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 A FEAV PAGES REPRINTED FROM 
 
 ^^THE TRUTH ABOUT OPIUM-SMOKING.” 
 B?-'^BROOMHALL, 
 
 Secretary of the China Inland Mission 
 
 “Alas, that otir coimtry should sin against the light, and gain a reveinie 
 for India out of the blood of Chmamen.” — C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 “No more humiliating sight caii meet the eye of every lover of our grand 
 old country than these six pictures \given in the following pages'\ of how 
 opmm is officially grown., prepared, and sent to the Calcutta 7narket, and sold 
 there to be carried by swift steamers to the Middle Kingdo7n to debauch its 
 millions.”— Watchman. 
 
 PRICE TWOPENCE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27 . PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
Sir Edward Fry says : — 
 
 “ I have such faith in the good feeling of my countrymen, that I believe that if they 
 could once realise what it is that we have done and are doing as regards opium, they 
 would rise as one man, and get rid of the accursed thing, which, as sure as there is a 
 moral government in the world, will one day or the other find us out.” — England, 
 China, and Opiuin, p. 6. 
 
 The Rev. Griffith John says 
 
 “ Attempts were sometimes made to palliate the sin of the trader, and to make 
 light of the evil effects of the drug. On both points our utterance must be clear and 
 emphatic. We know that opium is a curse — a curse physically, a curse morally, and 
 a curse socially to the Chinese, and this fact we must declare in loud, ringing terms. 
 . . . It is our duty to appeal to the great heart of England — for she has a heart, 
 and when that heart begins to beat warmly on the question, this foul blot on her 
 escutcheon will soon be wiped off .” — Speech in the Shanghai Co 7 iference, 1877. 
 
 The Rev. David Hill says : — 
 
 “ It had been said that this traffic produced a revenue to India of eleven million 
 pounds sterling per annum. It mattered not whether it were eleven million or eleven 
 hundred million ; if the source of revenue be immoral, the amount of it cannot justify 
 its collection. He thought the English public were not at all acquainted with the 
 state of the case, and that if it were plainly laid before them, we might hope to see 
 the traffic suppressed .” — Speech in the Shanghai Conference, 1877. 
 
 Testimony of C. H. Aitchison, Esq., C.S., C.S.I., LL.D., 
 
 Chief Commissioner of British Burmah, 
 
 ON THE MISERY AND RUIN CAUSED BY OPIUM-SMOKING. 
 
 “ The papers now submitted for consideration present a painful picture of the 
 demoralisation, misery, and ruin produced among the Burmese by opium-smoking. 
 Responsible officers in all divisions and districts of the province, and natives every- 
 where bear testimony to it. To facilitate examination of the evidence on this point, 
 I have thrown some extracts from the reports into an Appendix to this memorandum. 
 These show that, among the Burmans, the habitual use of the drug saps the physical 
 and mental energies, destroys the nerves, emaciates the body, predisposes to disease, 
 induces indolent and filthy habits of life, destroys self-respect, is one of the most 
 fertile sources of misery, destitution, and crime, fills the jails with men of relaxed frame 
 predisposed to dysentery and cholera, prevents the due extension of cultivation and 
 the development of the land revenue, checks the natural growth of the population, and 
 enfeebles the constitution of succeeding generations .” — From Memorandum addressed 
 to the Government of India, 1880, on the Consumption of Opium in British Burmah. 
 
 Testimony of Alexander Wylie, Esq., 
 
 For many years Agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
 “Undoubtedly this is one of the greatest evils with which China is affected, 
 and unless some means be found to check the practice, it bids fair to accomplish the 
 utter destruction, morally and physically, of that great empire.” 
 
 Testimony of the Rev. George Piercy, thirty years Wesleyan 
 Missionary in China. 
 
 “ It is certain that no one mind can grasp and fully comprehend all the evil 
 we as a nation have done in China by our manufacture and supply of this death- 
 dealing poison to its millions.” 
 
