The Sun. — London, England, 1860-12-29 00:00:00

itadia which we ware now eating. We the:efore The streets were crowded with people, and our 01 . ca ptors made the best use, they could of us,, to dismounted, in order to cross to him, and direo / 'gNe their return the eharacterlof a triumph, We we did so the soldiers fell Upo n u s , t ore o ff sever co ntinn4tO be driven thrOugh street after street, of the things' we had on, d ragge d us across the eseing through the' eastern and southern, the Prince. and into canal, and hurled us prostrat e on . th e groun d b e f ore V ~.. - Ta *stern quarter of the city, until we entered; at The moment the Prince gave me 'An opportunity about eight p.m:, a large court, an ! I saw with a of speaking to him, which he did by asking mem y shudder that we were in the,handa , of the Board of name, lat once clearly informed him Who I ;was P "" i siin ients '' :- '' ' - ''-'"' - 1 Ta 7g .. After Ved . and of the whole character of my mission to ' had bean kent waiting in a dense creivd longer, "i • as taken from the cart, Atnbas.. , for ,half an nour w chow, adding that I was returning to my . . A before a tribunal composed of examiners , and.carnea. sador when I was stopped by his troops. of email ranks valid made 'me kneel, and after treat- I was proCeeding with a remonstrance against e ~ t rannical manner, and question the treatment I was receiving, when the Prince. ing MO in a very y . few unimpoffiint points, they loaded ing me on a . interrupted 'me by saying, "Why did you not agree. ga v e " me over to a number of P" ‘ • Me .with chains, and yesterday to'settle the audience question . "Because I was not empowered to do so ,"I rep li e d. ruManly-looking gaolers. 'These men conducted The Prince then continued in a very f or biddi ng me , throngbseveral long courts, and happening !to 6.'Twice p urpose , I knew by the clank of halt-for- some tone—" Listen t You can talk reason ; ' you have chains that another prisoaer was approaching. It to our on gained two victories you have b 1 dared to take the Peiho forts; why d oes ' no t t h at !proved to e 1 1 , r. Lech I but they would not allOw content you? And now yO u presume to g i ve out " us to con verse, and hastily sent us away in different 'directions. (the Prince here alluded to th e p roc l ama ti on o f th e At last we stood before a building, could see was a common I cou .mon prison, and as the ra Commander-in-Chief) " t h at you w i ll attack any •whi force that stops your march on ning-chow. lam massive door opened and closed on me, I found my now doing that. Yo u ' say t h at you do not direct' sena a throng. of 70 or 80 wild-looking prisoners, most of them o ff ensive in the extreme, asis usual these military m ovemen t s , b u tt k now your name, and that you instigate all the evil that your people in Chinese gaols, from 'disease and dirt, and who the new-comer. commit. You have idea used bold language in the 'werenaturally anxious to gaze on presence of the Prince of I, and it is time 'that I was again care a n d searched frilly examined by : aw that my chains were pro foreigners should be taught respect for Chinese the gaolers, , who also . arms with fresh cords, :party secured, and gonad my, , . nobles and Ministers." as to -prevent circulation, ,or I endeavoured to explain the mistakes of the not so tight, ho wever; • inconvenience, At the same Prince ; told him distinctly what my functions were; to occasion serious rto my intense relief , that I had come to Tung-chow by express agree- time howeVer they `removed,ists, which being • Very tightly meat with the Imperial Commissioners, and solely the cords -from toy 7 1 ' .. . . tied, had caused ray hands tuswell .to twice their in the interest of peace ; and I again begged him to show the same respect to an English flag of truce' Proper size, and were now gi v i ng me grea t pa i n. that we had always paid t o thos e so repeate dl y s e nt Th e y then laid me on the raised - boarding on which in by the Chinese. the prisoners sleep,' and made me fast by anoth er The Prince, however, simply laughed at all this, large chain to a beam overhead. • The chains con and,,slated‘of one long and'heavy one stretching , from going towards a house that was close by; the neck to the feet, to which, the hands wer e fast directed the soldiers to bring me after him. by two erters . cheies and handcuffs and the On arriving at the house I was again thrown on cued ~ , . .... - my knees before him, an d th e P r i nce as k e d ra e if 1 feet in a ei ai ll er mariner .' would write for hi m . - Being exhausted with fatigue and want of f oo d, Having asked what it was he wished'ind to write, which I had not tasted for Upwards of 24 hours, : I he said " Write to your people and tell them to stop fell asleep, but was soon made sensible duly position the attack." . by being called up, and again carried before the "It would be useless for me to do so," I replied ; sauna Board 'of InquiSitors. It was then about " as I cannot control 'or • influence military move- -midnight, but the hour did not prevent the collec tnents in any way. I will not deceive, your. High tion of a large crowd, composed however, in this ness by leading you to suppose that , anything L • instance; of police-rtinners, gaolers, lietors, and the might write would have such an effect." . " ()thee initnerots myiniielens of Chinese law. The o I see s you contin ue obstinate," he said, " acrd - ' mandarins, as I was placed kneeling in my chains that - you will be of no Use to me." " ' ' ' ' . -before them, warned met 'that they would force the I then heard him give directions to take Mr. L och, truth fiom'me if I did not . give it willingly, and in the sower, and myself 'to the Prince of I, but' 'proof' of 'their earnestness, they ordered four tor to conduct the escort into Chang-kea-Wan. 'While tureta•!teseize me; even before they began to put the necessary preparation's were being Made, two. their questions, by the ears, and the hair of the high officers irr his suite wearing red buttons took' ;head And Ace. They trit asked me if I were a me aside into a tent; and told me to sit down 'and' 'Chinese'. I told them they had only to look at, y talk with him. 0 Follow cur advice," they Said, face and hair to see * that I was not. Their next "and don't think of denying that you can do this 'qtieetions related to my age,leagth of residence in or that, or you will get into trouble." I again explained to them who I was, and' hew - They then Proceededea . fellows : far my powers extended, but.they replied thatthey a •-;' Ifeinisitors—Sts,te the name of your headman. did not believe me. '' 4-' 'Answer ‘—Whieh l dkacen mean—the Ambassador , . Admiral Having expres se d my surpr i se at " the engage'' Genui - a 1 ! or, .• , . ment then going on, and inquiring how it had corn- ..: "Inquisitors (angrily-YOu have no such func menced, they 'observed, "It does not matter how it ' 'tionaries. Don't presume, to use such titles. commenced ; perhaps you began it, perhaps we Cilia ; .Here the tortureri•einfed their action to the tone but you.have at last gone too fa r , an d will now, g'pt of the mandari ns , by pulli n g s i multaneously at my your deserts." - hair, Cam B:.c. "Bat we have no t g e n e t oo f ar, " I replied. .„"It Inquisitors—N ow ,1 give the name of your head ' has been ag ree d b e t ween our Amb isiadora'and i qtiifi " 8 • 4 ‘-' . •• „ your Commissioners that we are to occupy ground'' Y'A.4l44ii" ' i ' ' P ' —Wh ch one . up to-five le south of Chang-kea-ivaa." ' ' " Inijuisitors—The heaa of your soldiers. " Oh, we are not particular' to a few le," said the Answer (in Englishl=Lieutenant- General Sir • .Gr officers: "It would have been quite the same if ilkifie ant. you had come within five, ten, or tWenty•le . of our Thquisitorsa-Wh a t ? army. You have gon e t oo f ar, we tell you, Answer (in English)—Lieutenant -General Sir The cannonading now became heavier, , and the . 