The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-17 00:00:00

171 E WAR 1N ;CHINA.

The following letter appeared in our Third Edition or
Saturday eTening

FROM A CORRESPONDENT OF THE TIMES.
At the time my last letter was despatched we were
in complete ignorance of the immediate cause that
had led to the capture of so many of our country-
men, and of the manner in which this had been
effected. The return of Parkes and Loch, however,
enables me to give you full information respecting
their seizure and subsequent treatment, and of all
that occurred to the English party until within a
few minutes of the former taking place, though
their account unfortunately still leaves us in doubt
as to the way in which the remaining and larger
number were eventually made prisoners.
To make my story more intelligible I must to
some extent recapitulate what has already appeared
in a former letter, modified by such additional infor-
mation as I have been able to obtain from the late
prisoners themselves. It was on the 17th of Sep-
tember that, accompanied by Colonel Walker;
Mr. Thompson, a Commissariat officer, Mr. Loch,
Bowlby, de Normann (the two latter as amateurs),
and an escort of King's Dragoon Guards and Fane's
horse, Parkes proceeded to Tung-chau for the pur-
pose of having an interview with the • Itaperial
Commissioners, as agreed upon at the previous
meetirg between them and Mr. Wade and himself
a few days before, on which occasion the principal
points in dispute between the two countries had
been fully discussed, and they firmly believed
satisfactorily disposed of, leaving nothing to be
arranged at his second coming excepi; various
inatterß of detail, the chief of which were connected
with the advance of our army and Lord Elgin's
residence in the capital. They reached Tung-chau.
the same morning, and were lodged in the Temple
in the suburbs, which had been occupied by Wa,de_
and Parkes during their former visit. The Im-
perial Commissioners, in place of allowing Pf,trkes
to wait upon them as he proposed, called. upon
him here that very afternoon, and had u long
conversation with him. The Prince of I, who on
this as on the former occasion was the principal
spokesman. began by recurring to several points,
which in Parkes' opinion had been quite settled at
their last interview; he urged that Lord Elgin
should not bring his proposed escort beyond Tung-
chau, but should proceed from that town to Pekin,
accompanied only by his-usual suite ; that the Eng-
lish army should not advance further on the road
to Pekin than five li, or a mile and a half on the
south-side of Chang-keia-wan ; that it should be
withdrawn immediately the Convention was signed;
and fourthly and lastly, that Lord Elgin should not
insist on having an interview with the Emperor
himself. The first and third of these he did not
press as if he attached much importance to them,
and on Parkes reminding him that these very pro-
posals had been already hrought forward and after-
wards given up by himself and his fellow Imperial
Commissioner, while, on the other hand, it had
never been the intention of the Commander-in-
Chief to advance beyond the spot designed in the
neighbourhood of Chang-keia-wan so long as there
was a prospect of peace being made, he abstained
from all further discussion respecting them, and
said they should be arranged according to Lord
Elgin's views. Not so, however, with regard to the
fourth point. About this he was for a time most
persistent, and it was with some difficulty Parkes
made him understand that it was one which he
was in no way empowered to discuss, nor had he
or Mr. Wade ever been so ; that it could not for a
moment be considered as involving the question of
peace or war, but On the contrary was a fair sub-
ject for discussion after the more important preli-
minaries of peace had been agreed to ; that under
these circumstances he was sure the Prince would
see that he had no other alternative but to decline
having anything to say to it, though he would of
course be glad to repeat to Lord Elgin any obser-
vations which either he or the other Commissioner
might think fit to make about it. More than once
Mr. Parkes imagined that the Prince was disposed
and about to bring matters to an issue on this par-
ticular point, and break off the interview, but he
at last gave up attending to it, and proceeded to
the settlement of the actual business that had
brought him and his companions to Tung-chau.
He appointed officers to accompany them early the
next day, to point out the precise ground on which
our troops were to encamp near Chang-keia-wan,
and others to make the necessary arrangements for
furnishing them with supplies. He named others
who were to provide transports for Lord Elgin's
baggage and prepare suitable accommodation for
him and his suite upon the road ; in fact, before
leaving the Temple the Commissioners had arranged
everything Parkes came to settle, and when they
took their departure late in the afternoon he felt
almost certain that his difficulties were. at end.
