for the
annexation of British America to the United States. Earl Grey, the Colonial
Secretary, took occasion to warn all Canadians against this movement as an
act of high treason. In India, the Afghans succeeded in reconquering Balkh.
The fifth Kaffir war broke out in South Africa. The affairs of China gave
fresh concern. On February 24, Emperor Taouk Wang died in his sixty-ninth
year. The thirty years during which he reigned were among the most
eventful, and in some respects the most portentous, for China. His
strenuous opposition to the evils of the opium trade mark him as a wise, if
not a powerful, ruler. He never wasted the public moneys of China on his
own person, and his expenditures in behalf of the court and mere pomp were
less than that of most of his predecessors. One of Taouk Wang's last acts
showed how his mind and his health had been affected by the recent
misfortunes of the empire. It appeared that the Chinese New Year's
Day--February 12, 1850--was marked by an eclipse of the sun. Such an event
being considered inauspicious in China, the Emperor decreed that the new
year should begin on the previous day. The decree was utterly disregarded,
and the Chinese year began at the appointed time. Taouk Wang's end was
hastened by the outbreak of a great fire in Pekin, which threatened the
imperial city with destruction. On February 25, a grand council was held in
the Emperor's bedchamber, and Taouk Wang wrote in his bed an edict
proclaiming his fourth son, Yihchoo, ruler of the empire. Prince Yihchoo,
who was less than twenty years old, took the name of Hien Fong, which means
great abundance, and immediately upon his accession drew to his aid his
four younger brothers, a new departure in Manchu rule. Their uncle, Hwuy
Wang, who had made one attempt to seize the throne from his brother Taouk
Wang, once more put forward his pretensions. After the imperial Ministers,
Kiaying and Muchangah, had been degraded, Hwuy Wang's attempt signally
failed, but his life was spared. Later in the year, as a result partly of
poor harvests, the great Taiping rebellion began. The great secret society
of the Triads started the movement by raising an outcry in southern China
against the Manchus. Their leader, Hung Tsiuen, a Hakka or Romany,
proclaimed himself as Tien Wang, which means the head of the Prince. Under
the cloud of the impending upheaval, Chinese coolies in great numbers began
to emigrate to the United States. At the same time t