11oPe Grant. two officers:had to f o llo w P r i nce S ang, who rdde" •Inquig . itors—Say something we can understand. away to the front. Mr. Loch,' the sower, and nay-' - Answer—l am obliged to use the English terms self were ordered to get into an 4pen cart of the as you.avill not let me give you these in Chinese. roughest description, and two French soldiers, whem They attempted to write down,in Chinese sounds, we had not , before seen a avere put in with us. ;A " Lieutenant-General •Sir Hope Grant," but not few . moments before I had observed a French oiii-' succeeding, they asked the name of another head cer, whom I knew to be the Commiseariat Intel's: man. . dant, beiag - led' up to the house; he had evidently. Answer (in English)—Ambassador Extraordi been ill-used, but I could not see to what extent nary the Earl of Elgin. nor had I any opportunity of speaking with him, Finding it equally impossible to write this down We were conveyed to Tung-chow, seeing nothing in Chinese, or to get on with the examination, they of our escort on the way, and were taken through' told me I might revert to Chinese names and the city to the temple in the western suburb, wh re titles,.and I th en gave t h em those of the Ambassa- I had seen the C omm i ss i oners i n the moral g. dor and the Comman ders-in-Chief. They. had left, and our guard (consisti ngo f fi ty i Inquisitors—Ho w many soldiers have yo u ? 'horsemen) followed the P e ki ng - roa d, inquiring or Answer—Not less than 20,000 fighting men. • the Commissioners as they went alon g , an d en j oy- I nqu i s it ors—That is false. [Torturers clutched ing the - sufferings which' the severe shocks °eta- mesas before.] Repeat how many. shined us when the cart was driven along the, Ansiver—Nct less than 20,000 fighting men, in dilapidated stone ca useway a t a rap i d pace. After which Ido not include followers, &c. I have stated retracing their steps in more than one directicion, that once to you, and have no other answer to give. they at last. took us ; into an encampment, and Here, I 'was again threatened, both by mandarins threw us on our knees before a mandarin, who th y and torturers, b u t d eem i ng i t d angerous to swerve told us wa s the G enera l and Minister of Sta te, from any statement I had once made, I adhered to Juy-lin. Je . avoid an o th er pa i n f u l and useless that which I had already given them, and it was ' examination I feigned faintness, and in reply to his taken down. inquiries called out for water. He then directed Inquisitors—How many eoldiers have the French? that we should be taken into the air, but we Answer—l am less acquainted with their force, were so pressed upon by a disorderly iiebb but they cannot have less than 10,000 fighting men. of soldiers that we had to be removed In gnisitors—You are lying agai n . into a house, where we were searched b y Th e same question was repeated and enforced by a military officer of the rank of Tajia, and every- torturers; I returned the same aesewer, and it was thing that we had in our possession was taken from noted down. I then explained that being myself us. Again we Were removed to a temple, and a a civilian I could not' be expected to be familiar mandarin o n th e su it e of the Prin ce of I, name d w ith m ili tary matters, or to know all the particulars Ti* Tajin, who had behaved with mar k ed - rude- of so large an army as the present combined force. :-.. n.. to Inc at the morning' s interview, came in and Inquisitors—So large an army, do you call it? daacted that Nye should be brought before him for `That are 30,000 men? They are a mere nothing. examination. • Ile asked us our names and Who w e • They then proceeded t ' in %examine me the same were, and then insisted epon my telling him where strain as to the number of cavalry and artillery I had obtained a paper that had been found in diy ellips, steamers, horses, Chinese coolies, &c., and, in pocket in whiciaprorninant menti on h a pp ene d t o b e particular, of the range of our field and siege guns, made of several Princes and o th er , important pe r - w hi c h •l gave them at three miles and upwards, to sonages who are believed to be among the leading gether with. other particulars of their destructive advocates of the war policy. Fearing to criminate properties. • Hearing that the horses of the force the - native writer of the, memorandum (which was came from:lndia, they-questioned me as to the re nothing but a list of names), I replied that I had sources of that country, and were much displeased obtain e d it in a Canton yamun. He declared this with my statement that it was within 20 days' sail to bo false, demanded why I presumed to make:in- of China, and had-an army of upwards of 300,000 quiries. About Chinese Princes, and said that force, men, and a population of •more than 101,000,000. should be. used to make pie divulge from whom : I They also equa ll y 'di sapproved of . my estimate of received the informatio n . the population . of Great Britain, which I stated at At this • moment he was suddenly called away : about 30,000,000. But the remark which probably we heard a, stir outside the house, and a number gave them most displeasure, and caused rae some of soldiers withrdrawn.ulvords rushed in, dragged Us all out, a n d b oun d our wrists ti pain, at th e h an d s o f th e t orturers, was the use, on tightly behind us . my p a rt, o f a term for her Majesty denoting aqua ,hey were much excited, and called out that death lity of rank with the Emperor. Theyainquired after was eineonly . desert, a s o ur so ldi ers had been killin g our " Prince, " to which; Freplied by sta ti ng that ' their People, af t er a s n ort delay, during whiCh we had many princes, both in England and India, Mr. Leah and myself took, as we thought, a final but that they were a'-1-under one Sovereign, as in reeve of each other , we ,were seized by the so ldi ers t h e case a theempire of China. and run out of the house et a swift pace, exactly , " What do • you mean by using such language," in the way in whic" h I have observedthe Chi- they said ; " you have yourself shown that you have I nese conduct Oleir . p r * . 4 I SOpCyS, to e 7.7.CCU bon . Again been long in China, that: epeak our language ther we came toge , . unde r some trees, and all five Of and read our books, and you must know, thereforea us were put once more i nto a cart. All was coufh- that there is ' but one Emperor, who rules over all sloe awe 'as; the C4lr, i We had ~. previously ob- lands. It is you r duty to communicate your superior served a svp , beiek . struck, and I could see that some knowledge on this subject to your countrymen, in-, of the a:Nance .on o r part allied force was evi- .st'ead of encouraging them • th • t r , t . in their ex rave a en dentli - ,causing a retreat on that of the ( i • ihinese. ideas." Soon we found ourselves again on the Peking-road, , They then insisted.that I had often been in Pekin; and suffering. much more, thap before froni the jolt- that I had ;confederates here, and that they would . ing of the cart, as we could not now use our hands or force me to:reveal their names. I 'firmly denied all arms to ayaad„off the shacks. The cart being too this, and told them that 1-knew but three persons heavily ladeaao proceed at the desired pace, another in Pekin. • one, was called, and the Sikh- and one of the French men were transf erre N . Inqui s it or s—s ame them. transferred to it.. We passed numerous Answer —The e two - Imperial Commissioners— bodies of infantry' in Position along the road, and Princ e of ' • I and Muh-yin, and the Assistant Corn ware met by a . considerable force of cavalry going missioner Hang-ki. - - in the direct*, of Tung•ehow. The road was SO , I mad much blocked e ,s reply in. th e h ope o f di sarm i ng t h e i r ap ,by men and .his retreating suspicions, 'which I could see were 'very strong . while othe rs ,were advanein g , th at we were often on this point and the idea that through our. obliged to halt." The Prince of I, 3luh-yin, his Chinese or coolies, in some. other way, we had set fellow Commissioner, and Hang•ki, passed us in treason at work within , the walls of the capital, large sedan chaire„ but would not deign to. notice was one which evidentl - a them considerable us. We could,, see that we were in the charge of apprehension. They were also particular in de- Tsing• Taiin, the officer Already described as being manding information as to the number and names on the suite of the .Pritice of I, and our first solici- :of our interpreters. I complied by • • giving them the tuitions for relief from pain and thirst afforded him 'Christian names and surnames of . several of t h ese so much cruel. gratification that we made no second gentlemen in full, knowing, as t 6 h e avant p appeal to his humanity. Fortunately one of the that they would be unable:to take down. int• Four soldie r s. in.' the cart .with us was less relent- bly the king English words,.and they mow, ; a ,' . leas, and gave-us a little water. It 'was about :quished the inquiry. They made pointec/ intf • i s" `-, ' 1 " 11- 1 1 481 two ' o'clock when i nto - } we were put . • however ; after Mr. Lay - , and when I told :thaan that. the cart; And the: sun was: setting as we reached he was now engaged by g, the invitation of th e Cliitiese the Chttalan- or eastern gate of the city, authorities' in managing. their foreign revrnue, _ •.: , -;: ,, 1 4 / 1 cl nzi :: ~ ::: , ~.. whieb. had nearly doubled s in ce th e co ll ec ti on o f i t . 