Canton: Printed at the Office of the Chinese Repository,, [c.1834]. Rank, riches, friends are all of no avail; and naught but righteousness is valuable A well-preserved copy, with a highly desirable association, of this rare printing of the funerary sermon for the ninth Lord Napier, Palmerston's leading trade envoy in China, with his son and heir's armorial bookplate on the front pastedown. Only a small number of copies were struck for private circulation to friends and family; of these, we have traced just five in institutional collections (SOAS, National Library of Scotland, UC Berkeley, Brown, and the library of the American Philosophical Society). William John Napier (1786-1834) was a British naval officer struck down by illness in his prime. Enlisting in 1803, he was present at Trafalgar onboard Captain Hope's Defence. For the next decade, he served with a number of ships, retiring with post rank in 1814. After succeeding to the peerage in 1823, he was appointed by Palmerston to the chief superintendency of trade in China and tasked with both safeguarding commerce through Canton and opening up other Chinese ports to foreign merchants. Following failed attempts to open direct negotiations with government officials, Napier became the first British representative in China to suggest the military seizure of Hong Kong, a course of action that was ultimately impossible due to a lack of British forces in the region. His further China adventures were cut short by his death from sickness in Macao in October 1834. "A brave and determined man, he had been sent out to do a job that required a degree of skill and experience he had never had the opportunity to acquire, purely on account of his name and rank. His death was a personal tragedy, but the lessons of his mission were taken to heart in London. The next time Britain had business to discuss at Canton adequate naval and military forces were sent" (ODNB). In his oration, the American missionary Elijah Bridgman (1801-1861) eulogized Napier's righteous character and dedication to his appointments, reminding attendees that "rank, riches, friends are all of no avail; and naught but righteousness is valuable" (p. 5). As the preface notes, "the following sermon was published in the Chinese Repository (Vol. third, No. six), for October, 1834; and copies of it having been requested by several of the friends of the deceased, a few are now struck off for private circulation". Printed with the text of the sermon are several notices issued by British personnel concerning Napier's sickness and death, including extracts from the private notes of Dr Thomas Colledge blaming Chinese officials for aggravating Napier's illness. Provenance: Francis Napier, tenth Lord Napier (1819-1898), with his near-contemporary "Sans Tache - Ready Aye Ready" bookplate and pencilled pressmark. Napier was a career diplomat and colonial administrator who served as Governor of Madras for six years and temporarily held the position of Viceroy of India following the assassination of Lord Mayo in 1872. Octavo (217 x 137 mm), pp. 22. Contemporary half calf, spine lettered in gilt, marbled sides, cornerpieces and sides trimmed with blind double rules, bulked with blanks, edges sprinkled red and blue. Extremities lightly rubbed and skilfully retouched, moderate foxing to endpapers and title page, contents otherwise fresh. A handsome copy. Not in Cordier, Löwendahl, or Lust.