THE MANUFACTXJEE OF OPIUM BY OUR INDIAN 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The following engravings, which appeared in the Graphic^ “are from 
 •drawings by Lieut. -Colonel Walter S. Sherwill, late Boundary Com- 
 missioner, Bengal. They were made by him during a visit to the Patna 
 Factory, and were afterwards lithographed, with accompanying descrip- 
 tions, in a volume printed for private circulation. They are of especial 
 interest at the present time, when a number of persons, more or less 
 influential, regard it as an immoral proceeding on the part of the Indian 
 Government to derive a revenue from what they hold to be a baneful 
 drug.” — Graphic. 
 
 
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4 
 
 THE TRUTH ABOUT OFIUM-SMOKING. 
 
 THE EXAMINING HALL. 
 
 “ In the Examining Hall the consistency of the crude opium as brought from the 
 country in earthern pans is simply tested, either by the touch, or by thrusting a scoop 
 into the mass. A sample fn m each pot (the pots being numbered and labelled) is 
 further examined for consistency and purity in the chemical test room.” — Graphic. 
 
 The Opium Monopoly. 
 
 “ In Bengal a strict monopoly is maintained by the Government ; the 
 poppy may not be grown, and opium may not be prepared except for 
 the Government. . . . 
 
 “ The crude opium thus obtained is carefully prepared at the Govern- 
 ment factories, sent to Calcutta, and sold there by auction without 
 reserve to the highest bidders. The quantity sold annually is now 
 56,400 chests, or 4,700 at each of the monthly sales which take place 
 regularly throughout the year. . . . 
 
 “ About 500,000 to 550,000 acres of land are now cultivated with 
 poppy in Bengal, on much of which a second crop is grown.” — The 
 Finances and Public Works of India from 1869 to by Sir John 
 
 Strachey, G. C.S.I., and Lieut. -General Richard Strachey, R.E., F.R.S., pp. 
 241, 242, 272. 
 
THE MANUFACTURE OR OPIUM. 
 
 5 
 
 THE MIXING ROOM. 
 
 “ In the Mixing Room the contents of the earthen pans are thrown into vats and 
 stirred with blind rakes until the whole mass becomes a homogeneous paste .” — The 
 Graphic. 
 
 Hardly a Business for a Governor-General. 
 
 “ The opium trade may be defensible, but it is hardly a business in 
 ■which the Governor-General should take part in his official capacity. 
 If he must touch it, we should recommend that the contact should 
 not be too close. The officers of the opium department are an 
 •excellent set of men, who, in spite of their theory that the drug is 
 most useful, never consume any of it themselves ; but it is not a 
 pleasant spectacle to see them moving about the country, tempting 
 cultivators with advances on the part of Government to grow the 
 poppy, or to watch them at some station receiving the juice from 
 thousands of clients .” — The Friend of India and Statesman, Tune 
 
 2 ^, i88i. 
 
THE TRUTH ABOUT OBJ UM- SMOKING. 
 
 6 
 
 THE BALLING ROOM. 
 
 “ From the mixing room the crude opium is conveyed to the Balling Room, where 
 it is made into balls. Each ball-maker is furnished with a small table, a stool, and 
 a brass cup to shape the ball in, a certain quantity of opium, a certain quantity of 
 opium and water called ‘ Lewa,’ and an allowance of poppy petals, in which the 
 opium balls are rolled. Every man is required to make a certain number of balls, 
 all weighing alike. An expert workman will turn out upwards of a hundred balls a, 
 day.” — T/ie Graphic. 
 
 A DOUBTFUL Business for Government Servants. 
 
 “ The Government godowns at Patna are most interesting, but those 
 who watch the process by which the drug is made into cakes for India 
 and balls for China, may fairly doubt if this is a business which should 
 be performed by Government servants. An opium auction is one of the 
 sights of Calcutta ; it is seldom that one can see property worth a 
 million sterling change hands in half-an-hour, at rates which rise and 
 fall even during the sale itself in a manner which awakens the keenest 
 spirit of gambling ; but is it quite consistent with our ideas that a 
 Government Secretary should preside once a month at such an auction 
 of such an article on the account of the State ? The retail sale of the 
 drug at Government treasuries, a cake at a time, will to many seem still 
 more anomalous. Government will not sell a bottle of gin or brandy j 
 why, then, a cake of opium ? ” — The Friend of India and Statesman. 
 
