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Amoy
Mission in 1877
AmoyMission-1893
NARRATIVE OF EXPLORATORY VISIT TO CONSULAR CITIES OF CHINA
(1844, 1845, 1846)
BY
REV. GEORGE SMITH, 1857 Scanned
by Dr. Bill Brown
Chap
25 Departure to Amoy Chap
26 Daily Occurrences at Amoy
Chap
27 New Year Festivities Chap
28 Visit Amoy High Mandarins
Chap
29 Prevalance of Opium Smoking Chap
30 Female Infanticide
Chap
31 Daily Incidents at Amoy Cont'd Chap
32 Mandarins Entertain Missionaries
Chap
33 General Description of Amoy Chap
34 Depart Amoy for Canton; Opium Problem
CHAPTER
XXXIII. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AMOY.
Early Intercourse with Europe-Commercial Enterprise of the People-Chinese
Emigrants-Topography of the City and Island-The" White Stag Hill"-Boundary
Regulations-A Roman Catholic Village--Another explanatory Edict of religious
Toleration-Attempts at Concealment by the Mandarins-Local Prizes for literary
Merit¡ªMoral Degradation of the People-Missionary Aspect of Amoy.
THE city of Hea-mun, or, as
it is commonly called by foreigners, from a corruption of the final nasal
sound of the local dialect, Amoy, is situated in latitude N. 24¡ã 32',
and in longitude 118¡ã 6' E. Even under the old system of intercourse
with China, Amoy was better known to Europeans than most cities on the
coast. This circumstance arose partly from the attempt made in former
times, by the East India Company, to open a trade with the people; but
principally from the enterprising spirit of the people themselves, which
led them to settle, for the purposes of commerce, in the various countries
and islands bordering on the China Sea. At so early a period as A.D. 1676,
a ship was dispatched from England to Amoy, with the object of establishing
a factory. This attempt was successful; but the trade was afterward interrupted
by the civil wars which raged in China. In 1680 the Tartars expelled the,
Chinese from Amoy, and destroyed the factory of the company. In 1784 the
Tartar general, who commanded the district, permitted the factory to be
reestablished. In the following year the company's residents at Amoy declared,
in an official report, that, "having had five months' experience
of the nature and quality of these people, they could characterize them
no otherwise than as devils in men's shapes;" and they further stated,
"that to remain exposed to the rapaciousness of the avaricious governors
was considered as more detrimental than the trade would be beneficial."
"The factory was, however, continued, till an imperial edict, which
limited the foreign trade to Canton, compelled the company's officers
to withdraw.
The commercial enterprise of the people is to be seen in the fact that
Amoy, though possessing only an estimated population of about 150,000,
has three times as large a number of trading-junks as the important capital
of the province itself. The people emigrate in large numbers to Borneo,
Siam, Singapore, Malacca, Batavia, Samarang, and other places in Java;
to which parts they resort in the hope of realizing fortunes by commerce,
and returning to enjoy the fruits of their industry in their native land.
The few who return are generally poor, and excessively vitiated in morals.
Their turbulent conduct is often a source of difficulty to the local government;
and, as subjects of missionary instruction, they have been generally found
to be far less hopeful than those who have never emigrated. A considerable
trade exists between Amoy and the island of Formosa, from which junks
arrive with cargoes of rice, sugar, oil, and groundnuts. From Shanghai
and Ningpo there is an import trade of cotton, vermicelli, furs, and felt-caps.
From Foo-chow the coasting-junks bring spars and oranges. Canton supplies
cloth, camlet, shoes, and fine manufactures. From the Straits of Malacca
there is a large importation of grain, beche-le-mer, Brazil-wood, and
a kind of hard wood for making masts and anchors. In return for these
articles, the people of Amoy export large quantities of tea, bricks, shoes,
umbrellas, crockery-ware, iron utensils, and, lastly, idols. During the
past year five European or American vessels have left Amoy with Chinese
emigrants, as passengers to the Straits of Malacca. In each vessel there
were between one and two hundred natives, each of whom paid a fare of
ten or twelve dollars. They are generally huddled together on the deck,
and, unless the vessel makes a rapid passage, have to suffer great privations.
The difficulty of obtaining a livelihood renders the people willing thus
to venture on the unknown trials of foreign lands. The poor, who thus
emigrate to other countries, generally find that their hopes are disappointed,
and are stated, by the missionaries in those parts, to be the most degraded
part of the population. A partial exception exists at Batavia, where there
are several wealthy Chinese, two or three of whom ride in fine carriages,
after European style.
