Contrary Winds Delayed The Progress Of The English Fleet, And It
Was Not Until The Fifth Of August, More Than
A fortnight after the battle
at Chinkiangfoo, that it appeared off Nankin, the second city in
reputation and historical importance
Of the empire, with one million
inhabitants and a garrison of 15,000 men, of whom two-thirds were Manchus.
The walls were twenty miles in length, and hindered, more than they
promoted, an efficient defense; and the difficulties of the surrounding
country, covered with the debris of the buildings which constituted the
larger cities of Nankin at an earlier period of history, helped the
assailing party more than they did the defenders. Sir Hugh Gough drew up
an admirable plan for capturing this vast and not defenseless city with
his force of 5,000 men, and there is no reason to doubt that he would have
been completely successful; but by this the backbone of the Chinese
government had been broken, and even the proud and obstinate Taoukwang was
compelled to admit that it was imperative to come to terms with the
English, and to make some concessions in order to get rid of them.
The minister Elepoo, who once enjoyed the closest intimacy with Taoukwang,
and who was the leader of the Peace party, which desired the cessation of
an unequal struggle, had begun informal negotiations several months before
they proved successful at Nankin. He omitted no opportunity of learning
the views of the English officers, and what was the minimum of concession
on which a stable peace could be based.
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Page 390 of 704
Words from 105791 to 106053
of 191255
