This Paper, originally written for me in 1857, and published in Titan for July of that year, has not appeared in any collective edition of the author’s works, British or American. It was his closing contribution to a series of three articles concerning Chinese affairs; prepared when our troubles with that Empire seemed to render war imminent1. The first two were given in Titan for February and April, 1857, and then issued with additions in the form of a pamphlet which is now very scarce. It consisted of 152 pages thus arranged:—(1) Preliminary Note, i-iv; (2) Preface, pp. 3-68; (3) China (the two Titan papers), pp. 69-149; (4) Postscript2, pp. 149-152.
In the posthumous3 supplementary4 volume (XVI.) of the collected works the third section was reprinted, but all the other matter was discarded—with a rather imperfect appreciation5 of the labour which the author had bestowed6 upon it, and his own estimate of the value of what he had condensed in this Series—as frequently expressed to me during its progress.
In the twelfth volume of the ‘Riverside’ Edition of De Quincey’s works, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, U.S.A., the whole of the 152 pp. of the expanded China reprint are given, but not the final section here reproduced from Titan.
The Chinese questions stirred De Quincey profoundly, and roused all the ‘John Bullism’ of his nature. Two passages from the ‘Preliminary Note’ will show his object in throwing so much energy into this subject:—
National Morality.
‘Its purpose1 is to diffuse7 amongst those of the middle classes, whose daily occupations leave them small leisure for direct personal inquiries8, some sufficient materials for appreciating the justice of our British pretensions9 and attitude in our coming war with China. It is a question frequently raised amongst public journalists, whether we British are entitled to that exalted10 distinction which sometimes we claim for ourselves, and which sometimes is claimed on our behalf, by neutral observers on the national practice of morality. There is no call in this place for so large a discussion; but, most undoubtedly11, in one feature of so grand a distinction, in one reasonable presumption12 for inferring a profounder national conscientiousness13, as diffused14 among the British people, stands upon record, in the pages of history, this memorable15 fact, that always at the opening (and at intervals17 throughout the progress) of any war, there has been much and angry discussion amongst us British as to the equity18 of its origin, and the moral reasonableness of its objects. Whereas, on the Continent, no man ever heard of a question being raised, or a faction19 being embattled, upon any demur20 (great or small) as to the moral grounds of a war. To be able to face the trials of a war—that was its justification21; and to win victories—that was its ratification22 for the conscience.’
Chinese Policy.
‘The dispute at Shanghai, in 1848, equally as regards the origin of that dispute, and as regards the Chinese mode of conducting it, will give the reader a key to the Chinese character and the Chinese policy. To begin by making the most arrogant23 resistance to the simplest demands of justice, to end by cringing24 in the lowliest fashion before the guns of a little war-brig, there we have, in a representative abstract, the Chinese system of law and gospel. The equities25 of the present war are briefly26 summed up in this one question: What is it that our brutal27 enemy wants from us? Is it some concession28 in a point of international law, or of commercial rights, or of local privilege, or of traditional usage, that the Chinese would exact? Nothing of the kind. It is simply a license30, guaranteed by ourselves, to call us in all proclamations by scurrilous31 names; and secondly32, with our own consent, to inflict33 upon us, in the face of universal China, one signal humiliation34. . . . Us—the freemen of the earth by emphatic35 precedency—us, the leaders of civilisation36, would this putrescent2 tribe of hole-and-corner assassins take upon themselves, not to force into entering by an ignoble37 gate [the reference here is to a previous passage concerning the low door by which Spanish fanaticism38 ordained39 that the Cagots (lepers) of the Pyrenees should enter the churches in a stooping attitude], but to exclude from it altogether, and for ever. Briefly, then, for this licensed40 scurrility41, in the first place; and, in the second, for this foul42 indignity43 of a spiteful exclusion44 from a right four times secured by treaty, it is that the Chinese are facing the unhappy issues of war.’
The position and outcome of matters in those critical years may be recalled by a few lines from the annual summaries of The Times on the New Years’ days of 1858 and 1859. These indicate that De Quincey was here a pretty fair exponent45 of the growing wrath46 of the English people.
[January 1, 1858.]
‘The presence of the China force on the Indian Seas was especially fortunate. The demand for reinforcements at Calcutta (caused by the Indian Mutiny) was obviously more urgent than the necessity for punishing the insolence47 at Canton. At a more convenient season the necessary operations in China will be resumed, and in the meantime the blockading squadron has kept the offending population from despising the resentment48 of England. The interval16 which has elapsed has served to remove all reasonable doubt of the necessity of enforcing redress49. Public opinion has not during the last twelvemonth become more tolerant of barbarian50 outrages51. There is no reason to believe that the punishment of the provincial53 authorities will involve the cessation of intercourse54 with the remainder of the Chinese Empire.’
[January 1, 1859.]
‘The working of our treaties with China and Japan will be watched with curiosity both in and out of doors, and we can only hope that nothing will be done to blunt the edge of that masterly decision by which these two giants of Eastern tale have been felled to the earth, and reduced to the level and bearing of common humanity.’
The titles which follow are those which were given by De Quincey himself to the three Sections.—H.
Hints Towards an Appreciation of the Coming War in China.