THE MANUFACTURE OF OPIUM. 
 
 7 
 
 THE DRYING ROOM. 
 
 “ In the Drying Room the balls are placed to dry before being stacked. Each ball 
 is placed in a small earthenware cup. Men examine the balls, and puncture with 
 a sharp style those in which gas, arising from fermentation, may be forming .” — The 
 Graphic, 
 
 A Business which is Demoralising China. 
 
 “ Those who grow and sell the drug, while they profit by the specula- 
 tion, would do well to follow the consumer into the haunts of vice, m.A}nark 
 the wretchedness, poverty, disease, and death which follow the indulgence ; 
 for did they but know the thousandth part of the evils resulting from it, 
 they would not, they could not, continue to engage in the transaction. 
 It has been told, and it shall be rung in the ears of the British public 
 again and again, that opium is demoralising China, and becomes the 
 greatest barrier to the introduction of Christianity which can be con- 
 ceived of.” 
 
 CdXcvX'Nvag the shortened lives, the frequent diseases, and the actual 
 starvation which are the lesults of opium-smoking in China, we may 
 venture to assert that this pernicious drug annually destroys myriads of 
 individuals! -The late Dr. Medhurst. 
 
8 
 
 THE TRUTH ABOUT OPimi-SMOKING. 
 
 THE STACKING ROOM. 
 
 “ In the Stacking Room the balls are stacked before being packed in boxes for 
 Calcutta, en rotite to China. A number of boys are constantly engaged in stacking, 
 turning, airing, and examining the balls. To clear them of mildew, moths, or insects, 
 they are rubbed with dried and crushed poppy petal dust .” — The Graphic. 
 
 “ All going to Debauch the Chinese.” 
 
 “ After he had led me through storey after storey, and gallery after 
 gallery of the factory, with opium balls right and left in tiers of shelves 
 to the ceiling, upon my expressing amazement at an exhibition of opium 
 enough to supply the medical wants of the world for years, he replied 
 nearly in these words : ‘ I see you are very innocent ; these stores of 
 opium have no such beneficent destination. It is all going to debauch 
 the Chinese, and my duty is to maintain its smack as attractive to them 
 as possible .’” — Julius Jeffrey., F.R.S. See page 107, 
 
 Chief Imports of China (1878). 
 Opium ... ... ... ;^9,678 ,ooo 
 
 Cotton and Cotton Goods 4,808,000 
 
 Woollens ... ... 1,462,000 
 
 Metals 1,253,000 
 
 From Stanford's 
 
 Chief Exports of China (1878). 
 
 Tea ;,<;9,572,ooo 
 
 Raw Silk... ... ... 5,825,000 
 
 Silk Textures ... ... 1,370,000 
 
 Sugar 1,116,000 
 
 ‘Asia ’ — Edited by Sir Richard Te 7 npU. 
 
THE MANUEACTURE OF OPIUM. 
 
 9 
 
 OPIUM FLEET DESCENDING THE GANGES ON THE WAY TO CALCUTTA. 
 
 _ “ An Opium Fleet of native boats, conveying the drug to Calcutta. The fleet 
 IS passing the Monghyr Hills, and is preceded by small canoes, the crews of which 
 sound the depth of water, and warn all boats out of the Channel by beat of drum, 
 as the Government boats claim precedence over all other craft. The timber raft 
 shown in the sketch has been floated down from the Nepal Forests, and will be used 
 in making packing cases for the opium.”— Graphic. 
 
 Waft, Waft, ye Winds, His Bishop Heher. 
 
 No ! — Waft, waft, ye winds, the opium. 
 
 Prepared in England’s name. 
 
 To bring us golden millions, 
 
 Whate’er may be the shame. 
 
