‘ “I have now merely to lay on Elliott the responsibility of speedily and securely arranging these matters: the delivery of the opium and the giving of bonds in obedience to my orders. If he can take the opium that is on board the store-ships and at once deliver it up, it will be my duty to give him encouragement. If he has aught to say, and it be not inconsistent with reason, let him make a clear statement of it. But if he speaks not according to reason and imagines, amid the darkness of night, to abscond with his men, it will show the conviction within him that he can have no face to encounter his fellow men. Will he be able to escape the meshes of the vast and wide net of heaven?” ’
Here, Mr Morrison lowered his notes in some embarrassment: ‘Shall I continue, Captain Elliott?’
Captain Elliott’s face had reddened a little but he answered with a nod: ‘Yes. Please go on.’
‘ “It needs to be enjoined upon Elliott that he should come to have a fear of crime and a purpose to repent and amend; that he should give clear commands to all the foreigners to obey the orders, requiring them to speedily deliver up all the opium that is on board their store-ships. Thenceforward all the foreigners will conduct a legitimate trade, rejoicing in the exhaustless gains thereof. But if, assuming a false garb of ignorance, Elliott voluntarily draws troubles upon himself the evil consequences will be of his own working out, and where shall he find a place of repentance afterwards?’ ”
*
Bahram had shut his eyes and on opening them now he was glad to see that the translator had finished reading and was returning to his seat.
Captain Elliott went again to stand by the mantelpiece. ‘Well, gentlemen,’ he said in his dry, unemphatic way, ‘Commissioner Lin has had his say. There can be no further doubt that he intends to use every possible means to force the surrender of the opium that is currently stored on your ships. He knows very well that it would be impossible for him to seize your cargoes by main force – your ships would have no trouble in beating off an assault by his naval forces. So he intends instead to hold us hostage here until the opium is surrendered. And the truth is there is nothing we can do about it. Escape is clearly impossible: we are surrounded on all sides and under constant surveillance; our boats have been beached so we would not be able to get away even if we were to fight our way down to the river. A failed attempt would lead only to injury and humiliation. Nor at this moment can we contemplate the use of force: we have no warships at our disposal and no troops either. To assemble a suitable expeditionary force will take several months. And even if we did possess the necessary strength, an attack on Canton could not be contemplated at this time because it would place all our lives in jeopardy. Clearly no assault is possible until we are evacuated from this city, and to accomplish that in a manner that ensures the safety and security of all of Her Majesty’s subjects is now my principal concern. I need hardly add that it is perfectly clear at this point that we will not be allowed to leave until the Commissioner’s demands are met.’
Captain Elliott took a deep breath and ran a finger nervously over his moustache. ‘So gentlemen, I am afraid the conclusion is inescapable: you will have to surrender all the opium that is currently stored on your ships.’
There was a stunned silence and then many voices began to speak, all at once.
‘It is robbery, sir, plain robbery. It cannot be tolerated!’
‘Are you aware, Captain Elliott, that you are speaking of goods worth many millions of dollars?’
‘And what is more, they do not even belong to us. You are asking us to steal from our investors!’
Captain Elliott let the voices roll around him for a few minutes. When he broke in it was on a conciliatory note. ‘Gentlemen, I do not for a moment dispute the truth of your arguments: that is not at issue here. The question is merely one of securing our release. The Commissioner has set his trap and we are caught in it; there is only one way in which we can escape his clutches and that is by surrendering the opium: there is no other option.’
This only added to the clamour.
‘No option? For subjects of the world’s most powerful nation?’
‘Why, sir, you are a disgrace to your uniform!’
‘Are we Frogs that we should throw up our arms in surrender at the first hint of trouble?’
With a grimace of resignation Captain Elliott glanced at Mr Slade who rose at once from his chair. The clamour continued as he went to the fireplace, cane in hand.
Then Mr Slade unloosed a roar: ‘Gentlemen! Gentlemen, as you well know, no one is more in sympathy with you than I. But this is an instance when we would do well to recall the words fallaces sunt rerum species. We must pay heed to the immortal Seneca; we must look beyond appearances.’
Bahram understood now that Captain Elliott was far cleverer than he had thought: knowing that he commanded little authority in Fanqui-town, he had evidently taken the trouble to recruit some influential voices to speak in his support.
‘A moment’s reflection will reveal to you, gentlemen,’ said Slade, ‘that by seizing our property under threat the Commissioner is doing us a great service. For he is thereby offering Lord Palmerston exactly what needs in order to declare war: a casus belli.’
At this, the protests began to fade away and quiet descended on the room.
‘I have looked into the matter,’ continued Mr Slade, ‘and even a brief inquiry reveals several instances where the seizure of property belonging to British subjects has provided the grounds for a declaration of war. It happened after the massacre of Amboyna, in 1622, when the Dutch seized the property of the English residents of that island and subjected them to unspeakable tortures. Extensive reparations were later exacted. Similarly, the government of Spain has also been forced to indemnify British subjects for the seizure of their property on at least one occasion. But let me emphasize: I cite these examples only as precedents, because the history of commerce does not exhibit any instance of so extensive a robbery as is being contemplated now by Commissioner Lin – and that too on a specious plea of morality.’
‘But Mr Slade!’ The interjection was from Charles King who had risen to his feet. ‘You have neglected to mention a crucial difference between these precedents and the case at hand – which is that the property in question here consists of smuggled goods. The prohibitions of Chinese law against opium are of nearly forty years standing and their existence, and steadily increasing severity, is well known to all. Need I remind you, by way of comparison, that British law states that any person found harbouring prohibited goods shall forfeit treble their value? Need I add further that British law also states that any person who is found guilty of the offence of smuggling shall suffer death as a felon?’
‘And need I remind you, Mr King,’ said Mr Slade, ‘that we are not in Britain but in China? Nothing remotely comparable to the processes of British law obtains here: no proceedings have been brought; no arrests made.’
‘Ah! So that then is your objection?’ retorted Mr King. ‘Because instead of arresting the contrabandists and seizing the prohibited goods by force of arms, the Commissioner has, after repeated warnings, merely demanded their surrender? Because he has treated the owners not as individual felons but as a community in open insubordination against a regular government? But you would do well to note, sir, that the system of collective responsibility lies at the very heart of Chinese processes of law.’
Mr Slade’s face had turned colour and his voice rose again to a roar. ‘You disgrace yourself sir,’ he thundered, ‘by comparing English law with the whims of despots! If you, as an American, wish to submit to Manchu tyranny that is your business. But you cannot expect free men such as ourselves to join you in accepting the vagaries of Celestial misrule.’