At Lintin Sir George remained enthroned in the very centre of the hated opium traffic, which the other Superintendents equally loathed as a source of disgrace and danger. Sir George, though residing in the midst of the opium dealers, was no admirer of the opium trade. On the contrary, he expressly applied to Lord Palmerston for orders to authorize him to prevent British vessels engaging in this traffic. Sir George fondly imagined then that he would be able to enforce such orders. But the opium consumption had by this time already assumed such dimensions and gained such popularity on the Chinese side, that no power on earth, whether British or Chinese, could have stopped either the demand by the Chinese people or the supply by the foreign shipping. Very properly, therefore, Sir George further advised Lord Palmerston (February 5, 1836) that 'a more certain method would be to prohibit the growth of the poppy and manufacture of opium in British India.'
Throughout his tenure of the office of Chief Superintendent (January 22, 1835, to December 14, 1836), Sir George B. Robinson had no communication with the Hong Merchants nor with the Cantonese Authorities, who rigidly adhered to their determination not to recognize the presence of any foreign official. When the crew of the Argyle were seized on the Chinese coast and detained (January 25, 1835), Captain Elliot went to Canton (February 4, 1835) and demanded their liberation. He was curtly ordered to leave Canton, but the crew was set at liberty (February 18, 1845). On February 23, 1835, the Canton officials made a public demonstration of their determination to carry out the Imperial edict (of November 7, 1834) and, having seized some chests of opium, burned them in public. In private, however, they continued to connive at and to foster the opium trade, and commerce continued quietly throughout the year. In autumn (October 16, 1835) Sir G. B. Robinson wrote to the Duke of Wellington, to whom he looked as his patron rather than to Lord Palmerston, that he had never in the slighest degree perceived any disposition
4
