The Sun. — London, England, 1840-04-25 00:00:00

EVEN IN Cr EDITION. OPIUM TRADE.-WAR WiTH CHINA. A public meeting took place yesterday at the Freema son's Tavern, Great Queen-street, for the purpose of peti tioning Parliament against the Opium War with China. The Hall was crowded shortly after twelve o'clock (the hour fixed for the commencement of the proceedings), and there were a large number of ladies present. Among the gentlemen on the platform we observed, William Eagle, Esq., Rev. John Burnet, Josiah Condor, Esq., John Scoble, Esq., Rev. C. Stovel, Francis Fox, F.sq., Rev. Mr. Bean, Rev. N. M. Harry, E. V. Alex ander, Esq., Henry Sterry, Esq., John Beaumont, Esq., Samuel Fox, Esq., William Forster, jun., Esq., Dr, Hodgkin, Nathaniel Clark, Esq., Russell Jeffrey, Esq., Gough, Esq., George Neigh, Esq., Abraham Beau mont, Esq. W. E. Gladstone , Esq., M. P., was in the body of the meeting, but did not come upon the plat form. At a quarter past twelve, on the motion of Mr. SYDNEY TAYLOR, seconded by JOSEPH STURGE, the Right Hon. the Sari of STANEOI-13 was called to the Chair amidst loud cheers. The CIIAIRMAN said he considered it a distinguished ho nour to be called to the Chair of a meeting assembled for a purpose which was most important to all who had at heart the honour and interest of Britain. He allowed no decla ration of war had been issued against the Government of China—orders, however, had been issued for the detention of trading vessels, and we were now engaged in hostilities with an empire the most peaceable, and also the most po pulous, which had ever existed either in ancient or modern times; with an empire which had maintained with us rela tions of peace for more than two centuries; with an empire with which we had carried on commerce, aseful and beneficial to ourselves, and supplying us with an article that has become from habit one of the neces saries of life to all classes of the population. We were en gaged in a war with an empire, the trade of which yields i i o less than four millions sterlieg in revenue, and em ployed thousands of seamen, as well as capital amounting to ten millions. Under these circumstances, it behoved us to consider what was the origin of this war thus unex pectedly commenced.—( Hear, hear.) Whether that war could be justified on that principle on which alone war, under any circumstances, could be tolerated—of its being necessary for self defence.—( Hear, hear, hear.) It be , hoved us also to consider whether, in the proceedings which had produced that calamity. we had acted upon that principle which was solemnly impressed upon us by the religion we all professed, of " doing to others as we would tlsey should do unto us."—( Hear, hear.) It was their bounden duty to express their opinions freely and fully upon the subject, as became Englishmen, with the liberties they enjoyed. It would not be necessary for him to enter into a lengthened examination of those papers which had been presented to Parliament upon the subject, and which, although they contained much extraneous and irrevelaiit matter, omitted much of great importance to the question, and several documents which ought to have been furnished be the Government at home. It was the less re quisite for him to go at great length into the subject, be cause it was his firm resolve, within a few days after the re assembling of Parliament, to bring this subject fully be fore the consideration of the House of Lords.—( Hear, hear)—not with any party views, for he was, as they well (knew, altogether unconnected with any political party— but with a view of preventing, by an address to her Ma jesty, the introduction of Opium into China, by any of her Majesty's subjects, and thus establish the principle on which alone we could ever hope to restore that peaceful and beneficial intercourse which formerly existed with that empire. When that discussion took place he would demon strate satisfactorily to every impartial and intelligent per son, from the evidence of Capt. Elliot himself, that although there may have been in that country as in this, instances of venal ty an I corruption, (although he was aware smuggling could not be carried on in this country at all, or, at least, to a great extent, if all those entrusted with the adminis tration of the laws performed their duty), although such may have been the case in China, he would prove there was no connivance whatever on the part of the Chinese Government. He would prove that for several years the Chinese Government had made the strongest remonstrances against the continuance of the trade—that repeated warnings had been given over and over again —that I the British Superintendent had been called upon to aend away from the coasts of China vessels lying upon the coasts, not with any view of prosecuting voyages, but solely for the purpose of receiving a poisonous drug, strongly prohibited by the Chinese laws, and introducing it sur reptitiously into that empire. But it had been said the Chinese violated the law of nations by confiscating this drug, and by the imprisonment, as it was called, of British subjects and the officers of the British factories. He begged them to remember the position in which—he would not say the Chinese Government—but any indepen dent Government, wnu:d be placed, when it found its orders were resisted—its power defied—its warnings dis regarded —no attention paid to its mandate—no regard shown to the health, happiness, or the lives of its subjects. Was it manly, because a nation refused to truckle with those who trampled upon it, and to say " let your will be done, we submit to injustice," or if it did proceed to avenge the wrong, he asked them to judge of their conduct by the Chinese or English law—take which they would. Now, it had been said the Chinese proceedings were unjust, be cause their law enforcing the punishment of death upon those who dealt in opium was of recent origin, and retros pective operation ; but whether this were the case or not, l did not in the least affect the agreement, because they knew, by an old memorial of one of the Chinese Ministers to the Emperor, that the punishment awarded even then, according to the law of the country to those who dealt in opium,was "enslavement to the militaryat adistant country." Ho would not argue—it would be but arguing that which was universally admitted, and could not be denied—that *every man owed implicit obedience to the laws of any fo feign country in which he resided. He went further, and said he owed a greater obedience to the laws of that coun try than his own, because he was not a citizen of that state. Then he would suppose the Chinese had acted upon their own law with respect to that 'act of smugglers who lived at Canton, and carried on a trade known to be contraband, in open defiance of the laws of the Chinese empire. Accordingly if that law had been executed against them, they would have been marched to the confines of Tartary, there to undergo the punishment of " enslave ment to the military." Again, if they were judged by the English law upon the subject, if they referred to a re cent Act, called " An Act for the prevention of smuggling," they would find that any person harbouring, or who con curred or assisted in harbouring, keeping, or the transpor tation of contraband articles, was to forfeit three times their value, so if that law were acted upon in China, the smug glers in question (for he would not disgrace the name of British merchants by applying it to them), they would have forfeited not the opium itself, but three times its amount. But that was not all, if they looked at another clause, they found that any ships found within a short distance of the coast, hovering about, not prosecuting voyages, were confiscated, and not only the ship but the cargoes also. And he begged them also to beer in mind that most sacred rule inculcated by the Christian religion, " Do unto others as you would they should do unto you." And suppose, if it were possible to imagine a parallel case in this country under the present system of free trade, as it was called, that any article should be prohibited in this country as opium was in China, its known effect in debasing and depraving the character, demoralizing the conduct, in destroying the health, the strength, the happiness, and lives of the countless millions in China.---( Cheers.) Suppose that with respect to an article, the use of which in itself was innocent, and of which the introduction could only have the effect—an effect to:be mach deprecated—of . throwing our own artisans out of employment. In such a case let them suppose that a number of French merchant ships should be lying for years at Margate, not continuing, or attempting to continue, their voyages, but remaining there for the sole purpose of receiving the contraband article, and sending it ashore as opportunity might offer. If there should be found living in this metropolis a number of French smugglers, giving orders on payment of money for the delivery of the prohibited article at Margate. Would such a state of things be tolerated for one moment in this country ?—( Hear, and cheers.) Or if the chips should have been driven away from the coast by force of arms, and the smuggling merchants proceeded against in the courts of justice, would the French Go vernment venture to ask for compensation ? or if any king f or minister of Franc e s h ou ld b e f oun d f rant i c enough to entertain such an idea, or bold enough to attempt to exe cute it, would there not be, from one extremity of the country to the other, even among those evho were the most peaceably inclined—those who like himself deprecated war as one of the greatest calamities that could befal the human race—(Cheers)—as a state of things always to be avoided it possible, and the most atrocious and iniquitous, if un justly carried on—( Cheers)—one cry of war in defence of our national rights.--( Cheers.) The Chinese nation had not as yet called for war, but they might be ultimately goaded into resistance, It was with the great est astoni s h men t t h at h e h ad heard the declaration made in the Rouse of Commons by the S ecretary o f State for the ~.vC l‘n te nt i , r ,C w h ih n o a ; , when asked th e cause of the armament and asked for a reason for its justification, ij iovaii-ilumth3actiEcitd ; To d s , (11 , "eet, . w were, 1. T o ask indemnity for the demand reparation for injuries ; and, e That he h A ope , to establis' i our consmercial intercourse with China upon a better footing. With resp ec t t o i n _ demnity for th e op;urn SeiZaVe, read a couldthe hardly d thi n k t h at the Noble Lord could have Noble Colleague th e S ecretary for ForeiesPnatc‘ h ff Affairs of his ° ' that subject. Lon g b e f ore t h e confiscation of th e opl' um took place, that. Noble Lord h a d s t ate d i n his despatch that those who violated the laws of China must suffer themselv es the loss which must accrue. Could that be urge d as a reason for the commencement of hostilities ? 