"Christian Governments" as opium peddlers (#214, Topic R)

The dramatic event that led to the first Opium War (1839-1842) is undoubtedly the public burning of 20,000+ cases of opium (each containing some 120 pounds), under the personal supervision of Commissioner Lin Zexu (#140, #141), to which members of the public were invited to witness. Afterward, W.C. King, a Rhode Island merchant, wrote: "while Christian Goverments were growing and farming this deleterious drug, this Pagan monach should nobly disdain to enrich his treasury with a sale which could not fall short of $20,000,000." (Hsin-pao Chang, Commissioner Lin and the Opium War, 1964, p177) In terms of valuation in the 21st century, this $20 million would be more than $400 million. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission, in a flyer addressed to "Christian Brethen and Friends" concluded with the following: "For tens of years past, those who ought to have introduced the gospel, with all its happy accompaniment, have instead been bringing in a flood of desolation. ... The destruction by the Chinese government of twenty thousand chests of opium, which if sold would have brought into its treasury ten or fifteen million of dollars, will long be referred to as an act, illustrative of the combined power of conscience and correct principle, operating even in pagan hearts." (Chang, pp177-8) Even? No. Only. Only a country with unrivaled civilization and Confucian teaching would place what is moral over how much money an illicit activity could bring in.