Said before the opening of July, that same warning remark may happen to have a prophetic rank, and practically, a prophetic value, which two months later would tell for mere55 history, and history paid for by a painful experience.
The war which is now approaching wears in some respects the strangest features that have yet been heard of in old romance, or in prosaic56 history, for we are at war with the southernmost province of China—namely, Quantung, and pre-eminently57 with its chief city of Canton, but not with the other four commercial ports of China, nor; in fact, at present with China in general; and, again, we are at war with Yeh, the poisoning Governor of Canton, but (which is strangest of all) not with Yeh’s master—the Tartar Emperor—locked up in a far-distant Peking.
Another strange feature in this war is—the footing upon which our alliances stand. For allies, it seems, we are to have; nominal58, as regards the costs of war, but real and virtual as regards its profits. The French, the Americans,3 and I believe the Belgians, have pushed forward (absolutely in post-haste advance of ourselves) their several diplomatic representatives, who are instructed duly to lodge59 their claims for equal shares of the benefits reaped by our British fighting, but with no power to contribute a single file towards the bloodshed of this war, nor a single guinea towards its money costs. Napoleon I., in a craze of childish spite towards this country, pleased himself with denying the modern heraldic bearings of Great Britain, and resuscitating60 the obsolete61 shield of our Plantagenets; he insisted that our true armorial ensigns were the leopards62. But really the Third Napoleon is putting life and significance into his uncle’s hint, and using us, as in Hindostan they use the cheeta or hunting-leopard, for rousing and running down his oriental game. It is true, that in certain desperate circumstances, when no opening remains63 for pacific negotiation64, these French and American agents are empowered to send home for military succours. A worshipful prospect65, when we throw back our eyes upon our own share in these warlike preparations, with all the advantages of an unparalleled marine66. Six months have slipped away since Lord Clarendon, our Foreign Secretary, received, in Downing Street, Sir J. Bowring’s and Admiral Seymour’s reports of Yeh’s atrocities67. Six calendar months, not less, but more, by some days, have run past us since then; and though some considerable part of our large reinforcements must have reached their ground in April, and even the commander-in-chief (Sir John Ashburnham) by the middle of May, yet, I believe, that many of the gun-boats, on which mainly will rest the pursuit of Yeh’s junks, if any remain unabsconded northwards, have actually not yet left our own shores. The war should naturally have run its course in one campaign. Assuredly it will, if confined within the limits of Yeh’s command, even supposing that command to comprehend the two Quangs. Practically, then, it is a fantastic impossibility that any reversionary service to our British expedition, which is held out in prophetic vision as consecrating68 our French and American friends from all taint69 of mercenary selfishness, ever can be realised. I am not going to pursue this subject. But a brief application of it to a question at this moment (June 16) urgently appealing to public favour is natural and fair. Canvassers are now everywhere moving on behalf of a ship canal across the Isthmus70 of Suez. This canal proposes to call upon the subscribers for £9,000,000 sterling71; the general belief is, that first and last it will call for £12,000,000 to £15,000,000. But at that price, or at any price, it is cheap; and ultimate failure is impossible. Why do I mention it? Everywhere there is a rumour72 that ‘a narrow jealousy73’ in London is the bar which obstructs74 this canal speculation75. There is, indeed, and already before the canal proposal there was, a plan in motion for a railway across the isthmus, which seems far enough from meeting the vast and growing necessities of the case. But be that as it may, with what right does any man in Europe, or America, impute76 narrowness of spirit, local jealousy, or selfishness, to England, when he calls to mind what sacrifices she is at this moment making for those very oriental interests which give to the ship canal its sole value—the men, the ships, the money spent, or to be spent, upon the Canton war, and then in fairness connects that expense (or the similar expense made by her in 1840-42) with the operative use to which, in those years, she applied77 all the diplomatic concessions78 extorted79 by her arms. The first word—a memorable word—which she uttered on proposing her terms in 1842, was, What I demand for myself, that let all Christendom enjoy. And since that era (i. e., for upwards80 of fourteen years) all Christendom, that did not fail in the requisite81 energy for improving the opportunities then first laid open, has enjoyed the very same advantages in Chinese ports as Great Britain; secondly, without having contributed anything whatever to the winning or the securing of these advantages; thirdly, on the pure volunteer intercession made by Britain on their behalf. The world has seen enough of violence and cruelties, the most bloody82 in the service of commercial jealousies83, and nowhere more than in these oriental regions: witness the abominable84 acts of the Dutch at Amboyna, in Japan, and in Java, &c.; witness the bigoted85 oppressions, where and when soever they had power, of the colonising Portuguese86 and Spaniards. Tyranny and merciless severities for the ruin of commercial rivals have been no rarities for the last three and a half centuries in any region of the East. But first of all, from Great Britain in 1842 was heard the free, spontaneous proclamation—this was a rarity—unlimited access, with advantages the very same as her own, to a commerce which it was always imagined that she laboured to hedge round with repulsions, making it sacred to her own privileged use. A royal gift was this; but a gift which has not been received by Christendom in a corresponding spirit of liberal appreciation. One proof of that may be read in the invidious statement, supported by no facts or names, which I have just cited. Were this even true, a London merchant is not therefore a Londoner, or even a Briton. Germans, Swiss, Frenchmen, &c., are settled there as merchants, in crowds. No nation, however, is compromised by any act of her citizens acting87 as separate and uncountenanced individuals. So that, even if better established as a fact, this idle story would still be a calumny88; and as a calumny it would merit little notice. Nevertheless, I have felt it prudent89 to give it a prominent station, as fitted peculiarly, by the dark shadows of its malice90, pointed91 at our whole nation collectively, to call into more vivid relief the unexampled lustre92 of that royal munificence93 in England, which, by one article of a treaty, dictated94 at the point of her bayonets, threw open in an hour, to all nations, that Chinese commerce, never previously95 unsealed through countless96 generations of man.