 “ Let us look our position fairly in the face. China sends this 
 country vast supplies of tea and of silk... We send China opium;... its 
 mission is to debase and ruin, to lure its victims to a premature and 
 utterly wretched end, and to plunge their families into destitution and 
 misery.” — See page 107. 
 
 “ We English send the Chinese thousands of tons of opium ; we send 
 them more of opium than of anything else ; we have long sent it to 
 them ; we send it to them though we see the fearful ravages resulting 
 from its use ; we send it to them though their Government protests against 
 it.” — Rev. H. G. Guinness, p. 83. 
 
lo 
 
 THE TRUTH ABOUT OPIUM-SMOKING. 
 
 What is the excuse for the manufacture of all this opium, and for alt 
 the injury caused to the Chinese by our forcing it upon them ? Just 
 this, — we need the revenue derived from the trade for the expenses of 
 our Indian Government. Other pleas are put forward, to which there 
 has been special reference in the preceding pages ; but 
 
 The chief excuse is, 
 
 “WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT THE OPIUM REVENUE.” 
 
 “ That is,” to put it plainly in the words of Mr. Denny, “ the great 
 English natioti catinot afford to do what is right.” 
 
 Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., has also forcibly put it (in words already 
 quoted on page 104) ; “ But one thing only could be said for the traffic 
 in opium ; and that was, that the Government wanted the revenue. It 
 might be true that the opium which England was forcing upon the 
 Chinese was spreading debauchery, demoralization, disease, and death 
 among the Chinese — but there was the Indian revenue. It might be true 
 that the traffic created an enormous am.ount of ill-will and heart-burning 
 towards England on the part of the Chinese Government and the Chinese 
 people, which had led to one war and might lead to another — hut there 
 was the Indian revenue. It might be true that that traffic constituted 
 the most formidable of all obstacles against the effort to spread 
 Christianity among the Chinese, as the missionaries testified — but there 
 was the Indian revenue. It might be true that it interfered with the 
 development of other and more legitimate commerce — but there was the 
 Indian revenue. It might be true that it dishonoured the character of 
 England in the eyes of other nations, and prevented England protesting 
 against the iniquitous practices of other nations — but there was the India?! 
 revenue! 
 
 “ All this,” it may be said, “ is mere rhetoric, only the words of one 
 hostile to the trade. Surely it cannot be that England, for the sake of 
 revenue, would defend and continue an infamous traffic.” 
 
 On such a point it may reasonably be required that we should not be 
 satisfied with anything short of the most convincing testimony. Whom 
 shall we call ? Perhaps of all men living, none are in a position to 
 speak on this question with higher authority than Her Majesty’s Secre- 
 tary of State for India, the Viceroy of India, and the Finance Minister 
 of India. Let these gentlemen step into the witness-box, and say before 
 the world whether our continuance of the opium trade is a question of 
 revenue or not. 
 
 The Marquis of Hartington, 
 
 Hir Majesty’s Secretary of State for hidia, said : — 
 
 “It is not my intention on this occasion to assent to any resolution; 
 or to say anything which would have any tendency to disturb, to en- 
 danger, or even to diminish so important a branch of Indian revenue 
 as that derived from the opium trade. ... I must make some protest 
 against the invitation ... to consider this question from the point of 
 view of the dictates of morality, as they are entertained by some 
 members of this House, and to altogether neglect the subject as it 
 relates to India and Indian policy. My hon. friend says he should be 
 
RE VENUE— RE VEN UE—RE VENUE. 
 
 II 
 
 sorry to be suspected of judging this question on the low standard of 
 Indian finance. But it is a question of Indian finance.” — Speech in the 
 House of Commons, Opium Debate, 1880. 
 
 The Marquis of Ripon, 
 
 Govemior-General of India, says : — 
 
 " My view on the subject of opium is a very simple one. I do not 
 deny that there are objections of various kinds to the opium revenue. 
 
