PBA Galleries

4 pp., in ink, on conjugate lettersheet 24.7x20.3 cm. (9¾x8").

Fascinating and informative letter between two Yankee merchants involved in the China trade, suddenly wracked by the First Opium War, as Imperial Chinese forces blockaded trade and attacked foreign residents in an effort to end the trade in opium. The British government sought to maintain the trade, and sent a large contingent of troops from India, which would arrive in June of 1840. The present letter, written during the early period of the conflict, based on first-hand information supplied by their Canton office, headed at this juncture by William Wetmore's cousin Samuel Wetmore, who replaced William in 1839 when the latter returned to New York. Cryder begins by discussing various business transactions, and goes on to note reports of "the English being driven from Macao...  The general impression now is... that this Govt. will take very strong measures with the Chinese likely to end in an open rupture, they hope to coerce them into prompt submission & get the trade open again with a fair understanding of the future, this may not be so easy however, as in my opinion they are not in the right. God knows what will be the upshot of all this, there will be a blockade perhaps, a long war,  and it seems to me your House will have to clear out till the thing is settled..." He goes on to lay out possible strategies for survival, and other matters.