The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-17

tha treaty formally ratified. The British
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lord Malmes-
bury, strongly impressed it upon Mr..
.Bruca that tho treaty must be ratified al
Pekin, which was q great concession on
the part of the Chinese, as they regarded
Pekin as their sacred city, which waa not
to be dsfiled by the foot OF any barbarian.
SO in June, 1855, Mr.. Bruce and the French
Envoy went with Admiral Hopa's fleet as
a convoy to the Taku forts. now SO well
known, at the mouth OF the Pie-Ho River,
seeking TO go UP the river to Ten ism,
and from thence 10 Pekin. which is reached
by a canal running into the Pei-Ho a
Chinese official cana down and attempted
to gain some delay. Thereupon Mr.. Bruce
became convinced that the Chinese did
not wish to ratify their treaty at Pekin,
and sought to force his way through the
Taku forts. Ths result OF this effort was
this loss OF four British gunboats, and all
Of Admiral Hopes vessels got aground.
The attempt to force passage UP the
river was given up, and the mission TO
Pekin was over.
Mr.. Mccarthy, in his history, says that
il is not fair to accuse the Chinese OF
perhdy, as they openly barricaded the river
and showed that they did not expect the
British to go to Pekin. Be that as it may,
the question came up in the British Far
Lament; Lord E.gin himself was sent
back to China with Baron eros, OF
E-,,,ooo. How, ,1T,t in c7a
of thu British land forces, and General
Cousin dc Montauban commanded the
French soldiers. The allied troops took
Taku against very brave resistance on
the part Of the Chinese, VINO were poorly
armed and had no chance against the for
English marched on to Tien Ts!n, and
then to Pekin. The Chinese, it seems, had
treacherously captured twenty-four of
Lord Elgin's suite, thirteen of whom died
from the horrible i'll treatment. BY way
of impressing the wickedness Of this ac-
ton on the Chinese mind Lord E.gin de-
cided upon the destruction of the summer
palace at PeIiin. This palace covered two
square miles and was filled with all the
art treasures of China, besides being the
most beautiful product that the Chinese
landscape gardener could produce. The ar
tistic loss is beyond all computation, but it
is not to be compared with the bitterness
that it caused the proud and exclusive race
who saw their sacred city trampled by the
feet of the barbarians, and their holy OF
To add insul, 10 injury Lord Eigin SET
UP monument inscribed in Chinese char
acter, warning all Chinese against any
further attacks on the British.
In addition to this the allied governments
made China pay q largo war indemnity and
large sum Of money as compensation to
the families of the murdered prisoners, and
20 make an apology for the attack by
the garrison on the Taliu forts. Ii Hung
Chang was in power in 1860, and so was
the Dowager Empress, and forty years is
a short space in the life of a nation. To-day
the Chinese have modern arms and am
rlunition, and can doubtless buy military
skill, though we would not willingly be
leve that any one could be so recreant 10
his country. The memory Of 1869 will noc
soon be effaced, and we cannot but believe
that the spirit shown by the British then
is largely responsible for the Chinese ha-
tired Of foreigners to-day.