opening of other ports to trade. In 1815 a British man-of-war with two consorts arrived off Tientsin, having on board Lord Amherst, governor-general of India, an able corps of assistants, and a numerous suite. They were received in great state en route, and escorted to Peking. On his arrival there Lord Amherst was informed that he must perform the kotou. This he refused to do, pleading the precedent of Lord Macartney's visit, but to no purpose. The Chinese were obdurate, and he returned to his man-of-war, and sailed away without seeing the emperor or discussing his business with the imperial ministers.[1]
This ended the efforts of Great Britain to establish diplomatic relations with China until an accumulation of causes brought the two nations into armed conflict, and marked the first step in the forcible opening of the great empire to intercourse with the outside world. It was the aggressive spirit and the violent conduct of the European nations which led the Chinese to close their ports against foreign commerce, and, after two centuries of seclusion, it was a like influence of aggression and violence on the part of the same nations which was destined to compel the Chinese to reverse their policy and again to open their ports to the world. The first act of the drama was played before the United States had an existence. It will be our task to study the part which the young republic has taken in the second act.
- ↑ Journal of Embassy to China, by Henry Ellis, London, 1817; 2 Hist. China, Gutzlaff, 207; 1 The Chinese, Davis, 95.
