394
Letter of Wang Tinglan
JULY
wished to fight against them Still supposing they were again to hent in the city, and that not long hence, there would be those who would open the gates and go out to receive the foreigners. Even amoug the natives of our soil, the number of good men is few; the number of the bad is great. This chills the heart, and is truly very much to
be lamented.
Through the long peace enjoyed by our dynasty, the art of war has not been cultivated : the officers do not know the soldiers; the soldiers do not know each other. When the foreigners broke out in rebellion in Canton, every body was anxious to have troops called in from the neighboring provinces, supposing that, on the collection of a few hundreds or thousands, the forciguers would be easily extermi- nated and they relieved from fear. But ere the soldiers had reached Canton, reports of their robberies and of their quarrels with the police, came before them; and on their arrival here, the officers did not know the soldiers, nor the soldiers the officers. All was clamor and disorder. Though I knew in my heart that these soldiers were useless, I still hoped they would not wrangle and fight among themselves But on the fifth day they began fighting with the native people and militia. The setting on fire of houses and killing of people became the order of the day, and innumerable were the dead corpses on the bat- ¿le-ground. In the city, the people, flying from these calamities, were denounced as traitors, and plundered. Their shrieks were fearful, and more than once they were driven to desperation. Such a state of things was exceedingly to be lamented.
On the day the soldiers went out to plunder the foreign factories, several hundreds in number, having got their booty, they fled away, and on reaching the neighboring district, were taken up and sent back, they declaring that they had lost their way while giving chase to the foreign devils. With this excuse the governor and those with him were satisfied-nay they even rewarded them for their bravery! Running to the north in pursuit of the barbarians! Such are the sol- diers of this age, collected from the several provinces. And from these, you may judge of those in the whole empire. For a thousand days the government has supported them, and now when once called out on service, see what they are worth! Nothing can be more de- plorable than this condition of our ariny!
Note. The foregoing letter is without date, but must have been written soom after the British forces withdrew from the river. It is, in some minor parts, untrue, but still a valuable document. Two paragraphs, at the close of the letter, we have omutted, as they add nothing but a repetition of his own dolorous com plants, with other matters noir out of date
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