2-979-017 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Bombardment of Canton: the Suburbs on Fire - from a sketch by an officer engaged in the operations, 1857. 'War in China: The time is approaching when our present treaty with China will have terminated, and a new one will require to be made...Shall we be denied the privilege of having a diplomatic agent at Pekin [Beijing], while Russia maintains one there? We have a naval force strong enough to make the Chinese sensible of our greatness, and to enforce demands which the interests of commerce as well as our national dignity justify us in making'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.