Some of the wiser English people among us assert that “so far from being blamed by their government for the siege, and loss of life accompanying it, their minister will be praised for bringing us safely through it, and receive a higher decoration if not a baronetcy; just as he was rewarded before for failing to keep his government informed of the Russians being the real owners of the Fu Haw railroad, receiving at that time some alphabetical additions to his signature.”
John Brown is much improved by being called Sir John Brown, P. I. G.—which may mean “perfectly independent gentleman.”
Posterity, however, will read of this siege with amazement, and wonder how so many blind and deaf men came to be appointed to the same post at one time. Truly a remarkable coincidence.
CHAPTER VII
WORK DURING SIEGE DONE BY RUSSIANS—WORK BY AMERICANS
YOUAN CHANG