BY REV. JOHN R. HYKES, D.D., SHANGHAI, CHINA. Since the beginning of the "Boxer Uprising" in China, the names of more than two hundred missionaries have been added to the "Noble Army of Martyrs;" and the magnificent heroism displayed by them, as well as by the myriad of native Christians who counted. not their lives dear, has never been surpassed in any age of the Christian Church. The full details of their martyrdom will never be known, but the story of their sufferings and their constancy ought to be an inspiration to the Church in China to the end of time. They were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection; they had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, . . were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." 66 The first to offer up his life was the Rev. S. M. Brooks, of the Church of England Mission (S.P.G.), who was massacred in Shantung, December 31, 1899. He had spent Christmas with a married sister in Chinan fu, and was on his way back to his station when he fell into the hands of these fanatics. He was stripped of his clothing, except a thin cotton undergarment, and in this condition was led from place to place in the biting cold of a northern winter. While his captors were having lunch at a tea-house, he managed to escape, but was pursued by a man on horseback and was cut down with a sword. The first victims in Chihli province were the Revs. C. Robinson and H. V. Norman, also of the Anglican Mission. The former was killed at once, but Mr. Norman was horribly tortured for twenty-four hours and then beheaded. The details can not be published; I will only say that among other cruelties, his hands were tied behind his back and his body burned with sticks of lighted incense. These crimes, which occurred on the 1st and 2nd of June, 1900, began to arouse the foreign ministers in Peking to a realization of the seriousness of the situation and possible magnitude of the Boxer movement. The massacre at Paoting fu was one of the most atrocious of the long series of missionary murders for which the Manchu government is responsible. It must have been carried out at the direct order of the officials and in response to the infamous edict of extermination issued by the empress dowager on the 20th of June. The missionaries, anticipating trouble, had taken refuge in the yamen of Ting Yung, the provincial treasurer and acting governor. They were there as late as the 25th of June. Between that date and the end of the month they all returned to their homes in the northern and southern suburbs of the city. The presumption is that they were deliberately sent to their homes and to their death by the governor. It is inconceivable that they left the yamen without protest, for they must have known that the moment they passed out of the door they left all hope behind. On the 30th of June the Boxers attacked the Roman Catho-lic and the American Presbyterian missions. I do not know how many missionaries were in the Roman Catholic premises, but in the Presbyterian compound there were Rev. F. E. Simcox, wife and three children, Dr. G. Y. Taylor, and Dr. and Mrs. C. V. R. Hodge, who had recently returned to Paoting fu from Peking. Dr. Taylor attempted to remonstrate with the mob, but the Boxers were implacable and he was hacked to pieces outside the compound. It is said that he was beheaded, and, on account of his well known skill, his head was offered in sacrifice before an idol in the temple. The others were burned to death in the flames of their buildings. After the allies entered Paoting fu, the charred remains of a man were found in the ruins of the house. All the native Christians who could be found were ruthlessly slaughtered. The members of the American Board and the China Inland Mission soon heard of the terrible tragedy which had been enacted in the northern suburb. They knew that it could be only a short time till they would suffer the same fate. The missionaries of the American Board gathered their native converts about them and spent the whole night in prayer, not only for themselves and for their loved ones so soon to be bereft, but for their children in the Gospel. In the dim light of the early dawn of Sunday, July 1st, they wrote their last farewells to the friends in the dear home-land, showed their faithful, devoted Chinese where these loving missives were buried and bidding good-bye to the heroic little band of converts, told them to seek safety in flight. They then calmly awaited the hour of their martyrdom. About 9 A.M. the villagers began to loot the premises, but were too cowardly to venture into the room where Mr. Pitkin and the two ladies were. They therefore sent for the Boxers. Mr. Pitkin bravely defended himself and the ladies. He is said to have killed twelve Boxers, including the second leader of the organization in Paoting fu. He was wounded in the side with a shot gun and was then hacked to pieces and beheaded by the infuriated mob. Miss Gould had a weak heart and literally died of fright-a most merciful providence. Miss Morrill was captured and carried in triumph to a temple where the Boxers had their headquarters. The buried letters were discovered by the Boxers and destroyed. The members of the China Inland Mission (Rev. B. Bagnall, wife and daughter, and Rev. Wm. Cooper) fled to the camp of Kw'ei Pin, the commander of the Manchu garrison, who had been a friend of Mr. Bagnall for years. They took with them a small box containing some little things they most valued, and about fifty taels in silver. The box was kept (as evidenced by the fact that Mr. Bagnall's marriage certificate was found in the camp), but the missionaries were refused admission. The commander gave them a guard of soldiers to make a pretense of escorting them to a place of safety; but, in accordance with a previous arrangement, they were met half way to the city by the Boxers, and the helpless victims were turned over to them by the soldiers. They were taken to the Boxer headquarters, and with Miss Morrill, were kept on view all day Sunday in front of the temple, subjected to the cruel taunts and gibes of the mob. That evening they were taken outside of the city and beheaded. The heads of all of the victims were exposed on the city wall. Thus perished eleven missionaries and four innocent little children; and of this number all but three adults and one child were American citizens. MURDERS IN HUNAN AND CHEKIANG. The only lives lost south of the Yangtse River were in the provinces of Hunan and Chekiang. At Heng-cheo, in the hitherto notoriously anti-foreign province of Hunan, several Roman Catholic priests were massacred after enduring the most exquisite