He started at 5 o'clock the next morning, in com-
pany with Colonel Walker, Loch, Mr. Thompson,
the escort of King's Dragoon Guards, and two of
Fane's Sikhs, to meet the Chinese officers appointed
by the Prince of I, whom they expected to find on
the intended camping ground, which they were in
hopes of reaching before the arrival there of the
French and English armies, who had encamped the
night before at Ma-ton, a village distant from it
about seven miles. On their way to Tung-chau,
the preceding day, they had noticed evidences of a
considerable force having been recently in the
neighbourhood of Chang-kem-wan, but they did
not see any large number of troops, or anything in
the shape of intrenchments or defensive works.
When allusions were made to the Imperial Com-
missioners on the subject, they replied that what
they had seen were probably the remains of the
encampments which had been occupied by Sang-ko-
lin-sin's army before it received orders to fall back
on the capital in consequence of the settlement come
to a few days previously, and there appeared to be
no reason for supposing that this statement Was not

perfectly correct. This morning, however, almost
immediately after leaving Tung-chau they observed
large bodies of soldiers moving toward Chang-keia-
wan ; these increased in numbers after they had
passed through that town, and when they reached
the place which it had been decided was to be oc-
.cupied by the allied armies, they found it in posses-
sion of the Tartar army, drawn up behind long
lines of intrenchments, only recently completed
(some portions indeed were not finished), with bat-
teries placed at various points, in which there
were a great number of field guns already in pol-
tion, while others were being brought up as rapidly
as possible. Seeing at once that either some foul
play was intended, or that there was some most
fatal misunderstanding—which of the two it was
not difficult to guess—Parkes questioned several
officers as he rode along as to the meaning of all
these movements of troops and preparations for re-
sistance, to which they replied civilly enough that
they did not know, as they were only acting in
obedience to orders which they had received from
their superior officers, to whom they referred him
for any further information he might desire to have.
Anxious to find some person in authority the party
pushed en to the extreme front of the Chinese posi-
tion, and Parkes was still engaged in vainly search-
ing for one when the advanced guard of the 'English
army came in sight. there would, at that moment,
have been no difficulty in the way of their all reach-
ing the English lines in safety ; but Pafkes felt
that the first thing. Sir Hope Grant would do
would be to ask ',n for an explanation of the fait
Of his finding ar force drawn up in order or
battle on the cry ground which he had been
given to understand was to be occupied by the
English, an explanation which after his conversa-
tion with the Commissioners the day before, it was
entirely out of his power to give. Knowing this,
and unable to find any officer of sufficient rank on
the ground to whom he could apply for informa-
tion, he came to the resolution of at once returning
and seeking of the Prince of I himielf an explana-
tion of the extraordinary proceedings that were
taking placd, .andrequesting him to use his autho-
rity in withdrawing the Tartars, and so preventing
a collision between them and the allied forces. He
at the same time requested Loch to ride on and in-
form the Commander-in-Chief of all the circum-
stances connected with their visit, and of what he
was about to do. As soon as this was settled he
started for Tung-chau once more. Loch went on
to the general, and Col. Walker and the others
remained just inside the Chinese lines, intending
to wait until Parkes should return, accompanied
by Bowiby, de Normann, and Lieut. Anderson,
commanding the escort of Fane's Horse, who, not
dreaming of any danger, had remained behind
when the others left early in the morning, think-
ing to come out quietly later on in the day. In
,nly last letter I told how Loch, after giving his
message to Sir Hope Grant, asked for and received
permission to go back and rejoin Parkes, and was
accompanied by Captain Brabazon of the Artil-
lery, with two of Probyn's Horse, carrying a flag
of truce ; also how Col. Walker, after waiting for
nearly two hours riding up and down the Chinese
lines, was attacked and had to ride for his life,
fortunately with all his party reaching the English
army in safety, one or two of them only being
slightly wounded ; but I was unable to give you
any more information respecting the fate of the
former, or of Parkes and the others, beyond what
was contained in a letter which had been received
from the Prince of Kung, a brother of the Empe-
ror, and the newly-appointed Commissioner in place
of the Prince of I, to the effect that the number of
prisoners in their hands was upwards of 30, and
they were well and well treated, the truth of which
statement your readers will be better able to judge
of when they have read the account of what was
done to the eight who have as yet been returned to
us.

