River of Smoke - Amitav Ghosh [244]
Who was this man, this Lin Tse-hsü? What gave him this peculiar power, this authority, this unalloyed certainty?
‘ “I have now merely to lay on Elliott the responsibility of speedily and securely arranging these matters: the delivery of the opium and the giving of bonds in obedience to my orders. If he can take the opium that is on board the store-ships and at once deliver it up, it will be my duty to give him encouragement. If he has aught to say, and it be not inconsistent with reason, let him make a clear statement of it. But if he speaks not according to reason and imagines, amid the darkness of night, to abscond with his men, it will show the conviction within him that he can have no face to encounter his fellow men. Will he be able to escape the meshes of the vast and wide net of heaven?” ’
Here, Mr Morrison lowered his notes in some embarrassment: ‘Shall I continue, Captain Elliott?’
Captain Elliott’s face had reddened a little but he answered with a nod: ‘Yes. Please go on.’
‘ “It needs to be enjoined upon Elliott that he should come to have a fear of crime and a purpose to repent and amend; that he should give clear commands to all the foreigners to obey the orders, requiring them to speedily deliver up all the opium that is on board their store-ships. Thenceforward all the foreigners will conduct a legitimate trade, rejoicing in the exhaustless gains thereof. But if, assuming a false garb of ignorance, Elliott voluntarily draws troubles upon himself the evil consequences will be of his own working out, and where shall he find a place of repentance afterwards?’ ”
*
Bahram had shut his eyes and on opening them now he was glad to see that the translator had finished reading and was returning to his seat.
Captain Elliott went again to stand by the mantelpiece. ‘Well, gentlemen,’ he said in his dry, unemphatic way, ‘Commissioner Lin has had his say. There can be no further doubt that he intends to use every possible means to force the surrender of the opium that is currently stored on your ships. He knows very well that it would be impossible for him to seize your cargoes by main force – your ships would have no trouble in beating off an assault by his naval forces. So he intends instead to hold us hostage here until the opium is surrendered. And the truth is there is nothing we can do about it. Escape is clearly impossible: we are surrounded on all sides and under constant surveillance; our boats have been beached so we would not be able to get away even if we were to fight our way down to the river. A failed attempt would lead only to injury and humiliation. Nor at this moment can we contemplate the use of force: we have no warships at our disposal and no troops either. To assemble a suitable expeditionary force will take several months. And even if we did possess the necessary strength, an attack on Canton could not be contemplated at this time because it would place all our lives in jeopardy. Clearly no assault is possible until we are evacuated from this city, and to accomplish that in a manner that ensures the safety and security of all of Her Majesty’s subjects is now my principal concern. I need hardly add that it is perfectly clear at this point that we will not be allowed to leave until the Commissioner’s demands are met.’
Captain Elliott took a deep breath and ran a finger nervously over his moustache. ‘So gentlemen, I am afraid the conclusion is inescapable: you will have to surrender all the opium that is currently stored on your ships.’
There was a stunned silence and then many voices began to speak, all at once.
‘It is robbery, sir, plain robbery. It cannot be tolerated!’
‘Are you aware, Captain Elliott, that