3 S,sides, this confiscation had even been of benefit to the etpium holders, as it had greatly increased the price of the article, and facilitated the trade, which, owing to the increased rigour and vigour of the Chinese Government, had been almost extinguished. He would ask what had heeome of the honour of British merchants, which had hitherto been so celebrated in every quarter of the world ? It bad never fallen into such a state of disgrace i Arid degradation as that into which it lead now fallen. How was it reduced, when British merchants, after having given a solemn pledge in writing to abstain from the i ntro d uct i on of opium into the Chinese empire, in the course of the same year are now carrying along the whole extent of the cast coast of China the in troduction of this same opium in vessels equipped and armed for the purpo se of war, in order to effect by force fiat which they might be unable to effect by fraud— (Cheers)—compelling the authorities of the Chinese empire to have recourse to coercion to prevent this impor tation. in the sight er of G o d an d man— ( Cheers)— an d wou ld h ave to answer to thei r Creat or f or creatures. the iniquitiee they infli c t e d on their fellow (Cheers.) He would not p resume to give to the progress of th e war or i ts probablecoanneopinioe as whether or not we might b e a bl e to contesndluences— :fully against a population of nearly f , inr hundred"c nlegs of human beings. It was true, we might burn the.:t'° lion ;and villages on their coasts ; was true w e might murder ;their unoff ndinss inhabitants, f u r mur d er i t would be: intellige nt ( Chaermf—of the most peaceful , industrious, intelligent and ingenious people In. the world; we. might 812.ughtur ' tile onoffeadiLg Cilin4t, we 'Light capture, according to 1 the provisions of the order in Council, their junks and trading vessels; the progress might be marked by blood and fire, but he did not think that success would be more certain for these things..—( Cheers.) With regard to the third object, that of placing our commercial interc urse with the Chinese on a more secure footing, would v at be more likely to be accomplished by having our name execrated.—(Loud cheers.) We might talk a; we pleased of our superior enlightenment, but we s , owed our selves by our conduct to be nothing less than pirates. —(Cheers.) Our trade would be injured. We could not attempt to enforce our blockade without being resisted by America. He would put this alternative, from which there was no escape. In blockading Canton, the blockade would either be acknowledged by the Americans, or it would not. If they did, what was to become of our trade in tea and silk, paying upwards of four millions annually to our revenue, employing a capital of ten millions, and hundreds of thousands of our seamen. If they did not, we must either consent to this non-recognition or not. If we did not consent, and attempted to enforce this blockade in spite of America, we should be exposed to a war with a nation with which our commercial intercourse was most extensive and important—(Cheers)—a nation the navy of which was better prepared, and more formidable than ours. If we consented to the non-recognition of the blockade on the part of America, and suffered their trade with the Chinese, the result would be, that the whole trade of the country would pass into the hands of the Americans. He beard much of reparation for injuries. Now the Chinese had suffered from us the most irreparable injuries ; but it was said that our Representative had suffered indignity and ins prisonment at Canton. Why, he had forced himself there. He had gone up to Canton in spite of the positive orders of the Commissioner, and in spite of every effort made to prevent him. The British merchants were imprisoned at Canton, in order to investigate their conduct, and the British Superintendent had chosen to join them. This detention, however, could not be considered as an im prisonment. It did not appear from the whole course of the correspondence that he had ever applied to leave Canton and been refused. But it was said the innocent were made to suffer with the guilty. He should like to know of those detained how many were really innocent—( Cheers) —he knew that there were a few most honourable excep tions among the British inhabitants of Canton, to whom all praise was due, because they lived in the midst of con tagion and bad example. The detention had been general preparatory to inquiry—there was no exception made, but he had yet to learn that, on the part of the guiltless per sons, there had been any demand for reparation whatever. The Americans, who had acted with scrupulous good faith and had shown also much good sense and judgment, had continued to enjoy all the advantages of the trade. Then it was urged against the Chinese Government, that they had proceeded hastily. Those who said so had surely forgotten the violent attack and the outrages that had been committed on the defenceless inhabitants of China —some of whom had been murdered ; and when repeated remonstrances had been made by the Chinese authorities to Captain Elliot, he had declared himself unable to find out the murderer.--(Cheers.) There could be no doubt that Captain Elliot, if the murderer had been found, would have treated him according to the laws of his coun try ; but then the question was whether he had adopted the proper course to do so. It was his duty to have called upon the Chinese to see if they could not identify the murderer. No such course was adopted, and then we complained against China because she retaliated upon us for the numberless miseries we had caused, and the pes tilence and death which we had carried to her shores by the trade we had carried on with her in opium. No nation that had the least regard for its own dignity, or that which was far more, the health, and happiness, and prosperity of its subjects, could possibly have delayed longer resenting that conduct which had been pursued by the merchants of this country towards the people of China. It was the duty of every person in this country, if he would obey the laws of God and man, to raise up his voice and petition the Legislature for an equitable and pacific arrangement cf the differences of this country with the Chinese. Look at what had been the result of the introduction of opium into Assam ; there all the prospects of the country had been blasted, and the great expectations entertained of her put an end to. Look at another view of the subject--look at the infamy this country was bringing upon itself if they sanctioned the continuance of a course which was unapproved of by an independent State, because it was the means of the destruction of the morals and lives of its hitherto innocent people.--(Loud cheers.) Look at what had hitherto taken place, and which might hereafter occur. The propagation of Chris tianity had been retarded—in vain had the Bible Society sent out large numbers of Bibles into that country, trans lated into its language, for the purpose of disseminating the Christian religion there. In vain did their Missiona ries destroy their health and lives in this great work. In vain did they attempt to imitate the example of the first Apostles, and induce all to look up to the religion of Jesus. —(Cheers.) In vain did they attempt all this ; their exertions were rendered useless by the injustice of this country. He would suppose the instance of a Chinese youth being addressed by one of the Society's Mis sionaries, who was endeavouring to teach him the beau ties of the Christian religion. The intelligent youth would, doubtless, feel the force of a good deal that was said, but then he would recollect the ills that had been inflicted upon his country by the countrymen of the man who was talking to bins, and he would raise up his eyes and exclaim, " Lord, how great thy mercies are, in allowing men to live who speak so well and act so ill. (Great cheering.) He would think that the Missionaries were nothing more than canting hypocrites when they talked of the beauties of their religion, and were, at the same time, carrying death and ruin into the kingdom they ' were pretending to Christianize.—(Cheers)—because its benevolent Emperor was determined to prevent the intro duction of poison into his dominions.—(Cheers.) He ( Lord Stanhope) felt strongly on this subject, and he spoke as the Chairman of a Total Abstinence Society, and he could assure those present, that when the subject of the opium trade was brought forward in the House of Lords, he would be found at his post, if he stood alone there, or in this great metropolis, fully and fearlessly to argue against the pernicious effects of the course this country was adopting. The Noble Earl said he could here enter into a variety of details which would, however, now be un necessary, as they would be brought before the House of Lords. He trusted that he had expressed his views upon the subject impartially and consistently.—( Hear, hear.) He had, in conclusion, to declare his unqualified approba tion of the resolutions to be proposed, which he hoped would be considered fairly and dispassionately, and that if (as he doubted not) they met with the concur rence of the meeting, petitions founded upon them would be circulated through all the districts of the metropolis, and numerously and respectably signed.--( Cheering. ) Mr. SIDNEY TAYLOR was called upon by the Noble Earl to move the first resolution, when A person rose in the body of the Hall, and said some thing about wishing to have an independent Chairman.— (Cries of " Order," and some confusion.) This is a public meeting, I suppose.--( Renewed cries of " Order.") Are we not to have a discussion?—( Great disturbance.) The Noble CHAIRMAN—I have had some experience of public meetings—(Hear)—but never before did I see such an exhibition—perhaps it is one of the improvements of the age--( Shouts of cheering)—that after a person has been unanimously voted into the Chair, before a resolution has been proposed, a change of Chairman should be called for. —( Loud cheers.) The gentleman asks if this is a public meeting? Undoubtedly it is. Whether the friends of the opium smuggler will be heard ? Undoubtedly they will.-- (Cheers, with renewed uproar, occasioned by persons rising and angrily protesting against the term " opium smug glers," one of them persisting in attempting to speak for several minutes, in spite of loud and reiterated cries for order, which at length was restored by the unequivocal wish of the meeting, and Mr. SIDNEY TAYLOR again rose, and was received with great cheering. He said he did not at all regret the inexcusable and unprecedented interruption which had taken place, for it had called forth an honest and cordial expression of respect and esteem for the Nobleman who occupied the chair—( Loud cheers)—a Nobleman not more distinguished by high rank than modest worth--( Cheers) and who was ever ready to conic forward on behalf of the sacred interests of justice.