Next, then, having endeavoured to place these preliminary points in their true light, I will anticipate the course by which the campaign would naturally be likely to travel, supposing no alien and mischievous97 disturbance98 at work for deranging99 it. Simply to want fighting allies would be no very menacing evil. We managed to do without them in our pretty extensive plan of warfare100 fifteen years ago; and there is no reason why we should find our difficulties now more intractable than then. I should imagine that the American Congress and the French Executive would look on uneasily, and with a sense of shame, at the prospect of sharing largely in commercial benefits which they had not earned, whilst the burdens of the day were falling exclusively upon the troops of our nation; but that is a consideration for their own feelings, and may happen to corrode101 their hearts and their sense of honour most profoundly at some future time, when it may have ceased to be remediable. If that were all, for us there would be no arrears102 of mortified103 sensibilities to apprehend104. But what is ominous105 even in relation to ourselves from these professedly inert106 associates, these sleeping partners in our Chinese dealings, is, that their presence with no active functions argues a faith lurking108 somewhere in the possibility of talking the Chinese into reason. Such a chimera109, still surviving the multiform experience we have had, augurs110 ruin to the total enterprise. It is not absolutely impossible that even Yeh, or any imbecile governor armed with the same obstinacy111 and brutal arrogance112, might, under the terrors of an armament such as he will have to face, simulate a submission113 that was far from his thoughts. We ourselves found in the year 1846, when in fidelity114 to our engagements we gave back the important island of Chusan, which we had retained for four years, in fact until all the instalments of the ransom115 money had been paid, that a more negligent116 ear was turned to our complaints and remonstrances118. The vile29 mob of Canton, long kept and indulged as so many trained bull-dogs, for the purpose of venting119 that insolence to Europeans which the mandarins could no longer utter personally without coming into collision with the treaty, became gradually unmanageable even by their masters. In 1847 Lord Palmerston, then Foreign Secretary, was reduced to the necessity of fulminating this passage against the executive government of the murdering city—‘You’ (Lord Palmerston was addressing Sir John Davis, at that time H. M. Plenipotentiary in China) ‘will inform the Chinese authorities, in plain and distinct terms, that the British Government will not tolerate that a Chinese mob shall with impunity121 maltreat British subjects in China, whenever they get them into their power; and that if the Chinese authorities will not punish and prevent such outrages, the British Government will be obliged to take the matter into their own hands; and it will not be their fault if, in such case, the innocent are involved in the punishment sought to be inflicted122 on the guilty.’
This commanding tone was worthy124 of Lord Palmerston, and in harmony with his public acts in all cases where he has understood the ground which he occupied. Unhappily he did not understand the case of Canton. The British were admitted by each successive treaty, their right of entry was solemnly acknowledged by the emperor. Satisfied with this, Lord Palmerston said, ‘Enough: the principle is secured; the mere details, locally intelligible125 no doubt, I do not pretend to understand. But all this will come in time. In time you will be admitted into Canton. And for the present rest satisfied with having your right admitted, if not as yet your persons.’ Ay, but unfortunately nothing short of plenary admission to British flesh and blood ever will satisfy the organised ruffians of Canton, that they have not achieved a triumph over the British; which triumph, as a point still open to doubt amongst mischief126-makers, they seek to strengthen by savage127 renewal128 as often as they find a British subject unprotected by armed guardians129 within their streets. In those streets murder walks undisguised. And the only measure for grappling with it is summarily to introduce the British resident, to prostrate130 all resistance, and to punish it by the gallows4 where it proceeds to acts of murder. It is sad consideration for those, either in England or China, who were nearly or indirectly131 connected with Canton (amongst whom must be counted the British Government), that beyond a doubt the murders of our countrymen, which occurred in that city, would have been intercepted132 by such a mastery over the local ruffians as could not be effected so long as the Treaty of Nanking was not carried into effect with respect to free entrance and residence of British subjects. As things stood, all that Sir J. Davis could do, in obedience133 to the directions from the Home Government, was to order a combined naval134 and military attack upon all the Chinese forts which belt the approaches to Canton. These were all captured; and the immense number of eight hundred and twenty-seven heavy guns were in a few hours made unserviceable, either by knocking off their trunnions, or by spiking135 them, or in both ways. The Imperial Commissioner136, Keying, previously known so favourably137 to the English by his good sense and discretion138, had on this occasion thought it his best policy to ignore Lord Palmerston’s letter: a copy had been communicated to him; but he took not the least notice of it. If this were intended for insolence, it was signally punished within a few hours. It happened that on our English list of grievances139 there remained a shocking outrage52 offered to Colonel Chesney, a distinguished140 officer of the engineers,5 and which to a certainty would have