[2] The new Plenipotentiaries were Tsai, Prince of I., a cousin of the
Emperor, and Muh-yin, President of the Board of War: with whom was
joined Hang-ki, a member of the previous commission.
[3] 'A prisoner taken on the 21st of September, in the course of conversation, volunteered the remark that the fighting was all the doing of Sang-ko-lin-sin, who was as anxious for it as Prince Tsai was opposed to it. This accords with other reports.'—Mr. Wade's Memorandum.
[4] In view of the tragic events which followed, the reflection will naturally arise that, if this party had not been thus sent forward in advance of the army, those events would not have occurred. On the other hand it must be borne in mind, (1) that it was a matter of necessity that some one should go forward to arrange with the Chinese authorities as to the place where the Allied armies were to encamp; (2) that the practice of sending one or other of the Chinese scholars within the enemy's lines had long been habitual, having been followed, with the best results, on many occasions, not only in this but in former expeditions; and that the Chinese, whatever might be their faults, had never shown any disposition to disregard a flag of truce; (3) that, accordingly, no one concerned appears to have had any idea that there was danger to be braved; and that, putting aside Lord Elgin, Baron Gros, and Sir Hope Grant, the readiness of Mr. Parkes, not only to go himself—that in one who 'knew not what fear was' proves nothing—but to take with him several friends who were not called by duty, shows that, in the judgment of a man of great shrewdness and unrivalled knowledge of the Chinese character, who was moreover fully cognisant of all the circumstances, there existed no ground for apprehension; (4) lastly, that all the evils that followed were due, so far as it is possible now to judge, to a circumstance which no one could have foreseen at the time, viz. to a change of policy and of party within the Chinese Government.
[5] 'Personal Narrative of Occurrences during Lord Elgin's Second Embassy to China,' 1860. By Henry Brougham Loch, Private Secretary to the Earl of Elgin.
[6] With generous candour, Mr. Loch, in his 'Narrative,' bears testimony to the correctness of this view.
[7] The British subjects thus restored were Mr. Parkes, Mr. Loch, and a trooper of Probyn's Horse; the French subjects were M. l'Escayrac de Lauture, who was at the head of a scientific mission, and four soldiers.
[8] In a subsequent letter, Lord Elgin paid to Mr. Parkes this well-merited tribute. 'Mr. Parkes' consistent refusal to purchase his own safety by making any pledges, or even by addressing to me any representations which might have embarrassed me in the discharge of my duty, is a rare example of courage and devotion to the public interest; and the course which he followed in this respect, by leaving my hands free, enabled me to work out the policy which was best calculated to secure his own release, as well as the attainment of the national objects entrusted to my care.'
[9] The language used by Mr. Bruce, in reporting to the Foreign Office Mr. De Norman's death, is still more striking; and it has an additional interest as being eminently characteristic of the writer: 'It has not been my fortune,' he says, 'to meet with a man whose life was so much in harmony with the Divine precept, "not slothful in business, serving the Lord." With a consistency unparalleled in my experience he brought to bear on the discharge of every duty, and to the investigation of every subject however minute, the complete and undivided attention of the sound abilities, the good sense, and the indefatigable industry with which God had endowed him. A character so morally and intellectually conscientious, striving to do everything in the most perfect manner, neglecting no opportunity of acquiring fresh and of consolidating previous knowledge, promised a career honourable to himself, and, what he valued far more, advantageous to the public, had it pleased God to spare him.
'Now there remains to those who knew him intimately only this consoling conviction, that death, however sudden, could not find him unprepared.'
[10] The only English prisoner ultimately unaccounted for was Captain Brabazon, Deputy-Assistant Quarter-Master-General of Artillery, an officer whose finished talent and skill in drawing had often been of the greatest service in taking sketches of the country for the military operations. His body was never found; but it was believed that he had been beheaded by order of a Chinese General in his exasperation at a wound received in the action of the 21st of October.