THE CITY HALL, WINNIPEG.
Manitoba is a district of enormous farms. The Capital, Winnipeg—known as Fort Garry until its incorporation in 1873—is one of the “newest” cities in the British Empire. Its population in 1871 was 241; in 1891, 25,642. It is the centre for the distribution of the produce of Western Canada.
Not till then did Lord Elgin learn the horrible fate of the captives. He decided at once that exemplary vengeance must be inflicted, but not according to the traditional custom of reprisals, by inflicting torture and death on the persons of individuals. No doubt the Chinese officials would have handed over to him as many vicarious victims as he chose to demand, but Lord Elgin decreed such a monumental act of indignation as should never be effaced from the memory of the people of China. The Summer Palace was the most precious possession of the Heavenly Dynasty. Therein had been stored the best of the art treasures of many generations; the ingenuity of architects, gardeners, and craftsmen of all kinds had been exhausted in erecting and decorating its courts and pagodas and laying out the fantastic grounds. Lord Elgin ordered its total destruction. |Destruction of the Summer Palace.| The French and English soldiers were allowed to plunder it first; jewellery, plate, and other costly articles were “looted” in immense quantity, and then the whole vast edifice was delivered to the flames. A monument was set up on the site, bearing an inscription that this was done as the punishment for national cruelty and treachery. A Convention between the British and Chinese Plenipotentiaries was concluded on October 24, and Pekin was evacuated by the Allied troops on November 5.
G. H. Thomas.] [From the Royal Collection.
HER MAJESTY AND THE PRINCE CONSORT AT A REVIEW AT ALDERSHOT, June 1859.
On the left is General Knollys, afterwards Comptroller of the Household to the Prince of Wales, in command of the troops.