The island of Amoy extends about twelve miles in length and ten in breadth.
It contains one hundred and thirty-six villages and hamlets, the population
of the whole island amounting to about 400,000, less than one half of
whom are included in the city. Its geological formation consists of one
continued ridge of black rocks, which, when recently broken, present a
light-gray color; but after being exposed for some time to the atmosphere
and rains, resume their original black appearance. Like a stupendous citadel
of natural formation, a range of towering cliffs, varying in height, extends
over the whole island, leaving, for the work of tillage, portions of low,
undulating ground, between their base and the sea. On the top of the ridge
there are two or three miles of highly-cultivated table-land. In the northern
and eastern parts of the island a few miles of level sandy soil intervene
between the hills and the beach, and yield a supply of rice, wheat, and
vegetables.
The city of Amoy is built in a long, straggling form, and occupies a promontory,
so as to be surrounded on three sides by the sea. The city proper, or
citadel, is of small extent, being surrounded by a wall less than a mile
in circuit, through which there are four gates leading into the outer
city. Very little commerce is transacted within the city proper, the te-tok's
palace and gardens occupying a considerable space, and abutting on the
wall, so as to interrupt the visitor in his walk around the citadel. The
streets of Amoy are very narrow and dirty, and the houses, with few exceptions,
are of the poorest description. A few buildings with decent exterior occasionally
relieve the general appearance of poverty.
Among the temples there are some remarkable buildings. The collection
of temples situated on the hill commonly called the ¡°White Stag Hill"
deserves particular mention. They consist of a cluster of buildings perched
on overhanging rocks, and present, from the summit, a most romantic view
of the city and its busy population, at the distance of a mile. Some of
the inscriptions on the temple walls, in this beautiful retreat, are of
more than ordinary interest. A tablet, inscribed with the sentence, "The
practice of virtue is the principal thing," is soon after succeeded
by another, containing the announcement, "If men will pray to heaven's
supreme Ruler, there will ensue peace, rest, and happiness."
Another interesting temple lies close to the foot of the hills, in the
higher part of the long plain on the southern beach. Being situated only
half a mile above the long line of fortifications forming the sea-battery,
this temple was exposed to much danger from the fire of the British vessels
of war. One large cannon-ball is in the possession of the priests, being
presented and exhibited to the visitor as a proof of the sanctity and
power of the idol. The walls of the building were perforated, and other
serious damage was inflicted by the ball, which, however, they assert,
was miraculously arrested in its career of destruction, so as to stop
at the foot of the idol.
The city contains but few individuals of great wealth, notwithstanding
the commerce of the place. This is accounted for by the fact that Amoy
is only of small importance as a city, being included in the boundaries
of Tung-hwa heen, on the mainland, one of the districts in the department
of Chwan-chew foo. Amoy is a mere outport to the more important cities
of Chang-chew and Chwan-chew, in which the native merchants, who have
been enriched by successful commerce, live in the enjoyment of the refinements
and luxury of wealth. Amoy bears the same relation to Chang-chew, which
Shanghai bears to Soochow; and the Chinese diplomatists would gladly have
limited the whole proceedings of foreign commerce to cities of this order,
so as to exclude Europeans from the real abodes of wealth and manufacturing
industry. This may account for the strong objections which are said to
have been urged by the Chinese plenipotentiaries, against the opening
of Foochow, the capital of the province, to the trade of the British.
The boundaries beyond which foreigners are prevented from extending their
visits have been fixed by arrangements with the acting consuls, at the
distance of a "day's journey." On this term a very strict construction
has been placed, so as to prohibit any foreigners from going more than
half a day's journey from the city, and to compel their return to Amoy
before sunset. As the day is interpreted as commencing with sunrise and
ending at sunset, and as a visit in a boat to the opposite mainland would
ordinarily consume the greater part of a forenoon, it will be seen that
this regulation virtually limits foreigners to the island of Amoy, even
in the villages of which they are not allowed to pass a night, but are
under the necessity of returning before sunset to the city.
The Roman Catholics are numerous in some districts of the neighboring
mainland.