—(Cheers.) But (continued Mr. Taylor) he had been diverted, by this unseemly and indecent interruption—( Vociferous cheering)—from the subject before the meeting. And before he came to the resolution which he had risen to move, he would state dis tinctly the grounds on which he came forward to raise his ( humble voice against the opium war with China. He I came here not upon party feeling—( Hear, hear)—nor upon sectarian interests—( Hear, hear)—but upon a ques tion of public morality—(Cheers)--a question affecting the honour of the British nation—affecttng. our Christian character—affecting the welfare of 30,000,000 of our fel low creatures in China.—( Loud cheers.) After the able speech of the Noble Earl, it would only be necessar j to glance at the origin and object of the war, and the general nature of these transactions which had so disgraced the British name. Upon indisputable evidence it rested that ever since 1796 the Court of Pekin, the supreme authority of China, had been zealously and earnestly active in preventing the opium trade—proclamations had been is.. sucd, edicts published, penalties threatened, hut all in vain_. the trade, instead of diminishing, had enormously increased. All the efforts of the Government had been met by increased enerey and ingenuity on the part of the opium smugglers —not pl oyed o t n o l y b t u l t co iee r ffi ru e p a t e i y on o a f n t d be b p r r ib e e v r e y o , t h i a v d e m b e e s e b n s e r m e ..- only f e o s r t e r o e sorted to by the Government. At last the Emperor ordered the seizure of the opium, and now, forsooth, com pensation was claimed on that account, which was, in effect, saying to the Emperor of China, We have for forty years disobeyed your laws, disregarded your edicts, seduced your officers, contaminated your subjects with a deleterious drug, and we claim compensation for the injuries we have sustained through our persisting, against your edicts, in poisoning the minds and bodies of your subject.—(Cheers. ) Yes; the cry was to be, " Compensation or blood."— ( Cheers) Great Britain was rushing; into war and blood shed — fo r w h at ? — For supporting the claims of dis -1 honest smg —(Cheers an d renewed interruption.) u mi D g lrs. might he said of th'ss local authorities of China, Whatever i t ws.s well know n t h at t h ere was in the intercourse Christian nations a cup idi ty sometimes b e which could acted upon by brib ery and corruption. e ßut o t o w m h . a b t o e u v e s e r might be said of the l oca l authorities of th at China, there was n o t i tt l e o f evidence tha e t the Emperor fi i of China had ever defiled himself w i t h the p 1 opium trade—that he had ever replenished hi o s ts coffers of the t h e revenue derived from it—or t h at h e had ever ' l a l 7l hands upon the gold produced by this foul source of na tional 1 debasement and moral degradation.—( L ou d cheers. ) Their Noble Chairman had alluded to the revenue that : was derived from the trade in this nefarious drug. It had ' been well said by a moral poet of their own country : - - " Long since ten thousand casks For ever dribbling out their base contents, Touched by the Midas finger of the State, Need gold for ministers to sport away."—(Cheers.) Nothing could be more derogatory to the high commer cial character of the country than to see a system of na tional demoralization, like the opium trade, made a source added rof China h a d of public wealth.--( Cheer s. ) If the Empero chos en to rea li se a revenue out of t he opium traffic, he might upon t h e mo . s . moderate calculation have one milli on ster li ng per aunura ; but he disdained to have recourse to so vile an expedient, arid that was the great Mr. HorKi;sthen said he had an amendment to move to the resolution, which was a very short one, and which be thought the majority of the meeting would approve. 110 THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 2:), 1840. crime of the Emperor of China. Why should such a state of things as that form a good ground of war ? ( Hear, hear.) The people of that country would never sanction a war set on foot upon such grounds.—( Cheers. ) With respect to the effects of opium upon the human frame it was not perhaps generally known that those who flew to opium for refuge from care or for pleasurable ex citement, committed themselves to the insidious influence which destroyed their physical powers, prostrated the powers of their nature, induced sufferings indescribable, leaving them no refuge but despair and death.—( Hear, ho it..) That was what the Emperor of China was anxious to prevent his countrymen and subjects suffering under. It was that pestilence, that moral plague, lie wished to put down. In the course of time it would have depopulated his vast empire, and even if the progress of depopula tion had been slow, the progress of demoralization would have been rapid in the extreme. The nineteenth century had been called the age of intellect, and they heard much of its science, its intelligence, and its civilization. Why, then, in such enlightened times as the present should t they unsheathe the sword against the Emperor of China ? I Was it because like another Caner or Napoleon he wished to carry war and desolation throughout the world.—(" No, no.") No the Emperor of China was content with his paternal dominions ; he wished to see the fair garden over which he presided fair and flourishing, and he had been heard to declare that if he did not put down the opium trade, when he left that world for the next, he would be ashamed to meet the shades of his ancestors.—(Cheers.) It was absurd to suppose that the object of the present eting was to interfere with the commerce of that country its the legitimate sense of the word. Nothing could be a greater sophism than that. Legitimate commerce was the daughter of peace, and the promoter of the humanizing arts of civilization. It traversed vast seas to link different nations in social intercourse, and like a floating world it carried on its bosom the fruits of peaceful industry to all mankind. In the course of the debate in the Commons it was stated that they sent Bibles and Missionaries to China, and that the opium war might be made the means of facilitating the introduction of Christianity.—(Oh.) A more monstrous propositions he never heat d of—instead of missionaries and Bibles they were to be the bearers to the Chinese of opium and blood.—(Shame.) It was the very mockery of Christianity itself. He admitted that in the dark ages war had been undertaken for the propagation of Christianity ; but there was something of chivalry in these wars, and they had fanatical ignorance for their excuse. The present, however, was a case of sordid and selfish base ness unrelieved by a single generous impulse for the service of humanity. It was not upon the altar of Christianity, but the altar of Mammon, that the torch was lighted to spread the conflagration of war through the dominions of China.—( Hear, hear.) Let it not be said that England abused the gifts of a beneficent Providence for the promo tion of so unholy a traffic, but let them rather call to mind the sublime maxim which was engraved on an ancient Egyptian monument—" Know all you who exercise power that God hates injustice."—(Loud cheers.) Mr. Taylor concluded by moving the first resolution as follows : " That this meeting, whilst it most distinctly disavows any party or political objects, and deprecates most strongly any sueh construction being put upon its efforts, deeply laments that the moral and religious feeling of the country should be outraged,lthe character of Christianity disgraced in the eyes of the world, and this Kingdom involved in a war with upwards of three hundred and fifty millions of people, in consequence of British subjects introducing opium into China in direct and known violation of the laws of that empire." Rev. C. STOVEL seconded the resolution, although he confessed there were some parts of the question with which he was not so well acquainted. Those who were to address them on either side would not, however, he felt sa tisfied, leave them without ample information on every point. He did not think that much argument was neces sary to support the present resolution. War was repug nant to humanity, and ought to be repulsive to all. If it were not so certainly they were not much the better for their Christianity.—(Hear.) It had been said by Sir George Staunton that commercial transactions of such a nature with China stood upon such very uncertain and undefined grounds that it became matter of great difficulty to conduct their affairs with that empire. It had been said that the Emperor of China would not admit in proper form, and treat with proper re spect, a Consul from our Government, or receive such an officer from us. No doubt there were many difficulties in such a state of things, but he would submit whether the settling of such a question was not an outrage upon the Christian feeling of the country, and called for the most solemn protest of such a meeting.—( Hear, and cheers.) Some time ago a province of considerable extent separated itself from France—had thrown off the chains of slavery, proclaimed themselves free, and showed to the whole world the glorious spectacle of the negro race, in the face of smiling heaven, enjoying the blessings of liberty in a just and subdued spirit. For many years that State had remained unrecognised —we refused to receive their Con sul, nor did we send one there, but it was made a pretext for war. Was it thought a just cause for war, for the people of that country coming over to burn London, to plun der the Bank, or slaughter the people of this country ? (Cheers.) No ; that was not a matter which ought to be settled by the sword by a Christian State; it was a proper one for negotiation —not a question to be settled by war. Even had they broken our laws, or wrongfully imprisoned our merchants, still that would not have been a case for war. There were precedents for negotiation—nego tiations with the same Power had been resorted to on former occasions, and upon all such occasions ample redress had been offered.--(Cheers.) Upon this occasion, had there been any appeal to the Emperor ? No ; that course, the proper one, had not been taken. It was to be remembered that there were mutual advantages in our in tercourse with China. We had our cup of tea, and a great comfort it was ; but the Chinese, who cultivated that plant, depended upon its sale for his bread—it was like our cotton manufacture, which gave the bread of life to thou sands. Now, if there were any just grounds for negotia tion, there was every motive on their part to give redress for any wrong.—(Cheers.) But when we had broken their laws, when we had poisoned their people, and de graded their population —nay, more, when we had degraded ourselves, by desending from the throne of Christianity to become the poisoners of thousands—surely that was not a time when the sword of England ought to be drawn for war, her thunder heard, or the blood of Englishmen be shed.