Newbern weekly progress., 1861-01-08
THE WAR I'M CHINA.
CAPTURE OF PEKIN.-THE FLIGHT o
THE EMPEROR.

| treasure which taken is to be divided between
both French and English. Some privates are
said to have sold their shares for about 10000
francs The entire British share, including both
treasure and private loot, is estimated at about
10000 dollars.
On the 18th everything was prepared for the as
| sault, or the occupation of Pekin. The siege
guns and other artillery were In position to bonn
bard the town unless it should be surrendered by
noon of the 18th. A general order was issued By
Sir Hope Grant for the disposition and control OF
the forces under his command. The whole OF
the troops were to be furnished the 18th with
| two days cooked rations. l.: the event of an
attack upon Pekin being ordered, the general or
der directed the following directions to be OBJ
served: AS soon as the officers commanding Roy
! II Engineers report that practicable breach has
been effected in the city wall, it will BE- stormed
by the second division. On the wall being
gained, the storming party will turn to the right,
keeping along the ramparts and sieze the An-ting
gate. This post being gained the engineers and
sappers who should follow the supporting col.
| umn. will proceed at once to open the gate below.
The post will then be placed in state of defence
| with the least possible delay, and be held by a
garrison of such strenth may be necessary
Officers and soldiers forbidden, under any pretext
whatev to quit the gate or ramparts, enter
any street or house All property collected by
| officers this occasion be sold for the Just
! benefit of all ranks The Commander in Chief
| Informs the army that he has taken upon himself
a serious responsibility in applepratng to their
! benefit the treasure which found in the EN-
| rerors palace and which, by right belongs to the
Clown.
just Immediately before the period givan for
surrender would expire, Hangehun came out and
said our demands were acceded to, no resistance
would be made, and the gate was at disposal.
| Thereon the outer and inner gates immedi-
atey taken possession of, and portion OF the al
lied force Quarered the wall of Fekin.
The Earl of Elgin and Baron Gros are at the
military headquarters but as 41r Bruce has been
sent for, it is possible that his lordship does not
B., ;,f
said to be the Intention ofthe commander in chief
to withdraw from Pekin, and make lien tsin his
winter quarters. The ccmmissariat, in its
most trihing details, is unexceptionatle, The
general health of the troops has been excellent.
The Tartar army was still in the field The
Emperor has fed to Tartary. Letters were found
in the Palace from San l1o-lin-sin to the Emperor
assuring him of his confidence in being able to
annIhilate us. The garrison of Pekin is reported
to be 10000 to 10000 men. The pressure of the
people is said to have had great weight IN indu-
cling the authorities to yield. The generals and
staff, with the Pan jaubees and 67th regiment en-
tered the outer and inner gates of Pekin, aud
cended to the ramparts and took possession of the
gate and Il Drmbvr of brass guns, and mounted
our guns ia their place The English and French
flags were then hoisted in token of military
occupation The wall IS sixty feet le and
paved. and the troops inside have their tents
pitched on it, fhe only thing the Chinese asked
WAS, that the Chinese coolies should not be al
lowed 70 enter the city. tbs was conceded,
pied by three hundred eunuchs and thirty Or for
ty in chrge OF the gardens. They made i
sii ht shcw of reSj~tauce, when two killed
aud TWO French Off .efs wounded. The next day
the palace given up to- ir,discr inmate loot al
ter the French had made the first selection.
SAC!fNG OF THE PALACE
The following account of the satcing of the
Emperors Palace at Pekm is from letter dated
Camp r i:rt:I~h Army. mile from mort het>s
gate OF Pekin," On the 9th of Ortuber:
I.4l, liz. I.}lI nd
vate bedrooms, aIIterooms, boudoirs, and every
other apartment has been rausacled. Articles Of
rertu of native and fereign workmanship were t;.
ken, or broken if too large TO be carried AWAY
Ornam .ntal lattice work, screens Jade stone or
naments. jars clocks, watches and other pieces |
OF mechanism, curtains, and turniture-none have !
escaped from destruction. There were extensive |
wardrobes of every article of dress; coats richly |
embroidered in silk and gold thread in the Impe |
rial dragon pattern, boots, head dresses, fans |
&c. IN fact rooms all but filled with them There
must have been seventy or eighty thousand |
pieces Of silks i'll rolls, which at Canton cost |
twenty thirty dollars each. Hundreds were |
thrown down and trampled on, md the floor !
covered thickly with them Men were tnrowiuc !
them at each other, and all taking manv !
they could carry. They were used instead vt
rope to secure the loading of carts filled with |
them. A treasury containing large quantity |
of gold in@ots and Sycee silver is under charge |
of guard, and is to be divided between the Eng
Ii. h and French. The total value of property |
destroyed would amount to large instament |
of the indemnity claimed. party of the French |
went through the apartments breaking every |
thing that remained-Inirrors. screens anels !
&c.-in revenge for the treatment the released !
prisoners, their countrymen, had receIved.- !
Much dissatisfaction has been expressed at the !
decision of the tmmander-i in chief, that only |
those of troops who marched at the last halting |
place to participate in the prize money, all the |
rest, those at the depot at Tung Chow. and else
w here being excluded. The commander-in-
ul,i, e ri,rht
to share. A gold jug of great value presen- |
ted tt the commander-inchief by the army. A gen
era order from the British command chief de-
sired that all articles taken by all officers and !
men to oe sent in for sale by public auction
for he benefit of the army, which done. All |
were permitted to have the articles brought away |
by themselves valued, and have the option of ta
king or rejecting them, Many beautiful and Gu
rious souvenirs were thus obtained at a nominal !
price The sale realized thirfy-two thousand |
dollars, which, with the value of :he treasure, es-
timated at sixty-one thousand dollars, is to be !
divided AS prize money on the spot
MAGNIFICENcE OF THE PALACE
Another writer, after relating the circumstan-
ces of the capture and sacking the palace, says:
No description can give an idea of the splen- |
dor of this residence. The entrance reception |
hall is paved with marble, aud painted with gold, |
azure. and scarlet in the most gorgeous style
The throne of the Emperor is of beautiful carved |
dark wood, aud the Cushions, embroidered with
every inner chamber and saloon very hand
somely fitted up, and the rolls of silk satin, and
grapes, all of splendid workmanship splendidly
fusnshed cummerbunds and puggarees for the
French soldiers; who appear to have adopted our
custom IN this respect. The jade stone and china
were of great value, and som Sevrees china of
Louise Quatorze would have delighted the eyes of
many a curio fancier: and presentation sword
with the English coat of arms, studded with
gems and evinently of Antiquity, gave rise to
some speculation The last treaty of Iien-tsin
was also found. and the immense quantity Of loot
of all kinds made it almost impossible to know
that to take away. Some idea CT the quantity of
silk may be given by the fact that fowls old pots.
&c. were wrapped in the most costly silk and sat
ms All the ladies had disappeared, but their little
Japanese dogs, something resembling King
Charles spaniel, were running ab ut in distrac-
ted state Some valuable books and papers were
secured for the British Museum.
HEAVY TRAVEL TO The SOUTH.
The Petersburg Express says: The regular
trains to the South are daily heavily loaded with
through passengers, many of whom consist of +
Northern capitalists route for South Carolina
and other Southern States. A gentleman from