The French embassador and suite, during their recent visit to Amoy, visited
a village about forty miles distant, in which nearly the whole population
were Roman Catholics. His excellency afterward spoke of his heart being
kindled with the fire of religious enthusiasm, as he beheld the joyous
spectacle of the inhabitants coming forth with crosses and medals hanging
on their bosoms. About 500 persons in this village, and the same number
in some neighboring villages, professed Christianity. The priest, a Spaniard,
named Francisco Zea, openly performed his ministrations among them, attired
in Chinese costume. At the period of the visit of the French, a chapel,
estimated to cost 1800 dollars, was advancing toward a state of completion.
It was built of brick, partly in European and partly in Chinese style,
and was ninety feet in length by forty in breadth. The interior was adorned
by two rows of pillars, and the arrangements of the altar were adapted
to the strictest models of Popish architecture. The French plenipotentiary
contributed a sum of money toward its erection. The perfect notoriety,
among the mandarins, of the priest's residence and employments was established
beyond a doubt.
During the period of my residence at Amoy, the intelligence arrived of
another explanatory edict of religious toleration having been issued by
the Chinese government. In this document a full recognition was contained
of the equal privileges of foreigners of all countries; and free toleration
was conferred on all the religions of western nations, without partiality
or distinction. The second edict, which apparently limited the toleration
of the" religion of the Lord of Heaven" to the professors of
the Roman Catholic religion, had a short time previously been made a subject
of diplomatic correspondence with Ke-Ying by the British governor of Hong
Kong; who, with commendable decision, extorted from the former a recognition
of the equal toleration of the Protestant and Roman Catholic religions.
A promise was made that this public document should be extensively circulated
by the Chinese authorities among the people at each of the five consular
ports. Although some weeks had elapsed, for a time only one copy of the
document was discovered at Amoy. After a few days, however, a second copy
was also observed on some remote suburban wall; while at the usual places
for placarding government notifications, viz., at the gates of the city,
not a single copy was to be seen.
Although the population of Amoy are generally of the poorest class, and
fewer external signs of wealth meet the eye than in any of the other newly
opened cities of China, there are not wanting those literary institutions
which are designed to impart a stimulus to native scholarship. As Amoy
is not included in either of the three regular classes of cities, no literary
degrees are conferred on the spot. There are, however, about 200 sew-tsai
in the place, some of whom have purchased their degree. The candidates
for literary distinction have to go for examination from Amoy to the city
of Chwan-chew, which is the head of the department. As it has been already
intimated, the examinations for the higher degree of keu-jin are only
held at Foo-chow, the capital of the province. Of the estimated number
of seventy keu-jin in the whole department of Chwan-chew, only three belong
to Amoy; while of the higher degree of tsin-sze, there is not one graduate
among the natives of the city. Several scholars are said to attend the
examinations at Chwan-chew, who have little prospect of obtaining a degree,
but who are encouraged by the hope of gaining a pecuniary reward for their
composition. In Amoy itself there are forty prizes, of about four dollars
each, annually distributed among the resident scholars for the best literary
disquisitions on a given subject. Both the sew-tsai graduates and the
undergraduates are permitted to compete for these rewards. The prizes,
however, are divided into two classes; equal sums of money being given
to the first ten sew-tsai and to the first ten undergraduates in the scale
of merit under each respective division. A prize of secondary value is
reserved also for the ten individuals, who respectively occupy the next
place of merit in each class of candidates. One thousand candidates are
said generally to attend these annual examinations. An impulse is thus
given to the industry of the lowest scholars, a large number of whom can
be easily obtained as teachers for little more than half the monthly sum
payable in the other consular cities. But the missionaries find that really
efficient teachers, deeply versed in the Chinese classics, and willing
to bestow diligent attention on their foreign pupils, are not to be obtained
without much difficulty.
The local dialect of Amoy, or, more strictly speaking, that of Chang-chew,
is the dialect which was principally studied, in former times, by the
missionaries among the Chinese emigrants in Singapore and Batavia, and
was commonly termed the Fokeen dialect. This term has sometimes produced
a misapprehension as to its prevalence throughout tbe whole province.
The author has met natives of Foo-chow, the capital of Fokeen, who were
unable to exchange a single sentence, in the Amoy dialect, with a missionary
who had a perfect knowledge of the dialect of the latter place.
