and, to put up with
nothing from them that is not borne out by the terms of the Treaty;--in
short, if foreigners generally (under which term I include every person
not a Chinese) unite together and stand up for the Treaty, the whole
Treaty, and nothing but the Treaty,--I see no reason to suppose that it
may not work well, and for many years to come. On the other hand, if
Consuls vacillate in their intercourse with the Chinese authorities,--if
captains of ships of war permit irregularities in the conduct of
merchant seamen,--and if foreign merchants condescend to injure their
fair fame by smuggling, in place of submitting to the very moderate
duties imposed upon their trade by the new Chinese tariff,--all and each
of them must take the consequences of their conduct; and they may rest
assured, that the Chinese will always be ready to seize with avidity the
slightest opportunity afforded them for charging foreigners with a
breach of the Treaty. We must hope that foreigners resorting to China
for the purposes of trade, or merely as travellers in search of health
or of strange sights, will be sufficiently aware of the importance that
is sure to be attached to their conduct, to avoid giving the Chinese
just cause of complaint. Should they be careful on this point, and
should the amicable relations now existing between the two countries
remain uninterrupted, it will not take many years to convince the
intelligent Chinese, that intercourse with what they are pleased to term
the Barbarian nations of the earth, is not to be despised.

As for the result of another war, there cannot, I imagine, be two
opinions. That Great Britain would be the victor, and the _gainer_ too,
after a struggle of half a summer, is pretty certain; and that she would
make the Chinese pay dearer for their temerity than they were made to do
before, seems probable, and would be but just. The possession of Chusan
and other eligible mercantile positions on the coast, would open fresh
fields for the enterprise of our merchants, and for the employment of
hundreds of seamen and others; and the fleet and army, after satisfying
the Chinese that they were as able and as willing to fight as ever,
might, with great advantage to their country, take a trip to Japan, and
try to prevail on the ruler of that _terra incognita_ to open his ports
to foreign commerce. I would tell the Emperor of Japan, You shall either
be my friend or my foe. If the former, you must permit your