—(Cheers.) One peculiar feature of the case arose from the great difference which existed between the two Governments. The Chinese Government was purely Patri archal. It was the purest remnant of that Patriarchal state shown in Genesis, and other books. The name of the Emperor was the Royal Father of the whole of the people of China. He had, therefore, to look to the welfare of the whole people, as a father of his own family. He would suppose the gentleman who had interrupted the proceedings to be the father of five or six children. Let him place himself in the midst of them, and suppose a person was to come and offer them the sweet balls pre pared for children, each containing some destructive spirit. Let hint see them one day trembling with the excitement of drunkenness ; the next, languishing with trembling nerves and exhausted frame, he would see them prepared for every vice, and nothing that was good. Let him watch the death-bed of one or two of them, and re turn to see the rest going the same way. He would ask, would he embrace the man or monster who had been the cause of the evil?—( Loud cheers.) He knew he was speaking to generous hearts, and he would rather die than despair of ever seeing them in the breasts 01 Englishmen.—(Cheers.) He would ask whether any one under such circumstances as he had de picted, after he had bolted and barred his door, he saw a battery built up in the distance—(Cheers)—when he found his door forced in order tint the poison might be given to the rest of his family—would any one think that just ? (Cheers. ) Then, when that would be unjust in any one person, how could any one defend the coolness of a Go vernment in rushing into such a war? He trusted that there was no one present who would defend such a state of things by disturbing the proceedings of the meeting. Suppose we were to sweep the whole of the Chinese from the face of the earth, still the disgrace that would attach to England must be everlasting.—( Hear.) It had been said by the Chairman that the poison of our chalice would be returned to our own lips. It had been so already. The trade in opium had been particularly transferred to these shores ; it was spreading among our population, and England would cease to be England if it were not stopped.—( Hear, hear.) Every pillar, every wall, ornament, and article that made up a large edifice, rested on the foundation on which it stood ; so the whole fabric of our empire leaned and rested on the health and morality of its population.—(Cheers.) There was one point on which he felt more deeply interested than any other, although he wished to be modest in every thing he related. He would submit to the meeting whether the interests of our religion ought not to be seriously considered in connection with the Chinese empire.—( Hear, hear, hear.) Was it a matter of no moment to this country when a sovereignty was to be gained or lost, or a cargo hazarded on the deep, whether those men should lift up their eyes in torments ; for it was calculated that four milliens of them were passing every thirty years into eternity ; and while our merchants were acquiring a large fortune, was it not to be asked what was the price of all that ?—( Hear, hear.) lie would not like to acquire a fortune from the miseries of his fellow men, but he was sorry to say that he had oft-times seen men otherwise highly reputable its this world, and even in the Church, who had not been very careful in considering from what source they .acquired their immense incomes.—( Hear, hear.) But before this country drew the sword, he would implore every Christian man to consider what would be the result as regarded the Bible. Might we not be smothered in a war with the ad jacent nations—(Hear, hear,)—and even if we succeeded in ever conqueringlthat empire, how would the Chinese re ceive the Bible? Why, they would receive it from men who were dishonoured in having broke every one of its precepts. —(Cheers.) But he would take a higher ground and say, that however just England's claims might be, they had no right to go to war %Oh China at all.—( Hear.) Ere the rules of our holy religion were complied with, we should have to beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning -hooks, and men would hear of war no more—we should have to change the roar of the cannon's mouth into the voice of love—to change the manufacture of muskets into the forming of implements for the promotion of agriculture and the cultivation of the arts of peace—making the mountains fruitful, and not barren—making cities populous, and not desolate ; and, under the blessings of their Heavenly Father, the arts of peace would teach them to draw a healthy livelihood from a populous world, and not an unhealthy livelihood from a depopulated one; and then it would be found that men could live happier among cultivated fields than among desolated towns. He cordially seconded the reso lution.--( Loud cheers.) After the resolution had been put, a gentleman who had frequently interrupted the ,proceedings, said he wished to move an amendment, and upon his ascending the platform, amid cheers and hisses, the Noble Chairman entreated the meeting to give all persons a patient hear ing, and the speakers to abstain from introducing all party politics, ar,d confine themselves strictly to the subject of the resolution. wished to lay before them a little of the fallacies of the last speaker. When he spoke incorrectly he hoped the meet ing would allow of correction. He had said in the resolu tion that opium was introduced by British subjects. He begged leave to ask him whether a great number of the subjects of other countries did not also introduce it. He totally denied the fact so stated, that British ships sailed up to the port of Canton for the pur pose of disposing of opium. It was a falsehood—not a single ounce was ever distributed there by British subjects. lie proved this fact to them by stating that the water would not admit of it. It was not deep enough to admit any other craft than the junks of the country. Ile did not come there to disturb the meeting, nor did he expect the meeting was ass ex parte one, and now he understood the chairman was a Peer, he expected perfect disinterested ness in every point. He had heard so much matter uncon nected with this subject that he thought a word or two might be said respecting it. He came to defend the war with China. It was in no ways connected with trade. Among other fallacies of the last speaker he said that ho would much rather beearaChinreessett would say hana For Bri ton, any othe r ever defend his country, not only so. wit his He s his dido partho would person, n t asthink he ha had done, but in princple, and in ar gument, and in every way that became an Englishman. —( Laughter.) Did they suppose he would stand there to e h r e ru r Pt w ed e , rs a e n — d i a a s tio fr n equ o e e l e 't a ly sioned muc h l aug h ter , was ( w t h le o r s e e the run down his country—quite pe culiarspeaker,prwohnounAc. compelled by the noise and laughter of the audience to desist.) He therefore moved as an amendment, that the word Chinese be substituted for the word British in the resolution. The CHAIRMAN asked if any g en tl eman secon d e d t h e resolution ? when a gentleman stepped upon the pl a tform, and gave his name as Mr. ROBERTSON—He said that he should feel himself guilty of an act of moral cowardice if after hearing the strong terms which had been used in designating the opinions which lie conscientiously held, he were silent. There had not been a single word said in respect to the opium question, as it affected the honour, welfare, and moral character of the country, in which he did not cordi ally concur. He would deserve to have his tongue blis tered if he uttered one word in defence or approbation of a traffic for bringing into China a drug, every dram of which contained a pestilence more fearful than had ever walked in darkness.—( Cheers.) Having stated this opinion with regard to the opium trade, why was he there to move an amendment? Simply because he contended they were mistaken. He disagreed with them in point of fact—he said this was not, an opium war.—( Cheers.) What was the fact ? Had the British Government entered into an opium war?—(Cheers ) If it had the vengeance of Heaven hung over it---(Cheers)—but he thanked God, for the sake of his country, that such was not the case.— ( Cheers.) This was not an opium war. He believed the opium trade had been the unfortunate and melancholy occasion of the war, but it was not the cause of the war. When he had first announced that opinion their Noble Chairman had told him that this was a distinction without a difference.—(Cheers.) He would state how it was the occasion without being the cause. We were not going to fight about opium—we had given it up—that was his t point—and be wished to draw the attention of the meeting to that point. (Loud cheers.) He would in the first place refer to the instructions given to Lord Napier. He had been instructed by Lord Pal merston carefully to abstain from any connection with any trade interfering with the laws or customs of the Celestial Empire. How had this been followed up ? It happened that in endeavouring to suppress the opium traffic they took a Chinese who had been engaged in it, and strangled him in front of the foreign factories. The whole of the foreigners rose, and caused a riot. What had been the conduct of the British Government ? Having carefully read the large Blue Book, which had been laid before Parliament, and which he was certain had never been read by certain gen tlemen who had spoken on this subject that morning, he would challenge any person to point out a single pas sage showing that the British Government had ever interfered in favour of the opium trade. — (Great cheering.) Lord Palmerston had sent out a strong reprimand, forbidding British subjects interfering with Chinese usages, or from infringing in any manner the laws of the Celestial Empire. He would chal lenge any one to contradict that fact. Did the British Superintendent mix himself up with the defence of the iniquities of the opium smugglers ? The statement was not true—ho had not done so ; on the contrary, he had issued orders to compel every boat engaged in the opium trade to leave the Canton River. This was in Dec., 1838. In December 1538 such an edict was issued by Captain Elliot; could that, he would ask, be contradicted?— (Cheers.) Further, when the opium traffic had thus been suppressed, so far as the connection of British subjects was concerned, it naturally took another course ; instead of being a peaceful smuggling traffic, it became a bucca neering one.—(Laughter.) Th© thing went on, and all over the coast the smugglers were engaged in their nefa- rious proceedings, the British merchants having washed their hands of any responsibility.—( Cries of " No, no.") He would say yes; for out of the two hundred merchants there the Chinese admitted only fifteen had been guilty. Now, when the trade was going on in that way, what did Captain; Elliot do ? He expelled all British subjects who were denounced by the Chinese Government as being concerned in the opium traffic.