It appears that when Parkes reached the Temple
where they had passed the night, he found Bowlby
and De Normann had gone out for a walk, saying
they would return in time for breakfast, After de-
siring the escort to get their horses saddled and to
he in readiness to start at a moment's notice, and
leaving a message for the other, be proceeded in
search of the Commissianers. He had some diffi-
culty in finding them, but at last, with the aid of
the Prefect of the town, discovered them in a
small shabby temple outside the walls, and
evidently not at all well pleased to see him. H.•
immediately addressed himself to the Prince of I,
and requested to be informed whether the position
occupied by the Chinese army had been taken up
with his sanction and knowledge, and whether he
was aware of the imminent risk there was of a
collision taking place between it and the French and
English troops if it was allowed to remain where it
was. The reply of the Prince was not only
evasive, but given in a half jeering, half insolent
tone, which Parkes had never observed him make
useof before. When pressed to give a direct an-
swer, he admitted that he was aware of troops being
there; but what could Parkes expect—he had not
been willing to settle the day before the point re-
specting Lord Elgin's seeing the Emperor in person,
so that he could not consider that matters were as
yet entirely arranged ; and even if he had wished
or should wish to withdraw the Tartars, he was not
the Commander-in-Chief--but Sang-ko-lin-sin—by
whom alone such an order could be given. Mr.
Parkes pointed out the absurdity and falsity of
such a reply, but to no purpose; and, after some
further conversation, which he at once saw would
lead to no satisfactory result, and was continued by
the Prince in the same insolent, indifferent tong as
that in which he had commenced it, he left the
Commissioners, throwing upon them the entire
responsibility of having broken off the negotia-
tions. It was evident to him either that the Prince
was really unable to exercise any control over
Sang-ko-lin-sin and his army, in which case it
was useless to waste time in talking to him ; or,
what was more probable, that in consequence of
the arrival of large reinforcements of Mongolians
and Tartars from beyond the wall, subsequent to
the starting of the allied forces from'tier-tarn on
the 9th September, and the appointment of the
Prince of I and Muh-Yin as imperial commissioners,
it had been resolved by the war party at Pekin to
make Sang-ko•lin sin try the issue of another battle,
and that the interview he had had the day before,
and possibly the previous one, at which Mr. Wade
had been present, had been arranged simply with
a view to gaining time, and allowing the fresh troops
to be brought to the front, which result having
been attained the Prince of I was indifferent as to
how soon he threw off the mask and allowed him
to sea what was really intended; hence the differ-
ence of his manner on the two days.
On his way back to the Temple, where he had left
the escort, he met Loch, who, having arrived there
safely with Brabazon, had come on to look for him ;
they returned to the Temple together, found every
one in readiness, and started off on their return to
the army at a sharp canter. They passed without
difficulty through Chang-keia-wan, and continued at
the same pace for some distance on the other side of
it, when they came upon large masses of Tartar
troops, both infantry and cavalry. As they went
along a considerable body of the latter began to
gallop alongside on either flank, blowing up their
matches, getting ready their matchlocks, and clos-
ing gradually down on them. Seeing this, and
feeling that as they were carrying a flag of truce
it would not do to have the appearance of running
away, they came to a halt for the purpose of
deciding on what was the best to be done. The
moment they did so the Mongol cavalry closed up
great numbers in front and on either side,
completely shutting up the road in the direction
in which they had been going. An officer came
forward, and, in reply to Parkes, who told him that
they were under a flag of truce, and wished to pro-
ceed without delay, said that he knew such was
the case, but as guns had been fired and the action
must have already commenced, he could not allow
them to pass without the permission of his General,
who was close by. I omitted to mention in its right
place that shortly before they halted they heard at
no great distance a discharge of gin gals and heavy
guns, which were probably those fired at Colonel
Walker and the dragoons as they made their
escape. For a moment they thought of attempting
to cut their way through the troops in front of
them, but, besides that, it was almost impossible
they should have succeeded in doing E o , they felt
it was their duty to exhaust every reasonable
means of getting out peacefully before committing
any act which might be construed into a viola ties'
of the flag of truce on their part. As the Chinese
officer had spoken with great civility, and offered
to show where his General was to be found, Parkes
decided on trying to see him, and asked Loch to go
with him, which he at once consented to do, and
took with them one of Probyn's two Sikhs, carry.
