The English And French Plenipotentiaries Also Notified
That They Would Proceed To Shanghai For The Purpose Of Conducting Further
Negotiations.
This letter was duly forwarded to Pekin by the Governor of
Kiangsu, and when Lord Elgin reached Shanghai on March 30 he found the
reply of Yu-ching, the chief adviser of Hienfung, waiting for him.
Yuching's letter was extremely unsatisfactory.
It was arrogant in its
terms and impracticable as to its proposals. Lord Elgin was told that "no
imperial commissioner ever conducts business at Shanghai," and that it
behooved the English minister to wait at Canton until the arrival of a new
imperial commissioner from Pekin. The only concession the Chinese made was
to dismiss Yeh from his posts, and as he was a prisoner in the hands of
the English this did not mean much. Lord Elgin's reply to this
communication was to announce his intention of proceeding to the Peiho,
and there negotiating direct with the imperial government. Lord Elgin
reached the Gulf of Pechihli about the middle of April, and he again
addressed Yuching in the hope of an amicable settlement, and requested
that the emperor would appoint some official to act as his
plenipotentiary. Three minor officials were appointed, more out of
curiosity than from a desire to promote business, but on Lord Elgin
discovering that they were of inferior rank and that their powers were
inadequate, he declined to see them. But Yuching refused to appoint any
others; stating curtly that their powers were ample for the adjustment of
affairs, and then Lord Elgin announced that he would proceed up the Peiho
to Tientsin. Some delay was caused by the non-arrival of the fleet, which
was not assembled in the Gulf of Pechihli, through different causes of
delay, until the end of May, or about three weeks after Lord Elgin
announced his intention of forcing his way up to Tientsin. There is no
doubt that Sir Michael Seymour was in no sense to blame for this delay,
but unfortunately it aroused considerable irritation in the mind of Lord
Elgin, who sent home a dispatch, without informing his colleague, stating
that the delay was "a most grievous disappointment," and attributing it to
the supineness of the admiral.
On May 19 the allied fleet proceeded to the mouth of the river, and
summoned the commandant to surrender the Taku forts on the following
morning. No reply being received, the attack commenced, and after the
bombardment had gone on at short range for an hour and a quarter the
Chinese gunners were driven from their batteries, and the troops landed,
occupying the whole line of forts and intrenched camps. An attempt to
injure our fleet by fire-ships miscarried, and considering that the
Chinese had some of their best troops present, including a portion of the
Imperial Guard, their resistance was not as great as might have been
expected. Their general committed suicide, and the Chinese lost the best
part of their artillery, which had been removed from Pekin and Tientsin
for the defense of the entrance to the Peiho.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 241 of 366
Words from 125800 to 126313
of 191255