The preceding statements will have been sufficient to convey to the reader
a general impression of the character of this missionary field, of the
results of present operations, and of the mingled difficulties and encouragements
in the path of labor. The facts already recorded will suggest a tolerably
correct idea of the frienaliness of disposition, the strict subjection
to recognized principles of national law, the close bond5sof family union,
the thrifty industry, and the enlightened common sense, which generally
characterize this portion of a race of people whom we have been too willing,
in former times, on the one band, to regard as semi-barbarous; and whose
civilization and refinement we have been too much disposed, on the other
hand, to commend and exaggerate. But if we were to stop at this point
of the narrative, and to content ourselves with this superficial view,
we should be induced to form too favorable a judgment of their real social
condition. Facts of daily occurrence, brought to the knowledge of the
missionaries, and frequently gained through the medium of the Missionary
Hospital, revealed the prevalence of the most fearful immoralities among
the people, and furnished a melancholy insight into the desolating horrors
of paganism. Female infanticide openly confessed, legalized by custom,
and di-vested of disgrace by its frequency; the scarcity of females leading,
as a consequence, to a variety of crimes, habitually staining the domestic
hearth; the dreadful prevalence of all the vices charged by the Apostle
Paul upon the ancient heathen world; the alarming extent of opium-indulgence,
destroying the productiveness and natural resources of the people; the
universal practice of lying and suspicion of dishonesty between man and
man; the unblushing lewdness of old and young; the full, unchecked torrent
of human depravity, borne along in its impetuous channel, and inundating
the social system with the over flowings of ungodliness, prove the existence
of a kind and a degree of moral degradation among the people, of which
an excessive statement can scarcely be made, and of which an adequate
conception can rarely be formed. Such is the moral and social condition
of a population among whom the banner of the Gospel has at length been
unfurled, and to whom its life-giving truths are now, in humble faith,
proclaimed.
There are only a few peculiar features in the character of this missionary
station, and of these a brief recapitulatory sketch is here subjoined.
Amoy is the least important of all the ports of China open to foreigners,
in respect of size, population, and the class of its inhabitants. It labors,
also, under the disadvantage of having but a limited intercourse with
other provinces, and of being, therefore, unlikely hereafter to exert
any considerable influence on the inhabitants of the interior in the diffusion
of Christian truth. The lamented diminution in the members of the missionary
families by death, or removal to a more genial clime, suggests, also,
the fear of its being less salubrious than the more northerly ports. On
the other hand, however, Amoy is in advance of every other missionary
station along the coast, in the extraordinary friendliness of the people,
the marked attentions and favor of the authorities, and the popularity
and moral influence acquired by the missionaries. Much of this is doubtless
to be ascribed to the longer period of time during which missionaries
have been resident in Amoy, and to the daily intercourse held with all
classes of the people for the purpose of oral instruction, without the
distracting care of educational institutions. Although matters are progressing
toward the same favorable result at the other stations, yet, at the present
time, we look in vain elsewhere in China for those decisive indications,
which have been enumerated, of a good impression already produced on the
native community.
May the fertilizing showers of the Divine blessing descend on the seed
thus sown in hope; and may the further and more satisfactory results of
real conversion of heart to the Gospel speedily follow in the track of
the general moral effects already produced!
CHAPTER XXXIV. DEPARTURE FROM AMOY,
AND THIRD VISIT TO CANTON.
Incidents of last Sabbath at Amoy-Farewell Attentions of Chinese Friends
-Voyage to Hong Hong-Visit to Canton-Comparative Review of missionary
Openings at Canton and in the Northern Ports of China-Recent Riots at
Canton-Difficulties of Ke-Ying-Present Dangers of China-An Apology for
the Chinese Government in their Exclusion of Opium-The Duty of the Christian
Legislators of Britain.
ON Feb. 22d,
being the last Sabbath of my residence at Amoy, I attended the various
missionary services, and was requested, at the close of the sermon at
the American Mission chapel, to address a few words to the people in the
court dialect. I informed them of the circumstances which caused me to
return to my native land, and of the probable arrival of other missionaries
in my place, concluding with the inquiry, whether the prospect of new
laborers coming to re-enforce the missionary body afforded them pleasure.
