The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-01 00:00:00

The Capture of Nankin.

FOREIGN OFFICE, SEPT. 30.
The despatch dated July 29, 1864, of which the
following is an extract, has been received by Earl
Russell, her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, from Mr Adkins, acting British Consul at

Dl►inkiang :
I have the honour to inform pm that the city of Nankin,
so long the centre of disaffection in China and the point
from which so many bands of ruthless plunderers have
started on their raids upon the peaceful and wealthy cities
of Central China, has been captured by the Imperialist
Army under the command of Tseng-kwo-chuen, the Go-
vernor of Chekiang, and brother of the Viceroy of the pro'
vinces of Kiang Nan and Kiang Su, _ _

The city was stormed on the 19th of this month through
a breach, caused by a mine sprung under the wall, near the
east gate. Rumours of its capture reached me on the day
following the assault, but I paid no attention to them, having
been so often deceived by reports of Chinese victories. On
the 24th of this month, however, I obtained a copy of the
memorial to the Throne, formally announcing the capture.
On the following day I started for Nankin in her Majes-
ty's ship Slaney, intending to congratulate the Chinese
Commander in Chief on the auspicious termination of his
two year's siege. I found his Excellency at the camp out-
side the south gate of the city.
When the Imperialists made good their entrance into the
ctty, they found that the palace of the TienWang, the leader
of the rebellion, and the claimant for many years past of
Divine honours and attributes, had been burnt to the
ground. It is said the impostor and his immediate attend-
ants lie buried in its ruins. lam inclined to credit the
rumour, for the city has been closely blockaded since Ja-
nuary last, and I think that nothing but a desperate sortie
would have enabled him to get clear.
But the most important fact of all is the capture of Chung
Wang. This person has for many years teen the most rest-
less and determined of all the desperadoes Tai-ping-donx
has sent forth. He it was who threatened Shanghae in 1860 ;
he was Admiral Hope's antagonist in his operations near
Skanghae ; he fought against Col. Gordon at Soochow.
He tried to introduce the foreign elements into his levies,
and was said by rebel sympathisers to be the main hope of
the Tai-ping cause in its declining days. After the assault,
he managed to leave the city with a few followers, but he
was captured three days subsequently by a party of ca-
valry. I was much pressed to visit the Chung Wang in
his confinement, but declined, as I had no personal
acquaintance with him.
On the day following my interview with the Comman-
der-in-Chief, I rode into the city and visited the breach.
Words cannot describe the utter desolation of everything
within the walls. The thoroughfares traversed by me were
the streets between the south-west and east gates, and those
between the south-west and south gates. On either hand,
the houses left standing had the appearance of having been
tenantless for years, while the gaudy gateways, denoting
the residences of the wangs or princes, opened in most in-
stances on to courts full of brick-bats and charred timbers.
As for the side streets, they were many of them overgrown
withjungle four feet high.
During my ride through the city I saw a great number
of unburied bodies, and in many places the smell was so
offensive that both myself and Lieut. Lee, who accom-
panied me, were almost overpowered. But on the whole
I came to the conclusion that the rebel force in the city
at the time of its capture could not have been very
large. The Imperialists, according to their own
account, spared very few able-bodied males, so that the
dead lying in the streets would be a fair criterion of the
strength of the garrison. I estimate it at 10,000 men, against
50,000 under the imperialist commanders.
I think a ride through the streets of Nankin, as they are
at present, would satisfy the most ardent advocate of the
rebel cause of the dreadful hollowness of the system they
support. Some 11 years ago the Tai-pings took Nankin,
then one of the finest cities in China. Ever since its cap-
ture it has been their headquarters. In it the chiefs of the
movement built their tawdry houses, and from it they dis-
patched their plundering bands in all directions. Mean-
while the works of civil government and social organize...
tion are entirely neglected, and when the city is retaken it
is found to be a wilderness of houses.

FRIGHTFUL CATASTROPIIE.—A frightful catasat
trophe took place a few nights ago at Geneva. Ono of the
large houses on the quay, near the grand post.office, was
burnt to She ground, and 13 persons who resided in it burnt
to death. Several persons who were rendering assistance
received injuries, particularly a surgeon, who had his
shoulder dislocated,

.! .
4i

LONDON, SATURDAY, OUT. 1, 1864.