—( Cries of " No.") Mr. James Innes was expelled. That was a strong fact, showing that the British Superintendent was not the cause of the opium traffic.—(Hear.) What then was the cause of the war? Let those who followed meet that cause ; it had three points, and let them knock down one of them if they could. The first was, reparation for insults—(Cheers) ; secondly, indemnification for losses ; and, thirdly, for protection for British subjects.—( Cheers.) Now he would say a few words on these points. The Chinese Government, in carrying out its exclusive policy, determined that no foreign power except Russia should have any direct communication with its authorities. This state of things subsisted for many years, but it became, in 1834, an object to our Government to obtain direct com munication with the Celestial Empire. This was refused. It was said to Lord Napier that they would not admit him as an equal, and that his letter must be addressed with a mark which showed that he was not so. To this Lord Napier demurred ; and for this he had every species of insult put upon him. He was compelled to leave Canton, and to go to Macao, where he died. Capt. El liot succeeded him, and he signed his letter as required, signifying that he was inferior to the Emperor. This was done for peace. Did the Chinese lessen their demands ? No, so far from this, the time came when the most vigorous means were necessary to put down the opium trade. They told all the foreigners at Canton that they should neither have food or water until all the smuggled goods had been delivered up. What were the terms in which that was done ? Why, when a quarter of it was given up the me. chants were to have the attendance of their servants, food and water. When three-fourths was given up the trade was to be opened ; and, lastly, when the whole was given up,ithe trade was to be continued. ( Hear.) Now, not one of those stipulations had been kept by the Chinese. The trade in tea had fresh restric tions put upon it, and instead of British subjects being allowed the same liberties they formerly had, their factories had been made garrisons. This was the state of things in Canton when Captain Elliot took upon himself the re sponsibility of delivering up the opium, and throwing on the British Government the question whether they wished their subjects to be treated in this way.—(Cheers.) The question then assumed other shapes. It happened that a Chinese subject was in a broil, in which both an American wed a British seaman was concerned. He met his death, and Captain Elliot proposed a joint investigation by the Chinese and British authorities, for the purpose of detect ing his murderer. This the Chinese Government refused; but they demanded the production, if not of the murderer, of one who might suffer for him. The Chinese authorities threatened extermination if an Englishman was not delivered up. The Chinese Admiral requested Captain Smith to remove his ships a little fur ther down the river. To this Captain Smith assented, anxious for peace.—( Hear, hear.) But then the Chinese Admiral endeavoured with twenty-nine war junks to inter cept the British frigaes. Against this, of course, Captain Smith took an objection, and desired their withdrawal. This was refused, and as they continued advancing he fired on, and sunk half a dozen.—( Cries of " Served them right," and much cheering.) Now those were to be re spected, undoubtedly, who objected to war, their senti men's called forth the best and purest of the sympathies of our nature. But the promoters of this meeting should be told that reprisals did not constitute war—( Hear)_. and no doubt the first proposal by those who conducted the expedition against the Chinese would be for enter ing into negotiations with the Chinese Government, and for entering into those diplomatic relations which it had hitherto refused, and if China still was deaf to their pacific and reasonable overtures, the appeal would justly be made to the God of Battles—(Cheers)—under whose Pro vidence, as truth and love were the strongest feelings, right and might would ultimately be united.—(Great uproar,) In conclusion, the worthy gentleman moved an alteration in th e amendment, to which as it stood he said he would not assent—that alteration being to the effect that the meeting regretted that the opium war " might have been the unhappy occasion, though not the cause, of reprisals against China."—(Cheers and laughter.) No oth er person o ff er ing to second the first am endment, the Noble Ch a i rman declared it to be unanimousl y ne gatived. Mr. APD oweee ca me forward to sec ond the second amendment, but he was met w ith such constant interrup tions from vari ous p ar ts of the room , a nd which were con_ tinued notwith stan di ng the frequent interference of the severely tried by Mr. The patien ce o f t h e meeting was Chairman, th a t not two consecutive senten ces of his s p eech were heard. APDowall persisting in his harangue, but the good temper of the audience was restored by Boatswain Smith, who with a half dozen of the children of his school occu pied one of the forms in the body of the meeting ex " Does the gentleman's soother Kno w he is out ?" Mr. APl:o.)watt hiving exhausted himse lf, retired, and The CHAIRMAN observed that he sh ould consider it an unpardonable waste of the time of the meetin g if he at tempted to answer anything that had been said by the mover of the first amendment. A s to the seconder uce of the second e second amendment, he had no t heard him any Laughter.)argument.—( he would not make one tleman, he would simply say that ind mon strous doctrine, which, though he was far advanced observation upon that new an,ears, he had for the first 3 With respect to the other gen_ ht b hear, and loud cheers.) considered as right.—Hear , give the gentleman Before he put the resolution he would . anything who had moved it an opportunity of explaining time in his life that day heard—that mig was to e be had said. A person in the body of the me etin g here rose, and said he had an amendment to move up on the amendment t hat had been mo ve d.—( Loud cries of " Order, " " Chai r.") He wished to know whether it was a public or a private meeting?—(Cries of " Order.") allusion to the wor d s Mr. RQBERTSON said a f e w words in explanation of his m i g ht constituting right." They had escaped him i n the course of an ex tem p ore address, and certainly he could not make such a statement unless in reference to the decrees of Providence, where truth and love were the strongest, and that in them might and right were identified.—( Hear, and cheers.) Mr. EVANS begged to say a few words before the reso lution was put. With reference to the statement of the gentleman who had last spoken, that the British Govern ment were entirely innocent of introducing opium to China. He should, however, read to the meeting one or two extracts from a document lately published, which would show that the British Government, so far from being entirely innocent of the crime of encouraging the smuggling of opium into China, had car ried on the trade under its patronage, and that application had, in consequence, been made to Parliament to put a stop to the trade ; the result of which was, that Parlia ment had voted that the trade should be discontinued. The pamphlet to which he alluded,had been written by a gen tleman who was well known in that metropolis—he meant Mr. Pryme—and it contained papers and documents of great authority upon the question they were met that day to discuss. He would read for them an extract from a letter received in the month of March last, not written by an Englishman, but by a native Hindoo. Mr. Evans here read an extract, the purport of which was, that the Red Rover and the Sir Edward Ryan, two vessels, had lately arrived in Calcutta from China, and had both sailed two or three days previously to the date of the letter, the former with 1,000, and the latter with 700 chests of opium on board, armed to the teeth, and well manned. That they had sailed out of a British port, under the sanction of the British Government, their avowed object being to land and sell their opium upon the coast of China at all hazards.--LA gentleman on the platform ceded out—" What authority have you for that statement ?"I—He had the authority of the gentleman whese name he had before stated to the meeting, Mr. Pryme. He would tell them further, that under the sanc tion of the British Government, the British Indian Go vernment possessed a monopoly of the opium trade with China.--( Cries of " Ycs," " No," cheers and uproar.) During the last year 20,000 chests of opium, with the knowledge and sanction of the British Government, had been shipped to the ports of China. Would the advocates of that trade assert that it was quite lawful and proper in the British Government to sanction the export of opium, which had been denounced by the Chinese authorities?— ( Hear, hear, hear.) They had no right to sanction or encourage that illicit traffic, and persevere in such a course of smuggling in the teeth of the denunciations of the Chinese themselves. This being the state of the case, he would read a very short extract. (The Noble Chairman objected to this, and in timated the speaker should give the purport of it.) When he heard gentlemen make objections, and argue as the gentleman who had moved the resolution before the meet ing had done, he could not resist the desire to contradict th, rn. He would refer to the report of a Committee to Parliament, in 1832, in which the Committee represented that the Opium Trade was so valuable, that it was not expedient to give it up, to which report Parliament as sented. After this it was absurd for the English Govern ment to assert they were innocent of encouraging the Opium Trade in China. We were placed then in this difficulty, and here he did not make the charge exclusively against the present Government, but against past Governments also, all of whom were guilty of the encouragement of this trade,—( Cheers.) But for the encouragement given to the trade by British Governments, it never would have been, as it was, the most important branch of our trade with China. But we ought to consider what was to be done under the circumstances in which we were placed. Gentlemen had talked lightly of the war with China, and called it merely reprisals. Why the last letter received from Calcutta stated that an armament of 10,000 men was equipped for this service. (A voice, " 16,000.) Could any one suppose that 10,000 or 16,000 men could be sent to China to make reprisals without occasioning blood-shed ? Were then was the use of the distinction drawn between reprisals and war? For his part, he thought it a distinction without a difference, and he thought they ought not to cover, under the name of reprisals, a war which, if called war, no honest man would ever attempt to justify. The Rev, J. BURNETT (who was received with loud cheers) said, he would be the last man to attempt to pre vent any person from speaking, he had been sitting there with great