ing a white flag. They arranged with Lieutenant
Aibniclee, butrson thatthatif they
they d
would
d rnetoutrneoams
come soon
quickly as
had as pos-
sible,
l
better not wait, and that if on attempting to move

on he was attacked, he must act as he should think
' best under the circumstances.
When they left the escort they were taken by the
officer round the corner of a field of standing millet,
which completely shut them out of sight of their I
friends, and they also immediately found them- 1
selves in front of about a hundred matchlockmen,
who Presented their weapons and looked very much
Ss if they were about to fire, when an officer ran
out and prevented them.
Passing through these they came to a small canal,
c n the opposite side of which sat an officer on horse-
back,lcrho beckoned-to them to come over. As they
would have had to dismount and gat into a boat in
order to do this, they hesitated, but, surrounded as
.they were by this time by hundreds of men, resist-
ance would have been useless, and they were pre-
paring to obey when they saw a number of persons,
evidently of high rank, coming towards them.
Parkes soon discovered, from the way in which he
was addressed, that one of these was Sang-ko -lin
sin himself, and he was puShing forward to make
his' way up to him when both he and Loch were
violently seized, pushed forward, and forced down
on their knees before him. Parkes was beginning
.to protest against such treatment, and to explain
the circumstances which had led to their being
there, when he was interrupted by Sang-ko-lin-sin,
and asked their names and positions. On Parkes
mentioning his own name, the Mongolian Prince,
whom he describes as a stern, somewhat sinister.
looking man, with strongly-marked features, indi-
cating considerable talent and much firmness,
out into the most Violent abuse of him, saying,
among other things, that he attributed. much uf
what was then occurring to his evil influence, that
he was responsible for all the fighting and conse-.
quent misery which had taken place, and that,
heeprould, make him'
now that
e.t he had got him,
suffer for it. He was proceeding-Ili' this .strain -
when a messenger galloped up, apparently with
important news, for he immediately rode
off towards the front,
,accompanied by the
greater number of his officers, while Parkes, Loch,
and their Sikh orderly were taken into a tent,
where their arms and feet were bound, the latter
being brought behind their backs and strongly tied
together with ropes at the elbows and wrist.
bu.ring the time Sang-ko-lin-sin was abusing poor
Parkes, the standers by emphasized his remarks
and , prevented any answer being made by cuffing
the latter on the head whenever he attempted to
Make one, each blow being apparently a signal to
those who surrounded Loch, who oa these occasions
fared even worse than his companion —his beard
and hair being seized by these ruffians, and his
head pulled down and rubbed in the dust at the
feet of Sang-ko-lin-sin's pony. The Prince before
leaving had given an order, which was overheard
by Parkes, desiring that their friends, together with
thd escort, should be secured and sent to the rear.
He and Loch listened anxiously for the report of
firearms, or some other sound which might let them
know whether any struggle took place or not, but
as they aeard nothing they were inclined to hope
they had started before the order was given, and
managed to make their escape.