One of the teachers interpreted my parting words, with long comments,
in the local dialect, to the people standing around, fifty of whom were
soon collected about the pulpit, where they remained for another half
hour, offering their farewell greetings and shaking hands. As they did
not seem disposed to separate, the missionary who had been preaching proceeded
to hold a dialogue with some of their number. Some of them hazarded illustrations
of their own on the subjects which they had heard in the sermon. On being
asked whether they would welcome among them any additional missionaries,
and would rejoice at their arrival, they replied, "Yes." On
being again asked why they wished missionaries to come among them, some
said, "Because you love us;" others said, "Because you
talk so kindly with us.¡± The missionary then reminded them of the consequences
of slighting the message of the Gospel, and of the possibility of all
the missionaries being removed from among them, as a punishment of their
spiritual indifference. Another shaking of hands took place as I left
the building, some of my more intimate acquaintances asking at what hour
on the next morning I expected to take my departure, and expressing their
wish to do me the honor of accompanying me a little distance on my way.
Accordingly, early the next morning six teachers and neighbors came to
the house, waiting for my departure. They accompanied me to the loading
place, where, on getting into my boat, I bade them adieu. They would,
however, insist on hiring a boat, and rowing for two miles, a little astern
of my boat, to the outer harbor, till we arrived alongside the man-of-war
in which I was to embark. Here, as I ascended the gangway, my Chinese
friends exchanged with me a last farewell by waving their hands, and were
soon on their way back through the harbor to Amoy. Shortly after we were
proceeding on the voyage to Hong Kong, and in a few hours were out of
sight of localities, the remembrance of which will ever be endeared to
my mind by the kind friendship of all the missionary brethren, and the
incidents of my stay of more than six weeks.
During the first two days of our voyage we experienced light head winds,
and on the third day we had a strong contrary breeze from the southeast.
On the fourth day there sprung up a fresh breeze from the northeast, before
which we sailed at a rapid rate. In the afternoon we were already off
Pedra Branca, and finding that we were unable to reach the entrance among
the islands before sunset, we were forced to heave to for the night, as
there was no moon, the wind increasing to a gale. At daybreak on Friday,
Feb. 27th, we found that we had drifted a few miles to the leeward of
the island of Hong Kong. After an hour's beating to windward, we passed
through the Limoon passage on the east, and soon came to anchor in Victoria
harbor.
VISIT TO CANTON.
During the course of the following month of March I paid a visit to Canton,
for the purpose of ascertaining the state of popular feeling, and the
progress of the missionary work since my visit about eleven months previously.
In the intervening period of time a few more missionaries had removed
from Hong Kong to Canton. Among these was the Rev. Dr. Bridgman, a missionary
of considerable experience, who had formerly resided for ten years at
Canton. The Missionary Hospital had become more fully than ever identified
with the missionary cause; and a few of the missionaries were assisted
by Leang Afa in regularly holding a Sabbath service among the patients,
of whom generally one hundred assembled for the purpose. All other public
services, however, were now at an end, except at the missionaries' own
residences.
The writer could have wished that, on his last visit to this populous
city, he had been permitted to cherish a more favorable opinion of the
spirit of the populace, and the extent of missionary openings at Canton.
Candor, however, compels him to express how wide and marked is the difference
between the friendly and peaceable demeanor of the people in the more
northerly cities, and the arrogant turbulence of spirit which still forms
the distinguishing characteristic of the Canton mob. He calls to mind
the happy period of free and unrestrained intercourse which he held with
all classes of native society in other parts of China, and the fair measure
of personal respect which was there extended to missionary laborers, among
rulers and people, among rich and poor, in the heart of crowded cities,
and in the retirement of distant villages. And he can not avoid contrasting
the enlarged measure of freedom possessed by foreigners in those other
ports, with the narrow limits of a few streets in an inconsiderable suburb,
within which foreigners are virtually imprisoned as a despised and insulted
portion of the community at Canton.
The time of my last visit was one of great popular excitement. The mob
had shown a strong disposition to take the reins of authority into their
own hands. The local government was in a state of paralysis. Ke-Ying's
proclamation, extending to foreigners the right of entering the city,
and admonishing the people that "all that the earth contained and
the heavens covered should dwell together in friendship and amity,"
"without any line of demarcation," had thrown the whole population
into a ferment of discontent and rebellion. Contrary placards of defiance
were issued by the enraged people; and the palace and offices of the kwang-ckow
foo, or "prefect," were burned by a mob, ostensibly for the
maltreatment of some Chinese, but really as an ebullition of popular indignation
against the framers of the recent edict. The mandarins were publicly insulted
whenever they issued from their dwellings; and a general attack on the
foreign factories was meditated by the rabble. The proclamations of the
Chinese authorities were revoked; and public intimation was given by them
that the will of the people should prevail, and the "Barba-rians"
(such is the precise term of the proclamation!) should not be allowed
to enter the city. A British war-steamer arrived and anchored off the
foreign residences. The local military sympathized with the populace in
their antipathy to foreigners, and could not be depended on for quelling
the disturbances. Ke-Ying had sent elsewhere for military reinforcements,
and, after a period of preparation, had at length assumed a decided tone
of authority, and apprehended some of the ringleaders of the mob. Popular
violence had thus for a time been suppressed, and the authority of Chinese
law again predominated; but no foreigner could extend his walks with safety
far from the foreign factories.
