ABSTRACT
Lord Macartney was received with the greatest courtesy by the Emperor, who sent a deputation with gifts and provisions to meet " the great mandarin who had come so far to testify the friendly feelings of England towards China." He was admitted to audience at Jehol and afterwards in the neighbourhood of the Summer Palace of Yuan Ming Yuan, but all that he succeeded in exacting from the Government was permission for his countrymen to continue trading at Canton so long as they submitted to the orders of the authorities. In 1842 a treaty was concluded by Sir Henry Pottinger by which the four additional ports of Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai were declared open to foreign trade and an indemnity of £21,000,000 was to be paid to the British Government. From that day forward foreigners began to flock in considerable numbers to China.