 I do not deny that it is not a satisfactory branch of our revenue in 
 many ways; but I say distinctly that I will be no party to abandoning 
 that revenue, unless I can clearly see my way to replace it by some 
 other form of taxation which would be neither oppressive to the people 
 nor strongly repugnant to public opinion. Well, I can see nothing of 
 the kind. I have considered the question very carefully. I have con- 
 sidered it with the utmost respect for the opinion of those excellent 
 men who take a different view of this subject from that which I take, 
 and who are moving at home in the matter ; and I have been totally 
 unable to discover the taxation by which our opium revenue could be 
 replaced, and by which, without oppression, without incurring a great, 
 and I may say a just, unpopularity, we should have the slightest chance 
 of recouping ourselves if we were to abandon that revenue in whole or 
 in part. As I said before, it is, in my judgment, the first duty of the 
 Government of India to consider the interests of the people of India ; 
 and it is from that point of view that I look at this question ; and look- 
 ing at it from that point of view, I can have no doubt that the course 
 which the Government of India have determined to take, namely, that 
 of maintaining our position with respect to the opium revenue, is a just 
 and right one.” — East India Financial Statement, p. 128. 
 
 Major the Hon. E. Baring, 
 
 Finance Minister of India, says : — 
 
 “ The Government of India is at present quite unable to devise 
 any means by which the loss of revenue consequent on the sup- 
 pression of the poppy cultivation in Bengal could be recouped. . . . 
 The loss of the Bengal opium revenue would result in the 
 normal annual expenditure of the Government being greater than 
 its receipts; that is to say, that India would be insolvent. ... If,, 
 on the one hand, it be urged that it is immoral to obtain a revenue, 
 from the use of opium amongst a section of the Chinese community j 
 on the other hand it may be replied, that to tax the poorest classes 
 in India in order to benefit China, would be a cruel injustice ; and it is 
 to be remembered that no large increase of revenue in India is possible 
 unless by means of a tax which will affect those classes. To tax India 
 in order to provide a cure — which would almost certainly be ineffectual 
 — to the vices of the Chinese, would be wholly unjustifiable.” — East 
 Indian Financial Statement, p. 37. 
 
 Here are representatives of Great Britain, speaking in the name of 
 
12 
 
 THE TRUTH ABOUT OPIUM-SMOKING. 
 
 their country, and declaring, before the nations of the earth, that 
 England, the land of our birth and pride, which nearly fifty years ago 
 freely gave ;^2o,ooo,ooo to free the slave, and which to-day could more 
 easily give 00,000,000 ; that England, with an estimated annual 
 incomeof 000, 000,000, and where a single penny in the pound income 
 
 tax on taxable incomes, brings more than 000,000 to the exchequer ; 
 that England, whose queen rules over “ an empire, broad, populous, and 
 mighty, twice as large as the continent of Europe, and including one 
 out of every six acres of dry land on the face of the globe, and one out 
 of every five men that live ; ” that England, with wealth and empire such 
 as nation never had — cannot rule her Indian possessions without the 
 money derived from the manufacture and sale of a drug which causes 
 sorrow and ruin to the millions by whom it is consumed. O England ! 
 land of Bibles and gospel light, whose glory it has been to bid the 
 oppressed go free ; shall this be said of thee ? 
 
 “ Stripped of all disguise ” (to quote from the Rev. Storrs Turner’s 
 admirable reply to Major Baring’s Budget speech), “what the Viceroy 
 and Major Baring say amounts to this : Even if we are forcing opium 
 into China, even if we are inflicting serious injury on the Chinese 
 people, we cannot cease our opium trade. India must have the money, 
 and that necessity over-rides all moral considerations in regard to China. 
 Our duty is to India. We are morally bound not to oppress the ryot. 
 We are morally bound not to let him starve, to give him railways, irri- 
 gation-works, education, healthy jails, and all the parts and appliances of 
 a civilized Christian Government. As we cannot do this without our 
 opium revenue, we must have that revenue, regardless of its conse- 
 quences to China. The argument is this, or it is nought ; however those 
 who employ it may shrink from the naked truth.” 
 