4a4 been placed in his hands, they reproved me for using such language, and called Otit that Lay was nothing else thaua native (Chinese) traitor. Towards the close of the examination, throughout which I was compelled to remain kneeling upon the stone floor, I obtained their permission to make; a statement : on ,my own account., I then told them , why I and, the other gentlemen of my party had come to Tang-chow; that we were all emnloyediin the cause of peace, and not of war; but, although acting under a flag of truce, and admitted to inter. . views with the Imperial C omm issioners, w e h a d been seized and were now being treated, not even as prisoners of war,,but as common fellons,. mid has whenae account, thnety, but interrupted we have Offenders against Chinese law, I.was urging that this great and to me unaccountable mi s t a k e s h ou ld n a o y t i b ng ep„erir,:,4,isa.t i tlet s in,your anotherthe.by s story. BeSides, if, as you state, you are a civilian, and have nothing to do with soldiers or their move ments, why are you always seen with the advance?" To this I answered that we always kept an inter preter in the front to be ready to receive overtures or communications from the Chinese -authorities, and to look after the interest of 'the people. The examination ended, I was ordered back to prison. I have thus given a full recital, my lord, of, the, occurrences of the 18th of September, the day on ! which we were seized; but I shall endeavour to avoid - similar detail in the account I have now to add of our eubsequent 20 days of imprisonment. On the 19th and 20th a great number of Manda rins visited the prison, and those whose Official i position entitled - them .is m a k e th e de man d , 'ordered me to .be brought out, that they might have the satisfaction of seeing me kneeling before - them. Among these were the highest authoiities of the Board of Punishthents, including, as I now know, the President'hiniself, who abused me in a , very bitter tone, laughed at my statement, and appeared as ignorant of foreigners, and as much prejudiced erinst them, as his subordinates who had conducted the examination above describsol. Several Censors and Vice-Presidents of the other five Boards of Government were also pointed out tome by the gaolers as being among the visitors. Whenever brought out before Mandarins of rank, I lost. no opportunity of 'protesting against my' treatment, and of pointing out that in wronging me they were injuring themselves, as it was im possible that e :peace could be made if they seized and imprisoned theinstruments of negotiation. But it was. only from the prisoners that I ob tained sympathy . or a hearing. . Many of these un fortunate men were . glad, when . so permitted, to come round me to lieten to my story, or any de- - - scription that I would give them of foreign coun tries and usages. ' Instead of,following the example set them by their authorities, and treating me with - ' 'abuse or ridicule, they were seldom disrespectful, addressed me by my title, and often avoided putting me to inconvenience ' when it was in their- power to do :en Most of them w ere ' men of the • loWest chess and the gravest 'order of 01-- fenders,. as •in u sderers, burglars, &c. There who had no Aims of their owe were reduced by prisun filth and prison diet to a shocking state 'of emaciation and disease, but those whO couldafford to fee the • gaolers,' and purchase such things as they wanted, lived in'comparative fulness andoomfort. They explained to me that their prison system cost Alle , Government nothing more than the pay of the gaolers, and the supply of • two bowls of boiled millet per day to each prisoner. All other ex penses, such. as water, lighting, fuel, tea, salt, vege tables for the prisoners, and good meals for the gaolers, &e., are defrayed by some one among the prisoners who veluntarily undertakes the charge in redemption of a certain portion of his term of im prisonment. The mandarins of the Board having ordered that I should be supplied with food that I could eat, my maintenance, which cost, as I was' told, is. a-day, was carried to the charge of the man who held this position, but instead of taking a- dislike to me on account of the increased expense which I occasioned him, he wagon° of the foremost in showing me kindness or consideration. My meals consisted of two meals ai.dsijr boiled rice, or a kind of maccaroni, seasoned witlna veryeparing allowance of meat or vegetables T- als'o cakes, or the bread or the cella ivy, and a little tea and tobacco. " In the prison roll, which was hung up on the wall, I found myself returned as " a rebel," and that I was one of five, out of a total of seventy-three, • who were ordered to wear the heaviest chains, As I grew more intimate with the inmates of the prison, I cautiously endeavoured to obtain informa tion from or through teem of the movements of the allies, or the intentions of the Chidese authorities ; but the gaolers were always on the watch to pre vent communication between me and the prisoner's on these subjects, nor would they allow themselves to be drawn into conversation respeeting them. Two of these men remained always beside me, both by day and night, and although they occasionally answered' by inquiries respecting Mr. Loch and my fellow-prisoners, they defeated every endeavour I made to get a message or note conveyed to them. On the 22d of September I was removed from the common prison to a separate ward about eight feet square, on the opposite side of the court, the four gaolers appointed to watch me crossing at the same time, and putting up in the.same little room. This was scarcely done when I received a visit from the inspector of the prison, who, instead of making me kneel before him, as he had done on previous visits, desired me to be seated, and . introduced another mandarin•of small rank as his relief. The latter said he.had come merely to pay me a friendly and a private visit, and to suggest in an equally private way whether I could not do. something by writing a note of some kind, or in any way that I might suggest, to bring about a settlement of the present differences between our respective nations. I said that, when two nations at war wanted to come to friendly understanding, the first thing to be done was. for one or the other to make overtures for peace; negotiations, either by writing or by con ference, would follow, and if these were carried out to the satisfaction of both parties peace would ensue. The difficulty in"the present case.was that ' the Chinese had made prisoners of the very persons —although essentially. non-combatants—who were required to-conduct these conferences. Here I gave them a recital of my own story, but after hearing this they simply came babk,to their first proposal, that I should suggest some mode of arrangement ; and said they would shortly repeat their visit to hear what had occurred to me. They would' give me no information as to the occurrences of the last. five days. Shortly after thoy had gone the head gaoler asked me if I knew a mandarin named Hang-kin He would like to see you, he said, but cannot come into the prison. on account of the stench, and I do not see hoW you can be allowed to go out to him.' I told the. gaoler to act as he pleased, and ei few minutes afterwards Hang-ki entered. I have by. me the following note of our conversation, which I succeeded in making shortly after he had left inc : Note.