The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-28 00:00:00

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with them, these latter—here, the EMPEROR'S
deadly brass rifled cannon—there our own terrific
ARMSTRONG guns ! Twice during this last Sep-
tember the Allied Forces, to the number of only
4,000 men, have been confronted by the armed
. and mounted legions of Chinese Tartary. Twice
the Anglo-French expedition to the number, as
we have said, of only 4,000 men, have found
themselves opposed by the immense array of the
Chinese Army—first, on the 18th of September
—secondly, on the 21st of September. Upon
both occasions the enormous masses of the enemy
being swept before us by the charges of our cavalry
and the discharges of our artillery—swept before
cur numerically insignificant phalanx to death and
confusion—a confusion ending at the close of both
the days mentioned in the enemy's total discom-

fiture.
Reverting to the period from which has been all
along dated the actual recommencement of hostili-
ties—namely, that 9th day of September, -upon
which the advanced guard of our little invading
army
,left Tien-tsin and began a direct march
upon-ithe capital—it now appears that our forces
having advanced at the rate of ten miles per diem
for fotr days, halted awhile at the command of Sir
HOPE:GRANT, upon the 13th of September. They
were to halted at that point by reason of certain
new ;mperial Commissioners from the Chinese
Government—Commissioners reported to be of the
very highest rank among the great dignitaries of
the Einpire, and, what was yet more, reported also
(this dine) to be fully and completely authorised to
treat with the Anglo-French Plenipotentiaries—
becaullie of these eminent and mysterious person-
ages !having sent letters to her Britannic MA-
JESTY S Ambassador, craving urgently for the
openi gup new diplomatic negotiations. Because
of thi , it now appears, chiefly, if not entirely, be-
cause) tof this—Sir HOPE GRANT halted his forces
at a distance of about forty miles beyond Tien-tsin,
at a place called Hoo-sei-woo, upon the 13th
day of September. Thereupon Messrs. PARKES
and , WADE, Consul and Interpreter, were
sent ; forward by Lord ELGIN to meet
the new Chinese Commissioners. When two
days had elapsed—namely, on the 15th of Septem-
ber—r Messrs. PARKES and WADE return to the
Britilsh head-quarters with the tidings that they
have' entered into a formal agreement with the
enemy, that the Chinese themselves will forthwith
evacuate a convenient camping ground situated
at the distance of twenty miles in advance, Koo-sei-
woo,; an encampment only five miles short of the
city of Tung-chow,at a place called Chan Osia-wan.
This encampment, it was thus arranged, after
having been vacated by the Chinese, was to be
pied by the French and English forces, so
immediately the allied army should have there
n up their position, our Ambassadors might
nce with an escort over the five miles inter-
pg between the encampment and Tung-chow,
_ :there, at Tung-chow, negotiate and complete
the proposed Convention in concert with the newly
(and, duly) authorised Chinese Commissioners.
Directly the arrangements have been explained by
Mr.IPARKEs, they are frankly accepted by the
Engjlish and French Generals, and by the English
and: French Plenipotentiaries. Mr. PARKES is
theireupon sent back by Lord ELGIN to Tung-
chew, accompanied this time by Mr. LOCH, his
lodship's own private secretary. These gentle-
men are instructed to return to Tung-chow, sim-
ply for the purpose of duly preparing there for the
rei,leption of our Ambassador. Together with
Miessrs. PARKES and Locu, the British Comman-
Or-its-Chief sends forward Lieut.-CoIoneIWALKER,
.to the end that that officer may accurately mark out
the site of the camp in accordance with the views of
the Chinese:military authorities. Sir HOPE GRANT
sending forward, also, in company with Colonel
WALKER and the civilians before named, Deputy-
Assistant-Commissary-Gen. THOMPSON, instructed
and empowered to receive the supplies which had
been formerly promised for our forces upon their
arrival at that projected place of encampment at
Chang-tsia-wan. Thither—Sir HOPE GRANT fol-
lows with his little army on the 18th of September.
It was only upon that very day—when the allied
forces had arrived at a distance of merley one mile
from Chang-tsia-wan—that the Commander-in-
Chief found that not one iota of the agreement
which had been entered into had been attended to
by the Chinese. The encampment had not been
evacuated—but, on the contrary, there still re-
mained in that strong position the whole mass of
the Chinese army ! Soon afterwards comes
back to the British head-quarters, now
advanced to within view of the Chinese army
at Chang-tsia-wan—comes back to Lord ELGIN,
his lordship's Private Secretary with these not very
readily reconcileable fragments of intelligence-
-Ist, that the Imperial Commissioners at Tung-chow
have been most obliging and complaisant, and
2dly, that the Chinese Commander-in-Chief is ra-
pidly throwing up batteries effectually command-
ing the Allied encampment ! The Ambassador's
Private Secretary is, in consequence, sent back at
once to Tung-chow with peremptory instructions
commanding the instant return of his little party
of comrades. Mr. Lo cH goes back in
obedience to this order —he returns to
Tung-chow under the protection, under the
sacred protection of a flag of truce ! That
symbol—respected by all civilised races through-
out the world—is deemed worthy of no considera-
tion, however, by the Chinese Barbarians. Not
merely does Mr. LOCH—bearing in his hand that
flag of truce !—fail in bringing back Mr. Consul
PARKES and his companions, but he himself, in
spite of his flag of truce, is taken prisoner, together
with each member of that little cluster of military
and civilians, whose names we ourselves in these
columns have more than once particularised.
The mendacious character of these proceedings
cannot possibly be exaggerated, no matter how
strong the language in which they may be repro-
bated. Scarcely has the General-in-Chief recognised
the heinous nature of the act perpetrated by the
Chinese in this lawless seizure of our Consul and
his companions than the signal for a contest
with the whole Chinese Army (there confront-
ing him treacherously in battle array) is
given by the all but miraculous escape of
Colonel WALKER and his party from the
midst of the Chinese encampment ! The fire
opened upon that gallant officer as he returns at a
gallop towards the front ranks of the Allied Forces
—sounds the onset for the battle of Chan g-tsia-wan !
Thereupon the Allies, numbering in all,
as we have seen, but 4,000 defeat and
rout the whole Chinese army, comprising
within
The ARMSitTROINUGIIY 20,000 Tartar horsemen.
guns alone sweep such deadly
destruction through the dense masses of the
Chinese, that while we ourselves could number
only nineteen wounded, there lay upon the field of
battle when the conflict was over six hundred
Chinese KlLLED—seventy-five guns remaining in
the hands of the Allies as trophies of their vic-
tory. The subsequent contest, on the 21st Sep-
tember, signalised in a kindred manner the
invincible
power of the Anglo-French Ex-
pedition, as opposed to the swarming multitudes
of those treacherous and flagitious Asiatics.
Everything combines, in effect, to demonstrate

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