 A Calcutta newspaper. The Friend of Bidia and Siatesman, with 
 astonishing candour, says : “ It seems hardly possible that we should at 
 any time be compelled to increase so many bad taxes in order to repeal 
 a single impost, which does no harm in this country, whatever may be 
 its effects hi China.'' The italics are our own, but mark the words. 
 “ Whatever may be its effects in China." “ That any moral scruple 
 should weigh down seven millions sterling a year ” ! That merely to 
 satisfy conscience, anybody should dream of doing away with the 
 opium trade, “ which does no harm in this country, whatever may be 
 its effects in China',' is really something almost beyond belief ! 
 
 Notwithstanding this astounding indifference to the welfare of the 
 people of China, and the pitiable pleading of our statesmen, that we 
 cannot do without the money derived from our opium trade, it may 
 fearlessly be asserted that 
 
 We can do without this Money. 
 
 It must be possible to do right. Let the people of England declare that 
 this opium revenue shall be done without ; and men will be forthcoming 
 who will speedily show how it can be done without. Until England 
 is in earnest in the matter, it were vain to discuss alternative methods 
 of dealing with the financial difficulty. Colonel Gordon may show how 
 Indian expenditure may be reduced ; Sir Arthur Cotton may show how 
 
RE VENUE— RE VENUE— RE VENUE. 
 
 13 
 
 income may be increased ; and others may have suggestions never so 
 valuable ; but to state these would only be to invite criticism ; and 
 to fix attention upon the nature of the remedy proposed, rather than 
 upon the intolerable character of the trade. 
 
 Let the public mind be so fully enlightened upon the question that 
 no candidate for parliamentary honours will have a chance of election 
 who is not prepared to deal righteously with China in this matter of 
 opium ; and the dishonour of our national connection with the traffic 
 will speedily be ended. 
 
 “We cannot sit done, as some statesmen have done, by saying, ‘ Oh, 
 we would abolish this trade if we could ; but then, consider the revenue.’ 
 Words like these have occurred in speeches, and even in public 
 documents put forth in this country. We, as Christian ministers, have 
 nothing to do with that : though the whole of the revenue of Uidia from 
 e 7 id to end, depejided entirely on the opium traffic; if it is a sinful and 
 wrong traffic, we are bound to protest against it, and to seek other ways 
 in which revenue of some sort can be supplied .” — The Archbishop of 
 York, see page 103. 
 
 That the opium revenue could be done without has already been 
 demonstrated by Major Baring to the extent of a proportion so large 
 that the balance need not have stood in the way. In his Budget 
 speech, while contending for the necessity of the opium revenue, he 
 actually proposed to remit revenue from other sources to the amount 
 of ;^3, 000,000, and this proposal the Legislative Council adopted. 
 This is legislation upon the lines that, whatever may be the effects of 
 our opium trade upon China, the Chinese must wait for either justice or 
 mercy until we have done all we think needful for Indian interests ; 
 but let those who vaunt their regard for Indian interests remember that 
 their way of securing Indian interests may be the surest way to 
 sacrifice them ; for “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured 
 to you again.” 
 
 It may be going altogether beyond the bounds of practical politics to 
 say, “ As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them.” The 
 quotation of such words may call forth a sneer from men who would 
 not like to look in the face of Him who spake them and deliberately 
 say, “ Such teaching is not practicable.” 
 
 The Revenue not so much as it seems. 
 
 In the reply to Major Baring already referred to, this is clearly shown; 
 and there is sufficient room for concluding that the more thoroughly 
 the profit and loss of the trade is analysed, the more it will be seen 
 that the balance of profit is less than it seems. But what money we do 
 make we 
 
 “ Put into a Bag with Holes.” 
 
