uld render that island
not a possession of the British Crown, but, like Macao, a settlement
held by sufferance in the territory of the Crown of China.

Viscount Palmerston deems it his duty in laying these papers before
your Majesty, to state some few of the objections which he feels to
the arrangement, but the Cabinet will have to consider, as soon as
they meet after the Recess, what advice they may wish humbly to tender
to your Majesty upon these important matters. There is no doubt,
however, that much has been accomplished, but it is very mortifying
to find that other things which the plenipotentiaries were ordered
to obtain, and which the force placed at their command was amply
sufficient to enable them to accomplish, have not been attained.

Viscount Palmerston has sent a small map of the Canton River, which
your Majesty may like to keep for future reference.

[Footnote 6: Captain Elliot, after capturing the Chinese
position at the mouth of Canton River, concluded a preliminary
treaty with the Chinese Government, which did not satisfy the
Chinese, and which was strongly disapproved of by the English
Ministry, as containing no mention of the opium traffic,
which had been the cause of all the difficulties; Elliot was
accordingly recalled, and succeeded by Sir Henry Pottinger.]

[Footnote 7: They were the cession of Hong-Kong, and payment
of an indemnity of 6,000,000 dollars to Great Britain,
with provision for commercial facilities and collection of
customs.]

[Footnote 8: The native Canton merchants,--Hong here probably
meaning a "row of houses," a "street." Hong Kong (Hiang Kiang)
means the "fragrant lagoon."]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

_13th April 1841._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I thank you much for your kind letter of the 9th,
received yesterday. I have just heard from Stockmar (who, I hope,
reported favourably of us all) that your Ministry is at _last_
settled, of which I wish you joy. I think, dear Uncle, that you would
find the East not only as "absurd" as the West, but very barbarous,
cruel, and dangerous into the bargain.

The Chinese business vexes us much, and Palmerston is deeply mortified
at it. _All_ we wanted might have been got, if it had not been for
the unaccountably strange conduct of Charles Elliot (_not Admiral_
Elliot,[9] for _he_ was obliged to come away from ill-health), who
completely disobeyed his instr