--eHang 7 ki assumes a look 'of -pity for my condition, though apparently without thinking that it is undeserved. Ho asks how matters are to be arranged, and I inquire for news. Skirmishes, - he says, occasionally occur between San-ko-lin-sin • and our troops e who have' not yet passed Chang-kea wan. The Prince of I and Mull-yin have been recalled to Pekin, and the Prince of Kung, a younger. brother of the EmPeror—a very able and amiable man—appointed in their place. Perhaps KWeilang will- be his colleague. How can nego tiations be set on foot ? I say that they have increased their difficulties by their wrongful treatment- of me and my party by their violation of a flag of truce and the rights of an envoy; and I also complain of the deceit practised in my case. Hang-ki at first professes surprise at hostilities of the 18th. , Had he known that these were:going to occur, he would have gone to see Lord Elgin. Came back because he thought Lord Elgin would not s ee him, and because he found Lord - Elgin a long way off—(Correcting himself))--LCame back because the Baron de Meritens had told him that it was useless trying to see Lord Elgin before I had re turned. The Prince of I had told him that I had ,been taken prisoner because it was war, and not peace, and because I bad admitted to him—Hang-hi - -on the evening of the 17th of Seletember, that we keiew of the arrest several days previously, by our military, of the Prefect of Tien-tsin. ' I reminded Hang-hi of all the business we had trans acteal.together the same evening, as showing that thd Prince of I had quite given we to believe that he considered hostilities at an end, Certain officers had been appointed to settle with me the position _to be taken up by our force; other officers had been appointed to furnish supplies; a procdarna ion making known the cessation of hostilities had !nagreed to, and wits being printed under his - Rang-ki's) superintendence; - and yet the Chinese l -ilt, 'nttack our troops the next morning when proceed . ' iing to take up the ground agreed on, and seize me when engagcd in the transaction of the above busi ness. Either the Prince of I had grossly deceived me or Sang-ko-lin-sin had acted independently of the Prince. In a word, the Prince had either played false, or he had 'ne' power over hie own people. IloW could business be transacted' With 'such Com missioners ? Hang-ki evades explanations,- and suggests that I should write a letter, but to whom or to what par peso, he do es not seem to knoW. They want a let ter, he say s; that will bring about a settlement of affairs. I tell him that such a letter should come from them. He still presses me to write, but I declipe to do so, as apart from the vagueness of the requisition, I can see that he has some con cealed object in view: He leaves me and says he. will shortly pay me another visit. The 23d and 24th passed without my seeing Hang-ki, and as an interview with any officer was a relief to the monotony of my imprisonment, and afforded me a chance of gaining some information, I requested the gaoler, on the 25th, to inform Hang-ki that I should be glad of another visit from him. The gaoler returned and told me that the message could not be forwarded unless I wrote the medal red card in my own handwriting. I com- Flied on being furnished. With writing materials, and I find that the card I then sent is the one for warded to your lordship in Prince, Kung's despatch of the 27th September in proof of my being well in health and comfortably put up. On the 26th Hang lei came to the prison, and I quote from a note enade at the time the, following summary of our conver sation :ea- At about 2 p.m., 26th September, received a visit fratn.Hang-ki, attended by two prison inspectors, Gan and Choo Laou•yays. I first spoke about being put in the same prison with Loch—a small request, and easily granted if they wished to show us any humanity. Hang-ki followed with a long speech. Grand councils had been held, he said, on the subject of foreign relations. It was considered that the hostie lities of the allies are v er y diff eren t on t hi s to all previous occasions, as by advancing on Pekin alaey are attacking the Emperor himself, and not, as heretofore, the Emperor's viceroys. The Emperor is therefore on his defence, and must fight for his throne and dynasty. He has therefore determined to retire to the Hunting Palace at Jehol,. in Tar tary, and . to call in the aid of the 48 Mongol 'Princes; each of whom can furnish probably 20,000 men. But supposing that all is lost—that is,'Pekin teleen--and he Imneriel force refreat, fighting, be. yond :he fUtill r; hedirmembeement of the empire follow,and e.l . teadewillbe at suend. Isthietbe con ese t hat mast be adopted or not ? The mejeeity of Priucee end Ministers ere ler it. The Prince of Ching , Princeofl,Sang-ko•lin-sin,andotherssay that peace cannot be made with the Allies, because they alsiays make negotiations an opportunity for put ting in fresh demands • also that comm erc i a l rela tions are far more co s tly than profitable to China, for, although s ome 4,000,000 o f taels are received from foreigners annually as duties, the claims for in demnities—first, 21,000,000 dollars in- 1842, then 6,000,0 t taels in 1858, and now 10,000,000 tads moree--almost equal the amount that has reached the Imperial Treasury from the same source during the above period. The personages just named, to gether with a largeraajority of their advisers, urge war. The Prince of Kung,. the brother of the Emperor, who. has now the direction of the foreign question, would be glad to see some other course; but unless I point one otit, no alternative presents itself. If I will not do this, and affairs continue to go wrong, I e shall make myself a mark for the public fury, which cannot be restrained at a moment of extremity. I reply that the conclusion of peace is a vary simple matter, and mey be managed at any moment. A;1- is necessary is, th a t both parties' should sincerely wish for it. There. can be no doubt as to .the desire of Great Britain to be at peace with 'China. What has Lord Elgin come all this great distance for but to make peace ? But any peace that we conclude must secure to us our rights and our national honour. The refusal of China to admit the principle of, equality in herrelations with foreign countries is the source of all the foreign troubles that hive come upon her. Had it .not been for those unreasonable pretensions to which foreign Powers will no longer submit, she would not have 'seen foreign armies within her borders, and would have saved the large sums-paid as indemnities. I cannot understand the singular distinction which he draws between former wargand the present one, or why the Emperor Should still' persist in fight ing. But if Pekin be taken, and his Mejesty should fly, I do not see how he is to take the population of the 18 provinces of China with him, and it is population that makes trade. But' to the question of peace, why do they not make - peace—or why do they break it as fast as they • make it ? Can it be that they really have no sin cere wish for peace ?At Tung-chow the other day they made peace on one day, and then fought us o dan 11r .the next. They certai n ly canno t say th at t h e Eng -1 causing September, the o r should war to s break oul out againish ha unot t lee r n e have been in their hands. Is this double dealing the result of bad faith or of divisions i.O their coun cils and Government ? I again go into the story of .the 18th, but Hang-ki, whose manner on this occa :Sion is abrupt and unfriendly, stops me by saying that it is useless to refer again to that affair. The question is what can now be done ? Have I, -or have I not, anything to suggest? I point out that, being in ignorance of all that has occurred since the 18th, I am not the person to 'apply to.for suggestions: Hang-hi is careful not to supply information, but admits th a t a corres pondence is going on between the Prince of Rung and Lord Elgin., lie seems to. say that nothing conclusiaceieyet arrived at or immediately expected. T again observe thandiffarences can only be settled by negotiations, and negotiation, to be effectual, should not be . confined. to correspondence, but should be conducted by conferences, either between the Plenipotentiaries themselves or their deputies. Rut after what has occurred to you, Hang-ki said, your deputy, Mr. Wade, will not come to see us. You certainly cannot expect, I said, that any one of our officers should again place himself in your power, and it is -for you, who have violated a flag of truce,, to come forward now and send deputies to our side.' But will you guarantee their safety ? he asked. Yes, I replied, if you send Mr. Loch and myself with them. Hang-ki answered this remark with a smile of • derision. That will not do, he said; we want you to gurantee that your people 'will make peace without any more fighting. You have a better guarantee for peace, I said, in your own sincerity than any that I could give. If you really wish'for peace, you haVe only to send . oot your deputies to open negotiations, and con vince the Ambassadors lay your proceedings that you regret all paec acts of bad faith. It is of no use, said Hang-hi, for 'me to return the Prince of