 A secret curse seems to consume it. We say we cannot do with- 
 out the ;^7,ooo,ooo of opium revenue; but a famine comes, and 
 ;^io,ooo,ooo are swept away. “We cannot do without this opium 
 revenue ” ; but a war comes, and ;^2o,ooo,ooo will not meet the 
 outlay. It may be, as Dr. M‘Leod has truly said, “ That to connect the 
 
14 
 
 THE TRUTH ABOUT OPIUM-SMOKING. 
 
 sufferings of individuals or of nations with their sins may be a very 
 difficult task now-a-days, and one in which the vision of the wisest 
 ‘ seer ’ may be perverted by the darkness of ignorance and the bias 
 of his own prejudices or passion.” We do not attempt the task ; but is 
 there no lesson to be learned from such statements as the following ? 
 are the facts recorded mere coincidences ? — 
 
 “ In May, 1839, 
 our quarrel with China respecting 
 the conduct of British subjects 
 in reference to opium-smuggling 
 was first brought to the test of 
 arms ; and troops and vessels 
 were sent from India in the course 
 of that year to aid Her Majesty’s 
 forces. 
 
 “ In May, 1840, 
 commenced those risings against 
 our power in Affghanistan which 
 ended in the defeat and massacre 
 of the entire British army, and a 
 blow to our influence in India 
 and Central Asia from which we 
 have never recovered. 
 
 “ At the Commencement of 1857 
 a quarrel arising out of our 
 protection of one of the smug- 
 gling lorchas, was brought to the 
 same test ; we bombarded Canton ; 
 and the British nation, at a general 
 election, enthusiastically ratified 
 the policy of Government ; and 
 a large expedition, with an enor- 
 mous amount of the munitions of 
 war, was despatched ‘ to vindicate 
 our honour.’ ” 
 
 “ Before that Expedition 
 could reach China, there burst 
 forth in India a more terrible 
 insurrection than has been known 
 in modern history, and our for- 
 midable armament had to be 
 diverted with all speed for the 
 preservation of our Indian em- 
 pire.” — Mr. M'Leod Wylie, page 
 95 - 
 
 Concerning this mutiny, Mr. Mander, in his very valuable pamphlet. 
 Our Opium Trade with China, says : “ It may surprise many of your 
 readers to learn that the great Indian Mutiny was really due to this very 
 traffic. Startling as this statement may be, it rests on no less authority 
 than that of Sir Henry Lawrence, who, in a letter to Lord Canning, 
 then Governor-General, attributed the discontent which led to the 
 mutiny, not to greased cartridges, but to the General Service Enlistment 
 Oath, which was administered to the Bengal army.” 
 
 “ This ‘ General Service Order ’ had been issued by Lord Canning, 
 because he wanted troops for China to serve in the ‘ Lorcha Arrow ’ 
 war, which sprang directly from the opium traffic. The order disgusted 
 and alarmed them, because crossing the sea involved a breach of caste ; 
 it was represented that they were to be compelled to submit to it ; and 
 the older Sepoys remembered that the 47th Regiment, in 1824, had 
 been mown down with grape shot for refusing to proceed to Burmah 
 under similar circumstances.” 
 
 M^ether this statement be true or not we cannot say, but others, 
 whose opinions are entitled to respect, have made similar statements ; 
 in any case the fact, as stated by Mr. M‘I.eod Wylie, remains, that 
 
RE VENUE— RE VENUE— RE VENUE. 
 
 IS 
 
 'England’s resolve to go to war with China in a matter “ which sprang 
 'directly from the opium traffic,” was immediately followed by the 
 terrible Indian mutiny ; and that mutiny was estimated to cost 
 ^38,000,000. 
 
 If to obtain revenue we are resolved to trample upon the rights of 
 a weaker nation, and to disregard the cry of the oppressed, He who 
 “can make the exchanges of the world to tremble or rejoice,” can smite 
 our ill-gotten gain, and turn our supposed profit into a fearful loss. 
 
 Englishmen, Englishwomen, the foregoing pages contain statements 
 which, if true, demand your serious attention ; for they affect the 
 honour of England and the welfare of millions of poor Chinese, and 
 they touch your own personal responsibility. These statements are true; 
 or they are not true. Which is it ? Examine them. Take nothing for 
 granted. If they are not true, if they will not bear the fullest investi- 
 gation, reject them; and rejoice that your country is not justly 
 chargeable with having wronged China ; and that you are therefore free 
 from fault for not having ere this examined into, and taken action in 
 the matter. 
 
