As The Prince Gave No Sign Of Yielding This Point During The
Week's Delay In Bringing Up The Second Division From Tientsin, Lord Elgin
Requested Sir Hope Grant To Resume His March On Pekin, From Which The
Advanced Guard Of The Allied Forces Was Distant Little More Than Ten
Miles.
The cavalry had reconnoitered almost up to the gates, and had
returned with the report that the walls were
Strong and in good condition.
The danger to a small army of attempting to occupy a great city of the
size and population of Pekin is almost obvious; and, moreover, the
consistent policy of the English authorities had been to cause the Chinese
people as little injury and suffering as possible. Should an attack on the
city become unavoidable, it was decided that the point attacked should be
the Tartar quarter, including the palace, which occupied the northern half
of the city. By this time it had become known that Parkes and Loch were
living, that they were confined in the Kaou Meaou Temple, near the Tehshun
Gate, and that latterly they had been fairly well treated.
In execution of the plan of attack that had been agreed upon, the allied
forces marched round Pekin to the northwest corner of the walls, having as
their object the Summer Palace of the emperor at Yuen Min Yuen, not quite
four miles distant from the city.
On the approach of the foreign army, Hienfung fled in terror from his
palace, and sought shelter at Jehol, the hunting residence of the emperors
beyond the Wall. His flight was most precipitate; and the treasures of the
Summer Palace were left at the mercy of the Western spoilers. The French
soldiers had made the most of the start they had obtained, and left
comparatively little for their English comrades, who, moreover, were
restrained by the bonds of a stricter discipline. But the amount of prize
property that remained was still considerable, and, by agreement between
the two generals, it was divided in equal shares between the armies. The
capture and occupation of the Summer Palace completed the European
triumph, and obliged Prince Kung to promptly acquiesce in Lord Elgin's
demand for the immediate surrender of the prisoners, if he wished to avoid
the far greater calamity of a foreign occupation of the Tartar quarter of
Pekin and the appropriation of its vaster collection of treasures.
On October 6 Mr. Parkes wrote from his place of confinement that the
French and English detained were to be returned on the 8th of the month,
and that the imperial commanders had been ordered at the same time to
retire for a considerable distance from Pekin. These promises were carried
out. Prince Kung was at last resolved to make all the concessions
requisite to insure the speedy conclusion of peace. The restoration of
these captives removed what was thought to be the one obstacle to Lord
Elgin's discussing the terms on which the invading force would retire and
to the respective governments resuming diplomatic relations.
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of 191255