torture which their fiendish persecutors could devise. One was taken to the temple of Confucius, after enduring nameless tortures, and offered in sacrifice to the sage! Another, after having his eyes gouged out, was partially flayed alive; then covered with cotton saturated in oil, and set alight! In the massacre at K'u Cheo, in Chekiang, all of the victims, eleven in number, were members of the China Inland Mission. They were Rev. D. B. Thompson, wife and two children (Edwin, six years, and Sidney, two years), Rev. G. F. Ward, wife, and infant son (six months), and Misses J. E. Desmond, M. E. Manchester, Edith S. Sherwood, and Emma A. Thirgood. Miss Manchester and Miss Desmond were Americans. The governor of Chekiang was in hearty and active sympathy with the empress dowager and her reactionary party at Peking. When he received the edict of the 20th of June, ordering the extermination of all foreigners in China, he lost no time in promulgating it throughout his province. Altho afterward, under pressure of the Yangtse viceroys, he subscribed to the agreement securing. the neutrality of the southern provinces, the mischief was already done so far as K'u Cheo was concerned. The taotai of the city was a willing henchman of the governor, and upon receipt of the edict, he immediately sent out emissaries to collect ruffians to seize and bring in all the foreigners in the neighborhood. The magistrate (Mr. Hu) was very friendly with Mr. Thompson; and this fact marked him as a victim of the unreasoning hate and fury of the mob. On the 21st of July the militia took him, his entire family, and all of his assistants (more than thirty persons) to the taotai's yamen, and killed them there. This inhuman official, Pao Taotai, when asked by the militia what they were to do with the foreigners, answered, "Do with them what you like." The mob accordingly attacked the missionaries in their home and wounded Mr. Thompson with a spear. He sent the native pastor to beg help from the taotai, but the appeal was in vain. The Thompsons and Miss Desmond were eventually escorted to the yamen by a native Christian, but instead of receiving protection, they were all brutally murdered by the militia in the yamen of the highest official in the city. Miss Sherwood and Miss Manchester, who were living in another part of the city, left their home on hearing of the terrible fate of their colleagues, but they were delivered to the mob by the neighbors. They were taken to the temple, where they were kept till the 24th of July, and then executed. The Wards and Miss Thirgood belonged to another station (Ch'ang Shan). Being advised by the mandarin, Mr. Liu, to escape to K'u Cheo without delay, they took boat and departed. They arrived at the city on the 22d, and found the gates shut. Toward the afternoon they were discovered by the ruffians, who dragged the boat to the shore and killed all in it with swords and spears. A number of native Christians were also massacred. Miss Whitchurch and Miss Searell of the China Inland Mission were murdered at their station, Hsiao Yi, on the 30th of June. On the day of the massacre some roughs collected outside the front gate and behaved in such a riotous manner that the ladies sent to the magistrate complaining of the disturbance and asking for protection. He came in person, flew into a towering rage, abused the messenger and slapped his face. The ladies then appealed to the official, who informed them that his soldiers were for the protection of the Chinese, not for such as they! He then returned to his yamen. The crowd of Boxers who had in the meantime collected outside the gate, understood from the magistrate's demeanor that they had nothing to fear from him, and they immediately rushed into the house, looted it of everything of value, and stripped the ladies of everything. They knelt before the mob and begged for mercy, but the inhuman wretches. were dead to all appeals and began to beat them to death with clubs. Some of the crowd took glass bottles and broke them over their heads; and so adept were they at their devilish work of torture that they took more than an hour in killing them. The official on being informed of their death, did not hold the usual inquest, but sent two boxes, such as are used to bury paupers, and had them interred in the baptistry in the courtyard. Very few particulars of the massacre of Mr. McConnell's party are known. They were trying to escape from Shansi, and at Ch'ing-chiawan, near the Yellow River, they were intercepted by emissaries of the bloody Yu Hsien, who had given orders that no foreigner should be allowed to cross the fords, and were murdered on the 16th of July. The party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. McConnell and child, Mr. and Mrs. John Young, and Misses S. A. King and Elizabeth Burton. FIENDISH ATROCITIES AT TAIYUEN FU. The murders at Taiyuen fu, the capital of Shansi, took place under circumstances of fiendish atrocity and under the personal direction of the governor. There was a riot on the 27th of June, in which Dr. Edward's hospital was destroyed. The missionaries managed to escape to Mr. Farthing's house, but Miss Coombs was left behind, looking after her school girls, and in the confusion of flight she was not missed by her companions till it was too late. Some of the school girls were trampled to death, and soon Miss Coombs fell into the hands of the Boxers. She plead piteously for her life, but their answer was to throw her into the flames of the burning buildings. On the 30th of June four deputies from the governor's yamen came and told them that the city was in a turbulent state, and that the governor could not protect them unless they came to a place which he had provided for them, and where they would be safe. They were all taken to a house in a street called Cheo-t'eo Hsiang, where all of the foreigners in the city, including the Roman Catholic priests, were confined and strictly guarded by soldiers. In the meantime other foreigners were being sent to the provincial capital at Yu IIsien's order, so that this Chinese Nero might gloat over a wholesale butchery. The treatment of the missionaries at Sheo Yang forms one of the blackest chapters in this terrible record of outrage. At this station were Mr. and Mrs. Pigott, their twelve-year-old son, Mr. John Robinson (tutor to this lad), Miss Duval (a teacher), and the two daughters of the Rev. E. R. Atwater of Fen-chou fu. On June 29th there was a disturbance and they fled to the mountains; but, for some unaccountable reason they almost immediately returned. They no sooner got back to Sheo Yang than they were arrested by the district magistrate, |