against this highly cultivated and unoffending people, at the instigation of a handful of men, who have acquired wealth and importance in the vigorous pursuit of an immoral and unlawful traffic, by means the most criminal and detestable. I have attempted, since my return from the United States, to give some expression to my sentiments, in a letter which has been widely circulated, and which will be found reprinted in the Appendix.[A] I trust none under whose notice this subject may come will endeavor to evade their share of responsibility. If the present war with China were the sole consideration, perhaps no course would be left to the Christian citizen, but to record his protest and mourn in silence; but the conclusion of the war _per se_ would not terminate the difficulty, for trade and mutual intercourse between the two countries, _on the basis of a reciprocation of interests_, can never be restored till the EAST INDIA COMPANY'S OPIUM TRADE, a traffic, like the slave trade, hateful in the sight of God and man, is suppressed; or at least, until British connection with it is severed; If asked who are the guilty persons, I would say, in the first instance, the East India Company; secondly, the opium smugglers; thirdly, the British government, and lastly, the British people, who, by silent acquiescence, make the whole guilt, and the whole responsibility their own.

[Footnote A: See Appendix G.]

The author of the most popular modern work on China, who long superintended the interests of the British merchants at Canton, and whose work, to a considerable extent, reflects their views, after stating the increasing discouragements imposed by the authorities on foreign commerce, the effect for the most part of opium smuggling, and other lawless proceedings, observes:--"These (discouragements) are their (the British merchants) real subjects of complaint in China; and whenever the accumulation of wrong shall have proved, by exact calculation, that it is more profitable, according to merely commercial principles, to remonstrate than submit, these will form a righteous and equitable ground of quarrel!!"[A]

[Footnote A: Davis's China and the Chinese, (Murray's Family Library,) vol. i. p. 195.]

The remonstrance here alluded to is WAR, as is apparent from the context of the passage, as well as from the fact, that by the author's own showing no other kind of remonstrance remained to be tried. The true "casus belli" is set forth by anticipation in this passage without disguise, and by one who knew well, and has clearly described the causes that were operating to produce a rupture. The opium merchants have discovered that now, in the fulness of time, it is _profitable_ to go to war with China, and forthwith the vast power of Great Britain, obedient to their influence, is put in motion to sustain their unrighteous quarrel, to the unspeakable degradation of the character of this professedly Christian nation. The morality of the war on our side, is the morality of the highwayman; that morality by which the strong in all ages have preyed upon the weak. And though a handful of unprincipled men find their account in it, before the people of Great Britain have paid the expenses of the war, and the losses from derangement and interruption of commerce, it will cost millions more than all the profit that has ever accrued to them from the opium trade. From what motive then, do we uphold a traffic, which is the curse of China, the curse of India, and a calamity to Great Britain? Such a war may be fruitful in trophies of military glory, if such can be gained by the slaughter of the most pacific people in the world; but to expect that it will promote the reputation, the prosperity, or the happiness of this country, would be to look for national wickedness to draw down the Divine blessing. The descriptive catalogue of the "Ten thousand Chinese things," concludes with sentiments on this subject which do equal honor to the head and heart of the writer.

"Alas for missionary efforts, so long as the grasping avarice of the countries, whence the missionaries go, sets at nought every Christian obligation before the very eyes of the people whom it is sought to convert! Most devoutly do we long for the auspicious day, when the pure religion, that distilled from the heart, and was embodied in the life of Jesus, shall shed its sacred influence on every human being; but, in our inmost soul we believe it will not come, till the principles of religion shall take a firmer hold on the affections of those who profess to receive it, and rear a righteous embankment around their sordid and stormy passions. When the missionary shall find an auxiliary in the stainless life of every compatriot who visits the scene of his labors, for purposes of pleasure or of gain,--when he can point not only to the pure maxims and sublime doctrines proclaimed by the Founder of his faith, but to the clustering graces that adorn its professors,--then indeed will the day dawn, and the day star of the millennium arise upon the world."

During my short stay in Philadelphia on this occasion, I visited several of its prisons, philanthropic institutions, et cet. These are pre-eminently the glory of this beautiful city; yet as they have been often described, I shall pass them by in silence, with the exception of two, the Refuge, and the Penitentiary; which I briefly notice because I may offer a few general remarks in another place, on the important subject of prison discipline. The Refuge is an asylum for juvenile delinquents, founded on the just and benevolent principle that offences against society, committed by very young persons, should be disciplined by training and education, rather than by punishment. In this establishment there are from eighty to ninety boys, and from forty to fifty girls, of ages varying from eight to twenty-one years. The former are employed in various light handicraft trades, and the latter in domestic services, and both spend a portion of their time in school. They remain from six months to four years. From the statements of the superintendent and matron, it appeared that about three-fourths of the male, and four-fifths of the female inmates become respectable members of society, and the remainder are chiefly such as are fifteen or sixteen years of age when first admitted into the Refuge, an age at which character may be considered as in a great measure formed. The labor of the children pays about one-fifth of the expense of the establishment, the rest being defrayed by the legislature.

The prejudice of color intrudes even here, no children of that class being admitted into the Refuge. Colored delinquency is left to ripen into crime, with little interference from public or private philanthropy. As might have been expected, colored are more numerous than white criminals, in proportion to relative population; and this is appealed to as a proof of their naturally vicious and inferior character; when in fact the government and society at large are chargeable with their degradation.