Kung with a set speech of this kind. Business presses, and I doubt whether I shall be able to see you again. Have you nothing else to say ? Do you still refuse to suggest a plan ? Here the Prison- Inspector, Gari-Ltiou-yay, interposed the vs:nioric that I ought to . write a letter. Yes, said Hanp,eki, Write to your Ambassador or to Mr. Wade, engaging 'that the mandarin wh o t a ke s t h e l etter shell.be well treated, and that there shall be a ces sation of hostilities. I replied that it was quite out of my power to say anything about the discontinuance of hostilities, and that were I to make • such a proposal it would be wholly useless, as it would have no effect upon the .proceedings of the English Ambassador. I have suggested a plan. I added, that you should send out your Deputies, and.return Mr. Loch and myself with them, in which case' we would be answerable for their safety, and they could 'make any representa lionsor overtures that. yo u mi g h t d es i r e . I cannot :undertake to do more. As to your menace, I know that I am in danger as. long as I am in your hands, because it is no uncommon thing for the Chinese to deal cruelly with their prisoners, or even to take their lives. But while I should prepare for the worst, I know also that my fate will be determined not by your will, but by that of God. On the other hand, it is for . you to bear in mind that, although you would do the allied force but little injury by killing the few prisoners who have fallen into your hands, you would by such an act bring down upon yourselves a terrible vengeance. I also reminded Hang-ki a the different treatm en t l ie rece i ve d When detained as a prisoner by tho allies at Canton in 1858 ; and I again begged that, in View of what ever might happen to us, Mr. Loch and myself might at least have the satisfaction of being put into the same prison. Hang ki replied that his imprisonment and mine were' not parallel cases, that he could not , say whether Mr. Loch and myself could be allowed to be together, and that he felt he was returning to the Prince Of Kung without having anything to tell him, You will be in no danger, however, during the next two or three days. Two days afterwards, the 28th of Sepf ember, Hang-ki again appeared, bein g accom p an i e d on t hi s occasion by a mandarin named Sun.., whom he introduced as an officer attached to the Prince of Kung. The Prince, Hang ki said, had heard of the private visits which he had paid me on the 22d and 26th, and had sent for him in order that he might hear Ilang-ki's own account of all that had passed between us. The Prince wholly disapproved of the manner in which I was treated, and attri buting this injustice to Sang-lco•lin-sin and the Prince of I, declared his intention of following a very different policy to that of the latter. Having now the direction of foreign affairs, said the Prince, I shall take my own course, however open it may be to attack, and however people may say . that I inn encouraging the extravagant pretensions of foreigners, by treating them well. I shall adhere etrietly to courteSyand justice in my treatment of: foreigners, and if they do not meet me in the same way they place themselves in tho wrong, while whatever may happen I shall, at least, have the conseiousnoss of having acted rightly. Therefore go to Mr. Pa:rkes and tell him that - he shall he removed to good quarters, and that he shall not have to complain of his . treatment now that he is in my hands. Let there be no delay, no, not even to write orders, but take the officer Sung with you in proof that you are acting by my direction. Hang-ki followed up this, speech with a longer one of his own, the tenour of which was that I should mark my appreciation of the Prince's good ness by persuading, the Allies to observe the same high principles as those which actuated the Prince. I replied that 1 had no difficulty in assuring the Prince that justice and courtesy would continue to mark, as hitherto, the action of my own nation. It was the absence of those principles on the part of Chinese officials, as shown in their discourteous and unjust treatment of foreign Governments, by refus ing to hold intercourse with them on terms of equality, that had been the cause of the present trosbles. With justice and courtesy on the side of the Chinese, I. had no doubt acconimodatiou could be arrived at. " Listen," said Hang-ki to the three mandarins who were with him, "he declares that his nation will net according to justice. Take off his chains." 'f his having been done, Hang-ki again resumed the conversation. He told me that affitirs remained in a doubtful state; that correspondence between the Prince of Kunz and Lord Elgin co n ti nue d ; b u t that it veae still impossible to say whether the re sult would be war or peace. He thought, however, that in the course of the negotiations an opportu nity would be afforded me of rendering the Prince some assistance in return for his kindness to me. I thanked the Prince for his good intentions, but pointed out that, so long as I remained a prisoner, I could be of very little use in promoting the set tlement of differences ; and I begged, therefore - , that he would form no high expectations of my assist ance, as, in the event of matters going contrary to their wishes, they might visit their dissatisfaction upon me. Hang-ki assured me that I need not apprehend danger in my own case, except in the event of a great emergency, say the assault of the city, when the foreigners would be killing Chinese,. and it was only natural that th e l a tt er should take revenge. This led me to remark upon the more humane practices of Western nations in regard to their treatment of non-combatants, and those protected . by a Ilse: of truce, &c.; but Hang-ki met my obser vations by stating that the customs of ell nations could not be expected to be the same on these points. Hang-hi having told me that I should probably be taken out of prison to-morrow, I stated that I hoped Mr. Loch would have the benefit of this ar rangement, as, if not, I could not avail myself of it. We had been sent away together under the same flag of truce; had been seized and imprisoned together; and h would not now do to take one of us out of prison and leave the other in. Hang-ki,replied, that I was raising a difficulty which he could not meet without further instruc. tions from the Prince of Kung. • . He then took leave of me, but returned in a quar ter of an hour to say that he did not see how he could bring up the subject of the removal of Mr. Loch to the:Prince, unless I gave him a note stat ing that the latter had been exceedingly kind to me, and was also very able and intelligent. I said that it was quite impossible for me to express any opinion as to the Prince'scharacter and attainments, as I had never seen the Prince, nor had I ever heard anything of his highness besides what Hang hi himself hod told me. Neither could I conscien tiously declare that he had treated me with extra ordinary kindness, seeing that I was still detained in the common prison into which I had been at first thrown, and that I had only that moment been re leased from my chains, although this privilege was enjoyed by nine-tenths of the felons who were my companions. It was not favour, but justice, that I sought at the hands of the Prince. To be detained as a prisoner at all was in itself an injustice; but if so detained I ought not to be treated as a criminal and an offender . against Chinese law, but as an officer and a prisoner of war. I was certain, I added, that the justice and courtesy of the Prince, of which Hang,-ki had said so much, would induce him to relieve Mr. Loch and myself from our pre- sent ignominious position, if the matter were pro perly represented to him. Haneeki urged that if I furnished him with a paper to the effect requested, he could do more than if he went to the Prince empty handed. Not will ing to lose the advantage which this demand gave me, I again replied that I could write nothing of the kind as long as - I remained in prison, and that I would not leave the prison unless I was accom panied by Mr. Loch; but that as soon as we were taken out of prison, and were treated properly, I should be ready to note the fact in writing, and also to state, if lie wished it, that I had been told that the Prince was an able and intelligent man. Hang-lei then left me, and returned in the after noon of the following day (September 29th) with an order for the removal of Mr. Loch and my self from the prison of the Board of Punishments