terminated in his murder, but for the coming up at the critical moment of a Chinese in high authority. The villains141 concerned in this outrage were known, were arrested, and (according to an agreement with our plenipotentiary) were to be punished in our presence. But in contempt of all his engagements, and out of pure sycophantic142 concession to the Canton mob, Keying notified that we the injured party were to be excluded. In that case no punishment at all would have been inflicted. Luckily, our troops and our shipping143 had not yet dispersed144. Sir J. Davis, therefore, wrote to Keying, openly taxing him with his breach145 of honour. ‘I was going’ [these were Sir John’s words] ‘to Hong-Kong to-morrow; but since you behave with evasion146 and bad faith, in not punishing the offenders147 in the presence of deputed officers, I shall keep the troops at Canton, and proceed to-morrow in the steamer to Foshan, where, if I meet with insult, I will burn the town.’ Foshan is a town in the neighbourhood of Canton, and happened to be the scene of Colonel Chesney’s ill usage. Now, upon this vigorous step, what followed? Hear Sir John:—‘Towards midnight a satisfactory reply was received, and at five o’clock next morning three offenders were brought to the guard-house—a mandarin120 of high rank being present on the part of the Chinese, and deputed officers on the part of the British. The men were bambooed in succession by the Chinese officers of justice;’ and at the close of the scene, the mandarin (upon a requisition from our side) explained to the mob who crowded about the barriers why the men were punished, and warned them that similar chastisement148 for similar offences awaited themselves. In one point only the example made was unsatisfactory: the men punished were not identified as the same who had assaulted Colonel Chesney. They might be criminals awaiting punishment for some other offence. With so shuffling149 a government as the Chinese, always moving through darkness, and on the principles of a crooked150 policy, no perfect satisfaction must ever be looked for. But still, what a bright contrast between this energy of men acquainted with the Chinese character, and the foolish imbecility of our own government in Downing Street, who are always attempting the plan of soothing151 and propitiating152 by concession those ignoble Orientals, in whose eyes all concession, great or small, through the whole scale of graduation, is interpreted as a distinct confession153 of weakness. Thus did all our governments: thus, above all others, did the East India Company for generations deal with the Chinese; and the first act of ours that ever won respect from China was Anson’s broadsides, and the second was our refusal of the ko-tou. Thus did our Indian Government, in the early stages of their intercourse, deal with the Burmese. Thus did our government deal with the Japanese—an exaggerated copy of the Chinese. What they wanted with Japan was simply to do her a very kind and courteous154 service—namely, to return safe and sound to their native land seven Japanese who had been driven by hurricanes in continued succession into the Pacific, and had ultimately been saved from death by British sailors. Our wise government at home were well aware of the atrocious inhospitality practised systematically155 by these cruel islanders; and what course did they take to propitiate156 them? Good sense would have prescribed the course of arming the British vessel157 in so conspicuous158 a fashion as to inspire the wholesome159 respect of fear. Instead of which, our government actually drew the teeth of the particular vessel selected, by carefully withdrawing each individual gun. The Japanese cautiously sailed round her, ascertained160 her powerless condition, and instantly proceeded to force her away by every mode of insult; nor were the unfortunate Japanese ever restored to their country. Now, contrast with this endless tissue of imbecilities, practised through many generations by our blind and obstinate161 government (for such it really is in its modes of dealing107 with Asiatics), the instantaneous success of ‘sharp practice’ and resolute162 appeals to fear on the part of Sir John Davis. By midnight of the same day on which the British remonstrance117 had been lodged163 an answer is received; and this answer, in a perfect rapture164 of panic, concedes everything demanded; and by sunrise the next morning the whole affair has been finished. Two centuries, on our old East Indian system of negotiating with China, would not have arrived at the same point. Later in the very same year occurred another and more atrocious explosion of Canton ruffianism; and the instantaneous retribution which followed to the leading criminals, showed at once how great an advance had been made in winning respect for ourselves, and in extorting165 our rights, by this energetic mode of action. On Sunday, the 5th of December, six British subjects had gone out into the country on a pleasure excursion, some of whom unhappily carried pocket-pistols. They were attacked by a mob of the usual Canton character; one Chinese was killed and one wounded by pistol-shots; but of the six British, encompassed166 by a countless crowd, not one escaped: all six were murdered, and then thrown into the river. Immediately, and before the British had time to take any steps, the Chinese authorities were all in motion. The resolute conduct of Sir John Davis had put an end to the Chinese policy of shuffling, by making it no longer hopeful. It lost much more than it gained. And accordingly it was agreed, after a few days’ debate, that the emperor’s pleasure should not be taken, except upon the more doubtful cases. Four, about whose guilt123 no doubts existed, were immediately beheaded; and the others, after communicating with Peking, were punished in varying degrees—one or two capitally.
Conduct of the War.
