The  Tai-ping  RebelHon,  still  at  the  height  of  its  power,  was
moving  rapidly  toward  the  rich  province  of  Cheh-kiang,
upon  the  conquest  of  which  its  leaders  had  determined  ;
and  the  inhabitants  of  Hang-chow,  Shao-hing,  Ning-po  and
other  important  places  saw  themselves  powerless  to  avert  a
calamity  that  defied  imagination.
Little  or  no  assistance  could  be  expected  from  Peking.
Worsted  in  the  unequal  conflict  with  England,  the  broken-
hearted Emperor  had  witnessed  the  collapse  of  all  his
hopes  as  to  protecting  his  country  from  foreign  opium,
and  the  capital  was  about  to  surrender  before  the  might  of
European  arms.  With  such  affairs  on  hand  what  help
could  be  given  to  a  distant  province  over  which  were  hover-
ing the  harpies  of  civil  war  ?  And  as  to  self-defence,  the
experience  of  eight  terrible  years  had  taught  the  people
only  too  well  that  success  lay  with  the  Rebels  and  there  was
no  safety  but  in  flight.  And  for  flight  the  panic-stricken
inhabitants  of  Ning-po  were  already  preparing.
