Page:Chinese account of the Opium war (IA chineseaccountof00parkrich).pdf/96

clamour for either peace or war; but no one, strange to say, ever recommended a strictly defensive attitude. Again, fighting was neglected when fighting was proper, and indulged in when out of place: so, also, peace was neglected when peace was proper, and peace was decided for exactly at the wrong time. Such defensive measures as we took were taken at wrong places, and neglected where really required. Instead of putting herself on the defensive, Canton went in wildly for peace; and instead of putting himself on the defensive, Yikshan went in wildly for war: whilst, again, Yen Peh-t‘ao, Yük‘ien, and Niu Kien went in for wildly defending indefensible places. If they had only known how to take advantage of the ground, guard the inner waters, strengthen their fortifications, drill their best troops, prepare a store of com- bustibles, and lay a series of ambushes, like Lin and Têng did at the Bogue and Amoy! They should have appeared unable to conquer, and then waited to see if the enemy could give them the opportunity to conquer; when they could have fought on the defensive, or remained on the defensive whilst treating. If they had fought on the defensive, they would have had the benefit of other troops besides our own;–for instance, the French and Americans, and also the Ghoorkas, as far as setting foreign enemy against foreign enemy goes: and they would