Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/238

they adopted in Europe. But China being their victim, no one found them at all abnormal. They had a consistent sequel. In 1814 a British man-of-war "exercised a very active blockade against the American merchantmen in the Canton River." In April she captured an American ship and carried her into port there. In May her boats chased an American schooner from Macao up the river to the vicinity of Canton and captured her; whereat the Americans in turn armed their boats and retook her. In short, the river below Canton was converted into a battle-ground. It was as though Russian and German squadrons were to enter the Mersey and engage each other within sight of Liverpool. The Chinese called upon the representative of the East India Company to send away the disturber of the peace, and when he, as usual, pleaded inability, they adopted the device of making things uncomfortable for the Company's Factory by obstructing the employment of native servants and molesting the cargo-boats. The reader will expect to hear that some steps were taken to conciliate the justly aggrieved Chinese. On the contrary, they were treated as the offending party. What is still stranger, the weapon employed against them was voluntary stoppage of the trade they were charged with obstructing, and the withdrawal from Canton of the traders they were supposed to despise and dislike; and what is strangest of all, "this step had the effect of completely curing the obstinacy