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selves  ;  and  the  Portuguese  interposed  obstacles  and  misrepresented ­
  matters  to  the  Chinese  authorities  in  such  a
way,  that  Weddell’s  fleet  was  fired  on  from  the  Bogue  Forts.
A  good  answer  was  made,  and  in  the  end  Weddell  was
allowed  to  obtain  a  cargo.  The  next  attempt  was  in  1664,
when  one  ship  was  sent  to  Macao,  but  returned  without
a  cargo.  Trade  was  opened  with  Formosa,  not  then  under
the  Imperial  authority,  and  in  1677  one  small  ship  was
sent  to  Amoy.  In  1678  the  ships  took  “  trading  goods  ”
valued  at  ¿4,000  and  ¿6,000  in  specie,  and  brought  back
silks,  rhubarb,  and  spelter.  The  Amoy  post  was  abandoned
in  1681  and  re-established  for  a  short  time  in  1685.  The
English  were  unable  to  obtain  a  footing  at  Canton  before
1684,  and  even  then  could  do  little  trade  owing  to  the
opposition  of  the  Portuguese,  an  important  item  in  the
budget  of  the  colony  of  Macao  consisting  of  presents  to
the  Chinese  officials,  given  to  secure  a  monopoly.  The
trade  prospered,  however,  little  by  little,  until  in  1701  the
“  investment  ”  for  Canton  amounted  to  ¿40,800,  while
that  for  Amoy  was  ¿34,400.  In  1701  an  unprofitable
attempt  was  made  to  trade  at  Ningpo.  At  Canton  in  1702
a  beginning  was  made  of  what  afterward  developed  into  the
“  Hong  ”  or  “  Factory  ”  system.  The  English  trade  with
China  was  in  the  hands  of  the  East  India  Company  until
the  abolition  of  its  monopoly  in  1834,  all  other  English
merchants  trading  under  the  Company’s  license.  The  first
British  embassy  to  Peking  was  that  of  Lord  Macartney  in
I 793.  which  was  well  and  honorably  received,  but  produced
no  practical  result  ;  and  the  second  was  that  of  Lord
Amherst  in  1816,  who  did  not  secure  an  audience,  owing
to  regrettable  misunderstanding.  The  third  was  that  of
Lord  Napier  in  1834,  whose  necessary  assertion  of  the
sovereignty  and  dignity  of  his  country  led,  in  the  natural
sequence  of  events,  to  the  first  war  between  China  and  a
Western  power,  and  to  the  first  British  treaty  of  1842.
The  Russians  approached  China  first  by  land,  their
Lrst,  unsuccessful,  embassy  reaching  Peking  in  1567  ;  others,
als o  unsuccessful,  reaching  Peking  in  1619  and  1653.  Their
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