In the mean time the island of Chusan had been retained by the British,
on the plea of this nonfulfillment of the conditions of peace at Canton,
beyond the stipulated time, when the last sum of indemnity was paid in
the month of February. Notwithstanding the interviews between the Chinese
and British plenipotentiaries, the matter could not be adjusted amid the
conflicting difficulties produced by the lawless violence of the Canton
mob. On the one hand was represented the readiness of the British to cede
Chusan, when the spirit of the treaty of Nanking should be fulfilled by
the admission of British subjects into the city, ¡°withthout molestation
or restriction." On the other hand, Ke-Ying, who had rendered himself
personally responsible to the emperor for the punctual restoration of
Chusan, strongly deprecated this retention of the island. He represented
that it was the sure precursor of unmerited ruin to himself: was calculated
to perpetuate, in the minds of the Chinese, a distrust of British integrity;
and was, moreover, unnecessary for the preservation of the commercial
facilities and privileges of foreigners. The local gentry and scholars
ventured to suggest extreme measures against the faithless Barbarians;
and the country-people, blindly supposing that they were as superior in
strength as in numbers, endeavored to bring matters to a crisis, from
the evil consequences of which they were able to retire to their own villages
beyond the reach of British retaliation. The native merchants and shopkeepers,
who had capital and property to lose, seemed alone to be devoid of sympathy
with the belligerent populace, and to tremble for the consequences of
a collision.
In the midst of these turmoils and anxieties, the bodily frame of Ke-Ying
began rapidly to sink. Haemoptysis followed, and he suffered also from
a cataract found on one eye. As the missionary physician applied the stethoscope
to his breast, Ke-Ying remarked, ¡°I have a disease of my head, which
no physician can cure." For a time he was incapacitated from business,
and appeared to labor under mental aberration.
[Cbusan was ceded to the Chinese government by the British plenipo-tentiary
in the following month of July]
Such signs of the insurrectionary
state of the people will make it apparent to every mind that, in the event
of another collision with China, the danger arises of a war, not, as in
the last conflict, with her rulers, but with her people, the important
consequences of which are removed beyond the limits of human foresight.
The peaceful character of the people in other parts of China, and the
generally perceptible desire of the Chinese authorities to preserve order
and protect strangers, afford a guaranty for the continuance of pacific
relations. Peace, however, may at any moment be disturbed by some local
outrage at Canton, followed, on the part of the British government, by
demands of reparation and indemnity, to which the Chinese government may
be unable or unwilling, in the state of the popular mind, to concede.
Many are disposed to regard the anomalous state of affairs, which has
been described, as a mark of decay, and the presage of ruin to the power
of the present dynasty, if not to the stability of the empire itself.
But it is important that such opinions should be modified by the reflection
that insurrections and turmoils have been frequent in every reign, and
that the populace at Canton have been for centuries in a continual state
of partial rebellion. Amid these dangers from within, the safety of China
depends on her avoiding perils from without. Her principal danger is that
of another foreign collision, fomented alike by the blind arrogance of
the anti-European party at Peking and the excited feelings of the mob
at Canton. Her real interests lie in the adoption of a liberal policy
toward "outward nations," in the accommodation of her government
to the new emergency which has been created, and in the residence of foreign
embassadors at Peking. Unless she thus remodel her system of policy, and
abandon her isolated position among the kingdoms of the earth, she must
remain stationary in knowledge, in arts, in power, in wealth, and in all
the more substantial blessings of a progressive civilization.
EXCLUSION
OF OPIUM BY IMPERIAL EDICTS.
