an allied force of
thirty thousand men advancing on Peking. The court fled to Tartary, and
the summer palace was laid in ashes to punish the violation of a flag of
truce, the bearers of which were bound hand and foot, and left to perish
within its walls. For three days the smoke of its burning, carried by a
northwest wind, hung like a pall over the devoted city, whose
inhabitants were so terrified that they opened the gates half an hour
before the time set for bombardment. No soldiers were admitted, but the
demands of the Allies were all acceded to, and supplementary treaties
signed within the walls by Lord Elgin and Baron Gros. Peking was opened
to foreign residence. The French succeeded in opening the whole country
to the labors of missionaries. Legations were established at the
capital, and a new era of peace and prosperity dawned on the
distracted empire.

VI.

THE WAR WITH FRANCE.

If the opening of Peking required a prolonged struggle, it was followed
by a quarter-century of pacific intercourse. China had at her helm a
number of wise statesmen,--such as Prince Kung and Wensiang. The
Inspectorate of Customs begun under Mr. Lay took shape under the skilful
management of Sir Robert Hart, and from that day to this it has proved
to be a fruitful nursery of reforms, political and social.

Not only were students sent abroad for education at the instance and
under the leadership of Yung Wing, but a school for interpreters was
opened in the capital, which, through the influence of Sir Robert Hart,
was expanded into the well-known Imperial College. On his nomination the
present writer was called to the head of it, and Wensiang proposed to
convert it into a great national university by making it obligatory on
the members of the Hanlin Academy, the Emperor's "Forest of Pencils," to
come there for a course of instruction in science and international law.
Against this daring innovation, Wojin, a Manchu tutor of the Emperor,
protested, declaring that it would be humiliating to China to have her
choicest scholars sit at the feet of foreign professors. The scheme fell
through, but before many years the Emperor himself had taken up the
study of the English language, and two of our students were selected to
be his instructors. One of them is at this present time (1902) Chinese
minister at the Court of St. James. Several of our students have had
diplomatic missions, and one, after serving as minister abroad, is now a
leading