Before the eighth meeting of the Social Science
Association came to a clo3e, it was right that it
should take into consideration a matter so closely
affecting the public as bribery at elections. The
subject is more especially pressing in its demands
upon public attention from oar being now upon the
eve of a general election, when we have every rea-
son to suppose that a very large proportion of the
successful candidates will owe their election to the
employment of means directly opposed alike to the
letter and the spirit of our U Astittation. e may
fairly anticipate that in every town and borough of
Great 'Britain there will be scenes enacted from
which those optimists who would have us " let well
their alone" had better tarn eyes, and what with
bribery, direct and indirect, the gift of money or
the promise of b,ntfits in some other form, the ie.
fiaences ezerciied by
landlords,r a
employers of
of td
1 tbour, and large customers tradesmen, by the
time the House is made up very little re nl is
lett
for the fair representatives of the opinionshonest
British electors. Such a state of thingsisp
ro-
aactiva of very great evil in every way, and goes
far to neutralise the benefits derived from fulland

fair discussion. Instead of each elector feeling
elevated by the possession of a political right and
the exercise of a national responsibility,
,he is
really lowered and degraded by a misappropriation
of it. The act of receiving a bribe is of itself des
grading, and when it is :compulsion that is em-
ployed instead of bribery, a bitter and angry feel-
ing is created in the mind of the tenant or the
tradesman who is made to feel himself a
machine in the hands of his master, and
not permitted to have a mind of his own.
These and other similar reasons have so disgusted
our electors, that half of them do not exercise
their right. In some of the large constituencies
only onesthird or one-half of the electors record
their votes, and it is fair to suppose that a good
deal of active agency has been employed to bring
even that number to the poll, A curious contrast
to this unwillingness to come forward in a Parlia-
mentary contest is shown in the case of voting for
the election of Poor-law Guardians. Ninety per
cent. of those qualified to vote voted for the
Guardians. Mr. CHADWICK attributes the differ•
ence to the convenience of the voting papers
employed in the one case, compared with the
trouble and delay caused by going to the hustings
in the other. This may have something to do
with it, but the real cause for discontent lies deeper.
The instance of the Poor-law Guardians shows,
however, that Englishmen are not naturally averse
to the performance of their public duties, and it
is not to be supposed that a people who take so deep
an interest in the politics, not only of their own
country but of the world, should not be able to
form an opinion as to the relative merits of two
or three Parliamentary candidates. The interest
felt in this subject is by no means commensurate
with its importance, and, in fact, our public men
are most of them too deeply implicated in the pre-
sent unfair practices to be very severe upon the
culprits, It has grown to be such a matter of
course for Government influence to be used,
for direct and indirect agencies to be em-
ployed, that even the Cabinet Ministers
could not always take the bribery oath with a clear
conscience. Political men of every grade can talk
very largely when need be about purity of elections
and the rights and duties of voters, but such high-
sounding sentiments do not always faithfully repre-
sent their real opinions. The meeting held in
York the other day by the members of the Bri-
tish Association, was very thinly attended, and
exhibited, in its scanty attendance, a striking con-
trast to the eager audiences which filled some of
the lecture rooms. Some men of note were there,
however, whose words have weight, and the meet-
ing was satisfactory, if only to prove that the im-
provement of our election system is ranked by them
among the most prominent of our much needed re-
forms. Mr. CHADWICK, who addressed the meet-
ing, remarked that he thought much might be done
by a body of gentlemen uniting in a declaration
that they would not sanction or employ, directly
or indirectly, any illegal means to secure their re-
turn. This plan has been found very useful in
regard to the practice of duelling, but we fear it
would not be equally efficacious in Parliamentary
elections. la the first place it would be impossible
to concsal the real actors in a duel, whereas in
electioneering it is easy to shift the blame from one
to another till all responsibility is lost. Mr. CHAD-
WICK also advocated, very strongly, the employ-
ment of voting papers, which he thought would be
an effectual means of checking electoral corruption.
It is a pity that he did not go a step further, for the
ballot-box possesses all the advantages of the voting
paper, and a good many others as well. The great
practical cure was not, however, left with-
out an advocate, for Alderman LEEMAN concluded
a brief but sensible address by observing
that "the feeling of Englishmen was against these
pains and penalties, all sensible people believing
that bribery was not to be put down by such means.
The true remedy lay in the ballot." No other
speaker had the courage to endorse the sentiment,
although Mr. URQU HART denounced the employ-
ment of Treasury influence, Lord BRouGnalt de-
clared the corrupt voter to be guilty of perjury, and
Sir FITZROY KELLY went so far as to recommend
the treadmill and oakum picking for the briber.
The man who would bravely face the cannon's
mouth would, he said, shrink with dismay from the
cropping of his hair or the spoiling of his mous-
tache. But the very severity of such punishments
would render it in the highest degree improbable
that they would ever be applied. It is found diffi•
cult enough, as it is, to enforce the milder penalties
of disfranchisement and forfeiture of seat, for wit-
nesses sometimes forget what they know, and the
whole case is apt to melt away in a most mysterious
fashion. But Sir FITZROY KELLY, whose able ads
dress excited warm applause, is no friend to the
Ballot, and very coolly observed that it was hope•
less to put a stop to the exercise of influence. They
might as well, he said, think of putting an end to
the operations of the laws of nature. But if not
altogether abolished, the exercise of influence may
certainly be confined within narrower limits, and
its possessors may be debarred from illegal pressure
upon others. Tne mischief of the case is, that those
who see its evils will not turn to the real cure. It
is as if the Anti-Corn Law League had wearied
itself in devising other means to cheapen tread
than the importation of cotton. Perhaps the ex-
perience of the coming elections may tend to
enlighten their minds.