The Penitentiary contained, at the time of my visit, about three hundred and forty male, and thirty-five female prisoners. In this celebrated prison, hard labor is combined with solitary confinement, an arrangement which is technically known as the "separate system." Silence and seclusion are so strictly enforced as to be almost absolute and uninterrupted; even the minister who addresses the prisoners on the Sabbath is known to them only by his voice. A marked feature of this institution is security without the aid of any deadly weapon, none being allowed in the possession of the attendants, or indeed upon the premises. As compared with the "silent system," exhibited in the not less famed prisons of the State of New York, this is much less economical, as the mode of employing the prisoners, in their solitary cells, greatly lessens the power of a profitable application of their labor. If prisoners exceed their allotted task, one-half of their surplus earnings is given to them on being set at liberty. My visit was too cursory to enable me to give a decisive opinion on the "separate system," but I confess my impression is, that the punishment is one of tremendous and indiscriminating severity, and I find it difficult to believe that either the safety of society, or the welfare of the prisoner, can require the infliction of so much suffering. Criminals are sometimes condemned for very long periods, or for life; and in these cases, I was informed, occasionally manifested great recklessness and carelessness of their existence. I am also not quite convinced that the reformation of prisoners is effected to the extent sometimes inferred from the small number of recommittals. A statistical conclusion cannot be drawn from this datum, unsupported by other proofs.

On the 2d of the 6th Month, (June,) I proceeded to Wilmington, Delaware, with my friend John G. Whittier. Here we met a company of warm-hearted and intelligent abolitionists, with whom we discussed the prospects of the cause. It was calculated that if compensation were conceded, to which many would on principle object, a tax of less than one dollar per acre would buy up all the slaves in the State for emancipation. It was admitted by all, that the abolition of slavery would advance the price of land in a far greater ratio; probably ten or twenty dollars per acre.

We went forward the same evening to Baltimore, accompanied by one of our Wilmington acquaintance, and in the railway carriage was a member of the Society of Friends from North Carolina, who, though a colonizationist, appeared to be a man of candor. He gave it as his opinion that the majority of the free people of that State are in favor of the abolition of slavery. We also had the company, a part of the way, of Samuel E. Sewall, Counsellor at Law, in Boston, an early and tried abolitionist, and a faithful friend and legal adviser of the free people of color.

The next morning, we left Baltimore for Washington, two hours' ride by railway. The railroads of this country being often extremely narrow, the trains frequently pass almost close to the piers of the bridges and viaducts, a circumstance which explains the following printed notice in the carriages: "Passengers are cautioned not to put their arms, head, or legs out of the window."

In passing from a free to a slave State, the most casual observer is struck with the contrast. The signs of industry and prosperity on the broad face of the country are universally in favor of the former, and that to a degree which none but an eye witness can conceive. This fact has been often noticed, and has been affirmed by slaveholders themselves, in the most emphatic terms. In cities the difference is not less remarkable, and was forcibly brought to our notice in the hotel at which we took up our residence on arriving at Washington, and which, though the first in the city, and the temporary residence of many members of Congress, was greatly deficient in the cleanliness, comfort, and order, which prevail in the well-furnished and well-conducted establishments of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, &c. At this house, I understood, some of the servants were free, and others slaves.

We were now in the District of Columbia, the seat of this powerful Federal Government, and in the city of Washington, the metropolis of the United States. Here are concentrated as it were into one focus, the associations of the past, connected with the great struggle for independence, and the memory of those names and events which already belong to history. Whatever may be our political principles, or the opinions of those who like myself consider all resort to arms as forbidden under the Christian dispensation, it is impossible to recall without emotion, transactions which have exerted and will continue to exert, so marked an influence on the destinies of mankind. This city was not the scene of those events, but it was erected to be a perpetual monument of them, and in the limited district of ten miles square, in which it stands, the Government which was then called into existence reigns sole and supreme. If a stranger were to inquire here for the monuments of the fathers of the Revolution, the American would proudly point to the Capitol, with the national Congress in full session, and to the levee of the President, crowded by free citizens, and representatives of foreign nations. The United States were thirteen dependent colonies, they are now twenty-six sovereign States, rich and populous, covering the face of this vast continent, and compacted into one powerful confederacy. But notwithstanding the glowing emotions which seem naturally called forth by the locality, there is many an American who bitterly feels that the District of Columbia is the shame, rather than the glory of his country. Here is proclaimed to the whole world by the united voice of the American people, "We hold these truths to be self-evident--that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights--that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" and here also by a majority of the same people expressing their deliberate will, through their representatives, this declaration is trampled under foot, and turned into derision.[A]

[Footnote A: "Large establishments have grown up upon the national domain, provided with prisons for the safe keeping of negroes till a full cargo is procured; and should, at any time, the factory prisons be insufficient, the public ones, erected by Congress, are at the service of the dealers, and the United States Marshal becomes the agent of the slave trade."--_Judge Jay's View of the action of the Federal Government in behalf of Slavery_, _page_ 93. "But the climax of infamy is still untold. This trade in blood,--this buying, imprisoning, and exporting of boys and girls eight years old,--this tearing asunder of husbands and wives, parents and children,--is all legalized, in virtue of authority delegated by Congress!! The 249th page of the laws of the city of Washington is polluted by the following enactment, bearing date 28th July, 1838:--'For a _license_ to trade or traffic in slaves for profit, four hundred dollars.'"--_Ibid_, _page_ 98.]