CHAPTER II.
International Relations.
A.D. 1625 to 1834.
uring the whole period above reviewed, the relations between the Chinese Government and the East India Company had been conducted on the express understanding, which for nearly two centuries was tacitly acquiesced in by the Company, that China claims the sovereignty over all under heaven; that trade, whether retail or wholesale, is a low degrading occupation, fit only for the lower classes beneath the contempt of the Chinese gentry, literati and officials; but that the Emperor of China, as the father of all human beings, is merciful even to barbarians, and as their existence seems to depend upon periodical supplies of silk, rhubarb and tea, the Emperor permits the foreign traders at Canton to follow their base instincts and allows them to make money for themselves by this trade, subject to official surveillance, restrictions and penalties. At the same time, though permitted to reside at intervals in the suburbs of Canton, foreigners must not suppose that they are the equals even of the lowest of the Chinese people; they must not presume to enter the city gates under any pretext whatever, nor travel inland, nor take into their service any natives except those belonging to the Pariah caste of the boat population (known as Ham-shui), forbidden by law to live on shore or to compete at literary examinations. So long as the Company's Supercargoes, and other foreign .merchants resorting to Canton, silently accepted the degrading