Such is the condition of that guilty town, nearest of all Chinese towns to Hong-Kong, and indissolubly connected with ourselves. From this town it is that the insults to our flag, and the attempts at poisoning, wholesale167 and retail168, have collectively emanated169; and all under the original impulse of Yeh. Surely, in speculating on the conduct of the war, either as probable or as reasonable, the old oracular sentence of Cato the Elder and of the Roman senate (Delenda est Carthago) begins to murmur170 in our ears—not in this stern form, but in some modification171, better suited to a merciful religion and to our western civilization. It is a great neglect on the part of somebody, that we have no account of the baker’s trial at Hong-Kong. He was acquitted172, it seems; but upon what ground? Some journals told us that he represented Yeh as coercing173 him into this vile attempt, through his natural affection for his family, alleged174 to be in Yeh’s power at Canton. Such a fact, if true, would furnish some doubtful palliation of the baker’s crime, and might have weight allowed in the sentence; but surely it would place a most dangerous power in the hands of Chinese grandees175, if, through the leverage176 of families within their grasp, and by official connivance177 on our part, they could reach and govern a set of agents in Hong-Kong. No sympathy with our horror of secret murders by poison, under the shelter of household opportunities, must be counted on from the emperor, for he has himself largely encouraged, rewarded, and decorated these claims on his public bounty178. The more necessary that such nests of crime as Canton, and such suggestors of crime as Yeh, should be thoroughly179 disarmed180. This could be done, as regards the city, by three changes:—First, by utterly181 destroying the walls and gates; secondly, by admitting the British to the freest access, and placing their residence in a special quarter, upon the securest footing; thirdly, and as one chief means in that direction, by establishing a police on an English plan, and to some extent English in its composition. As to the cost, it is evident enough that the colonial head-quarters at Hong-Kong must in future keep up a permanent military establishment; and since any danger threatening this colony must be kindled182 and fed chiefly in Canton, why not make this large city, sole focus as it is of all mischief to us, and not a hundred miles distant from the little island, the main barrack of the armed force?
Upon this world’s tariff183 of international connections, what is China in relation to Great Britain? Free is she, or not—free to dissolve her connection with us? Secondly, what is Great Britain, when commercially appraised184, in relation to China? Is she of great value or slight value to China? First, then, concerning China, viewed in its connection with ourselves, this vast (but perhaps not proportionably populous) country offers by accident the same unique advantage for meeting a social hiatus in our British system that is offered by certain southern regions in the American United States for meeting another hiatus within the same British system. Without tea, without cotton, Great Britain, no longer great, would collapse185 into a very anomalous186 sort of second-rate power. Without cotton, the main bulwark187 of our export commerce would depart. And without tea, our daily life would, generally speaking, be as effectually-ruined as bees without a Flora188. In both of these cases it happens that the benefit which we receive is unique; that is, not merely ranking foremost upon a scale of similar benefits reaped from other lands—a largest contribution where others might still be large—but standing189 alone, and in a solitude190 that we have always reason to regard as alarming. So that, if Georgia, &c., withdrew from Liverpool and Manchester her myriads191 of cotton bales, palsied would be our commercial supremacy192; and, if childish China should refuse her tea (for as to her silk, that is of secondary importance), we must all go supperless to bed: seriously speaking, the social life of England would receive a deadly wound. It is certainly a phenomenon without a parallel in the history of social man—that a great nation, numbering twenty-five millions, after making an allowance on account of those amongst the very poorest of the Irish who do not use tea, should within one hundred years have found themselves able so absolutely to revolutionise their diet, as to substitute for the gross stimulation193 of ale and wine the most refined, elegant, and intellectual mode of stimulation that human research has succeeded in discovering.6 But the material basis of this stimulation unhappily we draw from the soil of one sole nation—and that nation (are we ever allowed to forget?) capricious and silly beyond all that human experience could else have suggested as possible. In these circumstances, it was not to be supposed that we should neglect any opening that offered for making ourselves independent of a nation which at all times we had so much reason to distrust as the Chinese. Might not the tea-plant be made to prosper194 in some district of our Indian Empire? Forty years ago we began to put forth195 organised botanical efforts for settling that question. Forty years ago, and even earlier, according to my remembrance, Dr Roxburgh—in those days the paramount196 authority upon oriental botany—threw some energy into this experiment for creating our own nurseries of the tea-plant. But not until our Burmese victories, some thirty years since, and our consequent treaties had put the province of Assam into our power, was, I believe, any serious progress made in this important effort. Mr Fortune has since applied the benefits of his scientific knowledge, and the results of his own great personal exertions197 in the tea districts of China, to the service of this most important speculation; with what success, I am not able to report. Meantime, it is natural to fear that the very possibility of doubts hanging over the results in an experiment so vitally national, carries with it desponding auguries198 as to the ultimate issue. Were the prospects199 in any degree cheerful, it would be felt as a patriotic200 duty to report at short intervals all solid symptoms of progress made in this enterprise; for it is an enterprise aiming at a triumph far more than scientific—a triumph over a secret purpose of the Chinese, full of anti-social malice and insolence against Great Britain. Of late years, as often as we have accomplished201 a victory over any insult to our national honour offered or meditated202 by the Chinese, they have recurred203 to some old historical tradition (perhaps fabulous204, perhaps not), of an emperor, Tartar or Chinese, who, rather than submit to terms of equitable205 reciprocity in commercial dealings with a foreign nation, or to terms implying an original equality of the two peoples, caused the whole establishments and machinery206 connected with the particular traffic to be destroyed, and all its living agents to be banished207 or beheaded. It is certain that, in the contemplation of special contingencies208 likely to occur between themselves and the British, the high mandarins dallied209 at intervals with this ancient precedent210, and forbore to act upon it, partly under the salutary military panic which has for years been gathering211 gloomily over their heads, but more imperatively212, perhaps, from absolute inability to dispense213 with the weekly proceeds from the customs, so eminently dependent upon the British shipping. Money, mere weight of dollars, the lovely lunar radiance of silver, this was the spell that moonstruck their mercenary hearts, and kept them for ever see-sawing—
‘Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike.’