After having been kept in the tent for a short
time they were told that Sang-ko-lin-sin had deter-
mined to hand them over to the Prince of I, as being
civil prisoners, and that they were about to be taken
to him. They were accordingly all three put into a
cart and driven some distance beyond Tung-chau
along the great paved road leading to Pekin, but
the Prince not being at the place it was thought he
was, and their guard being unable to learn anything
as to his whereabouts, they were taken about three
miles back again, and brought before a Man-
darin of high rank, holding an important com-
mand in the army, who • subjected them to a
long and wearisome examination. Parkes of
course, as being the only one of the three who under-
stood and spoke Chinese, was always spokesman, but
they were all; more particularly the two English-
men, once more. exposed to the same brutal and
degrading treatment as they had been when before
Sang-ko-lin-sin ; indeed, nothing appeared to be
left undone by this man which, in his estimation,
was likely to be considered by them most offensive
and insulting. He bullied Parkes in every possible
way, and, at last, so exhausted his patience that he
told Loch he must feign faintness in order to avoid
further questioning and ill-treatment. His ruse,
fortunately, succeeded, and they were allowed a
short respite, but not for any length, of time; they
were soon brought before him again, when his lan-
guage became so violent, Gild the conduct of those
who crowded about them unchecked by him so
threatening, that Parkes felt persuaded the scene
would only end by their being ordered out for exe-
cution. Whilst he was still engaged ilk abusing
them, a stir suddenly took place among the crowd,
some communication was made to him, and a gene-
ral panic seemed to come over him and most of his
officers, for they mounted their ponies and started
off in all haste; the three prisoners were at the
same time hurried out into the yard by those who
remained with loud shouts and threats, and Parkes
told Loch he feared it was all over with them, and
that he must prepare for the worst. To their great
relief, however, at this. moment a cart was rapidly
driven up ; they and the Sikh were thrown into it, a
couple of officers followed, and they went off at a trot
along the road toPekin. According to their calcula-
tion, it must have been between 2 and 3 in the after-
noon when they started, and they did not reach Pekiu
until about sunset ; they suffered much during the
journey, from the tightness of the ropes with which
their hands and feet were bound, and the awkward
and confined position in which they were compelled
to lie; the cart also, being without springs, jolted
over the rough road in such a manner as at times
to cause them exquisite pain in every joint. Their
guardians appeared to enjoy their sufferings, and
occasionally, probably to afford themselves some
amusement during so long a ride, pulled their arms
backwards and upwards, as if to see whether it gave
them much additional pain ; they relieved them
also of any little articles of jewellery they hap-
pened to have on • them, such as studs or wrist
buttons.

On entering Pekin they were taken direct to the
Haing-poo, or Board of Punishment, the principal
prison of the town, and placed in a small court,
from which, after a short interval, Parkes was called
into a room in which were some examining officers,
asked a few unimportant questions, and then loaded
with a heavy set of chains and removed to one of
the wards in which criminals of every description
were confined, there being no less than 72 in that
in which he now found himself. Loch was next
summoned, treated in precisely the same way, and
pieced in a ward apart from Parkes, in which were
56 wretched prisoners, who hailed his entrance
with the horrible shouts and yells it was possible
to conceive ; the poor Sikh was, like the others,
heavily chained and imprisoned in a separate ward.
At midnight Parkes was roused up for another
examination, and taken before five officers
who questioned him most closely respecting
the strength of the English and French armies,
made most particular inquiries as to whether the
English Government, or at all events he himself,
had not many friends inside Pekin, and whether he
had not frequently managed to pay visits to the
capital, and penetrate within its walls. After com-
pletely wears ing him out he was allowed to return
to his wretched prison and get a little rest. For
three successive days were these useless and annoy-
ing examinations continued, in the course of which
he occasionally met with a good deal of rough usage,
and every description of insult. Loch had to
nndergo but one of them,, they having
satisfied themselves at that one that he did
probably
not
know their language. On the third day
feetsquare,
was put into a small ward by himself. separated by
bars from the larger one, about g
with three gaolers in it constantly watching him.
On the fourth day he received a visit from
Hat g-ke,
who said he had come to condole
, whe endea-
ly with him on his
unfortunate position,
voured to prove was enwtihreieh'of hoeves,
his own bringing
e
about. After some eivil speeches he l ft, promis-
ing to see him again.