to a temple where quarters had been prepared for us. I need not here dwell upon the satisfac tion we both felt as we met each other again in one of the outer courts.of the Board. Having been put into separate vehicles we were conveyed, in the charge of Bang-ki and a strong escort, to the temple spoken of. Here we were placed in a room about 20 feet by 10, which was e ntered by another room of the same dimensions, in which eight of the jailors of the Board were stationed. These rooms looked into an open - court, about 40 feet square, in which we were allowed to take exercise; but a strong party of soldiers guarded the outer entrance into this court, and we soon became aware that military were put up, in and about all parts of the building. Hang-ki explained the presence of the jailors, by saying that they had been brought.here to act as our servants. • With a degree of conside ration for our comfort, not usually shown by man darins, he had supplied us not only with such essen tials as good food, beds, &c., but also with the luxuries of writing materials, soap, and towels, &e. He left it to ourselves to order our meals whenever we chose, and these, I may mention, were abundant and good during the time of our stay in the Kaow-tneaou temple. As soon as he had seen us located in our new quarters I gave him, accord ing to my promise, the following note : "The Chinese authorities are now treating Mr. Loch and myself well, and we are informed that this is done by the direction of the Prince of Kung. We are also told by them that his Highness is a man of decision and great intelligence, and I trust . that, under these circumstances, hostilities may be temporarily suspended to give opportunity for negotiation." September 30.—One of Hang-hi's head servants delivered, in the name of the Prince of Kung, a large present of fruit and confectionery. Hang-ki followed himself at 2 p.m., and talked at consider able length without having any apparent object. lie .maintained that the ifivasion of a country and a march upon the capital was altogether contrary to justice and reason, and that was what we were now doing. I held that the justice or injustice of in vasion depended upon circumstances ; if one Power were wronged . by another Power, and could not obtain redress by fair means, force was the only resource left. We knew from history that China had been invaded about 200 years ago by the Manchoo Tartars, who, when once they had taken possession of the country, never quitted it, but founded the present dynasty, and yet I presumed that he, as a Manchoo, was quite prepared to defend that course. He then argued that, if we captured Peking, we should have to contend against the viceroys of all the provinces, who would, of coeirse, march upon us. I said I thought riot, as many of these viceroys were already unable to hold their own against rebels and banditti. Instead, however, of wasting time in arguing upon the degree of mischief that would ensue upon the capture of Peking, I advised Hang ki to avoid that contingency altogether, by effect ing a timely settlement of affairs, instead of con tinuing to indulge in delays which, under present circumstances, must prove particularly dangerous. Hang-ki went over a good deal of old ground, and c',efended hesitation on their part, on the ground that we put difficulties in their way which they could not get over. Among these he enume rated bringing up a large escort to Peking ; the demand for immediate indemnities ; the presenta tion of the Q'ueen's letter, &e, As Hang-ki insisted in keeping me in the dark as to the movements both of the Ambassadors and the forces, I could not give a more practical form to ray suggestions. I had gathered from a conversa tion with one of Hang-ki's servants, previous to the arrival of his master, that our army had advanced to and continued to halt at Pa-le-cheaon, and when I assumed this as the fact, Ilaws-ki's equivocati ons convinced Inc of it s t ru th. I advised b him, there fore, not to lose what appeared to inc their last .chance of negotiation, as one more march would bring our army under the walls of Pekin. Hang hi having rr tin put forward the old plea that their ears for the safety of their deputies prevented the despatch of these officers to our camp, Mr. Loch volunteered to escort them out and to return with them again. Hang-hi said he would submit this proposal to the Prince of hung. October I.—Hang-ki called at 11 a.m., and was accompanied by Lou, formerly Naoutai at Shanghai and a high literary mandarin. Lau load been sent by the Prince of I to Ho-se-woo with despatches for the Ambassadors at the same time that Mr. Wade and myself had visited the Prince at Tung- Aow. In a half serious tone I compared the diffe rent' treatment in the two cases.. On the 16th September I had carefully escorted Lau past our lines, and on the 18th Thad been seised and brutally treated by the Chinese in theirs. Haag-hl came forward in .defence. The seizure of myself and party was almost a necessity, he said, arising out of the exigency of the moment : hostilities had been resumed, I was in their hands at the time, and it is contrary to all reason, he added, to put a sword into the hand of your enemy at the very time when you are going to give him combat. True. I had at one time to complain of ill-treatment, but that had been corrected, and . l was now well taken care of. They all blamed Sang-ho-lin-sin and the Prince of I for fighting at Chang-key. -wan instead of concluding peace ; but, although they admitted that my detention was an act of treachery, they would not see in my present detention acontinuation of the injustice. The Prince of Kung does not approve, Hang-ki said, o f M r. L oc h go i ng out with the deputies ; but we wish you to write a note to Lord Elgin, proposing that your army should retire for 10 or 20 le, and that deputies from both sides should then meet upon some neutral ground. I pointed out that such proposals should be made by them to your lordship direct, and not through me, and that I could not lower myself in the eyes of my own people by proposing that our troops should fall back previous . to negotiation. I consented, however, to note the proposal they made as to a meeting on neutral ground, and accordingly wrote your lordship the annexed letter. Mr. Loch and myself also prepared private notes to be used in the event of Prince Kung allowing these to be for warded with the former. The 2d of October passed without a visit, but on the 3d Hang-ki and Lau called in the afternoots, The Prince of Kung, they said, had kept back all the letters we had written on the Ist. Again, they seemed disposed to limit their conversation to gene ral subjects, and to deplore the existence of present differences without making any real effort to settle them. They stated that Lord Elgin had started a different proposition to theirs, namely, that depu ties should meet "before the armies," instead of at "a neutral spot." I pointed out that this was a distinction without a difference. They then showed me a paper, purporting to be an extract from one of your lordship's despatches, on the subject of the presentation of the Queen's letter, and wanted me to declare to them whether this meant that your lordship had no intention of insisting upon an audience with the Emperor. They also produced another extract, and desired me to inform them whether that meant ,hat your lordship demanded nothing more than the execution of the Treaty of Tien-tsin. I declined to give an opinion as to the meaning of any isolated passages in your lordship's communication, unless they showed me the original letters ; these they always declined to produce. They then delivered the following note, which had been sent by Mr. Wade, in reply to the paper I had written on the day we were removed from prison, and which I now learned had been forwarded by them to the English camp : "My dear Parkes,—We are glad to hear from you at last. I have written you a note in Chinese, and take my chance with this in English. Ever since the Prince Kung has begun to write, Lord Elgin has been writing to say that if they send an officer to get the treaty ready for signature, and send out the prisoners at the same time, peace will be made. He adds no conditions to those he in sisted on before, and if the Chinese had had any sense they would have made peace a week ago. As it is, they have delayed so long that we have been obliged to move on the force; and if they do not make peace now, we shall be obliged to attack Pekin. Our shell will easily