Now, upon this—a state of things suspected at times, or perhaps known, but not so established as that it could have been afterwards pleaded in evidence—a very grave question arose, but a question easily settled: had the Chinese a right, under the law of nations, to act upon their malicious214 caprice? No man, under any way of viewing the case, hesitated in replying, ‘No.’ China, it was argued, had possessed215 from the first a clear, undoubted right to dismiss us with our business unaccomplished, re infectâ, if that business were the establishment of a reciprocal traffic. In the initial stage of the relations between the two powers, the field was open to any possible movement in either party; but, according to the course which might be severally pursued on either side, it was possible that one or both should so act as, in the second stage of their dealings, wilfully216 to forfeit217 this original liberty of action. Suppose, for instance, that China peremptorily218 declined all commercial intercourse with Britain, undeniably, it was said, she had the right to do so. But, if she once renounced219 this right, no matter whether explicitly220 in words, or silently and implicitly221 in acts (as if, for example, she looked on tranquilly222 whilst Great Britain erected223 elaborate buildings for the safe housing of goods)—in any such case, China wilfully divested224 herself of all that original right to withdraw from commercial intercourse. She might say Go, or she might say, Come; but she could not first say, Come; and then, revoking225 this invitation, capriciously say, Go.
To this doctrine226, thus limited, no man could reasonably demur. But to some people it has seemed that the limitations themselves are the only unsound part of the argument. It is denied that this original right of refusing a commercial intercourse has any true foundation in the relations of things or persons. Vainly, if any such natural right existed, would that broad basis have been laid providentially for insuring intercourse among nations, which, in fact, we find everywhere dispersed. Such a narrow and selfish distribution of natural gifts, all to one man, or all to one place, has in a first stage of human inter-relations been established, only that men might be hurried forward into a second stage where this false sequestration might be unlocked and dispersed. Concentrated masses, impropriations gathered into a few hands, useless alike to the possessor and to the world, why is it that, by primary arrangements of nature, they have been frozen into vast, inert insulation227? Only that the agencies of commerce may thus the more loudly be invoked228 for thawing229 and setting them free to the world’s use. Whereas, by a diffusive230 scattering231, all motives232 to large social intercourse would have been neutralised.
It seems clear that the practical liberation and distribution throughout the world of all good gifts meant for the whole household of man, has been confided233 to the secret sense of a right existing in man for claiming such a distribution as part of his natural inheritance. Many articles of almost inestimable value to man, in relation to his physical well-being234 (at any rate bearing such a value when substitutional remedies were as yet unknown) such as mercury, Jesuit’s bark, through a long period the sole remedy for intermitting fevers, opium235, mineral waters, &c., were at one time locally concentred. In such cases, it might often happen, that the medicinal relief to an hospital, to an encampment, to a nation, might depend entirely236 upon the right to force a commercial intercourse.
Now, on the other hand, having thus noticed the question, what commercial value has China irrevocably for England, next in the reverse question—namely, what commercial value does England bear to China?—I would wish to place this in a new light, by bringing it for the first time into relation to the doctrine of rent. Multitudes in past days, when political economy was a more favoured study, have spoken and written upon the modern doctrine of rent, without apparently237 perceiving how immediately it bears upon China, and how summarily it shatters an objection constantly made to the value of our annual dealing with that country. First, let me sketch238, in the very briefest way, an outline of this modern doctrine. Two men, without communication, and almost simultaneously239, in the year 1815, discovered the law of rent. Suddenly it struck them that all manufactured products of human industry must necessarily obey one law; whilst the products of land obey another and opposite law. Let us for a moment consider arable240 land as a natural machine for manufacturing bread. Now, in all manufactures depending upon machinery of human invention, the natural progress is from the worse machines to the better. No man lays aside a glove-making machine for a worse, but only for one that possesses the old powers at a less cost, or possesses greater powers, let us suppose, at an equal cost. But, in the natural progress of the bread-making machines, nature herself compels him to pursue the opposite course: he travels from the best machines to the worse. The best land is brought into cultivation241 first. As population expands, it becomes necessary to take up a second quality of land; then a third quality; and so on for ever. Left to the action of this one law, bread would be constantly growing dearer through a long succession of centuries. Its tendency lies in this direction even now; but this tendency is constantly met, thwarted242, and retarded243, by a counter-tendency in the general practice of agriculture, which is always slowly improving its own powers—that is, obtaining the same result at a cost slowly decreasing. It follows as a consequence, when closely pursued, that, whilst the products of pure human skill and human machines are constantly, by tendency, growing cheaper, on the other hand, by a counter-tendency, the products of natural machines (as the land, mines, rivers, &c.) are constantly on the ascent244. Another consequence is, that the worst of these natural machines gives the price for the whole; whereas, in a conflict between human machines, all the products of the worse would be beaten out of the field by those of the better. It is in dependency upon this law that all those innumerable proposals for cultivating waste-lands, as in the Scottish Highlands, in the Irish bogs245, &c., are radically246 vicious; and, instead of creating plenty, would by their very success impoverish247 us. For suppose these lands, which inevitably248 must have been the lowest in the scale (or else why so long neglected?) to be brought into tillage—what follows? Inevitably this: that their products enter the market as the very lowest on the graduated tariff—i. e., as lower than any already cultured. And these it is—namely, the very lowest by the supposition—that must give the price for the whole; so that every number on the scale will rise at once to the level fixed249 by these lowest soils, so ruinously (though benevolently) taken up into active and efficient life. If you add 20,000 quarters of wheat to the amount already in the market, you seem to have done a service; but, if these 20,000 have been gained at an extra cost of half-a-crown on each quarter, and if these it is that, being from the poorest machines, rule the price, then you have added half-a-crown to every quarter previously in the market.