 Consider the character of the witnesses, and the nature and weight of 
 their statements ; and if the painful conviction is forced upon you that 
 the united testimony of all these missionaries, the testimony of Chinese 
 and British officials, leaves you no room for doubt as to the truth of 
 what is here alleged, then for the sake of your country, which you love — 
 for the sake of the people of China, who are now suffering from wrongs 
 done in your name, let no effort you can put forth be henceforth 
 wanting to put an end to this dreadful opium trade. 
 
 You cannot undo the wrongs of the past, but you may prevent their 
 continuance, and in various ways you may promote the welfare of the 
 people of China. If they suffer much because medical science is so 
 little known among them, you can send them medical missionaries, 
 'whose practical kindness will lessen their suffering, do much to remove 
 a justly founded prejudice, and promote a kindlier feeling towards 
 this country. If they are degraded by idolatrous and superstitious 
 customs, — if they lack that knowledge which has made England what 
 it is, and which to many of you is the ground of your hope for “ the 
 life that now is, and of that which is to come,” — you can send them 
 Christian teachers to “turn them from idols to serve the living and true 
 God.” The gospel is the one grand remedy for the world’s sorrow and 
 sin; this is China’s great need ; and this you can send. 
 
 But do not think that sending missionaries to China will compensate 
 for our national wrong-doing. To send the gospel and continue to send 
 opium, is to mock the people. Whether the opium trade be or be not 
 the greatest hindrance to the evangelisation of China, you are under no 
 less obligation to deal justly with the people. 
 
 The facts are before you ; ponder them, and act as it may seem to 
 you best to spread information on the subject, and to influence the 
 Government. 
 
 Should the present Parliament be dissolved before this question has 
 been satisfactorily dealt with, resolve that so far as it may be in 
 
i6 THE TRUTH ABOUT OPIUM-SMOKING. 
 
 your power to secure such a result, no candidate shall become a 
 member of the new Parliament who will not pledge himself to deal 
 justly with China in the matter of opium. 
 
 Let it be understood that, if need be, you will not shrink from 
 bearing whatever portion of the deficiency of revenue consequent upon 
 the loss of the opium trade it may be impossible otherwise to provide 
 for. The possibility, or probability, of having to help India through a 
 transitional period should not discourage from the performance of an 
 act of justice. 
 
 It has been said that the vote of _;^2o,ooo,ooo by England for the 
 abolition of the slave trade was followed by very abundant harvests for 
 several years. Whether this was so or not, who can doubt the truth of 
 the following words ? 
 
 “ By plenteous harvests, by increased and successful commerce, by 
 averting wars, by a more widely extended spirit of honesty and 
 industry, and in a thousand ways, great and small, God is able, if He 
 will, so to add to the material prosperity of this empire, that whatever 
 is required for its government shall be raised without extraordinary 
 measures, without any murmuring of the people.” — Bishop of Madras^ 
 see page 104. 
 
 “ If as a nation we will now redress this mighty wrong, — if we will 
 now honestly set ourselves to the noble work of purging our national 
 reputation from the stain of this disgrace, — if we will now at length 
 discharge our solemn duty, and resolve, whatever may be the cost, 
 that Britain shall no longer be guilty of hastening the temporal and 
 eternal ruin of the millions of China — can it be doubted that God will 
 bless us, and that we shall find, in giving up our five [or seven] millions 
 a year, that ‘ He is able to give us much more than this ’ ? ” — M‘Leod 
 Wylie., Esq., see page 95. 
 
 But 
 
 “ If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and these 
 that are ready to be slain ; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not ; 
 doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it ? and He that keepeth 
 thy soul, doth not He know it ? and shall not He render to every man 
 according to his works ?” {^Proverbs xxiv. ii, 12). 
 
 Note. — The poregoing fourteen pages are reprinted, without alteration, 
 from "The Truth about Opium-Smoking,” and most op the reperences are 
 to the pages of that book, which was published, in 1882, by Hodder and 
 Stoughton, price u.