ous enthusiasm,
speedily gained for him the suffrages of the discontented. This was
Hung Siu-ts'uean. He proclaimed himself as sent by heaven to drive out
the Tatars, and to restore in his own person the succession to China.
At the same time, having been converted to Christianity and professing
to abhor the vices and sins of the age, he called on all the virtuous
of the land to extirpate rulers who were standing examples of all that
was base and vile in human nature. Crowds soon flocked to his
standard. T'ien-te was deserted; and putting himself at the head of
his followers (who abandoned the practice of shaving the head), Hung
Siu-ts'uean marched northwards and captured Wu-ch'ang on the
Yangtsze-kiang, the capital of Hu-peh. Then, moving down the river, he
proceeded to the attack of Nanking. Without much difficulty Hung
Siu-ts'uean in 1853 established himself within its walls, and
proclaimed the inauguration of the T'ai-p'ing dynasty, of which he
nominated himself the first emperor under the title of T'ien Wang or
"Heavenly king." During the next few years his armies penetrated
victoriously as far north as Tientsin and as far east as Chin-kiang
and Su-chow, while bands of sympathizers with his cause appeared in
the neighbourhood of Amoy. As if still further to aid him in his
schemes, Great Britain declared war against the Tatar dynasty in 1857,
in consequence of an outrage known as the "Arrow" affair (see PARKES,
SIR HARRY SMITH). In December 1857 Canton was taken by the British,
and a further blow was struck against the prestige of the Manchu
dynasty by the determination of Lord Elgin, who had been sent as
special ambassador, to go to Peking and communicate directly with the
emperor. In May 1858 the Taku Forts were taken, and Lord Elgin went up
the Peiho to Tientsin _en route_ for the capital. At Tientsin,
however, imperial commissioners persuaded him to conclude a treaty
with them on the spot, which treaty it was agreed should be ratified
at Peking in the following year. When, however, Sir Frederick Bruce,
who had been appointed minister to the court of Peking, attempted to
pass Taku to carry out this arrangement, the vessels escorting him
were treacherously fired on from the forts and he was compelled to
return. Thereupon Lord Elgin was again sent out with full powers,
accompanied by a large force under the command of Sir Hope Grant. The
French (