which fell into the hands of the allies revealed the fact that his conduct had been directed from Peking, and that the imperial court was responsible for his refusal to open negotiations for treaty revision or the redress of grievances. Among those documents were also found the Chinese originals of the British, American, and French treaties of 1842 and 1844, and from this fact it was inferred that they had never been sent to Peking nor their terms known to the emperor; but this was afterwards shown to be incorrect, as they had been officially published by the court.
After the fall of Canton, the allies announced a disposition to forego further hostile operations, if the Chinese government would appoint plenipotentiaries and open negotiations for a revision of the treaties. Meanwhile a Russian minister had reached Hongkong, after an unsuccessful effort to communicate with the emperor by way of the Peiho. His instructions were similar to those of the United States minister,—to press negotiations upon the Chinese, but by peaceful methods only. Mr. Reed, after his cavalier treatment by Yeh, and after a brief experience in Chinese affairs, was led to the same conviction as his predecessors,—that only coercive measures would be effective in bringing the imperial government to terms. In his review of the situation to the Secretary of State he said: "I do not hesitate to say that a new policy towards China ought to be . . . initiated, and that the powers of Western civilization must insist on what they know to be their rights, and give up the dream of dealing with China as a power to which any ordinary rules apply." And a