Among the more prominent characters now moving in the grand drama of Chinese
politics, there is no one who appears better adapted to arrest the progress
of national decay than the pacific and enlightened Ke-Ying himself, who,
from the secret perusal of the books of foreigners, has imbibed no inconsiderable
knowledge of the religion of Christian lands.
There is another rock of danger, which may, in a no less degree, cause
a wreck of the national resources, and, if such an expression be strictly
applicable to a pagan people, of the national morals; and for the removal
of this source of danger Britain is in a great measure responsible.
The Chinese, as a government, have been, during the last half century,
opposed to the introduction of opium into the country. Individual officers,
for the sake of peace or bribes, have doubtless connived at the evil;
but, as a government, they have prohibited, by distinct and explicit laws,
the introduction of opium into the country, by that inalienable, inviolable
right by which every independent government can exclude articles of contraband
traffic. Consistently with the prohibited importation of opium from foreign
lands, its growth has been interdicted in China itself, in six provinces
of which it has, at various times, been clandestinely raised. The Chinese
government have always had it in their power to exclude foreign opium,
by the simple process of encouraging the growth of the poppy on their
own soil. They have, however, pursued the opposite course¡ªno slight evidence
that, amid all the instances of venal and corrupt connivance on the part
of the subordinate officials in the maritime provinces, the moral evils
greatly, if not principally, influenced the prohibition of opium by the
imperial government. This opposition commenced in the reign of Kea-King,
at the close of the last century, whose proclamation against opium, in
1796, preceded by several years, the date when the balance against China,
between the export and import of the precious metals, added another item
to the sum of apprehended evils, giving birth to the suspicion in the
mind of foreigners, that the fear of Sycee "oozing out of the country"
outweighed or supplanted all moral considerations in the exclusion of
opium. But although it should be granted that financial considerations
of this kind may have strengthened, or even originated, in many cases,
the opposition of the high Chinese authorities to the importation of opium,
it may fairly be asked whether the considerations of financial expediency
and self-interest may not properly be admitted to strengthen and confirm
a policy which, for its primary force, rests on the obligations of conscience
and on the eternal principles of moral truth.
Equally untenable is the position of those who endeavor to palliate or
defend the smuggling of opium into China on the plea that, if the government
of a country enact prohibitory laws against any traffic, that government
is bound to take effective measures to carry into execution the prohibition.
Let, however, the armed smuggling-clippers, which have spread themselves
over the whole length of the coast, proclaim the absurdity of such an
argument, when addressed to a weak government like that of China, almost
powerless in the arts of defense and war.
The opium-drain is severely felt in China. The more patriotic of the native
scholars speak of the rapid decay of their cities from their ancient wealth
and splendor as the consequence of the system. This subject is the great
difficulty which will, sooner or later, embarrass the two governments.
Let, then, the Christian legislators of Britain look to this evil, and
boldly confront the danger. Opium is doubtless a profitable source of
income to our Anglo-Indian government, which those who take a low view
of the question may be unwilling to abandon. But let Indian revenues be
collected from other sources than from a nation whose government we have
humbled to the dust, and incapacitated for the rigorous enforcement of
her tariff-laws. Britain bas incurred a heavy debt of responsibility in
this matter; and unless the Christian course, which generosity and justice
alike point out, be strictly followed, the page of history, which proclaims
to future generations the twenty millions sterling consecrated on the
altar of humanity to the cause of slave-emancipation, will lose all its
splendor; yea, will be positively odious to the eye beside the counter-page
which publishes our national avarice in reaping an annual revenue of two
millions sterling from the proceeds of a contraband traffic on the shores
of a weak and defenseless heathen empire. Britain has displayed her power,
the giant's attribute. Let her also exhibit to the people and rulers of
this pagan country the noble spectacle of a Christian government, superior
to the arts of oppression, and actuated by a philanthropic regard to the
best interests of mankind.
A
LIST OF PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES, WHO ARE EITHER NOW IN CHINA, OR HAVE
BEEN IN CHINA WITHIN THE LAST TWO YEARS
NAME ARRIVAL DATE STATION
SOCIETY GENERAL REMARKS
Rev. W. Medhurst 1817 Shanghai
L. M. S. Formerly at Batavia.
Rev. K C. Bridgman, D.D. 1830 Canton. A.B.C.F.M. Editor of Chinese Repository.
Rev. David Abeel Amoy Formerly at Singapore
and Bangkok.
S. Wells Williams 1833 Macao -Missionary Press removed to Canton.
Rev. Peter Parker, M.D. 1834 Canton Missionary Hospital.
