Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, was a famous literary giant in France. In November 1861, after the Anglo-French invaders burned down the Winter Palace, he gave a man named Bartlette (?) The lieutenant wrote a reply, angrily condemning the Allied atrocities. An excerpt from the letter is set out below.
"Sir, you asked me what I thought of this trip to China. You must have thought it was commendable and well done. You are polite and take my feelings very seriously. To you, this expedition under the joint flag of Queen Victoria and Emperor Napoleon is simply the glory of England and France. So you want me to know to what extent I appreciate this glory. ”
Since you asked, I will answer as follows:
Now, miracles are gone! One day, two pirates broke in. One of them went to rob; the other eclipsed all the buildings and everything inside! Judging by what they did, we know that the victors could become robbers. The two of them began to divide the spoils. What a valuable feat they have done! What a godsend! One man stuffed his pockets full; the other stuffed his trunk with chocolate. Then they left hand in hand, laughing happily. This episode reflects the history of the two robbers.
Standing in front of the Court of History was a bandit named France and another bandit named Great Britain. I reject both claims. By the way, I must thank you for giving me the opportunity to make this allegation. The ruler commits the crime, but the ruled does not. The government became a robber, but the people never would.
France received most of the spoils. Now, rather naively, she considers herself the rightful owner of the property, and she is displaying the wealth of the Hermitage! I can only hope that one day France will unload the burden of conscience, return all the spoils of war taken from the Winter Palace to China, and wash away its crimes.
This is my eulogy to the expedition to China, sir.
This English translation is taken from Hugo's Collected Writings in Exile published in the Beijing Evening News on October 26, 1983, and is from Zheng Ruolin's Chinese translation
![On October 7, the Duke of Qi Huan died, the Yuanmingyuan was burned, and the Beiyang Navy was established[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)