destroy the city, and if any harm befal you all, it will be burned from one end to the other. Every one here wishes you well ; if the other fellows want anything, try to get the mandarins to inform us." The Chinese version of the above note, which had been forwarded open, had, of course, informed them of its - contents. It gave us the information we had so long been wishing for, and enabled me to point out to Hang-ki and Lau that it was use less for them to ask me any longer for suggestions, as it was quite clear they had only ono course to pursue. Again I urged on them the great risk to which they exposed their Government and city by indulging in further delay; but they did not appear much concerned, and said that they had heard, through the Fr enc h, th a t th ere was to be no more fighting. I then wrote the following acknow ledgment of Mr. Wade's note, in English and Chinese, and begged them to deliver it : " My dear Wade,L--We have received the clothes and your note of the 2d, acknowledging mine of the 29th of September. I see that subsequent notes (one public and two private) of Ist October have not been delivered to you. I find that such arguments as I have been able to use to the Chinese authorities are in complete accord with your own, and my only hope is that Prince Kung is a man of sufficient intelligence and weight in the councils of his Government as to induce the latter to follow, without further hesitation, the course marked out by Lord Elgin." In one respect Mr. Wade's note gave us con siderable concern, as it seemed to infer that several other persons were in the hands of the Chinese besides the Sikh and the two Frenchmen who were sent to Pekin with us ; bat though we often tried to learn from Hang-ki and the other mandarins the fate of the other gentlemen and men from whom we were separated on the day of our seizure, they always insisted that they knew nothing about ally other prisoners, and had only accidentally heard three or four foreigners were detained in Sang-ko lin-sin's camp. Having imagined from casual re marks let fall from time to time by Chinese about us, that Mr. Loch and myself, with the Sikh and the two Frenchmen, were the only prisoners in Pekin, we had hitherto hoped that the larger por tion of our original party, numbering no less than twenty-three persons, had escaped capture. October 4.—Lau called to say that all our notes had been sent to the English camp with another despatch from the Prince of Kung to your lord ship, upon the answer to which peace or war de pended. He would not, however, tell us the tenor of the Prince's despatch, October s —Hang-ki and Lau called in the after noon. As usual, their conversation was at first desultory, and they pretended to want to discuss with me certain provisions of the Treaty of. 1858 and the Convention of Tien-tsin. To our inquiries as to whether they had any letters for us, they at first produced only one newspaper and a packet of medicine, but on my insisting that they must have received something more, they delivered us M r . Wade's note of O c t o b er 4, informing us, in very decided language. that your lordship had determined not to open negotiations with the Chinese authori ties until the prisoners seized under the flag of truce bad been given up ; further, that as the Chinese 'had not complied wale this demand, although often repeated, hostilities would at once be resumed. As reference to this letter may be convenient in this place, I beg to annex a copy. I read it over to Hang-ki twice, and the uneasiness which he and Lau had, till then, been trying to conceal, became now more and more apparent. They again endeavoured to lead me into a long discussion as to the rightfulness of our proceeding, but I had only the one reply to give them—" You have to choose between the destruction of your capital or the unconditional surrender of your prisoners." They could not agree, they said, to that mode of proceeding, and things must, therefore, take their course. Twice they went away, and twice they returned to ask if I could not point out some other mode of meeting the difficulty. In reply simply quoted from Mr. Wade's letter. " But if you are released," they said," before the Convention is signed, and peace concluded, you will want to retaliate upon us in some way for what you have undergone. Mr. Loch and myself very distinctly as sured them that we had no wish or intention of the kind, and they had it yet in their power to atone for the wrong committed, by immediately releasing all their prisoners. They then urged that the Prince of Kung wanted to see me be fore we were returned: They could not Fay when, perhaps in two or three days' time. I warned them against incurring any delay on this account, adding that, although it would be gratifying to me to see his Hi g h ness , suc h an i nterv i ew cou ld not have any influence upon your lordship's actions, I then wrote and gave them in _English an d Chinese the following reply to Mr. Wade : " My Dear Wade,—We have received your letters of the 4th, and I read the contents of yours to Ilang-ki (who brought it to me), in order that he might see that the only way of adjusting difficulti es is the o ne w hi c h you po i n t ou t. Th e Chi nese, if they are si ncere i n th eir w i s h for peace, have th e means in their own hands of bringing about a set tlement at any moment, and if the destruction o Pekin or any great calamity ensue, it is the cons& (thence of their own conduct. October 6.—Hang-ki called at noon. H e h a d been up' the whole night, he said, with th e P r i nce of Kung, discussing the provisions of the T rea ty o f 1858, and the proposed Convention. Th e P r i nce of Kung had determined to accept b oth, and to i give up the prisoners in three d a y s ' ti me, on cond i • tion that both the Allied and the Chinese forces should fall back a few miles, anti thus place some distance between each oth er. Th e P r i nce now wanted me to write to yo ur l or d s hi p to th i s effect; and he also wished explanations from me on seve ral points in both Treaty and Convention, particu larly in respect to the Resident Minister, the pay ment of I ndemnities, and the evacuation of the places held b the Allied t roops . I again pointed o u t how useless it was for me to continue to write notes to your lordship, and repeated my objections to being made the medium of proposing that our troops should fall back from any position they now had before or near Pekin. A 911111 It was equally useless f o r me , also said, to d l9 t y Ilia Treaty or Convetttioti ,7 bat, in. order to i , 9 the Prince, I g a v e suc h exp l anat i ons o n points as I felt at liberty to make; while on °Vi o l; t i I merely r e f erre d hi m t o your l or d s hi p . I wrote a note in Chi nese t o M r. W a d e , sta ting ti, e . I had b een i n f orme d b y the Ch i nese au thorities that they int en d e d sen di ng b ac k t h e w h o l e of prisoners on the Bth inst. ; that their troops had already been directed to fall back ; and that .o trusted there would no longer be occasion for 0 0.. to advance. I also gave Hang-hi, at his partieuT,'. request, a note stating, "If Mr. Loch, all the other prisoners, are sent back in a proP!.. o r manner, the English Government will take revenge. As far as I understand the present P °s ot tion of affairs, the British Government do ° if intend to make fresh demands upon the Chines e t ' m the latter agree, without any exception, to e a provisions of the Treaty of 1858, and the propeb Convention." lies October 7—At daybreak this morning we *o r the sound of a cannonade, which lasted for „ In myself, a 0_ minutes and then ceased. It seemed to conic ir''„ o no considerable distance, and, as the infer:ma% conveyed to us, both publicly and secretly fro: ll .° m friends in camp, had warned us that an attack 1 10 .g.,1 take place at any ti me , we t h oug h t that th i s cr itie: moment had arrived. At a quarter to e i g h t Hargs i came in to learn from us th e mean i ng of t h e firing , , He could no longer c oncea l f rom us that our army was before Pekin, and a d m it te d Y uen -Ming-I'll,elfi 1 1 % —the Emperor's sum mer p a l ace —h a d b een tal by the allied troop s y ester d ay afternoon. ug Prince of Kung, w h o b a d b een stay i ng t h e re . along, had manag e d t o escape ; b ut h e, H ang ki, ce been nearly taken as he was going out to the Re lf : ile yesterday afternoon. R e t urn i ng to t h e c i t y 10 ills evening, he found all the gates closed, and the the manned, and his only means of getting into then, ! 