290 REMINISCENCES OF 



Lord Elgin and the Chinese Government, conveyed 

 by subordinates, none of the mandarins would consent 

 to negotiate personally with any one Lord Elgin 

 might appoint to meet them, for fear of being treated 

 in the way we had been ; and of course after what 

 had happened to us, none of our officers could come 

 to the Chinese commissioners. 



" The Chinese saw no way of escaping from their 

 difficulties except by fighting to the last. In Peking 

 there were upwards of 100,000 soldiers. It was 

 immensely strong, and they thought if they could 

 hold out for six weeks, winter would force us to 

 retreat. If they decided on this course of action, we 

 were to be beheaded to prevent any drawing back, 

 for they knew this would commit all the mandarins 

 to fight to the last. However, at the urgent entreaty 

 of Hangki and a few others, they decided on giving 

 negotiations one chance more, and with this object 

 in view Hangki had visited Parkes in prison, begged 

 him to write letters to Lord Elgin to detain the army, 

 and not to advance on Peking. Nothing would 

 persuade Hangki that Parkes was powerless at any 

 time to control the policy of Lord Elgin or the move- 

 ments of the troops, and that any little influence he 

 might have had vanished with his becoming a prisoner ; 

 and besides, he said, ' I can only write, dating from 

 this prison, and describing myself as being in chains '. 

 Hangki said if he would write all this might be altered, 

 and had his chains taken off, and proposed to take 

 him to the temple we were afterwards removed to. 

 But Parkes declined to go unless I was to go also ; 



