The Press. MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1900. THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10739, 20 August 1900, Page 4

The Press. MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1900. THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS.

The news that the Allies have reached Pekin, and have rescued the besieged Legations, will raise a feeling of heartfelt; thankfulness throughout the civilised world. For weeks of weary waiting, this handful of white raen- and women been th. centre'" of interest in " 'a: scene of intensely tragic import. Hemmed in by famine, fire and sword, cut off from the outer world, and the relief so long delayed by aa overwhelming force of murderous fanatics, the brave defenders of the Legations have had to face far more than death in the knowledge of the nameless and unutterable horrors which might await their wives and children. The report, now happily disproved, of their last desperate struggle, was only too accurate a picture of what eveiyone has expected to be th© denouement of the tragedy, and it certainly had the effect of rousing Europe to a sense of their awful peril, and a determination to avenge, if it -were too late to save them. We have heard enough of the fighting at "Ren-tsin and elsewhere to know that the relieving force has made the most strenuous exertions to accomplish its task. To force their way through flooded country, over impassable roads, in. the face of hordes of well-armed ruffians, who make up in desperate courage what they lack in discipline —this is a feat that could never have been performed by so small a body of troops if they had not worked together in perfect ha__no_y, inspired to beroio efforts By one great and absorbing purpose. Even at the last, Pekin, with fts huge towers and massive walls, might have been held against them. Bat the stern determination of the Allies was irresistible. Li Hong Chang's message that the Allies entered Pekm unopposed is, of course, coatrad_.ted. That has been the fate of aimo-t all the news from Chinese sources since the trouble began. As a matter of fact, the city was bo__barded for & day, and stubborn resistance was offered to the foreign forces, which attacked aJad! gained entrance at the various city gates. But by the evening the Allies had surrounded ahd rescued the Legations, and the first chapter ol the history of the trouble came to a happy ending.

It is forty years since the Anglo-French expedition entered Pekin in triumph. In the interval the old lesson of the Taku Forts and the dfesferuction of the Summer Palace has been forgotten. It is not at all Kkely that the Powers whose subjects the Chinese have murdered, and whose dignity they have outraged, will be content this time with a merely formal submission. It is too late now for tbe Imperial authorities to disown the Boxers. When Chinese troops assaulted the Legations, China committed an act of war against the Powers. And though the German Emperor has definitely stated that war will not "be declared against (-bona, still the tone of his now notorious speech at B.amerhaven, taken in conjunction with the murder of Baron yon Ketteler, suggests that, when the time comes, tha ree_w____g will be heavy, The

relief of the Legations does not "closo the incident" in the ordinary diplomatic way. Kiao-ob.au was the price of one or two r-isaionaries. What will Gef-iany ask for an ambassador? And, if Germany is to Be indemnified, what will Russia and England and Japan do or say? Yet the doubt thai ofes_t_r_s these questions cannot le_sen .11----senso of relief with which the whole world greets the news of the safety of th- Legations, and more especially will all Englishmen rejoice that not only are Sit Cfla-de Macdonald and Sir Robert Hart saved to dt> their country's work, but that the annals of the Empire have no. been stained by a record of atrocity, whioh might have eclipsed in horror the tragedy of Cawnpore.