Meantime, returning to China, it is important to draw attention upon this point. A new demand for any product of land may happen to be not very large, and thus may seem not much to affect the markets, or the interests of those who produce it. But, since the rent doctrine has been developed, it has become clear that a new demand may affect the producers in two separate modes: first, in the ordinary known mode; secondly, by happening to call into activity a lower quality of soil. A very moderate demand, nay250, a very small one, added to that previously existing, if it happens not to fall within the powers of those numbers already in culture (as, suppose, 1, 2, 3, 4), must necessarily call out No. 5; and so on.
Now, our case, as regards Chinese land in the tea districts, is far beyond this. Not only has it been large enough to benefit the landholder enormously, by calling out lower qualities of land, which process again has stimulated251 the counteracting252 agencies in the more careful and scientific culture of the plant; but also it has been in a positive sense enormous. It might have been large relatively253 to the power of calling out lower qualities of soil, and yet in itself have been small; but our demand, running up at present to 100,000,000 pounds weight annually254, is in all senses enormous. The poorer class of Chinese tea-drinkers use the leaves three times over—i. e., as the basis of three separate tea-makings. Consequently, even upon that single deduction255, 60,000,000 of Chinese tea-drinkers count only as 20,000,000 of ours. But I conclude, by repeating that the greatest of the impressions made by ourselves in the China tea districts, has been derived256 from this—that, whilst the native demand has probably been stationary257, ours, moving by continual starts forward, must have stimulated the tea interest by continual descents upon inferior soils.
There is no doubt that the Emperor and all his arrogant courtiers have decupled their incomes from the British stimulation applied to inferior soils, that but for us never would have been called into culture. Not a man amongst them is aware of the advantages which he owes to England. But he soon would be aware of them, if for five years this exotic demand were withdrawn258, and the tea-districts resigned to native patronage259. Upon reviewing what I have said, not the ignorant and unteachable Chinese only, but some even amongst our own well-informed and reflecting people, will see that they have prodigiously260 underrated the commercial value of England to China; since, when an Englishman calls for a hundred tons of tea, he does not (as is usually supposed) benefit the Chinese merchant only by giving him the ordinary profit on a ton, repeated for a hundred times, but also infallibly either calls into profitable activity lands lying altogether fallow, or else, under the action of the rent laws, gives a new and secondary value to land already under culture.
Other and greater topics connected with this coming Chinese campaign clamorously call for notice: especially these three:—
First, the pretended literature and meagre civilisation of China—what they are, and with what real effects such masquerading phantoms261 operate upon the generation with which accidents of commerce have brought us connected.
Secondly, what is the true mode of facing that warfare of kidnapping, garotting, and poisoning, avowed262 as legitimate263 subjects of patronage in the practice and in the edicts of the Tartar Government? Two things may be said with painful certainty upon this subject: first, the British Government has signally neglected its duties in this field through a period of about ninety years, and apparently is not aware of any responsibility attaching in such a case to those who wield264 the functions of supreme265 power. Hyder Ali, the tiger, and his more ferocious266 son Tippoo, practised, in the face of all India, the atrocities of Virgil’s Mezentius upon their British captives. These men filled the stage of martial267 history, through nearly forty years of the eighteenth century, with the tortures of the most gallant268 soldiers on earth, and were never questioned or threatened upon the subject. In this nineteenth century, again, we have seen a Spanish queen and her uncle sharing between them the infamy269 of putting to death (unjudged and unaccused) British soldiers on the idlest of pretences270. Was it then in the power of the British Government to have made a vigorous and effectual intercession? It was; and in various ways they have the same power over the Chinese sovereign (still more over his agents) at present. The other thing which occurs to say is this: that, if we do not interfere271, some morning we shall probably all be convulsed with unavailing wrath at a repetition of Mr Stead’s tragic272 end, on a larger scale, and exemplified in persons of more distinguished position.
Finally, it would have remained to notice the vast approaching revolution for the total East that will be quickened by this war, and will be ratified273 by the broad access to the Orient, soon to be laid open on one plan or other. Then will Christendom first begin to act commensurately on the East: Asia will begin to rise from her ancient prostration274, and, without exaggeration, the beginnings of a new earth and new heavens will dawn.