Rev. W. Deane Hong Kong A.B.B.F.M. Formerly at Bangkok.
Rev. J. L. Shuck 1836 Canton
Rev. J. J. Roberts. 1837 Canton Supported by private or local funds,
Rev. J. Stronach Amoy London Missionary Society Formerly
at Singapore
Rt. Rev. W. J. Boone, D.D. Shanghai.Am.Ep.Ch. Formerly at Batavia and
Amoy.
Rev. Elihu Doty Amoy A.B.C.F.M. Formerly at
Singapore and Borneo.
Rev. E. Pohlman..... Amoy Formerly at Singapore
and Borneo
W. Young.... Amoy L.M.S. Many years a Catechist at Batavia.
Rev. D. Ball, M.D. 1838 Canton A.B.C.F.M. Formerly at Singapore.
W. Lockhart, M.R.C.S.. 1838 Shanghai L.M.S. Missionary Hospital.
Rev. S. R. Brown 1839 Hong Kong An American Missionary, Principal of Morrison
Education Society¡¯s School
Rev. J. Legge, D.D. Hong Kong L.M.S. Formerly at Mallaca.
B. Hobson, M.D. Hong Kong Missionary Hospital.
Rev. W. Milne Uncertain Formerly at Macao and Ningpo.
J. C. Hepburn. M.D.. 1811 Amoy A.G.A.B.
W.C.Cumming, M.D. 1842 Amoy Missionary Hospital:
supported by private funds from America.
Rev. W. M. Lowrie Ningpo
D. J. MacGowan, M.D. 1843 Ningpo A.B.B.F.M. Missionary Hospital.
R.Cole. 1844 Ningpo A.G.A.B. Missionary Press.
D. B. McCartee, M.D. Ningpo
Rev. T.W. Way Ningpo
Rev. W. Gillespie 1844 Hong Kong L.M.S.
Rev. George Smith, M.A. C.M.S. Exploratory tour to the five sports
Rev. T. M'Clatchie, B.A. Shanghai
Rev. T. Devan, M.D. Canton A.B.B.F.M.
Rev. A. W. Loomis Chusan A.G.A.B.
Rev. M. S. Culbertson Ningbo
Rev. A. P. Happer, M.D. Macao
Rev. J. Lloyd Amoy
Rev. Hugh Browne 1846 Amoy
T. Bonney Canton A.B.C.F.M.
Rev. W. Wood.
Rev. It. Graham ?
Rev. R. Fairbrother Shanghai L.M.S.
Rev. E. Syle Shanghai American Episcopal Church
Rev. T. Hudson Ningbo E.B.M.S.
Rev. T. Jerrom Ningbo
A. Bettelheim, M.D. 1846 Loo Choo Islands [A converted Jew; supported
by a missionary fund specially raised for Loo Choo]
D. Macey Hong Kong [Recently arrived from America as assistant in the
Morrison Education Society¡¯s School]
Rev. G. Gutzlaff, Chinese
Interpreter and Secretary to the British Government at Hong Kong, makes
occasional Missionary tours in the neighborhood with some native preachers.
The initials
L. M. S. = London Missionary Society.
A. B. C. F. M. = American Board for Conduction Foreign Missions
A. B. B. F. M. = American Baptist Board for Conducting Foreign Missions.
Am. Ep. Ch. = American Episcopal Church
A. G. A. B. = American General Assembly¡¯s Board
C. M. S. = Church (of England) Missionary Society
E. B. M. S. = English Baptist Missionary Society.
A Narrative of an Exploratory Visit to each of the Consular Cities of
China, and to the Islands of Hong Kong and Chusan, in Behalf of the Church
Missionary Society, in the years 1844, 1845, 1846, by the Rev. George
Smith, M.A., of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and Late Missionary in China
New York, Harper and Brothers
Publishers, 52 Cliff Street, 1847
Scanned by Dr.
Bill Brown Xiamen University MBA Center
Please
Help the "The Amoy Mission Project!"
Please
share any relevant biographical material and photos for the website and
upcoming book. All text and photos will remain your property, and
photos will be imprinted to prevent unauthorized use.
Thanks!
Dr.
Bill Xiamen University MBA Center
E-mail: amoybill@gmail.com
Snail Mail: Dr. William Brown
Box 1288 Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian
PRC 361005
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