The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1901-10-19

v
| the Smithsonian Institution
| contains an unusually large num-
Der of articles of popular interest,
perhaps the most remarkable of
| which in some ways is a vivid account
of the looting of the Summer Palace, So
] called, of the Chinese emperor near
| Pekin on the occasion of the expedition
undertaken against China by France
and England in 1860 The writer. Count
! D'Herisson. acted as secretary and in
| terpreter to the French commander,
General Montauban, and, in view
| of what has occurred within
the last year, his narrative Of
fers abundant confirmation of
the timeworn saying that history
repeats itself. Curiously enough, how
ever, no note has apparently been pre-
| viously taken in this country of the
fact that such a record existed.
The Summer Palace had been aban-
doned by the emperor, Hien-Fong, OH
the approach of the allies, and meas
ures were taken by General Montauban
and his English colleague, General
Grant, to guard it against pillage. To
| Count D'Herisson, as a Frenchman. it
| recalled in many respects the palace
at Versailles. built by Louis XIV-a
resemblance which he explains by the
influence of the Jesuits. who had main
tanned an almost semi-sovereign state
at Pekin until the suppression OF their
order in 1773.
For the splendor which he found
within. the enthusiasm of Count ID He
risson can hardly find adequate words:
There" he says, speaking OF one OIL
the outer halls, were gathered all
the wealth in precious stones ana me
fabrics presented by tributary princes,
and all that the kings and emperors
of Europe had sent to Hien-Fong ana
his predecessors, all the bric-a-brac
and curiositieS, as well as all the goods
! which the simple-minded merchant,
| wishing to obtain rights in port,
| s1lbtracted from his cargo to propitiate
the sovereign. Everything was pre-
served with care and equally honorea'
from a cloth of gold ornamented with
pearls. which had come. perhaps, from
the subIine porte. up to a doll that
cried papa and mamma which a
| Marseilles captain had taken from his
| little daughter at Christmas and car
ried to China to grease the palm OF
the chief mandarin. This mutltuue
! of treasures had overfowed the private
| apartments of the sovereign ana MS
wives and spread itself into these I'M
mense cathedral halls. The spectacle
| was at once extraordinary and daz-
articles, extraordinary from tnelr mum
Der and variety"
| But this magnificence was as noIh-
ing compared with the splendors OF the
! throne-room itself. In small oratory
to the left of the throne, for example.
tbe walls. the ceilings, the dressing
tables, the chairs. the footstools' were
ali in gold, studded with gems. Rows
of small gods in massy gold WeIe
carved with such wonderful skill ina
their artistic value was far oeyond
! their intrinsic worth. On supports OF
Jade were two pagodas OF enameiea
| po1d "as large as cornbins. WIN
! seven superposed roofs, from eacn OF
! which pear-shaped pearls hung Ike
y co rnanv bells. In another oratory, re-
sembling the interior of monstrance,
| were gathered all the articles Ior the
enperor's daily use when occupying
the throne-room; his tea service, nls
Guns his pipes-the bowels Oh Whlch
, yare gold or silver, and the long tubes
| enriched with coral. jade. rubies. sap
nhires and little tufts of many eolored
| si1lr. his ceremonial chaplets or rows
! of pearls as large as nuts. here dIso
were his speaking trumpets Oh sliVeI
! piIt which he used at times the petIer
| to impress his audience
'I shall not attmpt to portray say
} Count D'HerlSSon, the Wonuel an
] rniration of the 'barbarians' who pene-
! trated into these precincts. 1nyolun-
! tarily we spoke in low tones, ana began
| To walk ON tiDtoe on seeing before u
! such a profusion of riches for the
! possession of which mortals hgh
! and die, which their owner had aoan'
doned in his flight as indifferently as
| citizen closes the door of his house
| leaving his mahogany bureau expose
to the chances of war. All was no nat
ural, so familiar, so commonplace t.
him, that he did not even try to save
! these treasures"
walls of the closets of the secretarie
were furnished from top to bottom
with pigeon holes, in which, one above
another. like files of lawyers briefs
were red boxes of old LACQUER of Pekin
wonderfully engraved in iptag Clio, con
tanning ornaments, necklaces. an6
bracelets in pearls, In jade in preciou,
STONES, tiny rings for feminine fingers
and huge ones of jade for men whei
0Iy Caey drew the strings of their bows
| Clher boxes were crowded with .
tistic objects, with materials -
transformed into jewels. with 1,nicr,'o
specimens of transparent iade or rdtf.
crystal, OF milky jade, of moss aoofs.-
OF uncut diamonds, of precious sfo,,oI
sui in their natural state On u' oOn',
ing any of these boxes, saws Spr1,t
u Herlsson. it appeared to send oI,t
spdrk4es and sheaves of light. Beyond
great Wardrobes of old LACQUER set info
e,,e,''a e,le vans contained the garments of the
fa dnpl ess, Doth those for daily use and
tor cermonious occasions-enoupb 70
ureSs from head to foot. 40 0oo Mi,
cesses from the Arabian Nights >, r..
ei tlllng was silk, satin. damasx fur
Mith enbrolderies sometimes as deli
tSole ds SPIDERS webs, sometimes az
heaVy as those on bishops cones
Dut II is necessary to pass to the
count story of the loot itself. If he
gan IL appears, according to the most
approved psychological formu1ae The
generals had given orders to remove
the articles of value systematically
ana the work had been begun. The.
Lroops-trench, English, Arabs. Sikhs
CniMese cooies, cavalry, infantry, and
drtiIlery-thus had an opportunity to
estimate the value of the treasure,
the palace contained. And there was
some natural grumbling. Suddenly If
was learned that mob of Chinese nil
layers had scaled wall on the other
slde, and must be turned out. There
was an alarm of fire: causing the OBJ
vlcus thought, These Chinese will cab
page everything" or "The rascals are
going to burn everything"
Ihe action followed the thought-a
mad lndlscriminate scramble in which,
every man endeavored to seize what he
could What could the general or
MS of1cers do?" asks Count D'Heris-
son. Absolutely nothing. If they had
tr1ed to stem the torrent they would
nave been swept away by the rush.
tleE WOnl6 have ooroprnv,,;soJ