This was on the 22d, and
on the 26th he paid him a second visit, on which
occasion he assumed a bullying tone, and talked
very big, saying that the Great Council had decided
favour of war; conducting himself altogether
in such a manner that Parkes at once saw he
was in hopes of intimidating him, probably with
a view to obtaining his assistance in some matter
connected with the negotiations. He gave him
no encouragement, however, and Hang-ke left him
without giving him any intimation of what he
really wanted. Two days afterwards he came again,
and spoke in a very diiTerent tone. The Prince of
Kung, he said, was very anxious to make peace,
as well as friendly inclined towards Parkes ; be
was extremely desirous that he should write a
letter to Lord Elgin to this effect, and let him
know, at the same time, that he was well, haPPY'
and well treated. He further suggested, that if he
were to say in the letter that the Prince was an
excellent man of business and an
enggs and
statesman it could be agreeable to his, feelings
s pre-
epar s
possibly the means of improving his,
that
not having
sent position. Parkes told him,
the pleasure of knowing the Prince
it was, unfor-
tunately, impossible for him to :o be though he say that he was
;
what Hang-ke represented hini

N_EIN S PAPER*
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regarded himself, as he was neitherisirispy 0 --
treated, he should certainly not say Nat , f'.
either the one or the other. To this Hang-ke
replied that the Prince had only just heard
how he had been treated, and immediately i
resolved to have his chains removed, which
should be done without loss of time. Parkes said J
this was not enough; the best and wisest course for ,
the Prince to pursue would be, as they had been '
imprisoned wrangfr i, to set himself and Loch at
liber.. . ~..ee, i-,,,,if he would not do this he ought
to take them out of prison and let them have pro-1
per accommodation. Hang-ke undertook that this
should be done as regarded himself. but that Loch
should be liberated was impossible, it was useless
to think of it. Parkes then said that as they had-
been taken together, so they must be liberated to-
gether, or no letter to Lerd Elgin would they get
out of him. Hang-be, as he expected, said he would
see what could be done, and the next day, to Loch's
great surprise and still greater joy, Parkes, without
his chaius„ asd accompanied by Hang-ke, walked
into his ward; his own chains were immediately
taken off, and they were removed to the Kaoumean
Temple, situate in the north of the city, where they
remained unt;l•the day en which they were finally
set at liberty, being treated during this latter period
of their imprisonment as well jn every respect as
they had been badly in the former. There is ono
fact connected with their prison life which I cannot
help thinking worthy of very prominent notice. I
mean the extreme kindness shown to them by the
Chinese prisoners. Parkes and Loch, and not only '
they but the other prisoners all speak of this in the
warmest terms. Such conduct stands out in strong
and inexplicable contrast to that of the Mandarins
and of the great mass of the people out of doors,
for in the case of M. d'Ezeayrac de Lanture, who
was taken prisoner in the town of Zung-chan,
there is no question he was assaulted in the first
instance by the towns-people alone, and would
have lost his life but for the' interference of ta
Mandarin. Apparently the same class of
people who were ready to tear him to pieces when
at liberty, could not show him sufficient kind-
, ness and attention when confined in the same
prison.with him. He had many a townsman of
' Pekin, he ascertained, as companions in his ward,
and' soinewho had been in good circumstanceg—but
-enooknd ,all they (lid everythins they could to alle-
ilviate.4s sufferings, and appeared- glad when he
was released.
The last week of Parkes and Lech's confinement
was not the least anxious one for them, for, on
the one hand, they had intelligence from Lord..
Elgin, conveyed 'as already desc'ibed, stating that
the city was to be bombarded, and on the other they
were told by Hang-ke that he much feared the
sound of the first gun fired against the walls would
be the signal of their death, Fortunately it was
not necessary to have recourse to hostile measures
against the city, but their escape has been quite
narrow enough, and they and;the others who came
out with them have every reason to feel deeply
crateful that they are once more safe among their
friends. Would that all the other poor fellows were
so also.