respective countries, which shall be faithfully observed by myself and my successors, as long as the world endures." 1

These treaties were submitted by the President to the Senate, and ratified by that body, and Mr. Roberts was sent out a second time in a man-of-war to exchange the ratifications. The ceremony attending the discharge of the duty in Siam was quite impressive. A procession was formed of the officers of the two naval vessels of the United States, which composed the expedition, headed by the envoy, and preceded by the ship's band, and in this pomp and display, the treaty was borne in a box by two officers to the bank of the river. An eye-witness of the ceremony continues the narrative: "Mr. Roberts took the treaty in his hand, and, after holding

it

up above his head in token of respect, delivered it to a Siamese officer. He also held it above his head, and then, shaded by a royal white silk umbrella borne by a slave, passed it into the boat, where it was received upon an ornamented stand, and, after covering it with a cone of gilt paper, it was placed beneath the canopy. At this moment our band ceased, and that of the Siamese began to play. The boat shoved off, and we turned our steps homeward to the merry tune of Yankee Doodle." 2

From Siam the squadron went to Canton, where the vessels received a warning from the Chinese authorities,

1 Roberts's Embassy, 360, 430.

2 3 Presidents' Messages, 53. A Voyage round the World, including an Embassy to Muscat and Siam, by Dr. Ruschenberger, Philadelphia, 1838, p. 319.

similar to the one on the former visit, and to which no attention was given. An oriental plague had broken out in the vessels, and Mr. Roberts was one of its victims, dying at Macao, June 12, 1836. He had acquitted himself with great credit on his delicate and difficult mission. He had at all times sustained the honor and dignity of the country in his intercourse with the governments of the East, which had been accustomed only to abasement and servility on the part of foreigners; but he also secured their good-will by a proper respect for established customs. He sacrificed his life for his country as truly as the soldier who dies upon the field of battle. His countrymen in recognition of his services have erected a monument over his grave at Macao, and a memorial window adorns St. John's Church, Portsmouth, N. H., the place of his birth. He has the honor of being the pioneer in the oriental diplomacy of the United States. His service was the opening chapter in the political intercourse of the nation with the peoples of Asia and the islands of the Pacific, which was destined to exercise a potent influence upon America and the world.

III

THE FIRST CHINESE TREATIES

Ir was not possible for the great empires of China and Japan to maintain permanently their policy of seclusion described in the preceding chapters. The maritime commerce of the world was rapidly increasing. The ships of Western nations were traversing all seas. The application of steam to navigation was beginning to bring the distant parts of the globe nearer together. It was contrary to the spirit of the age that a vessel in distress or requiring aid and supplies should be treated as an intruder in the ports of any people. The exchange of commodities was coming to be regarded as not only a legitimate transaction, but as one from which no nation had a right to exclude its inhabitants.

The efforts of China to resist the progress of the world in shipping and commerce were destined to an early and humiliating failure. The traffic carried on through Canton, notwithstanding its vexatious conditions, was increasing; and the Chinese people, realizing its advantages, were showing a marked interest in its growth. The unsatisfactory methods by which this trade was conducted could not fail, however, sooner or later, to bring about a conflict between the authorities and the foreign merchants or their governments; and it was plain that a radical change could be accomplished

only by force, as the Chinese authorities would not willingly make the necessary reforms. All the indications pointed to Great Britain as the power most likely to undertake this needed task. Her commerce was greater than that of any other, her growing possessions in India gave her increasing interest in the China trade, and her naval supremacy made her the natural champion of the world's commerce.

An event occurred at Canton in 1834 which pointed unmistakably to this result. The British East India' Company, which had maintained a monopoly of the English trade with China up to that time, withdrew its agents from Canton on April 22 of that year, and ceased to exercise control. By virtue of an act of Parliament William IV. nominated a commission to regulate the trade "to and from the dominions of the emperor of China, and for the purpose of protecting and promoting such trade." The commission consisted of Lord Napier as chief superintendent, and two associates, together with a numerous corps of agents and clerks. They reached Macao June 15, and ten days afterwards they landed at Canton, without having made the usual application from Macao to the Chinese customs authorities for the privilege to come to Canton.

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On June 25 a copy of the king's commission to Lord Napier and his associates was published in the Canton Register," and on the same day Lord Napier addressed a communication in the form of a letter to the governor of the city, informing him of the arrival of the commission, empowered to protect and promote British trade, and that he was "invested with powers, political

and judicial," and he asked for a personal interview at which he would more fully explain the object and duties of the commission. While this communication was being translated, Lord Napier was called upon by two of the hong merchants, in execution of an instruction from the governor that they should inform him of the existing regulations as to intercourse, which must be carried on through the hong merchants. Lord Napier summarily dismissed them, with the statement that he "would communicate immediately with the viceroy in the manner befitting his Majesty's commission and the honor of the British nation."

After the hong merchants took their departure, Lord Napier's letter to the governor was sent to the city gate of Canton by one of his staff, accompanied by several British merchants. At the gate they encountered Chinese officers, to whom they tendered the letter for delivery to the governor, but all of them refused to receive it. A messenger was dispatched to the governor reporting the situation, and after several hours other officers appeared, but none of them would even touch the letter, and the British official was forced to return with it to Lord Napier.

The reason given for the refusal to receive the letter to the governor was that it did not have on the superscription the usual word employed in Chinese official correspondence, to wit, "pin" (petition), which Dr. Martin, a high authority in such matters, says is "a word which in Chinese expresses abject inferiority." The governor, in reporting the event to the emperor, 1 A Cycle of Cathay, W. A. P. Martin, New York, 1896, p. 21.