Decisive battles since Waterloo : the most important military events from 1815 to 1887 . na,the tariff to be revised, and the term barbarian not tobe applied any longer to Europeans. As this treaty formed the practical opening to the restof the world of the great empire that had been secludedfor fifty centuries, the capture of the Peiho forts, whichled to the treaty of Tien-Tsin, is worthy of a place amongthe decisive battles of the century. The account of thisevent is derived from the journals of Mr. Oliphant, theprivate secretary of Lord Elgin, and subsequently thehistorian of the embassy. O
Decisive battles since Waterloo : the most important military events from 1815 to 1887 . na,the tariff to be revised, and the term barbarian not tobe applied any longer to Europeans. As this treaty formed the practical opening to the restof the world of the great empire that had been secludedfor fifty centuries, the capture of the Peiho forts, whichled to the treaty of Tien-Tsin, is worthy of a place amongthe decisive battles of the century. The account of thisevent is derived from the journals of Mr. Oliphant, theprivate secretary of Lord Elgin, and subsequently thehistorian of the embassy. On his way northward from Canton Lord Elgin stoppedat Shanghai, where he sought to meet the governor ofthat city, and asked that a letter be forwarded to the im-perial government at Pekin. The governor received himoutside the town of Soochow, near Shanghai. That highofficial took the letter, which he read in the street, sur-rounded by a crowd of people, who looked over his shoul-ders and perused the document at the same time. Afterthe reading was ended, the governor politely asked the. 179 l8o DECISIVE BATTLES SINCE WATERLOO. British ambassador to leave the town immediately, andalso to prevent any members of his party from walkingthrough the streets. In due course of time a reply cameto the letter. It was from Prime-Minister Yuh, signed bythe Vermilion Pencil (Emperor). The substance of thereply was, that in the first place the British ambassadorshould go straight back to Canton, as that was the onlypoint from which negotiations could be received. This wasnot the kind of reply Lord Elgin had desired. He didnot wish to use force in getting near the imperial throne,but could see no other way out of the difficulty. Accord-ingly he determined to pass the forts at the mouth of thePeiho River, then advance to Tien-Tsin, and make anothereffort to communicate with the imperial representatives of the other powers supported himin this design, particularly the Russian minist
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