The English Volunteers have every reason to be
satisfied with their treatment and success. They
appear to have been everywhere well received from
the highest to the lowest, and this interchange of
good feeling augurs well for both hosts and guests.
It is always a pleasing sight to witness difs
ferent nations on terms of amity, and the in-
habitants of neighbouring or distant lands meet
together for friendly purposes, and vie with each
other for proficiency in the art of peace. The
Volunteers being represented abroad is in itself a
fact that imparts additional interest to the accounts
that reach us of the ceremonies that took place at
Brussels. King LEOPOLD is deservedly popular in
England ; he has always been recognised as a peace
maker, and on more than one occasion his presence
has been welcomed as a timely and fortuitous occur.
rence from which those at home and abroad have
augured well. It is therefore gratifying to notice
the favourable reception which our Volunteers have
received in his domains, and the unanimity that
universally prevailed rendered the display and the
attendant arrangements something superior to the
ordinary routine of such aff,Airs. The address de•
livered to the KING by the President of the Com-
mission was very appropriate, and did not launch
out into those extravagant assertions which so often
mar the effect of royal communications. It stated
that in the name of all the riflemen present,whether
Belgian or foreign, the KING was thanked for the
support and countenance which ho extended to
them. This was striotly true, for the Duke of
BRABANT and the Count of FLANDERS have
also taken great interest in the affair and
encouraged the exertions of the riflemen
to the utmost. It was no inflated compliment
that informed Prince LEOPOLD that ho took
the first place in the council of kings, for it is an
ackaowledged fact that he does so, and rules no lees
by his Windom than his foresight, and doubtless it

is his skill in discernment which induced him to
recognise the importance of the rifle movement, and
to acknowledge its progress with hearty goodwill
and genial approbation. It is satisfactory to notice
the goodwill expressed by the Volunteers towards
the KING and his interest in their progress. The
regular old-fashioned English cheers which saluted
the KING evidently astonished the Belgians, and
formed an appropriate contrast to their cries of
" Viva le Roi." Altogether, it must be seen from
all accounts that the expedition is a striking suc-
cess, and that sufficient testimonies of goodwill have
been exchanged on both sides to augur well for any
future attempt of a similar nature. Doubtless tbeir
visit to Brussels will long live in the recollection of
.11 the Volunteers, and their gracious reception by
the KING no less than their welcome by others will
prove a substantial proof of their discernment i❑
making the expedition.

The betrothal of the Princess DAGMAR to the
CZA.REIVITCEt is just now a very welcome piece of
intelligence, and we may not unreasonably hope
that from this affair some hope may dawn for Den-
mark. The German Powers will find Russia a very
different power to deal with from that of England.
There will be none of that slow creeping movement
witnessed, none of that fatal hesitation apparent,
which have so fatally marred the effects of our
policy. It is not certain, indeed, that the
Cabinet of St. Petersburg will take up
the cause of Denmark, either directly or
indirectly in a manner that will attract notice,
but there are other causes at work, and other influ-
ences to be met with, than those which strike the
casual observer, and which he who runs may read.
It cannot be but that this Russian and Danish alli-
ance will prove eventually of some service to the
much-tried and persecuted sovereignty and State of
Denmark. Doubtless, it is regarded with jealous
eyes and scanned with no indifferent notice by the
cunning observers in unfriendly lands. It is a sort
of compensatory triumph that at this special junc-
ture the gcodKING should find his family raised in
importance, as it were, and that the adverse occur-
rences of this last year have not prevailed to shut
him out from his former privilege of mingling with
kingly houses. The rising generation of the royal
house of Denmark is indeed a most promising one,
and its members have met with striking success at
their outset in life. If all has not prospered ac-
cording to the wishes of the Danes, and their ex-
pectations have not been realised to the uttermost
in the marriage of the Princess ALEXANDRA, still,
for her it has been a splendid union. The second
son of King CERISTIA.N has also become a perso❑
of note, and obtained for himself an exalted posi-
tion, the duties of which he seems to fulfil with
skill and success. Now that the Princess DAGMAR
is also to be called upon to take a high place among
the magnates of the world, it seems, indeed, as if
fate were resolved to make compensation abroad for
the misfortunes that have fallen so heavily at
home upon the royal family of Copenhagen.
The Danish people will rejoice at the bright
future thus opening beforo their princess,
and regard it as a favourable omen that she
should becomo connected by marriage with so
powerful an empire. It is to be hoped that this
event may exercise a restraining influence upon the
greedy and inconsiderate policy of the German
States. It is sure to prove a rebuff to them ; but
it is to be trusted that they will find cause even-
tually to verify their suspicions. At all events
this betrothal seems to be a sign• manual that there
will be no concurrence between Russia, Prussia,
and Austria touching the peace negotiations. It
was the union of these three Powers that produced
such fatal results in the Polish affair, and it is,
therefore, an additional source of satisfaction to
know that we now witneis a totally different
aspect of affairs. It is only to be regretted that
this union did not take place last year, and then
most likely we should not have been scandalised
by such proceedings as those which have outraged
common sense, justice, and consideration. It is a
step in the right direction which cannot be too
greatly approved of, and if it warn those who are
so oppressive and unjust to pause and take heed to
their ways, it will have worked more signal service
to the right cause than such an arrangement
might at first sight have been supposed to effect.
The apparently unchecked course of success which
has attended all the Prussian and Austrian de-
marches has filled the minds of reasoning persons
with grave disquietude. It is not in the nature of
things that such a system should long prevail, but
in the meantime it works frightful misery to inno•
cent and deserving persons, and occasions devasta-
tion to prosperous citizena and happy States. Any
event, small or great, any incident, trivial or im-
portant, becomes of consequence, if in its ultimate
carrying out we can trace the germs of opposition
to a grasping policy, which confounds right and
wrong in its reckless

