The History of Jardine Matheson
What’s past is prologue By Mark Schreiber By Eiichiro Tokumoto Translated by Mark Schreiber An excerpt from an article originally published in the 12, 19 November, 2020 issues of the weekly news magazine, Shukan Shincho . Sir William Keswick “M y great grandfather did organise the Meiji Restoration. But I’m a merchant and am much more interested in what business can be done today”. On 3 July, 2019 at a house in a quiet residential area in the City of Westminster, close to the Houses of Parliament, the elderly man looked back nostalgically on the past. As bright sunlight streamed into the window, in a quiet, carpeted room, time seemed to stand still. Seated on a sofa, with his back toward the window and holding a cane to his side, he began speaking in a modulated tone. He resembled the classic image of a good old man. “When Chinese burned the opium, we asked the British government to send gunboats to destroy and punish t...

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