Governor
Pehkwei for punishment. This was done, and the arrangement answered
admirably. The Governor was pleased, he presented himself before the
Chinese as the executor of our judgments, and at the same time we, to
a certain extent, seemed to be conceding to the Chinese the principle
of exterritoriality which we assert as against them.... I have no
'responsible ministers' here, though the presence of a colleague, and,
since military operations began, the position of the naval and
military Commanders-in-Chief, have required me to act with some
caution, in order to make the wheels of the machine work smoothly and
keep on the rails. For this reason it was that I suggested a few days
ago the plan of evacuation. The maintenance of order in a city under
martial law was, I felt, an affair rather for the Commander-in-Chief
than for me, therefore I was in a false position when I meddled with
it directly. But the question of remaining in the city or not was a
political one. By letting it be known that I had there my lines of
Torres Vedras, upon which I should fall back if necessary, I obtained
the influence I required for insuring, as far as possible, the
adoption of satisfactory arrangements within the city. I must add that
this evacuation plan was not intended by me to be a mere threat. I
have it clearly matured in my mind as a thing feasible, and which
would be under certain circumstances an advisable plan to adopt. In
taking Canton we had, as I understand it, two objects in view: the one
to prove that we could take it; the other to have in our hands
something to give up when we come to terms with the Emperor,--'a
material guarantee.' I believe that the capture of the city, followed
by the capture of Yeh, has settled the former point. Indeed, from all
that I hear, I infer that the capture of Yeh has had more effect on
the Chinese mind than the capture of the city. I believe, therefore,
that we might abandon the city without losing much if anything on this
head. No doubt we should lose on the second head; we should not have
Canton to give up when a treaty was concluded, if we had given it up
already. Even then however we might, by retaining the island of Honan,
the forts, &c., do a good deal towards providing a substitute; so that
you see my threat was made _bona fide_. I certainly should have