patience calling " order," and every thing he could call, to induce the meeting to listen to the gentle men who had endeavoured to address the meeting. His impression was, that a meeting by listening, was much more likely to come to a speedy decision on the question at issue, than otherwise. He had frequently known meetings under the influence of some little degree of very natural impatience at the statements, or rather the incompetency of rraking any, of the speakers—(Laughter)—interrupt him, and thus keep him up by complaining and speaking of the interruption, while, if he had been left to himself, he would have broke down. They were kept up by inter ruption, and all they had to say was about it ; and if they were allowed to speak of anything else, they could not speak at all. He did not make this observation of all the speakers who had addressed the meeting, for he thought the gentleman who had moved the amendment before the meeting had spoken fairly. Bethought he had taken the ground that he might have been expected to take. —( Hear.) He thought he had spoken candidly, honestly, and in that way he liked an opponent to speak. With re gard to what he said of the gentleman opposite renouecing his country, he thought he had mistaken his:friend's mean ing. He had only renounced his country's crimes ; and if his country would not renounce them, he said he would be ready to renounce it too. And he was right. Who would , not rather be an honest Chinese than a dishonest Briton ? —(Cheers.) But the gentleman who had made this mistake, after he had closed his speech, moved an amendment that the word " British" should be turned into " Chinese"—he who had such an abhorrence of converting a Britain into a Chinese, pro prosed the word " British " should be translated " Chi nese."—( Laughter.) Very odd things occurred. some times on the platform, especially when individuals at tempted to defend the cause of injustice. He did not wonder at it. He did not wonder that the loftiest mind quailed when it came forward as the apologist of the opium trade. He would say, in reply to the mover of the amendment, that he had not taken along with him the whole of the case. He had said that this was not an opium war, but only the occasion ?—(Mr, Robertson, " Not an opium war.") The Hon. Gentleman repeated his words in order that there should be no doubt upon the subject. Now, if he were to repeat every word that he uttered in the same way, it would take up just double the time—( Cheers and laughter)— which might not, perhaps, be agreeable to the meeting.— ( Laughter.) He would grant that every man had a right to speak ; but every man had not a right to be heard. If that were the case there would be no end to speaking. They might compel time meeting to remain to-day and to morrow, until they became in as bad a plight as Captain Elliot and his companions, if every person had a right to compel a meeting to submit to the infliction of long speeches.—(Laughter.) Let them, then, now look to the opium question, and see whether it was not a cause of reprisals, as he supposed he must call it, and perhaps they were now talking of reprisals, while the houses at Canton were falling beneath our cannon and shells..—(A voice in the meeting, " Serve them right.") Serve them right I Here was a man who approved of the war, and afraid that he should not have time to give expression to that approba tion when he (Mr. B.) had done. That person had inter rupted him to express that approbation in a parenthesis.— ( Cheers and laughter.) He should be sorry to say any persons were rightly served if shells and cannon balls were showered about their houses, and thousands of immortal beings hurried into eternity.—( Hear.) He should be sorry to say that any persons thus served were served right. If he were an inhabitant of Pandemonium, he might delight in such a scene ; but as he did not belong to that degraded portion of the intellectual race, fora portion of the intellectual race they were, he could not say servo them right.—( Cheers.) What had the greatest hero that this or any other age had ever produced—what had the Duke of Wellington—(Loud cheers)—said on this sub ject. He had seen many shells burst, and many houses fall—he knew full well the terrible vengeance which the British military power could inflict, and lie had said we must not force our trade on the Chinese.--( Cheers.) But it had been said, we must not look upon the opium Tees tion as a cause, but simply as an occasion. lie would ask what had been done by the Chinese themselves recently. A Governor, and a Lieutenant- Governor, had always been resident at Canton, and it had been found that all that they had done to put down this traffic had been insuf ficient, and Commissioner Lin, a High Commissioner, a superior authority, had been sent down by the Chinese Government to Canton specially to put down the opium e ado. In consequence of this opium traffic, Commissioner Lin had been induced to take the steps which he had taken. lie did not blame Captain Elliott for doing what he had done—shutting himself up with the British merchants— knowing that the Chinese authorities must answer for their success with their heath. When he saw the Captain gal lantly going into the factory to be imprisoned with his fellow-countrymen he might not blame him ; but what was the consequence? Why they were told that the con dition of their liberation was the giving up their illicit goods, which were then in the Chinese waters. That pro mise had been kept by Commissioner Lin, and when the op'urn had been given up he had not kept Captain Elliot or his companions. He would allow that the Chinese had insulted us ; he would allow that it was not consistent with the principles of straightforward justice to compel persons to answer for their success with their heads. But we knew the laws of China before we went there, and he contended that from opium, and opium alone, had all this arisen. They might call this if they pleased reprisals, but what he would ask was the nature of reprisals ? His friend had , made a distinction between that and war. That distinc tion in his opinion was, the difference between the volume and the preface.—( Cheers.) They were both bound up together in the same book.—( Cheers.) It sometimes did happen that reprisals were not followed by war, but by negotiation and peace; but let him remember that before orders were issued for reprisals, there ought to exist a full justification of war.—( Cheers.) They ought therefore to take no advantage of the fact that they were only in a state of reprisals with China. Now, what was the practice of reprisals? Why we should go to China with our boats up the Bocce Tigris, and enter into the Chinese waters with every article of warfare on board.—( Hear, and cheers.) We should go there. telling them that we were ready to fire ; but then it might be said that was not firing—that might be all very well, but then he was one who would never do that until he had a righteous cause. If they could blow down the walls of Canton righteously let them say so, but do not let them say that they were going to do so when they had no righteous cause in view. For his own part, he believed that reprisals against a semi-barbarous people were worse than war itself, —( Cheers.) He was not prepared to write, in horrid car nage, the word " reprisals" upon the people of China. In the time of Charles the First the country made an attempt at China, and prowled about her coasts to see what she could get, and was it, therefore, to be wondered at, though years had gone by, that China should think we were fol lowing the same course again. Well, then, under these cir cumstances the question came to be, what was to be d one ? It was true th e E as t India Company did force the opium into Chi na , b u t they paved the way for its embarka tion in India, and that at a time whea they knew i t h a d been de c l are d ill ega l i n China. Captain Elliot might say to the High Commissioner Lin, that he had n u t caused opium to be sent to China, that it was not done by t h e East India C om p an y, but by private part ies. What wo u ld Commissioner Lin say to that? Private individuals, in- 1 deed ! why the Company's marks arc on their chests— (Cheers)—it is grown on their soil, and it is sent to us by them. The fact was the people of China were not getting bread for their tea, but opium.—( Loud cheers.) It had been said that the present Governmeut had cleared itself from all blame; he did not think that such could be stated to be the case. The trade had been going on for years. They had had all sorts of Governments during that time—they had had the Blue, Whites, and Grey Governments, and all the talents, the Whigs and the Tories, and all, in his opinion, were to blame for allowing this infamous traffic to go on. Ever since 1796 the British Cabinets had neglected preventing the opium traffic in China, as they might easily have done by preventing the growth of opium in British India. ( Hear, hear.) The great East India Company had the monopoly of this growth, and they kept the Hindoos alive, it would seem, by employing them in raising poison to kill the Chinese.—( Hear, hear.) That was the way this " Honourable" Company proceeded—( Hear, hear)—and their shipments of opium kad increased from 3,000 chests to 30,000 chests. Under these cir cumstances, when Commissioner Lin came down with high powers to suppress the trade, was it to be pre tended that the events which had occurred, and were to occur, had nothing to do with the opium trade ?—( Hear, hear.) China bad found she could not trust in " barba rians," as she called us, and that we had given her too good reason to consider us,—(Hear, hear.) They had thus been excited to measures against us. It was said thet the trade was valuable, worth four millions a-year. Why a company of thieves would doubtless, if established, find it a very profitable concern—(Laughter)—but would it he considered a tolerable excuse, that it was a serious thing to touch the concern, it was so profitable?— ( Laughter.) We had no right to force a trade on any country.—( Hear, hear, ) As to security for future trade, what right had we to demand it? What security could China owe us?—( hear, hear.) If she desired all our ships and people to quit her shores for ever, what right had we to object to it ?—(llear, hear.) If we found, therefore, anything in our intercourse with China to which we objected, let us discontinue the intercourse.—( Hoar. ) He was sorry that one gentleman had said that the British subjects had nothing to do with this trade. He was ob liged to take notice of such a subterfuge. Our merchants left their opium down at Lintin in the receiving ships, just as thieves did in receiving houses, those goods which it would be inconvenient for them to have them found upon their persons.