Another of the causes of the war is this—­that a provision had been made that matters should be restored to their former state, in proportion as the opium should be delivered up; that the British inhabitants should have the use of the native servants; that they should have the common comforts of life, provisions, and all that was necessary for subsistence; and, finally, that the trade should be re-opened, and matters allowed to resume their usual course.  After having given that promise, it is discovered that this Chinese lost his life in an affray in which American seamen were engaged as well as the English; and then a fourth proposition was advanced, which was this, that every master of a vessel, proceeding up the Canton river, should sign a bond, submitting himself, and all on board his ship, to be dealt with according to the laws of China.  The noble lord has found fault with Captain Elliot upon this, as well as upon another matter.  Now, this objection is most extraordinary, and it rather tends to prove that the noble earl, though he has paid great attention to this particular blue book, is not very well acquainted with former transactions in that country, or he would have found that former traders with China had invariably refused to subscribe to such proposals, and that they had broken off the trade with the Chinese, rather than do it; rather than give up British subjects to be dealt with according to the laws of China.  I think they acted most properly; and that Captain Elliot, very much to his credit, refused to do it; at the same time, he did no more than his duty.  He did what others would I trust have done under the same circumstances; and he is entitled to great praise for his firmness in resisting that demand.  Then there is another circumstance in which Captain Elliot acted as became him.  I allude particularly to his refusal to give up Mr. Dent.  It was declared that the opium trade was not to be continued; that it was an illegal trade; and that dealing in opium should not be suffered.  It was supposed that Mr. Dent had been a person very much concerned in that trade, and had made a large fortune, as I believe many others have done, by that illicit trade.  And Captain Elliot was blamed, when it was sought to have Mr. Dent given up, because he, her majesty’s representative and the chief superintendent of trade in that country, stepped forward and said, “I won’t allow this gentleman to be given over to the Chinese government, and to be tried as the Chinese government may direct.”  I should, my lords, be ashamed of the name of Englishman, if there could be found one in her majesty’s service capable of acting otherwise than this gentleman did, under such circumstances.  The noble earl has stated that a great deal of difficulty would have been got rid of, if Captain Elliot had complied with the request of the Chinese; and that the Americans gave up a seaman to be dealt with according to the Chinese laws.  I am sorry for it.  I must say, it was not their duty to do so.  They would have done better to have taken a leaf out of our book, and to have followed the example of the East India Company, to put an end to the trade rather than risk the life of one of her majesty’s subjects, or give him up to be tried by the Chinese government.