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1
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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postscript
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| n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明 | |
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posthumous
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| adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的 | |
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supplementary
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| adj.补充的，附加的 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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diffuse
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| v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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conscientiousness
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| 责任心 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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equity
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| n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票 | |
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faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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demur
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| v．表示异议，反对 | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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ratification
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| n.批准，认可 | |
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arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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equities
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| 普通股，股票 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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scurrilous
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| adj.下流的，恶意诽谤的 | |
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secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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licensed
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| adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词) | |
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41
scurrility
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| n.粗俗下流；辱骂的言语 | |
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42
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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43
indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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exponent
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| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
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46
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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47
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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51
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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55
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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resuscitating
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| v.使（某人或某物）恢复知觉，苏醒( resuscitate的现在分词 ) | |
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obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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62
leopards
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| n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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negotiation
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| n.谈判，协商 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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consecrating
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| v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的现在分词 )；奉献 | |
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taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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71
sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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obstructs
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| 阻塞( obstruct的第三人称单数 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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impute
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| v.归咎于 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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79
extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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bigoted
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| adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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calumny
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| n.诽谤，污蔑，中伤 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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93
munificence
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| n.宽宏大量，慷慨给与 | |
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94
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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95
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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96
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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97
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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98
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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99
deranging
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| v.疯狂的，神经错乱的( deranged的过去分词 )；混乱的 | |
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100
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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101
corrode
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| v.使腐蚀，侵蚀，破害；v.腐蚀，被侵蚀 | |
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102
arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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103
mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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104
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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105
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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106
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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107
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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108
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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109
chimera
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| n.神话怪物；梦幻 | |
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110
augurs
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| n.（古罗马的）占兆官( augur的名词复数 )；占卜师，预言者v.预示，预兆，预言( augur的第三人称单数 )；成为预兆；占卜 | |
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111
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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112
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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113
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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114
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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115
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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116
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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117
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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118
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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119
venting
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| 消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风 | |
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120
Mandarin
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| n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的 | |
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121
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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122
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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124
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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125
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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126
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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127
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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128
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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129
guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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130
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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131
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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132
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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133
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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134
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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135
spiking
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| n.尖峰形成v.加烈酒于( spike的现在分词 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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136
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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137
favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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138
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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139
grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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140
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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141
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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142
sycophantic
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| adj.阿谀奉承的 | |
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143
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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144
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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145
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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146
evasion
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| n.逃避，偷漏(税) | |
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147
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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148
chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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149
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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150
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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151
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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152
propitiating
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| v.劝解，抚慰，使息怒( propitiate的现在分词 ) | |
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153
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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154
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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155
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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156
propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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157
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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158
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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159
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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160
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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161
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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162
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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163
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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164
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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165
extorting
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| v.敲诈( extort的现在分词 )；曲解 | |
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166
encompassed
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| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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167
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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168
retail
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| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
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169
emanated
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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170
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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171
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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172
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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173
coercing
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| v.迫使做( coerce的现在分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配 | |
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174
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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175
grandees
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| n.贵族，大公，显贵者( grandee的名词复数 ) | |
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176
leverage
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| n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量 | |
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177
connivance
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| n.纵容；默许 | |
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178
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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179
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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180
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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181
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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182
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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183
tariff
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| n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表 | |
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184
appraised
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| v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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185
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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186
anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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187
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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188
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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189
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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190
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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191
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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192
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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193
stimulation
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| n.刺激，激励，鼓舞 | |
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194
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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195
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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196
paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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197
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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198
auguries
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| n.（古罗马）占卜术，占卜仪式( augury的名词复数 )；预兆 | |
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199
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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200
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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201
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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202
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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203
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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204
fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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205
equitable
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| adj.公平的；公正的 | |
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206
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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207
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
contingencies
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| n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一 | |
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209
dallied
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| v.随随便便地对待( dally的过去式和过去分词 )；不很认真地考虑；浪费时间；调情 | |
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210
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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211
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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212
imperatively
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| adv.命令式地 | |
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213
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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214
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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215
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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216
wilfully
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| adv.任性固执地；蓄意地 | |
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217
forfeit
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| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
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218
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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219
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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220
explicitly
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| ad.明确地，显然地 | |
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221
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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223
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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224
divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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225
revoking
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| v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的现在分词 ) | |
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226
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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insulation
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| n.隔离；绝缘；隔热 | |
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invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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229
thawing
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| n.熔化，融化v.（气候）解冻( thaw的现在分词 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化 | |
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230
diffusive
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| adj.散布性的，扩及的，普及的 | |
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scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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232
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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234
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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235
opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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236
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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237
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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238
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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240
arable
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| adj.可耕的，适合种植的 | |
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241
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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242
thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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bogs
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| n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍 | |
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radically
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| ad.根本地，本质地 | |
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247
impoverish
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| vt.使穷困，使贫困 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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252
counteracting
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| 对抗，抵消( counteract的现在分词 ) | |
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253
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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257
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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258
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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259
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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261
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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262
avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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263
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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264
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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265
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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266
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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267
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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268
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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269
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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270
pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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271
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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272
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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273
ratified
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| v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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274
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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