—( Laughter.) From these ships the drug was brought in fast rowing boats, manned by despera docs,who being fully armed, brought it up at all hazards, and was the cause of gross outrages, and frequently the loss of life. What would they think of receiving ships being sta tioned down at Sheerness filled with smuggled goods, and the proprietors of those goods were to come up to London and give orders to desperadoes to arm themselves to go down, and at all events, and at all hazards, bring those goods up, in spite of the laws aid of its officers, the Custom House officers ?—(Cheers.) That was the real question, and how then could any gentleman, knowing these things, come forward with such a subterfuge. It only showed that the trade in the drug contaminated all who in any way were connected with it. If gentlemen would sell themselves to Mammon let them do so ; if they were determined, he (Mr. B.) would not put hands upon them to prevent them; even had he the power he would not issue out any reprisals against them—( A laugh)—he might dissuade them from it, but if they would sell them selves, let them do so with all the risks attendant upon the sale, and with a perfect readiness to meet all the results that must flow from it.—(Loud cheers.) It was said that, although the trade might be put down at Canton, yet it would spread all along the coasts of China and spread its desolation wider. They would be benefited in no way by a war. He still hoped there would be no war—it might, however come, but they must go further, and say they were protesting against the reprisals, or the war it was likely to produce. The causes of the reprisals or the war ought to be taken essay. Let them go to the Chinese and say, "We have swept the whole of the drug from your seas, and no more shall leave any of the ports of England—no more opium shall be smuggled into China by us." Let them do this, and he had not the least doubt that Commissioner Lin would at once say—" The grand object of my mission has been obtained—l shall report your words at Pekin—the trade shall be opened at once," and there would be no diffi culty in dealing with the Chinese. Let them go on in this way—take away the great bone of contention and strife, and even then, if the Chinese will nut deal with us —even then he held that we had no right to go to war, or say to them " you must." They might be more a moral and religious nation, even if they were not so much a com mercial nation—it was not necessary that we should be so much a commercial nation, but it was necessary that " we should do unto others as we would wish them to do unto us." It had been said that we might act in Canton as we had in India, where we had conquered nearly the whole country, but at the expense of multitudes of lives. They could not remain in Canton by force—it was impossible ; for the Chinese would:bring down their teeming mul titudes and drive them from the country.—(Cheering.) If thousands should fall after thousands, let it be remem bered that China was not like India, a divided empire, with a variety of castes, but a united and mighty people, with a government not likely to be broken up, and which had stood the teat of thousands of years.—( Cheers.) Let it not be said that the British nation was invincible, and that they were a natioa of semi-barbarians. What did the Romans when carrying on their wars with the barba rians of the north: Did they not disperse them and hunt them down as wild beasts by the aid of the legions of the empire; but, eventually, these northern tribes burst from their woody fastnesses, and came down upon the mightiest empire the world ever saw, and scattered its might and its power before the winds.--( Loud cheers.) One word with respect to the amendments that had been moved. He trusted that these gentlemen would not persevere in interrupting the proceedings of the meeting which was not disposed to hear them. Let them not make the question they had met to discuss a mere struggle of passion, and endeavour to put down by clamour the feeling of the meeting.—( Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Burnett) had no party feelings what ever, and he believed the question had nothing whatever to do with party politics.—( Cheers.) In his opinion, whatever political party was at the :head of affairs, their position with regard to China would be just what it at present was.—(Hear, hear.) He could feel for Captain Elliot, and apologise for him. He could feel for Com missioner Lin, and apologise for him ; but he could not apologise for the smuggling of opium.—( Hear, hear.) He could apologise in some respects for the smugglers, because their conduct was the result of the vicious habits which had been persevered in from generation to genera tion, under the influence and sanction of those who had been accumulating wealth, which might soon " make to itself wings to flee away."--( Cheers.) He would urge upon the meeting the vast importance of carrying the reso lution before it, so that the abominable traffic would have its due prominence. He was anxious to disabuse the minds of those who imagined that the present was a question of faction. He (Mr. Burnett) had nothing to do with any party or any faction. He had never received, he never hoped or expected to receive, nor would he accept a gift from any Government, either Whig or Tory. Under these circumstances lie hoped that the proceedings of the meeting would not be disturbed by a few individuals who differed from the vast majority in opinion.—( Cheers.) If amendment was to follow amendment, and two or three persons were to become standing speakers for the purpose of replying-, rejoining, and answering, the result would be nothing but confusion.--( Hear, hear.) They might as well open the cannon of reprisals on them at once, which would only cut short their time, while their perseverance in addressing the meeting without any spe c:tie object, would only waste the time of all present. —( Cheers.) The Rev. Gentleman concluded, amidst loud cheers, by strenuously supporting the resolution. The amendment and the resolution were then put to the meeting from the chair, but the latter was carried by a triumphant majority amidst great cheering. Mr. ALEXANDER with great pleasure moved the second resolution. Ile was himself a trader, and he felt that the character of Englishmen, and the character of Eng lish commerce, had been degraded by the part which Bri tish merchants had taken in the opium traffic, and by the part which the East India Company had taken in growing that article.—( Cheers.) He had read with feelings of shame that cheers followed the demand made by the mer chants ir. the House of Commons for war with China ; but he was persuaded that if the friends of humanity and religion had been beard, a different feeling would have been created.—(Hear, hear.) Even looking at the matter in regard to our manufactures and commerce, he con tended that the measures which had been taken by the Go vernment, and in which this country was now engaged, were calculated to produce the most serious injury to our commerce.—( Hear.) The traffic in opium had prevented the introduction of British manufactures into China.— ( Hear, hear.) He could scarcely believe that men could be found who would sympathize in a war waged by a powerful nation against a people who were ignorant of the truths of Christianity, and who, by the measures that were about to be taken, were likely to be estranged more, if possible, from the truths of our holy religion. The in troduction of opium for a long course of years had caused the present reprisals, and he was astonished to learn that Lord John Russell had stated in the House of Commons, that one of the measures sought from China, was the reim bursement of the amount of opium seized by the Chinese Government, and which had been attempted to be smuggled into China, thus making the British Government the confederates of smugglers.—(Cheers.) In the cause in which they had that day assembled, their legitimate commerce, their reasonable luxuries, the interests of humanity and of their holy religion, were involved. He believed there was among the Christian portion of the people of this country, a degree of energy which would induce Parliament to abstain from waging a most unrighteous war.—( Loud cheers.) Ile begged to conclude by moving, " That, although the Chinese have not been heard in their defence, the statements adduced by the advocates of the war clearly establish time fact, that the East East India Company, the growers of, and traffickers in, opium, and British subjects who received the protec tion of the laws of China, have been :thoughout the wrong-doers; therefore, this meeting (without reference to the conviction of many, that all war is opposed to the spirit and precepts of the Gospel), holds it to be the bounden duty of the Government immediately to effect an equitable and pacific settlement of,the existing differences with China." Mr. EAGLE seconded the resolution, which was cirried with but one dissentient voice. Dr. MARTIN BARRY, F. R. S., said—lle was appointed tc move the next resolution, and in doing so he felt it was quite unnecessary for him to do more than to repeat it, which was accordingly all he would do. It was— " That all traffic in opium with the Chinese being con traband, the opium which was surrendered to their Go vernment was justly confiscated ; and that to demand pay ment from the Chinese—to make reprisals upon them—or for this country to give compensation to the British mer chants thus engaged in smuggling, would be to sanction, and even to grant a premium for, crime." Roar. R. MooRE, Esq., A.M., Barrister-at-law, rose to second the resolution. He thought every part of it had been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting. That the traffic in opium was contraband, contrary to the Chinese lew, and ther e f o r e j us tly confiscated ; and that it was con traband not only by their law, but by ours also. It was EVENING EDITION'. an established fact, that it was illicit by the law of both coun tries, and the same point was enforced by Commissioner Lin, who said there was more traffic in the single article. of opium than any other, but if they would refrain from it they would reap threefold profits, and go on acquiring wealth, neither violatiog the laws nor laying up store fur future evils. It had been stated there were hut. nine engaged in this traffic, but he had got the names of ttventy nine signed by themselves. There were 300 merchants in Canton, out of these about 200 were Englishmen, and he could not give the namea of ten who were not implicated, and it wa, remarkable that of these not one was injured by the Chinese—their lives were not endangered, nor were they kept without food. Here were the names of those engaged in the opium trade? The Learned Gentleman. then read a list of names, remarking upon that of Jardine and Company, that they were the owners of one•third of: the opium surrendered. However it might be attempted to conceal it, this was an opium war, and he had resolved. to state so throughout the country. He would tell the people of this country, as it really was, that this was an opium war.