Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/343

320 The French on their side were exasperated at the slow progress of the trials of rioters, and they protested against the consideration shown the accused officials, who were, they said, treated as distinguished guests rather than as prisoners. Threats of bombardment were made by the French naval officer unless within a definite period the whole case were satisfactorily settled. In a letter to Prince K'ung, Tsêng says he does not know whether the threat is to be taken seriously or what kind of a settlement would suffice. "If they want the prefect and magistrate executed," he writes, "China can settle the case on that basis only with the greatest difficulty. If they say that they desire the punishment of the guilty parties China cannot justly refuse. Can they indicate the definite number of persons whose execution would satisfy them? When China has meted out punishment according to the number, can peace easily be preserved or not? In addition to this, and compensation for the churches, and indemnity for the lives, is there any other demand or not?" He added that he had already completed the trials of eight who deserved execution, and had a list of some twenty who should be punished. To produce a definite number of genuine rioters at a specified time was a simple impossibility. When the limit of time expired he intended to offer his list, and promise another list a few days later, thus avoiding war. In accordance with this plan he did submit a first list of offenders (September 8), with a total of fifteen to be executed and twenty-one to receive lighter punishment. A final list was submitted on October 7. This sufficed for the French, and the rest of the negotiations proved to be easy. A compromise was reached on the punishment of the officials, the t'ituh being