9 " t was by being haul e d u p i n a b as k et. H e feared Om my note, stating that we s h ou ld b e sent out o n t Bth, and the official no t e o f P r i nce K ung cov e r it, could not have reached the English camp. If I told him that, d ur i ng th e w h o l e t i me o f 0 ; ‘, confinement, both in the prison and in the tempi` ' we had never ceased t o warn t h em aga i ns t, danger of delay, and all that we foretold s eemed now to be coming to pa ss . Their only c hance ' escape lay in the im me di a t e surrender of Wl t prisoners. " How is that to he done," said Hangki "in the 9:: face of firing, and h ow can I now get the aut h o rity of Prince Kung for your surrender ? Your irarP e ' diato departure would a l so i n t er f ere w i t h the i n ter . view he intended to give you to-day." The interview, we replied, was of little importanc e .' and danger to the city, i n case o f d e l ay, was innii neut. We advis e d hi m , th ere f ore, to arrange tilt our being sent away a t once , regardless of w hethe r e we had to go out in the face of fire or not, as " were very willing to risk that danger. He left us, promising to return shortly, and I c a ° counted the minut es , un til th ese b ecame hours sn the day began to wear away. We did not aga te hear the sound of attack, but detected now and tile' some stir, as of the movement of troops in W ir /18 vicinity, and co u ld o b serve l oo k s of concern on faces of our guards and gaolers. We sent to Hangki's house, to inquire about his movemeel but all we could l earn f rom hi s servants was, WI after leaving us he had been lowered over the city wall, and had gone as they supposed in qu est Prince Kung. It was impossible to tell when P ". would return. We anxiously looked for the nest morning, a l l, felt some relief when no cannonade was heard daylight broke. By sending to Hangki's house W e d learned that he hail returned home at 3 a.m., ap would be with us shortly. He came at nine, 0 the glimpse obtain e d o f hi s countenance, before , had put on the look he wished to assume, shove, .considerable deje c ti on an d anx i ety. He expla i n ed to us why he had no t returne d yesterday. left you full of concern, he said, as I knew . that the Ca d and your lives we re b ot h i n danger. Had the e it l been assaulted, the first cry rai se d b y t h e so ldim : would have been " Away with the .foreign soners." When I inquired for Prince Kong, found that he was too far off for me to hope to reao: him. I therefore desp a t c h e d a note proposing tbtl" you should be given up at once, on condition that the foreign troops should retire from Yuen.Miug Yuen, which they had begun to plunder. At th e ' same time I received an invitation from g r. Wade to meet him outside the Tihshing-gat,e' at four o'clock i n th e a f ternoon. • I went' and we had a long discussion. He demanded 1 1( 1, only the immediate surren d er o f the pr i soners, also one of the city gater, and he handed me thi s letter, in which you see he states the same writing. It is quite impossible to comply W iP i : such a demand, an d w h at. therefore can be don e under such circumstances P I read the note, which ran in the names of th e Allied Commanders-in -Chief, demanding the fibers' tion of all the prisoners who had been seized, all'; the delivery into th e i r h an d s of one of the gates o f the city, as a p recau ti on aga i nst further acts w , perfidy on the part of the Chinese. I could only tell Hangki that this step was rendered necessary by their previous acts of bad faith, and that the Allies could no longer put any trust in them. It was useless to hope that the Allied Generals would alter their determination when they had once taken it, nor did I see any course open to the Chinese except eompliance At this moment the prospect before us seemed darker than ever, but Hangki, a ft er some h es itte tion, relieved us from our suspense, by remarking that he had agreed with Mr. Wade that we should be given up to-day as already promised, and that we should be sent out at four o'clock in the after' noon. Unable to rely upon the assurance of ani mandarin, we an x i ous l y awa i te d the hour name I and could see that considerable uneasiness wise evinced by Hangki, who visited us several times in the course of the morning. At one time he whispered to me, " I am particularly anxious to get you away for reasons that I will tell yal l of at a future time, and I will not wait for the hour named to send you off." He was now willing to give us some information respecting the other prison'ers. Upwards of twenty had been taken, he said, but with a view to their safe cut' tody, they had been divided into small parties and sent away to different district cities in the interior. It would take some days to get them all back, and, he had heard that f our or fi ve of them had sickened and died. Those in Pekin numbered eight in eli, inclusive of Mr. Loch and myself; and we were all to be sent out together. At last, at two o'clock, he told us that all the pri soners had been assembled, and that we- could take our departure. We were placed in covered carts, without being allowed to see each other, and were escorted by a large party of soldiers and mandarins through streets which wore a deserted appearance to the Se-che, or north western gate of the city. We soon saw, with thankful hearts, as those great portals opened, and then immediately closed behind us, that we were already free men, for our guard, not daring to follow us out of the city, had left to ourselves the pleasant task of finding our own we"' to the Allied Camp. I must not close this report without endeavour ing to express my gratitude to your lordship for the- firm and uncompromising manner in which you insisted, from the first, upon our surrender, a nd which, under the blessing olDivine Providence, has mainly contributed to our liber a ti on. Nor shou ld I omit to acknowledge the gr eat d e b t I also owe t° my fellow prisoner, Mr. Loch, f or t h e warm sup )(Fat I invariably received f rom h i m whenever ti moment of trial or of da nger presented itself. I I have, &c , HARRY S. PARKES. [AnYEwrisEmENT.] Pills and medicine invariably ag' appointment, a n d expense may gravate and per petuate diseases; their annoyance, dig' be avoided by persons in indifferent h ealth sending only their address to -F-I• 8. Barr y , 118( 1., 77, Regent-street, W. London, and they will receive gratis and free by post the "INVALIDS' Owl' GUIDE," or Natural Restorer, without medicine or ex- Wage, of perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, and refreshing sleep, to the most enfeebled, insuring the removal of indigestion (dyspepsia), constipation, liver complaints, nausea, epilepsy, paralysis, debility, nervousness, palpitatioZ , cough, asthma, consumption, dropsy, flatulency, diarrhoea, dysentery, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds, noises in the ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, eruptiems. hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, tation, heartburn, headache, despondency, cramps, spasms. sinking, fits, bronchitis —"Unouestionably the safest Guide to health." BIRTHS. BOORD.—On the 28th inst., at Vernlam House, the wife of Joseph Boord, Esq., of a daughter. LAWRENCE.--On tho 27th inst., at 32, Gloucester-gar; dens, Hyde-park; the wife of Alfred Lawrence, Esc'', " a daughter. MARRIAGES. BRADY—HATCIIELL.—On the 15th inst., at Rathfarharn Church, county Dublin, the Right Hon. Maziere Brady, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, to Mary, second daughter of the Right Hou. John Hatchell, of Forifield House, co. Dublin. CADEAN—JEANS.—On the 27th inst., at Beckenham, Thomas, eldest son of Mr. Cabban, of Greenwich, to Sophia, third daughter of Mr. Jeans, of the same parish. DEATHS. CONNELL—On the 28th inst., at Highbary-park north, John Connell, Esq., aged 49. CAMPBELT„—On the 9 51 h inst., at Cheltenham, Major- Geueral A. Campbell, late H.E.1.C., apd of Auchman nook and Avisyard, county of Ayr, aged 77. TIE ItNEY.—On the 28th inst., at 20, Chapel street, Bel grave-square, Lieut.-Col. Sir Matthew E. Tierney, Bt., late Coldstream Guards, aged 43. LONDON : Printed and rublisheci by 311.1RD0 YOUNG, of . No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand , in the Precinct of the Savoy. in the County of AlidCUeeCX. aturday, December 28, 181.10. TEE. Sttll, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 29► 1860. fi - c; 4,- II; 011 4 tt, J ' 4l G. 41111111%-T' ~, .~ c h t l, l , 16:21 a 1 I 1., 4 A'