--( Loud cheers.) JOHN SCORLR, Esq., then moved, and the Rev. W. BEAN seconded, the next resolution—" That the petition now read be adopted by this meeting, and presented to both Houses of Parliament ; and that the Right llon• Earl Stanhope be requested to present the same to the House of Lords, and Lord Sandon to the House of Com mons." Tire petition, which embodied the resolutions, was then read and agreed to. Mr. STURGE would not on any ordinary occasion have felt it his duty to bring forward a proposition which was contained in the resolution he held in his hands, and per haps lie should be reminded by some that it was treason to correspond with the enemies of the Queen; to such, he would however, reply, that the Ministers of the Crown would not admit we were at war with China, and surely the Government which would plunge us into such a war through the influence which opium smugglers exercised upon the counsels of the nation, are far more the ene mies of the Queen than the Emperor of China; and was t not the duty of every one, of whatever religious denomi nation, solemnly to protest against such a war as this , although not prepared with him to condemn all war as forbidden under the Christian dispensatio n And if their legislators treated their remonstrances with contempt and indifference they ought at least to take every means in their power to let the Chinese know it was not the disciples of him whose doctrine the Christian Mis sionaries preached, who were engaged in their destruction , but a party in power who, while professing the name pos sessed not the spirit of Christianity. He would, therefore, beg to move " That the resolutions of this meeting be published at the discretion of the Committee ; and that a copy of them , in the Chinese language, be transmitted, through th e High Commissinner Lin, to the Emperor of China." Dr. HODGKIN would only occupy the time of the meet ing a very few minutes. He cordially seconded the reso lution. He thought it was due to the Christian inhabitants of this country to show the Pagan inhabitants of China that they were not all the barbarians the Chinese suppose d them to be—that they were not all the patrons of smugglers. Many arguments would, doubtless, be urged after the meeting- should be broken up against the object for which they were assembled. If time allowed, many of those ar guments might have been anticipated, and he would heg, the meeting to recollect that not one could be adva nce d but what could be triumphantly answered. It behove d every Christian to come forward to repudiate the :lets of men by whom Christianity was disgraced. Chris tianity ought not to suffer through their cupidity. W hile on this subject Ire would observe that it would b e well for the cause of Christianity, if not among the Chinese only , but among the Aborigines of other countries, we were to put ourselves forward in the light of protectors of their rights and exposers of their wrongs. The CII4IRHAN, in putting the resolution, would m ake , out a single observation in reference to the remar k Mr. STuitor, that it was treason to correspond " c e the Queen's enemies—an objection which if valid sc go against the adoption of the resolution. It was no treason to correspond with the Queen's enemies, even after a declaration of war, if that correspondence were con ducted through the Queen's advisers. Ile would supP ese a case, that a subject of this realm should wish to visit the dominions of a country with which we were. engaged in hostilities—he would be justified la sending through the Secretary of State an application to that foreign power to furnish him with passports ; se condly, he would observe with regard to this resolution, it did not fix any precise time for the communi cation to be made. If a short suspension of hosti lities took place it might be made forthwith, provided it were made with the full knowledge of the Queen! Government. If hostilities should have commen een preceded by a declaration of war, this communication might be made hereafter. He thought that this war "f One of the most flagitious, nnjust, and disgraceful t hat has ever been entered into, and if continued, we should bee, no ground of complaint against France for her sp irit aggrandisement and ambition, or against the nations of th o; South of Europe,for want of faith, but the meeting wasbedr their hands of this guilt, and would not be responsible fo the blood, crimes, and calamities which would ensue; but would show the Chinese Government whatever might h e the crime of this Government, there was one portion t their fellow-citizens who had loudly remonstrated and peti tioned against it.—( Cheers.) On the motion of Mr. SIDNEY TAYLOR, the Noble Chairman signed the petition on behalf of the meeting. Mr. EAGLE moved, and Mr. BROWN seconded, r< vo te of thanks to the Noble Chairman, which was carried una nimously. Earl STANHOPE returned thanks. He felt greatly the honour that had been done him. He could claim no merit or deserve any thanks for having endeavoured to discharge the duty he owed to his fellow-citizens, with whom, on that and on every other occasion, he was proud to co-operate in all that could promote their prosperity and welfare. He be lieved if there was any measure more disgraceful to the character or detrimental to the interests of this country , and which had led to incalculable calamities, it was a wa r with China.--(Cheers.) The meeting separated shortly after Five o'clock. FIRE AND Loss OF LIFE.-On Friday se' i n" night, at mid-day, a cottage at Alendham, the propertY of Air ' E. Buckenhain, commonly called Noall'i Ark, situated on high land by the banks of the Waveny, was destroyed by fire , r an n d i melancholy to relate, one of the inmates, Hannah, the whe - Mark Butcher, was so much injured by the flames, that she expired the following day. It , appeared that the deceased had been for several years past afflicted with gloom an" heaviness of mind, and, in the present unfortunantl instance, had been left alone, her husband a lj family being employed in field work. It is presumed that her, clothes ignited by sitting too close to a scanty fire; she tou t ' then have escaped from the room she had been sitting in, b ei l found in a shed, which was on fire, adjoining the tenement, WI all her vestments consumed except the shoes on her feet, literally scorched to death. All the household requisites of the poor inmates were burnt or destroyed by the unruly elem en i The Rev. W. Donnison, Curate of the parish, has benevolent Y headed a subscription for the indigent sufferers, which has b e , e d " kindly responded to by the principal inhabitants. —E esex gerai the APPREHENSION OF A ROBBER.—On - 22d January a valuable horse and chaise were stolen from the farm of Mr. Sladden, at Eastry, and although 3 01 . reward wa: offered, no clue could be obtained until a few days since' whe ,•s. one of the parties concerned in the robbery, not feeling• fled with his share of the booty, gave information to _ Sladden, who at length succeeded in finding in I3erkshifr few London omnibus, and his chaise at Reading, One of the parties is in custody, and will be examined in a e days. —Maidstwie Gazette. his horse !ilea GOLD WATCHES, £B. Bs. each. finished Horizontal Cold Watches, jewelled in four enamel dial, hand to mark the seconds, &e. Eight e 6l/ 7i l e ' u t each. Thes e ele g a n t little Wat c hes will be found time-keepers, and a printed warranty is given with fi red on which they will always receive Pry attention requ ired. I'. COX SAVORY, Watchmaker, J ewe ll er , an d Silversmith, 47, Cornb ill (Sc'en Doors from Grac ec hurch-street), London. N. 11. —Second-hand Watches purchased in exch an g e. r s, term SHEFFIELD MADE PLATED DIS - ;,, t VERS.—A. B. SAVORY and SONS, Goldsmiths , "(!", fnr Cornhill, London, opposite the Bank f England, sub,q," E F.. selection, in their show-rooms, a very large variety of S" HELD SILVER-PLATED DISH COVERS, from Ynd teen Guineas the set ; they have silver edges and han dles, silver shields for engravinw the crest or coat of arms. Double Dome Pattern. ' 'l'lle Melon Pattern. _a. s. 0. Size. X 17 0 1 Plated Dish Covers 20 in. 513 ti ted Dish Cover, 20 in• s Al 4 ti „ Dish Cover, IS in. 47ii 1 Dish Cover, 1S fl• 0 2 „ Dish Covers, 14 in. 512 0 2 Di s k tovers,l4 (z.„...1,i Per Set £ls 13 0 Per 5et...... 11.4 Plated Currie or Hash Dishes Seven Guineas the Set.. 3 Price Current, Stamped as a Newspaper, contain in g dra%e nf and every information relative to the purchase of silveeor 0 the field plate, may be had on application, or will be stint the country, free of postage, in answer to a paid letter. IED. On the 23d inst., at 1 SVlt. P AR an R cras new.' church, J. r, e ldest man, Esq., of Kentish-town, to Ann Oliver Evans , Tot . daughter of the late Richard Whitcomb, f o rmed)" 0f tenham, and Chi e f I ns p ec t or o f P u b lic A cco unts.' On the 23d his, at St. Jhn's, Padtiington, , Rawcs, Esq., M.D., t of Upper Geor o ge-street, 13rvans ton-s9O , a n r e i, to Henrietta, widow o f th e l ate It . A. Cott l e, ts(l', °f u. vars-itin, and Hampton, Aliddlese 1 On the 2:3klinst., at St. fides 's, Camberwell, Joh n n l i ter Esq., of North Brix ton, surgeon, to Catherine, eldest daug of the late Samuel Mendharn, Esq. H enry On the 2.3 d inst., at St. Gorfre's, ° coo- Grainger, Esq., of Last-hill, Wandsworth-comn'°"' to r 13 ' 01. , line, daughter of the late William Flower, Esq. , of U PP, A e k“ex• ford-place, Russell-square, and of Harefield-grove, 3 1 i ( '" 11, of On the 23d inst., at St. MiAael's, Mr. Robert Chur.t urphain, Wilts, t o A nn , secon d d a ughter of Mr. T homas Thorne, of Cornhill. On the 15th inst., Mr.Chair4lelsScoles, late of aged 43. On the 19th inst., Hackney, John Graham,Esq" at Birchin-lane. On the 21st inst., at Ramsgate, Alexander Ellice, Esq'' barrister-at-law, aged 28. On the 21st inst., at Upper Eaton-street, Pimlico, John Dingle, Esq., aged 65. On the 2lst inst., at Blandford Cottage, Old Bromptoll, Henry Wakley, second son of Eenry J. 'fownsend, Esq., aged,.. On the 21st inst., at South-street, Greenwich, Mis . r , Stocker, aged 70. Loug..acre, On the 21st inst., Eiizabeth, relict of the Iste Mr. Joshus Garrett, of Shacklewell-lane, Kingsland, aged 79. „ I On the 21st inst., at Swansea, Robert Symonds, Esq. , v. Clapham-road, aged 30. On the 21st inst., at Grove-hill-terrace, Camberwell, Wil liam James Ashburner, aged nearly 2 years. On the 21st inst., at Hookwood, Surrey, Anna Catherine, wife of Vincent Hilton Biscoe, Esq.. aged 71. On the 22d init., Mrs. Smith, of Park-row, Greenwicli• On the 22d inst. , Th omas, eldest son of Captain D. Sutton, of Union place, New-road, aged 22. r Ho- On the 23d inst. , C lifton, son of Francis Rivaz, 0 . is wo od.grove, New Brompto n, a g e London, Jam es d 5. On the 22d inst., at Bolgra7e-square, p r ig sep, Esq., F. R. S., age2:1,....,....,,,„5„,,,gref a • .1 London : • Printed and Published by AIIIRDO Y'o n d "`' in the No. 112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No. I I", Stra county of ,Middlesex.—Saturday, April t. , 5, 1840. . -: I) li t ex} lkl t tY4 ( 11, Pi f. ' Ael