FATAL SLEEP WALlUNG.—Yesterday Mr Payne
h€ld an inquiry respecting the death of Caroline
Iles, aged 42 years. She was the wife of a tobacco cutter,
living at 5, Elam street, Bermondsey, who said that she
went to bed intoxicated, and at three o'clock the next morn-
ing he missed her. He went in search of her and found
her lying at the bottom of the stairs apparently awake. The
following day she said that while she was asleep she had
fallen down the stairs from the top to the bottom. Her
husband did not know that she was in the habit of walking
about the house at night in her sleep. She died on Tuesday
from the effects of the fall. The jury returned a verdict of
"Accidental death from injuries received while in a state of
somnambulism."

REMARKABLE PRESERVATION OF AN INFANT.—A
young woman named Sarah Gregory was on Wednesday
charged before the Melksham (Wiltshire) magistrates with
attempting to conceal the birth of her illegitimate infant.
The prisoner a short time ago was taken ill, and her mis-
tress very kindly sent for a medical man. On examination
of the woman be charged her with having been recently
delivered. She denied it, and search was made for the
child without success. Oa the following morning Mr
Merrett, her master, wont into his slaughter house adjoin-
ing the premises, and having occasion to lift a sack which
was in a cheese tub ho found beneath the sack, and wrapped
up in a coloured apron, a fine baby, which immediately
gave him a specimen of its vocal powers. The child had
been in the tub more than ten hours. A nurse was called
in, to whose care the little foundling was entrusted. The
prisoner was again charged with being the mother of the
child, but she still persisted in denying the maternity ; but,
just as the nurse was about to take it away, she said,
" Give it to me," and immediately, suckled it. The want
of food did not seem to have distressed the hardy young
Spartan in the least. The bench did not consider that the
prisoner's intention was to destroy her baby, and discharged
her with a caution.

HORRIBLE DEATIL-0a Thursday morning, be-
tween the hours of 7 and 8, one of the most dreadful acci-
dents, resulting in death, occurred in a busy metropolitan
thoroughfare. It appears that a respectable woman named
Lane, keeper of a coffee-shop in Leader-street. Chelsea,
while waiting upon her customers, caught fire from the
shop stove. and the terrified woman instantly ran out into
the street, and across the road into an oilman's shop,
Thence, in a sheet of flame, and shrieking piteously, she
bounded back again into her own premises, where she set
fire to the parlour. Men and women in pursuit endea-
voured to throw her down on tho floor, but the affrighted
creature eluded these praiseworthy efforts, and appeared
gifted with supernatural powers, for she literally flew away
from her wood-be preservers into the garden, whore a Mrs
Lewis enveloped the sufferer in a carpet and stifled the
fumes. It was now found that the steel bands of her crino-
line were rod hot, and burning into her very bones, while
the flesh dropped off her arms and legs. Dr Davis's assist
ant speedily arrived, but death terminated the unfortunate
woman's sufferings about eight o'clock. Mrs Lane was an
example of neatness in her person, but owes her untimely
end to crinoline. She leaves behind her a husband and a
family, who are fortunately grown up.
THE PRESTON M URDER.—Yesterday evening the
invest on the body of Mary Barry was resumed and con-
cluded. The jury found a verdict of " wilful murder"
against the husband of the deceased, and he was thereupon
committed to take hid trial at the next itemizes for Lanca•
shire,