Opium War Page #5

---

by private business

Gentlemen, I take pride in informing you

that some wise men have been engaged

for some time in preparing maps of China

ever since McCartney's visit there

Here, on the table, we have a map

which shows all rivers, all harbours,

all the fortifications

A map much more accurate than anything

they have in their imperial palace

As for the Chinese marine force,

it's a fleet of fishing

boats if anything

A priest convinced us yesterday

that one British warship could

sink 10 Chinese warships

Do you believe what he said?

No, I do not

I believe one British warship

could destroy

the whole Chinese Marine force

So what have you brought me,

my dear friends?

Budget, deficit or war in India?

Your Majesty,

I'm inviting you to cut the ribbon

for a new railway

That's wonderful, I'll do it

By the way... there's something important

that Palmerston has to report you

In China, Your Majesty,

Lin Zexu has destroyed

and is driving all the British residents

out of Guangzhou

Well, what shall we do then?

We're looking forward

to your instructions

But I hear

you're already assembling marine forces

This is the sample of a new stamp

to be released shortly

What do you think?

She looks prettier, doesn't she?

Your Majesty, the world is never

short of beautiful women,

but there is only one British Queen

Thank you for your honesty, Melbourne

The stamp will be distributed to

every country in the British Empire

My dear, where there is sunshine,

there is your image

And in China, too?

Your Majesty,

the Cabinet is looking forward

to your support

for the motion to send the army to China

and for parliamentary

support of military appropriations

Now tell me

what kind of a man Lin Zexu is

Well... he's a strong-will, unrefined,

loyal to his emperor,

liable to go to extremes...

I confess that our knowledge of

that thousand-year-old empire...

is somewhat limited

I wish I could see him

in Madame Tussaud's Museum

If I were in Lin Zexu's position

I would also burn all the opium...

But now, it's not the opium issue,

nor the issue of the lives and

properties of a few merchants

It's not even a matter of the dignity

of our British Flag and royalty

If all nations follow China's example

and reject free trade...

the British Empire will no longer exist

within a year

This is the reason for us to use force!

We must teach them

a lesson on free trade!

Gentlemen,

Britain has the responsibility...

to open up this last and

largest territory in the East

I hope you won't tell me one day that

this has been done by other countries

The fact is, whoever gets hold of China

will have the entire East

The 19th century

Load up

Load up

It seems that the English

don't intend to surrender or retreat

But what are they doing

just floating on the sea?

They must be waiting

for their Queen's order

The British people live on trade

Once the war starts,

trade will be stopped

What good would that do?

If Denton doesn't understand it,

the Queen certainly does

Order! Order!

I said order.

I call upon the

honorable member Pontious

There are four hundred million people

living in China

If that many people lived in Europe,

they would have separated

into hundreds of countries years ago

But the Chinese have always been ruled

by one emperor and spoken one language

Is this not formidable?

For 5,000 years!

Do you not think that

we should be making trade

with these people and not war?

They have banned the trade!

They've treated the British Empire badly

They really should be punished

Order...

The honourable members...

There is one thing that

I'd like to call your attention to

Britain has the most advanced industry

in the world

and China has the biggest market

If every Chinese were to lengthen

the lower hem of his shirt by one inch

All the British factories would be kept

Order... Order of the house!

Sir, Alexander Madison

Gentlemen, I know two strange names

Confucius and Zhuangzi

They lived in China over 2,000 years ago

before Aristotle and Socrates

And their thoughts are

even more profound than...

those of Socrates and Aristotle

And in all probability

it would take us generations

to understand the profundity

of their thoughts

and to understand China

It is a country with a huge wall

thousands of miles long in the north

and the great canal of

thousands of miles in the South

Mr. Speaker, it's a great nation

But even in sleep, they're unpredictable

Yes, we may be able to defeat them

But we can never conquer them

Mr. Speaker,

I have one ambition left in my life

It is to visit China

But I would rather swim the Atlantic...

than sail there in a battleship

Are you sure you're ready?

To tell you the truth,

the objection is so strong

and the motion will probably be rejected

Order...

Mr. Speaker. Honoured gentlemen,

I come before you to present

the plight of a group of defenseless

British subjects blockaded in an attempt

to starve them into submission

Made to surrender their property

in trade which was then destroyed

who were then driven from

their quarters in Guangzhou

to be confined aboard our ship without

food, without water, without medicine

There to float

under the pestilent heat of the sun

Before I set out

on my journey to England

I was obliged to take

even my daughter who, being sick,

was unable to travel with me

I may never see her alive again

And yet our glorious Union Jack

still flaps high on our mast

Gentlemen, your countrymen and your

sovereign have been grievously wronged

They look to you for reparation.

To that end, your

representative living in China

Captain Charles Elliot, gave me letters,

which I have delivered

to the Prime Minister

There are also gifts

to be delivered to the house

This is a piece of Chinese bronzeware

made over 2,000 years ago

This is adorned with figures

of sacred spirits

representing their highest ideals

Bronze was the strongest metal

then known to the world

Ever since that time the Chinese

have called themselves the Hans

This vase is carved

from a single piece of jade

It dates from the Tang Dynasty

the golden age of China

Not only was this the most prosperous

period in the history of China,

the Tang was also the most civilized

and cultured people in the world

This is a work of art

from the China of the day

Like the great Qing Dynasty

it represents

It appears sumptuously rich,

plump and proud

It looks down on all around it

including the bronze and the jade

And yet it is filled with nothing

but self importance

One touch and

it will shatter into pieces

This is the China I offer you

I want to go home...

Mr. Elliot, I like to remind you that

our food stocks are running low

We can't feed on cannon powder, can we?

As captain of the ship,

I need to know your intention

Wait

Wait? Wait for what? For death?

He died in hand of the lord,

we will remember his soul

We therefore commit the body of this our

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes