diately by the death of the Christian-and by the celebration of the mass, which as a rule had to be non-public. Stories attributing to the foreigner the most inhuman and cruel practices persisted, indeed, well down into the twentieth century. Priests were

accused of licentiousness, the assemblies of Christians were believed to be occasions for promiscuous relations between men and women, the eucharist was held to be a means of giving to the participants a kind of drug which made the recipient insensible to the afflictions of the evil spirits and invulnerable to persecution, and extreme unction was said to be a means of obtaining photographic materials.25" Given these attitudes and popular

beliefs, it is not remarkable that letters of missionaries are often devoted almost entirely to accounts of persecutions.

However, a marked difference existed between these attacks and those of pre-treaty days. Then, persecutions were nearly always begun and carried on by the state. Now, treaties and the protection of foreign powers usually prevented the government from openly taking an anti-Christian attitude. Peking might close its eyes to, and officials might secretly instigate or connive at, the harassing of Roman Catholics, but they did not often do it overtly. For the most part, injuries to Christians were the work of the populace and of the educated but non-office-holding classes. We have now to do with riots, feuds, and popular resentment rather than with official proscription.

Probably many of the persecutions have never been recorded, and even the briefest description of those of which we have mention would overpass the limits of this book. At the risk of tediousness, however, a number of typical instances must be catalogued. In the sixties and seventies, to other causes of difficulty were added the rebellions which for a time plunged much of the Empire into anarchy. Missionaries and their converts could not expect to pass scatheless through the violence of the times. In 1861 Fenouil, a missionary of the Paris Society in Yünnan, was held captive by one of the non-Chinese tribes.20 That same year a missionary from Kwangtung spoke of the Christians in his district as having suffered in the general disorder wrought by rebels." The Moslem rebels of Yünnan were bitterly antiKervyn, Méthode de l'apostolat moderne en Chine, pp. 274-277.

259

261

280 Letter of Fenouil, July 18, 1861, in Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Vol. 23, pp. 246-258.

201 Letter from Philippe in ibid., Vol. 22, pp. 331-336.

Christian and the missionaries were often in danger.*** Kweichow was also affected." In 1861 Christians in Shantung suffered from the devastation caused by rebels." In 1862 a missionary, Octave, was robbed by bandits in Southeastern Chihli and a revolt drove from their homes several hundred Christians along with their non-Christian neighbors. The central mission station in that section of the province was fortified as a permanent stronghold.*** In Kiangnan, as we have seen, much suffering was caused by the T'ai P'ing Rebellion.""" In Honan in 1863 missionaries were hampered by the armed bands which were devastating much of the province.' The great rebellion of Moslems in the Northeast gave Christians some inconvenience," even though the insurgents appear, at least in Shensi, purposely to have spared all Catholics."

267

270

268

Most of the suffering of missionaries and their converts, however, was due to specifically anti-Christian opposition and not to the general disorder. In 1865 Mabileau lost his life, apparently at the hands of a mob in a village in Szechwan,' and in 1869 Rigaud and a number of Chinese Christians were killed in the same village." In 1865 there were severe persecutions on the Tibetan frontier and Durand was drowned while trying to escape. In February, 1862, a missionary, Jean Pierre Noël,

262

272

271

Pourias, Huit ans au Yünnan, pp. 70-77; letters from Huot, Dec. 1, 1861, and Chauveau, Sept. 5, 1862, in Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Vol. 24, pp. 312-323.

263

Launay, Histoire des missions de Chine. Mission du Kuey-Tcheu, Vol. 2, pp. 160-300.

36 Louis de Castelazzo, Vicar Apostolic of Shantung, June 10, 1861, in Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Vol. 24.

265

Leboucq, Monseigneur Édouard Dubar, pp. 193-201; Leroy, En Chine au Tché-ly S.-E., p. 61.

266 Letters from several missionaries in Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Vol. 24, pp. 293-307.

267 Letter of Baldus, Vicar Apostolic of Honan, Apr. 3, 1863, in ibid., Vol. 24, pp. 362-364.

268 Letters in ibid., Vol. 28, pp. 69-91.

20° Substance of a conversation with the Vicar Apostolic in Hsianfu in Williamson, Journeys in North China, p. 384.

270

Launay, La salle des martyrs, p. 193; Morse, International Relations of the Chinese Empire, Vol. 2, p. 233; Letter of the Provincial in Eastern Szechwan, Oct. 21, 1868, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 41, p. 260. The village was Yuyangchow, and for some years there was strong feeling against the Christians.

271 Morse, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 233; Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 41, p. 262. After the killing of Rigaud an imperial commissioner was sent to restore the peace. Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 43, pp. 83-90.

272 Cordier in Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 9, p. 747; Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Vol. 27, pp. 245-261.

and three Chinese Christians were executed by an official in Kweichow." In 1865 a number of Christians were killed in

arrested;

275

273

274

the same province. In Kwangtung in 1867 Verchère was in 1868 Dejean was the victim of an uprising; and a little later in the year Delavay was wounded, a chapel was destroyed, and a number of Chinese Christians were killed or injured.* In Eastern Chihli in 1868 Christians suffered at the hands of brigands, *** and a missionary was roughly handled by soldiers.""

276

279

277

282

280

In 1869 there were anti-Christian demonstrations in the Yangtze Valley, scurrilous placards denouncing Christians were circulated in Hunan, the Viceroy at Wuchang issued an edict which was popularly interpreted as a condemnation of Christians, the mission at Anking was pillaged,**1 and trouble was averted in Nanking only by the energetic action of the Viceroy.' The French authorities took measures to exact reparation: the Chargé d'Affaires, escorted by two gunboats, went up the river as far as Hankow to enforce the treaty, and satisfaction was obtained for the Anking incident after the visit of a ship of war to the city."

283

Of all the anti-Christian demonstrations between 1856 and 1897, the most spectacular occurred in 1870 in Tientsin. Here ill-will was quite naturally felt toward the foreigner who, in the preceding war, had so truculently forced himself on the city. The animosity seems to have been especially strong against the French. French troops are said to have left a bad name behind them Launay, La salle des martyrs, pp. 71-76; letter of Faurie, Vicar Apostolic of Kweichow, Feb. 23, 1862, in Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Vol. 23, pp. 300-305; Cordier, Histoire des relations de la Chine avec les puissances occidentales, 1860-1900, Vol. 1, pp. 131, 262, 430.

273

274 Launay, La salle des martyrs, p. 89.

275 Letter of Verchère, Oct. 26, 1867, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 40, p. 424.

276 Cordier, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 329.

277 Letter of Guillon from Chihli, in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 40, pp. 348, 359.

278

Leboucq, Monseigneur Edouard Dubar, pp. 262-268, 283; Leboucq in Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 41, p. 79; Leroy, En Chine au Tché-ly S.-E., PP. 243-246.

279 Cordier, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 336 et seq.; Morse, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 235, 236. Morse gives a summary of the document, quoting from The North China Herald, Sept. 29 and Oct. 6, 1869.

280 Cordier, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 334.

281 Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 342.

282 Servière, Histoire de la mission du Kiangnan, Vol. 2, pp. 172-182.

283 Morse, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 234; The Tientsin Massacre, documents published by the Shanghai Evening Courier, p. vi.

after the occupation of the city, and a Catholic church—named, with strange disregard for Chinese feelings, Notre Dame des Victoires-and the adjoining French consulate were erected on the sites of a temple and government buildings. In an atmosphere so charged with rancor, anti-foreign rumors had easy currency. Neither the populace nor the officials were disposed to be critical when it began to be hinted that the sisters in charge of the Catholic orphanage were kidnapping children and were extracting the eyes and hearts of the unhappy waifs to manufacture charms and medicines. The deaths of those to whom baptism was administered in articulo mortis and an epidemic which visited the orphanage early in June, 1870, served to accentuate the reports. Some Chinese were accused of selling children to the sisters and were tried and executed: another confessed under torture that he had been guilty of the same offense. After some delay the Chinese authorities conducted an investigation and partially exonerated the orphanage. The populace, however, was in a dangerous mood and threatened to get out of hand. The needed incentive appears to have been supplied by the French Consul, who completely lost his temper and fired at the Imperial Commissioner and at one of the local officials, the Hsien. A mob thereupon destroyed the orphanage, the French consulate, and the adjoining church, and killed such Frenchmen as it could lay its hands on. Ten of the sisters, one foreign and one Chinese priest, the French Consul and his Chancellor, four other French men and women, three Russians, and a number of Chinese, including some of the orphans, were killed, and the bodies of most of the foreigners were badly mutilated."* The mob was through.

The news of the massacre spread rapidly and anti-Christian demonstrations were reported in Chihli, Shantung, Kiangsu, Kiangsi, and Kwangtung. Throughout China foreigners of all nationalities were greatly alarmed. Protestant missionaries

285

28 For excellent secondary accounts of the massacre, based on primary sources, see Morse, International Relations of the Chinese Empire, Vol. 2, pp. 241-258, and Cordier, Relations de la Chine avec les puissances occidentales, Vol. 1, pp. 324-390. See also Favier, Peking, Vol. 2, pp. 235 et seq., The Tientsin Massacre, documents published in the Shanghai Evening Courier, and Notices et documents sur les prêtres de la mission et les filles de la charité de S. Vincent de Paul, massacrés, le 21 Juin, 1870, à Tien-tsin . . . par un prêtre de la mission.

286 Annales de la propagation de la foi, Vol. 43, p. 299; Morse, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 247; Taylor, Hudson Taylor, p. 209.

286 and urged the

sent their condolences to Catholic missionaries representatives of their governments to take vigorous action.*** Warships of several nations were dispatched to Tientsin and the foreign envoys in Peking sent a collective note demanding that justice be done and security be assured their nationals.*** After some months of negotiations a settlement was effected whereby eighteen Chinese who were supposed to have been in the mob were executed, two of the officials were banished, the Viceroy, the famous Tsêng Kuo-fan, was transferred to Nanking, a mission of apology was sent to France, and an indemnity of 250,000 taels was paid (120,000 taels for the murder of non-ecclesiastical persons and 130,000 for the Church). The sum allotted to the Church was expressly accepted by the Vicar Apostolic not as an indemnity for lives lost, but for the reconstruction of the buildings that had been destroyed.***

289

Chinese officialdom was much annoyed by missionaries and desired restrictions which would eliminate the most provocative features of their activity. Officials, indeed, regarded missions as one of the most troublesome and obnoxious features of intercourse with the West and would have been happy to be rid of them entirely. As early as 1867 Li Hung-chang presented to the throne a memorial with suggestions for the regulation of missionaries." Now (1871), spurred by the Tientsin massacre, the Chinese Government presented to the representatives of the powers a memorial suggesting restrictions. The document was dignified and courteous but proposed a plan which would have radically curtailed missions, especially those of Roman Catholics. Orphanages were to admit only the children of Christians. Women were not to be allowed to enter churches, nor were members of sisterhoods to come to China. Missionaries were to conform to the laws and usages of China; they were not to interfere with the authority of the local officials and were not to assume official functions or intervene in lawsuits on behalf of Christians; Chinese Christians were to obey the law of the

286 The Tientsin Massacre, documents published in the Shanghai Evening Courier.

297 Morse, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 250.

288 Ibid., Vol. 2, p. 252.

289 Morse, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 257, 258.

290 Favier, Peking, Vol. 2, p. 240.

291 Bland, Li Hung Chang, pp. 265-274.