18th September.
Many stories have been_written about the siege of Peking. Each has ils good points; each tells something that the others overlook, and thus little by little material is accumulate ing for what will one day be tie story of the siege of the Legations, That to which we now refer, and which under the above title appears in the August number of the " Wide World Magazine," has a local interest over and above its intrinsic worth. It is from the pen of the daughter of our highly respected Customs official, Mr. Bredon, who with his tamils, it will be remembered, was shut up in peking during the siege.
Miss Bredon does not tell us very much which we did not know before, but she gives a plain unvarnished tale of what happened during those eventful days when history was being made, when deeds were being done which probably have only been surpassed at Lucknow, when "four hundred—_foreiguers stood against 50,000 drilled troops." No wonder that Miss Bredon concludes her stirring narrative with these words: "No praise is too high for the brave wen who defended us and brought us safely through one of th most curious experiences in history."
The reluctance yn the part of the foreign officials to believe what ex perienced men told them is again made evident in the narrative before us. It.wasnot till May the 29th, that M. Pichon, "moved to action by the representation of his missionaries," urged the diplomatic body to send for guards. The capture and shooting of two Boxers in Legation Street is believed to have precipitated matters.
The awful night of the 12th of June is limned in subdued yet telling colours. "About half-past nine at night the frightful conflagration in the Chinese city commenced. The Boxers would gather round their fires dancing and muttering incantations, only to break out more wildly than before with cries of kill, kill, and bur The screams of the converts joined with the threats of the Boxers; the cries of a city in the horrors of revolution: made a more terrible impression on our minds than even the attacks of the soldiers later In one of the fires that night a priest and 700 converts were burned to death by the gentle, patriotic Boxer:
There is little that is ly new in the main body of Miss Bre story. She tells us how on the 20th of June, "before four o'clock, the time-limit fixed by the yamen," all the women, children, and civilians went into the Brit Legation, and were crowded, to the number of some 1,400 into available space, "even the chapel and the} room." Th time—a day which burned itself into, the memory of every man. inside the defenecs—when a position was temporarily abandoned. Miss Bredon describes it thus: "The Germans later forced to retreat from their position, and the Americans under their able and gallant Captain Mayers, held it alone with exceptional bravery, thereby saving us all." The French and Japanese come in for some well-deserved praise.
And so the dreary time dragged on, "It was difficult to keep up our spirits with the little graveyard and hos} ater we read: "Dinner was a movable feast, pital filling so rapidly. consisting of stewed horse or boiled horse, or roast horse and ree."
One little bit of personal information we do not remember to have seen in any cther account. "The night of the 14th of August"—the night before the relief—* was one series of general alarms. Our men, so long forced to save ammunition, answered the Chinese fire wih eagerness, About 11 p.m. our guards saw the corrige of the Empr Dowager leave the palace in great haste, amid shouts of "Drive fast, drive fas "Of course," adds the w r, we were powerless to stop her" We know now, however, that the Empress Dowager did not leave the Palaces until the Lth.
The Legations at last were safe. "To those who have not lived for eight weeks in the midst of privat tions and sufferings, fearing the most dreadful of deaths, no pen can describe the immense sigh of relief which went up from everyone as those distant guns spelled' out "Safe at last?"
There is much to praise and na thing to criticise in Miss Juliet Bredon's little story. Condensed as it is, there was no opportunity for many of the little personal incidents that would have been so well worth the telling. Perhaps seme day we may have a more detailed accoun', doing for Peking what Lady Inglis did for Lucknow. Meanwhile for those who wish te collect every bit of narrative respecting the late siege we confidently recommend that in the "Wide World."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.