CHINESE  HISTORY:  THIRD  PERIOD

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courtesy,  but  the  real  attitude  of  the  Chinese  was  shown  by
the  fact  that  the  boat  upon  which  he  was  conveyed  to  Peking
bore  an  inscription  on  its  flag  signifying  that  he  was  a  tributebearer
  from  England.  On  his  journey  from  Tientsin  to
Peking  the  question  was  raised  as  to  his  willingness  to  perform ­
  the  kotow.  This  he  positively  refused  to  do  unless
a  Chinese  official  of  equal  rank  with  himself  would  perform
a  similar  obeisance  to  a  portrait  of  George  III.  Finally  the
point  was  waived,  and  he  was  permitted  to  have  two  interviews ­
  with  the  Emperor,  not  however  at  Peking,  but  in  the
garden  of  the  palace  at  Jehol.  Consent  was  given  to  the
English  to  carry  on  trade  at  Canton,  on  condition  that  they
submitted  to  the  regulations  imposed  by  the  provincial
officials.
In  the  reign  of  the  following  Emperor,  Kia  King  (1796-1820),
  the  English  Government  sent  another  embassy  to
China  under  Lord  Amherst  (1816).  When  he  arrived  at
Tungchow,  on  his  way  to  the  capital,  he  received  word  that
the  Emperor  would  see  him  in  the  Summer  Palace  outside
of  Peking,  and  that  he  was  to  hasten  there  with  all  dispatch.
As  soon  as  he  had  completed  the  journey  he  was  summoned
to  an  audience.  Lord  Amherst  rather  impolitically  pleaded
fatigue,  and  the  non-arrival  of  his  baggage  containing  his
court  dress,  and  begged  to  have  the  audience  postponed.
This  roused  the  resentment  of  the  Emperor,  who  immediately
refused  to  hold  any  further  negotiations  with  him,  and  curtly
ordered  him  to  return  to  Canton.  Thus  the  mission  ended
in  a  humiliating  failure.
From  the  reign  of  Charles  L,  trade  with  China  on  the
part  of  England  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  East  India
Company.  This  monopoly  came  to  an  end  in  1834,  and
then  the  British  Government  decided  to  put  the  trade  with
China  on  a  different  footing.  Accordingly,  Lord  Napier
was  appointed  as  commercial  representative  of  the  British
Government  in  China.
Hitherto  all  commercial  transactions  had  been  carried
on  by  the  English  through  a  committee  of  native  merchants
known  as  the  Co-Hong,  and  with  the  Hoppo,  a  commissioner