The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1883-08-25

the keys to the town, had been captured.
From the great stone wall and the water
gate the rebels had poured fire of
grape, canister and musketry. Finding
his native troops too cowardly to fight at
night-for after twilight they feared
their own shadows-Gor had dashed
into the moat with his European fol-
lowers, had swum across in the face of a
murderous volley, had snatched the
snake flag of the commandant from the
breastwork and had planted his own
within hundred yards of the city.
When the NarwanP, who was second
in command, heard of this bold advance
he held q secret conference with the
| other subordinate wangs, and was rowed
down the Grand Canal into Gordon's
camp. He offered to throw open the
gates of the city if he and his followers
were granted an unconditional pardon.
Gordon communicated this order to
General Ching. who commanded the i'm
perial troops, and it was speedily ac-
cepted. Narwang then called the con-
spirators together. and they repaired to
the palace of the Mowang.
Here, in the hall of the heavenly
Father, surrounded by representatives OF
the passion of Christ, prayers were offered
| and tile Mowang assembled the throne in
| his rebe and crown. He made short
ad dress to the captains, saying that 500
chow should never yield to inidels. At
the last word the Congwang rose in the
hall, took off his robe, walked to the
steps of the throne and deliberately
stabbed the speaker to the heart. The
Mowang fell over the table in front of
the throne, and the other wangs seized
him and decapitated him. Then they
| mounted their horses, rode each to his
palace, and the head was sent to Gordon
as peace offering.
| The colonel was not man to waste
| time in fruitless threats. He had prom
ised these wretches immunity and he
meant to keep his word. The entry hav-
ing been affected peacefully enough, he
walked up alone to the neighboring
| heights, feeling for the first time dis
couraged and sick at heart. In the plain
below he suddenly noticed great COM
motion. The imperial troops were rush
ing in wild confusion through the gates.
Yells and shouts filed the air. Not
without misgivings he made his way to
the Morning Palace and found it in
ruins, half molten bronzes choking up
the passage and only solitary drum
standing as sentinel at the gate. Enter
ing one of the chambe and calling for
his servant he learned that the imperial
ist had beheaded him. The courtyard
round the palace was filled with an angry
mob; swords were being drawn and
pistols fired. In the midst of the hub
bub Gordon appeared on the threshold.
The crowd fell back as though lightning
had stricken them. Calmly the colonel
raised his hand and the noise ceased.
A passage was cleared for him, and, i,
touching his pith helmet in ironical
salute, he walked at an easy pace to Gen
eral Ohing's stockade. There, in a
CHASTITY row, were the heads Of all the
| Wangs. The bodies had been slashed
down the chest; the wounds on the head
were most terrible. Gordon said not a
word. me knew that e great clamor of
treachery would be raised against him;
but be silently turned away, went back
to the palace, scrawled four words on
paper-''Thou prince of liars'-sent
them to General Ching, and, bidding
those of his soldiers follow him who
would, rode hastily from the city. He
wrote to Sir Frederick Bruce, the Am
bassador, taking upon himself all re-
sponsibility for Ching's sbaseness. He
allowed the British missionaries to carry
home maudlin stories of his atrocities.
He suffered the philanthropists of Exeter
Hall to prate of the wrongs which the
Taepings had suffered at his hands. He
| merely said that he would not sheathe his
sword until the rebellion had been crushed
and he kept his word. His men clung
to him with the devotion of the Tenth
Legion to Caesar. With his gunboats he
cut off so completely the commun1ca'
tions of Nankin that not sound could
be heard from the beleagured city but
the bamboo signals of the sentinels
around the forts and the drums of the
guards in the lookout houses on walk.
Before the spring was past the capital
had fallen, the leader of the Taepings
had poisoned himself with gold leaf and
his fugitive was suing for peace in the
southern provinces. Colonel Gordon
was offered fortune by the grateful
country which he had saved. He re.
piled that he had not served for money
and would accept nothing. He left China
as poor as he came.
He was to visit the country once more.
In the spring of 1880 he went to Pekin
on mission of peace. He had been
| eloCbeO TO m0Ql8Lc between HuSSla anu
China. Strange emotions filed his mind
as he sailed toward the capital Passing
the mouth of the Yang -tse -Kiang, under
sapphire sky and bright eastern sun,
he thought of the desolstion he had left
upon its shores. Once more the richest
land in China, he remembered when its
horizon was unbroken except by graves,
commemorative arches and heaps OF
ruins. Over its rayaged hills, now
clothed with wild tea, he followed in
memory the peasants in their fight, the
men staggering under heavy loads OF
goods and chattels, the women hobbline
along on their small feet, their arms
filled with babies. The paddy fields
which the husbandmen were now irri-
eating had been white with dead mems
bones. The reed hut of the fisherman
and the many storied pagoda had been
choked with corpses. The boatmen with
their hooks drew shoals of mangled
bodies to the sea, where the priest to day
sat drumming by the waterside to soothe
the great Ash that carries the world upon
its hack. It was Gordon who had re-
stored peace to the nation, and as he
saved it from ruin in 1864 so he saved il
from war in 1880.
The BnnkO SMindIe.
The care and skill with which the